ARIES (March 21-April 19). Caring for others is a big part of your life. Sometimes, this seems to lead to getting ground down by stress. Stress is not your identity; it’s just a habit your body and mind learned to keep up. Let it move through you as breath does: inhale, exhale.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). When the butterfly of happiness flits past, just remember that every emotion has its merits. Even sadness can be a beautiful reminder of our humanity, which deepens our experience and shows us we’re capable of love and attachment.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Because thank-you notes are rare these days, writing one stands out and makes you memorable. The same principle applies more broadly: You’ll mix thoughtfulness, gratitude and initiative, and make a strong and favorable impression.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). The number of moving parts is what makes this part of the story interesting. It’s also a bit stressful since you are dealing with so much that is out of your control. State what you want, step aside, and let things work themselves out.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). When it feels like no one is listening, remember the value of listening to yourself. Many never hear the song of their own soul. Keep tuning in, and yours will grow so strong and clear that it can’t be ignored.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Relationships are like feelings: none is more or less correct than another. Each is a unique, unfolding dynamic. Some people are easier to be around, but that doesn’t determine the value of the bond.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). When you want to be a part of what’s happening in the room, your approach matters the most — think tone over technical skill. It all starts with noticing what’s needed and matching your attitude to the environment. When in doubt, default to kindness.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Passion doesn’t have to be dramatic to be profound. It doesn’t have to be big to be effective. Even your most secret desire will change you from the inside out. When you change, your circumstances are next.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). When approaching people with something new, you’re likely to hit obstacles. People say no. It’s awkward and others see this. There are false starts that can be embarrassing too. But this is all part of the natural friction of beginnings. Keep going. It gets better.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Ambition is a fire that must be tended carefully. Too much fuel at once burns you out; too little and you sputter. Today’s work is to strike balance: steady logs on the fire, not a bonfire.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). The stars are giving you a pep talk about resilience. It’s in the way the nature around you keeps regenerating, the children grow, the tide goes out and comes back in. New oxygen is everywhere.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You’ve already proven your strength. You wouldn’t be where you are if you hadn’t powered through tough situations with determination. Don’t forget that track record. You deserve acknowledgment for it.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Oct. 20). Welcome to your Year of Unscripted Adventures. You’ll stumble into scenes you couldn’t have planned, like the wrong turn that leads to a right person, the pet that chooses you, and/or a surprise reunion that gets you dreaming in a whole new direction. More highlights: a stretch of financial mastery that could subsidize your grandest plan, laughter in serious projects that points to a soul connection, and a string of lucky “coincidences.” Gemini and Capricorn adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 13, 27, 5, 41 and 22.
DEAR ABBY: Six months ago, my oldest child died in a horrific car accident. Our family went into a sort of hibernation for several months, mourning and trying to deal with the sadness of the situation.
Now the kids are back in school, and I’m starting to work again. I’m interacting with a lot of people I haven’t seen since before the accident who maybe don’t know what happened. How do I respond when they ask perfectly reasonable questions, like “What’s new?” or “How was your break?” I want to be honest and let people know I’m not really OK. But I also want to avoid “trauma dumping,” or providing too much information they aren’t ready for.
The full truth is a lot for anyone to hear. If I say something like, “We’ve had some family issues that have been hard,” people tend to assume I’m getting a divorce or have cancer, which changes how they interact with me. If I tell the truth they almost always start crying, which makes me cry, and then the situation is derailed. What can I say that is true, and that also indicates they don’t really want to know more?
— SURVIVOR IN TENNESSEE
DEAR SURVIVOR: Please accept my deepest sympathy for the tragic loss of your first-born child. If someone asks what’s new or how you are, respond, “We’ve been through some trials and tribulations, but we’re moving forward.” If you are questioned further, simply say, “I’d rather not go into detail right now,” and change the subject.
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: Six months ago, my grandson, “Levi,” 23, told his father (“Alex”) and me that he wants no contact with us. Levi and his dad had an argument when Alex asked for help paying the utilities, since Levi and his girlfriend live rent-free in Alex’s house. Alex has tried to reach out to Levi through texting, but his texts are ignored. I tried sending texts and letters but received no response either.
My son is not perfect, but he has always been a loving and devoted father. Levi means the world to him, and this estrangement is causing Alex physical and mental health problems. I have always doted on my grandson and been warm and kind to his girlfriend, so we don’t understand why he turned on me, too. Should I keep trying to reach out, or accept that Levi does not want me in his life? Please advise.
— DISTRESSED GRANDMOTHER
DEAR GRANDMOTHER: Levi may be a young adult, but he’s acting like a spoiled child. His father’s request that Levi contribute to the cost of the utilities in the home where he had been living rent-free wasn’t unreasonable. I can only wonder where he and his girlfriend are now living and presumably getting a better deal.
Stop trying to reach out only to be rejected. When Levi grows up a little, or needs something else from you and his father, he will show up in your lives again. Right now, because Alex isn’t doing well, concentrate on your son’s health.
The Delco-set crime thriller Task came to a gut-wrenching end on Sunday, tying up loose plot lines, killing off the bad guys, catching the mole, and granting the most aggrieved characters happy endings.
The finale was also a real tearjerker, thanks to a profound and powerful performance by Mark Ruffalo.
