***
Rookies and select veterans report this afternoon. They'll get on the field tomorrow and football will go non-stop until we win the SB in February. Or miss the playoffs due to a controversial tie with the Broncos. Let's hope we're in for a good ride.
MACLIN
We're still waiting for Jeremy Maclin to sign his deal. I was told he was "very close" in the middle of the week, but we still sit here waiting at the end of the weekend. There is some hope now that other 1st round picks are beginning to sign. 1st rounders tend to sign in waves because agents like to know what kinds of deals are being signed around their pick. Agents are horrified at the thought of signing a deal and then having the player behind them get a better deal.
COMMENTS
RE: Going to TC
I've been a couple of times in recent years and really enjoyed both visits. I also went in 1998, but that was a completely different world.
Weekends can be crowded. Go early if you are going to be there on Saturday. Wear a hat and sunscreen or you will get fried. That happened to me back in '98. Pay attention to which of the fields the practices will be at that day so you can get a seat in the right set of bleachers.
I haven't tried to get an autograph, but the lines get long in a hurry.
I've eaten at a few local places, but don't remember the names.
RE: LDE / WLB competition
I think the Eagles feel like Gaither and Jordan will be a good battle at WLB. Gaither has the talent to be a solid starter there. He lacks ideal speed, but that wasn't a major problem last year. Omar didn't handle fullbacks well. That was the primary reason he got benched. If he can take on them and defeat their blocks, he could win his job back. I also think the Eagles like Jordan and didn't see the need to bring in a top flight outsider because they think Akeem can become a good player.
LDE is a weird position. The Eagles aren't thrilled with the position, but they have been picky about making changes. They didn't use a draft pick on a LDE. They signed a marginal UDFA (Josh Gaines). They did make a bid on Jeremy Jarmon, but only a 4th rounder.
The way I'm reading this is that the Eagles like Abiamiri and think he'll get the job done, but they would like to have a serious challenger to push him. The team loves Juqua Parker for what he is, but knows he isn't the answer at LDE. An injury to VA or a slow start by him could lead to a trade this summer to find some help.
RE: Wally Pipp'd
Lou Gehrig started 2,130 straight games for the Yankees. That streak began with him coming off the bench to replace an injured player...Wally Pipp. Wally didn't realize missing one game would lead to his replacement starting for the next 14 years. That is why veterans never want to let a young guy on the field.
RE: Draft Reviews
I stopped doing them when I was halfway through the league and went on vacation. I forgot to re-start when I came back, but I'm now getting back on the ball. I'm in the AFC South right now.
RE: Spags and the Rams
They could be the worst team in the league or they could win 8 games. The Rams have to protect Bulger better and hope he can return to his form from a few years back. They now have the makings of a good, young DL. They need someone to step up and become a force. If that happens, Spags can do some interesting things with that defense.
HELP NEEDED
This blog is almost a year old. I began it as a way to centralize my Eagles thoughts / posts. I started it one Saturday night while sipping a few PBRs. There wasn't a lot of research or intelligence that went into the design.
I think it is time for some appearance upgrades. I'm open to suggestions on new templates to look at or what changes you guys may want to see. Is anyone out there gifted in the ways of blog beautification? You can post in the comments section if you like or email me at: tommylawlor3@yahoo.com
I'm not looking for anything fancy. I prefer stuff that is toned down. At the same time, you guys are the readers. I don't pay a ton of attention to the appearance. I write the posts and then read the comments. I don't spend a lot of time looking at the actual blog.
Let me know what you think.
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Sunday, July 26, 2009
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6 comments:
I don't have the skills to help, but I suggest you keep the blog simple and clean. I go to a blog to read text, not look at pictures, so I'm fine with not having fancysmancy graphics.
Two Philly sports blogs that underwent changes in the last couple years are good examples of this. Beerleaguer got spruced up and look great, despite being heavily ad supported. I have no trouble going to the site and being drawn straight to the content.
The 700 Level, however, changed their layout and the main blog is now surrounded by links and different sized banner ads. My eye isn't immediately drawn to the content, but maybe that's their goal.
Another thing to consider, the more "text based" your blog is, the easier it is to view on a mobile/smart phone. As your blog is now (as well as with Beerleaguer's layout) I can view and read everything just fine on my iPhone. It's easy to scroll through the blog and resize the text. If you add a lot of graphics and HTML it'll be harder to do that. More and more people are viewing the internet through their phones, so you might want to take that in to consideration.
Agh, its driving me nuts that so few first round picks have signed. Only 3 picks and some teams are already opening camp? Frustrating stuff, hopefully with the Alex Mack deal done (though I see terms are undisclosed) we can start to see some other pins fall in the Maclin range.
It's so important for this season for a guy like Maclin to be in camp, he needs all the reps he can get!
Maclin needs to hurry up so he can get coached up by... Todd Pinkston!
Just saw on PE.com that Todd is a coaching intern this summer. That's cool, but a dropoff from Carmichael who I love seeing running all over the Lehigh fields.
I agree with cliff, 90% of the time I come to this site is by way of my blackberry. Very easy to read, one of the best I go to actually. I wouldn't have any idea how to impove, maybe a few more recent player pics though I love the ones you have.
Tommy, how much of an impact do you think missing two weeks will have on Abiamiri's status. Will he have to win the job away from Parker again due to his absence?
Or will this latest injury, which didn't even occur on the field, maybe get the thought creeping in the coaches' minds that it would be foolish to ever depend on this guy?
Do you think this lowers the chances of the team cutting/trading Parker?
I love the simplicity of the design of this site and scoutsnotebook. Also, sometimes I have to use dial-up and sites that are loaded with banners take forever to load and generally look crappy. Just MHO.
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