It's Late Night with... Andre Iguodala

Check out Philadelphia 76er Andre Iguodala on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.



By the way, Andre is a small forward.

How Do You Say Embarrassed in Swedish?

I think the title says it all. Just Watch.



This display of humiliation came courtesy of Linus Omark, an Edmonton Oiler's prospect playing in the Swedish Elite League. The announcers and crowds reactions are priceless.

Shaq Calls Out LeBron!

Shaquille O'Neal, always up to the task of being the most entertaining athlete on the planet, performed a hilarious pre-game bowling skit, as a 'response' to LeBron James' pre-game "photo-op" entrance that he and the Cavs have performed. To check out Lebron and Shaq's new entrances, plus their bonus 'dance off' from last years All Star game click below.


The "feud" may have started when the two superstars had a dance off at the 2007 All Star game. Check it out:



That may have feuled the creative energy. Lebron strikes first! Here is the video of the Cavs pre-game photo-op.



Not to be outdone, Shaq and the Suns rise to the occasion:



Which was better, you be the judge. But I'm sure there's more to come!

Ron Hextall Highlights

As a 4 seed in our Greatest Athlete of the Past 20 Years Tournament, Hexy is a long shot. But that doesn't mean we love him any less. Here is his tribute video.

Top 10 Spectrum Moments

As the Philadelphia Spectrum slowly marches towards it's demise later this year, let's take a look back at the 10 most memorable moments that happened within the famous arena. Click below to take a trip down memory lane.



The last event to be held at the Spectrum is a concert scheduled for September 30, 2009.

AI # 1?

After watching AI2 beat the Lakers in yesterday's highlight about 10 times, I was thinking that is definately my second favorite shot ever against the Lakers. What's number 1? Well, check it out...




Iverson may be the greatest Philly athlete of my generation. I think we're going to have to debate this on the podcast. If you have a nominee for greatest Philly athlete from the past 20 years I'd love to here it. Email me Gkentz@hotmail.com.

Oh HELL YEAH!!

Remeber Ray Allen from the corner? Do you recall Devin Harris from beyond halfcourt? Well, it was our turn on Tuesday night!




With this impressive victory in LA, the Sixers are now winners in four straight. The Sixers also have a good chance of coming back from this west coast trip with at least 3 wins. Tonight they head to Phoenix to play the Suns. Since I brought up how good it feels to get a taste of what happened to us earlier in the season, I should mention that the Suns are probably eager to face us, since last time we played the Suns it was the second game of a back-to-back for them. Phoenix came to Philly on 2/9/09 after playing in Detroit the night before, needless to say the Sixers handled them fairly easily winning by 17, 108-91.

Mike Richards Kills Zherdev

Seems like I get to post a clip of Mike Richards absolutely destroying someone every week or so. Here is his latest masterpiece, as he destroys Nikolai Zherdev of the Rangers. And in case you missed it, check out his hit on Tom Poti of the Capitals here.



Steve

Sir Charles is Out of Jail

Charles Barkley was released from jail today after serving 3 whole days for a DUI. This entire incident has hilarity written all over it. If you haven't gotten the chance to yet, I highly suggest reading the police report, which you can find here courtesy of thesmokinggun.com. So, in honor of Sir Charles, here is a video of him getting the Ron Burgundy treatment. Enjoy.

The TO Experiment is Over

Despite an episode in 2008 in which he was reduced to tears when defending his quarterback, Tony Romo, TO has been cut from the Dallas Cowboys. His departure from the Cowboys comes after several issues with Romo and TE Jason Witten. TO has now worn out his welcome on all three of the NFL teams he has played for. Was the TO Experiment in Big-D a failure? Let us know. While you think about it, take a look at this clip...it never gets old!

New Kid on the Block

Don't know who Daniel Carcillo is? Don't worry, you are not alone. But from the looks of this clip, Philadelphia will love this guy.


The Carcillo highlight reel.









For as much as I like Riley Cote, he can't really play hockey. Hopefully this trade means less playing time for Cote, and lots of faces bashed in for Carcillo.

Steve

Say it ain't so Shaq

Shaq is getting a ton of flack as a result of his flop last night vs Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. Shaq has always been one to complain about flopping, which I find ironic because all of his movies have flopped! Get it! Flopped....well, I never said I was funny.

Check out the video evidence for yourself by reading more.











Shaq's biggest flop??



In all fairness to Shaq though, he can be pretty funny, like in this ESPN commercial.



How did you get so many Q's Shaq?.....Don't worry about it.

Steve

Nittymaki Vs. Biron

Two goalies, two equally crappy goals.

I know, the first 2 videos are 2 years old, but they are a reminder as to how unstable the Flyers goaltending can be. Seeing these makes me nervous for the playoffs....

