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In-Depth Analysis Of The Flyers Offense (PST Episode 553) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:26
All right, everybody, you're listening to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show,
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the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world, over ten and
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a half. Here strong got a great show here where we're going to be
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getting into some NFL, some Super Bowl, and some Eagles talk. Yes,
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the NFL season is over, but we're still going to get into some
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themes again after the super Bowl and where this Eagles team is going to be
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going this offseason. We're also going to be getting into some listener feedback from
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one of our longtime listeners, member of the Armed Forces, who is over
0:58
in Jordan and being he is staying safe and well. And then from there
1:02
we're gonna be getting into the Philadelphia seventy six ers. Of course, we
1:04
got to talk about some of these trades. Kyle Lowry's now on this team.
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I never thought i'd see the day, but here we are in mid
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February twenty twenty four. And then, as we know the Philadelphia Union,
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their season is going to be starting February twenty fourth. What are we hoping
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to see from this team this season and what is the season actually gonna mean
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for this Union team and organization. What we're thrown down on the table.
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We've got Madeline Campbell from broad Street Hockey dot Com. She was gonna join
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us to look at this Flyers offense in particular and how they've been performing this
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season. So let's get started. I'm Jeff Warren here, and I'm here
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my buddy, Len Hunsicker. Buddy man, it's great to great to have
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you on the pod here, and I know we had some good discussions prior
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to hitting the record button. I had a dream about you last night.
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Strange ones, that's for sure, Yes, exactly. No folks, not
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like that, Not like that folks. All right, So if you're new
2:00
to the show, you might not know. Len works for a trucking company
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and he actually used to drive trucks, And the dream involved me taking a
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truck from Len and helping him out. Meanwhile, he was on his couch
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with his amazing dog, eating a bag of chips and had a block of
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cheese on his stomach. Yeah, apparently I was. I was playing a
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prank on you somehow, But you had to take this truck across the country
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or something or something terrible was gonna happen to you. Yes, then I
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was trying to help out my buddy, and he was on the couch laughing
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at me the whole time. Sounds good to me. There you go.
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I mean you had a block of cheese there. I know you love cheese.
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I love cheese. I love my dog. Yeah, Chips, how's
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Luna doing. She's a good girl. Oh she's yeah, she's she's loved
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it. We had. I don't know how much you got in your area,
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but we got about five six inches of snow? About seven did you?
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Okay? Yeah? I figured it was more probably out in your area.
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But anyway, my dog friggin loves the snow, so that that's great.
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That's great. Luna's a good dog. Oh my goodness, gracious,
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what a good girl. Yes, all right, well let's get let's get
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into some sports talk, Philly sports talk as well. Len. We unfortunately
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now have a new dynasty in the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs. Goodness.
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Ah. That Super Bowl was rough to watch in a lot of different
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ways. It pained me to be rooting for the San Francisco forty nine ers
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because I didn't want this dynasty to happen. I really didn't, you know,
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after the Patriots dynasty, thinking to myself, I just don't want another
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one. I don't want those type of feels throughout the NFL seasons, future
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NFL seasons. But it's here now. The Kansas City Chiefs are the new
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NFL dynasty, winning three Super Bowls over the past what five years now?
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So I don't know, do you do we have the same sentiments about the
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Chiefs as we did for the Patriots so many for so many years. And
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I gotta be honest with you, were there, you were rooting for the
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Niners, then, I actually was. I was rooting I genuinely like this
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is one of those like because there's there's times when it's like, oh man,
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I want to watch this game, but I have to work the next
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morning, so I need to be in bed by eight o'clock. This could
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have been one of those games where that was the case, and I would
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have been perfectly fine with it, because I I wish there was a way
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they both could have lost. I had zero rooting interest, Like I wasn't
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going to root for the Chiefs, but I'm sure as hell wasn't going to
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root for the Niners either, So I just, yeah, I don't know
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what I was rooting for. Metia or something. But yeah, I just
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I could have cared less who won. As for the yeah, they are
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a dynasty. I mean, I don't I know if you're really going to
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be a pain in the ass about it and say, no, they have
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to win three in a row, knock yourself out. But yeah, they're
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a dynasty. Dynasty. But I yeah, I just. But one of
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the reasons why I was actually pulling for the Niners here was because I didn't
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want I didn't want them to have this dynasty. Quite frankly, I really
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didn't want them really really, not because of Andy Reid at all. But
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one, I'm tired of Patrick Mahomes. I'm really tired of the type of
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football player he's becoming on the field. I'm saying this on the field,
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folks, because he's a whiner, he's a complainer. We saw the same
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stuff how many years from Tom Brady, the constant looking at the refs wanting
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to call just play football out there, man, just play the game.
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And I'm so tired of him. I I think when I look at these
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dynasties, I it makes me jealous as an Eagles fan, not that I
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necessary. Look, I'd love to have a diet I'd love the Eagles to
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have some sort of dynasty. It's never gonna happen in our lifetimes. We
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did get one Super Bowl win, and I'm so grateful for it. Land,
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but I can't stand dynasties. I can't stand them. I love to
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root against them. And I'm feeling the same way now about the Chiefs like
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I did for the Patriots for so many years. Yeah, I get fatigue
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with it. I tired. Yeah, And I think that's what most people
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would say. I'm tired of the Chiefs. I don't like Mahomes. I
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don't like Travis Kelcey, you know, no offense, but so I don't
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like either of those guys. I don't like the Golden State Warriors. I
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get got tired of that easy. I don't like the Patriots that the Chiefs
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don't. But I mean, I believe, don't get me wrong, I'm
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tired of the Chiefs. But it's not to the point where it was that
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the Patriots. I think because Boston was winning in all the other sports as
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well. Yes, Plus you have you have a lot of national writers that
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come out of Boston that like like guys like like Bill Simmons and Peter Gammons,
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who's considered one of the greatest baseball writers. Those guys can't write a
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column from a national's perspective without somehow tying it back to something Boston related.
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It it's like a it's like a thing. It's like like a deficiency they
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have in their brain where they can't write an article without tying it back to
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Boston somehow. So that was another part of the fatigue with me with the
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Patriots was they're winning, all the other teams are winning, all they're they're
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you know, they're the right national writers are from there, and they're all
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talking about Boston, and that added to it. I don't get that with
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the Chiefs because you know, who do they have. They have the Royals,
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who you know, they're not going to be good anytime soon. So
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and then they don't have teams in the other two sports. So you know,
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yeah, yeah, I'm tired of the Chiefs. But it's not at
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that level yet. I'm sure it'll get there, because I don't think they're
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done winning. I think they're going to be good legitimately for at least another
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one or two Super Bowl wins. I really do. Yeah, if you're
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if you're tired of them. I don't think it's going to end anytime soon.
