As we head into Labor Day Weekend, we say goodbye to one of the busiest sports summers in Philadelphia history, one that included a World Cup, an MLB All-Star Game, and much, much more. One of the summer’s final events was the return of the Philly Cycling Classic, but there was also a one-of-a-kind event on the Delaware River and a Sixers rookie locked in a glass gaming truck in South Philly.
As they do each Friday, Inquirer photo editors picked the best sports images from the last seven days. Even with the Phillies on the West Coast, there was plenty to choose from for this week’s Big Picture …
Sixers rookie Labaron Philon Jr. spent several hours locked in a glass gaming truck on Tuesday outside of Geno’s Steaks as part of a promotion for “NBA 2K27”Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Germany’s Tim Torn Teutenberg crosses the finish line to win the men’s race in the Philadelphia Cycling Classic on Sunday.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Second-place finisher Ronald Donaldson (from left), winner Tim Torn Teutenberg, and third-place finisher Jonas Rutsch celebrate on the podium after the men’s race.Jose F. Moreno / Staff PhotographerThe peloton heads up to Lemon Hill near the official fan fest for the Philly Cycling Classic in Philadelphia.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Competitors in the men’s race make the climb up the famed Manayunk Wall on Sunday.David Maialetti / Staff PhotographerJen (left) and Brett Garman (center), of Lancaster, take a break from lunch at Taqueria Amor on Main Street in Manayunk to watch the second full lap of the men’s race.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker cheers on the women’s competitors near the finish line Sunday.Jose F. Moreno / Staff PhotographerChiara Consonni cheers after winning the women’s race.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Second-place finisher Alexandra Volstad (from left), winner Chiara Consonni, and third-place finisher Ella Sabo celebrate on the podium.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Influencer Jacklyn Romano leads the Sweat & Sculpt Pilates class at the Friends Select School on Saturday.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerKeilan Barber of Philadelphia grabbed the flag then did a flip into the water in the finals to win the Red Bull Run at Spruce Street Harbor Park on Saturday. The annual run features contestants trying to grab a flag at the end of a greased pole hanging over the Delaware River.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff PhotographerMike Kablack of Philadelphia was one of three contestants to capture the flag during the Red Bull Run at Spruce Street Harbor Park.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Merrill Reese talks with his spotter, Bill Werndl, right, in the broadcast booth before the Eagles’ preseason finale against the Cincinnati Bengals. Reese is entering his 50th year of announcing.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Eagles running back Carson Steele stretches for the end zone as he scores a touchdown past Bengals linebacker Jack Dingle.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Fifteen years ago this month, the Phillies closed out a 102-win season by beating the Braves in 13 innings in their regular season finale to cap off a three-game sweep in Atlanta. There was one problem: The Phillies had already locked up the No. 1 seed in the National League, while the Braves needed just one measly win to make the playoffs over the Cardinals, the Phillies’ longtime nemesis. Thanks in large part to Martinez’s game-saving catch in the 10th inning of Game 162, the Phillies wound up playing St. Louis in the divisional round. It didn’t end well.
The intervening decade and a half has yielded a surprising dearth of memorable late-season series between the Phillies and Braves. As rich as the recent October history is between these two teams, it isn’t a stretch to say that Friday night will mark the start of the biggest regular season matchup between these two teams in at least five years. The last time the Phillies and Braves faced each other this late in the season while this close to each other was 2021, when the Phillies traveled to Atlanta down 2½ games with six games to play. The Braves won all three of those games.
That 2021 series is worth some consideration as the Phillies carry a four-game deficit into this weekend’s four-game series at Citizens Bank Park. One can argue that the present era’s origin story actually begins there instead of a year later, when the Phillies beat the Braves in the National League Division Series en route to their first World Series appearance since 2009. The magnitude of 2022 was its improbability, and its improbability had every thing to do with 2021.
Remember Aug. 8, 2021? Zack Wheeler pitched a shutout against the Mets, holding his former team to just three base runners while striking out 11. The victory was the Phillies’ eighth straight and left them with a two-game lead over the Mets and a 2½-game lead over the Braves atop the NL East. In less than a week, Atlanta was in first place. In less than two months, the Braves were World Series champions.
The Phillies’ eventual postseason victories over the Braves in 2022 and 2023 would have been sweet even without the disappointments that preceded them. But they would not have signified what they did. The Phillies turned out to have a roster that was the exact opposite of what it had steadily led us to believe. They were a team that, regardless of circumstances, demanded that you give them the benefit of the doubt.
Brandon Marsh (left) celebrates with Rob Thomson after the Phillies’ 2023 NLDS win over the Braves.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Therein lie the stakes of this weekend’s series and the one that will follow in Atlanta next weekend. The most pressing concern is the concrete one: Seven games against a team that holds a four-game lead for both the division title and one of the NL’s two wild-card-round byes. Although it would take six wins in seven games, there is at least a chance the Phillies could be in first place in the NL East before the Eagles kickoff in Week 1. There’s also a chance they could be virtually eliminated from that possibility.
The bigger drama is the existential stakes.
Five years after that 2021 disappointment, which itself came three years after the Fightin’ Gabe Kaplers held onto first place for a month only to lose 31 of 43 and watch the Braves celebrate, the Phillies can become a team that has come full circle in one of two opposite directions. In the minds of many, their trajectory since the 2023 NLDS playoff win over Atlanta has been a regression toward who they were in September of 2021, and for much of the four seasons prior. Such a characterization drastically undersells what they have accomplished. They are trending toward five straight playoff berths, two straight division titles, and an improved regular season win total throughout. But it also speaks to the maddening nature of this team that it has spent the entire time yo-yoing between the bottom falling out and the top blowing off and neither of them ever happening. Maddening, but also impressive.
