Well here we are in the beginning of baseball season, and things are looking good for the Phillies, as they should be. There is no football, and there is a lockout in the NFL, so its possible there may not be any football to talk about for a while. Surprisingly, there are two other successful sports teams in Philadelphia, of which I never really write.
Tonight, the Flyers begin the playoffs against the Sabres. Honestly, I am not qualified to give my input whatsoever on this subject. I can't say that I ever really got into hockey, and honestly, I may not have ever watched a regular season game fully through. But it is still interesting to watch them in the playoffs, which I intend to do for the most part. But I will not be a bandwagon fan who claims that I've been with them through and through. But regardless, I'll root for Philly. There is actually a huge following of EXTREMELY loyal Flyers fans throughout the Philadelphia area. Honestly, I think that Flyers fans may be the most devout of all Philadelphia fans. So it'll be nice to see the city erupt into madness if anything happens. Go Flyers!
In the basketball world, the Sixers will be starting the playoffs soon. Yes, you did not misread that last sentence. THE SIXERS! Never in a million years would I have thought that the Sixers would make anything of this season, or honestly any season in the post-Iverson era. Furthermore, they will be playing the one and only Miami Heat. This series promises to be extremely entertaining. I can't wait for it. The young, scrappy, Sixers will be facing off against what many people argued would be the best team in history before this season. Furthermore, it will be awesome to see LeBron hopefully crap the bed and maybe watch the Sixers cruise into the next round. Honestly, I can't wait. Also, it is great that for some reason the whole entire nation has adopted the Sixers as the fan favorite. Everybody has their eyes on them, hoping to watch them topple the great Miami Heat and LeBron.
So, contrary to my usual routine, I managed to blog about the Flyers and the Sixers. It should be an exciting upcoming weeks to see what both teams can do.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Off to a Great Start
Well we're only less than a week into the 2011 MLB season, and things are looking very great right now. The Phillies are 4-1, and at this moment are well on their way to being 5-1 in a day game against the Mets. The pitching has lived up to what it is expected to be (for the most part), and my fears about the offense have been easily destroyed. In reality, our offense has far outperformed the pitching so far!
The first series was a great preview of what the season will hopefully be like all the way into October and November (because the Phillies will be playing in both of those months). In the first game, Roy Halladay came out and did his thing, leading the Phils to a routine victory. The next night, Cliff Lee came out in his debut as a Phillie (for the second time), and proved that he belongs in this town. He pitched a phenomenal game, striking out 11 batters. In the third game, Roy Oswalt also did his thing and the Phils won with ease.
The second series was against the team that I love to hate, the New York Mets. If you are a Mets fan, I am sorry that you have to read this because all Phillies fans are bred to despise you and your team. Even though the Mets are now a joke, (and to quote my CAMS105U teacher they are "a girl's softball team from New York"). I look back to the heat of our rivalry when the Mets used to choke in September EVERY TIME, and I laugh. Anyway, although the Mets managed to beat us the first game due to the explosion of Cole Hamels (who will be better next time), we crushed them last night (even though Big Joe also exploded), and we are crushing them right now as I am typing. The Mets are a joke, and they will be all season.
Throughout all of these games, the offense performed very well. As you may know if you read my previous posts, I have been extremely worried about the offense due to their age and lack of traditional stars such as Chase Utley and Jayson Werth. Well, I have no reason to be worried, especially since the big man, Ryan Howard, has come out playing phenomenally, even though he usually is awful in the month of April. Ryan Howard has realized that the whole offense is going to depend on him, and I am glad that he is proving that he is worth the absurd amount of money we pay him.
Anyway, the beginning of the season couldn't be any better, and I look forward to the rest of the season and a World Series victory (which will happen).
The first series was a great preview of what the season will hopefully be like all the way into October and November (because the Phillies will be playing in both of those months). In the first game, Roy Halladay came out and did his thing, leading the Phils to a routine victory. The next night, Cliff Lee came out in his debut as a Phillie (for the second time), and proved that he belongs in this town. He pitched a phenomenal game, striking out 11 batters. In the third game, Roy Oswalt also did his thing and the Phils won with ease.
