Crossing Broad

Jason Babin as The Hulk on Daily News Live

Happy Halloween, folks. He was airbrushed by Julie Dorenbos' Skin Palette. 

Photo courtesy of the incredibly self aware CSN Philly Twitter account.

Andy Reid Shows Off Personality...

... by wearing the mask of a man with a serious personality disorder.

Andy Reid was rather loquacious after last night’s win (I’ve been playing Words with Friends with Ms. CB), displaying a personality that we haven’t seen since probably when the Eagles beat the Giants last year. He continued his jolly tour today. Here he is with Dave Spadaro, who, well, ah never mind.

The video is here.

Mayor Nutter and Ed Rendell Campaign to Put Temple in the Big East

The Villanova fan in me wants to pretend this isn't a thing. The sports fan in me would like to see even more high-level college athletics in Philly. I'm torn.

Anyway, Nuts and Gov (cop show?) both sent letters to the Big East. Philly Sports Daily obtained them. You can read them here. Simple sentences ftw!

Bryzgalov Not Speaking to Media, Writers File Complaint

If a goaltender falls in the woods and refuses to speak about it, does it really happen? 

It’s official: The Philly media has already gotten to Ilya Bryzgalov... or at least his goalie coach, Jeff Reese. First, on Friday, Reese said that he thought Bryz was spending too much time talking to the media. Today, Sam Carchidi of the Daily News reported somewhat shocking news that Bryz would only speak to the media after games in which he plays. Wait, what? 

[Philly.com] 

Through the team's public-relations department, Bryzgalov requested that he no longer talk to the media (and, in effect, the fans) except after games in which he plays.

The coaching staff and management supported the decision, the Flyers said. (The feeling here is they may have suggested it.)

 

A few hours later, the Flyers quickly reversed course and announced that Bryz would only be off-limits the day before games and day of games, not after every practice, as was first thought to be the case.

So, who had October 31st as the day Bryz entered the Mike Richards Zone?

There’s two sides to this: One, Bryz is hilarious, candid, and speaks in a perfectly ironic Russian accent which automatically adds a x1.25 modifier to his quotes. The day that foreign mouth gets muzzled will be a sad day.

Two, the outrage (and subtle digs) from the beat writers are intentionally (and unintentionally) hilarious:

Carchidi:

Jack McCaffery:

Dave Isaac:

Ryan Bright:

Tim Panaccio:

But Randy Miller wins:

Bird Droppings: Running Commentary From Sunday Night Football

Photo via Philly Sports Daily photo gallery

This started out with me taking notes on my iPad, then slowly evolved into a full-on running commentary of the Eagles national TV Halloween party.

 

Pre-game

- There’s Faith Hill. This song is cheesy and awful, but even as Faith ages, she continues to wear the black leather pants well. Ordinarily, we’d find her mousey and annoying. In a sports context, however, she’s downright saucy. Women lose about 10 years and 10 pounds when they're connected to sports-- it's a fact (Hannah Storm Corollary). I mean, Colleen Dominguez looks like she got hit by a bus... but is still damnnn fine when she’s interviewing an NBA player.

- Oh hey, speaking of getting hit by a bus, there’s Michele Tafoya. She’s dressed as a pumpkin tonight. Or a pilgrim. One or the other. Michelle is the exception to the sports context rule.

 

First quarter 

- It appears as though the Eagles re-sodded the center of the field, yet it somehow looks worse than the rest. The two-tone field is one of the most underrated travesties in all of sports. Groundskeepers have one job, and one job only: make the field look good. Isn’t there a way to mow, cut, or dye the grass so it matches the rest of the turf? This happens all summer with that little box in front of the pitcher’s mound at CBP-- can we at least get the football field looking right eight times a year? Is that too much to ask? 

- Annnnnd Shady McCoy trips on the new grass for his first run of the game. 

- Watching the game with the family tonight. My Mom: "The grass looks horrible, it's on TV.” I know, Mom. I know.

- 12:04 1st- More Mom: "Why does he dress and look so unprofessional?" That would be the first Rob Ryan sighting.

