{"id":1046670,"date":"2026-09-06T10:00:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T10:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1046670\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T10:00:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T10:00:42","slug":"cecily-tynan-signs-off-the-phillies-have-us-believing-and-philly-loses-an-institution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1046670\/","title":{"rendered":"Cecily Tynan signs off, the Phillies have us believing, and Philly loses an institution"},"content":{"rendered":"

Philly loses a piece of itself: F<\/p>\n

The Academy of Natural Sciences has been an institution in Philadelphia for nearly 200 years. <\/p>\n

Generations of kids have walked into Dinosaur Hall and stared up at the skeletons, pressed buttons, dug for fossils, looked at bugs, and wandered past those wonderfully old-school animal dioramas. Then they grew up, had kids, and brought them back to do the exact same things.<\/p>\n

At the end of the month, that stops. The museum is closing as attendance has fallen and operating costs have risen<\/a>, though the Academy\u2019s scientific research and its collection of roughly 19 million specimens will remain. What happens to the museum is uncertain; Academy leaders say they hope public access can return in some form. <\/p>\n

That uncertainty is what makes this feel like more than another attraction closing<\/a>. Philadelphia\u2019s identity isn\u2019t just cheesesteaks and sports teams and the stuff that fits neatly on a tourism poster. It\u2019s also the institutions that have been here so long that generations assume they\u2019ll always be here \u2014 the Academy, the Franklin Institute<\/a>, the Art Museum, the Please Touch Museum. They\u2019re where Philly kids learn, and learn what their city is.<\/p>\n

The dinosaurs aren\u2019t just leaving the Parkway. Philly is losing one of the places that helped make us, us.<\/p>\n

\"6abc6abc meteorologist Cecily Tynan walks off the set at the 6abc studios in Philadelphia on Thursday, August 27, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Cecily gives her final forecast: D<\/p>\n

For 31 years, Cecily Tynan told the Delaware Valley what was coming. On Monday night, everyone already knew the forecast: This was going to hurt a little.<\/p>\n

Tynan delivered her final weather report on Action News<\/a>, choking up as she thanked viewers who had watched her through everything from the Blizzard of \u201996 to Superstorm Sandy. She talked about meeting families who had watched 6abc for generations and even young Cecilys whose parents named them after her. <\/p>\n

Then Jim Gardner \u2014 because apparently this goodbye wasn\u2019t emotional enough already \u2014 returned to the studio to send off his longtime colleague (WITHOUT HIS MUSTACHE, let\u2019s not forget to mention). <\/p>\n

Cecily wasn\u2019t just there for the giant storms people remember. She was there on thousands of ordinary nights, standing in front of that weather map while families ate dinner, packed lunches, wondered about school the next morning, or decided whether they needed an umbrella. She became part of the routine.<\/p>\n

Even Cecily seemed to understand that relationship when she told viewers that although she was retiring, she\u2019d \u201calways be part of the Action News team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TeamTeam Nutz celebrates taking first place in the 25th Dushore Founder’s Day Outhouse Race on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026 in Dushore, Pa. The Dushore Lyons Club event featured 10 teams comprised of a driver and four pushers who raced custom-designed outhouses along Main Street as hundreds of locals lined the sidewalks to watch and cheer.RALPH WILSON\/For the Inquirer<\/p>\n

Philly needs an outhouse race: A<\/p>\n

Every once in a while, another part of Pennsylvania comes up with an idea so stupid that Philadelphia should immediately steal it.<\/p>\n

In Dushore, a tiny Sullivan County town of about 450 people, residents have spent the last 26 years racing outhouses down Main Street<\/a>. The rules require a real toilet seat, four pushers and one person sitting on the throne to steer. Teams have names like Perfect Dump, Steiny\u2019s Heineys, and the Coal Region Turd Herders. There are trophies. People train for this.<\/p>\n

Naturally, the question is: Why aren\u2019t we doing this in Philly?<\/p>\n

Imagine outhouses flying down the Parkway, preferably with Gritty<\/a> sitting on the toilet. Put one on the Manayunk<\/a> Wall if we\u2019re feeling reckless. Neighborhood teams would have to build their own: Rittenhouse vs. Fishtown<\/a> vs. Delco, which isn\u2019t technically a neighborhood but would absolutely show up with an outhouse anyway. Wawa<\/a> could sponsor one. SEPTA<\/a> could enter another.<\/p>\n

Dushore drew a crowd several times larger than the town\u2019s population to watch people push toilets up and down the street, and Philadelphia has closed roads for far less compelling reasons.<\/p>\n

So bring the Turd Herders to Broad Street!<\/p>\n

You cannot reboot \u2018Jersey Shore\u2019: C<\/p>\n

Netflix is filming a new reality show, The Leftovers, in Seaside Heights with longtime Jersey Shore<\/a> producer SallyAnn Salsano. They insist it\u2019s not a reboot<\/a>, which is smart, because you cannot recreate that level of magic.<\/p>\n

Jersey Shore gave us GTL, \u201ccabs are here,\u201d Snooki getting arrested on the beach, Ron and Sam fighting about everything, and an anonymous note becoming one of the most important documents ever produced in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

You can find another group of hot, messy 20-somethings, but you cannot make them accidentally invent GTL again. Reality TV contestants know too much now. They arrive with Instagram strategies and a preferred angle.<\/p>\n

So let The Leftovers be its own beautiful Jersey disaster.<\/p>\n

There is only one Snooki. And only one note<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"PhilliesPhillies Bryce Harper high-fives teammates after hitting a two-run home run in the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Saturday, August 22, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Falling for the Phillies, again: A<\/p>\n

The problem with this particular Phillies team is that we know better.<\/p>\n

We have been here before. We\u2019ve watched October end against Arizona, the Mets, and the Dodgers in increasingly creative ways, then spent entire off seasons insisting we would not let these people hurt us again.<\/p>\n

And yet, look at us.<\/p>\n

The Phillies have won six straight, moved into the top National League wild-card spot, and are suddenly just three games behind Atlanta in the NL East with a four-game series against the Braves this weekend. That is exactly the kind of September setup that makes all those carefully constructed emotional boundaries start to seem a little dramatic.<\/p>\n

It helps that Bryce Harper looks like Bryce Harper again<\/a>. After hitting .333 with a 1.069 OPS in August, he opened September by going 4-for-4 with a walk, extending his on-base streak to 34 games, and pushing his season OPS above .900. Jes\u00fas Luzardo<\/a> is 9-0 on the road. The lineup is finding ways to score without relying entirely on home runs. Even when one part of this team isn\u2019t carrying the night, somebody else seems to be.<\/p>\n

This is how they get you. A month ago, October still felt like something to approach with extreme caution. Now the Braves are here, Harper is cooking, and Citizens Bank Park gets four chances at them this weekend.<\/p>\n

Fine, the walls are down. We\u2019re all in.<\/p>\n