Sports & Entertainment
By Pete Thompson
As I write this, the Stanley Cup playoffs are over. The MLB All-Star Game is about to take place. The NBA Finals are well underway, and the Open Championship is about to take place “across the pond”. Some of these are happening at the time they normally would happen. Other events are later than normal. But no matter what, it’s an interesting time for sports for sure!
Since I last wrote, the Phillies finished up a solid road trip and go into the all-star break on a high note. Plus, a new crop of future Phillies are drafted. The Sixers have a new C.E.O. and one of their biggest stars gets ridiculed at the ESPY’s. An Eagles position coach sees his son get a pretty significant honor. The Flyers turn t-shirts into money for a cause that’s near and dear to their heart. Meanwhile, on the local front, Chase Petty hears his name called at the MLB Amateur Draft in Denver on Day One. Finally, I’m starting to play a lot more golf, and visited two local courses as part of an upcoming feature here in Shore Local.
From entertainment, I was sad to see a beloved actor from the show “Night Court” has passed. As well as a wrestling legend from when it was still called the W.W.F. Plus, I watched a documentary about one of my favorite rock star lead singers of all-time, who tragically left us way too soon. As always though, we begin with sports, and my thoughts:
I’ll start with the Phillies they went 5-2 on a road trip that took them to Chicago and Boston prior to the all-star break. They hit the break exactly at .500 with a 44-44 record, and only three and a half games behind the Mets in the N.L. East. I think that’s pretty darn good, all things considered!
Let’s start at Wrigley Field where the Phillies took a series from the Cubs in Chicago for the first time since August of 2006. They did so by breaking out the bats as in just four games they hit 21 singles, 10 doubles, 13 home runs and scored 39 total runs. Hey, that’s an offensive EXPLOSION!
Then it was on to historic Fenway Park in Boston where they won two out of three, although the Sunday wrap up game was not what was expected. Aaron Nola was SUPPOSED to start the final game of the series against former Phillie Nick Pivetta, but Alec Bohm tested positive for COVID-19, and three other players were deemed to be in “close contact”, including Nola, so it became a “bullpen game”.
The Phils won it 5-4, but the real hero is Ranger Suarez, who recorded a seven-out save to send the Phillies into the break on a high note. The 25-year-old lefty has come back from injuries, COVID-19, and visa issues in spring training to post a 0.77 ERA in 21 appearances since getting called up from triple A. Suárez picked up the Phillies’ first seven-out save in a one-run game since Don Carman on June 19, 1985.
One other guy I want to highlight is utility infielder Ronald Torreyes. Stepping in for Bohm, Torreyes had three hits in the victory. Torreyes has started 31 of the last 46 games and gone 31-for-115 (.270) with three homers and 18 RBIs in those starts while playing solid defense.
A few final baseball items before I move on as the Phillies drafted 18-year-old right handed pitcher Andrew Painter from Calvary Christian High School in Florida with the 13th pick overall in the first round of the MLB Draft last Sunday night. It was the second straight year the Phillies spent their first-round pick on a high-school pitcher, and you can almost see them salivating at the chance to pair Painter with Mick Abel, the right-hander they selected last summer with the No. 15 pick. Painter is armed with a high-90s fastball and struck out more than half the batters he faced this season while posting a 0.31 ERA in 45 1/2 innings.
13 picks later, the Minnesota Twins make Somers Point native and Mainland alum Chase Petty’s dreams come true as they picked him at #26 overall. Afterwards, Petty revealed that he’s become friendly with Mike Trout and that the Millville native gave him his number so they can stay in touch. Trout even texted Petty on draft night to wish him good luck and also be a sounding board for Petty so he kind of knew what he was in for. In addition, Petty was scheduled to have dinner on Monday night with Fernando Tatis, Jr. and Manny Machado as they all share the same agent. Lofty times indeed…! Best of luck Chase Petty…we can all only hope you stay as humble as Mike Trout has..!
