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Monday, October 4, 1999
Philly, Ottawa: A tale of two cities
"On second thought, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
Here are just a few reasons hockey fans in Ottawa would rather not.
* Your team is better. Okay, it goes beyond that. Your team is younger and faster. Your team is more exciting to watch. Your team has one of the smallest payrolls in the NHL. Your team doesn't have a $10-million superstar like Eric Lindros -- it is in fact taking a stand not only for itself but on behalf of the entire league against a wannabe that doesn't wannawait until he is at least entitled to commit such robbery -- and yet in Saturday's season opening 3-0 win still managed to make No. 88 seem very ordinary, if not nearly invisible.
* Your arena is better. Oh, both teams play in beautiful, state-of-the-art facilities. But yours has much better atmosphere. Yours has more noise (granted, Flyers fans had little to cheer about Saturday) and yours has a game-day staff that actually make the intermission and between whistle lulls more bearable.
* Your arena staff has more sense. Surely, Corel Centre security guards wouldn't have reacted the same way as those at the First Union Centre Saturday when Katie and Marianna, who had travelled more than eight hours to get to the game from Ottawa, were ejected from the building in the third period because their reasonably-toned cheering for the Senators was annoying grumpy Flyer fans.
* Your post-game snacks. Yes, the hoagies are delicious. But at 3 a.m. the two top providers in Philadelphia each had lineups consisting of at least 200 customers. No kidding. The good schwarma places in Ottawa never seem to keep you waiting that long.
SECOND THOUGHTS: Colour analyst Gary Dornhoefer, a grinder when he played the game, had this to say about Alexandre Daigle, who is about to get another chance at making millions in the NHL, this time with the New York Rangers: "He loves everything about hockey except playing the game." ... You think traffic around the Corel Centre can be congested? Imagine what it was like in Philly Saturday,
when the Flyers were playing at the First Union Center, the Phillies were playing at Veterans Stadium and Z.Z. Top and Lynard Skynard were playing at the Spectrum. All three facilities are in the same neighbourhood ... Remember when we thought Daigle and Alexei Yashin would be the cornerstones of the Senators for years to come? When this season opened, neither were even playing in the NHL.
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM...: Why would anyone want to resurrect a CFL franchise in Ottawa now when the president of the league says rule changes (four downs?) may be necessary to generate enough interest to keep it alive? ... Dimitrius Underwood .... Rookie Mike Fisher looked very much like he belonged in his NHL debut Saturday. In fact, with breaks he could have wound up with a couple of goals ...
Patrick Lalime could have ducked out occasionally to watch the Expos in their 13-3 win over the Phillies and he may not have been missed. Shutouts just do not come any easier ... Philadelphia Eagles-New York Giants games should be outlawed ... Hopefully it's not too late for the historical Jan. 23 game between the Hull Olympiques and Ottawa 67's to be switched from an
afternoon start to an evening start so as it won't conflict with the NFL conference championship games.
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