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Showing posts from October, 2016
Books by Rob J. Quinn
Cover for Reach Past Your Limits Cover of The Birth of Super Crip Cover for Reach Past Your Limits

Rob’s Rants on Sports: Eagles Win Ugly; Embiid Shines in Debut; Flyers Comeback Win Impressive; Sports Talk Moves; more

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The Eagles got an ugly win against previously undefeated Minnesota, and Joel Embiid’s long awaited debut may have been the highlight of the week. Here’s my Rob’s Rants: Embiids tweet featured a pic of his own fist-pump Man the fans showed so much love... I freaking LOVE YALL!!!! TRUST THE PROCESS — Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 27, 2016 Five turnovers on five consecutive possessions in the first quarter marred the Eagles game. I’ll admit when I’m wrong, and, at least for a week, I was way off about Sam Bradford. More on that in a second. Carson Wentz is the concern in Philadelphia, and he looked predictably bad against one of the best defenses in the league. Yes, the Eagles won the game, but with his 2 interceptions and 3 fumbles—2 of which the Eagles recovered—there wasn’t much reason to give Wentz credit. He did have one TD pass, but his QBR was an anemic 13 as he passed for just 138 yards, completing 16 of 28 attempts. Last night we finally got to see Embiid on the court

Rob’s Rants on Sports: Eagles Drop Second Straight; Pederson’s “Andy Reid” Moment; Bradford Returns; Looking Ahead to the Vikings; more

It was an ugly week for Philadelphia sports, and, as always, it starts with the Eagles. The long awaited suspension of Eagles offensive lineman Lane Johnson finally took effect this week, and the result was as ugly as fans feared.  The first play from scrimmage saw Carson Wentz sacked with a torn jersey. It was an omen of things to come as he was sacked a total of 5 times on Sunday. He was sacked a total of 7 times in the previous 4 games. Potentially worse news came from Ron Jaworski. Talking to Mike Missanelli on 97.5 , “Jaws” said that of the 27 times Carson Wentz dropped back to pass, Johnson’s replacement, rookie offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai, was left on his own only 8 times. In other words, the Eagles were already giving him help, and, well, it didn’t help. Earlier in the interview, Jaworski may have offered the stat of the week to illustrate the ugliness of the Eagles’ loss. He said that teams that have a kickoff return and interception return for a touchdown i

Rob’s Rants on Sports: Eagles Finally Falter; Expectations Too Great? Doubting “DJax” Returns; Utley, Ruiz Give Phillies Fans a Playoff Interest; Remembering the Ickey Shuffle

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No one thought Carson Wentz would go the entire season without experiencing a loss or throwing an interception. They also didn’t think it would be October before he did both. Here’s my latest Rob’s Rants on sports: Let’s start at the finish. The Eagles lost 24-23 in Detroit, a loss that wasn’t sealed until Wentz threw his first career interception on a long pass to Nelson Agholor in the final minute of the game. Wentz blew it. There was 1:28 left in the game. In that situation, defenses are generally going to play somewhat of a “prevent defense”—keeping everything in front of them. He needed to get his feet wet in his first end-of-game 2-minute drill with some easy passes over the middle. It’s a tough way to get your first pick—he actually got away with a couple bad passes earlier—but this is what the Eagles signed up for when they handed the reigns to a rookie. The question is how he responds this week. There’s really no reason to think the Wentz Wagon isn’t still rolling. Went

Rob’s Rants on Fall TV—Thoughts on Speechless, Designated Survivor, Bull, This Is Us, MacGyver, Kevin Can Wait, The Good Place, Timeless

My DVR is working overtime as I keep up with new shows I’m checking out this fall while watching my old favorites and plenty of sports. I know, I should read more. In the meantime, here’s a Rob’s Rants on the new shows I’m watching. Speechless: Did you really think I was starting with any other show? The show has a character living with CP. I’ve heard black people talk about calling their friends in the ‘70s because there was actually a black character on TV. I think I now understand the feeling just a bit. And, of course, I’m over analyzing the show. The family moved to a new school district because the mom (Minnie Driver) found a good situation for J.J. (Micah Fowler), her son who lives with CP. Yet, she discovers that the only ramp into the school is where they take out the garbage. She really investigated, eh? J.J. encounters a few over-the-top reactions to his presence—an aide who is giddy to meet him and a teacher who convinces students to suggest he run for class president

Rob’s Rants on Sports: Sixers Lose Simmons—For How Long? Howard Bids Farewell to Phillies Fans; Goodell Should Chill, and Gives Brady a Deflategate Gift

Bye weeks are always tough on football fans—particularly this week, when the NFL offered up some terrible games on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, the Eagles not playing wasn’t the worst part of the weekend for Philadelphia sports fans as Ben Simmons of the 76ers went down with a foot injury last Friday. At least the dull football choices on Sunday afternoon gave fans a chance to watch (part of?) Ryan Howard’s likely last game in a Phillies uniform. Here’s my latest sports rants: A week later, I’m still numb to the news that Simmons broke his foot in the last scrimmage of training camp. But I don’t want to hear any of the garbage about sitting him for the season. On Sunday, Keith Pompey of the Inquirer, echoed many, including Simmons’ agent from what I’ve heard on radio, writing , “The 76ers should strongly consider ending Ben Simmons’ season before it officially begins.” Later, he added, “The typical recovery time for a Jones fracture is six to eight weeks. Teams usually add two