It’s the same reason we love the little guy and will NOT be renewing our season tickets if BK trades him.

I was far from pleased when I learned of the Phillies replacement for Ed Wade. Don’t get me wrong – ridding the organization of Wade was the best decision since trading Bobby Abreu to the Astros for Kevin Stocker. A close second has to be signing free-agent Danny Tartabull, who broke his foot on his 7th at bat of the season and retired the next season. But I digress…

Frustrated by the old-school mentality of this franchise, I prayed for a young, up-and-coming replacement. Why not pluck an assistant GM from a perennially successful organization such as the Braves, Twins or Indians? Instead, the Phillies went with Pat Gillick, an old-school GM with a proven track-record from his days in Toronto and Baltimore. And that was what I feared most – with very little to prove, Gillick appeared to be another Wade-like pawn, carrying out Dave Montgomery & Co.’s dirty work while taking the heat from the media and the fans.

Thus far I have (thankfully) been proven wrong. Gillick is off to a tremendous start. First, he didn’t overpay for 34 year-old Billy Wagner, who, although he remains a top-10 closer, is far from worth the 4 years and $43 million given to him by the Mets (think Tom Glavine!). More importantly, I really like the Jim Thome–Aaron Rowand trade. There is no doubt that if Thome is healthy, he will have a fantastic year, especially as the DH at homer-friendly Comerica Park. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him hit 40+ homeruns, especially with Paul Konerko alongside him in the lineup.

However, the Phillies had no place for him with the emergence of Ryan Howard. With this trade, the Phillies dumped half of Thome’s salary, provided Howard the reassurance of his role within the organization and received in return a young and very solid CF. Rowand plays tremendous defense, covering great ground in center field and sacrificing his body to make an out. Moreover, his offense is certainly above average; he is a career .283 hitter, including .310 with 24 HRs and 69 RBI in 2004. With the Rowand trade, our lineup should take on the following appearance:

Jimmy Rollins – SS
Chase Utley – 2B
Bobby Abreu – RF
Pat Burrell – LF
Ryan Howard – 1B
Aaron Rowand – CF
David Bell/Abraham Nunez – 3B
Mike Lieberthal – C
Pitcher

My other wish for the Phillies was for them to pursue Nomar. It made sense for them to offer him a one year, incentive-laden contract and play him at 3B. However, after the Nunez signing, I don’t think that will happen.

Fortunately, both Bell and Lieberthal only have a year left on their deals. Offensively and defensively they are the overwhelming weak links. I understand they are untradeable (no team in their right mind would take such bad players with such expensive contracts), but I would still like to see the Phillies go out and sign a replacement for one of them. Why not pursue catchers Ramon Hernandez or Bengie Molina? Both are fabulous defensive catchers and above-average offensive players. More importantly, they would both be drastic improvements over Lieberthal. I know that would mean swallowing Lieby’s $7.5 mil, but the Phillies have extra money with Wagner leaving via free agency along with the salary relief from Thome’s money coming off of the books.

Overall, I am pretty pleased with the lineup the Phillies will put on the field for opening day, 2006. The Phillies have a solid nucleus of young players (sans Bell/Lieby), an above-average offense (sans Bell/Lieby) and an excellent defense (sans Bell/Lieby).

What is certainly missing is pitching, which I will address in my next column.

Via For The Birds.

A man arrested for running onto the field during the Philadelphia Eagles’ game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday told police he was spreading his late mother’s ashes.[...]

As he reached the 30-yard line, he dropped to his knees, made the sign of the cross and laid down on his stomach. Security personnel reached him moments later and he offered no resistance as he was escorted from the field.

The 33-year-old Noteboom, a native of Doylestown, said his mother died of emphysema in January 2005, shortly before the Eagles’ Super Bowl appearance.

“She never cared for any other team except the Eagles,” Noteboom told WPVI-TV after he was released from custody Monday.

This really doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. That’s the character of this city right there.

