Bleacher Report - Articles by Jon Moss

Game Seven: Pens vs. Wings is Must See TV

Jon Moss — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:34:18 -0400

Certain settings in sports are just better than the rest. Sudden death. Extra innings. Playoffs. When you hear about one of those rare and cherished circumstances, you are going to stop and pay attention.

And you should.

That said, nothing in sports--NOTHING--has the aura, the allure, the "Grab-the-Tostitos-and-hide-the-remote" feel of a game seven. And, as has been proven again this postseason, nothing beats a game seven in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Tomorrow, the Penguins and Red Wings will culminate the most arduous of postseasons. A four round, twp month, 16-win endurance test, with one game to decide who gets to hoist the most famous trophy in sports.

One game. That's it.

The Cup may be won on a great play by Sidney Crosby or Pavel Datsyuk, or it may be lost on a turnover by Nicklas Lidstrom or Sergei Gonchar, but either way, it is a spectacle unlike any other, and there is no excuse for a sports fan to pass up the opportunity to watch it and witness history.

Regardless of who wins (probably Detroit, based on home-ice advantage; a core group of past Cup-winners, including those who beat Pittsburgh last year; and a general advantage in talent) these teams have been chiefly responsible for an unforgettable postseason, and one who has hopefully saved its best game for last.

Lingerie Football: Boom Or "Bust"?

Jon Moss — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:13:37 -0400

Even in a country as dumbed-down and perverted as America, some ideas are best kept in someone's head. And this new Lingerie Football League, scheduled to begin play in September, is one of those ideas.

For those of you who are too busy to keep up with the latest developments of the "gridiron girls," the LFL, spawned from the "Lingerie Bowl" pay-per-views during Super Bowl halftimes, is a 10-team league (Eastern and Western Conferences, of course) which will play, you guessed it, one game a week during a season that will last from September through January.

Yes, that's one game a week. As in, only two teams. As in, each team will play once every 5 weeks. This makes the XFL looks like the greatest thing since sliced bread.

But don't worry, my in-the-dark brethren. You can visit the LFL's website for all the information you could possibly want about the league, its teams, and where you can watch them. And just so I don't sound hypocritical, as a University of Miami student you can rest assured that I will be in attendance at the Miami Caliente's home opener against the Charlotte Steam on Nov. 13.

So, let's recap here a little bit. This new Lingerie Football League will feature girls of moderate to admirable levels of attractiveness playing in bras and panties (with shoulder pads and helmets, of course, because we don't want to compromise the league's football integrity).

Games will consist of two 15-minute halves and will be played on a 50-yard field using customary football scoring systems. Teams will be allowed to have 7 players on the field at a time, and are allowed 12 total on the roster, meaning some women will have to play both offense and defense.

With that thought in mind, who's ready for the GoDaddy.com "Two-Way Toots of the Game?"

If that's not enticing enough, just think about the time you and your buddies will have watching these games and playing a game of LFL sponsored beer pong!

At least the LFL isn't trying to cover itself up (literally or figuratively). In addition to endorsing this wholesome collegiate pastime, the league's mission statement—the MISSION STATEMENT—implores us that the it's goal is "To offer the ultimate fan experience providing unyielding access to players, teams and game action."

Can I PLEASE get an all-access show on Spike TV???

Looking For a Team To Root For? Try the Sixers

Jon Moss — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:21:32 -0400

So, the interminable 2009 NBA Playoffs have begun, and you just don't want to waste your time watching meaningless games while waiting for the inevitable Cavs-Lakers NBA Finals.

I understand because I don't either. This is partly because the NBA playoffs are as bad as the NHL playoffs are good, and partly because the product in the NBA is just awful (Heat-Hawks Game 1?).

Well, if you must watch because you're a sports fan like me, do the fun thing and pick an underdog team to root for.

Good idea, huh?

Pick a team that isn't supposed to win their series and watch them, maybe even put a few bucks on them to cover a game or two.

If that seems like a good idea, then that team should be the Sixers, especially after last night's Game 1 against Orlando.

Why? Well, I'm glad you asked.

While the NBA is full of teams with stars that seem to compliment marginal supporting casts, the Sixers trot out a mix of young swing men (Lou Williams, Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young), retreads who have somehow regained some semblance of talent (Donyell Marshall, Theo Ratliff), and the NBA's most underrated player in point guard Andre Miller.

Iguodala, the team's best player, is by no means a top-tier star, and his imperfections make him a wild card who may kill the Sixers (witness his missing two critical free throws with a minute left and a chance to tie Game 1 in Orlando) or kill their opponents (witness his game-winning jump shot over Hedo Turkoglu with two seconds left).

