Sixers Win 5th Straight

The Surging Sixers continued their winning ways, pummelling the hapless Memphis Grizzlies by a score of 102 - 88. Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 29 points, 8 assists, and 8 rebounds in a dominating performance. According to the Sixers website, this winning streak is the longest since the end of last year, where they won 7 straight (from 2/26/07-3/10/07).

Andre Miller also played a significant hand in this win, chipping in 14 points and 11 assists. He was mentioned in trade rumors in the print edition of Sports Illustrated this week (I'll include a link once I find the same online rumor) as perhaps going to Cleveland. Not sure how feasible that is, as I'm not sure what Cleveland would give us back that we would want.

Speaking of point guards, would it be such a horrible thing if, somehow, the Sixers could get Memphis' Kyle Lowry somehow to be an understudy for Andre Miller. Always loved Lowry's game at Villanova. Lowry had 6 assists for the Grizz in the losing effort.

Last night also marked the return of Marc Iavaroni to the Philadelphia area. Iavaroni was the 5th starter on the Sixers' 1983 Championship team, a team near and dear to me personally (and the name sake of my little Keebler tree on the internet). Phil Jasner wrote a nice article about Iavaroni and how he was integrated into that team, which had already been through the wars (and lost). The thing I always remember about Iavaroni is that he enabled Bobby Jones to come off of the bench (mentioned in Jasner's article) and also the way PA announcer Dave Zinkoff always drug out the Iavaroni's last name when he scored or announced him as part of the starting lineup. Now, "Zink" had that distinctive style that he applied to everyone's name, but I guess Zink's style lent itself more to an Italian surname. I wish I could track down a wav file or something, Zink pronounced his name something like "EYE-A-VA-ROWWWWWWWWW-NI", loudly enunciating each and every syllable. The stuff you remember from your childhood can be just weird.

Flyers Lose Again; What Now?

The Flyers continued their losing ways, by dropping one to the woeful Islanders by a score of 4 - 3. The loss was their fourth straight, and I personally, can only think of one good game that they've played since the All-Star break (their shutout win over Anaheim).

You simply can't watch their games recently and pick out one thing that's wrong with this team right now; they are woefully out of synch for some reason. They seem to sag at just the wrong time and then, as if by sheer will, the puck ends up in their net.

Last night, they even went the extra mile and gave up 47 shots on goal; they were outshot in every period, up to an including the third period, when they entered the period down by a goal and some sort of extra offensive push would be demanded.

What gives with this team? Some thoughts:

1.) During last Thursday's game, it was implied by the broadcasters that the team was bitten by the flu bug in explaining the team's phlegmatic play. The same excuses sort of continued through the weekend, but at this point, I don't buy the flu. That's a bullshit excuse at this point and doesn't explain the entire team looking badly.

2.) Maybe they miss Simon Gagne. Gagne is an elite player in the league; good both offensively and in his own end. Even when Gagne did come back, he was very tentative and a shell of what he is when his head is right (pun intended). The type of two way play that Gagne provides has been missing from quite a few players lately; notably Danny Briere (now a -18 for the year!). Maybe they address some of what Gagne brought at the trade deadline; maybe they don't.

3.) These are the dog days of the season and older defensemen like Derian Hatcher and Jason Smith are simply worn down. Hatcher has been a minus player in 3 of the last 4 games.

4.) There is always the school of thought at this time of year about concern for the trade deadline. I think it's fairly obvious that the Flyers have some chips to trade and they definitely have the ability to make a move; with or without Forsberg coming on board. Perhaps this is making the team play tight and trying to do everyone else's job; including their own.

I think there is something to a combination of the trade deadline theory and possibly, a Peter Forsberg angle as well. Chuck Gormley, excellent Flyers beat writer from the Courier-Post, points out today in a rare blog entry, espouses this very thought:

You might have seen a quote from Marty Biron in one of my recent stories saying the players aren't talking about it (JD add: "it" refers to Forsberg's return). With all due respect to Marty, he's lying. Guys in the dressing room ARE talking about it, Someone asked me every other day what's going on with Foppa. Jim Dowd is wondering because his job's at stake. Mike Knuble's wondering because he'd like to play with the guy instead of getting traded to Detroit to make room for him.

Sometimes, from what I understand, players hear stories about who is coming to the team and they begin to lay upon the imminent arrival of that player some sort of savior complex, such that they stop focusing on their job and what they can do and begin focusing on what the player, who is not even here yet, may or may not mean to the team. This is common around the trade deadline, but in the Flyers' case, there is an even weirder circumstance because of the Peter Forsberg dilemma (or as Gormley skillfully calls it "The Foppa Soap Opera").

Forsberg's decision is supposed to come this weekend and not a moment too soon.

Andre Miller Dazzles Mavs; Peter Forsberg Concerns

Andre Miller led the Sixers last night to a 84-76 wins over the Dallas Mavericks last night in one of the most satisfying wins of the season for the Sixers. He was truly dominant in this game as his poked and prodded his way through Dallas' defense en route to 21 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds.

The cynic in me could say that the Mavs played the night before this game; they were perhaps tired. Or that maybe Andre Miller was putting on an audition for the point guard needy Dallas Mavericks.

I think the cynic in me, while right alot of the time, is wrong on this occasion.

