tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-163731792012-02-12T17:20:47.590-06:00Taking 'Quality over quantity' to a whole new level since 2005.Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.comBlogger641100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-44679769417363746972010-05-10T21:30:00.003-05:002010-05-13T18:19:36.205-05:00

Well, it is time to move a little further down the list of my favorite albums this decade. We're through the bottom half of the top 100, but now we're going to slow down a bit to give the top half the attention it deserves.I've realized, however, that the worst part of lists like these are all of the glaring omissions, so before I go any further, I'm going to give a bonus mini-list of the Top 5

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-2459481543893228862010-05-02T19:18:00.003-05:002010-05-02T21:50:28.226-05:00

Since the Sports Guy is the spiritual father of this blog, I'll let him introduce the concept: "It's a gimmick that needs no introduction. It's a gimmick that says'I couldn't come up with a real column that has a beginning, middle and end,' as well as 'You're hopefully going to be entertained anyway.' It's a gimmick that insinuates the rankings reflect a nationwide consensus, even though it's the

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-45865749218474870052010-04-25T21:48:00.003-05:002010-04-25T22:32:50.399-05:00

After watching the Bulls collapse earlier today, I came to realize that a basketball team isn't that different from a rock band - there's about the same number of people on stage/the court at the same time, and you need the right mix of talent, chemistry, and knowledge/acceptance of roles in order to be successful. So here's my take on how the comparison breaks down.Scorers = Guitar Players: In

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-32972430845932567962008-04-21T23:42:00.007-05:002008-04-22T08:24:56.514-05:00

Does anyone else realize that we have 3 straight posts about video games? I know that the last entry was dated in October, which means it only took me 6 months to figure that out, but that is still unacceptable. I may have to announce my 2nd comeback again (a la MJ with the Wizards) so we can get back to our first love of sports. If we can get 3 legit comments to this post, I'll write about my

Lewisnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-53847749751792536072007-10-07T17:17:00.000-05:002007-10-08T00:56:07.952-05:00

In an effort to bring something new to the Village Tavern, we're actually going to make an attempt at reviewing something that came out recently. Anyway, here's my review of Halo 3.Story: C-Despite some rumors to the contrary, Halo 3 picks up pretty closely to where Halo 2's (drastically disappointing) ending left off. The game begins with the Master Chief bailing out of the forerunner ship

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-50933721097111231082007-08-22T23:00:00.000-05:002007-08-22T23:38:07.512-05:00

Since the VT is on the subject of video games for the moment, I figured now would be the time to write an article about one of my favorite games from the last line of consoles – specifically, Super Smash Brothers Melee. What made this game so great was that it finally provided an opportunity to prove, once and for all, who amongst your friends really was the best at the old-school,

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-67919629099176669722007-08-08T17:27:00.000-05:002007-08-14T13:39:43.840-05:00

After a long absence from contributing to the VT, I figured I needed to tackle something I’m very passionate about to make an effective return. Anyone who knows me, knows ‘The Legend of Zelda’ series is one of my passions. What follows is the first videogame review for the VT, a review of ‘The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess’ for the Nintendo Wii.Story: 7.5 At first ‘Twilight Princess’ starts

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-68098588821750227782007-03-26T23:56:00.000-05:002007-03-27T00:28:09.236-05:00

I wasn’t planning to write an article tonight. After all, it hasn’t even been two months yet since our last post. But I saw this article on ESPN.com, and had to respond immediately. Now, it is a commonly held opinion around here that ESPN tends to emphasize coastal-area teams above those in the Midwest and the South. And I can take it when they assert that the AL East is still the best

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-71774668678554440942007-03-22T01:00:00.000-05:002007-03-22T01:24:39.764-05:00

Last weekend, I got a chance to check out the first round games at the United Center. While I’ve always been more of an NBA fan, that’s definitely not something I’m going to pass up. Here’s what I observed:UNLV-GtechThe first thing I noticed, even before the game had started, was how numerous and loud UNLV’s fan section was. Although it makes since as the Rebs are the only game in town there (

