Chris Therien Tweeted at Me!!!

Chris Therien, one of my favorite Flyers players growing up replied to a tweet I sent him today.

When I was growing up, me and my brother had these Flyers lockers where we could store our stuff.  On the front, there was a space where you can put stickers up so you can have your name or your favorite players name and number on the locker.  My brother had Gretzky 99 on his and I had Therien 6 on mine.  I even have a Chris Therien stick that he used in a game.  Because of all of this, Chris Therien is my favorite Flyers defenseman of all time.

I also really like Therien as a radio commentator because he really speaks his mind, especially evident by his rant on Sidney Crosby during this years playoffs.

As you could expect I was thrilled to see Bundy reply to my tweet.  This now goes into memory of great professional sports moments in my life.  Others include when the Flyers retweeted me and when I caught a foul ball at a Phillies game last May.

Follow Chris Therien on twitter @ctherien6 and hey, follow me @PhillySteve15

The Flyers Retweeted Me!!

I finally got a popular page to retweet me. @NHLFlyers, the official twitter page of the Philadelphia Flyers retweeted me tonight and it's awesome!

Visibility may not be great, but I am Stephen Rossi @PhillySteve15. I have about 50 retweets by this point.

Osi Umenyiora? Give Me a Break

Osi Umenyiora and LeSean Mccoy got into a twitter argument over the summer last year and McCoy called Osi soft because in just one year, he went down to third on the Giants depth chart.  Now Osi sends out this tweet because he thinks he's cool. 

I get that the Giants just won their second Super Bowl this decade but come on, showing any amount of class would be nice.  Yea, I'm an Eagles fan. Yea, we've never won a Super Bowl. But seriously, what do you gain from this Osi? You just look immature and as Nationals GM Mike Rizzo would say, "fake tough." 

Did Osi really wait until today just so he can call McCoy a girl again? Even though he is one of the top running backs in the league and can break his ankles any day of the week? Grow up Osi, what are you, 12?

A friend of mine is a Giants fan.  He said, "I hate when players create unnecessary drama."  Osi may be a good second string guy, but he is supposed to be a leader. (Obvious bias alert)This doesn't seem like a good trait for a locker room leader. Is John Pierre Paul going to start making fun of other players soon?

I have no respect for Osi Umenyiora.  You're supposed to be a professional. 

Note: I understand I am being unprofessional here, but this is a blog. I have no expectations, like Osi. I am not a professional. Osi is a joke.

The Flyers Lose to the Devils

Quick Post


Even though I still don't like them, I have respect for the Devils after this series.  I still don't really like their fans (I think they are elitist) but the Devils outplayed the Flyers in every way this series and deserves to win.  Nothing flashy, but their team defense and forechecking was played almost to perfection.  


That being said, the Flyers had a great year.  To trade your captain and sniper for young guys and prospects and then to lose your new captain/best defenseman and to still be a force in this league really says something.  This is a team built for the future and we'll get our cup eventually, I guarantee it.  If you want to look on the bright side, we beat the Penguins, some thing that we haven't been able to do lately. This was a huge step in our teams success. Onto the next step; the New York Rangers.

Why the Phillies are Dropping the Ball with Cole Hamels

The Phillies have a pitching staff full of aces.  Roy Halladay is one of the best pitchers of this era, Cliff Lee has turned into a stud in the past 5 years and is a top pitcher in the league. Cole Hamels was the city's hero in 2008 when he led the team to it's first championship since 1980, and Vance Worley is coming into his own as a solid starting pitcher who was not just a fluke last year.

Cole Hamels definitely has the most buzz going around.  He and the Phillies avoided arbitration last season by signing a hold-over 1 year deal.  When that contract was signed, people hoped and assumed it would mean that soon, Hamels would sign a mega contract, keeping him in Philly for the foreseeable future.

Roy Halladay makes 20 million dollars a year, Cliff Lee makes 21.5 million dollars a year. Given Cole Hamels age and career of winning, it would not be surprising to see a team offer Hamels 24 million dollars a year.  As of right now, the Phillies are the only team that can make him a deal, but by waiting to offer one, his value is only going up, not in the Phillies favor.

Cole Hamels is the present and the future of this team, much more so than Halladay or Lee or even Utley, Howard and Pence.  He is a pitcher that can lead a team.  The city has been fortunate enough to see Cole transform from a blue-chip prospect, a kid, into a man.  And it would downright dumb for the Phillies to let him walk.

Ruben Amaro Jr. needs to realize that the time is now to sign Hamels, or another team will gladly fork over money to him. Hamels needs to stay.

Cole Hamels was the World Series MVP in 2008, it would be foolish to let him walk.

This Guy Offered Me a Terrible Deal in Fantasy Baseball

Disclaimer: This post isn't directly about Philly sports.

If you like fantasy sports, maybe you can appreciate this.

I'm in a fantasy baseball league with my brother, a couple of friends and a couple friends of friends.  I know about half the people in the league.

There is always that one guy who thinks he's better than everyone else.  In my league, this guy is full of himself and thinks he is all that even though this is his first year in this particular league. And he offers some of the worst trades I've ever seen.  

Tonight, he offered me the worst one.  He wants Justin Verlander in exchange for Melky Cabrera and Bryce Harper.

Justin Verlander is easily a top 3 pitcher in the entire league, especially fantasy-wise.  He was my second round pick and the ace of my (I think)pretty impressive pitching staff.  Pitching is mostly what I base my team off of, a lot of people want big hitters and focus on pitchers later in the draft.  I usually draft better pitchers more near the beginning of the draft so I can win most pitching categories.

Melky Cabrera isn't a bad player. I had him last year and contributes in a lot of different categories.  My outfield is already pretty good (McCutchen, Victorino and Hart) so he would only be a utility player on my team.

Bryce Harper is one of the most can't-miss prospects in baseball history, but he is just that, a prospect. He's only 19 years old. I don't know if he'll even stay up the rest of the year.  Even though he brings a lot of energy and probable production, I don't know if he'll get sent down if he slumps.  Harper will be a great player in the future, but there are just two many question marks for now.

Harper, in a keeper league, is a very prized possesion, but in a redraft league, he simply isn't worth nearly as much.  Especially not worth Justin Verlander even with Melky Cabrera. (On a side note, did you see Jason Werth's wrist/hand injury today? Pretty gruesome)

This guy is the worst and he deserves no respect for continuing to offer these crap deals and then complain about it.

At least I can respect the Devils

The Devils have outplayed the Flyers the past 3 games, it's as simple as that.  The Flyers haven't played to their potential at all this series and it pains me to say this but unless the Flyers can find a way to play like they are capable of, the Devils deserve to win this series.  I have a few friends who are Devils fans and they would be shocked to hear me say that.

We got in our own heads, the defensive play was lousy, we tried too much when trying to get the puck in their zone and we couldn't capitalize on the few opportunities we did have.  Add all of those up and that equals a loss.

If there was one positive for the Flyers, it was Ilya Bryzgalov.  The Devils were firing shots all night and for the most part, Bryz held them off.  In my opinion, he was the best player on the ice for either team.  Truth be told, the Devils did have some nice goals that no goalie would have stopped, but Bryz single-handedly kept the Flyers in this game.  It's nice to know that he still has the magic from when he led the Coyotes to the playoffs a few times.

The future is looking bright for Ilya Bryzgalov and the Flyers, but we're gonna need a miracle to win this series.
Time for some jam.