Nick Pitts

Glen Macnow, start taking notes. This might be the year you get to write a new great Philadelphia sports book, one that ends a little differently than the rest. Twenty-five years have gone by in this championship-starved city. Twenty-five agonizing years of so close, of just one game away, of just one field goal, fourth and inches, one pitch, one point and ultimately, of maybe next year.

Sarah Palin, what were you thinking? Now I know you are from Alaska. I know that news still travels there via Morse code and the turnaround time is terrible. But Philadelphia booed Santa Claus back in the '60s. I just figured maybe that transmission might have made it up that way a few years ago.

They are the saviors of the close game. Entering in the ninth inning as the crowd cheers upon their appearance, as if they were rock stars. And they have just one job: to close the game. How sweet it is for Phillies fans these days, scoring perhaps the best free agent closer during the off-season in Brad Lidge.

So many times in my life-long career as a professional Philadelphia sports fan have I found myself watching recaps of the great moments of yesteryear. So many times have I wondered what it would have been like if I were alive when the Flyers won back-to-back Stanley Cups, or when the Phillies won the World Series.

It's not common that someone would take a match to their favorite photo album. Surely an art museum would never trash a fine piece of art. Why, then, does America demolish its greatest stadiums? By now it is common knowledge that the New York Yankees will open the 2009 season in a brand new stadium.

Unretirement, seemingly the biggest thing to hit the sports world since the invention of the instant replay, has hit an all-time high on Sept. 9, when one of its greatest champions returned from a three-year hiatus. Lance Armstrong announced that he would mount his bike once again and participate in the Tour de France 2009.

Nearly perfect ocean conditions in Seaside Park, N.J. were awaiting four amateur surfers on Sunday, Sept. 14. Water temperatures in the high 60's and modest three-foot swells provided an excellent canvas for some wave-shredding. The recreation department offered a surfing lesson, set for Sept.

When the bright red breaking news banner flashed in the middle of Sports Center one late August afternoon, I was almost incredibly excited. Almost. It was announced on Aug. 26 that Major League Baseball would introduce a long overdue instant replay system.

Let me explain something to you, Jimmy Rollins, because it has recently occurred to me that after spending your entire eight-year career here in Philadelphia, no one has sat you down and told you this. Oh yeah, all of you sports writers that have sided with Rollins might want to pull up chairs as well.