There’s magic at work in Philly’s dive bars. Some are great for the memories made in their low-lit, low-key backdrops. Some have a hard, regulars-only shell that melts away the moment you plant your butt on the barstool. Others feel frozen in time — portals to an era where beers were cheap, smoking inside was allowed, and strangers could become friends over a drink or three.
But for several years now, Philly’s dives have felt in jeopardy, with the cost of a drink rising along with real estate prices. At least one strand of dive — the smoking bar — is decidedly on the way out, evidenced most recently McGlinchey’s closure, but also stalwarts like Grumpy’s Tavern and Buckets going non-smoking earlier this year.
It’s made us think, Why wait to celebrate something until it’s gone?
So The Inquirer is asking readers: What are Philly’s best dive bars, and what makes them special?
Fill out the form below to tip us off to your favorite Philly dive. If your bar makes the list, an Inquirer reporter may follow up.
Inside the 76ers’ celebratory postgame locker room late Thursday, VJ Edgecombe received a phone call from Buddy Hield.
That would not normally occur between two players who had just faced off in a wild thriller. But it is not hyperbole to conclude that Edgecombe may never have made his game-winning plays against the Golden State Warriors — a steal, then a go-ahead putback in the final 8.2 seconds of a night that swung from Sixers blowout, to disastrous collapse, to chaotic 99-98 victory — without attending Hield’s basketball camps in their native Bahamas as a teenager.
Thursday’s crazy finish capped the first night that Hield, a respected 10-year sharpshooter, and Edgecombe, an electric two-way rookie, shared the floor as NBA peers. Edgecombe finished with 10 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals; Hield with 14 points, eight rebounds, and two steals. And as the postgame hubbub continued to swirl around them, Edgecombe and Hield met at center court to exchange jerseys.
“I love Buddy with all my heart,” Edgecombe later told The Inquirer. “ … He always had faith in me, and always was teaching me little points about the game.”
Good friends VJ Edgecombe of the Sixers and Buddy Hield of the Warriors play against each other on Thursday.
This Sixers-Warriors matchup was coincidentally full of reunions. Hield played 32 games for the Sixers after being acquired at the 2024 trade deadline. Tyrese Maxey’s game-saving block after Edgecombe’s bucket came against former teammate De’Anthony Melton, who spent a couple hours at Maxey’s home Wednesday to catch up as friends before making his season debut following knee surgery. Seth Curry and Al Horford are also former Sixers, and received drastically different receptions from the home crowd. So is Jimmy Butler, who sat out Thursday’s game with a knee injury.
But none of those players’ ties boast the roots of Edgecombe and Hield, who both described their relationship as little brother-big brother.
Edgecombe first attended Hield’s camp as a 13-year-old, aka the “smallest kid there” among a group of mostly high school juniors and seniors. But Hield immediately noticed Edgecombe’s skill and eagerness to be good. Then, Edgecombe hit a growth spurt and added muscle to his frame.
“The next year, I see him on the rim dunking on people,” Hield recalled to The Inquirer before Thursday’s game. “I was like, ‘Oh, [expletive]. He’s going to be really good.’”
Throughout the years, Hield kept in touch with Edgecombe to “[make] sure I was always good,” the rookie said. Hield would emphasize staying confident and working hard.
Then, Edgecombe and Hield became Bahamas teammates for the 2024 Olympics Qualifiers. On a roster that also included fellow Sixer Eric Gordon and Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton, Edgecombe provided “an aggressive downhill energy that we didn’t have,” Hield said. The team would allow a pre-college Edgecombe to run pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll, trusting that he would either draw a foul while attacking the basket or kick out to an open Hield at the three-point arc.
Golden State’s Buddy Hield (left) and the Sixers’ VJ Edgecombe exchanged jerseys after the Warriors played the Sixers on Thursday night.
Edgecombe’s performance in that high-pressure environment, while playing against grown men, helped ignite his ascension to coveted NBA Draft prospect. Then came his successful season at Baylor, an impressive pre-draft process, and becoming the Sixers’ pick at No. 3 overall.
“I was like, ‘Man, I watched this kid grow up,’” Hield said. “That’s kind of dope, you know what I mean?”
Through the first quarter of the regular season, Edgecombe has been one of the league’s top rookies.
He scored 34 points in a historic NBA debut. He has been an impact player on both ends of the floor for a 12-9 Sixers team that is now guard-heavy and stressing a fast-paced style. He regularly ignites the crowd with his high-flying athleticism. He entered Thursday averaging 14.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.4 steals in 17 games, before some recent limitations due to a calf issue.
Before Thursday’s matchup, a grinning Hield vowed he would “go at [Edgecombe] and test that water.” But other than a 27-second stretch to close the first quarter, they were never on the floor at the same time until that wild final frame. They approached each other when they came back to the court following the quarter break. Edgecombe trash-talked Hield’s “fake defense,” before playfully shoving him to create space to receive the inbound pass.
And though Edgecombe struggled for much of Thursday’s game, coach Nick Nurse put the rookie back in for crunch time. Edgecombe has already earned the Sixers’ trust with his knack for clutch plays.
So while preparing for a defensive possession with his team trailing, 98-97, with 10.1 seconds remaining, Edgecombe knew the Warriors were out of timeouts. He tried to read Pat Spencer’s eyes, because “people tend to telegraph their passes a lot.”
VJ Edgecombe did not have the best game of his rookie season against Buddy Hield (left) and the Warriors, but continued to make a substantial impact.
“He had to throw the ball somewhere,” Edgecombe said. “Everyone was just in that one little spot, and I just dove on the ball, to be honest.”
That gave the Sixers an opportunity for a final-possession shot, with Edgecombe making the inbound pass. His plan was to “give the ball to Tyrese, and get out of the way.” But when Maxey’s fadeaway jumper was tipped by Melton and began to fall well short of the rim, Edgecombe darted in to secure the putback.
Then Edgecombe sprinted the opposite direction as Melton attempted his own breakaway game-winner, and flexed after Maxey swatted the ball away.
“It’s what he does,” Maxey said of Edgecombe. “ … Whatever it takes for us to win the game, I know he’s going to make a play.”
Hield, meanwhile, had already entered the day proud that Edgecombe had become the latest Bahamian who, by making the NBA, could take care of his family and bring joy to his community and home country.
But after that wild finish — which capped the first time Edgecombe and Hield shared the floor as NBA peers — Hield needed to call his little brother.
“It brings more life to the youth, to uplift them,” Hield said of Edgecombe’s success. “For them to be like, ‘Yo, VJ did it. I can do it, too.’ They’re trying to write their stories, too.
“So I just hope he keeps on inspiring young kids, like I did for him.”
President Donald Trump smiles after drawing USA’s name Friday.
The U.S. men’s soccer team will open its 2026 World Cup group stage run against Paraguay on June 12 in Inglewood, Calif.
That will mean a meeting right out of the gate with a team the Americans just beat last month, 2-1, at Subaru Park in Chester.
The game will be played on the second day of the tournament, with co-host Mexico playing the opener against South Africa on June 11 at Mexico City’s fabled Estadio Azteca.
The Americans’ second group game will be against Australia in Seattle on June 19. That will also be a rematch of a recent game, a 2-1 U.S. win in suburban Denver in October.
Their group stage finale will be back in suburban Los Angeles against the winner of a four-team qualifying playoff between Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, and Kosovo. The playoff will take place in March.
Turkey will be favored on paper. If that’s the matchup, it would be another rematch, this one a 2-1 U.S. loss this past June, with an understrength American squad on the field.
Here’s the U.S. men’s soccer team 2026 World Cup group schedule:
June 12: vs. Paraguay in Inglewood, Calif.
June 19: vs. Australia in Seattle
June 25: vs. UEFA playoff winner in Inglewood, Calif.
The opening game for the U.S. is on June 12 in Los Angeles against Paraguay. Games to be played in Philadelphia will involve teams from groups C, E, I, and L.
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As the first 24 teams were named in Friday’s World Cup draw, a few surprises and early looks at who could be coming to Philly next summer.
