10 web innovations that improved our lives
Click here to check out the entire list.
What surprised me was the seemingly blatant omission of instant messaging technology. I suppose it could fall under the category of Real Time Stream but I tend to view Twitter and Facebook in a different light than something like AOL Instant Messenger, Google Chat or Yahoo Messenger etc.
What do you think? Should instant messaging technology have made this list or not?
Previously - iChat lets people know I'm too sexy 12.11.2009
Forget the Flyers, it's all about the Lady Lions today
Win #101 = a third straight national championship. AP PhotoThe Flyers lost last night for the second time in a row to the Pittsburgh Penguins. So rather than waste time talking about them I feel inclined to post a note wishing the Lady Lions volleyball team at Penn State good luck Saturday night.
The winning streak is at 100 straight. 100! After taking care of Hawaii last night the top ranked Penn State women's volleyball team will take on second ranked Texas for the national championship.
It coudl be a big weekend for Pennsylvania college teams. Villanova's football team will play Montana tonight for the national championship in the FCS level of college football. Read more...
The Simpsons turns 20
Thursday, December 17, 2009
"This might be the miracle that saves Christmas for the Simpsons."
- Bart Simpson
One of my all time favorite television shows, The Simpsons, turns 20 today. On this day in 1989 the very first episode, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, aired on the FOX network. Since then both The Simpsons and FOX have grown immensely and many credit the growth of FOX as an actual network to the success of the prime time cartoon.Looking back on it now the first episode to air (which was not technically the first episode of the season) shows you how primitive the show once was. Back in 1989 the animators didn't have computers to rely on the way they do now. You can clearly see the improvements that have been made over time, but these old episodes still show you how timeless each character really is.
Homer has always been a family man, just wanting to make his family happy even if he is a bumbling idiot. Lisa was always smarter than her age. Marge always had hoped for the best from her family. Patti and Selma always thought the worst of Homer. Grandpa was...well, Grandpa. And Bart? Always the prankster, but always not wanting to shame his family.
"It doesn't seem possible but I guess TV has betrayed me."
- Bart Simpson
The Simpsons, as you may know, started out as a dysfunctional cartoon family on the Tracey Ullman Show. At the time FOX was nervous about airing the show as they feared it would not capture an audience for a full half hour's worth of programming. Two Emmy nominations for the episode alone should have been a sign of what was to come. Twenty years later the show is still going strong on the network, anchoring the Sunday 8pm time slot for the better part of two decades.
"But he's a loser! He's pathetic! He's...a Simpson."
- Homer Simpson
♫ Song of the Day, Like a Fool
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Like A Fool from shaimus on Vimeo.
Today I want to share a sneak peak at their upcoming music video. In an e-mail to their fans yesterday Shaimus shared a link to their latest music video, and as always, I like it. So I hope you enjoy it as well.
To get more information on Shaimus click here to visit their official website. There you can get a free music download, check out photos of their tour, and find links to their store.
Previous:
- New Shaimus video - a documentary type video looking at the making of The Sad Thing Is, We Like It Here. 3.21.2009
- Five questions with Shaimus guitarist Evan Brown - 2.26.2009
- The not so sad thing is, I like it - Review of The Sad Thing Is, We Like It Here. 2.25.2009
Flyers lose the big fight in Pittsburgh
Riley Cote didn't have enough fight where it mattered in Pittsburgh. Getty ImagesPenguins pound Flyers in Pittsburgh - Sam Carchidi, Philly.com
Fight Club: Flyers drop battle with Penguins - Tim Pannacio, CSNPhilly.com
So much for feeling good about the team again. A night after the Flyers stole a win in Boston the team came out flat in Pittsburgh. Along the way to another loss to the in-state rivals the Penguins demonstrated what a real hockey team does.
Score goals.
Sure there were fights but when push came to shove the Penguins got the last laugh in a 6-1 blow out of the Flyers. New coach, same lousy attitude on the ice. Something needs to be done to shake up the team. Strip Richards of the "C". Make a big trade. Something, any thing to get the team back in gear and on the right track.
The loss sends the Flyers below .500 at 15-16. To add salt to the wound, the win puts the Penguins in sole possession of first place, breaking a tie with the New Jersey Devils. Read more...
