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Author: Marcus Hayes

  • Sixers are fully healthy for a stretch run. Eagles, Phillies, and Flyers look good, too

    Sixers are fully healthy for a stretch run. Eagles, Phillies, and Flyers look good, too

    It’s never fashionable to be optimistic about sports in Philadelphia, but at this moment, convention be damned.

    It’s been maybe 16 years since all four Philadelphia teams provided as much near-future hope as they provided in a 24-hour period between Wednesday night and Thursday night.

    The Sixers won, then the Eagles got great news, then the Phillies won, then the Flyers won. Hurrah.

    I understand the reluctance to embrace this wellspring of positivity, and I realize that everything could go south with the next twinge in Joel Embiid‘s knee. But hope springs eternal, and it’s only been a week since spring has sprung, so enjoy the warmth of the weather and the moment.

    Hitting coach Kevin Long and manager Rob Thomson take too much heat for the Phillies’ shortcomings

    Nothing happened Friday, so Philly entered the weekend on an unaccustomed high.

    On Wednesday, the Sixers beat the Bulls by 20. They scored 157 points, their most in 56 years. They did it without their best player, Tyrese Maxey.

    The Flyers beat the Blackhawks and did it without their best, or at least their most important player, Dan Vladař.

    Sixers

    The Sixers went first, and best. Granted, the Bulls are 14 games under .500, but Paul George, in his return from a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s antidrug policy, looked like he’s 25, not 35, for one game at least. Embiid seemed to realize his limitations, in that he didn’t play like a freshman trying to make varsity.

    More than anything, though, rookie VJ Edgecombe, the franchise’s most exciting true rookie since Allen Iverson, took his latest step forward. In his last four games — all without Maxey and the first three without Embiid and George — Edgecombe averaged 29.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists. He shot 54.8% from the floor and hit 48.4% of his three-pointers.

    Considering the abysmal state of the Eastern Conference — Detroit’s Cade Cunningham is injured, the Celtics are flawed, the Knicks are a mirage, and the Cavaliers have James Harden — a fully fortified Sixers lineup can beat almost anyone.

    Joel Embiid returned from a 13-game absence in the Sixers’ 20-point win on Wednesday.

    Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. also returned Saturday.

    Sixers coach Nick Nurse was so happy about the previous and imminent returns that he actually smiled after Friday’s practice.

    “I’m certainly more optimistic now,” said Nurse, who considers the recent dependency on reserves as building depth that otherwise would not exist. “If you add all those things up — other guys getting valuable growth, and these guys coming back — the sum of all of that together could be pretty good.”

    Edgecombe might wear down, but the other four starters should be fresh.

    “Definitely got some good rest,” said Maxey, who leads the league at 38.3 minutes per game.

    Again, with this assemblage of vanity and fragility, anything can happen. The Sixers are scheduled to visit the surging Hornets on Saturday and the dangerous Heat on Monday, which will provide a better sense of where this team is right now.

    Birds

    The Eagles struggled last season mainly because of injuries along their offensive line, the best unit during their 13-year run of relevance. Early Friday afternoon, news broke that Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens was saying the stem cell treatments on his back were already working.

    Eagles center Cam Jurgens details extent of past back injuries: ‘I don’t know how I was playing’

    Left guard Landon Dickerson, who went to three straight Pro Bowls before last season, also had stem cell therapy on his knees and ankles.

    Right tackle Lane Johnson last week told the Fitz & Whit podcast that the sprained foot that ended his season in mid-November is fully recovered.

    All this means that the Eagles will be better. Period.

    Phils

    On Thursday evening, the Phillies beat the Rangers on opening day, and they did it without their best player, Zack Wheeler.

    Cy Young Award runner-up Cristopher Sánchez, who signed a $107 million extension last week, pitched like it.

    Kyle Schwarber hit a home run for the third time in five opening days since joining the Phillies.

    Justin Crawford had two hits in his big-league debut in front of his father, Carl, a former All-Star.

    Justin Crawford delights his dad Carl and showed the Phillies the weapon they might have in the nine-hole

    There’s more.

    Wheeler, who had a rib removed to address thoracic outlet syndrome, was scheduled to begin a 30-day rehab stint on Saturday — 60 days early.

    Last year’s cleanup hitter, Alec Bohm, batting cleanup on opening day, hit a three-run homer, a few weeks after Bryce Harper opened spring training by ripping last year’s cleanup hitters. Bohm did this on the day news broke that he’s suing his own parents for ripping him off.

    The Phillies’ Alec Bohm sues his parents, alleging they mismanaged his finances

    Andrew Painter, who lost two seasons to elbow surgery then stunk in triple A in 2025, gave up just three runs in four starts in spring training. He’s scheduled to pitch Tuesday against the visiting Nationals.

    Flyers

    The Flyers are 10-3-1 in their last 14 games. With 82 points they’re unlikely to make the playoffs — they trail the last wild-card spot by five points and have to get past three teams — but they’re playing very good hockey, and with 11 games to play, they could reach the 90-point mark for the first time since 2018. Second-year talent Matvei Michkov has matured. Vladař and veteran defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen are under contract through next season.

    And it might be next season before the Flyers really matter.

    However, for the rest of the teams, the time is now.

    Right now.

  • Jesús Luzardo endures attacks after declining Venezuela’s World Baseball Classic plea and staying with Phillies

    Jesús Luzardo endures attacks after declining Venezuela’s World Baseball Classic plea and staying with Phillies

    CLEARWATER, Fla. — It usually takes about a day for social media to ruin everything. In the case of Jesús Luzardo, it’s right on time.

    Monday was one day after the news broke that Luzardo and the Phillies decided it would be best for him to decline an invitation from Team Venezuela to pitch in the World Baseball Classic final on Tuesday if Venezuela made it that far.

    Luzardo was born in Peru, but his family is from Venezuela, for whom he pitched brilliantly in the 2023 WBC and who placed him on the reserve list. He also grew up in the Miami area, where the semifinal and final are being played. That’s why he told two reporters Sunday that it “breaks my heart not being able to be there.”

    Teammates say Jesús Luzardo brings them together. That’s just what they did to celebrate his new extension.

    On Monday morning, his heart was breaking for another reason. Many Venezuelan fans were angry that he didn’t accept the invitation.

    “I feel like sometimes, you get painted as a traitor, or, you know, you get painted in this, like, negative light, because of some things that people say — you know, not only me, but my family,” Luzardo said Monday morning. “And I think that that’s tough. People from Venezuela are, like, ‘Why aren’t you helping us out?’”

    Jesús Luzardo signed a five-year, $135 million contract extension with the Phillies last week.

    Traitor? Really? A quick scan of popular social media outlets uncovered zero references to Luzardo as a traitor.

    I asked Luzardo at lunchtime if he was sure about all the negative feedback.

    “It’s there,” he replied, with a pained smile. “I know.”

    Where? Twitter? Instagram?

    “I’m not on social,” he said. “I just know what I saw and what I heard.”

    Hmm. Here’s a thought: Maybe he was hearing it in Spanish, not English.

    Bingo.

    And there it was.

    Comments under Instagram posts announcing Luzardo’s decision were … harsh.

    They questioned his commitment to Venezuela, and many told him to pitch for Peru. They questioned his manhood. One poster dropped a poop emoji.

