For the first time since he was a teenager, Ranger Suárez is not a Phillie.
The left-hander agreed to a five-year, $130 million contract with the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday, according to multiple reports, including the New York Post.
The Phillies signed Suárez out of Venezuela as a 16-year-old, and he developed into an All-Star and key member of their starting rotation, known for his unflappable nature on the mound. In 2022, he threw the pitch that clinched the Phillies’ National League pennant. Suárez, 30, owns a 1.48 career postseason ERA.
Despite a fastball that averaged just 90.5 mph in 2025, Suárez was extremely effective at limiting hard contact, with just a 5.5% barrel rate and a 31.3% hard-hit rate.
However, with Andrew Painter expected to compete for a rotation spot in 2026 and Suárez primed for a payday as one of the top lefties on the market, a reunion with the Phillies always seemed unlikely.
Suárez also has past injury concerns. His 157⅓ innings in 2025 were a career high after he started the season on the injured list with back stiffness.
Now he’ll head to the American League East. The Red Sox pivoted to improving their rotation after third baseman Alex Bregman signed a five-year deal with the Chicago Cubs.
Since Suárez declined the Phillies’ qualifying offer, they will receive a compensatory draft pick after the fourth round in the 2026 draft.
Fellow left-hander Jesús Luzardo is entering his final year of team control in 2026. During an appearance this week on Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, Luzardo said he would be “really interested in” a contract extension with the Phillies.
Women working at Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey were required to wear tight uniforms that were too small and told to “smile more,” as they endured “sexist remarks about their bodies and menstruation,” according to two lawsuits by former employees.
Both complaints describe a similar pattern: A female employee at the Bedminster club, working in a culture hostile to women, reported safety issues and was penalized for doing so.
Maria Hadley, a former banquet server who worked at the private club, owned by President Donald Trump, from February until she resigned in August, says she suffered from a retaliation campaign after she reported a manager who spiked the drink of an underage employee with vodka. And Justine Sacks, who was hired as clubhouse manager in 2023, says that she was demoted and ultimately fired in May for reporting health and safety violations, including maggots and mold in the soft-serve machine.
The lawsuits describe a hyper-sexualized work environment, in which female staffers were expected to endure sexual harassment from workers and guests.
Both Hadley and Sacks are represented by the New Jersey-based McOmber McOmber & Luber law firm. Their attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.
The Bedminster club is operated by the Trump Organization, which is led by the president’s sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. Neither the club nor general manager David Schutzenhofer responded to requests for comment.
In this July 15, 2017 file photo, President Donald Trump turns to wave to the people gathered at the clubhouse as his walks to his presidential viewing stand during the U.S. Women’s Open Golf tournament at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.
Vodka-spiked Shirley Temple
Hadley, a banquet server, says women were treated as “a prop” and “were expected to look pleasing, work without complaint, and stay quiet,” according to the lawsuit filed Monday in New Jersey Superior Court in Camden. Male managers and coworkers harassed their female peers, and called teenage guests “sexy.” When a guest inappropriately touched Hadley, a manager advised “they pay a lot of money to come here, just ignore it.”
Hadley reported in June that a bartender poured vodka into the Shirley Temple of an underage employee without the employee’s consent, saying it would give her energy.
The bartender was temporarily fired, but the club’s management launched a retaliation campaign against Hadley, the complaint says. She was denied a $1,000 bonus, isolated by her peers, and received worse hours and assignments.
Hadley resigned via email in August, the suit says, writing to the club’s human resources representative that her employment became “unbearable.” The club accepted her resignation, which the suit calls “effectively forcing her out,” and rehired the fired bartender.
That man went on to make sexual comments about 12-year-old guests with braces in September, according to a message Hadley sent to Eric Trump, the executive vice president of Trump National, which is included in the complaint.
Maggots and mold
Sacks joined Trump National in January 2023 and was told from the onset to expect “gender differences” in treatment, according to the suit, which was filed last month in Monmouth County Superior Court. She was instructed to hire women based on their looks, and received complaints from multiple direct reports about offensive, gender-based comments from male managers and peers.
The complaints were dismissed by Schutzenhofer, who told Sacks to “vote the mean girls off the island,” the suit says.
The club’s management slowly stripped Sacks’ authority and stopped inviting her to leadership meetings, in what the suit says was retaliation for elevating the complaints of female staffers.
People play golf next to the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster’s clubhouse in Bedminister on Friday, June 9 , 2023, in New Jersey.
Sacks was also retaliated against for reporting unsanitary conditions at the club’s kitchens, which included expired and unlabeled food, and the bistro operating without running water, the complaint says. There were flies all over the clubhouse in the fall of 2023, which even Donald Trump complained about, according to the lawsuit.
