Archive for June, 2013

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Which Philly Non-Hall of Famer Has Meant the Most to the City?

June 30th, 2013 by Philly Pressbox | Comments Off on Which Philly Non-Hall of Famer Has Meant the Most to the City? | Filed in Eagles, Flyers, Phillies, Sixers

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My buddies and I are sitting around enjoying a couple cold beverages and talking Philly sports. What else is better than that? The following question led to some great debate.

What Philadelphia Non – Hall of Famer has had the greatest impact on sports in the city?

There were many names bounced back and forth, we tried to come up with one from each sport but it was awful hard to do so we agreed to settle on a few. We also talked about non-players like coaches, broadcasters, owners and general managers.

Now keep in mind that nearly everyones favorites are the HOF guys who are the best players, but this discussion/argument eliminates Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Richie Ashburn, Robin Roberts, Harry Kalas, Dr J, Billy Cunningham, Wilt Chamberlain, Steve VanBuren, Chuck Bednarik, Reggie White, Bobby Clarke, Bernie Parent, Ed Snider. You get the point.

The discussion left us with 4 Non – Hall of Fame men that we felt had the greatest impact on Philadelphia sports over their careers. Note, many may feel that Brian Dawkins may be on this list but we felt he was too current and he will be a Hall of Famer.

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Phils Punctuate Halfway Mark With Sixteen Exclamation Points

June 29th, 2013 by AmyMac | Comments Off on Phils Punctuate Halfway Mark With Sixteen Exclamation Points | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies
Delmon Young has plenty of reasons to smile.

Delmon Young has plenty of reasons to smile.

By Amy McGinnis

Last night in Los Angeles, the Phils ended the first half of their thus-far-unremarkable season with an explosive Game 81. Phils won 16-1 (not a typo), while Dodgers fans surely wished MLB had a mercy rule in place.  Needless to say, Philadelphia’s offense was aggressive; winning pitcher John Lannan had three hits of his own.  Combined, the Youngs went 7 for 12 – Michael had four hits and Delmon was responsible for six (yes, six) of Philadelphia’s runs.  It’s worth noting, however, that Lannan kept the Dodgers’ offense (who had scored six runs the night before) to just one run.  Delmon Young’s superhuman canon of an arm helped defense quite a bit, as well.

At one point, Facebook began grouping all the “You think Howard’s mad???” posts together in their own little section of my news feed.  Charlie Manuel made the decision to bench Howard for two games, a decision with which I am fully on board, and he sat and watched the runs pour in.  For the record, I love Howie, and if he’s smart (he has to be; only a genius would have a lazy river built around the perimeter of his home), he’s taking the two nights off to get his head back in the game.  Manuel mumbled his usual marbles-in-his-mouth, redneck English spiel, stating that Howard “is okay with it.” Here’s the thing: okay with it or not, he’s out of the lineup for 48 hours, so it’s in his best interest to make good use of that time.  His offensive slump (combined with his visible physical discomfort and two consecutive lefty Los Angeles starters) is a great reason to  take a couple days off, run drills, and refocus.

Another popular topic of conversation last night was “Why can’t the offense do this for Cole?” Really? Really?  The offense hasn’t delivered nearly the way they did last night for anyone this season.  Trust me; I was voted “Baseball Nerd Most Likely to Get Into a Fist Fight While Defending Cole Hamels,” and you won’t hear or read a negative word about that man from me. That being said, his ERA thus far is 4.58.  Run support is clearly not his only issue.  (I’ll go on the record and say that I don’t know what his issue is … he has pitched twelve fewer innings than Cliff Lee thus far this season, and their strikeouts are 99 and 105, respectively. It feels like Cole’s 2009 Part 2.)

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Blackhawks Stanley Cup Winner Again

June 28th, 2013 by Leo | Comments Off on Blackhawks Stanley Cup Winner Again | Filed in General, Hockey, TalkSportsPhilly

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Well another year in NHL hockey has passed us by with an exciting matchup between the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks.  The series turned out to be a back and forth matchup with the Blackhawks coming from behind early in the series to end it in the sixth game to become the Stanley Cup winner for the second time in the last four seasons.   A rundown of the six game series went like this: Blackhawks win first game 4-3; Bruins win second game 2-1; Bruins win third game 2-0; Blackhawks win fourth game 6-5; Blackhawks win fifth game 3-1; Blackhawk win sixth game 2-1.