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Sorry, yeah, I get it now. Believe me. I'm tired
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of the forty nine ers too. I'm tired of the forty nine ers being
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so good. And when they went out and they got Chase Young, you
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know, in that trade for Christian McCaffrey. You know, it was just
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like my gosh. You know, they just continue to be stacked year after
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year after year. But what's interesting is that Kyle Shanahan has now blown a
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ten plus point lead in all three Super Bowl appearances that he has coached in
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len And I'm wondering what type of reputation should he have at this point in
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his career. He is a damn good coach, reminds you. You know,
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it's it's like kind of like Andy Reid, you know, I mean,
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Andy Reid didn't get to three Super Bowls when he was the Eagles head
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coach. But you get to a certain echelon, you get to a certain
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point, you reach a certain height. We got the plenty of NFC Championship
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games. Well there, yeah, so yeah, yeah, I mean what
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type of coach in reputation do you think Kyle Shanahan like is and has at
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this point in his career. By no stretch can somebody say, oh,
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he's a loser because I mean, how many I can't tell you how many
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freaking pieces or tweets I should say or whatever you want to call him x's
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or whatever you want to call him that like those posts that I saw where
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he's a loser, he's a terrible coach. I honestly, I don't think
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he's a terrible coach. Sometimes I think he could be maybe a little overrated
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here and there with some things. I think sometimes he gets maybe a little
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bit way too much love. But he's not a terrible coach by any stretch
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of the imagination. And I don't think he's a loser. You don't get
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the three super Bowls and you're you're a loser. Yeah, have you lost
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all three? Yes, But it doesn't mean you're a complete and utter,
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one hundred loser. I don't know what do you think his reputation should be.
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Is it that Andy Reidish from the two thousands? Yeah? I think
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it's a guy that couldn't get over the hump. I mean there's I don't
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really see like like that big coaching decision. And maybe I'm just missing the
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previous Super Bowls. Maybe it's just not coming to mind. But it's not
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like he made a boneheaded call in this game, like oh, how could
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you make that play call? Yeah, which led to you know, the
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Chiefs taking over the game. That never happened. It just you know,
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they just they held the Chiefs for as long as they could and then eventually
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the Chiefs started breaking through. But I mean, it's not like there was
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that boneheaded play call that you could point TOI and go, see, he
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doesn't know what he's doing exactly. Yeah, I think it's just a guy
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that you know, hasn't been able to break through yet. And that's pretty
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much what Reid was with the Eagles. Well, that's amazing with that team
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and especially with that defense. Because as I was watching that Super Bowl,
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len As, we're kind of kind of like tie this in here to the
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Philadelphia Eagles. I'm watching the Super Bowl and specifically a guy on the forty
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nine Ers defense and the defensive line, and I was just thinking to myself,
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Wow, the Philadelphia Eagles and this defense really missed Javon Hargrave this past
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season. Now, yes, he left in free agency. It was going
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to be almost near impossible for the Eagles to keep him, given what his
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value was and how much he was gonna command in terms of the money.
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But like man, I was, like, boy, he really really clogged
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up those lanes. In terms of the rushing game. As a pass rusher,
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what a damn good pass rusher. I mean, he's recovering fumbles,
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he's he's always around the ball in terms of that first level. And now
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len with the Eagles giving Hassan Reddick permission to seek a trade, I mean,
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how concerned should we be for this defensive line? I mean, you
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lose Javon Hargrave one year, possibly Hassan Reddick, which I think there's a
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very good possibility that he doesn't leave and that they actually can restructure his deal
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kind of like they did with Darius Slay last year. From the reports that
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I've been seeing, this permission for him to seek a trade really is to
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kind of see what his value is. But it makes me scared if they
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lose Hassan Reddick. You know, four straight years of double digit sacks.
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I mean that's he's like your best defensive player by far, And this is
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a defense. It's really struggled down the stretch of this past season. So
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I mean, I'm really really worried about this Eagles defense, their defensive line,
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the pass rushing. I am really really concerned about it. I don't
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know, I don't know. Were you thinking at all about Javon Hargrave or
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maybe this defensive line. What happens with Hassan Reddick at all over these past
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few days? Well, yeah, I mean I saw the you know,
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oh, he wants to be traded, and then he came out today and
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said I never asked to be traded. Yeah, So you know, I
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don't know what exactly is going on there, but I think the Eagles will
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at least explore it and kind of, you know, he can see what
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his value is around the league. Like you said, yep, I think
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it will be dumb to get rid of Him's really dumb in fact. I
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mean, you know, like you said, who else is providing pressure?
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I mean, Josh Sweat is a nice player, but he dropped off big
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time. Yeah, and outside of him, what else he got? I
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mean, did anybody you know, did any of the young defensive ends that
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you have there? I mean, did any of them show you anything.
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No, Nolan Smith, I mean it's yes, it's his first year and
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he's gonna have to grow into this role and develop like Josh Sweat has,
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but not that Josh Swett was killing it towards the end of the latter part
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of the season. But you know, Nolan Smith, he's got he's got
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a ways to go. Yeah, And that's the thing, like, none
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of these guys at this point has shown me that that that they can step
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into that role. I just I don't know. And you know, if
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he leaves, I don't know. I so want them to invest that first
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and both those second rounders in the back seven of the defense, and I
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just I know they're not going to be able to help themselves. They're going
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to go offensive line or defensive line in there somewhere, and it's just like
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you please just address your needs please, I know. So yeah, I'm
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I know they're gonna make me angry. I just I know they're gonna do
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it. We got free agency too, Maybe they pull out some some good
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deals and bring in some talent and free agency. I've I've got some hope.
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I've got some hope there. Yeah, I mean we'll see. I
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mean he Rosman's had you know, a couple of decent years, so you
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know, you know, maybe maybe he can work something, but you know
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who, I don't know. I just can't assume it's going to happen.
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Absolutely, let us know what you're thinking about to any of these subjects here
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that we are talking about, Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com. Shoot
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us off an email. We'd love to read it here on the podcast.
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I kind of cut you off there and Len to promo the email. Are
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are you anything else there with regard to the Eagles defense or just what we
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saw with regard to the super Bowl, anything else? No, not really,
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I mean, I just I don't know. I just like we were
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talking about it. I don't know if it was last week or two weeks
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ago. With Fangio coming in, does that, you know, really change
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who they go after or the personnel they currently have, change who they you
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know, who they want to keep and all that stuff. So that'll be
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interesting to see. It's definitely gonna be interesting to see. It's actually a
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really good segue Len into some listener feedback that we got from our friend Patrick,
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who is overseas again serving in the Armed Forces. Patrick hope you're doing
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well, buddy, Hope you are staying safe across the pond, and hope
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you are. I hope you and your two Eagles fans that you have over
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there are doing well. We're gonna read part of Patrick's email. He said
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it quite a lengthy email, which is awesome, fantastic, very much appreciated.
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But we're gonna get in some Eagles talk here, and like I said,
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it's a good segue because the one thing that we're gonna talk about is
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linebackers and how that correlates with Dick Fangio and the type of defense that he
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runs. This Eagles team is gonna need to invest in linebackers in some way,
15:48
shape or form. They have to. They can't just count on Na
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Kobe Dean, who is continuously injured, to be the savior at the linebacker
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position. It can't happen. So gonna get into Patrick's email here, Gonna
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get some Eagles And actually he had some comments with regard to the Sixers Stadium,
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or I should say the Sixers Arena that Eric and I talked about on
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the show a couple weeks ago. He said, greetings, gentlemen, great
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pod as always ignoring a position to a new level like the Eagles have done.
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Yes, they've discounted linebackers for years, but it was like they were
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intentionally trolling all of us to put as little talent out there, as little
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depth as possible. As well. You let TJ. Edwards walk, who
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turns out has all the vision we were told the Kobe Dean had and had
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an amazing season. You don't need first rounders there, but you can't roll
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corpses onto the field. Next, he says, banking on the Geezers staying
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healthy and their play not slipping was an issue. Graham, Kelsey, Lane,
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Cox, Bradberry, Sleigh and Roby are all aging, and the team
16:59
pretty much bank on them all performing at high levels and being healthy, and
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that was a sucker's bet. Now, he wanted to get into the Sixers
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arena issue. He said, second thing I want to touch on here was
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the Sixers move. I get that the Wells Fargo Center is soulless and outdated.
