There is nothing new to report
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyer's welcomed the Dallas Stars to the Wachovia center tonight as they looked to continue the hot streak they have been on. Although Ray Emery was activated for tonight's game Micheal Leighton remained in goal for the Orange and Black and he was great again with 27 saves, as the Flyer's defense stifled Dallas most of the night. Meanwhile, the Flyer's themselves couldn't stop scoring. Early in the 1st period Scott Hartnell scored on the power play for a 1-0 lead. Early in the 2nd period scores by Darroll Powe and Kimmo Timonen, shorthanded, pushed the lead to 3-1. Then late in the period Claude Giroux scored on the power play and Ian Laperriere recorded a rare goal, for a 5-1 lead. Finally midway through the 3rd period Simon Gagne slapped in a rebound for a 6-1 lead and that was about all she wrote for Dallas as the Flyers went on to win easily 6-3. So at this point with 49 points overall, the Flyer's, currently the hottest team in the NHL, sit 7th in the eastern conference. Not bad huh.
Monday, January 11, 2010
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers welcomed the New Orleans Hornets to the wachovia center tonight as they looked for their 2nd successive win to end a streak of 4 straight home losses. Meanwhile New Orleans came in having won 6 in a row, making them the hottest team in the NBA coming in. So this game had every right to be a mismatch. Instead, the Sixers jumped out early and grabbed a 15 point lead after one quarter of play. New Orleans rallied back in the 2nd quarter to cut it to 5 by the half. The Sixers again started misfiring in the 3rd quarter and looked to give another one away, but somehow they manage to hang on to a 1 point lead heading in the 4th quarter. There in a tight period, Sammy Dalembert hit a hook shot with 26 seconds left, Andre Iguodala brilliantly defensed Peja Stojakovic, forcing him into a wild 3 pointer, and then Iggy sunk 2 free throws with 13 seconds left to ice a 96-92 Sixer's win. This was undoubtedly the Sixer's best defensive effort of the season thus far, as they held Chris Paul to just 13 points, and the Hornets to just 40% shooting from the field and Sammy D stood tall with 5 blocks and 14 rebounds. Of course they also allowed New Orleans to shoot 44% from beyond the arc with 8 3 pointers and that's really the only thing that kept Hornets in it all night. Still, with 5 Sixer's in double figures ,they were able to off the Hornets. Elton Brand and Iggy led the way with 18 each, AI dropped 16, and Thad Young and Lou Williams each chipped in with 12 apiece. So it was a total team effort again from the Sixers and at only 12-25 overall they need more of them.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Saturday, January 09, 2010
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers welcomed the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Wachovia center tonight as they looked for their 3rd straight win. Tampa came in to the game weary, and it showed as they Flyer's held them to just 18 shots on goal and Micheal Leighton, in goal maybe for the last time with Ray Emery slated to return tomorrow, stopped 17 of them. Meanwhile, Simon Gagne, assisted Claude Giroux on a power play goal, for his 500th career point, late in the 1st period, Scott Hartnell scored his first goal in some time early in the 3rd period, and Blair Betts scored twice late in the 3rd period, including an empty netter, to cap off a 4-1 Flyer's victory. It was just a solid effort all around for the Flyer's and they deserved the win. At this point, with 47 points overall, the Flyer's are up to 9th in the Eastern conference, just 1 point out of 8th. So today 2 of the 3 Philly teams won and you know what they say, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Of course that 1 was a little more important than those 2 but oh well better luck next year.
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers traveled to Detroit tonight for a matchup with the Pistons. Once again they jumped out to the early lead in this with a dominant first half. In fact they were up 56-30, that's right 26 points heading into the 3rd quarter and that's without AI who sat out with his bad knee again. Once again they almost blew it, but somehow they managed to hang in there enough in the 4th quarter for a 104-94 win to break their 2 game , losing which should have been a winning, streak. Elton Brand's 25 points off the bench led 6 Sixers in double figures. Iggy had 16, Thad Young had 10, Sammy D had 16 and 9 rebounds, Lou Williams had 14, and Willie Green, subbing in for AI, added 15. The Sixer's D was better tonight then it had been, as they held Detroit to just 41% from and only 5 threes, while outrebounding them 40-34. So all in all it was a good effort for the Sixers and their 11th win of the season. Let's just sat they need quite a few more games like this to have a chance of doing anything this season.
