Roy Halladay started his second spring training game as a Phillie last night against the Braves and picked up right where he left off last week. He pitched three shut out innings and struck out five batters. It was just like his first time out against the Yankees where he pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three batters. It’s already clear that he is in top form.

As the regular season approaches (26 days away), we will continue to see Halladay more and more. It will be interesting to see when he gives up his first run of Spring training. It’s good to see this out of the Phillies ace this early in the year. The rest of the starters look pretty good too but not this good. He really stands out which is a great sign of things to come.

You can’t really take much from early spring training but one good thing you can take from this outing was that it was against the Braves. It was Halladay’s first shot at a division rival and he handled guys like Chipper Jones and Brian McCann. He will be facing these guys A LOT as a Phillie and it’s good to see he can handle them with ease. The NL East doesn’t know what’s about to hit them.

In other baseball news, Cliff Lee will make his spring training debut with the Mariners today. Most Phillies fans are still Cliff Lee fans because of what he did for this team last year so it will be interesting to see how his season goes out in Seattle.

Weekly Prediction: 2-2

The Sixers have a busy week with 4 games between Tuesday and Sunday. Of those 4 games only one of them is against a team with a record worse than their own. The Cavs have all but locked up the top spot in the East and the Heat and Bobcats are in a close battle for the 7th and 8th playoff spots.

The Pacers (20-43) are the worst of the 4 and happen to be the first game of the week. The Sixers are riding off a big double-digit win against the Raptors and should be able to lock this one up. The teams have been pretty evenly matched this year though. That was evident back in January when they played back to back games and each team won 1 by at least 10 points.

The next game against the Bobcats (30-31) could go either way but I’m predicting another Sixers win in front of their home crowd. These teams are as even as it gets this season. In their 2 games so far, they are separated by only 3 points- Sixers won one by 2 and lost one by 1. It even surprises me that I’m predicting the Sixers to go on a 3 game winning streak but I think this is a game they will take.

The streak ends on Friday with the Cavs though. The Cavs have the NBA’s best record and they simply don’t lose to teams like the Sixers. They are facing some injury issues with Shaq out for the season and Lebron missing some action lately but the addition of Jamison makes them lethal. I don’t see the Sixers taking this one.

To wrap up the week they travel to Miami for Sunday’s game with the Heat. The Heat (32-31) are playing good basketball right now and are 6-4 in their last ten games. They are in a very tight, 3 team playoff race and are currently holding onto the 7th seed. Every game is big for them now and they will come to play.

Don’t worry though. This mini 2 game losing streak I’m predicting shouldn’t last long. The Sixers first 2 games next week are against the Nets and Knicks.

I saw three things from last nights game that I was impressed with:

3) Leighton has what it takes to be the goalie that can push the Flyers through the post season.  He made all the easy saves and 99.9% of the tough ones.  He stopped 27 of the 28 shots on goal.  Leighton’s record is 15-7-2 and in his last 9 games he is 6-3.  In those nine games he only let up more than 2 goals once and that was in overtime.

2) The Flyer’s goal scorers are focused.  I can not tell you how many times I’ve watched a Flyers game and I’ve seen them fail to convert opportunities in all situations.  It didn’t matter if they were up five goals or down one, I’ve seen the Flyers miss the net when they should have scored.  Last night 3 out of the 4 goal scorers on the team found the net.  I consider Carter, Richards, Gagne, and Briere to be the Flyers goal scorers.  Against Toronto Gagne, Carter, and Briere pushed the Flyers past the Maple Leafs.

1) Dan Carcillo is a vital part to the Flyer’s team.  Dan Carcillo was a high draft pick (73rd overall) in the 2003 NHL draft by the Penguins.  He came to the Flyers in 2009 in a trade with the Coyotes for Scottie Upshall and a 2nd round pick.  Throughout his career he was labeled as a league tough guy and a fighter who never reached his full ability.  This season he is proving he can be a huge part of an NHL organization.  While he only has 9 goals and 7 assists this season he is hustling and working hard.  Last night he fed Gagne on a nice pass which led to a goal.  I was most impressed with his ability to hold himself back from getting into a fight.  He had the opportunity and he knew that it wasn’t the right time or situation.

