Archive for July, 2009

On Sunday, Donovan McNabb‘s annual pigskin passing camp in the desert will be open for business. Domo’s take for the Daily News is a good read. I love his description of the festivities. “Two-a-days at Lehigh are no picnic, but neither is Camp McNabb. We’re not talking run-a-couple-of-routes-and-head-for-the-Coronas here. For starters, it’s supposed to be 114 degrees in Phoenix on Sunday. And don’t give me, ‘But it’s a dry heat.’ One-hundred fourteen degrees is 114 degrees.” Newlywed Hank Baskett had this to add: “If everybody watched what we do out there, that’s the closest shock you can get to training-camp [...]

I like the prospects for Brent Celek this season. What do you guys and gals think? Just a reminder. There’s still time to win a Donovan McNabb bobblehead. Sign up for the ITI feed by clicking here to become eligible. Then email me at stunstall72@gmail.com and I will enter your name in the contest.

I’m often amazed at the types of stories that catch fire these days. Especially, in the world of sports. I realize the sports news cycle is in perpetual motion and every writer, journalist, blogger, reporter and anchor feels compelled to comment ad nauseam for fear their opinion won’t be heard. Hey, I’m guilty of jumping on the hot story bandwagon too. We all have pages to fill, but right now, none of the major headlines are drawing my interest. In particular, these five: 5) Manny Ramirez’s return from a 50 game suspension – I don’t care if fans are booing [...]

I’m sure Derek over at IgglesBlog has covered this subject already, but I’m a little behind in my science of football classes this semester. The gang at Football Outsiders developed a formula a couple years ago to quantify the success of running backs in the NFL. It’s called “Speed Score.” For a thorough explanation and a great read, go here. In layman’s terms, speed score adjusts the NFL Combine 40-yard dash times according to the weight of each individual back. If a runner is at or above an average score of 100, then the odds he will have a productive [...]

Per PFT, the soon-to-be launched UFL has released some of its rules. A couple of them make sense. The NFL might want to take note. – During overtime, both teams will be allowed to possess the ball. Then sudden death will commence. I like this idea. I’m not a fan of the college system because in can get out of hand quickly, but giving both teams at least one shot seems like an acceptable alternative. – The “Tuck Rule” is gone. Who wouldn’t be on board for this? I know Raiders fans would. Ahem. – All replays will be handled [...]

Ugh. The dog days of summer are killing me. You know there’s zippo going on when Kyle Eckel getting plowed on a radio show is the number one Eagles-related story. I listen to real shock radio. It’s called “Opie and Anthony.” Like Porsche, there is no substitute. However, Kyle did inspire me and my pal Sean to down a few beers last night and exchange thoughts on the upcoming season. As always, it turned into a spirited discussion. Sean is a little more of a pessimist than I am, but he means well. Here are a few of our pontifications [...]

Per PFT, the NFL has suspended Giants‘ linebacker Michael Boley for the first game of the season. The penalty stems from an assault and battery arrest from May 2008. Boley has had an adventurous offseason since joining the G-Men. He had hip surgery in June and is expected to be out of action 8-10 weeks. Not exactly what Big Blue had in mind when they inked Boley to a 5-year deal worth $25 million. Oh, well. Don’t miss your daily fix of Eagles news. Subscribe to ITI by clicking here. You will be eligible to win a McNabb bobblehead if [...]

Yeah, I’m borrowing the name of an ESPN program for this post. Hopefully, the World Wide Leader won’t sue me for copyright infringement. I’m a penniless blogger, so I should be safe from harm. Although, with all the shots being fired back and forth between the MSM (Mainstream Media) and the sports blogosphere, it’s always a good idea to keep one eye open at all times. At any rate, as we crawl toward training camp ’09, the search for significant tidbits of Eagles news to dissect is proving difficult. Never deterred, I shall trek on into the expanding desert in [...]

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Independence Day. More adulation for some Eagles this morning. Bucky Brooks at NFL.com has pegged his Top 5 cornerbacks. Asante Samuel placed third. Here’s what Brooks said about him: “The big-play specialist has ascended to the top of the cornerback charts because of his outstanding ball skills and awareness. The two-time Pro Bowler has an uncanny ability to read routes, and his exceptional instincts have netted him 20 interceptions over the past three seasons. Playing in an aggressive zone-blitz scheme that ideally suits his game, Samuel is poised to continue his bandit-like ways and [...]

I spent some of the holiday weekend cleaning out the ITI prize closet. Low and behold, I stumbled across a Donovan McNabb Bobblehead. It looks like the one in the picture above. Who wants it? Now, this giveaway has a catch. Only those who subscribe to the RSS feed are eligible. And by subscribe, I mean NEW subscribers. If you are currently receiving the feed, I appreciate it greatly, but you will not be eligible. Don’t worry, everyone will be included for my next giveaway. So, if you want a shot at this fantastic Eagles collectible, first click here. You’ll [...]

I’d like to thank everyone who’s stopped by ITI so far this year. I hope I’ve been able to provide a little insight into our beloved Eagles. I appreciate the comments and poll votes more than you know, so keep them coming. You the fans make what I do fun. And don’t forget to subscribe to ITI. Just click here and all my brilliant and not so brilliant posts will arrive in your email inboxes daily. You can also click the little Birdy on the right sidebar to the right to follow me on Twitter. It’s all the rage, or [...]

First up is JMac. PFT brought up an interesting point last night in regards to the Eagles prized first-round pick. Since Maclin is the only remaining rookie yet to ink a deal, the terms of his contract are pretty much set in stone. Here’s their reasoning: “Basically, the Eagles will take the remainder of their rookie pool allocation, pay all but the rookie minimum salary of $310,000 to him in the form of a roster bonus, and then apply 25 percent of that amount to each future year of the deal.” In other words, what’s the hold up? There’s more: [...]