6-5

Flyers dominated 1st and 2nd periods, and just got overwhelmed in the 3rd. If they can stop the shots from the slot, things look promising.

Moyer Stats

Stats for the the soft-tossing lefty that don't ever, or will ever, show up in a box score or on a stat sheet. And yet, Moyer helped influence a perfect game for the Phillies' ace. How many other suggestions has he had?

In between starts, Halladay made an adjustment on his delivery. He hadn't been pleased with his first step back in his windup, pitching coach Rich Dubee said. Lefthander Jamie Moyer made a suggestion to Halladay, and he worked on it during the week.

27 and 20?

Everyone knows the name of the 20 pitchers - now including Roy Halladay - that have thrown perfect games. But how many of their catchers can be recounted?

He shook off Ruiz just once, when Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson was at the plate in the third with a 2-2 count.

Philly Fans

Also from the Sports Guy. Pretty much sums up Philly fans.

Q: Wanna know why sabermetrics still hasn't caught on with some baseball fans? Some of us hook up with girls. Do I think Ryan Howard is the best hitter in baseball because he gets 140 RBIs every year? No, but he's a damn good first baseman and I don't need some nerd running lab experiments to tell me so. I'd rather spend my time drinking beers in the parking lot and shouting obscenities in Spanish at passing Mets fans. That's what baseball's all about. If I wanted to do math and science I wouldn't be watching baseball.

--Ragan, Philadelphia

McNabb Sentiment

From the Sports Guy. I know a girl named Lauren who is a huge Eagles fan. i wonder if she wrote this?

Q: Isn't the Eagles letting go of Donovan the ultimate "It's not you, it's me" scenario? Donovan has been dating the Eagles fans for years now. In the beginning it was exciting and risky. You never knew what he was going to do with the ball and he kept you on your toes. Like when my boyfriend liked to give me massages and surprise me with a card or have breakfast for me. Each encounter (insert mood music) is hot and fresh. Then after 12 years you've found yourself faking moaning and hoping things get moving so you can fit in your 40 minutes of DVR before bed. I know all his moves and when he's going to high-step it 2 yards short of the first down. I know when he's going to throw it at DeSean's ankles. K-squared may not be perfect, but at least his faults will surprise me. Donovan, it's been great. I loved the good times. But it's time to move on. It's not you, it's me. 

-- Lauren

SG: Funny e-mail, concise, original angle. That's what I'm talking about! And by the way, only a woman could have summed up the McNabb Era in Philly.

What the Hell?

My Mets' friend asks:

18 innings of shutout ball against the Phils by RA Dickey and whatever the japanese guy's name is...what the hell is wrong with your team.

NFC East QB rankings

Another point of view reinforcing my contention that the Eagles have the worst QB within the NFC East (at least until proven otherwise). Though perhaps the biggest surprise in this ranking is that Kolb, who has only started two games over the past two seasons is ranked 16th overall in the league. How pathetic to #s 17-32 that they couldn't beat out a guy who has been 2nd string his entire career until now.

Yahoo! Sports columnist Jason Cole has the Cowboys ranked third in the NFC East in quarterbacks.

 

Cole put the Washington Redskins at No. 8 overall, the N.Y. Giants at No. 9 and Dallas at No. 10.Philadelphia, which now has Kevin Kolb as the starter, was ranked No. 16.

 

Cole wrote of the Redskins: "If Donovan McNabb was still in Philadelphia, the Eagles would probably be No. 6 or No. 7. But trading McNabb automatically weakened the Eagles (at least until Kevin Kolb proves he can play) and was an amazing boost for the Redskins."

 

On the Giants, Cole wrote: "Eli 'The Enigma' Manning is coming off the best statistical season of his career, including a 93.1 rating (that's nearly 14 points higher than his career rating). Yet there are still plenty of people who will tell you that few players have done less with more than Manning. Last season, the Giants were 2-6 against playoff teams and Manning had a rating of 71 or lower in four of those games."

 

On the Cowboys, Cole wrote: "Tony Romo has never had a season rating of less than 91 and has a career TD-to-interception ratio of nearly 2-to-1 (107 TDs, 55 interceptions). Yet many Cowboys fans view him as the second coming of Danny White, who flopped as the starter afterRoger Staubach retired. A big part of the problem is that it just doesn't seem as if Romo takes the game seriously enough. Maybe his recent decision to put football before golf speaks to a change in perspective."

