The NHL all star game took place tonight in Montreal and the Eastern conference won in a shootout 12-11. Only Jeff Carter made the East roster for the Flyers as a reserve and in only 17 minutes of ice time he failed register a goal or assist. Instead to the delight of the hometown fans Alexei Kovalev of the Canadiens was the MVP of the game with two breakaway goals and the first score of the shootout.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers returned to action tonight as they welcomed the New York Knicks to the Wachovia center. From the beginning it was a shootout and as in their last meeting the Sixers' firepower proved to much for New York. Offensively, Andre Iguodala led the way with 24 points, while Andre Miller added 21 points, and Sammy Dalembert registered his first double double in a while with 10 points and 17 rebounds, as the Sixers shot another hot 53% from the field. Neither team really played much defense, although the Sixers did rack up 10 steals, 8 blocks, and 41 rebounds and thus the win. The Sixers took the early lead after a quarter of play with the score 36-30. The Knicks rallied back in the 2nd quarter to take a 3 point lead, with the score 66-63. In the 3rd quarter the Sixers rolled back ahead by 5 with the score 86-81. In the 4th quarter the Sixers simply maintained their lead eventually hanging on to win 116-110. So the Sixers again move to an even .500 at 21-21 overall and remain 7th in the Eastern conference.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
Even though the All-star break is over a week away, the Flyers played their last game of the season's first half tonight, as they welcomed the Atlanta Thrashers to the Wachovia center. Not surprisingly Antero Niittymaki got the start in goal and for two periods he was impenetrable, then in the 3rd period the Thrashers snuck a few bye him, but with 28 saves out of the 31 shots he faced it was enough. Meanwhile, Mike Knuble scored a couple of late goals, both set up by Simon Gagne, to help push the Flyers to victory. About halfway through the first period Scott Hartnell scored for a 1-0 lead. Late in the period Darroll Powe scored for a 2-0 lead. Early in the 3rd period Randy Jones made it 3-0. Early in the 3rd period the Thrashers gave the Flyers ascare with quick scores by Eric Perrin, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Chris Thorburn to knot it up at 3, less than 11 minutes into the period. From there Knuble righted the ship with a quick score to put the Flyers up 4-3 a minute later, and then put away a 5-3 win with just under a minute to play. So the Orange and Black improve to 25-12-9 for 59 points and now 6th in the Eastern conference, thanks to all their down time.
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils continued to avoid arbritration today, signing Jayson Werth to a 2 year deal and reliever Chad Durbin to a one year deal. All of which means that Ryan Howard is only remaining arbritration eligible player that has not yet come to terms with the Phils, and he probably won't for a while.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils continued to avoid arbitration today signing Shane Victorino to a one year 3.1 million deal and Joe Blanton to a one year 5.4 million deal. Unfortunately Ryan Howard remains arbitration eligible as he seeks a 18 million deal while the Phils offer him a 14 million deal. Uh oh. Sorry Ruben looks like you're not getting out of this one.
Monday, January 19, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
Well it had to come to an end some time. After an impressive 7 game winning streak got them back to .500 the Sixers finally ran out of magic this afternoon as they welcomed the Dallas Mavericks to the Wachovia center. While the defense remained solid the hot shooting finally cooled off a bit as the Sixers shot just 42% from the field and a still impressive 40% from beyond the arc. Lou Williams led the way with 25 points off the bench, while Andre Iguodala added 18 and 12 rebounds. Defensively, the Sixers again ruled the boards 46-39 and forced 16 turnovers including 7 steals. So it was another a+ plus effort for the Sixers, certainly deserving of their 8th win in a row but they came up just a little bit short. The Sixers actually had the early lead 22-16 after the first quarter. By the half they still led by 4 with the score 46-42. In the 3rd quarter Dallas rallied ahead by 11 with the score 74-63. Finally in the 4th quarter the Sixers put together a furious comeback tying it up at 93 with 8 seconds to play, only to watch Dirk Nowitzki swish in a 17 footer at the buzzer for a 95-93 Mavs win. So the Sixers drop back under .500 at 20-21 but remain 7th in the Eastern Conference.
