Phreaky Phriday

What a night. The Flyers shutout New Jersey -- the Devils, THE DEVILS!! -- to clinch a playoff berth (thanks to Carolina's loss to Florida), the 76ers beat Atlanta to claim a playoff berth of their own for the first time in three years, and the Phillies got a road win at Cincinnati to equal their best start since 2003 (granted, a very modest 2-2).

Was there a full moon last night? Haley's Comet? Did Benjamin Franklin come back from the dead? Were cheesesteaks designated as a health food, too?

Any chance the Eagles could trade Lito Sheppard for Larry Fitzgerald, or Chad Johnson, or Roy Williams today? Given the unbelievable positive vibes coming from last night's games, I wouldn't be surprised if they were able to trade him for all three.

And, kudos to Yahoo Sports. Living in the Chicago suburbs, I don't get much chance to watch Flyers games. But, for the 2nd time in the last few weeks, I've watched a live Flyers hockey game on Yahoo's NHL page. They showed the Flyers taking on New Jersey recently, and again last night, I got to sit at the computer and watch the Philly broadcast of the Flyers 3-0 win for free.

Of course the pessimist in me, cultivated over many years as a fan of these teams, quickly realizes that both the Flyers and 76ers will be underdogs in their opening round series, and the Phillies are pitching Adam "About To Take A Beatin'" Eaton this afternoon, so it isn't all candy and flowers.

Or as Winston Wolf so eloquently put it in Pulp Fiction, "Let's not all start sucking each other's..." well, you get the idea.

But, for one night at least, the stars were aligned, none of the Philly teams choked, and I was actually proud to be a fan of these teams.

For one night at least.