Ooh! The Eagles Christmas Album Is Now an Animated Christmas Special

The gang behind A Philly Special Christmas returns with A Philly Special Christmas Special.

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Are You Ready for A Philly Special Christmas Special?

As you prepare for holiday gatherings and feasts on Thanksgiving, set a reminder for 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

Why? Because that’s when all of the Philly region will rouse from a collective tryptophan haze, whip out phones, and watch A Philly Special Christmas Special, a new stop-motion animated video that drops on YouTube. The short will feature puppet versions of Eagles Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson — who now appear to be operating under the mantle “The Philly Specials” — as they try to rally their friends for a holiday performance.

This is just the latest installment in the shockingly fecund Philly Special Christmas universe, which, of course, exploded into existence last year, when Kelce, Mailata and Johnson stunned the world with the surprisingly smooth vocal stylings on their seven-song A Philly Special Christmas. Initially a vinyl-only release that benefited Philadelphia’s Children’s Crisis Treatment Center, the album quickly sold out multiple pressings before it eventually hit streaming services. This year, the gang is back with a second installment — benefiting the CCTC and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia — featuring 11 more songs. They’ve also made available a deluxe version that includes the new songs and last year’s in a two-LP gold vinyl set, a puzzle (!), and a red vinyl seven-inch version of the Kelce-penned “Santa’s Night.”

With this on the heels of Monday’s big win over the Chiefs, I think I speak for everyone when I say: God bless us, every one.

By the Numbers:

4: Votes by which Central Bucks School District Democratic school-board candidate Karen Smith won in the last election for her position — an outcome that went unchallenged at the time.

400: Votes by which Smith won in this month’s election, which is being challenged in court by Republicans who’ve filed a petition for a hand recount, claiming there was “fraud or error” in three of the five school-board races, all of which produced Democratic wins.

11: Voting-rights orgs and individuals who were handed a win in federal court yesterday in a lawsuit claiming that undated and/or improperly dated mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania elections should be counted in spite of the mistakes. Hey, we’re all human, right?

8th: Where Philly ranks on an All-Star Home list of cities that are the most “house-rich” in the country, based on the median value of their owner-occupied homes and the residents’ median income. The top three cities were El Paso, Oklahoma City and Indianapolis.

20.9%: Pennsylvania counties in which feral hogs have been sighted. And they’re no laughing matter! Per hunting/fishing guide Captain Experiences, which compiled this list, they’re “tusked, hairy, sharp-toothed, and aggressive, and they have no major natural predators.”

39,000: NBA milepost of career points scored notched by LeBron James last night.

And from the Oh-So-Close Sports Desk …

The Sixers welcomed the Cavaliers to town in the All-Ugly-Court Tourney last night, and guess who’s on Cleveland’s team now? Bang-Bang Georges Niang, that’s who, to Kate Scott’s delight. Both sides had a slow start, but the Sixers kicked it up and ripped off an 8-0 run six minutes in. The Cavs came back, though, with an 11-0 run before the Sixers tightened it to trail 27-24 at the close of the quarter. Tyrese Maxey had yet to score.

https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1727130655312707913

He hit a floater in the first minute of the second quarter, however, and found his rhythm, leading the team with 12 with five minutes left in the half. Tristan Thompson won the Philly crowd some chicken by brickin’, but we were down at the half 65-53 thanks to a last-second Max Strus three. He hit two more to start the third, and suddenly it was 71-53.

Getting cooked by “Max Strus”

It’s always the FUCKING RANDOM ASS ROLE PLAYERS

— Phuckin Fightins (@Derek9306) November 22, 2023

That’s about where it stayed through the third, despite some promising moments; it was the first quarter in which we’d outscored the Cavs. Could the Sixers regroup and come back, or is that hideous court cursed? We pulled within seven, Embiid picked up a fourth foul, we cut it to five … and Embiid got hit for an illegal screen, his fifth. A flagrant by Max Strus on Maxey cut the differential to three points momentarily. A Sixers steal, a bunch of bad Sixers shots, equally bad Cavs shots …

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1727159267109576822

Damn, when did this turn exciting? Darius Garland hit an impossible shot-clock buzzer-beater, an Embiid two tied it again, a turnover to us, a mess of shots and rebounds, one minute left … overtime! Big shots, big misses and big fouls ensued, but it wasn’t to be. Hey, can’t win them all, right? A 122-119 Cavs win. And the weary Sixers will face the Timberwolves tonight in Minnesota, with an 8 p.m. tip-off.

The Flyers also play.

Any College Hoops News?

The 4-0 La Salle Explorers headed to ninth-ranked Duke last night to take on the Blue Devils, and they hung in there in the unfriendly environs; halfway through the first, it was a one-point Duke lead, 19-18. But they’re not called the Devils for nothing, and they stretched that lead to 10 at the half, 39-29. And they didn’t let up after halftime, building it to 51-31 just three minutes in. Final: 95-66. But the La Salle kids will  always be able to say they played at Cameron. There are two college games on tap today, both afternooners: Villanova at Texas Tech at 2:30 and Ole Miss at Temple at 3:30.

Any Other Sports News?

Well, People magazine had a report on what Jason and Travis said to each other after Monday night’s big Eagles win. If you consider that news.