Thursday, November 19, 2009

I Think You're Gonna Die

I really don't think I have much to say today. Due to some work-related obligations, I didn't watch a single second of the Sixers' 86-84 victory over the Bobcats or the Flyers' 3-2 win against the Kings, though apparently Elton Brand was a beast, scoring 19 points with 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 6 blocks. Good to see he's still alive. And Brian Boucher recorded his first victory since returning to the Flyers, stopping 37 shots in just his second start of the year. Remember the time he did this:



I do, because I was there, in Jersey, for that playoff game and witnessed that save — the greatest save I've ever seen in my life. The Flyers won 4-2 behind goals from Mark Recchi, Keith Jones, Rich Tocchet and Simon Gagne, and 27 saves by Boucher, including the gem above. The win gave the Flyers a 2-1 series lead, and as we were walking across the bridge from the arena to the parking lot at the Meadowlands, there were glorious Flyers chants and a huge, giant of a man in a Flyers jersey with the custom name "Hot Tub" on the back. Everyone kept yelling, "Hey, Hot Tub!" It was great. And if you didn't know any better, you'd think the game took place on south Broad, because the whole place was packed with Flyers fans.

The Flyers won the next game to go up a commanding 3-1 in the series, but sadly, as we all know, they couldn't win another game. New Jersey won the next two to tie the series up. Eric Lindros, who had been out due to a concussion, returned for the battle in game 6. He played tremendously in that game. Too bad his teammates didn't. All they seemed to do was stand around and watch Lindros pick up like nothing had happened. Meanwhile, the Devils were winning. And then, early in game 7, Scott Stevens effectively ended Lindros' Flyers career, and ended the Flyers' season.



When I saw the hit, I actually thought Lindros was dead. He certainly looked like it. It was a scary scene to be sure. That took all the wind out of the Flyers' sails, and Jersey pounced on the downtrodden Flyers. The Devils won three straight to head to the Stanley Cup Finals and eventually hoisted the Cup, and it was a devastating defeat. Up 3-1 to the hated Devils, and they still couldn't get the job done.

To be honest, I'm not sure how I got sidetracked like this. When I began this post, I had no intentions of saying much of anything, as stated above. But as I checked out the box score from the Flyers game last night and saw Boucher record the win, it struck a nerve and brought me back to 2000. Anyway, my original intention was to talk about how I have a kickball game tonight and post the video from Billy Madison, hence the title. So here's the video:



I'm out. I think.

BallHype: hype it up!

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