DUSHORE, Pa. — The competitors were wiped, but they gathered at the starting line in this sleepy Sullivan County town for one last push on their custom-built toilets.
“All right, this is it, folks,” emcee Gretchen Little announced. “Reputations are made. Legends are created. It’s all here, the drama, the triumph, the heartbreak. There’s nothing like the Dushore Outhouse Races.”
A half-dozen or so teams began the Dushore Founder’s Day 26th Annual Outhouse Races earlier on this Saturday night in early August. One by one, they dropped, teams like the Blue Water Angels, Perfect Dump, and Royal Flush.
The Coal Region Turd Herder’s team races down the hill on Main Street in Dushore, Pa.RALPH WILSON/For the Inquirer
Little let the crowd decide the best-looking outhouse before the final race. One of them was Steiny’s Heineys. Another team had a Dunkin’ Donuts theme with some unprintable potty humor.
The crowd itself was an anomaly in Dushore, easily four times bigger than its year-round population of about 450. Sullivan County, about 160 miles northwest of Philadelphia, is one of Pennsylvania’s most rural counties, and its population has been rapidly decreasing and aging for decades.
“You come to this town tomorrow, you might not see a soul,” said Darryl Kashner, of Coal Township.
The Lyons Club driver reacts as the team’s outhouse crosses the finish line in Dushore, Pa.RALPH WILSON/For the Inquirer
Dushore’s Founder’s Day also included a 5k and a keg-rolling competition, but the crowds swelled on Main Street for the outhouses. Vendors included local wineries, coffee shops, and a Sullivan County artisanal broom maker that’s been in business for 100 years. Despite the crowd, many attendees said the turnout was smaller than usual.
“It used to be much bigger,” said Greg DelBuono.
The Steiny’s Heinys team races down the hill in Dushore, Pa., as part of the 2026 Founder’s Day festivities.RALPH WILSON/For the Inquirer
Dushore’s outhouse races are essentially bobsledding on the street. The outhouse must have a real toilet seat, and most sit on simple aluminum frames with wheels.
“Remember … this must look like an outhouse … be creative,” the rule book states.
The Corkscrew Crew team races down the hill during the 2026 Dushore Founder’s Day festivities.RALPH WILSON/For the Inquirer
The pilot sits on the throne, steering, while pushers line up outside. In Dushore, the best pushers were young and brawny, often sleeveless or shirtless. They came off the starting gun fast, racing uphill on Main Street. They passed through Sullivan County’s lone traffic light, swept around a memorial, and pushed back hard in the opposite direction, their legs burning.
“It’s a young man’s game,” said Kyle Nolte, 39, of Forksville. “I did this about 25 years ago, but I hung it up.”
The Coal Region Turd Herders were underdogs from the anthracite area south of Dushore, but they’d advanced to the finals by recruiting some real athletes — one of them was named “Speedy” — to do the pushing. Their outhouse was painted safety orange and featured a brown piece of, well you know, wearing sunglasses.
Locals and visitors line Main Street to watch the 25th Annual Outhouse Races at the Dushore Founder’s Day.RALPH WILSON/For the Inquirer
Like many people, Kashner discovered the races after he bought a hunting cabin in the area. Now, he pilots the Turd Herders’ outhouse.
“We bought the camp, came down, and decided to build one,” Kashner said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Team Nutz, the local boys from Sullivan County, were perennial favorites at the races and faced off with the Turd Herders in the finals. The winners would come away with a trophy and a few hundred dollars, but the bragging rights were more important.
The Dushore Lyons Club team race up the hill on Main Street during outhouse races at the Dushore Founder’s Day.RALPH WILSON/For the Inquirer
When they rounded the memorial, the teams were neck and neck. The crowd was roaring. Cowbells were clanging.
“This is close,” Little said. “This is real close.”
Team Nutz, the locals, crossed first and dedicated their win to team founder Larry Kiess, who died at 36 in 2011.
“We trained for this. We came down here this week and trained for this, and every dollar we win goes to a scholarship in Larry’s name at Sullivan County High School,” said team organizer Jeff Neary. “This is our 26th year racing outhouses.”
Team Nutz celebrate their victory.RALPH WILSON/For the Inquirer
K.C. Keeler is a family man who has built his coaching foundation on the lessons and influence of those he played and coached under.
He has, what some would say, an old-school approach when it comes to running a football program: Juniors and seniors deserve the opportunity to play, academics and community service are just as important, and building a locker room starts with relationships.
As the winningest active head coach across all divisions of college football, Keeler’s philosophy has certainly worked. The second-year Temple coach surpassed 275 career wins (currently at 276) last season and is turning around a program that before last season finished 3-9 for four consecutive years.
