Sonny Jurgensen was an Eagle and a Redskin but never a saint.
It’s been about a week since the hedonistic Hall of Famer died at 91 and nearly 62 years since he departed Philadelphia for Washington in a trade that left the city’s bartenders as downcast as its football fans.
Thinking of Jurgensen now, I still conjure images of that flimsy helmet he wore with its single-bar face mask. I see him squirming in the pocket, quickly surveying the downfield action, then flicking those effortless passes to Tommy McDonald or Pete Retzlaff.
But I also still see, maybe more than in any other athlete from that era, his personal foibles. There was the booze, the pot belly, the mischievous smile, the postgame cigars that jutted from his mouth like middle fingers to those who disapproved.
Sonny Jurgensen was one of the NFL’s great characters of his era and went go on to achieve exalted status in Washington.
Jurgensen was one of the first Philly athletes whose lifestyle was as well-known as his talents. Throughout his seven seasons as an Eagle, the last three as a starter, Philadelphia was rife with whispered stories about the redhead’s off-field encounters. It hardly was a secret that he loved liquor, ladies, and last calls.
Like many of his early-1960s Eagles teammates, the native North Carolinian lived during the season at the Walnut Park Plaza hotel at 63rd and Walnut, just a short stagger from one of the team’s favorite bars, Donoghue’s. Jurgensen regularly showed up there as well as Center City spots like the Latimer Club and Jimmy’s Milan.
Another of his favorite haunts was Martini’s, an Italian restaurant and bar in Berwyn where he befriended the owner, Louie DiMartini. DiMartini’s son, Bill, remembered all the nights that his dad and “Uncle Sonny” showed up at their house.
“One night, my siblings and I were in bed when we were awakened by loud singing,” DiMartini said. “Sonny and my dad had just made up a song called ‘Pine Tree.’ The song had no other lyrics but ‘pine tree,’ and they went on singing it for hours.
“Another time, the Eagles couldn’t find Sonny; he hadn’t shown up for practice. We woke up to get ready for school, and as my older brothers went downstairs they found Sonny sleeping on the couch. My father told us, ‘You didn’t see anything.’”
I was a 12-year-old sports nut when I learned of Jurgensen’s off-field proclivities. For me, pardon the expression, it was a sobering experience, perhaps the first time I realized sports heroes weren’t gods.
Sonny Jurgensen led the Eagles to a 10-4 mark and was an All-Pro in 1961. After two more seasons he was traded to Washington.
If my memory is accurate, it happened on a morning in January 1962. The night before, my father, the sports editor of two Philadelphia neighborhood weeklies, had attended his first Philadelphia Sports Writers Association banquet.
I couldn’t wait to hear about it. So at 7:30 the next morning, when he got home from his full-time job as a Bulletin proofreader, I was waiting at the door. As I peppered him with questions, he handed me the event’s program. On its front page were the autographs he’d gathered from sports celebrities he’d encountered there — Gene Mauch, Sonny Liston, Mickey Mantle.
Clearly a little starstruck himself, he eagerly described Mantle’s Oklahoma drawl, Liston’s enormous hands, Mauch’s steely eyes.
Then I saw another signature, this one from Jurgensen, the spirited quarterback who’d just emerged as an NFL star after throwing a league-best 32 touchdown passes during the Eagles’ 10-4 season in 1961.
I awaited my father’s impressions. A virtual teetotaler, his tone shifted when he said, clearly disapproving, “I’ve never seen anyone drink so much.”
That was a jolt. Could a star quarterback be a drunk? That didn’t compute. It was, after all, the pre-Ball Four world of the early 1960s when most of us knew nothing about things like Mantle’s carousing or Liston’s mob connections. Sports writers of the era, many of whom partied just as hard as Jurgensen, shielded the athletes they covered.
My young mind’s palette worked in black and white only. There were no shades of nuance. Heroes had no flaws. Or so I believed. Was Jurgensen a drunk or a hero? He couldn’t be both. Was he the pure-passing machine who’d just thrown for an NFL-high 3,723 yards? Or was he no different from those lost souls my grandmother pointed out in warning whenever we rode the 47 trolley past Vine Street’s Skid Row.
Eagles players (from left) Sonny Jurgensen, Pete Retzlaff, Timmy Brown, and Tommy McDonald during the 1963 season.
I still wasn’t sure when in April 1964, 12 days after he dealt McDonald, Jurgensen’s partner on and off the field, coach/general manager Joe Kuharich shocked Eagles fans by trading the colorful QB to Washington. I wondered if it had something to do with the then 29-year-old’s lifestyle. And I wasn’t alone. Daily News columnist Jack McKinney gave voice to what many thought was behind the incongruous trade.
“Another theory is that Jurgensen’s off-field antics, something less than that of a Boy Scout leader, may have been a factor.”
That trade, which brought pedestrian QB Norm Snead here, was a bad omen. It launched one of the longest and darkest stretches in Eagles history. They wouldn’t reach the postseason again until 1978. In those 14 intervening seasons, the team amassed a combined record of 68-122-6.
With Jurgensen, meanwhile, Washington made five playoff appearances in that span, and in his first six seasons there, he was named first- or second-team All-Pro four times.
No matter the Washington coach, Jurgensen flourished. For three seasons, he clashed with prudish Otto Graham — “He likes candy bars and milkshakes,” Jurgensen said, “and I like women and scotch” — but twice led the league in passing yards. He got along famously with Graham’s successor, Vince Lombardi. Never prone to hyperbole, Lombardi once admitted that Jurgensen “may be the best the league has ever seen.”
And he was still pretty formidable after hours, too. He became a regular at such late-night D.C.-area establishments as the Dancing Club and Maxie’s. At least twice, he was charged with driving while intoxicated.
Sonny Jurgensen spent 11 seasons as a player in Washington and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.
Jurgensen ended his 18-year career in 1974 with the highest QB rating (82.62) of anyone in the pre-1978 era. Sometime in the 1980s he reportedly stopped drinking and for four decades was Washington’s drawling, plain-spoken radio analyst.
By then the NFL had changed. Its stars now endure round-the-clock scrutiny.
I’m not sure how Jurgensen would have dealt with social media, paparazzi, tabloid headlines. Would it have impacted his play? Would the DWIs have sent him to rehab? Would the whispers have become shouts?
In the end, I really don’t care.
I lost that sportswriters banquet program years ago. I lost a lot of that youthful righteousness, too. So from now on, in those corners of my mind where it’s always a sunlit Sunday at Franklin Field, I’ll remember Jurgensen simply as a gifted man with a child’s name who lofted all those beautiful spirals.
VENTNOR, N.J. — They demolished the existing boardwalk from the tennis courts to the fishing pier, north to south, and now they are building their way back up.
Financed mostly with federal funds granted to New Jersey from the COVID American Rescue Plan, Ventnor and other Shore towns like Ocean City, North Wildwood, Atlantic City, and Wildwood have set out to redo or upgrade their iconic pathways.
Ventnor is using $7 million in federal funds and bonded for about $4 million more, officials said.
Will this stretch of boardwalk reconstruction be done by Memorial Day?
Construction continues on the boardwalk on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in Ventnor City, N.J.
“It’s always a worry,” Ed Stinson, the Ventnor city engineer, said in an interview late last month. “We’ve had multiple meetings with the contractor [Schiavone Construction], one as recent as three weeks ago. In all the meetings, he’s said it’ll be complete and open before Memorial Day.”
The reconstruction has delivered a seven-block offseason interruption in a walkway that is popular year-round.
