the 2009/10 bowl season is right around the corner.  yes, Ohio is going to a bowl game.  yes, its in Detroit.  No, i won't be going.  Detroit on 12/26?  Bah, humbug.  

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League Name: redreporter 

Password: rosales 

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Good luck to everyone, here's your chance to get your picks in writing.  Winner receives an auto'd 8x10 of Reds legend Tommy Helms, authenticated by BK. If anyone else has a prize they want to toss in the ring feel free.  Im sure Mads has a spare bobblehead somewhere.  

John Wall is gonna win the Heisman.  

Power may or may not remain on at chez obc during tonight's windstorm.  its frickin chilly in the 'Nati. My UK flag is flying high outside as i type. 

Its gonna be -20 wind chill in Chicago tonight, fuck everyone who lives or visits there.  

my official reds sleeper is Chris Heisey in 2010 (following Arroyo, Hamilton, Hopper, Owings and Rosales in years past)  This list needs to start getting a little more diverse.  

Jimmy V gave the best speech of the past 25 years.  

I like the Bearcats over the Muskies this weekend.  

I like the Gators over the Bearcats on Jan 1.  

Ohio A&M (OSU) will lose their bowl game.  

What's the title of Slyde's book?  And will he finish before Pops or Mads?  And imagine if jch wrote a book...what would that title be?  

Half hour til UK/UConn.  Game thread.  Discuss.  

After taking last year off due to parental responsibilities (and kids' disinterest in attending) I was back, yet again, at Redsfest this year.  I didn't get to ask ED44 if he was rooting for USC/UCLA while at the sports bar, play Reds Jeopardy against Slyde, or see Ash like I have in years past....but this year's event had some memorable moments, fo shure.  

*I bought an actual game used jersey.  Fanatics of this here website can probably guess which jersey is now hanging in the closet.  

*I watched Slyde and BK buy game used Spring Training jerseys.  

*I got to meet the Reds first African American ballplayer, again.  

*The sports bar area was riveted to the ending of the UC/PITT game.  The Bearcats' final touchdown got the loudest ovation of the afternoon.  It was a Roar.  I thought El Nino Destructor had entered the building.  The main stage's interview session had to momentarily pause due to the crowd noise.  

*I listened to Bronson Arroyo sing one acoustic song.  

*I watched Micah read a children's book to a herd of younguns.  

*I purchased non-baseball related Xmas gifts for my sis and her hubby.  I was given a suit bag to put his present in and carry.  So....if you saw a semi-tall dude in a #60 jersey carrying a suit bag, yeah I was That Guy.  

*Met two pretty funny fellows from another Reds website.  OMG something or other.  They knew Slyde, of course.  One was wearing a Scott Ruskin jersey albeit the Big Red Machine style.  That was pretty impressive.  

*jch won the speed pitch, again.  this year he ran unopposed and racked up an awe inspiring 63mph.  sadly, i've retired from this competition.  Age has caught up to me and I still remember the fingers going numb last time i huffed and i puffed up.  i'd like to see Pops attend next years event and show our little southpaw who's his daddy.  

That's enough for me, gotta leave room for other folks to add their two cents.  

Wednesday November 10th 

time is negotiable, its Veteran's Day (bank holiday!) 

Tink's off Ludlow in Clifton's gaslight district (by the Esquire)  

Cost: $15 or so, it's Man Up time after the atrocious Mt Adams experience 

This is the place where sukr, several years ago, almost wept in sheer delight at the taste of a Kobe burger @ Tink's. He proclaimed it the best burger he had ever consumed (and my bet is my boy has eaten a mess of burgers in his day).  This proclamation was pretty much the origination of the Burger Tour. I'm not drinking beers at Tink's due to the cost but there might be a stop afterwards at one of the neighborhood pubs which serves more economical selections.  

I think this about the last burger in town that can seriously challenge TTC or Gordo's top ranking.  

Also, any thoughts to having a First Ever RR Xmas party?  I vote Opening Day due to its centralized location and extreme cost effectiveness.  I already have my white elephant gift selected.  

Predictions?  What's gonna happen this afternoon?  Who ya like?  jck likes the Bengals 24-21. 