In 2025, Temple posted a 5-7 record — one game short of reaching a bowl game, which it hasn’t made since 2019 — and had one-point losses to Navy and Army.
So, where does the program go from here? Well, for the first time in a long time, this program has a real sense of cohesion.
Before Temple’s season opener on Saturday against Rhode Island (2 p.m., ESPN+), Keeler sat down with The Inquirer, where he expressed his commitment to the Owls. He purchased a home in Wilmington, becoming the first Temple coach since Bruce Arians in the mid-1980s to do so. Keeler, who turned 67 in July (and is the third-oldest active FBS coach), wants to finish his college football coaching career on North Broad. But first, his focus is bringing back greatness to Temple.
K.C. Keeler enters his second year as Temple’s head coach. In his first season, the longtime college football coach led the Owls to within one win of bowl eligibility.Isaiah Vazquez / For The Inquirer
Q: [Throughout] your coaching career [at] Rowan, Delaware, and Sam Houston State, you’ve established a track record of building winning programs. How have you shifted or changed as a coach to stay competitive?
A: One of the things that I’ve always done a really good job of is problem-solving. The other thing I’ve always done a really good job of is recognizing talent, not just on the field, but also coaches I’ve worked with. When I got to Rowan, and I got an opportunity at 34 years of age to be a head coach, I had some really good players I had recruited when I was an assistant there. … I learned from my former coach Tubby Raymond [at Delaware], a lot about building a culture, understanding that when you play for, at the time Rowan University, you play for the people who played before you, you play for the people you’re with in that locker room right now, you’re also playing for the people who are going to come after you. You try to develop this sense of belonging, so everywhere I’ve coached, I’ve always tried to emphasize this is a family. It’s its own unique family, but it’s a family, and this family ranges beyond just the guys in this locker room.
K.C. Keeler after Delaware defeated Colgate for the NCAA Division 1-AA Championship in 2003.AP Photo/Wade Payne
Q: You spent more than a decade at Delaware. How special was it to coach at the school you once played for?
A: Well, nowadays there’s no way that Delaware would hire a Division III coach, just with the headhunters and all the things that people go through now to figure out what coach they’re going to hire. But I was blessed that I had a president and an athletic director. The athletic director — Edgar Johnson, didn’t believe that. … For 11 years, when I pulled up to that stadium, in my office, I pinched myself. I probably had black-and-blue marks for 11 straight years. People always wondered who was going to follow Tubby. I mean, they have his name on the field. He had 300 wins, three national championships, and a guy that I respected in terms of creating that culture. I always say that his 300 wins or him inventing the Wing-T with Ted Kempski, those weren’t his greatest accomplishments. His greatest accomplishment was the culture that he developed.
Q: You’ve also dealt with adversity and losing seasons during your time at Delaware before you were let go in 2012. What was that departure like?
A: Me being fired had nothing to do with wins and losses. It was really more I had become a bit like Tubby did in that small state. Everyone knew what car I drove. Walking in a restaurant, my wife and children would go to the back for dinner, and I would have to stop at all the booths. There was a sense that maybe the administration, the people who were running the place at the time — they didn’t stay much longer after they fired me — they didn’t embrace the fact that I had developed a legacy there. It was hard. It was hard being fired, and I remember very vividly my daughter coming home after me being fired, and she said to my wife and I, ‘You guys are in your uniform, huh?’ Still had our pajamas on. … Then when we were out and we ran into an acquaintance on the street, and I went into my woes of being fired, and I said, ‘How are you doing?’ [They replied], ‘I’m battling cancer right now.’ My wife and I were like, let’s put this in perspective. We got fired from a job. We need to move on.
Q: What was your biggest lesson learned from Year 1 at Temple?
A: I told the guys when I first took over, I don’t want you to be realistic. [Temple] winning whatever it was, 13 games in five years, no one thinks we’re going to do much because we weren’t changing the roster much. It wasn’t like we came in, gutted the roster, brought new players in. We just felt there were so many upperclassmen that wanted to get their Temple degrees and that wasn’t the right thing to do. I still believe in education, and I believe that even though I wasn’t the coach that signed their scholarship papers when they came to Temple, I still represent Temple, I’m not going to cut you and try to get a player who’s that much better. So 5-7 was very disappointing, because we were so close to being a 7-5 team. But at the same time, I do know that there were some limitations because of how much we could change the roster. Those limitations actually led to us keeping all of our starters [this year].
Q: Your team was one of the few Group of Five schools to keep their starters from entering the portal. What does that say about what you’re building here?
