Sportsfrog.com

• Chris Henry is back at practice. Both kinds of practice. Practicing football and practicing being a moronic asshole.
Receiver Chris Henry was allegedly involved in an altercation with a parking attendant on the eve of rejoining the Cincinnati Bengals from his eight-game suspension.

Henry practiced with the Bengals on Wednesday and will be eligible to play Sunday in Baltimore. Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended him for the first half of the season for repeatedly violating the NFL’s conduct policy.

• Continuing their philosophy of ninth inning cliff hangers, (See Joe Table, Mitch Williams, Tom Gordon, et al.) the Phils traded for Brad Lidge. Of course the dose allow the Phils to move Brett Myers back to the rotation, which is where he shoud be. Philly Phans, stock up on some Tums, it will be an interesting season.

• Keith Law a former special assistant to the GM for the Blue Jays and super geek for ESPN.com Insider does not like the trade. Here are the direct quotes:

“Ed Wade’s reputation as a GM in Philadelphia was as a man who overvalued relief pitching, but in his first deal as the Houston GM, he gave away one of the better relievers in the National League for three spare parts. ”

“It’s interesting that Wade thought this was the best he could get for Lidge, or he felt using Lidge (perhaps their most tradeable commodity, with one year left until free agency) to fill their center-field role was a good strategy. The closers on the free agent market are all worse than Lidge; only Francisco Cordero is close, and he’ll probably get a four-year deal. There had to be other teams interested in Lidge, and by acting quickly and dealing with his former club to acquire three players drafted while he was the Phillies’ GM, it looks like Wade completely misread the market for relievers. At the same time he put filling a specific hole ahead of maximizing his return on one of his best assets. It’s an inauspicious beginning to his tenure in Houston.”

So either Wade knows a lot about these three guys he drafted or Keith Law is correct and the best thing the Phils have one lately is let Wade go to the Astros and then make him a trading partner. Don’t ever fall in love with your own draft picks.

• Tennis on the front page? WTF?

The International Tennis Federation is investigating allegations that Tommy Haas was poisoned before Germany’s Davis Cup match against Russia.

German teammate Alexander Waske said he was told by a Russian who manages numerous athletes that it was poisoning, not a virus. Waske didn’t say who the manager was.

Obviously the Davis Cup is of much greater importance outside the USA. Now the question is, do the tanks start lining up along the Fulda Gap again?

• He won’t go home again. Mike Lowell, a former Yankee farmhand, return to the Red Sox appears inevitable, and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is resigned to the fact that Alex Rodriguez’s replacement will have to come via the trade market.

Lowell, the 2007 World Series Most Valuable Player, could re-sign with the Red Sox before Tuesday, when free agents can begin negotiating with other clubs.

• Donovan McNabb has always been an enigma to me. From being heavily booed the day he was drafted to his latest comments. So what if the losses aren’t his fault. Hasn’t he always wanted to be the LEADER? Perhaps he is just basically insecure and suffers from not only premature baldness but also an identity crisis.

“Donovan McNabb doesn’t miss blocks or run wrong routes, and he can’t be held responsible for the defense allowing points.

“I’m definitely not the whole reason why we lost these games,” McNabb said Wednesday. “Can I help? Yes, I can. But I’m not fully to blame for everything that goes on around here.”

Thank you Captain Obvious. Now you have thrown the entire team under the bus. I am only amazed he didn’t blame Coach Reid’s sons as an additional distraction. Have some Chunky soup and shut the fuck up.

• I hope you can find the underlying humor in this article.

Jonathan Babineaux expressed relief Wednesday after he was cleared of a felony animal cruelty charge that could have sent the Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle to prison.

“I’m just happy the whole situation is over with,” Babineaux said. “It’s been a long process. I’ve been waiting it out and it’s finally over.”

Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said Wednesday he dismissed the charges following an investigation of the death of a pit bull in February.

McDonough said the dog had been neutered, placed on Prozac, sent to a dog trainer and kept on a leash.

• Dr Z does his preliminary bust review. We are talking HOF busts here. Those bronze things.

Nothing like getting a phone call from an old coach — “You want me to ever talk to you again?