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I come to games from south of the city, and while I have
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no fear of downtown along the lines that Eric suggested, it just adds to
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the time and parking is going to be a nightmare. Bigger issue is that
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redevelopment centered around a stadium rarely brings the benefits to the community as promised.
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You already have eminent domain being promised and the needed upgrades to public transportation that
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never materialized. I've lived in DC when not overseas, and the arena in
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Chinatown rendered it a corporate bland, and now they want to move to Alexandria.
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The Commander Stadium was supposed to revitalize that area and none of it has
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occurred. You may get ten to twenty years of bland redevelopment. Am I
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saying that? Right? Yeah, bland redevelopment, and then they're gonna look
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for some new place and leave a gaping hole in the center of the city.
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Not saying that the area doesn't need help, but the quote stadium savior
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almost never works out. Patrick, thanks so much for the email. A
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lot to dive into len and unpack their first and foremost. Let's talk about
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the Eagles and the linebacker position. They just need to address it man,
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free agency, the draft, it needs to be addressed, and Patrick is
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absolutely correct here. We just can't count on to Kobe Dean to get it
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done. I mean an unproven individual. Sure had a lot of talent coming
18:37
out of Georgia, for sure, but he hasn't been able to stay healthy.
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He has not been on the field developing how they needed him to develop.
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Because of these injuries, they got invest in linebacker position. Yeah,
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I mean, I was obviously a huge Dean fan coming out of college.
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I was excited when they drafted him, especially where they got him. But
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yeah, I mean, you can't help the team, you can't stay on
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the field, and and that's you know, I do I think he could
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be a good player. I do. I still do, but his ability
19:07
to stay healthy is truly in doubt at this point. I mean there's it's
19:12
just like he's made a glass. So, yeah, can you count on
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him? No, I don't think you can. That's why I think you
19:19
need to draft the linebacker early. And I think you need to bring in
19:22
a couple of free agent options as well. Yeah, you know, you
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look at a team like the forty nine ers, I mean, god,
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having a guy like Warner and Warner and green Law, oh my god,
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Like yeah, I mean that's a team that just went to the championship,
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you know. So yeah, I mean you have to get a couple guys
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in there that that could eventually become that. Guys that can you know,
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that can cover tight ends, Guys that you know, can drop back and
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coverage that can they can you know, rush you know if need be.
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Yeah, they just it's I yeah, he said the trolling thing, and
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you know, I know that's not what they're doing, but damn it if
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it doesn't feel like it exactly, yeah, yeah, it really does.
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Like you guys are gonna complain about this just wait yep. Yeah. So
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well, his other point, I think was I'm sorry, did you have
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something else? No, I was gonna say his other point too, you
20:17
know, the old geezers on the team, you know, banking on them
20:19
staying healthy. We're getting to a point where Lane Johnson specifically, here's my
20:25
favorite player on the team. I mean, I got his jersey his rookie
20:29
season, followed him at Oklahoma when he was just so completely dominant on the
20:33
line there, and I have loved Lane, but it's going to start.
20:37
We're already seeing his injuries crop up, you know, time and time again,
20:42
season by season here, and it's gonna get to a point where they
20:45
really need to start investing in who that right tackle of the future is going
20:51
to be. Is that going to be in the draft? Possibly? I
20:53
can see the first round pick being an offensive lineman. I could also see
20:56
it being possibly, you know, Chop Robinson from in state. From a
21:00
pass rushing standpoint, but I mean, if they pick him with their first
21:04
round pick, I might put a foot through my TV. He might be
21:10
there. They might do that. We're talking about that more, of course,
21:15
But really, Slay Roby, I mean, Bradbury had a terrible season.
21:18
There's a lot of old guys. Bradberry looked like he aged about five
21:22
years Yeah, in a one off season. I mean it just I mean
21:26
all those guys. I mean, I think Slay you know, is a
21:30
little bit overrated. I think he's a decent player, but I don't think
21:33
he's as good as his reputation or he seems to think he is. Cox
21:38
had a decent year, Kelsey had a decent year. I still think Lane
21:41
Johnson's a hell of a player. But yeah, you didn't need to address
21:45
those guys going forward. But yeah, man, you want to talk about
21:48
a guy that just fell off the absolute face of the earth, James Bradbury.
21:53
I have a feeling there could be there could be a big decision being
21:57
made with him where he just doesn't come back. I'm thinking the Eagles may
22:02
want to make a trade for another cornerback, a top tier based type cornerback,
22:06
and you know what, they just eat a salary like they had to
22:08
do with Carson Wentz. You know, when it gets to a point where
22:11
you know that he a player, is not the guy and you just got
22:15
to cut and run. And that's they may need to do that with Brad
22:18
Bay He just he just signed his he just signed an extension last year,
22:23
last offseason. Man, Uh, it breaks my heart, breaks my heart.
22:27
Yeah, he he turned into a pumpkin quick. Yes, absolutely well.
22:32
Talking about the Sixers arena, you know, the stadium arena aspect of
22:36
Patrick's email here, I mean, what are your thoughts, Len with regard
22:38
to uh, you know what not only Patrick was saying, but where this
22:44
is going. There's a there's an anti arena group within Chinatown that Eric and
22:48
I specifically talked about a couple of weeks ago on the show where uh,
22:52
you know, and this happens, we see it all the time. You
22:56
know, there's always citizen based groups that oppose some sort of development or redevelopment.
23:00
I mean, and it's okay, it's okay that that people oppose this
23:03
stuff when it's rate in their backyards. You know, it's very you know,
23:07
it's it's very understandable at least from a public policy perspective, something I
23:11
know a little bit about. But this stuff happens. But I also think
23:17
that I get where Patrick's coming from. But you know, I've seen certain
23:21
things happen in my community, in my area where I live where and it's
23:26
a different situation where there is an old time brownfield site, which if you
23:30
don't know what a brownfield is, folks, it's basically an abandoned, you
23:34
know, industrial type of site where you can redevelop that into something really great
23:41
and it can really bring people together. It can bring a community together.
23:44
I've seen it in my town in my area big time here in Bethlehem,
23:48
Pennsylvania. So you know, I see how these things can can manifest into
23:55
really good things for a community. I don't I don't know what are your
23:57
thoughts with regard to this, Len Yeah, I mean, well, I
24:03
guess with regard to that, I mean in that area, is any that
24:07
any that area that Chinatown area like a brown area that you'd be talking about.
24:14
Yeah, I mean, and that's the thing in a city like Philadelphia,
24:17
especially an older city, you know that where everything is kind of on
24:21
top of each other, there's just I mean, space is finite. I
24:23
don't know where you're going to put this thing. I don't know where you're
24:26
going to be parking. It's not that it's uh, not that it's you
24:30
know, sports related, but I just you know, on Instagram, I've
24:33
can't seen a couple of those, you know, like the food review,
24:37
the out of town food review. Yeah, I've heard this place is famous.
24:38
Let me go check it out. Well, I've seen a couple of
24:41
them in Philly, and a couple of them. The people have been like,
24:45
food's great, but you guys got to figure out the parking exactly.
