The Sports Granola

For weeks, Phillies players laughed off their lackluster spring training. Regardless of the results from Florida, they insisted they would be ready to play once the games counted. They were wrong.

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Washington « 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 5 11 12 0 Philadelphia 1 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 0 6 8 2 Preview | Matchup | Lineup | Log | Wrap | Box W:S.Rivera(1-0) L:T.Gordon(0-1) HR: WAS- L.Milledge (1) PHI- J.Rollins (1), C.Utley (1)

Fernando Torres’ early strike gave Liverpool a precious five-point lead over their Merseyside rivals in the race for Champions League qualification.

Torres cost Liverpool around £20million last summer, and this goal - of all the 28 he has grabbed so far - could be the one that earns the riches that come from participating in Europe’s premier competition each season.

Patrick Thoresen doesn’t pick up many points on the ice. Instead, he makes plays. The Norwegian winger made a critical play last night at Nassau Coliseum that helped the Flyers get a late goal before center Danny Briere won it in a shoot-out, 4-3.

Staring at a 3-2 deficit with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, Thoresen went into the corner, stripped defenseman Radek Martinek of the puck, then fed Mike Richards at the net for the tying goal, setting up overtime.

“We lost the face there, and I jumped on the defenseman and lifted his stick,” said Thoresen, who has played 18 games here. “Got the puck, another defenseman came to me, and Richie was alone in front. I got the puck through.”

It was a pivotal play with huge overtones. With Boston’s 4-0 rout of Ottawa, the Flyers (91 points) remained seventh in the Eastern Conference. Washington also won, staying three points behind them. Any combination of four points involving the Flyers’ winning and the Capitals’ losing clinches a playoff berth for the Flyers.

“Oh, yeah, Washington was winning, and if we had lost this game, it would have been so tight,” Thoresen said. “. . . These two points were unbelievable. It’s been like that the last 10 games.”

The Flyers lost Friday’s shoot-out in New Jersey. This time, Briere went with a double move, beating goalie Wade Dubielewicz with a backhander. Dubielewicz had been 6-0 lifetime in overtime/shoot-outs.

“It wasn’t the prettiest move,” Briere said. “When I tried to go backhand, I fanned on the puck a little bit, and that is why it was so slow coming to me. In the end, it worked.”

Meanwhile, Flyers goalie Antero Niittymaki, who had not played since March 18 against Atlanta, was terrific, stoning all three shooters.

“I felt pretty good about myself,” said Niittymaki, who had not played in four games. “I’ve been practicing breakaways a lot this year in practice. It was my first shoot-out this year. I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I felt pretty confident and we’ve been scoring some goals in the shoot-out lately.”

He got some help as the Flyers killed off two penalties in overtime.

“It might be the gutsiest effort of the year,” coach John Stevens said. “We showed a lot of resilience. They got a fortuitous bounce on their first goal. We had all kinds of pressure on them and they make it 2-0 and you think we’re going to go away and we don’t.”

The Flyers trailed by two goals early and were behind, 2-1, in the third when Joffrey Lupul scored his 19th goal at 3 minutes, 22 seconds. It was Lupul’s first goal in nine games since returning to the lineup from a right ankle sprain. His last goal was Feb. 14 against Tampa Bay.

The Islanders got the go-ahead goal at 10:19 when former Flyers defenseman Freddy Meyer chipped the puck off the wall to Frans Nielsen in full stride. Nielsen went into hyper-gear around Braydon Coburn (minus-3), rifling a shot from the left circle.

Five minutes later, Richards tied it with his 28th goal off Thoresen’s assist.

“I lost it cleanly,” Richards said of the face-off. “They weren’t expecting it, and Thor made a great pass to me.”

The Isles got a strange goal from Richard Park in the first period. Defenseman Aaron Johnson sent the puck off the side boards, and it went the length of the ice behind the Flyers’ net, then took an odd bounce off the boards, then off Niittymaki’s stick.

Park crashed the net, slid, and swiped the puck into the net with both Kimmo Timonen and Coburn on him. In the second period, the Flyers unleashed a season-high 23 shots, but a turnover and coverage mix-up also resulted in Blake Comeau’s making it 2-0.

Briere got one back at 15:24 coming out of the penalty box, giving the Flyers a power play when both teams had been going four-on-four. With the puck tied up behind the Isles’ net, Richards gave Briere a pass in the left slot. Briere fanned on his initial attempt, then swung again, going high and short-side for his 31st goal of the season.

