The Demon basketball team benefited from a friendly face in Corpus Christi today. Dr. Randy Bonnette, son of the beloved late Dr. Buddy Bonnette, is chair of the kinesiology education department at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Randy, who has been at TAMCC for eight years and has chaired the department for the last seven, helped arrange for the Demons to practice this morning in the TAMCC physical education/intramurals facility. The team is working out now and should get a good 90-minute session in before we board the bus and head to San Antonio, probably stopping for lunch along the way.
Randy's department is working with the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers in Major League Baseball to study various physiological traits shared by outstanding baseball players, including reaction time and high-caliber vision.
The TAMCC campus is literally on an island, just across the highway from the Gulf of Mexico.
We saw more of Dr. Buddy's extended family last night. More on that in a post later this weekend...
Doug Ireland, SID
Friday, January 18, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
The great BBQ debate
A visit to one of the noted barbeque joints in Texas today led me to an online BBQ debate tonight.
The Demon basketball team had lunch at Hintze's Barbeque along U.S. 59 outside of Wharton, about 60 miles southwest of Houston.
On the wall was a page from a 1995 Food & Wine magazine feature listing the country's best barbeque joints. Guess who No. 1 was?
Like the Football Bowl Subdivision, when it comes to barbeque ratings, we will never know for sure who is the best. But the Demon basketball team would definitely give high marks to Hintze's, and so does baseball legend Nolan Ryan, whose letter of endorsement adorned the wall leading to the promised land -- the counter where you place your order.
There's also, however, a stuffed squirrel along the way. Don't know the story, just hope he wasn't cooked. Didn't see it on the menu. The restaurant also had various mounted animals, including a moose head, and full bodied mounts of a mountain lion (don't know where it came from), a modestly sized deer, a turkey, ducks and other birds.
The travel party, heading toward Corpus Christi for Thursday night's game, enjoyed lunch, to say the least!
Tonight, wanting to pinpoint the location, I did a google on Hintze's, and found a chat board discussion of the best Texas BBQ joints. There's not really a wrong answer to a question like that.
So I will chime in with my take on the best BBQ places that I've enjoyed during travels with the Demons. Perhaps my buddy Patrick Netherton will offer his picks, too. Here's my Top 10 rankings -- excluding the great Grayson's in Clarence, Red's and the Tin House in Natchitoches, because that's backyard BBQ for Demons:
1 - The New Zion Baptist Church in Huntsville
2 - Jack Stack BBQ in Kansas City
3 - Hintze's
4 - The Rendevous, Memphis
5 - Dreamland, Tuscaloosa
6 - McClard's, Hot Springs
7 - Cobb's BBQ, Bossier City
8 - Country Tavern, Shreveport
9 - Podnuh's, Monroe
10 - Jamil's, Tulsa
1 - "The Church" may not be what it once was, a truly epic experience, but for sheer volume, unique atmosphere, and variety, you cannot do better than the family style, all-you-can-handle platter served up here. The ribs are the biggest and juiciest. There's something about walking in past the grill where the ribs are being smoked that just drives you crazy. I love the sweet tea, too, and it's the most unique setting you can get.
2 - We stumbled on this at 9:30 on a Friday night before the 2006 football game at Kansas. Jack Stack BBQ is shipped nationwide, and with good reason. It was "upscale" for a BBQ joint, the kind of place you wouldn't walk into with suspenders on. This was probably the best barbeque dinner I've had, but since there was only one visit it can't top years of trips to worship at "The Church."
3 - The side dishes are tremendous here, along with really tasty beef and ribs and ham and sausage and ...
4 - Right down the alley from the fabled Peabody Hotel, where the ducks walk, the Rendevous is a southern classic. My friends from Memphis swear Corky's BBQ is better, but the location and the vibe (again, an upscale place, with a great Friday night crowd enjoying libations while waiting on their seats) combine with wonderful ribs to make this high on my list.
5 - ABC announcer Keith Jackson helped spread the word about Dreamland. The ribs are huge. It's off the beaten track and the kind of place where if you are not wearing suspenders and dirty boots, you're almost the odd man out. I remember thinking as I left, the Church was slightly better, but as Bum Phillips said about Earl Campbell, maybe he's not in a class by himself, but it don't take long to call the roll.
