After the incident at the All-Star game and what happened today during the victory celebration, it's clear that Chase Utley likes to throw around the F-bombs. It's really just another reason to love the guy.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Chase Utley has a dirty mouth
Cole Hamels reads the Top Ten List on Letterman
Ahh, the perks of being a World Series MVP. Cole Hamels was on Letterman last night and read the Top Ten List. It was the usual mix of moderately funny and not very funny stuff. There were a few jokes on the economy, a Joe the Plumber reference and a dig on the Yankees. Watch below!
Transcription from MLB.com:
10. "Maybe I'll get to be on 'Dancing With The Stars.'"
9. "Can I wear my cup in the offseason?" (Letterman: "Well, sure, you know I'm wearing one right now.")
8. "The Rays collapsed faster than my 401(k)." Hamels then improvised with an expressive "hi-yo" -- clearly making sure Evan Longoria et al know he's joking.
7. "How cool a name is Cole Hamels?"
6. "This must be how the Yankees used to feel." (Letterman: "Hey, wait a minute ...")
5. "Is the Phillie Phanatic hitting on my wife?" Hamels was referring to another former CBS personality, the former Heidi Strobel, who was a contestant on "Survivor: The Amazon."
4. "Seriously, how cool a name is Cole Hamels?"
3. "How can I celebrate when the nation's economic output is the weakest it's been since the third quarter of 2001?"
2. "I hope John McCain will start calling me 'Cole the pitcher.'"
1. "Now maybe I'll get to appear on Leno."
Thursday, October 30, 2008
NFL Week 9 Predictions
With Week 9 approaching, I can't believe we are already at the halfway point of this NFL season. I'm too busy celebrating the Phillies championship win to go too in-depth on the games this week, so I'll be shorting things up with just one line about each game. All picks are made strictly based on who I think will win and do not take the spread into consideration.
Record Last Week: 8-6, .571
Overall Record: 72-45, .615
Byes: Saints, Chargers, Niners, Panthers
Sunday Day Games:
Jets (4-3) @ Bills (5-2) The AFC East race is going to be interesting down the stretch with all four teams in the mix. My pick: Bills get back on track
Lions (0-7) @ Bears (4-3) Easy pick, the Bears will keep the Lions winless. My pick: Bears
Jaguars (3-4) @ Bengals (0-8) Even with an awful quarterback, the Bengals will win a game eventually, just not this week. My pick: Jaguars as they fight their way into playoff contention
Ravens (4-3) @ Browns (3-4) Definitely didn't see the Browns winning last week, they might slowly becoming a decent team. My pick: Browns at home
Packers (4-3) @ Titans (7-0) The Titans won't go undefeated this season, but they'll take this one at home against the Packers. My pick: Titans
Cardinals (4-3) @ Rams (2-5) If the Rams find a way to win this game, they could be a contender in the weak NFC West. My pick: Cardinals put the Rams in their place
Texans (3-4) @ Vikings (3-4) All of the sudden, the Texans look like a pretty good team. My pick: Unfortunately for Houston, I think Adrian Peterson breaks out in this game and the Vikings win
Bucs (5-3) @ Chiefs (1-6) The Chiefs are lucky the Lions and Bengals are so bad otherwise their crappiness would be getting more attention. My pick: Bucs
Dolphins (3-4) @ Broncos (4-3) There's no defense in Denver which will keep the Dolphins in this game. My pick: The Broncos will win in a high-scoring game
Falcons (4-3) @ Raiders (2-5) The Falcons impressed me last week agains the Eagles and they should have no trouble with the Raiders. My pick: Falcons
Cowboys (5-3) @ Giants (6-1) This is a big NFC East showdown that could make things really tighten up in the division. My pick: No Romo means Giants will take this one
Eagles (4-3) @ Seahawks (2-5) The Eagles have fought their way back into the NFC East race and this game should be their 3rd straight win. My pick: No Hasselbeck means an easy Eagles win
Sunday Night Game:
Patriots (5-2) @ Colts (3-4) This match-up has lost much of it's luster, what with Brady out and Manning being off his game this year. My pick: Gotta go with the Colts at home, I still believe the Colts offense has to play better eventually
Monday Night Game:
Steelers (5-2) @ Redskins (6-2) This is clearly the best game of the week. My pick: The Redskins defense should be able to get to Roethlisberger and that will help Washingon win a close game
So those are my picks for Week Nine. If you agree or disagree or have picks of your own, feel free to leave comments!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The drought is over! The Phillies win it all!
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)When I first started this blog back in January, one of the first posts I wrote was titled "The Next Philly Sports Champ". In the article I discussed which of the four major sports teams had the best chance to break the championship drought that our city has suffered through. At the top of the list was the Phillies, and I thought they had a chance to win this year.
I'm so happy I was right! Anyway, now isn't the time for any detailed analysis of the game, it's time to celebrate! Thanks to all who followed the Phillies right here on this site, what a great season it's been!
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2008 WORLD CHAMPS!!!!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
3 in a row! Flyers thrash Atlanta
(AP Photo/Gregory Smith)The Flyers put together their best effort of the season in destroying the Atlanta Thrashers 7-0. While few of their goals were very "pretty", the Flyers got two goal nights from Mike Knuble, Simon Gagne and Joffrey Lupul and Antero Niittymaki pitched a shutout in net. Glen Metropolit also added a goal and two assists. More importantly, the team played better defense and continued to show more energy and jump. Slowly but surely, this team is straightening things out and started to get rewarded in the win column.
Also having a great game on the night was Luca Sbisa who showed great poise in the back end and also added a pair of assists. Sbisa has just learned that he won't be going back to his junior team and will remain with the Flyers for the rest of the season. Although he is only 18, he has proven that he belongs.
The win was the third in a row from the Flyers who now have a record of 3-3-3 which looks pretty good after the slow start they had. While the Rangers are running away with the division with 19 points, the Flyers are right in the mix with a respectable 9 points.
The Flyers were smart to give John Stevens a chance to get this team on the right page and playing with more intensity before trying to make any drastic moves. The team looks a lot more like the playoff team from last year and appears to have avoided a disastrous start to the season.
The wait will continue for another day
Due to more bad weather, Game Five will not resume tonight and will resume Wednesday if it ever stops raining.
This is so frustrating to have to continue to wait to see if the Phillies can end our title wait, but at least if they keep postponing games, Cole Hamels has a chance to re-take the mound.
Monday, October 27, 2008
All wet: rain puts Phillies celebration on hold
We've waited 25 years, what's another day?
Game Five was supposed to be the end of the line for the Rays, what with Cole Hamels taking the mound and Ryan Howard crushing balls left and right. Things looked good early on as the Phillies pounced on Rays starter Scott Kazmir for a pair of runs and Hamels cruised through the first few innings. Then the rains came to ruin our parade, or at least postpone it.
After the Rays tied the game at 2-2 in the 6th inning, the game was delayed and later suspended until Tuesday, weather permitting. That means that the game will resume in the bottom of the 6th with the game tied at 2 and a pinch hitter batting for Cole Hamels.
The Phillies will have to rely on their bullpen to pitch the rest of the way now that Hamels won't be available to continue the game. Luckily, the bullpen is plenty rested and Brad Lidge hasn't pitched Game 1, so the best bullpen in the game should be ready to go.
So, everything resumes again tomorrow at 8 pm. Of course, the forecast shows weather even worse than today for tomorrow, so things might not resume until Wednesday. The wait is going to be excruciating, but so have the last 25 years.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
The Phillies are one win away from easing 25 years of heartache
(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)Game Four featured a pair of heroes in Joe Blanton and Ryan Howard. Blanton was a hero on the mound and at the plate, going 6 innings and giving up only a pair of runs while helping his cause at the plate with a home run. Many criticized Pat Gillick for giving up prospects to get an "average" pitcher like Joe Blanton, but Blanton's performance makes Gillick look like a genius. Just think about the options the Phillies would have had if they never acquired Blanton: Adam Eaton, Kyle Kendrick or J.A. Happ. Um, thanks but no thanks.
Howard continues to awaken with the bat as he hit a pair of homers, one in the 4th inning, a 3-run shot that gave the Phils a big lead, and another in the 8th inning to give the Phillies a commanding lead. The Big Man is back, and the Rays don't stand a chance.
One other Phillie that is heating up is Jimmy Rollins. Rollins has come up small repeatedly in these playoffs, but on Sunday night he got on base three times with two doubles and a single. He came around to score all three times and seemed to be at the heart of every rally.
Now the Phils stand on the precipice of ending the Philadelphia title drought. For 25 years, we have all heard about how our teams can't win the big one. We've heard about the Curse of William Penn. We've anguished over Mitch Williams, Ronde Barber, Donovan McNabb puking and Joe Carter. Well, in about 20 hours in South Philadelphia all of that could end. All we need is one more good outing from King Cole. Cole, a longing city turns it's eyes to you.
Welcome back, Brian! Westbrook carries Eagles to win
(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)Westbrook ran for a career-high 167 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a late 39 yard scamper to put the game away. He also added 42 yards receiving to give him 209 total yards on the day. Westbrook's effort helped the Eagles come close to a 50/50 offensive attack as the team attempted 32 rushes and 34 passes.
With the threat of the running game, the offense opened up for McNabb, who completed passes to 7 different receivers, including the returning Kevin Curtis, who caught 3 passes. McNabb finished with 253 yards through the air and also scrambled for 25 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown.
The Falcons hung tough all game, and even got on the board first. After a scoreless first quarter, rookie quarterback Matt Ryan connected with Roddy White for a 55 yard touchdown pass to give Atlanta a lead. The Eagles offense started slow but eventually found their rhythm near the end of the first half, where they added on 10 points, and it carried over into the 3rd quarter aas the Eagles added a touchdown on the first drive of the second half. The Eagles then weren't able to put the Falcons away until late in them game when they recovered a muffed punt return attempt and Westbrook took it to the house two plays later.
The win was the 100th (including playoffs) for Andy Reid in his 10 years with the Philadelphia Eagles. Reid gets a ton of crap from the fans and the media, but he has to be credited for consistently putting a quality team on the field week after week, year after year.
On the injury front, L.J. Smith was knocked out of the game with a concussion after Lawyor Milloy nailed him well after a play was over. I would expect the NFL to fine Milloy for the hit, but that is little consolation to Smith, who may miss a week or two recovering.
The Eagles are now back above .500 at 4-3 on the season. Unfortunately, being in the best division in football, everyone else is still above .500 and the Eagles are still in last place. Both the Redskins and Cowboys won today, so all the Eagles could do was keep pace. The Birds will need to start winning some divisional games if they want to catch up and contend for the playoffs.
In all, it was a good win for the Birds. It was nice to see Westbrook come back and have such a huge impact. The Eagles now have a two game winning streak that they will look to extend against the Seahawks next week.
Eagles/Falcons inactives: Westbrook, Curtis in, Brown out
The Eagles and Falcons announced their inactives for today's game:
Eagles: G Shawn Andrews, WR Reggie Brown, FB Kyle Eckel, QB A.J. Feeley, LB Joe Mays, G Mike McGlynn, TE Matt Schobel, DE Bryan Smith
Falcons: T Sam Baker, S Thomas DeCoud, DE Simon Fraser, LB Tony Gilbert, CB David Irons, WR Laurent Robinson, QB D.J. Shockley, C Alex Stepanovich
Donovan McNabb gets most of his offensive weapons back as Brian Westbrook returns to the lineup and Kevin Curtis makes his 2008 debut. Reggie Brown is now the only player missing from the offense, although he's more of a 3rd receiver with the emergence of DeSean Jackson. Newly acquired Kyle Eckel is inactive and will presumably watch Dan Klecko play fullback to learn his responsibilities. None of the other inactives are surprises for the Eagles.
For the Falcons, I can't say I've ever heard of most of their inactives, although not having Baker will hurt them as the try to protect Matt Ryan from the Eagles blitz packages.
It's time for the Eagles to get back over .500, GO BIRDS!! (Eagles, not Falcons!)
