Philly sports are in a dire situation

Donovan McNabb has now had injuries that have ended his regular season on November 14, 2005, November 17, 2002, and November 19, 2006.

Donovan remains, at this point, my favorite NFL player (I maintain that no player in the entire league can do as much for their team when they are hot as #5 can for the Eagles), but at this point we have to start wondering if injuries are a part of the deal with Donovan, if he's another Eric Lindros.

I, for one, would hate to see McNabb's career in Philadelphia end that way, since he's easily the most gifted football player ever to play in this town (seriously, can you name anybody better? Steve Van Buren?), but at this point, it seems like a legitimate possibility. A torn ACL is 8 to 12 months, so even at the most optimistic, McNabb will be back only barely in time for training camp next year, and at worst he could come back a year from now, more than halfway through the 2007 season.

McNabb turns 30 next Saturday, and will be almost 31 by the time of his return next year. With the relatively short shelf life of NFL players, it's not out of place to ask if the best of the McNabb/Reid era has passed, and if it's not time to rebuild around a new quarterback.

At this point, I feel ridiculous pondering such questions, but if/when Donovan McNabb gets hurt again, it won't be such an easy question to shrug off. I can only hope at this point that he comes back in MVP form, as he has before, but I'll be holding my breath for all of next year. I'm probably as big a fan of Donovan McNabb as anybody around, save maybe Sam and Wilma McNabb, but if Donovan is a lost cause, it's time to let go. Only time will tell, I suppose.

INSULT TO INJURY: The Cubs seem to be on the verge of signing Alfonso Soriano, apple of the Phillies' eye, for 8 years and $136 million. This will likely mean the Phillies will be stuck with Pat Burrell in left field for at least another season, and their big right-handed protection for Ryan Howard (who may be the NL MVP, which we will find out later today) will be some combination of Burell, Jeff Conine, and Wes Helms. Ugh. Was it seriously a few days ago that we were talking about the Phillies being legitimate World Series contenders?

Here are our prospects for our other teams: the 76ers have an aging superstar (Allen Iverson), a rising star (Andre Iguodala), and an unhappy role player (Chris Webber), and don't seem to figure as more than a .500/first round playoff team, and the Flyers are as awful as they've looked in 15 years, with Peter Forsberg, the best player in the world, almost certain to be gone by the end of the year. Ugh. The Phillies are actually our best hope. God help us.