Yes, the call was offensive.
The prevailing wisdom on ESPN (insert joke here) is that the call was right. My initial reaction was that the call was right. I was wrong. There are a number of problems with the call.
1. We ran a very similar play earlier in the game (Kelly says it was a different play, but there was very similar action). No flag was thrown and Corey Robinson scored a touchdown. If it's not a penalty then, it can't be a penalty with 13 seconds left in the game.
2. The official standing right there on the goal line signaled touchdown. The official on the same side in the back corner didn't throw a flag either. An official away from the play that didn't have nearly as good of a look is the one who threw the flag.
3. There is a quite obvious penalty on Florida State. After the play, number 26 takes off his helmet. You can see it clearly at the 0:52 mark of that video. I'm not sure how the enforcement would have worked. Some people seem to think the penalties would offset and they'd replay the down. I've also read that both penalties would be enforced because pass interference was during the play, but taking the helmet off was a dead ball foul. In that case, we would have had a new set of downs. We would have moved back 15 yards on the pass interference, but then it would have been half the distance from there. So the net result would have been that we'd be around the 8 or 9 yard line, but we'd have a chance for two or three plays. I'm not sure which scenario is right, but they obviously just missed an indisputable penalty on Florida State.
4. I've written about this before, but having officials work for a conference makes absolutely no sense. Which result is better for the ACC, Notre Dame winning or Florida State winning? Obviously, Florida State winning is better for the ACC (Florida State is probably their only hope for a playoff team). Is there any reason to believe that people who work for the ACC will be completely impartial? Would that call have been made against Florida State if the roles were reversed?
5. Now, I'm not an expert on the rule book, but what I do know is that part of the standard for defensive pass interference is that the contact has to be consequential. If a ball is uncatchable, you can't have defensive pass interference. Also, you can't have pass interference away from the play. If the ball is thrown to Corey Robinson, you can't have pass interference called on the guy covering Will Fuller. It doesn't matter what he does to Fuller since it would have no effect on the play. Now maybe the standard for offensive pass interference is different. But if that's the case, there's a problem with the rule. Whoever was allegedly interfered with (hold on, I'll get there) had no chance of preventing the pass from being completed or preventing Robinson from scoring. Florida State was playing man to man coverage. Whichever guy was allegedly interfered with was not covering Corey Robinson. The guy that was supposed to be covering Robinson was totally lost (the other way to look at it is that they guy who should have adjusted to try to defend Robinson never did). On defense, it's no harm no foul. It should be that way on offense too.
6. I don't know if the call was on C.J. Procise or Will Fuller. It was announced by the referee as number 7 (Fuller), but some people seem to think it was Procise. Let's go through both possibilities.
If it was on Procise, he was grabbed as soon as the ball was snapped by the defender (you can see that in the first second of the video linked above). How can Procise interfere when the defender was the one who initiated the contact?
If it was on Fuller, it's just as bad of a call (maybe worse). The claim on ESPN was that the receivers were just blocking and made no effort to run a route. This video shows that claim is completely untrue in the case of Fuller. Fuller takes a step to the outside and the corner goes with him (go to 1:38 of the video). Then Fuller cuts inside and the defender goes with him. The defender is running away from where Corey Robinson is going at that point. He had no chance to make a play. And like with Procise, the defender initiates contact.
7. The defenders were mad. Why? Because they knew they blew the coverage. Usually when there's pass interference, the players will complain to the officials right away. The only thing the defenders were upset with was each other because they blew it.
Perhaps according the rule book, the call was right. Again, if it was, there's a problem with the rule. This play was the equivalent of wiping off a game winning shot in basketball because of a moving screen that had absolutely nothing to do with getting the shooter open. And there's no defense for missing a penalty on Florida State after the play (there's no debate about whether or not taking the helmet off is a penalty).
I'm not one to complain about officials. I didn't complain about the Bush Push because that call never would have been made against Notre Dame in that situation (I did complain after the fact about USC using a professional football player in a college football game). You don't make that call. And you don't make this call either. Notre Dame had other opportunities to make plays that could have won the game. But when they did make the play to win the game, one of the officials took it away from them.
The good news is that we should control our own destiny for the playoff. At most, there will be two undefeated teams from the power conferences. If you want to put an SEC team with one loss ahead of us, I can live with that. But Oregon and Michigan State and whoever else do not deserve to be ahead of us (Oregon lost at home to Arizona by seven and Michigan State lost by 19 against Oregon). I'm not sure that we'll finish 11-1, but we should go to the playoff if we do.
And I've changed my name on here to Jim Slice. Because Jimbo Fisher is a scumbag. Him talking about the class and dignity of Florida State and Jameis Winston after the game was just as offensive as the pass interference call on Will Fuller. Or C.J. Procise. Or whoever.
What happened on Saturday night was wrong. Let's take this out on the rest of the schedule. The rest of these games don't need to be close. Let's finish 13-1 and National Champions. Go Irish!
