Just a Note On the Sixers

The Sixers current on-court lineup against the Knicks was just John Salmons bring the ball up, Kyle Korver, Matt Barnes, Shavlik Randolph, and Chris Webber playing center.

Uh, yeah. Please fire Billy King for 1. Putting this crap together so that if the Sixers take the starters out they end up losing or they end up losing if they keep the starters out there all game because they are so damn tired at the end of games and for 2. Hiring Mo Cheeks, who has no game plan.

OK.

1. Fire Billy King
2. Fire Mo Cheeks
3. Suffer no matter what because the Sixers are contract-laden by Billy King's willy-nilly style, and contract-killed by several average at best players.

They're down 2 to the Knicks(the KNICKS!) 44-42 with7 rebounds in the first 16 minutes. Their top 3 offensive scorers(AI, Webber, Iguodala) are a combined 14-21 with 35 pts. This team plays NO defense and the rest of these guys have NO offensive game. Sheesh. You should be up if your team is shooting 63% and your top 3 guys are shooting 66%!!!

Update: Now they're down by 7 with little Nate Robinson (of Dunk Contest fame, when he robbed Igoudala) hitting 2 free throws at the line for the Knicks. I can't stand it, I think I'm turning this crap off.

I'm Friends with Howard Eskin

Says so right here:

So the King of Bling and I are big buds, OK? This guy is the priemere talk show host in the Philadelphia region, with an informational, fun, and engaging program which allows the listeners to become a part of the action. You better lay off or he'll call you a nitwit.

You can be friends with him too, just go here!!!!

Headbands to be banned next

The presence of tight hosery wrapping around the spindly legs of NBA players has been known for months, ever since Yaysports! broke the story about Kobe's ghastly fashion/leg-warming choice. The NBA is finally banning this scourge. This comes after they already ruled that players must wear suit-attire at various times around games, and on the bench. Requiring suits and dress shoes for on-court is likely next.

Women run for office. Who knew? The NY Times lets the cat out of the bag.

Red Sox pitcher Julian Tavarez was suspended for 10 days apparently punching Devil Ray's outfielder Joey Gathright in the face during a brawl. In a spring training game.

Don King in a Headlock

I know these people just had a crook run through their home who was trying to evade police, but this lady has one crazy ass hairdo. Don King's got nothing on her:

Gillick screws up, then has gall to fix mistake

Pat Gillick is old-school. So old-school that he refuses to spin bad moves he has already made. Here's his take on the Vicente Padilla for Ricardo Rodriguez: "Turned out it wasn't a good trade." Wow, Pat must have big brass ones, because admitting a mistake is simply past a ton of people in the public eye now, and for good reason. Admitting a mistake leaves one open to direct criticism, whereas backing up something one did with spin and after-the-fact excuses allows them to save some sort of face. However, Pat Gillick doesn't play by your newfangled rules.

Pat also admitted another mistake, by sending Ryan Frankling to the bullpen and inserting Gavin Floyd. After he had signed Franklin to a 2.6 million dollar contract for this year, there were some who lost confidence in Gillick(linkage to Huge Tiny Mistake's take when Franklin was signed). However, he redeemed himself somewhat when he proclaimed Ryan Madson and Gavin Floyd as definites in the Phils rotation. Here's how he explained it:

"I want to win," Gillick said. "Whatever it takes to win, and whatever the manager and pitching coach think it will take to win, we'll certainly go in that direction... . Hopefully, we'll come up with somebody or make some move that will alleviate Charlie's mind a little bit in the seventh inning." (source)

Sure, he dealt Aquilino Lopez, a capable bullpen arm, for two fillers in the minor leagues, sure he signed Ryan Franklin to begin with, traded for an old Arthur Rhodes and signed an older Tom Gordon. But the man can be guaranteed to fix any mistakes he's made, and quickly, unlike the previous GM Ed Wade. If Rhodes sucks, I have all the confidence in the world that he will be out of here. I just hope that he trusts that young guys can get it done, because a bullpen full of veteran (read: old) arms will certainly have a few injuries or blowups (see: Terry Adams and Tim Worrell from last season). Either way, he has shown that he is willing to fix his screw-ups. The gall of this guy.

Running Away is Stupid

SJU students are robbed, and Joe Lunardi says they should have screamed and run away with a gun pointed at them. Stick to Bracketology, Joe.

Fran Dunphy would bring intensity to the Owls...like what John Chaney brought to the Owls were hugs, kisses, and chocolates.

LOST is back to what it does best, a whole lot of friggin' action and some cool hints of a larger conspiracy.

Here's a look at the possible Reading Phillies roster, chock full of some decent prospects but also several pieces of crap.

Phillie Phanatic into Some Sick Shit

I haven't seen such a gross display of deviant sexuality since the gimp character in Pulp Fiction. And the Phanatic invited a bunch of kids to his kinky public torture. Look at him all bloody too. For shame, Phanatic, for shame.

Geno Speaks English, You Should Too

Geno's at Citizens Bank Park is no more, as they pulled out and Rick's Steaks(from the Reading Terminal) is going to replace them. 700 Level and The Illadelph have the coverage.

John Marzano is now getting a shot at the mid-day position that previously held Mike Missanelli(fired for hitting a coworker). Kill me now, as I'm not exactly a big fan of Johnny Marz. Having to pick between Hugh Douglas and John Marzano is like picking the way you're going to die...either way you're going to die. He's now complaining about Pat Burrell striking out.

Philling Station argues for Madson and maybe Gavin Floyd in the rotation over known shitty pitcher Ryan Franklin.

What's on Peter Gammons' iPod??

Aquilino Lopez is No More

Gillick made his next big move, trimming the bullpen by dealing Aquilino Lopez from the club. He sent him packing to the San Diego Padres for minor leaguers Matt Thayer and Trey Johnston. Neither of them is inspiring much out of me(short outlook below). Lopez pitched pretty well down the stretch for the Phils, with a 2.13 ERA and 16 Ks in 12.2 IP. However, he did give up a ton of baserunners, about 1.58 an inning. I hadn't noticed him giving up that many baserunners, but it seems that he gave up 6 baserunners in 2 innings in a blowout win against the Marlins, and also 4 baserunners during the win against the Reds where David Bell hit a 9th inning game winner. I still say that he could've been a valuable piece of the bullpen puzzle, and certainly couldn't do any worse than oldheads Rheal Cormier or Arthur Rhodes.


Trey Johnston is a 20 yr old 3B(18th rounder in 2003 by the Cubs) who hit 243/338/338 in 262 atbats in the minors thus far. This is now his 3rd team. He will probably go to low A Lakewood. He did have a good 20 games last year at the end of the year in low A compiling a 973 OPS, but looks like he missed some time due to injury.

