What, you say? No barspot this week? That is correct. As much as we’d like to go out and watch Army vs. Navy, we think we deserve a little break from going out to bars and watching football. It sounds crazy, but it could be alot of work. So in the interest of being brief, check back regularly as we go over the bowl schedule and knock out some bowlspots here and there. Also, we’ll have some year end reviews and probably something really nice for you kids for the BCS National Championship.
As expected, there is a ton of news this week. Conference championships are over, coaches are fired, kids are leaving for the NFL, and the bowls are lighting up. Here’s this week’s Crib Sheet while we go do some Christmas Shopping:
We here at the KCCGD decided to split off the BCS Standings from the Pick It and Stick because of how important the BCS announcements were over the weekend. We’ll go in depth into some of the games and the final standings. Later on either this week or next, we’ll take a look at the bowls and maybe a specific Big 12 bowl post. Right now, it’s BCS time. As eveyone should know by now, the BCS Championhip game will be held in Pasadena, California at the Rose Bowl and it will be between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas Longhorns. It’s not without controversy, however. First, here are the final standings:
Ahh, nothing like a good ole familiar barspot to round out the year and watch some major championship games. This will be our third year in row heading to the Brooksider Bar & Grill and it’s well worth it. We’ll go over this year’s additions as well as revisit some of the amenities that make the Brooksider to place to be for sports watching. Most importantly however, we have the SEC and the Big 12 Championship game to buckle up and ride along with. So hold on and we’ll tell the tale of the year’s last barspot.
This time around the first thing we noticed was how open the joint was. We can’t remember if it happened last year or not, but the they knocked down some walls to make it more open and pleasing. We swear they added even more flat screen televisions since our last appearance. And, yes, we still love the 71 inch plasma television. They added wireless and we were rocking it for the post during the games. There’s nothing else new we really noticed. They still have plenty of space for smoking outside, dancing downstairs, and local bands up front.
The Brooksider wasn’t without its faults, however. We understand that fans are needed to circulate air, especially in smoking joints, but it was little ridiculous in this kind of weather. Speaking of which, the front door kept opening up and letting in some wickedly cold air. For their next expansion they need a breeze way. Downstairs used to be the place where the dancing and partying took place, but it’s all gone now. Thank you dress code. To make up for it, they have special parties booked down there, but when we were there it was empty and smelled like sewage. Clean it up, guys.
The service started out really cool. The first shift waitresses looked pretty cute and they did do a good job of taking orders and accommodation our sitting needs. The 2nd shift waitresses met the standards the Brooksider set as they all matched the beauty we remembered from last time. Although it was a little troublesome when they didn’t know all of the bottles available for the special, they still hooked us up when we needed.
The food always starts with Mac N Cheese Wedges at the Brooksider. We ended up washing it down with their game day special of 5 bucket beers at $15. Get the imports for that deal when you come. It was hard to overlook the $5.99 wing special but the wedges always warms our bellies well. For the second round of foodstuff, we filled our tummy with some fried bologna on toast. It was tasty, but it still doesn’t beat Harry’s Country Club.
We showed up early to knock out a good seat and we were glad we did. We spied the dramatic finish of the Big East title game with 2 touchdowns below 2 minutes to go in the game. It was a shootout all day but Cincinnati pulled out at the end to finish with an undefeated season. We were also fortunate to check out the finish of the Fresno State and Illinois game. A 2 point conversion off a touchdown happened after a deflection and a lineman catch. Already the day started out great.
But we were really there to see Florida take on Alabama and Texas take on Nebraska. First up, Florida and Alabama locked horns in the in the SEC title game. It was all Alabama to begin with as Mark Ingrim ran all over the Gator D and Florida had a hard time answering. Florida finally put some points with a field goal around the end of the 1st quarter. Tim Tebow and company tried to keep up in the 2nd quarter, but couldn’t match Alabama’s running game. The Crimson Tide pulled away in the third and their stingy defense was just too much for Tebow to handle. The Gators were outmatched and the better team in Alabama won. Contrats to them.
Next up was the Big 12 title game with Texas and Nebraska. The first half opened up with a couple of costly turnovers for Colt McCoy and the Longhorns. Not to be outdone, Zac Lee lobbed a couple of ducks Texas’ way. It was field position that was the factor as Nebraska took advantage of the turnovers and went up on top 6-0. It took some whittling down, but Texas came back toward the end of the first half and scored on a McCoy draw to cap off a long drive. Not much action for the first half as it was Nebraska’s style of play all the way.
The second half continued in that tradition and it led to a shocker of a finish. We could talk about the third quarter, but the best part of the whole game ended at the end. After a kick return back into Texas’ territory, Nebraska finished again with a field goal to take the lead late. The kickoff wobbled out of bounds and Texas started with the ball and under a minute to go at their own 40.
