Sixers

The Sixers Might Run Out of Bell Ringers

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Apr 25th, 2018 · 1:55 PM EDT

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Last night’s Meek Mill surprise appearance brought up an interesting question – who was supposed to ring the bell before he was released on bail, fresh outta jail?

I think it was Jay Wright and the Villanova Wildcats, but it could have been Jeffrey Lurie. Maybe Tom Wolf? Nah, nobody would care about the gov, nor that dopey Youtube guy sitting to Meek’s right.

This morning, Crossing Broad Slack chat kind of devolved into a stream of consciousness querying: who is actually left to ring the bell?

Doug Pederson has done it. Meek did it. M Knight and Kevin Hart and Carson Wentz and most of the Eagles have been there. I don’t even know who’s left.

The only guy with more firepower than Meek would probably be Sam Hinkie, but you know that’s not gonna happen. Nick Foles? That would be a hell of a way to open game three vs. Boston or game one against Milwaukee. I’m pretty sure Dr. J and Allen Iverson and a bunch of famous ex-players have already had their turn.

If the Sixers do play the Celtics in the second round, I think a throwback to those classic playoff series would be cool. Investor Jeff mentioned Andrew Toney as a possibility. Maybe gather up all of the guys from that ’76 to ’85 era who bumped into the Celtics five times in the playoffs. I think acknowledging the historic rivalry between the clubs would be pretty cool.

Who else is out there?

Charles Barkley? I don’t think he can do it since he’s on TV now, right? I guess that really doesn’t matter.

Sylvester Stallone? Bradley Cooper? Bernard Hopkins? Chase Utley? Charlie Manuel? Chooooooooooooch?

What about that dude from Mad Money or Jake Tapper or some other national person? Tina Fey? Will Smith? Joey Merlino? Bill Cosby? Should we get a different guy out of jail for every game? What’s Chaka Fattah doing these days?

Also, not sure if he’d be available, but President Trump did go to Penn, so maybe we get him or Melania on the phone. Obama is a hoops fan. Maybe he would be down.

I tried to compile a list of everyone who has rung the bell this season, and this is what I came up with:

• Meek Mill
• Kevin Hart
• Carli Lloyd
• Carson Wentz
• M Night Shyamalan
• Kevin Lee and Edson Barboza
• Eagles offensive line (Brooks, Big V, Seumalo, some backups)
• Joel Embiid with Phantom of the Opera mask
• Lil Dicky
• LeGarrette Blount and Malcolm Jenkins
• Doug Pederson
• 97.5 the Fanatic morning show
• Vince Papale
• Kevin Negandhi
• Gabe Kapler
• Brandon Graham, Jalen Mills, Rodney McLeod
• Lane Johnson, Brandon Brooks, Jason Kelce
• Allen Iverson
• Dr. J
• Rhys Hoskins and J.P. Crawford
• Alshon Jeffery
• Freddie Mitchell
• Franklin the Dog on his birthday
• Darren Sproles and Kenjon Barner
• Tom McGinnis? pretty sure he was up there
• Preston and Steve
• Bobby Jones
• Mike Shelley (fan who won Chic-fil-A for arena)

That’s 28, so I’m missing a bunch. There were 41 home games and 3 home playoff games, and I can’t remember if they did the bell during the two preseason games, so the total is either 44 or 46.  I think there were definitely more Eagles in there.

(Photo Credit: Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports)

Actually, you know who I would be down with ringing the bell? How about Marc Zumoff, Alaa Abdelnaby, and Molly Sullivan? The local broadcasts are over as we head into the second round, so it would be cool to shout them out for a job well done after covering a bunch of brutal seasons. I think that would go over well with the provincial home crowd.

By the way, the radio broadcasts will continue on 97.5, so if you dislike the national commentary, you can mute the TV and turn on Tom McGinnis instead.

That’s all I could come up with, 28 bell ringers, so help me out here and tell me who I’m missing.