At 7pm on ESPN, Worlds Collide

Both stand 6'8 with 7ft wingspans and phenomenal skill sets. So alike, but couldn't be more different. Andrew Wiggins, the pride of Canada, Maple Jordan, Canadian Lebron. Jabari Parker, Chi-Towns finest, the unassuming star.

The 2014 NBA draft will feature a 1, 2 combination of these two and tonight's tilt between Wiggins' Kansas Jayhawks and Parker's Duke Blue Devils could go a long way in deciding whose name gets called first. 

The scary thing? This game may not include the best pro prospect. At 7pm Tom Izzo's very veteran and very tough Michigan State Spartans take on John Calipari's Mcdonalds All-American all-star team led by another super frosh, Julius Randle, who quite frankly is better than 75% of our beloved Sixers roster right..now. He's a man's man, a bruiser in the paint and gets you 15 and 15 and 4 blocks on a lazy night. 

Goodies on deck folks, get your popcorn ready. 

Zo

Freddy "The Fog" Shero

"Win today, and we walk together forever." One of the most repeated and talked about quotes in sporting history, was thought of by the late and great Fred Shero. He had written this quote on the dressing room blackboard for inspiration to the players heading into game six of the 1973-74 Stanley Cup Finals, which the Philadelphia Flyers ended up winning and thus the series against the Boston Bruins, becoming the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup.

Fred Shero was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame yesterday in Toronto and many believe it was a long time coming and he was very deserving of it. Accepting the award was Ray Shero, Fred's son. Fred passed back in 1990, he was 65 at the time of his death, but his legacy has lived on through the players that he coached and his innovation on the beautiful game of hockey. "Freddy was a genius behind the bench," said former Flyer goalie Bernie Parent. "If Freddy didn't coach, he would have made a good psychologist. He made us believe in ourselves. He made us believe in the system."  Bobby Clarke was also in attendance for Shero's induction, having this to say prior to the ceremony, 

"The only thing I can think of was that people on the committee thought he was responsible for the mayhem that the Flyers caused in those days. He never was. You'd never see much anger in Freddy. 'Take the body. He had that line, 'shortest route to the puck and arrive in ill humor,' but I never heard him ever mention fighting or hitting people or stuff like that. Most of that was brought on ourselves as players, I guess."

Fred Shero will forever be immortalized in the game of hockey and now, the Hall of Fame. "People said he was ahead of his time," his son said. "Maybe he was an innovator. Maybe it was because he was video before most. Or maybe hiring the first assistant coach in 1972, Mr. Mike Nykoluk." Whatever it is, Freddy will always be loved in the city of Philadelphia and loved by fans of the game he loved so much.


CroJack

Who wants a mustache ride?

The Philadelphia Flyers got the offense going on Saturday when they defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 at home.

Claude Giroux, sporting his bright red mustache, played like a madman the whole game and it paid off for him and the team, netting his first goal on the season and his first in 21 games, in the third period. Eric Cartman's nightmare came true because ginger's apparently do have souls and are real, Scott Hartnell also netted a goal during the win at home. He had this to say after the game,

 "It's great," Hartnell said. "We didn't hear a boo all night here at home, first time in a long time. Our efforts haven't been great at home and we wanted a big effort 60-minute game and that's something we did tonight. We have to continue that and carry that forward."

The team played very well together and it seemed they had it all figured out for that game. Granted, the Oilers are not that good of a team, but are a very well disciplined fast paced team and it was good for the Flyers to get a much needed victory. Moving forward Giroux was happy of his play and made clear what is expected,

"It was obviously a lot of relief," Giroux said. "To see all the boys on the bench being happy too, I think that was really fun. But you know what, it's a big win for us. And we go on the road now, and we've got to get on a roll here."

A few side notes before the game started on Saturday. There was a lot of trade rumors flying around on Friday and early Saturday morning between the Oilers and Flyers. Jordan Eberle, 23 year old RW for the Oilers, was mentioned heavily in those rumors. Names attached to the trade rumor on the Flyers side were, Giroux, Simmonds, Coots, and Luke Schenn. Thankfully none of those rumors came to fruition and those players were still in the orange and black come game time. Well, maybe Luke Schenn can go, he has been a turn over machine all season long, and the Flyers do have depth on defense. Lastly, Ilya Bryzgalov made some noise this Saturday, when he signed with the Oilers. Many thought they might start him immediately against his former team, but that did not happen. "I'm not afraid of anything-except bear, but bear in the forest." Yup, that guy.


