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RealClearSports Philadelphia

76ers Must Solve the Bynum Conundrum

Bob Ford, Philadelphia Inquirer

New Sixers' Boss is More Than a Stats Guy

John Mitchell, Philadelphia Inquirer

Greats Don't Know When to Quit

Rich Hofmann, Philadelphia Daily News

No NBA general manager who wants to get his roster from Point A to Point B ever begins that process by trying to construct a four-team trade.   Simple is best and that is cer...(full article)

One thing I've learned about Sam Hinkie in the last 48 hours is that he's not just all about crunching numbers. Yes, he's big on ascribing value to shots taken at the basket vs. l...(full article)

I come to praise a rookie quarterback, not to bury him. Considering the mound after mound of post-draft criticism that's piling on Jets second-round draft pick Geno Smith, you wou...(full article)

Mariano Rivera couldn't let it end on a warning track in Kansas City. Roy Halladay couldn't let it end with a 2 1/3IP-4H-9R-9ER-4BB-4K box-score line from hell. Players play. Pitch...(full article)

"[Family members] are under strict orders to speak up if they think I am not writing well any longer, because at this point I could write the telephone directory and get money f...(full article)

More Recent Articles

Hurting Halladay Might Be Done

It's so hard to watch a pitcher who has been so brilliant be completely lost on the mound. It's so hard to watch a man considered so good to be around struggle to the point where ...

Barkley May Benefit From Slide in Draft

Both Eagles coach Chip Kelly and general manager Howie Roseman heaped praise on Matt Barkley after the surprising selection of the Southern California quarterback Saturday in th...

Hard to Place Blame for Flyers' Flop

The NHL managed to start its postseason Tuesday night without any help from the Flyers for just the second time in the last 18 seasons. Everyone has a different theory as to why ...

Amaro Eschews Information, Embraces Age

Ruben Amaro, Jr. may be one of the more polarizing general managers in baseball today. In an age when most acknowledge more information is better, and better information is worth ...

Barkley Becomes a Cautionary Tale

Matt Barkley finally heard his name called Saturday at the start of the fourth round of the N.F.L. draft, but after his precipitous descent, football players are going to hear Bar...

Kelly Takes a Run at Barkley as QB

Since the day he arrived in South Philly, Chip Kelly has said he is not married to the read-option. Said he doesn’t need a quarterback with 4.5 speed to run his offense. Said he...

What 76ers Really Need Is a New GM

Josh Harris, majority owner of what remains of the Philadelphia 76ers, said last week that the organization is in the "advanced stages" of buying a D-League franchise.   For thos...

Departed Collins Least of 76ers' Problems

Doug Collins spent his final official moments as Sixers coach trying to define his three-year tenure and clarify the way it suddenly ended. "The last week has been very hard for ...

Eagles' Kelly Out to Win the Day - and More

Then-Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti hired Chip Kelly to be his offensive coordinator in 2007 because of his expertise implementing and running the kind of read-option attack that...

Collins: I'm Done With Coaching

On Thursday, Sixers owners Josh Harris officially announced that Doug Collins will not return as head coach next season. Collins also announced that he will not coach anymore in t...

Halladay Probably Won't Regain Form

And so we have arrived at another Roy Halladay start. At some point, his outings will cease receiving so much scrutiny and the hackneyed expression "it is what it is" will rule th...

76ers' Fumigation May Include Coach

A LOOK AROUND the 76ers' locker room before their game against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday and every player on the roster was there. Some were receiving treatment in an adjoini...

Like Old Times, Utley Chases Greatness

To be fair, the Phillies tried to tell us that Chase Utley would be good this year. "No one believed us," general manager Ruben Amaro said Wednesday. Maybe that's because the Phill...

Halladay Disintegrating Before Our Eyes

A text message awaited Roy Halladay on Monday night. Again, he had failed when 99 pitches from his right arm yielded seven runs over four innings in a 7-2 Phillies loss to the N...

For 1 Day, at Least, Aces Are Anything But

There have been better days to be an ace than Sunday. Four Cy Young Award winners, a World Series MVP, and one Stephen Strasburg took the hill early Sunday afternoon. It did not ...

It's No Halladay in Philly Right Now

The WPHL lead-in to Wednesday night's game begins with play-by-play man Tom McCarthy telling viewers, "Since Roy Halladay arrived in Philadelphia you can see it in his eyes. You c...

Eagles Can Feel Kelly Picking Up the Pace

Howie Roseman had just come back into the building after the workout of local draft hopefuls the other day when the Philadelphia Eagles' general manager heard the thumping bass o...

