BLOG: An Unprecedented Night
By: Bill Campbell
It may not have been unprecedented but it was highly unusual. I guess it's happened before but I can't remember it. Three of our four major indoor sports teams were playing all on the same date, with almost identical starting times. The Eagles were inactive and, according to many, will remain that way for some time. They and their partners may be inactive for a longer time than predicted.
But the Phillies, the Sixers and the Flyers were engaged in battle and, unfortunately from a Philadelphia standpoint, two of them lost.
When last seen, 76ers coach Doug Collins did not appear to be especially amused. In fact, he was in the process of receiving a technical foul call and later on in the night Phillies manager Charlie Manuel may have welcomed one -- if those things ever happen in baseball. So maybe this had happened before, that all three teams were involved simultaneously and available for listening or viewing. But I just don't remember.
One of them, the Flyers, even managed to siege the home ice advantage in the playoffs, but they had to shuffle off to Buffalo to do it.
It was indeed a night a Philly sports fan will long remember. Even though they happened simultaneously we will deal with them chronologically.
Flyers coach Peter Laviolette made a gutsy decision: he started Brain Boucher, the veteran, over rookie, Sergei Bobrovsky, in goal when many thought he might risk damaging the rookie's attitude for the rest of the series. Boucher made 35 saves.
And there is Nik Zherdev, who probably made the greatest comeback of all. He was waived by the Flyers back in February, was a frequent healthy scratch, and was almost sent to the minors because no one claimed him. Instead of pouting about it, he changed his attitude and decided to try to become a better player. Last night, he scored the deciding goal. Now "there's always two different roads you can go down at that point," said the coach, "You can go south and maybe never become a player or you can take Nik's path, work hard with the coaches and very hard with the trainer to stay in shape. He had an opportunity tonight and scored a very big goal for us."
And there was Jeff Carter who scored a goal and an assist and was Plus One with 9 shots at Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller in the first period.
It was a very big game for the Flyers which goes without writing. And they will resume Wednesday night in Buffalo. Let us all take a moment to remember the Flyers are doing this without Chris Pronger.
The Sixers have much atoning to do for their completely hapless performance. And the light which Doug Collins has helped shine on this franchise during the regular season seemed more than a little dimmed.
No one considered that the Sixers could possibly win a game from the Miami Heat, but everyone had a right to expect that they would compete. There was no evidence of that on Monday night. It would appear that the lights are about to go out on the Sixers.
Dwayne Wade, who hadn't practiced for 2 days with the Heat due to migraines, still scored 14 points and had 6 rebounds against the Sixers, who shot an unfathomable 27 for 79. Wade spent Sunday in bed, was unable to eat and lost considerable weight.
Their series resumes on Thursday night here but it was LeBron James who really killed the Sixers with 29 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. You have to consider what happens to the Sixers if Wade returns to form.
As for the Phillies, they are slowly but surely reminding people that scoring runs and playing good defense go hand-in-hand with having the world's greatest starting pitching rotation.
The Milwaukee Brewers scored 3 runs in the 12th inning, almost without a hit, on Monday night to win a game that was there for the Phillies' taking.
There wasn't much wrong with starter Joe Blanton's pitching (7 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 4 strike-outs) but 27 pitches by Kyle Kendrick in the 12th was their undoing.
Charlie Manuel is wondering these days where his home runs have gone. Well, with Jayson Werth, who hit 27 last year, and who doesn't work here anymore. And with Chase Utley who has become a spectator.
It might be interesting to note that the Phillies as a team hit 58 fewer home runs last year than they did in 2009 and they play a lot of games in a hitters' ballpark.
Monday night April 18, 2011: it may not happen again.
