Leftovers: Philly Learns Good

• A new way to get kids in underachieving Philadelphia high schools to pass? Send them to a work-free Saturday school! Money line: “At University City’s graduation, about 355 students were listed in the program as graduates - the highest number of graduating seniors in years, according to a teacher who attended. But the program warned that just because a person’s name was listed, it didn’t mean he had graduated.” [Daily News]

• Some advice to coaches who have recently been fired because they were too tough: If there’s an article about the dustup in the Inquirer, do not — I repeat, do NOT — tell the reporter, “My goal has always been to put on a successful program first, and the kids are second, a close second,” regardless of your intentions when you said it, because it makes you look like a jackass. However, you’re way ahead in one area: Posting your side of the story on the Internet. If only it was on a blog… [Inquirer]

• The city’s leaders met today to discuss ways to end violence. Of course, it was closed-door, which means… well, hey, maybe they are actually committed to ending gun violence! [Inquirer]

• Dick Polman wrote a very nice piece late last week on his blog about the failure of the Bush Administration. Blah blah blah, we already know this, sure, but it’s required reading if you’re one of those people who haven’t regretted your 2000/2004 Bush votes just yet. [Dick Polman's American Debate]

• Money line from Moe Tkacik’s NYT piece about interns yesterday, from an American Apparel manager: “[P]eople in their 20’s are living at home or getting their bills paid by their parents and going out and getting wasted like it’s 1995, so hanging out with 15-year-olds is not outside the realm of normal.” You don’t know how hard it was to pick just one quote from this thing. [New York Times]

• The good? Chase Utley, 32-game hitting streak. (Screw you, Ed Delahanty!) The bad? Marlins 15, Phillies 2. [AP/Yahoo!]

• Okay, kids, enjoy the rest of your afternoon. More (and better, I swear) shore stuff tomorrow. Stay cool. Maybe ride the bus around with old people?

Leggo My Sluggo

I go on assignment for two days and what happens? I miss the greatest letter to the editor in the history of letters to the editor.

Here’s the letter, in full:

We are outraged by the July 20 “Nancy” comic strip.

By making light of Nancy beating Sluggo to a pulp in a jealous rage, the strip trivializes relationship abuse and suggests that violence is an acceptable way to resolve personal disputes.

Domestic violence should not be a punch line for a cheap joke. You and the strip’s authors owe your readers an apology.

Judy Kahan, Chief Executive Officer
Center Against Domestic Violence Brooklyn, N.Y.

After the jump, some thoughts.

More »

Sixers For Sale?

The Boston Globe had this interesting item buried deep within an NBA notes column yesterday. It said, in essence, Comcast was going to sell the Sixers almost imminently. Then it contained this sentence: “The Sixers’ announced attendance was down about 7.5 percent last season and the Allen Iverson-Chris Webber marriage seems to be working about as well as the Julia Roberts-Lyle Lovett union did.”

Okay, so that sentence should make you less likely to trust the article. But the Comcast Spectacor brass just issued a non-denial denial: “We receive expressions of interest from time to time…. we’re not actively selling the team.”

Which means… hey, maybe the team is for sale. Joe Juliano notes all the Sixers’ recent problems in an article in today’s Inquirer, but notes that the team is worth upwards of $351 million, according to Forbes.

It’d seem a little strange for Comcast to deal the 76ers, since they also own the Flyers and the stadium both teams play in. And, yeah, the attendance is dropping, but just five years ago the team had the highest attendance it ever had.

Still, there’s one nagging question that makes us think this report is just a bit off: Who in their right minds would want to buy the 76ers?

For sale: Philadelphia 76ers [Boston Globe, 2nd item]
Executive: Sixers not for sale [Inquirer]

Down The Shore: Wildwood Finally Hits 1995

Headline in last week’s Press of Atlantic City shore guide:

Don’t laugh; this actually makes sense. Wildwood just stopped playing “Rhythm is a Dancer” last summer. Getting to Live was a logical next step.

Live brings new era of uplifting rock to Wildwood [Press of AC]

Suburbanites Are Cul-De-Suckers

The Bucks County Courier Times today fills us all in on the number one problem facing America today. That is, of course, cul-de-sacs.

For those who don’t know, a cul-de-sac is the highly sensitive area behind the cervix that can cause female orgasm. No, wait! Wrong cul-de-sac! A cul-de-sac, at least for purposes of this article, is a suburban street (usually in a development) that separates has no outlet. Its purpose is to cut down traffic on residential streets.

Apparently, though, in recent years the cul-de-sac has become a menace, with New Urbanists (whoever they are) saying that the cul-de-sac actually increases traffic in suburban areas! Not on the cul-de-sac, of course, but on other roads in the area. Essentially, the anti-cul-de-sac movement is all part of the suburban backlash of the past 10 years or so.

Still, though, those New Urbanists can get pretty nasty:

Here and across the country, some municipalities have limited or banned cul-de-sacs altogether in favor of streets laid out in more orderly grids. And many urban planners view the suburban dead-end streets with a scorn usually reserved for, say, foot fungus.