Davidson slayed another giant Friday night. Stephen Curry provided another Elite performance in the NCAA tournament, scoring 33 points in the No. 10 seed’s 73-56 upset of Wisconsin in the Midwest. Now, if Villanova can somehow beat Kansas. What a Final Four that would be. Villanavo-Davidson.  Lets hope, My Villanova can beat Kansas.

Chase Utley has heard the chatter. You know, how 2008 is going to be his year, how he’ll become the third Phillie in as many years to win the National League’s Most Valuable Player award.

“Trendy pick,” Utley said, dismissing the topic with one of his typical shrugs. “Just talk.”

Yeah, it’s just talk. But it’s completely justified.

Utley finished eighth in the voting last season and might have won if he hadn’t missed a month after he was hit by a pitch, breaking his right hand.

The Phillies second baseman was a leading candidate when he went down July 26. At the time, he was hitting .336 with 17 homers and 82 RBIs. He was leading the NL with 41 doubles, and he ranked in the top six in batting average, RBIs, runs, hits, total bases, slugging, on-base percentage and multi-hit games.

Utley’s double-play partner, shortstop Jimmy Rollins, ended up winning the award, following the lead of slugging first baseman Ryan Howard, who won in 2006.

Not since the New York Yankees trio of Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Elston Howard in 1961 through 1963 have three teammates won the MVP in consecutive seasons.

Could Utley make it a Phillies threesome?

Sure he could. He’s that good.

How good?

“He’s the best second baseman in baseball,” one rival scout said. “It’s not even close. He’s a great hitter. He runs every ball out. He plays hard. He’s improved immensely on defense. He’s a gamer. Give me him over anyone else.”

Utley, 29, became the Phillies regular second baseman in 2005. Over the last three seasons, he leads big-league second basemen in runs (328), hits (537), home runs (82) and RBIs (310).

He’s also rated as the top defensive second baseman over that span by analyst John Dewan, author of The Fielding Bible. Dewan uses statistics and the opinions of 10 analysts in reaching his conclusions.

Utley is the baseball equivalent of a gym rat. He’s always working at his game, never lets up, never cheats himself or his team.

As a youngster, Utley spent hours in the batting cage. He loved hitting and his dedication shows. He was a high school star in Long Beach, Calif., then went to UCLA, where the Phillies noticed his strong lefthanded bat and selected him 15th overall in the 2000 draft.

Defense was a struggle for the young Utley. He played shortstop as a freshman at UCLA, but moved to second as a sophomore.

“I really liked shortstop, but wasn’t good enough to stay there,” he said. “I struggled with the throw.”

Utley paused.

“Defense has never come easy,” he said.

That’s what makes his status as an elite defensive second baseman so remarkable. There isn’t a play he can’t make. He turns the double play well. He’s tremendous going to his left, halting a ball on one knee in shallow right field, popping to his feet and throwing the runner out. He made just 10 errors in 661 total chances in 2007.

Utley’s strong defense didn’t happen by accident. He fields dozens of ground balls every day. Off the field, he does agility and quickness drills - year-round.

“In the infield, your first step is key,” he said. “You want to feel light on your feet.”

As fine a hitter as Utley is, he takes pride in being a complete player.

“If it came down to making a great play to save a run or getting an RBI hit,” he said, “making the play is more satisfactory.”

Utley has started at second in the last two all-star games. His bat has brought him that honor. He has a short, quick, powerful stroke. He hit .372 at Citizens Bank Park last season, .332 overall.

Utley is a student of hitting. He spends hours in the batting cage, sometimes simply tracking pitches with his eyes, but that is not his only classroom. He watches extensive video. He studies his previous at-bats against that night’s pitcher. He watches how the pitcher attacks other lefthanded hitters. He even watches opposing hitters so he can have an idea how to position himself defensively.

“I’m trying to pick up anything,” Utley said of those video sessions. “Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t, but you have to give yourself that chance.”

That all-out commitment is why the Phillies gave Utley a seven-year, $85-million contract extension in 2007. It’s a big reason why Utley is the game’s top second baseman.

“His attitude more than anything makes him a great player,” said Rollins. “Of course, he has natural skills, but he does everything with the right attitude - from the batting cage to ground balls - and that carries over into the game.”

Utley shuns talking about himself. He doesn’t spend time wondering whether he might have been the 2007 MVP if he hadn’t gotten hurt in July (”No biggie,” he said. “We still did well when I was out”). He scoffs when people mention him as an MVP possibility for this season.

But he does have an individual goal and that, he hopes, will lead to his ultimate goal - a championship.

“Try to get better,” Utley said. “That’s my main objective. The better you get, the better you play, the better your team will do.”