Hard to Watch Halladay Scuffle

ATLANTA - The toughest thing about watching it is that you know how much Roy Halladay cares. That part did not change on Wednesday night in the Phillies' 9-2 loss to the Braves. T...

Paterno Apologist Universally Disliked

If the name John Ziegler doesn't register with you, enlighten yourself by reading the late David Foster Wallace's lengthy 2005 profile of him in The Atlantic. Ziegler, a former ta...

Halladay Panic Over the Top

I like panic as much as the next guy. Practically get anxiety attacks anytime the gas gauge dips below the halfway point. But you're going to have to wait for me on Roy Halladay. I...

Sandusky's Prison Remarks Pathetic

Jerry Sandusky’s halting, rasping, decrepit voice seeped out from a Pennsylvania prison via NBC’s "Today Show" and it was about as pointless and pathetic as you might ...

Halladay's Funk Could Sink the Phillies

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Years ago, the late John Quinn, the Phillies' general manager at the time, called me aside and whispered: "Remember this: Spring Training performances are neve...

Kelly Getting Defensive in Philly

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Heat Push Deeper Into History

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Halladay Lit Up, and Red Flags Fly

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Pronger, Flyers Caught in Cap Limbo

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Freeh Report Cost Penn State Over $8 Million

The Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal has cost Penn State more than $41 million, according to the latest figures released by the university on a special website designed t...

NCAA Needs to Cut Penn State Some Slack

Now that Penn State's probation officer, Sen. George Mitchell, has issued another glowing quarterly review of the university's rehabilitation efforts, it's time for the NCAA to do...

Understated Work Ethic Defines Halladay

The pitcher's pitcher got here before the sun rose, like he always does, even at 35. Most of Roy Halladay's contemporaries have retired. His best friend in baseball just said no ...

Upset May Cost Michigan a No. 1 Seed

About two minutes remained in Wednesday night's game between Michigan and Penn State when the Nittany Lions student section unleashed an "I believe that we will win chant" during...

No. 4 Michigan Falls in Monumental Upset

Don't get it twisted: Most of what happened in State College, Pa., Wednesday night -- winless Big Ten doormat Penn State shocking No. 4-ranked Michigan, 84-78 -- happened thanks ...

Phillies Depending on Bounce-Back Years

Most of the Phillies were enjoying a post-workout sandwich or already had headed to the golf course Wednesday afternoon, but not Ryan Howard. He was back in a batting cage for some...

Will Kelly Be the Anti-Reid in Philly?

It may not be fair to compare Chip Kelly to Andy Reid. It's just inevitable. Reid was here so long, and came so close to winning a Super Bowl so often, that we're bound to use him...

Holiday Getting Chance to Shine

DOUG COLLINS, age 61, is an analog coach in a digital league, an association of players who best communicate in binary. Jrue Holiday is one such player, as Collins quickly discove...

Rush for 1,000 Yards? Vick Just Clueless

Now that he has a new contract, Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick has a new outlook on his career -- saying he thinks he can run for 1,000 yards in Chip Kelly's offense. That'...

Compact NHL Season Compounds Pressure

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Keeping Vick Might Not Be What It Seems

Chapter umpteen of the Michael Vick saga finds our enigmatic protagonist escaping career limbo yet again.   Just as Vick's career in Philadelphia appeared to be finished, due to ...

Paterno Guilty of Lacking Strong Moral Fiber

Joe Paterno isn’t going to walk on a technicality. He can’t get off on reasonable doubt. It doesn’t matter if he wasn’t given due process.   This isn&...

Chipping Away at Kelly's Credibility

Before Chip Kelly burned his boats, here's hoping he noticed the wreckage along the coastline. They are the ruined vessels of other captains lured toward the rocks by the siren so...

Paternos Subtract Rather Than Add

THE PATERNO FAMILY has offered its rebuttal, all legal-looking and footnoted and serious.   It identifies some flaws in the investigation commissioned by Penn State and carri...

Paterno Family Retort Not Helping Their Cause

Joe Paterno's role in covering up the Jerry Sandusky scandal was unfairly overstated by the Freeh Report and, in fact, Joe Paterno acted in the same proper and righteous manner Jo...

Paternos Strike Back at Freeh Report

Joe Paterno's legacy was shredded by a damning 267-page report that concluded the Penn State coach had placed his vaunted football program above the safety of children preyed upon...

Paternos Put Penn State Back in Spotlight

For all of you who long ago accepted as facts that Joe Paterno made bad decisions related to Jerry Sandusky; that the beloved college football icon deserved a measure of blame for...

Kelly Has Vermeil's Vote of Confidence

By accepting the head coaching position with the Philadelphia Eagles last week, Chip Kelly also welcomed the rigors of running the preeminent team in one of the country's toughest...

