Orange Crush

What an amazing night! Yesterday I attended my very first NHL playoff game, and it was unlike anything I've ever seen. After falling behind 2-0 in the series with Buffalo, and returning home after an embarassing 8-2 loss on Monday, the Flyers finally showed the home crowd what they're capable of. As always, the Playoff Block Party got under way at 4pm. TV news crews were out, radio statios had booths set up, the weather was great and people were excited for hockey. As fans came through the gates, they were all given orange shirts, part of the "Orange Crush" promotion. The best part about playoff hockey is there are no intermission shows going on, so I can watch the game from anywhere I want. I missed the start of the game because of the Block Party, and despite the fact that the crowd was decked out orange and the fans were in a frenzy, Buffalo jumped out to an early 1-0 lead. As if that wasn't bad enough, the Flyers got a penalty called against them a few minutes later, sending the crowd into angry fits. HOWEVER the Buffalo power play fell apart and Brian Savage scored a shorthanded goal to tie the game at one. This finally brought some happiness to the crowd, as they could tell that this game would be different. The Flyers were hitting hard, skating hard and playing with an intensity that was nowhere to be found during the first two games.

The second period brought more of the same great play from both teams. For the second period, Rob, Katey and I stood just in the tunnel on the concourse, parallel with the Buffalo net. We had a great view of Forsberg's go-ahead goal. I can honestly say I've never heard a crowd go this crazy during a game. This goal gave the Flyers their first lead of the series! The goal prompted many of the Flyers fans to jeer the Sabres goalie, Ryan Miller. Shortly after that goal, Sabres forward JP Dumont went down with a seemingly serious injury (he was fine, he was acting like a baby). For the first time in recent history, the Philly fans actually showed some class during an injury. Although Philly fans in any sport are known to be animals, the crowd was civilized during this time. This all stems from Game 1 when Buffalo forward Tim Connelly CRUSHED RJ Umberger. The hit was clean, but Umberger got knocked into next week. As Umberger was laying on the ice, barely conscious, the Buffalo scoreboard operator thought it would be great to show the replay about twenty times. The fans also cheered everytime they saw the replay. The PA announcer in Philly told the fans to show up Buffalo and be respectful during this time, and the Philly fans happily complied.

The third period brought more of the same play, filled with fast paced play and heart stopping action. The Flyers were leading 3-1 heading into the third period, with Forsberg scoring his second on the night on a nifty move behind the net. Midway through the third, Buffalo scored to make it 3-2. Much to Rob's surprise, the fans stayed in the game. He said usually when the other team gets within a goal, the fans get quiet and scared. This time, the chants of "Let's Go Flyers" were ringing loud and clear. With about 6 minutes to go, everyone in the arena was about to have a heart attack, as Petr Nedved took 2 minor penalties in a row. Buffalo has one of the strongest power plays in the league....but this was Philly's night. They were not gonna let Buffalo come onto their rink and steal a game. The Flyers iced the game when Simon Gagne scored an empty net goal with 20 seconds left. There was a bit of a delay following this, because the fans thought Forsberg scored his 3rd goal of the night. Hats and shirts were raining onto the ice...for no real reason. It was funny how the announcer had to emphasize that Simon Gagne scored his third goal OF THE PLAYOFFS and ASSISTED by Perter Forsberg. I can see why fans may have made the mistake..Forsberg had recently touched the puck, he wears #21 and Gagne wears #12...the crowd just got a little backwards there.

I don't think I'll ever forget the energy level and the atmosphere of last night. Even though I don't get paid down here, going to playoff games for free and being part of this event almostmakes it worth it. Following the game, I went to Chickie and Pete's with Katey and Leslie (one of the Flyers Ice Girls) We chilled there, had a drink and then went home. It was a long day, but well worth it. I'll report on Friday's game later.