For Philly, Brazil and Morocco were drawn in Group C with those two opening against each other. In Group E, Germany and Ecuador are the early entrants, France and Senegal are in Group I and England-Croatia in Group L.
The eye openers are a rematch between Mexico and South Africa, the opening match 2010 FIFA World Cup. Also, Spain will open its campaign in group H against Uruguay, and an England-Croatia rematch from the 2018 World Cup semifinal.
The USA opener is vs. Paraguay June 12 in Inglewood, Calif. The teams just met at Subaru Park last month, a 2-1 U.S. victory.
Mexico-South Africa will be the tournament’s opening game in Mexico City’s famed Estadio Azteca – 16 years after the nations met in the 2010 opener in South Africa.
Here are the nations that could be headed to Philly
Philly will host six World Cup games at Lincoln Financial Field.
Philly now knows the potential games headed here next summer as the potential nations in Groups C, E, I and L.
They are:
Group C: Brazil, Morocco Haiti, Scotland
Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group I: France, Senegal, FIFA Playoff No. 2, Norway
Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama
The final nation is Group I will be determined by a FIFA Playoff qualifier between Iraq, Bolivia and Suriname in March.
Kevin Hart, who ended the event on stage with Heidi Klum, Rio Ferdinand and other celebrities, said, “I know my guys back in Philadelphia are happy who could be coming to Philly next summer.”
He’d be correct.
The specific games will be set Saturday. Here’s a rundown of the World Cup games that will be played at the Linc:
Host countries draw first, but we already knew the results
President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney holds their countries’ name during the draw.
As co-hosts, the U.S., Mexico, and Canada were pre-set into the group places they were drawn into among the 48 slots. The U.S. is D1, Mexico is A1, and Canada is C1.
We also already knew the dates and locations of those teams’ group games, though we don’t know the opponents yet.
The U.S. will play on June 12 in Inglewood, Calif., June 19 in Seattle, and June 25 back in Inglewood. Mexico will play on June 11, the tournament’s opening day, at Mexico City’s legendary Estadio Azteca – the site of the 1970 and 1986 finals — then in Guadalajara on June 18 and June 24 back in Mexico City. Canada will play June 12 in Toronto, then June 18 and 24 in in Vancouver.
The Philly Sports Guy Jamie Pagliei, takes a selfie with Gritty at the FIFA World Cup drawing at Stateside Live! Friday.
Almost three hours from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where the World Cup draw is hosted, Philadelphia sports fans gathered together as they waited in anticipation to learn the fates of their favorite teams — including Union season ticket holders Donna and Gary Brown.
“I’ve only been able to see the World Cup one other time and that was when we lived in Orlando and it was amazing,” Gary said. “But again, it’s our hometown now and our hometown team, so it just makes it even more special that it’s going to be here. It’s Philadelphia, it’s the workplace of our country, national team. … And it’s our country’s 250th birthday.”
If it feels to you that the draw is, to put it one way, drawn out… you aren’t alone. But it’s nothing new. World Cup draws have been spectacles for decades.
It was true the first time the United States hosted a men’s World Cup, the 1994 edition, and it remains true now. You don’t have to like it, and rest assured plenty of people with in the soccer world don’t. But it is what it is, and it won’t change any time soon.
President Donald Trump is awarded the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize ahead of Friday’s World Cup draw.
President Donald Trump was awarded the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize ahead of the 2026 World Cup draw Friday.
“This is truly one of the great honors of my life,” Trump said during a brief speech.
FIFA said the award would be given to individuals who, through their unwavering commitment and their special actions, have helped to unite people all over the world.
Trump called the award “one of the great honors of his life,” as he went on to tout that peace accords he’s helped brokered in the Middle East, Africa and between Israel and Hamas has “saved millions and millions of lives.”
He then described his excitement for the World Cup coming to the United States, saying tickets — which are approaching 2 million sold, according to FIFA — were selling in record numbers, though there wasn’t data readily available to confirm that claim. Trump then quickly caught himself during his talk about tickets, stating that: “not to bring that up, because don’t want to bring a thing like that up, right now.”
World Cup tickets, and their exorbitant prices due to dynamic pricing models, have been major topics of discussion as well, given the confusing method for entering presales via lotteries.
FIFA has one more presale in which the lottery to enter is scheduled to open after Friday’s draw, before opening remaining tickets to the public early next year.
The announcement came about a month after Trump failed to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which he claimed he deserved. It was announced by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, whom has developed a close relationship with Trump ahead of the World Cup.
“The FIFA Peace Prize is awarded annually,” Infantino said of the award, which was being given for the first time.
Governor Josh Shapiro attending the FIFA Philly draw at Stateside Live! in Philadelphia Friday.
Friday morning at Stateside Live! felt like a fever dream for Philadelphia sports fans as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro stood above guests on the second floor surrounded by Phang, Gritty, Swoop, and the Phanatic as they prepared for the Philadelphia Soccer 2026 World Cup draw watch party.
“We won this bid to host the FIFA World Cup next year because we’ve got the greatest fans on the face of the earth,” Shapiro said.
“The eyes of the world are going to be on Philly next year when we celebrate USA 250,” Shapiro added. “FIFA World Cup is gonna be great. And let’s pray for a USA-Mexico matchup on July 4th right here in the Philly.”
Unfortunately for Shapiro, the odds of that happening are slim to none.
Josh Shapiro at the Philadelphia Soccer 2026 World Cup final draw watch party pic.twitter.com/xn7c7ImeCq
Inside the Kennedy Center, elected officials mix with former players
Spectators gather for the 2026 World Cup draw inside the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Hello from inside the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall, a legendary space in the most-famous performing arts venue in America’s capital city. Just 15 of the over 900 credentialed media have seats in the hall for the World Cup draw, and I’m lucky to be one of them.
I must admit it’s a bit of a surreal feeling for me. I grew up in D.C. (sorry to anyone who thought I was a Philly native), and attended lots of concerts and musicals in this very space. To see it converted for a World Cup draw is a strange sight — and all the stranger by the inevitable politics surrounding this day.
While walking over from the media work area, I saw a lot of familiar faces: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, U.S. Soccer Federation president Cindy Cone, sporting director Matt Crocker, former president Sunil Gulati, and MLS commissioner Don Garber.
Murphy is here on behalf of the New York/New Jersey local hosting committee, and there’s a slew of former U.S. players here either in the official delegation or as media. At a quick glance around, I saw Delran’s Carli Lloyd, Heather O’Reilly, Julie Ertz, Cobi Jones, Marcelo Balboa, and former Union centerback Oguchi Oneywu — now in the official world as U.S. Soccer’s deputy sporting director.
Plus, of course, famous soccer figures from all over the world, who were inevitably stopped all over for autographs. And in the hall, there was a brief moment of applause — though only scattered — when President Donald Trump walked in.
Trump, other dignitaries arrive for World Cup draw
President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino arrive at the Kennedy Center. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and wife Diana. Former Brazil players Kaka (left) and Ronaldo.
// Timestamp 12/05/25 10:55am
Trump still ‘talking to FIFA’ about moving World Cup cities, White House official says
President Donald Trump holds the World Cup trophy alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
President Donald Trump, who will attend Friday’s World Cup draw, continues to speak with FIFA about moving games out of cities controlled by Democrats, a White House official said on Fox News Friday.
“President Trump is very concerned about some of these blue cities’ high crime rates, and he’s talking to FIFA,” said Monica Crowley, White House chief of protocol, adding “no decisions have been made.”
“If any city we think is going to be even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup, or for the Olympics, but for the World Cup in particular, because they’re playing in so many cities, we won’t allow it to go,” Trump said. “We’ll move it around a little bit. But I hope that’s not going to happen.”
It would ultimately be FIFA’s decision to move games, a logistical challenge considering planning for the 2026 World Cup has been going on for years. FIFA president Gianni Infantino hasn’t indicated any potential moves, but has suggested he would consider shifting games from host cities if Trump made demands.
“I don’t think you can have this problem, but we’re going to move the event to someplace where it’s going to be appreciated and safe,” Infantino said in the White House last month when put on the spot by Trump.