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-69536591933168619242007-02-03T16:39:00.000-06:002007-02-03T17:20:38.296-06:00

“I don’t like to live in the past; I think the past is for cowards. If you live in the past, you die in the past.”- Mike DitkaIt’s hard to explain what it’s like being in Chicago with the Super Bowl approaching. It’s a bigger deal than the White Sox being in the World Series in 2005, or any of the Bulls appearances in the Finals, even though pretty much all of those teams were more dominant

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-6854341275091302212007-01-28T21:24:00.000-06:002007-01-28T23:49:26.118-06:00

Note: This article was originally drafted over a year ago. So, why bring it out now? Well, the 2nd best thing about the Super Bowl (and it is a DISTANT second) are the commercials that air during the game. Companies spend millions of dollars for a few seconds of air time, and there is always a big competition to have the best Super Bowl commercial. So, in light of all the great commercials that

Lewisnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-84036307249722090112007-01-20T11:00:00.000-06:002007-01-20T11:13:42.190-06:00

When Peyton Manning entered the NFL draft, I was quick to anoint him the ‘next Elway’. People who heard me say this were quick to point out that we’d just have to wait and see. Maybe I was biased because of my love for the Tennessee Volunteers, but I knew then that Peyton was special. Not just special because he had the class and desire to come back to school for his senior year for a chance at a

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-16365312049191440162007-01-19T15:20:00.000-06:002007-01-19T15:42:14.841-06:00

A few more thoughts with the Conference Championships coming up this Sunday, and the Bears about to assume their role as “bad guys in a sports movie” (yeah, I know, it’s another article almost exactly like the last one, but it’s at least two in two weeks…):First off, I need to explain the reason behind Rex Grossman’s up-and-down regular season that has everyone so confused: LA Bias. No, it doesn

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1168113630228410352007-01-06T13:55:00.000-06:002007-01-07T14:09:03.076-06:00

Before the NFL playoffs start, I have the following random thoughts.- Look at the teams that have won the Super Bowl this decade. You can win with any kind of quarterback – an unproven rookie/first year starter (’05 Steelers, ’01 Pats…and frankly I’m not sure that Big Ben is even that good), a very mediocre veteran (’00 Ravens, ’02 Bucs), or a star QB in their prime (’03-04 Pats). If you go

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1167550292263379052006-12-31T00:47:00.000-06:002006-12-31T01:31:32.330-06:00

I’ve always been of the opinion that the NFL, and most other professional sporting leagues, is far superior to college football. In fact, one of the first articles I ever wrote for the Village Tavern was about this very subject. And I stand by this – as the Sports Guy pointed out a couple of weeks ago, 90% of the talk about college football involves some form of complaining about the system,

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1165814478457102612006-12-10T22:59:00.000-06:002006-12-10T23:21:18.476-06:00

Like most things that can be done for free on the internet, fantasy leagues, especially football, have seen a massive boom in popularity in the last five years or so. It’s gotten to the point where I’m a little bit hesitant to trust a male between 20 and 35 who doesn’t play fantasy sports, much like any guy under 30 who doesn’t play video games at all. For the most part, this has helped to

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1161979984851287742006-10-27T15:04:00.000-05:002006-10-27T17:29:28.666-05:00

You would think that someone whom enjoys blogging and writing (especially about sports) would have plenty to say after a five months of silence. You might also think that the given all that is currently going on in the world of sports (World Series, end of the PGA Tour season, the NFL season in full-swing, and the NBA season tipping off in less than a week), it would be easy to think of many

Lewisnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1161560089067023672006-10-22T18:30:00.000-05:002006-10-22T18:34:49.083-05:00

Contrary to popular opinion, I have actually decided not to leave my day job at AIU and quit writing for the VT in order to begin a career of picking baseball playoff games. In fact, as you may have noticed, I followed up my 0-4 record in the Division Series by not picking the LCS, or mentioning the World Series before it had actually started. And I’d defend this by saying that if you were

