Gridiron Gala: Party Like It's 1991!

"Some men are born with greatness, some men achieve greatness, and some men have greatness thrust upon them. A combination of the 3 makes you immortal."

I'm not sure who said that quote first, but I use to hear it on the Greaseman show back in the day...spoken by the one and only Don King. Ha Ha. But speaking about back in the day, and speaking of greatness, a special event is coming to RFK featuring the dynasty that was the 80's-90's Washington Redskins.

It's called the Gridiron Gala, and judging from what I've seen about this event, I'd give half my c&%k to be there. First of all it starts with a tailgate party outside of legendary RFK stadium. That's cool enough, because you haven't tailgated at RFK in a long time unless your a soccer fan...or the last time you did there was no cornhole!

Later, the party moves inside RFK, where the honoring of those great Skins players fully begins. Break bread and rub elbows with Gibbs, Clark, Theismann, and Rypien to name a few. It's a fantasy camp of your all-time favorite Skins for the cost of an NFL game ticket...in 1983!

There's also a Madden Gaming Challenge in which you could win the chance to play Chris Cooley in Madden 10. I personally would beat Chris using the Redskins and only using pass plays to Chris Cooley, and talk shit the whole time. Talk shit like "hey Chris, how's Madden Chris Cooley's ass taste?" But...that's just me. Maybe you'll beat him using only Clinton Portis's running plays.

Here's a preview of the Gala, and you can also get updates moving forward on Facebook and Twitter.

Cheers and Hail

Peyton Manning: It's Hip To Be Square

(photo courtesy of On That Note)

Peyton Manning may just be the coolest dork in history. He keeps popping up in cool places, with cool people, but...looking like a CPA. Last off-season was dedicated to commercials and SNL. This year, he's partying in Key West and New York with rock stars!

Last March, Manning became the first person in the history of civilization to sing a David Allen Coe song wearing a polo and khaki shorts. He earned a trifecta by performing his karaoke at Sloppy Joe's in a duet with Kenny Chesney. So, he's way cool for being in Key West at Sloppy Joes, singing with Kenny Chesney...but he's the only person in the joint wearing my uncle's favorite golf outfit.



Cut to Friday night in New York. Better Than Ezra (one of my favorite bands) is rocking the house. During their performance of "King of New Orleans," they bring out the Manning brothers. What kind of outfit are the Manning brothers working for the big show? What any one of us would...your standard button up shirt and blazer. They proceeded to fire some footballs out into the crowd (cool) and look very awkward moving to the music. So once again, cool for being there...but very dorky.

Sounds like the story of my life.

Cheers and Hail

Favorite Sports Promotion: The O's Floppy Hat

My favorite sports promotion of all-time is Orioles Floppy Hat night, which just happens to be tonight! If I was anywhere near Camden Yards, I would be heading over there to score this cherished memento. Tonights version is black (I prefer orange) because the O's always wear black during Friday night home games.

These hats were great for fishing trips and just generally hanging out and drinking. I always circled Floppy Hat night on the schedule at the beginning of every year. I wish I still had my old ones, but they are all lost, stolen, or fell apart.

While other promotions may have more glamour or appeal, for my money the floppy hat will always be my favorite.

Apologies to bobble heads, player T's, and all you can eat!

Oh, this seems like a good time to post the greatest 7th inning stretch song ever!Kick it John.

Cheers and Hail

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Over the next few weeks I will be randomly posting about my favorite things. For instance, this post is about my favorite all-time NCAA basketball player, Juan Dixon. Moving forward you'll see my favorites in all walks of sports. But enough about that, lets talk about Juan.

Dixon was the 2002 ACC Player of the Year award winner on his way to leading my beloved Terps to the 2002 title. Despite being undersized at a billed 6’3” and 164 lbs, Dixon overcompensated by having “the heart of a tiger” as quoted by his Coach Gary Williams. He holds countless career and single season records at Maryland.

Dixon played a role that I always find myself rooting for, a true underdog. He overcame family tragedy on his way to College Park. It’s well documented that both his parents died from the AIDS virus. He was also lightly recruited out of high school despite a stellar career.

I will never forget the big wins over Duke, and the way he led the underdog Terps to their only title. He turned around so many games with a clutch shot or a big steal. I remember jumping for joy when Michael Jordan made him a first round pick for the Wizards.

Although Juan's pro career has never reached the heights it did in college, he will always have a special place in my heart as my all-time favorite NCAA player.

Apologies to Len Bias, Patrick Ewing, Nik Caner-Medley, Keith Booth, Alonzo Mourning

Trivia: Juan Dixon's older brother Phil lived in the dorm room directly beside Fatpickle in college. Phil was a D-III All-American.

Cheers and Hail

Famous Redskin Fans

Here is a list of the top 5 famous Washington Redskins fans, and a few that were thought to be but are not. Do you know any more? Post in the comment section or email me.

Rumored Fan - Matthew Mccognahay- Actor
Confirmation...YES - HUGE FAN. Interviewed on MTV wearing a #24 Redskins Champ Bailey uni. Interviewed on Barbara Walters special where they filmed his bedroom, which had a Skins helmet on the dresser. Seen at Redskin's games including first game @ Fedex. Seen spitting dip directly onto stadium during first game.

