It was not the shot that won the game and sealed the deal for the Bulls when Michael Jordan retired after beating the Jazz. It was not John Elway or Peyton Manning walking into the sun set after they won another Superbowl. Everyone has a different way of leaving the game they love for whatever reasons. John Kruk when he played for the White Sox hit a single and then called it a career. He went straight to the locker room, got dressed and left the building as his way of calling it a career. Bryan Bickell was Kruk like but in a different way, two Sunday ago. Bryan Bickell ended his hockey career with the Carolina Hurricanes with a overtime shoot out goal that was his last shot in the NHL. It was also  his first career shoot out goal.

Bryan Bickell’s NHL career will always be the 2013 playoffs. He went absolutely ape shit crazy that year as he scored 9 goals and had 8 assists to help the Blackhawks win the cup in 2013. He was a part of all three of the Blackhawk’ cups but the 2013 playoffs he was playing out of his mind. He was a big guy that made his net presence known as he blocked the vision of the goalie. He boxed out opposing defenders and got the rebound of the puck and sent it into the net – that was Bickell’s game. He was awarded a big contract after that year and was never the same.

When players receive large contacts they intend not to play to their capabilities when they had the eye of the tiger. In Rocky three against Mister T, Rock lost his edge. He was living the dream and enjoying his success but lost his edge for the game. Bickell was enjoying his fame as he even had a hot dog named after him in a restaurant called Meatheads. They called it the Bickell dog. Maybe he could not get his edge back because he was dealing with injuries that he could not rebound from. He was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He began experiencing symptoms of vertigo in 2015 from an affected tooth. Before he received the 16 million dollar contract his best regular season was 2010-2011 where he had 17 goals 20 assists. He never had that type of regular season again. He was well awarded for the year he had in the playoffs. The Hawks could use someone with that skills type this year. Injuries kept with him as his play suffered. No team wanted to take on that big of a contract as the Hawks wanted to get rid of him. He was sent down to the Hawks minor league team in the AHL. Then finally the Hawks needed to dump some salary. It was for salary cap purposes and they had to trade young star Teuvo Teravainen. The Hurricanes came along but to get the young star they had to take Bickell as well. Bickell was up and down from the minors all year and still was dealing with injuries.

The contract ran out and his body was not responding. It was time to hang up the skates. He wanted to retire to focus on his MS treatments after which people are never the same. Playing a sport especially hockey with all the movement, strength and endurance you need…MS just bleeds your body’s nervous system. It eats away the protective covering of the nerves to weaken a once invincible player like Bickell who had no fear. Number 29 leaves the game at the age of 31 years old. He will probably continue his work with wife at the Bickell foundation that helps rescue abused pit bulls. You would love to leave the game on a high note, which he did with a goal. Plus helping the Blackhawks win three cups is nothing to sneeze at. Hopefully the treatments  make him be able to do the things he loves besides playing hockey. Hopefully he will be moving around for years to come and playing with his dogs and hanging out with his family and sharing all the wonderful memories he has provided the great city of Chicago. I love the superstars on teams. But lots of my favorite players from all the sports are role players. Or the players that do the dirty work in the trenches. Bryan Bickell was your typical blue collar worker in the game of hockey.

ROUND ONE (BEST OF SEVEN)

WESTERN CONFERENCE

MATCH UPS

NEW YORK RANGERS VERSUS MONTREAL CANADIANS

(MONTREAL SWEEP IN FOUR GAMES)

OTTAWA SENATORS VERSUS BOSTON BRUINS

(BOSTON IN GAME FIVE)

WASHINGTON CAPITALS VERSUS TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

(WASHINGTON IN GAME FIVE)

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS VERSUS COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

(PITTSBURGH IN GAME SIX)

EASTERN CONFERENCE

CHICAGO BLACK HAWKS VERSUS NASHVILLE PREDATORS

(CHICAGO IN GAME SIX)

MINNESOTA WILD VERSUS ST. LOUIS BLUES

(MINNESOTA GAME SIX)

ANAHEIM DUCKS VERSUS CALGARY FLAMES

(CALGARY IN SIX)

EDMONTON OILERS VERSUS SAN JOSE SHARKS

(SAN JOSE GAME IN SEVEN)

In Oakland the beans don’t burn on the grill. The Raiders are moving on up to that deluxe casino in the sky. They were born in Oakland in 1960 when the Raiders played in the AFL One of the most popular franchises in the league, the silver and black razzled and dazzled fans for decades. As a franchise this is not their first rodeo when it comes to moving. The Raiders moved from Oakland in 1982 and became the Los Angeles Raiders. However they returned to Oakland in 1995. Raiders have won three Superbowls as they captured Superbowl XI and Superbowl XV in Oakland while winning Superbowl XVIII in LA.

