Oklahoma! Sooners vs. Seminoles

Kicking off the Pigskin Pursuit for 2010 was a trip back up to Norman to see the storied Sooners of Oklahoma. The Ruf/Neks would have to the circle the wagons pretty tightly, however, because the Seminoles of Florida State were in town. This was an enticing matchup, as two traditional powerhouses were squaring off in one of the biggest games in the country in week two. Despite both of their storied traditions, Oklahoma and FSU had only faced each other five times in history. The last time was a 13-2 defensive standoff in the 2001 BCS Title Game, where the Sooners stifled the Seminoles for their 7^th National Championship. Although I had been to Norman before, this game would be an appropriate marquee matchup to start the season.

The contest itself turned out to be a bit of an unexpected mismatch. Having no dog in the fight, naturally I was hoping for a close, competitive game. Instead, Oklahoma absolutely pasted Florida State and reasserted themselves as the team to beat in the Big 12 this year. The offense had their way with the porous FSU defense all day, to the tune of 487 yards, as Bob Stoops clearly asserted himself over little brother Mark at this years Thanksgiving dinner table (Mark Stoops is the defensive coordinator for FSU). I think the Sooner Schooner may have even worn some grooves into the Gaylord Stadium turf after circling a half dozen times throughout the day. The Sooners extended their nation leading home winning streak to 32 games, reinforcing Norman as one of the toughest places to play in the country.

Final Score: OU 47 FSU 17

Perhaps the only disappointment on the Oklahoma side was the early departure of their student section. Midway through the 4^th quarter, nearly half of the OU student section had already headed for the exits. Students are supposed be the lifeblood of stadium atmosphere, and a raucous and rowdy bunch from whistle to whistle. Leaving early is expected from the wine and cheese crowd, but inexcusable for students. Besides, if my team was hanging a 40 point shellacking on the likes of FSU, I would be hanging around and savoring every last second of that contest. Poor form OU students.

A word for a minute on tickets – as I tend to get this a lot. The first question people always ask me is about tickets. Do you have tickets? How are you going to get tickets? Let me try to clear this up for a minute. If you have any desire to attend college football games, don’t let tickets be an obstacle in any way. Finding tickets to these games should be the least of your concerns. There are ALWAYS tickets available, and 95% of the time they are available at or below face value (even at the National Championship Game last year). Don’t bother with Ebay, Craigslist, and Stubhub. Just wait until you get near the stadium, and there will be throngs of tickets thrust into the air for sale (many of them by scalpers – whom you should avoid as well). Just ask around until you find someone whos friends couldn’t make the game, or had to leave his children at home. They are generally just looking to sell the tickets to anyone mildly pleasant to sit next to (not completely hammered) to recoup their money back.

Here’s how tickets worked at the Oklahoma vs FSU game, and bear in mind this was easily the biggest home game in Norman this year. Kickoff was at 2:30. I approached the stadium at about 2:23. By 2:24 a guy and his wife were walking out holding their newborn and 2 tickets in the air. Turns out, they needed a ticket for the baby as well, so they couldn’t go to the game. I offered him face value for 1 ticket (87.00) and was on my way into the stadium fifteen seconds later. (He actually offered me both for $100.00 but I declined since I had no use for the extra).

Oh by the way – the ticket was on the 50 yard line, aisle seat, 27 rows from the field. One of the best seats on the house. Face value. Consider this the next time you are worried about tickets.

Blue Pig BBQ

I can’t quite remember where I first heard about Blue Pig BBQ, but I know it was on one of those “Best BBQ” lists that are routinely forwarded to me from friends and relatives. The problem with such lists, is that 99% of them are generated on hype and reputation alone. The author, usually of dubious credentials (like being from the North, or raving about “sauce”), has likely never even visited half the places on their list. The fact that Sonny Bryans still manages to make “best of” lists and television shows is proof of this abhorrent and misleading practice. Therefore, as a rule, I generally ignore such lists at face value, and I usually screen for multiple data points about a BBQ joint before adding it to the esteemed ranks of the Pigskin Pursuit list. One only has so much stomach space, after all.

