Brian baseball, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Phillies, Phillies, sports, video

Video: Brett Myers’ epic NLDS Game 2 walk off C.C. Sabathia (pitches 7-9)

Here is video of Phillies starting pitcher Brett Myers’ epic, nine-pitch, two-out walk off Brewers ace C.C. Sabathia in the second inning of Game 2 of their NL Division Series on Oct. 2, 2008. The video, shot from the right-field, upper-deck stands, picks up at pitch number 7 of the at-bat. After Myers walked, Jimmy Rollins walked on four pitches to load the bases for Shane Victorino, who deposited a 1-2 pitch into the left field seats for a grand slam that put the Phillies up 5-1 en route to a 5-2 victory. I was at the game in Sect. 431 far down the left field line…and it was freakin’ awesome.

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Brian basketball, Broncs, college, Jason Thompson, NBA, New Jersey, Rider, Rider University, Sacramento Kings, sports, video, YouTube

Congratulations, Jason Thompson…the 12th pick of the 2008 NBA Draft!


Sacramento Kings 2008 Draft Pick – Jason Thompson

Jason Thompson, a senior out of Rider University, was selected by the Sacramento Kings last night with the 12th overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft. Projected to go later in the first round, Thompson’s stock rose to the point where he was taken as a lottery pick by the Kings.

Geoff Petrie, the Kings’ president of basketball operations, on selecting Thompson with the No. 12 pick…

We had considered a small at 12, but as the draft went on, we felt the best place to go was to go big. He was the number one pick at 12 for us if we were going to go big. He is a 20 (point) and 12 (rebound) guy and there was only one other guy like that, and that was (Michael) Beasley. He gives us another young forward that I think will compliment the rest of the people we have such as Spencer (Hawes).

When we first met him he was 6’2’’ in high school or maybe even junior high and was playing point guard. He said ‘but I have these big feet’ so when he got to college he was around 6’4” and then grew to 6’10”. Again, when you see him make plays he really runs well and is really comfortable when he makes plays with the ball. I think that some of that is because he got an early start playing a position that was more of a size for his body at that time.

It is such a gradual process as you work through all of the different players that work into all of the other information and reports you have on people. At some point you have to make a choice. I think we made a good one.

He is a more mature kid and his game is more developed. It is part of our process of trying to rebuild our front line, plus we have other areas we need to work on too, but we can’t do that with just one player, unless Magic Johnson just so happened to be there at number 12, but he wasn’t.

Kudos to the Kings for taking Jason at No. 12…and for their web site staff for putting the following splash page up just minutes after the team made the selection (click image to enlarge):

The Sacramento Kings selected Rider's Jason Thompson with the 12th pick of the 2008 NBA Draft.

Brian basketball, college, Jason Thompson, Rider, Rider University, sports

Rider, Jason Thompson continue playing in CBI tournament

Well, it’s not the NCAA Tournament, or even the NIT…but the Rider men’s basketball team (23-10, RPI #110) will get a chance to play at least one more game when the Broncs visit Old Dominion on Tuesday night in the first round of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational tournament.

I’m not sure if this CBI tournament is going to last beyond this year. Any tournament that has teams declining home games because of money issues and then invites Cincinnati (13-18) to play has some real issues. But it’s giving Jason Thompson and Rider a chance to keep playing, which they deserve.

Brian basketball, Broncs, college, Jason Thompson, Rider University, sports

Jason Thompson carries Rider into MAAC final

Jason Thompson scored 32 points — reaching the 2,000-point mark for his career in the process — and grabbed 18 rebounds in leading No. 2 seed Rider to a thrilling 76-71 come-from-behind victory over sixth-seeded Marist in Sunday’s semifinal round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament in Albany, N.Y.

The Broncs (23-9) advanced to face top seed Siena in Monday night’s championship game. Rider will be making its second appearance in the MAAC title game, with the previous trip resulting in a loss to Niagara in 2005. A win would put the Broncs in the NCAA Tournament since back-t0-back appearances in 1993 and ’94, when they were members of the Northeast Conference.

Rider was without sophomore guard Ryan Thompson (concussion), who is Jason’s younger brother, and starting point guard Justin Robinson (high ankle sprain). Both were injured in Saturday’s 75-71 quarterfinal win over 10th-seeded Canisius.

Brian Jim Dowd, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Flyers, sports

Jim Dowd: The Pride of Brick, NJ!

Fellow Brick Township High School alumnus, Jim Dowd (#34 in photo), scored his first goal as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers last night against his two-time former team, the New Jersey Devils. Dowd redirected a shot from the point past Devils goalie Martin Brodeur at 10:49 of the second period in the Flyers’ 4-0 victory.

It’s so nice to see Dowd, a 16-year NHL veteran, playing for the Flyers. I know the whole “Jersey Boy Playing with the Jersey Team” story was nice for the media and all…but it was really hard for me to root for my fellow BTHS Dragon as a member of the hated Devils.

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Brian Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Phillies, Phillies, sports

2007 Phillies: The Team to Beat, Indeed!

Phillies celebrate 2007 NL East title

Congratulations to the 2007 National League Eastern Division Champion Philadelphia Phillies! As Phillies shortstop — and NL Most Valuable Player candidate — Jimmy Rollins (below) said before the season began, the Phils were “the team to beat” in the NL East.