Late heroics give Phillies 2-1 World Series lead
(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)There was no individual hero in the 9th, although some credit has to go to Eric Bruntlett. Bruntlett led off the inning, got hit by a pitch and then advanced all the way to third after a wild pitch and wild throw to second. The Rays then loaded the bases after a pair of walks, leaving Carlos Ruiz at the plate with the bases loaded and no outs. The Rays then employed a 5-man infield, but Ruiz hit a dribbler down the third base line that allowed Bruntlett to score the winning run.
The Phillies needed the late heroics after they blew a 4-1 lead. They were cruising heading into the 7th inning when the entire game turned after the first base umpire blew a call. Carl Crawford hit a squibbler down the first base line that Jamie Moyer scooped up and tossed with his glove hand to first base, clearly getting Crawford by half a step but the ump called him safe. That missed call led to the Rays scoring two runs in the 7th and getting back into the game.
Jamie Moyer still deserves credit for pitching a hell of a game. Moyer used all of his tricks to keep the Rays off-balance and held them to 5 hits in 6 and 1/3rds innings pitched. While he didn't earn the win, he earned a ton of respect for bouncing back with the performance after having a pair of shaky starts earlier in the postseason.
The Phillies also have to be happy with getting a homer from Ryan Howard. Chase Utley hit a homer in the bottom of the 6th and Howard followed him with a homer of his own. If this is a sign of things to come for the big guy, the Rays are in serious trouble.
The Phils blew their chance at earning an easy victory, but they still squeaked out a win in dramatic fashion. Hopefully the momentum will carry them into Game 4, which starts in what seems like only a few hours.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Winning streak! Flyers win 2 in a row
(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)The big star on Friday night's 6-3 win was Mike Richards, who notched 4 assists. The Flyers did an excellent job of staying out of the penalty box and not giving the Devils a bunch of powerplay chances.
The penalty situation in Saturday's 3-2 overtime win was completely different as each team racks up 40 penalty minutes. There were four fights in the game, including this double-fight:
This was all something that should have been expected given it was the second game in as many days between two rivals. Most of the penalties offset but the Devils still had five powerplay opportunities, scoring on one of them. Jeff Carter scored on a deflection for the game winning goal for the Flyers in overtime.
The Flyers earned both wins without Danny Briere, who will be out 3 to 4 weeks as he recovers from abdominal surgery. In Briere's absence, the Flyers have called up Darroll Powe and re-called Jared Ross and shuffled their top line to include Glen Metropolit at center between Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble. Philly seems like they are a forward short even when Briere returns, unless they plan to play Ross, Powe or Andreas Nodl every game.
The Flyers have finally broken out of their early season slump. If you've followed this team at all, you know how streaky they can be. They started the season with no wins in 5 games so I expect them to run off a 5 game winning streak at some point this season.
Now that the curse of Sarah Palin has been lifted, we can get back to a normal hockey season.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
NFL Week 8 Predictions
The league is starting to get very interesting as the division races are starting to take shape and the teams that were surprises in the beginning (Titans, Bills) appear to be for real and the disappointments (Colts, Browns) may just be bad teams.
Let's get right to the Week 8 picks. Remember, all picks are made strictly based on who I think will win and do not take the spread into consideration.
Record Last Week: 9-5, .643
Overall Record: 64-39, .621
Byes: Bears, Broncos, Packers, Vikings
Sunday Day Games:
Bucs (5-2) @ Cowboys (4-3) It looks like no Romo again for the Cowboys this week, and that could spell trouble. Brad Johnson was unable to throw anything down the field and that left the Cowboys offense unable to do anything against the lowly Rams. The Cowboys should just feed Marion Barber the ball and let him carry the load until Romo returns, although that might not work against a good Bucs defense. As much as I want to pick against the Cowboys, I think they limit their turnovers and put it together this week. My pick: Cowboys
Redskins (5-2) @ Lions (0-6) Sorry, not this week, Lions! The Redskins will jump out to an early lead, just like everyone does against the Lions, and ride Clinton Portis to victory. My pick: Redskins
Bills (5-1) @ Dolphins (2-4) It looks like the Wildcat offense has been solved. The Ravens completely shut down the Dolphins college attack so now the rest of the league will watch the tape and copy what Baltimore did. The Bills have a great defense so they won't let the Dolphins do much, anyway. I still can't believe the Bills are this good, but they are cruising their way to a first round playoff bye. My pick: Bills
Rams (2-4) @ Patriots (4-2) Can the Rams make it 3 in a row? Don't look now but St. Louis is creeping into the NFC West
picture and could challenge for the division lead if they pull out a few more wins. Unfortunately for the Rams, however, they may be without Steven Jackson, which is basically their entire offense. The Patriots are not as dead as everyone thought they were but they also aren't as good as they looked on Monday Night: the Broncos are just that terrible. The Patriots have injury issues of their own but I still think they put a halt to the Rams turnaround. My pick: PatriotsChargers (3-4) @ Saints (3-4) Two teams that have a tendency to start slow will face off with the loser taking a big hit in their playoff push. I have no idea what happened to the Saints last week, even Drew Brees looked out of sync. The Chargers looked even worse and it all starts with LaDanian Tomlinson. He has clearly lost a step and that forces the Chargers to rely on Philip Rivers to carry the offense. The difference in this game will be the fact that one of these teams actually has a defense. My pick: Chargers
Chiefs (1-5) @ Jets (3-3) The Chiefs are an absolute mess. They have no quarterback, no defense and a highly paid running back who they would love to get rid of. The Jets aren't a very good football team, either, but even they can piece together enough points to beat the Chiefs. About 10 points would do it. My pick: Jets
Falcons (4-2) @ Eagles (3-3) The stars appear aligned for the Eagles to win this one. The offense will feature all of it's weapons as Brian Westbrook is back and Kevin Curtis is making his 2008 debut. Donovan McNabb will finally have his full compliment of receivers to throw to. The Birds are also coming off a bye and we all know how well Andy
Reid's teams do after byes. Their opponent also features a rookie quarterback, something that should have the defense salivating as they will use multiple blitz packages against Matt Ryan to confuse him. The Eagles are also out of the spotlight as the entire city focuses on the Phillies, so that should help them to feel loose. All of these factors add up to an Eagles win, although it should be a close game. The Falcons are a much better team than most people thought they would be. This week is no longer the automatic win that most Eagle fans thought it was at the beginning of the season. My pick: EaglesRaiders (2-4) @ Ravens (3-3) The Raiders stole one last week against the Jets but their winning streak ends here. No one can seriously think that JaMarcus Russell and the Oakland offense will be able to do anything against the Ravens defense. If Oakland gets an offensive touchdown I will be shocked. My pick: Ravens
Cardinals (4-2) @ Panthers (5-2) This battle for the best non-NFC East team in the NFC should be a good one. The Panthers have an advantage with their defense but it's nearly impossible to stop the Cardinals when both Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald are healthy. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they also have to pay some defense, something that has been challenging them all season. I expect a big day running for the Stewart/Williams combo that will help to neutralize the Cards attack, much like Carolina did last week against the Saints. My pick: Panthers
Browns (2-4) @ Jaguars (3-3) What's wrong with the Jaguars running game? The bread and butter of the team has completely let them down this year, exposing David Garrard as an average quarterback at best. MJD got it going in Week 6 against the Broncos and I fully expect that to continue against the Browns. Get excited Cleveland, the Brady Quinn era has to be just around the corner. My pick: Jaguars
Bengals (0-7) @ Texans (2-4) The Texans and their suddenly elite group of fantasy football stars look poised to win their 3rd straight and jump into possibly contending for a playoff spot. Pretty good for a team that started 0-4. My pick: Texans
Giants (5-1) @ Steelers (5-1) This one has the makings of a total slug fest. These two teams are very similar, from their punishing running styles to blitzing defenses. Call this one more of a wish than a pick, but I really hope the Steelers can knock off the Giants and tighten things up in the NFC East. Pittsburgh will have Willie Parker back so that should help ease the burden on Big Ben. My pick: Steelers
Seahawks (1-5) @ Niners (2-5)
This game is a battle for last place in the NFC West with one team that is terrible because they have no talent and another that is just terrible because of injuries. The Niners did make one smart move this week in finally firing Mike Nolan. Nolan's record as a head coach (18-37) speaks for itself and no amount of fancy suits he wears changes the fact that he shouldn't be running a team. He'll be fine if he goes back to being a coordinator again but we shouldn't ever see him as head coach again. My pick: Niners get a boost from new coach Mike Singletary and winMonday Night Game:
Colts (3-3) @ Titans (6-0) Indy's playoff chances might be on the line in this one. The Titans already look like they will run away with the division, so the Colts have to aim for a Wild Card spot but they need to focus on getting over .500 first. The Colts demise has been tough to watch because it really has been the offense that has let them down. We all knew that their defense was going to be terrible but Peyton Manning just hasn't gotten the job done. With the playoffs on the line I think Manning is due to pull one out. I can't stick a fork in the Colts just yet, although if they lose this one it's done. My pick: Colts
So those are my picks for Week Eight. If you agree or disagree or have picks of your own, feel free to leave comments!
Phillies bats fall silent in Game Two
The Phillies once again left a ton of runners stranded on the base paths and this time they didn't get a dominating pitching performance as the allowed the Rays to tie up the World Series at one game apiece. Philly got on base again and again throughout the game as they managed 9 hits and 4 walks, but, they only scored 2 runs and lost 4-2.
James Shields pitched for the Rays and allowed a number of batters to reach but did well to fight out of every jam. Brett Myers pitched for the Phils and didn't have a terrible game, although he did allow his fair share of runners, too.
The Phillies also have a legitimate beef about the outcome of this game as they were on the wrong end of two bad calls by the home plate umpire. In the 2nd inning, the ump initially called a pitch by Myers strike three until he allowed the first base umpire to overrule him and say the batter didn't swing. The other bad call happened in the 9th as the Phillies tried to fight there way back in the game and Jimmy Rollins clearly got hit by a pitch. The ball grazed his jersey which is, by rule, a hit by pitch. Those two calls came in critical situations when the Rays were starting to build their lead and the Phillies were trying to make their comeback.
While losing this game does hurt the Phils, in the bigger picture they were still able to split the games in Tampa Bay. Everyone should be happy with a 1-1 series tie as we shift back to Philadelphia. If the Phils can just get their bats going when runners are on base, especially since they are now 1 for 28 with runners in scoring position, things will look even better.
The Phillies ride Hamels, Utley to Game One Victory
(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)Cole Hamels continued his playoff dominance as he went 7 innings and allowed a pair of runs and struck out 5 batters. Hamels wasn't phased by the long layoff and continues to prove that he should be mentioned amongst the best pitchers in the game. No matter the stage or the importance of the game, Hamels rises to the challenge. He had a few instances in Game One where he got into trouble but more often than not he fought out of it, like the double play he used to get out of the 3rd after he loaded the bases.
The bullpen came through with it's usual performance tonight as Ryan Madsen locked things down in the 8th and Brad Lidge saved yet another playoff game by taking care of the Rays in order in the 9th. Every lead, no matter how small, is safe with this pen.
Offensively the Phillies didn't do too much, but they still had a few big hits. Chase Utley hit a 2-run shot in the first inning to help the Phils jump out to an early lead. The other run scored by the Phillies came on a Carlos Ruiz ground out. The Phils had plenty of other opportunities to tack on more runs with runners in scoring position but you have to credit Scott Kazmir and the Rays bullpen as they fought their way out of jams.
Game One is in the books and the Phillies are one step closer to a title. Game Two is in Tampa Bay tomorrow night with Brett Myers taking the hill against James Shields. The Phillies have already accomplished a lot by earning at least a split in Tampa against a team that is great at home, but it's not like they will let up because of that. You never know what can happen later in the series, so they need to earn wins wherever they can get them.