Sixers snap losing streak, beat Warriors
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Andre Iguodala and the Sixers earned their first victory since Allen Iverson returned. Getty Images.76ers snap 12-game losing skid against Warriors - Sixers.com
Sixers snap 12 game-skid with win over Warriors - Bob Cooney, Philly.com
Rebound: Sixers beat Warriors, snap 12-game skid - Dei Lynam, CSNPhilly.com
Sixers snap 12-game losing streak - jsams, Liberty Ballers
While the Flyers wee busy picking up a hard earned victory in Boston, the Sixers were busy trying to defend their home turf at the Wachovia Center. The Sixers finally got out of the losing column with the victory over a team that used to play in Philadelphia, the Warriors. Perhaps the proverbial monkey is off their backs but this team has a lot of work to do in order to compete in the division and the conference, let alone the entire NBA.
For Allen Iverson this was his first win in a Sixers uniform since November 24, 2007. The last Sixers win for Iverson came against the Chicago Bulls. Three games later Iverson was traded to the Denver Nuggets, starting the infamous Iverson Tour of the NBA before returning home.
Flyers win in Boston before Winter Classic
The Flyers celebrate a win, something that has been hard to come by lately. Getty Images.For Flyers, a turning point? - Sam Carchidi, Philly.com
Late Show: Flyers score three in third, edge Bruins - Tim Panaccio, CSNPhilly.com
Carter not only standout in Flyers' win over Bruins - Bill Clement, CSNPhilly.com
Building blocks: Flyers earn solid victory in Boston - Travis Hughes, Broad Street Hockey
I didn't watch any sports last night, but it sounds like I missed some good games by the local squads. The Flyers trailed the Boston Bruins 1-0 entering the third period and then proceeded to score three goals in the final frame to pick up a win. Judging from my Twitter feed during the game the Flyers power play was still anemic at best so I wouldn't say the team is fixed, but a win in Boston is something to be proud about anytime.
The win puts the Flyers in third place (three way tie) in the Atlantic Division. The next time the Flyers play in Boston will be New Year's Day in the annual Winter Classic game. The game will be played outside in Fenway Park.
Today in Philadelphia Eagles history - We booed Santa Clause
From my Page-A-Day calendar e-mail...
The urban legend of Philadelphia sports fans booing Santa Claus is born today at Franklin Field as disgusted Eagles fans rain snowballs down upon Old St. Nick during halftime of their team’s final home game of the year (a 24-17 loss to Minnesota, completing a 2-12 season). The win clinches the NFL Central crown for the eight-year-old Vikings franchise, but the loss doesn’t even help the Eagles gain the forthcoming No. 1 draft pick (O.J. Simpson); they’ll end up with Leroy Keyes of Purdue. Vastly unpopular coach Joe Kuharich will be fired by new owner Leonard Tose, but the Eagles won’t have a winning season again until 1978 under Dick Vermeil.
My friends over at The 700 Level have more on this history lesson today as well.
Mario Monday - Tap dancing edition with @brentalfloss? [video]
Monday, December 14, 2009
I have posted some music videos from YouTube featuring Super Mario Brothers music before, including some from YouTube sensation Brentalfloss. Today brentalfloss has a tap dancing friend to join the Mario fun.
I'll bet you won't be able to resist the temptation try this yourself next time you get up from your seat and walk to the kitchen or bathroom or something. Go ahead! I dare you! Read more...
Great Christmas Prank [video]
Imagine your friend leaves you the keys to his apartment for a weekend while he is out of town. How would you repay him?
Buy him a box of donuts to come home too?
Clean the apartment?
Buy him a quick meal or a round of drinks next time you are out?
No. The only answer from this point forward is to give him many many gifts littered throughout the apartment. If you can not afford numerous gifts, then do the next best thing and gift wrap EVERY ITEM HE OWNS!
Eagles offense leads way to first place in NFC East, DeSean Jackson is the man
Birds come up huge to outlast Giants - Bob Brookover, Philly.com
In a topsy-turvy battles, Eagles outlast Giants - Bob Ford, Philly.com
Back in First: Eagles take down Giants, 45-38 - Andy Schwartz, CSNPhilly.com
Eagles Notes: Celek demonstrates toughness - Andy Schwartz, CSNPhilly.com
Eagles defenders couldn't bring the Giants down - Jeff MacLane, Philly.com
DeSean Jackson following in Westbrook's foot steps - Marcus Hayes, Philly.com
What a game, what a game, what a game! I did not watch much football yesterday but made sure to watch every second of the Eagles-giants Sunday night football game, and was it ever worth it!