The veteran actor, who recently joked about being in his “sad dad” era, is the central patriarch in a show that — underneath all the gunfighting and backstabbing — provides a brooding, layered examination of fatherhood in various forms.
Tom (Mark Ruffalo), Emily (Silvia Dionicio), and Sara (Phoebe Fox) in “Task.”
After months of wallowing in a Phillies souvenir cup full of vodka, Ruffalo’s Tom Brandis promises to be a better father to his adopted teen daughter Emily (Silvia Dionicio). To prove it, Tom steps up to deliver the long-debated family statement at his adopted son Ethan’s (Andrew Russel) court hearing, where he was being tried for accidentally killing his mother during a schizophrenic episode.
All season, Tom struggles to face Ethan. But he, finally, stops running away and tells the judge about the difficulties and joys of Ethan’s childhood before asking his son to look him in the eye.
“Ethan, I don’t want you to live with the shame anymore,” says Tom. “I forgive you. I love you. I’m not here today to tell the court when my son should be released. That’s not up to me. I’m here today to let you know, Ethan, that when that day comes, I’ll be ready. Come straight home. I’ll be there waiting for you.”
Meanwhile, Tom has acted like a father figure to another boy — Sam (Ben Doherty), the gentle boy who was kidnapped by Robbie (Tom Pelphrey). Tom, a registered foster parent, decides to bring Sam, an orphan, home from a shelter. They develop a close bond; though Tom insists that it’s a temporary situation, there’s a possibility Sam could stay with the Brandis family long-term.
Tom (Mark Ruffalo) and Sam (Ben Doherty) in ‘Task.’
When a family is found for Sam, though, Tom confronts the painful question of whether the boy should go. His priest friend Daniel (Isaach de Bankolé) suggests that Tom might not be in a good place to raise a young kid, especially once Ethan returns home.
“Have you done that good thing for the boy, or for yourself?” asks Daniel. He tells Tom to be “unselfish” with his love and “recognize that what’s best for you may not be what’s best for the boy.”
Ultimately, Tom makes the heartbreaking decision to let Sam go. It’s a plot choice that creator Brad Ingelsby fought to keep, though he anticipates it might upset some viewers.
“I’m a little nervous about the ending, because I feel like people probably want Sam to stay with Tom. But I also felt like the story was about Tom and Ethan, and that has to be what Tom is ready for at the end,” said Ingelsby, also the creator of Mare of Easttown. “We had to fight HBO on that.”
Executives at the network thought it would be better to end the finale after the courtroom scene, but Ingelsby believed that would be a “betrayal of Tom as a character.”
Brad Ingelsby in his office in Berwyn.
“I really wanted [Tom’s answer] to be, ‘No, I’m getting ready for my son. I’m not replacing him with this boy, who’s this cute little kid that everyone loves.’ Nope. We have to do something better than that,” said Ingelsby. “I’m sure we’ll catch some slack, like, ‘Why didn’t he just keep the boy?’ Which I know people will want — but I just couldn’t.”
Parenting requires sacrifice, and the fathers in Task exemplify that. Tom gives up Sam so he can dedicate himself to his biological daughter, Sara (Phoebe Fox), Emily and, eventually, Ethan. Robbie sacrifices himself to ensure that his niece Maeve (Emilia Jones) and his kids could live comfortably after his death. Within the biker gang, Perry (Jamie McShane), can’t bring himself to kill Jayson (Sam Keeley), whom he considers a son, despite receiving multiple commands to do so. Even after Jayson stabs him, Perry, with his dying breath, warns him of an impending betrayal.
It may be a bittersweet ending, but that’s just as Ingelsby intended.
MINNEAPOLIS — Eagles center Cam Jurgens exited Sunday’s 28-22 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the first quarter with a right knee injury, bringing his status for next Sunday’s rematch against the New York Giants into question.
Jurgens, who is in his second season as the starting center, appeared to sustain the injury on the first play of the game. Vikings defensive lineman Jonathan Allen fell on the back of Jurgens’ right leg on a Saquon Barkley run play. Jurgens immediately grabbed his knee.
But Jurgens stayed in for the rest of the scoring drive, which lasted 8 minutes, 1 second and included a Tush Push conversion on a fourth down. Jurgens returned for the Eagles’ second possession with a brace on his right knee. For the third drive, though, Brett Toth entered at center.
After the game, Toth said Jurgens is going to undergo an MRI to determine the extent of his injury.
“Obviously, he’s a fighter,” Toth said. “Tried going back out there, fighting with a brace on as well. And then just couldn’t keep fighting. It’s unfortunate. Things happen.”
With Landon Dickerson playing his first game in two weeks following an ankle injury, Toth had almost exclusively taken snaps at left guard in practice in the week before the Vikings game. He said he only took three reps at center in a walk-through.
Toth was critical of his play after the game. He acknowledged that he gave up a couple of tackles for loss in the run game and had close calls in pass protection, too. Toth also said Dickerson “saved my a—” at times throughout the afternoon.
“I’m very thankful for having Landon next to me as well,” Toth said. “He’s definitely the smartest guy in the room. Can help me as well because I had a lot of bad plays and a lot of mispointed plays that I need to work on. I think the biggest thing is as a unit, we stick together, find a way, get through it. I’m thankful for the guys that were around me.”