Ed and Donovan

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell channels my thoughts completely in this interview with Politico

"I'm going to still root for the Eagles, but I'm going to root for the Redskins in the playoffs, because they're going to be in it, and we're not," Rendell said last week when asked – at the end of an interview about his anti-tea party rhetoric - for his thoughts on the Eagles' trade last month of quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Redskins.

"It's be careful what you wish for," said Rendell, a former Philadelphia mayor...

"I'll tell you this, Donovan's going to be great for the Redskins," Rendell told POLITICO

Remember, until proven otherwise, the Eagles have the worst starting QB in the division. 

Do You Believe in Miracles?

YES!!!

Only the 3rd team in professional sports history to come back from a 3-0 best of seven series deficit to win.

Amazing that game 7 played out exactly like the series in a microcosm: Boston goes up 3-0 and then the Flyers score the last 4 goals to win the series 4-3 by a score of 4-3.

Bring on the Canadiens. The Flyers are now a team of destiny.

"Fatigue"

Attendance is down at Citi Field but that doesn't stop this NY Times story from perpetuating the myth about "stadium fatigue" and the fade in attendance at new stadiums since Camden Yards and the Jake.

What never gets mentioned in these stories is that both the orioles and indians were able to sustain attendance increases to their new ballparks cause, um, their teams were good. indeed, the indians made a conscious decision to set their team up for sustained success coincident to the opening of the new stadium.

Why is attendance down in NY? The Mets aren't very good and they've had two bitterly losing seasons.

Mets Lead The Majors In Declining Attendance - Editorial - NYTimes.com: "“Stadium fatigue sets in much faster than it did before,” Greenberg said, noting that new stadiums built in Baltimore and Cleveland in the early 1990s led to long periods of increased attendance for both franchises. “When Camden Yards and Jacobs Field were built, they were a big deal and were a complete change. The novelty has worn off.”"

It's That Time

Game 7. Time to break out the Kate Smith, boys.

God Bless America and the Flyers.

Game 7

My Flyer hockey fanatic friend, the Big O, has this to say about tonight's game 7.

I think its completely up for grabs.  Richards will carry the team on his back and hopefully go to the next level tonight.  Watch Pronger too, hes made for this.  I think it will go into overtime, but totally unsure of the outcome.  Can be a huge game in Flyer (and NHL) history.  

My prediction? Pain.

Seriously, i think all of the pressure has shifted to the Bruins who are on the verge of blowing a 3-0 series lead. The Flyers are playing with house money at this point, as this series should have been closed out a couple of games ago.

I like that Leighton is now in goal as it is a change up to things and is just one more thing for the bruins to think about. Plus, he's been nearly impregnable. Gagne is back and Richards continues to elevate his already stratospheric game. And don't discount the injuries to Sturm and the other boston player whose name escapes me as having a huge impact on the Flyers series resurgence. A momentum that hopefully carries over for another 60 minutes tonight.

key will be to keep the Bruins from scoring early. If they can just keep them off the board, the hometown fans will become increasingly nervous and hopefully the tension in the building will carry over to an already tight team. Of course, if the Flyers can score first - and the earlier the better - they could send the Garden faithful into a catatonic trance and completely eliminate the home ice advantage.

Time to break out the Lindros jersey.

Also, today would have been my grandmother's 101st birthday. Though the Phillies were the love of her sporting life, she was a fan of all the teams. And raised a daughter, my Mom, who was a diehard supporter of the Broad Street Bullies.

Go Flyers!

Get Your Preak On

Another sports instance of the thin line between genius and madness. From the WaPo and the Preakness' new fan promotion.

for $20, they will be allowed to purchase a 16-ounce beer mug that entitles them to unlimited refills, with servers instructed to cut off anyone who has had too much.

Given that Pimlico's gates open at 8:30 a.m. and the race won't start until 6:18 p.m., the bottomless beer mugs may represent the biggest bargain in sports history or the most ill-advised.

playground buddies

A motivated selling former Eagles QB's house is for sale. 10.3 acres in Moorestown! Only $2.5 million. And the swing set is the same as my brother has in his backyard (I knew they shared a connection. Eagleseye's nephew would feel right at home in Uncle Donovan's backyard).

and what is it with eagles qb's and Moorestown. Randall Cunningham's digs, complete with wrought iron fence and full size buckingham palace guard statute in the 2nd floor window, were also in Moorestown.

My cousins live in Moorestown - another eagleseye connection!

The Game for All America

Ernie Harwell's famous essay on baseball, "The Game for All America."

