Tag Archives: Robert Griffin III

Crib Sheet: A Change Is Gonna Come, Oh Yes It Is

Ah yes, the college football season is officially over.  Time to rest up a bit, kick back, and reflect on what was great and what was terrible for the 2011-2012 college football season.  Go ahead, I’ll still be here. ….(time passes)…. OKAY.  So now that we’ve all mused about gridiron, let’s get down to brass tacks.  There’s winds of change a blowing and they will twirl the leaves around this here blog.  What’s going to happen?  Tune in next week.  We still have some Crib Sheet action to go over so let’s go right ahead and knock it out:

Continue reading Crib Sheet: A Change Is Gonna Come, Oh Yes It Is

Crib Sheet: Emptied Out The Bowls

I think I’m eating way more than I did when I was on vacation.  The holidays were tasty but between running around to visit people and sipping a couple of barley pops left me with little time to eat well.  Now that I am back, I find my fingers in the candy bowl that filled up from the stockings left before the trip.  Oh well, I guess.  Tis the season.  I know one thing, after the new year and the end of bowl season, it’s mega workout time.   One item that will mostly be fat throughout the year is the Crib Sheet.  So let’s get munching: Continue reading Crib Sheet: Emptied Out The Bowls

Crib Sheet: Prizes Inside!

It’s that time of year again.  The time to hand out awards for special play by special players.  The Big 12 awards popped out and there were a couple surprises.  The one that jumps out at me is the ‘All-purpose’ award for Kansas State’s Collin Klein.  Was that ever used before in the past?  It seems like they cooked it up just for Klein.  I mean, he’s no Heisman winner, but he was the most important person on the team for the Wildcats.  I guess as a Kansas State fan, I’ll take what I can get.  You have to take what you can get with this week’s Crib Sheet as well, so lets’ get doling:

Bowl Pick It and Stick It 2011: 6 and 8 Split

Yes, it’s bowl season and I’ve got a hankering for one more Bowl Pick It and Stick It.  This time bowling is more exciting for me outside of the BCS Bowls.  Part of it is the fact that Kansas State got jipped out of an appearance at the Sugar Bowl, but the other part is that the line up BCS wise is just not interesting enough.  The Sugar and the Orange are lame.  The BCS National Championship Game is a rematch of boredom.  The Fiesta and Rose look good but the overall product leaves me underwhelmed.  That’s what I’m stoked for the Cotton Bowl.  It’s non BCS and has a top 10 BCS match up with Kansas State taking on Arkansas.  SEC vs Big 12.  Hell yeah.  Click on through for the Bowl Pick It and Stick It information.

 

Pick It and Stick It Link: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/bowl/group/2195/invitation?key=8648873bde407264
Group: 2195
Password: gobig12

So here’s the rest of the bowl line up:

Bowl Location Date/Time Network
Gildan New Mexico
Temple vs. Wyoming
Albuquerque, N.M.
University Stadium
Dec. 17
2 p.m.
ESPN
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Ohio vs. Utah State
Boise, Idaho
Bronco Stadium
Dec. 17
5:30 p.m.
ESPN
R+L Carriers New Orleans
San Diego State vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
New Orleans
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Dec. 17
9 p.m.
ESPN
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg
Florida International vs. Marshall
St. Petersburg, Fla.
Tropicana Field
Dec. 20
8 p.m.
ESPN
S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia
TCU vs. Louisiana Tech
San Diego
Qualcomm Stadium
Dec. 21
8 p.m.
ESPN
MAACO Las Vegas
Arizona State vs. Boise State
Las Vegas
Sam Boyd Stadium
Dec. 22
8 p.m.
ESPN
Sheraton Hawaii
Nevada vs. Southern Miss
Honolulu
Aloha Stadium
Dec. 24
8 p.m.
ESPN
AdvoCare V100 Independence
Missouri vs. North Carolina
Shreveport, La.
Independence Stadium
Dec. 26
5 p.m.
ESPN2
Little Caesars
Western Michigan vs. Purdue
Detroit
Ford Field
Dec. 27
4:30 p.m.
ESPN
Belk
Louisville vs. NC State
Charlotte, N.C.
Bank of America Stadium
Dec. 27
8 p.m.
ESPN
Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman
Toledo vs. Air Force
Washington, D.C.
RFK Stadium
Dec. 28
4:30 p.m.
ESPN
Bridgepoint Education Holiday
California vs. Texas
San Diego
Qualcomm Stadium
Dec. 28
8 p.m.
ESPN
Champs Sports
Florida State vs. Notre Dame
Orlando, Fla.
Florida Citrus Bowl
Dec. 29
5:30 p.m.
ESPN
Valero Alamo
Washington vs. Baylor
San Antonio
Alamodome
Dec. 29
9 p.m.
ESPN
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
BYU vs. Tulsa
Dallas
Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Dec. 30
Noon
ESPN
New Era Pinstripe
Rutgers vs. Iowa State
Bronx, N.Y.
Yankee Stadium
Dec. 30
3:20 p.m.
ESPN
Franklin American Mortgage Music City
Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest
Nashville, Tenn.
LP Field
Dec. 30
6:40 p.m.
ESPN
Insight
Iowa vs. Oklahoma
Tempe, Ariz.
Sun Devil Stadium
Dec. 30
10 p.m.
ESPN
Meineke Car Care of Texas
Texas A&M vs. Northwestern
Houston
Reliant Stadium
Dec. 31
Noon
ESPN
Hyundai Sun
Georgia Tech vs. Utah
El Paso, Texas
Sun Bowl
Dec. 31
2 p.m.
CBS
AutoZone Liberty
Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt
Memphis, Tenn.
Liberty Bowl
Dec. 31
3:30 p.m.
ABC
Kraft Fight Hunger
Illinois vs. UCLA
San Francisco
AT&T Park
Dec. 31
3:30 p.m.
ESPN
Chick-fil-A
Virginia vs. Auburn
Atlanta
Georgia Dome
Dec. 31
7:30 p.m.
ESPN
TicketCity
Houston vs. Penn State
Dallas
Cotton Bowl
Jan. 2
Noon
ESPNU
Outback
Michigan State vs. Georgia
Tampa, Fla.
Raymond James Stadium
Jan. 2
1 p.m.
ABC
Capital One
Nebraska vs. South Carolina
Orlando, Fla.
Florida Citrus Bowl
Jan. 2
1 p.m.
ESPN
Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl
Ohio State vs. Florida
Jacksonville, Fla.
EverBank Field
Jan. 2
1 p.m.
ESPN2
Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio
Wisconsin vs. Oregon
Pasadena, Calif.
Rose Bowl
Jan. 2
5 p.m.
ESPN
Tostitos Fiesta
Stanford vs. Oklahoma State
Glendale, Ariz.
U. of Phoenix Stadium
Jan. 2
8:30 p.m.
ESPN
Allstate Sugar
Michigan vs. Virginia Tech
New Orleans
Louisiana Superdome
Jan. 3
8:30 p.m.
ESPN
Discover Orange
West Virginia vs. Clemson
Miami
Sun Life Stadium
Jan. 4
8:30 p.m.
ESPN
AT&T Cotton
Kansas State vs. Arkansas
Arlington, Texas
Cowboys Stadium
Jan. 6
8 p.m.
FOX
BBVA Compass Bowl
SMU vs. Pittsburgh
Birmingham, Ala.
Legion Field
Jan. 7
1 p.m.
ESPN
GoDaddy.com
Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
Mobile, Ala.
Ladd-Peebles Stadium
Jan. 8
9 p.m.
ESPN
Allstate BCS National Championship Game
No. 1 LSU vs. No. 2 Alabama
New Orleans
Louisiana Superdome
Jan. 9
8:30 p.m.
ESPN

Remember it’s a straight up pick but you can rank your confidence from 1 to 35.  What other bowls are interesting you ask?  Well, let’s start with the Big 12.  Baylor and Washington look good for the Alamo Bowl, thanks to Robert Griffin III’s Hesiman win.  Oklahoma playing Iowa for the first time in forever in the Insight Bowl sees Sooner head coach Bob Stoops head to his alma mater.  What other games look good?  How about the Outback Bowl with Georgia taking on Michigan State, another version of the BCS snub bowl.  That’s about it for me.  The others are decent but they just don’t jump out to me.  Come back every Monday from here on out, though and we’ll go over the picks.

