Jan 5-6: Happy Birthdays

Happy birthday Gilbert Arenas. Gilbert is playing (hopefully) his 7th season as a Washington Wizard. He is, and has been, my favorite basketball player during that time. Of course my favorite basketball player pulls a gun on his teammate and may find himself suspended for the season, or released outright from his contract…of course this happens with my favorite player. Gilbert needs more than my birthday wishes this year…he needs a good lawyer. Happy 28th Mr. Arenas.



Happy birthday Ryan Minor. Ryan played 3 season for the Orioles from 1998-00. Ryan will forever be known as the man who finally replaced Cal Ripken in the starting lineup for the Orioles. On 9/20/1998 Ryan started at 3B while Cal sat on the bench for the first time in 2,632 games. Ironically, Ryan (the 3B of the future) would play his last game in the majors on Oct. 7, 2001...1 day after Cal’s last game. Ryan’s career was forgettable, he hit only .177 over 142 career games. Ryan was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1996 NBA draft, maybe he chose the wrong sport. In retirement, Ryan got into coaching and is currently the hitting coach for the O’s Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds. Happy 36th Mr. Minor.

Cheers and Hail

TV Tuesday: Seinfeld

For the first ever TV Tuesday I think it’s a no-brainer to just go ahead and get Seinfeld out of the way. On many critics list as the greatest show of all-time “yada, yada, yada” the show about nothing was must-see TV back on Thursday nights in the 90’s. The Seinfeld cast recently had a reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm; I somehow forgot to tune in. I know Curb is supposed to be a funny show, but in the couple times I’ve watched it I just couldn’t get into it.

Seinfeld will go down as one of my all-time favorites TV shows. Kramer was my favorite character, followed closely by George. Elaine and Jerry were funny together and Puddy was awesome. By the way…you can see Puddy playing basically the same character on Rules Of Engagement (a surprisingly decent show.) I could do without Newman. Jerry and George’s parents were awesome and I particularly enjoyed the shows that featured the retirement community in Florida (Kramer running for president, Jerry working out vs. Lloyd Bridges.)

I ultimately believe that Seinfeld ended a couple seasons too soon, the show was in the zone and funnier than ever when it ended its run in 1998. Now, we have reruns available nearly 24 hours a day, so we can relieve all the great memories including the following classics:

“The Contest”
“The Marine Biologist”
“The Soup Nazi”
“The Maestro”
“The Chicken Roaster”
“The Implant”
“The Hamptons”
“The Boyfriend”
“The Abstinence”
“The Comeback”

Every single Kramer entrance, in order!



10 Great Seinfeld moments



George's Top 20 food moments

Cheers and Hail

Boss Hogg

This is a re-post to an article I originally wrote back in October of 2008. Best of luck Buges, you will be missed.



I would like to pay my respects to the greatest NFL position coach of all-time, Joe Bugle. For 31 NFL seasons, Buges has been the mark that all other coaches should be measured by. Whether you are a hall of fame coach, or a rookie coach, you know you'll be better with Buges on your staff.

Buges has been around so long that he coached Romeo Crennel at Western Kentucky 40 years ago! During this time, Buges roomed with a grad assistant by the name of Jerry Glanville in a one bed apartment! After a coin flip, Buges won the bed, forcing Glanville to the floor to sleep on newspapers! I'm laughing at the thought of Jerry sleeping on papers, and leaving Elvis tickets at the W. KTY ticket gate. Buges and Jerry lived off pizza and donuts during this time (who doesn't) because they had no $$ and had a couple players who worked at the pizza and donut shop. Many nights Buges and Jerry would stay up late drawing up plays on one of the pizza boxes. Maybe 50 gut was a specialty pizza!

Did you know that Buges was the O-line coach for Bum Phillip's Oilers in the late 70's? No wonder Earl Campbell had those big holes to run thru! The Oilers defeated the Chargers in the 79 playoffs, a Chargers team who had an O-coordinator by the name of Joe Gibbs.

In 1981 Gibbs and Buges joined forces with the Skins. Soon after, The Hogs were born. Buges took guys that were old, undrafted, and undersized, and made them the meanest, baddest, mfer's in the league.

When Gibbs came back, the only way it would have felt right was with Buges. We got Buges, and we should never let go. I was worried that Buges would ride off into the sunset with Joe, but we are lucky that he stuck around. Zorn is lucky that he has a guy like Buges to lean on. Buges coaches up the young guys, and stands behind the veterans. He is our rock.

So, for the man that was born 68 years ago in Pittsburgh, PA, lets knock this Steeler's team in the mouth! Let's make them bleed! Because I know if Joe could strap on the pads, someone would be bleeding.

Cheers and Hail

2009 Redskins Offensive Report Card

Quarterback - C

Here lies the problem I have with Jason Campbell, he’s just an all-around solid C. JC had decent numbers overall; 86.4 QB Rating with 3,618 yards passing, 20 passing TD’s and 15 INT’s. However, those numbers plunged to a 65.6 QB rating with 6 TD’s 8 INTS vs. the NFC East. After 52 career NFL starts JC’s record is 20-32. Love the guy, can’t say bad things about him…but the record speaks for itself.



