BBQ, Breaking Down and Bandera

Indulge me for a moment as I try to get back in the Nebraska football swing of things. Got back from Texas on Sunday, here's a recap/assorted thoughts.

BBQ - I've eaten barbecue in the Carolinas, Kansas City and, now, all over Texas. I've smoked about every meat you can think of and there's nothing better for me than making my own sauces and sausages on a random Saturday afternoon. While I should probably withhold judgment until I've hit Memphis, I'm ready to call the Lone Star state's barbecue the best. The sausage sandwich at the Taylor Cafe was otherworldly. I'd have more to say but I'm hoping to get some paid writing out of this aspect of the trip so I'll save it for now.

Breaking Down (i.e. Eight Belles) - I didn't win big betting the Derby. It was sort of an atypical week in terms of my normal preparation but, after a brief mid-week bout of uncertainty, I did go with Big Brown against the protests of most of my handicapping friends. I was confident enough to key him on top of every exotic I played. That, along with tossing out Colonel John and Pyro, was the good handicapping I did.

Also tossing out Eight Belles and placing a shoot the moon win bet on Cool Coal Man was the bad.

Needless to say, seeing a horse break down is no way to end the first Saturday in May. Not to downplay the situation but Big Brown's race was more impressive than Barbaro's Derby and that's barely been a story. For good reason.

This is a tough time for horse racing. A number of columnists who are not necessarily horse racing fans are ripping the sport. The fans and industry insiders are giving it the usual tragic shrug. I'm not sure where I fall. On the plane back Saturday I read William C. Rhoden's column in the New York Times and felt it was poorly executed. (No bull has ever survived a bull fight, for the record.) Jane Smiley's was better.

It's a particularly tough issue and all I really know at this point is that horse racing is probably at it's lowest point in recent history in terms of general public favor. If there was ever a year for a Triple Crown winner--and Big Brown certainly looks like one--this would be it.

Bandera, TX - After the Derby at Retama Park my brother and I headed to Arkey Blue's Silver Dollar Saloon. This was cowboy country. Sawdust on the floor, real hitching posts out front. I needed to hear Arkey Blue sing "Fraulein" to lighten my spirits. If you are ever in the San Antonio area, I can't recommend a side trip to Bandera highly enough. Just remember to tuck your jeans into your boots. That's how it's done.

Aside from the photo in this post which was taken at Gruene Hall during a break in the four-hour Dale Watson set, I'm still editing a bunch more that might eventually find their way on-line. As you may have noticed in the sidebar, there's a JPG Magazine link to one of the photos from Arkey's. It looks a lot better when it's bigger. Please click away.

After I catch up on the week that was we'll try to get back to some normal Nebraska talk.

Whatever happened to Public Enemy?

The video is a few days old but it never really gets old. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2007 Texas Longhorns....



When did hip-hop become X-rated Simon Says? Just so we're on the same page here, you're seeing what is supposed to be one of the best teams in the country, on the sidelines prior to a game, dancing. N'Sync, no less. Such is the power of Souljah Boy. Check out the real video, it requires a prologue.

So many questions. At least that Heisman song was unabashedly appealing to stupid football fans but really, is there any difference between the two songs musically? Aren't they just the Macarena with better production? Where was Colt "Ain't had a Coke in 10 years" McCoy in all this?

A parting thought for the weekend: be wary of any song that necessitates instructions.

Morning Walk-thru - The difference between the Red Sox and Yankees in two pitches

A Rivalry Reduced...Yesterday Alex Rodriguez hit a walk-off, three run homer to beat the Indians. This was his second walk-off of the season. Nobody's hit two game winners that fast in the past five years since the all-time MLB legend Pat Burrell who had two in the first nine games in 2002.

Good for A-Rod, but Manny Ramirez also made his first dinger of the season momentous, hitting a two out, two-run homer to tie the Jays after a solid performance out of Doc Halladay. There was a key difference, however, and it involved the post contact celebration that says all you need to know about the Red Sox and Yankees.

(I wish these clips were on YouTube, but they're not, so you'll just have to bear with me.)

Rodgriguez hit his game winner and reacted like a little leaguer, tossing his bat and throwing his hands into the air in a "Do you love me now, New York?" gesture and then tossed his helmet between third and home and did the same thing before bouncing on home plate and getting all slap happy with his teammates. (Here's the post swing photo.)

Ramirez, on the other hand, did his usual "I'll just drop the bat here and walk a few steps" before breaking into a trot. That says, "I know this makes me look like a jerk, but it's not my fault. You really shouldn't thrown a pitch right there." This has always been my favorite post-home run theatric in the game. It's no longer good enough to simply "act like you've been there before."

Not with Manny around. You have to act like you do it every damn day. That's what "the walk" says, and A-Rod looked like he'd hit the first home run of his career.

What better way to lead in to the first Yankees-Sox series of the season?

UPDATE: Bob Ryan's thoughts on the rivalry in today's Boston Globe were particularly prescient.

