Extra Points with Pete
By Pete Thompson
Two weeks left
Only two weeks left until most teachers in the area return to work. In most cases, the students will begin the day after Labor Day, which means summer is coming to an “unofficial” end. Here’s hoping you get the most out of the time remaining to make some memories and enjoy all that beautiful South Jersey has to offer.
Since I last wrote, the Flyers have begun their playoff series with Montreal. The Orange & Black got an emotional boost prior to Game Three as well. The Phillies broke out the brooms against their rivals from New York, but still have sloppy moments that drive me crazy! The Sixers have begun the playoffs against a hated rival, and based on Game One, the outlook is not good. Meanwhile, the Eagles were in actual football pads at training camp as they continue to prepare for their season opener at Washington. What I hinted at last week with regards to college football, actually came true. Finally, on the local level, the Atlantic County Baseball League crowns a champion.
From the entertainment world, I dove back into TV as I binged watched all three seasons of a very popular Amazon Prime show. I’ve followed that up, by starting another one, but with school fast approaching, the “clock is ticking” for me to get finished. As always though, we begin with sports, and my thoughts:
As I write this, the Flyers have a 2-1 lead in their playoff series with Montreal. In Game One, the big story was Carter Hart as he made 27 saves to propel the Flyers to victory. The Flyers also scored on the power play, which continues to be an issue. Thankfully, just 16 seconds after Montreal tied the game, rookie Joel Farabee untied it with a nifty goal in front. This all came just one day before Hart’s 22nd birthday.
The Flyers would like to forget Game Two, as they simply didn’t show up and were outskated and outworked by the speedy Canadiens as Montreal won 5-zip. The Canadiens were probably playing with added emotion too as their head coach, Claude Julien, has to miss the rest of the postseason because of a health issue with his heart. Kirk Mueller is coaching Montreal in Julien’s absence, but no question the Canadiens were the better team in Game Two.
In Game Three last Friday night, Hart was again the story as he made 23 saves to backstop the Flyers to a 1-zip win. Hart became the youngest Flyers goalie ever to post a playoff shutout at just 22 years and 3 days old. Jake Voracek, who scored the lone goal of the game joked afterwards that “It’s a good thing he (Hart) is a little bit oblivious to some things…like being a goalie in Philadelphia!” No doubt that Hart helped the Flyers “steal” that game, and in the process, beat his childhood idol, Carey Price, who is the goalie for Montreal.
Hopefully by the time I write about the Flyers in my next column, I’ll be writing about a series win! If that’s going to happen, they need to improve on the power play. As of this column, they were a putrid 1-for-25 on the man advantage, which puts their conversion rate in the postseason at just 4%. That’s not going to get it done.
Now we can switch over to the Phillies, as they continue to play like the “Bad News Bears” at times, and then like a good baseball team at other times! Let’s start with the game against Baltimore last week when Jean Segura inexplicably called off Rhys Hoskins, who was camped under a fly ball near the pitcher’s mound. Segura calls off Hoskins, then trips over the mound and the ball drops safely to the ground, allowing the Orioles to move ahead 8-6. I was absolutely livid! Wouldn’t you know, the Phillies then tie the game at 8, only to lose 10-9 in extra innings when Roman Quinn dives for a ball in centerfield that he has no chance of catching and it goes all the way back to the fence for an inside-the-park home run. The Phils then lost 5-4 and 11-4 to get swept by the Orioles. This is an example of the bad Phillies in 2020.
However, then the Mets came to town, and the pitching matchups were set up pretty well to boot. Rookie Spencer Howard would start the first game, then Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler would throw next. Well, Howard threw a wrench in the plans when he could only last 3 and 1/3rd innings because of a blister on his finger. Which meant, oh no, the much-maligned bullpen! Would you believe that they did their job, and it was Hector Neris who blew the save? Thankfully, Bryce Harper came through with a single to RF in the bottom of the 9th and the speedy Roman Quinn somehow managed to avoid the tag at home on a ball that beat him by several steps. He was safe, the Phillies win 5-4 and everyone went home happy.
