🦅 Six years of Sirianni | Sports Daily Newsletter

With the page turned on the FIFA World Cup, to ease the pain of soccer’s monthlong party bidding farewell, we need something to look forward to.

In Philadelphia, that would be the start of the Eagles’ season and what head coach Nick Sirianni has planned as he heads into his sixth season.

Over that span, the Birds have been on a pretty successful run, going to two Super Bowls, winning one, compiling a 69.4% win rate with him at the helm. He’s come a long way from the head coach who struggled to put two intelligent sentences together during his introductory press conference.

But as he heads into another season with a new offensive coordinator and crop of new faces, how does he plan to spice things up? That’s what Inquirer writer Jeff Neiburg explores in this piece that gives a behind-the-scenes look into Sirianni’s mindset.

Speaking of mindset, yours should be ready for a few scattered showers today but, all in all, another nice day across the region with highs expected only in the mid-80s.

— Kerith Gabriel, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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❓What’s your wish for the Eagles and Sirianni this season? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

Talkin’ baseball

In the aftermath of the MLB All-Star Game, Phillies owner John Middleton has to be a pretty happy camper. In fact, we know he is because Scott Lauber caught up with him for our latest Phillies Extra, to recap how the city did during its week at the center of the baseball universe.

But that wasn’t all. He got into the upcoming trade deadline (Aug. 3), Wall of Fame ceremony for Chase Utley (Aug. 7), Field of Dreams Game in Iowa (Aug. 13), in addition to his and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski’s futures at the top of the Phillies’ organizational masthead.

It’s certainly worth a read, or listen if you need something while you tackle whatever’s on your plate today. Speaking of the Phillies, Trea Turner struggled defensively Monday night, but hit his 200th career homer in a 10-7 win over the Dodgers.

What we’re…

🏀 Reading: What the Sixers are saying about Jaylen Brown, now that he’s in the fold.

⚽ Sharing: With the World Cup over, some thoughts on what could put America in a good position to chase glory in four years.

❤️ Loving: The fact that there is a player in the Eagles preseason player pool named “Hollywood” Brown. Real name: Marquise.

🤔 Wondering: Why did someone think they’d get away with robbing Saquon Barkley’s house?

Iced out

With a four-year, $26 million extension wrapped up, Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale is ready to build on the success that got him that sizable bump.

Although he entered the NHL as an offensive defenseman, he is now strong on both sides of the puck — creating offense, as seen by his career high in goals (eight) and tying his previous best in points (32), while building his defensive game. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Flyers had a 50.5% goal share with Drysdale on the ice.

Inquirer writer Jackie Spiegel has more on Drysdale, his upside and the lessons he said he’s learned to become one of the NHL’s most impressive defensive presences.

Holding out

When this newsletter dropped, the Union were a little more than 36 hours out from a return to MLS action when they welcome the rival New York Red Bulls to Subaru Park. But as it stood right around the same time, they’ll be doing so without starting center back Olwethu Makhanya, who is reportedly holding out after the Union did not push forward with a pair of teams interested in his services.

As the team is looking to start fresh in this second half of the season post-World Cup, this comes at the worst time for interim coach Ryan Richter and Co. Inquirer writer Jonathan Tannenwald has more on the situation and what the Union are saying about it.

Field of dreams

On this edition of “Please take my money,” the Phillies will wear 1939 throwback jerseys when they travel to Iowa to take on the Minnesota Twins on Aug. 13. Produced by Nike, the sleeve will feature the 1939 Baseball Centennial patch that all teams wore that season, and to complete the look, the Phils will wear navy hats with a bold red “P.”

While we’re still waiting to see when these will be available for purchase, Inquirer writer Matt Breen has more on the uniform and its historic past.

On this date

July 21, 1973: Phillies pitcher Ken Brett watched as Atlanta Braves great Hank Aaron took his fastball to the yard for Aaron’s 700th all-time home run.

Dave Murphy’s take…

“Speaking of leverage … It isn’t in [Phillies president Dave] Dombrowski’s favor right now. The idea of buyers and sellers is a false choice. There is a price for everything. The more plausible a team’s denial of having to sell, the higher the price they can sell for. The more teams that could potentially buy at the right price, the higher the price for everyone. — The latest from Murphy examines how important the trade deadline really is, particularly from where the Phillies stand.

🧠 Trivia time answer

Before this year, when was the last time Spain won the World Cup?

Answer: C: 2010 — Joey M. was first with the correct answer.

Would you believe if we told you that the last time Spain won it all, they were even more star-studded than they were on Sunday?

What you’re saying about the World Cup

We asked: What did you think of this World Cup?

World Cup was great, but instead of babbling on and on, I wish someone would have taken the time to explain offsides and why, as well as the difference between a foul and penalty, and why someone gets a yellow card and why they don’t. I was absolutely hooked, and I am not a soccer fan. — Bill M.

Wasn’t a soccer fan before, but I am now! I watched almost every game, and I loved it. I really loved how the whole world came together to root for their teams — their own countries or adopted ones. I have a lot of English DNA, so they became my team. My son-in-law has Spanish DNA, so that became my team and “I” won! Man, it looks like brutally hard work for the players in scorching heat. You’ve got players pulling, pushing, and tripping you, and you have been running like a crazy person for over an hour. I’m exhausted just watching. It’s been great feeling the world connection. I wish we could do something like it every year. Maybe we’d all get along better. — Cathy J.

What a pleasure to be the host country on our 250th anniversary. The crowds did not disappoint, nor did the competition. We had an early run by the US in group play, Messi magic through the semifinals, a wild high-scoring third-place game and a more traditional strategic final in extra time. — Bob C.

I think that FIFA needs to change the rule that results in a player being disqualified after a second yellow card (i.e, a red card) for the remainder of the match and making his team have one less player during that time. Spain had a huge advantage for the remainder of the second half and the overtime period and ultimately beat Argentina after they went down a player. I think a system more like that in hockey is that the player gets disqualified, but that another player can come out of the “penalty box” after a specified period of time (for instance, 5 minutes?). I was not rooting for either team but just found the penalty excessive and unfair to the other team. Should the coach of Argentina remove a player who has a yellow card to avoid the penalty arising during the match and causing the team to play the rest of the match at a disadvantage? — Stuart R.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Matt Breen, Jeff Neiburg, Kerith Gabriel, Jonathan Tannenwald, David Murphy, Jackie Spiegel, Scott Lauber, Maggie Prosser, Vinny Vella, and Gabriela Carroll.

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.

Here’s hoping you have a good start to your Tuesday. Catch you later this week. — Kerith