One player who stood out for the Blackhawks throughout the series was Dave Bolland, who scored the winning goal in the final minute of play in the sixth game for the 3-2 victory giving the Stanley Cup winners a storybook ending.  “This is probably the biggest satisfaction I’ve ever had,” Bolland said. “A hockey season is up and down. I had a roller-coaster year with injuries. Things like that happen. You battle through them and it is the way that you come out of it through the injuries is what matters.”  A great summary of Bolland’s play in the Stanley Cup finals is this article featured on NHL.com.

It was not a big surprise to see the Blackhawks and Bruins make it to the finals this year considering their regular season play.  But, who will be next years Stanley Cup winner you might ask.  Here is an article that addresses that titled Early Odds on 2014 Stanley Cup Winner  if you want to  be one step ahead for next years action. 

This final was also a special moment for the Blackhawks Captain Jonathan Toews, It is tradition for the Captain to hoist up the Stanley Cup trophy and Toews was brought to center ice to do it for the second time in his career.  Toews had two assists in the Game 5 victory and was questionable whether he would play Game 6 but ended up playing the game and put forth a great effort during the win.

On the other side of the ice, the Bruins made it to the Stanley Cup even though they had a lot of injuries and several young players that had to step up to fill the spots.  Boston had an impressive run in the playoffs and as a team and city stilled had the Boston Marathon bombing fresh in their minds.  Boston should be a contender next year because most of the core players will be returning.

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Sending Love to Dutch

June 28th, 2013 by AmyMac | Comments Off on Sending Love to Dutch | Filed in Baseball, General, MLB, Phillies, Sports
Fan favorite Darren Daulton has been diagnosed with two brain tumors.

Fan favorite Darren Daulton has been diagnosed with two brain tumors.

By Amy McGinnis

Undoubtedly, those of us over the age of thirty or so remember the 1993 Phillies well.  Aside from the mullets, police blotters, and huge wads of chewing tobacco, we remember the heart and grit.  They took nothing for granted, and as a true representation of its fanbase, the team worked.  We watched Dave Hollins crowd the plate so that Greg Maddux (whom he later promised to kill if he hit another Phillie with a pitch) would plunk him.  We watched John Kruk sweat bullets in the heat, and we said silent prayers that he not collapse from a heart attack.  We watched Curt Schilling (who could pick off runners at first as if it were part of a magic show) cover his face with a towel as to not be forced to witness Mitch Williams on the mound in the postseason.  Through it all, though, we were fortunate enough to witness the effects of Darren Daulton – at the plate, as backstop, and in the clubhouse.  Truth be told, we could use some of Daulton’s brand of leadership these days.

Daulton, now 51, was a team leader in the truest sense.  Although Daulton had more than his fair share of criminal charges in his time, he was always a fan favorite in Philadelphia.  As recognition for his years as a Phillie (1983-1997) and his leadership of the 1993 National Championship team, the father of four was inducted into the Phillies’ Wall of Fame in 2010.

Darren Daulton has been diagnosed with two brain tumors, one of which has been deemed operable.  He is staged to undergo surgery next week to have it removed.

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Philly Pressbox Trivia – PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

June 27th, 2013 by Philly Pressbox | Comments Off on Philly Pressbox Trivia – PHILADELPHIA EAGLES | Filed in Eagles, Football, General

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I was the starting QB for the Philadelphia Eagles for 18 games over 3 seasons. We won 8 and lost 10, going 3-0, 2-3 and 3-7 in those years. The other QB during the same 3 year period started 24 games, we had a record of 7-17 with him as the starter. As you can guess our overall 3 year record of 15-27 wasn’t very good but one of my years was good enough to get me to my only Pro Bowl. Do you know who I am? As a bonus do you know who the other QB was??

 

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Philly Pressbox Trivia – PENN STATE FOOTBALL

June 26th, 2013 by Philly Pressbox | Comments Off on Philly Pressbox Trivia – PENN STATE FOOTBALL | Filed in College Sports, Football

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Leading up to the 1974 NFL Draft, the 1973 Penn State team posted a 12-0 record including a 16-9 victory over LSU in the Orange Bowl. That team scored 447 points on offense while the outstanding defense allowed only 129 points. There were 10 Nittany Lions selected in the ’74 draft. Who was selected the highest?

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Philly Pressbox Trivia – PHILADELPHIA 76ers

June 26th, 2013 by Philly Pressbox | Comments Off on Philly Pressbox Trivia – PHILADELPHIA 76ers | Filed in Sixers

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The 76ers made the playoffs in the 1990-91 season but didn’t make it again until the 1998-99 season. During the 7 seasons in between they had an overall record of 181 wins and 393 losses. Their worst season in that stretch being 18-64. How many coaches did the team have during those 7 seasons? We’re looking for a number but if you know the name(s) add them as a bonus.

 

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