The Jalen Hurts hate on Twitter is dumb, ‘Field of Dreams’ is overrated, and other thoughts
Also, the amount of NFL and NBA games on or around Thanksgiving and Christmas is out of hand.
First and final thoughts …
As of 2:15 p.m. Friday, a post from the Eagles’ official Twitter/X account showing a slow-motion replay of Quinyon Mitchell intercepting a Jalen Hurts pass during practice Wednesday had accumulated nearly 17 million views on the site. There are no typographical errors in that sentence. An interception at practice garnered 17 million views without Christopher Nolan or Abraham Zapruder having filmed the sequence.
X users reposted the clip more than 3,000 times. Many of them included comments suggesting, or saying outright, that the interception was indicative of the quality of Hurts’ play or that the Eagles were disloyal or disrespectful to Hurts for posting the clip at all.
Former Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho, now a professional podcaster and poo-stirrer, wrote that “given my experience with the lengths people go to protect Jalen, somebody getting cussed out for sure and then may get fired.” ESPN’s Mike Golic Jr. quipped: “guys, people can see this.” Ben DiNucci, whose NFL career comprised three games with the Cowboys in 2020, wrote: “Why would they post this lol These social teams have a direct impact on what fans think / believe / see.”
A lot can be said about these people and those who responded similarly to the interception post. None of what can be said is kind. DiNucci at least tiptoed toward a reasonable and accurate point: That many fans, especially those so hungry for information and insights about their favorite teams that they spend hours scrolling through social media in the middle of the day, would blow such a play out of proportion. That’s fine. They’re fans. No one should expect them to be measured and reasonable.
Mike Sielski alerts
But if you’re going to hold yourself up as an expert and try to earn a living from that purported expertise — and that’s what these media members and influencers and former players are doing — then you ought to have enough knowledge and integrity to treat an interception in practice with the gravity it deserves. Which is to say next to none. If training camp mattered that much, Paul Turner would be closing in on his 11th consecutive season with at least 1,500 receiving yards and Sam Bradford would have been a Super Bowl MVP before Hurts or Nick Foles.
Hurts has his strengths as a quarterback, and he has his shortcomings, and, yes, this is an interesting and important season for him that could chart the course of his future with the Eagles. But no matter how sensitive Hurts and his camp might be, he has handled situations that were far more pressure-packed than a post intended to praise one of his teammates. And the notion that throwing a pick during training camp should serve as any kind of referendum on any NFL starting quarterback is so stupid that it could only gain traction on X.
It was practice, people. Cue the Allen Iverson rant, and go freak out over another not-so-big deal.
» READ MORE: Expect LeBron James, Jaylen Brown to be the calm to the storm that often can be the Sixers | Mike Sielski
Leave Santa alone, Roger
So the NFL has scheduled one game on the night before Thanksgiving, three on Thanksgiving itself, one on Black Friday, one on Christmas Eve (between the Eagles and Texans at 8:15 p.m.), and three on Christmas. Meanwhile, the NBA has nine games on Thanksgiving Eve, 11 on Black Friday, and five on Christmas.
Sorry, count me out, or as out as I can be as someone who covers the Eagles and 76ers. These leagues are attempting to capitalize on the captive audience they believe they’ll have on these holidays, but to have those days and the traditions within them consumed by a bunch of games is crass and greedy. The only benefit to this overstuffed sports schedule is that it might keep family members and friends from arguing about politics over the apps and turkey.
Quick hitters
For the Sixers’ sake, it’s good to see so many LeBron James murals popping up around the city. They should serve as a nice counterbalance to the one at 30th St. and Eighth Avenue, around the corner from Madison Square Garden, that depicts Mitchell Robinson — a key member of the New York Knicks’ 2025-26 championship team — dunking over Joel Embiid. …
Based on their offensive output in their 7-1 win over the Twins on Thursday night in Iowa, the Phillies should play all their remaining home games this season at Shady Brook Farm. …
Oh, and for the record, Field of Dreams is among the most overrated sports movies ever. Joe Jackson hit left-handed, not right-handed as the film depicts him. Kevin Costner’s Ray Kinsella was an unsympathetic jerk to his father. And James Earl Jones’s “People will come, Ray” speech is overwrought. Costner’s “Dad, wanna have a catch?” scene is touching, but it does a lot of heavy lifting in making the film watchable. Give me The Natural, Eight Men Out, and Bull Durham every time.
