Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes

Tag: topic-link-auto

  • Eagles news: Kevin Patullo’s home vandalized; Nick Sirianni sticks with OC; Seth Joyner rips A.J. Brown

    Eagles news: Kevin Patullo’s home vandalized; Nick Sirianni sticks with OC; Seth Joyner rips A.J. Brown

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 5:25pm

    Eagles vs. Chargers odds for Week 14

    Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) practices before the game at SoFi Stadium.

    It hasn’t been a fun start to the holiday season for Eagles fans after watching their team lose back-to-back games to the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears.

    After two consecutive losses, the Eagles will prepare for a prime-time matchup at SoFi Stadium, where they’ll face the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football. The last time these teams met was during the 2021 season in a game the Eagles lost, 27-24, at home.

    While the Birds are sliding, the Chargers have won four of their last five games. But their latest win over the Las Vegas Raiders saw quarterback Justin Herbert suffer a broken bone in his nonthrowing hand. Ahead of the teams’ Week 14 matchup, the sportsbooks are favoring Philly, who opens as a 3-point favorite.

    FanDuel

    • Spread: Chargers +3 (-118); Eagles -3 (-104)
    • Moneyline: Chargers (+124); Eagles (-146)
    • Total: Over 40.5 (-115); Under 40.5 (-105)

    DraftKings

    • Spread: Chargers +3 (-108); Eagles -3 (-112)
    • Moneyline: Chargers (+136); Eagles (-162)
    • Total: Over 40.5 (-115); Under 40.5 (-105)
    Eagles open as slim favorites over Chargers in Week 14; plus, updated Super Bowl and MVP odds

    — Ariel Simpson

    // Pinned

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 4:13pm

    Police confirm Kevin Patullo’s home was egged over weekend

    A viral video making the rounds on social media Monday appears to show Kevin Patullo’s home being vandalized. And according to the Moorestown Police Department, Patullo’s house was indeed targeted over the weekend, but the vandals weren’t throwing rocks — they were eggs.

    According to police, Patullo’s Moorestown, N.J., home was vandalized with multiple eggs at around 2:50 a.m. Saturday morning, hours after the Eagles lost, 24-15, to the Chicago Bears on Black Friday.

    Detectives are still working to determine the identities of those involved in the incident, a police spokesperson said.

    Patullo, the first-year Eagles offensive coordinator, has shouldered the brunt of the blame for the Eagles’ struggles on offense. A website calling for his firing surfaced. Fans chanted for him to be fired during the game Friday.

    Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni reiterated Monday what he said after the game Friday: Patullo will remain the play-caller as the Eagles prepare for their Week 14 game at the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday.

    Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s house was vandalized after Bears loss, police confirm

    — Jeff Neiburg

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 3:45pm

    Nick Sirianni reiterates Kevin Patullo will call plays

    Nick Sirianni said Monday that the Eagles spent the weekend — and are still — “evaluating everything,” but he reiterated what he said after Friday’s game: Kevin Patullo remains the play caller.

    The Eagles, Sirianni said, are working through “different things that we want to do” but declined to share any particulars.

    “We’re working through everything,” Sirianni said. “I have a lot of faith in all the players. I have a lot of faith in all the coaches.”

    Nick Sirianni reiterates Eagles are ‘evaluating everything,’ but Kevin Patullo will still call plays

    — Jeff Neiburg

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 2:50pm

    Watch live: Nick Sirianni speaks to reporters

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 2:29pm

    Chargers rookie RB Omarion Hampton could return against the Eagles

    Chargers running back Omarion Hampton has missed the past seven games with an ankle injury.

    After opening his 21-day practice window last week, it appears likely Los Angeles Chargers running back Omarion Hampton will make his return to the field against the Eagles Monday night.

    CBS Sports reporter Matt Zenitz wrote “there’s optimism” the rookie could return to action this week after missing the past seven games with a broken ankle.

    “Gosh, he looked good,” Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said of Hampton’s return to practice last week.

    Without Hampton in the lineup, the Chargers have relied on the one-two punch of running backs Kimani Vidal and Jaret Patterson. It worked out well Sunday, with the two combining for 180 yards rushing in a blowout win against the Las Vegas Raiders.

    Hampton, a standout at North Carolina taken with the No. 22 pick in the 2025 NFL draft, quickly became a key part of the Chargers offense, both rushing and receiving out of the backfield. He slid into the starting role after Najee Harris’ season-ending Achilles rupture against the Denver Broncos in Week 3.

    If he returns, Hampton will likely find some open running lanes against the Eagles. The Birds defense is allowing 128.9 rushing yards per game, ninth-worst in the NFL, and just gave up 281 yards rushing to the Chicago Bears.

    — Rob Tornoe

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 1:51pm

    Nick Foles has a suggestion for Kevin Patullo

    Former Eagles quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles has been weighing in on the team’s offensive struggles.

    Nick Foles sees everyone’s frustrations with the Eagles offense, but he’s not ready to pull the plug on Kevin Patullo just for the sake of making a change.

    Foles doesn’t believe Sirianni wants to call plays himself, and the solution to the Birds’ offensive woes in the long-term might be outside the building.

    So, in the short-term, Foles pitched a few potential solutions, including moving Patullo up from the sideline back into the box, where he’s sat since joining the Eagles in 2021.

    “Being a pass game coordinator, [Patullo’s] role was to be in the box, to be in the booth, to oversee what is happening on the field from an up-above perspective, not being on the sidelines with the players and feeling the emotions from the sideline,” Foles said on the most-recent episode of The SZN podcast he co-hosts with Evan Moore. “He was in a controlled environment to see coverages, to see plays, and to make recommendations for the passing game.”

    Being on the sideline surrounded by the players provides a different perspective than being up in the box, which is also where Vic Fangio calls plays from. It’s a less distracting environment, and it can be easier to make adjustments as the drive develops instead of waiting to watch tape on delay.

    Last week, Foles suggested Patullo might not have what it takes when it comes to calling plays.

    “Kevin Patullo is probably a great dude, a great coach, but there’s an art to play-calling that not everyone has and it’s not showing up this year,” Foles said.

    Kevin Patullo could benefit from move from sidelines to box, according to Nick Foles

    — Gabriela Carroll

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 12:30pm

    Vikings waive WR Adam Thielen, wants to join a contender

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 11:40am

    The NFL’s Cult of Analytics

    FOX NFL analyst Greg Olsen agreed with Nick Sirianni’s two-point attempt.

    You never start an argument with an analytics zealot because you will always lose. They have data and numbers and history. They generally ignore intangibles such as momentum, atmosphere, competition, site, and psyche.

    This matters this week because of the meaningless yet fiery debate, fueled by superb (if somewhat self-anointing) NFL analyst Greg Olsen, surrounding the Eagles’ decision to try a two-point conversion with more than three minutes to play, trailing by nine, to make it a seven-point game. It failed. That meant the Eagles needed two more possessions to win, which was unlikely considering the limited time remaining. It made more common sense to kick the PAT and make it an eight-point game.

    Nick Sirianni said, “I’m always going to go for a two in that scenario,” citing his personal research on the matter over several years. Sirianni is winning at a legendary clip, so maybe his studies show something publicly available analytics do not. Those analytics give a slight edge to doing what Sirianni did.

    But what Sirianni did virtually assured the loss. By doing so, it removed any real incentive from the defense, which had already been on the field 14 minutes more than the offense. The most realistically hopeful scenario after the missed two-point try was for the defense to hold, for the Eagles to score a TD, then for the Eagles to recover an onside kick, which happens at only about a 5% rate the past two seasons.

    Olson and his tribe used X/Twitter to preach their message, which, predictably, incensed the anti-analytics barbarians.

    It was kind of fun to watch the two sides battle, but kind of sad, too.

    Because anyone who watched that game knew the Eagles weren’t going to score another touchdown, anyway.

    Yes, Jalen Hurts is the ‘problem’ for the Eagles, not Kevin Patullo: So what?

    — Marcus Hayes

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 10:34am

    ‘He’s selfish’: Seth Joyner rips A.J. Brown

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 9:29am

    The Eagles’ path to the No. 1 seed in the NFC is difficult

    Jalen Hurts and the Eagles have a difficult path to claim the NFC’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

    There’s a new king in the NFC, and it’s the team that strolled into Lincoln Financial Field on Black Friday, ran all over the Eagles, and silenced the critics — this writer included — that said its 8-3 record was fugazi.

    Yes, if the season ended today, all roads would lead to the shirtless final boss, Ben Johnson, and his 9-3 Chicago Bears. And if that pole positioning holds, they’ll have earned it. Chicago’s final five games look like this: at Green Bay, home vs. Cleveland, home vs. Green Bay, at San Francisco, home vs. Detroit.

    In other words, the Bears are holding onto that top seed in a similar way Jalen Hurts held onto the football during that fourth-quarter Tush Push on Friday.

    There are six teams in the NFC now with eight or nine wins, and the Eagles — despite the sky falling on Philadelphia and Nick Sirianni fairly being asked about his offensive coordinator’s job status — are one of them.

    Only two teams have an easier schedule the rest of the way than the Eagles do, and neither team is in the aforementioned group.

    Cue the Lloyd Christmas line. Yes, there’s a chance.

    The math gets a little complicated, so a tip of the hat to Eagles numbers guru Deniz Selman for laying it all out Monday morning on social media.

