Birthday Blues
Sports & Entertainment
By Pete Thompson
I’m sitting down to write this just ONE day after my birthday, and realizing once again, how tough it is to be a fan of Philly sports. The Eagles season is over. The Flyers are awful. The Phillies players are locked out and the Sixers are still dealing with a star player’s absence. I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank my friends and family though for all the birthday wishes. You are ALL truly appreciated!
Since I last wrote, the Eagles won two of their last three games to get into the playoffs, but once they were there, it was “one and done”. Now the questions begin about their talent level and who they might pick in the NFL draft in April. The Flyers came back from the holiday break with an impressive win in Seattle, but have lost eight straight since then. A common line I’ve heard since the Eagles lost is “when do pitchers & catchers report?”, but Major League Baseball still has the players LOCKED out, but at least the two sides are talking. Finally, the Sixers ripped off a seven-game win streak not long after my last column, but they are still dealing with the distraction of no Ben Simmons and what might happen there. Locally, an area high school basketball tournament soldiered on, despite Covid-19 concerns. And, congrats to a local female wrestler for her holiday tournament win.
From entertainment, one of my favorite reality shows is back on TV. Plus, what a finale for what many folks are calling the BEST drama on television right now. Finally, we lost some very famous faces over the holidays. As always though, we begin with sports, and my thoughts:
I’ll start with the Eagles as they won big at home against the Giants and then rallied to beat Washington to qualify for the playoffs. A meaningless loss in their regular season finale didn’t change anything as they got the new #7 seed for the playoffs and went to Tampa to face the Bucs.
The problem is, those are still the defending Super Bowl Champion Bucs, and even though they were missing a few key players on offense, it was the Tampa defense that really shut down the Birds. The Eagles trailed 31-0 going into the 4th quarter and looked whipped on all sides of the ball. The fact that they managed 15 points in the final quarter to lose 31-15 doesn’t hide the flaws that Tampa Bay exposed in the playoff win.
Let’s start with the offense, who once again got off to a slow start and couldn’t manage a point until the final quarter. QB Jalen Hurts came up short in his biggest start so far, and his two interceptions certainly didn’t help. Now the questions will begin again if he should be the starting QB moving forward. More on that later.
The Birds were also held to just 95 yards rushing as a team. Remember, they were leading the NFL at just over 157 yards per game going into the playoffs, so the Bucs answered the call on that front for sure.
On defense, the Eagles couldn’t find an answer on how to slow down Tom Brady and the Bucs attack. Mike Evans had 9 catches for 117 yards and one TD. Rob Gronkowski caught the other Tampa TD, and generally speaking, Tom Brady owned the Eagles once again. The Eagles did manage 4 sacks against TB #12, but at the end of the day, that wasn’t enough.
Finally, on special teams, that may be the worst area of all. Punt returner Jalen Reagor lost a key fumble early in the 3rd quarter that led directly to the Gronkowski touchdown for Tampa. Arryn Siposs had one punt for 27 yards early. That’s not gonna get it done!
So, here’s where the Eagles stand. One & Done. Room to Grow. The Birds will have three first-round picks in April’s NFL draft as they pick #15, #16 and #19. Even though he looked terrible in the playoff game, put me in the category of someone who wants to give Jalen Hurts another chance with better talent. Use all three of those picks to bring in more TALENT.
Lack of talent is extremely evident in the problems with the Flyers these days. As a lifelong Flyers fan, this is killing me to watch my team lose night in and night out. Worst of all, they just do not seem to be able to compete for a full 60 minutes each night.
As I write this, they are on an eight-game losing streak. Remember, earlier in the season, they had a ten-game losing streak, as they appear to be going nowhere fast. If they lose the back end of the home-and-home to the Islanders, they could end up in the Metropolitan Conference basement.
Again, as I write this, the Flyers are 2-16-2 when giving up the first goal of the game, and 1-16-3 when trailing after two periods. In 2006-07, the Flyers went 22-48-12, the worst record in all of hockey. I hate to write this, but it’s possible they could reach that low again.
After the Eagles loss, I wanted to make the joke about “pitchers & catchers report soon”, but I can’t because the owners & players of Major League Baseball are still on a lockout. The span between any core-economic conversations between the sides reached the 43-day mark before a meeting was finally held. That is nearly a month and a half during which the sides could have been talking. To put it another way: The gap between the Dec. 2 lockout and today is greater than that between today and the mid-February dates pitchers and catchers are expected to report to spring training. This does not make me optimistic.
So, you’d think the Sixers winning seven games in a row after my last column would make me happy, right? Would give me something to be positive about? Well, as nice as that was, I’m writing this column after a 117-98 loss to the Wizards in Washington. The Wizards finish the game with seven players in double figures, which proves the adage that DEFENSE wins championships in the NBA.
I do have to acknowledge the outstanding play of Joel Embiid though. He’s averaging more than 27 points per game and just over ten rebounds, so he contributes a double-double just about every night. But he’s only one guy, and if the rest of the team doesn’t contribute defensively, I just don’t see the Sixers going far in the playoffs.
Plus, there’s still the Ben Simmons situation to deal with. The latest report from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne is that Simmons is “open” to sitting out the entirety of the season, despite the fines, if the Sixers don’t trade him by the February 10th deadline.
The standoff between the Sixers and Simmons stretching into the summer is a real possibility it seems, due to Philadelphia’s high asking price, and the fact that the team isn’t interested in a deal that compromises their long-term prospects just to “move on”. Plus, Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey might want to hold onto Simmons until the offseason in order to set up a potential sign-and-trade with the Brooklyn Nets to get James Harden. That’s been reported as well. As always, stay tuned!
In local sports, congrats to the A.C.I.T. boys for winning the Bill Osborn Memorial Boys Bracket at the Boardwalk Basketball Classic over winter break. The Redhawks appear to be much-improved as they are off to a 7-3 start to the season.
I also would like to highlight Holy Spirit wrestler Alexandria Graffius as she wins at the Gloucester City Tournament over the holidays to become the first female champion in school history. “Hopefully the first of many,” head coach Ralph Paolone writes. Great stuff.
As always, I’ll close with a few items from entertainment, starting with the fact that “The Amazing Race” is back on CBS, but with a twist. They started recording the latest season as the pandemic began in 2020. So, 17 months later, they’re finally releasing the new season. Just three legs in, they had to shut down the race, so I’m looking forward to seeing who returned after the pandemic postponement. No matter what, it’s a great show, and if you’ve never seen it, you’re missing out.
Also from TV, season 4 of “Yellowstone” came to an end and boy what a finale that was…! I keep banging the drum for this show and hope that you will check it out on the Paramount Network.
Finally, I have to acknowledge some of the sad losses we had from the world of entertainment & sports over the break. John Madden passed away at age 85 just three days after Christmas. This was shocking because an awesome documentary about him and his life had just run on FOX on Christmas Day. Then, on New Year’s Eve, we lost Betty White at age 99. This one was especially sad because she was so close to her 100th birthday on 1-17. When Sidney Poitier died at age 94 on January 6th, you wanted to say “okay, enough!”. Three famous faces that will most definitely be MISSED.
As always, I’ll close this as I usually do. With a reminder that the pandemic is not over and I certainly hope you all stay safe & healthy. No matter where you are if a mask is required, 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