Work will stop for the summer, city officials say. In the fall, a second 13-block section, from Suffolk Avenue to the Atlantic City border at Jackson Avenue, will begin. There is currently no funding or plan for the boardwalk from Cambridge south to the Margate border, said Stinson.
The biggest change people will notice is that the original and distinctive angled herringbone decking pattern of the boardwalk is being replaced with a straight board decking. Ultimately, it came down to cost over tradition.
“There was discussion about it,” said Stinson. “There’s additional lumber that’s wasted when you do the herringbone, and the labor to cut that material. The additional material costs were significant. It’s a waste of tropical lumber. The only reason to go herringbone is tradition and appearance.”
The reconstruction has delivered a seven-block offseason interruption in a walkway that is popular year-round. Work will stop for the summer, city officials say.
Other differences are changes in lighting (lower, more frequent light poles) and some enhancements of accessible ramps. The existing benches, with their memorial plaques, will be back.
To demolish the boardwalk, the contractor cut the joist and the decking in 14-foot sections, “swung it around, carried it over to the volleyball court,” Stinson said, on Suffolk Avenue.
“That’s where they did their crushing and loading into the dumpsters. They worked their way down and followed that with the pile removing.”
The original herringbone pattern can be seen on the left, compared with the new straight decking pattern on the new construction side.
The other massive job was excavating the sand that had accumulated under the boardwalk. “They screened it, cleaned it, and put it down there,” on the beach in piles. It will be spread around above the tide line, Stinson said.
Once the excavation was down, the pile driving crew set out beginning at the south end and working their way toward Suffolk Avenue. “Then the framing crew came in and started framing,” Stinson said. On Feb. 2, the third team began its work: the decking crew.
The weather has slowed the pace, Stinson said. “They were doing about 20 to 24 piles a day,” he said, a pace that dropped to about nine piles a day after the snowstorm and ice buildup.
The framing crew installs pile caps, 8-by-14 beams that run across the boardwalk atop the pilings. The decking crew follows behind them, installing the wood, a tropical wood known as Cumaru. The use of Brazilian rainforest lumber at one time inspired protests, but that has not been an issue this time.
Construction continues on the boardwalk on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in Ventnor City, N.J.
Ventnor’s boardwalk, which links to Atlantic City’s famous walkway, dates to 1910. It was rebuilt twice before: once after the hurricane of 1944 and again after the March storm of 1962. Margate, on the southern end, never rebuilt its boardwalk after 1944.
Stinson said the tropical wood is noted for its “denseness and durability. It does not last forever.”
In all, $100 million of American Rescue funds was set aside by Gov. Phil Murphy for a Boardwalk Fund and awarded to 18 municipalities, including, as Stinson said, “anybody who has anything close to a boardwalk.”
Brigantine, with its promenade, received $1.18 million. Ocean City, in the process of rebuilding a portion of its north end boardwalk, received $4.85 million.
The two biggest recipients were Asbury Park and Atlantic City, each receiving $20 million. Atlantic City has completed a rebuilding of its Boardwalk to stretch all the way around the inlet to Gardner’s Basin. Wildwood, with $8.2 million, has undertaken a boardwalk reconstruction project, and North Wildwood, receiving $10.2 million, is rebuilding its boardwalk between 24th and 26th Streets, combining the herringbone pattern with a straight board lane for the tram car.
Although the timing of the reconstruction was no doubt prompted by the availability of the federal funds, Stinson said Ventnor’s boardwalk had shown signs of age.
“We’ve been into some significant repairs on the boardwalk,” Stinson said. “Those have increased every year. We were getting into pile failures. It was due. I don’t know if the city would have tackled it without the [federal] money.”
Ventnor’s boardwalk, which links to Atlantic City’s famous walkway, dates to 1910. It was rebuilt twice before: once after the hurricane of 1944 and again after the March storm of 1962.
We made it, folks. After 12 years, 4,371 days, a global pandemic-enforced false start, and a little late drama about whether the rink in Milan would actually be ready in time, best-on-best men’s Olympic hockey is officially back.
The puck drops Wednesday at Santagiulia Arena with Slovakia playing Rasmus Ristolainen and Finland (10:40 a.m., USA and Peacock), and host Italy facing off with Sweden (3:10 p.m., USA and Peacock) to begin the highly anticipated Milan Cortina Olympic tournament. On Thursday, the other eight nations are in action, including the United States and Canada.
With NHL players back in the Olympics, there are storylines aplenty as the tournament commences. Here are four things we are watching for in Milan.
Flyin’ high
The Flyers weren’t exactly flying high entering the Olympics, having lost 12 of 15 games, but they will still be well represented in Milan.
Defenseman Travis Sanheim will play for gold medal favorite Canada, while Dan Vladař (Czechia), Ristolainen (Finland), and Rodrigo Ābols (Latvia) were named to the rosters for their respective nations. Unfortunately for Ābols, who represented Latvia at the Beijing Games in 2022, he won’t be able to play in Milan after suffering a severe ankle injury in mid-January. Flyers coach Rick Tocchet will also be busy in the homeland of his parents, as he will serve as a jack-of-all-trades assistant on Jon Cooper’s Canada staff.
Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim (left) will play for Canada at the Olympics.
The Flyers connections don’t end there, as some old friends will be participating, some more well-remembered than others. Radko Gudas and Lukáš Sedlák will play alongside Vladař with Czechia, while ex-coach John Tortorella, who was fired in March, will be an assistant with the Americans under Mike Sullivan.
Last but not least, Pierre-Édouard Bellemare (yes, you read that correctly) will be captaining France. Now 40, Bellemare, who made his NHL debut at 29 and played three seasons with the Flyers (2014-17), will be the oldest men’s player at the tournament as France makes its return to hockey after a 24-year wait. France’s most decorated NHL player, Bellemare, told NHL.com the “Olympics are the highlight of a lifetime … by far.”
Simply the best
While Macklin Celebrini, 19, will be making his Olympic debut, and Sidney Crosby, 38, has famously done this before given his Vancouver heroics in 2010, there are so many players in their mid- to late 20s who will be participating in their first Olympics because of the NHL’s lack of recent participation.
That includes stars like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl, Auston Matthews, Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen, David Pastrňák, Jack Eichel, and so many others. Wow.
United States forward Auston Matthews takes part in practice Sunday in Milan.
Seeing a mostly full best-on-best tournament for the first time since the 2016 World Cup should provide some exhilarating hockey and drama, especially given how much the players have pushed for this over the past decade. The overall speed and skill the players possess has grown by leaps and bounds since the league last participated in 2014, and that should only enhance one of the top events of any Olympic Games, even with Russia and its star-studded roster led by Nikita Kucherov, Kirill Kaprizov, and Alex Ovechkin notably absent due to the country’s involvement in the war in Ukraine.
Heated rivalry
Last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off was designed to serve as a tasty hors d’oeuvre to the Olympics’ main course, and it left the dinner guests more than satisfied.
The NHL probably felt the tournament could be a modest success and help conjure up interest in the sport a year out from the Olympics. It exploded into something well beyond Gary Bettman’s wildest dreams, thanks in large part to three spirited bouts in nine seconds to begin a preliminary game between Team USA and Canada.
Fight Night at the Bell Centre, however premeditated it was on the U.S. side, and bolstered by the already tense political backdrop between the countries, went viral and put hockey in front of a whole world of eyes that it doesn’t usually reach. Canada would enact revenge in the final in overtime five days later, but a rivalry was renewed and the bad blood was boiled.