Management told Sacks that she was new to working at golf clubs and was “wrapped too tight” when she complained about the sanitation conditions, as well as employees drinking and vaping on the job. But even Eric Trump asked the club’s management team to make sanitation a “huge focus” because a few health inspectors are “eager and politically motivated to try and embarrass us,” according to a copy of an email sent by the executive vice president in January 2024.
The clubhouse’s bistro-area became more unsanitary, and by September 2024 the soft-serve machine was filled with maggots and mold, the suit says.
Sacks was placed on a 90-day performance improvement plan in December 2024 for, among other issues, being “off-putting,” the complaint says. In April, Sacks was reassigned from clubhouse manager to managing the bistro, which the lawsuit calls a clear demotion.
Schutzenhofer terminated Sacks in May, the lawsuit says, shortly after the club “failed miserably” a state health inspection.
Penn sprint football coach Jerry McConnell will not return next season, the school announced Wednesday in a release.
McConnell served as the program’s head coach since 2019 and posted a 17-18 career record. Penn finished 2-6 this season, losing all three contests in conference play. Penn failed to win a Collegiate Sprint Football League title during McConnell’s tenure.
In sprint football, players must weigh under 178 pounds to participate. The sport is played at nine colleges in the nation and has been at Penn since 1931.
“We are grateful for Jerry’s nearly two decades of service and dedication to our student-athletes in the Penn sprint football program, both as head coach and offensive coordinator,” Penn athletic director Alanna Wren said in the statement.
“This leadership change is an important step toward elevating the program’s competitive success and enhancing the overall experience for our student-athletes. We wish Jerry the very best in his next chapter.”
BREAKING – Penn sprint football coach Jerry McConnell will not be returning next season, per release.
McConnell has been with the program since 2007, taking over head coach responsibilities in 2019. He posted a 17-18 as head coach.
McConnell joined the sprint coaching staff in 2007, serving as the team’s offensive coordinator under longtime coach Bill Wagner. Penn won two CSFL championships during McConnell’s time as offensive coordinator.
Jeffrey A. Woodley, 71, formerly of Philadelphia, internationally celebrated celebrity hairstylist, scholar, youth track and field star, mentor, and favorite uncle, died Wednesday, Dec. 10, of complications from acute respiratory distress syndrome at Mount Sinai West Hospital in Manhattan.
Reared in West Philadelphia, Mr. Woodley knew early that he was interested and talented in hairstyling, beauty culture, and fashion. He experimented with cutting and curling on his younger sister Aminta at home, left Abington High School before his senior year to attend the old Wilfred Beauty Academy on Chestnut Street, and quickly earned a chair at Wanamakers’ popular Glemby Salon at 13th and Chestnut Streets.
He went to New York in the mid-1970s after being recruited by famed stylist Walter Fontaine and spent the next 30 years doing hair for hundreds of actors, entertainers, models, athletes, and celebrities. He styled Diahann Carroll, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, and Tyra Banks.
He worked with Denzel and Pauletta Washington, Eddie Murphy, Jasmine Guy, Lynn Whitfield, Pam Grier, Melba Moore, Jody Watley, and Karyn White. His hairstyles were featured in GQ, Vanity Fair, Ebony, Jet, Essence, Vibe, Vogue Italia, and other publications, and in advertising campaigns for L’Oréal and other products.
Mr. Woodley poses with actor Lynn Whitfield.
For years, actor Terry Burrell said, “He was the go-to hair stylist for every Black diva in New York City.” Pauletta Washington said: “He was responsible for so much of who I became as an artist and a friend.”
Mr. Woodley worked for Zoli Illusions in New York, Europe, Africa, and elsewhere around the world, and collaborated often with noted makeup artists Reggie Wells and Eric Spearman. Model Marica Fingal called Mr. Woodley “uber talented” on Instagram and said: “He was one of the most skilled artists, creating stunning, innovative styles for models and celebs alike.”
Friendly and curious, Mr. Woodley told Images magazine in 2000 that learning about the people in his chair was important. “A woman’s hairstyle should take into account the type of work she does, her likes, her dislikes, and her fantasies,” he said. “I’m a stylist, but I never impose hair styles on any client. When we arrive at our finished style, it’s always a collaboration.”
His hairstyles appeared on record albums and at exhibitions at the Philadelphia Art Museum and elsewhere. He was quoted often as an expert in coiffure and a fashion forecaster. In 1989, he told a writer for North Carolina’s Charlotte Post: “Texture is the key. … Cut will still be important, but the lines will be more softened and much less severe.”
Mr. Woodley (right) handles hair styling for singer Anita Baker while makeup artist Reggie Wells attends to her face.
In 2000, he told Images that “low maintenance is the way of the future.” He said: “Today’s woman is going back to school. She has the corporate job. She has children that she needs to send off to school. She doesn’t have time anymore to get up and spend 35 to 40 minutes on her hair. She wants something she can get up and go with.”
He retired in 2005 after losing his sight to glaucoma. So he earned his General Educational Development diploma, attended classes at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and studied literature, Black history, and spiritual writing.
