WOULD RATHER BE IN CLEARWATER
Amid all the Phillies hysteria, Flyers officials just announced that they will be holding a pep rally tomorrow in the shadow of the city's tallest building.
What they are terming a way to "Flyer Up" the city will start at noon in the Comcast Center courtyard at 1701 John F. Kennedy Boulevard.
It will include a portable rink for fans to play street hockey, giant inflatables, raffle prizes and other giveaways. One of the team's icons from the Cup seasons, Bob Kelly, will be present to sign autographs. T-shirt giveaways also are planned throughout the city. The outdoor party is geared toward bringing attention to the team that reached the Eastern Conference Finals last year before getting ousted by Pittsburgh. The season will begin this Saturday at 7 p.m. vs. the Rangers.
Meanwhile, the Sixers will start preseason play tomorrow in Amherst, Mass., vs. the Celtics, then will come home to the Wachovia Center on Friday night for a 7 o'clock game against the Knicks. Remember, the Phillies start that afternoon across the street at 4:35.
One Sixers preseason game will be televised. Comcast SportsNet will carry the Tuesday, Oct. 21, game vs. the Cavaliers. For more on the Sixers, visit Sixerville on philly.com, where Hall of Fame writer Phil Jasner is cranking out all you can possibly know about this season's team.
Paul Vigna still has the seat he wrestled out of the concrete at Connie Mack Stadium parked in the finished basement, a 1980 Phillies championship mirror hanging above it. Now, why he’s kept an autograph of former Flyer Bruce Gamble on a sheet of Hockey Hall of Fame paper is another story. A native of Philly who grew up in Lansdale, he’s an assistant sports editor at the Daily News in charge of special projects who has written two columns related to sports and consumers: View From the Seats and Savvy Consumer.
ABOUT THIS BLOG:
Athletic contests were, for a long time, simply fun and games. Nowadays they’re just a small part of a sports entertainment industry that puts billions of dollars into play and a number of issues into motion. Moneyball indeed. You might be closer to the action than ever before, but that privilege comes at a price - and often it’s beyond what you can afford.
With that as the backdrop we’ll use this blog to dig out stories and swap advice about how the fan experience is changing and what it’s costing you now and in the future. Some of it will educate, some will let you vent. And in a sports panel format, it should allow for a consensus of opinion that can carry some weight.