We won’t know who’s playing in Philly until tomorrow. Here’s why.
Chelsea and Flamengo fans during a FIFA Club World Cup match at the Linc in June.
FIFA’s decision to extend its draw over two days always felt by design.
On Friday, ahead of the World Cup draw that begins at noon, an official said that doing so was nothing more than trying to make the draw “into an event.”
Historically, FIFA would announce the venue pairings before the draw, so you’d know where teams would be after they fell into group pairings. For example, the nation slotted into Group A1 would play A4 making it easy to know where those nations would be playing even during the draw.
Friday’s presentation will only place nations into groups, with Saturday at noon the reveal of where those host nations will be.
“It’s to allow for greater discussion to take place on the exact locations,” said Brian Swanson, FIFA’s director of media relations. “In some parts of the world [where we’ve hosted previous World Cup draws], kickoff times are the big story in other parts [like the U.S.], we’re just looking to generate a bit of buzz.
“Historically, we just published a PDF of that information, but it’s 2025, so we thought let’s make it into something more fun.”
There are some who beg to differ.
“I mean let’s just get it over with,” a FIFA volunteer who overheard the conversation said. “Like I get why their doing this but the suspense, to me, isn’t necessary. Also, I’m Tunisian, I don’t want to wait a day to see who we play.”
A trash can overflows with discarded items not allowed into Friday’s World Cup draw.
With heads of state from all three host nations scheduled to take in today’s FIFA World Cup draw, U.S. Secret Service is taking no chances with what is being allowed inside the Kennedy Center.
But what’s making its way into the trash cans outside is pretty hilarious. From Yeti coffee canisters valued at $30 on up to vape pens and cartridges, all had to get tossed before entering. One FIFA official joked to the Inquirer that he’d planned to collect it all and start a resale store.
Upsetting at least the media on hand is that at a briefing yesterday, FIFA relayed that bringing in canisters for water and coffee would be an approved item.
Sike.
But what’s even more confusing are the workers, guests and media from around the world who thought they’d be able to enter today’s event with pocket knives, pointers and even a Phillips head screwdriver, as observed outside one of the trash cans.
The draw kicks off at noon, but the early festivities have been the Secret Service members turned TSA, navigating what guests and media are trying to bring inside.
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney (right) holds a novelty World Cup ticket alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Yes. Fans interested in buying tickets for World Cup matches at Lincoln Financial Field can enter ticket lotteries for individual group-stage games via FIFA’s random selection draw.
The lotteries will begin accepting entries on Dec. 11 at 11 a.m. and close at the same time on Jan. 13.
After the random selection draw phase of ticket sales has finished, any remaining inventory will be released on a first-come, first-served basis closer to the beginning of the tournament. Single-match and multimatch hospitality packages are also available through FIFA.
FIFA’s first-come, first-served phase will be the last opportunity for fans to buy tickets directly through FIFA. After that, tickets will be available only through resale on the secondary market.
— Owen Hewitt
// Timestamp 12/05/25 8:26am
Tight security as Trump, other dignitaries expected to attend today’s World Cup draw
Snow falls in Washington, D.C. ahead of the 2026 World Cup Draw.
It was snowing as the sun rose over the nation’s capital Friday, a rare sight in December. The rest of the scene around the Kennedy Center was one this town is used to: rows of giant black SUVs for dignitaries, and fences lining many blocks of sidewalks.
I got to the security checkpoint just after 8 a.m., and there were already long lines to get in and many nearby streets were closed.
The checkpoint, by the way, was up the street near the Watergate hotel — made famous by former President Richard Nixon’s scandal in the 1970s. There have been plenty of jokes about that this week among the international media who’ve come to town.
But the security operation is no joke. It’s always been the way things work when the president — whoever the president is — wants to show up at a big sports event in D.C.
Even with that, a World Cup draw is different from other spectacles.
Today, the Kennedy Center will host dignitaries from the 42 national teams qualified for the World Cup so far, plus some from teams in the final qualifying playoffs; over 900 credentialed media members, spread across the Center’s many halls; and the tournament cohosts’ heads of state — U.S. President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
It will be tight and tense inside, and some FIFA officials will no doubt wonder if they should have stood firm on having the draw in Las Vegas, where they wanted to have it until Trump said otherwise.
The World Cup draw, which will determine the groups for the round-robin stage of the tournament, will take place today at noon.
The event will be hosted by the Kennedy Center in Washington and broadcast live on Fox. Coverage of the draw will begin at 11:30 a.m. and conclude at 3 p.m.
FIFA’s event is expected to last about an hour and a half, with the draw itself accounting for about 45 minutes of that time.
Qualified nations have been divided into four pots based on their FIFA World Rankings positions. Pot 1 contains the nine best-qualified teams in the rankings, as well as the three cohosts.
The host nations have already been assigned to groups — Mexico will be in Group A, Canada will be in Group B, and the U.S. will be in Group D. The remaining teams will be assigned to the other nine groups, one team per group.
After all the teams in Pot 1 have been drawn, the draw will move to Pot 2, selecting one team for each of the 12 groups. The process will repeat with Pot 3 and Pot 4, resulting in 12 groups of four teams.
During the tournament, the top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout rounds. The top eight third-place finishers in the 12 groups will also advance, completing the Round of 32.
Though the draw determines tournament groups, FIFA is also looking ahead to the knockout rounds. FIFA will structure the knockout bracket so that the top four teams in its rankings — Spain, Argentina, France, and England — will not meet before the tournament semifinal, provided that they each finish first in their respective groups. It is the first time the World Cup will use a tennis-style bracket for knockouts.
Here’s a complete look at the pots that will be used Friday:
Pot 1: Canada (B1), Mexico (A1), U.S. (D1), Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese dives for a save during practice last month.
42 countries have already qualified for next year’s World Cup, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and will be included in today’s draw.
There are six spots remaining – four for the top teams in the European Federation’s 16-team playoff, and two for the top two finishers in FIFA’s intercontinental playoff tournament. Both take place in March.
Since those have not been determined yet, those six teams will be represented by placeholders in today’s draw.
Here are the countries that have already qualified for the 2026 World Cup:
Cohosts: Canada, Mexico, United States
Asian Football Confederation (AFC): Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan
Confederation of African Football (CAF): Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf): Curaçao, Haiti, Panama
South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL): Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
Oceania Football Confederation (OFC): New Zealand
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA): Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland
Lincoln Financial Field will hose six 2026 World Cup games.
We won’t know which counties will play in Philadelphia until Saturday, when FIFA releases its official schedule. But we’ll get a sense who might travel here.
Philadelphia will host six World Cup games at Lincoln Financial Field – five in the group stage, and one in the Round of 16. So we know counties ending up in Groups C, E, I, and L will play at the Linc (which unfortunately means no Team USA games during the group stage, since the U.S. has already been assigned Group D).
Here are the World Cup games scheduled to be played in Philly:
JUÁREZ, Mexico — Carolina was living in Colombia as a refugee when her 15-year-old son disappeared. Almost a year after her boy went missing and she mourned his loss, she got a call from an international number.
Her son was alive 3,000 miles away in this historic Mexican city once known as “the Pass of the North,” nestled along the Texas border.
“I was so happy, but I didn’t know how to get here, without knowing anything, without money, with nothing,” she told me when I met with her recently at an immigrant shelter in Juárez. “I sold my house and came here alone.”
After a harrowing three-month journey during which she made her way across seven countries, survived two kidnappings, and endured beatings and sexual assault, she reunited with her son on Jan. 10.
They tried to get an appointment to cross the border through U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s CBP One app — part of a program launched by the Biden administration to allow people to come to the U.S. legally while they waited for their asylum or other immigration case to be processed.
Carolina and her son were still trying when President Donald Trump ended the program the day of his inauguration.
They’ve been stuck in shelters ever since.
Speak to immigrants at the border, and what happened to Carolina is sadly common. Some people are luckier, some less so, but no one comes out unscathed from their journey. And while some are willing to see their dreams deferred, there are and will continue to be more people who see coming to the United States as the only way out of a desperate situation.