Signing Young Latest Phillies' Folly

So let’s say you’re the assistant GM of a big league team that won the World Series five years ago. They threw the team a parade, bid your boss a fond farewell into retirement ...

Vick Looking Better Than Ever

As the Philadelphia Eagles learned in 2011, a "Dream Team" label can be a curse. The Eagles loaded up in the 2011 free-agent market because they could. Coach Andy Reid believes in...

Pitt Should Give Penn St. a Chance

State Farm dropped the Penn State football program. Should Pitt do the same? The schools don’t renew their dormant rivalry until 2016, and only then for a two-game series, b...

Wife Defends Sandusky's Character

The wife of convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky says she still loves him and "he's not who they say he is." Dottie Sandusky made the comments Thursday to a Centre Daily Times ...

Can Coach Prevent Departures?

Penn State coach Bill O'Brien is stressing education and the opportunity to play in front of 108,000 fans every fall Saturday as he tries to convince his players not to transfer....

Everything Unprecented in PSU Case

Everything was unprecedented -- the NCAA's decision to circumvent its own investigative procedures, the sweeping scope and severity of the penalties (including the erasure of 111 w...

Open Season on PSU Players

The feeding frenzy has begun. Staffers from college football programs from all over the country, who already had sized up the Penn State roster for possible transfers ...

O'Brien Will Stay for Right Reasons

On Monday morning, NCAA president Mark Emmert stopped just short of dropping the death penalty on the Penn State football program, and instead implemented what could be thought o...

Paterno's Name Still on Library

arly Sunday morning at Penn State University, a crew of workers in hard-hats dismantled a statue of Joe Paterno outside the football stadium and put it into storage. They removed a...

Penn St. Could Become a Patsy

One of the biggest criticisms of Joe Paterno -- at one time -- was that he played too many patsies. His old program is about to become one. In what could be the most si...

Scandal Leaves NCAA in Quandary

In N.C.A.A. parlance, “lack of institutional control” is a hazy, almost undefinable term. It is also the organization’s ultimate admonishment, the phrase it utt...

Artist Paints Over Paterno's Halo

An artist has removed a halo from a mural of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno amid the school's child sex-abuse scandal. Michael Pilato had put a halo over Paterno's image aft...

Athletes Should Trust Themselves

Trust. The horror show at Penn State now and over the last 15 years has many issues at its core, but one of the biggest ones is trust. The five lowlifes at the center of the scan...

No Plans on Deleting Paterno Image

While the monuments to and imagery of the late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno continue to be in evidence on the State College campus, PSU Board of Trustees chair Karen P...

JoePa's Legacy Ruined by Report

In economics, they say there is no such thing as a free lunch. And this morning at Penn State University, there is no such thing as a ”Freeh Pass” as the university&rsq...

Jurors Disclose Little Doubt

Joshua Harper watched Jerry Sandusky listen to one guilty verdict after another — 45 in all — and was more certain than ever that Sandusky, the former Penn State footb...

Ramifications of Guilty Verdict

The verdict is in: a jury convicted former Penn State defensive coordinator on 45 of 48 counts related to his sexual abuse of children. SI.com legal analyst Michael McCann reacts...

Trial the Easy Part of Justice

Convicting Jerry Sandusky would be the easy part of sorting out and bringing to justice those who took part in the alleged rape of children, either actively or by looking the ...

Should Spend Rest of Life in Prison

Jerry Sandusky was found guilty Friday night on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual molestation and faces up to 442 years in prison. A jury of Sandusky's Centre County, Pa., neighbors ...

What We Can Expect Next

The trial of former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky could end this week, with closing arguments scheduled for Thursday and jury deliberations -- which might take ...

Experts Doubt Defense Theory

The defense in Jerry Sandusky's child sexual abuse trial is suggesting that a personality disorder explains some of the charges against the former Penn State assistant footbal...

Defense Bolstered by Recording

For 16 minutes the tape rolled, apparently unknown to two state police officers investigating Jerry Sandusky and the defense attorney of Victim No. 4 during an April 2011 meeting...

Sandusky's Wife on Witness List

To those who already believed the allegations that Jerry Sandusky had sexually assaulted young boys, the first week of his trial only painted a more vividly horrific picture of the...

Plea Deal Would Have Been Best

If Jerry Sandusky cared anything about Penn State University and the children who once trusted him as a father figure, he would have willingly taken a judicial bullet - a plea ba...

Prosecution Evidence Significant

The slightly built 18-year-old, looking nervous and ashamed, leaned into the witness stand microphone. He was a trailer-park kid, the son of a mom who worked in a bar and a dad who...