“The entirety of his life was inspired by an insatiable thirst for knowledge,” said his friend Khadija Kamara.
He was working on his memoir and still taking classes when he died. “He lived life on his own terms,” Burrell said, “and my respect and admiration for his determination will forever be inspiring.”
Mr. Woodley smiles with track stars and celebrities Jackie Joyner-Kersee (left) and Florence Griffith Joyner.
As a youth, Mr. Woodley excelled in sprints, relays, and the high jump at St. Rose of Lima Catholic School and Abington High School, and for the Philadelphia Pioneers and other local track and field teams. He ran on Abington’s 440-yard relay team that won the PIAA District 1 championship race at the 1970 Penn Relays and helped set a meet record in the four-lap relay at a 1971 Greater Philadelphia Track and Field Coaches Association indoor meet.
Family and friends called him authentic, generous, and proud of his Philadelphia roots. He mentored his nieces and nephews and hosted them on long visits to his home in New York.
“He was one of the most talented people around and always a lot of fun,” a friend said on Facebook. “A beautiful soul and spirit who made others beautiful.”
Jeffrey Alan Woodley was born May 30, 1954, in Philadelphia. He had an older brother, Alex, and two younger sisters, Aminta and Alicia, and ran cross-country as well as track in high school.
Mr. Woodley (left) worked with actor and musician Pauletta Washington and makeup stylist Eric Spearman.
He was always an avid reader and loved dogs, especially his guide dog Polly. He was a foodie and longtime member of the Abyssinian Baptist Church choir in Harlem. His close family and friends called him Uncle Jeff.
“He was a fun-loving, spirited, and passionate individual,” his brother said. “Uncle Jeff loved the Lord and poured his heart into his work as well as family.”
Bucks County Sheriff Danny Ceisler terminated his office’s controversial partnership with ICE Wednesday, citing negative impacts on public safety and immigrants’ trust of law enforcement.
The partnership, known as a 287(g) agreement, which enabled 16 sheriff deputies to act as immigration enforcement, was initiated by formerSheriff Fred Harran,the Trump-aligned Republican who Ceisler defeated in November.
Ceisler said Wednesday that he signed two orders, one revoking the 287(g) partnership, and another that prohibited deputies from asking crime victims, witnesses, and court observers about their immigration status.
“Bucks County is home to over 50,000 immigrants … those immigrants are our neighbors,” said Ceisler, a Democrat who took office last week, during a news conference outside of the Bucks County Justice Center Wednesday. “They are our friends. They are taxpayers and they deserve the protection of law enforcement in this community.”
Ceisler’s decision to terminate 287(g) was expected, but his announcement comes amid a nationwide reckoning over federal immigration agents’ deployments to U.S. cities as ordered by the Trump administration. Protests againstU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcementescalated across the country, including in Philadelphia, after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minnesota last week.
Wednesday’s decision “has nothing to do with what’s going on in Minneapolis,” Ceisler said.
Other officials in the region have spoken out directly in response to the Minnesota incident. Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal’s comments calling ICE “fake, wannabe law enforcement” went viral.
Ceisler, on Wednesday, called Bilal’s comments “completely counterproductive, and said she was the “wrong messenger for them.”
The Bucks sheriff was adamant Wednesday that his order does not make Bucks County a so-called sanctuary jurisdiction, which have been increasinglytargeted by President Donald Trump.
The president announced Wednesday morning that on Feb. 1 he would cut off federal funding to states that have cities with sanctuary policies, which prohibit local law enforcement cooperation with ICE. Ceisler’s directive prohibits sheriff deputies from acting as immigration authorities, but does not cut off the county’s cooperation with ICE.
People and press gather at a press conference announcing the termination of Bucks County’s partnership with ICE.
“Bucks County has not, has never been, and will never be a so-called sanctuary county,” Ceisler said. “Our county has not severed all ties with ICE, nor precluded future partnership with ICE when it comes to dangerous criminals. Instead, we are returning to a level of partnership we’ve been operating under for decades.”
Bucks was the only county in the Philadelphia area that wasn’t named as a sanctuary jurisdiction by the Trump administration last year when it rolled out an initial list of state and local governments in danger of losing funding — which was later deleted. Officials from the other collar counties disputed the designation at the time.
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro downplayed concerns about Trump’s Feb. 1 funding threat during a Wednesday appearance at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg.
“We don’t pay attention to the bluster, we pay attention to what’s written in the directive,“ Shapiro told reporters. ”Pennsylvania’s not a sanctuary state. I would anticipate us not losing funding at the state level unless they wanna be punitive.”
The sheriff said that the county Department of Corrections will continue to share information with law enforcement agencies, including ICE. Federal immigration agents will also continue to have access to county jails and honor judicial warrants to hold individuals who are incarcerated for immigration enforcement.
