Sixers, Phillies and the debacle that is Philadelphia sports. It could be worse, it could be cycling!

I will never watch the Tour de France (which should be the limit of any person’s bicycle fanaticism) again. I will admit it, I fell for Floyd Landis. He represented much of the same things I love about college sports: a guy that is going out and competing for the love of the game and the competition, a guy that overcame huge odds (both his family upbringing and terrible hip injury are not conducive to winning the Tour) with his even bigger heart, and a guy that never gave up even when things got virtually impossible. I guess the new saying should be “When the going gets tough, the tough get doping.” Look, at this point I do not really much care whether Floyd was innocent or guilty. All that matters is that I completely bought into this magical story, and either a) it was all a big lie, or b) the publisher that put the story out is so messed up that the relevance of the actual story is tainted. The sport is in shambles, there is a black eye over all their stars, and now nobody can trust any of their riders. Any time you see a great performance, the first question will be, will he get caught? Not if he used, which is bad enough (ask baseball), but whether that probability will be caught or not. I say that until testing can accurately identify all cheaters and eliminate false positives (I mean, we did send a man to the moon over 35 years ago!) let them do whatever they want. If these boneheads want to cut years off their lives for some potential glory, God Bless ‘em! At least we won’t have to ask the questions.

The latest news on the Allen Iverson trade front is that there is no news, he will not be traded, and we are back to status quo. This is a tough call for Billy King. Do you trade a superstar, one of the best 10 players in the league who averaged 33 points a game last year, for $0.60 on the dollar? Or do you stay status quo in a terrible cap situation with a team that cannot contend? This bed was made by Larry Brown, not Billy. Brown should have traded Iverson 3-4 years ago when his value was higher and the trade would have been less lopsided. Now Billy is stuck and taking all the blame. It will be very difficult for Billy to save his job (I would guess he needs to make the playoffs and maybe win a round next year), but there are not many moves he can make here. He has started rebuilding the right way (defense!), and it will just take time with Iverson locked in, and the massive contracts of Webber and AI strangling the GM from an ability to make any moves. For the record, I think it is the right move for Billy not to trade Iverson. The fans would be outraged when they got someone like Carlos Boozer or Al Jefferson back. Then when the team’s record deteriorated further next year, Billy would be gone for sure. I think it is a longshot for Billy to survive past next season, but trading A.I. would have made him a no-shot.

In about four days, Billy King will fade to the background, as the Philadelphia fans are about to shift their entire wrath against Pat Gillick. This is easier to see than the fact the T.O. and Parcells will combust at some point this season. Here is what will happen: nothing much. Abreu will not be traded. Pat Burrell will not be traded. Maybe Jon Lieber or Cory Lidle will be traded….for some guy you will never hear from again. On Tuesday morning, we will wake up and have a team that has no chance of making the playoffs this year, and has not done anything to improve its chances for next year, when they should be a contender. And I know I may have mentioned this once or twice, but how has Pat Gillick kep Jolly Chollie on the job the entire year? This guy is the worst manager I have ever seen, and at least by firing Chollie, who is public enemy #1 (along with being an incompetent bumpkin), you buy yourself more time as GM to implement your strategy. Bad move, by (Stand) Pat. Get used to it…..

On the other hand, if you are a true baseball fan, the American League Divisional and Wild Card Races will be just magical to watch. My predictions heading into August: AL East: Yankees; AL Central: Tigers (I would not have guessed this even at the break), AL West: Angels; AL Wild Card: White Sox. Out: Twins, Red Sox. It will be fun to watch.

Lots of stuff to talk about next week. Look for the blog pace to slowly pick up as we get closer to kickoff!!!