And So, The Kolb Era Begins The Eagles finally ended the speculation that began the instant the clock hit zero at the end of their blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs this season. Quarterback Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins for a second round pick (37th overall) in this year’s draft and a conditional pick in the 2011 draft. That pick could end up being a 3rd or a 4th round selection. The team got about as much compensation for McNabb as they could have expected. Is it a little strange that they traded number 5 to the Skins? Sure. But, the team got the deal that was best for them. And in return, sent the Syracuse product to a team and a coach he would play for.

McNabb was a terrific quarterback in his prime. And he gave Philadelphia Eagles fans a lot of great moments. He also gave them some bad ones as a player. McNabb was a model citizen on and off the field. And no one can ever question the guy’s work ethic. The Eagles had a lot of success with McNabb, but it’s time for everyone to move on.

"Obviously, that was a tough decision to make, in trading Donovan. He's been such a great player here for 11 years, and set every record that you could set with this organization, and been a great example on and off the field in everything he's done. I have nothing but good things to say about Donovan. Unfortunately, things like this happen in the National Football League," Eagles head coach Andy Reid said. So they do. Keep in mind. Jerry Rice didn’t finish his career with the 49ers. Emmitt Smith finished his playing days with the Arizona Cardinals. The great Joe Montana played the end of his career with the Chiefs. Brett Favre is not going to play his last NFL game as a Green Bay Packer. So, yes these things happen in the National Football League.

The starting quarterback torch for the Philadelphia Eagles is now being passed to Kevin Kolb. What should we expect from Kolb? I am not sure. I can tell you that Kolb is not the athlete McNabb was. You are not going to see Kolb pull the ball down and run for 50 yards. Not unless the other team leaves the field. But what I do think we will see from Kolb is the ball coming out of his hand pretty quickly. That’s what this offense calls for, one, two, three steps and it needs to come out. That was lacking on many occasions with McNabb. Kolb has a reputation for being an accurate passer. He will need to hit receivers in stride. This gives playmakers like DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin the best opportunity to make yards after the catch.

"This offense is built on rhythm and it's built on using the short passing game as an extension of the run and just dissecting people," Kolb said. "There's a lot on the quarterback's shoulders. It's built on the quarterback making decisions at the line.”

I don’t think his [Kolb’s] arm is as strong as McNabb’s. But then, neither is Drew Brees’ arm. And it doesn’t seem to hurt him.

And speaking of Brees, he is one of the quarterbacks Kolb reached out to recently about being a starting signal caller in the NFL. There are some similarities between Kolb and Brees. Both played in an offense that used a lot of shotgun and 4-receiver sets in college, both are from the state of Texas, both are not blessed with rocket arms, and both are rhythm and timing passers.

Hopefully, Kolb will try to emulate many of the things Brees does on the football field. Because frankly, Brees is the best in the business right now. Aside from his pinpoint accuracy, one of the things Brees does better than any QB in football is finding a passing window. It is imperative that pocket-passing quarterbacks find a window to launch the football. You want to step to the area that gives you a clear view of your intended target. When Brees gets into this window freely, he is deadly. Kolb needs to mimic that very procedure. If he does that on most passing snaps, the Birds will have a very effective starting quarterback.

How To Clean Up This Sixer Mess.

I am not going to mix words. The Philadelphia 76ers are in a very sad state right now. What needs to be done to repair the team? An overhaul. Let me do a quick analysis of this franchise. The team did not make the playoffs this season and had an unacceptable record. General manager and president Ed Stefanski has done an extremely poor job. He has made many mistakes, but three of them stand out.

First, hiring Eddie Jordan as head coach, who should be fired-and I believe will be, come season’s end, was a bad choice given this team’s personnel. He is known for running a semblance of the “Princeton offense.” That’s lovely, but almost everyone with half a clue about basketball knew Jordan could not run a Princeton-style of offense with the players the Sixers had when he was hired. Jordan has not been able to get the squad to play defense either.

Second major mistake, signing forward Elton Brand. I assumed that when the team inked Brand to a 5-year contract for huge dollars, they had given him a thorough examination. And were certain he would play at the level in which he played in his prime years with the Clippers. They didn’t. Brand is a swell fella’, but not even close to being worth $16 million a season as a basketball player. .

Third major mistake, bringing back Allen Iverson. It was a curious decision to bring A.I. back when starting guard Lou Williams was going to return soon after Iverson’s signing. We were led to believe that Williams was going to be out of action for a lengthy period of time when he hurt his jaw. That was hardly the case. And given the host of problems Iverson is having in his personal life and his great disdain for coming off the bench. It was a distraction to have him [Iverson] on the team. And an awfully miscalculated choice by Stefanski to bring the troubled guard back to the Sixers. I am quite sure he [Stefanski] knows that now.

Stefanski should be let go as well.

I see one bright spot on this team presently. And that is point guard Jrue Holiday. I think this kid has a chance to be a terrific player in the league. He has the skill set you like to see in an NBA one. He can beat defenders off the dribble; he’s athletic; he can shoot, and he is a solid defensive player. Holiday just looks like a point guard to me. Williams, who should be a third guard, not a starter, never looked like a pure point. Holiday has a good idea of when to create for his teammates and when to look for his own shot. .

Thaddeus Young is another player I like on the team. He is athletic and he plays hard. The slender, left-hander also has good shooting touch. Young is just 21. I would like to see how he does with a better coach. Young has the tools to be a good small forward.

Okay, that’s two positions. The rest of the team is expendable to me. I don’t see anyone among them that should be untouchable if that person can be moved. .

It would be nice if the Sixers could get lucky in the lottery. This team needs as many star players as it can get. That is how you win in the NBA. I think a star shooting guard is the biggest need for Philadelphia. A dominating big man would also be nice. There is much work to be done with this franchise.

College Basketball Player Of The Year

My selection for this award is Evan Turner, wing player from Ohio State. Turner seemed to make every big shot the Buckeyes needed this year. He missed 6 games during the regular season. And without him, Ohio State looked extremely average as a basketball team. With Turner, they were a number 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The difference was tremendous. Turner has declared for the NBA draft and will forgo his senior season. He will likely be a top 5 pick, possibly as high as number 2 in this coming NBA Draft. Turner is a terrific all-around player. He averaged over 20 points, almost 10 rebounds, and 6 assists per ball game in his junior season. At 6-6, 210 lb, the Chicago native will probably be a shooting guard in the National Basketball Association.