The second series was against the team that I love to hate, the New York Mets. If you are a Mets fan, I am sorry that you have to read this because all Phillies fans are bred to despise you and your team. Even though the Mets are now a joke, (and to quote my CAMS105U teacher they are "a girl's softball team from New York"). I look back to the heat of our rivalry when the Mets used to choke in September EVERY TIME, and I laugh. Anyway, although the Mets managed to beat us the first game due to the explosion of Cole Hamels (who will be better next time), we crushed them last night (even though Big Joe also exploded), and we are crushing them right now as I am typing. The Mets are a joke, and they will be all season.
Throughout all of these games, the offense performed very well. As you may know if you read my previous posts, I have been extremely worried about the offense due to their age and lack of traditional stars such as Chase Utley and Jayson Werth. Well, I have no reason to be worried, especially since the big man, Ryan Howard, has come out playing phenomenally, even though he usually is awful in the month of April. Ryan Howard has realized that the whole offense is going to depend on him, and I am glad that he is proving that he is worth the absurd amount of money we pay him.
Anyway, the beginning of the season couldn't be any better, and I look forward to the rest of the season and a World Series victory (which will happen).
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Baseball Opening Day!
It's finally here! Today, baseball began, and even better, the Phillies play their first game of the season tomorrow! Months of waiting after a disappointing October have finally paid off, and now it is time for one of the most anticipated seasons in recent history. Originally, with the acquisition of Cliff Lee in addition to Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt, it was thought that the Phillies are the clear favorite to win the World Series. But now, after a spring training filled with injuries and offensive questions, it should turn out to be much more interesting and competitive. Honestly, I am very nervous for this season. Chase Utley, the best second baseman in baseball, is possibly going to be out for the entire season. Our rising prodigy, Dominic Brown, will be out for at least the first month. We lost Jayson Werth over the off-season when he took an absurdly overpaid salary from the Washington Nationals. The offense is going to be looking A LOT different this year. The crucial part is for Ryan Howard to live up to the money that he is being paid and to produce. Furthermore, the rest of the lineup needs to support him in order to score some runs. The dominant pitching staff will take care of the rest. I am just extremely nervous.
There are plenty of doubters out there who are picking the Red Sox, Yankees, and Braves to win it all. But we have to believe. It is important to not let the great predictions get to our head, but we still need to pull through this. Of all years, the Phillies are being put up as the greatest team this year. In my opinion, this is the worst we've been in 3 years! Even though we have an amazing pitching staff, our offense is extremely shaky. And how many times have we seen the favorite go down. Look at this years NCAA Tournament! I hate the position Philly is in right now, especially since we have always been underdogs. We are a city of underdogs...always! But we are still great, and need to just win this one to prove that we are the best. It should be an interesting season.
There are plenty of doubters out there who are picking the Red Sox, Yankees, and Braves to win it all. But we have to believe. It is important to not let the great predictions get to our head, but we still need to pull through this. Of all years, the Phillies are being put up as the greatest team this year. In my opinion, this is the worst we've been in 3 years! Even though we have an amazing pitching staff, our offense is extremely shaky. And how many times have we seen the favorite go down. Look at this years NCAA Tournament! I hate the position Philly is in right now, especially since we have always been underdogs. We are a city of underdogs...always! But we are still great, and need to just win this one to prove that we are the best. It should be an interesting season.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
An overview of the Phillies' status and the current state of March Madness
There are two things that I'd like to talk about in this post, so I'm going to begin with the state of the Phillies in their ongoing yet winding down spring training. Its beginning to get very close to April, and the regular season will begin before we know it. We all know that the pitching rotation is looking phenomenal. But right now there are two really big things to worry about. First is the amount of injuries. This mainly is referring to our star second baseman, Chase Utley. Throughout spring training, he has not played, due to tendonitis in his elbow. The problem is that it is too uncomfortable to play, but does not know how it can be treated. He was quoted a little over a week ago saying that, "I have to prioritize my career over this season." This obviously hints that he may be getting season-ending surgery, in order to save the rest of his career. From his standpoint, this is an obvious choice. But it couldn't be coming at a worse time! With the rotation we have, the Phils are promising to be the best they ever were! But the only issue is the current lack of offense, which is surprising because just a few years ago we were the premier offense in the majors. With Utley hurt, as he seems to have been for the past two years, it does not bode well for the offense to improve. We can only wait to see what happens, and hope for the best. Another shocking "injury" occurred yesterday, when pitcher Roy Oswalt was hit in the neck by a line drive! Surprisingly, he was ok, but there have been many instances in which people have been killed when drilled by line drives! We can only be extremely relieved and counting our lucky stars that he came out unscathed.
