Wachovia Center

So bad were the Clippers on Wednesday night that they planned to flee the country this morning. That's not true, of course, the part about fleeing. But they were scheduled to fly into Canada, where Friday night they'll wrap up a forgettable-to-this-point three-game trip against Toronto.

Reporting from Philadelphia -- In essence, Chris Pronger took his puck and went home, and that made the other kids on the playground mad. But their anger is understandable, because the playground in question is the Stanley Cup finals and by snatching that puck Pronger denied the Chicago Blackhawks a chance to save the rubber disc as a souvenir of their 2-1 victory in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals. Pronger's irritating move — which he also made after the Blackhawks' 6-5 victory in Game 1 — led to a confrontation between him and Ben Eager at the end of the game at the United Center.

I am about to write a sentence that will generate dozens of e-mails, followed by a sentence that will generate none. UCLA will not make it out of the first weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament. USC will. For the third consecutive season, the Bruins and Trojans will be participating in the same Big Dance, on two very different floors. UCLA will be in the grand ballroom, just off the lobby, with the red carpet and camera flashes and big heat.

PHILADELPHIA -- It might not seem so, not with all the cameras following women gymnasts Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin and Alicia Sacramone everywhere they went Wednesday during practice sessions at the Wachovia Center. But the men's gymnastics team is deep into an Olympic selection process that also matters. Same as the U.S. women, the men have the defending Olympic all-around gold medalist. He is Paul Hamm and though he has a broken hand and won't compete in the men's trials today and Saturday, Hamm is still a favorite to win another Olympic medal.

It is evident the moment you leave south Philadelphia's grimy streets for the reality of the Wachovia Center parking lot. On Thursday, before Villanova's first-round game NCAA basketball game here, in dropping temperatures and spitting rain, dozens of Wildcats fans were outside cooking hot dogs and drinking beer. I have never seen an NCAA tournament game where everyone felt so much at home.

Now the smile makes sense. Now, when Josh Shipp gets that grin on his face, it means he has drained a jump shot or driven to the rim for another two points. "I'm definitely having fun," he says. The kind of fun that results from a late-season hot streak, the UCLA swingman leading his team with an average of better than 19 points during the last month. "Probably the best he's played in his career," Coach Ben Howland says.

The Flyers made the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference only by winning a shootout on the final day of the season. They didn't lead the NHL in wins, points or any category that might have hinted at the resolve they have shown through an unlikely playoff journey. Capitalizing on the Chicago Blackhawks' fumbling defense to build an early lead and preserving it — if only barely — with selfless shot-blocking that made goalie Michael Leighton's job easy until the third period, the Flyers clawed out a 5-3 victory Friday at the Wachovia Center that tied the Stanley Cup finals, 2-2. Game 5 will be played Sunday at Chicago, where the Blackhawks won each of the first two games by a single goal.

TORONTO -- Even more short-handed than usual, the Clippers still had enough to hold off the Toronto Raptors. Corey Maggette matched his season-high with 35 points and went five for five from three-point range, Cuttino Mobley had 19 and the Clippers beat the Raptors, 102-98, on Friday night. Playing without suspended point guard Sam Cassell, the Clippers lost forward Tim Thomas to a sore back after the opening 12 minutes.

PHILADELPHIA -- Teemu Selanne's brief training camp is over. Now it's up to Coach Randy Carlyle to let him suit up. One week after he announced his intention to return to the Ducks, Selanne pronounced himself available for tonight's game against the New York Islanders following an early practice session Monday at Wachovia Center. "You've got to ask the coach," Selanne said. "I'm ready to go. It's totally in his court. . . . I'm excited. Very excited."

Throughout the college basketball season, Big 12 Conference coaches had weekly conference calls with the media. No surprise that Texas Tech Coach Bob Knight's segments were usually the shortest. His answer this week to a question about the Red Raiders' turnover problems: "We'd like to eliminate them. If I had some cure-all for it, it would not have happened in the first place."