👀 All eyes on Jason Kelce’s pump-up dance | Morning Newsletter

The weather’s looking beautifully sunny this weekend.

And welcome back to our weekly “obsession section” just in Saturday editions. I’m dedicating this week’s section to Jason Kelce’s instantly iconic onstage dance. This dance is destined for outsize impact and it’s going to live rent-free in my mind all season long.

Also, state Sen. Doug Mastriano is in a legal feud with a student who claimed his WWI book contains a number of inaccuracies, Penn State removed their independent student newspaper and racks from campus in a move detractors are saying threatened the free flow of info on campus, and City Council’s planning some workshops in light of the most recent property assessments.

— Ashley Hoffman (@_AshleyHoffman, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Hard to believe it’s been only five sleeps since Jason Kelce got his wiggles out onstage for ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown.

If you didn’t already know that Jason Kelce is indisputably the life of every party he descends on, perhaps you haven’t caught him in action at an event where revelry is occurring.

There he was. A grown gentleman in a ”South Philly tuxedo” a.k.a. a velvet green sweat suit emblazoned with the Italia flag. Jason later told his brother Travis on New Heights that he did the dance to kill time. “I gotta do something. I can’t just stand there like a jamoke. I gotta bring the energy.” Boy did he deliver when he let his body do the talking to the tune of “Million Dollar Baby” by Tommy Richman.

Let’s break this dance down move by move. I would describe the Jason pump-up choreography as a well-coordinated, flexible tubular balloon man outside a car dealership with a masterful stomp and simultaneous Matrix backward lean. He then impressively transitioned into a very serious running man. He finally topped it off with a head jiggle and a fist pump he seemed to be doing to rally himself to keep going. His showman energy is every child’s delight when they see themselves on the Jumbotron. In the former center’s now viral moment, he possessed the unbridled joy of all of Lincoln Financial Field on the victorious nights we know are in our near future.

“I don’t know if I have any more energy, guys,” Jason joked when he took his seat to get down to his official analyst job. But you know the guy’s always all in. This. Man. Hometown heroics. Check. Heart of a champion. Check. Emotional athleticism. Check.

I want players to celebrate touchdowns with the Jason pump-up dance on the field. I want dancers to audition for snobby judges at Juilliard with this 20-second dance and then immediately leave the building, hop on a Megabus to 30th Street Station and retract their Juilliard applications. I want groomsmen to surround grandmas at Shore destination weddings and Do The Dance. I want Philly Elmo to do it down my street. I want Jason to do the dance atop a float on New Year’s Day to Eve’s “Who’s That Girl,” Tierra Whack’s “Clones,” and Japanese Breakfast’s “Everybody Wants to Love You.” Then he should slow his backward lean waaaaay down for Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia.” I want him to teach me the dance, too. But for now, I’ll just watch the clip on repeat.

As a born and bred New Yorker, I was moved by Jason’s energy before I relocated to South Philly, home of sharp velour tux suiting because I led Super Bowl coverage at Time. In fact, Jason’s speech was my first introduction to this town’s curiously large sparkly hats, which I didn’t even understand at the time. But we could all understand his PASSION. I went to the game with my friend, and I have never been more proud to live in Philadelphia than when Jason took his low-energy fist pump back up to high-energy fist pump. He is not just one of Philly’s finest. He is among humanity’s best representatives.

Jason, as your moves proved, you do still, in fact, work here.

Our columnist Jenice Armstrong writes that Kamala Harris’ interview with three national journalists hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists at WHYY on Tuesday was a “return to normalcy.”

“Our esteemed African American elders would say that she acts as if she had had ‘good home training.’ In other words, she’s been schooled in how to treat people with respect — even during tense moments, such as when the event moderators attempted to push her on her answers or cut her off when she went on too long,” Armstrong wrote.

Read on for her column from inside the event about what made the event notable.

Do you remember which spots were filmed in The Sopranos, if you caught culture reporter Rosa Cartagena’s story on the documentary Wise Guys?

A) Atlantic City’s Boardwalk

B) the Pine Barrens

C) Lombardi’s

D) the turnpike

Think you know? Check your answer.

Who did Kevin Bacon often get mistaken for in Philly?

A) Kyra Sedgwick

B) Ed Bacon

C) Michael Bacon

D) Ethan Hawke

Find out if you know the answer.

Hint: The first Black woman to campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination

HIRSCH HOLY LIMES

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Leslie Entwistle who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: Horticultural Society.

Our very own staff photographer Tom Gralish has been stopping at Wawas between assignments for decades. Over the years, he’s chronicled all kinds of businesses that used to be a Wawa. They still look like Wawas with their stone facades, double glass doors, and gabled rooftops, which helps Tom spot them and take some snaps. Take the journey with him.

Princess Diana is far from the only one to embrace Eagles aesthetics highly effectively. Connoisseur of life itself, North Philly’s own Tina McIntosh wore her love of the Eagles on her head, almost like a tapestry. When she shared the masterpiece online, it caused quite the stir as arts and culture reporter Earl Hopkins notes in his interview with McIntosh.

👋 Erin Reynolds is tapping in to bring you your typical Sunday edition tomorrow.

I’m taking out some friends from Denmark who are staying with me this week. I’m bringing them to Uptown Beer Garden’s “Freak Show” because it’s all decked out for Halloween, Her Place for an unforgettable dining experience, and finally Andra Hem because it’s Scandinavian-inspired. They love their food, so write back to me if you have suggestions for things I should show them for a chance to be featured in this newsletter.