First of all, I’d like to address the lack of blogging in the month of February. I’ve alluded to it on the podcast, but I’m in school currently and that has taken up a good chunk of my time as you might imagine. Now that I’m starting to get my footing, I’m going to try to ramp up the blogging along with the podcast, especially since the Phillies are in full swing down in Clearwater. Thanks for understanding and with that out of the way, let’s talk about this weekend!

Tomorrow (Saturday) is going to be a busy day down at the Sports Complex. First, the Sixers host the Portland Trail Blazers and later on that night, the Flyers will host the Penguins in the 2019 Stadium Series Game from the Linc. Both teams are coming off of very different results from Thursday night with a Sixers win and a Flyers blowout loss.

The Sixers’ win came over the Heat while the team was without Joel Embiid. Local folk hero/BFG/known go-kart enthusiast Boban Marjanovic subbed-in quite nicely for Embiid dropping 21 points doing a much better job up the middle than Jonah Bolden who was -11 with 0 points. Tomorrow should be a great basketball game with the Blazers in town. A solid Western Conference opponent for the Sixers to boost their resume against. For me as a Lehigh grad, it adds an extra layer of fun getting to see CJ McCollum play against the Sixers. CJ and Damian Lillard should be a fun matchup to watch against the Sixers’ backcourt. The Sixers’ defense will need to tighten up a bit and not allow either guard to get hot. Tobi has been great since coming over but I’d rather not have to rely on him shooting lights down the stretch to keep pace with those guys. CJ will be honored at Lehigh on Sunday afternoon before the Mountain Hawks’ showdown with Holy Cross. Lehigh is tied for the Patriot League lead with Bucknell although the Bison hold the tie-breaker after sweeping the regular season against Lehigh. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Lehigh to take the 1-Seed because Sojka Pavillion, Bucknell’s court, is not a fun place to play.

Saturday Night. Lincoln Financial Field. Flyers. Penguins. After two years, the home-and-home Stadium Series comes full circle. The Fly Guys are coming off two of their worst losses since calling Carter Hart up. You’d expect to not play well against Tampa but last night in Montreal was tough to watch. The defense in front of Hart has been pretty bad in this stretch but seeing the kid get pulled in the first period two games in a row is tough. I have no doubts he’ll be ready and raring to go for this game, however. The Pens now sit in 3rd place in the Met despite being out a playoff spot less than a week ago. With teams like Carolina playing lights out and Columbus adding Matt Duchene to gear up for a run, the Penguins find themselves trending in the right direction (despite being 4-5-1 in their last 10) while the Flyers are a crossroads. Seven points behind Carolina for the final spot and a nationally televised showcase game for the NHL will tell us what we need to know. Either the Flyers will finally get over the hump to beat Pittsburgh in Philly and try to use this for a playoff run or they flounder in the potential inch of rain and we see Chuck Fletcher making Wayne Simmons phone calls before the final horn sounds. Either way, outdoor hockey is outdoor hockey and I’m excited to be heading down to check this one, even if it’s supposed to be rainy.

Jarred and I may try to record another 10 Topics podcast on Sunday depending on how we’re feeling after the long day tomorrow. If there’s a topic you want us to talk about, let us know in the comments and be sure to subscribe on iTunes or Spotify so you don’t miss when new pods drop. Lastly, follow us on Instagram and check out our story so you can follow along on adventures at both the Sixers and Flyers games.

(cover photo via)