Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Flyers in game 7s


Year  Opponent  Round  Home? Result  
2011Buffalofirsthomewin
2010Bruinssecondawaywin
2008Capitalsfirstawaywin
2004Lightningthirdawayloss
2003Leafsfirsthomewin
2000Devilsthirdhomeloss
1989Penguinssecondawaywin
1988Capitalsfirstawayloss
1987Islanderssecondhomewin
1987Oilersfinalsawayloss
1981Flamessecondhomeloss
1976Leafsfirsthomewin
1975Islanderssecondhomewin
1974Rangerssecondhomewin
1968Bluesfirsthomeloss

Overall record: 9-6
Away record: 3-2
Round 1 record: 4-2
Vs. NY record: 3-0
With Claude Giroux record: 3-0



Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Better NFL PR than NFL's PR shop

A mid-April NFL quiz for you: Identify which sentences below came from a serious news story by ESPN on the NFL's upcoming schedule release, and which came from a press release promoting the league from NFL headquarters:

"Annually, the release of the NFL schedule has become almost like a national holiday."
-- Answer

"Throughout the (schedule release) show, fans can interact with the analysts and voice their opinions on the 2014 NFL schedule by posing questions via Twitter and Facebook."
-- Answer

"Starting Wednesday, teams can start printing out schedules and fans can start making their plans for the 2014 season."
-- Answer

"A three-hour special hosted by Rich Eisen and featuring analysts Steve Mariucci, Warren Sapp, and Mike Silver breaks down the entire 2014 regular season schedule, division by division, analyzing the top matchups and primetime games"
-- Answer

"Within the next year, NFL owners are expected to vote on the addition of one more playoff team per conference, allowing each conference to have seven playoff teams."
-- Answer

"Finally! NFL will release 2014 schedule on Wednesday night"
-- Answer

OK, that last one was a trick. I guess ESPN isn't the only news org totally in the bag for the league.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Tax day for Philly players

Here's a look at all of Philadelphia's current athletic millionaires -- 65 baseball, football, basketball and hockey players currently make more than $1 million. Combined, they'll collect more than $341 million this year.

That means that through the Philadelphia wage tax -- which sits at just under 3.5% for non-residents -- this group will bring in almost $12 million in tax revenue for the city. Which means Philly will have enough money to hire LeSean McCoy ($9.7 million salary) and Michael Carter-Williams ($2.2 million salary) to pick up trash around City Hall, if they want.

Other interesting observations:

-- The top seven highest paid Philly athletes are all Phillies.
-- Kyle Kendrick gets paid twice what Claude Giroux does.
-- Only one current Sixer and one current Flyer crack the top 20.
-- Jonathan Papelbon stinks.

Tuesday, April 08, 2014

Phillies home openers, by the numbers

All stats before today's opening day loss.

** W/L in home openers in the last 30 years: 10-20

** Longest home opener winning streak: 2 games (once)
** Longest home opener losing streak: 4 games (twice)

** 10+ runs scored on home opener: 1
** 10+ runs allowed on home opener : 5

** Average home opener margin of defeat: 4.0 runs
** Average home opener margin of victory: 2.8 runs

** Home opener losses that lead to losing seasons: 11
** Home opener losses that lead to winning seasons: 9

** Home opener wins that lead to losing seasons: 6
** Home opener wins that lead to winning seasons: 4

** Home opener losses that lead to World Series appearances: 3
** Home opener wins that lead to World Series appearances: 0

So, ignoring everything but that last stat, be excited that the Phils got killed today. 

Tuesday, April 01, 2014

Meet the new Phillies

There are a handful of new faces on the Phils this year, so what better way is there to meet them than through anagrams?

Third baseman Cody Asche
-- Hired batsman, cash decoy

Catcher Wil Nieves
-- Relieve, can switch

Relief Pitcher Mario Hollands
-- Harpoon arm, chilliest fielder

Starter AJ Burnett
-- Better stat jar run

Pitcher Jeff Manship
-- no anagram needed