This Week In Philly

Well, I can't believe another week has passed. Time sure has been going by very fast. Easter Sunday was already a week ago! My Easter Sunday wasn't too exciting. I caught the subway early in the morning, and when I got home, I had 2 big packages from home waiting for me. Thanks to my mom, I didn't get to miss out on all the Easter candy that I was craving for. Later that morning I went to church for the first time since I've been here. The last time i was at church was at Christmas, so I think I am now officially a Christmas-Easter person. After church I went over to Greenbergs house to watch the Flyers-Devils game. I think Philly must have used al ltheir energy the day before, because they looked TERRIBLE! Well, combone a terrible Flyers team with a red hot Devils team and...the outcome wasn't pretty at all. Sunday night was a quiet night for me. I think I just stayed in and watched tv.

Monday was just a regular day at the office, but at night our hockey team had another game. We definately looked like the Flyers did, because when the 3rd period rolled around, we were down 5-1. I don't know what happened to me out there, but in the middle of the 2nd period I just hit a wall (metaphorically of course, I do know how to stop myself from hittig the boards) But right in the middle of a shift I lost all my energy. My quads were locking up and when my shift was done, I could barely get myself over the boards and onto the bench. The good news about the game was I finally got onto the score sheet! Well, it's not really good news, because I got a 2 minute "roughing" penalty...seriously, I just bumped a guy with my shoulder as he was skaing into the zone and they called me for a bodycheck. Nevermind that later in the game I slashed a guy in the back of the legs and got away with it (I guess I made it look innocent enough....as innocent as you can make a slash to somebody's legs look). The game continued to get ugly, they made it 6-1 after taking advantage of the fact that nobody on our team had any energy left whatsoever. We were short 4 players to begin with, then one of our players got ejected for fighting, so we were down 5 players by the end of the game. The final score was 6-3, but that's because the other team let up a bit. Our record right now is 1-2-1, so we have a practice tonight to get back into shpae.

Tuesday was a fun night as well. It was a typical day at the office, but I had to stay and run the inflatable at the 76ers Block Party. It was their final home game of the year, and I really didn't know why we had to stay out and celebrate for a team that was not going to the playoffs....but the game was almost sold out because it was potentially Allen Iverson's final home game. Following the Block Party, I went over to the Lucky Dog in Lafayette Hill to meet up with my boss for the traditional Tuesday night "Random Trivia Night". What they do for that is each table makes a little team for themselves, and there's 6 rounds of trivia. The winning team at the end gets a prize. It was a very happy place, because the Flyers were beating the Islanders, the Senators were beating the Rangers and the Canadiens were beating the Devils. So, being with a family of Flyers fans (I was at the table with my boss, his mom and his wife) We call team the "Atlantic Division Champions" Well, now that we gave ourselves that premature nickname, the only natural thing would be for the Devils to come back against Montreal....which they did, scoring 3 3rd period goals. So the Devils won the Division, but even better....we won the trivia contest that night! We allw on crappy hats...you know the ones with the massive brims, kinda like the hat that the kid wore in the Sandlot. Oh well, it was free, I wasn't gonna complain.

Thursday was a really fun day. It was 84 degrees and during the lunch hour, my boss and another coworker went into Center City to scout out the area for the Playoff pep Rally that we were hosting. The party was scheduled for Friday afternoon, but we needed to look at the area and get some ideas of how we could set up for the event. The event was at The Shops of Liberty Place, and if you've ever seen pictures of Philly, Liberty towers are the two (almost) twin towers that stand out atop the skyline. In between the buildings, they have a nice rotunda with shops and a big food court. This was my first time in Center City on the west side of Broad Street. I love Center City...unlike Detroit, there's lots to do downtown, it's safe, people were all out enjoying themselves. Being that it was such a nice day, the streets were packed, you could smell food from the outdoor cafes and courtyards. It's a really neat place to be. Funny thing happened while we were eating...I actually ran into somebody I knew in a crowded shopping center! Pretty odd that out of the tens of thousands of people out and about in Center City, I run into Dan Greenberg and one of his friends. We talked for a bit, but then we had to get back to the Wachovia Center.