Unfortunately, pressed for time, Blue Pig did not undergo my usual scrutiny for selecting a BBQ establishment and this one certainly slipped through the cracks.

I knew I was in trouble when I walked through the door and nary a hint of smoke greeted my nose. My fears were confirmed when my three meat tray arrived with a pile of nondescript meats that barely resembled BBQ. The jalapeno cheese sausage had fallen straight off the Sysco truck, and a quick nibble confirmed its mediocrity. The ribs were dry, lacked any hint of smoke, and flopped sloppily off the bone likely from sitting under a heat lamp for a few hours. Finally, there was this other grey matter that they referred to as “Brisket” on my tray. Like a five year old choking down peas, I winced through a few bites of the meat substance before paying it the ultimate insult - I “sauced” it. (Then I made a sandwich out of it.)

For those unfamiliar with the blog, for me to “sauce” any BBQ meat is an insult of the highest order. Roughly equivalent to walking into the kitchen, shooting the chef’s dog and scissor kicking him in the chest.

In fact, the best part of the meal was the cheesy potato concoction, which was actually the only thing I finished. Does Kreuz Market even offer side dishes? I wouldn’t know because I’ve never gotten past the meat. So if I’m telling you about the side dishes at a BBQ joint – take it as a warning and eat at the Denny’s across the street, or grab a pack of Combos from the Quik Trip.

Sorry Blue Pig, you’re not up to snuff.

http://www.bluepigbbq.com/

The moral of this entire story is of course quite simple: Never trust Barry Switzer.

Smokin’ Joe’s Rib Ranch and RV Park

When I first read about a BBQ joint that doubled as an RV Park, I got one of those twinkles in my eye that only comes from uncovering yet another unique roadside gem on the college football tour. If it’s one thing I’ve been searching for, it’s a place to enjoy some delicious smoked meats in the comfort of my opulent, fiberglass mobile palace. Mind you, I don’t actually own an RV, but the allure of eating BBQ in an RV park was simply too much pass up. Oklahoma: home of catfish noodlin’ and BBQ RV Parks.

In my imagination, the pitmaster for Smokin Joe’s would be a folksy hybrid character mashup of Uncle Eddie from “National Lampoons Family Vacation”, and the famous youtube celebrity “Winnebago Man”. Draped in a vintage leisure suit this character would surely dish out my BBQ with a toothy grin and a profanity laden tirade. Reality set in quickly however, when two extremely pleasant and polite women behind the counter took my usual three meat order.

While the combination of a BBQ and RV Park is an alluring story, it’s the pile of the meat on that tray that ultimately matters. I’m here to tell you that ol’ Smokin Joe ought to consider flipping the breaker on the RV hookups because this guy flat out knows how to BBQ.

The sausage was probably the most common of the three meats. I opted for the spicy sausage, which had a decent snap to it, but was clearly packed too tightly to be made in house and chewed a little too commercial for my taste. The brisket, however, was fantastic. Note the well established crust on the brisket and deep smoke ring. Clearly Joe has spent some time perfecting this finicky meat. The only drawback was that he trimmed his brisket, so it doesn’t have quite the same moistness that some of the Lockhart notables do. Finally, the ribs stole the show. These ribs were perfectly cooked, had a deep smoke ring and silky texture. Additionally, they were enormous and meaty (the pictures don’t really do them justice) and I had all I could handle to finish three of them.

It’s always nice to discover a place north of Austin that actually serves respectable cue’. Oklahoma can be a bit of an enigma when it comes to BBQ (due to the Kansas City influence from the North), so it’s quite a treasure to discover more traditional Texas style BBQ this far north.

http://www.smokinjoesribranch.com/

Now if only we could get one in Dallas…

Friday Night Lights: Southlake Style

It goes without saying that football is a religion in Texas, and high school football is the emblematic icon of that faith. Across all corners of the state, the world stops on Friday Night as communities gather under the vaporous glow of beckoning light towers piercing coal night skies above the stretching Texas plains.

