Not good: Hamels returning to Philly to have arm examined

Uh, oh, this can't be good news: Cole Hamels is returning to Philadelphia to have his arm examined. He's apparently been complaining of soreness and the Phillies were already treating him with kid gloves this Spring Training.

The Phils were lucky to get 227 innings out of Hamels last year but they could pay the price this season. Let's prepare for the worst but hope it's nothing!

The Phillie Phanatic shows up on the Simpsons!

The best mascot in sports was on one of the best shows in television history tonight:
The Simpsons isn't quite as good as it used to be, but at least they know who is the Best. Mascot. Ever. It's good to be the Champs!

Hat tip to 700Level for the image.

Penalties, Sean Avery are downfall of Flyers

After playing an inspiring game of hockey in a playoff-like atmosphere at the Wachovia Center Saturday, the Flyers let their emotions get the best of them in a rematch against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. The Flyers lost 4-1 and couldn't stay out of the penalty box all game. They finished with 34 minutes of penalties, including 15 of them when Braydon Coburn was tossed from the game for high sticking Nik Antropov in the face. While Coburn was retaliating for an earlier cheap shot by Antropov, it was dumb penalties like that that gave the Rangers a string of power play chances and all four of their goals came on the man advantage.

The Flyers march to the penalty box was aided by the antics of Sean Avery, who is back to his usual tricks to get under opponents skin. Avery also added two goals in the game, so needless to say, the Flyers saw more of Avery than they wanted to. The Madison Square Garden loved his every move, however.

It also now appears that the Flyers goaltender battle is over. Antero Niittymaki started in net for the Flyers and gave up 4 goals, and even though they were all on the powerplay, his performance paled in comparison to what Martin Biron did yesterday against the Rangers. The Flyers would be wise to ride out Biron for the rest of the season and hope he gots hot like he was in the playoffs last year.

So, the Flyers end up splitting the home and home series with the Rangers. While things could have been worse, if the Flyers had stopped their parade to the penalty box, they might have actually has a chance to sweep the series. With a game against the Red Wings looming on Tuesday, it would have been nice to leave New York with a little more confidence and a little less Sean Avery.

Thaddeus Young helps Sixers close out the Spectrum with a win

I think Thaddeus Young wouldn't mind keeping the Spectrum open for a while longer. Young exploded for a career-high 31 points as the Sixers beat the Bulls, 104-101, in the final Sixers game at the Spectrum, which will be torn down later this year.

Also playing well for the Sixers were Andre Iguodala, who had 25 points, 6 boards and 5 assists, Samuel Dalembert, who grabbed 19 rebounds, and Andre Miller, who had 13 points to go with 13 assists. Despite the solid effort by Young, who also had 5 boards, the Sixers still barely squeaked by the lowly Bulls, although they led for pretty much the entire second half until a late charge by the Bulls made it close.

So ends the Sixers era in the Spectrum. They first played in the Spectrum in 1967 and recently moved over to the Wachovia Center in 1996. The Spectrum will still be used by the Phantoms for the remainder of their season, but after that it will be torn down to make room for a restaurant and shopping complex that will hopefully rejuvenate the area around the stadiums.

For a kid who saw his first basketball game in the Spectrum in the mid-80's, I will certainly have fond memories of the stadium, but I'm not going to get emotional when it gets torn down. Stepping into the Spectrum now feels like going back in time. We won't ever forget the championships won at the Spectrum, of course, but hopefully we can make some new memories of titles over at the Wachovia Center.

So long, Spectrum!

Rams release Holt, your move Eagles

Wide receiver Torry Holt, who was previously rumored to be traded to the Eagles, was released today by the St. Louis Rams. Holt is a 7 time Pro Bowler but he is 32 and the move saves the Rams 8 million dollars.

Let the speculation for him signing with the Eagles begin. Expect the Giants and the Titans, who almost traded for Holt, also to be in the mix.

The question now for Eagles fans is who would you rather the Birds signed, Holt or Marvin Harrison? My money is on neither being an Eagle but I would rather have Holt because he is 4 years younger and has been much healthier. It also doesn't hurt that he doesn't have any legal troubles.

Of course, I would much rather have Anquan Boldin than either of these guys.

It could really happen: the Cardinals are shopping Anquan Boldin

Good news, Eagles fans: according to ProFootballTalk.com, the Cardinals have begun shopping wide receiver Anquan Boldin. Up until now, all of the news about Boldin has been that he wants out of Arizona if he doesn't get a new deal. Apparently, the Cardinals aren't willing to give him that deal and have begun looking for a trading partner. Boldin will want a new contract from whichever team trades for him and he is looking for about 9 million dollars a year.

Hmm, I wonder what team has a lot of room for a big salary and has a few first day draft picks that would entice the Cardinals? The Eagles better be on the horn right now hammering out a deal. The only other team rumored to be in the mix right now is the Giants, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Cowboys jumped in now that T.O. is out of town.

Please, Eagles, save this offseason and get this thing done. It will make us get over the Brian Dawkins situation a whole lot faster.

UPDATE: Cardinals GM Rod Graves is denying that Boldin is on the market. What else would you expect him to say?