Dave's Thoughts of the Day: November 8th

What is UP?

This week has gone so quickly.  I cannot believe it's Thursday.  It is insane.  I'm happy!  I'm flabbergasted too.

Governor... "Chris" Christie.   Imagine a last name so similar to the first name?   Over the years I've seen a lot of these and half the time I wonder if the names are real, i.e. not changed to become a stage name.

Casey Kasem... that sounds like a stage name, but it actually isn't.  "Casey" is just a nickname, but the last name is legit.

Carl Carlton.  Really??   I did not buy this as a real name for a second but maybe he had some bad mamma jammas.  Just as fine as they could be.  Welp, I checked and the name checks out.  That his is honest to goodness actual name.

Rod Roddy.  Here's another one (R.I.P. by the way).   Roddy is the correct last name, but the "Rod" was a bit of a stretch.  His name by birth was Robert Ray Roddy, but "Rod" seems like a shortened form of "Robert."  Catchy name, come on down!

Then there's the big one:  Al Albuquerque.  True name and legit, even if Mike Francesa won't believe it.

Interesting, huh?

Ever hear of the term "continental breakfast" at hotels?   They should just call it "cheap breakfast."   Oh a bunch of tossed together fruits and some breads they grabbed from Costco.

In Los Angeles, they have all kinds of different pizza, including authentic pizza, esoteric pizza, and artisan pizza.  The pizza they DON'T have is Toppers.   It's hard to explain what Toppers is.  Toppers... as I grew up with in Oxnard and Ventura, is a crustless pizza with lots of a zesty tomato sauce.   It's baked in a typical pizza oven and comes out a little thicker than most pizzas, but not as thick as a pan pizza.  Without the crust, the cheese goes all the way to the edge.  It's like wall-to-wall movie screens.

Toppers is a Ventura County signature.  Even in college at Cal Lutheran they had a Toppers nearby in Thousand Oaks.  It's tremendous, as is their salad bar and their oven baked sandwiches.  In Santa Barbara, their answer is Rusty's.  Similar idea but not as good.  I tell you it's that extra tomato-y zesty sauce.   Totally makes the pizza at Toppers.  In the L.A. area, there is no answer.  They try so hard to be artsy fartsy, but they haven't attempted a down-to-earth "not trying to be New York" style pizza like Toppers.   In fact, I don't even think they'd have a Toppers like pizza in New York.   New Yorkers would probably scoff at it, but I love it.   Can't we just appreciate both?  Here's a photo of a Toppers Pizza:

Isn't that delicious?   Marvelous, folks.

It just occurred to me there's some other pizza chain in the Mid-West that also is called "Toppers".   Not at all the same, though.  They seem to be a bigger chain and they don't use the crustless design.  

Toppers also represents the family pizza parlor, which is a place like Round Table, or a place like what Pizza Hut used to be many years ago.   Families go to Toppers often to enjoy the games, salad, and good pizza.  We have a new location that opened up on the Channel Islands harbor near my parents' home that's fantastic.   They also will show games on flat screen TVs around the building.

No Frills Family Pizza Parlors are easier to find in L.A. thanks to Shakey's.  I too love the Shakey's.  The Pizza is not as good but I have always liked the atmosphere, the Mojo Potatoes, and their all-you-can-eat lunch special.   My buddy in Torrance tells me there's also a Lamppost Pizza out there.   Lamppost Pizza is a familiar name:  that was also a staple over in Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park.

No crazy stories to share today.  Would it even be worth talking about the Lakers right now?  I can't watch any of the games, but it sounds like the media en masse is giving up on them.  Fair enough, go give up on them after freaking 4 games, usually teams respond better when the media puts them down.

ALL IS WELL
DO NOT PANIC
THE LAKERS WILL BE ABOVE .500

The only thing we can say conclusively is that Mike Brown sucks with offense.  We have known this for *years.*  People looked at me weird when I said he was holding the team back after two games.  Suddenly, the rest of the country is saying the same thing after four.  Can't figure it out.

But again... its week one.  Time is in abundance.

The "Kobe Stare" which I haven't even seen yet, no thanks to Directv's holdout on TWC Sportsnet, is apparently a big deal.   I'm telling you, people need to find better things to talk about.  Of course Kobe is going to be upset when the Lakers aren't winning.  What would happen if he was joking around on the bench last night?   That would be far worse.

BOLD PREDICTION OF THE WEEK:  At least one of the top four teams in the BCS is going to lose this weekend.  I don't know which one, but one of them will.

LOCKS of the week, by the way, is going to be impossible.   I can't place confidence on any of the point spreads this week, either in College or Pro Football.

That's all I have.   Go out and get some pizza!