Must Have....For Baseball Fans

With baseball season officially kicking off in two weeks I wanted to share a must have for baseball fans. A lot of you may have the MLB Network (@MLBNetwork), and luckily I just got it back this week, but here are two other apps worth trying. MLB.tv and MLB at-Bat 11. MLB.tv is great for those who don't have access to the all the channels, travel a lot for work or just want to watch a lot of baseball at the same time. It would definitely come in handy for business man specials when you are at work and want to watch the game. They have made it even better this year by extended the possibilities to watch, from computer, iPhone, iTouch, android, PS3, Apple tv, etc. Also, you are not limited to watching it on one dedicated system, you can watch on your home computer one day, your work computer the next and your PS3 that night. Here is the website to check out the pricing and options, and it is in HD where available. Click on "View Demo" button in the top left side of the screen to watch a quick video on the app.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/index.jsp?product=mlbtv&affiliateId=MLBTVREDIRECT

I am giving it a shot for month to see if it is something I would use to invest the money for the annual subscription.

Once you get into the app on your pc you have all kinds of options: select home or away broadcasts, add other games (up to 4) into one screen, view the boxscore, DVR controls, fantasy player tracker, listen to the radio broadcast over the top, in-game highlights. One of the best features may be having the full season available to go back and watch, and you can jump straight to an inning as well.

The other app for your phone is MLB At-Bat 11, it is available for an iPhone, iTouch, Blackberry, Android and iPad. I had this last year, it was $15 for the year and well worth it. I had access to the radio broadcast whenever I needed it and had video highlights up and running quickly. You can select your favorite team and your home page will go straight to them everytime you sign-in. Right now the app has the Spring Training games available too. The site below will give you more details.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mobile/atbat/index.jsp?c_id=mlb

Who doesn't like a good burger....

Don't know about you guys, but there are few things better than a good burger, there are so many different types of burger places these days, that at times I wonder if they get away from the simple burger, cheese, veggies, etc. Especially when I go to a new bar or hole in the wall, I always get the burger, if there burger is good it is worth another visit.

The other thing is people making burgers with all sorts of different things to stay ahead of the healthy trend. At home we have cooked turkey burgers for a while, but definitely not better than a good old fashioned beef burger. The other item we have made a handful of times and they were incredible were Bison Burgers. Here is the recipe we use, be easy on the horseradish or it will kick your arse. The other bit of advice would be to handle with care, the meat is fragile and it is crucial that you mix and mash the patties well after your ingredients are mixed together.

A perfect website for burger lovers is Burger Business. The site is a menu and marketing news with plenty of napkins. The home page has burger news as it relates to restaurants, new menu items (including an archive), burger recipes, etc. They also have a 2011 bracket just in time for the NCAA tournament. You can access it from their home page. They can be followed on twitter @BurgerBusiness.

The next taste tour of the ATL will be looking for the best burger, including a few burger reviews in cities outside of ATL that are visited. The list below are a few of the ATL burger joints that will be visited:

YEAH! Burger twitter @yeahburger
Googie Burger twitter @googieburgerATL
Flip Burger Boutique
Grindhouse Killer Burgers twitter @GrindhouseATL
Fuze Burger
The Vortex
Burger Joe's

To be continued.....

St. Paddy's Day

Erin go Bragh!! Happy Birthday Jimmie!!

So who is Saint Patrick, why do we wear green....

Saint Patrick was born in Roman Britain and was told by God to go to Ireland to Christianise them. He is credited as the principal champion of Christianity in Ireland.

The original color associated with Saint Patrick was blue, but he used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. Green ribbons and shamrocks have been worn as far back as the 17th century.

Nothing like a little history to get your ready to drink some Guinness. So get your green on, go out and celebrate and for today be an Irishman!!

NCAA Basketball...needs some juice

With the tournament started, NCAA basketball is back where it should be in the forefront.

The one and done rule for men's basketball has ruined the sports entirely. There are too many players that leave early after one season and the basketball product has suffered. The rules between college football, basketball and baseball are so different which has an effect on each sport. They need to make the rules all the same or at least bring the same rule from football to basketball.

