Madness
Well, today I'm sidelined from the archives with a fever. And no, the cure had nothing to do with more cowbell. It totally fucked up my night last night, as I went from being frozen to sweating to frozen to sweating, but I slept 11 1/2 hours (from 12:30 AM to noon today), and I think it finally broke sometime in my final hours of sleep. At any rate, I stayed home from work today, and I'm not planning on going anywhere for a while.
That being said, it's been a mad week in Philly sports. The Phils, who entered this series against the Brewers 4 games down in the Wild Card race behind said Brew Crew, leave the series tied for the Wild Card lead with the aforementioned Milwaukee baseball team. The final two wins in this series came in a doubleheader sweep, which is pretty tough to do. Moreover, the Phils entered the series something like 3 1/2 games behind the Mets for the NL East title, and thanks to some late-inning Mets collapses against the Bravos, the Phils are now only 1 game back in the NL East. This, of course, means little, but the Phils schedule is far more favorable than the Mets or the Brewers down the stretch. The Phils have to play the Braves, the Marlins, and the Nats in their remaining games. Sure, they're division rivals, so anything can happen, but still, the Braves and the Nats stink and the Marlins have dropped off the past few months. The Mets, on the other hand, have to play these teams in addition to playing a 4-game series against the best team in the NL, the Cubs. The Brewers have to play 6 games against the Cubs. The team that scares me more than any other in the Wild Card race is the Astros, who have gone 14-2 over their last 16. They have one more game against the Cubs before series against Florida, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Atlanta. At any rate, the Phillies sweeping the Brewers has just put the Phillies back on the playoff map, when a week ago, it seemed as if the season was over. Yay! Let's hope the Phils can pull off another 2007 miracle and come from behind in the final few weeks of the season to make the playoffs :)
Also, I am pretty pumped up about the Eagles-Cowboys game. I think I've mentioned this before, but I used my birthday money to buy a slingbox, which essentially allows me to watch any channel on my dad's TV over the internet. I can also record shows on my dad's DVR, so since the Eagles game has a 4 AM start time in Moscow, I'm going to record the game and watch it when I come back from picking up a friend at the airport tomorrow. So PLEASE, nobody gmail chat me with game spoilers or anything.
Anyway, to help everyone get a little more pumped up for this big game against the hated Cowboys, here's a great piece that was printed in the Inquirer today:
It's almost time. While waiting for the Birds game this evening, here are a few things about Dallas to help you gin up some extra disdain for the people there (in the unlikely event that your hate supply is running low):
The JFK Memorial: Not the book depository from which Lee Harvey Oswald supposedly shot Kennedy. I'm talking about the memorial. It's this dreadful concrete box in downtown Dallas that looks like an empty shipping container. First they let the president get killed, then they (dis)honor him.
Statue of Jefferson Davis: Right next to the convention center stands a giant likeness of the former president of the Confederacy. I have no idea where they hide the Pol Pot statue.
Texadelphia: The Southwest's version of a cheesesteak joint. Texans love it. It offers your choice of sauces - from "mustard blend" to "classic ranch spicy." I'm not making that up. They're savages.
The Cowboys' soon-to-be completed mega-stadium: Happiness is knowing Cowboys fans have to watch games at rundown Texas Stadium. They don't deserve an upgrade.
FrontBurner: It's a reasonably successful blog in Dallas that enjoys making fun of the Eagles and our fair city. I encourage you to visit the site and introduce yourself, Philly style.
That said, they recently blogged this line, which made me snicker: "Jessica Simpson says to Philly: 'We're gonna kick your butts, too!' [We] look forward to seeing her strap it on and take the field."
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20080915_Gonzo___A_Phils_surge__Why_not_.html
E - A - G - L - E - S.... EAGLES!!!!
That being said, it's been a mad week in Philly sports. The Phils, who entered this series against the Brewers 4 games down in the Wild Card race behind said Brew Crew, leave the series tied for the Wild Card lead with the aforementioned Milwaukee baseball team. The final two wins in this series came in a doubleheader sweep, which is pretty tough to do. Moreover, the Phils entered the series something like 3 1/2 games behind the Mets for the NL East title, and thanks to some late-inning Mets collapses against the Bravos, the Phils are now only 1 game back in the NL East. This, of course, means little, but the Phils schedule is far more favorable than the Mets or the Brewers down the stretch. The Phils have to play the Braves, the Marlins, and the Nats in their remaining games. Sure, they're division rivals, so anything can happen, but still, the Braves and the Nats stink and the Marlins have dropped off the past few months. The Mets, on the other hand, have to play these teams in addition to playing a 4-game series against the best team in the NL, the Cubs. The Brewers have to play 6 games against the Cubs. The team that scares me more than any other in the Wild Card race is the Astros, who have gone 14-2 over their last 16. They have one more game against the Cubs before series against Florida, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Atlanta. At any rate, the Phillies sweeping the Brewers has just put the Phillies back on the playoff map, when a week ago, it seemed as if the season was over. Yay! Let's hope the Phils can pull off another 2007 miracle and come from behind in the final few weeks of the season to make the playoffs :)
Also, I am pretty pumped up about the Eagles-Cowboys game. I think I've mentioned this before, but I used my birthday money to buy a slingbox, which essentially allows me to watch any channel on my dad's TV over the internet. I can also record shows on my dad's DVR, so since the Eagles game has a 4 AM start time in Moscow, I'm going to record the game and watch it when I come back from picking up a friend at the airport tomorrow. So PLEASE, nobody gmail chat me with game spoilers or anything.
Anyway, to help everyone get a little more pumped up for this big game against the hated Cowboys, here's a great piece that was printed in the Inquirer today:
It's almost time. While waiting for the Birds game this evening, here are a few things about Dallas to help you gin up some extra disdain for the people there (in the unlikely event that your hate supply is running low):
The JFK Memorial: Not the book depository from which Lee Harvey Oswald supposedly shot Kennedy. I'm talking about the memorial. It's this dreadful concrete box in downtown Dallas that looks like an empty shipping container. First they let the president get killed, then they (dis)honor him.
Statue of Jefferson Davis: Right next to the convention center stands a giant likeness of the former president of the Confederacy. I have no idea where they hide the Pol Pot statue.
Texadelphia: The Southwest's version of a cheesesteak joint. Texans love it. It offers your choice of sauces - from "mustard blend" to "classic ranch spicy." I'm not making that up. They're savages.
The Cowboys' soon-to-be completed mega-stadium: Happiness is knowing Cowboys fans have to watch games at rundown Texas Stadium. They don't deserve an upgrade.
FrontBurner: It's a reasonably successful blog in Dallas that enjoys making fun of the Eagles and our fair city. I encourage you to visit the site and introduce yourself, Philly style.
That said, they recently blogged this line, which made me snicker: "Jessica Simpson says to Philly: 'We're gonna kick your butts, too!' [We] look forward to seeing her strap it on and take the field."
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20080915_Gonzo___A_Phils_surge__Why_not_.html
E - A - G - L - E - S.... EAGLES!!!!