Will Cedric Benson dominate or be dominated?  I dont see a middle ground today. 88 yds 2 td's say I.  

What's on your football viewing dining menu today?  Homemade mac n cheese, homemade cheese coneys, walking tacos, chips n salsa, and guacamole here.  

Post your pre-game, in-game and postgame thoughts/reactions here, the more the merrier.  

This afternoon I spent the several hours at a local high school football field watching a couple youth football games in chilly, damp conditions.  The games were moved from a local county park to "our" home field with Field Turf due to the recent deluge of rain locally.  We had one day to organize the entire event and it impressively went off without a hitch, many people volunteered their time at the grill, food booths, beverage booths, and multiple ticket booths.  I was most impressed by the songs spun between series, after timeouts and in between games.  

Conversation turned to whether the individual song of the moment was the best song by the particular band being played over the PA.  Admittedly it wasnt the most riveting of conversations but it did manage to distract us from the fact our asses were freezing, metal bleachs are teh suck!  Earlier this week a person I know was extolling the virtues of the best Stone Temple Pilots song and while I didnt necessarily agree it was a tad interesting to hear the opinion nonetheless.  

So....what say you?  What's the best, in your opinion, song by:  

Stone Temple Pilots: 

Guns N Roses:

AC/DC: 

Pearl Jam: 

Pink Floyd: 

Van Halen: 

Black Crowes: 

Sum 41:   (for BK) 

Prince:  (for tHan) 

Michael Jackson:  (for jch) 

Electric Light Orchestra:  (for Mads) 

Jack Johnson:  

Rolling Stones:  

The Who: 

I'm posting this fairly rapidly based on rankings from Bill James' Historical Baseball Abstract (revised 2001 edition) where Mr James ranked the top 100 ballplayers at each position.  Its been almost a decade since publication and there would be several edits and additions to the rankings at this place and time, but i found the results interesting nonetheless.  

What position is the strongest in Reds history?  

Sadly, i didnt read each entry and cross check everyone who might have played for the Reds...but i did a fairly poor eyeball check and referenced my memory on who played for the Reds.  Some played only a couple years and i tried to delete anyone that wasnt really a starting ballplayer for the Reds.  Here. We. Go.  

Catcher 

2- Bench

22 - Lombardi

35 - E. Bailey

53 - J. Edwards 

First Base

13 - Perez

34 - Big Klu

47 - Lee May

78 - Dan Driessen

Second Base 

1 - Morgan

30 - Bid McFee

45 - Bill Doran

49 - Manny Trillo

52 - J. Temple

53 - Tony Cuccinello

71 - Don Blasingame

78 - Juan Samuel

94 - Ronnie Oester

Shortstop

6 - Larkin

24 - Tony Fernandez

26 - Concepcion

50 - Leo Cardenas

53 - Roy McMillian

62 - Dennis Menke 

Third Base

19 - Buddy Bell

21 - Heinie Groh

36 - Terry Pendleton

79 - Bob Bailey

87 - Ray Knight 

Left Field 

21 - Sherry Magee

34 - George Foster

51 - Kevin Mitchell

53 - Hal McRae

68 - Greg Vaughn

71 - Ron Gant

74 - Selbach 

Center Field 

7 - Junya 

15 - Edd Roush

18 - Vada Pinson

21 - Cesar Cedeno

33 - Eric Davis 

58 - Gus Bell 

Right Field 

3 - Frank Robinson 

5 - Pete Rose

14 - Dave Parker

31 - Ken Griffey Sr

44 - Paul O'Neill

90 - Dante Bichette 

So whattya think?  I figured it would be shortstop, but two other positions have four Reds ranked in the top 35 of their position alltime.   (and center has five if you really count Cedeno) 

Epic.  

This is our third attempt to sample the fine cuisine of Herb and Thelma's.  The first was when we tried to grab a burger before a Sunday Reds game.  tHan and I got out of the car and the residents of the house two doors down from H&T's asked "Are you going to Opening Day"...after a couple beats I said naw and kept walking to the restuarant.  "Opening Day is closed" said the residents.  Huh?  It turns out the restaurant is closed on Sunday's except during the football season.

