A very busy day in Philly sports..
PHILLIES-
Finally, the Phillies call up OF Nick Williams. He will play LF tonight and bat 6th. Hopefully he sticks. He needs to show what he can do, stay patient and add some much-needed spark to the line-up.
Maybe this breaks the ice. Howie Kendrick was again placed on the disabled list. He needs to get healthy so the Phils can trade him in a few weeks. Right now, he is deadwood.
And,, Team President Andy MacPhal finally spoke to the media before tonight's game against the Mets. I thought MacPhal was in the Witness Protection Program. I haven't read all of his comments yet, but basically it was a state of the team at the midway point assessment. I'm glad he admitted to being disappointed in the team. I'm sure the recent transactions- Williams, the release of Saunders and Gomez, were due to injury circumstances, but I would also like to believe the front office is finally listening to the frustrated fans.
What the front office was doing wasn't working. Time to give the kids a chance to play so you know what you've got going into spring training. Plus, you're giving the fans something to watch for the rest of the summer, giving them some hope and something to look forward to.
I don't expect Kingery or Hoskins to be promoted right away, even though they are both hot. If injuries occur in Philadelphia, then maybe they are called up, as Williams was. Otherwise, expect to see them in August, after trades are made, no later than September.
Both Scott Kingery and Rhys Hoskins will be playing in baseball's Futures Game before the all-star game, on Sunday, July 9 in Miami. Note: Hoskins will be the oldest prospect playing at age 24. Typical Phillies.
SIXERS-
The team surprisingly cut guard Gerald Henderson,a guy they picked up last season to add depth and a veteran presence. Henderson wasn't in their plans. plus perhaps this is a sign of things to come in free agency, which starts tomorrow.
FLYERS-
The team will not be bringing back goalie Steve Mason. instead they are rumored to be signing net minder Brian Elliot. He is 32, played for Calgary last season, and before that, did well with St. Louis for five seasons.
What this will mean for goalie Michael Neuvirth, I'm not sure. He is under contract and could split time with Elliot.Or the Flyers can trade Neuvirth and Anthony Stolarz could be the back-up.
Also it's reported that recent no.1 draft pick Nolan Patrick had sports hernia surgery several weeks before the draft. The Flyers must not be too concerned. Hopefully his recovery doesn't extend into training camp in September.
EAGLES-
No surprise that the Birds released WR Dorial green-Beckham. He was inconsistent as hell, with so much unfulfilled potential. Now we know why Tennessee gave up on him. Green-Beckham wasn't going to make the team. better to cut him now and save some cap money.
Friday, June 30, 2017
IN THE NEWS- REPORT: LESS THAN 1 IN 5 WITH DISABILITIES EMPLOYED
This timely article is from Disability Scoop..
An annual government snapshot of employment among Americans with disabilities finds some signs of improvement even as this population continues to struggle finding work.
The U.S. department of Labor said that 17.9 percent of Americans with disabilities were employed in 2016.
That represents a 0.4 percentage point increase over the previous year and comes as the general population saw a boost of just 0.3 percent during the same period, according to the report released this month.
Nonetheless, the Labor Department noted that the unemployment rate for people with disabilities at 10.5 percent for the year was "about twice that of those with no disability."
The data comes from a monthly government survey of 60,000 households looking at employment trends and includes questions about individuals with disabilities who are age 16 or older and who do not live in institutions.
People with disabilities were more likely than others to be working part-time and to be self-employed, the Labor Department said. This group was also less likely to have a bachelor's degree or higher.
About 8 in 10 people with disabilities were considered to be out of the labor force because they did not have jobs and were not seeking work, the report found. By comparison about 30 percent of people in the general population were in this category.
An annual government snapshot of employment among Americans with disabilities finds some signs of improvement even as this population continues to struggle finding work.
The U.S. department of Labor said that 17.9 percent of Americans with disabilities were employed in 2016.
That represents a 0.4 percentage point increase over the previous year and comes as the general population saw a boost of just 0.3 percent during the same period, according to the report released this month.
Nonetheless, the Labor Department noted that the unemployment rate for people with disabilities at 10.5 percent for the year was "about twice that of those with no disability."
The data comes from a monthly government survey of 60,000 households looking at employment trends and includes questions about individuals with disabilities who are age 16 or older and who do not live in institutions.
People with disabilities were more likely than others to be working part-time and to be self-employed, the Labor Department said. This group was also less likely to have a bachelor's degree or higher.
About 8 in 10 people with disabilities were considered to be out of the labor force because they did not have jobs and were not seeking work, the report found. By comparison about 30 percent of people in the general population were in this category.
IN MY LIFE-4TH OF JULY
In my life...
Independence Day, also know as the 4th of July, is the day Americans celebration our country's birthday. This year the United States will be 241 years old. It's one of my favorite holidays because there are no gifts or religious ties/ It's simply a celebration, having a good time and fun. It's all-American too, the red, white and blue, unlike other holidays, such as Christmas, which is celebrated around the world.
The 4th is America. Here are my memories and thoughts on the 4th..
* I was never a big fireworks guy. As a kid, they were always too loud. Now I appreciate them more, but I can still take them or leave them.
You have to see fireworks under n open sky to get the overall effect. I never do get showing fireworks on TV. it's just not the same.
Fireworks used to be exclusive to the 4th of July, They were special. Now, you can see fireworks at an outdoor concert, or after a home run in baseball, or even on New Year's Eve.
Fireworks are better with music, but it seems no matter how hard they try, the explosions of color are never quite synced to the music.
The Phillies do a great fireworks show twice a year around Independence Day. The climax is always the best, when the sky lights up in constant color and the roar of the explosions thunder through the night.
Funny, I had dogs who were afraid of the booms and whistling of fireworks and would scamper under a bed, yet I've also had mutts who really didn't care and didn't flinch a hair.
As kids we used to light sparklers and things called bottle rockets. They were illegal, but unless you had an arsenal of firepower the police and the neighbors would usually look the other way as dust approached on the evening of the 4th.
* My favorite part of a 4th of July celebration was the bar-b-que or cook-out. It was usually family-oriented, and a lot of times it was a good reason for family to gather. Kids were off from school, maybe home from college. Sometimes you would have multiple cook-outs to attend, and you wondered how you were going to eat your way thru 2-3 bar-b-ques.
My favorite cook-out food is hot dogs on a grill. Just the aroma of a neighborhood grill was the best, especially in the evening./ Mustard on my dog,maybe a little sauerkraut. Macaroni or potato salad is a must, and nowadays you see more and more fresh fruit. Watermelon and ice cream are 4th of July staples. Burgers, chicken, ribs-so much food on the 4th.
Pool parties,wiffle ball games, horseshoes made get-togethers a blast. Have the ballgame on the radio as everyone eats at a picnic table under an umbrella is the perfect setting. Mosquitoes and flies notwithstanding.
* My favorite patriotic song? Probably "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" or, a more contemporary song about freedom, 'Some Gave All' by Billy Rat Cyrus.
My favorite patriotic movie? Not "Born on the 4th of July",which is good,about a Vietnam Vet returning home. Maybe "Saving Private Ryan". My favorite colonial flick is "Drums Along the Mohawk," which has a 4th of July theme.
Famous People who were born on July 4th include-
- Malia Obama- daughter of President Obama
- Calvin Cooledge-30th President of the U.S.
- Gloria Stuart- Titantic actress
- Nathaniel Hawthonre- author of The Scarlet Letter
- Geraldo Rivera- TV shill
- Stephen Foster-famous American songwriter
- Ron Kovic- disabled vet whose autobiography "Born on the 4th of July" was made into a 1989 movie starring Tom Cruise
- George Steinbrenner- late NY Yankees owner
Note: George M. Cohen, who wrote the song "Yankee Doodle Dandy," was actually born on July 3.
Weirdest fact about the 4th: Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826- 50 years to the day when the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia.
* Although not the middle of summer, July 4th was always thought of as being "the middle of summer." Summer always goes too fast, and the 4th was a reminder that Labor Day, and Autumn, really weren't that far away.
Baseball was always a big part of the 4th. other than listening to games on the radio while on the beach or during a cook-out, baseball has always been big on the 4th.
New York Yankees left-hander Dave Righetti pitched a no-hitter on the afternoon of July 4th in 1983. The feat was done against the rival Boston red Sox at Yankee Stadium- how American is that?
An old baseball lore was that whichever teams were in first place on the Fourth of July would go on to the World Series. A report by Sports Illustrated in 2012 finds this old superstition did hold weight- about 60% of the time a team in first place in it's division would in fact, move on to the Series.
The number of games have expanded, so July 4th isn't quite the halfway point of a baseball season anymore. Divisions have expanded, as have the number of playoff games, but it still rings true the a division leader on July 4th will go on to make the playoffs 2/3 rds of the time.
Baseball on July 4th usually meant doubleheaders, either daytime or twi-light. I loved doubleheaders- you got to see almost all the players on the roster play in one session- but they are a thing of the past. If there is a rain make-up teams play a day-night doubleheader- two separate games, two separate admissions. Plus in today's world, where young people are looking for shorter games, the last thing a younger fan wants is spending 8 hours at a ballpark, even if you're getting two games for the price of one.
Still, for devoted baseball fans, spending the Fourth of July at the National Pastime and rooting for your home team for hours and hours wasn't a bad way to spend your holiday.
* One of my favorite Fourth of July celebrations was on July 4, 1976- the Bicentennial, America's 200th birthday. Wagon trains, which crossed the country form Oregon earlier that summer, wheeled into Phoenixville on the 4th. I remember it was a crystal blue sky, sunny, hot Sunday. A million people had gathered in Valley Forge Park to see then President Gerald Ford. We watched the tall ships sail into New York Harbor past the Statue of Liberty that afternoon on TV. The evening was filled with patriotic concerts and celebrations and, of course, massive fireworks displays.
The Bicentennial was something all Americans looked forward to for a long time, so there was a big build-up to the 4th that year. The celebration was not a let-down- it was fantastic to be alive during such a historical moment in American history.
* A continuing tradition on the 4th is the hot dog eating contest in Coney Island. Now, ESPN makes it into a one-hour special "sports" program, broadcast the afternoon of the competition. A lot of Wing Bowl contestants participate in the hot dog consumption. It's kind of stupid, thousands of people cheering for "professional eaters" gorging themselves on wieners and buns, but hey, it's tradition, and that's what July 4th is all about-tradition.
Independence Day, also know as the 4th of July, is the day Americans celebration our country's birthday. This year the United States will be 241 years old. It's one of my favorite holidays because there are no gifts or religious ties/ It's simply a celebration, having a good time and fun. It's all-American too, the red, white and blue, unlike other holidays, such as Christmas, which is celebrated around the world.
The 4th is America. Here are my memories and thoughts on the 4th..
* I was never a big fireworks guy. As a kid, they were always too loud. Now I appreciate them more, but I can still take them or leave them.
You have to see fireworks under n open sky to get the overall effect. I never do get showing fireworks on TV. it's just not the same.
Fireworks used to be exclusive to the 4th of July, They were special. Now, you can see fireworks at an outdoor concert, or after a home run in baseball, or even on New Year's Eve.
Fireworks are better with music, but it seems no matter how hard they try, the explosions of color are never quite synced to the music.
The Phillies do a great fireworks show twice a year around Independence Day. The climax is always the best, when the sky lights up in constant color and the roar of the explosions thunder through the night.
Funny, I had dogs who were afraid of the booms and whistling of fireworks and would scamper under a bed, yet I've also had mutts who really didn't care and didn't flinch a hair.
As kids we used to light sparklers and things called bottle rockets. They were illegal, but unless you had an arsenal of firepower the police and the neighbors would usually look the other way as dust approached on the evening of the 4th.
* My favorite part of a 4th of July celebration was the bar-b-que or cook-out. It was usually family-oriented, and a lot of times it was a good reason for family to gather. Kids were off from school, maybe home from college. Sometimes you would have multiple cook-outs to attend, and you wondered how you were going to eat your way thru 2-3 bar-b-ques.
My favorite cook-out food is hot dogs on a grill. Just the aroma of a neighborhood grill was the best, especially in the evening./ Mustard on my dog,maybe a little sauerkraut. Macaroni or potato salad is a must, and nowadays you see more and more fresh fruit. Watermelon and ice cream are 4th of July staples. Burgers, chicken, ribs-so much food on the 4th.
Pool parties,wiffle ball games, horseshoes made get-togethers a blast. Have the ballgame on the radio as everyone eats at a picnic table under an umbrella is the perfect setting. Mosquitoes and flies notwithstanding.
* My favorite patriotic song? Probably "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" or, a more contemporary song about freedom, 'Some Gave All' by Billy Rat Cyrus.
My favorite patriotic movie? Not "Born on the 4th of July",which is good,about a Vietnam Vet returning home. Maybe "Saving Private Ryan". My favorite colonial flick is "Drums Along the Mohawk," which has a 4th of July theme.
Famous People who were born on July 4th include-
- Malia Obama- daughter of President Obama
- Calvin Cooledge-30th President of the U.S.
- Gloria Stuart- Titantic actress
- Nathaniel Hawthonre- author of The Scarlet Letter
- Geraldo Rivera- TV shill
- Stephen Foster-famous American songwriter
- Ron Kovic- disabled vet whose autobiography "Born on the 4th of July" was made into a 1989 movie starring Tom Cruise
- George Steinbrenner- late NY Yankees owner
Note: George M. Cohen, who wrote the song "Yankee Doodle Dandy," was actually born on July 3.
Weirdest fact about the 4th: Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826- 50 years to the day when the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia.
* Although not the middle of summer, July 4th was always thought of as being "the middle of summer." Summer always goes too fast, and the 4th was a reminder that Labor Day, and Autumn, really weren't that far away.
Baseball was always a big part of the 4th. other than listening to games on the radio while on the beach or during a cook-out, baseball has always been big on the 4th.
New York Yankees left-hander Dave Righetti pitched a no-hitter on the afternoon of July 4th in 1983. The feat was done against the rival Boston red Sox at Yankee Stadium- how American is that?
An old baseball lore was that whichever teams were in first place on the Fourth of July would go on to the World Series. A report by Sports Illustrated in 2012 finds this old superstition did hold weight- about 60% of the time a team in first place in it's division would in fact, move on to the Series.
The number of games have expanded, so July 4th isn't quite the halfway point of a baseball season anymore. Divisions have expanded, as have the number of playoff games, but it still rings true the a division leader on July 4th will go on to make the playoffs 2/3 rds of the time.
Baseball on July 4th usually meant doubleheaders, either daytime or twi-light. I loved doubleheaders- you got to see almost all the players on the roster play in one session- but they are a thing of the past. If there is a rain make-up teams play a day-night doubleheader- two separate games, two separate admissions. Plus in today's world, where young people are looking for shorter games, the last thing a younger fan wants is spending 8 hours at a ballpark, even if you're getting two games for the price of one.
Still, for devoted baseball fans, spending the Fourth of July at the National Pastime and rooting for your home team for hours and hours wasn't a bad way to spend your holiday.
* One of my favorite Fourth of July celebrations was on July 4, 1976- the Bicentennial, America's 200th birthday. Wagon trains, which crossed the country form Oregon earlier that summer, wheeled into Phoenixville on the 4th. I remember it was a crystal blue sky, sunny, hot Sunday. A million people had gathered in Valley Forge Park to see then President Gerald Ford. We watched the tall ships sail into New York Harbor past the Statue of Liberty that afternoon on TV. The evening was filled with patriotic concerts and celebrations and, of course, massive fireworks displays.
The Bicentennial was something all Americans looked forward to for a long time, so there was a big build-up to the 4th that year. The celebration was not a let-down- it was fantastic to be alive during such a historical moment in American history.
* A continuing tradition on the 4th is the hot dog eating contest in Coney Island. Now, ESPN makes it into a one-hour special "sports" program, broadcast the afternoon of the competition. A lot of Wing Bowl contestants participate in the hot dog consumption. It's kind of stupid, thousands of people cheering for "professional eaters" gorging themselves on wieners and buns, but hey, it's tradition, and that's what July 4th is all about-tradition.
SPORTS QUIZ
Today's Sports Quiz is all about: ALL SPORTS.
1. How many players take the field for each team in a lacrosse game?
2. Who won the 1982 National League Cy Young Award while outhitting home run king Dave Kingman by 14 points in batting average?
3. Who is the NFL's all-time scoring leader?
4. Who was the first rookie to win the Cy Young Award?
5. How many plate appearances are the minimum to qualify for a major league batting title?
6. What thoroughbred raced to Triple Crown glory in 1837?
7. What did golf great Jack Nicklaus study in college?
8. In the 1973 World Series, what Oakland A's reliever pitched in all seven games played?
9. What was first used by CBS on December 7, 1963, in televising the Army-Navy football game?
10. How many seasons did Cy Young win at least 20 games in the major leagues?
ANSWERS-\
1. 10
2. Steve Carlton
3. Morten Andersen
4. Fernando Valenzuela
5. 502
6. War Admiral
7. Pharmacy
8. Darold Knowles
9. Instant replay
10. 16
1. How many players take the field for each team in a lacrosse game?
2. Who won the 1982 National League Cy Young Award while outhitting home run king Dave Kingman by 14 points in batting average?
3. Who is the NFL's all-time scoring leader?
4. Who was the first rookie to win the Cy Young Award?
5. How many plate appearances are the minimum to qualify for a major league batting title?
6. What thoroughbred raced to Triple Crown glory in 1837?
7. What did golf great Jack Nicklaus study in college?
8. In the 1973 World Series, what Oakland A's reliever pitched in all seven games played?
9. What was first used by CBS on December 7, 1963, in televising the Army-Navy football game?
10. How many seasons did Cy Young win at least 20 games in the major leagues?
ANSWERS-\
1. 10
2. Steve Carlton
3. Morten Andersen
4. Fernando Valenzuela
5. 502
6. War Admiral
7. Pharmacy
8. Darold Knowles
9. Instant replay
10. 16
IN MY LIFE-WAWA, DUNKIN' & COSTCO
In my life...
* Wawa is one of my favorite stores. In Philly, the annual Wawa Welcome America July 4th celebration\n is a big deal, from parades to fireworks to a concert on the parkway. But the best part of Welcome America is the free hoagies Wawa gives out .
When I was growing up, 7-11 was the top convenience store around "Oh thank heaven for 7-11" was the catchy jingle. You could get anything there.
But just like the Slurpee, 7-11 died away in popularity. 7-11 is still around it's just that Wawa has taken over as king of the convenience store around here.
Wawa has anything and everything, from coffee to your morning paper to breakfast sandwiches to soft pretzels. Making a daily trip to the neighborhood Wawa is like a routine ritual of life. Everyone does it. It's small town America. Every town has a Wawa, sometimes two.
Wawa employees are friendly. People hold the door open for each other, in a "pay-it-forward" kind of way. Wawa refuses to install automatic doors because they are proud of the "hold the door for the next customer" thing. It's a trademark of going to Wawa, and if you don't hold the door for someone else you're not part of the Wawa family.
