A Philadelphia sports fan’s Superquad Saturday | Sports Daily Newsletter
He watched four Philly teams in one day, with a fifth involved in spirit.
Sure, Inquirer readers get the latest on Philadelphia’s pro teams every day they read the Sports Daily newsletter, but sometimes a unique opportunity for fans to demonstrate their fandom live and in person for multiple home teams in a single day comes along. With four home games scheduled on Saturday, The Inquirer’s Jason Nark took on the task of exploring, along with his dad, just what it takes to make it to at least part of all the games available and to also investigate a bit of what makes every fan base tick.
So not only did he get to see the Sixers win, he saw Nick Castellanos smack his first home run as a Phillie, then watched the Union win a game in which they didn’t even score. Only the Flyers dampened the joy of the Super Saturday sports experience with a loss. Sports aren’t always about wins or losses, though. They’re often more about the memories you make and share.
— Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport
Tell us, what is your own favorite Philadelphia sports memory? sports.daily@inquirer.com
Off the Dribble
Joel Embiid and James Harden took a breather Sunday night, but the 76ers won their regular-season finale without them, handling the Pistons, 118-106.
Now it’s on to the playoffs and a first-round meeting with the Toronto Raptors. But the Sixers haven’t exactly resembled a team built for the postseason, even after the addition of James Harden, Keith Pompey writes.
Embiid ended the season on a high note, becoming the first center to win the NBA scoring title since Shaquille O’Neal in 1999-2000.
Early Birds
The Eagles have been open to signing players who’ve taken nontraditional paths to the NFL (see: Jordan Mailata), and that has paid off for them. On Friday, they announced the signing of Olympic hurdler Devon Allen, who hasn’t played wide receiver for Oregon since 2016. After Allen had impressed with his speed at Oregon’s recent pro day, he said he spoke with GM Howie Roseman just 20 minutes afterward. Now, he could be in the mix as a kick returner on special teams.
Extra Innings
Zack Wheeler will start his 2022 season without having made a start in spring training or facing a major-league hitter in a game situation. Is he concerned?
“Maybe I’m not 100% where I want to be, but I think I’m good enough to go out there and do well and not really hurt the team, in a sense,” Wheeler said. “My command might not be the best right now. But I’ve pitched plenty in my career without the best command. I know I can get outs.” We’ll find out on Tuesday in the second game of the Mets series.
The Phillies’ vaunted offense was held to three hits in Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Athletics, but they did take two of three games in the series and Zach Eflin had a strong debut.
Next: The Phillies open a three-game series against the Mets at 6:45 p.m. Monday at Citizens Bank Park. Ranger Suárez opposes Mets right-hander Taijuan Walker (NBC Sports Philadelphia).
On the Fly
The Flyers signed yet another player from the college ranks on Sunday, inking Denver forward Bobby Brink to an entry-level contract.
Brink, a 2019 second-round pick, had an eventful weekend, as he and Denver won the national championship on Saturday night. Brink is the third college player to sign with the Flyers in recent weeks, following Noah Cates and Ronnie Attard.
The Flyers hope Brink’s winning pedigree will rub off on his new teammates, as the team again showed on Saturday that it has a lot of learning left to do.
Next: The Flyers are in Washington on Tuesday to take on the Capitals (7 p.m., ESPN).
Fleet Street
Sometimes a team doesn’t score a single goal and still wins the game. That’s what happened to the Union against the Columbus Crew when a goalkeeping mistake early in the game resulted in a Crew own goal. The Union defended well to keep their own clean sheet and took home the points to continue their team-best winning streak.
A team with an even longer winning streak is coming to Subaru Park on Tuesday. The U.S. women’s national team took on Uzbekistan in Columbus, Ohio, and showed that the new generation of the American squad is a strong one with a dominant win.
Worth a Look
Temple honors an all-time great: Jackie Robinson was honored by a Temple symposium on the 75th anniversary of his signing into Major League Baseball.
Speaking of Temple: The Cherry and White game went quite well for the new coach.
On This Day
In 1947 Jackie Robinson became the first Black player of the 20th century to sign a contact with Major League Baseball. Brooklyn general manager Branch Rickey announced that the Dodgers had bought Robinson’s contract.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Jeff McLane, Alex Coffey, Scott Lauber, Keith Pompey, Gina Mizell, Jason Nark, Olivia Reiner, Giana Han, Sam Cohn, Isabella DiAmore, and Joe Tansey.