Thursday, January 31, 2008

On Tap

Helping you get your weekend viewing priorities straight since 2007

On Tap

Thursday

7:00 (ESPN) BC @ UNC. If UNC is the spoiled can do no wrong first born child in the ACC hoops family, then BC is the neglected adopted kid that barely relates to the rest of the kids, but regularly pulls an upset in a game and really pisses the spoiled brat off*.

9:00 (ESPN2) NC State @ Duke. More Duke basketball. Seriously do they play any games that are not on the ESPN family of networks? Meanwhile NC State has just not been up to the caliber of the rest of the research triangle teams lately and that probably is not going to change too much this year.

Saturday

10:00 AM (FSC) Chelsea @ Portsmouth. I just know how much you love soccer showing up in this space. Here we have a matchup of perennial league title contender (Chelsea) against a team that is just sitting on the outside looking in at a spot in next season’s European competitions (Portsmouth).

12:00 (FSC) Sunderland @ Liverpool. This game features Sunderland, only 3 points removed from relegation, and Liverpool, who is supposed to be a world beater but has really struggled (by their standards) this season, currently sitting in 6th place.

12:00 (ESPN) Syracuse @ Villanova. The Big East is such a great basketball conference (seriously). Both of these teams are probably NCAA tournament caliber teams, but they are both currently sitting in the bottom half (yeah it is early) of the league standings.

2:00 (ESPN) Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech. The only reason I suggest watching this game is the off chance Bob Knight throws a fit, or a chair, or even a baby.

9:00 (ESPN) Arizona @ UCLA. A matchup of traditional PAC 10 powerhouses. Arizona has been struggling a little bit with coach Lute Olson on hiatus with no real time table for when (or if) he will be back. UCLA has final four caliber written all over them.

Sunday

11:00 AM (FSC) Aston Villa @ Fullham. The team with popular American owners (Villa) takes on the team with a plethora of American born players (Fullham).

6:17 (FOX). NY Giants vs. New England Patriots. If this game turns out to be as bad as the experts predict, there better be some damn good commercials to keep people entertained. Also, as much as I am a fan of a playoff system, this is one of those times where the NCAA looks like they do it right, I would rather see a team that has not already played the Patriots in the regular season, that would have ruled out the NFC #1 team Dallas, so I guess it would have had to been the Packers. Key Fact: I would like to see the Giants win so the Boston fans can go back to crying about how their teams have not won a title since way back in 2007.




* In this analogy Duke is obviously the prissy sister.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Beer of the Week

Week of January 28th 2008 --- Beer of the Week

Peroni





Peroni will always hold a special place in my world. From now on when I drink Peroni I will be required to tell the tale of the stolen cell phone. I will now share the abridged version. A friend of mine (who will remain nameless*) steals some random girls cell phone while walking down High street after a night of drinking**. It just happens that now he is talking to this girls father who is not happy that some drunken idiot has taken his daughters phone, I am almost certain every 5th word was a profanity. We hang out with said girl for some amount of time at some unknown location in the greater south campus area. By the end of the night, my friend has this girls number in his phone and proceeds to have a long drawn out conversation (via text message) over the course of three weeks, until we finally go to Olive Garden, where she is a waitress. Now keep in mind we have no idea what this girl looks like^ and all we know is her first name.

Well now obviously the rest of the night is a complete train wreck. Being that I am there in only a wingman capacity I can just sit back, have a Peroni (or two... fine four) and enjoy the show.

I know that this is not a very complete story, but for me to do justice to the extent of the events that took place on this fateful night I will need to be having a beer. So next time you see me buy me a Peroni and I will share the epic tale of the OG.





*for now

**excessive drinking (OSU championship night)

^ we both have an idea, but the are conflicting opinions

Friday, January 25, 2008

Best on the Net

Scouring the interwebs to find the best stuff out there so you don't have to.


Nice quick comparison of soccer and basketball.
(The Run of Play)


BS Field
(Cleveland Sports Animal)


Someone will probably be offended by this, but who cares. Classy! (Adam Riff)


Interview with the author of a blog that is high on my daily read list. (The Big Picture)



Thursday, January 24, 2008

On Tap (slim pickins edition)

Helping you get your weekend viewing priorities crooked since 2007

On Tap

Thursday

7:00 (ESPN) Duke @ Virginia Tech. Woohoo Duke is back in the top 5!!! Feel the excitement. It seems like every year VT knocks off a top ranked ACC team, hopefully today can be that day. Key Fact: I lived with a Duke fan for two years who did not know jack about sports, but would go bat shit crazy every time the Dookies were on TV.

