• NFL training camps open in about a month, which means it's not too early to start checking out the many pro football preseason magazines.
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Lindy's Pro Football Preview predicts
Andy Reid's Philadelphia Eagles will make it to the Super Bowl, only to lose it for the third time in franchise history, this time to the San Diego Chargers.
The magazine picks the Eagles over the Carolina Panthers in the NFC championship game and the Chargers over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC title game. The Baltimore Ravens are forecast to make the playoffs as a wild card.
Sporting News Pro Football '09 forecasts a rematch of the February 2008 Super Bowl, with the New York Giants repeating their victory over the New England Patriots.
The magazine picks the defending-champion Steelers to win the AFC North with a 14-2 record, but be upset by the wild-card Tennessee Titans in the divisional round.
The Eagles are picked to go 11-5, make the playoffs as a wild card and lose to the Giants in the divisional round.
The Ravens are forecast to go 10-6 and lose to the Indianapolis Colts in the wild-card round.
• If you're a
Harry Kalas fan (and who isn't?), there's a book for you.
The recently released "Remembering Harry Kalas, Wonderful Stories from Friends Celebrating a Good Life" is 269 pages filled with remembrances of the Phillies broadcaster.
Rich Wolfe compiled the stories, with help from several sports writers, including Lancaster's
Gordie Jones.
The stories come from a wide range of sources, from Harry's oldest son,
Todd Kalas, to Phillies president
Dave Montgomery, Phillies players, media figures and even a high school classmate.
Barnstormers manager
Von Hayes and bench coach
Tom Herr, who were teammates with the Phillies, offered their memories of Harry.
The book, which has a listed retail price of $24.95, is being sold for $9.99 at Wawa convenience stores, where available, as they say. It's also on sale, at a higher price, on
Amazon.com.
• Two NL East closers are making things exciting this season. And that's not a good thing for their teams.
Through Thursday, the Marlins'
Matt Lindstrom, who had 14 saves, had a 6.52 ERA. The only reliever in the major leagues with at least 10 saves and a higher ERA was the Phillies'
Brad Lidge (13 saves, 7.72 ERA).
• How do you pitch to the St. Louis Cardinals'
Albert Pujols with the bases loaded? Very carefully.
Through Thursday, Pujols had six plate appearances with the bases loaded this season. He was 5-for-6 with three grand slams, two singles and 16 RBIs.
• Who are the most frequent nonconference opponents for Big Ten football teams?
This year, they are Notre Dame, Syracuse and Western Michigan, who will each play three games against Big Ten teams.
Notre Dame plays Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue. Syracuse faces Minnesota, Penn State and Northwestern. Western Michigan meets Michigan, Indiana and Michigan State.
Jim Hersh is sports editor of the Sunday News. E-mail him at jhersh@lnpnews.com.
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