Tuesday, December 16, 2008
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers had won 4 in a row coming into tonight. Well make it 5 in a row, after a drubbing of the Colorado Avalanche at the Wachovia center tonight. Antero Niittymaki got another rare start in goal and delivered saving 29 of the 31 shots he faced. Meanwhile, Simon Gagne led the way offensively with a goal and 2 assists. Midway through the first period Paul Stastny scored for a 1-0 Avalanche lead. A couple minutes later Mike Knuble scored to knot it up at 1. Late in the period Jeff Carter scored yet another goal for a 2-1 lead. Just a little past midway through the 2nd period Joffrey Lupul and Mike Richards scored goals within minutes of each other for a 4-1 lead. Late in the period David Jones scored to cut it to 4-2. Finally early in the 3rd period Gagne scored to put it away for good, as the Flyers eventually hung on for a 5-2 win. So the Orange and Black move to 17-7-6 overall for 40 points and still 4th in the Eastern conference, and 2nd in the Atlantic division now just 2 points behind the Rangers.
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils have come to an agreement with Jamie Moyer on a 2 year deal. The exact terms have not been disclosed but at any rate Moyer, the 46 year old lefty, will be back with the Phils next season and then the season after that, when he will likely retire. In other news the Phils have also signed pitcher Chan Ho Park to a contract. Park will probably compete along with J.A Happ and Kyle Kendrick for the 5th spot in the Phils rotation behind Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Moyer, and Joe Blanton. Park could also wind up as the Phils long reliever, even though Clay Condrey is already pretty handy at that trade.
Monday, December 15, 2008
EAGLES NEWS
The Birds kept on rolling tonight at the Linc as they welcomed the Cleveland Browns to town. With the Browns nursing one of the worst defenses in the league and an offense down to its 3rd string QB, this one was destined to be no contest. However, thanks to some stupid Eagles plays in the red zone, namely two turnovers right at the goal line, the Browns were able to keep it close for a while, before the Birds finally pulled away late. Statistically the Eagles crushed the Browns on offense, with 21 first downs, and 418 total yards, but they were only 2 for 9 in the red zone, so the final score wound up much closer than it should have been. Individually, Donovan Mcnabb completed 26-35 passes for 290 yards and 2 TDs, and one very meaningless interception, and Jason Avant the proverbial 3rd down reciever, had a big night with 5 catches for a 101 yards. Finally, Brian Westbrook was not effective on this night has he had been the last 2 weeks, rushing 16 times for just 53 yards, but the constant threat of him in the backfield or splitting out for a pass, was enough to open up the rest of the offense and allow it to often move down the field seemingly effortlessly. Defensively, it was another stellar night for Jim Johnson's boys, as they held the Browns to just 196 yards of offense, and 0 offensive TDs, while intercepting Ken Dorsey twice. The individual most directly responsible for that performance was Trent Cole, who harassed Dorsey all night, forcing him to throw before he wanted to, again and again. The Eagles opened the game by driving straight down field for a Mcnabb TD pass to Kevin Curtis and a 7-0 lead. Cleveland responded with a Phil Dawson field goal to cut it to 7-3. David Akers booted a 24 yd field goal to finish the first quarter with the Eagles ahead 10-3. It stayed that way until late in the 2nd quarter when Asante Samuel intercepted Dorsey and then raced 50 yards for a TD and a 17-3 lead. The Birds then had a golden opportunity to go up 24-3 at the half, but Mcnabb was intercepted in the end zone on the final play of the half, just underthrowing a fade route. Finally with a little over 3 minutes to play in the 3rd quarter the Eagles managed to add to their lead, but had to settle for another Akers field goal to make it 20-3. Early in the 4th quarter Akers booted yet another field goal for a 23-3 lead. A few minutes later Mcnabb fired a TD pass to Greg Lewis for a 30-3 lead and his night was done. A couple minutes later Kevin Kolb came in to finish out the game and watched Brandon Mcdonald intercept him and return it 24 yds for a score to cut it to 30-10 and that would be about all she wrote. So the Eagles move to 8-5-1 overall and for now remain alive and well in the playoff race.