Matt Thayer is a 24 yr old OF(31st rounder in 2004) who has hit 314/406/420 with gap power. In two years he's had 388 AB thus far. He's slated for high A Clearwater or probably should skip to AA Reading to challenge him if he's going to try to make it to the majors. Who knows what he can actually do, though. Looks like he has a little speed too, netting 18 steals over the past 2 years. Maybe he can turn into a bench player or some trade bait, he had a pretty good overall OPS(888) last year.

A Glance at George Mason University

Thanks to Dan, for creating a good photo tour of George Mason University, the upset special from Washington DC which is in the NCAA Final Four. Average campus, nothing too special, but George the patriot himself is all gussied up for the tourney (and yes, I wrote gussied). Click on Georgie for the tour:

We Have An Abundance of OFs, Unless We Don't

Well, the newest Phillies rumor is that they are offering Geoff Geary to Texas Rangers OF David Dellucci. Dellucci is a good on-base man and has some good power, but the Phils already have a lot of outfielders. This search for a supposed 5th outfielder seems futile when they already had a guy which they could've cheaply kept in Jason Michaels. The guy got on-base at 38% clip over the past 3 years and made sure that every at-bat was hard fought. And so we traded him to Cleveland for a soon to be over the hill reliever Arthur Rhodes. Now, I understand that Philly cops were understandably upset about Michaels' hitting a cop, but the hypocrisy of the Phils' morality is pretty apparent when the Phils signed a steroid abuser like Ryan Franklin. Apparently it's OK to flaunt only certain laws, and you don't have to even be a good player you just had to have been on an old Gillick team(the Seattle Mariners).

We are mulling trading a reliever who started to really get it together last year, and is having one of the better springs on the team for a guy who we essentially already had in Michaels. It seems like we created a hole only to try and fill it later so that we could say that we indeed filled that hole.

What is 'The Internets'?

Jeopardy is finally allowing online entries starting today...welcome to this thing called the inter-nets, Alex.

Apparently the White Sox must've had some kind of 'plan' or something when they dealt Aaron Rowand to the Phils, because they have something called 'prospects' that they are using in his place.

Reading has a great soccer team that is has clinched an uprade to a new league!!!!! Well, not Reading, PA, but their sister city Reading, UK. Kudos, guys! Now tell me what the hell any of this crap means????

Marc Narducci says the Sixers are struggling, and does he blame Billy King, Mo Cheeks, Chris Webber, John Salmons, or anybody who is actually being detrimental to the team? No, he is decides to blame Allen Iverson, telling him to step it up from his horrible 33pts, 8 assists and 45% shooting. Shame Allen, shame.

Stop Lying About Your Bracket

Stop it. Just stop. I don't want to hear about you picking George Mason. I don't want to have your LSU pick shoved in my face. Know why? Cause you're lying! You didn't pick them, you just didn't. Maybe some LSU fans had them going Elite 8. Maybe a George Mason fan had them winning in the first round over a tired Michigan State. But to the people who have actually said to me 'yeah, I saw this coming', SHUT UP. Admit that you picked 10 different brackets. And once you do, throw out the one bracket that you have left, because it's pointless. Picking 10 different bracket possibilities is like allowing someone to take a free throw 5 times. Eventually everyone will get ONE. It's just not skill if you make up an 'upset' bracket and then smile from ear to ear when you produce the single bracket that is left standing from the grinder that was the Elite 8.

Oh sure, you saw the George Mason over UConn upset. Even with the potential upset possibilities with UConn playing below their talent level at times, it was extremely unlikely that anyone saw that the Washington DC region would play out as it did. If you were the one George Mason fan that DID see this coming, and there wasn't even a hint of homerism in your picks, kudos to you sir. However, let's just cut the crap for the rest of the 299 million March Madness warriors who have seen about as much college basketball as Billy Packer has this year.

That's another thing...March Madness warriors kill me. You know who you are. You picked Washington to go to the Elite 8 because he was your favorite Founding Father. You chose Georgetown because an uncle of yours went there for two semesters before dropping out. Bradley was little March Madness Warrior's name, so you had them going far too! Can we please get two regions for every pool? One side for people who paid attention (Though come on, NOBODY outside of 12 schools on the Atlantic Coast watched any games from the Colonial Athletic Association. I think I caught about 3 Drexel University games and a Hofstra game or two. And maybe Hofstra has a bone to pick about being left out) and one side for those who pick teams based on jersey color or number of cool afros on each team.

Now, everyone has a right to do whatever they want with their bracket, I guess. But let's not act like there's some big accomplishment in picking upset teams when you give yourself more than 5 chances. I picked one bracket. One. I went with Duke, Texas, Kansas, UCLA, Connecticut, George Mason (I kid, I kid....actually Michigan State), Villanova, and Ohio State. That was my one Elite Eight that I put in 4 different pools. Obviously the Big 10 didn't bother showing up as they left their athleticism behind, so that was what did in Michigan State and Ohio State. Kansas simply decided to do what they did all year, tease, tease, tease. If they pull that first round game out against Bradley, who knows if they still might be playing. That's the way the tourney has gone this year. Duke...I figured Redick alone would propel them to the Elite 8, but then they'd crap out after they realized that they rely too much on one player for all their offense, and a player that had little ability to create off the dribble. They figured this out one round too early. So I got 4 teams in the Elite Eight: Texas, UCLA, Connecticut, and Villanova. I had Texas, Villanova, Kansas, and Connecticut in the Final 4. So in a matter of two days I went from still having a great possibility to win 3 of 4 pools and place 2nd in the other to being knocked completely out. And I accept it because those were the picks I went with, those were the teams I put my trust in. I didn't go the easy way out by having special little 'upset' brackets or conference-heavy brackets or brackets with all 2 seeds being picked.

But maybe I should've, I could've won a lot of money

Five Reasons To Read Links Online

The Good Phight is going positive, with five reasons the Phillies will win. Somehow, cornering the market on AARP-eligible relievers didn't make the cut.

My bracket is blown up. More on that later today, and you can start laughing but I'll bet yours is just as shitty. Someone please put Billy Packer on suicide watch, there are no ACC, Big 10, or Big East teams in the Final Four. Oh yeah, and some local team named Villanova lost.

Yahoo Sports! reports that Kobe Bryant is named after steak.

As this Reading Eagle letter proves, polls don't count if I don't like the results.

Finally, Coatesville, PA is BOOMING. No joke here, multiple condo buildings are going to be built along Lincoln Highway, as well as 600+ townhomes(rowhomes which are called townhomes so they sell better). Good to see.

Back to Denny's

Denny's World Championship

Walter Ray Williams Jr.(2 titles) v Pete Weber(2 titles)

3:28 - Game. Walter Ray with another big strike, just tearing apart the rack. There's no real reason to think that he would lose now, and so kudos go to Walter Ray Williams Jr., even though I was rooting for Pete Weber.

