By David Weinberg
Brothers Bo and Max Melton were always teammates growing up.
They played together for the Egg Harbor City Crusaders on the midget level, at Cedar Creek High School and at Rutgers University.
Last Sunday, they were rivals.
Bo, a third-year wide receiver for Green Bay, earned family bragging rights in helping the Packers post a 34-13 victory over Arizona, where Max is a rookie cornerback.
“(Playing in the NFL) means everything to me and him,” Bo told Packers.com before the game. “Just the time we spent together at high school, even the time we spent in middle school, just growing up together all our lives. We were with each other in every phase – middle school, high school, college, going to the same college and now in the NFL.”
Approximately two dozen friends and family members, including parents Gary Sr. and Vicky Melton, were at Lambeau Field.
Gary, an Absegami High School graduate, and Vicky both sported custom Packers/Cardinals jerseys that featured Bo’s No. 80 and Max’s No. 16.
“To see that relationship, even to today, it still brings tears to my eyes,” Gary Sr. told Packers.com before the game. “I watched them play together. I watched them talk to each other. It’s not a surprise to us that Max gravitated towards Bo because they were close in age but also, he wanted to compete with Bo. He knew that was going to make him better and look what happened.”
The Packers did their part to recognize the occasion by making Bo one of their three captains for the game, which meant he participated in the pregame coin flip.
Bo caught one pass for 6 yards and also rushed for 27 yards on two carries. Max registered four tackles.
“It’s very, very special,” Vicky told Packers.com before the game. “Just thinking about it I get teary-eyed. That’s just something that doesn’t happen very often. It’s a blessing.”
Philly fans enjoying changing fall colors
The Philadelphia sports landscape is changing colors earlier than expected.
Phillies fans have taken off their “Red October” swag. They have shoved those playoff t-shirts and hoodies into dresser drawers, thrown them in the backs of closets, maybe even tossed them into the trash.
Now they’re donning their green gear again in hopes the Eagles can enjoy a successful season and erase the disappointment of the Phils’ loss to the hated New York Mets in the NLDS.
Orange you frustrated by the way the Phils’ season ended?
Three months ago, such an early playoff exit seemed unfathomable. The Phils were the best team in baseball, slugging and pitching with aplomb. An 11-5 victory over Oakland left them with a 62-33 record. They seemed like a shoo-in to break the franchise record for wins in a season (102 in 2011) and appeared destined to win a World Series for the first time since 2008.
After the all-star break, however, pimples began to pop up on a previously smooth complexion. They were 34-37 in their final 71 games, including last Wednesday’s season-ending, 4-1 loss to the Mets.
“Well, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Nick Castellanos told MLB.com. “And we started fantastic. We were the best team in baseball in the first half. Everybody in baseball and all the fans were saying, ‘This is our year. This is our year. This is our year.’
“I don’t know if expectations put on the pressure. I don’t know, But one thing I know is that we didn’t cross the finish line.”
Collectively, the offense struggled. The Phils batted .186 in the series and struck out 38 times. There were numerous occasions where they lacked discipline at the plate and swung at pitches outside the strike zone.
They did more fishing in the series than a four-hour excursion aboard Ray Scott’s charter boat.
Much of the ineptitude took place at the bottom of the lineup. The Phillies’ No. 6-9 hitters went a combined 5-for-54 (.093). According to The Athletic, that’s the lowest-ever playoff batting average for the back half of a lineup.
The entire lineup struggled to score, especially early in games. They produced just two runs before the sixth inning during the entire series and plated just 12 total runs.
It turned out that their best at-bat was their first at-bat. Kyle Schwarber bashed a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first in Game 1, sending the towel-waving crowd at Citizens Bank Park into a frenzy.
Now those towels are probably being used as dish rags.
“It (bleeping) hurts,” Schwarber told MLB.com. “It’s not a good feeling.”
Try telling that to the fans.
Just in the last three years, they’ve been forced to deal with one heartbreaking defeat after another.
In the 2022-23 sports year, the Phils lost the World Series to the Astros after winning two of the first three games, the Eagles blew a second-half lead against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl and the Sixers lost Games 6-7 to the Celtics.
Last year, fans watched the Phils fall apart in the NLCS against the Diamondbacks, witnessed an epic collapse by the Eagles, then had to deal with a first-round exit by the Sixers against the Knicks.
Now the fans will throw their support behind the Eagles, who posted a 20-16 victory over Cleveland last Sunday. That improved their record to 3-2 moving them into second place in the NFC East behind the Washington Commanders.
The Birds have been inconsistent to this point, but could challenge for the division title and perhaps make a playoff run if they stay healthy.
Time will tell if their true colors come shining through.
