Flyers Pens Preview 3/7

Battle for Keystone State Supremacy

            There is not much debate around the NHL right now that the best current rivalry is the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The real question is what will cause another brawl? Or will the total penalty minutes be over or under 150?

            Tonight will be the third of four meetings between these two clubs this year, with the teams both winning on the road in the prior two contests.  Pittsburgh comes into this game red hot winning seven of their last 10 games.

            For the Flyers, they are the first team to reach the halfway point this season, and the results thus far are not nearly what they hoped. That being said, the Flyers sit just one point out of a playoff spot, and will have the luxury of not having a packed a schedule to close out the season.

            The Flyers need to show some desperation tonight, much like they did the last time they played Pittsburgh. Guys like Danny Briere and Luke Schenn are going to have to play a lot better for things to turn around.

            L. Schenn had two sloppy changes in Tuesday night’s game against the Rangers that both led too soft goals. For Briere, he has just simply not been himself this year, scoring just five goals with a -5 rating. What is also surprising is given how well Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds have played recently, all three still have a negative plus/minus rating.

            You can bet that Pittsburgh is going to try to defend heavily against Simmonds and Voracek, after the two combined for five of the Flyers six goals in a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh a little more than two weeks ago. This should leave the door open for guys like Scott Hartnell and Brayden Schenn too get their offensive games going.

            Defensively, if Nicklas Grossman cannot go (he is questionable after suffering a lower body injury during the first period of Tuesday night’s loss in New York) then the Flyers are going to have a real hard time containing Pittsburgh’s offensive attack. Grossman leads the NHL in blocked shots, he had 61 going into the game against the Rangers. He has also been arguably the Flyers best penalty killer, and it is no secret that the Flyers spend a lot of time in the sin bin.

            For Pittsburgh, head coach Dan Bylsma has decided to give rookie Beau Bennett a chance to play right wing on a line that features two of the league’s most feared goal scorers, center Evgeni Malkin and left wing James Neal. Bennett, who was the 20^th pick in the 2010 NHL draft, has scored three points in his last four games.

Key’s to the Game for the Flyers

·         Stay out of the box

The Flyers are the most penalized team in the NHL, and if Grossman cannot play the Flyers penalty kill will be a little weaker. The Penguins power play is operating at a deadly 25.6%, which is good enough for third in the league. Discipline will be essential, especially with how chippy things can get when these two clubs meet.

·         Shoot the puck

Seems simple, right? The Flyers have had a tendency this year to try to make that extra pass, or wait for a lane to open up and it never does. While this can work sometimes, I think the Flyers just need to get shots on goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. We all remember what happened in the playoffs last year, and you know the crowd will be all over him again tonight.

·         Score first

Now hold on before you all tell me how the Flyers always come back against the Penguins and scoring first does not matter, it does. Not only because teams winning percentages go way up when they score the first goal, but because dating back to January of 2009, the road team is an amazing 17-5-1 in this series. Keep the fans at Wells Fargo into the game by scoring first and playing with the lead, and the chances of the home team winning become so much higher.

Tidbits

·         Under Dan Bylsma, the Penguins are 8-2-1 in Philadelphia, and have not had a losing record playing in Philadelphia since the 2007-08 season when they were 0-4.

·         In the Flyers last 22 meetings with the Penguins, there has been at least one power play goal scored in each game.

·         Fleury has a 52-18-10 career record in the month of March. 

Injury Report

Out for the Flyers is forwards Matt Read(ribs), Tye McGinn(orbital) and Jody Shelley(hip) and defensemen Andrej Meszaros(shoulder). Defensemen Nicklas Grossman is questionable with a lower body injury. Harry Zolnierczyk is serving game two of a four game suspension.

For the Penguins, defensemen Paul Martin is questionable with a lower body injury.

Let’s hope the Flyers play with some “JAM” tonight.

Enjoy the game, and GO FLYERS!

show from 10-14-12

Enjoy our show from 10/14/12

Shows online

Shows Online

I know not to much has been going on with the blog. School and such will do that, but we'll try to get back to posting stories again.