People refer to the store as "my Wawa." It's a personal thing. You can stop into other Wawas around the state, but the neighborhood Wawa is your Wawa.
The hoagies are my favorite part of Wawa, and they make really good ones. The rolls make the hoagie ( not zep or grinder or sub).. With so much competition around from local mom nd pop hoagie places, Wawa still holds it's own in the business because they are fresh and good. Wawa is an East Coast secret, but they do plan to expand in the years to come, as they are taking a foothold in Florida. Retirees from the northeast who grew up on Wawa miss it down south, so , smartly, Wawa is branching out to stay in touch with it's old customers.
It's reassuring to know, like the corner mini-mart, Wawa is always there, day or night, rain or shine, just waiting to hold the door for you with a welcome smile.
Wawa is the greatest.
* Dunkin' Donuts is also a favorite. D&D was the place to go for coffee before Starbucks. Dunkin' may not have the internet or Wifi capabilities or reading lounge like a Starbucks, but you couldn't beat it's coffee.
As a kid, Dunkin' was strictly known for it's donuts. Plain, powdered, filled ( white creme, Boston cream, jelly) Other than local bakers, D&D made it's mark as a place to pick up a dozen donuts to go. My favorite Sundays were the mornings after church when mom would bring home a box of a dozen glazed donuts or a carton of Munchkins to snack on.
Dunkin' has expanded as well in it's menu selections, as now they do breakfast sandwiches, keeping up with rival fast food joints like McDonalds. But Dunkin' will always have the advantage because of the donuts ("time to make the donuts..")
."Grandma Donuts" as I affectionately call her, is an older sounding lady with a sing-song, gentle , pleasant tone who mans the drive-thru order at my local Dunkin'. She's the friendly, reliable, always there voice to take your order every morning. That's what makes Dunkin' so cool- it feels like home, a place you feel comfortable at, an easy part of life you hope will last forever.
There is a Dunkin' now at King of Prussia mall. And there's talk of Dunkin' delivering right to your door in the future. All good stuff, but hopefully Dunkin' doesn't change too much. Hopefully it will always have that warm, hometown feel, just like Grandma Donuts herself.
* Costco is my most recent find. The first time into the wonderful world of Costco, I was amazed. Everything is in bulk and cheaper, yet you always seem to leave Costco with a big bill.
Still, it doesn't matter so much because you feel like you are getting your money's worth.
Costco is a wholesale warehouse kind of a deal. It's not a fancy place, with boxes and items stacked on top of each other. It is what it is, no frills.
My favorite part of Costco is the free samples of food they give out. You can literally have lunch there for nothing, a small bite of this and a small bite of that. It's stuff you normally wouldn't buy, so Costco gives free samples to try and hook you to buy more of the same thing.
One time they did give out Godiva chocolate for free, which was hard to believe. You just have to be at the right pot stop at the right time, as you keep making to circle around the giant warehouse.
You have to buy a membership to join Costco every year. It's like a cult in a way. Only Costco members can shop at the exclusive club called Costco- unless you have a friend who is a Costco person. They check your card when you enter and leave, so you can't just walk in and shop.
You can buy gas at Costco for cheap too, like Wawa. So that's another perk of being a member.
The thing is, I can get 100 rolls of paper towels or toilet paper, knowing eventually I'm going to use it and it won't go to waste. The problem is storing the 100 rolls of toilet paper. But Costco does give you the security to know that you are well-stocked with toilet paper for the year. You can sleep well at night.
I can get a case of ,oh let's say Irish Spring soap for really cheap, but after a while you get tired of Irish Spring and want something different, but you still have 89 bars of soap left to go.
All in all, Costco is a great place to shop, long-term, especially if you have a big family, or you're planning a party and need 1,000 napkins.
I often thought how someone form another country would perceive Costco- American indulgence at it's best? I
* Wawa is one of my favorite stores. In Philly, the annual Wawa Welcome America July 4th celebration\n is a big deal, from parades to fireworks to a concert on the parkway. But the best part of Welcome America is the free hoagies Wawa gives out .
When I was growing up, 7-11 was the top convenience store around "Oh thank heaven for 7-11" was the catchy jingle. You could get anything there.
But just like the Slurpee, 7-11 died away in popularity. 7-11 is still around it's just that Wawa has taken over as king of the convenience store around here.
Wawa has anything and everything, from coffee to your morning paper to breakfast sandwiches to soft pretzels. Making a daily trip to the neighborhood Wawa is like a routine ritual of life. Everyone does it. It's small town America. Every town has a Wawa, sometimes two.
Wawa employees are friendly. People hold the door open for each other, in a "pay-it-forward" kind of way. Wawa refuses to install automatic doors because they are proud of the "hold the door for the next customer" thing. It's a trademark of going to Wawa, and if you don't hold the door for someone else you're not part of the Wawa family.
People refer to the store as "my Wawa." It's a personal thing. You can stop into other Wawas around the state, but the neighborhood Wawa is your Wawa.
The hoagies are my favorite part of Wawa, and they make really good ones. The rolls make the hoagie ( not zep or grinder or sub).. With so much competition around from local mom nd pop hoagie places, Wawa still holds it's own in the business because they are fresh and good. Wawa is an East Coast secret, but they do plan to expand in the years to come, as they are taking a foothold in Florida. Retirees from the northeast who grew up on Wawa miss it down south, so , smartly, Wawa is branching out to stay in touch with it's old customers.
It's reassuring to know, like the corner mini-mart, Wawa is always there, day or night, rain or shine, just waiting to hold the door for you with a welcome smile.
Wawa is the greatest.
* Dunkin' Donuts is also a favorite. D&D was the place to go for coffee before Starbucks. Dunkin' may not have the internet or Wifi capabilities or reading lounge like a Starbucks, but you couldn't beat it's coffee.
As a kid, Dunkin' was strictly known for it's donuts. Plain, powdered, filled ( white creme, Boston cream, jelly) Other than local bakers, D&D made it's mark as a place to pick up a dozen donuts to go. My favorite Sundays were the mornings after church when mom would bring home a box of a dozen glazed donuts or a carton of Munchkins to snack on.
Dunkin' has expanded as well in it's menu selections, as now they do breakfast sandwiches, keeping up with rival fast food joints like McDonalds. But Dunkin' will always have the advantage because of the donuts ("time to make the donuts..")
."Grandma Donuts" as I affectionately call her, is an older sounding lady with a sing-song, gentle , pleasant tone who mans the drive-thru order at my local Dunkin'. She's the friendly, reliable, always there voice to take your order every morning. That's what makes Dunkin' so cool- it feels like home, a place you feel comfortable at, an easy part of life you hope will last forever.
There is a Dunkin' now at King of Prussia mall. And there's talk of Dunkin' delivering right to your door in the future. All good stuff, but hopefully Dunkin' doesn't change too much. Hopefully it will always have that warm, hometown feel, just like Grandma Donuts herself.
* Costco is my most recent find. The first time into the wonderful world of Costco, I was amazed. Everything is in bulk and cheaper, yet you always seem to leave Costco with a big bill.
Still, it doesn't matter so much because you feel like you are getting your money's worth.
Costco is a wholesale warehouse kind of a deal. It's not a fancy place, with boxes and items stacked on top of each other. It is what it is, no frills.
My favorite part of Costco is the free samples of food they give out. You can literally have lunch there for nothing, a small bite of this and a small bite of that. It's stuff you normally wouldn't buy, so Costco gives free samples to try and hook you to buy more of the same thing.
One time they did give out Godiva chocolate for free, which was hard to believe. You just have to be at the right pot stop at the right time, as you keep making to circle around the giant warehouse.
You have to buy a membership to join Costco every year. It's like a cult in a way. Only Costco members can shop at the exclusive club called Costco- unless you have a friend who is a Costco person. They check your card when you enter and leave, so you can't just walk in and shop.
You can buy gas at Costco for cheap too, like Wawa. So that's another perk of being a member.
The thing is, I can get 100 rolls of paper towels or toilet paper, knowing eventually I'm going to use it and it won't go to waste. The problem is storing the 100 rolls of toilet paper. But Costco does give you the security to know that you are well-stocked with toilet paper for the year. You can sleep well at night.
I can get a case of ,oh let's say Irish Spring soap for really cheap, but after a while you get tired of Irish Spring and want something different, but you still have 89 bars of soap left to go.
All in all, Costco is a great place to shop, long-term, especially if you have a big family, or you're planning a party and need 1,000 napkins.
I often thought how someone form another country would perceive Costco- American indulgence at it's best? I
Thursday, June 29, 2017
SPORTS QUIZ
A bonus version of the Sports Quiz today..15 questions. The topic is" ALL SPORTS
1. Did the NFL play its scheduled games the Sunday after John F. Kennedy's assassination?
2. What Canadian city saw Babe Ruth hit his only minor league home run?
3. What guard scored 13,726 career points, tops in ABA history?
4. How many grand slams did Roger Maris hit in his record-setting 61 homer season?
5. Who was nicknamed baseball's Mr. Mustache?
6. What was Wilt Chamberlain's middle name?
7. What batting feat did Willie Davis, Reggie Jackson, Lee Mazzilli, Cookie Rojas and Carl Yastrzemski achieve in 1970s all-star games?
8. What National League team did Jack Benny once scout for?
9. Who was both the last manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the first manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers?
10. What was the first major league club to play under the name of a state rather than a city?
11. How many balls did a batter walk with in 1880?
12.How many seconds were replayed in the 1972 U.S.-Soviet Union Olympic Basketball final?
13. What year did the NFL adopt regular- season overtime?
14. What's the approximate length, in feet, of a bowling alley- 53, 63 or 73?
15. Who, in 1976, became the first runner in college football history to amass 6,000 yards on the ground?
ANSWERS_
1. Yes
2. Toronto
3. Louie Dampier
4. 0
5. Rollie Fingers
6. Norman
7. Pinch-hit home runs
8. Chicago Cubs
9. Walter Alston
10. Mineesota Twins
11. 8
12. 3
13. 1974
14. 63
15. Tony Dorsett
1. Did the NFL play its scheduled games the Sunday after John F. Kennedy's assassination?
2. What Canadian city saw Babe Ruth hit his only minor league home run?
3. What guard scored 13,726 career points, tops in ABA history?
4. How many grand slams did Roger Maris hit in his record-setting 61 homer season?
5. Who was nicknamed baseball's Mr. Mustache?
6. What was Wilt Chamberlain's middle name?
7. What batting feat did Willie Davis, Reggie Jackson, Lee Mazzilli, Cookie Rojas and Carl Yastrzemski achieve in 1970s all-star games?
8. What National League team did Jack Benny once scout for?
9. Who was both the last manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the first manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers?
10. What was the first major league club to play under the name of a state rather than a city?
11. How many balls did a batter walk with in 1880?
12.How many seconds were replayed in the 1972 U.S.-Soviet Union Olympic Basketball final?
13. What year did the NFL adopt regular- season overtime?
14. What's the approximate length, in feet, of a bowling alley- 53, 63 or 73?
15. Who, in 1976, became the first runner in college football history to amass 6,000 yards on the ground?
ANSWERS_
1. Yes
2. Toronto
3. Louie Dampier
4. 0
5. Rollie Fingers
6. Norman
7. Pinch-hit home runs
8. Chicago Cubs
9. Walter Alston
10. Mineesota Twins
11. 8
12. 3
13. 1974
14. 63
15. Tony Dorsett
IN THE NEWS- ELECTRONIC DEVICES HELP NONVERBAL KIDS FIND THEIR VOICE
From the Journal Star..
Selah isn't ready to work yet.
Carrie Kerr asks, "Do you want a drink?"
Selah grabs a bright pink iPod programmed with more than 3,000 words and matching pictures, including a skunk for a fun kid word like "fart." Pronouns in yellow-colored boxes, adjectives in blue, nouns in white, verbs in green with different shades for past tense and other conjugations.
Selah taps an icon for drink, taps another for water.
Symbols for drinking water appear on the screen and a girl's version of Siri's voice says " drink water."
Selah Oelschlager is 6 years old and learning to talk.
"It's hard for her to find the words verbally, but easy for her to find them here," says Kerr, a speech pathologist, referring to the electronic device she calls Selah's "talker."
Once Selah finds the matching symbols and words on her talker, Kerr adds, "it's easier for her to learn them verbally."
The scene isn't quite the breakthrough moment of Helen Keller's discovery of the sign-language meaning of water from the movie, "The Miracle Worker." It is a child who is nonverbal and has autism stalling the start of a therapy session, the way young children find excuses to put off bedtime.
They are at Child's Nature, Kerr's new pediatric therapy center. The scene may not be high drama, but it is a picture of the higher technology of alternative communication systems. Until about a year ago, Kerr and Selah's mother, Tiffanie Oelschlager, say the exchange might have ended on less agreeable terms.
"The breakthrough was when she didn't have to use behavior to communicate," Kerr says. "Before, she would've gotten up and brought the water to us, or bolted, or screamed because we had no idea what she wanted. Now, she can tell us."
In private life, Kerr worries about the widespread attachment to electronic devices. "It drives me insane." Her professional life is just the opposite.
"I want that child so invested in their device that it's not seen as work," she says of her therapy sessions for children with alternative communication deices. "It's where their power is. It should be about their freedom, their ideas, their wants and needs. It's simply their voices."
She wants the children she works with to use their devices at home, school, the grocery store. at the park or during meals. They do. For instance, varying types of assisted communication technology are evident at many schools, including Peoria Public Schools, where Selah is in a life skills class at Kellar Primary School.
The love affair with electronic devices has an upside for the children Kerr works with. The stigma attached to earlier, clunkier versions of alternative communication devices is disappearing, she says. "Almost all kids are carrying screens around now."
Kerr works in a specialized field of speech pathology, augmentative and alternative communications, or AAC.
"It's a whole world in and of itself," says Jim Runyon, executive vice president of Easterseals Central Illinois. "But they can be a life-changing experience for families with a child they've never been able to communicate with them."
Runyon serves on the board of the Peoria Regional Society for Autism, which offers mini-grants to help families purchase devices if they're not covered by insurance. Selah's family received a grant from the group.
Kerr formerly worked at Easterseals. Runyon says she came up with the idea for Easterseals AAC Clinic, which assess a child's need for an alternative communication device. Easterseals has two speech pathologists trained in the field."
"There's not a lot of people with that training," he says.
But, according to Kerr, there are many children who need the technology and not a lot of places for them to go.
She works with children from about 28 months to 12 years olf, all of them nonverbal or with limited verbal skills. She visits some at their home .Others come from as far as the Quad Cities, Normal and Canton. Most have autism. Others have a wide range of genetic disorders. "Speech is not the only problem most of them have," Kerr says. "They have a lot of specialists, and I'm just one. I spend a lot of time talking to their other specialists."
Alternative and augmentative communications can be as low-tech as picture cards or sign language. Or as sophisticated as the text-to-speech generated voice box Stephen Hawking operates by twitching cheek muscles.
The difference between Hawking and the children Kerr works with is he knew how to talk, read and write before he lost the ability to communicate.
Eye-gaze technology opens a computer screen to nonverbal children who can only move their eyes. There is technology designed for children who can't tap an icon with their fingers or grasp a stylus. There are cervices suited to children who are nonverbal and blind. Voice-generated elements can be customized for a girl's voice, a boy's, a man's , or a woman's. Voices can come with dialects or switch languages for nonverbal children in bilingual families.
Assisted-communication apps are available for iPhones and other electronic devices. Some units, like Selah's are solely for communicationNo games, no YouTube videos, no texting.
Selah's verbal skills were close to non-existent until about two years ago, her mother says. Selah started speech therapy at about 18 months. She went to Easterseals Autism Learning Center until she turned 6.
Selah recently began extensive behavioral therapy. At Kellar, she continues to receiver weekly speech therapy sessions. Nut Selah's mother still pulls her out of school one morning a week for an additional hourlong session with Kerr. Selag's school therapist and Kerr collaborate, often texting back and forth with questions.
"I really fought against getting the device," Oeschlager says. "Other therapists had mentioned it but my biggest fear was she would never talk, she would just depend on the device. It's been just the opposite."
Kerr says that's one of the biggest misconceptions about the technology.
The typical child learns to talk by hearing other people talk. "Selah's learning pattern is different. It's not enough just for her to hear language."
She has to see it, touch it, feel it, move to it.
The sensations are built into the word-system app, LAMP Words for Life, on Selah's iPad and into Kerr's therapy sessions.
The play, running, dancing, swinging, singing and other activities in the sessions are designed to keep Selah engaged- but also to help her make the connections between nouns and verbs of daily speech and the icons on her iPad.
Selah's mother says changing the word-system app on the iPad would be like suddenly switching to a new language. Families must learn the Words for Life system so they can model its use for children, just as families model speech. Oslschlager took a daylong training class, then practiced nonstop when Selah first got the device. Other family members, including Selah's 8-year-old sister, also know how to use it.
As Kerr explains it, children learning to use the device mirror children learning to speak. Young children babble. They tend to babble electronically when they begin learning to use alternative communication devices.
The Kerr moves to core language, the common words and thought young children use most.
It's one thing for a child to learn the term for orange juice, Kerr explains, but what does that mean?"
So she focuses less on nouns and objects than verbs, because they're versatile. and terms like more, all done, mine, yours," and all those words that surround orange juice."
From there, they go to two-word phrases, then sentence"I don't want her just to communicate. I want her to grow in language skills," Kerr says. "Even if she doesn't fully communicate, she'll be able to write papers at her age level."
Selah caught on to the mechanics of the device faster than her mother did.
"I thought she'd let it do the talking. But once she heard the words, she started to repeat them. Then it spiraled. The more words she learned on the device, the more she could say."
Her once-common tantrums are now rare, her mother adds. The Oelschlager mentions Selah's journey toward finding a device-assisted voice.
"That's the most amazing thing when you haven't had one."
Selah isn't ready to work yet.
Carrie Kerr asks, "Do you want a drink?"
Selah grabs a bright pink iPod programmed with more than 3,000 words and matching pictures, including a skunk for a fun kid word like "fart." Pronouns in yellow-colored boxes, adjectives in blue, nouns in white, verbs in green with different shades for past tense and other conjugations.
Selah taps an icon for drink, taps another for water.
Symbols for drinking water appear on the screen and a girl's version of Siri's voice says " drink water."
Selah Oelschlager is 6 years old and learning to talk.
"It's hard for her to find the words verbally, but easy for her to find them here," says Kerr, a speech pathologist, referring to the electronic device she calls Selah's "talker."
Once Selah finds the matching symbols and words on her talker, Kerr adds, "it's easier for her to learn them verbally."
The scene isn't quite the breakthrough moment of Helen Keller's discovery of the sign-language meaning of water from the movie, "The Miracle Worker." It is a child who is nonverbal and has autism stalling the start of a therapy session, the way young children find excuses to put off bedtime.
