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  • Horoscopes: Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025

    ARIES (March 21-April 19). Because of your goals, your love of learning and your emotional maturity, you may be drawn to someone older. The generational difference will favor you both, as you bring new perspective and they bring the know-how of lived experience.

    TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Competitive feelings live inside you, and your mind is spinning with potential moves. While the spirit of competition isn’t necessarily negative, it’s still better to aim for being your best instead of besting others.

    GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Your happiness and comfort are a priority because a good mood will power everything you do today. The energy from one easy success builds confidence for the next, and soon you’ll be cruising through the day with momentum on your side.

    CANCER (June 22-July 22). It’s normal and natural for there to be some dissonance between your public self and your inner self. It would be stranger if it weren’t. The key is staying aware of the difference — that awareness keeps you honest, grounded and free.

    LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You’re a receptive student of life, and you’ve learned from situations, mentors, parents and teachers. But it’s your own experience that’s starting to teach you now — direct, unfiltered lessons that no one else could have prepared you for.

    VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You’ll sense right away who feels safe to open up to and who doesn’t. Trust that instinct. Sharing your truth in the right place brings relief and understanding; sharing it elsewhere just drains your energy.

    LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You can be a real social butterfly, but you also know that not everyone is so equipped. Group participation is really hard for some people. You make everyone feel included. Your compassion will be appreciated, and your style will set the tone.

    SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You don’t always feel like celebrating the past, but one great thing about it? It’s how you got here. “Here” is where everything happens. Declare “here” as the center of the universe, and it is.

    SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). A relationship could be a bit of fantasy or something to look forward to. Planning is half the fun, so don’t do it alone or as a surprise for the other person. Then you’d miss out on the fun of dreaming and scheming together.

    CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). The person who hasn’t been able to love you in the way you wanted is loving you in other ways — the only ways they are capable of loving. You accept this, and you live in harmony.

    AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Is a short attention span such a bad thing? What’s wrong with flitting from fascination to fascination? Packing in as much fun as you can is the perfect vibe for today. It protects you from getting trapped in concrete attachments.

    PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). To avoid extravagance or indulge in it, that is the question. You will have the opportunity to indulge. It’s not a test or an opportunity, but it might be a defining moment.

    TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Nov. 30). Welcome to your Year of Royal Energy. You have the dazzle that everyone’s circling — not ego, but radiance earned through actions of respect and responsibility, nobility and honor. You won’t chase, but everything comes to you. More highlights: monumental family celebrations, a change of professional or financial focus that gives your life ease, and love declarations galore. Scorpio and Libra adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 5, 30, 2, 29 and 1.

  • Dear Abby | Sparks fly once more when ex reenters the picture

    DEAR ABBY: My son is 27. He has had some problems recently that were so serious I reached out to his father. His father and I were teenagers when we had him, so the last time we spoke was 18 years ago. Our relationship was really toxic, which is why we split when we were young. (We both had other children.) Since we’ve begun talking again, we have shared that the relationships we’re in now aren’t good. Mine is verbally and emotionally abusive. (He used to be physically abusive until two years ago.)

    Abby, all my feelings for my ex have come back, and he says he feels the same. We’re different people now. We haven’t taken it any further than talking and texting. I’m so confused. I don’t know if I should end the relationship I’m in and give it another go with my ex, or leave it alone.

    — HOPELESS ROMANTIC IN TEXAS

    DEAR HOPELESS ROMANTIC: You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by ending a relationship that’s emotionally and verbally abusive. If your ex is sincere about what he has been telling you, he may want to end his unhappy relationship as well. IF you decide to move forward with what you’re considering, I STRONGLY urge you to get to know him first. Couples counseling can help you accomplish it, considering the baggage you are both carrying from the first time around.

    ** ** **

    DEAR ABBY: While we were growing up, my father was abusive toward me and favored my younger sister. He said she was “too dumb to be successful,” so he pushed me mercilessly (punishing me when I wasn’t perfect) and mostly left her alone. As an adult, I finally found the strength to ask him to treat me right.

    I suggested we go to family counseling to improve our communication. My father agreed initially, then said he was too busy (he’s retired) and refused to go. He then cut me off and announced to the family that he was disowning me. My sister believes his story that I cut him off. Since she was never treated poorly, she doesn’t believe that I was. How can I continue my relationship with her, while she remains close with him?

    — ESTRANGED IN FLORIDA

    DEAR ESTRANGED: You can try to get other family members who remember the dynamic between you and your father to vouch for the fact that you are telling your sister the truth. However, if that’s not possible, and you want to maintain a relationship with her, then you will have to agree to make the subject of Dear Old Dad something you do not discuss.

