After a two hour weather delay pushed the Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park back by two hours the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers provided fans with an exciting matchup that ended with a 3-2 Rangers victory.

Skating around on a rink that spanned from the first to third base markers the fifth NFL Winter Classic was especially exciting for Mike Rupp who scored twice as the Rangers defeated Philadelphia for the third time this season.

Even up until the last seconds the game was a breath holder as Henrik Lundqvist stopped a penalty shot by Danny briere’s with just 19 seconds left in regulation play.

Adding goals for the Flyers were rookie Brayden Schenn (his first career goal) and Claude Giroux.

Adding to the games ambiance were Christmas trees, fire wood, fake snow and even trash-can fires to add a “natural feel.” The game was then followed with some snow flurries late in the second period as temperatures fell into the 30s for the players and their 46,967 fans. In the meantime the league used 20,000 gallons of water to create the rink.

While the game provided the same two points in the NHL standing it was met with far more hype as NBC televised the game and HBO showed up with 12 camera crews to film the event for their behind-the-scenes series 24/7. 

The game wasn’t without it’s issues, star forward Jaromir Jagr left just one minute into the second period with no explanation, only to reveal after the Winter Classic that he injured his left leg but would return soon.

Showing the popularity of the NHL Winter Classic some fans paid up to $1,000 for a seat to the event through the secondary market, filling up the market with premium priced seats.

Would you have been willing to spend $1000 for the chance to sit in the freezing cold at the 2011 NHL Winter Classic?

New York Rangers Defeat Philadelphia Flyers In Winter Classic is a post from: The Inquisitr

The outdoor NHL hockey matchup known as the NHL Classic has been pushed back by NFL officials following a revised weather forecast.

According to officials the game which was scheduled for 1 p.m. will now instead be played at 3 p.m. ET.

The New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers game is scheduled to be played at Citizens Bank Park and the NHL made their decision on Sunday when weather forecasters predicted optimal weather conditions for later in the day.

Fans preparing to attend the match up can now enter when gates open at 1 p.m.

Last years NHL Classic in Pittsburgh was pushed all the way into prime time because of rain.

Do you plan on watching the NFL Classic regardless of what time it starts?

[Wrigley Field image via BigBadBob113]

NHL Winter Classic Pushed Back Over Weather Forecast is a post from: The Inquisitr

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson will be watching from the sidelines as his fellow players take on the Arizona Cardinals today.

According to the Philadelphia Daily News the WR failed to make a team meeting on Saturday and was therefore handed down the team ruling.

According to one source DeSean’s alarm didn’t go off and his oversleeping led to missing the team meeting.

It hasn’t been a great season for Jackson who is seeking a long-term deal from the Eagles, in the last three games he has just eight catches for a total of 93 years. During the entire season Jackson is the second-leading receiver on the Eagle’s offense with 29 catches for 503 yards and two touchdowns

Missing one practice probably wouldn’t have put Jackson in hot water however another source told the Associated Press that this was the “final straw” in a history of missed team meetings.

You may recall that Jackson held out for the first 10 days of training camp to protest his “minimum-wage” salary, he did however show up after that time and appeared to be working hard to secure a new long-term deal.

The two-time Pro Bowl pick in the last two seasons has managed 110 catches for 2,223 yards and 15 TDs.  He also owns the franchises punt return record after returning for kicks for TDs in the last two years.

Do you think suspending a No. 2 receiver because of missed team practices is a smart decision when the team has already started the season with a losing record of 3-5?

Eagles Suspend DeSean Jackson From Sunday Play is a post from: The Inquisitr

Between this and the recent theft of John Travolta’s rare and valuable Mercedes, there’s only one explanation… Carmen Sandiego is back in action.

One of the surviving relics recovered from the ill-fated Titanic has been nicked in Copenhagen. A gold-plated necklace was lifted from an exhibit in Tivoli park in the capital of Denmark, and Tivoli spokesman Torben Plank confirmed thieves made off with the jewelry some time on Saturday. The so-called “Titanic Necklace” wasn’t a stunning, high-priced jewel like the once central to the film’s story and pictured above on Kate Winslet in the “draw me like one of your French girls” scene- but its age and history gave it a value of nearly $20,000.

Plank confirms too that the piece was jacked without setting off any alarms, a circumstance he admits is “embarrassing.” The spokesman said that it’s believed the thieves were not experienced and that there were items of higher value within the exhibit that they could have taken instead. Also, resale value for the necklace is inhibited by its notoriety:

Exhibition owner Luis Ferreiro said the necklace had an insurance value of more than £12,000. But he added that whoever stole the item would get only a fraction of its worth on the open market – as its historical value was far greater than its value as a necklace, and it was too well known internationally.

He said: ‘It was very important piece. The artifacts tell stories about the people aboard.’

First-class passenger Eleanor Wildener of Philadelphia owned the necklace originally. Wildener survived the disaster and it was said the necklace was found in the pocket of the body of her butler.

Titanic Necklace Nicked From Exhibit in Copenhagen is a post from: The Inquisitr

The amount of money spent every year in the US to target, arrest, prosecute, and jail small-time pot users is incredible.

Philadelphia was one city that decided to take a second look at what it was costing the city against the benefits and decided that rather than treat people caught with 30 grams or less as criminals face misdemeanor charges they would instead face a “summary offence”.

Though the misdemeanor charge wasn’t particularly harsh—maximum penalty: 30 days in jail and $500 fine—it required the city to prosecute, costing the district attorney’s office money and time. It also left those busted with a criminal record.