EAGLES NEWS
Well it's all over for the Birds and maybe that's a good thing. Once again in their wild card playoff game today they couldn't stop Tony Romo and Cowboys offense and they could do nothing against the rampaging Cowboy's defense. Early on the Eagles tried to hang in there with Micheal Vick firing a 76 yard TD pass to Jeremy Maclin to tie at 7 early in the 1st quarter. It was just about all Dallas after that. Mcnabb was under pressure on every snap and his receivers against a more physical Dallas secondary could not get open on most plays. He still managed to pass for 230 yards and TD to Desean Jackson early in the 4th quarter but by then it was already 34-7 Dallas and the Eagles hopes for a comeback had been dashed. There is really not much to say. The Birds were just overmatched by Dallas in every phase of the game and I don't know that there is anything they could have done different that would have helped. I think with another year of experience the Eagle's young safeties could be very good and with a healthy Stewart Bradley back in the middle, the Eagle's linebacking core will be fine next year. I think the o-line will be fine next year with a healthy Jamal Jackson back in the fold. We just weren't quite ready for liftoff this year I think, but next year watch out Cowboys, we're coming for you.
Friday, January 08, 2010
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers welcomed the Toronto Raptors to the Wachovia center tonight. With Raptors currently 6th in the Eastern conference this was a big game for the Sixers to win if they wanted to make any kind of run for the remainder of the 1st half of the season to get back into a viable position for a playoff push. Unfortunately the results were all too familiar. The Sixers came out firing and led by 11 at halftime. Then everything went Toronto's way in the 3rd quarter as they outscored the Sixers 34-25 to pull back within 2. This time the Sixers didn't Toronto get ahead and get away from them. Instead they managed to stick with them in a tight 4th quarter. With 20 seconds remaining Sammy Dalembert slammed back a layup to put the Sixers up 105-104. Then he was tasked to guard Chris Bosh on the other end of the floor to preserve the win. He got Bosh to move to his off hand, but didn't quite have enough left in the tank to keep him from banking in a hook shot and a foul with 8 seconds left for a 108-106 Raptor lead. The Sixers then got the final possession but AI got stuck in a double team, and was forced pass off to Lou Williams who could only get off a wobbly 3 pointer which missed badly. So there you have it 108-106 Raptors and milestone 25th loss for the Sixers. I can't decide what the problem is with this team but after tonight there's only two things that come behind. Either they have some kind of mental block with holding leads in the 2nd half, or its just bad coaching by Eddie Jordan. I don't know what do you think?
Thursday, January 07, 2010
FLYERS NEWS
After an easy win over the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, the Flyers traveled to Pittsburgh for a key matchup with the Penguins. Coming Pittsburgh was without, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sergei Gonchar, and others, so you knew the Flyer's had a chance to pull out the win, but only in an intense and hard fought manner. Instead they surprised eveyerone with 7 goals and a convincing 7-4 win. Micheal Leighton was very good in goal again , with severall key saves which kept the Flyer's at least a nose in front of the Pens all night long. In the first 7 minutes of the game Jeff Carter scored on the power play and James Van Reimsdyk scored a minute later for a 2-0 lead. Late in the period after a Sidney Crosby score, Matt Carle scored on the power play for a 3-1 lead. It was only 3-2 as the 2nd period, but quick goals by Chris Pronger and JVR pushed the Orange and Black lead back up to 5-2. Jeff Carter made it 6-2 about halfway through the 3rd and then with a little over 40 seconds to play Mike Richard scored on the Pens' empty net to cap off a 7-4 win. So at last the Flyer's have knocked off the Penguins, the shorthanded Penguins sure, but considering how poorly the Flyers have competed with the Pens in recent years, just beating them with any roster out there is huge. So let's here it for the Orange and Black and here's hoping they keep it going. Currently with 45 points overall, they are 9th in the Eastern conference, just 2 games out of 8th.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers welcomed the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Wachovia center tonight and politely blew them out 6-2 as Danny Briere scored his 500th career point and Micheal Leighton had yet another solid night in goal with 30 saves. Briere got it going early with a power play goal just 4 minutes into the 1st period for a 1-0 lead. Later in the final seconds of the period Danny Syvret added his second career goal for a 2-0 lead. Midway through the 2nd period Dan Carcillo made it 3-0. Finally in the 3rd period the Orange and Black scored 3 times in the first 7 minutes to put away the Leafs. Mike Richards and James Van Reimsdyk scored on the power play, and Briere scored to knotch his 500th point. So all in all it was a heck of tonight to be a Flyer's fan and here's hoping the Orange and Black keep it going tonight against those darn Penguins. As of right now with 43 points overall, they are 10th in the East, but just 2 points out of 8th, so a win tonight could put them back up 8th which would be nice.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers finally played a home game tonight, as they welcomed the Washington Wizards to the Wachovia center tonight. The Sixers actually came in having won 3 of their last 5 and looking for their 2 win in a row. The Wizards on the other hand came in having lost 4 in a row, so you would think the Sixers would have a pretty good chance of winning this one. In fact, they got off to a blazing start in the 1st half, jumping out to an 18 point lead at one point, before settling for a 14 point lead at the half. Seemingly rolling to victory, everything came to a screeching halt for the Sixers in the 2nd half. Washington suddenly heated up from beyond the arc, as Nick Young, Antawn Jamison, and Gilbert Arenas all just couldn't miss for a while. The Sixers on the other hand, totally cooled off from the field and starting making mistakes and turning the ball over. All told Washington outscored the Sixers 60-39 in the 2nd half and when the dust had settled the Sixers had not only blown their 14 point lead, they had lost embarrassingly by 7 while putting up little resistance down the stretch. Overall Washington shot 51% from the field, mostly thanks to their 65% shooting in the 2nd half, while the Sixers shot 48% from the field, but only 35% in the 2nd half. The Sixers also turned the ball over, more than 10 times in the 2nd half, almost in the 4th quarter when it mattered most. So ultimately, they totally blew what should have been an easy in just about every way imaginable, effectively wasting an outstanding effort by Sammy Dalembert, who posted 20 points and 20 rebounds(of course he was also the only pure center on the floor all night long, with Brendan Haywood out with an injury) , and solid efforts by Andre Iguodala with 20 and 8 assists, and Lou Williams with 19. While the Wizards, really aren't as bad their records indicates, frankly they just don't try enough most nights, there's no really no excuse for the Sixers in this one. When you get a team down like that at the half you have to put them away and the Sixers simply did not tonight. Better luck next time I guess.
