'Michael Jack Schmidt' Doc Premieres on MLB Network

Jalen Hurts’ relationship with Eagles fans is complicated. Joel Embiids’s relationship with Sixers fans is complicated. But Mike Schmidt’s relationship with Phillies fans was next-level stuff.

Michael Jack Schmidt, the MLB Network’s documentary on the Hall of Famer, premieres tonight and explores that relationship in detail. It’s must-watch TV. We’ll share some of our thoughts from an advance screening.

We’ll also look at a transaction that valued the Eagles at a staggering $8.6 billion, and check in on Villanova men’s bball.

In the email today:

• 🕶 ‘Michael Jack Schmidt’ Doc Premieres on MLB Network

• 💰️ Jeffrey Lurie to Sell 8% Stake in Eagles for $664M

• ⛪️ Villanova Enjoys Calm Win Before Its Big East Schedule Storm

  • 📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

  • 📊 Poll

  • 🔗 Links

  • 📺 Coming Up

We have a full review of the new Michael Jack Schmidt documentary over on the website. But here’s the short version: it’s fantastic.

The documentary covers the basics of Schmidt's career, of course: how he famously "left Dayton, Ohio with two very bad knees and a dream of becoming a professional baseball player," grew into the best third baseman to ever play the game, suffered heartbreaking postseason defeats in the late 1970s, finally reached the MLB mountaintop in 1980, and, in 1987, became the 14th player in history to reach 500 home runs.

But it's Schmidt's relationship with Phillies fans, rather than his countless accomplishments, that forms the heart of the documentary.

"I think they appreciated [Schmidt], but they wanted to see more emotions on [his] sleeve," says Larry Bowa, one of many Philadelphia sports stars interviewed for the documentary. "He wanted to win as bad as I did, as bad as Bull [Luzinski] did, as bad as anybody. But he kept things bottled up a lot. And I think he got punished for that by the fans."

There is only one glaring omission in the doc:

You can catch the premiere of Michael Jack Schmidt on the MLB Network tonight at 8:00 p.m.

We don’t have $664 lying around much less $664M, but if we did, buying an 8% share of the Philadelphia Eagles with that much money would probably not top our list of dream purchases.

Good thing for Jeffrey Lurie that we don’t have $664M, because some very wealthy people do, and the 8% share purchase is what they’re doing with the money.

• The NFL approved the sale of an 8% stake in the Philadelphia Eagles during league meetings.

• The stake will be divided between two family investment groups, with Jeffrey Lurie retaining sole control of the team.

• The transaction values the Eagles at $8.3 billion, providing Lurie with hundreds of millions in proceeds.

• The NFL recently allowed private equity investment in teams, but the Eagles sale does not involve private equity.

• Similar sales involving private equity funds for the Bills and Dolphins were also approved during the meetings.

It’s a splashy deal given the numbers. Cynicism often attaches itself to stories of obscene wealth, and this story is no exception.

We can’t dispute that parting with $664M for a non-controlling interest in any asset seems exorbitant and maybe unnecessary. But we can also see wisdom in it.

There are 32 teams in the league. Their values range from $5.2B to $11B. For now, at least, NFL expansion is not planned. So, like real estate, they’re not making any more of it. Scarcity creates value and demand.

Then you factor in how Lurie bought the team for $195M in 1994. If the Eagles are really worth $8.3B now (and they probably are!), few passive investments have ever appreciated that way.

And another thing:

Rumors are just that. There’s a logic to this one, though. Putting a retractable roof stadium in Philadelphia makes the city eligible for all sorts of business that it doesn’t get for climate-based reasons — the Super Bowl being perhaps at the top of the list.

Building a new stadium will be prohibitively expensive, obviously. $664M won’t even pay for the luxury suites. You have to start somewhere, though.

And if the Eagles are worth $8.3B playing in an open-air stadium that is now old enough to drink, one can only imagine what the franchise will be worth playing in Philadelphia’s version of Jerry World.

Smart money always makes more money, and that’s probably where this is going.

Today is the final day of classes for the fall semester at Villanova. After that, it’s a reading day (on Friday the 13th…good luck) and then finals. Stay strong, kids.

Villanova’s basketball team is turning its own page. The non-conference portion of their schedule is over. Things didn’t really go as planned in November. But the Wildcats remained unbeaten this month with their win at the Pavillion last night.

Their fourth straight victory improved the V-Cats to 7-4 on the season. The losses to Columbia and to Virginia still don’t look great (though Columbia is 10-1). Had Villanova won those games, at 9-2 there’d be a lot more optimism about what is to come.

For today, maybe it’s best just to soak in the gaudy stats from last night’s victory.

Eric Dixon. There goes that man again.

A few weeks ago, the Big East schedule looked terrifying. On further review, though, it’s not nearly as tough as previously thought.

UConn fell from #3 in the AP preseason poll to #18 after a bad Hawaiian trip. But at least the Huskies are still ranked. Creighton (#15 preseason) is now unranked.

Villanova hosts Seton Hall (5-5 so far) on Tuesday night in the conference opener for both teams. Undoubtedly in front of some students who should probably be studying.

📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

On December 12, 2010, we celebrated a shootout Eagles win over Dallas.

📊 Poll

Results from Wednesday:

🔗 Links

• 📆 The “he only took this job to be closer to his girlfriend’s dorm” jokes are flying now that Bill Belichick is going to coach UNC.

• 🌴 Old friend Jimmy Butler might be on the move again.

• 🪃 Who says you can’t go home again? Rich Rodriguez is going back to West Virginia to be their head football coach.

• 🚌 Bronny James’ not-especially-awaited G-League road debut is imminent.

• ⚾️ The Phillies are not getting Garrett Crochet after all.

📺 Coming Up

Games before our next send.

December 12, 2024

• Flyers vs. Red Wings, 7:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.

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