3:25 - This could be a runaway, with Williams netting a turkey and now up 35 pins in the 5th. Weber and his sunglasses better get their ass in gear...and Weber throws a hard 7-10 where the ball just didn't hit hte breaking point, and is probably done. He needs some help from Walter Ray.

3:21 - Weber's yet to roll a strike after 4 frames. This could get out of control if he doesn't get back his rhythm.

3:18pm - Match of the year. Two guys with so many majors, so much money, and so much TV time. Walter Ray comes out firing, with a spare and 2 strikes, while Weber is struggling with the hook, leaving up a massive split 4-7-9 and MAKES it. That's why he's a friggin pro. He's still down 14 pins, but that no doubt gives him some confidence(like he needed any more).

Ryan Shafer(0 titles) v Walter Ray Williams Jr.(2 titles)

3:04 - Walter Ray no doubts breathes a sigh of relief as he sees the challenger Shafer just BLOW a chance to get back in the game. He throws up an UGLY shot that ends up with a 2-10 break that he barely misses converting. Walter Ray comes back and spits in Shafer's cornflakes by shoaving a strike down his throat. The 7th frame was the key point in the match. Goodbye Ryan Shafer. It's going to be Willliams v Webber in a classic showdown.

3:00 - Just a thought, but ESPN needs to bring back the show where NBA players bowl. It was hilarious seeing Damon Jones dominate in something, anything, because he sure does suck on the actual court. I'd love to see Sammy Dalembert look as goofy on the lanes as he does on the court.

2:59 - Williams leaves the 8 pin up, and it just TOYS with him, spinning around and around until it just stops. So harsh. Even harsher is having to face Pete Weber after advancing.

2:55 - I may have written Shafer off early, as he comes back with 2 good strikes. On a side note, I see at least 10 ads in the bowling area for Jackson Hewitt. They must think that bowlers need their tax help.

2:53 - Shafer might have bitten off more than he could chew, missing a 10 pin coversion...and Walter Ray shoves it in his face by getting a solid strike. This match is over, with 7 frames to go yet.

2:50 - Ryan Shafer starts off by getting a strike, with a herky-jerky style. Jesus christ, he's bowling with tourette's...but it works. Walter Ray Williams starts off more shaky, with an iffy 10 pin, but converts. The guy has to be the favorite to win it all, he's simply so damn fluid and so damn good. He's the Randy Johnson of bowling, using his length to his advantage.

2:41pm - They are showing us how rich pro bowlers are by touring their homes. Gotta love it, every DVD, every video game, huge bedrooms, etc. Bowlers get all the perks, now show us your bitches...oh. One of the other perks of being rich is changing your baby's diapers on national television. Nevermind.

Slight Deviation(Sixers game/ Phils game)

The Sixers are sucking, down 66-53 to the Pacers with 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.

The Phillies are losing 3-1 to the Red Sox in the 5th inning. 2 outs and Jimmy Rollins is facing Josh Beckett.

OK, there's your update. Now back to REAL sports, like bowling.

MMMM Denny's

The Denny's World Championship for bowling:

Brad Angelo(0 titles) v. Pete Weber(2 titles)...winner faces Walter Ray Williams Jr. for the championship match

2:35: Too bad for Angelo...Weber's finishing on the left lane where he has just been a force. The man wins. Of course. Weber is going nuts, gotta love this guy. He actually brings some fun to pro bowling. And an awesome ending, with the failed 7-10 two-ball trick shot attempt.

2:34: Angelo is coming in high on the right lane, and pushing on the left. There's no realistic way he can win if he keeps this up...he's not going to get that Denny's platter. However, neither of them have a strike going into the tenth frame, so the match is basically up to Weber. If he strikes out, he wins. Period. This is where they have to just pump up the ACDC when he plays so he can play that persona to its limit.

2:30: After Angelo salvages a 3-10 baby split, Weber leaves up a 2-8 because the ball hits a track of oil and pushed out, but obviously makes that. The next time I see a pro miss something like that, it will be the first. And Angelo also pushes the ball down the lane further, and doesn't really even hit a breaking point. The oil is being pushed down the lane further, which is making it tougher for these inside-outside bowlers to score.

2:26: some may wonder why I'm doing this...well guess what? I like bowling, deal with it! Angelo is back, throwing the 6th frame on the right lane down 8 and he NAILS it. Nicely done, he hits his mark inside and it just smoothly hits the breaking point.

commercial break: John Madden is still doing commercials. Jesus Christ. He has athlete's foot, why should I listen to him?

2:23pm: Weeber easily knocks out a strike in the 6th frame, he has the right lane DOWN. It's hilarious to see a 'bad boy' in bowling, especially one with such an average voice. But, he plays the persona up, and somewhat intimidates his opponents by proclaiming victory before matches where most bowlers say that they're going to just do their best.

2:20pm : Angelo is down a strike, but gets lucky with one going a bit high. Weber got one of those on the same lame earlier, these guys better think about adjusting.

Huskies All Around

GAME: UConn won it at the line, with apparently 47 free throws at the line. 98-92 is the final...and I wonder who was more important to the victory, Marcus Williams' perfect 11-11 from the line or Rashad Anderson's late game 3 point heroics. It's hard to say whether steady performance is better than 'game-changing' plays, but those plays are never able to happen if the score is out of hand. I give the player of the game to Marcus Williams.

24 seconds(OT): After a nice bucket for UConn, Brandon Roy's driving shot doesn't fall and Jamaal Williams gets a board, misses a shot, fights for another board and gets called for the foul. UConn to the line, up 3 92-89.

47 seconds(OT): 90-89 UConn, after Jamaal Williams put in a nice bucket with a good backdown low post move. He's looking really good tonight. Oh, and the Washington band is HORRIBLE. Huskie ball...(UConn)

1:40(OT): Brandon Roy with a good layup and it gets 'blocked' but it was actually a goaltend. Everyone saw it. Everyone but the refs. Argh

2:41(OT): Rashad Anderson is keeping UConn in this game, with several late buckets in the 4th and another one in OT. Tie game 86-86, with some lazy defense by Rudy Gay. This guy just seems out of it most of the time. UConn really should win this game with 3 Washington Huskies fouled out, but Washington is really staying in this game, with both Jamaal Williams and Brandon Roy putting up 20+ points.

1.8 seconds: Rashad Anderson hits another THREE POINTER!!!! He ties the game, throwing a dagger into the heart of Washington! And then Washington gets a great look but misses an open three as the clock expires. OT baby!!!!! Yes I'm Dick Vitale!!!!

7.9 seconds: Brandon Roy to the line, who had clunked 2 earlier, but drains both. UConn to inbounds the ball.

11 seconds left: Marcus Williams drives the ball through the lane and gets fouled while making the layup...1 point game after he hits the free throw. 80-79 Washington, and they get fouled with 8 seconds.

