A Thanksgiving Feast

Ahh, Thanksgiving! What a wonderful holiday it was. I got to spend my time stuffing my face while selecting from a smorgasbord of tasty treats. You better believe I ate some turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, broccoli cheese & rice casserole, salad, sourdough rolls, orange cranberry chutney, and two slices of apple pie, with plenty of glasses of coca-cola to wash it all down.

I also got the chance to watch football, because what is thanksgiving without football, right? It’s a tradition that has been going on for years. To be truthful however, the games were just ok. All four games turned out to be complete slaughter messes.

What I noticed after watching 3 different NFL football games throughout the holiday, was that the winning team in each of those games were just as hungry as I was, being that each winning team "feasted" on their opponent.

- The first game that appeared on television was the morning brunch game on CBS between the Tennessee Titans and the Detroit Lions.

Before the game you would’ve thought that both teams were as hungry as the starving kids you see on those “give a child a penny a day” commercials. The Titans threw up all the good stuff they had churning in their stomachs by losing their first game of the season, at home, to the NY Jets a week ago. Meanwhile, the Lions had just never gotten fed period. They had yet to claim a victory in the season, and were looking to treat their sell-out home crowd to a gourmet first win. Something had to give…

It was the Titans who proved to be hungrier in that game, as they speared for some Lion meat early on and never stopped eating. The Titans scored 21 points in the first quarter, and RB’s Chris Johnson and LenDale White each rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns en route to a 47-10 scoffing in Detroit.

- The next game on the tube was the afternoon special, the early-bird dinner contest on FOX between the Seattle Seahawks and the Dallas Cowboys.

Coming into this game, it was plain obvious that a bird such as a seahawk is nowhere near capable of attacking a cowboy. Cowboys are rough, tough, and have guns, like the kind in the Pace Picante commercials. They can easily shoot down a seahawk to snack on for dinner, and that’s just what they did…

Cowboys QB Tony Romo was sending missiles in the air to bring down the seahawks. His accuracy was on the money, as he went 22 of 34 for 331 yards and three touchdowns. The Cowboys were celebrating their last thanksgiving game ever at Texas Stadium, and they wanted to make sure that their fans didn’t leave the game with an empty stomach. They gave their fans a meal and then some, as they beat the Seahawks 34-9.

- The last game featured on television this year for thanksgiving was the late night desert match-up on the NFL Network, the battle of birds as people like to call it, between the Arizona Cardinals and the Philadelphia Eagles.

This game was the most interesting of them all. There were the Cardinals, who in games previous had munched on little worms, but struggled against top dogs. And then there were the Eagles, a team who in their previous game were devoured by the Baltimore Ravens. In that game, the Eagles made controversy by replacing their most-known item, the Big Mac-Nabb for a Quarter Pounder with Kolb. After the game Ronald McDonald himself, Eagles head coach Andy Reid, solved the quarterback situation by saying that for the thanksgiving contest he will go back to the Big Mac, and he couldn’t have made such a better choice for his franchise…

Eagles QB Donovan McNabb bounced back after being benched a week ago, as he chomped down and consumed as much "cardinal red" meat as he could. McNabb went 27 of 39 throwing for 260 yards and four touchdowns in what was a huge win at home for the Philly Faithful, 48-20, as the Eagles kept their playoff hopes alive.

So there it is, not only did I have a feast with my family, but the winning teams on thanksgiving also had big-time meals.

Hope all of you had a Happy Thanksgiving!

FOOD + FAMILY + FOOTBALL = THANKSGIVING TRADITION

Thanksgiving will finally be upon us come Thursday. For me, the holiday will give me the chance to make a cool little trip back to the Bay Area to spend time with my family, feast on some great food, and watch a whole lot of football.

The greatest thing about Thanksgiving, or really any holiday that my family celebrates, is the tradition that comes along with it. The schedule of events is the same, year in and year-out, and that’s something that I never get sick of.

This is how my Thanksgiving is going to shake out…

The holiday will get an early start Thursday morning as my family will have to wake up around six in the morning to shower up, get dressed, and take off on the journey that is my house in Brentwood to my nana’s house in San Francisco.

Once on the road, there are a couple of pit stops that are necessary to the holiday achieving tradition status. First, we stop off at the Raley’s supermarket down the street in order to pick up the Thanksgiving feast that my mom ordered.

(Not your typical homemade thanksgiving feast, but my nana can’t make a whole meal anymore. Plus, Raley’s does it right with their sides).

