Top 10 Philly Sports Moments

Over the next couple weeks, I’m going to give a list of my top ten sports moments as a Philadelphia sports fan. There’s not too much to it, it can be a series or simply a play or game. Just my take was what has been most memorable to me so far. The only requirement is that I have to remember it, so yes I did watch the 1993 World Series, but being six years old, the memory isn’t too fresh in the head for me right now.

I’m going to start with 10 and work my way down over the course of a couple posts, then probably put them all together for one long post at the end.

#10- Allen Iverson crosses over Jordan- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEmS8ZQIhTA

The most iconic person in my lifetime for Philadelphia sports over the course of my lifetime is Allen Iverson. There is no question about it. He won the MVP, two-time All-Star game MVP, and took the Sixers to the finals. He had the keys to the city, and was loved by the Philly Sports Fan everywhere. He played exactly how we wanted him to play. He played hurt, he played hard, and he played to win. There isn’t too much else you could ask for from your franchise guy.

What people sometimes don’t remember is that this was only his rookie year, and after saying he doesn’t have to respect anybody, Jordan came back at him before the game saying that he had to respect them. It marked the beginning of a dominate reign for AI, and when I officially become the champion for he is going to be the best player in the league. I was 9 years old when this happened, and still remember it. Iverson had 37 points and shot 15-23, but it was more than that. The city finally had something to look forward to every night, somebody to have to go see in person.

This game marked the beginning for Allen Iverson.

Eagles Westbrook Doing Better

A report from the Philadephia Inquirer indicates that Eagles running back Brian Westbrook is doing better and his symptoms have improved over the last 3 days. It was his second concussion in three weeks, which is just plain scary. League experts always question the durability of older running backs, and it seems that Westbrook has not been able to stay healthy over the course of his career.

In quote from that same article, Coach Andy Reid was quoted as saying “He was in a good place,” Reid said. “I think that he’s grateful to have had the care that he’s had. He seemed to just want to find out what went on with this [second concussion], but he didn’t seem rattled.”

Who knows if Westbrook will return this year, or if at all. Doctors are saying he should make a full recovery, but concussions have ended players careers before, most notable Troy Aikman of the Dallas Cowboys. Two concussions in twenty days is just plain scary, so we’ll see what is in store for the Eagles.

For now, the running back duties will fall to rookie LeSean McCoy, who has been impressive so far this season. Sunday night is a must-win for the Eagles if they want to continue to have a good one.

Sixers win 86-84

Finally, we have good Elton Brand news. After Eddie Jordan placed Brand on the second team during practice all week, he delivered his best game of the year and helped the Sixers get a much needed win over the Charlotte Bobcats.  Boris Diaw missed a three that was rebounded by Andre Igoudala, who pushed it up court and made a great pass to Lou Williams for the winning bucket. Even after falling behind late, the Sixers were able to get the comeback victory and try to claw their way back to .500.

Brand played his most active game of the season, finishing with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 6 blocks, 3 steals, 2 assists. He also played a season-high 41 minutes. From a stat from the Inquirer, this game marked Brand’s first double-double since Dec. 12, 2008. This was after Eddie Jordan said Wednesday that he did not believe Brand could be (gulp) an effective 40-minute type of player. Obviously this has to change for the team to be effective, and Jordan does need to give the guy more minutes. He is supposed to be the franchise piece to the team, at least make him earn it.

Igoudala continued to impress and had 25 points last night. He looks to be getting better and better. The main question around the league is if he can be the best player on a championship team. He is a fresk athlete, and wants to win. The more he improves, the better off the team will be. If he can continue to play well and Brand provides some help, its a step in the right direction. The question is how how big of a step will it be?

Sixers Update

Mareese Speights is out 6-8 weeks with a torn MCL, which just brings more bad news to this season so far. Right now the Sixers are siting at 4-6, and really have not looked impressive at all. The team is either scoring off the charts, or being completely shut down. Lou Williams has not been able to guard opposing points guards and is shooting a dreaful 21% from the 3-point line. The team just simply isn’t clicking.

Our $85 million dollar man has been playing 27 minutes per game and averaging 10 points and 5 rebounds a game. When we signed him, the other free agent we looked at was Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks. His stats are at 16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks. He also fits the Sixers system of up-tempo extremely well, rather than Elton Brand’s half-court game and the Princeton offense installed by Eddie Jordan. The pieces just don’t fit right now.

Say we signed Smith, who is only 23 years old, as opposed to Brand at 29. Now we have Smith, Thaddeus Young (21), Speights (22), Iguodala (24), Jrue Holliday (19), and Lou Williams (23). We have a young nucleus and a team that can push the tempo, press other teams, and really be fun to watch. Want to end the ticket sales drought? Play this team and score some points and play together. Problem solved.

Until we figure all this out, the new jerseys are the only things going well for the Sixers this year.

Eagles

Ever since the Giants win, things have been going downhill in Philly. The Phillies got outplayed by the Yankees, who somehow turned into a clutch team when it mattered. I forgot what that felt like, but they certainly were the better team. Then the Eagles lost to the Cowboys this week, and now the Chargers yesterday 28-23.

They moved the ball up and down the field, but penalties and short yardage killed this team again. Its the most frustrating thing when your offense can’t get a yard, but to not be able to multiple times, in multiple times, it just makes you wonder what is going on. Its been their achilles heel this year. We need to fix the problem, because if we did earlier we would have won the past two weeks and be sitting at 7-2. 

