Aha! Now We Know Why Hall Is Suing Oates

Daryl Hall & John Oates performing on July 14, 2019, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Dimitri Hakke/Redferns)

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We Finally Know Why Hall is Suing Oates

You saw it here first, and then you saw it repeated in pretty much every publication, be it local, national or international. It’s been fun watching that Hall v. Oates lawsuit story spiral out across the internet. Really gives you a handle on the different ways journalists and publications credit their sources. Which, in this case, was most likely us. (Not bragging too much. We saw it on Twitter.)

Since then, I’ve only seen one outlet add actual new information to the story, and that was AP News: Daryl Hall is suing John Oates over his plan to sell his stake in their joint venture. A judge has paused the sale. As implied by the headlines, reporters Jonathan Mattise and Maria Sherman* teamed up to report that while the guts of the suit remain sealed, they know it centers on John Oates’s attempt to sell his share of Whole Oats Enterprises LLP to publishing/management company Primary Wave Music, and that Daryl Hall is attempting to block the sale.

(Damn. I was 1,000 percent sure it was because Oates released that reggae version of “Maneater” without telling Hall.)

According to the New York Post, Primary Wave already owns a majority stake in the Hall & Oates back catalog and paid between $25 million and $50 million for the privilege back in 2007. Right now, Hall is 77 and Oates is 75. Maybe John just wants to split the pot and set his family up for a long while.

*Mattise and Sherman are both ex-Philly peeps, and they managed to write a whole article on Hall & Oates without riffing on “Can’t Go for That.” Heroes.

By The Numbers

#1: Harrisburg’s ranking in U.S. News & World Report’s list of the 100 Best Places to Retire. That’s stupid, lists are stupid.

12: Tracks of psych-rock goodness you’ll find on Pure Photonic Matter, Vol. 2., the brand-new record from erstwhile Philly outfit Photon Band. Rec’d.

#13: Philly’s ranking in U.S. News & World Report’s list of the 100 Best Places to Retire. That seems right. Good list. Thank you for your really good and important news and report.

3 inches: According to Offside Modeling, that’s how far offside FC Cincinnati’s Ian Murphy was just before his team scored its controversial, mystifying game-winning goal against the Union on Saturday night. The call was bad. The science is incontrovertible. Sandy has a full, dignified recap of the game below, but up here, I remain inconsolable and unhinged.

29.02 million: That’s how many people saw the Eagles beat the Chiefs last week — the biggest audience for Monday Night Football since 1996. And hey, it’s another chance to mention Taylor Swift, as in “Taylor Swift was not there,” which has SEO implications.

Local Talent

Everybody knows Ms. Lauryn Hill likes to take the stage late. Like Axl Rose 2002 late. So, no surprise, she didn’t get behind the mic at her rescheduled “7:30 p.m.” Wells Fargo Center concert on Saturday until close to 10 p.m. But what was a surprise was that Philly born-and-raised Roots co-founder Questlove showed up to entertain the long-waiting crowd with a DJ set:

Photo by Lisa Schaffer

Hill also brought Philly rapper Freeway along for the ride during her set:

As for the headliner herself, Philly DJ and photographer Lisa Schaffer told us that Hill “entered the stage looking like she grabbed a bunch of random objects out of her grandmother’s closet or a really cool thrift shop.” Or, as Schaffer’s photo puts it:

And from the Just-Won’t-Quit Sports Desk …

The Eagles played a sodden mess of a first half yesterday at the Linc, with cold rain pouring down and the Buffalo Bills pouring it on. We scored first, but a Jalen Hurts interception early in the second quarter put the Bills up, 10-7, and Josh Allen ran a TD in just at the end of the half to make it 17-7. They should have had more, but Jalen Carter tipped a field-goal attempt. Premier O-lineman Lane Johnson was out with an injury. Oh, and did I mention Fletcher Cox got hurt and headed for the locker room? Birds social media was not amused.

Eagles RBs have 7 carries for 47 yards.

Meanwhile they are desperately forcing the passing game in the 1st half without their best OL, in pouring rain, and a QB in no flow whatsoever.#Eagles pic.twitter.com/iSR8x0nUiA

— Thomas R. Petersen (@thomasrp93) November 26, 2023

Hurts got sacked trying to run it on the first play of the third, and we went three-and-out. Great, great. The Bills, meantime, could do no wrong — except for that second field goal they missed. D’Andre Swift finally got a good run off, as did the wounded Dallas Goedert’s replacement, Jack Stoll, and fans’ hearts were hopeful, with the team at the 10. And touchdown A.J. Brown! Okay, okay, 17-14! But Josh Allen was unstoppable, and apparently unsackable. He ran another TD in.