When Villanova coach Jay Wright recruited a lanky forward named Dante Cunningham from Potomac High School, just outside Washington, he liked several things about him.Wright liked the young man’s athletic, economical game, liked his steady personality, and, not as a small bonus, also liked the fact that Cunningham’s parents were both career members of the United States Air Force.

Looking several moves ahead at the chess game that is college recruiting, the coach saw a time when that sort of discipline and training would be useful in the 2007-08 basketball season. It was a season in which Wright knew he probably would have no seniors on his team, a time when the juniors would have to be the surrogate coaches on the floor and in the locker room.

“Both of his parents are military officers,” Wright said. “I thought when we got him, this was going to make him a great leader. What I found out was, it made him a great soldier. He listened. He did what he was told all the time, but he didn’t want to tell anybody else. It’s taken time. It’s taken three years for him to be a great leader, where he takes control and tells people what to do. He’s really doing that now.”

The Villanova Wildcats have grown into their roles this season. They have grown from a team that was more than a little scattered and unpredictable in the middle of the schedule into a settled group that has advanced improbably to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament.

The maturation process got the Wildcats through the first two games of the tournament and sent them to tomorrow’s Midwest Regional semifinal match in Detroit against the Kansas Jayhawks.

Cunningham, like the rest of the underappreciated frontcourt members of the team, won’t be the focus in the game. Point guard Scottie Reynolds, along with burgeoning freshman star Corey Stokes, will get most of the attention. That’s fine with Cunningham. But if the Wildcats win, and even if they don’t, just reaching this stage had a lot to do with Cunningham’s transition from soldier to officer.

“It was a gradual progression,” Wright said. “If you look at his entire career, he’s always been a complementary player, always willing to do the dirty work. I think it’s taken almost a year and a half to get that out of his system.

“One of our challenges this year was for Dante to become a go-to guy. This year, he plays as hard as anybody in the country, night in and night out. He does whatever it takes.”

Last weekend in Tampa, Fla., Cunningham was a defensive rock in the first-round win as the Wildcats fronted the big Clemson post players, frustrated them in the second half, and forced the Tigers’ perimeter players into quick, unsuccessful shots. He capped that with a huge drive down the lane in the closing minutes, resulting in a strong lefthanded layup that gave Villanova a three-point lead that grew from there.

In the next game, after being held scoreless in the opening half against Siena, partly because of foul trouble, Cunningham went on the offensive, scoring 14 points in the second half as the Wildcats took advantage of a rare favorable matchup on the inside. Whatever it takes, as the coach says.

“The coach told us [juniors] that it’s our team now and we have to take care of it,” Cunningham said. “We took that on our shoulders.”

The biggest shouldering came during the team’s five-game losing streak in late January and early February. Cunningham helped keep his teammates from splintering. He isn’t loud, which makes his words important. And he must have said the right things.

“You have to be able to talk to them, to get in their faces a little bit,” Cunningham said. “And sometimes, it’s not as verbal or as visible to most. But I grab them, tell them . . . just let them know they’re not getting it done or something’s not going right.”

It was a role Cunningham didn’t have to play when Mike Nardi, Curtis Sumpter and Will Sheridan were around. Certainly not when Randy Foye and Allan Ray were there. But now the role is his.

“A lot of times, Dante does things that people don’t see,” Wright said. “He’s not out there screaming at people, but he’ll pull them aside, and when he says something, it means a lot. I could take a lesson from him there. He’s our leader.”

“I love it,” Cunningham said. “Every basketball player strives for that, to know it’s your team and you run it. Win or lose, it’s on you. Regardless, it’s on you.”

That’s not a soldier talking anymore. That’s a leader, the kind that can get a young basketball team through a bad losing streak with encouraging words and his own consistent example.

Growing up, Cunningham said his was a normal home. The military was left at the office by his parents - for the most part.

“I definitely know what an order is,” he said, with a laugh.

And now, in the season when it was finally needed, even if it doesn’t always sound like an order, he knows how to give one, too.

The possibility that the Baltimore Orioles may abandon a plan to build a spring training park at Fort Lauderdale could spare Lockhart Stadium from being demolished.

If so, South Florida’s soccer community will still have at least one stadium for its international games. Wednesday night, every one of Lockhart’s seats was needed as a lively crowd of 18,886 turned out to see Honduras beat Colombia 2-1 in a friendly match.

Both teams brought their full rosters for an entertaining match that saw plenty of scoring chances. The fans, about two-thirds Honduran, gave back by producing a vibrant atmosphere reminiscent of Lockhart’s best soccer nights.

Inter Milan striker David Suazo and defender Hendry Thomas scored for Honduras. Wason Renteria scored for Colombia, which came close on several chances for a late equalizer.

