Ron Hextall: Stickin' It to the Man

Digging through a rarely-opened drawer in my home office, I happened upon an 8 1/2 x 11 photo of Ron Hextall, standing at his net with the old-school brown pads, white helmet, and blank boards in the background. It instantly brought back memories and, admittedly, a few goose bumps. Simply put, Ron Hextall was my boy.

Realizing, as a boy, that I shared a birthday (May 3) with Mr. Hextall, I developed an instant connection to the Flyers' goalie of the late 80s to early 90s, skip a couple years, and late 90s. I even grew up in the same town where he lived and practiced (Voorhees, NJ). But most importantly, he and I shared an innate love for swinging a stick and clanging the goalposts. I always got a mini-thrill of his mini-warmup routine where he would swing his stick back and forth against the posts, creating a distinct ring that echoed throughout the raucous Spectrum and would even be heard on TV. Ah, memories.

Of course the fact that he was an exciting and aggressive showman didn't hurt either.

I don't think anybody will forget Hextall's attack on Chris Chelios after Chelios took a cheap shot at Brian Propp in an earlier game, giving the unsuspecting Flyer a concussion to knock him out of the playoffs. This was the ultimate case of standing up for your teammates.

Nor will they forget Hextall's goal, as he launched the puck into an open net, the first time a goalie did so in NHL history.

Nor will anybody forget his slash on Ken Nilson in the Stanley Cup.

And let's not forget the 100+ penalty minutes that were assessed on him in two different seasons. No other goalie in history has come close to 100 in one season, mind you.

I could go on... but you get the drill.

Nowadays, the Flyers' goalkeepers are just downright dull and, well, forgettable, a far cry from Hextall, the Broad Street Bully/Goalie of recent years. I just can't help but wonder: Where did the goaltending passion go?

Perhaps somebody needs to take out a goalie stick and just start swingin...

Philly Sports Phun Phacts

For the 06-07 season, the Eagles have won 11 games (including a playoff
game), the Flyers have won 11 games, and the Sixers have won 11 games.
Combined together, that's
33 wins.  (I'm good at math.)

By the end of the year, the total number of games played between the
three teams (assuming the Sixers & Flyers miss the playoffs) will be 182
games played.  Combined, these teams could easily win fewer games than
the Phillies could win for the regular season.  I would have to think
this is pretty much unprecedented in Philly history.

Estimates:

11 wins for Birds.
22 wins for Sixers
22 wins for Flyers
=55 wins total in 184 games.... Yikes!

Maybe the Phils can even double that number.  Time will tell...

Doug Moe: Coach of the "Run & Gun" 76ers

Coach Doug Moe led the 1992-3 76ers to a 19-37 record, after trading superstar Charles Barkley for Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang, and Tim Perry. Moe was replaced by Fred Carter after Moe's heralded "Run & Gun" offense lost a game by 56 points.

This quote pretty much sums up his tenure:

"Somebody said to me, 'It's Friday the 13th, are you going to be jinxed?' I said, 'Bleep, you can't jinx us.'"
--Doug Moe, on his 1992-93 Philadelphia 76ers, who were 1-7 in the preseason and 0-3 at the start of the regular season

It's actually kind of comical to look back and read these article snippets about the hype surrounding this team...

Philly Inquirer

Philly Daily News

Boston Globe

Associated Press

And one last Inqy article

Whoops... guess that wholed "Run & Gun" plan didn't quite pan out.

Even in Philly, Patience is a Virtue

Any Flyers fan will recognize these names:

Bobby Clark
Gary Dornhoefer
Bernie Parent

Indeed, they are three of the more recognizable names in Flyers' history, since they were great players.

That, and they helped bring the first Stanley Cup to Philadelphia in the 1973-74 season.

But what many people may not know (and I didn't know this until just now), is that these three players were on the second-to-worst team in the league just a few seasons before winning the Cup. In 1969-70, these players suffered through an ugly year as the team won just 17 out of 76 games, and tied with the now defunct, short-lived Oakland Seals in the NHL's Western Conference.

In 1973 they improved to the first place team, winning 50 out of 76 games.