Therein lies the intrigue of the next 10 days. The Phillies have arrived at a moment where both outcomes will feel equally possible in every game they play. That is usually the way the vibe feels in a true prove-it moment.
“Hopefully the weather starts cooling down, get a little bit of fall weather feel, and it starts feeling playoff-y, and the fan base is going to be rocking and rolling, and look forward to a rowdy weekend,” Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber said after they wrapped up an interminable West Coast swing that saw them win six of their last seven games.
This next week and a half is as much about setting a tone as it is about winning the NL East or securing a first-round playoff bye. It is an opportunity to summon ghosts, of either Red October or Black September.
Josiah Pippel’s 20th birthday was extra special, as he became the Season 18 winner of American Ninja Warrior. But he had to wait almost a year to share the news.
Pippel, who’s from Moorestown, smashed his hand down onto the finisher’s button, securing his victory and the $250,000 prize. He was neck and neck with reigning champion Kai Beckstrand until a miscalculation sent Beckstrand into the water for the first time in three years.
“I’ve been waiting 11 months for this,” Pippel said of the episode, which aired Monday. “The kids I coach would ask me every week, ‘Tell us who won’ … so we had a big watch party at the gym, and it’s been a really cool experience, especially with so much time in between. I had a chance to experience it then, and then kind of die down, and now the high is back again. So it was like winning twice.”
Pippel has been competing in ninja since he was 7, when he was introduced to it at a birthday party. He trained for 10 years at Movement Lab in Hainesport, Burlington County. American Ninja Warrior, which was inspired by a Japanese show called Sasuke, debuted in 2009.
“I tried soccer, football, baseball, and I absolutely hated them,” Pippel said. “But since Day 1 with ninja, I fell in love with it.”
And he’s risen fast within the tight-knit ninja scene. Pippel’s first appearance on screen was in 2020, on Season 2 of American Ninja Warrior Junior, when, at age 13, he reached the semifinals. Two years later, at 15, he became the youngest competitor on the main show and finished eighth.
This time, cheered on from the sidelines by his family and friends — and even other competitors — Pippel propelled himself off revolving pizza slices to finish the course in style.
“I have no plans on slowing down,” said Pippel, a six-time national finalist. “Now that I’ve seen the top, I definitely want to stay here and not just [be] one and done. My biggest goal is to go for a second, defend the title, and possibly even a third with Season 20 being announced as well.”
Josiah Pippel (right) races Kai Beckstrand during the final of “American Ninja Warrior.”NBC
Despite not leaving the competitive world anytime soon, Pippel is focused on growing his company, Team Ninja Association.
“Our goal really is to make ninja a proper sport,” Pippel said. “We really want to make an opportunity for the athletes in the sport to grow and kind of to take the sport to the next level, where it’s not just a TV show, it’s not just a hobby, it’s not just something we do on the side. It can be your actual livelihood.”
Team Ninja Association was established in 2024 and hosts competitions at gyms across the country. It recently found a home at Windsor Ninja Academy in Windsor, Conn.
Though he has his eye on a Porsche 911, Pippel is planning on using some of his prize money to pour back into the company and advance ninja.
“I hope to leave a competitive legacy, but also be one of the pioneers of moving the sport forward,” Pippel said. “One of my goals is to try and get collegiate ninja in some form and … give athletes an opportunity to get scholarships for it and go along with the professional route. Give those athletes the opportunity to not have to make a choice between a career and the sport.”
Pippel, who’s currently a coach at The Grit Ninja in Norwalk, Conn., works closely with the next generation.
“I think what motivated me in the past was always like my own success,” Pippel said. “Like, I really wanted to do well for me. But I think, now, my biggest motivator is that next generation, and is the kids I coach.
“I want to be an inspiration to people to go try something new, go try something different because if I had never tried ninja, if I had just stopped when I didn’t enjoy those traditional sports and went, ‘Oh, I guess I’m not athletic,’ I would have never gotten this opportunity.
“Now 13 years after making that decision to try something new and step a little bit out of my comfort zone, I’m now the American Ninja Warrior champion.”
“American Ninja Warrior” Josiah Pippel is a 20-year-old from Moorestown.NBC
Philly’s jam-packed summer of sports has come to a close, but not before it ushered in the return of several events that hadn’t made their way to the city in quite some time.
From July’s MLB All-Star Game to August’s UFC 330 to the return of the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, there was a great mix of events that came back for the first time in a long time, which begs the question: What other Philly-centric events would it be great to have back?
In no particular order, here are five among the several sports staples. Some of these still could, some are gone forever, but all of them were authentically Philly while they were here.
Philadelphia Sports and Big Five Hall of Fame basketball legend and radio personality Sonny Hill (right) at a Sonny Hill League game at McGonigle Hall in the league’s heyday.
Sonny Hill Community Basketball League
It wasn’t just that it was responsible for having some of the best players in the NBA to emerge from the league. It was that for over 50 years, at the height of its popularity in Philly, the famed Sonny Hill Basketball League gave thousands of kids, those directly in the city and some from the Philadelphia area, an opportunity to stay off the streets, hone their hoops skills, and create a pathway toward a college education.
And for a rare few, it was their bridge to superstardom. But nothing stays on a high forever. At its end, Sonny Hill, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and beloved radio jock — who can still be heard on early Sunday mornings on SportsRadio WIP (94.1-FM), where he’s been since 1987 — ran out of steam trying to keep up with the rise of AAU basketball’s popularity.
