Brown to the Browns. And Gocong.

The Eagles continued their offseason house cleaning today, trading Sheldon Brown and Chris Gocong to the Browns for linebacker Alex Hall and a fourth (#105) and fifth (#137) round pick. This is basically a trade the Eagles have wanted to make since last year but couldn't because of depth issues at cornerback. Sheldon has been unhappy with his contract for a while now, so it shouldn't come as a suprise that he's gone now. Whether or not it's a good thing though remains to be seen.

Dolla Dolla Bills Yall: Return of The Shark and Annoying Sports Sayings

A few weeks ago, a friend of the site left a comment on one of our posts wondering what happened to The Shark when we didn't make any wagers on the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Well, his (and your) lucky day has arrived. The Shark will be back on a weekly basis to give you a couple weekend locks on various games/matches/contests – whatever we feel like is a halfway decent bet. So for all you gambling degenerates out there, thank your fellow commenter for summoning the Shark. You know you were looking for a reason to place some nonsensical bet that you would've normally never made in the first place.


I guess that makes us enablers.

Uh oh! SI Curse Strikes Phillies?

Sports Illustrated never gets their predictions right. Ever. I mean, this is the magazine that had the Bears in the Super Bowl this year AND picked the Mets to win the World Series last year. So, needless to say, they haven't even been the ballpark (bad pun alert!) recently.

Well, Phillies fans, you better hope their prognastication skills have improved because SI has tabbed your Philadelphia Phillies the 2010 World Series winner. And if that wasn't a jinx enough, they've throw our new ace Roy Halladay on the cover.

I take a little solace in knowing that the Phillies are an obvious pick, they have an All-Star lineup and added the game's best pitcher in the offseason. So, since I'm confident they can win the World Series, I keep telling myself that I shouldn't be worried when a silly magazine (seriously, who read magazines anymore anyway) picks them as their preseason champion. Here's to hoping they're right.

And if they aren't, well, fuck you Sports Illustrated.

NEWSFLASH: Joe Blanton Has Muscles

In what I'm sure comes as a suprise to many, Joe Blanton actually has muscles. And, apparently, he can strain those same muscles. Who knew?

All kidding aside, it looks like Blanton is going to miss at least his first two starts and could miss up to the first month of the season. While certainly not a killer blow, this does hurt. Blanton is a steady pitcher, someone you can always count on for six or seven innings each time out. It's assumed that Kyle 'DoubleK' Kendrick will take his spot in the rotation. The Phillies only need four starters for most of April due to so many off days, so it's likely Kendrick only gets one or two starts at max. But, it will allow him to showcase his skills so Charlie Manuel trusts him once Jamie Moyer starts getting shelled (this will happen). All told, the Phillies should be ok, as long as the rest of their staff stays healthy.

Knock on wood.

Is There Any Real Competition in the NL East?

Baseball season is right around the corner and TheWizWit [dot] com is here to get you prepared with more Phillies knowledge than your tiny little brain can handle. Over the next few weeks we're going to answer a multitude of questions facing our 2010 Fightin' Phils, all leading up to the ultimate question: Will the Phillies win the World Series? [The answer, yes.]

Is There Any Real Competition in the NL East?

Yes, there is a real threat and a familiar one at that: The Atlanta Braves. Now before you start having nightmares of 1995-2005, where the Braves won the NL East EVERY SINGLE YEAR, relax. The Phillies are still the better team and should win the division this year with plenty of room to spare. However, the Braves are a good team and if a few breaks go there way (and go against the Phils) then this could be a closer division race then we'd like to see.

Al Davis Might Get This Right

With talk heating up and the Donovan McNabb trade going from possible to impending, the Oakland Raiders are looking like the team most likely to trade for the 6-time Pro Bowler. They are the only team right now who is willing to give the Eagles a 2nd round pick without first having Hangin With Mr. Soup-er (a stretch, I know) sign a long-term contract.

Why would the Raiders give up such a high pick without guaranteeing that McNabb will be there longer than a year? Is it because Al Davis is senile leather-d corpse with zero sense of reality?

Nope -- because it's the right move.