It’s important to stop the narrative for a second here and mention the “Phandemic Krew” that gathers outside the centerfield gates for each home game. These guys & gals are great as they bring stepladders, air horns, and their own signs. Including one that simply reads “Sign JT”, as they are making it clear what they want the Phillies to do with catcher J.T. Realmuto. It doesn’t hurt that Realmuto has been one of the Phillies hottest hitters either so far, but I’m in their camp, if anyone from Phillies brass is reading this, please sign JT Realmuto!
Now back to the Mets series, as Aaron Nola took the ball last Saturday and threw a gem. 7 innings, only 3 hits, no runs, 2 walks and 8 strikeouts. The Phils also welcomed Alec Bohm to the big leagues and promptly inserted him at 3rd base, which means that Segura moves over to 2nd base and will no longer trip over the mound trying to catch a fly ball. These are all good things for the Fightin’s!
Finally, Zack Wheeler got to face his former team in the Sunday finale and Wheeler was once again outstanding. 7 innings, only one earned run, 9 groundballs in yet another quality start. Wheeler is off to a 3-0 start and his shortest outing has been 5 and 2/3rds innings. With the Phillies bullpen a major issue, the fact that Wheeler has basically gone 6-7 innings each start is huge!
Up next for the Phillies, at Boston, Toronto and at Atlanta. Um, my optimism toward the Phillies could be really soured by the next column, stay tuned!
Since I brought up the word SOUR, that’s exactly how I feel about the Sixers right now as they lose Game One to the dreaded Boston Celtics in the playoffs 109-101. They had no answer for Jayson Tatum, who torched them for a game-high 32 points. Jaylen Brown scored 15 of his 29 points in the 4th quarter. And the turnovers were a major issue. The Sixers had 18 turnovers leading to 21 Celtics points. Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 26 points and 16 rebounds, but I thought Embiid got tired down the stretch. With no Ben Simmons, the Sixers do not match up well against Boston defensively. In fact, I’ll even write this here, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Sixers got swept!
Which leads me to Brett Brown. If they get swept, I’d be shocked if Brown wasn’t dismissed from his coaching duties. I like Brett Brown. Let me say that on the record. I like him a lot. But, the old saying goes, “you can’t fire the players”. Keep an eye on this developing situation.
My last Sixers item concerns longtime radio play-by-play man Tom McGinnis (pictured). Tom recently celebrated his 25th anniversary of calling Sixers basketball on the radio. Now, if you haven’t listened to this man call a game on 97.3 ESPN, you really are missing out…! His energy and enthusiasm is such that he works alone. He doesn’t need a former player with him to bring it every night. He does play-by-play, and offers color commentary all in one stream of consciousness. Folks, this is a rare gift and McGinnis is a Sixers treasure. Congrats Tom on 25 years with the Sixers, and here’s hoping we can listen to you for 25 more.
Eagles training camp is underway and the Birds are finally in full pads at practice. The big news about QB Carson Wentz is that he’s bulked up with muscle in his torso, going from 237 pounds to 250. Let’s hope that added muscle leads to more touchdowns & wins when the season starts.
So, more muscle for Wentz, but muscular issues for a pair of defensive lineman as free agent tackle Javon Hargraves has a strained chest muscle and Derek Barnett, the fifth-year end, has a leg or foot injury. Folks, this is concerning because that means 40% of their five-man defensive line rotation is injured. Fletcher Cox is still in the mix and Brandon Graham has become a star, but the injuries along the D-line concern me. Plus, during the first two months of the season, the Eagles play four of their six divisional games. To me, the only way the Eagles make the playoffs is if they win the NFC East. Missing some of their “push” on the line, is a big concern for me right now.
