The Monstars were well ahead of the analytics curve in that they made all nine of their three-point attempts against Michael Jordan’s Tune Squad back in 1996. Even though they lost, the Monstars merit some credit for the modernity of their approach to the game. (Yes, someone from Harvard charted the game from Space Jam.)
Gravity – in basketball terms – wasn’t really a factor in Space Jam, as Jordan’s team didn’t attempt a single shot beyond the arc and still somehow beat a gang of efficient aliens with a crew of cartoons. The Monstars also jumped like 40 feet in the air, so even the Isaac Newton version of gravity wasn’t a factor in the premise. Continue Reading
The only thing better than a chicken nugget is a free chicken nugget.
And the only thing better than a free chicken nugget is eating it while watching the Phillies beat up on the Dodgers for a second-straight game.
A bunch of kids had that pleasure Tuesday night, thanks to a Phils fan who lost an online wager:
If Hoskins goes yard tonight I'll buy everyone chicken nuggets
— Damon Miller Jr. (@Damon_Miller_Jr) September 14, 2017
Damon Miller Jr. made his bet last Thursday, which held up for all of two innings. Rhys Hoskins belted a 91 MPH fast ball out of the park in the bottom of the second, good for his 18th homer in 34 games. The Phils won 10-0.
So Miller was now on the hook for nuggets, but the wager language was vague. Who is “everyone?” Does the entire stadium get nuggets? Are they coming from Chick-fil-A or Wendy’s or what?
I'm done making bets. Rip wallet https://t.co/UOtzLHgnqN
— Damon Miller Jr. (@Damon_Miller_Jr) September 15, 2017
Unlike overly-political celebrities, or that guy who promises to tattoo (subject) on his ass if (team) wins or loses a game, Miller actually followed through with some help from the Phillies. The team bought 50 boxes of McDonald’s nuggs and had Miller hand them out at the first base gate.
What a guy. pic.twitter.com/s3Oi2xwr2P
— Phillies (@Phillies) September 19, 2017
Miller spoke with The Good Phight about his experience:
“(The Phillies) set up the entire thing, which I’m extremely grateful for!”
“I was actually at the game when (Hoskins hit the home run) and my first reaction was I looked at my dad and said DID THAT JUST HAPPEN!? I OWE EVERYONE NUGGETS NOW!”
Good man, much better than Lena Dunham, who said she’d leave the country after Trump won the election. She’s still here.
I love Twitter. It’s the absolute best. It is the perfect way to get information, share thoughts, and interact with others who share similar interests. As sports fans, Twitter is great because it also provides us with a front-row seat to the insights and online interactions of current and former athletes. And sometimes, if we’re really lucky, we get to witness the insights and interactions between two absolutely BATSHIT crazy lunatics who feed off attention. I’m talking about like, say, a former Eagle first-round bust asking a former 1993 NL MVP runner-up and convicted felon why his former employer doesn’t like him batshit crazy.
Thus, I present to you, with commentary, the budding friendship playing out before our eyes via Twitter between Freddie Mitchell and Lenny Dykstra. Here is the tweet that got our attention:
@LennyDykstra why do the @Eagles hat me so much?
— Freddie Mitchell (@FMitchell84) September 20, 2017
As Chris Jastrzembski asked last night, why the Hell would Freddie Mitchell ask Lenny Dykstra, of all people, why the Eagles hate him so much? Because I fancy myself the people’s reporter, I decided to find out. Although yesterday’s bizarre exchange marked the bulk of interaction between the two, it seems the pair actually began bonding last week when Dykstra fired off this timely and nuanced tweet about Hurricane Irma: Continue Reading
Sixers press release:
The Philadelphia 76ers announced today details for its “Spirit of 76” campaign, highlighted by seven tribute nights recognizing the rich history of the city of Philadelphia and 76ers basketball. At each “Spirit of 76” game, the 76ers will wear the much anticipated City Edition uniforms — to be unveiled at a later date — on a new tribute court, featuring a custom-designed center-court logo. The season-long celebration builds off of last year’s “Spirit of the Champion” campaign, which celebrated the 1967 NBA Championship team.
“Spirit of 76,” introduces a new “bell” logo, inspired by imagery from Philadelphia’s 1976 bicentennial celebration, a special center-court logo signed by 76ers full season ticket members, collectible tickets and membership boxes for season ticket members.
Here’s the original bicentennial logo, seen here on a button:
My guess is the Sixers couldn’t use the identical version for legal reasons, so they combined it with their vintage logo. But the combination of the two is so seamless that it just looks right… and, oh yes, feels right.