Monday, October 20, 2014
Saturday, October 18, 2014
My Favorite College Football Games
I went to the Notre Dame-Stanford game two weeks ago. The forecast kept getting worse and worse as I checked the week before the game. It ended up being 41 degrees and it rained throughout the entire game. A check of the und.com archives showed that it was the second coldest game I've ever been to. Despite that, it was one of my favorite Notre Dame football experiences. Let's get to a quick recap of the day:
I planned to get to campus around 11:00. Probably because of the weather, I wasn't motivated enough to get there that early. I ended up parking at St. Mary's a little after noon. It's a good place to park for a Notre Dame game. You walk from there to campus and you come to the Grotto. From there, I walked past the dome and my old home, St. Edward's Hall. Apparently St. Ed's was just renovated, but I didn't go in to check it out. After that, I walked over to the Joyce Center, which was set up for volleyball. My favorite student plays volleyball. I keep telling her that she's going to play volleyball at Notre Dame someday. Then I walked over to the Compton Family Ice Arena. It was built as our new hockey arena after I graduated so I've never been inside. I've heard that it's really nice. I figured it would be open like the Joyce Center is before football games. I reached the doors and tried to go in, but the doors were locked and the signs on the doors said that the building hours were like 10:00-1:00 and the doors locked at 12:50. I checked my watch and it was 12:51. Nuts.
From there, I met up with Wilhelm and Courtney for some tailgating. At that point, it wasn't too cold (the rain hadn't started yet). I went over five years without seeing Wilhelm. Since then, I've seen him for the Championship Game, three games last season (Oklahoma, Arizona State, and Navy), and this year's Stanford game. I hope to make it back to Texas for the 2015 season to see a Rangers game so maybe I'll see him then also. It sounds like the next time I see Courtney will be next year at the Courtney-Dennis wedding in St. Paul. Tailgating was fun, but it started to rain maybe around 2:00 and it started to get cold.
Wilhelm and I ended up sitting together for the game. It was a sloppy game and it was really cold. I was getting texts from my brother and Jon and Kyle. It was too cold and wet to answer them, but they did provide good information about replays and and the backup holder warming up and stuff like that. At halftime, I made the adjustment to putting my arms under my poncho. That was a good move.
We took our first lead at 10-7 in the fourth quarter. With the way our defense was playing, I felt pretty confident. But Stanford marched right down the field and took the lead. I felt like it was setting up for a great finish. On the plane the night before, I had read the chapters in Lou Holtz's autobiography about his first three seasons at Notre Dame. If there's anybody who believes in Notre Dame more than me, it's Lou Holtz. As Lou has said, "If you've been here, no explanation is necessary. If you haven't been, no explanation will suffice." Notre Dame is a special place and this was going to be a special win. I was completely confident that we were going to win. And then it was fourth and 11. I was praying the Hail Mary over and over again, but I was still confident that we'd win. And then the ball was snapped and I didn't see anybody open. But then Everett Golson threw the ball to Ben Koyack who was wide open. The ball got there before the defender could get there and it was awesome. I took the arms out from under the poncho to high five Wilhelm for that play.
We still needed to stop them on defense. Stanford didn't have a lot of time, but they still had a chance. On the last play, we brought the blitz and forced an intentional grounding. There were six seconds left on the clock, but I knew we were going to get a ten-second run off on the penalty and the game would be over. It was over and it was awesome. I wouldn't change anything about the day. The weather was all part of the experience.
So let's go through my favorite Notre Dame games ever, starting with ones I didn't go to:
11. Florida State 1993- This probably should rank higher, but the fact that we were cheated out of a National Championship that year puts it behind the next three games on the list.
10. West Virginia 1989 Fiesta Bowl- This win secured the 1988 National Championship.
9. USC 1988- 1 vs. 2 on the road against our biggest rival. We won to finish the 1988 regular season undefeated.
8. Miami 1988- Catholics vs. Convicts. 4 vs. 1. "Save Jimmy Johnson's ass for me!" 31-30. It was also the same day that Kirk Gibson hit a pinch hit home run to win Game 1 of the World Series. If I had any memory of any of this, it would probably be the greatest day of my life.
7. USC 2010- Not nearly as awesome as the games I've mentioned so far, but I actually watched this game. It wasn't a great season, but it felt great to finally beat USC for the first time since 2001.
6. Michigan State 2006- It was a great comeback to win. This was one of the better moments of the Charlie Weis Era.
5. Wake Forest 2012- Easy win against a bad opponent. It's on the list because we got to number 1 that day.
4. Oklahoma 2012- The win that showed people we were for real in 2012
3. Michigan 2014- I despise Michigan with a passion. Beating them 31-0 in the last game of the series was perfect.
2. Stanford 2012- The goal line stand in overtime in the rain. It was awesome.
1. USC 2012- We beat our biggest rival to clinch a spot in the National Championship Game.
And now my favorite games that I attended:
12. Arizona State 2013- Shamrock Series game in Dallas with my brother Sean and Wilhelm. Wilhelm and I didn't have high hopes going into this game, but we won and Sean and I had a good time in Dallas.
11. Army 2010- The first football game at the new Yankee Stadium. There's nothing significant about this game other than that, but I was pretending it was Notre Dame and Army playing at Yankee Stadium in 1943.
10. BYU 2005- Brady Quinn threw six touchdown passes and it was the first win I ever saw at Notre Dame Stadium.
9. Navy 2012- The game was in Dublin. So many Notre Dame fans having a good time in Ireland and a great start to a great regular season.
