A CITIZEN'S BLOG

I’m back … My wife and I got back from Downingtown last night and are still busy unpacking from our trip back east. Took a trip to the Jersey shore, had a bad experience at the Things Remembered at the Exton Mall, searched vainly for discounted Eagles t-shirts (got a 2003 division title shirt for $4) and jerseys, saw a movie (Meet the Fockers: very funny), ate a ton of food at the Shady Maple in Lancaster County, and hung out with my family. It was a great trip. But now, back to work.

Phillies: all quiet on the Western Front. The team is essentially all set for the 2005 season. The only big questions in baseball now, with Randy Johnson going to the Yankees, is which New York team is going to land Carlos Beltran. My money is on the Mets.

So what’s next for A Citizen’s Blog? I had a post on NL shortstops I wrote before Xmas that I’ll post tomorrow. Then I plan to try some new research areas on defense and pitching that should be interesting for everyone to read, though I may not have content available for a week or two. My wife just gave me the 2005 Bill James Handbook as a sort of post-Xmas present, so I’m sure that will give me six or seven topics over the next week to write about.

These are the doldrums…

Eagles: I skipped watching the Bengals – Eagles game on Sunday, so I missed that ugliness. All I have to say about it is this: the Eagles should invest some money in the offseason in a backup QB, bump Detmer to No. 3 on the depth chart and bid adios to Jeff Blake … I like the NFC’s playoff seeding. Since Green Bay is No. 3, they can’t play the Eagles in the divisional round, so the Eagles will get to play the Seahawks, Vikings or Rams in round two, and all three teams are ones with significant flaws. The Vikings have their usual troubles with Randy Moss’ maturity and Culpepper’s consistency. The Seahawks are soft and prone to bone-headed collapses. The Rams? Not that talented anymore. They struggled to beat the Eagles B unit.

In all liklihood the Eagles will easily escape the divisional round. I’d be surprised if they don’t. The title game will be against the Pack or the Falcons. I think the Eagles can take ‘em, even without T.O.

Steelers: I think the Steelers are fortunate in their seeding as well. With the Colts No. 3, they will only play the AFC’s other two championship teams in the AFC title game. I can’t see the Broncos doing much. I like the Jets, but Pennington’s injury is a question mark. And I have no idea what to make of the Chargers. They could be good or awful. I can’t see any of them beating the Steelers.

Predictions: Seahawks over the Rams, 20-17; Packers over the Vikings, 28-10; Colts over Broncos, 38-13; and Jets over Chargers 17-16.

Pitt: yeah, my alma mater got blown out by Utah, but they did a good job in the first half staying with them. Who can argue that Utah isn’t the best team in the country? I challenge anyone to persuade me that they aren’t. They were fast, aggressive, innovative and very, very disciplined. Tonight I’ll watch the Orange Bowl, but I won’t be seeing the best teams in college football: I saw that team play New Year’s Day in the Fiesta Bowl.

More tomorrow.