After Raley’s, we’ll stop off at Chevron to fill the truck up with gas and get something to drink before we hit the highway.

On the highway, my mom will be tripping out due to the traffic, as she can’t stand car rides longer than 30 minutes. A couple of bad accidents have ruined her for life. Luckily, I know the surefire trick to get her mind off the road, just talk about football.

She loves when I get her take on the Thanksgiving NFL games. Her picks are the same every year due to the fact that the same two teams always play home games on Thanksgiving. These are her picks…

- Detroit Lions over whoever they play, because I was a Liberty Lion
- Whoever plays the Cowboys, because my family hates any sports team from the city of Dallas

After all that talking we have already driven through the Caldecott Tunnel and over the Bay Bridge into “the city”. Those are the two parts of the trip that freak my mom out the most.

We finally arrive at my nana’s house at around 8:30am. We usually spend an hour just talking in the kitchen while my mom starts getting the food prepared.

The Detroit Lions game gets going at 10am and so my dad, Mike (my brother and law), and I head for the TV. My mom, my nana, and my sister will talk some more while the food is being cooked; only this year, they’ll have another lady joining their crew, my beautiful 3-month old niece Hayley.

After the first quarter, the Lions will be losing in what will look to be a blow-out from the Tennessee Titans. That’s when my dad, Mike, and I, go outside to play football. We’ll then get interrupted after some time, as my sister will yell out the window that it’s time to come inside to eat.

Once I see the table, and everything that is there, one can’t help but to go hog wild and want a little bit of everything…

- Salad with tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, and cucumbers with an oil and vinegar dressing
- Green Bean casserole
- 3 slices of Turkey, and a big spoonful of mashed potatoes, with a lot of gravy poured on top of both
- sourdough bread stuffing with apples and onions
- 5 rolls
- Cranberry orange applesauce
- And of course, a slice of apple pie

By the time we finish the feast, I am stuffed.

Everyone then goes into the family room to see that the Detroit Lions made it a closer game than we thought, as we switch the channel to the Cowboys game to root for the Seattle Seahawks. We watch as much as we can until we are succumbed by the eating of turkey to take a nap.

That’s how my thanksgiving ends up every year!

The six game losing streak

After losing six straight games, the San Francisco 49ers finally for lack of better words, got their asses in gear.

QB Shaun Hill was nearly perfect doing the little things to help us get the win. He went 15-20 with two touchdowns and no interceptions, using his mobility to set up nice plays. RB Frank Gore rushed 18 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns, helping us dominate the first half of the game. Even the defense came thru with two interceptions. For the 49ers, it was an easy and well-needed 35-9 home victory against the rival St. Louis Rams.

What’s important here is that the 49ers got the victory, but what’s even more important is that the six game losing skid is over!

It was starting to become sickening to see the 49ers lose week-in and week-out. This six week journey I’m about to flashback to has been my suffering until today…

The six-game losing stretch started with a trip to the south to take on the New Orleans Saints. The 49ers defense had some success in the 1st quarter, but that was it. Overall, Deuce McAllister let loose with a 70-yard ground game which included a touchdown. However the real damage was delivered via air. Drew Brees threw the ball for 363 yards to go with three touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns were of 30 yards plus in a saints 31-17 smashing of the 49ers.

The 49ers then returned to, what is supposed to be their comfy confines, Candlestick Park. On this two game home-stand they were set to take on two east-coast teams. But home provided to be anything but comfy in those two challenges.

First, they were asked to take on the AFC East New England Patriots. Without QB Tom Brady, the 49ers had a chance. J.T. O’Sullivan threw for three touchdowns, but with the good came the bad. He also threw three interceptions. The defense never seemed to get off the field that day, and an unknown celebrity, K Stephen Gostkowski, sealed the deal with three field goals of 35 yards plus, en route to a 30-21 Patriots victory.

Then came the NFC East Philadelphia Eagles, who, just like the opponent the week before, had their star player, RB Brian Westbrook, sitting out the game. This was probably the most crushing loss to us 49er fans in the losing streak, because the 49ers blew a 26-17 lead going into the 4th quarter. A passing touchdown, three field goals, and a 55-yard interception returned for a second touchdown later, while being uncontested by the 49ers offense, led to an Eagles 40-26 comeback conquest.

After losing to the Eagles, we then had to travel to New York to confront another NFC East team, last year’s Super Bowl Champions, the New York Giants. The game was not as the close as the score suggested. The Giants used Brandon Jacobs to force the ball down our throats for two scores, while controlling the clock with over 34 minutes of TOP in a 29-17 win.

