The Rooster

My friend Mike and I have been going to Washington Wizards games together since the spring of 2003 when I talked him into going to the then-MCI Center in the last month or so of the Michael Jordan era. I believe that was Mike's first basketball game and that and the next few contests ended up being an instructional session on the basic rules of the game. And I really mean the basic rules of the game. I'm talking traveling, fouling, 24 second shot clock, essentially anything that was different between roundball and hockey, which was the sport Mike had grown up with. 

Despite that rocky beginning, Mike bought into my season ticket package the very next year and in the ten plus seasons since, I've seen more basketball games with him than anyone else and there's nobody I'd rather watch hoops with. For five of those years, from September 2005 to September 2010, we both worked in D.C.'s West End, either at the same firm or different firms. But unlike now that we both work in Arlington, when we can actually go home from work and change or eat before games, during those years there was always some time to kill and/or a quest for food between quitting time (anywhere from 4:30 p.m. on) and game time (almost always 7 p.m.).

We tried a lot of places to call home for the dead time between work and tip off but the one place we eventually settled on as our regular watering and dining hole was The Black Rooster over on L Street NW between 19th and 20th Streets. The bar and wait staff (Helen, Chris and Sarah most especially) at the Rooster always made us feel at home and over those five years we logged a lot of time there, whether it was before games, for work happy hours or even to hide and confide in my best friend when it felt like my whole life was falling apart. That last one's overly sappy I know, but it's true. And my life went on and got way better, by the way.

We don't hang out at the Rooster much any more but we try to get over there once or twice or even three times a year. This past Monday, before the Wizards' undermanned victory over the Memphis Grizzlies behind John Wall's career high 47, we made some time to grab a beer or three and a sandwich. Every time I go back, I wish we still worked over at Lafayette Center so we could go more regularly. They always have some great beers on tap for me (and Bud Light for Mike) and the grilled cheese sandwiches on Texas toast (with bacon and tomato for me; plain for Mike) are still the grilled cheeses we love the best. We don't even look at the menu any more.

The Rooster almost closed once (in fact, I think they did actually close their doors due to a rent dispute with their landlord) but I'm glad they are still open even if we don't spend as much time there as I'd like any more. In this world of impermanence, it's comforting to know there are places like this out there. As long as I'm a Wizards season ticket holder, I'll always make time to go back a couple of times a year until I can convince my company to move downtown again. Long live the Rooster!

D.C.'s best grilled cheese? Maybe.

Silent Auctions And My Favorite Wizards Coach

Every few Wizards games, the charity foundation for Monumental Sports and Entertainment (the group that owns the Wizards) holds silent auctions during home games at a table set up on the lower level concourse to raise money. Usually the items being auctioned are framed signed photographs or jerseys or some signed shoes or something like that. As a collector of useless Wizards junk, I've always wanted to buy something at one of these auctions but never have. I was probably most tempted once to bid on a pair of Jordan Crawford shoes that JC would bring to you after the game and sign for you but in the end my heart just wasn't in it.

But all that changed last Friday, during the New York Knicks' latest visit to Verizon Center, a game that the Wizards dropped just barely without Nenê and A.J. Price available. This team's good now, despite the 18-39 record we held after losing to the Knicks.

My friend Mike and I were sitting in our backup seats in Section 402 talking before the game when a live announcement for the silent auction that night appeared on the scoreboard screen. The woman behind the auction table ran through some of the highlights for that night which included a jersey signed by the entire team and a Wizards basketball signed by head coach Randy Wittman. Hold it! What was that last one? A Wizards basketball signed by Coach Witt?!?!? The conversation between Mike and I the next thirty seconds went something like this:

Me: Now THAT I would be interested in bidding on. I'm going down at halftime to check it out......Eh, screw it, I'm going right now.

Within 15 minutes, I had run downstairs (escalator would have been too slow), checked out the situation, added my name and phone number in the $100 minimum bid box and managed to return to my seat ready for tip-off. All I had to do then was sit back and wait for the end of the auction at the beginning of the third quarter. No way was anyone bumping that bid up the minimum $25 bid raise increment. I felt pretty comfortable that by the end of the game I'd have a new piece of exclusive and rare Wizards memorabilia to sit on my shelf at home. The price may have been steep even for me but hey, it's for charity, right?

