The best Philly sports stories of the week
The Eagles opened training camp. The Phillies finished the week strong heading into the trade deadline. And everything else you might've missed this week.
You’ve made it through another week, and it’s time to kick back and enjoy the much-deserved weekend. But first, you need to catch up on all the sports news you missed this week.
Not only did Eagles training camp kick off, but the MLB trade deadline is right around the corner — and that doesn’t even cover what the Phillies did on the field this week. It’s just another week that proves Philly sports never sleep. And things aren’t going to get any slower moving forward.
But for now, we’ll keep our focus in the rearview rather than looking too far into the future as we recap some of the biggest and best local sports stories from the past week, including more than a few you probably missed the first time around.
We’ll start off with the big story of the week: the Eagles taking the field in South Philly as they prepare for the 2022 season. And before their first practice on Wednesday, columnist Mike Sielski wrote why it’s not crazy to think they could take a big jump in Nick Sirianni’s second year at the helm.
Here’s more from Sielski:
...if you are of a certain age, you remember well the last offseason that [the Eagles] signed an elite, pass-rushing defensive end and traded for a game-changing wide receiver and created great expectations for themselves. That was a hell of a one-two punch back in March 2004. The news that the Eagles had agreed to an eight-year contract with Jevon Kearse wasn’t two weeks old, had barely begun to sink in, when they completed the unusual three-team deal to acquire Terrell Owens.
Of course, the similarities between that year’s team and this year’s pretty much end there. No one would suggest, at least not yet, that signing Haason Reddick and trading for A.J. Brown would put the 2022 Eagles on the same level as the 2004 Eagles. Not in terms of hype, and not in terms of quality.
The buzz around that ‘04 team grew so fevered that 25,000 fans flocked to Lehigh University one Friday to attend and watch practice. Those were high times on the Northeast Extension of the Pa. Turnpike, and for good reason. The Eagles had reached the NFC Championship Game, and lost it, each of the previous three seasons. Owens and (to a lesser degree) Kearse were stars who were supposed to vault the team to the Super Bowl, and the plan would have worked if it hadn’t been for Brady, Belichick, and those meddling Patriots.
Even if this year’s Eagles don’t reach those heights, it’s worth comparing and contrasting ‘22 and ‘04 just for the manner in which each team came to be. — Mike Sielski
To read the full column, click here.
What you might’ve missed
While the Eagles were out on the field on Wednesday and Friday this week, the practices were noticeably light and short. That’s by design.
Speaking of the Eagles, new receiver A.J. Brown drew a lot of cheers during his firs training camp practice. He also gets to enjoy playing with his best friend, Jalen Hurts, who just might be the anti-Kyler Murray.
One last Eagles topic before moving on. Expectations were soaring for the Birds heading into camp, but what will their 53-man roster look like when camp ends?
The Union, who will take on Houston at home on Saturday night, remain the best team in the city at the moment — that’s right, we said it — and leading goal scorer Dániel Gazdag is a big reason why.
The Phillies got off to a rough start in the second half but bounced back with a series win over the Braves followed by a victory over the Pirates. Will they be buyers at the trade deadline?
If Dave Dombrowski does decide to buy ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, it’s likely the Phillies will target pitching, and they should have options, including Nathan Eovaldi if the Red Sox become sellers.
In addition to pitching, the Phillies could look for some outfield help, as Nick Castellanos has been struggling mightily this season — and hearing it from the crowd — and all the Phillies can do is wait for him to turn it around.
Former outfielder Tony Barron dealt with back pain for decades after making one of the greatest catches in Phillies history. And he’d do it all over again.
You may know Phillies first-round pick because of who his dad is, but his mother played a key role in him realizing his MLB dream.
Rahim Thompson, a longtime Philly basketball contributor who founded The Chosen League and the Team Thompson Family Foundation, wants to honor the city’s summer scene and name August “Philly Legendary Summer Hoops Month.”
The Flyers signed a pair of restricted free agents, Owen Tippett and Tanner Laczynski, this week. Meanwhile, a quartet of Flyers (Justin Braun, James van Riemsdyk, Jackson Cates, and Noah Cates) are playing in a high-profile summer league in Minnesota.
A local under-17 girls soccer team, Philadelphia SC Coppa Rage, won the national championship last week, making them the first U.S. Youth Soccer title winner of any gender from the city since 1967.
Worth the time
Each week, we highlight a story here that might have felt a little long to commit to during the week but absolutely is worth the time. This time, it’s Matt Breen’s story on Phillies owner John Middleton wandering around Citizens Bank Park during games and giving his luxury box seats to fans.
John Middleton was crouched down Monday night as he stuffed the mini-refrigerator in his private suite with water bottles when he lifted his head over the counter.
“What do you guys want to eat?” The Phillies owner shouted.
Another game was about to begin, but Middleton’s luxury box — suite No. 35, directly behind home plate — no longer belonged to him. He handed his tickets to a group of fans he met as he wandered outside Citizens Bank Park, escorted them into the ballpark, walked them through the main concourse, and up onto an elevator.
When a ballpark employee asked the group to see their tickets as they entered the suite level, they simply told her they were with the owner.
Middleton — who first rebuffed a reporter’s attempt to shadow him for a game before agreeing to it — does this almost every night as he leaves his office inside the ballpark with a stack of tickets in his back pocket. He greets fans as they wait to enter, introducing himself — “Hi, I’m John” — just in case they don’t recognize the billionaire who famously said he wanted his trophy back and promised to spend stupid money to do so. — Matt Breen
To read the full story, click here.