The day after losing to the Giants, head coach Mike Nolan, was given the Donald Trump treatment, as he was fired. That’s when Mike Singletary, the former 49ers linebacker’s coach and associate head coach up until then, was acclimated as the new head coach of the 49ers.

Six days later, Singletary would make his head coaching debut against the Seattle Seahawks at home. Singletary did not disappoint, however the team did. Singletary stayed true to himself. He showed what can happen if you do not perform for him. He benched “Mr. Turnover” QB J.T. O’Sullivan and also kicked “Mr. Penalty” TE Vernon Davis off the field. Still, sternness doesn’t win the game, ability does. The 49ers ability to win was not shown on the field after a 34-13 Seahawks shellacking in San Francisco.

After his the Seahawk game, Singletary led an explosive press-conference, in which he expressed his need for players that want to win and finish. The 49ers had a bye-week before the next game, a primetime Monday Night Football bout against their division leading foe, Arizona Cardinals. 49er fans felt that Singletary’s seriousness over a two-week break would result in a strong 49er performance.

So here comes what was last Monday night’s meeting in the desert with the Cardinals. The 49ers had played a steady game leading 24-20, but then in the 4th quarter the defense let some scores go. At the end, there was still time for a miracle comeback. The 49ers marched down the field only, to be screwed by the refs in the final seconds on a tackle call. Singletary was scrambled with what to do with four seconds left in the game. He called for a run up the middle to try to win the game from two yards out. Arizona’s defense stuffed the run and the rest was history in a 29-24 Cardinals comeback.

Singletary took some heat this week from the bay area sports radio stations on how he managed the game against the Cardinals, but his players picked him up this weekend with a home blowout against the Rams.

Hopefully, we can keep winning and not have to get subdued to a six-game losing streak ever again. Go 49ers!

We Finally WON the Causeway

In the words of Sam Cooke from his song “A Change is Gonna Come” in 1964 “It’s been a long, a long time coming, but I know, a change is gonna come”, as the Sacramento State Hornets football team reversed misfortune that had been plaguing them for quite some time in the annual meet-up with their foes, the Aggies of UC Davis, by beating them for the first time in the Causeway Classic Rivalry game since 1999, 29-19.

The game took place at the beautiful infant, and by that, I mean the 1-year old, still brand-spanking new home of UC Davis Football, the Aggie Stadium, for the first time in the rivalry game’s history. But even Davis’ home field advantage was nowhere in comparison to the pent-up aggravation, desire, and hunger, that oozed out of the hornets on both offense and defense, which led to the hornets long-awaited victory.

Speaking of that pent-up aggravation, there has been so many big time events that have happened since the day September 18, 1999 in which Sacramento State last beat UC Davis, that I have decided to make a list of the things that our world has gone through in history, before we captured a momentous victory for the Sacramento State hornets, let alone, Marshall Sperbeck.

- October 12, 1999; the world reaches a population of 6 billion
- January 1, 2000; the millennium turns
- November 7, 2000; George W. Bush starts his 8-year presidency
- September 11, 2001; Terrorists attack America
- November 25, 2002; Department of Homeland Security is established
- June 4, 2003; Martha Stewart indicted of counts of fraud (she’d eventually go to prison)
- October 20, 2004; The Boston Red Sox win the World Series & break the curse of the Bambino (first time a team trailing 3-0 came back to win a series- ALCS vs. Yankees)
- August 29, 2005; Hurricane Katrina strikes Louisiana and the rest of southern states
- June 19, 2006; Carolina Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup (Carolina’s first professional championship)
- April 16, 2007; 32 people killed in Virginia Tech shootings
- June 25, 2008; Fresno State wins college world series (lowest ranked team to win championship in any sport
- The Patriots won 3 super bowls (2001, 2003, 2004)
- The Spurs won 3 finals (2003, 2005, 2007)
- Ron Artest made his short-lived appearance in Sacramento
There were many more events, but those are some of the big ones.

The bottom line is this: Hopefully we won’t have to be compelled to make a list like this ever again!

The Sacramento State Hornets are a team that with this win against UC Davis became more respected and well-known in the Sacramento region. Head Coach Marshall Sperbeck pulled off the impossible and is steadily building quite the program as far as football is concerned on the campus of Sacramento State.

If they can rifle off two more victories against Northern Colorado and Idaho State, the Hornets will finish above .500 for the first time since 2000.

