Crossing Broad

Hunter Pence at Flyers Game

Don't worry-- her boyfriend was seated out of frame.

The Media Broke Andy Reid! We, The People, Have Won!

This afternoon, Andy Reid met with the media for the first time since the Eagles’ season ended in bitter disappointment, and - surprise! - he was friendly.

One of the things Jeffrey Lurie told reporters during his awkward State of My Once Beloved Organization speech a few weeks ago was that Reid would have to work on being better at dealing with reporters. And it seems the coach took that advice as he ambled to the stage in front of the assembled media, who gathered with the fervor of patients in a podiatrist’s waiting room.  

The first sign that Reid was going to handle things a bit differently came when he turned it over for questions. Instead of his trademarked time’s yours, the audience received a more polite so with that, I’ll leave the time to you.

Thanks, Andy. 

As expected, the questions about Juan Castillo and Reid retaining his job came fast and furious. Reid gave mostly honest and candid answers. So much so, in fact, that it seemed like he had briefly entered Gregory Alan Williams' Tree of Trust from Old School. Really, we were one Mike Missanelli appearance away from Andy being asked about his sex life, which I’m guessing is surprisingly delightful.

The Eagles website feed even showed the reporters asking the questions. Dare I say it put faces to the voices of the people. A democracy was formed at the NovaCare Complex today.

Anyway, the topic on everybody’s mind was this newfound attitude from Reid toward Eagles scriptuals. It took nearly a half-hour until one brave soul dipped his toe into that meta ocean. Enter 97.5 The Fanatic’s Joe DeCamara, who emerged ominously from the dark like Quint during the town hall meeting in Jaws.

DeCamara spoke, softly but confidently: 

It seems the information you’re telling us about Steve seems rooted in a forthcomingness, yet obviously there’s only so far you can go. Are you trying to be more forthcoming at these press conferences?

A brief hush befell the room before cheers erupted and the throng of media broke out into exuberant bedlam*-- Bob Grotz squeaked. Reuben Frank unwrapped a freshly-made hoagie. Jeff McLane repeatedly punched Les Bowen’s head like a faulty Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robot. Jamie Apody went into labor. Ray Didinger got a chub. And Tim McManus charged the podium, using this opportunity to land a People’s Elbow firmly on the Fat Man’s chest. The masses had won! The media broke Reid! 

The coach gathered himself, pushing an enraged McManus off his chest:

It’s a good question. That’s a good question-- thank you. Well, I was until I saw Bob [Grotz] not let the lady [Jamie Apody] talk first, then that kind of upset me a little bit. No, I am. No, listen-- I am. Am I trying to do that? No. I’m telling you the truth is what I’m doing. 

There are times... the press conference directly after the season, you have had no time to really put everything together. You guys are eager, you’re doing a job. You’re under pressure yourselves to make sure that you’re doing your job, and you’re going to throw fastballs at me, and there’s just a time where you have to bide time and step back to give you the right answers. So, I tried to do it a little bit different this year than I did in the past years. I didn’t think that was a smooth transition into the offseason. I felt like if I stepped back, I could finally analyze things and then present it to you.... in a better way.

 

By this point, Bowen’s head was bleeding profusely and R. Diddy was fully pantsless. The victory, it was theirs.

DeCamara, the hero, kept going:

Why do you handle [the media] the way you do? And, of course, as you said, fastballs are coming at you and that can’t be comfortable, but it does see you take a particularly aggressive approach to questions. Why handle it like that?

 

It was at this point that Dave Spadaro sprung into action. DeCamara never made it back to his car.

For Reid’s response, and video of the imagined bedlam, give it a little bump. It's so much fun to see the Fat Man squirm.

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Comment on this post, and you'll entered to win a “Quality Grooming Experience” from American Male, a full-service salon for guys in Center City, Berwyn and Reading that has been helping men look their best for over 12 years. The “Quality Grooming Experience” features shampoo, haircut, scalp massage and much more. We’ll be picking two winners per week. Must enter your email address to be eligible. Oh yeah, they serve beer too.

Why Yes, Virginia, This is Video of DeSean Jackson Sipping Champagne at Rick Ross' Birthday Party on Sunday Night

Chaaaa Chaaaaa!!!! Ya boi gettn’ it in n Miami with Dr. Dre, Lil Wayne, Fabolous, Trey Songz, Meek Mill, Neyo, Wiz Khalifah and others on Sunday night. Yeaaahhhh boi.

Fucking DeSean Jackson is everywhere. We noted some of his recent excursions here-- one of which included sitting courtside at the Heat-Bulls game in Miami on Sunday. Later that day, it seems, D-Jac stopped by Rick Ross' birthday party where he could be seen - at, say, the 1:09 mark of this video - sipping on some Moet while Dre dropped a beat.

The video is after the jump. smh.

H/T to reader Chris for going balls deep to find this video and correctly pointing out that D-Jac was drinking Moet, not Cristal. It's the details that count.

Phillies Sign Chad Qualls

Ruben Amaro is determined to sign every over-30 player available. The Phillies have signed Chad Qualls to a one-year, $1.15 million deal. 

Another upside move for The Big Poker-- Qualls, 33, was 6-8 with a 3.51 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP last season in the Padres‘ ginormous park.

The Phillies' focus this offseason has been on rounding out the roster with experienced Major League players, not infusing the aging lineup with young talent. It's clear that they are going for broke while the Halladay-Lee window is still wide open. And we wouldn't want it any other way.

Union Trade Le Toux to Vancouver...

You're not in Kansas anymore

Wait, what?

