Monday Morning Mehta 1/17/05

Edition # 102
January 17, 2005

Eagles

The Eagles season is now officially "a wash" as Ike Reese put it after an impressive 27-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings just aren't very good and the score wasn't nearly an indication of the dominance. The score should've been 40-7. Nonetheless they now move onto their 4th NFC Championship game in a row, the 3rd of which is at home which is an NFC record. The Atlanta Falcons will come to town next week, but lets take a look at the Vikings game before we look ahead a little bit later.

Game Positives:

a. Jeremiah Trotter. I don't like placing the obvious guys in the first positive, but considering that Trotter hasn't been one of my favorite players in the past, I've got to put him here. Trotter brought a Brian Dawkins like intensity to the game and was flying all over the field. His sack impressed me the most as he timed it perfectly, not blitzing until at least one second after the snap. Trotter's going to have to have another great game against a great run offense next week for the Eagles to succeed.

b. Freddie Mitchell & the WR's. The most hyped 5 catch 65 yard 1 TD performance (plus a TD recovery) in the history of sports was a god send for Eagles fans. Somebody from the WR corps needed to show that they can actually step up and Freddie did just that. Let's not get too crazy and start thinking that Mitchell is some sort of stud WR though. Todd Pinkston and Greg Lewis played very well also.

c. Brian Westbrook. I have to put this guy in here. Westbrook was unstoppable yesterday. He was all over the place (not in a Troy Brown type of way though). Westbrook is absolutely one of the best RB's in the game already. His ability to catch the ball and beat any LB in the game is absolutely the key for the Eagles.

d. Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown. Randy Moss, Nate Burleson, and Marcus Robinson are very good WR's. They had a few close calls but didn't give up the big play until very late.

e. Offensive Line. One of the biggest problems near the end of last year was that the Eagles offensive line was really bad against the pass. This year, heading into the Championship game the line is playing excellent football and is healthy.

Game Negatives:

a. Rod Hood. I hope people forget to watch game film of Hood. If I was the opposition I'd go to Rod Hood's man on every single play. He's bad.

b. Nate Wayne. I don't know what has happened with Wayne but missed a lot of tackles and looked lost on many plays. He'll play a big part in next week's game as he'll be strong side outside containment on Michael Vick.

c. The two minute drill at the end of the first half. McNabb needs to throw the ball into the 5th row there. The Patriots wouldn't have made that mistake, I'll leave it at that.

The Minnesota Vikings are bad. They make stupid decisions like the fake FG debacle way too much. They also have a FG kicker who can't kick more than about 35-40 yards. That is silly. You kill your defense with field position when you go for it every time around the 25-40 yard line.

I thought the defensive line had a very good game also. Javon Kearse played a very good game, although how does he go unblocked on two plays? Derrick Burgess, Jerome McDougle & Sam Rayburn, all played very well.

Listening to Chris Berman last night talk about the Jets/Steelers game in particular the interception return for a TD by Reggie Tongue, he said "Roethlisberger slipped the 'tongue' by Reggie". Imagine if Randy Moss had said that.

Divisional Playoffs Recap

Steelers 20 - Jets 17
What happened to those cbs.sportsline.com polls that had Big Ben Roethlisberger as the 3rd best QB in the NFL? Ben looked like a rookie Saturday as he made a lot of mistakes and poor throws. But, he did lead his team to a TD at 17-10 down and did win the game so you have to give him credit for that. The Jets are just comical. 3 points on offense (14 points on Special Teams and Defensive TD) is unacceptable for a team with Curtis Martin and Chad Pennington. The WR's had a few drops and the play calling once again left a lot to be desired. Troy Polamalu has become one of the best safeties in football and continues to make plays. USC is just churning out talent these days. Anyway, once again Herm Edwards left it to Doug Brien to win the game for a third week in a row on the road in OT, and once again Brien let him down. He sucks.

Falcons 47 - Rams 17
There isn't much to say about this game. The game was relatively competitive until 3 minutes left in the second quarter when ex-Eagle Allen Rossum returned a punt back for a TD. The second half was the Falcons just pounding the ball on the ground and completely exposing the Rams defense. Not much more to say here than the Falcons defensive line is awesome, but the secondary is a little weak.

