IS THERE any stopping the Philadelphia Phillies?
Armed with a strong rotation led by Cliff Lee and powered by a lethal lineup led by Ryan Howard, they just may be the best team in baseball — again.
If the bullpen continues to performs as well as it has thus far in the playoffs, not even the New York Yankees may have a shot at stopping a repeat.
A scarier thought is this group could put together a run of several more titles.
Not only is age a moot point — most of the Phillies are in their prime — but Philadelphia's front office also seems to make all the right moves.
Last year, it added closer Brad Lidge, who was perfect.
In building toward a second title this year, the team traded for Lee and signed Pedro Martinez. Lee, the 2008 American League Cy Young Award winner, has been better than advertised. The wily Martinez contributed little in the regular season, yet his strong outing in the National League Championship Series made him a gamble that paid off.
Assuming the Yankees finish off the Angels — Thursday's game ended after Express' deadline — there's going to be a great World Series.
Cheer up, Washington fans: By the time the Phillies are too old to win titles, the Nats may finally have a competitive team.
Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
WHAT'S LEFT to say about the Redskins?
They stink. They are a joke. And, yes, they are going to fire their coach — maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday soon.
At least DeAngelo Hall's being faked on by Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme Sunday saved a legion of fans from dreaded false hope. Let's face it: Washington should have beaten Carolina. It ought to defeat winless Kansas City next week, too.
THERE WAS A stay of execution this week at FedEx Field.
The Redskins' 16-13 victory over the Buccaneers Sunday was nothing more and nothing less.
Quarterback Jason Campbell was about as awful as coach Jim Zorn's play-calling in the first half. And, once again, Washington found itself in a hole against a winless team. The only difference is the Redskins got lucky that the Bucs don't have an NFL-caliber kicker.
Fortunate to still be in the game and on the verge of losing any remaining fans, Campbell and Zorn put together their best quarter of the season. So — for a week — there won't be a coaching debate, nor will there be the always-popular quarterback controversy.
LET THE RECORD show that as the calendar turned to October, the nation's capital was far more energized by the Washington Capitals than by its beloved Redskins.
With talk of a Stanley Cup in the brisk air, the Capitals own this city like never before. Want a ticket to a game? Wait till next year. For now, find a seat on your couch for Saturday's home opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Before we get too caught up in red fever, let's remember a couple things as this new season begins.
THERE'S NO JOY in Mudville these days.
Maybe it's the Redskins' losing to the lowly Lions, but Gilbert Arenas looked absolutely morose at the Wizards media day on Monday.
Speaking to Washington reporters for the first time since blasting his team for not saving him from himself when rebabbing from his knee injuries, Arenas was Agent Zero — as in no smiles.
Arenas the entertainer, as we knew him, is dead. Now he's Mr. Serious.
RALPH FRIEDGEN is not the only coach in this area feeling the heat.
He is, however, the only one with a track record of winning.
It's important to keep this in mind during what appears to be a dreadful season for the University of Maryland.
The Terrapins (1-2) are lucky to have a win this season despite facing would-be patsies James Madison and Middle Tennessee State in consecutive weeks.
A three- or four-win year is not out of the question, leaving many to already debate whether Friedgen should be asked to return for a 10th season.
Such talk means it's time to call in the perspective police.
DAN SNYDER must have felt like a genius.
There he was — having picked a no-name assistant with no head-coaching experience to replace Joe Gibbs — sitting on a 6-2 record halfway through the 2008 season.
Owners everywhere must have been asking how they missed out on Jim Zorn, who hadn't even served as an offensive coordinator — the job he was originally tapped for in Washington.
Ten regular-season games and nearly one year later, it makes a lot more sense why Zorn had never been a top assistant, let alone a head coach. Simply put, he doesn't seem to inspire a team.
The NEXT TIME the Redskins are going to put on a performance like that, I should watch a "Seinfeld" rerun instead.
There was nothing new to see Sunday at the Meadowlands — at least if your team was wearing burgundy and gold.
For all this talk that quarterback Jason Campbell throws a great deep ball, he rarely goes down the field. And when he did in the 23-17 loss, all the closest players were Giants.
Wide receiver Malcolm Kelly was still a non-factor, even if it was an accomplishment that he didn't get hurt. Clinton Portis had a couple nice runs, but that was it for him. Antwaan Randle El managed to kill one drive by not throwing away the ball on his fake pass, and then he didn't score a touchdown later because he can't run straight.
In fact, the only sign of life on the Redskins' team came when coach Jim Zorn called for a fake field goal. It's probably been decades since Washington last tried that, and it caught New York totally off guard.
If week 1 is any indication, this year's team is going to struggle just as much as last year's did during the second half of the season.
Who wants to watch that? For competition, ""The Contest" offers a fix and is a lot less painful to sit through.
Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post
I AM HERE to proudly state I didn't watch Friday's preseason game between the Redskins and the Patriots.
Why? Because it was a preseason game, and, by definition, it would have been a waste of time to sit through that agony.
That said, I've seen countless replays of big Albert Haynesworth flattening Tom Brady.
It continues to look like a clean hit that would have gone unnoticed had Brady returned to the field instead of sitting on the bench in discomfort at FedEx Field.
But because the NFL's marquee player — who missed most of last season with an injury — could have been seriously hurt, many are saying Haynesworth's hit was dirty. At least, the critics say, the defensive tackle deserved a penalty.
It's true Brady could have been sidelined with an injury from the meaningless game. However, there was nothing wrong with what Washington's prized free-agent acquisition did.
Football is a brutal game. Players get hurt.
The NFL goes out of its way to protect quarterbacks, the stars of the league. That's never going to change. At the same time, big hits that aren't cheap shots won't be going away either.
Fortunately, Brady appears to be fine. Now let's hope Haynesworth isn't fined for doing his job too well.
Photo by Rick Carioti/The Washington Post
HAS IT sunk in yet? The Redskins just aren't that good.
At least not yet anyway.
No one disputes how meaningless the preseason is.
But when the starting quarterback completes only one pass in a game and neither of Washington's pivotal second-year receivers has stepped up in a meaningful fashion, it appears as nothing has changed from last year.
Perhaps that's because the offensive roster basically didn't vary in the offseason even though the team's lack of points did it in during the second half of the year.
Quarterback Jason Campbell has a terrific arm and the personality to lead, yet he's struggled with consistency. Everyone — coaches, his teammates, the hungry fan base — wants him to succeed so much that patience has grown thin. If nothing else, coach Jim Zorn can take solace in the fact his starter hasn't peaked too soon.
Campbell needs to stay calm and run the offense. Of course, the bigger question is if the Redskins have the right players to execute Zorn's schemes.
Will the new year be a continuation of last season? All it takes is for a few successful plays to change that mindset and begin to achieve.
Something has to change. At least there's plenty of time to change that fact.
Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post
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