In other news, I want to catch up on the NCAA tournament. In the background right now, I am watching the Duke-Arizona game, and both Florida and UConn moved on a bit ago by beating BYU and San Diego State, respectively. So far, the tournament has probably been one of the best in recent memory. The amount of upsets, buzzer-beaters, and surprises have been unbelievable, and I can only hope that it will continue to get better. The only negative is that my bracket is completely busted, and I lost a good amount of money. Oh well, I would rather watch really good basketball than win money anyway.
In other news, I want to catch up on the NCAA tournament. In the background right now, I am watching the Duke-Arizona game, and both Florida and UConn moved on a bit ago by beating BYU and San Diego State, respectively. So far, the tournament has probably been one of the best in recent memory. The amount of upsets, buzzer-beaters, and surprises have been unbelievable, and I can only hope that it will continue to get better. The only negative is that my bracket is completely busted, and I lost a good amount of money. Oh well, I would rather watch really good basketball than win money anyway.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
The time has finally come. My favorite sporting event of the year, and of most years, excluding when the FIFA World Cup happens every four years. The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament began today! Nothing can compare to the competition, glory, suspense, and heart of the 64 teams who compete in the most perfect sporting tournament known to man. The first day of March Madness is definitely in my top three favorite days of the year.
So, I know that this is allegedly a Philadelphia sports blog, but all of the tournament is fair game, because Temple is in it. The is unfortunate for us at Penn State, because Temple beat us with a heartbreaking, buzzer-beating shot to move on to the round of 32. Furthermore, this happened just seconds after Talor Battle hit an amazing, deep three pointer to put the Nittany Lions ahead of the Owls. But in the end, even though we lost, I still feel good about our season. It was much better than anybody could have imagined, and Talor Battle proved himself as one of the premier players in college ball. It's too bad that he was not surrounded with any help at all, and has an idiot of a coach. I'm sure Ed DeChelis is a good guy, but honestly, his gametime decisions are absurd. My basketball experience is limited to 8 years of CYO ball for a team and school that doesn't exist anymore (Queen of Peace will always live on in my heart though), but I know that I could have coached the Nittany Lions much better than DeChelis. The only negative that comes out of this season is that he can't be fired since he led us to our first tournament in ten years. Oh well, another good thing that came out of today's game is that I do have Temple going to the Sweet Sixteen both of my pools, so my chances at winning a lot of money were not ruined.
The rest of the tournament has been going phenomenally. Every game has been extremely close, and there have been upwards of three buzzer-beating wins already! Probably the best game so far has been Morehead State's huge win over Louisville, who many predicted to go to the Final Four. Thankfully, I didn't but the game really was extremely entertaining. Morehead State has a big man who holds the all-time record for rebounds, and he truly did dominate the game.
So, I think I will end on that note, because writing this has been distracting me from watching, enjoying, and soaking in the continuation of the first round (which is technically the second round but I refuse to call it so). This weekend, if you get a chance, I highly recommend that you take a look at some of what I think is the best sporting games of the year. Till then, enjoy, and I'll check in on the tournament next week.
