Archive: January, 2009
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
"There are times in every man's life when he questions how exactly he got to a certain point. This is one of those times for me."
That's a direct quote from me during our live chat at the Wing Bowl Friday morning. It started with a 2:50 a.m. wake-up call, and included highlights such as strippers taunting me for typing on a laptop and running from a smoke bomb. For a complete rundown, I've included the chat transcript below.
Eagles fullback Kyle Eckel was in the same booth as me for much of the morning. It's always fun to see professional athletes away from the field. Eckel, a South Philly native, was approached pretty much every five minutes by an acquaintance he hadn't seen in years.
When I asked him about it, he said he hasn't lived in Philly since he was 18 so it was cool to run into old friends. Eckel couldn't have been nicer to fans and others who wanted to have their pictures taken with him. While professional athletes can often be stand-offish, Eckel was personable and seemed genuinely interested in conversing with fans and old friends.
"Don't make me look too bad," he said after noticing me typing.
"Sorry," he said after becoming the 100th person to bump into my laptop. "Don't write that down."
It was also cool to see Eckel meet Bernard Hopkins and tell him he was a big fan. As soon as Hopkins made his way into the booth with me and the Pink Vodka girls, a fan yelled "Donovan sucks!"
"I told you," Hopkins, a harsh critic of McNabb over the years, responded.
Later, Hopkins cracked on McNabb during an interview on WIP, saying other Philadelphia sports personalities were in attendance, but the Eagles quarterback was absent.
Another observation on Hopkins, who was also very friendly with all the fans. The guy couldn't go five minutes without being bugged for a photo, and most of the culprits were grown men.
Fan rule: If you are a guy over the age of 15, it is not OK to bug professional athletes for photos. Kids and women are excluded. And another exception is if you were a fan of the athlete as a child. For example, if I ran into Mike Schmidt, my first favorite sports hero, I would be allowed to take a photo with him.
But there's something disconcerting about a guy in his late 20s asking Hopkins for photos multiple times. For the record, I didn't see Hopkins turn anyone down.
Anyway, scroll through the chat transcript for details on the smoke-bomb incident, the taunting from the strippers and everything else.
I'll post my Super Bowl pick and some prop bets on Sunday morning.
Also, I know I promised a big draft post on Thursday, but it didn't seem right after the news of Jim Johnson's cancer broke. So we will kick that off this week sometime.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
This afternoon, The Inquirer and Daily News reported that Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson is battling cancer.I thought we could use the space here as a forum to share your thoughts and show your support for Johnson during this difficult time.
I’ll get things started.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
I received an e-mail from reader Aaron earlier this week, asking if Donovan McNabb was booed or cheered when he was in attendance at last weekend's Sixers-Knicks game at the Wachovia Center.I wasn't watching the game, but a quick Google search turned up a couple different results.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
New York Daily News columnist Gary Myers suggested earlier this week that Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin would be a nice fit to replace Plaxico Burress with the Giants:He has two years remaining on his four-year $22.75 million deal that pays him $2.75 million and $3 million in the next two seasons. He said over the summer the Cardinals lied to him about upgrading his money, which could lead to an offseason showdown and a potential trade.Boldin didn't want to talk about the offseason as he prepared for the Super Bowl in Tampa.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The theme of tonight's Comcast SportsNet interview with Eagles president Joe Banner was that change is not coming to the franchise.Don't expect an elite wide receiver. Don't look for the Kevin Kolb era to begin. And don't expect Andy Reid to be headed out of town anytime soon.
I wrote a couple posts today about the interview after CSN aired snippets of it last night -- one focused on Banner addressing Reid and McNabb's future and another on his comparison of Reid to John Madden -- but he had some other interesting things to say as the sitdown with Michael Barkann aired in its entirety this evening.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
E-mail from friend and loyal blog reader Lemur this morning:You should have included the part of the Banner interview where he compares Madden to Reid…it was ridiculous…he said Madden coached the Raiders for 10 years, like Reid, and went to 5 AFC championship games, like Reid, and won a Super Bowl…and he is considered a Hall of Fame coach yet Andy is criticized in this town.
Um, well Joe, the Super Bowl is huge!!...if Andy had won a Super Bowl he would not be criticized….this is why people get so mad at Banner.Lemur is right (it happens every three months or so) that I should have included the Reid/Madden comparison from the Joe Banner interview on Comcast SportsNet. So here is exactly what Banner said:
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Following the Eagles' NFC championship loss to the Cardinals, Joe Banner raised some eyebrows with his comments about Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid."What do they say? If you keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result, you're kind of kidding yourself," Banner told Comcast SportsNet's Derrick Gunn after the game.
Today, in an interview with CSN's Michael Barkann, Banner clarified his comments.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Last week, we told you about Michael Irvin's reality show, which will feature contestants competing for a chance to get on the Cowboys' training camp roster.This week, it's Terrell Owens.
That's right. T.O. will be featured on a VH1 series this summer that examines his life off the field.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
For the first time since the end of August, there was no "10 observations" post on Moving the Chains this Monday morning.And yesterday, for the first time since the end of August, there was no football.
There were NBA games on TV. And I hear there was an NHL All-Star Game, although I have been unable to confirm. But, no football.
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
That's what at least one writer thinks.Allen Wilson of The Buffalo News wrote a column last week (that we somehow missed here at MTC) in which he said Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is too good for Philadelphia, and he wishes the Birds would get rid of him.
The Philadelphia Eagles said Monday that quarterback Donovan McNabb will return next season. He has two years left on his contract, so they have no reason to get rid of him. But I wish they would. Philadelphia doesn’t deserve him. Since arriving in the NFL in 1999, McNabb has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But I don’t know of any professional athlete who is less appreciated in the city he plays for.
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