They Turn Me On When They Take It Off

That's right kids, your Minnesota Vikings are celebrating fifty years of football existence by going topless.  Considering most of the Vikings' existence has been erratic and poorly thought out, this seems about right.  Ladies and gents, a big round of applause for your Minnesota Vikings.

Chances are, this game won't be about the Vikings, though.  If the juggernaut known as the New England Patriots can knock off the Green Bay Packers Sunday night, the Chicago Bears would be in position to take the NFC North division title with a win over the Vikings.  Keeping in mind that the Patriots are tearing up the league's best defenses at a break neck pace and the Packers are likely to be with out starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers, it's likely the Bears will be playing for the division title.  However this is the NFL and nothing should be assumed.

Either way, this is a huge game for the Bears playoff chances.  If the Bears win they would enter the final game of the season against the Packers with zero division losses (Green Bay will have two) and the Packers would need the Bears to lose to the New York Jets next week to control their own destiny, should they beat New England and the New York Giants.

The Vikings once again found out the hard way that using a garbage bag for a roof isn't the greatest idea, and due to the Metrodome's collapsed roof, Monday night's game will be held at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium.  Logistical nightmare anyone?  TCF seats roughly 15,000 fewer fans and 2,000 of the capacity is standing room only.  After being forced to host the Giants in Detroit last week, the Vikings did not want to lose another home game, especially with their celebration planned.  As a Big 10 university stadium, TCF does not serve alcohol, thus has no beer taps and out of respect for this policy packaged beer will not be served.  Game time temperatures are expected to be in the 0 to <0 range.  I'm not sure I'd want to be the one to tell 50,000 norsicles they can't have beer.  Several players have expressed concern about playing on a surface that doesn't use heating coils to help keep the field thaw.  The plan is to use a system of heaters and tarps to keep the field safe.  Personally I think this is a great and unique opportunity for the Vikings to do what they should do and play football outdoors.

Also of concern to the Vikings is that because of injury they will most likely be starting rookie third string quarterback Joe Webb.  This would be the third time this season the Bears have gone up against a team's third string quarterback (@ Miami, @ Detroit), the Bears have won the previous two opportunities.  Normally the outdoor setting would be a huge advantage to the outdoor playing Bears facing the indoor playing Vikings (the Vikings are just 1-8 in their last nine trips to Soldier Field), but this Bears team is built for speed and if the footing is less than ideal that could actually help the Vikings.  The Bears defense hasn't forced a turnover in the past two games, surprising because the Bears are one of the best in the league at turning the ball over.  It's probable this streak will end.

The Vikings will have their usual compliment of explosive players on hand, but this is a team the Bears roughed up in Chicago when Brett Favre was the quarterback and as the temperatures drop the hapless Vikings could start thinking about off season vacations in Cozumel, especially if the Bears can get up on the scoreboard early.

Prediction:  Division Champion Bears 20, Vikings 10

Initiate Dream Sequence

If you are any kind of fan of the NFL you are surely aware of the huge Sunday show down between the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots.  Now there were AFC teams that created bigger preseason  buzz than the Patriots, but they have stayed the course, surprised a lot of people and deserve to be where they are heading in to this game.  That being said, it's hard to see a scenario where this scrappy bunch knocks off the juggernaut known as the Monsters Of The Midway.

The biggest issue for New England with be how they deal with the Bears terrifying defense.  The passing game will receive little support from their unheralded running backs, so it could be a long day for quarterback Steve Grogan and a huge day for Bears defensive end Richard Dent.  As always the Bears defense will be forcing turnovers and you never want to rule out a safety.  If New England is to have any offensive success in this game it may come from getting the ball to their exciting young wide receiver Irving Fryar.

The match ups don't get much better for the Patriots when the Bears have the ball.  A talented linebacking corps led by Andre Tippett could limit the damage done by Bears running back Walter Payton, but the Bears over all running attack should be just fine and produce multiple scores.  The Bears passing attack is no slouch either, quarterback Jim McMahon and receiver Willie Gault can be a handful, especially in big games.

