The700Level.com - Philly Sports & Minutiae

Linesman Pat Dapuzzo Takes Skate to the Face, Brawl Ensues

Linesman Pat Dapuzzo was badly injured when Steve Downie's skate inadvertently caught him in the face after Downie was upended by the boards. A fight broke out between nearly everyone on the ice, and although Dapuzzo did his best to help, he was severely bloodied, and the other refs were concerned with whether he was OK. The players brawled it out in classic fashion, and the Flyers' and Rangers' trainer came to the aid of Dapuzzo, who ended up with a broken jaw and 60 stitches. Warning, this clip doesn't capture the frontal shot of the skate to the face, but there's definitely some blood.

Lupul Returns, Lines Shuffled Versus Rangers, HUGE Brawls

Great news came last night when we heard that Joffrey Lupul would return sooner than expected. But with fluid chemistry on some of the lines while he was out, particularly on the newly formed HArD Line, there was uncertainty as to how the team would respond to the top lines shifting to Richards-Lupul-Gagne and Briere-Hartnell-Upshall. Tim Panaccio reports that John Stevens hopes the juggle will help Briere become more of a scorer than a passer.

"I'd like to see Danny [Briere] become the scorer on his line," Stevens said. "He's such an unselfish guy. When he takes the puck to the net, he is looking to pass off. To me, the strength of his game is, the first option he gets, to attack the net."

With the Rangers in town today, it's not a great time to work out the bugs, but the schedule is division-heavy all week, and Stevens has done a pretty good job adjusting for various injuries to the forwards throughout the season.

UPDATE: Huge brawl, all the skaters on the ice going at it. Steve Downie's skate caught a linesman's face, cutting him badly. Down a zebra, there was nothing to stop the fights from getting going. Downie beat Fedor Tyutin down, but Colton Orr got the better of Riley Cote. Moments later, another fight broke out, after which Avery pushed a linesman. See ya.

(Photo by Flickr user Neat1325)

Rangerland.net Q&A Session

After winning our mayor's bet with the Pensblog (or, more accurately, less than 24 hours after the Rangers recently beat the Flyers 4-0), we heard from some Rangers bloggers who wanted to set up a Q &A with us for today's Flyers match up against the big blue disappointment. Their site is Rangerland.net, and I think they have about 15 people covering their underperforming team. Topics at Rangerland include "I'm Not Gay," "Bang P.I." and "You Are So Gay." These are, after all, Rangers fans.

As you'll see in their responses to our questions, I gotta admit these guys are pretty funny. Decades of crushed hopes will instill a bitter brand of incisive and self-deprecating humor. But we wouldn't know anything about that. After the jump are their responses to our questions, and here's our interview at their site.

More Berman Tapes!

Oh man, this one is good. Berman: "Did you squirm a little bit?"  Courtesy of the always entertaining SportsByBrooks.

The original after the jump.

A Giant Week

It was a Super week for the people of New York.  The Giants won the Super Bowl and the people of the Big Apple had a chance to voice their opinions in their primary this past Tuesday.  This video may have been my favorite to come out of this week.

Below: "Boston is a wonderful place to go if you want soup served in a bowl cut out of bread.  Or, if you're looking to get in a fight for no reason."

Schill's on the Shelf

For a brief moment after the Red Sox won the World Series, we got our hopes up that Curt Schilling might return to Philly for his final season. He and his family put their house on the market, and it looked like he was going somewhere. But with much fanfare and backslapping, Schill dramatically returned to the team he never departed from, and we were left to read snippets about scouts watching Odalis Perez and Kris Benson.

But Schilling's future is uncertain, with some sources reporting that he might be out until the All-Star break, and conflicting reports that he would need either surgery or just rest and rehab for his shoulder issues. Schill has of course spoken on the topic at 38 Pitches, but no timetable is given. Red Sox Nation can't be happy about all this, and Phillies fans shouldn't be either. The Sox were once high on the list of teams in the running for Johan Santana, and their decision to back out of negotiations with the Twins may have been different if they thought they'd be without Schilling for an extended period of time. However, news of his shoulder problems isn't exactly new; only the possibility of surgery (which Schill says he'll forgo) and a lengthy absence might have changed their approach.