Friday was a really fun day. We got to Liberty Place at 11 and started to set up for the big rally. I was really surprised at how well it turned out to be. I would say that at any given time, there were 400 people there. Former players Bernie Parent (Hall of Fame goaltender) and Bob kelly were there, and there were lots of giveaways. Everyone in attendance had a great time, and I really enjoyed it too...the Flyers really know how to get people excited for the playoffs. Following the pep rally, we went back to work and Katey and I had to run the inflatable at the Philadelhia Soul game (the Soul is the Arena Football League team....I really don't know why they had a Block Party....Arena Football gets like what, 300 fans at a game?). I was really tired when I got home, so I decided to have a quiet night here.

Saturday was a miserable day....it just poured rain all day. I didn't have any plans whatsoever, but I ended up getting a call from the Greenbergs. They were having a dinner party tonight with some of their friends and they invited me over. I guess I was taking Dan's place because he was up at State College visiting friends at Penn State. The dinner was great, and we all hung around after to watch the Flyers game. It was really a great game, a double-OT thriller, but the Flyers came up short. Either way, I still had fun...had a great meal and watched a good hockey game. As for today....nothing on the schedule except hockey practice tonight. As always, I'll keep you updated at a later date!

Update Time!

Wow, I almost forgot about this thing! I last left off detailing my Friday night in Baltimore. It was a great night, but we had to be up early so that I could get to my meeting on time. The weather in Baltimore was just disgusting on Saturday morning. The free breakfast at the hotel was the only good thing going. It was raining quite hard and the drive back was quite slow.....and again, Delaware seemed to be the slowest state. It must be something about the people there....simple state with simple people not in any hurry whatsoever. We got back to Eddie's place at noon, and we all needed to chill for a bit. After we ordered pizza, Eddie took a nap on the couch, Katey slept on his futon and I....watched Fever Pitch. I got my call from Ned Colletti at about 2 30 and we set up our meeting time at the ballpark for 3 30. or those that don't know, I had to opportunity to meet with Ned Colletti, the General Manager of the LA Dodgers. Since I have always wanted to be the GM of a baseball team, I was excited to have this opportunity. He had lost of great advice for me, and I intend to follow though with as much of it as possible. The game was a pretty crappy one, mainly because it was a long day already, and also because Toronto beat the Flyers. The rest of my weekend was decent. I played some pick-up baseball with Dan Greenberg and a bunch of his friends. It was horrible for me because nobody had a lefty glove, so I had to play opposite handed.

This weekend was really fun! And by weekend I mean Saturday night. I really did nothing on Friday night, but I knew Saturday was gonna be a great night, so I had to rest up. Saturday was the last regular season home game of the year, and it was a huge rivalry game against the dreaded NY Rangers. The Rangers had a 3 point lead on the Flyers atop the division. It was the perfect day for hockey....if you don't count the 78 degree weather =p! Philadelphia was rated the best hockey city in America, and they know how to keep their fans entertained. They turn the entire east side of the parking lot into a massive party. They have a band, DJ booths, food and beer stands. Everybody parties outside, tailgating, and just soaking up the playoff atmosphere. Although I've been to many hockey games this year, I have yet to see an atmosphere in a sporting event like the one I saw Saturday. The crowd was deafening, the floors were shaking, and that was just on a Rangers offside call! Ok, maybe not exactly on that, but when the Flyers were pressing, you couldn't hear yourself think.

With the Flyers 1 point out of first, beating the Rangers meant it was time to celebrate. Management roped off a section of the Cingular Pavillion, and hosted an all you can eat-drink party for all the employees (food courtesy of Chickie and Petes) Because I'm always thinking ahead (ha!) I took the subway to the game to prepare for this. The food was amazing, a bunch of the Flyers Ice Girls came out, and I hung out with the girls and Rob (my boss) for the whole night. Eddie didn't go to the party cause he wanted to rest, but he got 4 free tickets to the Philadelphia Wings game (pro lacrosse). Well, we didn't go to the game at all. We were still partying with Rob and a few of the girls. Once the game finished, we met up with some of the Wings interns, hung out at the Pavillion and then went to Chickies until 2. I stayed the night at Eddies, partly because I was not about to get on the subway by myself at 2 am. Anyways, this is quite long, so I'll update you all on my Easter weekend later on.