    ** ** **

    DEAR ABBY: How should I respond to close friends — a couple — who are extremely nosy? Recently, the husband asked me if any of my siblings are citizens of the country my now-deceased parents emigrated from. When I replied no, he proceeded to ask me why. I was caught off guard by his rudeness and couldn’t answer. They both do this. I have mentioned previously that I’m very private about my family, yet they persist. How do I stop this rude behavior?

    — NOSY FRIENDS

    DEAR NOSY: The next time you are asked something you feel is none of their business, respond by saying, “Why do you ask?” And when they answer, say, “That’s very personal,” and change the subject.

  • A memorable night finds the Flyers secure their third straight win on a four-game road trip

    A memorable night finds the Flyers secure their third straight win on a four-game road trip

    NEWARK, N.J. — The Flyers closed out a four-game road trip with win No. 3, defeating the New Jersey Devils, 5-3.

    After losing 3-0 to the Tampa Bay Lightning to start the road trip on Monday, the Flyers closed it out with three straight wins. Philly has now won five of its last six and is 14-7-3 on the season.

    Owen Tippett scored the 100th goal of his NHL career and earned his 200th NHL point when he gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead just 5 minutes, 18 seconds into the first period. The goal showed off some silky hands as he caught the pass from Christian Dvorak on his forehand and scored on a backhand.

    The goal was Tippett’s second in the past 17 games, and his eighth of the season.

    Šimon Nemec tied the game up later in the first period on a one-timer from between the circles. It was a bit of a wonky play as the Flyers seemed to be in control after an offensive-zone faceoff, but the puck ended up bouncing at the blue line and off the body of Travis Sanheim.

    The Devils broke out three across as Sean Couturier lost his stick after it hit Bobby Brink, who got back to even up the numbers. Nemec trailed the play and was open to receive the pass from Jesper Bratt for his sixth of the year.

    But in the second period, the Flyers scored a trio of goals.

    Matvei Michkov took a cross-checking penalty with 75 seconds left in the opening frame. When his penalty expired in the second period, he left the box and right into a two-on-one with Travis Konecny.

    Sanheim fed his buddy from deep in the Flyers zone up the wing with just Nemec back. Konecny got the puck over, and Michkov, despite Devils captain Nico Hischier on him, put the puck on net, and it slid past goalie Jacob Markstrom. The goal was Michkov’s seventh of the season and sixth in the past 11.

    Michkov was credited with another goal less than 3 minutes later, when a shot by Konecny went off him in front. Cam York skated away from New Jersey winger Stefan Noesen at the blue line and dished the puck on the backhand to Konecny, who fired the one-timer. Couturier and Michkov were in front, creating traffic with two defenders.

    It is the Russian winger’s first multi-goal game since the 2024-25 season finale.

    Later in the period, Zegras gave the Flyers a 4-1 lead with a one-timer off a nice feed from Tippett, who broke out of the Flyers’ zone with the puck and took off down the left wing. His speed led to a two-on-one and finished with a cross-crease pass to Zegras for his ninth goal of the year.

    The goal came after Bratt hit the post at the other end on a breakaway. But while Dan Vladař didn’t make the save on that one, he did come up big despite allowing three goals.

    With 16 seconds left in the first period, he robbed Hischier backdoor off a cross-crease pass during Michkov’s penalty. In the middle frame, again with the Flyers shorthanded, he stoned Dawson Mercer on another two-on-one.

    Vladař did eventually allow a power-play goal to Timo Meier with 27 seconds left in the second period. And in the third period, Mercer scored to cut it to a one-goal game.

    Gift Share Yardley’s Terrence Wallin once dreamed of playing for the Flyers. Now, he’s rising in the organization’s coaching ranks

    But it was Markstrom who made the most spectacular save of the night as he robbed Noah Cates with the glove during an odd-man rush with 3 minutes, 26 seconds left.

    Tippett was credited with a goal with 1:15 remaining when he was tripped by Arseny Gritsyuk on a breakaway with Markstrom pulled for the extra attacker. It was his second multigoal game of the season, the last coming on Oct. 20 against the Seattle Kraken, and he now has eight goals on the year.

    Breakaways

    Forward Nic Deslauriers and defenseman Noah Juulsen were the healthy scratches. … Vladař finished with 28 saves, and the Flyers put 32 shots on Markstrom.

    Up next

    The Flyers return home to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday (7 p.m., NBCSP).