Monday, January 04, 2010
Sunday, January 03, 2010
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers finished their west coast road trip tonight in Denver with a matchup against Nuggets in AI's first return to Denver as a Sixer again. Early on the Sixers started slow, falling behind by 9 after a quarter of play. By the half they had used hot shooting to rally within 1. By the 4th quarter they were up by 8 and in hang on for the win mode, which they did despite a furious Denver rally, for a 108-105 win. Overall the Sixers shot 50% from the field, and only 26% from beyond the arc, but hit 5 threes, which you makes you wonder why they can't shoot like that every night. At any rate, in his return to Denver, AI led the way with 17, Elton Brand had 16, Thad Young and Lou Williams each scored 12, and Rodney Carney chipped in with 11 off the bench, while hitting 3 of the Sixer's 5 threes. Defensively, the Sixer's were not very good. In fact, they were lucky Denver decided not to give their best effort for whatever reason. I guess they thought they could coast and still beat the Sixers, but the reality is that Sixer's are far more talented then they're record would suggest. They just have to shoot lights out every night to win. So anyway at 10-23 overall now the Sixers remain 4.5 games out of 8th in the Eastern conference and who knows maybe this strong road trip will be the start of something for them.
EAGLES NEWS
The Birds traveled to Dallas this early evening for their 1st game at the Cowboys brand new stadium. With a win they would finish 12-4 overall, win the NFC East, and clinch a 1st round bye as the #2 seed in the NFC, a golden opportunity for them to perhaps host the NFC championship game and get back to the superbowl for the first time since losing to the Patriots back in 2005. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. Coming into the season the Eagles had the 2nd youngest team in the NFL, in terms of average age and they really showed that youth on this day. For many of the Birds this was their first taste of a high pressure situation and they just weren't ready to handle it. There were 6 dropped passes, poor run defense, blitzes that didn't work because of the poor run defense and overall just a total lack of execution and focus. All of which led to a bitter 24-0 loss to the Cowboys. Despite missing Jamal Jackson at center the Eagles o-line actually held up just fine. Donovan Mcnabb had time to throw, but his receivers either dropped his passes or didn't get open. Mcnabb himself also missed an opportunity early in the game when he overthrew Desean Jackson down the field, on a play that could have gone for 6. At the same time though, it appeared Jackson stopped running once he got open and starting looking for the ball before Donovan ever let it go. If he had just kept going at full stride he probably would have been able to run under Donovan's throw. When they ran the ball they did it okay, but they just fell behind so quickly that they didn't have time to run that much. Ultimately, you can't blame one person or another for this one. It was a total team loss. The Bird just didn't have it today for whatever reason. So the Eagles finish 11-5 overall, 2nd in the NFC East, and 6th in the NFC which means they will go back to Dallas next week for a wild card matchup. Given that Andy and Donovan have never lost a wild card game, while Tony Romo and Wade Philips have never won a playoff game, there is still a good chance the Birds will get through next week at least, but it will be very tough for them to beat the Saints in the divisional round, although New Orleans has been struggling as of late so who knows.
