Mike Modano, the NHL’s points leader for American born players, finally decided to hang it up after 21 seasons and 1,464 points. Modano is one of the few NHL players that I still recongnize – I haven’t been a huge fan of hockey for almost 20 years at this point and I probably haven’t watched more than a few minutes of an NHL game in close to 10 years. The number of NHL player that I know has gotten so low that I think that there are more kids of players I remember watching in the league right now than there are players I have actually watched play.
Modano has been in the league so long that he actually played for the Minnesota North Stars *before* they moved to Dallas in 1993.
Have you seen the new Miami Marlins logo for next season? Dave Schoenfeld called it an ABA logo from 1973. Paul Lukas thought it was a photoshopper’s concept of what it might look like. It is just plain ugly.
Here it is in case you are morbidly curious. Would anyone really buy a hat that looked like something a Marlin puked up?
A1. GNOIF is the Game Night Of Indeterminate Frequency. The schedule will likely be to do a GNOIF at least quarterly. Basically, GNOIF will happen on periodic weekend nights where Something Else didn’t get in the way.
Q2. What do I bring?
A2. BYOB and snacky food (please don’t bring anything messy and/or sticky, to avoid collateral damage to the games). Make a point to eat before you come. This will allow us to focus on the games, and to avoid the logistics of ordering/paying for food. The thought is that if you eat around 4-5 pm you can live off snacks and beverages the rest of the night. Feel free to bring that game you’re amped about, but don’t count on it getting played unless someone else gets excited about it too.
Q3. What will we play?
A3. If we break games into three groups based upon how “involved” they are:
Little (or Light) Games: 5 minutes to learn, less than 40 minutes to play.
Medium Games: Around 10 minutes to learn, about an hour to play.
Big (or Heavy) Games: 10+ minutes to learn, 90+ minutes to play.
We’ll be providing something like 2-3 light games, 3-4 medium games, and a heavy game or two. Note that we will *not* be playing anything from the Fred Meyer Wall Of Games. You know what I’m talking about. The focus will lean towards newer and more innovative games. Stuff we haven’t already played a million times.
My suggestion is to let people collectively decide what they want to play. I would encourage everyone to limit the number of people per game to 3-4 players. Limiting the number of players will make the games go *much* faster, decreasing downtime between turns (yawn) and allowing everyone to try multiple games in a night if they want to. There should be plenty of time for at least two playthroughs of the games.
Of course, if 4-5 people want to hole up all night with a complicated game that’s fine too.
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Other stuff:
The plan right now is to give each GNOIF a title that sounds like a movie, starting with –
GNOIF: The Awakening
Expect to see writeups/post mortems posted on this website.
That’s about it, try to show up early/on time if you want to maximize your gaming!
If you find yourself in Boston, as I have been a lot lately, and you live in a city with an ahead of the curve dining scene, as I am blessed with in Seattle, you find yourself stuck in a rut in choosing restaurants. Don’t get me wrong, Boston has some fantastic places at the higher end of the price range and some great places at the lower end (inset plug for Sunset Grill and Tap in Allston – great burgers and entrees and a killer beer selection), but there isn’t a ton in the moderately priced sit-down category that is worth writing about. One of those places is Hungry Mother, located in Kendall Square in Cambridge, right near the Kendall Square Cinema.
On an unassuming corner near Kendall Square lies what may be the best restaurant in Boston.
Hungry Mother is the kind of place I have been looking for in Boston – small bites run around $5, apps run around $10 and entrees from $20 – $25 on a small and ever changing seasonal menu. While small, the menu really does cover something for everyone, including the vegetable inclined. Most of the dishes are “southern influenced”, but are really updated versions of southern home cooking – the kind of things that your southern grandmother would easily recognize and would order and probably say, “Damn, that is better than I used to make.” Meat is really the focus here though and that is where I went with my menu selections. They source locally as much as possible
I started with the Warm Beef Tongue on Toast and was just blown away. If you don’t like beef tongue or have never tried it, try this one. What came out was essentially an open-faced steak sandwich in a small bite. On a thick slice of lightly toasted baguette, you get perfectly tender, thinly sliced beef tongue, slathered with Dijon mustard and quite possibly the best gravy ever and topped with melted Swiss. I honestly could have eaten this all night and been happy, it was that good. I don’t know how particularly southern it was, but hell, I would kill for one right now.
I then moved on to what was called Lamb Pancetta. I was both skeptical and intrigued by it and after a recommendation by the waiter (and passing up the Green Tomato Gazpacho), I went for it. They took a lamb neck, de-boned it, flattened it, cured it as you would pancetta, rolled it and cooked it. This lead to a perfectly seasoned piece of meat with crispy exterior and a melt in your mouth unctuous interior that could not have a better contrast – and a very mild lamb flavor. Coupled with hominy and an out of this world jus, I found myself practically licking the plate clean as I devoured the dish.
