Why Cliff Lee Should Start Game One

By Steve Lienert
The Phanatic

Charlie Manuel is one loyal guy.

More so than most, he stands behind his players and supports them through thick and thin.

That's why he's going to have a hard time walking up to Roy Halladay and telling him Cliff Lee will be the Phillies Game 1 starter to open the NLDS.

The fact of the matter is that not only has Lee been the best pitcher the Phillies have had since the All-Star break, Halladay hasn't quite been the same since that game in Chicago where it looked like he was going to die.

Sure, he won his next four decisions but Halladay is 3-4 since August 16th, including losses to Arizona and St. Louis -- the two teams most likely to be the Phillies' NLDS opponents.

Contrastingly, Lee's 3-0 loss against the Nationals three days ago was his first since July 25th. During that span he defeated the Brewers, D'backs, Braves and Giants, allowing a combined four runs to go with two shutouts.

Let's agree that the Phillies, once the varsity team starts playing again, will snap out of this offensive (no pun intended) funk and advance to the NLCS.

With Lee starting the first game, Halladay would start Game 2 and Cole Hamels would get the pill in Game 3. That breaks up the two lefties and takes the possibility of using a fourth starter in the first round out of the picture, which is a good thing since neither Roy Oswalt nor Vance Worley has been consistent enough recently to be trusted.

It also sets up Halladay to pitch in the doomsday scenario of a necessary fifth game. (Lee would, of course, pitch in Game 4.)

If the Phillies would sweep, Halladay and Lee would both have plenty of time to be tabbed as the Game 1 starter of the NLCS.

If they close it out in four, a well-rested Halladay would clearly pitch Game 1 of the NLCS. The Phillies may even be able to squeeze three starts out of him if the need (due to injury or something extraordinary) arises.

If it goes five, Hamels, or even Oswalt, could start Game 1.

At that point, the problem for the Phillies wouldn't be which pitcher starts Game 1 of the NLCS, it would be ensuring there is a Game 1 at Citizens Bank Park at all.

Either way, though, it's kinda of like deciding whether you're going to drive the Bentley or the Porsche when you wake up in the morning; it ain't a bad problem to have.

But it's a problem Manuel faces soon. And we all know Halladay will be on the hill for Game 1.

Sometimes people are loyal to a fault.

Eagles-Falcons Big Battles

By Steve Lienert
The Phanatic

Some battles and strategy to keep an eye on tonight, besides Michael Vick's return to Atlanta, as the Eagles prepare to play the Falcons:

- Atlanta's no-huddle offense could cause matchup problems for the Eagles, especially if the Birds aren't crisp with their defensive substitutions. One mistake there and suddenly Roddy White has single-coverage.

- Eagles CB Nnamdi Asomugha got beat deep twice by Rams receiver Brandon Gibson. He may not get targeted much, but when he does he needs to better than he was last week.

- The Eagles 9-wide defensive scheme leaves big holes between the lineman that needs to be filled by linebackers. If Michael Turner has a big day, it will be a long day for the Eagles. Casey Matthews will be tested again.

- Eagles OTs Todd Herremans and Jason Peters played well last week while slowing down Chris Long and company. There hands will be full again this week with Falcons DEs Ray Edwards and John Abraham. TE Brent Celek will be called on to block more than he will be used as a receiver.

- WR DeSean Jackson had just one catch in last season's game against Atlanta, while Jeremy Maclin exploded for 159. Jackson has a demon or two to exorcise.

- Eagles LB Jamar Chaney will have his hands full with the Falcons' aging-but-effective TE Tony Gonzalez.

- How many times will the Falcons play 'Who Let The Dogs Out' over the loud speakers during the game?

It's Suddenly Sunny in Philadelphia

By Steve Lienert

Philadelphia (The Phanatic) - Waking up this fine Wednesday morning, I find myself so sated sports-wise that there should be a cigarette dangling from my lower lip. And I don't even smoke.

What a week this has been.

First, the Eagles rally to beat the hated Dallas Cowboys, punctuated by DeSean Jackson's Nestea Plunge into the end zone, down in Jerry's world to remain tied for the NFC East lead. Couple that with all of the Giants travel woes while trying to play the vagabond Vikings, thus giving them a short week to prepare for Sunday's divisional showdown with the Eagles, it had to make Andy Reid as jolly as St. Nick himself.

Then the Phillies come out of nowhere to re-acquire Cliff Lee, giving them, on paper, one of the top 10 pitching rotations in baseball history.

When the move was announced just after Monday Night Football ended, a large cheer went up in the local watering hole. Just after midnight. In mid-December. For baseball.

It was such a great move, it pissed off both New York teams. It may be the first time in most Phillies' fans lives that their team delivered a devastating blow to both the Mets and Yankees in the off season. Listening to them bitch has been more pleasurable than you can imagine. English needs a word like schadenfruede.

As if that wasn't enough, as of Wednesday morning, Philadelphia has the best team in hockey. That accolade also came at the expense of a hated rival, who entered the last night's contest against the Flyers with a 12-game winning streak. Alas, thanks to a dumb penalty by Evgeni Malkin, the Flyers scored the game-winner on the power play, snapping the Penguins' streak and vaulting Philly to the top of the standings.

By the way, not only did the Flyers win the first ever game in Pittsburgh's brand-spanking new Console Energy Center, but they have now beaten the Crosbys in three of their last four meetings.

Giggitty.

Even the Sixers are getting in on the act. Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves here, but they had a nice win at New Jersey that snapped an eight-game road losing streak. If you haven't noticed lately, and judging by the attendance you haven't, the 76ers are a formidable opponent at the Wells Fargo Center. Maybe this team ain't so friggin' bad.

Doug Collins seems hellbent on making them a contender, even if it kills him.

Also receiving honorable mention during perhaps the best week Philly sports has seen across the board since all four teams played for their respective league championships in 1980: Drexel men's hoops team knocking off previously undefeated and 21st-ranked Louisville at Louisville on Tuesday night and Villanova's and Delaware's football teams advancing to the Division I-AA semifinals last Saturday.

All in all, not a bad little stretch for a Philly sports fan.

Forgive me for cutting this short. With the way this week has been going, at any moment I'm expecting the Swedish bikini team to show up at my front door with a Publisher's Clearinghouse-size check that has lots of zero's and my name on it.

For Once, We're Clean in McNabb Mess

By Steve Lienert

Philadelphia (The Phanatic Magazine) - When word spread through NFL press boxes that Redskins coach Mike Shanahan benched quarterback Donovan McNabb for the final 1:50 of Washington’s loss to the Lions on Sunday, it certainly raised a lot of eyebrows.

Here in Philadelphia, though, all it generated was another roll of the eyes.

Another chapter in the epic melodrama that has become Donovan McNabb’s NFL career was penned when Shanahan put in — I’m trying not to laugh here– Rex Grossman, saying that he had a better grasp of the two-minute offense than McNabb and that he gave his team the best chance to win at the time.