“Cul-de-suck” is just one derisive nickname.

Just one? Oh, please, Courier Times, we demand a full list!

Are cul-de-sacs more of a nuisance than a benefit? [Bucks County Courier Times]

Your Heat Wave Update

Here’s a wrap-up of heat wave coverage from our oh-so-fine local media outlets.

• Today, it’s supposed to hit 96 degrees, according to a weather-obsessed station that shall remain nameless. My widget says it’s currently 87. [NBC 10]

• Cheer up, Center City office workers! Although you’re in long pants today — well, most likely — it’s not all bad. While food trucks are still in operation despite 130 degree heat inside them, the horse-n-buggies are not, possibly saving you about 15 seconds on the car ride home. [KYW 1060]

• Tip from CBS 3: Do not leave older people, children, or pets alone in cars. This, however, is okay during all other times of the year. [CBS 3]

• Meanwhile, Action News reports that Philadelphia’s Heatline workers have “sound advice”, such as “opening windows if your home does not have air conditioning.” [6 ABC]

Gun Violence Problem? Solved!

This, however, is my favorite part: The shop that was closed, Lou’s Loans, sold a gun that somehow ended up in the hands of “a person involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing,” says the AP. Glad they were right on top of this one.

Government Revokes License Of Upper Darby Gun Shop [AP/CBS 3]

Are Ex-Phillies Killer?

Every time somebody gets traded out of Philadelphia, everyone thinks the same thing: Oh, now he’s going to be awesome. And with the recent flurry of trades the Phillies have made so far this year — including another one today that shipped Rheal Cormier to the Reds — we figured it’d be nice to look at how the ex-Phillies do the rest of the season. Not that it will prove anything, but we think it’ll be a fun experiment. For hitters, we’ll track average, RBI, homers and OPS over the rest of the season. (Click here for an explanation of OPS, on-base percentage plus slugging.) For pitchers, appearances or starts, win-loss record and ERA. And we’ll make fun of Rheal Cormier when the Reds realize he lets every inherited runner score.

Below, a table of who’s been traded, and how they’ve done:

Player	With Phillies	Since Trade
Sal Fasano	.243 AVG, 10 RBI, 4 HR, .701 OPS	.200 AVG, 0 RBI, 0 HR, .400 OPS
David Bell	.278 AVG, 34 RBI, 6 HR, .743 OPS	.143 AVG, 0 RBI, 0 HR, .536 OPS
Bobby Abreu	.277 AVG, 65 RBI, 8 HR, .861 OPS	TK
Cory Lidle	21 GS, 8-7, 4.74 ERA	TK
Rheal Cormier	43 APP, 2-2, 1.59 ERA	TK

Check back in each and every day to see how well these ex-Phillies are doing! (We’ll be changing “With Phillies” to “Last Night” after this first post.) And, hey, more could be added…

Phils deal Cormier to Reds for Germano [AP/ESPN.com]

Down The Shore: A Whale Of A Time!

Late last week, a group of beachgoers were sitting around, minding their own business in Sea Isle City, when they spotted a pair of whales on the beach. So the beachgoers decided to form a chain and push, push, push the whales back into the ocean.

This is quite a feat. When I’m on the beach, I don’t want to get up for anything that doesn’t involve me immediately getting back on the towel and going to sleep. But apparently people in Sea Isle are good people, and so a group of about 20 of them rolled two whales (a baby, which was easy, and a mother, which took extra support) back into the ocean.

There’s been no sight of the whales since we humans pushed our fellow mammal back into the ocean, but Mitch Myers, who helped rescue the whale, knows what he’ll remember:

“That’s the biggest mammal I’ve ever touched,” said Myers.

Just in case you thought he had touched a larger whale.

Beached whales in Sea Isle City returned to the water [Press of Atlantic City]
Photo via 6 ABC

Sexy Singles Love Their Phillies, Uh, Pitchers

Today is the Daily News annual “Sexy Singles” competition, celebrating the sexiest friends of Daily News reporter Jenice Armstrong, as well as a few media people. (Co-host of 10! show? Check. Co-host of Good Day Philadelphia? Check.)

This year, it’s been split up into two days, with the men tomorrow — oh, we are excited — and the women today. There’s not much of note in the list of sexy singles. None of them are particularly bad-looking, only one nominated herself for the award. The DN web staff apparently didn’t think we’d be interested in seeing photos of sexy singles, so you’ll have to buy the paper to see the damage. But this did catch our eye (italics ours):

Lindsay Megraw

Age: 29
Job: Nanny.
Marital status: Single.
Neighborhood: West Chester.
Number of children: None. [...]
Secretly lusts for: Phillies pitcher Pat Burrell.

I believe that’s what we call a swing and a miss.

Update, 2:38 p.m.: Since this has been posted, (1) the incorrect position for Pat Burrell has been fixed and (2) photos have been uploaded. Huzzah.

Sexy & Single [Daily News]
LF Pat Burrell [Phillies.com]