Sports & Entertainment
By Pete Thompson
A: “The greatest game show host of my lifetime”
Q: “Who is Alex Trebek?”
Sad news for sure that Alex Trebek has lost his battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Through the magic of television, we’ll have him on our screens until Christmas Day when his last taped episode will air.
Since I last wrote, the Eagles survived perhaps their worst half of football against the Dallas Cowboys to then turn around and rally to win in the final two quarters. Plus, they’re getting healthy on the BYE week. The Sixers made a huge hire in their front office, bringing in Daryl Morey from Houston as their new President of Basketball Operations. The Phillies have a finalist for the National League Rookie of the Year award. Finally, the Flyers have a pretty big fan who’s going to list 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as his address soon. A former Flyer is also inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.
From the entertainment world, tributes to the late Alex Trebek continue to pour in. Plus, CBS makes a significant announcement about casting on reality shows like “Survivor” and “Big Brother”. As always though, we begin with sports, and my thoughts:
I’ll start with the Eagles as they were downright putrid in the first half against the Dallas Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football” on November 1st. With a national TV audience watching, the Birds trailed 9-7 at the half to Ben DiNucci and the lowly Cowboys. Thankfully, Travis Fulgham came to the rescue, capping off a 3rd quarter drive to put the Eagles back in front to stay. Fulgham has been the “surprise” of the season so far, as he continues to demand more playing time and puts up great numbers each week out.
There is still a legitimate concern about what’s wrong with Carson Wentz this season. Once again, he looked sloppy with the football, throwing two interceptions and fumbling away the football twice. This is year number FIVE for the Eagles QB, not his first year. Can these problems be fixed? All the players stayed around during the BYE week, so let’s hope Carson spent some extra time watching film and realizes that he can’t be a hero on every play!
Speaking of the BYE week, how crazy is this? The Eagles didn’t play last Sunday and yet they actually improved in the NFC East standings. The Cowboys lost to Pittsburgh, and the Washington Football Team got beat by the Giants. So that means the Eagles at 3-4-1 actually gained some ground on the rest of the division with a .438 winning percentage as compared to .250 for Washington and .222 for the Giants and Cowboys.
Up next, at the Giants this Sunday and then at the Cleveland Browns. Remember, the Giants are coming off a win over Washington and the Browns are 5-3 so far in a strong AFC North. After those games, things turn really tough for the Birds, so my take is to see if the healthier Eagles can make some hay in the next two games before they get into arguably the toughest portion of their schedule this season.
My last Eagles point is about their health. Miles Sanders is finally back healthy and ready to contribute as the dual running and pass catching threat that the Eagles drafted out of Penn State. Lane Johnson appears healthy and ready to step back into his right tackle role. Dallas Goedert admitted that he wasn’t 100% against the Cowboys, but after a bye week, he should be back to full capability. That’s the good news. Alshon Jeffery is the big question mark. Will he start against the Giants? Or will the Eagles finally be able to just “wash their hands” of him and put him on injured reserve for the rest of the season? Alshon playing the “will he or won’t he game” ticks me off because he’s taking up a roster spot on a team that needs all the available help it can get!
Boy oh boy did the Sixers make some major news between the last time I wrote and now. Hiring Daryl Morey almost immediately after he announced that he would be leaving his position with the Houston Rockets. Morey is a proven NBA executive and he will now become the Sixers President of Basketball Operations. He’s the guy that’s going to give Doc Rivers the pieces to win, but will he ship out one of the “big two” in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons? Early indications are that he is completely enamored with having a piece like Joel Embiid, so I’d say no to that part. And for the folks that are dreaming of James Harden coming here in exchange for Simmons, I’d say keep dreaming. For all the things he might not possess on offense (like a solid 3-point shot), Ben Simmons is one of the best defensive players in the league right now. Pairing him with Joel Embiid seems like a priority for Morey.
Morey’s genius is going to come as we watch to see what he does with players that have not exactly “fit” in Philadelphia. How will he handle a Tobias Harris or Al Horford, both of whom have huge contracts and never have seemed to find their role with the Sixers? All I know is this, in the last 13 years, Morey built the Houston Rockets into the second-winningest team in the Western Conference and he has a reputation as one of the more creative executives around the NBA. That’s a guy I want running the Sixers front office for sure!
Still no news from the Phillies front office about their makeup or any potential player signings. They did make a qualifying offer to JT Realmuto, but they did NOT make one to Didi Gregorius. That saddens me, because as much as Realmuto helped them last season, I thought Gregorius was a key piece and should at least be extended a qualifying offer. I’ve seen the name Freddy Galvis floated out there as a potential replacement, but why rehash the past? Pay Gregorius enough to stay where he liked it!