Hate to credit the Sooners, but this is classy!...I grew up as a Nebraska fan knowing one thing: we hate Oklahoma. My first ever Husker game was the 1987 OU-NU battle and I fear that the rivalry is lost on kids weaned on the Big XII. That said, it pains me to admit that this is probably the best thing I'll see until college football actually starts in September (courtesy of the always amazing Wizard of Odds).

Former Sooner Billy Simms, a current partner in Billy Simms Barbecue, has painted the inside of his restaurant's toilets burnt orange and affixed them with a Texas Longhorns logo. That's what college football is all about. Ridiculousness camouflaged by regional pride.

I'd like to take issue with the fact that Simms has "Mini-Huskers" on his menu but I can't really do that considering OU dominated NU while he was there.

Nevertheless, I'd probably go there should I ever find myself in Oklahoma just to piss on Bevo.

Rich Hill has been extremely lucky thus far...I don't really believe that but I've been specifically asked not to mention Rich Hill's 3-0 start or his 0.64 ERA or 0.57 WHIP for fear of jinxing the lone bright spot for the Cubs and expediting the inevitable freak elbow tightness.

As a Cubs fan, that makes perfect sense.

Who's fantasy is this?...My fantasy Fruit Jar Drinkers have had a nightmarish week. Here are four players I've lost this week alone: Vladimir Guerrero, Alfonso Soriano, B.J. Ryan and Felix Hernandez.

God, this is fun.

Morning Walk-thru - Young Eyes Upon Texas

Return of the Mack...Fresh off a top-five recruiting class, Texas coach Mack Brown has already filled 18 out of his 22 available scholarships for next year with some of the best juniors in the country. Apparently kids just show up in Austin these days and sign on the dotted line. (Having this can't hurt.)

Now, I'm an excellent video game recruiter year in and year out. I'm not great at pitching the whole "Academics" angle, but get me in the living room and I'll give you the top class every year.

That's basically what Mack Brown (and Pete Carroll) are doing right now, but I wonder if it's the best course of action. Football is a different beast than basketball. Kids start playing later and players develop a bit later. A kid can change a lot over the summer between his junior and senior years, including his mind.

All these guys are still going to take all their recruiting visits. They'll party all over the country and get the VIP treatment even though they're "going to Texas." Maybe they end up there, maybe they don't but college football is cyclical and freak numbers like these feel a bit like the dot-com boom or being a pro poker player about four years ago. Good times end, so enjoy them now.

Ten years ago USC was 6-5, Texas was 4-7 and Nebraska was being fitted for their third national championship ring. I think it's time we got back to that.

Meanwhile, right next door...Things continue to unravel at Arkansas. Arkansas Democrat Gazette reports that Mitch Mustain requested phone records for Houston Nutt and assorted staff members under the freedom of information act.

For his mom.

Some kids are better equipped to handle college than others. We all knew the guy in the dorm whose mother would bring him freshly laundered clothing each week.

Mustain is sort of like that, except his mother tries to get his coach fired.

Love to see this kid in a USC uniform in the near future.

Craps!...Is it too early to call Dice-K a bust? He's now lost twice as many games as he's won on American soil and last night he gave up three hits and two earned runs to the only team that accepts Canadian coins. Three hits! Dragonball-K only struck out a thrid of the 30 batters he faced. His ERA ballooned from 2.57 to 2.70! We've been played a fool.

As best I can tell, Matsuzaka isn't putting any ki on the ball, which is precisely why the Sox brought him over. If the Fenway faithful don't see at least one Genki Dama soon, I fear the only option left for Dice-K might be Jibaku, which would be a a pretty pricey set of fireworks.

Or, they'll just throw a slice at him...

Kicking Off 07

I'm a few days late, but welcome to 2007. I rang in the new year down in Dallas for the Cotton Bowl. And while Nebraska didn't provide any magic hangover cures and and the Big D felt a lot like a ghost town, I did get the chance to visit Billy Bob's for the first time.

At least while I was there, downtown Dallas seemed to be populated exclusively by winos, but I'm not going to judge a city based on my two-day experience. The Fort Worth stockyards, however, were much more to my liking, even if the "World's Largest Honky Tonk" felt a bit like an amusement park.

Sure Billy Bob's boasts a full-sized stage, music venue, bull ring and dance floor (complete with a "disco saddle" hanging above it) on the premises, along with walls full of photos of the country elite. But it also has skee ball, video games, and, at least on New Year's, one bartender per bar, an all-ages policy and Jack Ingram.

I didn't really care who was playing, I figured New Year's at Billy Bob's would be a cover-filled, fun-first set. It could've been Justin Timberlake playing and I still would've expected to hear some Cash (and probably would've gotten it.) Jack had other ideas, playing his country-lite rock all night save for the requisite "Auld Lang Syne" at midnight, followed by Waylon's "Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way."

I'm absolutely certain Hank did not do it your way, Jack.

In hopes of salvaging some sort of country experience from the whole ordeal, I picked up a recording of DAC's concert there in 2002. Even that wasn't great, Coe was at the height of his Kid Rock obsession at the time and he chose to ruin "Longhaired Redneck" with a little rhyme from "The Real Slim Shady" but it sure as hell beat anything Ingram was doing. Check out the clip below...

...and Happy New Year.