All in all, the Bears team is one of destiny.
Official Prediction:  Bears 46, Patriots 10

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Ugh, where am I?  I better find my rotary phone and call for help.

The fact of the matter is, kids, that since the Bears historic beat down of the Patriots in Super Bowl XX, the Patriots are 5-1 vs Chicago, including a pair of late season wins at Soldier Field in seasons (1994, 2006) that both teams made the playoffs.

The Bears currently hold the second longest winning streak in the NFL at five games, but New England is coming off a thrashing of the New York Jets and their highly regarded defense.  The Bears will have the home crowd and the weather is expected to be of the nasty cold and windy variety on Sunday, but this isn't the Atlanta Falcons coming to Chicago.  The Patriots play outdoors, in weather similar to that of the mighty Midwest and have already won a November game at Pittsburgh.

Official Updated (2010) Prediction:  Patriots 27, Bears 20

Number 2 In The Standings, Number 10 In Our Hearts

Anybody that knows me, knows I love to mock the Chicago Cubs (and there is much to mock).  A favorite target of my buffoonery was the overly emotional, often misspoken radio color commentator Ron Santo.  But unlike my criticisms of the various ass clowns that inhabit the bleachers (or left field) at Wrigley Field, my teasing of Santo the kind reserved for good friends and loved ones.

I'm too young to remember Santo as a player, I don't like the Cubs and didn't think he was a good broadcaster.  What struck me about Ron was the way Cubs fans connected with him.  You may find it hard to believe, but some of my favorite people are Cubs fans and they lived and died (so to speak) with Ronnie.  His pain was their pain when Brant Brown dropped the ball, when Sammy Sosa corked his bat and when "you know who" caught that foul ball.  His laughter was their laughter when he burned his toupee in Shea Stadium.  His joy was their joy when the Cubs won their division.

Looks like it's time to break out This Old Cub.  Good bye Ronnie, you will be missed.  Even by the enemy.

Fade. To. Black.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson has guarenteed (a Roy Williams favorite) the 2-9 Lions will defeat the 8-3 Chicago Bears when the two teams meet at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday.  Is he familiar with Lions football?  I'm not sure they should guarantee a win over Michigan State.

Something for Nate to take in to consideration is that Chicago has won the last five meetings by a combined score of 165-91.  Also in the Bears last three seasons of consequence (2001, 2005, 2006) the Bears have swept the Lions.  All three seasons the second win has come at Detroit.  Maybe Burleson is drawing some confidence off the teams' first meeting when Chicago survived a late Lions charge with help from a bizarre NFL rule.  That was a different Lions team (two quarterbacks and 9 losses ago) and this is a much improved Bears team.  Also Detroit is great at finding ways to lose, posting a record of 4-39 since the start of the 2007 season.

I don't watch or follow the Lions enough to pretend to break this game down beyond Ndamukong Suh, good, Detroit Lions, bad.  Calvin Johnson, good, Matthew Stafford, hurt (again).  Shaun Hill, hurt, Drew Stanton (he of 49 QB rating), starting quarterback.

Maybe the Lions will heed the call of the Burleson, but the Lions are bad at football and have been for some time.  Since the Lions last playoff appearance in 1999 the rest of the NFC North Division (Bears, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers) has combined to go to the NFC Championship game four times, with each franchise going at least once.

Fast money:  Bears 34, Lions 10

Northern Exposure

Tomorrow the co-leaders of the NFC North, the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, both face staunch tests against fellow NFC elites, the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons respectively. 

Despite the Bears consistent trudge along with the Packers, (not to mention head to head victory), popular opinion seems to be Chicago is but a bug on the Packers interstate to the NFC North crown.  A lot of this perception is based on the Bears victories have coming against teams with a combined record of 23-49, beating only two teams (Green Bay and Miami) with at least a .500 winning percentage.  Fair enough, but before we hand Green Bay the keys to the car keep in mind their wins have come against teams with a combined record of 26-37, with two wins coming against the 3-7 Minnesota Vikings, beating two teams, (New York Jets and Philadelphia), with at least a .500 wining percentage.

