How to Solve the Ryan Howard Crisis

The crisis of Ryan Howard continuing to be a member of the Philadelphia Phillies has reached a point of no return. Sure, it was bad when he was merely batting .151 and striking out constantly. It was really bad when Howard was merely a distraction. But now it’s gotten worse: now that fans are throwing beer bottles on the field after his strikeouts, the situation has become untenable.

Don’t get me wrong -- I’m not defending throwing things at Ryan Howard. But at the same time, it just shows the passion of this town -- and that Howard has to go. 

Did the guy who threw the bottle go too far? Maybe. Though if you ask me it’s more of a violation that he threw a Bud Light Lime. Hasn’t he ever heard of batteries? 

As always, Angelo was the most sober and reasonable voice in town: 

He’s right. Howard continuing to play for the Phillies is a crisis. And if you ask me, that’s the biggest reason this team has dropped below .500.  

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Look. I can understand not wanting to get rid of Howard now, 58 homers and 2008 World Series and all that. But think about it: what if a second guy throws a second beer bottle? Then they’ll have to get rid of him for sure, right? How many beer bottles is too many? 

What’s even worse is that Howard said ,"I've done too much in this town to have that kind of stuff." Pretty arrogant, for a guy hitting .151 to talk like that. And then Monday, Howard said, “I don’t care how bad somebody thinks I’m playing, its uncalled for.” Howard’s starting to remind me of McNabb and getting booed at the draft -- can’t he just get over it already? 

What Howard should do, is announce his retirement, right now. Sure, he’d be forfeiting the remaining half of his $25 million salary and the $10 million buyout after the season. But think about how much Howard could help the team just by going away, and no longer being a distraction. You can’t put a price tag on something like that. 

Plus, if he retired, that’s no more thrown beer bottles. Boom, problem solved. 

Other Philly sports takes: 

- In better Phillies news, looks like Odubel Herrera has gotten the message from when he got benched for not hustling: On Friday, he slid head first into first base. You’ve gotta admire the grit. 

- What do you mean, the Penguins are one win from the Stanley Cup? Hasn’t hockey season been over for months? 

- So glad to hear the Sixers might trade Nerlens Noel for veteran point guard Jeff Teague. But don’t stop there! Trade Jahlil Okafor and both of next year’s first round picks for Derrick Rose. Release Joel Embiid. And whatever they do, don’t draft Ben Simmons. We need to get good, now. 

- This week was the 15th anniversary of Allen Iverson stepping over Tyronn Lue in the ’01 Finals. Let’s just say there’s no way Coach Iverson would be down 2-0 in the NBA Finals.  

- I loved Muhammad Ali, almost as much as I loved Rocky. But do you remember this kind of outpouring when Joe Frazier died? Of course not. Just more disrespect for Philadelphia. 

- Shame on the Sixers for this tweet. Ali never tanked: 

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