FLYERS NEWS
Fresh off gutty, but losing performance at the winter classic the Flyers traveled to Ottawa this afternoon to finish off their road trip. Perhaps mentally letting down a little from the classic, they came out flat in the first period. They scored first in period, with Ian Laperriere depositing a rare goal for a 1-0 lead, but from there Ottawa quickly jumped to a 4-1 lead, with Alexei Kovalev scoring 2 of the 4 goals. Thank's to the quick Ottawa start Micheal Leighton was pulled just 9 minutes into the game in favor of Brian Boucher and initially it looked like the right move. From the flat beginning the Orange and black put together an inspiring comeback in 2nd period. Quick scores by Darroll Powe and Aaron Asham early in the period cut the lead to 4-3. Then with a little under 8 minutes to play in the period Mike Richards slapped in a power play goal to knot it up at 4. Unfortunately, the fun stopped there. Early in 3rd period Boucher failed to glove a rebound, allowing Kovalev slip behind him and slap in the live puck for a 5-4 Ottawa lead. A few minutes later rookie defenseman Oskars Bartulis misplayed a puck behind the net, slapping it right in front of the net to Chris Kelly who shot it by a surprised Boucher for a 6-4 lead. Just 6 minutes later Kovalev scored his 4th goal of the day, the 5th given up by Boucher, to put away a 7-4 Senator's win. So the Flyers drop their 2nd in a row and fall to 19-19-3 overall, for now still 2 points out of 8th in the Eastern conference. Anymore games like this though, and they won't be that close for long.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Friday, January 01, 2010
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers faced off against the Bruins this afternoon in the winter classic, the NHL's annual outdoor game and it really was classic, until the end unfortunately. Early on it was all Flyers with defenseman Danny Svyret scoring his first career goal just 4 minutes into the 1st period for a 1-0 lead. They had ample opportunities after that to put Boston away, but the Flyers were unable to light the lamp again. It looked like it wouldn't matter though as Micheal Leighton took a shutout into the final 3 minutes of the 3rd period. Then Danny Briere was called for tripping, to give Boston one last chance for the equalizer. The Flyers nearly killed off the power play and sealed a win, but with about 30 seconds left on the penalty, Boston was able to get one past Leigthon at last to tie it at 1. Later with about a minute to play Kimmo Timonen hit with a questionable tripping call himself, as 6-7 behemoth Zdeno Chara tripped over Timonen's stick after Kimmo had fallen down in front of the net. So Boston was on the power play the rest of the way. Flyers managed to escape regulation with the game tied, to secure at least a point, and then they killed it off to start overtime. Unfortunately, just after the power play Boston somehow managed to get 5 guys on the ice, 6 by some counts(only 4 players can be on the ice at once during overtime), and Marco Sturm used the advantage to score the winning goal for Boston, in a 2-1 hearbreaker. Still, the Flyers get at least a point for the 5th game in a row, and with 41 points, they are still 9th in the East, just a point out of 8th.
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils have agreed on contract with free agent relief pitcher Danys Baez, formerly of the Orioles. Baez had a 4.02 ERA, while allowing just 59 hits in 71 innings last season for the O's. In his career Baez has 114 saves so he could be valuable as a guy who can close games every now and then. That's especially important for the Phils, with both Brad Lidge, and J.C Romero coming off elbow surgery. Also it appears Chan Ho Park won't be back with the Phils next season, and Scott Eyre still has not decided whether he'll play another year for the Phils or retire. So while Baez will help to improve the Phils bullpen they're no deeper back their now than they were last season, but at least now they have another option at the back of the bullpen, besides the usuals, Romero, Lidge, and Madson.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers rang in the New Year on the west coast tonight as they continued their road trip in L.A with a matchup against the Clippers. Incredibly the Sixers actually got off to a quick start in this one and had the lead at halfime 51-49. Unfortunately everything went sour from there for the Sixers. I mean they just lost it almost completely in the 2nd half. Meanwhile, the Clips did what the Sixers have the last couple games and started shooting lights out, outscoring the Sixers 29-14 in the 3rd quarter en route to an easy 104-88 victory. All told the Sixers wound up shooting just 36% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc, which isn't going to beat anyone. They also allowed L.A to shoot 54% from the field and 62% from beyond the arc with 10 threes, the kind of numbers anyone could beat the Sixers with. In short it was a game to forget for the Sixers and what they need to remember are the two games prior to this one. That's the way they need to play the rest of the season. Anymore games like this and it won't be too long until there is nothing left for them to play for. By the way, have a Happy New Year everyone!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers continued their road trip tonight in Sacramento with a matchup against the Kings. After a stirring victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in their last game the Sixers actually came in looking to string together back to back wins. With the King' s top 2 scorers, Tyreke Evans, and Kevin Martin missing for the game, the Sixers had a golden opportunity to take it too the the young Kings for the victory. Instead they almost let the opportunity get away from them. Early on just couldn't hit anything, as they fell behind the Kings by 11 after a quarter of play. Then they slowly started to get their rhythm in 2nd quarter and by the half they picked it up completely, rallying all the way back to tie it at 50. In the 2nd half they just kept it going at a blistering pace, shooting 52% from the field and 56% from beyond the arc with 9 threes, and before you knew it the Sixers had rolled to another win, 116-106. Lou Williams and AI led the way with 22 and 20 respectively, while Andre Iguodala added 19, Thad Young dropped 11 and Elton Brand and Rodney Carney each chipped in with 14 off the bench in a true team effort. This really was the best game the Sixer's have played this season. For the first time they actually looked like they were running Eddie Jordan's offense and succeeding. They also fairly good defense against a highscoring Kings team. If they can just keep this up the rest of the season they'll be tough beat it and then who knows what can happen. For now anyway they are 9-22 overall and just 3.5 games out of the 8th in the Eastern conference.