    Why all the acrimony?

    It’s important to understand the significance of the tournament to Venezuelans, for whom baseball is not just the national sport, but a pastime bordering on the religious. It’s sort of like Jalen Hurts turning down a Team USA for football.

    To be fair, some folks understood and supported Luzardo’s decision. There were several rational replies. A few commented on comments and defended Luzardo’s decision. But the majority of the reactions were negative, personal, and hurtful.

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    It wasn’t just the mean tweets and nasty ’grams, either.

    “When a headline came out the other day, and said [Team Venezuela] called me, and I just said, ‘No,’ because I didn’t want to — couldn’t be further from the truth, right?” Luzardo asked. “I think that really kind of rubbed me the wrong way, because that wasn’t truth.”

    The truth is, Luzardo loves the World Baseball Classic, and he loves representing Venezuela.

    The truth is, he said in 2023 that he’d fulfilled his grandfather’s dream by pitching for Team Venezuela.

    The truth is, Luzardo was negotiating an arbitration settlement with Miami the first time Venezuela asked him to play. That paid him $2.45 million in 2023. He signed a five-year, $135 million contract extension with the Phillies last week.

    Former Phillie Ranger Suárez joined Venezuela for the World Baseball Classic.

    The truth is, after missing time in 2019, 2022, and 2024 with injuries, Luzardo enjoyed a superb 2025 and is finally fulfilling the immense promise that made him the No. 18 prospect in all of baseball when the Athletics called him up in 2019. After being traded to Philadelphia from Miami on Dec. 22, 2024, Luzardo went 15-7 with a 3.92 ERA, finished seventh in National League Cy Young Award voting, and pitched well as a starter and a reliever in the Phillies’ brief playoff run.

    The truth is, Luzardo logged a career-high 191⅓ innings including playoffs, he has a history of injuries, and he is on a precise buildup program this spring. That’s partly because Luzardo’s profile in the rotation this year will be two clicks higher to start the season: Staff ace Zack Wheeler is coming back from thoracic outlet decompression surgery that will cost him at least the first month, and Ranger Suárez has departed to the Red Sox via free agency.

    Bryce Harper one step away from winning a title after Team USA tops Dominican Republic to reach WBC final

    Yes, two weeks ago, as Luzardo declined his initial invitation, he said that if Venezuela made the final four, “If they need me, I’ll go.” That gave Venezuela reasonable hope.

    Things change.

    “When I spoke to Venezuela about being on the reserves, I said, ‘No promises,’” Luzardo said Monday. “They said, ‘We’ll understand if you’re not able to come.’ … It was for multiple reasons, it wasn’t able to come to fruition. Not only the contract situation, but other situations here that, you know — my obligations to this team. They want me to be ready to go. I have to make those [obligations] right.”

    The truth is, it would have been foolish for Luzardo to risk an appearance in the WBC, no matter how important the tournament might be to Venezuela, or to him.

    “I’m hopeful that in the next Classic, you know, they’ll take me into account,” Luzardo said. “I’d love to be there again.”

  • The Eagles whiffed on Maxx Crosby. It should remind them of what they stand to lose with A.J. Brown.

    The Eagles whiffed on Maxx Crosby. It should remind them of what they stand to lose with A.J. Brown.

    Lane Johnson let it be known Feb. 19 that he would return for a 14th season with the Eagles.

    Johnson let it be known Thursday afternoon whom he wanted on his team: five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders.

    Johnson tweeted an eyes-alerted emoji and tagged Crosby, who was on the trade block. It was a clear indication of what Johnson thought Howie Roseman should do.

    The general manager should’ve heeded his best player’s advice, especially because it might be his best player’s last season. The Eagles have a one-year Lane Johnson window, and they would be foolish to not take advantage of it. When Johnson quits, the offensive line will implode. It no longer will mask the shortcomings of quarterback Jalen Hurts and head coach Nick Sirianni.

    As things stand, assuming their offensive line returns healthier — left guard Landon Dickerson and center Cam Jurgens have injury issues as well — and assuming they don’t do something stupid, like trade star receiver A.J. Brown, then the Eagles will be the best team in the NFC East, again.

    If they’d somehow managed to land Crosby, then they might have been able to offset the talent deficit left by trading Brown. As it stands, Brown remains as precious as ever.

    The move also seems to take one of the most likely suitors for Brown off the table. The Ravens just spent their trade capital on Crosby, which leaves the Patriots and Broncos as the Eagles’ most likely trade partners.

    A.J. Brown’s pool of trade suitors is smaller after the Bills’ D.J. Moore move. The Eagles must demand a first-round pick for Brown.

    Howie, don’t even pick up the phone.

    False alarm

    Nobody who’s been around Johnson for more than a minute believed that he was seriously considering retirement after the 2025 season. Johnson will be 36 when the season starts, he remains a superior right tackle, and, despite missing eight games with a foot injury last season (including playoffs), he has been remarkably durable. Also, he absolutely loves being Lane Johnson.

    Beyond next season? That’s a different story.

    A team source told me last month that he believes Johnson’s career beyond 2026 depends on how 2026 goes. It depends on how much Johnson likes new offensive line coach Chris Kuper, who replaced legendary Jeff Stoutland, who quit. It depends on how much Johnson likes new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, who will replace foundations of Sirianni’s basic offensive tenets. And, more than anything, it will depend on how much success the Eagles have after their massive Super Bowl hangover season of frustration and malcontent.

    Johnson wants to go out on top. He knew that Crosby would immediately have made the Eagles the league’s top dog.

    Eagles offensive lineman Lane Johnson dons a dog mask as he walks off the field following the team’s 15-10 playoff win over the Atlanta Falcons on Jan. 13, 2018.

    The Price

    It would’ve been expensive.

    A deal for Crosby cost the Ravens this year’s first-round pick and next year’s first-round pick, and first-round picks in Philly are golden. With DeVonta Smith, Jordan Davis, Carter, and Quinyon Mitchell, Howie’s been on a first-round roll.

    Crosby also makes about $30 million each of the next two seasons.

    It would have been worth it. If they’re considering giving Jaelan Phillips $25 million per season — they shouldn’t, but they are — then they shouldn’t have blinked at Crosby’s price tag.

    ‘Don’t take the easy way out.’ A.J. Brown’s plea to struggling NFL players reveals compassion, maturity.

    The disappointment resonates louder because the Birds considered adding costly edge talent before.

    They pursued Micah Parsons last offseason, but the Cowboys, wary of reinforcing their chief rival, refused to trade him to the Eagles. They instead traded Parsons to the Packers, who sent Dallas two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark.

    Why fret over a deal that didn’t get done? Because Crosby is great.

    Since 2022, only five players have more than his 44½ sacks. No one has more than his 90 tackles for loss, and he led all edge players with 186 solo tackles.

    He is great, and he would make the D-Line great again. Don’t forget that it was a monster D-line that took the Birds to their second title two years ago.

    Saquon Barkley might have set a rushing record, but the Eagles’ top-ranked defense was the top-ranked defense because it had the top-ranked pass defense, and that was predicated on a dominant defensive line. Free agency cost that line Josh Sweat and Milton Williams. Injury cost Carter three games and diminished him for several others. The defense dipped from No. 1 to No. 13.

