Good-bye to Dodgertown...
Some fond memories of days in Vero Beach with the LA Dodgers and spring training are now all that's left as the team closed up shop at their longtime spring training home on the east coast with plans of heading to Arizona in 2009.
I was only able to make it to Dodgertown twice and I treasured both trips.
Here is a quick news report with a quote from Vin Scully:
VERO BEACH, Fla. -- The Los Angeles Dodgers made their departure from Vero Beach official, terminating their facility use agreement.
After calling Vero Beach their spring home for 61 years dating to when they were the Brooklyn Dodgers, they informed Indian River County, Fla., officials that they were exercising their option to terminate the agreement in anticipation of opening a $100 million, two-team facility in Glendale, Ariz.
Craig Callan, the Dodgers' vice president of spring training and minor league facilities, notified Indian River County administrator Joe Baird and Vero Beach City Manager Jim Gabbard of the decision Thursday evening.
"I guess there's no particular place in the world -- including my home -- that holds more memories for me than Dodgertown," Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully said Friday in the Dodger Stadium press box that bears his name.
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Good-bye Spectrum ...
Just as Dodgertown is in the rear view mirror, such is the same fate for the Spectrum in Philly.
The Spectrum holds a special place in my memory because of the great Phila 76ers teams of the early '80s. Just as I did in the Boston Garden and LA Forum, I cut my NBA teeth while working many a night, many a playoff series at the Philadelphia Spectrum. The '82-83-84 years all included multiple trips down the NJ Turnpike to Broad Street.
A bit earlier in time, the Spectrum meant one thing: The Broad Street Bullies of NHL fame. The Spectrum posed serious home ice advantage for the Flyers in their memorable battles against the NY Islanders of the late '70s and early '80s. All fond memories, not to mention the fact one of my best friends of all-time, Greg, went to school at Penn and we shot over to games whenever tickets became available.
One special day in Philly was spent with my cousin, Bob Brennan, who enjoyed a full day. LA Lakers at Phila 76ers at 1pm and a nightcap with the Flyers. Bobby was thrilled to be able to sit in the upper press area and watch the change-over performed as I finished up some work from the NBA afternoon.
Anyhow, here's the scoop on the fate of the Spectrum:
PHILADELPHIA (AP)—The Wachovia Spectrum, the former home to the Philadelphia 76ers and Flyers, will close and be demolished next year.
Arena owner Comcast-Spectacor, which announced the plan Tuesday, has plans to replace it with a complex of shops, bars, restaurants and a hotel. The 42-year-old arena, slated to shut down next spring, had been used forPhiladelphia Flyers and 76ers games until the adjacent Wachovia Center was built and opened in l996.
The Spectrum is currently home to a minor league hockey team, the Philadelphia Phantoms, and an indoor soccer team, the Philadelphia Kixx.
Comcast-Spectacor is in discussions to relocate the Phantoms to another facility in time for the 2009-10 season.
The future of the Kixx is clouded because its league, the Major Indoor Soccer League, shut down in May. The league is trying to restart in a new form sometime before the 2008-09 season.
An Arena Football League team, the Philadelphia Soul, also occasionally plays games in the Spectrum.
Comcast-Spectacor, a unit of cable giant Comcast Corp., owns the Flyers, 76ers, Phantoms, the Wachovia Center and the Wachovia Spectrum. It also runs arenas around the country and has food service, ticketing and advertising interests.
Comcast-Spectacor was started by Ed Snider—founder of the Flyers, chairman of the 76ers and co-founder of what is now Comcast’s local sports channel.
“This has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” said Snider, Comcast-Spectacor chairman. “The Spectrum is my baby. It’s one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me, but after a lot of thinking and discussions, we all feel it is in our best interest to close the Spectrum at the conclusion of the upcoming 2008-09 Philadelphia Phantoms and Kixx seasons.”
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Tell me why it is the summer that I decide to move my family when all hell breaks lose on the national finance, banking and mortgage front.
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A hellish day of travel on Sat. with the Hertz Rental car company experiencing major computer problems on Saturday morning. More to come on that after I calm down a bit. It came down to the Hertz rental car counter hand-writing rental agreements and handing out keys. I swear, Hertz still doesn't realize that I had a car and rented it in Massachusetts and properly returned it in NYC (early, I might add). To try to help Hertz along with the problem, rather than just show up at the rental desk, I called the company while I was making the three-hour drive to try to have them work the problem in the computer system. They had no ability to do so.
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Croatia and Greece grabbed two of the final three qualification spots for the upcoming Olympic Men's basketball tourney. Germany and Puerto Rico will play for the last spot today. Here was the AP round-up:
ATHENS, Greece (AP)—Croatia overcame a 30-point, 13-rebound effort by Dirk Nowitzki to beat Germany 76-70 on Saturday, securing a berth at the Beijing Olympics. Greece also earned a spot in the tournament by beating Puerto Rico 88-63.
Germany and Puerto Rico will play for the final Olympic spot on Sunday.
Croatia, which qualified for the Olympics for the first time since 1996, held Nowitzki to only 10 shots but his aggressive drives allowed him to get to the foul line, where he went 19-of-21.
Croatia jumped to a 24-14 lead after the first quarter, but, with Nowitzki scoring 13 in the second and Chris Kaman putting up eight points in the third, the Germans clawed back to take a 49-47 lead heading into the fourth.
Croatia tightened its defense even further and allowed the Germans only one point over the next four minutes, eventually building a 63-53 lead with 3:30 left in the game. The Germans closed within 69-67 on Nowitzki’s layup with 38 seconds left but then fouled Croatia’s Davor Kus 4 seconds later. Kus made the first shot and missed the second, but Croatia grabbed the offensive rebound and held on for victory,
“The referees allowed Croatia to play a very physical, not dirty, game and it took us more than 10 minutes to adjust to that and become more physical, too,” Germany coach Dirk Bauermann said.
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And finally, a welcome to a newborn cousin, Riley Lyons, a little girl who was born in Chicago, IL on Friday night to her proud parents, my nephew Sean and his wife, Casey. Welcome to the family Riley McKenzie Lyons.
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