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils avoided arbritration with yet another key player today as they signed reliever Ryan Madson, "the Bridge to Lidge", to a 3 year deal.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
EAGLES NEWS
The Birds met the Cardinals this afternoon in the NFC championship game, just 60 minutes of good football away from the Super Bowl. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. The Eagles defense had no answer for Kurt Warner and Cardinals high powered offense, well at least not in the first half. It was a different story in the 2nd half with Donovan Mcnabb coming back to life to throw 3 TD passes en route to a 375 yard passing day, rallying the Eagles back ahead, but it wasn't enough. Other major contributors on offense for the Eagles included Desean Jackson with 6 catches for 92 yards and a TD, Brent Celek with an Eagles record 10 catches for 83 yards and 2 TDs, and Kevin Curtis with 4 catches for 122 yards. Defensively, it just wasn't the Eagles day, although they shut down the Cardinals offense for most of the 2nd, half Larry Fitzgeral had already shredded them for 3 TDs and over 100 yards receiving. Also after the Birds finally got the lead in the 4th quarter, they were not able to get that last defensive stop that they needed for the win. The Cardinals began the afternoon with a bang, as Warner capped off the opening drive of the game with TD pass number 1 to Fitzgerald. The Eagles answered with a field goal to cut it to 7-3, and then got in position for another field but David Akers missed from 47 yards out, giving Arizona good field position. The Cards than ran a little flea flicker on which Warner hit Fitzgerald for TD pass number 2 for a 14-3 lead. The Eagles answered with another field goal to cut it to 14-6. Then the Cards put together another drive capped off by Warner to Fitzgerald number 3 for a 21-6 lead. Finally Neil Rackers drilled a 49 yard field as time expired to give the Cards a 24-6 halftime lead. All seemed lost for the Eagles but they responded big time in the 2nd half. Mcnabb hit Celek to cap off consecutive TD drives late in the 3rd quarter cutting the lead to 24-19, as Akers missed an extra point on a bad hold. After another defensive stand relatively early in the 4th quarter Mcnabb hit Jackson with a 62 TD pass and suddenly the Eagles led 25-24. It seemed destiny was on their side after all, but after stopping the Cardinals on a 3rd and short on the ensuing drive, they couldn't stop them on 4th and short and the Cards were able to chew up clock and drive to the go ahead score with just under 3 minutes to play. So the stage was set, the Eagles trailed 32-25, with under 3 minutes to play, and needed Mcnabb to engineer one more TD drive to force overtime and keep the game live. After driving to their own 47 yard line the Birds stalled and on 4th and 10, the officials missed an obvious interference call on ex Eagle Roderick Hood, as Kevin Curtis dropped what would have been a first down. The Cardinals took over and were able to run the clock down but the Eagles defense held the and the Birds had one last shot from inside their own 20. They tried to lateral the ball the down the field but couldn't get far past the 20 yard line before the Cards took the ball away and eventually fell on it to end a heart breaker. So once again the Eagles come up empty and their wait for a championship will now balloon to at least 49 years and who knows perhaps they can get it to an even 50.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
Having won 6 in a row coming into tonight the Sixers had an opportunity to get back to .500 if they could make it 7 in a row tonight against the Knicks at the Garden. Once again the Sixers continued their hot shooting and solid defense and made all the necessary plays when they had to in rolling to their 7th successive win. Offensively, Andre Iguodala led the way with 28 points and Andre Miller added 27, as the Sixers shot 50% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, on defense the Sixers ruled the glass with 43 boards to just 36 for the Knicks, while forcing 18 turnovers including 11 steals. So it may have not been an unstoppable effort this time around, but it was a more than adequate workmanlike performance for the Sixers on this night. It was a tight game early on with the Sixers leading by just 2 at the half with the score 52-50. The Sixers turned it on in the 3rd quarter racing out to a10 point lead heading into the 4th quarter with the score 76-66. Finally in the 4th quarter the Sixers simply took care of business and maintained their lead until they had closed out a 107-97 win. So the Sixers return to .500 for the first time since November at 20-20 overall and remain 7th in the Eastern conference. May this streak never end.
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils have reportedly avoided arbritration with ace pitcher Cole Hamels as they agreed with him to a 3 year 20.5 million deal, a fitting reward for the NLCS and World Series MVP.