A: We believe that our program is built on love and trust. I always explain that you can’t love somebody, you can’t trust somebody, until you know somebody. We work really hard at knowing each other. We’ll do the three H’s: Who’s your hero? What’s your hardship? What’s your history? We’ll do a trivia night where the guys are all mixed up with different positions and different players and coaches, and Clayton [Barnes, Temple’s general manager] leads it. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s a way to be together. … We work really hard in these four walls to develop relationships with our players. The great thing about us going into this year is that the whole strength staff is together, whole coaching staff stayed. … This building has a lot of cohesion.
Q: With the rising power of Name, Image, and Likeness, how have you managed the new landscape of college sports?
A: I wouldn’t have taken this job unless [Barnes] came with me. I know my skill set. I am a problem solver, but I’m not going to be the guy who’s going to be dealing with the agents. I’m not the guy who’s going to figure out the charts in terms of how much money we should allocate to each position and what starters are making at different positions. … That’s not my skill set. That’s [Barnes’] skill set.
I don’t call the offense anymore. I don’t run the defense anymore. I was an offensive coordinator, scored a ton of points — I got too many other things going on. … I’ve turned those things over; same thing with Clayton and the roster. Now we talk about it every day. It’s not like I’m not making final decisions, but I have enough trust.
Q: Your sunglass look became a trademark at Delaware. What is the backstory about the sunglasses?
A: I have very sensitive eyes, so the lights really bother me — and I like sunglasses. I have six pairs of Ray-Bans in my backpack right now, so I like to change them up a little bit too. They have a bobblehead of me with my sunglasses on. I’ve been known to support the sunglasses. It’s a little bit of a trademark, but also the sensitive eyes go along with it.
K.C. Keeler spent 11 seasons as the head coach at Delaware.AP Photo/Nancy Palmieri
Q: As someone who grew up in Lehigh County and spent the bulk of your coaching career out East, what does it mean to come back after 11 years at Sam Houston State?
A: My wife’s a Penn grad, we met in the city. I was with the Eagles as a last cut [under] Dick Vermeil, and so we met in the city, fell in love in the city. … We have three grandchildren, and my wife and son-in-law are in Wilmington — this is home. I always tell the story that when the deal was finally done, we had just beaten Liberty Friday night to clinch a 9-3 season and a good bowl game. It was [my wife’s] birthday. I get the call from my agent that the deal’s done. I come back in and tell her, “Hey, listen, we are going back East,’ and she cried for an hour. I’m trying to explain to everybody in the restaurant, these are happy tears.
Q: There’s a lot of anticipation around this team. What would you say to fans about the direction of where this program is heading?
A: There’s been greatness here before. It’s not like I’m trying to reinvent anything. … One of my most vivid memories of any situation in my entire career was a locker room after we played Temple. We [Delaware] were the No. 1 team in the country in 1978 — don’t do the math — going to play Temple at the old Veterans Stadium, and they just embarrassed us. It was a different, physical brand of football that we weren’t used to, and they also just had this tremendous talent. Then the next year, that team I played on at Delaware, we won the national championship. We went 13-1. Our loss? To Temple. I have a pretty good perspective of where this place has been — and Temple can do it again. We had the No. 1 recruiting class in the conference. I don’t remember Temple doing that recently.
K.C. Keeler led the Owls to a 5-7 record in 2025.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Q: This year will mark 10 years since Temple last won an American championship. What stands at the forefront when you think about goals this season?
A: We want them to think about winning enough games to go to a bowl, winning a bowl, and maybe we can win enough [games] to get [to] that conference championship game. That’s kind of where I’m trying to set their sights. … If you’re realistic, don’t play for me. I want you to be unrealistic. I want you to dream dreams that are bigger than you possibly could imagine, because life is short. When I was at the FCS level in my first press conference at Delaware and Sam Houston, I talked about winning a national championship. … Our goal here at Temple is to be the best football program in the country. … I do believe we can become a team that can be playing in that conference championship game, and there’s a good chance that team plays in the big tournament.
The reality is that everyone knows we play Penn State the second week. I know it because that’s all I got asked when I was at media day. … But we got to worry about playing Rhode Island.
As a physician, my first response to your essay prominently displayed on the op-ed page with the headline “Why we need vaccines” was to laugh. But then the realization set in — how sad it is that this op-ed had to be written at all.
Reading that piece makes you realize the size of the nation’s health literacy gap. Vaccines have a 230-year record of effectiveness and safety. They have saved hundreds of millions of lives. The misinformation surrounding them — disseminated largely by MAGA Republicans and their acolytes — has harmed this country immeasurably. How sad it must be to imagine that the parents of an unvaccinated child who dies of measles, a completely preventable disease, think to themselves, “Well, at least he didn’t have a vaccine complication.” You don’t need a college degree to know that vaccines are an invaluable part of modern healthcare. It’s been part of mainstream medicine ever since Edward Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine in 1796. For people to turn their backs on them now begs the question: How did we get here?