In 2015, writer DelGreco Wilson penned a piece on his blog, The Black Cager, which read: The Sonny Hill League facilitated a broader “Philadelphia” identity and solidarity among Philly ballers. The Sonny Hill League helped translate an “I” mentality into a “we” mentality … [but it] has declined in significance. Philly’s basketball community is poorer as a result.”
Spectators under an umbrella watch as rowers from St. Joseph’s make their way down the Schuylkill on the first day of the 2022 Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta.HEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer
The Dad Vail Regatta … on the Schuylkill River
It was the beautiful nuisance Philly just grew to accept. For close to 70 years, the Dad Vail Regatta took over Kelly Drive and a swath of the Schuylkill River to welcome the best college crew teams from across the country.
The event saw thousands descend upon the banks of the river to cheer on the racers and turn sections of Kelly Drive into full-blown tent parties over the course of the two-day annual spectacular.
Rowers compete in the 82nd Annual Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta along the Schuylkill River in 2021. TIM TAI / Staff Photographer
But when the city decided to dredge a section of the river ahead of the event, race organizers scrambled to find a new venue and were pleased and thankful that Camden County commissioners took it on in 2023.
The race is still going strong and is projected to return to Cooper River as organizers continue to be cagey with a never-say-never attitude about returning what was conceived as Philly’s “boat race weekend” on the Schuylkill.
Army-Navy Game
Ninety, as in 9-0. That’s how many times Philadelphia has hosted one of college football’s most electric games: the annual Army-Navy Game, a showdown between the two service academies. The pomp and pageantry that surrounds all of it is one of the best parts about this annual matchup, now a conference game in the American Conference.
But that hasn’t been the case for quite some time. The last Army-Navy football game played inside Lincoln Financial Field was in 2022, with Army beating Navy in double overtime.
It’s a game that saw more than two-thirds of its 126-year iteration played in Philly. But over the last few years, the event has traveled to a number of cities but is expected to return to Philly for the 91st time on Dec. 11, 2027.
WCW wrestling inside the old Philadelphia Civic Center
While pro wrestling isn’t exactly for everyone, it’s cool to recall a time when there were steel-cage and barbed-wire matches inside the old Philadelphia Civic Center.
Before Ric Flair greeted the crowd at Sportsradio WIP’s 26th annual Wing Bowl in 2018, he was electrifying crowds routinely inside the old Philadelphia Civic Center in University City. JONATHAN WILSON / For the Inquirer
In fact, major wrestling houses brought their show to University City just off Penn’s campus, and with their major wrestlers. The venue has hosted wrestling royalty like Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Razor Ramon, Sting, and more. It was the venue for professional wrestling on the East Coast during the 1980s and 1990s.
But the shows started to dwindle there as wrestling grew in popularity and the Civic Center aged. The building, demolished in 2005, was the beginning, with the baton seemingly passed to the 2300 Arena in Pennsport, which hosts several wrestling matches and other combat sports.
Just for KiXX …
Sure, the city is spoiled with having a Major League Soccer team in the Union, but before MLS landed here in 2010, the city was in a bit of a drought for the sport. It had been long since the Atoms and the Fury had played in their since-defunct leagues, and women’s soccer tried twice with different iterations of the Philadelphia Independence.
The one constant was when the Philadelphia KiXX took to the turf where green carpet met concrete at the old Spectrum. Some of the best KiXX players were guys from Philly neighborhoods who never left and plied their trades here. Goalkeeper Peter Pappas was always tough to beat, and the combination of Pat Morris and former player-coach Don D’Ambra brought crowds out.
The KiXX shut down operations in 2010, but not before winning the Major Indoor Soccer League title twice while making a number of their players hometown heroes in the process.
During the spring, as Temple’s football team started to mesh together returning players and newcomers, via the transfer portal and high school recruits, Peter Clarke, the team’s standout tight end, gathered the entire offense together.
The gesture was one example of Clarke, one of the seven players to earn the single-digit demarcation this season, emerging as a vocal leader for a program looking to build on last season’s 5-7 finish.
“When it comes to Peter Clarke, I feel like he’s a natural born leader,” said Temple running back Sam Brown, who transferred to the program this spring. “When I got here, I saw that off the jump. He’s always taking account for things, making sure people are doing the right things, and he’s definitely a leader by example, by what he does on and off the field.”
Clarke is a key returner for Temple, which didn’t lose an eligible starter to the transfer portal earlier this year. The rising senior finished with a career-best 30 catches for 483 yards and six touchdowns last season and is one of the best returning tight ends this season, evidenced by his preseason accolades: the John Mackey Award watchlist, preseason first-team All-American Conference honors from Phil Steele and Athlon Sports, and All-America third team honors at Pro Football Network.
As the Owls prepare for their season opener on Saturday against Rhode Island (2 p.m., ESPN+), there will be a sense of continuity for the offense, even with a new quarterback under center with transfers Ajani Sheppard and Jaxon Smolik competing for the starting spot. Four of the five starting offensive linemen from last season return, along with wide receivers Jojo Bermudez and Colin Chase, in addition to Clarke.
Colin Chase (1) and Peter Clarke (88) are among the returning skill players from last season’s roster.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
“When you bring in 50-60 new guys every year, you’re having to reinstall not just the plays, but also the culture, the identity,” Clarke said. “Whereas when you keep everybody, you have position leaders in every group. You have guys who know what it takes and have been in those positions and can guide guys and bring them along a lot quicker. So it means we can [be] more quicker. … We have a big advantage in keeping the position leaders, keeping guys we played [with], and just reinstalling coaches and new guys that not necessarily starting from ground zero.”
Building foundational blocks
When K.C. Keeler took over the program 21 months ago after a 11-year run at Sam Houston State, he emphasized that Temple would not be “living in the transfer portal 100%,” and added that he doesn’t want a locker room full of mercenaries, where “guys [are] just here for a year or two, and there’s no fabric, there’s just no continuity.”