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Selection Sunday is just over a week away so the brackets aren’t set yet but there’s no doubt that Temple and Villanova will be representing Philly in the NCAA tournament later this month. Philadelphia is one of the greatest college basketball cities with so many skilled, competitive teams and this year there’s hope that a Champion will come from this city.

It’s no surprise that Villanova is having such a great year. They were ranked 5th in the AP’s preseason rankings. The last rankings come out on Monday but they are 9th right now and will probably finish the year right around where they were projected. They were ranked as high as number 2 this year but couldn’t hold onto the spot for more than one week.

Villanova is one of the college basketball powerhouses who will be a tough matchup for any team in the Tournament. Last year they surprised a lot of people by making it to the Final Four but this season I don’t think anyone will be surprised if they make it even further.

Temple is a team with a different story. Coming into the season, they weren’t even on the scene. They weren’t even in the top 52 in the preseason rankings and nobody was really thinking about them. They lost 3 starters to graduation last year including Dionte Christmas.

But all along they knew what they were capable of and the public eventually caught on. From week one, they have been climbing up the rankings and are currently ranked 16th in the country. They have a very talented group of guys that will be around for the next few seasons since Ryan Brooks is the only key player graduating.

Some analysts say Temple can get a 3 seed in the tournament. It all depends on how they do in the A-10 tournament. If they win it, a 3 seed is very possible. If they lose it, look for them to get a 4 seed. It may seem like a small difference but really, the difference between a 3 and a 4 seed is very big.

Keep an eye on these teams when your filling out your brackets in a few weeks. It should be an exciting time for Philadelphia basketball.

They have a chance to pull out of this slump tonight though. They will be home against Boston who is currently the 4th seed in the East. But the Celtics have had their share of troubles as of late. Injuries and age have slowed down the big three and they even lost to the NETS last week. If the Nets can do it, the Sixers have a shot.

Even though they’re only 2 spots out of the final playoff seed, they’re pretty much out of it. They can’t consistently win and their last 4 games shows they can’t keep up with other playoff teams anyway.

A win tonight would be a good statement though. While it wouldn’t do much for their record or the standings, it could be a great morale booster for a team going through tough times. It should be a good game win or loss. The Celtics always seem to draw big crowds.

AP Photo/Kathy Willen

Watch out Mets. The Yankees are challenging you as the Phillies biggest rival from the state of New York.

Last year, there was no heat between the usually hard fought Mets/Phillies rivalry. The Mets flat out sucked and the series’ weren’t even close to as electric as they had been the past few seasons.

Even though it’s still early, it doesn’t look like the Mets will be a real threat to take the NL this season either. Every year they’re uncompetitive, more excitement drains out of the rivalry which makes room for the Yankees to fill in as the Phillies biggest enemy. To me it’s already obvious.

It seems like the players and coaches feel the same way.  For the first time in years, Rollins didn’t really trash talk the Mets and guarantee to beat them out for the division title. His reason was that before, this team needed motivation to take the division because they were the underdogs. Now they have confidence and know they are on top of the division by a long shot.

Charlie Manuel was recently quoted  saying “I want the Yankees”. This wasn’t a jab at their team it was just him saying that they want another shot at the team that took them down. It just shows where the focus is this year. For the Phillies, the picture perfect season would be beating the Yankees in the World Series.

Even ESPN baseball analyst Buster Olney compared the Yankees-Phillies rivalry to the classic Celtics-Lakers rivalry back in the days of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. He said both of these teams are great and have great players that respect each other.

All of this makes it clear that the Yankees are taking over the Mets spot as the Phillies biggest rival.

