21 minutes ago, paco said:

What, and not give the Sixers some love?

 

41 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

The most uninspiring inspirational speech you can get.

 

 

McConaughey was right. Always talking about food and being hungry

8 minutes ago, Ace Nova said:

I hope everyone in Florida got through the hurricane ok.  I’m in Central Florida and this was likely the worse one to hit us since Charlie in 2004 - although not as bad as Charlie. 
 

How are you guys holding up?

 

9 minutes ago, Ace Nova said:

I hope everyone in Florida got through the hurricane ok.  I’m in Central Florida and this was likely the worse one to hit us since Charlie in 2004 - although not as bad as Charlie. 
 

Is @mattwill a FLA man too? Seems that things could have been a lot worse, but still devastating.

4 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

Is @mattwill a FLA man too? Seems that things could have been a lot worse, but still devastating.

Profile says CA and he's been MIA since before the hurricane 

14 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

Profile says CA and he's been MIA since before the hurricane 

Yeah, I found his Facebook account and he did post something there on the 6th, but nothing since, I messaged him there but no answer so far. He's in Davis, CA like his profile says, but who knows if he was visiting somewhere.

21 minutes ago, paco said:

How are you guys holding up?

 

Decent.  Didn’t lose power although a lot of folks around here did.  Just got done cleaning up the tree debris around my house - had to cut a few tree limbs, branches, leaves etc Took about 3-4 hours.  I’ll get up on the roof tomorrow and get that cleaned up - the gutters etc

 

It could have been a lot worse so I’m not complaining. 

19 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

Is @mattwill a FLA man too? Seems that things could have been a lot worse, but still devastating.

Yep, that’s the general consensus. As wide spread as this storm was and it came with all 3 major things hurricanes can bring - wind, water and tornados - about half the state was affected.  But so far minor casualties - seems borderline miraculous more people weren’t killed or hurt 

28 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

McConaughey was right. Always talking about food and being hungry

A few weeks ago I posted about swearing. I don't mind swearing at all, but at the same time, when you have to depend on it when delivering your message like Nick does, it makes you look dumb. You don't have a good message if you have to emphasize swearing in every sentence. Great leaders can share a message with dropping a single F bomb.

1 hour ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Meh.  Maybe.   But I think the Phillies fell prey to the same thing the Braves and Dodgers have over recent years... they took their foot off the pedal once they clinched.  It wasn't about the 5 days after the end of the season, but the 5 days added on to the more than a week before the season ended where they were limping their way into the playoffs.  They thought they could flip the switch back on, but they couldn't. Baseball is too much about rhythm and consistency, and they messed with their preparation and mindset and allowed themselves to go into a lull.

 

The format makes it harder for the top teams to stay sharp, but at the same time, the Phillies dulled themselves down the stretch of games to end the season, as compared to the 2 years prior where they had meaningful games right up to the end.  I blame their prep, but even then..  rhe bat's have fallen cold 3 years straight now in the postseason.  It's not a coincidence, and blaming the format is letting them off the hook.  This is who they are... very few of them grind out at bats..bat's... or even know how to.

I look at it this way. From the Colorado trip on they weren’t the same team as April and May particularly offensively. They were 59-56. That’s 115 games and 4 months where they were basically a .500 team. The offense consistently didn’t hit with risp and very reliant on HRs. when they did it was for like 2-3 games then bad for stretches for a week plus.

It’s why they ranked 12th in runs from June 1st onward in runs.  From royals series in August the pattern really got bad. The risp avg form when they got hot again vs. the royals was: last 2 games at royals 12-27 (.444). Then 13-78 (.167) next 9 games. Next 3 games vs. marlins 17-37. Then next 10 games 13-64 (.203). Then 2 games vs. Mets 9-24 (.375). Next 8 games 9-51 (.176). With the postseason their last 8 regular seasons games went to 12 games and it was 15-82.

also August hit and their bad habits of chase rates skyrocketed from what they had been doing. They were dead last in chase rate from August onward. And at one point in time got to 44% for like a 2 week stretch at the end of the year. Bad habits are hard to break when you have 4-5 veterans who are what they are and long coaching along with young guys just not growing into better hitters. Stott regressed. Marsh still has the same issues as he did when the angels traded him. Last 70 games for Bohm he had worse slashes than Stott’s 2024

You also had guys in April and May that weren’t going to be as good all year as they were. Like realmuto hit .318 in May. His career showed that was unlikely to continue. marsh was hitting LHP well. He was never going to keep that up. Bohm had like 70 rbi through June and was hitting 310ish through May. Neither was going to continue otherwise he was becoming a legit superstar which i don’t think he is. Castellanos is about the only player offensively that got progressively better as the season went on. I think guys regressed closer to their career numbers when that happened it felt like everyone had it happen at the same time and it hurt them.

I also look at baseball this way, the Phillies had a chip on their shoulder, coming into the season and continuity. If you have continuity, unlike the Padres and Mets starting the season, you tend to play better out of the gate. The Padres and Mets had a bunch of new players and we’re figuring themselves out. Managers figuring their way. They evolved as the season went on and got better and better. Built on evolving. The Phillies really lost some of their edge and a lot of guys began regressing closer to their means as the season went on.

I fell after they lost the Diamondbacks last year that it was arrogant to say all you had to do is fix the chase rate and just run it back adding Merrifield. They missed Hoskins a lot last year during the year from an offensive perspective. They had some of these same struggles and inability to make pitchers work for periods of time. They just managed to get back to the NLCS but not having him in game 3 and game 4 that one extra bat might have been the difference in that series as they were 1 run games (also better pen). They needed to replace that production (was supposed to be Turner along with a lineup with Rhys not Turner just replacing Rhys) but also his ability to see a ton of pitches and grind at bats. They really don’t have enough of those guys. It’s why you have 6 outs on 13 pitches from top of 6 to 8 with manaea.