9:00 (ESPN2) Michigan State @ Northwestern. If the Michigan State team that scores less than 35 points in a game shows up, Northwestern might (I said might) have a chance.

Saturday

12:00 (FSC*) Chelsea @ Wigan Athletic. More soccer (football)!!!! This is not a Premier League match, but a FA Cup Tie. Don’t know what that is? Don’t worry about it.

12:00 (ESPN) Gonzaga @ Memphis. A solid game between two teams that are usually too good for the mediocre conferences they play in. This is one of those game you want to watch if you tend to be a little too serious about your bracket in March.

3:00 (CBS) Buick Invitional. Tiger Woods makes his PGA Tour season debut.

4:00 (ESPN) Wisconsin @ Purdue. Big Ten basketball not on the Big Ten Network, got to love it.

7:00 (ESPN) Georgetown @ West Virginia. An interesting Big East matchup. Not so long ago Georgetown was an unquestioned final four contender. WVU is well… well Bob Huggins is their coach. Take that for what is worth**.

Sunday

11:00 AM (FSC) Manchester City @ Sheffield United. More FA Cup football. Still don’t know what that means? I was kidding when I said don’t worry about it 15 lines ago, get yourself to Wikipedia and read up on this stuff. What is wrong with you people?

1:00 (CBS) Michigan @ Michigan State. A little bit of rivalry hoops, one of those games where you can throw the records out the window. Too bad for Michigan they can not toss of few of the MSU starters out with the records.

6:30 (FOX). Super Bowl!!! Excuse me? There is a week off? WTF?




*That would be the Fox Soccer Channel

** That would be about 1 DUI and a 14% graduation rate.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Ottawa we have eh uh problem

Beer of the Week

Week of January 21st 2008 --- Beer of the Week

Scrimshaw





This week's beer of the week is a fine effort out of North Coast Brewing Co. Scrimshaw is a fine pilsner brewed in a European tradition. It has won a World Beer Championship Silver metal as recently as 2006. Scrimshaw will no wow you to the point that you think you will never want to drink another type of beer for the rest of your life, but it is very drinkable and smooth. It is subtle enough to experiment with even if you are drinking with your friends with the least beer drinking experience.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Best on the Net

Scouring the interwebs to find the best stuff out there so you don't have to.

If quarterbacks showed up to a house party to play beer pong. (Ghosts of Wayne Fontes)


Some pretty funny beer ads. (The Land Salmon)


Rubberband gun
. Where can I get me one of these? (Engadget)


Scroll down to the bottom and check out this size of this burger. (Denny's Beer Barrel Pub)

Thursday, January 17, 2008

On Tap

Helping you get your weekend viewing priorities straight since 2007

On Tap

Thursday

7:00 (ESPN) Vanderbilt @ Tennesse. Tennessee has been a solid top 15 caliber team since Bruce Pearl took the helm. Vandy has been a pleasant surprise this year, and this is another chance to prove they belong amongst the teams fighting for a tourney spot.

7:00 (ESPNU) George Mason @ Hofstra. Games in the CAA are important these days now that the NCAA has precedence for allowing more than one team from these conferences into the NCAA tournament.

9:00 (ESPN) Indiana @ Minnesota. Tubby Smith has really done wonders up in Minneapolis, I bet Kentucky is missing him a little bit right now. Indiana freshman Eric Gordon is probably one and done so catch him while you can.

Saturday

10:00 AM (FSC*) Arsenal @ Fulham. Arsenal could do no better than getting a draw last week and now sit second in the table. Fulham is trying to fight off relegation. Key Fact: There can be no tanking in soccer or you just end up in a new division with less money, that would be awesome incentive for bottom dwellers in all sports (you know if American sports ever adopted this system).

12:00 (FSC*) Bolton @ Newcastle. Two mid-table teams just hoping to have an outside shot at a UEFA Cup spot. Key Fact: Assuming you have no idea what the UEFA Cup is: here is some info.