    There’s a lot going on there. How likely is the No. 1 seed for the Eagles? FTN Fantasy puts the chances at 3.3%. Not great. But not quite the one-in-a-million odds Christmas faced in Dumb and Dumber.

    In fact, considering FTN puts the Eagles’ playoff chances at 93.3%, there’s a better mathematical chance this collapse ends with the Eagles blowing the NFC East and missing the playoffs than the Eagles securing the No. 1 seed.

    — Jeff Neiburg

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 8:14am

    Kurt Warner finds a problem, and it isn’t Jalen Hurts

    Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo during Friday’s loss to the Bears.

    NFL Network analyst and Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner took a deep dive on the Eagles’ offense following their Black Friday loss to the Chicago Bears, and came away noticing a big issue in the team’s approach on offense.

    To illustrate his point, Warner spent 15 minutes on his QB Confidential YouTube channel examining a single offensive play from the second quarter, a failed third down pass to what appeared to be a wide open DeVonta Smith.

    From Warner’s perspective, what at first appeared to be a misfire by Jalen Hurts looks more like a failure to plan for defensive pressure. Specifically, the decision for Smith to run a “choice route” that led to a bad throw because he didn’t appear to be on the same page as Hurts facing a Bears’ blitz.

    “To me, this is a losing play scheme-wise because you didn’t define what you wanted to do,” Warner said. “You left too much indecision and too much guessing in a critical situation, and it’s something that cost you.”

    So why did Warner do a deep dive of the play? It appears to be in reaction to several pundits, including Brian Baldinger, blaming Hurts for making an errant throw on the play.

    “Jalen went to exactly the right place and really the only place he can go” in their offense, Warner wrote on social media.

    This is obviously just one play, but speaks to a larger issue my colleague Jeff McLane has written about — a failure along multiple fronts that has led to the Eagles offense dropping from an elite squad to the league’s ninth-worst, averaging just a few more yards per game more than New Orleans Saints.

    “If you want to know why the passing route design sometimes looks rudimentary, look at Sirianni, Patullo and their nondescript scheme,” McLane wrote following Friday’s loss. “But don’t forget the quarterback. There are swaths of the playbook that aren’t touched because Hurts isn’t comfortable with certain concepts.”

    — Rob Tornoe

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 7:20am

    Eagles injury updates

    Lane Johnson will sit out at least one more week due to a foot injury.

    — Rob Tornoe

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 7:15am

    NFC playoff picture: No change for the Eagles

    An Eagles fan yawns during Friday’s loss to the Bears.

    The Chicago Bears?

    Thanks to the Carolina Panthers’ upset win over the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, the Bears suddenly hold the NFC’s top playoff spot with five games remaining in the season.

    The Eagles remain in the No. 3 spot, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers still hold the No. 4 spot and first place in the NFC South thanks to their win against the Arizona Cardinals, which officially eliminated Jonathan Gannon’s squad from the playoffs.

    The New Orleans Saints were also eliminated from playoff contention Sunday. Despite their loss to the Denver Broncos Sunday night, the Washington Commanders remain mathematically alive, at least for another week. Though their only path is sweeping the Eagles and winning the NFC East with an 8-9 record.

    NFC playoff standings

    window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});

    As for the NFC East, the situation is a lot tighter for the Eagles than it was just two weeks ago.

    The Birds will enter Week 14 just one game up on the Dallas Cowboys in the loss column facing a feisty Los Angeles Chargers team that has won four of their last five games.

    The Cowboys face the suddenly desperate Detroit Lions in a few days on Thursday Night Football. The New York Times is only giving Dallas an 8% chance to win the NFC East, but a Cowboys win paired with another Birds loss would change that in a hurry.

    That being said, the Eagles still remain in control of the division. Their magic number — a combination of Birds wins and Cowboys losses — is four, and the overall record of their opponents down the stretch is 24-34, including two games against the 3-8 Commanders.

    NFC East standings

    !function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}})}();

    — Rob Tornoe

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 7:10am

    Eagles reportedly losing front office exec

    Dave Caldwell worked for the Eagles for parts of five seasons after being fired by the Jaguars in November 2020.

    A member of the Eagles’ front office staff will be joining a college football program.

    Eagles senior personnel director/advisor to the general manager Dave Caldwell will become the University of Florida’s college football general manager, per multiple reports. On3.com first reported the news.

    Caldwell will join the staff of Jon Sumrall, the Tulane coach that multiple outlets reported is finalizing a deal to take over the Gators program.

    Caldwell joined the Eagles in 2021 after an eight-year stint as general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He spent time with the Atlanta Falcons (2008-12), Indianapolis Colts (1998-07) and the Carolina Panthers (1996-97) prior to to his Jaguars tenure.

    With name, image and likeness realities and the transfer portal taking over college athletics, Power Four programs have increasingly sought dedicated general managers with the experience to handle the acquisition and compensation details of players.

    Florida finished the 2025 season at 4-8.

    Reports: Eagles front office exec Dave Caldwell becoming Florida GM

    — Devin Jackson

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 7:05am

    Justin Herbert may be forced to miss Eagles-Chargers

    Justin Herbert broke his non-throwing hand Sunday and will undergo surgery.

    The Eagles will face the Chargers in a pivotal Week 14 matchup Monday, but Los Angeles may be without their star quarterback.

    Justin Herbert suffered a broken left hand during Sunday’s win against the Las Vegas Raiders. Coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters Herbert is scheduled to undergo surgery Monday and might night be able to play the Birds on Monday Night Football.

    Herbert was a bit more optimistic about his chances of being on the field.

    “I’m treating it as if I’m playing on Monday,” Herbert told reporters.

    Herbert suffered the broken left hand in the first quarter, but missed just a handful of plays before returning to the field. He got a lot of support from running backs Kimani Vidal and Jaret Patterson, who combined for 180 yards rushing Sunday.

    That’s not promising for the Eagles, who just gave up 281 yards rushing to the Chicago Bears.

    If Herbert isn’t able to play, Trey Lance would get the start for the Chargers.

    — Rob Tornoe

    2025 Eagles schedule

    — Rob Tornoe

    // Timestamp 12/01/25 7:00am

  • The Washington Post snubbed Philly on list of America’s best sports cities. Here are nine reasons they’re wrong.

    The Washington Post snubbed Philly on list of America’s best sports cities. Here are nine reasons they’re wrong.

    The Washington Post’s opinion section enlisted nine writers to share which American city they think deserves the title of the nation’s best sports city.

    Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Boston — even the likes of Kansas City and Cleveland got a mention. Which city was snubbed? Philadelphia.

    Taking a look through the comments of their recent Instagram post promoting the list, not to mention the nearly 800 comments on the column itself, we’re not the only ones who raised an eyebrow at the exclusion of Philly from the list.

    So we got nine of our own writers to argue why Philadelphia is the nation’s best sports city. Enjoy.

    It means more to us

    Mike Sielski, sports columnist

    Philadelphia is America’s best sports city because sports — not national sports, not the Olympics, but the teams and athletes here — is the lingua franca of the town and the great connector of the city and its surrounding suburbs and communities. Do you flinch when someone says the name Chico Ruiz or Joe Carter? Do you smile at a random mention of Matt Stairs or Corey Clement? Then you know and love Philadelphia sports.

    It’s America’s best sports city because Philadelphia is a provincial, parochial region where the love of and devotion to the teams’ histories and traditions are passed down from one generation to the next — a succession of unbroken bonds over a century or more. Did you sit out on your front stoop on a summer night and listen to Harry and Whitey call a Phillies game over the radio? Do you still sync Merrill and Mike’s broadcast to the TV telecast? Do you know who J.J. Daigneault is? Then you know and love Philadelphia sports.

    Eagles fans professed their love in ink after the team’s Super Bowl LIX win. These are some of our favorites.

    It is America’s best sports city because you can walk down the street here after an Eagles loss or a Phillies loss or a Sixers loss and know that those teams lost just from the vacant looks on the faces of the passersby. Do you turn up the talk-radio station on those terrible Monday mornings? Do you remember where you were when Kawhi’s fourth bounce fell through the net? Then you know and you live and you die with Philadelphia sports.

    Most of all, Philadelphia is America’s best sports city because people here care more and sports here matters more than it does anywhere else. If you don’t believe me, go ahead. Tell a Philadelphia sports fan that your city, your teams, your traditions are better. Go ahead. Dare ya.

    Philly fans celebrate the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX win in near City Hall.

    Nobody parties like us

    Stephanie Farr, features columnist

    Philadelphia is undoubtedly the best sports city in the United States and it has everything to do with our fans, who are as passionate and dedicated as they come. Here “Go Birds” is a greeting, talking trash is an art form, and being a part of it all is totally intoxicating, even if you’re completely sober (which, to be fair, most of us aren’t).

    Nobody celebrates a major win like Philly — by partying in the street with Gritty and Ben Franklin impersonators, dancing with Philly Elmo and his drum line, and climbing greased poles. When the Phillies won the NLCS in 2022, I watched Sean “Shrimp” Hagan climb a pole and shotgun seven cans of Twisted Tea thrown to him by the crowd. To his credit, at some point Hagan realized he was too drunk to get down safely and waited for firefighters to bring a ladder.

    “It couldn’t have happened without the crowd being so [expletive] Philly,” he told me. “What other city’s first thought when they see a guy on a pole would be to throw him a beer?”