The Eagles offensive line has been hit throughout the season by injuries. Dickerson has been hobbled by meniscus and back injuries in addition to the ankle issue that forced him to drop out of the loss to the Denver Broncos two weeks ago and sidelined him last week. Lane Johnson left the Week 3 game against the Los Angeles Rams with a stinger and the Week 4 contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a shoulder injury.
Jurgens underwent back surgery in the offseason, an issue he acknowledged following the Broncos loss was “getting a little better” with every game. Still, Toth didn’t make excuses for the offensive line.
“It’s football,” Toth said. ”You look around the league as well, everyone handles injuries. You harp on the cohesion of the unit as a whole. Again, I can only speak for my part into how that reflected on a unit as a whole. I wasn’t good enough today and just got to keep getting better.”
MINNEAPOLIS — Jalyx Hunt dropped an interception last week and there were repercussions, even if he claimed that he never saw the ball. First came the teasing teammates, who wondered why the former college safety couldn’t catch the ball. Then came the coaching adjustment.
Eagles edge rushers don’t normally go through the full catch circuit drills during practices. They spend more time during individual drill sessions working on pass-rushing techniques. But after Hunt failed to pull in an interception in an embarrassing loss to the New York Giants, Nick Sirianni made the edge rushers go through the catch circuit during practice last week.
It paid off Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings when Hunt dropped into coverage early in the second quarter, picked off Carson Wentz, and returned the interception 42 yards to give the Eagles a 14-3 lead in a game they never trailed at U.S. Bank Stadium.
“I didn’t see last week’s,” Hunt said later. “Everybody made fun of me. I’ll take that to the chin. Can’t say nothing now.”
The spin through the catch circuit may be here to stay, Hunt said.
Hunt’s touchdown was the signature play for an Eagles defense that needed a bounce-back performance after it was bullied at times last week vs. the Giants. The Eagles weren’t perfect defensively Sunday, but they made impact plays when it mattered. They bent — the Vikings took six trips to the red zone — but they did not break. The Vikings kicked five field goals in those six trips.
Hunt is part of a maligned pass-rush unit that hasn’t gotten home consistently. After Za’Darius Smith’s surprise retirement last Monday following the mini-bye, Patrick Johnson was the lone healthy Eagles edge rusher with a sack this season. The Eagles entered Sunday with just nine sacks, and only six teams had fewer. They got key contributions in that regard from Moro Ojomo and Joshua Uche at pivotal points.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz tries to scramble away from the Eagles’ Moro Ojomo during the second quarter.
First up was Ojomo, an interior rusher. The Vikings were threatening to take the lead four minutes into the fourth quarter when Ojomo sacked Wentz for a 7-yard loss on a third-and-5 from the Eagles’ 10-yard line, forcing a field goal that kept the Eagles in front, 21-19. Then came Uche’s sack off the edge, again on a play from the 10-yard line, this time on a first-and-goal inside three minutes to play. Uche dropped Wentz for an 8-yard loss, and the Vikings eventually were forced to kick another field goal.
The Eagles entered Sunday ranked eighth in the NFL in red zone defense, having allowed touchdowns on only 52.9% of their opponents’ red zone trips.
“Everything gets tighter down there,” linebacker Zack Baun said. “It makes it hard to score, especially when you’re playing good defense.”
The Eagles had other key plays besides the sacks, like when Cooper DeJean broke up a sure touchdown from Wentz to Justin Jefferson in the end zone, another play that resulted in the Vikings eventually kicking a field goal — a four-point swing.
There were moving parts for much of Sunday, too. The Eagles inserted Nakobe Dean back into an off-ball linebacker role and moved rookie Jihaad Campbell to the edge for more snaps. Their edge rushing plans took a hit, too, when Azeez Ojulari went down with a hamstring injury in the first half and never returned. Baun said Campbell still saw a similar amount of edge work as planned, but the Eagles were down to three regular edge rushers for most of the game.
“It’s plug-and-play,” Baun said of all the moving parts. “All of us can play multiple different positions. Just let us know and we’ll go out there and do it.”
Hunt’s big play came in a non-rushing role, and showed that Vic Fangio, despite his defense’s mounting injuries, can still scheme ways to make a big impact. The Eagles showed a blitz and sent Baun from the linebacker spot. But they dropped Hunt and rushed four. The Vikings had Jefferson matched up with rookie safety Drew Mukuba — who also had a second-quarter interception — in the slot. Jefferson unsurprisingly beat Mukuba badly, but Wentz never saw Hunt.
The simulated pressure the Eagles showed also allowed Jalen Carter to not be doubled, and he was in Wentz’s face almost instantly and crushed the quarterback as he released the ball.
Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter pressures Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz during the second quarter.
Hunt started his college career at Cornell as a safety and said those skills help him in those spots.
“I’m way more comfortable than, I’d say, a lot of outside linebackers, especially in space,” he said. “I understand what routes might be going on behind me.” Hunt said he didn’t notice Jefferson matched up with Mukuba one-on-one in the slot. “I just know where I needed to be,” he said.
But even an undermanned pass rush found a way when it mattered to get to Wentz and help preserve an Eagles win.
Much has been made about the pass rush’s inability to get home at times. “Yeah, y’all have,” Hunt said when that fact was mentioned to him Sunday after the game.