They are at Child's Nature, Kerr's new pediatric therapy center. The scene may not be high drama, but it is a picture of the higher technology of alternative communication systems. Until about a year ago, Kerr and Selah's mother, Tiffanie Oelschlager, say the exchange might have ended on less agreeable terms.
"The breakthrough was when she didn't have to use behavior to communicate," Kerr says. "Before, she would've gotten up and brought the water to us, or bolted, or screamed because we had no idea what she wanted. Now, she can tell us."
In private life, Kerr worries about the widespread attachment to electronic devices. "It drives me insane." Her professional life is just the opposite.
"I want that child so invested in their device that it's not seen as work," she says of her therapy sessions for children with alternative communication deices. "It's where their power is. It should be about their freedom, their ideas, their wants and needs. It's simply their voices."
She wants the children she works with to use their devices at home, school, the grocery store. at the park or during meals. They do. For instance, varying types of assisted communication technology are evident at many schools, including Peoria Public Schools, where Selah is in a life skills class at Kellar Primary School.
The love affair with electronic devices has an upside for the children Kerr works with. The stigma attached to earlier, clunkier versions of alternative communication devices is disappearing, she says. "Almost all kids are carrying screens around now."
Kerr works in a specialized field of speech pathology, augmentative and alternative communications, or AAC.
"It's a whole world in and of itself," says Jim Runyon, executive vice president of Easterseals Central Illinois. "But they can be a life-changing experience for families with a child they've never been able to communicate with them."
Runyon serves on the board of the Peoria Regional Society for Autism, which offers mini-grants to help families purchase devices if they're not covered by insurance. Selah's family received a grant from the group.
Kerr formerly worked at Easterseals. Runyon says she came up with the idea for Easterseals AAC Clinic, which assess a child's need for an alternative communication device. Easterseals has two speech pathologists trained in the field."
"There's not a lot of people with that training," he says.
But, according to Kerr, there are many children who need the technology and not a lot of places for them to go.
She works with children from about 28 months to 12 years olf, all of them nonverbal or with limited verbal skills. She visits some at their home .Others come from as far as the Quad Cities, Normal and Canton. Most have autism. Others have a wide range of genetic disorders. "Speech is not the only problem most of them have," Kerr says. "They have a lot of specialists, and I'm just one. I spend a lot of time talking to their other specialists."
Alternative and augmentative communications can be as low-tech as picture cards or sign language. Or as sophisticated as the text-to-speech generated voice box Stephen Hawking operates by twitching cheek muscles.
The difference between Hawking and the children Kerr works with is he knew how to talk, read and write before he lost the ability to communicate.
Eye-gaze technology opens a computer screen to nonverbal children who can only move their eyes. There is technology designed for children who can't tap an icon with their fingers or grasp a stylus. There are cervices suited to children who are nonverbal and blind. Voice-generated elements can be customized for a girl's voice, a boy's, a man's , or a woman's. Voices can come with dialects or switch languages for nonverbal children in bilingual families.
Assisted-communication apps are available for iPhones and other electronic devices. Some units, like Selah's are solely for communicationNo games, no YouTube videos, no texting.
Selah's verbal skills were close to non-existent until about two years ago, her mother says. Selah started speech therapy at about 18 months. She went to Easterseals Autism Learning Center until she turned 6.
Selah recently began extensive behavioral therapy. At Kellar, she continues to receiver weekly speech therapy sessions. Nut Selah's mother still pulls her out of school one morning a week for an additional hourlong session with Kerr. Selag's school therapist and Kerr collaborate, often texting back and forth with questions.
"I really fought against getting the device," Oeschlager says. "Other therapists had mentioned it but my biggest fear was she would never talk, she would just depend on the device. It's been just the opposite."
Kerr says that's one of the biggest misconceptions about the technology.
The typical child learns to talk by hearing other people talk. "Selah's learning pattern is different. It's not enough just for her to hear language."
She has to see it, touch it, feel it, move to it.
The sensations are built into the word-system app, LAMP Words for Life, on Selah's iPad and into Kerr's therapy sessions.
The play, running, dancing, swinging, singing and other activities in the sessions are designed to keep Selah engaged- but also to help her make the connections between nouns and verbs of daily speech and the icons on her iPad.
Selah's mother says changing the word-system app on the iPad would be like suddenly switching to a new language. Families must learn the Words for Life system so they can model its use for children, just as families model speech. Oslschlager took a daylong training class, then practiced nonstop when Selah first got the device. Other family members, including Selah's 8-year-old sister, also know how to use it.
As Kerr explains it, children learning to use the device mirror children learning to speak. Young children babble. They tend to babble electronically when they begin learning to use alternative communication devices.
The Kerr moves to core language, the common words and thought young children use most.
It's one thing for a child to learn the term for orange juice, Kerr explains, but what does that mean?"
So she focuses less on nouns and objects than verbs, because they're versatile. and terms like more, all done, mine, yours," and all those words that surround orange juice."
From there, they go to two-word phrases, then sentence"I don't want her just to communicate. I want her to grow in language skills," Kerr says. "Even if she doesn't fully communicate, she'll be able to write papers at her age level."
Selah caught on to the mechanics of the device faster than her mother did.
"I thought she'd let it do the talking. But once she heard the words, she started to repeat them. Then it spiraled. The more words she learned on the device, the more she could say."
Her once-common tantrums are now rare, her mother adds. The Oelschlager mentions Selah's journey toward finding a device-assisted voice.
"That's the most amazing thing when you haven't had one."
PHILLY SPORTS CORNER
The lastest in Philly sports...
* PHILLIES-
Give the Phillies credit for sweeping the brief, two-game series against the Mariners in Seattle. Normally, the Phillies don't do well vs. American League teams, but the team got revenge for losing two games to the Mariners early in May in Philadelphia.
Once ace Felix (King) Hernandez looked like a shell of himself yesterday after a recent arm injury. Seattle isn't catching Houston in American League West ( no one is). The Mariners best hope is for the wild card. They are currently 3 games out of a wild card spot. The loser of the Yankees and Red Sox should grab one of the berths. I can't see Minnesota staying near the top of AL Central. Seattle can hit, but I'm not sure they have what it takes to make a sustained playoff run. Losing two straight to the worst team ni baseball can't help.
The Phils move on to New York for a weekend series with the Mets. They haven't had much luck against the Mets in recent years, but this Mets team is racked with injuries and not themselves anymore. They remain 11 1/2 games behind Washington in NL East.
As the All-Star Game draws near, the unofficial halfway point in the season, despite the dreadful season this has been for the Phillies- still on a pace to lose 110 games or more- some interesting stories are starting to develop:
* Tommy Joseph. He is having a good year, hitting around .260 with 13 homers. Is till think Joseph is nothing more than a good to average major league player, but he is a fighter and seems to be one of the few guys on this team that cares. I still want to see hot-prospect Rhys Hoskins soon, but two things can happen with Joseph now:
Either he is traded in the off-season, and if he continues to hit, should bring back a decent package in a trade, or, move Joseph to left field. I see him as a Pat Burrell- type, power with defensive flaws in the outfield. Why can't the Phillies look ahead and start playing Joseph in left field this summer? You've got nothing to lose, and rather then wait for winter ball or spring training, why not see what Joseph can do in left field now?
* Mychael Franco. I wouldn't give up on him yet. He's still young (24), has power and is better-than-average with the glove at third base. Plus his hitting woes may be effecting his defense. You don't have a capable replacement at third, either at the major league roster or even on the farm. Manny Machado of Baltimore won't be a free agent until after the 2018 campaign. So, I would play it out with Franco. If he needs to demote to Lehigh Valley to clear his head, so be it. I just don't feel a stint at Lehigh Valley is the answer right now.
* Howie Kendrick- Looks like he is broken down from a hamstring issue several weeks ago. He continues to hit, but he is a liability at second or in the outfield now. If Health, he is trade bait in July.
Speaking of which, Kendrick, Nava, Hellickson and Neshek should all go by the July 31 trade deadline. Other regular names- Herrera, Rupp, Joseph- can be addressing in the off-season.
* Hector Neris. He is now making his case to be the long-term answer as the closer. It's do or die for Neris now. He's not going back to the 8th inning as set-up guy unless the Phils trade for a closer in the off-season. Guys like Neshek and Ramos and Benoit have tried to hands at the closer role and have failed. So, I would ride it out for the rest of the summer with Neris and then address the bullpen situation later.
* I look at the Phillies schedule the rest of the way: they play 16 of 19 games at Citizens Bank Park in September, imagine if the team was in a pennant race. ).The LA Dodgers, currently sizzling-hot and leading NL West, visit in September for 4 games. It's sad that the Phillies will be mercifully playing out the string by the.n. Hopefully some of the kids at Lehigh Valley will be up with the big club by then, giving the fans a reason to watch.
My concern is the GM Matt Klentak will keep the Lehigh Valley squad together for as long as he could in order for the Iron Pigs to have a fighting chance in their playoffs. A noble reward for players who have played and came through the ranks together, seeking a championship . But what good does a minor league crown do for Phillies' fans? You an say being a winner would translate to winning in Philly soon,having a taste of success.
So, instead of bringing the kids up in August for a good two-moth look-see and giving the loyal fans a reason to care, I can easily see the ultra-conservative Phillies front office holding down the kids until mid-September.
* Pitching should be a major concern heading into 2018. Who can you really count on in the rotation now? All have been wildly inconsistent. There is no true ace. They ar eall no. 3-4 or 5 guys, pitchers such as Nola, Pivitta and Eichoff. Valaquez, Efflin and Thompson are all mysteries.
I think the Phillies will have a better offense once Hoskins, Couzins and Kingery get to Philly.I worry about the pitching, and help via free agency and trades is paramount this off-season.
* If the teams continues to lose and secures the overall no. 1 selection in the June 2018 draft, hopefully there is an ace-like, top of the rotation type guy out there to be had. Sounds like the power arms in the Phillies' farm system now ar eall at lower A-ball, which means a young guy like Sixto Sanchez, who consistently clocks in the mid to high 90s on the gun, won't be here until 2019-2020.
Clayton Kershaw is a name to remember after the 2018 season in free agency. Kershaw would give them a chance to win every 5 days. Add a Cole Hamels ( if he opts out of his contract in Texas after next season), and now you've suddenly got stability at the top of the rotation.
SIXERS-
Free agency starts this Saturday, July 1. Rumors are swirling that the Sixers have interest in J. J. Reddick ( they desperately need a shooter) and former 76'er Andre Iguodala.
Of course, Reddick would bring the legitimate 3-point threat to the line-up. Imagine Markette Fultz driving the lane, dumping off to a Joel Embiid, who then dumps off the a wide open Reddick for a can't-miss jumper?
In Iggy you know what you've got- a good defender with a so-so shot. Iguodala would need to know his role on the Sixers, and he has always been better as a complimentary player, not as "the man." Play him on the second unit with Sarac and Holmes and McConnell and all of a sudden you have a burst of energy from the bench.
PHILLY KIDS-
The atmosphere in Philadelphia sports in the last few years has been at an all-time gloomy low. But think of the young, bright lights on the horizon. There is hope.
Scott Kingery sounds like an exciting, hard-nosed, Chase Utley-type grinder at second base.I can't wait to see him in Philly, if not this summer then certainly in 2018.
Joel Embiid is fun, talented, smart, young, and dynamic. If only he can stay healthy, he could own Philadelphia. From his Shirley Temples to his Twitter proclamations ("Raise the Cat") to his quirky personality ( dancing shirtless on stage at a hip-hop concert) to his dunks and 3-point shooting, he oozes style and uniqueness and fun.
Ben Simmons we don't know about because he hasn't played even a minute of NBA basketball. He could be great, as he showed at LSU with his passing and ability to jump and athleticism in getting to the basket, or he could be an over-rated stiff, another Shawn Bradley, a guy with loads of unfulfilled potential. We just don't know. Since he refuses to play in the summer league, and we are still not sure of any restrictions on his minutes once the season begins, we still won't know.
Nolan Patrick.Only 18, the recent Flyers top pick, by all accounts will be a solid starter for the Orange and Black, if only GM Ron Hextall lets him make the team and play. The Flyers have a bunch of so-so players now. They need a superstar. I'm not sure if Patrick is that guy. He's no Connor McDavid, but the Flyers really need a star to emerge.
Carson Wentz. Going into his second year, with added weapons around him in Jeffery and Smith, it's time for Wentz to take root and blossom into the quarterback star the Eagles hope to build around for the next 10-12 years. The Birds have playoff and Super Bowl hopes for the foreseeable future because of Wentz. NFL quarterback is probably the most important position in all of sports, and the Eagles finally hope to have a guy that can take them to the promised land.
No more pretenders like Foles, Bradford and Kolb. No more bums like Brister, Sanchez and Young. Finally, the Eagles have a quarterback worthy of Cunningham and McNabb.Wentz' sophomore year will be big, as he is the franchise. If he shines, the organization moves up a level toward greatness. if he fails, the entire franchise is doomed to mediocrity and hopelessness for another generation.
Markelle Fultz. The Sixers' recent no. 1 draft pick is mature, talented and brings hope and excitement to a team that has been losing for so long. Suddenly, because of Fultz and Embiid and Simmons, Philly is excited ( 14,000 season ticket have been sold already) and can't wait to see Fultz, the consensus best player in this draft.
Playing in far-away Washington, and not playing in the NCAA tournament this year, Fultz is a little bit of a mystery. But, form the highlights, he brings quickness, speed, good shooting and overall game to his point guard position, a need for the Sixers. And he is only 19.
Rhys Hoskins. Out of all the prospects in Lehigh Valley, I'm looking forward to seeing the young first baseman the most. He's got raw power, but he's disciplined at the plate. He gets on base, takes walks and doen't strike-out a lot for a power hitter. He brings much-needed hope to a Phillies line-up thirsting for power and stability.
OTHER-
Finally, love him or hate him columnist Marcus Hayes of the Daily News always is interesting I don't always agree with his opinions, but at least he thinks out of the box and gives his strong opinion, one way or another. He's not wishy-washy like many of the current, young writers and media in town.
I miss the days of Hochman, Lyon and Conlin. Those days are long gone Ray Didinger remains one of the lone writers of those days.. Today, the media is geared toward Twitter blurbs, podcasts and blogs, not well-thought-out, investigative stories like the old days.
Hayes brings some of the old to his articles. And whether you agree or disagree he is must-read now, and I find myself checking him out, even if I disagree with the headlight.
We need more of Marcus Hayes covering Philly sports.
* PHILLIES-
Give the Phillies credit for sweeping the brief, two-game series against the Mariners in Seattle. Normally, the Phillies don't do well vs. American League teams, but the team got revenge for losing two games to the Mariners early in May in Philadelphia.
Once ace Felix (King) Hernandez looked like a shell of himself yesterday after a recent arm injury. Seattle isn't catching Houston in American League West ( no one is). The Mariners best hope is for the wild card. They are currently 3 games out of a wild card spot. The loser of the Yankees and Red Sox should grab one of the berths. I can't see Minnesota staying near the top of AL Central. Seattle can hit, but I'm not sure they have what it takes to make a sustained playoff run. Losing two straight to the worst team ni baseball can't help.
The Phils move on to New York for a weekend series with the Mets. They haven't had much luck against the Mets in recent years, but this Mets team is racked with injuries and not themselves anymore. They remain 11 1/2 games behind Washington in NL East.
As the All-Star Game draws near, the unofficial halfway point in the season, despite the dreadful season this has been for the Phillies- still on a pace to lose 110 games or more- some interesting stories are starting to develop:
* Tommy Joseph. He is having a good year, hitting around .260 with 13 homers. Is till think Joseph is nothing more than a good to average major league player, but he is a fighter and seems to be one of the few guys on this team that cares. I still want to see hot-prospect Rhys Hoskins soon, but two things can happen with Joseph now:
Either he is traded in the off-season, and if he continues to hit, should bring back a decent package in a trade, or, move Joseph to left field. I see him as a Pat Burrell- type, power with defensive flaws in the outfield. Why can't the Phillies look ahead and start playing Joseph in left field this summer? You've got nothing to lose, and rather then wait for winter ball or spring training, why not see what Joseph can do in left field now?
* Mychael Franco. I wouldn't give up on him yet. He's still young (24), has power and is better-than-average with the glove at third base. Plus his hitting woes may be effecting his defense. You don't have a capable replacement at third, either at the major league roster or even on the farm. Manny Machado of Baltimore won't be a free agent until after the 2018 campaign. So, I would play it out with Franco. If he needs to demote to Lehigh Valley to clear his head, so be it. I just don't feel a stint at Lehigh Valley is the answer right now.
* Howie Kendrick- Looks like he is broken down from a hamstring issue several weeks ago. He continues to hit, but he is a liability at second or in the outfield now. If Health, he is trade bait in July.
Speaking of which, Kendrick, Nava, Hellickson and Neshek should all go by the July 31 trade deadline. Other regular names- Herrera, Rupp, Joseph- can be addressing in the off-season.
* Hector Neris. He is now making his case to be the long-term answer as the closer. It's do or die for Neris now. He's not going back to the 8th inning as set-up guy unless the Phils trade for a closer in the off-season. Guys like Neshek and Ramos and Benoit have tried to hands at the closer role and have failed. So, I would ride it out for the rest of the summer with Neris and then address the bullpen situation later.
* I look at the Phillies schedule the rest of the way: they play 16 of 19 games at Citizens Bank Park in September, imagine if the team was in a pennant race. ).The LA Dodgers, currently sizzling-hot and leading NL West, visit in September for 4 games. It's sad that the Phillies will be mercifully playing out the string by the.n. Hopefully some of the kids at Lehigh Valley will be up with the big club by then, giving the fans a reason to watch.
My concern is the GM Matt Klentak will keep the Lehigh Valley squad together for as long as he could in order for the Iron Pigs to have a fighting chance in their playoffs. A noble reward for players who have played and came through the ranks together, seeking a championship . But what good does a minor league crown do for Phillies' fans? You an say being a winner would translate to winning in Philly soon,having a taste of success.
So, instead of bringing the kids up in August for a good two-moth look-see and giving the loyal fans a reason to care, I can easily see the ultra-conservative Phillies front office holding down the kids until mid-September.
* Pitching should be a major concern heading into 2018. Who can you really count on in the rotation now? All have been wildly inconsistent. There is no true ace. They ar eall no. 3-4 or 5 guys, pitchers such as Nola, Pivitta and Eichoff. Valaquez, Efflin and Thompson are all mysteries.
I think the Phillies will have a better offense once Hoskins, Couzins and Kingery get to Philly.I worry about the pitching, and help via free agency and trades is paramount this off-season.
* If the teams continues to lose and secures the overall no. 1 selection in the June 2018 draft, hopefully there is an ace-like, top of the rotation type guy out there to be had. Sounds like the power arms in the Phillies' farm system now ar eall at lower A-ball, which means a young guy like Sixto Sanchez, who consistently clocks in the mid to high 90s on the gun, won't be here until 2019-2020.
