Few more thoughts on College Football Week 1

Just a few things to point out:

Hey Georgia Tech quarterback - and I don't even know the guy's name - in overtime, when you have the first possession, EAT THE BALL and let your team KICK THE FIELD GOAL.  In overtime points become a must have and you basically handed Virginia Tech the game.

I was just told that Oklahoma State just scored again.

The Huskers play in the Big 10, but that conference looked horrible over the weekend.  Only Nebraska, Ohio State and Purdue looked like they belonged.  Everyone else lost or barely won.

Sure, Alabama looked like an NFL team week one, but let's see what they do over the course of the season.

Big 12 actually had a perfect weekend despite a few scares (KU actually trailed South Dakota State at one point and K-State only led Missouri State 16-9 in the fourth).

With those thoughts aside, I'm ready for six days of football in a row starting Wednesday.

MLB and Husker Football Thoughts

I gave some thoughts on the Hall of Fame and who is on and who is not, but wanted to get another thought in as well as a Husker football thought.

As an Astros fan (yes we do still exist) I am hoping beyond hope that Craig Biggio gets inducted with Jeff Bagwell more than anything.  The two, together, were the keys to the Houston Astros franchise for about 15 years and brought class and dignity to the franchise.

However, the likelihood that they both go in together...I will have to say, it's going to be a long shot.  You have to get 75 percent of the votes.  Then you have the issue of will some voters put Bagwell in because of the performance enhancing drugs deal.

Also a quick Husker football thought: Taylor Martinez actually looked a lot better in the first game Saturday. I thought they'd win but I didn't think Martinez would have a quarterback rating of 212.5.  My sources also tell me Rex Burkhead will be just fine.

So now it's off to UCLA for the Huskers, and we should know more about the team after next weekend.  UCLA will no doubt come ready to play and they have the talent to get it done.

Until next time....

Quick Blog - Major League Baseball Hall of Fame

I'll be back with more details tomorrow, but I will say this.  The Houston Chronicle did a brief piece on Roger Clemens and some of the notables who will be on the MLB Hall of Fame ballot for the first time, as well as notables who will be back.  Just a few thoughts:

It always amazes me that Jack Morris doesn't get as much respect as he deserves.  He's been on the ballot 12 times but has never gotten into the Hall of Fame.  This is a guy who won three world titles with three different teams, and pitched the World Series of his life in 1991.  To this day, that 1991 World Series remains the greatest of all time in my view and Jack Morris was a large part of it.  Chances are he might still get in as he got 66 percent of the vote last time but he's running out of time.

Even more amazing is Don Mattingly, one of the sweetest swingers of all time and the current manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.  The first year he was eligible for the ballot all the way back in 2001 he received a fair amount of votes but that has steadily declined.  Sure he didn't win a world title in his career as a player, but I'm surprised at the lack of respect he has got.

As far as some of the newcomers on the ballot:

Barry Bonds - If this guy gets in at all it's going to make me puke and for those who follow the sport I think you know why.  In my view Henry Aaron is still the all time home run king.

Curt Schilling - He'll get in for sure I think - who knows how long it will take.  That 2004 ALCS and playing with a bloody sock, not to mention three world titles alone gets him in.

Craig Biggio - Also his first time on the ballot.  Ideally as an Astros fan he'll go in with Bagwell but that remains to be seen.

Roger Clemens - Here's a guy I thought I loved watching pitch.  But man, now I have mixed feelings because of the drug issues and because he wants back in the spotlight at near 50 years old.

More details coming tomorrow.

The Olympics, The NBA and preseason football

With the Olympics nearly drawing to a close and football starting up, just a few thoughts to chew on.

First of all, Nebraska's uniforms.  As a University of Nebraska alumnus, this would probably take an entire blog to go over.  Suffice to say, they are awful and not what the Nebraska uniforms should be.  We are not Texas Tech so let's not stoop to that level.

On a brighter note, have to love Jordan Larson representing the Huskers well at the Olympics on the United States women's volleyball team.  I'm not a Longhorn fan but have to give credit to Destinee Hooker as well, she is a tremendous athlete.  It's so weird to see some of these girls on the same team together considering a lot competed for national titles against each other just a few short years ago.

Also, thank heavens that the USA has taken over the medal lead from China seemingly for good.  The track and field competition has made a big difference as well as the gold medals in women's soccer and women's water polo.

As far as the NBA is concerned...wow, how much do you think David Stern rigged that Dwight Howard deal that sent him to the Lakers?  The Lakers were able to keep him and only had to unload one of Andrew Bynum or Pao Gasol...not both.  Pretty obvious to me Stern BADLY wants a Lakers/Heat NBA Finals...the league is now the Big 2 and Little 28.

It's also good to see preseason football on my TV, but I have to say Jon Gruden continues to be terrible in the broadcast booth...and the thought of Chris Berman broadcasting a game on opening weekend makes me want to throw up in my mouth.  On the good side, we'll get to see more of Ed Hochuli showing off his guns and giving dissertations of penalties which is a good thing.

Next time I'm sure I'll get into the Nebraska uniforms more.

Eating Out - It's Like a Box of Chocolates

It's always been true of eating out.

Sometimes you just don't know what you're going to get from night to night.  One would think that when you eat out at specific places that have a good reputation that you would be getting a good product.

For example, Texas Roadhouse.