A key part of his plan to help turn the program around was building leadership and advisory board councils among the returning players, as a way to rebuild the team’s culture.
The message appears to be resonating. Clarke, who says leadership “comes natural to me,” is one of 11 seniors or fifth-year players who have remained on the roster since their freshman seasons and endured the coaching change from Stan Drayton to Keeler.
“Being a captain on my high school team and leading guys there and coming here and having an impact like I have, and then when success happens, staying at Temple and continuing to grow, helps me step into that [leadership] role,” Clarke said. “I love this program. I love my teammates, and I want this school and this community to bring the energy for us. … When I see guys doing the wrong things, not being accountable, not doing things the way like ‘Temple tough’ football is. It’s my job to hold them accountable and hold myself to that same high standard.”
Grayson Mains, the team’s starting center for the last two seasons, transferred to Temple from South Carolina before the 2024 season and was also selected by his teammates to be a single-digit player this season.
He too, understands the importance of continuity and team culture, not only for the success of the program, but for the health of the locker room. He says leaders, like Clarke, himself, and other returning upperclassmen who have been around the program, “know what a bad culture on a team is like” and added that this year “we know what we do and don’t want to see, and just how to push guys the right way.”
Grayson Mains (center) helps up his quarterback during Temple’s game against Tulane last season.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
“Coach Keeler’s big thing has really been about accountability, and I think I’ve seen it a lot from the players,” said Mains. “Players holding players accountable, and being a lot more respectful to each other. … [We’re] not taking everything personal, because we all know that we’re one team and we’re all fighting for the same goal.”
Clarke’s leadership hasn’t been just noticed by his teammates. Offensive coordinator Tyler Walker, part of a coaching staff that was also fully retained from last season, called his tight end “the epitome of a single digit.”
“He’s been in the shoes that a lot of these young guys have been in,” said Walker. “He’s been [at Temple] through the ups and downs, and he’s been through coaching transitions. He’s been a backup. He’s been a freshman, and now he’s also been the guy. … He’s super humble. He wants to be great. He wants to be coached. He wants to be coached hard.
“He sets expectations for himself, and he brings other guys around him, with him. And that’s the sign of a good leader.”
‘Captain’s practices’
During the summer, coaches are not allowed to administer nor watch practices, according to NCAA rules. But that didn’t stop players from getting work in, led by Clarke and others.
Clarke and Mains each credit the player-run practices for bonding the team together, and it ultimately set the tone for their expectations this season on North Broad.
“The biggest emphasis to the transfers that weren’t here [last year] was, ‘Hey, this team’s been through a lot and experienced a lot, and we’re so close to turning this thing around.’ We’re all pushing the same direction and [we told them], ‘It’s time to get in and help us,’” said Clarke. “So [we were] getting those extra captain’s practices in with Army and Navy looks and [their] triple option offense, so that our defense understands what the read keys look like and can develop those habits early, so when we get to the game weeks, it’s not a complete surprise.
K.C. Keeler has had winning records in the second season of previous stops at Rowan, Delaware, and Sam Houston State.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
“It’s just about, ‘Hey, what’s going to get us over the edge?’ It’s going to be efficient football from the offense. It’s going to be able to stop the run from the defense and just play one complete football game between special teams, offense, and defense.”
Added Mains: “Over the summer we pushed each other [so much harder]. … We were just able to do so much more, and then especially those summer days, like our OTA days, when coaches weren’t in the building, everybody respects [the leaders] enough to lead those player-run practices on the field and truly get really good work done.”
At his previous three stops, second seasons for Keeler have been notably fruitful. At Division III Rowan in 1994, the team finished 6-3; in 2003, Delaware won the Football Championship Subdivision championship; and at Sam Houston State in 2015, Keeler led his team to the FCS semifinal.
After two one-point losses last fall that prevented the Owls from making a bowl game, their players are ready to turn the page.
“We talk every day about winning championships,” said Mains. “This team hasn’t been to a bowl game in a while and hasn’t seen that American Conference trophy in a while. We’re all striving every single day to be as great as we can to make those goals [happen].”
Added Chase: “I think we got something special here. It speaks about our program. It speaks about coach K.C. Keeler and the vision that everyone truly believes that Temple football is going to be successful.”
One overarching question throughout next season for the 76ers will be: Is this team playing well enough to win a championship?
As the season progresses and the Sixers figure out what works and what doesn’t for this uber-talented group, a few numbers may indicate whether the Sixers are true contenders or pretenders. Here are a few benchmarks and statistics to keep an eye on heading into a season filled with championship hopes.
Possessions for starting lineup: 1,042
The average number of possessions played in the regular season by the starting lineups of the last 10 title winners, according to the statistical website Cleaning the Glass, which filters out garbage time. The 2025 Oklahoma City Thunder, at 668, had the lowest mark on this list because of injuries to center Chet Holmgren that year.
This statistic is important because it displays how many reps it might require for a starting lineup, especially those that are adjusting to playing together, to reach a championship level of play.
For as much as Joel Embiid may be resting throughout the season in an attempt to preserve him for the postseason, they still need to log playing time throughout the season with all five starters playing in the same games. It’s rare when a team can win a championship with a starter — LeBron James is 41 years old entering his 24th NBA season — missing as much time as Holmgren did that season when he played in only 32 games.
Finding the right balance of playing and resting Embiid will be critical to their title hopes. It’s a formula the Sixers have to get right. If he or another starter misses too much time, the Sixers run the risk of trying to find that chemistry when other teams in the Eastern Conference have already developed it.
