By Pete Thompson
I write this column both happy & sad. Happy because the biggest game of the NFL calendar is on the horizon as Super Bowl LIV is set for Miami between the San Francisco 49ers & the Kansas City Chiefs. Sad, because that means the NFL is done playing games that matter until next September…!!!
Since I last wrote, the Eagles have made some front office changes are in need of some replacements. The Flyers have bounced back from their awful West Coast road trip by beating some quality opponents prior to the All-Star Game. The Sixers are adjusting to life without Joel Embiid for a while. A few key Phillies made an appearance in Cherry Hill the other night. Finally, the Winter sports season rolls on as one local boys coach hits a career milestone…
From the entertainment world, I’ve seen two movies on my “to see” list. Also, Survivor comes back in a few weeks with an epic premise. As always though, we begin with sports, and my thoughts:
Let’s start with the Eagles as their scouting staff is down at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama to evaluate young talent before the draft. Of course, the Birds are still looking to hire an Offensive Coordinator and that’s proving to be more difficult than most would think as former Eagles QB and Kansas City quarterbacks coach Mike Kafka is the latest name NOT coming. The Birds reportedly did not make a formal request to KC to interview him, but heard through the grapevine that he wanted to stay on Andy Reid’s staff for another year. So, if you’re keeping score, that’s now the USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell who has said “No”, along with Jim Caldwell, Kevin O’Connell and James Urban.
One of the problems I think is whoever takes the job has to be comfortable with the fact that Doug Pederson will be the one calling the plays. They also have to be okay with the fact that even though Doug is loyal to his assistants, he has bosses to answer to, and those bosses fired Mike Groh. Another aspect of this is whoever gets hired, will have to have a good relationship with Carson Wentz. Wentz is still young and loves to get involved with game planning as well. This is a key hire.
Of course, as big as that hire is, there are also openings for coaches on the defensive line, the wide receivers and the defensive backs. Those are critical assistant coaching jobs that need to be filled as well. Most of these coaches will probably come from the college ranks, and in fact, that’s probably a part of what the Birds are doing in Mobile as well. Evaluating players and also mingling with possible coaching replacements.
My last word on the NFL is that I’m pulling for Andy Reid & the Chiefs. “Big Red” never got it done with the Eagles, but you have to respect the guy for the lengthy success he had in taking the Birds to multiple NFC East titles and NFC Championship games. Normally I’d root for the NFC team in the Super Bowl, but in this case, I have to root for both Andy Reid and the Chiefs organization as a whole. They haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1969…isn’t 50 years long enough for those loyal fans to wait…???
Speaking of long streaks without a championship, the Flyers last hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup in 1975. 45 years is a long time to wait, and while I don’t think this is their year, never say never, right? The St. Louis Blues proved to the entire NHL last year that you don’t have to go worst to first from one season to the next, you can go worst to first in half a season…! Former Flyer Craig Berube was back in Cherry Hill the other night in his capacity as Blues Head Coach to accept the
“Team of the Year” award at the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association dinner. Now in its 116th year, big names like Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali & Joe DiMaggio have been honored at the dinner. It was nice to see “Chief” honored. Current Flyers forward Sean Couturier was honored as well.
The team just beat the Penguins 3-0 at home to go into the All-Star Break on a high note. When the Flyers are on, like wins over Washington, Boston, St. Louis & Pittsburgh, they not only look like a playoff team, they look like they could win a series…! But when they are off, like a poor 4-1 loss at home to Montreal, they look like the same old problems are rearing their ugly head. They play the Penguins again in Pittsburgh coming out of the break. Let’s hope the ten days off gives them a chance to reenergize and make a second half push for the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Sixers are dealing with no Joel Embiid these days. Embiid is still out after tearing ligaments in his left ring finger, but that’s given Ben Simmons a chance to shine. Simmons put up a career-high tying 34 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists, five steals and two blocks in a 117-111 win at the Brooklyn Nets. It’s his fourth triple-double of the season, and the first time the Sixers have won back to back road games since the first week of the season. Of course, those are road wins at the Knicks and at the Nets, the TRUE road test is at Toronto. I’ll write about that result in my next column.
