The Delco 10 Miler will take off again Sunday, cutting a partially different path across the county that organizers hope is safer, more driver-friendly, and more fun for participants.
In addition to a new course, the race will host up to 2,500 runners, up from 1,200 last year, and benefit some new groups in the community.
Last year’s race followed a mostly straight line down Providence Road from Rose Tree Park before taking a few turns on Widener University’s campus, crossing I-95, and then carrying on through Chester toward Subaru Park.
The start and end are the same this year, but organizers made a few improvements. Runners will turn off Providence Road at West Rose Valley Road and take a few turns through neighborhoods in Nether Providence. There, the route will meet up with its original course on Widener’s campus.
This change will free up more of Providence Road to drivers and will make it easier for parishioners to attend church services along the route. It is also more runner-friendly, said Diana Shacklock, director of special projects at Visit Delco, the race’s organizer.
Last year’s course brought runners to a spot where they could see the finish line, but made them run several blocks past it before looping back, Shacklock said. Some runners commented on it after the race, so the loop was eliminated.
“It is no longer an ugly finish,” race director Kevin Nolan said.
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Road closures for the race
Roads along the route will be closed between 7:30 and 10 a.m. Police will have rolling openings and closings, meaning some roads will be open before runners reach that part of the course and after they pass.
The ramps from the Route 1 Media Bypass to Providence Road/Route 252 will be closed at 7:30 a.m.
Organizers asked for patience and recommended planning ahead if you need to travel along the route.
Organizers recommend parking at Subaru Park lot G before the race and taking the shuttle from Subaru Park to the starting line. Shuttles run between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. Runners can also be dropped off at Springton Lake Middle School near the starting line, but any cars left there will be ticketed and towed, Shacklock said.
Runners can stow their items in mobile lockers, which will be delivered to the finish line. Unwanted clothing can be donated.
The first group of runners will take off at 8 a.m. and the restwill be staggered over three- to five-minute intervals. Runners pushing wheelchairs will be able to leave a few minutes before the first corral.
Runners will be treated to refreshments from Delco Steaks and 2SP Brewing at the finish line.
What groups are partnering with the Delco 10 Miler this year?
Delco Volunteers was created as an effort to give back during America’s 250th, and funding from the race is intended to help the group continue beyond 2026, organizers said.
There will be a simultaneous festival at Wallingford Elementary School, with food, games, and a station where attendees can make signs for runners, who will pass directly in front of the school. The school is working with the Kyle Pease Foundation and accepting donations at givebutter.com/wes-loves-pease. Proceeds will go toward making the school’s playground inclusive for children with disabilities.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
In the aftermath of Monday night’s loss to the Chicago Bears, Jalen Hurts said he posed a question to the Eagles.
“‘Who are we?’” Hurts recalled on Wednesday. “‘Ask yourself that question because that’s a choice you can make, and being deliberate and intentional on how we move forward, so we can continue to improve.’”
The Eagles showed in their first loss of the season that they’re still figuring out their identity. The offense took strides in the run game in the first half — especially on their outside zone runs — but that progress dissipated in the second as they got behind the sticks with negative plays and penalties.
Chicago held them scoreless in the second half, part of a larger trend that is becoming a burgeoning concern for the Eagles offense. They’ve scored 20 of their 55 points this season in the second half. The Eagles have averaged 4.27 yards per play in the second half, which ranks 30th in the NFL.
Still, the Eagles offense is just three games into the season under new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion. Hurts seemed to express an understanding that the growing pains are part of learning a new offense.
“We want to win, and I think us onboarding new things and us learning new things, a lot of that is just part of the process of us becoming who we are,” Hurts said. “So I’ve talked about continuity and building that continuity, building that chemistry. Us coming together, staying together, and finding our flow, finding out what this team this year is going to be.”
To Hurts, losing provides an opportunity to learn, even if it stings momentarily.
“I hate it more than anything in this world,” Jalen Hurts said on Wednesday.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
“I hate it more than anything in this world,” Hurts said. “At the same time, we need it, and it’s something that is natural and a part of the process of winning. To win, you have to lose. You have to build resilience and character within that, reflecting on it, choosing to learn from it.”
The Eagles have plenty to learn from their loss, but they don’t have much time to dwell on the past. Coming off a Monday night game, they have a short week to prepare for their next opponent: The 1-2 Los Angeles Rams, whose record doesn’t reflect their talent.
It’s still early in the season, but the Eagles have just 14 more guaranteed opportunities in the form of regular-season games to establish an identity. While Hurts acknowledged that the teaching moments are part of the process, he also voiced a sense of urgency as they seek to collectively answer the question he posed to the team.
“I would like it to come as soon as possible,” Hurts said. “Competitively, it’s like, let’s do [it] by any means necessary. Let’s find a way to win. At the same time, it’s a process, and you know it’s not just one individual. I think it’s a team.
“It’s a team, and I think expectations are sometimes surrounding one thing when in reality, all these are moving parts, and we’ve all got to work collectively to find the results that we want.”
