Sad Sixers | Sports Daily Newsletter

Who saw this coming? The Sixers sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with a 1-6 record and the news got worse Thursday. Tyrese Maxey will be sidelined multiple weeks with a right hamstring injury, according to sources.

It’s fair to wonder whether we’ll see the vaunted Big Three on the court together anytime before next month. Paul George sat out the first five games of the season with a bone bruise in his left knee. Joel Embiid has yet to play, missing the first six games for “left knee injury management.” Now he’s through one game of a three-game suspension for shoving Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes.

Embiid is on track to play his first game on Tuesday against the Knicks. No pressure, big guy, but the Sixers will need you to come flying out of the gate. Embiid had better return with a sense of urgency that matches the situation, David Murphy writes.

“It’s really dark right now, in terms of us and how we’re playing and not winning,” veteran guard Kyle Lowry says. “And it’s really down and not great, but all we can do is continue to try to work at it.”

— Jim Swan, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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The Union fired Jim Curtin on Thursday, ending the manager’s 10-year reign with the MLS club. The dismissal of Curtin, 45, came as a shock to many outsiders, even after the Union failed to reach the playoffs this season. The former Villanova star won MLS’s coach of the year award in 2020 and 2022. Curtin’s career record of 170-134-90 speaks volumes for a team that has been frugal in its spending on players.

“Following the 2024 season we recognize the need for change,” said the Union’s sporting director, Ernst Tanner.

The reaction on social media was swift. “Jim Curtin has done an incredible job and has been the heart and soul of the club,” said MLS analyst and former player Danny Higginbotham.

Our writers are all predicting that the Eagles will head on the road and beat the Cowboys by at least a touchdown.

With Dak Prescott out with an injury, the Eagles will face Cowboys backup quarterback Cooper Rush, who’s no slouch. The Eagles defense has been stingy of late, but won’t overlook Rush on Sunday in Arlington, Texas.

The Cowboys do have a scoring weapon in kicker Brandon Aubrey, who years earlier was a soccer player trying to make it in MLS with the Union and ended up on an improbable path to becoming a Pro Bowler.

Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense, meanwhile, did not successfully execute any Tush Pushes against the Jacksonville Jaguars. But the Eagles are still confident in the play.

The Eagles play in Week 10 against the Dallas Cowboys. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from AT&T Stadium.

Matvei Michkov’s first season with the Flyers started out like gangbusters, as the Russian teen scored two goals in his second game and went on to be named October’s rookie of the month.

He’s been much quieter of late, particularly at five-on-five, and has found himself stapled to the bench at times by John Tortorella. On Thursday, Tortorella took it a step further by benching Michkov for the Flyers’ game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. As the coach said, “It’s part of the process.”

We’ll see if Michkov is back in the lineup Saturday against Florida.

Even without Michkov in the lineup, along with goalie Aleksei Kolosov, who missed last night’s game with a lower-body injury, the Flyers got clutch goals from Owen Tippett to beat the Lightning, 2-1, in a shootout.

Griff McGarry’s 2024 season didn’t go the way he wanted it to. Aside from dealing with injuries, his move to the bullpen didn’t solve his command issues — he had 36 walks and 42 strikeouts in 31⅔ innings over two levels in the minor leagues. When he was sent to the Arizona Fall League, the Phillies decided to move him back to being a starter. Part of this was to build up his innings again. But another part of it was to see how he’d look in his former role. And the results have been solid.

The general managers’ meetings are in the books. There were no blockbuster trades, but there was plenty of chatter. Here’s what our reporters who were there took away from what they heard in San Antonio.

Villanova has a lot of improving to do after a stunning 10-point basketball loss to Columbia on Wednesday. The Lions seemed to have the better coach, the better plan, and, for large stretches of the game, looked like the better team, Jeff Neiburg writes.

“We’re human beings,” Villanova coach Kyle Neptune said. “We don’t want to come in and lose. Everybody wants to win. We have a little bit to think about that and accept the fact that it happened, and now we have to move on from it. We got to go get ready for the next game and get better.”

Meanwhile, the Penn men’s squad pulled out a narrow victory over Maryland Eastern Shore behind transfer Ethan Roberts’ 23 points.

The Drexel women honored their CAA championship team last season before beating Marist in its season-opener. It was the Amaris Baker show.

Four games into the season, the Eagles offense was stuck. With the team on its bye week, key members of the offensive line felt it was time to speak up. So they went to their head coach and offensive coordinator with feedback. It was straightforward and to the point. “We’ve got Saquon [bleeping] Barkley. Let’s give him the [bleeping] ball.”

Message received. Since then, the Eagles haven’t lost, climbing their way to the top of the NFC. While the players deserve props for pushing the idea, so does Nick Sirianni for listening and actually implementing it. Jeff McLane wonders if there’s more Sirianni should be getting credit for. Listen here.

Just a reminder to submit photos with a Philly sports theme. Send your photos here for the opportunity to be featured.

Check out a fun game we call Bird Box to test your knowledge of Eagles players past and present.

We asked you: Are the Eagles the best team in the NFC East? Among your responses:

Frankly, this question remains unanswerable until after at least the first game against Washington. My personal opinion is that even without the discussion of Jayden Daniels and their 30+ point average, the Eagles have to prove that they can stop an underrated but powerful running game. — Pat M.

Not as long as Sirianni is the coach. The Eagles will not win their division because Sirianni will cost them wins. If he suddenly gets a brain, then they have a chance. — Daniel W.

Not until they beat the Commanders. — Tom G.

Eagles are clearly the best in the EAST. Only 4 teams in the NFL have a better record. The Commanders are one of those at 7-2, but have played 1 more game than the Eagles. Cowboys and Giants are far behind both teams. Offensively Eagles are slightly behind Commanders in points per game and passing yards per game, but far ahead in rushing yards per game. Defensively the Eagles hold their opponents to fewer yards per game and points per game than do the Commanders. Eagles are currently 3rd best in fewest yards per game given up at 290.1 while Commanders allow 326.3 yards per game. Now let’s show we are the best by crushing the Boys on their home turf. — Everett S.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Keith Pompey, David Murphy, Matt Breen, Jonathan Tannenwald, Gabriela Carroll, EJ Smith, Olivia Reiner, Jeff McLane, Jeff Neiburg, Scott Lauber, Alex Coffey, Lochlahn March, Jackie Spiegel, Ariel Simpson, Avery Hill, Katie Lewis, Conor Smith, and Paulie Loscalzo.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

As always, thanks for reading. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you in Monday’s Sports Daily. — Jim