Reaching for a venue that embodies the best of Texas football, our feature high school game for 2010 was the fabled Southlake Carroll Dragons.

Southlake, for those of you unfamiliar, is one of the most storied high school football programs in Texas, and therefore the country. The Dragons boast seven Texas State 5A Championships and from 2002-2006 compiled a record of 79-1 including three consecutive state titles from 04’-06. Gregg McElroy, Chase Daniel and Scott Chandler were just a handful of recent graduates whos names may sound familiar.

Despite occupying the outskirts of DFW airport, Southlake is one of the wealthiest suburbs in Texas, and features some of the gaudier McMansions ever to sport a replica medieval entryway. Lets just say the fanbase at Southlake is a bit of a different demographic than you may be familiar with. Bleach blond trophy wives toting their True Religion clad pre-teens around the bleachers are the norm inside the 11,000 seat, $15 Million dollar concrete Dragon Stadium behemoth. The entire atmosphere is unapologetically competitive and elite. That said, it’s an environment that breeds exceptional athletes and scholars, so they are certainly doing something right.

On the field, the game had all the action and regalia we have come to expect from big time High School football. Full bands were in attendance, each putting on impressive half time shows including a rendition of “On Wiscsonin” aka The Southlake Carroll school song (many Texas High school songs are borrowed from Big 10 Schools). The speed of play was impressive for a high school game, and despite a handful of turnovers, execution was remarkable for a bunch of 16-18 year olds.

In the end, Southlake overcame a 10 point 4^th quarter deficit to stretch the game into overtime, where they promptly stuffed in a 17 yard run and held on for the win.

Final Score (OT): Southlake Carroll 31 - Richardson Berkner 24

Don’t worry about missing any of the on field action when you need some nachos, Dragon Stadium has you covered on the concession stand plasma screens.

Babe's Fried Chicken

Kicking off the eating tour for the College Football Tour of 2010 was a local DFW place that had been on my list for some time: Babe’s Fried Chicken. Specifically, they were purported to have one of the better chicken fried steaks in the Lonestar State, and being only a stones throw from Southlake Carroll it was time to give it a shot.

Unlike BBQ, I don’t consider myself much of an authority on chicken fried steak, or deep fried foods in general. Candidly, I don’t see much of an art in it – how long can it really take to master rolling some chicken or steak around in flour and dropping it into hot oil? (I can hear my southern readers choking on their chitterlings with that statement). Purists would argue that I am probably missing the nuances of the dish, and they would probably be right. Generally speaking, to me, all deep fried foods taste mostly the same. You could deep fry a rusty screwdriver and to me it would still taste like fried chicken. Stepping down off my soapbox, chicken fried steak still eats pretty well so I braved the DFW traffic on a Friday rush hour and sauntered on in.

As some of you may know, if its one thing I admire in a restaurant it’s an unwavering dedication to simplicity. You can imagine my delight then, when I wasn’t even presented with a menu at Babe’s. Instead, the bubbly waitress promptly asked me what I wanted: Chicken or Steak? Two choices – beautiful. Resisting the urge to launch into a monologue of praise for Babe’s menu (or lack thereof) and rail against the paralysis of choice of our modern customizable world, I simply retorted “Steak”. The sides are even pre determined for you as well.

You’re a simple man Babe, and I salute you for it.

Despite my fawning for the menu, and a suitable rustic atmosphere, in the end the chicken fried steak was simply okay. It wasn’t particularly great, but certainly wasn’t bad in any way either. It was a bit soggy for my taste, and I would have liked a little more crisp and crunch on the coating. The sides were all standard and unremarkable, albeit plentiful. Babe’s is also a bit over represented by the rug-rat demographic for my taste, but it represents itself as a family restaurant so I can hardly complain.

In all a solid meal, and based on reputation alone, certainly worth a shot if you find yourself in the DFW area with a hankering for some artery hardening goodness.