Clayton Kershaw is a name to remember after the 2018 season in free agency. Kershaw would give them a chance to win every 5 days. Add a Cole Hamels ( if he opts out of his contract in Texas after next season), and now you've suddenly got stability at the top of the rotation.
SIXERS-
Free agency starts this Saturday, July 1. Rumors are swirling that the Sixers have interest in J. J. Reddick ( they desperately need a shooter) and former 76'er Andre Iguodala.
Of course, Reddick would bring the legitimate 3-point threat to the line-up. Imagine Markette Fultz driving the lane, dumping off to a Joel Embiid, who then dumps off the a wide open Reddick for a can't-miss jumper?
In Iggy you know what you've got- a good defender with a so-so shot. Iguodala would need to know his role on the Sixers, and he has always been better as a complimentary player, not as "the man." Play him on the second unit with Sarac and Holmes and McConnell and all of a sudden you have a burst of energy from the bench.
PHILLY KIDS-
The atmosphere in Philadelphia sports in the last few years has been at an all-time gloomy low. But think of the young, bright lights on the horizon. There is hope.
Scott Kingery sounds like an exciting, hard-nosed, Chase Utley-type grinder at second base.I can't wait to see him in Philly, if not this summer then certainly in 2018.
Joel Embiid is fun, talented, smart, young, and dynamic. If only he can stay healthy, he could own Philadelphia. From his Shirley Temples to his Twitter proclamations ("Raise the Cat") to his quirky personality ( dancing shirtless on stage at a hip-hop concert) to his dunks and 3-point shooting, he oozes style and uniqueness and fun.
Ben Simmons we don't know about because he hasn't played even a minute of NBA basketball. He could be great, as he showed at LSU with his passing and ability to jump and athleticism in getting to the basket, or he could be an over-rated stiff, another Shawn Bradley, a guy with loads of unfulfilled potential. We just don't know. Since he refuses to play in the summer league, and we are still not sure of any restrictions on his minutes once the season begins, we still won't know.
Nolan Patrick.Only 18, the recent Flyers top pick, by all accounts will be a solid starter for the Orange and Black, if only GM Ron Hextall lets him make the team and play. The Flyers have a bunch of so-so players now. They need a superstar. I'm not sure if Patrick is that guy. He's no Connor McDavid, but the Flyers really need a star to emerge.
Carson Wentz. Going into his second year, with added weapons around him in Jeffery and Smith, it's time for Wentz to take root and blossom into the quarterback star the Eagles hope to build around for the next 10-12 years. The Birds have playoff and Super Bowl hopes for the foreseeable future because of Wentz. NFL quarterback is probably the most important position in all of sports, and the Eagles finally hope to have a guy that can take them to the promised land.
No more pretenders like Foles, Bradford and Kolb. No more bums like Brister, Sanchez and Young. Finally, the Eagles have a quarterback worthy of Cunningham and McNabb.Wentz' sophomore year will be big, as he is the franchise. If he shines, the organization moves up a level toward greatness. if he fails, the entire franchise is doomed to mediocrity and hopelessness for another generation.
Markelle Fultz. The Sixers' recent no. 1 draft pick is mature, talented and brings hope and excitement to a team that has been losing for so long. Suddenly, because of Fultz and Embiid and Simmons, Philly is excited ( 14,000 season ticket have been sold already) and can't wait to see Fultz, the consensus best player in this draft.
Playing in far-away Washington, and not playing in the NCAA tournament this year, Fultz is a little bit of a mystery. But, form the highlights, he brings quickness, speed, good shooting and overall game to his point guard position, a need for the Sixers. And he is only 19.
Rhys Hoskins. Out of all the prospects in Lehigh Valley, I'm looking forward to seeing the young first baseman the most. He's got raw power, but he's disciplined at the plate. He gets on base, takes walks and doen't strike-out a lot for a power hitter. He brings much-needed hope to a Phillies line-up thirsting for power and stability.
OTHER-
Finally, love him or hate him columnist Marcus Hayes of the Daily News always is interesting I don't always agree with his opinions, but at least he thinks out of the box and gives his strong opinion, one way or another. He's not wishy-washy like many of the current, young writers and media in town.
I miss the days of Hochman, Lyon and Conlin. Those days are long gone Ray Didinger remains one of the lone writers of those days.. Today, the media is geared toward Twitter blurbs, podcasts and blogs, not well-thought-out, investigative stories like the old days.
Hayes brings some of the old to his articles. And whether you agree or disagree he is must-read now, and I find myself checking him out, even if I disagree with the headlight.
We need more of Marcus Hayes covering Philly sports.
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
IN THE NEWS- PLAYGROUND OFFERS KIDS WITH ASD A SPACE OF THEIR OWN
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette...
A new play area in Zelienople may look like a regular playground, but for the kids at Glade Run Lutheran Services it is so much more.
The playground, which had its public grand opening this week, is one of less than a dozen in the country designed specifically with children who have autism in mind.
:As there are more and more kids being diagnosed ( with an autism spectrum disorder(, it's more and more important for us to have an appropriate environment for them," said Sheila Talarico, executive director of the Glade Run Foundation.
The playground first opened for about 60 students in the autism program at St. Stephens Lutheran Academy in May. But on a recent afternoon, a dozen kifd from Glade Run's specialized adventure camp for children with autism, explored the area, some running straight to the Jacob's ladder and others to the swings.
Even an afternoon shower couldn't dampen their curiosity as a group of five kids took shelter in the fort,occasionally volunteering one of their peers to brave the rain and fetch ripe blueberries from the bushes lining the fences.
Those blueberries, Talarico said, are part of what sets the playground apart most.
The fruit bushes are just one of the many uses of nature in the design. Day lilies, lavender and rosemary plants are clustered near the beaches and other quiet area.
"Every child with autism is so different," said Christopher Smith, program manager of Autism Educational Services at Glade Run Lutheran Services, a non-profit that provides educational, mental health, autism and cultural services to more than 3,000 individuals every year.
For this reason, Smith said, the park is geared toward providing more or less money sensory output, depending on a child's needs. The plants can be calming while also engaging the senses.
On the flip side, loud noises, bright colors and a lot of activity- all common to most playgrounds- can cause sensory input overload for some children . so the playground was designed without bright colors, Talarico said,
Smith also said children with autism often have the feeling of an added heaviness on their joints and muscles so a lot of the equipment provides relief by helping them stretch out..
Bobble riders, for example, are designed for two people to ride opposite of each other , almost like a teeter-totter, while improving balance, coordination and upper and lower body strength.
The play area, which is about the size of half a football field, also encourages socialization because many of the pieces of equipment require at least two people to operate, Talarico said.
"The culture has improved tenfold since the sensory playground was put into place," said Smith, who added he has noticed a decrease in negative behavior since the space allows kids who tend to be more aggressive to let off steam by running around the circular pathway in the center of the park-like area or to find a quiet place to sit and calm down.
"in a typical playground, kids and adults might be less accepting of the behavior of kids with autism," Talarico said. But here, this is not the case.
Karey Day, the mother of 8-year-old Evan, who attends St. Stephens and the day camp, said the quiet places are especially beneficial to her son.
"he has trouble getting along with other children and...here there are places for him to go to get away from different stresses," said Day. "Glade Run has helped my child a lot, and this is just another bonus".
The playground was funded primarily by donations from individuals, corporations and congregations
The park is open and free to the public from 4 to 8 p.m. on weekdays and on weekends by reservation.
A new play area in Zelienople may look like a regular playground, but for the kids at Glade Run Lutheran Services it is so much more.
The playground, which had its public grand opening this week, is one of less than a dozen in the country designed specifically with children who have autism in mind.
:As there are more and more kids being diagnosed ( with an autism spectrum disorder(, it's more and more important for us to have an appropriate environment for them," said Sheila Talarico, executive director of the Glade Run Foundation.
The playground first opened for about 60 students in the autism program at St. Stephens Lutheran Academy in May. But on a recent afternoon, a dozen kifd from Glade Run's specialized adventure camp for children with autism, explored the area, some running straight to the Jacob's ladder and others to the swings.
Even an afternoon shower couldn't dampen their curiosity as a group of five kids took shelter in the fort,occasionally volunteering one of their peers to brave the rain and fetch ripe blueberries from the bushes lining the fences.
Those blueberries, Talarico said, are part of what sets the playground apart most.
The fruit bushes are just one of the many uses of nature in the design. Day lilies, lavender and rosemary plants are clustered near the beaches and other quiet area.
"Every child with autism is so different," said Christopher Smith, program manager of Autism Educational Services at Glade Run Lutheran Services, a non-profit that provides educational, mental health, autism and cultural services to more than 3,000 individuals every year.
For this reason, Smith said, the park is geared toward providing more or less money sensory output, depending on a child's needs. The plants can be calming while also engaging the senses.
On the flip side, loud noises, bright colors and a lot of activity- all common to most playgrounds- can cause sensory input overload for some children . so the playground was designed without bright colors, Talarico said,
Smith also said children with autism often have the feeling of an added heaviness on their joints and muscles so a lot of the equipment provides relief by helping them stretch out..
Bobble riders, for example, are designed for two people to ride opposite of each other , almost like a teeter-totter, while improving balance, coordination and upper and lower body strength.
The play area, which is about the size of half a football field, also encourages socialization because many of the pieces of equipment require at least two people to operate, Talarico said.
"The culture has improved tenfold since the sensory playground was put into place," said Smith, who added he has noticed a decrease in negative behavior since the space allows kids who tend to be more aggressive to let off steam by running around the circular pathway in the center of the park-like area or to find a quiet place to sit and calm down.
"in a typical playground, kids and adults might be less accepting of the behavior of kids with autism," Talarico said. But here, this is not the case.
Karey Day, the mother of 8-year-old Evan, who attends St. Stephens and the day camp, said the quiet places are especially beneficial to her son.
"he has trouble getting along with other children and...here there are places for him to go to get away from different stresses," said Day. "Glade Run has helped my child a lot, and this is just another bonus".
The playground was funded primarily by donations from individuals, corporations and congregations
The park is open and free to the public from 4 to 8 p.m. on weekdays and on weekends by reservation.
SPORTS QUIZ
Today's category is: OLD-TIME BASEBALL.
1. Who was the first man to have the Hall of Fame waiting period waived?
2. What ballpark would you be in if you saw a home run hit onto Waveland Avenue?
3. Who was on deck when Bobby Thompson hit his dramatic 1951 home run for the New York Giants?
4. What ballpark was the site of New York Yankees home games in the 1974 and 1975 seasons?
5. Who scored major league baseball's one-millionth run, on May 6, 1975?
6. What longtime manager noted: "You don't save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it may rain"?
7. What university did Reggie Jackson play college ball for?
8. What legendary slugger compiled aa lifetime .483 on-base percentage, highest in major league history, during his 19-year career?
9. What National League infielder lost the tips of four fingers in a power saw accident in 1979?
10. What National League ball park was once known as Weeghman Park?
ANSWERS-
1. Lou Gehrig
2. Wrigley Field
3. Willie Mays
4. Shea Stadium
5. Bob Watson
6. Leo Durocher
7. Arizona State
8. Ted Williams
9. Roger Metzger
10. Wrigley Field
1. Who was the first man to have the Hall of Fame waiting period waived?
2. What ballpark would you be in if you saw a home run hit onto Waveland Avenue?
3. Who was on deck when Bobby Thompson hit his dramatic 1951 home run for the New York Giants?
4. What ballpark was the site of New York Yankees home games in the 1974 and 1975 seasons?
5. Who scored major league baseball's one-millionth run, on May 6, 1975?
6. What longtime manager noted: "You don't save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it may rain"?
7. What university did Reggie Jackson play college ball for?
8. What legendary slugger compiled aa lifetime .483 on-base percentage, highest in major league history, during his 19-year career?
9. What National League infielder lost the tips of four fingers in a power saw accident in 1979?
10. What National League ball park was once known as Weeghman Park?
ANSWERS-
1. Lou Gehrig
2. Wrigley Field
3. Willie Mays
4. Shea Stadium
5. Bob Watson
6. Leo Durocher
7. Arizona State
8. Ted Williams
9. Roger Metzger
10. Wrigley Field
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
IN THE NEWS- WITH BILLIONS IN PROPOSED CUTS, MEDICAID WAIVERS MAY BE AT RISK
From Disability Scoop..
The health care proposal in the U.S. Senate would slash $772 billion from Medicaid in the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office said, seriously compromising services for people with disabilities.
The nonpartisan budget office said this week that, if adopted, the Senate bill will trigger continuing disparities in federal support for Medicaid.
By 2026, annual spending on the program would be 26 percent lower than under current policy, according to the projections. And that gap would continue to compound over time.
"Despite the uncertainty, the direction of certain effects of this legislation is clear. For example, the amount of federal revenues collected and the amount of spending on Medicaid would almost surely both be lower than under current law," the Congressional Budget Office found.
The cuts would be especially significant to people with disabilities who represent just 15 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries, but account for 42 percent of the program's costs, according to the kaiser Family Foundation. In addition to traditional health care services like doctor and hospital visits, Medicaid provides assistance for people with disabilities to live and work in the community.
Both the Senate bill and a version passed by the House of Representatives in May call for historic changes to Medicaid. Traditionally, the program has operated as an entitlement meaning services are provided to anyone who meets eligibility requirements, with the federal government providing matching grants to states to help cover the cost.
under the Republican plans, however, Medicaid would shift to a per capita cap system where the federal government would provide a fixed amount for each beneficiary no matter how much their care truly costs. States would be left to make up the difference.
"With less federal reimbursement for Medicaid, states would need to decide whether to commit more of their own resources to finance the program at current-law levels or to reduce spending by cutting payments to health care providers and health plans, eliminating optional services, restricting eligibility for enrollment through work requirements and other changes or (to the extent feasible) arriving at more efficient methods for delivering services," the Congressional Budget Office determined.
States would likely resort to a "mix of those approaches." the budget office said.
Disability advocates have warned that home and community-based services for people with disabilities would be the first to go because they are considered optional under Medicaid policy.
"Hundreds of billions of dollars of cuts in Medicaid are never acceptable," said Julia Bascom, executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, who indicated that the budget office's projections are just the tip of the iceberg.
"If you look at the bill, you can see they've hidden the deepest cuts in the years following CBO's 10-year window," Bascom said. "People with disabilities cannot afford this bill."
The health care proposal in the U.S. Senate would slash $772 billion from Medicaid in the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office said, seriously compromising services for people with disabilities.
The nonpartisan budget office said this week that, if adopted, the Senate bill will trigger continuing disparities in federal support for Medicaid.
By 2026, annual spending on the program would be 26 percent lower than under current policy, according to the projections. And that gap would continue to compound over time.
"Despite the uncertainty, the direction of certain effects of this legislation is clear. For example, the amount of federal revenues collected and the amount of spending on Medicaid would almost surely both be lower than under current law," the Congressional Budget Office found.
The cuts would be especially significant to people with disabilities who represent just 15 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries, but account for 42 percent of the program's costs, according to the kaiser Family Foundation. In addition to traditional health care services like doctor and hospital visits, Medicaid provides assistance for people with disabilities to live and work in the community.
Both the Senate bill and a version passed by the House of Representatives in May call for historic changes to Medicaid. Traditionally, the program has operated as an entitlement meaning services are provided to anyone who meets eligibility requirements, with the federal government providing matching grants to states to help cover the cost.
under the Republican plans, however, Medicaid would shift to a per capita cap system where the federal government would provide a fixed amount for each beneficiary no matter how much their care truly costs. States would be left to make up the difference.
"With less federal reimbursement for Medicaid, states would need to decide whether to commit more of their own resources to finance the program at current-law levels or to reduce spending by cutting payments to health care providers and health plans, eliminating optional services, restricting eligibility for enrollment through work requirements and other changes or (to the extent feasible) arriving at more efficient methods for delivering services," the Congressional Budget Office determined.
States would likely resort to a "mix of those approaches." the budget office said.
Disability advocates have warned that home and community-based services for people with disabilities would be the first to go because they are considered optional under Medicaid policy.
"Hundreds of billions of dollars of cuts in Medicaid are never acceptable," said Julia Bascom, executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, who indicated that the budget office's projections are just the tip of the iceberg.
"If you look at the bill, you can see they've hidden the deepest cuts in the years following CBO's 10-year window," Bascom said. "People with disabilities cannot afford this bill."
SPORTS QUIZ
The Sports Quiz today is all about: ALL SPORTS
1. How many times did Sugar Ray Robinson box Jake (Raging Bull) LaMotta?
2. What did Don Larsen's wife do the day he pitched his World Series perfect game?
3. Who was the first quarterback to score a Super Bowl touchdown?
4. What was Oakland A's pitcher Catfish Hunter's real first name?
5. What basketball star said he chose No. 53 because he was born on the 53rd of November?
6. What San Francisco Giants slugger slammed 46 homers the same season Roger Maris belted his 61 in 1961?
7. What was the first team to lose the first two games of an NBA final and come back to win the title?
8. What other sport did speed skater Beth Heiden win a world championship in?
9. What was the only major tennis championship to elude Bjorn Borg?
10. Who was the NBA rookie of the year in Magic Johnson's first season>
ANSWERS-
1. 6
2. She filed for divorce
3. Fran Tarkenton
4. Jim
5. Darryl Dawkins
6. Orlando Cepeda
7. Boston Celtics\
8. Cycling
9. U.S. Open
10. Larry Bird
1. How many times did Sugar Ray Robinson box Jake (Raging Bull) LaMotta?
2. What did Don Larsen's wife do the day he pitched his World Series perfect game?
3. Who was the first quarterback to score a Super Bowl touchdown?
4. What was Oakland A's pitcher Catfish Hunter's real first name?
5. What basketball star said he chose No. 53 because he was born on the 53rd of November?
6. What San Francisco Giants slugger slammed 46 homers the same season Roger Maris belted his 61 in 1961?
7. What was the first team to lose the first two games of an NBA final and come back to win the title?
8. What other sport did speed skater Beth Heiden win a world championship in?
9. What was the only major tennis championship to elude Bjorn Borg?
10. Who was the NBA rookie of the year in Magic Johnson's first season>
ANSWERS-
1. 6
2. She filed for divorce
3. Fran Tarkenton
4. Jim
5. Darryl Dawkins
6. Orlando Cepeda
7. Boston Celtics\
8. Cycling
9. U.S. Open
10. Larry Bird
PHILLY SPORTS CORNER
The latest in Philly sports..
SIXERS-
* Neither Dario Saaec or Joel Emiied won the Rookie of the Year award last night. Milwaukee's Malcolm Brogdon did, even though he averaged less points per game and did not win Rookie Player of the Month last season.
Ironically, the Sixers should have two more shots at that award this year, with Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz contending.
* Speculation about the starting line-up. If healthy, Embiid stars at center, with Fultz and Simmons and Covington sure-fire starters. The final slot should go to a free agent signing, maybe a J.J> Reddick, someone who can shoot and stretch the floor when Embiid and Simmons kick the ball out.
