Game #67- Philadelphia 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Indiana Pacers March 16, 2013 Wells Fargo Center Heading into the final stretch of my Philly trip. Two games down, the Flyers and Union, and now the Sixers are my final team from the last crazy 24 hours. I am glad I was here the previous night for the Flyers game because I didn’t have the energy to walk around the arena to take a ton of pictures. I started the day a 9am and tip off was at 7:30. By the time this game was over and I drove back to Baltimore I was on my 15th hour of site seeing. The 76ers are not doing well this year. In 10th place in the Eastern conference they have little chance to make the playoffs. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of fans in attendance but I found out from the father and son next to me that it was because the Pacers are in town versus Philly fans supporting the home team. But I think it was because of Julius “Dr. J” Erving bubblehead/appreciation night. Tonight’s game was supposed to be a blowout for the Pacers. They are second in the East, only behind mighty Miami, and they have a stacked roster. Lead by all-star center Roy Hibbert, David West, Tyler “Psycho” Hansbrough, and my personal favorite former UCSB Gaucho Orlando Johnson (only the second Gaucho to join the NBA), Indiana is set to make a deep playoff run this year. On the flip side, Philadelphia may be having a rebuilding year. They do have Jrue Holliday but that is about it. The Laker trade that brought Dwight Howard from the Magic also sent Andrew Bynum to the Sixers but he has been injured the entire season. All that being said, the Sixers were not to be outdone tonight. They clearly were outhustling the Pacers for rebounds and free balls, had a shooting percentage advantage (50% to 37%), and simply wanted the win more. Holliday put in 27 points and center Spencer Hawes had a great game with 18 to get the 98-91 win. Once again, as soon as the game ending I hauled ass to my rental car so I could head back to Baltimore. It is only about 100 miles away but for some reason the speed limit is 55mph our here. Crazy. Two highlights during the game. The flying trapeze bar half time show was pretty awesome, but the clear winner was the drunk guy heckling Tyler Hansbrough all night. He would scream “Hansbrough, Hansbrough, Hansbrough …YOU SUCK!” At first it was annoying, but after the 20th time not only was it funny, he had everyone around him chanting along.

Game #66- Philadelphia Union

Philadelphia Union vs. New England Revolution March 16, 2013 PPL Arena Fun day so far, but I am exhausted already and I still have two games to go as well as a 2 hours drive back to Baltimore. Today I fully explored Philly. Even though it was really cold and snowing I got to the Rocky statue (why they moved it from the top of the museum steps to a grassy area to the right of the building is beyond me), Liberty Bell, Constitution Hall, Independence Hall, did a tasters challenge of a Pat’s and Geno’s Philly Cheese Steak, and now am finally at the Union game. I think it is a miracle I made it here because there are absolutely no signs for the arena. For some reason this is the only team outside of Philly, the arena is in Chester and the address does not even show up on Google Maps. In fact, I didn’t get off the freeway in time and before I knew it I was on a bridge heading into New Jersey. The good thing is that the PPL pitch is awesome looking. The stadium is right along the Delaware River with the aforementioned Commodore Barry Bridge in the background. I wish it were a nicer day because I think the pictures would tell a completely different story, but the fact that it was raining/hailing made the shots of the stadium really gloomy. I did make my way around the pitch but since this is such a new building and the team is only a couple years old there were no fan experience places to check out. Today’s game was a bit odd because I didn’t recognize a single player from either team. Usually a marquee player from the US National team or perhaps an older European footballer would be on one of the rosters, but Philly and New England lacked a true team leader. That didn’t take away from a very physical game on the pitch. There were a ton of fouls (I later learned 28 with 4 yellows) from extremely rough tackles, and perhaps the weather played a factor in the aggressive mindsets. Throughout the 90 minutes most of the play was in the center of the field, few shots were placed on goal and in fact when Jack McInerny put the Union up 1-0 at the 76th minute I think it was the only real chance on goal for the home team. That single goal was all the action the Union needed and they took home the three points for the evening. As soon as the game ended I ran out to my car to make my was to the 76ers game. I had 20 minutes to drive 10 miles before tip off. By the way, the mother who gave me her ticket for my collection and then took it back for the half price haircut she could receive, I don’t like you…