Archive for March, 2013

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

I Think We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat

I love this picture that ran in The DC Issue of ESPN The Magazine back in October 2012. Believe it or not, I’ve had this picture sitting on an end table beside my lazy-boy for nearly 6 months with the intention of posting the picture. Well, they don’t call it a lazy boy for nothing…my blogging has been sporadic at best over that time. Anyway, I digress.

I see that the picture was blogged about before over at the DC Sports Bog. The key to the picture was not posted on that site but I’m posting it here today. Of course, the fun to the picture is trying to name each of the 29 DC Sports Greats without cheating. So give that a shot before scrolling down to the bottom to find the answers.

The debate of the picture is to ask if this is indeed the 29 greatest DC has too offer? If we are talking greatest of all-time the answer is no. While Bryce Harper may earn a ticket on the boat in the future, one decent season shouldn’t get him on it today. Same goes for Stephen Strasburg. John Wall, really? Only 1 Georgetown Hoya is represented, only 3 Washington Capitals. Several Hall of Fame Washington Redskins are left off and Gilbert Arenas is one of the representatives for the Washington Bullets/Wizards…loved him but FAIL.

So who would you kick off the boat? Who would you replace them with?

Cheers and Hail

Editors note: Sometime over the last 6 months my 8 year old son decided to color in 5 athletes in the key. Not sure how he randomly chose the 5?

36-Year-Old John Riggins Held Out (Successfully) For More Money in 1985

In this day in age when running backs are considered over the hill at 30, when salary caps restrict teams from signing core players/fan favorites (see Alexander, Lorenzo) it’s hard to imagine a team negotiating with a 36 year old running back with a bad back and 2 bad hips. However, that’s exactly what the Redskins did with future Hall of Fame Running Back John Riggins during training camp in 1985. The 17 day holdout would result in Riggins receiving the largest 1 year contract in the history on the NFL for a running back, $825,000…not exactly chump change 28 years ago. To recap…hold-out running back, 36 yrs old, bad back and hips…but wait there’s more!!!

Riggins was just 3 weeks removed from an arrest for being drunk-in-public in Reston, VA. The drunk-in-public charge came just a few months after the famous “loosen up, Sandy baby, you’re too tight” comment to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor at a black tie Congress dinner. Riggins quieted up after he blurted that comment…as he passed out under the dinner table. Now we’re dealing with a broken down running back with a drinking problem!!!

You have to admit that Riggins had a set of brass balls on him. While he had a nice season in 1984 (1,239 yds rushing & 14 TD’s), age and injury were clearly stacked against him. In addition, you had the drinking issues along with the fact that the Redskins had traded for George Rogers the previous off season. Rogers was just 27 years old and had accumulated 4,267 yards rushing in 4 seasons. Riggins held out while his chosen replacement was learning the offense.

In the end Riggins had the only ally he needed on his side, Head Coach Joe Gibbs. Gibbs was loyal to Riggins and convinced Jack Kent Cooke to open the checkbook one more time for the Diesel. The 1985 season would be Riggins last season in the NFL. Riggo played in 12 games, starting 11 and rushed for 677 yards and 8TD’s.

The full article that appeared in the August 26, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated features many more nuggets including Riggins saying “I’ve been embarrassed and humiliated by the boners I’ve pulled”. Oh Riggo…you were one of a kind.

Cheers and Hail