The motivation for the sheriff’s orders Wednesday were in response to “heartbreaking feedback” from Bucks’ immigrant community that they were afraid to report crimes or engage with law enforcement, Ceisler said
“To the members of our immigrant communities, you are safe to call 911, you are safe to report crime and you are safe to come into this courthouse and testify,” Ceisler said.
Heidi Roux, an immigration advocate, said her “community is breathing a collective sigh of relief” by ending the 287(g) agreement, but noted that continuing to partner with local law enforcement is crucial to public safety.
“I believe criminal activity can be addressed while simultaneously supporting the human rights and dignity of our residents,” Roux said.
Heidi Roux, executive director at Immigrant Rights Action, speaks at a press conference about the termination of Bucks County’s partnership with ICE.
The 287(g) affiliation stirred up controversy when then-Sheriff Harran announced the department’s alliance with ICE in April of last year. The agency had 455 agreements with police authorities in 38 states across the country.
Since then the number has exploded, to 1,318 in 40 states, with 11 additional agreements pending as of Monday, according to ICE.
ICE says the program helps protect American communities, a force-multiplier that adds strength to an agency workforce that numbers about 20,000 nationwide. Opponents, however, insist that turning local officers into immigration agents breaks community trust with the police and puts municipal taxpayers at risk of paying big legal settlements.
In Pennsylvania, the number of participating agencies has grown from 39 in September to 52 today.
The growth in Pennsylvania and across the nation has been driven by Trump, who has pumped incentive money into the program as he pursues plans to arrest and deport millions of immigrants.
On Trump’s first day in office in January, he directed the Department of Homeland Security to authorize local police to “perform the functions of immigration officers” to “the maximum extent permitted by law.”
No one had yet been detained under that program, but opponents saw Ceisler’s election as the last chance to stop the Sheriff’s Department’s alliance with ICE, and the Democrat said he would act quickly to end the alliance.
The former sheriff said his only goal was to make the community safer, that the department would not conduct random immigration checks or broad enforcement but “those who commit crimes must face the consequences regardless of immigration status.”
The Democratic-led Bucks County Board of Commissioners warned county employees that they could be personally liable for helping ICE, passing a resolution that said the alliance was “not an appropriate use of Bucks County taxpayer resources.” Democratic Commissioners Diane Ellis-Marseglia and Bob Harvie were at Wednesday’s news conference but did not speak.
In October, however, Bucks County Court Judge Jeffrey Traugerruled that Harran’s cooperation with ICE was “clearly lawful under Pennsylvania jurisprudence,” and both “reasonable and necessary” in fulfilling his lawful duty to keep the citizens of Bucks County safe.
Ceisler said that terminating the agreement is the first step to regaining trust of the county’s immigrant communities. Next, he said, comes getting out into the communities.
“It’s about letting people know that they are safe,” he said.
The city’s famed Rocky statue has been cleared for installation atop the Philadelphia Art Museum’s iconic steps later this year following an Art Commission vote Wednesday. Four commissioners voted to approve the move, while one disapproved and one abstained.
With final approval granted, Creative Philadelphia, the city’s office for the creative sector, can move forward with its recently proposed plan to once again place the statue in one of the city’s most prominent locations. Since 2006, the statue has sat at the base of the museum’s steps, attracting an estimated 4 million visitors per year, agency officials have said.
“I think people come not because they’re told to — they come because it already belongs to them, and that kind of cultural legitimacy cannot be manufactured,” said commissioner Rebecca Segall at Wednesday’s meeting. “And by that measure, I believe it’s one of Philadelphia’s most meaningful monuments, and I believe we should just get him out of the bushes and put him up top.”
Now, Philly’s original Rocky statue — commissioned by Sylvester Stallone for 1982’s Rocky III and used in the film — will do just that sometime in the fall, per Creative Philadelphia’s plan. Its move to the top of the steps will come following its exhibition in “Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments,” an Art Museum program slated to run from April to August that will see the statue displayed inside the museum building for the first time.
Sylvester Stallone’s “second casting” of the Rocky statue version atop the museum steps Jan. 7, 2026. It will return to the actor’s collection once the original statue is relocated.
Another statue will be installed at the bottom of the Art Museum’s steps, though what statue that will be has not yet been determined. Last month, chief cultural officer Valerie V. Gay said the spot would not be filled with another Rocky statue, leaving Philadelphia with sculptures of the Italian Stallion at both the top of the Art Museum steps, and in Terminal A-West of Philadelphia International Airport.
As part of the original statue’s installation in the fall, Creative Philadelphia plans to develop a shuttle service for visitors with mobility limitations that will take passengers from the bottom of the steps to the top. The service, referred to as the “Rocky Shuttle,” will be run by the Philadelphia Visitor Center, and will operate similarly to the Philly Phlash bus service, which arrives at 15-minute intervals, Creative Philadelphia officials said.
