Sports & Entertainment
By Pete Thompson
I don’t know about you, but as we’ve already celebrated Hanukkah, and are now racing towards Christmas / Kwanzaa / Three Kings Day (or whatever you celebrate), I think it’s important to stop and recognize how GREAT the month of December is for sports and entertainment.
In sports, the NBA has long been a Christmas Day staple, but now the NFL is moving into that territory with two games scheduled for December 25th. Plus, movie theaters are trying to bounce back from the pandemic and big box office numbers from films that come out on 12-25 can boost their bottom line as well. That doesn’t even take into consideration the streaming services and binge watching. Oh yes, December is a GREAT month for sports and entertainment!
Since I last wrote, the Eagles got some help and got somewhat healthy on their BYE week. The Flyers managed to win two games in a row for the first time in a long time. The Sixers put up a defensive gem against a top quality opponent, but then laid an egg in their next game on the road. Plus, trade rumors about their most controversial player continue to swirl. The Phillies continue to feel the effects of a lockout. On the local front, college basketball returns to Atlantic City this March and one team will be bringing their high-profile coach.
From entertainment, I’ve seen the first promo for one of my favorite reality shows of all time. Plus, I’ll let you know what might get ME out of the house on Christmas Day and into the movie theater. As always though, we begin with sports, and my thoughts:
I’ll start with the Eagles as it’s hard to believe, but Birds fans had to sort of “root” for the Cowboys last week in their game at Washington. As weird as that sounds, if you’re an Eagles fan, you WANT Dallas to win the division, and the Eagles need to overtake the Washington Football Team to get into the playoffs via a wildcard.
Dallas did win the game 27-20 in Landover, Maryland, making Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy’s prediction that “We’re going to win this game” statement valid. Micah Parsons sacked Taylor Heinicke twice and forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. The Penn State alum sure would’ve looked good in Eagle green.
The Niners were able to pull out an overtime victory at Cincinnati winning 26-23, and that didn’t HELP the Eagles playoff chances, but truthfully, it’s all ahead of the Birds right now. With four (4) games left, and all of them in the division, just keep WINNING and everything will take care of itself for Philadelphia.
Which leads me to the injury situation…or should I say “availability” situation as the Birds are hoping to have Jalen Hurts and Jason Kelce back healthy for the Washington game on Sunday. They might not have wide receiver Quez Watkins though. Watkins and reserve RB Jason Huntley have both been placed on the COVID-19 reserve list. This gives me big-time PAUSE as the pandemic is clearly not over and several NFL teams have been affected recently by the coronavirus.
The Eagles will play their BIGGEST game of the season on Sunday December 19th at Lincoln Financial Field in South Philadelphia against the Washington Football Team. The Birds are five-point favorites to win and both teams have identical 6-7 records as I write this. The math is pretty simple, keep winning and the Eagles have a chance to be in the playoffs. Lose this KEY game, and things get complicated.
Now to the Flyers, where the offense has sparked to life under new bench boss Mike Yeo. In three of the four games since he’s taken over from Alain Vigneault, the Flyers attack and power play have both looked better, resulting in back to back road wins. In fact, when the Flyers beat the Coyotes in Arizona last weekend, it was the first time they’d won back to back games since 10/27 and 10/28.
Perhaps that’s a product of the new mindset and scheme from Yeo. Perhaps that’s also aided by new power-play director and coach Darryl Williams. Either way, The Flyers power play went a combined 3-for-6 in wins over Vegas and Arizona on the road. Under Yeo, the Flyers scored 14 goals – five against Colorado, four in Vegas and five in Arizona over three games, along with a meek 3-zip loss at New Jersey.
As I write this, the Flyers are set to host the Devils on home ice. Let’s see if the “positive vibes” continue, right?
What I do know 100 percent is that starting on January 3rd, you are going to have to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination in addition to your ticket when you enter all Flyers & Sixers games at the Wells Fargo Center. According to a new citywide mandate, vaccination will be required for any indoor venue that serves food after Jan. 3. Until Jan. 17, unvaccinated guests may show proof of a negative COVID-19 test from the last 24 hours. After Jan. 17, everyone — employees and patrons — over the age of 5 must be vaccinated anywhere “you can eat together indoors,” according to Philadelphia City Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole.