So, I know that this is allegedly a Philadelphia sports blog, but all of the tournament is fair game, because Temple is in it. The is unfortunate for us at Penn State, because Temple beat us with a heartbreaking, buzzer-beating shot to move on to the round of 32. Furthermore, this happened just seconds after Talor Battle hit an amazing, deep three pointer to put the Nittany Lions ahead of the Owls. But in the end, even though we lost, I still feel good about our season. It was much better than anybody could have imagined, and Talor Battle proved himself as one of the premier players in college ball. It's too bad that he was not surrounded with any help at all, and has an idiot of a coach. I'm sure Ed DeChelis is a good guy, but honestly, his gametime decisions are absurd. My basketball experience is limited to 8 years of CYO ball for a team and school that doesn't exist anymore (Queen of Peace will always live on in my heart though), but I know that I could have coached the Nittany Lions much better than DeChelis. The only negative that comes out of this season is that he can't be fired since he led us to our first tournament in ten years. Oh well, another good thing that came out of today's game is that I do have Temple going to the Sweet Sixteen both of my pools, so my chances at winning a lot of money were not ruined.
The rest of the tournament has been going phenomenally. Every game has been extremely close, and there have been upwards of three buzzer-beating wins already! Probably the best game so far has been Morehead State's huge win over Louisville, who many predicted to go to the Final Four. Thankfully, I didn't but the game really was extremely entertaining. Morehead State has a big man who holds the all-time record for rebounds, and he truly did dominate the game.
So, I think I will end on that note, because writing this has been distracting me from watching, enjoying, and soaking in the continuation of the first round (which is technically the second round but I refuse to call it so). This weekend, if you get a chance, I highly recommend that you take a look at some of what I think is the best sporting games of the year. Till then, enjoy, and I'll check in on the tournament next week.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Spring Training Report: So Far So Good
It's an exciting time of the year. The Phillies' Spring Training is in full swing down in Florida, and so far, things are looking great! Seriously, it's spring training, so it doesn't really matter how well we hit or pitch. It's just important to get back out there and get back into the swing of things, no pun intended. This being said, I'm going to give a quick overview of how things are going.
So far the pitchers are looking great. Cole Hamels has pitched six innings in two games, and has not given up an earned run yet. He also has five strikeouts. Hopefully this shows a little bit of promise of him getting back to the same form that he was in during the 2008 regular season and playoffs, when he won the World Series MVP. Roy Halladay has pitched two innings in one game, in which he did not give up a run and had one strikeout. Even if he was doing poorly, trust me, there is nothing to be worried about with him. Cliff Lee has also pitched two innings in one game, and gave up two runs and had three Ks. Just business as usual in spring training. Roy Oswalt had a shaky first outing the other day when he gave up two runs and four hits in two innings, but once again he will be great this year. The only person I worry about is Big Joe Blanton, but so far he has pitched three innings without any hits or runs. Good for him. I still get excited like a child on Christmas morning every time I think about the Phillies' starting rotation this year.
Offensively, the Phils are getting into a groove. Since we had such a poor offensive showing last season as compared to the phenomenal years in the past, I really hope that our big swingers like Utley and Howard can come through this year. So far, the most interesting thing in spring training is the battle between Ben Francisco and Dom Brown for a starting position in the outfield, to fill Jayson Werth's slot. I personally am a big fan of Dom Brown, who is one of the top prospects in the nation. The man has both speed and power, just needs to tweak his swing a bit. Good thing that he has one of the best swing doctors in the nation as his manager, none other but Charlie Manuel. The offense will be the most interesting thing to watch about the Phillies this year.
So far, it promises to be a great year for Philadelphia baseball. I just can't wait until the season starts in April. It's just important to watch the team develop through spring training, but once again, it is necessary to realize that it doesn't count for anything whatsoever!
So far the pitchers are looking great. Cole Hamels has pitched six innings in two games, and has not given up an earned run yet. He also has five strikeouts. Hopefully this shows a little bit of promise of him getting back to the same form that he was in during the 2008 regular season and playoffs, when he won the World Series MVP. Roy Halladay has pitched two innings in one game, in which he did not give up a run and had one strikeout. Even if he was doing poorly, trust me, there is nothing to be worried about with him. Cliff Lee has also pitched two innings in one game, and gave up two runs and had three Ks. Just business as usual in spring training. Roy Oswalt had a shaky first outing the other day when he gave up two runs and four hits in two innings, but once again he will be great this year. The only person I worry about is Big Joe Blanton, but so far he has pitched three innings without any hits or runs. Good for him. I still get excited like a child on Christmas morning every time I think about the Phillies' starting rotation this year.