The Wizards have had six permanent or interim head coaches (Leonard Hamilton, Doug Collins, Eddie Jordan, Ed Tapscott, Flip Saunders and Wittman) in the twelve plus years I have been a season ticket holder and of that group, Randy is by far my favorite. I love Randy's no nonsense approach to dealing with the game and players. He emphasizes team play over individual play; assigns playing time based on performance, not reputation; and is straight with media, fans and his players. It's pretty much the exact opposite from his predecessor and friend, Flip Saunders, who was pretty much completely non-confrontational. Randy coaches players at every opportunity he gets during the games and is not hesitant to correct in-game performance quickly. And when the game is over, he praises his players or apologizes for his own leadership in the game while simultaneously holding his players accountable and protecting them. His emphasis is always the same: team, team, team.

And his quotes kill me sometimes. Below are some of my favorites from the very brief Wittman era.

"This isn't fun. You don't sleep any good...don't eat any good. A bowl of pasta doesn't taste worth a crap right now." After the Wizards 0-9 start this season. 

"I thought I was getting my teeth pulled at the dentist without any Novocaine." After the Wizards' win in New Orleans this season when the team managed just 11 points in the first quarter. 

"I wake up every morning and make sure the sky is still there. And it's not falling down on me. Trust me." After the Wizards' overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks, dropping the team's record to 2-14.

"I apologize to ownership, our fans back home that watched it. I'd a turned it off after the first five minutes." After a 100-68 ass kicking by the Pistons at Detroit on December 21. 

"As I told them, that was a beautiful thing tonight." After the Wizards' win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Verizon Center on January 7.

"Human nature's a bitch." When asked why the Wizards' often revert to one on one basketball during games.

"I don't respond to knucklehead comments from people like that." When asked his opinion of agent David Falk's statement indicating John Wall would never be a star.

The Wizards gig is not Randy's first job as head coach in the NBA. His first head coaching stint was in Cleveland for the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons. His record in Cleveland was not a good one (62-102). Joe Tait (former Cavs announcer) has some very unflattering stories about Randy's tenure with the Cavs in his autobiography which I won't repeat here but the book's a good read despite that. Randy's next chance came in Minnesota after the Timberwolves fired Dwane Casey but he lasted less than two full years there, compiling a 38-105 record (also not a good one) before being fired 19 games into the 2008-2009 season in favor of Kevin McHale.

For a guy with a career 100-207 record, it didn't seem like Randy would be in any position to negotiate when the opportunity came up in Washington last season. But that's exactly what he did. According to reports, the one condition Randy placed on accepting the interim coach tag last season was that he, not management, would have the final word on who played and who didn't. Soon after he accepted that position, he sat JaVale McGee and Nick Young for a half in Milwaukee after a dismal first half effort from those two and he sent Andray Blatche home for good later that year after management had managed to ship JaVale and Nick out. Randy's rewards last year were a six game season-ending winning streak and a new two year deal as head coach.

This year has to be considered Randy's finest work despite the less than pleasing record. He was handed a team at the beginning of the year with two new presumed starters, a very thin backcourt and the team's two best players on ice. Perhaps predictably, the team struggled to an 0-12 start. Under these circumstances, it would be understandable for a coach to lose the attention of his team or change his message. But Randy did neither, delivering a consistent team first message while being publicly backed by his veteran players. And while it took a while and a fully healthy lineup, the results lately have been there. The Wizards posted a 7-5 record in February and, before Friday's loss to the Knicks, a six game winning streak over teams with winning records, something this franchise hadn't accomplished since the mid-1970s. He's changed the culture enough to turn the Wizards into one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, something this franchise has not been since I became a season ticket holder. It's not absurd to me to think of Randy as a coach of the year candidate.

Just after halftime Friday, I received a text message from the Wizards informing me that my bid of $100 was the winning one. Whoever walked by that table and didn't bid blew it but I was glad they didn't. I'm pulling my Gilbert Arenas basketball off the shelf and replacing it with my new prize. Sorry GA.

Not only a basketball, but a signed photo too!!

More Bobbleheads!!!

With the Wizards winners of three straight, seven of the last nine and streaking towards NBA relevency, its time to turn the focus for a few minutes onto something more important than kicking ass and taking names on the court: bobbleheads, baby! Check out what I brought home last week.