CroJack

MCW...Point God

Shaquille O'Neal, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Rick Smits (The Flying Dutchmen), Tim Duncan, hell, even Yao Ming in his own right, all dominant big men at one point in their respective careers and pillars for their franchises. That was yesterday's NBA my friends.  

Today there's Derek Rose, Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo, Derron Williams, Steph Curry, Chris Paul, and the list goes on and on. These young men are all tasked with one thing, take their teams to the mountain top. This is a guard's league, you don't need size to win, you need a fearless floor general that gets stops and buckets. 

You need a point guard to be respectable, but a POINT GOD to contend, and eventually win. We got ours. His name is MCW. 

Build with Us...

Zo

My name is a Chooch.

Free agency has started for MLB and the Rockies and Red Sox are wasting no time in trying to get the signature of Carlos Ruiz from the Phillies. Colorado better be careful with Chooch, he has been known to dabble with prescription drugs and consult his own doctor instead of the teams. He may wind up with a medical marijuana card and suspended from the league again.

There are some big name free agent catchers on the list this year and if Chooch parts ways with Philadelphia, look for the Phillies to pursue them. Topping the list we have Brian McCann, but he may be a tough option to sign. He has played his entire career with the Atlanta Braves and may not want to sign with a divisional rival, plus he has been know to express his interest in the American League. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is another good option for the Phils. He is just coming off a World Series victory with the Boston Red Sox and they may look to keep him on their roster, but with interest shown in Ruiz, this may not be the case. Another name on the list is A.J. Pierzynski. Though he is older than Carlos Ruiz and of the others, he provides a much needed bat in this Phillies lineup and could be cheaper than keeping Carlos. He is a 2x All-Star and a World Series Champion.

All in all, Roob the Boob, needs to make something happen during this off-season and during the free agent period, if he wants this team to succeed next year. My guess, he will f*ck this up for the team and city again.


Crojack

What Does Seneca Wallace Look Like????

What does Marcellus Seneca Wallace look like?!  That is the question going around the NFL this week after Packers QB Aaron Rodgers went down on the first drive with a shoulder injury.  It's obvious that the Packers didn't expect Rodgers to go out and have to throw in the backup, especially for 3-4 weeks. But none the less Seneca Wallace has his time to shine, or burn out, or whatever you want to call it.

That all being said, what a sign of relief for the Eagles, they don't have to face the badass QB Aaron Rodgers.  The Eagles are coming off of a historic win in "The Black Hole" versus the Raiders, where Nick Foles threw for an NFL record tying 7 TDs.  This week's matchup versus the Packers went from winnable to should win with one injury.  The Packers have been plagued with injuries this year and another star that is questionable this week is Clay Matthews.  The Eagles have a great shot here to get back to .500 and hopefully be tied for 1st place after the week is over.

The Eagles defense has stepped is up the past few weeks and have been able to shut down some top tier offenses.  This is a good sign for eagles fans; if they can keep up the defense and put on performances like last Sunday against the Raiders, this team could surprise some people and sneak into the playoffs.

Here's to the defense staying strong this week and the offense keeping up the stellar performances!!

Vine of Wallace live in action, his throw looks very familiar:

Source: https://twitter.com/elibretl

ski

Break That Record!

The 76ers are gearing up for what could be their worst season in franchise history...oh wait, that would mean the worst season in NBA history.  After watching some of this preseason there is no doubt that the Sixers are in full tank mode.  There is just not enough talent and years of experience to win any games in this league, they keep cutting/dropping players left and right.  The Sixers just waived Vander Blue, Royce White (the flying got to him), Khalif Wyatt, and Mac Koshwal.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is the right call, as  risky as it might be.  This team has to take the chance to be great again and this is by far the best opportunity to do so.  The Sixers have the chance to get the 1st and 6th (pending the Pelicans place) in the lottery, giving them a 33.1% chance at snagging Wiggins.  It will be fun knowing the Sixers will not be good and going for the big prize.  Not having expectations will make the season some what watchable and who cares if they get the worst record ever.


My predictions is that they don't quite beat out their old record of 9-73, but i think they are going to beat it by 1 game...10-72!  What do you all think??


ski