May 10, 2026
Am I the only fan appalled by the efforts of the Sixers to keep Knicks fans out of the Xfinity Mobile Arena?
Am I the last dinosaur who remembers a time when we welcomed fans of the enemy into our lion’s den?
Is anyone left who recalls the atmosphere in the 700 Level at the Vet when an intruder had the temerity – and stupidity – to venture into the most dangerous sports venue in America?
Apparently, one of the teams that represents our city is stressed out over the idea of someone legally purchasing tickets and driving 100 miles or so to support their team. For some reason they don’t trust our loud and proud fans to drown out any inappropriate noises.
Shame on the 76ers for this insulting campaign to sell tickets only to people whose area codes suggest an allegiance to their team. And shame on Joel Embiid for leading the crusade. Just when you think he couldn’t get any softer, he grows another layer of chicken feathers.
In fact, when Embiid is introduced today before Game 4, our fans should start clucking. And based on the brash and brazen army of Knicks fans who turned out here for Game 3, I wouldn’t be opposed to them giving our petulant star a few clucks of their own.
As I witnessed again Embiid’s tried act in that crushing 108-94 loss on Friday night, the only way I could stifle the nausea and keep watching was to tell myself maybe this is finally the end to this painful Process era.
As the cheers from the interlopers, F*** Embiid!, echoed through the arena even before the opening tipoff, I laughed at the latest failed attempt to control the buying habits of fans, home and away.
In attendance – perhaps through the secondary market? – were Timothy Chalamet, Ben Stiller and the ultimate Knicks fan, Spike Lee, among literally thousands of others. If anything, Embiid’s plea inspired a spirited counter-attack.
The irony, at least to me, is that no city in America travels better than ours, especially for the Eagles. Countless times over the past few decades, our invaders in green have taken over stadiums from Tampa to New York.
There is zero evidence that any of the teams facing the wrath of our unruly fans ever tried to turn down the volume with pathetic strategies like handing 500 free tickets out on game day to teachers and hospital workers.
If the late act of charity was a genuine way to honor those noble workers, fine. But it wasn’t. The Sixers gave away the tickets to placate Embiid and foolishly tried to deny the basic right of a fan to see in person his or her team play, regardless of geography.
I felt embarrassed for the city, and especially for Embiid. With his plethora of injuries – enough to keep him out of Game 2 – you would think he’d have more important matters to consider than who was sitting in the stands.
Apparently not. He still milked the drama about whether he would play Game 3 until 15 minutes before tipoff. Would his ankle, his hip, his stomach, his back, his knee and/or his psyche allow him to return and save the season?
Well, sure enough he came back – all for nothing in the end. It is no coincidence that the Sixers have lost by 39 and 14 points in the games Embiid has played, and by only six in the one he missed.
Oh, he still gets his points, though his 18 were no match for Knicks star Jalen Brunson, who nearly doubled him with 33. The real stat to consider was the 35 minutes Embiid somehow managed to play.
How injured was he, really, if he could come back and play three full quarters of high-intensity playoff basketball?
And how about his demeanor during those 35 minutes? Has there ever been a foul called against him that he thought was appropriate? Must he always, regardless of the importance of the game, play the role of victim?
“I guess it’s good when New York wins,” he said of the officiating after the loss, implying that the NBA profits more when a media capital wins in the playoffs, so it rigged the officiating.
Embiid will make over half-a-billion dollars when his current contract runs out. He will have had the best seats on the plane, the best suites at the hotels and access to an army of enablers at his beck and call.
All of this pampering is coming back to haunt the Sixers now. Instead of a brave leader with a relentless will to win, Embiid has become a whiny, injury-prone loser.
Too harsh, you say?
Well, the Knicks will be heading to their second consecutive Eastern Conference final when they finish the job against the Sixers either today or, for sure, later in the week.
The player for whom the Sixers sacrificed four seasons of tanking has been to none in 12 years. His teams have lost within the first two rounds of the playoffs eight times.
If that’s not a loser, what is?
For 15 years, I was the maestro of mayhem outside of Veterans Stadium before Eagles games, and we welcomed into our WIP tent countless enemy fans dressed to the nines in the colors of their favorite teams.
We never thought to ban them. What fun was that? We did what Philadelphia sports fans have done for generations. We drowned them out with our passion and the power of our voices. They never stood a chance.
Joel Embiid wasn’t there for any of that, of course. He has never taken the time to understand what it takes to be an actual hero here. He’s too busy whining and grimacing, all for the cameras. He is the ultimate attention whore in sports.
I will be happy when the Sixers are eliminated again this week, for only one reason.
Maybe, finally, the Sixers will get the message and send this enigma to another city, where we can show him what a boo really sounds like.
The best part of the Flyers’ return to the playoffs this season was how the dormant fan base suddenly came back to life. Despite a championship drought of 53 years, the loyalists were back with their jerseys, their chants and their love for the game.
The worst part was the realization that the gap between the current Flyers and a true Stanley-Cup contender – in this case, Carolina – is still formidable. The Flyers need to get a little bit older and a lot deeper before they can harbor valid visions of a parade.
For most of my 33 years on morning radio in Philadelphia, the Flyers were an afterthought. I would always hear the same refrain from fans : “You should have been here in the ‘70s. We owned the town then.”
I don’t doubt it. Look, hockey, at least to me, is a fringe sport, well below the other three pro teams in the pecking order of fan interest. But what the surge back into relevance this season did was offer a reminder of how committed that relatively small core of fans is to its team, despite all of the adversity over the past decades.
Think about it for a minute. The Flyers haven’t had a true superstar since Eric Lindros and they haven’t won a Stanley Cup since Bobby Clarke, Bernie Parent and the Broad Street Bullies willed their way to back-to-back titles in 1974 and ’75.
I’m not sure our Big Three would have fans as resilient to hang in there for half a century the way the Flyers fans have. I know for sure no team’s fans deserve a championship in Philly right now more than the Flyers.
So here’s hoping the team builds off this encouraging season and matures into a true contender soon.
Even though I will never be a hockey fan, I will be rooting hard for them, their fans and my old buddy, president Keith Jones.
I happen to have an opening on my dance card now that I am no longer cheering for the Sixers.