“All I want is what I have coming to me!”

“All I want is my fair share!”

Charlie Brown’s sister Sally says what she wants from Santa Claus in Charlie Brown’s Christmas.

Looks like Brad Underwood is going to get his fair share from the University of Illinois. Besides he had it coming to him as instead of 2.2 million dollars staying at his first dream job in Oklahoma, he will get 3 million at his second dream job at University of Illinois. College coaches change jobs like they change their underwear.

This reminds me of 2003 when Billy Selfish bolted from Illinois to his dream job in Kansas. What comes around goes around I guess is the phrase in this situation. Then Bruce Weber came to Illinois and he had a mock funeral for Bill Self. Bruce had a stacked deck when he arrived as he had the Illini in the championship against North Carolina. However Illinois lost in the championship game. Bill Selfish eventually years later won a title in Kansas.

Brad Underwood has a great track record. He took a small school Stephen F Austin to the tournament three times.He had his team advanced past the first round twice. Then he took the job at Oklahoma State and he was able to get that team into the tournament. It looks like Illinois has hired a great coach that can turn their program around. But how long will he stay around will be the question everyone will be thinking.

Watching the tournament this year you see many college coaches dressed for success.If all these coaches met up, it would be a sales convention. That has to be part of their qualifications on how to sell their program to a high school basketball player. I think of coaches like Bobby Knight all fired up on the sidelines screaming at the refs or his own players. But nowadays these coaches look like scam artists. The South Carolina coach looks like a mortician as he probably swindled your savings account to bury your dog. Then Rick Pitino looks like he’s head of the mafia. You mess with him you will be swimming with the fishes.  The college coaching seems to be such an act it reminds me of the wrestling federation as the wrestlers dressed up in their costumes and when the camera lights shined on them it was show time.

In life you want to better yourselves and move up the ladder of your job.Sometimes you find a better job and move up the new job ladder. I think these College coaches go on and take the money and run. They can have a ten year contract and leave after two years. In football these coaches  get the teams to the bowl games and they bolt the program for a better gig and don’t even finish the job. What are they teaching these kids they coach? It’s OK to leave a job unfinished. What do they say to these kids and their families in their living rooms to get them to go to the college they coach at? Sometimes it’s probably selling your soul to the devil. Because you trust this guy that has come to you and sold you on the program. Then you’re thinking you’re in it for the long haul and boom the coach does his disappearing act and off to another state and another institution. College coaches seem like carnival acts or like the gypsies moving on when the well runs dry. We will see how long Brad Underwood will stay in Illinois. It looks like a good hire. But as soon as another great opening comes up he will be all over it with the rest of the piranhas in the tank.

IN SEARCH FOR THE BEST TAPPED BEER

(3-17-17)    OH MY GOODNESS IT’S GUINNESS

ON ST.PATRICK’S DAY WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

STYLE: IRISH DRY STOUT

BREWED BY: GUINNESS

On St. Patrick’s Day I had to indulge and have a few pints of Guinness. My Uncle Foncy from Ireland would offer me a Guinness in the morning when I went to the old country. It was nine am… let me have some coffee and breakfast first. Even though the good people over in Ireland think Guinness could be a meal. I politely turned him down on the Guinness so then he offered me whiskey. I went with the first choice, Guinness. It always depends where you get the Guinness from. Some pubs give you a great pour. Some however give you bad pour and it makes you not want another one. In Ireland they would do a shamrock in the foam which was very cool. The mission last Friday was to find a place to sit and enjoy a pint of Guinness, which was very hard because lots of people were out and about doing the same thing.

Guinness is a dark stout beer.Lots of people think it has a high alcohol percentage like most stouts. It only has a 4.2% which is pretty low compared to other dark beers. Guinness is my favorite stout. However stouts are usually not my cup of tea. I love cooking with stouts, but I do not drink them often. Guinness is different. I will have a few pints here and there. Stouts I like one and done. Certain situations when I’m drinking by the fire in my sweater reading a novel, then I have my snifter of stout beer, sipping it on a snowy night.

