Phightins

He just donated $100,000 and agreed to match any fan donations from last night's game. If I were Haitian I'd care.

He [expletive]ing nailed Won't Get Fooled Again. I can say from experience that it's probably one of the hardest songs to cover on drums and he did it almost perfectly.

I know people say the Flyers "goon it up" so this may fall on deaf ears, but the Maple Leafs are a [expletive]ing dirty team. Colton Orr in particular.

Well, this game has been a dud.

You aren't allowed to take a run at a guy's head lol. That was so dirty.

Before I start, let me apologize in advance for the rant. I am sorry, but the events of this past week should be the last straw with Gary Bettman. Unfortunately I don't see him stepping down any time soon, but this man is turning the National Hockey League into an even bigger joke than it already is. There are three things from this past week that I am talking about, two of which were mentioned in other threads. The two mentioned on OTR previously (the Pittsburgh Penguins "review-gate" incident and the Alex Burrows/Stephane Auger incdient) are both kind of related. I find it kind of sickening that the league is sweeping both of these incidents under the rug and keeping their investigations "under wraps". These are both huge deals, in my opinion, and they both deeply involve the integrity of the game. For those who don't know, last week in Pittsburgh during a Flyers/Penguins game, Simon Gagne of the Flyers scored what appeared to be a goal, but the officials on the ice waved it off. It was close so they went to review. Apparently it is the home team's responsibility to send all camera angles to the "war room" in Toronto where a final verdict on questionable calls is made. On TV they showed an angle that showed the puck clearly over the goal line, but the Penguins and their TV station did not send that angle to Toronto, so due to "insufficient evidence" they let the play stand as a no-goal. An announcer on the Penguins TV network could be heard laughing and saying "we saved that one". Luckily the game was a blow out and this did not affect the outcome of the game, but if it would have the Penguins should have been forced to forfeit the game, and as it currently stands IMO they should be forced to lose a draft pick. This is serious [expletive], but of course the NHL is keeping it a "private matter". Yeah, way to lose the trust of your fans Gary, especially the ones who already buy into conspiracy theories. Speaking of conspiracies, before a game last week referee Stephane Auger reportedly told Alex Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks that he was going to "get revenge" for some incident earlier in the year. In that game, Auger made at least two horrible calls against Burrows, one of which arguably cost the Canucks the game. There is no proof of what Auger said to Burrows, but there is video of the two having a conversation before the game. Much like the goal review incident, the league is staying hush hush about this too. Both have a huge impact on the integrity of the game, yet they are being swept under the rug. I guess I shouldn't expect less from Gary Bettman, however. The third incident involves this hit that Sergei Gonchar put on Cal Clutterbuck (actually ECN sent me this video right after it happened): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTv2uSAiYx4&feature=player_embedded Actually this is a shot at Colin Campbell and not Gary Bettman, but Sergei Gonchar received no suspension for this, despite it being one of the dirtier hits I have seen this season. If he wears orange and black (or hell, if he wears the colors of any team that the NHL is not in bed with aka the Pittsburgh Penguins) it is a 5 game suspension at minimum. This league seemingly has two rule books. Anyway, I am starting to get disgusted with some of the stuff going on in this league. What do the other OTR hockey fans think?

Brad Lidge had more surgery today. It was just a minor knee thing though, and it doesn't really change his time table for this season. He is still questionable for Opening Day just as he was before this.

Tonight's game should be interesting. The Maple Leafs called up another goon who cannot play (as if they didn't have enough) and they clearly want revenge on Dan Carcillo for that throat slashing thing.

Somehow Dalembert was able to put up 12 and 21 with the earthquake on his mind and without knowing if some of his friends are dead. That was pretty cool.

To follow up on the Gagne "review-gate" incident, I think it is horrible that the NHL is keeping their investigation "under wraps". Well Gary Bettman is in bed with the Penguins so I guess it should not surprise me, but nonetheless it is a joke. This is a big big thing, IMO. Some guy said it on the radio last night and it's so true, but this really makes the NHL look like a "Mickey Mouse league". The Penguins should forfeit a draft pick, that is how big a deal I think this is. And with the way they are handling the Alex Burrows/Stephane Auger incident as well, they have really done a number on their credibility this week (if it was possible for it to get much worse).

