Hey I’m back this week and I’m ready to report all that is going on in the land of college football. I even have some beer ready to share with y’all. I’ll help you swallow down some news for things like Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, FBS, FCS, Sun Belt, Conference USA, Jerry Sundusky, Alabama, Harvey Updyke Jr, ESPN, Disney, Mountain West, Big East, DeLoss Dodds, Texas, Texas A&M, and the Big 12. Continue reading Purple Yeti Roar 61: Conferences Cash In
Here I thought the two last offseasons were brutal for college football what with the realignment talk and sports agent nonsense, but boy was I wrong when the Jerry Sandusky scandal came out last week. Last week former Penn State defensive coach Sandusky was charged with molesting boys and it all went down from there. Some top officials resigned, the President was fired, and now winningest coach in Division I (FBS) Joe Paterno was fired. JoPa apparently knew what Sandusky was doing and did the legal minimum requirement in reporting the situation. Now, he let Sandusky stay around campus after the incident and more incidents happen. I know, the higher ups are in charge, but everyone knows that Penn State = Joe Paterno. Whether it was legal or not, public relation wise he should’ve done more. Ick. I’m done with that, on to the Crib Sheet:
Continue reading Crib Sheet: Scandals that Rival the Offseason
It’s been awhile since I had to get up for the early college football game. Last Saturday was the reprise and I’m thankful that the Lavaca Street Bar had a bloody mary bar to kick things off. There was alot of talk about Midwestern sensibilities in the last week and I was surprised at how the Lavaca catered to that. Speaking of the Midwest, it was Sunflower Showdown weekend and I had a front row seat, without actually being there. Did Lavaca Street Bar handle spectating well, or did I leave sucking on some cheese curds? Let’s find out.
Walking in, you wouldn’t suspect that Lavaca Street Bar was a big sports bar. It’s another in a long line of sports bar that look tiny up front but huge in the back. All around the bar, televisions lined the place. In the back room there is a huge projector screen television as well. The Direct TV made sure I was able to watch my team up on there. The wireless internet is free but they had some kind of weird sign up page that made things hard to login.
The best part of Lavaca Street Bar has to be the games. They have all the games that you need. They have Big Buck Safari, Golden Tee, a hard punch game, Pop-A-Shot, Skee Ball, and what I think could be a pool table. I see cue sticks but no table and I think it’s because of the bloody mary bar. At any rate, back to the Skee Ball. It’s a rare sight to see Skee Ball in any bar, let alone a sports bar. If you want to set yourself from the back, get a game like that in your bar.
The service was rather sparse. There was essentially two bartenders for the whole joint. The female one was rather cute and the guy, well, was a guy. We had to get up from the back a couple of times to order food and drinks. They did come out here and there though. The guy was nice enough to setup the whole back room for my games so I can’t dog them too much. He also turned the light on for me when I was getting my bloody mary because the place is real dark. Like go to sleep dark.
Now on to the beer pairing. Lavaca touted some Midwestern specials like cheese curds and brats. Guess what I got. The cheese curds were good but not northern Iowa good. I think the ones I make are better. I chose to have Wastach Brewery’s Pumpkin Seasonal Ale with the bratwurst. I wanted to do an Oktoberfest type ale but that was the closest thing they had on tap. I’m so glad I chose it. It has to be the best tasting pumpkin beer I’ve ever had. The brat itself was tasty but everything around it was average. The mustard, bun, sauerkraut, and even the basket was very low rent. But hey, that’s part of the appeal.
The Sunflower Showdown was the main event for the weekend for me. For some reason I was real scared about Kansas. Boy was I ever wrong. Kansas quarterback Jordan Webb has the 2nd highest passer rating in the Big 12. He did a good job, but the rest of the team was terrible. Meanwhile, on the other side, Kansas State’s Collin Klein put up all star numbers. He ran for 4 touchdowns and actually threw the ball pretty well. It helps when you are playing one of the worst defenses in FBS. Methinks Turner Gill’s job is in serious trouble right now.
