BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Turns out Phillies media is only slightly detached from reality regarding Houston Astros, World Series
Oct 27, 2022, 12:39 pm
How quickly they forget. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.
Earlier this week I was watching the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. During his monologue, Colbert mentioned the upcoming World Series and called the Astros "cheaters." I hit rewind, taped his dumbass remark and posted it on Twitter. That lit a fuse. Right up top was this comment by Philadelphia media personality Glen Macnow.
"Because it's true."
Now you've gone and done it. Remember that song by Michael Jackson ... Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'?
Macnow is a big deal on the Philadelphia sports scene. He's been a sports columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, talk host on WIP and author of several books including The Great Philadelphia Fan Book. Up in Philly, they call him "The Professor" because he used to teach at St. Joseph's University. He's also part-owner of five Conshohocken Brewing Company pubs.
He's a friend. We started as rookie reporters together at Today newspaper in Cocoa, Florida. We lived in the same apartment building in Cape Canaveral. The ground shook and windows rattled during a launch. On slow news days, like hard-charging, ambitious reporters we often went out "into the field" to "beat the bushes for stories" ... and by that, I mean we drove down to Melbourne to bet on jai alai.
OK, Macnow, defend your tweet. And answer a few more questions to rile up Astros fans. Trust me, you're poking a bear that don't need poking.
SportsMap: Seriously, do you believe that the Astros are (present tense) cheaters?
Macnow: Do I think they're currently cheating? I don't know. But we all know they got caught cheating before, and that stink will stick to them through the ages. Always and forever when people look back at this franchise they'll think of cameras and buzzers and using trash cans as bass drums. Hey, the rest of the baseball world regards Mike Fiers as Karen Silkwood.
SportsMap: Weren't the Phillies the target of cheating accusations recently, too?
Macnow: Are you referring to Kevin Gross getting caught using sandpaper in 1987? Or to the 1901 Phillies running a wire from the outfield wall to the third baseman? Yeah, those are certainly relevant arguments these days. What else you got?
Editor's note: The Phillies were accused of cheating as recently as 2009 during the season and in the NLCS and World Series.
2009, Phillies. Accused of using video cameras to steal signs during the season and in the NLCS and World Series. https://t.co/plez10RftP pic.twitter.com/ThvFSM0Ios
— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) August 30, 2020
SportsMap: After the Phillies won the NLCS, their fans were chanting, "We want Houston." Think that was smart? How'd that work out for Yankees fans who chanted the same thing?
Macnow: The fans were chanting that because they knew the team was going to face the Astros. That was a foregone conclusion. What would you want them to be chanting at the time, "Dallas sucks?" Actually, they chanted that as well, but that's a football crossover that gets shouted at every sports and civic event in Philadelphia. Hey, if the Astros need this for bulletin board material, they're a sensitive lot.
SportsMap: Let's see, the Astros had a better record this year in a tougher league, they have the Cy Young winner going in Game One, they have more players with postseason experience, and they have home field advantage. What makes you think the Phillies will win the World Series?
Macnow: Well, I'm not going to tell you that the Phillies are a more talented team, because they're not. We're loud in this town, but we're not stupid. I do note, however, that the aforementioned Justin Verlander is 0-6 with a 5.68 earned run average in seven World Series starts, and that trend must mean something. The Phillies are suspect on defense. Their bullpen is shallow. They were the last team to make the playoffs and had just the 10th-best record in the Majors this year. But they were a team with high expectations going into the season, and they're gelling at just the right time. They can beat you with power and beat you with small ball. They've got Wheeler and Nola going four of the seven games, and both of those pitchers have been terrific recently. Underdogs frequently win in the postseason. I'll ride with the mojo.
SportsMap: For Astros fans flying up for Games 3 and 4 (get it?), where's the best Philly cheesesteak in Philly?
Macnow: You should avoid the usual tourist traps. Instead, find your way to Steve's Prince of Steaks, Dalessandro's, Sonny's Famous or Tony Luke's. Or, perhaps even better, get to John's Roast Pork in South Philadelphia, which not only has a terrific cheesesteak, but may have the best sandwich in town right in its name. Roast pork sandwiches - with sharp provolone and broccoli rabe - are a gastronomic specialty of this town and well worth the trip. Better than a cheesesteak. Just don't go in there - or anywhere - wearing one of those ugly Astros jerseys.
A step too far?
No wonder Astros fans might think it’s us against the world. I have an Echo smart speaker from Amazon. I asked “Alexa,” who’s going to win the World Series? Here’s her answer, and I’m not kidding.