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1160157543809736702006-10-06T12:51:00.000-05:002006-10-06T12:59:03.836-05:00

The playoffs are in action, baseball is as popular as it ever was pre-strike, and this summer I finally got to the point where I could stand watching the occasional baseball game (thank you fantasy sports, thank you): sounds like the perfect time to write another baseball article for the rejuvenated Village Tavern!Last year at about this time, I wrote about how baseball had it all wrong when it

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1159859221669251002006-10-03T01:58:00.000-05:002006-10-03T02:07:01.683-05:00

The other day we had some cheesecake with cherries at work (sometimes having a job rocks, although it’s rare). One of my co-workers is pregnant, and she mentioned that, while the cherries were good, it would be better topped with strawberries…or chicken. The lesson here is that pregnant women are nuts.You know what’s equally nuts though? The Village Tavern’s been running as a sports site for a

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1159419972021308912006-09-27T23:44:00.000-05:002006-09-28T00:10:09.866-05:00

“Think of one moment you can callthe happiest moment of your life.It’s gone.” -MoneenIt was never supposed to end like this.It may have been awhile since I honestly and objectively thought this team would win a World Series – it hasn’t felt like that kind of team since June – but it also didn’t feel like a team that would spend the last week of September playing out the string and looking like

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1157841719817802022006-09-09T17:31:00.000-05:002006-09-10T00:27:04.416-05:00

A few months back I wrote an article detailing a few holidays that I wanted to see added to the corporate calendar. Well, I must now admit that a late retraction is needed, as I incredibly left what is swiftly becoming my favorite holiday of the year. I am speaking, of course, not of Labor Day, which most schools and companies respect for some reason, but of fantasy draft day.Think about it –

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1152482894768798442006-07-09T16:58:00.000-05:002006-07-09T17:08:14.783-05:00

Perhaps the only thing more sad than the recent lack of posting on this site, is the fact that basically the entire World Cup has gone by without mention. One of the world’s greatest sporting events deserves better. But while a World Cup Preview, mid-season report, or a few team biographical articles were noticeably absent, I’m writing this article as a small consolation. And ‘consolation’ also

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1149734902473969792006-06-07T21:40:00.000-05:002006-06-19T13:27:00.736-05:00

So long, so wrong, wasting my timeTrying to find the peace of mind…-ProxemicsSteve McNair is gone. The center-piece of the Titans, the quarterback, the leader. With him goes the last memorable player from the Titans’ Super Bowl run. It is truly then end of an era. And I’m quickly realizing, as I attempt to deal with the loss of my favorite Titan, what that really means. It means that a new era is

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1148755526672463472006-05-27T13:32:00.000-05:002006-05-27T14:06:18.726-05:00

As most (okay, all) of our readers here at the Tavern know, i hate Florida. Well, I love Tennessee (for past articles about this, click here), which means I hate Florida, so i suppose there is a little bit of a difference. And so, this past march was a painful time for me. I had to watch my beloved Volunteers squander their best season of my life time by playing poorly in the Tourney. After that,

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1148525760089669612006-05-24T21:52:00.000-05:002006-05-24T22:03:05.390-05:00

7:23: Welcome to My Running Diary of the 2006 NBA Draft Lottery. I’ve currently been banished to the bonus room of the Lewis’ household in beautiful Scott Depot, West Virginia. Never heard of it? Don’t worry because you aren’t missing anything. We are T-minus 7 minutes and counting until the Draft Lottery begins. Everything I have read and watched in the last 24 hours has the top three draft

Lewisnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1148398573592131002006-05-23T10:29:00.000-05:002006-05-23T11:00:35.713-05:00

I went to the movies last Friday night for, I think, the third time in the past 12 months. Is it just me or are there just not as many good movies coming out anymore that make me want to pony up the $8-10 bucks it takes to be entertained (or not) for 2 hours? Although I did miss about half of the previews, I did manage to see a preview for the new Bond flick, ‘Casino Royale’, I think it’s called.

