The700Level.com - Philly Sports & Minutiae

The New Orleans Saints Are Your Super Bowl Champions

You can't ask for much more in terms of an entertaining football game between the two best teams in the league on Super Bowl Sunday. Drew Brees out-dueled Peyton Manning to show what the best quarterbacks in football are capable of in the biggest of games. Those guys can play. Not to be a downer, but watching those guys I kept thinking to myself, "Donovan McNabb doesn't make those throws."

The Eagles have a lot of work to do if they want to get to the level of the Saints and Colts teams that played this evening. Let the offseason officially begin. I wouldn't mind winning a Super Bowl in the Cowboys Stadium next year.

The side show of commercial viewing was fairly uneventful with consensus favorites coming from Google, VW, and a few others. A couple of the best commercials below. What were your favorites?

It Hurts to Watch, But We Can't Look Away

The big game is here, and of course the Eagles aren't playing. Now that's some tradition.

In all seriousness though, once you get over the bitterness, this is a deliciously intriguing match-up. These were the best teams in football almost the entire season. Both deserve to be there, and both have prolific offenses and average-to-mediocre defenses. Peyton and Brees are probably the top quarterbacks in football today. Everybody is expecting an epic shootout, maybe even the highest scoring Super Bowl in its history.

Talk About Finishing... Ovechkin Breaks the Goal Camera (video)

Some great hockey action on NBC right now, with the third period underway between the Penguins and the Capitals. It's 4-2 Pens right now, but check out this goal from Washington's captain, his 40th of the season:

The scoring pace has been pretty intense in this one, something we haven't seen in a while from our guys. Hopefully they're at home watching too. 

Four is Enough for a Streak, Right? Sixers Win in Houston for Season's First Real Winning Streak

Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back to being slightly less out. Yes, Pennsylvania, your Philadelphia 76ers have won as many games in a row as there are members of Boyz II Men (not counting forgotten original member Marc Nelson, the Pete Best of 90s R&B) after defeating the Houston Rockets 102-95 at the Toyota Center last night. After a hot start, the Sixers fell behind on a barrage of threes by Houston point guard Aaron Brooks in the second. But the Liberty Ballers hung tough, and thanks to some contributions from unlikely sources--a pair of Royal Ivey threes, some stifling defense from Sweet Lou, and all of a sudden, the Sixers got the lead back in the fourth, hanging on to win the game.

It's hard to say what the difference was tonight, or really, with any of the Sixers wins on this streak--it's not like they've been riding one hot player, or one increasingly reliable lineup combination or a different style on offense/defense or anything. They've just been playing solid from top-to-bottom--another strong scoring game off the bench for Thaddeus Young (17 points on 7-10 shooting), another near-triple-double for Andre Iguodala (14 points, ten boards, six assists), and the 15th consecutive double-digit rebound game for Samuel Dalembert (the last of the ten grabbed in the waning seconds--close enough). That, and they've actually been making key plays late--a big three for 'Dre and a huge block by Elton Brand in the game's final minutes more or less sealed the victory.

Today in Philly Sports History: 'Spoon's Triple-Double, 1994

During that heady three-year stretch in between the Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson eras in Philadelphia, the closest thing we had to a legitimate franchise player among the Liberty Ballers might have been Clarence Weatherspoon. The #9 pick out of Southern Mississippi in the '92 draft, Spoon was nicknamed "Baby Barkley" for his Chuck-esque height (6'6") and numbers (18 and 10 in the '93-'94 season)--not to mention that if that picture to the right was a couple numbers higher, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a picture of Sir Charles himself. You might not be winning too many championships with Clarene Weatherspoon as your best player, but hey, someone's gotta take the pressure off Willie Burton and Shawn Bradley, right?

Weatherspoon's best (or at least his most uncharacteristically good) performance as a 76er came on February 7th, 1994, when the Sixers hosted the then-Charlotte Hornets at the Spectrum. Spoon was known a little more for his swishing than his dishing (not that he was particularly known for either), so seeing him rack up the dimes was something of an untraditional sight. But that game, Clarence's all-around game was on fire, as he managed 15 points (on 7-11 shooting) to go with 15 boards and 13 assists--Weatherspoon's first and only triple-double in the NBA. Jeff Hornacek scorched the Hornets for 36 and Tim Perry even went for 31, as the Sixers beat the Hornets in a 125-117 shootout.

Welcome Home, Flyers, Now Start Digging

Tough loss last night for the Flyers in Minnesota. The Flyboys actually out-shot the Wild 39-30 but couldn't seem to get the puck in the net. A couple poor decisions by Michael Leighton and the Flyers got the L.

As if the loss wasn't tough enough, the team arrived back in Philadelphia only to find their cars buried in over two feet of snow. I don't know about you, but I can't imagine too many things I would rather do *less* than dig out my car yesterday after a long flight. That shit was deep.

As the Flyers official Twitter pointed out, "Ian Laperriere and Danny Briere were last to leave the parking lot making sure every last person was dug out of the snow." This just goes to show, despite Greg Wyshynski's opinion, Danny Briere is still good for something. [highlights below]

Flyers-Wild: "The Leight" Edition

Seems like a week since the Flyers last played, eh? A painful loss followed by two empty schedule days and 27 inches of heavy snow. At least they gave us some fodder today, trading for a forward who could use a jumpstart. Inserting an ice cold winger into an offense that seems to be lapsing back into a scoring draught may seem counter-intuitive, but the truth is that they gave up next to nothing and got back someone with at least a little potential. 