Some of the other Eagles training camp stories right now include running back Corey Clement approaching the season like he did his first year. He’s back healthy from injury and says he hopes to be the “Super Bowl Corey”. Nate Sudfeld took second-team reps at QB, but Jalen Hurts got just about as many reps with the 3rd stringers. Dallas Goedert looked more comfortable with Wentz than Zach Ertz, but it’s early. Finally, Miles Sanders reportedly looks really good, and should be a major focal point of the Eagles offense this season. Head coach Doug Pederson is back too, and he plans to ramp up workouts this week until a scheduled day off on Saturday. Remember, the Eagles open the season up at Washington on September 13th.
Last week, I wrote about the possibility of no college football. Well, that came to be true as the Big Ten announced they were delaying football until the spring. That means no games for Penn State or Rutgers this fall. On a smaller level, all the NJAC schools will have no college football in the fall. That means Rowan, William Paterson, Kean and TCNJ won’t have football, women’s soccer, men’s soccer, field hockey, women’s volleyball, women’s tennis, women’s cross country, and men’s cross country. Very sad. I get it, but still, very sad.
My last sports item is about the locally run ACBL, or Atlantic County Baseball League. Congrats to Ted Khoury and Ocean City as they sweep Absecon to win the league championship for the first time since 1994. Ocean City didn’t allow a run in two games as they won 10-zip at home and then again 2-0 the following night to claim the title. Ocean City went 5-0 in the playoffs and ended the season 13-4 overall. Absecon finished 9-9 overall and 3-3 in the playoffs.
I’ll close with two items from entertainment as I decided to take a chance and check out the heavily awarded show, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” on Amazon Prime. It’s a comedy-drama, or period-drama set in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s and let me tell you it is outstanding! Rachel Brosnahan stars as Miriam “Midge” Maisel, a housewife in late 1950s and early 1960s New York City who discovers she has a knack for stand-up comedy and pursues a career in it. The rest of the main cast consists of Alex Borstein, Michael Zegen, Marin Hinkle, Tony Shalhoub, Kevin Pollak, Caroline Aaron, and Jane Lynch. I’ve binge watched all 26 episodes over the three seasons and there will be a fourth season coming, so I’m excited about that. What makes it so good for me to recommend? Where do I start? The dynamic between Brosnahan & Borstein is fantastic. The exceptional acting from Marin Hinkle & Tony Shalhoub as Midge’s parents is superb. Kevin Pollak and Caroline Aaron play the in-laws to Midge. Even smaller parts like Luke Kirby, who plays comedian Lenny Bruce, work in great and shine. Trust me, if you have time, check out “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” on Amazon Prime. You will not be disappointed.
Lastly, I’ve begun watching “Absentia” on Amazon Prime now as well. This one is much darker in tone and stars Stana Katic as FBI Special Agent Emily Bryne. You might remember Katic as Detective Kate Beckett on the TV show Castle, but this is a much different role for her. The series tells the story of FBI special agent Emily Byrne who disappears without a trace while hunting one of Boston’s most notorious serial killers, and she is declared dead in absentia. Six years later, she is found in a cabin in the woods, barely alive and with no memory of the years that she was missing. She returns home to learn that her husband has remarried and her son is being raised by the new wife, and she soon finds herself implicated in a new series of murders. I’m through season one and trying to forge ahead and get caught up before school begins in two weeks. I definitely recommend this one.
Once again, I’ll close by reminding everyone to wear your mask when you’re out in public. While we enjoy the last few weeks of summer, take a minute to have some empathy for others. Be kind, wear your mask, and be patient. We can all knock down this COVID-19 together.
Pete has been the local “sports guy” at the Jersey Shore since 2004. After a decade with TV 40, he joined 97.3 ESPN radio to talk Eagles, Phillies, Sixers & Flyers with Mike Gill on “The SportsBash” each day from 2-6 p.m.
Pete is proud to be a “voice” for the annual ShopRite LPGA Classic each June, and does emcee work for groups like the National Football Foundation, The Old Grad Awards, and The 200 Club of Atlantic County. You can hear Pete each Tuesday on 97.3 ESPN at 5:30p, and if you see him out & about in the community, he requests that you please say “Hi”. Send comments to PBrooksT@aol.com
