7.5% of the season done, and my laundry isn't horrible

So after a starting 5-game road trip that just seemed designed to drop any continuity momentum into the crapper... my beloved Sixers are 3-2 after spanking the surprising New Orleans Hornets tonight. Of the five games, the only real obvious loss was opening night in Portland, where they made a game of it with some late three-point shooting.

They also belched up a game in Utah which was a little bit disappointing, but tonight's win was one of those up for grab games where Jrue Holiday came through, and man alive, is that exactly the most encouraging way for this team to win games... with their best and most promising player coming up big.

Oh, and it also didn't hurt that Evan Turner, last year's #2 pick in a weak draft, had a monster game off the bench. Because, well, the plain and simple truth of this franchise is that they are three to five very good years away from doing more than being a hard first round out, and by the time they get to that level, Andre Iguodala will be on the downside, and still making too much. If Turner can take Iggy's minutes and role, and Iggy can be moved for a talented young big that develops... well hell. That's interesting.

Speaking of interesting, and maybe even an awful lot of hope, let's talk about Spencer Hawes. Last year's glimpse of competence around huge clumps of soft has been replaced by a big man who is moving the ball well -- honest, he almost had a triple double in one game -- and he's even showing moments of consistency. He's lost weight, been motivated by a one-year make-good contract, and even shown some snarl. If this is his new level, and Elton Brand can stay healthy, maybe they get to that 36-30 level. And if Jrue can somehow become a top 10 player in his third season when he can finally drink legally, maybe even more. But not likely.

Everything is not, of course, skittles and beer. Jodie Meeks looks lost, they only go eight deep in a year where depth looks critical, and if Meeks isn't good, the age-old problem with the laundry -- that they do not shoot threes or score easily outside of transition -- is going to bite them hard. This is usually the time of the Doug Collins Coaching Experience in which he starts to lose the team with his unrelenting intensity. The trade of Marresse Speights to Memphis for second-round picks show that they aren't going to be too hard about this year. Either that, or they like Nikola Vucevic more, and that works for me, too.

Now they get 18 of their next 22 in Philadelphia, where new ownership, lower ticket prices and a possible wining record could make the sun shine. The Knicks and Celtics look vulnerable, Toronto remains weak, and New Jersey is still in a holding pattern until they can get to Brooklyn... so, well.

Why not them? And why not now?

Top 10 reasons why the Marlins traded for Carlos Zambrano

10) Wanted to finally put him with a manager that's crazier than he is

9) Now that he's 30 and in such sparkling physical and mental shape, sure to blossom

8) Want to prove to the fan base that they are ready to begin overpaying people

7) There's a reasonable chance that he's better than Chris Volstad, in that Volstad went 5-13 with a 4.89 ERA in a pitcher's park last year

6) Miami doesn't have sports talk radio, or an expectation of winning games

5) Now that his $18 million a year contract is nearing an end, he's sure to be on his best behavior to get another

4) Want someone in the clubhouse to out-disgruntle Hanley Ramirez, which is going to be hard, seeing how Hanley's got to change position for Jose Reyes

3) It's just hard to find a guy who makes $18 million a year who hasn't thrown over 200 innings since 2007, and had a 4.82 ERA with a 1.44 WHIP last year

2) See him as a veteran presence that can really show the younger guys how to behave and compete

1) Finally gives them a power bat off the bench

Hey, Idiots: The Internet Is Everywhere

A small point to Brawling Philly and/or New York Hockey Fan, seen here engaging in a classic determinism vs. free will discussion outside an eatery... um, you tools do realize that everyone has a cell phone now, everyone is looking to post video, and your little old-school five for fighting moment will eventually be replayed in a court of law, no?

Oh, right, nope, because y'all are complete meatheads and worse, and about as equipped to live in our post-modern age as the lesser forms of life you so clearly resemble in the clip.

As for what this says about my home town, well, I'm old and tired and don't live there anymore. Say whatever you want about us and them. That never gets old, either.

Top 11 reasons why Jeff Lurie kept Andy Reid

11) Lurie's commitment to recycling extends to entire years of everyone's life

10) Secretly hates black coaching candidates, and would do anything to keep from having to interview one

9) Is content with the team's standing as the second-best pro sports franchise in town, assuming the Flyers or Sixers don't have a big playoff run

8) Can't hear the home fans chanting for dismissal over the sound of the cash registers from the overpriced yard being sold out every game

7) Also hates linebackers, safeties, running plays and the effective use of timeouts

6) Truly believes that next year will be the year where Reid finally works harder

5) Would hate to see all of that high-priced imported talent unhappy about anything

4) Has forgotten the no chance home field beatdown at the hands of the only good team that the club played in the last six weeks for the fools' gold 4-game winning streak against UFL-level QBs

3) Knows that Michael Vick will be healthy and not prone to turnovers next year

2) Sees that Daniel Snyder and Jerry Jones change their coaches, and doesn't want to do anything that would give him something in common with them

1) The photographs, DNA samples, audio and video that Reid has of Lurie's actions in his secret basement compound would make your average college sports assistant coach giddy

Top 10 reasons why the Rams fired Steve Spagnuolo

10) Just couldn't resist the urge to hire their fourth coach in five years

9) Wanted to be well and truly sure that Sam Bradford won't work out here

8) Didn't use Stephen Jackson at the goal line, because he was just overwhelmed by more exciting options

7) Going 10-38 in three seasons will actually get you canned, even in the NFC West

6) Being -514 in scoring differential since 2009 isn't exactly a recipe for job security

5) Ownership believes that better coaching will prevent injury and make free agents happy to play for a team in a cold-weather climate that travels thousands of miles for every game

4) Knew that he was going to take a better job as a defensive coordinator somewhere else

3) It's a little-known fact that any coach that ends the year with Brandon Lloyd on his roster gets canned

2) Beating the Saints was nice and all, but not enough to justify another year of this

1) Don't understand how, given how they play in the NFC West, that they don't have a double-digit win year at some point, even if it's only through random chance