DEAR ABBY: I am a retired executive chef, divorced for many years with three adult children. My son was also an executive chef, but no longer. He is a mean alcoholic. He stays drunk when not at his job, and he says cruel and nasty things to all family members. His older sister has written him off because of all the hurtful things he has said about her and her family. He calls me when he is drunk and wants to talk about cooking, though he hates it. He doesn’t listen to me at all and just goes on and on. His mother passed three years ago, and he has never gotten over it. He was her favorite.
I love my son very much but can’t talk with him anymore as it upsets me for days after. How can I get him to seek counseling? He won’t listen to anyone. He admits that he has an alcohol problem but chooses to do nothing about it. The only other family member who still talks to him is his younger sister, and he is mean to her as well. What can we do to help him?
— ANGUISHED DAD IN TEXAS
DEAR DAD: I am sorry for your pain, but you cannot force your son to deal with his alcohol addiction. Until he faces the full consequences of what it is costing him — in other words, hits rock bottom — he will do nothing about it. I hope you will consider visiting some Al-Anon meetings, which you can find by going to al-anon.org/info. These meetings are everywhere, and you should have little difficulty finding one. If you do, you will find other parents, spouses, siblings and friends of alcoholics who are trying to deal with the same issues as you.
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been married for 26 years. I have often felt as if we were growing apart, finding interests in different things. We seem unable to discuss our emotions without one of us getting hurt feelings and the talk devolving into awful arguments. There has never been any real question of extramarital affairs.
One night, I playfully asked if I could go through his computer. He immediately became defensive, saying he just doesn’t like people getting into his computer, messing with his stuff. I get that. I wouldn’t want just anybody getting into my computer, either. However, I am not just anybody; I’m his wife. He has full access to all of my computers, phones and digital accessories. Why do I feel like he’s got something to hide? I don’t know what to do.
— PRESUMPTION OF GUILT
DEAR PRESUMPTION: Pressing your husband on this issue right now will only lead to more arguments. If you want to repair the marriage, you both need to learn to communicate more effectively. Without mentioning his computer, invite your husband to see a licensed family therapist with you. If he refuses, go without him. If he agrees, work on the basics now and save the privacy issues and your suspicions for future sessions.
The Phillies are on the verge of it. Know that. It can be difficult to recognize when you are living through it. Think of the worst you ever heard. Make it worse. This is it.
For the vast majority of us whose sports consciousness had not yet dawned in 1964, the year has always been one that occupied the same narrative spaces as walking to school in the snow uphill both ways. As bad as things were when they were worse than we ever had it, we never had it that bad. The great Phillies Phold of ‘64 wasn’t an urban legend as much as it was an origin story.
Well, here we are. The 1964 Phillies had a 6½-game lead with 12 games to play. The 2026 Phillies had a five-game lead with eight games to play. It does not get worse than this.
However it plays out, whatever happens on the final day of the regular season, whether the Phillies win, or see the Diamondbacks lose, or the inverse occurs, they have already accomplished something in the least sense of the word. They have forced us to consider what was long held to be the epitome of impossible.
By the end of a 12-1 loss to the Rays on a cool, wet, desperate Saturday night in South Philadelphia, the current era of Phillies baseball had been reduced to the hollow sound of bat on ball that echoed through a near-empty stadium that had long before lost its will.
Pitching on two days’ rest, Aaron Nola gave up three runs in his one inning on Saturday.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Embarrassment is not nearly a strong enough word to describe the precipice upon which the Phillies currently stand. It may not even be an emotion they are collectively capable of feeling, given the lack of soul they’ve displayed over the last two-plus seasons. And maybe that’s what you get when you build a team full of players who are here primarily because you offered them more money than anybody else. Maybe that’s your soul.
Maybe.
There have been many instances over the last several years where the Phillies have appeared to be better than that. Much better, at times. They played the first two months of last season at a 106-win place. They played the eventual world champion Dodgers close to even before bowing out in a National League Divisional Series. Nobody can question the individual competitive integrities of guys like Bryce Harper and Zack Wheeler and Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto. And, yet, the totality of what we’ve seen since mid-October 2023 suggests there is something lacking in the collective. Whatever that thing is, isn’t there right now.
