Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The Most Important Meal

I am a breakfast guy. Pancakes, eggs, waffles, crepes, hash browns, I eat the shit out of that stuff. Happiness for me is being at a Greek diner at 9:30 in the morning enjoying the sunrise special. So, with that in mind I feel that I am somewhat of an expert on the whole subject. To me a good breakfast place does certain things either right or wrong. Sure, it may just be scrambled eggs to the masses but to me there is an art form to it. My training started back in my youth.

I have alluded to the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club in the past and have never really explained the whole concept properly. Back in the summer of 1989 my friends and I got the bright idea to go to breakfast every Tuesday morning. We would then rate each place based on a number of different criteria. Then we would take these ratings and put them into Paul’s Apple II to code the data. In case you were wondering yes, we were kind of geeks and weren’t getting laid much.

The club consisted of me, and my friends Rob, Paul, Chris, Wally and Joe. We made it a mission to visit as many breakfast joints on the Southside as we could. We would meet at Paul and Chris’ house at around eight in the morning and from there head out to eat. I have no idea why we chose Tuesdays to do this and no idea why when we were all on summer break we felt like we needed to get up early and eat breakfast, other than we were bored and living in the suburbs. (And, again not getting laid much.)

But, I digress. I usually ordered the same thing no matter where we went. Every Greek diner in Chicago has some form of the 2x2. Usually it is 2 pancakes, 2 eggs and some form of 2 pieces of meat. I usually go with bacon but if a sausage patty is offered, I sometimes will call an audible. The good establishments will allow you to get the blueberry pancakes, which are a personal favorite. However, that is only if the blueberries are in the batter. Nothing is worse than getting blueberry pancakes and they just throw some blueberry sauce on top of regular pancakes. Those are death.

A good pancake will be cooked equally on both sides. Some places are lazy and one side of the cake is burnt while the flip side is raw. Also, don’t give me Bisquick, I could do that at home. Put some effort into creating your batter. As for eggs, I would rather have them over cooked then under. I am a simple man and usually just get scrambled. There is nothing sicker than trying to eat runny scrambled eggs. Eggs should be fluffy. It does not take a whole lot to make scrambled eggs so if you screw them up that speaks volumes.

Another nice thing some breakfast places do is give you the complimentary muffin basket when you sit down. (Jedi’s Garden on 95th and Southwest Highway is one place I know that does.) Also, when they throw you a complimentary glass of juice this is also a plus. This brings me to another point and that is cost.

The first thing I will look at when going to a new place is how much are they charging for a glass of orange juice. I went to one place recently and it was $3 for a small (at least what I consider small) glass. I get it if they are freshly squeezing it for you. However, most places when they say freshly squeezed mean, they bought Minute Maid freshly squeezed in bulk and pass it off as their own. A breakfast for me and Joyce should cost no more than $15. If it is more then that, sorry but it is overpriced.

Going out to breakfast is also a good way to not only start our day but to have a laid back casual meal with your (at least in our case) significant other. Joyce and I routinely get up early on Sunday’s and try to beat the church crowd to grab some chow. I can’t put my finger on it but there is a different mindset when you go out to eat in the morning as opposed to going out to dinner at night.

There is no decision to be made on what to order. I know what I am getting and I can predict with pretty good accuracy what Joyce will get. It is the beginning of the day and not the end. There is something to be said for starting the day enjoying a meal with your wife. At dinner the conversation is usually just a recap of how your day went. At breakfast you just started your day so, the conversation takes other turns. The fact that after twelve years of knowing each other, we haven’t run out of things to say to each other is a testament. (It also helps that Joyce doesn’t mind when I will re-tell, what I think is an amusing antidote that I am she sure has heard before, and yet she still laughs at my antics.)

For all of these reasons and many more I am a breakfast guy. There is something about a side of white toast with some grape jelly that keeps me sane. Lastly, being a breakfast guy is why I could never leave Chicago. For the most part I am not a chain fan and find the best places for breakfast to be your local grease pits not some IHOP or Denny’s. Sadly, as I travel most towns just don’t have the variety that Chicago offers.

Friday, September 03, 2010

2010 Football Picks

Like I do every year, I will embarrass myself with my annual football picks. Please no snickering.

AFC East
1. New England
2. New York
3. Miami
4. Buffalo

I have a feeling that the Patriots are getting really sick of the all the Jets love out there. This team is still talented and is still the defending champs of the East. Somehow they find a way to get it done one more time. Everyone and their mother are high on the Jets. But, I still have some questions about Sanchez. I have watched him and I don’t see it. Not saying he will never find it but, right now he does not impress me. Their D is still going to be good and that will be enough to get them in the playoffs. The Dolphins could sneak in there as well and if they were in a lesser division might win it. But, as good as they might be the two teams ahead of them are a tad better. The Bills do not look to be very good and it all starts from the QB position. Until they get that and the O-line fixed this team isn’t going anywhere.