After jumping out to a 14-0 lead early in the first quarter it looked like the Eagles would romp in their final game in Giants Stadium. But the Eagles defense stunk.
Thankfully the Eagles have a guy by the name of DeSean Jackson, who was already the most entertaining athlete in Philadelphia by my count. Last night Jackson took the prime time national stage and put on a show with an incredible punt return that made Brian Westbrook's Giants Stadium punt return years ago look like nothing. Later Jackson backpedaled his way into the end-zone, just second after the Giants had fought back to take their first lead of the game.Jackson now is tied for the NFL record of most 50+ yard touchdowns in a single season with eight. with three games left on the schedule I am just guessing that Jackson will own the record by the time the playoffs roll around.
If Jackson doesn't make the Pro Bowl there is something wrong with the system. The guy can flat out play and make defenses look absolutely silly.
As for the Eagles, the win against the Giants marks their first season sweep of the NFC East rivals to the north since 2004. With the Dallas Cowboys losing earlier in the day to the San Diego Chargers, the Eagles moved into first place all by themselves.
The defense leaves a lot to be desired though so don't book your trip to Miami just yet. Read more...
#8 Team of the Decade - 2007 Phillies
Sunday, December 13, 2009
I love baseball and I love the Phillies. I paid my dues with this team. I went to empty games at Veterans Stadium. I went to see some bad teams play on hot summer days. It is because I stuck by my team through some of the awful seasons that the 2007 season was enough to bring me tears of joy.
It was a work in progress that Phillies fans saw under construction for the entire decade really. Under the general management of Ed Wade the Phillies were making strides in developing their own talent and watching them take the team to the next level. Young stars like Jimmy Rollins and Pat Burrell had been the main pieces of the team form the start of the decade, but guys like Chase Utley and Ryan Howard had finally come through to really send the team in the right direction.
Mixed in with the talents of Aaron Rowand and the departures of Bobby Abreu and Mike Lieberthal and under the leadership of manager Charlie Manuel, the team finally had what it took to reach the playoffs.
It may have ended abruptly against a magical team from Colorado but the team was heading in the right direction. Just wait a little longer.
The Team to Beat
Who else to lead the team in 2007 than the spunky shortstop, Jimmy Rollins?
When asked prior to spring training on his team's chances in the division Rollins made a bold statement by saying that with the players on his team the Phillies definitely should be considered a team to beat. And when Rollins talks the talk, he generally walks the walk. And nobody has ever done as good a job of backing up his words than Rollins did in 2007.
Mediocre until July
It's nothing new in Philadelphia. The Phillies are traditionally slow out of the gate of a new season. How else could you explain an 11-14 April and a 26-27 record at the end of May?
When June came to an end the Phillies had finally ended the month with a winning record but the New York Mets figured to be waltzing to another NL East division crown. This of course made the rivalry between the Phillies and Mets one of the great ones in the sport.
Finally, the rivalry is born
Philadelphia and New York are ideal rivals in sports. Eagles-Giants and Flyers-Rangers always has a little extra juice to it, but the Phillies and Mets had never experienced a true heated rivalry between them. The problem was, both teams were never good at the same time. when the Phillies were good the Mets were awful. when the Mets were good, the Phillies were dismal.
Not so in 2007.
When Jimmy Rollins was first introduced in the first game the Phillies played in Shea Stadium the Mets faithful were loud and clear that they did not appreciate the comments the shortstop made before the season. The Mets after all were coming off a division crown and were within one game of the World Series.
Every game the Phillies and Mets played played a crucial role in the season. The Mets had the early edge in the season series but when push came to shove it was the Phillies who would prevail. Perhaps no game was as fun to watch as the 11-10 game.
The Mets jumped out to an early lead on the Phillies as they were looking to avoid being swept in four games at Citizens Bank Park. A win would have likely salvaged the Mets season, but the Phillies rallied to come all the way from behind to come away with an exhilarating 11-10 victory on a hot afternoon near the end of August.
The Collapse of the Mets
B
ack in 1964 the Phillies pulled off one of the worst collapses in baseball history, blowing a late season lead to the St. Louis Cardinals by losing every way imaginable. But all was forgiven in September of 2007.