    Follow the Inquirer’s complete coverage of Flyers hockey right here!
  • Tyson Foerster is becoming ‘a guy that we really rely on’ to score for the Flyers

    Tyson Foerster is becoming ‘a guy that we really rely on’ to score for the Flyers

    NEWARK, N.J. — Flyers forward Tyson Foerster sat down for locker clean-out day in April and noted that despite finishing with 25 goals and 43 points in 81 games yet again, it took some time to find the back of the net consistently.

    Last season, it was Game 33 when he scored his ninth goal of the season. It was a step up from his rookie year, when it took him 49, despite scoring three times in eight games in March of the previous season.

    “I think I was getting chances earlier before, too, [but] I just wasn’t able to score. But finally, the puck started going in for me in waves,” Foerster said back in April about his end-of-season surge.

    Flyers remain undefeated in shootouts with 4-3 win at New York Islanders

    Right now, the waves are coming in hot and heavy, like there’s a hurricane brewing off the coast. Foerster has scored nine goals so far this season, including five in the past five games.

    Skating in just 19 of the Flyers’ first 23 games this season due to a lower-body injury, Foerster is becoming the sniper everyone envisioned when he was drafted 23rd overall in the 2020 NHL draft.

    “His release of his shot is really elite … but when he gets that puck in the slot or these prime areas, his release, really, it’s an elite shot, so I give him a lot of credit,” coach Rick Tocchet said.

    Foerster will credit his scoring prowess to the bounces he’s been getting, but he’s also creating opportunities. His goal in the first period on Friday in the Flyers’ 4-3 shootout win against the New York Islanders was because of the forward, who is known for his high hockey IQ, poked the puck away from Emil Heineman of the Islanders after he couldn’t handle an errant pass by Travis Konecny.

    Flyers right wing Tyson Foerster back-hands the puck against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 20.

    He had the perfect shooting lane, and he beat goalie David Rittich glove side easily.

    “He’s a scrappy [player],” Tocchet said. “Even on that goal, there’s a blind pass in the middle, the Islanders had it, but he knocked it off the guy and scored. I mean, that’s a big, huge play for us. I call him, he’s just a hockey player.”

    Foerster didn’t spend time working on his shot over the summer; he spent the majority of the time recovering from an elbow infection. And his linemates have shifted from Noah Cates and Bobby Brink to Cates and Konecny.

    According to Natural Stat Trick, the trio has played 63 minutes, 34 seconds together at five-on-five. Although the opposition has 61 chances to the Flyers’ 55 when they are on the ice, they have outscored other teams, 5-0.

    Tocchet credited Foerster for being someone who can find the open space to maintain the foundational triangle. It is one of the most basic offensive-zone strategies in hockey, having forwards create the shape of a triangle, as it is not only about puck support and having a high man, but also creating a bit of turmoil for the team defending.

    They also have chemistry.

    Yardley’s Terrence Wallin once dreamed of playing for the Flyers. Now, he’s rising in the organization’s coaching ranks

    “I feel like I can read off Catesy and TK,” Foerster said. “TK likes to go high sometimes, and I like to go high. And Catesy is usually in the corner battling it up and getting the pucks up to us, so he’s done a great job of that. But, if I see TK going high, I usually try and go to the net and, you know, hopefully bang one in that way.”

    Former coach John Tortorella heavily relied on Foerster when he was behind the Flyers bench. Now Tocchet is doing the same.

    Foerster plays power play, is now on the second pairing for the penalty kill, and in the last minute of a game, unless Tocchet puts three centers out on the ice, “He’s probably the next guy, so he’s a guy that we really rely on, and he wants that responsibility.”

    Breakaways

    Dan Vladař will start in goal. He was in the net when the Flyers beat the New Jersey Devils, 6-3, last Saturday.

  • Villanova trounces Harvard in first round of FCS playoffs: ‘The three phases are playing together’

    Villanova trounces Harvard in first round of FCS playoffs: ‘The three phases are playing together’

    A dominant first half allowed Villanova to conquer Harvard, 52-7, in the first round of the FCS playoffs on Saturday.

    No. 6/9 and 12th-seeded Villanova (10-2) stretched its win streak to nine and now has won 23 consecutive home games — the longest active streak in Division I football. No. 15/19 Harvard (9-2), struggling with drops, managed to gather just 31 yards of total offense, while Villanova’s defense forced the Crimson into three consecutive first-half three-and-outs.

    Villanova quarterback Pat McQuaide completed 14 of his 22 attempts, throwing for 193 passing yards and three touchdowns, while also scoring one on the ground. McQuaide is averaging 211.3 passing yards per game.

    The Wildcats’ running back room has continued to be unstoppable despite being without its star, David Avit, who has missed the last three games with a knee injury.