    Do our Bacchanalian celebrations border on absolute lawless anarchy? Yes, but if you want to live safe and know how something will end, go watch a Hallmark movie. This is Philly, where we are fueled by the raging fire of a thousand losses — even when we win — and we thrive off the unpredictability of life.

    Go Birds.

    What Philly — and Philly sports fans — taught me about fandom | Stephanie Farr

    Yes, we’re really that crazy

    David Murphy, sports columnist

    In my early 20s, I lived in Tampa for a brief stint. The downtown area is small enough that all of its neighborhoods are in proximity to each other. My apartment was in a section popular among locals for its dining and nightlife scene. But it was close enough to the hotel district to be in the eye of the storm when the Eagles came to town.

    One Saturday evening in late October, we were sitting at a popular outside bar when the place was suddenly overcome by a wave of midnight green. Everywhere you looked, there were packs of Eagles fans who looked like they hadn’t seen the sun in two months. They swaggered through the place in their Brian Dawkins jerseys with zero regard for humanity. They ordered their Bud Lights in multiples of two and yelled Eagles chants at each other as horrified young women clung desperately to each other and wiped errant sloshes of domestic Pilsner off each other’s going-out clothes. A friend of mine stepped off the patio to have a cigarette. He returned with a stunned expression on his face. “An Eagles fan just peed on my foot,” he said with a mixture of anger and respect.

    Tampa got the last laugh the next day when Matt Bryant kicked a walk-off field goal from 62 yards out. But I always think of that weekend when people ask me if Philly sports fans are as crazy as their reputation.

    An Eagles fan sits on top of the traffic light post at the intersection of Broad and Pine Streets after the team won Super Bowl LIX in February.

    There are a lot of different prerequisites that a city needs in order to consider itself a great sports town. For instance, it must be an actual city, one with history and character that stands on its own even without sports. Furthermore, a great sports town requires a certain level of market penetration. Sports must sit atop the pedestal in a way that it doesn’t in places like New York and L.A. There must be a critical mass of folks who are born and raised, which eliminates pretty much any city south of the Mason-Dixon and west of the Mississippi. The list is a short one. Boston, Chicago, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Detroit, maybe Milwaukee.

    From there, the thing that sets Philly apart is the people. They are a strange lot, prone to overexcitement and, every now and then, over-indulgence. But, man, do they care. You see it any time one of their teams hits the road. You hear it, too. There is an energy that is difficult to define but impossible not to feel. It’s the secret sauce of this place. And, yeah, it’s the best.

    Flyers fans once joined a club by getting hit by a puck. It made them ‘feel special’ — and protected the team.

    We own our losses

    Matt Breen, sports features writer

    A veteran Eagles reporter wrote recently that last Sunday’s Eagles-Cowboys game was the Birds’ worst ever loss to their rival. They blew a 21-point lead, exposed some glaring flaws, and lost on a walk-off field goal. Fair point. But it was pushed back immediately on social media. You think this loss was bad? That’s what makes Philadelphia a great — maybe the greatest — sports city. We celebrate our wins like no other but we also wear our losses forever. This was a brutal loss but we still remember that botched chip shot on Monday Night Football in 1997. And that blowout loss in the playoffs while we were stuck inside during the Blizzard of ‘96. Oh yeah, remember what happened in 2010?

    I don’t know if any city in the U.S. holds onto losses more than Philly. We do that because we care. We lose sleep when the Phillies blow a save, have a bad week if the Eagles lose, still can’t believe they didn’t call the Islanders offside, and are still waiting for Ben Simmons to dunk it. So yeah, that’s why it means more here when the teams do win. Because we care so much when they lose. You can have L.A., Seattle, and Kansas City. I’ll stay in Philly.

    The 10 most haunting Philly sports moments since 2000, from Ronde Barber’s pick-six to Ben Simmons’ pass
    A Phillies fan holds up a sign paying tribute to another viral Phillies fan before the team’s 2025 home opener.

    We feed off being underdogs

    Julia Terruso, politics reporter

    Look, I’m not pretending to be neutral here. I went to spring training in Clearwater in pigtails as a child. I fell in love at an Eagles tailgate and flew to London to watch the Phillies play the Mets on my honeymoon. But even non-Philadelphians would be out of their minds not to put us in the top three — let alone the top nine.

    Rooting for the Phillies, Sixers, Eagles, and Flyers is a cross-class, cross-generation rite. We’re one of only eight U.S. cities with all four major teams, and our stadiums are actually accessible — yes, Los Angeles, I’m looking at you. Tickets are (mostly) affordable, the crowds are electric, and the fervor is real. We boo because we care. And unlike other cities, we don’t sneer at bandwagoners. The citywide greeting is “Go Birds,” and the uniform is fair game for the lifer who knows about pickle juice and The Process, along with the new Fishtown transplant who couldn’t diagram a wheel play but looks fantastic in kelly green — because everyone looks fantastic in Kelly green.

    But the thing that really makes Philly a great sports town is our shared history of heartbreak and near-misses that drives us forward. We’re used to being underestimated. So go ahead, leave us off your list, WaPo. Underdogs run on disrespect, and we’ve got miles to go.

    I wore a Pirates hat around Philadelphia. And all I got was love. | Opinion

    We wear our fandom on our sleeves — and heads

    Abraham Gutman, civil courts reporter

    Stand on the South Street bridge at 7 a.m. and you’ll know the time of year, and that says it all. The rivers of medical professionals walking and biking back from their night shifts, and those heading to their morning duties, give it away in unison. Red caps? It must be October. Kelly and midnight green beanies? The NFL playoffs are coming. Blue or black starred jackets? The NBA playoffs are underway and our hearts will soon be broken, again.

    I am a Philly transplant who comes from the tradition of European soccer, where rivalry between teams from the same city is the driver of passion. I always thought that there is nothing more electric than winning a derby game, and having your team crowned as the city’s best. But Philadelphia taught me that I was wrong. There is something more electric: a city united, together, declaring love to its teams in every nook and corner.

    Jubilant Eagles fans dance around a fire on Broad Street after the Birds beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.

    Philadelphia isn’t just the best sports city in America (“next year on Broad?”), it’s an organism that breathes sports fandom unlike any other place.

    The days of throwing snowballs at Santa or batteries on a hated player are far gone. This is the city that gave a struggling shortstop who just arrived in town a standing ovation, that travels in droves so E-A-G-L-E-S chants come through the broadcast of every away game, and has a community of sickos who rode with its Sixers through one of the weirdest experiments in NBA history.

    The electric energy isn’t confined to the city lines. It’s a moment that every Philadelphian cherishes. Don an Eagles hat in any other city in America, or even abroad, and you are more likely than not to lock eyes with a stranger passing by.

    “Go Birds,” they inevitably say.

    “Go Birds!” you respond.

    Nothing beats that. And if you don’t like it. All good. We don’t care.

    A basement shrine to Philly sports fandom, featuring pieces of the Vet and Spectrum

    We have our own language

    Jeff Neiburg, Eagles reporter

    The Washington Post’s opinion section has been having a rough go of it. Which makes me wonder if this list, too, had to be cleared by the Amazon overlord, and maybe Jeff Bezos just hates Philadelphia?

    I mean … Cleveland?

    The size and scale of the two recent Eagles parades speak for themselves. The fact that there used to be a jail in the bowels of Veterans Stadium speaks for itself. Attending one Phillies playoff game at Citizens Bank Park would speak for itself. “Go Birds,” is a passing “hello” to a fellow Philadelphian in another town, a phrase of familial camaraderie. Due respect to Los Angeles, a city I love to be and eat in. But the sheer number of sports that happen in a place doesn’t make it a good sports city. That’s not human. People and passion make a place.

    The Penn Relays at Franklin Field are one of just a few annual sports traditions in Philadelphia.

    We have much more than pro sports

    Tommy Rowan, cheesesteak/Philly history expert

    A criteria would have helped, but really, any discernible or coherent formula would have really pulled that Washington Post list together. Here, instead, are three reasons why Philadelphia is one of the cornerstone cities in American sports …

    History: The fabric of American sport was woven here. The Heisman Trophy is named after John Heisman, who played at Penn. The Phillies are one of the key reasons fans are allowed to keep foul balls that land in the stands. All because an 11-year-old Phillies fan didn’t blink when the team had him thrown in jail for larceny.

    Tradition: We’re more than pro sports. We’ve hosted the annual Army-Navy game, and the Dad Vail Regatta, and the Penn Relays. Tennis found an American foothold at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.

    Passion: Support is an undergarment. This city has passion. Fandom here is passed down from generation to generation, just like their houses. And sure they’re loud, and they generally take it the worst of any fanbafan base. But they’re vocal, they’re informed, and they care. These teams mean something to these people.

    Sports fans start young in Philly, as fandom gets passed down from generation to generation.

    We know our stuff

    Ariel Simpson, sports trending writer

    Oct. 9 was a tragic day for Philly sports fans. The Phillies season ended with a heartbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Eagles suffered a devastating 34-17 loss to the New York Giants, and the Flyers dropped their season opener to the Florida Panthers.

    That very next day, I wandered the streets of Philadelphia in what felt like a walk of shame. The heartbreak could be seen on each fan’s face as they still sported their favorite team’s colors. And when asked about the losses, each fan gave me a full breakdown of what needs to be done in order for the teams to be more successful.

