Just Cringe Baby
Sports & Entertainment
By Pete Thompson
I’d like to take credit for that headline, but it’s a homage to the late Raiders owner Al Davis and his famous saying of “Just Win Baby”. Plus, my friend and journalism colleague Todd Shaner from the Philadelphia Inquirer used it as the primary headline the day after the Eagles looked pitiful in the Las Vegas desert. The two other headlines for the primary articles on the sports page read “It takes hard work to be this bad” as well as “Birds’ defense exposed again”.
Since I last wrote, the Eagles lost at home to the defending Super Bowl champs and Tom Brady. Then, they went on the road and lost to the suddenly sharp Raiders. The Birds did make a trade before the trade deadline, but I think many fans are wondering “How can we ship OUT the coaching staff?” The Sixers drama with Ben Simmons continues, and they’re off to a decent start without him. The Flyers began the season with four home games and now face a tough road test in Western Canada. The Phillies hire back a familiar face for their coaching staff. Plus, two Phillies are named finalists for a major baseball award. Locally, a Delran native and Olympic star get ready to call it a career on the soccer pitch. And I was honored to play in a charity golf tournament that has great meaning to me.
From entertainment, my girlfriend Susan and I watched a touching documentary about one of my favorite rock & roll stars in the movie theater recently. Plus, I can’t wait for a new movie that’s going to debut first in the theater and then on Amazon Prime in December about what was once “America’s Favorite Couple”. As always though, we begin with sports, and my thoughts:
I’ll start with the Eagle’s loss at home to the Tampa Bay Bucs on Thursday Night Football on October 15th. The final score was 28-22, but I never got the sense that the Eagles had a realistic chance to win the football game. Tom Brady threw for 297 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Leonard Fournette looked unstoppable with the ground game.
It was 28-to-7 before the Eagles began a comeback that turned out to be too little too late. It also turned out to be the final game in an Eagles uniform for Zach Ertz as he was traded to Arizona in exchange for rookie cornerback Tay Gowan and Arizona’s 2022 fifth-round pick. I’m sad to see Ertz go, but I completely understand the logic behind it. Plus, maybe he’ll win another Lombardi Trophy with the Cardinals. He’s already caught a TD pass in his first game with his new team, and said afterward, “I’ve never seen so much green grass over the middle before, but that’s going to happen with guys like DeAndre Hopkins and A.J. Green on the outside.”
The Eagles followed up their loss at home to Tampa with a road loss in Vegas last weekend that has them just 2-5 going into a road game at Detroit followed by a home game with a good Chargers team. I’m not sure where to start with the Raider’s loss, other than to say that I was screaming at the TV when rookie coach Nick Sirianni early in the game when the Eagles had stopped the Raiders short and there was an offensive holding penalty on Las Vegas. The TV commentators expected the Eagles to decline the penalty. Referee Clete Blakeman thought Sirianni was declining it, and Sirianni argued that “No, he WANTED to accept the penalty” which set up a 3rd & 15 instead of a 4th and 3. Look, the Raider’s body language was showing that they were going to punt away the football. Given a “gift” of a “do-over” by Sirianni, Derek Carr zipped a 43-yard pass to Zay Jones that got the Raiders down to the Eagles 14-yard line. That was it for me. That was the moment that I felt that Sirianni was “in over his head”.
And don’t get me started on the Eagles defense. They’re so vanilla and “Charmin-soft” that opposing QB’s are simply carving them up at will. Derek Carr looked like he was competing in a 7-on-7 drill! Carr finished 31-for-34 for 323 yards and two touchdowns, setting a career-high for single-game completion percentage. Three incompletions for the pass defense doesn’t cut it by any standard in the NFL. It has become readily apparent that improving the defensive personnel needs to be a priority in the offseason.
As I write this, the Eagles have traded away backup quarterback Joe Flacco to the Jets in exchange for a late-round draft pick. The pick is a 2022 conditional sixth-round selection that can turn into a fifth-rounder based on Flacco’s playing time with the Jets according to reports. In a corresponding move, the Eagles also signed former Miami Dolphins practice-squad quarterback Reid Sinnett off the waiver wire. So, Gardner Minshew moves into the #2 spot on the QB depth chart. Keep an eye on Minshew and if he might get a start if things keep going south.
Roughly 24 hours after the Eagles’ loss, Sirianni revealed a sliver of good news regarding tailback Miles Sanders. Sanders, who exited the game with an ankle injury, underwent X-rays and results came back negative, according to Sirianni. It doesn’t look like Sanders will be available for the game in Detroit, but what was evident was that Sirianni was starting to use him more. Sanders had five carries during the Eagles’ opening drive, perhaps signaling a switch in Sirianni’s game planning and a willingness to incorporate his lead horse at a higher rate. But then, Sanders went down on the team’s second possession and never returned.