As of now, I'm uploading our past shows to an audio site, so if you ever want to catch a show, it will be up online.

http://yourlisten.com/user/public/sportsman81
^If you ever want to check out our shows, this is where they'll be.

Lindy Ruff out in Buffalo

https://soundcloud.com/peterson_billy/buffalo-sabres-fire-lindy-ruff

Super Bowl Preview

I am ending my blog drought, and what better way than to give you my Super Bowl prediction. This has been the year of the read option, however I'm not so sure on how long it will last.

Remember the wildcat? That died quickly, and the read option has many similar concepts. A lot of football experts also said that the west coast offense was going to fade out when Walsh introduced it with the 49ers. Ironically, the 49ers will try to use this new style of offense to win the Super Bowl tomorrow, and despite the west coast offense surviving, I think in a year or two the read option will be gone.

There is no doubt Ray Lewis is on a mission, even turning to deer antler spray to help on this Super Bowl run. Whatever it takes I guess.

Before I give you my score prediction, just let this sink in: since 2007, Joe Flacco has 8 playoff wins, Mark Sanchez has 4, Tom Brady has 3, and Peyton Manning has 2. Yeah.

I have gone back and fourth for the last two weeks on this game, and both Harbaugh's are great coaches. Baltimore had the tougher road to the Super Bowl, so some say they may not be as fresh as the Niners, but with two weeks off I think that plays itself out.

This has the potential to be a great Super Bowl.

Baltimore 29 San Francisco 26.

So far in the month of January.........

Well, the winter sports are in full swing, Basketball is getting near the all star break. Hockey is back in time for a 48 game schedule. We've seen the start of a dynasty in Alabama and the continuation of SEC dominance in college football, also want to state this was the last year for bowl game, starting next year there will be a 4 team play-off. And to top it off, in a couple months, baseball will start up with spring training. 

Today has been a good day, I get the NHL back, even if I had to wait till early January. It will be interesting to see how the teams can adapt to playing so many games in such a tight window of time. I get to see how my sabres can play against quality teams right out of the gate when they play the flyers in their first game of the year. With no training games, this will be the first time they (the players) will have played with their respective teams either for the first time, or last year. Many have gone over sea's to play, so rust won't be an issue.

On the 7th of January, we saw the last BCS bowl game for the time being. I though Notre Dame had a chance, I was wrong big time. Notre Dame looked like little kids playing grown men on steroids  It didn't look good, especially when Alabama ran the ball, it was like the defensive line for Notre Dame didn't want to touch their ( Alabama's) Backs.

In the NFL, the battle to get to the superbowl continues with the greenbay packers and the Broncos of Denver ending their season tonight. On Sunday, the New England Patriots play the Houston Texans, and the Seattle Seahawks go to Atlanta to play the Falcons. Both look to be great games to watch. I'll be paying more attention to the New England game because I'm  a patriots fan, but I'll definatly watch the Falcons game as well. For anyone who isn't sure of the times. Falcons-Seahawks are at 1pm EST and the Patriots-Texans is at 4:30pm EST.

 

ITS OFFICIAL

The schedules have been released, there will be a 48 game schedule this year for the NHL.

If you're wondering when you're favorite team begins playing, here is a link for all the teams.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=85750&navid=DL|NHL|home

A new year for sports

First off, happy new years. With the new year, we have a new year of sports. Spring training starts up in a couple months, bowl mania is in full swing with the BCS national championship game in a couple days. The NBA is gearing up for a fresh looks as new teams emerge to fill the roles of others. The NHL is still in a lock out, and It looks like we're going to have another lockout.

With the New Year comes two of footballs biggest games, The super bowl and The BCS championship game. On January 7th, at 8 PM, #1 Notre Dame and #2 Alabama will square off to see who is the best college football team in the country. Notre Dame is coming in with a 12-0 record, not playing in a championship game since 1993, and hasn't won one since 1988. Alabama, coming off a 12-1 year, is trying to become one of the few programs to win 3 national titles in 4 years, yes 3. That's how much Alabama has dominated football the past couple years. If you want to go back even further, you can say that the SEC has had a choke hold of college football for a good while now with schools such as Florida, LSU ,Auburn and Alabama winning titles in the last 13 years. LSU has 2 titles (2003,2007), Florida  has 2  (2006,2008), Auburn has 1 (2010) and Alabama has 2 (2009,2011) with the possibility of continuing the SEC dominance. An SEC school has won the championship for the last 6 years.

