We have site announcements coming tomorrow and Wednesday. Not self-serving nonsense. Not a copycat feature where we’ll change a few words in a headline and pretend like it’s not an exact ripoff. Nope, actual news that will impact you, the reader, in a positive way.

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The roundup:

Can we talk about Dave Hakstol’s excellent calves?

 

Strong Snapchat filter on Harry Kalas statue night:

https://twitter.com/Riches61/status/767160037949210624

 

USA Today put together an in-depth piece on the Lochte incident which proves that Brazilian authorities made up many of the allegations of the behavior of Lochte and the other swimmers, and they talked to a Brazilian judge who explained that what happened to Lochte and the other swimmers may have actually been a robbery:

João Batista Damasceno, a Rio judge, does not discard the possibility that the guards’ actions could be rightly interpreted as a robbery.

“If they only asked for the amount of the damage, it may not be a robbery,” Damasceno said in a message to USA TODAY Sports. “But if the amount taken is higher than the value of the damages, with the use of a weapon by the ‘security,’ this is robbery.”

Deluz said a station employee had established the cost of the damage at 100 reais, but the swimmers paid about 160 reais,  – 100 reais plus a $20 bill.

Jeffrey Ostrow, Lochte’s attorney, steadfastly maintains the men were robbed.

“That part of the story will never change,” Ostrow told USA TODAY Sports in a telephone interview. “We stand behind that.”

Meanwhile, Richard Deitsch explains how an innocent conversation with Ryan Lochte’s mom led to the whole mess.

 

The Madden reviews are out. I’ll have mine tomorrow or Wednesday, because I don’t get advance copies.

 

Kobe Bryant is launching a $100 million venture capital fund focusing on the convergence of media, technology and data. He should totally invest in local sports podcast networks.

 

Getting Worms:

The roster is starting to take its final shape. Philly.com:

The Eagles released four players on Sunday: Wide receivers T.J Graham and Xavier Rush; running back Cedric O’Neal; and center Bruce Johnson. The roster is now at 84 players. The Eagles must cut nine more players by Aug. 30. Graham and Rush both joined the team before the draft. Graham is a former third-round pick by the Buffalo Bills who was deep on the depth chart, and Rush was trying to break into the NFL with the Eagles. O’Neal and Johnson were both undrafted rookies.

And as it thins out the Eagles are getting set at o-line. Philly.com:

He still has three weeks to tinker before the regular season starts, but Doug Pederson doesn’t seem inclined to do any more experimenting with his offensive line setup. Assuming Lane Johnson is indeed suspended for a positive drug test, Allen Barbre will start at right tackle and rookie Isaac Seumalo will take Barbre’s spot at left guard. While Pederson could plug in a Stefen Wisniewski here or an Andrew Gardner there, in practice or for a few series in Saturday’s third preseason game at Indianapolis, just to see how that might look, there is value in getting your starting five settled and working smoothly together. That seems to be the priority.

Doug Pederson is facing a challenge in his first season with some off-field issues. Philly.com:

But the head coach needs to lay the groundwork. And it’s difficult to say where Pederson has drawn his lines. During his first training camp, Reid, famously, had George Hegamin stay after practice and drive a blocking sled as punishment for skipping a team meeting. He rode the sled and barked commands as the guard pushed it. Hegamin was cut the next day. Pederson has seemingly taken the opposite approach – one more hands-off. When Nelson Agholor was accused of sexual assault in June, the coach said he hadn’t spoken to the receiver as of the start of camp in late July. Agholor was eventually cleared, but Pederson’s response to the player’s putting himself in that situation was that “we all make mistakes.” A few days later, Nigel Bradham was charged with assaulting a hotel employee. The linebacker has claimed innocence, and there will now be a process that may or may not result in a conviction. But Pederson has opted to not punish Bradham for the time being…In a different set of circumstances, after Pederson found out that Lane Johnson had failed a drug test for performance-enhancing drugs and is facing a possible 10-game suspension, he said during his first news conference after the news broke that he had not yet spoken to the tackle…But is Pederson’s culture established enough so that new additions with character questions will be assimilated into the locker room? Roseman has already drafted three rookies with checkered pasts and signed a free agent who has already been arrested. Now Green-Beckham, who has had multiple problems both on the field and off, is being brought into the fold.

The Eagles are reportedly signing Stephen Tolloch for linebacker depth. PhillyMag:

The Eagles signed Stephen Tulloch to a one-year deal, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported. Per Florio, Tulloch’s deal includes $1.75 million fully guaranteed, and is worth up to $3 million. Tulloch has been connected to the Eagles for weeks, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting two weeks ago that the two parties were in “heavy negotiations.” After Joe Walker tore his ACL in Pittsburgh on Thursday, the Eagles’ need for Tulloch increased even more. The linebacker is expected to provide some much-needed depth for a very thin position group.

