Mike Missanelli’s Best (and Worst) of Philly Sports

Hey, why should the magazine’s editors have all the fun?

Best coach. Charlie Manuel is the greatest manager in Phillies history. Don’t be fooled by Charlie’s cornpone demeanor; there’s something about this guy that makes his players want to play for him. They know he’s got their backs, but they also know that if they’re not playing right, he’ll put a foot up their backside.

 

Best recent transaction. The trade of Flyers stars Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. I always thought they liked the spoils of being pro athletes more than actually achieving as pro athletes. Carter won’t have any trouble ruling the nightlife in Columbus, Ohio. But Richards might be a little overmatched; L.A.’s not as sports-crazed as Philly. (Woman in a bar to Richards: “Uh, you play what for who?”)

How to Fix the Baseball All-Star Game

Some thoughts on the home run contest, injured players, and Derek Jeter’s demanding girlfriend

It's Thursday, July 14, and the Major League Baseball home run contest is still going on. Watching that tedious, overdone exercise with the mindless and annoying prater of Chris Berman, I may as well watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on a loop. I haven’t seen anything take that long to complete since they elected the last pope and it turned out to be a guy from Germany. Enough already with the three-and-a-half-hour home run contests. Change the format.

Mike Miss: Why I Love the All-Star Game

Plus how Old City real estate influenced the Flyers trade agreements

I love everything about the Major League Baseball all-star game and if you don’t like it, you’re nothing but a curmudgeon. In every other major sport, football, basketball and hockey, the skills competition is more entertaining than the game itself. Because in football, basketball and hockey, no one actually cares about stopping the other team in order to win the game. But in baseball, it’s the ultimate mano-a-mano. The best pitchers in the game are trying to get the best hitters in the game out. How can you argue with that?

Phillies Fans: Bring on the World’s Envy

Savor the success of this team; times like this don’t come around too often

Tuesday night’s Phillies win over the Boston Red Sox was a capsule of why I love baseball. It was the perfect game without being a Perfect Game. Cliff Lee pitched a masterpiece. There were two long home runs. A couple of great defensive plays. Great fundamental hitting with moving runners and sacrifice bunting. And an overflow crowd that was juiced up, knowing that the game might very well be a World Series preview.

Is Charles Barkley a “Peckerhead?”

That’s what an ex-teammate says. Some thoughts on a quarter-century of lame 76ers draft picks

Twenty-five years ago today, the Sixers cursed their franchise.That’s the conclusion of most Sixers fans when they look back at the tumultuous circumstances of ill-fated NBA draft day activities that a) traded away Moses Malone for a hobbled Jeff Ruland, and b) trading away the No. 1 pick in the draft (who would be North Carolina’s Brad Daugherty) to the Cleveland Cavaliers for forward Roy Hinson.I remember actually being on board for that re-organization.

Why Do You Hate LeBron So Much?

The making of a villain

In my long career covering sports, I have never seen an athlete engender such visceral contempt as LeBron James.During the NBA season and especially in the NBA Playoffs, James was the ultimate villan -- Darth Vader, Mommar Ghadafy, and the Javier Bardem character in No Country for Old Men rolled all into one.

Why New York Made an Example of Plaxico Burress (And Why the Eagles Should Sign Him)

Plus: Good riddance, Ed Snider!

Plaxico Burress getting out of jail this week opens up a couple of interesting avenues of discussion, one being the choice of cap tucked under the hood of his hoodie.In that emotional “I’m finally out of the joint scene”—where Burress’s agent Drew Rosenhaus took a flying leap into his client’s arms while Plax was probably saying, "Yo, get off me man; if I’m going to bump my penis off something, I want it to be my wife"—we all saw that Plax was wearing an old-school Phillies cap. And speaking of leaps, the one we want to make here is that Burress was sending a clear message that he wants to continue his football career in Philadelphia with the Eagles.

Lesson from the Jim Tressel Affair: Follow the Tattoos

No, America, it’s not time to start paying college football players

The latest scandal at Ohio State that forced the resignation of Buckeyes football coach Jim Tressel is a further rationale on why college players shouldn’t be paid.Yes, I said it and I know what you’re thinking: But Mike, shouldn't you have the opposite view? Wouldn’t paying student-athletes at major sports revenue-producing schools actually eliminate illegal payments on the side? And to that view, I laugh heartily.

My 5 Most Hated Mets of All Time

God, it feels so good to loathe them

There used to be a time, and not so long ago, when a baseball series against the New York Mets elicited fervent emotion in Phillies fans. Now, the thought of it leaves us all as limp as Charlie Sheen with a bottle of vodka in him and a fat chick as his door.The Mets, in a word, are a mess.