The NFL playoffs are underway with wildcard Saturday concluding with victories for the Houston Texans and the Packers of Green Bay. Tomorrow, we get to see two of the best rookie quarterbacks in last years draft. Russel Wilson and the Seahawks play host to the Washington Redskins and the RGIII. I have this game going down to the wire, both teams have great quarterbacks, good running attacks to balance the plays, and superb defenses. I wonder how many packer fans will rooting for the Seahawks later today. Early in the year, there was a contraversial call that gave Seattle the win over the Greenbay Packers. It was this game that many believe got the regular refs back into service and the replacement refs out.

I wish you luck if you're team is in the hunt for a bowl game or is playing today. 


*EDIT, The Redskins are playing at home, not the seahawks
*EDIT, the NHL and the NHLPA have agreed to a 10 year CBA

Are you a real fan?

So as the Eagles season has gone down the toilet, I have heard many people telling me I should start rooting against them?

"Why?,"You may ask....well I ask the same thing.

A lot of people are saying, "Root against them so they can get a higher draft pick."

Really? Really guys!? The reason why this team is bad, is because they have SO many spots that need to be filled. I don't care if you have pick 1, or pick 32, when you have so many positions in need, you are going to get the best player at a position on need.

I cant find it within myself to root against a team I have loved my whole life. When the Eagles beat Tampa Bay last Sunday, I jumped like they won the SuperBowl. That shows how much satisfaction you can get out of a single win. The Eagles players and coaches were jumping for joy too. A lot of those players are giving it their all, and you have to feel good for them finally winning again.

If you were an Eagles fan, and were mad that they won, throw out your jerseys.

Root against your own team? You don't have a pulse.

Are you a real fan?

Penn State Football

It's rivalry week in college football, so it's justified that many eyes may not have been on the Penn State and Wisconsin game in Happy Valley this afternoon.

Many may have been looking at Bedlam, the Iron Bowl, Michigan vs. Ohio St., Florida vs, Florida State, etc. However, those who missed Penn State and Wisconsin play missed a memorable game.

 This game would be the last for the seniors, who have faced NCAA sanctions and off field problems that many people could could no even fathom. Senior, Micheal Mauti, missed the game due to a left knee injury, and to show how much he meant to the team, the entire Penn State roster wore his number 42 on their helmets.

Mauti was one of the 31 seniors who chose to stay at Penn State, when given the opportunity to transfer without penalty. He was also one of those who stood up before the season and guaranteed that the Penn State football team would give 100% effort game in and game out.

Did they ever.

      I can not remember how many ESPN College Football analysts I heard saying that Penn State would be lucky to get three maybe four wins this year. I think I even heard some people saying that they would not get a win at all.

8-4.

Eight wins, four losses for the Penn State football team that not only won games, they dominated many. Head coach Bill O'Brian should get serious consideration for Big Ten coach of the year if not national coach of the year.

The seniors went out with an emotional overtime win over Big Ten Championship Bound Wisconsin. Oddly enough, Penn State finished the regular season with a better record that the Badgers of Wisconsin.

We will see what the next few seasons have in store for the Nittany Lions, but for now at least they can hold their heads high.

How's eight wins for you experts.

More cancellation point to the rift between the NHLPA and the NHL

possibility of no season becomes more apparent

"A total of 422 regular-season games -- 34.3 percent of the season -- were scheduled for Oct. 11 through Dec.14"

Along with those games, is the cancellation of the 2013 NHL All-Star game, that was to be hosted by the Columbus Blue Jackets, in Columbus,Ohio. 

With the lack of a CBA ( collective bargaining agreement ) there can be no season. And as long as the two sides can not come to an agreement, there will be no season.

The next time you hear the NHL announce something, it will be for two things. Either the cancellation of the entire season, or to announce a shortened  season will commence.