    A deal for Maxx Crosby (98), now a Raven, might have helped Lane Johnson land his third Super Bowl title as an Eagle.

    Too good to be gone

    There is no argument that Johnson is an all-time Eagles great, and by far the best Bird during the current nine-year Golden Era. In fact, considering his consistent excellence over these nine seasons, there’s an argument that Johnson might be the best Eagle ever. Johnson might at least be the third-best Eagle in history, after Chuck Bednarik and Reggie White.

    A third Super Bowl title would cement Johnson’s status as an all-timer not just in Philadelphia but in the NFL. It would help folks forget his two PED suspensions. It would help ease his path to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the best player on a dynastic team that won three Super Bowls in 10 years.

    But, as Johnson knows, he can’t do it by himself. As Johnson knows, there may be no tomorrow. That’s why he wanted Crosby.

    It’s why the Eagles must retain Brown, warts and all.

    Brown has complained about the passing game’s inefficiency in each of the past two seasons. Last season, Brown even reportedly asked to be traded, multiple times.

    Eagles free agency roundtable: Who are some realistic targets — and bigger targets — for the Birds?

    Deal with it.

    In his four seasons as an Eagle, Brown ranks fifth in the NFL in total yards, and his 14.8 yards-per-catch average is better than any of the four players ahead of him. He’s also sixth in touchdown catches. This, despite ranking 10th among wide receivers in total catches — a byproduct of Hurts’ reluctance to pass in general, and his reluctance to pass into the tight windows of coverage Brown’s excellence attracts.

    Brown already is the best receiver in franchise history. He’s an all-timer, just like Johnson.

    If the Eagles had added Crosby, 2026 would have been theirs.

    Now that he’s gone, they cannot afford to lose what they’ve got.

  • ‘No resistance.’ ‘Soft.’ Tyrese Maxey and Nick Nurse explain the Sixers’ record-breaking blowout losses

    ‘No resistance.’ ‘Soft.’ Tyrese Maxey and Nick Nurse explain the Sixers’ record-breaking blowout losses

    There’s no shame in losing a basketball game.

    This is doubly true when the two highest-paid players in the history of the franchise are either hurt (again), suspended (seriously?), or, when they are available, less than fully whole.

    Sometimes, there’s even no shame in losing by 40.

    However, there is great shame in losing by 40 because you don’t play hard. There is humiliation in being down by 49 with 12 minutes to play because, for the previous 36 minutes, you generally played matador, playground, YMCA defense, despite playing at home, after a day off.

    The Sixers lost by 40 to the Spurs on Tuesday night, but it could have been 70, except the Spurs sat their starters in the fourth quarter. They trailed by 49 after three en route to ignominy.

    It is their third home loss by at least 40 points. They are the first team in NBA history to lose three home games in the same season by at least 40, according to @basketball-reference.com.

    They’re the league’s worst third-quarter team, and the second worst in the last 30 years, but they gave up 46 points in the second quarter Tuesday. They are nothing if not equal-opportunity no-shows.

    They played without Joel Embiid, whose side hurts, and they played without Paul George, who served the 14th game of his 25-game drug suspension.

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    They have won plenty without either of them, and both. Fueled by an MVP-caliber season from Tyrese Maxey, the Sixers entered Wednesday night’s game against the visiting Jazz at 33-28, which gave them sixth place in the Eastern Conference. If they play hard, they are a viable team every night.

    So, on a night without their two future Hall of Famers, and a night without bed-sick forward Kelly Oubre Jr., you would think the Sixers, to a man, would play hard. You’d think they would prioritize defense and rebounding.

    They did not.

    They were outrebounded by 16. They gave up 131 points.

    They played weak and they played dumb and they played like a team that was defeated before it took the court. They did so in a national TV prime-time game that embarrassed the franchise in front of the nation.

    No resistance

    “There just was no resistance, defensively,” coach Nick Nurse said.

    What he didn’t say was, again. He could have. For the Sixers, blowouts have become as common as bad draft picks.

    Blame Nurse if you like, or blame the players, or blame the bad luck and bad choices that have kept the stars in the trainer’s room, but the Sixers are conducting a clinic on how to chase fans to the parking lot before the fourth quarter is half over.

    This not only was the Sixers’ third loss by at least 40 points, it was their fourth loss by at least 37 points, and their seventh loss by at least 21 points. Despite it being a 40-point loss, it was still nine points shy of their worst loss of the year, a 49-point disgrace against the visiting Knicks on Feb. 11. Entering Wednesday night’s game against the Jazz, the Sixers had suffered three of the 17 worst losses in the NBA this season — a year in which about one-third of the league is tanking.

    All seven of the Sixers’ blowouts have come in their last 45 games, which means, lately, they’re getting destroyed more than 15% of the time.

    Is it road woes? No. Five of the seven blowouts came at home.

    Is it the competition? Not necessarily.

    The Spurs are a deep, well-coached team built around Victor Wembanyama, the game’s best two-way player. They’ve lost big to really good teams like San Antonio and Oklahoma City, but they’ve been dog-walked by three teams with worse records than their own: Orlando, Charlotte, and even woeful Washington.

    Maxey believes that when the Sixers don’t play hard and lack focus early, they have no chance late.

    “When we don’t start fast, defensively and aggressive in the right way — that’s when it happens,” Maxey said. “We start soft, and we’re not pressuring the ball, not getting to the ball, and we give up bad cuts, and stuff like that.”

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    That’s occasionally true, but the Sixers have generally been able to match their oppositions’ output in the first quarter. However, they’ve had to come back to do so, and that sometimes leaves them exhausted when the second quarter comes around. They gave up 51 points to Orlando, 41 to Charlotte, and 46 to the Spurs in the second quarters of those blowouts.

    Forget the numbers. Forget the quarters. If you watched the games, you saw what Nurse saw:

    No resistance.

    C’mon, man

    You saw Maxey throw away a cross-court pass, then just watch the thief streak down the court.

    You saw Andre Drummond, a former defensive player of the year candidate and a four-time rebounding champion, foul Wembanyama twice in the first two minutes. Drummond, Embiid’s $5 million understudy, played just five minutes.

    Blowouts happen, especially when your roster fluctuates. Before their latest excuses for absence materialized, Embiid and George were only inconsistently available. This was due to age, injury management, and, frankly, a questionable desire to actually play in the games for which they are paid a combined $106 million this season.

    But their presence doesn’t ensure proficiency. Embiid and George both played in two of the blowouts. Embiid missed the other five, while George missed four of the five.

    Throw in a rookie like VJ Edgecombe, who, predictably, makes mistakes on defense, and add a dash of Maxey, who is congenitally defense-challenged, and you’re going to have the occasional train wreck.

    But it should only be occasional. It shouldn’t be more than 10% of the entire season.

    It might seem unfair to question players’ effort, especially that of Maxey and Edgecombe. Maxey leads the NBA in minutes played, and Edgecombe ranks eighth, and he leads all rookies, and the blowouts started about a month into the season.

    But Drummond, Edgecombe, and power forward Dominick Barlow, this season’s feel-good story of persistence and effort, earn their minutes from their defense.

    Embiid’s strained oblique will cost him at least one more game and probably more. George is out until March 25.