Crib Sheet: The Chips Have Fallen Into the Bowls

The teams have been announced that cards played out on the table.  The big hand is lame this year but the side bets are sexier.  That’s right the regular season is over and now we are flipping over to bowl season.  There were some snubs as usual, but the Big 12 lineup of bowls still looks pretty strong.  The Cotton Bowl is right up there with the BCS bowls in terms of interesting match ups.  Kansas State vs Arkansas, or Big 12 vs SEC, like it should be.  Call your bets and flop on over to this week’s Crib Sheet.

Continue reading Crib Sheet: The Chips Have Fallen Into the Bowls

Chilling Out After Being Stuffed

Man I”m chilling here in the ole home office watching some old episodes of Doctor Who and reflecting on the long holiday weekend that was in college football.  I didn’t go anywhere and opted to be completely lazy.  Turkey day was a smash and I ended up falling asleep pretty fast on the couch.  The NFL games were exciting for once.  But there were two full days of college football that I had to watch.  I’m not sure I remember much so I’ll be short and sweet on this.

Continue reading Chilling Out After Being Stuffed

Crib Sheet: Here We Go Again On Our Own, Maybe

Once we thought we were safe, but anybody who knew their history and knew about the psyche of Missouri understood it was not over.  And with that, Missouri last night gave chancellor Brady Deaton the power to pursue other conferences.  They could be like Oklahoma and stay or they could be like Texas A&M and go.  Time will tell.  Although, they were first on the block last year so I’m pretty sure they are out the door.  Nevermind the fact that Tier 1 and Tier 2 rights are officially equal in the Big 12, provided everyone commits to the league.  Yup, so expect some announcements early next week about conference affiliation so they don’t bother with the actual games being played on the field.  In the meantime, check out this week’s Crib Sheet:

Continue reading Crib Sheet: Here We Go Again On Our Own, Maybe

Backspin Threw Me Off

I lucked out again with Kansas State not playing at the same time Texas was.  They were actually playing Baylor and on ABC.  The nationally televised match up and the fact that it was not going against Texas led me to think that a remote sports bar south of the city should have that game on.  So Saturday I found myself at the Backspin Texas Sports Bar & Grill.  I’m glad that I picked that place for the game.  Did the tiny nature and remote location lead to a great time?

 

Somehow I managed to get rockstar parking for the Backspin.  When I pulled in, I had a nice view of the patio and a side way look to the joint.  I heard online that it was a small place, but I was hoping it would be wider that what it turned out to be.  Walking inside I instantly felt cramped.  It was room for maybe 3 tables across and a ginormous sports bar.  Okay that’s fine.  Both outside and inside had some sweet looking HD televisions with a huge one in the main dining area.

As for the rest of the Backspin, it filled out as nicely as it could with its real estate.  I was surprised to see a Golden Tee game there and alleviated any worries I had about their effort.  Not only that, but they also had some BuzzTime Trivia, which gave me a chance to try out their app on my new Android based cellphone.  All that internet juice was handled promptly by their free wireless internet.  Connection issues were not a problem mainly because the place is so small.

The service there wasn’t so great.  I got a primo spot in front of the huge big screen for the Kansas State vs Baylor game, but had the chance to watch the end of the exciting Texas A&M vs Arkansas game.  It was about two minutes to go and they somehow accidentally changed the channel.  It was so harried that a patron got up and started jacking with the Direct TV remote.  Seriously, if you have a sports bar, you need to have workers who know how to operate the televisions.  Also, the audio was out of sync for the end of that A&M game.  That, the waitresses were pretty hot and they did a great job of making sure my beers were full.