24:49
And it's just Philadelphia is horrendous, maybe the worst big city I've been in
24:56
when it comes to parking. It really is bad. Right, were you
25:02
whatever? Were you watching a Dellasandro's cheese steak review because the guy said that
25:06
recently, something came across my TikTok. I don't know what. When the
25:11
guy was bitching and moaning, He's like, man, it's a great cheese
25:14
steak. But you know what, the fact that it took me ten minutes
25:15
to find a parking spot really pissed me off. And I don't like Della
25:19
Santros now really yes, yeah, I don't remember who was that one,
25:23
but I have heard a couple people, like, you know, one of
25:26
those online videos like complaining about that, and they're not wrong, right right,
25:30
I mean those people are complaining for a reason. So I mean that's
25:34
and that's a big thing. Okay, you're going to have you know,
25:38
fifteen to twenty thousand people packing into this arena for the Sixers game. Where
25:44
are they going to park? I mean obviously were at me, you know,
25:48
Okay, I'm you know, I'm going to you know, the Norristown
25:52
Transportation Center, leaving my car in the garage and I'm taking set to down.
25:56
Yeah, but you know that's just me. Other people might want to
26:00
drive. Where are you going to put all those people? I don't I
26:03
have no idea how they would do that. And again, yeah, if
26:06
i'm those people in Chinatown, I don't you know, no, that's that's
26:10
that's my neighborhood. You know, what what businesses, what houses, what
26:15
people. Are you going to force out, you know, to put your
26:17
area and then and then you're going to gentrify it and and get get rid
26:21
of the Chinatown aspect of it. Yeah, I don't see the value.
26:26
And and I do think that you can if you pick the right area,
26:30
you can develop an area around a stadium. I went to a NATS game,
26:33
Natsvilli's game in d C this past summer, and I had been to
26:38
the stadium before, like in its first or second year of existence, and
26:41
it's kind of a non ascript stadium. But the thing I remember this time
26:45
that wasn't there last time is the area around it is so much more built
26:49
up and there's so much stuff to do. You can spend a day down
26:52
there around the stadium before and after the game, whereas that wasn't the case,
26:56
you know, when when the stadium first came into existence. So it
27:00
can be done. But yeah, you have to pick a site that isn't
27:04
already being used for something like like the and I'm gonna mess it up again,
27:10
the brown field whatever you call it, the brownfield. Yeah, yeah,
27:15
you have to find that. And in Philadelphia, I just I don't
27:18
know where those spots are anymore. I just don't see it, so yeah,
27:22
I don't know. All right. Well, it's a great topic and
27:25
we're certainly going to keep talking about it in the future here at the PSD
27:27
podcast Show. Again, thanks so much Patrick for the email. Good to
27:32
hear from you, and if you are new to listening to the show,
27:34
subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're on. Shoot us off an email like Patrick
27:38
did Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com. We'd love to read your email
27:41
here on the show and respond to it. If anything happens to your podcast
27:45
feed, you can always head on over to Philadelphia Sports Table dot com.
27:48
We've got all of our shows over there. Make sure to follow Len on
27:52
Twitter slash x if you are still on there at Len Hunsicker excuse me,
27:59
oh little throat issue. Oh, and you can follow me at Jeffrey Underscore
28:03
war on the show at Philadelphia PST. I'm on threads at mister jeff Warren
28:07
and the show is at Philadelphia Sports Table. We are gonna take a quick
28:11
break here and we'll be back in just a bit with some Sixers talk and
28:15
some Philadelphia Union talk as well. Oh and some Flyers talk. So stick
28:18
with us, all right. We are back, and Lena a lot of
28:23
news to get into with the Philadelphia seventy six ers. They've got Kyle Lowry
28:27
coming back to Philadelphia, coming back to his coming back to his town here,
28:33
Kyle Lowry man coming back, and we're gonna certainly talk about some trades
28:37
here. I'll be honest with you, I'm not the biggest fan of the
28:38
Lowry situation. I'm really not here. Kind of felt like Daryl Morey,
28:44
this trade deadline and the buyout market was kind of just grasping its straws.
28:49
I don't know, did you feel that way? I would be way more
28:52
excited about Kyle Lowry, like six years ago, yes, than I am
28:57
now. Yep. Maybe he can help them, Maybe he's a veteran presence
29:02
off the bench, But I don't know. I mean that backcourts getting crowded
29:07
all of a sudden. You know, you've got Maxie, you know you
29:11
have healed back there. Now you have Cameron Payne who also came over in
29:15
one of the trades, who looks like he's a decent player. Now you've
29:19
got Lowry. I mean, it's just it's kind of getting to be and
29:22
I know you traded Patrick Beverly Away. You traded you know, Corkmles who
29:26
was never playing, was never going to play, Dane Spritch Aiden Springer gone,
29:32
which that one. I mean, I know he he's not a shooter,
29:37
but I would have liked him, you know, maybe see if his
29:40
that part of his game could come along a little bit more. I don't
29:41
like giving him up, especially not to the Celtics. I'm just waiting for
29:45
him to just lock somebody down in the you know, whenever they meet up
29:48
in the playoffs and as Boston bounces Philly out of the playoffs again, Yeah,
29:53
I wish I could lay down money that that would happen, especially with
30:00
him beat out, Like it's just boy, what a kick in the nuts,
30:03
you know what I mean? Maybe, Okay, so Max, he
30:07
can shoot. Healed is a you know, great shooter. So you've got
30:12
guys that can shoot. Now. But if himb doesn't, you know,
30:17
come back and it ars a shell of himself, then none of that matters
30:21
this year. So I liked the Healed trade, I really did. I
30:25
mean, I like Heald. I mean, defensively, you know you're not
30:27
going to get anything out of him, but yeah, he is He's an
30:32
elite shooter. He's knocking down thirty nine percent of his threes this season,
30:36
you know what I mean. Like it's just I really I like the because
30:41
that's why it's something they absolutely needed, you know, down the stretch,
30:44
especially with him beat out. I I I really like that trade. Actually.
30:48
Yeah, And you know you do have youself, Kelly Ubra. You've
30:53
got options. You know you can you can sell outscore teams. You know
31:00
they're not, you know, a one dimensional team in terms of offensively with
31:03
m B I mean, you've you've got guys that can score the ball.
31:07
So that's great for the regular season, but I mean they really got to
31:11
hope Embiid comes back and comes back at one hundred percent for the playoffs.
31:15
Otherwise none of this matters at all exactly. And I don't I don't think
31:21
Lowry is a needle mover anymore. I think Healed is a needle mover.
31:26
Patrick Beverley surprised me just because he seems like the kind of guy that you
31:30
get specifically before the playoffs. Yeah, he's one of those guys at any
31:33
time there's a playoff team, he's he's always on a team that's making a
31:37
deep run. It feels like, yeah, and he's one of those one
31:42
of those guys that just you know, can get in the other team's ear
31:45
and just you know that kind of guy. So I was not, you
31:52
know, oh man, how can you get rid of him? But I
31:53
was very surprised to see him go yeah, I know. I think there's
31:57
going to be a short segment here because, like I said, I was
32:00
just kind of underwhelmed by this trade deadline, thinking Daryl Morey again kind of
32:05
just grasping its straws, feeling like he needs to do something, as he
32:08
does every single year. But I just I don't know if it's all gonna
32:14
be able to come together. And I think something to Eric said last night,
32:15
I've been giving it a lot of thought last night last week, I
32:20
should say said, was that you know, Nick Nurse is gonna end up
32:23
pulling out some wins here just because he is such a good coach. And
32:27
yes, there is talent on this team, and I think this Sixers team
32:30
is going to be able to beat some high caliber teams every now and again
32:37
because of Nick Nurse. And I'm glad that he is there. Thank god
32:39
it's not Doc anymore. And I think we're seeing Nick Nurse being able to,
32:45
you know, get it done when it needs to get done. Look
32:46
what he did with the Calves this past week, you know, And I
32:49
know, I think they played the Calves again pretty soon, but that's a
32:52
team that's hot, and they were able to squeak out that victory. I
32:57
mean, I thought the I thought the Calves should have probably won that game,
33:00
and they were, they were coming back there on the fourth len but
33:04
uh and at the end of the day, Sixers ended up winning it.