21 seconds left:: And as I write this Rashad Anderson hits ANOTHER beautiful 3-pointer to pull UConn to within 2...but then they foul right away and Washington makes both free throws.
This game is nuts...haven't they all been?!?!?!

1:16 left: He doesn't want the Huskies to win, throwing up 25 points(and a key 3 point shot with a minute and a half left) thus far in Washington's battle with Connecticut. It's looking grim for UConn, and my bracket, as Washington is leading 78-73 with a little 1:16 left in the game.

Al Skinner Has Weird Hair

Did anyone else notice that Al Skinner, coach of the fallen Boston College Eagles has patches of hair missing on the back of his head??? It was very noticable, maybe the dude needs some spray-on to fix that up.

Oh yeah, and Villanova won in overtime 60-59, willed by some random All-American named Randy Foye (and a great last play where Will Sheridan snuck through two defenders for an easy layup that was goaltended for the victory). Foye's night looks average enough, shooting only 40%, but the stage was set for a shooting night like that, with great defense being played by both teams and the refs allowing hacking and rough play on both sides. Jay Wright showed his coaching prowess, making over 80 substitutions in the 45 minute game and perfecting the offense-defense switches. Ray in on offense, Cunningham in on defense. Frazier out, Sheridan in. It went on. No one ever accused Wright of playing a large bench, but it worked. The Wildcats got into the Elite 8, and this Saint Joseph's Hawk fan congratulates them and will continue to cheer them on.

Kudos to Craig Smith for a great game for BC.

However, the Hawk is gearing up to kick your ass next year.

So Much to Watch

For a big 76ers fan and a big Big 5 fan, tonight's contests are going to be both exciting and frustrating. Villanova takes on Boston College at 7pm in a game which is being defined as 'power vs. speed', 'guards vs. forwards', etc. The Sixers will be contending with the Orlando Magic tonight at the same time down at the Wachovia Center. Orlando has lost 16 road games in a row, so the Sixers must win tonight or else face utter shame and ridicule. Nova must win to prove that their 4 guard system works and so they can advance to the Elite 8. It's going to be a great night for a basketball fan, and a great night for a Philadelphia fan.

The offense is back for the Sixers, but they must show they can actually beat a decent team before they can show they have what it takes to win a round in the playoffs. Beating teams at home like the Atlanta Hawks or the Orlando Magic shows little, as they are rebuilding teams with youngsters playing more minutes than they ever have. Veterans like Iverson and Webber must take advantage of matchups like this so that they can sneak into the 6th seed to face New Jersey in the playoffs. Otherwise, they might as well just miss the playoffs if they're going to face the Pistons. We can just throw in the tapes from last year's playoff matchup with the Pistons(where they toyed with the Sixers) and be done with it. Mo Cheeks better show me something and actually coach.

On a side note, the Phillies are going to play an intra-Pennsylvania spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Lefties Eude Brito and Oliver Perez match up. I am starting to get pumped for the Phils, as opening day tickets recently fell into my lap.

It's going to be a night of nights, in my view, and make sure that you have your remote control and your radio ready to be able to pay attention to all the games going down tonight.

I'm Stealing This Bit

Colin Cowherd apparently stole an entire bit from a Michigan football blog. And now this horrible blog wants credit, but got this as a reply from Colin(in all CAPS, mind you): "WE WERE SENT IT....WE HAD NO IDEA..BUT THE INCESSANT WHINING...MEANS I WON'T GIVE YOU CREDIT NOW..GET OVER IT." No one ever said that ESPN stood for decent sports analysis, but at the very least one thought that the on-air talent didn't have to steal their bits from blogs. I read this at multiple sources, but ultimately used YaySports! as a link(was that really hard Colin???).

Coach K eats children.

The Phillies have the horses to contend in the NL East, according to this mlb.com article. Hopefully they have the players, too.

Ryan Howard broke Dick Allen's 42 year old record for spring training home runs when he launched a BOMB of a 10th home run. Kudos Ryan, but start saving those up for when it counts.

Finally, people in Reading want the downtown to turnaround in one day, and are disappointed after the first Thursday that stores and restaurants are open late. They have about as much patience as a kid with ADD in a car for 5 hours.

Gonzaga/UCLA final minute

Texas had a crazy buzzer-beater too, giving up the tying 3 pointer to West Virginia, then running down the court with 5 seconds left and nailing the winning 3 pointer to win 74-71. Simply amazing night of basketball: Duke loses, Texas/West Virginia with a tremendous back and forth game, and UCLA with a thrilling comeback with 3 minutes to go. This is what makes people love college basketball, and is slowly converting people like me. I still love the NBA so much more, because the level of talent is so much higher and the players stay around longer, but the increasing parity in college bball IS making things more exciting, a la the NFL.

GONZAGA/UCLA game
1.9 seconds: Gonzaga launches an inbounds pass to the 3 point line, Batistsa catches it on the left side, turns around and throws it up...widely misses it off the right side of the backboard. GAME OVER!!! UCLA advances to the Elite 8, and Adam Morrison is devastated laying down in the middle of the court. Simply an AMAZING comeback in the 4th quarter, scoring the last 11 points. And actually great coverage/game calling from CBS. It helps to not have Billy Packer calling it. Kudos to UCLA. Kudos to Adam Morrison for a great college career, now go make millions.

1.9 seconds: UCLA steals an errant pass of Gonzaga's, Afflafo gets fouled and go to the line...miss the first, hit the second.

12.5 seconds: UCLA steals the ball in the backcourt!!!! They pass it into the paint and put it back to take the lead with 8 seconds left!!!!

19.7 seconds left: 71-68 Gonzaga JP Batista fouls Ryan Hollins under the offensive basket, who makes both ends of a 1 and 1. Now 71-70

One Last Dance

Awwwwwwwwwww, let's dance the night away JJ, you know I still luv you.

HAHA, Duke loses 62-54 to Louisiana State.

I'm counting the days until the NY Knicks pick J.J. Redick with their #1 pick. It will be priceless.

Phils Show Undying Love for Hairpieces

The Phils released their broadcasting schedule, and Larry Andersen has been given only 3 innings on TV. Scott Graham is slowly being integrated into the TV broadcast, but the guy should be flogged for his horrible Scott Graham ice cream commercial. Hairpiece gets his usual 6 innings of TV time.

TV Squad talks about the return of Chef on South Park, and another thinly-veiled assault on Scientology. Xenu is going to get them.

Bob Huggins loves chances...extreme chances. 19 former players/recruits have been put up on criminal charges, and Bobby himself may get another coaching job. Gotta love the win first attitude.

Jay Mohr sucks at comedy, at acting, and now at writing about sports. Deadspin has the linkage.

Finally, fear and xenophobia rule in New Jersey, with stupid concerns about an Arab-American man running for office that could be 'sympathetic' to terrorists.