In a delirious state from the deliciousness of the first 2 courses, I eagerly awaited my main course – the fried chicken. As I couldn’t decide between 4 out of the 5 entrees (I ruled out the catfish as it is really not one of my favorites to eat), my waiter steered me toward the fried chicken. He told me it is their most popular dish and it is not on the menu all the time and when it is, it usually sells out quickly. I am particular about my fried chicken, but with a glowing recommendation like that, I had to try it. What I received was one of the best fried chicken meals ever – a half chicken perfectly with a perfectly crispy breading on the outside and mouthwateringly tender and juicy on the inside. The chicken had obviously been given a long soak in buttermilk and you can taste it, adding a slight tang to the salty, crunchy, tender chicken. This bird needed no additional seasoning. My common complaint about buttermilk soaked chicken is that you never taste the buttermilk – not a problem here. The dish came with some simply cooked greens topped with a house made pepper vinegar which could not have been better.
Sadly, I was stuffed and did not try any additional sides or deserts.
I would be amiss if I didn’t talk about the service. Hungry Mother has the kind of service you would expect in a much higher end restaurant; the attentive wait staff (I didn’t see any table who ordered a bottle of wine one have to fill their own glasses) with a great knowledge of the menu (and pairing drinks with the food) without being too intrusive, were stellar and paid attention to the little things – changing the silverware between courses, clearing plates, filling glasses, etc., all while handling a small but packed dining room; it was a true team effort on their part. Dining solo can lead to lousy service and that was definitely not the case here – I never once felt rushed or like they didn’t want me there despite a line out the door when I left the restaurant at 9:30 (I was there for nearly 2 hours). This was probably one of the 10 best services that I have had at a meal.
In addition to the food, Hungry Mother also has a full bar with a small specialty cocktail list and a small but solid beer and wine by the glass selection as well as a nice wine list covering both new and old world at just about every price point. You are going to want to make a reservation in advanced – this place is always packed.
Overall, I was floored by how good this meal was, so good that I will honestly say that, in 12 years of living in Boston and 8 years of traveling back there, this was the single best meal I have had in the city. Hungry Mother would fit right in with the Seattle dining scene and I would highly recommend going to Hungry Mother as hungry as possible, with as many people as possible and order as much as possible. You won’t be disappointed.
The new ‘aggressiveness’ for the Mariners at the plate is really paying off – in terms of inflating the opponents strikeout totals.
Here are the last 7 Mariners games I attended with the gritty details:
Date
Opponent
Score
Mariner Hits
Mariners Walks
Mariner Strikeouts
9/9
Royals
M’s win 7-3
15
2
12
9/10
Royals
M’s lose 4-2
2
0
16
9/11
Royals
M’s lose 2-1
6
1
12
9/13
Yankees
M’s lose 3-2
6
4
17
9/16
Rangers
M’s win 4-0
6
2
9
9/17
Rangers
M’s lose 7-6
8
1
13
9/18
Rangers
M’s lose 3-0
6
2
14
This final stretch of M’s games that I will be at this season started off with a legit 7-3 win. They pounded one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball for 15 hits and 7 runs as they should have, so I could forgive the 12 K’s with only 2 walks. I also got to see Alex Liddi’s first MLB hit and the pitching debut of Steve Delabar, so it was all good. The wheels just came off after that – the next 2 games against the Royals were a disaster, making their mediocre pitching staff look like the Phillies with the Mariners offense producing just 3 runs on 9 hits, 1 walk (!!!) and 28 strikeouts(!!!!!!).
Things went from bad to worse against the Yankees as the M’s had AJ Burnett on the ropes early, but couldn’t put him away. There was a lot of swinging and missing that night for the Mariners as they managed to strike out more times than I have ever seen one team strike out in a single 9 inning game. On the flip side, I did get to see Mariano Rivera’s 600th save, so something could be said for that game.
The Rangers series wasn’t as bad, but the one win was ugly (probably would have been a 1-0 game if Ian Kinsler had not made a bad throw on what was a routine ground ball that should have ended the inning or if the routine bouncer up the middle 2 batters later had not bounced off the bag keeping the inning going), but it guaranteed that they would not lose 100 games this season.
This offensively may be the worst seven game stretch I have seen 12 walks and 93 strikeouts is not a winning formula in any way. It also goes a long way to explaining the attendance in some of those games – the game on the 13th against the Yankees had a whopping 18,306 show up while the weekend games against the Mariners drew 22,000 for fan appreciation night on Saturday and 21,000 for kids appreciation day on Sunday, although the Sunday game felt a lot emptier than that.