My last baseball item involves the Home Run Derby. Now maybe it’s because it was in the high altitude of Denver but what took place at Coors Field on Monday night was FUN to watch…!
But first, a quick story…In 1998, I was working at KDUH-TV in Scottsbluff, Nebraska and I covered the Rockies from afar. I had applied for press credentials for the All-Star Game that year, but then I got a job in Lincoln at a different station. However, my pal Redo Celli still wanted to go to the game & such. I had gotten him a credential too, so that’s how he and my other friend Leon Hurley ended up with press passes to the 1998 All-Star Game at Coors Field. They still laugh about how everyone else had legitimate equipment and credentials and they were there with those little Kodak throw-away cameras!
Sorry, I get distracted sometimes. Now, as for this year’s home run derby, everyone thought that Shohei Ohtani was a given to win. But a funny thing happened on the way to his sure victory. The Mets Pete Alonso came out on fire and hit 35 home runs in the first round to set a new record. Ohtani went to, essentially, double overtime and a swing-off with Washington’s Juan Soto and was eliminated in the first round! In the end, Alonso beat out Baltimore’s Trey Mancini to become the third back-to-back home run derby champ in the event’s history. Alonso finished with 74 total home runs and joins Ken Griffey Junior and Yoenis Cespedes in winning consecutive titles.
In basketball, Milwaukee beat Phoenix at home 120-100 in Game 3 to get the NBA Finals to 2-1 as I write this. I picked the Suns in six, and I’m not backing off that prediction, even though Phoenix looked pretty darn good in Games 1 and 2.
Meanwhile, the Sixers have a new C.E.O. as Thaddeus “Tad” Brown takes over as the new C.E.O. of Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, whose properties include the 76ers, the New Jersey Devils and the Prudential Center in Newark. Brown has spent the last 15 years as the C.E.O. of the Houston Rockets, so he’ll be reunited with Daryl Morey, the Sixers President of Basketball Operations. The NBA draft is just a few weeks away on Thursday July 29th. Unlike the Sam Hinkie era, the Sixers only currently have TWO draft picks as they are set to pick at #28 in Round 1 and have overall pick #50 in the second round from the New York Knicks. That’s it. But stay tuned.
A national TV audience was tuned in for the ESPYs last Saturday night when actor & host Anthony Mackie told folks that “Ben Simmons took home a special ESPY for his humanitarian work. Not everybody knows this but Ben Simmons had been building orphanages like this one completely out of his playoff bricks.” While speaking, there was a screen full of bricks that Mackie pointed to. Yo…if you’re so bad you’re getting TROLLED at the ESPYs? Sheesh…a new low for Simmons.
To which he probably doesn’t even care! Less than two weeks after being sent home for the summer, Simmons dropped $17.5 million on a 12,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom mansion outside of Los Angeles that came with an indoor Bonsai tree. His neighbors are Kanye West and Paul George. Then, last week, Simmons and Maya Jama, the British TV and radio personality, were caught by cameras kissing in the stands at Wimbledon. Oh yeah, this is going to play over REALLY well by the Sixers faithful! There are some who say “give the guy a break”. To that I say, “Do your job and we’ll stop complaining!”
In football, things are pretty quiet with the Eagles as they continue to count down the days until training camp begins on Sunday August 8th. In the meantime, a new Eagles position coach got a pretty big thrill the other night during the MLB draft. Three picks before the Phillies drafted a high school power pitcher, the Mets drafted a right-handed pitcher out of Vanderbilt named Kumar Rocker at No. 10. Not ringing any bells? Well, Rocker is the son of Eagles new defensive line coach Tracy Rocker, who was hired as a part of Nick Sirianni’s coaching staff this offseason.
