Tag Archives: Miami

Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 11: Just Don’t Pick It There

Okay, it’s getting to be that time of year.  We had a quick preview of it last night.  Well the whole week, actually.  As the season goes on now, there will be some games on every day of the week.   We’ll definitely be knee deep into over Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks.  But already last night was an epic match up between Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.  I just hope they don’t pile on big time games on Tuesdays.  Tuesdays are for me.   Please college football, don’t take my Tuesdays away.  It’s the only real day I can recharge and get juiced for another week fo college football.  I hope they don’t pick Tuesday but I do hope they Pick It and Stick It.  Here’s this week’s fodder:

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 11: Just Don’t Pick It There

Barspotting: Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill

Alright, after kind of a dark week for me, it’s now time to brighten things up.  Last week was an awesome bbq but my team lost in the better game of the century.  Now this week we have Missouri leaving for the SEC and Penn State going up in flames.  I need a pick me up.  I need me some Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill.  That’s right, just when you thought there couldn’t be another bar like Hooters, you get a Texas knock off with franchises sprouting up everywhere.  I’m sure I’ll do another knock off some other time, but for this week’s barspot, it’s all North Austin and it’s all about football.  No, really.

When: Saturday, November 12, 2011
Time: 2:00 pm
Where: Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill, 6901 North IH-35, Austin, TX (512) 454-2247


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Games:

Notes:  It’s kind of a let down week after the game fo the century, right?  Nope.  We have a couple of huge games on tap here as well.  I’m looking square at the Stanford vs Oregon game.  The one loss Oregon had this year was against LSU and Stanford needs to stay undefeated to matter.  That game is massive.  Meanwhile we have some interesting games between some top 25 teams.  Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech will see who will win the Tech title and possibly the ACC.  Nebraska will more than likely walk over Penn State because of what has happened this week.  Auburn and Georgia is no slouching matter when it comes to rivaries as well.  Finally, I’ll be cheering on my Kansas State Wildcats as hopefully they help usher Texas A&M out of the Big 12.

Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 08: Ready, Flick, Fight!

It’s high time to duke it out on the field for dominance on the college football landscape.  The unbeatens will dwindle down here real soon, if not this weekend, and it’s everyone team for themselves.  Please remember, however, by fighting I mean actually playing tough football.  I do not mean actually fighting the opposing players.  It seems in the last couple of weeks some players have been confused and took to fisticuffs.  Heck 41 players are suspended because of a big brawl that happened last weekend.  Please, when you go out there fight well in terms of football, not Mortal Kombat.  Now, it’s time to go over the Pick It and Stick It and look for some fatalities.  Finish Him!

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 08: Ready, Flick, Fight!

Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 07: Dripping Down the Middle

It’s the middle of the season and we are looking completely different from where we thought we were at.  That’s okay.  That’s how college football works.  The way things changed week to week is what makes it the best sport in my mind and hopefully yours.  So will the rest of the season prove even more unpredictable?  We’ve yet to see any real upsets yet and we’re knee-deep into conference play.  So chances are the 13 or so undefeated teams will start to dwindle down.  I know this will happen because sports writers are talking about the possibility of 4 undefeated teams at the end of the season.  Here’s this week’s pick set:

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 07: Dripping Down the Middle

Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 06: Pick the Bigger One

I have to say I’m a little giddy at the news that TCU will be accepting the offer to join the Big 12.  Yeah, I know that they turned the gravy train around from the Big East but they are a better fit and I’m sure they were a little shakey about that conference after Pitt and Syracuse decided to leave.  Yes, the Big East is in HUGE trouble, and now it’s the Big 12’s turn to take a deep breath and grab a couple of more teams.  In fact, I’d say it’s high time for the Big 12 to Pick It and Stick It!  Speaking of which, we have another exciting weekend of action on the field and on your pick sets.  Let’s go over the list:

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 06: Pick the Bigger One

Barspotting: Laying up to the Backspin Sports Bar & Grill

Another week of barspotting and I’m going for the trifecta.  It’s been 2 great weeks of college football watching and I need one more joint to make me believe that Austin is serious about sports bars.  The last two weeks were easy because it was close to downtown.  Now it’s time to throw Austin for a loop and go for that ‘remote neighborhood family bar’ joint.  Well, I’ve found down south in the Backspin Sports Bar & Grill.  Saturday I’ll find out if the remote locations of Austin bring the game like the places closer to the heart of the city do.
Continue reading Barspotting: Laying up to the Backspin Sports Bar & Grill