Patriots 20 - Colts 3
I don't know which game made me happier, the Eagles game or this one. Peyton Manning once again proves he is overrated and his 49 TD's earlier in the year are absolutely meaningless. I don't care about the weather and other excuses. Tom Brady managed to put up 20 points. I also don't want to hear about defense. I watched alot of Colts football and while their defense is still not great, they've played much better the last 2 months of the year. The score was 6-3 at halftime, the defense was playing fine. The key to the Patriots defense continues to be their linebackers. Ted Bruschi, Mike Vrabel and Willie McGinest were awesome yesterday. Troy Brown is also incredible. He breaks up pass plays, returns punts, and oh by the way is a WR. To play as good as they did without Ty Law and Tyrone Poole is absolutely amazing. Anyway, back to Peyton Manning, this guy never won the big games in college and he's continuing that 'legacy' in the NFL. 3 points is just embarrassing. Chad Pennington does that with his team and he gets ripped, Manning needs to get blasted this week and I'll lead the charge!

As I thought, the home teams got their revenge this week. All 4 home teams won after a wild weekend last week. Of the remaining teams you'll notice all 4 have awesome defenses. All the fake one sided teams like the Rams, Vikings, etc are out. Let's breakdown the two Championship games next week.

Patriots (-3) at Steelers
This is a very tricky spot for the Pats. This game cries of letdown but how in the world can you go against the Pats. The Steelers have a history of choking in this game as does the other home team Sunday. The Steelers will need to be much more aggressive than they were last week. The Pats are going to gear their game completely different than against the Colts. You must try to expose the secondary which can be done. Bill Bellicek will come up with a scheme for sure, but something just tells me Bill Cowher has some sort of magic this year.
Steelers 24 - Patriots 20

Falcons at Eagles (-4.5)
Here we go. The season starts today as the Eagles come back to the same spot, once again facing a very good defense. Like I said earlier the flaw in this defense is the secondary. The Eagles may have trouble running the ball which probably works well for this team as Reid doesn't like to do that anyway. I liked the Eagles each of the last two years, so liking them again is a little scary. But when I look at this match up realistically "on paper", you have to love the Eagles in just about every match up. The have the defense to slow down Vick. They play outside which is never a good thing for dome teams in January. They have Freddie Mitchell, the People's Champ! Eagles win this one easily and we have the Pa Turnpike Super Bowl.
Eagles 27 - Falcons 10

Baseball

Carlos Beltran's signing by the Mets last week signified for the most part the end of baseball's hot stove season. Besides Carlos Delgado, Magglio Ordonez and a few others, there are very few names left on the open market worth any value. As for the Mets, Beltran will be a decent player for them, a Bobby Abreu type, but one has to wonder if they would've signed Vladimir Guererro to a $70 million contract last year if they'd be better off.

As far as the Phillies are concerned frustration continues to grow. The past few years there's been tons of optimism surrounding the start of baseball, this year it's anger. As I look at the Phils roster and payroll, something else frightens me. Not only will the 2005 version of this team be similar to the 2004 version, but expect much of the same in 2006. Quick breakdown of the salaries for players signed through 2006:

2006 Salaries in millions ('05 salary in parentheses)
Randy Wolf $9 ($6.5)
Jim Thome $12.5 ($11.5)
Pat Burrell $9.5 ($7)
Bobby Abreu $13 ($12.5)
Mike Liberthal $7 ($7)
Jon Lieber $7.25 ($5.25)

That's $58.75 million in guaranteed money tied up in those 6 players in 2006 up $8.5 million from 2005. That all but negates the salary relief they'll get from the Placido Polanco $5 million and the Billy Wagner $9 million. It doesn't even take into account the long term deal Jimmy Rollins is slated to get. Bottom line, look for more of the same next offseason from the Phils.

The Mets aren't done making moves yet either. They are after Carlos Delgado (who will be the steal of the year) and are looking to deal Mike Cameron (maybe to A's for Eric Byrnes). Mets are going to be improved this year but they still have a long ways to go.

NBA - Derreck Sura

-Earlier in the week I was planning on writing a totally different type of piece on the Sixers. However, in an effort to maintain the high standard of professionalism that we here at the MMM strive to maintain, I decided to just be a little more brief then usual. Philly went 1-3 on the week to fall to 3rd place in the Atlantic Division at 16-20. Allen Iverson had to play all 48 minutes to secure the lone victory of the week over Toronto. AI had this to say of his performance Friday night. "I'm struggling right now physically. I haven't been able to practice. I just try to save everything for the games. Fortunately, I was able to do that tonight." Hopefully, for Sixers' fans everywhere, AI's nagging injuries (just 36 games into the season) won't become the factor that derails Philly's playoff chances (again). The Sixers are 4th in the league in steals (8.75 spg) and 2nd at forcing turnovers (17 topg). Those two statistics suggest that maybe coach Jim O'Brien's defense is finally rounding into form. Philly faces New Orleans, @Charlotte, @Orlando this week. Anything less then 2-1 should be considered a disappointment.