Two weeks ago, it was believed that Sebastien Le Toux would be sold to Bolton of the English Premier League (Le Toux even attended a match last weekend), but the deal fell through because Le Toux didn’t impress Bolton during a tryout.

Now, Le Toux, who is back in Philadelphia, has been traded to what I would imagine is the worst place on earth for Soccer-- Vancouver. He confirmed the move on his Twitter:

 

 

Whatever is going on with the Union is puzzling. Yes, they have a promising core of young players, but in the last two days they’ve parted ways with their starting goaltender, Faryd Mondragon, and their best player, Le Toux. Some think this is all to free up money to obtain full rights to their Columbian sensation, Roger Torres. We shall see.

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Comment on this post, and you'll entered to win a “Quality Grooming Experience” from American Male, a full-service salon for guys in Center City, Berwyn and Reading that has been helping men look their best for over 12 years. The “Quality Grooming Experience” features shampoo, haircut, scalp massage and much more. We’ll be picking two winners per week. Must enter your email address to be eligible. Oh yeah, they serve beer too.

MLB.com Reminds Us That Chris Wheeler Has Been Ruining Phillies Games For 25 Years

Yesterday, MLB.com posted a short tribute video to the late Andy Musser (he didn’t have quite the library of footage that Harry Kalas had...). In it, we’re treated to Musser’s call of Mike Schmidt’s 500th home run and, unfortunately, a much younger Chris Wheeler stomping all over another great Phillies moment.  

Musser’s call was fine, but Schmidt’s historic home run lacks weight when it’s not accompanied by Harry’s pipes. Or it could just be because Wheels felt it was necessary to remind us that great players do great things... and this was a great thing.

To cleanse yourself, we recommend watching this montage of Harry's greatest calls.

Hunter Pence Wants to Attend "Phlyers" Game

Let’s get some fuckin’ jam in this photo.

You know kinda like, like I, like, I like jam.

Typical. West Virginia typical. 

Really I’m just posting this so I have an excuse to pass along this photo, which was tweeted by Flyers beat writer Sam Carchidi from the Philadelphia sports writers banquet. I mean, when else are we going to see Ruben Amaro and Paul Holmgren pose together? Hunter Pence and Claude Giroux? Charlie Manuel and Peter Laviolette?

Anyway, perhaps Pence hit it off with G and Lavs, because he later tweeted that he wanted to attend tonight Phlyers game. 

 

It's OK-- he's from Texas. Plus, he gets a pass since he spent parts of the offseason shtupping Playmate Shannon James in Cabo.

Phillies Are Considering Signing Pat Burrell to a One-Day Contract

Excellent-- a chance for Bat to come home and dampen just one more Philadelphia coed (or six).

At last night’s Sports Writers Association banquet in Cherry Hill - which is like the prom for local scriptuals, especially the older ones - Ruben Amaro was asked about the possibility of signing Pat Burrell to a one-day contract so the he could retire a Phillie. Todd Zolecki of Phillies.com fills us in:

Don't be surprised to see Burrell, who announced his retirement on Monday, sign a one-day contract and retire with the Phillies.

"We are considering it," Amaro said.

 

Golf claps for Rube. He may just be stiff-arming the public until we come to our senses and realize that Pat Burrell had one hit in obtaining two World Series rings... but we’ll take Rube’s word for it. Bring back Bat.

Zolecki has more nuggets from Ruben, Charlie, and Hunter.

INSANE Deals on Flyers Tickets This Week

The Flyers are back from the All-Star break and sit in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 63 points. Three home games coming up this week: Winnipeg, Nashville and New Jersey. Crossing Broad Tickets has you covered for all of them.

Winnipeg: Make an offer for tickets to tomorrow night’s game between now and 7 p.m tonight using our new ticket buying platform. Only offer what you want to pay. You can save over 50% off face value! This is the most aggressive deals we’ve had in a while. GONE.

You can also shop normally for tickets to the Jets game-- tickets start as low $25.

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Nashville: Make an offer to save up to 50% off. Here’s a guide for what to offer:

1-star - $35

2-star - $55

3-star - $60

4-star - $64

5-star - $100

Must-click link right here.

[If you are asked for an invite code, enter: crossingbroad]

As we’ve told you before, these deals work like Hotwire does for hotels: You make an offer on tickets in a location where you’d like to sit, and if your offer is accepted, the tickets are yours. 

We continue to receive great feedback on these deals, so make sure to check them out. There are never any fees and tickets are shipped promptly.

You can also buy tickets the old fashioned way for all three games (Jets, Predators, Devils) starting at $23 right here.

The NFL Had a Bit of Trouble Spelling "Philadelphia" on Pro Bowl T-Shirts

Doh.

H/T to reader Chris

This is What Citizens Bank Park Looked Like Earlier Today

- this is where I toiled around with a lame grass-on-the-field joke, but decided to refrain -

Earlier today, media types shared some ground level pictures of the playing surface at Citizens Bank Park, where crews are replacing the turf that was ripped up by the Winter Classic with a hybrid Riviera Bermudagrass (details of which can be seen in this video). The above picture was tweeted by (@DirtBike_Beezy)... who was apparently working down at the ballpark or something.

Anyway, grass soon. Then we can play ball. - there it is -

Report: Pat Burrell to Retire

Sad day. MLBTradeRumors.com reports that Pat Burrell will officially retire. 

Back in November, Burrell told the Associated Press that he was likely done, but it seems we can expect an official announcement shortly.

Photo: Barstool

Now seems like as good a time as ever to honor Pat by reminding you of his existence as The Machine and the story of Max Talbot bringing girls back to Bat’s old Rittenhouse condo last year. Our friends at Drinker's will hold a moment of silence at around 1:53 tonight. We will miss you, Pat.