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1148260940693169592006-05-21T20:20:00.000-05:002006-05-21T20:46:50.013-05:00

Well, it now appears that Sexley is no longer going to be writing for this fine establishment, so that leaves me as the only contributor who pretends to have taste (editor’s note: to date it has not been shown that anyone at the VT actually has taste, and it has been well established that James does not). But anyway, in this newfound role, I feel it’s somewhat necessary to attempt to introduce a

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1147638959642867932006-05-14T15:17:00.000-05:002006-05-20T13:38:23.293-05:00

I’m sure most of you remember one of the great advertising wars of our generation. The battle for dominance in the American brewing industry has had many incarnations, perhaps none of which were as memorable as the one started by Miller with their “President of Beers” campaign. The timing was right (the months leading up to the U.S. Presidential Election), the character was well chosen (the other

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1147566196498346232006-05-13T19:21:00.001-05:002006-05-13T20:11:09.476-05:00

One of the biggest reasons that I wanted to come back to the Village Tavern was to be able to write some blog articles about the Atlanta Braves. Having spent the majority of my life in Georgia, the Braves have always been my favorite professional sports team. In fact, my earliest memory is a Braves game that my family attended for my 6th birthday in 1988. I don’t remember much about the game

Lewisnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1147487110932332832006-05-12T21:17:00.000-05:002006-05-12T21:27:26.386-05:00

After a much maligned and sudden retirement several months ago, I’ve had plenty of time to think. All of this thinking led me to the realization that I miss writing for this blog. Fortunately for the VT, my timing couldn’t have been better. Sexley has decided that he’s better off writing his own blog on his website (which is more of a journal so his friends can read about the day-to-day

Lewisnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1147111703858538052006-05-08T12:58:00.000-05:002006-05-08T13:08:29.786-05:00

The recent back-flipping of the Caesar’s Palace Fountains by Mike Metzger got me in the Vegas mood. After our Fantasy Football Draft there last summer, the gambling itch (which I always had) has been kept fairly dormant for almost a year now. But like I said I’ve got the itch, so I have to do something. And so, in memory of the Annual Brett Favre retirement saga coming to a close recently, I’ve

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1146189087997854492006-04-27T20:51:00.000-05:002006-04-27T20:51:28.003-05:00

This is a first for the Village Tavern. While it may seem to revolve around sports, we have other intersts at the Village Tavern as well. Like movies! And although Ek promised a 'Rambo' review quite some time ago, this is the "VT's" first movie review...I picked up this little dandy on DVD recently while I was at Best Buy with J-Lew and my boy JoNo. It’s the 1990 Theatrical release, ‘The Memphis

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1145598313343177992006-04-21T00:44:00.000-05:002006-04-21T00:45:13.356-05:00

I’m not sure when it really dawned on me. It might have been when I heard about adding payroll. It might have been when they added Jim Thome, giving up the (nationally) underappreciated Aaron Rowand, or when they picked up Javier Vazquez as part of their ongoing quest to prove Don Cooper’s superiority to the Yankee’s pitching coaches. But I think it really happened at the beginning of the

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1145076209061328092006-04-14T23:35:00.000-05:002006-04-15T16:30:25.123-05:00

I’m on my way to becoming a baseball fan (collective gasp). There are two primary factors involved in this sudden and unforeseen turn of events. The first reason is this little thing called “Fantasy Baseball”, you may have heard of it before. A few people are playing it now. And if fantasy sports have taught us anything, it’s that they can turn even the most indifferent sports fan into an

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1144943076443409222006-04-13T09:51:00.000-05:002006-04-13T10:45:20.213-05:00

Anyone who knows my college roommate David Michael Yates, you are probably already familiar with one of his most pathetic, yet endearing habits. Yates, being the upright man of principle that he his… let me rephrase. Him imagining himself to be an upright man of principle, but instead being the weasel-ie inconsistent man that he is, he often has resolutions to “turn over a new leaf”. It’s a noble

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1142142771145813782006-03-11T22:08:00.000-06:002006-03-11T23:52:51.196-06:00