I don't think for a minute that Schill tried to hide anything from the team. He took and passed a physical, and he'd have been the first person to go to the front office and tell them if he thought he might miss time. I'm just pissed that the Mets signed the best pitcher in baseball, and I'm looking for any way to create scenarios in which it didn't actually happen.

Quick Links: The Franchise Tag is Outdated

What to read as you plot your ambush on the Galactic Empire... in Rittenhouse Square.

• Phi Sheridan believes the franchise tag is outdated and should be done away with.  It's an interesting point.  The case of L.J. Smith actually seems to be a unique situation in which the tag kind of benefits both parties. [Inquirer]
• That's gotta hurt.  On face washing: "The face wash is a baiting tactic that has been around since gloves were invented, or, as the Devils television announcer Chico Resch said, 'since hands were invented.'"
• An article on the art of the jump shot: "Larry Bird's jumper was as pure as prayer. It was perfect in every mechanic, particularly his rainbow arc, which enabled the ball to "see" more of the basket. Thus, he got a lot of shooter's bounces. It wasn't luck. It was the high arc, the perfect rotation, and the soft landing."
• Hillary Clinton on a rather interesting baseball card. [Lioninoil]
• Be sure to check out the photo of Rodney Carney posterizing Dwayne Wade.
• The Sixers head coach's new nickname: "Shoeless Mo"
• The Dallas Morning News uses some interesting imagery. [B&C]

Chad Johnson's Fateful Shove

A report by Fox Sports' Alex Marvez posted late last night describes an angry Chad Johnson shoving an NFL media relations employee.

Before leaving, Johnson was stopped by a member of the league's media relations department (Michael Lipman) for me and another reporter. I asked Johnson whether he was having a better off-season after venting some of his frustration publicly at the Super Bowl.

Johnson walked off without answering the question. Lipman tried speaking with him again, only to get shoved. The much-bigger Johnson then stared down Lipman before stepping onto a jitney headed toward the players' hotel.

Not the kind of behavior that's going to give Andy Reid and Joe Banner the warm & fuzzies if they choose to "add weapons." Even Ocho Cinco's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, may be wondering if he's got another TO 2005 situation on his hands. In any event, it's getting increasingly difficult for Johnson to argue that he's no different from the league's other great playmakers, as he does here:

"Find me a great one that doesn't do the same things that I've done in the past and I'll stop playing. Period."

Umm... Marvin Harrison.

>>Johnson's still making news for all the wrong reasons [Fox Sports]

Rodney Carney & Dwayne Wade Trade Facials, Sixers Beat Heat

Another exciting dunk fest for the Sixers on Thursday night in a 101-84 win over the Shaq-less Miami Heat.  The storyline of the game was clearly the posterization of Dwayne Wade by Rodney Carney.  About the dunk, Rodney said, "I didn't think he was going to jump, but he did, and I kind of put him on a poster."

Dwayne Wade got a chance to return the favor later in the game and got called for a T for taunting afterward.

The Palm Beach post had this to say about Mr. Carney's throw down, "In the second quarter, 76ers guard Rodney Carney threw down a dunk over Dwyane Wade that was so vicious it might hold up as the NBA's best dunk of the year."

Watch video of the exchange below.  Click the photo for larger Yahoo! image.

Eagles Get Donovan a Weapon: Franchise L.J. Smith

The Eagles have placed the franchise tag on tight end L.J. Smith.  This is a pretty smart move in my opinion.  While L.J. was banged up much of the year and didn't perform up to his potential, if you take him out of the lineup you're putting your trust in unproven players.  Donovan and the Eagles system thrive on using the TE as a go to outlet.  Keeping Smith around is a solid move because there simply weren't many other viable options out there.