Green Bay has a few advantages in the war of perception, winning with more flourish, out scoring their opponents 252-146, (Chicago has out scored their opponents 191-146) and the Packers have knocked off two first place teams to Chicago's one.  Also Green Bay is coming off a playoff season in 2009, whereas Chicago finished 2009 7-9, losing twice to the Packers. 

With both squads facing first place teams tomorrow, we will not only get a better feel for how these two teams relate to each other, but how well the top of the NFC North stands up to the top of the NFC.

Purple Is A Girls Name

Ok folks, it's going to be a "quick and dirty" breakdown of Bears vs. Vikings, because in less than five hours Soldier Field will welcome those flaxen haired vixens from the big garbage bag in the sky.

This season's edition of the Norski's has been on a quite a bumpy ride.  The head coach Brad Childress is pretty much universally hated by everybody associated with the Vikings, wide receiver Randy Moss was traded for and released after four games for general douchery and of course prima donna quarterback Brett Favre has been dealing with blow back from texting pictures of his penis.  You heard me.  All this and Vikings boast a less than stellar record of three wins, five losses.  Not exactly what was expected from a team that was on Favre interception away from the Super Bowl last season (Where have we heard this before?).

I was listening to a local radio show this week, and when discussing this game there were comments to the effect of how Favre always roughs up the Bears.  Looks like somebody is stuck in the '90s.  In his last eight games against the Bears Favre is 2-6, winning just one of his last four appearances at Soldier Field and that win came against Chicago's back ups as the Bears rested their starters in preparation for their Super Bowl XLI run.  The Vikings have struggled at Soldier Field as well, winning just once in their last nine trips.

Despite all these concerns Minnesota feels they are primed to make move to get back in to the playoff chase and a win at Chicago would go a long way in improving their standing.  Meanwhile Chicago has used a stingy, opportunistic defense and resourceful special teams to over come a poor, sloppy offense (save for a few shinning moments) to post a record of five wins three losses, trailing the front running Packers by just one half game.  The fact of the matter is the Bears have defeated only one team with a winning record (see front running Packers).  If the Bears want to keep hope alive they would be well served to put Minnesota down as they enter and absolute meat grinder finish.

I watched an episode of the Andy Griffith Show yesterday and Sheriff Taylor proclaimed "the blue and orange wins every time".  I hope you're right sheriff, but I haven't felt good about this game all week.  Mostly because the combination of the Bears swiss cheese offensive line and struggles to protect their turn over prone ball handlers.

Official Prediction:  Vikings 25, Bears 17.  Sigh......you know what always makes me feel better?  Jen Sterger.  Am I right, Brett?

How Do You Like Your Milquetoast?

Another Brewers season has come and gone, leaving yet another winter to mull disappointment.  For a second consecutive season, the Brewers pitching staff failed to perform at even a reasonable level and the potent put erratic offense was just good enough to keep the team mediocre.  It took about 20 minutes after the season concluded for the Brewers brain trust of general manager Doug Melvin and majority owner Mark Attanasio to decline the 2011 option of former manager Ken Macha.  From opening day 2009 Macha, when he opted not to start Yovani Gallardo against San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum, was at odds with both Brewers fans and players.  Getting rid of Macha was the easy part, now Melvin must find a way to upgrade the pitching staff with a limited budget and the failings of previous free agent acquisitions Jeff Suppan and Doug Davis fresh in his mind.  Star first baseman Prince Fielder will enter the final year of arbitration so there is much speculation that the Brewers will try to trade Fielder for young affordable pitching talent.  With San Diego Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez also rumored to be on the trading block and Fielder's single dimension skill set, there is concern the Brewers will not be able to obtain what they need.

The season was not all down moments, however.  Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, Casey McGehee, Ryan Braun and Fielder all hit over twenty home runs and Hart, McGehee and Braun each knocked in over 100 runs.  Gallardo led the team with 14 wins and 200 strike outs and promising young players like closer John Axford, catcher Jonathan Lucroy and center fielder Lorenzo Cain made big contributions and give hope for the future.