Three more to go, GO PHILS!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Phillies vs. Rays: World Series Breakdown
It's been well-documented how long-suffering us Philadelphia sports fans are. 25 years since a major title (the Soul don't count) has done a lot to make us all pretty jaded when it comes to our sports teams, but even the most jaded Philly fan has jumped on board with this Phillies team. Granted, we've had teams in the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup Finals, the NBA Finals and even the World Series in the last 15 years, but there is something about this Phillies team that has sucked us right back into being believers. They are a group of likable guys who play hard and don't accept losing, qualities that this city embraces. On the eve of the World Series that might change all of our lives, especially for someone my age who was too young to remember the Phillies and Sixers titles in the 80's, it's time to break down the two teams position-by-position and see how the Phillies stack up.
Starting Pitching:
Phillies: Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, Joe Blanton
Rays: Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine
Both teams will feature 4-man rotations. The Phillies have a slight edge in the first two games with Cole Hamels being the best pitcher in the series and Brett Myers and James Shields basically being a wash. From there, ALCS MVP Matt Garza appears to have a huge advantage over Jamie Moyer who has looked shaky at best this postseason. Moyer will be facing the type of team he loves to dominate, however, as the Rays are a young team that might not have the patience to wait on his pitches. Joe Blanton has been great this postseason and he could be the key to the Phillies chances. If the Phils manage to win the first two games and then drop the third, just like they did against the Dodgers, the series could hinge on how well Blanton holds things down. If he does anywhere near as well as he did against L.A., the Phils will be in command of the series. Game 7, if there is one, favors the Rays if it's Garza against Moyer again, so the Phillies can't let the series get to that point. Edge: Phillies, Hamels' dominance puts them over the top
Bullpen:
Phillies: Phillies: Brad Lidge, J.C. Romero, Ryan Madsen, Chad Durbin
Rays: David Price, J.P. Howell, Dan Wheeler, Chad Bradfors, Grant Balfour
The Rays appear to be using a closer-by-comittee approach, and it has worked for them so far. Except for the Game 5 meltdown against the Red Sox, Joe Maddon has done a good job of utilizing his bullpen and putting the right pitcher in the right situation. Having the 23 year-old Price on the mound to close out the Red Sox was a gutsy call that really paid off for the Rays. The Phillies, on the other hand, have shown time and again that they have the best bullpen in baseball. People keep worrying that Brad Lidge has to blow a save sometime, but I don't see any signs of him melting down yet. Edge: Phillies
Catcher:
Phillies: Carlos Ruiz
Rays: Dioner Navarro
Navarro hasn't exactly been on fire with the bat in the postseason but he clearly has an edge over Ruiz at the plate, although Ruiz has shown a knack for getting a big hit now and then. Both are about the same defensively and really know how to handle their pitchers. Edge: Rays
Infield:
Phillies: Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Pedro Feliz
Rays: Carlos Pena, Akinori Iwamura, Jason Bartlett, Evan Longoria
The Phillies have the best infield in baseball. Even with Howard struggling with his power, all four of these guys make big contributions at the plate and in the field. Well, maybe not so much in the field for Howard. The Rays have two All-Star caliber players at the corners but their middle infielders, while good in the field, aren't scary at the plate. If I compared them position-by-position in the infield, the Phillies would win every position except third base, but the gap isn't as great as that makes it sound. Edge: Phillies
Outfield:
Phillies: Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth
Rays: Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, Gabe Gross/Rocco Baldelli
You could have made a very 
strong case for Victorino as the NLCS MVP and he's been the Phillies best position player by far this postseason. He makes nearly every big hit and has made a number of great catches in the field. Burrell and Werth have also both contributed but they may need to do more for the Phils to win. The Rays have a better defensive outfield than the Phils, but they can't match up offensively. The right field tandem of Gross and Baldelli isn't great, but Maddon puts them in positions to succeed. Edge: Phillies
DH:
Phillies: Greg Dobbs, Matt Stairs, Geoff Jenkins
Rays: Cliff Floyd
Charlie Manuel has been very quiet as to who his DH is going to be in Games 1 and 2. My guess is that Greg Dobbs will get the call, although Charlie might be tempted to save him for key at-bats later in the game. I seriously doubt that Burrell will play any DH, although it would make a lot of sense. The Rays have the advantage here simply because they actually have guys on the roster who are used to being designated hitters. Edge: Rays
Bench:
Phillies: Dobbs, Stairs, Jenkins, So Taguchi, Eric Bruntlett
Rays: Fernando Perez, Willy Aybar
The Phillies bench will be stripped of some of its effectiveness with Dobbs being the DH. Jenkins would then step into the primary pinch hitter role leaving not too many other options. The Rays have some speed and versatility coming off their bench so they have the advantage here. Edge: Rays
Manager:
Phillies: Charlie Manuel
Rays: Joe Maddon
As much as myself and the rest of Philadelphia have fallen in love with Charlie Manuel, Maddon is the better tactical manager who knows how and when to use his guys. Maddon likes to think with his head while Charlie thinks with his gut. His gut has been right an awful lot but I don't want to see what happens if it's wrong. Edge: Rays
My prediction:
By my highly unscientific breakdown, the Rays and Phillies are completely even with each team having the edge at 4 positions. The Phillies have the more important advantages on the mound and at the plate, so they appear to be the better team on paper. It's going to be interesting to see how this series starts off with the Rays coming off no rest and the Phillies being so rested they are probably rusty. All the Phils will need is a typical Cole Hamels outing and they will quickly shake off all that rust, however. Call me a homer if you will, but I think the Phillies will win in 6 games. The time has finally come for us to have our parade. The Rays are a solid team but the Phillies are playing like a team on a mission that refuses to lose. It's just too bad that they won't likely win the series in Philly because the celebration at the Bank would be incredible.
After 25 years of suffering, we are 4 wins away from a Philadelphia sports championship! Do we even know how to celebrate a championship if they win one?
Eagles bring in a new fullback and cut J.R. Reed
After trying Tony Hunt and Dan Klecko at fullback, the Eagles decided it was finally time to bring in someone who can actually play the position. They signed former Patriot Kyle Eckel, a Philly native, for the remainder of the season. To make room for Eckel, the team released safety J.R. Reed.
Eckel played 12 games last season with the Patriots and ran for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was waived by the Patriots back in September. Eckel should bring some stability to the fullback position that isn't a huge part of the Eagles offense, but it is still going to be nice to have someone who can actually block in the backfield. Should help out on all those chances at the goal line.
J.R. Reed has been a useful player but he is a victim of numbers. Quintin Demps has shown enough to slide into the second string strong safety spot that is now vacated. Reed has been released and brought back by the Eagles before so this may not be the last time we see him with the Birds. He is a good enough player that he will be competing for a job somewhere next season.
Reed also apparently wore a Tampa Bay Rays jersey yesterday so he deserves to get cut!
Phillies vs. Rays World Series pitching matchups set
The Phillies and Rays have announced their starters for the first four games of the World Series:
Game One: Phillies (Hamels) @ Rays (Kazmir)
Game Two: Phillies (Myers) @ Rays (Shields)
Game Three: Rays (Garza) @ Phillies (Moyer)
Game Four: Rays (Sonnanstine) @ Phillies (Blanton)
The Phillies figure to pitch Hamels, Myers and Moyer again in games 5, 6 and 7, if necessary.
The pitching matchups in the first four games seem to slightly favor the Phillies. Cole Hamels is the best pitcher on either team, so he figures to have an edge over Scott Kazmir. Myers and Shields are pretty even but Matt Garza has an edge over Jamie Moyer, who hasn't looked good yet this postseason. Of course, a young team like Tampa Bay is just the type of team that Moyer gets to swing out of their shoes at his junk pitches. Joe Blanton figures to have the advantage in Game Four if he keeps pitching the way he has been.
Look for my complete breakdown of the series later today.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Flyers send Downie, Ross to the minors
Five games into the season, the Flyers remain winless and continue to search for answers on how they can improve their play. They made a few personnel moves today, demoting forwards Steve Downie and Jared Ross to the Phantoms and bringing Andreas Nodl up to the big club.
Downie's demotion was one I called for after his effort Saturday night against the Sharks:
"Steve Downie needs to go play for the Phantoms for a while. He had two penalties on the night, including a dumb slash, and had only 5 minutes of ice time. He needs to get his head straightened out with the Phantoms."
Downie has yet to score a point this season and has played on a different line seemingly every night. He needs to go find some consistency with the Phantoms and hopefully he can be a useful player sometime down the road.
Ross will also go the Phantoms. He was a surprise addition to the club but didn't do anything to distinguish himself in his two games played. Nodl is younger and has more upside.
The Flyers will likely call up one more forward to add to the mix because they now have only 12 forwards on the roster. It's probably too soon for Claude Giroux to come up, so look for the Flyers to bring someone like Darroll Powe up.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Rays vs. Phillies for the title!
(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)The Rays managed to outlast the defending champion Red Sox in Sunday's 7th game through an amazing pitching performance by starting pitcher Matt Garza and their bullpen, which gave up a grand total of 3 hits. The Rays won 3-1 and advance to the World Series to take on the Phillies.
The Phillies finally know their opponent for the World Series that will begin on Wednesday. The Phils will travel to Tampa Bay where hopefully the Rays find a way to sell all of their seats!
Here is the tentative World Series schedule:
Game One: Wednesday, October 22nd: Phillies @ Rays, 8 pm
Game Two: Thursday, October 23rd: Phillies @ Rays, 8 pm
Game Three: Saturday, October 25th: Rays @ Phillies, 8 pm
Game Four: Sunday, October 26th: Rays @ Phillies, 8 pm
Game Five: Monday, October 27th: Rays @ Phillies, 8 pm
Game Six: Wednesday, October 29th: Phillies @ Rays, 8 pm
Game Seven: Thursday, October 30th: Phillies @ Rays, 8 pm
I'll have more on the World Series later. For now, congratulations Rays! You've had an unlikely run and hopefully the Phillies will be the ones to end it!
Flyers remain winless after blowing 2 goal lead to the Sharks
(AP Photo/Ben Margot)The game was filled with both positives and negatives for the Flyers.
Positives:
-The reunited Simon Gagne/Danny Briere/Mike Knuble line played well with Briere scoring 2 goals and Gagne having several good scoring chances. It seems like whoever Briere plays with continues to have a hot hand.
-Antero Niittymaki, despite giving up 5 goals, had a good game. None of the goals were his fault except one where he gave up a juicy rebound to Joe Pavelski in the third period. Niitty made several big stops throughout the game, including an amazing diving save in the third. He faced a barrage of 45 shots and saved 40 of them, basically if he could see it, he stopped it.
-Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn played great as they were reunited as the top defensive unit. The rest of the defensemen? Not so much.
-You could tell the Flyers were making a concerted effort to play the Sharks tough. They had a bunch of hits and got into several scraps after the whistle.
Negatives:
-The Flyers defense is in shambles. Besides the top two, the Flyers are relying on an 18 year old, a guy who didn't play in the NHL last year and 2 AHL-quality players. Luca Sbisa and Ossi Vaananen have played well at times but they should be the teams 3rd pairing of D-men, not 2nd. Andrew Alberts and Steve Eminger are not NHL caliber players and they made a ton of mistakes against the Sharks. The Flyers need to do something to shore up their D because Randy Jones and Ryan Parent aren't coming back any time soon. They need to make a trade to bring in someone who can be a top 4 defensemen, even if it means trading one of their better forwards.
-Too many penalties. The Flyers had 27 penalty minutes on the night, including 11 minors and 1 fighting major. They gave the Sharks a ton of power play chances and they did well to kill some of them but they still gave up three power play goals.
-Steve Downie needs to go play for the Phantoms for a while. He had two penalties on the night, including a dumb slash, and had only 5 minutes of ice time. He needs to get his head straightened out with the Phantoms.
