Another Delco Guy In South Jersey

What a Day!

I'll post more on this later, but today was an incredible experience. The parade was wonderful, the players were gracious, the fans were exuberant.

John and I had a great day watching the Parade of Champions.



Congratulations to the Phils!

At The Parade

The Phillies are World Champions and we're having a parade!!!  Things are starting to get nuts here in Center City Philadelphia. 

We had no trouble getting into town coming over the Ben Franklin and we're here two hours early with several hundred thousand of our friends.

John and I are going to be at Broad and Pine most of the day enjoying the festivities.  Drop by and say Hi if you're in town!!!

A Great Day

I've had some very good days in my life.  Meeting a president.  Making out with a girl the first time.  Winning a scholarship to college.  The day my son John was born.  The day my daughter Emma came home from the NICU.  The day I got married.  The day my divorce was finalized.  Cutting down the nets in the old Sacred Heat Gym at Cabrini.  Playing Torrey Pines.  Driving the Green River Valley.  Sitting in the rain at Fenway.

But none of those days compared to yesterday.  The anticipation built all day.  Coming back into Philadelphia from Toronto, I drove past the stadiums and knew in that instant daydreamed of a parade Friday.  My son babbled for an hour as we drove home and his innocent certainty was infectious.  The Phils were going to win. 

I've been racking my brain all day.  Trying to think of a moment in my life that meant more to me than listening to Harry Kalas on the call as John and I held each other and jumped up and down in rapture.

And the truth is that nothing compares. 

I don't ever want this feeling to go away.

Championship Call

It was great listening to Harry on the call last night. Wheels looks like he has been riding on the short bus his whole life.

World Champions!

We listened to Harry make the call on the radio.  Finally. 

Champions!

It's Time

It's been 28 years since the Phillies won the only World Series Championship in their history.

Tonight they will make it 2.

The Phils will overcome Major League Baseball's mismanagement of the first 5 1/2 innings of Game 5 on Monday night and last night's postponement of the resumption of the game to finish the Rays off tonight.  I can Pheel it.

We're gonna have a parade on Broad Street on Friday.

A Great Way To Be Welcomed Home

On the monitors at Philadelphia International Airport:

Well That Sucked

I can't believe that Major League Baseball let that game go on last night.  Yeah I know they didn't want to call it and have the Phils win a tainted World Series title, but to let it go on in a complete monsoon was ridiculous and dangerous.

I know that fans are angry, and so are the players, but I am in the odd position of being happy.  since I am out of town, MLB's moronic decision making process last night will give me the chance to perhaps be in town when the rains let up on Wednesday.  Regardless, I'll be home for the parade.

There is a god and he wants me to see the Phils win the world series in person.

Phils Phans In Toronto

View From The Room

----------------------------------------- Chris Pesotski 'Another Delco Guy in South Jersey' www.cavalier92.com

On The Brink

On the most precipitous day in the last 25 years of Philadelphia sports history, I am in the airport headed to Toronto. The red and white Phillies décor brightens my mood a bit as do the legions of Phils-bedecked fans headed out of town.

It's hard to explain the feeling I had as I drove past The Bank this morning. I can't tell you how much I want to be here in Philly tonight to be part of the mayhem as Cole pitches the Phils to the city's first championship since 1983. Instead I'll be in some sports bar in another country! Ahh the trials of a Philadelphia fan.

Go Phils!

Home Depot Reflections

If you are at Home Depot during an Eagles game buying expanding foam, furring strips and duct tape, butchery is imminent !

Palin Bails From Sinking Ship

CNN has an interesting report today that criticizes John McCain's choice for VP, Sarah Palin.

The basics are that McCain insiders are 'increasingly frustrated" with Palin's frequent off-message remarks.  You may remember a few weeks back that McCain had to cover up for his running mate's mangling of his Pakistan Policy when someone actually asked her a question about it at what was supposed to be a feel-good event at Tony Luke's.

Now the GOP campaign is upset at what it sees as 'diva' behavior from Palin.  Several McCain aide suggest that the Alaska governor is looking out for herself to the detriment of the overall strategy. 

