All Three Philly Teams To Play At Once

Enrico of The 700 Level — who had a nice piece on the Hawks’ website today — notes that tonight is one of the rare occasions where the Flyers, Phillies and 76ers are playing all at the same time. One might say the tank of Philadelphia sports is phull tonight. If one were to say that, one would also be punched right in the nose, by me.

The Flyers are on Comcast SportsNet, the Phillies on CN8 and the Sixers on Philly 57. If you’re not headed to a bar to watch all three at once, your remote is going to get a workout tonight.

Your DVR/Remote Will Be Busy Tonight [The 700 Level]

76ers Tickets Finally Pay Off

I had purchased some overpriced 76ers tickets from Comcast earlier this year, which added me to the 76ers Sixth Man Club. I didn’t think this club had any benefits until the email above, which I received last night. Finally!

The 76ers Have A Winning Record (!)

At the start of the season, Kyle Korver was on the cover of the team’s media guide, Hip-Hop the rabbit mascot was on billboards (he still is) and Billy King was the GM. The 76ers have since even waived the suave European they traded Korver for.

Last night, the 76ers erased an 11-point lead with a 19-0 run in the fourth quarter against the Boston Celtics and beat the best team in the NBA, 95-90. Andre Iguodala scored 10 straight for the 76ers in the run; Boston didn’t score for almost seven minutes. After starting 18-30, the 76ers have gone 17 18-5 to climb above .500.

2008 has so far featured Eli Manning leading a game-winning drive in the Super Bowl, and now the 76ers winning 17 out of 22 games. I could have gotten better odds betting on Fan Man coming back to life and crashing into the Super Bowl.

After the jump, a sick Andre Iguodala steal and dunk.

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Welcome Back

Let me just say if you thought Allen Iverson was going to get booed when he came back to Philadelphia you’re more of a racist than Barack Obama’s evil grandmother. (Okay, just kidding. But why did people think he would get booed?)

Let me also say that this was just one of those times when being a Philadelphia sports fan is worth it. I was like oh no is he gonna do the Hulk Hogan hand to the ear thing and then ahhh he did the hand to the ear thing!!!!

Then the 76ers went out and won! They’re 34-34 — watch out, Boston!

Allen Iverson Returns Tonight

It’s a big week for Philadelphia basketball with three local teams in the NCAA Tournament, but it might be tonight’s contest at the Wachovia Center that’s the marquee event of this week of March: Allen Iverson returns to Philadelphia.

The Answer hasn’t been back in town since being traded last December; while his Denver Nuggets are 40-27, they are currently 9th in the Western Conference. John Hollinger of ESPN only gives them a 50 percent chance of making the playoffs. The 33-34 Sixers, however, have a 99 percent chance at a playoff spot, since they play the in Eastern Conference — where several teams start descendants of the late Air Bud.

The outlook for the 76ers has undergone a 180 since just before midseason. The Daily News asks who got the better of the deal, the SIxers or the Nuggets; a year ago, this would have been a laughable question, as the Sixers had just traded Allen Iverson for Andre Miller and some picks. But now that Thaddeus Young is one of the best rookies in the NBA… well, it’s something I’d have to think about before saying Denver.

Anyway, Philly.com is asking if you’re going to boo or cheer Iverson, as if you’re going to do anything but cheer him. For some reason the link on the front page goes to a forum with the top story being, “Webber experiment over?” I’d say the 76ers got the best of the Chris Webber contract buyout.

Why Is There No Barkley Statue?

I actually spotted this ad for the first time last night; it’s the new Dwayne Wade/Charles Barkley T-Mobile ad. While the series has produced some of the more entertaining on TV recently — they’re no Spy Hunter Pontiac ad, however — this one is so far the best.

And we totally need to build a statue of Sir Charles riding a horse, eating a cheesesteak. We can put it right in front of Pat’s. Or, hell, maybe Chink’s!

Hey, The 76ers Are Still Winning Games

Look! The 76ers beat the Suns for the first time since Dolph Shayes was on the team (or maybe since just 2002), in a 119-114 thriller last night out in Phoenix. Andre Iguodala had 32 points, including this half-court shot at the buzzer of the third quarter.