Thanksgiving Football

As I'm stuck in traffic at the I'm writing this, I begin to think how ingrained football has become in our country. Throughout the day you can watch football, from your local high schools to collegiate and the professionals wearing their throwbacks. I'm not saying that everyone watches football, that's a given, but Thanksgiving football is one of the best ways to try to get them into the sport. A saying I'm heard a bit is the 3 F's on Thanksgiving. In case you're not aware of them they are family, food and football. Not a bad pairing.

For today's matchups we have the 9-1 Houston Texans against the 4-6 Detroit lions. I think this will go down to the wire. Even with the Lions having a sub-par record so far. I expect them to give the Texans a run for their money. (Of course as I'm writing this the Lions are winning(34-24)

Another game on today is the Washington vs. Dallas game. I think that this one will also be a close game. With the Redskins recording a great win over the struggling Eagles (3-7) in their last game. At 4-6, Washington is 3rd in the NFC East. With New York at 6-4, if the dice roll in Washington's favor we could see Washington winning the division with the Giants and the Cowboys both struggling in the division. The only way I see the Eagles winning the division is if they win out and  have Washington, Dallas and New York all having 7 or less wins.

  

And the last game on the schedule tonight is the New England vs. New York game. With the Patriots at 7-3 and the J-E-T-S jets at 4-6 ,it should be interesting to see if the Jets can keep the winning streak alive after their win against St. Louis. While with New England coming off their impressive victory against Andrew Luck and the surging colt.

Thanksgiving is one of the best day for football. Hope you all enjoy your day, and enjoy your football. Enjoy

Miami Marlins

Last winter, the Marlins organization changed its name from "Florida" to "Miami," built a new stadium, and signed a bunch a new free agents with big contracts. The fans and organization both hoped to be in World Series contention for years to come.

What a difference 12 months makes.

A year later the Marlins have traded away all it's big name players, and a huge amount of salary. ESPN's Buster Olney said that this was something Major League Baseball feared after the Marlins 69 win season a year ago.

Why fear? Well, there seems to be no intention from ownership to use the now free salary space to make the Marlins competitive. And after 80% of the funds for the new stadium was used from tax payers money, what is the organization giving back to the fans?

The MLB fears that this upcoming year for Miami may bring in some of the lowest revenue of any team in any season prior. What motive do the fans have to go out and pay to watch the Marlins this year? Love of the game? We'll see, but one thing is certain, the Marlins don't appear to de done dealing away top players either.

Several tweets from current players who have managed not be traded have voiced their displeasure with what the organization is doing as well.

Hey Miami, I'll come play for you. Just pay for my college tuition and I'll be there....I'm sure you have enough money stores somewhere for that.

Winter classic cancelled 
As you all know, the NHL is currently in a lock out due to the CBA coming to an end of its contract and a contract not being written up due to both sides not being able to agree on a final format.

This years Winter classic was supposed to be played at the Big House, the football stadium of the University of Michigan  the largest college football stadium, It even towers over professional football stadiums its that large, holding around 107,501 crazed fans on Saturdays, it can be the perfect environment to hold a hockey game. 

Along with the winter classic, there was supposed to be a big hockey celebration that involved high school teams, OHL (Ontario Hockey League)  teams, and even AHL ( American Hockey Leagues) teams were to play games here after the winter classic was done. 

We saw events like this with the 2010 winter classic. After Boston and Philly had played their game, an event called "Frozen Fenway" occurred. It pitted 4 teams from Hockey East( 1 Women's game and 1 Men's game) at Fenway park.

It had Northeastern and UNH (university of New Hampshire) for the women's match, and Commonwealth Avenue foes Boston University and Boston College suiting up for the late game  for the men's game.

It's a shame that this wonderful event has to be cancelled due to a new CBA not being agreed on by both parties.

Lets hope that we at least have a season to talk about

BCS Format

Starting in the 2013-2014 season, the BCS will be implementing the 4 team playoff as a part of the new BCS system. However, it may be a year too late.

This year as everyone knows, the BCS championship will be decided by the very controversial system where a teams overall rank is based on (1/3) coaches poll, (1/3) Harris poll, and (1/3) computers.

