Crossing Broad

Flyers Fan Drinks Beer Out of Mike Richards' Skate and Halloween Pics

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with Halloween, but we had to share.

Mark Sakers (@marksakers) Tweeted that he bought a pair of Mike Richard's game used skates and was going to drink beer out of them.  He did.

Look, I know Richie is the man (I have his jersey) and dudes want to get just a slice of his womanizing, digit laden ATM receipt handin', pornstar pic posin' mojo, but this isn't the way to do it, folks.  

A few Phillies Halloween pics from readers and my girlfriend's puppy (because, why not?) after the jump.  Happy Halloween, errybody.

UPDATE: Chase the dog wearing a Scott Hartnell (former) wig and as the Bark Knight.  Yeah, we've started a dogs in Halloween costumes meme, and you know what?  We're completely fine with that.

Danny Briere, The League Would Like a Word With You

The NHL will have a conference call hearing with Danny Briere tomorrow morning at 10 AM to discuss his high-stick on Frans Nielsen that sparked mini-melee in the third period of last night's game.

Video after the jump, but quite honestly, it was pretty blatant.

FOX Pregame Show is 12% Laughs- Literally

No Eagles this week, but we can still pick on the FOX pregame guys.  A Wall Street Journal study finds they laugh precisely 11.6% of their time on-air:  [WSJ.com]

The amount of time they laugh, though, is what sets them apart. The five hosts on Fox’s show—Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan and Jimmy Johnson—had a combined laughing time of two minutes, 22 seconds. That’s about 11.6% of the 20 minutes, 27 seconds they were shown on set together. Mr. Bradshaw was easily the laughing leader, going for about 92.4 seconds—including 2.5 seconds at the start of the show before anyone said anything.

The CBS crew—Greg Gumbel, Dan Marino, Bill Cowher, Shannon Sharpe and Boomer Esiason—only laughed for 43 seconds. That’s about one-third as much chuckling as the group at Fox. CBS declined to comment. Fox Sports spokesman Lou D’Ermilio says, “If we didn’t tell the guys to stop they would laugh and crack jokes 100% of the time.

More at The Wiz Wit.

Fan Video: Flyers Brawl

Rick DiPietro, who came out of net with his pink pads to defend his teammates, wanted no part of fighting Chris Pronger.

From Islanders beat writer Katie Strang (@katiestrangnyi):

Crazy night. DP cracked some jokes at his own expense and said of tangling w/Pronger: I was looking for anyone except him, let's be honest

 

Adam Burish should take some tips from 'tender pink pads.

Meanwhile, one Islanders fan commented on her YouTube page: "Flyers fans are insane.  You'd think with a 5 goal lead and 1 minute left on the clock (oh and the Islanders have a triple minor with 4 minutes left on it) that Flyer fans might have started emptying the building. Or even gotten a little calm. Nope, these maniacs are still going and still loud."

Flyers hockey, ladies and gentlemen.  Oh yeah, the Sixers lost their third straight game last night in case anybody was wondering.  Now, back to the fights.

Three videos of the mini-brawl after the jump- one from Islanders TV, one from the stands, and a chorused "you suck" chant aimed at DiPietro.  I actually think that's Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? providing the commentary in the first video.

Why You'll Never Hear Lavs Say, "Lets take Sergei Leighton and Play, Baby!"

 

A 6-1 thumping delivered to the Islanders last night has put the orange and black on a three game winning streak and placed them at the top of the Atlantic Division in a tie with the Penguins.  It has become increasingly obvious over his last few starts that the one they call "BOB" is the superior Flyers goaltender (see Can We Build a Case for Bob? ).  He has also now managed to beat the high-powered Penguins twice in their own building in less than a month.  This raises quite an interesting question, one that Philadelphia has already had a taste of this year with their football team.

What happens when the "starter" comes back?

I'm sure we could all picture andy Reid in a press conference, breathing heavily with maybe some cole slaw on his chin, and talking about "Michael Kolb" and his usual truck load of bullshit.  Now, lets put him behind the bench at "The Well."  Our starter, Michael Leighton, is down with injury (he just skated for the first time yesterday).  He has a backup who is playing extremely well.  Stop me when this starts to sound familiar.  There is one glaring difference between the Flyers' and Eagles' situations however, it is the lifelong backup, Brian Boucher.  He has been his usual, mediocre to below average self, but continues to get starts on a fairly consistent basis.  But why?

The Wiz Wit: Weighing in on Marcus Hayes' Comments

I asked friend and fellow blogger Maurice from the very funny site The Wiz Wit to weigh in on Hayes' comments about Chase Utley getting a pass from fans because he's white. Maurice is black, and I felt he could present a much different perspective on the comments.

These are his words, with only slight formatting edits. When you're done reading, please check out The Wiz Wit for its hilarious commentary on Philly sports.

 

Do I think there's a racial element to how fans feel about certain players (i.e. liking Utley more than J-Roll)? Yeah, I do. It's probably not as prevalent as Hayes is claiming, and the dude was being crazy reckless with his wording, but it is there.

The fan base is undeniably mostly white, and many of those fans will find it easier to identify with a player like Utley more than a player like Howard, for the simple fact that he looks more like the people in their lives. I'm not saying that's the case with all, but I'm saying it's definitely the case with some. And that may just be human nature.