The Phillies were well represented at the 116th Philadelphia Sports Writers Association banquet as catcher J.T. Realmuto was given the Most Outstanding Player award & new manager Joe Girardi was invited to speak as well. Girardi fired up the pro-Phillies crowd by letting the folks in the ballroom know that he understands the passion Philly fans have for their baseball team and he’s there to make sure his guys play the game the right way. I’m bullish on the Phillies and think Girardi, along with the additions of Zack Wheeler & Didi Gregorious will help them improve their win total next season.
While we are on baseball, congratulations to Derek Jeter on being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Who was the writer who didn’t vote for Jeter…? What possible statement could THAT person be trying to make? I was also happy to see Larry Walker get in, as the former Expo & Rockies outfielder had a cannon of an arm and was always a threat with his bat. Plus, he was a heck of a nice guy to cover. I’ll never forget that clip in Montreal where he forgot the number of outs, so he caught the ball and gave it to a young fan in the stands down the right field line. The only problem was, it was only out number TWO…! So, Walker goes running back to the kid, gets the baseball, and fires it back into the infield. Hilarious…! Former Phillies pitcher Curt Shilling did NOT get in, but with 70% of the vote, you need 75% to get in, I think he will get in soon. Shilling seems to be getting punished for some of his controversial statements post baseball, and that’s a shame, because the Hall of Fame should be on numbers and integrity PERIOD.
I mention integrity because this is another year where Roger Clemens & Barry Bonds got plenty of votes, but did NOT get in. I think there may be a day down the road where those guys, and guys like Sammy Sosa get in, but I don’t think the baseball writers & voters will do it while they are alive. The same with Pete Rose. Pete Rose DESERVES to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame for what he did on the baseball field. However, they continue to keep him out for what he did off it.
In high school sports, as the Winter season rolls on, congrats to Atlantic City Boys coach Gene Allen, as he passes Bill Swain to become the winningest coach in program history. Allen doesn’t get enough credit sometimes I think, as that program could never get over the hump before he came around, and now they have three state titles under his regime. Can he be a yeller and a screamer? Absolutely. But the ultimate compliment I’d like to give in these pages is that if I had a son, I’d like him to be coached by Gene Allen. Way to go coach…well deserved…!
I’ll close with a few items from the entertainment world as I saw not one, but TWO movies since I last wrote. My girlfriend’s son and I went to see “1917” in IMAX at the awesome Tilton Square Theater. It used to be called the Tilton 9, and if you haven’t been there since the renovation, you simply MUST check it out. Reclining & comfy seats in every regular theater. Gigantic seats & legroom in the IMAX theater. “1917” was directed by Sam Mendes and was all about World War I. It’s essentially one long tracking shot, and a cinematic masterpiece to see how he pulled it off. I’m not going to ruin anything plot-wise, except to highly recommend you see it.
Finally, if you know me, you know I am a HUGE fan of the TV reality show “Survivor”. I’ve watched every season since it premiered in the summer of 2000. Well, they are rewarding long- time fans like me as this next season coming up will be called “Winners at War”. That’s right, every single contestant will be a former Survivor winner. Boston Rob (and Amber), Sandra, Danni, Yul, Parvati, Ethan, Ben, Tyson and more will be featured in season 40. It debuts on Wednesday February 12th, but don’t miss “ Survivor at 40: Greatest Moments and Players” on CBS on February 5th, which features interviews with past players and series highlights. I can’t wait…!!!
As always, don’t forget, you can listen to me on the radio each Saturday morning on 97.3 ESPN from 8-10 a.m. It’s the “Pete Thompson Show”, and I hope you’ll tune in & interact with me on the air.
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