    Until they’re both back and both viable, the Sixers will have a talent void. They can best fill it with persistence and effort.

    But on nights when they offer “no resistance,” they will have no chance.

  • Stop blaming Alec Bohm for the failures of Phillies cleanup busts Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto

    Stop blaming Alec Bohm for the failures of Phillies cleanup busts Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto

    The only person who takes more undeserved blame than manager Rob Thomson for the shortcomings of the Phillies quarter-billion-dollar lineup is Alec Bohm.

    Entering his sixth season, Bohm, the third overall pick in the 2018 draft, is largely considered a semi-bust, especially in the frustrated Philadelphia region. Optically, it makes sense: He’s 6-foot-5, sculpted and wide, and was expected to be a basher coming out of Wichita State who eventually would migrate from third base to first. That hasn’t happened, but he’s nowhere near a bust.

    With the exception of a sophomore slump in 2021, Bohm has been a competent major league third baseman. That’s something of a miracle in itself, since the Phillies rushed him to the majors for the COVID-shortened 2020 season with zero experience in triple A.

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    Has Bohm been the homegrown stud hitter Phillies fans have craved since the days of Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Ryan Howard? No. But he hasn’t been Domonic Brown or Maikel Franco, either.

    He’s been a pretty good player on some very good teams surrounded by a bunch of star hitters who couldn’t get the job done. Bohm catches shrapnel for their shortcomings more so than his own, and some folks can’t wait to get rid of him. That was never more evident this winter.

    Phillies fans relished rumors that projected Bo Bichette’s arrival as a free agent, not the least because it would mean a corresponding departure by Bohm. He no longer would have a starting spot at third base with the arrival of Bichette, who would have switched from shortstop to third.

    Phillies fans thought signing Bo Bichette would force Alec Bohm out, but Bichette opted to sign with the Mets.

    But the Bichette deal fell through at the 11th hour. That left the Phillies with Bohm and free-agent gamble Adolis García as first options to bat in the No. 4 hole behind presumptive third hitter Bryce Harper.

    In Philly, all hope collapsed, because Bohm has proved himself unfit for that particular job … right?

    Well, maybe.

    But that’s not the point.

    The point is, the Phillies spent more than $200 million so that Bohm wouldn’t have to do the job at all.

    Wasted money

    As The Inquirer reported last week, no everyday player with an OPS over .800 last season scored fewer runs than Harper’s 72. Harper’s OPS of .844 last season was his lowest in nine years, in part because he saw fewer strikes than any other everyday player. Harper was largely unprotected, and, when he reported to spring training, he let everyone know he wasn’t happy about any of it.

    “I think it makes a huge impact,” he said. “I think whoever’s in that four spot is gonna have a big job to do, depending on who’s hitting three or who’s hitting two.”

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    That big job was never supposed to be Bohm’s job, so to paint the situation as a failure by Bohm is wildly unfair, considering what any realistic expectations might have been for a player surrounded by a constellation of supposed stars.

    In 2022, in what would be Bohm’s second full season, the Phillies signed right-handed hitter Nick Castellanos, mainly to protect Harper. Castellanos utterly failed. His OPS from 2022-25 while batting fourth was .705, .853, .645, and .651. Castellanos didn’t hit behind Harper every time, but he hit behind him most of the time. He made $80 million.

    J.T. Realmuto (right) has largely struggled protecting Bryce Harper in the lineup over the past four seasons.

    When Castellanos didn’t hit fourth, Realmuto often did. He went .953 in 2022, had only 34 plate appearances in 2023 (.458)/, then went .635 in 2024 and .683 in 2025. He made $95.5 million in those four seasons.

    In 2023, it occasionally fell to Bohm to hit fourth. He produced .711, .769, and .571 OPS results in the past three years. He made $12.4 million.

    Despite Bohm’s poor numbers in 2025, Harper actually was his most productive when Bohm hit behind him, according to MLB.com.

    Selfish, insubordinate Nick Castellanos released by Phillies, then issues a wild manifesto on Instagram

    When the Phillies signed Castellanos to a five-year, $100 million contract in 2022, he was projected to be the cleanup hitter not only through 2022 but also through 2026. But the Phillies released Castellanos last month. He’d been insubordinate last season, but that wasn’t the main reason, because no sport endures insubordination like baseball. Castellanos’ real sin was that, for the better part of four seasons, he stole money.

    Casty’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR) since 2022 was 1.3. Bohm’s was 5.8.

    Who was the real disappointment?

    Nick Castellanos was supposed to be the right-handed bat in the cleanup spot to protect Bryce Harper. He was released last month by the Phillies.

    Peer pressure

    Not only does Bohm compare favorably to the $100 million man, he compares favorably with players of his approximate age.

    Among first-round hitters from 2018 with at least 1,000 plate appearances, Bohm’s 5.3 WAR ranks fourth. His .743 OPS ranks second, by just one-thousandth of a point, to Royals infielder Jonathan India. Bohm’s 70 homers rank third. His 719 games played ranks first.

    What about the 2017 draft? Among first-round hitters from both 2017 and 2018 combined, Bohm is sixth in WAR, fifth in OPS, sixth in homers, and still first in games played — and yes, we omitted Kyler Murray, drafted ninth overall by the A’s but opted to play in the NFL.

    Kyle Schwarber is too good to bat cleanup. That, and other conclusions from last year’s lineups.

    Bohm was picked high in the draft, so how does he compare to those guys? Well, among the first 10 hitters selected in both drafts combined, Murray again omitted, Bohm’s 5.3 WAR ranks second.

    It’s true that 2017 is considered one of the worst drafts in recent memory, but Bohm can’t do anything about that. Simply, when compared with his peers, Bohm is outperforming almost all of them.

    Alec Bohm has worked hard to transform himself from utterly disastrous defensively at third base to perfectly acceptable in his last three seasons.

    Current crop

    How does Bohm compare with the rest of baseball over his career?

    Since Bohm debuted in 2020, his OPS of .743 ranks 150th among the 382 hitters with at least 1,000 plate appearances. He is far above average.

    We can’t make the argument that Bohm is a far above-average player. He’s not. But he’s certainly average at least, and that’s saying something. He’ll be a 30-year-old free agent after this season, and he’ll probably last at least four or five more seasons.

    Historically, fewer than 20% of first-rounders collect 1,000 hits. Bohm has 753. Similarly, fewer than 10% of all major league players play at least 10 seasons. Bohm is entering his sixth.

    He has been, by any measure, a good first-round pick.

    Is he everything folks thought he’d be when he was drafted — that is, a middle-of-the-lineup run-producer? Not really.

    Is he adequate protection for a slugger like Harper? Probably not.

    Is he the most emotionally stable player? No.

    In 2022, on a night when he’d struggled defensively, Bohm made a routine play. Phillies fans cheered sarcastically. TV cameras caught Bohm saying, “I [bleeping] hate this place.”

    In 2024, mired in a 2-for-31 slump that bled from the end of the season into the playoffs, Bohm, in full pout mode, was benched for Game 2 of the NLDS. (His replacement, Edmundo Sosa, did not reach base in two plate appearances, Bohm pinch-hit for him and did the same, and the Phillies won.)