When the Sixers are going poorly, they drop these types of games, whether the opposition played last night or not. And as for Miller, the NBA's co-player of the week, he's put up these types of numbers before and he's been nothing, if not consistent, for the Sixers. Seeing these performances makes me wish we had him a few years ago to put next to Allen Iverson.

I'm sure Miller would like to be playing for a contender (who wouldn't?), but I'm not even sure that Dallas is a good fit, trade-wise for the Sixers. I'm sure there is some NBA dork out there who plays with the NBA trade machine on ESPN.com who could find a good trade suitor for Miller's services, but I'm pretty sure Dallas isn't it.

Regardless of any cynical questions, this was a real good win for this young team.

Tell Me Again: Why do the Flyers Need Peter Forsberg?

Look, I'm all in favor of trying to make the hockey team better. I know how moribund the offense has been lately.

But really: Do we need to go through this whole Peter Forsberg "thing" again?
The way I see it, the following are reasons that GM Paul Holmgren should tell Forsberg's agent that the Flyers aren't:

1.) You've committed 20 years and $121 million dollars for Danny Briere and Mike Richards to be your number 1 and 2 centers. Now, we want to throw a 35 year old Peter Forsberg in the mix? Which of these huge investments do we now want to move out of position? Is the plan to put Forsberg with a grouping of 3rd line pluggers and trade away Jeff Carter? Please tell me that's not the plan, because I am so not on board with it.

2.) Do we really need to have to wonder every time this guy skates off of the ice whether or not his foot is sitting in his boot properly? Is it that we'd like to revisit the whole transglobal trek he took last year to find the proper boot insert? Don't we, as Flyers fans, already know too much about skate boot technology? Do we not already know where the skate boot experts are?

3.) At 35 years old, will he even be what he was the first year here with the Flyers? Unless he is juicing or superhuman, I don't think so.

4.) Last I checked, the Flyers could use another a puck moving presence on the blueline, and MAYBE, a cheap, veteran rental player who can score a little bit to play with Jeff Carter, not an aging Swedish diva.

If Forsberg does come over here, I hope I'm wrong, because the Flyers definitely have some holes right now and I'm hoping that whatever Forsberg does have left, he can at least help mask those holes. But as it stands right now, I don't think Peter Forsberg is right for what ails this Flyers team.

Update: This video, courtesy of Hockeybuzz.com, does not change my mind, but Foppa looks like he's moving pretty good:

The Flyers Are In Trouble

The Flyers completed just a horrible weekend yesterday, losing to the pretty boy yinzers from Western PA by a score of 4 - 3. This game, coupled with the loss on Saturday to the Rangers, dropped the Flyers all the way to 6th in the Eastern Conference.

Could the mere spector of Peter Forsberg rejoining the team be enough to jinx this season?

Worse than losing the game, they lost Simon Gagne to a mild concussion in the first period. This is about the worst thing that could have happened to the team yesterday. Gagne was playing very tentatively to this point anyway, so I guess it shouldn't be too big of a surprise that he got hurt again, because that is what typically happens when you play tentatively.

But to lose their top winger, when their number 1 centerman, Danny Briere, is already in a slump, is a development they could have done without. Furthermore, this puts the Flyers in a bit of a fix with respect to the rapidly approaching trade deadline. Scottie Upshall, last week considered to be trade bait, will now need to be an important part of the stretch run, as the team can now not count on any significant contribution from Simon Gagne if he does return.

Some items from yesterday's game:

- Loved how Downie punked Ruutu in the fight and then mocked him by dropping his hands and skating away. Downie is going to be a lot of fun to watch in these games against the Pens.

- Umberger had two more goals yesterday against the Pens. Wouldn't it be nice if he played like that all of the time and not just against the Pens?

The Sixers? Playoffs?!?@ Playoffs??

Ummm...don't look now, but the Sixers, after beating the LA Clippers last night by a score of 101-80 are only a 1/2 game out of the 8th and final playoff spot in the NBA Eastern Conference.

How bad is the East if the Sixers have a shot at the 8th spot?

Don't get me wrong; I like a lot of the Sixers' young players, but this team lacks lots of elements you need to be successful in the NBA: any sort of 3-pt. threat, a consistent inside scoring threat, the lack of good perimeter defense, etc, etc. I could go on and on. And alot of the issues are mostly due to lack of talent and the poor construction of the team, in general.

But the fact that the Sixers are this close to a playoff spot is a testament to the young talent on this team as well as coach Mo Cheeks. Cheeks, not thought of as an elite coach in this league, seems to be making the best of the state of flux that the Sixer organization is currently experiencing.

The real trick is to figure out what is best for the franchise: making the playoffs this year or to continue to trade away assets in order to rebuild for this summer? That is the question for GM Ed Stefanski.

The Flyers

The Flyers lost again to that paragon of goaltending Stephen Valiquette and the NY Rangers by a score of 2 - 0. The Flyers' offense is simply non-existent right now. Simon Gagne is still trying to find his game as there were several occasions where he lost puck battles or simply looked disinterested in getting into a prolonged puck battle.