8. USC 2013- It was a really ugly game, but I needed to see us beat USC in person.
7. Georgia Tech 2006- Jon, Wilhelm, Dennis, Chris and I made the road trip to Atlanta. Not a great performance, but we got the win to start the season.
6. Penn State 2006- We pounded Penn State to start the home schedule and we thought we were on our way to a great season.
5. Army 2006- My last home game as a student. We were happy late in the game when we fumbled trying to run out the clock because it gave Kyle an opportunity to get on the field and become a Notre Dame football legend.
4. UCLA 2006- I remember saying before the game that this game was the last one that I might attend as a student that could be competitive. And we nearly lost. Quinn to Samardzija for 45 yards to win was amazing.
3. Pittsburgh 2005- Jorge, Mike, Dane and I made the road trip to Pittsburgh for the first game of the 2005. It was the first game I ever attended and it was awesome. We won easily and had a great time celebrating the victory with other Notre Dame fans in Pittsburgh afterwards.
2. Michigan 2012- It wasn't pretty, but again, I really hate Michigan. That was the game where I started to believe in 2012.
1. Stanford 2014- I hate Stanford, but not as much as I hate Michigan. But the fact that we scored the game winning touchdown on fourth and 11 late in the game gives it the top spot. It was a special win. And the weather is just part of a great story.
Let's add another game to my list of favorite games I didn't attend tonight. Go Irish!
I planned to get to campus around 11:00. Probably because of the weather, I wasn't motivated enough to get there that early. I ended up parking at St. Mary's a little after noon. It's a good place to park for a Notre Dame game. You walk from there to campus and you come to the Grotto. From there, I walked past the dome and my old home, St. Edward's Hall. Apparently St. Ed's was just renovated, but I didn't go in to check it out. After that, I walked over to the Joyce Center, which was set up for volleyball. My favorite student plays volleyball. I keep telling her that she's going to play volleyball at Notre Dame someday. Then I walked over to the Compton Family Ice Arena. It was built as our new hockey arena after I graduated so I've never been inside. I've heard that it's really nice. I figured it would be open like the Joyce Center is before football games. I reached the doors and tried to go in, but the doors were locked and the signs on the doors said that the building hours were like 10:00-1:00 and the doors locked at 12:50. I checked my watch and it was 12:51. Nuts.
From there, I met up with Wilhelm and Courtney for some tailgating. At that point, it wasn't too cold (the rain hadn't started yet). I went over five years without seeing Wilhelm. Since then, I've seen him for the Championship Game, three games last season (Oklahoma, Arizona State, and Navy), and this year's Stanford game. I hope to make it back to Texas for the 2015 season to see a Rangers game so maybe I'll see him then also. It sounds like the next time I see Courtney will be next year at the Courtney-Dennis wedding in St. Paul. Tailgating was fun, but it started to rain maybe around 2:00 and it started to get cold.
Wilhelm and I ended up sitting together for the game. It was a sloppy game and it was really cold. I was getting texts from my brother and Jon and Kyle. It was too cold and wet to answer them, but they did provide good information about replays and and the backup holder warming up and stuff like that. At halftime, I made the adjustment to putting my arms under my poncho. That was a good move.
We took our first lead at 10-7 in the fourth quarter. With the way our defense was playing, I felt pretty confident. But Stanford marched right down the field and took the lead. I felt like it was setting up for a great finish. On the plane the night before, I had read the chapters in Lou Holtz's autobiography about his first three seasons at Notre Dame. If there's anybody who believes in Notre Dame more than me, it's Lou Holtz. As Lou has said, "If you've been here, no explanation is necessary. If you haven't been, no explanation will suffice." Notre Dame is a special place and this was going to be a special win. I was completely confident that we were going to win. And then it was fourth and 11. I was praying the Hail Mary over and over again, but I was still confident that we'd win. And then the ball was snapped and I didn't see anybody open. But then Everett Golson threw the ball to Ben Koyack who was wide open. The ball got there before the defender could get there and it was awesome. I took the arms out from under the poncho to high five Wilhelm for that play.
 |
| I think I took this picture on the game-winning drive. It was too cold and wet for me to take pictures before the fourth quarter. |
We still needed to stop them on defense. Stanford didn't have a lot of time, but they still had a chance. On the last play, we brought the blitz and forced an intentional grounding. There were six seconds left on the clock, but I knew we were going to get a ten-second run off on the penalty and the game would be over. It was over and it was awesome. I wouldn't change anything about the day. The weather was all part of the experience.
 |
| Me, Wilhelm, and the finger of the girl that took our picture after the game. |
So let's go through my favorite Notre Dame games ever, starting with ones I didn't go to:
11. Florida State 1993- This probably should rank higher, but the fact that we were cheated out of a National Championship that year puts it behind the next three games on the list.
10. West Virginia 1989 Fiesta Bowl- This win secured the 1988 National Championship.
9. USC 1988- 1 vs. 2 on the road against our biggest rival. We won to finish the 1988 regular season undefeated.
8. Miami 1988- Catholics vs. Convicts. 4 vs. 1. "Save Jimmy Johnson's ass for me!" 31-30. It was also the same day that Kirk Gibson hit a pinch hit home run to win Game 1 of the World Series. If I had any memory of any of this, it would probably be the greatest day of my life.