33:07
It was a w for them, and I think that's because a Nick Nurse
33:09
and the type of coach he is, I'm so glad he's there. Yeah,
33:13
he's definitely a high end coach. And on the flip side, I
33:16
can't wait to see how Doc you know, ruins it in Milwaukee. I
33:22
really can't because he will because he yes, he just sucks. But but
33:28
yeah, not playing he's not playing younger guys. He's not doing the same
33:31
crap that he did here in Philly. Like he's just not playing younger guys.
33:35
He's like, if you're over thirty years old, you're guaranteed, you
33:37
know, spots on the court every now and then. Yeah, No,
33:40
I know, but yeah, no, I like Nurse a lot. I
33:45
think he will you know, he will be worth a couple of wins on
33:47
his own. But you know, once you get to the playoffs and then
33:52
it's different. I mean, you really need to have all hands on deck.
33:54
Otherwise what are we even doing here? Absolutely all right, well enough
33:59
of the sixers talk there unless you have anything else, buddy, because I
34:01
don't know, I don't know. There's yeah, there's not much else to
34:04
say, really, I think at this point. But what there is to
34:07
say is the fact that the Philadelphia Union, their season is gonna be starting
34:09
February twenty fourth. The Major League soccer season is going to be starting.
34:15
You know, what's gonna be happening with We're all gonna be following what's gonna
34:17
be happening with Inner Miami. I think even Cleveland is going to be a
34:22
very interesting team, you know, Cincinnati as well, a lot of interesting
34:25
teams on the horizon to follow. And I'm looking forward to using my Apple
34:30
TV plus to be honest with you, Len and know that no, folks,
34:34
they're not sponsoring of course this podcast. But with that end with some
34:38
Apple mommy, I know, but with the with the MLS package there on
34:44
Apple TV. Plus, I'm gonna be watching some soccer during the course of
34:46
this season and with the Philadelphia Union thinking about their season coming up here because
34:52
last season, well, they finished okay, you know, I guess pretty
34:58
well. It was a disappointment that they didn't bring the Cup back to Philly.
35:01
It was a disappointment in terms of just a kind of more of a
35:06
lackluster based performance, you know, down the stretch with certain team against certain
35:10
teams, I should say. But as I'm going into this twenty twenty four
35:14
season, Len, I'm thinking a lot about Jim Curtin, his tenure as
35:17
the coach of this team, and what this organization may want from him and
35:23
where they may want to go. Because I go, I'll go back to
35:28
the table talk interview and discussion I had with our good friend Josh Schuster,
35:31
and we were talking about how Jim Curtin's kind of at that point in his
35:36
career with the Union was reminiscent of Andy Reid during his tenure with the Eagles,
35:40
where the team was relevant. I mean, year after year Philadelphia Eagles
35:45
were relevant. The Union had been very relevant team basically since twenty nineteen and
35:51
you know, just the trajectory going up and up and up fell off a
35:54
cliff this past year to a certain extent. But you know, where is
35:59
Jim kurtr And going to be going with this team and is the front office
36:02
going to be willing to work with him to ensure that talent can can come
36:07
here, that they're not just going to consistently be getting rid of talent as
36:09
we know they have done, you know, year after year. So where
36:13
Jim Curtin's career goes with regard to the twenty twenty four season, that's something
36:16
I'm going to be keeping my eye online. Yeah, I mean, I
36:22
think it would be a gigantic mistake to move on from Carton, I really
36:29
do. I think if he decides, if he leaves the Union, I
36:32
think that should be his decision. You know, if he wants to move
36:36
on elsewhere, then then that's fine. But I think getting rid of him
36:40
in the job he has done on a team that you know, let's face
36:44
it, has not really been a huge fan of spending money. You know,
36:47
the Union are not big spenders by any stretch, so he's had to
36:51
make it work with the guys that he's had and in the academy. Guys
36:54
coming up which has their academy has been great. But yeah, I mean
36:59
you, I don't know where you think you're going to improve upon the job
37:04
that he's done, you know, as manager of this club. Yeah.
37:07
Absolutely, that's one of the storylines I'm gonna be following as well as and
37:12
like I said, our buddy Josh Schuster from Philadelphia soccernow dot com. He
37:15
was on the Table Talk show this past week here and we're also talking about
37:20
Aleandro Badoya and how he's coming back to the Union on a one year contract,
37:23
landing He's also going to be working in the front office as the player
37:27
development in front office specialist too, dual roles on the team. Gonna be
37:30
interesting to see where his career goes, you know, kind of a maybe
37:34
this is his swan song in terms of his on the field play. With
37:37
this one year deal, might he end up being a potential coaching you know,
37:43
candidate for the future with regard to the Union, or at least,
37:45
you know, a right hand man for Jim Curtin. They've got a really
37:47
good relationship and he's a he's a player's type of guy. Bedoya is and
37:54
I you know, hopefully he'll want to stick around in Philadelphia when when he
38:00
decides, you know, to hang up, you know, hang it up.
38:02
So I don't know, I'm going to be looking at that storyline as
38:06
well. I think Bedoya is a great part of this Philadelphia Union organization and
38:10
team, and with him in his new capacity, maybe they're trying to get
38:14
him integrated in the front office here. I don't know. That'd be pretty
38:17
cool, I think, But that's another storyline I'm gonna be looking at.
38:20
Is there anything that you're going to be looking at here as a season's almost
38:23
almost here? Yeah, I mean that's and that's not a bad thought either.
38:28
I mean having him come on either you know, whether you want to
38:30
put him in the front office or whether you want to put him, you
38:34
know, perhaps as an assistant coach and maybe you know, kind of learn
38:37
under under curtain a little bit and because you know, it is a voice
38:42
that would lend some continuity to this team and that and that's maybe maybe that's
38:47
what I'm worried about, is Okay, if Curtin leaves, then there's a
38:51
little bit less continuity from what is the best stretch of success that this club's
38:55
ever had over the past couple of years. So I don't want to see
38:59
that that go away. And maybe he could kind of keep that rolling a
39:02
little bit, you know, should he stick around. So yeah, that
39:07
that I'm interested in, you know, in terms of stuff that I'm interested
39:12
in seeing what happens. I'd like to see. You know, obviously Kai
39:16
Bogner's back, you know, you have Glassness back, so Jack Elliott's back.
39:22
I want to I want to just make sure that you know that that
39:27
that back, that back line, the the defensive backs there, you know,
39:31
that continues because that's been the strength of this team for a while now.
39:37
So yeah, that is is a biggie to me. And then just
39:39
how some of the newer guys like ty Berribo, how he kind of gets
39:44
integrated into the team here. He you know, had a cup of coffee,
39:47
you know, last season trying to get integrated in the team, but
39:51
you know he came on late. So now the full off season there,
39:54
you know, kind of seeing what he could bring to this team, you
39:59
know, adding to hopefully to you know, some offensive punch here. You
40:02
know, we'll see what that is there and just really kinda can they I
40:08
don't expect them to kind of I expect this to kind of be a repeat
40:13
of last year a little bit. I think it's going to be frustrating.