Steven Barrer,Huntingdon Valley
Woke — and proud
I totally agree with Jenice Armstrong: In this day and age, with what we know about science, including sexuality, why should anyone be shamed for being woke? Fifty years ago, we either did not fully appreciate the inequities in employment, the oppressive environments in which women worked, the contribution of pollution to the destruction of the environment, the limited opportunities for people with disabilities, the continuum of sexual biology, and the insidious ways racism persisted among our society … or we didn’t know how to change them.
But I — like a lot of other Americans — am certainly awake now.
The principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion are about being kind and fair. It’s about helping people who have been denied opportunities during those years we were asleep. How can anyone be against that?
The 332,411,218 age-appropriate books that have been distributed so far have had a statistically significant and lasting effect on young learners’ scholastic and life outcomes. So much so that in many cases, whole states, including Delaware, have opted to fund the program for every child in their state.
Philadelphia, and indeed the whole state of Pennsylvania, should use this moment in time to gift our children the love of books and learning.
Liz Kory, Plymouth Meeting
Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.
DEAR ABBY: I respectfully disagree with your response to “Woman’s wedding has been hijacked.” These mothers have no business trying to co-opt the bridal couple’s wedding. If the daughter gives in, it’s only the beginning of these two mothers trying to strong-arm themselves into trying to make future decisions for this poor couple.
The couple should put their feet down and tell these mothers to back off. It’s their wedding, the only one (hopefully) they’ll ever have, and, if they cave to these mothers’ incipient narcissism at the expense of their wedding plans, they’ll all regret it (including these mothers) for the rest of their lives. I’m truly surprised you didn’t tell the couple to stand their ground.
— DON’T BACK DOWN
DEAR ABBY: Why should the bride put her hopes and dreams on the back burner just so the moms can impress their friends and associates? Not only does this advice fail to help the dad help his daughter, but it also sends the message to the daughter that her wedding is not really her wedding, it is a stage production the moms are orchestrating for their advantage.
— THINK AGAIN
DEAR ABBY: The advice for the hijacked wedding plans should have been for the bride to tell these two mothers to let the bride plan the wedding of her dreams, not theirs. I am assuming the bride can afford to pay for her small wedding. She can still include these mothers in something special.
— ONCE IN A LIFETIME
DEAR READERS: In the first line of my response to Doting Dad, I agreed that the daughter should have the wedding she wants. In retrospect, it’s clear I should have ended my answer there! If one of the moms had written in to complain about the intimate wedding the bride had planned, I’m sure I would have told her in no uncertain terms to back off and let the bride have her way. My apologies to the couple for wavering and siding with those pushy moms. Thank you all for calling me out on this one!
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: I’ve been ill for almost a year now. Before this, I was in perfect health, able to take care of all my own needs. I have no spouse or significant other. Before I got sick, I used delivery only for the rare pizza I didn’t want to go out for. Now the only reason I have the food and medicine I need is because of delivery drivers. Thank you, delivery drivers! Bless you! I can’t imagine what I’d do without you. I’m sorry if the tip isn’t always the best. Please hang in there. You do more good than you will ever know.
— GRATEFUL IN WEST VIRGINIA
DEAR GRATEFUL: Being a delivery driver can seem like a thankless job some of the time. I’m glad you do your best to show gratitude and tip them, and I hope their employers compensate them fairly. Not only do these workers serve the underserved, but they also help keep local businesses afloat.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). Big version: Find out what it’s really like to live as the profession you admired as a younger person. The currently achievable version: Distill the job to its essence, which involves solving a certain kind of problem.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Big version: See those dozens of locations that have long intrigued you. The currently achievable version: Pull together a vision board of your dream travels and start planning the most affordable one. You don’t have to believe yet.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Big version: Spend time with the one you idolize. The currently achievable version: Ponder your interview questions and answer them yourself with research and imagination. You’re already more like this person than you think.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). Big version: Experience another era firsthand. Currently achievable version: Cook its food, wear something inspired by its fashions and plan a day with its music, customs and ideas. The interest turns into a hobby, then a pursuit.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Big version: Gather brilliant people and improve your corner of the world. Currently achievable version: Invite two thoughtful people to brainstorm a problem you’re all well acquainted with. These ideas will break things open and lead to the next practical action.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Big version: Invent something that solves a common frustration. Currently achievable version: Study the inconvenience from different angles. Take on one small aspect of the problem. Sketch the roughest version that could possibly work.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Big version: Perform for an audience eager to see what only you can do. Currently achievable version: Consider every interaction as a chance to share some of your uniqueness. Even the most structured interactions have room to be yourself.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Big version: Live in the house that exists in your imagination. Currently achievable version: Choose one corner of your present home and give it the color, comfort and character of that dream. The process is addictive, and results will spread throughout your space.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Big version: Vanish into the wilderness until the modern world lost track of you. Currently achievable version: Spend an afternoon where the trees outnumber the people and your phone has very little to contribute.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Big version: Master the instrument whose sound goes straight through you. Currently achievable version: Investigate how to borrow, rent or own the instrument. Learn one song. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Big version: Meet the people in your family who lived before photographs could capture them. Currently achievable version: Follow one name through records, places and stories until this person begins to take shape.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Big version: throw a lavish celebration for everyone you love. Currently achievable version: Gather a few favorite people around something delicious, and give the occasion a novel name and a memorable purpose.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Aug. 31). It’s your Year of One Golden Decision. The single choice changes your entire reality for the better, and you make the same one again and again until it’s natural for you to live in this new uplifted state. More highlights: You’ll easily build strength and vitality because you’re in the right environment and surrounded by people on the same mission. A lucrative professional breakthrough. Gemini and Virgo adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 2, 10, 5, 16 and 42.