7. USC 2010- Not nearly as awesome as the games I've mentioned so far, but I actually watched this game. It wasn't a great season, but it felt great to finally beat USC for the first time since 2001.
6. Michigan State 2006- It was a great comeback to win. This was one of the better moments of the Charlie Weis Era.
5. Wake Forest 2012- Easy win against a bad opponent. It's on the list because we got to number 1 that day.
4. Oklahoma 2012- The win that showed people we were for real in 2012
3. Michigan 2014- I despise Michigan with a passion. Beating them 31-0 in the last game of the series was perfect.
2. Stanford 2012- The goal line stand in overtime in the rain. It was awesome.
1. USC 2012- We beat our biggest rival to clinch a spot in the National Championship Game.
And now my favorite games that I attended:
12. Arizona State 2013- Shamrock Series game in Dallas with my brother Sean and Wilhelm. Wilhelm and I didn't have high hopes going into this game, but we won and Sean and I had a good time in Dallas.
11. Army 2010- The first football game at the new Yankee Stadium. There's nothing significant about this game other than that, but I was pretending it was Notre Dame and Army playing at Yankee Stadium in 1943.
10. BYU 2005- Brady Quinn threw six touchdown passes and it was the first win I ever saw at Notre Dame Stadium.
9. Navy 2012- The game was in Dublin. So many Notre Dame fans having a good time in Ireland and a great start to a great regular season.
8. USC 2013- It was a really ugly game, but I needed to see us beat USC in person.
7. Georgia Tech 2006- Jon, Wilhelm, Dennis, Chris and I made the road trip to Atlanta. Not a great performance, but we got the win to start the season.
6. Penn State 2006- We pounded Penn State to start the home schedule and we thought we were on our way to a great season.
5. Army 2006- My last home game as a student. We were happy late in the game when we fumbled trying to run out the clock because it gave Kyle an opportunity to get on the field and become a Notre Dame football legend.
4. UCLA 2006- I remember saying before the game that this game was the last one that I might attend as a student that could be competitive. And we nearly lost. Quinn to Samardzija for 45 yards to win was amazing.
3. Pittsburgh 2005- Jorge, Mike, Dane and I made the road trip to Pittsburgh for the first game of the 2005. It was the first game I ever attended and it was awesome. We won easily and had a great time celebrating the victory with other Notre Dame fans in Pittsburgh afterwards.
2. Michigan 2012- It wasn't pretty, but again, I really hate Michigan. That was the game where I started to believe in 2012.
1. Stanford 2014- I hate Stanford, but not as much as I hate Michigan. But the fact that we scored the game winning touchdown on fourth and 11 late in the game gives it the top spot. It was a special win. And the weather is just part of a great story.
 |
| So wet. So cold. So awesome. |
Let's add another game to my list of favorite games I didn't attend tonight. Go Irish!
Saturday, October 11, 2014
A Disappointing Finish
It was a fun season for the Dodgers, but a disappointing finish. They lost for three reasons:
1. Their best pitcher (and the best pitcher in the world) didn't get the job done.
2. Their bullpen stunk.
3. They only scored six runs the last three games of the series.
Everybody knows how much I love Clayton Kershaw. I heard a podcast talking about how Kershaw's numbers against the Cardinals aren't that bad. Except for ERA. The rest of his numbers are slightly worse than his numbers against the rest of the league. And you would expect that because the Cardinals are a consistently good team. But this is where statistics can be used to prove anything. The Cardinals being able to hit Kershaw is a thing until he proves that it isn't. I don't care what fielding independent pitching and all these other crazy statistics say, he hasn't gotten the job done against the Cardinals in the playoffs the last two years. Of course, if all 30 teams redrafted the entire league, Kershaw is the first pitcher taken. And deservedly so. I'm looking forward to another great year from Kershaw in 2015. Hopefully the Dodgers can avoid the Cardinals in the playoffs next year.
I wrote before about how the Dodgers weren't that good without Kershaw pitching this year. In the regular season, they went 23-4 with Kershaw on the mound and they were slightly over .500 with anybody else. Well, in the playoffs, they were 0-2 with Kershaw on the mound and 1-1 with anybody else. That wasn't good enough. Their bullpen stunk. I don't think there's an easy fix for that. Great relievers become closers and aren't available during the offseason. Other relievers might be really good one year and not so good the next year. You need to develop good young arms. Chris Withrow looked like he might be one of those guys for the Dodgers early this year, but then he needed Tommy John surgery. So I don't know how to fix it, but I have to believe that the Dodgers' bullpen will be at least a little better next year.