Defensively, I thought the Flyers played about as well as you could. The first goal was a miscommunication between the defense and the goaltender, but otherwise, they were solid. Derian Hatcher was an absolute beast in this game, playing about as physically as I've seen from him in a long time. The team, in general, possibly from being frustrated at not scoring consistently, seemed to have a collective burr under their saddle. A huge fight in the 2nd period occurred, punctuated by Steve Downie beating Fedor Tyutin like he stole something. Mike Richards seemed to be searching out a fight for most of the 2nd period, first trying to go with Sean Avery and later, he finally did go with Brandon Dubinsky.

But other than the spark from the fight, the Flyers' offense has been largely dormant of late. You sort of wonder how much this has to do with the Peter Forsberg rumors that have been circulating about, because the way they are playing offensively reminds me of how they played last year when Forsberg was flying all over the globe searching for a new skate boot.

Downie is Here to Chew Bubblegum and Kick Ass

.....and he's all out of bubblegum. The only highlight of the day for the Flyers (photo courtesy of Getty images on Yahoo.com)

Random Attic Find: Flyers '84-'85 Yearbook

The Flyers play today at 1pm vs. the Rangers (Family Outing!) and the Sixers play the Clippers tonite at 7:30pm.

When going through some stuff in the attic, I found a bunch of old games programs and memorabilia and such.

This particular item is the pre-cursor to what is now called a media guide. It contained profiles of all the players on the team, the front office, and all of the team records.

Another cool item these media guides have is the "players in the system" section, listing the stats for players the Flyers either drafted or had playing for them in the minors. Some of the more notable names from 1984-85:

Per-Erik Eklund (aka - Pelle Eklund)

Ron Hextall

Scott Mellanby

John Stevens

Rick Tocchet

Peter Zezel

How well did the Flyers draft back then? All of these guys not only made the team, but most were the core of the Flyers success in the mid-80s. The only person on this list who did not play at the NHL level a good deal is John Stevens, who is now the coach of the team.

Sixers Win; Jeff Carter; L.J. Smith

The Sixers beat the Kazaam-less Miami Heat by a score of 101-84. Andre Iguodala had 25 to lead the Sixers to go along with Andre Miller's 21 points and 7 assists. Honestly, Miami is a rotting corpse of a franchise in every sense of the word. Dwyane Wade should call A.I. for some ideas on getting traded out of that situation.

The real story of the night was focused around the Rodney Carney-Dwyane Wade dunk tete-a-tete, that saw both men throw down some fantastic dunks over the other one. Wade got dunked on first and obviously didn't care for the experience much as he drew a technical foul for taunting after dunking over Carney. The 700level.com has all the video.

Jeff Carter Trade Rumors

Rumors out of the Canadian Press (specifically Darren Dreger on tsn.ca) have Jeff Carter as one of the top 10 tradeable commodities in the NHL as the trade deadline approaches (it's on February 26th).

I sort of agree with Dreger; I would not be surprised if Carter was traded if only because the organization has already made long term commitments to both Danny Briere and Mike Richards, who will be your top 2 centermen for the next 5 years (and longer in Richards' case). Carter would actually be better off moving to wing, but he has shunned this move in the past for various reasons. Carter is not a natural playmaker at center and his shot would be just deadly off of the wing, but for whatever reason, he's been unable to make the move wing. As a matter of fact, the ill-fated Kyle Calder move was expressly made for Jeff Carter's benefit; Calder is known to be a very good passer for a wing and the thought was that Calder and Carter would develop some chemistry (which never happened).

The Flyers need help on defense, in my opinion, and Jeff Carter could be the piece of the puzzle which could bring someone like Brian Campbell or Dan Boyle (Note: The Flyers would have to throw something else in for either of these two d-men). Rob Blake would be a nice addition, but he's hurt.

Eagles Franchise L.J. Smith

The Eagles placed the franchise tag on TE L. J. Smith yesterday, and in all likelihood, will keep the TE for one more year.

I have no problem with bringing Smith back for another year; he's not a bad player and there really isn't much out there in the free agent market to replace him. Potential FA Dallas Clark will almost assuredly be back with Indy as Peyton Manning's security blanket. Next year, Brent Celek should be more than ready to take over the starting TE role.

The funniest thing I've heard is from L. J. Smith's agent; who stated that the tagging of Smith as a franchise player "verifies he's one of the top players at his position."

You could make the case that he's not even the best TE in the NFC East, let alone in the NFC. As a matter of fact, he's probably the worst TE in the NFC East if you look at it objectively. I would rank TE's in the NFC East as follows:

1.) Jason Witten
2.) Chris Cooley
3.) Jeremy Shockey/Kevin Boss
4.) LJ Smith/Brent Celek

This is a win-win deal all around; the Birds don't have to worry about the position for this year and Smith will get one more chance to stay healthy and prove himself so he can get the long term contract that he wants.

Ron Hextall Night

"......a teammate is defined by the Orange and the Black and not the name on the back"

-- Ron Hextall 2/6/2008

Ron Hextall, a true Flyer, was inducted into the Flyer Hall of Fame last night between the 1st and 2nd period of the game between the Flyers and Caps. Ron Hextall embodied everything Philadelphia fans love about their sports heroes: tough, gritty, and passionate. But most of all, it can be summed up by his hatred of the feeling of losing. Winning is great, but to avoid the pain of losing means that you would do anything on the ice if it meant you would win. Even learn to stick handle like a forward, argue like a coach, and fight like a goon. And yes, make the occasional 10-bell save. Hextall could do all of those things.

