MAY 28, 2004 10:45 PM
BENSALEM, PA
currently watching "Beavis and Butt-Head" on MTV2... '93 forever indeed!

Hello reader(s)... I've been very lax about this blog, so much so that I no longer have any idea what I'm writing about. I've got the Flyers' loss in Game 7 to discuss, the past week of Phils games where they've looked kinda crappy... but to be honest with you I can't handle it right now, and it's only going to sound like a bunch of badly written babbling junk. So I'll get to this after the weekend, honestly. But first, off to Connecticut...

Ooh, wicked, now they're showing "Aeon Flux". Where am I?

MAY 22, 2004 11:13 AM
BENSALEM, PA
music: The Chuck Berry Anthology

...and it's funny how fortunes in this town can very quickly change back. Thursday night's Flyers game was the most wildly erratic, wildly gut-wrenching, wildly entertaining game, or indeed thing, I have seen in recent memory. The Flyers blew leads of 2-1 and 3-2, had a terrible second period, gave up two goals to former Flyer Ruslan Fedotenko (you gotta hate when that happens), and with five minutes left were down 4-3. They were playing great in the third, and had plenty of chances, but the Lightning had an answer for everything and I am ashamed to admit to you, dear reader, that I sort of thought it was over. I had seen that movie too many times. I had watched the Flyers and Sixers lose more series this way than I cared to remember; I had watched the Eagles lose three straight conference final games; I had watched the Phils get swept grotesquely out of playoff contention by the Marlins. In its own way, these ways to lose important games and get eliminated, slow and bleeding, when you realize it's over with five or ten minutes left and there's nothing the team can do, are worse than the very sudden, crushing endings, like the thing that happened in 1993, whatever it was. So when Primeau scored to tie it up with just under two minutes left, it made no sense to me, my brain couldn't grasp what had just happened. I was so deeply in the frame of mind that it was over that I could only scream "You gotta be kidding me!" and stand there, grinning stupidly, and I said something stupid along the lines of "Well, now I guess they'll just lose later." It was a terrible thing to say, and everyone in the room just stared at me like I was a pessimistic asshole who was ruining their fun, which I kinda was. Within minutes I was able to grasp what had happened and a change happened: suddenly I had a very, very good feeling that they were going to win in OT. The miracle I had hoped for but dared not express was going to happen. It's a weird thing to realize.

And they did score in OT, as you know. They looked insanely good in OT, too. And my boy, Simon Gagne, got the winning goal. I've been waiting for that guy to become a huge player, a star, because I've always really liked him and I feel like he can be awesome. Scoring an OT goal to save your season, yeah, that helps.

If they play in Game 7 like they did in that OT period... if Primeau and Esche have big games... well, never mind, this series has been impossible to predict or even analyze, so I'm just going to watch the game and whatever happens, happens. All I know is that it wasn't until I woke up on Friday that I realized, "My god, we won that game. How the hell did that happen?" I still can't believe it.

5/21: Phillies 5, Padres 4
The Phils follow up their very strong sweep of the Dodgers with this, their first win in CBP with me and my dad in attendance. This was a fantasically entertaining game. The Phils (and Millwood) didn't look especially good for most of it, and were losing 4-1 before clawing their way back. Utley had a great game, with a home run, a double, and the game-winning RBI to compensate for a rather stupid baserunning gaffe that both he and Bowa tried to justify in the paper this morning. But never mind that, Utley's been great so far, which is why it's so distressing to me that Bowa seems conflicted about who to put in at second base when Polanco returns from the DL, him or Utley. To Andrew and I, the answer is rather obvious: you put Polanco at short, keep Utley at 2B, and you sit Rollins, 'cause Rollins just ain't no good right now. I hate saying this, really I do, because we've all been waiting for J-Roll to break out, but he really can't hit, like at all. Shame, really. But this doesn't detract from the fact that the Phils seem to be getting better and better, and more and more confident, and with Polanco, Thome and Wagner due to return any minute now, my summer's pretty much set.

(A brief shout out to the Philadelphia Barrage, who play in a mysterious outdoor lacrosse league that seems to have started existing very suddenly, and have their first game today. Yeah, I'm not so into that. I support them in the vague, detached way that I support the Wings or Kixx, i.e. I don't wish them any specific harm. I do feel bad for them that their first game is scheduled for the same time as the Flyers game... poor bastards. On a related note, they've had this kind of horrible-looking kids show called "Dragon Tales Live!" at the Spectrum all week... can you imagine being a parent having to take your kid to that on Thursday night? You could be comfortable at home watching the Flyers, but instead you're in the Spectrum forced to endure that. "Yeah, sweetheart, you just sit here and watch the dragon thing, I'm going out to get numerous beers and find a TV." Do they sell beer at those kids shows?)