As for the hitting, it wasn't good for the last three games, but I'm not too concerned. They were hitting really well at the end of the season. You just have to give the Cardinals credit. A.J. Ellis was outstanding in the playoffs (one of the few Dodgers that was), but they need more production from the catcher position in the regular season. I'd love to have Ellis as a backup catcher who caught Kershaw (he loves Ellis) and maybe one other game every two times through the rotation. I would probably let Hanley Ramirez go in free agency. He can't play shortstop anymore (although he actually did make a couple of nice plays in the field in the playoffs). That would definitely mean losing something at the plate, but I'd be willing to trade Ramirez's hitting and high salary for a guy that will field better and not cost as much. And they have to figure out what to do with the outfield. I think they should be willing to move anybody other than Yasiel Puig. I love Andre Ethier, but if anybody wants to give him a starting job, the Dodgers have to make that move. Carl Crawford was great late in the season, but I don't think anybody will want to pay him. There might be some teams interested in Scott Van Slyke. I like him and he doesn't have a big salary, but if the Dodgers can get something for him, they should. Matt Kemp was great in the second half. It's a good thing they didn't trade him before the trade deadline. Now that he has some value again, I think I'd try to sell high on Kemp. Joc Pederson has done everything there is to do in the minors. He should either be playing for the Dodgers next year or they should trade him.
I love baseball and the Dodgers. It really hurt this year losing so quickly. Last year, the season ended the night I flew to Chicago for the USC game. The good thing was that instead of going to work the next day, I got to watch Notre Dame beat USC. I was not happy to go to work on Wednesday after the Dodgers were eliminated.
I'm already thinking about what games I'll go to next season. The Dodgers play in Cincinnati in late August and I still have to get there, so that's a possibility. I have to get to Anaheim also, so I'd like to figure out how to combine that with another trip to Dodger Stadium. And they're in New York for a four-game series starting on my dad's birthday, so I'll probably go to at least one of those games.
I'm definitely rooting for the Royals now. They're a great story and I really like their stadium. And they wear the same colors as the Dodgers. As for the National League, I'm now haunted by Part 8 of Why I Love Baseball. I still respect the Cardinals, but I really hate them now. If I rewrote my Sports Hate Power Rankings, they'd be in the top 10. But they're playing the number 3 team on that list. So let's go Cardinals! I'm not happy about rooting for them, but I have no choice.
1. Their best pitcher (and the best pitcher in the world) didn't get the job done.
2. Their bullpen stunk.
3. They only scored six runs the last three games of the series.
Everybody knows how much I love Clayton Kershaw. I heard a podcast talking about how Kershaw's numbers against the Cardinals aren't that bad. Except for ERA. The rest of his numbers are slightly worse than his numbers against the rest of the league. And you would expect that because the Cardinals are a consistently good team. But this is where statistics can be used to prove anything. The Cardinals being able to hit Kershaw is a thing until he proves that it isn't. I don't care what fielding independent pitching and all these other crazy statistics say, he hasn't gotten the job done against the Cardinals in the playoffs the last two years. Of course, if all 30 teams redrafted the entire league, Kershaw is the first pitcher taken. And deservedly so. I'm looking forward to another great year from Kershaw in 2015. Hopefully the Dodgers can avoid the Cardinals in the playoffs next year.
I wrote before about how the Dodgers weren't that good without Kershaw pitching this year. In the regular season, they went 23-4 with Kershaw on the mound and they were slightly over .500 with anybody else. Well, in the playoffs, they were 0-2 with Kershaw on the mound and 1-1 with anybody else. That wasn't good enough. Their bullpen stunk. I don't think there's an easy fix for that. Great relievers become closers and aren't available during the offseason. Other relievers might be really good one year and not so good the next year. You need to develop good young arms. Chris Withrow looked like he might be one of those guys for the Dodgers early this year, but then he needed Tommy John surgery. So I don't know how to fix it, but I have to believe that the Dodgers' bullpen will be at least a little better next year.
As for the hitting, it wasn't good for the last three games, but I'm not too concerned. They were hitting really well at the end of the season. You just have to give the Cardinals credit. A.J. Ellis was outstanding in the playoffs (one of the few Dodgers that was), but they need more production from the catcher position in the regular season. I'd love to have Ellis as a backup catcher who caught Kershaw (he loves Ellis) and maybe one other game every two times through the rotation. I would probably let Hanley Ramirez go in free agency. He can't play shortstop anymore (although he actually did make a couple of nice plays in the field in the playoffs). That would definitely mean losing something at the plate, but I'd be willing to trade Ramirez's hitting and high salary for a guy that will field better and not cost as much. And they have to figure out what to do with the outfield. I think they should be willing to move anybody other than Yasiel Puig. I love Andre Ethier, but if anybody wants to give him a starting job, the Dodgers have to make that move. Carl Crawford was great late in the season, but I don't think anybody will want to pay him. There might be some teams interested in Scott Van Slyke. I like him and he doesn't have a big salary, but if the Dodgers can get something for him, they should. Matt Kemp was great in the second half. It's a good thing they didn't trade him before the trade deadline. Now that he has some value again, I think I'd try to sell high on Kemp. Joc Pederson has done everything there is to do in the minors. He should either be playing for the Dodgers next year or they should trade him.
I love baseball and the Dodgers. It really hurt this year losing so quickly. Last year, the season ended the night I flew to Chicago for the USC game. The good thing was that instead of going to work the next day, I got to watch Notre Dame beat USC. I was not happy to go to work on Wednesday after the Dodgers were eliminated.
