Sports Junkie's Biased Opinions

Greg "The Bag" Mumma Sh*ts Bed, Pants; Skulls Romp in 2nd Revenge Game

2007-11-21T09:10:00.000-05:00

"In my 19 some-odd years of playing hockey, 'The Bag' has been involved in the 2 single strangest events I've ever seen." - Justin Panzer

The History
Last year, as the fall season was getting ready to kick into gear the Skulls had their first practice. That's when we all met "The Bag". He walked into the locker room, with a hockey bag, built to carry a minivan filled with dead bodies and plopped it down on the floor (fan included). From his first second in the door, it had begun.

Greg went on to play about three quarters of the fall/winter season with the Skulls. He wasn't a very skilled player but really separated himself from the team by not putting in any effort on the ice and then bitching about everyone else off the ice when we would get back into the locker room. His lack of desire to stand up straight and skate hard really drove the team crazy.

Most of us were concerned that he might actually have a medical condition that would limit his play, but as Assistant Captain Scott Sarama soon found out, that was the way Greg was. His inability to co-exist with any Skulls team members made the team uncomfortable and we wound up purchasing Greg's contract for the rest of the year. Leading Justin Panzer to witness the first of the two single strangest events he's ever been part of in his hockey career.

The Summer season came around and Greg become one of the Chair Members of the league and placed himself on the best team in the B2 division, Blades of Steel. They played us three times and beat the crap out of us each time. Our Skulls team had improved on our 0-20-1 record from the Winter season, but they sure didn't hold back at all as they smeared the ice with us. It sucked. Alot. Mumma and the Blades of Steel moved up to B1 following their triumph through the B2 league but in the winter he also agreed to play for the "Warriors" in our league. The Skulls saw their chance to extract revenge.

This Season
After the Skulls had divided into 3 teams for the fall season, all were poised to come out guns a-blazing. The B2 team started hot winning its first 3, and owning a 3-1 record going into our first game vs. The Warriors with "The Bag" in net. We came out strong getting multiple goals from multiple sources as it felt good to dominate our "rival opponent" if you will, by a score of 10-3. My how the mighty Mumma had fallen. We all returned to the locker and celebrated our victory that night, yearning for the next opportunity to beat the Warriors.

The Game
So last night we had the chance. Coming out of the gate the Skulls were ready to play. 6 first period goals gave us a huge lead, but we started to settle in and not skate as hard, and we let up our guard, as we let up two goals. After the first period it was 6-2 and after the second period it was 8-2 and had started to get chippy. John Perfetto scored a breakaway goal to make it 8-2 and on his way in got a wicked two handed slash to the knee from the Warrriors captain which created a delayed penalty. But it wasn't till about half way through the third period that we scored again to make it 9-2. Then the second strangest event in hockey that Justin Panzer had ever seen happened, and it was definitely the strangest I've ever seen.

After a struggle along the boards in our own zone the puck came free and shot over to John Morrisette who fired it up the boards to John Perfetto, who with one move, went around the defenseman. As he came in on goal, "The Bag" meerly got out of the way and allowed John to score. John placed the puck in the net and we all stood around befuttled. Nevertheless, they dropped the puck for the next faceoff, and the Warriors won it back, as the defenseman got the puck he passed it back to Mumma, who turned around, and after hitting his own post on the first try, he put the puck in his own net making the score 11-2 now.

The Warriors were purposely attempting to end the game early via Mercy (10-goal) Rule.

After the next puck drop, I fired it down the ice and Mumma put it in his own net to end the game; we were pissed. It wasn't till later that we found out that the Captain, asked Greg to do this, which made it even stranger. They had felt we were trying to run the score up and decided to just end the game immediately and not let the rest of the time tick off. After losing 30 out of the first 34 games as a Skull, about one fourth of them by running clock or mercy rule, they were gonna take this victory from us and cause controversy amongst their team and ours. Poor sportsmanship on the part of the Captain and the players that went along with it is the easiest way to describe it. I've never seen anything like that, would never ask that of my players, nor would I expect to see anything like that again... however... we do play the Warriors again in early January, so we'll see... for those of you still in utter disbelief you can check out the stat sheet here. For everyone else... Go Skulls!!! As we improve to a 5-1-1 record and chase after first place in our division.

Loser. Jerk. Sh*thead

2007-11-16T15:53:00.000-05:00

I once heard this story about a girl who was dating this guy. He picked her up from her dorm one night, took her out to a movie, laughed, hugged, held hands, even kissed. Then, he dropped her off later that night and said, "hey, I dont think we should date anymore."

After his fifth season with the Philadelphia Eagles, LJ "Large Jackass" Smith wants out of Philadelphia. Honestly, the last person who has come out and said this is... I need not mention... but... Terrell Owens. I can't explain my anger right now with this guy. What kind of professional, halfway through a dogshit (him not the Eagles) season announces crap like that? Do you think leaking to the media that you're unhappy with your team mid-year as they're trying to still strive towards a playoff birth is good for your team? Do you think it'll help your craptastic stats? or maybe your ability to hold on to the ball?

He never caught more than 5 tds, he never reached 700 yards receiving. He's had two surgeries thus far this year and has only caught 11 passes and he wants to leave Philly?? By the way, that was a great fumble he had last week against Washington. He doesn't deserve to free agent shop.

As if you couldn't tell, I'm seething right now. If the Eagles wouldn't have drafted him when they did, he'd have hardly gotten the chance to play let alone make a starting position, Mr. Rutgers Alumni.

Needless to say, the story about the girl ends with the girl cursing the guy out, and slapping him in the face. The way the Eagles should now. I could care less if LJ doesn't put another foot on that field. Go recover from your torn labia.

Mc-Terrible

2007-11-06T13:45:00.000-05:00

Birds of a Feather.... suck together.

As we reach the official "halfway" point of this Parody filled NFL Season, the magic 8 ball has become oh so clear. If you are not the Patriots or the Colts... you suck. One exception may be able to be made, for the annoying step-brother that lives in the Northwest Pennsylvania attic, but besides that, everyone sucks.

The Eagles and Ravens put up completely abysmal numbers on Sunday and Monday Night respectively, both teams giving up 38 points and almost double digit turnovers combined. The Eagles (3-5) are now 4 games out of the division lead behind the Cowboys while the Ravens (4-4) are only two out. However, they both look as if their season has been flushed down the drain.