Click Story to See the Clips




Nittymaki - Falls asleep during the game


Biron - Scores on his own net




Biron Bonus - This goal has been talked about a lot over the past few weeks, so here it is again in all of it's glory.

Best Hitter in Flyers History?

Mike Richards absolutely kills Washington Capitals defenseman Tom Poti. Big win for the Flyers last night. This guy has no fear of throwing his body around night in and night out.

Click Story for the Clip










My question to you is....who is the biggest hitter in Flyers history? Don't follow the Flyers? Then who is the biggest hitter in the league today? Leave a comment, or, better yet, post some video evidence. I want proof that Richards isn't the best.

Jimmy Rollins is hysterical

Who knew JRoll had such a knack for comedy. Check out this commercial for Dick's sporting goods. Reminds me of the scene in Happy Gilmore where he is getting ready for the next hockey tryouts





Steve

Sizing up the NL contender's staffs

I expect the Phillies starting pitching to be improved over last season, which is good. The bad news is that I can see a lot of other teams improving as well.

Of the teams I currently considered playoff contenders, or coming of a playoff season, here are the win totals of their starters in 2008:
• Chicago Cubs- 69 Carlos Zambrano was third on this team in wins, and he is now in Vincente Padilla territory. Sure he’s got an incredible arm, but the guy just can’t keep it together for an extended period of time. If Carlos does stay on track for an entire season, he is more than capable of running away with the Cy Young award. The scary thing about the Cubs rotation is that you could say the same thing about another of their pitchers, just substitute Rich Harden for Zambrano, and insert injured instead of crazy-ass headcase.
• St. Louis Cardinals- 64 The Cardinals’ staff may improve in 2009 if Chris Carpenter can stay healthy. Carpenter is replacing 12-game winner Braden Looper, and if healthy could put this group over the top as the NL’s best. If that happens, and the Cubs staff stays as strong as it was in 2008, then the Phillies and Mets may only have one option to make the playoffs.
• New York Mets- 61 The Mets are the Phillies’ primary competition, getting ahead of the Mets in this category would be crushing to the Mets’ hope of an NL East title since the Phillies have a better bullpen, and are much better at coming from behind late in games.
• Milwaukee Brewers-59 The Brewers staff is a shadow of what it was last season. The Brew Crew lost CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets, leaving a stacked rotation now mediocre at best.
• LA Dodgers-56 Derek Lowe and Greg Maddux are no longer in blue, leaving a lot of question marks surrounding this staff. This squad could be the best in the NL, if number one starter Chad Billingsley shakes off a disastrous NLCS and returns to his 2008 form, if Clayton Kershaw can avoid rookie pitfalls and pitch to his talent, and if Jason Schmidt can do anything to contribute. This staff could be a disaster if Billingsley can’t shake failing to perform in the big games of October, if Kershaw is up and down as rookies tend to be, and if Wolf and Schmidt live up to their injured histories and can’t provide innings.
• Florida-53 A young staff that should improve if healthy. Florida had 10 different pitchers log multiple starts in 2008, so with some health and stability this team should continue to grow and perhaps even flourish.
• Atlanta-50 Ironically, Atlanta’s pitching was terrible in 2008, but they wasted no time in shaking things up. The Braves added Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez, and Japanese import Kenshin Kawakami. Returning from 2008 will be promising 23-year old Jair Jurrjens who won 13 games for the Braves last year, and Tom Glavine who only started 13 games in 2008 due to injuries. Probably the most improved staff in the league.

Why only A-Rod? I say the more the merrier!

The new biggest sports story of the New Year has struck, A-Rod has admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs. A lot of writers are killing A-Rod, the MLBPA, and the sport itself, but not I. Why? Because I don’t care that these guys cheated, because when people find a way to get ahead in life they take it. Everybody does unscrupulous things in an attempt to better their life. Men leave their girlfriends and wives every day for somebody younger, or prettier, or more fun. People lie everyday about coworkers in order to politic their way to the big corner office. Dishonesty is a way of life, and I’m at least aware enough to know that sometimes selling out your principals makes sense. In fact, the biggest issue I have with this whole deal is that people express shock and angst each time a big name athlete is linked to steroids. I find this public outcry and horror kind of amusing so here goes my list of people I wish would test positive for steroids, just for the level of disillusionment that would arise from the revelation. Please don’t take this the wrong way; I am certainly not accusing anyone of taking anything. I just think the current image the media portrays of these athletes would cause the most hand-wringing across the sports world were they to fall from grace.


1. Cal Ripken Jr.- Everybody was so in love with the Iron Man that if it came out he was a cheater, nerdy baseball writers from across the country would cry themselves to sleep for months.