    Isaiah Ragland runs past Harvard’s defensive line on Saturday.

    Isaiah Ragland led Villanova’s rushing attack, totaling a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown. It was Ragland’s second game of his career with triple-digit rushing yards.

    “All glory goes to God,” Ragland said. “Without him, I wouldn’t be able to do anything I did. But we take pride in loving our [offensive] line, and this past week, we really took pride in that. We don’t like to be in the media and stuff like that, but we know we get a lot of disrespect, and we took that. We took that to heart as we should.”

    Villanova finished with a season-high 512 yards of total offense, rushing for 319.

    Fast Villanova start buries Harvard

    Villanova won the coin toss and elected to receive. The Wildcats capitalized on the decision, scoring a touchdown on their opening drive off a 45-yard rushing touchdown by Ragland.

    On the following Harvard drive, the Crimson marched all the way downfield and were in scoring position. Harvard quarterback Jaden Craig targeted Ryan Osborne in the end zone, and Villanova’s Newton Essiem came down with the ball for an interception.

    “I think if you start fast, it’s hard to [stop] a team that’s rolling on both sides of the ball,” Ragland said. “We take so much pride on offense. We trust our defense and our defense trusts us.”

    The Wildcats were able to capitalize on the takeaway. McQuaide connected with Lucas Kopecky in the end zone on 4th and 10 for a 30-yard touchdown. On the previous play, McQuaide’s pass landed right in the hands of Harvard’s Austin-Jake Guillory, but it was dropped.

    Ja’briel Mace scored a rushing touchdown to cap off Villanova’s first-half scoring. It was the third game of the last four that Mace has scored a rushing touchdown.

    Villanova’s defense freezes Harvard

    Harvard had no solutions for Villanova’s poised defense. The Crimson were held to a season-low 213 yards of total offense and managed only two red zone trips, while the Wildcats won the turnover battle, 3-0.

    Villanova’s defense totaled three sacks and seven tackles for a loss. Shane Hartzell had a team-high seven tackles (four solo) and half a sack. He currently leads the team with 81 total tackles this season.

    In the first half, Harvard was held to four first downs, and all of its drives ended in a punt or turnover.

    Shane Hartzell has been the rock of Villanova’s defense. His goal in this final season? Leave a legacy.

    “We knew earlier in the year, the secondary may have lacked little experience because they’re a young group,” said Villanova linebacker Richie Kimmel. “They have a true swagger. They’re a tight-knit group. [The] whole defense, we’re a tight-knit group. Everyone’s doing their 1-of-11 to make sure someone else succeeds. We are doing everything in our power defensively. We take things personally. If I’m being honest, if we have a rushing attack coming in, they’re not going to gain yards on us.”

    Kimmel tied a team-high seven total tackles (three solo) and 1.5 tackles for a loss.

    Harvard receivers dropped three touchdown passes, along with other wide-open passes. Craig went 9-for-21 (43%) on pass attempts and had 107 yards in the air.

    “What I’ll say about [our young secondary] is they don’t lack confidence, but they did lack experience,” coach Mark Ferrante said. “And now they’re getting the experience to hopefully match the confidence. We’re playing much better complementary football. You can see how if something happens good on special teams or on defense or on offense, it sparks the other two areas. And early in the season, we kind of didn’t have that. Now, the three phases are playing together, and that’s exciting to see.”

    Villanova’s Pat McQuaide runs past the defensive line scoring a touchdown against Harvard on Saturday.

    Up next

    With Villanova advancing, it will now travel to face fifth-seeded and No. 3/4 Lehigh (12-0) in the second round next Saturday, with kickoff set for noon (ESPN+). Lehigh earned a bye in the first round of the FCS Playoffs.

    In the last meeting, the Wildcats defeated the Mountain Hawks, 38-10, on Sept. 2, 2023, in their season opener. Villanova has not lost to Lehigh in the Ferrante era (6-0) and leads the all-time series, 14-5.

  • Despite its uncertain future, the Wanamaker Light Show has returned to delight holiday visitors in Center City

    Despite its uncertain future, the Wanamaker Light Show has returned to delight holiday visitors in Center City

    The Wanamaker Light Show returned with gusto this weekend after Philadelphians held their breath over the last year about the fate of the deeply cherished tradition.

    For nearly 70 years, the voice of John Facenda, then Julie Andrews, and a charmingly low-tech cast of twinkling characters have ushered in the holiday merriment for generations of Philadelphians. This year’s spectacle took on renewed significance as the future of the Light Show and the adjoining Dickens Village dimmed.