Dare I say.... wow!

That is one whale of a turnaround right there. And without a doubt there are more than just a few turnaround stories like this in all of sports, but I think it's easy to forget just how quickly it can happen, especially when us Philly sports fans are so used to seeing a team struggle forever and then take a while to become a champion. But with a few good players, a strong coach, and the right attytood, anything is possible. Oh, and just a little thing called patience.

As Axl Rose so poetically once said:

"All we need is just a little patience."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Just a little patience."

Bring Back the Thunder!; Honoring Darryl Dawkins

Over the years the 76ers have had their fair share of great and exciting players. Coming to mind are Allen Iverson, Dr. J, Charles Barkley, and, what the hell, we'll throw in Manute Bol. But one of my favorite players to watch on highlight reels is Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins, who ran ball in Philly from 1976, when he was drafted out of high school, until he was traded to NJ in 1982.

This 6' 11", 251 lb. hulk of a man played a vintage power game, with crushing dunks, authoritative blocked shots, and hard fouls to anybody who came into the lane. (In fact he has the record for the most personal fouls in a season with 386 in 81 games, or 4.76 per game.) But he also had a flair for fun, gamesmanship, and marketing by giving his dunks humorous names like the "In Your Face Disgrace" dunk, the "Earthquaker Shaker", and my personal favorite, "The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robizine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam-Glass-Breaker-I-Am-Jam". This last dunk name was initiated upon his breaking two backboards within 23 days, the first in Kansas City, the second at the Spectrum. His glass shattering ability actually resulted in a backboard-design change featuring a collapsible rim so that long delays after a broken backboard were a thing of the past.

To honor Mr. Dawkins, I scoured around the internet for some highlights for your enjoyment. Grab some popcorn, settle in, and enjoy the Thunder...

• Video from YouTube: Two and half minutes of dunks, blocked shots, and racy rap music
• Quick, humorous anecdote about a sponsorship decision
  
• Hilarious and honest interview from SI

Take THAT to the hole, dear reader.

Izel Jenkins: A "Toast-able" Character from Eagles Past

Yesterday I reveled in yet another Eagles' victory, this time over the dismal Atlanta Falcons. I was thrilled by the win and their claiming of the NFC East crown. But I couldn't get past the name "Jenkins" that I saw on a Falcon's jersey. This jersey belonged to Michael Jenkins, a number 3 receiver, but I was brought back to the "glory days" of Eagles football in the early 90's when the team was lead by its formidable "Gang Green" defense, which included cornerback Izel Jenkins.

Drafted in the 11th round in 1988 out of NC State, Jenkins played side by side with the likes of Eric Allen, Andre Watters, Wes Hopkins, Reggie White, Jerome Brown, and more. However, Jenkins has gone down in history as being "Toast"-- as in, frequently getting burnt, as this blunt Wikipedia reference page puts it. I've also heard "Human Crouton", but that's besides the point.

Any Eagles fan of Buddy Ryan/Rich Kotite era will recall Izel Jenkins' presence on the field. If ever there was a deep completion by the opposing team, he was generally considered to be at fault for bad coverage. He had a poor reputation with the media and the fans, but perhaps this was unjustified, as this article from the Eagles' website points out. Maybe he was unfairly picked on by the media and fans because he played opposite of Eric Allen who played lockdown defense, thus causing opposing teams' offenses to throw to the other side. Or maybe he came back from a hamstring injury too early, as the aforementioned article reveals. Or maybe it was the coaches' fault for coming up with incomplete defensive schemes. Well, you get the picture.

Not being a coach, nor having the luxury of viewing tapes from these games, I am not in a position to say whether he truly deserved the reputation of getting frequently burnt, so I'll leave that up to you to decide. Whatever the case, #46 will go down in Philly history as one of the many memorable characters on that truly memorable team. That's a good thing or a bad thing depending on your point of view. But maybe with the New Year having arrived, we should let bygones be bygones and cheer on Izel's son, Izel Jenkins III, who is now a Wofford Terrier. Who knows-- he could one day be the toast of the town...