The NFC East has just been too hard to figure out, with teams losing to bad teams and then beating each other. The race is completely wide open, except for the Redskins. The Eagles need to get back on track, and soon.

Sixers

The Sixers tip-off tonight against the Nets in East Rutherford and try to get back to .500. It’s been a bit of a struggle so far this season, and the year hasn’t really gone as expected. They were supposed to be a mediocre team, at least that is what the experts though, and at this point of the season that is exactly what they have showed. It still remains to be seen if there young guys are going to develop into key guys. Until that happens, the Sixers will be exactly where they have been for the past couple years, which is a good team floating along in the middle of the pack.

The problem has been that the Sixers have been good, just not good enough. I know it sounds obvious, but making the playoffs and losing in the first round hasn’t helped. Picking in the middle of the first round is a crap shoot, where players can fade in and out on NBA teams. I know it’s true that this happens even with top ten picks, but these guys routinely do better than later draft picks. Making the playoffs is nice, but it also costs the team of having a real high pick to develop into a star.

Yankees Win 6

The Phillies season, as great as it was, is finally done. They lost in six games to the Yankees, giving them their 27th championship and their fans something else to celebrate about. The roles were reversed in this series, with the Yankees being the confident team, getting the key hits, and having the reliable pitching. They seemed destined to win, and for how it played out, they beat the Phillies. They didn’t lose the series or a fluke game, but rather were in control after the game one win.

The Phillies should be a great team again next season, but a return to the World Series will be difficult. Not that it wasn’t this year, it just gets harder with each season. Baseball is such a long season their are always question marks. However, the lineup is back and the pitching should be better. Either way, I can’t wait for spring training in Clearwater.

What this means for the blog is a lot more on the Sixers and Eagles, who look great lately. I’ll have plenty on the Sixers tomorrow, and Eagles updates all weekend long. Bring on Dallas.

Eagles Win/ Game 4

The Eagles looked very impressive today, and dominated the game right from the beginning as they won from 40-17. They made big play after big play, resulting in a lot of points and the defense confusing Eli Manning from start to end. Desean Jackson had another huge touchdown, and the offense looks like it finally is balancing out. Leonard Weaver and LeSean McCoy had huge runs. It looks like this team is the team the fans thought it would be at the beginning of the season. The loss to the Raiders was big, but it looks like this team is one of the best in the NFC.

Perhaps more importantly, it should be a big omen for tonight’s game. I honestly thought whoever won the football game would win the game tonight. Why, I’m really not sure. Just call it a hunch. They really don’t have much to do with each other, but it means that the crowd tonight should be unbelievable. It should remind the players of the old crowds tonight. I wish I could make the walk across the parking lot to Citizens Bank Park tonight to join the crowd. Either way, I’ll be watching tonight and hoping for the Game 4 win.

Last night was a tough loss, especially after the team got up to a 3-0 start. Our pitching hasn’t held up in the middle part of each series. Hopefully Blanton pitches well tonight, and CC on 3 days rest is a risk to me. Our hitters need to get back on track tonight and score some runs.

Game 1 Win

Cliff Lee was just unbelievable. It’s a bad word to use, because it can mean so many things and so many people just throw the word out there. But seriously, what else is there to say? I watched that game is disbelief as the heralded Yankees roster looked like minor league players trying to hit the ball. He placed the ball wherever he wanted, had full command of his pitches, and simply knew that he was going to win the game. That was the most important thing to me, his ability to give off an attitude that he knew he was supposed to be on the mound, and he knew that he was going to win. It was as simple as that. 

Here are some of the stats from his pitching performance: 

- In his 33 1/3 innings this postseason, he has given up two earned runs for an ERA of 0.54. Nobody in the history of baseball has had a lower ERA

- Became the first pitcher EVER to have a 10-strike out, no walk game in the World Series to also have zero earned runs. 

-Only one other pitcher has had four starts like this in the postseason, Christy Matthewson, who did it over a century ago.

A lot of times in sports, you witness games like that and don’t understand the historical importance of what’s happening. This was not one of those times. You could see the dominance in this game and know that it meant something.

Lee wasn’t the only Phillie come up big in this game. Utley had two home runs, becoming the first left-hander since Babe Ruth to have two home runs in a World Series game against a lefty pitcher. The whole team had the same attitude. They are the defending champs, and they relish these type of opportunities. I know it’s only game one, but 11 of the previous 12 winners won game 1. Whether it was Victorino ready to run into the catcher for run number 7, this team is never going to quit. 

 

Game 1 Tonight

The Phillies are at the new Yankee Stadium tonight with a matchup of the league’s two best teams. This teams are supposed to be playing each other right now, and all year they were regarded as the leaders of their respective leagues. These teams have everything you need for a dramatic World Series. Both teams have guys that have won these types of games before, they both have pitching, power, and defense. 

Cliff Lee takes the mound against his former teammate C.C. Sabathia. Indians fans have got to be shaking their heads now after watching their team struggle all year long. Lee has been 3-0 with a 0.74 ERA and pitched into the 8th inning in each of his postseason starts. Sabathia, the ALCS MVP, has been equally impressive. A lot has been made about the Phillies AL-style lineup because of their position players in the dugout being able to hit and field. They have some options with the DH position with guys who normally pinch-hit like Gregg Dobbs or Matt Stairs, and they could DH Raul Ibanez and play Ben Francisco in left. 

It should be a great series, but I”m picking the Phillies in seven. I just think this team has too much going right now to lose. The Yankees had tougher series against the Twins and Angels than people think.