After a horse collar tackle and a couple of plays, it was down to the last couple of seconds of play. Colt McCoy took the snap in the hopes of running down the clock. He floated the pass out of bounds with no time left on the clock. Or was there? After a review, the Longhorns did have one second. The kicker for Texas lined up and punched in a kick at the end of the game to beat Nebraska and put Texas in the BCS Championship game. Instant Classic.
The Brooksider Bar & Grill lived up to expectations, but they are starting to get a little shaky. Places like Johnny’s Tavern in the Power & Light district is coming up fast to match their stellar service. As for the BCS College Football Championship, we now have a clearer picture. Bowl Season is just upon us and we’re hoping that all of the games are exciting as the majority of the games over the weekend. Hopefully, our breath will be caught up in time just to lose it again.
Here we go into the last week of picks and there’s not that many to choose from. That’s a good thing, though, because most of our focus is squa’ on the holidays. Turkey Day is over and it’s a full bore Christmas conga line. Most of our shopping is done and that’s a first for the KCCGD crew. Usually it’s a last minute managerie through the isles of crappy malls and Targets. Since we’re done, we are going to focus on the nicer things for the holidays. Like bowl games. After this weekend, we’ll find out who will play who and when. Tune in as we will make our list and check it twice for bowlspots to watch football games on holiday nights. But first, here’s the last pick set:
Okay, if you remember last week, we loved up on the Chappell’s sports junk but we recommended it if you want to see just one game. Welp this week we are going back to a place where you can watch multiple games and watch the best one on a big ole 71″ inch plasma television screen. That’s right, folks, we are going back to the Brooksider. If you remember in the past, it was the best for big screens and good lookin’ waitresses. Now we are going there not really to review, but to watch Florida take on Alabama and Texas take on Nebraska. We’re gonna get a table seat in front of the big screen and park there the whole day. So come on out and hopefully help us dodge the live music traffic after the Big 12 Championship is over.
We’re getting back on the treadmill to work off last weekend’s Turkey gauntlet. The timing is perfect as he have lots to feast on this weekend with conference championships going on all over the place. Hopefully the belt won’t be too tight to enjoy the big games filling up the screens. As an appetizer to the weekend, we have a Crib Sheet spilling over with news this week. So without further ado, here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:
Welcome back to the final regular season week of coverage here at the KCCGD headquarters. We’ll roll out some end of year articles and pick some bowls along the way, but we have one more week to go just yet. Speaking of which, there is one week left for the Pick It and Stick It. From what we saw of the last week, we hope the majority of people actually show up this final week. It’s understandable as we bet they were busy digging through the closet to pick out a larger pair of pants like we were today. While the pants button holds on for dear life, let’s go over the Pick It Standings.
Continue reading Pick It Standings Week 13: Busting Out the BCS (and the Larger Pants)
Last week was the beginning of Rivalry Week and now we are fully realizing its end. We had out schedule jacked up due to Thanksgiving and we’re sure you’ve had yours as well. It’s all for a good thing, however, as we should give thanks to what we have at least once a year. So in celebration of Thanksgiving and our shortened week, we are combining our Barspotting and Pick It and Stick It posts. And without further ado, we are Barspotting at Chappell’s Saturday. Yes, we’ll be just back in town to watch the Border War between Kansas and Missouri. We’re going up to North Kansas City and watchin some football as well as checking out their collection of sports memorabilia. Thankfully, we are just in time to go over the picks too and we hope you didn’t forget to make yours on this short week.
When: Saturday November 27, 2009
Time: 2:00 PM
Where: Chappell’s Restaurant & Sports Museum, 323 Armour Road, North Kansas City, MO 64116
Games:
Picks:
| Favorite | VS | Underdog | Final | Status (times in CST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VS | 21.0 | Fri, Nov 27 at 11:00 am | ||
| @ | 10.0 | Fri, Nov 27 at 1:30 pm | ||
| VS | 0.0 | Fri, Nov 27 at 6:00 pm | ||
| VS | 14.0 | Fri, Nov 27 at 9:00 pm | ||
| @ | 6.0 | Sat, Nov 28 at 9:00 am | ||
| @ | 3.0 | Sat, Nov 28 at 11:00 am | ||
| @ | 8.0 | Sat, Nov 28 at 11:21 am | ||
| VS | 8.0 | Sat, Nov 28 at 11:30 am | ||
| VS | 44.5 | Sat, Nov 28 at 12:00 pm | ||
| @ | 16.0 | Sat, Nov 28 at 2:30 pm | ||
| VS | 24.5 | Sat, Nov 28 at 2:30 pm | ||
| @ | 6.5 | Sat, Nov 28 at 2:30 pm | ||
| VS | 7.5 | Sat, Nov 28 at 4:00 pm | ||
| VS | 3.5 | Sat, Nov 28 at 6:00 pm | ||
| VS | 7.5 | Sat, Nov 28 at 7:00 pm | ||
| VS | 29.5 | Sat, Nov 28 at 7:00 pm | ||
| VS | 13.0 | Sat, Nov 28 at 9:00 pm |
Rivalries are abound as just about every game on the list is a rivalry. So in between the turkey and gravy and shopping and family, check out these games. Some of them sound cool like the Duel in the Desert with Arizona and Arizona State. Some of them sound goofy like the Egg Bowl with Ole Miss at Mississippi State. No matter the name, they all mean something big to the teams and offer up a tradition only seen in college football. Big 12 wise, we missed out on the Nebraska and Colorado game but that’s alright. Nebraska won and it didn’t matter. We have the Bedlam series for Oklahoma State and Oklahoma tomorrow. The ‘Pokes will get a good shot at a BCS bid provided they win and Texas does next week against said Cornhuskers. The other major game for the Big 12 is the Border War. Kansas needs a win to be bowl eligible and Missouri needs a win to get 2nd in the North. Who’s gonna win? Come on out to Chappell’s and help us find out.
