LLLLLET'S GET READY TO RAMBLE!

By Matt Mattare

Too much has gone on over the past few weeks to choose a single thing to write about, so let’s touch’em all from the Birds to Happy Valley to Sir Charles to Pat the Bat.

I don’t think you can call him the MVP (because that distinction belongs to the offensive line), but Brodrick Bunkley had himself a ballgame and showed up in two of the games defining moments. His penetration on both failed Giants fourth downs blew up New York’s offensive line and any hope of a first down. Has he lived up to the hype of being a first round draft pick? I’d say on the whole no and I think he’s probably too inconsistent to suddenly blossom—but times like this show you what he could be capable of.

The people that say Joe Paterno should retire are just wrong. That being said, the people that say he shouldn’t retire because he’s still got it (pointing to a few BCS games in the last four years) are delusional. At this juncture JoePa is simply a figure-head while Tom Bradley and Galen Hall run the real show, but Penn State owes Joe Paterno everything. He put their football team on the map, he’s raised and given back millions of dollars to the University, and he’s poured his entire life into his time in Happy Valley—PSU owes it him to let him retire on his own terms. Why? Because his presence obviously isn’t hurting the team (now you can point to the BCS appearances). He still fires people up at pep rallies, goes out for a few big recruiting visits, and deflects a lot of attention from the “real” coaches while essentially overseeing the operation as Head Coach Emeritus. If things weren’t going well then I think it’d be a different story and it’d be selfish for Joe to continue to coach at the expense of the school he loves—that just isn’t the case right now.

Fearless prediction #1: Steelers over the Ravens in a tight one…the difference will be Joe Flacco remembering he’s a rookie. While we’re mentioning his name, announcers need to just stop with the stupid nicknames for rookie QB’s. Matty Ice? Joe Cool? We get it, they’re mature and composed rookies and we know they’ve started enough games that they can’t really be considered rookies anymore. I’ll give a pass on Matt Ryan because that’s actually his nickname…but Joe Cool was Joe Montana’s nickname. Anyone who thinks Mr. Flacco deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the original Joe Cool probably thinks the WNBA should expand to 32 teams.

That whole thing where McNabb went and picked up the phone on the Giants sideline was just lame. I didn’t think he was a punk for doing it and I’m all about funny things even if they draw a flag…I just thought it was stupid. Leave it to Donovan to give the media some sort of negative fodder to discuss about him after one of the biggest wins of his career. The epitaph of his Philly career will probably read something like “a great player who did everything in his power to make sure he was underappreciated.”

I don’t think Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds will ever have a notable NBA career. I just don’t think he’s got the chops…but on the college level he’s one of the most dangerous people in the game. He’s a microwave guy who is totally willing to take over a game, something that is relatively rare today. Against Seton Hall he threw up 40pts and iced the St. Joe’s game for Nova last month. Villanova isn’t a great team but come tournament time they’re a really dangerous team who could make a Sweet 16-Elite 8 run on Reynolds’s shoulders (just like last year).

Brian Dawkins has to be inching up the list of most beloved sports figures in Philadelphia history. Has there ever been a player in this town who has worn his emotions on his sleeve and—without fail—shown up giving every ounce of himself for every game of his career? He might be slipping a little bit and losing a step, but the guy deserves a tip of the cap from even the most critical Birds fan.

Fearless prediction #2: Birds will win an ugly game in Arizona…this will lead to two of the most obnoxious fan bases in all of professional sports invading Tampa Bay. Over/Under on brawls started after “Pittsburgh’s going to the Super Bowl” is responded with an E-A-G-L-E-S chant: 23.5. Get two holding cells ready.

I think Charles Barkley is one of the funniest individuals in sports and a lot of times I love hearing his opinions. But what I’ve learned is the more you open your mouth the more likely you are to sound like an idiot. His initial condemnation of Auburn for not legitimately considering Turner Gill for head football coach because of his race may have had some merit, but as he explained himself more and more he lost more and more credibility. I think the race card is played FAAAAAR too much in sports today. Of course racism is still present, but I’d say 90% of the people in power these days just don’t care about the color of a person’s skin—they care about performance. Example: Michael Wilbon’s insinuation that Notre Dame was racist for firing Tyrone Willingham was indescribably ignorant. There are exceptions to the rule though and I think that most of them are found in the Bible Belt. I agree 100% with Barkley that Auburn never would’ve hired Gill because he was black, but to say that he MUST have been the guy they hired is simply ignorant. There are a few coaches that would have been very viable candidates on par with Gill…it’s just that none of them were chosen. Charles I know it’s hard/borderline impossible, but state your point and then get out of your own way.

Pat Burrell’s off-season was one of the most bizarre things I ever witnessed. Like him or not he was a huge part of the Phillies organization over the past decade and the Phillies made it painfully obvious that they had no desire whatsoever to even extend a contract offer. According to Burrell’s agent the Phils barely even talked with him…and the thing is fans were totally ok with moving on to Raul Ibanez and somewhat miffed when he signed with Tampa. The whole thing is just weird. And for the record, Ibanez will not be as productive as Burrell on the whole, but his valleys won’t be as brutal as the slumps Burrell was capable of.

Don’t think it’s possible that the Eagles can pull it off because it’d just be too good to be true? Well consider what’s happened over the past five years: the Red Sox have won two World Series, Phil Mickelson won three majors, Peyton Manning won a Super Bowl, Kansas basketball won a national championship, Tiger Woods won a US Open with a broken leg, Notre Dame football went 3-9, Roy Williams actually won a big game in the Final Four and won a national championship, Tom Coughlin out-coached Bill Belichick won a Super Bowl, the Tampa Bay Rays won the pennant, and the Phillies ended a 100 season championship drought in Philadelphia. Tell me the sports world hasn’t been turned a little upside down right now…

Fearless Prediction #3: The Sixers will not make a run like their fellow Philly teams have in the past few months…I literally have no fear in saying this. Bet the house on it.

I just read that Jim Harbaugh interviewed with the Jets. I watched him coach at Stanford—he will never be a successful NFL coach. Stick to college Jim. Throwing hissy fits on the sidelines may be excused as passion in Pao Alto, but that kind of volatility won’t win the respect you need in the big leagues.

Fearless Big Five Prediction: Temple will be the best team in Philly within three years…Fran Dunphy is a great coach and if he sticks around—which I think he will—then Jay Wright’s Wildcats will have some serious competition for the Big Five title.

Has there ever been a more insignificant player that garnered so much attention than Pacman Jones? He’s a decent cornerback and an above average punt returner…if he didn’t nickname himself Pacman he’d be in a cell next to Rae Carruth right now.