To the Sixers now, where the storyline after a 102-93 win over Golden State at home was how good Matisse Thybulle played defensively against Warriors star Steph Curry. Curry is a two-time MVP, and he came into the contest averaging 27.5 points a game. However, he finished with a misleading 18 points on 6-for-20 shooting, including missing 11 of 14 three-pointers. With Thybulle as the primary defender, Curry shot 2-for-13, including 1-of-9 on three-pointers. The Sixers’ defensive wiz also became the first player to block Curry’s three-point shot multiple times in a game, doing it twice. Curry came into the night needing 10 three-pointers to pass Ray Allen (2,973) for the NBA record for career threes. Thybulle made sure that Curry would have to wait at least another game.
On the flip side, The Sixers, playing without injured Joel Embiid and Seth Curry, were routed by the Memphis Grizzlies last Monday night, 126-91. The loss dropped the Sixers to 15-13 and snapped their three-game winning streak. It also extended a pair of losing streaks to the Grizzlies (17-11). Memphis now has won the teams’ last three meetings, and last eight contests at the FedEx Forum.
The Sixers learned that Curry wouldn’t play 20 minutes before the game. Meanwhile, Embiid was scratched right before tip-off. The PA announcer in Memphis didn’t even know that Embiid was sidelined while announcing his name in the starting lineup. This has been a strange Sixers season so far for sure!
Which leads me to Ben Simmons. The NBA trade deadline is still two months away, but Simmons name has surfaced in several reports again as folks who cover the league continue to try and break the news first on where the disgruntled Australian will play next. On Monday, Shams Charania from The Athletic reported that the Lakers are eyeing Simmons, along with Detroit’s Jerami Grant. Hey, making that report is nice, but remember, in order to pull off a deal for Simmons, the money has to be right. In Simmons’ case, he will make more than $33 million this season, and tax-paying teams like the Lakers can absorb no more than 125 percent of the salary they send out in a deal, plus $100,000. Either way, the discussion seems to be swirling again, and maybe we’ll see a deal soon. Then again, maybe not!
I feel the same way about the Phillies right now as they would probably LOVE to tinker with their roster, but with Major League Baseball in their first work stoppage since the 1994 season, no moves are being made right now. Which is a shame, because in the year and change since the Phillies hired him to run their baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski has traded a grand total of five players off the 40-man roster, a modest total given his “wheeler-dealer” reputation!
Simply put, the Phillies lack adequate support for their small core of star players. The roster falls off a cliff after Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler, J.T. Realmuto, Aaron Nola, Rhys Hoskins, and Jean Segura. They don’t have a left fielder, a center fielder, or enough late-inning relievers, but they do have approximately $183 million in luxury-tax commitments, assuming there is a luxury tax in the next collective bargaining agreement. Again, this is very much a “wait and see” issue.
On the local sports front, I want to give some attention to the fact that MAAC basketball is coming back to Atlantic City in March. The Hercules Tire MAAC Men’s Championship will be held at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall March 8th through the 12th. You might recall that this event was barely underway in March of 2020 when the pandemic forced everything to be canceled. So, consider me THRILLED that Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference basketball will be coming back to Atlantic City.
Iona is coached by Rick Pitino, and the Gaels are certain to get national attention because of Pitino’s resume. However, don’t sleep on local NJ school Monmouth as the Hawks are off to a two and oh start and King Rice’s team could end up in the Big Dance as well.
Again, I’m just thrilled that big-time college basketball will be played in Atlantic City again this March.
As always, I’ll close with a few items from entertainment, starting with the fact that the show “The Amazing Race” is coming back to CBS on Wednesday January 5th. Perhaps no reality show was more affected by the pandemic than this one, as there’s no way that teams of two would be able to travel around the world with a global pandemic going on. I’ve been a fan of this show since the very first one aired way back in September of 2001. Since then, there have been 32 seasons with 373 episodes and I can’t get enough. If you haven’t watched it before, what are you waiting for? It’s GREAT!
Finally, here are the theatrical releases this year on Christmas Day: “A Journal for Jordan”, “American Underdog”, “Licorice Pizza”, and “The Tragedy of MacBeth” (in theaters on December 25 and on Apple+ on January 14, 2022) Of that group, the one most likely to get me out of the house and into the actual theater is “Licorice Pizza”. Described as “an American coming-of-age drama-comedy”, the film is written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who authored “Hard Eight”, “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia”. Yep, I think I’ll actually get to the theater for this one!
I’m going to close this as I always 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