(Speaking of mysterious leagues, if you support MLS expansion in Philadelphia, email me. My brother and I want to start a movement to get us a soccer team. That would rule. I haven't the vaguest idea what our movement would do, but it can't hurt.)

Oh yeah, before you do anything else today, look at this. Oh... my... god...

MAY 20, 2004 6:02 PM
PHILADELPHIA, PA

It's funny how fortunes can change so quickly in this town. Last Saturday, May 15, was one of the greatest Philly sports days in recent memory. The Flyers kicked off the party with a thrilling win over the 'Ning in Game 4. It was exciting to see after their miserable showing in Game 3; plus there were lots of cool goals. After Primeau's shorthanded goal, I actually ran back and forth in my living room pretending I was skating around with a hockey stick, like an eight year old. Spectacular. Meanwhile we were keeping tabs on the Phils all the while, and were pleased to see them crush the Rockies into a fine, granular paste, 16-5. Beautiful stuff.

After that came the historic run of Smarty Jones, the "Philadelphia Flyer", in the Preakness. I've been very remiss not having mentioned Smarty in this space yet, and for that I apologize. I won't lie to you; I don't watch much horseracing and I'm one of those bandwagony guys that only watches the Triple Crown every year. On the other hand, I've been one of those bandwagony guys for many years now and have seen many Triple Crown races... and I believe that this was probably the greatest I've ever seen. I realize that I'm only saying that because I have a rooting interest in this thing for literally the first time ever, but dude, that horse kicked ass. It was unreal! So now I'm waiting in breathless anticipation for the Belmont on June 5, and you should be too.

Important note: the whole country is calling Smarty "Philadelphia's Horse" but that's not strictly true. Smarty's home, Philadelphia Park, is actually in my hometown of Bensalem, PA. In fact my dad used to work there (then called Keystone Race Track) back in the '70s. No lie. Bensalem ain't the most exciting place in the world, but it's my hometown and I'm proud that a local boy is getting national media attention, even if that boy happens to be, uh, a horse. Go B-Town!

(Now, if only ESPN or NBC or somebody would actually mention this. It was weird to read this one column on ESPN.com where annoying columnist* Brian Murphy was going on about how much he loved Philly even though he's from San Fran (and making lots of the usual lame Philly references, like we're all in the mob, we all shovel mountains of cheesesteaks into our mouths, we boo Santa Claus, ha ha, very funny, you Cali dickweed) and how cool it was that Smarty Jones is "from somewhere called Philadelphia Park". And I'm like, "Philadelphia Park? On Street Road? Where they have the Pennsylvania Fair? What's the big deal?")

I attended the final home game of the Soul later that night, but the Soul were unable to make it a perfect day in Philly. Still, since the Soul were eliminated from the playoffs the week before, the game was even more meaningless than it would have been, so I can't say I was too crushed by this development.

The next day the Phils dropped one, then dropped another on Monday in hideous fashion (blowing a 6-0 lead). This was distressing but they managed to bounce back on Tuesday night with a convincing win. Still, I couldn't bring myself to be tremendously happy about this, because that night the Flyers lost Game 5. It was a frustrating loss (it's been a frustrating series) because although they were terrible in the first period, they looked good in the second and third, and made a game of it in the second with two awesome goals. But it wasn't enough. See, this is what I'm talking about: the unbridled joy of the previous Saturday is now almost forgotten, replaced by the terrible knowledge that we're on the brink of elimination. The consensus around the city seemed, for a while, to be that the Flyers are screwed, and I kinda feel like it doesn't look all that great (the Lightning have to win one more, the Flyers two: advantage Lightning). But now the vibe seems to be that the Flyers will of course naturally win Game 6 and force a Game 7. I really hope we're not setting ourselves up for a crushing ironic twist. (Happens all the time!) Still, I trust the Flyers and I've followed them this far; onward to glory, boys!

