Saturday, May 5, 2012

NHL, MLB doubleheader

My AP stringer duties had me covering one practice, one game and two teams in two different sports. Not that I had much writing to do, but it all led to receiving attributions in a career-high four articles in the same day. Random.

*I covered the Phillies side of the "Take back the ballpark" game Friday night. Not that Jimmy Rollins had any clue the about Nationals-led promotion. I asked the shortstop if he was aware the home team had been making a strong push to get their fans into the stadium rather than the usual horde of Philly fanatics. In short,'' Rollins replied, "two letters: The first letter starts with `N'; the last one is `O.'''

* New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider - as opposed to the George Mason assistant men's basketball coach - went straight from winning the Frozen Four with Boston College to playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That's right, no regular season action for the speedy 21-year-old, who scored the game-winning goal and assisted on an insurance tally in the Game 1 win over the Capitals. The best-of-7 series resumes Saturday at 12:30.

Click on through for one more NHL and MLB link



* After the triple-overtime affair, seems fair to wonder if the two teams might be just a little bit tired entering Game 4. Rangers coach John Tortorella says no - and he's a little bitter you're even thinking it might. For the locals, here's hoping Brooks Laich does not have another nightmare.

* Mariano Rivera might have been Jonathan Papelbon's rival when both were in the American League East, but the Yankees' star was also his "idol". Therefore no surprise the Phillies closer appeared shaken following the season-ending injury news about the man he called the "godfather" of their late game role.

And while no formal credit came my way, I also stuck around for the Nats 4-3 11-inning affair. Not sure how much if any I had to start with, but sitting here in the press box past midnight, I can say with certainty my Natitude is tired.



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