See? The Associated Press confirms it. I suppose that makes for something of a deadline, like professional writers have to deal with. So let's get to work, shall we? And hey, I've got a mention of a brand new team! In order of best to worst...
The Phillies are in the midst of spring training, and even so they're in the best shape of our local teams. They're a pretty solid favorite to win their third straight National League championship. I have some concerns (the bullpen, the bench) but if their key players are in good health, I don't see why they won't be in the World Series once again. Thus far in the spring, their starting pitchers have been excellent. Roy Halladay, of course, is the main focus, and in his first two starts he hasn't allowed a run in 5 innings while striking out 8 batters. With the offensive support he should get, with the switch to the NL meaning he'll face lineups that include opposing pitchers instead of designated hitters, with the fact that he's now in the same division as the Nationals and Marlins instead of the Yankees and Red Sox, he ought to rack up a lot of wins.
The Flyers need to rack up a lot of wins to secure a playoff spot, but they're still too inconsistent. The Olympic break, as I feared, dented their momentum. They've gone 4-2-1 over the last two weeks, but have been rather subpar defensively, capped off by an embarrassing 5-1 loss at home to Boston on Thursday night. But they followed that up with a 3-2 win over the tough Chicago Blackhawks today, coming from behind to tie the game with 2:04 left, and winning on a Chris Pronger goal with 2.1 seconds left. Besides the inconsistency, their goaltending has to be considered a question mark. Ray Emery is out for the season (and may never play again), and even though Michael Leighton has played very well, this is the first time he's had such a stretch of success. There's no guarantee it will last, or that he can step it up for a playoff run, and after Leighton there's Brian Boucher, who has been poor in very little playing time.
The Eagles need a great draft to shore up their weaknesses because they haven't done it through free agency. It's a weird situation because clauses in the collective bargaining agreement that's going to expire in a year or so have led to there being no salary cap, but also to most of the quality free agents being restricted instead of unrestricted (meaning if you want to sign one, the player's current team can either match the offer or receive draft picks as compensation). Still, all the Eagles have done is sign a guy coming off injuries (we saw how well that worked out with Stacy Andrews in 2009) and bring back Hank Baskett, who is now known for his fumble of the onside kick that jump-started the Saints' comeback to win the Super Bowl, but is still best known as Mr. Kendra Wilkinson. Also, they still haven't traded any of their quarterbacks, so the endless Donovan McNabb debate continue to pollute the airwaves.
And now for the new team: the Philadelphia Union, a new expansion franchise of Major League Soccer. There are three things wrong with this. One, it's soccer. Two, their stadium is in Chester. Three, the team may be shut down before it plays a game because the league's players are threatening a strike.
Still, they rank ahead of the pathetic 76ers. One of the worst teams in the NBA but probably not pitiful enough to really improve their draft lottery odds. A building that's half-empty almost every game. A coach who seems to be a moron, even to a non-basketball expert such as myself. And Allen Iverson's season was ended because of some combination of his daughter's illness, his wife's filing for divorce, his alleged gambling problem and his alleged alcoholism. Sorry, Sixers. Thanks for playing...
One bit of good news: I've beaten my deadline!
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