Their inability to move the football has truly bitten them in their feathered ass. Both are offensives have struggled much more than expected and both coaches seem to be learning nothing from it. As any fan/announcer/homeless person can see, these teams need to run the football. For the Eagles it worked so effectively last year with Garcia at the helm... you need not make big plays, just casually throw and run the ball down the field effectively and the field will stretch naturally. All night on Sunday vs. the Cowboys the Eagles threw on 1st down, ran on second down for a manageable third down. The tactic, while not terrible, really limits your options on third down. The Cowboys simply stuck 6 Defensive Backs in the game and forced McNabb to find a receiver. To me, you need only to go to one source for this issue... Andy Reid.

While this blogger doesn't believe that Andy personal trials and tribulations are the issue, he does believe that his offensive methods are unoriginal and faulty. Every football fan knows the Eagles are pass happy or even pass wacky on their offensive front, but every Eagles fan knows how good Brian Westbrook is. He NEEDS to carry the ball... much more than he currently is. It keeps the defense honest, and he is very successful averaging 4+ yards a carry this year.

On Sunday, the Eagles threw 4 out of their first 5 plays out of the gate, which resulted in Fumble, Incomplete, Run for 4 yards, Complete, InComplete. 2 of the 5 were considered "successful" plays. Why keep this pattern up??

The Ravens, while not having the same issues, are also clearly lacking the ability to run during game situations where everyone and their brother can see they need to run. You need to only go back to Buffalo, 2 games ago when the Ravens had 2nd and 1 in Buffalo territory with less than 2 minutes remaining. Professor Billick called 3 straight passes, game over.

What is it about watching football that enables you to see what these coaches can't?? Maybe they both need a break. Maybe a final season should be at hand here... I know that I definitely would not be opposed to either of these decisions, but only time will tell as we watch the rest of the Patriots/Colts super bowl season unfold.

A Forty-Night to Remember

2007-05-16T09:33:00.000-05:00

As we approach the end of the first third of the summer softball season we look back at our accomplishments. Yes, you're correct this isn't about the Phillies (yet) but instead is about our Adult Co-Ed League softball team... The Swedish Heaver Bunters. For the first time in three seasons we have a very good chance at winning our division. We currently sit, tied for 1st, with a 4-2 record.

After starting out 2-0 by destroying the Blue Bombers twice outscoring them 37-3 in two games, we've since split games with Meadowridge and Expert Smiles. In 6 games we have scored 89 runs, almost 15 runs/game, and have only given up 45, a measly 7.5 runs/game. The reason behind this domination, as Expert Smiles witnessed first hand, Expert Partying. The key to all victories this year has been the Heaver Bunter desire to get off the field as fast as possible so we can get down with the Friday Night partying!!

As the season started fast, so did we, Slaughtering the Blue Bombers twice, which was lead by Mandy and Sonia's two cases of Miller Lite! An on-slaught of beer pong ensued shortly after the after-party started, leaving many drunk and stumbling. However we knew certainly that this would be outdone by the second week's game's beer host's... Sprizzle and D-Baby. However... due to unforseen vagina tendencies by the HoCo Rec Department of Sports, these games were postponed!!! leaving Spray and Derek in utter shock. I caught up with them after the announcement to postpone had spread to see how they felt.

Me: So how do you feel knowing that your chance to lead the team to slaughter rule was ripped out from under you?
Spray: You know...I'm so devastated right now. I spent a 40 minute session at the Welsh Bar... I mean in the bullpen warming up my drinking.. umm pitching arm and I am very disappointed in the decision handed down by league officials. I'm pretty sure I would've pitched two perfect games tonight.
Derek: Yeah man. We had some good tricks up our sleeve to get everyone wasted tonight and now, what the fuck. This even causes us to lose our beer hosting night until the make-up game is announced. I was definitely planning to get a jump start on the night by seeing how many times I could yell Fuck on the field before the umpire threw me out of the game. Then I would be the first one drunk later.

After a couple days of non-softball/drinking a grog fell over the team, we were all down on ourselves and saying things like, "now watch, we're gonna wind up playing till November again cause of rain-outs." The news didn't get any better, as they announced the make-up date to be July 20. Spray and Derek would have to wait until the middle of July to lead this team to drunken victory.

But then, as quickly as it had been scheduled, there was a trade! A trade that would eventually cause Mel Kiper Jr's head to explode in shock and awe. Spray and Derek traded their beer night to May 11th, an unheard of leap. The trade was made with Debbie and Theresa whose decision to do this has the critics in an uproar.

When asked about the trade Debbie said: "Well we were looking for a night where we could guarantee partying and since Nick and Dalton won't be at that game, we're takin this party to the strip clubs!!! Plus, they threw in Randy Moss and a 6th round draft choice in 2008."

Kiper felt this was an unprecedented deal saying "July 22nd wasn't even on my top 20 draft board. I don't know what Deb and T were thinking, they should have explored more trade options, possibly even trading down one spot for Preakness weekend, or holding out for Brady Quinn." Nevertheless, the trade was completed and Spray and Derek were back and the team felt the momentum swing in their favor.

The following weekend the Heaver Bunters hosted Meadowridge, and though they got off to a slow start falling behind 5-0 and 8-4, they brought out the bats for the last three innings. Sparked by a key "webgem" by D-Baby and Brivolbn7q that involved a diving attempt by D-Baby having him deflect the ball in the air to Nick at shortstop, the Bunters were ready to move. Down 8-4 in the 5th they fought back to tie the game. After holding Meadowridge to no runs in the bottom half of the inning the Bunters came out strong scoring 5 big runs to take a 13-8 lead in the last inning (do to time). Meadowridge battled back but Sprizzle Inc. who struck out 6 in the game(s), contributed greatly and with the tying run on 2nd base John "J-Nice" Perfetto made a juggling catch to end the game and we held on to a 13-12 victory. John of course later contributed his amazing catch to his several years spent working for the local traveling circus. But... Since Beer night was hosted by Nick and D-Ton that night we of course, credit that victory to them. Meadowridge battled back the second game and won 12-8 leaving both teams with a 1-1 split.

Then the hype started. The week leading up to last Friday's first place matchup between the Heaver Bunters and Expert Smiles. Knowing that Derek and Spray had secured that spot for beer night, mother nature threw in a wrinkle. Rain prediction on Friday night, all the way from Monday via weather channel. This again caused many comments like, "it's going to rain" and "looks like it's going to rain" and "it's probably going to rain" leaving the Heaver Bunters a little less motivated than usual. However, come game day it was sunny and 70 degrees prompting responses like "its not going to rain" and "looks like it's not going to rain" and "where the hell are all the rain clouds?". However, getting the team back to an excited state would prove to be difficult for Derek and Spray.