    Bohm is not a fan favorite. Phillies fans despise a lack of mental toughness.

    But Bohm did manage 97 RBIs in both 2023 and 2024. He did hit 20 home runs in 2023, and he was an All-Star in 2024. He worked hard enough at third base to progress from utterly disastrous in his first two seasons to perfectly acceptable in his last three seasons.

    Bryce Harper and Scott Boras are right. Here’s a wild stat that makes their point.

    Will he hit well enough to protect Harper this year? Probably not. Will García? Probably not.

    His overall .675 OPS the past two seasons is far below Bohm’s .762. García was at .712 in the cleanup spot in 2024, .662 in 2025. He’s on a one-year, $10 million deal.

    Bohm is making $10.2 million. It’s the first time in his career that he’s outearning the guy who’s being paid to do a job Bohm never was meant to do … unless you count Realmuto, whom the Phillies just re-signed. He’ll make $15 million this season.

    For that kind of money, maybe every once in a while J.T. could help out at the four-spot.

  • White House fakes comments by Trump supporter Brady Tkachuk as Team USA controversy lingers

    White House fakes comments by Trump supporter Brady Tkachuk as Team USA controversy lingers

    After a week or so of abusing the clueless 20-somethings for serving as Donald Trump’s latest dupes, it only seems fair to credit the few USA hockey lads for their reluctant mea culpas.

    Several of the players who were involved in the debauched postgame celebration with debased FBI director Kash Patel that devolved into a misogynistic phone call with President Trump have issued a range of regrets in the past few days.

    Good for them, I guess.

    Maybe they’ll think twice next time before laughing about women — in this instance, their Olympic gold-medal counterparts, and the best women’s team ever assembled — being treated as their inferiors.

    Maybe.

    In his congratulatory call after a golden goal win over Canada on Sunday (a call he did not make to the women’s team three days earlier), Trump invited the men to the White House, then said, “We’re going to have to bring the woman’s team. You do know that?” Otherwise, Trump said, “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”

    The men laughed.

    The public raged.

    Count me among the angry masses.

    I took my shots at Team USA midweek, when I noted that any random group of young, white, millionaire American males are more likely than not to agree with Trump, and might have even voted for him, and therefore they innately took little issue in serving as his pawns last Sunday morning and then again Tuesday, when 20 of the 25 players visited the White House and attended Trump’s unhinged State of the Union address. I noted, however, that they shouldn’t realistically be expected to act differently, and that their transgression was far less concerning than, say, Bryson DeChambeau, Trump’s golf mascot.

    It quickly got worse.

    Marcus Hayes: The outrage over Team USA’s connection with Trump is dumb — and it’s what he wants

    Ever eager to distract from his administration’s endless corruption, he could not leave the boys alone. Not even if it meant cannibalizing one of their own.

    The White House used AI to generate a false statement from Trump supporter and Team USA star Brady Tkachuk in a postgame TikTok video:

    “They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating (bleepers) a lesson.”

    The AI fake is part of a post that includes highlights from the game. The post indicates that AI was used in its construction, it does not specify which parts were fake.

    Tkachuk specified which parts were fake on Thursday.

    “Well, it’s clearly fake, because it’s not my voice, not my lips moving,” Tkachuk told reporters. “I know that those words would never come out of my mouth. So, I can’t do anything about it. … It’s not my voice. It’s not what I was saying. I would never say that. That’s not who I am, so I guess I don’t like that video because that would never come out of my mouth and never had that thought.”

    Maybe. Maybe not.

    Despite Tkachuk’s protestations, the White House has not deleted the post. He’s their weapon of the day.

    Tkachuk also denied hollering out that Trump should “close the northern border” during Trump’s phone call. Hard to disprove that one, especially since it took him four days to do so.

    It should be noted: Tkachuk not only plays for a Canadian team, the Ottawa Senators, he’s also their captain.

    This is delicious.

    Marcus Hayes: Megan Keller’s golden goal for Team USA should go down as one of the biggest moments in Olympic history

    It’s hard to feel anything other than Schadenfreude for Tkachuk, or for any of the other players who declined to issue public apologies until public opinion swung so heavily against them. It might have been a week of pure celebration of a historic win. It was the first men’s hockey gold since the Miracle on Ice in 1980, and it was sweet revenge for the 2010 gold-medal loss that, like Sunday’s, was decided on an overtime goal.

    That goal-scorer, Jack Hughes, who sacrificed his smile to a high stick in the game, almost gets it.

    Jack Hughes (86), who scored the Golden Goal for Team USA, celebrates with fans and teammates.

    He attested that the men’s and women’s teams commingle and support each other, which is true … and then, like the sheltered, self-unaware, entitled 24-year-old that he is, Hughes chastised critics of the men’s team thusly:

    “Everything is so political. We’re athletes.”

    Really, Jack? Just athletes, huh?

    Later that day, Hughes and four Team USA teammates posed for a picture with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

    Hughes and two Team USA teammates wore MAGA hats.

    You know. Trump hats. Political hats.

    You can’t make it up.

    Asked this week by reporters if he agreed with some of his teammates’ recent apologies, Hughes replied, “Yeah,” then deflected with drivel.

    Fortunately, other players were more sincere.

    “Looking back at it now, I think it was a mistake,” Senators defenseman and Team USA teammate Jake Sanderson told reporters. “But I think things got blown out of proportion a little bit. You know, we have nothing but the utmost respect for the women. I think if we were to do it again, I think we wouldn’t do that, and we made a mistake. … We love the women.”

    Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman told reporters, “We should have reacted differently.”

    Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy said he and many of his teammates were “certainly sorry for how we responded in that moment.”

    Significantly, none of them issued any apology unprovoked. None of them apologized on his own.

    Tkachuk was even less accountable:

    “Honestly, it was just a whirlwind of a moment. Can’t be in control of what somebody says. It just caught us off-guard a little bit, talking to the president.”

    No remorse detected.

    As for the women, they now have twice rejected invitations to visit Trump & Co., both for Tuesday’s circus and another invitation floated later in the week. Their statement:

    “Players are back competing with their professional and collegiate teams and are in the midst of their season. They’re honored and grateful to be invited and any opportunity to visit the White House as a team will be based on their schedules once their seasons conclude.”

    Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hašek applauded the women’s refusal to be used as political props by a man who not only ignored them, and not only demeaned them, but has yet to apologize: “Your president is a big liar and a fraud who abuses his position to insult and bully his fellow citizens.”

    Eccentric rap star Flavor Flav even invited the women to come party with him in Las Vegas as long as a hotelier and an airline help with travel and accommodations.

    Hey, it’s more than Trump lapdog Kid Rock would ever do.

    As might be expected, the women are dealing with the snub with a measure of grace and resignation that neither Trump nor most of the men’s team would ever be able to muster.

    “With the phone call specifically, it’s not surprising, to be frank,” USA forward Kelly Pannek told reporters Wednesday. “So I don’t know why we expect differently.”

    It’s depressing to realize that the players on arguably the best team in the history of women’s hockey find themselves the victims of Trump’s narcissism, his administration’s piggishness, and much of the country’s indifference to both.

    “I think there’s a genuine level of support there and respect,” between the men’s and women’s teams, Hilary Knight, the women’s captain, told ESPN. “I think that’s being overshadowed by a quick lapse. I think the guys were in a tough spot.”

