The Ultimate Battle: Ham vs Canadian Bacon

Recently, the heart attack juggernaut that is Hardees (or Carl's Jr. for you Westerners) has been advertising its new Bacon Bacon Biscuit.  Canadian bacon, egg, cheese, and two strips of bacon are the components for this new breakfast creation that admittedly, doesn't sound all that bad.  But it got me to thinking: haven't we seen sandwiches in the past that feature both ham and bacon?  Aren't Canadian bacon and ham essentially the same thing?  What's the big deal?

Mmm, bacon.  Twice.

Well, let's clear up the differences first.  Canadian bacon is actually often referred to as "back bacon" outside of the U.S., which helps to reinforce the idea that Canadian bacon actually comes from the back of the pig, whereas ham comes from the hind quarter of the pig (the area referred to as the "ham", actually).  In the U.S., Canadian bacon and ham are generally cut and cured in a similar fashion, which is why we associate the two so closely.  As an aside, "country ham" is usually cured with just salt and has a different flavor.  Oh, the things you learn while researching online.

Is one superior to the other?  I guess it would all depend on your preference and the situation.  Let's suppose that, like me, you're a big fan of Hawaiian pizza.  Which would go better with the pineapple, ham or Canadian bacon?  I actually prefer ham on my Hawaiian pizza, as Canadian bacon will more often come with tougher edges, and I don't like it when I need to chew a lot.  However, on a breakfast sandwich, such as the Bacon Bacon Biscuit, I feel like I'd actually prefer the toughness of Canadian bacon.

You can put your hand down; this is just a picture.

So is this really a battle?  Will one win out over the other?  Yes; otherwise, I should probably just stop writing this.  I believe that Canadian bacon is, as a whole, superior to ham in American culture.  We've seen that it's not necessarily better in taste or texture, so where does it win?  Marketing.  Think about if the Bacon Bacon Biscuit was, instead, the Ham Bacon Biscuit.  If it had appeal before, it probably just lost it when converting it to ham, right?  Bacon (that is, regular U.S. bacon) has an almost heralded status in the U.S. as a luxury food.  I've said it before: bacon is to men as chocolate is to women and because of that, the use of the word "bacon" with any food often amplifies the appeal of it.

Thus, I think Canadian bacon retains a large marketing advantage over ham.  Ham is just another deli meat to most of us: we buy those little packs of it in the back of grocery stores and we put it in our very simple sandwiches that we pack for lunch the next day.  Ham is ordinary to us.  Canadian bacon, on the other hand, is more rare.  Most people only really associate it with Hawaiian pizza, or the occasional breakfast sandwich.  This rareness alone gives it greater marketing power, but add to it that the word "bacon" is in the title of the food, and it certainly carries a greater appeal than ham.

Those are my thoughts.  I'd love to hear yours.  And let me know if you ever go try that Bacon Bacon Biscuit.  It's probably a delight.

What the heck, man?: A Burned Bum

WTHM finally returns with a story that made me chuckle.

Article: http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/_/id/8276263/dallas-cowboys-hot-water-burned-fan-files-lawsuit-team

Summary: While in attendance for a Dallas Cowboys team scrimmage in August 2010, one female fan suffered third-degree burns on her butt from sitting on a bench outside the stadium.  It was over 100 degrees that day and the particular bench she sat on was black marble.  Her lawyer claims that this incident has caused "mental anguish, physical pain and disfigurement as a result of her wounds."  The Dallas Cowboys organization declined to comment.

Jason Witten's like.. really?

Notables: Cowboy Stadium is one of the most expensive stadiums in the entire world, so you figure that the perimeter of the stadium is kept just as nicely as the inside.  The woman claims that she did not realize the extent of the injuries until receiving medical attention.  There were no warning signs posted that suggest that the benches could get very hot.  She did not stay for the game.