Especially in his prime.

His Flyer career is really split up into two parts; both parts included a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. Both parts were equally bittersweet.

In his first act, he was part of the Dave Poulin-led Flyer teams, who were the perpetual underdogs. Those teams found ways to win. Those teams were always among my personal favorite, because even when the hockey establishment thought the Oiler dynasty would roll right through them, nobody told the Flyers. Especially rookie goalie Ron Hextall. He jumped, dove, and lunged his way into hockey immortality by being one of the only players from a losing team to win a Conn Smythe trophy as MVP of the playoffs (ironically, the other to do it is a Flyer as well; Reg Leach). He even went on to score a couple of goals during Act 1; of course, we all knew with the way that he handled the puck that this was inevitable. He continued to push, hack, slash, and bang those pipes and embody the Flyer spirit.

This first act ended with the groin injuries that robbed Hexy of his flexibility and Hexy's inclusion in the monumental Eric Lindros deal.

Act 2 in Hextall's Philadelphia story would begin 2 years later, with Bob Clarke, his spiritual godfather, coming back to Philadelphia as GM. Clarke reacquired Hexy for Tommy Soderstrom. Before you knew it, the chants of HEXY, HEXY filled the Spectrum again. It was good to have him back; it felt right. His second act was not always a solo act; sometimes Garth Snow was around to help. He wasn't completely the same; no more fights for, well, just because he felt like it. His reflexes weren't what they were before, either. In the old days, when he was out of position, his God-given reflexes made up for it. Not anymore. But the intensity and the will to win was still there. He gave up the occasional soft goal at the wrong time; the Detroit series was no fun at all. What people forget is that those Flyer teams and specifically, that Detroit series, is that they probably would not have been in the lofty positions they occupied through the mid-90s without Hextall.

Last night's ceremony inducting Ron Hextall into the Flyers Hall of Fame was special and I was glad I got the chance to catch it. They even got him to do that little song he used to play off of the goal posts with his stick just one more time.

Unfortunately, the 2007-2008 version of the Flyers did not follow up the ceremony with a spirited effort. As a matter of fact, it was tough to find any spirit with this team until mid-way through the 3rd period as they lost to the Capitals 4 - 3. The score was not indicative of how this game progressed; the Flyers played with little energy and almost no passion.

It was a shame that on a night where the Flyers honored one of their own who personified passion and energy that the current edition of the Flyers could not sum up those qualities when they needed them.

Super Tuesday Indeed; Flyers and Sixers Win

While America seemed to either going to or monitoring the polls in what is probably one of the messiest, least understood process in American politics (the system of primaries and caucuses), the home teams were busy winning their respective games.

The Flyers, behind a late goal by Steve Downie, beat Atlanta by a score of 3 -2. This game had some interesting moments when action was back and forth, but Atlanta mostly played a patient game of laying back and waiting for Flyer mistakes. As a result, the Flyers had to do the same; it was very similar to last Tuesday's game against the Kings in both tempo and score.

One thing from yesterday's previews of this game in the media bothered me.

Alot was made in previews of yesterday's game and in today's reports in the papers about how well Antero Niitymaki plays against the Atlanta Thrashers, and specifically, his countryman Kari Lehtonen (check here, here, and here). I guess there was some sort of rivalry with Lehtonen when these two were younger back in Finland, but who cares? Unless they've changed the game such that the two goalies now can simply shoot on each other, air hockey-style, I don't understand the relevance of matching goalies up against one another. That's as dumb as swapping out your starting QB for your backup simply because your backup beat the other team's starting QB back in college.

As for Niitymaki's playing well against Atlanta, well, what are the odds of that? They made the playoffs last year for the first time in their short 7 year history! That means there are plenty of goalies with good records against the Thrashers. This was simply another excuse for Stevens to get his boy Niitymaki some extra playing time. At least Biron will be going tomorrow night against the Caps on Ron Hextall Night.

The Sixers Comeback

The Sixers, who choked up a 20-point lead to lose on Monday, came back at home last night against the Washington Wizards and won by a score of 101 - 96. The guy quickly becoming one of my favorite Sixers, Thaddeus Young, had another good night, scoring 17 points and grabbing 9 boards.

Cheeks went with a younger lineup and it paid dividends. They pressed defensively and guys were generating easy offense off of it. It sounds simple, but with the young legs Cheeks had on the court often come the mistakes typical of inexperience. The risk worked out last night. Specifically benefitting was Rodney Carney, who had a couple of sweet open court dunks. I don't know about Carney's future as a player on the Sixers, but he does look so smooth when he runs the floor.

Other heroes in the Sixers win were Andre Iguodala with 20 points and Andre Miller with 11 points and 14 assists. Miller has had double-digit assists in two of the last three games, but before that, it had been more than a month (12/30 vs. Portland) since he had a double-digit assist night.