Against the Bears, Hurts said the Eagles put a collective emphasis on establishing the run, especially given its struggles in the first two games of the season.
The run game showed flashes, as Saquon Barkley amassed 73 yards on 11 carries in the first half alone. Against the Washington Commanders and the Tennessee Titans, the passing game had its moments, highlighted by the explosive and clutch plays orchestrated by Hurts.
Can the Eagles put together a well-rounded showing in both facets of the offense, all while protecting the football and staying disciplined?
“As we continue to put an emphasis on different streams of our game, we’ve got to be able to put it all together, right?” Hurts said. “We’ve been a team that protects the ball traditionally. None of that should change. Protecting the ball has a lot to do with understanding, our thinking, everything being second nature, just going out there and flowing.”
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense have 20 second-half points this season.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
At the same time, though, Hurts said he doesn’t care how the Eagles look, so long as the team wins. The opportunities have been there. He said the Eagles need to stop leaving “meat on the bone,” especially in the second halves of games.
Ultimately, for Hurts, the Eagles’ progress is about looking inward and focusing on nailing down the aspects of the offense that are within their control.
“Not worried about anybody else necessarily,” Hurts said. “Just us trying to master our stuff, coming together and do things the way we want to do them, and have some confidence in that.”
The Morris House Hotel has always had the bones to host a hit restaurant. Its Georgian-style brick buildings boast some genuine historic character dating back to 1787, when the Constitution was being written just a few blocks away. There’s a gracious courtyard oasis tucked behind an iron gate with room for 75 diners beneath a garland-draped tent ringed by dogwood and magnolia trees. A cozy indoor space with room for 45 more beside that garden and a plush bar offer a dramatic view through red curtains onto Eighth Street. Situated close to Washington Square, surrounded by residential neighborhoods and the vital pulse of a hospital district, it’s not lacking for foot traffic.
And yet, the Morris House has long been the Philadelphia restaurant equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle. Over the last 20 years since it was refurbished into an elegant inn, several talented chefs have come along in hopes of unlocking its potential as a destination dinner hideaway — only to succumb to its more profitable use as a wedding party factory. The fits and starts of multiple new operators, most recently the bistro-style Morris, which closed after less than a year in 2023, have continued to cloud the public’s perception of what happens at 225 S. Eighth St.
The outside of Soufiane at the Morris on Sept. 10, 2026, in Philadelphia, Pa.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerSoufiane Boutliliss shows off the outdoor dining in the garden during a friends-and-family preopening of Soufiane at the Morris in Philadelphia on May 27, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
What this space needs is a restaurant with a distinct identity. So I could not have been more excited to learn that Soufiane Boutliliss and Christophe Mathon of Sofi Corner Cafe were bringing a more expansive expression of their Moroccan-French magic to the fine-dining setting of the Morris House.
I still daydream of the couscous royale I once ate at Sofi Corner, the casual, counter-service breakfast-lunch cafe this married couple still operates for daytime service a few blocks away on Locust Street. I was thrilled to find another rendition of that cultural keystone dish celebrated here, a deep-green painted terra-cotta platter of mounded couscous scented with nutty aged butter draped with heaps of stewed veggies, tagine-braised chicken and lamb, sesame-speckled dried fruits, and a cuminy link of merguez rocking over top like a sausage seesaw.
Couscous royale with meat at Soufiane at the Morris on Sept. 10, 2026, in Philadelphia.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
But something was missing. It wasn’t just the need for a more generous splash of the deeply steeped broth kissed with rose water that should unite these disparate elements. (You can always ask for extra broth with your couscous.) This centerpiece to our dinner also arrived 90 minutes after our arrival, pointing to much bigger issues of service and inexperience with a project this large that are hampering this duo from realizing their vision at the Morris House.
The restaurant was so completely unprepared on a midweek evening for a busy room that what might be a boon of customers for most restaurants became a crisis here. The frantic staff was stretched so thin that it took a server nearly 30 minutes to take our drink orders, and then only with a sigh while leaning halfway through the doorway to the patio, where several more customers waited. Menu items kept dropping out of our reach before we could ask for them. The Moroccan briouats pastries? Gone. The piperade roast peppers and toast? Gone.
Inside dining area at Soufiane at the Morris on Sept. 10, 2026, in Philadelphia.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerSoufiane Boutliliss, owner of Sofi Corner Cafe, and his husband, Christophe Mathon, pose for a portrait in front of the restaurant in Philadelphia on Dec. 29, 2023.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
“Let me send you a roasted marrow bone compliments of the house!” a manager offered my unlucky-in-ordering guest as a consolation. It never came. Neither did the duck confit, substituted without mention by a seared duck breast, which was salty, tough, and small for $37.
“A couple people did not show up in the kitchen today,” conceded yet another staffer who ultimately took our order. That might also explain why an otherwise wonderfully seasoned duck pâté en croûte marbled with pistachios and herbes de Provence arrived with its underbaked pastry crust still pale and doughy.