Opinion: As odd as this story is, the WTHM award for this one goes to the Cowboys; at least, whoever decided to put black marble benches outside of the stadium in the Dallas sun and not provide a warning.  We live in a culture where people can win lawsuits if you don't properly put things like "peel before eating" on your food.  You gotta have enough foresight to put warning signs for your benches because regardless of what color they are, they could get hot.  The fact that this lady suffered burns and couldn't tell until she received medical attention is a bit of a stretch for me, but stranger things have happened.

Lemme clear my throat because it's been awhile but for this story, I say... What the heck, man?

Fantasy Football 2012 Primer, pt. 5: Drafting Guidelines

Let's cap this off with a look at a few of my guidelines for drafting in fantasy.  In reality, fantasy football is heavily based on luck, but as with any game of luck, there are ways to play the odds and put luck on your side.  My guidelines don't really change much from year to year, as they aren't based as much on the crop of players and are based more so on the drafter (you!).  Here we go.

The League: very funny show, heavily based on fantasy football.

1) Draft who you want, whenever you want: It might seem simple, but don't let the ESPN or Yahoo! or whoever rankings influence you too much.  If you're sitting there in the second round and you don't like the "recommended" pick, and there happens to be a guy who might be there in the third round when it's your pick again, but might not, go grab him now.  It's that simple.  You're naturally going to be much happier with a team of players that you wanted from the start, rather than a group of guys you picked because "it made sense with the rankings".

2) Don't draft a kicker until the last round: Even though I just gave you rule #1, this is the one policy I have from year to year.  Statistics show that the difference between the guy who finishes first among kickers and the guy who finishes fifteenth among kickers is generally insignificant.  They are the most unpredictable part of fantasy and there is greater value in drafting sleepers or solid backups before picking up your kicker.  As the season progresses, the waiver wire will fill with guys who average 2-3 more points per game in the kicker spot so if the kicker you draft is that bad, you can replace him.  For example, Stephen Gostkowski of the Patriots is the #1 ranked kicker this year.  If Brady and the gang are scoring touchdowns, Gostkowski's production is gonna fall and naturally, he will not have been worth picking up before the last round.

3) Keep an eye on the trends during your draft: Following along with rule #1 again, keep an eye on possible trends before your pick comes up again.  If there's a run on RB's or WR's, the guy you wanted two rounds from now might not be there if you wait, so you should go ahead and grab him now.  I do want to note that it would be nice to not have to fall victim to drafting trends, but rule #1 is first for a reason, and trends will sometimes dictate that you reach with your pick a little bit.

4) If you need to, take your entire draft time to make your pick: Whether your pick lengths are 60, 90, or 120 seconds, feel free to take all of the time you need to pick.  I know, others in your league might get annoyed if you're doing this constantly, but ideally, you're using the full frame of time to plan ahead a little bit as well.  Be courteous, but don't cave in to complaints either.  They're allowed to take the full amount of time too.

So that'll do it for this series.  If I do this again, I'm gonna get it started a bit earlier in the summer, as I felt a bit rushed in research.  I felt the quality of my presentation may have suffered a bit because of that as well.  Let me know if this was helpful for you or not; I'd love to continue it from year to year (probably in a smaller amount of entries).  Good luck on your drafts and your league this year!

Fantasy Football 2012 Primer, pt. 4: Sleepers

In our second-to-last part of the primer, we're going to take a look at some sleeper picks that I have for this season.  Truth be told, just about anyone past the first few rounds could be considered a sleeper.  Fantasy football is about educated guesses and luck; you never know where the next big sleeper performer will come from.  That said, here's a list of picks that I project to produce this year.  Remember, since we're talking sleepers, I'm gonna avoid talking about guys that will probably be picked in the first 3-4 rounds.

Quarterbacks:

Jay Cutler, CHI - I've never been a big fan of Cutler, but adding a coach and his favorite wide receiver from his golden years in Denver, as well as playing in a division with weak pass defenses, bodes well for him this year.

Josh Freeman, TB - Let's not forget how productive he was two seasons ago.  One bad season won't a bust make.

Mark Sanchez, NYJ - I'm choosing to believe in Sanchez this year.  So far, all I've seen from him is the right attitude about the Tebow situation.  Mental strength is gonna be big for him.