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The goal now is to avoid infamy. It is to preserve legacy. It is to summon the last shred of political capital they earned in 2022 and escape from Game 162 with a reason to believe. It will be one thing to make the playoffs. It will be another to do so and also offer a reason to believe that they’ve accomplished anything greater than delaying the start of their offseason by another few days.
The biblical tone is warranted. The Phillies are on the precipice of a disaster that transcends even their own lengthy track record of misery. Barely more than a week ago, the math said they had a 99% chance at making the playoffs. With eight games to play, they had a five-game lead for the final NL wild-card spot. They entered Wednesday needing some combination of two wins and Diamondbacks losses to clinch a playoff berth. That number will still sit at one when they take the field Sunday for Game 162.
The Phillies’ Bryce Harper dives safely back to first base after briefly trying to stretch a single into a double in the eighth inning.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
It will sit there in spite of — because of? — their understanding that Game 161 was one they needed to win. Interim manager Don Mattingly’s decision to start Aaron Nola on two days’ rest backfired in a manner as spectacular as it was predictable. By the time a lot of folks realized the Nor’easter-delayed game had started, the Rays were up 3-0, courtesy of a loud home run by Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero. The conditions did not improve.
By the start of the seventh inning, the Phillies needed a touchdown and an onside kick and a field goal just to tie the game. They had the bases loaded in the seventh and eighth. They ended up getting an extra point. Long before then, the focus had turned to Sunday, with an inch of rain predicted to fall.
The metaphors write themselves. As do the hypotheticals. We needn’t dive into them now. They’ll be actualities soon enough. Even if the Phillies win on Sunday, how can we possibly believe in a team that failed to win a game in its most desperate moment? Worse still, what if they lose and still sneak into the playoffs because of a Diamondbacks loss? Does any of it matter now that Mattingly is treating his pitching staff like they are playing Game 7?
Questions like these are what Monday is for.
Mattingly, Gene Mauch, 2026, 1964 …
The only thing to do right now is watch the story unfold.
Above each locker in the Phillies’ home clubhouse is a rolled-up sheet of plastic. They have waited there, lining the room, for the past four days, ready to be unfurled the moment the Phillies secured a playoff spot. But by Saturday evening, the Phillies’ fourth consecutive loss, the plastic and what it represents had become taunting.
Even the old photo of Kyle Schwarber in his high school football uniform that had been taped above the door, presiding over the room for the last month, had been taken down. There is nothing to laugh about anymore.
With the Phillies’ latest 12-1 loss to the Rays, their drawn-out collapse has become a five-alarm fire of humiliation. Every one of interim manager Don Mattingly’s gambles failed on Saturday, a dreary, rainy night befitting perhaps one of the last gasps of the Phillies season.
If the Phillies find themselves playing beyond Sunday, they have Manny Machado and the Padres to thank. While the Rays’ lead grew to double digits, on the other side of the country, Machado hit a go-ahead two-run homer to help beat the Diamondbacks, 10-7. In doing so, he and the Padres shrank the Phillies’ magic number to one.
With a win in Game 162, or another Arizona loss on Sunday, they can still salvage this week from franchise infamy.
“We got to come out and play our best baseball tomorrow,” said catcher J.T. Realmuto. “That’s really all there is to it.”
The desperation move to start Aaron Nola on two days’ rest did not work. Junior Caminero jumped on him with a two-run homer, and back-to-back doubles from Victor Mesa Jr. and Richie Palacios gave the Rays a 3-0 lead before the Phillies’ offense even stepped into the box.