    That’s what makes Philly such a great sports city. Not only are the fans passionate, but they are knowledgeable when it comes to their sports teams. Sure, sometimes they may rush to call for a head coach to be fired or boo their own teams, but that’s only because they care so much.

    They wear their heart on their sleeves and they expect more from each team. And when they do succeed, they show up and celebrate like no other. If you need an example, look no further than the city greasing its light poles in an attempt to stop fans from climbing them in celebration.

  • Gavin Sidwar has high expectations — and sights set on La Salle’s first state title in over a decade

    Gavin Sidwar has high expectations — and sights set on La Salle’s first state title in over a decade

    La Salle senior quarterback Gavin Sidwar has many admirers, including a fan who asked him to autograph a $5 bill on Saturday. But Sidwar also likes to consider himself just one of the guys, as he enjoys going out to eat all the time with those big lugs on the Explorers’ offensive line.

    “He could call a handoff to me, and I would be confident in him,” said Grayson McKeogh, the mighty left tackle.

    McKeogh, a 6-foot-7, 275-pound senior, will throw blocks next year at Notre Dame, but Sidwar, the offensive line and all of his La Salle teammates have one more week to play football together, culminating in the PIAA Class 6A state championship game this Saturday.

    Sidwar, a 6-3, 190-pound senior with remarkable composure and impeccable touch, plans to play football at the University of Missouri next year. But that can wait. The Explorers (12-1) have not played for a state title in 15 years and have not won one since 2009.

    Explorers quarterback Gavin Sidwar (7) throws the ball against North Penn on Nov. 29.

    With frightening ease, they powered to a five-touchdown halftime lead this past Saturday against District 1 champion North Penn (12-3) and rolled to a 49-14 victory in a state semifinal before an overflow crowd at Central Bucks South. Central Catholic (13-1) of Pittsburgh awaits La Salle in the state championship.

    The Explorers opened the season by beating the Vikings in a nonleague game outside Pittsburgh, 23-6. La Salle’s season has included just one setback: a 39-36 Catholic League loss Sept. 26 to Roman Catholic (11-3), which plays Bishop McDevitt for the 5A state title on Friday.

    Since the PIAA expanded to six classes in 2016, the Catholic League champ is 8-0 in the 6A state semis against the best team in the Philly suburbs. But all seven of those previous victories were by St. Joseph’s Prep, La Salle’s archrival. The Hawks won seven state titles.

    Northeast High QB Jayden Boyd was shot in September while playing video games. Then he played on Thanksgiving.

    But it is, finally, someone else’s turn. La Salle, whose 2024 season ended with a 21-14 loss to the Prep in the District 12 title game — the Explorers’ only loss — has rebounded this fall to beat the Prep twice: by 31-20 on Oct. 4, then by 24-14 on Nov. 1 for the district title.

    Sidwar played only the first half against North Penn, completing 14 of 19 passes for 246 yards and four touchdowns, including a 40-yarder and a 72-yarder. He spent the rest of the afternoon on the sidelines, helmet off, his shaggy black hair tousled, cheering on the reserves.

    “We’re going to play teams that are good, but we’re a good football team, too,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’ve just got to go out and play fast, play physical and play disciplined. Be us. Don’t press. It’s just a football game that we’ve been playing since we were kids. So play the game, not the occasion. Just go out and play football.”

    Gavin Sidwar (7) raises his helmet with his fellow teammates in celebration for beating St. Joe’s Prep on Nov. 1.

    La Salle is not quite unstoppable. Much to the displeasure of second-year coach Brett Gordon, the Explorers lost two fumbles against North Penn and were penalized eight times. He told his huddled team at midfield afterward, “I’m counting on you all to fix it.”

    Sidwar threw a couple of passes Saturday that he’d like to have back. But Gordon said later that Sidwar has become even better after the Roman loss. In three state playoff games, he has completed 71% of his passes for 802 yards and nine touchdowns — and no interceptions. La Salle won those three games by a combined score of 129-35.

    “Just when we think he’s got it all figured out, he figures out a way to continue to improve,” Gordon said. “He’s built for this, and he’s put in the work.”

    For Haverford High’s Liam Taylor, playing on Thanksgiving is his last hurrah on the gridiron

    It does help that Sidwar has a mountainous line and astonishingly talented receivers, including Joey O’Brien, the 6-3 senior who is also bound for Notre Dame. O’Brien, who is projected as a college safety, made two brilliant leaping catches on Saturday.

    “He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and he proves it every day,” O’Brien said. “You always get a clean spiral, every time. And he doesn’t get too high or too low. He knows there’s more to be done. If we play our game, there’s nobody beating us.”

    Sidwar spreads it around. His 72-yard touchdown pass Saturday was to Jimmy Mahoney, a 5-8 speedster who missed the previous two games with an injury. Sidwar flipped a short pass to Mahoney, who scored with the help of a couple of downfield blocks.

    “They make it really easy,” Mahoney said of his teammates.

    Mahoney said of Sidwar: “He’s making big-time plays — especially at big times. Every single game, he’s getting better.”

    Explorers quarterback Gavin Sidwar (7) looks on during the PIAA Class 6A football semifinal game between La Salle College High and North Penn.

    Sidwar has clearly benefited from working with Gordon, 46, who led La Salle to two Catholic League championships as a quarterback before playing at Villanova and serving as a La Salle assistant. La Salle has won 22 of 24 games with Gordon as its head coach.

    As he told his team after Saturday’s game, “We set out two years ago on this mission, to get right here, right now.”

    This team won’t get a chance to avenge its loss to Roman, which also has a terrific senior quarterback, the Akron-bound Semaj Beals. La Salle and Roman, and Sidwar and Beals, are generally considered to be interchangeable, No. 1 and No. 2 in the state.

    Brett Gordon keeps his late father in mind as La Salle continues its run in state playoffs

    Gordon smiled when he said of his senior quarterback, “He has set his expectations so high.”

    Before he posed for photos after the game on the field Saturday with a stream of friends, family, and fans, Sidwar said, “We’re not going to leave anything unturned at this time of the year. It’s all or nothing at this point.”

    He said of North Penn, “We knew they were good. We knew they had a good coach over there,” in Dick Beck. “But if we executed our game plan, we weren’t going to get stopped.”

    Fans cheer during the PIAA Class 6A semifinal game between La Salle College High and North Penn at Central Bucks South High School in Warrington on Saturday.
  • Dave Dombrowski’s biggest offseason headache? The bullpen, not the Phillies’ lineup.

    Dave Dombrowski’s biggest offseason headache? The bullpen, not the Phillies’ lineup.

    The lack of hand-wringing about the Phillies bullpen this offseason isn’t too surprising. By the time everyone finishes worrying about the offense, their palms are raw. Nearly half of the starting lineup from Game 1 of the NLDS is no longer under contract. They need to re-sign or replace their catcher, left fielder, center fielder, and designated hitter. The guy who was their longtime right fielder is a $20 million sunk cost. Other than that, the bats are looking great.

    But, hey, save some angst for the later innings. Dave Dombrowski has 99 problems and a pitcher is one … namely, a pitcher who is capable of locking down high-leverage situations. Even if Jhoan Duran is the guy he has been throughout his career, and if Matt Strahm is the guy he has been during the last three regular seasons, if Jose Alvarado is the guy he was in 2022-23, the Phillies will still need a fourth guy who is better than Orion Kerkering was even before he short-circuited in Game 4 of the NLDS loss to the Dodgers.

    Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering posted a 3.30 ERA in 2025.

    That’s true whether Dombrowski realizes it or not. You’d think he would by this point in time. But, then, you’d be thinking. Everyone knows the cliche. Doing the same thing over and over is the definition of Dombrowski’s bullpen plan. As the nation at large celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, there’s a very good chance that the Phillies will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of realizing they need another reliever six days after the season starts. The Masters isn’t the month of April’s only tradition unlike any other.

    Phillies’ plan to get to the Dodgers’ problematic bullpen as soon as possible will require patience

    It’s getting to the point of mathematical certainty. If ’n’ is the number of high-leverage arms the Phillies need in order to win a postseason series, then ’n-1’ is the number of such arms the Phillies actually have. Feel free to alert the Fields Medal committee.

    Look at the list of relievers who have pitched make-or-break innings for the Phillies over the last several postseasons.

    Craig Kimbrel? The Phillies probably win a World Series if they have an elite shutdown arm to pitch the ninth inning of Game 3 and/or the eighth inning of Game 4 in the 2023 NLCS.

    David Robertson? He faced three batters last postseason, all in Game 1 of the NLDS, two of whom scored.

    Jordan Romano? Nope. Just kidding. He didn’t pitch a make-or-break inning in the postseason. Actually, he didn’t pitch any innings.

    Jesús Luzardo? He was exactly what the Phillies needed out of the bullpen in the 10th and 11th innings of Game 4 against the Dodgers. There was only one problem. He was their No. 2 starter. And he will be again.

    Phillies president of baseball operations David Dombrowski is tasked with building the Phillies’ bullpen.

    Nobody wants to admit this, but the best way to fix the Phillies offense is to build a roster where the offense doesn’t need to matter so much. It’s easy to forget that the Phillies took a 1-0 lead over the Mets into the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 2024 NLDS before Jeff Hoffman and Strahm combined to allow five runs in the eighth. As lopsided as that series felt in hindsight, the Phillies were two shutdown innings away from potentially heading to New York with a 2-0 series lead. They also blew a 1-0 lead when the bullpen allowed four runs in the bottom of the sixth in Game 4.