-Don't look now, but after starting the season 4-15 (including an 0-9 start), the Chicago Bulls are one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Chicago has won 6 in a row, and 12 of 15 games since 12/15/04. The Bulls are a modest 16-18 overall, but that's good enough for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. How could the CHICAGO BULLS be in playoff contention you ask? Well, much like the Utah Jazz and Milwaukee Bucks from last year, these Bulls try to out work their opposition night in and night out. Teams can no longer plan on taking the night off when they see Chicago is next up on the schedule. As the Sixers can attest, the Bulls will run you right out of the United Center if you're not ready to play.

I don't know what changed, but all of a sudden the players have bought into coach Scott Skiles hard nosed style. Chicago holds their opponents to the lowest shooting percentage in the entire NBA (41.2%). They are also 5th in both points allowed (91.6 ppg) and forcing turnovers (16.4 topg). The hustle stats don't stop there, as the Bulls are 5th in total rebounds (43.4 rpg) and 10th in total rebound differential (+1.2). They are also 10th in total rebounding percentage (50.7%) and 12th in defensive rebounding percentage (72.2%). Kirk Hinrich shows no signs of a sophomore slump, as he leads Chicago in minutes (37 mpg), scoring (15.9 ppg), assists (7.1, 7th overall), and steals (1.47 spg). Eddy Curry has shown some signs of consistency, and to go along with leading the Bulls in shooting (52.6%, 5th overall), he is 2nd on the team in scoring (15.5 ppg), rebounding (6.1 rpg), and blocks (.9 bpg). His running mate, Tyson Chandler, leads the club in rebounding (9.1 rpg) and blocked shots (1.7 bpg) while serving as the first big man off the bench.

GM John Paxson's plan was to rid Chicago of their "culture of losing" by bringing in rookies from winning programs. It's been the play of those 4 rookies that has made the biggest difference for the Bulls, which is why Paxson deserves credit for showing enough patience to let his plan come together. Luol Deng (7th pick) averages 12.8 ppg (3rd overall for rookies), 5.5 rpg (4th rook), 2.4 apg (3rd rook), and has been the most consistent of the 4 as the starting SF. Chris Duhon (38th pick) has also worked his way into the starting lineup along side of Hinrich in the back court. Duhon leads all rookies in assists (4.7 apg) and assists to turnover ratio (2.73). Ben Gordon (3rd pick) struggled a bit out of the gate, but has settled into his role of first guard off the pine very nicely. Gordon, who is 2nd amongst rookies in scoring (13.5 ppg) and 5th in the NBA at 3 point shooting (45.5%), has already had two 31 point games off the bench. The final rookie, Andres Nocioni, was signed as a free agent out of Argentina. While Nocioni has been the least consistent of the bunch, he's still 6th in rookie scoring (7.9 ppg). All four of these guys average between 28.8-21.7 minutes per game, which ranks them 4th-7th for rookies. I don't know if the "Baby" Bulls can keep this up and remain in contention, but it's got to be nice for the people of the Windy City to finally have something to cheer about again.

-The Memphis Grizzlies are 15-7 since coach Mike Fratello took over for Hubie Brown on 12/3/04. The Griz (20-18) have also won 8 of 9 games to climb back into the playoff race in the Western Conference. The implosion I predicted between the "Czar" and his hip-hop generation players has not materialized. Instead, Fratello has managed to keep everyone happy, while improving Memphis' defense at the same time. The Griz are 4th in both points allowed (91.1 ppg) and opponents field goal percentage (42.6%). The positive defensive numbers don't stop there as Memphis is #1 in blocks (6.57 bpg), 8th in point differential (+2.6), and 10th in both steals (8.07 spg) and forcing turnovers (15.7 topg). The only real lineup change the Czar has made from last year is replacing James Posey as the starting SF with Shane Battier. Fratello's rotation goes 9 players deep most nights with the starters averaging between 34.3-26.2 minutes, and the bench players between 28.5-20.8 mpg. It's not that far a cry from Hubie's 2 five man units, but the Czar's rotation is more the norm in the NBA, and I think the players, for the most part, are happier playing in a more traditional rotation. Another thing the Griz have going for them is they can shoot the 3. They are 2nd in 3 point shooting (37.6%) and make the 5th most 3's per game (6.5) while attempting the 9th most 3's per game (17.3). With the depth on their roster, the way they defend, and the way they shoot it from distance, Memphis has the makings of a team to be reckoned with for the remainder of the season.