Additionally, the statue will be placed on a pedestal roughly 14 feet back from the edge of the top step, next to where a small installation depicting Rocky’s shoe prints is currently embedded in the museum’s stone walkway, Marguerite Anglin, the city’s public art director, said Wednesday. The project has a budget of $150,000 to $250,000, though final costs were not available, she added. In its proposal last month, Creative Philadelphia indicated the project would cost about $150,000.
Wednesday’s vote came following about an hour of discussion, during which some Art Commission members raised concerns over whether moving the statue would strengthen the relationship Philadelphians have with art or increase attendance at the museum. Commissioner Pepón Osorio said many visitors have indicated they were coming to see the statue because it represents Rocky, and not because it is a work of art.
“I don’t think that people see it as a work of art,” he said. “People see it as an iconic structure.”
Debate over the statue’s merits has been going on since before it first arrived in town for the filming of Rocky III in 1981. In 1980, local artist and then-Art Commission member Joseph Brown referred to the statue as “unnecessarily strident,” and indicated the Rocky franchise didn’t lend any particular cachet to Philadelphia’s cultural standing. Inquirer columnist Tom Fox, meanwhile, in 1982 called the statue a “monument to schlock, chutzpah, and mediocrity.”
Public opinion has also been divided. In a September Inquirer poll, 46% of respondents said no Rocky statue belongs at the top of the steps, but the one at the bottom should stay. Roughly 20% said the city should not have a Rocky statue at all.
Now, however, with the installation plan approved, it appears the debate can continue with Rocky once again atop the Art Museum’s steps. As part of approval, Creative Philadelphia agreed to undertake community engagement efforts examining the public’s interpretation of the statue.
“This really isn’t, for us, about getting the statue up there and then we move on,” Gay said. “This really opens the door to how public art can be used in civic discourse, in the ethos of our city right now, to think about both contemporary [times] and the past, as well as how we think about the future.”
Tourists pose with the original Rocky statue in July 2022. The statue will move to the top of the steps in the fall.
Ezekiel Alladoh is a man of few words, at least so far.
Then again, the Union’s record signing just got to town this week, and won’t have been here long when the team leaves for Spain on Saturday.
“I’m just here for two days now — let’s [go] easy,” he said at practice Wednesday in his first interview with local media. “It’s cold, but it’s not cold like in Sweden. And the time [zone] changing is a little bit hard for me, but it will be OK.”
The 20-year-old striker from Ghana arrived with a $4.5 million transfer fee, which creates immediate expectations. Last year, reports in Europe said he had interest from Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton of the English Premier League, Leicester City of the second-tier Championship, and Belgium’s Club Brugge, Cercle Brugge, and Westerlo.
With the Commodore Barry Bridge as a backdrop, Ezekiel Alladoh practices with the Union on Tuesday in Chester.
After the Union announced his signing in November, they sold Tai Baribo and said goodbye to Mikael Uhre as a free agent. That leaves Bruno Damiani as the only starting-caliber striker returning this season, so it’s natural to expect Alladoh to take the other starting spot.
Alladoh isn’t talking himself up too much, though.
“They talked to me about the way they’re going to help me to make it in the league,” he said. “They have a good project here.”
Manager Bradley Carnell (left) welcomed Ezekiel Alladoh to the Union when the striker signed his contract on Dec. 3.
Asked if the impact of global stars like Lionel Messi made MLS more attractive, Alladoh said: “It’s not a factor. I’m coming here to make my name.”
He has also become fast friends with Cameroon native Olivier Mbaizo. Though Mbaizo doesn’t play much, it’s a sign of his stature in the locker room that he’s part of the unofficial welcoming committee. The same happened with fellow French speaker Danley Jean Jacques of Haiti last year.
“He talked to me about the club, that it’s like family,” Alladoh said of Mbaizo.
As for the tactical side of things, Alladoh is still getting used to that here. But he cited speed as one of his top assets, and he looks the part of a target player too: 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds.
He came to the Union from Swedish first division club Brommapojkarna, where he scored eight goals in 32 games over a year. BP, as the club is nicknamed, has had three of its products become big names in the English Premier League: Arsenal’s Viktor Gyökeres and Tottenham Hotspur’s Lucas Bergvall and Dejan Kulusevski.
Alladoh said he wasn’t under pressure to follow in their footsteps, and that the club “just let me make my name.”
Arsenal striker Viktor Gyökeres is one of three English Premier League players who played previously with Sweden’s Brommapojkarna.
He also praised the Union for having “the same project like the team in Sweden: taking young guys and improving them.”
If Alladoh can be successful — obviously if he can score goals — he will be the latest Union player to prove that true.
“Be first in the league again,” he said when asked what success this year would mean to him. “Help the team to have more trophies.”