Sprizzle attempted to start right from get-go, as two hours before the game he made the beer run, returning with a plethora of 40s and 22s for everyone there. The excitement began to grow, but wasn't truly felt until the second game. In game one, Nick went down with an injury although he played the entire first game and took part in two double-plays keeping the Heaver Bunters alive. Spray came through with a great pitching effort and Chris Golder came up with a diving highlight reel catch in left field... but it wasn't enough. The 9 runs we could muster together couldn't keep Expert Smiles from hitting the ball wherever we weren't and Derek and Spray knew they had to step up.

Game two involved the new strategy of a 12 player batting lineup. This worked almost immediately as the beer hosts pummeled hit after hit and took walk after walk on their way to 3, 10 and 9 run innings. Putting up 22 in the second game was more than enough to take the heart out of Expert Smiles. Sending pitcher after pitcher off the mound and giving up only 5 runs in the game lead by D-Baby at shortstop turning another double play and Josh Farley with his stellar left field catches and stops. The turning point however, was clearly Big County at the bat.

The mammoth 6'4" BC was walked his first two times to the plate, and on his third at bat, the pitcher fell apart. Being so deathly afraid of the big guy's long ball, and his third leg which enabled him to run at incredible speeds, the opposing pitcher actually threw the ball over the backstop AND over the grandstand behind home. Later he claimed "he (BC) had an unfair advantage, it was like he was up there with two bats, and it just frustrated me beyond belief." Big County walked again and the pitcher was pulled 2 batters later.

The Heaver Bunters would declare victory dominating that game 22-5 and it was then time to party!!! Although noone attempted the notorious "Edward 40-hands" there was plenty of booze to be passed around. And of course, it was Josh's birthday, so we all toasted to a shot of three olives vodka, for good ol' Dr. Joorsh on his day of celebration. The beer pong table got off to a crazy pace as BC and Steph started to run the table... but the competition level quickly staggered as the night progressed into more drinking. The night was a success, lead by 40 oz malt beverages and a fantastic night of Softball.

Next week... the pressure is on for Zemmy and Denise to come through.

The Draft... Again???

2007-05-04T13:05:00.000-05:00

Since last week the Phils have leveled out. Last time I wrote they had just whooped the Nats and were preparing for a day game the next day. Problem was, Sean Hill, the lone bright spot for the Nationals was on the mound. He pitched 8 innings of 1 run ball and left just before it got interesting in the 9th. Rowand homered in the 7th to cut the lead to 4-1 and extend his hitting streak to 13 games, the highest it got was 16 before he lost it earlier this week (however he reached base in 24 straight games). Then in the 9th Hill walked the leadoff batter Victorino. That was his last batter, Utley the flew out to the deepest part of the ballpark about 403 ft off of Cordero. Howard then doubled and then had runners at 2nd and 3rd, 1 out, down by 3. Burrell then launched what looked like the game tying shot, but it died at the warning track bringing home Victorino. Then Helms, who was 2 for 3 already in the game struck out to end the game.

That kinda game you dont really mind losing. Hill pitched a phenomenal game and they came within 3-5 feet literally of tying it up. Things won't always bounce your way so if you lose, I think it's better to lose with the game in reach.

Anyway, so they took 2 out of 3 from the Nats, then the Phils proceeded to take 2 out of 3 more from the Marlins. The third game of the series being where 43 yr old Jamie Moyer carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning before Miguel Cabrera roped a line drive just over the head of Abraham Nunez (I've always disliked this guy) with 2 outs. 7 outs away... thats it. Oh well, they hung on to win 4-1 I think, or something like that.

Then they went down to Atlanta. Lost the first game on a bottom of the 9th 3-run homer to Andruw Jones (I REALLY have always disliked this guy). Then the Phils took the second game of the series 6-4 despite 2 homeruns by Chipper Jones. In the 3rd inning of this game, however, Philly killer, Brian McCann, was called for Catcher Interference on a play where Rod Barajas swung at a pitch and managed to hit McCann's catching hand and still get a piece of the ball for a foul tip. Barajas later reached on a walk and then was moved up when there was a passed ball with the bases loaded because McCann couldn't effectively catch the pitch. He left the game after this play.

Wow, I can't imagine getting my hand slammed by a major league swing... I hit my hand in a desk drawer and it hurts enough, let alone having a 36 oz hunk of tree smash my hand at a 70-80 mph. Damn.

The Phillies then went on to lose the third of this series 4-3. The lone bright spot in the game was Ryan Howard's 3-run jack in the 5th that tied the game, his 4th of the year. Howard's slow HR start is not far off pace from last year. They showed a stat during one of his ABs in this game that said on May 2nd last year he had only 5 HRs and this year he had 4. However... he was batting about 80 points higher and last night he did strike out 4 times. Yeesh. If he can start to hit more effectively the phils are gonna score alot more runs.

And now... the draft. What were they thinking. Colin Cowherd called it the WORST pick of the draft, even worse than Miami's Ted Ginn Jr., and that was a bad bad pick. Why waste a 2nd round draft choice on a guy that will be there for 2 more rounds at least and why then would you waste it on a QB??? Never ever can Philadelphia Sports teams do something to make us fans happy. They can't do it, it's like they have some kind of ridiculous punishment gene implanted in the heads of all Philadelphia Sports Team management staff and players. Lead em on, trade that 1st round draft choice for 3 picks. YAY! Now pick a QB. What the F*ck?!??! It's sooooooooooo frustrating. I just want to see them win one championship... I dont care who it is! Settle this frustration!! Please??! At least watch this and suffer with me http://youtube.com/watch?v=zfj0iSSPVTs&mode=related&search=

And it all started with...

2007-04-26T10:09:00.000-05:00

...a triple play. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a Triple play live before, it's usually only on SportsCenter. But in this last week I've seen a completely different team. Since that game I attended last week that went 13 grueling innings, the Phillies are 5-1 and have outscored opponents 44-17. Awesome. It's about freakin time. After beating the Nationals 4-2 in a Thursday afternoon game, the Phillies blew a 1-0, 1 hitter in the bottom of the 9th to Cincy. The Phillies are the only team to lose a game in Extra innings while only giving up 4 hits or less in the game in the last 3 years. AND THEY'VE DONE IT TWICE. So after that blown save by 'Flash' they came back, and on a tired Saturday Afternoon in NJ I got to watch almost the whole game.