Stereotypes are Fun

Joe Morgan loves stereotypes, as Fire Joe Morgan shows. The Japanese were cold and calculating, while the Cubans were emotional and firey! He missed the Japanese celebration, I gather???

Here's the odds on the next mid-day host to replace Mikey Miss. The best chance? Hugh 'freaking' Douglas. This guy actually asked Anthony Gargano earlier today 'what's up with that power play', because he didn't know the 'deal' with it. You can't have a guy that knows so little about every sport but football...oh wait, it's 610 WIP. Yeah, I guess that's par for the course. I would like Steve Martarano back, or go with a sleeper like Daily News writer John Smallwood.

Tuffy 'screwed over' Rhodes finally retired. After several great season in Japan, and one where he was tied with the Japanese record for home runs until pitchers wouldn't give him any strikes, he's called it quits. The man's name is Tuffy. TUFFY.

Sheldon Williams' favorite movie is 28 Days Later.

What a View

Here's an update on the new Busch Stadium, thus far. It's looking pretty good, though the exact same as any other new stadium. At least it's downtown:

Leftovers from Last Night

Sixers Shots has a great breakdown of the games where Salmons cost us down the stretch, and a couple I forget about.

Mike Missanelli has been fired from 610WIP, and 700 Level is upset about. This blog is less upset, but the station had to know that the guy would be confrontational, that's why they hired him. "Great job getting us ratings by being confrontational! You're fired!" Anyone fired from that station not named Cataldi or Eskin or Jolowicz has a legit beef if those chumps get to stay.

The Beer Leaguer tries to pawn Rheal Cormier and Tomas Perez off on other teams.

Condi Rice says no to being the NFL commish. In other news, Karl Rove turns down a chance to be part of a live-action Pinnochio, with him pulling the strings. He said he's already doing this.

Finally, super fun happy hour time for the nation of Japan, as they win the first ever World Baseball Classic. Winning a 1 game exhibition proves everything!

Smelly Fish is Annoying

John 'Smelly Fish' Salmons is an annoying player. He takes too many shots for how well he can shoot, he makes iffy decisions with the ball late in games, and he wears a headband. A headband in and of itself is not annoying, but he wears a headband while also sporting a mini-fro. It just doesn't work for him. Let's break it all down.

Johnny has much better stats as a starter as compared to when he comes off the pine (there are no pine benches in the NBA, which makes me sad). He shoots 47% as a starter, compared to 40% as a sub, averaging 9 more minutes and 2.5 more points a game. However, he is not one of the best guards on this team, nor is he tall enough to play as a small forward. According to 82games.com, the two players with the worst +/- ratings per 48 minutes are Kevin Ollie(-8.6) and John Salmons(-4.4). Now let's look at the minutes in the last game against the Golden State Warriors. Johnny had 41 minutes and Kevin had 26. The team can't be giving Kevin Ollie, career backup PG with a bad moustache, 29 minutes a game.

Back to Johnny, because he handles the ball far more than Ollie when in the game. Salmons has two good moves that he consistently uses. The first is driving from the top of the key after being isolated and cradling the ball while entering the paint and laying it off the glass for a bucket. The second move is catching the ball around the free throw line, doing a quick post-up, turning around and shooting the ball through the net. He's also an OK free throw shooter. So, let's give him that. However, he doesn't do much else right on the offensive end. He doesn't pass all that well, dribbling the ball entirely too much for someone not named Allen Iverson. He also consistently dribbles himself into the corner, forcing himself to either restart the 'play' (Mo Cheeks doesn't 'do' plays) or throw up a bad shot. He also turns it over in too many key spots. This is hard to quantify, and is prone to some 'I watch the games' mentality, but in the month of March there have been several instances where he's either turned it over(Boston, Golden State) or thrown up ill-advised shots(Boston). To be fair, he played well in the Seattle game down the stretch.

He also plays poor defense at the end of games. He smothers his opponent early on in the shot clock, but backs off as the clock winds down, enabling them to wriggle free for a shot, or forcing Salmons to try to recover and foul them. Several fouls have been committed late in games which have simply been unnecessary. He also doesn't rotate on defense when a teammate is being screened, which he's done several times. This led to probably the worst of the season, when, on March 5th, Indiana Pacers won by 1 point over the Sixers. The Pacers had the ball, down 1 with 5 seconds to go, and Stephen Jackson had been missing all day long. The Sixers called a timeout to even make sure they had their defense down. Then Stephen Jackson went by a screen and left his defender Kyle Korver in the dust, easily driving to the hoop for the winning bucket. People wondered why Mo Cheeks left Korver in the game, and yet didn't seem to recognize that John Salmons was standing aimlessly, not bothering to rotate on this play to pick up Jackson. Kevin Ollie made a last ditch effort to stop him, but John Salmons was the problem on that play.

Finally, John Salmons has completely lost his shot since the all-star break, and yet has been throwing up two more shots a game. His field goal percentage is 34.5% in the last 14 games, and 38.5% in the last 4 games since Iverson's been out. His passing efficiency has actually gone up, giving 2.5 assists for every turnover, and netting double-digit assists for 2 of those 4 games. So why does he continue to shoot? Why does Mo Cheeks not tell him to pass-first, shoot later? Why is Andre Iguodala not taking more of these shots away from Salmons? This guy would no doubt be a starter on a team like the Charlotte Bobcats, but the Sixers should not be starting John Salmons. He's a lesser version of Willie Green, and we already have one of those.

Just a Good Ol' Boy

Terrell Owens raps. Some said he was gonna sign just a ten year deal, but he got what he wanted, ha ha. Ha ha is right, Terrell. Ha ha is right. The Cowboys will love you for one year.

Here's Sexy Results!' daily primer on country artist Hank Williams Jr.'s hits and their lyrics. Enjoy "If the South Would've Won", a wonderful throwback to a day when overt racism was all just good and fun.

Jay Cutler, the Vanderbilt QB who could possibly be picked before both Vince Young and Matt Leinart, is a big guy. A REALLY big guy. Let's just say he makes Mark McGwire look like a little girly man.

Today's Philadelphia Phillies history nugget: The infamous Ken Lehman and Tony Curry to Cleveland for Mel Roach deal. The team never recovered...

And finally, YaySports! reports that Lakers coach Phil Jackson uses words like 'penchant'. No wonder he's (usually) a winner.

Smile at the Camera When You Lose

So, this blog has been nominated at Phillyfuture.org to be a possible 'Featured Blog' for the week. Thanks to those who nominated me, specifically the Save Ardmore Coalition. I may not always agree with their views, but they are always interesting and pretty well thought out.

Voting is almost over, and I'm down a couple votes to the other two blogs, but try and vote if you can! Vote early and vote often...