L.J. likely isn't happy about it.  Although he will get roughly 4.5 million and change from the Eagles if no other team takes him, he could have been looking at a real nice pay day elsewhere.

Ron Hextall and Philly: Tailor-Made for Each Other

For those who couldn't see the Ron Hextall Flyers Hall of Fame induction ceremony and tribute video last night, or if you just want to watch it again, the Flyers have been kind enough to share it with us.

After the jump, a fan video by WJEiii captures the closing lines of Hexy's address to the Flyers faithful.

Lunchtime Extras: Pedro Martinez Hates Little Jerry

We're a little wiped out from yesterday's overdose of Hexuality and Enrico's game of one-on-one with Ed Stefanski, but here are a few things we thought might help you get through a Thursday afternoon.

• A week after rolling in all the great Santana publicity, the Mets can't be happy with headlines like "Pedro Likes to Rock Out With His Cock Out," etc. Cockfighting is legal in the DR, so he won't be facing charges for participating. Too bad the Youtube is already down. [Home Run Derby]
• When Jennie Finch is #49 on a "50 Hottest Women in Sports" list, you know it's a talented field. Don't worry, Jenny, maybe next time they'll have a hottest milfs in sports list for ya. I'd have switched some things around in the top 10, but this is one of those lists where everyone wins. Especially you. [PopCrunch]
• Can anyone explain why the Suns would do this? [Yahoo!]
• The Flyers are still high on a dwindling list of Peter Forsberg suitors. [TSN.ca]
• No matter what he does on the mound, somehow I don't think you'll find many bloggers complaining if the Phillies sign Anna Benson's husband. [Daily Examiner]
• Last night, Flyers fans got a good glimpse of what Mirtle is preaching in his post on Ovechkin's season being one of the best in a long time. [James Mirtle]

The 700 Level Interviews Sixers President & General Manager Ed Stefanski

With a record of 19-30, the Sixers are currently a team in full-fledged rebuilding mode.  Allen Iverson's days as a Sixer are long gone, and it's names like Andre Iguodala, Sammy Dalembert, Thaddeus Young, Louis Williams, and Jason Smith that we will be hearing for the foreseeable future.  This current Sixers team isn't going to win a championship any time soon, but with an extremely young core group of players coupled with an abundance of cap space this coming summer, they're in a position to grow into a legit competitor in the East.

The man charged with putting the pieces in place is Sixers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski.  Ed attended  Bonner High School in Upper Darby, played college ball at the University of Pennsylvania, and was a part of the Philadelphia basketball community for decades.  Most recently, he was the GM of the New Jersey Nets, but in December of 2007, Ed Snider, with the persmission of the Nets, offered Stefanski his dream job.  Stefanski, who never really left the Philly area, took over for Billy King to run the basketball team at Broad and Pattison.

I had an opportunity to talk with Ed yesterday in an interview that touches on many things from his Philly roots—his philosophy on a fast-paced offense, Philly's desire for a championship, and a team that has shown "glimpses" so far in his time here.  One fact I learned about Ed was that he grew up in Drexel Hill, just a few minutes away from my hometown of Havertown.

Flyers Looking to Extend Atlantic Lead, Gain on Sens

In addition to the Ron Hextall Flyers Hall of Fame ceremony tonight, which you may or may not have heard about, the Flyers will also host Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals. The Flyers are absolutely on fire, and almost every game has been fun to watch for over a month. In their last 18 games, the Flyers are 14-3-1, and they sit in sole possession of 1st place in the Atlantic division. They're also only 3 points behind the Senators, who have been slowed considerably by injuries to Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson. Now is the time to keep gaining on that top seed in the conference, because the Sens are sure to pick up their game when their stars are healthy.

Ovechkin is the league's best goal scorer, and there's a good chance he'll light the lamp tonight. Hopefully Marty Biron can continue his hot streak after taking a game off to let Antero Niittymaki continue his ownership of the Atlanta Thrashers.