For the last few years, the Washington Wizards have been providing season ticket holders with an exclusive gift as a thank you for being a season ticket holder. I guess it's sort of a compensatory gesture for sticking with the franchise that just hasn't produced what it's supposed to produce, namely a team that wins consistently. This year the team offered a choice for season ticket holders: a set of "starting five" bobbleheads or a team basketball signed by this year's first round draft pick, Bradley Beal.

Now, as you probably understand if you read my blog regularly, I absolutely love bobbleheads. Having said that, even if you are not me and don't share my oh so slight obsession with bobbleheads, I'm not sure how you choose the basketball. I can get basketballs autographed by Bradley Beal at any number of season ticket holder events. True, the basketball with the DC Unity Hand logo is not available for purchase so that makes it a little special. But a custom, limited edition set of bobbleheads? For free?? I'm taking the bobbleheads without a second thought.

This is the second year in a row the team has proposed a bobblehead set giveaway. Last year they abandoned the idea half way through the season, probably because the team rebuild was in full swing and our starting five included Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee and Nick Young, each of whom could have been shown the door at any point (all were, of course, evenually). I have to say I'm not upset about last year's cancellation; I'm happy I don't have to wrestle with keeping or throwing away a McGee bobblehead (throwing away bobbleheads goes against the very fabric of my being but so does pretty much everything JaVale McGee does).

Since we were a couple of months into the current season and I hadn't heard any news on my gift, I followed up with my account representative shortly after the new year to check on the status of the bobbleheads, fearing no news was bad news and steeling myself for the inevitable email response indicating the bobbleheads would once again be canceled. But this year I got some good news. It wasn't canceled at all and last week, I headed down to Verizon Center on trade deadline day (a day off work for me) to pick up the John Wall, Bradley Beal, Jordan Crawford, Trevor Ariza and Nenê bobblehead set. What a treat! I get giddy every time I get a new bobblehead, but five in one day? Imagine my euphoria.

First of all, while I love this set, let me say that this is no starting five. The combination of these five guys has NEVER EVER started a game for the Washington Wizards. And I'm OK with that entirely. I'm not complaining here. When I contemplated the possible starting five combinations for this group, I was worried that I would end up with an Emeka Okafor bobblehead, who by the way has been tearing it up since I put Emeka in my least favorite Wizard status in my mid-season post. Again, not like Emeka should care what I think but I didn't want an Okafor bobblehead this year. I'm a little distraught at what could have been (Martell Webster would have been awesome) but I can't get everything I want all the time. At least not yet.

For a minute I thought the real John Wall and Trevor Ariza were hanging out at my place.

This set is awesome. These are definitely not your ordinary standard everyday bobbleheads. There is nothing close to the "generic black man head" that you sometimes get and the paint work is more precise than probably any other bobbleheads I own. Trevor Ariza and John Wall actually look like their real life counterparts; Ariza's almost a dead ringer, although admittedly without the neck tattoos. Clearly whoever ordered these specified better molds and requested they be sent to the most experienced bobblehead painters in the Chinese factory where they are made.

By the way, China has to love bobbleheads. It's like free propaganda against the decadence of western society. I can't imagine what the elderly Chinese craftsman is thinking while slaving to perfect the intricate detailing on a plastic head on a spring so some spoiled bourgeois capitalist like me can have these things just sit on his shelf at home and do nothing. And the guy's probably struggling to make ends meet on top of all that. It can't be a difficult sell to the bobblehead factory workers that America is the devil.

But enough politics. Thanks to the Chinese workers, there are some great details on these things. I love the hair detail on Nenê's head and the birthmark, dimples and teenage chin stubble on Bradley Beal's. With his hair, Nenê has probably the largest head to body ratio of any of my bobbleheads. The bigger the head, the better; it just looks that much more ridiculous. Despite the attention to detail, the designers of the bobbleheads forgot the circumflex over the second e in Nenê's name on both the jersey and the base. Small complaint, but it's a complaint. Not as bad as the mini Verizon Center we got in 2007 where the court orientation is 90 degrees off from the actual court orientation, but it's a mistake nonetheless.

