Philly Sports

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This article was written after game one, two, and three of the Flyers' playoff series with the Washington Capitals.


The Flyers seemed to be in business going into the second intermission with a 4 - 2 lead in game one of their Eastern Conference first round matchup with the Washington Capitals. The tandem of Daniel Briere and Vaclav Prospal were dazzling, with each scoring two goals apiece for the boys in orange and black. The Flyers were cruising.

Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau implored his team not to give up and keep plugging in the midst of the second abeyance. Washington came out like gangbusters in the third period. Just 1:50 into the period, defenseman Mike Green made good on a nifty pass from Capitals center Sergei Federov, cutting the lead to 4 - 3. Later, Green would tie the game at four on a controversial power play goal in which Philadelphia's Patrick Thoresen went down to the ice after blocking a shot and being struck in the groin. Many times the referees will stop play in situations like this, but play continued. Green's blast from the blue-line area found the net, and he was corralled by his teammates at center ice. Green led NHL defensemen with 18 goals this past season.

The Flyers did a great job of crowding Russian star Alex Ovechkin for much of the game, but with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the third period, Ovechkin swiped the puck from Flyers' defenseman Lasse Kukkonen and glided it past Martin Biron for the would-be game winner. Roars of "MVP" echoed throughout the Verizon Center. The 22-year-old Russian set a NHL record for goals by a left winger this season with 65.

The Flyers evened the series at one each in winning game two by a score of 2 - 0. Martin Biron recorded a shutout, stopping all 24 shots he faced. Biron was fantastic between the pipes. He was aggressive, challenging shooters, and his reactions were cat-like at times. Biron appeared to have completely moved on from game one's devastating loss to the Capitals in which he surrendered 3 third period goals.

There was a key sequence in which Flyers center Mike Richards won three consecutive faceoffs in the Flyers zone with about 6 minutes left to go, eliminating any chance for a Caps' rally. The Broad Street Bullies were as physical as they could be within the rules throughout the game. Washington, which seemed a bit complacent for much of the game, was clearly outworked by the team sporting orange and black.

Both of the Flyers' goals came in the first stanza. At 5:53 into the period, a long pass from defenseman Braydon Coburn was received by center R.J. Umberger and flipped past Capitals goalie Cristobal Huet. Philadelphia's second goal came with a little more than 4 1/2 minutes to go in the first period. A blazing shot by Mike Knuble was stopped by Huet and an opportunistic Jeff Carter knocked the puck past the Caps goaltender.

The Flyers won game 3 in Philadelphia by a score of 6 - 3. Danny Briere scored two goals and Mike Richards added a score on a penalty shot that came via a fake and subtle backhand through the five hole. Philadelphia is hoping that a balanced attack that includes 7 twenty goal scorers from this past season can offset the magic of Alexander Ovechkin to yield 2 more victories in the series.

A Tail-End Filled With Blunder

This article was written after the game between the Phillies and Cubs on April 13.


The Phils were trying to sweep the Chicago Cubs in a weekend home series, and came pretty close to making that come to fruition, but unfortuitous fate got the better of them. The Fightin' Phils took the first two games of the series.

In the sixth-inning of the finale of the series, former Penn product Mark DeRosa hit a ball delivered by Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer to leftfield that had homerun distance, but was clearly foul.

Third-base umpire Adrian Johnson claimed that the ball went over the foul pole.

"I saw the ball go over the pole," third-base umpire Adrian Johnson stated.

I'm not sure if Johnson was referring to a dream he had the night before or what. He was in excellent position to make the call, as he was right by the third-base line, and he still missed it. The kicker is that the umpiring crew huddled together to confer on whether the ball was fair or foul, and the entire crew agreed that the mistaken call of fair was still correct. Absolutely amazing!

Crew chief Tim Welke gave an explanation for the call that I am still trying to figure out. He too claimed that the ball had gone over the foul pole and that the view that we saw on instant replay was after the fact, showing only the view of the ball passing on the foul side of the pole, or something along those lines. Each view that I saw told me that the ball was foul, but such is life.

The Phillies did not help themselves much either. They were 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position. Chase Utley made a throwing error on a pivot throw that would have resulted in a huge double play in the tenth inning, but he threw the ball wide of Ryan Howard, who failed to scoop the short throw, and it bounced past him. Ronny Cedeno scored the final run of the game.