Brewer Of The Year:  Corey Hart  .283 BA, 31 HR, 102 RBI, 7 SB

No Brewer had more big moments in 2010 than the starting right fielder.  After starting the season in a platoon situation Hart emerged as one of the team's  offensive leaders and earned a spot on the National League All Star team.  His stellar play earned him a three year contract extension.

Top 5 Brewers Games Of 2010:

5.  April 22 @ Pittsburgh  Brewers 20, Pirates 0
The Brewers tied a franchise record for margin of victory, belting four home runs and pounding out 25 hits against six Pirate pitchers.

4.  June 24 vs Minnesota  Brewers 5, Twins 0
Gallardo struck out 12 Twins and allowed just five hits in a complete game shut out that sealed the Brewers first home sweep of Minnesota since 1995.

3.  September 7 vs St. Louis  Brewers 4, Cardinals 2
In front of a raucous home crowd Brewers relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman pitched a scoreless ninth inning to become the first player in Major League Baseball history to record 600 saves.  The historical night provided emotional relief for both Hoffman and the Brewers as a frustrating season neared an end.

2.  August 6 vs Houston  Brewers 6, Astros 5
Astros closer Matt Lindstrom retired the first Brewer he faced, trying to protect a three run ninth inning lead, but would not retire a second hitter.  Pinch hitter Joe Ignlett hit his only home run of the season with a runner on to bring the Brewers with in one and after Weeks and Hart reached, Fielder doubled down the right field line driving in the winning runs.  Hart scored all the way from first narrowly beating the throw of Hunter Pence and capping the Brewers most exciting come back of the year.

1.  May 28 vs New York (NL)  Brewers 2, Mets 0
For eight and one half innings Gallardo and Mets ace Johan Santana matched each other pitch for pitch, but Mets manager Jerry Manuel went to the bullpen in the bottom of the ninth and paid the price.  With two outs Hart connected for a two run walk off home run off Ryota Igarashi.

Beer, Cheese And Excuses

I don't see what's the big deal.  We all expected the team with the explosive passing game and aggressive, opportunistic defense to be leading the NFC North by week three right?  Ok, so very few thought it would be the Bears, and of course the big key is it is only week three, but it is has only taken three weeks for the Bears to knock off two preseason favorites, Dallas and Green Bay.

After the Bears resourceful win over Green Bay Monday many Packers fans were digging in to the excuse bag.   The Bears didn't win the game, the bumbling, fumbling Pack gave the game away.  Bumble and fumble?  They did.  Give the game away?  Not a chance.

Green Bay committed 18 penalties, including a holding call that took a touchdown off the board and negated interceptions with a pass interference call and a roughing the passer penalty.  They also turned the ball over twice, dropped an interception and wasted a time out on a bad challenge late in the fourth quarter.  Clearly not a clean performance, but a lot of the Packers mistakes were a result of Chicago's aggressive play.  Six of the Packers penalties committed by their offensive line came against the lineman lined up against Bears end Julius Peppers.  Peppers routinely whipped and intimidated tackles Mark Tauscher and Chad Clifton.  The two wiped out interceptions were the clear result of rules infractions by Green Bay.  The first throw was influenced short by a vicious helmet to helmet hit by linebacker Frank Zombo on Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.  On the second Packers safety Morgan Burnett prevented Bears receiver Earl Bennett from being able to work his way back to an under thrown pass, leaving the intercepting Nick Collins uncontested.  Burnett did a nice job of turning his head to the throw, but was running through Bennett and not playing the ball.  Don't believe me?  Ask the three officials that threw flags on the play.  The only real self inflicted wounds were Collins inexplicable slamming of Bears running back Matt Forte to the ground after the whistle had blown resulting in an unnecessary roughness penalty and Packers coach Mike McCarthy challenging a clear fumble recovery by Bears cornerback Tim Jennings costing the Packers a valuable second half time out.

