Moonshine and Links

As you know, Friday was my birthday, and I have to say, it was quite a good time. After watching Temple lose because no one but Dionte decided to show up on offense, Toonces headed toward my house bearing gifts:





Yeah, tequila and moonshine. Well, we decided to leave the tequila alone and focus on the moonshine and some beers. Let me tell you something, if you've never had moonshine before, it's fantastic. You get plastered drunk and don't even realize it. After killing the jar of toxic moonshine and downing quite a few beers, we headed out to the bars, where we took more shots, drank more beers and watched the thrilling tournament games. Also, apparently I was causing quite a few problems in my drunken state. Blame it on the moonshine.

Anyway, it was a grand old night, and not a bad weekend. Nova looked great. Temple not so much. The Flyers beat the Penguins. The Sixers won. Things went well all in all, especially the save by Marty Biron about 2:06 in:



Since you all saw all the games, I don't have much more to say. So I link ...

-It's almost baseball season, which means The Fightins is in full swing: Sarge Matthews has his own hat line coming out, and Jimmy does a Charlie impression:



-Kendrick and Marson were optioned to the minors.

-Shawn Bradley "highlight" reels, via Deadspin:







-Take that, Ohio State:



-People should get off Iverson's back, like Shoals says.



If the man says he's hurt, he's hurt.

-Wide receivers are dumb, quarterbacks smart.

-Ricky Rubio may or may not be entering the NBA draft.

-Les Bowen has a very nice article on Eagles cornerback and former Wisconsin star Jack Ikegwuonu, and it sounds like Ikegwuonu is handling his situation well.

"I feel like it wouldn't be fair to the coaches to say that I'm a rookie,'' he said. "Just going through those meetings, listening, breaking down film - you've got to learn something. If you're not learning something, you're not paying attention and you're not doing your job. I definitely learned a lot. I learned a lot about the defense, and about the complexity of the defense. I know what [defensive coordinator] Jim Johnson expects."

The biggest thing Ikegwuonu learned had nothing to do with coverages, though, he said.

"Just learning about how to be a professional - what it means to be in the National Football League . . . You have to completely change the way you act, from what you put into your mouth to how you spend every minute of the day, whether you're at the facility or not," Ikegwuonu said. "I think the biggest thing that separates people who play this game in the National Football League is what you do when you're not at the complex, when the coaches aren't watching. That's really what a true professional is judged on."

As a Penn State fan, I got to watch Ikegwuonu in college, and the guy was a stud. If he is recovered fully from his ACL injury and can play anywhere up to his pre-injury potential, he'll become a really good corner in this league.

-Remember Danny Briere? Well, for his role in the Flyers' 6-4 Friday, he was named Puck Daddy's first star:

No. 1 Star: Danny Briere, Philadelphia Flyers

Mocked all year for an ineffective and injury-plagued season -- and booed mercilessly by Buffalo Sabres fans -- Danny Briere was the difference for the Flyers in their 6-4 victory. Elevated from a fourth line assignment to a line with Jeff Carter and Scott Hartnell, Briere scored two second-period goals to spark a Philly rally: a rebound slap shot past Patrick Lalime (25 saves) to tie the game and then a slapper from the slot to give the Flyers the lead and the momentum.

-Gilbert Arenas may or may not be returning Saturday.

-Is Ben Woodside an NBA player? I don't know, but he sure as shit looked like one against Kansas.

Oh, and I hear Curt Schilling retired. That guy was all right with me. I always wanted to wear a towel over my head when Mitch Williams was pitching too.

Why Does Andy Reid Hate Rookies?

Just to make my angry day a little more frustrating, I read this on Yahoo.



Today, the Eagles placed rookies Trevor Laws, Bryan Smith and Jack Ikegwuono on the Physically Unable to Perform list, meaning they are all ineligible to play in the first six regular season games of the year. Ikegwuono makes perfect sense. The guy is coming off ACL surgery and was expected to miss the entire season. The Birds knew full well of that situation when they drafted him.

But Laws, the Eagles' first pick in the draft, and Smith are, according to Reid in the article, scheduled to return to practice in the next few days. Laws' injury is listed as a foot injury while Smith has an injured hamstring. The fact that they're both coming back in a few days clearly indicates these are not serious injuries that require any sustained period of inactivity.

Smith I can understand. The Eagles are deep at defensive end with Victor Abiamiri, Chris Clemons, Trent Cole, Juqua "The Artist Formerly Known as Thomas" Parker, and the decaying corpses of Darren Howard and Jerome McDougle. Plus he's an undersized (listed at 217 lbs.) defensive end to say the least. It's hard to make an impact as a rookie when you're giving up that much weight. But he was a third-round pick, which isn't exactly the same as a seventh. Many third-rounders (Brian Westbrook) become impact players. Still, with the depth at DE combined with Smith's size, I can understand not needing him for six weeks, if at all this season.

But Laws? I mean, the guy was the team's first draft choice. He's 295 lbs, and he's been touted for having tremendous strength and drive. Defensive tackle is arguably the easiest position for a rookie to learn, and there have been plenty of defensive linemen that have made major contributions in their first seasons.

So why would Andy Reid put him on the PUP list and lose him for the first six games? Simple. Fatass Andy hates rookies, evident by his reluctance to play them even when they are clearly superior than the players starting in front them (see: Bradley, Stewart : Spikes, Takeo; Lewis, Michael : Bishop, Blaine). Laws was supposed to step right in and be part of a young, talented rotation with Mike "Weedhead" Patterson and Broderick "Andy didn't play me as a rook either" Bunkley. Instead we have to wait until game 7 at the earliest to see the Birds' first draft choice do things like this.



I blame this all on his kids. Those dope-pedaling gingers probably have had Big Red soured on youngsters for a while now. Guess it's hard to blame him.

OK, maybe that's a bit harsh, but come one Andy. What's the deal here? You afraid Trevor will take too much of your share at the buffet line? It's either that or you truly believe you'll get more out of Montae Reagor and Kimo von Oelhoffen (who, oh by the way, made a combined ZERO big plays last season) than Laws.

Get with the times Andy. Second round picks are supposed to not only make the team, but play and contribute as well. Well, that is, as long as their name isn't Matt McCoy. That guy's awful.