One interesting name floating around is former Sixer and Laker Lou Williams as a bench player. He would give you instant offense off the bench. Along with Holmes, Sarac and McConnell, the second unit would be strong.
* All eyes will be on the upcoming schedule release. When will LA and Lonzo Ball come in? Will the Sixers be showcased on any profile dates, such as Christmas Day? Of course, games against Golden State, Cleveland and Boston will always be special.
Also of interest will be the number of back-to-back games Philly plays. Will Embiid and Simmons play together then, or one on each back-to-back games? Coach Brown will have some intriguing decisions to make, depending on health and minutes restriction imposed by the Sixers doctors.
Getting off to a good start is always a key, developing confidence will be important for such a young team on the rise.
PHILLIES-
* Odubel Herrera....I said last summer that the Phillies would regret giving Herrera a contract extension. He wasn't consistent enough back then, and he had not hustled 100 percent of the time last summer. A big front office mistake.
Now he is making several mental ans lackadaisical mistakes every week. He just doesn't seem to get it or care, no matter how much the coaches talk to him.
Funny, the manager seems to have a communication problem with Herrera. He almost seems afraid f Herrera, fearful if he hurts the player's feelings that Herrera will have checked out
There continue to be no consequences for Herrera's bad behavior. Yesterday , again, he failed to run out a tapper in front of home plate with two men on base. Instead of pulling him from the game- 1st inning or not- Mackanin allowed Herrera to continue to play.
Herrera's laziness should've been dealt with earlier in the season. Now, it seems like Herrera and other young players are pushing the limits and doing whatever they want.
Herrera will never be a special player. He has the tools, talent galore. He can run, hit and plays decent center field. He makes scatterbrain plays on the base paths and is wildly inconsistent at the plate, often swinging at bad pitches in the dirt or above eye level.
He is annoying with his stupid bat-flips, but there hasn't been many of those lately, not with the way Herrera is not getting on base.
An interesting theory floating around is that the Phillies' front office is trying to trade Herrera, thus they are showcasing him for a deal down the road.
I hope so. I could easily see an outfield consisting of Tommy Joseph or Nick Williams in left, Altherr in center and Dylan Couzins in right.
Herrera's bad attitude is like a losing, negative cancer on the team. Other immature players see how Herrera plays and also see no consequences for such laziness, so they are trying to get away with it too.You don't want the up-and-coming kids form Lehigh Valley to start to take on Herrera's personality. So, in that way, maybe the really bright stars in Lehigh Valley should not be promoted just yet into this toxic atmosphere.
Herrera's trade value may not be at it's highest right now, so, bad attitude or not, it may behoove the front office to keep him until after the season is over, then aggressively shop him around Baseball.
* Speaking of which, 2B Scott Kingery finally jumped up to triple-A Lehigh Valley. He went 1 for 5 in his first game, making two spectacular defensive plays in the 5-4 10 inning Iron Pigs loss to Pawtucket.
With the snails' pace the Phillies farm system generally proceeds I wouldn't hold my breath about seeing Kingery in Philadelphia until maybe September. Certainly he should compete for a job in spring training. He, along with Hoskins, Couzins, Alfaro and Williams.
* Freddie Galvis may not get on base as much as anyone would like. But he plays a mean shortstop and he cares. He is one of the few Phillies- players or coaches- who has passion about baseball and takes this losing season really hard. After another loss yesterday, Galvis spoke out again, his frustration boiling over, especially about the topic of playing hard.
You don't need talent to play hard. That should be the philosophy of baseball players at any level, form Little League to high school to college and pro ball. Hustle and play hard. I agree with Galvis. The team isn't good enough yet to win many games. But dammit, you're getting paid well to play a kid's game, at least try and care about winning, losing and most of all, have some pride in the way you play and conduct yourself, on and off the field.
I'm not sure what will happen to Fredie in the future. He is 27, and his offense probably won't improve much. J.P> Crawford may emerge from his prolonged slump and become the hot prospect he once was. Or another shortstop could be found. To me, you bat Galvis 8th, live with his offensive production, cherish his glove-work, and take his winning, caring attitude everyday and build on that.
* Unless Pete Mackanin starts being more of a disciplinarian during the second half of 2017, I would expect him to go, especially with the team destined to lose 110 games. Larry Bowa would provide leadership and fire as an interim manager. Lehigh Valley manager Dusty Warthen would be the leading long-time answer, especially since he manged the core players such as Hoskins and Alfaro, at both Reading and Lehigh Valley.
Some thing has to change and someone needs to take responsibility for the massive decline. Klentak deserves the majority of the blame, but unless Andy MacPhail or John Middleton pull the plug on Klentak, it will be Mackanin and his coaching staff who will take the fall for this ugly season.'
And just think- there are 4 full months to go.
SIXERS-
* Neither Dario Saaec or Joel Emiied won the Rookie of the Year award last night. Milwaukee's Malcolm Brogdon did, even though he averaged less points per game and did not win Rookie Player of the Month last season.
Ironically, the Sixers should have two more shots at that award this year, with Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz contending.
* Speculation about the starting line-up. If healthy, Embiid stars at center, with Fultz and Simmons and Covington sure-fire starters. The final slot should go to a free agent signing, maybe a J.J> Reddick, someone who can shoot and stretch the floor when Embiid and Simmons kick the ball out.
One interesting name floating around is former Sixer and Laker Lou Williams as a bench player. He would give you instant offense off the bench. Along with Holmes, Sarac and McConnell, the second unit would be strong.
* All eyes will be on the upcoming schedule release. When will LA and Lonzo Ball come in? Will the Sixers be showcased on any profile dates, such as Christmas Day? Of course, games against Golden State, Cleveland and Boston will always be special.
Also of interest will be the number of back-to-back games Philly plays. Will Embiid and Simmons play together then, or one on each back-to-back games? Coach Brown will have some intriguing decisions to make, depending on health and minutes restriction imposed by the Sixers doctors.
Getting off to a good start is always a key, developing confidence will be important for such a young team on the rise.
PHILLIES-
* Odubel Herrera....I said last summer that the Phillies would regret giving Herrera a contract extension. He wasn't consistent enough back then, and he had not hustled 100 percent of the time last summer. A big front office mistake.
Now he is making several mental ans lackadaisical mistakes every week. He just doesn't seem to get it or care, no matter how much the coaches talk to him.
Funny, the manager seems to have a communication problem with Herrera. He almost seems afraid f Herrera, fearful if he hurts the player's feelings that Herrera will have checked out
There continue to be no consequences for Herrera's bad behavior. Yesterday , again, he failed to run out a tapper in front of home plate with two men on base. Instead of pulling him from the game- 1st inning or not- Mackanin allowed Herrera to continue to play.
Herrera's laziness should've been dealt with earlier in the season. Now, it seems like Herrera and other young players are pushing the limits and doing whatever they want.
Herrera will never be a special player. He has the tools, talent galore. He can run, hit and plays decent center field. He makes scatterbrain plays on the base paths and is wildly inconsistent at the plate, often swinging at bad pitches in the dirt or above eye level.
He is annoying with his stupid bat-flips, but there hasn't been many of those lately, not with the way Herrera is not getting on base.
An interesting theory floating around is that the Phillies' front office is trying to trade Herrera, thus they are showcasing him for a deal down the road.
I hope so. I could easily see an outfield consisting of Tommy Joseph or Nick Williams in left, Altherr in center and Dylan Couzins in right.
Herrera's bad attitude is like a losing, negative cancer on the team. Other immature players see how Herrera plays and also see no consequences for such laziness, so they are trying to get away with it too.You don't want the up-and-coming kids form Lehigh Valley to start to take on Herrera's personality. So, in that way, maybe the really bright stars in Lehigh Valley should not be promoted just yet into this toxic atmosphere.
Herrera's trade value may not be at it's highest right now, so, bad attitude or not, it may behoove the front office to keep him until after the season is over, then aggressively shop him around Baseball.
* Speaking of which, 2B Scott Kingery finally jumped up to triple-A Lehigh Valley. He went 1 for 5 in his first game, making two spectacular defensive plays in the 5-4 10 inning Iron Pigs loss to Pawtucket.
With the snails' pace the Phillies farm system generally proceeds I wouldn't hold my breath about seeing Kingery in Philadelphia until maybe September. Certainly he should compete for a job in spring training. He, along with Hoskins, Couzins, Alfaro and Williams.
* Freddie Galvis may not get on base as much as anyone would like. But he plays a mean shortstop and he cares. He is one of the few Phillies- players or coaches- who has passion about baseball and takes this losing season really hard. After another loss yesterday, Galvis spoke out again, his frustration boiling over, especially about the topic of playing hard.
You don't need talent to play hard. That should be the philosophy of baseball players at any level, form Little League to high school to college and pro ball. Hustle and play hard. I agree with Galvis. The team isn't good enough yet to win many games. But dammit, you're getting paid well to play a kid's game, at least try and care about winning, losing and most of all, have some pride in the way you play and conduct yourself, on and off the field.
I'm not sure what will happen to Fredie in the future. He is 27, and his offense probably won't improve much. J.P> Crawford may emerge from his prolonged slump and become the hot prospect he once was. Or another shortstop could be found. To me, you bat Galvis 8th, live with his offensive production, cherish his glove-work, and take his winning, caring attitude everyday and build on that.
* Unless Pete Mackanin starts being more of a disciplinarian during the second half of 2017, I would expect him to go, especially with the team destined to lose 110 games. Larry Bowa would provide leadership and fire as an interim manager. Lehigh Valley manager Dusty Warthen would be the leading long-time answer, especially since he manged the core players such as Hoskins and Alfaro, at both Reading and Lehigh Valley.
Some thing has to change and someone needs to take responsibility for the massive decline. Klentak deserves the majority of the blame, but unless Andy MacPhail or John Middleton pull the plug on Klentak, it will be Mackanin and his coaching staff who will take the fall for this ugly season.'
And just think- there are 4 full months to go.
Monday, June 26, 2017
IN THE NEWS- RETAIL WEBSITES MUST COMPLY WITH ADA, COURT RULES
The Columbus Dispatch offers the following article..
A court decision in Florida could have major consequences for retailers everywhere, forcing them to equip their websites with technology that makes them accessible to individuals with disabilities.
Last week, a federal judge in Florida found that the website of Winn-Dixie- the second largest supermarket chain in the Southeast- violated the Americans with Disabilities Act because it was inaccessible to individuals with visual impairment.
The decision is significant because retailers might be required to equip their websites with technology that is compatible with ADA standards, including refresh able Braille displays or devices that read website content aloud, said attorney Mark Knueve, a partner with Columbus, Ohio-based Vorys, Seymour and Pease.
Knueve was not involved in the case but has been tracking it because he represents employers in complex employment litigation matters.
Making the situation even more complicated and difficult for retailers is the fact that "the ADA itself does not actually address whether or not websites would be covered by access requirements," Knueve said.
During the Obama administration, the U.S. department of Justice issued several statements indicating that the ADA did apply to websites, and said it would issue regulations to that effect. But the department never got around to doing so.
"So, as of right now, there are no formal regulations or law on this," Knueve said. "That leaves it for the courts."
The problem comes at a difficult time for retailers who, faced with declining sales in stores, have spent years pouring money into their digital operations to better serve customers as well as stave off competition from such online retailers as Amazon.
Several Ohio retailers would not comment on the issue. But at least one national retailer is confident that it has the problem licked.
An L Brands spokeswoman said the retailer's websites, including Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works, are all ADA compliant.
Even so, the issue has come up more and more frequently for clients of digital-marketing agency Mindstream Interactive, said Scott Curtis, associate vice president of technology at the Columbus-based agency.
"I don't know that it's hit a point where everyone's in a panic mode, but everyone has it in mind," Curtis said. "We do have guidelines but it's highly complex. How far do you go? Some of our clients are very into accessibility and they want to go full bore and do everything. But some websites are built in a certain way so that it doesn't really translate into the accessible world."
Those retailers who aren't already compliant with ADA rules face several problems.
One is that because the law id unclear, "it gives rise to litigation because employers don't know what the standard to comply with," Knueve said. "No matter what you do, someone will come along and say, 'Oh, that isn't the standard."
The other problem is that revamping the websites can be rather costly.a problem, in particular, for smaller companies that usually have websites built 10 years ago.
"But we are talking about it more and more," Curtis said. "No company wants a data breach or accessibility problems that wind up in the headlines."
Unless the Department of Justice issues a ruling, Congress passes a law or Winn-Dixie gets the judge's decision overturned, the Florida court case is the precedent to which other retailers should pay attention- or they could find themselves in court, Knueve said.
"There are a number of law firms that focus on ADA accessibility, but you haven't seen too many of those firms focusing on this website issue," he said. "This decision may change that."
A court decision in Florida could have major consequences for retailers everywhere, forcing them to equip their websites with technology that makes them accessible to individuals with disabilities.
Last week, a federal judge in Florida found that the website of Winn-Dixie- the second largest supermarket chain in the Southeast- violated the Americans with Disabilities Act because it was inaccessible to individuals with visual impairment.
The decision is significant because retailers might be required to equip their websites with technology that is compatible with ADA standards, including refresh able Braille displays or devices that read website content aloud, said attorney Mark Knueve, a partner with Columbus, Ohio-based Vorys, Seymour and Pease.
Knueve was not involved in the case but has been tracking it because he represents employers in complex employment litigation matters.
Making the situation even more complicated and difficult for retailers is the fact that "the ADA itself does not actually address whether or not websites would be covered by access requirements," Knueve said.
During the Obama administration, the U.S. department of Justice issued several statements indicating that the ADA did apply to websites, and said it would issue regulations to that effect. But the department never got around to doing so.
"So, as of right now, there are no formal regulations or law on this," Knueve said. "That leaves it for the courts."
The problem comes at a difficult time for retailers who, faced with declining sales in stores, have spent years pouring money into their digital operations to better serve customers as well as stave off competition from such online retailers as Amazon.
Several Ohio retailers would not comment on the issue. But at least one national retailer is confident that it has the problem licked.
An L Brands spokeswoman said the retailer's websites, including Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works, are all ADA compliant.
Even so, the issue has come up more and more frequently for clients of digital-marketing agency Mindstream Interactive, said Scott Curtis, associate vice president of technology at the Columbus-based agency.
"I don't know that it's hit a point where everyone's in a panic mode, but everyone has it in mind," Curtis said. "We do have guidelines but it's highly complex. How far do you go? Some of our clients are very into accessibility and they want to go full bore and do everything. But some websites are built in a certain way so that it doesn't really translate into the accessible world."
Those retailers who aren't already compliant with ADA rules face several problems.
One is that because the law id unclear, "it gives rise to litigation because employers don't know what the standard to comply with," Knueve said. "No matter what you do, someone will come along and say, 'Oh, that isn't the standard."
The other problem is that revamping the websites can be rather costly.a problem, in particular, for smaller companies that usually have websites built 10 years ago.
"But we are talking about it more and more," Curtis said. "No company wants a data breach or accessibility problems that wind up in the headlines."
Unless the Department of Justice issues a ruling, Congress passes a law or Winn-Dixie gets the judge's decision overturned, the Florida court case is the precedent to which other retailers should pay attention- or they could find themselves in court, Knueve said.
"There are a number of law firms that focus on ADA accessibility, but you haven't seen too many of those firms focusing on this website issue," he said. "This decision may change that."
SPORTS QUIZ
The topic of today's Sports Quiz is: SPORTS NUMBERS
1. What year saw Roger Bannuster break the four-minute mile barrier for the first time?
2. How many homers did Rod Carew hit when he won the 1872 American League batting crown with a .318 average?
3. How many championship teams did Red Auerbach coach>
4. What year did basketball debut as an Olympic sport for women?
5. How many seasons did O.J. Simpson play in the NFL?
6. What inning did Roger Maris hit his famed 61st home run in?
7. Who appeared on the No. 1 card in the Topps baseball card series the most often?
8. How many times did Gordie Howe score 50 goals in a season for the Detroit Red Wings?
9. How many umpires work a World Series game?
10. How many times was Julius Erving voted Most Valuable Player in ABA all-star games?
ANSWERS-
1. 1954
2. 0
3. 9
4. 1976
5. 11
6. 4th inning
7. Hank Aaron
8. 0
9. 6
10. 0
1. What year saw Roger Bannuster break the four-minute mile barrier for the first time?
2. How many homers did Rod Carew hit when he won the 1872 American League batting crown with a .318 average?
3. How many championship teams did Red Auerbach coach>
4. What year did basketball debut as an Olympic sport for women?
5. How many seasons did O.J. Simpson play in the NFL?
6. What inning did Roger Maris hit his famed 61st home run in?
7. Who appeared on the No. 1 card in the Topps baseball card series the most often?
8. How many times did Gordie Howe score 50 goals in a season for the Detroit Red Wings?
9. How many umpires work a World Series game?
10. How many times was Julius Erving voted Most Valuable Player in ABA all-star games?
ANSWERS-
1. 1954
2. 0
3. 9
4. 1976
5. 11
6. 4th inning
7. Hank Aaron
8. 0
9. 6
10. 0
PHILLIES PHODDER
The woeful Phillies season continues..
* Excellent article today in the Philly Daily News by Marcus Hayes regarding manager Pete Mackanin. I've been waiting for someone in the local media to start ripping the Phillies. Ok, this was more about Mackanin and his lack of discipline and how the players seem to be running the asylum. I'm still waiting for the defining piece on the Phils and their front office and how this organization is on the verge of losing 110 games this season.
Once again, Mackanin makes too many excuses for his players' mental and physical blunders and their lack of hustle. "We play all of these good teams tough" he contends, also adding that "we come up short." That's because the Phillies simply aren't good enough. The talent has been over-evaluated. Mix that with a lack of hustle diva-like attitudes and generally not caring and it adds up to this mess of a team.
Sunday was yet another one-run loss, this time a 2-1 defeat to Arizona. Another game full of missed opportunities, inept hitting with men in scoring position, and boneheaded miscues.
Franco fell asleep on the base paths and got picked off second base. He should've been sent to Lehigh Valley several weeks ago to clear his head. Instead, the Boy Wonder GM, Matt Klentak, vetoed that idea,thinking Franco should play out of his prolonged slump.
It's fine to show confidence in your struggling players; it's another thing when the struggling players don't have confidence in themselves.
That in point reliever E. Ramos, who is now 0-7 on the season. Every time he enters a game now, you know bad things are gonna happen, as they did yesterday in the 11th inning. His confidence is shot to hell, and he needs to be sent down.
* It's becoming a circus watching this team implode daily, finding new and different ways to lose. It's already been a long, painful summer, with more yet to come, but in a macabre way, it's been like slowing down on a roadway to gazing at the carnage of an accident. You do't want to look but something makes you look to see how bad it really is.