40:15
I think if we keep comparing it to two years ago, we're going to
40:19
keep being disappointed. I part of me thinks that might have been their shot
40:24
really when they made the the MLS Cup final and lost to l AFC.
40:30
But you know, who knows. Crazier things have happened. But I just
40:34
want to see them kind of continue to continue that they continuity that they have
40:37
had here and just hopefully they can continue to be a successful club. And
40:43
then also just what happens in the you know, the international tournaments that they
40:46
have, Leagues, Cup and and that kind of stuff. How far they
40:51
can progress in that. You know, can they obviously won the Supporter Supporter
40:55
Shield a couple of years ago, but can they add another trophy, whether
41:00
it's League's Cup or you know, just something else to their trophy case there,
41:06
just because it's not just about the MLS Cup. That's one of the
41:08
cool things about soccer is it's not just about winning your league. There's obviously
41:14
other tournaments, there's other things you can win, So can they pick up
41:16
something along the way in that regard. Yeah, it's gonna be interesting to
41:21
follow, for sure. And when we have Lent on the show, folks
41:23
are going to be getting into some union talk every now and again for sure.
41:28
So buddy, I'm gonna let you go before we get to what we're
41:30
thrown down on the table. This week, gonna be discussing some Flyers.
41:34
Jesus lend the Flyers. They're fifth in the Eastern Conference. They got sixty
41:37
four points. Man, heck, yeah, I mean, gosh, it's
41:44
hard not to be impressed. I really I'm interested in seeing what happens at
41:47
this trade deadline here, because yeah, they have some pieces they could sell
41:52
off. But I mean, I don't know, you're really stuck in that
41:57
middle now, like do we go for it? Do not go for it?
42:00
So yeah, I don't know what to think there. I don't know
42:02
what to think. Jesus fit in the East, I mean, my god,
42:06
it's it's amazing to me where they're where they're at, Man, it
42:09
really is. Man, that went over the wild recently, Oh man,
42:14
that was that was a nice win. That was a real sweet win.
42:16
Yeah it was. Yeah, And even even last night's game I win in
42:21
five to three. That was a good one as well. Yeah, I
42:25
even saw a thing where, like, you know, because I've been monitoring
42:30
the you know, the trade market in the NHL as well, and one
42:34
of the Calgary is like a team that's really just looking to sell off pretty
42:38
much everybody. Yeah, and you know they have a top pair defenseman,
42:43
Noah Hannafan And I saw the other day the Flyers or maybe earlier day,
42:46
like could the Flyers be linked to him? And that's that's buying, that's
42:51
not selling right there. So is that something that they would consider doing because
42:55
that's the guy right there that is in all phases of the game, is
43:00
a first pairing defenseman, which you know, we're hoping that that's Drysdale.
43:04
But you know, maybe if they you know, if those who could work
43:07
together or I mean, god, he would really add a lot to this
43:10
team. I think he's a free agent answer this year, so you'd have
43:14
to extend him, but that would be something if they could, if they
43:17
get him, it would be We'll be talking about this more, folks in
43:21
the future. Lend buddy, I'm gonna let you go any last thoughts before
43:24
we head out. No I do not have anything. Obviously, I don't
43:30
know what day it is, but uh, pitchers and catchers will be will
43:32
be reporting this week. Yes, they already have for the Padres and the
43:37
Dodgers because those two teams are playing I think in like March twentieth and twenty
43:44
first in like Seul, South Korea, and those are like regular season games.
43:49
So yeah, so they're already in camp and everybody else is going to
43:52
be joining up, is starting up soon. So I'm I'm excited. I
43:55
mean, it's as soon as as soon as the clock went to zero on
43:59
the Super Bowl, my first thought was sor right, pictures and catchers,
44:01
let's go yep, So let's do it. Let's do it, all right,
44:05
folks, We're gonna take a quick break here. We'll be back in
44:07
just a bit. We're gonna get into some more Flyers talk. Stick with
44:09
us, all right, we are back. Let's get in to some Philadelphia
44:14
Flyers talk. Specifically, we're gonna be talking about their offense and what we've
44:17
been seeing from an offensive perspective. Let's get to what we're throwing down on
44:22
the table and now on the table coming to us from Broadstreet Hockey Dot com.
44:30
She is a data tracker, she writes a lot of words. We
44:34
love reading her content here at the PST podcast Show. I am a subscriber
44:37
over at Broadstreet Hockey dot com and if you enjoy their content, you should
44:42
be as well. We've got ms Madeline Campbell with us. How you doing,
44:45
Madelin? I'm great? How are you? I'm doing all right?
44:50
You know. I mean, we're gonna be getting into this Flyers team from
44:52
an offensive perspective and just a bit here. But you know, I was
44:57
talking to my co host Len you know before we're bringing you on board here,
45:00
and I'm like, I just can't believe this team is doing this this
45:04
year. Not in a million years did we think before the season started that
45:08
we would see this type of hockey being played this year, in this twenty
45:12
twenty three, twenty twenty fourth season. It's really astonishing. I know,
45:16
and I know people keep saying like I, you know, I didn't think
45:22
they were going to be like bottom of the metro bad, but like I
45:25
did, Listen, I did. I thought they were going to be that
45:29
bad. Same here, we all so many of I can't stand the folks
45:32
that are like, yeah, I didn't think it'd be that bad, like
45:36
you were just saying, I didn't think it'd be that bad. But man,
45:38
you know, anyway, well, let's get into this offense here,
45:42
Madeline, because you know, we did a show a few weeks ago where
45:45
we specifically got into the defense and the goaltending situation with this team, but
45:50
really wanting to focus on the offense and where it is going this season because
45:53
currently, as of us recording this here on February fourteenth and twenty four the
46:00
Flyers currently have sixty four points. I mean, they're fifth in the Eastern
46:05
Conference. It's astonishing, like I just said, and we're you know,
46:09
as we dive into this offense here, I really want us to kind of
46:15
get into this conversation of what has been the biggest surprise from an offensive standpoint
46:21
for this Philadelphia Flyers team this season that you have seen, even if it's
46:24
like an under the radar type of surprise, what is that surprise for you
46:28
as it pertains to this Flyers offense. I mean, immediately we already touched
46:32
on the biggest surprise for me is the fact that they're doing this in the
46:37
first yes, yes, yeah, I didn't know if there was a specific
46:40
player or even like you know, a line you know, or specific goaltender
46:45
or whatever you know that you wanted to get into in terms of just completely
46:49
being surprised, I mean, for like Travis Knnecney for me, and I
46:52
know we're going to get into him. He's been, he's been, he's
46:53
been, he's been great all season. And Owen Tippett as well, fantastic.
46:59
Again, we're gonna get into him too, But like, I don't
47:00
know if there a specific player or specific line or anything that you're like really
47:05
surprised with. I think actually going even a little bit bigger picture than that.
47:09
Okay, what surprised me a little bit is their shift to being so
47:16
much more of a rush based offense this year. Yeah, I mean they
47:21
completely retooled their approach to how they're doing things over the summer. So it's
47:27
been great for them. So I figured probably they were going to have to
47:32
make some changes based on just this personnel group, but I didn't expect that
47:37
much of a change. And it's been just fun. It's fun. It's
47:40
fun, it really is. And I'm telling you right now and to the
47:44
folks listening to this, who are Flyers fans? If this team ends up
47:46
bottoming out here, I don't care. I'm going to say it's a fun
47:50
season because we had a certain expectation of just developing talent, seeing that talent
47:57
manifest itself in whatever way it was going to manet, and then how that
48:01
was going to culminate in building this foundation of this rebuild. And we're seeing
48:07
so much good stuff. And again, even if they bought him out,
48:09
Madeline, I really don't care. That's why I really don't care, because
48:12
it's been a fun season. We've seen fun hockey, and that's all I've
48:15
ever wanted from this Flyers team is fun hockey. We actually have some here.