The Philadelphia Holy War

Ever since my 2 years spent at St. Joe's University before transferring to Penn State, I've always enjoyed Big 5 basketball. I admit I wasn't one of those kids who grew up sneaking into the Palestra to catch some Big 5 triple-header. I blindly followed the Villanova Wildcats because that's who the hot team was in the middle 80s when I was growing up. Mostly, it was because they were the most successful local college basketball team. Occasionally, we would root for the Temple Owls (Terence Stansbury and Nate Blackwell were tremendous), but mostly, it was all Villanova, all the time.

Fast forward to my freshman year at St. Joe's. I was blissfully unaware I was supposed to dislike Villanova University. This was all explained to me before the first SJU-Villanova game I attended as a student. It wasn't tough to understand.

Villanova was on the bucolic Main Line, with it's lush lawns and finely manicured colonial mansions. St. Joe's was on City Line Avenue, which is essentially an industrial corridor, and bordering the more blue collar Overbrook. Villanova folks tended to be snobby and standoffish; St. Joe's folks were a little more earthy and real. I mean, we were tougher than Villanova people; we were taught by Jesuits. Jesuits have also been known over the years as "God's Marines" for their intelligence and toughness as well as their alleged roles in various conspiracies.

I quickly found comfort in hating Villanova insomuch as when you go to a school with no football team, you have to take your hated rivalries where you can get them. So for me, a kid that vigorously celebrated the 1985 Villanova National Championship, I now had a hatred for Villanova.

When I transferred to Penn State, my vitriol for Villanova subsided for the most part, but it still comes up when they play St. Joe's, in what is now known as "The Holy War".

Last night was a renewal of bad blood between the Hawks and Wildcats at the hallowed Palestra. It wasn't much of a game as St. Joe's took Villanova out by the woodshed and beat them by a score of 77 - 55. The game wasn't really as close as even that score indicates. St. Joe's came out running and Villanova obliged by turning the ball over repeatedly in the first half. Villanova's stagnant offense pretty much doomed them from the start and they had no answer defensively for either Pat Calathes and Rob Ferguson, who both had 20 point nights. St. Joe's shot 47% from 3-point range as a team, with Rob Ferguson shooting 5 of 6 beyond the arc.

I was lucky enough to watch the game on CSTV and the atmosphere was pretty wild. Even though the game was at the Palestra, it was a St. Joe's home game on the schedule (I was always considered that a kind of a big middle finger to Villanova, who has a history of trying to back out of the Big 5, whereas St. Joe's always embraced the Big 5). The St. Joe's kids were jumping and screaming throughout the game and they had a lot to be excited about.

The only downside to the telecast was having to listen to Tom McCarthy call the game on CSTV. For reasons I can't explain, I don't like McCarthy (not happy with his move of coming back with the Phillies). The color guy was Steve Lappas, the former Villanova coach, who wasn't that bad, and provided good insight during the game.

Did The Giants Win the Super Bowl?

I know I had a little bit to drink last night, but I could swear that the Giants won the Super Bowl.

Wait.....that actually happened?

Eli was the MVP? Really? It's all over the internet, so it must be true.

Apparently, Eli Manning has won the Super Bowl. Not only did he win the Super Bowl, but he was the MVP.

Unbelievable.

I am hoping that, somehow, this win knocks some sense into Andy Reid and the Eagle intelligentsia. I mean, this Giants team is not as good as the 2004 Eagle team that lost to New England. But they are the ones with the ring and I'm the one with a web site where I bitch about not having won a championship since I was 12.

Fuck.

Does this mean we have to stop calling Eli "Fredo"?

Obligatory McNabb Rumor

Donovan McNabb's name surfaced over the weekend in rumors and it probably won't be for the final time. Rumor has it that the Baltimore Ravens would be interested in trading for Donovan McNabb. Not terribly surprising, since former Eagle special teams coach John Harbaugh is now the coach of the Ravens.

The only way dealing McNabb makes any sense whatsoever for the Eagles is if they get back the Ravens' 8th overall pick and at least one starter (preferably, a defensive starter). Otherwise, it just makes sense for the Eagles to make (at least) one more run at it this year with McNabb at the helm.

Flyers Stuff

Good rumors from the most underrated writer in Philly, Chuck Gormley. Apparently, the Flyers are doing some scouting and Gormley believes a trade may involve either Mike Knuble, Sami Kapanen, and Scottie Upshall.

Most likely to go? Scottie Upshall. Don't get the feeling that John Stevens likes him very much as Upshall plays somewhat sparingly anymore. Upshall is young, cheap and needs to be a top 6 forward to suceed. Upshall is not a top 6 forward on this team as currently constituted; especially in a scenario where Peter Forsberg is concerned.

BOOK REVIEW: Jonesy

Some athletes are born. Others are made.

And then there's Keith Jones.

Either Keith Jones is completely sand bagging people about his athletic ability (maybe) or being a professional hockey really doesn't require it's players to be physically fit (not likely).

The unlikelihood of Keith Jones ever becoming an NHL player is borne of the fact that it is unusual for a Canadian born hockey player to not play Major Junior Hockey in Canada and still make it to the NHL.

He did, however, play four years of college hockey for Western Michigan and was a better-than-a-point-per-game player in a challenging conference (CCHA). In Jones' senior year, he had 56 points in 35 games. For reference, RJ Umberger, playing in the same conference while at Ohio State and considered a big-time prospect when he was drafted, had 53 points in 43 games, so Jonesy really was a much better player than he ever lets on.