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers continued their road trip tonight in New York, this time against the Rangers, as they looked for their 4th win in a row. The last time these two teams faced each other at the Wachovia center, New York go the win as the Flyers were shutout by Henrick Lundqvist. Tonight the Orange and Black returned the favor. Once again they got off to a quick start with Blair Betts scoring against his old team just 54 seconds into the game for a 1-0 lead. Then later in the first period, Danny Briere and Claude Girouz each added goals for a 3-0 lead that got Lundqvist pulled from the game in favor of Chad Johnson, no not that one. In the 2nd period Johnson faired no better than Lundqvist as Simon Gagne beat him twice for a 5-0 lead. Finally, halfway through the 3rd period Gagne scored his 3rd goal of the night to complete his 1st hat trick since 2005 and all but finish off a 6-0 win. Micheal Leighton was pretty good in goal again, saving all 22 shots that came his way for his 4th career shootout. Again though, it was really more great defense in front of Leighton than great goaltending by Leighton. Still, with that kind of goaltending and scoring each night it appears the Flyer's are rounding into shape at just the right time. We'll see if they can keep it going but for now at 19-18-2 overall for 40 points, they are all the way back up to 8th in the Eastern conference and are firmly back in the discussion for the playoffs.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
EAGLES NEWS
The Pro Bowl selections were announced today and 6 Eagles were selected. Desean Jackson was selected as a starter at WR and kick returner, the first time in NFL history that a player has been selected to start in the pro bowl at multiple positions, and the 1st in Eagles' history that a player has been selected to start as the kick returner. Joining Jackson as NFC starters are tackle Jason Peters, CB Asante Samuel, FB Leonard Weaver, and kicker David Akers. Defensive End Trent Cole was also selected as a reserve and QB Donovan Mcnabb was selected as a first alternate.
Monday, December 28, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers continued their current road trip tonight in Portland with a matchup against the Trail Blazers. Coming in the 20-13 Blazers had won 4 in a row and the Sixers had lost 3 of 4, so the chances of a Sixer's victory did not seem high. However, Allen Iverson finally returned to the Sixer's lineup on this night as well and his return seemed to spark the Sixer's offense which put on an awesome display. They got off to a slow start as usual and trailed by 10 at the half. Then in the 2nd half the Sixer's offense just caught fire, erasing the deficit by the end of the 3rd quarter and pushing the Sixer's ahead by 4 heading into the 4th. The Sixer's never looked back from there and never cooled off as they went to roll to shocking 104-93 victory, just their 8th of the season, against 22 losses. All told the Sixer's shot 57% from the field, with Andre Iguodala, 14, 9 assists and 7 rebounds, AI, 19, Sammy Dalembert, 14 and 8 rebounds, Mo Speights, 14, and Elton Brand, game high 25, all in double figures on the night. Defensively, they were just okay allowing Portland to shoot 42% from the field and 33% from beyond the arc, but it was good enough. When you shoot and score like the Sixer's did tonight you don't need to D up that well to win. So Anyway with the win the Sixers remain 4.5 games out of 8th in the Eastern conference and who knows maybe AI can continue to spark on dare I say it? a winning streak. Hey it could happen.
