Philly March Madness: (4) Ryan Howard vs. (13) Jon Runyan

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Over the next few weeks at The700Level, we'll be posting pollmatchups as part of our Philly March Madness competition.Examine thecases of the two fine Philadelphiaathletesbelow,andcastyourvote atthe bottom as towhich youthink shouldadvance tothe nextround. Andas always,feelfree to explainyourselectionand/ordebate thechoicesin the comments section.


(4) Ryan Howard

Ah, the big man. The best homegrown power hitter the Phillies had seensince Mike Schmidt (and in terms of pure, raw power, he even givesMichael Jack a run for his money), Howard came up late to the Phils,blocked at first by fellow slugger Jim Thome until he was 25. But whenThome went down with an elbow injury in the '05 season, Howard steppedin and proved why the job should be his going forward, hitting .288 with22 homers in 88 games on the way to winning the Rookie of the Yearaward. The next year he became the second player in MLB history to winthe ROY and MVP awards back to back, as he hit .313 with 58 homers, thelatter a single-season Phillies record. Since then he's solidifiedhimself as one of the game's pre-eminent power hitters, while alsoimproving his defense and coming up with numerous clutch post-seasonhits, like his famous "Get me to the plate, boys"double against the Rockies to help the Phillies win game four of the'09 NLDS. Though his swing appears to come and go at the plate,sometimes for months at a time, when he's on, there's absolutely nobodyin baseball you'd rather have on your team, as he carried the Phils tothe playoffs in the last few months of '08 and and tore up the Dodgerswith his torrid hitting (.333 with a .933 slugging) in the 2009 NLCS.He's come under fire of late for the prohibitive $125 million deal hesigned to stay with the Phils through 2016, which some feel he can'tpossibly live up to, but even if he doesn't earn it with his play movingforward, Ryan Howard's certainly earned the payday retroactively, andthen some. -Andrew


(13) Jon Runyan

When people think of the Andy Reid era, many great players come to mind.For the better part of a decade, Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, andeven Terrell Owens were the faces of the offense, but arguably none ofthem could have made the impact they did without Big Jon Runyan. Signedas a free agent from the Titans, Runyan was the club's first landmarkfree agent signing for the current regime, signing a six-year contractworth $30 million, a record for offensive linemen at the time. Simplyput, it was a success. A natural run blocking right tackle, the Michiganproduct adapted to the Eagles' pass heavy attack and became a mainstayat right tackle for nine seasons. Though his career is short onaccolades, reaching just one Pro Bowl in 2002, Runyan was Mr.Dependable, never missing a single start in a Birds uniform. That wouldbe impressive in its own right, however we know he wasn't always apicture of health. Most notably, he played half the 2007 season with abroken tailbone, despite the fact that the team would only finish 8-8.While Big Jon defined tough, he also exhibits intelligence. He famouslyinstructed Brian Westbrook to take a knee rather than score a touchdown,allowing the team to kill the clock and secure a victory over theDallas Cowboys, and today he is a sitting member in the United StatesHouse of Representatives. -Kulp

Who should advance to the next round?customer surveys

Who should advance to the next round?survey software

Results So Far:

East Bracket:

(1) Julius Erving (91.8%) over (16) Von Hayes (8.2%)
(8) SimonGagne (77.9%) over (9) Seth Joyner (22.1%)
(5) Eric Lindros (70.3%)over (12) Eric Allen (29.7%)
(4) Randall Cunningham (77.6%) over(13)Shane Victorino (23.4%)
(11) Cole Hamels (82.1%) over (6) MarkRecchi (17.9%)
(14) Tug McGraw (51.1%) over (3) Moses Malone(48.9%)
(7)Darren Daulton (74.0%) over (10) Andrew Toney (26.0%)
(2)ChaseUtley (93.5%) over (15) Andre Waters (6.5%)

Midwest Bracket:

(1) Mark Howe (60.2%) over (16) David Akers (39.8%)
(9) RodBrind'Amour (73.6%) over (8) Rick Tocchet (26.4%)
(5) Brian Westbrook(93.3%) over (12) Jayson Werth (6.7%)
(4) Mike Richards (85.1%)over(13) Trent Cole (14.9%)
(6) John LeClair (89.2%) over (11)ClydeSimmons (10.8%)
(3) Jimmy Rollins (75.8%) over (14) John Kruk(24.2%)
(7) Lenny Dykstra (51.9%) over (10) Dave Poulin (48.1%)
(2) Allen Iverson (83.1%) over (15) Jeremiah Trotter (16.9%)

West Bracket:

(1) Mike Schmidt (96.9%) over (16) Keith Byars (3.1%)
(9) Wilbert Montgomery (59.4%) over (8) Jeff Carter (40.6%)
(5) Ron Jaworski (83.5%) over (12) Bobby Abreu (16.5%)
(4) Ron Hextall (94.1%) over (13) Andre Iguodala (5.9%)
(6) Mike Quick (59.8%) over (11) Hugh Douglas (40.2%)
(3) Brian Dawkins (98.3%) over (14) Scott Rolen (1.7%)
(7) Maurice Cheeks (51.9%) over (10) Eric Desjardins (48.1%)
(15) Carlos Ruiz (58.9%) over (2) Tim Kerr (41.1%)

South Bracket:

(1) Reggie White (97.1%) over (16) Hersey Hawkins (2.9%)

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