Flyers Also Draft No Name

In the 2004 Entry Draft, the Flyers followed the Sixers' suit and picked someone you've probably never heard of either: Rob Bellamy. At least the Flyers didn't use a first round pick to accomplish this feat. Their first pick was 92nd overall (3rd round).

Made me remember the fine tune, "Let Your Love Flow," by the Bellamy Brothers. (Heck, I'd have linked to the mp3 on my personal webspace, but felt that revenues from that tune are all that band has to eat from. You'll have to buy the Billboard '76 Hits yourself... maybe it's '79, I can't remember.)

Never heard of 'im

Sixers picked Andre Iguodala. Apparently they were extremely surprised he was still there at pick 9 and all their scouts had him ranked much higher, some around 3 and 4. Here's ESPN's assessment.

Andre Iguodala
ARIZONA | SOPHOMORE | GUARD
HEIGHT: 6-6¾ | WEIGHT: 217 | AGE: 19
The Sixers are very happy to end up with Iguodala. After Luol Deng, Iguodala was the second-highest swingman on their board. The great thing about Iguodala is that he doesn't need to shoot 20 times a night to be effective. That's important to any team that has Allen Iverson on it. I think Iguodala is a steal here. We had him ranked No. 4 on our big board.

Sixers had no second round pick.

Cowboys on the Run Too?

Ok, it wasn't from the most reliable source, but a caller this morning told WIP that a friend of a friend of a friends had inside info that Eddie George's agent was in negotiations with the Cowboys, since the Titans would likely release George shortly. How true it is, I don't know. But, it's a scary thought if you ask me: everyone in the East with a run game (and clock control), except Philly. I hope George and Portis start fumbling as much as Tiki does.

Repetition of the LeClair mistake?

Primeau just got signed to a four-year, $17-million contract. Sure he was incredible in this years playoffs but he's 32 and similar things have happened with other playoffs. I recall Brindamour having a great playoffs a few years back then he reverted back to his non-finishing form and was traded for... Primeau. But I can't see it all really mattering much since Tampa won the Cup and hockey is doomed.

Reid Getting Desperate

Doing an about face from his year ago statement that he was "happy with the receivers" then on the roster, Reid not only signed T.O. this offseason, but he just this Friday or Saturday agreed to: 1) Allow TO to wear his tights without shorts; and, 2) Put a pair of his own tights on. The mere condition for such an agreement to be activated was 15TD's by TO. I'd love to see the 15 TD's, but Reid in tights? Not so sure.

Them Excitin' Phils

Ok, it's only baseball and it's hard to get people here on the blog excited about the game. But, I actually enjoyed Sunday's game, while reclining on the couch and dozing in the 6th and 7th innings. The 13 pitch battle to end the game was a near classic moment (relative to the other 161 games in a season), as Wagner beat out LeCroy in a great at-bat and pitching duel. I was humored to hear that Pratt was harassing LeCroy after some great fouled off pitches, exclaiming, "You're awesome." I caught, but never remember pulling such tactics. Yet one more reason I didn't make the big leagues. (Yes, there were other reasons, but....)

Tonite the Phils face off against Griffey's Reds. In a rare milestone convergence, Griffey is shooting for #500, while our own Thome is targetting 400. Who would like to be sitting in the outfield at this game? It's kinda like buying that one powerball ticket when the jackpot gets up to big numbers. (Ok, don't correct me, I know not many would be that excited, but at least the odds are a little higher of catching Griffey's multi-hundred thousand dollar ball, or Thome's tens of tousands of dollars ball.) If you caught a milestone ball, would you keep it, sell it, or just give it back to the hitter?

Coatsey et al. canned?

Flyers were rumored to have fired all of their radio and TV broadcasters and producers but that seems unclear as of now. You'd think that years of praising Bob Clarke's GM work "Oates and Gratton are great additions to the club", glossing over horrible goaltending "that goal probably should have been stopped but one thing we know it that Flyers goaltenders bounce back and the team will rally", and all sorts of assorted Flyers' boot licking "get your tickets now to the most exciting game ever vs. the Thrashers!" would get you treated better than pawns in the the collective bargaining agreement war. And what are they thinking, without Coatsey how can I even think about watching the Flyers on TV? I think I'll have to turn down the TV and put on Propp to make it through.

