A new beginning and a final stretch

If anything could exemplify the Philadelphia Sports teams it was the Eagles game this Sunday. In such a small 45 minute dose it wrapped up everything that we've always seen in our teams. Play well, keep us hanging on till the last second even when our backs are to the wall and there's a 9000 lb gorilla bearing down on us and then at the last second as I like to say, the rip our hearts out of our asses and cram it down our throats. The Eagles led 24-7... thats right a 17 point lead with only 15 minutes of football left against a Giants team that had been shutdown the entire time... only to blow that lead on poor clock management and shotty ball handling. Sitting here now, Tuesday afternoon, I still can't believe what I witnessed in person that Sunday Afternoon. They DOMINATED...and I mean completely DOMINATED that game. From front to back over 3 quarters and if they had wrapped that up they would've been considered by everyone an NFC powerhouse for sure... forget Dallas, New York, Washington, Carolina... this is Philadelphia's Conference to lose... but they didn't and now they sit, tied 3 ways for 1st place and we can't forget Dallas, New York, Washington or Carolina. Now we have to settle for the mediocrity everyone expected from them all off season. Now it may just be me because I'm biased, or it may be real, but for 45 minutes of that game they looked like the Super Bowl team from just two years ago. Now only time will tell, and lucky for us that game was just the second of the year, and we'll have to sit back, wait and see what can become of these 2006 Eagles and whether or not they can flip that game and learn from it or if they are completely devastated. They need to soundly beat the 49ers and the Packers in my opinion to still offer fans like myself hope that they can finish at the top, which i still believe they can. So when I go back to that stadium on October 8th to see the game of the year thus far... I can walk into that stadium with that cocky glare and confidence that they'll kick the crap out of the Cowboys. "If you're looking for T.rO.uble... iT.'s O.ver in Dallas"

As for the Phils they start their final stretch with my prediction still in site. 26 losses thus far since the all-star break and I said if they lose no more than 28 then they will win the wild card. The loss last night to the Cubs was a shame and they now have to go 10 and 2 in the final 12 for my prediction to come true. With San Diego and LA trading spots at the top of the West and Wild Card the Phillies are essentially chasing two teams. Today they sit 1.5 games behind San Diego and 2 games behind the LA Dodgers. The closest team to the wild card behind the Phils are the Giants who are 2.5 games behind them... and we are down our Final stretch. After this series with the Cubs they have a game against a 3 game set at home vs. the Marlins, 1 vs. Houston, 3 at Washington and 3 at Florida. All teams below .500 and all teams beatable, they lead the season series against all of them. So it lies in the hands of the Phils... 1.5 out of the wild card with 12 to go... my prediction is they need to win 10 of the 12... my further prediction is... they win 8 or 9, lose by 1 game and again like all teams, keep us hanging on to the edge of our seats until they put themselves in prime position to rip our hearts out our asses. Good Luck Phils/Eagles and lets try to win one for the fans this time!