LOS ANGELES — Aaron Donald returned to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, ending his retirement after 2 1/2 years to chase another Super Bowl title.
The 35-year-old Donald made his decision after several weeks of discussion and nearly three months of intensive workouts for a star defensive lineman who reigned atop his position in a Rams uniform from 2014 until his retirement in early 2024.
Donald joined a light practice at the Rams’ training complex later Sunday, shaking hands and exchanging hugs with Myles Garrett and the rest of his teammates, both old and new.
While he hasn’t decided whether he will play in the Rams’ season opener against the 49ers in Australia next month, Donald is eager to complete a comeback that seemed improbable only three months ago.
“Do I feel like I can play at a high level? Yes,” Donald said. “Do I feel like I can still be myself? One hundred percent, and if I didn’t feel like that, I wouldn’t be here.”
Donald agreed to a one-year contract, and ESPN reported he will make at least $20 million in an incentive-laden deal.
Donald became one of the greatest defensive players of his era during a decade spent entirely with the Rams in St. Louis and Los Angeles. He won three AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards while earning 10 Pro Bowl selections, eight All-Pro selections and a Super Bowl ring before he retired somewhat abruptly following the 2023-24 season.
After two years of tending to his business interests and enjoying ample family time, Donald began to entertain the notion of a comeback this summer after the Rams traded young lineman Jared Verse in a deal for Garrett, one of Donald’s few peers in contemporary defensive line play.
“I already thought it was a stacked D-line with Verse … and then you bring a guy like Myles Garrett, a generational talent, and then it’s like, ‘Gosh, that could be fun,’” Donald said with a grin.
Donald and Garrett have combined to win five of the AP’s past nine Defensive Player of the Year awards, including two of the past three for Garrett with the Cleveland Browns. While Garrett said he wouldn’t attempt to influence Donald’s decision, the two have exchanged numerous text messages while Donald went through the training necessary to become his teammate.
With MVP Matthew Stafford returning to lead the league’s most productive offense, Los Angeles was already the betting favorite in most sportsbooks to win its second Super Bowl title under coach Sean McVay even before Donald’s comeback. Along with Garrett, Los Angeles added cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson from Kansas City to a defense that now looks more equipped to keep pace with the Rams’ offense, which returns every major contributor around Stafford.
“I think this is a complete team with me here or without me here, so for me to even have the opportunity to be a part of this, to be with this team, I take nothing for granted,” Donald said. “It’s a blessing to be retired from the game for two years and then have the opportunity to come back and be a part of something special.”
McVay has seemed confident for weeks that Donald was leaning toward a return. Donald said he finalized his decision to return about two weeks ago after being in almost daily contact with McVay for several weeks.
“He means a lot to me, and it’s way bigger than football,” McVay said. “There’s a lot of history. There’s a lot of experiences that we’ve shared, a lot of love for each other’s families. I’m excited to start this journey.”
Donald stayed in decent shape during his retirement, and he was pleasantly surprised by the way his body responded to its return to NFL-level training. He also says his famed defensive line technique hasn’t declined.
“I’ve been in a football mindset for the last 14 weeks,” Donald said. “If anything, it’s just getting back on the grass and knocking the rust off as far as playing football again, 11 on 11. Work on my eyes, getting the feel for the game, certain reaction things that made me who I am. I put myself in the best position the best way I can with training to get to where I’m at now.”
