Yet another week is in the books, and wow, was it horrendous. There’s a lot of things we’d like to leave behind us heading into the weekend. The Phillies have fallen back to Earth hard, the NHL Expansion Draft was spoiled hours in advance, and I got a nasty bit of sunburn. Of course, the sunburn is a direct result of spending the past half-year hand making every DSGN Tree product and writing deranged blog posts locked in Drew’s basement.

Sure, I escaped last weekend, but now I’m in South Carolina with nothing but a four-pack of locally brewed beer and my entire extended family. “But, Ryan. Why are you still writing if you escaped?” Simple answer: I’ve been thoroughly institutionalized, essentially becoming the equivalent of Pavlov’s dog in the world of Philly sports content creation. Regardless of my Stockholm Syndrome-fueled love of The Liberty Line, we’ve got a LOT of sports from sea to shining sea this weekend. Turn on that TV, tell your girlfriend you’ll see her in a few days, and completely dissociate from the real world. It’s time to let it rip.

The Olympic Games begin this weekend

Oh, HELL yes. I am so pumped for the Olympics. Despite the archaic ruling that saw Sha’Carri Richardson banned from the 100m, the cardboard-made sex-proof beds provided by Japanese organizers, and the limits on festivities due to new COVID variants, these Olympics will be an absolute blast to watch. Outside of the classic sports, I personally love tuning in to catch handball, ping-pong, and, of course, beach volleyball. The latter of which is America’s national pastime, albeit only once every four years.

I’d also recommend you check out badminton if you haven’t already. They hit that shuttlecock harder than Brader at a Cleveland-area Red Roof Inn.

Check out the full schedule courtesy of NBC here. Not sure when it’s all on, but we’ve got sports 24/7 for this weekend and beyond. I cannot wait to watch TEAM USA win every gold medal as usual. Undefeated baby.

Phillies try not to disgust us too much

I hate the Phillies with a burning passion. After winning four straight series, the Phillies have skidded aggressively, losing three games straight. This now has them four games out of first place. And now, they have to face their division rivals in a weekend series with the trade deadline around the corner. In all seriousness, if the Phillies want to be buyers and the deadlines, they need to win all three against the Braves this weekend. If they aren’t in striking distance within a week, I don’t see how any owner or GM would want to buy for this team. 

This team has the fifth-highest payroll in the league and can’t even sniff its own division that’s falling apart at the seams. The Phils have Wheeler on the bump tonight to kick off the weekend, with Vinny V on Saturday and Aaron Nola on Sunday. However, with a COVID outbreak possible at any time, who really gives a shit?

Games are at 7:05 PM tonight, 6:05 PM on Saturday, and 1:05 PM on Sunday, all on NBCS Philly.

 BUY A SHIRT. 

NHL ENTRY DRAFT: Flyers traded the 13th pick right when I finished this section

Liberty Line Flyers analysts and known Delco legends Chris Stumpo and Danny Diemer have been providing quality coverage all offseason long. With the disappointing expansion draft in the rearview, our sights turn to the NHL Entry Draft. We won’t be drafting a player in the first round, but our guys at The Liberty Yell seem pretty comfortable with trading the 13th pick and a future second rounder for Rasmus Ristolainen.

As a longtime fan of the Finnish people, I see this as a victory heading into the weekend. They handed it to the commies with like 20 dudes with skis, rifles, and a jar of pickled herring between them all. I love this pickup for our second defensive pairing.

God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy. Let ‘er rip and have a ball.

Mandatory Credit: Philadelphia Inquirer (what a pic of Duke Chilliams)