It's important to establish Jones' credentials because as you read this book, Keith Jones goes out of his way to ridicule himself and almost seems surprised that someone that was so poorly conditioned an athlete, as Jonsey allegedly was, could play hockey at it's highest level.

Jonesy begins his story at home in Brantford, Ontario and walks the reader through the timeline of his life and career. In doing so, he does it in a conversational tone that reads more like a transcript of an interview than it does a carefully crafted biography. As a matter of fact, it is difficult to ascertain what, precisely, co-author John Buccigross (hockey writer for ESPN.com) contributed to this book. Further concerning is the fact that the book (at least the copy I had) had several actual typographical errors, but that speaks more to poor editing than it does anything else.

Of interest to Philly fans is his time with the Flyers during the end of the Eric Lindros era. Jones roomed with Lindros on the road and I would be willing to bet that if Jones wanted to dish some dirt on Lindros, he could have done so. He certainly didn't do that in this book. If you read between the lines when he talks about Lindros, however, one can sort of ascertain how Jonesy (and the other veterans on that 1999-2000 team) felt about the Big E. I guess they paired Lindros with Jones because I guess they thought Jones might loosen up the always seemingly uptight superstar, but it is obvious some of the veterans from that team found Lindros to be, at best, a really good player who had no business being the captain of a hockey team. Another interesting item: anyone thinking of hiring Craig Ramsey as a head coach may want to read this book and consider another option.

Also, don't expect to see anything about one of the best underground urban legend of the late 90's in Flyerland: the alleged tryst between Lindros and the wife of Rod Brind'Amour.

Negative criticisms aside, it's a breezy little read that I certainly recommend it for any hockey fan. The ending of the book shows a side of Jonesy that doesn't always come across in his personality as resident wise-ass in the Flyers telecasts and the 610 WIP morning show.

Furthermore, Keith Jones' profits from the book go to Alex's" Lemonade Stand, an organization that raises money for pediatric cancer research - another good reason to go out and buy the book.

Flyers shutout; Kick fans in groin

So, I go to the Flyers game and they get shut out? By a guy named Stephen Valiquette.

Really? Stephen Valiquette?

Holy crap, I wish someone could have warned me. I would have sold these tickets for some ridiculously overinflated rate.

The Flyers lost by a score of 4 - 0 in a game, where, frankly, they deserved to get shut out by someone named Stephen Valiquette. Antero Niitymaki started for the Flyers and played horribly. After giving up 2 quick goals in the first few minutes of the 2nd period, John Stevens mercifully gave him the hook. Not sure how you rationalize giving Nitty another start for awhile. He was brutal, but I'm sure you'll see him shortly becuase of his pet status with Stevens. If this were Biron, Stevens would bury him for about a week.

Calling the Flyers' offensive attack anemic would be an insult to anemic people. It was pathetic. Please someone call Simon Gagne and tell him someone is skating around the ice with his jersey number on, because I'm not terribly certain that the person in the jersey is Simon Gagne. He is playing like a guy looking not to get hurt, which is precisely what happens to guys who play not to get hurt.

So, is that all it took? Simply one day of Peter Forsberg rumors for these guys to play as if Forsberg were on the team and not on the ice, but rather in Montreal or Stockholm, to talk to the skate whisperer or something ridiculous like that?

It is sort of difficult to hang this game on any one player, with all of them sucking and everything, but Jim Vandermeer, did manage to distinguish himself with a -3. They'll try and erase the memory of this horrible game on Saturday against the Ducks.

Sixers Win; Santana Deal Sinks In

I was all set to sit down and write poetically about how enthusiastic am I to have a young player like Thaddeus Young on the Sixers to watch for the next 10 years or so. Young and the rest of the Sixers just walked all over the Milwaukee Bucks (who, admittedly, were missing Michael Redd and looked like they would rather be at the Borgata than in South Philly) by a score of 112 - 69. Young had a fantastic game, with 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. The kid looks like a real keeper.

But sadly, that's not what's on my mind today.

The deal the Mets made to get Johan Santana sunk in while listening to the Sports Guy podcast on the way into work today.

I would file the decision to listen to that podcast under "Big Fucking Mistake". Just listening to those guys go on and on about Santana put me in a miserable mood on a day where I have no real reason to be miserable. I'm going to the Flyers game tonite against the Rangers and I'll have a blast, so I have every reason to be feeling good. Unfortunately, I allowed 30 minutes of Bill Simmons patronizing a Mets fan get in the way. Ugh.

When listening to the podcast, you'll be reminded that:

1.) The Mets gave up almost nothing to get Santana. I mean, less than nothing. They gave up a ball of dryer lint (pictured) for the best left-hander in baseball. Fuck.

2.) Santana is left-handed,and the left-handed hitting Utley and Howard are going to face this guy about 20 times each. Not a great matchup for the Phils.

3.) There is a complete lack of respect for the Phillies from some corners in baseball and Mets fans are the worst offenders. Whichever one of Simmons' dorky friends that Simmons was interviewing that was a Mets fan did not once mention the Phillies in any context of being a "threat". There was barely a passing mention of the Lidge acquisition and that was it. The last two MVPs in the NL play for Philadelphia and a third player, Chase Utley, happens to be the best 2nd baseman in baseball, yet for some reason, they don't see a threat. Wow.