I'm already thinking about what games I'll go to next season. The Dodgers play in Cincinnati in late August and I still have to get there, so that's a possibility. I have to get to Anaheim also, so I'd like to figure out how to combine that with another trip to Dodger Stadium. And they're in New York for a four-game series starting on my dad's birthday, so I'll probably go to at least one of those games.
I'm definitely rooting for the Royals now. They're a great story and I really like their stadium. And they wear the same colors as the Dodgers. As for the National League, I'm now haunted by Part 8 of Why I Love Baseball. I still respect the Cardinals, but I really hate them now. If I rewrote my Sports Hate Power Rankings, they'd be in the top 10. But they're playing the number 3 team on that list. So let's go Cardinals! I'm not happy about rooting for them, but I have no choice.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
The Most Necessary Bar Rescue Ever
I have few rules in life, but one of them is this: any time Jon Taffer is rescuing my former favorite bar for his TV show, I have to keep a running diary. I started watching early on my phone before the first airing on TV on Sunday night, but it stopped working about halfway through the episode. You'll notice the times from the beginning of the episode are from when I started watching on Wednesday or Thursday night, but I finished when the episode aired on TV on Sunday night. If you haven't seen the episode yet, don't read this if you plan on watching.
I will never forget the summer of 2005. I had turned 21 and three of my friends were working at the Artful Dodger in Huntington. John bartended on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Vin and Sean worked as bar backs on Saturdays. I went every night that they worked there. Many of those nights I was driving so I didn't drink a lot, but I at least made an appearance. Then there were the nights I wasn't driving. Those were fun. John rarely charged me for my drinks. So many good times there that summer. Other summers were fun, but it's hard to top being 21 and having three of my friends working at a bar. I remember when I found out that the Dodger had been sold. I had just gotten back to my dorm after the Bush Push game and I saw on people's away messages that it was the last night of the Dodger. I was coming home for fall break the next morning. We had just lost a heartbreaking game and I was going to miss the last night of the Dodger by one day. It was a rough day. I went back to the Dodger a handful of times after that, but its steady decline had begun.
Here was my Yelp review from 2010:
"Back in the day, the Artful Dodger was my favorite bar. Much like Moe on the Simpsons once did, they made the mistake of getting rid of the dank (actually it was a new owner, but that doesn't work with my analogy). Now I go there and the bouncer rejects me without even checking my ID because I'm not dressed properly. No thanks. I'll go to Katie Mc's."
I've only written four Yelp reviews ever. It's the only bad review I've ever given (one star). Anyway, let's get to the show:
7:07- According to the introduction, the owner bought the bar in 2006. I thought it had changed hands more than once. It also claims that the bar did well for the first five years. I question that claim.
7:08- The name changed to Radio in 2011. I didn't even know. When we did 12 Bars of Christmas in 2012, I never even considered going to the Artful Dodger or whatever it was called by then.
7:10- They're talking about the underage crowd. The last time I tried to go there, I couldn't get in because I wasn't wearing long pants. Or something stupid like that. But now it seems like they'd let any scumbag in.
7:10- Jon Taffer doesn't embrace excuses; he embraces solutions.
7:11- Phil Wills is Jon's bartender tonight. Jon compares its outside appearance to an autobody shop. He's going somewhere with that.
7:12- Teen night was Thursday. How dumb was that idea?
7:13- The name was Radio, but it still said Artful Dodger on the outside. So dumb.
7:14- Jon's going to check out some other bars. He wants to steal some customers for recon. This is different.
7:14- Jon is impressed by Christopher's. Sure it's better than Artful Dodger, but that's a low bar to clear (pun intended). I hate Christopher's, but I'm willing to go there, which is more than I would say about whatever the Artful Dodger became.
7:16- Jon's sending in a bunch of people from other bars. Artful Dodger bartender Jen needs some work.
7:17- One of the customers suspects a rat was chewing on the furniture. Entirely possible. They also have fruit flies.
7:18- You're not going to believe this, but Jon Taffer is getting angry. He's storming in.
7:19- Bugs in a bottle. The crowd is getting angry.
7:26- Jon shuts the bar down.
7:27- Jon had his crew work all night to clean and sanitize the bar.
7:28- They had mosquitoes in the drain. Jon talks about the dangers of mosquitoes. Ned Flanders might disagree.
7:29- We get an explanation of the life cycle of fruit flies.
7:30- My phone is not cooperating right now.
7:37- We're back. The owner Mike is in debt over $100,000.
7:38- There's friction between the owner and the manager.
7:39- Phil and Jesse Barnes are brought in to start training the staff. By the way, the bar looks totally different than it did the last time I ever went to the Dodger. I miss that bar. It was so much fun.
7:41- Jen says she's never going to make a drink the way Phil does. Jon says, "The more you speak, the more of a fool you look like." Jen starts crying.
7:47- More phone issues.
7:56- We're finally back on my phone and so is Jen.
8:01- More phone issues. Baseball is starting soon so I'm going to put the diary on hold for now.
9:30- I'm back and they're training Jen.
9:31- Jon is doing an 18 and over night for the stress test. He says he would never do this himself, but he's going to let them do what they do.