Cole Hamels was awesome. 15 K's and a complete game. Thats one way to not blow a save, keep the bullpen where they are. But with a 2-1 lead in the 5th inning the Phillies looked like they were in trouble. Two bloop singles back to back gave the Reds 1st and 2nd with no outs. As the announcers began to talk about how Hamels needed a double play, the play had begun... a slow hopper to Nunez, who grabbed it stepped on third, threw to Utley who caught and released the ball in about .0000000001 seconds over to Helms (playing first for injured Howard) for a triple play. A ground ball force out triple play. That kinda stuff only happens TO the Phillies not FOR them. Hamels pumped his fist and yelled as did most of the other players on the field and they had life again. Going into that game 4-11 this was exactly what they needed, something to get them excited. The very next inning Utley homered and then Rowand homered in the 7th. The Phils hang on to a 4-1 win over the Reds and with every strikeout Hamels threw, you could see them getting more excited... this is what they were waiting for, a spark of life.

The next day they got Howard back and in his first game back he homered. Granted I believe it was his only hit, but seeing Howard do what he is supposed to helps the team more than anything. They put together 11 runs and started working as a team. Next was 9 runs against Houston, then Tuesday night an 8th inning rally against Washington to win 6-3 and last night another 9 runs against the Nats. It seems like the Phillies are finally coming together as a team. Burrell is pulling through in the pinch, Rowand has a 12 game hit streak, Howard is on base at least 2x a game, Utley is 6 for his last 8, Rollins hit his 8th Homer of the season last night and Myers is settling down in the pen. As of now, depending on their ABs that game, they have 5 or 6 guys batting at or over .300 and they haven't given up more than 4 runs in any of their last 6. At 9-11 now they are building confidence in themselves and enstating it in their fans. Next goal... get over .500.

In other the news, the Flyers and Sixers still suck. More importantly the Eagles have the NFL draft this weekend. With only 2 days before the draft I've heard about 187,623 different opinions about what will happen in the top 4 picks, everything from the Raiders will trade to drafting Calvin Johnson, JeMarcus Russell to Brady Quinn to Quinn will suck he's not big enough to JeMarcus Russell will be a bust because he's not talented or smart enough to.... blah blah blah. Everyone thinks so differently... the only thing the critics are in agreement on is: Calvin Johnson will be a beast. The team that gets him will not be sorry. Most likely right now... to me... the Lions. They Love wideouts there in Detroit. You have to admit, Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson as your first two options... I could throw 25 TDs with those guys on my team. So till next week... GO Phils and Birds.

P.S. A-rod is on pace to hit 300 rbis and 109 HRs.

More Wasted... Non-Effort

2007-04-19T09:28:00.000-05:00

Last night I attended the Phillies vs. Nationals game in DC. I usually go once a series when they visit. This being the first time they were in town this year. The seats were great along the left field line; the atmosphere was great with at least 3-4,000 Philly fans there amongst the 11,000 strong crowd. The game was a good game... if you can call it that. On the way in I had the following conversation with D-ton, my accomplice for the evening, "Are you gonna be dressed warm enough for the game?"
"Don't worry, the anxiety from watching the Phillies try to blow the game almost every inning will keep me warm."
"Won't that make you angry?"
"Not until they lose. But at least then I'll still be warm from the anger."
It's like going to meet your high school Girlfriend when you know she's gonna tell you she fucked the quarterback last night and has been for a week and she just cant see it working out between you two.

This is how we think... Philly fans that is. Now there are multiple types of Philly fans, some old and new all graced with the same skepticism, however... some choose to vent it during the game, unlike me. I'll speak before and after but never during... except... well i'll get back to that.

So we go into the game with great seats playing the lowly Nationals in front of their Marlins-esque crowd looking to have an enjoyable evening at the ball park. Phillies jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning when the always unreliable Rod Barajas hit a single followed by the more unreliable Pitcher Adam Eaton crushing one to the fence. A double that scores the "Donkey Kong from Mario Kart"-esquely slow Barajas from first, only because the outfielder misplayed the ball off the wall. Then Eaton melted down in the bottom of the inning. After a HBP, and a line drive off his hand he gives up a 3 run shot to Schneider. Right before that HR my buddy Chris just happened to point out Schneider had 5 rbi's this year without actually getting a hit on those rbi's. Needless to say... the phillies broke that streak for him. The Nationals later capitalizing on base hits brought in another run on a sac fly in the 3rd.

The Phillies 1-4 batters finished the game an incredible 2 for 21. Both hits coming from Victorino. This game was deemed worthy of the title the "Toilet Bowl". The Phils came into the game leaving a 122 LOBs in 12 games, first in the league, while the Nats were second with 115 LOBs but in 14 GAMES! So as this seemed impossible to avoid... it was. There was even a fan in the lowest section near 3rd base who had a sign that read "Phillies LOB: (insert number here)." Phils wound up with 9 (as predicted) and the Nats with 13 so we won... that battle.

I digress, as Philly sports always does, the Phils staged a comeback late in the game. After a hit by burrell and a double by rowand pinch hitter Greg Dobbs singled in two runs. Then after a second hit Rollins came up with 2 on and 1 out and managed to hit in to a double play (part of his 0 for 6 night). Then as one could have predicted, the Phils managed to stage a 9th inning comeback... after a leadoff single by Burrell and the most obvious substitution in MLB on a daily basis, Pinch runner Bourn for Burrell, (I wish I could bet on this in baseball, the line would have to be around -900) followed by a hit by Helms, the Phillies had Rowand at the plate. A sac bunt, which I didnt like, moved them over to 2nd and 3rd 1 out for Ruiz. Ruiz hits a groundball up the middle to 2nd baseman Belliard to score Bourn and tie the game. Then they strand the guy at 3rd. Don't worry in the 10th they did the same thing.

In the 12th the most exciting moment of the game came when a line drive foul ball found its way to the empty section next to me where I ran over and picked it up capturing my second career foul ball and my 3rd career television appearance (cool shots, Phillies vs. Orioles) as verified by one of my groosman seconds later via text message.

Then the epitome of the Philadelphia Sports fan way of life became even clearer than ever. As newly acquired (for player to be named later; shouldn't this read: for free cause he sucks and if you want him jesus just take him already) Francisco Rosario approached the mound a random Philly fan stopped next to me and said "this is it, this guy sucks, I guarantee we don't make it out of this inning". He went back to his seat, in the first row (clearly moved down as did we) and I proceeded to watch an infield single followed by a double down the line which led to 2nd and 3rd no out. He turned back to look for me and we caught eyes and he just raised his hands as if to say, "see?". It was obvious, that even after every other pitcher the phillies had (except gordon) that there would be a weak link in the chain... and that guy knew it. The next batter worked a 2-1 count and i couldn't help myself. I turned to D-ton and said, "this is it... this is the last pitch of the game," sure enough the next pitch was a sac fly to win. The Phils lose again in the ritualistic "bend you over and show you who's boss" manner. I wish you could press charges for Emotional Rape.