“Not to listen to y’all and just to keep working,” he said when asked what Sunday showed. “We know it’s hard to get sacks in this league. They get paid, we get paid, and sacks take a lot of effort, a lot of scheming. You’ve got to be rushing the right way when your time comes, and the time came, Uche great rush off the edge, Mo with his brainpower.”
Players like to say sacks come in bunches, and time will tell if Sunday was the start of something more for a defense that needs to get going.
“They’re hungry,” Baun said. “They know where they’re at right now, the rush, and the linebackers as well, too, we haven’t gotten home too much either. We know where we’re at in that department and it just makes you hungrier to do it.”
There’s still a lot to improve on, Uche said.
“But it’s just great to have that spark,” he said. “Once you get a spark on it turns into a big fire, so we just got to keep rolling.”
DNA analysis confirmed that the body recovered in the woods behind Ada H.H. Lewis Middle School in East Germantown is that of Kada Scott, the young woman who officials say was kidnapped two weeks ago, law enforcement sources said Sunday, and new details emerged about what led investigators to find her corpse.
An anonymous tipster contacted police Friday night, adamant that Scott’s body was on the grounds of the school.
Police had missed it in their earlier searches, the tipster said, and they should look along the old wooden fence that divides the school from the recreation center next door, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
“GO BACK YOU MISSED HER,” the tipster wrote, according to the sources.
And so, investigators returned to the school on Saturday morning, freshly scouring an area police had focused much of their search efforts on throughout the week after cell phone location data placed Keon King — the man suspected of kidnapping Scott, 23, from her workplace on Oct. 4 — nearby on the night she disappeared.
Days earlier, they had found Scott’s debit card and pink phone case behind the school, but nothing else.
Sources say DNA evidence has confirmed that police discovered the body of Kada Scott in a wooded area near Awbury Recreation Center on Saturday.
Officers were walking through the densely wooded area again on Saturday afternoon, the sources said, when one stepped on a patch of earth that felt softer than the rest — leaves, sticks, and debris scattered loosely on top.
Police excavated the area, and, a few feet down, they found Scott’s body.
It’s not yet clear how she died. It could take days or weeks for the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of death.
But new video evidence suggests that Scott was likely killed within just 30 minutes of her leaving her workplace the night she went missing, the sources said.
The discovery of the shallow grave, two weeks after Scott disappeared, came after anonymous tips that grew more detailed with each passing day, the sources said, coupled with location data from Scott’s Apple Watch, and finally, new surveillance footage recovered near the school.
Scott, a vibrant young woman from the Ivy Hill section of Mount Airy, disappeared from her workplace, a nursing home in Chestnut Hill, on the night of Oct. 4.
Investigators believe she and King, 21, had been texting, and that night, she walked out of work to meet him shortly after 10 p.m. but never returned.
Police are still investigating the nature and extent of Scott’s relationship with King.
After detectives identified King as a suspect, they pored over the location data from his and Scott’s phones. It showed that King was the last person in touch with Scott on Oct. 4, that his phone traveled with hers briefly before her phone was turned off, and that he was in the area of Awbury Arboretum later that night, a law enforcement source said.
Late last week, police learned that Scott had been wearing an Apple Watch on the night she disappeared. Location data showed that, around 1 a.m., the watch was in the parking lot of the Awbury Recreation Center, said the source.
Police discovered a grave containing female human remains in the area of Ada H. H. Lewis Middle School, a closed school facility near the Awbury Arboretum in Germantown on Saturday.
Investigators went to the recreation center on Friday and recovered new surveillance footage that showed King pull into the parking lot around 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 4 in a Hyundai Accent that had been reported stolen, two sources said. He left the car there that night — most likely with Scott’s body inside, the sources said.
The footage appeared to show King return to the car two days later and retrieve and move what they believe to be Scott’s body, the sources said. It’s not clear whether he acted alone.
The next day, the sources said, the car was set on fire behind homes on the 7400 block of Ogontz Avenue. King’s cell phone data placed him there at the time of the blaze, the source said. (Police had initially been searching for a gold Toyota Camry that King was seen driving but no longer believe that car was used in the crime, the sources said.)
The district attorney’s office said prosecutors would wait for additional information from police and the medical examiner before determining whether to charge King in connection with Scott’s death.
King is expected to be charged with arson in the coming days for allegedly setting the car on fire in West Oak Lane, according to the sources.
Police don’t know the identity of the tipster who steered them to the location of Scott’s body. But if King had help moving it, the sources said, the accomplice may have confided in others, and one of those people may have contacted police.
The investigation is continuing.
Staff writer Maggie Prosser contributed to this article.
Michael Days, a pillar of Philadelphia journalism who championed young Black journalists and was beloved among reporters who worked for him at the Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer, died suddenly on Saturday at 72 in Trenton.
A devout Catholic who grew up in North Philadelphia, Mr. Days was instrumental in developing talent among Philadelphia’s journalism community, leading with a kind but direct approach that nurtured journalists and caused reporters to break out in spontaneous applause when he returned to the Daily News in 2011 after an interim stint at the then-rival Inquirer.
Mr. Days was also respected beyond Philadelphia, receiving Hall of Fame honors from the National Association of Black Journalists and the Pennsylvania News Media Association. He was a past president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ) and at the time of his death was president of NABJ-Philadelphia, which formed as an alternative to PABJ.
