And now, here’s some stuff that fell by the wayside this week:
Homefront Gameplay Walkthrough
That post-Korean-invasion video game that will be set in an occupied Philadelphia released a gameplay walkthrough at E3 this week. There’s not much in the way of landmarks or Philly-isms in the video, but hey, the game looks pretty cool.
Jay Wright at #18
ESPN’s college basketball site has been ranking the top 50 coaches in college basketball, and Villanova’s Jay Wright landed at the number 18 spot. Here’s some of what Dana O’Neil — who used to cover Nova for the Daily News — had to say:
“‘The perception is he’s the handsome guy that wears the $5,000 suits,’ said Patrick Chambers, the coach at Penn State who spent five years as Wright’s assistant coach at Villanova. ‘But so many people are out there trying to impress other coaches with how smart they are and what they do. Jay isn’t into any of that. He’s so comfortable in his own skin.’
Some of that comes with time. Wright has been at this head-coaching gig now for 19 years, the last 12 at Villanova. He knows the game, as in basketball, and he knows The Game, as in the business of basketball.
But so much of his talent is innate. In his first year at Villanova, he attracted a highly skilled recruiting class and most everyone expected immediate results. Immediate instead took a backseat to two painful years in the NIT. Yet when everyone — including those who now count themselves as die-hard, lifelong fans — wanted Wright out for lack of production, he didn’t blink.”
Report on the Katz Crash
The NTSB report on the plane crash that killed Lewis Katz and others has been released, and among its findings — according to the Inquirer — is that pilot error may be to blame:
“Flight data recorders found no evidence that the two pilots performed a preflight check. Apparently they didn’t realize that the Gulfstream jet’s tail flaps, known as elevators, were locked when it tried to takeoff from Hanscom field outside Boston on May 31, the report indicated.”
The Central Bucks Browns
As the Cleveland Browns hope to finally actually begin to rebuild, around one so-called Mr. Football, it’s worth pointing out the many of the minds behind Cleveland’s on-field product are local guys. New head coach Mike Pettine and his defensive coordinator and linebackers coach all played at Doylestown’s CB West under the coaching guidance of Pettine’s father. A Cleveland.com piece follows Pettine back to Doylestown and also gives you an insight into the new head honcho of the Browns’ sartorial inclinations:
“Dressed in a Foo Fighters T-shirt and a pair of camo shorts, Pettine enjoyed his respite from trying to turn around one of the NFL’s perennial losers. He stood around a high-top table, watching the Belmont, sipping on a beer and accepting a few man hugs from locals who marvel at his transformation from high school coach to low-level NFL assistant to Browns head coach.
What made the two-day trip special was the toggling between past and present. Pettine brought members of the Browns coaching staff on a limousine bus across the width of Pennsylvania to work an annual youth football clinic run by Browns defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil. Pettine, O’Neil and linebackers coach Chuck Driesbach all played at CB West in different decades under Mike Pettine Sr.”
Long Fly Balls
According to the estimations and calculations of ESPN’s Mark Simon, the Phillies outfield is one of the worst in baseball when it comes to catching balls hit to the deepest parts of the park. They rank 24th in making outs on balls hit 350-ish+ feet in the air. File this under “least surprising news of the week.”
Loyalty
Gregory Kaminski at Maass Media took a look at fan loyalty in Philadelphia, factoring in attendance of the Phillies and Flyers — discounting the Eagles because of their small sample size and the Sixers because oh boy they’ve been terrible — and figured out what we already knew: Philly fans are loyal. Kaminsky discovered both the Phillies and Flyers, over the past eight years, have attendance numbers above the league average. Kaminsky says:
“So does this data prove anything? I’m not really sure, but it does help to move the conversation forward and give us sports fans something to talk and debate about. And isn’t that all we really want anyway?”
We disagree, what it tells us is holy shit the MLB has terrible league-wide attendance numbers.
