Picture Of The Day

Picture Of The Day
Flyers Stanley Cup Champions Parade From The '70s

Friday, December 12, 2008

Random Thoughts

A different type of post this morning. Rather than a specific topic to be discussed, I'll be going on a rambling tangent of sorts.

- I didn't get to watch the Flyers tonight, as I was attending a post-funeral for Josh Uram, father of Dave. Before I go on with this post, I just want to say that Josh will be greatly missed. He was a great man, doctor, father, and community man.

- Having said that, I watched the replay at 1:30 in the AM. The Flyers showed real character coming back from a referee-induced 5-1 deficit last night. While the first few goals could have been saved by Nittymaki, the refs did their best to ensure a 'Canes victory. Midway through the second, just after the Flyers made it look like this could be a semi-interesting game with a Hartnell deflection goal, the refs decided to turn a blind eye to any cheap shots taken by the Hurricanes, and instead punished the Flyers - and heavily. After three fights broke out on the ice, Aaron Asham was slapped with an instigation penalty for his fight with Scott Walekr and Andrew Alberts was given two penalties for roughing Scott Walker. This all resulted in a 5-on-3 advantage for the Hurricanes. After former Flyer Joni Pitkanen scored on the 5-on-3, Eric Staal decided to show up to the NHL. After taking most of the first quarter of the season off, he poked in his second goal of the night on a four minute Carolina Power Play, to go along with an assist. The third period, was quite a different story. Hartnell played like a man with something to prove and skated all over the 'Canes for a hat trick. Adding goals were Scottie Upshall and Simon Gagne. Richards and Gags scored in the shootout after a scoreless overtime to give the Flyers their biggest comeback victory in team history. This shows how scary this team can be if referees don't make every effort to give away the game -although anyone who watched the playoffs last year knows that the NHL has a bias against the Flyers.

-Terrell Owens has decided that Tony Romo and Jason Witten are in together on a plot to keep the ball from TO. They are devising plays together when they share a room on roadtrips. Romo is deliberately throwing the ball to Witten even though TO is open. I could spend the time coming up with a few witty lines to make sense of how moronic this is, but it's just not worth my time. If you have anything clever enough to say on this subject, leave it in the comments.

-The Eagles appear to have a fair shot to make the playoffs. If they can win their final three games they stand a fair chance at grabbing the final playoff spot. And as the Giants proved last year, a hot streak late in the season means anything can happen. And with the potential that this team has, they could be very scary. Key word there: Potential.

-The Mets receieved J.J. Putz in a three-team-trade. This now means that they have two closers. Putz will play the role of set-up man in the eighth, while K-Rod will close out ball games. The Mets really improved their main priority thus far in the offseason - their bullpen. Although the Phillies still had the best bullpen in the league last year and I see no reason why that should change. With the resigning of Burrell, all signs point towards an even stronger season from the Phightins.

-The Panthers are asking for a first rounder, a top prospect, and an everyday player for 24 year old defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. This is a bit ridiculous in my eyes. Maybe a prospect and an everyday player, or a first rounder and everyday player. But for a defenseman who is performing way below the standards he has previously set for himself, the Panthers should consider being a bit more lenient in their demands.

-Trivia Question: What is the Carolina Hurricanes mascot's name? Answer at the end. (The answer is obviously ridiculous)

-Have you watched the Sixers play recently? While I am trying not to be too critical until 25 games into the season (we're at 22 right now), things are looking less than inspiring. Elton Brand seems to play his own game, and the four other players on the court play a different game. There is no cohesiveness. Of course when Iguodala is on the court the formula is Brand playing his own game, Iggy playing his own game, and the other three players playing a different game. Iggy needs to reevaluate his game and fast. Soon it will be too late to change the inevitable first round loss to the Pistons/Celtics coming from our 7th or 8th place seeding.

-I don't know why ESPN is even wasting Bottom Line space by talking about a possible Arena Football League season cancellation. No one watches,  no one cares, thus no one wants to read about it on the bottom line. Hell, I'd rather read the same "Yankees and C.C. Sabathia agree to terms on a 7-year 161 million dollar deal" announcement over and over then waste my time being tricked into reading about the AFL.

-Sean Avery is funny. All he did was give the NHL press.

-LeBron James is 6 foot 8, 273 pounds according to ESPN on Wednesday night. This man played wide reciever in high school. Can you imagine a receiver of that size going across the middle? He might be a better receiver than he is basketball player. I can't imagine that is possible, but the thought is just plain scary.

-Pitt basketball is number 3 in the nation, and no one is really caring to notice. Continue to ignore us and we'll somehow sneak our way into the tourney as a #1 seed.

-The Phillies traded former '04 second round pick Jason Jarimillo for former big-league Pirates catcher Ronnie Paulino. Both are young, both haven't panned out. Maybe a change of scenery will help.

-Cole Hamels is completely justified in calling the Mets chokers. Any Mets fan who disagrees is not being truthful about their ballclub.

-I love Scott Hartnell.

-Trivia Answer: Stormy the Ice Hog

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