Um, yeah, whatever you say there, coach.

On his first play from scrimmage this season, Grossman dropped back, got hit and lost his grasp on the ball, which was scooped up by Detroit defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh and returned for a game-sealing touchdown.

On Monday, Shanahan then reversed field faster than Andy Reid and said he made the inexplicable and inexcusable move because McNabb didn’t have the “cardiovascular endurance” to run the two-minute offense.

OK, to paraphrase, first he called McNabb too stupid to grasp the offense after being in his system since the spring, then he called him too fat to navigate 80 yards in 1:50 of football time. Are you kidding me?

Now there are stories circulating that Shanahan never liked McNabb’s accuracy (shocker there) nor his practice habits. (Really? No way. I mean, just get out of town and stop pulling my leg already.) There’s also a rumor saying that Shanahan wanted to bench McNabb after the Eagles game.

In Philly, we’ve been there, done this. We’ve seen this show. Frankly, for once, it’s nice not to have any involvement in McNabb’s martyrdom. We can just sit back and watch the train wreck, much like Packers fans are enjoying how the Vikings season is going this year.

We’ve known that McNabb can’t efficiently run a two-minute offense for years now. We also know that he has a penchant not to be the most prepared quarterback all the time, that we won’t be the most accurate quarterback you’ll ever meet and that he can be out of shape from time to time.

Shanahan’s pronouncements on Sunday and Monday were nothing but truths about McNabb that we as Eagles fans hold as self-evident.

Shanahan seems to have the patience of an alcoholic at an open bar, with the temperament to boot. If he really thinks Rex Grossman gives his team a better chance to win a football game than McNabb does, he should have his own head examined.

Shanahan made a mockery out of defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth’s ‘cardiovascular endurance’ during training camp and Albert has just been lighting the world on fire ever since, recording a whopping 13 tackles and two sacks in eight games thus far this season.

That’s a nice return on owner Daniel Snyder’s $100-million dollar investment.

Speaking of return on investments, how does that second-round pick for McNabb look now? Because it seems to me like the Redskins got fleeced. Then again, that’s just the Redskins being the Redskins.

And McNabb, who seems to be ever preparing for an acting career after football, is fine-tuning his typecast role has the loveable victim by once again toeing the company line by saying that Shanahan makes the calls “so he went with it.”

Following the bye, Shanahan will anoint McNabb the starter (again) and proclaim to have full faith in his abilities (again), but it will all be hollow. None of this will motivate McNabb to hit the playbook or the track though.

If Shanahan expects a different McNabb, maybe the Redskins are better off with Grossman after all. And if the Vikings and their fans aren’t careful, this soap opera will be in Minneapolis by this time next year.

Steve Lienert can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com.

Eskin Crosses Reid, Eagles

By Steven Lienert

The Phanatic Magazine

Oh, heavy is the head that wears a self-inflicted crown.

Andy Reid, who famously starts each of his press conferences with a pronounced throat-clearing before proclaiming the day’s injuries, deviated from the norm on Monday because a member of the media had committed what he deemed as a cardinal sin.

“We won’t talk about injuries today,” Reid said. “Some of your colleagues here decided that they would go to the players and/or other personnel here and ask about injuries. I made a pact with you guys when I first got here that I would disclose to you the injuries that you just stay away from the players, stay away from other personnel in the organization and I would take care of you with that. That part was breached and so we'll get on with the Flight Night! part of things.”

Who was the member of the media that crossed the line? Why, 610’s own Howard Eskin, who seemed to become somewhat of an Eagles spokesperson during the second half of last season. He became such a part of the organization that at one point he donned an Eagles jacket while taking in a nationally televised late-season game from the Eagles’ sidelines.

Eagles’ linebacker Stewart Bradley hurt his knee during Sunday evening’s Flight Night! and apparently Eskin went to the team doctor to get a report on Bradley. Eskin then turned around and “broke” the story that Bradley had torn his ACL, which obviously upset Big Red.

So, instead of letting the rest of the media in on the fact that Bradley would most likely miss the rest of the season (which has now been reported from several outlets, including ESPN which conveniently stated that ESPN 950 broke the story), Reid told the gathered mass in Lehigh that “He (Bradley) did not practice today.”

Well, that was kind of obvious since Joe Mays and Omar Gaither were taking reps with the first team defense and Bradley was nowhere to be found.

What was worse, though, was how Reid told the media to handle the situation.

“Peer pressure is the best pressure there is,” Reid said. “You can work it out with your colleagues.”

So, are the Eagles’ beat writers from other outlets supposed to approach “The King” and peer pressure Eskin into doing the right thing? If peer pressure worked on Eskin, he would of have left Philadelphia years ago.

Could you imagine Les Bowen telling Eskin to quit asking team personnel about issues only Reid should be addressing? Furthermore, could you imagine Eskin actually listening to Bowen’s logic?

Maybe Rueben Frank and Brian Seltzer can corner Eskin in the locker room while Bob Grotz sneaks up from behind and puts a plastic bag over his head before dragging Eskin out to the parking lot and stuffing him in the trunk of Mark Eckel’s 1977 Pontiac Bonneville.

Yeah, that’ll get the message across.

Angelo Cataldi has tried it. Mike Missanelli has tried it. Heck, even Charlie Manuel tried to get Eskin to fall in line.

It ain’t worked. Eskin is still, well, Eskin (this is a family column).

Maybe Reid will be the guy to bring the King to his knees. (Insert joke here).

In the meantime, Reid will decide when the rest of the media will be allowed to know about injuries and what-not.

“When I decide that people can abide by the rules I'll do that,” Reid said.

That doesn’t seem very fair, especially since Reid can call Eskin into his office and tongue-lash somebody that many people believe has been deserving of it for quite some time.

But if Reid thinks the rest of the media can intimidate Eskin into doing things other than his way, he over estimates the power of Eskin’s peers.

After all, we know what happens when the King is questioned.

Steve Lienert is the Assistant Managing Editor of The Phanatic and can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com.

The Steve Lienert Show

Episode 62 of The Steve Lienert Show, a wildly popular Philadelphia sports podcast, is available for your listening pleasure on Itunes or at www.podmitten.com. Lienert and the Pickleman discuss a 30-year-old photo in which Lienert is wearing, gulp, Cowboys gear before delving into the reason why Roy Halladay won't be a Phillie, how come Jeremy Maclin hasn't signed with the Eagles and why the Sixers are, well, the Sixers. It's 30 minutes of your life you're never getting back, so why not spend it listening to The Steve Lienert Show?

Steve Lienert is the assistant managing editor of The Phanatic Magazine and can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com.

Let’s Go Streaking

By Steven Lienert
The Phanatic Magazine

Just in case you missed it, the Mumbai Indians had an unprecedented comeback this afternoon.

They were down 79 runs and needed an improbable 14 wickets to end Kings IX Punjabi’s upset bid in an Indian Premier League cricket match, but somehow the Indians rallied for a 122-119 win.

