Hey Guys, Can I Play?

Explaining what it is like trying to make a NBA roster on a non-guaranteed contract produced the aforementioned comment from one of my friends.

After we all got a nice laugh at my expense, I responded with something to the tune of, “Yah, and if that doesn’t work. I say, Please. I even brought my own shoes!”

It wasn’t quite as funny as my brother Matt singing the Springsteen hit ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ to me over the phone when I told him where I was going. Trust me, he should stick to his day job.

I started to think about it and my friend’s joke is not far from reality. Sure there is obviously more to it like skill, timing, ability, opportunity, and a bit of politics, but the underlying principle is showing up and playing. Playing well, I might add.

Many things have gone through my head the last couple weeks leading up to my journey to the City of Brotherly Love. The first is the hope that I don’t gain too much weight on cheese steaks.

Another is the opportunity to see some college friends that play here in Philly. Reggie Evans played with me at Iowa, so I know first-hand that the word Reggie-ness should be added to the dictionary for the way he plays. In my opinion he doesn’t play dirty, he just plays a bit harder and grittier and more pain-inflicting than most.

I remember him ruining, for lack of a better word, all of our scrimmages and practices back at Iowa with Reggie-ness. It sounds crazy, but I am actually looking forward to playing with him again. Sure, he loves pranks and making people look and feel foolish, but he has this drive that, in my opinion, fuels competitiveness.

The other Iowa buddy is my old college roommate Sean Considine, who plays safety for the Eagles. We both stood up for each other at our own respective weddings, and are both from tiny Midwestern towns. He sure isn’t the biggest talker, but I guess I do enough for the both of us when we are together.

My most sincere apologies go out to all my readers for not writing more blogs this summer. Free agency is no fun really and just produces anxiety. I figured that you didn’t want to read about how I annoy my wife Jennifer with how much I visit basketball rumor websites. Then annoy my agent with what I have just read about.

I should have written more about all the ‘it must suck being tall’ comments I hear.

“Whoa, you cud gow goose huntin’ wit a rake!” was probably the best. It came from a bearded biker dude in a country drawl when I was back in South Dakota. We were using side-by-side urinals at the time, which added to the awkwardness.

So hopefully all the Reggie-ness produced bruises are kept to a minimum in the next couple weeks. Yah right, that is as likely as all the political commercials in the coming days remaining positive.

To be honest, I would rather have bruises like a bum fighter than have to call my brother and tell him I didn’t make the team. He would probably just mock me and sing one of the Boss’ newest songs, ‘All the way Home.’