Courtesy of our friends at The Great Mambino

Is Chip Kelly a Good Fit For the Philadelphia Eagles?

(In a shocker, Oregon Ducks football coach Chip Kelly became ex-Oregon Ducks football coach this afternoon, as he signed a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. Kelly had been courted by several NFL teams, but seemed to be going back to Eugene after some sources reported he had signed with the Cleveland Browns just two weeks ago. Our man and foolish Eagles faithful El Mariachi had no choice but to comment on his potentially history-making day)

It is common knowledge that the Philadelphia fan base is a notoriously tough crowd when it comes to sports. But when you look past all the bad press that they get you can see deep down in the cavities of their chests that there is a tiny, Kelly-green Grinch- heart three sizes too small. They are arguably the most passionate fan base in all of sports and they are usually the most critical. Which made the 2012 season all the more painful.

To say the least, it was a sad year. Beginning with the tragic death of Andy Reid’s son, the culmination of a 4-12 season, and the inevitable firing of Reid, ending a twelve year long witch hunt. Add everything up, and this made the Eagles one of the unprecedented seven teams that needed a head coach entering the 2012 postseason.

After a grueling process of interviewing over 11 candidates, it was reported today that Oregon head coach Chip Kelly will be the new boss of the Philadelphia Eagles. Ask any fan and they’ll tell you that any change is for the better...but is it really?

Chip Kelly is best known for his high octane offensive style. His no huddle offense is reminiscent of the Patriots, Redskins, and the Colts during the Manning era. Almost always starting in shotgun, Kelly uses the spread offense with 3, 4 or even 5 receiver sets. In theory this spreads the defense dangerously thin which opens up not only the run game, but the read-option for the quarterbacks. This is best run by someone mobile like Cam Newton, RGIII, Colin Kaepernick, or interestingly, a young Michael Vick. The Eagles might have Nick Foles running the show next year, which is a problem in itself. It's not that Foles isn't capable--it's that he's unproven with such a small sample size of games. Regardless of who's throwing the ball, this offensive is devastating when implemented correctly with the right personnel and it led Chip Kelly to an astounding 46-7 record in only a four year span at Oregon.

You can read the rest of the article here: http://thegreatmambino.blogspot.com/2013/01/is-chip-kelly-good-fit-for-philadelphia.html

The Academy Awards is Like the WWE

Months ago, Grantland featured an article written by the legendary Masked Man about the similarities in the WWE and the NBA. It's brilliant for basketball and WWE fans. And if you are a fan of both, then it's truly incredible. You can read it here: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7861414/david-stern-vince-mcmahon-lebron-james-john-cena-wwe-guide-nba.

The Masked Man's article, took players from the NBA and compared them against their WWE counterpart. Lebron James was John Cena, Dwayne Wade was CM Punk and David Stern was Vince McMahon. It was a truly incredible and fresh angle to look at both sports and how they aren't as different as we might think. Now with the awards season upon us, I started getting all cynical about the award shows aka popularity contests that Hollywood throws. And I couldn't help but see similarities in the WWE and the entertainment world. It could be that I watch waaaaay too much wrestling and my brain can't switch it off or maybe it's that the WWE really isn't that different from our lives as we think. That sentence sounds crazy I know but hang with me.