    It was a spot they did not create for themselves. It was a spot in which they failed the women, their country, and themselves.

    And it is a spot in which many of them have chosen to linger.

  • The outrage over Team USA’s connection with Trump is dumb — and it’s what he wants

    The outrage over Team USA’s connection with Trump is dumb — and it’s what he wants

    I, for one, am astonished that several entitled young white millionaires were eager to capitalize on their brief moment of relevance by becoming pawns of a president for whom most of them probably voted, especially if they listened to the most popular podcasters — that is, if they even bothered to vote.

    Let’s unpack that sentence.

    The average age of Team USA men’s hockey players is 28.43 years, so the chance they voted is less than 50%, according to surveys conducted by CIRCLE, a research initiative based at Tufts University. Among white men between the ages of 18-29, 56% voted for President Donald Trump. If they had no college degree, as is the case with most NHL players, that number jumps to 67%. More than half the listeners of podcasts such as The Joe Rogan Experience are white men between the ages of 18-34, and, after Trump was elected, Dana White, the CEO of UFC and a staunch Trump ally, thanked those podcasters for getting Trump over the hump.

    South Jersey reacts as Johnny Gaudreau’s jersey is displayed in Team USA’s golden victory

    Let’s throw in the fact that most professional athletes are, necessarily, narcissists. And there you have the reasons that so many members of Team USA have become the latest victims of moral political outrage.

    They won Olympic gold in dramatic, heartwarming fashion Sunday, but our sitting president immediately spoiled the afterglow as they celebrated in Italy. Still, most of Team USA accepted an invitation to visit the White House. They met with Trump on Tuesday afternoon and attended the State of the Union address that night.

    Jack Hughes (left) and Clayton Keller react after receiving their gold medals after the U.S. defeated Canada in the gold medal game on Sunday at the Winter Olympics.

    All of this set social media and TV talk shows on fire: How dare they?

    Which is exactly what Trump wanted.

    Once again, his theater of the absurd drew fabulous ratings. Snowflakes on both sides melted, as scripted: The left, in anger; the right, in glee.

    Perhaps one day Trump’s opponents will understand that the only one who gains from this sort of performative outrage is Trump. Save your energy for the ICE attacks in Minnesota and the acts of war on Venezuela. You’re not converting anyone by attacking Connor Hellebuyck, the goalie in the crowd to whom Trump promised a Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday night.

    Everything Trump does is transactional: They showed up for him, he gave one of them a medal.

    What, you want him to turn it down? Get real. That’s not who these players are.

    You expected a group of guys like this to decline the invitation to see and be seen with the most powerful man on the planet? What planet do you live on? In what world do these guys do the right thing?

    Johnny Gaudreau’s dream was to be an Olympian. His family lived it for him, in a moment fit for a ‘movie.’

    Consider Olympic hero Jack Hughes’ considered reaction Monday, after all the heat was on:

    “Everything is so political,” he told reporters. “People are so negative out there, and they are just trying to find a reason to put people down, and make something out of almost nothing.”

    It’s as if he was trying to define “self-unawareness.” Like most young men in his situation, he is not equipped for the moment.

    Nevertheless, as America’s current Olympic hero, Hughes, 24, is the unofficial spokesman for the group that some folks think should have told its FBI director to go home and find Nancy Guthrie. The group that some folks think should have told Trump that they weren’t coming to the White House unless the women’s team came, too, and that the women would have to sit in the front row.

    Dream on.

    Megan Keller’s golden goal for Team USA should go down as one of the biggest moments in Olympic history

    There’s no way a bunch of partying, exhausted, exhilarated frat bros are going to not laugh at a dumb joke from a guy who reminds them of their grandfathers.

    Lighten up, folks.

    I’m not MAGA. For that matter, you’re going to be hard-pressed to find a sports writer more anti-MAGA than I’ve proven myself to be. When Trump dips his toe into sports, I generally try to stub it.

    However, on the Trump scale, Trump acted mildly here. He offhandedly insulted the women’s team — a team whose win I considered the apex of the Games, and wrote as much. He and his minions did far worse to Olympians who dared challenge him.

    And if you think the hockey lads are bad, check out Nick Bosa, Herschel Walker, and Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton.

    This hockey team isn’t perfect, but it isn’t evil, either. It should not be remembered for being the victim of a controversy not of its own making.

    It should be remembered as a brilliantly built roster, masterfully coached, which played a spectacular tournament. Its No. 1 goalie gave up six goals total. The penalty kill snuffed all 18 power plays.

    The team was incredible.

    This outrage, at best, is futile. At worst, it is performative.

    Every lefty Twitter warrior knew Trump would politicize a men’s hockey win because Trump knew he and the men’s hockey team were generally of like mind. Most of Team USA appears to be Trump people, unbothered by the misogyny, racism, xenophobia, and corruption of his administrations, happy for every second in the spotlight.

    Certainly, it would have been nice if all 25 players had made a different choice. Five did. Twenty didn’t. Twenty percent of a group of clueless twentysomethings is better than nothing.

    This contrived controversy obscures how, for about an hour, this was a powerful Olympic tale.

    The good feelings emanating from the team’s moving remembrance of Johnny Gaudreau were washed away by the Trump episode.

    The facts

    Hughes scored a golden goal against Canada in overtime, avenging an identical defeat handed to Team USA by Canadian hero Sidney Crosby in 2010. Afterward, with an American flag draped over his shoulders, Hughes skated around with his brother and teammate, Quinn, smiling through chipped and bloodied teeth he’d suffered during the game. Team members took victory laps carrying the jersey Johnny Gaudreau would have worn had G and his brother not been killed in August 2024. The team invited Gaudreau’s two small children onto the ice for a team photo.

    What’s more, social media hyped Hughes’ advocacy of Pride Night last season, which has become a controversial topic in the more reactionary corners of the NHL.

    Then, Trump intruded. And, as with most things, he ruined it. This was not just predictable. It was inevitable.

    First, FBI chief Kash Patel, who’d said he was in Italy on official business, joined the alcohol-drenched postgame celebration, a moment of indecorum that sent J. Edgar Hoover spinning in his grave. The players partied on. What were they supposed to do? Kick Patel out of the locker room?

    Then, Trump called the party and, offhandedly, demeaned the women’s team, which had won gold three days before. The players laughed. Some of them, clearly aware of Trump’s boorishness, laughed nervously. But they laughed.

    What were they supposed to do? Chastise the president during his locker-room call?

    Be realistic. This was the greatest achievement of their lives. None of them seems particularly woke. And, besides, they’d been partying.

    Team USA honors the late Johnny Gaudreau after winning Olympic gold in Milan

    “There’s so many things happening,” winger Kyle Connor told The Athletic on Monday. “We just won the gold medal and things are going on so I don’t really remember what he said. It’s such a whirlwind, just celebrating.”

    The boys are getting more abuse than they deserve, especially in the cesspool of social media. Folks called the players morons. They told them they could stick their gold medals up their collective butts. Some said they’d carry the stain of this moment with them the rest of their lives.

    No, they won’t. Have we learned nothing from Trump and his associations with the golf world?