EAGLES NEWS
The Eagles got some bad news today as they learned that center, Jamal Jackson who hurt his knee yesterday against the Broncos, tore his ACL and is finished for the season. This means either Nick Cole or Mike Mcglynn will be at center for the Birds the rest of the season and that could really hurt them.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
EAGLES NEWS
The Birds welcomed the Broncos and old friend Brian Dawkins to the Linc this evening for an important game with playoff implications for both teams. Denver needed the win stay safe in the AFC wild card race, while the Birds needed the win to stay on course for an NFC East title and a possible 1st round bye as the #2 seed in the NFC heading into the playoffs. Offensively, it was another explosive afternoon for the Birds, at least in the 1st half anyway. Still, despite a 2nd half dropoff they Eagle's amassed 394 yards and 30 points, with Donovan Mcnabb throwing for 322 yards and 3 Tds. Brent Celek with 4 catches for 121 yards and a TD and Jeremy Maclin with 6 catches for 92 yards, were Mcnabb's favorite targets and they had to be as Desean Jackson was covered up most of the game by Champ Bailey, and made just 4 receptions for 33 yards on the day. The Eagles mixed in plenty of runs, mostly by Brian Westbrook who finally returned to the field following the 2nd of two concussions he suffered 6 weeks ago. Lesean McCoy and Leonard Weaver also got their fair share of carries, but Westbrook was big story on ground, as gained 39 yards on 9 carries and looked good doing it. So he'll be a useful asset for the Birds come playoff time. Defensively, the Birds were solid for the 2nd week in a row, limiting Denver to just 241 yards offense, with just 70 on the ground and only 189 passing yards from Kyle Orton whom the Eagles sacked 3 times and intercepted once. Unfortunately, they also committed 9 penalties and allowed Denver to stay in the game throughout with some poor tackling. Early it was just about all Birds, as Mcnabb fired a 2 yd TD pass to Jackson and a 47 yd TD pass to Celek and David Akers booted 2 field goals for a 20-10 Eagle's halftime lead. Midway through the 3rd quarter Mcnabb added a 3rd TD pass to Jason Avant for a 27-10 lead. Then with 2 quick TD passes by Orton and a field goal, off defensive stops and an Eagle's turnover on a kickoff return, Denver was able to rally all they way back to tie it up at 27 midway through the 4th quarter. The two defenses held for a while after that, before a 26 first down scramble by Mcnabb changed the complexion of the game with under 3 minutes to play, as it finally reversed the field position in the Eagle's favor. After stopping Denver on downs the Eagle's were able to start their next drive in Denver territory. After a short run by Lesean McCoy, Mcnabb hit Jeremy Maclin on 2nd down for a 27 yard completion down to the Denver 13. Maclin made an incredible catch along the sidelines to complete the play and set up Akers for the game winning field goal attempt a few plays later. With only 4 seconds Akers booted a 28 yard field goal for the 30-27 win. So again it wasn't pretty the Eagles move to 11-4 overall and are now just 1 win over the Cowboys next week from a division title and at least the 3rd seed in the NFC.
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers continued their road trip this afternoon in New York with a matchup against the Islanders, as they looked to get their 3rd win in a row. Considering they have owned the Islanders for the last few years this was another game they should have been able to win easily. Thanks to some questionable officiating that went against the Flyers, it turned out be a little closer then they probably planned but they got the job done with a 2-1 victory. Micheal Leighton got another start in goal and was pretty good again with 28 saves out of the 29 shots he faced, but once again it was really more solid defense in front of him, then great goaltending by Leighton. Meanwhile, Danny Briere and Jeff Carter each had a goal and an assist and Scott Hartnell assisted on both goals as well. This is first time since the first two games of the season that Carter has scored in back to back games, and his goal on this evening, with just over 3 minutes to play was the game winner, so that's a real positive for the Flyers to take forward with them. Also Hartnell, whose frequent penalties had been killing the Flyers when they were losing, did not take a single penalty which is a good sign that he is reverting back to his winning ways. So there's a positives for the Orange and Black as they move to 18-18-2 overall, and with 38 points now, jump all the way back up to 11th in the East, 2 points out of 8th.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers continued their current road trip as well tonight as they looked to string together back to back wins for the first time in a while. Considering they were in Carolina tonight, against the Hurricances, the Eastern conference's worst team thus far, that should have been no problem. It looked like, for 2nd and half periods, that for all intensive purposes it wouldn't be any problem. Micheal Leighton, in his 2nd start, took a shutout into the 3rd period, mostly on the strength of superb Flyer's defense. Meanwhile, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter each scored midway through the 1st period, and Danny Briere, yes Danny Briere scored on the power play, in his first goal in 10 games, to put the Flyers up 3-0 mdway though the 3rd period. Then wheels came loose. The Flyers suddenly simply started trying to keep Carolina out of their zone and run out the clock after that, which is fine for a team relies on its defense. Unfortunately, they did poor job of keeping the Canes out of the zone and a couple power plays and bad bounces later, Carolina had come all the way back to tie it up at 3 and send the game into overtime. You would think at that point the Flyers would have been deflated, instead they actually picked up their energy in the overtime period, but neither they nor the Canes could score in overtime, so it came down to a shootout which usually bad news for the Flyers, but not on this night. Leighton opened the shootout with a spectacular glove save of Tuomo Ruutu. Then Danny Briere opened the shooting for the Flyers with a score. Next Leighton got just enough of a Jussi Jokinen's attempt to knock it off the post out of harm's way. So Mike Richard's took the ice with a chance to seal the victory and he did beating Cam Ward right through the five hole for the 4-3 win. Thus, in the end ex-Cane Leighton and for Canes' coach Peter Lavoliette got revenge on the team that had given up on them and the Flyers got their 2nd win in a row in dramatic fashion. The Flyers are now 17-18-2 overall, for 36 points, just 4 out of 8th in the Eastern conference.