Seattle’s possessions at Pittsburgh. They ended with a punt, punt, punt, end of the half, punt, punt, punt, punt, surrendered on downs, punt. Charlie Whitehurst anyone?
Charlie Whitehurst is the better option. He may even prove to have some value. Hopefully the Seahawks go to plan “Charlie” soon.
Detroit doesn’t exactly have a reputation as a tourist destination, but the city is really missing out on an opportunity here with old Tiger Stadium Site, something akin to the movie, Field of Dreams.
In case you don’t know the story, here is my really short version:
– Tigers build shiny new ballpark.
– City, not knowing what to do with historic old ballpark, demolishes it.
– Fans come to site of old ballpark to see what is left of it, see the field is still intact (albeit overgrown) and decide to play a pickup game on it.
– Owner of the site threaten fans to get off the property.
– Fans ignore owners and spend their time and money to clean up the field and host regularly scheduled games .
– Owners continue to threaten fans
– A group of Chevy employees offer to volunteer their time and money to maintain the old site as a ball field for youth teams.
– Owners of the property tell them to bugger off.
A couple things you might not know about the old Tiger Stadium Site:
– It is in a lousy part of town
– The city has no idea what to do with it and no money to do anything with it anyway
– There are a lot of abandoned lots in the neighborhood
– People still come to the site to see it, including former ballplayers
Seems like a no-brainer here – you have the opportunity to draw people somewhere that they would not otherwise go, have someone maintain the property for you without you having to put any money into it and you will actually improve the neighborhood. How does this not make sense?
While not the greatest movie, Field of Dreams does provide us with something that I think is appropriate here, spoken by the great James Earl Jones playing Terrance Mann:
Ray, people will come Ray. They’ll come to Iowa for reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they’re doing it. They’ll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won’t mind if you look around, you’ll say. It’s only $20 per person. They’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they’ll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They’ll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they’ll watch the game and it’ll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they’ll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh… people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.
I for one would come, to play catch on a field that some of the greatest players in the game once roamed; to sit and watch a game at a place I visited many years ago; to hear the echoes of the late, great Ernie Harwell calling one last game.
To the city of Detroit, build it – people are already coming. Do the right thing.
At the end of the 1971 season, the MLB all-time list for pitcher strikeouts looked like this:
Rank
Pitcher
Strikeouts
1
Walter Johnson
3,508
2
Jim Bunning
2,855
3
Cy Young
2,803
4
Warren Spahn
2,583
5
Bob Feller
2,581
Here is where those guys rank on the current list:
Rank
Pitcher
Strikeouts
9
Walter Johnson
3,508
17
Jim Bunning
2,855
20
Cy Young
2,803
25
Warren Spahn
2,583
26
Bob Feller
2,581
It is amazing what a difference 40 years makes. Johnson’s number looked insurmountable for the longest time, then Ryan and Carlton blew past it and eventually Clemens and Randy Johnson also joined the 4,000 K Club.
Raise your hand if you knew Jim Bunning was #2 all-time on the list at the time he retired, or would have even guessed he was in the top 5.
Top: Leftover skirt steak cut into smallish pieces and brought to room temperature.
Middle: Red onion, mushroom, red pepper, and balsamic. The vegetables were sauteed (basically melted) in olive oil over low heat for about an hour, then cooled.
Bottom: Still warm garlic rubbed bruschetta coated with a spoonful of horseradish sour cream. The temperature contast was nice.
It’s getting late in the year and the natural light is fading by dinnertime. A plan “B” for photography may be in order.
Yesterday, I received my copy of Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal by Jennifer McLagan. I haven’t made it all the way through the book yet, and I will post a review when I finally do, but I do want to share a quote that was in the book by M.F.K Fisher
People who feel that a lamb’s cheek is gross and vulgar when a chop is not are like the medieval philosophers who argued about such hairsplitting problems as how many angels could dance on the point of a pin. If you have these prejudices, ask yourself if they are not built on what you may have been taught when you were young and unthinking, and then if you can, teach yourself to enjoy some of the parts of the animal that are not commonly prepared.
The quote makes more sense as you read the book. Jennifer’s talks about her experiences eating some poorly prepared things as a child and how she in situations later in her life ended up eating the same things with an open mind, falling in love with them. It is not a bad attitude to take in both eating and life.
So many times I have tried things later in life that I hated as a kid – mushrooms and mustard come to mind; I would never eat them when I was younger now I rank them among my favorite foods on the planet. You won’t love everything that you try, but you are probably missing out on some things that you will probably love.
FlatbreadGarden 