6 - McClard's was made famous by Bill Clinton, but it was an institution long before then. The walls are filled with photos of famous folks who came by, many due to him. They all left happy. It's basically a little diner, with tiny booths and an old style drug store counter. The food is tremendous, the service incredibly good, and somehow you must save room for dessert.
7 - Mr. Joe Cobb knows how to treat beef. His brisket is astounding. Thanks to Mike McConathy for turning me on to Cobb's.
8 - Country Tavern, I know, is high on Patrick Netherton's list. Mine too. Coach Billy Montgomery took us there in Coach Mike's first season. I've been back several times since. Simply put, it's tremendous. A nicer restaurant than most BBQ places, with a little more varied menu, but try the barbeque first.
9 - A personal favorite, from the many trips to Monroe through the years. Great beans and potato salad. Country Line BBQ in the DFW metro area is along the same lines, but the tie goes to the home state.
10 - Not a barbeque restaurant per se, but they serve great ribs. You get more food for your money here than almost anywhere else. The walls are lined with sports photos, just an interesting place.
By the wsy, Coach Mike is on a vegetarian kick at the outset of the year and only had side dishes today at Hintze's. If I hadn't seen it, I would not have believed it. We can tell you their okra gumbo is incredible.
Pass the Pepcid AC, please! Seeing as we are smack dab on the Gulf of Mexico, literally a couple hundred feet away right now, I pledge to have some grilled fish for lunch tomorrow. Healthier, for sure!
Doug Ireland, SID
The Demon basketball team had lunch at Hintze's Barbeque along U.S. 59 outside of Wharton, about 60 miles southwest of Houston.
On the wall was a page from a 1995 Food & Wine magazine feature listing the country's best barbeque joints. Guess who No. 1 was?
Like the Football Bowl Subdivision, when it comes to barbeque ratings, we will never know for sure who is the best. But the Demon basketball team would definitely give high marks to Hintze's, and so does baseball legend Nolan Ryan, whose letter of endorsement adorned the wall leading to the promised land -- the counter where you place your order.
There's also, however, a stuffed squirrel along the way. Don't know the story, just hope he wasn't cooked. Didn't see it on the menu. The restaurant also had various mounted animals, including a moose head, and full bodied mounts of a mountain lion (don't know where it came from), a modestly sized deer, a turkey, ducks and other birds.
The travel party, heading toward Corpus Christi for Thursday night's game, enjoyed lunch, to say the least!
Tonight, wanting to pinpoint the location, I did a google on Hintze's, and found a chat board discussion of the best Texas BBQ joints. There's not really a wrong answer to a question like that.
So I will chime in with my take on the best BBQ places that I've enjoyed during travels with the Demons. Perhaps my buddy Patrick Netherton will offer his picks, too. Here's my Top 10 rankings -- excluding the great Grayson's in Clarence, Red's and the Tin House in Natchitoches, because that's backyard BBQ for Demons:
1 - The New Zion Baptist Church in Huntsville
2 - Jack Stack BBQ in Kansas City
3 - Hintze's
4 - The Rendevous, Memphis
5 - Dreamland, Tuscaloosa
6 - McClard's, Hot Springs
7 - Cobb's BBQ, Bossier City
8 - Country Tavern, Shreveport
9 - Podnuh's, Monroe
10 - Jamil's, Tulsa
1 - "The Church" may not be what it once was, a truly epic experience, but for sheer volume, unique atmosphere, and variety, you cannot do better than the family style, all-you-can-handle platter served up here. The ribs are the biggest and juiciest. There's something about walking in past the grill where the ribs are being smoked that just drives you crazy. I love the sweet tea, too, and it's the most unique setting you can get.
2 - We stumbled on this at 9:30 on a Friday night before the 2006 football game at Kansas. Jack Stack BBQ is shipped nationwide, and with good reason. It was "upscale" for a BBQ joint, the kind of place you wouldn't walk into with suspenders on. This was probably the best barbeque dinner I've had, but since there was only one visit it can't top years of trips to worship at "The Church."
3 - The side dishes are tremendous here, along with really tasty beef and ribs and ham and sausage and ...
