February 2025

Clap your hands everybody, what the hell happened to the 76ers?

Where do we go from here?

Joel dropping 70 on Wemby is now a distant fading memory. My town, My team, My 76ers have become sad to watch and a championship is further away than expected and I still don’t know what the hell happened. How did we end up here?

“Uhhh yea, we are going to lose on purpose” not an exact quote so don’t fact check me on that. It was an ambitious thing to tell Philadelphia sports fans. In 2013 Sam Hinkie entered the chat. He told us he was going to start taking big risks with draft capital for eventual championships, we had to grind through 20 win seasons for the hope of multiple rings. The process began. Weirdly, We went along with it. We found ourselves approaching the cliff in a convertible Thelma and Louise style holding hands while Jrue Holiday flew out of the back of the car lost to us forever. Hollis Thompson, Arnett Moultrie, Jakarr Sampson and Tony Wroten all flew by our windows as we free fell into the ravine. We all bided our time while we waited to see if the big man we just drafted was actually going to play and to see if his ceiling was as high as experts said it was.

In 2014 the Sixers drafted Joel Embiid with the third pick from the University of Kansas by way of Cameroon. Embiid, still very raw, had only been playing basketball for a handful of years up until that point. He also was damaged goods The Sixers drafted Embiid knowing that he would have to sit out the full year. Even from the beginning of his career Embiid had been under pressure and scrutiny and his mentality was called into question. Famously, the night he was drafted there was a tape delay from wherever he was watching that showed him for a minute or so stone faced as the commissioner called his name making him a Sixer. We were all blinded by Embiid’s promise and talent being able to look past most of his immaturities not realizing they would linger with him this long. His twitter trolling, his attempts to win Rihanna’s affection and his shocking consumption of Shirley temples were all funny talking points while the Sixers kept tanking. Embiid sat out his first two seasons while we all waited patiently for him to be unleashed on the Association. It paid off. Embiid became a dominant big man and an undeniable scoring threat. Arguably one of the most talented scorers to ever do it. From 2021-2023 Embiid was appointment TV, a league pass superstar. He averaged around 31-11-4 and won an MVP in that time. Still a championship had eluded us and his mental struggles plague him and the team.

The Sixers tried. Simmons, Butler, and Harden were all run out of town. Second round playoff losses still piled up and Embiid’s championship mentality was continued to be called into question. Nothing worked. We were teased a little bit with Maxey and Embiid becoming a star duo but Joel’s body is failing him.

This year started with so much hope. Singing Maxey to his big deal, Embiid was going to learn from the best in the Olympics and get healthy and work on his conditioning and the team signed free agent prize Paul Geroge in the offseason. Record Scratch. Paul George has struggled as he’s dealt with injuries and age, very noticeably not playing to the level he is capable of. Embiid’s knee has gotten worse to the point of barely functioning..I guess the Olympics were a bad idea.. and Maxey is still Maxey. Not all hope is lost the Sixers do have a bright future with Tyrese Maxey and now Jared McCain two draft night steals and two Tasmanian devils seeking to test NBA defense’s cardiovascular systems for the foreseeable future. Even with Maxey and McCain to lean on, The Sixers future is still foggy and hard to predict.

I’m a positive person and have had a lot of patience with the Sixers (I thought Andrew Bynum was going to play) and I directed a lot of the positivity toward the team. I always have hope that a team can turn it around. It’s happened before. Though, this year it’s not. It’s been hard to stay positive especially with Embiid. I love Joel and have argued in his favor a lot over the years after he kept coming up short in big moments. I was pro him playing in the Olympics when most people said it wasn’t the right thing to do. It’s sad to see him in this situation whether you believe he put himself in it or not. It’s a sad situation for all of us. I love the Sixers. They were the team of my youth. The image of the Iverson step over is more iconic to me than that picture of the two people kissing in Times Square.

This is the reality we live in now. A June parade down Broad Street is more a mirage than an oasis at this point. Shut down the big man and start over. How the Sixers do that I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.

Trust the process.