    Bryce Harper and Trea Turner are fast approaching the points of their careers where the next season probably won’t be as good as the previous one. Same goes for Kyle Schwarber, assuming the Phillies re-sign him. J.T. Realmuto is already there, and re-signing him is still their best option at catcher. At some point, building an elite bullpen becomes a more feasible option than counting on a Max Kepler bounce back season.

    Exploring three trades the Phillies could make to address their offseason needs

    Unless we assume that John Middleton is going to bump up his spending to the level of the Dodgers, then we’re wasting our breath arguing that what the Phillies really need is Kyle Tucker or Alex Bregman or Pete Alonso. It would be a silly thing to assume. If you are worth $2 billion, then a $100 million contract is 5% of your net worth. Even us common folk aren’t lighting our cigars with $1,000 dollar bills.

    Which brings us to the real issue with the Phillies’ bullpen. You have to squint a lot harder to see a fiscally sound path to improvement. The Orioles just signed closer Ryan Helsley to a two-year, $28 million deal after a lackluster campaign. Braves closer Raisel Iglesias took a big step backward last season and will be 36 years old next year. He just re-signed for one year and $16 million.

    Chances are, both of those deals will look awful a year from now. Look at last year’s market. Of the 12 relievers who signed for an AAV of $8.5-plus million, seven finished with an ERA north of 4.30, five of whom had an ERA over 5.00. That group doesn’t include the Mets’ A.J. Minter, who pitched only nine innings after signing for two years and $22 million.

    Essentially, the success rate on big-ticket bullpen signings was 33%. Even that is overstating things. The Dodgers spent a combined $39.9 million in AAV on Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Blake Teinen. The odds said that one of them should have panned out. But none of them did.

    Unless the Phillies are willing to shell out $20-plus million for Edwin Diaz, they’ll be fishing in treacherous waters. There are a lot more Jordan Romanos than Josh Haders, at pretty much every price point. Dombrowski has found value before with Strahm, Hoffman and Alvarado. He’ll need to do it again in order to win this offseason.

  • How Chestnut Hill’s main street is staying relevant in the Amazon era

    How Chestnut Hill’s main street is staying relevant in the Amazon era

    At lunchtime on a Thursday, a week before Thanksgiving, Chestnut Hill was buzzing.

    Inside the newly expanded Matines Café, almost every table was full. People sipped warm drinks from large mugs and ate Parisian croissants and quiche. Bottles of prosecco sat on ice by one large table adorned with Happy Birthday balloons.

    McNally’s Tavern was bustling, too, with regulars sitting at the bar and at tables inside the cozy, nearly 125-year-old establishment atop the hill. Multiple generations gathered — a son taking a father out to lunch, a mother with a baby in a stroller, and two sisters, Anne and Meg McNally, running the place.

    Behind the storefronts along Germantown Avenue’s main drag, some people perused the boutiques, while others typed away on laptops in coffee shops.

    In the northwest Philadelphia neighborhood known for its wealth and postcard-picturesque aesthetic, the small-town charm of longstanding establishments — four are more than 100 years old — is now complemented by the shine of some newer shops and restaurants. Several Chestnut Hill business owners said the variety has helped both old and new spots succeed despite broader economic challenges, including inflation and tariffs, and the loss of a few restaurants.

    A view down Germantown Avenue from the Chestnut Hill SEPTA Regional Rail station.
    The closed Iron Hill Brewery is shown in downtown Chestnut Hill on Nov. 19.

    As the owner of Kilian Hardware, which has been in business for 112 years, Russell Goudy Jr. has watched the avenue change. Fifty years ago, he said it was “basically like a shopping mall,” a one-stop shop for everyday needs.

    In recent years, however, the neighborhood has focused on attracting and retaining unique food and beverage businesses, “quaint, specialty shops,” and service-oriented businesses, which Goudy said offer experiences Amazon and other e-commerce platforms can’t replicate.

    “If you’re not giving people an experience in today’s economy, it’s very tough to compete,” said Nicole Beltz, co-owner of Serendipity Shops, which for a decade has had an expansive store on Germantown Avenue. And providing a memorable experience is never more important than during the lucrative last few months of the year.

    “When you come to Chestnut Hill over the holidays, you get what you came for,” Beltz said. “You get that charming feeling of being somewhere special for the holiday.”

    People walk by holiday decor outside Robertson’s Flowers & Events in Chestnut Hill earlier this month.

    ‘New vitality’ coming to the Chestnut Hill restaurant scene

    During the holidays and all year long, Chestnut Hill business owners said they’re grateful that the neighborhood has held onto its charm despite recent challenges.

    During the pandemic, “it definitely felt a little grim and dark,” said Ann Nevel, retail advocate for the Chestnut Hill Business District. “The impressive thing is the old-timers, the iconic businesses, and some of the newer restaurants … pretty much all were agile enough to tough it out.”

    And a slew of other businesses have moved into the community since then. In the last four years, 20 retail shops, 20 service businesses, and 10 food and beverage spots opened in Chestnut Hill, Nevel said, while several existing establishments expanded.

    Among them was Matines Café, which opened a small spot on Bethlehem Pike in 2022 and expanded this fall to a second, much larger location on Highland Avenue. The café serves 500 people or more on weekdays, according to its owners, and even more on weekends.

    Sitting inside their original location, which is now a cozy children’s café, Paris natives Amanda and Arthur de Bruc recalled that they originally thought they’d open a café in Center City, where they lived at time. Then, they visited Chestnut Hill and fell in love, despite “a lot of empty spots” there around 2022, Amanda de Bruc said.

    A colorful storefront along Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill.

    “We liked the idea of living in the suburbs, which technically Chestnut Hill is not the suburbs, because it’s still Philly,” she said. But “we were looking for something that we were more used to, like Paris. There are so many boutiques in such a small area,” and everything is walkable.

    The opening of shops and cafés like Matines became a “catalyst for this new vitality, a new, more contemporary energy that has taken hold in Chestnut Hill,” Nevel said. Soon, “we’re going to see that new vitality in the restaurant scene,” including in some long-vacant storefronts.

    In 2026, former Four Seasons sommelier Damien Graef is set to open a wine bar, retail store, and fine-dining spot called Lovat Square off Germantown Avenue, Nevel said. On the avenue, a café-diner-pub concept called the Blue Warbler is under construction and also slated to open sometime next year.

    Kilian Hardware in Chestnut Hill has been in business for 112 years.

    In downtown Chestnut Hill, there are still a few empty spots, including those left by Campbell’s Place, a popular restaurant that closed this summer; Diamond Spa, which closed this fall; Iron Hill Brewery, which closed in September (right before the regional chain filed for bankruptcy); and Fiesta Pizza III, which closed last year.

    Kismet Bagels, a popular local chain, was set to fill one of the spots this summer, but its deal fell through, co-owner Jacob Cohen said in a statement. He said they could “revisit the Chestnut Hill neighborhood” in the future.

    While the future of Iron Hill will be dictated by bankruptcy proceedings — which include an auction of assets set for next month — stakeholders say conversations are ongoing about some of the other vacancies.

    Shuttered Iron Hill breweries sit empty across the Philly area. What will become of them?

    Steve Jeffries, who is selling the Campbell’s building for $1.5 million, said he’s gotten a lot of interest from people who want to revive the nearly 3,000-square-foot space as a neighborhood pub, but one that is “more cutting edge.” Perhaps, he said, one that is not focused on craft beer, which has decreased in popularity, especially among younger generations.

    “The town is just screaming for other opportunities for nightlife and sports bars,” said Jeffries, executive vice president of Equity CRE. “There has been a connotation in the market that Chestnut Hill was kind of older, stuffy, that it wasn’t a nightlife town.”

    But that’s changing, Jeffries said.

    Char & Stave, an all-day coffee and cocktail bar, has done great business since moving into Chestnut Hill, its owner, Jared Adkins, said.

    Just ask Jared Adkins, owner of Char & Stave, an all-day coffee and cocktail bar at the corner of Germantown and Highland Avenues.

    After Nevel visited Ardmore and saw the success of Adkins’ original Char & Stave, she recruited him to open a Chestnut Hill location. It started as a holiday pop-up in 2022, then became a permanent presence the next year. Since he moved into town, Adkins said, business has been booming.

    “We’re really just busy all day long,” said Adkins. The café is open until 11 p.m. during the week, midnight on the weekends, and it often brings in musicians and hosts events.

    Adkins describes Char & Stave as a place where drinkers and nondrinkers alike can spend time together, and where people can get work done with coffee or a cocktail beside them: “It’s really a gathering place that fills a niche of a nice cocktail place.”

    More changes to come for Chestnut Hill

    Businesses along Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill are decorated for the holidays.

    Chestnut Hill business leaders and community members say they’re optimistic about the neighborhood’s continued evolution.

    As Brien Tilley, a longtime resident and community volunteer, ate lunch inside Cosimo’s Pizza Cafe, he said the community is doing well. But, he added, “it could always do better. It’s always in transition.”

    Nevel noted that restaurants require more capital to open than other businesses, so it can take awhile to fill those larger holes downtown.

    “The economy is tough,” said Anne McNally, a fourth-generation owner of McNally’s, as she sat by the tavern’s front window overlooking Germantown Avenue. But in Chestnut Hill, she gets the vibe that the community “wants us to be successful.”

