Orioles

The Adam Jones Burger

If you are a follower of Adam Jones on social media sites such as twitter or Instagram, you’re well aware that Jones is a food enthusiast. He’s constantly posting “food porn” pictures and signs off on many of his posts with the hashtag #stayhungry. After this past off-season, I honestly expected Jones to show up to spring training carrying an extra 10 lbs or so. However, Jones is in great shape and appears ready to lead the Orioles to some more “Oriole’s Magic”.

Now comes the news that Jones has joined the likes of other great athletes (Ben Roethlisberger, Stephen Strasburg) who’ve had a burger named in their honor. The Abbey Burger Bistro in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore is now offering the Simply AJ10 burger. The Abbey Burger Bistro features an “enticing selection of flavors for any burger palate” and was named Maryland’s “Great Burger Joint” by USA Today.

Apparently, Jones is a frequent visitor and has used the “build your own” option on the menu to construct his own burger which is now offered to the public. The restaurant is donating $1 for each burger sold to Adam’s charity, which is a nice gesture. Of course that dollar is a small portion of the profits, the AJ10 burger costs a hefty $15.50. The burger does come with tater tots (love them) and nacho cheese…although I would substitute the nacho cheese with the crab dip and tots which sounds amazing.

As far as the burger itself and in the words of Adam Jones…it definitely looks like something I would “smash”. Kobe beef on an english muffin (nice) with pepper jack cheese, avocado, jalapenos, bacon, chili pepper mayo, lettuce and tomato. They must have an engineer in the kitchen to fit all that on an english muffin.

Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to try to cure the hunger pains I’ve developed while writing this post.

Cheers and Hail

When Phil And Gary Cut Down The Nets All That’s Good In DMV Sports Went With It

10 years ago yesterday Juan Dixon and Gary Williams cut down the nets in the Georgia Dome, celebrating the Maryland Terrapins first National Basketball Championship. 10 years ago today, my life as a fan of DMV sports teams started a 10 year run of futility that I thought I would never witness in my lifetime.

Before I dive into the depressing facts of my last 10 years as a fan of the Orioles, Redskins, Terps and Wizards…I want to acknowledge that very special 2001-2002 Terps team. Gary led a group of overachievers to a 32-4 overall record and a 15-1 ACC mark. The Terps took down basketball powerhouses Wisconsin, Kentucky, Uconn, Kansas and Indiana during the tourney on their way to the title. Guys like Lonny Baxter, Steve Blake, Byron Mouton, Drew Nicholas and Chris Wilcox all played key roles for the team. To this day…maybe forever, Juan Dixon remains my all-time favorite college basketball player.

Now, the aftermath. I root with a passion for the four teams I mentioned earlier. I’m a Caps fan as well, but not to the extent of the other 4 teams. Since April 1, 2002 not one of the four teams I root for have won a title. Not 1 of those teams have even played for a title. In the case of the Orioles, Redskins and Wizards, well, the last 10 years have down right sucked. Sure, there’s been a few minor bright spots, but all in all it’s been bad, real bad. Here’s a look at my decade of suck:

Baltimore Orioles - The Orioles are 227 games under .500 during the last 10 seasons. They’ve finished next to last or last in the AL East 9 out of those 10 years and have a 4 year streak of finishing last. The Orioles have gone thru 6 managers since 2002. The O’s have lost 930 games during the last 10 years!!!

Maryland Terrapins - The football team had a nice little run from 01-03’ winning 2 bowl games and finishing in the top 20 each year. Since 2004 things have not been so good. The Terps are 46-52 and have finished below .500 in four of the last eight seasons. The basketball team did win the ACC Tournament in 2004 but since then they’ve missed the NCAA tournament in 5 out of 8 seasons and have finished in the top 20 just 2 times. Overall, Maryland athletics is the team that has let me down the least over the last 10 years.