Offensive efficiency: 5th
The average finish in offensive efficiency for the last 10 championship winning teams in offensive efficiency during the regular season. The lowest-rated title winner in this group was the 2022 Golden State Warriors, who finished 16th in offensive efficiency.
LeBron James led the Lakers to an NBA title in 2020. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
After that, the last four title winners have had top-five offenses. James and the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers were the only other team to finish outside the top 10 in this category and still win the championship. Two of the last 10 champions had the No. 1 offense (2017 Warriors, 2024 Boston Celtics).
Defensive efficiency: 6th
The average finish in defensive efficiency for the last 10 championship winning teams in defensive efficiency during the regular season. The 2023 Denver Nuggets were the lowest of the bunch, as they rode the 15th-best defense to the championship in 2023.
That defense improved by 3.3 points per 100 possessions in the playoffs. The New York Knicks won the title last season with the seventh-best defense. Prior to that, the 2024 Celtics had the No. 2 defense while the 2025 Thunder had the No. 1 defense.
Transition rate: 13th last season
The Sixers’ ranking when it came to percentage of transition possessions last season, according to Cleaning the Glass. That’s a number that likely needs to improve given their personnel. For years, the NBA has tried to emphasize a faster pace of play, since offenses score more efficiently off transition opportunities than in the halfcourt, when the defense has time to set.
With four of the top-15 scorers in transition last season, the Sixers need to be one of the most up-tempo teams in the league to maximize this roster’s strengths.
Defensive rebounding percentage: 26th
Where the Sixers placed in defensive rebounding percentage last season. Only the Kevin Durant version of the Warriors have won titles in the last decade with a worse position in those rankings than the Sixers had last season. Five of the last six title winners have placed in the top 10 in this statistics, which measures what percentage of all available defensive rebounds a team grabs.
The difference between Embiid being on and off the floor didn’t have a big impact on the Sixers’ success rate in this area. As a team, the Sixers will have to make a commitment to the glass.
Unsurprisingly, the United States of America found a lot of ways to celebrate its own birthday this year. Modesty never was one of our strong suits.
Events held to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence included concerts, reenactments, and Ultimate Fighting Championship matches on the White House lawn that future historians will have to grapple with someday.
Then there was the stuff: the products, promotions, and items people and companies created to commemorate, or to capitalize off of, the Semiquincentennial. Since receiving the first news release for 250th merchandise on Jan. 5, I’ve been collecting the more unusual items I’ve come across that were created in the name of this nation’s birthday.
As summer comes to a close, I’d like share my anthropological findings with you.
Bobbleheads of state
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee, Wis., has made a bobblehead for almost every pop culture figure and event over the last couple years. There’s a few of Pope Leo, two of Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino (“Old Sitch” and “New Sitch”), and one of Jimothy, the raccoon from Seattle who’s believed to have short spine syndrome and went viral earlier this year.
But the most improbable bobble — one seemingly even more difficult to create than a raccoon who appears to have no neck — is one without a head at all.
An image from the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum of its Declaration of Independence bobble created for the nation’s 250th anniversary.Courtesy of the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum
The Declaration of Independence bobble is among a series of 16 bobbleheads made for the nation’s 250th. It consists of a facsimile of the document that bounces back and forth on a small, brown pedestal with a magnifying glass on it.
The company confidently states that this is “the first bobble of Declaration of Independence,” and I’m pretty sure I don’t need to fact check that. Because when others ask: “Why in the world?” the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum asks: Why not? And make it bounce!
Nothing says “Happy 250th birthday, America” like a bobblehead Phanatic riding a bald eagle.Stephanie Farr / Staff
The Phillies and FOCO also got into the commemorative bobblehead game by creating one of the Phanatic in an Uncle Sam hat confidently riding a bald eagle like it was his hot dog cannon ATV. The eagle (who alas, is not Swoop) stands upon a podium wrapped with a banner that reads: “We the Phillies 250.” Sadly, it’s only available at the New Era Phillies Team Store at Citizens Bank Park and sadly, that store is no longer carrying the Liberty Bell Phillies cap I went in for when I spotted this.
Ghee whiz!
You butter believe the Pennsylvania Farm Show churned out one of the most epic nods to our nation’s 250th back in January when it unveiled a sculpture of three Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence — made out of 1,000 pounds of Land O’ Lakes butter.
The sculptors, Jim Victor and Marie Pelton of Conshohocken, also added glasses of milk into the Founding Fathers’ hands in order to buttermilk the dairy theme. Also depicted in the sculpture are the Liberty Bell and Betsy Ross.
The 2026 Pennsylvania Farm Show Butter Sculpture depicts three of the Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence. Also included in the sculpture are Betsy Ross, at left, and the Liberty Bell, at right. Provided
Just to clarify, when the Farm Show was over, the butter was spread out to Reinford Farms in Juniata County, where it was turned into renewable energy in a methane digester, according to a news release.
One margarinely interesting fact: This isn’t the first time Benjamin Franklin has appeared in a Farm Show butter sculpture. In 1991, he was the subject of the event’s first butter sculpture, and in 2007, he was sculpted again with the Liberty Bell, according to PennLive.
Beavers and beers
Shirts for sale at the Buc-ee’s in Mount Crawford, Va., read “I love America and Bucee’s too.”Stephanie Farr / Staff
Among the more head scratching T-shirts about the nation’s 250th I saw was one I spotted during my first trip to a Buc-ee’s, in Mount Crawford, Va., this May. The convenience store is a temple to merchandising and consumerism so it was no surprise its 250th T-shirt, which featured its beaver mascot in an Uncle Sam hat, read: “I love America and Buc-ee’s too.” Because nothing says I love my country like equating your affection for it with a convenience store.
