Frank Fitzpatrick Gets Owned

The Philadelphia Inquirer's own Frank Fitzpatrick wrote an article about the Brian Dawkins situation in today's edition of the paper. To be honest, I didn't even know who Frank Fitzpatrick was until today, and since this article takes the time to take "sarcastic" jabs at Philadelphia fans, we figured we would respond to Frank in kind. See Frank's entire article here. Here is a portion of it--

"The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
How could the Eagles let Brian Dawkins walk?
Where are they going to find another 35-year-old safety with fading skills?
Who is going to fist-bump and chest-thump after such rare and monumental events as a first-quarter tackle?
And now, when their starters are introduced before home games, who's going to come bounding out of the smoke like a kangaroo on crack?
Why couldn't they have listened to us fans?
I mean, why do we even bother to dress in team jerseys and get drunk every Sunday if we're just going to be ignored? Wonder how they'd like it if we didn't renew our season tickets? Bet you that franchise wouldn't survive long if they had to fill the stadium with high-school graduates.
Doesn't Andy Reid know that we're the real football experts? How many times has he called a talk radio station? How many fantasy leagues is he in? What are his blogging credentials?"

Really? Fitzpatrick rips the fans as if we don't know anything. Who does this guy think he is? Our very own, Dr. G took the time to e-mail Fitzpatrick, and the response is included below--

Re: your column "The Squawk over Dawk," I'm aware that your MO is to offer up what you take to be clever, sardonic parodies. In fact, they are nothing more than nasty, sarcastic hatchet-jobs caricaturing passionate Philly sports fans and, in this case, a truly inspirational player. Your depiction of this future Hall-of-Famer as a has-been showboater couldn't be farther from the truth, and is just plain ugly and mean-spirited in its level of disrespect and incivility. But perhaps I'm being a bit harsh in my judgment: after all, you out of all the Inky sports writers would know first hand what it's like to be an aging has-been with "fading skills..."

Pitt Wins Wild Game Against Marquette

The Pitt Panthers won Wednesday night to improve to 27-3 on the season, 14-3 in the Big East. With this win, Pitt clinched the coveted "double bye" in the Big East tournament. The top 4 seeds in the Big East tournament will get the double bye and advance to the Quarterfinals without even playing. This is a very big deal, especially when playing in the best conference in basketball. The Panthers can still finish anywhere from 1st to 3rd in the conference, depending on what happens this weekend.

The game last night at the Pete was a wild one. The first half was fairly uptempo, with Pitt outplaying Marquette. However, the Golden Eagles hit some late 3's in the 1st half to keep the game close. The Panthers went to the locker room with a 7 point lead. The 2nd half started, and it got crazy. Marquette went on a 21-5 run in only the first four minutes of the 2nd half. This turned their 7 point halftime deficit into a 9 point lead. The Panthers were not rattled, and from that point on, proceeded to shoot 16-20 from the field the rest of the way to win by 15. The Panthers "Big 3" all played well. Blair had 23 and 9 boards, Young had 18 and 8 boards, Fields had 17 and 10 assists. Gilbert Brown and Jermaine Dixon also put up double digits, and gave the Panthers a lift.

What does this all mean in terms of seeding for the tournament? I feel like Pitt has done enough to get a #1 seed for the tournament no matter what. However, UConn is coming to Pitt this Saturday in what should be another great game, just like the first time these two teams played this season. If Pitt wins that game, there is no doubt they lock up a #1 seed in the tournament, even if they lost their first Big East tournament game. If Pitt loses to UConn, they may just need to get to the Big East semi-finals or finals to get a #1 seed in the tournament. It does help that Oklahoma lost last night, and Memphis should not be considered for a #1 seed. Dickie V, and Dan Shulman, who announced last night's Pitt game were discussing where Memphis would fall in the Big East, and they were both saying Memphis would fall in the 4-5 range, or even 6-7 range in the Big East. As of right now, Pitt still has the #1 RPI in college basketball.

Flyers trade Upshall, get nothing in return

Flyers send Scottie Upshall and a 2nd Round pick to Phoenix for Daniel Carcillo. Carillo is just a thug on the ice with minimal talent. We already have Cote and Asham, why do we need a third tough guy. I had high hopes for the Giroux, Briere and Upshall line. I thought they could be an exciting line that could cause mismatches with other teams due to their speed and skill. The only thing that makes sense is the Flyers are dumping salary to make another move. The deadline has past, so it looks like that will not happen. It is unclear as to why the Flyers had to include a 2nd Round pick in this deal. Upshall for Cacillo straight up has the advantage going to Phoenix. All of this being said, Paul Holmgren has made great deals since taking over the duties of GM from Bobby Clarke. So I guess for now, we have to trust him.

