The Vet Imploded

(PHILADELPHIA) The infamous Vet was imploded today, brought down by about 3000lbs of explosives and the depression of losing three straight NFC Title games. The area will now be made into a parking area with a painted outline of the Vet.

Iverson, Me, Offended

(PHILADELPHIA) While Mr. Iverson might be offended that he wasn't named a starter for Sunday game against Detroit, I believe some of the fans might be offended as well. Since he was cleared to play I'm sure many a ticket holder was eager to watch "The Answer" play, but were left "questioning" why someone who was healthy would return to the locker room and change into street clothes.

We all know Iverson is good. Scoring titles. Played in some Finals games. That's great. But tell that to the 10 year old sitting in the stands.

"Daddy, why isn't Iverson playing?"
"Well son, he feels disrespected."

Try selling the respect thing to John Salmons, a guy who Stephen A. Smith says is a 76'er who "actually believes in playing defense." Ouch.

Iverson either needs to start actually playing, even if asked to come off the bench, or play somewhere else. Some days at the office I feel disrespected but that doesn't mean I make it "Casual Tuesday" and drink hot cocoa in my sweatpants.

Terrel Owens to the Eagles

(PHILADELPHIA) Though no media outlet has a story posted yet, ESPN.com is reporting that Terrel Owens will be the property of the Philadelphia Eagles.
UPDATE: Finally Yahoo is reporting that the "Eagles agreed to a deal to send the star receiver to Philadelphia, which will sign him to a seven-year contract."

Iverson Can't Play Through Injury

(Philadelphia) Interim coach Chris Ford says Iverson's latest right knee injury is an injury that, "you can't play through." Perhaps someday the Sixers will surround Iverson with some good players so Iverson won't have to drive to the basket every other possesion. This type of play usually finds AI on the floor a couple of times a game and, wow, he gets injured now and again. Go figure.

AFL| Soul Hand Rush First Loss of Season

(Philadelphia, PA) - The defense earned a gold star for the Soul yesterday at the Wach-Center. Coming out of halftime trailing the undefeated Chicago Rush 27-14, the defense put together almost 24 minutes of shut-out football. Chicago managed to post 20 points in the fourth, but was outscored 33-20 in the second half resulting in a 53-47 upset by the Soul.

Weekend Wrap-up : Minor Leagues

Philadelphia Phantoms - The Phantoms ended their 7 game road trip on a 4-0 shutout handed down by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Tomas Surovy scored twice and Michel Ouellete dished out three assists at the Wach-Arena in Wilkes-Barre. For the Phantoms, Neil Little stopped just 13 of 17 shots before being pulled in favor of Philadelphia's new goldenboy Antero Niittymaki.

The Phantoms rebounded on Sunday behind a three point night from Ian McNeil (2G, 1A) in a 5-3 win over the Albany River Rats. Albany jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, scoring all their goals before the 10 minute mark of the first period. But the Phantoms locked down the defense and fought back. Philadelphia enters the week tied with Bridgeport for first place in the Eastern division.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - The Penguins came off the 4-0 shutout against the Phantoms and beat the Norfolk Admirals 2-1. It was the Pens' 3rd game in three days, and fourth in the last five. Add to all that game action a roster full of ECHL call-ups and a team bus getting lost. Despite the odds, W-B/S gave the Admirals just their third loss in the last 16 games. The Pens can unpack their bags in Hampton Roads, they face off with the Admirals two more times this week, Wednesday and Friday.

Hershey Bears - The Bears lost back to back road games over the weekend. The P-Bruins put a goal on the board less than two minutes into the match, and never looked back winning the game 5=2. On Sunday the Lock Monsters hung another 5-spot on the Bears in a 5-2.

Philadelphia KiXX - Friday night the KiXX opened up the second half of the season in Baltimore. The Blast eek out a home win against the KiXX 10-9 and improve to 21-8 on the year. Baltimore drew first blood just 30 seconds into the competition, and pulled ahead to a 4-0 lead before the nine minute mark.

On Sunday the KiXX ended a three game losing streak pulling out a 7-6 win over the San Diego Shockers. Captain Kevin Sloan led the way recording his second hat trick of the season. Philly's record sits at 17-11, 4 games behind the Blast for the MISL Eastern Division lead. The KiXX have 8 games left, including 5 at the Spectrum starting Tuesday night against the Kansas City Comets.

Philadelphia Wings - Philadelphia lost their fourth straight, this time dropping a tough 13-12 decision to the league-leading Colorado Mammoth in Denver. The teams went into the second quarter knotted at one when the Mammoth broke out for 3 goals in just over a minute of play. Jake Bergey, Tom Marechek, and Jeff Ratcliffe all ended the night with hattricks for the Wings, and Dallas Eliuk picked up his 5,000 NLL save while stopping 41 shots.

The Wings are back home on the 13th, wearing their 1974 jerseys, hoping to break their losing streak as they host the Tornto Rock.

Owens almost an Eagle

(Philadelphia, PA) Though we doubted Andy Reid and company for going after a defensive lineman rather than a wideout, turns out we got egg on our face. The Eagles were courting Terrel Ownes afterall, even with James Thrash being included in the trade, but the 49ers pulled a quick one and threw TO to the Ravens. Terrel Owens and his agent are upset and filing a grievance with the NFL. Seems to me if TO's agent would have filed the papers on time this wouldn't have happend. Said Owens, "We were a matter of minutes away from getting something done and that's when the 49ers and (GM Terry) Donahue got wind of that and sent me to Baltimore."

NBA| Sixers Score a Lot, But Not Enough.

(Philadelphia, PA) - Allen Iverson was back in AI form scoring 32 points and earning 10 assists in a 105-114 loss to the Sacramento Kings. Samuel Dalembert contributed 20 points and a pair of blocks before fouling out of the game. But it wouldn't be a Sixers game without bad news. Glenn Robinson played just 12 minutes and scored just 4 points before coming out of the game. Some local sports talk hosts are saying that Robinson is just going through the motions.

Chris Webber had 24 points and 10 assists in his second game back for the Kings who continue their total ownership of the NBA.

The Sixers are back in action tomorrow night against the woefull Chicago Bulls (18-43). Should be a good game.

MLB| Phils open Bright House with 5-1 Win Over Yanks

(Clearwater, FL) - Trivia question: Who hit the first homerun at the Phillies' new spring training camp, Bright House Park in Clearwater? Answer: Jimmy Rollins. J.Ro lead thePhillies to a 5-1 win over the Yankees, who sat Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada. Jim Thome added a solo homer in the sixth off former Phillies pitcher Paul Quantrill. Pat Burrell and Bobby Abreu both went 1 for 2 and Eric Milton pitched three shutout innings.

ECHL| Royals: 1st Home Loss Since October

(Reading, PA) - The Reading Royals haven't lost a home game since Halloween. Or at least they hadn't lost a home game since Halloween. The Johnstown Chiefs came into Reading last night and jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Reading fought back, but lost 4-3. Royals' netminder Cody Rudkowsky stopped just 14 of 18 shots in the loss. The Chiefs now lead Reading in ECHL's Northern Division by 4 points and with the win won this year's Keystone Cup for the fifth time in eight years.

Royals goalkeeper Pete Hamerlik was named Sun National Bank ECHL Saver of the Month. Hamerlik posted a 1.42 GAA with 6 wins and a tie in 7 starts for February.