AFC North
1. Baltimore
2. Cincinnati
3. Pittsburgh
4. Cleveland

The Ravens as usual will be solid on D. But, with Ray Rice running the ball and Flacco now having a legit target in Boldin this team has a chance to really good. The Bengals tanked at the end of last season but they still have talent on both sides of the ball and will still be a decent team that will challenge for a playoff spot. The Steelers are a team in transition. Not having Roethlisberger for 4 games will hurt and even with him they still have some holes. The Browns have a long way to go, but I think Holmgren will eventually get this team back to respectability.

AFC South
1. Indianapolis
2. Tennessee
3. Houston
4. Jacksonville

Until, they don’t do it you can’t pick against the Colts. Sure, they may be the Atlanta Braves of football with all the playoff appearances and only one title. For once their D if Sanders can stay on the field may be an asset. The Titans were one of the better teams at the end of last year. I think they can carry that over and will challenge Indy big time for the division. Every year the Texans are picked to be a team that takes the next step and makes the playoffs. But, I don’t like their D and the running game is suspect. Maybe in 2011. The Jaguars are not a bad team but, in a stacked division someone has to finish last and that will probably be Jacksonville.

AFC West
1. San Diego
2. Oakland
3. Kansas City
4. Denver

The Chargers are not as good as they have been in previous years but it matters not in the west. They should still have enough to eke out 10 wins which should be enough to win the division. I have the Raiders to be my surprise team this year. I almost picked them to upend San Diego. I don’t think they are there yet but if Jason Campbell just plays average this team wins 8 games. The Chiefs are going to be better. They still are not very good but, have some weapons on offense and will play in a lot of shootouts. I may be picking the Broncos last more with my heart then my head. They are now my least favorite team in all of football. I hope they go 0-16 with Tebow starting all 16 games and getting sacked 150 times. A man can dream can’t he?

NFC East
1. Dallas
2. Philadelphia
3. Washington
4. New York

The Cowboys on paper are the class of the east. But they always seem to make things harder on themselves then they need to be. Still, I think they pull it out in the end. The Eagles have a lot of young talent that could go one way or the other. I am leaning on that talent coming out and Kolb playing at a respectable level. The Redskins are a difficult team to get a handle on. I like the McNabb pickup and Shanahan will have this team playing inspired football. But I don’t know if they have enough playmakers on both sides of the ball to make the playoffs. The Giants have some holes and I don’t like their receivers at all. They could go south this year and Coughlin could be fired.

NFC North
1. Green Bay
2. Minnesota
3. Detroit
4. Chicago

I don’t want to like the Packers but it is hard to not be impressed with what this team has done. They took a step last year and they look like they are ready to take another one forward this season. Rodgers is the real deal and they have a lot of pieces in place as Wannie would say. The Vikings are totally dependent on Favre. The guy is going on 41 and I am telling you he can’t duplicate what in many ways was a career year last season. If he reverts to Favre of old the picks will come and that won’t be good. The Lions are not there yet, but I think Stafford is the real deal and they have a great young nucleolus. The defense is still bad and that will lose them a lot of games. The Bears will probably finish ahead of the Lions but, it would not shock me to see this team just fall flat on its face. Defense is still a sieve and Cutler is Jeff George in disguise. Also, he is not built for this offense and it will be a long season for me watching this team at the Castle.

NFC South
1. Atlanta
2. New Orleans
3. Carolina
4. Tampa Bay

I think the Falcons are a team to watch out for this season. If Matt Ryan takes the next step this is a super bowl caliber team. Just about everything that could go right did for the Saints last year. While I still think this is a playoff team it may be a lot to expect all that to fall into place again. The Panthers are about as average in every aspect as you can get. They don’t suck in any area and they don’t shine in any either. The Buccaneers are still rebuilding and have a ways to go. Playing Freeman is the right choice so at least they can see what if anything he can do.

NFC West
1. Seattle
2. San Francisco
3. Arizona
4. St. Louis

The Seahawks are not a good football team, but somebody has to finish first in this toilet of a division. An 8-8 record might just be enough. A lot of people are picking the 49’rs to win the west and they just might. But, there is something about this team that just doesn’t sit right with me. I am still not sold on Alex Smith. The Cardinals are solid except at the quarterback position and you cannot win in the NFL with instability at QB unless you are superb at running the ball and on D and while they are good, they aren’t good enough to make up for Derek Anderson. The Rams are going to be rebuilding again this year but, I think Bradford could be a decent QB. Of course he is going to take some lumps on this team. But in a year or two they could be on top again.

Playoffs
AFC
New England over Cincinnati
New York over San Diego
Baltimore over New York
Indianapolis over New England
Indianapolis over Baltimore

NFC
Dallas over Minnesota
New Orleans over Seattle
Green Bay over New Orleans
Atlanta over Dallas
Green Bay over Atlanta

Super Bowl
Indianapolis over Green Bay