Phillies Justin Crawford loses his helmet while batting in the third inning of the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Philadelphia Phillies MLB baseball game at Citzens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Saturday, September 26, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff PhotographerPhillies Bryce Harper dives safely back to first base after briefly trying to stretch a single into a double in the eighth inning of the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Philadelphia Phillies MLB baseball game at Citzens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Saturday, September 26, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff PhotographerPhillies interim manger Don Mattingly met Aaron Nola in the dugout after Nola had a rough first inning during the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Philadelphia Phillies MLB baseball game at Citzens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Saturday, September 26, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff PhotographerPhillies Bryce Harper brushes the mud off of his gloves after diving back to first base in the eighth inning of the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Philadelphia Phillies MLB baseball game at Citzens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Saturday, September 26, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff PhotographerPhillies Aaron Nola pitches in the first inning of the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Philadelphia Phillies MLB baseball game at Citzens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Saturday, September 26, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff PhotographerPhillies catcher JT Realmuto goes to the mound to speak with pitcher Aaron Nola after Nola gave up a two run homerun to Rays # 13 Junior Caminero in the firsrt inning of the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Philadelphia Phillies MLB baseball game at Citzens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Saturday, September 26, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
All three runs came with two outs. The Phillies had hoped he could give them 40 to 50 pitches; Nola only lasted 21.
“I was actually really proud of him,” Mattingly said. “Taking the ball there on two days’ rest. Just gutting it out. And yeah, it didn’t go as well as we liked.”
A start like that marked a first for Nola in his 11-season career. He said it was an easy yes when the Phillies approached him with the idea, and he skipped his usual bullpen session Friday to stay ready for it.
“Obviously, it wasn’t ideal to start the game off, and get the guys down 3-0 in the first. Tough loss,” Nola said.
The gamble to mix up the lineup didn’t work, either. In a playofflike atmosphere, both in stakes and in temperature, the Phillies folded. They mustered seven total hits. The $780 million top of the Phillies order — Trea Turner now moved to leadoff, Schwarber, and Bryce Harper — accounted for three of them.
Realmuto went hitless again before being replaced by Garrett Stubbs with the game already out of reach in the seventh. His slump has reached 0-for-34.
“I feel like I’m letting a lot of guys down in this clubhouse,” Realmuto said. “So I’ve been working my tail off to try to fix it.”
Aaron Nola only lasted 21 pitches against the Rays on Saturday.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
One play in the third encapsulated how things have been going for the offense: With Justin Crawford on second base, Turner hit a 104 mph laser up the middle, but it bounced off the back of Rays pitcher Griffin Jax and directly to shortstop Taylor Walls. He was able to finish the play and the inning.
Jax had to be helped off the field and the Rays called on their bullpen for the fourth, which continued to stifle the Phillies’ bats.
“Two weeks ago, I wouldn’t guess that we’d be in this situation, but that’s this game. It knows how to humble you,” Realmuto said.
Mattingly’s gamble to intentionally walk Caminero in the fifth inning proved to be one of the most disastrous. With José Alvarado on the mound, two runners on, the game still within a three-run margin, the Phillies took the bat out of Caminero’s hands. Alvarado has been better against righties this season — they have a .235 average against him, compared to lefties’ .333 — though Caminero is a power threat no matter the handedness of the pitcher.
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But Alvarado did not throw another strike after that. He gave up a single to Mesa Jr. on a sinker below the zone, and then walked Palacios on four pitches to force in a run. When José Urquidy took over, the bases still loaded, another single scored two more. And before the final out of the fifth, the Phillies had already essentially waved the white flag.
By the time the Phillies finally scratched across a run on an error from Palacios in the seventh, their scoreless streak had reached 21 innings. It surpassed the previous season-high drought of 20 set in April. Back then, the Phillies preached patience. This time, there is nothing to be patient for. There is no time left.
Searching for optimism anywhere they can find it, the Phillies pointed to their at-bats late in the game. Four of their seven hits came in the final three innings, even if they only got one run out of it.
Justin Crawford loses his helmet while batting in the third inning.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
“You probably think I’m crazy. … And I’m not going to say our at-bats overall, but in a game like that, our guys fought the whole way,” Mattingly said. “A lot of fight, at-bats at the end. I was actually encouraged at the end of that game. Maybe I’m being overly optimistic. But I was encouraged.”
The Phillies have one final chance in Game 162 on Sunday, when Zack Wheeler will start. Jesús Luzardo is expected to be activated from the injured list and be available in the bullpen. Jonathan Bowlan could be in play, too.