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers continued their road trip in Utah tonight with a matchup against the Jazz. After a close loss to the Wizards to begin this trip and with AI still missing in action the Sixers didn't bring much confidence into this one and it showed. They got off to a good start in the 1st quarter and actually held the lead for most of the period, but once Utah pushed ahead with 1:33 remaining in the period that was literally all she wrote. The Sixer's never led again. They rallied back a couple times at the end of the 2nd quarter and in the 3rd quarter, but still trailed by 8 heading into the 4th quarter. In the 4th the Sixers just went cold as the Jazz turrned it on defensively, outscoring the Sixers 25-12 en route to a runaway 97-76 victory. For the night the Sixers only shot 33% from the field with Mo Speights going 0 for 8 and failing to score a single point. They rely on him to score off the bench so much, that when Mo plays this poorly the Sixers really have no chance to win. With Mo struggling Thad Young led the way offensively with 20, while Andre Iguodala had a nice night with 16 and 8 rebounds, and Elton Brand and Jrue Holiday each chipped in 10 off the bench. The Sixer's defense was simply awful on the night as they allowed Utah to shoot over 50% from the field and from beyond the arc. They were also outrebounded 49-39, which considering their bad shooting on the night didn't help things either. Ultimately, this was just a pathetic effort by the Sixers, really the first one they had put forth in some time, and I don't like it. I hope this doesn't mean they are throwing away the season now in hopes of a high draft pick because it is still a little early for that.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers started on what could be a make or break road trip tonight with a visit to Tampa Bay for a matchup with the Lightning. Coming in the Flyers had not won in over a week and were desperate for points. Darroll Powe returned from his injury at last and seemed to energize his teammates early on as they scored two quick goals by Blair Betts, and by Mike Richards on the power play, and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. The Orange and Black reverted back to their slumping ways in the 2nd period, allowing Tampa to come back and tie it up at 2 on 2 goals that were far too easy. Somehow after that abysmal 2nd period they were able to pick themselves up and come out with renewed energy in the 3rd period, I mean they really took it to Tampa early on in the period. Still, it took them 10 minutes to finally get another one in the net With Betts deflecting in a shot from the point by Oskars Bartulis for a 3-2 lead. 7 minutes later Richards scored his 2nd goal of the night for a 4-2 lea, before Simon Gagne scored in the final seconds on Tampa's empty net to salt away a 5-2 victory. There are a lot of positives to take away from this one. Mike Richards was everywhere with 2 goals and an assist. Blair Betts 2 scores were the result if him getting in front of the net and creating traffic in front of goalie Mike Smith, something the Flyer's had not been doing very well. Simon Gagne had a goal and an assist in his best performance in a while. Ian Laperriere, Oskars Bartulis and Claude Giroux each had 2 assists, which is impressive for a team that was really struggling with passing the puck. Finally, Micheal Leighton was actually okay in goal with 31 saves out of the 33 shots he faced, but he struggled at times to handle rebounds and got very good defense in front of him most of the night and obviously that will have to continue for him to have success.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers traveled to Washington tonight to begin a long road trip with a matchup against the Wizards. Once again the Sixers were without AI, who is supposed to return for their next game, and Lou Williams did not start. Thus, not surprisingly they got off to a slow start in this one with Washington up by 6 after a quarter of play. Then Elton Brand came off the bench in the 2nd quarter to spark the Sixers to pull within 3 at the half and then take a 7 point lead into the 4th quarter. Unfortunately they cooled off in the final period of play and couldn't make defensive stops down stretch as Washington rallied to win 105-98. If they could only figure out a way to consistently get stops at the end of games they might just have something here. Clearly they can score without any problem, with Elton's 18 and 12 rebounds leading the way tonight, and Willie Green's 16, Lou William's 12, and 10 each for Sammy Dalembert and Andre Iguodala rounding out a good night for the Sixers shooters. In fact they shot 50% from the field on the night. Unfortunately, they also let Washington shoot 47% from beyond the arc, with 7 threes and that's really what cost them tonight and what keeps killing them every night. They are in fact dead last in the NBA in 3 pointers allowed. If anyone on this team knew how to guard the perimeter they would probably be at least .500 right now. Instead they are languishing at 7-21 overall, 2nd worst in the Eastern conference. On the other hand they are incredibly, still only 4.5 games out of 8th in the Eastern conference so I guess we can't give up hope just yet.
