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…

Game# 65- Philadelphia Flyers

Philadelphia Flyers vs. New Jersey Devils March 15, 2013 Well Fargo Center As a gift to myself after a long work week in Gaithersburg and Baltimore, I drove up to Philly for a whirlwind tour of the city and to get in 3 games, all within 24 hours. I know, crazy but this was one of those perfect storm type of weekends with hockey, soccer and basketball. I have never been to the city of brotherly love and was excited to check it out. I know the sports culture is crazy there, but also the food and history was a draw as well. I will touch on the second two issues in my soccer/basketball reviews since they all happened on the same very long day. The Wells Fargo Center is in a triplex of sports stadiums. Basically the Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and Flyers all share several large parking lots and all the arenas are within a quarter mile of each other. In some ways this is an ingenious plan. Parking was a snap because there is so much room, but I can’t imagine what would happen if two games are going on at one time. It would be an absolute zoo. But tonight, the orange and black reigned supreme. The Flyers are a hockey team that I neither like nor dislike. Because they are in a division we Kings fans seldom see I am indifferent, so tonight I am cheering for the home team. Besides I like a bunch of players on the team. Wayne Simmons, Brayden Schen, Simon Gagne where all former Kings and then their stars Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell make up a pretty good team that are unfortunately playing poorly this year. But the good thing about a bad team is that when you are in a hockey centric city, there is always electricity in the building. As soon as the puck dropped the Philly fans were way into the game. The Flyers back in the day were known as the Broad Street Bullies and to be honest nothing has really changed. Compared to west coast teams, I think the Eastern division players really try to lay each other out on the ice. They finish their checks harder, they make it a point to go after certain players, and rarely is there a stop in play where players aren’t jabbering at each other. The game was back an forth all night, not a lot of goals but that was mainly because of solid goaltending by Illya Bryzgalov and Johan Hedberg. Maxime Talbot got a goal for the Flyers in the first but that was nullified David Clarkson for the Devils in the second period. From there the game got real tight and defense was king. The game went into OT and then finally shoot outs. I could sense the crowd getting really anxious and to be honest, I didn’t want to see a Philly Flyers crowd after a shoot out loss so I was really pulling for the boys in orange. Matt Reed and Claude Giroux both scored for the Flyers and a final save by Bryzgalov sent the arena into a frenzy. Great game, good times, Flyers win 2-1 in OT. Quick note: Even though the Flyers and 76ers share this arena, it is far more of a hockey town. There were some great memorabilia showcases around the rink with pucks from the Stanley Cup championship games, ledgers from the first year in the league, a pair of Ron Hextals goalie pads, all stuff I was completely eating up. The Sixers only had a single case… Other than that, Flyers fans have no filter. Political correctness…Ha! I can’t even type the things I heard people saying in the crowd. Definitely an experience.

Game #64- Golden State Warriors

Golden State Warriors vs. Toronto Raptors March 4, 2013 Oracle Arena What a crazy weekend. Keli and I drove up to San Francisco because I competed in the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon on Sunday. For lack of better words, that was a gnarly race. Usually it takes place in June but because of America’s Cup the organizers had to move the date up several months. I have never been in a more difficult swim in my life. 50 degree water, 3-4 foot swells, 15 mph winds, oh yeah…we also had a 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz to the Golden Gate Bridge. So after the race we decided to stick around for an extra day to hit up a Golden State basketball game. After this, I only have the Oakland A’s and I will be done with California teams. We went to the game with long time college friend Greg Kopotic and his wife Kristen. The Oracle arena is on fabled grounds, also home to the Oakland Raiders and Oakland A’s. From what I hear this will be a thing of the past in a couple of years as the team is set to move into the city of San Francisco. As for the game it was a back an forth match that was really exciting. In fact I think it was the highest scoring game I have ever been to live. The Warriors were lead by former Knicks center David Lee with 29 points followed closely by sophomore star Stephan Curry with 26 as the home team narrowly outplayed the Raptors to a 125 to 118 win. I didn’t see a lot of outstanding dunks, ally oops, or trick passes, but man both teams made it rain. GS finished with a 57.3% field goal percentage! That’s ridiculous. Unfortunately the stadium didn’t have a lot of character outside of the seating area. I looked all around but once again no fan experience areas, no player memorabilia sections, nothing cool and exciting. I wish the teams would put a little more into the places they play.