    McNally and Goudy, of Kilian’s, both noted that their families bought their buildings decades ago. That has contributed to their longevity, both said, as has evolving with the customer base.

    For the McNally family, that meant transitioning from a “bar-bar,” with no clock or phone, to a bar-restaurant that closes at 10 p.m. For Goudy, it meant soliciting online orders and walk-in business from out-of-town and even out-of-state customers whose older homes require unique hardware.

    “Everything is changing,” Goudy said. “It’s important to keep changing and not to try to go back to where you were before.”

  • What a professional home appraiser wants you to know

    What a professional home appraiser wants you to know

    If you’re buying a home, refinancing your mortgage, or just want to know how much your home is worth, you’re probably going to need a property appraisal.

    At its most basic, “an appraisal is an opinion of value for a home,” said Matthew Sestito, a Philadelphia-based appraiser who works throughout the five-county area for the national company Velox Valuations.

    Lenders require borrowers to get them for mortgages and lines of credit against a home. Families get appraisals to assess the value of properties after a divorce or a loved one’s death.

    Costs depend on the scope of work, the type of property, and the borrower’s bank, but appraisals can range from about $300 to thousands of dollars, Sestito said.

    A lot of people don’t understand the appraisal process, he said, and they’re very nervous the first time an appraiser comes to their home.

    “You don’t have to be nervous,” he said. “It’s an easy inspection.”

    The Inquirer talked to Sestito, who has been a licensed appraiser since 2009, about what people should know about home appraisals. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

    When you do an appraisal, what factors do you take into account?

    The basic number of bedrooms, bathrooms. And then the amenities: decks, patios, garages. And then the overall condition: updated kitchens, updated bathrooms. And so on.

    Location is always the No. 1 thing in real estate. The market dictates what is desired. And then there’s submarkets to each market. And what each market is looking for varies.

    And then there’s different price points. A bathroom in a million-dollar home is different than a bathroom in a $300,000 home.

    What the market is telling us is what we use to determine our opinion of value.

    What should homeowners expect when an appraiser comes to their property?

    The length of an appraisal depends on the size of the home. For example, if I were to do a standard South Philly rowhouse with two stories, three bedrooms, it takes about 15 minutes.

    I’ll take a picture of the front of the house, the street view. And then when I come in the door, it’s a photo of the living room, dining room, kitchen, back of the house, backyard, bathrooms, each bedroom, then the basement.

    Then I’ll take some measurements: the width of the house, the length.

    I’ll talk to the homeowner and ask them anything they’ve done to the house, updates like kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, windows.

    And then I’ll explain to them that I’ll type the report, give it to the lender, and then it’s basically out of my hands after that.

    One of the common questions is: Do I get a copy of the report? The answer is no, from me. I’m not legally allowed to give you a copy of the report if this is for a refinance or a purchase. The bank is the client who orders the report, and legally, whoever orders the appraisal is the owner of the appraisal.

    If they want to release it to you, they will. I don’t think I’ve come across a bank saying, “No, you can’t have a copy of it.”

    What types of property design choices and features matter for an appraisal?

    It goes back to the market. But you can’t go wrong with updated kitchens, updated bathrooms, flooring, windows, roof, driveway.

    Parking, especially in the city, is almost No. 1. If you have a spot to park, that’s like gold.

    And then adding a deck, a roof deck, patio, all those things add value to the house.

    It’s all determined by what the market will be willing to pay.

    How should a homeowner prepare for an appraisal?

    You know, make the house look presentable. You’re showcasing your house.

    I always tell people clutter doesn’t matter. I look through the clutter. So if there are toys on the floor, I don’t even see them. But it’s better to clean up.

    Turn all the lights on. It looks better in the photos.

    Lenders are looking for any safety issues: missing handrails, broken steps, anything that could cause a health or safety issue, any mold. Get them taken care of, because they will call for that repair. Missing handrails in the basement is one of the biggest ones.

    And not having smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. It just started recently within the past couple years that they started asking for those to be in the homes.

    How do you choose and use comps (sales of comparable homes)?

    Lining each comp up and seeing what each home has, how many bedrooms, how many bathrooms, and just comparing each home. If you have a three-bedroom house, I’ll start looking for three-bedroom homes.

    I start out [looking] at [comparable homes that sold within] three months, then six months, then one year if need be.

    Typically, within the city, you try to stay within a quarter mile. I’ll expand to a half a mile sometimes if I need comps. But you typically want to stay within a quarter mile of the home.

    I’ll narrow it down to where I have some matches of the property that I’m trying to appraise. I look at a ton of houses every day.

    What are common misconceptions people have about appraisals?

    There are a lot of checks and balances when we hand in the report. The report runs through a computer software program. There are multiple reviewers. And they’re looking at everything. They’re asking why you didn’t use certain comps or why you did use these comps.

    There are a lot of regulations that we have to follow. It’s not just as simple as taking photos and saying your house is worth this amount.

    What happens if a house appraises differently than you expected?

    There is a formal process. You can file an appeal and then you provide some comparables that you think the appraiser should have used. And there’s a review process.

  • Sixers mailbag: Does it make sense to try to trade Paul George before the trade deadline?

    Sixers mailbag: Does it make sense to try to trade Paul George before the trade deadline?

    The 76ers will look to beat the Washington Wizards for the second time in as many meetings when the squads play Tuesday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    The Sixers took a 139-134 overtime victory over the Wizards on Oct. 28 at Capital One Arena.

    Washington takes a 2-16 record into Monday’s home game against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Wizards were riding a 14-game losing streak before defeating the Atlanta Hawks, 132-113, on Tuesday. They followed that rare win with a 119-86 road loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday.

    The Sixers’ season has 2024-25 vibes with Joel Embiid and Paul George missing substantial time

    The Sixers dropped to 10-9 after Sunday’s 142-134 double-overtime loss to the Hawks. Since defeating the Wizards, the Sixers have lost nine of their last 15 games.

    So the Wizards are a good opponent to help break out of their funk. Well, find out more on Tuesday.

    In the meantime, I’ll answer a few of your mailbag questions.

    Missed out on the party? No worries. Submit questions for next time by tweeting @PompeyOnSixers to X with the hashtag #PompeysMailbagFlow.

    Sixers VJ Edgecombe greets Jared McCain during a break in the Orlando Magic at Philadelphia 76ers NBA game at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.

    Q: Jared McCain is looking so much better in the last few games! Is he still wearing the heavy knee brace under the white sleeve, or has he graduated to a smaller brace or no brace? — @Bob_Zampini

    A: Thanks for starting the mailbag! McCain has looked good in the last few games. The second-year guard averaged 16.7 points while shooting 47.4% on three-pointers in the three games before Sunday’s contest against the Hawks.

    McCain stopped wearing the heavy knee brace he had worn upon his return last month, after tearing the lateral meniscus in his left knee on Dec. 13. But he started wearing what he called “just a smaller little thing on my [left] leg” during his two-game assignment with Delaware Blue Coats on Nov. 13 and 15.

    Q: Would it make sense for the Sixers to try to trade Paul George before the trade deadline? It may impact the Sixers’ playoff chances this year, but it would free up valuable salary cap space and possibly get a first-round pick in return. Is that a realistic option? — @Topsheff88

    A: It depends on his level of play and how competitive the Sixers are heading into the trade deadline. At this time, the Sixers’ brass and coaching staff should be all in on making a deep postseason run, knowing that anything else could cost them their jobs. And in George’s first three games back, he’s been a solid complementary player to Tyrese Maxey.

    The nine-time All-Star opened his first four games as an aggressive scoring option. Afterward, George did a good job running the Sixers’ offense in the half-court and provided solid defense.

    Sixers forward Paul George shoots the basketball against the Miami Heat on Sunday, November 23, 2025 in Philadelphia.

    But I get it. He underachieved last season and has been hampered by injuries after signing his four-year, $212 million contract on July 6, 2024. And the 35-year-old isn’t getting any younger. Trading him would allow them to shed the final two seasons of his deal.

    The Sixers’ season has 2024-25 vibes with Joel Embiid and Paul George missing substantial time

    George would have to play at a high level for a team looking to add a key piece for a playoff run to shed a first-rounder, among other things, in return. And if he’s playing at a high level and meshing well with Maxey, the Sixers must ask themselves, are they still willing to trade him?

    Q: What do you think the starting five will be (and should be) when Kelly Oubre Jr. and VJ Edgecombe are back? Obviously, the center position will depend on Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond’s health — @GermanChoco1ate

    A: I keep going back and forth with Oubre and Dominick Barlow being the fifth starter. Both have played great, and deserve to be in the lineup. However, I’m going with Oubre, George, Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe, and Maxey. Barlow would be the seventh man behind Quentin Grimes.

    Oubre has been the Sixers’ X Factor this season.

    Before he suffered an LCL sprain in his left knee, Oubre’s averages of 16.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.1 steals took a back seat to the play of the Sixers’ stellar backcourt pairing of Maxey and Edgecombe in the first 12 games.

    But Oubre excels when the ball is moving, and he did a solid job of guarding the opposing team’s best perimeter player.

    Sixers Kelly Oubre Jr dunks the ball to give the Sixers a 123-116 lead in the fourth quarter of the Toronto Raptors at Philadelphia 76ers NBA game at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025.