4.) By the way, if you're a Boston hater, it is nauseating to listen to Simmons wax on poetically about how the Yankees NOT getting Santana was another victory for Red Sox nation. I don't know what was worse: hearing about something else go right for the Boston sports fan or hearing Simmons slobber the knob of a Mets fan. I felt like emptying my hot travel mug of coffee into my lap for relief.

So, do yourself a favor; ignore the lastest Sports Guy podcast if you're a Phillies fan.

Instead, check out this video of Thaddeus Young, from a high school all-star game from a couple of years ago:

Hartnell Scores Winner; Mets Get Santana

Scott Hartnell scored the game winner in OT as the Flyers beat the Kings 3 - 2. Martin Biron was in goal and looked pretty good making 29 saves. While the Flyers outplayed the Kings in the first period, I thought the Flyers looked tired and passive for most of the 2nd period. They were able to turn it up by the end of the second period and played pretty well for most of the third. All in all, it was a win and good warm up for when the Rangers come to Philly this Thursday.

Did you notice?

- Steve Downie: only 8 minutes of ice time. Hmmmm.....

- During the broadcast, Bill Clement told people bashing the all-star game to "get a life". Really? Bill, don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining. The NHL All-Star game is a joke and everyone knows it. It doesn't even come close to representing good hockey.

- It might have been Braydon Coburn's best game as a Flyer, scoring a goal and making several really good plays in his own zone. A well-earned #1 star.....

- Hopefully, the PPG scored by Gagne pulls him out of post-concussive funk. He doesn't look terribly aggressive with his offensive game out there right now.

Mets Get Johan Santana

The Mets, in a effort to keep up with your division champion Phillies, went out and traded 4 prospects for Johan Santana yesterday in the blockbuster trade of the MLB offseason. Assuming that the Mets starting pitching staff can stay healthy (and that's a big "if"), they probably have the best rotation in the NL East, with the Phils and Braves following.

I was really surprised that the Mets were able to do this without giving up Jose Reyes. I don't think any of the prospects they gave up (Phil Humber, Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra) are any great shakes. I guess the juice lies in the fact that the Mets now have to pay this guy like $25 million dollars per year for the next 7 years. It's a real good deal for the Mets; giving up no frontline players to get perhaps the best pitcher in baseball. At money like Santana is asking for, however, they better hope Santana stays healthy and motivated to pitch. For the Phillies sake, let's hope Santana likes the New York nightlife more than is healthy.

Not a good day if you're a Phillies fan.

NHL Kisses Penguin Ass Again!

According to the fine writers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (possibly the biggest homers you'll ever read), goon Georges Laraque will not be suspended for his hit on Steve Downie again. Personally, I think Colin Campbell has fallen asleep this year. He went out of his way to screw over and stigmatize Steve Downie with an (unwarranted) 20 game suspension and now he doesn't suspend an obvious goon for what was an obvious boarding call. There is little doubt that had a Flyer player committed the same offense, a Flyer would have been suspended.

I am waiting the NHL to order Detroit to give Pittsburgh one of their goaltenders, because...y'know....Pittsburgh doesn't have a good one. I mean, it's only fair that the league make sure Pittsburgh is well-stocked with talent and is able to keep the team in a market that doesn't adequately support the team.

Flyers 2nd Half Begins Tonite

The 2nd half of the Flyers' 2007-08 season begins tonite with a home game against the L.A. Kings. While the first half was a welcome departure from last season's woeful performance, there is still much to do in the 2nd half of the season. The Atlantic Division is hyper-competitive with the division leading Flyers being seperated from last place by only 5 points. The following are some of the issues that could impact the Flyers' performance down the stretch this season (in no particular order):

1.) With the success of Steve Downie, what happens when Joffrey Lupul returns?

Since Downie's recall on December 5th, Downie has gone on to record 8 points in 13 games. He's added energy and physicality to the lineup that wasn't there before and let's face it: I think opposing players don't quite know what to make of Downie. When Lupul went down, Downie moved up onto a line with Mike Richards and Scott Hartnell and the line looked like it didn't miss a beat.

Now that Lupul is returning, does Downie return to his 4th line role or does Lupul get shuffled onto either Carter or Briere's line? I think I'd leave Downie on Richards' line and move Umberger off of Briere's line to play with Jeff Carter, replacing Umberger with Lupul.

The lines would then look like this:

Gagne-Briere-Lupul

Hartnell-Richards-Downie
Umberger-Carter-Knuble

Upshall-Dowd-Kapanen

Extra: Cote

2.) So, what's with all of the Peter Forsberg talk?

I couldn't be more surprised, both positively and negatively, that Peter Forsberg is looking to get to the NHL with the Flyers.

I am happy that Peter liked his time here. It shows the league that Philly is a good place to play, despite what most (uninformed) national media thinks.

On the other hand, Peter's diva-like behaviour with his foot last season basically kept the team in neutral all last year and was a definite factor in the team's downfall. Does the lockerroom need the distraction if Forsberg has to traipse across the globe again because his foot doesn't feel quite right? Furthermore, what do you do with the lines if Forsberg comes back? That is a whole blog entry in and of itself.