I feel as if the childhood concept of favorite players fades into a more nondescript state of admiration once we grow a little bit older. Whereas when we were kids we always had one or two players in each sport who were definitely our favorites, now we simply have a collection of guys who we like. In fact, I find myself just as likely to have a group of guys I adamantly dislike as a group I would

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1142143538454548812006-03-11T22:07:00.000-06:002006-03-12T00:05:38.480-06:00

Just last night I had the misfortune of seeing a preview for the latest installment in the Wayans brothers film catalog. A grouping that can only be described as, "a sociological experiment constructed to test the limits of what our culture will allow to be considered worthy material for a hollywood film." As I watched the preview unfold (for a film entitled, "Little Man," and yes - it is

sexleynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1140055690787829712006-02-15T19:58:00.000-06:002006-02-15T20:08:10.806-06:00

I’m not a huge fan of All-Star games, I’ll be perfectly honest. I watched the Pro Bowl, and I enjoyed it simply because it was a game of football to watch. But it’s sloppy football, only salvaged by the fact that most of my favorite players were all playing in the same game (and that my Fantasy Football team filled out about half of the rosters!). The MLB All-Star game is even worse. In fact,

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1139714573730441962006-02-11T21:05:00.000-06:002006-02-11T21:22:53.753-06:00

The National Football League’s season finale, the Super Bowl, was less than a week ago and I still have football fever coursing through my veins. In fact, what the heck, I think it’s going through my arteries and lymphatics as well. My entire Cardiovascular system is still craving football. I realize that there is in fact “one last, final last game”, otherwise known as the Pro Bowl; but somehow

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1139524110805304152006-02-09T16:23:00.000-06:002006-02-09T16:28:33.513-06:00

Readers and friends, a terrible atrocity has been brought to my attention. Apparently, Mac had to take a test on Super Bowl Monday. This should never happen to anyone, period. In fact, this has made me decide that we need to seriously re-think how many holidays we need to have. Consider this an open letter to Dick Lecter, the President of Corporate America: We need more holidays. I’d even be

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1139011305131657682006-02-03T17:48:00.000-06:002006-02-03T19:50:03.810-06:00

Despite that fact that James Exley feels that the entire “Nachorama” article idea is lame, I am presenting a small assortment of appetizing stories. Let’s be honest, no one ever really took Jamie’s opinion seriously did they? That, and despite some very tasting chicken tenders in both Buffalo and Normal varieties, the Nachorama is the Village Tavern’s greatest strength…---------------------------

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1138592772972006102006-01-29T21:36:00.000-06:002006-01-29T21:46:13.446-06:00

Here are a few random thoughts on the Super Bowl, to help you get through the first of many horrifying Sundays without football. My roommate and I took turns watching each other play Madden. It helps a little, but I realize that option isn’t available to everyone. Also, he’s kinda new to the game and still in the phase where he doesn’t always realize that the clock is running out on the half

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1137379054815239132006-01-15T20:29:00.000-06:002006-01-15T22:41:00.970-06:00

First off, I’ll just get this out of the way: losing in the NFL playoffs sucks. It’s probably worse than anything else in sports. In every other sport, or in the case of teams that don’t make it to the playoffs, there’s some warning that things aren’t going well. In a football playoff game, an opponent can just roll into town, get a couple of flukey big plays, and shock you. And because

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1136414223926264572006-01-04T16:30:00.000-06:002006-01-04T16:37:03.936-06:00

The dedicated sports fan lets few things stand in the way of his sport’s viewing pleasure. Men have been known to sneak portable radios with headphones into weddings, funerals and graduation ceremonies. Monday Night football has made many a man on the east coast have a very grumpy Tuesday morning (when you go to work, does anyone ever say, “somebody’s got a case of the Tuesdays!”?). Few things

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1135236455782930522005-12-22T01:20:00.000-06:002005-12-22T01:27:35.796-06:00

