The City of Brotherly Love

I thought about writing something about the Phillies winning Game 5, but frankly it lost it's luster after it was suspended for the second time. Instead, I'm going to focus on the aftermath of Game 5. Every city has riots after their team wins the World Series, I'm not bashing Philadelphia fans. But last night's riots were especially out of control.

Cars were burned, street signs and lights were vandalized, a fire truck was stolen, store windows smashed in, police officers assaulted, and in the end 76 people were arrested. Of course it had to be 76 people in Philadelphia. But that's about the only humorous part of last night's events.

There's no excuse for the rioting. Granted, the true fans are probably in their warm homes celebrating with friends, or standing outside the ballpark celebrating. It's mostly drunk opportunists that cause the destruction. But a championship is supposed to be a celebration of a city, not an excuse to vandalize one.

Here's some of the footage from last night. It's pretty incredible.

Howard Deals Crippling Blow to Rays

Last night when Ryan Howard hit his three run blast in the fourth inning, I got the feeling that the Rays were done. The next inning, when Joe Blanton became the first pitcher in 34 years to hit a home run in the World Series, I knew the Rays were done.

These aren't the same Rays that topped the Red Sox in the ALCS. Noticeably absent are the bats of Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria. Those two driving forces of the Rays offense have yet to get a hit in the World Series.

These Rays look worn out, they look inexperienced, they look sloppy. With their two errors last night, they looked an awful lot like the Devil Rays. Maybe they exhausted themselves getting past the Red Sox, or maybe they ate some bad cheesesteaks. But even for someone rooting for the Phillies, it's painful to watch the Rays play so well all year only to forget to show up to the big dance.

Maybe the real Rays will show up tonight. But with Hamels pitching, I doubt it.