Earlier this week I polled readers and local sports fans to see how they view the city of Philadelphia’s sports scene. I had my suspicions of course, and the numbers backed up my thought that the Eagles own the town for right now. Later today I will have more on this over at Yahoo! Sports.

I was a guest on 1450 The Sports Buzz in Louisville to discuss Louisville hype in 2013 and to see just how long it might be until Kentucky can turn things around with Mark Stoops generating a buzz in Lexington.

It has been a while since I posted on this blog, but I would like to get back to using it to my advantage whenever possible.

As some of you may know, I am currently contributing some Philadelphia Eagles related content for Yahoo! Sports. I am still fresh in to the writing gig and expect to have a good amount of Eagles posts coming your way by the end of the week. I have an assignment this week discussing one of Philadelphia’s routine debates. Is Philadelphia an Eagles or Phillies town?

I will hold off on sharing my take on this topic for my story, which should be available by the end of the week, but I am curious what you have to say. Historically you can make a case that Philadelphia is a baseball and Phillies town, but since the Buddy Ryan era it would be difficult to suggest the city is anything but an Eagles town. I actually try to avoid this topic because I think it is fair to say Philadelphia is a sports town in general, but alas a line must be drawn for the purposes of this story. I’m giving you a say.

With no disrespect intended to the Flyers, Sixers, Union, college basketball, and Temple football loyalists out there (I know you’re out there, trust me), but I don’t think we need to narrow down the debate much more than this.

Is Philadelphia a Phillies or Eagles town?

For now I’m keeping the results private but I will share these results in my story coming up later this week. You can also include a comment about the poll with your thoughts below. If your comment is good enough I may even use it in my story, if it fits. Please feel free to share this with your friends and other Philly sports fans. Thank you for your input.

Tweetdeck allowed me to check incoming messages, mentions, multiple lists and send out messages across Twitter, Facebook and more if I chose. At times the ability to send the same message or link to multiple profiles was preferred and I could do just that.

Tweetdeck had become a part of my daily routine for business and pleasure. There was no more necessary tool other than an Internet browser in my book. But on May 7 my desktop version of Tweetdeck will no longer be supported because Twitter will effectively kill it off by removing a vital code that allows Tweetdeck desktop apps to feed the content shared on Twitter.

In a nutshell, it is a pointless measure taken to keep users on the website instead. The thing is, the web app flat out stinks compared to the reach the desktop owned prior to Twitter’s buying out of the Tweetdeck team. I reuse to use the web interface after years of being able to have more control over my social networking experience with the desktop app. Call me stubborn if you will, but a step down in interface has never been met kindly.

So where am I to go now?

I asked around to see what recommendations others have for continuing with managing multiple accounts and the most popular option was HootSuite.

For the next month I intend to use HootSuite exclusively to manage my social networking. For most users, HootSuite immediately looks like a suitable replacement, allowing you to set up your dashboard with up to five social network profiles. Like I said, that is probably more than enough for the common Twitter user, or perhaps a blogger managing a personal account and a blog profile. I happen to need more than that to cover all of my profiles, but for now five will be just fine.

HootSuite does have a 30-day free trial for HootSuite Pro, which would allow me to add more social network profiles and get more out of the social analytics and more, but for now I’ll stick with the basic services provided and see how it all goes.

I use Google Chrome, so downloading the HootSuite Chrome app and Hootlet Link Share extension was a must.

I’ll update this site with my thoughts from time to time on how my HootSuite experience is going, for those Tweetdeck users in search of feedback on alternative solutions. If you have any feedback of your own to share, please do so at any time in the comment section for others to read.

Photo: Florida Gulf Coast Athletics

In a tournament that tends to turn out stories made for Hollywood, you just cannot script March Madness. Not this year at least.

Florida Gulf Coast, a school that was founded just 12 years ago, became the first school to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 15 seed. They did so in their first NCAA Tournament, showing absolutely no signs of nervousness or jitters you would expect to see at some point from a young program entering the big stage for the first time. Instead Florida Gulf Coast has taken the basketball and sports world by storm with their high flying dunk sessions that turned out an upset win over Big East power Georgetown in round one and followed up with an encore at the Wells Fargo Center by soaring over San Diego State, one of the top programs from a Mountain West Conference that entered the tournament praised for the overall season of work – in the blink of an eye in the second half.