    The Sixers have definitely missed his impact in the last seven games. For them to be competitive, Oubre must get healthy and resume playing at a high level. His importance to the team, especially as a perimeter defender, is the reason why he needs to start.

    Q: Is there any way to trade Embiid once he is reasonably healthy? — @dumasroxx

    A: There’s always one of two teams willing to take a gamble. But the 31-year-old is making $55.2 million this season, and his three-year, $193 million extension begins next season.

    That’s a tremendous amount of money for a team to take on for a player with an extensive injury history. I noted before that a team president of basketball operations would have to be really secure in their job to make that trade. And that hasn’t changed.

    Now, if Embiid can play at 80% of his former self, his addition to most teams makes them instant championship contenders. But if he gets injured and is unable to play, that could go down as one of the worst trades in NBA history.

  • Fatigue is still a safety risk for air travel

    Fatigue is still a safety risk for air travel

    Even with the longest government shutdown in American history over, it is crucial to recognize that the menace of fatigue and its impact on air travel safety remains a serious and ongoing threat.

    Before the shutdown started on Oct. 1, air traffic controller staffing was below targeted levels, with many already working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks.

    The signs of stress on the system appeared immediately, as flight delays due to staffing shortages were reported at major airports, including the temporary closure of an airport control tower, affecting over five million passengers.

    These effects snowballed such that while just 11 flights were canceled between Oct. 1 and 29 because of controller staffing, the number surged to 4,162 between Oct. 30 and Nov. 9. Of those, 3,756 were between Nov. 7 and 9. To mitigate risk, an emergency order from the Federal Aviation Administration was issued, targeting a 10% reduction in flights at 40 high-traffic airports across the country.

    A Delta Airlines plane comes in for a landing over the air traffic control tower at Denver International Airport on Nov. 9.

    As essential workers, air traffic controllers were required to work unpaid. Faced with mounting expenses, many workers took second jobs to cover their bills, cutting into their sleep. Others faced stress-induced insomnia from unpaid bills and job uncertainty. Overtime prevents recovery of sleep and increases fatigue-related error risk. Unsurprisingly, the White House warned that absenteeism among unpaid federal workers would increase.

    Even under normal conditions, irregular schedules, undiagnosed sleep disorders, and lifestyle factors contribute to fatigue-related errors. Shutdowns amplify these dangers.

    Air traffic controllers perform mentally demanding tasks requiring sustained vigilance. Controllers often work “rattler” schedules: five eight-hour shifts in four days, ending with a day shift followed by a night shift. These offer only 10 hours off between shifts, far too little for sleep recovery.

    One night of sleep loss can significantly impair performance. A 2008 University of Pennsylvania study found that sleep-deprived Transportation Security Administration agents were less able to detect weapons in bags.

    A NASA study found that 70% of air traffic controllers had nearly dozed off while actively working, and more than half of those who made operational errors cited fatigue as a contributing factor.

    Critically, people often misjudge their own level of sleepiness. One landmark study found that people rate themselves as only moderately sleepy even when their cognitive performance has significantly declined. As a result, well-intentioned workers may unknowingly put lives at risk.

    Many mistakenly believe they can overcome sleepiness through willpower and dedication to a task. However, sleepiness is not a minor inconvenience; it is a physiological condition that impairs judgment and performance.

    There is currently no real-time safety monitoring system in place that can determine whether an air traffic controller is fit for duty. The insidious effects of accumulated fatigue and stress may continue to linger long after the shutdown, as flight disruptions remain expected.

    Even though the shutdown has ended, air traffic controller leadership must take active steps, including restricting overtime, monitoring signs of fatigue, and avoiding reliance on self-reported assessments of fatigue.

    If necessary, airports should continue to scale back operations to allow workers time to rest. No one responsible for critical safety operations should be expected to perform under sustained, elevated fatigue levels.

    Allowing exhausted and compromised workers on the job is a recipe for disaster. The safety of millions depends on acknowledging the real threat of fatigue and taking immediate action to prevent avoidable disasters from becoming a reality.

    Jocelyn Y. Cheng is vice chair of the Public Safety Committee of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

  • How Brendan Boyle became Democrats’ healthcare messenger-in-chief

    How Brendan Boyle became Democrats’ healthcare messenger-in-chief

    WASHINGTON — Ahead of a morning Budget Committee meeting, U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle gathered his senior advisers in a brightly lit conference room just off the Capitol to settle on a simple strategy.

    “Let’s keep the main thing the main thing,” he said. “Fifteen million Americans are gonna lose their healthcare because Republicans care more about tax breaks for billionaires. It’s accurate. You can describe it in a sentence.”

    Boyle, a six-term lawmaker, is the most veteran of Pennsylvania’s eight Democrats in Washington. He has been the ranking member of the House Budget Committee since 2023, meaning he is the top Democrat playing defense as the Republican-controlled Congress ushers through GOP spending priorities. It can be a futile exercise in shouting into a void — until the yelling starts to echo outside.

    Increasingly, Boyle, known as the Democrats’ “budget guy,” has been the man behind the messaging against President Donald Trump’s reconciliation bill and the shutdown fight over healthcare.

    “He’s one of our best messengers who appropriately comes across as both strong and authentic at the same period of time,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) said in an interview late last month.

    Jeffries credited Boyle with homing in on a key statistic: Taken together, Trump’s reconciliation bill and the expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits represent the largest cut to Medicaid in American history.

    “That one observation became core to our arguments in pushing back against that toxic piece of legislation, and it’s also one of the reasons I believe that the law is so deeply unpopular amongst the American people,” Jeffries said.

    Democrats have been recently on a roller coaster — securing big wins in the November election and then splitting over how long to withstand the government shutdown, with eight senators ultimately crossing the aisle to end the impasse. But Boyle’s messaging war is ongoing, and he thinks it is his party’s best bet for winning key midterm races in his home state, where Democrats are targeting four Republican-held seats in swing areas.

    If Democrats reclaim Congress in next year’s election, Boyle would shift from ranking member to chair of the powerful Budget Committee — becoming the first Pennsylvanian to lead it since Philadelphian Bill Gray, a Democrat who chaired it from 1985 to 1989. It would be another resumé builder for the 48-year-old lawmaker whose role in Washington keeps growing and who has not ruled out a potential Senate run in 2028, when Democratic Sen. John Fetterman’s seat would be up.

    “I get asked a lot: How do you keep this message going for the next year?” Boyle said in an interview in his Washington office. “Well, we started this five months ago, and actually more people know about it today than over the summer. Every single day, continuing to talk about healthcare, continuing a broader conversation about affordability, is absolutely what we have to do.”

    U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (center) meets in his Capitol Hill office with Phillip Swagel (right), director of the Congressional Budget Office, following Swagel’s testimony before House Committee on the Budget last month. As Budget’s ranking member, Boyle has been central in shaping Democratic messaging around Republican policies.

    ‘Scrappy Irish Catholic boys from Olney’

    Boyle, who lives in Somerton with his wife and 11-year-old daughter, is an affable, earnest lawmaker in a role that is unapologetically wonky — and high-profile, especially lately.

    From Oct. 1 through the end of November — a period including the shutdown — Boyle popped up on TV news more than two dozen times, by his office’s count.

    His political beginnings were far less polished. In 2014, Boyle shocked Philadelphia’s political establishment by winning the Democratic primary over a field that included former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Margolies, scion of a powerful political family. Then a 37-year-old state representative, Boyle ran as a blue-collar, antiestablishment pragmatist from Northeast Philly. His ads cast his opponents as out of touch, and he leaned hard on his family’s story: his father, an Irish immigrant, worked at an Acme warehouse and later as a SEPTA janitor; his mother was a school crossing guard. Boyle still keeps his dad’s SEPTA cap on a bookshelf in his Washington office.

    That same year, his brother Kevin won a seat in the state House, prompting Philadelphia Magazine to profile the “scrappy Irish Catholic boys from Olney” who were reshaping the party.

    A decade later, Democrats are still striving to win back blue-collar voters. Boyle, meanwhile, has traded some of his insurgent edge for the stature of a Hill veteran. As Philadelphia elects a replacement for retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans next year, Boyle will be a key ally for the new lawmaker, and a coveted endorsement during the election, though he has said he does not plan to weigh in. He has been in the thick of some of the year’s biggest fights — leading Democrats through a 12-hour reconciliation markup, testifying at a 1 a.m. Rules Committee hearing, and grinding through an overnight Ways and Means marathon.

    His younger brother has had a far more tumultuous path. Kevin lost his state House seat last year amid long-running mental health struggles.

    Boyle declined to discuss the situation beyond saying: “The last five years — almost exactly five years — have been very challenging. And I’ll just leave it at that.”

    U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle (left) (D., Philadelphia) and Jodey Arrington (right) (R., Texas) question Phillip Swagel (back to camera), director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Arrington chairs the House Budget Committee, while Boyle is the panel’s top Democrat.

    In line for the gavel

    Before that late November hearing, Boyle had already reached out to fellow Democrats on the committee: Talk about healthcare, he urged them. Talk about affordability. Talk about it ad nauseam.

    He sat at the dais across from a portrait of Gray in an ornate hearing room, surrounded by paintings of former budget chairs, and delivered his opening remarks.

