🦅 Goodbye, Vic? | Sports Daily Newsletter

There’s nothing like surprising news on the weekend to jar you out of a deep, deep freeze.

The first new flash came Saturday when we learned that the NBA had suspended Paul George for 25 games for violating the league’s anti-drug program. There’s more on our coverage of George directly below in this newsletter.

The second news flash came Sunday when Jeff McLane reported that the Eagles have yet to receive a final decision on whether Vic Fangio plans to return next season.

Will the molder of the team’s dominant defense retire? ”He keeps talking retirement, but he did the same last year,” an Eagles source told McLane last week.

The defensive coordinator, 67, has not responded to questions about his future since the end of the season, nor has the team. Just in case, the Eagles reportedly considered reaching out to two former coordinators about the job. More about the possibility of Fangio’s retirement can be found here.

— Jim Swan, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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❓What’s your reaction to Paul George’s suspension? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

Here’s what George said in a statement about his suspension:

“Over the past few years, I’ve discussed the importance of mental health, and in the course of recently seeking treatment for an issue of my own, I made the mistake of taking an improper medication. I take full responsibility for my actions and apologize to the Sixers organization, my teammates, and the Philly fans for my decision-making during this process.”

Just like that, George’s tenure with the Sixers is back to being recognized as a disaster, Keith Pompey writes.

The suspension will cost him $11.7 million. In the meantime, his teammates will try to pick up the slack for the star forward until he is eligible to return on March 25. “There’s a number of guys there to do it,” coach Nick Nurse said. “That’s where we are. We’ve been in this kind of next man up mentality for quite a while, and we’re going to have to dig in and do it again.”

Sixers fans reacted to the news about George in their own way. Said one: “We pick up a little traction and we’re doing our thing and something always bad happens to us. We have some sort of bad luck.”

Cold enough for you? There were 74,575 fans packed into Beaver Stadium on Saturday to watch the first outdoor hockey game at the home of the Nittany Lions. Bundled up in 16-degree weather at the game’s start (it only got colder), they witnessed No. 2 Michigan State’s 5-4 overtime win against No. 5 Penn State.

The atmosphere at the football stadium impressed Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky, to say the least. “I couldn’t believe it was a hockey game; I really couldn’t,” he said. “It just blew me away.”

On Saturday night, the Sixers paid tribute to the team that rolled all the way to the NBA Finals 25 years ago. Hip-Hop, the bad bunny mascot, returned to entertain the fans. Former team president Pat Croce acknowledged Hall of Famer Allen Iverson’s greatness but also paid tribute to a glue guy, Eric Snow. George Lynch, Theo Ratliff, and others took their bows. (And rest in peace, Dikembe Mutombo.)

Iverson acknowledged other key contributors that season: “We couldn’t have accomplished anything without the fans of Philadelphia, the best fans in the world.”

The St. Joseph’s Hawks have won six of their last seven games and might even find a way to the NCAA Tournament if they continue to climb in the Atlantic 10 Conference. That’s a remarkable turnaround when you consider that coach Steve Donahue, fired from the Penn job, suddenly inherited the Hawks’ head coaching chores in September. Jeff Neiburg writes about the rebirth on Hawk Hill.

Meanwhile at Division II Thomas Jefferson University, Chris Cervino has emerged as a TikTok influencer. Here’s how he did it.

Feb. 2, 1968: Wilt Chamberlain racked up 22 points, 25 rebounds, and 21 assists for the Sixers in a 131-121 victory against the Detroit Pistons. It is the only known 20-20-20 game in NBA history.

From Marcus Hayes:

It goes without saying that Paul George’s carelessness and selfishness are inexcusable. George told ESPN that he mistakenly took a banned medication to address a mental health concern.

We’re all in favor of addressing mental health, we’re also in favor of telling team doctors about every chemical you put in your body. That’s how you stay available. That’s how you earn that four-year, $211 million contract, the biggest free-agent deal in franchise history. There is simply no excuse.

From David Murphy:

Sean Mannion may not be the next Andy Reid. The Eagles didn’t hire the 33-year-old Green Bay assistant with the thought that he would become Reid. But Reid was Mannion at one point in time: an under-the-radar position coach without play-calling experience who was hired for a big boy job well ahead of schedule.

The Eagles will need Mannion to be a good play-caller but also a good coach, especially when it comes to his dealings with Jalen Hurts.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Jeff McLane, Keith Pompey, Gina Mizell, Ariel Simpson, Marcus Hayes, David Murphy, Jackie Spiegel, Jeff Neiburg, Isabella DiAmore, Sean McKeown, and Ryan Mack.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

Could today be the day when we actually climb above freezing around here? I’ll believe it when I feel it. Thanks for reading. Stay warm and I’ll see you in Tuesday’s newsletter. — Jim