This just a day after the Deccan Chargers blew out the Rajasthan Royals, 166-113.

Cricket…its Fan-tastic!

The reason I’m following a game I know nothing about in a league half-a-world away is the same reason I’m keenly aware that China’s curling team is better than Norway’s. ESPN’s Streak for the Cash contest.

It seems as easy as winning one of those suicide pools during football season. All you gotta do is pick a winner, whether it’s cricket, curling, soccer, hoops, hockey or how much the next NFL draft choice weighs. If you’re right, you win. You do that 27 times in a row, you’re a millionaire.

It’s like a gambler’s version of O’Doul’s. You get the thrill of betting without losing any cash. You’re probably not going to make any money, either, but how many gamblers do?

Well, I’m ESPN’s worst nightmare. Or so I thought. I’m a sportswriter/stay-at-home dad, so I have time and an inordinate amount of sports knowledge crammed into my brain just begging to win a million bucks. Besides, winning the cash would help offset the whole stay-at-home-dad debacle.

As it turns out, I’m as bad at this as I am at convincing the general public that the Sixers can’t lose Game 6 against the Magic. I’ve got a solid overall record (58-40-3 since starting in April) but I haven’t gotten past 5-in-row. And ‘in-a-row’ is the name of the game.

It’s made things a bunch more interesting, though.

Like the time I picked Tiger Woods to beat out two other schmucks in the first round of the Masters. Tiger held a one-stroke lead going into the final hole, but Tiger bogeyed and a schmuck birdied to win the round and end my streak. Tiger never chokes, but he did because the mush had something riding on him.

Or when FC Barcelona played Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League semifinal match. The question on the Streak was, “Which team will advance to the final?” I picked Chelsea. Barcelona was missing two of its starters and I had a good feeling about Chelsea. As soon as I clicked the box next to its name, the boys in blue were doomed.

Sure, Chelsea took an early 1-0 lead and clamped down defensively for the rest of the match. Chelsea dominated Barcelona for 89 freakin’ minutes. Of course, Barcelona scored in the 90th minute to tie the game and it advanced to the final because Barcelona was the away team and, for some reason, its goal counted more than Chelsea’s. Gotta love soccer.

Another streak bites the dust.

I never thought I’d ever have an opinion about either of those outcomes, but you better believe I’m clicking on Manchester United to beat FC Barcelona in the UEFA final, just like I’ll be taking Mumbai in its next cricket match.

I even had a streak end because the Texans chose former USC linebacker Brian Cushing. I didn’t lose because of the player they selected, but because Cushing weighed 249 pounds. I guessed Houston’s draft pick would weigh more than 251 pounds. I lost because Cushing decided to hold off on a couple donuts at breakfast.

That’s the beauty of the Streak. It has broadened my horizons.

Hold up… gotta run. Burnley and Reading are starting the second half of the second leg of their English League Championship semifinal. I need Burnley to pull off at least a draw to keep yet another streak alive.

I couldn’t point out Burnley on a map. Or Mumbai for that matter. All that matters is that they both keep winning.

What’s your longest streak? Think you can outlast a Phanatic? Email Lienert at stevelienert@hotmail.com.

Tonight at the Center: Dwight Howard as Clark Kent

By Steve Lienert

(The Phanatic Magazine) - Not even the Sixers can blow this chance, right?

I mean, no Dwight Howard, no Courtney Lee… there’s no way the Philly-Orlando series isn’t going back to Florida for a Game 7 this weekend, right?

The 76ers have mostly done a good job in frustrating the young Howard in the series so far, which ultimately manifested itself with a violent elbow in the opening minutes of Game 5.

He’s lived up to his billing as Superman, punctuated by his 24-point, 24-recound performance in Game 5. But Howard still lives in Smallville -- he’s still in his formative years.

Howard’s still learning how use the awesome powers he’s been given. Meanwhile, he acts like an awkward high-school kid wandering down the hallways between classes trying to keep his elbows tucked in so he doesn’t accidentally break the nose some poor, unsuspecting co-ed.

Or, in this case, some poor, unsuspecting starting guard. Lee was the victim of a wayward Howard elbow as well, and he’ll miss Game 6 of a playoff series with a fractured sinus.

Somebody asked ESPN hockey analyst and former NHL coach Barry Melrose if a player he’s ever coached would miss a playoff game with a fractured sinus.

Melrose’s reply? “Their wives wouldn’t miss a playoff game for a fractured sinus.” It’s almost as if Melrose balled his fist in front of his mouth and coughed out the word ‘soft’ (for lack of a better term).

This Superman is just a Superboy, still slamming into buildings while trying to perfect the art of flying.

He blushes when he uses his x-ray vision.

He let some midget in a green “kryptonite” suit dunk over him on national television.

And tonight, during an intriguing Game 6, he’ll be in a suit himself; a nifty, stylish ensemble to be sure. But he won’t be breaking anybody’s nose, or a sweat, until sometime on Friday.

If Howard has the same sense of humor as he did during the Slam Dunk contest in which he was a prop in Nate Robinson’s winning dunk, he’ll sit on the bench with Drew Carey-like glasses adorning his face.

“Tonight at the Wachovia Center: Dwight Howard playing the role of Clark Kent, the Magic’s mild mannered man-child.” There will be no phone booth at the Wachovia center tonight.

So now the only things that stand between the Sixers and a date with a ticked off superhero in Game 7 are Hedo Turkoglu, who seems to have developed a distinct fear of Andre Iguodala, and some guy who seems to be in the country for the Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Pakistan.

I’m interested to see how well Samuel Dalembert will fare against Borat, er, uh, Marcin Gortat, because if he stinks up the joint like he has for the last half of the season, it’s time to end the ‘Sammy Can Play’ project.

For once, the Sixers can defend the perimeter without fear of reprisal in the paint, which should lead to an easy victory over a severely depleted Magic team. On paper, it looks all too easy.

There’s no way they can blow this, right?

Steve Lienert is still mourning the Flyers’ playoff defeat, but he can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com.

Goodbye, Harry

By Steve Lienert

The Phanatic Magazine

When I went to college down at East Carolina University in the mid-90s, it was my first time that far away from home on my own.

I was in a strange place where I hardly knew anybody; people talked funny, loved NASCAR and ate from a fast-food joint called Bojangles.

There were no cheesesteaks, Eagles fans or anybody saying so much as “Yo” for miles. I missed home.

Yet every once in a while, I could tune into 1210 am and, with its’ apparently mega-awesome radio signal, I could catch a Phillies broadcast.

As soon as I heard Harry Kalas’ voice, I was home.

It made me feel like a kid again, when I my curfew was when the streetlights came on. I remember looking up at the ever-darkening sky hoping to stay out just a little later to play stickball with my friends.

Harry was on our radio then, too. We listened to him while we played in Our Lady Help of Christians (now Our Lady of Port Richmond) schoolyard at Gaul and Allegheny or while playing outside my buddy Chalie’s house on Chatham St.