Oh, and one more thing…note to Mets manager Willie Randolph and catcher Paul Lo Duca…we’re sipping champagne and dancing on the field…what are you doing now?

NY Daily News back page - Oct. 1, 2007

Brian basketball, boys, Cinnaminson, high school, Mike Fries, New Jersey, Rider, sports

Congrats, Cinnaminson (N.J.) boys basketball…and Mike Fries

Junior T.J. DiLeo scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Cinnaminson High School boys basketball team to a 69-63 home win over A.P. Schalick in a South Jersey Group 2 quarterfinal playoff game.

Head coach Mike Fries* had his team focus on taking care of the basketball in preparation for the contest. “We practiced the last three days on our passing, not turning the ball over and making crisp, hard passes, and it worked,” said Fries.

Worked indeed. The Pirates turned the ball over just three times in the second half.

Cinnaminson, the No. 4 seed, will travel to top-seeded Collingswood on Friday for a South Jersey Group 2 semifinal matchup. Collingswood cruised past No. 9 seed Pleasantville, 84-62, in another South Jersey Group 2 quarterfinal contest played Wednesday night.

Let’s go Cinnaminson!

(BK note: Mike Fries is among my circle of friends from my days at Rider.)

Brian baseball, Pat Burrell, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Phillies, Phillies, sports, YouTube

YouTube: An intelligent commentary on the Phillies’ Pat Burrell

As a Phillies fan, I am often embarrassed by the “baseball stupidity” of those who root for the Phillies with me. They boo people based on reputation and stories put out there by equally idiotic media types and the cosmically idiotic Dallas Green, instead of actually looking at stats and seeing how productive players actually are.

Philly has a tendency to cheer for the guy with the bloody face and dirty uniform…even though he is batting .240 and has a lower on-base percentage than I do. I actually heard a guy sitting a couple of seats away from me at Citizens Bank Park say, “I love Tomas Perez. I hope the Phillies never get rid of him.”

Now, Tomas Perez sucked…but fans loved him because he would throw shaving cream pies in the faces of his teammates after exciting wins. Ugh.

Anyway, here is a great video that actually offers a intelligent, statistics-based argument why current Phillies left fielder Pat Burrell is undeserving of much of the criticism dumped on him over the past couple of years, but especially as of late.

Brian Dave Snyder, Philadelphia Phillies, Phillies, PhilliesPhans, sports

RIP Dave “MVPsoft” Snyder

As you probably know, I am a huge Phillies fan. I also consider myself relatively intelligent and, of course, I’m an Internet geek.

That’s why one of my favorite Web sites is PhilliesPhans.com, which features the Renegade Phan Phorum. The Phorum has some of the most intelligent baseball–and non-baseball–conversation around and exists at the opposite end of the spectrum from Philly’s so-called sports radio station, 610 WIP-AM.

I haven’t posted too often on PhilliesPhans.com, but I read it a lot because there are many conversations about sports, news, politics and even religion.

PhilliesPhans.com was started several years ago by a Philly-area transplant named Dave Snyder, who was the owner of MVP Software in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Before tonight, that sentence would have read “…Dave Snyder, who is the owner…”

I went to check the site earlier this evening to see if anything was going on and saw this thread title:

Is MVPSoft OK?

Now, MVPsoft is…was…Dave’s screen name. The thread’s initial poster went on to say he saw on another message board that Dave had been killed in a car accident today (as it turned out, the poster had been on a Rutgers message board where Dave’s cousin, whose son recently signed to play college football at Dave’s alma mater, Rutgers, broke the sad news). Since there had been no comments about it on the board Dave created, that first poster figured there was nothing to it.

But soon links started appearing on Michigan news sites that confirmed the worst…

I-196 clear after fatal accident

One Man Dies in I-196 Accident

So, yeah, my only connection to this man was that he created a Web site that has become a big part of my daily routine. Yet, it still feels like I have been punched in the gut.

He gave intelligent Phillies fans a place to go and get away from the idiotic rhetoric written in the Philly newspapers and being talked about on WIP.

At least I know I’m not the only one who feels like this.

The reason for this outpouring of emotion is because when Major League Baseball Advanced Media first took over the Web sites for every MLB team a few years ago and completely messed up the fan communitiy the old Phillies.com site had built, Dave stepped up to host a Phillies message board that would foster intelligent conversation based on analysis and thought…not one that would allow trolling and name-calling. Through the years, PhilliesPhans.com evolved into one of the best online communities around.

However, there were several dust-ups that led to many popular PP.com posters being banned by Dave for breaking his rules one too many times. But those dust-ups would lead to the creation of new Phan communities, PhilliesBoard.com and BackSheGoes.com, which are now called home by former and current PP.com members. In fact, it was just this past December when Dave pulled the plug on the Phorum for a few days after a thread went out of control and he contemplated shutting it down for good. However, he was convinced by the members to bring it back under new registration and posting rules.

So even though many PP.com members had battles with Dave at one time or another, one thing is certain: He was a man of principle devoted to his family and the Phillies. And a huge number of Phans “met” through the community he built.

You will be missed, MVPsoft.

UPDATE (2/11/07): I have just read that, in a strange twist of fate, it was exactly six years ago today that Dave launched the Renegade Phan Phorum at PhilliesPhans.com.

😦