9:32- Two black X's on the hands for people under 21 and pink wristbands for somebody over 21. Jon sends in somebody over 21 who is posing as an 18 year old. She wipes off the X's pretty easily.
9:33- Ten Bud Lights sold to a customer. They have no idea who's getting those drinks.
9:34- Jon's mole has had a drink for over 20 minutes and nobody notices.
9:35- We have some bad bartending going on.
9:36- Jon finally lets the owner know that his mole had been drinking as an allegedly underage girl. And we have some real underage people fighting and being crazy. There's a good reason I hadn't been there in a long time.
9:41- The Royals are up 7-2, but the Angels are threatening. A Royals-Orioles ALCS would be a lot of fun. A Giants-Cardinals NLCS would be miserable. The Dodgers need to win a game or two in St. Louis.
9:42- Jon has them shut down the bar. Jon calls the stress test "a dismal failure." Jon goes through the Huntington demographics with his experts. Jon tells them about his speakeasy idea.
9:44- Jon makes the owner and manager promise that they won't allow anybody under 21 in the bar ever again. When I was going to the Dodger, there definitely were under 21 people there, but they were my friends and they didn't act like morons. And they weren't there when the bar was busy.
9:46- Phil is teaching the bartenders some cocktails. I'm a beer guy. One drawback of the Dodger in its glory days was the beer selection. They only have a few beers on tap.
9:48- Jon unveils the new bar to the owners (which we will see after the commercial). How does this work? Don't they see it before Jon counts to three and has them turn around? Or are they led there blindfolded?
9:49- The Royals got out of the jam. They still lead by five in the bottom of the fifth.
9:52- The Bengals are down 14-3 against the Patriots. People love the Bengals right now. Yeah, I'm not convinced.
9:54- We get the first look at P's & Q's Autobody. "You weren't very good at the bar business so I built you an autobody shop." P's & Q's is a reference to pints and quarts. You drink beer in pints, but you don't drink anything in quarts. I'm confused.
9:55- Jon shows them the secret door. My brother and I went there a month and a half ago. The secret door was pretty cool.
9:57- Once the bar is redone, it's the least interesting part of the show for me. I love watching the bar be terrible and Jon getting angry. But the new bar is open for business.
9:59- Jon says goodbye to the owner and manager.
10:00- Sales are supposedly up 30% six weeks after the relaunch. I'll finish with my review of my visit back in August:
As big Bar Rescue fans and former fans of the Artful Dodger, my brother Sean and I had to check out P's & Q's Autobody. As I already said, the secret door was pretty cool. They really do up the speakeasy theme. We were there early on a Saturday night and it was not very crowded. They're definitely going to have to attract an older, wealthier crowd. Mixed drinks were expensive ($12.50 each). My brother had two and liked them. This is not going to be a place where college kids go when they come home. It's not a place that I'll go to very often. I had a beer on tap. There wasn't a wide selection, but it was fine (I think it was $7). I was interested to see if they'd do anything about food. The Dodger never had food, but Jon is always very big on having food at the bar on the show. It was interesting that there was no mention of food at all. I don't really know if there was anything he could have done. Like I said, I won't go there often, but I would go there for 12 Bars of Christmas if we brought that back for 2014. So I guess that's an improvement.
I will never forget the summer of 2005. I had turned 21 and three of my friends were working at the Artful Dodger in Huntington. John bartended on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Vin and Sean worked as bar backs on Saturdays. I went every night that they worked there. Many of those nights I was driving so I didn't drink a lot, but I at least made an appearance. Then there were the nights I wasn't driving. Those were fun. John rarely charged me for my drinks. So many good times there that summer. Other summers were fun, but it's hard to top being 21 and having three of my friends working at a bar. I remember when I found out that the Dodger had been sold. I had just gotten back to my dorm after the Bush Push game and I saw on people's away messages that it was the last night of the Dodger. I was coming home for fall break the next morning. We had just lost a heartbreaking game and I was going to miss the last night of the Dodger by one day. It was a rough day. I went back to the Dodger a handful of times after that, but its steady decline had begun.
Here was my Yelp review from 2010:
"Back in the day, the Artful Dodger was my favorite bar. Much like Moe on the Simpsons once did, they made the mistake of getting rid of the dank (actually it was a new owner, but that doesn't work with my analogy). Now I go there and the bouncer rejects me without even checking my ID because I'm not dressed properly. No thanks. I'll go to Katie Mc's."
I've only written four Yelp reviews ever. It's the only bad review I've ever given (one star). Anyway, let's get to the show:
7:07- According to the introduction, the owner bought the bar in 2006. I thought it had changed hands more than once. It also claims that the bar did well for the first five years. I question that claim.
7:08- The name changed to Radio in 2011. I didn't even know. When we did 12 Bars of Christmas in 2012, I never even considered going to the Artful Dodger or whatever it was called by then.
7:10- They're talking about the underage crowd. The last time I tried to go there, I couldn't get in because I wasn't wearing long pants. Or something stupid like that. But now it seems like they'd let any scumbag in.
7:10- Jon Taffer doesn't embrace excuses; he embraces solutions.
7:11- Phil Wills is Jon's bartender tonight. Jon compares its outside appearance to an autobody shop. He's going somewhere with that.