Where have I seen this before?

He still has family there.

Lol...considering?

That's horrible. Hard to say "hope it gets better" since the damage was done and is terrible. On an NBA and Sixers note, hopefully Sammy Dalembert's family is alright. I haven't heard if any of them were near this.

The people who REALLY piss me off are the ones who say "they cheated the game, they disgraced the game, blah blah blah". They did precisely what "the game" wanted them to do. I also happen to think that Mark McGwire would be a hall of famer even without the steroids, despite most "experts" saying otherwise. I know for certain that Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and Roger Clemens would be, and they sure as hell better wind up there. The common argument against McGwire is that he was a "one trick pony" who could only hit homeruns (which I do not disagree with) and that the steroids are what made his homerun numbers astronomical. Well all I have to say is that if Andre Dawson is a hall of famer, then so is Mark McGwire steroids or not. I just love the self righteous writers who say none of them should be in the Hall. Keeping these guys out of the hall of fame will make the hall an even bigger joke than it currently is.

The Phillies plan to convert Phillippe Aumont back into a starting pitcher this season. I wonder if he is over that hip condition. That would be amazing.

I don't think he had a choice.

I disagree. Baseball needs to admit players to the hall of fame based on numbers, and just move on and make sure that a "steroid era" doesn't happen in the future. It is impossible to "clean up" the Hall entirely so baseball just needs to bite the bullet, admit they [expletive]ed up by allowing this to happen, and move on. It is not like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, etc are the only ones in the history of baseball with "hall of fame" numbers who have cheated. In the 50's and 60's the performance enhancers were cocaine and amphetamines, and you can bet your [expletive] that players in that era were abusing as well. And is this any less fair than the segregation era? I would argue it is not. I do not have any specific examples, but I bet you could go through the Hall of Fame and find pitchers from that era with borderline HOF numbers that absolutely would not have made it had they had to face Negro League players and other foreigners and truly the world's best players, not just the world's best white players. Also look at a guy like Jamie Moyer. Is he a hall of famer if he pitches in that era? Garrett Anderson, Bernie Williams, Manny Ramirez, and Carlos Delgado each have over 75 RBIs against him. Obviously none of this is possible to prove and it is a stretch, but I would argue that this is just as unfair of an advantage. If general managers from the segregation era are allowed in the hall of fame (they are), then so should Mark McGwire. Just my 2 cents. Bottom line: one way or the other the Hall of Fame is [expletive]ed, so people need to just accept this, allow players into the hall based on numbers and nothing else, and continue to move forward to assure that nothing like this ever happens again.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/NHL_investigating_FSN_Pittsburgh.html At least the Flyers still won big. Had this wound up a one goal game or something, this would be a huge story.

I hate making preseason predictions based on how teams look "on paper", but I will say that "on paper" I believe the Phillies and Cardinals are the two strongest teams in the NL, with the Dodgers right behind. In the AL, you have the Yankees and Red Sox (surprise). Mariners made big strides this offseason and I could easily see them challenging the Angels for that division, but I don't know if they could hang with the Yankees or Red Sox in a playoff series. But there is a long way to go!

Harold Reynolds made a good point on MLB Network. If he was not coming back into the game as a hitting coach, he probably would not have said a word. But now that he's back in the public eye for the first time since his playing days, there was probably a lot of pressure on him to do this.

In other news, the sky is blue. But seriously, I am happy for him as a person for coming clean although it is probably too late to help him win over a lot of people. Also, I have always thought that he and Sammy Sosa both have gotten a pretty rotten deal. Obviously it is hard to sugar-coat the fact that they used steroids, but lets face it, they did exactly what Bud Selig and Major League Baseball wanted them to do and as a result they saved baseball. Now, they get thrown under the bus. But this is definitely a positive step. Wonder if other guys will follow Mac's lead and come out now.

1) What happened to skiing? 2)

Yeah I was just going to post that. Andy flat out said today that it will be Donovan. He may be bluffing, he may not be, but I am 95% sure McNabb will be our QB next year. And lol @ the Vick talk. Not a snowballs chance in hell he is better than McNabb, and also not a snowballs chance in hell that he has success playing every down in this offense.