What kind of drama will happen today? Will Mackanin finally explode? Will there be a boiling-over point between Larry Bowa and a player, resulting in a fist fight in the dugout? What other lame excuse will the players come up with for not hustling or "preferring" not to play that day? Will the geeky general manager ever call a team meeting and ream out the players? Will we ever see president Andy MacFailure in our lifetime again?
* There was a piece in the Boston Globe saying that Franco is on the trade block. If you believe that he is hopeless and will never learn from his mistakes or listen to the coaches, then you trade him while you can.
But Franco is only 24. He has shown flashes of defensive brilliance, streaks of power and potential all-star form.
He's just not consistent.
I would hesitate trading him now simply because his worth is slowly going down and you're not going to get nearly his value if you trade Franco now. Plus there is no other solution at third base. Blanco? Kendricks? Can Joseph play third?
Hang on to Franco, at least until the off-season . The Phils have eyes on Baltimore's Manny Machado when he becomes a free agent after the 2018 season,.But until then, what happens on the hot corner?
* It's great that OF Cam Perkins was finally promoted to the big club recently, He deserved a shot. But he is barely hitting above .100, striking out regularly, and looks over-matched at the plate ( inside fastballs on his hands are eating him alive).
Like I said, Perkins paid his dues in the minors and deserved a chance. Only problem is, Mackanin put him in the lead-off slot immediately. putting extra pressure on the guy. Does his failure discourage the front office from promoting other prospects, like Hoskins, Williams and Alfaro?
Keep Perkins on the roster, just drop him in the line-up. I would rather see him play than a Daniel Nava, who isn't the future. Let's see how Perkins takes failure. Will he work harder and overcome the adversity or will he hang his head and give up? in this hopeless season, this is the time to find out about what a player is made of.
* 2B Scott Kingery was finally promoted to Lehigh Valley, while hitting .313 with 18 homers in Reading. Fringe player Ty Kelly started at second base yesterday for the Phillies. That's embarrassing, to have a hot Kingery available to fill in for six weeks until Cesar Hernandez is ready to come off the disabled list.
OF Andrew Pullin, one of the best pure hitters in the organization, was also promoted recently. It's time for the Phillies front office to make room on the big league roster for the summer call-ups, by trading old vets like Nava, Hellickson ( who is pitching better and thus, building up his trade value), Kendricks and Neshek .July should be a busy month for Klentak, trying to unload these guys.
Hopefully trades will happen this year as compared to last summer when the Phillies couldn't trade Hellickson. My thinking is, take whatever you reasonably can get,
I really do want to see some of the kids, namely Couzins, Hoskins, Crawford and the gang, play in Philadelphia this summer. Not just September call-ups to fill out the roster, but real playing time during the dog days of summer. On the other hand, with these coaches and toxic clubhouse atmosphere, do I really want these kids to get swallowed up by all of this negative losing?
* Tommy Joseph struck out on three pitches yesterday, with a runner on second base. Joseph is a nice player, nothing special. He will give you 20 homers a year with a modest .250 average. He's not clutch, like most of the Phillies' hitters.
* Amazing.. The LA Dodgers have won 10 in a row while opennig up a lead in National League West. They're young talent- namely Mark Bellinger, are shining bright ( take note, Phillies), while veterans like Clayton Kershaw are having steady, solid years.
I picked the Dodgers to meet the Red Sox in the World Series.
With the money in Los Angeles, and their abundant farm system, expect the Dodgers to finally return to the Series soon.
The Phillies continue their current road trip with a matinee get-away game against the Diamondbacks, then two in Seattle. The Mariners have already defeated the Phils twice in Philly, crushing them, in fact, so it doesn't get any easier.
The trip concludes this weekend when the team limps into New York, to face the struggling Mets for a three-game set, before returning home to face the Pirates and Padres,
. The Phils already have 50 losses on the year. At their current pace of losing 2/3rds of their games,with 88 games remaining, math says the club will lose a record 112 games. All bets are off then, no one's job is safe. Ownership should clean house and start over. The fans would accept another few years of a rebuild if only they knew this organization has a real, solid plan.
Right now what they are doing isn't working.
* Excellent article today in the Philly Daily News by Marcus Hayes regarding manager Pete Mackanin. I've been waiting for someone in the local media to start ripping the Phillies. Ok, this was more about Mackanin and his lack of discipline and how the players seem to be running the asylum. I'm still waiting for the defining piece on the Phils and their front office and how this organization is on the verge of losing 110 games this season.
Once again, Mackanin makes too many excuses for his players' mental and physical blunders and their lack of hustle. "We play all of these good teams tough" he contends, also adding that "we come up short." That's because the Phillies simply aren't good enough. The talent has been over-evaluated. Mix that with a lack of hustle diva-like attitudes and generally not caring and it adds up to this mess of a team.
Sunday was yet another one-run loss, this time a 2-1 defeat to Arizona. Another game full of missed opportunities, inept hitting with men in scoring position, and boneheaded miscues.
Franco fell asleep on the base paths and got picked off second base. He should've been sent to Lehigh Valley several weeks ago to clear his head. Instead, the Boy Wonder GM, Matt Klentak, vetoed that idea,thinking Franco should play out of his prolonged slump.
It's fine to show confidence in your struggling players; it's another thing when the struggling players don't have confidence in themselves.
That in point reliever E. Ramos, who is now 0-7 on the season. Every time he enters a game now, you know bad things are gonna happen, as they did yesterday in the 11th inning. His confidence is shot to hell, and he needs to be sent down.
* It's becoming a circus watching this team implode daily, finding new and different ways to lose. It's already been a long, painful summer, with more yet to come, but in a macabre way, it's been like slowing down on a roadway to gazing at the carnage of an accident. You do't want to look but something makes you look to see how bad it really is.
What kind of drama will happen today? Will Mackanin finally explode? Will there be a boiling-over point between Larry Bowa and a player, resulting in a fist fight in the dugout? What other lame excuse will the players come up with for not hustling or "preferring" not to play that day? Will the geeky general manager ever call a team meeting and ream out the players? Will we ever see president Andy MacFailure in our lifetime again?
* There was a piece in the Boston Globe saying that Franco is on the trade block. If you believe that he is hopeless and will never learn from his mistakes or listen to the coaches, then you trade him while you can.
But Franco is only 24. He has shown flashes of defensive brilliance, streaks of power and potential all-star form.
He's just not consistent.
I would hesitate trading him now simply because his worth is slowly going down and you're not going to get nearly his value if you trade Franco now. Plus there is no other solution at third base. Blanco? Kendricks? Can Joseph play third?
Hang on to Franco, at least until the off-season . The Phils have eyes on Baltimore's Manny Machado when he becomes a free agent after the 2018 season,.But until then, what happens on the hot corner?
* It's great that OF Cam Perkins was finally promoted to the big club recently, He deserved a shot. But he is barely hitting above .100, striking out regularly, and looks over-matched at the plate ( inside fastballs on his hands are eating him alive).
Like I said, Perkins paid his dues in the minors and deserved a chance. Only problem is, Mackanin put him in the lead-off slot immediately. putting extra pressure on the guy. Does his failure discourage the front office from promoting other prospects, like Hoskins, Williams and Alfaro?
Keep Perkins on the roster, just drop him in the line-up. I would rather see him play than a Daniel Nava, who isn't the future. Let's see how Perkins takes failure. Will he work harder and overcome the adversity or will he hang his head and give up? in this hopeless season, this is the time to find out about what a player is made of.
* 2B Scott Kingery was finally promoted to Lehigh Valley, while hitting .313 with 18 homers in Reading. Fringe player Ty Kelly started at second base yesterday for the Phillies. That's embarrassing, to have a hot Kingery available to fill in for six weeks until Cesar Hernandez is ready to come off the disabled list.
OF Andrew Pullin, one of the best pure hitters in the organization, was also promoted recently. It's time for the Phillies front office to make room on the big league roster for the summer call-ups, by trading old vets like Nava, Hellickson ( who is pitching better and thus, building up his trade value), Kendricks and Neshek .July should be a busy month for Klentak, trying to unload these guys.
Hopefully trades will happen this year as compared to last summer when the Phillies couldn't trade Hellickson. My thinking is, take whatever you reasonably can get,
I really do want to see some of the kids, namely Couzins, Hoskins, Crawford and the gang, play in Philadelphia this summer. Not just September call-ups to fill out the roster, but real playing time during the dog days of summer. On the other hand, with these coaches and toxic clubhouse atmosphere, do I really want these kids to get swallowed up by all of this negative losing?
* Tommy Joseph struck out on three pitches yesterday, with a runner on second base. Joseph is a nice player, nothing special. He will give you 20 homers a year with a modest .250 average. He's not clutch, like most of the Phillies' hitters.
* Amazing.. The LA Dodgers have won 10 in a row while opennig up a lead in National League West. They're young talent- namely Mark Bellinger, are shining bright ( take note, Phillies), while veterans like Clayton Kershaw are having steady, solid years.
I picked the Dodgers to meet the Red Sox in the World Series.
With the money in Los Angeles, and their abundant farm system, expect the Dodgers to finally return to the Series soon.
The Phillies continue their current road trip with a matinee get-away game against the Diamondbacks, then two in Seattle. The Mariners have already defeated the Phils twice in Philly, crushing them, in fact, so it doesn't get any easier.
The trip concludes this weekend when the team limps into New York, to face the struggling Mets for a three-game set, before returning home to face the Pirates and Padres,
. The Phils already have 50 losses on the year. At their current pace of losing 2/3rds of their games,with 88 games remaining, math says the club will lose a record 112 games. All bets are off then, no one's job is safe. Ownership should clean house and start over. The fans would accept another few years of a rebuild if only they knew this organization has a real, solid plan.
Right now what they are doing isn't working.
Sunday, June 25, 2017
IN MY LIFE-WHERE WERE YOU WHEN...?
I got to thinking the other day..I've been lucky to hang around for some pretty important events in the last sixty years. In psychology, remembering a special event that sticks in your mind is called a "flashbulb memory." Generally, we can't remember things that happened to us in our lives, unless it's a special event, a landmark, like a wedding, a funeral or special birthday.
That's how it is with the following "flashbulb memories.' I remember where I was, what I was doing because the evnt was so huge I couldn't forget. Like time had frozen, there are certain historic events I'll never forget..such as....
* Kennedy Assassination- Nov. 23, 1963. Everyone seems to know where they were or what they were doing when JFK was shot and killed in Dallas that day.
I was at home that afternoon, maybe sick from school or recuperating from a recent fracture. I had just turned seven years old the week before.
I was in the living room, watching our black-and-white TV, CBS to be exact, when around 12:30 p.m. a Special Bulletin broke into regular programming ( probably a soap opera). Special Bulletins seemed to always bring bad news and this one was no different.
Mom was in the backyard that chilly late fall day, hanging clothes. When she came in I related the enws to her, that President Kennedy had been shot. No one knew of his condition at first, so it was less than an hour later when it was announced that JFK was dead.
My mom was stunned and thought I was joking until she saw for herself: there was newsman Walter Cronkite himself, breaking the shocking news that would change history forever.
I don't remember much of that evening or that weekend, in fact. I do vaguely recall seeing the new President, Lyndon Johnson, arrive in Washington, D.C. that night and speak to the American people.
Bits and pieces of the funeral come to mind, especially the Eternal Flame burning at Arlington National Cemetery, as Kennedy was buried late in the afternoon. What a long, sad couple of days for America.
* The Beatles are here!- 1964. The Beatles arrived in New York City. The country needed some cheering up after the Kennedy assassination, and a little British musical group named the Beatles gave America the tonic it needed to live again.
I remember listening to the radio as the Beatles were flying over the Atlantic that afternoon in February. Like tracking Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, the DJ was giving a blow-by-blow, mile-by-mile account of how close the Beatles were to landing in New York.
I don't remember much of the Ed Sullivan show the Sunday after, only that I watched, as did some 30 million other Americans.
* Challenger Disaster- 1986. I was in class at Montgomery County Community College, completing my final year there, when I came out of class on January 28 that afternoon and heard the Challenger space shuttle had exploded after take-off.
Later that night at home I saw the horrifying film of the explosion.
* Moon Landing- On a happier space note, we were in a hotel room in Oklahoma, my family and I, on our way to visit my Uncle Steve in California, when we witnessed Neil Armstrong stepping on the surface of the moon,on July 20, 1969. "One small step for man..One giant leap for mankind."
* Nixon resigns- 1974. I really didn't understand or care about a thing called Watergate back then. When President Nixon resigned that evening with a speech to the nation, I was with my Uncle Henry on a beautiful summer evening at Brandy wine Racetrack in Delaware, betting on the ponies. Can't remember if I won or not.
* Princess Diana dies- 1997. I loved Princess Di, even back then. I didn't get up at 5:00 a.m. to watch her wedding like my mom did 16 years earlier, but I did have a crush on her. She was always one of the most beautiful women in the world.
I'm not sure what I was doing the night her car crashed in a Paris tunnel. It was evening, and when I first heard the news, I think on the radio or from a friend, I turned on CNN and learned she had died.
I do vividly remember the funeral, from the church where Elton John sang "Goodbye, English Rose' ( the melody was form his "Candle in the Wind"), to the procession through the London streets, with mountains of flowers everywhere, to the arrival at her final resting place, where the actual burial was private.
So many larger-than-life figures, like Princess Di, especially in the 1980s. Pope John Paul II, later St. John Paul, was beloved by all. A warm, friendly pope, my mom saw him when he visited Philadelphia earlier in the 80s. I do remember his signature kissing the ground at each airport after he arrived for a visit. I do remember when he died in 2005. It seemed like days that he was on the verge of death. And I remember the election of a new pope soon after.
Mother Teresa was another major figure I remember. She too would become a saint. I remember she actually visited the Philly area one time. She died within a week of Princess Diana in 1997, and I still can recall the iconic photo when the two most famous women on the planet met.
Another iconic figure was Michael Jackson. from his days with the Jackson 5 to his Thriller success in the 80s, to the allocations of child abuse later, and finally, his death in 2009. Jackson was always in the news for over 30 years of my life.
* Elvis has left the building- Elvis died in August of 1977. It was a really hot day, and I heard the news on a small transistor radio while I was sitting outside that late afternoon. I wasn't a big Elvis fan, so it didn't effect me much, but I do remember the tributes and the fact that nothing would be the same after that day.
* America's Bicentennial- America's 200th birthday, Sunday, July 4, 1976. It was a crystal clear, sunny, blue sky warm day, perfect weather for the usual Independence Day cook-out and extra fireworks that night. In the morning we saw the wagon trains wheel through Phoenixville, on their way to Valley Forge National Park to join a million people who were gathered there to see then Present Gerald Ford speak. The wagon train was a big deal, since it had crossed the country weeks before. To see it wind down Starr St. in person was cool.
Later that afternoon I watched on TV as the tall ships passed by the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor.
* Halley's Comet- 1986. A big deal because the famous comet would not zoom by Earth until 2061. I remember all the hype and how disappointed I was when the comet couldn't be seen because of weather conditions and the fact it wasn't on the more viable side of the earth in relation to the sun.
It's suppose to be brighter next time, when I'm 104, on July 28, 2061.
Interestingly enough, writer Mark twin was born within 2 weeks of the comet's arrival in 1835. He died a week after Halley's Comet left the vicinity of Earth in 1910. As Twain himself commented, "I came in with the comet, and I'll probably go out with it too."
He did.
* World Trade Center disaster- Sept. 11, 2001, 9/11 would live in infamy as Pearl Harbor was for the previous generation.
When the twin towers were first hit, I was at work ( I worked for Parkhouse nursing center back then) in the morning. I was talking to one f my resident's family members on the phone. The elderly lady called me, and before she related the reason she had called, she muttered something about watching "the plane hit the building in New York." I had no idea what she was talking about, at first thinking she may be a little confused. After hanging up I alter found out the details from co-workers.
Everyone kept an eye on TV that day, as rumors swirled that the entire country was under attack, and a plane had hit the Pentagon too.
I watched the terrible carnage on the news that night, and was riveted with the newscast until late that night, thinking how will we ever survive and clean up as I watched the building smolder and think of all the lives lost that dreadful day.
What are your memories of these events?
That's how it is with the following "flashbulb memories.' I remember where I was, what I was doing because the evnt was so huge I couldn't forget. Like time had frozen, there are certain historic events I'll never forget..such as....
* Kennedy Assassination- Nov. 23, 1963. Everyone seems to know where they were or what they were doing when JFK was shot and killed in Dallas that day.
I was at home that afternoon, maybe sick from school or recuperating from a recent fracture. I had just turned seven years old the week before.
I was in the living room, watching our black-and-white TV, CBS to be exact, when around 12:30 p.m. a Special Bulletin broke into regular programming ( probably a soap opera). Special Bulletins seemed to always bring bad news and this one was no different.
Mom was in the backyard that chilly late fall day, hanging clothes. When she came in I related the enws to her, that President Kennedy had been shot. No one knew of his condition at first, so it was less than an hour later when it was announced that JFK was dead.
My mom was stunned and thought I was joking until she saw for herself: there was newsman Walter Cronkite himself, breaking the shocking news that would change history forever.
I don't remember much of that evening or that weekend, in fact. I do vaguely recall seeing the new President, Lyndon Johnson, arrive in Washington, D.C. that night and speak to the American people.
Bits and pieces of the funeral come to mind, especially the Eternal Flame burning at Arlington National Cemetery, as Kennedy was buried late in the afternoon. What a long, sad couple of days for America.
* The Beatles are here!- 1964. The Beatles arrived in New York City. The country needed some cheering up after the Kennedy assassination, and a little British musical group named the Beatles gave America the tonic it needed to live again.
I remember listening to the radio as the Beatles were flying over the Atlantic that afternoon in February. Like tracking Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, the DJ was giving a blow-by-blow, mile-by-mile account of how close the Beatles were to landing in New York.
I don't remember much of the Ed Sullivan show the Sunday after, only that I watched, as did some 30 million other Americans.
* Challenger Disaster- 1986. I was in class at Montgomery County Community College, completing my final year there, when I came out of class on January 28 that afternoon and heard the Challenger space shuttle had exploded after take-off.
Later that night at home I saw the horrifying film of the explosion.
* Moon Landing- On a happier space note, we were in a hotel room in Oklahoma, my family and I, on our way to visit my Uncle Steve in California, when we witnessed Neil Armstrong stepping on the surface of the moon,on July 20, 1969. "One small step for man..One giant leap for mankind."
* Nixon resigns- 1974. I really didn't understand or care about a thing called Watergate back then. When President Nixon resigned that evening with a speech to the nation, I was with my Uncle Henry on a beautiful summer evening at Brandy wine Racetrack in Delaware, betting on the ponies. Can't remember if I won or not.
* Princess Diana dies- 1997. I loved Princess Di, even back then. I didn't get up at 5:00 a.m. to watch her wedding like my mom did 16 years earlier, but I did have a crush on her. She was always one of the most beautiful women in the world.
I'm not sure what I was doing the night her car crashed in a Paris tunnel. It was evening, and when I first heard the news, I think on the radio or from a friend, I turned on CNN and learned she had died.