Needless to say they are 3-10 the worst team in the Majors and we still have 149 more games of this. Every time they came up in a spot they blew it. Howard looked terrible, Rollins looked worse and Utley simply looked like he was going through the motions. This team clearly doesn't want to be on the field anymore than we want to be watching them. Its almost as if they have that same conversation as I did on the way in. Their anxiety will keep them warm but at the end of the day, it'll only be anger. Doesn't that thought process have to stop somewhere??? So we wait for that one guy who decides, to step up and say, I'm gonna change the game... until then I'll continue to pursue the legal possibilities of emotional rape.

Long Wait... Same Heartbreak

2007-04-13T08:09:00.000-05:00

Wow, its been a while. It's good to be back, now that I have something to complain about again. Well, most philly fans will disagree with me considering since the last blog I wrote the Eagles lost their QB and their season to the Saints in a second round playoff game, the Flyers lost their season (in October) and their Number 1 pick and the Sixers lost their season and their chance at Durant or Oden is all but in the bag. So why start now??? Because I just can't seem to vent my frustrations enough about the Phillies. Everytime something happens in their games, whether it be bad or good, you can sum it up in two words. Fuckin' Phillies. Doesn't have to be bad... i.e. Rollins leading the team in HRs with 5 and Howard having 1. You look at that stat and go, heh, Fuckin' Phillies. Or you can look at how they're batting .181 with RISP, .171 with RISP and 2 out or how they are 0 for 11 with the bases loaded!!!! (still have 8 rbis) You can look at those stats and say FUCKIN' PHILLIES! That sentence alone describes the frustration of a Phillies fan. I have permenantly saved that message in my phone so I can send on that text every game. Probably at least thrice. But this is the torture we put ourselves through as Philly Fans, especially since there are still 153 games left in the season. Theres only been 9 games!!! The worst part is... how they lose. Opening day, blow a 7th inning lead to lose in 10 by the score of 5-3, Game 2 blow a 9th inning lead to lose in 11 by the score of 3-2. (Last year they were the last team in the MAJORS to blow a 9th inning lead). Game 3 they lose 8-4 but end the game with the bases loaded. Game 4 they actually win, game 5 they lose 8-5 and Howard strikes out with a man on 3rd to end the game. Game 6 they lose 6-4, ending the game with the bases loaded, leaving them loaded one of 3 times that day. Game 7 they lose 11-5, however they were leading 5-4 in the 8th. (fire Charlie Manuel please) Game 8 they win and last night, game 9 they lose again 5-3 with a man on third to end the game. The scary thing is... I didn't have to look at any references for that. I can remember them all! Did I mention its only 9 games into the season and I'm already that frustrated. In their 7 losses they have lost by a total of 21 runs. Having a chance to tie or win the game with the last pitch all but 2 of the 7. But don't worry cause as promising as that sounds they have left a total of... 133 GUYS ON BASE!! JUST IN THOSE 7 LOSSES. Thats 19 a game!!! WTF! The LEAST they've left on is 11. Thats just absolutely ridiculous. One game against the Braves they left 28 men on base. 28 LOBS!!! *deep breath* Fuckin' Phillies. The cycle never ever ends. There have been no championships for Philadelphia since I was 1. The '83 sixers. Thats 24 years. Thats 96 seasons. Thats at least 8,208 games (not including playoffs). Why!?!?! Since I was 1, and I definitely do not recall that, the city of Philadelphia has had at least one team in the Playoffs every year, except '94, including championship losses in 83, 85, 87, 93, 97, 01 and 04. Thats at least 23 postseason trips in 24 years. Yet, every year we wait and wait for that heartbreaking moment. Every sports season starts with the same question for philly fans... how are we gonna blow this one? And the only thing for sure is that at some point in that season we're gonna say, well... time to start looking forward to the ______ (<- insert next losing philly franchise here).

Loss #29

2006-09-29T08:24:00.000-05:00

At 2:07 am last night when Jeff Conine grounded out for the 3rd time this game the Phillies officially had their 29th loss of the second half of the season. As you know, well... those who've actually been reading my blog know, I predicted that if the Phightin Phils were to make the playoffs they could only lose 28 games after the all star break. Until last night they were only 1 game out of the wild card, but with the Dodgers and Padres hammering the Rockies and Diamondbacks respectively, the Phils now sit 2 games back of the Dodgers in the chase, who sit 1 game back of the Padres for the NL West lead. Now it isn't "over" per say for the Phils, but they have put their backs against the wall officially, and they've got to be exhausted from their last two games which had them sitting in RFK Stadium for a total of almost 12 hours. God knows I'm tired of watching them. If the Dodgers lose 2 out of 3 and the Phils sweep they will be tied for the wild card and have a 1 game playoff against the Dodgers Monday in Philly. If the Dodgers lose all 3 and the Phils sweep then the Phils get the Wild Card. Now if the Padres get swept and the Phils sweep and the Dodgers win 2 or 3 games this weekend the Phils will play the Padres on Monday in a 1 game playoff in Philly. Now if the Padres get swept the Dodgers lose 2 of 3 and the Phils sweep the Marlins... who knows. Then you have to throw in the mix of the NL Central chase with Houston and St. Louis and if the winner there ends up with the same record as the NL West leader and the Phils... wow... my head hurts. But regardless of what happens... if the Phils lose again, they're most likely done and yet another year goes by where we follow them all the way down to the end of the season and then watch our chances wash away. Agony at its best.

