THINKS THE EAGLES STOLE ONE
Apples and oranges? Or just midnight green and orange?
Both the Flyers and the Eagles operate in the world of a hard salary cap, although the enormous revenue generated by the NFL makes it a lot harder to spend too much there.
The Flyers are in a league where the cap is not only holding steady, but might be falling soon.
That didn't stop the Flyers from taking a big risk, and taking on a potentially big contract, to play for a Stanley Cup win right now.
They went out and traded for Chris Pronger, giving up two valuable draft picks, a recent first-rounder in defenseman Luca Sbisa and a decent scorer in Joffrey Lupul. In making the trade, they were also unable to resign winger Mike Knuble. Heavy trade, very heavy.
But as I tried to point out in a column in today's Inquirer, it was also the right move. Because you have to take big chances and big risks to win it all. Maybe they fall flat, but they are taking their shot.
Now, rightly or wrongly, the perception in Philadelphia is that the Sixers also take big chances (albeit not the right ones all the time), that the Phillies finally spent enough to get to the World Series (barely), and that the Eagles think they play in the National Fiscal League.
Is that a fair assessment of the Eagles? Well, they have been far, far under the cap at times, and based on actual dollars spent, some studies indicate they are somewhere in the middle of the league. Looking at that, it is difficult to disagree.
Part of the reason they were way under the cap last season was that they didn't have any of those 24-to-28-year-old guys they wanted to lock up forever. And that's at least partly because they have been developing them as rapidly in recent seasons as they did in the past. Being less talented isn't the goal, but it sure saves money.
The Eagles have two months until the opening of the season. Let's see them make some roster additions that match up, in risk and possible reward, with the Flyers' trade for Pronger. Then, promise, we'll stop talking about this terrible unfair perception.
You don't have to feel sorry for Allen Iverson. He doesn't feel sorry for himself. But his journey after leaving Philadelphia hasn't been what he would have imagined.
The Detroit Pistons, thrilled to have his salary off their cap -- even if that freedom came at the price of destroying their season -- did not make an offer when the free agency period began last week and Iverson was available to talk to any team.
There are rumors that me might end up in Memphis or Miami, probably for the $5 million mid-level or veterans exception, or even in Charlotte with Larry Brown. That would be very Larry Brown-like, and maybe it would work.
Iverson talked with the Detroit Free Press about the next stage of his career. There wasn't much new, but it's still amazing to think that Allen ends up like this, essentially unwanted, a bench player who won't accept that role, a legacy from another generation.
Note to Ed: Don't even think about it.
Doug Glanville, who played for the Phillies from 1998-2002 and again in 2004, works mainly out of Chicago now, as a baseball analyst for the local Comcast SportsNet pod. He's sort of the Ricky Bottalico of Post Game Live in Chicago, except instead talking about what's wrong with the Phillies, they talk about what's wrong with the Cubs.
Glanville, a U. of Penn grad who has written regular columns for various publications in the last several years, is working on a collection of baseball essays that will be published next May. Otherwise, pretty much your typical ex-jock.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Glanville gave Philadelphia fans credit for unleashing the best line he ever heard from the stands. (You were expecting Los Angeles?)
You can read the entire article here, but here's the story about the line that really made him laugh:
"When I got traded to Philly, there were a lot of stories about my engineering background and how in my senior thesis I evaluated the transportation feasibility of the Phillies building a new stadium at 30th Street Station. So I did this whole study, and now I'm playing for the team, so it was kind of a cool story about how I designed a stadium. I was really struggling in April the first year I got traded there, and Dykstra was like a god in Philadelphia and I was replacing that guy. Fans weren't too happy with me and my .180 batting average. One of the fans behind me said, 'Hey, Glanville. Why don't you design a stadium you can hit in?'"