“We’re always confident when that guy’s on the mound,” Realmuto said of Wheeler. “To me, it just comes down to our offense tomorrow. We need to be able to score, and we need to have good at-bats. And obviously, they have a good pitching staff, so we’re going to have to work that out for us.”
Mattingly is making one more gamble. If this one works, they will be without at least one of their aces for the wild-card series. If it doesn’t, their season is most likely over anyway.
If there was any concern about how the Union would fare with five of their customary starters away on international duty — the answer was emphatic.
Four goals, the first coming in the 11th minute, fueled a 4-2 win over Orlando City on Saturday inside a wet Subaru Park, as a hat trick from forward Milan Iloski paved the way for the Union to set a franchise record with 12 games unbeaten in MLS play.
The outburst came despite defenders Frankie Westfield and Neil Pierre and midfielder Cavan Sullivan made their U.S. senior national team debuts in a 4-1 win against Peru just a few hours earlier. Also missing were midfielder Danley Jean Jacques (Haiti) and longtime goalkeeper Andre Blake, who is on duty with Jamaica.
On Saturday along Chester’s waterfront, Iloski struck first on a penalty kick after being taken down in the box by Orlando right back Zakaria Taifi. Following a delay and a request from referee Sergil Demianchuk to move the ball onto the spot, Iloski blasted home his 14th goal of the season. He scored his second just eight minutes later, taking a ball into space and slotting it past Orlando goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau.
He sealed the match in the 51st with a blast just outside Orlando’s 18 that Crépeau had no chance of saving. Iloski leads the team with 16 goals and is tied for third in the league. Indiana Vassilev also scored in the 48th to set the tone early in the second half. He took a pass from Jesús Bueno in the box and blasted it past the hands of Crépeau.
Orlando notched two second-half goals. Iván Angulo scored in the 78th, and the second came off a well-timed run and shot from Martín Ojeda in the box, courtesy of a smart cross from substitute Harvey Sarajian. Despite the goals, backup goalkeeper Andrew Rick was strong in net and arguably didn’t have to do much, courtesy of an Orlando attack that lacked much bite.
A hallmark of the Union’s remarkable run since the return from the FIFA World Cup break has been their ability to create — and finish — many their chances.
The Union have amassed 35 goals on this run and have scored at least four goals in each of their last four matches, including 5-0 wins over FC Cincinnati (Sept. 9) and San Diego FC (Sept. 13).
Now, a break in league action awaits courtesy of a FIFA international window that extends through Oct. 10, when the club returns to Subaru Park to host Real Salt Lake (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — After No. 13 Penn State took a 10-point lead at the end of the third quarter, it was all downhill for the Nittany Lions in their Big Ten opener against Wisconsin on Saturday.
Wisconsin scored two touchdowns in 3 minutes, 31 seconds to defeat the Nittany Lions , 24-20. Quarterback Colton Joseph found tight end Jacob Harris for a 72-yard go-ahead touchdown with 1:13 to go. That play gave the Badgers their first road win since 2024 and first victory over Penn State since 2011.
Penn State’s offense was inconsistent from the get-go, while its defense couldn’t keep up after three straight three-and-outs on the other side of the ball.
“We just really struggled to find a rhythm,” coach Matt Campbell said. “Never got into the flow of the game.”
Offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser’s first crack at calling plays in the Big Ten didn’t go as planned.
Without top receiver Koby Howard, the passing game struggled. Quarterback Rocco Becht threw his first interception of the season after a ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage and fell right into the hands of Wisconsin defensive end Charles Perkins.
Becht finished 12-for-29 with 129 yards and an interception. He had multiple bad misses and threw it through the end zone on the final play of the game.
“I got to be better for the offense,” Becht said. “I got to be better for this team. I can’t put us in scenarios where our backs are backed up and we got to have a big play. We got to continue to move the chains, stay in front of the sticks, and I didn’t do my part today, so I got to do better.”
The run game couldn’t find the consistency it had last week, and running backs Carson Hansen, Quinton Martin Jr., Cam Wallace, and James Peoples all saw the field in the first quarter in an effort to get something going.