A new beginning and a final stretch

2006-09-19T14:05:00.000-05:00

If anything could exemplify the Philadelphia Sports teams it was the Eagles game this Sunday. In such a small 45 minute dose it wrapped up everything that we've always seen in our teams. Play well, keep us hanging on till the last second even when our backs are to the wall and there's a 9000 lb gorilla bearing down on us and then at the last second as I like to say, the rip our hearts out of our asses and cram it down our throats. The Eagles led 24-7... thats right a 17 point lead with only 15 minutes of football left against a Giants team that had been shutdown the entire time... only to blow that lead on poor clock management and shotty ball handling. Sitting here now, Tuesday afternoon, I still can't believe what I witnessed in person that Sunday Afternoon. They DOMINATED...and I mean completely DOMINATED that game. From front to back over 3 quarters and if they had wrapped that up they would've been considered by everyone an NFC powerhouse for sure... forget Dallas, New York, Washington, Carolina... this is Philadelphia's Conference to lose... but they didn't and now they sit, tied 3 ways for 1st place and we can't forget Dallas, New York, Washington or Carolina. Now we have to settle for the mediocrity everyone expected from them all off season. Now it may just be me because I'm biased, or it may be real, but for 45 minutes of that game they looked like the Super Bowl team from just two years ago. Now only time will tell, and lucky for us that game was just the second of the year, and we'll have to sit back, wait and see what can become of these 2006 Eagles and whether or not they can flip that game and learn from it or if they are completely devastated. They need to soundly beat the 49ers and the Packers in my opinion to still offer fans like myself hope that they can finish at the top, which i still believe they can. So when I go back to that stadium on October 8th to see the game of the year thus far... I can walk into that stadium with that cocky glare and confidence that they'll kick the crap out of the Cowboys. "If you're looking for T.rO.uble... iT.'s O.ver in Dallas"

As for the Phils they start their final stretch with my prediction still in site. 26 losses thus far since the all-star break and I said if they lose no more than 28 then they will win the wild card. The loss last night to the Cubs was a shame and they now have to go 10 and 2 in the final 12 for my prediction to come true. With San Diego and LA trading spots at the top of the West and Wild Card the Phillies are essentially chasing two teams. Today they sit 1.5 games behind San Diego and 2 games behind the LA Dodgers. The closest team to the wild card behind the Phils are the Giants who are 2.5 games behind them... and we are down our Final stretch. After this series with the Cubs they have a game against a 3 game set at home vs. the Marlins, 1 vs. Houston, 3 at Washington and 3 at Florida. All teams below .500 and all teams beatable, they lead the season series against all of them. So it lies in the hands of the Phils... 1.5 out of the wild card with 12 to go... my prediction is they need to win 10 of the 12... my further prediction is... they win 8 or 9, lose by 1 game and again like all teams, keep us hanging on to the edge of our seats until they put themselves in prime position to rip our hearts out our asses. Good Luck Phils/Eagles and lets try to win one for the fans this time!

Roger Maris, Big Mac, Sosa, Bonds or Howard?

2006-09-05T12:25:00.000-05:00

So how bout it sports fans, after watching this exciting labor day weekend of baseball and the Phils hanging on to their playoff hopes, I turned to ESPN.com today only to see an interesting question on the front page. If Ryan Howard hits 62 home runs (currently 53)this year would you consider him the all time single season home run leader. I voted No. But after checking the results... all 22,000+ results... turns out 52% of people say yes. Wow. Really? I was very very surprised by that. Not only has McGwire hit 70 and Bonds hit 73, but Sosa has hit more than 61 twice. I guess the fans are really taking this steroid thing seriously, I mean I understand why they might say that but to have more than half of the baseball population say that they still consider the record to be 61 is pretty amazing. The steroid use really appears that it was out of control and while I have no problem saying yeah those guys probably did steroids, Baseball is the one to blame here. They sat back and watched the McGwire/Sosa chase of 61 in 1998 and just rolled in the dough as the fans' hearts were won back. But now there are so many questions about Bonds in what has enduced all but an outright confession from him, and you think... last night he hit his 730th HomeRun and does anyone care that he is 25 away from Hammerin' Hank besides San Francisco?? At least 90 if not 100% of fans believe that Bonds took steriods and delibrately cheated the game of baseball for a long time. So why should we count that record?? Well I guess we can ask ourselves the same about 73 in a season, or 70 or even 66 or 65. Could you imagine how different we'd all feel now, if we were sitting here saying "Ryan Howard; 24 games left and only 8 HomeRuns away from tying Roger Maris record?" Imagine the aura of baseball now... As Howard chases Maris the Phils chase the Wild Card. How different would we really be? So here's to Howard and his 9 HRs in his last 11 games and here's to the Phils who are desperately trying to "one-up" the Padres to get in. Good luck to you guys and maybe come October we'll all be talking about the new single season HR record holder... Ryan Howard.

Close only counts...

2006-08-30T08:47:00.000-05:00

As the game was winding down in the 9th and we were walking out to the parking lot I thought to myself, what a game... another 10-run output and with the scored tied up in LA they could have a share of the lead in this wild card race with just over a month to go. But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades (as the saying goes)... as SD finished off Arizona they quickly leapfrogged Philadelphia and Cincinnati (who lost in 16 innings on a walk off) into first place in the NL wild Card. And so it seems just like last year, its not only gonna come down to what the Phillies do in their last game but what everyone else does in theres as well. I can remember that same feeling last year, walking out of the RFK parking lot to my car after the phils just handled the Nats and just hoping the Cubbies could pull through against the Astros. I got in my car turned on the radio only to hear that Brad Lidge had blown the save opportunity for the Stros and the phils were just 1 game out with 1 game left. The next day I was glued to the TV set watching the Cubs, down by 1 in the 9th with two men in scoring position praying that this wouldn't be another season that the phils came ohhh so close to making the playoffs... but of course, those sub-par Cubs couldn't pull through for the second day in a row as the last out was made on a line drive to second base and just like that... the Phils were done. So we sit here again... waiting... watching... just assuming the worst as the Phils keep winning and everyone else keeps winning (or losing just enough to keep them a game out) but we can't help but have that stupid Philly pride that matters more than our jobs or sometimes our families and keeps us watching the internet or the bottom line every night... just to see if those Phils can pull through... the calendar ticks on... and we await our punishment that leaves us finishing the year saying "well... there's always next year... better be f*cking next year"

It's Been a While...

2006-08-24T08:58:00.000-05:00

...actually its been 2 months and 10 days since the Phils were last 2 games over .500. After their ninth inning run win over the Cubbys last night they are now 64-62 and are just 1.5 games out of the wild card. The Phils have won 5 games in a row, 3 series in a row and have won 8 out of their last 10. They sure are putting a push on the Reds who lost yesterday for the first time in 5 days to the Astros 7-3. The Reds sit one game out of first in the NL Central and hold a one game lead in the wild card over the Padres who swept the Dodgers this week in a three game series. So as it looks now, with 35 games left, the Phils would have to finish 22-13 to make my prediction correct. Hopefully that would get them the wild card. I'd have to believe that 11 games over .500 in the NL this year would get you a playoff birth... but stranger things have happened. They finish up their series this week against the Cubs with a 2:00 game today where they will start their Rookie Phenom Cole Hamels against the Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano. Gotta figure this one's gonna be like last night, but hopefully the Phils will get on em early. Then they travel to NY for a huge weekend series with the Mets and then down here to Washington for a 3 game set that I hope to attend at least one of the games. Hey only one week till my bday... Party this Saturday at 857 for me and D-Baby. come out if you can and bring your own 12 pack!