March Madness Bracket (3/04/09)

With March Madness quickly approaching, I wanted to give our version of bracketology. Below you will find the 65 teams we are projecting to make the tournament, and their projected seeds.

#1: UConn, Pittsburgh, UNC, Oklahoma
#2: Louisville, Memphis, Kansas, Duke
#3: Michigan State, Wake Forest, LSU, Missouri
#4: Villanova, Washington, Gonzaga, Marquette
#5: UCLA, Xavier, Clemson, Purdue
#6: Arizona State, Illinois, Butler, Syracuse
#7: West Virginia, Tennessee, Utah, Florida State
#8: Texas, Dayton, BYU, California
#9: Saint Marys, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Boston College
#10- Ohio State, Kentucky, Utah State, Creighton
#11- Davidson, Siena, Virginia Tech, UNLV
#12- Providence, Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma State
#13- North Dakota State, Western Kentucky, VCU, Rhode Island
#14- American, Vermont, Morgan State, Weber State
#15- Cornell, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Robert Morris
#16- UT Martin, Radford, Stephen F. Austin
Play-in-Game: Cal State Northridge, Alabama State

Last 4 In: Providence, Rhode Island, Florida, Arizona
Last 4 Out: Penn State, Minnesota, San Diego State, Cincinnati

Conference Breakdown (Multiple Bids)
Big East (8) – UConn (1), Pittsburgh (1), Louisville (2), Villanova (4), Marquette (4), Syracuse (6), West Virginia (7), Providence (12)
ACC (7) – UNC (1), Duke (2), Wake Forest (3), Clemson (5), Florida State (7), Boston College (9), Virginia Tech (11)
Big 12 (5) – Oklahoma (1), Kansas (2), Missouri (3), Texas (8), Oklahoma State (12)
Big Ten (5) – Michigan State (3), Purdue (5), Illinois (6), Wisconsin (9), Ohio State (10)
SEC (5) – LSU (3), Tennessee (7), South Carolina (9), Kentucky (10), Florida (12)
Pac-10 (5) – Washington (4), UCLA (5), Arizona State (6), California (8), Arizona (12)
Atlantic 10 (3) – Xavier (5), Dayton (8), Rhode Island (13)
Mountain West (3) – Utah (7), BYU (8), UNLV (11)
West Coast (2) – Gonzaga (4), Saint Marys (9)

NFL Mock Draft (3/02/09)

1. Detroit Lions – Matt Stafford, QB, Georgia
2. St Louis Rams – Jason Smith, OT, Baylor
3. Kansas City Chiefs – Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest
4. Seattle Seahawks – Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech
5. Cleveland Browns – B. J. Raji, DT, Boston College
6. Cincinnati Bengals – Eugene Monroe, OT, Virginia
7. Oakland Raiders – Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri
8. Jacksonville Jaguars – Andre Smith, OT, Alabama
9. Green Bay Packers – Everette Brown, DE/LB, Florida State
10. San Francisco 49ers – Brian Orakpo, DE, Texas
11. Buffalo Bills – Malcolm Jenkins, CB, Ohio State
12. Denver Broncos – Rey Maualuga, LB, USC
13. Washington Redskins – Michael Oher, OT, Mississippi
14. New Orleans Saints – Brian Cushing, LB, USC
15. Houston Texans – James Laurinaitis, LB, Ohio State
16. San Diego Chargers – Darius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland
17. New York Jets – Mark Sanchez, QB, USC
18. Chicago Bears – Josh Freeman, QB, Kansas State
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia
20. Detroit Lions – Peria Jerry, DT, Mississippi
21. Philadelphia Eagles – William Beatty, OT, Connecticut
22. Minnesota Vikings – Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois
23. New England Patriots – Aaron Maybin, DE/LB, Penn State
24. Atlanta Falcons – Michael Johnson, DE, Georgia Tech
25. Miami Dolphins – Eben Britton, OT, Arizona
26. Baltimore Ravens – Percy Harvin, WR, Florida
27. Indianapolis Colts – Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU
28. Philadelphia Eagles – Sean Smith, S, Utah
29. New York Giants – Brandon Pettigrew, TE, Oklahoma State
30. Tennessee Titans – Evander “Ziggy” Hood, DT, Missouri
31. Arizona Cardinals – LeSean McCoy, RB, Pittsburgh
32. Pittsburgh Steelers – Duke Robinson, OG, Oklahoma


Click here to see our 2/25/09 Mock Draft