Rise and Shine --- Late nights, early mornings

Good Morning and welcome back to the only place where you can find this!

So, the Phillies season ended Saturday night with a called third-strike. You can't win them all, although you would like to see your big slugger at least take the bat off his shoulder for the final pitch.
Sitting there watching Saturday's game with my 11-year old son, I got the feeling we were back in the day. You know that day, the one where the Phillies disappointed every year.
Somehow, the way was flowing, I just had a feeling of dread. I bet a penny on a double play and, boom, Carlos Ruiz lined into one.
I bet a penny on a strikeout to end the game and there was Ryan Howard watching the season end.
Oh Well, maybe next year.
One thing the Phillies did, though, was force a change in the way we covered the playoffs.
There were live blogs for every game and, when the Phillies went on the road, so did we (sort of).
We took our camera out to meet some of the people who were watching the games. What we found out is, in the words of Christine O'Donnell, they were us. Or, better said, we were a part of them.
Now, we'll see how it works for the Eagles.

Rise and Shine

Good Morning weekend warriors!
Wasn't it nice for the Phillies and Dodgers to play a two-and-a-half hour game?
For the first time in 25 years, I was actually able to sit down in front of the television and watch a Phillies playoff game.
Yeah, yeah, they were in the playoffs in 1993, but, in a former life, I was able to work the games, so I didn't get the pleasure of listening to these national announcers.
Now, the Phillies announcers, especially Chris Wheeler, get a lot of flack, but, after watching the Fox broadcast Thursday night, I missed the banter.
Here are some observations:
n One of the best parts of postseason baseball is watching as the players are introduced to the fans. They are announced, run out one-by-one and tip their caps. It might be corny, but they used to show this on television all the time. So, when 8 p.m. rolled around Thursday, we got some goofy Fox talking heads trying to be funny. Hey, this isn't 'America's Got (no) Talent.' Mark Grace was a good player for the Cubs, but he has no real insight on this series. Get rid of the useless pregame show and give us the warmups.
n Is it just me or is Tim McCarver not aging nicely. How about this separated at birth:

n The usual Viagra commercials don't shock any more. We've seen them all for years and, well, whatever. Scarier was the Craig T. Nelson Poltergeist/Direct TV deal. Where McCarver is one thing, Nelson appears to have had some work done. By the way, is it just me or is this commercial in bad taste. After all, Poltergeist star Heather O'Roarke is DEAD!
n It's amazing how the national announcers change sides as the game goes along. When the Dodgers were winning, Joe Buck was gushing about Joe Torre and the job he's done. When the Phillies took the lead and eventually won, Buck was falling over himself to praise the Phils. How about calling it down the middle? What happened to that? Joe Buck you are no Jack Back nor are you a poor man's Howard Cosell. Just call the game.
n Who the heck is Ken Rosenthal? This guy was a dugout reporter for Fox. After seeing his one report then post-game interview with Pat Burrell I think Hollywood has found its star for a 'Robocop' remake.
Here's the video:

Phillies power past Dodgers

Here's Robocop:


So, Go Phillies and if you have any cool links or photos, send them along to onlinedelco@gmail.com