Philly Sports Update: The GBU

"The GBU" stands for, in case you haven't figured it out, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Bad and Ugly are pretty much interchangeable, though.

Good: The Phillies, a team that seems to be able to shake off adversity with no problem. Lose Game 2 of the NLDS and then have to play two in frigid Denver? No problem. Blow a 1-0 series lead in the NLCS due to poor managing, poor fielding and poor relief pitching? Meh. Just send Cliff Lee out there to pitch 8 shutout innings and roll to an 11-0 win to take a 2-1 lead over the Dodgers. The Phils are two wins away from a second consecutive World Series appearance. This is unprecedented, given their history. The Phillies have only been to the World Series 6 times, and in four of the previous five, they didn't even make the playoffs (of course, the first two times there were no divisions and no postseason other than the Series).

1915 -- lost World Series; 1916 -- 2nd place in NL
1950 -- lost World Series; 1951 -- 5th place in NL
1980 -- won World Series; 1981 -- 1st place in NL East pre-strike, lost in Division Series
1983 -- lost World Series; 1984 -- 4th place in NL East
1993 -- lost World Series; 1994 -- 4th place in NL East

Bad: The Flyers. After two strong wins to start the season, they split a pair of high-scoring games against Washington and Pittsburgh. After that they blew a 2-0 lead late in the game and lost in a shootout to Anaheim. That was a week ago Saturday. Since then they're in an 11-day stretch where they play once, despite the tighter schedule caused by the 2010 Olympic break. That one game was a lackluster 4-2 loss to a Florida team that came into the game 1-4-0. For all the hype, so far it looks like the same inconsistent, ultimately underachieving Flyers team from last year.

Ugly: The Eagles. Oh, where to begin after a 13-9 loss to the lowly Oakland Raiders, a team that lost to the Giants 44-7 a week earlier? No touchdowns; 52 pass attempts to 14 running plays; two missed field goals; wasting all three first-half timeouts early and then, after driving deep into Raiders territory, calling a timeout when they had none left; six sacks allowed by their offensive line, just two sacks for their defense; 2-for-16 on third downs...one of the more disgraceful, embarrassing losses in the Andy Reid era.