Archive for February, 2015

Jersey Man / Philly Man Legacy

February 26th, 2015 by Leo | Comments Off on Jersey Man / Philly Man Legacy | Filed in Eagles, Events, General, Interviews, TSP Radio

jerseymanphillymanThis week I had the pleasure of going to the Jersey Man / Philly Man legacy group networking event at Parx casino in Philadelphia and had a great time.  Jersey Man / Philly Man created the networking club to be a way local businesses and people to connect and promote themselves while having a good time.  The club is growing steadily with some of the top business professionals in the region and the opportunity to join in is available by contacting Ashley Dunek at 856-571-1171.  The events happen every month on both sides of the river at some of the best locations and a membership allows the participants to go to all of the events during the year.

jerseymanmagcoverJersey Man / Philly Man magazine is run by Ken Dunek and has a wide base of readers throughout the Jersey and Philadelphia area.  Ken has a great history here in Philly and played with the Philadelphia Eagles during the 1980 season where the Eagles faced Jim Plunkett and the Raiders in the SuperBowl.  Ken also played for several other NFL teams and played several seasons in the USFL with the Philadelphia Stars who won 2 championships.

The JerseyMan / Philly Man magazine offers a variety of stories about a host of topics by an experienced staff of writers and is published monthly.  You can also find them online at http://jerseymanmagazine.com as well as Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

I talked with Ken about the magazines and the Legacy group and he is very excited about its growth and future here in the Philly area.  If you have not read the magazines or heard about the Legacy group, I would strongly suggest you check it out or inquire about it by contacting them.  TalkSportsPhilly would like to thank the Jersey Man / Philly Man magazine for allowing us to participate in the event.  Keep an eye out in the future for an interview with Ken on TalkSportsPhilly Radio.

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Reaction to the criticism of Sam Hinkie

February 25th, 2015 by Sam Shipley | Comments Off on Reaction to the criticism of Sam Hinkie | Filed in Basketball, General, NBA, Sixers, Sports, TSP Radio

Sam Hinkie’s plan to bring a championship to Philadelphia is bold, but is he going to far?

Back in the 2013 NBA Draft a man named Sam Hinkie made a move that shocked many Sixers fans and made them wonder what just happened, including myself. The move was trading away Jrue Holiday, the young point guard of the Sixers who was coming off his best season as a pro, which included his first All-Star appearance.

I was shocked!

I didn’t understand why the Sixers traded away a player who had obvious talent, and potential All-Star talent. But then something clicked in my mind. The reasoning of the Sixers trading away Jrue Holiday finally made sense. Since the 2001 magical run led by Allen Iverson to take the Sixers to the NBA Finals before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games, the Sixers were the definition of mediocrity in the NBA.

From the 2001-02 season through the 2012-13 season (Holiday’s final season) the Sixers averaged 38.1 wins per year in that span. They never won more then 48 games (2002-03) and never lost more then 55 games (2009-10). They made the playoffs seven times but made it out of the first round just twice, and were eliminated in the second round both times. The most recent of those two was in the 2011-12 season, which also happened to be the year of the lockout, when the Sixers lost to the Boston Celtics in game seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

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Flyers- 3- Capitals- 2- Post-Game Recap

February 24th, 2015 by Kyle Lutz | Comments Off on Flyers- 3- Capitals- 2- Post-Game Recap | Filed in Flyers, Hockey

SHOTS BY PERIOD
PERIOD WSH PHI
1st 6 8
2nd 9 12
3rd 8 8
Total 23 28

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Kobe Bryant’s Future Could Play A Big Role In The Sixers Rebuild

February 23rd, 2015 by Sam Shipley | Comments Off on Kobe Bryant’s Future Could Play A Big Role In The Sixers Rebuild | Filed in NBA, Sixers

Kobe Bryant Could Be A Significant Road Block In Sam Hinkie’s Plan

It has been completely obvious that the Sixers rebuild is very unorthodox compared to how other teams usually go about rebuilding a franchise. Trading an All-Star Point Guard and the reigning Rookie of the year is certainly something teams don’t do when they are in the process of rebuilding a team. However, Sixers General Manager Sam Hinkie is an analytics genius and is attempting to use that to his advantage in building the Sixers to become a powerhouse one day.

Hinkie has taken calculated risks, and the plan almost looks to be Wall Street like at times. For example, Hinkie’s recent major shakeup was trading reigning Rookie of the Year Michael Carter Williams for a potential top of the line draft pick. A move that some loved and also a moved that some hated. Some people couldn’t understand the logic of trading a young player who was the face of the rebuilding process when it all began back in the 2013 NBA Draft.

However, if you look at it from a different standpoint you might see a glimpse of Hinkie’s logic.