Peoples ended up being the featured back. The Ohio State transfer finished with 67 yards on 14 attempts, good for 4.8 yards per carry.
“I thought James ran the ball really well today,” Campbell said. “I thought he made some really key plays in some key situations. I do.”
Cornerbacks step up
Penn State’s cornerback room was the most stable following an offseason of transfer portal exits and additions, with eight corners from last year’s squad returning this season.
True freshman Josiah Zayas and sophomore Daryus Dixson recorded interceptions on back-to-back drives in the second quarter, resulting in a 14-point swing for the Nittany Lions in just over two minutes. Zayas returned his for a touchdown, while Dixson’s set Penn State up at the Badgers’ 11-yard line.
“Our defense was playing well,” Becht said. “Props to those guys for continuing to go out there and make plays and having our back.”
On Zayas’ pick-six, he read the screen perfectly, and there was only green grass in front of him once the ball was in his hands. The play was eerily similar to his pick-six in Penn State’s Blue-White Game.
Redshirt senior Audavion Collins got involved as well with three pass breakups, two of which came late in the fourth quarter.
Linebacker Tony Rojas tacked on a third interception in the fourth quarter.
Up next
Penn State heads to Northwestern and its brand-new Ryan Field for its first Friday game since 2023 (8 p.m., Fox29).
Northwestern beat the Nittany Lions, 22-21, last season in what ultimately was James Franklin’s last game at Penn State.
The most important thing to note is that preseason doesn’t matter. The games don’t start counting until Wednesday.
But there were a few warning flags in Saturday’s 5-1 preseason loss to a Capitals roster featuring none of their NHL regulars, especially since the Flyers iced something close to the real thing.
“Ugly,” defenseman Jamie Drysdale said. “That’s the only way to talk about the game. It was bad. That’s not how we’re going to play hockey. That’s just not a winning brand.”
Power play
The power play has been the talk of training camp, and for good reason. For a team that finished last in the NHL in power play percentage last year, improving on the man-advantage is a key part of taking the next step into contention.
The Flyers got just two looks at the power play in Thursday’s preseason win, to mixed results. On Saturday, the Flyers got eight minutes of power play time, all in the first period.
There were definite improvements, but they ultimately were held scoreless on all of their tries.
“Just the same old, we need to finish,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “I don’t know what else to say. There’s some good looks out there, but you’ve got to finish. You can’t just, ‘Oh well,’ we need some guys to finish for us, but I do like the looks.”
The best look came from Matvei Michkov deep into the double minor late in the first, a shot from the top of the circle that goalie Charlie Lindgren had to sprawl to reach.
David Jiříček struggled in Saturday’s preseason finale.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Rough game for Jiříček
David Jiříček essentially locked the sixth defenseman spot up after Oliver Bonk was demoted on Friday, but Saturday was a game to forget.
His man scored the Capitals’ first two second-period goals. After Jiříček failed to close out on Andrew Cristall near the goal, he knocked in the first one against Aleksei Kolosov, who was out of position, and then turned the puck over along the boards to Maxim Schafer, who proceeded to score the second goal.
He took a penalty for high-sticking later in the period, which led to a power-play goal from Ethen Frank that put the Capitals up, 3-1. Jiříček also was on ice for the fifth goal after attempting the breakout to Noah Cates. The puck got turned over up the boards, and the Capitals came right back to score.
Danny Briére spoke at the first intermission and said Jiříček had played “OK” in the first and that no one had beaten him out, so he was still on the roster. But with Bonk the leader among a group of young defensemen pushing in Lehigh Valley, Jiříček will need to find greater consistency.
“He had a tough night,” Tocchet said. “Three or four guys had a tough night, but being a pro, you’ve got to bounce back. We’ll get some video, make them understand some things. You’re going to have a tough night. You’ve just got to make sure you stay consistent.”
Drysdale opened the scoring with the Flyers’ only goal. He’s been working on his shot all summer to establish himself as more of a shooting threat at the point on the power play, but he managed to bury a wrister at even strength off Travis Konecny’s pass.
“It’s a broken record,” Drysdale said earlier in camp. “You shoot a few times early, they’re going to probably respect the shot, and then something will open up.”