Deadspin is the best

For the best NCAA tourney coverage online, you'd think that ESPN.com or maybe Foxsports.com, or perhaps even SI.com would come through...but you'd be wrong. By far the best online coverage of the tourney is from Deadspin.com, because they give analysis and scores, but so much more as well. Humor, reader feedback, and Billy Packer bashing all make for a great read. Just thought you'd like to know.

Do the Rick Mariano jail dance! He was found guilty on Friday.

Stephen Hunter of the Sixers, on why he plays the game(after being in the rotation at the beginning of the season, being benched, being traded, then un-traded after a physical, then put back into the rotation, then having Billy King spit in his cereal):

“How I got through it is this: I don't play for management,” Hunter said. “I don't play for Billy King or (vice president of basketball operations) Tony DiLeo. But I do have a relationship with the 12 guys on this team and with the coaches. . . . Those are the guys I play for.”

Upset Special????

Stay Tuned!!!

9:17 - No, no upset special. Still a tremendous showing by Albany. UConn up 66-55 with 2:30 left.

9:11 - UConn now up by 4, score standing 58-54 with a little less than 5 minutes to play. Even if Albany loses, as they were expected to, this would be one of the games to remember from this year's tourney. Think about it, a former Division III school plays at the same level as perennial contender University of Connecticut. Simply amazing story, even better if they could pull it out.

9:06 - Uh oh. Experience and talent might be winning out, UConn is at the line still down 2, with a chance to tie the game. 6:22 left in the game. Come on friggin Albany, let's see an upset here.

9:02 - The refs are really letting the big guys bump and fight for position. The lead is within 2 points for UConn, down 52-50.

8:57pm - Well, UConn is roaring back, cutting it to within 5 by playing some good defense and running the floor. 50-45 with 10 minutes to go.

8:53pm - 12 minutes to go...48-38 Albany with UConn going to the line. Simply amazing how Albany keeps responding. Even though I would completely lose if this happened, I want to see the upset.

8:47pm - Turnovers are a killer. UConn just can't get into a rhythm on offense and Albany is making some TOUGH shots. 40-33 Albany with 15 minutes to go...we could witness history if the 16 seed actually wins. It's still unlikely, but every minute that ticks away with Albany still in the lead makes one wonder...

8:38pm - Maybe! 1 seed UConn is down 36-33 three minutes into the 2nd half against 16 seed Albany. It's unlikely, but if Albany were to hang on, it woudl completely throw most(mine included) people's brackets completely out of whack, and it would be ANOTHER Big East team disappointing in the tourney.

Ryan Howard is God

Ryan Howard hit his 8th home run of spring training.

Bow to the next king of the long ball. The above graphic is tremendous, no? 5 seconds will do that.

John Chaney Hangs 'em Up

John Chaney, the kid from South Philly who grew to be THE man at Temple University, will probably be remembered in different ways by different people. By some, he will be remembered for sending a 'goon' after John Bryant. By others, he will be remembered for threatening coach John Calipari. But by most, he will be remembered for instilling values in young men playing a game. Through countless lessons, 5am practices, and by giving young men a chance whom other schools didn't go after, he showed that everyone deserved a chance and that everyone could achieve. He was more than a basketball coach, and it will be a long time before someone else of his magnitude brings an entire university into the forefront. Perhaps Phil Martelli is somewhat a newer version of John, with both coming from Philly, both taking in players others didn't want, and using their talent to the complete limit it can go. However, there will only ever be one John Chaney.

Some articles about Chaney:

Where Will We Find Another Chaney?
Cheney Original On and Off the Court
The Real John Chaney Story: Hardwood and Soft Heart

Advice on Food/Bar

Anybody who knows anything about opening up a bar and restaurant, the poster Uncle Milty needs your help. He's up in Nazareth, PA, but he's good people. Here's the link to give him some advice.

Guidos Love Paparazzi

Lindsey Lohan goes through some crazy shit with the paparazzi...15 are camped out wherever she goes.

Interesting excerpt in the Sunday Inquirer from the new book The Mafia in the Mind of America. It was interesting reading a pretty fresh perspective about Italians in the American mind, and why people always think of the mafia, even though crime is committed by all peoples, and has been throughout our nation's history. Also, it's interesting to note that Italians themselves play these roles in TV shows and movies...the author went so far as to compare them to black minstrelsy. I'll be interested to read the book. Here's an excerpt:

De Stefano rightly observes that "some Italian Americans are ready and willing to perpetuate unflattering and even belittling images of themselves. If the Mafia image is a kind of minstrelsy, as anthropologist Micaela di Leonardo claims... Italian Americans have done their part to keep the minstrel show running." The self-stereotyping doesn't end with the mob - De Stefano reminds us of the Fonz, Rocky Balboa, Tony Manero, and more.

Now, of course there are American Italians who still use Italian phrases, who still make their own gravy/sauce, who do 'know someone'. But there are fewer and farther inbetween, and I assume the book is going to explore why both the American public and American Italians hold onto these ideas, which are increasingly becoming purely stereotype without any evidence to back them up. BTW, the Sopranos started back up last night...

Sopranos! Sopranos! SOPRANOS!!!!!!!

SOPRANOS in 15 minutes!!!!!

It's time!!!! 2 friggin years!!!!

It's So Damn Nice Out

Since the weather is so damn nice, I'm going to have a catch with an old man I know. My father.

Have a good one. No unfunniness for a little while. Here's a picture for you to pass the time.

Jim Davis Called You a Bitch

For once, an actual GOOD response to Lazy Sunday....Lazy Muncie. Made by a couple of guys from Indiana apparently, it even has an appearance from the guy who made Garfield.

Sportszilla has a realistic opinion on the Bonds taking steroids story. He did not destroy a pure, innocent game, and he's not the only one who's taken them, nor is he the only jerk around(though he's getting a lot of negative reaction because he is a jerk).

Sexy Results! has a tremendous, meandering style and talks about JJ Redick and the draft and wife beater day at Duke, with sexy results.

According to the Beer Leaguer, Julio Santana may not be the final piece to the playoff puzzle for the Phillies.

Finally, here's the greatest new blog ever, a blog specifically for the Temple Owls and the A10 tourney. Gotta love that, but hopefully it comes to an end tonight when Saint Joseph's throws them out of Cincy.

Tights(featuring Kobe Bryant) Kick New Orleans in the Balls

Kobe and his magical purple tights down the Hornets last night 113-107 in the first professional game in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina hit. The tights showed no compassion.

Too Much Flour Cost Him

Well, Kutztown University, the bastion of Greek life in Berks County, has had a very heated past month, and it's ended with the College Republican president losing his post. Here's some background for those uninformed:

The Feb. 8 bake sale was meant to highlight what the KU College Republicans considered to be inequities of affirmative action. During the sale, they charged people varying prices for goods based on the buyer's race.

Some KU students were offended, and accusations were made that some members of the College Republicans made racist statements during the sale.

