Harry Kalas Passed Away

Harry Kalas passed away today at the age of 73.

One of the great things about being a sports fan nowadays is how much of it you can get. Back in the day, you maybe got to see one or two games a week. With MLB Extra Innings and the other sports packages, you can see pretty much every game that is being played for the entire season.

A great thing about that is people all over this country can share what regional fans covet. We all can watch and listen to Vin Scully call a Dodger game. I got to hear Chick Hearn do Laker games. And I got to hear Harry Kalas do Phillies games.

He could never mean as much to me as he does to the fans in Philadelphia. He was loved by them, the players and his contemporaries. The first time I heard him call a Phillies game was when Keith Olbermann used to impersonate him during the Phillies highlights. I'd be bent if anyone else did those clips.

That voice. That voice. That voice was golden. Slow, deliberate and deep, that voice didn't need catchphrases (though "Outta here" turned into one). It never sounded panicky. Most announcers call home runs as if they were doing an auction. Mr. Kalas' voice just gave you that easy "long fly ball and it's outta here"

So when I got the MLB Extra Innings package from DirecTV many moons ago, I actually made a point to watch some Phillies games just so I can hear him call it.

I'm more of a football guy, so I will really miss Mr. Kalas during the NFL season. He would do many NFL Films segments, including the highlight packages on HBO/Showtime's Inside the NFL. He also was the voice for those Campbell's soup commercials and Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl.

To the fans in Philly, my heart goes out to you.

Sportz' Useless Conference Championship Picks

I must admit that I've had a bad time picking these playoff games. I have gotten exactly two right out of eight games. That's 25% to you and me.

Still, I gotta pick the AFC and NFC title games that will be played later today.

EAGLES OVER CARDINALS: I'm going to not trust Arizona again. I mean, it's worked so well thus far. I just love the way Philly is playing defense right now and they have the secondary that can at least slow down that Cardinal passing attack. The key will be Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook dominating on offense. Philly 31-27

STEELERS OVER RAVENS: Baltimore is just too beat up right now. They've played two tough physical playoff games and are a little worn out right now. For once, the Ravens defense won't be the best on the field. Pittsburgh 20-14

And there you have it. An all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl.

Can Pennsylvania Be the New New England?

Right now, people who live in the Keystone State are having quite the sports year. The Philadelphia Phillies are your World Series Champions, the Pitt Panthers are the No. 1 ranked team in the college basketball polls and both the Eagles and Steelers are favored to win their respective conference championship games.

Can Pennsylvania be the next New England?

Remember that New England has had a great run of late. The Red Sox have won two World Series since 2003, the Patriots have three Super Bowl titles and four appearances since February 2002 and the Celtics are defending NBA Champions.

It remains to be seen, but if both the Eagles and Steelers win this Sunday then the Vince Lombardi trophy will be in PA.

Both are the anti-Seattle. Seattle has watched the SuperSonics bolt for Oklahoma City, the Seahawks fall into the tank, the Huskies football team put up an 0-fer and the Mariners have been among the worst teams in baseball.

How In the Heck Do We Have an Eagles-Cardinals Championship Game?

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Its one thing that Arizona went into Charlotte and beat the Panthers; it is quite another when Philly goes into New York and beat the Giants again.

Now we are treated to a Eagles-Cardinals NFC Championship Game. Add in the Ravens in the AFC Championship game and we have three teams left that are named after birds (the Falcons lost to the Cardinals last week).

A month ago, the thought of that happening would be insane. The Cardinals were nothing more than paper champions; they won the worst division in the NFL and were usually hammered when they had to deal with anyone else. Now they have beaten two NFC South teams and will actually host the NFC title game.

Philadelphia hasn't put two good games together all season long. Now they've looked outstanding in three straight. They destroyed the Dallas Cowboys in a de-facto playoff game in the season finale, they went into Minnesota and downed the Vikings and now they've dethroned the defending champions. All this after the Eagles looked so horrid against the Redskins just a month ago. All this after Donovan McNabb was benched and it looked as if the Eagles were falling apart.

This should be a great game. You have two QBs that have had a lot of grief over the past several years and one of them will be leading his team to the Super Bowl.