It does not take skilled kitchen labor, however, to realize that four hungry diners could use more than a few miserly slices of baguette to dig into a trio of flavorful Moroccan eggplant and carrot salads. “Some more bread, please?” we begged politely, knowing it would be at least another 20 minutes until we saw it.
All new restaurants go through growing pains, and some will take longer to sort them out than others. But it would be unfair to suggest that Soufiane at the Morris is not worth the trouble. To the contrary, there were several glimmers of hope in my first meal here. The bar has been beautifully refurbished with wood paneling and pilasters salvaged from Lynnewood Hall along with a gilded antique French rococo mirror. The cocktails served to the diners at cushy barstools there incorporate fun Moroccan touches, from a gin-infused mint tea to an old-fashioned that arrives inside a dome of cinnamon and bay wood smoke.
People enjoying food and drinks at the bar at Soufiane on Sept. 10, 2026, in Philadelphia.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerA Moroccan old-fashioned at Soufiane at the Morris on Sept. 10, 2026, in Philadelphia.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
The kitchen also delivered some memorable plates, including a soulfully stewed chicken tagine scented with cardamom, olives, and preserved lemon. We also especially loved an obscure French standby called veal Marengo, a wine-stewed tumble of tender meat, mushrooms, and pearl onions with silky mashed potatoes. It’s a dish that Coast Guard veteran-turned-chef Henry McGuigan (Zahav, Laser Wolf, Lucky’s Last Chance, June BYOB, Tavern on Camac) has been mastering for years. They were both so good we would come back just for them.
In fact, we did. A few weeks later, the service was far more focused and the menu’s bicultural aspirations (with both hits and misses) came into clearer view. The menu is a split concept, more than pure fusion, and is very much a reflection of the couple behind this restaurant, the Tangier-born, Paris-raised Boutliliss and his husband, Mathon, a Frenchman who moved to the States as an executive with Coty.
The Veau Marengo (braised veal with white wine, pearl onions, mushrooms, house purée) served during a friends-and-family preopening of Soufiane at the Morris in Philadelphia on May 27, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
With McGuigan digging deep into his repertoire of French standards, some of the Gallic flavors were among the most satisfying, from a standout beef tartare with a quail egg shrouded in rosemary smoke to some tender escargots broiled with garlicky breadcrumbs inside their shells (worth it just to use the pincerlike escargot tongs!). I’d place Soufiane’s French onion soup among Philly’s best. Made over the course of two days with slowly caramelized onions and both beef and veal stocks steeped in-house, this soup has cognac-splashed layered depth and the satisfaction of a generously cheesy molten Gruyère lid.
The steak frites is also a winner, a perfectly cooked prime-grade hanger lavished with a garden green spoonful of a zesty parsley purée enriched with shallots, confit garlic, and anchovies. Those shoestring frites cooked in beef tallow were also a crucial, sauce-soaking vehicle for la mouclade de moules, one of the most distinctive mussel dishes in town that taps a traditional preparation from the French coastal town of La Rochelle, its shellfish jus enriched with crème fraîche and curry.
The Escargots de Bourgogne (garlic and herb butter) served during a friends-and-family preopening of Soufiane at the Morris in Philadelphia on May 27, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff PhotographerSteak frites at Soufiane at the Morris on Sept. 10, 2026, in Philadelphia, Pa.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Where this kitchen most frequently fell short was on the Moroccan side of the menu, where the flavors were often good, but the execution and touch were off — a symptom, perhaps, of the fact that Boutliliss is less involved in the kitchen’s day-to-day operations.
The fish tagine’s tomato-based sauce was appealingly fragrant with cumin and smoked paprika, but the red snapper fillet was overcooked and dry. Chermoula sauce is one of Boutliliss’ family treasures, a velvety green purée of cilantro, parsley, lemon, and olive oil whose aromatics of garlic and cumin must be added in order and in proper balance. (“You have to respect the grandmother’s touch,” says Boutliliss.)
But the tiny bay scallops that arrived inside a terra-cotta crock of that bubbling hot chermoula were terribly overcooked. In both cases, though, McGuigan has recognized the flaws and altered the dishes since my visits, changing the technique on the fish and subbing in larger sea scallops to better showcase the flavors.
Chef Henry McGuigan plates the Tartare de Bœuf “On a Cloud” during a friends-and-family preopening of Soufiane at the Morris in Philadelphia on May 27, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
When it came to dessert, however, it was the Moroccan-inspired flavors that were most successful, a “pain perdue” French toast soaked in orange blossom syrup with caramel and pistachios, as well as a simple lemon tart inspired by Boutliliss’ grandmother with a lime zest-dusted condensed milk custard set into a crust of crushed Biscoff cookies.
It was a pleasant enough finale, but Mathon and Boutliliss must have sensed things had not gone smoothly and could be seen circulating among the room’s lingering guests with complimentary pours of Rémy Martin 1738 Cognac.
“We know we can do better,” Mathon told our table, tipping the brandy our way. “We never want you to leave without a smile.”