Trailing the NL East leading Mets by as many as seven games with 17 games to play it appeared that the Phillies would go one more season without reaching the postseason. But then a funny thing happened. The Mets started struggling against the Washington Nationals and Florida Marlins while the Phillies put together a string of wins to get back in the mix.
The NL East title came down to the final day of the baseball season. For the Mets it was one of the worst days in franchise history. The Marlins put seven runs on the scoreboard in the first inning off of future Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine. A win would have given the Mets at least a share of the division crown.
Watching the scoreboard light up with seven runs before Jamie Moyer threw his first pitch in Philadelphia set the tone for the day as the Phillies would celebrate their first NL East crown since 1993. Rollins once again carried the team to victory by picking up an early run to put the Phillies on top. Along the way Rollins hit his 20th triple of the season.
Needless to say there was not much for the Mets broadcasters to celebrate.
M-V-P!
In 2006 Ryan Howard won the National League MVP. In 2007 it was all about Rollins.
The often cocky, yet confident, shortstop finished the 2007 season with 212 hits, 20 triples, 38 doubles, 30 home runs, 94 RBI, and a .296 batting average. Rollins edged out Colorado's Matt Holliday for the MVP award to go along with his first Gold Glove and first Silver Slugger award.
"Curveball, struck him out!" - Harry Kalas
I figure I should just let Mr. Kalas take this one...
Post-Mortem
The team was clearly on the rise but it was not until 2007 that they were taken as a legitimate contender in the National League. Unfortunately for the Phillies they ran into a buzz-saw with the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies were having their own story-book season that would take them to the World Series. The Phillies were unable to continue their end-of-the-season momentum against Colorado and the Rockies swept the Phillies in the NLDS.
But the Phillies would be back, using 2007 as another stepping stone in the building of a championship caliber team. I have a feeling we'll be talking about the Phillies again before this list is finished... Read more...
#9 Team of the Decade - 2004 Shippensburg football
Saturday, December 12, 2009
This is a story that many people reading this site may not care too much about, but the story of the 2004 Shippensburg Red Raiders is one that I will always hold near to my heart for as long as I live. You may be thinking to yourself, "Who cares about a division two college team?"
Quite simply, I do.
The 2004 Shippensburg football team had many similarities to the 1998 West Chester East High School football team that was lead by none other than Matt Schaub. Shippensburg had gone 8-3 in 2003 and seemed to have all the right ingredients heading into the 2004 football season. Shippensburg ended their 2003 campaign with wins at pass happy East Stroudsburg, 40-14, and at home against California (Pa.), 35-0.
For Shippensburg, 2004 was the time to shine.
Entering the PSAC's 2004 season Shippensburg was tabbed as the early favorite to win the conference and make the playoffs. It all started with a win at home against Kutztown. the heavily favored Red Raiders lead just 7-0 at halftime but the offense exploded in the second half. when all was said and done the Red Raiders defeated the Golden Bears 35-0.
After a second straight victory in the Great Valley Classic against Shepherd and a dominating performance against Bloomsburg the message had been sent loud and clear. Shippensburg was the beast of the northeast region.
The Road Trip
With the Red Raiders off to an impressive 3-0 start the Red Raiders took to the road for their first game of the season. They would not be without their most passionate fans.
As a member of the Shippensburg University Marching Band's low brass section (trombone) I had been fortunate enough to come across plenty of memorable experiences. In 2003 the low brass section continued a great tradition of organizing a road trip for an away game on a weekend in which the band was off when we went to Shepherd for the season opener. We had invited the rest of the band members to join us and it was a rousing success. So the following season when Shippensburg traveled to Millersville for a road game we could not pass up a sequel.
The Red Raiders had their most vocal fans on hand once again as Shippensburg put 28 points on the scoreboard in the second quarter en route to a crushing victory, 49-27. Deep down inside I know that head coach Rocky Reese and the rest of the team appreciated our support.
IUP...SUCKS! Or not...
I tried my hardest to get my fellow band members to develop a hatred for IUP. You see, IUP was the Ohio State of the PSAC, at least in my eyes. I knew that Shippensburg had seen far too many players go through the program without beating IUP, and I wanted people to get pumped up for the game. So I got the low brass section to follow me lead in chants of "IUP...SUCKS!" every day of the week leading up to the big game.
It soon caught on through the whole band. You have to love a rivalry.
