In part three of my draft review I will look at the Flyers second round selection defenseman Michael Ratchuk. Ratchuk was selected with the 42 pick in the draft. The U.S born defenseman weighs in at 5′10″ and 175 lbs. He played for the US National Under-18 Team last season recording 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points over 47 games. The scouting report on Ratchuk is that he is quite the offensive minded defenseman and he isn’t afraid to join the rush. He has good speed and while his size makes it tough to rub people out he can do so effectively. He is currently slated to attend Michigan State.

Well, the Philly Metblog birthday was postponed, but our nation’s natal day is fast approaching. Another slew of July 4th events start today. If you head out to Kelly Drive this moment, you can catch the 1st anniversary of the re-lighting of Boathouse Row.

Side note: A friend & his buddies were raving about Lionel Richie’s headlining appearance at the annual concert on the 4th at the art museum steps–they even have commemorative shirts made up. Now I can do a little celebratory head-bopping to “Dancin’ on the Ceiling,” but the t-shirts scream “I have issues.”

It’s official. We suck.

The Philadelphia Metrobloggers have been dropping like flies all afternoon, and we are currently down to three out of 13 available to come out and celebrate the birthday. So we’re doing something that happens often in our busy, overcommitted world.

We’re canceling, with the intention to reschedule (sometime in mid July). Stay tuned for more details at a later date.

We sincerely hope that we haven’t disappointed anyone.

it wasn’t quite the original plan, but i ended up at the brand new lucky strikes at 13th and chestnut this past sunday night. for someone who dislikes bowling, i very much enjoyed it. first, they actually carded me at the door. when you’re pushing 30 this is enjoyable. they have a very strict dress code and best of all: no smoking!

it’s a good thing, too, because the elevator was blocked off so we had to walk up three flights of stairs to the main floor. by the time we got to the top i was huffing and puffing.
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the chilled water plant that cools part of university city has a crack in it. hence, we are without climate control until tomorrow. the solution? make everyone stay at work and melt to death! well, maybe not to death but it’s really darn hot and sticky in here and it’s hard to see the keyboard with the lights off.

as if we weren’t already sluggish and blah enough from all of this rain and grey. i saw the sure-kill river from above on the train today, and it was scary. it’s muddy sludge brown with huge branches, debris everywhere and frighteningly fast currents. yuck.

This should really be a post for Suzanne’s Feature, NJ Communist Country? You Make The Call!, but I couldn’t wait to prove to everyone how anti-American New Jersey really is. In a story posted over at philly.com. The state of New Jersey has sued five PA fireworks companies for attempting to mislead and potentially harm their citizens. The law in PA is that fireworks can be sold to local residents only if they have a special permit but no permit is needed for out-of-state consumers. “These companies misled New Jersey citizens into believing that they could legally transport, possess and display fireworks in New Jersey. By doing so, these companies not only subjected our citizens to potential criminal prosecution but also jeopardized their health and safety,” said Attorney General Zulima Farber.

Come on folks this is the same concept as us crossing the river to grab a cheaper bottle of vodka. We’re not filing lawsuits against the New Jersey alcohol warehouses for misleading PA residents into believing we could legally transport liquor across state lines are we? (We’re not are we?). This just goes to prove that New Jersey is filled with communists. I mean really what is more American than fireworks, OK so they are more of an Asian thing but it’s the 4th of July there should be fireworks. People should be playing with M80s and risking a chance to blow off their hand, they should be drinking beer and then using the empty bottles or cans to shoot tiny little rockets at each other. New Jersey is always taking the fun out of everything next thing you know they will be charging you to get on to the beach.

Don’t forget to come out and join us tonight at Doobies (2201 Lombard St.) starting at 6 pm. They’ll be some free food, live blogging and festive cupcakes. We hope to see many of you there!

The Philadelphia Flyers continued to add speed to their roster today by signing right winger Brad Tapper. The 6′0″ 185 lbs winger played the last two years in Germany. Last season he compiled 9 goals and 21 assists in 46 games also tacking on 165 penalty minutes. He last played in the NHL as part of the Atlanta Thrashers, tallying 14 goals and 11 assists in 71 career games. Tapper is expected to bring some much needed speed to the Flyers, who were out-skated by the Buffalo Sabres in the playoffs last season.

In part two of my draft review I will look at the Flyers second round selection Andreas Nodl. Nodl was selected with the 39th overall pick in the draft. The Austrian born winger is 6′1″ and 196lbs. He played last season in the USHL and finished fifth in overall goal scoring and points with 29 goals and 59 points in 58 games. Nodl is a dependable player at both ends of the ice but has exceptional scoring skills and a very hard wrist shot. He can be used effectively on both the power-play and the penalty kill. He won the USHL fastest skater competition at the 2006 USHL All-Star Game. He is currently planning in attending St. Cloud University in the fall of 2006.

Smith, was in town today as part of his huge promotional tour for Clerks II. This morning he was in studio with The Preston & Steve show on 93.3 WMMR. His appearance can be downloaded as part of today’s podcast on ITunes. He also had a nice little interview featured over at Philly.com. He also let it be known he is no longer making the big budget Green Hornet. Clerks II opens July 21 in theaters everywhere.