That kind of personal touch, the one that earned them fans at tiny Sofi Corner, is certainly the right idea, and when a Frenchman breaks out the cognac you know he means it. But if they hope to change two decades of precedent and transform the larger challenge of Soufiane at the Morris into a lasting restaurant success, they’ve got bigger issues of staffing and kitchen consistency to solve.
The crème brûlée served during a friends-and-family preopening of Soufiane on May 27, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Dinner Tuesday through Sunday, 4:30 p.m. to midnight.
Wheelchair accessible through garden entrance.
About 35% of the menu is gluten-free or can be modified.
Entrees, $30-$48 (couscous for two).
Menu highlights: beef tartare; Moroccan briouats; escargots; chermoula scallops; French onion soup; couscous royale; chicken tagine; steak frites; veal Marengo; la Mouclade curried mussels; tarte au citron.
Drinks: Cocktails are the focus, with a range of classic ideas executed with a North African flourish, from a Casablanca old-fashioned smoked with cinnamon and bay wood to a gin- and Carpano-infused Moroccan mint tea. About a dozen wines by the glass, largely French, offer a solid range of standard choices for $16 or less.
The entrance of Soufiane at the Morris on May 27, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Crime and punishment in colonial America was a brutal business. Incarcerated people were barely fed, were often beaten, and fell ill from unsanitary conditions.
Inspired by the benevolent Quaker tradition, Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin decided, in the late 17th century, to institute a new system through which people in prison could atone by reflecting and reading the Bible.
The catch was they had to be “penitent” all alone, without any human contact. With the birth of solitary confinement, came Eastern State Penitentiary.
Artist Cody Stuhltrager captures the distinctive aesthetic of Eastern State Penitentiary and its enduring presence in Fairmount in this No. 1Cody Stuhltrager courtesy of Colibrí Workshop
Construction started in 1821 and in 1829, the 11-acre institution opened on what was once a cherry orchard situated at the intersection of Fairmount Avenue, Corinthian Avenue, Brown Street, and 22nd Street. Nestled behind a 650-foot stone wall were 250 rooms.
The intention was that every man, woman, and child would have their own cell and would neither see nor talk to another human being.
“Eastern State is considered the first penitentiary in America because it is the first institution that uses solitary confinement for the entire length of the inmate’s incarceration,” explained Kerry Sautner, president and CEO of Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc.
America’s first penitentiary — the country’s first true correctional facility — will be remembered Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Eastern State Penitentiary.
The observance is part of the Philadelphia Historic District’s 52 Weeks of Firsts Celebrations. The weekly day parties, or firstivals are part of a yearlong citywide celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
Eastern State Penitentiary’s legacy of torturous solitary confinement makes this a somber celebration.
The institution’s first prisoner was 18-year-old Delaware County burglar Charles Williams. Within a few years after his arrival, Eastern State became a model for prisons and penitentiaries throughout the country, Sautner said. Still, its controversial methods of rehabilitation were considered cruel.
Eastern State Penitentiary cellblock in 1837.Eastern State Penitentiary
During his first visit to America, author Charles Dickens, who toured the penitentiary, wrote, “I believe that very few men are capable of estimating the immense amount of torture and agony which this dreadful punishment, prolonged for years, inflicts upon its sufferers.”
“People quickly learned that solitary confinement was a cruel form of punishment,” Sautner said. “But they didn’t to let it go easily.”
Despite the formation of the Pennsylvania Prison Society — responsible for part of the state constitution that stressed on the rights of incarcerated people — solitary confinement lasted through the late 19th century. It remained a part of the prison’s culture until it was completely removed from the books in 1913.
During the early 20th century, each cell housed two people.
“We have evidence of a proclamation banning solitary,” Sautner said. “And we found evidence of small Christian gatherings celebrations [within Eastern State] of Jewish holy days in September.”
(Although the penitentiary was founded in the Quaker tradition, there is evidence that prisoners worshipped in Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths within its walls by the 19th century.)
In 1965, it was designated a national historic site by the federal government. By the early 1970s, Eastern State Penitentiary was immensely overcrowded with more than 2,000 prisoners. It closed in 1971 and its population was moved to Graterford.
Throughout the 1980s, the building remained mostly abandoned except for a few sporadic instances like when it served as the set for the filming of Tina Turner’s 1985 single “One of the Living” from the Mad Max soundtrack.
In the late 1980s, the city began looking at ways to restabilize what many considered an eyesore in the center of Fairmount, a neighborhood that was in the midst of being revitalized. Planners considered turning the space into condos, a shopping center, and even a youth hostel.
Eastern State Penitentiary hosts Halloween Nights, a festival-like attraction with characters dressed as scary clowns, zombies, vampires and other ghouls — but not prisoners or prison guardsEastern State Penitentiary
In 1988, at the urging of a task force of concerned architects, preservationists, and historians, Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode halted the process of selling the site. And in 1994, it opened as a nonprofit historic site offering group tours under the leadership of Sally Elk.
