Stuff about Riley Cooper and some ex-Hawkeyes

1. If you're the Philadelphia Eagles, don't you wish you'd have taken a chance on unproven wide receiver Marvin McNutt of Iowa after last season and had let veteran backup Riley Cooper go?

Yes, Cooper had five starts and three touchdown catches last year. But ... you know what I mean.

2. McNutt and good pal Keenan Davis are both in the Miami Dolphins' camp trying to win jobs at wide receiver.

This is highly uncommon, for two players who played at the same time at the same school to be vying for the same NFL job.

If it were my good friend competing against me for a job, I'd need an injection of humanity to not hold it against him if he got it and I didn't. Or maybe I'm just more of a great, well-rounded guy than I realize. Nah.

3. I would love for Eagles offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde of Iowa to be able to tell me what went on the Eagles'  locker room Wednesday after the Cooper story broke. 

Vandervelde is fun to listen to, period, and he's smart. For proof (cheap plug alert), check out this podcast he did with me in June.

4. While Riley Cooper certainly came off as a cad, I enjoyed Bradley Cooper's performance in  "Silver Linings Playbook."

Coincidentally, Cooper played a rabid Eagles fan who frequently went off the rails. But he had a valid excuse in bipolar disorder.

5. I feel fortunate to have been to almost every major city in this country, but the only times I've been in Philadelphia were to pass through, either by plane or train

I feel like that's a definite void, that Philly is a city in which I'd like to spend a few days and get a feel for it.

Houston is the only other major U.S. city I've never experienced. If you count Nashville as a major city, then that makes two. And I'd be happy to give Nashville a try.

This country doesn't lack for great cities. How can you not like visiting New York, San Francisco, Chicago, New Orleans, Miami, Los Angeles? I like Denver. I really liked my one trip to Portland, and Seattle and San Diego are easy to enjoy. Minneapolis and Milwaukee are underrated, nationally. I was surprised how much I enjoyed Louisville upon my first visit last year. I've been to St. Louis many times and was glad of it.

And I'm being serious here: I like Detroit and Cleveland. They're real. I'm not saying I want to live there, but I don't mind visiting one bit.

But I do not like care for Orlando. And you can't make me.