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils got their off season underway yesterday coming to a preliminary agreement with leftfielder Raul Ibanez on a 3 year $31.5 million deal, pending a physical. Ibanez, is 36 years old, but batted .293 last season with 23 homers and 110 RBIs, so he's still got a little bit left in the tank. Most likely, this means that Pat Burrell will not be returning to the Phils next season, as Ibanez would take his place in left, but you never know. The Phils also signed utility infielder/outfielder Eric Bruntlett and reliever Clay Condrey to one year contracts, avoiding arbitration with the two. However, Bruntlett and Condrey are just a couple of the numerous Phils that are arbitration eligible, so they have their work cut out for them in the coming months.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers welcomed the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Wachovia center tonight for a key divisional matchup as both teams were tied in the standings coming in at 36 points a piece. Marty Biron returned to the net tonight and had a solid night holding the top scoring team in the NHL to just 3 goals on 26 shots. Meanwhile, the Flyers exploded offensively, compiling 6 goals, including 2 for Mike Knuble, in romping to an impressive win. Early in the first period Joffrey Lupul cleaned up a rebound in front of the net for a 1-0 lead. Late in the period Knuble scored his first for a 2-0 lead. Early in the 2nd period Jordan Staal cut it 2-1 for the Pens. Midway through the 2nd, Mike Richards scored for a 3-1 lead. Scott Hartnell followed a couple minutes later for a 4-1 lead. Then late in the period Knuble scored his 2nd goal for a 5-1 lead. Unlike Carolina a few nights ago they would not cough it up. Midway through the 3rd period Eric Godard scored to cut the lead to 5-2. With just over 4 minutes to play, Jeff Carter scored yet another goal for a 6-2 lead. Finally with just under 2 minutes to play ex-Flyer Ruslan Fedotenko recorded a meaningless tally that did little but change the final score to 6-3. So after demolishing Pittsburgh, the Orange and Black improve to 16-7-6 overall for 38 points, 4th in the Eastern conference, and still 2nd in the division 4 points behind the Rangers. I think we can now say this team is hitting its stride.
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers made news today even before tonight's game against the Washington Wizards, as GM Ed Stefanski relieved Maurice Cheeks of his head coaching duties, and replaced him with team vice president of player personnel Tony Dileo. Dileo hasn't coached since the 80s but boasts an impressive resume nonetheless. Clearly the move was an attempt at a wakeup call for the players, in order to get them to play up to their potential and tonight at least it worked. Of course the Sixers did play the agent zeroeless Wizards tonight who have compiled all of 4 wins so far this season, so in a way a win should have been inevitable tonight anyway, but who knows the coaching change may have already started to help as well. Statistically the team had one of its most complete games. Offensively, it may have been their best night of the season. The bench contributed a season best 50 points, Elton Brand dropped a season best 27 points, and the team shot close to a season best 51% from the field, and dished out 24 assists to just 13 turnovers. Defensively, they were not as impressive but still solid. Essentially They did just enough to get a win, out rebounding Washington 46-37, and holding them to just 41% shooting from the field. Early on the Sixers jumped out to a 5 point lead with the score 25-20 after a quarter of play. Rather than sit on that lead they kept pushing it in the 2nd quarter and by the half the lead was up to 11, with the score 51-40. They just kept it going in the 3rd quarter and by the beginning of the 4th quarter the lead was up to 14, with the score 79-65. Finally in the 4th quarter the Sixers did not let off the gas pedal and eventually sprinted out a 15 point win, with the final score 104-89. So the Sixers improve to 10-14 overall and have perhaps been given the wakeup call they needed. Only time will tell though if inserting Dileo at head coach was the right move.
Friday, December 12, 2008
SIXERS NEWS
Well another night another loss for the Sixers as they traveled to Cleveland to finish a home and home with Lebron and the Cavs. They played better D this time around but Lebron still dropped 28 and the Sixers still struggled to score themselves. This is really beginning to sound like a broken record at this point and I am not sure I even want to talk about it. So let' s just say this, it was a close game for a quarter, but the Cavs pulled away in the 2nd quarter and never looked back eventually hanging on to win by 16 with the final score 88-72, nuff said. So the Sixers drop to 9-13 overall, what a team.
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