1997 marked the first “Terror Behind the Walls” the annual haunted house attraction. In 2021 it was rebranded as “Halloween Nights,” a less spooky, more gentrified version with a beer garden.
This week’s Firstival is Saturday, Oct. 3, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at Eastern State Penitentiary at 2027 Fairmount Ave
Cinnaminson Township voters narrowly approved a bond question for $57 million for our public schools. Out of nearly 3,500 ballots cast, the winning margin was just nine votes — but that doesn’t tell the whole story. What struck me was that in a township with 14,000 registered voters, only about 3,500 people actually took part in the referendum. So to my neighbors: Before you go to township council meetings to complain about your property tax increase, ask yourself if you made your voice heard in this referendum. If you didn’t vote, stay home.
Kenneth Rayca, Cinnaminson
Compassion required
I recently rode a SEPTA bus through one of Philadelphia’s poorest neighborhoods. I am a devoted supporter of public transit. We did not have a car growing up in an urban environment; it’s not so much that we couldn’t afford one, but I suspect my father, a professor of philosophy, thought a car would anchor him too much to everyday aggravations. As a result, I took public transit all over the city and am, to this day, more comfortable traveling this way.
One of the great benefits of bus travel is the opportunity to observe a wide cross-section of the city and reflect on its overall socioeconomic condition. This recent trip brought to life the struggles and suffering of many of Philadelphia’s most vulnerable — those in ill health, those experiencing homelessness, those without proper nutrition. Witnessing humanity trying to cope with life at the bottom of the economy, I felt close to tears at the corrosive cruelty of the current administration in severely cutting social safety net programs, including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It occurred to me that politicians, as a requirement to hold office, should have to take bus trips like this — maybe then they can begin to understand what life is like for many who feel pain and hurt just trying to live their lives.
Allan Irving, Swarthmore
Economic fairness
Reading The Inquirer Editorial Board’s series about how the president has, shall we say, expanded his wealth in the White House reminded me that the grifters have been here since way before the Trumps. The rich and powerful have long used the words communism and socialism to convince people they will lose their freedom if they vote for Democrats. The right wing says if people only listen to and vote for Republicans, their wealth will trickle down.
Well, it hasn’t happened yet. Every year, the right wing has dismantled more rights granted by our Constitution and diminished other laws created by the government of the people. Now the right wing owns many of our financial institutions, much of our news media, utilities, healthcare, and so on.
The path that led to a family of right-wing grifters gaining so much influence can’t be denied — but we can do something about the future. When you vote this year, remember that it’s about creating economic fairness and the sharing of power. Let’s hope we can vote our way into a more equitable future.
Mardys Leeper, Bryn Mawr
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.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). More team-building today. You attract people who will benefit from knowing one another and working together for a common result. You set the tone and the rules — perhaps not formally but in the way a good leader does: by example.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). With your soulful depth, you don’t need extra stimuli to feel the magic of existence. Even the most mundane activity has rich potential for expressing your purpose. You’ll lift the atmosphere around you simply by showing up.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Whatever else you happen to be doing, you’re also daydreaming. When you’re showering, driving, waiting in line, or even while working, your mind is combining ideas that seem unrelated and picturing things no one has made yet.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). You’re sensitive to the subtle pressures and understated pleasures of circumstance. The one who can provide you with stress relief will win your attention. You’ll go out of your way to flow greater ease and peace through your world.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). If you still behave as though your worth is tied to how productive or useful you are to others, look at who benefits when you buy into this belief: someone with a selfish agenda. You were worthy at birth, before you could produce a thing or help a soul.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You put thought, labor and skill into the result, so of course you want someone to notice. Give people a chance to respond. And if it seems like they are missing it, or misattributing the credit, that’s unacceptable. Do something about it.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Luck and strategy. You’ll need both and you’ll have both. As you research and apply what you learn, Lady Luck leans in, interested in what you’re up to, and she’ll assist, as always, in her own whimsical timing.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Your feelings are a tidal ebb, pulling away from the shore of a relationship, giving the space to the scene while you gather yourself in some deep center before returning, oxygenated by the way life moves.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Today’s events have you convinced that it’s the principle that matters. A principled person applies principles across the board, not just where the application is convenient. Character is destiny. Fine character is fine destiny.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Systems built around one person’s preferences won’t be effective for the whole group. Your redesign could be as simple as moving the chair, changing the order of operations or rewriting the form.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Someone will tell you a story you’ve heard before, except one detail has changed. Wait before correcting them. People revise memories for usefulness, vanity, mercy and drama. Their new version reveals something that’s good to know.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Say what everyone is thinking right in the moment they are thinking it and it plays as light, funny, apt. But wait, and the same words cause offense or resistance. Excellent timing is a kind of magic in and of itself.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Oct. 1). In your Year of Objectivity, you’re able to see your scene through a lens that few ever get to glimpse. By acting on the objective truth of a matter, you bypass mistakes of ego and extend yourself in ways that mean something to others, improving lives including your own. More highlights: Three big-money deals. Companions that are attentive, funny and game for adventuring. Home renovations. Taurus and Virgo adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 12, 8, 40, 33 and 1.
DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been together for 16 years, married for 14. I was injured in a bad car wreck 12 years ago, and I stockpiled the leftover pain medicine. We scheduled a cruise nine years ago, and I was going to take a few with me just in case. When I went to get some, they were all gone! My oldest son had been staying here for a few months, and my immediate thought was that he may have taken them. Nobody else had been in our house. When I confronted my son, he denied it. He also stopped talking to me for months. Every so often I would ask him about it, and he continued to get angry when I did.
I recently had two major surgeries, and they sent me home on pain meds. I went to get one about a month ago, and they were all gone! Again! I questioned my husband, and he said, “No, someone else must have taken them.” This went on for a few weeks, and I finally figured it out. It had been him the entire time. To say the least, I was devastated. My trust in him was shattered because he let me blame my son all this time, putting that relationship in jeopardy. I left our home and went to stay at a weekend place we own. I made my husband call his parents in front of me and tell them what had happened, because I knew he would otherwise make up some lie about why I left. Even so, I somehow became the scapegoat because I’m not “standing by my man.” They fail to recognize that I am the victim here. He started outpatient rehab two weeks ago, but we have done nothing for our marriage. Can this trust ever be rebuilt?
— NEEDING DIRECTION IN VIRGINIA
DEAR NEEDING DIRECTION: Let me postpone the answer to your question until after I urge you to apologize to your son. You and your son should consider joining a group called Nar-Anon (nar-anon.org). It is composed of people who have been affected by the drug addiction of a loved one or friend. It has meetings everywhere.
Your husband is an addict who has broken your trust. Before deciding whether to continue being married to him, you need to know what that will mean. After initially overcoming his addiction, he may fall off the wagon. Do not allow your in-laws to guilt you into reuniting with their son. Your husband would have to be sober for a long time before you can trust him again.
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: I have a standing appointment with the hairdresser I’ve been seeing for many years for my cut and style. I highlight my own hair at home. I’m wondering if coloring at home is considered in poor taste while having your hair cut professionally.
— BEAUTY CLIENT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
DEAR CLIENT: No! If you prefer to color your hair at home, that is your privilege. You don’t owe anyone an apology or explanation for doing it. If someone you know implied that it is wrong, that person was misinformed.
Amid the most optimism and the highest expectations around them in years, the Flyers opened their regular season Wednesday night and were bad. More than just bad, actually. They were horribly bad. They were terribly bad. They were Plan 9 from Outer Space bad, left-the-milk-out-too-long bad, Andy Dalton-on-third-and-goal bad. They were the kind of bad that stops being surprising and interesting and starts being embarrassing and … just more embarrassing. They were so bad that the Xfinity Mobile Arena staff could have played the final scene from Seven on the videoboard and it would have lifted everyone’s spirits.
They lost 7-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins — their fiercest rival, the team they knocked out of the playoffs last season — in a game so one-sided that it’s a wonder they allowed themselves to be introduced before the opening faceoff. If your effort is going to be that pitiful, just stay in the locker room to spare the sellout crowd the few seconds of getting their hopes up. The Mites on Ice could have booed them. Gritty should go into hiding. Lauren Hart should have told everyone she had laryngitis.
“You saw it,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “Obviously, I don’t have an answer. I don’t think we won a battle. They outcoached us tonight. They outplayed us. They did everything better than us tonight.”
Was this the worst loss in Flyers history? No, but you have to give the club credit for trying. There was defenseman Cam York, attempting a behind-the-back pass near the Pittsburgh blue line, turning the puck over, and creating an odd-man rush and scoring chance for the Penguins. There was Travis Konecny, streaking down the right wing, puck on his stick, clean shot there to be taken, throwing a tough cross-ice pass that Tyson Foerster couldn’t handle, as if Konecny’s postseason scoring bugaboo was still hounding him like a ghost. There were the team’s two most promising players, Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov, doing silly things — the former taking a cross-checking penalty that led to an Evgeni Malkin power-play goal and getting demoted from one of the team’s top two lines, the latter staying on the ice too long on too many shifts.
“We had a lot of snowblowers,” Tocchet said. “We have plays where we don’t go through people. … I don’t know if guys are reading their press clippings. I don’t know, but it wasn’t good.”
The Flyers did almost nothing right Wednesday, as they were outworked and outclassed by the rival Pittsburgh Penguins.Matt Slocum
It was just one game out of the 84 the Flyers will play this season, yes, but Lord, was it ugly. They were lackluster in their final exhibition game last week, losing 5-1 to the Washington Capitals, and both Tocchet and team captain Sean Couturier suggested that a pattern might be developing within a still-young, still-inexperienced team that failed to prepare properly for the regular season. “Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, it’s training camp. We’ll ease our way into the season,’” Couturier said. “We’ve got to wake up here.”