Visiting the border nearly 10 months after Trump took office and essentially ended the ability to seek asylum in the United States, you see what many Americans — even some begrudging critics — credit the president with doing.
Trump has been brutally effective at limiting border crossings. The quiet downtown streets and plazas, the nearly empty shelters in both El Paso, Texas, and its sister city of Juárez in Mexico, are a testament to that fact. Only a few years ago, thousands of immigrants crowded sidewalks and shelters here, straining the region’s spirit of hospitality.
Today, the immigrants left behind are the vulnerable among the vulnerable, advocates said. People who are unable to move out or move on, stuck in shelters with the hope that Trump’s “hard heart will soften,” as one woman told me.
My own heart was not hard enough to dash her dream. Perhaps it should have been.
The last thing immigrants need is for some well-meaning dope to ignore the facts for short-term comfort. They had enough of that during the Biden administration.
A large “Welcome to Mexico” sign hung over the Bridge of the Americas is visible as President Joe Biden talks with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in El Paso, Texas, in 2023.
Good intentions
Under President Joe Biden, about six million people were allowed entry to pursue asylum applications and other immigration cases, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
I believe that all things being equal, the U.S. has no trouble absorbing these immigrants. Call me cynical (I prefer pragmatic), but our economy runs on cheap labor and consumer spending — six million people give you both. It gives you adults who are willing to do the work Americans won’t, and kids who will go to school and graduate for the jobs there aren’t enough Americans for.
But the problem is the president can only do so much. The executive can allow people to remain in the country under some sort of limited parole, it can direct enforcement toward higher priority targets, such as immigrants with criminal records, but it cannot grant legal status.
Only Congress can do that, and legislators have decided there is no major issue they can’t shrug off as intractable and call it a day.
So the Biden administration opted to let people in — regardless of whether they had a good asylum case — knowing full well that just as one president could open the door for immigrants, another could slam it in their faces.
Biden himself shut that door halfway as the 2024 presidential election neared, but the political damage had already been done, because the administration at no point made the argument for why it was doing what it was doing.
As desperate people who wanted a better life clustered at the border — partly because of the pent-up demand that grew under pandemic restrictions Trump put in place — Bidencould have made a moral argument, or laid out the economic benefits of immigration. He could have done more than introduce immigration reform shortly after taking office, and then just as quickly give up on it.
Instead, it was never clear what Biden wanted other than not to be seen as the bad guy.
His administration’s humanitarian intentions, coupled with incessant fear-mongering on the right, paved the way to where we are today.
Flags from North, South, and Central America line the left side of the chapel inside the Casa del Migrante in Juárez, Mexico, in November.
All for nothing
It took Helen, her husband, and their 3-month-old baby three months to travel from Ecuador to the Casa del Migrante shelter in Juárez, which is run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Juárez.
Like Carolina, Helen — who remains concerned about the status of her potential immigration case — would speak with me only on the condition that her last name not be used.
Helen and her husband, both in their early 20s, arrived in October of last year after leaving their home because of growing gang violence. “You couldn’t have any peace anymore,” Helen said.
The family crossed the dangerous jungle and rode through Mexico on the freight train known as “the beast.” She saw a man die, falling under the wheels of the cars.
While her husband goes out to work odd jobs, she takes care of their daughter. The routine gets to her, she said. Once a month, they’re able to go out and splurge on a meal, even as they’re afraid to walk the city’s streets.
Her daughter has now lived most of her life inside a shelter, but Helen told me they will continue to sacrifice.
“We are waiting to cross. Whatever it takes,” she said.
Across town at the Vida shelter,Carolina, 53, is torn aboutwhat to do.
Her journey to Juárez began 14 months ago. Distraught over her son’s disappearance, she went back to her native Venezuela to be with her mother.
When Mexican officials informed Carolina that her son was alive, she left Venezuela on Oct. 20, 2024, and traveled across Central America. She was kidnapped twice, Carolina said. Once when she crossed the Guatemalan border into Mexico, and again when she got to Juárez in December.
“The one here was the worst. The one here was rape, beatings. I still can’t fully touch myself here,” she said, grimacing as she moved her hand along her left breast. “They left me with nothing.”
Although she’s grateful for all the help she’s received, she said, it’s coming up on a year of living in shelters,and the uncertainty is becoming overwhelming.
Her son is going to high school, and sometimes works with a handyman. She sells donated used clothing in front of the shelter and cleans houses, but work is sporadic.
“I tell my son we should go back,” Carolina said. “He says he came here for a future.”
Her mother calls and tells her she doesn’t have food, she said. She trusts that God has a plan and things will work out accordingly — even if it means returning home to struggle there — but there must be a point to her journey.
“You go hungry, you grow tired, it’s raining, you see corpses. You spend sleepless nights, running from people who want to rob you, kill you,” she said.
“Do you know what it’s like to go through what I went through and not be able to cross?”
President Donald Trump during a July tour of “Alligator Alcatraz,” a migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility in Ochopee, Fla.
No turning back
Many immigrants who are still in shelters, and those who have decided to remain in Mexico, are in a state of flux, waiting for the opportunity to cross the border.
Trump may have succeeded in curtailing illegal immigration through a mix of enforcement, deterrence, and cruelty, but it is unsustainable. While he may be able to delay the inevitable — especially if he manages to crash the economy and there are fewer jobs for immigrants to fill — eventually, people will return.
“Listening to people’s stories, we’re really at a critical moment,” said Alejandra Corona, who heads Jesuit Refugee Services in Juárez, a nonprofit that serves the migrant community. “The world is broken, and there are no options.”
You see it in the eyes of parents who are deeply wounded because they cannot provide for their families even in the most basic ways, Corona told me, and the reasons why are far from simple.
“It’s not just, ‘Oh, I lost my job,’” she said. “It’s, ‘I had a job, but couldn’t afford to pay off the gang member or the cartel. I stopped paying for protection and had to flee. I was discriminated against, I’ve never had a passport, I’ve never been to school, I’ve never had access to my rights. I do not exist, and no one wants to see that I don’t exist.’”
The lesson to be drawn from the border today is that immigrants may not be as visible, but they haven’t gone away.
If Democrats capture the presidency in 2028, they will likely not follow the Trump administration’s amoral ruthlessness, but they cannot repeat the Biden administration’s aimless permissiveness, either.
Everyone suffers under the current seesaw approach to immigration, where an immigrant can come here “the right way” under one administration, only to see things turn out wrong under the next. Trump has tried — successfully and unsuccessfully — to kill programs for immigrants established under Presidents George H.W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Biden.
Whether or not you support immigration, the whims of an individual — even if it’s the president — are no substitute for the legislative process.
The United States is a nation of immigrants. America has thrived economically and culturally thanks to this fact. On immigration, it’s Congress, as representatives of the people, who must determine the who and how, the when and where, that makes the most sense for the country.
Until then, immigrants will be ready and waiting — and prayingfor a softer heart in the White House.
Each Friday, Inquirer photo editors pick the best Philly sports images from the last seven days. This week, we’ve got Trevor Zegras and the Flyers taking some hits, Nick Sirianni and the Eagles getting dealt a Black Friday loss, and Joel Embiid making moves — both on and off the court. …
Flyers forward Trevor Zegras lays on the ice after being boarded by Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin in the second period. Zegras scored one of the Flyers’ five goals in Thursday’s win over the Sabres.
Flyers right wing Bobby Brink gets hit by the puck as he tries to settle in behind Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and set a screen on goaltender Tristan Jarry. The 5-1 loss on Monday ended the team’s three-game winning streak.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni reacts as he walks off the field after his team’s Black Friday loss to the Chicago Bears. The 24-15 loss was the Eagles’ second straight and their fourth in their last eight games.
A.J. Brown had his best statistical game of the season against the Bears, and has three touchdowns in the Eagles’ last two games — but the Birds are 0-2 in those games.
First-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has been the target of much of the criticism around the Eagles, with some crossing the line and vandalizing his N.J. home.