Offensively, the Phils are getting into a groove. Since we had such a poor offensive showing last season as compared to the phenomenal years in the past, I really hope that our big swingers like Utley and Howard can come through this year. So far, the most interesting thing in spring training is the battle between Ben Francisco and Dom Brown for a starting position in the outfield, to fill Jayson Werth's slot. I personally am a big fan of Dom Brown, who is one of the top prospects in the nation. The man has both speed and power, just needs to tweak his swing a bit. Good thing that he has one of the best swing doctors in the nation as his manager, none other but Charlie Manuel. The offense will be the most interesting thing to watch about the Phillies this year.
So far, it promises to be a great year for Philadelphia baseball. I just can't wait until the season starts in April. It's just important to watch the team develop through spring training, but once again, it is necessary to realize that it doesn't count for anything whatsoever!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The Power of Sports
So, I couldn't think of a very good or fitting title for this post, so I had to pick a very corny and cliche one. But for this post, I'm going to take a very different approach to what I have normally been doing. I'm not going to bash other teams or be a loud-mouth Philly fan. Today, I want to focus on some events that occurred a few months ago in the Philadelphia area.
Nadin Khoury is a 13 year old boy who lives in Upper Darby, an area just on the border of the Philadelphia city-limits. His parents moved to the US years ago as refugees from Liberia, and he just recently moved to Upper Darby. Nadin is also a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan. Since he arrived to his new school, he began to be brutally bullied by his classmates. It began with some name calling, but peaked one day when he was brutally beaten up and hung to a fence. One of the bullies decided it would be a great idea to tape it with his video camera and post it to youtube...bad idea for that bully.
The video was discovered and the story went national. Nadin Khoury was brave enough to let the story surface for the public to hear and learn about, and even was invited to the daytime talk-show, The View. When talking about the story, all of a sudden, Eagles players DeSean Jackson, Jamaal Jackson, and Todd Herremans came onto the stage, and sat right next to Nadin. He was so shocked, that he began to cry tears of joy, and DeSean Jackson, our star wide receiver, gave him his jersey, and then spoke some reassuring words. It was a beautiful thing to see.
DeSean Jackson has a reputation for being a big-headed jerk. But after seeing this, it reassured my belief that he is a great guy, and a hell of a football player. His egotistical antics, in my opinion, make him hilarious. I am very proud to call him a member of the football team that I support, and am extremely glad to see athletes so involved in a good cause. Bullying is running rampant across the country, and by having star-athletes, who are the idols of many children, speak against it, we are preventing it from ruining the lives of young children. Here are the links to the Youtube video and the ESPN.com story about it.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6120346
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYbY1gqAEx0
Nadin Khoury is a 13 year old boy who lives in Upper Darby, an area just on the border of the Philadelphia city-limits. His parents moved to the US years ago as refugees from Liberia, and he just recently moved to Upper Darby. Nadin is also a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan. Since he arrived to his new school, he began to be brutally bullied by his classmates. It began with some name calling, but peaked one day when he was brutally beaten up and hung to a fence. One of the bullies decided it would be a great idea to tape it with his video camera and post it to youtube...bad idea for that bully.
The video was discovered and the story went national. Nadin Khoury was brave enough to let the story surface for the public to hear and learn about, and even was invited to the daytime talk-show, The View. When talking about the story, all of a sudden, Eagles players DeSean Jackson, Jamaal Jackson, and Todd Herremans came onto the stage, and sat right next to Nadin. He was so shocked, that he began to cry tears of joy, and DeSean Jackson, our star wide receiver, gave him his jersey, and then spoke some reassuring words. It was a beautiful thing to see.
DeSean Jackson has a reputation for being a big-headed jerk. But after seeing this, it reassured my belief that he is a great guy, and a hell of a football player. His egotistical antics, in my opinion, make him hilarious. I am very proud to call him a member of the football team that I support, and am extremely glad to see athletes so involved in a good cause. Bullying is running rampant across the country, and by having star-athletes, who are the idols of many children, speak against it, we are preventing it from ruining the lives of young children. Here are the links to the Youtube video and the ESPN.com story about it.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6120346
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYbY1gqAEx0
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