That was the startling part — that the Flyers weren’t as juiced as their fans were, that they seemed to be skating through sludge, to be completely uninterested in building on the good feelings they had established last spring. Just six months ago, they charged into the postseason, beat the Penguins in six games, and left to a standing ovation despite getting swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes. On Wednesday night, they were outshot 38-19, generated no offense or cohesion on their three power plays, and so infrequently threatened to score that Penguins goaltender Artūrs Šilovs could have played Solitaire in his crease all night and barely bothered to look up.
In one memorable second-period sequence, defenseman Nick Seeler, with teammate Owen Tippett prone on the ice several feet in front of him, flicked a shot toward Šilovs anyway. The puck plunked Tippett in the head. It was only a matter of time, though, before someone topped it, and goalie Dan Vladař did late in the third period, when a shot by Nick Robertson sailed wide and caromed into the crease, where Vladař kicked it into the net for a short-handed goal.
“There’s no panic, nothing,” Couturier said. “But we’ve got to realize that what happened last year is last year.”
Look, if you want to chalk up what happened Wednesday night to the randomness of hockey and the strangeness inherent in pro sports, you certainly can. Again, there are 83 games left before everything really matters. But at the risk of reading too much into the end of the Flyers’ 2025-26 season and the beginning of their 2026-27 season, it’s worth noting that technically they have lost seven of their last eight games.
They have not played a strong full game in a long time, and they had their head coach sounding like a man without an explanation for a humiliating night. “Some plays we were making, they were disturbing plays,” Tocchet said. “We’ve got to figure this out quickly.” Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” The Flyers now have to prove they agree with the second part.
The Flyers managed just 19 shots on goal compared to the Penguins’ 38.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Orange and black Flyers jerseys decorated the lawn of Stateside Live! as fans attended the Flyers’ fan fest ahead of the team’s season opener. After the orange carpet, they stood in front of the large stage in the back of the venue, patiently watching the bottom of the 10th inning as the Phillies clung to a 4-3 lead in Game 2 of their National League wild-card series against the Atlanta Braves.
As soon as the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system confirmed the last pitch was a strike, fans threw their hands in the air and cheered as the Phillies sent the series to Game 3. Now, it was time to turn their attention to the Flyers and their lid-lifter against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“When I came in today, it was kind of quiet,” said Roxborough native Mark Posusney. “But the back-to-back home runs from [Kyle] Schwarber and [Bryce] Harper, it just got juiced. … I think it’s an 11 out of 10 with the atmosphere here with the Flyers starting.”
Here’s everything you missed from Flyers fan fest:
The orange carpet rolls out
Just a few hours before puck drop, the orange carpet was rolled out for the player walk-ins. The Flyers players, dressed to the nines, were greeted by a line of fans before heading over to Xfinity Mobile Arena.
“Seeing them interact with the fans and seeing that they want to be here, it’s huge for us,” said New Jersey native Robby Seitziager. “Seeing that they actually care is the biggest thing for me.”
Flyers president of hockey operations Keith Jones hopes the Flyers can continue to ride the success they found late last season — making their first playoff appearance since 2020 — especially with the attention surrounding the city following the arrival of LeBron James.
“It’s interesting to be able to see the type of talent that’s electing to come here in the other sports,” Jones said. “It has to make them feel like they’re part of something important in this city. And this city’s always been about every team.
“And we, as the Flyers, want to make sure that we’re a part of that story. So our players have to do their part. They have to perform well like they did last year and kind of build off that in order to continue that momentum.”
Video: Sights and sounds from the Flyers’ home opener fan fest
Jones has also noticed a shift in buzz surrounding the team.
“I think this city loves an underdog story,” Jones said. “And last year, we were that. With the low percentage chance to make the playoffs and our guys going on a run and doing an outstanding job, winning a playoff round, which hadn’t happened in a while, playing a home playoff game, that was a big deal. So, all of those things have really built a lot of momentum and it’s exciting for us. And now we have to go out and meet those expectations.”
Fans have high hopes
That buzz was shown throughout the crowd at Stateside Live!. Port Richmond native John Powers said he had never bought a Flyers jersey or any type of ticket package until this season.
“There’s a lot of energy around the season,” Powers said. “I went to an open practice a couple weeks ago. Hopefully, we can do exactly what we did last year. Get into the playoffs and see what happens.”
And when fans were asked who they were most excited to see, they responded with a wide array of names from Matvei Michkov and Cam York to Travis Konecny. And as Porter Martone heads into his first full professional season, some are even eyeing the Calder Trophy for him as the NHL’s rookie of the year.
“The team is not too far off from last year,” said Philadelphia native Jim Scheuren. “So, I think similar expectations, maybe a few more points. I think the biggest thing this year is Martone coming in, he only played a few games last year and then the playoffs. So, I think him putting up a rookie-of-the-year season. And then Michkov dropping 20 pounds, I think that’s a huge thing.”