Palin's aide's defense of the frequent gaffes is damning in its own right, noting that the woman who would be next in line were the 82 year old McCain elected is 'not good' with process questions.  Uhh ok.  If there's a crisis in the Middle East we'll try to keep the process simple for yah Sarah.

The article goes so far as to quote several Palin and McCain aides saying that Palin was 'not ready' to face the press when she was picked to be the potential leader of the free world.

Great.  Just great. 

The guy who picked her really is the source of all this.  You have to question the judgment of a guy who picks some who isn't ready to face the press, let alone terrorists or Wall Street crooks.  McCain's campaign has been a series of embarrassing mis-steps after another and the only reason he's close in the polls is that he is running against a man of mixed race in a sadly still-racist America.

At least the Phils finally won early this morning.

And Here Is What I Am Doing

Victory Vintage 2007 Saison

Here's Where My Brother Is

World Series Game 3 Section 412, Row 2

Sent from my iPhone

Game Three ... Or Not

We've just finished a great meal of roast beef, mac and cheese, roasted veggies, dinner rolls and green beans courtesy of the GF. The kids are bathed and we are gathered in the living room.  Except for Emma who has decided bed is preferable to listening.

We're awaiting the first pitch of Game Three of the World Series at 8:35.

Except that it is POURING rain here in South Jersey.  Apparently things aren't much better in South Philly.

Hmmm...

Smoky Morning

The smoke hanging in the air here in South Jersey this morning has nothing to do with the torching the Rays pitching staff did to the Phils lineup last night.

Rather, the acrid haze is coming from a 1900 acre forest fire burning in the Pine Barrens about 30 miles from here.  Last night as I drove home from Matt's house, the smoke was chokingly thick on 295, causing drivers to slow to 45 mph. 

This morning, the smoke isn't thick enough to show up on weather radar, but it is enough to cause a tickle in the back of my throat.  Fire fighters are thinking that the 1-2" of rain forecast for tomorrow will help them get the upper hand on the fire.

The blaze is burning in a section of forest about 10 miles west of where I used to live along Route 563 South of Chatsworth.  There is absolutely NOTHING between the fire and my old house except tress and underbrush.  Not a single house.  Not a single person lives in that remote area of South Jersey.  Remarkable for one of the most densely populated states in the country.

When I lived there one of my major fears was a forest fire.  We did controlled burning to keep the underbrush around the houses to a minimum, but with the relatively unmanaged state forest just 2 miles away, the threat was still significant.  It's odd that when I was down that way Wednesday night, you couldn't smell the smoke there, but you can smell it here today!

Flickr user cawarfel has a great set of photos from the 2007 forest fires along Route 539 in the Pines.

Ready for Game Two

I'm sitting in my brother's living room at 3447, where I have probably watched more baseball than any other single place on earth. 

As a child, this was the room where I watched Phillies pre-season games with my grandfather when I was 'home sick' from school.  I watched about a million Sunday afternoon games with the late afternoon sun slanting through the picture window, all but obscuring the image on the giant wooden console television.  I became a fan of Harry Kalas and developed my hatred of Chris Wheeler right here.

On the day my brother Matt was born, October 16, 1979 I remember John 'The Candy Man' Candelaria blanked Jim Palmer and the Baltimore Orioles while my sister Carin slept on the couch in this very room.  I brought my grandfather several Genny Cream Ales.  I didn't drink a drop.

Tonight, I am confident that the "Good Brett' Myers will show up and the Phils big bats will wake up to take a 2-0 lead on the Rays in St. Pete.  The cowbells will again be silenced.  Thanks to Heidi for the great dinner of chicken, excellent potatoes and green beans!

My grandfathers will be smiling.  It is altogether fitting and proper that I should be here tonight.

Phils Win Game 1

While they stranded 9, the Phils won a pitching duel in St. Pete tonight 3-2, securing the crucial first game of the World Series.

Chase Utley homered in the first and Cole Hamels, Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge shut down the Rays offense.