    “This is deeply personal to us as Philadelphians, and we like to save stuff. We’re nostalgic to a fault,” said Kathryn Ott Lovell, leader of the Save the Light Show effort, a grassroots campaign that secured the show’s encore despite the sale of its longtime host, the Macy’s store in Center City.

    Thousands of people wait outside the Wanamaker Building before the start of the Wanamaker Light Show on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. The light show returns this year after the closing of Macy’s, but it is uncertain if the light show will be able to return next year.

    The successful fundraising effort included more than 700 individual donors and gifts from philanthropic foundations.

    “Christmas isn’t Christmas without the Wanamaker Light Show,” said Paulette Steffa, who was among the first people who lined up at the door for the Saturday matinee, braving temperatures in the low 40s and gusty winds. By noon, the line outside the Wanamaker Building snaked from Market to Drury Streets; just 15 minutes later, about 1,100 people flooded the famed foyer. More than 7,000 attended the show’s opening day on Friday.

    Welcome back, Frosty! The Wanamaker Light Show will return this year.

    Steffa, 72, has been a Light Show regular since its debut in 1956, when she was 3 years old. On Saturday, she was decked out in a red sweater matching the show’s silhouettes and a plastic John Wanamaker shopping bag from the Bicentennial.

    At the stroke of 12:30 p.m., kids and kids-at-heart alike flocked around the Wanamaker Eagle and tilted their chins upward to the magic Christmas tree. They oohed and aahed at the twinkling candy canes, glitzy Sugar Plum Fairies, and jolly snowmen.

    Scottie Kurtz, 2, and Daniel Kurtz watch the Wanamaker Light Show at The Wanamaker Building on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. The light show returns this year after the closing of Macy’s, but it is uncertain if the light show will be able to return next year.

    Debbie Miller, 68, came as a child with her parents, then with her husband, then with their children — and maybe, someday, she hopes, their grandchildren. The show’s warmth melts away troubles, she said.

    “There’s that feeling of there’s still some good in this world, there’s still some positive energy in this world,” Miller, of Chester County, said. “We all have our daily struggles, but when you come here, it’s a little bit of an escape from that. It just makes you good.”

    The Wanamaker Light Show and Dickens Village are safe this year. The future remains uncertain.

    While many, like Steffa and the Millers, are regular visitors, Saturday was a long-awaited homecoming for Evelyn Poole: This was the 73-year-old’s first time seeing the show since she worked in the Wanamakers lingerie department and Santa’s Workshop as a teenager. She brought along her 7-year-old grandson for the occasion.

    What will happen to the beloved attraction in the coming years remains uncertain: There is more money to be raised, ownership to be settled, and a long-term preservation plan to be devised.

    But for at least one more season, Philadelphians can rejoice in the glow of the magic Christmas tree.

  • Man dies in fast-moving Strawberry Mansion house fire

    Man dies in fast-moving Strawberry Mansion house fire

    One man died in a fire at a Strawberry Mansion home Friday, officials said.

    Firefighters responded about 4:45 p.m. to a three-story rowhouse on the 3200 block of Ridge Avenue that was engulfed in flames. The fast-moving fire had already spread to another home, while rescuers received reports of people trapped inside, officials said.

    After battling the blaze for 45 minutes, about 80 firefighters finally contained the flames. Two occupants escaped the home where the blaze started, but firefighters discovered a man dead at the top of a flight of stairs on the second floor, officials said.

    On Saturday, fire department officials had yet to publicly identify the victim.

    The fire marshal’s office is investigating the cause of the fire, a department spokesperson said. The medical examiner’s office will determine the cause of death.

  • Paul George and Adem Bona return, but Andre Drummond goes down as Sixers’ injuries continue

    Paul George and Adem Bona return, but Andre Drummond goes down as Sixers’ injuries continue

    NEW YORK — Whenever Adem Bona works through his pregame shooting routine, he eventually moves to the corner and fires three-pointer after three-pointer. The 76ers’ second-year big man even takes a step back to plant his feet out of bounds, a tactic designed to make any “real” long-range attempt feel less daunting.

    So when Bona got a pass with about one minute remaining in Friday’s matchup at the Brooklyn Nets, he recalled the advice of player development coach Fabulous Flournoy and launched without hesitation.

    “Don’t give yourself time to think much about it or what the situation was,” Bona recalled. “ … It was just catch, and let it fly.”

    Bona’s first career NBA three-point make — which arrived after he missed the previous five games with a sprained ankle — could be viewed these days as a nod to Andre Drummond, the Sixers’ other previously non-shooting center who has suddenly become a legitimate threat from the corner. The Sixers now might need more of that from Bona — who also finished the Sixers’ 115-103 victory in Brooklyn with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting, six rebounds, and four blocks — after Drummond left the game in the second quarter with a right knee sprain.