Recently, Sports Illustrated ran an article ranking the top ten rivalries in the NFL. For some reason, they decided to name the Bears-Packers, the original Midwest pro sports rivalry, second to the Redskins and Cowboys (no, I’m not giving you a link. This would only encourage the trend of spouting off idiotic opinions to generate publicity and get more traffic on a website, higher ratings for a

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1135050357036093072005-12-19T21:43:00.000-06:002005-12-19T21:45:57.056-06:00

First of all, let me get this out. In my mind, “Next Gen” consoles will always be the Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Nintendo 64. With that being said, life has progressed since that time, and we are now not one, but two generations removed from the “Next Gen” gaming consoles. And so, now we have the “Latest Gen” games systems…As time has passed, the world of video gaming has come to

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1133755271985382692005-12-04T21:20:00.000-06:002005-12-04T22:05:40.713-06:00

Every year at the end of the NBA season, ESPN’s Sports Guy writes a column breaking down the trade value of the top forty players. It’s one of my favorite sports-related articles of the year. Unfortunately, nobody is doing anything similar for the other sports. So I’m going to rip it off. Here are the rules (some are Simmons’ and some are mine).1) Suppose Team A proposes a straight-up trade

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1132078387279577622005-11-15T12:11:00.000-06:002005-11-15T12:27:15.040-06:00

Yesterday Major League Baseball announced Alex Rodriguez, the New York Yankees third baseman, as the American League Most Valuable Player, or MVP. This is Rodriguez second MVP, but it is also his first as a third baseman, and his first since he started “playing in pinstripes”. A-Rod won the award over Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, aka “Big Papi”. Earlier this week St. Louis

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1130656574607302222005-10-30T01:05:00.000-06:002005-10-30T01:16:14.623-06:00

Sports are a funny thing…I can’t believe how much I hated baseball two years ago, after the horrific nightmare that the 2003 NLCS and ALCS, and how much I love it now. Rooting for a team that wins a championship in a major sport is a difficult feeling to describe. In this case, the series wasn’t especially dramatic, so there wasn’t a real moment of shock…it’s just a warm, happy feeling that

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1130278001574682362005-10-25T16:53:00.000-05:002005-10-25T17:06:41.586-05:00

I don’t believe in dualism. Let me just get that out there; there is not a great evil force and a great good force fighting for domination of the Universe. Well, at least, the great evil force and good force are not on equal footing. I believe there is a God, and a devil, but the devil is just one of God’s creations who thought he was better than everyone else. Why the theological/philosophical

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1129753791467627842005-10-19T15:20:00.000-05:002005-10-19T15:29:51.476-05:00

Okay, so being a graduate student isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. On second thought, I’m not sure it was ever billed as being a great life experience, but I just wanted to avoid saying that grad school sucks as an opener. Oh well, foget it… take two!GRAD SCHOOL SUCKS! There, I said it. I no longer have time for the important things in life. Video games, movie marathons, and of course the Village

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1129696256937445262005-10-18T23:10:00.000-05:002005-10-18T23:30:56.950-05:00

Watching the White Sox dismantling of the Angels was not only the best experience of my life as a baseball fan to this point, it also taught me several things:1) The White Sox starting rotation isn’t good. Even calling it great doesn’t quite do it justice. It’s better than I thought it would be during my most optimistic moments before the season, or even after that rotation had proven critical

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1128831076129061832005-10-08T22:41:00.000-05:002005-10-08T23:11:16.140-05:00

All right, I’m in the middle of trying to save my fantasy team’s chances for the week, and I just got Season Two of Arrested Development in the mail, but it has been way too long since we got some new material up here, so I’m going to give you my thoughts on what’s been a fairly momentous week in the Chicago sports scene.First off, for those of you who are really out of it, the White Sox won

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1128225421671524822005-10-01T21:35:00.000-05:002005-10-02T00:16:11.326-05:00

I know we've already had one post on this blog that clearly outlined College Football’s relative inferiority to the NFL, but I spent a full Saturday watching games. I needed to make a post, and CF was on my mind. With that said, here we go (and, as always, in no apparent order):WVU vs. VT:I watched the first half of this game from my apartment and the second half from the upper deck of the

Lewisnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1127698665330618912005-09-25T20:03:00.000-05:002005-09-26T22:18:12.646-05:00

Ok, before I start my first “Nacho-rama” article, a brief note of explanation about that name. Nacho-rama is one of the real Village Tavern’s finest entrees, which is basically prepared by taking a plate of Nachos and putting everything in the kitchen on top of them. The result is a fantastic smorgasbord of, well, nacho-rama, a rare appetizer in which all five food groups are well represented.

