Beneath the mental fragility that led to the Sixers’ humiliating playoff exit is a gutless, joyless organization that is betraying their devoted fans. Only a scorched-earth rebuild will doSixers fans, answer me this: are you better off today than you were 10 years ago? It’s the same question posed by out-party politicians since time immemorial, but Sunday’s spectacular face-plant against the Boston Celtics that prompted Tuesday’s sacking of head coach Doc Rivers demands a far more wholesale inquest of Philadelphia’s once-proud basketball team. And the picture is not a pleasant one.With a three-games-to-two lead over their archrivals in the Eastern Conference semi-finals – needing one win from two cracks for the team’s first trip to the NBA’s final four in...
The Flyers’ new googly-eyed mascot embodies everything that’s good and bad about the author’s hometown. But mostly the badPhiladelphia is home to the undisputed king of professional sports mascots: the Phillie Phanatic. No less esteemed a source than Wikipedia reveals he is “widely acknowledged as one of the best ballpark mascots” and “arguably the most recognizable mascot in all of North American sports”.You can imagine the horror, then, when he got a new sibling this week: Gritty, the Philadelphia Flyers’ new mascot, is a horrifying bearded man-Muppet hybrid whose eyes are permanently rolling in their sockets, presumably from years of drug use. He is a nightmarish frat boy who communicates only in bro-friendly gestures – the guy who was loudly...
The decision to hold the Draft in Philadelphia worked out brilliantly, and there were some unlikely heroes and villainsThe 2017 NFL Draft is over and meaningful football is still more than four months away. That’s a long time to wait for games, so let’s just unveil some Winners and Losers now. Related: NFL draft: Bears pick Mitch Trubisky and manage to make Browns look smart Related: 'Fine me later': Takkarist McKinley wins hearts with draft speech to late grandma #Broncos Elway on drafting Chad Kelly. "I called his uncle and said he was a good kid.... We are full of confidence understands situation." Continue reading...