I Love Baltimore!

Well, this past weekend was one of the best since I've been here. Friday was the day I had been looking forward to for the past five weeks. Baltimore was finally here! It was kinda crappy knowing that I couldn't get out early on Friday, the rush hour traffic on I-95 is messy. We left Eddie's place at about 4 30 and within 10 minutes, we were stopped in traffic. It was slow moving all the way to Wilmington, Delaware, and then things got worse. We hit 3 patches or really slow traffic as we drove through Delaware. Honestly, of the worst traffic we ran into, how could it be in Delaware?

We finally rolled into Baltimore at about 6: 30 and the traffic was congested around the stadium. We were slow moving for blocks, but this allowed for us to soak in the baseball atmosphere from inside the car. The street vendors were lined up down the sidewalks, and the smell of hot dogs and sausages could be smelled from the car. The street was a sea of orange and black, although there were quite a few red and blue clad Sox fans in the mix. We finally made it to the Radisson in downtown Baltimore, and after Eddie checked in, we parked the car and began our trek to the stadium.

Our hotel wasn’t too far from the stadium, maybe 5 or 6 blocks away. We didn’t mind walking because it was an absolutely perfect night for baseball. Temperatures were in the low 70s, a slight breeze and the sun was beginning to set. This could not be more perfect for a Friday night in April. The walk through downtown Baltimore was quite pleasant. I was very impressed with the buildings and the feel of the downtown core. As we got closer to the stadium, I could see the lights in the distance and feel a buzz in the air. My friends and I were greeted by many random Sox fans, as Eddie and I were decked out in our Sox gear. I was already having a blast and I had not even stepped foot inside Camden Yards. I could feel this was going to be a great night.

Once we got inside, I knew that Camden Yards was my new favourite ballpark. The energy inside was electric, and the stadium itself was beautiful. For those that don’t know, Camden Yards has a very unique feature about it. A massive warehouse sits behind the right field fence, and the space between is used as an open concourse for food and merchandise vendors. One of these food vendors includes a bbq pit that provided some of the greatest smells of food I’ve ever experienced at a ballpark. The steam from this pit can be seen from anywhere in the park. Unfortunately, with stadium prices the way they are, I had to walk past this glorious food stand and look for food that was more reasonably priced.

Our seats were along the right field foul line, closer to the corner of the outfield wall, right underneath the second deck. We were quite far from the field, but the view was good enough. Our section was filled with Red Sox fans, so we fit right in. The Red Sox were already up 4-0 by the time we got to our seats. Nothing exciting happened, the runs were scored off walks due to the Orioles pitcher’s control problems. We were settled into our seats and the feeling of excitement had not passed. After flagging down the beer man (this was the first game I could legally drink at) and the hot dog man, we sat back and watched as the Sox took control of the game right from the get-go. Katey found it hilarious that I could hang on every pitch of a baseball game. My friends only cared when there was a hit, but as usual, I followed every pitch and every move on the field.

I have never been to Fenway Park (the Sox home field) but I can only imagine how great it must be based on how things were at Camden Yards. As I said earlier, our section had a ton of Sox fans in it, and people would stand, cheer and high-five each other after every Red Sox hit or strikeout by a Sox pitcher. By the 4th inning, the Sox had the game in hand. The score was either 10 or 11-0 at the time. I took this opportunity to wander the stadium, checking out the scenery from every angle. Camden Yards was one of the first stadiums of its kind, one with an open backdrop to gaze out and see the city.