Marshall and Ratliff are two of the last guys you thought you'd see playing 20 minutes a game in a playoff rotation when this year began, and Young and Williams can absolutely jump out of the gym.

While these NBA playoffs are going to showcase the league's "Mt. Rushmore" of stars—Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Dwight Howard—pay some attention to the little guys in Philly who think they might just be dumb enough to upset the vastly overrated Magic, and have already taken home-court advantage from them.

Thaddeus Young: "We're going to get them back."

Donyell Marshall: "I have no conscience."

Andre Iguodala: "I was amped to try and get the game won for us."

Those were post-game reactions from after Game 1. With these mindsets and unabashed giddiness, what's not to love about this team?

If you're going to suffer through the first round of the NBA playoffs, you might as well root for an underdog, and the young, star-less, impressively-mediocre-for-82-games Sixers are the perfect fit.

A Quasi-Objective Look at the NHL Playoffs

Jon Moss — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:15:43 -0400

Because I know you care so much, here's one fan's preview and predictions for the anxiously-awaited Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Or, as they're known in smaller circles, the best postseason in American sports!

Boston vs. Montreal

Boston comes out this season, runs away with the East right around New Year's, and gets to face...its arch-nemesis. Talk about poor luck.

Well, while this is not the year in which Boston breaks it's Cup drought, it is the year where they finally conquer the Canadiens. Tim Thomas and a great if underrated defense will not let Alexei Kovalev and Co. get their engines revved enough to win more than a game or two.

Bruins in five.

Washington vs. New York

We've all witnessed the Rangers' remarkable turnaround from playoff afterthought to a team nobody wants to play. Love him or hate him, you have to trace that back to the acquisition of Sean Avery. If any player can get under Alex Ovechkin's skin this season, it's him.

And we can't forget about the Capitals' poor luck with recycled Montreal goaltenders (yep, Cristobal Huet, that was an '08 playoffs reference), which doesn't bode too well for Jose Theodore.

The Capitals might have the best player in the league, but the Rangers' defense and puck-possession abilities will be too much for even Ovie.

Rangers in six.

New Jersey vs. Carolina

The hottest team coming into the playoffs, Carolina, against the best goaltender ever in Martin Brodeur. Something has to give. And that something will be the Devils' inability to generate scoring chances when Zach Parise is not on the ice.

And while other trade deadline deals got more pub, nobody has meant more to his "new" team than Erik Cole's coming back to Carolina.

Hurricanes in six.

Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia

Take a moment to marvel at the Flyers' ability to choke away the fourth seed.

They had it all but locked up, with games in hand, just a week ago, only to lose it in the season's final period at home against the Rangers, who were playing for absolutely nothing.

Now, instead of getting skated around repeatedly in Game One at home, the Flyers will be forced to look comically slow on the road.

Don't expect the drubbing the Pens handed Philly in last year's East Finals, but expect the more talented team—and, with Marc-Andre Fleury rediscovering his game, the far better goaltender—to win convincingly.

Penguins in five.

San Jose vs. Anaheim

The Sharks, led by Joe Thornton and a slew of veteran defensemen that have all won Cups, did an admirable job of holding off all challengers en route to the Presidents Trophy. Now, they just have to beat the Ducks, who are riding a red-hot scoring streak into the playoffs and only two years removed from their own Cup run.

Adding to the excitement of this series is that these teams hate each other, and had the NHL marketed it at all this could easily be a reincarnation of the Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry of a decade ago.

With all that said, this could be one of the hardest series to pick, but the Sharks are good enough to win one in Anaheim and not lose more than one at home.

Sharks in seven.

Detroit vs. Columbus: Ken Hitchcock should win the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year in a landslide. He took a team with underwhelming talent and a rookie goaltender (Steve Mason: get to know him) to their first-ever playoff appearance.

Unfortunately, the Red Wings stand in their way, and no team in professional sports ratchets it up in the playoffs as much as the Wings do, year in and year out. Their only potential flaw is goaltending, but haven't we learned that A) Chris Osgood is always better than you think in the playoffs and B) a 6-4 win is just as good as a 2-1 win.

This will be an easy series for them, but we'll go ahead and give Columbus a win at home.

Red Wings in five.

Vancouver vs. St. Louis

Quick, name two players on the Blues.

Couldn't do it? Thought so.

While their run to the playoffs has been almost as remarkable as Columbus', and they have as good a one-two rookie punch (TJ Oshie and Patrik Berglund) as any team, you usually have to make it to the playoffs first and lose before you can make a deep run.

And the Canucks have done that. With Mats Sundin, Pavol Demitra and the Sedin twins running the show, and Roberto Luongo making up for a suspect defense, the Canucks appear ready to make that deep run.

Canucks in five.