Mr. Days’ wife, Angela Dodson, said Sunday afternoon she was comforted by the outpouring of support and love from journalists who knew him.
“He was the kind of person who wanted to serve,” Dodson said. “People could talk to him, and he had something wise to say.”
Michael Days (right), Editor, Philadelphia Daily News and Trailblazer Award winner with his wife, Angela Dodson (left)
Dodson, a journalist and author, said she and her husband had a long-running disagreement over where they had first met. She believes it was in Rochester, N.Y., when they were working for rival newspapers. But Mr. Days believed he’d met her a year earlier, at an NABJ convention.
“People loved him,” Dodson said. “He commanded such respect that I used to say, people would elect him president of anything.”
In recent years, Dodson enjoyed listening as her husband took long phone calls from journalists seeking advice. “What we all need is somebody who listens to us, and he was a master at that,” Dodson said.
Former Daily News reporter and current Inquirer journalist Stephanie Farr recounted Mr. Days’ infectious laugh and his habit of adding Post-it notes to clips of reporters’ articles to tell them they had done a good job, sometimes with simple messages like “amazing quote!” that gave reporters a little extra pride in their work.
“You didn’t get one every day, but when you got one, you were on top of the world,” Farr said.
She still has a box full of these “Mike-O-Grams,” as they became known, and many others do, as well. “The small gestures, in the end, are really the big ones,” Farr said.
Tributes and condolences poured in Sunday from journalists who were shaped by Mr. Days’ leadership.
“It is with a very heavy heart that NABJ Philadelphia mourns the sudden passing of our President Michael I. Days, a respected journalist, mentor and cherished friend whose legendary career and commitment to excellence inspired us all,” wrote Inquirer education reporter and NABJ-Philadelphia Vice President Melanie Burney.
NABJ President Errin Haines said she first met Mr. Days when she moved to Philadelphia in 2015 to work for the Associated Press. Haines said she was struck by his seemingly boundless energy for helping younger reporters. She remembered him as a universally respected leader, and someone who had shown other Black journalists a path to success.
“It was seismic in the industry, and a huge point of pride for NABJ,” said Haines.
Philadelphia Daily News reporters Barbara Laker (left) and Wendy Ruderman, and editor Michael Days react as they hear the news that the two reporters won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.
As editor of the Daily News, Mr. Days played an essential role in the decisions that would lead to its 2010 Pulitzer Prize win for investigative reporting, said Inquirer senior health reporter Wendy Ruderman. She and her colleague Barbara Laker won the prize.
“You could walk into his office anytime and talk to him,” Ruderman said. “He just was very approachable — but also, you respected him.”
Ruderman recounted sitting in Mr. Days’ office late one evening, alongside Laker and a company lawyer, as they discussed whether to move forward with a story about a Philadelphia Police Department narcotics officer. The story, the lawyer said, stood a good chance of getting them sued.
With a “directness and sincerity” that were his hallmark, Mr. Days turned to the reporters.
“He said, ‘I trust my reporters, I believe in my reporters, and we’re running with it,’” Ruderman said. That story revealed a deep dysfunction within the police department, Ruderman said, and led to the newspaper’s 2010 Pulitzer Prize win.
Retired Daily News managing editor Pat McLoone remembered Mr. Days as a quietly authoritative presence, and a leader who brought elegance and class to everything he did — even as he had to preside over the early days of the news industry’s difficult shift from print to digital media.
“He was the best possible boss to work for,” McLoone said. “He was in the 100th percentile as a human being.”
Michael Days (far right) with other former presidents of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists in 2021. He served as president in the 1980s.
After graduating from Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, Mr. Days earned degrees from College of the Holy Cross and the University of Missouri. He worked at the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers before joining the Daily News as a reporter in 1986.
In 2011, Mr. Days was named managing editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he held several management roles until he retired in October 2020. Inquirer Editor and Senior Vice President Gabriel Escobar said Sunday that Mr. Days was a “leading light in Philadelphia journalism.”
“Mike was a son of Philadelphia, a believer in the power of journalism to do right, and a mentor to scores of young journalists who benefited over many decades from his attentive guidance,” Escobar wrote in an email to Inquirer staff. “He spent his life fighting for better journalism because he understood its limitations and, when it came to diversity, its flaws.”
After his own retirement, Mr. Days’ work mentoring Black journalists didn’t stop, said retired journalist Linda Wright Moore.
“He had all the things you need,” Wright Moore said. “He was steady. Principled. He could do tough. He balanced what the craft demands of all of us with the fact that we’re humans, and not perfect.”
Wright Moore had known Mr. Days when she was a columnist at the Daily News from 1985 to 2000. But they stayed in touch over the years and saw one another every year at the annual NABJ convention.
In August, the NABJ celebrated its 50th anniversary — a historic moment for the organization and for Wright Moore, whose late husband, Acel Moore, was one of the group’s founding members.
For her and Mr. Days, it demonstrated the significance of the group’s survival, a half century later, despite the ongoing dismantling of DEI programs at many organizations.
“I could just feel how proud he was to be there, to have made it to this point,” Wright Moore said.