Maybe the people in Ireland are right and Guinness could be a meal. People are always going nuts for espressos and cappuccinos in the morning. Guinness has that roasted coffee smell. I love the way it looks in the glass. It has the khaki colored foam on top of the black quart of oil. But it does not go down thick, as it’s creamy smooth like a morning fancy schmancy coffee drink from Starbucks. The flavors could go on forever. It has some bitterness with a mix of smoky charcoal chocolate with some hint of roasted coffee. You can say a bready taste as well.

I found a table at Deja Brew in Oak Lawn, Illinois on St.Patrick’s Day night.I did like the pour at Deja Brew for the Guinness. That was very important because I had more than one as always.  I ordered the Irish boat of potato skins which went very well with the Guinness. These skins were made special for the St.Patrick’s Day as it had corn beef on the skins as well as lots of other good stuff. Who would of thought beer and spuds a great combo? The Irish are genius like that.

My favorite Irish beer is made by Guinness as well.I love a pint of Harp, that is one of my favorites. I will definitely get to the Guinness Blonde. Blondes are always fun to hang around with. Also I do like the Irish beer called Smithwick’s which is another dark beer . Guinness still has the edge over it. But we will see. I will take it beer by beer. I may have to go back and retry some of the beers.

 

This is Ted and he’ll do anything to get his hands on some Sid Sauce.

Sid’s Red Hot sauce is great on eggs and pizza.

Need to add a zing to those tacos? We have you covered with Sid’s green,

OH JOHNNY THAT’S HOT

Now will Ted dress up like a tramp to land some Sid’s Sauce?

I don’t think we want to see that.

Are the White Sox in full rebuild on the South side?  They still have many veterans they can ship off to other teams. It seems to me they have traded all of the shenanigans in the locker room this off season. Chris Sale and his side kick Adam Eaton were dealt, from which the Sox were able to get a big return. Nothing else went down after the second trade. The trades have taken your minor league system from the bottom of the swamp and now it is one of the tops in the game. Which means you have some talent at minor league level. However you still have talent at the Major league level as well. Can they combine both talents to form a playoff roster?

After 108 years, now the Cubs are the team to follow on how to construct a World Series team. They tore it down completely and rebuilt from the bottom to the top. They had four years of bad baseball to get to the level they are at. During that span they found some signed veteran castaways and then dealt them at the trade deadline. Which this could be what the White Sox are thinking. Veterans like Todd Frazier, Jose Abreu, Melkly Cabrera Jose Quintana and David Robertson could get you a haul of prospects at the deadline.Teams are desperate and might give you more. With all these prospects your farm system will have the tallest corn and produce jumping out of the baskets. The Sox can bring back one of their old slogans, “The kids can play.”

Can you keep some of those veterans to help your young team? The Cubs had their core assembled and then brought in veterans that helped them complete the World Series run. Can the Sox keep a pair of book ends like Frazier at the hot corner and Jose Abreu at first and fill in the rest? Eventually when you do get your young nucleus established, you’re going to have to go out and add the right veterans to the mix. You may already have them under your roof. The Cubs signed Ben Zobrist and he was a big part of that World Series run. Lester and Lacky were signed to improve the strength of your pitching staff. Plus you always add rented players like Chapman to improve your roster in the playoff run.

It’s hard to figure out what the White Sox are up to. With Kenny Williams and his rant to the reporter saying “stay out of White Sox business.” Rick Hahn I guess is running the show but is he doing it by himself. Or does he have Kenny back seat driving telling him to slow down you missed the turn? I would like to see what the Sox brass would do. Let’s say, but I doubt it, they somehow manage to have a team that jumps out of the gate like last year with an awesome record. However they maintain that record at the all star break. Unlike last year when they hit a pothole and skidded off the road and never recovered. Will they trade the veterans and continue the rebuild? Or will they try to add to the roster? I don’t see this scenario playing out. In my crystal ball, I guaranteed rate, I see a ghost town in the stands. I see the two youuuuths swapping their White Sox hats for Cubs gear. If the Sox let this rebuild take too long, a whole generation of Cub fans could be born and they will follow the Cubs like a zombie horde looking for dinner. Then the White Sox will move out of town and Guaranteed Rate field will stand and crumble year after year like the projects across the highway were doing before they were torn down.