Tiger Uppercut

2006-08-21T08:22:00.000-05:00

So when he was high school do you think Tiger Woods played Street Fighter II? It would have been the perfect opportunity to fight with "Sagat" and work on his "Tiger Uppercut". As Tiger ripped through the final round on Sunday he left noone within miles of catching him. Finishing with an 18 under par, Shaun Micheel in second place, came in at -13. Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott finished in a 3-way tie for third. Tiger, looking like the young Tiger of old, is establishing himself agian, as if he needed to, as the best golfer on the planet. And from his trail of recent Sundays has showed, noone can touch him. Tiger has now won the last two majors and is halfway to possibly completing his second Grand Slam (over the course of two years). The Phils finished off the weekend series with the Nats yesterday winning 12-10 and taking two out of three. With a 10-1 lead in the 5th the Phils almost fell back into that comfort zone and blew the lead. In the 8th they were winning a mere 11-10. But old man Arthur Rhodes came in and saved the game for his second save in as many chances since Tom Gordon was placed on the DL. The Phils won their second series in a row and scored 27+ runs in both. They remain in 4th place in the chase for the wild card at 2.5 games back as they mimicked the Reds series as they finished off the Pirates 2 games to 1. With 39 games left they would have to finish 26-13 to meet my guess at what it would take for them to make the playoffs after the all Star break. They have a good chance coming up this week facing the lowly Cubs for a 4 game set a Wrigley. Can they hang in there?? Only time will tell... they sure do make you watch though. bastards.

Stuff + Cats = Awesome

2006-08-18T08:20:00.000-05:00

Well that was simply the most pathetic 3rd Quarter of football that one has ever seen. Koy Detmer in my opinion, and probably about everyone else's opinion was the worse option for QB that the Eagles could've had last night. In just a little over a quarter, before the Eagles put ex-Hawaii Rainbow Timmy Chang in, Detmer went a terrible 5 for 10 for 21 yards and a pick. That was generous... he looked very similar a frightened Milhouse VanHouten running away from bullies Nelson, Jimbo and Kearny. In one play he actually ran away from the blitzing defense backwards and threw a pass away to the side over his shoulder that was almost intercepted by a 300lb lineman. He was called for one intentional grounding and led the Eagles to 7 yards of total offense in the 3rd Quarter. Meanwhile Kyle Boller looked better, well, better than Detmer in the second half, going 4 for 7 in the second half for 115 yards... i think all of them were to Devard Darling... who ended up with 121 yards receiving and a TD. So on the bright side of the game??? McNabb and Buckhalter connected for a 48 yard shovel pass in Buckhalter's first game in almost 2 years. Buckhalter, who is seemingly always blowing out his knee in the preseason, looked like the Buckhalter of old on that play. Another bright point in the game, the eagles D. While McNair was 14 of 18 for 148 yards in the first half the Ravens still only came away with 3 points failing to get inside the Eagles 10 yd line. Two years ago the Eagles led the league in Red Zone Touchdowns allowed with the infamous "Bend, but don't Break" defense. They looked like the Eagles of old again, and while they lost the game 20-10 I can be thankful for the fact that there isn't a manditory "Play Koy Detmer at least one quarter" rule. In Baseball yesterday the Phils lost the last game of their 4 game series to the Mets 7-2. They left 85,000 runners in scoring position and had 11 hits. However they did finish the series 3-1 against the first place Mets moving up 1.5 games in the Wild Card Standings and got excellent starting pitching from Wolf, Hamels and Lieber. Who let up a combined total of 4 runs in 23 innings pitched and led the way for the phillies 29-11 run differential in the series. Next up is the Nats this weekend at Home with Friday/Saturday Night games and a Sunday day game. oh... I guess my blog title isn't exactly what you expected so here... go to www.stuffonmycat.com you'll understand

18 innings... twice!

2006-08-16T10:29:00.000-05:00

So he we start... the down to the wire games. Despite the Phils back to back annihilations of the Mets, 13-0 and 11-4 they are still 2.5 games out of the wild card lead with the Reds losing last night to the Cards 5-0. But the game of the night last night was clearly the Cubs/Astros game. Down 6-5 in the 9th pinch hitting Matt Murton came in and homered off Brad Lidge who blew his fifth save of the year. Lidge was pulled later in the inning after giving up 2 more singles. Many say he has still not recovered since blowing the game against the Cardinals last year in the NL Finals when Pujols hit that Moon shot that prompted me (being in Houston at a bar at the time) to simply speak the words HOLY SH*T, Holy Sh*t... holy sh*t. (back to the cubs/stros) So after using a total of 18 pitchers in the game tying an NL record, Matt Murton AGAIN hit a two-run Single in the 18th inning to put the Cubs up for good 8-6. The Astros are the first team in 21 years to lose to game in one season that lasted at least 18 innings (earlier in the Year against Pittsburgh). The Loss made the Astros 1-7 against the Cubs at home this year and dropped them to a 57-62 record and 4 games out of the NL wild card. But right after that, another game went 18 innings!! Arizona topped off Colorado 2-1 in 18 innings making last night the first night in MLB history where two games went 18 innings in one night. Luis Gonzalez hit an RBI single in the top of the 18th to break a 1-1 game that had been tied since the 5th inning. Gonzalez was previously 0 for 7 in the game. With Arizona's win they gained a game on the Reds making them only one game out of wild card lead. Colorado dropped to 58-61 putting them 3.5 games out of the chase. Elsewhere the Padres failed to gain a game on the Reds by losing to San Fran 3-2.
In the AL Minnesota won again defeating the Indians 4-1 and with the help of a Boston loss to Detroit in the 9th, and a White Sox lose to the Royals, the Twins are only 2 games out of the lead for the Wild Card. The Yanks beat the O's 6-3 thanks to the help of the O's bullpen. Bedard threw 6 strong innings for the O's only to have the relievers come in and blow a 3-1 lead in the 7th. With the win the Yanks extended their AL East lead over the Red Sox to 3 games.
Only one more day to game night!!! Ravens v. Eagles tomorrow night 8:00 fox! I'm ready to bleed Eagle Green.