Mr. Days is survived by Dodson, three adopted sons, Edward, Andrew, and Umi, and three grandchildren. Mr. Days is predeceased by his adopted son Adrian.
Services for Mr. Days will be held Oct. 25, at Sacred Heart Church, 343 S. Broad Street, Trenton, N.J. The Viewing will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. followed by Mass at noon.
Five games into the season, Matvei Michkov has one goal, which he scored Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets.
But more significant isn’t necessarily the goal, it’s that he played 18 minutes, 48 seconds. In the first three games of the season, Michkov ranked ninth in average minutes (14:26) among Flyers forwards who skated in all three, with only Garnet Hathaway below him.
On Saturday against the Minnesota Wild, Michkov was on the ice for 12:07, his lowest total since Jan. 30. Across his 80 games as a rookie, Michkov played fewer minutes four times. He was benched in the third period for the third game this season.
The 20-year-old winger did not play in the final 1:56 of regulation or in overtime in the loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. He did not play the final 7:43 against the Florida Panthers in the Flyers’ win on Monday. And on Saturday, he did not play the final 11:48 of regulation or in overtime.
“I know he’s the lightning rod for everybody around here,” said coach Rick Tocchet, who previously said that some of Michkov’s drop in ice time has been related to the Flyers taking so many penalties — and the winger is not on the penalty kill. “Just got to relax. He’s got to get himself into shape.”
Tocchet said last week that the Russian suffered an ankle injury this offseason. Michkov confirmed Wednesday through a team translator that he “was training in the summer, got a little injury, minor injury in the ankle,” and now is getting back into playing form.
Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov (center) celebrates his goal against the Jets with Owen Tippett (left) and Noah Juulsen.
Just over a week into the season, Tocchet is starting to sound like former coach John Tortorella, who would often stress that Michkov needed to be accountable on the ice and be a pro.
Under Tocchet’s defensive-zone system, wingers have a setup in which “the wingers really have your quadrant, and that’s kind of your job … Just got to make sure you’re in the slot, covering certain people, because you don’t want those slot shots.” But it is becoming clear that while Michkov is a high-end hockey player who sometimes sees the play two steps ahead, he often puts his team at a disadvantage by leaving the zone early.
“He’s been in video sessions asking the right questions, and he’ll tell you, ‘Yeah, no, I’m in the wrong spot.’ He’s just got to know when is the time to cheat and when not,” said Tocchet, who added that Michkov has gotten better at it and is working hard on supporting the puck.
“We don’t have the puck, you can’t be at center ice. That’s the rules of hockey. It’s black and white for me.”
Tocchet wants his players to go north and not dawdle. He clearly also wants Michkov to stop cherry-picking, hoping for an outlet pass that could spring him alone on the goalie. Saturday night, the Wild’s only goal was a clear example of the youngster misreading the play.
Earlier on the shift, when it was a 50-50 battle along the wall, Michkov cheated a little and drifted into the neutral zone — when it’s a 50-50 puck, it’s not as terrible — and he did come right back into the Flyers’ end. But the issue is that as Vladimir Tarasenko put his shot on goal from the blue line, Michkov was skating backward in the neutral zone. There was no clear indication the Flyers would get the puck back — and they didn’t.
This is about two to three seconds before the Vladimir Tarasenko goal last night. You can see Michkov is pretty far out of the zone as the Flyers don't have the puck in their own zone. You've got to think Tocchet wants more support there. Said Michkov has gotten better at it. pic.twitter.com/TDDTmKbMxk
“I’m not trying to change his whole game,” Tocchet stressed. “But he has to support the puck. That’s all. You can’t go away from the puck. You have to go to the puck, right? And there’s a lot of support issues. … He likes to play on the outside and kind of, he skates backward a lot when he gets the puck. I want him to skate forward. That’s the gift of him and he can make his plays.”
Thinking about transitioning to offense isn’t a bad thing, it just has to be at the proper time and place. Regardless of whether the Flyers would get the puck back on the shot by Tarasenko, it was sent too deep to make that read in that situation.
It happened again in the third period when Michkov misread the play as three Flyers went to Wild forward Ryan Hartman after a shot was blocked again by Jamie Drysdale. It was not a great read overall by the Flyers on the ice, but Michkov disappears off screen and, had he not, he would have been in a good spot for the errant pass by Hartman. Instead, it allowed Minnesota’s Jake Middleton to pinch in and keep the puck in the zone.
“We talk about everybody wants to win around here, and everybody wants to build a culture, and you’ve got to do that first, right? I’m a big believer in that,” Tocchet said. “And, yeah, not everybody’s a system guy. Now, you don’t want robots out there, and I don’t want them to be a robot, but there’s also things you have to participate on the team part.
“Everyone has to have somewhat the same standard. You can’t let people do what they want — then you’ll lose all the time. So that’s just we have to do. And there’s growing pains with it.”
Breakaways
Practice on Sunday had Owen Tippett on the top line with Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny. The trio finished the game against the Wild together when Tippett was elevated after scoring the tying goal. Michov was moved to the wing with Trevor Zegras and Christian Dvorak. Zegras and Michkov showed offensive chemistry in the preseason and Dvorak, a noted defensive-minded forward who has been playing center on the line, could provide needed support for the two creative forwards.