And then there's Jordan Crawford. Poor Jordan. Traded away the same week his one and only Wizards bobblehead arrives at Verizon Center. It's customary for me to turn the bobbleheads of guys who no longer play for us around after they leave but since there's a whole graphic montage thing behind these guys I'm not sure I'm doing that right away. Plus I think I owe it to Sizzle to leave him facing forward for a while. As non-existent as his defense was, I like Jordan as a sixth man instant offense type guy and he was nothing if not entertaining just about all the time. Jordan was a walking non sequitur. Read his tweets on Twitter or see his photos on Instagram and explain them to me if you can (you won't be able to). I'll probably turn him around in a couple of months when the season's over but until then, he gets to face forward (well almost forward) with the rest of the guys left behind.

As a devoted Wizards bobblehead collector, I'd love to see them do this every year, although I'm not sure I need eight or nine John Wall or Bradley Beal bobbleheads. I'm already averaging one Wall and two Beal bobbleheads per year for their three and one years in the league respectively so far. Maybe they could do a set of bench player bobbleheads next year: I'd love to have Jan Vesely, Kevin Seraphin and Chris Singleton bobbleheads on my shelf, although admittedly the average fan would probably not be enticed to buy season tickets with that group as the season's bobblehead offering. I think the priority for the Wizards has to be to re-sign Martell Webster in the offseason and deliver a Martell bobblehead somehow next year. I'd be happy with that as the only addition to my collection next year. 

Next up: Detroit. Have to beat the Pistons tomorrow!

Sort of appropriate I guess that the team is looking forward except for Jordan Crawford. Foreshadowing?

The NBA Trade Deadline Should Be A Holiday

After spending all last week roaming around Texas in search of D-League basketball and barbeque, I'm off work again today because today is the NBA trade deadline day. I'm serious. Incredibly, I cannot take this day as one of the 96 calendar days my company offers as a floating holiday so I'm dipping into my Paid Time Off bank for a day of sitting at home in my Eames lounger with ESPN on the TV and Twitter up on my iPad Mini waiting for the latest NBA trade rumor that may or may not morph into an actual swap of players.

This is the second year in a row I have taken the trade deadline day off. A couple of years ago on this day at work, I closed my office door at about 1 p.m. and just surfed the internet endlessly in search of trade news. The actual trade deadline is 3 p.m., although trades just have to be submitted to the league for approval at that time so trades can be reported and confirmed after the actual deadline. It doesn't matter if the Wizards make a trade or not, I cannot work on this day from this point forward.

I do some silly things as a Wizards fan (insert any number of smart ass lines here...) but none is perhaps as silly as taking this day off. I mean, watching the NBA Draft either in person or on TV is as un-exciting as hearing a bunch of names read out loud sounds but at least there is a show or event to watch. On trade deadline day there's nothing to watch: no program, no in studio analysis, nothing. It's just waiting for something to happen and reacting to every speculation by every pundit connected in any way to the NBA out there. Nonetheless, I'll be attached to the TV/iPad the whole day today and each future trade deadline day.

Last year the Wizards pulled off a stunner of a trade which first came to light right at about 3 p.m., sending dead weight and perennial knucklehead JaVale McGee to Denver for Nenê, who went a long way to instantly changing the culture of the organization. Despite the team's recent surge, going 11-9 over their last 20 games, there's no doubt some more tweaking this year might seem in order. The big speculation for the Wizards this year was possibly moving Jordan Crawford, who started the season strong on a depleted roster but who recently has not seen a whole lot of time on the court.

The biggest deal of the day was the Orlando Magic sending J.J. Redick to the Milwaukee Bucks involving multiple players from both teams. Yep, that's it. The second biggest deal is debatable. Not a whole lot of action today. The highly anticipated deal (to anywhere) for the Atlanta Hawks' Josh Smith didn't go down. Nor did Dwight Howard get traded (no suprise there). Definitely a quiet day.

The Wizards did end up moving Jordan Crawford to Boston for Jason Collins, who is on a one year deal, and Leandro Barbosa, who is on a one year deal and is also, by the way, done for the year with a torn ACL. This deal doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, unless somehow Jordan was a problem in the locker room when not playing, which I have never heard (doesn't mean it isn't true). We do get a little more than $2 million of salary off the books next year for trading the last year of Jordan's rookie deal for nothing but since we are already over the salary cap for next year anyway that doesn't help the team a whole lot, unless we are willing to exceed the salary cap next year. I hope we are not just shedding salary in this move, although I'd applaud the move if it allows us to wrap up Martell Webster for the next few years, which it might.

