John Bolaris' top 10 Philly sports moments of 2012
John Bolaris—the former Fox 29 chief meteorologist with a penchant for grabbing headlines—took a break from tweeting about the weather to give us the rundown of his favorite moments from a dismal year in Philly sports.
10. Pitchers and Catchers Report to Spring Training: Dreaming during the mid-winter blues of, perhaps, another World Series title. By the time the season rolls around we've got no Utley, no Howard, the immortal Halladay breaks down, the love-fest with Cliff Lee is shattered thanks to zippo run support, Polanco curls up into a herniated fetal position, Domonic Brown... still waiting, and J-Roll decides to take a holiday from time to time. No power, no zip. Only Chooooooch and Cole Train. In 2013 we pray
9. Sixers Trade Iguodala: The much-maligned Andre Iguodala gets shipped out in a blockbuster deal. Iggy to Denver, Dwight Howard to L.A. Most of Philly is excited (they never really liked Iguodala). And that brings us to...
8. Andrew Bynum Becomes a Sixer: Philly is basketball jonesing and the Sixers finally get their center. One of the best... if he plays. Then, Bynum made me think with his, "Kobe stunted my growth" line. Really? Earth to Andrew: we detect a problem—not only with his knees, but with his mental make-up. Speaking of...
7. Andrew Bynum Bowls a Strike! "No one said I couldn't bowl." That's like saying nobody said I couldn't play rugby in the off-season. Yo, Andrew, chill on throwing strikes. How about trading in the multi-million dollar bowling ball for a Spalding? We need you, knucklehead. And, by the way, tighet up the top a bit. Just sayin'.
6. Eagles Dump Asante Samuel: The poison of the locker room. The non-tackler. No more hearing from Asante and no more missed tackles because the super athletic DRC will be much better and more comfortable at his new spot—oh, wait, turns out DRC makes Samuel look like Ray Lewis and the Falcons are heading to the playoffs.
5. Eagles Finally Win in a Thriller: Rookie Nick Foles carries the abysmal Eagles to a thrilling win over the Bucs with no time remaining, 23-21. Just to hear Merrill scream, "EAGLES WIN! EAGLES WIN!" was nice. The Buc stopped there, but not before...
4. That Eagles Fight Song: Fly, Eagles, fly, on the road to... wish we knew. But, hey, the rookie quarterback and rookie running back look good. We need to get some more Green back in Philly (and I'm not talking about the environment).
3. The Winter Classic: I have to give this one to the alumni. It was awesome to see Bernie Parent back on the ice making saves. What a thrill, what a chill. A true Philadelphia legend. How could you not love Bernie Parent? Plus, a partial Legion of Doom reunion, with Lindros to LeClair for the score! Magical. It was a great way start to 2012. The Fly boys needed to beat the Blue, though.
2. Sixers Upset the Hurting Bulls: The eight-seed Sixers topple the Bulls in Game 6 as Iggy comes up huge for Philly and sank the winning free throws in a tense 79-78 win. Hmm, maybe we could use some help from Iggy right about now...
1. The Shift: Sidney Crosby gets knocked on his whiney ass by one of the best players on the planet, Claude Giroux. Plus, Giroux gave us the famous quote before Game 6 with the, "I don't know who you're planning on starting, but I want that first shift" bit to Peter Laviolette. Then, he knocked Crosby on his ass in the first five seconds and scored immediately after. Man, I miss hockey.