The second time we attempted to go tHan got their first, on a Wednesday, and noticed a handwritten paper sign on the door that read "CLOSED TODAY".  Really?  

The third time I was the first to arrive and entered the establishment without incident.  The first thing i noticed was the trophy case filled with various bobbleheads.  Reds, Bengals, UC, XU, etc, etc.  There must have been 40 of them.  The second thing i noticed were the Schoenling bar lamps with Cincinnati as it looked circa the erection (jch alert) of the Brent Spence bridge.  Sadly H&T's has 3 of the set of 4, the 4th has come up missing over the years.  My grandfather worked at Schoenling most of his life and I got to have a little moment to my lonesome before the other two nutjobs arrived.  

I needed a beer!  The beer list is on the wall.  Bud.  Bud Light.  Bud Select.  Coors Light.  Pabst. Pabst Light.  Old Milwaukee.  Stroh's.  Keystone Light.  Mike's Hard Lemonade.  What, no Burger?  I almost expected to see a Schoengling tap, dammit.  The place is rustic and it really feels like the type of corner bar that our forefathers bellied up to.  tHan and BK arrived and ordered a beer also.  $1.75 for the Bud/Miller/Coors....$1.50 for the others.  I felt the extra quarter was money well spent and I went with the Bud Select all evening, best beer for the buck in the U S of A, there wasnt no Shock Top fruity beer in da house (sorry, Gray) on Burger Tour Stop #11 by golly.  Just 100% pure American awesomeness.   

The grill is located directly behind the bar.  Its rustic.  i can't say that i've ever seen anything quite like it. Burgers here are $2, a double is $3.50.  Comes with pickle and onion.  I added mustard.  tHan added mayo, being the sick buck that he is.  There is something serene and peaceful about drinking a beer, watching Derek Jeter's Slump Proof Swing on the television as the bartender hand made our burgers and prepared them 4 feet from our location.  Warning:  these burgers are 1/3 lb before cooking.  They're not weighed on a scale because, im sure, the bartender has made thousands of these burgers in his lifetime and he knows the difference between a 1/3 lb and a 1/4 lb burger without having to weigh it.  Our burgers were delicious and we polished them off fairly rapidly, tHan had a double while BK and I had singles.   Since the burgers came without chips or fries we argued that a second found of burgers was in order.  This time we all went with the singles.  Second verse same as the first, tayyyyyyyysteeeeeee. 

tHan then ordered a grilled cheese sandwich.  I forgot to ask him how it was because i was blown away by having seen how it was prepared. it was grilled in the leftover grease and meat chunks from a carryout order that immediately preceded him ordering a GC sand.  So our man was up to 3 patties and a grilled cheese when he went one step over the line and ordered another single cheeseburger, this time requesting no onion.  The record is 8 burgers eaten in one sitting.  Our boy had half of that plus a grilled cheese.   

And he went beer for beer with me the entire evening.  The Official Herb and Thelma's Game Ball goes to tHan for a historic night at a historic venue.  It ranks in the top 3 overall.  Granted, the ambiance and low, low, low prices make H&T's jump over burger joints that could legitimately argue their burger is better.  But I'd rather go back to Herb and Thelma's.   Much rather.  

If you could add one former Red to the 2010 roster who would that be and why?   

I think the most legitimate arguments could be made for only 2-3 players and i dont want to make a case for any of them here instead preferring to see what the general feedback is.   The more i thought about it the more players i considered.  But, really, i think its a short, short list.   

Assuming the current roster is as is, without free agent signings this offseason, who would you select?  and why?  

Burger news.  

the likely next tour stop

might have to try the Fifty/50

Northern Kentucky gets its first ButterBurger, which opens Monday one exit from my house.  Anyone else have an opinion on Culver's?  I was left unimpressed as it reminded me of Steak n Shake, but that was a couple years ago.  

Need a mini chicken burger recipe?  here you go

Gordo's now has a website.  And Surf n Turf burger! (a la TTC).  Challenge!!!   Gordo's website

We missed National Cheeseburger Day?  Mea culpa.  tons of cheeseburger stuff

Time for the last baseball game of the season and the Battle of Ohio, which should be extremely one sided.