It's too bad we had to part with Jordan from this fan's perspective. I thought Jordan carried our offense a lot in the first couple of months this season and never got the credit he deserved. On the other hand, he's clearly not Bradley Beal and suffers at the defensive end of the court so if we lose a guy who isn't playing right now who we wouldn't have re-signed anyway, I'm not sure I'm losing any sleep over this decision. This season's trade deadline is clearly different than last year's. Last year, I unfollowed Nick Young and JaVale McGee on Twitter as soon as the trade was confirmed. I won't be doing that with Jordan.

Looks like I need to take Jordan Crawford's picture off my Wizards wall.

NBDL Tour Side Quest: Texas Barbeque

Sausage and brisket plate at Franklin Barbecue. Live Oak's Big Bark Amber in the glass.

One of my hopes in traveling to Texas to watch basketball was that I would find some good barbeque while I was there. This was not my first quest to find good barbeque but I swore it would be my last if I didn't find something really really good. I've eaten barbeque (or barbecue or BBQ, if you prefer) in what I would consider to be some fairly significant destinations, including North Carolina, Kansas City, Memphis, Nashville and even once before in Texas, and I have never EVER found it to be worth searching out, with the possible exception of the totally delicious Original Barbeque Sauce at Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City. I could have eaten that stuff on cardboard and it would have tasted good.

But I can admit I've made mistakes in my searches before. I asked the hotel concierge for a recommendation in Memphis and I've randomly picked places in Fort Worth and just pulled into the first place I saw about 200 yards over the North Carolina border. Not very scientific or selective. For all I knew I could have been pulling into the Arby's of barbeque (if you know me, you know I justifiably have a very low regard for Arby's food). So this time I actually did some homework. I'd done that before a cross country trek that took me to Arthur Bryant's and it worked out OK so why not give being prepared another shot. Here's where I went and what I found.

North Main Barbecue's sign and pig.

North Main Barbecue, Euless

I picked this place because it was featured on Food Network's show The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Ted Allen raved about the brisket. I'm not a big Ted Allen fan but I figured there had to be some merit to this claim so I thought I'd check it out. It was also right near the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and I landed just before lunch so it was technically almost on my way.

North Main Barbecue is located in a strip mall type setting on the main drag in Euless. It's a cafeteria style atmosphere with rolls of paper towels on the table and dark window tinting film on all the windows (it faces west and I imagine the Texas sun is pretty brutal in the late afternoon). There's a center carving station where the all you can eat meat is placed buffet style with a couple of guys standing behind doling out the meat.

I have a few fundamental objections to barbeque I've eaten in the past and my experience at North Main Barbeque is a shining example of my biggest objection. My impression of barbeque is that most places present well cooked but fairly flavorless meat, slather it with sauce which may or may not be that good, and serve it on bread which is absolutely the cheapest white prepackaged hamburger roll you can find at any grocery store. The whole flavor profile is based on sauce and sauce alone. This is exactly what I got at North Main Barbecue.

Having said that, their sauce is pretty darn good with a strong vinegar base that I love. They also had some hotter sauce on the tables called Cowboy Ketchup which added flavor and heat. I left being impressed by the sauce but not by the rest of the experience. It's not the worst barbeque I've had but I don't think I'd go back.

Pecan Lodge's Pitmaster sandwich.

Pecan Lodge, Dallas

Pecan Lodge is located in Shed No. 2 of the Dallas Farmer's Market (not misspelled; that's the way they spell it) and has been voted by D Magazine as the Best Barbecue in Dallas for the last two years. The Best rating was the magazine's pick, not the readers' pick; important distinction to make there. In addition to the rating, the place is open from 11 a.m. to whenever they sell out. Any place having their closing time as "sold out" has to be good, right? To me, this sounded like a can't miss stop.

I got t0 the market early, figuring there would be something else there to check out so I strolled around looking at stall after stall of the same fruits, vegetables and Virginia peanuts (irony!) on every stall. While I was wandering around, a line had formed at Pecan Lodge. It was about 20 deep by the time I joined it at about 10:20 a.m., forty minutes before opening time, so I got in it. The party ahead of me was on a barbeque tour the last week. It sounded like Pecan Lodge was stop number 10 of 10.