I do vividly remember the funeral, from the church where Elton John sang "Goodbye, English Rose' ( the melody was form his "Candle in the Wind"), to the procession through the London streets, with mountains of flowers everywhere, to the arrival at her final resting place, where the actual burial was private.
So many larger-than-life figures, like Princess Di, especially in the 1980s. Pope John Paul II, later St. John Paul, was beloved by all. A warm, friendly pope, my mom saw him when he visited Philadelphia earlier in the 80s. I do remember his signature kissing the ground at each airport after he arrived for a visit. I do remember when he died in 2005. It seemed like days that he was on the verge of death. And I remember the election of a new pope soon after.
Mother Teresa was another major figure I remember. She too would become a saint. I remember she actually visited the Philly area one time. She died within a week of Princess Diana in 1997, and I still can recall the iconic photo when the two most famous women on the planet met.
Another iconic figure was Michael Jackson. from his days with the Jackson 5 to his Thriller success in the 80s, to the allocations of child abuse later, and finally, his death in 2009. Jackson was always in the news for over 30 years of my life.
* Elvis has left the building- Elvis died in August of 1977. It was a really hot day, and I heard the news on a small transistor radio while I was sitting outside that late afternoon. I wasn't a big Elvis fan, so it didn't effect me much, but I do remember the tributes and the fact that nothing would be the same after that day.
* America's Bicentennial- America's 200th birthday, Sunday, July 4, 1976. It was a crystal clear, sunny, blue sky warm day, perfect weather for the usual Independence Day cook-out and extra fireworks that night. In the morning we saw the wagon trains wheel through Phoenixville, on their way to Valley Forge National Park to join a million people who were gathered there to see then Present Gerald Ford speak. The wagon train was a big deal, since it had crossed the country weeks before. To see it wind down Starr St. in person was cool.
Later that afternoon I watched on TV as the tall ships passed by the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor.
* Halley's Comet- 1986. A big deal because the famous comet would not zoom by Earth until 2061. I remember all the hype and how disappointed I was when the comet couldn't be seen because of weather conditions and the fact it wasn't on the more viable side of the earth in relation to the sun.
It's suppose to be brighter next time, when I'm 104, on July 28, 2061.
Interestingly enough, writer Mark twin was born within 2 weeks of the comet's arrival in 1835. He died a week after Halley's Comet left the vicinity of Earth in 1910. As Twain himself commented, "I came in with the comet, and I'll probably go out with it too."
He did.
* World Trade Center disaster- Sept. 11, 2001, 9/11 would live in infamy as Pearl Harbor was for the previous generation.
When the twin towers were first hit, I was at work ( I worked for Parkhouse nursing center back then) in the morning. I was talking to one f my resident's family members on the phone. The elderly lady called me, and before she related the reason she had called, she muttered something about watching "the plane hit the building in New York." I had no idea what she was talking about, at first thinking she may be a little confused. After hanging up I alter found out the details from co-workers.
Everyone kept an eye on TV that day, as rumors swirled that the entire country was under attack, and a plane had hit the Pentagon too.
I watched the terrible carnage on the news that night, and was riveted with the newscast until late that night, thinking how will we ever survive and clean up as I watched the building smolder and think of all the lives lost that dreadful day.
What are your memories of these events?
BASEBALL QUIZ
Another Baseball Quiz as we enter the last week of June...
1. Rank the following Hall of Famers, who played a majority of their games in left field, by home runs hit.
a- Ralph Kiner
2-\Ted Williams
C- Willie Stargell
D- Carl Yastrzemski
2.Among those pitchers eligible (or once eligible) for the Hall of Fame who have won at least two Cy Young Awards, how many are not in it?
A-None
B- One
C- Two
D- Three
3. Who holds the White Sox record for most home runs as a rookie?
A- Bill Melton
B- Ron Kittle
C- Frank Thomas
D- Paul Konerko
E- Jose Abreu
4. True or false: The Twins have had three different Cy Young Award winners.
5. Rank the following Hall of Fame first basemen by home runs hit.
A- Jimmie Foxx
B- Frank Thomas
C- Willie McCovey
D- Eddie Murray
E- Harmon Killebrew
6. Name the first and second teams to win five World Series.
A- Red Sox
B- Giants
C- Yankees
D- Cardinals
E- Athletics
7. Name the first five players elected to the Hall of Fame.
8. Name the last pitcher who finished a season with 10 or more shutouts.
A- Ron Guidry
B- Brett Saberhagen
C- John Tudor
D- Greg Maddux
9 True or false: No team has ever played in three consecutive games lasting at least 11 innings.
10..Who was the first player to win the Most Valuable Player award at two different positions?
ANSWERS-
1. 1 (B); 2 (C); 3 (D); 4 (A)
2. D ( DennyMcLain, Bret Saberhagen and Roger Clemens
3. E
4. True ( Jim Perry, Frank Viola and Johan Santana)
5. 1 (E); 2 (A); 3 (B and C); 4 (D)
6 A and E
7. 1936 class: Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson and Ty Cobb
8. C
9. False
10. Hank Greenburg (1935- 1st baseman, 1940- outdielder)
.
1. Rank the following Hall of Famers, who played a majority of their games in left field, by home runs hit.
a- Ralph Kiner
2-\Ted Williams
C- Willie Stargell
D- Carl Yastrzemski
2.Among those pitchers eligible (or once eligible) for the Hall of Fame who have won at least two Cy Young Awards, how many are not in it?
A-None
B- One
C- Two
D- Three
3. Who holds the White Sox record for most home runs as a rookie?
A- Bill Melton
B- Ron Kittle
C- Frank Thomas
D- Paul Konerko
E- Jose Abreu
4. True or false: The Twins have had three different Cy Young Award winners.
5. Rank the following Hall of Fame first basemen by home runs hit.
A- Jimmie Foxx
B- Frank Thomas
C- Willie McCovey
D- Eddie Murray
E- Harmon Killebrew
6. Name the first and second teams to win five World Series.
A- Red Sox
B- Giants
C- Yankees
D- Cardinals
E- Athletics
7. Name the first five players elected to the Hall of Fame.
8. Name the last pitcher who finished a season with 10 or more shutouts.
A- Ron Guidry
B- Brett Saberhagen
C- John Tudor
D- Greg Maddux
9 True or false: No team has ever played in three consecutive games lasting at least 11 innings.
10..Who was the first player to win the Most Valuable Player award at two different positions?
ANSWERS-
1. 1 (B); 2 (C); 3 (D); 4 (A)
2. D ( DennyMcLain, Bret Saberhagen and Roger Clemens
3. E
4. True ( Jim Perry, Frank Viola and Johan Santana)
5. 1 (E); 2 (A); 3 (B and C); 4 (D)
6 A and E
7. 1936 class: Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson and Ty Cobb
8. C
9. False
10. Hank Greenburg (1935- 1st baseman, 1940- outdielder)
.
THE FUTURE OF BASEBALL
There was a really interesting article on ESPN.com recently about the future of Baseball. What will (not should) Baseball look like in 2047, twenty years from now?
Some items are already staring to take place. Some are pretty hard to believe. And some I can see happening.
I've selected a few of the more interesting proposals, with my comments included:
* Pitch Clock- There will be a 20 second pitch clock in the future. Actually, there already is a pitch clock, only it's hardly ever enforced if breached. All in the name of speeding up the game, which we will see is a key objective in many of the proposals.
We live in a more fast-paced world. Younger fans don't want tp see through long, boring games or even think about baseball. For a true baseball fan, that's part of the charm of the game- no time clock. Games could go on forever. Baseball is a thinking man's game, full of strategy with time between plays to debate and discuss.
All of that will be less and less in the future, as fans will demand action, not thinking. Kind of like a video game.
* Trips to pitcher's mound- Trips will be limited to two an inning or even less. I can imagine a radio system form the dugout to the pitcher, sort of like the NFL has now with radio contact between the coach and the quarterback.Again, anything to speed up the game. I agree that too many trips to the mound can be annoying.
* No ties- Baseball's extra inning games will be different in the future. No more 18 inning games, where teams run out of pitchers and must use extra position players to pitch. I find extra-extra inning games to be fun, but not in the future.
If a game is tied going into the 12th inning a man will be placed on second base to start the inning. If the game remains deadlocked going into the 13th inning, a runner will be placed on third base. until the tie is broken.
I don't like this concept It cheapens the game and makes scoring too easy, making the early part of a game seen trivial. Again, all in the sake of saving a pitching staff and getting fans home in a reasonable time.There will be more sacrifice fly and singles game-winners, not walk-off homers, so less exciting finishes.
* No rain delays- All stadiums in the future will be made with retractable roofs, so a game will never be delayed by rain or postponed. Already stadiums have retractable roofs, so this concept isn't so far away.
Fields- All fields will have ground tarpaulins to make covering the playing surface faster, especially if there is no roof yet. I can also see fields being more mobile as well. The Arizona Cardinals in the NFL have a field on wheels, which they roll into the stadium for games, then roll out to be maintained.
* Safety- Protective netting will cover the field from foul pole to foul pole. I agree with this one as too many fans are being seriously hurt from flying, broken bats and vicious line drives. The netting will cut down on foul balls for fans and fans won't like looking through a screen to watch the game, but, as with most things,f ans will get used to the view.
Take out slides at second base and ban balls won't be outlawed but will be regulated more closely.This is already happening with the new take -out rules ( thanks, Chase Utley) in Baseball.
* Safety Helmets- In the future pitchers will be required to wear protective helmets or caps with protective liners. Baseball will be more and more concerned about pitchers being seriously hurt by batted balls.The special caps may be cumbersome at first and look strange, but again, safety first.
* Balls- Baseballs will become less smooth and more tackier or rough, which will be easier for a pitcher to grip and lose control of. Baseball will hope this lessens the cases of batters getting hurt or hit by unintentional baseballs thrown by pitchers. A pine tar rag as well as a resin bag will be common items on the mound.
* There will be no Oakland A's and Tampa Bay Rays. Instead of Baseball expanding to Mexico, Japan,Europe or other American cities, teams will actually decreased down to 28 clubs.This makes scheduling easier. Teams will play each other six tomes in a season. 6 x 27 for a perfect 162 games.
Owners won't want to give up revenue, so schedules will remains at 162 games a season, no 150 as suggested. Baseball likes to preserve it's statistics, another important reason to stay at 162. The top 10 teams will make the playoffs.
I'm not crazy about this concept. First, teams will play each other, home-and-home, American and National leagues, six times. That means the Phillies would play the Minnesota Twins as much as key divisional rivals such as the Mets. Will there even be divisions, or will Baseball go back to strictly American and National leagues to determine World Series teams?
One thing I wish the owners would do, but will never happen, is schedule doubleheaders again, specifically twi-light doubleheaders. Owners won't give up the extra gate money unless each team is mandated to schedule at least one doubleheader per year.That way all teams lose a gate.
It would be throwing b none to fans. If there are doubleheaders now, there are day-night doubleheaders, which are separate games and not really doubleheaders.
I have fond memories of twi-lighters. They usually started at 5:35 pm, often ending after midnight, sometimes ending around 5:00 a.m. as was the case with the Phillies one magical morning ( Mitch Williams hit a single to beat San Diego in the second game of that doubleheader in 1993, a 12 hour fun time at Veteran's Stadium filled with extra-inning baseball an drain delays).
Such affairs, as fun as they were, will never be seen again, as again, the focus will be on shortening games not sitting in a ballpark on a warm summer evening/morning for endless hours.
* Uniform ads- In the future, ads will be displayed on free space on uniforms. Several NBA basketball teams are already doing this, so it's not crazy to think of a future baseball player looking like a walking billboard.
Ballparks will continue to be named for corporate sponsors, something I hate.There won't be a Wrigley Field or Fenway Park anymore. And names will change, as it has with the Wells Fargo Center/ Wachovia Center/ Core States Center.
* Money- Contracts will continue to increase as will ticket prices. Bryce Harper may be the first player to earn over half-a-billion dollars after the 2018, with Mike Trout right behind him. Contracts may not exceed a billion dollars but they will keep rising.
With ticket prices rising as well, more fans won't be able to afford seeing a game live, watching it on cable TV or another appliance. A shame, as future kids won't know what it's like to attend a baseball game in person, the sights and sounds of a game, instead staying home in a sterile atmosphere.
I love going to the ballpark. The hot dogs, the fans, the smell of the grass, seeing the players live, you can't get that at home.
But I can understand why fans don;t go to the park. Parking is increasing, food and concession sales are outrageous and no worries about traffic, the weather or ticket prices.
* Rosters- Rosters will expand to 27 players to ease the burden on pitching staffs. Two-way players will be more in focus. So, you'll have a player pitch seven innings one night and play first base the next. We already see that in the most recent college baseball draft, with numerous top prospects being legitimate two-way players. This would also save roster spots.
* Designated Hitter- The DH will be universal. The days of pitchers batting will be gone, but then again, some of the future pitchers will also be position players as well.
Umpires- There will always be four umpires on the field. We already see more umps for playoff games, two more umps down the foul lines. We see instant replay, a system which needs to be developed regarding speeding up the process and when or when not to review.
Technology will help ump with sensor lights on the bases to help call close plays, but the human element will still take precedence.
Probably the biggest change in umpires in the future will be moving the home plate ump to behind the pitcher to have a better view to call balls and strikes. I wonder how that ump will cover plays at home from that distance. It seems the strike zone will always be a topic of change.
So, all interesting stuff. The bottom line is, Baseball is here to stay, but maybe in a different form. The basic game may stay intact. Colorful characters and monster home runs will survive . The game may not be as popular in the wake of the NFL and soccer. But it's good to know that the basic game of strikes and balls, 89 feet between bases and the charm of the Grand Ol' Game will live on.
Some items are already staring to take place. Some are pretty hard to believe. And some I can see happening.
I've selected a few of the more interesting proposals, with my comments included:
* Pitch Clock- There will be a 20 second pitch clock in the future. Actually, there already is a pitch clock, only it's hardly ever enforced if breached. All in the name of speeding up the game, which we will see is a key objective in many of the proposals.
We live in a more fast-paced world. Younger fans don't want tp see through long, boring games or even think about baseball. For a true baseball fan, that's part of the charm of the game- no time clock. Games could go on forever. Baseball is a thinking man's game, full of strategy with time between plays to debate and discuss.
All of that will be less and less in the future, as fans will demand action, not thinking. Kind of like a video game.
* Trips to pitcher's mound- Trips will be limited to two an inning or even less. I can imagine a radio system form the dugout to the pitcher, sort of like the NFL has now with radio contact between the coach and the quarterback.Again, anything to speed up the game. I agree that too many trips to the mound can be annoying.
* No ties- Baseball's extra inning games will be different in the future. No more 18 inning games, where teams run out of pitchers and must use extra position players to pitch. I find extra-extra inning games to be fun, but not in the future.
If a game is tied going into the 12th inning a man will be placed on second base to start the inning. If the game remains deadlocked going into the 13th inning, a runner will be placed on third base. until the tie is broken.
I don't like this concept It cheapens the game and makes scoring too easy, making the early part of a game seen trivial. Again, all in the sake of saving a pitching staff and getting fans home in a reasonable time.There will be more sacrifice fly and singles game-winners, not walk-off homers, so less exciting finishes.
* No rain delays- All stadiums in the future will be made with retractable roofs, so a game will never be delayed by rain or postponed. Already stadiums have retractable roofs, so this concept isn't so far away.
Fields- All fields will have ground tarpaulins to make covering the playing surface faster, especially if there is no roof yet. I can also see fields being more mobile as well. The Arizona Cardinals in the NFL have a field on wheels, which they roll into the stadium for games, then roll out to be maintained.
* Safety- Protective netting will cover the field from foul pole to foul pole. I agree with this one as too many fans are being seriously hurt from flying, broken bats and vicious line drives. The netting will cut down on foul balls for fans and fans won't like looking through a screen to watch the game, but, as with most things,f ans will get used to the view.
Take out slides at second base and ban balls won't be outlawed but will be regulated more closely.This is already happening with the new take -out rules ( thanks, Chase Utley) in Baseball.
* Safety Helmets- In the future pitchers will be required to wear protective helmets or caps with protective liners. Baseball will be more and more concerned about pitchers being seriously hurt by batted balls.The special caps may be cumbersome at first and look strange, but again, safety first.
* Balls- Baseballs will become less smooth and more tackier or rough, which will be easier for a pitcher to grip and lose control of. Baseball will hope this lessens the cases of batters getting hurt or hit by unintentional baseballs thrown by pitchers. A pine tar rag as well as a resin bag will be common items on the mound.
* There will be no Oakland A's and Tampa Bay Rays. Instead of Baseball expanding to Mexico, Japan,Europe or other American cities, teams will actually decreased down to 28 clubs.This makes scheduling easier. Teams will play each other six tomes in a season. 6 x 27 for a perfect 162 games.
Owners won't want to give up revenue, so schedules will remains at 162 games a season, no 150 as suggested. Baseball likes to preserve it's statistics, another important reason to stay at 162. The top 10 teams will make the playoffs.
I'm not crazy about this concept. First, teams will play each other, home-and-home, American and National leagues, six times. That means the Phillies would play the Minnesota Twins as much as key divisional rivals such as the Mets. Will there even be divisions, or will Baseball go back to strictly American and National leagues to determine World Series teams?
One thing I wish the owners would do, but will never happen, is schedule doubleheaders again, specifically twi-light doubleheaders. Owners won't give up the extra gate money unless each team is mandated to schedule at least one doubleheader per year.That way all teams lose a gate.
It would be throwing b none to fans. If there are doubleheaders now, there are day-night doubleheaders, which are separate games and not really doubleheaders.
I have fond memories of twi-lighters. They usually started at 5:35 pm, often ending after midnight, sometimes ending around 5:00 a.m. as was the case with the Phillies one magical morning ( Mitch Williams hit a single to beat San Diego in the second game of that doubleheader in 1993, a 12 hour fun time at Veteran's Stadium filled with extra-inning baseball an drain delays).
Such affairs, as fun as they were, will never be seen again, as again, the focus will be on shortening games not sitting in a ballpark on a warm summer evening/morning for endless hours.
* Uniform ads- In the future, ads will be displayed on free space on uniforms. Several NBA basketball teams are already doing this, so it's not crazy to think of a future baseball player looking like a walking billboard.
Ballparks will continue to be named for corporate sponsors, something I hate.There won't be a Wrigley Field or Fenway Park anymore. And names will change, as it has with the Wells Fargo Center/ Wachovia Center/ Core States Center.
* Money- Contracts will continue to increase as will ticket prices. Bryce Harper may be the first player to earn over half-a-billion dollars after the 2018, with Mike Trout right behind him. Contracts may not exceed a billion dollars but they will keep rising.
With ticket prices rising as well, more fans won't be able to afford seeing a game live, watching it on cable TV or another appliance. A shame, as future kids won't know what it's like to attend a baseball game in person, the sights and sounds of a game, instead staying home in a sterile atmosphere.
