There's Always Next Year...

So the World Series ended about a week ago and although it still stings, I've gotten most of the anger out of my soul, at least regarding the World Series. The key to the series was the Phils inability to hold a lead. In Game 3 Cole couldn't hold a 3-0 lead and in Game 4, Brad Lidge blew a save. Can't blow two games against a team like the Yankees and expect to come out on top. The better team won the World Series. We had to play a near-flawless series, and honestly, we played our best baseball this season in the Dodger series.

The Phils should be busy in the off-season. With that "young nucleus" all now 30 and over, the time is now for these Phillies. I don't think the window is closing after next season, but I do think every year will be a little bit harder than the previous year. After declining Pedro Feliz's $5 million dollar option, the Phils are looking to upgrade at third. Here's the tricky part. Feliz is an average hitter and a superior fielder. For as many clutch hits that he didn't get, he saved us many runs. I really hope we don't sacrifice the glove for another bat in a loaded line-up. There are some interesting free agents available (Figgins, DeRosa, Polanco, Beltre) and with the exception of Figgins, no one I see as a significant upgrade. We need to fortify the bullpen, the bench and if the Phils want to look into Roy Halladay, I'm cool with that. Rumor on the street is that a package for Halladay would be centered around Cole.

Eagles
A very unimpressive game for the Birds on Sunday night against the Cowgirls. I know Dall-Ass was the recipient of some very favorable calls, but I pin this loss on Coach Reid. To use two replays challenges (losing both of them) and leaving yourself with NO TIMEOUTS, makes no sense. Further, when you are down 7 and choose to try a 52-yard FG with 5 minutes left makes no sense. You still need to get the ball back and score a TD to win. Why not just go for it on 4th down? Don't get me wrong, I'm not on the train to run Big Red out of town, but the things he struggles most with - staying with the running game, managing the clock and replay selection -- all were on display on Sunday night. I believe Andy Reid to be a very good coach, but he has head-scratching lapses throughout the season and unfortunately Sunday night was no exception.

Other Things You Should Know:

• I've been critical of the cops in Atlanta recently, but the other night I was pulled over after swerving (relax, Mom it had nothing to do w/drinking, but I couldn't see the turn), not signaling and not wearing my seatbelt. Ironically enough, the cop could not have been nicer. Glad to see there are still some upstanding officers on the force.
• Why is Family Ties not on sydication anywhere? I blame you Comcast.
• Speaking of TV, I think Tuesday night is the absolute worse night of TV. If you want a successful show, talk to the networks about Tuesday night.
• Seriously, who is Katt Williams and why should I care?
• Not sure if anyone watched Andre Agassi's 60 Minutes interview with Katie Couric, but I give the guy credit for essentially bearing his soul and letting us in to see the deamons. I know some people like Martina Navritolova and Marat Safin have a problem with this. Safin wants Agassi to return all of the money he won and all of the titles. This is ridiculous. Agassi lied to the USTA, which was wrong but the titles that he won were won when he was clean. I read an excerpt in Sports Illustrated last week of Agassi's "Open" book, which I will pick-up later this week. For an athlete to come out and say he hates the very sport, which gave him everything (wife included), is pretty unbelievable stuff. It sounds like b/c of his over-bearing father, Agassi had to hit rock bottom in order to be where he is today. I applaud his recent honesty and candor and it makes his amazing return to the top of the tennis world that much more inspiring. I mean, could you ever imagine Tiger Woods saying he hates golf.