2 posts tagged “flyers”

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Dear Harry,

Dear Mr Hanukkah Harry,

Thanks a lot!  [Note sarcasm in greeting.] 

You know, I was going to write to that fat guy in the red suit about the Hockey Team I wanted for Hanukkah, but I decided that maybe you'd be more effective, seeing as how you're less busy this time of year.  (There are a lot fewer Jews on the planet, after all.)  Instead, what did I get?

NOTHING!

I certainly didn't get the team I asked for ...  I mean, the Flyboys lost 10 games in a row!  Yeah yeah, they're aiming for the bottom, for sure, but don't you think you could have done something to help out?  Don't you have fairy dust to sprinkle around town to create some magic?  I didn't think I was asking for too much, and I did leave those yummy rugelach on the counter for your visit.  What happened?

I know I don't look like a member of the tribe, but I can prove that I am.  As a committed MOT, I expected more from you, Mr All-Powerful Hanukkah-Gift-Man.

Maybe next year I will write to the big fat man in the red suit.  How do you like them apples?  At least I know he'll eat the treyfe cookies I choose to serve, and I bet his reindeer won't leave "presents" on my balcony.

Even if the Fat Man doesn't give me the team I ask for, he might leave me a token something -- maybe access to the extra sports cable channels?  Whatever.  You have a whole year to redeem yourself.

Oh, and by the way, thanks for the win last night!  [Note the sincerity.]  The Broad Street Bullies finally pulled one out.  AND against a team they haven't beaten since April 2003.  You're the best.

Big hugs,

Lil' ol' Me

Post a comment Tags: win, santa, philadelphia, loser, harry, hockey, hanukkah, flyers …

Is the season over yet?

I've been a dedicated Flyers fan for as long as I can remember.  My dad started taking me to games at the Spectrum in South Philly when I was 5, and at some point he acquired some additional season tickets.  We liked the seats upstairs -- I thought it was a boatload of fun to sit with the guys who started chanting "A--HOLE" at the refs.  (My dad wasn't nearly as thrilled by their behavior, but that's what you get in South Philly.)  The downstairs seats -- 4 rows behind the goalie -- were crazy good, and we rarely complained about not being able to watch the activity at the far end of the rink.


Over the years, I wore Flyers jerseys and jeans painted with the Flyers logo.  I went to the Flyers' wives' annual carnivals evert February and had the team members sign my jerseys.  I knew all of the names and numbers for each of the players, and I coded the notes I'd pass in high school with their details.  I was always a dedicated fan.  And even though the Flyers broke my heart every year by not winning the Stanley Cup yet again, I remained a fan.  That's what we do.

This year, though, my Fly Boys are making it REALLY difficult to care.  They are dead last in the NHL right now, with only 8 points in 16 games.  The offense appears to be totally absent from most of the games, and the defense has more holes than a hurricane-whipped screen door.  Thankfully the few rockstars we have left on the team (Gagne, Nittymaki, Forsberg -- cheers to you) are real producers ...  but it would be nice if there was a sense of solidarity, of teamwork, of organization.  For Pete's sake, the boys are losing to teams that haven't beaten them in 6 years.  The team looks like a Chinese Fire Drill on ice, but nobody is getting into the driver's seat.

There was even a major shakeup in the organization shortly after the most lopsided loss in 17 years of Flyers hockey -- the GM resigned ("See ya, Bobby!") and the coach was fired.  I think I could hear the roar of Philly fans from down here in sunny Miami on that Sunday morning ...  Change was afoot!  New blood at the helm!  Mixing up the lines!  Suddenly hope was alive again.  The team looked energized, and the fans were Fans again.  For a (short) time, we thought we might be on the road to recovery.

Oh, how wrong we were.  The Flyers still look confused by the puck; the defensemen seem to be vying for an early golf season (par 4, anyone?); and we're pulling so many guys from our AHL, Calder Cup-winning team that we may as well rename the team.  Are we really destined to leave an imprint on this year's season with the fewest points in franchise history?  It certainly looks that way.  But yet we dedicated Philly fans will watch the games, depressed, embarrassed, and generally agitated about the Flyers' perofrmance.  We comment, we curse, we blog, and we assume we know better than the coaches.  Yet we watch - and we hope for a sudden turn of events.  

I guess my only question is, how many more games do we have to play?  Or, in the illustrious words of our little blue friends, "Are we there yet, Papa Smurf?"

2 comments Tags: philly, losers, hockey, fans, smurf, flyers

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Roboco
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