http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/3205 Recent articles about J.R. Reed en-us Dean, Here is the story I wrote about 13 year-old Josh Rusnock of Freeland, Pennsylvania for an edition of the Standard Speaker newspaper. I'm so sorry about that missed attachment. Here it is. And everything you said is fine. I will be more than happy to pass the news on to Josh's mom. Please let me know if you need anything further and I would be more than happy to assist you. Josh is such a good kid and it's become part of my mission as well to find every avenue of help for him and his family. Like I said, please let me know if there's anything more you need. Thanks So Much And Take Care- Imagine having a disease that only a few people in the world know about, and even fewer people have. By BOBBY MASO Staff Writer Imagine being at a crossroads in life, preparing for the transition from boy to young man, yet not being able to do common things like spending time with friends, playing football in the backyard or even riding a bike. That is the life 13-year-old Josh Rusnock of Freeland lives every day. On the surface, Josh looks like an average teenager. He loves most sports, and watching some of his favorite teams, the Houston Rockets of the NBA, the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles and the Boston Red Sox. He also enjoys spending time on his uncle's fishing boat where the two like to talk about, what else? fishing. But under his smile and quiet demeanor is a world hard for most to fathom. Josh's condition, a degenerative nervous system disease known as leukodystrophy, often makes it hard for him to go to the bathroom unassisted or climb the steps inside his home. His hands shake so hard sometimes that if he were holding a glass of soda, the drink probably would spill all over his lap. As hard as it is to imagine, it's even harder for Josh, his mom, Rachael, and their family to live through day after day. Rachael has taken Josh to numerous doctors. Some of them are in awe of the rare condition, while others, including a doctor from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, have traveled the world, to places like Amsterdam, where the majority of cases exist, just to learn more about leukodystrophy. Now, Rachael, along with her friends at the Tresckow Fire Co., are preparing for a benefit dart tournament, silent auction and bake sale to be held Sept. 13. They're hoping to raise enough money so that she can purchase a vehicle large enough to accommodate a power chair that Josh will receive next month, something he needs just to get around. His mother is hoping that the community can help by donating money or items that can be sold at the auction. "Right now, all this is for is to raise enough money for Josh so that I can get a van or a vehicle big enough for his chair. And what we're really looking for are food donations, like buns or pierogies, or items for the auction. Whatever anybody can give would be so appreciated, you have no idea," Rachael said. She explained that the disease has taken a lot out of Josh, whose life "used to revolve around the Freeland YMCA. Now he's forced to stay inside and can pretty much just play video games." Leukodystrophy comes in many forms and closely resembling multiple sclerosis, thus causing many victims to be misdiagnosed. The disease is a rare genetic disorder that affects the central nervous system by disrupting the growth or maintenance of the myelin, a fatty "white matter" that protects and insulates the body's nerve fibers. It's a progressive disease that usually gets worse as time goes on. There are about 70 documented cases of leukodystrophy worldwide, and as of now, there is no cure. "There are 34 different types of leukodystrophy, but Josh displays symptoms of all of them, so it's hard to pinpoint exactly which one he has," Rachael said. Josh began showing signs of the disease at age 4 but was not officially diagnosed until he was 10. All the while, Rachael has been taking Josh to doctors and specialists all over, causing the medical bills to mount and making it impossible to buy the van. "It's gotten so bad that we've actually moved in with my mother in Weatherly because she has a bathroom on the first floor, so Josh won't have to go upstairs. Sometimes, he has to crawl on his hands and knees if he has to go to the bathroom, it's been so bad lately. It's just very difficult," Rachael said. To help ease the family's financial burden, a special account has been set up at Bank of America, where anyone can make a monetary donation to the Joshua Michael Rusnock Medical Fund. Donations can be made at any Bank of America branch, and Rachael said all are appreciated. Josh's mom and other siblings, brother John, 15, and twin stepbrothers Trevor and Derek Remak, and his other relatives hope that spreading the word about leukodystrophy will help others who might be experiencing similar health issues but do not know they have the disease. "I just want to help spread the word because it's very possible that someone else might have this and not know it," Rachael said. "Like I said, it took Josh's doctors a long time to figure out what it was and I'm thinking that there