The Eagles thrashed the St. Louis Rams today 38-3. That's the good news. The bed news is that the Rams are a pretty bad team. They were 3-13 last season and if they can be judged from what I saw today they'll be hard pressed to improve on that record this season.

Don't get me wrong. The Eagles played well, really well. They made no obvious mistakes and in several areas they seemed to answer some questions about this 2008 Eagles team. Donovan McNabb was excellent - 21/33 for 361 yards and 3 touchdowns. He pretty much was able to do what he wanted to do all afternoon long. He had great protection from an offensive line which many of the local pundits were questioning. With their top two receivers scratched, their replacements did a fantastic job. Gregg Lewis, Hank Baskett and rookie DeSean Jackson all had over 100 yards in receiving yards. Jackson also looked great on punt returns. Brian Westbrook ran for 91 yards and scored two touchdowns (one receiving).

The defense didn't allow St. Louis to do anything all day. St. Louis was held to 130 yards through the air and just 36 yards on the ground with an excellent running back in Steven Jackson.

The Eagles looked great, but the real test will come next Monday night in Dallas and the following Sunday at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Eagles need to win at least one of those two games to be considered serious contenders. Should they somehow win both, watch for many of the national media to label them the favorites in the NFC. Should they lose both games, they'll probably be right back were they were prior to today's game - about an 8-8 or 9-7 team. We'll know a lot more two weeks from today.

There's no question that we need rain. What's in been, almost a month since we've had any significant rainfall. My lawn and garden are showing the signs of the long summer drought. What's coming, however, is not exactly what most of us had in mind.

Tropical Storm Hanna is scheduled to sweep past the Philadelphia / South Jersey area tonight and tomorrow bringing high winds and 4-7 inches of rain or more. With the ground being so hard from so little rain in August, expect localized flooding.

Tomorrow will definitely be a day to stay inside. My wife and I did our weekend shopping this evening and then spent some time bringing in anything outside that could blow around or in any way suffer from the heavy rain. We also made sure to pick up everything from our basement floor since rains like we're expecting always seem to seep up from our basement floor. We also made sure to bring in all of the ripe tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden. They won't fair well in the wind and rain.

Many of us should also expect to lose power for a while tomorrow afternoon or evening, so batteries for flashlights are also a necessity.

The Temple Owls are scheduled to play against Connecticut tomorrow at noon at Lincoln Financial Field. Coming off a big win last weekend, the Owls would probably have gotten a decent crowd tomorrow if not for Hanna. Look for the field to be mangled pretty badly just in time for the Eagles season opener on Sunday.

I'll be attending the game on Sunday against the St. Louis Rams and reporting on it. I'm expecting big things of the Eagles this season, especially from their new wide receiver/punt returner DeSean Jackson. At least we're starting this season with a punt and kickoff returner, something which clearly cost us the opener against Green Bay last September.

I suppose it was inevitable. The Phillies big bats which were silent most of the summer have finally started to come alive. Unfortunately, they came alive at the same time that the team's bullpen has fallen apart. The bullpen was the one thing that kept the Phillies in the pennant race most of the summer. In the last week the bullpen has fallen apart.

Without doubt several of the players who made the bullpen so successful are just worn out. Ryan Madson, Chad Durbin, Clay Condrey and J.C. Romero have very little left in the tank. Ever since the Phillies beat the Mets to take over first place just one week ago, the bullpen has given up 12 key runs in 23 2/3 innings for an ERA of 4.56, substantially above their prior best in the league number.

The Phillies have gone 3-5 over the past week. The Phillies lost two out of three games to the woeful, last place Washington Nationals while the New York Mets were sweeping the second best team in the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers. The Phillies now travel to New York for three games against the Mets. The problem now is that they're three games behind the Mets. Only a miraculous sweep of the series can save the Phillies for 2008.

Thank goodness that the Eagles open their season on Sunday. The Phillies appear to be cooked. Don't expect the Mets to fall apart like last year. It's not quite time for moratoriums, although you can bet they're being written. I'll share my thoughts on why this was destined to be a flawed team in about four weeks.

They say that all good things must come to an end and after 10 years of being your Guide to Philadelphia and South Jersey I have decided to pass the torch to a new Guide.

I will continue to be the Guide to Hawaii and South Pacific Travel here on About.com. I will also be continuing to do the blog on this site until a new Guide is in place. So, you won't be rid of me right away!

I'd like to thank all of you who have helped make this site successful and made my job easier for the past ten years. I can't begin to thank the many public relations professionals in the area who have helped with me with up-to-date information and helped me gain access to the many new and exciting events in the area. I'd also like to thank the hundreds of loyal readers who have played such an important role also.

If you're an experienced writer with a keen interest in the Philadelphia / South Jersey area and knowledge of local issues and the many areas of this large region, please consider applying to be the Guide to this site. Look for this site to appear shortly in the list of available sites in our Be a Guide section.