Archive for March, 2013

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Countdown To Opening Day 2013: 1 Day

March 31st, 2013 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Countdown To Opening Day 2013: 1 Day | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies

1day

The Bank is open. The Phillies have officially come home. After their last exhibition game with Toronto, the Phillies left for Atlanta to start the season. Baseball starts on Easter in 2013, but the Phillies start on April Fools Day. Hopefully we can make the Upton brothers look like fools before coming home to kick this six month-long marathon off against Kansas City. Funny to think that it’s already been ten years at The Bank. I’m sure the Phillies will have plenty in store for us as we stroll down memory lane. Some good things have taken place there and we’ve also lost some friends along the way. As we celebrate a decade at The Bank, let’s get an idea of what you may get the opportunity to witness.

  • Cole Hamels will win his 100th career game with just nine wins.
  • Roy Halladay will win his 200th career game with his next win.
  • John Lannan will win his 50th career game with eight wins.
  • Jonathan Papelbon can earn his 300th career save with 43 saves.
  • Ryan Howard is 80 runs batted in from 1,000.
  • Chase Utley is 27 doubles from 300 and his next home run will be his 200th.
  • Jimmy Rollins is 8 games from 1,800 and should surpass 1,900 as well. He is also 7 home runs from 200 and 7 runs batted in from 800.
  • Michael Young is 23 home runs from 200 and 16 runs batted in from 1000.
  • Charlie Manuel is 73 wins from 800 as manager of the Phillies and 53 short of 1,000 as a manager.
  • The Phillies are 87 wins short of 900 in their time at Citizens Bank Park.

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Countdown To Opening Day 2013: 4 Days

March 28th, 2013 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Countdown To Opening Day 2013: 4 Days | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies
4_days

Til opening day

Instead of focusing on the Phillies today, I’d like to focus on the rest of the division.  While the Phillies made changes that will have long-term ramifications, the rest of the division did too. Some for the better. Some potentially for the worse. So let’s make our way around the NL East.

Marlins

The Marlins may have secured themselves a guaranteed spot in the cellar of the NL East in 2013. After going “all in” for 2012, Mr. Loria went “all out” for 2013, and not in a good way. Basically, the only players most fans will probably recognize are Giancarlo Stanton and Logan Morrison. The Marlins may have made moves that will help them contend in the future, but they appear to be contending for the first pick in the 2014 draft for now.

Mets

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Countdown To Opening Day 2013: 5 Days

March 27th, 2013 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Countdown To Opening Day 2013: 5 Days | Filed in Baseball, General, MLB, Phillies, Sports

5-days

It’s hard to believe that opening day is this close. In just five short days, the Phillies will set forth on a six month marathon. Domonic Brown has definitely been the biggest surprise so far. He definitely has taken the starting right field job by storm. Ryan Howard seems to be back and healthy for the first time since 2010. The bullpen appears to be something that potentially could be a strength in 2013. To me, the biggest concern for me is Roy Halladay.

Is Halladay injured? Is he trying to reinvent himself? Or has time just caught up with the Doc? Between the short outings and the ineffectiveness, Halladay has had a horrendous spring. My hope is that when the bell rings in Atlanta, Doc will be game on. That hopefully Halladay can give us 80% of what we’ve been accustomed to over the years. 80% of Halladay is still better than the majority of pitchers at 100%.

With all the days off to start the season, maybe the best course of action is to start the season with Halladay on the disabled list. Keeping Halladay in extended spring training until the weather warms up maybe the best thing. The only concern may be that the MLBPA gets involved with Halladay having an outside shot at reaching his innings requirement to have his option for 2014 vest.

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Reasons To Stay Optimistic About Our Sports Teams

March 26th, 2013 by Sam Shipley | Comments Off on Reasons To Stay Optimistic About Our Sports Teams | Filed in Eagles, Flyers, General, Phillies, Sixers, Sports

beoptimistic

Here in Philadelphia it is known that being a sports fan comes with one thing more often than not, heart-break. Year after year we get behind our four sports teams, only to be let down at some point during the season. The Eagles were considered a contender just two seasons ago when they acquired the “Dream Team” only to fall to 12-20 over the last two seasons. The Phillies have went from National League powerhouse to an average team who is trying to put together one last run. The Sixers went from so much hope starting with last season’s playoffs to the Andrew Bynum trade, and we won’t even see Bynum this season. The Flyers were a team who came into this season with so much potential to be great and they to are struggling just to get into the playoffs. And on top of it all, we have seen just one championship since the Sixers won in 1983 which was the Phillies in 2008.

Right now it is very tough to be a sports fan in Philadelphia with all four teams struggling. However, I am not worried and am actually very optimistic that our teams will get back to their winning ways sooner rather than later. So instead of talking about more heartbreak, let’s just jump right into my reasons to stay optimistic Philadelphia.

Philaelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers currently are a struggling team who are just trying to end the season on a positive note. They have been depleted by injuries to Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson who are both out for the season. Both of them were projected starters for the Sixers this season when the Sixers cut ties with Andre Iguodala, Nikolai Vucevic, and Maurice Harkless in the blockbuster deal that sent those two to Philly. So in reality the Sixers lost a combined three starters, and a very good big man in Vucevic who is averaging a double-double down in Orlando, and a rookie with good upside in Harkless. They brought in nine new players this season which is a complete turnover of the roster, and was expected to take time to gel. However, the injuries really made that a lot more difficult than it should have been. As a result, the Sixers now sit in the same position they were in 2009 which is drafting in the lottery.

However, this summer is a key summer for the Sixers. I believe that they will move on from Andrew Bynum and even if they don’t it will be a 1-year contract which I am fine with. They have some cap room to work with to bring in a different group of guys who can benefit the team very well. There are three guys in free agency this summer that I would like the Sixers to target which are Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, and O.J. Mayo. If they can grab at least one of those three to pair with Jrue Holiday and possibly Bynum, I like that team a lot already.

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Leo interviews Derrick Ross of the Soul

March 24th, 2013 by Leo | Comments Off on Leo interviews Derrick Ross of the Soul | Filed in General, Interviews, Soul, TalkSportsPhilly

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by Christopher Leomporra

I had the pleasure of becoming more involved with the Philadelphia Soul over the last year that included going to the games, getting to know some of the Players, staff, and Soulmates.  The Soul marched to the Arenabowl last year only to go home empty handed.  This year they are planning a different story and that is to bring home another Championship to a desperate Philly Fan base.

One of the key players for the coming season will be Fullback Derrick Ross.  He was kind enough to give TalkSportsPhilly an interview about the upcoming season. So let’s get to the interview:

Leo:  What are your goals for the upcoming season?

Derrick: To win a championship for the city of brotherly love, that’s were my heart is at …

Leo:  Has the transition to the Philly area from Texas been a challenge?

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This is Why We Call it “Madness”

March 23rd, 2013 by AmyMac | Comments Off on This is Why We Call it “Madness” | Filed in Basketball, College Sports, General

madness

By Amy McGinnis

March Madness is well underway, and thanks to Harvard and Florida Gulf Coast, my bracket has already fallen apart.  Upsets and Cinderella stories are what make the month of March fun.  Fans everywhere completed their brackets last week (many while on the clock at work), and now we’re watching games and frantically checking scores (again, many while at work).  At least my picks for the title game (Louisville and Kansas, with Kansas winning the championship) are still alive.

Harvard’s win over 3rd seed New Mexico busted a lot of brackets, including my own, and they will play 6th seed Arizona this evening.  Oregon, who surprisingly beat Oklahoma State, will play St. Louis tonight.  The biggest upset of all, I think, was Florida Gulf Coast’s win over 2nd seed Georgetown.  I definitely didn’t see that coming, and I doubt any Georgetown fans did, either.  This is why we call it “madness,” and we see in game after game that anything can happen.

Fortunately for fans in Philadelphia, La Salle and Temple live to play another day.  13th seed La Salle is set to take on 12th seed Ole Miss tomorrow night. Temple will play Indiana tomorrow afternoon, and as I predicted before the season began, 6’4″ guard Khalif Wyatt is showing great leadership.  If you follow him on Twitter (@KhalifW05), you’ll see that he states “Temple Mens Basketball #1 … Tryna make it to the top, so I can let my dawgs know it exist.” As a Temple alum, I love this kid and the rest of Fran Dunphy’s squad.  Go Owls!

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Countdown To Opening Day 2013: 10 Days

March 22nd, 2013 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Countdown To Opening Day 2013: 10 Days | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies

10daysAs we head down the home stretch and the Phightins start thinking about heading north, decisions need to be made, and some are becoming easier than others. The biggest decisions to be made involve the bench, the bullpen, and left field.

The bench is currently made up of Kevin Frandsen, John Mayberry Jr., Laynce Nix, and Humberto Quintero. The Phillies need to decide between optioning Freddy Galvis and releasing Yuniesky Betancourt. The Phillies need to decide by Sunday as Betancourt has an opt out date approaching and teams like the Cardinals are watching with baited breath. Quintero isn’t exactly a lock to make the team as the Phils have been rumored to be looking for a veteran backup. A lot also depends on the status of Darin Ruf. If Ruf is optioned, the door is left open for Rule V pick Ender Inciarte.

The bullpen appears to have Papelbon, Adams, Bastardo, and Durbin penciled in, leaving Phillipe Aumont, Mike Stutes, Raul Valdes, and Jeremy Horst to battle for the last three spots. Personally, I think it may just be down to Stutes and Valdes.

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