Phils Continue Hot Streak

The Phillies are looking like their usual second half selves as they extended their winning streak to four games with their win over the Giants tonight.

Philadelphia (68-51) got the win over the San Francisco Giants 8-2 tonight to jump to a season high 17 games over .500 on the season and they gain another game on the Giants in the NL Wild Card race to increase their lead to two games. The Phillies were led by a three-run home run from Jimmy Rollins in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Pitching has been stellar for the Phillies and is clearly the key to the ascension from third place to the top spot in the wild card race and within two games in the NL East.

Having three starters that the team can rely on constantly in Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt has been a huge advantage over the past couple weeks as the Phillies have won 20 of their last 25 games.

The bats have done pretty well for themselves over the last couple of nights as well and tonight was a huge night at the top of the order for Jimmy Rollins and Domonic Brown off the bench.

Rollins had three hits and three RBIs on the night including the three-run smash in the forth. Jimmy has been hitting better as of late, he's hitting over .300 since July 22nd and has been that steady presence at the top of the order that the Phillies rely on every night.

Domonic Brown on the other hand, has been riding the bench since the return of Shane Victorino to the lineup and since being squeezed to the pine, Brown has told reporters that he's been living in the batting cages to maintain his swing and tonight he got a chance in the eighth inning as a pinch hitter and the extra BP paid off as Brown hit an upper decker shot for the second home run of his career.

Joe Blanton performed well on the mound tonight continuing the string of good starts for Philadelphia. Blanton went 6.1 strong innings giving up eight hits and two earned runs while walking none and striking out seven. Joe gave up a couple home run balls but other than that, it was a good sight to see Blanton coming back after a quick home run in the first to get a quality start.

The Phillies are looking for the sweep tomorrow night as they send Cole Hamels to the mound and hopefully Hamels can get a win as he has not gotten any run support recently and is stuck on seven wins for the season. Hamels in his last seven starts is 1-2 with a 1.81 ERA, wow, can we get Cole some runs tomorrow night, please!!!

As The Favre Turns

We finally have confirmation on the Favre front, he IS coming back to the Minnesota Vikings for a 20th and potentially final season (I'll believe that when I see it), this man has been a national nightmare, a one-man soap opera basically dictating ESPN's news cycle.

How ridiculous have the last couple days been, with reports about Favre "boarding a plane heading north" and a report about three Vikings players going to his home to beg Favre to come back and blah, blah, blah. Not to mention what the Worldwide Leader did a couple weeks ago jumping the horse on those Favre retirement reports and driving logical sports fans up a wall.

What we got then and are getting now is a retelling of the awesome story of Brett's career and how well he played the game and jubilation he has in doing so. How about someone calling the man out on his constant BS?

Year after year, Brett has thrown his team under the figurative bus with his non-stop indecision and lack of communication and the habitual lying. For the last half-decade, Favre has thought about ending his career and living out his life on his farm riding a tractor wearing Wrangler jeans, but intsead Favre has decided to reak havoc on whatever franchise will have him.

The Favre we all know and loathe today came to be around 2008 when he really started to invest in this retirement talk after blowing the NFC Championship Game which culminated in his official "retirement" which led to resentment by the man who retired towards the team that supposedly forced him out.

What resulted was a continous will he, won't he novel about the eventual Hall-of-Fame QB who plays with a child-like intensity.

My biggest gripe with Brett has been his insistence upon leaving his team in the cold about his mindset about everything. The worst thing that could have happened to the viewing public was Brett playing well last year which culminated in the same old ending, an interception ending yet another season.

Brett said after the season ended that he would decide quicker whether he would play this season and of course he didn't and it took three friends in the middle of August to go to Brett's house for him to say that he wants to come back for "them".

He acted like he wanted to play, but all the while he kept telling everyone how beat down and hurt he is and didn't keep contact with coach Brad Childress who stuck his neck out by letting Favre set his own timetable for his return to the team.

Minnesota missed out on various opportunities to secure another viable option at quarterback and in the process gave the keys to the franchise to Brett Favre. It amazing when you consider all the concessions they made for Favre, it's comprable only to what the Cavs did when they tried everything in their power to retain LeBron James.

You can not have any player dictate the course of your fanchise the way Brett Favre has because when you do, chaos ensues.

The Adrian Petersen example works perfectly here because as illustrated he missed a practice to attend a parade being held in his hometown and yet he was criticized was Coach Childress while Brett sat at home and waited until the second preseason game to announce his intentions and yet everything is just fine with that.

It sets a bad principle in the locker room despite the comments that go public about the players being okay with Favre missing time and returning to the team because if the team struggles this year, watch the stories that surface. It will be very interesting to see just how good Favre can be this year and if the Vikings have learned their lesson for an off season of confusion.

More Phillies, Eagles and West Virginia Coverage To Come

Sorry guys about the lack of posts, but from today forward What's ill will see increased activity with stuff about the Eagles, Phillies and the West Virginia Mountaineers. I'm a WVU student who will be working for the Palestra.net in the fall covering football and basketball and I will post my stories for the Palestra on this site as well and I will never be able to forget about my beloved Phillies.

With WVU football around the corner, coverage for that will begin next week and this site will be busier than it has ever been and I'm excited for everyone who reads the site now and a future visitors.

It should be an exciting year of transition for the Mountaineers who are starting sophomore QB Geno Smith this season following the departure of senior QB Jarrett Brown who was a face from the golden age of WVU football, as Brown was White's backup for many years before getting his first crack at the starting role last year.

Smith is starting the season with many people anxious to see if the highly touted recruit from Miramar, Fla is ready to take the reins for a program that has fallen from the nation's elite to Big East mediocrity. 

This is just a snippet of what to expect from What's ill as well as Pennant Race coverage and NFL Kickoff Weekend coverage. Thanks to everyone for reading and following What's ill.