It was fitting to see the classic underdog coming out throwing punch after punch at heavy favorites in the city that idolizes Rocky Balboa, a fictional underdog turned feel good story and fan favorite. The fans that filled the Wells Fargo Center the past few days became Florida Gulf Coast fans by the minute, some even chanting “E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!” for their newly adopted team of choice. What Florida Gulf Coast is doing right now is something you would only imagine be in a Hollywood Script, and the script gets even better this week. Florida Gulf Coast is now set to play the Florida Gators, a program from the same state separated by fewer than 300 miles with a couple of national championship trophies sitting in the display case in Gainesville. As far as the state of Florida goes, this is a true David vs. Goliath match-up. If the Eagles can somehow pull some magic one more time against the top basketball program in the sunshine state, a match-up with storied programs Kansas or Michigan await with a trip to Atlanta on the line.

The Florida Gulf Coast story is fantastic. It deserves to be played up the way it is. The players deserve the chance to let loose and do a dirty bird strut from time to time. This weekend, they were the team everyone was talking about. Soak it up. Enjoy it Florida Gulf Coast. This is what every underdog program dreams of having a chance to enjoy.

To take nothing away from what Florida Gulf Coast is doing, La Salle’s journey may be just as captivating.

In the span of one week La Salle won three games, or more than the Explorers have enjoyed since the last time they reached the Sweet 16 in 1955 combined. To get there La Salle needed to win one of the four play-in games in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio against Boise State. After picking up the win La Salle had to travel to Kansas City for their first round match-up against No. 4 seed Kansas State. The Explorers stunned the Wildcats in front of a partisan crowd by taking a commanding lead in to halftime. The second half saw La Salle nearly lose control as Kansas State roared back from an 18-point deficit to take the lead but the Explorers kept their cool and pulled out a late victory. It is here where I have to praise the job done by La Salle head coach Dr. John Gianinni. Any number of double-digit seed underdogs would have caved after blowing a huge lead like that against a team form a power conference playing in front of a largely pro-Kansas State crowd. For La Salle to keep their cool and preserve for the victory under those circumstances, to me, was incredible and clearly outweighs the loss of an 18-point lead.

To get to the Sweet 16 La Salle won a back-and-forth type of game against SEC champion Ole Miss, with the enigmatic Rebel star Marshall Henderson getting blocked on a late shot and perhaps not having a foul called in his favor. The no-call foul came seconds after the refs rules an out of bounds ball against La Salle despite video review possibly showing it should have been La Salle’s basketball all along in a crucial point.

Photo: La Salle Athletics

La Salle, with the game tied and able to hold on for the final shot if they wanted, danced to the Sweet 16 after Tyrone Garland drove to the basket with time winding down and let loose on the now iconic Southwest Philly Floater to give the Explorers the lead with just seconds left.

I feel I should mention that I have no real ties to any of the Philadelphia schools, so I tend to go against the grain when it comes to rooting interest among Big 5 (or City 6) programs. I root for them all, especially in the tournament. I would love nothing more than to see an all Philly Final Four someday, unrealistic as that is. So when Garland’s floater dropped for the lead I could not keep from pumping my fist and belting out a “Yes!” from my couch.

I have no idea how far Florida Gulf Coast and La Salle will go in this tournament. They may both get squashed this week in the Sweet 16. Maybe they win. Who knows. This is what makes March Madness so fun. When teams come out of virtually nowhere to create a buzz, it gives the tournament some life nobody saw coming.

Florida Gulf Coast is 2-0 in their first two tournament games in program history, about to go up against the Florida Gators. Is a Florida Gulf Coast vs. Miami national semifinal that far behind? Yeah, probably, but given what we have seen to this point we have every right to dream about the scenario this week.

