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  • Eagles news: Cowboys hire away Birds defensive coach; Philly suddenly an outlier; coaching search updates and rumors

    Eagles news: Cowboys hire away Birds defensive coach; Philly suddenly an outlier; coaching search updates and rumors

    // Timestamp 01/22/26 5:41pm

    Ravens hire Chargers DC Jesse Minter as coach

    That leaves five openings across the NFL …

    // Timestamp 01/22/26 1:56pm

    Cooper DeJean expresses disappointment over losing Christian Parker

    Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean.

    It didn’t take long for Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean to express disappointment over news reports defensive backs coach Christian Parker was taking a job with the Dallas Cowboys.”

    “Mannnn,” DeJean wrote on social media. “They got a great one… would be the player I am without [Parker].”

    In his second season with the Eagles, DeJean earned an Associated Press first-team All-Pro nod alongside his teammate, rookie Quinyon Mitchell.

    Eagles reporter Jeff McLane wrote it was “only a matter of time” before the Eagles lost Parker, noting players “hold him in high regard.”

    In landing the job, Parker beat out another former Eagles coach who interviewed for the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator position – Jonathan Gannon, who is on the job market after being fired as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

    — Rob Tornoe

    // Timestamp 01/22/26 1:03pm

    Cowboys hire Eagles defensive coach Christian Parker: reports

    Christian Parker has served as the Eagles’ defensive backs coach under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio the past two years.

    The Eagles are reportedly set to be on the market for a new defensive backs coach.

    Christian Parker, who has served in the role under Vic Fangio for the last two seasons, is expected to become the next Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator, according to multiple reports.

    Parker, 34, had become a hot commodity this offseason, as he was also reportedly set to interview for the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator vacancy.

    In a short span, Parker has helped develop a pair of young, standout cornerbacks in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Both players earned their first All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods under Parker this season in just their second years.

    Parker will reportedly replace Matt Eberflus, whom the Cowboys fired in January after one season at the helm of one of the worst defenses in the organization’s history.

    — Olivia Reiner

    // Timestamp 01/22/26 1:01pm

    Brandon Graham thinks Birds need an ‘experienced’ offensive coordinator

    Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham.

    Eagles players past and present are among those weighing in on the team’s coaching vacancy.

    On The Rich Eisen Show, former Eagles defensive end and Super Bowl 52 champion Chris Long urged his former squad to hire a “cheat code” at offensive coordinator.

    “You need to hire a cheat code offensive coordinator. We talk about this thing a lot – bring somebody out of retirement, or find somebody who’s aged out,” said Long. “Find yourself a [former Saints and Raiders coach] Dennis Allen, because you have one on defense, and his name’s Vic Fangio. He’s not getting a head coaching job. He doesn’t want one.”

    Long later explained that the Eagles should hire a coordinator who will not leave for a head coaching vacancy to assist Hurts’ further development. Famously, Hurts has had nine offensive coordinators in ten years, a trend spanning back to his time at Alabama.

    Meanwhile Eagles legend Brandon Graham, who came out of retirement to play for the team last season, seems to agree.

    “I feel like you got to have someone that’s experienced,” Graham said on his podcast. “I like what someone said about a Vic Fangio [on offense] … You really do have to have that command. Because if A.J. [Brown] and all the guys that [were], you know, disgruntled last year, we got to get everybody believing it. …

    “I think a veteran person, or someone that got respect in the league will just have everybody kind of [have a] change in belief and get a re-energized feeling.”

    — Conor Smith

    // Timestamp 01/22/26 12:49pm

    Resetting the Eagles’ options at offensive coordinator

    Colts offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter was a consultant when Nick Sirianni first got the Eagles job in 2021.

    One by one, offensive coordinator candidates that have been tied to the Eagles have been taken off the big board.

    The latest is Zac Robinson, who is finalizing a deal, according to multiple reports, to be the next coordinator in Tampa. Robinson, who interviewed with the Eagles, joins Mike McDaniel, who talked to the Eagles, as candidates who are no longer in the pool. McDaniel will head west to the Los Angeles Chargers.

    Another name to potentially cross off is Brian Daboll, who, according to The Athletic, wants to be the next head coach of the Buffalo Bills and otherwise plans to head to Tennessee to be the offensive coordinator under new defensive-minded head coach Robert Saleh.

    The Eagles are the only team that didn’t make a head coaching change to still have an offensive coordinator opening. Eight teams that fired their head coach still have an opening at offensive coordinator.

    Who’s left among the candidates the Eagles either interviewed or planned to? Another name popped up on the list Thursday morning. Let’s start there …

    Resetting the Eagles’ options at offensive coordinator: Declan Doyle, Jim Bob Cooter, and the other remaining names

    — Jeff Neiburg

    // Timestamp 01/22/26 9:17am

    Eagles will reportedly interview Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle

    Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle.

    Add the NFL’s youngest offensive coordinator to the list of coaching candidates the Eagles are considering.

    The Birds, according to ESPN, requested to interview the 29-year-old Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator. Doyle was hired by Ben Johnson last offseason after serving as the tight ends coach in Denver for the previous two seasons. The Iowa native and 2018 Iowa grad worked as a student assistant with the Hawkeyes from 2016 to 2018 and then was an offensive assistant with the New Orleans Saints from 2019 to 2022. Talk about a fast riser.

    Johnson, of course, has a big hand in the offense and calls plays for the Bears. But Doyle had a hand in the Bears’ sixth-ranked offense by yards per game. Chicago was 32nd a year ago. Johnson gets a lot of credit for that, but Doyle’s role can’t be

    Doyle has never been a play-caller, which makes him an outlier among the other candidates the Eagles have been in contact with. The Eagles seem to be targeting coaches with more experience than Doyle, but there is value in meeting and talking to a young coach like him. Even if it’s not for this job at this juncture.

    — Jeff Neiburg

    // Timestamp 01/22/26 8:43am

    The Eagles are suddenly an outlier

    Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie (left) and general manager Howie Roseman, seen here during the 2024 season.

    The Eagles are the only team with an existing head coach that is still searching for an offensive after the Buccaneers reportedly hired Zac Robinson (whom the Eagles also interviewed).

    The other four teams that made an offensive coordinator change this offseason: Lions (Drew Petzing), Chargers (Mike McDaniel), Chiefs (Eric Bienemy), Commanders (David Blough).

    There remain eight teams that have fired their head coach that still have offensive coordinator openings. Five – the Cardinals, Bills, Browns, Steelers, Ravens, and Raiders – have yet to hire head coaches, while the Dolphins and Titans have hired head coaches Jeff Hafley and Robert Saleh, who have yet to fill their offensive coordinator spots.

    The Giants, with new head coach John Harbaugh, will reportedly have Todd Monken as offensive coordinator. The Falcons, with Kevin Stefanski, will have Tommy Rees.

    — Jeff McLane

    // Timestamp 01/22/26 8:40am

    Another candidate passes on the Eagles as Zac Robinson lands with the Bucs

    // Timestamp 01/22/26 8:35am

    Latest on Eagles’ search for a new offensive coordinator

    The Eagles interviewed former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy Wednesday.

    It’s been about a week since the Eagles moved on from offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, and the Birds have been busy interviewing potential replacements.

    They just don’t seem to be having much luck landing their top candidates.

    Here are the offensive coordinator candidates the Eagles have already reportedly interviewed or are scheduled to meet with:

    — Rob Tornoe

    Remaining NFL head coaching vacancies

    Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula is looking for a new head coach after firing Sean McDermott.