The down side was Howard and Rollins.  They look lost at the plate and Howard butchered an important play at first.  The Phils won in spite of 2 of their biggest stars.  They'll need more production to get 3 more wins.

Brett Myers takes the hill in the dome tomorrow night.  Which Brett shows up will be the question.

For those who were wondering, John voluntarily turned in after the top of the 5th.

GO PHILS!!!

World Series Pregame

I'm sitting on the couch with my 8 year old son and I feel both the pure joy of this moment and the dread of history.

This is a good team that is loved by this town.  I am confident that the names Rollins, Utley, Howard and Hamels will be inscribed forever next to Schmidt, Bowa, Carlton and Maddox.

This is our year - finally!

I'm Ready

I've been to the Center City Pep Rally for the Phillies.  I have my Phils NL Champs cap on.  I bought a World Series program, a Daily news and an Inquirer today.  I've read the local sports blogs.  I gotta agree about the friggin cowbells.

I think I am ready.

But the game does not start for another 5 1/2 hours.

One question for the folks out there.  John is 8 and has school tomorrow.  The first pitch is at 8:37 which is after his bedtime.  Now there's no doubt that he is watching some of the game.  My question is just how much I should let him watch.  Any thoughts?

At The Phils Rally

Geeking Out

Another Delco Guy is spending the night on the couch watching the 'real' Star Wars Trilogy on Spike, basking in the warmth of his fantasy football team's mammoth victory over Pete and folding some clothes.

I am not sure things could get geekier.

Well they could when I pull out all my charts and spreadsheets to work on my D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25 ballot.

Wrapping Up The Weekend

Sunday Snack
Originally uploaded by Cavalier92

As a follow-up to the earlier post, I'd like to report that there are a few more things you can do on an Eagles Bye Week. You can watch your fantasy football team roll until your big pickup Steven Jackson gets injured. You can go pay $2.63 a gallon for gas at Wawa. You can go take some autumn in the 'burbs photos.

And you can come home to a nice afternoon snack of fresh mozzarella and tomato with a glass of red wine.

MMMMM!

Things to do on Eagles Bye Sunday

Phillies Pride
Originally uploaded by Cavalier92

Well it's a beautiful day in South Jersey, but I've got my pumpkins and I am not exactly feeling leaf raking. So instead I headed over to Modell's to pick up my supply of Phillies NL Champs gear ($148 including stuff for Matt). Then I got out of there since Shane Vic will be there at 3. Insanity reigns as hundreds of young women needs stuff autographed by the Flyin' Hawaiian.

The I picked up my Halloween costume. Only hint I am giving is that it isn't much of a stretch for me.

After appropriately decorating the CR-V for the World Series I am left to contemplate the piles of laundry and the sink full of dishes.

Sigh!

Phillies Phever = Insane Ticket Prices

I know it's been 15 years since a World series in this town.  I also know from  economics class that pent up demand for a product or service results in increased prices.

That being said, these Phillies World Series ticket prices are INSANE!  $525 each for standing room?  Actual butt in seat prices starting at $558?  It's no better over on Craigslist, where pairs are going for $1300 each.

I've already resigned myself that the best I will be able to do for the home games is a seat at McFadden's.  Maybe.  My son seems to understand that the ticket prices are outrageous and there won't be a repeat of the good luck we had for the clincher.

If the Rays make the Series, not certain after the Mets impersonation their bullpen did last night, it's going to be cheaper to book a Southwest flight and score a pair of face value tickets to the tomb filled with cowbell ringers in St. Pete.  I mean these guys trap off half the upper deck and call it a sellout when they get 34,000 into a dome that holds 45,000.

The Phils have a place that holds 44,000 and stuff in 46,000 or 47,000 by selling the SRO tickets.  In Boston, things aren't even as crazy as they are here in terms of ticket prices.  There you can buy a World Series ticket to notoriously tight Fenway Park for a mere $495. 

What a bargain!

Go Phils

Friday Fantastic Four

Hello y'all and Happy Phreakin Phriday!