As if right now the following teams have undefeated records: Alabama, Kansas State, Notre Dame, and Oregon. All of which may go undefeated if Alabama can get by LSU in Death Valley on Saturday. If tho does indeed happen, who will face Alabama in the national championship game? (It is all but determined that if Alabama wins out they will stay ranked #1 and play for the silver ball.)

This is certain to stir up some drama in the next couple weeks. And of the past few years have taught us anything about college football, it is that none of these four teams are a lock to go undefeated. Enjoy the remainder of the season.

San Francisco Giants

This might be a couple days late. But I would like to congratulate the 2012 world series champions San Francisco Giants for winning their 7th world series title. They swept the Detroit Tigers in 4 games. 

The Way of the Sport

What can and can’t one do in the name of survival in order to ensure that they are successful in their goal while maintaining their ethical composure that they inevitably have? Survival of the fittest they say, but what good can a stronger being do to another that has set up traps along the brush that, without the slightest cognizant thought, will plummet the goliath to his doom? On the other hand, if a trap fails

the more feeble bodied, who is he to escape the savagery of the brute?

Since the dawn of man, competition has descent through the inner cogs of our minds compilation of thought. To think is to live they say, but as not only history, but modern life has taught us, living is only successfully achieved through thinking relevantly. In the times of hunter-gatherers, the ones who’s head in the clouds were, for the most part, the compunctious fools who hadn’t made it far. The level minded,

attributed man survived. When the worker had grown sick of some disease, the medicine man, being afraid of the man who has constantly stolen his food, lets him suffer for his personal faults.

This sample of Social Darwinism has proved that neither brains nor bronze overpower one another, but that together, a better, more evolved man may be produced in future generations. The nature of Humanity, concrete, it is not, for as time has proven, the sense of reality is anything but static. With that said though, it is also agreeable that humanity in general is not as unique as one might think. We all, in vague retrospect, want the same things. Peace, love, happiness, give grief to those we feel have

wronged us, help those we feel need it, provide our loved ones with safety and security, and much more. So as much as things change, some always remain the same.

The instinct of competition is one of those eternally embedded drives that we seem to possess. It is a fundamental ingredient to ourselves, though the methods might shift in our altering course of existence, we will always find our way into competing, whether for a physical prize, luxury, right, recognition, righteous passage, or for the most basic theme of survival. Some may think that we as humans have “progressed” as a society that competition is the way of the past, barbaric, coarse, and uncivilized. To progress is to become closer with a final result, and whatever one's beliefs might be, alone,

we will hardly change in our enigmatic ways. Peace and wealth for everyone is but a fools dream, at least in this world, and to make it by in life, we must compete for even our most basic wants and needs.

Now this isn’t an economic lecture, but do take in mind that even communism, theoretically, is

completely devoid of such competition, but as humanity has presented us, theory only goes so far. No matter the nation, no matter the society, no matter the family, no matter the person, we will have a sense of competition burrowing itself within the lobes of our brains, itching for us to do what we need to have what we want to achieve. In the theory of perfect capitalism, which is just as much a failure as communism in real practice, humanity would also be wronged for the fellow seeds of morality and ethics shall push alongside the competitor to fulfill a personal act of laudable proportions.

As we can now establish that competition is fundamental, yet not dominating in the character of man, it is distinguishable that it is healthy to compete, but that we must also have a conscious in doing so. Also, to compete is not only to be the smartest or strongest, but to possess both traits in the widest parameter as one can get. Of course, depending on the task at hand, the weight scale might have to tip to one way or the other to achieve the specified goal, thus introducing the potential of cooperation. 2 heads are better than one, aren’t they?

Cooperation, another fundamental instinct of man, creeps its way to conjoin its fellow competitor and moral seed of the brain to find a rational plan of action to set forth. It is with this cooperation that, not in all cases, we can exemplify our mental goals in a more fitting fashion. We find the way to incorporate several minds and bodies into one so that not only is the task more efficiently executed, but that a social connection of loyalty may emerge. And with this loyalty comes an opposing instinct of generosity towards those you feel deserve your helping hand. Where one may lack, another provides, and maybe even conjoin one another’s knowledge and strengths to better the other in a synchronistic fashion.