12:00 (ESPN) Villanova @ Syracuse. Big East battle in the Carrier Dome, the biggest venue in college hoops.

3:30 (ABC) Maryland @ North Carolina. #1 Carolina took a scare from GT Wednesday night and Maryland is always prime to upset high ranked ACC foes.

3:30 (CBS) Ohio State @ Tennessee. OSU knocked off Tennessee in the last seconds of two games last year. I don’t think OSU will get off so easy this time around. Tennessee brings back almost their whole sweet 16 team of last year and the young Bucks have struggled against anyone with talent.

6:00 (ESPN) Clemson @ Duke. Time to root against Duke. It is amazing how every year Duke has a good team, even in the years when they don’t pick up a super star they still have 5 guys who can go out an beat just about anybody. My only question is why do they have to recruit the biggest tools on the planet? If you are a douche and you can play basketball are you required to go to Duke?

9:00 (ESPN) Kentucky @ Florida. I think ESPN was hoping that this would be a little better game when it got put on the schedule. Florida is a young team that is just finding themselves. Kentucky is a confused team that is finding it hard to get it together under their new coach Billy Gillespie.

Sunday

11:00 AM (FSC) West Ham @ Manchester City. Man City is trying to fight their way into the upper echelon of the Premier League. West Ham is also a team on the rise.

3:00 (CBS) San Diego @ New England. 17-0 New England Patriots are now two games away from ultimate perfection. San Diego, thanks to their backup quarterback and running back are in the AFC title game for the first time in 10 years. Key Fact: Phillip River is a douche and hope Billy Volek gets a chance to lead the Chargers to the Super Bowl while Rivers sits on the sideline and bad mouths the New England fans.

6:30 (FOX) NY Giants @ Green Bay. The Giants can thank Jerry Jones for their spot here, reportedly Jones was so confident in his Cowboys that he had already gave each player two tickets to the NFC championship game (brilliant). Key Fact: Eli vs. Farve, could you have a more polar extreme between two quarterbacks? Eli looks like he wants nothing to do with football, while Farve will probably play until is 80. Farve is the savior of Green Bay, Eli is just another NY Giant quarterback. Farve may be one of the top 6 quarterbacks of all time, Eli is Peyton’s brother.

*that would be Fox Soccer Channel, get used to it.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Beer of the Week

Week of January 14th 2008 --- Beer of the Week

Brooklyn Brown Ale





On D Funk's suggestion, Brooklyn Brown Ale will be the beer of the week. This is the first time in a while that I have picked a beer that I have yet to try. So even I will have to make the effort to go out and get a sixer (or more). In the past I have enjoy beers from the Brooklyn Brewery, so I would assume that this was a quality suggestion.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Thursday, January 10, 2008

On Tap (I am never drinking again edition)

Helping you get your weekend viewing priorities straight since 2007

On Tap

Thursday

7:00 (ESPN) West Virginia @ Louisville. Rick Pitino vs. Bob Huggins, that sounds like a recruiting violation about to happen. Key Fact: Rumor has it that Michigan is interested in bring in Bob Huggins to coach… well coach something, I mean he is a head coach at WVU which means he obviously need to make a move to UM.

9:00 (ESPN) Illinois @ Wisconsin. Big Ten basketball in Madison, I guess the over/under will have to be set somewhere near 105. Key Fact: Illinois head coach Bruce Webber is probably the hardest coach in the country to listen to during half time interviews (listen to him some time and then imagine him trying to yell at his players to get their attention).

Saturday

10:00 AM (FSC*) Birmingham @ Arsenal. That’s right, English Premier League Football (soccer perhaps?) btiches. With college football over for the season something needs to be on in the background while you are recovering from a night of drinking. You may say that soccer is boring, and I really can’t disagree too much, but I am starting to gain an appreciation for it played at a high level. Also, the announcers get real loud when something good is about to happen so if you are multitasking it is easy to look up and see a GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL**!! Key Fact: Arsenal is one of the best teams in the world right now, heck their backup team is winning games in both English domestic cup competitions.

12:00 (FSC*) Manchester United @ Newcastle United. More Soccer woo hoo. Man U is the most popular team in the world with and estimated 333 million fans. I don’t know jack about Newcastle. Key Fact: I seriously can not wait for August 30th.