That rivalry, and the battle for hockey supremacy, will resume over the next few weeks in Milan as the United States and Canada seem to be on a collision course for the gold medal game. They have always been geographical rivals but never truly equals on the ice. Team USA has closed the gap on its northern neighbor, though, even to the point where a U.S. win could signal a changing of the guard to some. For the last 10 years, everyone has wanted to see the U.S. vs. Canada for all the marbles on the biggest stage. After last year’s two thrilling matchups in the 4 Nations, here’s hoping they get their wish.
United States coach Mike Sullivan skates with the puck during his team’s workout Sunday in Milan.
The American dream
Winners of two of the last three World Juniors and last year’s senior World Championship, and a few Jordan Binnington highway robberies away from 4 Nations glory, USA Hockey is sending its best-ever team to an Olympics and the message is clear: gold or bust.
On the surface, that goal might seem lofty for a U.S. team that hasn’t won gold since 1980’s Miracle at Lake Placid and that hasn’t won gold in the previous five tournaments when NHL players participated. But the Americans have been coming on for some time now and have long wanted a chance to prove they are not only Canada’s equals but have surpassed them at their own game.
After a close call at the 4 Nations, the Tkachuk brothers are back to wreak havoc as they look to unseat Canada as international hockey’s top dog.
Last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off did nothing to quell those ambitions, as the U.S. beat — and beat up — Canada on Canadian soil in the preliminary round before going toe-to-toe with the star-studded Canadiens in a nail-biter of a final. That one ended with a McDavid overtime winner that was probably a bit harsh given the quality of the Americans’ chances and Binnington’s heroics in goal. Add that Team USA’s best defenseman, Quinn Hughes, was unavailable for the tournament, and that one half of the Bash Bros., Matthew Tkachuk, was severely hobbled and mostly relegated to a cheerleader from the bench, and the U.S. has reasons to be confident. Add Canada’s uncertainty in goal and the case for the U.S. gets even stronger.
Canada is still a slight betting favorite thanks to names like McDavid, MacKinnon, Makar, and Crosby, but many think this could go either way, and with the Russians not involved and Finland and Sweden decimated by injuries in the lead-up to the tournament, this seems like the likeliest final.
Can the U.S. team get over the line this time against its archrival and claim hockey’s heavyweight title belt? If it does, there won’t be an underdog movie that begins with an “M” this time around.
A student-made sign hangs in the Conwell Middle School auditorium. The Philadelphia School District is attempting to close Conwell, a magnet 5-8 school in Kensington, and 19 other schools. The community is fighting the closure.
Conwell, in Kensington, is a very small school by any standard. This year, just 109 students are enrolled in a building that holds 500. That’s down from 490 students in the 2015-16 school year and 806 in 2009-10. The school used to occupy two buildings; it has since shrunk to one.
But it is also a rarity — a standalone magnet middle school. Community members and local officials are mounting a fight against closing the school, which they say has committed teachers and staff members who help students excel against the odds.
The district’s plan, which the school board is expected to vote on this winter, calls for Conwell students to move to AMY at James Martin, another citywide admissions magnet in Port Richmond, which just opened in a new building with only 200 students. Meanwhile, the district has proposed closing its only other free-standing magnet middle school, AMY Northwest. No changes have been proposed for Philadelphia’s four other magnet middle schools, all of which are attached to high schools.
Neighborhood issues, enrollment declines
Conwell’s enrollment issues are tied closely to its setting.
The building sits on Clearfield Street in the heart of Kensington. Fewer and fewer parents have been choosing to send their kids into ground zero of the city’s opioid epidemic, despite Conwell’s myriad partnerships, the outside investments it has attracted into its facility in recent years, and the school’s long history of excellence.
The exterior of Conwell Middle School in Kensington, photographed in August.
Parents, neighbors, students, and politicians, however, are furious that the district is choosing to abandon Conwell and the neighborhood.
“If this school closes, it won’t just be students who feel the loss,” Conwell student Nicolas Zeno told officials at a district meeting Thursday. “It’ll be the community. If the concern is safety, then invest. If the concern is environment, then repair.”
Community member Vaughn Tinsley, who runs Founding Fatherz, a nonprofit mentoring group, suggested closing Conwell would harm its students.
“These students have been victims,” Tinsley said. “These students have seen and witnessed things they shouldn’t have witnessed. Most adults haven’t seen some of the things that these kids have seen, and yet still they come here, yet they’re still committed to excellence, yet they still stand up and still do what they’re supposed to do in the classroom. How dare we take that away from them?”
Watlington has proposed using Conwell as “swing space” — district property that other schools can move into temporarily if their buildings require repairs.
Tosin Efunnuga, Conwell’s nurse, wiped tears from her eyes as she beseeched district officials to keep the school open.
“To have those doors close would be such a disservice,” Efunnuga said. “We need 100 years more.”
Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, whose district includes Conwell, said she was “angry” and “frustrated” by the recommendation to close the school.
“It’s underutilized because of what’s happening on the outside,” Lozada said at the Conwell meeting. “There’s nothing wrong with what is happening on the inside other than successful academic learning, support for families. We are saying to these families, we are punishing them because as a city, we can’t respond to the public safety issues that we have on the outside, and that is just not fair.”
‘What are y’all doing?’
Emotions ran high inside the Conwell auditoriumlast week.
Even before Deputy Superintendent Oz Hill finished his presentation about the rationale for the closures and the specific plan for Conwell, parents burst out with concerns.
“What are y’all doing? Y’all making a mess,” one parent shouted. “You say the building is old. So what? It’s clean in here.”
Another said her child would not be going to AMY at James Martin, formerly known as AMY5.
“I don’t think you understand how much of a battle there is between Conwell and AMY5,” the parent said. “You don’t know the battles these kids have with each other.”
Conwell has a strong alumni network — a rarity for a middle school — that has turned out in force to support the school since the proposed closure was announced.
Alexa Sanchez, Class of 2017, grew up in Kensington and came to Conwell as a bright but unruly student — sheacknowledges that she got in fights, egged the school, and disrespected teachers. But Conwell is rooted in its neighborhood, Sanchez said, with dedicated staff who helped her rise to earn a college degree and a good job in business.
“They didn’t give up on students like me,” Sanchez said. “My future didn’t look promising at first, but in the long run, it did. You shouldn’t really close the school on a community that doesn’t look promising if you’re not from here.”
Other alumni, including Robin Cooper, president of the district’s principals union, and Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, chair of Council’s Education Committee, have spoken out for Conwell.
Conwell “shows up” for Kensington and the city, running a food pantry, hosting Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel’s swearing-in ceremony and an event marking Cherelle L. Parker’s 100th day as mayor, noted Erica Green, the school’s award-winning principal. Staff and students participate in neighborhood cleanups and advocate for help amid the opioid crisis.
“We are what the city needs,” Green told the school board recently. During Green’s tenure, she has helped win money for a new schoolyard, a new science, technology, engineering, and math lab, and more.
“These investments were made for Kensington students,” Green said. “We owe it to them, to their neighborhood. Do not push them out once the neighborhood changes and thrives. Conwell’s success is rooted in its people, its history, and its impact.”
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker speaks during an event to mark her 100th day in office at Conwell Middle School in Kensington in April 2024.
Andrew Kuhn dropped the final score of Ancillae-Assumpta Academy’s seventh- and eighth-grade basketball game into the family group chat last month. He wanted to make sure his 16-year-old son Cole knew that 13-year-old Gavin played well.