-On 1/10/05 the Sacramento Kings sent SG Doug Christie to the Orlando Magic for SG Cuttino Mobely and PF Michael Bradley. I have mixed feelings about this deal, for both teams. On one hand I can see what both GM's were thinking. Geoff Petrie sees the success Phoenix and Seattle are having with their style of play, and thinks the Kings could do the same with another scorer. John Weisbrod sees Detroit, Cleveland, and Indiana in the top 8 in points allowed, along with Detroit, Miami, and Cleveland in the top 11 in opponents FG%, and thinks the Magic will need another perimeter defender to be competitive in the East come playoff time. Cuttino will have some big scoring nights for Sacto once he gets acclimated to their offense. Christie is not the athlete he once was due to his age (34), and the wear and tear that comes with being a 13 year veteran. Even though Doug is not quite the defender he once was, his versatility should help free up Steve Francis to do more things on both ends of the floor. What I don't like is both teams messing with their chemistry. Orlando (19-16) is 6th in the East and much improved from last year's disastrous campaign. The Kings (24-11) are 4th in the West, and seemingly rolling along again. So why, in Sacto's case, take the risk of breaking up arguably the best chemistry between a starting 5, for a player (Cat) that needs his share of shots and touches to be effective? Christie didn't need the ball to produce, and was still the Kings' best defender. I, for one, am glad that the Cuttino-Stevie Franchise back court was broken up. They were exciting to watch at times, but had really run their course as a tandem, and needed to be separated in order to grow as players. As evidenced by this quote, "Him not being here is going to be tough on me. I don't know what I'm going to wake up for? They messed up something that started so good, man.", Orlando takes the chance of losing Francis (their best player) all together. Steve has been known to pout when he doesn't get his way (Remember when he was drafted by Vancouver and forced a trade?), and the Magic have been winning games by out scoring their opposition for the most part, so Weisbrod is taking the biggest gamble as I see it. Oh yeah, if you were wondering, Michael Bradley is a stiff, and Sacto will most likely be his last stop in the NBA.

-Last Tuesday the New Jersey Nets (12-24) announced that starting SF Richard Jefferson will miss the remainder of the season recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured ligament in his left wrist. RJ was hurt when Chauncey Billups undercut him on a lay-up attempt in Detroit on 12/27/04. Billups was called for a flagrant foul on the play, and RJ had this to say about it, "Was it a dirty play? Yes." The loss of RJ pretty much squashes the talk of the Nets making a run at the playoffs with a healthy Jason Kidd to go along with the addition of Vince Carter. RJ had been New Jersey's best player all year, and was leading the team in minutes (41.1 mpg, 5th overall), scoring (22.2 ppg, 12th), and rebounding (7.3 rpg). It's now time for VC to prove himself to his critics by taking the ball to the hoop to replace RJ's free throw attempts per game (8.2, 10th overall) and free throw makes per game (6.9, 8th). I know Kidd came out in the media and said he wouldn't demand a trade for the rest of the season, but I have to think that if the Nets go in the tank, and the right offer comes along, GM Rod Thorn will pull the trigger.

-The Washington Wizards (22-13) are the hottest team in the league (won 7 straight), and have the second best record in the Eastern Conference. The bad news is that starting SG Larry Hughes will miss the next 4-6 weeks recovering from a broken right thumb suffered at the hands of Suns' swingman Quentin Richardson Saturday night. Hughes is the only player in the NBA to average more then 20 points (21.2 ppg, 19th overall), 5 rebounds (6.1 rpg), 5 assists (5.3 apg, leads team), and 2.5 steals (2.82 spg, 1st overall). Incidentally, all of those numbers are career highs for Larry, who is in the last year of his contract too. The Wiz are my favorite team to watch in the East, and it will be up to Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison to raise their games in the absence of Hughes. Etan Thomas had just returned to the lineup for Washington this week too, and I was expecting the Wiz to make a run before they play 10 of 12 games on the road from 3/5-28/05. Juan Dixon has been hot lately (19.5 ppg over his last 2 games), and is expected to take Larry's starting spot.

NHL Week in Review By: Ed Wasser

- I was listening to NY Ranger color guy John Davidson being interviewed on WFAN in New York about the NHL strike. Most of the points he was making regarding the strike were the standard faire, he was doubtful the strike would be settled and he expressed concern at what credibility a 48 or 36 game NHL season would even have. Davidson did have one point that really stuck out for me. Essentially he said the biggest mistake the players and owners are making is that they constantly compare themselves to other sports. The NHL players look longingly at the strength of the baseball players union, a union so strong that it not only has gotten it's players untold millions of dollars but it also looked the other way while it's members were breaking the law (steroids). The owners look longingly at the deal the NFL has. Non-guaranteed contracts, limited unrestricted free agency, and a salary cap. As soon as the NHL players realize that the baseball union's strength can never be duplicated and the NHL owners realize that the NFL players signed a bad deal that they regret the sooner this mess can be settled.