But IUP to this day will not recognize Shippensburg as a tue rival as they had little problem with Shippensburg from year to year. This game was unique in that Ship was actually making a return trip to Indiana, Pennsylvania. IUP had hosted Shippensburg in 2003 and came away with a victory by a score of 18-7 (his knee was down - you know what I'm talking about).
In 2004 Shippensburgh appeared to have the upper hand from top to bottom for the first time in a decade and a half against IUP, but IUP playing a home was a different animal. No team could stall the high powered running game of Shippensburg like IUP, and IUP handed Shippensburg their only loss of the regular season, 17-0.
West Chester bragging rights: Part One
Growing up in West Chester I obviously was looking forward to the regular season finale between Shippensburg and West Chester. Of course many of my high school friends went to West Chester so we had bragging rights on the line. But the teams themselves had plenty riding on the game too!
The winner of the regular season finale would receive a top two seed in the division two playoffs as well as a bye week, while the loser would likely be playing the following week.
It was a game that lived up to the hype.
The top two teams in the PSAC (forget about East Stroudsburg!) battled to a tie game at halftime after West Chester scored a late touchdown and a two point conversion before the half. Each team scored again in the third quarter and went scoreless in the fourth quarter. Shippensburg had been held to a field goal attempt on the first possession of the overtime so all West Chester's talented offense had to do was score a touchdown.
Denied.
Shippensburg intercepted the first pass on the first play of West Chester's possession, sealing the bye week and the top seed in the northeast region of the playoffs.
West Chester bragging rights: Part Two
Two weeks later West Chester made the trip to Shippensburg and they were thinking revenge. The jam-packed, and rain soaked, crowd at Seth Grove Stadium was more than ready for the post season, but the team was late to arrive.
West Chester scored on a 61-yard pass early in the game to silence the home crowd, but Shippensburg responded with a 30 yard pass of their own. The second quarter though would be all West Chester as the Rams reached halftime up 27-7.
The Red Raiders fought back furiously with a late third quarter surge and eventually took the lead, 28-27, in the fourth quarter with five minutes left in the game. West Chester's Osagie Osunde, who I had seen plenty of in high school, struck against my team once again with a one yard run for a touchdown with 1:25 remaining. The score gave West Chester the lead and they sealed the victory when Tony Gomez was intercepted on Shippensburg's final possession.
In that one game I had heard Seth Grove Stadium reached it's loudest, and quietest, that I had witnessed in five seasons, in the span of about 15 minutes.
NFL Pride
Today memories of the 2004 season continue to flow for me on a weekly basis. John Kuhn has moved on from Shippensburg to finally reach a full-time spot with the Green Bay Packers. Kuhn had spent time in the NFL on practice squads for the Steelers and Packers. He had seen some minimal time with the Steelers and since then has come along with the Packers.
I try to check out the Packers box score on the off-chance that Kuhn had scored any touchdowns. Unfortunately he is used primarily as a blocker at the fullback position for Aaron Rodgers. Nevertheless, I always look for #30 in green and white whenever the Packers are on TV.
Brent Grimes went from special teams star for Shippensburg to defensive back for the Atlanta Falcons. I particularly enjoyed this weekend's Eagles game but could not help but feel bittersweet when I saw Grimes get beat by Reggie freaking Brown.
Post-Mortem
For Shippensburg the 2004 football season was a magical year that ultimately ended before the story was finished. I hope that some trombone player in the Shippensburg Uiversity Marching Band found a similar feeling in following this year's team. Much like the 2004 team the 2009 Shippensburg Red Raiders won the PSAC only to be bumped out of the playoffs by the team they defeated two weeks before.
Shippensburg was a favorite in 2004 but a surprise in 2009. The team has since switched divisions in the PSAC and Ship fans can only hope that the program is turning a corner and becoming a true "Beast of the East."
I invite anyone who followed that 2004 team to share their memories in the comments section below.
iChat lets people know I'm too sexy
Friday, December 11, 2009
A couple weeks ago I finally got myself up and running with Apple's chat client that was packaged in with my MacBook Pro. iChat makes my instant messaging life simpler, as you would expect from a company like Apple.
I used to have to load up AOL's Instant Messenger (AIM) in addition to keep a web browser window open for my Google Chat contacts. Maybe there was an easier way at the time on the old PC but I did not know what it was. So to make my computer life easier I pretty much stopped using AIM all together. This was a rather big decision for me as I had been using the AOL chat system since I was in seventh grade when my family first got America Online (and I promptly ran a bill up to more than $90 chatting away with friends from school - ahh the days of pay by the minute or hour). AIM was something that followed me all through out high school and college and was the ultimate way to keep in touch with people and send quick updates for my purposes.
