hilly fans are passionate, some of the most passionate fans in sports, maybe the most passionate. However, some men in blue shirts are trying to hold us down. That's right, the ushers at Citizens Bank Park are trying to silence your right to be a fan and voice your opinion.

I'll tell you where I sit and exactly what happened, the Phillies already have my name and info because one of their bozo employees took it down on his little pad yesterday afternoon. I sit in section 144 row 14, everyone that sits in that area on Sunday's knows me and who I go to games with. We have all been having a good time together for the past two seasons. We do chants, we cheer loud and and enthusiastically, we heckle the left fielder for the opposing team. We do it classy however, we don't use profanity unless you think the word "sucks," around a bunch of 20 somethings and older is a curse word.

Not much can be told after only one day of camp. The first day, which is usually some half-hearted light skating, and then a "pond hockey" type scrimmage. The Flyers have few questions when it pertains to who will don Orange and Black sweaters this season. However, the few roster questions are intriguing to say the least.

The Flyers have a number of young exciting players in camp, some that could challenge for roster spots. They also have some veteran players looking for a fresh start. However, in part one we'll discuss the younger guys.

The United States Hockey Hall of Fame announced this years inductions Tuesday. Former New York Rangers Brian Leetch and Mike Richter will be inducted as well as Brett Hull and Cammi Granato.

Granato the younger sister of former NHLer and current Head Coach of the Colorado Avalanche Tony Granato. Cammi led USA to a gold medal in 1998, this isn't her first Hall of Fame induction as she was inducted last year into the International Hockey Hall of Fame. Granato will be the first women to be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

Richter and Leetch might be best known for leading the New York Rangers to a Stanley Cup win in 1994. However, Richter when healthy was one the NHL's best year in and year out, impressive because he competed against the likes of Martin Broduer, Dominik Hasek, and Patrick Roy among others. Leetch was a joy to watch at the blue-line, even though I'm a Flyer fan I have to give him his props. Leetch was so fluid, so steady, rarely made mistakes just an all around awesome defensemen.

To everyone who thinks the Phils aren't about winning, blame it on the ownership not the management. If you think for one second that Pat Gillick wasn't doing everything he could to improve the team today your just foolish, and you know nothing about how the game works. All that garbage about how he's a lame duck GM is nonsense, if that were the case why would he care about trading away our top prospects? Sometimes yes you have to make sacrifices , you have to trade away some young talent, or prospects to get a piece your missing.

Remember Caleb Campbell the feel good story of the draft? Remember how if he was drafted (which he was by the Lions in the 7th round) and made the team he'd be able to play and be a part time recruiter for the Army to fulfill his duties? Well not anymore......

Happ doesn't have overpowering stuff, nor is any of it tricky. He's much like Kyle Kendrick in that he pitches best when he's got his head on straight. Meaning he doesn't get ahead of himself, doesn't get to up or too down. He knows what he has to work with and knows his limitations. Kendrick has used that mentality to earn himself a spot in the Phils rotation.

Jevon Kearse according to ESPN's Paul Kuharsky said that the Philadelphia Eagles will miss him this upcoming year and that get this , fans will be surprised by how well he plays. Seems like Jevon is finally motivated to play, guess all those millions of dollars the Eagles wasted on him wasn't enough to get his competitive juices flowing.

Luca Sbisa and Marreese Speights probably don't know who each other are, but now they do have something in common. They were both drafted by professional Philadelphia based sports teams. Sbisa by the Flyers 19th overall in the NHL Entry Draft and Speights by the Sixers 16th overall in the NBA Draft. Neither are expected to contribute much early, Sbisa will be lucky to wear Orange and Black in three years. Speights will be earning his minutes during practice and side work with Moses Malone. No one can tell what the future holds for these two, but hopefully after reading this article you'll have learned a little bit more about both of them.

Covered in this interview are possible moves the Phils could make at the deadline, what their plans are for Brett Myers as well as a minor league run-down.

The 2008 NHL Entry Draft will begin on Friday and the Flyers unlike last year pick late in the first round. The Fly guys seem to have a nice young group of forwards and defensemen who may be ready to contribute in years to come. One glaring weakness in the Flyers farm system is goaltending. During last year it was clear that if Martin Biron or Antero Nittymaki would have been injured for a long period of time, more then likely the Flyers would have had to make a move for a goaltender. As there was not a reliable option in the AHL. So, logically the Flyers I believe will look for a goaltender at pick 27 in the first round. There are a couple solid options that hopefully will be available.

All the talk during the first official "mini-camp" of the year, or "OTA's", has been Donovan McNabb's dreaded shoulder tendinitis. An MRI done on "5's" shoulder revealed no damage, so whats the problem? Are we all overreacting over some shoulder tendinitis? Maybe. Although, maybe we aren't. After hearing what ESPN's Sal Palantoni had to say on Comcast Sportsnet "Daily News Live" I may have changed my mind. According to Sal, Tight End L.J Smith said a couple balls "sailed" on Donovan during the OTA's. Some writers who were present also noticed the same. Figuring it would pass after a few days, McNabb being rusty of course, he would come back at the beginning of the week and be fine. Both McNabb and the Eagles both said there was nothing to worry about. Now all of a sudden he's shut down and sent home. First off on a side note, in the age of media we live in everything is dissected a million times over, and back in the day "optional" mini-camps were never as highly publicized as they are now.

Hockeybuzz.com is reporting a rumor that Jeff Carter and the Flyers have ironed out a long term deal earlier today. It's something the Flyers had to do, and something most fans were pretty sure they would do. Anybody got any guesses on what kinda cash Carter will make???

Having to watch all those front running Celtics fans with their BRAND new #5 Kevin Garnett jerseys really makes me sick. More then half of those people wouldn't have gone to a Celtics game last year if you paid them. For all the whining Boston fans do they sure have been winning a lot and that really sucks for Philly fans. We hate seeing New York teams win , and I believe seeing Boston teams win comes in a very close second. The people at Celtic games now are the same idiots who still think the Red Sox are a "lower market team" being put down by the evil "higher market" Yankees.

After watching Cincinnati Red's ace pitcher Edinson Volquez toss for the second time this season, I am more than a little relieved that the Reds will be missing this postseason. The Reds are beyond dreadful on the road (7-21 when Volquez isn't pitching) and will not even sniff the wild card for this 2008 baseball season.

Sami Kapanen announced his retirement from the NHL on Monday. Kapanen who spent the last five seasons with the Flyers after being acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes retires after 13 seasons in the NHL.