Kevin Hart has a video series where he conducts interviews with athletes and celebrities while they sit in an ice bath.
It’s called…
…wait for it…
“Cold as Balls”
Past guests include LaVar Ball, Blake Griffin, Candace Parker, and Gabby Douglas, and this time Sixers’ point guard Ben Simmons joined the show to talk about a little bit of everything, from LeBron James, to Australia, and the city of Philadelphia.
I’ve got a bit of Kevin Hart fatigue, but I found this to be entertaining:
I hope you had a great President’s Day.
Sincerely,
-Kinker
Whenever I see Angelo Cataldi’s weekly column pop up at Philly Voice, I expect a short read, a bunch of recycled cliches cobbled together into an article featuring very little supportive evidence or meaningful analysis.
Today’s offering is titled “Angelo Cataldi: The Sixers’ weak spot may be head coach Brett Brown,” which is certainly fair and probably even true. This is the most talented Sixers team of my lifetime, and Brett Brown is under immense amounts of pressure to pull these guys together and get ’em rolling. General Manager Elton Brand did his job, and now it’s Brett’s turn. There’s nothing outrageous about Angelo’s premise, and Brett’s late-game management is one of the biggest question marks surrounding the team as we exit the All-Star break and hit the home stretch.
The problem with Angelo is that he ruins every decent topic with half-assed and/or incomplete execution, which makes him look lazy and ready for retirement.
Angelo takes issue with the end of the Boston game, writing the following:
Without belaboring every glitch in the final moments – every timeout Brown failed to call, every misplay Brown oversaw – let’s just say the game came down to Joel Embiid against Al Horford, 34 seconds left, the Celts ahead, 106-104. The NBA would acknowledge in its subsequent Two Minute Report that Embiid was hacked on the ensuing shot, and he was.
But why was the star center left to his own devices with the game on the line? Embiid later took all of the responsibility on himself, saying it would have been better to call a timeout, but his team had none. Actually, the Sixers had two. It was the responsibility of Brown to set up that play, not Embiid. As he so often does, the coach chose to leave it to his players.
Okay, first things first, I think Angelo is talking about two different things here. He begins that paragraph by talking about the Embiid/Horford no-call possession that took place with 34 seconds left. At that point, yes, the Sixers had two timeouts remaining.
But then he goes on to say, “Embiid later took all of the responsibility on himself, saying it would have been better to call a timeout, but his team had none,” which refers to the Sixers’ final possession, which happened on a different trip down the floor. It was the play where Tobias Harris missed the three-pointer and Embiid got the rebound, then scored the layup instead of kicking the ball back out.
Sports Betting Updates
I know people say “nobody cares” and “who gives a shit” about anything Markelle Fultz related, but here are a couple of things for you to consider:
- whenever we post a Fultz story, people immediately click on it and read it
- the majority of Sixers fans still want to know why the #1 overall draft pick became a huge bust
That’s it. Site traffic doesn’t lie. For every complainer on here that doesn’t want to read Fultz stuff, there are ten times as many who are fascinated with what I’d describe as the most bizarre story I’ve seen in at least ten years.
This past weekend, Markelle posted this clip on social media, which is a hype video that ends with him writing “they quick to forget,” with a couple of sleepy-face emojis:
So Fultz posted a hype video on his snap story; adds “they quick to forget” and “keep that same energy” at the end.
He’s a clown I’m so over him pic.twitter.com/LjkD6TJgzM
— Josh Lyons (@TheLyons_Den) February 17, 2019
I disagree. Sixers fans and NBA fans at large were not “quick to forget” how good he was in college. He was the top pick for a reason. They showed much patience while he was dealing with Scapular Muscle Imbalance and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, hoping he’d reach the level he displayed at Washington.
So anyway, this could be something, or it could be nothing at all. But like I said with the Orlando press conference and his mom’s comments, Markelle is leaving himself open to interpretation, and when you do that, you’re gonna get negative feedback from a portion of Sixers fans who feel like you’re shading them, even if you’re not.
Grays Ferry native Paul Felder improved to 16-4 last night with a unanimous decision win against James Vick in his 12th UFC appearance.
He went the distance in that bout, finishing the fight with… what sounds like a pretty bad injury according to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani:
Paul Felder suffered a collapsed lung in the closing minutes of his fight against James Vick last night, his manager Brian Butler told ESPN. Doctors believe the lung was punctured when he took a shot to the ribs at the end of the third round. …
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 18, 2019
Butler told Helwani that Felder was being held an extra day in a Phoenix hospital and that the injury will keep him out of his color commentary duties for UFC Prague, which takes place this weekend. There are, however, no long term issues resulting from the injury.
He himself didn’t seem to be too fazed:
I got two lungs… I just want a beer for shitsake
— Paul Felder (@felderpaul) February 18, 2019
Not sure about you, but if I suffered a collapsed lung in a UFC fight I’d probably ball myself into the fetal position and immediately tap out.