Donald’s 111 career sacks are the Rams’ franchise record and the second-most in NFL history among linemen who primarily played on the interior. His ability to generate a pass rush between the tackles is the primary basis of his greatness, but Donald also was a run-stuffer whose agility and technique forced defenses to double-team him regularly, freeing up his teammates to excel.
The decision resets Donald’s eligibility clock for his all-but-automatic induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he’s much more interested in seizing the strong opportunity to play for a second ring while lining up alongside Garrett and talented young contributors Byron Young, Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske on what should be an opponents’ nightmare of a defensive front.
Donald joins a significant group of recent NFL stars who have ended retirements and returned to this punishing sport, including Philip Rivers, Jason Witten, Marshawn Lynch, Rob Gronkowski and Eric Weddle, the safety who came back from 2 1/2 years away and joined Donald on the Rams’ short-handed defense for its playoff run to a championship in early 2022.
Vic Fangio wasn’t wrong when he warned time after time that Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru — the two first-time football players who joined the Eagles this offseason — have “a long way to go” and are “light-years away.”
The Eagles used a seventh-round pick on Bernard, a defensive tackle from Nigeria with off-the-charts athleticism. They signed Weru, a Kenyan rugby convert, as an undrafted free agent. Neither had played a padded football game before the Eagles and Ravens met in the first preseason game earlier this month, and getting on the field in a real NFL contest is a whole different beast.
But the Eagles’ decision to waive both players ahead of the 6 p.m. roster deadline Sunday means another NFL team could decide to claim them off waivers and put them on their 53-man roster.
That result is unlikely. Again, as Fangio says, his “exchange students” are a long way away from being ready to play in NFL games, and a claiming team would be taking on a big project, and using a roster spot to do so.
But assuming both of them clear waivers and land on the team’s practice squad come Monday, the Eagles will be able to make only one of them the designated IPP player — the program allows teams to keep one extra player on the practice squad, 17 instead of 16 — and the other would be free to sign to another team’s active roster at any point during the season.
That’s obviously a risk Howie Roseman was willing to take.
While Bernard was the more talked-about prospect after the Eagles used a draft pick on him, it was Weru, an edge rusher, who flashed more during camp and in the preseason contests. If one of the two was going to get cut, Bernard seemed the more likely candidate given the possibility the Eagles could use Weru on special teams.
Eagles linebacker Joshua Weru goes after New England Patriots quarterback Behren Morton during a preseason game earlier this month. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Weru made a few impact plays during the preseason, including a sack in the New England game that had his teammates celebrating on the sideline. After the game Friday night vs. Cincinnati, Weru spoke proudly about the progress he had made since OTAs but said he didn’t have any expectations about what his roster fate would be throughout the process.
“I tried not to think too far ahead because I knew there were so many unpredictable things,” he said.
Making the team, he said, would “mean a lot.”
“I guess it would validate all of the work,” he said, “but I think just even being able to stay in this building and them showing how much they’re willing to invest in me already has shown the work that I’ve put in is actually paying off.”
Bernard, meanwhile, said his biggest change from the beginning of training camp to Friday night was his confidence. The Eagles had him break down the huddle before the game, too.
“Two, three months ago I was not this confident,” he said.
“It was amazing to learn the game and at the same time play.”
His next chance to play likely will be with the practice squad. Bernard and Weru, like the rest of the players waived Sunday, will first have to clear waivers.
The Eagles kept five edge rushers on the roster: Jonathan Greenard, Jalyx Hunt, Nolan Smith, Arnold Ebiketie, and A.J. Epenesa. In leaving Bernard off the roster, the Eagles also kept just five interior linemen: Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo, Byron Young, and Ty Robinson.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — One fastball missed in. Another missed low, and a third missed way high.
As Zack Wheeler issued a leadoff walk to Angels outfielder Wade Meckler to start Sunday’s series finale, it appeared his recent troubles with command were back in full force. And when Los Angeles loaded the bases before the Phillies’ ace right-hander could secure an out, things already teetered on disaster.
But Wheeler found a way to battle back. It helped that Moisés Ballesteros chased a splitter down and outside to end a seven-pitch at-bat with a grounder up the middle. So did the fact that shortstop Trea Turner was in the perfect position to field it, touch second, and fire to first for a key double play.
“I think it just kind of settled him down, because those first few batters he wasn’t as sharp, and he looked really good in the bullpen,” said catcher J.T. Realmuto. “So I knew that once he got that double play, got out of it, I felt pretty confident that he was going to be himself today.”
The Phillies conceded one run on the play, but the first inning suddenly seemed much more manageable. And that turned out to be the only run Wheeler allowed as he went on to complete six innings in the 5-2 win over the Angels. Backed by another go-ahead home run from Edmundo Sosa, the Phillies pulled off the three-game sweep in Anaheim.