From hockey, Flyers Charities are giving a $50,000 grant to Dr. Margaret Chou, an associate professor and cancer researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia since 2019. The money was raised by the Flyers selling “Oskar Strong” T-shirts at home games as well as other fundraising activities following Lindblom’s diagnosis of Ewing’s sarcoma in December 2019. This one makes me smile because Lindblohm’s cancer is in remission and also because Flyers fans truly are the most GENEROUS fans out there. Good stuff Flyers and Flyers fans!
In golf, the Open Championship (or as we call it “The British Open”) was the only major not played in 2020. Its back this year at a quirky location at Royal St. George’s in England. Fans will be back too, but all is not normal as there are stiff protocols in place and already some COVID positive players having to withdraw. I’ll still watch though, as the wild mounding produces some odd bounces and sheer curiosity to see who is the last man standing.
Locally, I’ve been teeing it up quite a bit lately as I played nine holes in the morning on Monday with Sean Fawcett at Heritage Links and then another nine holes at Vineyard Golf in the afternoon. Sean is going to be debuting a new feature called “Playing A-Round with PT” in the Shore Local pages soon, but let me get a jump on things by telling you what a hidden gem Heritage Links is. If you’ve never played it, it’s a quaint nine-hole course at 1375 Route 9 in Ocean View. What was once a family farm is now a fun test of golf where you really don’t need to pull the driver out that much. When we played, we made it around nine holes in just 90 minutes! Play in the morning and go to the beach in the afternoon…! If you want more information, check out the ad here in Shore Local or visit www.golfheritagelinks.com. Rob Prettyman has the course in GREAT shape!
As always, I’ll close with a few items from entertainment as I was sad to see that actor Charles Robinson passed away at the age of 75. Best known for his role as “Mac” on the NBC sitcom “Night Court”, Robinson had a 50-year career where he appeared in movies such as “Secret Santa,” “The River,” “Set It Off,” “Antwone Fisher,” “Jackson,” “Even Money” and “Miss Lettie and Me,” and TV series including “Buffalo Bill,” “Home Improvement,” “Hart of Dixie,” “NCIS” and “The Guestbook.”. I especially liked him as a blind, upstairs neighbor to Bonnie & Christy in the TV show “Mom” recently.
Rest in peace also to former pro wrestler Paul Orndorff, aka “Mr. Wonderful” who has passed away at age 71. Hey, it’s one thing to be Hulk Hogan, but it’s another thing to play the “heel” and be popular, and Orndorff was immensely popular. The first WrestleMania in 1985 saw WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hogan and Mr. T, accompanied by Snuka, face off against the Piper and Orndorff, who were accompanied by Cowboy Bob Orton.
And, I hate to end with three sad items, but a friend of mine, Joe Nickels, aka DJ Sparkles, posted on Facebook about a Michael Hutchence documentary he saw recently. Now, I love all things INXS, and I did read the book the Farris brothers put out about the band. However, this documentary called “Mystify: Michael Hutchence” was OUSTANDING. It’s on Amazon Prime right now, and what I didn’t realize is that the Australian’s life changed dramatically in 1992. As the story goes, one night in Copenhagen, while visiting his girlfriend, supermodel Helena Christensen, The INXS front man spent an entire evening partying. Rather than drive, he was drunkenly riding a bicycle home, down the middle of a street. After refusing to move out of the path of a taxi, the irate driver stepped out of his vehicle and punched Hutchence; his head violently hit the curb, knocking him out. “He was unconscious and there was blood coming out of his mouth and ear,” Christensen recalls in Mystify, the new documentary about Hutchence’s life. “I thought he was dead.” You might say that a part of Hutchence did die that day, as Christensen says his personality changed from “joyful, sweet, deep and emotional” to “dark and very angry.” Sad stuff, right?
Let’s try to end on a happy note then, and I’ll say that I was at the New Jersey State Barbecue Championship in North Wildwood last weekend. I can’t tell you how GREAT it was to see so many SMILING faces. I hope you’re all having an awesome summer and am thankful for your readership!
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