When it came time to go home, we’d have to unplug our radio, but we wouldn’t miss a single pitch of the game. On the four-block walk home, about every third house or so, somebody would be listening to the game while sitting out on their porch or front steps.

Harry and Whitey (Harry’s old broadcast partner and fellow baseball Hall-of-Famer Richie Ashburn) walked us home.

For Christmas sometime in the early 80s, Santa Claus left me a new set of headphones, the big-box kind with the antenna and tuner on the ear. It was that time’s version of ‘wireless’ technology.

I would sneak them into my room with me at night and in the summertime, after my parents were downstairs for a while, I would put the Phillies game as low I as could and still hear it.

Harry and Whitey talked me to sleep so often that when baseball season ended, it took me a while to acclimate myself to fall asleep without hearing their soothing voices.

The best part was I was one of a thousand kids that were doing the same thing at the exact same time. Thousands more have done it since, a sort of fraternity of fans that consider Harry and Whitey as favorite uncles.

It’s rare that a baseball broadcaster can touch some many lives in such a profound way. We were lucky and blessed to have grown up with such a guy.

That’s why it feels like we’ve lost a relative today.

I’m sad I won’t get to hear Harry make another home run call. But I’m very, very happy for all the good times Harry gave me over the years, how he made it feel like home no matter where I, or he, was.

I am especially grateful to have been there for the ring ceremony last week at Citizens Bank Park. Forget the players – the guy that got the loudest ovation was Harry. As if on cue, everybody stood as one to give Harry the K a standing ovation. He shook off Carlos Ruiz twice before exaggerating a nod in agreement with the pretend signals.

He then one-hopped the offering right over home plate, a strike nonetheless. The crowd loved it and Harry walked off the field waving to us as if he just blew away some poor schmuck with a 98 mile-an-hour heater.

Somewhere, Harry is at the bar having a drink with his good friend Whitey, catching the Phillies game on the big screen. Larry Anderson said that while Kalas was receiving CPR after collapsing in the press box, his pencil sat just inches from his hand.

Harry was preparing for the game right up to the very end. It was his life’s work and his life’s love.

L.A. said it best: Harry was never going to retire. He went out the way he should.

He will be greatly missed and always fondly remembered.

It already ain’t the same without ya, Harry. It already feels a little less like home.

Steve Lienert can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com

Phantoms live to play another day at the Spectrum

By Steven Lienert

The Phanatic Magazine

PHILADELPHIA – The Phantoms’ last game at the Spectrum turned out not to be their last game at the historic building at all.

Thanks in part to Rob Sirianni’s hat trick, the Phantoms defeated archrival Hershey, 5-2, to clinch the fourth and final playoff spot in their division to extend the Spectrum’s life at least for a little while.

I cut my hockey teeth at the Spectrum, so, for me, it was one last chance to take in a game at a place that housed thousands of memories.

I can’t believe that old place added one more.

Everybody knows about the Spectrum’s press box, long known for great sight lines, cramped corridors and tight seating. For those in the media that overflowed the press box, they were treated to a spot in what employees call the “balcony press box.”

It almost conjured up images of the two old guys that heckled everybody from the balcony seats on the Muppet Show. It was nothing of the sort.

There was no one higher up in the building than myself, Phanatic intern Greg Esterly and Phantoms’ employees John “The Beav” Cleaver and Joe Mele. When the Phantoms unfurled their last game at the Spectrum banner, we were looking down at it.

There were dust bunnies as big as mice, none of the seven TVs dangling from the ceiling worked and I swear there was asbestos clinging to the girders in the rafters. We all needed a booster seat to be able to see the action down on the ice and the black curtain used to cover unused seats in the upper deck blocked our view of the archaic jumbotron.

It was perfect.

After picking up our passes, we proceeded through the bowels of the Spectrum, past the locker rooms and up to the press box, which was pretty packed. We were instructed to head all the way upstairs; they weren’t kidding.

But when we got up there, it was like an oasis, a luxury skybox minus the luxury.

The Phantoms didn’t waste anytime getting the sellout crowd into the game. Less than two minutes in, left winger Josh Gratton won what seemed to be a premeditated fight at center ice. Four minutes later, Matt Clackson won another fight for the Phantoms. Combine that with three first-period goals and Philadelphia hockey fans left their seats to get food in the concourse during the first intermission as happy campers.

While in that concourse, everyone realized why the Spectrum had to go: Walking through that concourse was harder than driving on the Skuykill expressway during rush hour with construction.

In the end, the night was a small celebration of Philadelphia past while at the same time appreciating Philadelphia’s present. The Spectrum trips this season made me appreciate the Wachovia Center and its’ spacious corridors and multiple bathrooms just a little bit more.

I will, however, miss the Spectrum a great deal. Not like I miss the Vet; a person can only have one first love. But I’ll miss how the Flyers hit and fought and how the Phantoms let us relive that for 13 more years. I’ll miss seeing Doctor J soar for a windmill dunk and a svelte Charles Barkley, even if it is in my own mind.

As for the Phantoms, they provided games that I could take my 11-year-old nephew to, and the Spectrum became a place where he and I bonded. There’s talk that the team is moving to Allentown, which would be nice so we can take a trek up the Northeast Extension and catch a game.

There’s also talk of moving the team to Glens Falls, N.Y. or Richmond, Va. Either way, the plan is to keep the team as the Flyers’ affiliate.

But one thing’s for sure: You can take the Phantoms out of Philly, but you can never take the Philly out of the Phantoms.

The Spectrum made certain of that.

Steve Lienert can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com.

We Now Interrupt Our Regular Program

By Steven Lienert

(The Phanatic Magazine) - It sure does suck when real life intervenes with our world.

I sat in front of the keyboard at my computer this afternoon wanting to write about how Adam Eaton got everything he deserved yesterday, in more ways than one.

I wanted to find words to describe Pat Burrell’s return, fans leaving the game early and the proper way to sanitize a ping-pong ball that has hit the pavement of a nasty parking lot. But it all rings a little hollow right now.

As I went to check in on my horrible opening week as a novice fantasy baseball owner, a big yellow ‘breaking news’ headline shot across the top of my screen.

Angels’ pitcher Nick Adenhart, who hours earlier started for Anaheim and went six scoreless innings while scattering seven hits against the A’s, was killed in a hit-and-run accident after a minivan allegedly ran a red light and smashed into his car.

Just like that, a young man about to enter the prime of his life was gone.

Personally, it kind of makes me pause for a second so I can look around and appreciate everything I have.

In Gladiator, Maximus said it best when he said, “Death smiles at us all. All one can do is smile back.”

Or like my Dad says: It happens to the best of us.

But he also says to enjoy the ride, which brings us back to Eaton, Burrell and beer pong.

For most of us, the games are a form of entertainment. (Ok, Eagles’ games are serious matters, but still.) Booing Eaton was perfectly fine because that’s who he was while he was here. He was guy people expected more from and didn’t get it. That equals ‘boo.’

