Thursday was quite a successful day if you are a Philadelphia sports fan!
The 76ers stepped up and crushed the Toronto Raptors, defeating them in the first round of the playoffs. They won by 35 points to advance to the second round. The 76ers should have won the series in four or five games and were up 3-0, when the Raptors came back with a vengeance. I think we all have to admit there was a lot of angst going into that game. They will now go against the Miami Heat who are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, so they have a lot of work to do. They played a great Game 6 to close out the Raptors, but I don’t think they’re going to beat Miami in the second round because Joel Embiid has a pretty severe thumb injury that will most likely require surgery at the end of season. But Embiid is a force of nature, so I hope I get to eat my words.
In other good news, the Eagles made some really good (and surprising) picks in the first round of the NFL Draft. They traded up to the 13th pick with the Houston Texans and took defensive lineman Jordan Davis from Georgia. He is probably going to play behind Fletcher Cox for one year and then replace him. Jordan is a huge guy and is listed at 6-foot-6 and weighing 341 pounds, but the dude can run! He was a real asset in Georgia in helping them win the National Championship this year. The Eagles also pulled off a big trade for former Tennessee Titan, AJ Brown. If he lives up to his potential from years ago, he will be a great addition.
On a side note, only one quarterback was selected in the first round. This was Kenny Pickett from Pittsburgh. He’s going to be in the running to replace Ben Roethlisberger for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I hope this works out for the Steelers.
And last but not least, the Phillies completed a sweep of the Colorado Rockies to get back to a .500 record for the season. They were driving me crazy, so this was great to see. Hopefully this will continue and be a turn around for the good as this was a very easy series against the Colorado Rockies thanks to all the Rockies’ defensive mishaps that helped the Phillies a lot. They now need to keep this momentum going because they are headed into a series with the first-place New York Mets. No pressure!
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