In case you are one of my visitors checking in from around the globe looking for the Kyla Ebbert photos, I need to tell you that this has been a momentous week here at Another Delco Guy.  The Phils won the National League pennant for the first time in 15 years setting up just their fifth trip to the Fall Classic.  If you don't know what that means, visit our friends at The700Level for a full array of coverage.

In honor of this incredible week, We have a sports-themed Fantastic Four this week.

Who are your four favorite athletes?

You can take this one any way you want, from your favorite current Phils, to your favorite athletes from back in the day, to the four hottest athletes, the four best humanitarian athletes, whatever you want.

1. Steve Carlton - the quirky, dominant lefty brought the city its only World Series win
   
2. Cal Ripken - just kept playing and playing and playing
3. Chase Utley - he's old school
4. Ron Jaworski - I remember my dad taking me to Eagles training camp at Widener when i was a kid and this guy was just as affable and approachable then as he seems today on TV

These are the guys that made me the sports fanatic I am today.  Have a great weekend and Go Phils!

2008 National League Champion Phillies

We all knew it was coming.  Up 3-1 on a team that didn't seem to have the heart, we KNEW it was going to happen.  But dawn today still seems a little bit surreal as I watch the celebrations in Mayfair and on Broad Street last night.

My friends over at The700Level have great coverage this morning and I encourage you to take a look.  John and I are enjoying the coverage on ESPN and Fox 29.

This team still has a lot to do as it readies for the Devil Rays or BoSox.  Charlie's mom and Shane's grandmother must be laid to rest.  We need to figure out who the third starter it.  We need to think about a right-handed DH.

But right now we can celebrate the Phils and their first trip to the World Series since my brother Matt was 14.  Today's his birthday and this is a fitting present.

Happy Birthday Brother!

Joe Manning Rocks State College

Or at least the lobby of the Penn Stater. In front of a bunch of drunken financial aid folks, Joe is putting out some stiff competition for the house band Velveeta. It's a good time!

Otto's Pub and Brewery

My co-workers and I have quit the conference for a bit and are at State College's only brew pub, Otto's. The beer is excellent and so is the bread so far. It's a nice place and thanks go out to The Penn Stater for the complimentary van ride.

Watching The Phils In State College

I am at a great beer bar in State College, PA watching the Phils and celebrating the #3 Nittany Lions!

Moorestown Autumn Fair

We've had a change in plans for the day. As we were driving out of town we stumbled on a street fair. Love street fairs, so here we are!

An October Weekend

We're basking in the glow of a 2-0 Phils lead in the NLCS as well as the first morning where we switched the furnace on.  We're wrapping up a breakfast of chocolate pancakes, bacon and sausage (fat lubricates the heart) here and then we're headed out to enjoy autumn.

The kids want to pick pumpkins, so we're likely going back to Johnson's Farm to participate in the insanity that is a pick your own farm in the midst of heavily populated suburbs in October.  We'll also likely go support the economy by visiting Home Depot for some home repair supplies.  Then back home for a little grillin' in the back yard.

Have a great day!

Friday Fantastic Four

We're coming off a great night in South Philly, but the economy is tanking, vapid idiots are on the presidential ticket.  Thus ...

What four things scare you about the future?

1. Sarah Palin as President
2. That the Phils will screw this up
3. That I won’t be able to afford to move
4. That something will happen to John or Emma

(they’re kinda in reverse order)

Beat LA!

Live from The Bank:

Phils Win Game One!

Phils Lead!

3-2!

On The Broad Street Line

I am headed to The Bank to watch the Phils take game 1 of the NLCS from the Dodgers. The train is about half full with fans, some with the classic paper bags filled with 40 ounces of adult beverages. I can't wait for 8:22 pm ET.

Go Phils!

Hilarious Google Ad Placement

You may have noticed that I have a Google ad placement on the left hand side of the page.  I have it mostly because I think it's pretty cool to see what pops up on there.  It looks through my page a few times a day to find some key words from my posts and then places an ad based on my page content.

Usually it's about sports or photography stuff.  Today though, I had to laugh.  It said:

Do you have ADHD?