Friday, January 16, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers traveled to Florida tonight for a matchup with the Panthers. Antero Niittymaki just off injured reserve, got his first start in a while and was solid saving 32 of the 34 shots he faced. Meanwhile, the Flyers finally managed enough scoring of their own to at least get the game to a shootout. Jeff Carter scored late in the first period for a 1-0 lead. Simon Gagne followed on the power play a couple minutes later for a 2-0 lead. Late in the 3rd period Bryan McCabe and Jay Bouwmeester each scored power play goals to knot it up at 2. Neither team could score the go ahead goal for the remainder of regulation or in overtime so the game went into a shootout. In the first round of the shootout Mike Richards missed for the Flyers, and Ville Peltonen missed for the Panthers. In the 2nd round of the shootout Gagne scored for the Flyers and Micheal Frolik missed for the Panthers. Finally in the 3rd round Niittymaki stoned Nathan Horton to clinch the 3-2 Flyer's win. So the Orange and Black move to 24-12-9 overall for 57 points and still 5th in the Eastern conference.
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers kept rolling tonight as they welcomed the San Antonio Spurs to the Wachovia center. The Spurs were the last team to beat the Sixers, but thanks to continued hot shooting and stingy defense, the Sixers were able to avenge that loss as they stretched their season best winning streak to 6. Offensively, Andre Iguodala with 21 and Thaddeus Young with 27 led the way, as the Sixers shot a blistering 50% from the field and 57% from beyond the arc with 8 three pointers. Meanwhile, the Sixers defense held the Spurs to just 36% shooting from the field and 33% from beyond the arc, while ruling them on the boards 51-40, and racking up 9 steals and 5 blocks. So again it was a total team effort that couldn't be stopped. The Sixers jumped out to a 10 point lead with the score 28-18 after a quarter of play. By the half the Spurs had cut into that lead a bit but the Sixers still led by 7 with the score 54-47. In the 3rd quarter the Sixers pulled back out to a 15 point lead with the score 85-70 heading into the 4th quarter. Finally in the 4th quarter the Sixers simply continued to roll eventually winning easily by 22 with the final score 109-87. So the Sixers move to 19-20 overall and up to 7th in the Eastern conference. How long can keep this going?
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils avoided arbitration with yet another player today signing pinch hitter Greg Dobbs to a new 2 year deal. There are still quite a few guys who are arbitration eligible if the Phils don't come to terms with them, but securing Dobbs is a step in the right direction.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
After watching their long home winning streak disappear, the Flyers went back on the road tonight as they traveled to Tampa for a matchup with the Lightning. Marty Biron had another okay night in goal with 40 saves out of the 44 shots he faced, but once again the Flyers struggled to score any themselves, ultimately leading to their demise on this night. Joffrey Lupul scored off the power play early in the 2nd period for a 1-0 lead. Then late in the period Martin St. Louis, Andrej Meszaros, and Ryan Craig each scored within minutes of each other for a lightning fast, no pun intended, 3-1 Tampa lead. Late in the 3rd period Vinny Lecavalier scored on a penalty shot to put away a 4-1 Tampa win for good. So the Orange and Black drop to 23-12-9 overall to remain at 55 points, and 5th in the Eastern conference.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers welcomed the Portland TrailBlazers to the Wachovia center tonight in a matchup of two young and up and coming teams. Thanks to some surprisingly stingy defense and continued hot shooting from beyond the arc the Sixers rolled to their 5th win in a row. All of the sudden the Sixers are playing again as they did in the second half of last season, scoring at will and playing tough D. Perhaps this Tony Dileo guy knows what he doing after all. In fact, Elton Brand is scheduled to return to the Sixers a little later this month, and if they can play like this right now without him, imagine what they'll be able to do with him. This could still be a great season for the Sixers after all. Anyway, getting back to the game, it was truly a dominating performance by the Sixers. Offensively, Andre Iguodala led the way among 5 Sixers scorers in double figures with 29 points, as the Sixers drilled 11 three pointers, including 4 by Iguodala. Defensively, the Sixers may have put forth their best showing of the season thus far, holding Portland to just 39% shooting from the field, and 26% from beyond the arc, while forcing 16 turnovers, including 10 steals, and racking up 7 blocks. Early on the Sixers used this D and the three to race to a 16 point lead with the score 31-15 after a quarter of play. By the half that lead was up to 22 with the score 55-33. In 3rd quarter Portland at last attempted a rally cutting the lead to 10 heading into the 4th quarter with the score 69-59. Finally in the 4th quarter the Sixers resumed control of the game eventually pulling away to win easily by 21 with the final score 100-79. So the Sixers move to 18-20 overall at long last back into the 8th spot in the Eastern conference by a half a game over the Bucks.