4 - Right down the alley from the fabled Peabody Hotel, where the ducks walk, the Rendevous is a southern classic. My friends from Memphis swear Corky's BBQ is better, but the location and the vibe (again, an upscale place, with a great Friday night crowd enjoying libations while waiting on their seats) combine with wonderful ribs to make this high on my list.
5 - ABC announcer Keith Jackson helped spread the word about Dreamland. The ribs are huge. It's off the beaten track and the kind of place where if you are not wearing suspenders and dirty boots, you're almost the odd man out. I remember thinking as I left, the Church was slightly better, but as Bum Phillips said about Earl Campbell, maybe he's not in a class by himself, but it don't take long to call the roll.
6 - McClard's was made famous by Bill Clinton, but it was an institution long before then. The walls are filled with photos of famous folks who came by, many due to him. They all left happy. It's basically a little diner, with tiny booths and an old style drug store counter. The food is tremendous, the service incredibly good, and somehow you must save room for dessert.
7 - Mr. Joe Cobb knows how to treat beef. His brisket is astounding. Thanks to Mike McConathy for turning me on to Cobb's.
8 - Country Tavern, I know, is high on Patrick Netherton's list. Mine too. Coach Billy Montgomery took us there in Coach Mike's first season. I've been back several times since. Simply put, it's tremendous. A nicer restaurant than most BBQ places, with a little more varied menu, but try the barbeque first.
9 - A personal favorite, from the many trips to Monroe through the years. Great beans and potato salad. Country Line BBQ in the DFW metro area is along the same lines, but the tie goes to the home state.
10 - Not a barbeque restaurant per se, but they serve great ribs. You get more food for your money here than almost anywhere else. The walls are lined with sports photos, just an interesting place.
By the wsy, Coach Mike is on a vegetarian kick at the outset of the year and only had side dishes today at Hintze's. If I hadn't seen it, I would not have believed it. We can tell you their okra gumbo is incredible.
Pass the Pepcid AC, please! Seeing as we are smack dab on the Gulf of Mexico, literally a couple hundred feet away right now, I pledge to have some grilled fish for lunch tomorrow. Healthier, for sure!
Doug Ireland, SID
Monday, January 14, 2008
Crossing paths in a Friday night game
Kia Converse and Blair Bagala are two very proud NSU athletic alumni.
They both live in south Louisiana, and actually grew up within a half-hour's drive of each other.
Last Friday night, they met again unexpectedly.
Blair, the former track athlete, is teaching at Ascension Catholic, his alma mater. He has been pressed into service as an interim girls basketball coach.
He was surprised to look at the officiating crew for Friday night's game and see Kia, the Lady Demon basketball great and former assistant coach, in stripes.
Blair has also done lots of officiating himself, and in fact worked a lot of Lady Demon camp games back in the day with Kia.
It didn't get him any calls, but it made for fun for both of them.
Kia, BTW, seems to be a very upwardly mobile candidate in the officiating world. As a former college player and coach, she knows and understands the game from two key perspectives. She's smart and personable and poised. I would not be surprised to see her become an NBA official -- not WNBA only, but also NBA -- within the next 6-8 years, if she chooses to pursue it.
She can definitely run the floor!
Doug Ireland, SID
They both live in south Louisiana, and actually grew up within a half-hour's drive of each other.
Last Friday night, they met again unexpectedly.
Blair, the former track athlete, is teaching at Ascension Catholic, his alma mater. He has been pressed into service as an interim girls basketball coach.
He was surprised to look at the officiating crew for Friday night's game and see Kia, the Lady Demon basketball great and former assistant coach, in stripes.
Blair has also done lots of officiating himself, and in fact worked a lot of Lady Demon camp games back in the day with Kia.
It didn't get him any calls, but it made for fun for both of them.
Kia, BTW, seems to be a very upwardly mobile candidate in the officiating world. As a former college player and coach, she knows and understands the game from two key perspectives. She's smart and personable and poised. I would not be surprised to see her become an NBA official -- not WNBA only, but also NBA -- within the next 6-8 years, if she chooses to pursue it.
She can definitely run the floor!
Doug Ireland, SID
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