Phillies lose Halladay for 6-8 weeks

After leaving the game early on Sunday, you knew this was coming: the Phillies have placed Roy Halladay on the 15 day disabled list due to a strained lat.  The early word is that Halladay hopes to only miss 6-8 weeks.

While losing Halladay for two months is never a good thing, the injury could have been much, much worse.  Halladay expects to be back by August, just in time for the Phillies to (hopefully) make a playoff run.  Since he has been dealing with shoulder issues all season, if he comes back at full strength, the time off could even be a good thing for Halladay.

With Vance Worley also out, the Phillies rotation suddenly has a hole.  Could this mean the Phillies sign Roy Oswalt?  Since he is apparently about to sign with the Rangers, barring a trade, the Phillies will have to look within for their 5th starter.

Eagles lock up LeSean McCoy for 5 more years

The Eagles have once again made it clear: if you are young and you perform, you are going to get paid.  LeSean McCoy got rich today, signing a 5 year, 45 million dollar contract that will keep him with the Eagles through 2017.  The deal includes 20.765 million dollars in guaranteed money and makes Shady one of the highest paid running backs in the league.

Given that McCoy could possibly be the best running back in the NFL, locking him up was a priority.  Though he still had another year on his rookie contract, the Eagles rewarded him for a strong 2011 season and have guaranteed that he won't hit the open market for several more years.

Despite the lofty figures in the contract, it's hard to complain about this deal.  The Eagles have plenty of cap space and they are giving a lot of money to an elite player that is still getting better.  Barring an injury, McCoy should more than earn his paycheck.

On to the second round: the Sixers??!?

It may need an asterisk but a number 8 seed knocking off a number 1 seed is always a tremendous accomplishment.  The Sixers pulled off that task after beating the Bulls on Thursday and winning their first round series, 4-2.

Fittingly, the hero for the Sixers was Andre Iguodala, who has taken a ton of heat over the years for not stepping up in the clutch and hitting the big shots.  After the Bulls foolishly tried to add to their 1 point lead in the final seconds of the game, Iguodala grabbed a rebound and took the ball coast-to-coast and got fouled with 2 seconds left.  Iguodala had ice in his veins, hitting both free throws to give the Sixers a series win.

The Sixers now await the winner of the Celtics/Hawks series, which will likely be Boston.  Don't expect a Celtics/Sixers series to be pretty but also don't expect the Celtics to simply walk all over the Sixers.  It's been a long, long time since the Sixers got to the second round of the playoffs and they deserve a ton of credit for getting there.  While their path was easier due to injuries, the Sixers still deserve a ton of credit for knocking off one of the elite teams in the league.
(Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

Another Flyers season ends but the future remains bright

It really wasn't supposed to happen this way for the Flyers, at least not this season.  No, I'm not talking about how the Flyers weren't supposed to lose to the Devils; the Flyers weren't supposed to even get to the second round this season.

After making drastic changes last offseason, the Flyers instantly entered a rebuilding mode, one that will feature a number of young players who are years away from their primes.  Sure, the Flyers were still supposed to be competitive but they really weren't expected to be serious Cup contenders until the kids had a chance to develop.  Really, anything that happened this season was gravy.

So why is it still so disappointing to see them lose to the Devils on Tuesday and get ousted from the playoffs?  Mostly because of how much fun it was to see these upstart Flyers stick it to the Penguins in one of the most entertaining series of games in many years.  To follow up all of that entertainment with four straight losses to the Devils in a series of games that were very uneventful was what was so disappointing.

The future is very bright with these Flyers. Claude Giroux could still get better.  The 8 rookies that hogged all the ice time this season should only improve with even more experience.  Chris Pronger hopefully will return.  Ilya Bryzgalov will hopefully keep his head on straight.  There is a lot to like about the future of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Despite all of this, it still hurts to see them lose to a Devils team that doesn't really feel like a great team. Hey, we'll always have that Penguins series.
(Getty Images)