Running backs:

Isaac Redman, PIT - Though the last couple years have looked different, the Steelers are still a team that want to run the ball.  Rashard Mendenhall, the presumed starter, has a poor injury history.  Give me the consistently healthy bruiser.

Peyton Hillis, KC - What we're finding around the league is that many backs actually perform better when splitting carries.  Hillis carried the load for Cleveland last year and got worn down.  He and Jamaal Charles should both be productive this year.

Mike Goodson, OAK - Same idea as the other two.  Darren McFadden is an explosive talent, but has never been consistently healthy.  Goodson performed well in Carolina behind the tandem, and has a chance to contribute for a sleeper Oakland team.

Wide Receivers:

Go Titus!

Torrey Smith, BAL - It's no secret that Joe Flacco likes to throw deep, and this is his primary deep threat.  I'm hoping Flacco has improved his deep accuracy and that Smith will get more chances.

Titus Young, DET - It figures that I'd give my Lions some love, but with all of the extra attention on Calvin Johnson this year (not to mention his presence on the Madden cover... I believe in it!), Young will get more opportunities.  He's one year better; let's hope he shows it.

Stephen Hill, NYJ - This is really reaching deep, but Stephen Hill is another one of those Georgia Tech receivers (Calvin Johnson, Demaryius Thomas) and the Jets have a thin receiving core.  Rookie receivers are always dangerous in fantasy football, but Hill has an opportunity to step in and contribute.

Tight Ends:

Jacob Tamme, DEN - It doesn't matter that Peyton Manning and Tamme have played together in the past.  Whoever Peyton's tight end is has a great chance to be productive.

Kyle Rudolph, MIN - Christian Ponder is entering his second season, after a rookie campaign where he showed some good signs as the quarterback.  Rudolph will be one of his primary targets this year.

Defenses/Kickers:

Nothing to say here.  Both defenses and kickers are often a crapshoot (except for the top few defenses).  Don't pick them til late.

Next week, we close the series with my guidelines for drafting.  Enjoy your weekend!

Fantasy Football 2012 Primer, pt. 3: Quarterbacks

Just as the NFL has become a more pass-happy, quarterback-centric league, quarterbacks in fantasy football have become more of a commodity.  The QB is the one player on your roster who is the likeliest to carry your team to victory in a week, as it isn't rare for the most elite fantasy QBs to give you an average of 25-30 points a week.  This being the case, you'd think that the QB is the most valuable player on your team, and the first position you should fill, right?  Not necessarily.  Let's explore.

*Note: As with all of these entries, my strategies are based on ESPN standard roster formats (1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 RB/WR, 1 TE, 1 D/ST, 1 K).  These strategies don't necessarily hold for other formats, but might.  And the link to the cheat sheet again: http://games-ak.espn.go.com/s/ffldraftkit/12/NFLDK2K12_StandCS.pdf?addata=2012=ffldft_chtsht_standpos_xxx

Because of their powerful point production capabilities (and my awesome alliteration), top-level QBs have become highly valuable commodities.  More and more offenses are employing pass-heavy gameplans, and the more you put the ball in the quarterback's hands, the more points he is likely to put up.

I've always been against the idea of drafting a QB early, but this year is different.  I think that there are five guys worth consideration in the first two rounds this year (the top 5 guys on the ESPN cheat sheet): Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Stafford, and Newton.  It helps that the RB and WR positions don't feel quite as deep as they've been in the past, but these five guys put up monster numbers last year, and there's nothing that suggests they won't do the same again.

Let's look at Newton, because he's an interesting case.  In most standard format drafts, Newton went undrafted last year.  Expectations were low for the #1 overall pick in the draft, as many felt his talents were raw and undeveloped.  Newton broke out in a big way and has already become one of the most feared offensive players in the league.  And then what about my boy Stafford?  The Lions team broke out last year, with Stafford and Megatron carrying the offense, overcoming what little running game they had.  Stafford was a mid-round pick last year, as a backup QB for most teams.

