The Ramos roundup is a weekly Philadelphia Sports column highlighting all the pertinent news of the week featuring the Eagles, Phillies, Flyers, Sixers, and Union.
Eagles Advance to NFC Championship Game
All roads in the NFC to Super Bowl LIX come through Philadelphia now, as the Eagles take down the Rams 28-22 to head to the NFC Championship game. In the snowy tundra that turned out to be Lincoln Financial Field, Saqoun Barkley became the first player in Eagles history to rush for more than 200 yards in a playoff game, adding to an incredible first campaign with the birds. Dallas Goedert caught four passes for 56 yards in the win as well.
Awaiting the Eagles in the conference championship is their division rival Washington Commanders. Of course, the Commanders and rookie QB Jayden Daniels upset the Detroit Lions in a wild game this past Saturday.
The game is set for next Sunday, January 26th, 3:00 PM on FOX.
Phillies Invite Koyo Aoyagi to Spring Training
It may not have been prized pitching prospect Roki Sasaki, but the Phillies are finally tapping into the fruitful Japanese pitching landscape. According to Todd Zolecki, the Phillies will be inviting Koyo Aoyagi to Spring Training on a Minor League contract as a non-roster invitee. Aoyagi is 31 years-old and a right handed sidearmer that has played nine seasons professionally in Japan.
There is practically no downside to this if you are the Phils. In the event that Aoygai comes in and pitches well, Philly will add a unique bullpen piece that could help complete a quality pitching staff. Additionally, it could help attract other Japanese stars to the club in the future, as the Fightins have been plenty active on that front, but haven’t been able to land any of these players.
Pitchers and catchers report to camp on February 12th for the Phillies.
Flyers Stay Hot, Extinguish Devils 3-1
Bobby Brink scored the game-winning goal in the third period on the power play to give the Flyers their second consecutive win Sunday. Philly also extended their season-best point streak of five games to 4-0-1 with the win as well.
Sam Ersson made 12 saves on 13 shots, which according to Jordan Hall, is the fewest shots allowed in the John Tortorella era. The Flyers will return home on Tuesday to host the red hot Detroit Red Wings at Wells Fargo Center.
Be sure to checkout all of our Flyers coverage out on the site.
Sixers Buckle Against Bucks, Lose Sixth Straight
Despite Tyrese Maxey’s 37 points, the Sixers ended up losing to the Milwaukee Bucks 123-109 Sunday night. On Saturday, they dropped a contest with the Pacers as well. You can read more about that here.
They are now 15-26 on the season.
The year from hell continues for the Sixers and it likely won’t get much better in the foreseeable future. Next on the docket, the Sixers have the Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers, both heavyweights in their respective conferences this season. Moreover, Philly has been without Paul George, Guerschon Yabusele, Joel Embiid, Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin and KJ Martin for more than a few parts of the season.
It’s hurt the team in terms of chemistry and obviously, overall talent. Unfortunately, there likely isn’t any outside help coming either.
This is your 2024-2025 76ers, folks.
Union Open Training Camp in Spain
Along with new manager Bradley Carnell, the Union have begun their training camps in Spain this weekend. The boys in blue kicked off camp with a friendly at Marbella Football Center vs. Slavia Prague. Philly had a few regulars got time in the match, including Quinn Sullivan, Jakob Glesnes, Danny Gazdag and Mikail Uhre, to name a few.
The Union will begin their season on February 22nd in Orlando before their home opener on March 1st against Cincinnati F.C.
