Philly Front Office

There are two distinct sides to the relationship between Joel Embiid and the Sixers. On one side, there are the ones who will stick this through forever through sickness and in health, 'til death do we part. On the other side, the relationship is fractured beyond repair because Embiid has not been pulling his weight in this marriage. Both sides are proclaimed idiots by the other side, one holding on too much, the other not enough.  As much as I want to try to make this work, why is it impossible to even mention divorce? Isn't it possible that both player and team still love each other, but that it might be better for both sides to consider a change?
Don't put me in the anti-Embiid camp, I know we are better with him than without him, I just don't want to simply go through the motions for the next 3 years of hopelessness.

I'm on a vacation with my wife, so instead of shirking either my husbandly or Podcastelry duties, I have combined them into a feature on the Philadelphia vs Miami sports environment. She just so happens to be a Miamian born and raised. While they have college football, we have the Eagles. About the only thing they have the advantage in is professional basketball. While she has Wade County, we have #selltheteam.
The news...
Sixers have fired Daryl Morey
Flyers are a player away
Phillies are RED hot but still need help
Jalen Hurts passes the Nick Johnson test

No, the Flyers and Sixers aren't dead yet. I'm even still decently bullish on the Sixers chances. Why are we eulogizing these teams now? Because anything else past right now is gravy. Both teams were toss ups to make the playoffs, had up and down seasons, and vanquished hated rivals in the first rounds of the playoffs. Think of it like the 2022 Phillies where just making the dance was good enough. With these two, they at least gave us a little more. Let's talk about how we got here.
News
Eagles
Schedule Release May 14
Zack Baun does the Eagles a solid
Phillies
Jhoan Duran is back
Alec Bohm is FINALLY getting a break
Early Trade Deadline Preview
Flyers
The Maple Leafs won the lottery, which means we won too

It's May 1 and we are shockingly feeling good about all four of our teams right now.  Why shockingly? Because we were not feeling that way in April. As of a week ago we were worried about holes with the Eagles roster, the Flyers were in jeopardy of blowing a 3-0 lead to our archrivals, the Sixers were about to get blitzed in a gentleman's sweep to one of our other archrivals, and the Phillies were deceased.
Since it's much more fun to talk about things when they are going well rather than falling apart, I did the podcast on Friday instead of Monday this week. Other than the Jonathan Greenard trade for the Eagles and the Phillies giving Rob Thomson the axe, there isn't a whole lot of news this week, so we are just going to talk about each team one at a time starting with the Flyers, moving to the Sixers, then the Phillies, and finishing up with the Birds.
No This Week in Philly Sports History either since the slate is clear for the next 2 weeks on that front. If anyone has an anniversary I'm missing in early May, let me know.

This week on the Philly Front Office Podcast I cover the NFL Draft then bitch about why Dave Dombrowski can't be more like Howie Roseman.
Of course, the Sixers and Flyers exist too. How do their front offices rate? I go into all of it.
NEWS
Phillies
Taijuan Gone!
Zack Back!
Flyers
Up 3-1
Missed Draft opportunity not to troll Pittsburgh by sending Brian Westbrook
Sixers
Joel Embiid back from appendectomy
No other Sixers show up
Eagles
DRAFT
Jonathan Greenard
Athleticism from Africa

As we are bombarded with Mock Drafts and Big Boards leading up to Draft Day this Thursday, what the Eagles need, have, and believe sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. In the latest episode of the Philly Front Office Podcast, I do my best to take stock of the Eagles as an organization to see what they are thinking.  This means looking at the Best Player Available strategy and mixing it with the positional needs, positional values, and taking into account 2027 and all of the extra picks that should be coming in.  The Eagles are loaded and don't have any gaping holes.  It feels like Howie is going to make Pittsburgh feel like Las Vegas this weekend.
NEWS:
Phillies
Yikes!
Jhoan Duran injured
Griff McGarry traded
Wheeler roughed up
Sixers
 
Yikes, but with less enthusiasm
Draft picks finalized
VJ Edgecombe ROY finalist
Flyers
FUCK YES!!!
Marty Supreme
Eagles
AJ Brown...it is what it is at this point
THIS WEEK IN PHILLY SPORTS
April 20, 2016 - Eagles trade up for Carson Wentz
April 21, 1966 - Phillies trade Ferguson Jenkins to the Cubs

