SB Nation User Blog: obc2

Burger Tour Roars Into .......TINK'S!

obc2 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:08:27 -0000

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.

tHan's CHI/CIN game thread

obc2 — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:28:54 -0000

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.

SIS - best songs by certain bands edition

obc2 — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 01:23:57 -0000

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:

Strongest Reds Position Historically

obc2 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:16:59 -0000

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)

Herb &Thelma's burger recap

obc2 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:59:29 -0000

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.

Question to the RR masses

obc2 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:26:12 -0000

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 Reposter v2.0

obc2 — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:39:19 -0000

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.

SIS - One Edition

obc2 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:02:01 -0000

Which one beer would you drink?

Which one car would you drive?

Which one movie would you watch? Or tv show?

Which one city would you go to if you could leave today?

Which one baseball ballpark would you see a game at?

Which one restaurant would you have dinner at?

Which one second baseman reportedly wet himself on the field when a small Lear jet buzzed the ballpark at an estimated altitude of 400 feet?

Etc, etc, etc. Feel free to add any and all "One Things" that stick out in your memory banks.

Burger Reposter -

obc2 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:47:58 -0000

Believe it or not Quatman's is opening a second location. I have to admit its certainly not where I would have predicted, all things considered. BK, however, probably will predict the future location within two miles. Quatman's Part Deux

I have long vouched for the superiority of NY style pizza over CHI deep dish. After a recent trip to CHI i have to admit that at least Giordano's makes one helluva deep dish pie. What's a CHI hamburger like? evidently THIS and here are 12 other nominations right here.

i 'm an ancient mariner, to be certain, and I have no idea what CLTV is....but its airing The Cheeseburger Show. Cheeseburger show episodes Or just peep at which burgers they love

Cincinnati's Burger Blog has taken about a month off, it seems. Cirque du Savory Thanks to jch and tHan and crew for posting new content almost weekly here. Any chance Slyde and BK make a mini stop in Louisville after the Bats game? And keep an eye out for the first Burger Road Trip Edition that will post after a trip to Dayton next weekend. Anyone available next Thursday evening is invited to Mt Adams for Burger Tour Stop #10, at Mt Adams Grill. No word is Mr Arroyo will be attending.

Chicagoans also love their lobster sandwiches but after viewing those pics i was left decidedly unimpressed. I am extremely partial to the lobster rolls in NH/Maine and, in my book, this place here tops the list.

What does Urban Spoon list as the top burgers in Cincinnati you ask? click this link there's two places i'd never heard of on the list.

SIS - Labor Day Edition

obc2 — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:26:28 -0000

I hope everyone had a phenomenal time at Chez Pops last evening, wish I could have made it. Rain check, next year....i'll start thumbing through my Rachael Ray mags for a killer dish directly.

I have the fam coming over in a couple hours to partake in some Giordano's deep dish pizza shipped from Chicago via UPS. They have never had authentic deep dish and I must admit Girodano's exceeded my expectations when i first ate there. Many folks in Illinois now argue that Chicago deep dish is for tourists and a new upscale thin crust movement has taken over the town. best pizza in america article We've had the best pizza discussion previously but in light of today being Labor Day and the fact we're all, hopefully, off work today.....

What's the worst place you've ever worked and why?

Mine was UPS as a driver's helper one winter in my youth. I really, really hate winter and I have no idea why i agreed to run from truck to house back to truck carrying packages for 10 hours/day in Cincinnati shitty weather conditions. But it paid a few bucks more an hour than the normal positions for younguns, and im a capitalist at heart.