might be others out there who are suffering the same way Josh is, and might be diagnosed with something else because a doctor is unfamiliar with leukodystrophy. I just don't want anyone to have to go through this." Anyone interested in donating toward the Sept. 13 benefit can contact Jennifer Coxe at 570-427-3329 or by e-mail at jen3329@verizon.net. Donations can also be made by calling the Tresckow Fire Hall at 570- 455-5701. bmaso@standradspeaker.com Bobby Maso Standard Speaker Newspaper 21 North Wyoming Street, Hazleton, Pa. 18201 570-455-3636 Ext. 3588 bmaso@standardspeaker.com Click here for more information on Leukodystrophy >>> http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/leukodystrophy/leukodystrophy.htm Events coming up for Josh; CHINESE AUCTION & BAKE SALE 9:00 am to 5:00 pm To make a donation contact Jennifer Coxe @ 570-427-3329 DART TOURNAMENT Teams are still needed Registration at 11:00 Contact Rich Contrady 570-455-5701 To benefit Joshua Rusnock Saturday, September 13th, 2008 Treskow Fire Hall 26 East Oak Street, Treskow A variety of food will be available for purchase. Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:33:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/331977 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/331977 By 6pm today, the Eagles must trim their roster down to 53 and I am sure there will be some surprises. Take a look at the 53 men who will attempt to bring the city of Brotherly Love a championship. Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:47:35 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/315656 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/315656 Three games into the preseason, the Eagles roster picture is beginning to clear up. The Eagles played one of their better all-around games against the Patriots, dominating on special teams while showing some encouraging signs of improvement on offense. Here is my third attempt at predicting who will make the Eagles final roster. There aren't too many changes from last time, but anything that is new is listed in bold on my site. Offense: QB(3): Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, A.J. Feeley RB(3): Brian Westbrook, Correll Buckhalter, Lorenzo Booker FB(1): Tony Hunt WR(6): Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown, DeSean Jackson, Jason Avant, Hank Baskett, Greg Lewis TE(3): L.J. Smith, Brent Celek, Matt Schobel LT(2): Tra Thomas, King Dunlap LG(2): Todd Herremans, Mike McGlynn C(2): Jamaal Jackson, Nick Cole RG(2): Shawn Andrews, Max Jean-Gilles RT(2): Jon Runyan, Winston Justice Defense: DE(6): Juqua Parker, Trent Cole, Darren Howard, Chris Clemons, Victor Abiamiri, Jerome McDougle DT(4): Mike Patterson, Broderick Bunkley, Trevor Laws, Dan Klecko LB(5): Chris Gocong, Stewart Bradley, Omar Gaither, Akeem Jordan, Joe Mays CB(4): Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown, Lito Sheppard, Joselio Hanson FS(2): Brian Dawkins, J.R. Reed, Quintin Demps SS(3): Quintin Mikell, Sean Considine Special Teams: K(1): David Akers P(1): Sav Rocca LS(1): Jon Dorenbos Will start season on injured list: Jack Ikegwuonu Ikegwuonu won't play this season, he's getting himself healthy for 2009. Could to start the season on injured list: Victor Abiamiri, Bryan Smith Abiamiri still thinks he has a shot at being ready, but with all the depth the Eagles have along the defensive line it's possible he will go on IR. Either Abiamiri or Smith has to go to IR, because there isn't room for that many DE's. Most likely to get cut/traded: Darren Howard, Lito Sheppard With McDougle's emergence and his large salary, Howard is a prime candidate to get cut. Lito probably won't be traded at this point, escpecially with how thin the Eagles are at CB now. Players on the bubble: Click the link to see the players that just missed the cut, and explanations for why. That's the team as I see it. Did I leave anyone off? Who needs to be cut? Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:57:46 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/313449 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/313449 An Electrifying Night: I can't remember the last time an Eagles game was delayed due to lightning. I guess it is more likely to happen in August then during the regular season. The delay seemed to really hurt the Eagles. Before the rain, the Eagles were moving the ball pretty well, but were unable to score. After [...] Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:34:12 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/307683 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/307683 Here is my first look at the 53-man roster for the Eagles. These are the guys I think will be on the team for week one when the Eagles host the Rams. I will be back after the game to update any changes I think need to be done... Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:42:56 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/306351 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/306351 BETHLEHEM - The Eagles think they have a pretty good kick- and punt-return plan. Of course, this time last year, they thought the same thing, and it didn't turn out so great. It's harder to practice special teams realistically than it is to run the offense or the defense in training camp, Rocky Boiman was saying yesterday. Boiman is a linebacker, but the Eagles brought him in as a free agent this offseason more because he was one of the special-teams leaders for the Colts when they won the Super Bowl, year before last. Boiman is one of several reasons the Birds think their kick and punt units, which were young and mistake-prone in 2007, will be better this time. "I think we've got a lot of speed out there and a lot of size with that speed," Boiman said. "You don't really know until the first game. I've always said, special teams, 20 percent of it is doing the scheme and 80 percent is just the will." A year ago, the return plan was Jeremy Bloom, for kicks and punts, and Bloom was generating some buzz. The two-time U.S. Olympic skier was quick and had good hands. The guys the Eagles had working behind Bloom, particularly on punts, were players who didn't figure to be on the game-day roster during the regular season. That seemed like a minor concern - until the coaching staff got some preseason game tape on Bloom, and saw how he wasn't following his blocking and never seemed to break a tackle. That, combined with the inexperience in front of him, stifled a lot of the return-game excitement. Bloom was released just before the 2007 season - he's in camp with the Steelers this summer - and the Eagles went into their opener with veteran wideout Greg Lewis returning punts, although he'd never really done it. Week 1, Lewis fumbled away a punt at Green Bay, looked shaky on another, and was replaced by J.R. Reed, a kick returner who also lacked punt experience. Reed fumbled away another punt, and the Packers won a 16-13 game, almost entirely because the Eagles couldn't field punts. The Birds had to bring reliable but unexciting Reno Mahe back, just to aspire to be average. They still ended up giving opponents 1.3 more yards per punt and 0.6 yards more per kickoff than they could manage. It won't be hard to improve on that. In addition to shoring up the blocking and tackling on special teams with veterans such as Boiman and defensive end Chris Clemons, the Eagles plan to use new running back Lorenzo Booker returning kickoffs and rookie wideout DeSean Jackson returning punts. Both look really good so far in camp, though, again, Bloom handled this part of the deal pretty well, too. Jackson got some reps returning kicks yesterday, but that clearly isn't what he does best. Special-teams coordinator Rory Segrest took a shot at explaining why that would be. "He's more of an open-field type, using his space. Same thing with [what makes him an effective] wide receiver; same reason why he doesn't play running back," Segrest said. "He's not a point-of-attack guy, where you're going to just try and ram him up inside. He's a guy that you're going to utilize the field and try to spread him out some. Again, he brings something to the table in terms of kick return as well, but right now we feel really good with what Booker's got." Booker does play running back, and thus seems better suited for the hurly-burly of kickoffs, Segrest said. "He's a guy that has great speed - great speed and great vision. Very similar to the running-back position, he knows where the reads are [on returns], he knows where to break off of those reads," Segrest said. "One thing that we were questioning there was whether or not he would be able to break the tackles, and he's shown out here during the live practice sessions that he is capable of breaking tackles [running from scrimmage]. It's obviously a little bit different on the kick-return aspect of it - you've got guys flying around, coming downhill at him - but we feel like he could definitely get the job done here." Booker has never returned a kickoff in a game, but he understudied Leon Washington [now with the Jets] at Florida State and says he always felt he'd be pretty good at it, even if he wasn't as good as Washington, who tied a Jets franchise record last season with three kickoff-return touchdowns. "Please believe, before we go down to Pittsburgh [for Friday's preseason opener], I will be having a conversation or two with my guy," said Booker, who joined the Birds in a draft-day trade after spending last season as a third-round Dolphins rookie. "He's one of my best friends anyway, but the guy is as good at kick returns as anybody." Booker said he understood Segrest's rationale, about kick returning being more of a running-back skill set, and punt returning more of a wideout thing. "More guys will have an opportunity to hit you on kick return, as opposed to punt," Booker said. "You can make one guy miss and be off to the races [on a punt return]. I think it takes a certain toughness to be a kick returner." Jackson agreed that "definitely, it's a huge difference, punts and kickoffs." "The biggest thing I see, people are coming down on kickoffs full speed, you got to see a hole to envision a return," Jackson said. "Punt returns, you basically wait for the ball to come down, and once you get it in your hands, you can do a little more movement back there . . . punt return is more open . . . kickoffs, you have to hit it and go." Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:26:37 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300490 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300490 Although Jackson is set to return punts, Lorenzo Booker is emerging as the top candidate to return kick offs. Here's the full story. Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:31:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/297603 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/297603 As Training Camp nears, let's review the Safety position. With all the offseason focus on the secondary with the addition of Asante Samuel and the unknown status of Lito Sheppard, the Safety position is going to be intriguing if we come out of the preseason healthy and have to make some hard decisions on who [...] Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:38:28 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290795 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290795 Jimmy Williams. Jimmy Williams was once a highly touted prospect coming out of Va Tech and the guy can play football. He is a bit of a project but I believe that most of his problems stem from character issues. He has put on wieght, lost a step, and has had an injury, but at 6'3" and 215-230, he is a tough hard nosed player and a beast of football player to see at any of the Safety positions, oh did I mention he can play corner. So why go after a 'project". 1.I love the Eagles secondary but our safeties are asfragile as the flaky glaze of a Krispy Kreme Donut. B Dawk is a warrior but I cringed when he went down with a neck stinger and I can only hope that he stays healthy and on the field for many years to come. Considine is so upsetting to watch I have to keep the Pepto Bismol near, did you see the Bear's game? I love Q, great upside, but after that if one of the starters go down enters JR Reed who came on strong last year but is not at the level of Q or B Dawk. 2.No offense but being on the Falcons the past few years has been the equivalent of starring on Days of Our Lives. Jimmy Williams has to be accountable for some of his problems, but the Falcon's organization had to contribute to some of Jimmy's shortcomings as a player. Which is why I think in the right system he will be the great football player he was drafted to be. 3.Williams is a versatile athlete and was the 2nd rated Safety prospect in the 2006 draft. He can play both safety spots and Corner. He is as physical as they come and can match up well with stronger receivers if needed to, he can play in the box, has great anticipation, and is an explosive tackler. Lets get him Eagles, he may be a project but at 2 years in the NFL, I think the Falcon's let one get away and one mans trash is another man's treasure. Peace and I am out. Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:01:21 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279897 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279897 This is the first offseason that fifth-year safety J.R. Reed is able to exclusively focus on football. In the past, he had to spend the majority of his time rehabbing. The Eagles' fourth-round draft pick in 2004, Reed missed the entire 2005 season when his career was derailed by a freak offseason injury to his peroneal nerve, affecting the use of his lower leg and foot. Reed's 2006 comeback bid ended when the Eagles released him prior to the start of the season. He bounced around for a couple of years -- spending time with the Rams and Falcons in 2006 and the Giants for a few weeks in the summer of 2007 -- and didn't find a home until midway through the 2007 season. That home was back in Philadelphia. "During the other offseasons I was on my own, so I would just work on running the 40. That's what you had to do to get back on the team is run the 40," Reed said. "I wasn't focusing on getting stronger because by gaining weight you get a little slower. S/KR J.R. Reed "This year I get to work on some defensive and special teams stuff, football stuff specifically, instead of just working on speed." Reed proved last season that he can be a valuable asset both on defense and special teams. Reed played well on defense when Dawkins, Sean Considine and Quintin Mikell went down at various times throughout the season. He finished with 33 tackles on defense (17 solo) along with a quarterback hurry and five knockdowns. In addition to his 125 special teams production points, Reed averaged just over 22 yards on 31 kick return opportunities. Now, with Dawkins and Mikel penciled in as the starters, Reed is in the mix with Considine, second-year man Marcus Paschal and rookie Quintin Demps for backup jobs. What do you guys think? Do you think he will perform this year? Sun, 11 May 2008 14:11:01 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265750 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265750 After all JR Reed has been through he is healthy this offseason and ready to go. Along with Dawkins and Mikel, I like JR in a back up role at the safety position. Sat, 10 May 2008 21:00:24 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265582 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265582