Happy New Year, Sergei Bobrovsky

It's time a goalie got us a Cup, right? Bob?

Go Flyers.

Chicago Tribune Writers Unoriginal, Kind Of Bitchy

You know what I hate most about Philadelphia sports? Being forced to see newspaper "articles" that begin with:

PHILADELPHIA - The City of Brotherly Love. That's a good one.

Oh good. Another 'Philly fans are assholes' story.

When a team from Philly is fighting for a championship, this gets put under the microscope even more than it normally does. We've talked in the past about how the NY Post took plenty of shots at our city. And now, it appears the wonderful writers over at the Chicago Tribune would like to continue the most unoriginal of traditions.

Writer Dan McNeil attended Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals and decided to express his sentiments in a lovely little article entitled “Philly, the mother of all places foul”. You hear that? We're all MONGRELS. He even goes on to say he’d like to shove an enema into our collective asses. Anyway, you can read the typical bullshit you've read a million times HERE. It just grinds my gears how these journalists feel the need to write the same damn article, citing the same damn incidents time after time. Fans of opposing teams get ragged on at sporting events. It happens – ESPECIALLY in the Northeast. Deal with it.

A couple days before the McNeil article, the Tribune also posted a timeline of Philadelphia's notorious fan moments which was un-cleverly titled "Not So Sunny in Philadelphia". See this literary masterpiece HERE.

It's always the same nonsense. EVERY city has fans that are assholes. Even Chicago (gasp!). Or had you forgotten the fans who threw a beer on Shane Victorino as he caught a fly ball? Or the father and son duo who ran down from the stands at a White Sox game to throw blows at Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa? Or the other White Sox fans who decided it was a good idea try and tackle first base umpire Laz Diaz? Or how about the Steelers fan who said a Bears fan poisoned and blinded him? They were just isolated incidents though, right? At least no Philadelphia team decided to throw a certain World Series for a little extra cash.

If you want to take shots, make them clever. I'll be the first to give you an approving nod when you come up with something entertaining or funny. Just be original! Quit using the same tired examples. I'm sick of hearing about the booing of Santa Claus. The second you start writing an article about that, you've become nothing more than a valueless hack.

Flyers Take Game 3

Claude Giroux scored 5:59 into overtime and Philadelphia finally exhaled. The Flyers are back in the series.

After an incredible back and forth game, I really had no idea what to expect going into overtime. These teams have played pretty even hockey for most of this series (one could argue the Flyers have been the better team overall) so either team could have left last night with the win.

Thankfully, it was the Flyers cutting the series lead in half, 2-1. Giroux has been spectacular in these playoffs, with 20 points now in 20 games. If this isn't his coming out party, I don't know what is. I think it's safe to say that regardless of the outcome of this series, Giroux has taken the role as the best winger on this team, a role he's likely to hold for the forseeable future (the kid is only 22).

Also, I can't say enough about the job that Pronger has done with the Blackhawks top line. Kane and Toews had dominated the playoffs up until now, but Pronger (and Matt Carle) has worked hard to keep them from controlling this series. If the Flyers defense can continue to stifle those two, they've got more than a fair chance in this series. The Blackhawks may be more skilled, but the Flyers seem to play tougher and they are winning most of the one-on-one battles. I don't know much about hockey but I know enough to see this Flyers team is special. They've played their best so far this year with their backs against the wall. I don't see why that would change now.

It's an obvious statement to say the Flyers have to win again on Friday night. Winning on Friday would not only even the series, it would give the Flyers all of the momentum as they return to Chicago. Here's to a Game Four victory. Go Flyers!

Time To Make The History

On the radio this morning, I heard the official song of summer - one none other than 'Summertime' by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.  That song is still fantastic and has held up over time as well as any other.  And with that, Memorial Day weekend has arrived.  Relaxing, BBQing, alcoholing, and all around good times are to be had for the next few days.  I believe there's even a little sporting event starting tonight...

In about 6 hours, the Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin.  Get ready for some fun... and history in the making.

GO FLYERS!  And grillin' goodness!

2-0. Series Lead. Nice.

There is no way around it...the Flyers are the hottest team on the planet. Pick a sport, any sport, it doesn't matter. There isn't a team anywhere playing better than these guys. Maybe there is a girls high school softball team somewhere in Iowa playing better, but who the fuck cares about them?

Right now, Philadelphia is in a frenzy as the Flyers sit just two wins away from their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 13 years. Yet again, Michael Leighton and the Flyers defense allowed the Canadiens to score the same amount of goals as this girl has boyfriends. That amount, in case you don't know, is zero. The Flyers have absolutely silenced a Canadien team that came in playing with a ton of confidence. With Gagne and Briere both scoring at will (or so it seems) this team just looks good. I mean, they've scored 13 consecutive goals without allowing any. That's just silly.

To put it simply, things are very good in Flyer land right now. Hopefully, in 48 hours, we're discussing a 3-0 series lead.

Go Flyers.