    “The president has stopped calling it the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill.’ He’s stopped talking about the bill altogether,” Boyle said. “… Because it’s not just that healthcare’s become unaffordable in America. It is beef, it is coffee, it’s electricity, almost every staple in the average consumer basket.”

    The director of the Congressional Budget Office, Phillip Swagel, was called before the committee that day and fielded questions from both sides. Democrats wanted to know Swagel’s projections on how Trump’s policies would affect everything from the national debt to the price of Thanksgiving dinners, eager for sound bites to send to constituents back home and to pressure Republicans on the healthcare debate.

    Republicans were pushing Swagel for an audit, seeking more transparency on how the nonpartisan agency comes to its projections.

    “We need to be able to cut through the politics and the partisanship and figure out where you and your team can do a better job,” said U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington, the Texas Republican who chairs the committee.

    Boyle, whose office uses CBO projections to compile and distribute national and district-level data to Democrats, said he is open to an audit, if performed responsibly and not as a means to “discredit” the agency over numbers Republicans don’t like.

    U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat from Ohio, brings visual aids to a hearing of the House Committee on the Budget on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025.

    Throughout the three-hour hearing, Boyle would sidebar with Arrington, who is retiring next year. The Philly Democrat and the West Texas conservative make an unlikely pair, but the two have bonded across many late-night sessions over having younger children and their college football fanaticism — Boyle for his alma mater, Notre Dame, Arrington for Texas Tech.

    “He’s a very good communicator because he’s a really smart and thoughtful guy,” Arrington said. “I always can appreciate, whether I agree or not, with a good communicator. He’s authentic in what he believes and he’ll even say, ‘I grant you it’s not perfect,’ or ‘You make a good point.’”

    The midterms will dictate not just the party that controls Congress but also which ideological track the Budget Committee takes. If Democrats win, and Boyle takes the gavel, he plans to put more scrutiny on the administration and aim to regain some of Congress’ control over purse strings that Republicans have ceded to Trump.

    Another Pennsylvanian, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker, a Republican who represents Lancaster, has announced he is running to be the top Republican on the committee following Arrington’s retirement. That means regardless of party control, two Pennsylvanians will likely be at the helm of one of the most powerful committees in Congress. Smucker, a fiscal conservative running with Arrington’s backing, said in an interview he would focus on rising national debt and getting a budget resolution adopted. He was a key negotiator for Republicans during reconciliation, helping to get conservative House Freedom Caucus members on board.

    Smucker called Boyle someone who is “serious about the budget process, and wants to make sure that it functions.”

    “He genuinely cares about strengthening Congress as an institution,” Smucker added.

    U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle is interviewed by Charles Hilu (left), a reporter with the Dispatch, as he moves between office buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025.

    The road ahead

    The longer Boyle stays in the House, in a safe Democratic seat, the harder it is to think about walking away.

    In September, Jeffries appointed him the lead Democrat for the congressional delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. For Boyle, a history lover who has biographies of George Washington on his office coffee table, it’s an exciting opportunity to represent the country internationally as Trump continues to criticize the historic alliance. Boyle would become the leader of the parliamentary assembly delegation if Democrats take control of the House, just as he would take the gavel in the Budget Committee. Past committee chairs include former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

    “Some really high-quality, high-caliber people have done that over the last 40 years. So that’s what I’m looking forward to in the near term,” Boyle said. “After that, come 2028, and beyond, we’ll deal with that then. But it is interesting, like the longer you’re here, and if you move up the ranks, then actually it does make it more difficult to leave.”

    A painting of former U.S. Rep. William H. Gray III hangs in the hearing room of the House Committee on the Budget on Capitol Hill. It’s been 40 years since a Philadelphia lawmaker led a House committee.
    A photo of U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle with former President Barack Obama on Air Force One hangs in his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

    But Boyle has not been shy about airing frustrations with Fetterman, whose term is up in 2028, sparking speculation Boyle could have an interest in a run against him.

    Boyle said he avoided criticizing Fetterman until this spring, when the senator’s positions started to directly conflict with the party messaging he was pushing out.

    “As I was doing TV opportunity after TV opportunity, what I increasingly found was that the clip they would show before I would be asked the question wouldn’t be a clip of what Donald Trump had said; it would be a clip of what my state’s Democratic senator had said,” Boyle said. “And I obviously would have to combat it.”

    Fetterman has embraced an independent streak as a purple-state senator, often willing to work with the GOP. While pleasing to voters eager to see compromise and bipartisanship in a tenuous moment in Washington, it has also alienated some progressives.

    Boyle said when it comes to the Senate, “I don’t rule anything in and I don’t rule anything out.”

    If he were to run, a challenge could be building his statewide profile. He is still relatively unknown outside Philadelphia, though he has proven to be a prolific fundraiser. Today’s politics also tend to elevate showmen and outsiders, while Boyle has the more traditional cadence of an establishment politician — disciplined, polished, and most compelling when he speaks off-script.

    Some local Philadelphia Democrats have criticized Boyle’s voting record on immigration, arguing it has not reflected the interests of the Latino community he represents in his majority-minority district. Boyle voted for the bipartisan Laken Riley Act, which requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain noncitizens who are arrested or charged with certain crimes, often forgoing due process. He was one of 46 Democrats in the House along with 12 in the Senate, including Fetterman, to support the GOP-led bill.

    “I have the same criticism as I do of Josh Shapiro: I wish he would take a stronger stance on immigration,” said State Rep. Danilo Burgos, who represents North Philadelphia. At the same time, Burgos credited Boyle as being a “good partner in our community” who always returns phone calls and texts.

    For now, Boyle keeps an extremely busy schedule. The day of the budget hearing, his schedule stretched over 15 hours. He hustled from a meeting with Social Security and Medicaid experts to a floor vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.

    Back in his office, where Eagles throw blankets, Phillies pennants, and a painting of Donegal, Ireland, his father’s home county, decorate the space, he sat down for his final meeting of the day.

    Gwen Mills, the international president of UNITE HERE, a labor union that represents hospitality workers, wanted advice on how to translate Democrats’ work in Washington to members frustrated with both parties.

    “Talk about affordability and how Republicans are making it worse — with the so-called beautiful bill,” Boyle suggested, running through some numbers and data before offering up a simpler sound bite:

    “It boils down to life in America is just too damn expensive right now.”

    U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle checks his phone before leaving his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025.
  • It’s time to send out holiday cards. You know. Holiday cards? Remember them?

    It’s time to send out holiday cards. You know. Holiday cards? Remember them?

    It’s suddenly December, and the Thanksgiving leftovers are mostly eaten. That means it’s once again time to make the big decision: Is this the year to finally stop sending holiday cards?

    When I graduated from college, I promptly embraced the trappings of adult life, from getting a job to buying a car to moving into my own apartment. But the step that made me feel most adultlike was sending out my own holiday cards. A holiday card from a separate address says: “This is my household. Not my parents’ household, mine.”

    Not cheap

    Sending holiday cards isn’t cheap.

    There are the cards themselves, which go up in price if you’re sending a photo card or selecting fancy lined envelopes. Stamps are currently 78 cents apiece, which doesn’t sound like much, unless you’re sending out 50 cards or more.

    And then there’s the issue of time: You have to decide on the cards and purchase them, write a little note in each card, address the envelopes, then make your way to the post office.

    Yet, despite the costs in money and time, I’ve always sent out cards, even in my younger, poorer years. There has always been a satisfaction in reaching out to people I don’t see regularly, but who nevertheless have a place in my heart and my history.

    A customer at Paper Source in Chicago on Dec. 18, 2018. The greeting cards retailer filed for bankruptcy the next week.

    Then, about 10 years ago, I realized we were receiving fewer cards each year.

    The clogged mailbox became progressively emptier over a span of years, like a dying mall. This shift shows up in statistics from the U.S. Postal Service, which notes that mail bearing postage stamps, including cards, letters, and bill payments, dropped from 16.5 billion pieces of mail in 2019 to 10.7 billion last year.

    For the first few years, I worried the non-senders were going through challenging times. A person doesn’t feel very merry if they’ve gotten divorced or been laid off or had a death in the family. But it turned out that — fortunately — very few had faced hardship. They just weren’t sending cards anymore.

    “It’s a lot of trouble,” said one. “I don’t have the time,” said another.

    And then we got to what seemed to be the real issue: Society has changed.

    People who used to send holiday cards can now share photos online of their family and their travels. Because they’re regularly connecting with those far-flung cousins and high school friends on social media, mailing out cards has become redundant and maybe even pointless to them.

    And people today feel less obligated to reciprocate than those from a generation ago, according to research conducted by Brian P. Meier, a psychology professor at Gettysburg College.

    Keeping the tradition alive

    The young adults in my life, including my own grown children, who are now in their 30s, haven’t just decided against sending cards; the idea never occurred to them in the first place.

    So once again, at this time of year, I consider whether to keep the tradition going. But there are several relatives who are not on social media, and there are a few longtime friends I’m in touch with only through holiday cards.

    It’s a poignant yearly ritual to go over the list of recipients, noting who has moved, who has married, who has had a baby, and who has passed away. People come and people go, and nothing underscores this quite like the holiday card list.

    Better to let them know they’re loved, right now.

    So I will get to the task, laying cards and envelopes neatly on the kitchen table. My husband will look at me blankly.

    “Are we still doing that?” he’ll ask.

    Elizabeth Luciano writes essays and fiction and teaches composition at Bucks County Community College.