It wasn’t exactly perfect. Wheeler didn’t appear to have much command of his splitter throughout, and he issued three total walks. But he turned in six innings for the first time in more than a month as he posted a solid start to build upon, outside of the first three batters of the game.
“You know what he can be and what he can do, and this was a good start to head in that direction,” said interim manager Don Mattingly.
In his first seven starts after the All-Star break entering Sunday, Wheeler had a 7.18 ERA. His previous outing in Seattle had marked a new low, as he was charged with eight runs in four innings.
In the four days since then, Wheeler has been submerged in data and charts. He and the Phillies examined his biomechanics to try to identify what has been going wrong on a deeper level than just looking at traditional film.
“They have the balls of your joints, where you can see the smallest little difference,” Wheeler said.
What they found was that Wheeler’s glove was placed 2 inches further down in Seattle than it has been all year. And a graph of his glove placement over the season showed that it had been trending in that direction in the second half.
“So, what do we do? Just bring that front arm up a little bit, and go from there,” Wheeler said. “And you kind of got to sync everything else up off of that. Getting that front arm up, not kind of over-rotating, shooting towards the third-base on-deck circle. … Getting that weight over the back leg, and being more direct, rather than the rotational.”
It was actually the first pitch of the fourth inning — a fastball that Christian Moore took for a called strike — where Wheeler thought something clicked. It felt like the timing of everything had fallen into place.
Realmuto thought Wheeler’s four-seam fastball had more life again, and his curveball was also effective. In total, he allowed four hits, sidestepping a leadoff double in the third. Derek Hill helped him out with that, laying out to catch a line drive in center field and rob Ballesteros of a hit.
Wheeler started to tire in the sixth and wound up walking consecutive batters with two out. His pitch count had crept into the triple digits, but Mattingly decided to give him a shot to finish the inning himself against Angels right-handed hitter José Siri. Wheeler won another seven-pitch battle by going back to his curveball, which Siri whiffed on for Wheeler’s sixth strikeout.
Realmuto helped his batterymate by delivering the Phillies’ first hit and run of the game in the third. He sent a game-tying homer to the rock formation in left-center field of Angel Stadium.
The veteran catcher typically sits out on day games that directly follow night games, as part of the 35-year-old’s workload management. Realmuto caught 10 innings in Saturday night’s win.
But so long as he’s healthy, Realmuto wouldn’t typically miss catching a Wheeler start, no matter what happened the night prior.
“Other than the heat today, yeah, body felt fine,” Realmuto said. “We’ve done a good job this year, I think, of mixing my off days in at the right times. It’s time to go, because it’s that time of year where it’s time to start chasing the division.”
The Phillies’ offense mostly slumbered against lefty Yusei Kikuchi after Realmuto’s homer, until Sosa’s second big swing of the series. He followed up his go-ahead grand slam on Friday with a go-ahead solo home run in the seventh inning, turning on a splitter inside and depositing it over the left field wall to break the tie.
With Jonathan Bowlan and Jhoan Duran both unavailable — Bowlan had pitched two nights in a row and Duran pitched two innings Saturday — the Phillies were down their go-to high-leverage bullpen arms. Alex McFarlane, José Alvarado, and Orion Kerkering split the job in relief.
Kyle Schwarber is greeted by teammates after scoring during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.Caroline Brehman
Another late outburst against the Angels bullpen gave the pitching staff some breathing room. Kyle Schwarber began the eighth-inning rally with a walk, before a Turner single and another walk to Alec Bohm loaded the bases.
Luis Arraez pinch-hit for Sosa against right-handed José Fermin, and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to left field. Brandon Marsh cashed in another run with a pinch-hit single. In the ninth inning, the Phillies tacked on one more with an RBI double from Bryce Harper.
McFarlane recovered from a leadoff walk for a scoreless seventh. Alvarado secured two outs in the eighth, but left two runners on for Kerkering after back-to-back singles.
Kerkering did his job, securing a groundout from the right-handed Siri to end the threat. He returned for the ninth and conceded a run but ended the game with a strikeout.
It ensured that Wheeler was credited with his first win since July 12. He knows one start doesn’t necessarily mean the struggles are completely behind him, but he feels he has taken a step toward getting back to himself.
“He’s close. I’m sure he would tell you the same,” Realmuto said. “He felt closer to it today than he did his last start. And I know he’s working hard on it. We have all the faith in the world.”
After a 10-year hiatus, the Philadelphia Cycling Classic brought crowds in from every corner of the city to watch some of the world’s most talented cyclists compete.
They were not disappointed. Both the women’s and men’s classics saw competitive races, coming down to the final meters. Italian cyclist Chiara Consonni placed first in the women’s classic, and Germany’s Tim Torn Teutenberg won the men’s classic.