I love going to the ballpark. The hot dogs, the fans, the smell of the grass, seeing the players live, you can't get that at home.
But I can understand why fans don;t go to the park. Parking is increasing, food and concession sales are outrageous and no worries about traffic, the weather or ticket prices.
* Rosters- Rosters will expand to 27 players to ease the burden on pitching staffs. Two-way players will be more in focus. So, you'll have a player pitch seven innings one night and play first base the next. We already see that in the most recent college baseball draft, with numerous top prospects being legitimate two-way players. This would also save roster spots.
* Designated Hitter- The DH will be universal. The days of pitchers batting will be gone, but then again, some of the future pitchers will also be position players as well.
Umpires- There will always be four umpires on the field. We already see more umps for playoff games, two more umps down the foul lines. We see instant replay, a system which needs to be developed regarding speeding up the process and when or when not to review.
Technology will help ump with sensor lights on the bases to help call close plays, but the human element will still take precedence.
Probably the biggest change in umpires in the future will be moving the home plate ump to behind the pitcher to have a better view to call balls and strikes. I wonder how that ump will cover plays at home from that distance. It seems the strike zone will always be a topic of change.
So, all interesting stuff. The bottom line is, Baseball is here to stay, but maybe in a different form. The basic game may stay intact. Colorful characters and monster home runs will survive . The game may not be as popular in the wake of the NFL and soccer. But it's good to know that the basic game of strikes and balls, 89 feet between bases and the charm of the Grand Ol' Game will live on.
Saturday, June 24, 2017
SPORTS QUIZ
ALL SPORTS is the topic of Today's Sports Quiz...
1. Who is the National League's all-time leader in grand slam home runs with 18?
2. How old was jockey Steve Cauthen when he rode Affirmed to the Triple Crown?
3. Who succeeded Lou Gehrig as captain of the New York Yankees?
4. What running back was the first NFL player to be named Football Digest's Player of the Year a second time?
5. Who's the National League's all-time leader in singles?
6. What heavyweight boxer racked up the most career first-round knockouts in title fights?
7. Who was the only other runner to win the NFL rushing title during Jim Brown;s years in the league?
8. How many NHL clubs won the Stanley Cup during the decade of the 50s- three, four or five?
9. How many pitches did Stan Musial throw in the majors?
10. What was the only team ever to beat the Vince Lombardi-led Green Bay Packers in an NFL championship game?
ANSWERS-
1.Willie McCovey
2. 18
3. Thurmond Munson
4. O.J. Simpson
5. Pete Rose
6. Joe Louis
7. Jim Taylor
8. 3
8. 1
10. Philadelphia Eagles
1. Who is the National League's all-time leader in grand slam home runs with 18?
2. How old was jockey Steve Cauthen when he rode Affirmed to the Triple Crown?
3. Who succeeded Lou Gehrig as captain of the New York Yankees?
4. What running back was the first NFL player to be named Football Digest's Player of the Year a second time?
5. Who's the National League's all-time leader in singles?
6. What heavyweight boxer racked up the most career first-round knockouts in title fights?
7. Who was the only other runner to win the NFL rushing title during Jim Brown;s years in the league?
8. How many NHL clubs won the Stanley Cup during the decade of the 50s- three, four or five?
9. How many pitches did Stan Musial throw in the majors?
10. What was the only team ever to beat the Vince Lombardi-led Green Bay Packers in an NFL championship game?
ANSWERS-
1.Willie McCovey
2. 18
3. Thurmond Munson
4. O.J. Simpson
5. Pete Rose
6. Joe Louis
7. Jim Taylor
8. 3
8. 1
10. Philadelphia Eagles
PHILLY SPORTS CORNER
A weekend full of news..
FLYERS-
The Flyers drafted Nolan Patrick last night with the no. 2 pick in the NHL draft. Before injuries, Patrick was thought to be the consensus no. 1 selection. He is a big center, ready to play. The Flyers organization and GM Ron Hextall are prone to be super-conservative with their prospects. Hopefully Patrick shines in training camp and forces the front office to add him to the Opening Day roster.
The surprise move was trading Brayden Schenn to the St. Louis Blues for a veteran center ( Jori Lehtera), the no.27 pick in the first round this year (F Morgan Frost) and a 1st round pick next year.
Not sure what to think of this. It frees some cap space. Two young prospects come back in return. But on a team struggling to score goals, why trades goal-scorer? Schenn has totaled 25 and 26 goals, respectively, in the past two seasons.
In the second round this morning, the Flyers traded up and snagged winger Issac Radcliffe with the 35th overall pick. He is 6'6 and 200 lbs, may need to fill out a bit but projects to be a goal-scoring forward.
With the draft ending today it will be interesting to see how Hextall addresses the goal tending situation. Rumors are that he isn't confident in rookie Anthony Stolarz and would like to snag a veteran goalie this off-season.
SIXERS-
I still have some Sixers questions as we ease into the summer. I'm happy with the draft- especially with PG Markelle Fultz- but still have a few concerns..
*
What do you do with Jamill Okafor? He would be good depth behind Embiid and Holmes on the front line, but Okafor is slow, and the second-unit looks for push the ball.
Problem is, it seems no one around the league wants Okafor, despite being the overall no. 3 pick in the drat several years ago. The Sixers don't want to just give him away, but he doesn't fit with this team. Bringing him back could be a risk. What if he grumbles about not playing?
Hopefully GM Brian Colangelo makes it happen and Okafor goes somewhere else where he can play and be happy.
* Playoffs? Is it realistic to think the 76'ers can make the playoffs as soon as this year? I think so, especially with the Eastern Conference being so weak. Why couldn't they win, oh, 40 games and make the 7th or 8th seed? Could they win a series and gain much-valuable experience?
A championship may still be a few seasons away. Work still needs to be done, with free agency and trades looming. The young squad also needs to jell. But I can't see why this team can't win and provide the long-suffering Philly basketball fans with excitement and taste of things to come.
* Who came up with the stupid new nickname of "The Feds?" Nicknames are just meant to be and happen effortlessly. When you gotta think too hard to come up with a nickname, and think too hard to figure out what the nickname means, it's not a good nickname.
* Simmons.Will Simmons still play some point guard, even with Fultz on the team? Why won't Simmons play in the summer league? Does Simmons have the hunger to achieve greatness? Does he have what it takes to get better, sacrifice and work hard? Can Simmons develop a shot to go with his tremendous attributes?
* What about restricting guys' minutes and games? Will the Sixers' team doctors and coaches hold back previously-injured guys like Embiid and Simmons again? Both in games played ( back-to-back games) and minute-restrictions per game? When will all three- Embiid, Simmons and Fultz- finally play together?
* Most of all, the excitement the Sixers are bringing back to Philly basketball makes me interested again. Now, I can't wait to watch the Sixers on TV every night, as I did in the Allen Iverson days. I may even try to attend a game or two. I know they are saying that 14,000 season tickets have been sold so far, but not all 41 games. Some are 10-game plans. So, getting a single-game seat may be doable.
PHILLIES-
Good for the Phillies, winning last night in Arizona, against a top-notch Diamondbacks team that is hard to beat at home. Whoa, a two-game winning streak! The Phils are on a roll!
Realistically, they are still on apace to lose 110 games, 19 1/2 games out of first place before July. On board to "earn" the no. 1 overall pick in next summer's baseball draft.
They are still a boring team with a dysfunctional line-up. No lead-off hitter, no true clean-up hitter, no ace in the rotation or closer in the bullpen.
The players are dictating to the soft, hapless manager, telling him when they feel like playing (Neshek). Others,(Herrera) can get away with bone-headed mistakes and lackluster, dogging-it, lazy play. The entire squad has a "who cares?" attitude about them, knowing there are no consequences for bad behavior on this 2017 Phillies team.
Kudos to the front office for finally opening some roster spots by releasing dead-weight like Saunders and Gomez. Now, more needs to be done so exciting kids such as Kingery, Couzins, Hoskins and Crawford can get their shot, gain some experience this summer, and give the loyal fans ( those who still care and haven;t checked out with apathy)some hope and a reason to watch.
Deals should be made soon, as the torture of this long, painful season melts into the upcoming all-star break. Trades involving players like Joseph, Rupp and maybe even Herrera can wait until the off-season.
It's all we have to look forward to.
EAGLES-
All is quiet on the Birds for now. Training camp will begin in late July, so news will pick up soon, especially with the Phillies fading away. The roster may be tweaked a bit, but nothing will really happen until August.
FLYERS-
The Flyers drafted Nolan Patrick last night with the no. 2 pick in the NHL draft. Before injuries, Patrick was thought to be the consensus no. 1 selection. He is a big center, ready to play. The Flyers organization and GM Ron Hextall are prone to be super-conservative with their prospects. Hopefully Patrick shines in training camp and forces the front office to add him to the Opening Day roster.
The surprise move was trading Brayden Schenn to the St. Louis Blues for a veteran center ( Jori Lehtera), the no.27 pick in the first round this year (F Morgan Frost) and a 1st round pick next year.
Not sure what to think of this. It frees some cap space. Two young prospects come back in return. But on a team struggling to score goals, why trades goal-scorer? Schenn has totaled 25 and 26 goals, respectively, in the past two seasons.
In the second round this morning, the Flyers traded up and snagged winger Issac Radcliffe with the 35th overall pick. He is 6'6 and 200 lbs, may need to fill out a bit but projects to be a goal-scoring forward.
With the draft ending today it will be interesting to see how Hextall addresses the goal tending situation. Rumors are that he isn't confident in rookie Anthony Stolarz and would like to snag a veteran goalie this off-season.
SIXERS-
I still have some Sixers questions as we ease into the summer. I'm happy with the draft- especially with PG Markelle Fultz- but still have a few concerns..
*
What do you do with Jamill Okafor? He would be good depth behind Embiid and Holmes on the front line, but Okafor is slow, and the second-unit looks for push the ball.
Problem is, it seems no one around the league wants Okafor, despite being the overall no. 3 pick in the drat several years ago. The Sixers don't want to just give him away, but he doesn't fit with this team. Bringing him back could be a risk. What if he grumbles about not playing?
Hopefully GM Brian Colangelo makes it happen and Okafor goes somewhere else where he can play and be happy.
* Playoffs? Is it realistic to think the 76'ers can make the playoffs as soon as this year? I think so, especially with the Eastern Conference being so weak. Why couldn't they win, oh, 40 games and make the 7th or 8th seed? Could they win a series and gain much-valuable experience?
A championship may still be a few seasons away. Work still needs to be done, with free agency and trades looming. The young squad also needs to jell. But I can't see why this team can't win and provide the long-suffering Philly basketball fans with excitement and taste of things to come.
* Who came up with the stupid new nickname of "The Feds?" Nicknames are just meant to be and happen effortlessly. When you gotta think too hard to come up with a nickname, and think too hard to figure out what the nickname means, it's not a good nickname.
* Simmons.Will Simmons still play some point guard, even with Fultz on the team? Why won't Simmons play in the summer league? Does Simmons have the hunger to achieve greatness? Does he have what it takes to get better, sacrifice and work hard? Can Simmons develop a shot to go with his tremendous attributes?
* What about restricting guys' minutes and games? Will the Sixers' team doctors and coaches hold back previously-injured guys like Embiid and Simmons again? Both in games played ( back-to-back games) and minute-restrictions per game? When will all three- Embiid, Simmons and Fultz- finally play together?
* Most of all, the excitement the Sixers are bringing back to Philly basketball makes me interested again. Now, I can't wait to watch the Sixers on TV every night, as I did in the Allen Iverson days. I may even try to attend a game or two. I know they are saying that 14,000 season tickets have been sold so far, but not all 41 games. Some are 10-game plans. So, getting a single-game seat may be doable.
PHILLIES-
Good for the Phillies, winning last night in Arizona, against a top-notch Diamondbacks team that is hard to beat at home. Whoa, a two-game winning streak! The Phils are on a roll!
Realistically, they are still on apace to lose 110 games, 19 1/2 games out of first place before July. On board to "earn" the no. 1 overall pick in next summer's baseball draft.
They are still a boring team with a dysfunctional line-up. No lead-off hitter, no true clean-up hitter, no ace in the rotation or closer in the bullpen.
The players are dictating to the soft, hapless manager, telling him when they feel like playing (Neshek). Others,(Herrera) can get away with bone-headed mistakes and lackluster, dogging-it, lazy play. The entire squad has a "who cares?" attitude about them, knowing there are no consequences for bad behavior on this 2017 Phillies team.
Kudos to the front office for finally opening some roster spots by releasing dead-weight like Saunders and Gomez. Now, more needs to be done so exciting kids such as Kingery, Couzins, Hoskins and Crawford can get their shot, gain some experience this summer, and give the loyal fans ( those who still care and haven;t checked out with apathy)some hope and a reason to watch.
Deals should be made soon, as the torture of this long, painful season melts into the upcoming all-star break. Trades involving players like Joseph, Rupp and maybe even Herrera can wait until the off-season.
It's all we have to look forward to.
EAGLES-
All is quiet on the Birds for now. Training camp will begin in late July, so news will pick up soon, especially with the Phillies fading away. The roster may be tweaked a bit, but nothing will really happen until August.
Friday, June 23, 2017
OLD-SCHOOL WHEELING-LENDING A HELPING HAND
I wrote this article for The Phoenix on December 15,2006...
Lending a Helping Hand
As a social worker, it’s part of my job to try and hook people up with services in the community which may be beneficial. I would also like this column to serve that purpose too. Some people aren’t aware of different services out there, or just aren’t sure how to access them. Hopefully I can help you out.
There are many agencies out there to help make life easier for those who have a disability. Two such agencies are the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF) and the Institute on disabilities at Temple University. Both agencies can help you to buy or loan assistive devices to improve your quality of life. Both agencies can hook you up with such wonderful inventions such as Teletypewriters, special adaptions for your computer, amplified large button speaker phones, telephones with braille displays, signalers (loud ring, lights or vibrating machines), talking keyboards, just to name a few devices.
All of these modern technology devices are out there to help someone with a disability, not just on the job, but in everyday aspects of life. Here are a few phone numbers to assist you: PATF (Toll Free): 888-744-1938 The Institute on Disabilities at Temple University: 800-204-1356 Statewide Independent Living Council: 888-972-7452
Check them out. They can help to make a simple telephone or computer more user friendly for someone with a disability. Also call Occupational Therapy at Phoenixville Hospital (610-983-1000), Parkhouse Providence Pointe (610-948-8800) or Bryn Mawr Rehab (610-251-5400), or call your local pharmacy for more information on wheelchairs, walkers, canes, transfer boards, commodes, special shower adaptive equipment and “picker-uppers,” just to name a few items
. Again, all of these devices can make life easier. Two other agencies which can provide much needed assistance are Aging and Adult Services (West Chester 610-344-6350) and Vocational Rehab. (Norristown 484-250-4340). These agencies can help with anything from education, employment, home health aides, Meals on Wheels, etc. Please call them to see what they can offer you
Lending a Helping Hand
As a social worker, it’s part of my job to try and hook people up with services in the community which may be beneficial. I would also like this column to serve that purpose too. Some people aren’t aware of different services out there, or just aren’t sure how to access them. Hopefully I can help you out.
There are many agencies out there to help make life easier for those who have a disability. Two such agencies are the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF) and the Institute on disabilities at Temple University. Both agencies can help you to buy or loan assistive devices to improve your quality of life. Both agencies can hook you up with such wonderful inventions such as Teletypewriters, special adaptions for your computer, amplified large button speaker phones, telephones with braille displays, signalers (loud ring, lights or vibrating machines), talking keyboards, just to name a few devices.
All of these modern technology devices are out there to help someone with a disability, not just on the job, but in everyday aspects of life. Here are a few phone numbers to assist you: PATF (Toll Free): 888-744-1938 The Institute on Disabilities at Temple University: 800-204-1356 Statewide Independent Living Council: 888-972-7452
Check them out. They can help to make a simple telephone or computer more user friendly for someone with a disability. Also call Occupational Therapy at Phoenixville Hospital (610-983-1000), Parkhouse Providence Pointe (610-948-8800) or Bryn Mawr Rehab (610-251-5400), or call your local pharmacy for more information on wheelchairs, walkers, canes, transfer boards, commodes, special shower adaptive equipment and “picker-uppers,” just to name a few items
. Again, all of these devices can make life easier. Two other agencies which can provide much needed assistance are Aging and Adult Services (West Chester 610-344-6350) and Vocational Rehab. (Norristown 484-250-4340). These agencies can help with anything from education, employment, home health aides, Meals on Wheels, etc. Please call them to see what they can offer you
SPORTS QUIZ
Today's topic is: OLD-TIME FOOTBALL
1. What World Football League team announced the signing of Miami Dolphins stars Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield on March 31, 1974?
2.What AFC quarterback signed a reported $250,000-a-year contract in 1972 that made him the highest paid player in football?
3. Whose Super Bowl ring did pawnbroker Delbert Cearly of Enid, Oklahoma, buy for $100 in 1978?
4. What quarterback was at the helm for the majority of the Miami Dolphins' victories in their undefeated 1972 season?
5. What team beat the Patriots 13-10 before 21,597 fans at Boston on September 9, 1960, in the AFL's first game?
6. What was the first USFL team to clinch a division crown, in 1983?
7. What NFL coach wrote the book, "The Winning Edge."
8. What color were the NFL official's flags before 1965?
9. Who threw 208 consecutive passes for the Cleveland Browns without an interception in the 1959 and 1960 NFL seasons?
10. What is the trophy called for the champions of the Canadian Football League?
ANSWERS-
1. Toronto Northmen
2. Joe Namath
3. Joe Namath
4. Earl Morrall
5. Denver Broncos
6. Philadelphia Stars
7. Don Shula
8. White
9. Milt Plum
10. The Grey Cup
1. What World Football League team announced the signing of Miami Dolphins stars Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield on March 31, 1974?
2.What AFC quarterback signed a reported $250,000-a-year contract in 1972 that made him the highest paid player in football?
3. Whose Super Bowl ring did pawnbroker Delbert Cearly of Enid, Oklahoma, buy for $100 in 1978?
4. What quarterback was at the helm for the majority of the Miami Dolphins' victories in their undefeated 1972 season?
5. What team beat the Patriots 13-10 before 21,597 fans at Boston on September 9, 1960, in the AFL's first game?
6. What was the first USFL team to clinch a division crown, in 1983?
7. What NFL coach wrote the book, "The Winning Edge."
8. What color were the NFL official's flags before 1965?
9. Who threw 208 consecutive passes for the Cleveland Browns without an interception in the 1959 and 1960 NFL seasons?
10. What is the trophy called for the champions of the Canadian Football League?
ANSWERS-
1. Toronto Northmen
2. Joe Namath
3. Joe Namath
4. Earl Morrall
5. Denver Broncos
6. Philadelphia Stars
7. Don Shula
8. White
9. Milt Plum
10. The Grey Cup
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