The menu at Pecan Lodge.

By the time the dinner bell rang (yes, they ring a dinner bell), the line had grown. According to the woman in front of me (who counted) there were 64 people in line behind me. Good thing I got there early. The menu is written on a chalkboard at Pecan Lodge and features meat by the pound (a Texas thing apparently), sandwiches and daily specials. Because I'm a sandwich guy, I elected to go with the Pitmaster sandwich, which is brisket, pork and sausage with cole slaw and jalapenos on a roll. I also sprung for the pinto beans because I love beans and will get them pretty much any time I can.

The sandwich is huge, but not too big that you can't bite into it. It's also gorgeous to look at: it's colorful, plated well and just looks delicious. And it didn't disappoint. This is the best barbeque sandwich I have ever had in my life. It was sweet and moist and you could taste the smoke coming through. The meat was cooked well, with a nice crust, without being dry. The sauce added the right amount of tang and the chiles added just a little heat. And it was a real sandwich, well conceived and well balanced from top to bottom. I'd return here for this sandwich in a second. I'd pass on the beans though: a little tasteless for me.

Salt Lick's off the menu sandwich.

Salt Lick, Driftwood
Salt Lick cropped up on so many "best of" lists that I thought I should take a journey off the beaten path to see what all the fuss was about. I also thought it would get me into Texas Hill Country, which my trip otherwise wouldn't take me. Normally I would avoid a place like Salt Lick strictly due to the fact that they sell bottled barbeque sauce and other products on line but I figured why not make an exception. Some folks clearly like this place. I had to see if I agreed.

I drove a ways off the beaten path to get to Salt Lick but after passing through multiple construction zones, I finally arrived. First of all, the signage at this place is confusing and it took me a few minutes to understand just exactly where I was supposed to go. When I finally figured that all out, I found a table based on the hostess' direction ("sit anywhere"). Knowing that I wanted more than one type of meat but also preferred a sandwich, I asked my server for some guidance. He suggested I go off menu and get the brisket and sausage sandwich, which sounded perfect to me because that's exactly what I wanted. I also kicked in an extra buck for three sides: beans, cole slaw and potato salad.

What arrived was a sandwich and some sides packed onto a single plate. The sandwich looked good. I was happy to see they didn't present it to me on the cheapest roll in the grocery store. The brisket looked good, with an obvious smoke ring. But ultimately the sandwich disappointed. I didn't get a whole lot of flavor or smoke out of the sandwich, even when I piled on the habanero sauce on the table. I pulled some of the brisket off the sandwich to see how it tasted which was a good idea. There was more flavor without the other components of the dish but it was dry to me.

The biggest objection I had though was that the sandwich didn't succeed at exactly what it was supposed to be: a sandwich. The bread couldn't stand up to absorbing the moisture from the sausage, brisket and sauce so it sort of fell apart rather quickly. They also sliced their sausage lengthwise, rather than crosswise like at Pecan Lodge, which meant that my teeth had to cut through the sausage to get mouthfuls of sandwich. I found this difficult to do so every time I bit into or onto a piece of sausage, I ended up dragging the whole thing out of the sandwich, leaving me with bread and sauce for my next bite.

I don't think I'd end up going back to Salt Lick if I had the chance. But if I had, I'd skip the sides. I know they were only $1 but they too disappointed.

Franklin Barbecue and part of the omnipresent line.

Franklin Barbecue, Austin

I picked Franklin Barbecue as my in-Austin lunch spot based on the Austin Food Blogger Alliance voting it as the top Barbeque spot in 2012 and I like to think that I can trust an alliance of food bloggers. It has also been featured on Anthony Bourdain's show, No Reservations, which I didn't realize until I googled it Thursday morning to make sure I knew where it was before setting out for a spot in line. I heard about the line from the barbeque tour guys ahead of me at Pecan Lodge so I figured earlier was better here.

The restaurant opens at 11 a.m. and, like Pecan Lodge, is open until they run out of meat. I arrived at 9:45 a.m., a full hour and 15 minutes before opening time and there was already a 29 person line (I counted - there's only so much Twitter I can read in 75 minutes). By the time the place opened, the line was much longer, easily three times as long, so I was glad I showed up early. As soon as they opened the door, this incredible smell wafted out of the place which was a good early sign.