DeVonta Smith countered with a 34-yard catch at the close of the third, and Hurts ran for a first, then threw a TD to Smith. What a tease! The lowly 6-5 Bills weren’t going to ruin the 9-1 Birds’ great year, right? Defense, you there? A James Bradberry interception — yes! And then this by Olamide Zaccheaus:

https://twitter.com/yoennalcides/status/1728929216308342830

A Brandon Graham sack of Allen gave us back the ball — which we did nothing with. The Bills drove again, with first downs on three straight plays. Time was ticking away as they ran it to the six with two minutes left. Could the Eagles hold? Nah — touchdown Bills, for the 31-28 lead. We had a good drive to the 35, but a false-start penalty on center Jason Kelce set us back. A Hurts run, 30 seconds, third and 13, no timeouts left— and another Kelce false start made it third-and-17. Could Jake Elliott possibly nail a 60-yard field goal in the pouring rain? HE COULD AND HE DID! TIE GAME!

Overtime. The Bills struck first, with a field goal. Did the Birds have one more comeback drive in them?

RUN @jalenhurts RUN pic.twitter.com/8CwALpmZKd

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 27, 2023

Go Birds. Ten years off my life.

How’d the Sixers Do?

The Sixers played Saturday in the wake of two straight losses, heading to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder, featuring the very tall, very thin Chet Holmgren and the very much rumored-about lately Josh Giddey. We got off to a good start against a team that had won six in a row, and it stayed back-and-forth through most of the game, with the Sixers up 65-61 at the half. Toward the end of the third, an 11-0 run put us up 93-80. Holmgren was putting on a show, though; going into the final quarter, he had 24 points to nearly match Joel’s 25.

OKC crept back into it in the final frame as our second team took over. Maxey was great down the stretch, though, and the Sixers ran up a 12-point lead five minutes in. The starters returned, but somehow, it was a four-point game with two minutes to go. OKC got a steal but stepped out of bounds, and De’Anthony Melton sank a three from the corner to make it seven. Maxey scored two foul shots to bring him to 28 points scored, and it was four points with 12 seconds to go. Joel hit six clutch free throws for a personal total of 35; Holmgren wound up with 33. Whew. A tight 127-123 win, and a new rivalry:

Rookies in NBA history with multiple games of 30+ pts, 5+ reb, 2+ blk, 2+ 3p, and 70%+ true shooting:

– Joel Embiid
– Chet Holmgren pic.twitter.com/I93uENBZSa

— Automatic (@automaticnba) November 26, 2023

The Lakers come to town tonight for a game with a 7 p.m. start.

Any Doop News?

The Union played FC Cincinnati on Saturday in the MLS Cup semifinals in an away match. You know who plays for Cincinnati now? Ray Gaddis, that’s who — and he’s been key to the team’s resurgence this year. You know who’s not, at least not Saturday night? Matt Miazga, the defender of the year, who was out for racking up too many yellow cards. What a pity. We were still without defender Kai Wagner because he’s an idiot.

Damion Lowe, starting in place of Jakob Glesnes and his sports hernia, picked up a yellow in the 11th minute, and Gaddis was hit with one at the 30-minute mark. At halftime, there had been credible shots on goal by both sides but no score.

In the second half, Julían Carranza had a just-miss shot two minutes in, then got a yellow of his own a few minutes later. FC’s Aaron Boupendza then picked one up for a whack on José Martínez, who was helped off the field; Jesús Bueno came in for him, and the Union trainer got a yellow for something he said.

With the score still tied, refs added six minutes of overage — and Cincinnati’s Yerson Mosquera scored, three minutes into it. Or was FC offsides? Review, confirmation, and the Union go down. No finals for us. Husband is still loudly insisting the assist on the shot was offsides, and he’s not alone. Bummer.

And on the College Gridiron?

The last local team still active over the weekend was Temple. The 3-and-8 Owls faced off against the 8-and-3 Memphis Tigers Saturday at the Linc, and to nobody’s surprise, they got trounced, 45-21. Better luck next year! Oh, and Penn State smothered Michigan State on Saturday, 42-0.

What About College Hoops?

By coincidence, the Villanova Wildcats wound up playing the Memphis Tigers in the final of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament on Friday afternoon, having beat UNC in OT to get there. And they took down the hitherto undefeated Tigers, 79-63, for their all-time third triumph in the tournament.

Penn hosted a tournament as well. They just nipped Lafayette Friday, 74-72; lost to Belmont in overtime on Saturday, 84-79; and downed Monmouth, 76-61, on Sunday. Also on Sunday, Sacred Heart dropped one to St. Joe’s, 64-55; Drexel’s Dragons went down in OT to Old Dominion, 68-61; and La Salle triumphed over Coppin State, 81-62, for coach Fran Dunphy’s 600th career win. Congrats, sir!