Monday, August 17, 2009

New Posts

I know there haven't been any posts lately, but there are 2 reasons for that.

1) I am working on my marshmallow cereals post, and it is very important.
2) I am in the middle of a move to a new job and house, so it is taking up quite a bit of time.

For a little teaser, here is a quick restaraunt review:

Brazenhead Pub, Dublin, OH

Food: 9 / 10 - Onion rings rock. Burgers are great. Chips are great.
Beer: 3/10 - Applebees has almost as big of a selection on tap. Its a pub. Come on. (they had a lot of bottles, but beer is best on tap)
Service: 0/10 - Possibly the worst service I have EVER Had

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Marshmallows Make things great!

If you are like me two things come to mind when you think of the word marshmallow: The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters and Marshmallow Mateys, the best thing Malt-o-meal has ever done.



I still remember the first time I walked into the back part of the cafeteria in Centennial Hall. My tray was full of course because of all the great food I thought I had found. Then I saw the cereal stacks and realized I made a big mistake. I needed at least two bowls of cereal, and of course Marshmallow Mateys were my choice for both. From that day on I had cereal at EVERY meal my freshman year at the cafeteria until the last day when I had to make myself not get it once. I usually had Marshmallow Mateys ever meal, it is just too good to pass up.



Unfortunately it was the only marshmallow cereal they offered. I would have liked to have had the choice of more because there are so many that have been great! Of course there have been others that I wonder why they do it. My second favorite is Boo Berry - there is nothing like a blueberry flavored cereal with marshmallows as a complement.



Here are a few more, some you may have tried, some you may not have. I rate them on a scale of 1 marshmallow (being the worst) all the way to 5 marshmallows (being the best)

Marshmallow Mateys: 5 marshmallows
Boo Berry: 5 Marshmallows

Magic Stars 4.5 marshmallows
Franken Berry 3.5 Marshmallows
Fruit Loops with marshmallows (not sure what the official name is) 3 marshmallows
Lucky Charms 4 marshmallows
Cocoa Crispies with marshmallows 4 marshmallows
Chocolate Lucky Charms 4 marshmallows
Count Chocula 4 Marshmallows
Smorez Cereal 3.5 marshmallows (its about a 4.5 for half the box, but then is too much)
Sbonge Bob Cereal 3.5 Marshmallows
Marshmallow Alpha Bits 3 marshmallows (just something too much)
Hanna Montana Cereal 1 marshmallow (I haven't tried it, but come on. It sucks)

Shrek Cereal 2.5 stars

Cereal rocks. Marshmallows make it better. Help the economy. Eat more cereal!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Tubby Time!

I know there is all this excitement about Gopher Football, and for great reasons, but lets not forget that Basketball Season is right around the corner, and its going to be a GREAT one!

The last time I was this excited about Gopher Basketball (other than when I heard we got Tubby) was March 18, 2005. That was the last time the Gophers were in the NCAA tournament. I still carry the ticket with me in my wallet. College basketball is the BEST sport in the land, hands down. And once again we have one of the best teams in the country!

I know we still have a lot to figure out, but so does every team. What we do not have to figure out is whether or not our coach can get the most of his players. Tubby has proved year in and year out that he can coach. He proved it here in Minnesota, even without top talent. Now we have added one of the best players in the country in Royce White, one of the most exciting freshman in country in Rodney Williams (if you haven't watched him dunk a basketball you are missing out) and we have added a promising point guard and a Big Ten ready power forward who is ready to prove his doubters wrong! For those of you who don't know much about Trevor Mbakwe I can tell you from watching him play and coaching against him in that he wants to, he can play with ANYONE. Playing for Tubby, he will want to, I guarantee it.

Looking at our lineup the one thing I worry about is getting guys enough playing time.

Point guard will be our biggest question. We have seen Al Nolen play at an All-Conference level, but have also seen him struggle against weaker competition. Hopefully Cobbs can push him to play his best.

At shooting guard we have an explosive scorer in Westbrook. Devoe Joseph proved that he can play with back to back great games against Penn State and Michigan. He also has shown at times he can play a little point guard if needed.

