With everything that happened this past week-end in Philadelphia sports, I almost don’t know where to start but though my main passion is baseball, I start today’s post with a quote from 76ers coach and my personal hero, Doug Collins. This is what he told his young, overmatched team, down 3-0 in their play-off series with the mighty Miami Heat:
“If you have faith, you have hope. If you have hope, you have life.”
And it sure was a day filled with faith, hope and ultimately life. These are the moments I’ll remember most from Easter Sunday’s Terrific Trifecta:
Roy Halladay’s superhuman 14 strikeout performance as the Phillies completed a four game sweep against the Padres. He’s calm, he’s cool. He’s Halladay. Roy Halladay.
And a bonus moment was watching the hundreds of Phillies fans in attendance in San Diego! give Roy a rousing standing ovation as he left the field.
I loved seeing the 76ers Thaddeus Young come to the defense of rookie Evan Turner when he was shoved after the whistle by the Heat‘s James Jones.
And although I am an admitted bandwagon jumper when it comes to hockey, I was on the edge of my seat, heart pounding with every shot during the Flyers overtime win against the Sabers. There is nothing more compelling than a win or go home game. Add to that overtime in enemy territory and I was hooked.
By the way, for the record, even a hockey novice like myself would not have started Michael Leighton in goal.
I can still see Shane Victorino motoring around third and sliding head first across home plate for an electrufying inside-the-park home run.
And the final seconds of the Sixers win were priceless. On one end of the court, 32-year old veteran Elton Brand, who many thought was washed up, came out of nowhere to block LeBron James‘ last second shot that would have sent the game into overtime. Then, on the other end of the court, it was Evan Turner‘s turn to shine. The 21-year old rookie stood calmly at the foul line and hit both shots to seal the win for the Sixers. The grizzled veteran and the still wet behind the ears rookie. They don’t make endings any better than that.
But my favorite moment was watching the end of that Sixers game with my 15-year old son, a diehard fan who has supported the team from the start. When Jrue Holiday made his huge three-pointer, we screamed so loud our two dogs went running from the room. When Lou Williams made his high arching three over a frozen Dwyane Wade we leaped out of our chairs. And when Evan Turner swished the foul shots that won the game we were high-fiving and fist-bumping like crazy.
A great moment we’ll both remember. And isn’t that really what it’s all about?
“If you have faith, you have hope. If you have hope, you have life.”
We have life, Doug. Oh yeah, we sure have life.
***And by the way, in case you’re still wondering about the title of todays post, does the phrase “Winning” ring a bell???
Girls Best Phriend 
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