Plaxico Gets Jail Time

I'll make this short because frankly, I don't care, but Plaxico Burress struck a deal with the D.A. that earned him a 2 year jail sentence.

Two years seems a little steep, since Donte Stallworth received 28 days for running a pedestrian over on a freeway while intoxicated, but Plax wanted to be gangsta.

I understand that athletes who go to clubs become targets for robbery, his teammate Steve Smith was robbed at gunpoint days later, but be smart about it. Guys who have so much to lose have such a liaise fare attitude about the decisions they make.

If he had registered his gun, and gotten a license to carry, he would've gotten off with a bullet wound in his own leg.

Now he'll be in jail for 2 years, at the peak of his career. But it's aight, he's gangsta.

Happ vs Pedro

Ok, so the Fightins didn't get Roy Halladay, but did get Cliff Lee, for a much cheaper price. *Applause*

I have to hand it to Ruben, because Lee is a fantastic pitcher as we've already seen and if the rain clears we'll get to see him again at CBP today. Sure I pushed for Halladay, but I didn't really think that Lee would be available. It is hard to complain about the reining AL Cy Young who went 22-3 last year. His record is not great this year, but think about this; In Lee's first 8 losses, the tribe scored a total of 11 runs. Put down the calculators, it is 1.38 support runs per game.

Of course, it can't ALWAYS be sunny in Philly. With the addition of Lee, along with Pedro roaming the farm, the Phillies have six "starting pitchers." They are of course Lee, Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton, Jamie Moyer, J.A. Happ, and Martinez.

Someone has to go. A 6 man rotation doesn't work in today's Major Leagues. Too much rest can actually hurt a pitcher, feeling stronger and throwing harder and getting the ball up in the zone. The Phillies also don't have the typical power pitcher. They have guys who rely much on location, which requires feel, which requires them to go out on their normal 5th day.

Platooning the 5th & 6th guy doesn't work either, especially when they'd be Martinez and Moyer. Again, it goes back to having feel for the pitches, and the only thing that would be worse than 6 days rest would be 10 days.

The idea that has been getting the most air time has been to move one guy to the pen, and for whatever reason, that guy is J.A. Happ. Yes the J.A. Happ who is 8-2. The same Happ who is the team leader in ERA (not counting Lee's 1 start). The same ROY candidate that recently played the role of stopper, throwing his 2nd complete game shutout of the season against a pretty good Colorado lineup.

It makes the most sense, if you were to make Pedro a starter, to move Happ to the pen. It obviously isn't going to be Lee or Hamels. Blanton has been very good since he arrived in Philadelphia, hitting a rough patch early but has been terrific lately. Jamie Moyer does not have the skill set to come out of the pen. He is not a strikeout pitcher, who has to get a feel for the plate and the umpires strike zone to be effective.

I am not one of the people who believe that if you rearrange the letters of JA Happ, you can somehow manage to spell Koufax. However I do not think that the Phillies would be wise to put their most consistent starting pitcher in the bullpen for someone who has yet to prove themselves...AGAIN!

Sure, Park pitched well enough to get the job in the spring, but in all seriousness, who is Pedro? This is not 2003, when Martinez was one of the best in the game and body slamming Yankee bench coaches. While Happ was helping this team with spot starts and winning the World Series last year, Pedro was at home in the DR gaining weight, as a former MET pitcher who couldn't go past 5 innings. Charlie Manuel should not let this Prima Donna waltz into a starting job and demote Happ, who has earned the right to be there, just because Pedro Martinez has a certain future in the hall.

Pedro should earn his spot on this team by going to the bullpen. His skill set could make him productive coming out of the pen. He fanned 11 AA hitters in 6 innings last night, still giving up 3 earned runs. Pedro, along with Park, and maybe even Brett Myers should make a solid option should one of the starters get touched up early.

Jim Johnson

This is a bit overdue, so of course by now everyone knows that Eagles defensive mastermind Jim Johnson succombed to Melanoma last week.

He and his wife Vicky are great friends of my family. Jim would invite my dad to go golfing with him and some other Eagles assistants from time to time, and Vicky is very dear friend of my aunt. It was great, at the 2003 family christmas party, Vicky was there and absolutely incensed that Sheldon Brown was not part of the recently announced Pro Bowl selections.

I could go on about Jim as a football innovator, who blitzed with what seemed like reckless abandon, but in reality it was all controlled chaos. It made the Eagle teams of this decade a joy to watch.

However Jim Johnson was a terrific man, with apparantly a very dry sense of humor. I had the pleasure of meeting him one time in person. He had gotten me, my two brothers, and my dad field passes for the Sunday Night Dallas game 2 years ago. It was Dawk's first game back after missing 9 games from a neck stinger. We were standing behind the endzone when he came out of the tunnel, turned around to face the crowd, and in true Dawk fasion completely lost his mind. I turned to my brother to ask if he had gotten a picture and he said "no, I couldn't move, I was afraid he was going to punch me in the face."

The birds got crushed in that game. Jason Witten ran about 35 yards after the catch with no helmet on, and I'm pretty sure the Eagle's punt team led the time of possession battle. It was still so much fun. We were on the field at the Linc, following the play up and down the sidelines, my brother mingling with the cheerleaders. I also have a newfound appreciation for the hits.

Afterwards, I got to meet Jim and thank him for what was a really great night despite the loss. He shook my hand and apologized to me for having to see that performance.

One year in college, I had an assignment to interview a coach. While most of my classmates were calling up their old high school football coaches, I swung for the fence and called my dad. I asked if there was anyway at all that I could e-mail Jim some questions for my assignment. My dad called my aunt, who got Jim's direct line to the Nova Care complex from Vicky. He was expecting my call.

I was able to conduct a phone interview with Jim that I tried to keep short (he was game planning for Randy Moss that week) but he gave me all of the time I needed. He gave me very in depth answers about what it takes to coach, at any level - the ability and desire to teach, not just coach.

Jim made good on that principle. His pupil, Steve Spagnuolo, won the Super Bowl as the D Coordinator of the Giants. John Harbaugh made the play-offs in his first season as head coach of the Ravens. Of course Sean McDermott has the task of being Jim's successor in Philadelphia.

He also had his players selected to the pro-bowl 26 times. He also has a huge hand in the Hall of Fame career of Brian Dawkins.

Jim is going to be missed in so many facets of life.