Howard could never be confused with Pete Rose over at first base, for he is luminously paid for what he does with the bat. Utley needs to pick it up on defense as well. He has committed 4 errors already, while being the perpetrator of only 10 errors in all of last season.

The Phillies, as a whole, have committed far too many blunders in the field, perhaps it's a lack of concentration. They are currently near the bottom in the National League in fielding. It's time to cut out all of the mistakes because this division is there to be had.

The Phillies had a 5-4 lead going into the eighth inning, but acting-manager Jimy Williams chose to go with Tom Gordon, who came into the game with a 10.13 ERA. I felt this was a major managerial mistake. J.C. Romero should have received the initial call. After all, isn't that what Romero is here for? I thought his role was to set up for Brad Lidge. He had not pitched the day before in the Phillies 7-1 victory. And he has the far better ERA of he and Gordon. Well, Gordon walked a batter and gave up a single. He was then replaced by Romero. Ronny Cedeno stole third base and Geovany Soto singled to rightfield to pull the game even at 5-5 on the Cedeno scrore. Later, Utley made the delinquent throw, foiling the double-play that would have ended the inning with no damage. Instead, Cedeno scored the would-be-game-winner.

On To The Motor City


This article was written after the 76ers' game versus the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, April 14.


A suspect foul call by referee Greg Willard led to a heart-breaking loss for the 76ers in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Wachovia Center in the next to last game of the regular season. A foul was called on Samuel Dalembert, who appeared to block Devin Brown's shot cleanly. The foul call resulted in Brown going to the foul line for two free throws. He sank them both. And with the swish of the second free throw, the Sixers' playoff opponent was decided. Toronto had already won their game against the Miami Heat, who seemed to be most interested in accumulating ping-pong balls for the NBA lottery in May. Toronto held the tie-breaker with the home team, even though Philadelphia still could have finished with the same record as the Raptors.

The moral to this story is that the Sixers will play the second-seeded Detroit Pistons in an Eastern Conference first-round playoff matchup, as they (76ers) finished with the seventh seed.

The Pistons pose an interesting coupling for the Sixers. It will be a series of a wily, older team of veterans versus a young, athletic team of hopefuls. The core group of these Pistons won an NBA championship in 2004. They are expecting nothing less this season as well, while the 76ers present goals are probably a bit more watered down I know they would love to win a championship this season, but winning a round in the playoffs for this group of gifted, but youthful, players would be an outstanding accomplishment considering that they were left for dead by many early in the season.

The keys to success are simple. The Pistons would love a bunch of methodical half-court games in the 80s. The Sixers can keep them out of this type of comfort zone by playing harassing defense and turning Detroit over for points the other way. Philadelphia must make this an up-tempo series in order to win it. Their trademark is not playing half-court basketball for a full game. As usual in the playoffs, it will be a matter of which team can impose its will on the other. And this series is certainly no different.

Flyers Looking To Extend Coach John Stevens' Contract This article is being written on Saturday November 24th, so we don't have news of the Flyers current standings at this presstime, but it's always interesting in the Phlly sports world...

Before the start of this season, when Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren mentioned to Ed Snider he wanted to add time to coach John Stevens' contract, the Flyers' chairman offered the following advice.

"Do what you think is right," Snider told Holmgren.

Monday, Holmgren acknowledged he is working on a contract extension for Stevens that will keep him with the Flyers through at least the 2008-09 season, possibly longer.

"It's time to get some extra time on his contract," Holmgren said. "He's a tremendous young coach who continues to get better. He's a very strong communicator and I like what he's doing with the team."

The sticking point, apparently, is the length of Stevens' contract extension. Since Holmgren's contract as general manager is only through the end of next season, it would be difficult for him to give Stevens an extension beyond next season.

Unless, of course, Holmgren is also extended beyond 2009.

"Paul has nothing to worry about," Snider said. "They've both done a great job turning this team around. It's his call and I trust him to make the right one."

Snider said he sees Stevens as a "calm, cool, collected guy" the players respect.

Holmgren said a contract extension for Stevens should not impact the way the team plays, but several players said it would validate the progress Stevens has made with a team that is 11-7-1 after finishing 22-48-12 last season.