Pick It Standings 2011 Week 04: Safe Pickings

Usually you can get away with picking a safe bet for the college football Pick It and Stick It.  But sometimes, you need to go out on a limb and pick an upset.  More often than not, you will be wrong but taking chances is what it’s all about for picks and college football.  Look at Texas A&M.  They made it official over the weekend and will take a chance in the SEC.  Whether or not it will pay off will be another story, but the Aggies are taking the chance of not winning in the SEC for the stability and money the conference provides.  So for them, it will pay off either in money or football field greatness. Let’s look at the Picks:

Rank Pick Set Name Total Dropped W-L
1 KSUUUUU 25 49 25-10
2 Bryce Brown for Heisman! 23 58 23-12
3 TCU Travel Agent 23 55 23-12
4 Wildcat In Austin 22 56 22-8
5 Pay for Play 22 55 22-13
6 Keltron3000 22 59 22-13

So there isn’t much change yet.  Again we have the 3 dropped point weeks in play here.  I guess I didn’t think of it before, but usually the beginning of the football season sees more teams playing and more top 25 teams playing scrubs.  Now that it’s getting into conference play, there will be more top 25 teams playing each other.  So while there will be dropped points in the coming weeks, the first three weeks seem to be more important than not now.  We’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out later in the year.

Shame on Pay for Play for picking Miami against Kansas State.  Shame on everyone else except Bryce Brown for Heisman for picking Notre Dame to beat the spread against Pittsburgh.  What was that about safe bets?  Bryce Brown for Heisman won out the week for his mix of safe and unsafe bets, like the UTEP pick.  I came in second along with TCU Travel for the same type of pick mixes.  For me it was that Kansas State pick as well as going with Missouri for that ridiculous 21.5 spread against Oklahoma.  TCU Travel Agent made his bones by going with Marshall and Western Michigan.  It will be interesting toward the end with the true winners mixing it up like we did for this week.

It’s a 1st Round Draft Pick

It’s another week of college football and I’m starting to get comfortable down here.  I had a quick detour to the Pecan Street Festival down on 6th street but after that it was all football nearby at the Draft Pick off Riverside Drive.  The week of football was a welcomed one after all of the drama that was going on for the Big 12.  There were tons of surprises but also tons of blowouts.  Let’s sit right back and take a look.

Walking into the Draft Pick, I kinda felt like I was in an office building and not a sports bar.  The architecture leading into the joint was somewhat modern and unassuming.  The inside look totally made up for the outside look. Granted, there were no patios but the inside was all football watching business.  Flat screens were all over the place, with one ginormous projection screen framing the square blocked bar.  This is a place I can hunker down and watch some games.

Speaking of games, I couldn’t find any.  Usually, a sports bar of ultimate greatness needs to have at least some Golden Tee or something, but the Draft Pick had nothing.  This may be a philosophical decision.  Their website proclaims that this bar was a project for serious football watchers only.  That means there is not time for games.  I can understand that, but please give me something to pass the time either at half or after the game.

Now that doesn’t mean the service was shabby.  In fact, it’s been about the best I’ve ever had.  The first question asked when I walked in was “What game are you watching today?”  I have never heard that anywhere else in my 4 years of KCCGD.  Color me impressed.  Now, the ladies themselves were pretty svelte, even though there were some questionable candidates.  Overall, however, it was pleasing to watch with the games.

I had the fortune of pounding a couple of drinks before the ole barspotting event so my taste buds were fully opened. The Draft Pick’s selection paired their famous All Star pizza with a little local fare from Independence Brewery called Austin Amber Ale.  First off, the pizza tasted almost exactly like the kind I’ve had back in KC from Godfather’s Pizza, except the toppings were way thicker.  That much food tossed down my gullet was massaged by the Amber Ale’s smooth flavor.  If you ever want a great beer with some great pizza, pick an Amber up and wash it all down for some creamy goodness.

Now on to the games. I got to watch just wee little bit of Georgia Tech vs North Carolina and Notre Dame vs Pittsburgh from the gym in the morning.  There’s nothing special going on there.  Notre Dame barely eked by Pittsburgh and the Fighting Irish continue to cough up the ball more than any other team in the FBS division.  Georgia Tech beat North Carolina, but they did not have a record setting performance like they did against Kansas.  I guess it’s not so much a referendum on the Jayhawks.

The bigger games of the day saw LSU heading to West Virginia, Alabama taking on Arkansas, and Clemson battling with Florida State.  I watched the LSU game at home and in between my naps, I realized that LSU may just be the real deal.  It was a close 1st half but they pulled away easily in the 2nd.   Nice night cap there.  Alabama continued to take care of business against Arkansas.  When LSU and Alabama fight, it will have national repercussions.  Finally, Clemson continues to wear the up and comer jacket by knocking off reeling Florida State.  Their head coach’s name is Dabo Sweeny.  That’s a cool name.

