Sixers Lose; Harbaugh Gone; Flyers to Catch Break?

The Sixers lost to league darling Boston Celtics 116-89. The score was not indicative of what happened in the first half, where the Celtics were either asleep or they were just getting beat to the punch by the Sixers as the Sixers led this game 57-54 at half. The Celtics must have simply woke up at halftime as they left tire marks on the Sixers in the second half. Ray Allen was high scorer for the Celtics, posting 23 points and Andre Iguodala paced the Sixers with 17 points.

Of note from the diaper set for the Sixers, Jason Smith scored 10 points in 18 minutes of action. I know it's repetitive, but the Sixers simply do not have the horses to compete with the NBA elite, but they did throw a nice scare into Boston in the first half.

John Harbaugh Gone

John Harbaugh, long time assistant with the Eagles, has accepted the head coach job with the Baltimore Ravens. Harbaugh, a finalist for the UCLA coaching job, is a big loss for the Eagles as he led the special teams for several years in Philly and is considered one of the more energetic young coaches in the league. I haven't read anything with respect to who will replace Harbaugh as coach of the d-backs for the Eagles. Eagle fans should also worry about which assistants Harbaugh will cherry pick for himself from the Eagles staff as he now has to build his own staff as Ravens ownership cleaned house with respect to coaches when Brian Billick was fired.

Flyers to Catch Break?

In a season where they have been missing their best winger for most of the season and lost a player who got hit by a teammate, some of the Flyers' upcoming opponents are going to be missing some very important components as they come to Philly.

The first of two highly anticipated NHL matchups concerning the Flyers is on Sunday against the Senators and it appears as if they will be missing their best player. Daniel Alfredsson suffered a hip flexor on Thursday night such that his status is day to day. The Sens are already without Dany Heatley, who is out for 4 - 6 weeks with a seperated shoulder. The Sens may have revenge on their minds as this is the first match up with the Senators since Steve Downie put Dean McAmmond out for 10 games with a concussion. For a reminder, I give you the following:



Even bigger than the Sens injuries is the injury that occurred tonite in Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby apparently incurred the dreaded high ankle sprain and did not return to action as the Pens got shut out by the awful Tampa Bay Lightning 3 - 0. This probably means he will miss next week's grudge match against the Flyers and miss another opportunity for Mike Richards to minimize his impact on the game. I guess if I were Bill Simmons, I would presuppose that Crosby got hurt on purpose, but I know that ain't so. Actually, if I were Bill Simmons, I'd thank my upright walking God for my shangri-la of a life, but that's a subject for a different post. Anyway, it doesn't look like Mr. Crosby will make next week's matchup. The thing to look for if you do follow the whole NHL is to see how well Evgeni Malkin does in Crosby's absence. No doubt Malkin is talented, but how much of his success to date is due to his presence on Crosby's line?