    It was the latest example of what Sixers coach Nick Nurse called “two steps forward, one back” in the injury department, which in the short term could lead to some patchwork frontcourt lineups.

    Sixers takeaways: A much-needed easy opponent, another untimely injury, and more from victory over Nets

    “We were just piecing it together,” Nurse said after the game.

    The other step forward? Paul George returned from a one-game absence due to a sprained ankle to total an efficient 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting in his fourth game this season. He also continues to re-acclimate on a minutes restriction following offseason knee surgery, saying he recently landed on an approach to “activate” the knee before games.

    Still, the Sixers (10-8) struggled to put away the already-tanking Nets (3-15), who played Friday without top scorers Michael Porter Jr. and Cam Thomas. Yet even with Bona’s and George’s return — and before Drummond’s departure — the Sixers took the floor without injured starters Joel Embiid (knee), VJ Edgecombe (calf), and Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee) along with key reserve Trendon Watford (adductor). Through 18 games, max-contract players Embiid, George, and star guard Tyrese Maxey have yet to share the floor.

    Andre Drummond (1) leaves court after getting injured during the first half against Brooklyn Nets on Friday.

    In comments with an unintentionally short shelf life, Nurse spoke before Friday’s game about the benefits of reintroducing Bona’s size and “bounce” to the Sixers’ rotation. Those qualities could spell Drummond, who had been enjoying a resurgent season by averaging 8.3 points and 10.7 rebounds in 16 games entering Friday. The Sixers are otherwise undersized without Embiid, who on Friday missed his ninth consecutive game with an issue with his right knee.

    And this week’s public messaging about the state of Embiid’s knee could be perplexing to an outsider. Embiid was initially listed as questionable to play Tuesday against the Magic on the NBA’s official injury report, before being ruled out the afternoon of that game. On Thursday’s report, Embiid was immediately ruled out for the game in Brooklyn the following night.

    “We’ve been thinking he’s been trending towards getting there, and he just hasn’t yet,” Nurse said before Friday’s game. “They just haven’t cleared him to go. That’s all it is. Pretty much the same thing I keep telling you. He’s just not there yet.”

    Sixers’ Andre Drummond leaves Nets game with a knee sprain and will not return

    Embiid’s absence has yielded an opportunity to start for Drummond, who during Friday’s game had totaled seven points and four rebounds in 11 minutes before hitting the floor and grabbing his knee. Though the 6-foot-11, 280-pounder needed to be helped off the court, he was standing under his own power with his knee wrapped following the game. George empathized with Drummond in the postgame locker room, because George was hampered by a knee hyperextension last season.

    “I know that injury very well,” he said. “ … It’s a tough rehab. I mean, I don’t know the severity of it [for Drummond]. But hopefully, it wasn’t the case that mine was, because it’s a challenge.”

    Drummond’s injury, plus foul trouble with multiple players, forced the Sixers into some unconventional frontcourt looks against the Nets. Rookie Johni Broome played the first legitimate rotation minutes of his NBA career, sometimes alongside Justin Edwards as the power forward. There were stretches with two-way players Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker on the floor together as a small-ball look.

    Dominick Barlow (25) drives past Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton during the second half on Friday.

    Nurse said after the game that he was pleased with the playmaking from those big men whenever the Nets forced the ball out of Maxey’s hands.

    “There was a lot of dunks and there was a lot of driving layups,” Nurse said. “There was a couple kick-outs. So, for the most part, those guys handled things really well.

    “Those guys are fairly new to the league, and [opponents are] going to put the ball in their hands and see what they can do with it time and time again.”

    Part of Drummond’s value to these Sixers has been his mentorship of younger players, including Bona. The veteran noticed Bona getting “a little overwhelmed” as his role increased, prompting Drummond to sit next to Bona on the bench.

    The Sixers experienced a flashback to last season’s injury misery. They hope reinforcements are on the way.

    “Listen,” Drummond told Bona, “this is a huge, huge opportunity for you to showcase yourself and be present in the moment and have fun with this. Because, right now, you’re young, so messing up is OK. So I would try and do as many things as you can, just to showcase yourself and just stay with it.”

    Bona initially beat out Drummond for the backup center job during the preseason, before Drummond recently regained that spot. Bona understands that consistency — rather than shorter bursts of impactful play as a rim protector and athletic finisher — is the next step in his development.