- The NHL is dead so to fill the void I decided to watch the Disney movie 'MVP: Most Valuable Primate', the film about a hockey playing monkey. This was one of the most ridiculous movies I've ever seen. The hockey scenes weren't even the least bit believable. The monkey, played by a chimpanzee named Jack, was supposed to be the fastest skater on the ice yet he skated with a choppy short stride, not unlike Eric Lindros', and he often kept his stick on the ice despite the fact the he was supposed to be back checking into a play. Jack was unsteady on his skates giving a physical player a distinct advantage. As Marty McSorley said "it's tough to score when you're on your ass". Jack was often playing out of position, especially defensively, and he never is seen trying to grind the puck from the corners. In short, Jack's a cherry picker. Plus Jack was supposed to have a lightening fast slap shot yet he was often shown down low during the power play when playing the point, especially considering his short stature, would by far make the most sense. Could you imagine Al MacGinnis playing behind the net in the offensive zone during a power play? The whole thing is stupid. I'm giving this movie a D-.

- Former St. Louis Blue Mike Danton tried to hire a hit man to kill his agent David Frost. He was arrested, his girlfriend was going to testify against him, so he plea bargained for a 7.5 year sentence in the federal clink. So what's Danton's first priority? He wants to file a libel suit against all the newspapers that said he might be gay. Both of them. Yo Mike, are you kidding me? You have major, major, MAJOR problems right now, more problems than everyone reading this article has combined and you're worried about people calling you names? Maybe you should be thinking about your destroyed life, your destroyed NHL career, your destroyed family, and then try and be nice and get out of prison before the Olson twins turn 30 and then you can start suing newspapers.

- Top 3 records that seemed unbreakable but eventually fell...3.) Dan Marino's record of 48 touchdown passes in one season that fell to Peyton Manning... 2.) Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played streak that fell to Cal Ripken...1.) Joe Namath's greatest drunken performance ever on TV being eclipsed by Verne 'Mini Me' Troyer on 'The Surreal Life'.

- From the mailbag....."I looked at the Philadelphia Park website and I saw that Ryan Barber (Fairway Miss' last jockey) was listed as the jockey for two different horses for the 9th race on Saturday. What gives?" Saurin Mehta..Mehtalands, NJ

-Ans.....Ah, nice try. I appreciate the question but don't think it's going to make me forget the last paycheck that bounced. And no.....you being in the Betty Ford Clinic isn't an excuse. You know Sonny was right, the working man is a sucka. Anyway, when a trainer submits a horse for a race he has to also submit the jockey. It's not uncommon for lines to get crossed and two jockeys to be listed for the same race on different horses. When that occurs it's up to the jockey and his agent to decide which horse he's going to ride. In the vast majority of cases the jockey will ride the horse he has the longest mount history with. Conceivably he could switch mounts but that would piss off the trainer who, when it's all said and done, decides what jockey gets future mounts. If the mount history is tied between horses then the jockey and his agent decide which mount to take, taking things into consideration like which horse has the better workout or race times, which horse's trainer has the most horses under his command (more potential future mounts), etc. All this has to be settled before the first odds are listed, generally 48 hours before the race.

- There is a horse racing expression called 'spun'. Being spun essentially means that you give a mount to a certain jockey and before the race you decide to give that mount to another jockey for whatever reason. Actually the reason generally is that the new jockey wasn't available and now he is. The original jockey gets 'spun' out of that mount. I guess it goes without saying that a jockey gets spun because you have more faith in the new jockey. I was at a morning workout and I heard a story about two jockey's getting into a fist fight after a race because one jockey felt another jockey spun him out of a mount and lo and behold the jockey that stole the mount won the race.

- The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Ahhhh.......OK. People no more associate the Angels with Los Angeles then they associate the Calgary Flames with Tegucigalpa, Honduras but that's still a far cry from the biggest disgrace in sports nickname history......the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. The Mighty Ducks is a movie, a movie is a product, what's the difference between calling a team the Mighty Ducks or calling a team the Denver Doritos or the Boston Budweisers?

- Fairway Miss ran on Saturday and finished 3rd. Unfortunately I'm going to watch the Eagles game and I won't be able to give a full recap before my MMM deadline. I have very important drinking to do. I'm being graded on it...for gym. At any rate I'll have a full recap posted on the comment section of MMM website on Monday night.

(Click on Comments below for Ed's writeup and to give feedback)