2. Nolan Ryan- Just so that generation between the Baby Boomers and Generation X can chill the heck out with their romancing of late 70’s early 80’s baseball. I thought about Reggie Jackson to accomplish this goal, but Nolan is such a “man’s man” that he’s perfect.

3. Tony Stewart- Jimmie Johnson- I wanted a championship driver, and I would have picked Stewart because he’s more popular with “Old School NASCAR” fans, but one look at Tony and you can see there ain’t no HGH going on over there. So I picked Jimmie because I’d like to see how the fan base responds to their champion being a “cheater”. Especially considering nobody really complained when his crew chief was suspended for cheating back in his first championship campaign.

4. Brett Favre- I hate what the media has made Brett Favre. He was a Hall of Fame quarterback, but that wasn’t good enough. They tried to portray him as the good ol’ country boy who just kept playing despite being too old for his game, the American hero, the warrior. Brett is right where Clemens was after winning his final Cy Young award. The public adores him, and Favre may be the last guy remaining that the public would initially side with if a report came out. The fact that people commend his record games played streak to this day despite the fact he was on painkillers for a long stretch of it just goes to show the level of indiscretion the American public is willing to ignore for their gray haired icon. A steroid scandal is the only way to untell the glorious tale of hard work and the American dream that is the Brett Favre story.

5. Albert Pujols- Baseball newest best player to never test positive. As long as baseball fans are willing to be naïve fools that want to believe their heroes are clean, I’m going to root for those heroes to turn out to be dirty. Pujols is the choice now, but it could easily soon be Chase Utley, Hanley Ramirez, or David Wright. In fact…

6. David Wright- Because I hate the Mets. A scandal involving their golden boy is just what the doctor ordered.

7. Tom Brady, David Ortiz, and Larry Bird- Because I hate Boston even more, I hate their fans especially. If I could invalidate 2001 Sox, those already tainted Pats teams, and Larry Legend and his bandwagon inducing Celtic teams of the 80’s. (I dislike, yet begrudgingly respect the KG Celtics.) White people are allowed to cheer for black players, even in Philly. Anyway, if I could prove any of those teams to be cheating, I’d be a happy man that night for sure. In fact, I my even have a few Sam Adamses to celebrate.

8. Tiger Woods- Because he dominates a sport (that doesn’t test for PEDs) like nobody before him ever did, yet nobody says a word. You’d think he was Obama he’s so untouchable. Old white guys would never trust a young minority athlete again, not after Tiger broke their hearts.

9. Michael Jordan- Because this guy is by all accounts an over-competitive a**hole. Because every American looks at him as the paragon of competitive team sports. Because Jose Canseco and MLB were juiced out of their minds in the early 90’s, but we don’t ever look at basketball players for PED abuse. He spent time in pro baseball locker rooms, and they weren’t testing back then, so in what world wouldn’t an over-competitive guy with the means and opportunity to press his advantage go for it? Just saying.

10. Rickey Henderson- The Baseball hall of Fame writers are firm in their stance that they will not elect a cheater. Not McGwire, not Bonds, not Sosa, and not Clemens. But what if they already let a cheater in the hall, then what? Those nerds would be devastated! Plus there’s like a 15% chance Rickey admits to using PEDs during his acceptance speech this summer. God I love Rickey. My all-time favorite baseball player, and this would only clinch that standing.


Don’t get me wrong, I love sports, and I respect every athlete on this list, but these stories make me want to slap the American public in the back on the head. Stop worshipping these guys and just accept them for who they are, young men who are willing to do whatever they have to in order to get ahead. You would do the same, and probably have in some form or another. So stop getting shocked and outraged because at least when they sell-out, pro athletes are getting top dollar.

Greg

Top 10 QB's

Top 10 QB's
Hey, after writing an aside in a column that mentioned that Eli, Donovan and Romo were all top 10 QB's. I got the request to just list my top 10 here in the blog. I am more than happy to comply, and I am rating the players by who I'd want as my QB for the 2009 season only, and I should note that I kind of think Big Ben is a fraud. I may write about that later, but for now...

Greg's Top 10 NFL QB's

1. Peyton Manning
2. Tom Brady
3. Drew Brees
4. Phillip Rivers
5. Kurt Warner
6. Aaron Rodgers
7. Eli Manning
8. Matt Ryan
9. Ben Roethlisberger
10. Donovan McNabb


I guess Romo isn't top ten after all, he would have been 11th had the list gone on. The funny thing is that if he and Ben were switched who knows where their careers may have gone. Ben only makes the list due to a tremendous effort in SuperBowl 43, because he was awful during the regular season in 2008. I may not like the guy's game overall, but I know I'd want somebody who's gotten it done over a couple of guys who never have despite several opportunities. (Looking at you Tony and Don)