In basketball, the Sixers are off to a 2-1 start as I write this column with road wins at New Orleans and Oklahoma City, but a loss in the home opener to the Brooklyn Nets. The Sixers are still without Ben Simmons, as he told the team that he is “mentally not ready to play”. However, the team has stopped fining him for missing practices and games. Star center Joel Embiid mentioned Simmons in a pregame speech to the fans before the home opener saying, “I urge you guys to continue to support us and our teammate, Ben.”
Hey, to me, that speaks VOLUMES about where the team is at regarding the 6-11 Australian. Just a few days earlier, it seemed like Embiid was done with Simmons, but here he was publicly supporting him before the home opener. Tobias Harris has tweeted his support for Simmons too. Again, this is a “stay tuned” situation.
On the ice, the Flyers kicked off the season with four straight home games, and I think I went to one of the most enjoyable ones as they beat the expansion Seattle Kraken at home 6-1 on Monday, October 18th. That game had everything as it had a lot of goals, a few fights, and a loud crowd inside the Wells Fargo Center. I loved it!
Unfortunately, after an impressive home win over Boston in the next game 6-3, the Flyers ended the home stretch on a down note falling 4-2 to unbeaten Florida. Their record sits at 2-1-1 after four games and now they head for their Western Canada road trip with games in Edmonton, Vancouver, and Calgary next.
From baseball, the Phillies have hired back Bobby Dickerson as their infield coach. Dickerson worked on Gabe Kapler’s staff in 2019 and replaces Juan Castro, who was let go before the season finale on October 3rd. Dickerson has spent the last two seasons as a Padres bench coach, but his job wasn’t to secure out there, so he’s returning to South Philly. I think this is a key hire as Dickerson is known across baseball as a top infield instructor. The Phillies ranked 28th, 30th, and 26th among 30 teams this season in runs saved at first base, shortstop, and third base, respectively. Didi Gregorius ranked 11 runs worse than the average shortstop; Alec Bohm was 13 runs worse than the average third baseman. It wasn’t a winning recipe, especially considering the ground-ball tendencies of starters Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Zach Eflin, Kyle Gibson, and Ranger Suárez.
In other Phillies news, Bryce Harper and JT Realmuto have both been named finalists for the 2021 Silver Slugger Awards. The Silver Slugger Awards will be announced by Major League Baseball on November 13th.
Which reminds me, it’s the Astros vs. Braves in the World Series, are YOU staying up late for that? No thanks for me. I’ll catch a quick replay package the next morning, but no way am I staying up late for that!
I will make sure to tune in for some of Carli Lloyd’s final games as a professional soccer player. She’s scheduled to suit up one more time for the national team against South Korea in St. Paul, Minn., then play her last regular-season club game for Gotham FC next Sunday against Racing Louisville at Red Bull Arena (3 p.m., CBS Sports Network). Whenever Gotham’s playoff run ends, so will her playing career. Carli….thanks for the memories!
Speaking of which, we didn’t win, but I do want to thank Scott Dunn, Aaron Bada, and Sean Fawcett for being my partners in the Jack Thomas Memorial Golf Outing at Greate Bay Country Club on Monday, October 25th. The late owner of Charlie’s in Somers Point always had time to help someone out and was always very giving with both his time and money for a good cause. His sons Jeff, Jimmy & JR were on hand along with about 126 golfers to raise money for the Mainland Education Foundation.
As always, I’ll close with a few items from entertainment as my girlfriend Susan and I went to the Regal Hamilton Commons in Mays Landing to see “Somewhere You Feel Free”, the Tom Petty documentary on what would have been his 71st birthday on October 20th. Mostly recorded during the making of the album “Wildflowers”, the movie was a touching and loving tribute to one of my favorite rock & roll acts. I truly believe that Tom Petty was a musical genius and his skills are on fine display in the movie. If you’re a Tom Petty fan, this is a MUST-see.
Lastly, I just stumbled across a trailer for a movie that’s going to debut in December in theaters first and then on Amazon Prime and it’s called “Being the Ricardos.” Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, I simply cannot WAIT to see what Sorkin does with a movie about Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz and the “I Love Lucy” show that was such a mega-hit for CBS back in the day. Nicole Kidman plays Lucy and Javier Bardem plays Arnaz. The project has the blessing of Lucie Arnaz, the couple’s daughter. It’s out in movie theaters on December 10th and then out on Prime Video on December 21st. I can’t wait!
It is my continued hope that you stay safe, stay healthy, and when you’re indoors if a place requires you to wear a mask, it’s for a reason. Please keep leading with KINDNESS.
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” 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 and Friday on 97.3 ESPN at 5:30pm, and if you see him out & about in the community, he requests that you please say “Hi”. Send comments to PBrooksT@aol.com