Joel Embiid signs autographs for Quentin Zheng, 10, left, and Mason Zheng, 9, center, during a release event for the Sixers center’s first signature shoe from Skechers, the SKX JE1, at Lapstone & Hammer on Wednesday.
“You don’t have to like the fact that merit pay was in there,” Hibbs said of his contract at the board’s most recent meeting. But, he said, he is legally entitled to the payment on top of his $215,000 annual base salary because he met the goals listed in his contract.
And he is not the only South Jersey superintendent who has negotiated merit pay or other bonuses as part of a contract. The measure is a little-known way for New Jersey superintendents to earn higher salaries.
About 54 of the state’s 600 public school chiefs, or about 9%, had perks negotiated in their contracts in the 2023-24 school year, according to data from the New Jersey Department of Education.
Here’s what to know about the practice of giving merit pay to New Jersey superintendents:
How many superintendents get merit pay and how much is it?
In South Jersey, at least eight of nearly 100superintendents had merit or bonus pay provisions in their contracts in the 2023-24 school year, the most recent available state data obtained under the Open Public Records Act. The information may be incomplete because it is compiled from self-reporting by districts, and some superintendents have left their jobs since the data were compiled.
Among the districts offering merit pay are: Barrington, Black Horse Pike Regional, Clayton, Salem County Vocational, Washington Township in Gloucester County, Woodlynne, and West Deptford. Merchantville had it also, but that superintendent has since left the position.
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How much money do superintendents make in bonus pay?
An Inquirer analysis of state data found that bonus compensation packages ranged from $2,000 to $56,989 for the 2023-24 school year.
They included additional pay granted for meeting performance goals or obtaining a doctorate, orlongevity bonuses for years of service.
The districts with the most lucrative merit packages were in North Jersey: $56,989 in Bergen County Vocational; $43,272 in Hudson, and $36,489 in Union.
Clayton Superintendent Nikolaos Koutsogiannis, in his ninth year as schools chief, received $4,350 in longevity pay. He joined the district in 2008 as a principal and is one of the longest-serving superintendents in Gloucester County.
“I enjoy my job here,” Koutsogiannis said. “They wanted to keep me here. I was more than willing to stay.”
The Barrington, Black Horse Pike Regional, Salem County Vocational, and West Deptford superintendents did not respond to numerous email messages.
Some South Jersey districtswhere superintendents are among the highest-paid in the region do not offer merit pay, including Winslow, Lenape Regional, Burlington City, Mount Laurel and Cherry Hill.
Because of the cap, dozens of superintendents left the state for higher salaries elsewhere and districts had difficulty recruiting educators. Others negotiated merit pay and bonuses to boost their earnings.
Gov. Phil Murphy speaks with members of the media after meeting with Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill at the governor’s office in Trenton last month.
Superintendent salaries can vary, as boards negotiate contracts based on experience, district size, and other factors.
The New Jersey Department of Education must approve contracts,including merit pay provisions and goals. Executive county school superintendents review contracts for each district.
Purnell said his association, which provides guidance to more than 600 New Jersey school boards, generally steers them away from considering merit pay. Longevity pay, however, is encouraged as an incentive to keep quality superintendents, he said.
Many superintendents are less interested in pursuing additional goals because merit pay is not factored into pensions, Purnell said.
When merit pay is in a contract, the board and the superintendent establish merit goals at the beginning of the school year. At the end of the year, the superintendent must submit evidence that the goals were met. The executive county superintendent must sign off on the request before any bonuses are paid.
The state specifies quantitative and qualitative goals that may be included in merit pay. It also sets the value of each goal, a percentage of the superintendent’s base salary.
Based on a district’s needs, merit pay may be given for meeting goals such as reducing chronic absenteeism, increasing student achievement, setting up learning academies, or establishing a foundation.
Hibbs’ goals approved by the board include completing Google training presentations, taking online professional development courses, and beefing up security.
In September, records show, the executive county superintendent approved $9,072 in merit pay for Barrington Superintendent Anthony Arcodia for meeting two goals — improved parent communication and overhauling the parent-student handbook.
Barrington school board president Mark Correa said Arcodia waived his right to merit pay for the 2025-26 school year because of the district’s belt-tightening. He will be eligible for merit pay in future years, he said.
The district “believes in rewarding our high-achieving, long-serving superintendent when possible,” Correa wrote in an email this week.
Some school chiefs get a stipend for holding an additional administrative position, such as serving as superintendent and a school principal, typically in smaller districts.
What are the drawbacks of merit pay?
Purnell said merit goals can muddy the waters for districts because superintendents could become so focused on those goals that they lose sight of the overall strategic plan.
“The question would be why do you need to receive merit pay when it’s your responsibility to provide a thorough and efficient education,” Purnell said. “You don’t want the goal to become more important than the best interest of all children.”
“Student outcomes are the result of a whole system and are heavily influenced by factors outside one leader’s control,” Campbell said. “If a district uses merit pay at all, I recommend it be a small slice of compensation.”
West Deptford Superintendent Brian Gismondi poses for a portrait outside the West Deptford Child Development Center in West Deptford earlier this year.
How common is merit pay nationwide?
Merit pay does exist in other states.Earlier this year, the state-appointed superintendent for the Houston Independent School District received a $173,660 bonus based on his annual performance evaluation, which credited him with boosting standardized test scores. His annual base salary is $462,000.
Nationwide, the median salary for a school superintendent was $156,000 for the 2023-24 school year, according to the School Superintendents Association. The group does not track merit pay.
The median superintendent salary among 91 South Jersey school districts was $176,088 for the 2024-25 school year, an Inquirer analysis found.
In Philadelphia, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. recently received a contract extension that will keep him in the nation’s eighth-largest school district through 2030. He is paid $367,710. He does not get merit pay.
Philadelphia School District Superintendent Tony B. Watlington, Sr.
What’s happening with merit pay in Washington Township?
In Washington Township,Hibbs has the most lucrative merit package in South Jersey. He received $25,000 in bonus pay for the 2023-24 school year, according to district records obtained by The Inquirer under the state’s Open Public Records Act.
Hibbs has asked the board several times to approve $27,319 in merit pay for the 2024-25 school year, indicating he had met four of the five goals approved by the board. His contract allows an annual merit bonus of up to 14.99% of his salary, the maximum permitted by the state.
The request has been rejected by the board, failing to get five votes needed. The dispute is expected to lead to another legal showdown between Hibbs and the board.
During a heated exchange at a board meeting last month, Hibbs accused the board of retribution. He was suspended for five months earlier this year over an ethics complaint. A judge ordered his return and Hibbs was later cleared of any wrongdoing.
“My merit pay that was 100% approved and achieved has been consistently voted down by certain members,” Hibbs said at a recent school board meeting.
Hibbs was hired in 2023 with an annual base salary of $215,000, making him among the highest-paid superintendents in South Jersey. His contract runs through 2027.
Staff writer Kristen A. Graham contributed to this article.
For one play during an otherwise dismal Black Friday loss to the Chicago Bears, Jalen Hurts gave the Eagles’ offense a jolt. The ball never even left his control.
Rather, he tucked it into the crook of his left arm and dashed through a lane created on the left side of the offensive line by a pulling Cam Jurgens and Jordan Mailata. With neither linebacker in the picture — one was picked up by Jurgens on a blitz and the other ran with Saquon Barkley as he motioned out wide before the snap — Hurts dashed upfield unabated for 23 yards, the Eagles’ most explosive rushing play of the day.
It set up A.J. Brown’s 33-yard touchdown reception on the ensuing play, capping off the Eagles’ longest drive of the afternoon: 92net yards.
It was also like seeing a unicorn.
Designed runs have become rarities for Hurts in his fifth season as the Eagles’ starting quarterback. After averaging 3.6 designed runs per game in his first four seasons as the starter, Hurts has dropped to 1.1 designed runs per game in 2025, according to Pro Football Focus. Hurts has gone without a single designed run in six of this season’s 12 games.