ESPN.com's "Daily Quickie" is anti-Philly. There, I said it. I don't know why I read that garbage anyway; it's precisely the sort of lazy, cynical reporting I can't stand. It's written in a annoying, slangy, sarcastic style, with lots of abbreviations and imcomplete sentences, plus it makes lots of lists (damn lists!) and grandiose statements like "Team X is overrated" and "Player X is one of the Top Five EVER!". Plus, despite being ostensibly a sports feature about sports on a sports website, it devotes far too much space to writing about reality TV (!) like "The Bachelor" and "The Apprentice" and other worthless, unwatchable junk. Anyway, it's worst crime is its hideous and unapologetic anti-Philly stance. It predicted the Eagles to lose (making some comment like "McNabb easy to root for, Philly hard to root for"), constantly trashes the Phils and Sixers, and is now predicting a TB win over the Flyers (and rubbing our faces in it, too, by saying something like "denying Philly fans a championship series... again!"). Screw them, they're weak. Oh yeah, a little while ago they called Philly the #5 sports city, with Chicago (!) number one. Screw that too! I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm so worked up about this, they're probably not all that anti-Philly, I'm just biased and I'm looking for validation of my bizarre persecution complex. Yeah, I'm gonna just stop.

All right, I gotta relax. Things are good. The Phils are in first place. The Flyers aren't out yet, they've got a game in 45 minutes, it's gonna be great, I'm psyched, and you should be too.

Go get 'em, boys.


*All columnists on ESPN.com are either annoying or cool. Murphy is annoying. Simmons is annoying (and a Celtics fan, to boot). Neyer is cool. Stark is cool, but kind of a geek. Wiley is both, somehow.

MAY 13, 2004 9:55 PM
PHILADELPHIA, PA

5/13: LIGHTNING 4, FLYERS 1
I decided recently that I don't like lists. Like, "Top 100 Hottest Women" or "Top 10 Large, Squishy Objects" or "Top 10 Worst Moments in Philly Sports History". Lists are just lazy; when you don't feel like actually writing or saying or explaining anything in any useful way, you make a list. No more lists! Having said that, I really hope that Lecavalier's goal doesn't go down as one of the Top 10 Worst Moments in Philly Sports History because right now it's got that sort of feel. It's like this: The Flyers had a bad first period and a bad second period. They couldn't get anything going at all. They entered the third down 2-0 and badly in need of SOMETHING. So Primeau scores in literally the first minute. I got, as you might imagine, really excited, as did Andrew, as did the entire orange-clad Wachovia Center crowd. We're all pumped. The Flyers are back in the game, they've got energy, they've got momentum, everything's going to be fine.

Something like 43 seconds later, Lecavalier gets a pass from out of nowhere, breaks away and scores without further ado. So there goes that. It was so crushing, so disappointing. The Flyers had literally nothing after that. So my point is, will this go down as an unfortunate footnote in an otherwise stellar Cup run? Or will I remember that goal forever as the beginning of the Flyers' hideous collapse?

A little later, three Bolts team up for an intricately passed goal that looks like something out of EA Sports. That was just sick. How, one asks, could the Flyers have gotten beat so bad when they looked so good just three days ago? I don't know, I don't have any answer, and it's really @$#&@ hot in my stupid ass apartment, so I'm going to stop thinking about it. Oh, it just makes me mad.

A Phillies recap:
They've looked good all week, and I didn't even see the one loss this week, so I choose not to worry about it. Hernandez, Polanco (!), Wagner (!!), and Thome (!!!) all have had injury problems lately, but none of it seems completely debilitating yet, so I'm just going to relax. (I saw none of these games in particularly interesting or exciting places, merely my apt. and Bonner's, so not much to report on that front.)

ESPN had an interesting article today from former Phillies beat writer Jayson Stark addressing the issue of Barry Bonds getting intentionally walked a lot... and suggesting a number of possible rule changes to make this stop happening. Though I like Stark's stuff a lot in general, and acknowledge that he probably doesn't really believe this himself and is merely trying to spark discussion, I have to admit I find this issue asinine. Here's why:
a. Not a single compelling or legitimate reason is presented to do this whatsoever beyond "People like to watch Barry Bonds hit home runs", which in my opinion isn't even true. Speaking as a Phillies fan, when Bonds is up to bat against the Phillies, I don't want to see him hit any damn home runs, I want him removed from the proceedings as quickly and painlessly as possible. I freely admit that he's possibly the greatest hitter of all time, so if he's not hitting home runs he's likely to get a hit and possibly an RBI, so walking him is a perfectly reasonable and often very good strategy, and removing it from the game is just misguided. (Plus there's the fact -- kind of petty and immature on my part, to be sure -- that I kind of just flat out don't like Barry Bonds, because he acts like an angry jerk all the freaking time, and don't care to see him accomplish much of anything. I don't care if he's "making history", I want him out of that batter's box NOW, preferably back to the dugout. (The only good thing Barry Bonds ever did was when he appeared in "Rookie of the Year" and made that kind of strange face after getting struck out, a face I would be happy to act out for you next time you see me.))
b. As someone in that article pointed out, intentionally walking someone is a rather serious risk. You're giving them a free base without an out. There's a decent chance the man might score. Someone else pointed out that no matter how good he is, he still makes an out OR walks something like 73% of the time. If you want to act all terrified about that other 27%, go ahead. (The Phils intentionally walked him twice this week... both times legitmate strategies, I'm sure.)
c. To his credit, Bonds never seems to complain like he wants to get pitched to more. What does he care? So who exactly is complaining about this?
d. Here's a particularly stupid quote:

"In the NBA, Jordan was never denied the opportunity to get the ball," said Giants assistant GM Ned Colletti. "Gretzky was never denied the opportunity to get the puck. No defensive back was allowed to stand between the Cleveland quarterback and Jim Brown to stop a handoff, Even Pele had a chance to be passed the soccer ball."

Guess what? If the opposing teams in each situation had had the opportunity to do so, they would have. Baseball is great precisely because it allows for this kind of strategy. It's a team sport. If they're going to design the sport so it's just an elaborate excuse for us to watch huge stars have a home run derby, well, I'm not interested.

[It's kind of like a couple years ago when Curt Schilling (then with AZ) was throwing a perfect game against the Padres, but then in the 7th or 8th inning the Padres laid down a bunt single to break it up. Everyone bitched and moaned like the Pads were breaking an "unwritten rule" that you don't do that to a guy when he's got a perfect game going. Oh, that's ridiculous. How legitimate would the perfect game have been if the Padres had just rolled over and died, and not done everything in their power to try to win the game? I love Schilling, but it's not the Padres' job to help him with his personal achievements. Having said that, if it happened to a Phillie, I'm sure I'd be a bit upset, but if you want a perfect game, man, you gotta earn it.]

I'm sure I have some other thoughts on this issue but I appear to have forgotten them all. I'll just mention another pet issue of sportswriters and be on my way. This was mentioned in another ESPN column today, by Eric Neel:

"Bring back daytime starts for playoff and Series games. I know the Spidey thing was for the kids and all, but I think they might like this even a little bit more."

I'm so freaking sick of hearing this. I'm going to say this exactly once in a way even sportswriters can understand:

I can't watch daytime World Series games, because I am at work during the day. Kids can't watch daytime World Series games, because they are at school during the day. The reason you get to watch daytime baseball games is because you are a baseball writer, and therefore are paid to watch baseball and have no other job. You jackass.

Now, if you're talking about Saturday or Sunday, well, now you've got kind of a point, that's not a bad idea. But weekdays? Knock it the hell off, I'm sick of hearing about it.

One more sports gripe, since I'm on a roll: The Kobe Trial. Why, precisely, am I supposed to care? Let's see, it's a player I don't like -- who plays on a team I despise, with teammates who are all reprehensible bastards -- accused of raping a 19 year old... yeah, that sounds about right.

Oh yeah, one more thing: ESPN had a column about LEGO today. That rules. I mean, the guy is training his son to be a Nets fan, which is terrible, sickening child abuse*, but otherwise I approve.

*Sorry, Carly...

MAY 9, 2004 9:36 AM
BENSALEM, PA

Friday night: They ended up winning. Polanco is hurt, probably for the next two weeks; this gives them the opportunity to play Utley, which is cool 'cause that guy rules. Frankly, however, I'd prefer if he was replacing Rollins.

5/8: Lightning 3, Flyers 1 / Phils 8, Diamondbacks 7
Spent most of the day at Shep's place in Quakertown. The Flyers game was pretty frustrating. (Hulk Hogan pumped up the Tampa crowd before the game. I'm terrified that the Flyers might counter with Stallone. (After all, they did battle in Rocky 3, or was it 4?) That would be lame. Philly needs a new movie to represent it, a new hero, preferably someone who's not a monosyllabic brute who hits people. How about a movie about a lovable Philly-dwelling, blog-keeping, sports-loving aspiring novelist? Not me, necessarily, although if you do want to have it be about me, then also in the movie I want to have a hot girlfriend and a cool car.*)

What was I talking about? Oh, right. So anyway the Flyers looked okay for the first period but then collapsed. By the third period they were playing that frustrating kind of Angry Stupid Hockey that never works, just a lot of random skating and passing and hitting. Everything except actual shots on goal. I hate that stuff. It's tough to watch. By the time they start doing that you know they're going to lose, and it just hurts. I think they'll be all right on Monday night but it does appear that the Lightning might actually literally be better, though I'm going to pretend that isn't relevant.

