Sports & Entertainment
By Pete Thompson
With all due respect to the 1963 Andy Williams song about the holidays, I would argue that THIS is the most wonderful time of the year.
Just think about all the great sporting activity that is going on right now. We just had the Final Four and National Championship game for March Madness. The Phillies will be ready for Opening Day by the time you read this. The Sixer’s last regular-season game is scheduled for April 10th with the playoffs looming, as their big man is boosting his MVP resume. The Eagles are making bold moves in advance of the NFL draft, and the Flyers are playing out the regular season. Oh, and my favorite golf tournament of the entire season is poised to begin in Augusta, Georgia, The Masters. On the local front, I was honored to be the MC for the 65th-anniversary banquet for a youth football league. Plus, an EHT native playing pro baseball has his “marching orders”. Finally, I hope you’ll allow me a brief non-sports item as I want to acknowledge two men who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.
Entertainment, “Mrs. Costanza” from the show “Seinfeld” passes away. Plus, it’s been the “slap heard ‘round the world” from the Oscars. As always though, we begin with sports, and my thoughts:
As I write this, we are fresh off the National Championship Game where Kansas wins a thriller 72-69 and the Jayhawks cut down the nets. The last #1 team remaining in the Big Dance ends up the National Champions as they win with the biggest comeback in championship history. They were down by 16 points to North Carolina in the first half, but the Jayhawks roar back in the second 40 minutes to win it all. Down 40-25 at the half, Kansas outscores the Tar Heels 47-29 in the second half to win it. The Jayhawks win their fourth overall title and first since 2003.
Allow me to back up a bit to the Final Four weekend though as what a collection of teams that ended up in New Orleans. Villanova, Kansas, Duke & North Carolina all made the trip to the Big Easy as many folks called it the “Blue Bloods Final Four”. My first thought with that is, what a compliment to Villanova to be included in that description. My second thought is, that the Wildcats from Villanova tried their hardest but just ran out of “gas” in the national semifinal losing 81-65 to Kansas. In that game, Villanova committed four turnovers before the Wildcats could even score their second basket, while Kansas jumped out to a 10-0 lead, establishing itself inside and out. David McCormack with a game-high 25 points for Kansas in that one.
Major props to Jay Wright and Villanova for getting as close as six with just over six minutes to go in that game. Collin Gillespie ends his Villanova career with 17 points, Brandon Slater with 16, and Caleb Daniels finishes with 13 points, but it’s not enough as Villanova ends an outstanding season at 30-8.
And in the second game on Final Four Saturday, North Carolina beats Duke 81-77 in a thriller that featured 18 lead changes. This was an excellent college basketball game, as Caleb Love and R.J. Davis ended the coaching career of Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K leaves college hoops with five national championships (all between 1991 and 2015), which is second only to UCLA’s John Wooden. But Krzyzewski holds a 13-12 edge over Wooden in career trips to the Final Four. He may have been the sentimental favorite to win it all from many, but arch-rival North Carolina knocks him and his team out.
Moving on to the Phillies now as the season opener against the Oakland A’s on Friday, April 8th is already SOLD OUT. With the additions of Kyle Schwarber & Nick Castellanos and the existing big bats of Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and Rhys Hoskins, expectations for Philly’s offense are high. That said, I’m really curious to see how the Phillies starting pitching holds up.
Zack Wheeler hasn’t faced any major league hitters yet. Aaron Nola is hoping to rebound from a down year. Kyle Gibson looked good in his last spring training start, and then there’s Ranger Suarez. Lastly, Zach Eflin has looked decent in the spring so far. I get the feeling that the Phillies will hope to out-slug most teams to win ballgames, at least in the early going.
To that point, no one was better in the National League last year than Bryce Harper, and the reigning NL MVP did a cool thing as he posed for a cover picture of the 2022 Phillies Media Guide in a black tuxedo with a burgundy cummerbund and bow tie paying homage to 1986 NL MVP Mike Schmidt, who was featured on the cover of 1987 similarly. Say what you will about Harper, but he certainly embraces the concept of tradition!