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers welcomed the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Wachovia center tonight in the always heated all PA showdown. Coming in the orange and black had won 8 in a row at home and were a sure bet to make it 9. However, Marty Biron did not have his best night in goal saving just 22 of the 26 shots he faced, while the Flyers struggled to score most of the night. Early in the first period Mike Knuble scored for a 1-0 lead. Then late in the period Tyler Kennedy scored to tie it up at 1. Early in the 2nd period Evgeni Malkin scored for 2-1 Pens lead. Late in the period Jordan Staal and then still later Matt Cooke added to Malkin's tally for a 4-1 Pens lead heading into the 3rd period. Early in the 3rd period Joffrey Lupul scored to cut it to 4-2, but that would be as close as the Orange and Black would get in a 4-2 loss. So the Flyers drop to 23-11-9 overall for 55 points and now 5th in the Eastern conference and 2nd in the Atlantic division.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
EAGLES NEWS
After an inspired victory over the Vikings in the wild card round of the playoffs the Birds traveled to the Meadowlands this afternoon for a grudge match with the Giants. Just as in their last meeting the Eagles were able to limit the Giants running game and force Eli Manning to beat them. Just like last time he was ineffective in the cold windy weather with just 169 yards and 2 interceptions. Meanwhile, the Eagles again probably did not play their best game, but did they exactly what they had to get a win. The Eagles defense did not allow a touchdown the entire game, twice stopped the Giants on 4th and short late in the game, and created 3 turnovers. The Eagles offense meanwhile, was quietly efficient, answering every score the Giants put up. Donovan had a solid game with 217 yards and a touchdown, helping to offset a totally ineffective Eagles rushing attack. It was bowever, largely a defensive struggle with the two teams trading field goals and a safety until late in the 3rd quarter with the score 13-11 Eagles. The Eagles then ate up the remainder of the 3rd quarter with their next drive punctuated by a Mcnabb play action pass to Brent Celek for a TD and a stunning 20-11 lead early in the 4th quarter. The Eagles defense took it from there with two 4th down stops one of which set up David Akers 3rd field goal of the day for a 23 -11 lead(the eventual final score), and a pair of game sealing turnovers. So once again a New York team is eliminated from championship contention by a Philly team, as the Birds move on to a date in the desert with the Cardinals in the NFC championship game. How sweet it is.
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers kept on rolling this afternoon in Atlanta against the shorthanded Hawks, who were playing without star forward Al Horford. Largely due to his absence the Sixers were dominant underneath the basket with 39 rebounds to 24 for the Hawks. Also largely due to their dominance around the basket the Sixers shot a blisteringg 54% from the field, but they were also hot from beyond the arc shooting 60% while draining 9 threes. Andre Iguodala with 27 points and Thaddeus Young with 22 each hit 3 threes to lead the way offensively. Once again the defense was just okay but when you're shooting and scoring with ease like this, okay is all the defense needs to be. Essentially the Sixers were simply clicking on all cylinders in this one and never really trailed. The two teams were actually tied at 30 after a quarter of play, before the Sixers ran out to a 7 point halftime lead with the score 59-52. Atlanta tried to mount a comeback in the 3rd quarter but the Sixers stood tall and maintained a 5 point lead heading into the 4th quarter. There they turned it on again, eventually pulling away to win by 15 with the final score 109-94. So the Sixers improve to 17-20 overall and are now tied for the 8th spot in the Eastern conference, but Milwaukee still holds the spot by percentage points.