"It means upper management likes the direction the team is going," said left wing R.J. Umberger, who won a Calder Cup with Stevens in 2005. "With the young guys here it gives us a base to start from and keep building. It gives him the confidence to keep going with the system he has and knowing people are backing him."

Last season, Stevens was criticized by some veterans for being overwhelmed by the responsibility of being a head coach in the NHL after six years in the AHL. Stevens acknowledged he underestimated the travel demands and importance of matching strong checking lines against opposing teams' top forward forwards.

With the additions of assistant coaches Jack McIlhargey and Joe Mullen, Stevens seems more at ease in his second season behind the bench.

"He's probably a little more confident and sure of what's going on," right wing Sami Kapanen said. "Coming in early last season was not easy for him. Things are falling into place now."

Flyers captain Jason Smith said Stevens' work ethic and success at the AHL level, where he won a Calder Cup as a player and a coach, has helped stabilize a team that added eight new faces in the offseason.

"As a player it's nice to get that stability," Smith said. "John's got a good relationship with all the players in here. He believes in what he's coaching the players."

The Flyers' play has leveled off recently. Since starting the season 6-1 they've gone 13-10-1 and have lost their grip on the Atlantic Division lead.

Stevens said anyone thinking the Flyers would cruise through the season after changing a third of their roster in the offseason were mistaken.

"We still are a new team," he said. "I think when we got off to a 6-1 start the perception was, "Wow, we're over the hurdle and we totally bypassed the state of struggling.' There's always parts of the game you're trying to get better at."

Eagles Season Over??? This article is being written at presstime on November 24th, right before the game between the Eagles and the Patriots... After stringing together back-to-back wins for the first time this season, the Eagles have the unenviable task of facing the 10-0 New England Patriots on Sunday in Foxborough, Mass. If the 5-5 Eagles, who have been made three-touchdown underdogs by the Las Vegas oddsmakers, are to have any hope of pulling off an upset, they must find a way to slow down the Patriots' prolific passing game. They've got to find a way to get pressure on quarterback Tom Brady, who has thrown 38 touchdown passes already and just 88 incompletions. And they've got to find a way neutralize his favorite receiver, Randy Moss, who has caught 16 of those TD passes and already has 1,052 receiving yards. This game hasn't come at a good time for the Eagles defense. The unit has been having trouble getting to opposing quarterbacks, registering just one sack in the past three games. And the banged-up secondary has given up six touchdown passes in the last three games. The Eagles lost their starting strong safety, Sean Considine, for the season three weeks ago with a shoulder injury. His replacement, Quintin Mikell, sprained the MCL in his knee last week and probably won't play. J.R. Reed, who was cut by the Eagles earlier this season and then re-signed, will replace Mikell. Things aren't much better at cornerback. Their best cover man, Lito Sheppard, missed four games earlier this season with an MCL sprain and still is nowhere close to 100 percent. Nickel back Will James, the only corner on the roster taller than 5-foot-10, has plantar fasciitis in his foot and was benched two weeks ago after giving up back-to-back 31-yard completions to Redskins wide receiver James Thrash, who never will be confused with Moss. "This is a big challenge for us," Philadelphia coach Andy Reid said. "Right now, they're the best team in the National Football League. And it's well-deserved. "They're throwing the ball around a little bit. They spread you out and they're throwing it. They're doing a nice job with it. They're doing it as well as anybody I've seen." Brady has thrown just four interceptions in 338 pass attempts this season. The Eagles, meanwhile, have picked off just six passes, only one in the past five games. "I think everybody's beatable," Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown said. "This is what's funny to me, and this is why I wouldn't gamble. Say Tom Brady takes a blow to the head in the first quarter and gets a concussion. Are they beatable? "Say Randy Moss runs a go route and pulls a hamstring. Are they beatable? It always takes a total team effort. Everybody seems to forget that. The game we play, it's such a violent sport, you never know when a guy is going to go down." The Eagles always have struggled against taller wideouts like Moss, the Giants' Plaxico Burress and the Cowboys' Terrell Owens. Brown, Sheppard and Joselio Hanson, who has replaced James as the nickel back, all are undersized. "I've never seen a guy with a stride like Randy's," Brown said. "It's like he's running 2 yards to your 1. "He's just an explosive guy. If you're too close to him and he takes off deep, he has a height advantage, and you're going to look crazy going for the ball. I don't care if you're 6-2. He's 6-5, and he can jump."