Saturday, May 1, 2010

Philly Sports 101

Posted: 01 May 2010 07:47 PM PDT

Scroll down to see post about Flyers game.

Phillies Crush Mets: The Phillies rebounded from last night's 9-1 loss with a 10-0 win today over the New York Metropolitans. Roy Halladay pitches a complete game shutout, his third complete game of the year. The Phillies bats may have finally come out of their lengthy slump.

Victorino had a homer and 3 RBIs. Werth, Ibanez, and Castro each drove in 2 runs. Placido Polanco was the only Phillies without a hit in the game. Polanco has really struggled since he got hit in the elbow with a pitch, which cost him to miss a couple of games. The Phillies will play tomorrow night at 8pm in the final game of this series against the Mets.

More on Ryan Madson: The broken toe that put Ryan Madson on the DL was caused by Madson kicking a chair in the hallway leading to the clubhouse. Ryan had just blown a save, and, on his way to the clubhouse, slipped down the steps. This angered him more, which led to the chair-kicking. This is a very stupid way to get injured. A veteran like Madson should know this.

Madson: "I'm frustrated. I'm embarrassed. I let down my teammates and the fans that want us to all be out there and playing hard for them. I feel terrible about that. It's the worst part."

Charlie Manuel: "He was very apologetic. I know exactly how he feels." Manuel said that he once suffered a foot injury from kicking a wall.

Borel, Super Saver Win Kentucky Derby: Jockey Calvin Borel rode Super Saver to a victory in today's Kentucky Derby. On the track at Churchill Downs was a thick mud. I think this is the most mud I've ever seen at one place at one time. But Borel fought through the mud and commanded Super Saver along the rail.

Borel has jockeyed 3 of the last 4 Kentucky Derby winners. This is no coincidence. Borel is clearly a very good jockey. Next year, I may just bet on the horse Borel is on. Hey, I would have won money three of the last four years.

Late Events: Tomorrow in my daily roundup, I may comment on the Union-Galaxy game and the Mayweather-Mosely fight.

Flyers Lose in OT

Posted: 01 May 2010 03:51 PM PDT

The Philadelphia Flyers have lost in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Boston Bruins. When it was all over (13:52 into overtime) the Flyers had come on the short end of a 5-4 game. The Flyers fought hard after being down two goals not once, not twice, but three times. Both goalies impressed in the overtime period, but the Flyer defense fell apart in overtime

The first period was dismal for the Flyers. They gave up 2 goals, and managed just 8 shots on goal. They looked sluggish after their nine day layoff. The team was uninspired. Chris Pronger and Mike Richards really performed admirably the whole game, but the rest of the team looked terrible in the first period.

Coach Peter Laviolette on the first period: "Clearly, the first period affected us. I think from a live game situation, [the layoff] affected us. We didn't move the puck efficiently. We didn't seem to have our legs. When you sit for a long time you try and simulate things, with the competitiveness and the skating and the battles on the ice. It's hard to simulate."

In the second period, the Flyers showed much improvement. Ryan Parent scored a goal to narrow the Bruins lead to one. But the Bruins answered back with a goal by Miroslav Satan on the power play. Chris Pronger notched his third goal of these playoffs with a one-timer from the point on a power play. The Flyers were within one goal again.

The Flyers really broke out in the third period. The scoring started when David Krejci put Boston on top by a score of 4-2. All hope looked lost for the Flyers, but they moved within one when Mike Richards scored on the power play. Danny Briere has been a clutch player all playoffs, and he came up big late in the third. He weaved his way through two Bruins on his was to the goal. That goal tied the game at four.

Early in overtime, the Bruins dominated. The Flyers were tired and it showed, as the Bruins launched shot after shot on Brian Boucher. Thankfully for the Flyers, Boucher answered those early chances. The Flyers finally got it together and had a few scoring chanced on goalie Tukka Rask. It was not enough. Marc Savard, in his first game back from injury, got the game winner in front of his hometown fans. The Bruins outshot the Flyers 15-4 in the overtime period.

Chris Pronger, who seems like he doesn't leave the ice, had an outstanding game. He showed why he is one of the best defenseman in the game.

The Flyers showed remarkable resilience but, at the end of the day, they are down 1-0 in the series. The Flyers have to build on this performance for game two Monday night. If it weren't for that horrible first period, the Flyers would have won this game.

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