Monday, December 21, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
Fresh off a disheartening loss to the Rangers,the Flyers looked to get back on track tonight as they welcomed the Florida Panthers to the Wachovia center. Coming in Florida was holding the 8th spot in the Eastern conference, 5 points ahead of the Flyers, so this was a big opportunity for the Orange and Black to pull closer and make up some ground, especially the Flyers were the winners the last time these two teams met. Unfortunately, the Orange and Black couldn't duplicate that same success this time around. Florida just took it to them from the get go and never let up. They were more physical than the Flyers, and played with far more spirit and energy and it showed. The Flyers also killed themselves by taking 8 penalties while the Panthers only took 7. The Panthers' however killed off all 7 orange and black power play opportunities, while the Flyers allowed Florida to score 3 times on the power play and that was really difference. Early on things were okay as the Flyers just trailed by 2, 2-0 after the 2 periods of play. Then Brian Boucher had to leave the game with an injury leaving recently acquired backup Micheal Leighton to finish the game for the Flyers. Ultimately, he couldn't as Florida scored 2 more early goals on the Flyers in the 3rd period for a 4-0 lead. Finally Braydon Coburn got the Flyers on the board with a little under 8 minutes to play, but it was too little too late as Florida rolled to the 4-1 win, dropping the Flyersto 15-18-2 overall and now 7 points out of 8th in the Eastern conference. What a team.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
EAGLES NEWS
The Eagles came into this early evening's game simply needing to win to clinch at least a playoff spot. With their opponents being the San Francisco Forty Niners, who desperately needed to win just avoid being eliminated from playoff contention, that didn't figure to be any easy task. Fortunately, unlike last week against the Giants, the Eagle's defense came to play. They forced the Niners to committ 4 turnovers, intercepting Alex Smith 3 times, and forcing a key fumble deep in Eagle's territory. They also sacked Alex Smith 3 times ,and held San Fran to just 261 yards of offense and zero 3rd down conversions. Where the pass rush had not been able to put any heat on Eli last week it did time and time again in the face of Alex Smith on this day. He just really never got comfortable in the pocket and the Niners were lucky he didn't throw more than those 3 picks. Offensively, the Birds simply continued their fine play with Donovan completing 21 of 36 passes for 306 yards and a TD. Desean Jackson, with 6 catches for 140 yards and a TD, and Brent Celek, with 4 for 73 yards, hauled in most of those completions. Meanwhile, Leonard Weaver and Lesan Mccoy formed a successful running tandem once again, as they combined for 100 ruhsing yards and a TD. The Birds started strong taking their opening drive 50 yards for a TD, on a pass from Mcnabb to Jackson. After kicking a field goal to cut it 7-3, Smith and Niners started turning it over and the Birds took advantage of those turnovers to put a further 13 answered points before the half, with Mcnabb scrambling 8 yards for a TD, and David Akers booting a pair field goals, for a 20-3 halftime lead. San Fran really turned things around in the 3rd quarter shutting down the Eagles and scoring 10 unanswered points to pull within one score of the Birds at 20-13. Finally in ther 4th quarter the Eagles put together an 89 yard drive, capped off by a 2yd Mccoy TD run to push ahead for good 27-13. In fact thanks to the defense that's how it ended. So at 10-4 overall the Eagles have clinched an NFC playoff spot. They'll still probably have to win out to claim the division and at least 3rd in the NFC. Also the Minnesota Vikings lost tonight, so the Eagles are now just one game behind them in the NFC standings, which means they just need to win out and hope the Vikes one of their 2 remaining games, to steal a first round bye.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
After their huge win over the Celtics last night, Sixers returned to wachovia center tonight as they looked to continue building momentum against the visiting L.A Clippers. A.I was again held out of tonight's game, but Lou Williams made an early return to the Sixers from the broken jaw that supposed to sideline him for another month, so there appeared to be nothing that could get in the Sixer's way. Unfortunately, just like their co-tenants the Sixers came out flat in this one, falling behind by 13 at the half. Once again, behind 20 and9 rebounds by Andre Iguodala, 19 and 8 rebounds from Thad Young, 12 and 7 assists from Willie Green, 14 from Elton Brand, 28 and 9 from Mo Speights and yes even 6 and 4 assists from Lou, the Sixers rallied back and by the 8 minute mark of the 4th quarter they had tied it up at 84. From there the two teams battled back and forth the rest of the way, until with the game tied at 99, and only seconds left, the Sixers got the last look. As usual they went to Iggy with the game on the line, and this time he kept it himself and drilled a fadeaway for the win! or not. Officials reviewed the shot and waved it off, claiming Iggy did not get it off in time. The Sixers were a bit deflated after that, after quickly falling behind by 6 in overtime they were toast, as the Clips hung on to win 112-107. Considering this marks the 20th loss of the season for the Sixers, this one hurts pretty badly too. I guess two good nights in a row was too much to ask.
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