It’s never a happy day when one of the greatest players to take the field for one of your favorites sports teams will no longer be a part of said team anymore.

And so we’ve reached the end of the road with Brian Westbrook. His days of playing for the Philadelphia Eagles are over.

As sorry as I am to see him go, I can’t say I really blame the Eagles. $7.25 million for a guy who can’t stay on the field more than 10 minutes really isn’t a smart use of money. In fact, depending on which sources you read, Westbrook’s left knee could be so messed up he might not be able to pass a physical with any team. So not only are the Eagles not interested, no other teams may want him either.

I find that last possibility unlikely (someone will take a flyer on a guy who used to be one of the most dynamic playmakers in the league), but whether he’s played his last game for the Eagles or forever, his career deserves some retrospective praise.

Where would the Eagles have been this past decade if Andy Reid hadn’t wandered over to Villanova from his house and watched Westbrook tear up Division I-AA, basically stealing a first round player in the third round? Quite a few less division titles and playoff wins I imagine. His value to the Eagles and their success under Reid cannot be understated.

In his prime, Westbrook was perhaps the most feared player in the NFL. Anytime he touched the football, something spectacular could and often did happen. Even when they didn’t give him the ball, his presence as a decoy helped Donovan McNabb make good use of a grab bag of bums at wide receiver. I’ll have two lasting impressions of Westbrook, the first being the nonchalant way he scored almost all of his 68 touchdowns: Handing the ball to the official and jogging back to the sideline with a look of dissatisfaction, as though he could have been better on that scoring drive.

The other way I’ll remember him is from the 2004 NFC divisional playoff game against the Vikings—more specifically, from the NFL Films recap of the game. In the footage, Minnesota’s defensive coaches are constantly telling their players (and the players telling each other), “watch out for 36,” juxtaposed against footage of the Vikings’ total inability to contain the one player they were completely focused on stopping. That was vintage Westbrook.

Westbrook retires as the franchise’s all-time leader in yards from scrimmage (9,785), second in rushing yards (5,995) behind Wilbert Montgomery, third in receptions (426) behind Harold Carmichael and Pete Retzlaff, and third in touchdowns behind Carmichael and Steve Van Buren. He also holds the franchise’s single-season record for most yards from scrimmage (a league-leading 2,104 in 2007) and most receptions in a season (90 in 2007).

The Eagles have only had three great running backs in the history of the franchise: Van Buren, Montgomery and Westbrook. So I ask you, where does he rank?

A lot has happened in Philadelphia sports since my personal laptop died in its sleep before game six of the World Series. The Phillies fizzled out and lost to the Yankees team in a poorly played series by both teams.

And speaking of fizzling out, the Eagles’ rash of injuries finally caught up to them as they finished the 2009 season in the most embarrassing fashion possible—getting blown out by the hated Dallas Cowboys in two consecutive weeks (the first of which, 24-0, I witnessed in person), the second of which eliminated them from the playoffs.

The Phillies

Let’s take this look back chronologically and start with the Phillies’ inevitable failure in the World Series. I say inevitable because they just didn’t play good baseball that week. Neither did the Yankees, frankly; but in all of the little strategic decisions and details that are part of a game, the Yankees were simply better. Their brain cramps in game four, both on the field and in the dugout, are perfect examples of why the Phillies just weren’t up to snuff in that series.

Hardly resting on their laurels, a few short months later the Phillies made what is probably the largest blockbuster trade in franchise history. Remember how great it felt to have Steve Carlton take the mound every fourth day? Well, get ready to feel that sensation again, only every fifth day, when Roy Halladay takes the field for the Phillies in 2010. Ruben Amaro wound up trading away almost everyone the Blue Jays were demanding when the Phillies tried to get Halladay back in July, but this time they restocked the cupboard with prospects from the Mariners when they dealt Cliff Lee to Seattle in a separate trade.

It’s almost hard to fathom how good the Phillies would be this season with Halladay and Lee in the rotation together. Throw in a rejuvenated Cole Hamels and the rest of the National League would have been in serious trouble. That didn’t happen for three reasons: 1) Cliff Lee was owed $9 million in 2010, as is the untradable Jamie Moyer, and the Phillies were already at their budget limit; 2) Getting Halladay seriously depleted the farm system, so they had to get something in return to make sure they could compete for many years in the future, not just 2010; 3) Amaro is counting on Hamels finding his old form and essentially filling the role of Lee in the No. 2 spot in the rotation.

While having Halladay and Lee together was a wonderful, brief fantasy for both fans and the Phillies brass no doubt, it just wasn’t practical, and it’s hard to argue with their decision to think about the future. They made the current team better for the next four years (if you think Lee was good, wait until Halladay marches through the NL like Sherman marched to the sea), and they made sure they still have talent left in the system to keep them competitive when Halladay and the rest of the core players start approaching the twilight of their careers.

Don’t forget their other significant move: bringing Placido Polanco back to town to play third base, a signing not without irony since it was Polanco’s distaste for playing third which led to his trade to Detroit when Chase Utley took over as the Phillies’ everyday second baseman back in 2005. He is a significant downgrade from Pedro Feliz defensively, but an equally significant upgrade at the plate. Forget all those bad at-bats from Feliz and pencil Polanco into the 2-spot.

I’ll post a more thorough preview of the 2010 club in a few days.

The Eagles

Oh, where to begin?

