Hockey.   The publicity they are getting because the NBA lockout is GREAT!!!!!!!!!   More time is being devoted to the highlights of pro sports "fourth" sport thanks to the lockout.  The only thing that is screwing up this publicity coup is that Baseball is generating some big headlines.  The lowest NHL game is getting highlights on Sportscenter.  Its great!!!  Of course the fact that my team is kicking ass right now I think is great too.   The Legion is BACK!!!!!!!     Renberg is a Flyer and as of December 23 he is paired with Lindros and LeClair.   Good, Doom is Back.  Bad, Jones is on the second line.   It was going to happen eventually.  This is just making the Flyers depth look unbelievable.  Two front line goalies, Seven good  defense men, not including rookies and minor leagues, and four plus lines of forwards.   Two scoring lines, two "checking" lines, plus a couple of players on the bench that can fill in on any of the lines.  They have five first line caliper players in their top two lines.  Their fourth line could be a third line just about anywhere.  Clarke may have made some questionable deals to get the current talent, BUT it looks like they are paying off.  Podein for Jones, Maneluk for Vopat, Gratton and Sillinger for Renberg and Langkow.  Jones is a scrapper that causes problems for other teams, Vopat is a fighter with some skills, Renberg is a GOOD right wing, and Langkow is a good checking center.  Combined they make the Flyers much better.
    The rest of the NHL isn't looking to shabby either.  I think my predictions will be close to accurate.  They right now are off some.  The Devils lead the Atlantic not the Flyers.  The Maple Leafs are close to the lead in the Northeast.  The Cripitals, err, Capitals are no where near the top of the Southeast.  I've got the Central and the Northwest pretty close to accurate so far.  In the Pacific the Coyotes are leading with Dallas hot on their heels, who could predict this one.  With about a third of the season done I think that my predictions will have plenty of time to come true.
    Football.  My predictions are close to right, at least in the AFC.  The Jets are AFC East champs, and have a bye in the playoffs.  The Patriots are lower than I thought they would be, but other than that I was close to right.  AFC Central is sending Jacksonville to the playoffs as its Champ, and Baltimore is lower than I predicted.  The AFC West is sending Denver, not the Chiefs as champs.  What the hell happened to the Chiefs?   My AFC Playoff predictions will be proven wrong.  Denver has the best shot of going all the way, then the Jets, then Jacksonville, who was my prediction.  In the NFC, well I could have been worse.  The East saw Dallas win, not Washington, who thought they would suck this much?  The Vikings took the Central away from Green Bay, and does not look like it is willing to give it back anytime soon.  The West was won by Atlanta.  The Niners finished second and the Ditka led Saints were third.  Carolina just completely sucked worse than , most franchises.  My NFC playoff predictions will be proven wrong, quickly.  Minnesota is the favorite, and the Falcons will challenge for the spot.  Nobody else in the NFC playoffs look like they should be there.  They are there only because the rest of the rest of the NFC sucks that much.
    My poor, poor Eagles.  The QB, who should be starting, had his confidence shaken so much that he couldn't make a high school team anymore.  Unfortunately, the other QB's aren't NFL caliber players either.  The RB's are good.  Duce Staley, is a good runner, Kevin Turner can block and catch, Charlie Garner, when healthy, is a good third down/ change of pace back.  The WR's suck.  They are either to slow, to fast or can't catch.  Fryar, Solomon, Graham are listed in the to slow category.  Jells is to fast.  The Eagles lead the NFL in dropped passes, so I think that sums up the last category.  The TE's are all injured.  The can catch, and can't block, or can block and can't catch.  Either way, they SUCK.  The offensive Line is improving.  The tackles are doing their jobs, the guards figured out how to block, and the center has figured out the Eagles blocking schemes finally.  This may be the best part of the offense. The finally figured out how to slow down a blitzing player.  The defense has some good pieces, and needs a few more to improve.  The DB's are good.  Taylor is back, Vincent is covering the number 2 receiver, and Harris is another good CB that one day will take Vincent's spot.  Dawkins is a good free safety, Zordich is a good strong safety, and McTyer is waiting in the wings to replace Zordich.   The LB's are good, young and fast.  Thomas, and Willis are fast and hit hard.  The third LB spot has had three different players there so far.  Each one a slight improvement over the previous guy.   The Defensive line did develop a pass rush, once the CB's all came back from their injuries.  Douglas has 12.5 sacks, Harris is developing into a good lineman on the other side, the pass rush up the middle hasn't been all that bad either.  However, run stopping just doesn't happen with this team.  Everybody and their uncle ran for a hundred yards against them.  A baby got 3 yards up the middle.  The LB's can't really be blamed for this.  The Line is so concerned with pass rush that opposition will give them a free path to the QB on a handoff and send their linemen up against the LB's.  6 foot 2 220lb. LB meet 6 foot 4 320lb. OL.  May this crushing be received with the love and hope that all such crushings richly deserve.     Well at least they aren't 0 and 16.  And we appear to have the inside track on the number 2 pick.  Four teams are 3 and 12 going into the final weekend. The team that had the weakest schedule in that situation gets the highest pick.  Here comes that beautiful number 2 pick!
    Stadiums.  I hope the issue passes in January.  The issue: the State of Pennsylvania funding for new stadiums inside the Commonwealth.  Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh is falling apart, cinder blocks just don't give without a reason.  The reason in Pittsburgh, that the old building is falling apart, lack of funds from the city to maintain the facility in peak 1970's condition.  To bad it's the 1990's and we are looking at stadiums for the 21st century.  Philadelphia is just as bad.  Namely the rat's are the problem.  Some rooms in the Eagles training facilities can't be used because of the rat's in the buildings walls.  Both teams want and deserve new facilities.  Someplace with grass, not painted concrete, err, Astroturf.  Veterans Stadium, was a beautiful facility.  In the 1990's it looks like a big ashtray.  The facility has the appeal of concrete.  The rat problem may take care of its self.  The rats are starting to move out, they don't like the stadiums conditions either.  Some opponents of the bill ask why their tax dollars should go to build a new stadium for some wealthy team owner.  That is NOT what is happening.  The Money will go to build a stadium in the city for the teams to play in.  The Team will contribute towards the stadium as will the state and city.  The difference can be seen in one simple manner.  If the team leaves the city is stuck with a out dated facility and no way to replace the team with that type of building.  Then the city will also lose all of the revenue that the team generated while in the facility.  It would be stuck with bills and no revenue to pay the bills with.  If the new stadium is built it will attract MORE people to the stadium and into businesses surrounding the stadium on game days.  This will create MORE revenue for the city so it can pay its bills on the new buildings and remove the old facility.  The current stadium sites can become parking, a park, an office complex for the warehouses in the area, a training facility for the football team, or anything else that will generate REVENUE.   Currently both Stadiums, are costing the cities more money to maintain than they generate for the city.  If a new stadium is built those costs will most likely go down, and more revenue will be generated by the city.

    Does anyone care that the NBA has a lockout going on??????
D.A. Tater