La Salle was thought to be the Philadelphia school that would probably be sent home first. Villanova lost their first game against North Carolina. Temple gave Indiana all they could handle but just did not have enough offense to finish the job in round two. Now the La Salle Explorers carry the Philadelphia banner with them.

In a season of college basketball in which nobody appears to be a clear favorite, Florida Gulf Coast and La Salle have proven once again that March is a time when dreamers can become believers anywhere.

Good thing the local news programs came on the air starting at 4 am to cover this snow storm. I will say though, the winds are bit tad strong.

Chip Kelly became a household name by molding his Oregon teams through recruiting dynamic and athletic football classes. Having changed his feathers, Kelly now prepares to mold the Philadelphia Eagles through the NFL Draft.

The Eagles own the fourth overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, putting Kelly in position to draft a high-profile player that could become a fixture on the team for years to come. With a high draft picks though comes a tremendous amount of pressure and options. Regardless of whether or not the Eagles hold on to the fourth overall pick remains to be seen, but having made a number of roster moves already with the team he inherited it appears Kelly is already leaving his mark on the team. Leading up to the NFL Draft Kelly and the Eagles have already made the decision to keep quarterback Mike Vick and sign free agent Dennis Dixon, a former Oregon quarterback who had Heisman potential while playing for Kelly. The premise behind these decisions is simple. Dixon knows Kelly and understands his offensive philosophies. Not only could he step in and run the offense to some degree if needed, but also he can help others on the staff understand what Kelly is trying to run. Vick may not be the player he once was but his style likely adapts better to Kelly’s offense than Nick Foles, who remains on the roster but may be heading out via trade. With the Kansas City Chiefs making a deal to acquire Alex Smith from San Francisco the long-suspected trade to send Foles to Kansas City appears to be out of the question, but a potential trade of Foles leading up to or during the draft would not be a surprise.

The question for Kelly is whether or not he sees a franchise quarterback he can pluck from the shallow pool of quarterbacks in this year’s NFL Draft. West Virginia’s Geno Smith may be the most coveted quarterback in the draft this season, but is he worth a fourth overall pick if available? Would Florida State’s EJ Manuel be a suitable option later in the draft order? With a number of roster concerns, and with Vick and Dixon (and Foles) already on the roster the need to draft a quarterback highly may not be there for the Eagles. Whatever decision is made, it will be Kelly leaving his stamp on the move.

Quarterback is just one area of the team Kelly will be leaving his mark on of course. The pieces on offense may largely be in place already for Kelly, but the defense should have a new look in 2013.

The Eagles have already released defensive tackles Mike Patterson and Cullen Jenkins, suggesting that a defensive shift from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 system may already be in the works. Kelly utilized a 3-4 defense at Oregon, and new defensive coordinator Billy Davis has said his defense will combine elements of the 4-3 and 3-4. Nnamdi Asomugha could be next on the chopping block if he refuses to accept a pay cut. If released, Asomugha would be the third starter lost on the defensive side of the football since Kelly’s arrival.

It should be expected Kelly and his staff look to bring in athletic players for both sides of the football when it comes time to make draft picks. After years of woeful draft results the Eagles are in need of improving their athleticism and finding players that will have higher upsides than in years past. Years of poor drafting and roster management have been the formula for the Eagles’ slide down the NFC East standings, but now Kelly has an opportunity to start changing that trend.

If Kelly can draft as well as he could recruit, then the Eagles could be flying high soon enough.

After all these years I still find it to be one of the more enjoyable games to play. When the game was given a face lift for a Super Nintendo compilation of Mario classics I found myself enjoying Super Mario Brothers 3 – and the other classic titles – all over again. With the technology available today it was only a matter of time before somebody tried to give a fresh take on the classic again, right?

YouTube user freddiew has gone to lengths I never really considered for the platform adventure icon. First-person view! In his video we get a look at the final stages in SMB 3 from under the red cap and behind the patented mustache.

XFINITY is looking for somebody to represent their brand for the next year. The qualifications appear simple. The ideal candidate will possess a strong grasp for sports and social media. Hello. My name is Kevin McGuire and this is basically my life in a nut shell.

Read more on why XFINITY should pick me.