After that we went out and I got to swing a bat for the first time in years! We hit a big crate of tennis balls that Shep had in his garage. It took me a little while to get the hang of it but I gave a few of 'em a ride, I must say. I'm more of a spray hitter, not a power hitter. No, what I actually am is terrible. But I find it incredibly fun.

After general hanging out, including watching snatches of the Phillies, Jon and I drove home and by the time we arrived the Phils were up 8-5. I watched the rest of the game in one of those sort of half-asleep dazes, so I can't trust my memory of anything I might have actually seen. Phils work their way out of a scare and win to go .500. I've never been so excited about mediocrity in all my days, except perhaps for the fact that I really liked "Attack of the Clones".

Happy Mother's Day to any mothers who happen to be reading this, which admittedly is probably not very many.

*(I used to have both, you know. Except the car. My car was always kind of a piece of crap.)

MAY 8, 2004 12:25 AM
BENSALEM, PA

At my parents' house. In a first for the Phillies Diary, I am currently watching a Phils game LIVE, and reporting on it AS IT HAPPENS! Get excited! Just watched the Phils score a run on a wild pitch to go up 4-1. Lieberthal just grounded out to short to end the inning; going into the bottom of the eighth. And now I think that this is slightly more work than I really feel like doing at this hour, so I'm going to stop.

We are just 14.5 hours away from Flyers/Lightning Game 1...

MAY 6, 2004 6:17 PM
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19103

5/4: Cardinals 6, Phils 5 / FLYERS 3, LEAFS 2 (OT)
Oh god they're KILLING me. The Phillies, not the Flyers. It really should have been a great night, you know. The weather was nice (finally), I was at the Phils game, clad in my Flyers jersey, feeling pretty good, enjoying a slice of rather dry $3.75 bacon cheeseburger pizza... but the Phillies would not cooperate. Myers didn't look good (I don't care what Bowa says, Myers didn't look good)... Rollins was appalling. Much of our discussion centered around Rollins. Andrew says he thinks Rollins has just flat out forgotten how to play baseball, and I think he's on to something. At one point Bell was walked on four pitches, and Rollins came up, swung at the first pitch and lazily popped up. Now, I'm a pasty, unathletic jackass, with no clue what he's talking about, who would undoubtedly be rather handily beaten up by Rollins, but even I know that that's no good. Come on, man. Meanwhile, Rolen got booed, consistently and with extreme malice... no longer any point to that, really, given the fact that without Rolen we were able to get Thome, and he hits a double every freaking time he's up anyway. Plus he's really good. I mean he is kind of an arrogant ass, but most baseball players are, and booing isn't going to help. Well, enough of that. The highlight was Abreu, Thome and Burrell connecting for back-to-back-to-back home runs. Amazing stuff. Hasn't happened since 1999, or so claims the media guide. That was a lot of fun, but it only tied the game up, and the Phils never managed to get the lead at all. When you need something that hasn't happened in five years to happen just to tie the game up, you know you're in trouble.

We were getting Flyers score updates throughout the game, on the two side scoreboards. (You know, in the Vet they just had Flyers playoff scores posted on the out-of-town scoreboard throughout the game; yet another reason why the Vet ruled and the Bank is a dump.) Huge cheers erupted for the Flyers' two goals, and for most of the game it was reported that the score remained steady at 2-0. But nothing else seemed to happen until late in the night when we were told that it was 2-2 and going into overtime. I was really crushed by this news. I could only assume that momentum had now gone the Leafs' way, and they would score in overtime, and then either the Flyers would lose in Game 7, or squeak by in Game 7 and get killed by the Lightning in the next round because they were so tired from having to play a Game 7. Around the time the score was reported, much of the stadium seemed to empty; people were apparently headed for McFadden's to catch the Flyers. So anyway I tried to concentrate on the Phils (the Cardinals went ahead, through some means I no longer recall), who managed to get the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. Shortly before the bottom of the ninth began, an enormous cheer erupted from the outfield and I could see people now romping around Ashburn Alley. This was, we could only assume, because the Flyers had scored; the goal in question was then shown on Phanavision. So that got us really excited and ready to watch the Phils make it a perfect night by rallying for the win. Instead, Burrell struck out with the bases loaded. In fairness, it was an amazing at bat, filled with intrigue and plenty of fouls to prolong the agony... but really, man, just win the damn game, stop trying to be cute.