Paterson

Even the simplest things can inspire

Art can move you in different ways. It can made in different ways. Art can inspire and make you think, it can come from a place that you would not think it could. Or maybe it can relax you. The Jim Jarmusch movie Paterson inspires and relaxes me. It’s a simple but beautiful story that has this sort of meditative quality to it, that when you sit down to watch it you can let out a big exhale and just enjoy the show. It’s not a movie with a crazy plot, it does not have twists and turns, it’s at times kind of boring but the beauty in its simplicity makes it underrated.

For the movie’s main character Paterson his art comes from an unlikely place. Paterson is a movie about a man named Paterson who lives in Paterson, NJ and drives a NJ transit bus for a living. This movie stars Adam Driver and follows his character Paterson through a week in his life. His life is very routine, he wakes up at the same time, he walks to work at the bus depot, comes home to his wife Laura, walks his dog Marvin..who he has a rivalry with.. then has a beer at his local bar. His routine and life in the movie may seem dull but Paterson has a quiet ambition to him, he also writes poetry. Paterson writes poetry in the morning, on his bus before his shift, at lunch while he sits at the Passaic falls and even on his day off at his tiny basement desk surrounded by books, tools and other assorted objects. Paterson drives his bus each day he learns about life and takes in the city and all that is around him. He gets to hear different conversations and interact with different classes and kinds of people along his route as well as with the wise Doc at the bar while he drinks his beer or his co-worker Donny who is always telling Paterson about his chaotic life and family struggles. Paterson’s poetry is inspired by these interactions. Like most artists he takes in the world around him. His art is his everyday life.

Poetry is predominantly featured in this movie. It is more a love letter to the art form than it is about Paterson and his life. The poems Paterson writes in the film are actual poems written for the movie by the poet Ron Padgett. Along with the great visual shots of Paterson, NJ the poems are shown on the screen throughout the movie. They act like Paterson’s narration of his day and they are also ideas of new poems he thinks about while driving his bus. This movie is an ode to the book Paterson, which was an epic poem written by the poet William Carlos Williams and published 1946. William Carlos Williams was a doctor who lived in Paterson and used the city and the river from the Passaic falls to inspire his poems and to bring all four of the books of the epic together.

I bought a copy of Paterson after seeing the movie. Bout to be poet

The movie also shows the relationship Paterson has with his wife Laura. Laura is a conduit of vibrant energy and style for both of their lives. She is the opposite to Paterson’s quiet reserved nature. She has big dreams and is always exploring the next opportunity. She has dreams of starting a cupcake business and getting rich or becoming the next big country star in Nashville after she purchases her brand new harlequin guitar with the instructional DVDs. She even motivates Paterson to print copies of his “secret notebook” of poems so the world can see them. Even though he doesn’t really want to and he may never will. She is very proud of Paterson the love they have for each other and the way they balance each other out in the film is lovely to watch. Every time I watch this movie the scenes with Paterson and Laura always make me smile. They hit close to home because my wife is a lot like Laura. She always has something cooking in her brain, always scheming, her energy toward making our family better is so amazing. Whenever she has a new thought or idea I just smile and go with it just like Paterson does in the movie. Her light, like Laura’s, is hard to block. Sometimes you just need to put on sunglasses.

Paterson let’s the idea that you can be inspired by what is around you and how even the simplest routine can be mentally freeing flourish. I think that is important for people to see artist or not. There are themes of mindfulness and presence in this movie that make it so tranquil and calming to watch. I already watched it twice this week. Once because I was writing this post and the second time just because I wanted to. Paterson is a movie that you might not hear about a lot, it’s not a movie with a huge budget but it is a movie about peace, about love, imagination, art and about being present in your daily life.

I hope you think about watching it one day and I hope you can enjoy it just as much as me.

You can stream Paterson on Amazon Prime.

The Eagles are Super Bowl Champions

Jalen a Jordan brand athlete with his own Jordan-esque moment

The Philadelphia Eagles are Super Bowl Champions.

Yes, you are reading that right. For the second time in eight years the Eagles are bringing the Lombardi trophy back to South Philly.

