Apter Hours – A Wintry Mix of Sports

Well the past few days in the sports world has been full of exciting stuff. In Philly sports, the Phils had their first full squad workout and they set their spring rotation. The Sixers, with the exception of Jrue Holiday who participated in the rookie vs. sophomore game, got some time to rest over the all-star break. The Flyers have continued their strong play, winners of six of their last eight, and also acquired a Stanley Cup Blackhawk from last season. Also, the Philadelphia Soul are back in town as they began camp this past week. They also brought back a few members of their 2008 Arena Bowl Championship team. This past weekend also marked history for NASCAR and Blake Griffin put on quite a show to win the Slam Dunk contest. Oh, and Carmelo finally got his wish and is now a New York resident. Let’s take a look at this mix of sports news that has happened in the past week.

Phillies prepare for first exhibition

After two days of great weather last week here in the northeast, Phillies fans are beginning to gear up for the first spring training game. After the media made a bigger deal out of Cliff Lee’s minor arm strain, he states he is 100% and ready to go. Lee will see his first action against Detroit next week in Grapefruit League action. The Phils begin their schedule with an exhibition game against Florida State University on Thursday. Prospect Drew Naylor will take the hill for that contest. After a day off on Friday, the Phils will take on the Yanks in Tampa for their first official spring game. Cole Hamels will get the nod on Saturday for the opener. Vance Worley will also see some time out there against the Yankees. The Phils also have a ‘B’ game against Toronto on Saturday. Minor leaguers Brian Bass and Dan Meyer will see action in that game. Sunday, the Phils will host the Yanks in Clearwater with Joe Blanton on the mound. Top-pitching prospect Justin De Fratus will follow Blanton in Sunday’s game. 2010 Cy Young winner, Roy Halladay, will take the mound on Monday against his former team, Toronto. Tuesday’s matchup against Detroit will feature Cliff Lee in Phillies red for the first time since 2009. Kyle Kendrick will also get the ball for some innings in that contest. Roy Oswalt is likely to get the call March 2nd against Baltimore at home.

Sixers looking for momentum after All-Star break

After starting the year 3-13, the Sixers have gone 24-14 since. Sitting in the 7th spot in the East, Philly has been opening eyes around the NBA with their competiveness. The have gone 6-3 in February and have come out victorious over the Atlanta Hawks and the NBA’s best team, the Spurs. There is no doubt that the Sixers have the talent. Not many people see it because of their below .500 record. With a young corps of players, they are bound to succeed in the coming years. I expect them to finish no worse than 7th and I believe they can finish as high as fifth in the playoff standings. Although Andre Iguodala will never live up to what Allen Iverson was, his consistent defensive play gives this team a chance to win every game. The recent emergence of Jodie Meeks and the coaching style of Doug Collins have also contributed to the success of the Sixers. Give Evan Turner a year to get the NBA under his belt and I believe he will do better. Thaddeus Young and Lou Williams have provided great numbers off the bench and Spencer Hawes has shown signs of being a dominant big man. Will the Sixers compete for the NBA Championship in the next few years? Probably not. But, they have plenty of chances to show the NBA’s best that they are not one of the laughing stocks of the league.

Flyers stay on top of the East, acquire Versteeg

With 83 points, the Orange & Black are atop the Eastern conference and trail the Canucks by two points for the NHL lead. With four, 20-goal scorers, the Flyers have shown no signs of slowing down at this point of the year as they notched a crucial win over Tampa Bay this past week. They were in national spotlight this past Sunday during “Hockey Day in America” and took care of the Rangers, 4-2. The Flyers played a penalty-free game against the Rangers, their second of the year, but have yet to record a shutout. The two-headed monster of Bob and Bouch are holding their own throughout the crucial parts of the season and have been making very acrobatic, spectacular saves. Bob had the save of the week by far in a game last week where he had to do a split to get to the other side of the crease to keep the puck out of the net. Coach Laviolette has continued his great work ethic and is never hesitant to call a timeout when he believes the team is slacking. The Flyers also acquired Chris Versteeg from the Leafs, a member of the 2010 Blackhawks who won the Cup. Versteeg has an assist and a goal so far in a Flyers uniform. In order to get him, the Flyers surrendered a 2011 first and third round pick. Originally, the Leafs wanted JVR involved in the trade, but the Flyers refused. Toronto then took the draft pick offer. The Flyers believed that Versteeg was a better bet than someone they would get in the draft. He is under contract until the end of next season. The addition of Versteeg may mean the departure of Villie Leino after the season. Leino, a big part of the Flyers Stanley Cup run, has been flying under the radar this season with 13 goals.