In recent seasons, the Phillies have made acquisitions that were completely self-explanatory.Jim Thome was picked up to hit home runs, Billy Wagner to calm down the ninth inning and Jamie Moyer to provide innings at the back end of the rotation. Pedro Feliz was signed for more subtle reasons.

Sure, he’s an excellent defensive third baseman - best in the business by some accounts - and he has pop in his bat. Those attributes appealed to the Phils. But so did this: Feliz is a major-league regular, capable of playing every inning, every day. Last season, manager Charlie Manuel had to pull off a nightly juggling act at third base. He alternately used Wes Helms and Greg Dobbs, depending on the pitching matchup and who was swinging the bat best. When he needed better defense at the position, he’d shuttle Abraham Nunez in and out.

Fortifying third base sometimes meant using three players per game, the starter, a pinch-hitter and a defensive replacement. Moves like that take a toll on a team’s bench resources.

With Feliz at third, Manuel won’t need to use newcomer Eric Bruntlett as a late-game defensive replacement, thus freeing Bruntlett for pinch-hitting and pinch-running. The acquisition of Feliz also allows Manuel to keep the lefthanded hitting Dobbs in reserve for pinch-hitting assignments. Dobbs led the majors with 18 pinch-hit RBIs last season. Helms is still with the club, but his days could be numbered.

“I thought we could gowith Helms and Dobbs at third,” Manuel said. “But Feliz stayed out there [on the free-agent market] and [assistant general manager] Ruben Amaro kept talking to him.

“The big thing with Feliz is he’s an everyday guy. Now I don’t have to use a couple players in the sixth inning. I don’t have to burn two players. It saves our bench and makes us stronger late in games.”

Feliz, who is signed through next season, turns 33 in April. He comes to the Phillies after seven seasons with the San Francisco Giants, where he played outfield, first base and third base. He was team’s regular third baseman the last 21/2 seasons.

Although Feliz has never won a Gold Glove, he is a first-rate defensive player. In fact, baseball analyst John Dewan, author of The Fielding Bible, rates him as the top defensive third baseman over the last three years, ahead of Brandon Inge, Scott Rolen and Joe Crede. Dewan uses statistics and the opinions of 10 analysts in reaching his conclusions.

Scouts are also high on Feliz’s defense. “He’s very sure-handed and has an accurate arm,” one rival scout said.In 2007, Feliz led all NL third baseman with a .973 fielding percentage. He committed just 11 errors.

“He’s one of the best third basemen around,” said Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker, who skippered the Giants during Feliz’s first three big-league seasons, 2000-02. As manager of the Chicago Cubs from 2003 to 2006, Baker watched Feliz frequently. “A ball would be hit to him late in a close game and someone on our bench would say, ‘Throw it away.’ I’d say, ‘Forget about it.’ He has as true a throw as any third baseman you’ll see.”

Feliz has a very sound and simple release. He also has above-average range. He gets to bunts quickly. With him and Gold Glove shortstop Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies have one of the best left-side infield tandems in baseball. Feliz’s fielding skills were honed on the pocked fields of the Dominican Republic. “I played on fields with rocks and no grass,” he said. “You always had to be ready for bad hops. It prepares you.” The Giants initially signed Feliz for $5,000. Growing up in the Dominican, Feliz developed the free-swinging approach to hitting shared by many of his countrymen. As they say in the Dominican, “You can’t walk off the island.” To appeal to scouts, players swing the bat and try to drive the ball. In some cases, though, plate discipline suffers.

Feliz’s career on-base percentage (.28 is poor. He walked just 29 times as a 150-game full-time player last season. Feliz, however, has knocked in at least 80 runs three times, while hitting at least 20 homers each of the last four seasons. He will hit sixth or seventh and shouldget plenty of RBI chances in the Phillies’ potent lineup. Last season, he hit .310 with runners in scoring position.

“He’ll swing at anything, and the breaking ball gives him trouble,” a rival scout said. “But he should hit 30 home runs in that park.”

In San Francisco, Feliz played in AT&T Park, one of the most difficult places to hit home runs. In Philadelphia, he will play in Citizens Bank Park, one of the easiest. Last season, an average of 1.46 homers per game was hit in San Francisco, while the average per game in Philadelphia was 2.98.

“In San Francisco, he was maligned as a free-swinger, but that’s who he is,” Baker said. “In that lineup and that ballpark, he’ll do well.

“That’s a good signing for the Phillies.”

Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu headed in first-half goals, substitute Eddie Lewis scored in the second half, and the United States beat Poland 3-0 in an exhibition games Wednesday night. The three-goal margin of victory was the largest for the Americans in Europe since a 3-0 victory over Austria in 1998. Since that match in Vienna, the U.S. team is 4-14-3 in Europe, defeating Poland three times and Switzerland last October.

Landon Donovan, making his 99th international appearance, set up the first two goals. His free kick was headed in by Bocanegra in the 12th minute, and Donovan curled in a corner kick in the 35th minute to Onyewu, who scored in his second straight international game.

Lewis scored on a left-footed free kick in the 73rd minute.

Donovan touched a ball past defender Grzegorz Bronowicki four minutes into the second half and raced unmarked on goal but sent a right-footed shot from just inside the penalty area wide right.

Poland, grouped with Germany, Austria and Croatia at June’s European Championship, struggled to find gaps in the U.S. defense. The best Poland chance came in the 56th, when substitute Radoslaw Matusiak danced through a host of defenders to fire a hard drive that goalkeeper Tim Howard punched over the crossbar.

The Flyers trailed by a goal for 46 minutes at Madison Square Garden. A month ago, that would have finished them, but last night they dug deeper within themselves to defeat the New York Rangers, 2-1, in overtime.

Mike Richards scored the game-winner at 2 minutes, 16 seconds of the extra session.

“It was tight both ways and both of us had to earn opportunities,” Richards said. “. . . We got a lucky break at the end.”

Flyers defenseman Jason Smith set up the winning goal when he picked off a Sean Avery pass to feed Richards, who fired a backhanded shot over goalie Henrik Lundqvist’s glove hand.

“I was going to try and go forehand,” Richards said of his 27th goal. “The defense was right there and I shoveled it in, and it just bounced and trickled in over him. A garbage goal, yeah. It wasn’t the prettiest or where I wanted to shoot it.”

The victory kept the Flyers in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 88 points, two ahead of eighth-place Boston, which defeated Toronto. The Flyers have five games left; Boston has six.

“That was huge,” said Danny Briere, who scored the tying goal 7:32 into the third period. ”Lately, we have dropped a couple of games where we were up by a goal or two in the third period and we would find a way to lose. So, tonight was huge for us to come back in the game and tie it up and find a way to win in overtime. . . . It is nice to get one back, especially at this time of the year. Every point is so critical.”

Lundqvist cherished a 1-0 lead until Briere scored his 30th goal off a give-and-go assist from Vinny Prospal. The two have combined for 10 goals and 12 assists in 16 games together.

“We talked before the game this was an opportunity for us to really take a step as a team,” said coach John Stevens. “I thought we played with a lot of composure, our veteran guys really stepped up again, and we got contributions right through our lineup.”

Stevens began the game by matching the 5-foot-8, 179-pound Briere against 6-1, 210-pound center Brandon Dubinsky. On the Rangers’ first shift, they kept the puck in the Flyers’ end with Dubinsky and Martin Straka controlling it.

That allowed Jaromir Jagr to wheel around the net with the puck, lose Kimmo Timonen in the process, and toss a quick turnaround shot out of the right circle that beat Marty Biron at 1:41.

It was Jagr’s 40th career goal against the Flyers, and Stevens quickly changed the matchup.

During a power play in the final four minutes of the second period, Biron made two difficult saves against Dan Girardi and one against Chris Drury. It could have been 3-0 then.

“Sometimes I need help from the guys, like I need the power play to come through or the [penalty kill] to come through, and sometimes you have big saves,” said Biron, who made 31 saves. “When you’re in a situation and it’s 1-0 and the game is there for us to have, desperation sets in. Penalty killing is all about desperation. And the work ethic. And that is where we got our momentum in this game.”

They certainly didn’t have the momentum early as the Flyers were outshot by 21-12 through two periods while being muscled off the puck.

Briere’s first shot of the game came four minutes into the second, a hard drive down the slot off Lundqvist’s shoulder. The Flyers’ first power play didn’t come until 12:49, and during the two power plays they had in the period, their only scoring chance came when Braydon Coburn laced a shot from the right circle into Lundqvist’s chest.

Still, the Flyers stuck with it and capitalized off a turnover.

“I’m very disappointed,” Avery said. “I made a terrible pass and they went on to score. We made two mistakes, primarily both by me, and that’s the difference in the game.”

The season series ended with the Rangers winning five of the eight games.

“The way we’ve been playing the last few games has been a pretty good team effort,” Timonen said. “For two periods, we were not on top of our game, but it was 1-0. It was so close, we just needed one [goal] and it was our game.”

It was theirs for the taking in overtime, and the Flyers stole it.