Drinking the Kool-Aid, eating the cornbread...and loving it

Chicago - Soldier Field

Yes, it's that time of the year again. It's time to drink the Kool-Aid and eat the cornbread as our Detroit Lions are once again embarking on a Super Bowl season. They look so good in Allen Park says the local press so each year, we eat it all up and enjoy it. Even the year of the 0-16 season, there was optimism leading up to the season; serious optimism. Ten minutes into the first game that year, the optimism was down 21-0. One day, we all say. Friends and I have toured the Midwest for the past decade in search of the answer to seeing a good football team.
It started at Soldier Field in Chicago as Joey Harrington stunk up the joint. Great fans and no a-holes at the tailgating scene. And it was Chicago for  Pete's sake!

We went to Cleveland and put up with some of the most vicious fans I have ever encountered. They take the word "passion" to another level. Al and Doke got a minor Budweiser shower at their seats. Both the Browns and Lions blew that year, we won the game, so the chant out of the stadium was "we suck less!" It was all fun at the tailgating scene until the music stopped from the car. Mr. Battery said bye-bye. All was well though when a good Samaritan next to the car gave us a jump.

Doing a 180 from that scene, the posse moved on to the Lambeau Field scene in Green Bay another year and  toasted a few soda pops to probably the best fan base ever. Cheeseheads rule! That was one of the Jon Kitna years as I recall. Needless to say, we lost that one.

On to Cincinnati it was sometime after; yep, we lost that one too. Cincinnati gets high marks for the nightlife on the hills of the river valley. Tailgating at a quarry was quite a crazy scene as well.

Most recently, the tour went to the home of the chicken wing against a team, the Bills, just as bad as we were and...yes, we lost. I was overserved that weekend as it was my birthday and I was getting my game on. My game was off on the drive home as I had to request a "pull over" and get something off my chest, and out my mouth. Good times. Why do we do it though? Why do we keep rooting for this team? Heck, we even went to Canton, Ohio to see Barry Sanders get inducted into the Hall of Fame.  

This year, the Lions' tour is staying local as we purchased a four game package at Ford Field. Rooting for the Lions is an addiction I guess and I'm not actively looking for a cure. They gave me the Kool-Aid early on in life as Billy Sims, Gary Danielson, Bubba Baker, and Freddie Scott flirted just enough with being good to think that better times were ahead. Barry kicked it up a notch but couldn't do it all. I feel for those poor kids whose first experiences of watching pro football was the Millen era. Imagine what they  must think about pro football. All bad and that is no good.

We'll be in section 227, row 7 if anybody wants to say hello.

Go Lions, cornbread is free.

Trail Head   

Chicago - Soldier Field

Cleveland

Cleveland - all well until the music stopped

Cleveland

Cleveland

Cleveland

Green Bay

Green Bay

Green Bay

Green Bay

Cincinnati

Cincinnati

Cincinnati - tailgating at the quarry

Buffalo

Buffalo

Buffalo

Buffalo

Pro Football Hall of Fame - Doke and Al with Wayne Fontes

Pro Football Hall of Fame - Billy Sims

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Pot of Gold in Hartland



Nice rainbow visual last night in the Hartland area.

Final Session - Badwater Bass Club - Lake St. Helen

The scene was St. Helen, Michigan, this weekend as the fight for the Badwater Bass Club's AOY (Angler of the Year) award came down to seven hours Saturday morning on Lake St. Helen. When it was all said and done,  the efforts of a guest fisherman, Tommy, had an impact on the final tally. The leech-master had to go artificial on the lure front but adapted quite well to the tune of eight pounds and took top stringer. The session was a major so those double points might have done some serious shakeup to the standings for those striving for the prestigious AOY award. But it was not to be as it appears leader Greg V. is the inaugural Angler of the Year recipient. Congratulations to the vocal ensemble dude.

Yours truly had a solid chance to get on the board this week, but.....(ready yourself for a fish story). There is about an hour or so left in the session and tug goes my line. This was not a weed and was definitely not another 13-inch Dunham Laker. Up to the boat the fish came; it was large and in charge. Does Tim have the patience to wait for the net? Unfortunately, not. The fish did a Fosbury Flop up in the air off the line, a bounce on the interior edge of the boat, and back into the water it went. Oh so close. 

Post fishing activities involved plenty of hanging while consuming some delicious beef jerky from the smoker. The cottages, right on the lake, had a nice 1970's feel to them with plenty of fake wood paneling. The guest speaker for the evening was counselor Champ. A fine gathering, and season, it was. Thanks to commissioners Al, Doke, and Slick for putting together the club. It got some old friends to gather and best of all, we were fishing.