Burrell was almost Eaton, but he turned it around, coincidentally after Bobby Abreu was traded. Burrell got perhaps the loudest ovation of the bunch. I’ve never seen a whipping boy turned into a folk hero quicker that Pat the Bat, but that’s who he was while he was here.

That’s their respective legacies. My next door neighbors were at the game yesterday and they decided to leave in the top of the seventh. By the time the got home, the seventh inning was still in progress and the Phils were about to take the lead. This is Exhibit A on why not to leave early. This is now their legacy.

Adenhart, 22, was an exciting young pitcher that rose through the Angels’ organization and blossomed into a big-leaguer with tremendous upside. That upside won’t be realized.

Why do we boo Eaton, cheer Burrell, chide our neighbors and wished people cleaned off the ball after it hit the ground? We care.

We care that Eaton had more to give; we care that Burrell became beloved; we care whether or not our neighbor stays at a baseball game until the final pitch; we care whether or not someone gets violently ill from a ping-pong ball.

We also care when a young man we never met, on a team the Phillies rarely play, is tragically struck down the night after he seemed invincible while pitching in front of thousands of people under the bright lights of a big-league ball park.

I hate it when real life rears its ugly head.

Steve Lienert can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com. Also, Episode 47 of The Steve Lienert Show, a wildly popular internet podcast on the Philadelphia sports landscape, is now available at www.podmitten.com.

The Steve Lienert Show

Episode 46 of the wildly popular Steve Lienert Show podcast is available for your listening pleasure at www.podmitten.com. Lienert and the Pickleman are now taking calls! If fans of the show want to participate, all they have to do is download Skype (it's free), add Steve Lienert or Mark Mitten as a contact and own a headset compatible to their computer. The show is live on Tuesday nights from 9-9:30 p.m., so if you're online at that time, feel free to hit up Lienert with your questions and be part of the show! It's 20-plus minutes of your life you'll never get back, so why not spend it listening to The Steve Lienert Show?

You thought Brian Dawkins was treated rough?

By Steven Lienert

The Phanatic Magazine

Following the Eagles’ Week 2 loss to the Dallas Cowboys last season, an Eagles employee inside the NovaCare Complex was heard to say that he was glad the Cowboys won.

Rumor had it that he said it within earshot of the wrong person.

That employee, who shall remain anonymous, was fired before the end of the day.

It was my third week working for the Eagles and, as an Eagles fan and Cowboys hater at heart, I openly loved the fact that the team would take such measures against a stinkin’ Cowboys fan.

After reading John Gonzalez’s article on philly.com today that told the story of an Eagles’ employee that was fired because he wrote something on his Facebook page bemoaning the fact that the team had lost Brian Dawkins, I’m quite melancholy to say the least.

If I was still working for the team, I probably would have done the same thing. Dawkins wasn’t just my favorite player; he was my family’s favorite player. He was my section’s favorite player. He was the Linc’s favorite player. He was the city’s favorite player.

And I probably would have been fired for saying it, too.

According to Gonzo’s story, Dan Leone has worked for the Eagles for six years as a game-day employee. Anyone that entered through the West Gate at the Linc probably has seen Leone a few times.

Leone was so upset after finding out that Dawkins had signed with the Broncos, he went to his Facebook page and typed the following words: “Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver. . .Dam Eagles R Retarted!!”

It was typed in anger. Leone has openly said he regrets writing what he wrote and has already deleted it.

But let’s just take this into context for a minute. A guy that works for the organization loves the team so much he’s passionate about what happens to his favorite players. Is that a reason to get canned?

If that’s the case, what are the Eagles going to do with Quintin Mikell? Mikell was on NBC10’s Sports Final with John Clark last night saying how hurt and angry he was after hearing Dawkins left. That was on television, which probably gets a bit more attention from local sports fans than Leone’s Facebook page.

But Leone is a game-day employee, not a full-timer (as if that would make a difference). If Leone was a starting safety, would he still have his job? You betcha.

The Eagles truly are a first-class organization but when things like this come to light, more often than not they get unfairly painted as petty, callous carpet-baggers that could care less about the little guy, none of which flies in Philly.

Maybe the Eagles’ organization is guilty of the same thing as Eagles’ fans: We both care a little too much. But losing Dawkins and, as of today, Tra Thomas to free agency coupled with the story about Leone’s firing, it’s tough to Believe in Green right now.

Sal Paolantonio was on with Clark on Sunday and said the Eagles should have given Brian Dawkins a lifetime contract. I liked that idea. Nobody deserved to be an Eagle for life more than Brian Dawkins.

Since that isn’t going to happen now, the least the Eagles can do is give Leone his job back.

After all, it isn’t like he roots for the stinkin’ Cowboys.

Right after he hits up Leone to be a friend on Facebook, Steve Lienert can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com.

First Brian Dawkins, now Greg Lewis?

By Steven Lienert

The Phanatic Magazine

Say it ain’t so, Joe. Say it ain’t so.

Another Eagle has flown the nest, although it’s highly unlikely anyone will make a fuss over Greg Lewis’ departure.

But after what has transpired over the past week, maybe its’ time for the Eagles to clean house.

The defense, for the most part, is young enough to keep intact. But with the revelation that Sheldon Brown may want a contract extension, it may be time to visit the possibility of dealing him instead of allowing the Lito Sheppard scenario to play out again.

And if that’s a possibility, maybe it’s time to go the whole way: deal Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook and anybody else close to or over 30 and start fresh.

The Eagles already have a stockpile worth of draft picks, so what’s a few more? With the right deal and one lousy season, the Eagles could realistically hold two of the top four picks in the 2010 draft.

As the Falcons and Dolphins have proved, turnaround can be quick in the NFL. But ya gotta get bad before you can get good, and dealing McNabb and Westbrook while they’re close to peak value only makes sense, especially considering that Dawkins has walked and Tra Thomas has one foot out the door.

Would anybody else like to see Jay Cutler under center for the Eagles, with McNabb joining Dawkins in West Philly, er, uh, Denver? Apparently, the Broncos shopped him to every team in the league at the start of free agency but there weren’t any takers.

In light of recent developments, maybe that’s something the Eagles would like to revisit.

Or how about swapping BWest and some of those picks for LaDainian Tomlinson, who’s been reportedly disgruntled with his contract in San Diego?

While we’re at it, let’s top off the most mega of offseasons by making a deal for Anquan Boldin before signing him to a long-term deal.

Could you imagine how epic the game against the Broncos at the Linc would be? Cutler, L.T., and Anquan versus Super 5 and BDawk? Andy Reid may have to start his press conferences with something other than injuries that week.

It ain’t gonna happen, but, seriously, the timing has never been more right for vast change.

The way the front office has been treating the Eagles’ free-agent veterans thus far hasn’t been handled with the most aplomb to say the least. It would be easier to swallow if the team sent Banner on the radio to tell the fans that the team was moving forward in a new direction.

After all, following the NFC Championship Game loss to the Cardinals, it was Banner that said doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result was the definition of insanity.