The Flyers have 3 days off now before they face the Sharks again, this time in Philadelphia. It will be interesting to see if the team makes any personnel changes or if they continue to tinker with the lines to find the right combination. You can only re-arrange the lines so much before you realize that maybe this team simply needs some new players. We'll see if they come from the minors or if they come via a trade.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Flyers will feature new lines as they look for first win in San Jose
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)In an effort to shake things up, coach John Stevens will be mixing up the forward lines when the Flyers take on the Sharks on Saturday night:
Gagne - Briere - Knuble
Hartnell - Richards - Downie
Upshall - Carter - Lupul
Cote - Metropolit - Asham
All the changes seem to make sense as Stevens tries to find combos that will work. He is splitting up the top line, the only one that has consistently been scoring, in an effort to spread out the offensive attack. Richards drops down to the second line while Danny Briere moves back to center on the top line. Mike Knuble moves up to the first line and Steve Downie moves up to the second line and over to the wing.
Let's hope this line shake-up works because if it doesn't the next step will be making trades or demoting players. We know that this group can win, it's simply a matter of them picking up the intensity. Hopefully they find their energy soon or this team could be headed for another season like 06/07.
Friday, October 17, 2008
NFL Week 7 predictions
With the Eagles on a bye this week, it's a good chance for Birds fans to sit back and watch the rest of the league. It will be fun to root for the rest of the NFC East to all fall flat again this week.
Let's get right to the picks for Week 7. As always, all picks are made strictly based on who I think will win and do not take the spread into consideration.
Record Last Week: 8-6, .571
Overall Record: 55-34, .618
Byes: Falcons, Eagles, Cardinals, Jaguars
Sunday Day Games:
Chargers (3-3) @ Bills (4-1) This is a big chance for the Bills to prove that they are a serious contender in the AFC. While the Chargers have hardly been a powerhouse this season, they are still the most talented team in the conference. Expect a low scoring game with these two solid defenses. My pick: The Chargers will knock down the upstart Bills
Vikings (3-3) @ Bears (3-3) This one is a battle for first place in the NFC Central. I'm as surprised as you are that the Vikings are actually tied for first place right now. It just shows that the NFC Central is as bad as the NFC East is good. For the Bears, Kyle Orton has played well this season, so well that we haven't heard anything about Rex Grossman in a long time. Can't say that's a bad thing. My pick: Bears
Steelers (4-1) @ Bengals (0-6) Last week I picked the Bengals thinking they have to get a win eventually. Well, I won't be fooled again this week, especially with Carson Palmer still out. The Steelers may also have Willie Parker back this week and that should further ensure a W for Pittsburgh. My pick: Steelers
Titans (5-0) @ Chiefs (1-4) Okay, when the season started, who thought the Titans would be the last remaning undefeated team? They won't be undefeated for much longer and this NFL season has been pretty screwy but there is no way I can live with myself if I pick the Chiefs. My pick: Titans
Cowboys (4-2) @ Rams (1-4) As I am writing this it appears that Tony Romo will tough it out and try to play through a broken pinky. Wow, what a gamer. 
Guys play with broken ribs and concussions but Romo will really be able to prove his toughness by playing through his pinky problems. Regardless of whether he plays or not, the Rams are still an awful football team that the Cowboys shouldn't have any trouble with. The addition of Roy Williams should help, although I wonder how Dallas will keep T.O., Whitten, Barber and Williams all happy. There simply aren't enough touches to go around. My pick: Cowboys
Ravens (2-3) @ Dolphins (2-3) This is the first tough pick after a series of no-brainers. I have to hand it to the Dolphins, they continue to mix things up with their offense, keeping the opposition guessing. Miami also plays tough, hard-nosed football, just the way Bill Parcells likes it. The Ravens defense has returned this season but the offense looks like it's the same old plodding attack we have seen for years. My pick: Dolphins at home
Niners (2-4) @ Giants (4-1) After a shocking loss to the Browns last week, expect the Giants to bounce back in a big way against the Niners. The biggest problem with the Niners continues to be the quarterback position. I think the league has figured out J.T. O'Sullivan and his tendency to throw interceptions at the most inopportune times. My pick: San Francisco isn't a team that can be walked all over, but the Giants should be able to win by two touchdowns.
Saints (3-3) @ Panthers (4-2) The Panthers might be the best 
non-NFC East team in the conference and the Saints offense has been amazing this season so this should be a good game. I think the biggest factor will be how well the Panthers defense, which has looked good this year, can slow down Drew Brees. Marques Colston may or may not return but I don't think it will make a difference because he doesn't play defense. Look for the Panthers to run the ball and control the clock which will neutralize the Saints attack. My pick: Panthers
Lions (0-5) @ Texans (1-4) By trading Roy Williams and announcing Jon Kitna was done for the year, the Lions have effectively given up on the season. The Texans season just started as they finally got a win last week, but they are the best one win team I have ever seen. Even though they only have one more win than the Lions, they are worlds ahead of them in terms of talent. My pick: Texans
Jets (3-2) @ Raiders (1-4) This game will be closer than you think, but really, who do you trust more, Brett Favre or JaMarcus Russell? This is a no-brainer pick no matter where it's played. My pick: Jets
Colts (3-2) @ Packers (3-3) The Colts have risen from the dead, finally winning a game in a convincing manner. They had no business beating either the Vikings or the Texans earlier in the season, so last week was really their first "real" win. Losing Joseph Addai won't hurt them much because he wasn't really doing anything anyway. The Packers will need to win to keep pace in the NFC North but I'm not sure Aaron Rodgers has it in him yet to knock off a top team. My pick: Colts
Browns (2-3) @ Redskins (4-2) No matter what the Browns did last week, this game is still a no-brainer pick. The Redskins will look to bounce back from a bad loss and the Browns will likely fade back to how they played in the beginning of the season. I expect Clinton Portis, the best back in the league right now, to run all over the Browns and the Redskins to win this one convincingly. If they don't, the Eagles will have their target to shoot for as they look to climb back up in the NFC East. My pick: Redskins
Sunday Night Game:
Seahawks (1-4) @ Bucs (4-2) The Seahawks aren't doing it as blatantly as the Lions, but they too have given up on this season. The injuries have piled up on them and they are basically going to pack it in and wait until next year when Matt Hasselbeck is fully healthy. The Bucs aren't lighting the world on fire, but there is no way I am picking a Seattle team that is choosing between Charlie Frye and Seneca Wallace for their starting QB spot. My pick: Bucs
Monday Night Game:
Broncos (4-2) @ Patriots (3-2) This is a tough one to predict. On the one hand, the Broncos have a terrible defense that even Matt Cassel should be able to pick apart. On the other, the Broncos offense should be able to have their way with the slow Patriots D. I guess it's safe to say that this one should be high-scoring, so start all your fantasy guys in this one. My pick: Patriots. I really want to pick against the Pats, but I think Belichick finds a way to patch together a win here.
So those are my picks for Week Seven. If you agree or disagree or have picks of your own, feel free to leave comments!
Phillies must wait for opponent as Red Sox pull of thrilling win
(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)For the Phillies, it means they can continue to sit back and relax as it appears the Rays and Red Sox have a lot more to settle. Let them beat up on each other and let the Phillies take care of the worn-out winner.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
On to the World Series!
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)The Phillies clinched the series with a dominating 5-1 win over the Dodgers in Game 5 to win the series 4 games to 1. Jimmy Rollins led off the game with a homer and the Phillies, aided by a few Dodgers miscues in the field, added 2 runs in both the 3rd and 5th innings to coast to a comfortable lead. Cole Hamels and the bullpen took care of the rest, with King Cole giving up only one run in 7 innings and the bullpen doing it's usual shutdown job.
The Phillies proved to be the much better team than the Dodgers for this series. They had different heroes nearly every night, from Shane Victorino to Matt Stairs to Jimmy Rollins. They had great pitching performances nearly every time out as well and their bullpen continued it's domination. The Dodgers, on the other hand, were a one man team. Manny Ramirez was amazing throughout the series, hitting over .500 and getting a big hit whenever the team needed one. Fortunately for the Phils, Manny can't pitch and he could only come to the plate once every 9 batters and the rest of the Dodgers failed to come through at the plate or on the mound.
Now the Phillies wait to see who their next opponent will be. The Rays have a big 3-1 series lead over the Red Sox but that series is far from over. Boston won't go down without a fight and they might make it a series yet. No matter who the Phils play, the American League team has home field advantage because of their All-Star Game win.
Here is the tentative schedule for the World Series:
Game One: Wednesday, October 22nd: NL @ AL
Game Two: Thursday, October 23rd: NL @ AL
Game Three: Saturday, October 25th: AL @ NL
Game Four: Sunday, October 26th: AL @ NL
Game Five: Monday, October 27th: AL @ NL
Game Six: Wednesday, October 29th: NL @ AL
Game Seven: Thursday, October 30th: NL @ AL
We'll worry about who the opponent is later. For now, we all need to celebrate the Phillies and all they have accomplished this season. Not only have they continued to win, they have been one of the most fun teams to follow and are really a likable group of guys.
Let's hope they have four more wins in them.
Flyers remain winless after overtime loss to Pittsburgh
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)There were several positives for the Flyers tonight:
*Simon Gagne scored on a deflection goal. He has 3 goals in 3 games so far this season and appears fully back. His line with Mike Richards and Danny Briere continues to look good shift after shift.
*Luca Sbisa logged a ton of quality minutes on the power play and in crucial overtime situations. Sbisa is the real deal and hopefully the Flyers have seen enough to keep him around all season.
*Despite not looking great on the final goal, Antero Niittymaki played well in net, making 25 saves. The other two goals weren't his fault.
*Riley Cote also had a great fight in the game against Eric Godard. It was a nice long bout with no clear winner. Video below:
The Flyers also had their share of negatives:
*The power play failed to capitalize on 6 chances. They had some good puck movement at times but they couldn't bury the puck.
*Too many penalties. The Flyers had 17 penalty minutes and found themselves on the penalty kill 6 times. You are playing with fire when you give the Pens that many chances, fortunately Pittsburgh only scored once with the man advantage.
*Does Joffrey Lupul know the season has started? The guy signed a huge deal this offseason and he has barely come to play so far this year, notching zero points and a -2 rating.
The Flyers continue on the road this week with games against the Avalanche and Sharks. They need to find a way to get out of this skid they are in because they are already in a huge 9 point hole behind the undefeated Rangers in the Atlantic Division. The season is still very young but the Flyers could sure use a win, and fast.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Eagles release Tony Hunt, sign linebacker White
The great Tony Hunt fullback experiment is now officially over and so is his tenure with the team. Hunt, a running back the Eagles tried to make into a fullback for the first 5 weeks of the season, was released by the team today. Hunt had already been removed from the fullback spot and replaced with Dan Klecko, so he was basically the teams 4th string running back when Brian Westbrook is healthy. Hunt flashed a lot of promise in the preseason but he wasn't going to get any playing time on this team.
Hunt was replaced on the 53 man roster by Tracy White, a free agent linebacker who had been released by the Packers last week. White is expected to contribute mostly on special teams and won't likely get any reps at linebacker. He's a 6 year veteran so he will hopefully bring leadership and stability to the special teams group.
On a day where the Cowboys acquired WR Roy Williams, neither of these moves are that exciting by the Birds. The Eagles continue to make minor tweaks to the roster rather than going for the big name player. Hunt will likely catch on with another team fairly soon, but he won't make the Eagles regret letting him walk.
Victorino, Stairs give Phillies commanding 3-1 series lead
(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)After jumping out to an early lead in Game 4, the Dodgers chipped away until the Phillies found themselves trailing 5-3 entering the top of the 8th. The game then quickly turned in the Phillies favor as they hit a pair a 2-run homers, one by Shane Victorino and the other by Matt Stairs, to give themselves a 7-5 lead, which the bullpen held onto to give the Phillies a huge 3-1 series lead.
The two heroes of Game 4, Victorino and Stairs, couldn't be more opposite. Victorino, an everyday player, is a little guy who has come up big for the Phillies again and again in the playoffs as his 11 RBIs attest to. Victorino has been far and away the Phillies MVP so far in the playoffs. The 40 years old Stairs, a bench player, is a huge slugger who stepped to the plate for only the 3rd time of the entire playoffs and absolutely crushed a Jonathan Broxton pitch deep into the Los Angeles night. Credit Pat Gillick with having the foresight to pick up a hitter like Stairs near the August 31st trade deadline. He guessed correctly that the Phils would need a big left-handed bat at some point in the playoffs.