As far as the two turnovers go, both were forced by the big paw of Bears star linebacker Brian Urlacher.  Speaking of plays made by the Bears, did they not block a field goal?  And did they not produce three long kick returns, including one for a touchdown?  And did Cutler not throw a touchdown to tight end Greg Olson?  And did Johnny Knox not have 94 yards receiving?  Or were those more Packers making more mistakes?  A lot was made of Green Bay's total yardage advantage of 379 to 276, but you have remember that one of the Bears offensive possessions was Devin Hester's 62 yard lighting bolt to the house.  The Bears held their own with Green Bay on offense and defense and took the game on special teams.

Let's not forget the sloppy Packers didn't have the market cornered on mistakes either.   So for fun we'll play "Packer logic" and blame mistakes.  Since the Bears missed a field goal, threw an interception in the red zone, dropped an interception, committed a roughing the passer penalty on a Packers touchdown drive, failed to score on fourth and goal from the half yard line, followed up Jennings fumble recovery with a crucial holding call on center Olin Kreutz and wasted a second half time out and final challenge on Lovie Smith's ill advised challenge of a phantom touchdown pass to Bennett, then the Packers should consider themselves lucky the Bears let them stay with in three scores.

In my preview of this game I said both teams were trying to make a statement.  The Bears wanted to show they could beat good teams and the Packers wanted to show the Bears who was in charge.  Well the Bears showed at least for now they intend on being a factor and as far as the Packers go, is it really surprising how they lost?  To a certain extent the Packers are who we thought they were, a penalty plagued unit with a shoddy offensive line.  So if you want to crown their ass, then crown their ass, but we will never forget the way the Bears thrilled the nation with their five wide, no backs formation.

The Holy War

Growing up a Bears fan in southern Wisconsin during the Brett Favre reign did something to me.  It broke something.  It made me not like you.  From 1994-1998 the Packers beat the Bears ten times in a row.  I was subjected to emotional abuse from friends, neighbors and loved ones.  I was subjected to this.  Then Lovie Smith came to town and started making everything OK.  The Bears started beating the Pack, big wins like Christmas day 2005 to clinch the NFC North, a 26-0 beat down at Lambeau to kick off the Super Bowl XLI run and a late December 35-7 shellacking at Soldier Field in 2007 to keep the Packers from attaining home field advantage in the playoffs.   Favre stopped throwing touchdown passes to Robert Brooks and Antonio Freeman and started throwing them to Nathan Vasher, Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher.  Things were good.  But a new pain in the ass has emerged at quarterback for the hated Packers, a man who in any other colors would be a favorite of mine, a man who has swung the momentum of The Rivalry in the wrong direction.  This f'ing guy.  Aaron Rodgers.  Rodgers has led Green Bay to win three of the last four meetings with Chicago and would have had them all if not for the long arm of Alex Brown.
Well folks, its time for the 180th installment of the greatest rivalry in sports (of which the Bears hold a 91-82-6 advantage, including the only playoff match up victory).

The Green Bay Packers, steeped in the great passing tradition of Bart Starr and Favre, bring their latest aerial edition to Soldier Field to face a franchise notorious for their legendary runners like Gayle Sayers and Walter Payton, the Chicago Bears, and their.....top of the line passing attack?  That's right, these aren't your grandfather's Bears, these aren't even my father's Bears.  With the infusion of offensive coordinator Mike Martz and quarterback Jay Cutler, the Bears now boast one of the league's top passing attacks.  Granted it's been only two games but early results speak for themselves as Cutler has put up 649 passing yards, five touchdowns to just one interception, leads the NFL with a 121.2 passer rating and was most impressive picking apart a highly touted Cowboys team in Dallas.  The Packers defense will pose a special new challenge to the Bears, with NFL sack leader Clay Matthews and defending NFL Defensive Player Of The Year Charles Woodson leading a terrorizing 3-4 grouping.  After a rocky start and the loss of starting left tackle Chris Williams the Bears adjusted and eventually handled the Cowboys 3-4 defense, but Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers takes confusion to another level with the inclusion of a specialized mutation of one defensive lineman, five linebackers and five defensive backs, or psycho defense.  The Bears offensive line came into the season as the team's biggest question mark and has definitely had their issues, but by the second half of the Dallas game Martz had schemed around and line coach Mike Tice had coach the unit up to the point that the Bears were able to start using play action and deep drops again.  Recognizing where the defensive pressure is coming from and addressing it properly will be key in giving Cutler the time he needs to attack a Packers secondary thinned out by injuries to Al Harris and Atari Bigby.