48:20
It's been such a breath of fresh air. It's been so just like
48:23
bad and boring for so long. Yep, yep, and this is great.
48:29
It absolutely is. All right, Well, let's get into some of
48:30
the personnel here as it pertains of the offense on this Flyers team. I
48:34
mean, it's been great having Sean Katorier back this season. Boy, but
48:37
I mean this team really missed him of course last year. But you know,
48:42
this year may have been a good I'd call it a quote reset year
48:46
for him, given the challenges with his injury injury history as well, and
48:52
just where this team's overall direction is heading. So how would you assess where
48:57
kots is this season in terms of his career, his play on the ice.
49:00
How do you assess Sean Katorier this season? Yeah, I mean,
49:06
obviously it's been a little bit inconsistent, but I think if you were expecting
49:09
anything other than that with him coming back from the injury situation that he was
49:15
dealing with, like that's all it was ever gonna be for him. I
49:19
think the big question heading into this season was just like can he still play
49:23
right basically? And we're finding out that he can. Yeah, and you
49:30
know, we're still seeing good flashes of him being able to play at a
49:32
really high level, which is great. And I can forgive, you know,
49:37
the periods when he drops off a little bit because he's coming back from
49:39
major injury. So it's it's been really really great to see. I think
49:45
he's just going to keep getting better from here. Whether he's able to return
49:50
all the way to peak form, we'll see. But I think, you
49:53
know, this is a great start. Yeah, Well that's what I was
49:58
thinking too. It's like, is this the is this the Sean Katoria that
50:00
we're going to be seeing from here on out. Is this the Sean Katorier
50:05
that we're gonna need to get used to? And I don't necessarily think so.
50:07
I agree with you. I think that his better days, you know,
50:12
are still to come. He needs to get back into form, needs
50:15
probably a season to do that, given you know the fact that he just
50:17
didn't play last year. I mean he had, like you said, he
50:20
had a significant his injury and just what that does to a hockey player in
50:25
general, and you know, him coming back I have. I have a
50:30
lot of hope that he'll get back to even a higher level, a higher
50:34
tiered level like we have seen in the past from him. I don't think
50:37
that's all of a sudden gone necessarily. So, yeah, that's where That's
50:40
where I'm landing on it. Totally agree, And I mean, look at
50:44
Joel Ferraby. It took him a full season to get back to, you
50:49
know, where he needed to be, and that's just the way it goes
50:52
sometimes. I mean, you can't rush a recovery, especially when off season
50:58
training is hindered. Yep. That's hockey, man, Yep, that's hockey.
51:01
Absolutely well. Moving on from Sean Cottorier. I want to get into
51:06
Morgan Frost because he's having a very interesting season as well. I Mean,
51:08
there are times I think, and maybe I don't know, maybe it's just
51:13
a hope and that I'm wishing, but there are times that I think he
51:15
may actually be faster on the ice than we've ever seen, which is really
51:19
nice to see sometimes. I mean, I forget what game it was this
51:22
past week, but man, he was just moving on the ice and I'm
51:25
like, it looks like he got faster. He's got twenty six points and
51:29
forty three games played so far this season. Madeline, what are your thoughts
51:34
on Morgan Frost's game and has he developed in some ways that you were hoping
51:38
to see this season? You know, I think he has. I think
51:43
based on just sort of the type of player he is, he's always going
51:46
to be a little bit up and down. And you compare that to some
51:51
of the drama he's had with the coaching staff this year and how he's been
51:55
moved around to the lineup. What can you do? But yeah, I
52:01
have been a big fan of his game for a really long time, and
52:06
I'm really pleased with how he's developed and I think as he's getting older and
52:12
kind of maturing into his body a little bit more, I think he's one
52:15
of those guys who's that's really helped. And I agree it seems a lot
52:20
of times like he's kind of gained an extra step this year, which has
52:23
been great. I think that's interesting that you talk about that, that we're
52:28
the m word maturity, and I think we are seeing it with him a
52:31
lot this season. Well I say a lot, maybe not necessarily a lot,
52:36
but we're certainly seeing some of that maturity. And again it goes back
52:39
to the theme of this team continuing to develop in various ways, and from
52:45
an offensive standpoint, I think this is what we were hoping to see from
52:49
Morgan Frost at this point in his career. But as we're moving along here,
52:53
we got to get into a guy I mentioned earlier because it's been so
52:57
fun to watch Own Tippett on the ice, and I mean, I'm so
53:00
glad this front office gave him that contract extension because I do think he'll be
53:06
around for a while, you know, making his mark on this rebuild.
53:08
Here nineteen goals this season, thirty two points thus far. What has been
53:15
in your opinion, the most fun part of watching Owen Tippett's game just manifest
53:21
itself night after night this season. Like, what's the most fun part for
53:24
you watching Owen Tippett. I mean, he just so often looks like he's
53:30
absolutely flying out there. Yeah, I mean, I think he's a guy
53:34
who with the sort of raw speed that he brings just in his regular game
53:37
toolkit. The switch to the rush based offense has really suited him well,
53:44
and I think that's been just so fun and it's been awesome seeing him continue
53:50
to develop here. I think after the trade, I'll admit I was a
53:53
little bit skeptical about him just because of you know how he was kind of
54:00
always on the outside looking in in Florida and they seemed like they couldn't really
54:04
figure him out. But he's been outstanding. Do you think that? And
54:09
I hadn't really planned on asking you this, but I mean, Danny Brier,
54:15
Yes, it's his first season here. Do you think that his work
54:20
alongside John Torterella, because we know John Tortorella is pulling a lot of the
54:22
strings here behind the scenes as well. Do you think that this is just
54:28
like a match made in heaven at this point because I don't know Danny Brier
54:32
at this point, and yes, it's only been I mean it's what a
54:37
year, not even a year basically at this point, and he's still the
54:42
golden child. And I wonder when that is going to go away, because
54:45
I can't, I can't. It can't stay forever. Yeah, that Danny
54:50
Brier is the golden child. But I mean, do you think he really
54:52
has a great pulse on the talent, the talent evaluation, scouting and really
54:59
that foundational direction of where this team needs to go in the future. You
55:04
know, I think so, And I think I remember, you know,
55:09
he did a lot of work, you know, while he was just sort
55:13
of hanging around in the front office under the Fletcher management group, a lot
55:19
of his work was focused on sort of prospects, player development, being around
55:24
the younger players, and I think that really helps. I mean, especially
55:29
looking at a team like this that's trying to rebuild, that has a really
55:34
young group at the moment. I think it's hard to really overstate how important
55:44
that is. I think I don't know if they were really planning on it
55:46
shaking out that way, but he's sort of it's worked out well. Absolutely.