Back to the point.  The reason I've avoided drafting a QB early in past years was simply to increase my depth at RB and WR first.  Those positions are even more flaky than the QB, and making the right early and mid-round picks for them can be the key to getting your fantasy team through the season.  On a standard roster, there are 5 RBs and WRs in play, whereas there is just one QB.  I tend to like my chances of winning through the stable of 5, rather than relying too much on just one man.

So what should you do?  Well, the answer should always be "whatever you want to", but here's my advice: if you want one of the top three or top five guys, go get him; he's not gonna last very long.  If you think another guy has that kinda value, like maybe Michael Vick, feel free to reach a bit for him too.  Whatever the case, know who you want before you go into your draft, and if they're not there when it's your turn to pick, wait for the next guy you want.  Sounds simple but in the heat of the draft, we can occasionally fall victim to drafting trends (e.g. when five people before you take running backs, you end up wanting to do the same).

Next time, we start the good stuff: sleepers!  I'll share some small opinions on a few guys I really like but for the most part, it'll just be a list up for your own interpretation.  See ya then!

Fantasy Football 2012 Primer, pt. 2: The Tim Tebow Question

As promised, today's post will feature the enigma himself, Tim Tebow.  Maybe the most popular backup quarterback ever, Tebow has hit New York and certainly, expectations for his impact there are high.  His lasting impact may end up having nothing to do with football but for the purposes of our discussion today, let's talk football and specifically, fantasy football.

There are a lot of questions in the air in New York regarding Tebow, with the primary focus on Tebow's chances of taking over the starting job as quarterback of the Jets.  Every indication from Jets camp is that the chances are low, but that's exactly what they're supposed to tell you.  Bear in mind that the Jets just invested a medium-length, medium-money contract on Mark Sanchez, so they aren't going to give up on him that easily.

Tim Tebow is the only quarterback in history to have two consecutive seasons of 6 rushing TD's or more.  Is two years enough to mark Tebow as a model of consistency?  Perhaps, especially when you bear in mind that he started neither season as the starting quarterback of his team.  Tebow just has a way of defying the odds, doing the things that you never would've bet on.

This year, he should be viewed no differently.  It's no secret that Mark Sanchez has struggled at times as the starting quarterback for the Jets.  Conceivably, if games start going awry for the Jets, we could even see a timeshare between the two quarterbacks, playing a roughly even number of snaps per game.  And of course, we could even see Tebow take over Sanchez's job, as previously mentioned.  Whatever the case may be, Tebow will see the field in every game this season, as long as he's healthy.  How often, and in what roles?  That's the question, but think of it this way: as the season progresses and becomes more of a grind, every team needs to make adjustments, whether relative to injuries or poor play.  Tebow is an adjustment that can make life hard for opposing defenses, so I don't think it's a stretch to think that there will be games where he plays bigger roles on offense, especially later in the season.

What does this mean in terms of fantasy football?  I'll say this much: as long as he's healthy, I would bet on Tebow rushing for at least 6 TD's again this season.  His point output from week to week could be frustratingly inconsistent; 14 points one week, and 2 the next.  He becomes far more valuable if whatever service you use gives him RB eligibility, as even with that inconsistency, there will be weeks where you could use 2 or 3 points from your flex slot.  Again, he's a situation to watch as the season progresses.  It comes back to adjustments; even if the Jets are having a good season, they're going to want to stay creative to keep their edge.  Tebow is the trump card that every coach wants in their pocket.

Given his near sure-fire value as the season progresses, he's certainly worth a spot on your bench as your backup or 2nd backup quarterback.  Don't pay too much attention to rankings when you're considering where to draft him; his popularity and upside shatters the regular mold, and people will be brave enough to draft him really early.  If you reach a juncture where your possible picks are unappealing, or if you simply have decided to draft your backup quarterback in a certain round and you want Tebow, don't hesitate.

Lastly, due to Tebow's presence, Mark Sanchez is a major boom/bust pick.  What that means is that Sanchez could really flourish this year, given the extra pressure to work hard, or he could be an awful pick.  I would expect to see Tebow taken in most drafts before Sanchez, so feel free to wait on grabbing him and if you have a chance to get him very late in your draft, I don't think it would hurt to give him a try.