The Bears certainly are the new kids on the block throwing the ball, but Rodgers is building on two consecutive seasons with a passer rating of better than 93 and threw a most impressive 30 touchdowns to just seven interceptions last season.  Getting to Rodgers with be key for the Bears who have registered just two sacks this season despite the addition of big time pass rushing free agent Julius Peppers.  That's not to say the Bears defense has played poorly, rejuvenated by the healthy return of Urlacher they've actually been quite stout forcing six turnovers and allowing just 58 rushing yards.  The Packers offensive concerns also revolve around a suspect offensive line that is a little banged up with left tackle Chad Clifton and left guard Darren College both missing practice time this week.  How they, or their reserves, hold up against the Bears aggressive front seven will dictate how Rodgers will operate against a secondary that can be victimized through the air and is missing top draft pick Major Wright.

You may have noticed I'm four paragraphs in and I've yet to address the running backs.  It's not that won't impact the game, it's just that the Packers best runner, Ryan Grant is out for the season and Chicago's Matt Forte has over twice as many receiving yards as rushing yards and all three of his touchdowns through the air.    Both teams feature talented receiving corps, the Packers have the more polished group led NFL elites Greg Jennings and Donald Driver.  The emerging Bears try to kill with speed behind burners Devin Hester, Devin Aromashodu and Johnny Knox, but the real fun will be in watching how each team deals with the others tight ends (uh, so to speak).  The Packers 6'5" Jermichael Finley is coming off a 104 yard receiving effort against Buffalo, but will face two of the league's better all around linebackers in Urlacher and Briggs.  Chicago's speedy Greg Olson also performed well in his last game completing a 39 yard touchdown catch and run.  Safe to say both team's safeties will have their hands full.

For years the Bears have had some of the league's best special teams units, sending three different players to the Pro Bowl since 2007 with Hester and Brendon Ayanbadejo each making the team twice in that span.  Kicker Robbie Gould is off to another great start, but the usually solid punter Brad Maynard and kick coverage units have been shaky.  The Bears kick return game hasn't been up to its usual par either, but with Knox, Hester and Danieal Manning all with career return touchdowns, they are always a threat.  Green Bay made dealing with Chicago's special teams a top priority last season and were not burned by the units.  They are also experiencing a surge in kick returns behind Jordy Nelson's 31 yards a return average and are getting production early from kicker Mason Crosby.

The Packers enter the game a deserved favorite.  They made the playoff last season, the Bears didn't.  They swept the Bears last season.  It's up to the Bears to prove last week's win in Dallas wasn't a fluke and they can play at the same level as the Packers.  I think this is a more important game for the Bears, because, well, I think it would be easier for Green Bay to make up a game in the standings.  Both teams want to make a statement, there is an underlying sentiment that with the Viking at 0-2 that the Packers are already two games up on the division, the upstart Bears need to prove that is not the case by knocking off a Super Bowl caliber team.  Green Bay needs to show they are in control of the division by pounding the Bears.  It's going to come down to who can protect their star quarterback better and who takes better care of the ball.  Not exactly ground breaking analysis, I know, but it is a more glaring key in this game than most.  Hopefully the Soldier Field crowd noise will give the Bears a split second edge against the Packers beat up offensive line.  Hopefully Rodgers is left with a life time of Peppers and Charles Tillman related nightmares.

Official Prediction:  Bears 34, Packers 27.  Ok, ok, I know it is a homer pick, but come on, how could you ever love a team with Jim McMahon?  Not even Porky Pig was as big a ham.

Amateur Restaurant Reviews (Vol. I & II)

I dined at a couple local restaurants this past week and here's my take on how things went.

Vol. I:  Brickhouse BBQ

Cuisine: Bar-B-Que

Appetizers:  $7-$10

Entrées:  $10-$20

Portions:  Generous

Drinks:  There was a fairly expansive selections of tap beers (New Glarus, Lake Louie, Central Waters, Tyranena, Lakefront, Furthermore, etc.), but they offered only one variety of most brands.  I enjoyed a 312 Urban Wheat from Goose Island as well as a Bitter Woman IPA from Tyranena.


