Spring is the air today, or was that Indian Summer? Hard to say, as the high temperature and humidity today (in the mid 70s) reminded me of why I hated Philadelphia summers. And it's October frickin' 9th! I can hear crickets out my window as I type this! Fall is definitely later than it was 20 years ago, no question.
However dulcet the weather, though, the fever in the air had a lot more to do with the Phillies than either sweet zephyrs or blasts of hot political air. I went out at noontime today to run a couple of errands that took me across Center City, and whereas normally I'd get some shoutouts for my Obama gear, today it was my Phillies hat that was getting me random (terrorist) fist bumps from passersby. It's not like I was the only person out in Phillies gear, either. (God help me if my Boston Red Sox get in the series against the Phillies.) The hat is not a pander, by the way: I purchased this hat at the last NLCS game the Phils were in to date, which was game 6 of the '93 NLCS against the Braves (Greg Maddux pitched in that game, too). I had it signed and date by my friend Jeff, who took me to the game when his 12-year old (now, um, 27 - to whom I still owe an NLCS game) got violently ill at the last minute.
So, speaking of Sports, the scuttlebutt is that Sarah Palin is going to drop the puck this Saturday at the Flyers' home opener. Surely this has nothing to do with politics, says Ed Snider, owner of the corporation that owns the Phils and donor of $25,000 to the Republican National Committee and maximum contributor to John McCain's Presidential campaign. This clearly defies credulity, especially insofar as Palin was not exactly a household name six weeks ago. Snider claims it's a hockey thing, she's like the world's greatest hockey mom and we're sure Michelle Obama would've been given the same honor if she was the, er, hockey mom type. As for the reaction you can expect from the crowd...well, go to the link above and note the first comment left on the page, if they haven't censored it out by the time you read it. You will note from the picture at left that Billy Penn, as usual, seems
to be very excitedby the goings on about town these days.
But...hold on! Barack Obama himself may be coming to Philly on Saturday. Rumors are a flyin' and they're not coming from the sports talk stations. I daren't think he'd be on Broad Street but he may well be a little further north.
Since I'm festooning the blog today with postcard shots of the town today, why not one more (above right): a shot up the Ben Franklin Parkway towards the museum. It seems likely somehow John McCain will be casting himself as Rocky Balboa, fighting his way up those steps (where he may run into Meghan at the Cy Twombly room). The poor schmuck doesn't know he isn't Rocky, he's Sly Stallone. Converse angle below.
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