My favorite line:

Baseball is ballet without music. Drama without words. A carnival without kewpie dolls.

McNabb Still the One

My God, the Philadelphia media just cannot let Donovan McNabb go. The latest is an entire Gonzo story about McNabb's response to DeSean Jackson's comments in the Sporting News. Gonzo's contention is that McNabb can't let go of the past. But who really can't let go?

Most of us presumed that the daily parsing of McNabb's every utterance (typically cast in the worst or most negative light possible) would have ended after he was traded to a team in another city. Boy, were we wrong. He's still being scrutinized and still the Eagles' whipping boy even though he now wears a Redskins jersey.

Unbelievable.

Message to journalist and fans alike: Let it go. He's gone. Goodbye. Goodnight.

Phillies to play Road Games at Citizen Bank Park

From the Phillies:

Phillies-Jays series relocated to Philadelphia

Major League Baseball announced today that the venue of the scheduled June 25-27 three-game Philadelphia Phillies-Toronto Blue Jays series has been relocated from Toronto's Rogers Centre to Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park because of the scheduled events of the G20 Summit in Toronto. The rescheduled games will still be considered home games of the Blue Jays, who will bat last, and the Designated Hitter will be used.

Phillies season ticket holders will be notified of their options within the next 3-7 days. Individual Tickets will be on sale in approximately 10-14 days. Please continue to check phillies.comfor the most up-to-date information. 

here's a question. Since the Jays will bat last and the DH used, do the Blue Jays also get the home team's share of the gate receipts and do they collect the concession money?

Another Passing - #36

Of a Whiz Kid. This time, the greatest of all the Whiz Kids: Robin Roberts.

 Aside from how great they were while playing, what is most striking about the remembrances of Phillies greats like Richie Ashburn and, now sadly, Robin Roberts is how much they loved the Phillies, being a Phillie, the city, the fans and the current players.

Another Passing - #36

Of a Whiz Kid. This time, the greatest of all the Whiz Kids: Robin Roberts.

 

Aside from how great they were while playing, what is most striking about the remembrances of Phillies greats like Richie Ashburn and, now sadly, Robin Roberts is how much they loved the Phillies, being a Phillie, the city, the fans and the current players.

Oh No?

My God, I agree with Stephen A. Smith...on immigration.

Phillies Win

A new survey of Philadelphia sports fans provides some stunning insights into the status of Philadelphia fandom and their connection to the city's professional sports teams (and also provides some expected results as well).

Highlights of the survey

Asked to identify their favorite team, 54 percent of the respondents selected the Phillies. The Eagles placed second at 30 percent.

This is an astonishing turn of events for the Eagles. Of course, the survey was conducted on the eve of baseball opening day and a season in which the Phils are widely expected to contend for another pennant - their 3rd in straight - and World Series championship. But still, even with a 5 point bump, the Eagles are now, suddenly, second fiddle down in S. Philly. Indeed, "70 percent of the respondents said they considered Philadelphia to be a football town, 43 percentage points higher than those who considered it a baseball town."

But for me, the key stat is this one:

Citizens Bank Park, with 74 percent of the vote, also held far larger appeal than Lincoln Financial Field, the Wachovia Center and the Palestra, each with 8 percent.

God knows I love the Palestra, there simply isn't a better basketball arena in the country. But the Bank vs. Lincoln comparison rings true from my personal experience. The Phillies provide a much better game day fan experience as compared to the Eagles at the Linc. It's more lively, fan friendly, and perhaps most importantly family friendly.

Several of my friends who are also season ticket holders did the double header last year - the Giants-Eagles game and then walked across the street for the Yankees-Phillies game. To a man, they all remarked how hospitable the Phillies employees were, how friendly everyone was and what a great atmosphere the Bank was. More than that, though, was ho much better it was compared to the Linc experience, employees, and vibe just hours before (and this was after the Eagles hammered the Giants). Amazing.

The most positive thing about the survey is that it appears that baseball has been saved in Philadelphia. I know that sounds like hyperbole, but when you look at the Phils' dismal record over a nearly 20 year span - from 1984 - 2005 and aside from the anomaly of the 93 pennant, the seemingly perpetual mediocrity of the Phils (combined with the sterile game day experience of the Vet) really threatened the loss of a generation of fans. so in that respect, the survey indicates that Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Ruiz, Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard, and Pat Burrell helped avert baseball disaster in Philadelphia.

Lax

Just another reason not to trust lacrosse players.