He said postgame he’s been trying to get more active offensively and to pull himself off the blue line, deeper into the play.
“A few times when I get to the middle, I think I can throw the puck to the net more than throwing it off to the side again, and then going through that same process over and over again,” Drysdale said.
His goal was a good example, as Drysdale jumped into the play after receiving the pass near the blue line and carried the puck deep into the slot before taking the shot.
The puck drops on the Flyers season on Wednesday, and the group they will take into the 2026-27 season largely is set, with three players needing to be cut before final rosters are submitted to the NHL on Monday.
The three final cuts are expected to be forward Garrett Wilson, who’s on an American Hockey League deal; goalie Aleksei Kolosov; and defenseman Helge Grans, who could start the season on injured reserve after suffering a lower-body injury on Thursday.
So as the Flyers played their final preseason game on Saturday against the visiting Washington Capitals, general manager Danny Brière spoke to the media during the first intermission.
The Flyers have been without high-motor forward Denver Barkey since he suffered a lower-body injury in the team’s preseason opener against the Capitals.
Barkey, 21, skated by himself on Wednesday and joined the nongame group on Thursday, in a noncontact jersey. But while coach Rick Tocchet told the media he was a possibility for Saturday, the forward left practice, according to the Nasty Knuckles podcast, reportedly grimacing. He did not skate in Saturday’s optional.
“He’s going to miss a little bit of time,” Brière said. “Shouldn’t be too, too long. I don’t know if he’s going to be ready for the first game, but if not, it shouldn’t be very long after that.”
Flyers center Denver Barkey is expected to miss some time on the ice due to a reported lower-body injury. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
If Barkey cannot play for a bit, the Flyers have Carl Grundström and Nikita Grebenkin, who played his first game since March on Thursday, available to slot in. The likelihood of Cole Knuble, who had an outstanding training camp but was sent down to Lehigh Valley on Friday, being recalled is slim, with Brière saying, “We have enough players here as it is.”
Goalie Dan Vladař also is on the shelf after suffering an upper-body injury Tuesday against the Boston Bruins. On Wednesday, Tocchet said “I think we dodged a bullet,” and Brière all but confirmed that on Saturday.
“It looks very promising. He should be ready for Game 1,” he said. “Probably could have played if we had played a regular-season [game] tonight, but we just want to play it safe and let him get as close to 100% for the start of the regular season.”
The Flyers’ No. 1 goalie left in the first period after mishandling a dump-in; he was down with his arms extended on the ice, and forward Tanner Jeannot crashed the net for the rebound. It didn’t look like there was significant contact between the two, but Vladař let go of his stick immediately and appeared to be holding his right arm awkwardly before Michael Eyssimont scored.
Vladař practiced with the nongame group on Saturday at the Flyers Training Center for approximately an hour.
Matvei Michkov skates here with the puck during the Flyers’ earlier preseason game against the Bruins.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
On Matvei Michkov
Brière also shared his thoughts on Michkov after the young forward came into camp slimmer and having spent the summer working on his skating.
“It’s been good to see. There’s still a long way to go, but definitely training camp, the scrimmage [last Saturday], he looked very good in that,” Brière said.
“He looked really good in the first game he played [on Thursday]. I thought he was moving well again today in the first period,” said Brière, who noted that the power play, which Michkov plays a key role on, looked good.
“So, so far so good. … So there [are] encouraging signs there with Matvei that he can come back to what we expected him to be. So very pleased with the work that he put in this summer and the attitude that he showed up with to training camp.”
The Flyers sent four players down on Friday. Along with Knuble, forwards Jett Luchanko and Jacob Gaucher and defenseman Oliver Bonk were returned to the Phantoms.
Brière liked their camps and said Bonk is “knocking on the door,” but with a shortened training camp, the Flyers opted to “with the status quo, give some of the young guys a chance to play a lot of minutes, play every situation, rather than play in a backup role here.”
The hope is that with the extended ice time, “When we need them, they’re ready and they feel ready to go and help out,” Brière said.