Right now, some fans are questioning whether or not the Eagles have lost their minds.

Steve Lienert can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com

The Plot Thickens

By Steve Lienert
The Phanatic Magazine

As the time to place the franchise tag on a player draws nigh, the NFL’s free-agency crop becomes thinner and what the Eagles may do becomes clearer.

At 3 p.m. today, which is the deadline for tagging players, the Carolina Panthers will have a deal in place to retain tackle Jordan Gross , which means they’ll probably slap defensive end Julius Peppers with the franchise tag. There’s still a chance the Eagles could land Peppers: He has a list of four teams that he’d liked to be traded to, and the Eagles are one of those four teams.

But it’s more likely that Peppers will remain a Panther, albeit a disgruntled one.

While we’re at it, I’d cross Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth off the wish list. Someone’s going to throw a ridiculous amount of money at him and the Eagles aren’t going to be that team.


They seem pretty happy with Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley. Haynesworth would make an already stout defense significantly better, but the Eagles have bigger holes to fill at other positions.

The Eagles’ first order of business should be to take care of business in house. Look for the team to sign Tra Thomas and Brian Dawkins, although it could come after free agency starts on February 27th.

Considering the players available and the amount of cap room the Eagles have, February 27th could be an interesting day. Need somebody to replace running back Correll Buckhalter (if he doesn’t sign a new deal here)? Colts’ running back Dominic Rhodes would look pretty good in midnight green. How about adding another weapon for Donovan McNabb? Why, isn’t that Bengals’ receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh staring through the gates to the NovaCare Complex?

As far as the other tackle position, I’d look for some reshuffling to occur along the offensive line. Barring injury or mental breakdown, Shawn Andrews will be, more likely than not, the starting right tackle on Opening Day. Todd Herremans should be the left guard, with Nick Cole continuing to grow into a solid right guard. Let’s face it: the guy played well in place of Max Jean-Gilles, who may need some extra time to come back from that horrible ankle injury.

I’d look for the tight end position to be upgraded via the draft. The Eagles will also look there to add depth at running back, safety and offensive tackle.

The Eagles could look to make some additions via trade, which virtually never happened three years ago. Cardinals’ receiver Anquan Boldin is seemingly destined to play somewhere in the NFC East and three of the four teams on Peppers’ approved trade list reside in the division.

It’s a pivotal offseason for the Eagles, who were a team that teetered on the edge of not making the playoffs to reaching the cusp of the Super Bowl. Which way the team falls depends highly on the decisions they make in the next eight weeks.

Steve Lienert can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com.

McNabb Should Take Cues From Dawkins

By Steven Lienert

The Phanatic Magazine

A story came out this week on 610 WIP that Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb wants the team to financially compensate him for being benched in Baltimore during the 2008 season. He might as well try to get blood from a stone.

Here's the deal: McNabb was benched for playing about as bad as he's played since he first came into the league. His wife was having twins, they were born early and there were some complications. Brian Dawkins went through a similar situation with his children in 2007.

Dawkins has stated a few times on record that not only did his family situation affect his play in 2007, he knows that it affected McNabb's performance in 2008. McNabb, however, has steadfastly and repeatedly denied such claims, saying that the births of his twins had nothing to do with his performance on the field.

The kids were born after the Cardinals game, which was about the time McNabb coincidently started playing better football. That would also explain the drastic turnaround from the devastating loss at Baltimore to the obliteration of the Cardinals on Thanksgiving night four days later. Perhaps the win over Arizona at the Linc had more to do with Brian Westbrook having his best game of the season rather than McNabb coming out of his slump.

What would be the harm in admitting that he was preoccupied with the health and safety of his newborn children? Fans that would fault McNabb for that either never had kids or were dropped on their head when they were kids.

If that was happening to any one of us, as was happening to me in October when my wife was having some complications with our little embryo, it affected my job. Once I knew everything was fine, things picked up and we were on our way (The baby is due in 11 days.) Once McNabb's children were safely delivered, he could play without that thought always lingering in the back of his mind. If Donovan was as honest and open as Dawkins, perhaps he wouldn't run into half of the problems he does when he opens his mouth.

In Howard We Trust

Alex Rodriguez was supposed to be the baseball player that made us forget about Barry Bonds and his asterisk-laden home run title. He was supposed to be Mr. Clean, the guy that did it the right way, the way young ballplayers should model themselves after. Instead, Rodriguez delivered a head-shaking admission that left an entire era tarnished. Welcome to the Asterisk Club, Alex!

Finding out A-Rod took steroids is like the day you found out the tooth fairy wasn't real. You always kind of wondered why the hell there would be a tooth fairy in the first place, but as long as she kept throwing money under the pillow, you really didn't question it all that much. As long as Bonds was Public Enemy No. 1, which might be forever, A-Rod figured he could quietly slug his way into history.

I'm glad that the spotlight found the cockroach in this instance.

A-Rod has cheated on his wife. He's practically admitted to being under the influence of drugs while on the job. Yet he makes millions. What's next? Does he beat his kids? Did he place bets on one of dogs while it was 'visiting' Michael Vick's house? Is Madonna really his mother?

The best part about all of this actually benefits Phillies' fans, because now Ryan Howard is the poster boy for clean slugging. I don't think there's any question that Howard's accomplishments have all come sans juice. He may not have enough years left playing at an elite level to catch Bonds, but at least Howard's final home-run tally won't have an asterisk next to it.

Alomar's Past Comes Back To Haunt Him

Has anyone else been intrigued by what's happening to famous spitter, er, uh, Mets second baseman Roberto Alomar? Ex-girlfriend Ilya Dall is suing him for $15M dollars, saying that Alomar told her that he contracted the HIV virus after he was raped by two men after a baseball game in his home country when he was younger and that he now has been diagnosed with full blown AIDS. Alomar and his current girlfriend came out today and said that the suit contained “vile lies.” In a story on FOX Sports, Alomar is quoted as saying: “I am in very good health and I ask that you respect my privacy during this time.”

What? Someone says you almost gave her AIDS and all you say that you feel fine and please leave me alone right now? At first I thought that the woman was crazy and that she was trying to extort cash from Alomar. Now I'm thinking the guy's really sick and he's figuring out the best way to handle this thing. Yikes. If that's story actually turns out to be true, it's one of the saddest things I've ever heard.

Episode 39 of The Steve Lienert Show

The 40^th-Episode-Eve edition of The Steve Lienert Show, a wildly popular Philadelphia sports and entertainment podcast, is available for your listening pleasure at www.podmitten.com. It's 20 minutes of your life you'll never get back, so why not spend it listening to The Steve Lienert Show?

Steve Lienert reads and responds to each and every email sent to stevelienert@hotmail.com, even those sent by unscrupulous Internet hackers.

Bad hats, Phelps’ Faux Pas and Understanding Donovan 101

By Steven Lienert

The Phanatic Magazine

Some rumblings and grumblings while waiting for my internship at the Eagles to come to an end later this afternoon… (Hey, if anybody’s hiring, I know a sportswriter that’s available!)

