Whoopie-do!

So far the month of May has been filled with a list of "Whoopie-do's" for me, in other words I have not been surprised or impressed. Here are a few....

• Pittsburgh defeats Washington in game 7. Whoopie-do. We knew all along Pitt was twice the team Washington was on the ice and on paper. However, Ovechikin is still better then Crosby in every aspect. I would of loved to see them switch places for the series, Pitt would of won every game 6-2.

• Ryan Zimmerman's hit streak ends at 30. Whoopie-do. You're halfway to 56 big boy and your Nats are the worst team in baseball. Way to be.

• NBA officials screw up another game changing call, and admit it. Whoopie-do. In all honesty I am glad he blew the call, because it means we are one step closer to the end of basketball season.
  

• Umpire Paul Schrieber gives Maggillio Ordonez a little "guidance" to the dugout during a confrontation. Whoopie-do. Should he be punished? Heck no! I give the old man props for not curling up into the fetal position when a 215lb major league slugger got in his face. The best part about this was Ordonez crying about it after “If you touch an umpire, you get suspended. I’d be home.” he said. Duh. Do you need to be reminded that you are a professional baseball player? Next time leave your purse in the on-deck circle.
  

• Greg Paulus has committed to Syracuse. Whoopie-do. This should not be a story until week 4 or 5 of the season.

• Tiger did not win the TPC Players Championship. Whoopie-do. I can not believe critics are already saying this is the "post-tiger" era. Really? The man has finished in the top 10 in the last 5 tournaments since hit return. That is outstanding. Tiger just underwent one of the most grueling surgeries in all of sports. Just give him time, he has not even hit his prime.

• Brett Farve might be thinking about coming out of retirement...again...to play for the Vikings. Whoopie-do. "V" for Vendetta? More like "V" for Vagabond.

• Terrell Owens is going to have his on MTV reality tv show. Whoopie-do. I have always wanted more T.O. on television....especially if he is going to be eating Buffalo wings.

• Michael Vick wants to play again. Whoopie-do. Was there ever any doubt? Plus there is a great way for him to keep his speed up.... here. I love off-season drama and the articles reporters write. "Tony visits Vick", "Brett sends x-rays"....bunch of crap.

• Mayfield gets suspended by nascar for failing a drug test. Whoopie-do. This is no Manny story and it was not a performance enhancing drug. Maybe crack? Maybe alcohol? Most people go to nascar for the wrecks anyway...imagine the attendance if they allowed drunk driving.

and finally.....

• The Mets have pulled into first place of the NL East. Whoopie-do. It's not about how good the Mets play from April to August. It's all about how great they choke in September. Go Phillies! Enjoy. Laugh. More.

Dane was wrong.

Where were you when the world stopped turning?

Where were you when the world stopped turning? Alright now don't worry I am not about to break out into a song by Alan Jackson. I'm talking about May, 1 2004. Don't remember it? Then you probably are not a Philly sports fan. If that is the case let me fill you in.....

May 1st 2004:

It has been 21 years since Philadelphia fans have felt the surge of victory in their veins that comes with winning a national championship. The last time Philadelphians had that was when the 76ers captured the title in 1983, so technically speaking it has been even longer since Philadelphia had a title that really mattered.

Let me pause here and ask the Chicago and Boston fans to never suggest they had it worse then us. Chicago you may have the Cubs, who may never win a title ever and Boston you may of had the Red Sox, but you guys also had the Bulls, Bears and the Patriots getting it done. Philadelphia, well we flat out had nothing. Zip. So don't go there.

Needless to say, Philly fans all over were desperate to bring back a title to the city of brotherly shove, any title. So desperate that we found hope in a horse. But not just any horse, a horse named Smarty Jones. It didn't matter that Smarty was technically born and raised outside of the city limits. He was from southeast Pennsylvania and that was close enough! On May 1, 2004 living rooms were packed, sports bars were filled and all eyes were on Smarty.

After 5 hours of pre-race analysis, interviews with high pitched short little men and a very awkward sing along of "My Old Kentucky Home" (even the die hards of Philly sang along with help of the subtitles at the bottom of the television) the horses entered the gates. Then, he did it.

I remember very clearly the first thing that went through my mind...." It's over?". To be honest I could not believe that I watched 5 hours of television for a 2 minute race (2:04 to be exact), I don't know what I was expecting but it came up short. But it did not matter because Smarty... no, WE won the Kentucky Derby and for a brief moment the world stopped. The curse was over. Right?

Wrong. When the dust on the race track settled and Smarty Jones pranced to the winners circle the commentators began to talk about the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. You see, most Philly fans had neglected to realize that although winning the derby is a tremendous accomplishment it was merely 1 of 3 wins needed to truly have claims to the crown.

This is where our story takes a twist and becomes eerily similar to so many Philadelphia sport stories. In the two weeks between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Philadelphians of all ages bathed themselves in smarty apparel and even hung Smarty flags from their homes. I think it is fair to say that Philadelphia held nothing back in backing this horse, they gave him their whole hearts. Some may call it a rebound relationship after the Eagles and Philadelphia split up for a few months when the Eagles only put up 5 points on Carolina in the NFC title game. However you view it, Philly fans were in for another heartbreak.

