Phillies are done, Eagles are probably done, Sixers are a mess… How ‘bout those Flyers?
The Phillies stumbled to the end of their season this weekend, and while putting them out of my misery for the moment is probably a good thing, the end of a baseball season is always a sad day.
Now, I know some of you will be excited about the playoffs and World Series, but even when the Phils are in the postseason, give me a relatively meaningless mid-July or early August game any day. The beauty of baseball is it goes on.
Despite the team’s many flaws, the Phillies still had a slim chance at the end of September, and got the series it wanted — a meaningful three-game set with the Braves with first place on the line. Of course, the Fightins were swept, and dropped two of three to the lowly Marlins to end the campaign.
Eternal optimists will point to it being a winning season (82-80, the slimmest of margins), but when so much more was expected, one can hardly point to that as success. The firings of hitting coach Joe Dillon and infielding coach Juan Castro, as well as a blistering report on the state of the organization by The Athletic would add to that assessment.
Bird crap
Meanwhile, speaking of dysfunction masquerading as success, the Eagles dropped to 1-3 on the year under rookie coach Nick Sirianni in a 42-30 drubbing to Andy Reid’s Chiefs. The reunion, which was hyped far less than that game in New England, was a lot worse than the score indicated.
I guess we should be giving Coach Nick some credit that he modified his gameplan after taking criticism for only using Miles Sanders for two carries against Dallas. This week, he ran Sanders seven times, so progress, right? Remember when we thought Doug got too stuck in his ways.
Allowing that first year coaches have their trials (Philly was relentless on Reid that first year), Sirianni has A LONG WAY TO GO to make it here. Granted, the lines are banged up, almost assuring the Birds were going to be bad, but I have a hard time believing Jalen Hurts is solely responsible for this mess, or being given a fair shake.
It serves to remind just how spoiled we were with Big Red. This organization has hardly shown an ability for wise decision making. It caved to public opinion and the Philly sports media to can Reid for Chip Kelly, who managed to blow it all up in record time (need a reminder? See McCoy, Shady). Then it cans the coach who won the Super Bowl, it seems because he wanted some respect and autonomy. Hardly a “Gold Standard.”
BTW, don’t let it be lost that a great Eagle retired — and his heart still bleeds green. Thanks, Chip.
Dunked
And if we were counting on the Sixers to pull us out of this mess, well…
Obviously, the player’s relationship with the organization is broken. This is fascinating from the standpoint that it bent over backwards for years in its support of Simmons.
And let’s be fair, most players would be a defensive downgrade. Still, if this team is going to go deep into the playoffs, a guy in his position needs to SHOOT.
In the end, it really feels like another “for who, for what” situation. Many gritted their teeth while excusing his shortcomings. In return, Simmons has shown a fragility of ego that won’t fly in Philadelphia.
Pat Croce recently pointed out the opportunity Simmons had to own his shortcomings and win back the base. I agree, it would have been an amazing opportunity. Instead, not only has he said he won’t play for the team, he has damaged the value that the Sixers would get in return.
I think Ben will find he’ll never get the opportunity he had in Philadelphia. Few organizations would trust him in that kind of position again. It’s not hard to see him as a defensive-minded sixth man.
I do think he would benefit from some time with a sports psychologist to get to the bottom of why he is afraid to shoot. But so long as he doesn’t think he has a problem, it won’t make much of a difference.
So… how ’bout those Flyers?
The rest I care about
#4 Penn State (did I just type that?) rolled to 5-0 with a Big Ten win over Indiana. #3 Iowa is next, and that will say a lot about what this year’s Nittany Lions are capable of. New Haven and Shepherd won, Lock Haven lost.
IndyCar is over, and no F1 this weekend. Wimbledon’s chance to right the ship against MK Dons was postponed. USMNT is in action Thursday. DC United is off until Saturday.
The Sixers open the exhibition season tonight, and the Fly-guys are back in preseason action, as well.
What the heck is this?