Lost weekend| Sports Daily Newsletter
Phillies, Flyers, and Sixers fall, but the city has one big winner.
The best news from Sunday in Philadelphia sports? A dreadful season by the Sixers is finally over. They went out in style, too, with a 20-point loss to the almost-as-bad Chicago Bulls at the Wells Fargo Center.
Other teams seemed to be infected by the Sixers’ lousiness. The mighty Phillies lost two of three to the Cardinals and the Flyers went flat in an overtime loss to the Senators. Oh, and the Union came up with a goose egg in a 1-0 loss to New York City on Saturday.
Take a deep breath, Sports Daily readers. We’re not going to sink into Negadelphia mode, as former Eagle Garry Cobb calls it. When’s the NFL draft, anyway?
Glad you asked. It starts April 24, although the Birds won’t pick until last in the first round because they’re Super Bowl champions. (Just a reminder to snap you out of the Monday blahs. Hang in there.)
Plus, we do have a winner in town ... Jaron “Boots” Ennis.
— Jim Swan, @phillysport, [email protected].
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Philly’s Jaron “Boots” Ennis pulverized Eimantas Stanioni in six rounds Saturday night in Atlantic City. In the process, Ennis fired up his promoter Eddie Hearn, a heavyweight among boxing’s power brokers.
“He’s not losing at 147 pounds, he’s not losing at 154, he’s not losing at 160,” Hearn said of Ennis, who added another world welterweight title to his collection. “Watch what he does over the next few years. He’s going through all the divisions.”
Is he the best fighter pound-for-pound in the world? Ennis thinks so.
Daryl Morey truly felt he had assembled a championship contender with the Sixers this season. Now he’s waiting for the NBA draft lottery after the team tanked its way to a likely top-five pick.
After one last loss for the books, the team president admitted he had been too focused on “finding veteran-type players” for a playoff run. Then the team didn’t even make the playoffs. He says he’ll be looking for “a younger, more dynamic group” and vows to turn things around this offseason.
Kelly Oubre Jr., for one, wants to be part of that turnaround. He has a player option for $8.3 million for next season.
Tyrese Maxey says of the stagnant Sixers: “You should go into the summer with a lot to work on and a lot to prove — myself included.”
The Sixers’ tank job this season brought back memories of the “Trust the Process” years, when the team was constructed to lose. Brett Brown’s bunch still played hard, former Sixers Tony Wroten and Henry Sims say.
In losing the series finale Sunday and their second series in a row — and dropping their first series in St. Louis since 2017 — the Phillies didn’t have an extra-base hit — or any hits at all after Bryce Harper’s one-out single in the third inning. They put one runner in scoring position but couldn’t drive in J.T. Realmuto from third base with one out.
The Phillies went 14-for-94 (.149) and scored four runs in the three games against the Cardinals. They went a series without homering for the first time since last Aug. 20-22 in Atlanta. They were 39-for-203 (.192) with 15 runs on a 2-4 trip through Atlanta and St. Louis.
Rob Thomson has stuck with Brandon Marsh, who went 0-for-3 Sunday. Will he keep playing him? “I’ve got to think about that one because he’s really frustrated.”
Next: The Phillies return home to open a four-game series against San Francisco beginning at 6:45 tonight (NBCSP). Taijuan Walker (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will start against Giants right-hander Landen Roupp (0-1, 3.60).
Flyers prospect Alex Bump helped Western Michigan capture its first NCAA championship Saturday with a 6-2 victory against Boston University. There is a chance that Bump’s coach with the Broncos, Pat Ferschweiler, could join him with the Flyers. Ferschweiler once played alongside Flyers president Keith Jones and could be a candidate for the vacant coaching job here.
The Flyers kept letting leads slip away in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators.
The Eagles are in good shape with the one-two receiving punch of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, but after Jahan Dotson they might be a little thin in the depth department. Perhaps this draft can help them stock up on wide receivers. Olivia Reiner gives us a rundown on the draft class and says Pat Bryant of Illinois could be a good fit with the Birds.
On the heels of his Eagles winning a second Super Bowl title in seven years, Jeffrey Lurie was aglow at the annual NFL meetings in Palm Beach, Fla. Not only that, his public comments sent a clear message to the rest of the league: He expects the franchise to keep winning, and winning big. Jeff McLane reports in the latest episode of unCovering the Birds. Listen here.
Worth a look
Team-first: New manager Bradley Carnell has brought a new approach to the Union.
WNBA draft: Former Neumann Goretti star Diamond Johnson could be selected tonight.
Women’s hoops: Even without Caitlin Clark, the college game attracted plenty of TV viewers this season.
On this date
April 14, 1964: Dick Allen went 2-for-3 with an RBI double as the Phillies beat the New York Mets, 5-3, at Connie Mack Stadium. Roy Sievers hit a three-run homer for the Phillies.
What you’re saying about Dr. J
Here are a few more memories of Julius Erving from our readers:
Meeting Mr. Julius Ervin (Dr. J) in person in Denver in the late 1989-90 season at a Denver Nugget fund raiser event Downtown. I shared my table with him and he asked me to “please call him Julius” vs. Dr. J. He was very classy, friendly, humble and very sociable. He wore an expensive pinstriped silk suit. He made me feel welcomed to be in his company. I knew when the DJ record player announced that he just walked in the dinner club, our table would be surrounded by fans and the gorgeous ladies. He introduced me, Jeff, as his friend. God bless. — Jeff G.
I went to high school with him. He got on the varsity team very early, like 8th or 9th grade, I believe. He was outplaying varsity team players in the 11th and 12th grades. He was one of a kind back in the day! — Annette, Class of ‘69, Roosevelt Sr. High School
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Matt Breen, Scott Lauber, Olivia Reiner, Jonathan Tannenwald, Keith Pompey, Gina Mizell, Jackie Spiegel, Gustav Elvin, and Alex Coffey.
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That’s all for today, newsletter readers. Thanks and I’ll see you in Wednesday’s Sports Daily. — Jim