[UPDATE: CBS has the video. ]

[UPDATE 2: Arlen Specter has a war, a wrecked economy, a destroyed city, and a Supreme Court nomation to deal with nothing else to do so he joins Sharpton and Ralph Nader by offering his $0.02 on this whole T.O. debacle. ]

Arbitrator Richard Bloch ruled today in favor of the punishment handed down to outspoken and maligned wide receiver Terrell Owens by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Let me just say that I am SHOCKED. I did not think there was any way that the suspension would be upheld. There was every indication from insiders and experts on the matter that the suspension would be reduced. Moreover, sources familiar with Eagles management believed that the front office didn’t have the stomach for another grievance. These folks indicated that if another grievance was brought by the NFLPA, this time in regards to Owens’ deactivation as a means of suspension, the Eagles would simply release T.O.

But for now all of those thoughts are for naught. Bloch not only upheld the suspension, but also the Eagles right to suspend T.O. “due to the nature of his conduct and its destructive and continuing threat to the team.”

I am THRILLED. T.O. got exactly what he deserved. He was relentless with his verbal attacks on the team, Coach Reid and Donovan. Pushing the limits with his words and his antics, T.O. dug his own grave. He will now pay for his poor judgment with the loss of his salary for four games, a portion of his signing bonus and the remaining 5 years and $35+ million on his contract. Moreover, he has tarnished his image, jeopardizing his chances of finding his way onto a Super Bowl-bound team. Moreover, he may have created a Michael Irvin-esque roadblock toward his bid for Canton.

T.O. approval ratings have actually dipped below that of Ricky Santorum. His actions were a disgrace to himself and the NFL. Now he can spend some time to think about the past six months while chilling on his couch watching the rest of the season on TV. Have fun bud…now you have plenty of time to hang with your boy Drew.

On another note, the Eagles finally rid themselves of the Jose Cortez and Reggie Hodges experiment….ummm, what took so long?

In other Philadelphia sports news, Jim Thome is on his way back to the Midwest, as the Phillies have dealt him to the reigning World Series Champions for center fielder Aaron Rowand….more on this trade later.

Bill Lyon has been at The Inquirer for more than 32 years, starting in the summer of 1972 as business editor. He became a sports columnist in 1973. He won the National Headliner Award in 1988, was nominated six times for the Pulitzer Prize and was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. Lyon was selected seven times by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association as the Sportswriter of the Year for Pennsylvania.

Lyon hasn’t been writing regularly for a while now but his wise words will still be sorely missed from the sports page. He was definitely one of the first writers at the Inquirer who I would look for in the paper when I was a kid. Eagles Eye points out this telling quote from the day after the Sixers won their ’83 championship — this town’s last — that may give some despondent Philly fans in midnight green a reason to hope, or at least call WIP:

But what Malone brought to the Sixers was a new attitude, best explained by Pat Riley, who watched his defending champions brutalized in four straight.

“When you keep losing in the finals,” Riley said of the Sixers, “it takes a tremendous toll. You lose a little bit of your basketball life. They had a lot of guys who had tasted nothing but the pain, and that’s bad.

“Getting Moses was the best move they could have made. It rejuvenated them. You could look at them and see they were more committed.”

Let’s hope Andy, Joe, and Jeff are reading this. Good luck Bill.

But in a flash it was gone. With 4 minutes remaining, the Cowboys marched down the field with a 4 play, 72 yard, 36 second drive that resulted in a Terry Glenn touchdown. The Eagles looked tentative on defense and their all-out blitz on the TD pass burned them for the second time this season (Todd Devoe TD in Broncos game). When the Eagles regained possession, Donnie made his one and only major mistake of the game, throwing a pick to Roy Williams that was returned 46 yards for a touchdown But even after the interception, the Eagles still had a chance. But it wasn’t to be, and for the first time in my life I could take solace in the Eagles loss to a Bill Parcell’s coached football team – he lost his brother to brain cancer earlier this week and buried him yesterday morning.

A few observations from this game. Donovan has proven himself a warrior, but it is time to sit him down. The birds are not statistically eliminated from the playoffs, but they aren’t helping themselves by keeping Don in there. He is really banged up and it shows – the man cannot torque his body and it is absolutely killing his ability to throw the ball. I am not throwing in the towel on the season, but at this point I am not willing to risk D Mac’s long-term health. Moving on – Reggie Brown played like a rookie, but he is going to be pretty good in this league. I like him as our future #1. Way too many false starts last night (6) – having a new center is no excuse. Also, far too many penalties last evening – 14 for 95 years (compared to 4 for 31 for the Cowboys). The front-four finally put pressure on the QB – player of the game was definitely Trent Cole. The Eagles have been decimated by injury – Buckhalter, Fraley, Grasmanis, Pinkston, Dirk Johnson, Jason Short, and McDougle. That is a lot of players to lose for the season, and with Donnie playing hurt, you can essentially add him to that list.

