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05/28/2010 -
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -In an era when hockey games may as well have been held inside the squared circle, the Broad Street Bullies spilled enough blood to fill a decade's worth of Stanley Cups.
They embraced their moniker as the most despised team in the NHL, crushed their rivals to a pulp, and rubbed salt in their busted-open wounds by winning a pair of titles.
More than that, the Bullies pounded their way into the hearts of Philadelphia Flyers fans.
It's a love affair spanning more than 35 years that kicked off with those 1974 and 1975 Stanley Cup winners that so captured the spirit of gritty Philly, more than 2 million fans packed city streets for each of their championship parades.
Long past their pugilist primes, the former champs are ready to make room in the rafters for another championship banner. No one outside the organization wants the Flyers to defeat - oh, let's say, beat - the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup finals more than the players who still sport the scars, carry the aches and wear the rings of their glory days.
``My freaking shoulders are getting tired. It's time to pass the torch around,'' Hall of Fame goalie Bernie Parent said. ``It's been a long time, but it's the right time.''
The Bullies' style intimidated opponents, enraged visiting fans and, more than anything, meant the Stanley Cup stayed in Philadelphia.
Lord Stanley's Cup hasn't called Philadelphia home since the brawlers left town. The Flyers have lost their past five appearances in the Stanley Cup finals - a trend they'll try to reverse starting with Game 1 on Saturday in Chicago.
The Broad Street Bullies are enjoying a renaissance throughout the city. They're in demand thanks to the Flyers' run to the finals - Bob ``the Hound'' Kelly, Dave ``the Hammer'' Schultz and Joe Watson rallied the fans Thursday at Geno's Steaks - and the Flyers were celebrated in the HBO documentary ``Broad Street Bullies'' that is airing now. It's the first NHL documentary aired by the premium cable network.
``We're riding a crest, just like the boys are,'' Parent said.
And they're setting the record straight.
Yes, they loved to fight. But the Flyers from that era were more than a bunch of thuggish brawlers who some accused of cheapening the game. They boasted Hall of Famers such as Parent and Bobby Clarke, and won 50 and 51 games in their championship seasons - numbers not achieved simply by throwing punches and camping out in the penalty box.
This year's Flyers won a shootout in the last game of the season to clinch the seventh seed.
``We might have pushed a little bit to the extreme,'' Kelly said, laughing. ``People look at our fighting, but we had talent. We had good talent.''
The nickname was coined by a writer and a headline in the Philadelphia Bulletin and it soon became their calling card. Broad Street is a major arterial street in Philadelphia and runs past the soon-to-be demolished Spectrum.
It took three hours for the 1974 parade motorcade to travel a few miles down Broad from the Spectrum to City Hall.
The Flyers won their first Stanley Cup in 1974, only six years after Ed Snider founded the expansion team. They beat the Bruins 1-0 in Game 6 on a goal by Rick MacLeish at the Spectrum. Parent won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
In '75, the Flyers went back-to-back. They defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 in Game 6 to clinch a second straight championship. Parent became the first player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe in consecutive seasons.
On the flight home from Buffalo, the Flyers plopped the Stanley Cup in the middle of the aisle. For close to 90 minutes, the Flyers couldn't take their eyes off the ultimate prize.
``We were able to just sit back, look at the Stanley Cup and just savor it,'' said Parent, who phoned in from his boat, smoking a cigar. ``It was just a special time.''
While the brutal rough-and-tumble style faded, the nickname has had an on-and-off relationship with the franchise. Every fight, every suspension involving the orange-and-black conjures up the old Bullies image. Flattened by rule changes, the days of the sadistic enforcer have mostly gone the way of the dinosaur.
``You're not really allowed to do any of that nowadays. That doesn't go over too well,'' Flyers star Jeff Carter said. ``We got guys who are going to stand up there and not take anything from anybody as well. We're going to stand up for ourselves and if it comes to blows, it does.''
Sure enough, the Flyers led the league with 402 penalty minutes this season. If that sounds like a lot, consider this. Schultz, who often wrapped his hands in tape for protection, set an NHL record in the 1974-75 season with 472 penalty minutes. The Flyers put stitches on faces that looked as if they came right off a baseball.
``A lot of people look at it, particularly if they're not a Flyers fan, a little negative,'' Schultz said. ``Sometimes, I'm almost tired of hearing some of these people cry. Like we were thugs? Yeah, right. I was 6-1, 195. I guess it was the scowl on my face.''
Schultz said the Flyers had the support of their coach, Fred Shero. Shero holds every major team coaching record, including years coached (seven), wins (308), winning percentage (.642), and playoff wins (48).
``Some coaches would have said, 'Whoa, guys. Let's tone this down. We're getting a bad reputation,''' Schultz said. ``He never said that for one second.''
For all he did on the bench, Shero's best remembered for his motivational sentence on Philadelphia's blackboard before Game 6 of the 1974 Stanley Cup series:
``Win together today, and we walk together forever.''
It's a phrase that resonates more than any punch.
The Flyers have walked together, seemingly forever. Most of them still live in the Philadelphia area and are always planning some sort of dinner, function, or lacing up the skates for charity hockey games. They could have stopped in one downtown eatery on Thursday and had a taste of the Broad Street Bully sandwich - marinated chicken, barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese and sweet potato on black Russian bread.
No matter where they walk, Broad Street Bullies is a name they wear with pride.
``It embodies that's we're a tight-knit group; a group that sacrificed for each other,'' Kelly said.
Schultz knows the true definition of the Broad Street Bullies.
``We were a phenomenal team. Two Stanley Cups and we didn't take anything from anyone,'' he said.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.
Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.
Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.
Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.
Arizona 20-1
Butler 20-1
Duke 30-1
Florida 7-2
Georgetown 30-1
Indiana 35-1
Kansas 15-1
Marquette 25-1
Maryland 40-1
Memphis 50-1
Nevada 50-1
UNC 9-2
OSU 8-1
Oregon 30-1
Pittsburgh 15-1
Texas 30-1
Texas A&M 18-1
UCLA 6-1
Wisconsin 10-1
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