Update: The Hexy Tribute was great. Starting with U2's "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" was surprising, but what could be more appropriate than AC-DC's "If You Want Blood"? We'll try to get the video for those who couldn't see it tonight.

And Now for this Commercial Break

We'll try to get a game post up around 7. Until then, enjoy two Canada Dry's.

Old Man Hextall Dropped the Gloves a Few Times in His Day Too

It seems Ron Hextall's dad, Bryan Hextall, had a penchant for fisticuffs just like his boy. His loss to Dave Schultz in this video was probably one he'd like to forget though. Serves him right for taking on a guy called "the Hammer" who plays for the "Broad Street Bullies." I'm not sure I've seen a fight end with one of the players asking the refs to break it up, but I also can't say I'd have hung in there...

Little Hexy Is Also Available for Interview

Apparently this interview after Game 7 of the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals just couldn't wait. Hexy handled what had to be an annoying interview with awful timing just about perfectly. You can see how genuinely disappointed he was that the Cup was in the other locker room.

GOALIE FIGHT!

This has already come up three times in the comments, so you may have already seen it, but just in case you didn't, here is the battle between Ron Hextall and the Maple Leafs' Felix "the Cat" Potvin. Win, lose, scratch, claw, or draw... everyone likes a good goalie fight. You always knew it was on when you saw Hexy sprint down the ice, and he was never afraid to do it.

In Which Hexy Drops Rob Pearson

It's gotta be embarrassing to start a fight with a goalie... and get your ass kicked. This looks like Clint wailing on Mike in Dazed and Confused.

"Lightning Only Strikes Once, But Hextall Strikes Twice"

--The cheesiness in this post's title comes from a t-shirt that was popular among rinkrats after Hextall did this:

Hextall Makes History...

Just try to stop the goosebumps.

Hexy Does the Interview Circuit

Tonight, the Flyers will induct goalie Ron Hextall into the team's Hall of Fame. We're celebrating by sharing some of the more colorful highlights from Hexy's career throughout the day.

The local airwaves are buzzing with Hextall talk, and the old goalie is making the rounds and doing interviews up and down the dial. We listened with interest as Glen Macnow chatted with him last night, and we've heard he's been on the WIP morning show, Kidd Chris, and 950's afternoon show today. Macnow's interview was great, and you can listen to it here.  You can still hear the passion he hangs onto when he talks about his days as a Flyer, and it was sad (yet kinda cool) to hear how upset he was to be traded away from the team he loved. Especially to the Nordiques.

>>Glen Macnow interviews Ron Hextall

Quotable: David Wright Knows Who Won and Who Lost the NL East in '07

“The team to beat in my eyes is the team that won last year. Philadelphia took care of us last year. They took care of business in the division. Going into this year, we have to take control again of the NL East…It’s not about making bold predictions.  This year, we have to take [the title] away from Philadelphia.”

- David Wright, Mets third baseman [via]

You can't knock Wright for saying the right thing.  He is, afterall, right.  The Phillies are the reigning NL East Champs.  With their acquisition of Johan Santana, the Mets may be the favorite to take the division in '08 but it certainly goes through Philadelphia.

The Chelios Affair

Tonight, the Flyers will induct goalie Ron Hextall into the team's Hall of Fame. We're celebrating by sharing some of the more colorful highlights from Hexy's career throughout the day.

Clearly one of the most widely discussed moments in Ron Hextall's career was when he took the law into his own hands, attacking Chris Chelios, then of Montreal, though still miraculously in the league. Earlier in the playoff series, Chelios had laid a dirty hit on Brian Propp, leaving the Flyer great with a concussion. Hexy said, "Not in my house."  Brawlarity ensued, naturally.

My favorite part is definitely when he throws the blocker at Chelios after he's been peeled off of him. I will never forget that.

Sixers Fight Back Against Wiz

After dropping a 20 point lead on Monday night, the Sixers bounced back and played the spoiler last night.  They were down as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter to Washington but at one point went on a 17-0 run to fight back.  The Sixers won by a final of 101-96.

