Shallow | Center

Happy Opening Day!

It's here -- it's finally here!

After the long off-season, the boring winter, we have baseball again. I'll be at Citizens Bank Park this afternoon to see how Brett Myers's return to starting goes. And to sample a Schmitter ... or a Tony Luke's roast pork sandwich ... or a Peace A Pizza slice of the game ... hmm. And also, uh, to see what this season's microbrew lineup looks like. Hmm again.

Wait, why am I going to the ballpark today? Oh, right -- there's a ballgame to watch!

Though I'm already getting hungry ... S|C

Tags: Phillies, Citizens Bank Park, Schmitter, Tony Luke's, Peace A Pizza

Philadelphia and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Greater Philadelphia had a pretty shitty day yesterday.

First it was revealed that that the teenagers whose beating of a Starbucks manager triggered an asthma attack that killed him were simply looking for some sick fun. The victim, the cops said, "was targeted for no reason."

It's the kind of random crime that makes people flinch from urban living and confirms outsiders' perception of Philadephia as a violent, lawless hellhole.

I mean, Jesus Christ, it happend in the middle of the afternoon in a Center City subway station. Maybe those outsiders aren't that far off.

Then last night, a deranged couple used their 1-year-old to keep police at bay on the Walt Whitman Bridge at the height of rush hour. It was the kind of crazy act that makes people flinch from Philadelphia and confirms outsiders' perceptions of the city as an asylum bursting at the seams with inmates.

Maybe those outsiders aren't that far off.

The region needs a win. I hate to say this, but it'd be nice for the civic well being if Villanova could knock off Kansas tonight. S|C

Allen Who?

No kidding: The last time I watched an NBA game in its entirety was almost certainly Game 5 of the 2001 NBA finals. The 76ers imploded after that wondrous season, with Pat Croce losing his power struggle with Ed Snider, Billy King unable to fit Allen Iverson's square peg into any of the many round holes he brought in, and a succession of coaches following Larry Brown in and out the door. The rest of pro hoops, meanwhile, has held little interest for me since then -- nobody cares about defense, the league has gotten increasingly thuggish, and no one has been able to combine talent and charisma in any meaningful way since Michael Jordan retired. (Now pardon me while I fetch my cane and my oxygen.)

But now, I'm thinking, it may be time to reinvest in the NBA.

Incredibly, the Sixers have caught fire with a young, hustling, defense-minded team, and powered their way into playoff contention. Last night Andre Miller, one of the guys King was able to secure for Iverson before being shown the door himself, dished an astonishing 18 assists in Philadelphia's hammering of the Bulls, its eighth victory in the last 10 games. With five double-figure scorers and virtually no attitude, the 76ers have become an easy team to like.

The question is: Have they become an easy team to watch? S|C

Tags: 76ers, Andre Miller, Allen Iverson

Also, Female Broadcast Journalists Are Hired Primarily for their Looks

Here's a little public service announcement for you: I'm going to tell you in one sentence what it took Inquirer TV critic Jonathan Storm an astounding 35-plus column-inches to sputter in today's paper.

Political coverage on television -- and especially on cable -- is marked by naked partisanship and hack reporting that contribute breathtakingly little to the national dialogue we so desperately need but are not getting in these complex times.

Seriously.

Not only did this woefully obvious and completely unnecessary "analysis" make the paper, but Storm somehow neglected to mention that Rick Santorum, one of the unhelpful pundits he cites as contributing to the mindless babble, is on the Inky's payroll. Hell, he should also have thrown Michael Smerconish, who pops up with frequency on MSNBC, under the bus while he was at it. S|C

The Campaign Comes to Pennsylvania's Airwaves

The Barack Obama commercial I heard on the radio yesterday -- the first Pennsylvania primary ad I've encountered this year -- began conventionally enough. A young woman was speaking to her peers, urging them to vote and let their voices be heard. For a campaign that has been heavily recruiting first-time voters, it was a nice, if expected, pitch.

And then, in the last few seconds, there was Senator Obama himself, speaking at a rally of some sort, raising his voice powerfully among the cheering masses, delivering a message of optimism and hope and opportunity, and sweet fancy Moses, was I getting chills?

Yep.

I was too young to vote for Ronald Reagan, but I can only imagine that his message of the possibility of a greater America, rooted in a belief in ourselves and our inherent goodness, resonated much as Senator Obama's is now. It is an incredibly enticing appeal, and one that I find myself increasingly drawn to. S|C

Taking Solace in Insignificance

So my beloved Saint Joseph's Hawks fell in the first round of the NCAA tournament, while Villanova extended its maddeningly inconsistent season with a trip this weekend to the Sweet 16. I suppose I can take some small comfort in the fact that Wildcats fans will have to trek to (shudder) Detroit to enjoy watching their team play. Petty, I know, but I don't feel terrible writing it. S|C

A Spring in My Blog

So how's your pool?

Yeah, I could use the excuse that poring over the field for so long that I was able to pick seven of the potential Elite Eight teams is what's kept me from posting for all these weeks, but we all know how huge a whopper that would be.

Work, work, work.

Family, family, family.

The usual.

But, truth be told, I've missed being here. It's springtime, baseball is about to start, and the presidential primary is finally going to matter here in Pennsylvania. So I'm going to give it another go. Thanks for checking back. S|C