    American golfers at the Ryder Cup not only welcome Trump at the event, but some actually performed the ridiculous Trump dance. None has suffered.

    Tiger Woods’ associations with the president do not appear to have damaged the golfer.

    The fallout

    You know who were the two most popular golfers before they golfed with Trump? Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. You know who the two most popular golfers are today? Tiger and Rory. In fact, Tiger’s dating Trump’s former daughter-in-law.

    The players on the women’s team, bless them, declined their invitation to the White House.

    Sure, I respect the five from Team USA who didn’t wallow in the Trump trough more than I respect the 20 who did. In that same vein, I respect the Eagles, such as Jalen Hurts, who refused to visit the White House last spring more than I respect Saquon Barkley, who not only visited the White House, but also went golfing and lunched with Trump the day before.

    The fallout: In September, Saquon received the ultimate honor of having a Wawa hoagie named after him.

    But there’s not going to be any real hangover effect from this. There never really is.

    This team doesn’t deserve it, anyway.

  • ‘Don’t take the easy way out.’ A.J. Brown’s plea to struggling NFL players reveals compassion, maturity.

    ‘Don’t take the easy way out.’ A.J. Brown’s plea to struggling NFL players reveals compassion, maturity.

    In the wake of the untimely deaths of three young players, A.J. Brown on Monday posted a 9-minute, 8-second testimonial on Instagram encouraging NFL athletes struggling with mental health issues to seek counseling and God rather than taking their own lives. It was poignant and it was beautiful.

    It was a revealing glimpse into how Brown deals with his own demons. It also was an example of how the exceptional culture in the Eagles’ locker room emboldens this sort of leadership in the most important of ways.

    “Don’t take the easy way out,” Brown said. “I once thought that was the way. I was 23 years old and I thought the same thing.”

    Brown spoke two days after Vikings receiver Rondale Moore, 25, was found in his garage dead of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound. Moore had seen his last two NFL seasons ruined by preseason injuries. It was the third such incident in just 10 months.

    In November, Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, 24, also was suspected of taking his own life with a gun after a high-speed chase and crash.

    Similarly, in April, LSU receiver and NFL prospect Kyren Lacy, also 24, shot and killed himself after a high-speed chase two days before his criminal trial in an unrelated incident.

    Tragedy upon tragedy upon tragedy compelled Brown to speak out.

    “Don’t end it like that, bro,” he begged. “Don’t end it like that.”

    Advocacy

    This wasn’t the first time Brown has spoken about his own struggles, but it is the most intense and impassioned message he has delivered.

    He recorded Monday’s message on his phone while sitting in his parked car. Most of it centered on Brown’s reliance on his Christian faith, but Brown also stressed the role that counseling performs in people whose worlds seem to be closing in.

    “Go talk to [God], first and foremost, before you even go talk to a therapist. But go talk to a therapist,” Brown said. “Reach out to your loved ones. Go talk to somebody, bro. Get it off your chest. You’re not too tough to talk to someone.”

    Much has been made of Brown’s unconventional behavior in his four seasons with the Eagles. He often has been publicly critical of the Eagles offense both in media availabilities and on social media. He has sparred with head coach Nick Sirianni during games. He continually hints in public that he would like to be traded, and a report last month said he submitted a trade request three times during the 2025 season. Brown also has boycotted the media twice in the last two seasons.

    Suicide is suspected in the death of Vikings wide receiver Rondale Moore on Saturday.

    Among the reasons the Eagles are patient with Brown, and among the reasons the media squawks so little about his boycotts, are Brown’s mental health struggles. He is afforded a larger measure of grace from teammates, coaches, administrators, and the press than athletes who struggle less.

    This grace begins with Sirianni, whose inclusive, empathetic management style built on the foundation laid by Doug Pederson. One of the reasons Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie hired Pederson in 2016 was Pederson’s “emotional intelligence,” which created an environment of understanding and acceptance unmatched by any locker room in the NFL. This environment, Lurie says, helped the Eagles reach three Super Bowls and win two.

    All this talk about trading A.J. Brown is madness. Anyway, you’re talking about trading the wrong Eagle.

    Evidence?

    In 2017, Pederson’s second season, Eagles guard Brandon Brooks opened up about treating his debilitating anxieties with therapy and medication, taboo subjects in the world’s most testosterone-charged league. The Eagles won their first Super Bowl after that season.

    In 2021, Sirianni’s first season, Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson, who’d helped Brooks deal with his issues, missed three games dealing with his own mental health issues. The Eagles went to the Super Bowl after the 2022 season and won it after the 2024 season.

    Johnson was, by far, the team’s best player in that span.

    Brown was not far behind. That’s because, in part, the Eagles accepted him for him.

    For instance, When Brown was caught on camera reading a self-help book on the sideline during a playoff game after the 2024 season, Sirianni told a local radio station, “Some guys pray in between, some guys meditate in between. A.J. reads in between.”

    Sirianni also said, “A.J. Brown, is a great, great, great person.”

    That’s generally the consensus in the Eagles’ organization: Brown might be a diva, and he occasionally might be insubordinate, but his heart is always in the right place.

    That was never more evident than in Monday’s post.

    His own experience

    The mission statement of the A.J. Brown Foundation reads, in part, “Our vision is to cultivate a generation of resilient and confident young individuals.”

    “I take pride in my mental health,” Brown said Monday. “Something I practice each and every day.”

    Brown then offered what might be a glimpse into his own struggle and the methods he uses to cope.

    “Stay in that fight,” Brown said. “Be strong. Do whatever you need to do. Get on your phone. Record videos of yourself talking to yourself. Say affirmations around the crib. Sticky notes. … Talk in third-person to yourself.”

    Can the return of Eagles OLs Lane Johnson and Landon Dickerson save Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts?

    Don’t worry about it if people think you’re strange:

    “Let them call you crazy.”

    With so many voices eager for attention, and with so much non-credible disparagement targeted at you, just accept your failures and ignore the critics as best you can:

    “I want you to understand, in the NFL community, things aren’t always going to go your way. You may not get everything that you desire. Sometimes this game is not friendly. People are going to say nasty things about you. Call you this call you that. …

    “But none of those things, in that moment, define you. You just have to understand that this is just a short moment in your life that’s just going to go, just like that,” he said, and snapped his fingers to illustrate.

    Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown celebrating a first-down catch against the Commanders on Dec. 20.

    Frustration is constant; satisfaction, unattainable:

    “I understand what it feels like when you’re trying to take care of your family. None of that stuff is fulfilling. The only thing that’s fulfilling in this world is our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.”

    Even now, Brown clearly struggles with issues. He said he focuses on his family, especially his two young children, when the darkness begins to descend, and looks within.

    “Nobody cares about you, bro. Especially as a man. You have to do what makes you happy,” Brown said. “I don’t care what they call you. I don’t care whatever … whatever you think you failed at. … Whenever you have a negative thought, say 10 positive things about yourself.”

    Just hold on, get help, and have faith in something.

    God. Yourself. Anything.

    “That sun is gonna shine,” Brown said. “It ain’t gonna stay rainy forever, bro.”

  • Can the return of Eagles OLs Lane Johnson and Landon Dickerson save Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts?

    Can the return of Eagles OLs Lane Johnson and Landon Dickerson save Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts?