    In an offseason that saw a record-tying 10 head coaching vacancies, just four have been filled.

    Here’s a look at the newest NFL head coaches:

    • Atlanta Falcons: Kevin Stefanski, former Browns head coach
    • Tennessee Titans: Robert Saleh, former 49ers defensive coordinator
    • New York Giants: John Harbaugh, former Ravens head coach
    • Miami Dolphins: Jeff Hafley, former Packers defensive coordinator

    Here are the remaining head coaching vacancies across the league, and their former coaches:

    • Arizona Cardinals (Jonathan Gannon), Baltimore Ravens (John Harbaugh), Buffalo Bills (Sean McDermott), Cleveland Browns (Kevin Stefanski), Las Vegas Raiders (Pete Carroll), Pittsburgh Steelers (Mike Tomlin)

    — Rob Tornoe

    // Timestamp 01/22/26 8:32am

  • Carla Washington Hines, longtime dancer, choreographer, and teacher, has died at 72

    Carla Washington Hines, longtime dancer, choreographer, and teacher, has died at 72

    Carla Washington Hines, 72, of Philadelphia, longtime dancer, pioneering choreographer, celebrated teacher, former artistic director, collaborator extraordinaire, and mentor, died Sunday, Nov. 2, of sepsis at Temple University Hospital-Jeanes Campus.

    Mrs. Hines came to Philadelphia from Virginia in 1974 after college and spent the next four decades dancing, teaching, lecturing, traveling, and generally advocating for arts in education from kindergarten through college. She danced with the Sun Ra Arkestra, the John Hines Dance Co., and other troupes at all sorts of venues in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, elsewhere in the United States, and throughout Europe.

    She choreographed original performances such as “Montage in Black,” “Reflections,” and “Life Cycle,” and collaborated with notable jazz musicians Herbie Hancock and Alice Coltrane, and other musical stars. She was a guest on TV and radio shows, read poetry at public events, and earned awards from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Philadelphia-based Bartol Foundation for education.

    She was an expert in jazz dance, modern dance, ballet, and posture, and she lectured, organized workshops, and taught the elements of dance and choreographic principles at schools, colleges, art centers, drama guilds, libraries, and elsewhere around the country. Her mother, Thelma, was a dancer and teacher, too, and Mrs. Hines championed the connection between an interest in the arts and academic success.

    “In dance, I can be anything I want to be,” she said in an online interview. “That’s the magic of the arts.”

    She created an afterschool residency at a Universal charter school and taught dance at E.M. Stanton Elementary School, Strawberry Mansion High School, and other schools. She said in the online interview that her curriculum “is based on the appreciation of dance and movement,” and that it helps students “make sense of their lives using dance as a tool for learning.”

    She said: “I want them to be able to understand through movement exploration how dance can change one’s life.”

    She was artistic director for the Philadelphia chapter of the Institute for the Arts in Education and at the Point Breeze Performing Arts Center. “Her creative guidance helped students tell powerful cultural stories through movement,” her family said.

    Mrs. Hines performed with the Jones-Haywood Dance School in Washington before moving to Philadelphia.

    As longtime community engagement manager for the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, Mrs. Hines wrote grants and choreographed performances. She was executive director of the John Coltrane Cultural Society and active at the old University of the Arts.

    Her family said: “She devoted her life to creativity and to nurturing talent in others.”

    Carla Yvette Washington was born Nov. 3, 1952, in Charleston, W.Va. Her family moved to Grambling, La., when she was young, and she graduated from high school in 1970.

    She was named Miss Freshman at what is now Grambling State University, joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc. sorority, and earned a bachelor’s degree in recreation in 1973. In 1981, she earned a master’s degree in fine arts and dance at the old Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts.

    Mrs. Hines (left) smiles with her husband, Lovett, and their daughter, Zara.

    She worked as a dance teacher for the Fairfax County Department of Recreation in Virginia after college and performed with the Jones-Haywood Dance School in Washington before moving to Philadelphia.

    She met jazz musician Lovett Hines Jr. when they were students at Grambling and they married in 1984 and lived in West Oak Lane. They had a daughter, Zara, and Mrs. Hines welcomed her husband’s son, Lovett III, and his family into her family.

    “She introduced many creatives to dance and culture, and sparked their creative careers,” her stepson said. “That is the essence of her legacy.”

    Mrs. Hines and her husband, their daughter said, were “a partnership of two geniuses.” He played the saxophone and was artistic director at the Clef Club. She loved the drums, and they collaborated seamlessly on many notable projects.

    Friends called her “a sweetheart” and “a beautiful soul” in online tributes. One said she “made an impact on Philadelphia and beyond in countless ways.” Her sister, Alicia Williams, said: “Everyone had a special relationship with her.”

    Mrs. Hines graduated from Grambling High School in Louisiana in 1970.

    Mrs. Hines was diagnosed with a lung disease in 2024 and Stage 4 cancer in 2025. “She was stern but soft,” her daughter said, “loving but able to tell you like it is.”

    Her husband said: “She had special relationships with so many musicians, so many people. It was through insight, understanding, and patience. In them, we see her everyplace, feel her everyplace.”

    Survivors give advice about mourning their loved ones, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer

    In addition to her husband, daughter, mother, and stepson, Mrs. Hines is survived by three sisters, two step-grandsons, and other relatives. A brother died earlier.

    Services were held Wednesday, Dec. 17.

    Mrs. Hines (center) said she adapted her teaching techniques to suit the needs and ages of the students.
  • One-dimensional wines are boring, but complex ones are pricey. This riesling manages to be neither.

    One-dimensional wines are boring, but complex ones are pricey. This riesling manages to be neither.

    One of the characteristics associated with prestige wines is known in the trade as “complexity.” While the term can sound pretentious to the average drinker, it captures a fundamental truth about what people find desirable in an alcoholic beverage. In much the same way that a plot with no twists makes for a boring film, a one-dimensional wine with no complexity makes for a boring drink. One-dimensional wines are those that have one main sensory thrust with no balancing component, as with wines that are sticky sweet with no balancing acidity or red wines that are bitter and tannic without balancing fruitiness.

    This sweet-tart wine from Oregon has enough layers of complexity to outperform many of its peers flavor-wise. It also acquires that complexity in an interesting way.

    There are two main paths a winemaker can take in creating a wine that has complexity. One is to grow your grapes in a truly special vineyard where the precise combination of terrain, microclimate, and soil composition known as terroir produces fruit whose flavors contain some internal contradictions once fermented into wine. This is a laborious and expensive proposition where the goal is to produce wines that are not simply light or heavy, sweet or dry, fruity or oaky, but instead manage to contain multitudes.

    The other way to achieve multidimensional results is through skillful fruit selection and blending, which is the secret behind this affordable wine’s harmonious complexity. It may be made with 100% riesling, but its vintners aimed for as much diversity in that fruit as possible. The wine’s vineyard sources span the full stretch of Oregon’s coastal valleys, from the Willamette Valley in the north to the Rogue Valley in the south, including a mix of both younger and older vines. Within those vineyards, fruit is picked in different batches at different times to capture both the electric zing of underripe grapes and the liqueur-like opulence of late-harvest fruit to flesh out and complexify those of standard ripeness. Once blended, the wine offers both richness and refreshment in equal measure. Succulent dessertlike flavors of lemon curd and muskmelon sorbet are balanced with drier components — bracing hints of fresh lime, mint tea, and just a thread of stony minerality.