Women’s classic
After finishing first in the women’s classic, Consonni did not have much time to celebrate. The Italian professional cyclist had a flight to catch.
“I’m coming home and [will] focus on the last effort for the season,” said Consonni, who competed for Canyon-SRAM. “It was a really long season. Philadelphia was in my plan from the beginning. I’m really happy to be here and do this race. And for sure, winning is always something great.”
Following a crash in the race’s final mile, Consonni made a late push to overtake Canadian cyclist Alexandra Volstad. Consonni finished the 62-mile race in just under 2 hours, 35 minutes. Volstad placed second and Ella Sabo, a native of California, came in third.
A look at Chiara Consonni's first place finish in the Philadelphia Cycling Classic.
This is Consonni’s third major race this month, having already competed in the Tour de France and Tour of Britain. The former boasts more impressive inclines but neither European race features a flat route. Consonni felt that both races prepared her for the steep inclines she faced in Philadelphia.
“The climb made some action and also something that the people can watch, something different than the flat race,” Consonni said.
“It’s my first time here, first time doing this race after a lot of years,” Consonni added. “I think the organization was amazing by my side. I hope this race will increase year by year and a lot of European teams can come and play for the victory.”
From left, second-place finisher Alexandra Volstad of Canada, of EF Education-Oatly, winner Chiara Consonni of Italy, of Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, and third-place finisher Ella Sabo of the United States, of Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28, celebrate on the podium after the Philly Cycling Classic on Sunday.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Men’s classic
After crossing the finish line, Teutenberg did a victory lap. Pumping his arms in the air, the German cyclist was overcome with joy after winning what he described as a “technical race.”
In the final mile, he broke away from the pack alongside British cyclist Robert Donaldson and another German competitor in Jonas Rutsch. Teutenberg was able to create distance from the two, finishing the 120-mile race in just under 4 hours, 21 minutes.
From left, second-place finisher Ronald Donaldson of Jayco AlUla, winner Tim Torn Teutenberg of Germany of Lidl-Trek, and third-place finisher Jonas Rutsch of Lotto-Intermarché celebrate on the podium after the men’s race at the Philly Cycling Classic on Sunday.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
“We had some people that we left in front of me, so I tried to get a bit of shelter behind them, it was a bit of a cat-and-mouse [game] waiting,” Teutenberg said. “And then I don’t know … I just went, [with] all I had.”
Although he had never competed in Philadelphia, Teutenberg had heard about the race from his aunt, Ina-Yoko Teutenberg — who placed first in the classic four times between 2007 and 2012.
“It was a super good atmosphere today,” Teutenberg said.
A ‘dream come true’
Kim Stoveld, a Philadelphia native, took an unconventional route to participate in the women’s classic.
The former University at Buffalo swimmer did not pick up competitive cycling until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Six years later, the 37-year-old competed in her hometown race, placing 71st with a time of 2:37:59.
“I watched this race in 2013, 2014, ’15, and ’16 when it was still going on, and I was just getting into cycling,” Stoveld said. “And then to be on the other side of it, 10 years later, is just like a dream come true. Just absolutely amazing.”
One reporter asked Stoveld what her advice would be to young women looking to take up cycling.
“If I can do this good in my late 30s, picking it up at 30, you as an 8-year-old getting into sports will dominate,” Stoveld said. “Please keep riding your bike.”
On the men’s side, Robin Carpenter gave Philadelphians another local cyclist to cheer on. The 34-year-old, who competed in Classic before its hiatus, finished 43rd with a time of 4:27:59.
Like Stoveld, Carpenter has plenty of experience with The Wall. Carpenter grew up in Manayunk and learned to master the steep incline at 11. As he made it through the final lap in his neighborhood, Carpenter spotted his family cheering him on from the sidewalk.
“I always know exactly where they’re going to be because it’s always just down the street from the house I grew up in. On the last lap, my wife Anna was holding the baby over the barrier.
“[There] is no better atmosphere in the United States than Philly for cycling, in my opinion. It’s so cool to have it back. I’m so grateful to everybody who was involved.”
Police said two women were found dead inside a home on the 1600 block of Conlyn Street in the Ogontz neighborhood on Sunday afternoon in what is being investigated as a murder-suicide.
Police did not release the identities of the women.
Officers responded to the scene around 1:50 p.m., after a gunshot was heard from inside the home, police said. A “barricade” was declared and ended about an hour later, police said.
Two adult women were found inside the home and pronounced dead at the scene by medics.
Police said preliminary information indicated that it was a murder-suicide. The relationship between the women has not been established and the motive was unknown. An investigation is ongoing, police said.
