Phall of the Phils in 2010

Best record in baseball, yeah right!!! Strong pitching, check!  No-hitter pitched in the fist round?  All came tumbling down last night as the San Francisco Giants advanced to their first World Series since 2002.

The Phillies were attempting to become the first National League three-peater since the 1940's.   Now just go down in Philadelphia lore as the '77 Sixers or 2002 Eagles.  Why the comparison?  The '77 Sixers won two games in the NBA finals on the road before losing the final 4 to a Bill Walton led Portland Trailblazers. 

The 2002 Eagles had everything going.  Facing a franchise that never won a road playoff game.  A team that was 1-22 in games under 40 degrees.  Last game played at Veterans Stadium.  Bet the house on the Birds???  Three hours later and 27-10 loss was maybe the worse in Philadelphia sports history. 

Rank this collapse or absence of bats just as historic.  If you would have told me a week ago Tim Lincecum would be 0-1 with a no decision and the series would only go six,  I would be looking for a World Series ticket to fall out of the sky.

This team will be losing Jason Werth to the high bidders, but seems to be built to make another run. Lets face it, the Braves have a new manager, the Mets have a new manager and are awful, and who is the Nat's manager.  Some players have to regroup and get healthy again, but player moves are for another post.

Back to earth and being a Philadelphia sports fan. High hopes dashed once again.

At least this Yankee fan knows that "NY" stands for next year.

Philles Start the Drive at Phive!!!!

The Phillies will begin the road to their 2nd title in three years at 5:07. Will these two be celebrating???

World Series Trophy Comes to Susquehanna Valley

The 2008 World Series Championship Trophy came to the Susquehanna Valley Mall on Tuesday afternoon. A big shout out goes to Peggy Chamberlain of Big Country Radio for holding my sons' coats. Everything went so fast.

I feld like Ralphie from A Christmas Story trying to ask Santa for his Red Rider BB Gun of course with the carbine action.

One Down, Three to Go!!!!!

Phils go up 1-0 in the Series. Don't get too excited. The Phils were up 1-0 on the Orioles in 1983. It would take 10 years until the Phils would win another World Series game.


From the strange trivia file, the last time the Republicans have won a presidential election without a Bush or Nixon on the ticket was 1928. We all know how that turned out for Herbert Hoover. For some reason, I feel sorry for President Dwight David Eisenhower.

It's the Rays and Phils!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Someone send me a ticket!!!!!!!

Universal Signs for "Next Year"

Do both of these logos stand for next year?

GO PHILLIES

Billy Crystal and the rest of us.

Billy Crystal for his 60th birthday got to suit up and bat in a spring training game for his beloved New York Yankees. You can't help but think back to his "best day" line in the movie City Slickers. It also makes you think of Burt Lancaster's character, Archie "Moonlight" Graham in Field of Dreams.

For the record, here is the boxscore from my first game on August 19th, 1978. Mike Schmidt hit a rare game leadoff home run, Steve Carlton pitched a three-hit shutout, and 3 Hall of Famer's started the game.

Wrapping up the weekend

Photos above are Mount Carmel's #1 fan, Bill "Winks" Carta with family. A young fan with "Bucky" at Community Day at Bucknell. Assitant Mount Carmel coach Bob Chesney and Shamokin Assistant Mike Gurski talk about their days in the broadcast booth.

With all the great weather over the weekend, I was able to watch three football games. The battle for the Coal Bucket with Shamokin and Mount Carmel, Richmond at Bucknell, and Juniata at Line Mountain.

BUCKNELL FOOTBALL

I got a chance to see Bucknell against Richmond this past Saturday and watch Southern Columbia grads Ryan Slater and Ian Fullmer in action. Slater made his presence known with back to back defensive plays at the end of the first period. The Bison couldn't match the talent of Richmond and lost 45-14. Tim Hightower set a school record for the Spiders with 295 yards on the ground.

A moment I haven't seen since the 70's was an inadvertent whistle by the officials. It felt like 10 minutes before they let the home side know why they blew the whistle. Could you say run and hide?

The Bison are back in action September 29th at home against Marist at 6pm.

LINE MOUNTAIN

Line Mountain ran their record to 4-0 on the season and quarterback Clark Morris guided an offense that rushed for over 300 yards in downing Juniata 32-14. The Eagles, barring any significant injuries, should be favored in their games the rest of the way with the exception of week 10 when they host Millersburg.

An interesting playoff scenario involves Bloomsburg, Southern Columbia, and Line Mountain in District IV Class A. Last season, Line Mountain put up 31 points against a good Southern defense in defeat in 2006.

PHILLIES

Although the Phillies went down to Atlanta tonight, I never thought they would be in this postion. With injuries to Freddy Garcia, John Leiber, Ryan Madson for the season and Cole Hamels and Adam Eaton missing starts and losing closers Brett Myers and Tom Gordon for some time that was just the pitching problem for the Phils. Position players that spent some time injured were Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Shane Victorino. Playing his way back from the scrap heap was Pat Burrell.

Win or lose men, my hat's off to you.

PENN STATE

In the recruiting process with Josh Marks of Southern Area, I really didn't know how bad Penn State's offensive line's situation was going into the season. They had two defensive converts starting and not a lot of proven depth. The Lions struggled the first three games to get the running game going. Usually it wasn't until the second half until they started to pile up the yardage.

Their offensive scheme kept Michigan in the game long enough to win it. Didn't they learn anything from Oregon? I'm not saying change to the spread overnight, but there might be a few things to work in. Speaking to schemes check, out the Dave Jones article about the JoePa's scheme over the years.

Unfortunately, this September loss will keep Penn State from shot at the national championship.