We are STACKED with small forwards. I don't even know where to start. Damien Johnson is one of the best all around players int eh country. He plays defense, he can score, and he can pass. Paul Carter and Devron Bostick both struggled at times, but both have the talent to play at a high level, its just a matter of them flipping the switch to "On". Rodney Williams won't be a star his first year, but he will bring the kind of excitement to games that can change the momentum in our favor with a big dunk or swat.

Oh, and then there is a guy you might have heard of named Blake Hoffarber. You may remember a few big shots he has made in his career. He struggled a little last year with his shot, but with less pressure on him this year look for him to get hot when we need him.

Royce White is for real. So is T Bak. These two will play together at times, and will dominate when they do, but they also will split some time depending on whether or not we need more power or finesse. This is our strongest position because of the raw talent we have, I'm guessing Tubby will get the most out of it too.

Ralph Sampson and Colton Iverson made our team what it was last year. Colt 45 started out great. He is hard worker, has good foot work and is smart. Ralph came on stronger in the second half and showed us why he was our best recruit in last years class. He is going to be a force on defense, should continue to improve on offense, and with the two of them working together gives us one of the better front courts in the Big Ten.

Overall I think we are set to finish in the top 4 in the conference. Mich St. and Purdue are going to be hard to top. Otherwise I think we are in a fight with Illinois for the 3rd spot. It won't be easy to stay ahead of Michigan, but I think our coaching advantage and depth will help us.

I see the Big Ten going like this:
Purdue 14-4
Mich St. 13-5
GOPHERS 12-6
Illinois 11-7
OSU/Mich 10-8
Wisc9-9
PS 8-10

NW got lucky last year....too many times
Indiana is still way too young
Iowa sucks. Period

Get ready for the bear trap. September 19th.


The U. Timmy Brew 4 life.



Queis...Grill Master

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Who needs lots of sugar

I know we all love the taste of "sugar" cereals (Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops, Marshmallow Mateys, Frosted Mini Wheat etc.) but if you are looking for something healthy that still tastes great have no fear. The Cereal Connoisseur is here!!!

When many people think of "healthy" cereals they usually think boring. I know Cheerios probably come to mind first for most people, but look a little further and you will see that many of the healthiest cereals also taste great! Most of these cereals still have small amounts of sugar, but that is hard to get around. Here are the best of what I consider "healthy" cereals

-Special K (with or without strawberries. Stay away from the other flavors, they have more processed sugar)
-Wheaties
-Crispex
-Chex (corn are my favorite by far)
-Corn Flakes (can't go wrong with a cereal with a rooster on the front)
-Grape Nuts (let the milk soak in and they are Great!)
-Total
-Rice Krispies

I know these cereals are better with some sugar on them, but add a little Splenda and you won't notice a thing.

If you are going to choose one to snack on go for the Crispex, the corn and rice combo is great dry!

NEXT: Marshmallow Cereals

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Clinton 2012???

I like to stick with Food and Sports for the most part because they interest me more than news and I know more about them than I do politics and current events, however I am sticking with this prediction: Hilary Clinton WILL be the Democratic nominee in 2012. I said it before, and I even predicted some things that would happen to help her. Well today the Clintons took a big step forward as Bill Clinton visited North Korea and met with Kim Jan Il to discuss the release of some American Journalists. (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-08-03-clinton-nkorea_N.htm)

Why is this important? North Korea has been very aggressive with its nuclear program and many countries are carefully watching what their every move. If Clinton can help influence KJI to stop trying to develop nuclear weapons the rest of the world will remember who did it. I believe that Americans do care what other countries think of our leaders (part of the reason I believe Obama crushed McCain instead of beating him slightly).

This could be a big step forward for the first Female Presidential Candidate.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Numero Quatro

I already told you that Favre was coming back. T Jack has a sprained knee and the Preseason hasn't even started. As much as I would like to see what Travaris can do it seems like I can't because he can't stay healthy for the entire season. A knee sprain can be as simple as a few weeks of healing, or as complex as requiring surgery. Its too bad this had to happen so soon, but now Management HAS to make the call to Favre. They might as well call him right now and ask him to come in after the second Preseason game to start practicing. That or ask him when he wants to come in because in this writer's opinion he wants to come in about week 5 or 6 so he won't wear out come playoff time.

Chilly will have to make sure that he isn't the one to make the decision, but believe me the decision will be made and Favre will be on this team by mid-October.