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers welcomed the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Wachovia center tonight. Marty Biron remained in front of the net for another night and had a dazzling game with 41 saves out of the 42 shots he faced. Meanwhile, Jeff Carter, the NHL's leading goal scorer, deposited two more into the goal to help power the Flyers to victory. Early in the first period Mike Richards scored for a 1-0 lead. Just seconds into the 3rd period Alexei Ponikarovsky knotted it up at 1 for the Leafs. A few mintues later Carter scored his first goal for a 2-1 lead. Then late in the period Andrew Alberts scored for a 3-1 lead. Finally with about 2 minutes to play Carter scored yet again to put away a 4-1 Flyers victory for good. So the Orange and Black win their 8th in a row at home to improve to 23-10-9 overall for 55 points and still 3rd in the Eastern conference and 1st in the Atlantic division.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers looked to make it 3 in a row as they welcomed the Charlotte Bobcats to the Wachovia center. The Sixers shooting finally cooled off in this one, but fortunately they were playing the Bobcats who don't shoot all that well themselves and so they were able tough out a win anyway. Offensively, Andre Miller led the way with 22 points, while Andre Iguodala added 15 points and Thaddeus Young added 12 points. Meanwhile, Sammy Dalembert led the way defensively with 4 blocks and 9 rebounds, in an otherwise plain performance by the Sixer's defense. Charlotte actually held the early lead by 3 after a quarter of play with the score 27-24. They still led by 2 at the half with the score 45-43. In the 3rd quarter the Sixers rallied to a 9 point lead with the score 74-65. Finally in the 4th quarter the Bobcats tried to chip away at the Sixer's lead but eventually it became too little too late as the Sixers held on to win by 6 with the final score 93-87. So the Sixers improve to 16-20 overall and remain 1 game out of 8th in the Eastern conference.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers returned home at last tonight as they welcomed the Minnesota Wild to the Wachovia center. Marty Biron was brilliant in goal as always, with 27 saves out of the 28 shots he faced. Meanwhile, Scottie Upshall had a goal and an assist to power the Flyer's offensive effort. Late in the first period Stephane Veilleux scored for a 1-0 Wild lead. Midway through the 2nd period Scott Hartnell scored to knot it up at 1 with an assist from Upshall. Early in the third period Mike Knuble scored for a 2-1 lead. Finally late in the period Upshall scored for a 3-1 lead to put it away for good. So the Orange and Black improve to 22-10-9 overall for 53 points and still 3rd in the Eastern conference and 1st in the Atlantic division.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers looked to make it two wins in a row as they traveled to Milwaukee for a matchup with the Bucks. Milwaukee jumped out to an early lead but the Sixers kept up their lights out shooting and eventually rallied to victory, against the chronically bad Milwaukee defense, one of the few that's actually worse than the Sixer's defense. All told on the night the Sixers shot a blistering 51% from the field and 53% from beyond the arc as Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller led the way with 20 and 28 points respectively. They also shot an impressive 82% from the free throw line, hitting 32 free throws. Basically they schooled the Bucks on what a good offense is supposed to look like. Defensively, they were solid with lots of blocks and steals. Essentially they did just enough defensively for a win, but could have done better and at some point they are going to have to if they want to keep this thing going. Anyway the Sixers briefly led by 5 after a quarter of play, but by the 4th quarter Milwaukee had turned the tables with a 6 point lead of their own with the score, 85-79. The 4th quarter belonged to the Sixers as they outscored Milwaukee by 11 and eventually rallied all the way back to hang on for a 5 point win with the final score 110-105. So the Sixers move to 15-20 overall , now just a game out of 8th in the Eastern conference, currently occupied by you guessed it, the Bucks.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers finally returned home from their tough road trip tonight as they welcomed the Houston Rockets to the Wachovia center. Naturally, considering they were playing the Rockets who have 20 wins, while the Sixers have 20 losses, there was little doubt the Sixers would lose again tonight. However, perhaps inspired by their near miss in San Antonio the Sixers picked up where they left off and kept up the hot shooting long enough to pull out the surprising victory. All told they shot an impressive 56% from the field, as Andre Iguodala scored 28, Willie Green had 14, and Maurice Speights and Lou Williams each had 15 off the bench. Theo Ratliff, who saw his first extended action in quite a bit, was also a key factor off the bench with 3 blocks and 4 rebounds leading to easy fastbreak points. The defense for the Sixers was a little bit better as well with 11 steals, but perhaps it was also a bit lucky as it caught the Rockets on a bad shooting night, particularly a dreadful 26% from beyond the arc. Still it was a good night for the Sixers and a rare spark out of a team that seemed like it was already finished. Perhaps they are finally beginning to improve after all. Early on in the game Houston actually held a slim lead, with a 3 point lead after a quarter of play and a 2 point lead at the half, with the score 55-53. In the second half it was all Sixers. By the 4th quarter they led by 8 with the score 79-71. Finally in the 4th quarter they simply traded baskets with the Rockets until they had held on for an 8 point win, with the final score 104-96. So the Sixers improve to 14-20 overall and remain 2 games out of 8th in the Eastern conference
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers finally finished off their road trip tonight in Washington with a matchup against the Capitals(their last game only finished off the west coast swing of their road trip). Marty Biron got the start in goal and had a good night saving 33 of the 34 shots he faced, but Jose Theodore matched him save for save for the Caps so the game came down to yet another shootout and well you probably know what happened. Early in the first period Nicklas Backstrom scored for a 1-0 Caps lead. That score remained until Braydon Coburn scored just seconds into the 3rd period to knot it up at 1. From there thanks to some dazzling goaltending neither team could score until the game had gone into a shootout. In the first round of the shootout Simon Gagne missed for the Flyers while Viktor Kozlov scored for the Caps. In the 2nd round Mike Richards missed for the Flyers and Alexander Semin missed for the Caps. Finally in the 3rd round Jeff Carter missed for the Flyers and Alexander Ovechkin missed for the Caps to close out the 2-1 Caps win. So the Flyers technically improve to 21-10-9 overall for 51 points, still 3rd in the Eastern conference and first in the Atlantic division.
