New Section: Drink of the Weekend

This new section will show my drink of choice for each weekend in the summer. Usually it will be the cheap beer I drink.

But for college graduation I was lucky enough to receive two huge bottles of Grey Goose.










This weekend's drink is Vodka Tonic with lemon slice to kick off the summer.

Let's Go Phils! Big series with the fish from Florida this weekend.

Chase Goes Upper Deck

I get a call at 7PM last night from my buddy John who is a Phillies bullpen security guard, telling me he has 2 tickets to the night's game.

I pick up my buddy, by 7:26 PM I'm parked running into Citizens Bank Park.

Turns out we sit Row 1 in section 204. Pretty awesome seats, especially for free.

Chase Utley decides to go deep in the bottom of the 5th, crushing a home run to the upper deck. The ball lands 10 seats to the right of me.

Too bad the Phils have the day off today, their bats are on fire. 48 runs in the last four games.

The Phils wound of sweeping the struggling Rockies. One fan decided to steal a broom from a maintenance employee and chuck the broom into the Rockies bull pen, to remind them they just got SWEPT.

Dynamic Phillies Offense

After scoring 15 runs Sunday against the Astros, the Phils came out on Memorial Day and scored 20 runs in a blowout win over the Rockies.

Chase Utley has 9 RBI in the last two games, homering in both games.

Let's see if the Phils can keep the hot hitting alive tonight against the Rockies starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez (1-4).

Kyle Kendrick(3-2) will start for the Phightens.

In Cole We Trust

Cole Hamels mowed down 11 Nationals in the 1-0 win over Washington Tuesday Night. Hamels received a no decision for his outing since the Phillies couldn't produce any runs for their true ace.

Tom Gordon (4-2) came in relief and pitched a scoreless 8th inning to receive the win. Brad "Lights Out" Lidge allowed two walks but struck out two to receive his 11th save in 11 appearances.

Hamels pitched seven innings allowing just four hits, and two walks. Hamles improves his ERA to 2.61.

Hamels is now 5-3 on the year in his 10 appearences.

Once again pinch hitter Greg "Roy Hobbs" Dobbs had an RBI single in the top of the ninth. The run scored by Eric Bruntlett was enough to gain the win.

Jamie Moyer (3-3) will try and improve his record over the .500 mark tonight in Nationals Park. Moyer will pitch in his 46th stadium.

Sir Charles to Quit Gambling?

Charles Barkly announced Monday night that he was quiting gambling on TNT's pregame show before game seven between the San Antonio Spurs and the New Orleans Hornets.

ESPN reported that Barkley admitted that he has lost between $50 million and $60 million in the past 12 years due to gambling.

Barkley's latest gambling problems include a $400K gambling debt to Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas. This led to Barkley's announcement that he would quit gambling and that he has paid the money back entirely.

It's Phillies Time!

Until training camp starts, the Phils are all we have to root for in Philadelphia, other then the Soul that is.

The Phils (24-21) are currently tied with the hated Mets (22-19) for second place in the NL East. Although the Mets are technically .004 percentage points ahead of us. The Phils are Mets trail the Marlins by 1 game.

The Phils need to continue playing Jayson Werth in centerfield. Thanks to a 3 home run game on Saturday, Werth has 9 ding dongs on the year to go along with 26 RBI, which is third best on the team.

Shane Victorino needs to stay healthy, start putting the bat on the ball more, and steal some more bases if he wants some quality time in the outfield. The flying Hawaiian isn't much of a stat guy, but he needs to step it up if he wants more playing time then the veteran Geoff Jenkins.

Brad "Lights Out" Lidge is pitching excellent and so it the rest of the bullpen. Jamie Moyer pitched a strong outing his last time out. Brett Myers needs to start pulling his weight.

The Party's Over

The Flyers had the worst record in the NHL last season, and in 2008 they bounced back all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. One hell of a turn around.

Forget Sunday's 6-0 blowout. The Flyers will have alot to prove in 2009.

Timonen Back in Line-Up

Flyers defensemen Kimmo Timonen will be back in Sundays line-up for the game 5 showdown with the Pens. Timonen will make his first appearence in the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals after missing the last four games with a blood clot.

"I think I'm ready to go. Now it's up to coaches. I haven't talked to John yet. But personally I'm ready to go tomorrow," Timonen told the media Saturday.