But the fact is Knuble, Luchanko and Bonk had fantastic camps. Luchanko flashed his speed and a newfound eye for shots on goal, putting three on, while chipping in three assists.
Knuble showed he has a high motor — like Barkey — a keen ability to put pressure on the opposition, and some offensive pop, especially around the net. He entered Saturday leading the Flyers with two goals, and tied with Luchanko with three points.
Cole Knuble has shown promise and is a guy the Flyers continue to look at as he’s expected to head down to the Phantoms.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
And Bonk is just so steady and calm on the blue line that he looks like a grizzled 20-year veteran.
“The message to them was, keep doing what you’re doing. You’ve done everything you could have done at training camp. Keep developing your game,” Brière said. “Staying here in the case, for example, of an Oliver Bonk, staying here as a seventh or eighth defenseman does you no good. We’d rather have you facing the top players in the American League every night, playing 22 minutes, playing some power play and some PK.
“I think it gives them the chance to be more successful when they’re needed for a bigger role at this level.”
On David Jiříček
At the trade deadline, the Flyers acquired young defenseman David Jiříček from the Minnesota Wild. Brière previously revealed that the Flyers had serious discussions about him before the 2022 NHL draft and then again before he got traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets — who drafted him — to Minnesota in 2024.
After a strong preseason, David Jiricek looks as though he’s secured his place on the Flyers defense. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Entering Saturday, Jiříček played two preseason games and had three shots on goal, including a low, high-powered slap shot from the point on a power play — something Brière called “a weapon.” But he was minus-2 and on the ice for two more goals in the second period of Saturday’s game against the Capitals, one coming from a turnover by him.
“I thought David played OK,” the GM said during the first intermission.
“Didn’t get beat by anyone to lose his job, so he’s going to be given the chance. I thought he had a solid first period today. He’s going to start on the roster, and it’s going to be up to him to show us that he deserves the minutes and he deserves to stay in the lineup.”
A Montgomery County elementary school teacher and wrestling coach sexually assaulted three boys he encountered online, including one of his former students, prosecutors said Saturday.
Jason Theodore, 54, began the assaults in 2019, plying the boys with marijuana and alcohol before forcing them to perform sex acts on him, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
He told one of the victims, then 14, “I love how tiny you are,” police said.
Theodore, of Upper Gwynedd, has been charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, and related crimes.
He remained in custody, denied bail. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.
For years, Theodore worked as a physical education teacher at Montgomery Township Elementary and a wrestling coach at Pennbrook Middle School, both in the North Penn School District, according to prosecutors.
In a statement, North Penn School District Superintendent Todd M. Bauer said that Theodore was placed on administrative leave after district officials were notified by Upper Gwynedd police about their investigation into his alleged behavior.
North Penn is cooperating with police, and Bauer said counselors are available to students.
The investigation into Theodore began Sept. 9, when one of the victims filed a police report saying Theodore had sexually assaulted him starting in 2019, when he was 13 years old, the affidavit said.
The boy was 17 when they last had contact in 2022. He told police that he befriended Theodore through Snapchat, and that Theodore had used a pseudonym and lied about his age, portraying himself to be much younger.
From 2019 to 2022, Theodore repeatedly sexually assaulted him, sometimes recording the encounters. On one occasion, Theodore pressured him into having sexual contact with another teen, the affidavit said.
That second teen later told police he met Theodore in a chat room in 2020 when he was 16 and later began messaging him on Snapchat. When the two finally met up, the teen recognized Theodore immediately as his former teacher and wrestling coach, and realized Theodore had sought him out after seeing him in the chat room.
Like the first teen, the second teen said Theodore sexually assaulted him, and in his case continued to do so after he became an adult. He told police he “felt coerced and groomed by Theodore, resulting in long lasting embarrassment and shame about the physicality between him and Theodore,” the affidavit said.
The third victim said he met Theodore when he was 14, in 2020, and that Theodore sexually assaulted him on three occasions, usually in Theodore’s vehicle.
In an interview with police, Theodore admitted that he was attracted to “younger males,” but denied being involved with anyone underage, the affidavit said.
