Bernie Parent was more than just the Hall of Fame goalie who backstopped the Broad Street Bullies to two Stanley Cup titles in 1974 and ’75. In this town, he remained beloved after his playing career was over.
In the ’70s, bumper stickers throughout the region proclaimed: “Only the Lord Saves More Than Bernie Parent.” But a horrific eye injury forced Parent to retire from hockey at age 34 and later in life he had to overcome alcoholism.
Parent emerged as a face of the Flyers and a link to their glory days, seemingly always with a twinkle in his eye. He never stopped engaging with fans. For him, attitude was everything. The legendary goalie died Sunday at age 80.
“Bernie was one of those lucky people who never had a bad day,” said Bobby Clarke, the captain of those Stanley Cup teams. “Every time you see him … he was laughing and cackling and teasing people and just an extremely happy man. And, obviously, the Flyers don’t win two Stanley Cups unless we have Bernie. Bernie was the one person that we could not win without.”
— Jim Swan, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.
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Jordan Davis got his 6-foot-6, 336-pound body airborne at just the right moment Sunday and delivered a victory for the Eagles. Davis blocked a winning field-goal try by the Rams’ Joshua Karty as time expired, and for good measure, the big fella rumbled 61 yards for a touchdown in an amazing 33-26 Eagles win.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said Davis “has worked so hard to get himself in great shape, to be able to play the amount of snaps he played and then have that last oomph to get a blocked kick and to scoop and score, to get in the end zone — pretty remarkable.”
“It started off as ugly as it could be, but at the end of the day we got the W,” Davis said. Jeff Neiburg details the impressive games by Davis and his sidekick at defensive tackle, Jalen Carter.
The Eagles looked dead in the water with a 26-7 deficit in the third quarter, but they found a way. Among our takeaways from the game:
You can find more coverage of Sunday’s game here.
The Arizona Diamondbacks got to Ranger Suárez early on the way to a 9-2 thumping of the Phillies, who remain in pretty good shape entering the last six games of the season. They have a four-game lead over the Dodgers (plus the tiebreaker) for the No. 2 seed in the National League and the bye that comes with it.
Trea Turner is making more progress as he rehabs from a right hamstring strain. The star shortstop is ready to face live pitching.
Next: After a day off, the Phillies open a three-game home series against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday at 6:45 p.m.
Penn State started the football season with wins against three overmatched teams before a bye week. Now the Nittany Lions are entering Big Ten play and No. 6 Oregon (4-0) is coming to Beaver Stadium on Saturday night. Penn State dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 in the latest Associated Press poll.
Happy Valley will host ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday, with festivities all day ahead of the game.
Temple suffered its second straight loss to a ranked opponent but found some positives in the defeat at Georgia Tech.
Mike Sielski’s take
For all the guts and leadership and skill of Bobby Clarke, for all the creativity and talent of Bill Barber and Rick MacLeish and Reggie Leach, for all the snarling, hands-throwing intimidation of Dave Schultz and Moose Dupont and Bob Kelly, the best and most indispensable player on the ’74 and ’75 Flyers was always the jokester between the pipes, Bernie Parent.
Those Flyers teams and those Cups and those glory days are more than a half-century into the past now, but they stay fresh in the mind’s eye of everyone who remembers them. They represent the apex of the franchise’s history, still, for their influence on the sport and the popular culture and this city, for a playing style and collection of characters that made them unforgettable. They never go away.
Sports snapshot
On this date
Sept. 22, 2008: Pat Burrell hit a three-run homer as the Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-2, at Citizens Bank Park. Scott Eyre picked up the victory in relief of J.A. Happ.
Photo finish
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Matt Breen, Mike Sielski, Owen Hewitt, Devin Jackson, Olivia Reiner, Jeff Neiburg, Jeff McLane, Marcus Hayes, Scott Lauber, Gabriela Carroll, Jackie Spiegel, Jonathan Tannenwald, Kerith Gabriel, and Colin Schofield.
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