The older son responded with an update of his own: a video of him throwing a 101.7-mph fastball.
“New Year’s resolution,” Cole Kuhn texted the family.
Kuhn went to St. Joseph’s Prep on a partial music scholarship — he has played the double bass since the fourth grade — and failed to make the JV baseball team as a freshman. Now he was showing his family that he could throw a fastball harder than most major leaguers.
The teenager from Elkins Park is one of the nation’s top high school pitchers with a scholarship to Duke University and is already being scouted for the 2027 Major League Baseball draft. He’s pitched in just a few varsity high-school games but a triple-digit fastball is enough for scouts to dream on.
And it all happened so rapidly; about as fast as the pitches the 6-foot-6 teenager fires from his right hand.
Kuhn was throwing 90 mph in January 2025 when he enrolled at Ascent Athlete, a training center in Garnet Valley that looks like a baseball laboratory. High-tech cameras measure Kuhn’s movements on the mound, a team of coaches studies his mechanics, and he learns in real time how many RPMs his fastball registers. Big league players work out in the morning before high schoolers filter in in the afternoon.
A fitness center upstairs is focused on plyometrics and a computer connected to the batting cages allows a hitter to see how his swings would fare in a big-league park. A dry-erase board near the entrance lists the fastest pitches thrown at Ascent divided into three categories: pro, college, and high school.
“Where do you stack up?” the board says.
A whiteboard shows the top pitching speeds at Ascent Athlete in Garnet Valley, with Cole Kuhn on top at 101.7.
Kuhn, first in the high school column by more than 5 mph, has the fastest pitch.
The facility is open six days a week and Kuhn is there nearly every day, often finding someone on Sundays to unlock the door when the lab is closed. His 101.7-mph fastball did not happen by accident.
“Without question, that place is the single biggest driving force behind his major jumps over the last eight months,” said Kuhn’s mother, Tonya Lawrence. “They’re comprehensive, they’re involved, and they know what they’re doing.”
Scott Lawler, the general manager of Ascent, called Kuhn “a unicorn.” Lawler, who played at Bishop Kenrick High in the 1990s, has never seen a high school arm like this. There is no denying the promise of Kuhn’s right arm, but he is also just a kid who does not yet have a driver’s license.
Andrew Kuhn picked his son up from a friend’s house after Cole threw that 101.7-mph fastball and shook his hand. Two years earlier, Kuhn was nervous to tell his father that he wanted to play winter baseball instead of freshman basketball at the Prep. His parents played college hoops and he thought he’d disappoint them if he didn’t play.
This was not their journey, Andrew told him. This was Cole’s. The son has led the way ever since as he charted his path to that fastball. Dad was proud.
“I said good job,” Andrewsaid. “Then that was about it. Then it’s get home, walk the dogs, have dinner. You’re not all that. You still have chores. Who knows? This whole thing might fall apart at some point. You have to be prepared. You’re not just a baseball player.”
From left: Cole Kuhn with his father, Andrew, brother, Gavin, and mother, Tonya Lawrence.
Ballet to baseball
The letter in Cole Kuhn’s folder as a second grader at Myers Elementary School advertised a ballet class for boys in Jenkintown.
“He was always the kind of kid who if you said, ‘Do you want to try this?’ He would say, ‘Sure,’” Tonya said.
So they signed their son up for ballet at the Metropolitan Ballet Academy where the teachers were strict and timeliness was prudent.
“Six years later, it was clear that he benefited from it,” Tonya said. “Discipline, core strength, grace under pressure. This studio was serious. It was the real deal and we didn’t know that. It just came home in the afternoon packet.”
Kuhn started playing the piano in kindergarten, picked up the double bass in elementary school, and took six years of ballet. He played baseball in the spring, swam in the summer at a public pool, played soccer in the fall and basketball in the winter.
“We tried to get our kids to do everything and then decide what sticks,” Tonya said. “We believe that variety is good for the brain and the body and the mind.”
Andrew and Tonya never intended to build a baseball prodigy. But perhaps keeping him well-rounded — from ballet to baseball — helped Kuhn blossom into the pitcher he is now. He was 15 years old when his fastball reached 90 mph and Tonya said that moment was like an “epiphany” for her son. He now believed he could do this. Kuhn told his parents he wanted to focus solely on baseball.
“It’s not like we’ve been pushing him or somehow training him to hit 90 mph. It wasn’t even on our radar. It just happened,” Andrew said. “In the big picture, it’s really about exercise, friendship, and competition. Then, who knows? Hopefully it’s intriguing enough and interesting enough that kids want to stick with it. We want our kids to be well-rounded and respectful and to try their best.”
Cole Kuhn trains at Ascent Athlete.
Charting his path
Kuhn told his father last year that he wanted to train at Ascent after meeting Lawler at an event. Many of Kuhn’s Prep teammates were already there and the pitcher thought it was where he needed to be.
Lawler played minor-league ball and coached in college. Jeff Randazzo, Ascent’s owner, was a star at Cardinal O’Hara and is now an agent for major league ballplayers. They have a glistening facility and the connections a player needs to reach the next level.
“This whole world ties together between how you train, who you play for, and who you play in front of,” Lawler said.
Andrew said OK but told his son that he would have to inform his coach in Ambler that he was leaving.
“Ambler did so much for him so you can’t just send a text that you’re leaving,” Andrew said.
So Andrew stood with his son after the team’s final practice and listened to Cole break the news. Andrew played basketball at Franklin & Marshall and Tonya played hoops and lacrosse at Yale before playing basketball professionally overseas. They want their son to make his own decisions, which means working up the courage to explain to someone why you’re leaving.
“That was taking responsibility for the choices you’re making,” Andrew said. “He did it face-to-face. It was hard and emotional for him to leave, but he knew in his own mind that that was the path for him. Cole told him, ‘My dream is to get to MLB and I think the best path for me to get there is to switch to Ascent.’ I was like, ‘Oh, Cole. You sure you want to say all that to this?’”
Kuhn was paired at Ascent with David Keller, the facility’s director of pitching development. Keller pitched at Lock Haven University, where he delved into the data-driven methods that have overtaken baseball since the early 2000s. He put Kuhn on a throwing program and told him that his work upstairs in the weight room was just as important.
Cole Kuhn works with Francisco Taveras, the assistant director of Sports Performance at Ascent Athlete.
Kuhn gets a ride after school to Ascent from Prep senior Mihretu Rupertus — “I tell him, ‘You treat that dude to anything he wants at Wawa,’” Tonya said — and is given a checklist of exercises to do. He gained 35 pounds from working at Ascent, filling out his towering frame.
Kuhn’s fastball took off as he hit 95 mph last July at an event in Georgia. He pitched six innings, showing he could do more than just light up radar guns. The college coaches watching took notice. The pitcher who studied ballet was suddenly a can’t-miss prospect.
“That was for me when I said, ‘This kid is going to be really, really good,’” Lawler said.
Facing adversity
Kuhn’s phone buzzed exactly at midnight last summer when college coaches were first allowed to contact him. First was Miami. Then Texas Tech. More than 30 schools called that day. A few months earlier, Kuhn was hoping to play college ball at a small school with strong academics. Now the big programs were chasing him. It was a whirlwind.
He flew the next weekend with Tonya to California for the Area Code Games, a premier showcase event for the nation’s top players. It was Kuhn’s chance to show how special his arm was.
“He couldn’t get out of the first inning,” said Andrew, who watched from home on a livestream.
