The Law of Ex-Phillydom and the LA Kings

I have this theory about former Philadelphia athletes: Most of them get better once they are out of the City of Brotherly Love.

The Law of Ex-Phillydom applies to three types of players:

1. Players that show signs of promise but infuriatingly never blossom to their full potential, until they leave. Think Michael Bourn and Joffrey Lupul.
2. Players who have solid stints in Philly but put up career numbers once they leave. Think Placido Polanco.*
3. Players who the front office deem too old to be productive and contribute regularly but go on to their new teams to do just that. Think Rod Brind'Amour, Brian Dawkins and Mike Knuble.

Qualifying players aren't usually superstar busts, but players you hope can consistently perform for a long time, and help lead to team success. (If Matt Carle leaves the Flyers via free agency, he is a prime candidate to reap the benefits of the Law of Ex-Phillydom.) You get the idea.

Players are bound to have varying career paths, but what’s happening now is unprecedented: The Law of Ex-Phillydom is affecting an entire organization!

The LA Kings were referred to as Flyers West before Mike Richards and Jeff Carter got there, and now it's just silly. Former Flyers have completely infiltrated all aspects of the Kings organization. It’s the Law of Ex-Phillydom escalating from individual players to an entire team. Shall we run down the list?

On the ice: Richards, Carter, Simon Gagne**, Justin Williams

Behind the bench: Assistant Coach John Stevens (Terry Murray was the Head Coach until mid-season)

In the front office: VP and Assistant GM Ron Hextall

Sometimes the law of Ex-Phillydom doesn’t really matter. Players leave and go on to have solid careers very far away and out of the division/conference, and we’re happy for them. But a lot of times, like with Richards and Carter, it feels like a swift kick to the stomach.

Before the Flyers/Pens series, I wrote that if the Flyers could beat Pittsburgh, it would justify every radical move that the front office made last summer.

I made that statement without the thought that the Kings could or would ever advance out of the first round, let alone make it to the Cup finals.

Yet, here we are, and it makes evaluating the moves slightly more interesting.

It seems like forever ago that Philadelphia practically exploded with joy when the Flyers made their unexpected run to the Cup Finals in 2010. The series against the Bruins was one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed. The loss to Chicago, although disappointing, hinted that the team, led by Richards, would be back to the Cup finals before long.

But then last season happened: Dry Island, absurd pictures of boozing with less than reputable (or sober) girls, and crashing frat parties. It all seemed like innocent fun by a bunch of young guys, until it exploded onto the ice. The team choked. After an amazing first half of the season, the locker room strife took a toll on the team’s performance. An embarrassing second round exit (I'm still not sure how they even made it that far), led to the drastic decisions that Paul Holmgren made.

Sometimes, for whatever reason things just don't click in the locker room, and that was clearly the case with Richards and Carter in Philly. The Flyers organization trusted Richards and Carter to lead them to a parade, and they didn’t. So, for them to end up back together (in a place that serves up even more distractions and beach time than Philadelphia and Sea Isle combined) and make it to the Cup finals the very next year, after everyone decided it couldn’t happen again with them in Philly? It’s like an ex-boyfriend/girlfriend meeting their future spouse right after they broke up with you. It stinks.

You know that old joke about the Phillies sending championship rings to Houston as a thank you? Well, if the Kings win the Cup, the Flyers organization might just deserve a ring, and the Law of Ex-Phillydom will have reared its ugly head again.

Let’s Go Devils? Ugh.

*Note: Polanco’s first stint with the Phillies was in no way shape or form unimpressive, but his numbers with the Tigers after the Phils foolishly traded him are out of this world. Oddly enough, Polanco hasn’t come close to his Detroit numbers since he’s been back in Philly – point proven.

**Simon Gagne winning a Cup would be the only plus side to this whole situation

Why I Am the Way That I Am

During the Flyers Game 6 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the following exchange took place in the Burnston household:

Me: "That’s delay of game! THAT'S DELAY OF GAME!!!"
(Long pause)
My Mom: "Hey, that should be delay of game."
Me (kidding): "Oh, sorry. Is there an echo in here?"
My Mom (yelling): "WHO TAUGHT YOU EVERYTHING YOU KNOW?!"
 
You know what? She brought up a very good point.

Many of you may have wondered how on earth a 24-year-old girl fell in love with sports, knows so much about them and spends so much of her free time writing a sports blog. The answer is my family, and most influentially my mom.

My mom’s been a sports fan her entire life. She grew up watching her dad coach her brothers’ Little League team. She fell (and remains) in love with the toothless Broad Street Bullies and learned everything there is to know about the game of hockey. She loved talking about and watching sports in a time where it wasn’t exactly commonplace for a woman to do so.