Nice lids…Whoever designed the championship hats that were given to the Steelers following their 27-23 win over the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII should be fired.

I mean, what was up with that? Did the NFL expect the 1980 Seattle Seahawks to lay claim to the Lombardi trophy?

I get that the colors were along the lines of those used for the Super Bowl logo, which was pretty crummy in and of itself, by the way.

Name me one team in the league whose logo would have looked good on that hat? Both the Steelers’ black-and-gold and the Cardinals’ red-and-white would have looked equally awful on that thing.

The conference championship hats were wearable, but only because the league stuck with a basic gray, black and white base.

I feel bad for Stiller fans. Not only are they stuck with wearing that God-awful thing forever, they have to live in Pittsburgh, too. Ugh.

Drugs Are Bad, M’kay… Can we officially stop labeling marijuana a drug now? Michael Phelps apparently likes to toke up from time-to-time and obviously it has inhibited him from becoming all he can be.

The guy only set an Olympic record by recording eight gold medals in Beijing. If he wants to have a bong hit on his own time, I don’t see why that would be an issue. If he was caught smoking a cigarette or chugging a beer, would he have caught as much flak?

To be honest with you, I don’t see a difference between the three, except that two of them are legal, both of which are worse for you.

As a matter of fact, Phelps should sign up for Pot Fest. He’s already a fine representative of American athletics and with his lung capacity there’s no way the Europeans would repeat.

C’mon Super 5… Hugh Douglas, Jeremiah Trotter and Ike Reese have taken major exception to Donovan McNabb’s comments on Howard Eskin’s show prior to the Super Bowl after No. 5 said that he gave the Eagles a 25-24 lead in the NFC Championship game.

Here’s what McNabb said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer: “We were up, 25-24. (The Cardinals) drove down 72 yards by running the ball -- probably, what, eight times? And it reminded me so much of (the NFC championship game in) St. Louis where, coming back in that second half, they ran the ball nine times with Marshall Faulk to keep our offense off the field. Because they were terrified of us going back out and scoring more points.”

Trot, Hugh and Ike are under the impression that not only did McNabb throw the 2008 defense under the proverbial bus, but he also threw the 2001 defense under the bus.

On the contrary, McNabb, in my opinion, was trying to say that neither the Rams nor the Cards wanted the ball back in his hands at the end of the game because they were frightened he would drive the team down the field for a game-winning score.

Now, whether or not he could is more than debatable. Whether or not he was throwing the defense under the bus is not. He wasn’t criticizing the defense. He just misspoke as he so often does.

The guy can’t win. He’s a freakin’ lightning rod. He should just keep his mouth closed, especially around Philadelphia.

And by the way, Trot, you are almost solely to blame for that loss to the Rams. You attacked the wrong gap on running plays for almost the entire game, which let Marshall Faulk run free for most of the fourth quarter.

It led directly to the beginning of the end of your first stint with the Eagles and you know it.

At the end of the day… I’ve never had a job I’ve loved more than the one I’m finishing up today with the Eagles. Before taking this job, my friend asked me if I really wanted to take it. He said that I ended up hating the last two places I worked and he wanted to know if I could handle hating the Eagles.

Needless to say, I love them now more than ever. I’ll never forget the past six months of my life and I regret nothing about the decision I made.

After everything that happened this season, it will be tough to go back to Gen-Pop in the upper reaches of Section 207 at the Linc.

But how many of us can actually say that they lived their dream, even if it was just a six-month internship? I touched mine and I loved every minute of it.

No one can ever take that away.

Steve Lienert is covering the Eagles for about two more hours. He can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com.

Eagles Fans Left Seeing Red

By Steve Lienert
The Phanatic Magazine

My brother Mike is a poker dealer on the strip in Vegas and his ride back to Sin City from Phoenix following the NFC Championship Game two weeks ago provided a glimpse of the fan base that has gotten to revel in the spotlight of Super Bowl XLIII.

Needless to say, Cardinals’ fans and their overall cluelessness have officially made me sick.

On the six-hour ride home, Mike tortured himself and listened to ESPN radio following the Eagles’ 32-25 loss to Arizona. He made himself listen to Phoenicians (Phoenixians? Phoenixvillites?) celebrate the biggest football victory most them have ever experienced.

One fan called in to the program and went on a diatribe about how long he’s waited for the Cardinals to deliver a Super Bowl. He spouted off about how long he’s suffered, making Cardinals’ fans out to be Israelites being led through the desert for 40 years.

It was all fine and good right up until the end of the call, when the fan said it was longest nine seasons of his life.

I really don’t know how my brother stopped himself from driving off the side of the road. Mike is a displaced Philadelphian, but like me and everyone else in my family, we’re lifelong Eagles’ fans.

I’m 37 years old and I’ve been suffering with the Eagles since birth. Mike just turned 30. That’s 30 years of championship-less football. My first child is about to be born sometime in the next three weeks and it has already suffered through its first Eagles’ disappointment.

(Seriously, you guys should have seen it. The baby was kicking the crap out of my wife’s uterus for three days after the loss in Arizona. I was so proud.)

Yet that stinkin’ Cardinals’ fan stands a good chance of calling himself a Super Bowl Champion after nine grueling seasons. How did he ever make it through?

Granted, rooting for the Cardinals for nine seasons is like rooting for an actual NFL team for 18 years, but Eagles’ fans my age have done that kind of time standing on their heads.

The best call of the day came from a fan that professed to be a two-year season-ticket holder. First of all, there is no such thing as a two-year a season-ticket holder in Philly. No self-respecting season-ticket holder would call himself a season-ticket holder unless they’ve been to every Eagles home game for at least five straight years.

There have been fans on the Eagles’ season-ticket waiting list three times as long than that guy has owned those, ahem, highly-coveted Cardinals’ tickets.

Anyway, the host of the show asked this guy what the most surprising part of the NFC Championship Game was for him. The fan said that the thing that surprised him the most was the number of people in their seats before kickoff.

Stunned by the answer, the host asked him why that was the case. The fan said that normally Cardinals’ fans keep tailgating in the parking lot until midway through the first quarter before checking the score of the game to see if the Cards are winning.

If they’re winning, they’ll go to the game. If not, they’ll just stay outside and keep tailgating. I kid you not.

If that isn’t a kick to the collective crotch of Eagles’ fans, I don’t know what is.

This is the fan base that has gotten an unexpected invite to Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII.

If that isn’t reason enough to root for the Steelers on Sunday, I don’t know what is.

Steve Lienert has been covering the Philadelphia Eagles for the past six months for PhiladelphiaEagles.com. He can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com.

This One Hurt

By Steve Lienert

The Phanatic Magazine

LANDOVER, MD. -- While switching between the Eagles’ team bus and the train following Sunday’s devastating loss at Washington, a big, fat Redskins fan that worked for Amtrak stood by heckling the team.