On one hand, that drop-off should come as a surprise, seeing as Hurts once proclaimed himself a “triple threat” capable of dissecting defenses with his arm, his legs, and his mind. Among quarterbacks from 2021-2025, only Lamar Jackson boasts more rushing yards (3,531) than Hurts (3,108).
On the other, though, there is plenty of precedent for quarterbacks who rush less as they progress in their careers, either by choice or by physical limitation. Those examples include Hurts’ contemporaries such as Jackson (6.6 designed attempts per game before Year 5; 4.0 after) and Josh Allen (2.0; 1.6).
As evidenced by that 23-yard run on Friday, the 27-year-old Hurts can still burn defenders on the ground. His ability to serve as a run threat has historically forced opponents to defend all 11 players on the field, creating more opportunities in the run game as a whole.
Could the Eagles lean into the quarterback run game as one fix to help revitalize Kevin Patullo’s floundering offense that is running out of time to achieve consistency?
Hurts was asked after the Bears loss whether he would do anything different during the extended break before the Chargers game to help improve the offense. He was then asked whether he needed to use his legs more to fuel that improvement.
Flashing a slight smile, Hurts offered the same three-word answer to both questions.
“I’ll be working,” he said.
Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo must consider the risk to Jalen Hurts when the quarterback carries the football.
Why is Hurts rushing less?
Hurts is a full-time quarterback, part-time philosopher. His penchant for dropping philosophical sayings at the podium has become part of his brand, according to Mailata.
One of the sayings that Hurts helped popularize, “Keep the main thing the main thing,” offers a window into his approach. Winning, regardless of how it looks, is the most important facet of the game. Everything else is secondary.
So, when asked the week before the Bears game if he was open to more designed runs, Hurts emphasized that he is “open to doing whatever it takes to win.” Similarly, days later after the loss, Nick Sirianni seemed to refute the notion that Hurts wanted to run less this season by suggesting self-preservation is a factor in the decision to call fewer designed runs.
“We’re always thinking about how to protect Jalen and make sure that he is healthy for the long haul,” Sirianni explained.
It isn’t hard to fathom why the Eagles would want to protect their investment. Hurts is the highest-paid player on the team at $51 million on an average annual basis. As the offensive player with the ball in his hands on every down, he’s arguably the team’s most important player, too.
But Hurts has injured himself both in and out of the pocket throughout his NFL career, which has caused him to miss games. In 2021, he sprained his ankle when he was sacked in the Week 12 loss to the New York Giants. The injury forced him to sit out the following week’s game against the New York Jets and required offseason surgery.
His other two serious injuries occurred on designed runs. Hurts sprained his throwing shoulder in 2022 after getting tackled on a 3-yard zone-read keeper in Week 15 against the Chicago Bears. Hurts had plenty of wear-and-tear in that game, running the ball on 17 occasions on a frigid day at Soldier Field. While he finished (and won) that contest, he missed the next two.
Hurts also suffered a concussion in Week 16 in 2024 against the Washington Commanders on a play very similar to his 23-yard gain on Black Friday. After Hurts exited in the first quarter, the Eagles went on to lose their first game in roughly three months. He missed the final two games of the regular season in concussion protocol, though he likely wouldn’t have played in the season finale against the Giants anyway.
But the lack of carries for Hurts isn’t always in the Eagles’ control. Sometimes, that can be dictated by the defense.
While the Eagles run fewer run-pass options (7.4 per game, per Pro Football Reference) than they did in the past — especially compared to 2022, when they led the league with 10.9 — it was a substantial part of the game plan in the Week 5 loss to the Denver Broncos. More often than not, though, Hurts opted to throw. Sirianni explained in the aftermath that on those plays, “when you have that ability to get that to a playmaker in the flat, you take it.”
At the time, that game marked Hurts’ lowest rushing total of his career as the starter (one scramble, one kneel-down for a total of three yards).
“Sometimes when you’re calling those plays, he can run it, Saquon can run it, or we can throw it, so it’s kind of a three-way monster right there,” Patullo said. “It’s kind of a dealer’s choice, so it is just kind of a different kind of style, and it worked in that moment.”
Lamar Jackson remains elusive, but has spent time in 2025 battling a myriad of injuries.
Hurts isn’t alone
Hurts is far from the only quarterback who has experienced a dip in runs as he has progressed in his career. Jackson is perhaps the best case study among active quarterbacks this season in his seventh full year as the Baltimore Ravens’ starting quarterback.
Jackson, 28, is averaging 4.7 carries per game, according to PFF (2.1 designed runs, 2.6 scrambles). He had already been on a downward trajectory after his first few seasons in the league, but this year is a new low for the two-time MVP quarterback.
Injuries have held Jackson back this year. He missed three games from Weeks 5-8 with a hamstring issue. He’s been active since Week 9, but over the past month, he has dealt with injuries to his knee, toe, and now his ankle. He has not participated in a full week of practice in a month.
Carson Wentz, the Eagles’ starter from 2016-20, was heralded for his athleticism, especially in 2017 when he was briefly the Eagles’ leading rusher through the first two weeks of the season. His asset became an issue, though, when he scrambled his way into an ACL tear later that season, marking the beginning of the end of his Eagles tenure. While his play style didn’t change upon his return in 2018, his efficacy deteriorated.
Donovan McNabb was celebrated as a runner early in his career but evolved into one of the NFL’s top pocket passers.
But injuries — and the threat of incurring them — aren’t the only factors at hand when it comes to the frequency of the quarterback run game. Donovan McNabb experienced a shift in his playing style throughout his 11-year tenure with the Eagles from 1999-2009. After posting 5.2 carries per game in his first four years as the full-time starter, McNabb averaged 2.9 over his final six in Philadelphia.
McNabb came up in an era when the “dual-threat” label on Black quarterbacks often came with racist undertones. Regardless of his detractors, McNabb’s emphasis on the passing game seemed to be more of a personal preference.
Even early in his career, before he leaned more into the passing game with the arrival of Terrell Owens in 2004, McNabb responded “no” when asked if he enjoys running.
“When I hear ‘running quarterback,’ that sort of upsets me,” McNabb said in 2000. “That takes away from my drop-back ability, my play-action ability and my ability to get the ball downfield. Any time that you talk about how athletic a quarterback is, and you continue to talk about his running ability, you sort of forget about him passing the ball.”
McNabb and Hurts aren’t one-for-one comparisons from a rushing perspective. McNabb was more of a scrambler, while Hurts has demonstrated a proficiency both in scrambles and designed runs. As passers, McNabb is arguably the best in franchise history. Hurts has had excellent games — including both Super Bowl performances — but is still working to find a sense of consistency in the passing game this season.
Jalen Hurts could help free things up for Saquon Barkley … and vice versa.
Uptick on the way?
Can the Eagles achieve some sort of middle ground, aiming to protect their quarterback while also injecting life into a listless offense, specifically the run game?
It’s been a tough season for Barkley and the Eagles’ rushing attack as a whole. The 2024 offensive player of the year has averaged 3.7 yards per attempt, a decrease of more than two full yards per carry from last season. His run blockers haven’t been doing him any favors, leaving him with 2.3 yards before contact per attempt (down from 3.8 last year).
Hurts could help through the use of his legs, according to Dan Orlovsky, the former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst. Orlovsky said he expects to see more designed runs for Hurts in the last five games of the season. That increase is imperative if the offense wants to continue to live out of the shotgun, he explained.
According to Next Gen Stats, approximately 70% of the Eagles’ offensive plays occur when Hurts is lined up in the shotgun. That alignment can make a run game too predictable if the quarterback isn’t a threat on the ground, too.
“If you don’t, there’s really no reason for you to be in the shotgun, because the defense can see constantly what’s going on in the run,” Orlovsky said. “So their lack of running the quarterback this year … defenses fly to Saquon a lot more. They’re much less disciplined. They can constantly see the football. Those giveaways with Saquon’s alignment of what kind of run and when they’re running. And a lot of times, there’s 3 yards that aren’t taken advantage of from the quarterback run. So it’s had a negative impact on their ability to run the football.”