    “It was maybe not 20 minutes of amazing play,” Nurse said of Bona’s production before his injury. “But there was always that spurt of three or four minutes that gets you to that next part of the game — or sparks you on a momentum run.”

    Bona’s first career three-pointer certainly qualified as that type of moment. And it was a fitting homage to Drummond, whose role Bona might need to replace for the time being.

    “He shot that confidently,” Nurse said, “and looked good.”

  • Friday’s loss to the Bears was the most concerning one of the Nick Sirianni era. Is it 2023 all over again?

    Friday’s loss to the Bears was the most concerning one of the Nick Sirianni era. Is it 2023 all over again?

    Over in the visitors’ locker room, the head coach had his shirt off. He was flexing and jumping and shouting and looking like a man who might soon be taken away by some folks in white gowns. Ben Johnson had every right to act a fool. He earned it. His team earned it. All anybody else could do was shrug.

    “We’ve got great people in this team that I have a lot of faith and belief in,” Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert said after a disconcertingly definitive 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears. “I think we still have everything we want ahead of us.”

    It is getting harder for those of us outside the locker room to share in that belief. The Bears didn’t just beat the Eagles on Friday evening. They shook them to their core. They walked into Lincoln Financial Field on the day after Thanksgiving as a seven-point underdog with a rookie head coach and a second-year quarterback who might not be good and they walked out with a win that lifted them to the second-best record in the NFC and dealt a serious blow to the Eagles’ hopes of landing the conference’s top playoff seed.

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    The Bears will frame it as a statement victory. It felt more like a statement loss by the Eagles. They lost an important game in tough conditions against an opponent that entered the day having earned none of the benefit of the doubt. In short, the Eagles did exactly the opposite of what they had done, almost without exception, over their previous 32 games. They made it very clear that they were not the better team.

    That’s a remarkable thing to write, considering the circumstances. The Bears entered the day with an 8-3 record that couldn’t be taken seriously. They’d played the second-easiest schedule in the NFL, the easiest in the NFC by far, with six of their eight wins coming against teams that ranked among the 12 worst in point differential. The other two victories came against winning teams who barely qualified as such: the 6-5-1 Dallas Cowboys and the 6-5 Pittsburgh Steelers. In fact, until Friday, the Bears had been outscored on the season.

    “The sky is falling outside the locker room, we understand that, but I have nothing but confidence in the men in this locker room, players and coaches included,” said running back Saquon Barkley, who finished with 56 yards on 13 carries and has now gained 60 or fewer yards in nine of 12 games on the season. “It’s going to take all of us to come together, block out the noise.”

    Until Friday, we could err on the side of nodding along to such sentiments. All season, as the Eagles have struggled to replicate last year’s dominance, they’ve insisted that their Super Bowl blowout of the Kansas City Chiefs was an exorcism of the demons of 2023. They swore they were a different team. They’d learned their lessons. Plus, they had an actual defense.

    Neither of those things was evident against the Bears.

    They allowed 281 rushing yards, their most since 2015 and the third-most in the last 50 years. They lost the turnover battle, in a fashion meek and mild, a fumble on a Tush Push and an ugly interception, both at the hands of the quarterback. Neither could be written off as the unfortunate byproducts of a warrior mindset.

    Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo and quarterback Jalen Hurts have failed to inspire confidence for much of the season.

    Every quarterback has bad days. Where they differ is in their energy. Some quarterbacks are maddening, some erratic, some just plain dumb. Hurts at his worst looks listless. A nonfactor. Completely uncompetitive.

    His coaches look that way, too. For most of the last month, Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo have looked like video game players who suddenly move the difficulty slider from All-Pro to All-Madden. Again, the computer won handily. The issue isn’t a lack of improvement. It’s that things are getting worse.

    “It was both units, offense, defense, hats off to them,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “They played a good game; they coached a good game. They outcoached us; they outplayed us. That’s obviously something that I need to go through and watch, look through it, but to say I don’t want to — again, they ran for however many yards. We didn’t run for many yards. We lost the turnover battle. We lost the explosive play battle. All those things are going to dictate the win and loss.”

    They didn’t just lose. They are at a loss. No answers. No ideas, even. This was the most concerning game of the Sirianni era, and it isn’t particularly close. Sure, 2023 was ugly. But at least it hadn’t happened before. The three scariest words in the world are “here we go again.”

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    If this Eagles season ends up where it is currently heading, the faces of the Bears will be the last thing they see on their final swirl around the toilet bowl. This was the kind of loss that can break a team through what it reveals. Until now, they’ve maintained an air of invincibility, a belief in the virtue of winning ugly. While the latter may be true, the Eagles looked entirely vincible on Black Friday.