More than 70 students protested on campus Feb. 24, and about 200 attended a forum set up by Dr. F. Javier Cevallos, university president, last week.

The reason is obvious why the Republican's president was voted out. He just left the cookies in the oven too long. Perhaps if he had followed directions, and made sure that they were a toasty brown, this could have all been avoided. Then again, 200 people in a school of 8,000 surrounded by a borough of 6,000 is not that much. That's less than 2% of the nearby population that attended the forum, and less than 1% that protested. Maybe he actually did follow recipe.

To be serious, college is where this stuff can be best done. Kids on both sides are extreme, and controversy is bound to occur. I see no problem with the bake sale, even if I disagree with its premise, and I see no problem with the protests or the Republicans voting out their president. Let's just chalk this up to a lesson in democracy: action, reaction, protest, forum to speak back, and then a vote.

On a final note, the new president is a minority, as was the previous president. Perhaps the College Republicans do understand more than their opponents thought. Their extreme color blindness may seem weird, color blindness is the ideal. Obviously it's not in place right now, but perhaps we are closer than we thought. As Jerry Seinfeld said, look to the cookie!!!

Jersey on Sunday

Another article about the impending new season of The Sopranos...apparently there could be a murder AND suicide very early in the race.

BREAKING NEWS: Some college basketball games with large spreads could involved point shaving since there are a lot of outliers that shouldn't be in the data. Also, bears shit in the woods and pigs roll around in mud.

Damon Jones is allegedly going Kobe on women. That's about the only thing they DO have in common.

Finally, the Sixers do everything they could to win, except get John Salmons off the court at the end of the game. Webber goes the 4th quarter without logging a minute, Matt Barnes plays 1 minute in the 4th, and John Salmons sets up a frigging card table he's out there so long. What gives Mo????

Family Disfunction

Sons and Daughters premiered on ABC last night with two back-to-back episodes. The first set up the series, revolving around a guy named Cameron who is married with 2 kids. He has a huge family, and none of them can keep their traps shut about anything, especially Cameron's mother and step-dad possibly splitting up. The show is planned out but ultimately script-free, which means that the actors play off one another. The best at this seems to be the actress who plays Cameron's sister Sharon, whose deadpan expressions are tremendous. Oh, and her and her husband Don haven't had sex in years...they literally sleep in separate beds.

The show definitely has potential, and in the second episode they go bowling! Gotta love that. It's no Arrested Development, at least yet, but that's a heavy weight to put on the shoulders of the actors for this show. This show seems like it could end up being a bit sweeter with the relationships of Cameron and his step-dad, Don and Sharon, and the younger cousins Henry(Cameron's son), and Jeff(Sharon's son). By far the best joke of the night was when Cameron's step-daughter gave her aunt a Hitler mustache because the lady said that Jews don't go to heaven(the little girl is Jewish).

I didn't even touch on a few characters, because it's such a large cast and they haven't played a large role yet. Stay tuned...but too bad it's on at the same time as Scrubs.

Great Win, You Still Suck

The owner of the Utah Jazz blasts his team after they win. Good timing.

Cherry Hill, NJ decided that if it's already somewhat broke, don't fix it in regards to creating a town center. Instead of creating a Cherry Hill town center they decided that the usual big box development/crappily-designed office/residential building was a better, cheaper option. They even got an economist to basically say that creating and urban-like area is unfeasable. Gotta love the suburbs.

Rick Mariano, Philly city councilman, is a corrput bastard(come on, shouldn't they have two ideas of corrupt, one for regular politicans and one for Italian politicians?? They're just helping out their very extended families). The feds basically have Rick by the balls so it will be fun watching him squirm for the next couple months. Follow the proceedings around his eventual bringing down at Philadelphia Will Do.

Finally, the newly reconstituted A Citizen's Blog seems to think that Bobby Abreu will eventually be dealt. I don't, and would hate the day this would ever happen. However, it's an interesting piece, so check it out.

Out of the Shadows

According to the book, Bonds, in comments to his mistress, Kimberly
Bell, often dismissed McGwire with racially-charged remarks such as, "They're just letting him do it because he's a white boy." But Bonds looked at McGwire and his hulking physique and decided he needed to dramatically increase his muscle mass to compete with him.

One of the game's greatest players ever, marred. I'm sad because
he's been the best player of my short lifetime, and this just coincides
with another great(Kirby Puckett) dying.

Both flawed men, both great players. But it's hard to separate the on and off-field problems.

Talk about it here.

Hatred is fun!

YaySports! has a poll up about the most hated NBA player. Check it out, our boys Chris Webber(my nomination) and Kyle Korver, are both on the list. I voted for Alonzo Mourning, but Vince Carter is right behind him in my view, as both gave up on their teams and essentially forced their hands to deal/cut them. In Vince's case, he simply stopped dunking and settled for a lot of shots and stopped passing. In Zo's case, he publicly pleaded to be cut to go to a winner. What tools.

Today, in 1995, Richie Ashburn was selected by the Veteran's Committe to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Long live Whitey!

Here's a great interview with David Chase, creator of the Sopranos. He gives insight into the writing process and also lays down some knowledge for us about the future of the show.

Back She Goes!!!!

Marc Narducci, the guy who defended Wheels(as he is known), still doesn't get it. He's still defending Wheels, for some reason. This despite no fans liking Chris Wheeler, this despite the ever-growing Chris Wheeler Glossary, and the this despite his obvious cherry-picking of which emails he talked about in his article. I've read emails written by many level-headed fans who dissected why Wheels sucks so much, but Narducci doesn't talk about those ones for some reason. He insists giving Wheeler a promotion because he gets a reaction....well that reaction isn't a good one!!! Yes, people aren't going to stop watching because of Wheels, but that is because they are baseball fans watching baseball. Why annoy the fans while they attempt to basically give the Phillies business? Why would Narducci even say this?? To become the Inky's Wheels lover, I guess. Oh well, we all know Wheels sucks. But here's the final dig at the fans:

No matter what people say, the fact that Wheeler never played professional baseball grates on many of the fans who feel he shouldn't be telling them what is going on. That is total nonsense.

Well, no. The only other announcer that was a professional baseball player is Larry Andersen. None of the others were, and through ESPN we've seen the terrible outcome of giving any former player a gig. Ryne Sandberg and Joe Morgan are two of the worst announcers to ever grace the booth, and were both former players. They are also universally disliked as announcers, from every person I've talked to on the matter. People don't care if you were a baseball player or you were selling hot dogs for a living, they want to be entertained, and not talked down to while watching a game. Wheels does neither.

It's Hard Out There For a Pimp

Kudos to Three 6 Mafia for winning an Oscar. Great acceptance speech, guys...seriously. True excitement and joy. Same for Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Reese Witherspoon, you guys deserved it and your acceptance speeches showed that. And yes, Jaimee Fox, white people can be from Africa too.