We left the game in the 8th inning with the score 14-4 in the Red Sox favor. The wind was picking up and the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance made us begin our walk to the hotel earlier than we planned. Once we got to the hotel, Eddie, Katey and Marissa went to get ready for the night out, but I decided to stay and mingle with the dozens of Sox fans enjoying themselves in the hotel lobby. After about 45 minutes, Eddie had to come pull me away from a random, middle-aged couple from Virginia that were there cheering for the Sox. Eddie warned me not to go to a game in Boston, as some family would probably kidnap me and bring me home with them (that doesn’t sound all that bad, does it?)

After the hotel it, we finally left for Inner harbor at 11. Katey had been to Baltimore before, so she knew how to get there. Our hotel was only a 10 minute walk to Inner Harbor, and since it was still nice out, we felt it was easy enough to walk. The walk down the road to the area was amazing....the entire sky is lit up from all the lights, you can hear music from the bars....there is an ESPNZone down there (sports themed restaurant...kinda like Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood). We went to a section called Power Plant Live, which is this little street packed with about 10 bars and clubs. The first bar we went to was called The Lodge, and it was packed! We just hung around near the bar. Eddie, Katey and Marissa took off at just after 1 to go to another bar across the street, but I was talkin to a bunch of girls from New York (they like the Yankees though...boo!) So I decided to meet up with Eddie and the rest later on. We finally met up at around 1 40 and by then most of the places were about to close, so we went back to the hotel. We were tired when we got back to the hotel (after all, we all worked all day on Friday) But we weren't done partying, so we finished off the cans of beer that we brought. I think it was close to 4 by the time I went to sleep. This is getting quite long, so I will talk about my Saturday in the next post.

Fun Times

Well, I figured I'd keep you updated right now, partyl because I won't have anytime after tomorrow. So picking up where I left of on Saturday, Sunday was a relaxing day for the first part. Katey and I had to run the Philadelphia Phantoms inflatable game at the Spectrum from 3-5. I decided to take the subway down there, and this subway ride wasn't nearly as scary as the first few I had been on. The other great part abou taking the subway is the amount I save on gas. Honestly, I can get to the Spectrum for $2.60 round trip on the subway...OR....pump $2.60 into my car for a gallon of gas, which won't last long in this crazy traffic. Anyways, following the inflatable game, I went over to greenberg's to finish off some of the hot dogs that they had leftover from the night before.

Monday was nice, I didn't have to go into the office at all. We had a school assembly at 2 at a school about 20 mins north of where I am, so I just had to make my appearance there. Monday was a great day though, it was OPENING DAY! Yes, baseball season is finally upon us. Am I the only one excited about this? Well, I kinda know the answer to that, but it is just part of what makes this time of year so great (warm weather, baseball, hokcey playoffs, Final Four....can it get any better?)

Tuesday was a fun day as well. It was just a regular day at the office, but we had our second game of our hockey season. For those that don't know, I'm playing in a men's league along with (among others) Dan Greenberg, my boss Rob and a few of his brothers. Last week we lost 5-4 after blowing a 4-2 lead in the 3rd period. I didn't play all that well, partly for two reasons. First, it was my first game of organized hockey in about four years, and second, I didn't have a shield or cage on my helmet, and after almost taking a stick to the face and getting pinned up against the glass, I was playing very passively. I knew I had to spend the money and buy a cage for my helmet, because it would not be worth it if i couldn't play hard and at my best level. It did prove to be a great move, because I didn't hesitate to get into the corners or play against an opposing player. We played the same team this week, and it turned out to be another great game. We came out strong, building a 5-0 lead halfway through the second period, and at that point, I was +3 (in hockey, you get a + when you're on the ice when your team scores, and a - when you're on when they score). After a few defensive lapses (they scored two shorthanded goals) they had put up four unanswered goals, and we were clinging to a one goal lead with eight minutes left in the third. I was still +3 at this point, but we really had to step up our defensive efforts. I am not the best offensive defenceman (meaning I don't have a great shot) but I have great speed and I am a very good defensive defenceman, so I didn't have to worry about them scoring, knowing that I just needed to play my style. After a shorthanded goal of our own with 2 minutes left, the other team started to get a bit chippy. A fight broke out with 15 seconds left in the game, and my boss (who was on the bench at this time) got punched in the mouth by somebody from our own team! After everything got settled, they scored with 3 seconds left to make it 6-5 (yes, I was on the ice for that one....but I was left alone in front of the net with four of their players...I had no chance to stop the play). So we're 1-1 now, and unfortunately, I won't be able to make next week's game, cause I have to work on Monday night. I will keep you all informed about the hockey season as well.