The Eagles broke that tendency briefly against the Bears. Hurts opted to keep the ball on a zone-read play that gained 3 yards. He read the unblocked defensive end who began to crash down hard on Barkley before pulling the ball and turning upfield. Instead of a handoff to Barkley for likely no gain or negative yards, Hurts created a positive play.
According to Smael Mondon, the Eagles’ fifth-round linebacker out of Georgia, an offense that runs out of the shotgun and boasts a quarterback who poses a threat on the ground “opens up the menu a lot.”
“If you don’t really have a running quarterback, like he’s not really a threat in the run game, then the menu kind of simplifies for what set you see in the backfield for what runs you could get,” Mondon said. “But if you got a quarterback that can run, then that menu of options of plays they could run kind of opens up even more. So it’s more things you’ve got to potentially have to defend. So it’s more stuff for a defense to think about.”
A quarterback run threat can also help with the offense’s “numbers disadvantage,” as backup Tanner McKee puts it. On a typical run play in which the quarterback hands the ball off to the running back, the offense has nine players that can block for the ball carrier. The defense has 11 who can tackle, putting the offense at a mathematical disadvantage.
There are different ways for quarterbacks to “get your block,” according to McKee, and keep defenses honest, including the use of play action and bootlegs. But a quarterback who keeps the ball for himself gains an actual blocker in the running back, minimizing the numbers disadvantage and, in theory, giving the offense a chance to rack up extra yardage.
Jalen Hurts vowed “I’ll be working” when asked about his methods to help fix the offense in the lead-up to the Chargers game.
An extra blocker means two extra gaps — the space between each blocker — for a linebacker like Mondon to fill.
“It just kind of makes it harder,” Mondon said. “Everybody has to fit perfect with QB designed runs, just ‘cause they’ve got that extra hat and extra two gaps in the game.”
Time is running out for the offense to hit its stride before heading into the playoffs. Still, Sirianni expressed an understanding that there’s a fine balance between keeping Hurts healthy and doing what it takes to win.
“You’re always thinking first about what the players do well, especially with your quarterback, how do you make sure that you’re keeping them safe on those?” Sirianni said. “Even when you think about those, there are quarterback runs you can run that are a little [safer] than another quarterback run. But it’s still football and you still [face] a risk with every snap that you take, and that’s on a drop back, too.
“But again, you look at the defenses, how you want to attack, you look at what you do well, how to protect the guys, and you’re just looking for the best way to go about that. I don’t think anybody wants to come out of a game with Jalen having 15 carries, designed carries. But again, we’re looking at everything, and we’ll see how that looks going forward.”
Growing up in a family of six in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., former Villanova women’s basketball star Maddy Siegrist said the closest thing she witnessed to a sports bet was when the Super Bowl rolled around. And even then, it was friendly wagers.
“It just wasn’t a thing in our house,” said Siegrist, who now plays for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings. “I didn’t grow up with people who bet. Plus, there were no apps or anything. I knew people that did boxes on the Super Bowl. That was the extent of my knowledge.”
Maddy Siegrist didn’t grow up around sports betting, but it’s now inextricably tied to her profession.
Since Siegrist went pro in 2023, however, legalized sports betting has infiltrated virtually every corner of sports. Siegrist said the WNBA benefits from the sports gambling population laying bets on games. That translates to more eyes watching women’s professional basketball, which generates a bigger fan base, which spurs continued growth of the sport and its brand.
But Siegrist, 25, is quick to point out a darker side to the sports-gambling intersection, “one of the rougher parts that people don’t think about,” she said.
Public vitriol directed at athletes is nothing new. But add the sports gambling component and a bettor’s ability to wager on virtually any aspect of a game or performance at the click of an app, and the result can be toxic. Often, negative fan reaction is the result of a losing bet, and social media has exacerbated the issue.
“Any pro athlete will kind of give you the same [story]: These are people betting from their house that you’re going to go under [a projected stat total] or your team’s going to win,” Siegrist said. “With the world of social media, just how much hate people get is truly amazing. I’m not a super controversial player. I don’t have the spotlight like some of my other teammates. But if you have a bad game or a good game, you can get anywhere from 50 to 100 [direct messages] or comments on your social media that are crazy.”
Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers, a teammate of Maddy Siegrist, is one of the WNBA’s brightest young stars.
Betting burden
No longer are the WNBA and college women’s basketball considered unattractive markets for sports gamblers. Players like Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers, Siegrist’s teammate on the Wings, are among the stars generating buzz, and, by extension, causing a spike in gambling activity on the sport.
Female athletes, professional and amateur, shoulder many challenges beyond maintaining elite performance on the court or field. That includes playing in the age of the ever-growing legalized sports betting industry — especially the proliferation of multimillion-dollar business partnerships between pro sports leagues like the WNBA and gaming companies like BetMGM.
And sports remain corrupted by the underworld of illegal gambling, where pro athletes can turn to a side hustle to try to score millions illicitly. The recent unsealing of the federal indictments that involve illegal gambling schemes, the NBA, and purported organized crime members is one such example, and Siegrist said she had followed those recent announcements.
While the WNBA and the players’ union continue collective bargaining negotiations, there are developments regarding salary structure in the league’s latest proposal. The changes could temper a longstanding gripe by professional women’s basketball players: that their compensation is not commensurate with the gargantuan salaries made by male pro hoops players — as they shoulder the shared burden of scrutiny from bettors and fans alike.
According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the league’s latest proposal includes language that defines a maximum salary structure with a guaranteed $1 million base for 2026 and projected revenue sharing pushing total earnings for max-salary players to more than $1.2 million. This follows an agreement to extend the current labor agreement to Jan. 9
The average player’s salary is projected to exceed $500,000 in 2026, while the minimum salary is projected to be more than $225,000 — up from approximately $102,000 and $66,000, respectively, in 2025.
Once the WNBA season starts, Siegrist said she drastically reduces her social media use to keep her mind clear of clutter and keep the focus on basketball.
“You have to take it for what it is. Obviously, social media helps you build your brand, stay connected,” she said. “From that perspective, it’s great. It’s really allowed athletes to monetize off of themselves, and it gives fans a unique perspective into seeing these people’s lives, which I think is great.
“Twitter [now known as X] is the worst. I definitely try to not go on at all during the season. … Sometimes I like to scroll on TikTok, take my mind off stuff. But I don’t ‘like’ anything that has to do with the WNBA on TikTok. I think for me, it’s definitely a balance.”
The WNBA has taken steps to combat hate and negative fan behavior directed at the league’s players and personnel. Earlier this year, the league launched the “No Space for Hate” initiative, a “multidimensional platform designed to combat hate and promote respect across all WNBA spaces — from online discourse to in-arena behavior.”
One of the campaign’s goals is the use of artificial intelligence to safeguard the players’ and teams’ social media pages and to automatically detect, report, and delete hate speech and harassment.
“As interest in sports betting grows around the WNBA, we are taking clear, concrete steps to protect players and safeguard the integrity of the game. Player safety remains our highest priority,” the WNBA said in a statement. “We’ve enhanced security, expanded monitoring of online threats, and increased fan education. We are also working closely with our gaming partners to monitor betting activity and ensure our systems protect the game. These safeguards are constantly being reviewed and strengthened to ensure we keep the players safe and our game secure.”
Around the time the WNBA launched “No Space for Hate,” sportsbook behemoth BetMGM announced its partnership with the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces. BetMGM also is an authorized gaming partner with the league.
Even while injured, Caitlin Clark (right), here with another former top overall pick in Aliyah Boston, generates a ton of buzz around the WNBA.
“The NBA and WNBA are very different in terms of scale and seasonality — the NBA is a much bigger league, but both have shown strong year-over-year growth,” said BetMGM trading manager Christian Cipollini. “The WNBA benefits from its summer schedule when there’s less competition for attention, and star power like Caitlin Clark has driven a major uptick in engagement. Even after Clark’s injury this [2025] season, handle remained well above pre-Clark levels, which speaks to the league’s momentum.”
Cipollini said BetMGM — and the gaming industry as a whole — is committed to sports integrity.
“That includes athlete harassment, and we’re working with the leagues on this issue from several angles,” he said.