PHILLIES NEWS
Reliever J.C Romero has just recently been suspened for the first 50 games of next season for using some sort of illegal drug which he apparently got over the counter. So perhaps it is his fault for taking the drug ,or maybe it is the pharmacist's fault for giving him the wrong drug. We'll probably never know, but either way this is going to makie things difficult for the Phils early next season, but hopefully some will step up fill the void.
Monday, January 05, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
Well, it's official Pat Burrell will not return to the Phils next season. After the Phillies signed Raul Ibanez there was little chance he would return, and today he finalized a 2 year $16 million deal with the Tampa Bay Rays, yes the same team the Phillies just beat in the world series. So next season he'll be able them beat Phillies in the world series instead of the other way round. Good for him that he gets to move on to a good ball club, but it's just too bad the Phils couldn't keep him.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
EAGLES NEWS
After dismantling Dallas last week to clinch the final playoff spot in the NFC the Birds traveled Minnesota to begin their playoff run against the NFC North champion Vikings. Not surprisingly, with two of the league's best run defenses on display it was a defensive tussle throughout. Thanks to a few more big plays and stud defense in the second half, the Eagles eventually found away to win out. Offensively, the Birds didn't have their best day with the run game totally stuffed, but to their credit they stuck with it, consistently mixing in enough run plays all day long to keep the defense honest. In his first playoff start since losing the superbowl 3 years ago, Donovan Mcnabb had a solid day, basically providing most of the Eagles offensive output, as he completed 23 of 34 passes for 300 yards and a TD. Defensively, it was yet another virtuoso performance for the Birds. Tarvaris Jackson was limited to just 164 passing yards and an interception, aside from one 40 yard run, Adrian Peterson was virtually shutdown with just 83 yards on 20 carries, and Vikings collectively were totally shutdown in the 2nd half with zero points and less than one hundred yards of offense. Early on neither team could get much going, although the Eagles did manage to put together a few solid drives, both resulting in long David Akers field goals of 43 and 51 yards for a 6-0 lead. Minnesota finally got untracked early in the 2nd quarter as Adrian Peterson finished off a long drive with a 40 yard td run for a 7-6 lead. The Eagles answered with another Akers field goal for a 9-7 lead. Then on the ensuing Vikings possession Asante Samuel intercepted Jackson and raced 44 yards for a TD and a 16-7 lead. The Vikes came right back on their next possession with a long drive capped off by a 4 yd Peterson TD run to cut it to 16-14. Thanks to some stout defense the score stayed that way until about the middle of the 4th quarter. There Mcnabb slung a screen pass to Brian Westbrook who then ran off an electrifying 71 yards for a TD and a sudden 23-14 Eagle's lead. From there the Birds simply ran down clock and after Jackson and center Matt Birk botched a snap and the Eagles recovered, Akers booted his 4th field goal of the day to provide the final winning margin, 26-14. So the Birds head to New York for a date with the Giants. It should be a classic NFC East tilt.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers continued their road trip tonight as the traveled to Los Angeles for a date with the Kings. Not surprisingly, with the Flyers playing on back to back nights, Antero Niittymaki got the start in the goal and singlehandedly kept the tired Flyers in the game with 30 saves in 31 opportunities. Meanwhile Scott Hartnell posted the lone Flyer's tally which was all they needed to push the game to overtime. Neither team was able to score in the first period. Early in the 2nd period Hartnell scored for a 1-0 Flyer's lead. Late in the period Wayne Simmonds scored to knot it up at 1 for the Kings. From there neither team could score in the 3rd period or in overtime so the game went into a shootout. This time the tired Flyers came up empty. Jeff Carter missed while Patrik O'Sullivan scored for the Kings in the first round. In the 2nd round Mike Richards missed and Anze Kopitar missed for the Kings. Finally in the 3rd Dustin Brown scored for the Kings to closeout the win. So despite the loss the Flyers technically improve to 21-10-8 overall for 50 points, still 1st in the Atlantic division and 3rd in the Eastern conference.