I personally had only been there once prior to last week and didn't find it so great, but the old man of the house had been there twice before and had a good night out.  It's so funny how that works.

Well, we get to Roadhouse last week, and it was OK but it certainly was nothing to write home about.

The biggest problem we all had was that, number one, a lot of our steaks were very thin or skinny, not what you would expect from a steak.  The other thing was, in particular, for me I ordered my steak medium and it came out dry.

It's just so funny how some people, like Dad, can catch a restaurant on a good night but I can catch it on two bad nights.

Then, there was Cracker Barrel here in town which I and my brother went to Sunday morning.  Not that I was expecting much, as they had some issues when they first opened up, but it was nothing to write home about either.  My food was OK, but my brother wasn't exactly a fan of it.

Then, after Mom got back from a vacation, we went to Pappadeaux's on Monday night.  Wow, all I can say is everything was top notch.  I ordered their major platter which consisted of stuffed shrimp, crab cake, crawfish, catfish and shrimp.  It was a meal so big that I had to have it in two to-go boxes.  But it was all good and I enjoyed the experience.

A couple of sports notes:

1. Finally, the Astros have really completed their transformation and are building for the future now.  Brett Myers, Wandy Rodriguez and all the other scrubs - gone.  Their hope now resides in the minor leagues as their major league team might not even beat a AA farm team.  I say they should go for the worst major league baseball team in history.  That's something they can strive for.

2. I feel bad for Adam Scott after the Open Championship.  He had it in the bag and then let it get away completely with four bogeys in the last four holes.  Granted, Ernie Els is a consummate pro and one of my favorite guys on the Tour but this was supposed to be Scott's hour.

Houston's Cheesecake Factory - Always a Good Time

So, I'll start off this blog post by saying that our family has many traditions.  If there's one thing that we like to do, it's uphold family traditions.

Once per year, I go in to get my eyes checked on (at Dr. Richard Ebling, who is terrific might I add).  For the most part, in every year since about 2000 we go over to the Cheesecake Factory over at the Houston Galleria after the appointment.  Wednesday was no different.

As usual it is always a wonderful time and my meal - oh my goodness, talk about to die for.

I am however saddened that Mother's lunch didn't turn out so great.  She had their lunch special, a Hawaiian lunch size pizza and from my understanding it didn't sound like it came out too great.  It's always sad to me when any sort of pizza doesn't turn out great as I've had pizza at all different kinds of places.

However, my lunch was nothing short of amazing.  Of course when you're at the Cheesecake Factory, you have cheesecake and theirs is always amazing.  When in Rome, you do as the Romans do.

But the main course - Fettucine with sun dried tomatoes and a sun dried tomato/cream sauce, oh my God, what a lunch.  I'd get that again any day.  What really tripped me out about lunch is that all the flavors went very well together.  As people well know, a lot of times you get meals where the flavors don't exactly match up and the lunch doesn't turn out so great.  That was not the case on Wednesday.

As far as the cheesecake is concerned, usually I get the white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake which is my favorite.  But this time, when I saw a cheesecake based off Reese's peanut butter cups, I had to get that and oh Lord, was it ever good.  I'd love to get that one again as well the next time I go.

A couple of sports matters before I close out this blog:

1. Thank God Carlos Lee is no longer a Houston Astro.  The fact that former general manager Tim Purpura backed up a dump truck of money to his house back in 2007 was one of the many mistakes Mr. Purpura made.  Thank God they are no longer involved with the organization.

2. Kobe Bryant, please stop talking about how the 2012 US Olympic Team could beat the 1992 Dream Team.  Please win the gold medal this year first.

3. It seems that the Rockets have not given up on Dwight Howard, as a matter of fact on Twitter they are following a number of major stars now - guys like Howard, Jason Richardson and Glen "Big Baby" Davis are all accounts the Rockets Twitter account is following.  It should be interesting to see where this story line leads.

The Debate about BBQ and I Love Patriotic Cake

It's the age old debate...a debate that might never really be truly resolved.

It's a debate about which kind of barbecue is really the best.  Really, honestly, there is no right or wrong answer to this question - it just depends on your preference.

I was starkly reminded of that this past Independence Day when I had my second foray into the world of North Carolina barbecue.  You know, the pulled pork that has that vinegar taste to it - and I've had my share of it all this week.

Much like all the different types of barbecue there are advantages and there are some not so great advantages to this type of barbecue.

One thing I've found out in my two adventures into eating North Carolina BBQ is that for as good as it can be, it's very hard to make in just one day.  It seems to me that this kind of BBQ has to be done starting the night before.  Thing was, it didn't quite get up to the temperature it needed to be (about 195 degrees) and Dad cooked the pork all day Wednesday.

Thing is though, if you can get it just right, it's awfully good.  I actually had it while I was still in school several months before I got my masters and it was awfully good then.

One advantage to me for this sort of BBQ is that it can be a nice alternative to having St. Louis style ribs (which are my personal favorite) if you don't want to get your hands dirty.

I can say this though...I absolutely love patriotic cake which we have had all week as well.  I absolutely love fruits of most kinds, so that cake is like heaven for me.  You've got the goodness of a nice, well made cake with all those great strawberries and blueberries in there and it is absolutely wonderful.

Man, some good eating around my parts this week.  But then again, it is around the Fourth of July so that is to be expected.