Iguodala led the way with 20 points but it was 17 from Thadeus Young on 8 of 10 shooting that was most impressive.  ThadYo is really coming into his own and with appearances in the starting line up, he's responding well.  Andre Miller had 14 dimes in the win.  There was also a Rodney Carney sighting.

Bizarre fact of the night: Mo Cheeks coached with only one shoe.

ESPN recap with video highlights.

Below is a video of Samuel Dalembert protecting his house.  via the unfairly Philly bashing FanHouse.

It's Ron Hextall Day

Tonight, the Flyers will induct goalie Ron Hextall into the team's Hall of Fame. It's bound to a memorable event at the Wachovia Center, with tears and hoarse voices in the crowd, and probably on the emotional goalie as well. To say Hexy was unique on the ice is an understatement. No one liked to mix it up more, a rare trait for a netminder and one that defined Hextall's career and legacy, but it's also important to remember that he was damn fine between the pipes as well. We're going to pay tribute to Hextall today with some of the highlights of his career in Philly. The Youtubes were made for players like Hexy... Our first post, however, deals with filling the skates of a legend, a helluva way to have to start a career in goal.

In the mid-80s, Philadelphia was in love with a goalie by the name of Pelle Lindbergh. In a few short years, Lindbergh established himself as one of the top goalies in the game, taking home the Vezina Trophy in the 1984-1985 season. The Flyers were set in goal, and planned to have Pelle as the backbone of the franchise for the next decade. When Lindbergh crashed his Porsche into a wall in November of 1985 and passed away at the age of 26, the town and team reeled.

On the ice, the team relied on goalie Bob Froese, who had backed up Lindbergh the year before, as well as Darren Jensen and Glenn Resch. Froese and Jensen played well, going on to share the Jennings Trophy, and the team managed to put up the best record in the conference despite losing its star goalie just eight starts into the season (Pelle was 6-2 in those games). For the 1986-1987 season, the team looked for a fresh start and turned to young goalie Ron Hextall.

How did Hexy respond to the tremendous pressure of succeeding Pelle Lindbergh? By going 37-21-6, winning the Vezina Trophy, and leading the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals. As a rookie. Despite the Flyers losing to Edmonton, Hextall was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff MVP. A Philadelphia sports legend was born.

We'll have a few more posts on great Hextall moments throughout the day. Feel free to leave your thoughts and memories about Hexy in any of the comment sections.

Harry Kalas Tells Whitey's Pizza Joke

Harry Kalas was a guest on WIP's morning show on Tuesday talking about the upcoming season as well as focusing a good deal on much of his past work featured on a new CD.  We posted about the disc last week titled, "Harry Kalas: Voice of the Phillies."

Hearing Harry's warm voice early this morning got the baseball juices flowing.  And if you've never heard Harry's story about Whitey's old pizza trick, the audio is below.

WATN: Rick Tocchet Set to Return to the Coyotes

Having served a 2-year suspension for his role in a gambling ring, former Flyer great Rick Tocchet will resume his role as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday. Since gambling being illegal is almost as antiquated as Pennsylvania's Blue laws, we haven't lost an ounce of respect for Tocchet over this whole mess. We've probably gained a little actually.

>>Time to 'move forward' [Arizona Republic]

Giants Prove Eagles Are Closer, Not Farther From Super Bowl

With the Giants' Super Bowl victory pushing many Eagles fans one step closer to the ledge, commenter extraordinaire and NFL aficionado Kulp has penned a guest post taking a positive look at what this means for the Birds' chances to finally win a Lombardi Trophy.

The Super Bowl provided an exciting but disappointing end to the football season.  A Giants victory is tough to swallow and may be cause for concern from some fans who believe the Eagles are falling behind their rivals in the NFC East.  While their improbable championship run will be a tough act to follow, there is reason to believe with the addition of one or two playmakers and a little bit of luck, the Birds could do the same thing next season.

