Odds and Ends

For a variety of reasons, I haven't been able to write as I've alternately been sick or have been watching my son as my wife has been travelling. So, needless to say, I'm exhausted even today, but at least I'm feeling much better and am almost done being the sole care giver of my son.

Needless to say, I've gained a new appreciation of the parent who stays home with the kids; that's a lot of work and don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise. Take care of your mom this Mother's day and your Dad next month for Father's Day. Sure, they're Hallmark holidays, but the fact is, taking care of kids (especially, young ones) is hard damn work.

Now, back to the local teams making me nuts:

- I've done almost no baseball, but I have been following the Phils, albeit a bit more passively than normal. I'm working on a "by the numbers" article for the Phils in the month of April. Also: When will Uncle Cholly move Ryan Howard around in the batting order? We're six weeks into the season; I think RyHo has been given plenty of leeway here.

- Sure, I'm proud of what the Sixers did this year as getting to the playoffs was most unexpected. But did anyone feel a teensy bit pissed about the way the Sixers seemed to sort of rollover for the Pistons in Game 6? Just a little?

- Lito Sheppard: Still an Eagle. Don't think this will end well.

- Finally, onto to the Flyers, who have advanced to the finals of the Eastern Conference to face the Pittsburgh Penguins. A couple of things immediately come to mind. One is that you will get Crosby and Malkin force fed down your throat for the next two to three weeks; especially on national telecasts. This is going to be annoying on several levels, but mostly because we already played this team 8 times and will play them a minimum of 4 more times. We've heard all of the stories, so it's going to make us hate them even more as fans.

The second thing that we're going to have to get used to as fans is the complete lack of respect for this Flyers team. The fact that they are the Eastern Conference finalists after almost missing the playoffs (remember, it wasn't a lock going into the final two games of the year) has been a fantastic ride. But, if you've read the stories after the Flyers snuffed Montreal in 5 games, you'd think the Flyers cheated or did something unseemly to keep the stately and graceful Montreal Canadiens away from the playoffs. Want proof? Check out this Scott Burnside article, where he analyzes (correctly) where Montreal went wrong in this series, but one thing he fails to do is to point out the things the Flyers did right. Remember; this series was over in 5 games. Has a team, like the Flyers, ever disposed of the regular season conference champion in 5 games and been given so little respect? Fact is, this is just a preview of what you, as a fan, can expect from the media in the coming weeks.