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1127354100781153242005-09-21T18:17:00.000-05:002005-09-23T16:09:32.406-05:00

As a Graduate Athletic Training student, my weekends often aren’t terribly eventful. I typically have some sporting event to work at where I’m holding water, taping ankles and waiting around for an injury to happen. It’s not at all glamorous, but I like it. Heck, I’d rather be working at sporting events for my job than sitting behind a desk all day. Then on Sundays I usually settle into my

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1126920291015112672005-09-16T20:05:00.001-05:002005-09-16T20:24:51.020-05:00

Well, the NFL season is 1/16th of the way to the playoffs, and it’s already readily apparent that certain teams won’t be there. While football is capable of providing champions, heroes, and inspirations, for some reason it’s more fun to dwell on the negative - especially early in the year when everyone is unrealistically optimistic about their team. This has the added benefit of allowing me to

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1126670922494616622005-09-13T23:02:00.000-05:002005-09-13T23:25:23.010-05:00

I didn’t have time to work on an in-depth article like my counterparts, so y’all are going to be stuck with some random thoughts and short points this week instead. Let’s get started.1. Great post by Ek on why the NFL is better than College Football. Being a recent NFL convert myself, he did a great job of stating the problems with the college game and voicing the frustrations of many of the game

Lewisnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1126454040560436542005-09-11T10:29:00.000-05:002005-09-11T10:54:00.583-05:00

Forty-Five seconds, in the grand scheme of things, it not a terribly long period of time. I mean after all, even in the world of sports, 45 seconds of game clock comes and goes fairly quickly (with the end of an NBA being a very notable exception). Two minutes is the gold-standard in football for the time needed to put together a quality scoring drive, unless you are playing the Vikings, in which

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1126416577074600382005-09-10T23:59:00.000-05:002005-09-11T00:29:37.083-05:00

I tried to watch the whole Ohio State-Texas game this weekend, I really did. Unfortunately, I have a serious problem when it comes to college football: the whole time I’m watching it, I can’t help but thinking how much more fun it this would be if I were watching a real football game. By this I am, of course, referring to the NFL (Ha! And to think some of you thought for a second that I was

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1126325642724773982005-09-09T23:07:00.000-05:002005-09-10T00:58:09.503-05:00

Actually, I probably am the least; I'm definitely the last one to introduce myself. It's too bad that Ekwall decided not to introduce Mark or myself because I guarantee what he would have said about me would have been much more concise, eloquent, and funny than anything you are about to read. Anyways, I am a second-year Medical Student at West Virginia University in the hills of Morgantown, WV.

Lewisnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1126312898563119642005-09-09T19:25:00.000-05:002005-09-09T19:41:38.566-05:00

Mac Here, one of the three co-managers of the Village Tavern. Just thought I'd say hello to both of our committed readers out there. I'm super excited about this blog, if for no other reason than it gives me a way to say whatever I want to, and at least I will feel as if I have an audience. I trust that you'll find the posts on here worth reading, insightful, and most importantly, entertaining to

Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551422359074601613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16373179.post-1126217934528221652005-09-08T16:47:00.000-05:002005-09-08T17:18:54.533-05:00

Well everyone, welcome to our blog, which has been named after The Village Tavern, which is probably the best restaurant in Wheaton - Cute waitresses, a full bar, multiple sporting events showing at all times, and two legitimate five-star items on the menu (The nachos and the chicken tenders, regular or buffalo - don't bother going there and getting anything else). Hopefully, for a little free

Ekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15506916366899265732noreply@blogger.com0