Next time, we talk quarterbacks and my unique draft strategy with them.  A WTHM post might make an appearance in between.  Have a good one!

Fantasy Football 2012 Primer, pt. 1: Initial Impressions

With August now upon us and no lockout threatening the season this year, we get to comfortably sit back and anticipate the coming of the football season.  Normally, it seems like football finally arrives after a slow sports summer, but this summer wasn't too bad.  In a summer where we got to see Spain win the Euros (again), all sorts of surprise teams in baseball (I'm looking at you, Pirates and Nationals), Roger Federer reclaiming his throne, Tiger Woods gradually returning to form, and the Olympics, sports haven't been all that bad.

But now it's time to move on to football and America's favorite game, fantasy football.  For the next month, I will be posting entries here and there trying to help get everyone ready for the fantasy football season.  I am certainly no professional at this, but I get enough content thrown into my brain to make some decent estimations.  Throughout this primer, I will be right and I will be wrong and that, my friends, is the beauty of fantasy football.

Now, I will warn you from the start: a lot of my analysis will be based off of ESPN's rankings and points system.  It's the system I've played in for years, and the one I know best.  The resources are pretty easy to access and the site provides enough free analysis for someone like me to feel smarter.  That all said, let's get started.

Link to ESPN's positional cheat sheet:
http://games-ak.espn.go.com/s/ffldraftkit/12/NFLDK2K12_StandCS.pdf?addata=2012=ffldft_chtsht_standpos_xxx

Part 1: Initial Impressions

This first entry is going to be simple.  I am going to look at ESPN's cheat sheets, including their top 300 players and top players by position, and I'm just going to list some of the things that immediately come to mind.  Onward!

1. This year's class of top running backs is really shallow.  I agree that Foster, Rice, and McCoy should be the top three (in that order), but beyond those three guys, who can I feel comfortable with?  Jones-Drew has been a workhorse the past few years and plays in a bad offense, Chris Johnson is coming off a bad year where he slumped, and next up is the oft-injured Ryan Mathews?  If I can't get any of the top three backs, I may seriously have to consider getting a quarterback in the first round.  So much for the years when I'd take my first quarterback in the 10th round.

2. That said, I still wouldn't mind waiting on a quarterback.  Getting a top 10 QB would be nice but if not, I wouldn't mind waiting til the 20th guy (Carson Palmer) or even the 21st (Sam Bradford).

3. Megatron is the #1 receiver!  You bet he is.

4. Gronkowski and Graham are rated really high.  Higher than I remember seeing any tight ends in my time in fantasy.  I got Graham repeatedly in late rounds in my drafts last year.  It's not to say I'll find another Jimmy Graham in the late rounds this year, but tight ends and quarterbacks have always seemed too unpredictable for me to spend early picks on them.  I suppose I should just stick with my usual strategy: if an elite QB or TE doesn't fall in my lap early, build my RB/WR stable and get the other positions later.

Next time, I address the all-important Tim Tebow question, as it relates to the Jets and to fantasy football.  See you then!

What Came First: The Shower or the Food?

Let me lay out a simple scenario and how I feel about the topic, and you can chime in with your feelings in the comments!

I went golfing this morning with my dad.  We were gone from roughly 9:15am until 3pm.  On our way back home, we talked to my mom, who asked if we wanted any food fixed for us.  We did.  On a scale from 1-10, 10 being the hungriest, we were both probably around a 6.  When we got home, I was in a bit of a dilemma: do I wait for the food to finish and eat it first, or do I go take a shower and then eat?

So let's generalize it: you go play a sport or exercise in some fashion and you come home, a little bit past your normal eating time, with a medium level of hunger.  Do you sit down and have something to eat first, or do you take a shower first?

For me, the answer is almost always the shower first.  I don't feel as comfortable eating when my whole body has been sweating for awhile.  It does delay the intake of food, but it just makes me more comfortable to be clean before I eat.

Is it just me, or are some of you like that too?