Eddie Griffin/Wikipedia Image
By Aaron Bracy
February 26, 2023
The old, worn, wooden steps were creaky and narrow. This isn’t safe, I thought. Not for me and especially not for a future NBA lottery pick whose 6-foot-8 body stood on much larger feet than mine, which probably made his ascent feel even more dangerous.
But climbed, we did. It was me, a Trenton Times photographer and Eddie Jamaal Griffin.
Phew. We made it. And there we were, on the roof of Roman Catholic High School for a photo shoot to go with my story on Griffin, the emerging high school basketball star. And it was an amazing photo. The young and handsome Griffin, neatly attired in his sweater, dress shirt and necktie, clutching a basketball in his right hand, staring seriously directly into the camera, the school’s golden cross looming large in the near ground and Philadelphia’s City Hall looking so small in the background.
Eddie Griffin, literally, was on top of the city.
He was so full, it seemed, of hope.
Aaron Bracy poses in the press box at Citizens Bank Park during the 2022 World Series.
By Aaron Bracy
February 22, 2023
What is it about baseball?
What is it about the game that touches our soul?
This week, the Phillies reported to spring training. That yearly ritual has brought a peace over us, a renewal, a hope.
But why?
For me, I think, it has a lot to do with a cold, gray day last December.
Samuel Ersson/NHL.com/Flyers
By Aaron Bracy
February 20, 2023
If we only had a goalie. That, seemingly, has been the mantra of the Philadelphia Flyers season after season since the 1970’s glory days of Bernie Parent.
There have been exceptions, of course, but the Flyers almost always have put a respectable product on the ice since Parent’s departure in 1979, often to be derailed by the play between the pipes.
Shift to the present and the reverse is true: Philadelphia has gotten solid to exceptional play from starting goalie Carter Hart. And, now, rookie Samuel Ersson has emerged as a legitimate backup – and even someone who could push Hart for the top job. But the play in front of the goalies as the Flyers try to rebuild has been mediocre at best.
Maddy Siegrist/Villanova.com
By Aaron Bracy
February 19, 2023
They were lined up at the door. Hundreds deep. Decked out in blue and white, proudly wearing “V” for Villanova on their hats and sweatshirts. Waiting for the signal to storm to their seats in the sold-out Pavilion for an afternoon of excitement in front of them.
For Villanova fans, this was nothing new, really. Under Jay Wright, the Wildcats became one of the nation’s elite college basketball programs, with Wright’s teams’ two national championship trophies glistening in a trophy display near the arena’s entrance as proof. The success hasn’t come quickly or easily to Wright’s replacement, first-year coach Kyle Neptune, but the fans’ enthusiasm and passion remain.
This was different, though. Those fans outside of the front entrance at 1 o’clock for a 2:30 p.m. tip weren’t salivating over a Wright or Neptune-coached squad; rather, they were eager to see Maddy Siegrist and the Denise Dillon-led Wildcats.
A sellout? For women’s basketball? At the Pavilion?
Check. Check. Check.