Catching Up on Some Things . . . .
I can’t imagine filling a full column with thoughts about that unwatchable Eagles 28-3 win over the Giants. Doing a whole week of radio programming around that game? Thank you, retirement. I’m not sure it’s worth an hour of conversation, let alone 20.
Is the Eagles actually defense getting good?
When any NFL team holds its opponent to one field goal in 60 minutes, it must be good. Right?
Not necessarily. The Giants are so terrible right now, in almost all stages of the game, it is impossible to draw any conclusions after Sunday’s rout, plus the less impressive win over the equally awful Browns the week before.
What I can say is, the pass rush is definitely improving, regardless of the quality of the offensive line opposing it. A total of 13 sacks in the past two games is impressive. The emergence of Nakobe Dean (2 sacks), especially against the Giants, is a good sign. The rush would be even better if free-agent bust Bryce Huff ever shows his face.
At the same time, I have to acknowledge the comments of Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers, who caught four balls and said he was wide open most of the day. That’s what I saw, too. So let’s back off on the gushing, please. (Especially from my old friend Reuben Frank of NBC Sports Philadelphia.)
Do it against an opponent better than the Browns and Giants, and then we can re-book our flight to the Super Bowl. OK?
What am I missing here?
Even in retirement, I become obsessed with things that appear to bother no one else.
Last week, Rob Thomson received a one-year extension on his contract as Phillies manager, through 2026. I kept waiting for one note of dissent on that absurd decision, one whisper of disagreement from the media. I’m still waiting.
Rob Thomson threw away the season in Game 1 of the playoffs when he removed an unhittable Zach Wheeler after seven innings and 110 pitches, up 1-0. In any era but this one, the manager would be facing a media fury that would challenge his judgment, if not endanger his job. Not now. Not here.
Thomson is a very nice man. He makes the media’s job easy, even if he rarely says anything newsworthy. He snaps at no one. He is great at schmoozing the media people around him every day. He is not volatile like Dallas Green, or standoffish like Joe Girardi. He is just what he appears — very affable.
However, the fact is, Thomson has won nothing here, and the team appears headed in the wrong direction, with ousters in the World Series, then the NLCS and now the NL Division Series over the past three seasons, respectively.
For this he gets an extension? Seriously?
Something stinks about the Sixers’ arena deal
More and more, it appears that the Sixers will get their way and receive the green light to build their new arena in Chinatown. The recent endorsement of Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker of the Chinatown plan may be a fatal blow to the more logical concept of keeping our basketball team in South Philly, where it belongs.
Once the building unions got behind the new arena in Center City, the dominos began to topple. The momentum now is to give owner Joshua Harris and his band of carpetbaggers everything they want. All Harris had to do was leverage New Jersey against the city, and voila. No one called his bluff. Everyone caved.
I would still tell Harris to go to hell, or to New Jersey — whichever comes first. I guarantee you that most of the fans who attend the games will be saying that when they’re stuck in two-hour traffic jams once the doors of the new sports palace swing open.
As for the good people of Chinatown, I apologize on behalf of all the money-grubbers who care nothing about your culture or your world. You deserve better.
Some quick observations. . . .
* Joel Embiid is hurt again, having missed the entire preseason schedule with more knee issues. What’s the over/under on how many games he will play this year? Fifty? Forty? Only in the modern era is a player who misses 30 percent or more of the games still considered great.
* Why didn’t Zack Wheeler show any resistance when Thomson removed him from Game 1 of the NLDS? Are all pitchers programmed now to expect the hook, regardless of the gravity of the situation? All I know is, the aces who preceded Wheeler here — Bunning, Carlton, Schilling and, yes, even Hamels — would have tried to talked their way into the game. Wheeler did not do this. Instead, he did a TV interview while the lead disappeared.
* Watching Saquon Barkley trample the porous Giants defense on Sunday made me question the sanity of New York’s front office. How is the ordinary Daniel Jones worth $160 million but the extraordinary Barkley not worth $40 mill? Isn’t it time the Giants find someone to run the team who actually knows football?
* The schedule-maker did the Flyers no favors with a four-game West Coast trip to start the season, but losing four of the first five games is not a step toward relevance for our long-forgotten pro franchise. It’s time to ramp up the urgency, boys, especially with a potential new star in Matvei Michkov. At some point, the Flyers are going to have to start winning again, no?
* If you are one of the 20,000 fans who came out every year to witness Wing Bowl, our WIP promotion that survived 26 tumultuous years, you need to find a way to get to the Philly Film Festival on Oct. 22 or 26 to see a brilliant documentary showing the rise and fall off our controversial event. It’s called No One Died, and it will be shown at 8:45 p.m. on the 22nd at the Film Society Center (1412 Chestnut) and at 10:15 p.m. on the 26th at the Film Society Bourse (400 Ranstead). It is awesome.