Reid 'em and weep.

Yesterday's loss made me feel sick to my stomach.

It also could've been those wings that have been in my refrigerator since the Cowboys game...and the blue cheese.

What? It's not supposed to be blue? It's bleu? Oops.

Anyway - while the team absolutely played down the Bears...who in actuality aren't a "bad" team, I place the blame for this loss squarely on Andy Reid's shoulders.

Two plays stand out that he should've challenged:

1. The first Bears touchdown - Greg Olsen did not get his 2nd foot down in the end zone.

2. The 4th-and-one at the end of the game - I paused my DVR showing the overhead cam view:

Sure looks like he broke the plane to me...where were the challenge flags?!? Did he use them for napkins during a halftime snack and forget to bring them out of the lunchroom locker room? So while Andy is the #1 culprit - let's look at some of the other LVP's for the game.

- David Akers is dead to me. If he had hit either one of those field goals, we wouldn't have had to go for the touchdown at the end.

- DeSean Jackson had another good game - but that muffed punt led to seven for the Bears. CATCH THE BALL FIRST DJ. He also needs to remember the rule I thought all returners knew - if the ball is beyond the 10 yard line, let it bounce...if it's past - either field it or fair catch it.

- The offensive line allowed way too much pressure on third downs. Shawn Andrews, come back soon.

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A few highlights / other things I noted during the game:

- I'm going to start keeping note on how long it takes for Madden to talk about or show food during games. This game he started talking about food with three minutes left in the first quarter, and was showing food around 1:15.

...He needs a cooking show. Food network, get on it.

- The linebackers looked good again...I think I overheard that they're all 24. That's a pretty nice luxury, having three young quality linebackers. Gone are the days of Nate Wayne, Mark Simoneau, and Levon Kirkland.

- Hey refs, nice work on that Devin Hester touchdown. I haven't seen such an obvious non-call of offensive pass interference since Michael Irvin was playing.

- When and why did Juqua Thomas change his name to Juqua Parker? That throws me off more than calling "Tre" Thomas William.

- Hey, Reggie Brown is back! Looked okay...hopefully he'll continue to improve.

- With a healthy Westbrook playing, we blow them out. No doubt in my mind.

The best thing about this loss? It happened on a weekend where the Phillies clinched, the Mets choked, and the Cowboys played horribly.

That's a nice bit of aspirin for a hurting fan, I'd say.

Be good Philly, I'll see you on Wednesday.

GO PHILLIES!

- Magnum

The Freshman 15

If you count the 18-19 year old international players, there were FIFTEEN "freshmen" in this years NBA draft.

Think about that.

Teenagers, with millions of dollars to spend.
Do you know how many Xbox 360's that can buy?
How many games of Laser Tag that is?
Super soakers?

Sometimes I think that society thinks that just because these kids can hit a free throw while 20,000 fans go bonkers, that they're somehow more mature.

They're still teenagers.

Do you understand the kind of damage most teenagers would do with millions of dollars? I have imagined this future, and it's far far worse than Beverly Hills 90210 or even *gasp* the OC.

I digress.

A few notes on some of the picks.

• Derrick Rose - At first I thought Beasley was the obvious choice, but as recent history has proved, if you want instant impact to your team's record, you add a great point guard.
(Jason Kidd to the Nets, Steve Nash to the Mavs and Suns, Deron Williams...etc)
It seemed like there was a point (no pun intended) where it seemed like every team in the league had at least a serviceable point guard, but now point guards are at a premium like Nintendo Wii.

• Michael Beasley - Potentially, he's Kevin Durant with a gym membership. Dirk Nowitzki with hops. If D-Wade is healthy this year, and Miami and get some interior defense, they should be right back at the top of the East. Assuming he can stay off South Beach enough to work on his game, the kid is a bonafide superstar waiting to blossom.

• Still not sold on Kevin Love, haven't we learned anything from Robert Swift, Andrew Bogut, Luke Jackson, Troy Murphy, Chris Kaman and Nick Collison? One still needs to be athletic to play the frontcourt in the NBA, people.

• Ditto for Joe Alexander...btw, can we stop coming up with these generic "whiteboi" nicknames that include either "vanilla" or "chocolate" in them?

On a positive note, there is no way he's not going to be able to hear the coach with those ears.

(L to R) Joe's Mom, Joe's nickname adviser, Joe's ears, Joe's dad who hasn't seen him since 1st grade)

• Props to O.J. Mayo. He's probably the best ballplayer with a drink first name and a condiment last name since my homeboy back in high school, Cider Sauerkraut.

• All you need to know about the Knicks draft pick is that he played for Armani Jeans. I guess they were waiting for the power forward from Louis Vuitton to develop his back-to-the-basket game.

Knicks fans...two words: "Darko. Milicic."

"As a Bulls fan, I just wanted to thank you for helping the Knicks stay average."

• Eric Gordon actually played Michael Jordan son in that *cough* movie Space Jam. I can't decide whether that is good for his career, or bad. I guess that was back when Jordan was still winning championships, so we'll say his particular osmosis must have been good.

However, that suit he was wearing was making my eyes bleed. He looked like that scene from Devil May Cry when the checkerboard comes to life(anyone?). Less is more, Mr. Gordon.

One last thing about EG...has anyone noticed that the Indiana "Mr. Basketball" award is almost synonymous with the Heisman as far having the ability to destroy 75% of it's winners future careers? For every Oscar Robertson, there's 3 Damon Baileys, Luke Reckers, and Sean Mays.

"Listen, ice cream man, could you run and grab Eric? I'd also like a Choco Taco."

• The Lopez's have two things working against them:
1. They're twins ... remember the O'Bannon's? Didn't think so.
2. Stanford players are notoriously average. Josh Childress might be the best one since the 60's.

• Anthony Randolph...How is it physically possible to be 6-10, ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY -SEVEN POUNDS. Is this guy medically fit to play? Every time I see highlights of him, I wanna donate money to help needy, malnutritioned basketball players.

As SOON as you cash that first check Ant, go get yourself like 20 double cheeseburgers.

"Okay mom, okay. I need to rush out of here before Old Country Buffet gets crowded."

• Philadelphia fans are destined to butcher Marreese Speights' name. I guarantee it.

I don't know what it is about Philadelphia fans, but we always seem to disembowel the pronunciation of players names, i.e:
"HerSHEE Hawkins", "Andre IGGadala", "Samuel DalemBERT", "Randall Cuttingham"...the list goes on and on.

That's it for me...The Phils need some rooting on.

- Magnum