Giving You The Peacock
And finally, up in New York, 30 Rockefeller Plaza (aka the G.E. Building and the RCA Building before that) will soon wear the brand of Comcast, a small regional company. According to PhillyMag, 30 Rock will soon sport “big, glowing neon lights that will shout ‘COMCAST’ to the Big Apple sky.” It’s a way for Comcast to flaunt their power over New York, but this is also a great time to point out the our own Comcast Tower has no large signage denoting it as such, and we’re 100% on board with that.
16 Responses
Video is broken. Thanks for ruining my entire day KYLE
Phil Martelli is 35 on the list, if you missed it. Or maybe I just missed your post on that.
No, he just blows Nova. Wright is 19, not 18. Fran Dunphy was a “just missed.”
I’m sure Comcast will ruin their new tower here that Corbett and Nutter were so eager to throw taxpayer money at even though they can’t fund schools with a Comcast sign at the top. Corporate branding on high rises is hideous. I can understand PSFS and PNB…but does Aramark really need that sign on their building?
Nobody gives a fuck about jay wright
That study on loyalty makes no sense. Wouldn’t real loyalty be showing up at sixers games even though they suck? Of course the flyers and phillies attendance would be up the past 8 years cause the Phil’s made it I the World Series and the flyers are always in contention except last season.
The Flyers had the worst season in FRANCHISE history back in 2007 and according to ESPN, their attendance was up above 97%.
The Flyers have been in the top half of the league for the better part of the past two decades but that shouldn’t take away from how impressive the attendance has been in that span. In fact, you could go as far back as you want and find that the Flyers attendance has always been in the top 3rd of the league by percentage.
This doesn’t compare with Candian teams though, with the exception of Ott(99) and Calg(99), they have had perfect attendance dating back as far as ESPN average attendance goes(this also goes for Van who only dates back the past 3-4 years before they moved).
So I wouldn’t take this article a bit more seriously. The only other team which sells tickets like Philly in the US is the rags. Problem is they sell the tickets but can’t out the bodies in the seats.
Regardless, it is impressive for the Flyers and a knock to the Phils and 6ers fans.
also, the flyers have one third of the phillies seating capacity. shouldn’t that be taken in to consideration? it’s much easier to sell out a 19,000 seat facility than a 60,000 seat facility.
i feel that “your friday mid-day round up” should be aptly renamed “i threw this shit together much like i just threw my clothes together as im heading out the door to beat shore traffic for an epic weekend in sea isle!” come on kyle, this here amateur stuff from a pro blogger! anyway, dont forget to behave this weekend as the cell phone snipers will be out in full force looking to catch you in aTMZ moment! #turntup!
Holy shit, you suck
And don’t forget to “make” before you leave the house. You know you don’t like to use public bathrooms.
I would actually be ok with the Koreans taking over most of West and North Philly, especially if they made Mike Miss-anally, Sean Brace, The Cuz and Angelo publicly fight to the death using only sharpened black dildos.
zing
Jay Wright made it to 18? Pretty good for a guy who has never made it past the second round.
Blah, blah, blah…
All they need to do is check Norcross’ phone records and emails for the days leading up to the crash.
Case solved!
“sartorial inclinations”
Wow, Jim I’m impressed I haven’t seen such pretentious language on this blog in a long while. You’re move, Kyle.
Also I love how in your 5th day you’re already jerking off Jay Wright. You learn quickly, man. Just be sure not to get too fond of him though. Kyle is actually literally in love with him.
Spaking of Jay Wright, did you know that according to Kyle people thought Villanova was overrated last year because they were jealous of his looks? Yeah it totally wasn’t because anyone who watched them play at any point in theeseason could tell they weren’t close to being one of the best teams. It was all jealousy. It’s a good thing Kyle was too much of a pussy to make a bet with The Realist. He kept offering Kyle to name the stakes that nova would win under 2.5 games in the tournament but Kyle didn’t put his money where his mouth was. Lucky him.
And of course by putting his money where his mouth was I meant Jay Wright’s nut sack.
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