Following the game on Tuesday, I went to this bar called The Lucky Dog in Lafayette Hill. I went with my boss and met up with his mom and some other girl (possibly a future sister-in-law to Rob, I'm not sure, I was never told who she was) Anyways, Tuesday nights are a fun night at this bar because they have "Random Fact Trivia Night" where each table that wants to participate gets the chance to compete for prizes by answering the most questions correctly. There were 6 rounds, and there were 4 random trivia question rounds, followed by a music trivia (they'd play a brief clip from ma song, we have to name title and artist) and the last round was a celebrity portrait guess (12 celebrities, you have to guess them all)....We finished 4th out of 12 teams, which wasn't too bad. It was a fun way to relax after hockey.

Tonight wasn't very eventful, I just went to the gym and watched some tv. This weekend is going to be a great weekend, so I'm fill you in on all those detials following the next update.

Fun Weekend

Well, this weekend has been pretty good so far. It was a long day on Friday, we had a TON of office stuff to do, then Katey and I had to go over to the old arena and run the Philadelphia Phantoms inflatable game for a boy scout jamboree thing. We finshed at about 6, and afterwards I went over to Eddie's to hang out. We went to Chickie and Pete's for dinner and we ended up staying there the whole night. The reason for that was because the two of us took down a "Tower of Beer" (you've all probably seen them at Honest Lawyer....each tower contains roughly 12 beers) So we had one of those, as well as food from there. I had an interesting sandwitch combo...honestly, the idea of this sandwitch must have come from a drunk person with the drunken munchies, cause there's no way any sober person could think of this. It was shrimp with melted American cheese, with crab fries piled on top (the C&P specialty) along with pickles and onions. It was soooo messy, but it did hit the spot. We got there at 6 30 and we didn't leave until 11pm. Another great part about my Friday was I learned that I am going to have avery special meeting coming up next week. A man by the name of ned Colletti worked for the Flyers for a long time, and he has remained friends with some people in the office. Through these connections, I get a change to meet this guy next week. Now would probably be a good time to tell you why it's special to meet Ned Colletti. A few months ago, Ned became the General Manager of the LA Dodgers. Since I've always wanted to be a GM, I am excited to learn what his job is like and to learn first hand what it takes to become a GM. That weekend will be amazing, because I meet him on Saturday, right after I come home from my Friday night in baltimore.

Today was a fun day as well. I had to be at work at 10 30, which kinda sucked cause I had a late night last night, but we had tons of work to do around the office. The game kinda sucked, as most games involving New Jersey do. The Flyers lost 4-1, but i took off at the 2nd intermission. Matt Greenberg turns 25 tomorrow, so his parents threw him a surprise party today. They had hot dogs and burgers goin on the bbq, lots of food and tons of beer. It was a really fun night, but I left early. I am soooo tired right now, and losing an hour of sleep tonight is totally NOT cool. The Final Four is tonight, but I'm honestly too tired to stay and watch the good game (LSU-UCLA) Sooooo, I am off to bed. Before I go, a birthday shout out this week goes to Jess! Happy Bday, hopefully you have a good one and hopefully you have a fun night with whatever you do....as opposed to last year when we stood on a sidewalk and debated the plan for 30 mins =D!

I'll Update this later. C ya!