4 Hard Downs: A Draft Steal, Value of LB vs Edge & Birthday Party...plus a finger situation

I almost cut my finger off, LBs down, "Edge" up and preparing for a 7 year old birthday

I’m going to start with the end:

I almost cut my finger off this weekend. If I didn’t stop very quickly, your boy would have been a very Ronnie Lott, Lee Van Cleef sumbitch.

I’d have been Angel Eyes

Sparing you the pictures, although I did post them on the podcast.

No nerve damage, which is good, but I did just get to see my bone, and it is nice to see what’s going on in there while a lady pulls it open and sprays some type of juice. No stitches, because it was on the knuckle and I type for a living and need to be able to at least flex my fingers for work.

If you got this far, and again, I did you a favor, no pics of this wild event; which means you’re in for a penny and in for a pound so let’s SPOT THE BALL!!!

1st Down: Pizza Party

32 confirmed kids (plus siblings, plus parents, plus my family)

So basically like 70-80 people at my house with a bouncehouse. How am I feeling?

But we are so close to this finish line. She’s going to have a great time. I know my dad doesn’t like to hear me complain, but complaining helps me have the energy to deliver and get to the finish line; where I can finally collapse.

Bouncehouse. Waterfeature on said bouncehouse. Pizza. Donuts. Popcorn. Freezies.

So, in honor of my dad hoping he doesn’t get mad at me:

I GET TO DO THESE THINGS FOR MY DAUGHTER!!!

We are going to have a great time. My dad will be here. My mom will be here. My brother and a few of best friends will be here. I am excited to celebrate my kid.

I am glad she has friends, friends she just made from 1st grade and friends she has had since TK. There is a guy bringing his girl who I played JV baseball with at East Meck.

When you’re in the weeds you only see the work, but when you see the work payoff, ain’t nothing fucking better than that smile on your kid’s, and everyone else’s face, to be honest.

2nd Down: Is Ashton Jeanty A Draft Steal?

This guy is insanely good.

People aren’t talking about him getting picked in the Top 5 like Saquon Barkley, but his numbers on the field are remarkable. Some team is going to get a really good player well below his draft slot.

3rd Down: Speaking of Value

Are actual linebackers being devalued due to the whole new position of “EDGE” which is an in “my sports media career” creation? We used to call them hybrid linebackers, hell even “Elephants” like Kevin Greene or Jason Gildon but EDGE has become standard nomenclature and a very specific thing.

It seems like actual “off the ball” linebackers have taken a backseat to every team needing to get to the QB.

Obviously with the proliferation of the passing game, getting to the QB is paramount but watching people talk about guys like Luke Kuechly or Patrick Willis and Ray Lewis; they had tremendous value.

We’re just not seeing it actualized in the draft.

Nakobe Dean, best college linebacker since Kuechly, in my book, that man was a 3rd round pick. He’s a starter for the Super Bowl Champs. I know there were some medicals but it feels, much like running back, the value of LBs has been pushed down to buoy EDGE in this modern era of the NFL.

4th Down: Drop-Off Parties

When do we get to them?

My daughter has been to a couple, with an asterisk.

*My wife and her friends went to lunch across the street for one of the mani-pedi kids parties
*My wife sat in the car with other moms a block from the house

So yes, we’ve done “drop off” but this weekend, I think we will have a few drop off people but is there a standard age for this and when did this change?

I don’t remember my parents being at a birthday party, aside from mine when they were wrangling the other 10-15 kids. My favorite birthday party going up is a split between when I had a McDonald’s party, where we all got Happy Meals and the party was in a retired caboose that sat outside of the McDonald’s in Alamagordo, New Mexico. The other part of the split is also in Alamagordo, Priscilla, a girl from my class, got me a Super Soaker.

Why was that an indelible moment?

Well she was 6, she told her parents she wanted to get me something good, it was at Chuck-E-Cheese and she knew that when you have a November birthday you don’t get summer toys so she got me a toy I had to wait months to use but it was worth it and I still am thankful for her kindness (and sorry for this run-on sentence).

Don’t cry for me Argentina, this weekend is going to go great and I am glad I GET to have a birthday party where my kid will feel loved and celebrated. Just shout out your boy blowing up all the balloons for the arch on a Thursday night.

Cheers!!!