Kuhn, pitching in perhaps the biggest event of his career, struggled. The same coaches who contacted him days earlier were now backing off. Tonya told him afterward to forget about them.
“My line of work may be particularly suited to what was happening, but I am his mom,” said Tonya, who is a child psychiatrist. “It’s hard to watch, but it’s so much part of the game and part of life. I appreciate that that’s what happened. Maybe not at that moment, because seeing your kid struggle is hard. But I knew he was going to be fine. If people see an outing and say they’re no longer going to be behind the kid, then I don’t want my kid playing for that program. That was easy for me. In a weird way, I’m glad it happened. Not only for mental toughness but to kind of weed out people.”
Kuhn returned home, took a few days off, and then returned to Ascent. He kept working. There are going to be some bad days, his father reminded him.
“I always tell him that I’m happy for him when things go well,” Andrew said. “But really I’m only proud of the work that he does on a weekly basis. And because he’s such a grinder, it’s going to work out. And if it doesn’t at some point? Yeah, you can pivot. He has battled through tough things along the way.”
Cole Kuhn’s father, Andrew, says he’s “proud of the work that [Kuhn] does on a weekly basis. And because he’s such a grinder, it’s going to work out.”
Staying healthy
They didn’t measure launch angles or even know how hard an opposing pitcher was throwing when Lawler was playing at Kenrick.
“It was ‘I hit the ball hard. Everyone is swinging and missing against this guy who looks like he’s throwing hard,’” Lawler said. “But we didn’t know how hard it was or how far it went.”
The new ways of instruction are great, Lawler said, as the real-time information provides instant feedback and allows for coaches and players to make corrections in the moment. He can study the movement on Kuhn’s fastball and tell the catcher where to keep his glove. But there’s also a need to manage the information that players see.
“We have to train the kids to not obsess over it,” Lawler said.
Kuhn said he likes to know how many RPMs his fastball has so he knows if he’s generating enough spin on his pitches. But he doesn’t chase the numbers. On the day he threw 101.7, Kuhn was actually working on developing a cutter. The triple-digit fastball just happened. On the mound, he said, he’s focused on the batter and not the data.
Major league evaluators — including Phillies general manager Preston Mattingly — came to Ascent last month to watch Kuhn pitch. Kuhn said it was exciting but the attention didn’t faze him. He’s committed to Duke, but things could change before he’s eligible to be drafted in July 2027. He’ll likely have a choice to make: Go to college or turn pro. First, he has to stay healthy.
“I don’t want him to feel like he has this golden arm and that’s the only thing that matters,” Andrew said. “But it is concerning. The whole thing about how many Tommy John surgeries there are and using the technology input to throw faster and faster, it’s a little worrisome. But it’s just, ‘Slow down.’”
Randazzo said it was no surprise that Kuhn hit triple digits as he has the frame (6-6 and 230 pounds) and arm speed to do so. But it was a slight surprise that it all came together nearly two years before he could get drafted. Now what?
“It’s very common these days with Tommy John surgery and injury in general,” Randazzo said. “You do have to find that balance with still being a normal 16-year-old kid. You want to tread lightly with it, but you also don’t want to put him into a bubble. You just have to be methodical about it with arm care and rest. It’s not a carnival game that this kid is throwing hard. It’s real. There’s no crystal ball with it.”
Cole Kuhn has committed to Duke, but things could change before he’s eligible to be drafted in July 2027.
Kuhn’s fastball has spiked at Ascent, but he said the facility does not simply try to build velocity. The pitcher said it’s instead a result of everything else. He has a nutritionist, follows a workout regimen, and is already built like a major leaguer. The facility limits how often he can throw, knowing that overextending him as a teenager could hurt him in the future.
“You can never 100% prevent injury or setbacks,” Keller said. “But it is important that every day, everything we do contributes to his long-term health. We track all his volume, his intensity, his velocity, and how many times he throws. We want him to get to where he wants to be as safely as possible while also challenging him.”
Big-league dreams
A few days after Kuhn hit 101.7 mph, he marveled to his father how his fastball was nearly as fast as pitches thrown by Phillies closer Jhoan Duran.
“Yeah, it’s cool,” Andrew said. “But it’s not just a carnival trick. You have to make sure you’re doing everything to stay healthy.”
Three years ago, Kuhn failed to make the JV baseball team. And now he’s able to compare himself to big leaguers. It all happened so fast. He’ll pitch this spring for St. Joe’s Prep and spend the summer playing with Ascent’s travel team. He’ll have the chance to prove he can harness his triple-digit fastball. The attention, Kuhn said, has been fun.
“This is like the best part of my life, honestly,” Kuhn said. “It’s only up from here. I’m really excited.”
In just a few years, he could be pitching in the majors. Maybe they’ll even turn the lights off like they do for Duran when Kuhn comes to the mound with a triple-digit fastball. It’s easy to imagine it all when you’re throwing 101.7 mph. First, he has to get his driver’s license. And that will be something he can text the family group chat about.
“He has a lot of supporting characters helping him get to where he’s hoping to go,” Tonya said. “For many boys in the world, it’s MLB, the NBA, or the NFL. I can’t even believe that this might happen. I’m still in awe. I continue to just be incredibly proud of the kinds of things that he’s doing and setting goals and reaching them left and right.”
In 1985, when Chris and Cynthia Swayze found a three-story colonial on 32 acres of farmland in Central Bucks County, they knew they were facing a challenge. The house, built in the late 1700s, was in disrepair. They also had no farming experience.
But they saw the home’s potential.
“We felt it was a diamond in the rough,” said Chris, a retired engineer.
The home’s prior owner, who had lived there for 40 years, had died. The Swayzes bought the house from her nephew, who shared her history.
The front of the Swayze home and the garage. The house was built in the late 1700s.
“She had one of the original Sylvan pools, and the neighborhood kids learned how to swim in it,” Chris said.
She raised miniature collies on the property and the yard was littered with the remains of chain-link kennels. The collies also left their mark on the floors.
The windows, original to the house, had no screens, and the basement had a pile of coal left over from before the furnace was converted from coal to oil.
The Swayzes immediately got to work cleaning the overgrown property. They removed plaster that had been set over the home’s exterior fieldstones — in vogue in the 1700s. They refinished all the floors, painted, installed air-conditioning, and fixed the pool.
The chicken coop in the backyard.The house is surrounded by 32 acres of land.The dining room and sitting area, with details and decor that evoke the home’s history.A framed map of Philadelphia the Swayzes found when making a home repair.
With no experience in farming, they partnered with a local farmer. Initially he planted corn and soybeans in two back fields. Today they grow hay in those fields. Seven chickens keep them supplied with fresh eggs.
Over the decades, the couple made structural changes, including an addition to the back of the house and a kitchen expansion. Those projects increased the home’s size from roughly 3,000 square feet to about 6,500 square feet, including five bedrooms and four bathrooms. Two of the bedrooms are en suite and include sitting rooms.
The kitchen, which had been a tiny room with a freestanding stove, free-standing refrigerator, and a couple of cabinets with a sink base, saw the greatest transformation. During two separate renovations, they moved a staircase that connected the kitchen to the basement, took down a wall, and broke through an existing kennel to expand the space.
They added cabinets and counters, a peninsula, built-in appliances including a Sub-Zero refrigerator, and a professional range hood. Beyond the kitchen they created a new entrance, vestibule, and pantry. The expansive kitchen also includes a fireplace and a conservatory-style glass roof that they call the “party hat.”