Power hitters at times are hard to come by. They don’t grow on trees either. If I were the Sox, I would sign Todd Frazier to a long term deal and lock him up. He is a great power hitter and he can flash the leather at the hot corner. Plus he expressed interest and wanted to stay on the Sox during the reconstruction. Plus, he can play first base. I would keep Jose Abreu as well because he can help his own countryman Yoan Moncada, the big piece from the Sale trade.He has already said that he would help the youngster out. Plus if Yoan needs a passport eaten, Jose can tell what condiment will go well with it from his own experience. Plus Jose is a great bat to have in the middle of your lineup. I would keep Jose Quintana as my number one pitcher. He can help all the younger guys as well and you have him signed for a few more years. The rest of the veterans you could unload.These three pieces in place and with the young talent you have and a few pick ups on the fly, you can get the Sox back to the playoffs. Then maybe you can get the young fans that are confused,away from the Cubbie’s Never Land ranch and help them in their lives to not become a statistic.

In Chicago we always take pride in all of the Basketball talent we have. For whatever reasons it seems the basketball talent does not stay in Chicago or the State of Illinois to play college basketball. For years we always had teams from the city or the State playing in the tournament. It’s been years since a team has even made it in the tournament from the state of Illinois. One of the smallest states in America, Rhode Island, has two teams this year. It took Northwestern their first appearance in the tournament in the school’s history to break the drought of teams from Illinois not making it to the tournament.

Some people will say  how can that be?  All the years the school has been around and 2017 they finally make it to the tournament. Northwestern is a school that has higher standards and will not just take anybody. It was never a basketball school. They had some things going well before they hired Doug Collins, former Bulls coach’s, son Chris. Chris took over the program and has turned things around very quickly. Chis Collins, who sat on the Duke bench for years just soaking in all the knowledge from the best basketball coach in the college game, Mike Krzyzewski. Plus all the knowledge from his dad as a NBA coach. Northwestern had some talent there already and then they bring in a smart guy to turn their program around. Actually put their program on the map. That sounds easy. Why can’t all the other schools in the state do the same thing?

DePaul had a run in the early 80’s. They need to build their own arena somewhere downtown to get out of playing at the All State arena which is their biggest problem, not getting the higher talent.They would attract people being in the city and playing downtown. What happen at UIC?  Jimmy Collins had that program on fire but then they flamed out. UIC is a very nice campus. They are still not getting the talent they need to get back on the map. Just trying to find the right man to give the dedication Jimmy Collins did.  Then you had Southern Illinois in the early 200o’s with Bruce Weber, who had that school doing very well in the tournament. Then he moved on to Illinois, the Fighting Illini. Southern Illinois being known as a party school, you think they would get some Chicago talent. Hanging out at the delta house. Chasing women and playing basketball. Keep your grades up and that’s making some great memories happen. Illinois State I think should of made the tournament this year.They got a raw deal. But they had a good run in the late 90’s. My Brother-in-law went there and had a great time there. Western Illinois, it’s been a long time for them. That was a school I went to visit with friends for the weekend. The town was called Macomb. Their Police department was made up of Andy Griffith and Barney Fife. They  kicked us off of campus and out of town in the wee hours of the morning.  I can see why they don’t get basketball talent knocking at their door.

That leaves us with Illinois, the Fighting Illini. They had two final four appearances in my lifetime. The flying Illini in 89 and the great team they had in 2005. I thought they should of won the whole thing both times.They produced NBA players like Deron Williams, James Augustine Dee Brown, and Luther Head. Before that Kenny Battle, Kendall Gill, Macus Liberty. In between the final four appearances, they made it to the tournament multiple times. I thought the John Groce hire was a good one five years ago. He lead a small school, Ohio, to the tournament. He made it to the tournament his first year then nothing ever since. Illinois plans to go out and make a big splash and open their check book to a coach.It could be a big name like the AD did when he hired Lovie Smith as the football coach. The person they hire will need to know how to get the Chicago basketball players to sign on the dotted line and get them to their school. If you can get someone hungry like Chris Collins who is well seasoned and a great recruiter, that is how you get the program on the map again.