Anthony and Russ sit down for an exclusive interview with Flyers coach Scott Gordon to discuss:
- The decisions made that have led to the Flyers’ turnaround
- Implementing changes to the team’s tactics on the fly
- How he found out that he’d be taking over and the challenges of taking over mid-season
- Why he enjoyed coaching in the AHL and how this NHL stint has affected his view of coaching at this level
- Challenges in his previous NHL coaching tenures
- Similarities between Sean Couturier and Patrice Bergeron
- The importance of his young players helping to implement game plan wrinkles
- Breaking down an individual player’s game and what he’s learned about coaching
- Choosing his Boston College over Harvard
- Being the first goalie to ever put his water bottle on his net
- Playing in the Olympics
- His favorite arenas
- How he likes to decompress
- The movie “Miracle” and how Jim Craig made his son’s day
Anthony and Russ then discuss some interesting quotes from Shayne Gostisbehere and Scott Gordon’s reaction following the Flyers’ OT winner over the Detroit Red Wings. They also give their thoughts on the Cam Talbot/Anthony Stolarz trade and read new iTunes five star reviews.
Please subscribe to the show ([iTunes] [Google Play] [Stitcher] [RSS]), leave a 5 star review, and follow us on Twitter: @AntSanPhilly @JoyOnBroad
Plus, don’t forget to check out “The Press Row Show” with Anthony and Russ for pregame and intermission coverage of Flyers home games LIVE from press row! The show streams on Facebook Live via the Crossing Broad page and Periscope via Anthony’s Twitter account.
Check out the other shows on the Crossing Broad Podcast Network including: Crossing Broadcast: A Philly Sports Podcast, Crossed Up: A Phillies Podcast, It’s Always Soccer in Philadelphia, and Crossing Broad FC: A Soccer Podcast.
Audio after the jump: Continue Reading
Rob Manfred spoke to reporters Sunday about a bunch of different things.
The MLB commissioner discussed free agency, tanking, and rule changes, and the biggest takeaway from his availability was confirmation of the implementation of a pitch clock during Spring Training.
Video:
Manfred wouldn’t commit to a pitch clock in the regular season. He’d like to come to an agreement with players, though he is able to unilaterally implement that change.
More on that from MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch:
The 20-second clocks, which have been used in the Minors since 2015, will be phased in this spring in order to allow players and umpires to get comfortable with the system. Manfred said more details about the structure of that rollout will be announced by MLB later this week.
The purpose, Manfred said, is to “start getting ready for the possibility that we’re going to use the pitch clock on Opening Day.”
That will happen if the MLB Players Association agrees to the proposal, or if MLB chooses to use its collectively bargained right to implement it unilaterally. Under the rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Commissioner has the right to impose rule changes if the MLBPA is given at least a year of notice.
This is something Manfred could have implemented last year, but the league and the MLBPA went with other pace of play tweaks instead. That included the new rules for mound visits, inning breaks, and pitching changes.
Joel Embiid was recently fined $25,000 by the NBA for saying that the referees from last weeks Boston/Philly game “fucking sucked.”
Maybe he can pay that fine with cash from a new Hulu endorsement, which ran on Saturday and Sunday during the NBA’s three point and dunk contest, plus All-Star Game:
Child: “Mr Embiid, why did you change your nickname?”
Embiiid: “Money.”
That’s pretty good.
More on the commercial from Adweek:
The “Hulu Sellouts” campaign will include four national TV spots that will run through June, featuring athletes from varying professional sports. An ad to be released in the coming weeks will feature All-Star Game team captain Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The campaign, created in partnership with Big Family Table, will also feature home billboard takeovers, online banners and creative components across social media.
Damian Lillard also appeared on a 30 second spot this weekend.
Mel Kiper Jr. – great hair, pretty good draft analysis.
Mel’s mock draft 2.0 came out this morning, and he has the Eagles taking a cornerback????… with the 25th overall pick.
The blurb:
Trayvon Mullen, CB, Clemson
Injuries in the secondary really hurt the Eagles in 2018, as the defense couldn’t match the play that led it a Super Bowl LII victory. And with Ronald Darby possibly leaving in free agency, cornerback is a spot to target here or with one of their two second-round picks. Mullen had an inconsistent 2018 season, but he has some excellent 2017 tape. And at 6-foot-2, 186 pounds, he’s a big corner. He should test well in Indianapolis.
I find this somewhat interesting. Sure, defensive back looked like a huge area of need midway through the season, when guys were dropping like flies, but the Eagles rebounded nicely and we saw some positive things from the likes of Cre’Von LeBlanc, Avonte Maddox, and Rasul Douglas.
In addition to those three at corner, the rest of your secondary looks like this:
- safety: Malcolm Jenkins, Rodney McLeod (on restructured deal), Deiondre’ Hall, Tre Sullivan
- corner: Jalen Mills, Sidney Jones, Josh Hawkins, Elie Bouka
So that’s a reasonable CB group of LeBlanc, Maddox, Douglas, Mills, and Jones.
If ask me what I think the Eagles need most, it’s going to be help on the defensive line. You’ve got the departure of Brandon Graham in free agency, Derrick Barnett is returning from injury, and there are a lot of depth and contract question marks across the unit.