The best time to be a is not when you would think.  Journey back to this past season for the Eagles fresh off a Super Bowl... did you have fun? Even the year before, was it fun at any point other than by the 2nd half of the Super Bowl? Yeah, somewhat, but there is too much to lose when you are good and only one way to win. In fact, it's mostly agony.  Let's rank them:
Team is good but doesn't know it yet
Team is bad and knows it
Team is good and everyone knows it
Team is bad and doesn't know it
Team is good but not getting better
News
- Flyers
Nesbitt to Michigan
Berglund to Lehigh Valley then maybe back to Sweeden
David Jiricek to Philadelphia
PLAYOFFS - 1 win left
- Eagles
Dontayvion Wicks
Dianna Russini
- Sixers
If Joel Embiid didn't have bad luck, he wouldn't have any luck at all
Play-In Wednesday...then possibly Friday
- Phillies
Orion Kerkering back up
Zack Wheeler almost back up
Bohm, Stott, Garcia, and the catcher backed up
Almanac
April 17, 2009 - Eagles trade for Jason Peters
April 17, 2023 - Eagles make Jalen Hurts the highest paid player in NFL history, briefly

After ESPN dropped their "bombshell" story on Jalen Hurts being a selfish, anti-team player in need of a new contract, the festering wound of negative Hurts opinions spewed upon the internet with far too many hardly waiting to get their shots in.  Haven't you heard that the Super Bowl MVP with the sterling record on and off the field is actually terrible and you are an idiot for thinking otherwise?  Pay no mind that the article ignores the pleas and praises from teammates and coaches who go out of their way to credit the man to the highest degree.  They have no use in the narrative. 
What the article did was expose us to the cesspool that constantly surrounds Hurts, the truth be damned. Let's identify the usual suspects.
NEWS
Flyers: Porter Martone and the Playoffs
Sixers: Joel Embiid and the Playoffs
Phillies: Rookies and the Play...I mean their debuts
Eagles: We should be talking about the draft...next week
ALMANAC
Donovan McNabb goes to Washington
Patrick Kane goes to Chicago

Last week, all I wanted to do was talk about the Eagles and this week the Phillies, so naturally, I reversed them Last week was the MLB preview while this week is all about how the Eagles moves so far has made them impervious to desperation for the rest of the spring and summer. Remember when the Eagles traded Sam Bradford to the Vikings for a 1st round pick all those years ago? Howie Roseman will never be on the receiving end of one of those monstrosities because he is always prepared. Here is how he does it...
News:
Flyers
Porter Martone leads Michigan State
The NHL Playoffs are in reach, but there is a lot of work to do
Sixers
Embiid is back after 13 games
Paul George is back after 25 games
The Play-In tournament is a sure thing, but we are dreaming of more...so are 5 other teams
NBA Anti-Tanking procedures are a complete joke
Phillies
Cristopher Sanchez extension!
Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford make the team!
Opening Day!
Alec Bohm sues his parents!
Eagles
Let's pour a little kerosene out for the always on fire Sydney Brown
Marcus Epps, JT Gray, Elijah Moore, and Fred Johnson are small but important moves
Cam Jurgens was hurt bad
This Day in Philly Sports History
March 25, 2018 - Scott Kingery signs a 6/$24m contract and it's the beginning of the end of his career
Late March 2005 - Shane Victorino's services are refused by the LA Dodgers and they are the first steps to the beginning of his legendary Philly career

Finally, our winter of discontent has ended and I can't believe I feel pretty good about the Phillies. The lineup has its issues, but that pitching staff??? Oh baby!!! Opening Day is set for Thursday, March 26 at 4:10pm against the Texas Rangers and I can't wait. Let's get you all ready for the season by previewing out division rivals, the Phillies, and the final boss, the Dodgers.
News:
Flyers
Get busy living, or get busy dying
The Flyers are one of 8 teams vying for 5 playoff spots in the East and I really miss being in the playoffs
Sixers
Basically, guaranteed to make the play-in but half the team is still hurt
Our destiny is the Knicks, the Celtics, the Pistons, or a 2.4% to 4.8% chance to keep out 1st round pick
Eagles
Darius Slay retires because the Bills are bitches
Dallas Goedert returns and changes everything
Filling in the gaps for Draft Freedom!
AJ Brown handshake agreement? (I forgot to get into it, but this would be the most logical explanation for all the rumors that keep not coming true, like a missing puzzle piece)
Phillies
WBC was probably the best possible outcome for Phillies fans
Dylan Moore forces the Phillies hand
Pitching looks great
Almanac
Darius Slay came to the Phillies 6 years ago
The Phillies both made and ruined Scott Kingery's life 8 years ago