HBO released its final episode of Hard Knocks covering the NFC East on Tuesday after the Eagles’ season-ending wild-card playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The finale of the docuseries, which unlike past episodes spent the majority of its 45-minute run time focusing solely on the Eagles, covered Saquon Barkley’s new favorite motivational movie, Nick Sirianni’s home life, and what the team talked about after the loss. (Don’t worry, we tried to keep the parts about the actual game to a minimum.)
Here’s what you may have missed from the final episode of Hard Knocks: In Season With the NFC East …
Not quite my tempo
Most people likely know that actor Miles Teller is also a huge Eagles fan. But did you know that one member of the Eagles is a huge fan of his?
Saquon Barkley was caught speaking to backup quarterback Tanner McKee, detailing how he was motivated by Teller’s hit film Whiplash ahead of the Eagles’ first practice leading up to the team’s wild-card game.
“I feel good,” Barkley said. “And I watched this movie called Whiplash. That [expletive] had me doing sit-ups and push-ups in my house. I went outside, and I was running hills. Like, I got to chill out, bro.”
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley found inspiration in a Miles Teller movie.
The 2014 film won a trio of Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for J.K. Simmons, who plays an uncompromising professor at the prestigious music academy Teller’s character attends. It stresses the need to push back against mediocrity in pursuit of greatness, a theme that Barkley applied to the Birds offense as a whole.
“I do feel like there’s potential that we haven’t tapped into, especially on the offensive side of the ball,” Barkley said, with a Whiplash-style drumbeat playing in the background. “I am excited about that. That we still get to go out there and put in a complete game. I believe that with the men and people we have in this facility, it’s time, and we are going to get it going.”
The extra motivation led the reigning offensive player of the year to his fourth 100-yard game of the season with Barkley rushing for 106 yards, 35 above his average.
‘Effort is free’
Speaking of tempo, Hard Knocks revealed a moment during practice in which Jalen Hurts implored his offensive teammates to get to the huddle quicker so they have more time at the line to assess the defense and change the play if need be.
During the final episode of Hard Knocks, Jalen Hurts talked to his teammates about how to speed up the often criticized operation:
“Get back to the huddle. Focus on getting back to the huddle, that helps the operation.” pic.twitter.com/JllsWhwbRs
Barkley and Hurts also spoke of their different approaches to practice, with the running back keeping things light while the quarterback is all business. Barkley called it “a beautiful mix.”
“It’s not anything new in terms of the habits I’ve built,” Hurts said of his stoic demeanor. “It’s just a matter of doing those things consistently. That’s how I’ve always known to get myself ready to go out there and play.”
Hurts, the son of a football coach, explained why he prepares and carries himself the way he does, saying one of his father’s lines that stuck with him is “Effort is free.”
“Effort is something that you can control,” Hurts said. “And so, as a quarterback, what’s my effort in the way I execute? What’s my effort in the way I lead? What’s my effort in the example that I set? And trying to put yourself in positions to get ready for whatever the moment may demand. And so, you like to take your mind to a place where you can see it or visualize it, and then you can go out there and react with an intense and competitive mindset, and find a way to win.”
As tensions rose inside the Eagles organization, with a playoff game looming and many calling for the job of offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who was removed from his position Tuesday, Hard Knocks did a great job of reminding viewers that coaches are people, too.
Halfway through the episode, Sirianni, who has also come under fire from Eagles fans, is featured alongside his wife, Brett, and their three children, Jacob, 10, Taylor, 8, and Miles, 5. The Eagles head coach seems to be training his children to be wide receivers, following in their father’s footsteps. Sirianni was a receiver himself in college at Division III Mount Union, as the series highlighted in an earlier episode.
“All right, now we do this last game,” Sirianni says. “I throw as hard as I can, and then you throw as hard as you can, whoever drops first.”
His youngest, Miles, is wearing the jersey of A.J. Brown, who got in a sideline spat with the Eagles coach on Sunday.
With Sirianni and his wife sitting on the couch, the coach has his children running routes and directs Taylor into open space, where she catches the pass over her two brothers.
“Are you as competitive at home as you are at the facility?” one of the filmmakers asks off camera as Sirianni smirks.
“Yeah, he is,” Brett says with a laugh and little hesitation. “With everything possible.”
Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham leaves the field after the playoff loss to San Francisco.
Letting down BG
Brandon Graham may be an Eagles legend, but he is for sure not a fortuneteller.
The 15-year vet who came out of retirement to rejoin the Birds was mic’d up during practice, exuding his trademark enthusiasm while optimistically predicting the outcome of the playoff game.
“I ain’t going to lie, I’m hype for the offense,” Graham said. “Things just about to keep building, we’ve just got to stay locked in and have fun out there and run to the ball. I ain’t going to lie, that clip when they was running to that sidelines right there, I said, boy, we fly like that, we’re going to be smothering.”
Graham doubled and tripled down on this prediction, going as far as saying that he’d come back after winning the Super Bowl in 2026 just so he could win it in 2027.