Big 12 wise I only really got to watch the exciting Texas A&M vs Oklahoma State game and my Kansas State Wildcats heading to Miami.  Both were on at the same time so I got to watch just a bit of the A&M and Okie State game.  From what I saw, Texas A&M had a major meltdown in the 2nd half and Oklahoma State pulled it out at College Station.  I guess their exit from the Big 12 may be a bumpy one.   Kansas State, on the other hand, surprised everyone including myself by showing up against Miami.  Not only did they show, but beat them!  Collin Klein and company pulled ahead big in the first half and then held off Miami, culminating in a 4 down goal line stand late.  Good job Wildcats!

And good job Draft Pick.  The square box design of the place didn’t leave much to be impressed architecturally, but because they slapped televisions all over, it can be forgiven.  The lack of any kind of games is worrisome but again, they went all out on the watching experience.  The food was tasty and they have a decent knowledge of craft beers.  I had issues logging on wirelessly but service staff gave me all the information I needed.  If you need to hunker down and just watch football, chose the Draft Pick.

Pick It And Stick It 2011 Week 04: Sticking Together

Whew!  Another close one for the Big 12.  I swear, the Big 12 is the greatest thing since MTV’s The Real World.  If you want to talk about the best conferences, then the one with the best drama factor definitely is the Big 12.  Yeah, they are staying together but we really don’t know for how long.  So while they hold hands again and tell everybody that things are cool, let’s focus on some actual football.  This week’s Pick It an Stick It kind of reflects the noise off the field.  Like the Big 12, most of the great games are stuck together around 2:30 Saturday.  That’s fine for me and my barspotting trip, but how will it fare for the picks? Continue reading Pick It And Stick It 2011 Week 04: Sticking Together

Barspotting: Draft Pick

Last week was such a treat, let’s see if we can keep  it going.  It’s funny how the business side happens early in the week and the games get played later in the week.  Now that everything has calmed down over conference realignment, it’s high time I thought about the pros and made a Draft Pick.  They’re all business when it comes to football watching and I’ll be ready to do it.  There’s a good block of games going on at the same time and I fully intend on watching all of them at the same time.  Fortunately, they have a decent draft selection for me to sample from. Continue reading Barspotting: Draft Pick

Crib Sheet: And Around And Around We Go

Man I don’t even know where to start.  The reports are spinning right round, baby right round about anything and everything related to conference alignment.  Everyone knows what’s going on as of now.  I would dump here in the Crib Sheet, but going over my starred items in Google Reader is proving to be a fruitless endeavor.  Stuff as new as earlier this afternoon is now wrong.  I just can’t drop it in here as a developing item when it will more than likely be false.  The Crib Sheet is just too good for that.  The only thing I can say is that the Big 12 is in huge trouble and will more than likely go away next week.  That’s about it.  No links or nothing.  There’s plenty out there to read from.  If you’re looking for something other than conference Armageddon then check out this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • A booster from Ohio State admitted that he helped give some cash to Ohio State players that missed the first two games of the season.  You know, if there were more legitimate ways to pay players, we wouldn’t be seeing this kind of stuff.
  • Okay, is everyone getting on the uniform bus.  Maryland had some crazy ones and now Michigan State is getting some snappy ones.  It’s too much.  Just look at the dude covering it for ESPN.  He’s the uniform watch columnist.  Yes, there is a position like that.  I just threw up in my mouth a little.
  • Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill left the hospital last Thursday, after suffering a seizure on the field last weekend.  I think he coached the game.  I wish him all the best.
  • The College Football Hall of Fame flooded its basements over the weekend due to an improper sprinkler fitting.  Doh!  It’s located in South Bend, Indiana so I guess bad luck is going on all over around there.
  • This is how rivalries should be between fans:  A Notre Dame fan had a heart attack at the Michigan game and was revived via CPR by another fan in the stands.  Take note, everybody, it’s just game.  Rivalries should be held in high respects but not to the point where you wish damage on the other.
  • How fans should not act:  The kid who wore the Iowa State mascot uniform known as Cy fell from the stands an broke his arm.  He didn’t say anything happened to the cops, but he posted on Facebook that some Uconn fans pushed him.  Wow, not cool people.  Not cool.
  • A Texas associate athletic director Cleve Bryant was canned for sexually harassing someone.  Yup, you can’t go and do that even when you think you run the state, partner.
  • So Nevin Shapiro apparently ponzied Miami and now Luther Campbell, former 2 Live Crew kid and Miami booster, wants to sue him.  The charge?  Defamation.  Apparently the guy who rapped about being so horny doesn’t like other people raking his name through the mud.
  • Osceloa, Kansas wants the University of Kansas to drop the name ‘Jayhawk’ because of its Civil War connotations.  Too early?  Um, too late.  The response was hilarious though.  I mean come on, they need to keep that name.  How else can I call them Chickenhawks?
  • So you know how War Eagle flew into a window during Auburn’s pre game last week? Welp, PETA assembled and is scratching for some publicity by calling out against having any eagles during Auburn’s pre game.  What a shocker.  Go back to funding your porno website PETA, nothing to see here.
  • A former Northern Illinois student sued the NCAA for its concussion rules.  Apparently he suffers from the classic chronic symptoms of concussions and blames the NCAA for not doing a good job.  You think conference alignment is going to change football, wait until the concussion stuff bubbles up.  7 on 7 two hand touch, I’m not kidding.
  • Oklahoma State linebackers coach Glenn Spencer left the team during the three hour weather delay to be with his family.  His wife died shortly after the game started.  My condolences go out to his friends and family.
  • South Carolina athletes were accused by the NCAA for receiving over $55,000 in impermissible benefits.  Again, it’s getting to the point that ESPN (and Disney really) is pumping money out the yang for television.  These players are the ones doing all the work.  This kind of stuff would go away if they actually got paid.
  • Bob Stoops got a seven year, $34.5 million extension Monday.  He’s sitting prettier than alot of the schools in the Big 12 right now.
  • The Sugar Bowl revealed that they may have made a couple of illegal donations to a politician in the mid 2000s, and the Playoff Pac jumped all over it.  That’s right, the almighty complaint to the IRS will strike down on the Sugar Bowl and slowly but surely ruin any chances for the current BCS system to service.  Check and Mate for the Playoff Pac.
  • The New York Times has an interesting article about a South Korean kid named Seung Hoon Choi who started for the Nebraska Cornhuskers over the weekend.  I usually thought it was Samoans from across the seas that get line work.  South Koreans?  I didn’t know.  Fascinating.
  • Ho man, chalk one up to Texas A&M and the creative billboard they dumped in Waco, the home of the Baylor Bears.  Now as much as it sucks for the Big 12, it still is pretty funny.