Rumored Fan - Dale Earnhardt Jr - NASCAR Driver
Confirmation...YES - HUGE FAN. In the movie Dale, about his father, JR does his entire interview dressed from head to toe in Skins gear. Seen on the sidelines at games and training camp. Often checks on the score of the Skins game during races. Said he would give up everything he's done in racing to be Chris Cooley for a year.

Rumored Fan - Sandra Bullock - Actress
Confirmation...YES Grew up in Arlington, Va and has been spotted at Redskin's games (including the first game at Raljon with MM.)

Rumored Fan - Greg Garcia - Creator "Yes, Dear" "My Name Is Earl"
Confirmation...YES Grew up in Arlington, VA and attended Frostburg State. Frequently has characters in his TV shows wear Redskins paraphernalia. Attends at least 1 game a year and has been a guest in Dan Snyder's private box.

Rumored Fan - Wanda Sykes - Actress/Comedian
Confirmation...YES Grew up in Gambrills, MD rooting for the Skins. And I thank Wanda for giving us this.

Rumored Fan - Gene Hackman - Actor
Confirmation...NO! I love Gene Hackman, in my opinion one of the greatest actors ever. He wore a Redskins jacket the entire movie Loose Cannons. He also portrayed the Joe Gibbs role in The Replacements, so I thought the rumors maybe true. Alas, after further review I found out Gene is a Cowboys fan!

Rumored Fan - Ron Jeremy - Legendary Porn Star

Confirmation...NO! I wanted this one to be true, but I could not find any proof to back it up. So, I got in touch with Ron's people (yes, Ron has people.) The exact quote I received "He doesn't care much about sports or follow them."

WELL THAT MAKES SENSE, HE'S GOT HIS HANDS FULL WITH OTHER THINGS :)

Cheers and Hail

The Redskins...What's In A Name?

This post originally appeared at The Cooley Zone

Thanks to a court ruling last week, I'm still a fan of the Washington Redskins. Not the Washington Presidents, or the Washington Johnny Rockets, or some other name that I could never imagine.

I (like most of you) have spent a lifetime bleeding burgundy and gold, singing the words "braves on the warpath" and rooting for my Skins. I've never once in my 30 years as a fan thought of the name "Redskins" as being offensive or racist. I've never heard nor said an off color or racist remark about the name. I've never heard one of the 90,000 drunken fans at Fedex field say anything derogatory about the name...even when the Redskins have a sucky day or a bad loss. In fact, I am proud of the name, proud of the team, and proud of the history and heritage of Native Americans. But who am I too voice my opinion? I'm just an ordinary white guy who can't jump and can't dance (especially when I think I can dance, usually around beer 8 or 9).

Well, I happen to be a part of a large group of people that believe that the Washington Redskins are a tribute to Native Americans. That group of people happens to include the Native Americans themselves. Yes that's right, 90% of American Indians do not find the term "Redskins" offensive in any way. Lets stop and think about this for a minute. Do you think 80 years ago the Redskins chose their team name to personally offend an entire race? Is that really how team names are chosen? No, they are chosen as a tribute to something. And without those teams that honor the American Indian, how often would we be reminded of our Native American history? I think that the people that bring on these lawsuits are only interested in what the root of all lawsuits boil down to...$money$ and notoriety.

I've been a fan of many of the names that have graced the backs of the jersey's. Monk, Riggins, Green, and Cooley to name a few. But, the names on the back of the jersey's change quite often. However, the Redskins name and the burgundy and gold is a lifetime relationship for me (and for you). Rooting for another team, or even the same team with a different name just wouldn't be right. I have to give Dan Snyder props for fighting in court and spending loads of cash to keep the tradition and history of the Redskins in tact.

So hip,hip, hooray to Chief Zee, that guy on the side of the helmets, and the Indians getting to mix it up twice a year with those Cowboys. And if you find that offensive, spend the day surfing the Internet...I think there's a lot worse things you could focus on.

Cheers and Hail

Taking A Rip At Ripken

We all have a professional athlete that’s our favorite, one that’s just on a different level from all the rest. For me, it’s Cal Ripken, hands down. So when I was surfing the web a few years ago and stumbled across Ripken Baseball’s fantasy camp, I knew I had to go.

The highlight of the camp was the all-star game. The All-Star game featured starting pitchers Bill and Cal Ripken. I had one goal when I flew north from Florida to Aberdeen, MD. I wanted to play catch with my baseball hero. Just a simple game of catch. So when the all-star game arrived, I had a choice. Catch(my natural position) Cal, or catch Bill and bat against Cal. Bill made up my mind for me when he told me that I was going to be catching for him.

So that's how it came to be that I dug in to the box to bat against Cal Ripken. He wasn't throwing batting practice puss. No, Cal was mixing it up. Our count ran to 3-2 before I laced my frozen rope down the 3rd base line. Fastballs and curveballs up and down, in and out. And then...boom. Being the competitor that Cal is, my second time up he threw me change up that almost made me throw my back out. The double comes around the 15 sec mark, and check out the stache on my teammate.


And I came back the following year to have that catch with Cal. I guess all he needed was a good battery mate to fix his pitching problems. He pitched a two hit shutout.


Round trip airfare from Tampa to Baltimore...$250

Gambling losses on Ripken Atlantic City trip...$500

2 trips to Ripken fantasy camp...A whole bunch $$$$

playing catch and hitting a double off Cal...PRICELESS!

Cheers and Hail