We'll have to wait at least a game (probably longer) to see the next chapter in that story though. Ville Leino is joining the team in Minnesota today, but he's not expected to play tonight, and Lavvy isn't sure of the answer to the question we posed earlier—who comes out of the lineup to get the new guy in? 

The rest of the Flyers' forwards had better be ready to play though. 

History in the Making: Sixers Go for Fourth Straight in Houston

And they said it couldn't be done. That's right--last night, your Philadelphia 76ers did the unthinkable, actually winning a third-straight game last night against the New Orleans Hornets. Sure, it was with the Hornets missing both their best player (Chris Paul) and their best reserve (Marcus Thorton), but I'm pretty sure it counts as a W anyway. Remarkably enough, with these three straight victories, the Sixers skyrocket up to 11th in the Eastern Conference, once again only five-and-a-half games out of the playoffs. C'mon guys, who's back on the bandwagon?

Tonight, we face the Houston Rockets, hot off a grueling road win in Memphis. Nobody expected the Rockets to do much of anything this year without their three marquee players of last season (McGrady/Yao/Artest), but with Darryl "Dork Elvis' Morey in the front office plugging and playing role players, they've stayed surprisingly competitive in the tough West, currently just a game out of the playoffs. As trade rumors continue to swirl, tonight might also function as something of an audition for Andre Iguodala, as the Rockets key in on him as a possible bounty for Tracy McGrady's expiring contract. If he has to go somewhere, I think 'Dre would be nice on Houston, a team that really knows how to use underrated all-around players to the best of their ability.

Minor Trade! Flyers Deal OKT to Detroit for Finnish Forward Ville Leino

The Flyers have given the news cycle a little something to chew on this morning, sending defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefson and a 2011 5th rounder to Detroit for forward Ville Leino. 

No comment from the team yet as to why the Flyers are dealing a defenseman while they are still shorthanded at the position due to injuries and deeper at forward, but OKT wasn't playing all that much, and they seem to be more impressed with Lukas Krajicek. There is the possibility that this is the first move of a pair that would send another forward away in a deal, but that's nothing more than vague, baseless speculation (which is still fun). It's entirely likely Homer just wanted some more NHL-ready depth at forward, as well as some flexibility in the lines during their recurring offensive struggles.

Today in Philly Sports History: Britt Reid Surrenders, 2007

One could probably make the case that one of the primary drawbacks of getting a gig as a head coach in the NFL is that perhaps you aren't able to afford your kids the kind of attention that they need and deserve. If you're spending 80 hours a week drafting up blitz schemes and watching game film on Jason Campbell, you might miss the tell-tale signs that your son has become a possibly dangerous, certainly unstable, firearm-toting drug dealer. Just ask Coach Andy Reid. At the end of the press conference, though, please.

A Flyers Fan's Pickle

From Bill Simmons mail bag, via:

Q: A couple of weeks ago at a frat party, I began to get with a pretty cute girl. As the night wore on, and the drinks started flowing, she took me back to her apartment. When I entered her room, the first thing I saw was a giant Sidney Crosby poster. Without saying another word to her, I left. My buddies have never stopped making fun of me since, but I still insist that it was the proudest moment of my life as a die-hard Flyers fan. Can you please give me some consolidation, or should I have just swallowed my pride? In my defense, I would not qualify her as "hot."
--Dave Z., Philly

SG: Yup, these are my readers.

My only thought on the matter: is the "pretty cute girl" you took home from said frat party a 12-year-old boy? What kind of college-aged girl has a poster of any athlete on their wall let alone a hockey player? If she had a Mike Richards poster would you have hopped right into bed with her? At least try to go for the girls with the generic Starry Night reprints or Kandinsky's squares from Posters.com.

The Mets in Photo Form

This amazing photo featuring the P.L.O.P.-JON appears to be from 2007, but it was just recently uploaded to the Internet. We're not suggesting you all give 1-800-330-PLOP a call and leave your tales in the comments, but it could be pretty funny.

People Ate Typical Dinner Items at Breakfast Time as Fast as They Could

And the attendees at Wing Bowl can't even treat a lady properly. Poor Snickers.

Pretty Much the Only Thing That Could Top a Snow Day From School

Chase must not have been able to make this leg of the tour though. 

Today in Philly Sports History: Sixers Win 12th Straight, 1990

Arguably the last really good team the franchise fielded before the bottom fell out on them in the mid-90s, the '89-'90 Sixers were probably the best of the Philly squads led by The Chuckster. With both Mos, Toney and the Doc all gone from the '83 championship squad, Charles Barkley was now officially the franchise player, and he acted like it, having easily his most dominant statistical season of his career--25 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 60% FG, a season Bill Simmons called "secretly incredible." With Barkley playing at such a high level, the team had their last 50+-win season of the 20th century--including twelve in a row during a stretch in early 1990.

The 12th of those wins came against the Utah Jazz on February 5th, 1990. Facing the Jazz at the Spectrum, the Sixers outscored the Jazz by 14 in the first quarter and kept on the throttle from there, ending up with a 114-89 victory. Barkley was quietly effective, scoring 16 on 6-8 shooting with eight boards and five dimes, and he was helped by sharpshooter Hersey Hawkins (20 points, 2-2 from three) and new front-court partner Rick Mahorn (10 points and 11 boards). The latter's acquisition from the champion Detroit Pistons was a big reason for the Sixers' run of success. ''It's just great to play with another forward who can play,'' Barkley said shortly after the win. ''I haven't had that in three years.''