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers finished off their road trip tonight in San Antonio against the Spurs. Not surprisingly this one looked like a runaway early but the Sixers showed some heart and managed to rally all the way back with some guile and hot shooting. All told the Sixers shot 54% from the field on the night, turned the ball over just 8 times to 19 assists and received spectacular efforts out of Andre Miller with 28 points and Andre Iguodala with 25. Unfortunately, other than out rebounding the Spurs 40-32, the Sixer's defense was not quite as good, as the Spurs shot over 50% from the field and from the beyond the arc, draining 15 three pointers. In the end the mountain the Sixers left themselves to climb proved just a bit too steep as they dropped a heart breaker. The Spurs led by 21 after a quarter of play with the score 40-19. In the 2nd quarter the Sixers began their climb, and by the half the lead was down to 16 with the score 66-50. In the 3rd quarter it was the Sixers who appeared overpowering outscoring the Spurs by 13 and cutting the lead to 3 heading into the 4th quarter. They managed to tie it up several times in the 4th quarter but could not wrestle the lead away from the mighty spurs and eventually Tony Parker drilled a 15 footer at the buzzer to break the Sixer's hearts and close out a 108-106 win. So the Sixers lose their 20th game of the season as they drop to 13-20 overall, but fortunately that is still only 2 games out of 8th in the Eastern conference.
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers continued their road trip as they traveled to Anaheim to face the Ducks. Marty Biron got the start in net and had a solid night saving 23 of the 27 shots he faced. Meanwhile Mike Richards assisted on 3 Flyers goals to help them to a much needed win. Late in the first period Ossi Vaananen score for a 1-0 lead. A few minutes later Corey Perry scored to knot it up at 1 for the Ducks. Early in the 2nd period Rob Niedermayer put the Ducks up 2-1. A few minutes later Andrew Ebbet briefly made it 3-1 Ducks before Josh Gratton cut it to 3-2. With just over 2 minutes to play in the period Braydon Coburn scored to knot it up at 3. A minute later Ryan Getzlaf made it 4-3 Ducks. a minute after that Mike Knuble knotted it up again at 4. From there neither team could score in the 3rd period or sudden death overtime so the game went into a shootout. There Claude Giroux missed for the Flyers and Corey Perry missed for the Ducks in the first round. Mike Richards scored for the Flyers and Bobby Ryan missed for the Ducks in the 2nd round. Finally in the 3rd round Ryan Getzlaf missed for the Ducks to clinch a 5-4 Flyers win. So the Orange and Black improve to 21-10-7 overall for 49 points, good for 1st in the Atlantic division at last and 3rd in the Eastern conference.
Friday, January 02, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers continued their road trip tonight as they traveled to Dallas for a matchup with the Mavericks. Once again the Sixer's offense performed admirably with 4 scorers in double figures including Andre Iguodala with 22. This time however, the D was not good enough. Dallas was able to hit 8 three pointers, shoot a higher percentage from the field then the Sixers and they turned the ball over just 10 times to the Sixers 14 turnovers. So when it came down to crunch time it was the Mavs who held the winning hand. Early the Sixers jumped to a 4 point lead and maintained it through the half with the score 44-40 at halftime. In the 3rd quarter Dallas cut into the Sixer lead and by the 4th quarter it was down to 2. Finally in the 4th quarter the Mavs were dominant outscoring the Sixers 32-20 en route to a tough 10 point win with the final score 96-86. So the Sixers drop to 13-19 overall and are now 2 games out of 8th in the Eastern conference.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
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