Since taking over the role of National College Football Examiner on Examiner.com I found myself wanting to make myself more accessible to fellow writers and college football contacts. Hence my return to AIM. But I also wanted to keep using Google Chat so I needed a way to make things more organized.
Enter iChat.
Tucked away in the applications that came with my MacBook Pro was the iChat software. Using iChat I can easily sign in to multiple chat clients and manage them with ease. When I am working I typically sign in to iChat, which automatically signs me in to AIM and Google Chat at the same time. If I need to step away form the computer and want people to know I will be right back I do not need to set up separate away messages. In iChat you can set up one single away message that can be used for all of your open accounts.
One feature I particularly found interesting was the ability to keep a running status message that displays what I am listening to in iTunes. In this age of social networking and communicating I thought this would be an interesting feature to use. Perhaps somebody would see that I was listening to an episode of On the DL or This Week in Tech and decide to check it out themselves. Or maybe somebody I was chatting with would be interested in checking out the Shaimus album I was jamming (er... working) too.
That was the idea at least.
But the other day I realized that I may not want to be broadcasting this information to everyone.
I generally listen to my iTunes library on random after I listen to my desired podcasts, so I never know what is going to pop up at any given moment. So when "I'm Too Sexy" comes on from a 90's party CD I ripped the whole world would be able to see it. What would they think of me then? I mean, I only ripped the CD so I could have Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff's Summertime on my computer. Is that so wrong?
It was also brought to my attention that the constant status updates can come across as annoying...
I have no shame. But I did turn off my iTunes status updates.
#10 Team of the Decade - 1999-2000 Flyers
The 1999-2000 Philadelphia Flyers will always hold a bit of a special spot in my heart. And why not? They were the hot team in the city back then. My beloved Phillies were a mess, coming off an 81-81 season in 1999 by going a dreadful 69-93 in 2000. Desi Releford was playing shortstop and Ron Gant was playing left field. Pat Burrell? He was covering first base duties. And Macho Row leftover Mickey Morandini was still patrolling second base.
The Eagles were coming off their first season with Andy Reid on the sidelines and a young quarterback named Donovan McNabb still had a lot of question marks surrounding him...when he got to play ahead of Doug Pederson. As for the Sixers? Allen Iverson had started to get the team moving in the right direction, but we'll get to them later on.
The Flyers, for much of my high school years, were THE team in Philadelphia. A trip to the Stanley Cup Finals was not long behind us in 1999 and 2000 and it was every fan's expectation that this season would be the return to the Finals we had been waiting for since the debacle against the Detroit Red Wings in 1997.
But advancing to the Cup Finals would require some changes to be made, and some tragic events had to be overcome. And since we are talking about the Flyers you can imagine that it was not without controversy.
Over the summer, before the hockey season even entered the mindsets of most Philadelphia sports fans, Flyers fans and the city had to say farewell and best wishes to the long time voice of the Flyers, Gene Hart at the age of 68. Hart was hockey's version of Harry Kalas in Philadelphia. If you were watching the Flyers you expected to hear Hart's voice at the microphone. Jim Jackson was the voice I always identified with the Flyers but I can understand the sadness that must have surrounded the organization.
I was always rooting for the Flyers but I had still not formed my bond with them the way I do with the Phillies. So I regret to say I do not remember much about the passing of Hart. If you care to elabrate on Hart's passing or your memories from when it happened, please do so in the comments section.
Needless to say, the 1999-2000 Flyers were going to be playing with heavy hearts all season.
Controversial coaching change
During the season head coach Roger Neilson was diagnosed with bone cancer. In February Neilson stepped down from the head coaching job to undergo his treatment. Craig Ramsey was named his replacement, although to this day I still think the Flyers went about the decision in the worst way they could in regards to public relations. Rather than let Neilson take a leave of absence they practically handed Ramsey the job.
So long old friend
In order for the Flyers to take the next step and reach the Stanley Cup Finals again it was apparent that some kind of change needed to be made. The big trade that was made sent fan favorite Rod Brind'Amour to the Carolina hurricanes in exchange for a big center. That player was Keith Primeau.