- 10:41 1st- Jeremy Maclin touchdown! That has to make Ryan Howard happy, he wore a Maclin jersey to the game.

- First drive: four runs, four passes. Eagles score first first-possession touchdown of year. It’s also the first first-quarter touchdown given up by Cowboys this year. This, folks, is a good sign.

- They actually had to try to screw this one up: Eagles go offsides on kickoff, get penalized five yards, re-kick, kick ball out of bounds, now, because they got moved an additional five yards, the Cowboys will start with the ball on their own 45. Who had the double-penalty kickoff parlayed? Big money if you did.

- Tony Romo takes the field. Is it just me, or is he sporting a borderline rattail from beneath his helmet? I know it’s always there, but this has a little bit of flow going on. Again, NATIONAL TV-- it’ all about appearance... and, you know, winning.

Video: Fight in Subway After Flyers Game Last Thursday

According to the YouTube description, this guy kicked someone in the subway following the Flyers game against Winnipeg last Thursday... He wound up in a trash can.

What makes this video, however, is the cell phone with Mario Bros. text alerts. They were almost timed with whitey here getting deposited into the metal trash receptacle. Almost.

via The School Philly

Your Monday Morning Roundup: Tricking Dallas Edition

Rob Ryan dressed up as a fat bitch for Halloween.

The Eagles? Reader Scott guessed correctly: They went as a playoff team. The full running commentary is on the way, but here are some things you may have missed this weekend.

 

A couple of quick notes:

- If you weren’t watching the game and drinking $6 pitchers during football Sunday yesterday at Drinker's... well, then you missed out. Every Sunday. And $1 hot dogs during all Eagles games. 

- Philly Phaithful will kick off Movember tomorrow. If you buy a t-shirt between Nov. 1- Nov. 30, you fight cancer-- it’s that simple. So, while we’ll rarely tell you to NOT purchase a t-shirt today, we would recommend coming back tomorrow, clicking that little link in the top right, and buying one (or two or three or four) shirts to help fight cancer. A Kimmo Timmo, Beer With The Best Finnish shirt would be high on that list.

- Michael Vick, Reggie Jackson, Ilya Bryzgalov and others will all be holding autograph sessions at BC Sports. Details here.

 

The roundup:

- The Eagles waxed the Cowboys. Marty Mornhinweg takes a swipe at Rob Ryan.

- Scott Hartnell, Jimmy Rollins, and James van Riemsdyk were all in attendance to watch the Union have no gameplan other than attempting home run counters for 90 minutes (really, what the hell? Here, let’s send Le Toux deep and see if he can out-run the defense-- DOOPUMB).

- Adam Reigner on how he met Jim Johnson.

- Ryan Howard tailgating at Eagles game.

- If you don’t understand how the MLS Cup playoffs work, here’s a breakdown.

- Here’s Chris Pronger’s eye.

- Bill Lyon, legend, on the Eagles use of the run. 

- John Miller on Vick taking charge.

- Bill Belichick wearing a Tony La Russa jersey.

- This is the Marlins’ new hat.

- Here’s a picture of the Occupy Philly folks sleeping in tents outside City Hall: [via @JimMacMillan]

I’m sorry, I know these people have a right to protest, but where in the world does it say anything about their right to set up a tent city in the middle of Philadelphia? These Occupy protests are going to turn into worldwide chaos. Jobless hippies nonstop-picketing in cities around the world? How can this possibly end in disaster?! And I actually agree with many of their beefs. But how about instead of running around cities, complaining about everything and costing tax payers money, they use their jobless time to contribute to society?

Really, I’m just worried that their hippie village outside City Hall is going to ruin Mayor Nutter's  Christmas Happy Fun-Time Non-Denominational Theme Park Village, which is one of my favorite things. 

- The Larry Mendte-Alycia Lane trial will begin soon. Why do I get the feeling that some lurid, mostly creepy details are about to be revealed. Getting my popcorn. Now.

- ESPN Dallas invokes Santa booing incident (thanks to Dan Gelston for this link).

- Good article on how Jagr handles is duties as owner of a Czech hockey team while playing for the Flyers.