Paul Coffey officially in NHL Hall of Fame

The NHL announced the 2004 inductees to the Hall of Fame and among them was former Flyer, Paul Coffey. Paul only spent two seasons with the orange and black but is still serving the team as the color commentator for the Flyers' radio broadcast. Paul Coffey finished his career second only to Ray Borque in points for a defensmen, who was also just inducted to the Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile the NHL was busy handing out Hardware to anyone who wasn't a Flyer. The Flyers didn't get totally snubbed at least Joni Pitkanen got named to the All Rookie Team. Woo Hoo!

Correction: Brian Propp is the radio commentator I was thinking of, my apologies.

Yet One More Example

I read these comments from Larry Brown early this morning but the blog was experiencing technical difficulties, so I didn't post them. Angelo reminded me of them on the way to work, though and I couldn't help but agree with him that this is yet one more reason why we should disdain Larry Brown. Referring to Kobe after his incredible performance at the end of last night's game, he said, "After what that kid's been through all this year, more power to him because he's a great, great, young man and the way he conducts himself on the court and the way he plays the game makes me feel kind of good I'm part of it." He's proud of it? Proud of being a part of it by LOSING to the "great young man"? Are you kidding me? Typical LB lip service.

Tampa Bay Wins The Stanley Cup

Unless your living under a rock you probably all ready know that the Tampa Bay Lighting have won the Stanley Cup, and if your a true Philly fan, you're probably not all that happy about it. It's not that Tampa doesn't deserve the cup, or the NFL championship, but why does their road to championship always involve a firm bitch slap to face of the Philly fans along the way. BTW did anybody notice who provided all the offensive firepower for the 'bolts last night? That's right, good 'ole Ruslan Fedotenko. How come every time we get rid of a mediocre player, he turns into super-stud as soon as he dons his new uniform? Well personally I figured out how to beat the Philly curse... I'm moving to Tampa.

Meanwhile, you want to know why the Flyers didn't win? Maybe it's because both Robert Esche and Sean Burke both need hip surgery. And with out that big Stanley Cup bonus Jeremy "Styles" Roenick is trying to find a way to weasel out of his E-Z Pass fares.

Smarty Jones And The Typical Philly Ending

In typical Philly style Smarty Jones gave us enough to win our hearts and make us believe but then at the last minute it wasn't enough to win. Smarty was beaten by a 37-1 longshot named Birdstone. Smarty took the lead early but at the end of the race Birdstone pulled ahead and won it by a lenght. So the city of brotherly love gets to muble our favorite mantra, There's always next year.

Ain't it a Great Town?

We have 90yr old opponents hitting grand slams against us, our newly acquired star wide receiver already whining for balls in practice, and AI is parking in handicap marked spots. It's hard to have faith that we will ever win.

L.A. or L.B.?

Glen Mac last night raised the above question to his listeners. When all is said and done, BDB really couldn't care much at all who wins the NBA Championship. However, I did jump into the line of thinking and came up with an opinion of my own. Heck, I love to hate the Lakers. It's like hating the Yankees or the Cowboys (pre cap 'Boys, anyway). As a Philly fan, that is fun. And, while it is true that seeing the Lakers lose would disappoint more fans than watching one man, L.B., lose, no matter how bad a team like the Lakers are for the sport, they do manage to be successful under a cap. L.B.'s Pistons on the other hand are a boring defensive team to watch and bring the NBA down almost to a high school scoring level (ok, maybe not that low, but...). Furthermore, when a "hall of fame" individual just hops around every other year and leaves your own city in a basketball heap of disaster, I gotta continue to dislike L.B. and root against him. For me, pulling against Brown is, as one caller said, best in the spirit of the "lesser of two weasels." Besides, for L.A., what is one more championship for us to watch?

Like I said above, I really don't care what happens. And, quite frankly, either option is a fine one, so long as you are "hating" against one of the two. Now, that's the Philly Spirit, cuz we will probably never win.