Why An Earthquake Should Bring Down Xfinity Live

A few weeks ago I bought a ticket to Wednesday night's Phillies game. I wasn't planning to go originally, even though they were giving the t-shirt pictured to all fans 15 and over. Then I read that the Phils set up their starting rotation so that Roy Halladay was pitching that night. In the previous two years I haven't seen him pitch once in person. I've only been to a few games the last couple of years but every time I went someone else pitched. So I got a ticket.

(I almost didn't go because my mom passed away the day before, but I spoke to one of my brothers and he said she wouldn't want me to waste the ticket, which I sort of felt myself, and it wasn't as if I was missing the funeral or needed for anything else related to it.)

I figured I could check out what has come to be known as Xfinity Live. (Officially the title ends with an exclamation point but I refuse to use it.) When plans to tear down the Spectrum were first announced, it was known as Philly Live, and was quite ambitious. A shopping/dining/entertainment experience, perhaps even a hotel, was planned. Although I hate that the Spectrum had to go (I'd have liked to see them build around it somehow), the idea sounded really exciting.

It became less exciting when the project was delayed and scaled back due to the economic meltdown.

Then they decided that it would be given the same bizarre made-up name that Comcast came up with for its cable, internet and phone services because the name "Comcast" had such a poor reputation.

You Can Play, But How About Simmonds?

Needless to say, I'm pleased about the You Can Play project, with its simple yet clear message encouraging equality for LGBT athletes: "If you can play, you can play." It's spearheaded by Flyers scout Patrick Burke, powerfully carrying on his brother Brendan's legacy. The fact that two Flyers (at least so far), Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell, have taken part in the initial public-service announcement (see below) is even better.



(Hartnell's comments to the Philadelphia Daily News, by the way: "It was a no-brainer...we live in a diverse country. It's not a white man's sport. There's all sorts of nationalities in our sport. We encourage everyone to play. It's a great sport. Everyone has fun with it, especially when you're a kid. It's not just about sport, but you learn a lot of things about real life and becoming a team.")

I've been ambivalent about the Flyers this season because of the Wayne Simmonds preseason f-bomb incident. I do feel less ambivalent now, but I still can't entirely let go of it. The fact remains that after that game his stance was "you say things in the heat of battle" and the next day, on advice of -- well, who knows? NHL players' union? Team official? Agent? - he lied that he didn't saying it. The phony non-apology we often get in these situations would have been preferable to this. And it still bothers me that, at least for public consumption, Patrick Burke hasn't gone beyond what he was quoted as saying in the article I discussed in the above-linked post. I can understand why -- he works for the Flyers, after all -- but it still irks me.

Am I being too stubborn, or ridiculous? Is it too much to ask for Wayne Simmonds to at least be honest, if not contrite? Maybe at some point he should join the other players participating in the You Can Play videos. Maybe then I'd feel better.

MixBlog 2-26-11: Such A Mess

Let's see...where to begin...

Two of the last three nights I've fallen asleep in front of my TV for at least two hours, thus affecting my sleep patterns. Happened Thursday night, and somehow when I went to bed and slept, I didn't set the alarm properly and didn't even wake up until 8:30 am, which is when I have to arrive at work. Last night, and I ended up staying up really late and then stayed in bed until a little after 5.

5 pm.

I have to be up for work tomorrow morning, so I've got the choice of trying to drug myself to sleep (with cold medicine or Tylenol PM) or stay up between now and at least 6 pm tomorrow (when I get home from work). As I have no leave time to use, skipping work is not an option (and as I already was late for work Friday I don't want to do that again).

Then there's the credit card I've been using regularly.

Flyers: Back To The Drawing Board?

So last week I was talking to my friend Kurt on the phone as I had just begun checking out my usual online haunts. My browser's home page is Yahoo.com, and it was there I saw a headline. "The Flyers traded Jeff Carter," I said to Kurt rather nonchalantly. I was sort of expecting it. Carter has scored a lot of goals but isn't quite as strong defensively as he could or should be, and seems to disappear at times, particularly in the playoffs. With the Flyers needing to clear salary in order to sign goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, having acquired his rights in a trade in order to have exclusive negotiating rights before free agency (which begins at noon today), Carter was the most obvious candidate. His salary is high but he's got enough talent that teams would want him, and Columbus was the team that ended up getting him.

Kurt and I kept talking, and I moved on from the Yahoo article, and clicked on Philly.com. There, I saw something that made me yell into the phone.

"OH MY GOD!"
"What is it?"
"THEY TRADED MIKE RICHARDS TOO!!!"

Time To End All-Star Games?

With two All-Star games this Sunday, the NFL's Pro Bowl in Hawaii and the NHL All-Star Game in Raleigh, North Carolina, we need to discuss the fact that these games (in all four major pro sports) are pretty much irrelevant.

Too many players back out because of minor injuries or other reasons, so that the "best" players aren't in the game. The rosters don't always include the "best" at any rate because fan voting either decides the starters or plays a part in the decision, and there are always undeserving players who are voted in because they're popular or well-known. And with the NFL moving the Pro Bowl to the week before the Super Bowl instead of the week after, the two Super Bowl teams' players are automatically off the Pro Bowl rosters.