Season ticket holders will also be given commemorative tickets and their signatures will be featured on the court logo. And the Sixers will unveil three new sculptures at their practice facility which fans won’t see.
Spirit of 76 nights will be as follows:
Thursday, Dec. 21 vs. Toronto Raptors
Friday, Jan. 5 vs. Detroit Pistons
Friday, Feb. 2 vs. Miami Heat
Friday, Feb. 9 vs. New Orleans Pelicans
Friday, March 2 vs. Charlotte Hornets
Friday, March 16 vs. Brooklyn Nets
Friday, April 6 vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
The Sixers also unveiled their promotional schedule, which details the games they’ll wear their red uniforms. That schedule, and what the new court will look like, is after the jump. Continue Reading
This is part of the Phillies’ future. And that future is happening now.
The Phillies once again took care of the Dodgers last night, 6-2. They’re 31-33 since the All-Star break. And the young guns were out in full force yet again.
Aaron Nola gave up only two runs on five hits in seven innings of work and struck out eight batters. Odubel Herrera went 2 for 3 and got an RBI on a bases loaded walk. Aaron Altherr hit his 18th home run to tie him with Rhys Hoskins for third on the team. J.P. Crawford recorded his first career triple with the Phils.
But once again, it was Hoskins who stole the show, batting in four runs on the night, including a bases-clearing double to break the game open in the bottom of the seventh after a 10-pitch at-bat! The man can do it all, even if he doesn’t hit home runs.
I’ve watched more Phillies baseball from the start of August to now than I have for the first four months of the season. Guys like Hoskins, Nick Williams, and now Crawford have brought life back to CBP.
The two teams play again tonight at 7:05. Jake Thompson faces off against Alex Wood.
The Roundup: Continue Reading
Kyle, Adam and Russ discuss the Flyers’ Claude Giroux experiment, more Eagles-Chiefs, and 97.5’s inane Chase Utley segment. Continue Reading
Outside of the NovaCare Complex on Tuesday, a couple of Eagles fans held a non-violent protest that would make Mahatma Gandhi proud:
A man wearing a "ROLL THAT BLOUNT" shirt holds a "RUN THE BALL" sign at the NovaCare Complex.
(📸 @SmittyBarstool)https://t.co/mP9JCaGeR4 pic.twitter.com/Bj2cpcPBjk
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) September 19, 2017
Marijuana and football, that’s what South Philly does.
Inside the NovaCare Complex, Offensive Coordinator Frank Reich answered actual questions about the Eagles’ Sunday play-calling, which he doesn’t do. That’s Doug Pederson’s job. But Reich works on that side of the football, so he was pressed by the Eagles media corps on the hottest topic of the week.
The relevant chunk of Tuesday’s presser is a series of six questions regarding offensive balance. Continue Reading
VOORHEES, N.J. – Sean Couturier has been teammates with Claude Giroux for six years. And other than the odd shift here and there, the two have never played together on the same line with any regularity.
Until now. Maybe.
For one day at least, Giroux was shifted from the center spot he has played exclusively for almost his entire professional career, to the left wing, with Couturier in the middle and Jake Voracek on the right wing.
It was one practice. In training camp. And as Giroux said afterward, “I don’t want to talk too much about it because I may not see one shift on left wing.”
Got it. Don’t read too much into it. Except, it’s an interesting notion.
First of all, for all you analytics geeks, that combination would be a puck possession monster. Couturier was superb last season. Voracek’s possession numbers were down a little bit last year, but were still decent – and normally he’s excellent. And Giroux is always above average.
So yeah, that’s good stuff.
Secondly, the real intriguing concept of this combination is putting both Giroux and Voracek on their off-hand wing.
“So, you always like to play on your off wing because you can see so much more of the ice,” Voracek told me. “When you have two guys who are doing that, and one of them is a guy like G who has elite vision, it can be really tough to defend.”
Defensemen would be on a swivel as there would be additional passing lanes created by two off-handed wingers.
Thirdly, last season, one of the disappointing aspects of the top line was that it wasn’t very good defensively. And no matter how good your possession numbers are (and they were down across the board last season) you still have to play defense 45-50 percent of the time. Putting Couturier on that top line would immediately change that for the better.
So there are a lot of positives here.
But, it is definitely something that could have a ripple effect down the line. Would moving Couturier change the defensive strength down the lineup? Is he a productive enough player offensively to merit top-line minutes? Does moving Giroux to the wing impact his production? Continue Reading