    A to Z Riesling

    A to Z Riesling

    Oregon, 12% ABV

    PLCB Item #87013 — on sale for $16.99 through Feb. 1 (regularly $19.99)

    Also available at: Total Wine & More in Claymont, Del. ($14.99; totalwine.com), Moorestown Super Buy Rite in Moorestown ($15.39; moorestownbuyrite.com), WineWorks in Marlton ($15.98; wineworksonline.com)

  • A major winter storm is looking inevitable for Philly, with the snow expected to stick around

    A major winter storm is looking inevitable for Philly, with the snow expected to stick around

    The details are likely to remain elusive well into the weekend, but on Wednesday evidence was accumulating that the Philadelphia region could become a winter wonderland for the remainder of January.

    “We’re definitely going to get some snow,” said Alex Staarmann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, which probably won’t make a first accumulation guess until Thursday afternoon. Snow could begin as early as Saturday night and continue into Monday.

    The weather service Thursday posted a winter-storm watch for the entire region — for all of Delaware and most of Pennsylvania and New Jersey — in effect from 7 p.m. Saturday until 1 p.m. Monday.

    At the weather office, “It’s all hands on deck,” said agency hydrologist Ray Kruzdlo Thursday. The “outside chance” that the region would be spared a major storm “is leaving us.”

    AccuWeather Inc. is calling for 6 to 10 inches for Philly, very much subject to change, said senior meteorologist Bob Larsen.

    Several inches of snow would be all but certain, the weather service said. Philadelphia could have a 75% chance of a foot or more, based on analysis of a blend of computer models, and a 50-50 shot of 18 inches or more. However, the individual models are having their usual squabbles, with the American being the snowiest.

    In any event, Staarmann said: “It could be a significant storm for most of the region.”

    And that applies to the rest of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. AccuWeather Inc. estimated that snow and ice during the weekend could affect half the nation’s population.

    Said Stephen Morgan, a meteorologist with Fox Weather: “It’s one of the most sprawling systems we’ve seen in several years.”

    Predictably, computer models have been using the map as a Ouija board, moving around the zones of the expected heaviest snows.

    Earlier in the week, it appeared that the region would be near the northern edge of the snowfall; on Wednesday, however, the models bumped the snow north, increasing the chances that snow could mix with sleet and freezing rain in Delaware and South Jersey.

    The snow could mix with sleet at the height of the storm even in the Philly region, the weather service said. That would hold down accumulations: Sleet is slow to accumulate. Conversely, since it is pure ice, it is slower to melt.

    Should any rain get mixed in, it would freeze on contact: The upper air may be warmer, but temperatures at the surface are forecast to be mostly in the teens Sunday.

    The amounts of snow and mixing would depend on the track of a storm that is forecast to develop off the Texas Gulf Coast and track through the Tennessee Valley and off the Mid-Atlantic coast on Sunday. That track ultimately will be determined by other moving parts in the atmosphere.

    As the storm intensifies, its onshore winds would import warmer air into the upper atmosphere, changing the snow to sleet and/or freezing rain, but the surface layers would remain quite cold, Larsen said.

    Despite the potential mixing, it is at least possible that Philly will get its first double-digit snowfall since Jan. 22, 2018, said Paul Dorian, a meteorologist with Arcfield Weather, based in Valley Forge.

    In the short term, Thursday may be a day to savor. It’s heading into the mid-40s, with nothing falling from the skies. The cold begins to filter in Friday, and highs will be in the teens Saturday.

    After the precipitation shuts off Sunday night or Monday, whatever has fallen won’t be in a hurry to disappear, Staarmann said.

    Temperatures might not get above freezing for several days after the snow stops, he said. Wind chills are expected to be in the single digits Monday morning, and below zero Tuesday.

    “This overall very cold weather pattern is likely to continue into next weekend, potentially beyond,” the weather service said.

    “The next couple of weeks will feature some of the worst weather winter has to offer,” Dorian said.

    Said Fox’s Morgan: “The overall pattern in the Northeast seems to be locked in to a colder than average at least to Groundhog Day.”

    Punxsutawney Phil might want a “do not disturb” sign this year outside his burrow.

  • Video of former WHYY intern pepper-spraying influencer on SEPTA bus goes viral on conservative media

    Video of former WHYY intern pepper-spraying influencer on SEPTA bus goes viral on conservative media

    A video of a former WHYY intern yelling expletives and pepper-spraying a local influencer on a SEPTA bus is going viral on conservative media.

    During the encounter on Monday afternoon, 22-year-old Paulina Reyes called 22-year-old Francis Scales a “fascist” and “racist.” Reposts of the video capturing the incident have since garnered millions of views on social media.

    The video depicts Reyes accusing Scales of insulting Muslim people, Black people, and Latino people in posts on his website. Reyes then proceeds to pepper-spray him in the face while Scales’ friend and colleague films.

    Scales runs a website called Surge Philly on which he posts videos of himself interviewing people at protests. He became known for provoking District Attorney Larry Krasner at a town hall and organizing a protest against him.

    Social media accounts, including I Meme Therefore I Am, which has more than 842,000 followers on X, and Libs of TikTok, which has 4.5 million X followers, launched the video and its two subjects into the national spotlight in the days following the encounter. Both social media accounts are known for posting and reposting content geared toward conservative audiences.

    “BREAKING: Antifa agitator attacked two conservative independent journalists on a Philly bus, pepper spraying them, punching them, and trying to grab their phone. She needs to be identified and arrested!” I Meme Therefore I Am posted on X alongside the video on Monday night.

    By Wednesday afternoon the post had 2.3 million views and 8,600 reposts.

    Billionaire Elon Musk got involved, commenting “She has violence issues” on Surge Philly’s X post containing the video of the incident. His comment attracted 222,000 views.

    Soon, the social media posts were linking Reyes to WHYY. Reyes interned there over the summer but neglected to update her LinkedIn profile to reflect that her internship had ended months ago. The lapse led people on social media to post about her as if she were still employed there and led to criticism of the public radio station.

    “Hi @WHYYNews, why are your reporters pepper spraying independent journalists on the bus??” Libs of TikTok posted Tuesday morning.

    Scales has capitalized on the attention, reposting several tweets from popular social media accounts containing the video and messages supporting him and condemning Reyes.

    Meanwhile, Reyes said she has received “nonstop” phone calls from strangers around the country and has gotten private messages from people threatening to rape or kill her.

    Reyes and Scales were peers at Community College of Philadelphia, where Reyes is still a full-time student studying communications and media. Scales was studying biology and got partway through his degree before leaving school and transitioning to full-time content creation, he said. He plans to go back and finish his degree eventually.

    The two had crossed paths a few times at school and were familiar with each other at the time of the encounter on the Route 7 bus, they both said.

    Reyes said she had an overall positive impression of Scales on their first few meetings, and felt he was trying to do right by the students in his capacity as student government president.

    But her attitude changed during his tenure as president. She said she observed him condescend to students and staff of color and carried that behavior over to the content on his Surge Philly website once he left school.

    When she saw him on the bus in South Philly, her initial intention was to have a civil conversation, she said. She planned on asking him why his videos do not offer multiple viewpoints on the issues discussed.

    “I did not want to pepper-spray someone on a public bus,” she said. “This is not something I wanted to do.”

    Scales soon started filming the confrontation “for my own safety,” he said, because “she was attacking me.”

    Reyes said she asked him to stop filming and felt the anger building as he kept the camera rolling. Especially as it started to dawn on her that he would likely post this video online.

