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:

1. Team is good but doesn't know it yet
2. Team is bad and knows it
3. Team is good and everyone knows it
4. Team is bad and doesn't know it
5. 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

NFL Free Agency may have started, but that didn't stop the Phillies from getting in on the contract action by giving Jesus Luzardo a big ol' extension. I talk about that plus Jordan Davis, Jaelan Phillips, Reed Blankenship, and damnit I'm just realizing as I write this that I completely forgot about Landon Dickerson altering his contract! I knew I was missing something. Well, I guess I get you caught up on most of the Eagles offseason.

Flyers? No one knows what's going on with the Flyers.

Sixers? We all know what is going on with the Sixers.

We aren't sure if we want either to make the playoffs with about a month to go in each season.