Harper, Hamels Move Past HBP

The name came quickly to Hunter Pence. "Bush," Pence said. "Dave Bush." When Pence, then with the Astros, made his Major League debut against the Brewers on April 28, 2007, Bush w...

Nationals Continue Mastery of Phillies

The final, fraying vestiges of the Philadelphia Phillies’ superiority over the Washington Nationals unraveled Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies sent to the mo...

Celtics Waste Chance to Control East

If it's true that it's harder to forget the worst losses than it's easier to remember the best victories, then this is one game that Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen -- n...

Eagles Will Be Back Atop NFC East

Defensive end Justin Tuck says the New York Giants are talking "dynasty," but they should be talking the Philadelphia Eagles instead. Because while the Giants are the ...

Celtics Dominate 76ers in the Paint

Paul Pierce [stats], on his way to a 22-point, 11-rebound game, slashed to the basket midway through the fourth quarter last night and spun in a reverse finger roll off the glas...

Flyers' Veterans Must Set Tone

OK, EIGHT GAMES into this marathon of attrition, and what do we know about this playoff edition of the Flyers? I mean, really know for sure. The goalie has played good enough mos...

Flyers Aren't Satisfied With Lead

Twenty minutes after their Pittsburgh Comeback Tour was over, after the Flyers had pulled another escape that would have made Harry Houdini proud, Max Talbot was so exhausted he ...

Phillies' Offense Finally Explodes

And in the fifth game, they scored runs. And - hopefully - they saw that it was good. In any case, it beat the heck out of flailing at the ball and hoping the Phillies starter pit...

Phillies Fans Can Breathe Easier

Exhale, Philadelphia. The spring training of achy knees and infected heels, of gritted teeth and wrung hands, is finally behind the Phillies. They traveled across the commonwealt...

Stars Trade Grossman to Flyers

For the Flyers, clearing the crease and slot areas have been major problems in the last month, so on Thursday they made a deal they hope will help solve those woes.   They a...

Phillies Must Make Up for Howard

Really, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. had no choice but to ride it out. This is the team that won 102 games in 2011, that’s on a streak of five NL East titles, that had a f...

76ers Get Signature Win Over Bulls

With the sound system booming "Here Come Your Sixers," the team's theme song from a more successful era, when Julius Erving and now-coach Doug Collins played at the now-demolishe...

Phillies' Window Is Closing

At the start of this run, Philadelphia had a potent offense that featured a handful of players simultaneously entering their primes. They now boast one of the strongest starting ...

Penn State Recruits Few Stars

A seemingly endless stream of negative headlines. Prolonged coaching limbo that left men on the verge of getting fired selling the school that was about to fire them. A new head co...

A Last Look at His Numbers

Legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno died Sunday at age 85, a little more than two months after he was fired midway through his 46th season leading the Nittany Lions. ...

Old Joe Would Shame Young Joe

What would young Joe Paterno have said about old Joe Paterno? What would young Joe, intent on his "Grand Experiment," in which athletic excellence and intellectual rigor entwined ...

Life Ends in Jumble of Confusion

In death as in life, timing matters. Had Joe Paterno died Jan. 22, 2011, he’d have been hailed as the one coach who’d negotiated the murky waters of contemporary coll...

Cancer's Timing All the More Painful

If the cancer had been more kind, it would have come earlier. The cancer would have come, say, in late summer. Joe Paterno would have been deified then, with the funeral of a ...

Flyers Rout Free-Falling Wild

The Flyers' youngest and oldest players were instrumental in one of the team's best all-around efforts of the season Tuesday, a 5-1 win over the free-falling Minnesota Wild at th...

76ers Off to Best Start Since '00-01

It wasn't that long ago that Doug Collins wasn't sure how the 76ers would respond to the conditions created by this lockout-shortened season. After all, it began with a five-game...

Can 76ers Compete With the Elite?

Here’s what I’m prepared say about the Sixers, sitting at 6-2, sporting a top-five offense and a top-five defense, leading the Atlantic Division and looking like a to...

Philadelphia Sports News

Lucas Matthysse stops Lamont Peters

Lucas Matthysse stopped Lamont Peterson in the third round Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall in a mat...

Phillies Notes: Revere looking to r

It's odd to hear a man who has never hit a big-league home run talking about regaining his power str...

Phillies pitching prospect Adam Mor

When Phillies fifth starter John Lannan was placed on the disabled list last month with a knee injur...

Penn softball team eliminated

The Penn softball team took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on a two-run homer by Georgia Guttadauro...

Kelly strives for more efficiency i

On any given day during the last several seasons you might have found five or six Eagles sprawled ou...