One last Phillies item and that’s the youth movement that seems to be emerging with the team. Bryson Stott looks like he will be the opening day’s 3rd baseman. At the beginning of Spring Training, manager Joe Girardi said that Mickey Moniak wasn’t really in the team’s plans for centerfield. Well, all he did since then was go out and hit .310 this spring with five home runs. Moniak is a former #1 overall pick, and he credits new hitting coach Kevin Long with helping him adjust to the plate for his turnaround. I’ll certainly be rooting for these two young guys.
This brings us to the Sixers. They are officially qualified for the playoffs now, after a 112-108 win in Cleveland last Sunday night. Joel Embiid adds to his MVP resume with 44 points, 17 rebounds, and 5 blocks. James Harden manages a triple-double despite only going 4-for-13 from the field. Harden finishes with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Hey, the Sixers have flaws (backup Center), but I will be locked in for several reasons.
The biggest of which is to see if Joel Embiid is finally rewarded for his historic play. As I write this, Embiid is the primary reason the Sixers (48-30) are as high as fourth place in Eastern Conference with four games remaining. The center is second in the league in scoring (30.2), sixth in rebounding (11.58), and ninth in blocks (1.57). The 28-year-old has 11 games with at least 40 points and 10 rebounds, which leads the league. Simply put, what else does the big fella have to do? It will be a travesty if he doesn’t win the award.
One more item about Embiid. He has 11 games this season with at least 40 points and 10 rebounds. The only players with more in a season since the merger are Russell Westbrook (12 in 2016-17) and Moses Malone (12 in 1981-82). Both won the MVP that season.
In football, Howie Roseman and the Eagles make a bold move in advance of the NFL draft on April 28th by pushing one of their three first-rounders back into 2023 as a result of a blockbuster trade with the New Orleans Saints. You’ll recall the Eagles had picks 15, 16, and 19. Well, now they have the 15th and 18th picks in this year’s draft and also got a third-round pick from the Saints. In total, the Eagles gave up No. 16 and No. 19 as well as a sixth-rounder this year in exchange for the 18th, 101st (third round), and 237th (seventh round) picks this year, a first-round pick next year, and a second-rounder in 2024. At first glance, the trade makes plenty of sense for the Eagles from a value standpoint. If you negate the Eagles’ slight move from 19th overall to 18th, the trade boils down to the Eagles giving up the 16th pick for a third-round pick this year, a 2023 first-rounder, and a 2024 second-rounder. Count me in the camp that thinks the Eagles won this trade already.
Of course, you’re only as good as the players you select, and many critics think the Eagles aren’t good at picking talent. One thing this does accomplish is it allows the Eagles to spend one more season finding out if Jalen Hurts is the answer or not. If he is, they use the picks to build around him. If he isn’t, they have the draft capital to move up and get what they want. That’s a “win-win” in my book.
Again, the NFL draft begins Thursday, April 28th in Las Vegas. The Eagles now have 10 total picks in the draft. They have five in the first three rounds, which includes two of their own, two from New Orleans, and one from Miami.
My lone Flyers item concerns defenseman Keith Yandle, who saw his consecutive games streak end the other weekend at 989 games. None other than NHL Hall of Famer Jeremy Roenick criticized the Flyers for not letting Yandle reach 1,000 consecutive games, which no NHL-er has ever done. My take is, that the guy wasn’t playing at an NHL level to deserve to keep his spot! 23-year-old Ronnie Attard made his NHL debut in place of the 35-year-old Yandle. At some point, you have to look at the young guys, and I don’t have a problem with Yandle sitting. I’m also excited to see what 23-year-old Noah Cates can do. With 20-year-old Bobby Brink on the way as soon as Frozen Four semifinalist Denver wraps up its season, the “Youth Movement” in Philly has officially begun.