“We got y’all twice this year,” the redneck beckoned, among other things I don’t feel like typing right now. And no one, including yours truly, could do anything about it.

However, I certainly wanted to and my co-workers saw it. One of them had to pull me away from endangering my job, because I wanted a piece of that SOB.

About 25 minutes earlier, I was standing to Brian Dawkins’ right as he faced the media after the 10-3 loss to the Redskins at FedEx Field. Dawkins, to say the least, was despondent.

This is a man that commands respect. Right after the game, a game in which he did everything he could in his power to will his team to victory, Dawkins sat in his uniform at his locker in tears.

He always has the last press conference, but this time he took longer than he ever had to reach the podium.

While he stood there, as composed and as strong as ever, B-Dawk said exactly how he felt. He didn’t care what else has to happen for the Eagles to get in the playoffs. They had a chance to grab the bull by the horns but instead they were gored.

Earlier during the game in the third quarter, Dawkins ran onto the field prior to another second-half possession.

The offense was about to embark on another drive that began inside the Eagles’ 10-yard line, but Dawkins ran up to each player and butted helmets, slapped five and shouted motivation, trying to provide a spark to an otherwise stagnant game.

He’s 35-years old now and maybe he can’t do some of the things he could when he was 25. And that’s one large ‘maybe.’

He’s still the undeniable leader of this team. But his time here is slowly, or perhaps not-so-slowly, dwindling to an end.

Last night in the bowels of FedEx Field, it seemed like Dawkins looked into the lights at the end of his proverbial tunnel, perhaps for the first time.

His time is running short and imagining him in another uniform is too foreign to even consider.

Dawkins is a life-long Eagle – he doesn’t want to go anywhere else. He wants to win here. But after losses like the one in D.C. on Sunday, it’s easy to think that it’s just not gonna happen here while Dawkins is still running out of the tunnel on game day.

This isn’t like when Charles Barkley was traded to the Suns. He bitched and moaned his way out of town. Dawkins would never do that. Not in a million years.

That’s what makes this so heartbreaking. We are watching football greatness defined in almost every way but one and that’s with a Super Bowl championship.

After watching Dawkins’ reaction following the season-imperiling loss to the Redskins yesterday, that’s the only way a player like Dawkins would like to be defined.

A player of his caliber deserves nothing less.

Steve Lienert can be reached at stevelienert@hotmail.com.

(PS. For those expecting parts III and IV of ‘So That’s What That’s Like,’ there’s possible litigation involved, so I’ll have to get back to you on that after it’s over. Sorry about the delay, but that’s all I can really say about that now. Look at it this way: There’s another reason to relive the Phillies World Championship later this month! Thanks for your patience in this trying time.)

So That’s What That’s Like (Part II)

By Steven Lienert
The Phanatic Magazine

(Editor’s note: Due to technical difficulties beyond Lienert’s control, Part II is being posted a day late. He apologizes to his reader. Also, today, 11/7, is his birthday. You only turn 37 once.)

Sunday, October 26th

After just under two hours of sleep, I awoke waaaay more refreshed than I thought I would. Perhaps I was still riding high from the Phillies’ late-night victory a few hours earlier, or I’m the biggest Eagles fan in the history of time, but for whatever reason I was good to go.

I got to work on time, shockingly enough, and I strolled into the Linc ready for 10 hours of work.

The Eagles systematically dismantled Atlanta, which I appreciated because after the Phillies’ bottom-of-the-ninth win earlier in the morning and Game 4 looming later in the evening, I really didn’t have enough energy to go through a nail-biting Eagles game.

I got done what I needed to get done, but by 6 p.m. I was in full Phillies mode and my co-workers knew it. Joe Dolan volunteered to take one of my stories off my plate, freeing me up to get to Game 4 in enough time to get my tailgate on.

My buddy Uhle (that’s right – I have a friend named Uhle) was being inducted as president of something somewhere not in Philadelphia, so he GAVE ME what was his World Series ticket.

The only caveat was that I had to meet his friend Del, a guy I had never met before in my life, in the parking lot before the game. It was a little sketchy—I was told to meet him at Pole M3 in the lot at 7th and Pattison.

When I got there, he was no where to be found. I thought for sure I was getting hosed.

Standing alone in the parking lot wearing a pin-striped Pat Burrell jersey and red-feather boa, I began calling out “Does anybody here know anybody named Del?”

(On an aside, there aren’t many people named Del. The last guy I knew named Del was John Candy’s character in Plane, Trains and Automobiles, so it was kind of like asking somebody if they knew anyone named Xander or Han.)

Anyway, after three excruciating minutes, Del emerged.

The first few moments were weird at best – Del had a pretty young girl offering to do unspeakable things to him in exchange for my ticket. If I had been a little more dorky or spoke like Screech from Saved By The Bell (that reference is for you, Mike Rushton), that girl was getting my ticket.

Thankfully enough, Del kept his word and we entered electric Citizen’s bank Park. I was at my second World Series game in less than 24 hours, which was pretty surreal considering everything I had to go through to get both tickets.

When we got to our seats, I was shocked – we were sitting in the first row of the upper deck in left field. Del’s boss joined us and at some point in the sixth inning, after several Sierra Nevada’s and with the Phils winning handily, Del got up to get another adult beverage.

We had been laughing and joking like we had known each other our whole lives and when he got up to get more beer I happened to mention that very sentiment.

The people behind us were shocked – one young lady refused to believe we had met each other two-and-a-half hours earlier.

But that’s what events like a World Series does for Philadelphia sports fans – it galvanizes us, bring us together and perfect strangers become the closest of friends.

I spent the last three innings of the ballgame a little inebriated, and I started ripping apart a few of those cardboard drink carries they give out at the concession stands. I tore it into really small pieces, kept the shards in the empty beer cups and then used the full cups to toss confetti over the railing after the Phillies won.

This was by far the highlight of the week for me. I had absolutely the best time I’ve had at a ballgame since Game 2 of the NLDS where we, as fans, intimidated CC Sabathia into walking Brett Myers.

We were a game away from winning our first world championship since 1980, (I’m not the biggest Sixers fan you’re going to meet. I don’t think its right to say that the 1983 NBA title was my last.) and out on the street everybody leaving the stadium knew it.

It was no longer a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when.’ I remember walking down Pattison Avenue back to the car for a little postgame pop. I was yelling at the top of my lungs to anybody that would listen, “Somebody get this 28-year old monkey off my back!”

A scruffy man in his late 40s promptly came up to me and planted a big kiss on my right cheek.

He said, “I love you, man.”

I replied, “The next time you kiss me like that you better shave.”

Philadelphia was on the cusp of ending its drought. It was like a cauldron has reached its boiling point and the lid was moments away from exploding off the top.

(To be continued. Part III of So That’s What That’s Like will hopefully be posted Saturday, but if it’s not come back and check out the exciting conclusion on Monday.)

If you hate this story, leave a comment below or if you like reliving the week that was, email Lienert at slienert39@gmail.com.