Bartles

I'm already pretty humbled by these nobodies winning 3 of the last 4 against us. Their lineup seems a bit top-heavy, but the last few games it's been the lower-middle guys doing a lot of damage. Carroll and Walker haven't even contributed much. I still think the Phillies lineup is too good to stay asleep for a home game 7 against a decent-not-great rookie.

I think I posted last fall, go watch the Premier League if you want to see regular season excellence rewarded. And I love the Premier League, it keeps fans' interest all the way to the wire even if the title is decided a little early. We can't just extend series until Ronald Acuna starts hitting again or Clayton Kershaw gets enough chances to get people out on October. Or try to "fix" it by having them play in climate-controlled shopping malls. The Braves led for 2 of 36 innings in that series...what more do you need to see? We're only two years into this format anyway. Teams with the off week will learn to cope.

The reason you keep seeing trash cans and Ted Cruz is because no one wants to waste 30 seconds of their lives looking up anything else about Houston. I would add "James Harden wants to live there" but even that's a little obscure.

Arcia doesn't really deserve any response from a player Harper's level, but he should know when reporters are in the clubhouse, especially in the playoffs, you might not want to talk any shit unless you're pouring champagne. I'm sure Strider will be great tonight, but for how many innings? And can ATL put up some runs to apply pressure? And even if they win, who opposes Wheeler on Sunday?

Jeez, Rob Thomson is a wizard. I did not like pulling Suarez after a couple weak singles, expecting 5.1 innings from your bullpen. But there is an off day tomorrow so there wasn't a ton of downside to overmanaging there. Amazing to win the Strider game too

The Lumineers: Scruffy indie folk guys who have maintained a strange level of popularity Thank you

I think we the Phillies will take this but probably need 3 games. Wouldn't surprise me if the bats come out pressing tonight vs Luzardo. But the Marlins really shouldn't be in the playoffs, certainly not the next round. One thing to watch is Kimbrel has been shaky for a while now

The only way I'm getting a score as low as 50 is when it's Phillies AND Rangers

But Vince Vaughn is coming up! Some of these students were conceived the night their parents went to Wedding Crashers

Now we're talking goon! The new Philly venues rarely see much action lately, despite what y'all want to think

Death Cab for Cutie & Postal Service 20th anniversary came through Philly last night (with Warpaint!). Concert of the century for me. Those two albums snatched me out of whatever crap I was listening to around 2001-02. Third Eye Blind might have been my favorite, and that's kinda sad. But the internet had become usable enough to find new, independent music and Postal Service was the first thing I latched onto. Which led me to DCFC and Rilo Kiley. Reminded me of my 80s upbringing. I went to the Postal Service 10th anniversary show, which was great, but they stepped it up for year 20. Larger venue, more lights and a more active role for Jenny Lewis. A couple Death Cab guys also joined them at times. The Transatlanticism set was incredible too, songs I hadn't heard live probably since seeing them at the Ridglea in Fort Worth in 2003. I'm so thankful this tour happened.

Why not let Bijan gain a half yard to set up a walk-off FG? They let GB have 57 seconds (but GB sucks so it worked out)

Brilliant move and great timing with NIL up and legal. They have 3-4 years here to build a program that can consistently stay top 25. Add the location and financial backing, and you have at least a slim chance to making a case to stay in the picture after the next shake-up. Also, I know it's all about FB, but they have a huge chance to plant their flag in a ton of other sports now. If they end up hosting a bunch of in-season showcases to save travel for Stanford, UNC, Duke, UVa...that will be an enormous hook to keep Texas recruits in state. Volleyball, soccer, swimming, tennis and more. And finally, Ponies taking it to La Tech as expected today

Joined & paid

What are y'all plotting for Jonathan Taylor now that he's got to sit four weeks minimum? I think this happened with Leveon back in the day? Seems like Taylor's value is tied to some team having an RB1 injury, which could certainly happen. But then they need to have the money to sign JT and be willing to risk his own injury situation, plus his bitchiness. I'm staying away for at least 5-6 rounds (someone will totally take him by then).

The way this is heading, there will be an Untold: Jerry Sandusky series that focuses on his great defenses and charitable work with at-risk kids.

This is getting shredded in media reviews, maybe a worse puffing than Manziel. I can tell by the lighting of the Urban/Tebow/Finebaum sit-downs that this would make me vomit if I watched it. But perhaps some of you brave souls can share the worst parts here

Makes sense. I mean the Process worked as far as getting the team the picks needed to build a contender within a few years. It's just that the people making decisions fucked it all up. Relatedly, the Houston folks on here were spot on when warning about Harden and Morey. This has not been fun. Even when Harden would ball out, you could never see him riding in a parade in Philly.

The Process DID work, they just fucked up some of the picks, and had the misfortune of two overall No 1's who for whatever reason completely lost their will to play the sport. Even with all that, the Jimmy Butler team was right there with the Kawhi Raptors and were good enough to win the trophy. A couple other teams, including last year, were maybe Finals worthy but wouldn't have won it. Some fans here in Philly complained at the time, but they actually built a very loyal following both for "Process guys" like Covington and McConnell, along with the new draft picks (even Fultz and Ben). The fans feel more fucked over by the NBA for forcing Hinkie out and sticking us with Colangelo. By now, be it karma or whatever, the wheels are off and there is no competent leadership. The owners have been distracted by Fanatics, crypto/NFT/metaverse, the Redskins and now trying to build a new arena. Embiid remains a great player and hilarious troll. But he and the team are headed for some down years.

This show played like a college project where the kids scrambled to finish before the deadline. Way too much airtime for Liucci ("blue collar school" set me off). Wonder if Zwerneman is pissed he wasn't featured at all. Also wonder if any Manziels were paid or otherwise enticed to participate in this. I would call it a fluff project, they used most of the bad stuff to elicit sympathy for him rather than point out he was and is a scamming pos

I forgot to post that I finally saw The National (Philly) after many years of either work conflicts or ticket price robbery. Great show with 25 songs including the encore. I was a little jealous of the previous night who got Don't Swallow the Cap, but our set list was awesome too. The Beths opened and were a lot of fun. Side story, I was a bit distracted by the woman in front of us having a large-font text conversation that I must say evoked all the Vic Mackey POF threads. And her appearance would also fit the legend of Vic. Here's what I saw before we moved to a better view of the band: Him: It would be impossible for me to turn you out. But I can make you feel good Her: Why impossible? My love is the shit Him: I'm a freak tho Her: Daddy gets what he wants

Saw him at a City Winery a few months ago. He sounds great and plays all the hits. Probably will have some good Texas stories too