Multiple sources are claiming the Eagles and Browns are discussing a potential trade involving Chris Gocong. Fa real? Word. I’m not a huge Gocong fan, but it’s not because he’s bad at football; he just has no point in our defense. Plus, I am still waiting for him to pull out a gong out of his pads and ring that bitch after he makes a big play. Why has this not happened yet?

After trading Kamerion Wimbley to the Raiders, the Browns could actually use a guy like Gocong. In fact, Gocong might do very well in a 3-4. He isn’t built to play the traditional strongside 4-3 backer; he needs to be let loose off the end. He’s an undersized DE who has some understanding of coverage. That’s about it. Fokou seems to have passed Chris on the depth chart anyway, so let’s make it happen. If the Eagles do move Gocong (who ironically signed his tender yesterday), the Eagles will be left with only 5 linebackers on the roster: Stewart Bradley, Akeem Jordan, Moise Fokou, Joe Mays, and Omar Gaither (assuming he signs his tender). Fokou would be the only strongside LB left.

I say, fuck it, trade him for anything higher than a late 6th. Outside of being a solid special teamer, I don’t see Gocong’s career in Philly going much further. It was a nice experiment while it lasted, but a change would help all 3 parties involved.

We’re back at it. This is our second mock draft. We’ll probably do one more right before the draft predicting which players teams will actually pick vs. who they should pick. Kizzle made the odd selections, Mo’lloy made the evens. Enjoy, bitches.

1. St. Louis Rams – SAM BRADFORD (QB, Oklahoma) – Kizzle’s pick
Bradford dominated his Pro Day, and this pick seems like it’s pretty much in the books. Suh is a beast, but do you really want to pay a DT #1 money? The Rams need a face for the franchise — even if that face is Gilbert Godfrey’s little brother.

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Scottie made 1st Team All-American today. He’s in amazing company too. Fellow 1st teamers include Ohio State’s Evan Turner, Kentucky’s John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, and Syracuse’s Wesley Johnson. Reynolds actually finished 4th in the balloting, ahead of Cousins. Unfortunately, Reynolds will be the only 1st Team guy not picked in the top 5 of next year’s NBA draft. That being said, Reynolds had a great career for Nova and helped carry on the legacy of great guard play under Jay Wright. It’s a good thing for Nova Nation that he bailed on Oklahoma 4 years ago to attend Villanova.

Reynolds beat out some talented players for the other guard spot on the 1st Team. Those losers include Greivis Vasquez, Sharron Collins, Jon Scheyer, and James Anderson. Sucks for them. Congrats, Scottie. Well deserved.

The Philadelphia Union kicked off their inaugural season last night by losing 2-0 to the Seattle Sounders.  It was a great atmosphere in Seattle, 36,241 supporters braved the pouring rain and were quite loud throughout the match.  The field looked pretty terrible, but considering the weather there wasn’t much that could be done.

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Mo’lloy and Pav-Lo had some free time at work today and decided to go back and forth on March Madness, the NBA Draft, and white people. Sorry, no McNabb predictions. We’ll let all the other sites beat that one to death until something actually happens.

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As spring training winds down and the team prepares to head north for Opening Day,  the Phillies roster appears to be taking shape. Per Todd Zolecki, the team optioned Mike Zagurski to minor league camp and are now left with 12 healthy pitchers on the roster.

Pending any signings and the health of Brad Lidge and J.C. Romero, the Phillies roster should look like this:

Regulars: Carlos Ruiz, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Placido Polanco, Jimmy Rollins, Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino and the bearded wonder, Jayson Werth
Bench: Greg “The Natural” Dobbs, Juan Castro, Ross “Droppin’ Fucking” Gloads, Ben Francisco and Brian Schneider
Starters: Doc Halladay, Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ and Kyle Kendrick/Jamie Moyer
Relievers: Kendrick/Moyer, Ryan Madson, Danys Baez, Chad Durbin, Jose Contreras, David Herndon and Antonio Bastardo

The starting lineup and bench are pretty much locked down (pending injury), as are four of the five starters. The only known competition remains for the fifth starting spot. Kendrick has pitched relatively well this spring with a 1.29 ERA through 14 innings while allowing only seven hits. Moyer has made his case of late, after starting off the spring pitching in “B” games, he threw 5 innings of 1 run ball in his first shot against the big guys. 

The bullpen still remains an issue overall despite strong pitching this spring from Baez, Durbin and Herndon (a combined 23.1 innings 0 ER and 18 Ks). Will Lidge and Romero be able to come back from their injuries and be dominant? Will Madson be able to effectively close until Lidge returns? And will Herndon, Bastardo and the other young pitchers that are brought up during the year be able to get it done?

During the season, you can expect to see John Mayberry Jr. and hopefully our man Dom Brown. The inevitable injury bug will hit the bullpen, so expect to see callups for Zagurski, Sergio Escalona and Where’s Weems favorite Scott Mathieson as well.

Overall, we still feel as though this team has 100 win potential if everyone can stay healthy. It should be a fun ride this year, especially watching Halladay throw. We are looking forward to Opening Day and the beginning of another run at a World Series title.

And yes, for all those wondering, Weems will be in attendance on Opening Day

 

High five! The Saints didn’t match the Eagles offer sheet extended a week ago to Mike Bell. The Birds have him for the 2010 season now. He’ll make $1.7M. Maybe $2M if he’s good. Word. That’s all I really have to say.

More on Kolb to Cleveland for 3 first round picks later.