One of the 250th shirts for sale at the Independence Visitor Center this summer.Stephanie Farr / Staff
The other baffling T-shirts I saw were closer to home. This summer the Independence Visitor Center gift store had shirts that read: “Beers and 250 Years 1776 America” and “Land of the free America 250 years and beers.”
A shirt for sale this summer at the Independence Visitor Center seemed to equate the number of years this country has existed with how many beers it’s birthed. Or drank. It’s pretty hazy on details.Stephanie Farr / Staff
I’m not sure who their target audience was, ale I know is they finally managed to create a shirt that makes those “Ben Drankin’” ones seem classy. If the Visitor Center wanted to wordplay on beer, they missed a huge opportunity by not making “Pursuit of hoppiness” shirts.
Booze cues
Speaking of alcohol, that industry really stirred things up by creating a host of intoxicating beverages to cheers 250 years with.
When it comes to names, it’s hard to top the Semiquin-tini, a canned lemonade-and-vodka cocktail by Union Forge that comes in at 10% ABV.
The Semiqin-tini by Union Forge is one of numerous boozy beverages created to commemorate the birth of our country.Stephanie Farr / Staff
Out in Pittsburgh, Wigle Whiskey teamed up with the Senator John Heinz History Center to resurrect one of George Washington’s favorite spirits, Cherry Bounce. The cordial, which Washington packed canteens of on long journeys, is made of tart cherries, spice, and brandy. It clocks in at 35% ABV, so don’t go trying to cross the Delaware after consuming it.
Wigle Whiskey’s Cherry Bounce pictured at the Senator John Heinz History Center.Courtesy of Wigle Whiskey
At Giant, I spotted “We the People” carbonated wine by Mano’s Wine of Kansas City, Mo. It was hard not to see it because it came in garish metallic rockets-red-glare bottles that I’m sure somebody shot fireworks out of once they finished it.
We the People carbonated wine by Mano’s Wine of Kansas City, Mo.Stephanie Farr / Staff
Next to those bottles on the supermarket shelf was something that actually made me gasp out loud: “Tears of Gettysburg” white wine. How did someone bottle the tears of Civil War soldiers? Why did they turn it into wine? And why market it for the anniversary of the Revolutionary War?
I had so many questions.
Tears of Gettysburg wine from Adams County Winery.Stephanie Farr / Staff
As it turns out, this sweet white wine (why are the tears sweet!?!) from Adams County Winery wasn’t made for the 250th, it was made for the 125th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in 1988 and has been around ever since.
Hallmark moment
I know you may not believe me, but I totally called that signing of the Declaration of Independence butter sculpture at the Farm Show. As someone who waits every year for the butter sculpture reveal, it seemed like the most obvious and absurd choice.
What I did not expect, what none of us could have ever expected to be created to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary, was a Hallmark movie set in Philadelphia.
A promotional image for “To Philly With Love,” a new Hallmark Channel movie set in Philadelphia starring Stephen Huszar and Rebecca Dalton.Courtesy of Hallmark Media
To Philly With Love, a two-hour history-mystery-romance movie, was clearly trying to be National Treasure meets The Notebook. But that goal was doomed from the start because a hallmark of Hallmark movies is the complete lack of suspense or interesting plot. Captivating dialogue is also out.
This movie, which was partially filmed in Philly, also included a cliché cheesesteak scene, a character with no Philly accent telling someone it’s pronounced “wooder,” and a completely tone-deaf scene filmed at the President’s House Site.
We hold these tooths
The Founding Fathers left “the pursuit of happiness” open to interpretation and woodn’t you know, someone found a way to pursue it with toothpicks.
Steven J. Backman of San Francisco has made toothpick art for five decades. This year, he created a sculpture of Independence Hall out of a single toothpick to mark the Semiquincentennial.
San Francisco artist Steven J. Backman has crafted a model of Independence Hall from a single toothpick in celebration of America’s 250th birthday this summer.Courtesy of Steven J. Backman
A few minor points: Backman used a Diamond toothpick and cut strands off it with a straight-edged razor. He then glued pieces into place without a magnifying glass, using only his naked eyes.
“I’m living in an American dream. … I’m doing something I love,” Backman told The Inquirer.
Let freedom ring
If you’ve got Semiquincentennial fever, the only prescription is more America 250-branded cowbells!
You know what this Semiquincentennial needs…more cowbells!Courtesy of America250
The Liberty Bell may get all the fame and glory, but these little guys — that come in red, white, or blue — are a fantastically annoying way to let people know you’ve arrived and you’re patriotic. Sure, you could play Stars and Stripes Forever on a kazoo, but it wouldn’t have the same ring to it.
Calling these souvenirs dumbbells would be udderly incorrect. They are keepsakes intended to be herd by future generations.
Philly, being a city of neighborhoods, doesn’t just extend to the city limits. Whether you cross over City Avenue heading West, Pine Road heading Northeast, or Ridge Pike heading anywhere else, one thing that separates all of it is the allure of high school football.
Over the last decade, there was one team the Philadelphia area was measured by in high school football: St. Joseph’s Prep. That changed last year. The 2025 season marked a historic shift in power for several programs both in the city and the collar counties surrounding it.
Just in time for the season to get going is our annual look at the area programs that look to be a force to contend with in their respective divisions. From a Roman Catholic team defending its first-ever PIAA state football championship to La Salle, which can lay claim to beating two state powerhouses twice in one season last year. Here’s our list of the Top 10 high school football teams in our area.
Also, the time to check in on how close the Phillies are to locking up a spot in the postseason begins now. Stay on top of it all, courtesy of our playoff tracker.