55:52
I don't know anybody who's planned on it shaking out like this And I'm
55:54
not complaining, folks, not at all. Again, we're talking to Madeline
55:59
Campbell, Broadstreet Hockey dot Com follower on Twitter at Madeline Campbell. Take away
56:05
that e at the end of Campbell and that is her Twitter handle at Madeline
56:07
Campbell without the E. And as we're moving along here, moving on from
56:13
Owen, Tippett wanted to talk about Joel Farrabee, who he mentioned earlier as
56:17
well. We have to talk about him too. I mean, he's had
56:21
some really good shifts recently with Cam Atkinson and Morgan Frost, who he's talked
56:25
about, and I think I think that's really increased his confidence over the course
56:30
of the past couple weeks too, And that's what I've wanted to see more
56:32
and more with Joel Farrabee, is the confidence increasing. How would you assess
56:38
his season thus far from an offensive standpoint and really what he's really done for
56:44
this team again offensively, what are your thoughts? I think kind of the
56:49
word that comes to mind for his season, if we want to be as
56:53
tidy as possible about it, is reassuring. I mean it's a good word.
57:00
Last year was a weird one. Like I said, he didn't really
57:04
have the previous summer to train because of the injury recovery, and then it
57:07
was like he kind of entered the season a little bit behind the ball,
57:14
and it was like, how much of what we're seeing from him right now
57:19
is like just him still recovering, still figuring it out, and how much
57:23
of it is maybe just him? Were we overvaluing him before the injury?
57:32
But I think what he's done this year has really just done a fantastic job
57:38
of putting a lot of those concerns to bed. He's been super productive.
57:45
And I think when you have a team as young as this one in kind
57:52
of a weird season, kind of a weird position, you're really looking at
57:55
who's going to step up and be the guy and who can and be the
58:00
guy for you know, the future. And we've seen a couple being able
58:07
to do that, which is awesome, and I think it's been nice to
58:10
see that, like see flashes of that from Farraby. Absolutely, I think
58:15
it's a great assessment there. And you know, as we finishing up our
58:21
conversation here, Matteline, we certainly have to talk about one Travis Connectney twenty
58:25
five goals, forty nine points thus far. He's having a really nice season
58:30
and we've seen his confidence again We're talking about confidence here again, seeing his
58:35
confidence increase over time like we have with Travis Connectney. And you know,
58:39
I'm wondering what has Connectney's presence on offense meant for this hockey team in terms
58:47
of his development just from an offensive perspective, Like what what does he really
58:52
mean to this team moving forward? Here? I mean, he's kind of
58:55
been everything to them right Like he He's talk about somebody who's figuring out how
59:02
to step up and be the guy when they really need it. He's been
59:07
kind of the poster child for that, I feel like, and you know,
59:10
he does a little bit of everything, and especially now that they're trusting
59:15
him a little bit more on the defensive side, really all areas of his
59:20
game are coming together and he's even dare I say, looking at maybe a
59:27
leadership role going forward if they try to possibly, you know, decide to
59:30
keep him around. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if we would
59:34
have predicted this is where he would have ended up a few years ago,
59:37
but how he's developed and really settled in here has been fantastic. The way
59:44
this team is going here with regard to trade deadline coming up and where this
59:50
team is with the rebuild, it really is I mean, Danny brier is,
59:53
honestly, he's in a tough situation with regard to where this team goes.
59:57
And it really is bizarre to say that the of a team that has
1:00:01
sixty four points on the season thus far fifth in the Eastern Conference is in
1:00:06
a tough position. It's so bizarre to actually use those words. But as
1:00:12
you know, my co host and I Lenn we're talking about before bringing you
1:00:15
on Madeline, I mean, he is in that gray area. It's like,
1:00:17
where does this go from here? Are they going to be sellers?
1:00:21
How does any particular selling impact the rebuild? The chemistry that we're seeing with
1:00:27
a lot of the younger talent here, You don't necessarily want to disrupt that.
1:00:31
So I think from an offensive standpoint, we're gonna continue to see some
1:00:35
good stuff from this team, you know, week in and week out.
1:00:38
But it's gonna be interesting how the dynamics of this trade deadline really end up
1:00:45
affecting this team, and it could it might not be for the best,
1:00:47
it might not be you know, part of me says, kind of keep
1:00:51
things maybe where they're at right now. I don't know what are your thoughts
1:00:54
here, Yeah, I mean personally, I'm feeling a little bit less sentimental.
1:01:01
If you can sell some players, I'm fine with. Yeah, yeah,
1:01:07
yeah, yeah, I think looking big picture again, I feel like
1:01:14
something else that's been pretty reassuring this season is it seems like in years past
1:01:21
the team seems a little fragile. I kind of hate throwing that word around,
1:01:25
but it kind of seemed that way. Yeah, it's not a bad
1:01:30
word. The team Psyche was not great, but I feel like they're a
1:01:35
more resilient group now. They're getting settled in, and I think that makes
1:01:39
me a little bit less worried about what potential trades might do to that group
1:01:45
Psyche. I mean, it's tough either way, but I feel like a
1:01:50
little bit less Yeah, I feel a little less worried that moving some guys
1:01:53
out would just absolutely destroy the locker room and they would turn on the management
1:01:59
group. I mean, and we've seen other teams that happen before where they
1:02:01
feel a little bit betrayed. If the GM decides to make some trades at
1:02:07
the deadline when they felt like they were still in it. But I think
1:02:09
everybody has a good understanding of where they're at, which is nice. It's
1:02:15
been a while since it's really felt like everybody's been on the same pace.
1:02:20
Absolutely, it's been a while since we've had these feels for sure. And
1:02:22
again, folks, Madeline Campbell from Broadstreet Hockey dot Com at Madeline Campbell take
1:02:28
Away the E on Twitter, she is fantastic. Check out everything they're doing
1:02:31
over at Broadstreet Hockey dot com. My friend, thank you so much for
1:02:35
joining us here on this podcast episode this week. I'd love to talk to
1:02:37
you again down the road. My friend would love that. Thank you so
1:02:40
much for having me. As always, it was great talking to Madeline.
1:02:45
Boy, I gotta tell you, it just feels good. Just feels good,
1:02:47
doesn't it. This Flyers team, watching them, yeah, of course
1:02:51
are going to drop some here and there. It's natural when a team is
1:02:54
you know, quote rebuilding. I say quote rebuilding because it doesn't feel like
1:02:58
it. They're fit in the East, come on, man, But it's
1:03:01
fun. It is just fun to watch this team night in and night out.
1:03:06
When you have different contributors on the ice who are able to get the
1:03:09
job done, and we're watching this rebuild. We're watching the development of a
1:03:15
lot of this young core happening right in front of our eyes. It's not
1:03:19
what we expected from a good and positive perspective. It's not what we expected,
1:03:24
but it's just fun in general. I just didn't think we'd see this
1:03:27
fun hockey this year from the Flyers, but we're seeing it. Let's keep
1:03:30
enjoying it, folks. That's gonna do it for us here at the PSD
1:03:34
podcast show this week. Make sure that you know if anything happens to your
1:03:39
podcast feed, you can always head on over to Philadelphia Sports Table dot com.
1:03:43
We've got all of our shows over there. We mentioned the social media
1:03:45
sites earlier. I'm on threads at mister Jeff Warren posting some stuff here and
1:03:52
there with regard to Philly Sports some of the other stuff I deal with during
1:03:55
the course of my life and my workdays. You'll get that type of content
1:04:00
there. We are on Instagram as well. Haven't necessarily been posted as much
1:04:04
there, but give us a follow. Just give us a follow at Philadelphia
1:04:08
Sports Table. Same thing on threads at Philadelphia Sports Table. That's where you
1:04:12
can follow the show. And got some interesting content coming to you next week.
1:04:15
Can't wait to get to that. So anyway, take everybody, We
1:04:19
will catch you next time.