Credit for the win should also be given to the Phils bullpen who recovered after Chad Durbin gave up a pair of runs to shut the Dodgers down in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings. This bullpen is unbeatable with a lead and it's so comforting to know that if the team has a lead near the end of the game, they will win every time. It's definitely a different feeling then we are used to having in recent Phillies history and even going all the way back to the last time they made the World Series when Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams was in the closer role.
The Phillies now have a huge, but not insurmountable, 3-1 series lead. They are in a great position considering they have their best pitcher, Cole Hamels, taking the mound on Wednesday night in Los Angeles with a trip to the World Series on the line. Should Hamels falter, the Phillies would then still have two more opportunities to clinch the series back in Philly.
Of course, sometimes the 4th win in a series is the most difficult one to get. With the way this Phillies team is playing with a new hero stepping up every night, it seems like nothing can slow them down.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Flyers acquire defenseman Alberts
In an effort to patch up their thin blueline, the Flyers acquired defenseman Andrew Alberts from the Boston Bruins in exchange for Ned Lukacevic and a 4th round pick in the 2009 draft. Alberts has spent his first three seasons in the NHL with the Bruins, tallying 19 points in 184 games. Alberts is a big, physical player who fits right into the mold of a typical bruising Flyers blueliner. He's a bit slow but he should jump right into the lineup and leave Lasse Kukkonen on the bench where he belongs.
Lukacevic was originally acquired by the Flyers this past offseason when they traded Denis Gauthier to the Los Angeles Kings. Lukacevic isn't much of a prospect although he could make a decent defensive forward some day.
With the injuries to Ryan Parent and Randy Jones, the Flyers had to make a move to get help on defense. While Alberts isn't a huge talent, he's at least a serviceable player who can log some quality minutes. Alberts also should already be familiar to the Flyers since Scott Hartnell absolutely destroyed him last season in this hit that got him suspended:
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Flyers lose season opener, Randy Jones
(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)The 2008/2009 campaign started off a little rough for the Flyers, what with Sarah Palin receiving a mountain of boos (click here to see it) and the Flyers falling behind by 4 goals in the first period, but the Flyers were able to fight back to makes things interesting before they fell to the Rangers, 4-3.
The Flyers got more bad news today as they learned that Randy Jones will be having surgery and he will be out for 12 to 16 weeks. Along with Ryan Parent, that makes two Flyers defensemen who need surgery and will miss a significant amount of time. The Flyers already had some questions about their blueline but now they might have a serious issue.
As for the game, the Rangers jumped out early and silenced the crowd with two goals in the first 5 minutes as the Flyers played back on their heels. The defensemen, which had the look of a group simply thrown together, struggled to slow down the Rangers attack as the Blue Shirts added two more goals later in the period. Martin Biron also looked terrible out of the gate, managing only 10 saves on 14 shots. Of course, it's hard for a goaltender to look good when he's being peppered with shots. Biron was pulled for Antero Niittymaki after the 4th goal and Niitty took over from there, stopping every shot he faced and giving the Flyers a chance to make a comeback.
And come back they did. Mike Richards fought near the end of the first period and that seemed to energize the Flyers, who bounced back with 2 goals in the second period, one by Scott Hartnell and the other by the returning Simon Gagne. Gagne made a nice effort in scoring his first goal since January 29th and appears to be playing at full strength with very little rust. Mike Richards later added a goal 5 minutes into the third period as the Flyers made things interesting. Unfortunately they were never able to sustain a strong attack and the Rangers held on for the win.
Three thoughts stick with me after the first game. First of all, the defense needs some help. Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn are the only returning regulars and they are the only two that looked comfortable out on the ice. Steve Eminger, Luca Sbisa, Ossi Vaananen and Lasse Kukkonen all have a lot of work to do to make the Flyers back line a better unit. Sbisa looked shaky in the beginning but got better as the game went on, Vaananen's play was at least acceptable but Eminger and Kukkonen looked really lost out there.
The other issue that I hope doesn't develop with the Flyers is another goalie controversy. Niittymaki outplayed Biron tonight and he also played well for the Phantoms earlier in the week, meaning he's the hot goaltender right now while has Biron struggled so far, but let's hope it's just rust. The last thing we need is another 1 and 1A situation in Philly, because when two goaltenders share time it never works out.
Lastly, to end things on a positive note, the Simon Gagne, Mike Richards and Danny Briere line looked great. Let's hope these three stick together because they consistently put together good shifts and showed some solid chemistry.
While tonight's game wasn't the best way to start a season, at least the Flyers showed some fight after falling behind early. It will be interesting to see how they bounce back in their next game. I also expect them to try to find some answers for their blueline because with Jones and Parent out, not to mention Derian Hatcher, things seem awfully thin back there. An 18 year old and a couple of guys who belong in the AHL won't cut it. Maybe they let go of Bryan Berard a little too soon.
Flyers fans boo Sarah Palin
Looks like Obama might win Pennsylvania. Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin dropped the puck at the Flyers home opener and got just the reaction everyone would expect from Flyers fans: boos! Yeah, there was a mix of cheering and booing, but from what I could hear, the crowd reacted much more negatively then positively. The Flyers arena was pumped full of music as she was being introduced, likely because they knew what kind of reaction she would get, and that helped to drown out the crowd's reaction.
Here's a video of the whole ceremony:
I still don't understand why the Flyers would put themselves in this situation for their home opener. Talk about a negative way to start a season.
Flyers drop the puck tonight!
With everything else that's been going on, it's easy to forget that the Flyers will start their season tonight against the Rangers. For better or for worse, Sarah Palin will be dropping the first puck for the 2008/2009 Flyers season, a season that looks very promising as the Flyers try to build off their great playoff run of last year.
Here are some of the new things to look for as the Flyers take the ice tonight:
Gagne is back Former 40 goal scorer Simon Gagne returns to the ice for the first time since February 10th. He looked smooth and seems ready to go after a solid exhibition season.
New First Line With Gagne's return, the Flyers will have a new look on their top line. Mike Richards will now center the line with Gagne on his left and Danny Briere on his right. Briere has played center for most of his professional career but now moves to the wing. If this line stays together, and I have my doubts that it will, it should be extremely potent. It's a nice combination of toughness, grit and speed that should pile up a ton of points.
Other new forward lines The shake-up at the top and the loss of R.J. Umberger has forced the Flyers to try out some new lines combinations this season. Here are their opening game lines, courtesy of Bill Meltzer:
Gagne - Richards - Briere
Upshall - Carter - Knuble
Hartnell - Metropolit - Lupul
Cote - Downie - Asham
Jeff Carter moves up to the second line and newcomer Glen Metropolit takes over on the third line. The most intriguing line out of all of them is the 4th line. Riley Cote, Steve Downie and Arron Asham are all tough guys who will be a real pain to play against. I'm not sure how much they are going to score but they will get under the skin of their opponents on a nightly basis.
Defense pairings With the injuries to Derian Hatcher, Ryan Parent and Randy Jones, the Flyers will feature a very inexperienced back line for the first part of the season. The injuries are such a problem for their depth that they have been forced to split up their top pairing of Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn:
Timonen - Väänänen
Coburn - Eminger
Sbisa - Kukkonen
Rookie Luca Sbisa makes his NHL debut today as well. Get a good look at him while you can because he probably won't be on the big club for more than a week or two. Don't count on Timonen and Coburn to be split up for too long, that unit was way too effective last season.
Jared Ross Who? Apparently Ross has made the Flyers roster. Ross is a 26 year old center who will get some ice time if Downie continues to struggle with injuries. Ross spent last season with the Phantoms and picked up 62 points in 67 games.
Enjoy the game tonight! In case you didn't know, you can watch it online for free at NHL.com. They have a new NHL Gamecenter feature where you can watch the games online and they have a free preview for a few days.
If anyone is interested in participating in a Live Game Blog for today's game that I would host, leave me a comment in this post or drop me an email at allthingsphillysports@gmail.com. The Live Blog's were very popular during last years playoff run and I plan to do them again from time to time. I'm trying to gauge if there is interest in doing one now or if I should wait until later in the season. It's a great way to follow the game and have some great discussions with fellow Flyers fans.
Go Flyers!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Myers' bat carries Phillies to 2-0 series lead
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)Of course, had that pitcher had a better night on the mound, the Phils wouldn't have needed him to come through at the plate like he did. Brett Myers started the game for the Phillies and gave up 5 runs in 5 innings of work, including a 3-run homer by Manny Ramirez. With the bat, Myers had as many RBIs as Manny, driving in 3 runs and scoring twice on 3 hits. Myers did his damage in three consecutive innings as he singled home a run in the second, singled in two more in the 3rd and added another single in the 4th.
This is the second time this postseason that Myers has been a hero at the plate. Against the Brewers in Game Two of the NLDS, Myers was able to have two quality at-bats against C.C. Sabathia where he worked the count and forced Sabathia to throw a ton of pitches. He earned a walk in that game that helped the Phillies beat the Brewers ace.
To put Myers' night in a little more perspective, Myers now has 3 RBIs in the playoffs which is triple the number of RBIs that Ryan Howard has been able to accumulate in 6 postseason games. Howard had 146 RBIs in the regular season but has only one so far in the playoffs.
Myers' hits were just part of a pair of big innings for the Phils, who batted around and scored 4 runs in both the 2nd and 3rd innings. Even more remarkable was the fact that, after scoring all of their runs on long balls in Game One, the Phillies scored 8 runs in Game Two without hitting a single home run.
Shane Victorino was the other hero of the night as he drove in 4 runs on a single and a triple and made a spectacular catch in the 7th inning to help prevent the Dodgers from getting back into the game. Victorino has been the Phillies best hitter in the playoffs so far, hitting .304 and driving in 9 runs. His performance has made up for the way Howard and Jimmy Rollins have been swinging the bat. Both have struggled to get going so far.
The Phillies are now riding high after taking the first two games against the Dodgers and they now travel to L.A. for the next three games of the series. For the season, both teams have won every game they have played at home so it will be up to the Phils to try to break that trend. They will be fine if they can win at least one of the games in L.A. and come back home with a 3-2 series lead. Of course, it would be more ideal if they can take care of the Dodgers as quickly as possible and wait for the winner of the ALCS, which gets under way tonight.
The Phils should revel in their victory that was brought to them by an unlikely source, but they need to start figuring out how to get Howard going at the plate. If Howard can start hitting like he did for the final month of the season, the Phillies won't need any other unlikely heroes to step forward. You have to believe it's only a matter of time before Howard crushes a few and the Phillies ride him into the World Series.
It's Wide Open: NFL Week 6 Predictions
This NFL season is shaping into a good one. There is no favorite in either league, instead you have a number of teams that will be battling it out all season long. The NFC is completely loaded in one division and it looks like whoever survives in the NFC East will be the Super Bowl favorite. In the AFC, the contenders are starting to separate themselves from the pretenders. The Titans look for real while the Bills showed some serious flaws last week. And what are we supposed to make of the Patriots, Chargers and Colts, three former powerhouses that have yet to put it all together? It's very likely that at least one of those teams will be on the outside looking in come playoff time.
Here are my picks for Week Six. As always, all picks are made strictly based on who I think will win and do not take the spread into consideration.
Record Last Week: 9-5, .643
Overall Record: 47-28, .627
Byes: Bills, Titans, Chiefs, Steelers
Sunday Day Games:
Bears (3-2) @ Falcons (3-2) Matt Ryan has been impressive so far, making an instant impact and proving his doubters (like me) wrong. The Falcons are undefeated at home although they only had to beat the Lions and Chiefs. The Bears defense will blitz and confuse Ryan just enough to get him out of his game. Of course, they will still have to find a way to shut down Michael Turner. My pick: Bears win on the road. The Bears have quietly become the best team in the NFC Central so they will do something the Packers were unable to do: beat Atlanta
Ravens (2-2) @ Colts (2-2) The Colts have Sage Rosenfels' stupidity to thank for stealing that win last week against the Texans. Seriously, Sage, SLIDE already! The Colts aren't the dominating team they once were, although I can't really figure out why. They still have Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne and Joseph Addai, and although their defense isn't any good, it never was except in their Super Bowl year. Something is wrong with the offense, maybe it's still trying to find it's rhythm since Manning missed all that time in the offseason. My pick: Colts. This is the week they start to turn it around.