I guess this is a bridge the Flyers will cross when they come to it (if Chuck Gormley is to be believed...and I say that he is....Forsberg coming here is a foregone conclusion), my guess is at least one forward will be dealt for defensive help(Knuble? Upshall?), one might move to another position (Jeff Carter's skills dictate he should be a wing, not a center) and another (Jim Dowd) will probably end up either on the street or with the Phantoms.

3.) Will Derian Hatcher's knee hold up?

Hatcher logs about 20 minutes of ice-time per night. Pairing him with the much faster Braydon Coburn has enabled the Flyers to get something out of the significant investment they made in Hatcher when they signed him a couple of years ago.

The problem with Hatcher is he's already missed time with a bad right knee and he's not getting any faster or younger. Why don't they give this guy a game or two off? It would allow his knee to rest and it would give Lasse Kukkonen some much needed ice time. Chances are, the Flyers won't be fully healthy on the backline dlown the stretch and will probably need Kukkonen at some point.

4.) What about the goalie situation?

I know that John Stevens won a Calder Cup with the Phantoms with Antero Niitymaki as his goaltender. I know that Stevens is the type of guy who definitely has a soft spot for his former Phantom guys (*cough*Randy Jones*cough*cough*), but why screw around with Martin Biron by playing Niitymaki so much lately?

The organization made a 3 year commitment to Biron as their goaltender, and in the beginning of the year, Biron kept the team afloat while they found themselves defensively. Now that the Flyers players seem more accustomed to one another, now is the time to establish Biron between the pipes and to quit screwing around with the guy's confidence. During the stretch when Niitymaki was getting all of the playing time, you could tell from Biron's body language and his play (leaving rebounds all over the place) that he was somewhat disengaged from things.

Let me be clear: I think Biron is the better goaltender overall, with his positioning and control of rebounds. Niitymaki probably is the better athlete and has better reflexes but does not have the command of the crease I think Biron has.

If Stevens played Niitymaki to give Biron some rest for down the stretch (Biron is a skinny little guy despite his height), I'm ok with that. If he did it just to nudge Biron, whose play was perhaps sagging, I'm ok with that too. But let's hope Stevens is not harboring delusions that Antero Niitymaki is the starting goaltender on this team, because he's not.

5.) What will it take to get past the New Jersey Devils?

God-forbid if the Flyers meet the Devils in the playoffs. They are 1 - 5 against the Devils and make guys like the Devils' Johnny Oduya look like Brian Leetch. The angst amongst local hockey fans will go off the charts if these teams meet in the playoffs..

Figuring out what it will take to get past the Devils is what will seperate this team from first-round also-ran to Cup contender.

And So It Begins....

This week marks the official start of putting Super Bowl hype into overdrive. I confess I am somewhat of an expert at ignoring this crap. If you already (obsessively?) follow sports on a daily basis on the internet, through podcasts, etc., there is not one single angle to the Super Bowl that you don't already know.

I will confess, however, that I am a sucker for those media day stories; the jackass quotient of the media involved goes through the roof on that day. Super Bowl media day is the orgiastic day where every dickweed with a media pass gets to ask inane questions of grown men staged in football jerseys, who clearly would rather be out trying to bang Gisele's sister. There is always a story of the one media type who, intentionally or otherwise, asks the dumbest fucking question imaginable.

Media day also brought to the American vernacular the question "How long have you been a black quarterback?". You'll recall that this was allegedly asked of Doug Williams during the run up to Super Bowl 22. Again - if you know anything about the internet - you'll know this is really an urban legend debunked by snopes.com. Any event or happening that facilitated the need for snopes.com to look into it can't be all bad.

Naturally, I can't wait for this event to occur. Otherwise, the rest of the week is a huge waste of time, unless someone gets arrested for propositioning a hooker (which could happen because this article builds up this week to be the woodstock for paid sex workers - link via thebiglead.com).

The only other real piece of Super Bowl business that I personally have this week is to decide who I'm rooting for. This year, that is easy. As an Eagle fan, there is no fucking way I can rationalize rooting for the New York Giants. Now or ever. I definitely feel dirty rooting for the Patriots. They are a loathesome group, with the Machiavellian Bill Belichick and his perfect stepford team that only Ira Levin could be proud of. But, the evils of the Perfect Pats winning another Super Bowl outweighs what would occur should the Giants win the game. Raw, uncut obnoxiousness would just pump out of New York and North Jersey at such a high rate as it would probably blot out the sun and bring about the end of civilization as we know it.

I'd hate to see the end of civilization, what with NHL playoffs coming up and the Flyers having such a good shot this year. So, I guess this means I'm rooting for the Patriots.

Iggy Soars!

Anyone else see this dunk last night?

Impressive. Most impressive. How much did this guy get robbed at the slam dunk contest that year?

The Sixers beat Charlotte in Charlotte last night by a score of 103-96. Iggy had 33 points to key the effort. According to yahoo sports (via BigLead.com), the Charlotte coach was upset because he felt his guys gave less than a stellar effort.

One way you could look at something like that is that Mo Cheeks does have these guys playing hard, despite having less talent than most teams they face. Charlotte was without Ray Felton, but who cares? A win is a win.