Philadelphia Sports Festivus Airing Of Grievances

In honor of the great holiday created by Frank Costanza, I've decided to celebrate Festivus with an airing of grievances with Philadelphia sports figures. Sure, we're in the midst of a pretty good run here sports wise in Philadelphia... but that doesn't mean we can be better.

I gotta lot of problems with you people, and now you're going to hear about them!

Andy Reid - What is up the game management? You've been a head coach now for over a decade and you still don't seem get the concept of managing the clock and your timeouts. What's worse, you'll usually throw a challenge flag if you didn't like a spot in the first quarter(and lose the challenge)... yet in a major moment of the game against the Giants when the replays clearly show that DeSean Jackson was down by contact on a fumble, you don't throw the flag and the Giants end up with a TD. You would have been getting killed this week had a miracle not happened.

Paul Holmgren - Your grasp of the NHL's salary cap stinks. Your bizarre tricks of stashing players on long term injured reserve has now all but killed the team's ability to pay anyone that isn't currently on the Flyers roster. Plus, your inability to keep the payroll under the cap meant you had to give away Simon Gagne for nothing.

Evan Turner - You were the second pick in the NBA draft. Let's check out your stats from the last Sixers game... that's right, you didn't play! How did you fare against the Lakers? Again, you didn't play! The last game where you played significant minutes was when you got about a half hour against the Bulls in garbage time and you managed six points. I know Doug Collins isn't a huge fan of playing rookies, but you had a decent start to the season and have disappeared since then.

Sean McDermott - Your defense stinks! Your unit has given up 30 TD passes this season, which is the most in franchise history! This is the 21st ranked defense in the league and if it the Eagles didn't have the top ranked offense in the NFL, the failings of the defense would be a lot more noticeable than they are. Your defense is giving up more yards per game than the Panthers, who have the league's worst record!

Ruben Amaro Jr - Everyone has been patting you on the back for the Cliff Lee deal. Good on ya for that.. But let's also not forget that you've been spending money like a drunken sailor in questionable ways. You gave a 47-year-old pitcher a two-year, $14 million contract. Were you really that worried someone else was going to snatch Jamie Moyer away that you had to give him a two year deal? That $7 million was an albatross on the payroll last year as Moyer gave them almost nothing, which should have been a shock considering he was nearing his 50th birthday! Oh and let's forget the Ryan Howard deal. You signed the Big Piece to a five-year, $125 million contract that won't even actually begin until 2012. He's now going to be paid $25 million a year through his mid-30s, which is of course when pretty much all players decline. Had Amaro not pulled the trigger on the deal, Howard would still be signed through 2011 and we'd have a better idea of how he was aging and what the market might actually bear for him.

Danny Briere - Can you possibly get through a shift or two without hooking or high sticking someone? I love the fact that you're leading the in goals and you're an offensive threat... but you've got more penalty minutes than Dan Carcillo! Only Scott Hartnell and Jody Shelley, a goon, have more penalty minutes than you. Keep scoring your goals, but stay out of the freaking box!