It’s quite funny how a trait such as competition, a trait that carries more of a negative

connotation with it, also brings along a multitude of other traits, some carrying more of a positive connotation on their backs. It is simply human. It is the way of the Sport.

Sports embody all these virtuous traits, be it negative or positive to one’s personal definition, in a way that gives varying methods and tact as to give the Athlete, any human being for that matter, a choice as to what he or she finds most fitting for themselves. The Athlete does not necessarily mean the stereotypical jock pop culture has pointed out as, though they are usually the best of whatever their specified occupation may be, but as anyone who puts at least a little effort into competing for some sort of achievement, whether it be a personal goal, a cooperative vision, or for a sense of acceptance in a manner that strains both physique and intellect as much as it need be. Thus, any one, no matter the physical or

mental conditions they might find themselves in, has the potential of becoming an Athlete.

Straining intellect in a Sport? Even the Sport of Track, where one just runs in an oval to put it bluntly, consists of not only physically strong legs, but to conquer mind games of weakness and quitting. Also, many fundamentals that must be physically used in running have to become second hand in the Athletes mind so that they freely stride in a specific way that gives more advantage to achieving the goal of passing the finish line in first place.

To bring cooperation in play, American football can be seen as my coach has stated before, “Organized violence.” Truth be said in those words, but it also brought a sense of close friendship, and somewhat of a brotherhood between my team mates and I. All for one, and one for all.

The point of all of this is, is that the Sport is hardly just a form of entertainment, but a way of life. It defines some humans such as Usain Bolt. It saves others such as Michael Oher. The Sport can provide sense of belonging. It provides good morals and work ethic for the most part. With all this in mind, I suggest that even if you are not participating in any Sport for whatever reason it may be, may you inspire others to do so, predominantly in high school or middle school where it isn’t too difficult to be part

of the programs. Plus, there are alternate programs such as Debate, Math competitions, and other intellectually dominant Sports.

We are human, therefore we are Athletes. We live, therefore we’re embodied in the Sport.

NHL LOCKOUT UPDATE

The  2012-13 NHL has been canceled through November 30th due to both sides not able to come to an agreement towards the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NHL and the NHLPA (players Association).

A total of 326 scheduled games have been canceled from Oct 11th through Nov 30th. This amount is around 26.5% of the total season.

The New York Islanders have found a new home for the 2015-16 season

The New York Islanders, who have been playing in the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum ever since the team joined the league in  1972. Has seen many great players and great events such as a stretch of 4 straight Stanley cups from 1980-1983.

After a long stay here, they (Islanders) are moving to Brooklyn after their long stay in Uniondale. Previous attempts were made to renovate and build a new arena near the coliseum and keep the Islanders in Uniondale. 

The Islanders will keep there color scheme, logo and will still be the "New York" Islanders. Hope to see how they do when they make the move. They will also be sharing the arena with the Nets, who they shared the coliseum  in the early 70's.
There's no place like home, except when home is a 3 year old arena.

Below is some concept art if the Islanders were to change their logo
http://blogs.thescore.com/nhl/2012/10/24/an-overview-of-what-the-islanders-move-to-brooklyn-means-for-their-fans/

^the link above is where the art was found

Tonight was a good night

The Chicago  Bears and their trademark defense shut down the 4th quarter magic making Lions on Monday night 13-7. 

The lions seemed to get overwhelmed by Chicago's Defense, as a result, they turned the ball over 4 times (3 fumbles, 1 INT) The Bears improve to a healthy 5-1 record in a strong NFC North while conference foe Detroit falls to 2-4.

Chicago leads the NFC North, followed closely by the surprisingly Vikings of Minnesota ( 5-2) and then the surging Green Bay Packers who started the year 2-3 before stringing together 2 straight wins to pull to a record of 4-3, while Detroit follows with a record of 2-4 after last nights close game.

Expect the NFC North to be one of the more dynamic divisions, and possible have a team that has a legit chance of winning the Super Bowl this year.