Though it was far from a success, there are plenty of positives to take away from the Eagles 8-8 finish.  Six of those losses were by 8 points or less, most of them being decided by just a play or two.  This team was literally only a punt returner away from making the playoffs again.  One more stop, one less turnover, or one more converted field goal each could have resulted in one more win.

New York Giants Fans Are Happy

My first thought when I saw this video was that there is now way it can be real.  This has to be a bunch of Patriots fans who stole their Giants fan friend's down the hall's jersey and mock relived the final moments of the Super Bowl.

I've seen my teams win some pretty big games and I've been pretty damn happy at the time.  But I've never screamed like a little girl and dry humped another dude.  But hey, I'm also not a Giants fan.

>>Love is the Celebration [Gawker]

Radiohead to Play Summer Concert at Citizens Bank Park?

Billboard has confirmed Radiohead will play a show in Philadelphia this summer.  August 4th, 2008 at Citizens Bank Park is rumored to be the possible date and venue.

The Phillies will be returning from a three game set in St. Louis and have Monday August 4th off.  They do play at home on the evening of the 5th against the Florida Marlins.  Can a stage and field covering be dismantled in that short amount of time?

Radiohead at the ball park seems a tad unlikely, but other musical acts have appeared at CBP in the past including Jimmy Buffett, Bon Jovi, and the Police.  I was on the field for Jimmy Buffet.

Three Flyers Among League's Most Improved Players

James Mirtle has compiled a list of the NHL's most improved players as determined by increased points per game over last season's totals, and three Flyers have landed in the top four overall:

With already 25 more points than he had in 2007, Mike Richards has shown his potential to be a dominant player, and Joffrey Lupul has taken his game well beyond what most people (especially the Oilers) expected for this year. RJ Umberger has picked up his pace as well, and the Flyers have to be pleased with this young trio's increased production.

Considering the Flyers are 29-17-5 so far this season compared to 13-32-7 on February 5th of last year—by far the most dramatically improved team in the league—it makes sense that several of the team's players are putting up much better numbers. It's pretty interesting to see a statistical breakdown of the individual efforts behind the resurgence, as well as which stars are on the rise around the league. Our hats are off to Mirtle for putting this together.

>>The NHL's 'Most Improved' Club [James Mirtle]

Now Bob Knight Can Focus on His Career as a Golf Channel Anchor

We were pretty shocked to hear the news that Texas Tech men's head basketball coach Bobby Knight had retired last night. Say what you will about Knight, and he does deserve the worst of it, but I've always been a fan of the General. There's not much more he could accomplish on the hardwood, but this video shows he's also got a great career in golf broadcasting if he wants one. (Warning: Completely NSFW/totally hilarious language.)

Admit it—you'd watch golf all the f#*cking time if Knight was on TV calling it like this.

(Shamelessly stolen from Gifted.Unlimited.Rhymes.Universal Comment master, Mr. Rob Iracane, a man who just this season abandoned his New Jersey Giants to become an Eagles fan. Welcome, Mr. Iracane.)

St. Joe's Wins Holy War at the Palestra

After owning the Big 5 for the last few seasons, Villanova has finally dropped a game to a city rival, losing 77-55 to St. Joe's at the Palestra last night. The loss was Nova's first in their last 14 Big 5 games, and their fifth straight since January 23. Unfortunately, the game wasn't televised, so unless you were among the fans at the most hallowed of Philly grounds, you had to experience the game via AP wire services. At least we didn't have to spend a second consecutive night rooting against the team we wanted to lose more (Giants/St. Joe's).

It pains me to say it, but Phil Martelli's squad is playing some solid ball these days, putting up six straight wins. There's a good chance that if Philly is represented in this year's NCAA Tournament, it will be by the 15-5 Hawks. Temple has won 5 of their last 6, but at 11-9, they'd need to take the A-10 Tourney for a bid, which is a much taller order than usual this season. Penn is often a safe bet to take the Ivy League crown, but this year, Cornell is the class of the conference. La Salle is... um... We're pretty sure La Salle still has a basketball program.