At 12:56 PM Sunday, the Flyers announced Timonen's return to the lineup. Timonen is a much needed spark the Flyers need on defense in game 5.

The Flyers will still be without Braydon Coburn.

Let's Go Flyers!

Flyers Lose All-Star Kimmo Timonen

The Flyers will be without their standout defensmen most likely for the entire Pitssburgh series, due to blood clot in his left foot (ankle). Paul Holmgren said the clot is on the area of the foot where Timonen laces up his skates.

The Flyers will have to make up for the loss of their leader on defense. Timonen tallied 8 goals and 36 assists in the regular season, and had 6 assists so far this post season and a plus minus of 5.

A Best of Seven Pennsylvania Showdown

The Pittsburgh Penguins will have the home ice advantage against the Philadelphia Flyers in a best-of-seven game series in the Eastern Conference Finals. The winner will play in Lord Stanley's Cup against either the Detroit Red Wings or the Dallas Stars.

The Penguins and Flyers last playoff meeting was in 2000 in the second round when Philadelphia defeated Pittsburgh in just fives games. The two teams have only met three times in playoff history. The Flyers lead the all time playoff series 3-0, defeating Pittsburgh in 1989, 1997, and 2000. The Flyers won the 2008 regular season series five games to three.

The Flyers and Penguins played in one of the most memorable playoff games of all time in 2000, when game four of the semis went five overtime periods. Keith Primeau was the game's hero scoring the winning goal for the Flyers. It was the third longest game in Stanley Cup playoffs history.

The Flyers are coming off of a five game series win over the top seeded Montreal Canadians . The Penguins finished off the New York Rangers in five games as well.

The young Flyers are led by R. J. Umberger who is second in the playoffs with nine goals to go along with two assists and a plus minus of six. Danny Briere has come alive this post season, scoring eight goals with six assists for the Flyers.

Net minder Martin Biron has been on fire for the Flyers. Biron has a goals against average of 2.72 through eight playoffs games against Montreal and Washington. Biron also pitched his first career playoff shutout in game three against the Capitals.

The Penguins are led by Sid the Kid Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Marian Hossa. Malkin leads the Penguins with six goals and eight helpers in the playoffs. Crosby has also tallied 14 points in the playoffs with two goals and 12 assists.

Hossa is coming off of a game winning overtime goal to lift the Penguins over the Rangers in game five to clinch the series. Hossa has five goals and five assists in the playoffs.

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is a commanding 8-1 this post season with a stellar goals against average of 1.76. Fleury posted four shutouts in the regular season and already has two this post season.

The series starts Friday at 7:30 PM in Pittburgh.

Game 1: May 9 @ PIT, 7:30 p.m. ET, VERSUS, CBC, RDS
Game 2: May 11 @ PIT, 7:30 p.m. ET, VERSUS, CBC, RDS
Game 3: May 13 @ PHI, 7:30 p.m. ET, VERSUS, CBC, RDS
Game 4: May 15 @ PHI, 7:30 p.m. ET, VERSUS, CBC, RDS
*Game 5: May 18 @ PIT, 3 p.m. ET, NBC, RDS, TSN
*Game 6: May 20 @ PHI, 7:30 p.m. ET, VERSUS, CBC, RDS
*Game 7: May 22 @ PIT, 7:30 p.m. ET, VERSUS, CBC, RDS

8 Wins Down, 8 Wins to Go

Flyers trying to bring a championship back to Philly for the first time since May 31, 1983 when the Sixers won the championship over the Lakers 4-0.

My First Game at Yankee Stadium

My trip to Yankee Stadium began at 4 PM Friday with six die-hard Yankees fans.

We parked right on the water and fired up the charcoal grille and cooked some foot long hot dogs and sipped on some Coors Lights.

Yankees fans do it just like we do in Philly, the tailgating was a great time.

So we went into the game just before the first pitch. Our seats were in Tier 23, on the first base side.

Although the seats were fairly far from the field we still had a good view, and they only costed $21 dollars.

I kept my Philadelphia passion to myself until my buddy decided to tell every in the men's room I was a hardcore Philly fan.

I got heckled but not nearly as bad as a father and son walking around the stadium decorated in Phillies jackets and Flyers jerseys. I gave them a standing ovation while all the Yanks fans poured down boos on them.

All in all the game was a great time, the Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners 5-1, so I got to hear Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" on the way out of the stadium. It was great to get into such a historic stadium in it's last year of existence.