The Phillies had to like what they saw out of young 3rd baseman Alec Bohm this season. The entire league took notice as Bohm was a finalist for the National League Rookie of the Year award. Among all rookies who had at least 165 plate appearances, Bohm led in batting average (.338), on-base percentage (.400), and slugging percentage (.481). Sadly, he finished in a tie for second behind Milwaukee reliever Devin Williams. But the future is bright for Bohm for sure!
Finally, we close with the Flyers where they can now boast having a President as a fan for the first time. Joe Biden is the President-elect right now, but he’s been a longtime Flyers fan appearing at several of their games during his time as Vice President. His wife Jill was actually born in Hammonton even though he’s from Scranton, PA, the 46th President of the United States calls himself a Flyers fan. We’ll have to see if he and the new First Lady make an appearance at the Wells Fargo Center once play resumes to normal. Wouldn’t that be a sight? Gritty hamming it up with the President?
The other piece of Flyers news is a tip of the cap to former tough guy and forward Rick Tocchet. Tocchet had two stints with the Orange & Black and was one of 16 people inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame the other day. Known for his penalty minutes early in his career, Tocchet eventually morphed into one of the best power forwards in the NHL. During an 18 season career, Tocchet amassed 440 goals, 512 assists, and 952 points in 1,144 regular-season games. In 145 postseason games, he posted 52 goals, 60 assists, and 112 points. But here’s my favorite stat – Tocchet leads the Flyers in “Gordie Howe Hat Tricks” with nine! For those of you who might not know, a “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” is when a player has a fight, scores a goal, and has an assist all in the same game.
Let me give a big tip of the cap to the Philadelphia Union as they win the Supporters Shield over the weekend with a 2-zip win over the New England Revolution. The Supporters Shield is awarded to the MLS team with the best regular season record. It was created by fans who wanted the league to validate the regular season more, and now it’s the first-ever trophy the Union have won. The win over New England gives the Union the top seed and home field advantage in the playoffs, which begin on November 24th. Congrats for all the Sons of Ben and the passionate Union fans who lobbied the league 13 years ago to bring a franchise to Philadelphia. This is a crowning achievement for sure.
On the local front, I finally got to see Holy Spirit running back Patrick Smith play in person. I made the trek out to Richland to watch the Spartans battle the Hermits at St. Augustine Prep. What a great high school football game as Smith scored early for Spirit, but then had to watch as his defense was on the field for a 4th down stop to seal the ballgame at the end. Holy Spirit’s Gavin Roman had the second touchdown for the Spartans and Head Coach A.J. Russo got to give them a victory speech, but also order them to be at practice the next morning as up next, it’s a postseason “pod” with some of the best teams in South Jersey. Spirit is a two seed and they’ll host #3 Winslow Twp. #4 Lenape plays at #1 Cherokee on Sunday also in Pod A. This is the state’s version of a postseason, since traditional playoffs cannot happen this year with COVID.
I also have to congratulate Ocean City, as the Red Raiders (pictured) capped off an unbeaten regular season with a huge win over their arch-rival Mainland. The Red Raiders are the #2 seed in Pod B, and they’ll host #3 St. Joseph, who is coming off a win over Timber Creek. Paul Sacco’s Wildcats are 5-1 and will give Kevin Smith’s Red Raiders everything they can handle.
Finally, St. Augustine falls to Pod C as the Hermits at 5-2 are a #1 seed and will host #4 Nottingham. On the other side, #3 Hammonton travels to #2 Williamstown. Good luck to ALL our local teams playing in postseason pods.
I’ll close with a few items from entertainment as I led with the big news at the top of the column. We all figured it was coming, but that didn’t make the news about Alex Trebek passing way any less sad. For years, Trebek was a dinner time staple in my household and millions of others as well. My girlfriend got me his autobiography not that long ago and that only made me love and appreciate him more. When I was in college, I used to intern for the late (GREAT) Gary Papa at Channel 6 Action News. When the 6 o’clock news was over, he would come upstairs and prepare his show for 11, and then we’d pop over to Allegro Pizza in the shopping center across the street. While we each got a slice, we’d sit and watch Jeopardy and compete against each other. Gary went to Cornell, and also got a law degree, so he was super smart. However, I’m proud to say I held my own against him and even beat him a few times. That’s a cherished memory for me. Rest in Peace Alex…you lived a GREAT life and leave behind a legacy for sure.
My last entertainment item is a positive one for diversity as CBS has announced that they will make sure that the casts of their reality shows will include 50 percent people of color moving forward. This has long been a criticism of popular shows like “Survivor”, “Big Brother” and others. I simply say “GREAT…and ABOUT TIME!”
As always, I’ll close with a reminder to please don’t forget to wear your mask when you’re out in public and interacting with 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
