From the Weekend

The Phils

- The Phillies managed to remain in 1st place after the weekend, taking 2 of 3 from the Pittsburgh Pirates. This series was, of course, on the heels of dropping 2 of 3 at home to the Florida Marlins. Sandwiched in with all of this was the embarassment of getting shut out at home for 2 straight games (Thursday 8/7 vs. Florida and Friday 8/8 vs. Pittsburgh).

Since May, I believe watching the Phillies offense has been added in the latest editions of the KUBARK manuals. Since the Phils, as a team, hit .273 in May, they've hit .232 in June, .270 in July, and so far in August, they are hitting an NL low of .211. They are as consistent as a ferret addicted to meth. That they are in first place speaks as much of how lousy the NL East is as much as it does about the Phillies.

The Eagles

- Tough to pull out any one thing you can take from the Eagles' 16 - 10 preseason loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers from last Friday. Donovan McNabb looked confident in the pocket and DeSean Jackson caught 5 passes. The first team defense, however, got pushed around a little bit. That said, these teams are slated to play each other in the regular season during Week 3, so it wasn't as if either team was going to show much in the way of scheme.

- Shawn Andrews has finally reported to camp. Also, Asante Samuel is reportedly back to practice after tweaking his hamstring 2 weeks ago.

The Shore

- Nice weekend down the shore until the drive home yesterday. Coming home down the Atlantic City Expressway, I encountered marble-sized hail as I was driving through Hammonton. I cut through Hammonton, because the Expressway began backing up due to the inclement weather and the large volume of cars slowing down. The rain and sleet had been coming down so forcefully, there were downed branches from some of the trees lining Route 54.