STRANDED IN THE OZARKS, A FEW BOWL COMMENTS & A DECADENT SNACK
Linda & I were unable to travel to Kansas City for her family's Christmas festivities because of blizzard conditions up there. Our weather here at the Lake isn't too great, but it wouldn't have kept us from traveling. We've had some snow, with more forecast & single-digit wind chills. It's snowing right now. So we decided to stay home as we didn't want to run the risk of getting stuck in the city. So after an extended trip to the grocery store, we were set for the weekend. Watched "Up" yesterday, which was a wonderful movie & I prepared a delicious prime rib dinner. Linda is off till Tuesday, so we'll be venturing out this afternoon in search of a movie or two, the bowl games have been less than exciting, so another movie would be nice.
Like I said, the bowl games have been, for the most part, very one-sided. Which translates to boring for everyone not rooting for a specific team or having a wager on the game. I liked SMU on Christmas Eve & loved San Diego last night, but I've never been able to gamble on Christmas Eve or Day, just a personal thing. Of course both won handily. The 3 bowl games today look like this:
Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl--Ohio vs. Marshall
Too many bowl games you say? I couldn't agree more & this game is a shining example. Marshall, a 6-6 team that isn't ranked in the top-60 of any offensive or defensive statistical category, pitted against Ohio, a team that has never won a bowl game in the school's history. Never, ever, never. Truly an intriguing matchup don't you think? The Ohio Bobcats were 3-point favorites against Marshall's Thundering Herd. No thanks, I believe I'll pass.
Meinke Car Care Bowl--North Carolina vs. Pittsburgh
This game is a matchup of very stingy defense(Carolina) against a high-powered offense(that would be Pitt). Pitt is led by true freshman runner, Dion Lewis & he will face a top-10 run defense eager to stop him. The pass-catch combination of QB Bill Stull & WR Jonathan Baldwin is electric, Baldwin, a sophomore, looks to be 1st round material when he decides to make the jump to the NFL. Pitt is a 2 1/2 point favorite, but they lost their last 2 games against West Virginia & Cincinnati, so again, no thanks.
Emerald Bowl--Boston College vs. USC
B.C. will take it's squad of overachievers out to the left coast to play a disappointing group of underachievers who may not even be glad to be in a bowl game. Pete Carroll has led his Trojans to 6-straight BCS bowl games, how excited are they about going to this lame game? Defensive captain & All-American safety, Taylor Mays, talked about how disappointing their season was & said "I just want the season to be over." USC has lost 2 starters to injury, 5 have become academically ineligible & another, starting running back Joe McKnight, might not be allowed to play because of an unresolved investigation regarding the ownership of an SUV. The Trojans finished a distant 6th in the PAC-10, after being touted as a contender for the national championship by many. Loyal readers will remember, I thought this program would flame out, a victim of their own bad karma. Boston College, in their 11th consecutive bowl appearance, rarely excites their fans enough to travel in numbers to bowl games. I doubt there will be much excitement in SoCal for this trip north, so I don't be surprised to see AT&T Park about half full for this less than scintillating matchup. Trojans are favored by 7 1/2, but I can't find an advantage to either side.
Did you see the 3 players the Chiefs signed over the last 3 days? You ought to pay closer attention because they inked WR's Logan Payne, Chandler Williams & safety Reshard Langford. If you can't get excited because you've never heard of any of them, join the club, I haven't either. But remember Chiefs' fans, "It's a process." I've compared the Chiefs' player personnel moves to a Chinese fire drill which is unfair to Chinese fire drills, they are more organized than the Chiefs.
It was just 38 years ago yesterday, Mike R. & I sat in old Municipal Stadium watching what would become the longest NFL game ever played, Miami-Kansas City, in the 1st round of the playoffs. It was Christmas Day, Mike & I were both on leave before we were to be deployed overseas, he in the Army, me in the Air Force. We had been friends since 8th grade & now we were going to be separated for a few years, Mike was going to take me to the airport for my red eye flight to the coast around midnight Christmas night. Even tho I was in the service, I kept my Chiefs tickets, at that time they were like gold. My Mom & her husband were there, sitting across the field. Dad, Betty & Dick were there, one section over from us in the Wolfpack & my future wife Linda & her Dad were there as well. This was, in my opinion, the best Chiefs' team ever, they were 2 years removed from winning Super Bowl IV & many thought they were headed back, I know I did. You know the result, KC lost in the 6th period, 27-24 & we were devastated. As we arrived for the our overtime-delayed Christmas dinner, I saw a lot of long faces, people were really wired into that team. I'm glad the league no longer has playoff games on Christmas, they made certain it never happened again when they went to the 16-game schedule. Still, I always remember that game & the impact it had on so many Christmases around Kansas City.
One last note, one of Linda's co-workers, Kim(a former Chiefs cheerleader & monster football fan), told Linda how to make some of the most delicious snacks & I want to pass it on to you. It's worth the effort, it only requires 3 ingredients & is totally easy to prepare.