Knicks finally acquire Carmelo; Griffin leaps car

After weeks and weeks of speculation, Carmelo Anthony has finally ended up where he wanted to be. In a blockbuster deal involving three teams, Anthony heads to New York to join All-Star starter, Amar’e Stoudemire. Here are all the details. The Knicks are set to acquire Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, Renaldo Balkman and Corey Brewer, the Nuggets receive Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, NYK's 2014 1st + other picks + cash, while the T-Wolves pick up Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry. This trade is the second largest one in NBA history. While Melo adds more of a scoring threat to the Knicks, they now lack the depth they had. Sure, Chauncey Billups will be a great addition but the losses of Gallinari, Felton and Chandler are going to be noticeable. Chandler and Gallinari were two of the Knicks big three-point threats. As of right now, the Knicks starting lineup looks to be Chauncey Billups, Landry Fields, Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Ronny Turiaf. The players that the Nuggets gave away provided 47 points per game for them as they try to stay competitive with the loss of their superstar. Melo will not be as hated as LeBron by any means, but I am sure some Nuggets fans will be angry. He never really seemed too happy these past few years and like LeBron, leaves the team that drafted him without winning a title. The Nuggets will have to do some restructuring and the Knicks will have to deal with some lack of depth which will not get them too far in the postseason.

Before the news of Melo going to the Knicks came out, Blake Griffin stole the spotlight during All-Star Saturday by winning the Slam Dunk Contest with a dunk over the front of a car. The jam was epic and there was no question that Griffin would take home the trophy. As for the NBA All-Star game, the West held off a furious rally by the East to win the game. Kobe took home the MVP award with 37 points. He looked to be at the top of his game as he dunked over LeBron for two of his 37. This past weekend’s All-Star events drew the most viewers since 2003.

History strikes Daytona to kick off the 2011 NASCAR season

With the 10-year anniversary of Dale Earnhardt’s death on everyone’s mind this past weekend, NASCAR brought its updated points system to the newly paved Daytona International Speedway. With the new points system, drivers are awarded points based on their finish in the 43-car field on a 43-1 system. First place gets 43 points, second gets 42 and it goes all the way down to last place with one point. This system makes the points easier to grasp for those who didn’t understand it. The new system was a burden for a lot of the 2010 Chase drivers as Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton and others were involved in a 14-car wreck at the beginning of the race. Although the star drivers from Hendrick Motorsports were knocked out of contention early, it didn’t stop the other drivers from making the race one of the most memorable Daytona 500’s. With Daytona’s new surface, two-car drafting was the strategy during the 53rd running of the Great American Race. Earnhardt Jr. drove the wheels off of his car as he was up front for the majority of the race but a late wreck ruined Dale’s hope to honor his father with a win. With drivers like Mark Martin and Tony Stewart competing for their first Daytona 500 victory during their long careers, 20-year old Trevor Bayne stole the spotlight. Bayne held off Carl Edwards to the checkered-flag to become the youngest driver (20 years, 1 day) to ever win the Daytona 500. If that doesn’t impress you, the 2011 Daytona 500 was Bayne’s second career start. He gave the Wood Brothers organization its fifth Daytona 500 win. The Woods’ last victory came in 1976 with NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee David Pearson beating Richard Petty in a legendary last-lap battle. Bayne became the seventh driver to earn his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in the Daytona 500. The race set records for lead changes (74) between 22 different drivers. There were also 16 caution flags, another record, for a total of 60 laps. Don’t look now, but the start to the 2011 NASCAR season was just what the sport needed coming into the year. Plenty of wrecks, three-wide racing and lead changes led to an extremely exciting race. These cars will be back on track next this Sunday at Phoenix for the Subway Fresh Fit 500.