Carter-Williams was the 11th overall pick in his draft, which also happened to be a weak draft class. Over the summer months reports and rumors began to surface about the Sixers wanting to move Carter-Williams, and the overall belief was that the young point guard wasn’t in their long-term plans anymore. The Sixers never tipped their hand to prove that was true.

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Jake Voracek and the Flyers honor a Flyers’ fan with cancer

February 22nd, 2015 by Kyle Lutz | Comments Off on Jake Voracek and the Flyers honor a Flyers’ fan with cancer | Filed in Flyers, Hockey

This past weekend, Flyers’ right-winger Jake Voracek (as well as the whole Flyers’ organization) did an amazing, heartfelt thing for an 11-year-old boy from the Make-A-Wish foundation. 11-year-old Tony Campisi, who’s battling brain cancer and is from Mechancsburg, PA, only asked to travel to Philadelphia and attend yesterday’s Flyers-Predators game, which he did in a first-row seat, but he was given so much more. Voracek allowed the youngster to personally travel to the game with him, and invited him to go to Chickie’s and Pete’s with him the night before, too.

(Photo by Zack Hill)

In addition to that, on Saturday morning, Campisi was given his own personalized locker in the team’s locker room, which was positioned next to Voracek’s. After the team dressed, the team let him practice with them, too. When he scored on backup Rob Zepp (who got the start in net), the team cheered for him in celebration and tapped their sticks, to make him feel as if he were a part of the team. After taking in the game, he was allowed to return to the locker room afterwards, to hang out with Voracek again. He even got his photo taken, too, with Voracek, fellow winger Wayne Simmonds, and defenseman Mark Streit.

(Simmonds, Streit and Voracek, with Campisi/Zack Hill Photo)

(Zack Hill/Flyers)

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Report: Eagles “Front Runners” For Byron Maxwell

February 21st, 2015 by Sam Shipley | Comments Off on Report: Eagles “Front Runners” For Byron Maxwell | Filed in Eagles, Football, NFL

The Eagles are “Front Runners” to land top corner Byron Maxwell.

There are three things that I am certain of: Death, Taxes, and The Eagles needing to bring talent into the secondary.

It seems that help may be on the way in the form of a former Super Bowl Champion.

According to Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.Net, the Eagles are the “front runners” for the top Cornerback on the market, Byron Maxwell.

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Hamels Watch: Contenders, Expectations

February 20th, 2015 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Hamels Watch: Contenders, Expectations | Filed in Baseball, Phillies

cole-hamels-getty

Every day that Cole Hamels remains a Phillie, is a game of Russian Roulette. The Phillies need to move what could potentially be the steal of the offseason. It’s garnering more and more national attention, especially after Hamels’ comments about wanting to play for a contender and Philly not being one. Yesterday, MLB.com’s Jim Duquette listed the Red Sox, Cardinals, Padres, and Cubs as the top contenders for acquiring Hamels. The Red Sox were still the favorite with the remaining interested but not seemingly holding him a priority.

To be perfectly honest, the worst thing that happened to Cole Hamels’ value was Billy Beane. Last summer, when Billy Beane sent Addison Russell to the Chicago Cubs as the center piece to a deal for Jeff Samardzija, Amaro immediately got his hopes up for acquiring a super elite prospect for Hamels. The truth is, basically any prospect that is in the top 30 of all players, should basically be forgotten. No on Swihart, Bryant, Russell, and possibly even Henry Owens, depending on your source material. It’s very rare that a top 30 prospect gets moved in any type of deal and for good reason. The risk is too high.

I’ve stated multiple times that with the state of the Phillies farm, they need to focus on a balance between quality and quantity. Instead of focusing on a top 25 ranked player, how about two top 100 ranked players with at least one being in the top 50? With the Red Sox, it’s apparent that Swihart and Betts are off limits, but why not start with Owens and Margot, add Vazquez and Cecchini, and if the Phillies don’t want subsidize any of Hamels’ contract, take back OF Allen Craig. That’s $26.5M guaranteed with an other $12M possible if the Phillies pick up his team option.

The Padres and Cubs seem to be out of the running, in my opinion. While Hedges is great defensively, he hasn’t proven he can be a starting major league caliber catcher. Renfroe hasn’t met a pitch he wouldn’t swing at. I understand why the Phillies balked at that offer. Asking for Bryant or Russell from the Cubs is laughable. Especially if the Phillies asked for the Cubs to pick up all of Hamels’ contract.  Soler is an attractive piece, but has yet to prove he can be healthy for an entire season.

So that leaves the Cardinals. Carlos Martinez definitely has the stuff to be in a major league rotation and St. Louis doesn’t seem to have a spot for him before trading for Hamels. However, Wacha and Wainwright are both coming off of injuries, so who’s to say Martinez doesn’t make that rotation out of necessity. I’d definitely look to center any deal with the Cardinals around Martinez and Piscotty. From there, if you could land a Reyes and/or Gonzales, I don’t see how you could say no.

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