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11/6/01
Email Commish
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Vegas! What a town. I mean where else can you have "all you
can eat" peel-n-eat shrimp, gamble away your life savings and
watch a stripper within 5 minutes of each other? It's awesome. I
spent the last two weeks in Vegas for an auto show and I can happily
add that I broke even. A quick inventory shows this:
- Craps - lost $300 in 2 minutes, won $320 in 5 minutes
- Pai Gow Poker - broke even after a 5 hour session
- Three Card Poker - lost $100 in 15 minutes
- Sports Book - lost $60 over two days on football, baseball, NBA and
dog races!
- Let It Ride - lost assorted $100's in various sessions but won $735
on two hands (full house and flush)
One noticeable thing from above is the sports book betting. I missed
(on a whim) a trifecta by a nose. Damn greyhounds. I thought I was
thinking around the line setters by taking Tennessee and the over
on Monday night. Turns out I am an idiot. So much for my thinking
that Jeff Fisher always gets his teams pumped for the big games.
The over was cool… 36.5 points was the standard and boy did
they eat that up. They were under by 1 point on the second half
though. The guys that set the lines are geniuses. I would love to
meet those guys and have them help me pick my fantasy team next
fall. I have some serious deficiencies in my local league…
I could have used the help. As you can see though my teams are doing
very well and assuming that I can keep up this pace I should be
set to win more money than I would ever have a chance in Vegas.
I have to tell you that I went to an awesome nightclub in Mandalay
Bay on Halloween night… The China Gate. There were lots of
young Bunnies, nurses, and angels but the highlight had to be the
semi-naked Princess Lea. That was so cool! I did run into to some
somewhat famous folk on my flight to Vegas. Bob Huggins, head coach
of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team grumbled
a hello to me as he passed through the terminal. Nice guy….
There was also a pretty good-looking girl at the Let it ride table
that told me she was an actress. I said I am an actor…"I
am acting like I believe you." She said she was in a Vivica
Fox TV show. It lasted about ½ hour. I said "Oh it was
a sitcom." She said "yeah but it got pulled after one
week."
You know football is much cooler in Vegas than anywhere else. Sure
you can't tailgate at Mirage sports book but it is nice to watch
football while scantily clad cheerleader looking girls bring you
free drinks. The crowds get raucous too. When someone fumbles or
throws an interception…you'd think someone's life was on the
line. Maybe it was… to Vinny out back.
I can't believe that Diamondbacks took 7 games to win the World
Series. They easily should have swept the Yanks or won in 5. Big
time props to Craig Counsell… he has to be the first high school
kid to ever win the MVP in the post season.
Back to football. Most leagues should have now had their trade deadline
come and go. A couple of things for you league to consider. I have
long proposed the trade session. If you league owners all live in
close proximity then get together a couple of times during the year
to have a session for trading. I had two this past weekend. I traded
Terrell Owens for Randy Moss straight up. I traded Jeff Garcia,
Jerome Bettis, Antonio Freeman, and Plaxico Burress for Daunte Culpepper,
Eddie George, Cris Carter, and Keyshawn Johnson. Then I traded Joe
Horn and Cris Carter for Torry Holt and Willie Jackson. My team
in that league is now:
Culpepper, A Brooks, Dillon, George, S. Davis, J. Jackson, R. Moss,
T Holt, K Johnson, D. Boston, W. Jackson.
Not bad huh?
If your looking for another idea. On draft day in that league we
are allowed the following roster positions: 2 Qbs, 3 Rbs, 5 Wrs,
2 Ks, 2 DTs. On the final trade session we are allowed to expand
our roster by once position of our choice. Points scored determine
the order. I added James Jackson.
| C O M M I S H ' S R
E C O R D: |
| LEAGUE |
RECORD |
NOTES |
| CCL (Dynasty) |
6-2 |
Making my run! |
| MFFL (Local Keeper) |
2-6 |
I suck so bad! |
| RRBL (Pride League) |
5-3 |
There we go! |
| MFIL (Idiot League) |
6-2 |
No stopping me now! |
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Here is this weeks recipe...
| R O A S T T U R
K E Y W I T H B E S T E V E R G
R A V Y |
Source:
Thanksgiving 101
Servings: 14 with 7 cups of gravy
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One 18-pound fresh turkey |
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About 12 cups of your favorite
stuffing |
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8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted
butter, at room temperature |
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Salt and freshly milled black
pepper |
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2 1/2 quarts Homemade Turkey
Stock (see recipe), or as needed |
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Melted unsalted butter, if needed |
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3/4 cup all-purpose
flour |
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1/3 cup bourbon,
port, or dry sherry, optional |
Directions:
Position a rack in the lowest position of the oven and
preheat to 325 degrees.
Reserve the turkey neck and giblets to use in gravy
or stock. Rinse the turkey inside and out with cold
water. Pat the turkey skin dry. Turn the turkey on its
breast. Loosely fill the neck cavity with stuffing.
Using a thin wooden or metal skewer, pin the neck skin
to the back. Fold the turkey's wings akimbo behind the
back or tie to the body with kitchen string. Loosely
fill the large body cavity with stuffing. Place any
remaining stuffing in a lightly buttered casserole,
cover, and refrigerate to bake as a side dish. Place
the drumsticks in the hock lock or tie together with
kitchen string.
Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in the roasting
pan. Rub all over with the softened butter. Season with
salt and pepper. Tightly cover the breast area with
aluminum foil. Pour 2 cups of the turkey stock into
the bottom of the pan.
Roast the turkey, basting all over every 30 minutes
with the juices on the bottom of the pan (lift up the
foil to reach the breast area), until a meat thermometer
inserted in the meaty part of the thigh (but not touching
a bone) reads 180°F and the stuffing is at least
160°F, about 4 1/4 hours. Whenever the drippings
evaporate, add stock to moisten them, about 1 1/2 cups
at a time. Remove the foil during the last hour to allow
the breast skin to brown.
Transfer the turkey to a large serving platter and let
it stand for at least 20 minutes before carving. Increase
the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Drizzle 1/2 cup
turkey stock over the stuffing in the casserole, cover,
and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, pour the drippings from the roasting pan
into a heatproof glass bowl or large measuring cup.
Let stand for 5 minutes, then skim off and reserve the
clear yellow fat that has risen to the top. Measure
3/4 cup fat, adding melted butter if needed. Add enough
turkey stock to the skimmed drippings to make 8 cups
total.
Place the roasting pan in two stove burners over low
heat and add the turkey fat. Whisk in the flour, scraping
up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan, and cook
until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the
turkey stock and the optional bourbon. Cook, whisking
often, until the gravy has thickened and no trace of
raw flour taste remains, about 5 minutes. Transfer the
gravy to a warmed gravy boat. Carve the turkey and serve
the gravy and the stuffing alongside.
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