7:12- Teen night was Thursday. How dumb was that idea?
7:13- The name was Radio, but it still said Artful Dodger on the outside. So dumb.
7:14- Jon's going to check out some other bars. He wants to steal some customers for recon. This is different.
7:14- Jon is impressed by Christopher's. Sure it's better than Artful Dodger, but that's a low bar to clear (pun intended). I hate Christopher's, but I'm willing to go there, which is more than I would say about whatever the Artful Dodger became.
7:16- Jon's sending in a bunch of people from other bars. Artful Dodger bartender Jen needs some work.
7:17- One of the customers suspects a rat was chewing on the furniture. Entirely possible. They also have fruit flies.
7:18- You're not going to believe this, but Jon Taffer is getting angry. He's storming in.
7:19- Bugs in a bottle. The crowd is getting angry.
7:26- Jon shuts the bar down.
7:27- Jon had his crew work all night to clean and sanitize the bar.
7:28- They had mosquitoes in the drain. Jon talks about the dangers of mosquitoes. Ned Flanders might disagree.
7:29- We get an explanation of the life cycle of fruit flies.
7:30- My phone is not cooperating right now.
7:37- We're back. The owner Mike is in debt over $100,000.
7:38- There's friction between the owner and the manager.
7:39- Phil and Jesse Barnes are brought in to start training the staff. By the way, the bar looks totally different than it did the last time I ever went to the Dodger. I miss that bar. It was so much fun.
7:41- Jen says she's never going to make a drink the way Phil does. Jon says, "The more you speak, the more of a fool you look like." Jen starts crying.
7:47- More phone issues.
7:56- We're finally back on my phone and so is Jen.
8:01- More phone issues. Baseball is starting soon so I'm going to put the diary on hold for now.
9:30- I'm back and they're training Jen.
9:31- Jon is doing an 18 and over night for the stress test. He says he would never do this himself, but he's going to let them do what they do.
9:32- Two black X's on the hands for people under 21 and pink wristbands for somebody over 21. Jon sends in somebody over 21 who is posing as an 18 year old. She wipes off the X's pretty easily.
9:33- Ten Bud Lights sold to a customer. They have no idea who's getting those drinks.
9:34- Jon's mole has had a drink for over 20 minutes and nobody notices.
9:35- We have some bad bartending going on.
9:36- Jon finally lets the owner know that his mole had been drinking as an allegedly underage girl. And we have some real underage people fighting and being crazy. There's a good reason I hadn't been there in a long time.
9:41- The Royals are up 7-2, but the Angels are threatening. A Royals-Orioles ALCS would be a lot of fun. A Giants-Cardinals NLCS would be miserable. The Dodgers need to win a game or two in St. Louis.
9:42- Jon has them shut down the bar. Jon calls the stress test "a dismal failure." Jon goes through the Huntington demographics with his experts. Jon tells them about his speakeasy idea.
9:44- Jon makes the owner and manager promise that they won't allow anybody under 21 in the bar ever again. When I was going to the Dodger, there definitely were under 21 people there, but they were my friends and they didn't act like morons. And they weren't there when the bar was busy.
9:46- Phil is teaching the bartenders some cocktails. I'm a beer guy. One drawback of the Dodger in its glory days was the beer selection. They only have a few beers on tap.
9:48- Jon unveils the new bar to the owners (which we will see after the commercial). How does this work? Don't they see it before Jon counts to three and has them turn around? Or are they led there blindfolded?
9:49- The Royals got out of the jam. They still lead by five in the bottom of the fifth.
9:52- The Bengals are down 14-3 against the Patriots. People love the Bengals right now. Yeah, I'm not convinced.
9:54- We get the first look at P's & Q's Autobody. "You weren't very good at the bar business so I built you an autobody shop." P's & Q's is a reference to pints and quarts. You drink beer in pints, but you don't drink anything in quarts. I'm confused.
9:55- Jon shows them the secret door. My brother and I went there a month and a half ago. The secret door was pretty cool.
9:57- Once the bar is redone, it's the least interesting part of the show for me. I love watching the bar be terrible and Jon getting angry. But the new bar is open for business.
9:59- Jon says goodbye to the owner and manager.
10:00- Sales are supposedly up 30% six weeks after the relaunch. I'll finish with my review of my visit back in August:
As big Bar Rescue fans and former fans of the Artful Dodger, my brother Sean and I had to check out P's & Q's Autobody. As I already said, the secret door was pretty cool. They really do up the speakeasy theme. We were there early on a Saturday night and it was not very crowded. They're definitely going to have to attract an older, wealthier crowd. Mixed drinks were expensive ($12.50 each). My brother had two and liked them. This is not going to be a place where college kids go when they come home. It's not a place that I'll go to very often. I had a beer on tap. There wasn't a wide selection, but it was fine (I think it was $7). I was interested to see if they'd do anything about food. The Dodger never had food, but Jon is always very big on having food at the bar on the show. It was interesting that there was no mention of food at all. I don't really know if there was anything he could have done. Like I said, I won't go there often, but I would go there for 12 Bars of Christmas if we brought that back for 2014. So I guess that's an improvement.
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