Philly Top Five Power Rankings: Donovan's Back, And The Phillies Are Gone
By Spike Eskin
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – It was a week of new beginnings and sad endings. Eagles training camp begins, and the Chip Kelly era is born, and the Phillies season, and perhaps this era, look like they're ending.
5. Scott O'Neil Apologizes For Andrew Bynum
What a couple of weeks Scott O'Neil has had on the job as CEO of the Sixers. First he was grilled by Howard Eskin, then two weeks later he comes back to WIP and is grilled by Angelo Cataldi. The team is looking like they're (by design) going to be pretty bad this year, the general manager doesn't talk and the team is the only major US pro sports team without a head coach.
It's quite a start for the Scott O'Neil era.
To top it all off, O'Neil was asked to apologize to the fans who invested time and money into the team during the Andrew Bynum era. An era that O'Neil had absolutely nothing to do with, as he started with the team two weeks ago. O'Neil obliged, and issued an apology from the team. Now that I know he'll apologize for things he isn't really responsible for, I imagine he'd be a great husband.
4. The Eagles Cheerleaders Unveil Their New Calendar By Playing Bikini Flag Football On The Beach
I'm not sure what else to say. It's a real thing that happened. I was there. If you click on that link right above this sentence you can see the pictures.
3. The End Of An Era
If over a year and a half of under .500 baseball wasn't enough of a signal to you that this era of Phillies baseball is at the end of the line, the sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals is just about all you need. Some will tell you they're "only" eight games behind the division leading Braves, and that they've made up a deficit like that before. Is that true? Absolutely. The difference here is that this particular version of the Phillies isn't any good. Once again, a year and a half of sub .500 baseball.
As baseball has entered a world in which it's difficult to obtain players with much time left in their prime via free agency, the Phillies might be in a little bit of trouble here.
If Eagles rookies didn't know that Philly is starved for football, their arrival at Training Camp earlier this week to 500 reporters and 600 cameras waiting for them should be a pretty decent signal that it's different here than it is in other places.
The excitement about the team is fueled by change, the unknown, and just how much the other teams have sucked. It's going to be a hell of a lot of fun until they're 0-1.
1. Donovan vs. Angelo... Again
It's 2013, and this is I believe the sixth Donovan McNabb related story this year. It's never going to end. Once you accept that, it will become a lot more fun.
If McNabb asks a question on Twitter that goes something like, "is this the end of the fight between Angelo Cataldi and Donovan McNabb?" The answer is clearly no.
Honorable mentions: Nerlens Noel's hair, Matt Barkley's irrational confidence, Dom Brown's concussion