The Eagles not only won last night they won in dominant fashion. Powered by the number one defense in the NFL the Birds were all over Patrick Mahomes right from the first snap. Making him uncomfortable and preventing him from going through his progressions they stopped him from being Mahomes. The Eagles defense accounted for 16 QB pressures and 6 (!) sacks without dialing up a single blitz. Vic Fangio looked like the Zack Galifinakis Hangover GIF out Spagsing Spags. They laughed in the face of the three peat.

The Eagles defensive line put on a masterclass of destruction. It looked like when Julius Campbell and Gary Bertier wreaked havoc in the Northern Virginia regional championship game. Even Bertier’s mama could have recorded a sack against that Chiefs O-Line last night. After the two weeks of build up this outcome was something no Eagles or Chiefs fan could have imagined. When I was asked my thoughts about the game by my family and friends I honestly felt pretty confident the Eagles would be victorious mainly because of this Eagles defense. 3 years ago in Super Bowl 57 the Eagles relied heavily on the pass rush of Josh Sweat, Hasan Reddick and Javon Hargrave. They had good cornerback play from Slay and James Bradberry, both aging players playing an athletic position. But that was really it. This year’s defense was ranked number one in most defensive categories and was great at every level. Safety, Linebacker (especially), and the D-Line. Zack Baun’s interception of Mahomes in the first half looked like he was playing shortstop and made a diving catch to save an RBI. Again, they again sacked Mahomes six times without ever drawing up a blitz and were holding a shut out well into the third quarter. What’s that old saying? Oh yea, Defense wins championships.

Cooper DeJean of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates scoring a touchdown off an interception return in Super Bowl LIX. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) — Damn Patrick, he’s just a rookie. I thought you were better than that

Let’s not forget about the offense. I think if you asked Chiefs fans leading up to the game and told them that the Chiefs D would contain Saquon and prevent his explosive home run type runs from happening I think they would have said ‘Where do we sign?’ Well they did do that. That meant Jalen Hurts had to take control and be great. He did and was. In Philadelphia the Eagles quarterback is more important than the mayor of the city, the pope, and Jesus Christ himself. He is the face of the city. After a couple of years of scrutiny and over analysis Jalen Hurts stepped up in the two biggest games of the entire year when he needed to the most and balled out (cough,cough kind of like the guy he just beat is known to do). In the press conferences leading up to the game there was a quiet confidence from Hurts. As if he was telling everyone you guys have know idea what’s coming. It’s like he knew the game was won before anyone else did. He played the game the Eagles needed him to play. The moment was and is never too big for him. Truly. The dude is a damn cyborg. He handled the Chiefs blitzes and used his ability to run when he needed to. Aside from the interception he threw..his lone turnover..He threw a great back shoulder throw as well as a touchdown to AJ Brown. He also threw a pass to Davonta Smith that was more beautiful than Jennifer Lopez. Which turned out to be the Mortal Kombat fatality that killed any chance of a Chiefs comeback.

After their Super Bowl 52 victory in 2018 the Eagles were facing a bit of QB controversy. Whether or not to stick with Carson Wentz who they had just drafted number 2 overall in 2016 or stay with the hot hand in Nick Foles who had just one the franchises first championship. This time there is no debate. The Eagles have their guy. Number 1. He went toe to toe with the mighty Mahomes and came out victorious. It’s time the league starts respecting him.

Last night was an ass kicking in its purest form, an ass kicking that no one saw coming, and an ass kicking I still can’t comprehend. After the Davonta Dagger (™) I was watching in disbelief. I could feel my body floating out of my seat like Eugene Levy’s eyebrows in the Little Caesar’s crazy puff commercial. I said in the post I put up on Saturday that I believe the Eagles are on the cusp of league dominance. I think over the next few years the Eagles will be feared just as much as the team they just beat.

I woke up today with a smile on my face and joy in my heart. That game meant so much to the city and the people that live here. The passion and love the city has for this team and one another is undeniable and inspiring. That’s what makes sports great, it brings people together. February 9, 2025 will be a day Philadephians will never forget and a day Kansas City will wish they can.

Broad St awaits.