NHL on TNT comes to Philly
NHL on TNT kicked off its opening night studio show doubleheader in front of the Philly crowd on Wednesday. The pregame show, hosted by Liam McHugh alongside analysts Wayne Gretzky, Henrik Lundqvist, Anson Carter and Paul Bissonnette, featured analysis ahead of the game, live interviews, and special guest appearances.
“[Philly] is always a place where it’s intense, in my opinion,” Lundqvist said. “As an athlete, you want to play in places where you have that intensity and passion from the fans. I think the entire TNT crew, we’re excited to be on location again. We started doing that last year. It’s going to be a great game between Philly and Pittsburgh tonight.”
Last year, TNT broadcast from the Las Vegas Strip ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights home opener against the Los Angeles Kings. Emily Malmstrom, the senior vice president of communications for Comcast Spectacor, said getting NHL on TNT to Philly was months in the making, starting mid-July.
And as the Flyers made their proposal for TNT to make its way to Philly, they focused on one big thing: the fans.
“Our fans show up any day, any time, and we’ll be here through the night,” Malmstrom said. “And that was really important to TNT given the fact that they have the game following the Flyers and Penguins. They needed fans that were going to last until 2 a.m. And Philly fans show up and being in the heart of the Sports Complex at Stateside Live!, you have the Phillies, the Eagles, the Flyers, the Sixers. We knew we could get people to show up.”
Charles Barkley’s hot take
And you know who else showed up? Charles Barkley.
The 11-time NBA All-Star, and former Sixer made a special appearance on NHL on TNT. And during his time on the show, the former NBA MVP delivered a hot take to start the 2026-27 NHL season.
“I’m pulling for my boy Rick Tocchet here with the Flyers,” Barkley said. “We’re going to win the Stanley Cup this year. The Philadelphia Flyers are going to win the Stanley Cup. Yes, we are.”
Charles Barkley hopped on the panel to talk some puck and declared that the FLYERS WILL WIN THE STANLEY CUP THIS SEASON!!!! 😤🔥 pic.twitter.com/EfurA5hhE7
After the massive success of hockey romance series Off Campus and Heated Rivalry, and the overall prominence of “hockey romance” as a book genre, the NHL is trying to convert that growing young audience into fans through the “Hot for Hockey” campaign.
“The data is overwhelming,” commissioner Gary Bettman said Wednesday from Xfinity Mobile Arena, that a large number of the NHL’s newest fans started watching the league after discovering the sport through one of those two television shows.
“The hockey romance genre is extraordinarily popular,” Bettman said. “It’s not necessarily everybody’s taste. Not all of it is suitable for every audience or every age group, but for the people who are connecting to it? They’re also connecting to hockey.”
In January, StubHub reported a 40% increase in interest in NHL tickets following the release of Heated Rivalry. The first season of Prime Video’s series Off Campus released on May 13, but immediately became one of the streamer’s biggest hits, having the third-best debut in platform history. San Jose Sharks superstar Macklin Celebrini did a joint interview with Off Campus star Belmont Cameli as part of a Hollywood Reporter series that also featured Sixers star Jaylen Brown and Mahershala Ali.
Sean Eggert, the NHL’s new Chief Marketing Officer, told Sports Business Journal that hockey romance is by far the largest segment of the booming sports romance genre.
So, as part of the NHL’s new campaign to draw in more of those fans, the league released a series of romance-inspired audio series, including one “starring” Trevor Zegras, The Summer I Turned Gritty. The goal of the campaign is to present real-life NHL story lines in the style of romance novels, written by popular hockey romance authors.
The popularity of romance hockey shows like “Off Campus” has the NHL wading into new territory.Liane Hentscher
Zegras’ voice isn’t actually featured in the audio — at least not in the first installment released on Spotify. Bettman said he listened to all of them — in addition to binging both Off Campus and Heated Rivalry.
The first editions earned a fair bit of ridicule from fans across the spectrum, both older established fans and from the exact fans who might be the target audience for this kind of content.
— allie SAW WHALIEN52&HOME&LOVEMAZE&MAGICSHOP (@odelllrry) September 30, 2026
Spotify doesn’t publicize listener statistics for audiobooks, so it’s unclear how well these stories are actually performing on the platform. The Summer I Turned Gritty earned a 2.6-star rating from 16 reviewers as of Wednesday night.
In 2023, the Seattle Kraken attempted to lean into the BookTok audience, inviting popular creators known for reading and reviewing hockey romance to games and engaging with their content on TikTok. The team ran into trouble when some of those creators began to sexually harass center Alexander Wennberg, in ways his wife Felicia said were “predatory and exploitative.”
Despite the mixed success of the NHL’s attempts to engage romance readers and watchers, Bettman said the league’s efforts to reach that new audience will continue.
“We’re going to do a variety of things to continue to market and promote the game,” Bettman said. “I don’t think we’ve ever had more fans. Our buildings are sold out. We set another record last season. Our ratings were up dramatically.
“We’re looking to encourage people who might not be focused on hockey to take a look because we believe once they take a look, they’re going to like what they see and they’re going to keep coming back.”
