Archive: April, 2009
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Did an Eagles chat this afternoon.
One hour.
Thirty-eight questions.
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
It was a Game 6 in Philadelphia, a long time ago. It was one of the first times they let me out of the office. It was to go to the airport and chase down the Los Angeles Lakers as they arrived for what they hoped would be their NBA Finals-clincher against the Sixers. It was so long ago that professional teams actually, you know, flew commercial.
Center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was hurt. The question for coach Paul Westhead was, well, how would you configure things in Kareem's absence? It was 1980 -- again, so long ago that there was no airport security that I can remember, no nothing, you just went to the gate and hung out. And when people found out that the Lakers were on the flight, dozens of people were suddenly hanging out.
Walking backward, trying to get in a few questions, Westhead said that he might just play rookie Magic Johnson at center. He laughed, everybody laughed. I was fairly incredulous because, well, I was 22 and incredulous was pretty much more normal state of being. But I put it all in the paper and, what do you know, Magic Johnson played center in Game 6 at the Spectrum and played great and booted the Sixers out of the tournament.
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
I mean, if this stuff is going to keep happening to Cole Hamels -- the latest being a sprained ankle on Tuesday night -- somebody at least ought to be able to make a buck out of it. Because you know that somebody in New York has a voodoo doll, perhaps like the one pictured above on the cap.
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, a straight shooter in most cases, was pretty vague about the future of goaltender Martin Biron at a Tuesday press conference. After the team's first-round playoff ouster by Pittsburgh, Holmgren is in evaluation mode, clearly. But given several chances to say that Marty would be his guy if they can work out the money under the salary cap, Holmgren declined.
The fact is, backup Antero Nittymaki is unsigned, too -- and has a hip problem to boot, a lingering injury that will require further checking, according to Holmgren. Anyway, Holmgren said, "We’ll continue to talk. Some of it’s going to come down to, in terms of both of those guys...whether we can afford to sign both those guys, I don’t know. These are things we will continue to discuss.”
Holmgren was then asked if he would be happy with Biron as his starting goaltender next season. The GM said, “I think Marty’s a good goalie. I think he’s had a good couple of years here and (if) we move forward with him, that’ll be a decision we make in the next little while.”
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
As someone who remembers when the NFL draft was sometimes 12 rounds in one-day, an absolute car wreck of a day, the evolution of this thing is nothing short of astounding. And now comes this news, which actually has been coming for a while but which the NFL is now saying out loud:
The league is considering taking the first round to prime time, and turning it into a seven-round, three-day extravaganza.
The confirmation comes from an NFL public relations guy, via Twitter (heaven help us).
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Sitting over in the NovaCare Complex on Sunday when the Eagles traded two fifth-round picks for Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs, two questions immediately hit me:
1) What does this mean for disgruntled corner Sheldon Brown?
2) Why did it only take two fifth-rounders to acquire a starting corner?
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Draft weekend is message time in the NFL, maybe the only time when a team tells the truth -- and not with its words but its actions.
With that:
In selecting Jeremy Maclin with the 19th pick in the first round, and trading up two spots to do it, the Eagles selected a wide receiver higher than they have since they took Kenny Jackson with the fourth overall pick in 1984. That's a quarter-century.
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Nobody talks about Anquan Boldin's contract, which is the reason he wants out of Arizona. If the Eagles were to acquire him in a trade, they would have to renegotiate his contract with two years remaining and throw in an SUV full of cash. If the rumors about Boldin wanting $9 million-plus per season are true, this is an enormous mouthful.
Renegotiate with two years remaining...
After already doing Jason Peters...
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Thaddeus Young won it at the end with a layup, contorting around Orlando's Dwight Howard with 2 second left. The final score was 96-94. The Wachovia Center erupted. The Sixers now lead the Magic in their best of seven playoff series, two games to one.
It was a wild night. Howard had 36 for the Magic. Andre Iguodala had 29 for the Sixers. The Sixers blew a 17 point lead but survived.
The first half was the Sixers’ best of the series. It was their best because they did what they do best – running and attacking the rim. They made 13 baskets from inside of about 4 feet, and they also made 12 out of 13 free throws, and they built a 60-49 lead at the break.
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
I will not pretend to know Knowshon Moreno's projected ability as an NFL player. There are people in the league who are paid good money to throw that dart and make that guess -- and it is that, an educated guess, nothing more.
But I will repeat what I have been saying since the day the Eagles were eliminated from the playoffs by the Arizona Cardinals: they need to come out of this off-season with a running back who can step in and play immediately.
I know everybody in town wants a wide receiver. But go game-by-game last year and really look at it -- look at the situations where many of the games turned -- and the Eagles' depth at running back was their greatest problem. When Brian Westbrook limped, they were limp. They had Correll Buckhalter last year and they had Tony Hunt for part of last year and it wasn't enough. They weren't good enough all-around backup running backs. They didn't know the plays. They couldn't pick up blitzes. They couldn't be trusted, not enough, when Westbrook was nicked. And now both of them are gone and Westbrook is coming off of what has been described as minor off-season knee surgery. There is no backup plan currently in place that is worth talking about.