“Man, let’s go get us another one, man,” Graham said to defensive line coach Clint Hurtt. “Why not? I mean, I’m coming right back. I say 3-for-3, come on, let’s go! Let’s just get this one, but I’m with you, though.”
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) and linebacker Zack Baun in happier times: a Sept. 28 win against the Buccaneers.
The Bald Eagle
All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun got a special highlight leading into the Eagles’ final game of the season, starting in practice when some friendly razzing was caught on tape.
“Hey Zack, let me see your head,” rookie Jihaad Campbell asked during practice.
“Nah,” Baun said. “I haven’t shaved in a couple of days, man.”
“The thing about being a bald guy is you either are ashamed of it or you own it, and that’s just your personality,” Baun said. “So I’m a bald guy. What can I say?”
Baun is also seen at home with his wife, Ali, and son, Elian, flipping through a scrapbook Ali made to celebrate his “storybook” 2024, a year in which he went from a special-teams player to an All-Pro and Super Bowl champion.
Baun also spoke on his fan-given nickname, the Bald Eagle, saying that he and his wife approve of the name. But the real star of this segment? Baun’s son, who was shown on the field adorably celebrating the Eagles’ NFC championship game victory last year.
Hard Knocks offered some insight into the Eagles’ season-ending loss, including Baun taking blame for the 49ers trick-play touchdown — “That’s me; I lost him,” Baun admitted — and Sirianni exerting himself in the offensive play-calling.
“Hey, what about [deep] shots, Kevin?” Sirianni asked Patullo before a third-and-9 shot to Brown, who dropped the ball.
But the moment that got the most attention from fans came after Sirianni’s final meeting with his players.
“We didn’t end the way we wanted to end,” Sirianni told his team. “I know that’s tough. I can feel it in the room, you can feel it. We all feel the same feeling. Use that adversity, use that pain. All that is necessary for our growth. I have no doubt in my mind that we will get better from this.”
The episode then cuts to just two men remaining in the auditorium at the NovaCare Complex: coach and quarterback.
This week in Philly music features an old-school hip-hop extravaganza in Atlantic City, an intriguing Bob Dylan tribute, and two shows each with powerhouse vocalist Neko Case, British post-punk band Shame, and mysterious indie singer Jim E. Brown.
Thursday, Jan. 15
Jim E. Brown
Who is Jim E. Brown? According to his own ad copy, he is a “19 year pop sensation” who is launching “his latest opus, I Urinated on a Butterfly, in the American city of Philadelphia.” His Bandcamp page, however, identifies him as a “Poet and Artist/activist” who “was born in Manchester in Sept. 10, 2001, just one day before the 911.”
If that were true, that would make him 24, not 19. However, sampling the dozens of his releases online with titles like “Sheep in a Jeep,” “The Sky Is Ugly,” and “I’m Weirder Than ‘Weird’ Al” might lead one to believe that Brown is actually a 40-something performance artist from Philadelphia with an abundance of ideas and an affection for electro-pop.
Brown, whose self-mocking wit flourishes on tracks like “I Dreamed That You Liked My Instagram Post,” has two shows in Fishtown this week, with Bugger opening Thursday and My Wife’s an Angel and Null playing Friday. 8 p.m. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 Frankford Ave., johnnybrendas.com
Bill Kirchen
The singer and guitarist for Commander Cody & his Los Planet Airmen, best known for their 1972 pop hit “Hot Rod Lincoln,” is touring with a full band and a Bob Dylan-at-Newport-themed show. Kirchen may be a bit crustier than A Complete Unknown star Timothée Chalamet, but the ageless guitar whiz has the advantage of having firsthand experience of Dylan’s acoustic and electric iterations at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964 and 1965. In Sellersville, he’ll do one set of Commander Cody material, and another of Dylan songs. 8 p.m., Sellersville Theater, 24 W. Temple Ave., Sellersville, st94.com
British post-punk band Shame play Free at Noon at World Cafe Live on Friday and the First Unitarian Church on Friday night.
Friday, Jan. 16
Shame
Shame is a British post-punk band fronted by (not that) Charlie Sheen. They are touring behind a spirited, spiky fourth album, Cutthroat, which was produced by John Congleton, who has worked with Philly’s Mannequin Pussy and the Districts, among others.
On Friday, the band will perform a WXPN-FM (88.5) Free at Noon show at World Cafe Live, where the radio station’s FAN shows have moved back to since the West Philly venue renewed its lapsed liquor license. And then the South London quintet will play that evening at First Unitarian Church, with Ribbon Skirt opening. Noon, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., xpn.org and 8 p.m., First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., r5productions.com
Neko Case
Torch and power-pop singer Neko Case released a powerful memoir called The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You in 2024, and followed that last year with an introspective and imagistic new album, Neon Grey Midnight Green. Its color-coded title is inspired by the meeting of slate clouds and piney forests on the Pacific Coast skyline.
