The Sixers announced Monday that they won't be raising ticket prices for 2009-2010. That's good news for season-ticket holders and other fans, but isn't it almost a no-brainer?

“We recognize that these are very challenging economic times and we know people have many different options for their entertainment dollars,” Comcast-Spectacor President Peter Luukko said in a release. “We value each and every one of our fans and we are personally committed to working with them so they can enjoy the Flyers, the Sixers or the Phantoms. Our ‘Fan Relief’ offers are tailored to their needs and desires based on their feedback.”

Luukko also announced that neither the Sixers nor the Flyers would raise ticket prices for the 2009-10 season. In fact, the Sixers will make more tickets available at the $15 price level.

There's always been this idea that professional sports are recession proof, but maybe that's because we haven't had times like these in the modern era of obscene salaries and high ticket prices. Something has to give and it should be the athletes and the high-salaried execs. But no, the answer for many struggling sports teams has been to lay off low-level staff, you know, the kind who live paycheck to paycheck like so many of us. (As far as I know, the Sixers have not done this, but a number of teams have either done it or talked about it.)

The Harlem Globetrotters will play a game on the roof of the Spectrum on Tuesday, March 3 before playing at the Spectrum on Sunday, March 8.

To promote their appearance, Globetrotters star Anthony Blakes was at the Sixers' practice facility on Sunday to show Sixers players tricks and tips after practice.

Sixers point guard Andre Miller had an MRI on his right calf Thursday morning then met with team orthopedist Jack McPhilemy.

After reading the MRI and examining Miller, McPhilemy concluded that the original diagnosis of a strain was correct. Miller will be listed as day-to-day.

Miller has played in 501 straight games, the longest streak in the league. The Sixers don’t play again until Saturday afternoon in Miami.

Miller was injured in the third quarter of Wednesday night’s game against Denver.

Six weeks after dislocating his right shoulder, Elton Brand has elected to have surgery and will be out the rest of the season, Sixers president Ed Stefanski announced Thursday.
The surgery is scheduled for Monday afternoon at the Wilmington Surgery Center, where Brand had his ruptured Achilles tendon repaired in 2007.
According to a release from the team, Brand’s MRI results were reviewed by team orthopedist Dr. Jack McPhilemy and Wilmington orthopedic surgeon Dr. Craig Morgan who concluded that the initial tear of the labrum in Brand’s right shoulder is responsible for a considerable decrease in the range of motion and instability that made it impossible for him to play effectively.
Brand first tried non-surgical treatment during the first five-and-a-half weeks after the Dec. 17 injury, and was back in action on Jan. 24 against New York. He played five more games after that before finally sitting out the second half of Tuesday’s game against Boston with what he said was stiffness in his shoulder.
The team initially said an MRI done on Wednesday showed that the injury was healing, but Morgan and McPhilemy determined that to reduce the risk of further damage to the shoulder, surgery is needed.
“Elton wanted to do whatever he could to get back on the court and initially elected to forgo surgery in order to help his teammates,” Stefanski said in the release. “He worked as hard as he could over the past six weeks to return, however the scope the injury would not allow it.”
Brand, who was signed as a free agent last summer, finishes with averages of 13.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.55 blocks and 1.3 assists in 29 games.