The other games were a little more competitive. I got to watch was Missouri and Oklahoma State duke it out in Columbia. Seeing as Missouri no longer thinks they are Midwest material, it was nice that the Cowboys beat them down. Well, it wasn’t a beat down so to say, the Tigers kept it nice and close. I missed out on LSU vs Auburn because I was busy Halloween shopping. I also missed out on most of the action in the evening because I went and watched White Denim at Stubb’s. So the first big Hail Mary of the year that put Michigan State over Wisconsin was not to be had for me. Thanks to a lightning delay, however I watched the end of Texas Tech upsetting Oklahoma.
It has begun. The undefeated teams are starting to drop like flies. I still don’t know what to think about the weekend. I certainly didn’t expect Oklahoma being the team with losses going into this weekend’s game against Kansas State. Lavaca Street Bar had a super sweet setup, even though it was too dark and you had to try real hard to get service. The food is almost food truck level, which can be real tasty but lacking on the presentation side. I’d recommend this place to just about anyone if they want to duck in and see some great football. They have reserved areas for alumni groups like LSU and Wisconsin so be careful when you go.
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.
HO BOY OH BOY OH BOY! It’s here! Well, one more day. But finally after an anguishing offseason, college football is back! Tomorrow night kicks it off and we get our itch scratch all the way through January. Here we go! But first, the last Crib Sheet of the offseason: Continue reading Crib Sheet: Kicking Off Another Season
This week’s drama is Miami and the Ponzi schemed Nevin Shapiro who was making it rain all over the place. Among the accused, two new Alabama assistant coaches, a former Husker, newly minted K-Stater’s Bryce and Arthur Brown, Missouri head basketball coach Frank Haith, and 15 current Miami players. This summer has been brutal for college football on the public relations side. It’s been all about the money and breaking the rules. It’s like NASCAR. Or worse yet, baseball. Winds of change will be blowing real quick. Maybe it means the players will finally get paid. On to the Crib Sheet: Continue reading Crib Sheet: Winds Of Change (Pocket) Blowing In Miami
It’s been a bear of a Spring down here, with temperatures being in the steady high 90s. The heat is melting my imagination so for this week’s Mascot Monday we’ll check out another bear at Montana, Monte. Okay, I was a little influenced by last week’s news of Nate Montana getting a DUI there, but I’m sweating my butt off right now. Monte’s been around for a very short time but he has put up some impressive numbers in mascot-dom. This week, we’ll find out just how full Monte is trophy case wise so let’s get cracking.
It’s a huge week of news on the Crib Sheet so let’s get cracking:
I’m sure you’ve seen my previous post about the major move down to Austin yesterday. Yeah I’m still pretty shocked myself and I’m the one that knew about it for over month. Never fear, we’ll still chug along and it continues today with this week’s Crib Sheep:
It’s warmed over, too. This week’s Crib Sheet celebrates Easter by dropping news eggs all over the place. Grab your basket and find them buried in the grass of the Crib Sheet. Don’t get your fingers messy:
A very special lady sprung on me some tickets to the Kansas State and Nebraska game going on tomorrow. So we’ll do some Stadiumspotting there as well get you stoked for this week of football. First thing is first, though. This week’s Crib Sheet goes over some of the hottest news items of the last week. We have some spicy giblets ready to feed ya and then we’re gonna get the car ready for the impromptu road trip. On to the sheet:
We laid the foundation with our last 3 post for the Big 10 expansion. Now let’s talk about how other conferences are reacting. Some of them could be massively depleted whereas others are moving to counteract the possible Big 10 growth. Every major BCS conference has about two cents to toss in and little brother mid major conferences are chirping in as well. It’s time for the conferences to lay down their tiles and see just how much they could change.
Continue reading Magnifying the Expansion Part 4: Now I’m Yelling Dominoes