Finally, the Eagles still have a shot, and until they are statistically eliminated, I will not give up hope. But I am realistic and pragmatic, and the Eagles look like they are heading for a January without playoffs. Don’t forget that after their Super Bowl victory in 2002, the Patriots missed the playoffs in a season in which they were riddled with injuries. We all know how their following two seasons ended.

And, as always, holler…

Congratulations to Terrell Owens for finally apologizing to the numerous individuals he has offended over the course of the past several months. It was humorous to see a man of such egotistical proportions read a written 90-second statement in an effort to apologize for six-months of wrongdoing. Unfortunately, it was too little too late and was a far cry from what was necessary to win back the hearts of Eagles fans or management.

I applaud Jeffery Lurie, Joe Banner and Andy Reid for finally ridding the team of this cancer. Regardless of his productivity, his off-field distractions far outweighed his on-field contributions. There is no doubt in my mind that this Eagles team would be better than 4-4 if they started the season with no TO. In the four seasons preceding his arrival, the team was a combined 46-18 with 4 playoff victories (let me remind you that our talented receiving core include James Thrash, Todd Pinkston and a menagerie of Antonio Freeman, Freddie Mitchell and Chad Lewis). The distractions from and constant media attention on the TO situation has detracted from this team’s ability to play well on the field and gel in the locker room.

Although we are in an ominous position (4-4 record along with back-to-back games against the Cowboys and the Giants), this team is filled with fighters and I would be far from shocked if we went 6-2 in the second-half of the season and made the playoffs as a wild-card team. The team must rally around its leaders (McNabb, Dawkins, Trotter) and hope for better luck in the injury department. In my opinion, the next two games are must-wins. If the Eagles can beat both the Cowboys in the Giants, starting prepping for some games in January.

On another note, is Drew Rosenhaus the biggest disgrace in the history of mankind? [ed. note - Yes.] In five-months as TO’s agent, he has managed to transform one of the biggest heroes in Philadelphia sports history into arguably the greatest villain (stiff competition comes in the form of Eric & Carl Lindros and Tommy Gun Morrison). He provided TO with horrendous advice and guidance. Drew, excellent job preparing the “apologyâ€? speech made by TO the day following last Thursday’s comments (McNabb vs. Favre and Eagles management’s failure to acknowledge his 100th receiving touchdown). I mean, don’t have TO read an apology and then not provide him with an opportunity to speak from his heart. And the last thing you should do is open up your mouth. Dominating the press-conference with your ridiculous comments regarding Terrell’s “good intentionsâ€? and then refusing to answer any questions raises the enmity of fans and management.

In my opinion, he is the man responsible for TO’s downfall. This is not to say that TO is not at fault – he should be held accountable because in the end he made the decision to open his mouth. However, when you have an arrogant, selfish and egotistical man (I am referencing Rosenhaus although this is also applicable to TO) in the ear of a narcissist (yes, I am now referring to TO), the results are what we saw these past few months. Shame on Drew Rosenhaus and shame on NFL players for allowing him to represent them. I suppose that is what you get from an ass who writes his own autobiography at age 33.

On a positive note, welcome back Chad Lewis and get well soon Spank Fraley and Jason Short…

And as always…holler

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Adam is a lifelong and die-hard Philly-sports fan who can’t understand why his city’s championship drought is old enough to legally drink. He can be reached at amilakofsky@gmail.com.

Terrell Owens’ career as an Eagle is over and I, for one, couldn’t be happier. Andy Reid announced this afternoon that the team will suspend TO for an additional 3 games and then bench him. Yeah, we’ve got all kinds of problems, but at least this waste of a human is no longer amongst them.