4:30 (FOX) Seattle @ Green Bay. Ah American Football. Matt Hasselbeck returns to the scene of “we will take the ball and we will score, oops I threw a pick and they scored”. Brett Farve is in his 350,987 straight game and at 49 years old has never looked better. Key Fact: It is going to be unseasonable warm in Green Bay 60 and sunny, excuse me that is Green Bay, Virginia? Screw you weatherchannel.com.

8:00 (CBS) Jacksonville @ New England. Would someone please beat the Patriots so we can stop hearing about them. Key Fact: Really I am sick of the Patriots.

Sunday

1:00 (CBS) San Diego @ Indianapolis. Manning game #1. This game is important in the quest for the all Manning Superbowl extravaganza. The Chargers, having finally won a playoff game, get the reward of losing in the divisional round on the road (as opposed to at home like last year). Key Fact: Phillip Rivers, QB San Diego, is the key to this game, if he plays slightly better than solid the Bolts have a chance.

4:30 (FOX) NY Giants @ Dallas. Manning game #2. This game really has the chance to break up the all Manning Superbowl extravaganza. Dallas has already defeated the Giants twice this year, but they say it is hard to beat a team 3 times in one season. Key Fact: Whomever came up with the hard to beat a team 3 times in one season obviously did not factor in a team that had Eli Manning at quarterback.




*that would be Fox Soccer Channel, get used to it.

**best case scenario this happens 3 times in two hours.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

This is all I have to say about that

Yeah, that game sucked out loud.

It was not as bad as last year.

LSU was for sure the better team.

5 personal fouls did not help out OSU at all.

But what bothers me the most is all of the OSU choked again headlines I have read on the web today. These are the same sites that yesterday wrote how OSU did not deserve to be in the game and would be blown out. Since that is sort of exactly what happened, how can that be a choke job? Hmm ....

2007 Beers of the Week

Monday, January 7, 2008

Beer of the Week

Week of January 7th 2008 --- Beer of the Week

Coors Light




You may ask why during championship week is Coors Light the beer of the week? The reason is because I searched high and low (18 seconds) for a beer sign that included something about Ohio. Plus look at the colors of the can...



Anyhow being that it is Championship day and if your job does not mind you showing up a few hours late and being less than productive tomorrow, you should be consuming mass quantities of beer, so it might as well be cheap. For the record Coors light comes in a tall slender can that is notorious for screwing up a perfectly constructed beeramind, why can Coors not conform to the rest of the world so that drunken amateur engineers can have their fun?

Anyhow, wherever you are enjoy the BCS Championship Game (if you can stay up that long) and after Ohio State wins, stash away some bail money so you can come get me out in the morning.

GO BUCKS!!!

Friday, January 4, 2008

Best on the Net

Scouring the interwebs to find the best stuff out there so you don't have to.

Jim Tressel owns Michigan. (M Zone)


A nice video to get the Buckeyes fired up. (Eleven Warriors)


"Fox covering college football equivalent to Slayer covering Chopin." Awesome. (Awful Announcing)


The complete college basketball schedule, these guys have more time to waste then I do. (Eye on Sports Media)


An excerpt from an article about Jim Tressel being the perfect fit for OSU by Ivan Maisel (ESPN)

"We played Illinois when we had [tailback] Joe Morris," Dick MacPherson, the former Syracuse coach who hired Tressel, said from his winter home in Florida. "Jimmy runs a sprint draw nine times to get into the end zone. The next series, he starts with a sprint draw. I get on the phone, and excuse my language, I said, 'Jesus Christ, Jimmy, don't we have another damn play?'

"He said, 'Yes we do, Coach. As soon as they stop this one, I'll call it.’”


I am considering never again suggesting who I might think will win a bowl game. I think some of the so called experts should probably do the same.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Great and Tragic News

I have long dreamed of having a fiber optic football field, just blend the fibers into the synthetic turf. Now never did I ever imagine that this was an idea I held all to myself, I have just never heard anyone else talk about it nor have I ever read anything about it. Apparently I have never read anything about it cause I have never looked. Forbes.com wrote up a little article in 2006 about this very idea.

Field of Screens

Normally I am not a fan of advertising (because commercials interupt the game), but the opportunities of this idea are just too cool to ignore.