I do hope Northwestern does well in the tournament.I hope they will appear every year. I’d like them to go all the way. However if they can get one win or even two that would be huge for their program. I would love to see all the other schools in the state as well get their programs going well again. Automatically people want the big name. I think these schools need to do their homework and find the assistant on the bench of someone’s staff that is hungry and can do the job as the face of your program. I think these schools need to sign more guys from their backyard rather than letting these stars walk out of Chicago to big schools like Duke and Kentucky. I would find the guy that has roots in Chicago. If not I  would have the new coach snag one of these coaches from one of the high schools to be an assistant on the staff to help recruit the Chicago guy. March Madness is awesome watching. The Northwestern story going on this year with the history being there the first time is must see TV. Hopefully this will get the schools in the state and in the city to fix their problems with their programs so we can see like three to four schools every year making it to the tournament. Then hopefully one of them will win the big dance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3-14-17 ZEPHYR GOLDEN LAGER

STYLE (LAGER)

BREWED BY: FLOSSMOOR STATION

Last week I was in the mood for a few Choo Choo beers. I headed to the Flossmoor Station brewery, bar and restaurant to indulge. I have been there many times as the list of beers is a train’s length long. They brew the beer on site which wets my whistle every time I indulge in a few pints at the station which is actually right next to a train station. They even have a train above the bar that runs on tracks which is very cool. I have tried almost all of the beers on their list as they cleverly name most of the beers after trains.The beers from their taps is always fresh from the Brewery in the other room. The silver vats so shiny in the dim lighting as it sparkles like silver. Yukon Cornelius would start singing Silver and Gold if he saw the vats and Golden Beer I was drinking.  I will definitely go there again and again and see what beers of theirs stand in my beer list of power rankings.

Last weekend I went with one of my favorites at the train yard, the Zephyr Golden Lager. This beer is made from German malts and hops along with German yeast. Germany knows how to make great beers. As you can see the color was golden like a beach at sunset. Smells sweet and a hint of fruitiness. The taste was refreshing and  went down smooth as it reminds me of a blonde ale. You know the blondes like to have fun and this beer can keep things fun all night long. Not much of bitterness in this beer as well as it goes down so easy you can lose track of how many you had in one sitting.

The Flossmoor Station has awesome food as well. The menu has lots of variety. I went with the Burrito. They call this the Burrito that ate Flossmoor.They are very clever with the names at this place. You can choose what meat you want inside the burrito, I went with spicy beef. The Burrito is hard to pick up so you have to use the tools of the trade to eat it. The combo with the Mexican food and the Zephyr golden lager was perfection. Heavy food and a lighter beer seem to work.

I knew it was going to be very hard to knock out the Pin Ball from Two Brothers, which has been number one for three weeks. But the Zephyr Golden Lager now has the top spot on the BEER LIST.

THE BEER LIST POWER RANKINGS

RANKING       DATE               BEER                                              STYLE               BREWERY NAME

#1.                     3-14-17           ZEPHYR GOLDEN LAGER        LAGER           FLOSSMOOR STATION

#2.                     2-27-17           PIN BALL                    AMERICAN PALE ALE    TWO BROTHERS

#3.                    3-5-17               ZYWEIEC                           EURO PALE ALE          ZYWIEC BREWERS

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHEN WATCHING BEER BOTTLE FOOTBALL ON THE BAR YOU KNOW YOUR NIGHT IS COMING TO A END. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DRANK ONE OF THE TEAMS’ QUARTER BACK.

NEXT TIME YOU WATCH A GAME ON THE TV AND NEED THAT CHILI A LITTLE SPICIER.

SIDS SAUCE IS ALWAYS JOHNNY ON THE SPOT AND OH’ JOHNNY THAT’S HOT

I WOULD DRESS UP LIKE A TRAMP JUST TO HAVE SID SAUCE IMPROVE MY CHILI.

I do like the progress the Bears have been making so far in free agency. First step, you released Jay Cutler which is about time. That should have been done  years ago. The Bears were holding on to Cutler like it was an old girlfriend you dated for years. The one you hoped would change.You held on to because she had all the flashes of being the right one.  However it kept biting you in the ass. You knew you should not poke the bee hive but you did and you got stung. It happens to everyone. You keep making excuses, but you know deep down it’s time to throw the person back in the water. Maybe with a pair of cement shoes and end for good.

