NFL News:

• Here’s a good thing: police recovered most of Roquan Smith’s stolen property & arrested an individual.
  • The only object missing from the above trove: his Bears iPad.
    • On an unrelated note, not all NE Patriots trainers have been accounted for.

• Here’s an “ugh, really?” thing: Mark Ingram is going to challenge his suspension via arbitration.
  • His agent stated: “Mark Ingram tested positive for a substance that was not a performance enhancing substance, nor an illegal substance, but a substance in fact permissible with the proper use exemption with the NFL.”
    • PFT’s scienticians also note that, by going in this direction, he’s admitting to taking a substance, but that he also had a reason for doing so.
      • So, the “Seadderall Seahawk” defence.

• Former Colts WR Anthony Gonzalez won the GOP nomination for the House in the upcoming November elections.
  • He’ll be running in Ohio’s 16th congressional district, which takes up most of Wayne County & follows the west side of I-71 & I-76 up near Cleveland, bypassing Akron & Canton.
  • History time! Facts about the 16th District:
    • It was carved out of the populous 13th District in advance of the 1833 election, and has been represented in Washington since 1833.
    • The first representative was Elisha Whittlesey of the Anti-Masonic Party.
      • He had previously:
        • been William Henry Harrison’s private secretary.
        • helped found the Whig Party.
      • He was appointed the first Comptroller of the Treasury by Zachary Taylor in 1849.
    • It was represented by future President William McKinley from 1879-1881.
    • With one two-year gap, it’s been a solid Republican seat since 1950.

Finally, 76ers guard T.J. McConnell had a pretty good story about switching fandoms from the Steelers to the Bengals, and then back to the Steelers during his childhood.

• It turns out, and stop me if I’m a tad harsh here, but Ben Roethlisberger might be a bit of a dick.
  • McConnell says that Big Ben was visiting his school in Pittsburgh for a charity event and, since it was right after Super Bowl XL, he was getting swamped by people, so he acted like a prick in order to be left alone.
  • That drove McConnell to begin rooting for the Bengals, which the story notes was a particularly bad decision at that time because between 2006-08 the Bengals never saw .500.
    • So, he went back to the Steelers.
  • As a pro athlete now, McConnell says he gets where Ben was at the time.

The story concludes on this note:

The moral of the story here is either “be nice to everybody” or “never become a Bengals fan.” You pick.

DFO Meetup: 

Hey – are you sick of hanging out with the same family members on the weekend?

Haven’t you just had enough of those people by the time Saturday rolls around?

Well, have we found a solution for you! The first annual DFO “Uhh, I dunno – wanna have some beers?” pub crawl will take place this Saturday at 2:00. The meeting place & first bar will be Tavern on Main, 123 Main St. in El Segundo, CA. (90245)

After Tavern, either democracy will rule or a dictator will rise up and set a route – a route for fun!

It sounds like it will be an erstwhile experience. Check out tonight’s comments for more details.

Tonight’s sports:

• NHL:
  • Preds-Jets game 7 is Thursday night, so…

• OHL:
  • Sault St. Marie at Hamilton – 7:00PM | Sportsnet1

• NBA:
  • 76ers at Celtics – 8:00PM | TNT / TSN2 (Game 5; Celtics lead 3-1)

• MLB:
  • Red Sox at Yankees – 7:00PM | ESPN / TSN3
  • Mariners at Blue Jays – 7:00PM | Sportsnet

• MLS:
  • Toronto FC vs. Seattle Sounders – 7:30PM | FS1 / TSN
    • a rematch of last year’s MLS Cup final

Maybe along the way, you’ll stop for some ethnic cuisine

TACO TOWN!