New Allan Domb Ad Compares Him to Jalen Hurts

Left: Mayoral candidate Allan Domb (photo courtesy of Allan Domb for Mayor). Right: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (Getty Images).

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New Allan Domb Ad Compares Him to Jalen Hurts

I’m not exactly sure who has the most ads running in the Philadelphia mayoral primary, but if you made me bet you dinner at Parc on it, I’d probably pick Allan Domb.

There’s the Allan Domb ad where he’s talking about all the menial jobs he had when he was younger. There’s the one where he’s driving around complaining about potholes. I could go on and on. Allan Domb ads have even become a “thing” on TikTok. (No, really, you gotta watch this.)

Well, on Thursday morning, the Domb campaign took advantage of the NFL Draft, which starts today, to release a new ad on local sports radio. The spot, which is framed as a sports-talk call-in, compares Mayor Kenney to Carson Wentz, in that Kenney doesn’t want to be mayor just like Wentz didn’t want to play for the Eagles anymore. And then it compares Domb to Eagles superstar quarterback Jalen Hurts. (Gotta chuckle over the description of Domb’s time on City Council as “clutch.”)

Have a listen:

Ed Rendell Endorses Rebecca Rhynhart

As I told you a few weeks ago, after both John Street and Michael Nutter endorsed Rebecca Rhynhart for mayor, Ed Rendell was also planning to make an endorsement. He just wasn’t ready yet. (Interestingly, Rendell told me he thought that Derek Green and Maria Quiñones Sánchez would drop out of the race, which they later did did, so I guess this guy does know a thing or two.) On Wednesday, Rendell endorsed Rhynhart for mayor, giving her a former-mayor endorsement trifecta. He also gave major props to Allan Domb and Cherelle Parker and even suggested that Rhynhart hire them if she wins. He also proposed possible roles for Green and Quiñones Sánchez in a theoretical Rhynhart administration. Notably, Rendell didn’t mention Helen Gym or Jeff Brown at all. I think that’s what they call a diss-by-omission in this biz.

Call Me, Amen

Yesterday, I told you about can’t-win mayoral candidate Amen Brown’s bizarre screwup in the Tuesday night debate. (Watch the quick video here.) Near the end of the debate, when each candidate was given the chance to ask another candidate a question, Brown went after Rhynhart, asking her how on earth she could call two Black men “boys” in her “Two Mayors” ad, which, of course, she didn’t.

After I ran the story, I got Brown on the phone and asked him how he could make such an error. How could he get a fact so wrong, especially when these questions were all planned in advance? Who advised him on that? Was he just winging it? I tried to ask Brown those questions and others. He simply replied “Okay” every time I asked a question. And then he told me he’d call me back in a few minutes. That was yesterday. I’m here for you, Amen.

Reader Mail

I continue to be amazed that readers still stumble upon my ancient Bruce Springsteen Sucks article and send me mail about it. Usually, these emails are filled with hate for me. Sometimes, they even border on threatening. But once in a very great while, a like-minded reader from somewhere in the world finds this masterwork of sophomoric critique and reaches out to me, as a reader named K.K. just did.

Here’s K.K.’s short and sweet message to me:

I hate Bruce Springsteen songs and his voice. He is like a big trash can full of garbage and cheap trinkets.

Love it. Let me know when you come to Philly, K.K., so I can buy you a drink and we can talk about how Springsteen ruined Christmas forever with his stupid cover of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.”

By the Numbers

1,000: Wawas in existence, now that the latest one, in Camden County, debuted this morning.

12: Students at one Philly school who got sick on Wednesday after drinking grape juice laced with an opioid. Some had to be hospitalized. No, the cafeteria didn’t serve it. Initial reports say the grape juice came from outside the school

0: Days from Friday through Sunday that don’t have rain in the forecast.

100%: Chances my wife will tell me I still have to water the garden for one reason or another that I will never understand.