My solution is this: if a high school player is good enough to go to the NBA, let him go. However, if you enroll and start college you must stay on campus for 3 years (like football). After three years you can leave to the NBA. This would help college basketball have more name players and players that people will know who they are. This would also provide some stability to basketball programs and level the playing field even more. Come on NCAA stop letting the pro sports use the NCAA as a minor league for their sports, set your own standards with no influence and support your product.

twitter @NCAA

March Madness

Every year March Madness seems to finish further on into April, but nonetheless it is that time of year. The play-in games start today, but the official start for most of us takes place on Thursday and lasts all day through Sunday. This is truly one of the best four days in sports and unlike a lot of other big sporting events takes place annually (World Cup, Olympics, etc).

So hopefully your bracket is filled out and you have a way to be out of work or a way to follow it while at work. A new way to get out of work is being done by radio shows, here is the story. Probably a lot better than the excuses that are thrown out each year.

http://www.examiner.com/sports-in-national/media-help-fans-of-ncaa-tournament-take-day-off-from-work

This year it is even better as St. Patrick's Day falls on Thursday, so double the craziness!!

NCAA...time to save face

With the recent news that Jim Tressel pulled a Bruce Pearl, the NCAA has a chance to step up and be consistent with the punishments. It seems that when a player does something like this they are held to a higher standard, why not the coaches. Coaches are paid loads of cash to coach, mentor young student-athletes and keep their programs within the NCAA rules. While I realize there are a lot of rules, it is in the contract to uphold the integrity of your program. Tressel is one to preach on how to do things the right way, I would say this taints his legacy whether you like it or not. Also, the OSU Director of Athletics and President should be ashamed for that laughable news conference, you came out looking worse.

While I applaud Ohio State for self-imposing penalties against the Senator, it was a little weak and needless to say the first two games are against Toledo and Akron, which I could coach OSU and win those games. Oh, by the way, their 3rd game is against Miami.

The players at Ohio State that are part of this violation are suspended for the first 5 games of this coming season, yet the coach who knew about this and lied to everyone that he knew nothing gets only 2!! There is a debate as to whether the entire season last year should be forfeited, including the Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas. Shocker, that OSU finally beats an SEC team and did it with players that might have been ineligible.

The NCAA must hand down further penalties, not only to the football program, but also to Coach Tressel. A good minimum penalty to start with would be what was handed down to USC last year with loss of scholarships and banned from the post-season. 

Bruce Pearl, John Calipari, Dez Bryant....make room for Tressel at the table. Oh yeah, OSU fans stop pointing fingers at others or making excuses for your boy, the facts are he lied and got caught, deal with it and suck it up!! If this was Nick Saban you would be up in arms about how the SEC cheats all the time!! Last thing, ESPN you should be ashamed that the Heats' crying story was bigger than this, not once did you show the emails or push this issue like you normally do, not sure why, but a shame nonetheless!!

Click link below for the emails that brought this out. Tressel didn't think this was worthly of bringing up to the compliance office......really.

http://sportsbybrooks.com/documents-read-the-actual-jim-tressel-emails-29547

Past Due

Although it may be done by the time this blog post hits, Paul Hewitt's time at Georgia Tech must come to an end. Being a Georgia fan I would love to see him stay around, as Mark Fox is doing a great job and UGA is becoming nationally relevant in basketball again. Looking back at it, Hewitt might have wished he left to go to St. John's, but he stayed to continue to try to improve the Tech program. I am sure it had nothing to do with the buyout or his large annual salary. Tech has looked at times this season to quit on themselves and Hewitt, the ACC tourney game the other night against VaTech was another example of that. I turned the game on with 5 or 6 minutes left and Tech had 35 points, 15 fg and 14 turnovers. It is time for some new blood at Tech and I believe Tech will do what it must do this time, regardless of the hefty buyout, and release Hewitt.

It must be done by this Wednesday to avoid the contract rolling over, so that date will be closely watched by all Tech fans for sure.