Originally I was going to write an article about Philadelphia teams not signing our free agents (Brian Westbrook for the Eagles and Andre Iguodala for the Sixers). I was excited about writing the article too. I had spent about a half hour explaining to my girlfriend how profound and incredible my article would be. It was during that half hour that the Eagles and Westbrook agreed to a deal and my “profound” article went down the drain. While trying to pull my next topic to write about out of thin air , I watched some highlights of Philadelphia’s first pre-season game vs Pittsburgh.

While watching I noticed something maybe something minor but I noticed Donovan McNabb was smiling. Now at this point I am quite sure some readers are thinking “Big Deal!” , some understand and know what I’m getting at. McNabb is a better QB when he’s smiling. He’s a better leader and a better player when in that happy go lucky mood we saw a lot of in his earlier years. Now while I don’t have any “smile” stats to prove this , mostly because I don’t have time to watch every game he has ever played in seeking out facial expressions. It’s just something I noticed. The games where McNabb is playing through gritted teeth and with obvious pain on his face, he just doesn’t get the job done. He plays tense in the pocket and his field vision seems more narrow than ever. Carefree cheese smile McNabb however plays loose in the pocket and is almost impossible to sack constantly making a narrow escape from defenders. It’s true through out this season pay attention and see which McNabb is the one playing like an all pro QB.

Maybe it goes back to the days when he was just a kid playing for fun. Maybe he feels his Superbowl dreams are still with in reach. Either way I’ll take smiley McNabb any day. Now with Westbrook inking on the dotted line and a strong defense , maybe McNabb will stay smiling all season long. Right into the playoffs and even further maybe the Superbowl.

The Philadelphia 76ers 08-09 season schedule was announced and it could be considered news worthy for a couple of reasons. One reason being The 76ers will play one final game at The Spectrum before it is brought to the ground. On Friday, March 13 at 7:00pm, the Sixers will take on the Chicago Bulls in the building that holds a rich history for Philadelphia.  It is in that building the 76ers won games 1 and 2 on the way to winning their last NBA championship in 1983. I’m personally glad to see the 76ers team and staff pay their respects in this their 60th anniversary season.

Another notable tidbit about The Sixers schedule is that this year 7 games will be on national television. I think that is slightly more national exposure than last year and after sneaking into the playoffs they deserve it. The games shown on national tv will be played against: Orlando (twice) , Cleveland , A.I. and the Denver Nuggets , Chicago , the Pistons (who ended last years playoff appearance) , and reigning NBA champs The Boston Celtics. Other notable games include: the first road game on November 1st against Atlanta who is sure to lock things up with Josh Smith after we courted him for a little while , and March 8th when we head into Oklahoma City to play our first game there vs the transplanted Seattle Supersonics.

I’m predicting 60 wins for the guys this year , call me crazy… Actually a few already have but I got a good feeling about this season.

For the complete 08-09 schedule go here: http://www.nba.com/sixers/schedule/