Lions (0-4) @ Vikings (2-3) Could this be the week the Lions finally win a game?? Uh, no. Despite a nice win last week against the Saints, where they won even though Adrian Peterson only ran for 32 yards on 21 carries, the Vikings haven't really been as good as advertised. They're still better than a crappy Lions team that will likely be starting Dan Orlovsky at QB. My pick: Vikings
Raiders (1-3) @ Saints (2-3) How do the Saints lose when Reggie Bush returns two punts for touchdowns and Drew Brees throws for 330 yards? Well, two interceptions and 2 lost fumbles certainly didn't help. The Tom Cable era begins in Oakland this week but don't expect anything to be different as long as Al Davis is running the show. Davis is completely insane and the NFL needs to intervene and get him removed from the league or he will continue to drive Oakland further into the ground. My pick: Saints
Bengals (0-5) @ Jets (2-2) Here's my upset special for the week!
The Bengals, who actually put together a pretty good showing against the Cowboys last week, are finally going to get one in the win column this week on the road against the Jets. They actually showed some life and I think they're finally going to put together enough offense this week to win. It's not that big of an upset considering the Jets aren't that good unless Brett Favre throws 6 touchdown passes again, which he could do against the lousy Bengals defense. My pick: Bengals
Panthers (4-1) @ Bucs (3-2) Jeff Garcia is back in the saddle for the Bucs, although I never really understood why he was taken out of the saddle. I know he was dealing with injuries, but Garcia is still more dangerous than Brian Griese. The Panthers have looked really dominant in the last two weeks, destroying the Falcons and Chiefs with a balanced rushing and passing attack and a suffocating defense. Things won't come as easy this week against the Bucs. My pick: Bucs
Rams (0-4) @ Redskins (4-1) Don't worry Eagles fans, the Redskins will eventually fall back towards the bottom of the NFC East. It just won't happen this week. The Rams have had two weeks to prepare for the Redskins with their new coach and they will welcome Marc Bulger back, but they still won't beat the Redskins on the road. My pick: Redskins
Dolphins (2-2) @ Texans (0-4) Yet another winless team will get on the board this week. 
The Texans nearly pulled it out against the Colts and they would have if Sage Rosenfels knew how to protect a lead. Matt Schaub is back this week so the Texans offense should be much less prone to turnovers. The Dolphins have definitely been a big surprise this season with their big upsets over the Patriots and Chargers using their unique offensive attacks but it's only a matter of time before the league figures out how to beat these high school plays. My pick: Texans
Jaguars (2-3) @ Broncos (4-1) It wasn't a shock that the Broncos beat the Bucs last week but it was surprising how they did it: in a low scoring, 16-13 game. The Broncos had been averaging 33 points a game up to that point and I expect them to put up a bunch this week. The Jaguars are broken because they are built around the running game and yet they can't run the ball this season, except against terrible defenses. Fortunately they have hope this week because this Broncos defense gave up 198 yards to Larry Johnson in Week 4. My pick: Jaguars in a close game
Cowboys (4-1) @ Cardinals (3-2) After years of not meeting expectations, the Cardinals may finally win the NFC West this season. They have paired an explosive offense with a reasonably capable defense and that makes them a tempting team to pick to beat the Cowboys. And, I can think of several reasons to pick against Dallas. Dallas' secondary has been exposed and that plays right into the Cardinals aerial attack. Terrell Owens is whining about not getting the ball. Tony Romo has been pretty normal the last few weeks. My pick: Despite all those reasons, I still am going with the Cowboys.
Eagles (2-3) @ Niners (2-3) With the season only 16 games long, every game is pretty much a "must-win" in the NFL. This week is a bigger "must-win" than most for the Birds. The Eagles have to beat this mediocre 
Niners team to prove to themselves and to their fans that they are much better than their 2-3 record indicates. They have to beat San Francisco and beat them soundly to re-gain their swagger and prove to the league that you can't count them out. Three teams will make the playoffs from the NFC East and if the Eagles lose this game and fall even further behind their division opponents, who I have all picked to win this week, then the season could already be over. The "fire Andy Reid" talk and the "start Kevin Kolb" talk will be so deafening in Philadelphia that this team may never recover. Luckily, I think the Birds will make a statement this weekend and all of the naysayers will have to shut their mouths for the next few weeks. My pick: Eagles by two touchdowns
Packers (2-3) @ Seahawks (1-3) Aaron Rodgers toughed it out last week and threw for 313 yards despite a banged up shoulder but the Packers still didn't win. The defense, which had been a strength last season, has really let the team down. The Seahawks rarely lose at home and, despite all of their injury issues, I expect them to start turning their season around and make a run for the NFC West title. My pick: Seahawks
Sunday Night Game:
Patriots (3-1) @ Chargers (2-3) This one is the battle of the two teams that lost to the Dolphins. Things have certainly changed since these two teams met in the AFC Title Game. The Pats are a shell of their former selves since the injury to Tom Brady and L.T. looks like a shell of his former self for the Chargers. San Diego always starts slow and one of these years it will hurt them. They always seem to find a way to win the games they really need to, and they really need this one to get back to .500. My pick: Chargers
Monday Night Game:
Giants (4-0) @ Browns (1-3) Think the NFL regrets all these prime time Browns games yet? The Brady Quinn watch is back underway this week as Derek Anderson is on his last legs as a starting QB in the NFL. The Giants look even better than they did last year in the playoffs, which is a scary thought for the rest of the league. Of course, we need to wait and see how they do against the Cowboys and Eagles before we can crown them. My pick: Giants
So those are my picks for Week Six. If you agree or disagree or have picks of your own, feel free to leave comments!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Manny who? Utley, Burrell power Phillies past Dodgers in Game One
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)The Phillies lack one superstar that carries the team, instead they feature a number of guys who are a threat to hit the ball out of the park at any time. Tonight, facing a 2-0 deficit in the bottom of the 6th, it was Chase Utley and Pat Burrell's chance to shine. Utley hit a 2-run homer that tied the game and Burrell followed with the game winning homer two batters later. Those two swings of the bat were all the Phillies needed to carry them over the Dodgers, 3-2, and to take a 1-0 series lead in the NLCS.
Of course, solid pitching also carried the day for the Phillies. Cole Hamels looked shaky at times and consistently allowed runners to get on base, but he still only allowed 2 runs to cross the plate and he still managed to get the big strikeouts when he needed them. After Burrell gave the Phillies the lead late in the game, the bullpen took over and did what it always does: protect a lead. Ryan Madsen needed only 10 pitches to zoom through the 8th and Brad Lidge remained perfect on the season with his first postseason save.
The Phils have taken an important first step in winning Game One. Not only have they protected their home field advantage, they have also taken the momentum away from the Dodgers. The Dodgers had been riding high following their sweep of the Cubs but with one game all of that momentum and good feelings have been erased. It's a quick turnaround to Game Two, so the Dodgers are going to have to quickly forget about this loss if they want to remain in the series.
For the Phillies, now is a great time to pounce and build a 2 game lead. They shouldn't get too excited about winning one game, they are supposed to win every time Cole Hamels pitches. Now it will be up to Brett Myers to be the Brett Myers from the second half of the season for the Phillies to take command of this series. With the 4:35 start time tomorrow, I have a feeling most Philadelphia businesses will be shutting down early. Let's hope the Phils give us something worth going home early for.
Phillies vs. Dodgers: NLCS Breakdown
The Phillies are 4 wins away from the World Series for the first time since 1993. They have gotten this far with a deep lineup, good starting pitching when they needed it and the best bullpen in the league. The question now is if that's enough to get past Manny and the Dodgers. Here's my breakdown of the two teams position-by-position:
Starting Pitching:
Phillies: Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, Joe Blanton
Dodgers: Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda
The Dodgers have a major advantage when Derek Lowe takes the mound. He has a ton of postseason experience and he will be poised and calm even if he gives up a few runs. He also keeps the ball low in the zone so he could neutralize the Phillies big power advantage. Billingsley has been great this year but Kuroda isn't someone the Phils should fear. Unfortunately, I would rather have those three pitchers than who the Phillies will send to the mound. Cole Hamels is dominant, but the Phils never know what they are going to get out of the other three. Myers has been either really good or really bad the entire season, Moyer is coming off a terrible start against the Brewers and Blanton has been more miss than hit this season. The Phillies have to win every game that Hamels starts and hope that the right Myers shows up or they have no chance in this series. Edge: Dodgers
Bullpen:
Phillies: Brad Lidge, J.C. Romero, Ryan Madsen, Chad Durbin
Dodgers: Hong-Chih Kuo, Jonathan Broxton, Joe Beimel, Cory Wade
The Dodgers took Takishi Saito, their supposed closer, off their playoff roster and replaced him with Hong-Chih Kuo. Broxton closed games in the series with the Cubs, but the Dodgers don't have one dominant guy, instead they have a deep bullpen and they can turn to any number of guys when they need to get the big outs. Despite the Dodgers depth, I would still take Brad Lidge and a perfect 9th inning every time. Madsen has been an excellent bridge to Lidge and Romero and Eyre can get the lefties out. Edge: Phillies
Catcher:
Phillies: Carlos Ruiz
Dodgers: Russell Martin
Anyone who thinks the Phillies have an advantage here is either out of their mind or a total homer. Martin is an up-and-coming superstar and Ruiz is just a decent catcher. Edge: Dodgers
Infield:
Phillies: Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Pedro Feliz
Dodgers: James Loney, Blake DeWitt, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake
I was going to break the infield down position by position, but the Phillies would win at every spot anyway. The Phillies infield may be the best offensive infield in the league while the Dodgers have some decent hitters, but nothing that brings the power and speed the Phils have. Furcal's return to the lineup has been crucial for the Dodgers attack and Loney had a great series against the Cubs, but I would take the Phillies 3 All-Star infield any day. Edge: Phillies
Outfield:
Phillies: Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth
Dodgers: Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier
The Dodgers have the best player in the series in Manny. He has 
always been a monster against the Phillies so I would expect he will get intentionally walked at a steady clip. Kemp is a star in the making and Ethier is no slouch either as they round out the L.A. outfield. For the Phils, Burrell finally woke up at the end of the Brewers series and they are going to need a lot more from him. Werth has been steady and Victorino has a knack for getting the big hits. Still, Manny changes the entire complexion of a game every time he steps to the plate. Edge: Dodgers
Bench:
Phillies: Greg Dobbs, Matt Stairs, Eric Bruntlett
Dodgers: Juan Pierre, Jeff Kent, Nomar
Besides Greg Dobbs, the Phillies don't have anyone coming off the bench that scares the other team. Stairs is a professional hitter but he's hardly an impact bat. The Dodgers bench is ancient but they all have a wealth of experience and can make a big play from time to time. Neither team expects too much from it's bench, so this isn't a key part of the series. Edge: Dodgers
Manager:
Phillies: Charlie Manuel
Dodgers: Joe Torre
Let's see, the winner of a number of World Series' against a guy who goes with his gut. Charlie has been more right than not lately and Torre is incredibly overrated, but I would still rather have the guy who's been here before. Edge: Dodgers
My prediction:
The Dodgers win this breakdown by a score of 5-2, although several of the spots can go either way. Most experts agree that the Dodgers have the advantage heading into the series, but I predict that the Phillies win in 7 games. The Phils bats will find a way to get a few runs on the board and the starting pitching will hold up just enough to allow the bullpen to close things down in the later innings. My pick is coming from a Phillies homer, but I really think this team will get it done.
