Andy Reid has Outdone Himself this Time

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, the catastrophe that became Andy Reid's Tuesday press conference announcing Michael Vick as the new starter of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Andy Reid has put himself into bad situations before decision wise but I'm not sure anything tops what he did to Kevin Kolb this week. He single handedly did more damage to Kolb's confidence than any Philadelphia fan could have ever dreamed of doing.

Kolb has been the good soldier through all of this and that has been commendable since he has ample reason to be pissed off at the lack of confidence his coach has in him after putting the franchise on his shoulders just a few months ago and now all of it has been taken away after one half of football.

The most amazing thing about what Andy Reid did is how quickly he flip-flopped on the issue, the fact that he no sold Vick's second half against the Packers and first full game against the Lions with a stout, "Kolb is our starter", to all of a sudden, "[Vick] sitting there as possibly the hottest quarterback in the National Football League at this time and deserves an opportunity to play." It's a little bit jarring and doesn't sync up.

I understand the pressure on Reid to make a move after Vick excelled over six-plus quarters this season, throwing for 459 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 140 yards. But the end result should have been about Kolb returning to his position as starter.

And now Vick has truly been given a second chance in this league to prove that he can be a winner because what he did in Atlanta was more gimmick than substance and with the way Vick has played this season, one would have to think that he has updated his game quite a bit and become a better passer and a smarter quarterback, something that was challenged when he was the leader of the Falcons in his heyday.

I must give Vick some applause for the way he has handled being thrust into the starter's role, as a man who's been known to say some controversal things, he's avoided saying anything harmful to the team during this ordeal and actually has come out of this more likable because of the support he's given to Kolb.

And now I want to deliever to you the most groan inducing line from Andy's press conference on Tuesday:

"I will tell you, I think it's a great thing how he's playing. I think we all sat there on Sunday and went ‘wow, this guy is back, and maybe even a little bit better,' and that's a beautiful deal. I think that's a beautiful deal."

Beautiful probably isn't the word, shocking is a much better fit and now the Eagles are getting offers from other teams for Kolb and Reid won't even confirm Kolb's presence on the team beyond the October 19th trade deadline.

What a fall for Kevin Kolb, just in time for Michael Vick to 'rise like a phoenix.'

Photos Courtesy Philly.com

How Sweep it Is

The Phillies (92-61) completed a three game sweep of the Atlanta Braves last night which placed Philadelphia six games in front of Atlanta, their biggest lead in the division this season and it was the Phils first home sweep of the Braves since 2001.

Last night we saw another impressive performance from Roy Oswalt who did what he has done in his entire stint as a Phil and that's dominate and put the team in a great position to win. The Phillies are 10-1 when Oswalt is on the mound for the team.

This Atlanta series was big for a multitude of reasons,

1) It proves definitely who the best team in the NL East was as the Braves are now six games back with nine to play and are all but out of the divisional race.

2) The bullpen has been better as of late and it shined in this series as all three games showed that the Phillies now have a reliable back end with Madson once again impressing with his electric stuff and Brad Lidge has converted nine saves in a row and has only given up four hits in those save opportunities.

Lidge, as cliche as it sounds, has looked like the '08 version of Lidge and that's huge for the Phillies who last year has to go into the postseason with a half baked closer.

3)  We got a chance to see just how good the three aces look in succession, the three pitched 22 innings in this series and only gave up four earned runs and picked up for wins in the process. There was something gratifying to see that in every game in that series, if you are a Phillies fan, you had to be confident with who was on the mound and the result matched teh expectation and that doesn't happen often in baseball.

The trio of Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt is undefeated in September which is stunning and the team is 18-3 in September, where's the drama?

In all honesty, this has been the most remarkable run from a Phillies team that I've ever seen and this team is already being proclaimed as manager Charlie Manuel's best team and it just might be as in previous years, this team was never considered the best team in baseball going into the postseason and now they very will could be.

In the next couple of weeks, the conversation will change from how good we are to how quickly and easily will we win the World Series. For once, the Phillies will be considered a definite favorite and it will be interesting to see how the dynamic changes for a team that has always been considered good to now being a team that considered the best, and as a fan of the team I'll take it.

Photo Courtesy the Associated Press