With no team earning a share of the national spotlight and most of the A-10 games airing on College Sports Television (raise your hand if you have it), it's been a pretty down year for the Big 5.

(Photo by Flickr user sweetgoddess71)

Super Tuesday Extras: Spectrum Game?

What to read as you wonder if "Yes, We Can" applies to any Philadelphia sports teams.

• St. Joe's won the Holy War last night at the Palestra.
• The Sixers lost a tough one to the Hawks in Atlanta last night after leading by 20 early.  The Comcast video highlights show that the Sixers can be a very fast paced, run the court type team leading to many an open dunk.  Winning on the other hand may take some time. Andre Miller put in 29 and continued to increase his trade value. [Video]
• It looks like those rumors of the Sixers playing a game at the Spectrum this season have some legs. [Video]
• Joffrey Lupul is out at least another week. [Inqy]
• A nice little video showing that the dunk contest can still be fun. [TrueHoop]
• As I mentioned in a post late last week, most of the best content coming out of Super Bowl week was produced by blogs. [Deadspin]

Specter: Patriots Cheated, Yada Yada

Having solved all of Pennsylvania's other problems, old dude political guy Arlen Specter, in the days prior to the Super Bowl, decided to bring up the fact that the Patriots cheated in the past.  Like anybody doesn't already know this.  Anyway, he says they taped the Rams practice before the Super Bowl and now he's trying to drag the Eagles Super Bowl into it.

At this point, I'd just like the guy to go away and hide in Harrisburg or Washington or wherever he earns his lunch money.  Why bring all this up now?  Well that's where it gets interesting.  The Daily News' Will Bunch has a great post about how, not surprisingly, it may all have to do with money.  Big money, Comcastic money!  Millions!

What Bunch tries to show is that Specter has quite a few ties to Comcast who is still battling with the NFL Network over a few dollars or two.  It's worth a read.

>>Arlen's tangled Comcastic mess: It's worse than you think [Attytood]

Newsome Says Ravens Haven't Discussed Donovan

From the Baltimore Sun:

General manager Ozzie Newsome disputed an ESPN report that the Ravens are pondering making a substantial offer for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.

"We have not had one meeting to discuss any personnel on our team or anyone else's team," Newsome said this morning. "We've been very busy hiring assistant coaches."

Just another case of "take anything Mort says with a grain of salt," or is Newsome aiming to downplay the team's interest to keep the asking price in order?

>>Newsome disputes McNabb report [Baltimore Sun]

Football Food For Fans ~ Super Bowl Edition

Football Food For Fans ~ Super Bowl Edition, originally uploaded by Mark K_NJ

Our favorite football foodie from NJ got into the kitchen yesterday for a nice Super Bowl feast.  From Mark's flickr page:

For the game, I decided to do a few things: Appetizer was some Creole shrimp (jumbo shrimp sauteed in Creole seasoning, red pepper and garlic, spritzed with some lemon juice). Main course was an Italian hamburger (ground Angus beef along with some Italian sausage grilled outside under the stars, then nestled between two pieces of grilled Italian bread, then dressed with lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese and provolone cheese). On the side, some crispy red potatoes mixed with cilantro aioli.

Lookin good.  The party I was at featured some homemade chili that was rather spectacular.  Also, mini taquitos are A OK in my book.

Did you go all out for your Super Bowl meal?

>>Previously: Football Food For Football Fans

Happy Belated, Bake McBride

Bugs & Cranks is doing a birthday-a-day feature this year, celebrating the DOBs of some memorable athletes. This weekend, one of our "before our time" favorites, Bake McBride, got some love.

Bake’s highlights

• .299 career average
• hit .300 seven times over 11 years
• 1974 National League Rookie of the Year with St. Louis
• All-Star in 1976 when he hit .335 for the Cardinals
• Batted .309 with a career high 87 RBI for the 1980 Phillies
• Hit .304 with a homer and 5 knocked in for that lone Phils championship club

>>Birthday Time: Take 34—Bake [Bugs & Cranks]