$1,000: Amount I would have bet you that the Citizen app alert for a huge mayonnaise spill yesterday was yet another fake Citizen alert. Indeed it was. Say it with me now: Citizen sucks.

And from the What-Me-Worry Sports Desk …

The Phils started last night’s rain-delayed game against the Mariners with a bang — a two-run homer in the first by Nick Castellanos that brought home Bryson Stott, who’d walked. But in the top of the second, starter Taijuan Walker got dinged for a J.P. Crawford grand slam — damn! And look where he had the audacity to send it:

JP Crawford SLAMS one into the bullpen! pic.twitter.com/T38SKhRhZ0

— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2023

Insult to injury: The very next batter, Julio Rodriguez, also homered, and just like that, it was 5-2 Seattle. In the bottom of the third, singles by Sosa and Stott brought Trea Turner to bat; his sac fly sent Sosa to third, and Kyle Schwarber singled Sosa home: 5-3. Castellanos and Brandon Marsh both grounded out to end the rally.

In the fourth, J.T. Realmuto led off with a single, but Alec Bohm popped up and Edmundo Sosa ground into a double play. It was raining again. In the fifth, Luis Ortiz replaced Walker, who was experiencing “arm tightness,” we were told. Stott singled and advanced on a wild pitch to Turner, who then grounded out. Schwarber struck out, but Castellanos singled to bring Stott home: 5-4!

Trevor Gott relieved starter Logan Gilbert in the bottom of the sixth. For the Phils, Seranthony came in for the seventh, gave up a single, and then notched three quick outs. Gabe Speier came in for Gilbert in the seventh, and Craig Kimbrel replaced Seranthony in the eighth, and Justin Topa replaced Speier, but despite all the pitching changes, the score didn’t budge. In the bottom of the eighth, though, Castellanos, Marsh and Realmuto all singled to tie it up at 5-5. That brought up Alec Bohm, who singled, too:

https://twitter.com/Topbunksports/status/1651397672320880640

Guess what: pitching change! In came Penn Murfee, who’s high on my all-time-great-baseball-name list. OMG, he got two outs! Men on second and third after a Sosa steal, but Stott ground out. On to the ninth!

Alvarado came in to pitch for the Phils, because what MLB game doesn’t need 10 different pitchers? How’s that speeding-up-the-game thing working out, Commissioner Manfred, sir? With two Mariner outs, J.P. Crawford — who else? — doubled, but Alvarado got the final strikeout for the win. Well done! The Phils have one more game against the Mariners, today at 1:05. Oh, and in case you missed it, the Fightin’s have a new puppy!

https://twitter.com/Phillies/status/1651311086912585733

In soccer news, LAFC came to soggy Subaru Park for a rematch of what the announcer called “the greatest game in MLS history” — last year’s MLS Cup championship game between the two teams, which LAFC won on penalty kicks. This was the first of their two semifinal games in the CONCACAF Champions League playoffs. It was a tight, close match, with no score but one pretty exciting brawl as of halftime.

Julián Carranza finally made a pass to Dániel Gazdag for a score at 57 minutes in the second half, but Gazdag was called offsides. Soccer’s a cruel game. Two minutes later, a Union corner! And another! And nothing doing. Then L.A. heated up, and Andre Blake became team savior, as he so often is. In the 83rd minute, the refs called for a video review on a possible handball in the box on Kellyn Acosta and awarded a penalty kick to the Union. I didn’t see it as a handball, personally, but my husband told me to hush. Gazdag buried the PK against former Union player and MLS Cup nemesis Andrew McCarthy. Union up, 1-0!

But just into the five-minute overage, LAFC tied it up on a goal from … Acosta. Did I mention soccer is a cruel game? Oh, wait — now there was a foul on LAFC, and a Union free kick with seconds left! Nothing doing: 1-1 tie is in the books. “What a wild finish!” the announcer declared. And so it was. Rematch a week from tonight in L.A.

The NFL draft begins tonight, in case you care. The Eagles have the 10th and 30th first-round picks.

All Philly Today Sports Desk coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.