Our local hoopsters are currently 7th in the Eastern Conference and could really go as high as six. (This would allow the Sixers to avoid the Celtics or Pistons in Round 1, meaning they might win a playoff game or two.)

Editor’s Note: And if you’re reading this on the front page, you can apparently win a suite for a 76ers game, according to the ad at left. (I didn’t know, but that’s some nice synchronicity.) Neat!

MSM Finally Recognizes Datruth4life

Maurice Cheeks has done such an admirable job keeping the 76ers from losing every single game this season he was rewarded with a recent one-year contract extension. (As much as I’m wary of him as a coach, like all sports fans I love Mo Cheeks if only because of this.)

Inquirer 76ers beat writer Marc Narducci thinks the team isn’t headed to the playoffs like a lot of people are hoping. Although Hollinger’s playoff odds give them a 76 percent shot of making it, the 76ers do face 11 teams with winning records in their next 17 games.

And then, there’s the prediction of a noted NBA expert:

And as stated in the previous blog, if the Sixers are having trouble putting away teams such as Miami while losing to the Timberwolves, what happens now, with consecutive games against Orlando, Golden State and Phoenix. As one reader datruth4life says, “I think it’s fool’s gold to think this team can win enough games to get in the playoffs.”

Well, datruth4life has spoken. It’s back to the lottery for us again.

Will the Sixers Make The Playoffs? [Deep Sixer]

Go To 76ers, Get A Job

Problem: The 76ers have won five straight and climbed into the playoff hunt, but still don’t attract any fans. Solution: Offer them jobs.

The job fair is on Wednesday, March 26th 2008 - doors open @ 3:00pm Stick around after career fair and watch the 76ers battle the Chicago Bulls. Your ticket includes admission into the job fair as well as a seat for the game.

It’s amazing that the career fair is billed first in this release. Tickets start at just $15, the same price as a 76ers game. It’s a decent deal, as all the teams are recruiting there, including the “Camden Rivers Sharks.”

76ers Career Fair [NBA Team Jobs]

Snider: Somebody Please Go To The 76ers

The 76ers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies last night for their fifth straight win, moving the team to 23-30 (and the eighth playoff spot) right before the All-Star break. Only problem is, despite it being Mr. Potato Head Night, fans showing up 10 minutes before gametime were still getting a Potato Head, meaning they were among the first 5,000. Officially, 12,026 people showed up at the Wachovia Center last night, which is a bit of a generous figure.

Sixers Prez Ed Snider is not happy about this. The 76ers are 27th out of 30 NBA teams in attendance. One might think Snider should just be happy his baby, the Flyers, played to 99 percent of capacity last year despite winning only 22 games. But, no, he’d rather complain that you’re too dumb to realize how exciting the 76ers are:

“Our kids play hard every single game, every single minute,” Snider said. “You can see them getting better right before your eyes. I would hope they deserve more recognition and support from our fans. I think those fans who come to the games are enjoying immensely what they are seeing.”

Snider said he had a better feeling about the Sixers at the start of the season than reporters who almost universally picked them to finish last in the Eastern Conference…. “I feel the prognosticators wrote us off before the season began,” Snider said. “And that’s why people have taken a show-me attitude.”

You’re right, Ed! It’s the media’s fault. It’s not that Comcast charges over a 50 percent surcharge on the cheapest ticket. It’s not that the team is headed into the All-Star Break without any all-stars. It’s not that the team has been run into the ground since the 2001 Finals on your watch. (Aaron McKie is being paid $7 million by the Sixers this year, the last year of his contract. Who the hell thought McKie would be contributing to the team in 2008?) It’s not that, uh, attendance is down around the NBA and the Sixers are still one of the NBA’s lesser teams. It’s the media predicting the 76ers wouldn’t be very good.

Jesus, Ed. Can’t you just go back to doing non-destructive things, like supporting sending American troops to their death? Oh, crap. Maybe you just better stick to overpaying basketball players.

Snider unhappy Sixers aren’t drawing more [Daily News]