My take on things right now? The offense looked better this week, though still lacking, and will need to use this improvement to build up some momentum. The defense is gonna have to settle down and blitz more to get better pressure. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out at the end of the season that Lito has been playing hurt all year with the troubles he’s been having. The Birds need to go at minimum 5-3 from here on out to make the playoffs. It’s gonna be tough.

In some more positive salary cap news, the Eagles have signed David Akers to a three year extension. It was good to see the black belt back on the field yesterday.

And a big shout out to Ryan Howard, Phillies first baseman and National League Rookie of the Year.

• Eagles are 13 point favorites.
• Peter King picks the Birds 38-10
• Everyone at ESPN (even Merrill Hoge!) picks the Eagles
• Seeing as how I did this last week and the Eagles lost, don’t expect me to continue pregame picks if things go awry today
• West Coast football is weird. 10 am kickoff?
• Many commentators see a big game coming out of Owens this week as he returns to San Francisco for the first time since he left the Bay. I don’t see it.

Updates as the game starts…

1st Quarter
Ok, I was way off. Short pass to LJ on 1st down, overthrown ball to Parry on 2nd, and then a broken play on 3rd and 6 that resulted in a 68 yard Owens TD. Donovan looked a bit off but who cares?

Solid 3 and out. Let’s play the field position game. Eagles start at the 42 yard line.

Nothing doing so far from the running game. McNabb is definitely feeling pain or something from last week’s chest bruise despite his protestations to the contrary. Normally he throws the ball or makes something happen on third down there but this time he definitely looked labored running to the sideline. Poor punt by Johnson puts the Niners at their 28.

Niners get a nice run from Barlow on 1st down kicked off by a great block on Keith Adams from the fullback, but on the next down Dhani Jones gets his first pick of the year.

Damn, that was quite a hit on TO by Rumph. Incredible how he can hold on to the ball and pop right back up like nothing happened. Two great throws and catches for LG Smith. 14-0 Eagles. I think I’m going to cut back on the detail from here on out.

Hollis is looking real nice against the run. I bet Michael Lewis leads the team in tackles again this year.

Lamar Gordon’s first run as an Eagle. Nice job bouncing the ball out for a first down. And the crowd appreciates it. LJ looks like he’s gonna have a career day.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH DAVID AKERS?

End of the 1st quarter and the Birds lead 14-0. Should be 17-0. Akers better redeem himself soon or the fans at the Linc will be all over him. Niners only ran 11 plays in the 1st. PS – I love picture-in-picture.

2nd Quarter

Hold on to the ball Dexter Wynn! Siragusa is fat. Shawn Andrews is fatter. Is it just me or did he just fall over on his false start call in the first quarter?

Wow, that looked like a duck when Donovan let it go, but when it dropped into TO’s arms it was the perfectly thrown ball. Right between the two defenders on the outside shoulder. 21-0 and TO just stands at the goal line, staring at the roaring crowd.

Akers just limped off the field holding on to the back of his thigh.

Another patented Lito Sheppard interception on a very poorly thrown ball from Rattay. How good is he at getting blockers in front of him? I’m fairly surprised he didn’t get 6 out of it. Westbrook TD on the first play. McNabb has 4 TD passes. Something’s definitely wrong with Akers. Mark Simoneau just kicked the extra point!! Mike Bartrum kicks off.

McNabb’s QB Rating is 155.0. Rattay’s is 0. That’s right, 0. Niners finally get a second 1st down. (What was with the defensive front there? 4 down linemen with the d-tackles between the guards and the tackles. Huge gap in the middle. Was it just the camera angle that made that look weird?) Niners finally penetrate into Eagles territory for the first time but Rod Hood picks it off on the next play.

Donovan has all day in the pocket. Glewis finally catches a ball. Reggie’s got a catch too, right? Glew with another nice catch on a great play call from Andy. I hope everyone started LJ on their fantasy teams today. Westbrook thinks he’s Dante Hall all of a sudden. McNabb fumbles. D’oh! Nice red zone D from the Niners though a 3 and out from the 49ers doesn’t bode well for them.

Gordon looks good. I’m hoping he gets a lot of touches today and we really get to see what he can do. Haven’t seen McCants so I assume he’s not dressed. I’m loving Gordon in the backfield and Westbrook in the slot.