It’s going to be steamy today, with showers expected and temperatures in the high 80s on this first Friday of September.
Friday’s series opener features a pair of lefty aces in the Braves’ Chris Sale (left) and the Phillies’ Cristopher Sánchez. Yong Kim and Associated Press
Their last meeting on April 26 also happened to be Rob Thomson’s final game as the club’s manager. The 6-2 loss dropped the Phillies’ record to 9-19 to start the season and Thomson was fired two days later.
Don Mattingly took the reins as interim manager, and the team that had been on track to miss the playoffs entirely authored a stunning turnaround, and is back in contention for the National League East. As the Braves return to Philadelphia on Friday, their lead on the division — at one point a gargantuan 10½ games — sits at four.
Aidan Miller may be close to playing again. The Phillies’ top position player prospect has missed the season because of a back condition. But in an appearance this week on Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, minor league director Luke Murton said the 22-year-old shortstop is “progressing very well.”
Next: The Phillies open a four-game series with the Braves at 6:40 tonight at Citizens Bank Park (NBCSP).
Paul George, left, and Kawhi Leonard chat at Green Meadows Recreation Center in 2019. The team acquired both players that offseason.Wally Skalij / MCT
One of the biggest NBA stories of the last decade played out this week in Los Angeles, where the Clippers received punishment from the NBA for circumventing the salary cap to sign star forward Kawhi Leonard. NBA owner Steve Ballmer was fined $30 million and suspended for a year while Leonard was also fined $700,000.
But the Clippers being forced to forfeit five first-round draft picks was the piece of information that caught the attention of basketball fans in Philly. For the record, the 76ers’ 2029 pick swap is safe. The Inquirer’s Chris Hine explains how the Sixers kept the pick and assesses the value of the selection.
Eagles offensive line coach Chris Kuper says the offensive line has come a long way since the start of training camp. David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Optimism seems to abound with the Eagles’ offense, particularly on the offensive line, where O-line coach Chris Kuper says that the major overhaul happening under offensive coordinator Sean Mannion has “come a long way.”
“Still not there yet with what we’re going to be at the end of the season,” Kuper said Thursday. “They’re very much into their job and mastering their craft, which is kind of what we harp on in the room every day.”
Kuper inherited a group that has seen three of his five starters selected to the Pro Bowl, two have been named to an All-Pro team, and together they’ve combined for nearly 400 NFL starts. Inquirer writer Jeff Neiburg examines where the group is as of now, and how much farther they need to go before the season starts.
Flyers winger Porter Martone will participate in rookie camp next week before training camp opens up on Sept. 17.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
NFL football is just around the corner, but that isn’t the only sport that will kick off locally next week.
Starting next Friday, the Flyers will begin their drive toward a second consecutive playoff appearance with a five-day rookie camp for some of their prospects. The camp, which includes two games against the New York Rangers’ rookies, will be split between Voorhees and Allentown.
Serving as a precursor to training camp the following week, the rookie camp will feature some big names this year, too, with Porter Martone, Denver Barkey, and Alex Bump all slated to participate.
Union interim head coach Ryan Richter has led the club to a seven-game unbeaten streak in MLS competition, since taking the reins earlier this summer. Steven M. Falk / For The Inquirer
Coming into work every day not knowing your future can be unnerving. Fortunately, Union interim head coach Ryan Richter is focusing on the present, and right now that is the club’s upcoming match against Montreal on Saturday (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).
Ask him, as Inquirer writer Jonathan Tannenwald did on Thursday, and Richter contends that he’s not harping on a run that finds the Union on a seven-game unbeaten streak.
But when you consider that the Union are a mere point away as of Thursday from the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference following a dismal start to the season, it is nothing short of remarkable by a coach choosing to play it cool.
On this date
Sept. 4, 1993: Penn State’s first-ever game in the Big Ten Conference resulted in a 38-20 win against Minnesota after wideout Bobby Engram scored four touchdowns.
Our best sports 📸 of the week
Women cyclists cross the finish line along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway during the Philly Cycling Classic on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, in Philadelphia.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
As we head into Labor Day Weekend, we say goodbye to one of the busiest sports summers in Philadelphia history, one that included a World Cup, an MLB All-Star Game, and much, much more.
One of the summer’s final events was the return of the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, but there was also a one-of-a-kind event on the Delaware River and a Sixers rookie locked in a glass gaming truck in South Philly.
As they do each Friday, Inquirer photo editors picked the best sports images from the last seven days. Even with the Phillies on the West Coast, there was plenty to choose from for this week’s Big Picture.
What you’re saying about the Phillies
We asked: Which Phillies player needs to step up the most in this final stretch ahead of the playoffs?
Right now Bryce [Harper] is carrying the team offensively. Schwarber needs to get hot again, and Marsh has dropped to .268 from being a league leader at one time. None of the guys Bohm, Stott, and especially Turner are contributing as they should. Going to take an every-man effort to take down the Braves whether in the regular season or playoffs. — Everett S.
Haven’t heard much from Kyle Schwarber recently. Should step up against the Braves. Perfect timing. — Bill M.
Tre Turner needs to help fuel the top of the order. Sandwiched between Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, Turner’s speed and ability to hit to all fields is a critical table setter for the top of the batting order. He can move runners, steal bases, and score from first on long singles. He needs to continue to cut down on strikeouts and be selective to barrel up pitches. — Bob C.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Joseph Santoliquito, Lochlahn March, Scott Lauber, Jonathan Tannenwald, Gustav Elvin, Chris Hine, Jeff Neiburg, and the Inquirer’s photography staff.
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.