During his 42 years (1978-2020) as head coach of the Villanova women’s basketball team, Harry Perretta said gambling on women’s college basketball was never an issue for him and his players, simply because the interest wasn’t there. Of course, the bulk of Perretta’s Villanova coaching career unfolded before the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that legalized sports betting state to state.
“I guess you always might have bookies on campus. But I used to tell [players], ‘You really don’t want to get involved,’” said Perretta, 70. “People who get themselves in trouble are people who make bets without putting money down. Next thing you know, they’re behind the eight ball.”
There was that 1998 ’Nova-UConn women’s game, though. Nykesha Sales was on the cusp of becoming Connecticut’s career scoring leader before she sustained a devastating Achilles injury. But before UConn’s game against Villanova, Perretta and longtime UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma agreed to let Sales score an uncontested basket after tipoff to reach the milestone. Villanova then was allowed to score its uncontested basket, before the “real” game began. Then-Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese also had agreed to the gesture.
“We let Sales score a basket, and I checked to see if there was an over/under on that game,” Perretta said. “I checked out of curiosity. When we let her score the two [points], and then Connecticut let us score two, I didn’t want anybody saying something crazy. There was no betting on that game, but I checked. That did go through my mind when that whole sequence occurred.”
In the final two years of Perretta’s Villanova tenure — during which he coached Siegrist, Perretta said he started to see a lot more betting lines on women’s college basketball games, particularly around the start of the NCAA Tournament. The dual salvos of legalized sports betting and amateur athletes securing name, image, and likeness deals had reshaped the sports landscape.
Siegrist — who married Perretta’s son Stephen, a Drexel assistant women’s basketball coach, in late October — said that going back to her ’Nova playing days, players were consistently educated on the dangers of associating with any illegal gambling operation or people within that culture.
“I have it ingrained from college and the NCAA, ‘No gambling ever, or else you’re not going to be able to play.’ I’ve tried to keep that mentality,” Siegrist said.
The bigger challenge, she said, is now balancing her career in the online sports wagering fishbowl.
“People are crazy. They’ll post something from five years ago and comment a hundred times, ‘You suck.’ It’s a pain to go through and delete it all,” Siegrist said. “The Wings pay a company to manage social media, the outside comments, and take them down right away if they’re threatening or hate[-related]. We’re going to see more and more of that, which I think is great.
“These leagues and organizations are just trying to protect their players. At the end of the day, everyone is just trying to play the game they love to the best of their abilities. When you try and focus on that, these are all ways to keep the main thing the main thing.”
Riddle Hospital was cited by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for failing to properly monitor a patient’s vital signs in the emergency department earlier this year.
The incident was among six times inspectors visited the Media hospital, which is owned by Main Line Health, to investigate potential safety problems.
Here’s a look at the publicly available details:
Jan. 10, 2025: Inspectors came to investigate a complaint but found the hospital was in compliance. Complaint details are not made public when inspectors determine it was unfounded.
June 30: Inspectors cited the hospital for failing to properly monitor a patient’s vital signs while waiting for care in the emergency department. Inspectors found that a patient was evaluated in the emergency department as a triage level 3, meaning their vital signs should be checked every four hours. Records show the patient’s vital signs were documented at 12:40 a.m., and not again until almost seven hours later. Administrators reviewed the hospital’s emergency triage policies and retrained staff.
Aug. 13: Inspectors came to investigate a complaint but found the hospital was in compliance.
Sept. 15: Inspectors came to investigate a complaint but found the hospital was in compliance.
Sept. 18: Inspectors visited for a special monitoring survey and found the hospital was in compliance.
Sept. 18: Inspectors followed up on the June citation regarding vital sign monitoring and found the hospital was in compliance.
What would it mean to keep Kyle Schwarber in a Phillies uniform?
Just look at the names he is likely to pass on the franchise’s all-time home runs list by the end of 2026, his age-33 season.
Sitting at 187 dingers since joining the Phillies, Schwarber likely will pass Bobby Abreu (195) and Dick Allen (204) before the All-Star break. A month or two later, he could pass Jimmy Rollins (216) and Cy Williams (217).
By then, Schwarber will be in striking distance of three of the heaviest hitters in Phillies history, literally and figuratively.
Greg Luzinski, 223
Chase Utley, 233
Chuck Klein, 243
A repeat of Schwarber’s 56 homers in 2025 would leave him in a tie with Klein for fifth place all-time. Only Del Ennis (259) and Pat Burrell (251) would stand between him and Mike Schmidt (548) and Ryan Howard (382).
You can’t let a guy like that walk away. We know it. The Phillies know it. And, yeah, Schwarber’s agent knows it. Which is why we are here, in early December, on the eve of baseball’s annual winter meetings, still waiting for confirmation that the last of the Schwarbombs has yet to fall on South Philadelphia.
Do not fret, sweet children. Save your angst for the Eagles. The baseball offseason is in its opening laps. The pace car is still on the track. The top of the market has barely begun to percolate. Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, Alex Bregman, Cody Bellinger … all have yet to agree to terms. All will remain free agents for the foreseeable future. Exactly one position player has signed a multiyear contract. Schwarber and the Phillies are right where we should have expected them to be.
The one big deal to date actually bodes well for the Phillies. Josh Naylor’s five-year, $92.5 million contract with the Mariners suggests that the market won’t grow too outlandish for sluggers at nonpremium positions.
Kyle Schwarber will enter his age-33 season coming off a 56-homer campaign in 2025.
You can argue that Naylor barely qualifies as a slugger, with 88 home runs over the last four seasons. Whatever the semantics, he clearly is in a different power class. But there is some comparability here. Naylor’s 124 OPS+ from 2022 to 2025 is in a similar tier to Schwarber’s 134. He is also four years younger than Schwarber and has a good glove at first base.
The logic goes something like this: The same types of teams that would have interest in a hitter like Schwarber probably would have interest in a hitter like Naylor. If Naylor had signed for six years and $120 million or five years and $110 million, we might be sitting here wondering if it really would be wise for the Phillies to shell out the stupid money it would take to retain Schwarber. The answer probably still would be yes. But it’s nice not to have to consider it.
It’s fair to assume that the market will look as it has the past several seasons. There is a pretty hard limit on the amount teams are willing to spend on players who don’t add significant value on defense. Besides Juan Soto, the only hitters to sign for more than $95 million over the last three offseasons have played shortstop, center field, or starting pitcher (Shohei Ohtani). The last first baseman or designated hitter to sign for more than five years and $100 million was Freddie Freeman, who landed six years and $162 million from the Dodgers in 2022.
Schwarber can — and should — argue that he is a different case. A typical designated hitter doesn’t finish second in MVP voting. Schwarber’s power and consistency are transcendent enough to disregard positional archetypes. The only hitter with more home runs than his 187 over the last four seasons is Aaron Judge (210). He, Judge, and Ohtani (also at 187) stand alone. In terms of impact on a contender, Schwarber is much closer to Freeman than he is to Naylor. Six years and $150 million is a defensible ask.
The Phillies can argue that Schwarber’s age and positional limitations are legitimate factors. Just look at Pete Alonso, who is pretty close to a carbon copy of Schwarber at the plate. The Mets’ first baseman had to settle for a two-year, $54 million contract last offseason. Not only that, Alonso is on the market again after opting out of his deal. Or, consider Teoscar Hernández, who signed with the Dodgers for three years and $69 million last year. Schwarber is better than Hernández. But is he better than two Hernándezes? For the Phillies, four years and $100 million is a justifiable offer.
Hopefully, we’re just waiting for the two sides to split the difference. Five years and $125 million would be a steep price to pay to lock up the designated hitter position through Schwarber’s age-37 season. But then, Schwarber will be bigger than a 37-year-old designated hitter when that time comes. He will be one of the defining players of an era, one of the franchise’s all-time greats, a fixture in the community and a potential Hall of Famer. He may have passed Howard for second on the franchise home run list. He may be closing in on 500 for his career.
Can the Phillies afford to sign Schwarber?
The better question is whether they can afford not to.