It’s a short week here as we’re are in training for Thanksgiving Thursday. We thought about calling up Mark Mangino to help us train but we don’t like being verbally abused and we most certainly don’t want him to hog all of the food. So here we are stretching and exercising for the marathon of food we get to sprint through. A couple of things to note in setting your eat order is: Do you use dark meat or white meat? Are you a gravy fan? Pumpkin or Apple pie? These answers can lead you to the top of the glutton mountain and be crowned the Feast King. Now here’s the Pick It and Stick It standings:
Finally, the KCCGD has come BACK to Leewood, Kansas! Okay, we’re not too much into old school wrestling references, but we had to set the tone on how we felt within the walls of the 810 Zone. We all aren’t wrestling fans and we don’t live in trailers. In fact we’re pretty normal. But compared the crowd out there, we certainly felt that way. Even so, we ended up having a pretty good time. Our wallets felt the pain however. So did the Kansas State Wildcats as they tried to win the Big 12 North against Nebraska. Oh the times we had.
Rivarly Week rolls up into Saturday and we want to spend some time giving homage to what could be Mark Mangino’s last football game. Rumor has it that the kids will lay down Saturday and then be up to play their last game against Kansas next weekend. Mark Mangino has been a huge butt of jokes in recent years because of his orca-fat status. Now being a former orca-fat guy myself, I can sympathize with him (no I’m not writing a Whitlock article). Being that big doesn’t excuse you from being a total jerk. If Mangino was throwing his weight around alot, then it could be very damaging. Maybe one or two incidents would be overlooked but if it’s been more and more frequent, then the whole body of work will make him more guilty. It looks as though the evidence against him is bursting at the seams and we’ll see this guy on the unemployment line next week. See you later, Mark Mangino, it was fun while it lasted and we hope to see you on The Biggest Loser soon.
This week we go back to the 810 Zone, but this time it’s the one that started it all in Leawood, Kansas. Now before we started the blog, we had a nasty television mix up at this location. Hopefully things will be better because we are there for the Big 12 North battle. Who will win in the defense match up between Kansas State and Nebraska? Show up to find out. Meanwhile, we’ll snack on some apps, marvel at the number of beers on tap, and perhaps play a game or two. It should be a kick butt time and we hope you can make it out. Consider this the make-up for missing out on alot of football from Paddy O’Quigley’s last week.
So yesterday there was a big hoopla about Kansas coach Mark Mangino and his reported abuse of players earlier this year. What’s the abuse? From what we’re read so far it’s yelling and poking a player in the chest. Okay, so if this guy gets canned over just that, then it’s an indictment on the culture that is Kansas athletics. It’s college football people. If you don’t do your job, you will be disciplined. Now if it turns out he did more, then it’s more on Mangino’s wide shoulders and his lack to control his emotions. Our take? Kansas is in a losing streak and the fair weather, bandwagon, and easy to over hype their expectations players, player’s parents, and fans have shown their true colors. What coach will want to come there to lead a football team when the everyone at Kansas University whine and cry like a bunch on babies? Oh and superstar, Pullitzer prize winning Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock says this happened because Mark Mangino is fat. Great reporting there, guy. Here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:
We’re back this week with another round of Pick It Standings. Not much of a shake up this weekend in terms of college football and it’s reflected in the pick set. Really when you think about it, there was no real big upset over the weekend, unless you count USC falling down hard to Stanford. Everybody else won as expected and they are turning to corner for the home stretch of the season. This is going to be a tight one to the end, both for the BCS race and the Pick It race. Here’s this week’s lap:
Continue reading Pick It Standings Week 10: Yawnster of a Weekend