Tiger Woods is certainly not young. He’s 46-years-old, and remarkably it’s looking very much like he will tee it up in the 86th Master’s Tournament that runs from April 7th to April 10th. This is nothing short of a miracle as he admitted that amputation of his right leg following a horrific car accident in February of 2021 was a possibility. The five-time Masters champion and the 15-time major champion haven’t played in a PGA Tour event in more than 17 months, but if he can just tee it up to start the tournament, that will be an amazing accomplishment. That said, can you imagine if he’s in contention? Gosh, I love the Masters…!!!
On the local front, I was honored to be the MC for the 65th ACJFL Banquet at Bally’s AC on Friday, March 25th. The theme was “One League for One Night” and it was cool to see almost 500 people pack the main ballroom at Bally’s to honor many of those who founded the league, played in the league, coached in the league, or cheered in the league. Don’t forget the cheerleaders! Former Eagles QB and ESPN personality Ron Jaworski was the keynote speaker, Jim Heisler, Ron Jordan & Lou Napolitano were 50-year legacy honorees. Frank Fucetola, Ed Johnson, A.J. Russo, Judith Lathan, and Sherri Hicks were Distinguished Service honorees.
And here was the cool part. 11 of the 13 guys with ties to the ACJFL (Atlantic County Junior Football League) that eventually played, coached, or worked in the NFL were on hand. This list was awesome as Abdullah Anderson, Brandon Bell, Terry Bradway, Joe Callahan, Brent Caprio, Wayne Colman, Doug Colman, Michael Curcio, Dino Hall, Greg Roman & Dave Klemic were in attendance. Tom Bradway and John Stone were not able to be there, and we know we couldn’t connect with a few like Greg Buttle, Pete Hunter, William Green, and others. But how cool is that when you have a youth football league that produces so much NFL talent over the years? It was a great night!
I like to provide an update on EHT native Mike Adams and his dream of pitching in the big leagues for the Phillies when I can. Adams appeared in two Grapefruit League games with the Phils this spring and pitched well. He told me via text that the plan is for him to start the season at Double-A Reading and the coaches have told him to “keep doing what you’re doing”. With Mother’s Day just about a month away (May 8th), I thought I’d include a picture of Mike and his mom Joan. We are ALL pulling for you, Mike Adams!
My last local item is non-sports, but still important as it was a poignant afternoon last Sunday at Tropicana as my former TV 40 colleague Michelle Dawn Mooney and I was asked once again to be co-hosts for the 200 Club of Atlantic & Cape May Counties Memorial Brunch. The 200 Club, for those of you who may not know, is a great organization that provides support and financial assistance to the families of police, firefighters, and emergency personnel who pass away while “on the job”. Every year we hope the roll call list doesn’t get any longer, but this year we honored state trooper Matthew D. Razukas & Atlantic City Firefighter Anthony M. Carfagno. Folks, for me, this is one of the most important charity events that I attend and MC each year. I’d love it if you’d support them. You can find out more information at www.200clubofatlanticandcapemaycounties.org
As always, I’ll close with a few items from entertainment, starting with the sad news that actress Estelle Harris passed away. Best known for playing George’s mother Estelle Costanza on the show “Seinfeld”, Harris was known to millions despite appearing in only 27 episodes of the show. She made her debut on the series in a famous episode called “The Contest”, which to me is one of the funniest half-hour episodes of network TV comedy EVER. Her shrill screeching voice and sarcasm led to a memorable voice role as Mrs. Potato Head in the “Toy Story” franchise as well. Harris was 93.
My final item is about the Oscars and the whole Will Smith / Chris Rock situation. Like most, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, and I was really sad that the entire incident took away from some other memorable moments during the show. In my opinion, violence and striking someone is NEVER the answer, and I hope that Smith gets the help and counseling it appears that he needs.
I close every column here by asking all of you to keep leading with KINDNESS. I also want to continue to send my sincere thoughts & prayers to the good people of Ukraine.
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