On Tap (BCS + Wildcard Weekend)

Helping you get your weekend viewing priorities straight since 2007

Wednesday

8:00 (FOX) Fiesta Bowl Oklahoma vs. West Virginia. WVU comes into this game missing ex-head coach Rich Rodriguez. OU comes in hot after winning the Big 12 championship. Rumor has it we could have had a OU/VT match-up in the Orange Bowl before the BCS squashed that idea, I would much rather had that game than the two we are getting. Key Fact: The fans in Morgantown would love to burn some couches after a win, but I am pretty sure if there were any left over after the Pitt loss they were burned when Rich Rod left town, oh and also, WVU is going to lose.

Thursday

8:00 (FOX) Orange Bowl Virginia Tech vs. Kansas. Of all the teams in the BCS Kansas deserves to be here least of all. They are in the game while the team that beat them (Missouri) is ranked higher and was regulated to the Cotton Bowl. Virginia Tech has recovered nicely this season after the early blowout loss to LSU and they avenged the loss to BC in the ACC title game. Key Fact: Kansas lost to the only good team they played this season and VT is a 3 times better team than Mizzou (IMHO), so enjoy Miami now Jayhawk fans, because it looks like after the game will not be too much fun.

Saturday

12:00 (ESPN2) International Bowl Rutgers vs. Ball State. Yes a Bowl game in Toronto!! Really what can you say about this game that has not already been ignored. Key Fact: Rutgers coach turned down the Michigan job because he thought the Rutgers job was superior. Umm … all that comes to mind is hahahaha.

4:30 (NBC) Washington @ Seattle. NFC wildcard game. Playoff game, in December, in Seattle, can you say rainy and cold? Washington has played inspired football behind backup QB Todd Collins. Also after the Sean Taylor tragedy it is nice to see the Redskins doing well as a team. The Seaturkeys are in the playoffs because you, me, and 9 random guys could have won a couple of games in the NFC west. Key Fact: If I was commissioner of the NFL my first order of business would be to officially change the Seahawks name to Seaturkeys. Why? Because I could, or at least I think I could.

8:00 (NBC) Jacksonville @ Pittsburgh. AFC wildcard game. If they Browns did not suck and could have taken care of business against Cincinnati two weeks ago they would be hosting this game (for the record I am not bitter). Two weeks ago on Monday night Jacksonville absolutely throttled Pittsburgh (although the Steelers made the score nice and respectable). Key Fact: Since Pittsburgh lost “Fast” Willie Parker, to a broken leg, they have just not been the same team.

Sunday

1:00 (FOX) NY Giants @ Tampa Bay. NFC wildcard game. Eli Manning vs. Jeff Garcia in a battle of two of the most sensitive quarterbacks in the NFL. This is one of those games where the road team has a better record, but did not win their division so they have to travel to a less impressive team’s stadium. Man they should just have some ranking system to decide who the best two teams are while all of the other teams in the league play in exhibition games in warm climates. I really think that would save a lot of time and money for the NFL. Key Fact: Since the Browns are going to be as involved in the playoffs as I am, I have decided that my rooting interests revolve around an all Manning Superbowl.

4:30 (CBS) Tennessee @ San Diego. AFC wildcard game. If the Colts were not so content to go into the playoffs with a lose the Browns could have been in this game instead of the Titans (no seriously, not bitter). San Diego hired Norv Turner to win in the playoffs and taking on Tennessee with an injured Vince Young should help SD get at least one win. Key Fact: LaDainian Tomlinson wears a tinted eye shield so that his super intense stare does knock down defenders giving him an unfair advantage.

8:00 (ESPN) GMAC Bowl Bowling Green vs. Tulsa. I love that they sneak these lousy bowls in right before the championship game. That said Tulsa is a pretty fun team to watch running the hurry up no huddle spread throwing the ball all over the place. If you are not footballed out after the NFL games tune in for a little of this. Key Fact: Bowling Green has some of the worst uniforms in college, hopefully for the sake of anyone with a high def TV they will be wearing their road white, because if they have the orange on it might get burned into your set forever.

Monday

8:00 (FOX) BCS Championship Game LSU vs. Ohio State. The winner of this game will be the first team of the BCS era to capture a second title. Key Fact: This is brief, but perhaps sometime this weekend I will write up something more profound about this game, either that or I will link to someone else who has.