The Right Fit

Greetings,



I had been preparing a blog with 5 thoughts about each of the 4 local teams here, but stupid things like my "job" and "wife" kept getting in the way and due to the ever changing Philadelphia sports landscape, it became outdated, so you're stuck with this.



The gutsy play of the Flyers has made me become a hockey fan again. I've always been a Flyers fans, but the state of the NHL lately has led me to watch only Flyers games. I'm writing this during intermissions during Games 2 of the Eastern Semifinals between the fags, er uh Habs and the Flyboys. Several Flyers games recently have had goals givne up due to broken sticks. I'm sorry but can't we start using wooden sticks again? I know the composite, graphite, fiberglass, etc sticks may allow better shots but what good are they if they break constantly and give up goals or nullify potential goals? ( I am talking to your Carter and Richards) Marty Biron has been playing out of his mind. In my humble opinion, the Flyboys are playing with house money ( shoutout to Ballz M.) and a series win at this point would be a wonderful thing. I keep waiting for Koharski to go Tonya Harding on Biron as the Flyers are boarding the plane back to Philly.



The Sixers are up 2-1 on the Pistons and look like they are a potential upset team. I am a die hard Iverson fan. I was never in love with his off-the-court persona but he is Philly player through and through. The fact that he started all 82 games and averaged 26 point and 7 assists boggled my mind when I read it. That being said, if you would have told me on December 20.2006 that the Sixers would have gotten the better of the Iverson deal, I would have punched you in the face and insulted someone in your family. AI and Ivan McFarlin turned into Andre Miller,Thaddeus Young and Jason Smith. I was on record as HATING the Young pick at the time but he has proved me wrong. In 2 years I can see Young averaging 20 ppg and Smith being the next David Lee. Whether Miller is around or not at that point doesn't matter because he has shown a young team how to play the right way. Predicition: Sixers in 7.



The Birds traded their first rounder (19th overall) and the Panthers selected Jeff Otah from Pitt, who I wanted the Birds to select. I don't think that the Panthers are having a great 2008 season and I am suddenly ok with this since they selected Trevor Laws from Notre Dame ( play like a champion today) and DeSean Jackson in Round 2. This pleases me on two levels: We have a big fat guy from Notre Dame who will stuff Barber against the Cowgirls and a little WR who can return punts ( shut up about the WR) now. The fact that Lito is still an Eagle stuns me. Hopefully they hold onto him or work a big deal out with someone. Either way, Go Birds.



This brings me to our beloved Phils: WOW. (Sorry, the Flyers just won 4-2. Let's see the NHL try to eff us in Game 3). They are only 13-11 (pending tonight's outcome) but take the 1 and 2 hitters out of any team and let their cleanup hitter bat .180 with 37 SO and let's see how well they do. Utley and Burrell have played out of their minds and they are the only things keeping me from murdering Ryan Howard in cold blood. (note: Phils WIN!!!! 14-11)

(Author's note: at this point in the blog I decided celebrate the Phillies and Flyers wins with a World Series of Beer Pong. I defeated the Rook 4 games to 1 and 4-0. I'm good like that. I didn't change anything I wrote prior to leaving, I'll just add some Sixers thoughts and be on my way)

The Sixers ( namely Andre Igo-Igo-uh-dala-um- Igojustcostmyselfdollars) need to put away the Pistons when they take quarters, halves or games off. The Pistons are notorious for doing this and the Sixers could very well a 3-1 series lead right now. I thought Sixers in 6 initially but I wouldn't be shocked if it went 7 at this point.

Anyway, the reason for the title of this blog was a trip I took the the mall to look into a fitted Phillies hat. I just wanted the standard red hat. A couple of things really bothered me, namely the price of the hat. Do you know that a New Era fitted hat costs $32?!?!? WTF? Even with my discount card it would still run me about $27 with tax. That's ridiculous. The last time I had a fitted Phillies hat was in 1994. I remember this because I bought a bronzed MLB 125th anniversary pin that went on the back of the hat and I Googled it ( ah to be young and dumb instead of old and nerdy). The price back then was probably around $20, still a lot for the time. Man, I wish I bought stock in New Era. My head is gigantic and I knew my size from a fitted Sixers hat I owned a few years ago. I tried it on and no dice. I went the next size up and was interuppted by a young man who asked me if I was looking for a "hot fitted". When I responded that I was just looking he left me alone to cry about my Bonds sized dome. I looked at some other Phillies hats and was shocked to find about 100 different variations. Two in particular bothered me, one being Mets colors (blue hat with orange lettering) and Oakland A's colors (green hat with yelloe lettering). Are the folks at New Era really that desparate to sell hats they they would pick the colors of the Phillies biggest rivals and their former Philly baseball team? Complicating matters were a bunch of teenagers trying on oversized hats that they cocked to the side.

I may sound like my dad here but what are these kids thinking? I hate the oversized hats, maybe because they don't make a size for me bigger than 10. I also hate the fact that people leave the stickers on the brim. My cousin does this and I always rip the sticker off when I see him (I'm not his favorite). There were few Mets fans that I wanted to do this to at a game but they would have punched a cop or something. Enough with the color variations too. If you truly support your team, buy the colors that they wear on the field. A throwback that is true to the specs is fine, just keep it simple. Take off the sticker and bend the brim a bit. If you forget you fitted hat size, it's stitched into the sweatband. I may be old but the only people who shouldn't bend a brim at least slightly are 80 year old guys. Buy a hat that fits you and you'll be fine. So, to sum it up: go ahead and spend $32.00 to support your team. But if you do so, buy the right size, lose the sticker, bend the brim,stick to basics and for pete's sake, either wear it to the straight and to the front or straight and to the back. That is all. Go Phils.