Oh no, not another list…

The Food Revie: Malabar

If you’re looking for a place to eat with a trendy ambience, and a different take on your somewhat classic entrée’s, then look no further than Malabar, it will fulfill your adventure and your taste-buds.

THE AMBIENCE

As mentioned, I had always seen Malabar from the outside, but had never been inside. When opening the door to the restaurant, welcomed by a beautiful hostess at a desk to your right. One can’t help but notice a long winding staircase which leads to a special room up top, which our waitress let us know is a banquet room for special events, but also one can’t help but notice the trendy / modern look that the restaurant is aiming for.

The staircase is outlined and lit up with Christmas tree lights as it is very dark inside the restaurant. Near the bar/ lounge area, on the wall behind the hostess desk, there is a metal art-piece, and on the opposite wall, there are lights that change color and reflect off of the metal art. Keeping up with the modern art theme, the table we sat at a neat red light over it, a deep red couch to sit on, and a funny, sugar dispenser for iced teas. There are nine flat-screen TV’s in the restaurant, and on this day, only one TV was showing a college football game, compared to the eight TV’s that were showing CNN’s results of the election.

THE SERVICE

Our waitress was Miriam, a young, blonde-haired woman with a kind smile that was great at doing her job. She always made sure that our drinks were re-filled and that our food was correct and most importantly, she gave me 3 lemons for my water, when I had told her that I wanted iced water with extra lemon. Normally, waitresses mess up that simple request. Also, at the end, she made sure to split the bill up between the 5 of us who attended Malabar for this food review.

THE FOOD

As far as the food is concerned, there were plenty of choices to choose from. There were different kinds of soups, salads, sandwiches, entrée’s and pasta dishes, which all were slightly different from your average American grill type of menu choice, due to the ingredients used in them. It was almost as if they were American grill items with a world-like influence.

Our group started with an order of Malabar’s garlic cheese bread to start off, and for the price it was alright. The appetizer was about $3.95 and came with two decent sized half-loaves. The garlic bread wasn’t the best I’ve had, but the quantity was cool.

When it came down to ordering my main meal, I ordered the Malabar steak sandwich, medium, with the garlic mashed potatoes, and I was not disappointed. The steak was very tender, and had somewhat of a teriyaki marinate to it. Miriam told me that the tenderness was due to the fact that they marinate the steak for 24 hours. The mashed potatoes were good too but just a little dry, so I asked for a side of the mushroom gravy to accompany them and that made them fantastic.

Then to polish off this feast, Suzie wanted to know if anyone wanted to split a desert with her and I agreed to do so. We ordered the cheesecake, which on the menu had mentioned that it came with a raspberry sauce. Well, first off the cheesecake itself was heavenly, for Suzie, it was lightweight orgasmic, but when the cheesecake came, there was only a thin squiggly line of raspberry sauce designed on the plate as a garnish. That wasn’t going to do for Suzie and I. So we asked for an extra side of raspberry sauce and poured it all on top of the cheesecake. The cheesecake went from being good to being really, really, good, with that addition.

CONCLUSION

So, thank you, Fitz for making us do a food review, because without this assignment, I might not have been forced to check out Malabar, one of the best restaurants I have been to in the Sacramento Region.

The 55th Annual Causeway Classic

Alright college football fans, it’s time to get pumped, get juiced, and get ready as two rivals, the Sacramento State Hornets and the UC Davis Aggies, will compete for bragging rights in the Sacramento region as they will play in their 55th Annual Causeway Classic rivalry game.

The game will start at 2:05pm and will, for the first time in the rivalry game’s history, take place this year at the new Aggie Stadium on the campus of UC Davis. It’s not that the game has never taken place at UC Davis, but last year when the new Aggie Stadium was built, it was Sacramento State’s turn, in a switch-off every other year basis, to host the Causeway Classic at Hornet Stadium.

The new Aggie Stadium which wasn’t too kind to its home team in its inaugural year (UC Davis went 2-3 at home last year) has finally settled in and become quite the place to be on the campus of UC Davis, as it has become a cozy and comfortable place for the Aggies to call home (UC Davis is 5-0 at home so far this year). This game will be the Aggies’ fifth straight home game out of a six-game home-stand.

As for Sacramento State, being on the road has been sort of a bumpy ride. They had lost all 3 of their previous road games this season before finally picking up their first road victory this past weekend against Eastern Washington (November 1, 2008). This will be the Hornets second straight road game before returning home for their final home game of the season against Northern Colorado on November 15, 2008.

