Category Archives: Football

Barspotting, College, Football

Barspotting: Cuatros

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I buzzed by Cuatros last week while I was on the way to the Mellow Mushroom with my favorite lady.  I almost missed it, but the 16 stacked television screens forming a massive screen jumped right out at me.  I wanted to go north of downtown Austin and this place just makes the cut.  It’s Red River Rivalry weekend so we’ll hope to get a spot there when we show up for the Kansas State game.  There’s other games going on, though, so check out the spot and hopefully we’ll check you out there.  Ole!

When: Saturday, October 5, 2011
Time: 2:00 PM
Where: Cuatros, 1004 w. 24th  Austin, TX 78705  (512) 243-6361


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Games:

Notes:  The Red River Rivalry is the biggest thing going on down here in this part of the country.  I’m not so stoked for it.  It’s a good thing that there’s nothing else going on first thing Saturday morning.  It’s also good for me that the newly ranked Kansas State Wildcats follow that little ditty and host Missouri at 2:30.  Florida vs LSU might eat up some television screens but I’m hoping to get the Wildcats on the big daddy.  Later in the evening sees a couple of interesting bouts but I’ll be home by then and will only be able to get Ohio State and Nebraska.  No thank you, I’ll probably be napping by then.

College, Football, News

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

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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 →

College, Football, Picks

Pick It Standings Week 05: Hanging In There

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Okay, finally we see the dropped points come into effect.  Not only that, but now we are finally seeing what teams are in full effect.  Conference play started around the landscape and we are starting to see the pretenders fall to the winners.  The hype turned sour to teams like Baylor and Florida, while the winners took care of business.  Will we see the pretenders fall off in the Pick It and Stick It standings?  We have a couple of weeks to find out because of the dropped points, but the dropped points are now in play.

Continue reading Pick It Standings Week 05: Hanging In There →

College, Football, GameDay

GameDay: Staying Fit For Watching It

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From week to week, you see me talk about the delicious food pairings at every barspot.   I go over what I think is the sports bar’s best food dish, appetizer or not, and then wash it down with a beer that compliments it in flavor.  Now, that usually isn’t the only barley pop I take in while I’m spectating.  Those of you who come out to the barspots know that I can also be fairly animated while watching, especially Kansas State.  So, how do I stay active during the games and still keep my purple yeti-ish figure?  I work out.  Hard.  But there’s a weird pattern that formed over the last couple of weeks.

Continue reading GameDay: Staying Fit For Watching It →

College, Football, Picks

Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 05: Time To Play For Real

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Conference play kind of opened up last weekend for the Big 12, but this weekend we have a couple of head to head match ups.  I don’t know which game will be more exciting, the Texas vs Iowa State or Kansas State vs Baylor.  The obvious is the Kansas State game but if you remember last year, Iowa State went down to Austin and beat the Longhorns.  The local media around here is chirping about how it’s a revenge game but the player interviews talk about how they expect to handle Iowa State easily.  We’ll find that out Saturday as well as just how real Kansas State’s defense really is.  Here’s this week’s Pick It and Stick It: Continue reading Pick It and Stick It 2011 Week 05: Time To Play For Real →

Barspotting, College, Football

Barspotting: Laying up to the Backspin Sports Bar & Grill

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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 →

College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

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So the deed is finally done.  Texas A&M and the SEC made it official.  Now last week, we found out that the Big 12 was staying together.  We also found out that Dan Beebe resigned, at the request of Oklahoma and some others.  Connected sports guy Chuck Neinas was setup as the interim Big 12 Commissioner.  What else?  The 1st and 2nd tier television rights are on the table.  That’s fine for Texas because the LHN is 3rd tier, noinch!  The athletic directors all met and were saying they are committed to keeping the Big 12 alive.  Although, it seems Missouri’s foot is still out of the door.  Worse yet, the reason Oklahoma wanted the Big 12 to stay alive was because they couldn’t swing a deal with the Pac 12.  So is it safe?  I guess it is for now.  I’ll be certain of it when somebody actually joins the conference instead of leaves it.  Until then, here’s another installment of the Crib Sheet: Continue reading Crib Sheet: Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself →

College, Football, Picks

Pick It Standings 2011 Week 04: Safe Pickings

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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.

Barspotting, College, Football

It’s a 1st Round Draft Pick

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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.

College, Football, GameDay

GameDay: Watching My Team

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You know, I came down to Austin for a new job and now I’m trolling town trying to find a place to watch my Kansas State Wildcats.  The initial feeling I had coming from Kansas City was that it would be almost impossible to watch a Big 12 ‘North’ team down here in Longhorn land.  This whole fist month of college football for me have been about expectations.  I think after today, it’s safe to assume that I can watch my team just about anywhere in Austin. Continue reading GameDay: Watching My Team →

College, Football, Picks

Pick It And Stick It 2011 Week 04: Sticking Together

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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, College, Football

Barspotting: Draft Pick

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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 →

College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: And Around And Around We Go

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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.
College, Football, Picks

Pick It Standings Week 03: Pick Alignment

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In case you’ve been stuck under a table somewhere, the whole college football landscape is changing right under our noses.  For whatever school, big or large, it’s getting real close to the time where you pick it or lose it.  But before that time comes, we need to go over the Pick It standings for week numero tres.  There isn’t anything as shocking or surprising like the Pitt and Syracuse move to the ACC, but after this week it will start to get fairly exciting.  Let’s check out the standings: Continue reading Pick It Standings Week 03: Pick Alignment →

Barspotting, College, Football

Third Base Stole Home For Me

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Saturday was a downtown taste of college football watching as well as the first time I needed to watch Kansas State at a bar outside of the Midwest.  Austin City Limits Music Festival was last weekend as well so it was the first time for me to attend Sunday.  My dogs are still barking from the rocking time.  My whole time dodging ACL traffic Saturday and watching some real college football was far from barked.  I was expecting a marginal time and Third Base exceeded my expectations by a country mile.  It was a grand slam time and then some.

Continue reading Third Base Stole Home For Me →