Natalie Portman's rap from SNL this weekend was great. Apparently she cheated on every test and snorted all the yay. Funny stuff. Eazy-E don't got shit on you Natalie. And god, she's gorgeous.

Coach Kommercial, er Coach K, appeared in some other commercials, for the new kPod, Duke Blue Daredevil for Budweiser, Nationaltide, and dHarmony. Too bad it's made by a fan from the almost equally annoying North Carolina Tar Heels. Who cares, it's still comedy gold.

Finally, Roman Catholic and Neuman-Goretti had a huge bottle-throwing brawl(is there any other kind?) after a buzzer-beater by Neuman to win Catholic League bball championship. And apparently one guard was cheering instead of looking to diffuse the situation.

You're a jopke, Hellmuth

Paul Phillips, internet millionaire turned professional poker player, throws some good jabs at Phil Hellmuth, as usual. It's hilarious reading the escapades of the self-proclaimed best in the game(Hellmuth), as he berates other players for having the balls to play against him, and then beat him, usually. He seems to forget that those percentages mean that anyone CAN win, and that people can even beat the almighty Phil. Poker is not theatre, playing out the same way day after day, outcomes change. Check here for a pretty funny site that spoofs the 'legendary' Phil, with a reincarnation of the man through Bill Fillmaff, as he teaches us inside secrets of the game. His most recent video is on the art ofplaying 'female women' in poker, as opposed to male women. Hopefully we remember the Tournament of Champions where Annie Duke SCHOOLED him and got into his head...although she's a little annoying too.

Forget trading Allen, and other things

This blog has promoted keeping Allen Iverson several times, but it's notable that The 700 Level has joined into the fray. After his most recent back-to-back games of at least 40 points and 10 assists, how can anyone legitimately argue the Sixers would be better without the man? They can't. He is the lifeblood of this franchise, and will be until the day he decides to retire. I, for one, hope that is in a Sixers uniform.

The Forward, one of the oldest American Jewish newspapers, wrote an interesting piece about Tony Soprano and his relationship with Jews. It's worth a look, if only for the insight that Tony picking the Italian Dr. Melfi as his therapeutic outlet has hindered his growth as a person. This is very subtle in the show, but Melfi does cow-tow somewhat to Tony's mob presence.

TVSquad has found a clip of a real-life Simpsons intro. It's quite good.

Finally, Mike Drago, Reading Phillies beatwriter, has the story about Keith Bucktrot getting released by the Phillies. It's a tough story to read, because injuries hampered his ability to perform in the higher levels. Drago made reference to Bucktrot's attitude, which is hard to read because we never know the real story unless someone from the team or the player says it, and we end up relying on innuendo and rumor. Good luck to Keith.

Oddballs Part II

Bowa on the Yankeees, Part II(just a strange thing to see):

Who Cares about Transit?

I do. The people who use mass transit care about it. They care about dedicated funding so that their costs aren't too high and so that they have enough service routes that it makes it worthwhile to use the bus(or train/subway/trolley in Philly). However, in Reading, they are contemplating cutting BARTA service up to 30% to deal with a lack of funding, despite rider increases over the past few years. People are using bus service in Reading more often, and so they will be greeted with a scaled-down, more sporadic system on top of an already iffy system they HAVE been using. The lack of sense this makes is amazing. Even SEPTA isn't this bad.

Now, one solution is to charge the elderly during off-peak hours. The elderly are a large percentage of customers, and charging them even a quarter a ride would help. The current fare system lets them ride for free. While noble, there is no dedicated funding so we must get funding from anywhere possible. However, the major priority is to get some funding, whether it is part of the gas tax, or out of general funds, or whatnot, to get this system up to snuff so that more riders will want to use the system and then the dedicated funding won't be needed as much.

Oddballs

Whether you like the guy or not(and I don't), it still looks weird to see Larry Bowa in a Yankees uniform. It just seems wrong somehow. At least we don't have to see him on Baseball Tonight this year.

Play Ball!

The first game of spring training is going on right now, Phillies v. Yankees. Follow along through the link.

The starting lineup:

1. Rollins, SS
2. Victorino, RF
3. Burrell, DH
4. Utley, 2B
5. Rowand, CF
6. Nunez, 3B
7. Gonzalez, 1B
8. Lieberthal, C
9. Kroeger, LF


Right now the Phils are up 6-3 in the bottom of the 9th and 1 out. GO PHILS!!!! BOXSCORE

Pat Burrell and Chris Coste both with homers

Update: Phils win!!!!! Phillies win!!! THEEEEEEE PHILLIES WIN!!!

The best comment from a poster on philliesphans.com: "World Series Bounds!"

Deflating Wheels

Well, it happened. Someone started DumpWheels.com, a plea to fire Chris Wheeler from the Phillies announcing team. It's not the nicest looking website(nor is this site) but the point behind it is that the fans don't want Wheeler, Kalas doesn't want Wheeler, so GET RID OF WHEELER.

A little excerpt says it all:

"Maybe my math is fuzzy here, but try to follow me. Harry Kalas enjoys working with Larry Andersen, the fans enjoying listening to Larry Andersen. Harry Kalas does not like Chris Wheeler, the fans do not like Chris Wheeler. So what does that equal? Six innings of Harry and Wheels, and none of Harry and L.A., and a high chance that the greatest announcer this town has ever seen, retires at the end of the year. "

Luke Ridnour and Gilbert Arenas are better than AI

Or so says Coach K, with the inclusion of both Ridnour and Arenas, and not Allen, in tryouts for the USA team in 2008. Why is this a big deal? Well, Luke Ridnour isn't anything special, in any fashion. He's an adequate passer, average shooter, bad defender, etc. Gilbert Arenas is a lesser AI, and more selfish with the ball. The Wizards have done nothing this year without Larry Hughes, and Arenas has been throwing up a lot of shots at a lower percentage than Allen, while still turning the ball over and yet not passing to his teammates as much as Allen. Sure, I could put up a bunch of stats showing this to be true, but we all know it to be true anyway. The stats just back this all up.

One could say that Allen might not accept a bench role. Well, how would we know??? Coach K didn't give him a chance. One could say that most NBA players don't want to commit to the 2 year training regimen. Well, no. Allen was one of the few NBA stars to WANT to play in Athens in 2004, when guys like Kobe and Shaq declined to participate. Now, Kobe has been picked to play, despite his backing out last time around. One could also say that we want the best players and the best team to dominate this time around, since we lost in 2004. If true, why pick a guy like Carmelo Anthony, who completely blew chunks in Athens?? Why NOT pick a guy like Allen?

Why? He doesn't 'fit' the image. Ironically, a star who was put up on charges of rape(but later dropped) does fit that image. But damn, those tatoos are just too rebellious.