    “I got mad and I wanted to defend myself because he wasn’t listening,” Reyes said. “I did what I thought was the safest thing to protect myself. I pepper-sprayed him in the face.”

    Scales said he managed to dodge the first spray. Reyes then got off the bus.

    Knowing this video was likely to reach Scales’ followers, Reyes returned to the bus and came at Scales again with insults about his videos.

    “I wanted to make a message that the content he was making was harmful and it was hurting people,” Reyes said. “It was hurting communities that are trying to feel safe right now.”

    She concluded her tirade by pepper-spraying him again, this time getting him in the eyes.

    SEPTA is investigating the incident, which took place at 23rd Street and Washington Avenue, according to agency spokesperson Andrew Busch.

    Philadelphia police did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did Community College of Philadelphia.

    Scales said he posted the video online partly because it was such a shocking incident, but also, in part, because it felt aligned with the rest of the content on his website.

    “I thought it was relevant,” Scales said. “She was calling me a racist and a fascist and then she committed violence because of what she thought I was.”

    This was not Scales’ first time getting attacked for his interviews and posts, he said. He attributes the attacks to the lines of questioning he often pursues when interviewing people at protests. The protesters seem to sense he’s not “in their circle,” he said.

    Some of Scales’ recent videos consist of him interviewing people at protests and on the street. He typically homes in on one question, such as “Do you think people have a right to disrupt ICE operations?” or “Do you believe in the concept of having a border?”

    “They react aggressively and violently to anybody who they feel may not have their same worldview,” he said. “I think it’s a sign that what I’m doing is good and that I need to stay on this path.”

    As for Reyes’ journalistic aspirations, she said she is nervous.

    “My entire life has been feeling like it’s falling down now,” she said. “I’m just worried about how this would affect my future as a journalist.”

    WHYY spokesperson Gary Bramnick responded to the incident with a statement clarifying Reyes “has no current affiliation, employment, or contractual relationship with our organization.”

    Reyes said she has undergone years of treatment for borderline personality disorder and depression. She has been working on managing her emotions better, she said, but, in this moment, they got the best of her.

    “I’m not a perfect person and I’m learning how to self-regulate better,” she said.

    For Scales’ part, he said he does not feel safe returning to campus until the college makes a public statement in an effort to “denounce political violence.”

  • Two years in, here’s how Philly’s political insiders think Cherelle Parker is doing as mayor

    Two years in, here’s how Philly’s political insiders think Cherelle Parker is doing as mayor

    Shalimar Thomas speaks for many about how Mayor Cherelle L. Parker is doing at the halfway point of her first term.

    “I can see the difference in the neighborhood,” said Thomas, the executive director of North Broad Renaissance, a nonprofit that manages the business improvement district along North Broad Street.

    Indeed, the big picture shows Parker is delivering on her campaign promise to make the city “clean, green, and safe.” While polls indicate a large majority of Philadelphia residents support the mayor, the reviews from the more than a dozen people I spoke with were mixed.

    Ed Rendell, the former governor who is widely considered the city’s most consequential mayor of the last half century, gave Parker high marks for tackling quality-of-life issues, particularly crime.

    “What she has done under the circumstances is remarkable,” Rendell said. “The city was demoralized, people had lost faith in government.”

    Allan Domb, the real estate mogul and former City Council member who ran against Parker in the 2023 mayoral primary, said Parker’s best decision was to appoint Kevin J. Bethel as police commissioner.

    “If the city is not safe, you can’t do anything else,” Domb said.

    Under Parker, crime is way down. The city recorded the fewest murders in 60 years in 2025. Enhanced technology has helped police solve homicides at the highest rate in 40 years.

    But this is not just a Philly thing. Crime is down across the country, thanks to several factors such as an aging population, a return to work and school after the pandemic, and investments in violence reduction programs.

    A former City Council member called Parker’s selection of Kevin J. Bethel as police commissioner the best decision of her tenure so far.

    Philadelphia had 222 homicides last year compared with 305 in New York, which has a population more than five times larger. Boston had just 31 murders. San Antonio, roughly the same size as Philadelphia, had 99 murders.

    Despite the improvement, Philly remains a laggard when it comes to policing.

    Mayor Jim Kenney fizzled out following the pandemic, but other positive trends were set in motion during his administration. The city’s finances are strong, property values are increasing, and job growth is outpacing many other big cities, including tech capitals like Seattle and San Francisco.

    Parker deserves credit for working to scrub the city’s negative image as “Filthadelphia.” She launched an effort in 2024 to clean every block in the city. Abandoned cars were towed, graffiti scrubbed, dilapidated buildings were sealed, and vacant lots cleaned.

    Parker recently announced plans to clean and beautify some of the busiest roadways in preparation for the more than one million tourists expected this year for the World Cup matches, the MLB All-Star Game, and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

    Parker deserves big props for tackling the opioid crisis that has long plagued Kensington. The city has cracked down on open-air drug markets and homeless encampments in Kensington, while pushing those battling addiction to get help.

    Crime has dropped in Kensington, and the quality of life has improved. Critics argue that the problems have not gone away since the dealers and many homeless people were just displaced. But overdoses across the city dropped to the lowest levels in a decade.

    Even still, some City Hall insiders and political operatives were critical of the day-to-day operations. Several criticized the administration for being slow to return calls or provide basic information. Despite Parker’s often-repeated slogan of a unified “One Philly,” some said the mayor does not respond well to anyone who disagrees with her.

    Parker during a news conference in West Philadelphia last month. She recently announced plans to beautify some of the city’s busiest roadways in preparation for the more than one million tourists expected to visit this year.

    “One Philly can’t be just your Philly,” one City Council staffer said. “Some of the things Mayor Parker does, Councilmember Parker would not tolerate.”

    Like many interviewed, the City Council staffer asked not to be named, so as to speak candidly.

    Several pointed to the proposed Sixers arena in Center City as a microcosm of Parker’s inability to compromise. Nearly a year was spent forcing Council to back the deal — despite stiff opposition across the city — only to see it collapse.

    “[Council] is still pissed about the Sixers,” the Council staffer said.

    Others said Parker’s hard-line stance in the labor negotiations with the city’s trash haulers and other blue-collar union workers led to an unnecessary strike and left bruised feelings among many who are part of her base of support.

    “That was a strike that didn’t need to be,” said one political consultant. “After it was settled, there was no need for the victory lap.”

    Parker’s signature housing initiative, known as Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., has been slow to become reality. After two years of planning, the program remains bogged down in Council.

    “It’s surprising how slow out of the gate this has been,” said another political consultant. “She could be halfway through Year Three before it even gets going.”

    The plan to create and preserve 30,000 housing units will be funded by borrowing $800 million in bonds — a hefty number with a murky return on investment.

    Parker discusses the municipal workers’ strike during a July news conference. “That was a strike that didn’t need to be,” said one political consultant, who took issue with the mayor’s hard-line stance in contract talks.

    Some believe the problem is that Parker micromanages her administration and does not empower top staffers to make decisions.

    “I think she tries to be too hands-on,” said the first political consultant.

    This is where it would have been helpful to hear directly from the mayor, but Parker’s communications team did not make her available for an interview despite several requests.

    Rendell, who did not support Parker in the crowded primary, had a simple answer: “You can’t make everyone happy.”

    That holds true with the way Parker has responded to Donald Trump’s attacks on cities, migrants, affirmative action, and many other issues.

    Rather than push back, Parker has laid low — much to the outrage of those who argue that this is not the time to remain silent. Others argue Parker is wise not to poke the wildebeest.