The Eagles finally are back in the win column, snapping a two-game losing streak with a 28-22 victory on the road in Minnesota, against former Birds quarterback Carson Wentz.
Here’s what you might have missed from the broadcast of the Eagles’ big win:
Tush Push
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has a new strategy to stop the Tush Push — have a defender lie down and roll into the center.
Greg Olsen, noted Tush Push fan, said rookie linebacker Tyler Batty was playing in his first NFL game after being activated from injured reserve this week. What an assignment for your NFL debut.
Brian Flores has the Nose Tackle “barrel rolling” into the Center to try and stop the Tush Push 🛡️ pic.twitter.com/VndwDsiM9P
“Making his NFL debut, the rookie out of BYU, Brian Flores says, ‘Hey, I’ve got a very interesting job for you today,’” play-by-play man Adam Amin said jokingly.
“Quite the meeting on Wednesday when you’re setting your Tush Push defense,” Olsen, the analyst, said.
Could Brandon Graham unretire and return to the Eagles? The Inquirer reported just before kickoff Sunday that Graham is “strongly considering” returning to help the Eagles’ depleted pass rusher room.
Just before kickoff, Graham’s Firstrust Bank commercial aired in the Philadelphia area. Is this a sign?
That said, he did give credit to Cooper DeJean for the pass breakup earlier in his analysis.
“Nine out of 10 times, Justin Jefferson comes down with it,” Olsen said. “They teach defensive backs, continue to fight through the hands all the way to the ground, Justin takes that left hand off the ball, and it’s just enough for DeJean to knock that ball loose.”
Getting knocked over on the sideline is an occupational hazard for any photographer or sideline reporter. This week’s victim? Fox’s Pam Oliver, who nearly got bowled over by Jefferson early in the third quarter.
Oliver managed to maneuver herself out of Jefferson’s way, and he profusely apologized getting up.
“If there’s one person on that sideline who cannot be run over, it’s Pam Oliver,” Olsen said.
“He was so polite, he said, ‘Are you OK?’” Oliver said. “I patted him on the helmet. I was glad I didn’t go down.”
Jalen Hurts was fantastic. He seems to always play his best when doubt seeps in about his abilities. He completed 19 of 23 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns and iced the game when he lofted a 45-yard strike to A.J. Brown. Hurts finished with a perfect 158.3 passer rating.
He may not always be great within structure, but he killed the Vikings when forced to extend plays in the second half. Hurts found receiver DeVonta Smith once for 28 yards, later for 21 yards, and Brown for 13 in between. The first two completions came on long third downs.
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Hurts followed the last scramble drill completion with a dart to Brown for a 26-yard touchdown. He hooked up with him to open the game on another scramble drill that resulted in a 37-yard score. There was a lull after that, but Hurts did what he does best with a 79-yard touchdown bomb to Smith to open the second half.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 19 of 23 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns against Minnesota.
Running back: B
It was another tough day on the ground for Saquon Barkley, but he ran hard. He finished with 44 yards on 18 carries. Barkley had a couple of shifty moves on a 7-yard rush in the second quarter. He also had his longest rush of 13 yards brought back by a holding penalty.
Barkley’s blitz pickup remained a problem. He got run over by Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson — and still held him — before Hurts got sacked in the second quarter. Will Shipley did better a series later, and Hurts was able to throw for a first down. Tank Bigsby had a carry on the Eagles’ first series that went 11 yards off tackle. AJ Dillon, a game after he fumbled, was inactive for the first time this season.
Cameron Latu was the lead blocker on a Barkley 5-yard run in the third quarter.
DeVonta Smith produced his second 100-yard receiving game of the season. He caught nine passes for a career-high 183 yards and a touchdown. He toasted former Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rodgers with a double move on the 79-yard touchdown.
Earlier, Smith failed to pull in a third-down jump ball over Rodgers in the first quarter, but it was high on the scale of difficulty.
A.J. Brown’s early touchdown was his lone target until the third quarter. He took advantage of great pass protection and released up field beyond man coverage for a 37-yard touchdown on the game’s first possession. Brown caught a 26-yard touchdown on an in-breaking route in the fourth quarter. His 45-yard grab at the end put him over 100 yards for the second time this season.
Tight end Dallas Goedert had a relatively quiet day as a receiver, catching three passes for 18 yards. With Grant Calcaterra (oblique) out, Kylen Granson, EJ Jenkins, andLatu handled second and third tight end blocking.
Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown catches the ball on his first-quarter touchdown reception.
Offensive line: B
Center Cam Jurgens was sidelined in the second quarter with a knee injury and was replaced by Brett Toth. Rookie center Drew Kendall was inactive as he has been for most of the season. Toth got bowled over on one of his first snaps and Barkley was dropped in the backfield. He couldn’t hold his block on a Barkley third-down run in the fourth quarter.
Landon Dickerson was back at left guard after missing the New York Giants game with an ankle injury. He had a clear-out lead block on an early Barkley carry and held up despite multiple nagging injuries. Right guard Tyler Steen’s holding penalty in the third quarter brought back a Barkley 13-yard run.
Tackles Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson didn’t allow much edge pressure in pass protection. Mailata did appear to get beaten on the blind side once in the fourth quarter. He also committed an early first-half holding penalty.