Trail Head

3-plus pounder - biggest fish

big fish $ presentation

biggest stringer $ presentation

Badwater sponsors: AMS Oil & Rudy's BBQ

feast

Maybury Recreation Area - The Ambiguously Gay Trio?

Come on guys, enough with the matching outfits, eh?

That aside, a nice evening it was at Maybury tonight. I got passed a record 22 times but I have accepted the fact I am not a young idiot mountain biker riding down the Porcupine Mountain ski runs anymore (see way back machine pictures below). It was quite a thrill chugging down that hill back in 1994(5?) until a large rock caught my front fork. No broken bones but a nice bit of skin hanging from the chin area. Off E., Rob, and I went to the hospital in Ontonagon for some sewing work on my chin. I was their only patient I recall and they had to call the doctor from his home; presumably interrupting his barbecue that was happening. E. and Rob went off for supplies, I got sewn up, and all was well. The story gets better though. Here I am with a front fork on my bicycle bent real bad. We venture into Marquette, head to the Quick Stop Bike Shop (I didn't even have to google that, they were great). I presented my bent fork and a story. They proceeded to drop everything, set me up with a new fork and off we went.

Maybury Rec

But I digress. Tonight was a nice lead into the final weekend of the Badwater Bass Club tournament. The tour heads to Lake St. Helen near Roscommon tomorrow with a fierce battle for angler of the year. Al C. is only a few points behind the ACappella (spelling?) guy. I'm pulling for the Seadog myself. Stay tuned for the final results Sunday evening.

Trail Head

bent forks - hanging chin skin - good times

U.P. - 199-something (E.and Rob)

Session VI - Badwater Bass Club - Thompson Lake (aka "The Thompson Tumble")

The Bass Club was off to Howell this past Sunday under outstanding weather conditions. The humidity is quite refreshing at 5:30 in the morning at the boat launch. When it was all said and done, I was witness to the pride of Burwood Lane, Al C., as he narrowly beat out Doke and Gus for biggest stringer and walloped the field for biggest fish (slight exaggeration, nice fish but only 2 lbs). I had a first as Al and I maxed out on fish production. Sound the trumpets! We even had to throw one back late in the game because the pink wacky worm had brought in another. No skunks for anyone out there and that makes for a great day on the water.  

Said writer was so close to getting a point this week but it was not to be. I think we should get a side pool going as to when Raj and I will get our first points for the season. With only two sessions left, I think the bets would probably be a "yeah" or "nay" on getting ANY point, eh?. As Raj would say, "we have to keep hitting them over the head." That is fishing 101 right there. Let the wagers begin!

Fish on.
Trail Head

Crazy Chester Captain Al C.

Heading East

gorge near Ithaca, NY

Two former Redskins jumped in a rental car and took to the east this past week in search of, well, I'm not exactly sure what we searching for but whatever it was, it was all good. 

Our trip started in the finger lake region of New York at the Robert H. Treman State Park in Ithaca. The Treman family must have did something in the area is there is also the Allen H. Treman State Marine Park right down the road. With a mix of gorges, waterfalls, and the hilly region where Cornell University resides, the whole viewing experience was outstanding. We did the camping scene there and while the park is nice, it is a bit too kid friendly. With that, it isn't for those campers looking for a little peace and quiet. We had the pleasure of having our camp site next to the Brady Bunch. The parents took control once quiet hours kicked in so it wasn't that bad.

Lake Champlain

From New York, we ventured northeast through the southern portion of the Adirondacks, over to Middlebury, Vermont, and up to Grand Isle State Park on Lake Champlain. This park was one of the nicer ones I have ever been to. Well maintained, the rangers were very helpful, and of course, the views. A majority of the sites were isolated from one another and travel agent of the year Nancy reserved us an area right on the banks of this gargantuan lake. We took in a Greenfield Village-like place in Shelburne, Vermont along with a tour through Burlington; a cool little college town (University of Vermont).      

From there, we fired up the rental car (put a few miles on the odometer) for the journey back west. We decided on a stop in Pittsburgh for a few nights as neither of us had been to the three river town and had heard some positive things about it from others. The town didn't disappoint. We took a ride up the Duquesne Incline (pictured below) which takes you up about 800 feet to a viewing area overlooking the rivers and downtown. Quite impressive. I got my sports fix as we took a tour of the Pirates' ball park. While I've only seen a handful of baseball stadiums to date, this one was the best I have ever seen. The skyline overlooks the outfield with the river between the buildings and the stadium. They did it up right in Pittsburgh. We concluded our journey on the trip with some good eats/beverages near the University of Pittsburgh.
Two thumbs up to the east.
Trail Head

Taughannock Falls - Ithaca, NY

Middlebury, VT

 Shelburne, VT

Willie Stargell statue - Pittsburgh, PA