The Aggies have won four straight, and are coached by Bob Biggs, who has compiled an impressive 119-54-1 record in his 14 years as head coach of UC Davis. The Aggies, this year, are led offensively by their sophomore quarterback, Greg Denham (2,405 yards & 20 TD’s), and defensively by their junior linebacker, Mike Morales (47 tackles & 2 Interceptions). UC Davis’ largest victory in the rivalry’s history was a 51-6 score back in 1982.

The Hornets are looking to get back to.500 on the season with a win against their hated rivals, and are coached by Marshall Sperbeck who has earned the respectability of coaches all across the college football stage by changing the attitude and talent of a team that is used to losing. So far in his first two years as head coach for Sacramento State he has a record of 7-13. The Hornets, this year, are led offensively by their sophomore quarterback, Jason Smith (1,249 yards & 9 TD’s), and defensively by the Buck Buchanan Award candidate and two-time All-American, senior linebacker, Cyrus Mulitalo (72 tackles, 1 sack, 1 Interception). Sacramento State’s largest victory in the rivalry’s history was a 50-18 score back in 1980.

The all-time series between the two teams goes to UC Davis as they lead 39-16. And being that this year, the game is being played in Davis, the advantage once again goes to the Aggies as they lead the series 16-7 at home.

It should be an interesting game. UC Davis is once again a force to be reckoned with in the Great West Conference, while Sacramento State is an up and coming gritty team in the Big Sky Conference.

So get prepared and hopefully show up, to the 55th Annual Causeway Classic as the 4-5 Sacramento State Hornets will challenge the 5-4 UC Davis Aggies. And if you can’t show up to the game, listen to the game which will be broadcasted on www.kssu.com.

Singletary Makes A Statement

The football god’s must have read last week’s column about the downfall of the San Francisco 49ers. They gave me just what I had asked for during this past week, which was a new head coach! His name is Mike Singletary, one of the toughest linebackers to ever play the game, and already in his first game as a head coach, he made a big-time statement to the fans, the media, and most importantly, the team, on what it is he feels it takes to win.

These football gods made miracles, as to how quick they did it! My column was written last Monday afternoon and by Monday night the 49ers were calling for Coach Nolan’s head, while looking internally for a new leader.

The fans had been on their heels waiting for this move to happen, and ESPN’s Michael Smith reported a couple of weeks ago that a Mike Nolan firing would probably take place during the bye week which is set for this upcoming week. The reports must have had a strong influence on the 49ers front office, as they notified Nolan that he was going to be axed.

The replacement: 49ers Assistant Head Coach & Linebacker Coach, Mike Singletary.

He was an assistant coach in Baltimore with Nolan under former Ravens Head Coach, Brian Billick, and when Mike Nolan was hired to come to San Francisco as the new head coach of the 49ers in 2005, he brought Singletary along for the ride.
Mike Nolan had to inherit a team that finished with the NFL’s worst record in 2004, and to keep it real, he brought a little intensity and respectability to the team. He just never found a way to win or motivate his team in his three and a half seasons as the 49ers head coach.

So, in steps Singletary, waiting to be announced as the new San Francisco 49ers Head Coach at his press conference last Tuesday. Pretty much he thanked Mike Nolan for giving him a good luck blessing, as they have been friends for quite some time now, and also praised Mike Nolan for bringing back respectability to a once storied football team. Singletary stated that the team is talented and that it just needs direction, and his main focus was getting his team prepared for what was their game against the Seattle Seahawks.

Now to the game that was played Sunday at home against those Seattle Seahawks, Singletary’s head coaching debut. The 49ers lost 34-17, but Singletary made a strong statement about this team by getting rid of the bad apples in the tree.

First off, Singletary yanked QB JT O’Sullivan in the 2nd quarter. He had seen enough of O’Sullivan after the quarterback started off the game quite terribly as he has recently. He fumbled inside the red zone, which was recovered by Seattle and set up a score. And then the last straw came when he threw a horrible pass behind his receiver that was picked off and ran back for another touchdown for Seattle.

Secondly, he took matters into his own hands, after TE Vernon Davis gave the 49ers an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for getting into it with a Seahawk defenseman after the play. Singletary sent Davis to the bench, and then eventually to the locker room early in the fourth quarter.

Last, after the game he made his presence felt in the press conference. He is showing the media, the fans, and his team, that he means business. As a 49er fan, I love it, and hopefully it will shape this shambled team up and make them play hard.

Check out this video