Chris and Cynthia Swayze made significant changes to their kitchen, enlarging it and adding modern appliances.The conservatory-style glass roof above the dining area.
“We have heat lights under the range hood that keeps food warm,” said Cynthia. “It’s the one thing I can’t live without.”
During a separate renovation, an addition was put on the back of the house with a primary bedroom suite, family room, and finished basement.
Their daughter, Rebecca Nolan, co-owner of Home Tonic in Newtown, designed the interior in a traditional style. The home is filled with ornate chandeliers, intricate woodwork, and walls awash in rich colors as well as bold, colorful, patterned wallpapers.
The puzzle room, where grandson Luke also enjoys playing chess.Assorted porcelain jars on top of a cabinet in the family room.
One of Cynthia’s favorite rooms is the guest room, painted in a deep chocolate brown, with a custom canopy over the bed.
“I wanted it to feel really cozy, like when you got into that bed you were surrounded by a big hug,” she said.
The puzzle room is where Cynthia and her grandson Luke, 8, hang out. In addition to working puzzles, he’s teaching her how to play chess.
A framed map of Philadelphia on linen, dated 1809, hangs in the basement. They found it in the garage attic when repairing a leak, and were amazed that it had survived.
A pond and many tall trees are on the property.
The home’s expansive grounds offer a breathtaking view from the patio, accessible from the kitchen’s French doors. The peaceful vista includes sights of the swimming pool, pond, chicken coop, fields, and lots of open space. Chris especially appreciates the gigantic ash tree they’ve been treating for ash bore.
“From the circumference we’ve determined it’s over 200 years old,” said Chris. “We appreciate the history that Central Bucks County has to offer.”
Is your house a Haven? Nominate your home by email (and send some digital photographs) at properties@inquirer.com.
ColeKuhn went to St. Joseph’s Prep on a partial music scholarship. He had played the double bass since the fourth grade.
He also did other extracurriculars as kid, like ballet, basketball, soccer, and baseball. However, he didn’t make the junior varsity baseball team as a freshman.
Now, the 16-year-old is throwing a fastball harder than most major leaguers. You may have seen the viral video, if not, here’s the gist of it: Kuhn was throwing 101.7 mph and has quickly emerged as one of the nation’s top high school pitchers.
He holds a scholarship to Duke and is being scouted for the 2027 Major League Baseball draft.
This all happened so rapidly — almost as fast as the pitches the 6-foot-6 teenager throws from his right hand. But it did not happen by accident. Kuhn is enrolled at Ascent Athlete, a training center in Garnet Valley that looks like a baseball laboratory.
And some say it’s why Kuhn has progressed so quickly on the mound: “Without question, that place is the single biggest driving force behind his major jumps over the last eight months,” Kuhn’s mother says.
Read more from Matt Breen’s intriguing piece about a young pitcher charting his path to becoming a baseball prodigy.
Sonny Jurgensen, running for a first down against the Vikings at Franklin Field on Dec. 15, 1963, played in 83 games as an Eagle between 1957 and 1963.
It’s been nearly a week since Sonny Jurgensen died at 91 and nearly 62 years since he departed Philadelphia for Washington in a trade. Jurgensen played the first seven seasons of his Hall of Fame career with the Eagles.
Thinking of Jurgensen now, he had a knack for quickly surveying the downfield action, then flicking those effortless passes to Tommy McDonald or Pete Retzlaff. But I also still see, maybe more than in any other athlete from that era, his personal foibles, writes Frank Fitzpatrick.
There was the booze, the mischievous smile, the postgame cigars that jutted from his mouth like middle fingers to all those who disapproved. He was one of the first Philly athletes whose lifestyle was as well-known as his talents.
What we’re…
👕 Buying: The Union unveiled a new home kit to illustrate and honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
🏀 Sympathizing: Jared McCain shared an emotional reaction to being dealt to the Thunder, a trade that came as a surprise.
📺 Watching: AmericanspeedskaterJordan Stolz and Chloe Kim in action on Wednesday during the Winter Olympics.
🏈 Learning: The Eagles are bringing back assistants Jemal Singleton and Aaron Moorehead to their offensive coaching staff.
Jabari Walker has exhausted the maximum 50 games for which he is allowed to be active for the Sixers while on his two-way contract.
Jabari Walker, the Sixers reserve forward who spent his first three seasons with the Trail Blazers, was unable to play in his former NBA home on Monday. That’s because he exhausted the maximum 50 games for which he is allowed play on a two-way contract. However, Walker is remaining optimistic that a deal to convert his contract to standard will be figured out soon.
Also, the Sixers signed former Bulls swingman Dalen Terry to a two-way contract. The 6-foot-6 swingman was recently waived by the New Orleans Pelicans.
Travis Sanheim grew up in Elkhorn, Manitoba, where he worked on his parents’ grain farm.
Travis Sanheim has gone from nearly being traded three years ago to the Flyers’ unquestioned best defenseman. You can also add Olympian to his resumé after he was named to Team Canada at the turn of the year.
But Sanheim’s story isn’t the normal one for a Canadian Olympian. In fact, he’s about as big a long shot as one can be, given that he grew up in a town of 500 people in Manitoba and spent his spare time working on his parents’ grain farm, Jackie Spiegel writes.
Speaking of the men’s Olympic tournament, which begins on Wednesday, here are four things to watch for, including a potential Canada vs. U.S. rematch in the gold medal game.
Sports snapshot
New Penn State field hockey coach Hannah Prince talks with her team. Prince joined the Nittany Lions after leading St. Joseph’s to the NCAA Tournament in each of her four seasons on Hawk Hill.
Winning ways: Hannah Prince led St. Joe’s to the NCAA Tournament in field hockey. She hopes to do the same now at the helm for Penn State.
Creating culture: Matt Campbell believes building a strong program starts with “aligning the team.” His new QB will be expected to help with that.
Another attacker: The Union paid a transfer fee of around $2 million to acquire forward Agustín Anello, marking another major signing.
Sensing a pattern: Villanova pulled off a 77-74 win against Marquette on Tuesday. But there are concerns. Particularly at the free-throw line.
🧠 Trivia time answer
Who is the only Flyers player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy twice as MVP of the playoffs?
D) Bernie Parent — Chayim S. was first with the correct answer.
What you’re saying about the Phillies
We asked: What is the key for the Phillies if they hope to contend for a World Series title? Among your responses:
They have the pieces to contend. Consistent seasons from their secondary players like Stott and Marsh (playing all season like they did after the all star break). Having new additions like Crawford and Painter deliver good seasons. And, getting the old Wheeler back early in the season. I think the bullpen is in better shape and they still have one of the best defensive catchers in the game. You have to have faith. — Bill H.
Pitching Pitching Pitching. Can Wheeler return to being the best pitcher in baseball or at least our #1? Can Nola return to being the guy he was 2 years ago? Can Painter hold down a spot in the rotation for the full season? Is this bullpen better than the patchwork pen we have seen in recent years? Or are we going to rely on Taijuan Walker for meaningful innings? If the pitching holds up this team can win 96 games again this year. If we have to rely on Sanchez and a bunch of question marks it could be a long season. — Mike D.
There are 3 keys to a successful Phillies season: Stable starting pitching — replace Ranger and hope Zack is healthy, Consistent and balanced hitting and a reliable bullpen. — Bob C.
Phillies pitchers and catchers take part in an early workout on Tuesday in Clearwater, Fla.