The second step, the Bears went out and got somebody younger. It seems that’s how it always goes. In with the new and out with the old. They were able to land Mike Glennon, the former Buccaneer. Since the league is watered down without many great quarter backs you have to settle for door number two and overpay.It might be drinking lite beer for awhile until they tap another barrel of craft beer.The NFL has a shortage supply of good arms and good arms are high in demand.The Bears indeed over paid for Glennon’s services. However it’s only a three year deal. I think Glennon is a very talented quarterback. These are the Bears – everything they touch turns into stone or just crumbles. If the Packers signed him they would have found gold. You could have went cheaper and tried to resign Hoyer. Then drafted a QB and he would be your bridge quarterback. Glennon might be a bridge quarterback or he could be the one to lead the Bears back to the playoffs. I like taking the risk on this guy because he has seasoning and played in 20 games. Plus he stood on the sidelines watching. I think he is hungry for a permanent starting gig.

However you still have more work to do on the quarterback position. Signing Glennon allows you to use that first pick in this April’s draft on something the team needs like a stud on defense or on the offensive line. Step three,  I think the Bears still need to draft a quarterback.  They could probably get someone talented in the second round or even the third round. They need to develop a quarterback. Sometimes I think the Bears should draft all quarterbacks until they get it right. Texas state Patrick Mahomes could be there at number two. He might be a gamble. Some say he could be a sleeper as well. Maybe they need to do a little thinking outside the box. But find the best available quarter back in round two.

Step four add a cheap young veteran if you can. If Glennon does not work out or gets hurt I don’t want to throw the rookie out there to the wolves in week two. Then ruin his confidence for the rest of his career. The 49ers have already improved their quarterback position just by signing two X-Bears, Hoyer and Barkley. That’s better than the guy that does not stand for the National anthem or whoever else they had. I thing the former Jacksonville Jaguar. The 49ers could draft a young quarterback as well and they would have that position on the rise. It’s good to have a good back up plan just in case it does not work with Glennon. With only having Sid Luckman and Jim McMahon as the two best quarterbacks in franchise history you have to stack up at that position.  I know Cutler has a lot of the Bears passing records. But that means squat in my book. If Sid was in a pass happy era he would have tripled his passing numbers. Jim McMahon won a Superbowl, enough said.

 

SECOND PIZZA ENTRY (SPECIALTY)

FLO & SANTOS SOUTH LOOP PIZZA & PIEROGI

1310 S. Wabash Chicago

My friend told me you must go to Flo and Santos and try the pizza. He even went on to make some bold statements saying it’s better then a few of the top places local by us.  The man lives across the street from me and we have done some adventures eating and drinking. Mostly drinking.  Escaping out of work early to go stock up on Zombie Dust for the weekend. Well, while we are there we go in and indulge on a few pints of the Zombie dust. We went to Three Floyds. Tap beer from the brewery is like pizza right out of the oven. He told me I was going to like Flo & Santos and he was right.

Flo & Santos is a pub with the pizza and is a Polish American Restaurant. I will have to go here a few times because the menu has many things on there to make your taste buds salivate. If you do not like the Polish food then they have the pizza and other choices for the picky eaters. The beer menu is huge as well. They razzle you with a list of tap beers then they dazzle you with a list of bottles. The first time being there I figure we get something Polish and the man across the street said get the pizza.The Flo’s Polish satiates my taste buds immediately with her specialty pizza. This is the first time in my life I had try this combo of ingredients on a pizza. The specialty pizzas are lots of fun because it’s all about multiple ingredients that send your taste buds out of this world. The Flo’s Polish features Polska kielbasa, sauerkraut, and apple wood smoked bacon.

I know what you might be thinking with this combo. However this combo was delightful. I will tell you Bo knows football. Bo even knows baseball. However Flo knows the pizza. This combo worked well. All the ingredients and the cheese formed to the crust gave you ataste of heaven. The meats blended together and gave everything a nice juicy taste.The sauce was savory. The crust was crispy like a cracker.

I had two pints of the Polish beer called Zywiec on tap with the pizza. I thank my buddy across the street, a very wise man for giving me the 411 on Flo’s and Santos. I will be going back to try some of the other options on the menu as well as another pizza choice. The Flo’s Polish will be the top pizza on my specialty pizza power rankings.