Philly things...February preview

Here are a few things that are on my mind as we end the month of January and start the month of February. Football is comign to an end and now is the time to really take notice of the Flyers. Baseball is just 14 days away and the Phillies vs. Mets debate is on. As for the Eagles, it draft season, we'll get into that as well. Finally, the Sixers are showing some signs of life and are actully in the playoff race.

Here are my thoughts:

Flyers - The Fly Boys have gone 12-2-1 since Christmas but a bad lose to the Rangers showed me what I have been saying all along - they need to play Marty Biron. If they are going to win a round in the playoffs, Biron is the man who can get them a playoff series win. Should the Flyers get Peter Forsberg is another question that has come up a bunch. He is an exceptional talent, but I dont think he is the difference in a playoff series win...the goalie is. In Hockey, a goalie is the like a baseball pitcher, they can win or lose you a series. Right now, I see them one and done.

Sixers - The Sixers are a team on the rise, with a couple of younger players that can actually play. Loius Williams and Thadeus Young are two guys worth watching. Jason Smith is the kind of player winning teams have, give Billy King some credit, both these guys can play andhe drafted them. Andre Miller is an interesting story. Is it worth keeping him to try to get into the playoffs next season and maybe even win a round - I think so. Andre Igoudala is another story, I like his game, but he needs another player to take the pressure off of him. We all know that so what kind of player is that? Unfortunalty, that player isnt out there this offseason in free agency. I dont see the Sixers making the playoffs, but they are making strides to even be in the race at this stage of the season.

Phillies - The Phillies or the Mets, that has been the debate the last few days since the Mets traded for Johana Santana and the Phillies added Pedro Feliz. At this point I still am leaning towards the Phils, but I do hope they add another piece to the puzzle. Kyle Loshe and Livan Hernandez are availble and would be a welcomed addition to the Phillies staff, lets just hope the Mets dont step in there and sign either one of them. As for Feliz, he seems to be happy to be here and is a nice addition to the team. He is a solid gold glove level third basemen and can hit for some power at CBP. Right now, I am leaning to the Phillies as division champs and Mets as the Wild-Card, but that can change.

Eagles - There are a lot of issues right now with the Birds, I am going to lead off with with draft. I am looking to add a D-End via the draft and right now I like Derrick Harvey from the University of Florida. He is a top level pass rusher from the SEC that I feel better about them Vernon Gholston and Chris Long. If its not a DE that is not obtained, I like WR DeShawn Jackson from CAL, Safety Reggie Smith from Oklahoma, RB, Felix Jones from Arkansas would be a nice addition to the return game and as a compliment to Brian Westbrook, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is a sleeper I like from Tennessee State, he is CB who is really moving up some charts. The second thing I want to talk about with the Eagles is "playmakers". If Brian Westbrook and Donovan McNabb are asking, then they are needed. If just McNabb is asking, then maybe the team can say that he just is trying to fend off his own thoughts that he had a down year. But enter Westbrook (and to a lesser extent John Ruynan)and now the writing is on the wall - they need more playmakers.

Should be an interesting month of February, all sports are in play. College hoops is coming down the strecth, baseball has pitchers and catchers, Football begins draft and offseason rumors plus hockey as the playoffs coming into focus and this season the Flyers are part of it.