Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A Look Ahead: The Battle for I-95

A few weeks ago, Philadelphia native Hakim Warrick began talking to his former Syracuse teammate Carmelo Anthony about setting up a game in Philadelphia like the one Melo held in his native Baltimore this summer headlined by a slew of NBA stars.



Warrick got the ball rolling, and word came on Monday that the game between Team Melo and Hakim's Team Philly was set for Sept. 25. Better yet, the two college teammates will be leading their respective teams at the basketball mecca, the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.



Once tickets went on sale yesterday, I jumped at the chance and secured two seats for myself and silver fox. The game, which I am incredibly excited for, will be the culmination of a hectic sports weekend for me. On Saturday, Sept. 24, I'm headed to State College to take in the Penn State-Eastern Michigan game with three of my college roommates in a reunion tour of our senior (well, for two of us anyway) year apartment. Then on Sunday, the Eagles play their home opener at the Linc against the hated New York Giants at 1. And finally, the Team Melo vs. Team Philly game will be held at 6.

This weekend should be fun as well, with Temple hosting Penn State at the Linc, another game at which I'll be in attendance, and the Cardinals come into town with the Phils potentially clinching the NL East and even the top seed in the NL. Oh, and I'll be headed to the series finale on Monday against the Cardinals, and then back at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday to welcome the Nationals. Like I said, there's plenty going on.

But next weekend is what I'm really looking forward to, particularly next Sunday. Eagles-Giants followed by this unprecedented game at the Palestra. Should be great, especially given the participants. As of right now, here are the confirmed players for the game:

Team Melo
Carmelo Anthony
LeBron James
Chris Paul
Kevin Durant
Donte Greene
Gary Neal
Eric Bledsoe
Josh Selby

Team Philly
Hakim Warrick
Markieff Morris
Marcus Morris
Flip Murray
Lou Williams
Aaron Owens, aka A.O.
Wayne Ellington
John Salmons
Lynn Greer
Jason Thompson
Kyle Lowry
Tyreke Evans

There are also all sorts of rumors flying around that surprise guests could show up. Names like Kobe Bryant, Jameer Nelson and Rasheed Wallace have been tossed around given their Philadelphia roots, and while I haven't even heard a murmur about him, it would be insanely awesome if Allen Iverson were to show up — and there's no shortage of Philadelphia ballers to keep throwing out there. But those are just unsubstantiated rumors.

What we do know is that the likes of LeBron, Melo, Paul and Durant will be in Philadelphia in less than two weeks to take on Hakim, Tyreke, Lou Will and the rest of Team Philly. And frankly, I cannot wait.

1 comment:

  1. Kobe is way too high-maintenance to show. Hell, just to get him to the Drew League, the officials at the gym made concession-after-concession for him. Then again, maybe it's the hate talking, because you know how I feel about Kobe.

    I would LOVE to see Iverson show up; 'Sheed as well. If so, lemme know and you can tell the story if you want on the site.

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