Roy Halladay. I still can’t believe it’s real.

Halladay passed away yesterday afternoon after his plane crashed over the Gulf of Mexico. After retiring from baseball, Halladay wanted to become a pilot, and has bought multiple planes since.

The outpouring of condolences immediately came after the confirmation by police. From the Phillies, to Chooch, Ruben Amaro Jr., our own BWanks, and plenty of others across the city, the country, and even from Canada.

https://twitter.com/ColeHamels/status/928075682776838146

The golden age of the Phillies coincided with middle school and early on in high school for me. I remember rushing home from school in October to catch the Phils in the NLDS against Cincinnati. Near the latter part of that era came Halladay. He always had a presence that forced you to notice him on the mound. He was a workhorse and had the stuff of an ace for the majority of his career, and he was a giant. His great life was cut short. Rest in Peace, Doc.

The Roundup:

It wasn’t all sad news yesterday. The Sixers got their fifth straight win with a 104-97 victory over the Utah Jazz. They did it without Joel Embiid, who was held out of the game for rest.

Dario Saric scored a game-high 25 points with 10 rebounds, while J.J. Redick put up 20 points, and Ben Simmons recorded 16 points to go along with 13 rebounds and 6 assists.

And if you care, Jahlil Okafor got in for three minutes. His statline: 0 for 2 on field goal tries, one assist, one turnover, and three personal fouls.

They’ll be playing Sacramento Thursday night in California.

Before the game, Keith Pompey of the Inquirer reported that Jerryd Bayless would miss at least the next two games with a left wrist injury he suffered against Indiana on Friday. The team will call up Furkan Korkmaz from the Delaware 87ers.

Not a ton of stuff regarding the Eagles as they enter the bye week. But we can rip on the high grade Pro Football Focus gave for Von Miller!

Quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo enjoys working with Carson Wentz:

DeFilippo, in a 30-minute bye-week session with reporters, emphasized what people who have followed the Eagles closely this year see — how so much of what makes Wentz successful goes beyond his physical talents. They see him change protections, change plays at the line, coolly cycle through progressions, find mismatches. That might explain why some national analysts still seem reluctant to jump on the Wentz wagon. They look at highlights expecting to be bowled over by his arm instead of his head.

“He’s just so further along from a mental football standpoint than other guys who are coming into the league. I think it just allows him to grow even faster,” DeFilippo said. “I think that’s why you’ve seen the jump from Year 1 to Year 2. … He did a great job in the offseason of fixing a few things, things he and I had talked about mechanically, so we’ve got his arm slot where we need it to be now, and then on top of that, trust in his teammates, trust in his coaches, another year of playing, I think that is why you’re seeing him play the way he’s playing now.”

All of the offensive position coaches were available during the same window Tuesday, but when the session started, the largest swarm of reporters and almost all the cameras gathered around DeFilippo.

“Our quarterback must be playing pretty good,” DeFilippo said.

Doug Pederson went back to his days with Kansas City to beat the Broncos on Sunday.

Two idiots on FS1 (do people watch that channel when there aren’t games on?) are still saying crap about the Eagles.

One practice squad move: The Eagles brought back safety Tre Sullivan and have released linebacker Don Cherry:

No Gold Glove for Freddy Galvis. He finished behind Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford for the second straight season.

The Flyers might be getting another defenseman back. This time, it could be Radko Gudas before their Thursday night tilt with the Chicago Blackhawks:

Gudas, the Flyers’ most physical defenseman, said he still has to be cleared by a doctor to play Thursday, but he was able to absorb contact during Tuesday’s practice. If Gudas can play, Mark Alt will be the extra defenseman. Alt has done a commendable job in the two games he has played.

“I feel pretty good,” Gudas said.

Gudas, 27, was injured in the first period of the Flyers’ 3-0 loss in Chicago last Wednesday, taking an elbow to the head from Brandon Saad, who was not penalized. The Czech Republic native has missed the last two games — a 2-0 win in St. Louis, and a 5-4 shootout loss to Colorado.

“I hate watching,” Gudas said. “That’s the toughest for me, not being able to jump in there. Anything I can do to make it faster, I’m trying to do as much as I can.”

In other sports news, three UCLA basketball players, including LiAngelo Ball, were arrested for allegedly shoplifting in China. They were released on bail, but if China’s standard practices are applied, the three could face 3-10 years in prison.

Here’s the second College Football Playoff rankings:

The Suns traded Eric Bledsoe to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Greg Monroe and 2018 protected first and second round picks.

The NFL has invited Colin Kaepernick for a one-on-one meeting, but that meeting fell through after the league denied having a mediator present.

Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon told GQ he either drank or got high before every NFL game and in college:

I used to make a ritual of it before every game. If I had already been drug tested that week, or the day before the game, I knew I had a couple days to buy to clean my system. Even before I was getting tested for alcohol, prior to my DWI in 2014, I would take the biggest bong rip I could. And try to conceal all the smell off all my clothes. I’d be dressed up to go to the game. A bunch of guys smoke weed before the game. But we’re not talking about them.

I would have these little pre-made shots. I used to love Grand Marnier. I could drink it down smooth. I could usually drink a lot of it. But if it wasn’t that, it might be a whiskey or something. And I would drink probably like half a glass, or a couple shots to try and warm my system up, basically. To get the motor running. That’s what I would do for games.

Howie Schwab, aka “The Schwab”, is coming back to TV for Fox as a bracketologist.

In the news, Democrat Phil Murphy is the next governor of New Jersey. Larry Krasner is Philadelphia’s top prosecutor.

Disney is ending their ban on the Los Angeles Times from attending their advanced screenings.

Twitter now has 280 characters. It sucks.

Florida State has suspended all greek life activities after a fraternity pledge died.

In case you forgot, Meek Mill is going to jail. That also sucks.