Case, who has also sometimes sung with the Canadian power-pop band the New Pornographers, played the Met Philly last fall along with buzzy D.C. band Des Demonas, led by Kenyan punk-poet Jacky “Cougar” Abok, as the opening act. They’re back together at the Queen in Wilmington on Friday and at Archer Music Hall in Allentown on Saturday. 8 p.m., the Queen, 500 N. Broad St., Wilmington, thequeenwilmington.com; 7 p.m., Archer Music Hall, 939 Hamilton St., Allentown, archermusichall.com
Peabo Bryson
Veteran soul balladeer Peabo Bryson is on tour marking the 35 years that have passed since his Grammy-winning duet with Celine Dion on the title song to the 1991 Disney movie Beauty and the Beast. Bryson also picked up a Grammy for “A Whole New World,” his duet with Regina Belle from Disney’s Aladdin the next year. 6 and 9:30 p.m. City Winery Philadelphia, 900 Filbert St., citywinery.com/philadelphia
Owen Stewart / J.R. Everhart
Philly bandleader Owen Stewart draws from rugged, 1960s counterculture rock acts like John Fogerty and especially recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Joe Cocker. He’s following up the release of his album Done and Dusted by celebrating a new EP, Glider. J.R. Everhart — also known as Jimmy Scantron — is the leader of Philly band Cosmic Guilt and is a former Low Cut Connie guitarist. His new single, “Golden Hour,” is more evidence of his songwriting chops. With Squawk Brothers. 8 p.m., Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., undergroundarts.org
Flavor Flav (left) and Chuck D of Public Enemy perform during a Pre-Grammy Gala in Beverly Hills in 2024. Public Enemy tops the AllStars of Hip-Hop bill at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Sunday night. ( Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP )
Sunday, Jan. 18
AllStars of Hip-Hop
Public Enemy — arguably the greatest politically-minded rap group of all time — will headline the AllStars of Hip-Hop multiact bill at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Saturday.
Chuck D and Flavor Flav — the latter of whom is most visible these days for his Taylor Swift fandom and hype man duties for the U.S. Olympic water polo and bobsled and skeleton teams — will be joined by several other old-school hip-hop and R&B acts.
R&B will be covered by “This Is How We Do It” singer Montel Jordan. Veteran rappers performing include Boogie Down Productions emcee KRS-One and Philly’s original gangsta Schoolly D. Also on the bill is Furious Five — note the absence of “The Message” rappers’ DJ leader Grandmaster Flash — and “Rapper’s Delight” collective Sugarhill Gang. 7 p.m., Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, 23021 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, boardwalkhall.com
Schoolly D acknowledges onlookers during the Philadelphia Music at the 2025 Walk of Fame ceremony, Philadelphia Music Alliance induction in front of the Suzanne Roberts Theater on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. The Philly rapper plays Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Sunday.
Rosemont College’s accrediting body has asked the school for information on its student records and finances and policies “to ensure truthfulness in public relations announcements.”
The private, suburban liberal arts college has until Tuesday to submit a report to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, according to an announcement on the accrediting body’s website.
Rosemont announced last spring that it was planning to close for good in 2028 and that nearby Villanova University is purchasing its campus. The college’s enrollment for thefall semester stood at 428, down about 45% from last year.
The freshman class of 21 students is just a quarter of the size of last year’s first-year enrollment. And it will be the last freshman class to enter the 104-year-old Catholic college.
It’s unclear what prompted Middle States to ask Rosemont for the report; the body doesn’t elaborate on its posted actions. Rosemont President Jim Cawley did not respond to a request for comment.
The questions are a likely indicator that more action is coming, which could be as basic as accepting the college’s report, or could be more serious, such as an accreditation warning. Colleges need accreditation to keep their students eligible for federal aid.
Middle States also asked Rosemont to provide evidence of “fair and transparent policies and procedures regarding the evaluation and acceptance of transfer credits, policies and procedures for the safe and secure maintenance and appropriate release of student information and records, including student athletics” and “full disclosure and financial information … that includes realistic enrollment and budget projections and the assumptions on which they are based, is adequate to support educational purposes and programs.”
The college in 2022 received a warning from the commission that its accreditation could be in jeopardy because it did not appear to be meeting requirements around planning, budget and academic assessment. But in 2023, the warning status was removed and the school’s accreditation was reaffirmed through 2028-29.
It could become increasingly challenging for the school to operate as it enrolls fewer students each year until its closure. Another hit could come next year, when NCAA sports are discontinued and more athletes may transfer. Under the merger agreement, Rosemont is expected to receive some financial support from Villanova through 2028.
Rosemont was one of 13 colleges The Inquirer examined in 2024 and found was in poor financial health, using an index developed by a finance executive at a small college in Illinois. The school had reported operating losses for five straight years through June 2023.