When an officer mentioned the first victim’s name, Theodore became flushed and hid his face, but said he didn’t know the person the officer was referring to, the affidavit said.
Theodore is scheduled to appear before a district judge for a preliminary hearing on Thursday.
Villanova coach Mark Ferrante says the Wildcats have become their “own worst enemy.”
The Wildcats returned home to Villanova Stadium for the first time in four weeks, searching for their first win home win since last November. After a competitive first half, costly penalties, an inability to stop Colgate on third down, and communication miscues led to a 28-21 loss.
It’s the first time Villanova (2-3, 2-1 Patriot League) has lost to Colgate (4-1, 3-0) since 1978, snapping an eight-game winning streak.
“We’ve got to stop being the opponent [to] ourselves,” Ferrante said.
Graduate quarterback Pat McQuaide completed 12 of 23 passes for 192 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. McQuaide had a couple of opportunities for big plays with open receivers downfield, but overthrew them.
Running backs Ja’briel Mace and Isaiah Ragland combined for 98 rushing yards on 23 attempts. Ragland picked up a rushing touchdown in the first half, while Mace hauled in a touchdown catch.
“But, again, the one-two punch didn’t get us the win today,” Mace said. “So, I mean, the most important thing to me is winning football games, and we’re not doing that right now. We need to be better.”
Villanova quarterback Pat McQuaide, seen here in a game earlier this season, threw for 192 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Colgate on Saturday.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Time not on the Wildcats’ side
The Wildcats were unable to retain possession of the football. Colgate led Villanova in total time of possession by over 15 minutes. A main factor in the discrepancy was the Wildcats’ inability to stop the Raiders on third down, allowing them to go 8 for 15.
“We’ve got to get off the field on third down on defense,” Ferrante said. “I would say [our opponents] are averaging over 50% against us in the first five games in third-down conversions, and too many of them [are] because of penalties.
“Looking at the stat sheet, 8 for 15, that’s more than 50%. Time of possession is ridiculous. We need to get off the field on defense. We need to stay on the field and hang on the football on offense.”
Through its first five games, Villanova has allowed every opponent except one to convert at least 50% of its third downs. The only game under 50% was against Bucknell in Week 2 (30.8%).
Penalties continue to derail momentum
Villanova has struggled this season with penalties. The Wildcats have committed seven or more penalties in four of their five games.
Against Colgate, Villanova was penalized eight times for 79 yards. Some of those came on third downs when Villanova had the opportunity to force Colgate into punting or settling for a field goal.
“We have to be smarter,” Ferrante said. “We have to be more disciplined. We’re giving up too many first downs in big plays because of our penalties. So we’ve got to make sure, No. 1, we stay outside so we don’t give them a free 5 yards and move the sticks, and No. 2, during the course of the play, we’ve got to make sure that we’re playing clean football as opposed to giving them pass interference calls and hand-to-face calls and personal foul calls.”
The program has emphasized a strong offensive line in successful seasons.
But the offensive line has been hit with injuries. That was evident on Saturday, as McQuaide was sacked six times, including on the Wildcats’ final play to seal Colgate’s win.
At times the pass protection was there, but it was not consistent enough. And the run game was affected, too: No Villanova running back has eclipsed the 100-yard mark this season.
Last season, Villanova running backs had seven 100-plus-yard rushing performances.
Up next
Villanova will stay on the Main Line for a nonconference matchup against Morgan State (3-1). The Bears are coming off a bye week.
Villanova last faced Morgan State in 2014 and defeated the Bears, 48-28, at Villanova Stadium.
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement that the two officers, whom she did not identify, encountered a disabled car on Route 9 near Satt Boulevard in Middle Township just before 10:30 Friday morning.
As the officers approached the vehicle, they heard screaming from within it, and forced their way inside to see a man “holding a knife” against a female passenger, according to the statement.
Both officers shot at the man, killing him. Neither the man nor the victim was named by authorities.
The victim was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of minor stab wounds.
The Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office had announced an investigation into the shooting on Thursday, but had said only that it involved police.
As with any fatal encounter with police, the case will be submitted to a grand jury for investigation, Davenport said.