    They could write off their loss to the Denver Broncos as a game they should have won. Their loss to the New York Giants was a Thursday night fluke. After their loss to the Cowboys last week, they could cling to their one great quarter.

    Their loss to the Bears? It felt like a culmination to all of that. The end of their suspension of disbelief. They are back in the same place they were when it all went up in flames. Talk has sufficed until now. Adversity is easy in its hypothetical form. Now, the Eagles must actually show us what they are made of.

  • Rutgers professor seeks to spread kindness and compassion digitally

    Rutgers professor seeks to spread kindness and compassion digitally

    Yoona Kang’s Korean name means: “How can I help?”

    “Helping others is something I thought about a lot,” said Kang, a Rutgers-Camden assistant psychology professor and the creator of a new mobile app called Daily Compassion that she believes may lead to a path to help a lot of people, if only in a small way.

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    She and her graduate researchers are studying how to spread kindness digitally and in everyday life through the use of the app. She defines compassion as “having genuine concerns for the well-being of others and having desire to alleviate their suffering.”

    Rutgers-Camden assistant psychology professor Yoona Kang works in her office.

    The app measures, tests, and encourages the spread of kindness — quite the opposite of the nasty doxing and mean-spirited online messaging that occurs today.

    People send messages anonymously on the app and can see, via a world map, messages being sent from one location to another.

    “Our data does show that kindness indeed spreads,” said Kang, 41. “Whether/if you receive more messages yesterday or more positive wishes yesterday, then you are likely to send more the day after.”

    That’s even though there is no pressure to reciprocate, she said, because of the anonymity of the messages.

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    The research is being conducted through the school’s Compassion and Well-Being Lab, which was started by Kang, who is also a professor of prevention science.

    Her group recruited and paid 400 people across the United States to test the app in March and studied their usage. The app allows people to send messages that Kang created, including: “May you appreciate beauty.” “May you feel brave enough to begin again.” “May you experience kindness.”

    Users reported they enjoyed participating. “This app made me feel GOOD,” one wrote. “Favorite part was being able to send them, hoping someone would benefit from it,” another wrote. “Wishing people well has been a very important part of healing,” wrote a third.

    Even after using the app as little as four times on average, users reported higher feelings of well-being, she said. At 20 times or more, they reported decreased depression, she said.

    Study participants also were asked to share their political party. People living in blue and red states were sending well wishes to each other, though they didn’t know it, she said.

    Participants can send messages through the app, but they do not choose who they message because everyone is anonymous, Kang said. In some cases, the app randomly determines the user who will receive the message. In the meditation part of the app, users can send well wishes to a particular participant, as identified by an avatar, but they don’t actually know who that person is.

    “The goal was to show that people from different backgrounds, regardless of where they are located, were willing to express compassion and kindness to one another,” she said.

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    Kang said her interest in kindness and compassion stems from her own experience. Her family came to America when she was 19, she said, and her parents opened a restaurant in California.

    “Suddenly, I was here working as a waitress, working 50 hours a week while going to community college full time,” she said. “From midnight to 4 a.m. or 5 a.m., I would study.”

    She had to learn basic things about living in America.

    “It really shook my foundation about my worldview, and it really motivated me to help people like me who were going through similar challenges,” she said.

    After community college, Kang got her bachelor’s degree in psychology at UCLA and her doctorate in cognitive psychology at Yale. Her dissertation was on whether compassion meditation decreased negative bias against people who experience homelessness.

    Kang then spent a decade at the University of Pennsylvania, first as a postdoctoral researcher and then as a research director. She explored the neuroscience of compassion, something that not everyone was ready to accept.

    “They thought it was a really soft concept,” she said. “I wanted to show this is science. This is quantifiable.”

    She said the team’s data show how meditation, even as little as three minutes twice daily, has an overall positive impact on well-being and decreases depression and anxiety.

    There really had not been studies that tried to quantify the spread of kindness. There is older work on the spread of loneliness and happiness, she said.

    Now that the initial study is complete, the app is available via iPhone, but Kang said she has not advertised it because she is working on making it better, based on feedback from the user study. Still, about 20 people in countries including the United States and England have found it and are using it, she said.

    While users can only send phrases she created, she wants to allow them to author their own at some point.

    “We are working on that now,” she said.

    She hopes the app eventually will encourage more people to consciously spread kindness. She would like for it to become a “quick micro-practice” daily, like teeth brushing.

    “I do see a lot of potential where this can change a lot of people’s lives,” she said, “not in a dramatic way, but in little and consistent ways. My goal is really to make small changes in the largest possible population.”