How did the Googles know?!?

Apparently Dumbo Was Unavailable

So the Flyers picked someone just as irrelevant and silly to drop the puck at this weekend's season opener at the Wachovia Center.

Sarah Palin.  Yup.  McCain's disastrous choice for veep will be in Philly again.  I can't say I understand what Ed Snider is thinking.  Why in the world would you pick this twit?  Maybe she's into rich old guys.  Ed Snider.  John McCain.  Both old and rich.  Hmmm.

Come on Flyers fans, show your true colors.  Boo your lungs out!!!

I Will Be There

I'd like to thank my good friend and former roommate Carlo "The Chief" Iacono for calling me tonight when he got the email from the Phillies inviting him to buy two standing room only tickets to Thursday night's opener of the National League Championship Series. I will be in the house when the Phils go up 1-0 on the Dodgers at The Bank.

Friday Fantastic Four

Sorry this is a day late, but things were CRAZY yesterday.

I'm taking a break from cutting the grass right now and then I need to do some house cleaning.  I took inventory of cleaning products earlier and I know I need to do a bit of product selection later.

That got me to thinking about how particular I am about what I clean with.  Are you this way?

What are your four favorite cleaning products?

1. Clorox Clean Up Cleaner with Bleach - good in the kitchen and in the bathroom
2. Pine-Sol - love the old-fashioned smell and the shine on wood
3. Top Job - this stuff is hard to find anymore, but it cuts though grease really well
4. Febreze - The kids love to spray this stuff all the time.  I'm a big fan of the citrus and vanilla scents

It's a beautiful day here in Moorestown, get out and enjoy it!

Live From Citizens Bank Park

Mr. Greengenes is rocking, Turkey Hill is giving away Graham Slam ice cream and enforcement of the open container law has been suspended. All is right with the world. Go Phils!

Post-Season Fun

An October Baseball
Originally uploaded by Cavalier92

I'm outta work today at 3 so I can head down and tailgate with the700level guys and watch Mr. Greengenes rock Citizens Bank Way.

One tiny little issue is that I don't have ticket, but I'm going to enjoy the pre-game and then head into McFaddens to watch the game in HD.

I'll see you at the park!

Reconsidering Michael Moore

You may remember that a while back I excoriated Michael Moore for his dimwitted comments about Hurricane Gustav.

Today I found Moore's ideas for fixing the economic disaster the country is in.  While it's clear that Moore is still a self-important windbag who desperately needs an editor, he's got some great ideas on how to get us out of this mess.  It's a pretty wordy 10 point plan, and much of it amounts to outright socialism, but there are some truly winning arguments like htis one:

4. IF YOUR BANK OR COMPANY GETS ANY OF OUR MONEY IN A "BAILOUT," THEN WE OWN YOU. Sorry, that's how it's done. If the bank gives me money so I can buy a house, the bank "owns" that house until I pay it all back -- with interest. Same deal for Wall Street. Whatever money you need to stay afloat, if our government considers you a safe risk -- and necessary for the good of the country -- then you can get a loan, but we will own you. If you default, we will sell you. This is how the Swedish government did it and it worked.

I like that idea and the logic behind it even more that I like the idea that the US government should just buy preferred stock in the bailout companies that would pay dividends and be a real investment in the future.  The government could sell the stock as it goes up and recover the bailout costs.  It;s the Warren Buffett plan writ large.

I can't say I really know how to get us out of this mess, but I agree with Moore that the blame can be laid squarely at the feet of the anti-big-government Republicans that deregulated Wall Street and then made government bigger once they got control of the purse strings.  We've got to tighten regulation, punish criminal behavior and eliminate the tax loopholes that are crushing the middle class with an unfair share of the tax burden.

The chickens in DC are now going to pass darn near the same program they voted down last week because ill-informed voters are clamoring for them to do something.  Anything.  So since Bush and his board room buddies are taking the hard line and refusing to negotiate, they're going to give away the treasury to a lame duck administration and the scum-sucking bottom feeders that caused this mess in the first place.

Pathetic.