First of all, a Happy Birthday to my little niece! She turns 3. I don't think she likes football, but it's not too late to convert. She loves Minnie Mouse though.
LOCKS of the Week are coming up. I really blew it by not doing LOCKS yesterday because I saw Tennessee was getting 6 at home vs the Steelers and in my mind it was a layup. Part of that is my bias against the Steelers old saggy defense, but nonetheless... that was a big point spread for a team that has been a joke on the road all season. Pit is now 0-3 on the road. I'm not surprised -- this team can't play defense.
My feeling was the corners and safeties were either too old or two raw. I think they used Ryan Mundy at Safety to replace him. Lamarr Woodley was out as well. Betweeen the injuries and the age, it was clear that pretty much any team with a good QB could exploit the middle of the field, and the edges, on 3rd down. Even 3rd and long plays were pretty helpless last night.
I'm honestly suprised the Steelers were in it as long as they were. It came down to a 52 yard field goal attempt for Kicker Shaun Suisham. If you're familiar with Suisham, he is essentially worthless from any distance 50 yards or longer. It was as good as trying to play the hard 8's in craps... pretty much a prop bet at that point.
The Steelers are a miserable team. It's funny because they're a good offensive team but when your defense is *this* bad, one might figure it's better to cut bait and just play out the season. I'm not asking Pit to lose games on purpose but, it wouldn't be the end of the world if they finished with a bad record. Bad record = good draft pick and it's about time for Pit to address their secondary.
For years I moaned about offensive line problems. It seems that this is now a little better with Pouncey and DeCastro and Colon. Now to address a defense that has been around a while, perhaps too long. Linemen and linebackers are solid. FIX THAT SECONDARY.
Thrilling day in baseball yesterday and with it all came the Giants HUGE Game 5 win at Cincinnati. I don't even know what to say anymore. Not only are the Giants the most resilient team I know in the modern age, but the Reds are the complete opposite of that, and I'm going to put a lot of that on Dusty Baker and Walt Jocketty. First of all... there is no way you can ever trust Jonathan Broxton in any playoff situation. I don't care if it's the 6th inning, 7th inning or 4th inning. He sucks! To acquire him having known his bad performances in recent years in the playoffs is a joke. I know that Broxton wasn't responsible for losing all three games, but everything turned in that 8th inning on Tuesday. Now to Dusty Baker... what kind of a moron sends two runners with Hannigan at the plate, liable to strike out needing every run you can get? You **NEVER** should get the first out at 3rd base! Common baseball adage!! NEVER, EVER, EVER! There's a reason some of the biggest MLB chokes of all time came at the hands of the same manager.
Remember Bartman? Remember the Ortiz Game ball in the '02 World Series that blew up in their face? Remember hitting the pitcher against the Mets in 2000? All of that was Dusty Baker. I don't even know what more to say about that. The results speak for themselves. The Reds were in my opinion the most talented team in the NL playoffs. Now they don't even get to have a chance at a World Series. It's a disgrace.
Game 5 of the Yankees series: I mean, National Media can we give it a rest? On and on about the lineup and A-Rod and pinch hitting. I know it was a big story but we're acting like the Yankees are going to be the greatest underdog story of the year. They really aren't and quite frankly if they were as good as they're hyped to be, they should have put this series away by now. I honestly don't think the Orioles are that good.
The game itself should be terrific, however, and lots of drama is to follow. May the better team win. Not "best"... better.
There's also a big college football schedule this weekend, and I look forward to that. I won't have time to discuss it all, but I have a feeling LSU is going to beat South Carolina. I really do. They're not only at home, but they're trying to make up for the loss at Florida.
Not much to discuss with food, but I wonder if at some point I'll have the good fortune at going to Just BBQ in Ventura. I'll be visiting family nearby this weekend, and Just BBQ does the tri tip sandwich RIGHT. They've done it right for nearly 20 years. I cannot BELIEVE nobody in L.A. can make a tri tip sandwich as good as they do in Ventura/Santa Barbara/Santa Maria. It really isn't that hard! 1. Get the tri tip. 2. Roast the tri tip on a giant grill, medium rare. 3. Add garlic toast for the bun. 4. Add good BBQ sauce. And yet, time and time again they do something messed up. Add sesame seeds to the garlic toast (really?!). Overcook the meat... Use a mediocre sauce. Add toppings that dont need to be there. Wood Ranch comes closest but again, that strange honey glaze sauce doesn't do it for me. It's good but it doesn't feel *right.* Furthermore, Wood Ranch doesn't put enough meat in the sandwich, and likewise, they overcook the meat.
Someday, L.A. will get it... just like Doc Rivers....
Farewell to Beano Cook. I am going to miss that old curmudgeon. I do think it's funny that Notre Dame is having its best season in 20 years on the year of his death. I don't like Notre Dame, but if they can have a great year for Beano, that'd be all right with me. He was a riot to listen to on ESPN Radio. Steeler fan too!
Lastly, we bid farewell to the old Wendy's Restaurant logo. It lasted quite a while, but now it will be replaced by another soft, reader's digest worthy cursive like font. Meh. I see enough of these simplistic logos out there.
That's all from here. LOCKS are coming up later today (probably in the afternoon).
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