Sports Hernia

THERE WEREN'T a lot of questions about the challenge of facing the Seattle Seahawks for Andy Reid at yesterday's news conference. Reid seemed to take that in stride, even if he didn't get to use many of the detailed insights he'd undoubtedly prepared for reporters about the talents of Tarvaris Jackson or Marshawn Lynch. Reid wants to keep the focus on the game ahead, but he, his staff and his players are the only ones in Eagles Nation really feeling that, and surely they realize as much.

IT WAS GLOOMY in the Eagles' locker room yesterday, and not only because it was late in the afternoon when the media were allowed in and the sun was already low in the sky. With preseason expectations of making the playoffs, this 4-7 team has fallen short in a way that an Eagles team has not fallen short in probably 3 decades. The general mood is stunned. The Eagles just endured an afternoon in which the fans twice chanted for coach Andy Reid to be fired, and assistant coaches Marty Mornhinweg and Jim Washburn got into an argument on the sideline, and wide receiver DeSean Jackson got benched after dropping two touchdown passes - oh, and they all got their backsides handed to them by the New England Patriots, 38-20.

THE VENEZUELAN government sent top investigators yesterday to hunt for Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos, whose abduction has shaken the country's elite athletes and focused attention on the sharp rise in kidnappings for ransom. Ramos, 24, who had returned to Venezuela after his rookie season, was just outside the front door at his home Wednesday night when an SUV approached, armed men got out "and they took him away," said Ramos' agent, Gustavo Marcano. It was the first known kidnapping of a Major League Baseball player in Venezuela, though the relatives of some ballplayers have previously been held captive for ransom.

Three weeks after their season was cut short by the St. Louis Cardinals, the Phillies provided medical updates on several of their players. Ryan Howard, who ruptured his left Achilles tendon while grounding out to end Game 5 of the NL division series and the season, had stitches removed on Tuesday and has progressed to partial weight-bearing on his leg. The Phillies said he has begun a rehabilitation program in Philadelphia but did not list...

The Phillies had four aces and still their season ended up being a royal flush. What's worse is that general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is left holding a confusing hand as he contemplates the future of a franchise that is now three seasons removed from its joyous World Series celebration. When the Phillies opened their five-game National League division series with the St. Louis Cardinals nine days ago, they looked like the team to beat. When Ryan Howard grounded out to second base and collapsed 60 feet from the first-base bag at 11:06 p.m. Friday, they were clearly nothing more than a beaten team.

The Phillies had four aces and still their season ended up being a royal flush. What's worse is that general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is left holding a confusing hand as he contemplates the future of a franchise that is now three seasons removed from its joyous World Series celebration. When the Phillies opened their five-game National League division series with the St. Louis Cardinals nine days ago, they looked like the team to beat. When Ryan Howard grounded out to second base and collapsed 60 feet from the first-base bag at 11:06 p.m. Friday, they were clearly nothing more than a beaten team.

Did Tony La Russa outmanage Charlie Manuel? Sadly, yes. I don't know how La Russa does it, but everything the guy does seems to work out. He benched Ryan Theriot after a four-hit game, and Theriot's replacement, Schumaker, got two hits his first two trips in the next game. He brought two lefthanded relief pitchers to his team late in the season, and both 100-year-old Arthur Rhodes and rookie Marc Rzepczynski baffled the Phillies. He misguidedly used Carpenter on three days' rest and got away with it when his shaky bullpen blanked the Phillies over six innings.

There is no NFL protocol for the rest of the body. Get a concussion and, due to the vagaries of the injury and the league's long failure to treat head shots seriously, a player has to pass a series of tests and be cleared by an independent neurologist. Injure your hand, break a rib, tear a ligament, sprain an ankle - do any of those and a player is not only free to play if he can, he is celebrated for his toughness. Playing hurt adds to the mystique, especially for quarterbacks.

There is no NFL protocol for the rest of the body. Get a concussion and, due to the vagaries of the injury and the league's long failure to treat head shots seriously, a player has to pass a series of tests and be cleared by an independent neurologist. Injure your hand, break a rib, tear a ligament, sprain an ankle - do any of those and a player is not only free to play if he can, he is celebrated for his toughness. Playing hurt adds to the mystique, especially for quarterbacks.