OTP SPORTS

ESPN has put up the results of its Sports Nation survey, which finally provides the answers to such gnawing questions as what is the most popular sport in Washington state (baseball) and what state is the most NASCAR-obsessed (West Virginia). It will surprise nobody that the two top choices for "worst fans" were 1) Philly and 2) New York. That's only true if you define "worst" as willing to boo a bad halftime performance, or hurl insults at people with the temerity to wear the opposing teams' jersey in their home stadium. In my mind, the true definition of "worst" sports fan is a fair-weathered front-runner who care more about beating the traffic home than who wins or loses. Don't expect to find too many of these in Philly. In fact, Philly fans are the most loyal in the nation, with 2/3 of fans picking the home team as their favorite in each of the four major sports. (That includes the Phabulous Phils, winners of 1 title in the past 119 seasons). The runner up - Boston, where getting your heart broken by the Red Sox is the number one civic pasttime.

Thanks to the Phillies and the Sixers, there was no shortage of irate fans to fill the airtime of sportsradio WIP. The Phils are continuing to botch the Scott Rolen situation - apparently turning down an offer of a blue-chip batting prospect and a solid middle reliever over penny-pinching (they want to unload the rest of Rolen's contract for this year AND get back value in return - not going to happen). As for good news in Philly land, there's Pat Burrell's break-out season and Brett Myers call-up (I promised myself I wouldn't get too excited about one start - but we just might have a future ace). The Sixers have addressed the teams gaping need for front-court athleticism and long-range shooting by acquiring Greg Buckner & Monty Williams - two more defensive specialists that can be ignored on offense while the other team surrounds Allen Iverson like paparrazzi. Look for a lot of exciting 82-74 losses by the 76ers next year.

Of course, within weeks, both the Sixers and Phillies will be erased from the radar screen as the Eagles begin their most anticipated season in decades. Despite all of the carping about letting Jeremiah Trotter go and not spending all of their cap money, the Birds, barring major injuries, will be even better than last year. Their draft has made the secondary as deep as it is good, their free agent signings (Levens, Kirkland, Bishop and Barber) give them experience and depth at those positions, Freddie Mitchell is poised for a breakout season, and...well, Donovan McNabb has been eating his Chunky soup. Consequences, schmonsequences, I'm leaning towards getting that Digital TV NFL package this fall.