Pick It and Stick It: Sticking With The Crowd

It’s the hustle and bustle of college football.  At the beginning of the year, everyone is tied 0-0.  Slowly and weekly, the winners bubble up and the losers peter out.  We’re getting into week 3 and it’s still crowded.  We haven’t yet hit the real bubbling point.  Apparently it’s Road Test Weekend so we’ll more than likely get the cauldron cooking real quick.  Speaking of being crowded, I’m planning and surfing the flesh at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Granted I have Sunday tickets so it won’t be too bad, but Saturday’s at Third Base Sports Bar.  Let’s hope people don’t bubble up vomit and I don’t peter out.

Continue reading Pick It and Stick It: Sticking With The Crowd

Crib Sheet: It’s PMA Day

There could be a big ole disparaging parenthetical here about how the Big 12 will go away and how badly it will affect my peeps and schools back home around the Kansas City area, but I’m deciding that we’ll focus on the good things this week.  Sure there may be moves, but our teams will play this Saturday and many Saturdays to come.  Whether or not they will play for a national title might still be going away real quickly, we’ll get enjoy the regional rivals and funky inter-conference matchups.  It’s time for some PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) and for this week’s Crib Sheet: Continue reading Crib Sheet: It’s PMA Day

Crib Sheet: Conference Armageddon Again

You know, I was hoping the big news of the week would be the start of the college football season.  The only thing that could overshadow it was Texas A&M leaving the Big 12.  Welp they announced their intention to do so.  Now that it’s official, the Big 12 must look to expand, which is more than what they did last year.  Everyone is saying that BYU is the most likely candidate, and they are being very careful with their words .  Even though they have been talking with the Big 12.  Will it happen?  Who knows, but there will be a boatload of speculation in the meantime.  Well and Oklahoma is looking to take the lead in blowing up the league.  Let’s hit up the Crib Sheet while we wait: Continue reading Crib Sheet: Conference Armageddon Again

Barspotting: Kicking Off A New Town of Barspotting at Doc’s Backyard

Alrighty, football is here and you know what that means: Barspotting!  For those of you not familiar with how Barspotting works, I basically tool around town and find places to watch college football then rate whether it’s worth it to check it out yourself.  This year will be different because I’m in a whole new town.  So I get to find a whole bunch of new bars review and also get the added benefit of finding my way around town.  The first ever Austin edition of Barspotting will feature Doc’s Backyard in Sunset Valley, well, because they are real close to me.  Not only that but they have a supposedly real tasty Chicken Fried Avacado.  Let’s check out Saturday’s lineup. Continue reading Barspotting: Kicking Off A New Town of Barspotting at Doc’s Backyard