Running Back - D

Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts went on IR and were lost for the year…neither played well when healthy. Ganther, Cartwright and Mason are not NFL caliber backs. Mike Sellers had a very sub-par year. This position has serious issues that need to be addressed.



Offensive Line - D-

Dockery and Rabach were ok…besides that everyone is old, hurt or sucks…or all 3 combined. A young lineman has to be drafted and a couple more added via free-agency.



Wide Receiver - C-

Santana Moss is far and way the best WR we have…and he’s not an elite receiver. Randle El was terrible…and if you think Kelly and Thomas made strides this year…your nuts. They combined for 50 receptions for 672 yards and 3 TD’s. Eagle’s rookie Jeremy Maclin caught 55-762-4.



Tight End - B

Chris Cooley was on his way to another Pro Bowl season before breaking his ankle. Fred Davis stepped into the starting role and performed well…in fact he seemed to get better and better. Yoder is the master of the 2 yard TD and an awesome blocker, even filling in admirably for an injured Mike Sellers. This is the deepest position on the Redskin’s roster.

Cheers and Hail

Music Monday: Pete Yorn

For my first “Music Monday” post I’m choosing one of my favorite (if not my favorite) singers, Pete Yorn. Pete’s 1st album, Music For The Morning After (MFTMA) is one of the albums I need to have if I’m ever stranded on a desert island.

MFTMA was Pete’s debut album. He first arrived on the scene when he scored the movie Me, Myself & Irene. 2 songs from MFTMA were featured in the movie. Pete now has 5 studio albums plus live recordings and songs that were featured on various soundtracks. I had the opportunity to see Pete at a bar in St. Pete, Florida a couple months ago. It was awesome seeing a guy who has 1.2 million fans on Twitter, in a bar that holds only 400 people. Pete put on a bad ass show and now my wife who knew very little of him is now a huge fan.

I recommend all of Pete’s stuff, however if you don’t know his music and want to invest $5 or $10 to download some tunes, I recommend:

Life On A Chain

Strange Condition

For Nancy

The Man

Murray

Crystal Village

Come Back Home

Long Way Down

All At Once

Shotgun

Cheers and Hail

Top 10 Reasons It's A Good Thing The Skin's Season Is Over

#10 The Redskins now have zero guys on IR.

#9 No need to worry about spending extra $$ on playoff tickets.

#8 For at least the next 8 months we no longer have to watch Antwaan Randle El return punts...or play football in any capacity for that matter.



#7 Albert Haynesworth can now get down on one knee and catch his breath…without getting carted off the field or causing an unscheduled TV time-out.

#6 We get to start tracking the flight patterns of Redskin’s One! Where in the world is the Danny and who’s he overpaying now?

#5 We can look forward to the NFL draft in April…where the Skins could do something really crazy…like draft an O-lineman!



#4 We can now concentrate our time on the Wizards playoff run…or Gilbert’s legal defense.

#3 Carlos Rogers is a free agent! 6 INT’s in 5 years. How many dropped INT’s…A LOT!

#2 The Redskins offensive game plans will no longer be devised in a meeting where the head coach devising the game plan is not allowed to actually call any offensive plays but the guy who is in charge of calling plays isn’t allowed in the meeting to build the game plan. Confusing? Yes.



#1 It’s the start of the offseason…the time of the year when the Redskins shine. Needing a head coach and with an uncapped year…we’re going to win the offseason again!

Cheers and Hail

A New Look Fatpickled In 2010

I'm excited to announce a few changes that will be happening on the site in 2010. When I first started this blog the idea was that I would write not just about sports, but also movies, music and other pop culture stuff. Well, Fatpickled somehow got away from all of the other stuff and became an all-sports blog. I'm here to say today that Fatpickled will now be touching on all the other stuff as well.

Don't get too confused, this site's main focus will still be sports...specifically the teams I love (Redskins, O's, Terps, Wizards.) However, in addition to several weekly post about sports, you will also receive a daily dose of pop culture. Here's what you can expect to see in 2010:



Music Monday - Every Monday I will write about a song, an album or a specific musical act that I love. I absolutely love music, and my tastes range all across the board...I once bought Everclear, Culture Club and Conway Twitty CD's in a single trip to Best Buy. I'm always looking for new music, so hopefully you guys will share your musical likes with me as well.



TV Tuesday - Every Tuesday I will write about TV Shows from today and the past that I have enjoyed. This may include talking about my favorite current show (Friday Night Lights,) or my favorite shows as a kid (Three's Company, Dukes Of Hazzard.) I plan on showing clips from Hulu and YouTube.



Whatchoo Talkin Bout Wednesday or Random Thought Thursday - On Wednesday or Thursday of each week I will be talking about whatever subject is on my mind at the time. I may talk about beer, cooking, fishing or other things that I enjoy doing. Hopefully these thoughts will be funny and/or entertaining.



Film Friday - Every Friday I will be talking about my favorite movies of all-time. I will also be talking about my favorite actors/actress of all-time. I may play the 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon game...I was the master of that game in the late 90's.

I hope you welcome the pop culture stuff to the blog with open arms and find it entertaining. Thanks for your support.

Cheers and Hail