There's nothing left to do now but wait and see. After years of suffering, let's hope the Phils can get back to the World Series for the first time in 15 years. Beat LA!! Beat LA!!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Sixers knock off World Champion Celtics!............. in exhibition opener
(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)For the game, the Sixers started the group that is likely to start for most of the season: Andre Miller at the point, Andre Iguodala at shooting guard, Thaddeus Young at the small forward, Elton Brand at power forward and Samuel Dalembert at center. Each of the starters played a minimum of 20 minutes with Young leading the whole team with 36 minutes. Louis Williams came off the bench and led the team in scoring with 27 points while Brand had 4 boards and 11 points in his Sixers debut. The Celtics played with all their big stars and got out to an early lead but the Sixers fought back in the 3rd quarter and held on to win, 98-92.
In all, not a bad way to start the exhibition season. The Sixers will play 6 more games as they prepare for the season opener on October 29th.
Click here for the box score for the game.
And, here's an impressive dunk by Bill Walker over Theo Ratliff:
Flyers opening game roster set: Sbisa makes team
The Flyers have set their opening day roster. There are two surprises, one being that 18 year old Luca Sbisa made the team and other is the return of Antero Niittymaki to the Flyers roster.
Sbisa made the club partly due to injuries to Randy Jones and Ryan Parent's upcoming surgery and partly due to how well he played in the preseason. The Flyers have the option of keeping Sbisa up to 9 games before he must return to his junior team or he must stay with the team the whole season. He is not eligible to play with the Phantoms at all this season due to his young age.
Niittymaki has been dealing with injuries and wasn't expected to be ready at the start of the season, but he is on the opening night roster and the Flyers will go with 3 goalies. Niitty appeared healthy as he led the Phantoms to a win over the Flyers, but the team is keeping J.S. Aubin around as insurance, at least for now. As soon as Niittymaki is healthy, Aubin will be dropped into the minors.
There really aren't any other surprises on the roster:
Forwards (12): Arron Asham, Danny Briere, Jeff Carter, Riley Cote, Steve Downie, Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell, Mike Knuble, Joffrey Lupul, Glen Metropolit, Mike Richards, Scottie Upshall
Defensemen (7): Braydon Coburn, Steve Eminger, Randy Jones, Lasse Kukkonen, Luca Sbisa, Kimmo Timonen, Ossi Vannanen
Goalies (3): J.S. Aubin, Martin Biron, Antero Niittymaki
"Hockey Mom" Sarah Palin will drop the first puck for the Flyers season
I'm not going to get into politics here because that's not what this blog is about, but is this really a good idea? Palin has been under some heavy scrutiny, and knowing how Philadelphia fans tend to act, I don't see how she isn't met with a resounding chorus of boos. Sure, some will cheer, but Palin is such a polarizing figure that people either love or hate.
From the Flyers perspective, it's hard to say if they are endorsing Palin or not. On the one hand, they could just be taking advantage of the media attention they are going to get, on the other I don't hear any announcements about Joe Biden dropping the puck in the near future.
Love her or hate her, Sarah Palin will be kicking off the Flyers 2008/2009 season. In a few weeks that could either be a really cool moment or a really embarassing blunder. I am sure you all have your own opinions already.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Flyers lose to Phantoms in final Spectrum game. Wait, what?!?
The home team Philadelphia hockey club won at the Spectrum in tonight's contest. Unfortunately, the home team in the Spectrum is the Philadelphia Phantoms, which means the Philadelphia Flyers lost their final game at the Spectrum to their minor league affiliate. The Phantoms beat the Flyers 4-2 in a game that can be more described as an exhibition than an actual contest.
Exhibition or not, the Flyers should be embarrassed to lose a game to a bunch of minor league veterans and rookies. And, hockey's not like other sports where the back-ups play most of the game. The Flyers back-ups all play for the Phantoms, so the starters got beat by the back-ups.
The most interesting thing about the game was Antero Niitymaki making his return to the ice and playing for the Phantoms. Niity played the whole game and stopped 28 of 30 shots. Martin Biron played 2 periods for the Flyers and stopped 21 of 22 shots while J.S. Aubin played the 3rd period and let in 2 goals. Perhaps this means Nittymaki is already set to return and Aubin can be sent down, or sent away.
Not a great way to end the preseason. Let's chalk it up to the young guys being hungrier and wanting it more and move on to the regular season.
Click here for the game scoresheet.
Flyers defenseman Ryan Parent out 12 to 14 weeks, door open for Sbisa?
The Flyers season kicks off on Saturday against the New York Rangers but the Flyers have already received some bad news on the injury front. Ryan Parent, a young defenseman who was expected to slide into the Flyers lineup this season, will have surgery to repair a torn labrum that he suffered earlier in the preseason. Parent will miss 12 to 14 weeks, putting his return sometime around the All Star break. Parent played 22 regular games with the Flyers last season and 4 playoff games and appeared poised to take on a bigger role with the club. He's still only 21 so the Flyers are smart to be cautious with him and look out for his long-term health.
With the loss of Parent, it appears more and more likely that 18 year-old first round pick Luca Sbisa will make the team coming out of camp. Sbisa has looked impressive in the preseason and certainly doesn't look like an 18 year-old out on the ice. The situation with Sbisa is tricky for the Flyers because, with his young age, if he doesn't play with the big club he has to play with a junior team. He can't play for the Phantoms. And, if Sbisa starts the season with the Flyers and plays in 10 games, he must stay with the club for the entire season and can't be returned to a junior team. I would bet that the Flyers start the season with Sbisa on the club and see how he does for a few games and then re-assess if they should send him down and call up someone else from the Phantoms, like Danny Syvret who the Flyers just sent down today. If Sbisa doesn't play much with the Flyers anyway he should just get sent down and we'll see him again next year when he can take on a bigger role.
Ugh. Westbrook breaks ribs, status uncertain for Week 6
Think it's a coincidence the Eagles have lost two straight games and Brian Westbrook either hasn't played or hasn't been 100%? Anyone who has followed the Eagles knows that while Correll Buckhalter is a solid back-up running back, the Eagles offense loses it's explosiveness and most of it's big play ability when #36 isn't healthy.
Well, the Eagles might have to do without their top playmaker once again. Westbrook, who played against the Redskins on Sunday despite an ankle injury, injured himself further in the Eagles loss to Washington. Luckily he didn't injure his ankle further, but he did manage to break two ribs. His availability for next weekend's game against the Niners is in question, although knowing that the Eagles have a bye following the game in San Francisco, it might be wise to sit Westbrook and give him two weeks off to get all healed up.
Normally, a game against the Niners is nothing to worry about. Even without Brian Westbrook the Eagles should be able to beat a mediocre team like San Francisco. Unfortunately, the way the Eagles have looked through five weeks, no game is a gimme, no matter who the opponent is. If the Eagles can't beat the Niners, regardless of whether Westbrook suits up or not, they have some serious issues.
Phillies vs. Dodgers NLCS Schedule Announced, times included
With the Brewers out of the way, it's time for the Phillies to focus on the Dodgers. The schedule for the NLCS was released today, and with the finish of the Red Sox series, times have now been announced. Probable pitchers are also listed below:
Game 1, Thursday, October 9th: Dodgers (Lowe, 14-11) @ Phillies (Hamels, 14-10), 8:22 pm
Game 2, Friday, October 10th: Dodgers (Billingsley, 16-10) @ Phillies (Myers, 10-13), 4:35 pm
Game 3: Sunday, October 12th: Phillies (Moyer, 16-7) @ Dodgers (Kuroda, 9-10), 8:22 pm
Game 4: Monday, October 13th: Phillies @ Dodgers, 8:22 pm
Game 5: Wednesday, October 15th: Phillies @ Dodgers, 8:22 pm
Game 6: Friday, October 17th: Dodgers @ Phillies, 8:22 pm
Game 7: Saturday, October 18th: Dodgers @ Phillies, 8:22 pm
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Bring on the Dodgers! Phillies on to the NLCS
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)Sunday's series clinching 6-2 win featured lots of homers and great pitching by the Phils. All 6 of the Phillies runs came off homers as Pat Burrell hit two bombs and Jimmy Rollins and Jayson Werth each hit one. Rollins' homer was a leadoff shot and Burrell added a 3-run homer in the 3rd inning as the Phils jumped out to an early lead.
With the offense taken care of early, Joe Blanton cruised. Blanton dominated the Brewers, giving up 5 hits in 6 innings and striking out 7 batters. He gave up one run to Prince Fielder but was otherwise unhittable. The homer by Fielder was the only extra-base hit the Phils gave up the whole game.
Now it's on to the NLCS and the Dodgers. The Phillies will have the home field advantage for the series, meaning it will start in Philly sometime in the middle of next week. The Dodgers and Phillies split their season series 4-4 with each team winning all of their games at home, so having the extra game in Philadelphia is crucial. It should be a good series, but I have to give the early advantage to the Phillies. The Phillies pitching nearly matches up with the Dodgers staff and their offense, despite Manny, is better than the Dodgers'.
Anyway, we'll worry about the Dodgers later. Now is the time to celebrate!!
Flyers release Berard, Dowd
With their regular season opener less than a week away, the Flyers further whittled their roster down by releasing two veterans today. Center Jim Dowd and defenseman Bryan Berard, who were both invited to Flyers camp on a tryout basis, were let go by the club.
Berard, despite his impressive camp showing, lost out in a numbers game both for a spot on defense and for a contract. The Flyers simply can't afford to sign another player and make it work under the salary cap. Berard did do enough to prove he belongs in the NHL so look for another team to pick him up in the coming days.
Dowd's NHL career may be over. Dowd is 39 and has played professional hockey since 1991. He spent last season with the Flyers as the 4th line center but was never in the plans for the 2008/09 season.
The Flyers still have a few more days before their final roster decisions. Here is who I think will make the final roster of 22 players (teams can have up to 23 players on the roster):
Forwards (13): Arron Asham, Danny Briere, Jeff Carter, Riley Cote, Steve Downie, Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell, Mike Knuble, Joffrey Lupul, Glen Metropolit, Darroll Powe, Mike Richards, Scottie Upshall
Defensemen (7): Braydon Coburn, Steve Eminger, Randy Jones, Lasse Kukkonen, Ryan Parent, Kimmo Timonen, Ossi Vannanen
Goalies (2): J.S. Aubin, Marty Biron
Luca Sbisa and Danny Syvret have a chance to make the club if Parent is still injured. If the Flyers do choose to keep 23 players, Syvret will be on the club as the 8th defenseman. He would never play so it's better if they let him get some ice time down with the Phantoms. Darroll Powe is the 13th forward and won't play very often. Andreas Nodl could also make the club instead of Powe. Derian Hatcher will be on the injured list for a while.
Eagles/Redskins Inactives: Westbrook, Smith to start
The Eagles and Redskins have announced their inactives for today's game:
Eagles: DE Victor Abiamiri, G Shawn Andrews, WR Kevin Curtis, QB A.J. Feeley, LB Joe Mays, G Mike McGlynn, TE Matt Schobel, DE Bryan Smith
Redskins: QB Colt Brennan, S Justin Hamilton, OT Stephon Heyer, DE Rob Jackson, OT Chad Rinehart, CB Shawn Springs, SLB Marcus Washington
As had been hinted at all week, Brian Westbrook will play. He's not 100%, but he's still better than Correll Buckhalter at 75%. L.J. Smith is back in the line-up, too, although his return won't make that much of a difference. The Eagles might have the worst group of tight ends in the league even when L.J. plays. To make room for the two returning players, Matt Schobel and Joe Mays are back on the inactive list. Victor Abiamiri is supposedly getting closer to returning so it should be interesting to see if the Eagles bench Chris Clemons when Abiamiri is ready.
The Redskins have one surprise inactive in Marcus Washington. He will allow the Eagles to run the ball a little more effectively. Shawn Springs is the other big name that's out as he injured himself against the Cowboys.
