Tag Archives: Texas Tech

College, Football, Picks

PIck It Standings Week 08: Shake Rattle N Roll

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Yes, we have not one, but two big upsets to deal with this week in Pick It and Stick It Standings.  Unfortunately, there’s not real upsets with the picks, but with Oklahoma and Wisconsin losing there is a major reorganization in the BCS Standings.  Things are starting to unravel quickly in the tightly wound Big 12 race now that Oklahoma lost.  Unfortunately for me, that means that ESPN College GameDay won’t be in Manhattan when the Sooners take on the undefeated Kansas State Wildcats.  That’s fine because I think they play better when they are under the radar.  Much like me and my status for Pick It and Stick It.  Let’s check out the standings.

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Barspotting, College, Football

Lavaca Street Bar Was A Skee Ball

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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.

College, Football, Picks

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

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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!

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Barspotting, College, Football

Barspotting: Lavaca Street Bar

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It’s all downhill from here.  We are halfway through the season and I’ve had some sweat bars to check out around the Austin area already.  Now, I was real close to the big hoopla that is sixth street downtown, but I managed to stay just far away enough not to be in the heart of it.  Well, this week I’m taking one step closer to some of the bars around the much hyped street way.  Saturday, I’ll be heading to the Lavaca Street Bar.  Now, I’ve been there before waiting for a band to got started across the way at Antone’s so I know what it’s like.  I haven’t seen it on a college football Saturday, however.

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College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: Hello Goodbye

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We may be seeing the search for Missouri end real quick.  We also may see the search for the Big 12 heat right up.  The Tigers are planning on leaving for the SEC and we may know about it here by tomorrow.  Alot of people, including myself, thought that they would wait unilt the end of the season to get the ball rolling but apparently they want to move fast.  So in the middle of the football season, we will see even more conference realignment.  I’m just going to avert my eyes from the pain and check out this week’s Crib Sheet:

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College, Football, GameDay

GameDay: Harmless Rival Fun

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So last week there was a big stink about what some Texas Tech fans did to the bus for the outgoing Texas A&M Aggies before their game.  Apparently, there was some messages painted on the buses and some stank smell planted within.  Both administrators for the schools came out afterward and fanned the flame of this story.  The Aggie administrator complained about the total lack of class exhibited by the Tech folk.  The Tech administrator played down the type of things used in the defacing and stated that they provided some farewell fruit basket before the game.  What side do you fall on?  Was it harmless fun or totally classless?

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College, Football, Picks

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

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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:

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Barspotting, College, Football

Barspotting: Pluckers

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We are halfway through the season and it is time to get all franchised up in here.  That’s right, for the mid-season barspot, we’ll be heading to one of the local franchise Pluckers Wing Bar.  Outside of the tasty appetizer I had at the Draft Pick, there has been no major wing place I’ve been to this year.  So, I’ll be trolling South Lamar looking for the hottest wings they can muster.  It’s the Southwest, they damn well better be way hotter than Buffalo Wild Wings’ tame excuse for nuclear hot wings.  Plus, there’s some games!  Join us!
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College, Football, News

Crib Sheet: Horned Frogs Homecoming

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In today’s college football, things can change dramatically week to week both on the field and off.  One week, Missouri is leaving the Big 12 and will blow up the conference.  The next, the Big 12 invites TCU to  join to lock things up.   TCU head honchos met to make it a done deal.  They made the announcement Monday night.  I can breathe a sigh of relief because for the first time, the Big 12 will actually grow and Missouri should stay put for the rest of the year.  We’ll have to find out next week if something else that’s huge will go down.  In the meantime, here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:

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College, Football, Picks

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

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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:

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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.

Barspotting, College

Backspin Threw Me Off

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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.

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.
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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 →