Our pal Brian Startare of 97.5 the Fanatic recently published This Day in Philadelphia Sports with Kevin Reavy, featuring a foreword from former Phillies manager Charlie Manuel! The following is an excerpt from the new book.
Brian and Kevin will be at Xfinity Live! today after the Phillies game from 4:00-7:00 signing copies of the book.
January 11th
1976– There is a sense of pride that goes with Philly’s greatest underdog, Rocky Balboa, defeating Ivan Drago of the Soviet Union durng bitter Cold War times. But of course, that was all just movie-make believe (Sorry, Rock, we still love you). And while Rocky IV is a TBS re-run powerhouse to whet our Soviet-squashing appetites, nothing beats the real thing.
The real thing in Philadelphia occurred on this day, as the Flyers handed the vaunted Soviet Red Army squad (CSKA) its first and only loss in the ’76 Super Series four-game exhibition. Undefeated in stops at New York, Boston, and Montreal, the Soviet team was confident, but knew it was facing a new breed, squaring off against a Philly team they had called “animals,” playing “rude hockey”.
Ultimately, its pre-game prodding in the media turned to in-game protest on the ice, as the Soviets marched to the locker room mid-way through the first period after a crushing blow to star forward, Valeri Kharlamov, went unpenalized.
But after threats from team owner, Ed Snider, to stiff the check on the Soviet visitors, the Red Army meekly marched back onto the ice, force-fed a crushing 4-1 defeat.
Broad Street Bullies 1, Communism 0.
1960- Richie Ashburn’s time in Philadelphia began in 1948, his all-star rookie season, and ended in the broadcast booth in 1997.
But, Ashburn wasn’t always a Phillie. On this date in 1960, the Phils traded Whitey to the Chicago Cubs following a disappointing 1959 campaign. The following three-year span that ended his career was the only time Ashburn was not employed by the Phillies.
Following the 1962 season, Ashburn retired, after hitting .306 for the Mets' inaugural season.
The following year, he joined Bill Campbell and Byrum Saam in the Phillies broadcast booth.
2004- 4th and 26.
Down three points with 1:12 remaining with no timeouts, the Eagles were faced with 4th and 26 in the Divisional Playoff match up with the Green Bay Packers. In one of maybe two relevant catches of his career, Freddie Mitchell caught the Donovan McNabb delivery just over the first down marker to give the Birds new life.
The impossible conversion set up David Akers’ 37-yard field goal which tied the game at 17 and sent it into overtime. With that, a familiar playoff interception thrown by Brett Favre set up an Akers 31-yarder to ice it. Eagles 20, Packers 17.
(B) Color Commentary: Honestly, I thought the game was over, and so did everyone else. Another in a series of crushing post-season defeats. 4th and 26 with 1:12 left on the clock, and of course the Eagles with zero timeouts remaining. The Linc was emptying out. The fans were just disgusted. How could it end this way?
And then, the unthinkable happened. The Packers, for whatever reason, slipped back into their Cover 2 defense, leaving McNabb too much space to deliver the first down pass to Fred Ex. It was like a shot of adrenaline. We had hope again! A few plays later, David Akers drilled a game tying FG, and then of course won the game in OT!
Out of the hundreds of Eagles' games that I have attended over the years, this one had that serendipitous feel to it. It's meant to be! Of course, that feeling ended a week later in yet another NFC loss against Carolina, but hey, we beat Favre!