Jordan Matthews says he’ll definitely be ready for the season after being hit hard in camp. PhillyMag:

“I’m not the type to get mad. Getting upset or anything isn’t going to help my knee get any better,” Matthews said. “Right after it happened, Jalen came up to me and was like, ‘Yo bro, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize.’ I just looked at him and was like, ‘It’s cool, bro. I’m fine.’ I’m just not the type to get pissed off about that. It’s football…“Do I think he meant to hit me low? I don’t know, probably did; that’s what they’re coached to do on screens — they break it up by cutting. Do I think he was trying to hurt me? No, obviously not. So I spent less time trying to be upset with him and more time trying to say, ‘OK, what’s the situation going on with my leg right now?’ And then saying, ‘OK, how do I get back?’” It’s unclear when Matthews will return and if he’ll play in the preseason, but he said he’ll “for sure” be good to go for the regular season. The 24-year-old, who played through a painful hand injury last season, added that the Eagles’ two preseason games are the only games he’s missed in his entire life since he began playing sports.

And Matthews wants to welcome DGB into the Eagles’ culture. CSN:

“The best part about it is him being a young guy, we can break him into this culture and say, ‘OK, this is how we do things here,’” Matthews said. “And we can get him acclimated to the way that you play as a Philadelphia Eagle, get him acclimated to this city and this locker room and what it means to actually wear the Eagle wings on your helmet.” Green-Beckham is in his second NFL season, but he’s only 23 years old and doesn’t turn 24 until next spring. He’s younger than Carson Wentz and only a month older than second-year receiver Nelson Agholor. “When you bring guys in who are a lot older, it’s sometimes harder, because they have their own way, and so it’s like, ‘OK, now were they a leader at another place, or whether they slacked off at another pace, whatever it may be,’” Matthews said. “But when you’re a young guy and you come into this locker room it’s a lot different, and I think that’s a good thing about the nucleus of guys he has here. Not just the guys he has in the receiver room but other veterans he can watch too.”

Meanwhile undrafted rookie Paul Turner is making his case for a roster spot at WR. Philly Voice:

Every offseason, the Philadelphia Eagles (and every other team, for that matter) will bring in about a half-dozen undrafted wide receivers into training camp. Typically, those receivers amount to little more than camp bodies who may make an occasional nice play. The odds of undrafted free agent receivers making an NFL roster are long. Over the last 10 years, for example, only Damaris Johnson (2012) and Hank Baskett (2006) made the Eagles’ initial 53-man roster as undrafted free agent receivers, and in Baskett’s case, the Eagles put a high priority on him when they traded former third-round pick Billy McMullen to the Minnesota Vikings for him. To begin, Turner has played well. From the outset of training camp all the way through the conclusion of camp, Turner has made catch after catch after catch, mainly working the middle of the field, and occasionally breaking free for longer catches down the field. There’s little question he made more catches than any other receiver in camp, and personally, I don’t even think it was close. That has led to Turner occasionally getting reps with the first team offense.

 

Thibs being Thibs – to be fair, if you don’t now him, he looks like the towel guy:

 

Jerry being old Jerry:

https://twitter.com/spikeeskin/status/767492112019447808

 

And Jerry Colangelo, as always, gracious in victory:

Basketball is the No. 2 sport in the world, (but) we just need to see these other countries get their acts together and become more competitive.

“I’d love to see that. Everyone would love to see that. I’m not going to be making excuses for anyone about our (dominance). Someone said to me (after the game), one of the officials said to me, ‘You know next time you play, you ought to play with four.’ And I said, ‘No, maybe the other teams better get their act together and compete.’ ”

 

A Freddy Galvis foul ball hit a girl in the face, and he’s not thrilled about the Phillies’ lack of protective netting:

What year is this? 2016? It’s 2016 and fans keep getting hit by foul balls when you’re supposed to have a net to protect the fans,” Galvis said. “The fans give you the money, so you should protect them, right? We’re worried about speeding up the game. Why don’t you put up a net and protect all the fans?…They’re worried about stupid stuff,” Galvis said. “They should worry about the real stuff. That’s real stuff.”

“What if I broke all her teeth. What if I broke her nose. If I hit her in one eye and she loses that. What are they going to do? They’re going to forget in three days,” Galvis said. “It’s going to be a big deal for two, three days. Everybody in TV, media, whatever. But after three days what’s going to happen? They’re going to forget. But that family won’t forget that. Do you think the little baby will forget that? It’s true life. It’s something you have to put before everything. Safety first. Safety.”

 

Vince Velasquez knows he has to get better:

I think that has to come into play more so. That’s one of the things that I have to start doing,” he said. “Accept the fact that I had 16 strikeouts; cool. But accept the fact that people are going to start timing you and that’s where you have to mix your pitches and make your secondary pitches. People watch film. I watch film. They know what I throw, and I know what I have to do and what I like to use. I’ve got to catch them off-guard. I can’t just throw fastballs all the time. That was early in the season, that was great and one heck of an experience. But now is the time to bear down and execute the secondary pitches and protect my fastball and go from there.

 

Brett Brown says Joel Embiid will be ready for pre-season.

 

Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words will have Meek Mill gather “100 to 200” of his dudes (lol ok) to fight Drake after his concert.

Podcast:

Crossing Streams with John Gonzalez:

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The Stepover Episode 4 on the block:

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