    You never know how Jeffrey Lurie sees his team, but, after two Super Bowl trips and two post-Super Bowl disasters, it feels more than ever like there’s a one-year window in which Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts can save their jobs in Philadelphia.

    Their chances got a lot better Thursday.

    That’s when The Inquirer reported that right tackle Lane Johnson, arguably the greatest Eagle ever and inarguably the greatest Eagles offensive lineman, would return for a 14th season. The Birds are 110-57-1 with Johnson, 18-27 without. He’s the only Eagle on either offense or defense to start in both of their Super Bowl wins. Johnson considered retirement after missing the last seven games with a foot injury and after offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland resigned.

    Eagles star tackle Lane Johnson will return to team in 2026

    Thursday also was when both The Inquirer and former Eagles TV reporter Derrick Gunn reported that left guard Landon Dickerson, whose body has endured multiple injuries beginning in college, will return for a sixth season. Before this season, Dickerson was voted onto the three previous Pro Bowl teams.

    There has been a lot of noise since the Eagles’ season ended a month ago: A.J. Brown’s dissatisfaction; the firing of offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo; the tortuous pursuit of his replacement, who turned out to be little-known Sean Mannion; and the possibility of losing defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to retirement.

    None of those issues mattered as much as the possible loss of Johnson and Dickerson.

    Marcus Hayes: All this talk about trading A.J. Brown is madness. Anyway, you’re talking about trading the wrong Eagle.

    Replacing either of them would have been difficult.

    Replacing both would have been catastrophic.

    That’s because Hurts has shown little capacity for success in the NFL unless he plays behind an elite offensive line. When the Eagles went to Super Bowls after the 2022 and 2024 seasons, the offensive lines were elite and stable. They were markedly less so in 2023 and 2025, seasons in which the Eagles lost their first playoff game.

    Not coincidentally, Sirianni’s offenses have flourished when Johnson, Dickerson, & Co. have been healthy and wisely utilized, relying on a turnover-averse run-first attack.

    Eagles guard Landon Dickerson blocks Detroit Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes.

    When healthy, Johnson and Dickerson, both athletic freaks, are voracious run-blockers.

    An ancillary benefit of Johnson returning relates to the departure of Stoutland. “Stout” is the only offensive line coach Johnson has ever had in the NFL; for that matter, that’s true of every other Eagles starter.

    But no other Eagles lineman has either the base of knowledge or capacity to impart that knowledge on teammates like Johnson. He founded and runs an annual offensive line offseason camp every summer in Texas called OL Masterminds.

    Almost every lineman that has ever played with him testifies that Johnson has, at some point, acted as a sort of assistant coach when Stoutland or his offensive line assistants weren’t fully able to get their message across.

    More than anything, Johnson brings a level of intensity and professionalism to every game and practice that few others in the NFL can match. It is why he is great, and that sort of greatness is contagious. Certainly, Dickerson has benefited.

    So, their return not only could save the 2026 season, but it also could extend the Philadelphia shelf-life of both coach and quarterback.

    Granted, there are contingents of fans and pundits who would rather that either one or both leave the employ of Lurie sooner than later, and so this development on the offensive line might not be met with unrestrained joy.

    But one never should be thankless for news that is, on the whole, good for their own self-interests.

  • Megan Keller’s golden goal for Team USA should go down as one of the biggest moments in Olympic history

    Megan Keller’s golden goal for Team USA should go down as one of the biggest moments in Olympic history

    When they eventually install microcameras into the corneas of our eyes, we’ll still be watching this hockey highlight.

    This was Kerri Strug vaulting on one leg in 1996. Bob Beamon shattering the long jump in Mexico City in 1968. Sid the Kid in 2010, only much, much cooler.

    It was more than historic. It was iconic.

    In overtime of the gold-medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Team USA defenseman Megan Keller deked Canadian defender Claire Thompson and left her in the dust, flailing with her stick.

    Keller then beat goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens with a backhand to the short side.

    It was a golden goal worthy of the name.

    It should live as one of the great Olympic moments of all time. It should live as one of the great sporting moments of all time.

    Hayes: Tanking NBA teams should lose their lottery slot as ‘The Process’ leaves its rancid legacy

    It’s hard to compare this Olympic moment with Romania’s Nadia Comăneci, who scored gymnastics’ first perfect 10 in 1976 at the age of 14. It’s not really the same as Usain “Lightning” Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who broke Michael Johnson’s world record in the 200 meters in 2008 or Michael Phelps, who, at those same Beijing Games, swam his way to eight golds; their moments were parts of aggregations. And it certainly lacks the social significance of Black sprinter Jesse Owens, who won a then-record four golds in 1936 in front of host Adolf Hitler.

    Jamaica’s Usain Bolt celebrates as he wins the men’s 200-meter final with a world record during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

    I was there for Bolt and Phelps. All of those moments took your breath away the way only great moments in sport leave you breathless.

    None was quite as magical as Keller’s golden goal.

    Sidney Crosby did something similar for Canada in 2010, and he did it against Team USA, and I was there for that, too. But Crosby’s goal was simpler: He carried the puck in, had a weak shot deflected away, got it back, went to the boards, passed to teammate Jarome Iginla, skated away from suddenly inattentive defenseman Brian Rafalski, got the pass back from Iginla, and snapped a shot past goaltender Ryan Miller.

    Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and film legend Donald Sutherland, both great Canadians, were sitting right behind me. They’d probably disagree with my assertion here.

    Sid’s was a great play.

    Keller’s was better.

    Keller’s goal isn’t quite the same event as Team USA’s upset of the Soviets in 1980. That was a true underdog story, mostly U.S. college kids playing an elite set of professionals who’d won the last four golds. It might be the biggest upset in sports history — but it wasn’t an overtime game, or even a gold-medal game, and there was no defining, game-ending moment like Keller’s.

    Pity poor Thompson, but not too much. She’d been a hero in China with 11 assists and two goals, an Olympic record for defensemen, when the Canadians won the gold in 2022.

    There are plenty of caveats surrounding what should be the play of the year. None of them of Keller’s making.

    Megan Keller celebrates after scoring one of the best golden goals you will ever see in hockey.

    Crosby scored his goal in a four-on-four setting, but overtime rules were changed ahead of the 2022 Olympics to make it three-on-three.

    The teams in 2010 were more evenly matched, while the U.S. team in Milan, Italy, was heavily favored, having outscored opponents, 31-1, in a 6-0 run that included a 5-0 win over Canada in the preliminary round. However, Canada’s strategy and execution Thursday had the reigning champs holding onto a 1-0 lead before American captain Hilary Knight tied the game with 2 minutes, 4 seconds left in regulation.

    Hayes: ll this talk about trading A.J. Brown is madness. Anyway, you’re talking about trading the wrong Eagle.

    Finally, no teams besides Canada (five) and the U.S. (three) have won a gold medal, and they have met in the gold-medal game seven of the eight times it has been played. To date, it is not a sport in which the field offers the titans much resistance.

    This should not diminish the moment. Keller and her teammates can only beat opponents they meet.

    This golden goal is one of the best plays you will ever see.

    In fact, as a spontaneous athletic maneuver of incomparable audacity and breathtaking skill, seizing the biggest moment in a player’s life, I struggle to find its equal.