Phillies, Eagles, and Comic Books

I’m excited to be posting on ROZ - Its been too long, but the Phillies just played a disappointing home opener and its approaching that time of year when all Eagles fans are struck by the realization that – no, the administration will not address those gaping holes that have been staring at us for years now and there is no way that the draft could possibly round out the team the way they would have us believe, even if Andy Reid didn’t have the inconsistent-at-best draft history that he does. This is the time of the year that more often than not, regardless of World Championship ring ceremonies, has Philadelphia fans caught between frenzies excitement and hard-earned cynicism.

What can we expect this year from the Phillies? It is promising, most of the roster is returning, the absence of Pat Burrell really doesn’t have anyone too concerned and the level of excitement in the city is higher than it has ever been in my life time. Nonetheless, I anticipate a slow start, it has been something of an M.O. for Charlie Manuel and the Phillies. My concerns right now are not so much for the team – and here’s that cynicism creeping in – but that the franchise will get lazy. More games will be sold out, the days of dirt cheap standing room and upper level seats may be numbered. When tickets still sell, chamionships are less vital, the Eagles have gotten good at the game and I hope it doesn’t rub off on their neighbors.

I’ll segue into the Eagles from here. Either we will find out that DeSean Jackson has developed in leaps and bounds into a completely legitimate number one receiver or we will likely find Andy Reid still trying to convince (and himself) that his system can win without a number one receiver which is so obviously untrue it can be painful. It is never a good sign when your team’s biggest offseason event is the loss of a free agent but again, this is par for the course. I know losing Dawkins may not impact the team hugely in terms of performance, but I can’t help but think of all those bad-ass (and sometimes cheap) shots he would take at just the right time, getting the defense to rally around him. This type of aggressive leadership is something that Donovan has never been able to display and we could miss it sorely

Finally, I like to promote awesome stuff from the non-sports end of the entertainment world on this blog. I will try to avoid boring our readers with too much of my comic book nerdiness but it feels appropriate to introduce people to Warren Ellis’s Transmetropolitan. Vertigo just republished the first six issues in one volume and it absolutely rules! It fits right in with the overarching thing of cynicism that runs throughout this post, following the exploits of Spider Jerusalem, a Hunter Thompson influenced journalist, in a dark excessive dystopian future. It is full of satirical humor, drugs, and violence, all expressed through the fine artwork of Darick Robertson. At one point Spider fires a bowel-disrupting gun at the president of the United States, and at another he makes a eavesdropping priest vomit just by talking! You won’t regret checking it out.