To make matters worse that Philadelphia Stallion went and won the Preakness. The city was licking its lips. Every house had a flag. Then, several weeks later came the Belmont Stakes and like clock work our hopes and dreams of holding the triple crown were over. You see it was right as the entire city got behind him that he bucked and kicked us right in the heart. The brutal kicking was actually caught on tape by a south jersey bystander.

You see friends and fans there is a moral to this story. Rebounds are always a bad idea.

So where were you when the world stopped turning?

-Toogood

Bittersweet Symphony

The month of April was a strange one that ended rather bittersweet. I am not exactly sure how something can be both bitter and sweet (quite frankly bittersweet chocolate chips are sweet) but if I had to guess it might have to do with an equal balance of both, so lets take a look at the Sweets and Bitters of April:

Sweets

• For the second year in a row the Eagles did not completely blow their first round draft pick by trading it but instead picked up a stud of a receiver in Jeremy Maclin. Makes a Philly fan wonder how good Donovan could have been if he had reliable receivers his whole career. Also lets not forget about that great pick up of Jason Peters from Buffalo.
  
• Chase Utley hit for an avg. of .342 and added 7 homers and 20 RBI's. World Champions.
  
• Raul Ibanez, the Pat Burrell replacement, is winning the hearts of Philly fans every where with a .359 batting avg, 7 homers and 17 RBI's (This scares me because it can only go one direction from here: Raul eventually breaks our hearts and we throw things at him then demand the return of Pat the Bat) Enjoy
  
• Sixers made the playoffs. What the heck? Really? Yes. This is probably what made me laugh the hardest this April. I would rather watch the Philadelphia Kixx play a pre-season match then this sad excuse for a team play ball. I'll never understand why 16 teams make the playoffs in basketball, when there are really only 3, sometimes 4 teams, that matter. If you ask me, and since you are reading this blog you have, I think once the season is over we should just let Kobe and Lebron play 1 on 1. Forget about boring playoffs with lousy upsets....that would entertainment.
  
• The rookie Claude Giroux really pulled away from the pack in the last week of the season and continued to play great in the playoffs, too bad the rest of the team enjoys taking bad penalties and losing to an inferior team...but I'll save that for the bitter section. I am excited to see this kid play next season. A 30 goal season would not surprise me at all.

Bitters

• Flyers losing to the Penguins. I can not limit this to just one flame of a point so here goes...

1. Sidney Crosby is an overrated cry baby who takes frequent dives. Don't believe me? Keep reading or leave now. Sid "The Kid" has been in the league since October 5, 2005, ironically the same day as is arch nemesis Alexander Ovechkin. In that amount of time Criesby has 132 goals to Ovie's 219. I don't care who you are, if you can count that is drastic! 87 goal difference is as if Ovie played 2 more seasons then Sid, yet Oct 5 2005 comes to mind. Okay Pitt fans I hear you crying about Sid being a better play maker then scorer, but stats even show he is not even the best passer on his team, let alone the NHL. That award goes to Malkin. I do love that the NHL has dropped Criesby's nickname of "The Next One". All of that aside I think the most dramatic stat that sets Ovechkin leagues above Sid his this little doosey.... Career hits: Sid= 251, Ovechkin= 819. Not only can Ovechkin skate faster, score more and pass purer, he hits harder. In a league where the "bruisers" rarely score, Ovechkin defies gravity. Sid is merely an after thought these days.
2. There is no team I hate more the the Pittsburgh Penguins. Partly because I am jealous of Malkin and would send out a campus wide mass email if it gave the Flyers a better chance at signing him. Second I just flat out hate everything about them. Even their colors.
3. I keep replaying that 5 on 3 in OT when I knew the game was over :(.
   
4. It's May, which means 6 months before the Flyers begin another playoff caliber season and then stab me in the heart with the butt end of a stick.
   

• Sixers won two playoff games, thus momentarily getting Philly fans excited because for some reason we still believe in miracles. I see no point in even trying to win playoff games when you are the sixers. Do they forget that the Celtics, Lakers and Cavaliers are out there? Next year just save your money and then buy some other "washed up, injury waiting to happen, band-aid to a gaping wound of a super star" and call it a season.

Bittersweet April is over and May is upon us. I guess one good thing about all of the Philly teams being eliminated from the playoffs is now we only have one team on the field to crush our spirits. I like my odds.

May Flowers?

May 1st and it is gross outside. No flowers here. However, a beautiful blog is blooming.....

Before we embark on this journey together lets set down a few house rules....

1. For every post I will simply hit "New Post" and start writing, I won't use rough drafts and rarely use spell check. If what I say does not make sense, it probably was not supposed to in the first place.

2. For the most part this blog will cover the heartache of being a Philadelphia sports fan, although other topics will be touched, such as anything I feel like saying.

3. Also, if you are easily offended, have low self esteem about not living in Philly or have a tendency to take things way too personal, this most likely is not the place for you.

Ok, now let The Toogood Effect take....effect. (I'll have to work on that)