END OF THE HALF. Eagles 28, San Francisco 0.
McNabb: 18/23, 279 Yards, 4 TD, 0 INT
Owens: 5 Rec., 143 Yards, 2 TD
Smith: 7 Rec., 84 Yards, 1 TD
Westbrook: 13 Carries, 67 Yards, 5.2 AVG

Rattay: 2/9, 19 Yards, 3 INT

3rd Quarter

Niners come out strong with a nice return and a 13 yard pass on 1st down. Another first down and the Niners are in FG range. Let’s see if we can keep the shutout going. Perhaps I spoke too soon as Darwin Walker sacks Rattay on 3rd and 8 to push them out of FG range.

Spach with a nice catch to get them off the goal line. I love that kid. Anyone from the Bay Area with dread lochs, who can also play football, is a-ok in my book. I think I saw him selling goo balls at Bonnaroo this year. Eagles punt and there are guys in the crowd wearing green and white feather boas.

Mike Patterson is so much fun to watch. I can’t wait until the day, somewhere in the future, where the cameras are virtual and you can choose the angles and the players to watch. Rattay started to look good with an 18 yard pass but Lito comes off the left side and adds a sack to his line for the day. They follow with a nice screen to Barlow to put the yardage back on the board. WHAT A TERRIBLE SPOT. Throw the flag Andy!! Dawkins flattens Rattay but the Niners do put 3 on the board. Meanwhile in Carolina, the Patriots are down 20-7.

Reggie Brown with a great catch on 3rd and 4!! Another rookie that I’m a big fan of, though I miss his dreads. Akers is practicing kicks on the sideline. I guess there really is no need for your QB to run when you’ve got a checkdown receiver like Westbrook. And then he adds 20 yards on a draw that looked like a loss on the next play. Gordon does his own little shake-and-bake on the next play. Greg Lewis with a TD on a 5 receiver set. Everyone’s getting in on the action! Akers does kick the PAT. New England just scored 10 points in 37 seconds with a FG and (I think) a Vrabel pick for a TD.

Akers looked like he struggled on that kickoff. Was that supposed to be a squib? Not sure about the announcer’s idea of Hank Fraley kicking. I miss Merrill Reese. I have an idea that the Eagles organization should explore: How about another station where they show nothing but the cheerleaders? I would buy an extra TV just for that. Too bad it’s wildly inappropriate for me to hang up the Eagles Cheerleaders Lingerie calendar in my office. Kalu just had a nice sack but I still think we’re going to miss Burgess this year. Johnson brings the house on 3rd and long and the Niners have to punt.

4th Quarter

Finally Koy Detmer comes in. I love the neck beard. Parry is actually getting a little YAC today. And another catch for Josh. Looks like we’re gonna run the ball through Gordon and occasionally dump it off to the FB for the rest of the game. Donovan averaged 8 yds per play. The offense keeps moving with a catch by Reggie Brown. Foxsports.com asks, “Is TO the NFL’s sexiest man?” Can someone tell me what demographic they’re trying to appeal to with this season long contest? A nice screen to LJ Smith. Not sure I’ve seen Andy run a screen to the TE before. Meanwhile Alex Smith is warming up on the sideline. McCants and Reno Mahe come in the game. Billy McMullen with a catch! My apologies for the mixed tenses and poor sentence construction throughout this absurdly long post. I probably still sound smarter than the idiots on FOX though. LJ baby! And they just showed the cover of tomorrow’s Daily News: Donovan and TO standing next to each other, talking, and…smiling. Lamar Gordon with his first touchdown as an Eagle. Fly Eagles Fly!

Ooh, I like the Eagles camoflauge baseball caps. Gotta get me one of them. Jason Short finally gets to bruise someone today on the kickoff. Well let’s see what the #1 pick in this year’s draft can do. Hands the ball of once, almost throws an INT, and then gets hit by kicker Simoneau.

McMahon comes into play? Ok…. Barring a dramatic Niners comeback this will be the Eagles most lopsided win since 11/8/81. McCants gets his first catch with some very nice yards after. 11 players have caught a pass today. McMahon takes a knee and the game is over.

EAGLES 42, SAN FRANCISCO 3.

Phew, live blogging is tough.