    Trump has not sent National Guard troops into Philadelphia, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have made arrests across the city.

    Philly is a tough town, but a poll last summer found Parker’s approval rating at 63%. Despite some setbacks, she is off to a good start.

    Crime, poor schools, and high taxes have long prevented Philadelphia from achieving its full potential. Until all three are addressed, lasting improvement will be incremental.

    Time will tell if Parker’s strategy is the right one. Or if her tenure will result in substantive change.

  • What the advanced stats say about the Eagles’ starters on defense

    What the advanced stats say about the Eagles’ starters on defense

    The defense was a strength for the Eagles for most of the 2025 season, though not so much in their playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

    The Eagles got to 11-6 and won the NFC East in part because of their ability to win low-scoring games. Their defense bailed out the offense in a few marquee victories, like their 10-7 win over Green Bay, their 16-9 victory over Detroit, and when they squeaked by Buffalo, 13-12.

    Eagles’ key offensive players were better (or worse) than you might have thought, the advanced stats say

    Vic Fangio’s unit lost a few key players from 2024 and dealt with an injured Jalen Carter, but still managed to finish fifth in points allowed per game despite a pretty tough schedule.

    What does that mean for 2026, with a handful of key players set to be back? Here’s one compelling advanced stat for each starter, the second in a two-part series that previously analyzed the offense:

    Quinyon Mitchell developed into one of the premier corners in the league in his second season.

    Quinyon Mitchell

    Let’s start with Mitchell, a first-team All-Pro selection in his second NFL season.

    Mitchell emerged as one of the best cover corners in the NFL in 2025, as evidenced by his 42.4% catch percentage allowed, according to Next Gen Stats, a mark that led all corners who played a full season. Mitchell is so good it’s worth including another number: He led all NFL corners with an average target separation of 1.8 yards.

    If you were ranking the list of spots on the depth chart you were least worried about, CB1 would probably be at the top.

    Cooper DeJean dominated the slot during an All-Pro season.

    Cooper DeJean

    From one All-Pro to another. DeJean was named first-team All-Pro at nickel, and it’s worth noting that because that distinction is a key one. The Eagles like DeJean in the slot, and DeJean said it’s a spot he’d probably like to remain in.

    Why? There’s enough data out there now to suggest that it’s his best spot.

    After logging just nine snaps at outside corner during his rookie season (1.5% of his total snaps), DeJean, whom the Eagles kept on the field in their base package, aligned outside on 30.1% of his snaps in 2025.

    He fared much better in the slot, where he allowed a .574 completion percentage and 5.9 yards per target, according to Next Gen. Both of those numbers ranked well below the league-average marks of .695 and 6.8, respectively. DeJean allowed a similar .588 completion percentage when he lined up outside, but his 10.9 yards per target ranked seventh among defenders to have faced at least 15 such targets. He was susceptible to the deep ball when facing top receivers outside.

    Just ask George Pickens.

    Adoree’ Jackson

    We’ll count Jackson as a starter since the Eagles played more nickel than base and needed another outside corner not named DeJean on the field quite often.

    It wasn’t always Jackson’s job. The second cornerback spot was a position with a lot of intrigue in training camp and even early in the season. It was Jackson’s job, then it wasn’t, then it was again.

    Jackson was targeted at a higher clip (26.5% of his coverage snaps) through the first eight weeks of the season than any other cornerback in the NFL. After that, though, Jackson was targeted on just 16.5% of his coverage snaps while allowing a completion percentage of .585, slightly below the league average. He did not give up a touchdown during his last five games of the regular season or the playoff game.

    Jackson, 30, is a free agent, and the Eagles may need a new cornerback opposite Mitchell next season. But Jackson’s play showed that even an aging and average player can be put in that spot, and the defense won’t fall apart, regardless of the preseason narrative about a certain spot on the depth chart.

    Zack Baun generally lived up to his rich new contract in 2025.

    Zack Baun

    Baun proved he wasn’t a one-year wonder in his second season with the Eagles, who plucked him out of free agency last offseason and turned a player who had mostly been an edge rusher and special teamer into one of the best off-ball linebackers in the NFL.

    Baun didn’t earn All-Pro honors like he did in 2024, but he was still really good in 2025. While his tackle total dropped from 151 to 123, his pass deflection number rose from four to seven, and he intercepted two passes in 2025, up from one in 2024. Pro Football Focus ranked Baun as the fifth-best linebacker in the NFL, and the second-best coverage linebacker.

    His ability to cover ground may be his best trait. Baun was seventh in the NFL with 17 hustle stops, which Next Gen Stats defines as a tackle during a successful defensive play when a player covers 20-plus yards of distance from snap to tackle.

    A quality 2025 season will serve Nakobe Dean well in his next contract.

    Nakobe Dean

    Has Dean played his last game with the Eagles? And, to that end, can Jihaad Campbell replace Dean’s production?

    Because Dean was pretty productive in 2025 after he worked his way back onto the field after surgery to repair a patellar tendon injury, which he suffered in the wild-card round a year ago.

    This is what the Eagles could be asking Campbell to replace should Dean not return: Dean’s catch percentage allowed of just 58.3% on targets ranked third among all NFL linebackers who played at least 200 snaps in coverage, according to Next Gen. And Dean was even better as a blitzer: He led all linebackers with a 40.7% pressure rate on his 27 pass rushes and got home for four sacks.

    Injuries prevented Jalen Carter from demonstrating his full effectiveness for the NFC East champs.

    Jalen Carter

    The Eagles will be hoping Carter’s step back is easily explained by the shoulder injuries that limited his production and caused him to miss three games after undergoing procedures on both shoulders in late November.

    Carter, according to Next Gen, had a career-low 7.7% pressure rate on the year despite facing fewer double teams (41.7%) than he ever has. Carter generated five pressures against 158 double teams after tallying 12 in 2023 and 15 in 2024. His average time to sack also dropped to 5.32 seconds from 4.85 year over year.

    Notably, after Carter returned following his three-game break, he had five pressures and a sack vs. Buffalo and the same output in the playoff loss vs. San Francisco.

    Will the shoulder injuries be revisited in the offseason? Will Carter’s slide allow the Eagles to secure him on a long-term deal at a lower price? Lots of intrigue there.

    The emergence of Jordan Davis was one of the Eagles’ best stories of the year.

    Jordan Davis

    Davis was a revelation for the Eagles in 2025, and a big reason that the defense was so successful even as Carter’s play declined a bit.

    Davis showed up to camp in much better shape and improved his play in every area. Mainly relied on as a run stopper in the past, Davis showed his pass rushing chops in 2025. Entering the year, Davis had just 3½ sacks on 559 pass rushes through his first three NFL seasons. This season, Davis racked up 4½ sacks on 355 pass rushes.

    The run-stopping ability didn’t go away even though he showed up in July a little more svelte. Davis, according to Next Gen, had a career-high 50 run stops (run defenses that result in a negative play for the offense), which was second among all defensive linemen this season.

    Davis is in line for an extension, and his play in 2025 earned him a big new deal that will probably come from the Eagles.

    Jaelan Phillips played well but was not a sack machine for the Eagles.

    Jaelan Phillips

    Phillips helped steady the Eagles’ pass rush after he joined the team at the trade deadline, but while he and Jalyx Hunt formed an elite pass-rushing duo — their 61 combined pressures from Week 10 through Week 17 ranked fourth during that span — he had trouble converting his pressures into sacks.