Enjoy the game, GO BIRDS!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Phillies falter in Game 3, Game 4 becomes a must win
(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)Unfortunately, the offense was stifled all game by the Brewers. The Phils managed 9 hits in the game but failed to string any together until the 9th inning. The Phils did load the bases in the 9th to keep things interesting, but a Pedro Feliz double play and an interference call on Shane Victorino when he failed to slide into second base killed a possible rally.
With a 2-1 series lead, the Phillies are still in the drivers seat, but Sunday's Game 4 is now a critical game. With C.C. Sabathia scheduled to pitch Game 5 for the Brewers, the Phillies can't afford to lose and hope to beat the Brewers ace a second time. The Brewers will send Jeff Suppan to the mound in Game 4 while the Phillies will likely counter with Joe Blanton, a pitching matchup that slightly favors the Phillies.
The Phillies must win Game 4 because they are playing with fire if they have to face Sabathia a second time. If it comes to a 5th game in the series, Sabathia won't hang another pitch to Shane Victorino like he did in Game 2 meaning the Phillies would need another perfect pitching performance from Cole Hamels to win the series. While that certainly could happen, the Phillies could do us all a favor and not let it get to that point.
Flyers send Giroux to the minors
In a bit of a surprising move, the Flyers sent their young phenom, Claude Giroux, down to the minors to play with the Phantoms. If you have been watching the Flyers preseason games, Giroux hasn't exactly been tearing up the ice but most assumed that he would still be starting the season on the big club. Considering, except for a 2 game stint with the Flyers, Giroux spent all of last season with his junior team, the Flyers probably feel there is no reason to rush him. Let him spend some time learning the game down in the minors and should the Flyers have an injury or if they need an offensive punch, call him up later in the season.
Other Flyers that were sent down to the Phantoms included forwards Jon Kalinski, Boyd Kane and Jared Ross and defensemen Sean Curry and Nate Guenin. None of those players were expected to be on the NHL team at the start of the season.
With the Giroux demotion, here's how I project the Flyers lines to look for the first game:
Gagne/Richards/Briere
Lupul/Carter/Hartnell
Upshall/Metropolit/Knuble
Asham/Downie/Cote
Timonen/Coburn
Vaananen/Jones
Eminger/Parent or Berard
Biron/Aubin
I really like that top line, we'll see how long they stay together. Downie isn't seriously hurt so that fourth line looks like a real pain to play against. On defense, Ryan Parent is hurt so that could mean Bryan Berard makes the team. Luca Sbisa has been great this preseason but if the Flyers sent Giroux down to get experience they will send the 18 year old Sbisa down, too. Jim Dowd also might make the team and play some fourth line center and the Flyers could bench either Asham or Cote when they don't need two enforcers in the lineup.
Friday, October 3, 2008
NFL Week 5 Predictions
This week I am getting right to the picks. Like always, all picks are made strictly based on who I think will win and do not take the spread into consideration.
Record Last Week: 8-5, .615
Overall Record: 38-23, .623
Byes: Browns, Raiders, Rams, Jets
Sunday Day Games:
Chiefs (1-3) @ Panthers (3-1) Don't believe in the Chiefs just yet. They beat a Broncos team with a terrible defense. Last week could have been the only win the Chiefs get in the first half of the season. My pick: Panthers
Bears (2-2) @ Lions (0-3) Getting rid of Matt Millen won't mean an
instant turnaround in Detroit. There are so many things this team needs, like an offensive line, a quarterback of the future and 11 new starters on defense. It's going to take a few years for things to get better in Detroit, and they may get even worse before then. The Bears got lucky last week against the Birds, but they won't need luck this week to beat the Lions. My pick: Bears
Falcons (2-2) @ Packers (2-2) This is a tough one to pick with Aaron Rodgers' status up in the air. If Rodgers plays, the Packers will win. It Rodgers doesn't play, the Falcons have a good chance to pull off the upset. Matt Flynn is not ready to be an NFL quarterback, even against the mediocre Falcons defense. My pick: As of now, Rodgers seems likely to play, so I'll go with the Packers
Chargers (2-2) @ Dolphins (1-2) Can the Dolphins shock the world again against the Chargers? Uh, no. The Chargers have an actual defense that should be able to stop the ONE PLAY the Dolphins used to beat the Patriots. My pick: The Chargers will win this game, but it will be close
Seahawks (1-2) @ Giants (3-0) The Giants are a good football team but their schedule reminds me of what a college football powerhouse school schedules at the beginning of the year. They have played cupcake after cupcake and draw the banged up Seahawks this week. The real season won't start for the Giants until Weeks 8-10 when they play the Steelers, Cowboys and Eagles all in a row. After that stretch, we'll know how good the Giants really are. My pick: Giants
Redskins (3-1) @ Eagles (2-2) It's not a must-win for the Eagles, but this is a game that can vault them right back into the thick of things in the NFC East. After their unlucky loss to the Bears, the Eagles have to be the best last-place team in NFL history. They might not have Brian Westbrook again this week, although I bet he tries to play in this division matchup. If he can't go, the Eagles will once again struggle to get the ball in the end zone. After their Week One effort against the Giants there is no way anyone thought the Redskins would look as good as they do now. I am still not seeing them as a serious contender in the NFC East but they are always tough to play against. My pick: Eagles by a touchdown. This game figures to be pretty low-scoring and with Westbrook out the Eagles D will once again have to step up. Expect a ton of blitz packages that will confuse Jason Campbell. If the Eagles can once again stuff Clinton Portis and the running game, they should pull this one out.
Titans (4-0) @ Rave
ns (2-1) This might be the toughest game to pick this week. The Ravens have played a lot better than I thought they would and the Titans look like the best team in the AFC right now. When in doubt, always pick against the rookie quarterback. Joe Flacco has been adequate for the Ravens but he's going to have all kinds of trouble against this elite Titans D. My pick: Titans
Colts (1-2) @ Texans (0-3) I've heard some people talking about picking the Texans to win this game. The Texans do always seem to play the Colts tough, but there is no way Peyton lets his team fall to 1-3. The Colts, coming off a bye, have to be considered a lock. My pick: Colts
Bucs (3-1) @ Broncos (3-1) Another tough game to predict what will happen. The Broncos defense is just awful, so I expect the Bucs to put up a ton of points. Will the Broncos be able to keep up against a solid Bucs defense? The Broncos can't really run the ball so they will have to do everything through the air, but the Bucs secondary is top notch. Losing to the Chiefs has really messed with my impressions of the Broncos. My pick: I still have to go with the Broncos at home
Bills (4-0) @ Cardinals (2-2) This one seems almost too easy to pick. The Cardinals defense got destroyed last week by Brett Favre and I would expect Trent Edwards and Marshawn Lynch to have huge games this week. The Bills look like a good bet to go 5-0 and then get beat in Week 7 by the Chargers after their bye. My pick: Bills, but it will be close. The Bills don't blow people out
Patriots (2-1) @ Niners (2-2) Pity the Niners. They are the unlucky team that will face the Patriots, who have had two weeks to prepare after coming off a terrible loss to the Dolphins. J.T. O'Sullivan doesn't stand a chance. My pick: Patriots
Bengals (0-4) @ Cowboys (3-1) Talk about a no-brainer. This is another situation where you have an elite team coming off a loss and facing a weak opponent. While this could be a trap game for the Cowboys, I see them winning. Big. Especially if Carson Palmer sits out again. My pick: Cowboys
Sunday Night Game:
Steelers (3-1) @ Jaguars (2-2) The Steelers are a shaky 3-1 team. 
Big Ben isn't getting any time to make throws and they don't have a running game after a rash of injuries. The Jags haven't been able to run the ball against anyone except the Colts so don't expect them to bust out on the ground against Pittsburgh. My pick: Steelers in close, low-scoring game. I also predict that it will be about as boring a game as last weeks Monday Night game between the Steelers and Ravens.
Monday Night Game:
Vikings (1-3) @ Saints (2-2) The Gus Frerotte era continues in Minnesota as he looks healthy enough to start. The Vikings aren't as bad as their 1-3 record, but that doesn't mean they are a good team or anything. The Saints have a good enough offense to do damage against a tough Vikings D, especially with Deuce back in the fold. My pick: Saints
So those are my picks for Week Five. If you agree or disagree or have picks of your own, feel free to leave comments!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Victorino's slam puts Phillies in the drivers seat
(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)Victorino was the hero tonight with his grand slam but Brett Myers deserves a ton of credit not only for what he did on the mound, but how he kept the Phillies second inning rally going. With two outs and Pedro Feliz on third base, Myers made Sabathia work by fouling off a series of pitches before earning a 9-pitch walk. Here was the sequence of pitches for Myers:
Pitch 1: Swinging strike (0-1 count)
Pitch 2: Swinging strike (0-2 count)
Pitch 3: Ball (1-2 count)
Pitch 4: Foul (1-2 count)
Pitch 5: Ball (2-2 count)
Pitch 6: Foul (2-2 count)
Pitch 7: Ball (3-2 count)
Pitch 8: Foul (3-2 count)
Pitch 9: Ball (WALK)
Myers was able to climb his way out of an 0-2 count and get on base. That opened up the inning for the Phils as Jimmy Rollins walked and Victorino followed with his grand slam. Myers completed his solid effort at the plate later in the game by getting a single and also forcing Sabathia to make 10 pitches to him in one at bat before he flew out.
Myers was great at the plate but he was even better on the mound. He went 7 strong innings and allowed only two hits and 3 walks. Myers allowed one run in the first inning but he was able to bounce back and didn't allow another Brewer to cross the plate until the 7th inning.
The Phillies are now in complete control of the series. With a 2-0 lead and the Brewers not able to pitch Sabathia again until the 5th game, the Phils appear poised to go to the NLCS. The only alarming thing for the Phillies at this point is how all 8 of their runs in this series have come from two innings. Besides two big innings, they have been shut out for the other 14 innings of the series. It hasn't mattered yet, but a few more crooked numbers up on the board would make everyone a little more comfortable.
What a difference a year makes. After two playoff games last year, the Phillies and their fans were searching for answers. Now, everyone is starting to look ahead at who the Phils might face in the next round. As the series shifts to Milwaukee, hopefully the Phillies do what the Rockies did to them last year and eliminate them immediately. They can't let the Brewers stick around and force a Game 5 back in Philly. Something tells me if C.C. Sabathia gets another shot at the Phils things will turn out quite different from this game.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The 2008 Phillies are already better than the 2007 Phillies!
(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)Cole Hamels was the story of the game. He absolutely dominated the Brewers, going 8 innings, striking out 9 and allowing only 2 hits. Brad Lidge came into the game in the 9th and had his second straight shaky outing, giving up a run when Ryan Braun doubled in Ray Durham. Lidge is inching closer and closer to blowing his first save of the season, it would be an absolute shame if he melted down in the playoffs after being perfect all season long. The last thing he needs is to have his confidence shaken like it was after Albert Pujols hit that bomb off of Lidge when he was with the Astros.
Offensively, the Phillies scored all 3 of their runs in the 3rd inning. Chase Utley doubled in a pair of runs and Shane Victorino walked with the bases loaded. The Phils were able to chase Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo after just 4 innings of work but were unable to do any damage against the Brewers bullpen.
Game 2 is Thursday, and the Brewers send their ace to the mound to try to even the series up. C.C. Sabathia will be pitching on only 3 days rest, although it hasn't slowed him down before, while the Phils will send on-again, off-again Brett Myers to the mound. Hopefully the Myers from August shows up or the Phillies will find themselves right back where they started in the series.
In all, it was a good start to the playoffs for the Phils. They won a game they should have won considering they sent their ace to the mound while the Brewers pitched a guy who isn't completely healthy. Game 2 will be pivotal for the Phillies. If they can find a way to beat Sabathia, the series will essentially be theirs for the taking. If the Brewers win, the Phillies know that they will have to face Sabathia again in Game 4 or 5. They need to focus on beating him the first time so they won't have to face him again. Unfortunately for the Phillies, they have a tendency to not kick teams when they are down, a tendency that could come back to haunt them if they let the Brewers back in the series.
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