NFL Matchup

2006-08-14T23:05:00.000-05:00

So this Thursday is the matchup of the preseason for me. We got the Eagles coming to town to play against the Home Town favorite Ravens. People have already started lining up around the corner waiting for tickets to come see it on the big plasma tv in my living room. I feel both teams are equally matched at this point in the year. Both with quality starters (of course McNabb gets the edge), both with quality backup QBs and both with decent running backs in their own specialty. WR core in head to head goes to the Ravens. Derrick Mason was a huge pick up for them a year ago and Mark Clayton in my opinion was a great draft pick, I was sincerely hoping he'd slip to the Eagles Draft pick that year. Instead they now have Reggie Brown as their sophomore #1 who was a great pick a year ago for them and has only shown promise in the wake of the T.O. bullsh*t. The rookie wide receiver core this year has certainly been impressive. McNabb thus far has completed 13 out of 15 passes in his two preseason games this year against the raiders and the browns. McNair was also very impressive in his lone start for the Ravens recording a rushing touchdown dragging multiple defenders across the goalline. There is alot of prestige and buzz going thru the Baltimore air this preseason... everyone anxious to see which McNair they will get. The co-MVP from just a couple years back, or the injury ridden McNairn that has gotten a little older. Either way... he's better than Boller. In the MLB tonight the Phils pulled off a very impressive win over the 1st place Mets. As i've said before they have 6 games remaining against the plus .500 Mets and besides those games none of their opponents, as it stands today, are above .500. The magic number now in my opinion is 15... again referencing hte number of games they could lose befoer the end of the season if they wanted to make the playoffs. They've lost 13 thus far since the break. Elsewhere Carlos Zambrano shutout the Roy Oswalt and the 'Stros in Minute Maid park making the Cubs 6-1 there this year thus far. Houston has now lost 3 in a row and is hurting in the wild card race dropping to half game behind the Phils at 57-61 and 4 games out of the wild card now. Colorado pulled off a 9th inning walkoff win with a two out single after tying the game in the eighth with another 2 out single to put the Diamondbacks at 59-59. Colorado is 58-60. A half game above the Phils and 3 back of the Reds who start a very important 3 game series against the Cardinals tomorrow night who have lost 12 out of 16.
So to sum it up.... lets go Eagles. Tickets still available for the first official "Pounding of the Ravens" Party. Inquire within.

The Fabulous 14th

2006-08-12T09:20:00.000-05:00

I know I said I would concentrate on the AL Wild Card but come on.... did you see that game??? Phils down 3-1 in the bottom of the 8th get a 2 run jack from J-Rol to put tie it up at 3-3. Then after a single by Utley, Pat burrell hit a SHOT to center field that Ken Griffey Jr jumped up to grab but had it go off his glove. Burrell ended up with a triple (his first of the year) and Utley scored to put the Phils up 4-3. So what do they do? Put in their stellar closer Tom Gordon. Apparently Tom didn't get enough warm up pitches last night because he gave up a Two-Run Dinger to pinch hitting Javier Valentin... who? exactly. But don't worry cause with the Phillies MLB best 48-0 record when leading after 8 innings streak on the line, 33 year old rookie catcher Chris Coste hit a lead off Double in the 9th then pinch runner Chris Roberson advanced to third on an error by the catcher as he tried to Roberson off 2nd, later Shane Victorino hit the game tying sac fly. After the reds blew the chance to take the lead with RISP in 3 of the next 5 innings the phils took advantage on a game winning bases loaded walk-off single by Aaron Rowand. What a game....so last night in the race.
The red hot dodgers won again against the slumping Giants and the steriod filled Bonds to make it 13 out of their last 14 now and are quickly running away with the NL West especially since AZ lost to FLA and SD lost its 10th out of its last 14th and 4th in a row to the Astros. Colorado beat the lowly Cubs to keep their playoff hopes alive and Atlanta beat the Brewers.
In the AL Wild Card Boston had a 7 run inning to help them beat the O's 9-2 in a game where Manny Ramirez extended the longest hit streak in the AL this year to 26 games and Mike Lowell made a phenomenal catch diving into the stands to catch a foul ball after getting hit in the head with a pitch earlier that game. That win combined with the Yankees loss to the Angels put the Red Sox 2 games out of first in the East and 2 games behind the AL wild card leading White Sox who shutout the Tigers 5-0 last night. My pick before this weekend's twins series was definitely Minnesota to win the AL Wild card but with two straight losses to Toronto at home 5-0, 7-2 it seems the white sox are the favorite now. Keep on readin and I'll be back tomorrow with the week in the NFL plus... of course... phils updates haha (2-0 top 2nd) right now.

Opening Night!

2006-08-11T19:13:00.000-05:00

Welcome all! to my newest edition of blogging which i have become recently obsessed with! This here is my biased opinion page of all sports happenings. Those of you who know me know that first off I am a born Philadelphia sports team fan. Eagles, Flyers, Phillies... and well, a "fairweather" sixers fan as I really don't like the NBA. Here in this, hopefully, daily blog, i will talk about all sports over the past couple of days and tons of stats, which i love, to twist your head. I hope I can entertain and please feel free to email me at nickface109@yahoo.com with your opinions and questions or just leave a comment attached to the blog.
SO starting off...
17 Games Left.
As I'm sure most of you know by now the Philadelphia Phillies are in the middle of a 7 team race for the NL wildcard. After the all-star break I said they could only lose 28 games the rest of the year if they were gonna make the playoffs. So far... they are 15-11 and right now they're losing the opening game of a very important series against the Cincinnati Reds 3-1 in the top of the 6th. They're schedule being one of the easiest left in baseball has them only facing one team above .500, after this series, the rest of the year... it just happens to be the Mets (7 times - 4 home, 3 away). The Phils are a measly 4-8 against them thus far this year including losing the last series to them just about a week ago in NY. While it seems just about everyone thought the Dodgers were the team to run away with the Wild Card after their recent 11 win streak and winning 12 out of 13, they have officially passed everyone else in their division now and the Padres, now only a half game out of the wild card are on a three game losing streak and are just 3-7 in their last 10; not to mention they are kicking off a series tonight in Houston against the Astros. Who are just 2.5 games out of the wildcard. That series and the Phils / Reds are easily the most important series this weekend in the National league. My prediction??? The phils hang on till the very end and then lose the last 3 or 4 games to the lowly Marlins who have nothing to play for and jump back on the Philadelphia sports team routine of ripping our hearts out of our ass. While the Reds slip in just past the Astros. Lets just hope that McNabb can keep up his hot preseason start. Lets go Birds!!
Next time... AL Wild Card