    Phillips led the Eagles with 34 pressures after joining the team, but he turned just two of those into a sack. His 5.9% pressure-to-sack conversion rate, according to Next Gen, ranked 10th-lowest among 97 defenders to have generated at least 15 pressures after the trade deadline. Some of that is bad luck. Fangio talks often about the importance of pressures and not getting too hyper-focused on sack numbers.

    But the Eagles need a top-end talent at the top of the depth chart to pair with Hunt since Phillips is a free agent. Phillips wants to be back. Is the feeling mutual? We’ll see when free agency arrives.

    Jalyx Hunt made an impact as a member of the linebacker rotation in 2025.

    Jalyx Hunt

    Hunt became the first player in Eagles history to lead the team in sacks (6½) and interceptions (3).

    That’s an impressive stat, but this is a compilation of advanced numbers, so let’s point to this one instead: Hunt ranked seventh among all edge rushers who had at least 100 pass rushing snaps with a quarterback pressure rate of 17.3%.

    The 2024 third-round pick broke out in a big way in his second NFL season, and the Eagles used his safety background to drop him into coverage with success.

    Reed Blankenship was a team leader but the record shows that he struggled at times in coverage.

    Reed Blankenship

    Blankenship has been a leader on the defense for the last few seasons, but he’s now a free agent and it’s fair to wonder if he’ll be back next season.

    Blankenship has been solid against the run, but he’s not great in pass coverage when he’s targeted. After a 2024 season in which he ranked fifth-worst among safeties with at least 500 coverage snaps with an 81.3% completion percentage allowed, Blankenship had the eighth-worst passer rating allowed (116.8) in 2025, according to Pro Football Focus.

    It’s unclear what Blankenship’s market will look like in free agency, but it’s a position the Eagles could probably stand to upgrade.

    Drew Mukuba’s return from a broken fibula figures to be a training camp storyline.

    Drew Mukuba

    Mukuba’s first season in the NFL was incomplete. The second-round pick was lost for the season after suffering a fractured fibula in the waning moments of a Week 12 loss to Dallas.

    Mukuba wasn’t targeted often in coverage. Before his injury, he was targeted on just 4.2% of his snaps, according to Next Gen. That ranked fifth-lowest among all defenders in the NFL with a minimum of 150 coverage snaps. But when he was targeted, it was on deep balls. He had the fifth-highest total in yards per target allowed (13.5).

  • A Philly-area university prof is competing in the Jeopardy! tournament of champions

    A Philly-area university prof is competing in the Jeopardy! tournament of champions

    As Joshua Weikert shared ground rules for quizzes in his early morning international relations class, he sought to put his students at ease.

    “I don’t want you stressing out about these,” he said Tuesday, as the new semester got underway at Immaculata University in Chester County. “I myself was a terrible student.”

    Weikert, 47, of Collegeville, may not have been a star student, but he sure knows a lot.

    The politics and public policy professor will compete on Jeopardy! 2026 Tournament of Champions at 7 p.m. Friday on ABC, having won six games when he was on the show in March.

    Joshua Weikert teaches a class in international relations at Immaculata University.

    Over a couple weeks, Jeopardy! shows will feature him vying against 20 other champions, including Allegra Kuney, a doctoral student at Rutgers University’s New Brunswick campus, and Matt Massie, a Philadelphia lawyer who moved to the area in 2024, who also will appear on Friday’s show.

    Friday’s match is a quarter-final, and if Weikert wins, he’ll advance to the semifinals. (Kuney won her quarter-final Tuesday.)

    Weikert won about $103,000 when he competed last year, 10% of which he donated to a memorial scholarship fund named for his late friend, Jarrad Weikel, a Phoenixville man who died unexpectedly at age 40 in 2022. The winner of the champions tournament —which will conclude sometime in early February — will take home a grand prize of a quarter million.

    Weikert will watch the show Friday among family and friends — including his fellow contestant Massie — at Troubles End Brewing in Collegeville, which named one of its beers after him. It’s an English Bitter, one of Weikert’s favorites, called “Who is Josh?”

    At Immaculata, a Catholic college where Weikert has taught since 2016, students and staff are stoked. A campus watch party is planned, President Barbara Lettiere said.

    His appearance last year, she said, has put a welcome spotlight on the school and brought an outpouring of enthusiasm from alumni. On tours, some prospective students and their parents who spot Weikert have recognized him, she said.

    “I never knew that this show was as watched as it appears to be,” she said. “Win or lose, Immaculata wins.”

    Student Ben Divens talks about his Jeopardy-star professor Joshua Weikert.

    Ben Divens, 19, said it’s “jaw-dropping” and “surreal” to know his teacher will compete in the Jeopardy! champion tournament.

    “I knew from the first time I met him he was a super, super smart person,” said Divens, a prelaw major from Souderton.

    “He’s guided us so much in our major already,” added Bailey Kassis, 18, a political science major from Fort Washington.

    “He’s guided us so much in our major already,” student Bailey Kassis said about her professor Joshua Weikert.

    An early gamer

    Weikert said he has watched Jeopardy! ever since he can remember, probably since 1984 when he was 6, and it came back on the air with Alex Trebek as host. He grew up just outside of Gettysburg in a family that loved to play games, he said.

    “We took them very seriously, which is to say that they didn’t just let the kids win,” he said of his parents, both of whom had accounting degrees. “We were destroyed routinely in the games we played.”

    About his performance as a student, he said he often skipped his homework.

    “Just give me an exam,” he said, describing his attitude at the time. “I’ll pass it.”

    He got his bachelor’s degree in international relations from West Chester University, master’s degrees from Villanova and Immaculata, and his doctorate from Temple. He also attended the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, where he studied modern standard Arabic while serving in the U.S. Army.

    Joshua Weikert sets expectations for students as a new semester gets underway at Immaculata University.

    In addition to teaching, he also works as a policy adviser to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives under state Rep. Joe Webster, a Democrat serving part of Montgomery County. He vets legislators’ ideas and offers ideas of his own.

    “The only thing they’ve ever told me no on was [when] I tried to abolish the Pennsylvania Senate,” he said.

    So many bills pass one body, then die in the other, he explained. If there were one legislative body where all House and Senate members served, that might be different, he said.

    Weikert’s office walls are lined with framed newspaper front pages highlighting major events: “Nixon Resigns,” “Nazis Surrender,” “Man Walks on Moon,” “Kennedy Shot to Death.”

    “Every once in a while, I just get up and read one of the stories,” he said.

    He got them from his mother-in-law’s basement and put them up after his wife told him his office needed some decor.

    Weikert’s status as a Jeopardy! champion makes clear he’s a fast thinker. He’s also a fast talker.

    “I don’t really drink caffeine. I just talk this fast,” he told his students.

    His wife, he told the class, tells him to slow down.

    “Keep up,” he tells her, he said.

    The road to Jeopardy

    Since his mid-20s, Weikert has been trying to get on Jeopardy!. Years ago, he got a call from the game show, but he put the caller on hold to get to a quiet place. They hung up.

    “I was like, well, I guess I missed that opportunity,” he said.

    But he kept trying and started taking the online tests, which typically draw 200,000 participants annually. In 2024, he got an email, inviting him to take the test again — and then again under Zoom surveillance.

    Next came a virtual audition and practice game in August 2024. That earned him a place in a pool of about 3,000 people, of whom a few hundred eventually became contestants.

    Weikert got the call last January and was invited to fly to California the next month to compete.