As much as baseball likes to tout that their game "counts" because the league that wins gets 4 of 7 home games in the World Series, the game is a shell of its former self. The rosters are now bloated thanks to expansion and the need for enough pitchers to try and ensure that another debacle like the tie game in 2002 never happens again.

The NBA game doesn't interest me anyway, but at least they used to have a fun slam-dunk contest.

More On Sports Talk, Plus Some Sports Talk

Yesterday I talked about the local sports-talk radio stations. One thing I didn't mention in that post, but was reminded of today, is that the stations and their callers often seem to be stuck in a time warp, endlessly discussing/arguing/screaming the same tired points. An example of this was the constant whining about the Phillies not keeping Cliff Lee this season.

Now, I mentioned that I listen to WIP when my clock radio goes off and when I'm in the bathroom. When the radio clicked on today (well, after I turned it off and went back to sleep for a while and then turned it on again) there was a caller complaining about how "people talking about not wanting to sign Michael Vick to a long-term extension because he might get hurt" (like he did against Washington) are way off because Brett Favre gets hurt all the time. Favre hasn't missed a start since 1992. Vick, just this year, missed three full games and part of a fourth, and might have been out another game had it not been for the bye week. In other words, you dare not say anything negative about Vick, in this guy's mind. The next caller called Vick "sub-human," doesn't think he should be allowed to play football, etc. So the whole debate over Vick and his crimes and his punishment just goes on, and won't end until whenever he stops playing for the Eagles.

Or will it? A while ago

Flyers' Post-Mortem: A Lesson In Destiny

I came to an important realization recently, and I'd like to share it. You may want to write this down for future reference, because it may be the most profound thing I ever come up with:

One's final destiny only becomes known after the fact.

This is probably obvious, but we're always looking to tell ourselves something will happen because it's our destiny. If it were that easy, we'd have a society full of actors. "It's my destiny to win an Oscar!" How many misguided souls think it's their destiny to be the next American Idol? Now imagine if it were true. "American Idol winner William Hung/Sanjaya Malakar/anyone from Season 9." And, of course, it's my destiny to win a huge lotto jackpot and never have to worry about money again. (Still waiting on that last one, keepers of the karma...)

In sports, we tend to proclaim destiny at the drop of a hat, but especially when our team hasn't won in a long time and something amazing happens that we take as a sign, an indicator, a guarantee of future success.

Flyers: The Best/Worst Way To Make The Playoffs

I don't like the NHL's shootout rule for regular-season games. Besides the fact that most teams have higher point totals because of it (there are 11 teams with over 100 points this season -- 11!), I don't think it's particularly exciting, at least not on TV. And it's a horrible way to decide a winner. Imagine a home run-hitting contest deciding a baseball game. I've said many times that if the NHL ever implements the shootout in the Stanley Cup playoffs, I will never watch it again. I stand by that promise. I hope it never happens.

So how strange it was to see the Flyers get into the playoffs because they won a shootout. How awful must the New York Rangers and their fans feel? In a winner-take-all game, they missed out on the postseason because of something that, outside of international play such as the Olympics, used to be seen only during All-Star skills competitions.

But it's the Rangers' own fault they were in that position. I saw a lot of the game, and over the last two periods I felt the Flyers carried the play and earned the victory, something that couldn't be said often enough during this inconsistent slog of a season. They were down 1-0 until Matt Carle (really? Not Richards or Gagne or...) tied the game in the third period. When the five-minute overtime ended with the game still 1-1, I didn't hold out much hope. Yet Danny Briere and Claude Giroux scored shootout goals while Brian Boucher only allowed one Ranger to put the puck past him. The Flyers have been unbelievably awful in shootouts since the rule was put in place, so for them to win this one was just shocking.

Amazingly enough, the Flyers will now face the New Jersey Devils in the opening playoff round. The Flyers were 5-1-0 against the Devils this season. This is the one opponent that, despite their disparity in records and in goal, the Flyers actually have a puncher's chance of beating. Certainly this is much better and hopefully more entertaining than a series against the Washington Capitals.

Flyers: Terrible Loss, Standings Logjam

The Flyers' success over the last month or so (11-3-1 between December 23 and January 23) has moved them back into the thick of the playoff race, but they've now lost two in a row after tonight's awful 4-3 loss at home to Atlanta -- a game the Flyers led 3-1 after two periods. Claude Giroux scored a gorgeous goal to tie the game at 1-1 in the second, and set up the go-ahead goal by Arron Asham shortly after. Dan Carcillo gave the Flyers their two-goal lead, but the Thrashers scored twice early in the third period and eventually won it, scoring their 3 goals on just 8 shots.

Now, two losses in a row are usually not a big deal. What is a big deal is the way the Flyers lost tonight. The Eastern Conference standings right now are a jumble. Coming into tonight's action the 6th- through 9th-place teams (Flyers, Panthers, Rangers, Canadiens) all had 55 points; the Bruins, Thrashers, Lightning and Islanders were next, all with 54 points. The Islanders lost tonight, and the other teams were idle, so the Thrashers' comeback win vaulted them from 11th to 6th place. It's that close, thanks to a combination of parity (mediocrity?) and the extra point teams are rewarded with for games they wait to lose until overtime or the dreaded shootout.

Because of the Flyers' horrendous 3-13-1 run that started in mid-November they're part of the mad scramble to make the playoffs instead of sitting comfortably ahead of the pack. They can't afford to let tonight's loss send them into another downward spiral.