Consider your suffering eased, I have returned. After a month and a half hiatus, I am back at Hot Stove Philly, and you may all now breath a collective sigh of relief. Woo. Good.

Unfortunately, it seems I may have returned to the Philly sports world with little to be excited about. The Phillies season is over. The Eagles are inconsistent at best, and embarrassing at worst. The Sixers make the Eagles look good. The Flyers are the best thing going, and they’re in fourth place in their division. Could it be possible that the Phillies’ off season is the most interesting thing in Philly sports right now?

As the kids say today, wtf mate?

Despite another incredible season that saw the Fightins get to their second straight World Series, they were clearly outmatched by a superior Yankees team. The Bronx Bombers had better hitters, better starting pitching and a better bullpen. Hard to win when under those circumstances.

The series put into sharp contract the glaring holes that need to be addressed by GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and his team this off season. Now that they’ve let Pedro Feliz go, the team’s first priority is a starting third baseman, with Mark DeRosa, Adrian Beltre and Chone Figgins the top three contenders on the Phillies’ list, or so we assume.

The Phillies’ next priority has to be the bullpen. ESPN’s Buster Olney reported today that he believes Detroit closer Brandon Lyon would be a great fit in Philadelphia as a late inning set up man and emergency closer, should Brad Lidge decide to relive 2009 next season. Olney believes that “perhaps the best of the guys who might be OK coming in as a set-up man, and he’s coming off a solid season in which is posted a 2.86 ERA for the Tigers, allowing just 56 hits in 78.2 innings, with 57 strikeouts.”

There are several holes in the bullpen that need to be plugged, and the bench, that was so good just a year ago, needs a thorough rejuvination. The hot stove is heating up with free agency set to begin in just four days and it looks to be a particularly interesting one for Amaro and the Phils.

Across the street at Lincoln Financial Field, Andy Reid and the Eagles are headed in quite the opposite direction, as they find themselves loser of two in a row after falling to the San Diego Chargers Sunday 31-23.

The Birds have looked great at times this season (Carolina, New York) and awful at others (Oakland, Dallas). Their once heralded offensive line has been anything but, a result of the plague of injuries that has besought the group like a pack of demons. The defense as a whole is not much healthier. At least they have an excuse for playing lousy.

The offense? Even with a healthy Brian Westbrook (if you can ever call him that anymore) and Desean Jackson to start the game, the Eagles struggled to put points on the board, failing to get the ball in the endzone until the fourth quarter. That’s including three trips inside the Chargers 10-yard line in the second and third quarters. Kicker David Akers was a little too busy yesterday.

The reason? Donovan McNabb. Andy Reid. No O-line. None of the above. All of the above. Take your pick. The Eagles are uninspiring this season after what has to be one of the most exciting and hopeful off seasons in recent team history. Did I mention I hate training camp?

Luckily for the Eagles, the Sixers are even more uninspiring. Unfortunately for the Eagles, nobody cares about the Sixers so everyone is still talking about the Birds.

The Sixers are not living up to their offseason expectations either, which is pretty impressive considering how low those expectations were to begin with. The team is averaging 28.43 fans a game. Elton Brand, who is supposed to be the team’s best player, and is at least the team’s most expensive player, doesn’t play in the fourth quarter. Their center of the future, Marreese Speights is reportedly out until January with a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee. They are, once again, the worst three point shooting team in the NBA. And they’ve won just four out of their last five games, their lone win coming against the 0-10 New Jersey Nets. And yet, thanks to an incredibly mediocre Eastern Conference, the Sixers are in third place in the Atlantic Division, one game back of the 5-5 Toronto Raptors. There’s a lot of basketball left to played and the Sixers have a great chance of being one of the many teams that will make the playoffs, so there is still hope that they will yet again miss out on a meaningful draft pick.

The Orange and Black are pretty much the only thing left to be happy about in Philly right now, winners of seven of their last 10. They are tied for the second best record over that period in the Eastern Conference with the surging Buffalo Sabres, topped only by their rivals up the Turnpike, the 14-4 New Jersey Devils, who have lost just once in their previous 10 games.

The Flyers boast the best goals for/goals against ratio in the NHL, scoring 1.44 goals for every goal they’ve allowed. They’ve scored the tenth most goals in the NHL with 59, and have allowed the third fewest in the league with 41.

Chris Pronger has been everything he was promised to be and more. He is second in the NHL with a plus minus rating of 13 and was named the league’s “nastiest and most intimidating” defender by The Hockey News. And according to the Philadelphia Daily News, he was named “the ‘best corner man,’ for winning puck battles along the boards. Pronger also figured in the discussion for ‘best shutdown defender,’ ‘best first passer,’ and honorable mention for ‘best point shot.’” He currently has a six-game point streak, recording seven assists and nine points and is second on the team behind Jeff Carter with 17 total points. Oh, and the Flyers have the NHL’s best power play unit, in large part thanks to Pronger.

Rookie winger James van Riemsdyk has also been everything he was hyped to be, coming into Monday’s game against the Devils fourth on the team in points with 15. He trails Carter, Pronger and captain Mike Richards. Not bad company for a kid not two years removed from the draft.

So while the Eagles and Sixers leave us wanting much, much, much more, the Flyers are worth watching, and the Phillies’ off season will be one filled with intrigue and ainticipation as we march to February and the start of Spring Training.

We apologize for our hiatus here at Hot Stove Philly but promise to bring you all the latest breaking news and commentary that you have come to love from here on out.