Philly is a diverse (yet somewhat segregated) city, and while it isn't at a point where it's openly looking for white players to fill out rosters like perhaps the Utah Jazz or Indiana Pacers do, there are reasons why fans like certain players or cut them more slack than others. And sometimes it's (subconsciously) racial. Like how there were so many fans with Kyle Korver jerseys when he played for the Sixers.

Is a 16 year-old white female Phils fan going like Chase Utley or Ryan Howard more? Probably Utley, because he's talented, cute, and looks more like the other people in her life. She probably would rather bone him, as opposed to Howard, for those same reasons. This will change when she sleeps with her first black guy in college.

Hayes certainly didn't bring this issue to the surface in any type of constructive or articulate way. Do fans hate LeBron James simply because he's black? Hell no. Does it play a small part? Maybe. Some white people (more-so older people) really dislike the whole cocky-flashy-black-guy-with-a-lot-of-money thing. Howard and J-Roll aren't on LeBron levels of self-glorification, but it's there. You can try to sell me that their dislike is a reflection of that attitude more than their skin color, but I'm not completely buying it. People in Denver LOVE The Birdman.

Utley gets criticized when he deserves it, as do the rest of the players. My point is that fans may be just the slightest bit extra lenient with Utley because they like him more. And the reason why they like him more, might be the slightest bit, subconsciously racist.

Jay Wright and Ruben Amaro are More Popular Than the Governor

The Ronald McDonald house sponsored an online auction to eat with local celebrities and sports personalities.  Each item open for bidding consisted of a meal for you and nine friends with a local celebrity or group.

Some folks taking part included Michael Nutter, Ed Rendell, John LeClair (???), Mike Quick, Marc Summers, and Howard Eskin.

But none of those names were able to beat the top three most popular personalities:

1) Michael Smerconish ($5,050)

2) Ruben Amaro ($3,250)

3) Jay Wright ($3,050)

That's right, a college basketball coach is exactly $1,198 more popular than the Mayor ($1,852). Yeah, this is a sports town.

See the full roster here.  All for a good cause.

Mike Richards Backs it Up

Two weeks ago Mike Richards called out Matt Cook.  Last night he backed it up.  Just two seconds after the opening face-off, Richards and Cooke dropped gloves, removed their helmets, and threw down.

That's a captain, ladies and gentlemen- gives beer tub girls his number on ATM receipts and sets the tone early with a fight.  The Flyers and BOB went on to beat the Penguins on the road for the second time this month. 3-2.

Check out the gentlemanly tap from Richie around the :42 mark.  This is why hockey is awesome. 

Read the full game recap on Philly Sports Daily.

Andre Iguodala Did Not Demand a Trade

Last night ESPN reported that Andre Iguodala would like to play for a winner on its pregame telecast.  Wait, wait- stop the presses- an athlete wants to win?  Outrage.

From there, that quickly turned into AI is demanding a trade, AI doesn’t like Philly, etc.  Sixers beat writer Kate Fagen put a stop to that.

She reported that Iguodala has not demanded a trade or told management that he would like to be traded, and he will continue, at least for the foreseeable future, to hamper the Sixers’ growth with his $80 million (gulp) contract.

Can we demand a trade for him?

Speaking of “AI.”  Allen Iverson officially signed a two-year $4 million contract with a Turkish team today, setting up one of the great press conference backdrops of all-time for a hoopster from Virginia.

How the mighty have fallen.  via (@deepsixer3)

Sponsored Post: Meet Jeremy Maclin

Last week we told you about Carlos Ruiz and Placido Polanco signings for this week - even gave away a signed Chooch baseball.

Well, tomorrow Jeremey Maclin will be signing over at the BC Sports in the Christiana Mall from 1-2:30 PM.

He’ll be signing helmets, photos, jerseys, babies… ok, not babies.  But just go. 

Go get your tickets here.

The One in Which Marcus Hayes Says Chase Utley Gets a Pass Because He's White

Marcus Hayes, a guy who's never come across as a “jolly old fellow,” said in a recent Philly.com chat that Chase Utley is never criticized in this city because he's white.

Oh boy.

No, Marcus, Chase is given a pass because he plays hard, doesn’t complain (which you interpret as seldom accountable), and, when healthy, has been a consistent performer with very few flaws.  And he saves kittens.  On the other hand, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins receive criticism, not beause they’re black, but because Howard gets paid significantly more, strikes out A TON (13 times in last year's WS) and didn't have an RBI in the postseason, while Rollins has had two very sub-par seasons and previously called Philly fans front-runners.

What about Jayson Werth?  He was hardly given a pass this season.  And it don’t get much whiter than him, yo.  You can run tell 'dat.

Back in June, I went a little more in depth (at the request of Big League Stew) as to why Utley is treated differently.

Hayes' full, misguided comments after the jump.  Since he’s both white and black (his words, not mine), he is able to get away with playing the race card. 

The Giants Are Rapin' Errybody Out There

Pic via (@craigcalcaterra)

Bruce Newman, who criticized Philly fans for holding a sign that said "fix your teeth," might want to take a look at this sign paying homage to Antoine Dodson from last night's World Series game.  A World Series that might come to be known as the event that legalized marijuana- Hamilton smells pot in stands, fans use Lincecum to garner support for Prop 19, free pot when a Giant hits a home run.

Nice city.

Oh yeah, video after the jump of an epic McDonalds fight right next to AT&T Park after Game 1. Not because it doesn't happen everywhere, but because I'm tired of the national media pretending like Philly is the only place where this stuff happens.

H/T to "Fenton" for the video