Alright, Philly. I’m going to go and enjoy the long weekend. You do the same, and we’ll be back in your inbox on Tuesday. — Kerith
When Shein unveiled itself to the world at the height of its popularity several years ago, it touted a modern era for fashion — one built on speed, technology, and an on-demand system capable of creating 4,700 new styles a day.
Today, that model is increasingly looking like a relic.
In the small factories that form the backbone of Shein’s operations in China’s southeastern manufacturing hub of Guangdong, there are no humanoid robots, quantum computers, or state-of-the-art technology. Instead, there are dozens of workers toiling away in 10- to 14-hour shifts — in a way that, some say, feels almost like China of yesteryear.
“It represents the old tech, as opposed to the new tech,” said Nirgunan Tiruchelvam, who leads the consumer and internet division at Aletheia Capital, an investment advisory firm focused on Asia. “Shein would have had a lot more traction with investors in the 2021 vintage. But the world has moved on from blockbuster e-commerce listings.”
On Tuesday, investors largely agreed. Shares in Shein fell 6% in early trading, a humbling debut for a company once valued at $100 billion but now worth about a quarter of that. Its initial public offering came after a wave of Chinese AI companies went public in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and years after Shein tried, and failed, twice in its efforts to list in New York and London amid opposition from officials and activists over working conditions at its facilities.
The drop in valuation reflects questions many investors have about the sustainability of Shein’s business — and whether it can find new ways to grow after the United States and Europe, two of the company’s biggest markets, ended tariff exemptions on cheap goods that had helped propel its low-cost model.
Shein’s offering comes weeks after shares of Unitree Robotics and CXMT — two companies that are driving the AI investment boom in China — skyrocketed in their public listings in Shanghai. Both firms are textbook examples of what the Chinese government calls “new, quality productive forces” — the slogan for the country’s plan to drive economic growth and innovation through high-value-added manufacturing.
Weiheng Chen, a senior partner at Wilson Sonsini, a law firm in Hong Kong, and head of its Greater China practice, noted that institutional buyers that were offered Shein shares before the stock went public took up just over 20% of the offering, compared with the roughly 50% typical of popular public listings.
“It’s a fashion company that is not that fashionable to today’s investors,” said Chen, who has been an adviser on many high-profile listings.
The challenge for Shein will be to regain interest among Generation Z, the group that powered the company’s rise during the pandemic. Michael Gunther, senior vice president of research and market intelligence at Consumer Edge, a firm that tracks spending data in the United States and Europe, said Shein had continued to cede market share in the United States, with the steepest losses among 18- to 34-year-olds.
“The fact that it’s continuing to lose share more with that group than other groups is notable,” Gunther said, adding that affordability and sustainability concerns could have prompted the shift. In May 2025, Shein raised prices in the United States to offset the surge in import costs.
In Britain, Shein’s market share gains have slowed despite no change in government policy, Gunther said. In Europe, where there is a fee of 3 euros on parcels entering the bloc, Shein’s market share has continued to slide, with declines most pronounced in France and Spain, he said.
Its current fortunes are a stunning reversal for a company that came out of nowhere to become the world’s largest online fashion retailer.
Shein got its start in 2012 when Sky Xu Yangtian, a Chinese search engine expert, founded the company with three former colleagues. The company compressed the fashion cycle from months to days, using algorithms to track emerging trends and placing initial orders of a few hundred units to test demand.
But behind its success are tens of thousands of garment workers subjected to a punishing pace. To complete orders on time, workers say, they put in 20 or more consecutive days without a single day off, according to a forthcoming report by China Labor Watch, a U.S.-based nonprofit that investigates labor conditions in China. The report, which has not yet been made public, was shared with the New York Times.
The organization interviewed 13 workers who made apparel at suppliers to the company as well as Shein employees who worked at its warehouses and corporate offices. The workers said they were given 10-minute breaks and reprimanded if they took too long to sew — for a pay of 7 to 28 cents per item.
Workers earn, on average, $850 to $1,130 per month, but only by working weekends and taking no days off, according to China Labor Watch.
Li Qiang, the director of China Labor Watch, said garment factories in China generally limited work hours to around 60 per week. “None are quite like Shein,” he said. “With Shein, working 100 hours a week is entirely possible.”
The findings from China Labor Watch appear to contravene Shein’s official supplier policy, which states that workers should not work more than 60 hours a week, including overtime.
In a written statement, Shein said it categorically rejected these characterizations of working conditions within Shein’s supplier ecosystem. It also said that the payment figures presented in the report “are not factual and misrepresent the wage structures used by suppliers.”
Shein has also come under fire for copying other people’s designs. Since 2021, it has been named as a defendant in 58 lawsuits in the United States alleging trademark infringement and racketeering, according to court records. The company said being named as a defendant in litigation “does not establish the validity of the allegations made” and that it continues to strengthen its intellectual property protection and enforcement.
Taken together, the challenges have complicated the story that Shein once sold investors — that it had reinvented fashion for the digital age. Now, the technology cycle has moved on.
Winston Ma, a former managing director at the China Investment Corporation, the country’s largest sovereign wealth fund, compared Shein’s stock to that of Zoom, which surged during the pandemic but has since fallen from its valuation highs.
“It was a superpromising concept during COVID,” Ma said of Shein. “But now it’s overshadowed by the new AI era.”
A worker sews garments for Shein in Guangzhou, China, on Feb. 12, 2025. In the small factories that form the backbone of Shein’s operations, there are no humanoid robots, quantum computers, or state-of-the-art technology.GILLES SABRIE
With the minor league season winding down, Phillies farm director Luke Murton returns to Phillies Extra to discuss the state of the system and upcoming changes to his role. He also offers an encouraging update on injured top prospect Aidan Miller. Watch here.