Chicago vs. Calgary

The "Baby Blackhawks" are back in the playoffs. And they get home-ice advantage against a team they have owned this year and a goalie, Miikka Kiprusoff, who has just not played well this season.

So how come this isn't an easy pick? Because Calgary has a team full of veterans, including Jarome Iginla and playoff virgin Olli Jokinen, and a dominant, physical defense corps.

If Kiprusoff plays like he used to, the Blackhawks will join the Blues in the "have to get there once before you can make a run" department. And he will.

Flames in six.

There. Just saved you two weeks of watching and waiting. But still watch, because nothing beats the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Kalas Was a Piece Of Every Phillies Fan's Life

Jon Moss — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:32:26 -0400

To say that legendary Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas will be missed is akin to saying that Richie Ashburn, Kalas' longtime broadcast partner and fellow MLB Hall of Famer, was a good centerfielder.

Yeah, it's true, but such a bland compliment only begins to tell the story of how much Kalas meant to the city of Philadelphia.

Kalas, 73, died Monday while getting ready to call the Phillies-Nationals game in DC. It was fitting that he died in the press box, because that's where "Harry the K" was able to touch the most people.

Kalas and his velvety Midwestern voice began calling Phillies games in 1971, long before a large chunk of the fan base was even born.

But whether you heard Phillies games before the Kalas Era, like my 68-year-old dad did, or not, there is no denying that everybody has stories about summer nights spent listening to Harry and "Whitey" Ashburn call games on WPHT 1210.

There are few, if any, Major League Baseball cities with as many fans still listening to games on the radio as Philadelphia. And why is that? Kalas, of course.

Once you started growing up listening to him, whether it was during the prosperous 1980's or the mid-90s endless run of 90-loss teams, there was no better way to follow the "Phightins."

Thankfully for Kalas, he got to witness, and call, the Phillies' World Series victory last October.

Had this not happened, and Phillies fans been subjected to the uber-irritating Chris Wheeler, the whole thing just would not have been the same. Now, Wheeler shares the broadcast booth with former Phillie Gary Matthews and play-by-play analysts Scott Franzke and Tom McCarthy.

While that foursome is OK, and the product on the field is as good as it has ever been, Phillies baseball just won't be the same without Harry and his famous "Long drive...Watch that baby...OUTTA HERE!" calls every time Ryan Howard puts another into row 20 in right field.

As former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Jayson Stark said in his recent column, "Harry Kalas was so much more than the voice of the Phillies; He was the Phillies." No one, with the possible exception of Kalas himself, could have said that any better.

'Nova the One Team That Can Divide Philly

Jon Moss — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:11:20 -0400

Make no mistake, Philadelphia is passionate about its sports teams.

We've all seen the city will the Phillies to an improbable 2008 World Series title, and how two million strong lined Broad Street 30 years ago when the still-expansion Flyers won back-to-back Cups. And, despite the abundance of Division I colleges within the city and its immediate surrounding area (six, to be exact), human nature tends to unite folks with ties to all schools when one of the other ones is doing well.

If you doubt that, just ask Jameer Nelson and that magical St. Joe's team how many people started chanting, "The Hawk Will Never Die!" in their sleep. Or Mark Macon, who heard "Go T-U!" 87 times a minute while they beat every team legally allowed to compete en route to the 1993 Elite Eight.

The City of Philadelphia, as personified by Rocky Balboa, will unite to root for one of its own—especially when it's the underdog—all the time. All the time, that is, except when that one is Villanova.

For all the great things that former coach Rollie Massimino did with the Villanova program, culminating in the 1985 NCAA Championship Game, his insistence that 'Nova, with its regal buildings and expansive campus, was just a better place to go than the other "inner city" schools.

In other words, he totally isolated Villanova from the rest of the Big Five (Penn, St. Joe's, Temple, La Salle).

While Philly-boy Jay Wright has done his part to re-introduce 'Nova to the city series, the hatred still runs deep.

There is still no way that most St. Joe's fans will dare root for their arch rivals. They would, however, root for Temple, who beat the Hawks three times this year. Go figure.

So now, with Villanova in the Final Four, expect everyone to be talking about the 'Cats' chances against North Carolina. But don't expect everyone from Olney to Spruce, from Broad St. to City Avenue, to will Scottie Reynolds' next floater into the basket.

For whatever reason, Villanova is the one time—at any level—that can flat-out divide the city's sports rooting interests.

To be fair, the majority of Philadelphians will be rooting for Villanova, due to a combination of personal affiliations, the general liking for any team representing Philadelphia (I'm in this group), or the fact that everyone and their brother hates North Carolina.

Here's to hoping that these Wildcats, already a great story, can continue to pave the road to getting Philadelphia to re-accept Villanova as one of its own.