    In reality, his varied interests and life path had already prepared him for the show. He reads a lot. He’s a fan of historical fiction, pop culture, and movies. His work as a public policy scholar helps, too.

    But to try and up his game, he read plots of Shakespeare plays and a book on great operas. He flipped through lists of presidents and vice presidents. His wife, Barbara, a Norristown School District middle school music teacher, read questions to him from old Jeopardy! shows. He knew about 80% of the answers, he said.

    That, however, didn’t stop him from having panic dreams of being on stage and knowing nothing.

    The toughest category for him, he said, is popular music. Movies, history, and politics are his strongest.

    But the hardest questions, he said, are the ones with four or five strong possible answers.

    “Getting a Jeopardy! answer right is more about knowing what it’s not than what it is,” he said.

    Ultimately, he said, it’s impossible to really study for the game show.

    “The odds that something you study would come up is almost zero,” he said.

    It was an intense experience on stage last March, but the staff put contestants at ease, he said. Host Ken Jennings, formerly one of the show’s most successful contestants, told them, according to Weikert: “I promise you something today is going to be a win for you, so just relax and have fun.”

    He has a hard time remembering his winning answers. He readily recalls his dumbest, he said.

    The answer was “sacred cow.” He uttered “holy cow.”

    “Even as it was coming out of my mouth, I knew it was wrong,” he said.

    He’s proud that he only froze on one answer involving lyrics from the B-52’s “Love Shack,” he said.

    There was less pressure competing in the championship match last month, given he was already a winner, he said. But it was harder in that the contestants were the best of the best.

    “During the regular season, it’s a little under a quarter of a second between when you can start to buzz in and when the buzz actually comes,” he said. “In the tournament of champions, that drops to 0.08 seconds.”

    This time, he also prepped by reading children’s books on topics such as basic cell biology, a tip he got from another contestant.

    “It’s the simplest language they can use to convey the information,” he said.

    He also read the book, Timelines of Everything: From Woolly Mammoths to World Wars.

    He most enjoyed the camaraderie among contestants, he said. When filming was over, they hung out in a bar and — watched Jeopardy!.

    “We were yelling out the answers,” he said.

  • ‘Phillies Extra’ Q&A: Jesús Luzardo on J.T. Realmuto’s impact, his WBC decision, and more

    ‘Phillies Extra’ Q&A: Jesús Luzardo on J.T. Realmuto’s impact, his WBC decision, and more

    Jesús Luzardo trains in the offseason with dozens of major leaguers at a South Florida gym where the televisions are always tuned to MLB Network.

    Even so, his father keeps him apprised of all baseball news.

    “He makes sure to send me all the latest rumors,” Luzardo said in a guest appearance on Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast. “I feel like I’m pretty connected.”

    Jesús Luzardo ‘really interested’ in a contract extension with the Phillies

    You can be sure, then, that Luzardo was paying attention last week when former Phillies teammate Ranger Suárez agreed to a five-year, $130 million contract with the Red Sox.

    Because Luzardo could be in line for a similar deal a year from now — if not sooner.

    Luzardo, a 28-year-old lefty, is eligible for free agency after this season. In a wide-ranging conversation on the podcast, he said he’s interested in discussing a contract extension with the Phillies during spring training. He also discussed his impressive first season with the team, J.T. Realmuto’s impact behind the plate, and more.

    Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Phillies Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

    Q: What was your takeaway from your first year with the Phillies?

    A: I feel like I wasn’t sure what to expect, getting traded over to the Phillies, obviously coming to a new team, new organization, a little bit different from the places that I had been. I loved my time in Oakland and Miami. But obviously [the Phillies are] a little different organization. A lot more expectation, a lot more fans in the stands, the firepower in the clubhouse. But it was just great. The team was great, the organization was great, the fans are great. They obviously will let you know when you’re not doing well, [and] that’s not something that has ever bothered me. And I’ll let myself know before they let me know. So, I had a great time from top to bottom every day going to the field. I was looking forward to it.

    I had a great time [with] the guys I worked with, the guys I spent time with. I had a great time going into the playoffs and making the run that we did, just building that camaraderie. And, yeah, I couldn’t have asked for a better first year in my eyes. Obviously, some up and down, obviously some tough moments throughout the year. But it’s a long season, and it’s a marathon, and you’re not going to be your best the whole time. So, I think it’s just a matter of weathering the storm. And I like to go by that saying of ‘bend, don’t break.’ So, I think I learned that about myself in the sense that, when times get tough, it’s just a matter of grinding through it and finding the way out, as opposed to kind of just withering away and being like, it’s over. So, I think that was something that I take away from this year.

    Jesus Luzardo had a 3.92 ERA in a career-high 183⅔ innings in his first season with the Phillies.
    Q: Can you describe or give an example of how J.T. Realmuto has such a big impact on the pitching staff?

    A: There’s really not one specific thing. I think it’s just J.T. as a whole. I really respect the way he goes about his business. He’s a no-B.S. guy. He’s a family man. He is a hard worker. You see him, works hard in the weight room, works hard on the field; always is like, the first one to be out there ready to go. He’s not one to take a day off. They kind of have to pull his teeth out to take the day off. And you show up to the field, he’s already there, doing homework, going over scouting reports, watching video. So, when he goes up back there [behind the plate] and he tells us, ‘This is the plan that we’re going to do throughout the game,’ you have confidence that he knows what he’s talking about and that it’s not he’s just winging it. He has a plan. He understands what his plan is.

    And he takes very good care of his body. He’s very mentally aware of the situations, and he’s got a lot of baseball IQ. So, in that sense, I think he’s a full, full-bodied catcher in the sense that he has all his bases covered. And I think that’s something I really respect. And not only me, obviously the whole rotation, bullpen, all these guys. And when he’s hitting, it’s the same way. You could just see all the work he puts in and how smart he is at the plate. And that’s something that we all appreciate.

    The Phillies were ‘very close’ to getting Bo Bichette and ended up with J.T. Realmuto. Here’s how it happened.
    Q: Your parents live in South Florida, where you grew up, but they’re from Venezuela. Do you have family there? Does everyone know that everyone’s OK after everything that’s happened down there? And are you interested in pitching for Venezuela again in the World Baseball Classic, like you did in 2023?

    A: I have family down there, and thankfully everyone’s OK so far. And yeah, it’s been a scary situation down there at times, but thankfully everyone’s all right. And in terms of pitching in the Classic, yeah, I threw in there three years ago. Last year talking to [Team Venezuela], I promised that I would go and pitch. And did get a call from the U.S., and got offered to pitch [for them] as well.

    But just this year, I think it’s going to be tough for me, going into a free-agency year [and] made the decision that, unfortunately, [I’m] not going to be able to pitch in the Classic and want to take my time. Take a slow spring training, fully get ready with the team, make sure my body bounced back after a career-high innings. And [it’s] a tough decision for me and my family, because it’s very important for my family, for me, to represent Venezuela. But just in terms of intelligent decision-making and a hard decision after a long last year and looking forward to a long this year, going into the playoffs, hopefully again pitching into maybe November, I think the correct decision would be to take a slow spring training and make sure everything’s along the right line to be prepared for the year.

  • ‘Drumming saved my life’: How the Sixers Stixers are providing opportunities for inner-city youth

    ‘Drumming saved my life’: How the Sixers Stixers are providing opportunities for inner-city youth

    Walking through the main concourse of Xfinity Mobile Arena after a game, fans often hear the faint sounds of drums rattling in the distance. If one follows the high-pitched rhythm of the snare to the melody of the tenor and eventually to the deep pulse of the bass, they’ll find the Sixers Stixers.