As I pointed out to my many Cowboy-fan friends, the Cowboys were the healthiest team in the NFL and finished the regular season 11-5, while the Eagles were the most-injured team in the league and also finished 11-5 against basically the same schedule as the Cowboys. What does that tell you? Maybe it’s just a way for me to rationalize the beatdown they took from Dallas in those final two games, but I actually believe there is something to this.

The Eagles lost so many key starters to injury, starting in training camp with middle linebacker Stewart Bradley for the whole season and half the offensive line for various stretches, and on into the season with a secondary riddled by so many injuries Sean McDermott fielded a squad of third-stringers and guys they picked up off the street. Don’t forget Brian Westbrook’s concussions (he’s kind of an important player). When Jamal Jackson blew out his knee in game 15, that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

My theory was somewhat justified when the Cowboys had their asses kicked by the Vikings the following week, proving that Dallas really wasn’t that good either.

The point is, the Eagles getting to 11-5 and a wild card berth was probably a minor miracle in football terms. In a lot of ways,  2009 may have been Andy Reid’s best job as head coach. There’s a lot of speculation about the future of certain players, most of which I feel is overblown (McNabb isn’t going anywhere, though Westbrook may have played his last game with the team). If the Eagles stay healthy next season, and Reid’s offensive line plan actually works out the way he originally planned in 2009, look out in 2010. This team has the potential to be very very good.

Look for more thoughts from me on the 2010 Eagles around NFL draft time in April. For now, with spring training underway to fill the horrible sports void between football and baseball season, expect a full slate of Phillies coverage now that I’m up and running again.

Yes, I’m still around. My personal computer problems have been resolved (yea! new MacBook!), and with spring training just under way, what better time to start up again. Think of it as Philly Sports Blog 2.0. So much has happened in the Philadelphia sports world since my motherboard melted down during the World Series, and I’m looking forward to revisiting some of those stories, as well as discussing what we hope is another great Phillies season in 2010. Stay tuned!

Yankee manager Joe Girardi’s three-man rotation may prove to be his downfall, and the Phillies finally seemed to overcome his childish stall tactics last night, but he’s still out-managing Charlie Manuel in the games. Or rather, Manuel is out-managing Manuel and handing the Yankees free runs with curious decisions like pulling Shane Victorino from the game in the top of the eighth for Ben Francisco instead of having Francisco replace Raul Ibanez.

With a six-run lead, does it matter if Victorino can’t throw very well from his finger injury in the first inning? If it was that bad, what was he doing in there from innings two through seven? And if it only became an issue to start the eighth, why not move Victorino to left field where throwing doesn’t matter as much? After all, you’re trying to collect six outs the old-fashioned way if possible. Either Francisco or Victorino could have camped under that ball Ibanez dove for and missed, and it cost the Phillies two runs.

It was almost Black Friday all over again.

Fortunately, Chase Utley is absolutely on fire. His two home runs not only tied Reggie Jackson’s single World Series record, they provided the spark and the cushion the Phillies needed to stay alive on a night when Cliff Lee gutted out a tough seven-plus innings in which he did not have his best stuff.

So the Phillies live to fight another day, and they’ve more than a puncher’s chance of seeing game seven. The Yankees send Old Man Pettite to the hill on three days’ rest and the Phils counter with Old Man Martinez on normal rest. Believe it or not, I think game six could hinge on the home plate umpire. A consistently liberal strike zone could mean a pitcher’s duel; a tight strike zone could spell Pettite’s doom. But if the ump feels pressure from the Yankee Stadium crowd and gives Pettite more slack than Martinez, he’ll hang the Phillies with it.

If Shakespeare were a beat writer following the Phillies, the lede to his story for last night’s game would have been, “Slider, o slider, where fore art thou slider?”

Matsui, two strikes, slider, popped up.

Jeter, two strikes, slider, struck out.

Damon, two strikes, fouls off several fastballs before poking one into left field for a single. Then all hell breaks loose.

Damon steals second. Brad Lidge forgets to cover third base with the shift on for Teixeira and Damon runs to the free base.

Runner on third, two outs. Lidge inexplicably plunks Teixeira to put runners on the corners. Still two outs.

The last time I checked, this is the World Series, the highest possible level of professional baseball. If the pitcher and coaches are too afraid to throw a slider for a strikeout because there’s a runner on third base who could score if the ball gets past Carlos Ruiz, then maybe it’s time to find new work. Perhaps something less stressful like calling bingo games at retirement communities.

Instead, the Yankees got a steady diet of Lidge’s lousy fastball (his trouble pitch all year long), sat on it, and clobbered it, blowing the game open.

The top of the ninth inning last night is a microcosm of why the Phillies are going to lose this series. Last year’s team finds a way to get Damon out at third, or last year’s Lidge actually gets him out at the plate with a SLIDER. This year’s team is so punch drunk on Joe Girardi’s steady dose of American League slowball, that their brains have become disconnected at the plate and in the field.

We all thought they were mentally tougher than this. Maybe they are, but not this week.

This World Series is shaping up to be 1993 all over again, except it’s the Cliff Lee show instead of the Curt Schilling show. Everything else that could go wrong has.

If the Phillies were playing their best baseball and still getting beat by the Yankees, I’d be OK with that. But they’re beating themselves, and that’s what hurts most watching this series.

The Phillies have dug themselves a huge hole, and their inimitable resolve is being tested like never before. If any team is capable of overcoming a 3-1 deficit, it’s this team. But don’t hold your breath.