A few years later, it turns out that her daughter loves doing all of those same things. When I fell in love with baseball, I got made fun of in middle school, because people didn’t understand why a girl was so excited to go home and watch a ball game. But my family always got it. They brought me to every softball field in the tri-state area for 11 years (and even come to watch me play in my current “grown-up” slow-pitch league). They supported me when my childhood dream wasn’t to be an actress, but a beat writer for the Phillies. They were on board with my decision to go to college near Philly so I could possibly work in the Philadelphia sports market (even though I’m sure they knew it was also partly so I could be closer to the ballpark).

My interest in sports didn’t happen because my family made it happen, it happened because my family allowed it to.

This may seem like a sports story, but it’s really about more than that. Now that I’m older (and clearly wiser), I realize that if it hadn’t been for my mom being such a strong woman and telling me it was okay to be both a sports nut and paint my nails, I’m not sure if I would have been able to stand by what I loved and become the person that I am today.

So, on this Mother's Day, a public thank you to my mom for always being herself, and for teaching me to do the same. Thank you for your priceless insights, like how hockey was better when players didn’t wear helmets because you could see how good-looking they were, that you should always know what you’re going to do with the ball before you get it, and that loving sports is about so much more than winning or losing – it’s about enjoying the game itself and sharing it with the people you love.

Oh, and of course, thank you for picking my father so wisely.

Mother's Day 2007 at CBP

Knock Knock, I Loved This Season

It’s funny the difference a year makes.

Last May, the 2010-11 Philadelphia Flyers lost in the second round of the playoffs to a team everyone thought they should beat, and when the season was over, I couldn’t believe what terrible shape the team was in.

After one of the best first half performances I had ever seen, the Flyers completely crumbled after the All-Star break. They somehow managed to hold on to the 2^nd seed, just barely beat Buffalo and then they got embarrassed in a goalie-roulette sweep at the hands of the soon-to-be Stanley Cup Champion Bruins. The team’s on-ice chemistry fell apart as badly as it did in the locker room. (I bet you can’t remember a time before the term “Dry Island.”) It was painful to watch, and after such a downward spiral, it almost felt relieved when it ended. I couldn’t help but be brought down by the way the team was crumbling and wonder if that group of players would ever be able to put another Cup run together.

Last night, the 2011-12 Flyers were also eliminated in the second round by a team everyone thought they could beat, and now that the season is over, I can’t believe how positive I feel about what they accomplished.

After one of the most drastic off-seasons (possibly ever), no one expected too much from the Flyers. They were too young, too inexperienced and too unfamiliar with each other to make a run at the playoffs. Yet, all season, they did nothing but work hard, have fun, and routinely surprise everyone. They stayed in the top of conference all year. They overcame adversity, and came together as a team to not only make the playoffs as the 5^th seed, but eliminate their archrival in the first round. When it all came to an end, I only felt sad about having to wait until the fall to see the Orange and Black take the ice again.

It’s hard not to get frustrated when your team gets eliminated from the playoffs. You spend a lot of time cheering for them, and you feel emotionally invested to the point where you feel like you’re the one that lost. There’s always a long list of “what-ifs” that could leave fans up at nights for weeks. I know I’ve fallen victim to this before (cough, cough, the 2009 World Series), but I don’t feel that way today.

This season ended with the Flyers running into a buzz saw. Sometimes in the playoffs, you just run into a team where everything is clicking at the right time. You could argue that the Flyers were tired, hurt, or emotionally drained from the Pittsburgh series, but the Devils were the better team and deserve the credit for advancing.

What’s more important than how the season ended are all the good things that happened during it. Even with the loss of Chris Pronger, and the absurd number of man games to injury, this team exceeded expectations all year. Peter Laviolette infused confidence into his rookies by treating them like anything but. Consistency escaped them at times, but the balanced scoring attack and even more balanced leadership corps delivered a solid season with good experiences for the younger players to learn from. They were an unbelievably entertaining team that the fans got to “know” better than any other Flyers team before them thanks to 24/7.

No, not everything is perfect. There are plenty of areas for improvement and some issues that need to be addressed for next year, but that’s for another day.

For two years in a row, the Flyers have to swallow second round exits. But, make no mistake about it: This this year was the beginning of a new era, not the end of a disappointing one. 

They may not have gotten the 16 playoff Knock Knocks we were all hoping for, but I vote we do this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bMmhKz6KXg) one last time to close out an overall successful season. After all, they beat the Penguins!