For Phils, popularity is a good road trip away

The Phillies will not return to Citizens Bank Park until July 20. By then, they will have their answer.

The question: Will anyone take them seriously enough this summer to start filling that ballpark again?

Through early July, the Phils had over-achieved. They played hard. And even when they were less than efficient afield, they were never less than entertaining. Their players are accommodating. Many are farm-raised. Rhys Hoskins and Aaron Nola are developing superstars. Carlos Santana and Jake Arrieta are accomplished, star-level pros who have added a necessary business-like approach. Gabe Kapler can manage.

But the fans are about a half a year behind in buying in. Matt Klentak has a response, though. And it is sensible.

“We know that in baseball history there very often is a lag between a team getting good and the fans coming to the ballpark,” the Phils’ general manager said. “On the flip side, when a competitive window is ending, the fans typically end up hanging on for a little longer than the team is winning. The Phillies are a good example of this during their last stretch of contention. It’s very common in baseball.” That would be correct. The Phillies are still paying at the box office for their years of rebuilding. But if they ever achieve, they can expect to recover that enthusiasm at the back end. But the buzz must start sometime. And if Kapler’s team can go, say, 8-3 on its trip and return from the All-Star break in first place, baseball will get real popular real quick on Pattison Ave. And it will remain that way for a long time

You get those desserts that are served on fire?

The World Cup is the standard signal for the casual fan to make fun of all things soccer. So when Japan eliminated Senegal because it had fewer yellow cards and thus more “fair play points,” it triggered a virtual laugh track.

But soccer is on to something … something that could make sense in a sport that desperately needs such a provision: College basketball.

A growing number of coaches have found it worthwhile to risk foul trouble and two free throws rather than to allow an opponent an open layup. With that, there is the “no-layups policy” that many programs teach and demand.

Even if the deliberate foul is within the rules, the systematic assault on players who have cleverly positioned themselves for a high-percentage shot is causing damage to the game … not to mention to amateur athletes’ brains. Basketball players should be awarded for finding open layups, not be subjected to corporal punishment.

Such lawlessness is less rampant in the NBA, where professionals are more likely to swish two foul shots. But it is vandalizing the college game. And until a recklessly assaulted player is pre-approved to respond with a short right hand to the teeth, there must be some bracketology compensation for having demonstrated a better regard for the rules and the spirit of the game throughout the season.

Fair-play points sound … well … fair.

Fire trucks that aren’t red are just trying too hard.

High among the rewards for any higher-level free-agent acquisition is the instant excitement it spreads among a fan base. Sometimes, though, it is all a matter of good sports business. Take the Flyers’ acquisition of James Van Reimsdyk.

While Ron Hextall’s $35 million wager on the 29-year-old left-wing didn’t inspire the Philadelphia sports fan as much as had the Sixers signed a certain James of their own, it was a splendid way to take what was good and make it better.

The Flyers were a playoff team last season, yet were at least one goal-scorer away from one likely to win a postseason round or two. Van Reimsdyk, who just deposited 36 goals for Toronto, might not make the Flyers more popular at the souvenir stands. But it will make them tougher to beat in April.

No ice cream for me, thanks. Just gelato.

Sometime this summer, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods will play a round of golf. The winner will earn $10,000,000. The loser will win at least that much in TV time for whatever sporting-goods concern sponsors his head covers.

It might be worth a watch. But any attempt to pretend that two of the wealthiest athletes in modern American sports will sweat out a back-nine putt because there is big cash on the line is an insult to the viewer.

Want a better match-play golf gimmick? Station a reality-TV crew at the 18th hole of any muni course and watch defeated working men fish for fifty that they couldn’t afford to lose.

I don’t get why NHL officials take so long to drop a puck.

Atlantic City casinos can plop sportsbetting gadgets on every one of their flat surfaces. But nothing will return the shore resort’s status as a go-to sports destination better than regular, highlevel boxing matches featuring fighters capable of creating a particular East Coast buzz.

That’s why what will happen Aug. 4 at the Hard Rock has a chance to revive something that once provided great sports joy to the extended Philadelphia region: Sergey Kovalev, the kind of violent, brag-from-the-heart superstar who plays well on the Garden State Parkway corridor, will risk his WBO light-heavyweight belt against 23-0 Eleider Alvarez.

Whether it was Mike Tyson, George Foreman 2-point-0, Arturo Gatti or Bernard Hopkins, Atlantic City boxing was always at its best when there was a superstar who kind-of called the place his home. Kovalev is the level of entertainer able to make that work again.

In less than three weeks, the Eagles will open training camp. It’s always a treat to watch high-level pros work hard to try and win playing time. Then again, that doesn’t apply to anyone who might happen to be the reigning Super Bowl MVP. No, that player shall be obligated to be satisfied playing only in case of injury and to not even think about the opportunity to win the job, lest he be couched as a miserable, in-house irritant.

Get wallpaper?

Contact Jack McCaffery @ jmccaffery@21st-centurymedia.com; follow him on Twitter @JackMcCaffery.