But getting this city behind the 'Cats has been, up to now, pun intended, a little bit rocky.

ACC Wide Open After Disappointing Week 1

Jon Moss — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 07:27:31 -0400

Just a few years ago, the ACC was where the SEC is now. The arrivals of Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College—combined with the perennial success of Florida State and the resurgence of Maryland—left no doubt as to who college football's power conference truly was.

However, after a few years of sub-par play and repeated BCS bowl losses, the ACC enters the 2008 season as a national championship afterthought. Only 3 teams—Clemson, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest—entered the season in the Top 25, and the conference's two most storied programs—FSU and Miami—were MIA from all major polls.

The bright spot for the ACC, though, was that once the season began, all the talking would have come to an end; the conference would get a chance to salvage its own reputation on the field.

Fast forward to this past weekend.

NC State, not one of the ACC's "glamour" teams but still a formidable opponent for most, got the first chance to shut the critics up, taking on an SEC team, South Carolina, in the first televised game of the season. How did they acquit themselves and their conference? Poorly at best, looking under-prepared and flat out lost during a 34-0 shellacking by the Gamecocks.

In Thursday's less-publicized games, however, Wake Forest—the preseason No. 23—handled its business, winning 41-13 at Baylor and insinuating that the ACC had at least one team worthy of a national ranking.

Miami also appeared competent, christening its new home—Dolphin Stadium—with a 52-7 win over the tomato can known as Charleston Southern, and Georgia Tech looked impressive in Paul Johnson's coaching debut by beating Jacksonville St. 41-14.

So, after the season's first day, the ACC was 3-1, but the critics were still out in full force.

The season's first Saturday brought numerous chances for the ACC to prove its worth.

It didn't.

Virginia Tech—always well-coached and solid in all facets looked downright awful in a 27-22 loss to East Carolina. The Hokies entered the game at No. 17 and left facing the real possibility that they won't see the Top 25 again this season.

The Cavaliers of Virginia, trying to build on a surprising 9-4 season in 2007, had the tallest task of the week, playing host to USC, undoubtedly one of the best teams in the country. While nobody expected a UVA win, some had hopes that an upper-echelon ACC squad could at least hang with the Trojans. A 52-7 loss proved that not to be the case.

Clemson, the lone Top 10 team at No. 9, was at the college football epicenter in its prime-time game against Alabama, a good team but nowhere near the cream of the SEC crop. The Tigers made 'Bama look like the cream, however, as Nick Saban's bunch thrashed the ACC's most talented team, 34-10.

When all was said and done from Week 1, the ACC has made three things painfully clear: it is not nearly as good as the rest of the BCS conferences, whoever wins it may well be the worst conference champion in recent memory, and there is no clear favorite at all.

Miami will get a chance to show how good it really is next week when they visit Florida, and Georgia Tech and Boston College will kick off conference play in Chestnut Hill.

Clemson will get a chance to recover against The Citadel, and Wake Forest—probably the most likely ACC team to win 10 games and see BCS action—takes on Ole Miss in another ACC-SEC battle.

After what Alabama did to Clemson, if Wake takes the Rebels lightly, they just might not be able to escape the rampant mediocrity that is the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Phillies, Mets partying like it's 2007

Jon Moss — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:27:13 -0400

The New York Mets have beaten the Philadelphia Phillies in nine of their 14 meetings this season. Ordinarily, with a stat like that, it would be ridiculous to assume anything other than that the Mets just have Philly's number this year.

However, after a close inspection of the teams' most recent games, the most memorable being the Phillies' improbable comeback and 13th-inning victory Tuesday night to re-take the NL East lead, it is becoming increasingly evident that the Phillies have some kind of mental edge over their arch rivals.

Last season, after winning six of their first 11 against the Phillies, the Mets were swept in their final two series, the key cog in the their historic seven-game division-losing collapse. The Phillies proved Jimmy Rollins prophetic by becoming the "Team to Beat" in the East last year, and looked to carry that momentum into the 2008 season.

Although they came up short against the Mets in the first three months of the season, the Phillies, currently having won five in a row and eight of 10, appear to be surging at the right time, whereas the Mets, perpetually mired in intrasquad squabble and other New York-sized distractions, do not look like the team they were when they took the division lead after the All-Star break.

The teams finish a two-game series in Philadelphia on Wednesday night and then have three more games at Shea Stadium next week—the Phillies' final games ever at the Mets' venerable ballpark.

If the Mets, who currently trail the Phillies by a half-game in the East standings, do not want to re-live 2007's collapse, they better start finding a way to hold off the Phillies, especially when they spot Pedro Martinez a 7-0 lead after four innings.