Your Monday Morning Roundup

Pic via reader Ryan

Good morning, Philadelphia. The Flyers still aren’t playing (though they may be soon), the Eagles won’t play until this evening, and the Sixers will now be without summer mega acquisitions Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson for the time being, the latter of which sprained his ankle in a loss to the Knicks yesterday. 

Bright side? Jon Gruden can get an up-close look at his potential future employer tonight.

Let’s hit it.

But first, a word from our sponsors:

– Yesterday was the perfect day to sit at Drinker’s West and get down with their $10 all-you-can-eat tailgate menu. Missed out? That’s cool. They have it every week. I know you Penn and Drexel folks are strapped for cash, so $25 could legitimately get you food, a pitcher of beer and a healthy tip for your bartender. Details here. 

- Sports Vault has two new locations— in the Plaza at the King of Prussia Mall and in the Exton Square Mall. Be sure to stop by and check out the local leader in memorabilia. MAKES GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFTS, KIDS.

Also, on January 5, Donovan McNabb will be signing autographs at the King of Prussia location. Details and tickets here.

– Tomorrow is election day and the folks at Philly Phaithful, the city’s leading apparel company, are voting for… Coach Collins in 2012. Get the t-shirt here.

– Thanks to our friends from Play-N-Trade in Lansdale for making our video game tournaments at Drinker’s possible. Check them out to buy, rent, trade and repair games. A must-see collection of old school games, too.

The roundup:

– Jason Richardson, the guy with the 15th most made three-pointers in NBA history, sprained his ankle yesterday. Number 14 on that list, Nick Van Exel, must be breathing a sigh of relief.*

*Hilariously, Bob Vetrone (Boop) wrote a blog post about the leading all-time three-pointer shooters in NBA history. Somewhere, Adam Aron is downright jolly.

Richardson hurt his ankle in the first quarter when he stepped on a photographer. He wasn’t happy about it… the photographer being there, that is: [Philly.com]

"They really don't belong down there – you see what happens," said Richardson, who suffered the sprain when he stepped on a cameraman's foot at Madison Square Garden. "It creates all kinds of problems for players. There's got to be a better way."

– Phil Sheridan relates Andy Reid to… Ray Rhodes. It’s tenuous connection, at best, but the crux of the link goes like this:

In Rhodes' paranoid regime, Gruden decided it was better to be unseen and unheard. So he moved from pillar to doorway to stairwell in the Vet netherworld without being seen by reporters. When he did find himself trapped, Gruden would arch an eyebrow and speak in careful code, conveying the thanklessness of his challenge without provoking Rhodes or anyone up on the fourth floor.

And then he disappeared for good. The Oakland Raiders hired Gruden to be their head coach in 1998. See if what followed sounds familiar.

With the man in charge of his offense gone, the defensive-minded Rhodes needed to make a very good hire. Instead, he decided to shock everyone by bringing in a relative unknown named Dana Bible. When that move blew up on him almost immediately, Rhodes replaced his handpicked coordinator in midseason. He wound up getting fired himself at the end of the year.

If you're Andy Reid, comparisons to Rhodes are not especially complimentary. Reid is a much better all-around head coach, as his record proves. But there is a parallel. The value of defensive coordinator Jim Johnson was never so clear as it became after he was gone. The same was true of Gruden back in 1998.

It’s the Gruden made Rhodes, Johnson made Reid thing.

I’m generally not one for tire-kicking what if columns, but Sheridan weaves an extraordinary tale that reads like a mystery novel (for real). Good column this morning. Read, Andy Read. 

– Some baby steps in negotiations– we could see an 64-game schedule for the Flyers. Maybe. Kind of. 

Al Morganti is quite confident:

“This was actually, I think, a so-called secret productive meeting in which they really went at it and addressed the basic issues.” 

“I fully expect that if this thing isn’t done over the next 10 days, it won’t but done at all. But I think it will be done over the next 10 days.” 

Sightings:

Stanley Cup champion Jeff Carter gave reader tmoney the finger at the Public House this weekend. No, really:

– Ryan Howard was spotted buying cheese at Whole Foods in Blue Bell:

Pic via reader Jonathan

As you can see, he was walking around, which is a significant upgrade from his transportae circa a year ago.

– The Barkann Family Foundation is hosting its inaugural event at Chickie’s and Pete’s Play 2 in South Philly on November 15.

It is $35 to attend the event and that includes three hours of unlimited beer, wine and appetizers. Duce Staley, Bernie Parent and Dave Schultz are scheduled to appear at the event (subject to change). Tickets can be purchased on their website, TheBarkannFoundation.org. People who purchase before November 8 are entered into a drawing for tickets to the Eagles/Redskins game on December 23 (!!!). 

– The Eagles Monday Night Football game has become an important event for the respective presidential campaigns. Last week we told you about a $40k ad buy on the 6 ABC broadcast of MNF by the Obama campaign. And now, a Republican PAC paid $75k for a Romney ad on the ESPN broadcast of the game, according to one D.C. tipster.  

Romney, of course, was in Pennsylvania last night and thinks he has an outside shot at winning the state. And the way to reach the largest number of Pennsylvanians the night before the election? Monday Night Football. Intrigue, baby.