    The group has been the official drum line of the 76ers dating back to 2013. For over a decade, they’ve performed in perfect cohesion — relying on teamwork, discipline, and unity — building lifelong friendships deeply rooted in brotherhood, and providing life-changing opportunities for inner-city youth through the power of music.

    “We have nothing else,” said 46-year-old Antoine Mapp Sr., the director of the Sixers Stixers. “Everyone don’t play sports, everyone don’t play basketball, everyone don’t play football, everyone don’t play baseball, everyone don’t bowl. However, music is universal. Music touches the soul.

    “When you’re part of a team, you start feeling accepted. You start feeling like you belong to something, you start feeling important. All kids really need is love and affection. You don’t know what these kids go through at home. You don’t know what they go through in school, but when it comes to being a part of something like this, we all family, and we say before we leave, ‘I love you, bro,’ because I don’t know if he’s going to make it back tomorrow.”

    Antoine Mapp (front left) and the Sixers Stixers do more than just perform at games, like escorting Zyair Kendrick-Finney (back center), along with school and city officials, for his first day of 7th grade at Morgan Village Middle School in Camden in 2022.
    Mapp’s Stixers have been performing at Sixers games for over a decade.

    ‘Take these drum sticks, jail cell, or graveyard’

    In 1991, Mapp was first introduced to drumming by his late grandmother, Elsie Wise. To keep young boys and girls out of trouble in the West Powelton neighborhood, Wise created a drum line and drill team known as the West Powelton Steppers and Drum Squad, which still practices today.

    “My grandmom came to me and said, ‘Well, I’ll give you three options: take these drum sticks, jail cell, or graveyard,’” Mapp recalled. “I decided to pick the drumsticks. And I asked her what I’m supposed to do with these drumsticks. She said, ‘Figure it out.’”

    At that time drum squads and drill teams weren’t as accepted. At 11 years old, Mapp remembers being called every name in the book.

    “In the ’90s, drill team wasn’t accepted,” Mapp said. “They looked at us as being wimps, looked at us as being cowards, looked at us as being punks. They used to disrespect us, call us names, say vulgar things about our sexuality because they didn’t understand drumming, they didn’t understand the culture. They didn’t understand music and how it touches the soul and how it saves your life.”

    However, that culture was on full display when Mapp attended Cheyney University, the nation’s first Historically Black College and University. He decided to attend Cheyney, on the border of Chester and Delaware Counties, to stay closer to home — giving him time to continue helping with the West Powelton Steppers and Drum Squad.

    Antoine Mapp got his start with the West Powelton Steppers and Drum Squad, which helped turn into an opportunity with the Sixers.

    In 2001, Mapp became the first person in his family to graduate college, with a major in accounting and minor in computer programming. And as he pursued his degree, he joined the Cheyney drum line.

    “The band is the culture of the HBCU,” Mapp said. “The band is the heartbeat. The band is the lifeline. The band is what draws the attention. The sports team being good is a bonus when it comes to an HBCU.”

    HBCU excellence was on display Thursday at the Linc, and the stars were out to witness it

    Not only was it the lifeline of the HBCU, but it was the lifeline for Mapp himself. The Philly native credits the drum line for saving his life.

    “First of all, making it to 18 years old where I’m from, it’s like making it to 100,” Mapp said. “We used to make it to 18 and say, ‘OK, we have nothing to live for. We made it.’ That’s the mentality we used to have. Drumming saved my life. … The drill team and drum line raised me because the guys on the team became my brothers. The young ladies on the team became my sisters.”

    This year, Antoine Mapp Jr. (front) — the son of Sixers Stixers drumline director Antoine Mapp (center in hat) — has joined the team.

    A family affair

    “Break down!” Mapp yelled as the Stixers began to choreograph their routine for the halftime show of a recent game against the Wizards.

    Listening to the order, the rest of the Stixers changed formation — closing in on one another as they drummed out the melody that was discussed on their ride to the stadium. Wearing matching Sixers gear, their black Nikes moved in perfect harmony — one pair looking rather smaller than the rest.

    That pair belonged to 11-year-old Antoine Mapp Jr., the son of Mapp, who joined the Stixers at the start of the season. After their first performance together, Mapp sent out a message to another famous father-son NBA duo.

    “When I seen LeBron [James], it was the best feeling in the world,” Mapp Sr. said. “I said to LeBron, ‘Hey Bron, you ain’t the only one on the court playing with your son. It was a beautiful moment. Just to be able to say that, I never thought in a million years that I would be on the Sixers floor in the NBA drumming alongside my son. It’s the best feeling in the world.”

    If you would have told Mapp that he was going to be performing alongside his son on the Sixers court in 2014, he would have never believed it.

    Antoine Mapp Jr. (far right), is the 11-year-old son of Sixers Stixers drumline director Antoine Mapp (wearing hat). The group performs throughout Sixers games and at other team functions.

    “I just lost in 2014,” Mapp said. “I just lost my job. My son, Antoine, they told me to abort him. They told me that his stomach and his lungs were growing in his chest. They told me he wasn’t going to walk, talk, run, or do anything. My grandfather, the only father figure that I knew, was in the hospital passing away. I was losing my son and my grandfather.

    “On Father’s Day, I lost my grandfather. My son was in the NICU for six months. He was the only baby that survived the NICU.”

    Throughout all the struggles, drumming was one thing that helped him persevere. Mapp remembers sitting in the parking lot and praying for guidance.

    “[The Lord] spoke to me,” Mapp said. “That same week, I got a phone call from [76ers director of game presentation] Derrick Hayes. When Derrick called me he said, ‘Well, we’re calling you about being a Sixers drum line.’ I said, ‘OK, I’ll do it for free.’ That’s what I’m used to with the after-school program. Drumming was my payment. My life being saved, that was payment enough.

    “When he told me that he was going to pay me for doing the game, a light bulb went off in my head. What is one of the reasons why there’s so much crime in my neighborhood? Lack of funds. That’s one of the reasons. So, I said, ‘OK, if the Sixers are paying us, let me change my program to I pay you to save you.’”

    Mapp (left) leads the drumline as they entertain fans on the main concourse during a recent game against the Washington Wizards.

    ‘Don’t ever stop’

    In 2020, Mapp’s 29th season helping with the West Powelton Steppers and Drum Squad, he had his last conversation with his grandmother.

    “Before she took her last breath, I asked her, ‘Why am I still here?’” Mapp said. “She said, ‘Because you still love it.’ The last thing she said to me, she said, ‘Don’t ever stop,’ and took her last breath.

    “That’s been ingrained in my brain ever since — and I haven’t stopped.”

    Mapp has spent over three decades with the West Powelton Steppers and over a decade with the Sixers Stixers, performing alongside children as young as 4 years old to grown men in their 40s.

    The Stixers take part in off-court events like the Annual 76ers Summer Shore Tour.
    And there’s no rest in the postseason, as the Sixers Stixers prepare for their performance during Game 6 against the Boston Celtics in 2023.

    “We have no age limit,” Mapp said. “We don’t cap out. We’re in your life for the rest of your life. It’s our 35th year, and we have so many people that are still part of this group and have kids who are part of the group.

    “I can’t wait to see what my son does with it 20 years down. I can’t wait to say we’ve been with the Sixers for 50 years, I’ll probably be like 96. But, I’ll still be here. And I’ll still be out there leading my guys. I’m so honored to be a West Powelton drummer and to be a Sixer Stixer.”