Washington Redskins - The Redskins have had just 2 winning seasons in the last 10 years. They both came under Joe Gibbs and the little runs they went on to make the playoffs those 2 seasons were enjoyable. Other than those 2 short runs and 1 playoff win, it’s pretty much been a nightmare. The Redskins are 65-95 over the last 10 seasons. The Redskins have had 4 Head Coaches during the last 10 years.

Washington Wizards - The Wizards had a run where they made the playoffs 4 seasons in a row but couldn’t get over the hump and their window for success closed very rapidly. The Wizards have had 4 seasons when they have won less than 31% of their games. The Wizards have had 5 Head Coaches during the last 10 seasons and are 110 games below .500, in the last 3 years alone!

To recap, my favorite teams have gone thru 19 head coaches/managers in the last 10 years. These teams have combined to have non-winning seasons 28 times during that span. I moved to Florida 8 years ago but I’ve continued to root for these teams. I’ve never once wavered in my loyalty. I think I’m due for a little payback…the last 10 years have been rough.

Cheers and Hail

Ripken Card Montage

I once aspired to collect every Cal Ripken card ever made…that was until I realized there were like seven thousand different ones. If you have 15 minutes to kill you can see all (or at least most) of them in amazing detail.

Cheers and Hail

O, Here We Go Again

The O’s 6-2 start is now a distant memory. At the end of Easter Sunday, nearly 1 month into the season, the Orioles are tied with several other teams for the fewest wins in the majors with 8. In the O’s defense they have had a few rainouts (which could’ve been more wins…or losses) and they are just 2 games out of 2nd place.

Cal Ripken Wants To Sell You Beef Jerky

In the style of SI, this weeks sign of the apocalypse…Cal Ripken is selling beef jerky. Now, don’t get me wrong…I love Cal and I love beef jerky but isn’t this a product that’s best left to Jeff Foxworthy?

This isn’t the first time that Cal’s put his name on a questionable product, could Cal interest you in a wool duvet?

This should tell you how low a job in the front office with the Orioles ranks, somewhere below jerky and wool and just above unemployment.

Cheers and Hail

The Orioles Pass the Torch to the Nationals…The Buck Goes to Angelos

Photo via Mr. Irrelevant

In August of 1993 Peter Angelos and a group of investors bought the Orioles for $174 million dollars $173 million dollars. The final sale price was deducted by $1 million for legal work credited to Mr. Angelos’s law firm and he’s been skimming off the top ever since.

Well, here we are 17 years later and I think it’s safe to say the Orioles are at rock bottom. Steven Strasburg struck out 14 batters in his debut for the cross town rival Washington Nationals, an amazing start that had the whole NOVA/DC/MD area buzzing with excitement. Meanwhile, across town the Orioles were on their way to losing their 9th game in the last 10 contests. Even though the game was against the Yankees (the Orioles only draw crowds nowadays against the Yanks/Sox) the O’s game had an announced crowd of 23K, or half of the attendance for Strasburg’s debut. Strasburg’s 14 strikeouts almost equaled the Orioles win total thru 1/3 of the season…16. The crazy thing is the Nationals newfound success is making Peter a ton of money, he owns the Nationals cable rights.

When Cal went, so did the fans…foreshadowing perhaps?

Cal hung up his spikes nearly 10 years ago. The Orioles are on pace to win 44 games, a record that would challenge the 2003 Tigers for the worst modern day record in MLB history, yes the Orioles are that BAD! Jon Miller is gone…his voice now serenading Giant’s fans ears. The Orioles best players of the early 2000’s are tainted by steroids. Brian Roberts is hurt, Adam Jones has regressed and Nick Markakis has lost his power. 13 straight years of losing. The Nationals have Zimmerman, Strasburg, a fanatic fan base, a possible pennant race…and Harper on the way. It’s safe to say that there’s a new sheriff in town.

It’s over Peter, it’s over. The Orioles are now reduced to being a laughingstock. However, the franchise is now worth more money than ever and your 80 freaking years old. SELL THE TEAM.

Forbes says you can get $376 million for the team, more than double what you paid…not a bad deal. Plus, I’m sure your law firm can collect another $5 million or so in legal fees.

Cheers and Hail