The summary offense meanwhile, allows people to “pay $200 for a three-hour class about drug abuse, and their record is expunged,” with “[n]o trial, no judge, no court-appointed defense attorneys, no prosecutor, no lab tests.” Cops say that the new policy “doesn’t appear to be having any noticeable impact on the city’s quality of life,” too.

via Gawker

By not prosecuting small-time potheads Philadelphia saved $2 Million is a post from: The Inquisitr

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you ran out onto the field during a MLB game?

Well, ponder no more- we got the answer when an unidentified 17-year-old kid hopped a barrier during the eighth inning last night at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park and started running around the outfield, giving chase to security. He wasn’t as pleased when security personnel finally caught up to him and totally tased his ass in front of the whole stadium. The boy has been charged with criminal trespass, and has gained his 15 minutes of internet fame from the clip below.

According to Gothamist, this is the first time a taser has been used to “neutralize” a fan at an MLB event, but my money’s on it not being the last. MLB brass and local police are said to be reviewing the situation to see if appropriate force was used- do you think the situation warranted a tasing?

Video: Kid tasered after rushing field at Phillies game is a post from: The Inquisitr

Back in February, a story broke about the administration in a Pennsylvania school district possibly spying on students via school issued MacBooks with webcams.

The FBI quickly got involved, and many people still feel the school grossly violated federal wiretapping laws. (The case came to light when a student was wrongly accused of illicit drug use for eating candy, and confronting with images unwittingly snapped through the webcam while the student was in his home outside of school hours- scary, huh?)  A lawyer for the family of Blake Robbins, the student who was initially accused of activities caught on tape in his home, is requesting authorities inspect the computer of Carol Cafiero, information systems coordinator for Lower Merion schools.

Evidence in the case suggests that Cafiero was not only complicit in the alleged spying, she was enthusiastic about it:

Watching the high school students at home via their computers’ cameras was like “a little [Lower Merion School District] soap opera,” a staffer said in an e-mail to Cafiero obtained by Robbins’ lawyer during discovery.

“I know, I love it!” Cafiero said in a reply, the motion asserted.

In a recent deposition, Cafiero refused to answer questions about what kind of information and how much she had downloaded to her personal computer while it was possibly to track students remotely via their school issued laptops:

The motion noted that Cafiero cited her right under the Fifth Amendment to not answer questions during a recent deposition, which she had earlier contested. “Unlike any of the witnesses asked to testify, [Cafiero] invokes the Fifth Amendment to every question asked of her, including a question asked as to whether she had ever downloading [sic] pictures to her personal computer, including pictures of students who were naked while in their home.”

It seems a bit hypocritical, if it is the case, that Cafiero feels so entitled not to incriminate herself while demonstrably having taken such joy in egregiously violating the privacy of the students of Lower Merion schools. In a statement on April 16th, Lower Merion school board president David Eddy said the district is “committed to disclosing fully what happened, correcting our mistakes, and making sure that they do not happen again.”  It would seem that the first steps to full disclosure would be explaining the extent to which students were unlawfully monitored in their homes.

[Computerworld]

School admin in webcam spying case invokes 5th amendment is a post from: The Inquisitr

A school in a Philly suburb has attracted international attention after a lawsuit was filed accusing school administrators of using webcams on school-issued laptops to spy on students after hours.

The school’s surveillance oversteps came to light when a student was disciplined for “improper behavior in his home.” The school’s evidence? Images that came from the laptop’s webcam, allegedly captured without the family’s consent or knowledge. A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of all students whose privacy may have been violated by the district’s actions, but students say that suspicions have been long-standing that the school used the laptops in a shady way to illegally spy on kids at home:

Frequently, the green lights next to our iSight webcams will turn on. The school district claims that this is just a glitch. We are all doubting this now.

I questioned the IT guy about why it was happening he said that it was because people logged out when an application using the camera was on, he also stated that they could in fact go and look through your webcam it would just violate the fifth ammendment and that’s why they didn’t.

While the school says the webcams are only remotely activated when a laptop is reported lost or stolen, would you put the cost of a laptop ahead of your child’s privacy and integrity? CBS News spoke to parents in the district:

Karen Gotlieb, a parent of a student who attends the school, said, “I just received an e-mail from my daughter, who is very upset, saying, ‘Mom, I have my laptop open in my room all the time, even when I’m changing.”

While it hasn’t been confirmed that the Lower Merion school district had a policy of using the laptops to illegally spy on families at home, if the allegations bear out, this type of behavior should be quashed vociferously. Everyone who might be implicit in such an initiative should be called to answer for what seems to be felonious behavior, lest any other schools get inspired to follow their lead.

Did a Pennsylvania school spy on families via district-issued webcams? is a post from: The Inquisitr

I haven’t seen the inside of a movie theatre for a long time but even when I was there was nothing more irritating that the jerk off in front of you who felt the need to pontificate all the way through the movie. That said I think the idea of shooting someone for committing such a social crime is just a tad extreme. Unfortunately one James Joseph Cialella, a 29 year old movie goer in South Philly got more than a little pissed at his watching of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button kept being interrupted by a father and son sitting in front of him wouldn’t shut the hell up.

When even throwing popcorn at them produced no satisfactory results he got up pulled out a Kel-Tec .380 and shot the man in the arm. The warped part is that once he had shot the man he went back and sat down to watch the rest of the movie, which is where the police found him when they showed up at the scene. Cialella has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons violations.

[hat tip to First Showing]

Don’t talk during movies in South Philly – it can get you shot is a post from: The Inquisitr