Primeau was brought to Philadelphia to compliment captain Eric Lindros. For the most part, it worked. But soon after Ramsey took over the reigns as head coach Lindros suffered his second concussion of the season and all hell broke loose between Lindros, his family and general manager Bobby Clarke.
Lindros had criticized the team's training staff because he played a few games after suffering the concussion. In response the Flyers ripped the "C" off of Lindros's jersey and placed it on defense man Eric Desjardins. With Lindros out of the mix on the ice the Flyers came back strong to capture the Atlantic Division as well as the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
Playoff memories: The Good
When you think back to the 2000 NHL playoffs in regards to the Flyers you likely have two distinct memories. The first one that go down as one of the top overtime moments of all time...
After the Flyers had disposed of the Buffalo Sabres in the first round they had dug an early hole against in-state rival Pittsburgh in round two. The Flyers dropped the first two games at home and headed to Pittsburgh in deep trouble against Jaromir Jagr's Penguins. The Flyers took game three and evened up the series in game four in the very late hours of the night, or early hours of the morning, in the fifth overtime.
I can still remember to this day all of my fellow class mates falling asleep in English class that (next?) day. It was rough at school that day, but somehow I do not think any of us will ever have any regrets.
Playoff memories: The BadThen there is the turning point of the Flyers' post season.
The Flyers were paired up against their old nemesis, the New Jersey Devils, in the Eastern Conference Finals. They once again dropped the first game at home but came back to win the next three games in dominating fashion. The Devils picked up a win in game five to keep the Flyers from clinching. Then came the return of Lindros.
Lindros had not played since losing his "C" and leaving with a concussion, but he was determined to put the team on his back and get the Flyers back to the Cup Finals. Despite a good game from Lindros in game six the Devils sent the series to a seventh and deciding game.
Enter Scott Stevens.
Early in the first period of Game Seven Stevens rocked Lindros with his head down, sending the big center down to the ice with yet another concussion. The Flyers went on to lose the game 2-1 and the Devils went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Post-Mortem
Looking back on things now it seems kind of silly to have loved this team as much as I did. Imagine if a team was in a battle with their captain and essentially letting go a coach with cancer today? That kind of drama would not be tolerated by me, I can surely tell you.
That Flyers team though was the first good team in Philadelphia this decade, and they deserve to be mentioned. Sadly, that is the last time the Flyers will appear on my list. Sure, the Flyers have made a couple runs this decade but this team was the one that I enjoyed the most at the time. And when you see the rest of the teams on my list I think you may have a hard time arguing against that. Read more...
Flyers-Senators Melee
Earlier I posted about the Flyers losing a game to the Senators. In it I included a video of the 2004 melee between the two teams. It was a night that every Flyers fan will remember. But the video I included had the commentary from the Senators broadcasting team. So I decided to revisit the melee and give you the video from the view point of the Flyers broadcasters.
It is interesting to hear the different slants each broadcaster had on the epic melee.
Flyers shutout by Senators, 2-0
Role Reversal: Flyers blanked in loss to Senators - Tim Panaccio, CSNPhilly.com
Flyers waste Boucher's effort in 2-0 loss - Sam Carchidi, Philly.com
So far the coaching change seems to have had zero impact on the organization, despite the tougher approach from the head coach. The day after back-to-back games Peter Laviolette held a 70 minute practice the day after the team blew out the New York Islanders at home. Now you have to wonder if it was a detriment to the team last night.
As it was Ottawa who the Flyers played last night I could not help think back to the 2004 melee game. You know which one I'm talking about...
Watching that video should be a great way to get your Friday started.
UPDATE: Click here for the Flyers broadcast team calling the melee. Read more...
Frosty the Inappropriate Snowman [video]
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Mix a classic Christmas cartoon special and a dash of Neil Patrick Harris' character of Barney from How I Met Your Mother
I came across this video on The Live Feed after hearing about it from my wife. The video was created by CBS to advertise their upcoming airing of the Frosty the Snowman
special and the sequel "Frosty Returns".
Frosty was always one of the Christmas specials that I could live without seeing. I am not entirely sure why but there is juts something about it that does not satisfy me. Maybe it is because I have been spoiled by a number of the other classics, including the best Christmas special of all time, A Charlie Brown Christmas. I even found more enjoyment in the Garfield Christmas special.
What do you think about Frosty the Snowman? Read more...
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