- Our friends from the Hardball Times rank the best baseball postseasons in the Wild Card era. 2011 comes in fifth.

Video: Marty Mornhinweg Takes a Swipe at Rob Ryan

Marty Mornhinweg tells Derrick Gunn on Eagles Postgame Live that he doesn't know who Rob Ryan is. D-Gunn later said that what Mornhinweg told him off the air about Ryan was a bit more colorful.

Eagles Give it to Cowgirls

Source: Eagles website, photo gallery here

Sports. Porn.

Crushing the Cowboys, Romo reaching for wayward snaps, angry Rob Ryan, running the ball, winning challenges, Shady bumping Mudd. It was all sex, really. I'm surprised it didn't end with pool boy Juan Castillo walking into Jerry Jones' box, dressing him up with makeup and pigtails, and forcing the forlorn owner to call him padre.

Some stats, then we'll have a full running commentary coming your way shortly. Tricks and treats here:

Our man John Ellis hit the nail on the head last week-- the Eagles threw the ball 28 times and ran 38 times (including seven Vick scrambles). They controlled the game, controlled the clock, and controlled the scoreboard.

Shady McCoy rushed 30 times for 185 yards. 185.

Vick was 21-for-28, 279 yards, 2 TD, and 129.9 QB rating. Romo? 18-for-35, 203 yard, 1 TD, 1 INT, 66.7 QB rating.

The Eagles had a total of 70 plays. The Cowboys? 49. Time of possession? 42 minutes to 17. That's what running the ball will do for you, folks.

The Birds had 31 first downs (Cowboys 12), 495 total yards (Cowboys 267), 4-for-6 in Red Zone (Cowboys 0-1), 7-for-12 third downs (Cowboys 3-for-10), 239 rushing yards (Cowboys 89). 

Final score: 34-7. 

Finally, this. Rob Ryan post-game: [quotes via here, here, and here]

"It all comes down to coaching. Andy Reid was reading my mail, and he kicked my ass ... I gave our guys a lousy plan."

"If I gave them any extra motivation, hell I certainly never backed it up. The whole fucking thing was on me."

"I got my ass kicked, but I don't saying anything I don't believe. That was embarrassing and it's my fault."

"It comes down to preparation and I got beat by Andy Reid. It's ridiculous."

 

Sports. Porn.

Where's Scott Hartnell?!

At the Union's first ever playoff match with James van Riemsdyk and Jimmy Rollins!

The Union lost, 2-1, but will have a chance to make up that one-goal deficit in the second game of the series in Houston on Thursday.

Few more pics after the jump (some courtesy of Union Facebook page).

My Brief Encounter with Jim Johnson

 

Tonight, the Eagles will honor Jim Johnson and Eric Allen. Adam Reigner, producer at WIP and CB contributor, remembers the time he met Jim Johnson. And Kendra.

 

How I met a legend.  

The elevator door opens up and I walk inside with several older men getting their tape recorders and pads of paper out of their bags. I reach down and pull my cell phone out of my pocket-- no messages, just checking the time. The elevator swoops down to the bottom floor, opens up to blank white concrete walls, and a gust of wind greets me as I step out to see DeSean Jackson jogging down the hallway into the Eagles locker room.

I had no idea where I was going. I went with the flow.

As I approached the door where everybody was headed, I saw a blonde standing outside of it with a pink Hank Baskett jersey on. Standing there in all her glory was Kendra, star of “The Girls Next Door”. After the initial shock of seeing a Playboy bunny wore off, Andy Reid took to the podium-- quite the contrast.

UniDiction 2011: Week 8 - Eagles vs. Cowboys

Follow me on twitter (@dancfuller) for uniform updates during Sunday's games. If you have any questions or want to have a uniform-related argument, whether fact-based or opinion-oriented, just send something @ me. 

OK, let's all agree that it was good to see the Eagles win one. But can we also agree that the Redskins looked a whole lot better in losing than the Eagles did in winning? I'll take the UniDiction loss (2-4, same as the Eagles, by the way), but I won't back down about the Redskins Maroon over Yellow being up there as probably the best combo in the NFL and the Eagles White over Green... just making me mad.