So many questions. Can a year older Harper, Turner, J.T., and Schwarber deliver what is needed from them? Can Crawford and Painter and other young players really come through as hoped for? Can Nola and Wheeler come back at 33 and 36 and perform at the level needed to take this team to a WS? The Mets made far more significant moves than the Phillies and along with the Braves are committed to ending their time as NL East champs. I think the Phillies made a mistake in not signing Bader. I am cautiously optimistic and hoping for the best. — Everett S.
The Phillies must match the Dodgers, by position. If they do, that will also advance them past the Mets in the East. They came up short in several positional categories in 2025; particularly relief pitching and run scoring. Adding Keller, Backhus and Pop to Duran, Alvarado, Kerkering and Banks is significant for the bullpen. On offense and defense, Garcia offers more power and better outfield defense than Castellanos in right field, and Crawford plus Garcia will likely increase their on base rate and run scoring. — John W.
What the Phillies need in order to contend this year is easy to identify: Health and Luck, in no particular order. — Dan B.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Matt Breen, Frank Fitzpatrick, Jeff McLane, Owen Hewitt, Ariel Simpson, Jonathan Tannenwald, Rob Tornoe, Greg Finberg, Jeff Neiburg, Gustav Elvin, Gina Mizell, Keith Pompey, and Jackie Spiegel.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy the warmer weather this week. Kerith will catch up with you in Thursday’s newsletter. Til’ then. — Bella
When President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio gutted the U.S. Department of State last year, they said they were doing it to make America “safer, stronger, and more prosperous.” Yet, Trump’s nominee to be assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, Jeremy Carl, is a white supremacist conspiracy theorist who would undermine the United States’ standing at the United Nations and destroy our relationships with countries around the world.
As former American diplomats, we’ve worked to promote human rights globally. We know the inner workings of this world and can say unequivocally that Carl would be a grave threat in this post, and his nomination must be resoundingly rejected.
The assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs is the architect of U.S. policy at the United Nations and across a wide range of multilateral arenas. Few outside diplomatic circles have heard of this position, but it’s one of the central posts through which the U.S. interacts with the world.
For example, when we stop defending fair labor standards in places like Bangladesh or Vietnam, American workers pay the price as competitors in those countries cut corners and flood markets with cheaper goods. When we look away from corruption and repression in energy-rich regions, instability follows — driving up oil prices and hitting Americans at the pump. When we ignore humanitarian crises until they explode, we spend far more on aid and crisis response than it would have cost to prevent them.
These aren’t far-off problems. In an interconnected world, they’re immediate issues that impact American jobs, consumer prices, and national security. That’s why this role is so crucial.
Carl is moving quietly ahead in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on which Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick serves, and his nomination hearing is slated for Thursday. The Senate should stand up for American values and the interests of the American people by rejecting this dangerous nominee.
Carl is not just unqualified for the role — he has no experience working with the U.N. — he represents a dangerous rejection of the ideals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: that all humans are born with equal dignity and rights.
Carl has promoted the racist and antisemitic “great replacement” conspiracy theory — claiming that there is a covert effort led by elites to replace white people in Western countries through mass migration and high birth rates of people of color, Muslims, Jews, and immigrants.
He has promoted political violence, including calling for the execution of the president of the American Federation of Teachers, a Jewish lesbian. He claimed that identifying as transgender is “somewhere between demonic and laughable.”
Though he has deleted thousands of his inflammatory tweets, these views are memorialized in his book, The Unprotected Class: How Anti-White Racism is Tearing America Apart. He gave a speech last year titled, “On the Persecution of Whites in America.”
These are not stray remarks. They reflect who Carl is, and the message the U.S. would send by giving him a senior diplomatic post. They are so alarming that the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism wrote an entire article about his work to champion “anti-white racism.”
If Carl becomes the face the U.S. presents to the world, we’ll be telling the world that we care about only one group of people. We also will undermine our interests, because in our racially, religiously diverse world, other countries will rightly see Carl’s views as abhorrent.
A world where human rights are optional and the United States fails to hold abusers accountable is a world where corruption grows, conflicts fester, and authoritarian regimes operate unchecked. The result: increased human suffering at home and abroad, higher prices for Americans, fewer protections for American workers, and greater instability that threatens our own security.
Last month, the Trump administration issued an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from 66 organizations, including 31 U.N. mechanisms. The U.S. was not a significant political or financial supporter of all of them, so the substantive consequences of withdrawal are debatable.
Yet, the symbolism is clear: The U.S. is disproportionately targeting mechanisms that serve the most vulnerable and marginalized, like U.N. Women and the Permanent Forum for People of African Descent, or those tackling the climate crisis, like the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. In other words, being unqualified, opposed to universal human rights, and seeking to undermine global governance is the point of Carl’s nomination.
We know what effective diplomacy looks like. It is steady, principled, and grounded in the belief that America’s power is greatest when guided by its conscience. It also treats the rights and dignity of the most vulnerable as a priority, not an afterthought.
When we lead with our values, we build coalitions that prevent wars and foster prosperity. When we abandon them, chaos fills the vacuum — and history shows that chaos never stays overseas.
Desirée Cormier Smith was the inaugural special representative for racial equity and justice. Jessica Stern was the special envoy for the advancement of the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons at the U.S. Department of State. They are now both cofounders and copresidents of the Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice, promoting human rights as a central pillar of U.S. foreign policy.
More than 80% of mined tungsten comes from China — or did, until limits on China tungsten imports imposed during the Biden administration began last year. China has also imposed tungsten export limits.
The struggle has fed a global tungsten rush, with investors and their allies in the U.S. and foreign governments paying to reopen old mines and secure new suppliers around the globe. The restrictions have also revived production of other strategic metals in many countries.
The biggest tungsten processor in the Western world is the century-old, 400-worker Global Tungsten & Powders (GTP) complex in Towanda, Pa., three hours north of Philadelphia.It produced more than 12,000 of the 117,000 metric tons of tungsten powder made in the world last year, crushing the metal into workable powders because it takes too much energy to melt.
Far from fighting to preserve cheap Chinese tungsten supplies, GTPchampioned laws supporting China import restrictions.
Before Stacy Garrity became Pennsylvania’s elected treasurer in 2021, she worked at GTP for more than 30 years. As vice president for government affairs and head of a metals industry group, she lobbied Congress and the first Trump administration to limit tungsten imports from China and its allies under what she called the “don’t buy from the bad guys” law.
Trump endorsed Garrity last month for the Republican nomination to run against Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro this fall.
Stacy Garrity, Pennsylvania treasurer, at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg in January.
GTP’s owner, Austria-based Plansee, has relied mostly on recycled Western tungsten, along with the few non-Chinese mines. But with tungsten demand and pricessurging, the company has contracted mined metal from new sources, including Korea and Rwanda, after many years of effort, says Karlheinz Wex, Plansee’s executive board chairman.
Korea’s Sandong mine, once among the world’s biggest suppliers, shut in 1994 as cheaper Chinese tungsten flooded world markets. The mine has reopened with financial support from the Korean government, technical assistance from U.S. agencies, and an exclusive supply deal to GTP. It’s owned by Almonty, a multinational mining company partly owned by Plansee. Almonty is moving its headquarters to the U.S. from Canada.
Wex agreed to take questions about the tungsten trade and GTP, purchased from lighting maker Sylvania in 2007. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
How did a tungsten processing plant end up in Pennsylvania?
That is where it started more than 100 years ago. The company focused on medical applications. Later, it went into the lighting business[pre-LED light bulbs used tungsten filament]. We have focused it 100% on tooling and special applications, such as artillery shells, and mostly in alloys with nickel and iron for tools, and with carbide and cobalt in machines for cutting, drilling, mining.