What worries me about the Phils is (and I'm paraphrasing something I read in the Inquirer this morning) they live and die by the home run. That seems to be the only way they can generate any offense. The Cardinals won two out of three in this series, and they only hit one home run (I think. Gotta look that up). But this game proved that you can hit three in a row all you want, it doesn't necessarily even help. Ugh, forget it. The Flyers won, that's exciting, so really the evening wasn't a total waste.

5/5: Phils 5, Cards 3
Slept through it. Every once in a while I fall asleep around 8:00 and sleep for 10 hours. I don't know if this is normal. Anyway, woke up briefly at 12:30 and checked the score. Sounds like it was kind of exciting.

5/6: Cards 7, Baseball Team 4
Followed this at work on the Game Update thing, but not very often and not very closely. Oh god they're KILLING me. Will they ever reach the lofty heights of .500?

MAY 3, 2004 8:21 PM
PHILADELPHIA, PA

5/1: Diamondbacks 6, Phillies 4
Didn't see it; I was in Easton, PA at a rather immense party. Got the score around 1:30 AM from a friend of Andrew's while playing ping pong. It's true.

5/2: Flyers 7, Leafs 2 / Phillies 6, D'Backs 5
Another great day for Philly sports. Kept flipping back and forth between the two games, trying to decide which thrilled me more. The Flyers just thoroughly dominated the Leafs in every conceivable way. It was the sort of game I fantasize about when I'm thinking of teams I despise: just an endless and angry barrage of goals with no regard for the other team's dignity. Beauty! The Phils' walked-in run was awesome, of course, but perhaps even cooler than that was the way the Phils managed to tie it up when the Snakes went ahead in the top of the 14th. Then the way they put in a pitcher to pinch-run. See, I told you, extra innings is crazy time, nothing makes sense. (I regaled Andrew with an anecdote about how once in 1994 the Phils put in starting pitcher Shawn Boskie to pinch run, and Andrew remembered neither the event nor Boskie at all. I'm a freak.) But, yeah, bases loaded walk to win a game, that's just wicked.

As promised, I have started work on my never-to-be-completed List of Every Phillies Game I've Ever Been To. Or, List of Every Phillies Game To Which I've Ever Been, if you prefer. I'm still working on writing up a brief description of each (well, most) of the games... if you were at a game with me, and remember something, drop me a line and I'll add it. It's fun, and free!

MAY 1, 2004 7:20 AM
PHILADELPHIA, PA
Why don't you shake your tail for peace and love?

Carrie jumps up and down and does leg kicks. Did I mention that? And did I mention that Janet sings too and her voice sounds so cool, and ghostly, just barely hidden behind the rest of the music? Sleater-Kinney have a site where now they're sort of complaining that the Philly crowd was too dead and quiet. (It's there on the front page. You have to kind of highlight it to read it. I don't know why.) Hey, it's Philly, people here are far too cool to move around and show emotion, don't you know that? Meanwhile, I could happily spend hours of each day looking at pictures of Corin Tucker, and now, with this web site, that dream is closer to a reality.

4/30: Leafs 3, Flyers 1 / Phils 4, D'Backs 0
Ugh, the Flyers are falling apart. We sort of suspected that it would be a long series but I had held this kind of unfounded hope that it would end quickly. More atrocious officiating. Jackson/Dorny/Coates all but came out and said they think it's literally fixed in favor of Toronto. Pretty strong words, boys; relax. That aside, the Flyers really did get out-played, plus the Leafs got really lucky at times (that first goal? One in a million). Anyway, now there will be a Game 6 on Tuesday, the same night I have Phillies tickets... maybe I should just blow off the Flyers and go to the Phillies game. No, I can't. I just can't. But maybe I could. No, I shouldn't.

I'm sorry, I'm supposed to make this blog interesting for readers who don't happen to be me; I'll try to keep internal monologues to a minimum.

Meanwhile, the Phils had a great game with another excellent start from Wolf. The only part I really saw was, luckily, the two home runs. Still, they had a losing April...

Oh yeah, here's fun: nhluniforms.com. Look around and see if you can find the astonishingly hideous "third jerseys" from the late 90's, especially the ones from the Ducks, Kings, Lightning, and the aborted one from the Blues. Cripes!