This has been the third franchise in recent years to move their team. St.Louis Rams moved to LA. Then the San Diego Chargers also are in the process of moving to LA. Los Angeles has been years without an NFL and they used to have two. Now they will have two again. It’s all about the almighty dollar. Roger Goodell the NFL commissioner and all the owners in the league don’t care about people they hurt. They only care about what’s in the people’s wallet. They give it then they take it away. St.Louis had two teams come in and out of their city. They did get to see Kurt Warner guide them to a Superbowl. They were the greatest show on turf. They played in a newly built stadium in 1995 and left back to LA in 2015. Only Twenty years for a stadium. That’s why they left St.Louis as they wanted another stadium. Then San Diego which has the best weather in the States how would you not want to stay and play in that city which baffles my mind. Before my time Chicago had two football teams which would of been very cool. It was like baseball the Bears and the Cubs on the North side while the Cardinals and the White Sox on the South side.  I might of been a Cardinal fan. Actually in Chicago they still have a few Cardinals fans that still root for them because the team was born in Chi town.  However you might still have a cult following from fans in cities that their NFL team abandoned them. Most likely you come away with anger fans. When the Oilers left, Houston fans were steamed so the owners of the Titans had to get their team out of dodge quickly. This could happen in Oakland as well. The Raiders are expected to play in the Vegas desert in 2020. Where are they going to play and be supported? If you piss off the Black hole you might get lynched. The Raiders could find their way to San Antonio for a temporary home.

So why Vegas? Las Vegas will be one of the smallest markets in the United States. Las Vegas has one minor league baseball team called the 51’s which have been there for years and are well established. When you think Vegas you think of tourists coming into sin city to gamble or get it on and have a few days of fun and leave town while you still can. Las Vegas did have a minor league hockey team called the Thunder but it did not last. However they will be getting a new Hockey team and this time one of the main four sports. The Vegas Golden Knights will be dropping the puck in the NHL next year instead of the Thunder back in minor league hockey, the IHL. Nevada has been booming with more and more people headed to that state to live a better life. I actually know two girls that have been from Chicago and have moved to Nevada and they are happy as clams. However the NFL and the owners have money signs in their eyeballs as their tongues wag out of their mouths like a crazed dog. For years the NFL was against gambling. Football is one the most popular sports to gamble on. You know Roger and his disciples will have his hands in the cookie jar of cash as the NFL will probably let gambling happen and everyone in their tight circle will be swimming in cash like Scrooge McDuck.

The Black hole is in my opinion one best fans in all of sports. It also one of the scariest groups of fans in all of sports. From grim reapers to Darth Vader’s along with the cast from Mad Max and whatever other Halloween mask they can grab out of their closet they are nuts. It’s a shame because when the Raiders move to Vegas they will be playing in a dome. Plus what kinds of fans will they get out there? My favorite story is hearing one of these motorcycle guys with his face painted and he was wearing shoulder pads with spikes coming out and yelled to a ref. He screamed whatever number on his back and the Ref looked at him from the field as this was before the game said something like you suck and if you blow a call your a dead man. The refs quickly walk away from the fans and towards the field maybe feeling a little uneasy. To get all those crazies in one place rooting on their team and putting the scare into the other team –  that is what Raider Nation is all about. Will they have this type of dedication in Vegas? Will you get fans from Vegas? It seems like Vegas has a good portion of it’s people coming from other states to live. These people might root for the teams they left from their former towns they lived. Maybe the porn convention weekend can get some ladies dressed in black leather. At times motorcycle gangs cruise into Nevada. Maybe they can make a section of the new dome scary. That’s another thing I have a hard time with, picturing the Raiders playing their home games in a dome.

This is the screw ball that is killing the black hole and breaking Oakland’s heart at the same time as they will lose their beloved Raider team.

“JUST MOVE BABY,” with his stupid Dumb and Dumber hair cut. The city of Oakland’s Mayor came out with a last minute proposal to try to keep the team in Oakland. But Roger Goodell was quick to kick that proposal to the curb. The NFL, Mark Davis and the city of Oakland could of gotten something done. They see Oakland as a town of three brinks trucks filled with gold, but they see Vegas as a fleet of brinks trucks filled with gold. I hate when they mess with old franchises and when they move. They could easily gave Vegas a expansion team and have kept the Raiders in California. It’s GREED and now the NFL will have their hands in football gambling. Next they will want my dog.

“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