The journey starts by creating tungsten scrap from customers and competitors. Our tungsten supply is 70% scrap recycling, from tools and drill bits.
Austria-based Plansee owns the tungsten powdering plant in Towanda, Pa., which processes about one-tenth of the world’s supply of the heavy metal, used in tools and weapons.
Why did your company, which relied on Chinese tungsten, also lobby to reduce imports from China?
We always had this topic of sources independent from China, from the politics and their pricing. The mining of tungsten in the West was not that much [because of] the unfair competition flooding Chinese materials into the market. We wanted to get independent of that.
Why are you buying tungsten from Africa now?
Tungsten is a so-called conflict material. When we can certify it’s conflict-free, the material from that mine is really sound. The people at Trinity Metals [in Rwanda], we’ve known for years. Our specialists visit their mine.
The U.S. government’s involvement made it easier to prove we can support national security in the West. We buy their entire production.
Rwanda President Paul Kagame at Trinity Metals’ newly expanded, reopened Nyakabingo tungsten mine in May 2025. The mine’s entire production is sold to Plansee, an Austrian company that processes one-tenth of world tungsten output at its General Tungsten & Powders plant in Towanda, Pa.
How does tungsten get from Rwanda to Pennsylvania?
At the mine they separate the tungsten, crushing and separating the material by weight, or separating it by flood behind a dam. That makes a concentrate, about 60% tungsten. They put it in big bags and drums, very heavy. It’s easy to transport in standard containers [usually through the port of Mombasa [in Kenya], arriving through Newark or other East Coast ports and trucked to Towanda].
Does the sale price of tungsten today cover all those costs?
We have record prices in the tungsten market. Last year the price tripled. We don’t have enough [supply].
The big problem is the Chinese have restricted exports. And the U.S. has forbidden the use of Chinese material for defense applications, as of this year. About 10% of tungsten goes into defense applications.
Will Rwanda make a big difference in the supply chain?
Rwanda is a small part.
We rely on recycling. The biggest growth in supply that we see is the Sandong mine in South Korea. We have supported that financially. They will ship the concentrate to San Francisco [ports] and then by land to Towanda.
Karlheinz Wex, chairman of the executive committee of Austria-based global miner Plansee, on a 2025 visit to the company’s Global Tungsten & Powder (GTP) mill in Towanda, Pa.
We are working at capacity. We could produce 50-60% more and sell it on the market. We are sold out for the next six to nine months. Some of our customers are desperate.
We are thinking of expanding in Towanda.
Have you kept in touch with Stacy Garrity since she became a public official?
Yes! It’s good to see her as state treasurer and potentially governor of Pennsylvania. She worked a long time for GTP after she was in the Army.
Acaden Lewis toed the free-throw line with 3 minutes, 35 seconds left in the second half Tuesday night and Villanova trailing Marquette by three. The freshman point guard released the first of two attempts and watched as it failed to reach the rim. The second attempt was only mildly better and clanked off the front of it.
Just over a minute later, he was back at the line after being fouled on a drive. The deficit still was three.
In this moment, it would be Tyler Perkins who inspired the winning plays in Villanova’s 77-74 victory. They were visible all night in Perkins’ clutch three-pointers, his game-winning block, and a key steal as he finished with a team-high 22 points.
But his night also included a moment of leadership, a junior making sure a freshman could forget what had just happened.
“Tyler came up to me and was just like, ‘You’re built for these moments,’” Lewis said.
“I just relaxed and shot them.”
Both free throws went in. Lewis cut Marquette’s lead to one. The tide was starting to turn, and Villanova (19-5, 10-3 Big East) rode the wave and avoided a bad loss to a struggling Marquette team.
A Villanova free throw misses the hoop during the second half against Marquette on Tuesday.
That is the thing about free throws. They giveth and taketh. Lewis described his two misses as “uncharacteristic,” but he is shooting 60.5% for the season, and the Wildcats entered Wednesday ranked 285th in the country and 10th among 11 Big East teams in free-throw percentage (69%).
They made their last six free throws and won the game at the line over the final 2 minutes, 10 seconds. But they were in a tight game against an inferior opponent largely because they were 12-for-25 before the closing minutes.
Villanova’s win against Georgetown on Saturday didn’t have to be as hard as it was. Fourteen missed free throws made it nervy. The fans who were at Finneran Pavilion on Tuesday night know the issues well. They gave a Bronx cheer to freshman Chris Jeffrey when he made a pair of free throws midway through the second half.
It is worth mentioning that the struggles are abnormal for a program that consistently has resided at the top of the conference and near the top of the country in free-throw percentage for much of the last decade. But it is not particularly relevant context, given that Kevin Willard is in his first season coaching an entirely new team.
Still, what gives?
“Everyone is in there every day,” Willard said. “It’s not like we’re not doing it. I think it’s a little mental right now. I think we miss one, and it’s like we got a little bit too much negative emotion right now on the free-throw line. I’ve got to change that somehow.”
Villanova coach Kevin Willard calls out instructions during the first half against Marquette on Tuesday.
How does one change a mentality this late in the season?
“We’ll get there,” Willard said. “If we can improve our free-throw shooting and make a couple layups in the first half, it’s a completely different game. We held them to 32 points [in that first half], we should’ve had 44 points, and it’s a different type of game.”
Willard was flanked in his postgame news conference by Lewis and Perkins. He turned to Lewis and mentioned that the freshman shoots around 200 extra free throws after practices and noted that Perkins, who is shooting 75% for the season, never misses in practice.
“I have a lot of confidence in these guys that as we go through February and get into March that we’ll make them,” Willard said.
Bryce Lindsay made his first shot Tuesday night, a three-pointer less than three minutes into the game.
It had to, at least briefly, feel like the weight of the world was off his shoulders. Lindsay entered the night having made just 15 of his previous 64 attempts from three-point range (23.4%) over Villanova’s last 10 games since the calendar turned to 2026. The sharpshooting redshirt sophomore guard was a big reason behind Villanova’s strong start to the season, but he has reached double figures just four times in the last 11 games. That initial attempt Tuesday night was his only make on six three-point tries. He went scoreless Saturday afternoon at Georgetown.
Villanova guard Bryce Lindsay dribbles past Marquette’s Chase Ross during the second half Tuesday.
“He’s going to get going,” Willard said. “It’s a little mental. I talked to the team earlier, before the game, about staying in the moment. Talking to each other and not worrying about the past, not worrying about the future, just trying to stay in the present. Sometimes it’s hard when you’re not playing well to kind of stay in the moment.
“I have a lot of confidence in Bryce. He’s in the gym with me every day working. He’s going to get it. I thought he had some good opportunities tonight. When you’re struggling the way he’s struggling, sometimes you just need one, get a good bounce, bank one in. I told him to sleep on the other side of the bed tonight. Sometimes you’ve just got to try something different.”
Something different, like starting sixth man Devin Askew and giving Lindsay a different look off the bench?
“No,” Willard said. “He’s still doing a lot of other things, and people have to guard him.”
Lindsay did affect the game in positive ways despite only scoring four points. He was plus-8 and had three rebounds and four assists, including a key pass to the corner for a Matt Hodge three-pointer with 4:20 left in the game.
Willard said he likes Askew coming off the bench as a “security blanket.”
Speaking of which … it was Askew who made two free throws with 11 seconds left that gave Villanova a three-point lead and forced Marquette into a desperation three-point attempt.