For this week’s beer pairing, by the way, I had an unexpected mix of food and drink.  I was hoping to get their Reuben but I had to try their Tzatziki dip and fried pickles appetizer.  I’m happy I went that way.  To wash down the lot, I chose some New Castle.  Not only was it on special for $3 but the brown ale helped with the crispness of the fried pickles and the strange combination of yogurt and spices for the Tzatziki dip.  I’ve never had Tzatziki before but it is a nice cool down appetizer to noms on with pita bread.

Now on the to the games.  Non Big 12 wise I caught that big showdown of Wisconsin vs Nebraska as well as the Alabama vs Florida game going on at the same time.  First off, Alabama looks legit and first year Florida head coach Will Muschamp has a little bit more work to do, including keeping his starting quarterback healthy.  Big 10 wise, Nebraska got a great welcome to the conference with a whooping handed to them from the Badgers.  Nebraska isn’t a complete team but it didn’t help them that Wisconsin had the free agent quarterback wonder that is Russell Wilson.

Big 12 wise, I watched a whole heckuva lot of football.  While I was sweating away at the gym, I got watch Kansas go up early on Texas Tech.  Little did I know that the Red Raiders would come back to win on the road in Lawrence.  Both teams are in trouble against Kansas State, more on that later.  So I mentioned Texas A&M and Arkansas.  All I can say that it was awesome to see the Aggies choke again.  They have never won a game against the SEC and will hopefully be competitive against Vanderbilt when they take off next year.  Wow they have no heart.

The big game of the day for me was watching Kansas State host Baylor for their first big test of the year.  Robert Griffin III is the mega stud quarterback for Baylor and he continued putting up great numbers.  The combination between him and Kendall Wright torched the Wildcat defense all day long.  But Kansas State was resilient.  I don’t know how they keep close in these games, but they do.  Everyone will put it on Bill Snyder 2.0 and deservedly so.  Collin Klein kept consistent on the offensive side of the ball and linebacker Arthur Brown broke out and delivered the game saving interception.  These Wildcats are now ranked and they have real good shot of going to a bowl thanks to Texas Tech and Kansas.

So that was my day at the Backspin.  That place is super tiny but for where it is located, I can make some concessions.  It’s by no means perfect.  When you can’t figure out televisions on gameday, you go down big in my book.  The food was decent and I like the beer specials.  If I had an important game that I absolutely had to watch, I wouldn’t do it at the Backspin.  If I wanted to sneak away from the city and hide out in a decent sports bar, the Backspin is where I’ll head.

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

Doc’s Backyard Made Me Feel At Home

Oh wow let me see how I remember this.  It’s a new year of barspotting and the first notch on the Austin belt is Doc’s Backyard.  Most of the bars I will be to this season will be the first time that I’ve been there, except for Doc’s.  It’s close enough to my new place and has some decent reviews.  So how did it fare Saturday?  The atmosphere reflects back onto the experience. Continue reading Doc’s Backyard Made Me Feel At Home

Big 12 Preview 2011: They’re Coming And Going And Going And Coming And Always Too Soon

Oh last year was such a treat.  Nebraska and Colorado decided to leave and the rest of the league was all arms together in solidarity.  After a bumpy season and a dramatic victory for Oklahoma over Nebraska in the last ever Big 12 Championship Game, we are on the cuff of another great season.  Well, not so fast.  Texas A&M didn’t like how Texas threw their weight around in the off season and are about to leave.  It’s a good thing none of the ginormous scandal affected any of the conference schools.  Whether they leave or not, the Aggies have to play this year.  Let’s see where everyone ends up. Continue reading Big 12 Preview 2011: They’re Coming And Going And Going And Coming And Always Too Soon

Bowl Pick It and Stick It: The Bowl Nine Yards

Here we are in the middle of bowl season.  I got some good gear for Xmas and I hope you got some too.  The bowl action was light in the last week, but we are now ramping up into the  meat of the schedule.  Most of the Big 12 schools will be playing this week and  there will be ample action in between.  Meanwhile, I Bowl Pick It and Stick It standings are out are some peeps jumping out of the gate quick.  Let’s look at that first:

Continue reading Bowl Pick It and Stick It: The Bowl Nine Yards