The one surprised to me in the postseason was how bad the bullpen was. I thought they would be better. Then again when there’s a ton of pressure on you do have to be perfect because the offense cant score and you’re not in your normal routine with a week off. That’s maybe the only part of the bye week that may have hurt them.

1 hour ago, Sack that QB said:

Dombrowski is an overrated executive. He's been on a lot of successful teams, and they've won here with him, but I really don't think they win without the groundwork Klentak left behind. Dombrowski added Schwarber and Castellanos and made some nice swings on relievers, but Harper, Realmuto, Weeler, Nola, Ranger, Bohm, Stott were all here before Dombrowski got here. There's a reason he leaves every team he's been on in ruins.

Where would this team be right now if Middleton didn't open up his checkbook to allow him to spend? The only chance they have of winning is going above the luxury tax because this team still all these years later has no major league ready position players. It's quite insane actually how every team in baseball seems to have a young star to bring up who can hit except this team. The closest is Miller who's a couple years away at the earliest. I don't trust Dombrowski's talent evaluation and I have no idea why they didn't pursue any free agents during the winter. Even a guy like Tommy Pham could've helped if they didn't want to go over the luxury tax. Pham is better than Hays.

They came into the year with a bottom 5 outfield in baseball and expected to win a title.

I think Dombrowski is a little overrated and helped by some good moves of wheeler and Harper before he got here. A decent portion of his trades he’s lost since coming here (and some of his contracts are looking worse as time goes on). He’s won some but they weren’t major trades. Frankly their loss in 2023 nlcs goes back to his solution for replacing the loss of hoskins was Castro who stunk with the pirates outside of 2 weeks which skewed his numbers. To me if he goes out and gets a legitimate replacement for Rhys and a BP arm cause kimbrel showed cracks before that deadline they may have still gotten past the dbacks 

16 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

A few weeks ago I posted about swearing. I don't mind swearing at all, but at the same time, when you have to depend on it when delivering your message like Nick does, it makes you look dumb. You don't have a good message if you have to emphasize swearing in every sentence. Great leaders can share a message with dropping a single F bomb.

I was just making a joke because of the commercial lol

1 hour ago, paco said:

What, and not give the Sixers some love?

 

 

Didn't the Flyers also completely collapse to miss the playoffs?

1 hour ago, Swoop said:

Well, let's see:

Yankees haven't won in 15 years 

Eagles have won once

Islanders haven't won since the 80s

Nets...LOL

But yeah totally!

7 hours ago, rambo said:

He's had all season to watch how not to do it from the sideline.  Hopefully he was taking notes. 

"Maddox head down missile launch technique - BAD"

"Slay patty cake arm tackle technique - BAD"

"Anything CJGJ does - BAD"

It's not just Sydney Brown, it's alot of the league.  Tackling isn't what it used to be.  Maybe it's the way defense is taught now, I don't know.  Same with secondary.  Hardly anyone looks for the ball.

It's like defenders try to shoulder tackle someone or just try to knock the ball carrier off balance.  It's simple.  Get to the ball carrier, wrap your arms around them and bring them to the ground.

1 hour ago, Mike030270 said:

I was just making a joke because of the commercial lol

Oh, I know. I was just using your quote to comment from. 

2 hours ago, bpac55 said:

The most uninspiring inspirational speech you can get.

 

 

Eh…speech was fine actually.  It’s just that I don’t like him all that much at the moment.  But I can compartmentalize it enough to say that the "speech is ok…just stay away from the play-calling”

Is it kinda weird to anyone else that Smith practiced fully two days in a row but is still in the concussion protocol? I’m not suggesting he’ll miss the game, you would just think he should have cleared it already if he’s fully practicing 

43 minutes ago, McMVP said:

Eh…speech was fine actually.  It’s just that I don’t like him all that much at the moment.  But I can compartmentalize it enough to say that the "speech is ok…just stay away from the play-calling”

One of the best speeches I’ve heard.  If Supertramp was still together we’d have another rock classic on our hands.

2 hours ago, bpac55 said:

Is @mattwill a FLA man too? Seems that things could have been a lot worse, but still devastating.

California.

16 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Is it kinda weird to anyone else that Smith practiced fully two days in a row but is still in the concussion protocol? I’m not suggesting he’ll miss the game, you would just think he should have cleared it already if he’s fully practicing 

Only thing I can think of is the ol "competitive advantage" they love to use for everything 

21 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Is it kinda weird to anyone else that Smith practiced fully two days in a row but is still in the concussion protocol? I’m not suggesting he’ll miss the game, you would just think he should have cleared it already if he’s fully practicing 

Does this team do anything normal these days?

 When you're so unreasonable that your agency drops you.

 

 

42 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Is it kinda weird to anyone else that Smith practiced fully two days in a row but is still in the concussion protocol? I’m not suggesting he’ll miss the game, you would just think he should have cleared it already if he’s fully practicing 

What wasnt written in the protocol listed here is that with symptoms, you repeat the step again the next day. If he practiced, but felt a headache, then he wouldnt clear that step. 

On the other hand, its Siriani so he may have cleared it and they just havent reported that yet?

4 hours ago, bpac55 said:

The most uninspiring inspirational speech you can get.

 

 

1 hour ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Is it kinda weird to anyone else that Smith practiced fully two days in a row but is still in the concussion protocol? I’m not suggesting he’ll miss the game, you would just think he should have cleared it already if he’s fully practicing 

I think he still has to get cleared again by a neurologist.