“This year I'm a Philly Phanatic. The Astros might be the favorite but allow me a little name-dropping. Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola are two bona fide ace starting pitchers for the Phillies with magical right arms. So my pick goes to the underdog, the Philadelphia Phillies who are on a roll knocking off three tough opponents with strong pitching and timely hitting. Houston, you're going to have a problem.”
Hey “Alexa,” the Houston problem thing is tired and why am I arguing with you, you're just a stupid computer voice.
For the record, I asked “Siri” the same question. She said she didn’t know.
Sengun has 32 points and 14 rebounds as the Rockets beat the Grizzlies
Jan 10, 2025, 2:32 pm
Everyone raved about the leadership of second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud this week as the Houston Texans prepared for their wild-card playoff game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Everyone, that is, except the man himself.
“I don’t think I’m a great (leader),” Stroud said sheepishly. “I don’t know. That’s probably a bad thing to say about yourself, but I don’t think I’m all that when it comes to leading. I just try to be myself.”
But the 23-year-old Stroud simply being himself is exactly what makes him the undisputed leader of this team.
“C.J. is authentic, he’s real,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “It’s not only here, it’s in the locker room around the guys and that’s what leadership is to me. As you evolve as a leader, you just be authentic to yourself. You don’t have to make up anything or make up a speech or make up something to say to guys. C.J. is being C.J.”
Sixth-year offensive lineman Tytus Howard said he knew early on that Stroud would be special.
“He has that aura about him that when he speaks, everybody listens,” he said.
Stroud has helped the Texans win the AFC South and reach the playoffs for a second straight season after they had combined for just 11 wins in the three years before he was drafted second overall.
He was named AP Offensive Rookie of the Year last season, when Houston beat the Browns in the first round before falling to the Ravens in the divisional round.
His stats haven’t been as good as they were in his fabulous rookie season when he threw just five interceptions. But he has put together another strong season in Year 2 despite missing top receiver Nico Collins for five games early and losing Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell to season-ending injuries in the second half of the season. He also started every game despite being sacked a whopping 52 times.
“He’s taken some crazy shots,” Howard said. “But even if he’s getting sacked and stuff like that, he just never lets that get to him. He just continues to fight through it, and it basically uplifts the entire offense.”
He also finds ways to encourage the team off the field and works to build chemistry through team get-togethers. He often invites the guys over to his house for dinner or to watch games. Recently, he rented out a movie theater for a private screening of “Gladiator II.”
“He’s like, ‘I want the guys to come in and bond together because this thing builds off the field and on the field,’” Howard said. “So, we need to be closer.”
Another thing that makes Stroud an effective leader is that his teammates know that he truly cares about them as people and not just players. That was evident in the loss to the Chiefs when Dell was seriously injured. Stroud openly wept as Dell was tended to on the field and remained distraught after he was carted off.
“It was good for people to see me in that light and knowing that there is still a human factor to me,” he said. "And I think that was good for people to see that we’re just normal people at the end of the day.”
Stroud said some of the leaders who molded him were his father, his coaches in high school and college, and more recently Ryans.
His coach said Stroud has been able to lead the team effectively early in his career because he knows there are others he can lean on if he needs help.
“Understanding that it’s not all on him as a leader, it’s all of our guys just buying in, doing what they have to do,” Ryans said. “But also, C.J. understanding a lot of guys are looking up to him on the team and he takes that role seriously. But it’s not a heavy weight for him because we have other leaders, as well, around him.”
Stroud considers himself stubborn and though some consider that a bad quality, he thinks it’s helped him be a better leader. He's had the trait as long as he can remember.
“That kind of carried into the sport,” he said. “Even as a kid, my mom used to always say how stubborn I was and just having a standard is how I hear it. It’s stubborn (but) I just have a standard on how I like things to be done and how I hold myself is a standard.”
And, to be clear, he doesn’t consider himself a bad leader, but he did enjoy hearing that others on the team consider him a great one.
“I just don’t look at myself in that light of just I’m all-world at that,” he said. “But I try my best to lead by example and it’s cool because I don’t ask guys and to hear what they have to say about that is kind of cool.”
Though he doesn’t consider himself a great leader, Stroud does have strong feelings about what constitutes one. And he’s hoping that he’ll be able to do that for his team Saturday to help the Texans to a victory, which would make him the sixth quarterback in NFL history to start and win a playoff game in both of his first two seasons.
“That would be making everybody around you better,” he said of great leaders. “Kind of like a point guard on the offense, the quarterback on the football team, the pitcher on a baseball team — just making everybody around you better.”