Food:  The food seemed formulated and lacked the soul of real smokehouse BBQ.  The menu features classic BBQ fare such as ribs, pork, chicken and brisket (oddly the brisket was served only on the sandwich menu).  There were also fish, burger and salad options.  Side were also traditional, potatoes, cole slaw, beans collard greens and the like, but the menu was clearly missing fried okra.  I had the pulled pork with sides of cole slaw, baked beans and hushpuppies with banana coconut cream pie for dessert.  The pork was decent, but didn't have that melt in your mouth quality of real slow roasted pork shoulder.  The BBQ sauce was a joke, they brought out three little saucers containing a vinegar based sauce, a tomato based sauce and a mustard based sauce.  I actually preferred the mustard sauce, but they were all pedestrian.  Any BBQ joint worth its salt has a signature sauce.  The sides were weak too, the hushpuppies were dry, the "creamy" cole slaw wasn't and the beans were, for some reason, incredibly spicy.  The dessert was also misguided, relying to heavily on sugar for taste and contained unsliced banana quarters, that were almost frozen. 

Rating:  Slightly above poor



Vol. II:  New Seoul Korean Restaurant

Cuisine:  Korean

Entrées:  $4-$22

Portions:  Generous

Drinks:  Soft drinks, bottled beer, wine

Food:  New Seoul features a great collection of soups, bokum and bulgogi.  I had the spicy pork bokum, miso soup and green tea.  The miso soup was warm, rich and tangy, but pretty standard.  The bokum was amazing.  Tender pork and a zesty collection of onions in a spicy red pepper sauce mixed with steamed rice made for heaven on a plate.  Also served as complementary sides were kimchi, daikon radish and cold crinkle cut potato slices in a sweet syrup, all of which were delicious.

Rating:  Highly recommended

Grant Recinded

Well cheese doodles, how are you feeling this morning?  Yesterday news was handed down the Green Bay Packers starting half back Ryan Grant would be lost for the 2010 NFL season.  So what does this mean for a team poised to make a run at a return to glory?  Doom?  Probably not.  Nothing?  Definitely not.

What makes the Green Bay offense so deadly is their multiple wide receiver sets allowing star quarterback Aaron Rodgers to victimize the opposition's reserve secondary players.  That doesn't mean a strong rushing attack isn't important and Grant was certainly strong, rushing for over 1,200 yard in both of the past two seasons.  Having a dangerous ground game adds another dimension to the high powered Packer offense, keeping opposing defenses from loading up against the pass, particularly teams with a strong pass rush that can take advantage of the Packers suspect offensive line.  Green Bay has an explosive back up in Brandon Jackson, but he has never attempted more than 75 rushes in any of his four seasons.  Jackson's 175 career carries are 107 fewer than Grant had last season alone, so whether or not he can pick up the slack remains to be seen.  Of bigger concern is what would happen if Jackson were to also suffer a serious injury.  The Packers current roster offers two fullbacks, Korey Hall and Quinn Johnson, as well as half backs John Kuhn and the recently added Dimitri Nance.  The quartet boasts a total of 20 NFL carries, all by Kuhn.

For the time being Green Bay is still a playoff worthy team with an explosive offense and opportunistic defense anchored by rising star Clay Matthews and 2009 NFL Defensive Player Of The Year Charles Woodson, but team depth has taken a serious blow.  A lot of an NFL season is surviving injuries and losing a key weapon in the first week of the season sets the Packers back in the race for NFC dominance with the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints.

Is there anybody out there?

Welcome to Abraham's House Of Foolishness!  I've been writing a sports blog for over three years, focusing on American sports leagues on another site, that has more or less alienated its blogging core.  My search for a new platform has led me here and with this new platform comes new horizons.  While sports is still my passion and will be the bread and butter of this blog, I will also share my thoughts on food, beer, family and life in general as well.  Enjoy!