Pitching coach Dubee was quick to defend his talented pitcher.  He said that Happ is a very smart pitcher and understands the game to its highest extent.  Dubee also said that he has a feel for situational pitching and is very aware of what is happening in the game.  An interesting fact that this ESPN article had was as simple as JA Happ’s height.  I had no idea that he was 6-6.  The amount of leverage that that creates is just remarkable.  Since he is tall and his windup and release hides the ball, the perceived velocity of his fastball can be up to 96 mph even though he gets clocked at about 90.

So is luck part of winning at times… yes it is.  It is hard to say that no one in the history of sports has ever gotten lucky.  However to say that Happ got lucky all last season is ridiculous.  I guess we’ll find out this season.

The 25 game rental of Allen Iverson was fun while it lasted. He put some extra people in the seats, got the Sixers their first All-Star in a while and brought back memories from when this team had heart. Sure the team got heat from some of their fans and other sports analysts for picking him up but who can blame them? So what if they wanted to fill some seats? Its a business and this team obviously isn’t exciting or good enough to bring people out on their own.

The move didn’t hurt them as a team either. Even though his numbers were down from his last stint with the Sixers (13.9 ppg avg.), he added something that was missing especially when Lou Williams was down for a while.

Now, if for some reason they decide to bring him back next season (you never know with Stafanski), I would have to say that’s not the best idea for the team but this year I was fine with the move and I was glad AI was a Sixer again. I hope he retires right where he started his great career- in Philly.

The Eagles need a running back, and preferably one who has been in the league for a couple of years.  As of now the only running back that the Eagles know will be on the roster come August is second year Pitt running back McCoy.  There are really a handful of options that the Eagles could explore but two of the most interesting ones are Thomas Jones and Chester Taylor.

Thomas Jones is 31 years old but coming off of his best season of his career.  He eclipsed 1400 yards and found the end zone 14 times.  His age is definitely an issue and no one knows whether or not he’ll be able to have another season even as close to his past.  Baring all of the red flags, Thomas Jones is a work horse.  He can carry the ball twenty times a game.  He is also pretty durable and has been relatively healthy throughout his career.

Chester Taylor has been a consistent player throughout his career.  He is 30 years old and as far as age goes he is kind of in the same situation as Thomas Jones being that they both have hit that infamous age of 30.  The past two years with the Vikings his touches have been limited due to AP.  However in 2006 he rushed for over 1200 yards.  He wouldn’t cost the Eagles as much as Thomas Jones but then again he probably wouldn’t be as productive.

Overall either of the two would help out the situation.  Thomas Jones would be more of a featured back with McCoy getting some time as well.  Chester Taylor would probably share a heavy amount of the work with McCoy.  Both of these running backs have enough left in their tank to make an impact for a couple of years.  Personally I would love to see Chester Taylor join the team because I think him and McCoy would be able to compliment each other nicely.

Weaver was an important part of the offense in 2009. It was his first year with the team but he fit perfectly into the position and gained about 500 total yards and 4 touchdowns. He was even selected to his first pro bowl and proved to be a huge piece of the west-coast offense that this team was missing for years.

His skills will be needed even more in 2010 since the Eagles released Wesbrook. When Westbrook was injured this season, Weaver filled in very nicely. The one thing that may prevent him from contributing next season is his contract.

The Eagles only signed him to a 1 year deal last season and if they don’t get something done with him, he will become a restricted free agent on March 5th. If they don’t get a deal done before then, it still doesn’t mean he will be gone but they might has well lock him up early.

There is no doubt they need to bring in more help at running back. Westbrook is gone, leaving them with just McCoy to carry the load. Whoever they bring in will get some touches and help out but based on what we watched in 2009, this offense needs the power of Weaver as well.

My guess is they will get something worked out because a good west coast offense should have a powerful fullback. Why not lock up one of the best ones in the NFL?