The O-line led the way on a successful fourth-down Tush Push on the opening drive, despite the Vikings laying a defender on the ground behind the ball. Brown’s false start denied a second try a drive later.
Fred Johnson was the sixth O-lineman on a couple of early runs, later setting up the bomb to Smith.
Defensive line: B+
The Eagles held Vikings running backs to just 3.2 yards a carry. The defense allowed running back Jordan Mason to rush five times for 34 yards to open the second half, but the group tightened the hatches down the stretch. The pass rush was effective early, then not-so-much for a period, until Moro Ojomo‘s third-down sack early in the fourth quarter forced the Vikings to settle for a field goal.
Jalyx Hunt had the early defensive play of the game with a second-quarter pick-six. The outside linebacker dropped into coverage and Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz threw it right to him. Hunt didn’t do as well the next time he was targeted in coverage, when some Minnesota trickery resulted in him committing pass interference.
The Eagles celebrates Jalyx Hunt’s interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Jalen Carter,who returned to the lineup after a one-game absence, hurried Wentz on the interception with an inside rush. He was credited with another hit just before the half. He broke through and forced Wentz out of the pocket before he threw his second pick in as many drives. Jordan Davis held up Vikings blockers before making two run stops near the line in the second quarter.
Azeez Ojulari went inside early with a hamstring injury, which forced an already-depleted edge rush corps to lean on Hunt, Joshua Uche, and Patrick Johnson. Uche delivered with a late sack.
Linebacker: A-
Rookie Jihaad Campbell played some outside linebacker for the first time this season. It allowed Nakobe Dean to take his first defensive snaps of the season at off-ball linebacker. Campbell had some edge-rush chances but didn’t get home. He finished with three tackles.
Dean finished with six tackles, including a run tackle for loss in the third quarter. He was behind only Zack Baun (10) in tackles. Baun was all over the field. He made a tough open-field tackle on a pass to the flat in the second quarter.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. injured an ankle on punt duty and never returned.
Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean (left) and linebacker Zack Baun stop Minnesota tight end T.J. Hockenson during the third quarter.
Cornerback: B
Adoree’ Jackson got the nod ahead of the benched Kelee Ringo. He didn’t allow much until Vikings receiver Jalen Nailor converted a third down in the third quarter. Jackson got up slowly and a play later suffered a game-ending concussion. That forced the embattled Ringo into action. A drive later, Vikings receiver Jordan Addison toasted Ringo on a 25-yard crossing route.
Quinyon Mitchell didn’t follow elite receiver Justin Jefferson. He wasn’t targeted much by Wentz, but his soft coverage in the fourth quarter allowed Addison a relatively easy 20-yard reception.
Cooper DeJean was up and down. He had tight coverage on Addison in the end zone on a Wentz my-guy-or-no-one overthrow in the first quarter. Playing on the outside, DeJean gave Jefferson too much space on an 18-yard slant route. He let Nailor get behind him for a 26-yard gain in the second quarter. He rebounded later in the possession, though, and broke up an end-zone corner fade to Jefferson.
Drew Mukuba notched his second career interception — another Wentz gift — when he played center field on an ill-advised, up-for-grabs toss. He later whiffed on a sideline tackle attempt and Jefferson turned what should have been a short catch into a 40-yard pickup.
Reed Blankenship played well. He got beaten by Addison on a third-down conversion in the red zone in the third quarter, but he kept the deep middle secure and chipped in with four run stops. The Eagles had a busted coverage when Addison got behind Mitchell in zone coverage for a 37-yard completion in the first quarter.
Eagles safety Andrew Mukuba picks off a pass by Minnesota’s Carson Wentz in the second quarter.
Special teams: B-
Xavier Gipson was active for the first time since he was acquired last month. He had five kick returns for a 25.6-yard average, while Shipley averaged 29 yards on two returns.
Kicker Jake Elliott was wide right on a 42-yard field-goal attempt for his first miss of the season. He made all of his extra points. Punter Braden Mann averaged 40 net yards on three boots. The Eagles didn’t have a single punt return.
Latu was flagged for an illegal combo block on a third-quarter Eagles kick return. The Eagles’ kick coverage unit allowed a 38-yard return to open the second half. Elliott’s next kickoff landed short of the landing zone and the Vikings had good field position at the 40.
Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown with coach Nick Sirianni late in the fourth quarter against the Vikings.
Coaching: B+
Coach Nick Sirianni has his team back in the winner’s circle after a two-game losing streak. It wasn’t pretty, but Eagles football during the Sirianni era rarely is. And that’s OK for now as the 5-2 Eagles continue their search for an offensive identity. It may just be relying on Hurts and the passing game.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo dialed up a strong opening script, with plays under center and a fourth-down dagger vs. single high man coverage that resulted in Brown’s 37-yard touchdown. But after that 12-play, 75-yard drive, the offense did very little before the half. The Eagles went three-and-out on their next three possessions, and Hurts was sacked twice before the break came.
Patullo had one of his better moments when he set up the Vikings with six O-linemen and used under-center play action to free up Smith on his 79-yard connection with Hurts. And he just let Hurts roll with it down the stretch and it worked, especially in crunch time.
Vic Fangio’sdefense did a lot of bending and benefited from Wentz’s miscues. But the Eagles were great in the red zone and forced the Vikings to kick five field goals on six possessions inside the 20.