1 small bag of mini twist pretzels
1 bag of Dove chocolate caramel bite size mini's
1 bag of chopped walnuts
Step 1--put a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet
Step 2--pre heat oven to 300 degrees
Step 3--scatter the mini pretzels on the parchment paper
Step 4--Unwrap the Dove chocolate caramels & place them squarely on top of the pretzels
Step 5--place in the oven for about 5 minutes, enough to soften the chocolate substantially
Step 6--remove from oven & put walnut pieces on top of melted chocolate caramels
Step 7--let cool for about 20 minutes & then have it, they're great!
Thanks Kim!
Like I said, the bowl games have been, for the most part, very one-sided. Which translates to boring for everyone not rooting for a specific team or having a wager on the game. I liked SMU on Christmas Eve & loved San Diego last night, but I've never been able to gamble on Christmas Eve or Day, just a personal thing. Of course both won handily. The 3 bowl games today look like this:
Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl--Ohio vs. Marshall
Too many bowl games you say? I couldn't agree more & this game is a shining example. Marshall, a 6-6 team that isn't ranked in the top-60 of any offensive or defensive statistical category, pitted against Ohio, a team that has never won a bowl game in the school's history. Never, ever, never. Truly an intriguing matchup don't you think? The Ohio Bobcats were 3-point favorites against Marshall's Thundering Herd. No thanks, I believe I'll pass.
Meinke Car Care Bowl--North Carolina vs. Pittsburgh
This game is a matchup of very stingy defense(Carolina) against a high-powered offense(that would be Pitt). Pitt is led by true freshman runner, Dion Lewis & he will face a top-10 run defense eager to stop him. The pass-catch combination of QB Bill Stull & WR Jonathan Baldwin is electric, Baldwin, a sophomore, looks to be 1st round material when he decides to make the jump to the NFL. Pitt is a 2 1/2 point favorite, but they lost their last 2 games against West Virginia & Cincinnati, so again, no thanks.
Emerald Bowl--Boston College vs. USC
B.C. will take it's squad of overachievers out to the left coast to play a disappointing group of underachievers who may not even be glad to be in a bowl game. Pete Carroll has led his Trojans to 6-straight BCS bowl games, how excited are they about going to this lame game? Defensive captain & All-American safety, Taylor Mays, talked about how disappointing their season was & said "I just want the season to be over." USC has lost 2 starters to injury, 5 have become academically ineligible & another, starting running back Joe McKnight, might not be allowed to play because of an unresolved investigation regarding the ownership of an SUV. The Trojans finished a distant 6th in the PAC-10, after being touted as a contender for the national championship by many. Loyal readers will remember, I thought this program would flame out, a victim of their own bad karma. Boston College, in their 11th consecutive bowl appearance, rarely excites their fans enough to travel in numbers to bowl games. I doubt there will be much excitement in SoCal for this trip north, so I don't be surprised to see AT&T Park about half full for this less than scintillating matchup. Trojans are favored by 7 1/2, but I can't find an advantage to either side.
Did you see the 3 players the Chiefs signed over the last 3 days? You ought to pay closer attention because they inked WR's Logan Payne, Chandler Williams & safety Reshard Langford. If you can't get excited because you've never heard of any of them, join the club, I haven't either. But remember Chiefs' fans, "It's a process." I've compared the Chiefs' player personnel moves to a Chinese fire drill which is unfair to Chinese fire drills, they are more organized than the Chiefs.
It was just 38 years ago yesterday, Mike R. & I sat in old Municipal Stadium watching what would become the longest NFL game ever played, Miami-Kansas City, in the 1st round of the playoffs. It was Christmas Day, Mike & I were both on leave before we were to be deployed overseas, he in the Army, me in the Air Force. We had been friends since 8th grade & now we were going to be separated for a few years, Mike was going to take me to the airport for my red eye flight to the coast around midnight Christmas night. Even tho I was in the service, I kept my Chiefs tickets, at that time they were like gold. My Mom & her husband were there, sitting across the field. Dad, Betty & Dick were there, one section over from us in the Wolfpack & my future wife Linda & her Dad were there as well. This was, in my opinion, the best Chiefs' team ever, they were 2 years removed from winning Super Bowl IV & many thought they were headed back, I know I did. You know the result, KC lost in the 6th period, 27-24 & we were devastated. As we arrived for the our overtime-delayed Christmas dinner, I saw a lot of long faces, people were really wired into that team. I'm glad the league no longer has playoff games on Christmas, they made certain it never happened again when they went to the 16-game schedule. Still, I always remember that game & the impact it had on so many Christmases around Kansas City.
One last note, one of Linda's co-workers, Kim(a former Chiefs cheerleader & monster football fan), told Linda how to make some of the most delicious snacks & I want to pass it on to you. It's worth the effort, it only requires 3 ingredients & is totally easy to prepare.
1 small bag of mini twist pretzels
1 bag of Dove chocolate caramel bite size mini's
1 bag of chopped walnuts
Step 1--put a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet
Step 2--pre heat oven to 300 degrees
Step 3--scatter the mini pretzels on the parchment paper
Step 4--Unwrap the Dove chocolate caramels & place them squarely on top of the pretzels
Step 5--place in the oven for about 5 minutes, enough to soften the chocolate substantially
Step 6--remove from oven & put walnut pieces on top of melted chocolate caramels
Step 7--let cool for about 20 minutes & then have it, they're great!
Thanks Kim!
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