Franklin Barbecue's dining room.

Rather than go with a sandwich at Franklin Barbecue, I elected to get a meat plate. I'd heard too many good rumblings about the brisket and knew I also wanted to taste the sausage. The meat plate was the only way I was going to get those two things based on my read of the menu. The brisket slicing process here is one you have to see. First of all, you can get fattier or leaner brisket based on questions asked of you and they know which is which without cutting into the meat. When the meat is cut, the knife slices through the brisket so easily that the knife has to be super super super sharp or the meat is that tender. It's the latter by the way; you can cut this stuff with a plastic fork it is falling apart that much.

I grabbed my plate complete with sides (beans again, of course, and potato salad) and headed to my table. The brisket may be one of the most delicious pieces of meat I have ever eaten. It's juicy and full of flavor using only salt, pepper and smoke. The bark on this meat is salty and worth savoring. As a reminder, lack of inherent flavor in the meat is one of my fundamental objections to barbeque (until now). There was barbeque sauce on the tables but I didn't use any it was that tasty.

The sausage was juicy and greasy but without being disgusting. The casing snapped and there was something tangy and lipsmacking in there which I'd go back for again. The beans were also creamy and loaded with pork, which is not a bad thing. If there's a complaint here (and there is one), the portion size was just way too big. Three slabs of brisket was more than I needed. There were also some parts of the bark which were way too salty. I've waited in longer lines for food (Pink's Hot Dogs in Los Angeles) but this was worth the wait. I'd do it again.

Lamberts Downtown Barbecue: 401 West Second Street if you are interested.

Lamberts Downtown Barbecue, Austin

Two barbeque meals in one day was not something I thought I'd ever have. This place finished as a runner up on the Austin Food Blogger Alliance list. I was sort of doubling down on my bet above here but what the hell. The first place winner was awesome. If this came anywhere close to Franklin Barbecue, I'd be a happy diner.

Lamberts was a different experience from the other barbeque places I went to this week. It was more of a restaurant rather than a counter service (admittedly, I got served at Salt Lick) and I went at dinner rather than lunch. The menu looked amazing. I had to restrain myself from ordering the jalapeno hot links with hot pink pickled cabbage and the achiote lime rubbed half chicken and stick to the task at hand which was eating some barbeque  food comparable to what I'd had in Euless, Dallas and Driftwood.

Ultimately, I picked the hot links plate with two sides, in this case beans (what else?) and collard greens and with my food I was presented with three sauces: housemade barbeque, mustard and hot sauces. Despite my attempt to keep this food on an even playing field with the rest of the barbeque I've had this past week, this meal was clearly superior to all the others.

I know the photo's grainy. It was dark. What else can I do?

The sausage is smoked on the premises so Lamberts is doing what every other barbeque place I've eaten at is doing but the flavor was just incredible. The grind on the meat was perfect and the sausage had some great heat which went with both the barbeque and hot sauces really well. The beans were also the best of the trip; the addition of cilantro made these tastier, cutting the creaminess of the beans. I can eat my food fast and I have to tell you I ate slowly here, savoring every bite. If I lived in Austin, I'd come here a lot. And the 512 Pecan Porter went really well with the food by the way.

So after a week of trying, I am clearly not ready to give up on barbeque, although I've convinced myself not to shoot from the hip when it comes to food. I know I'm a food snob and it really helps me to be prepared with my restaurant choices as much as everything else in life. I still have my reservations about this style of food but as I think about it, I am no less disappointed in other types of food that I love (particularly Mexican) than I am in barbeque. There are some places I'd love to go back to that I've dined at this week.

In picking the places above, I read a lot of reviews and opinions and visited each restaurant's website, but I also checked my math, so to speak, with Daniel Vaughn's Full Custom Gospel BBQ blog. It's good to have an opinion from someone who claims to know what he's doing, I guess. I didn't always follow his advice and I'm sure he'd think I'm a novice at this stuff, but I definitely crossed some places off my list based on his blog.

Blues And Basketball In Austin

After Tuesday night's Vipers-Red Claws game, I awoke the next morning and headed out on the road again to see my third D-League game in four nights and the last basketball of this quick trip. The site of Wednesday's game was Austin, or more accurately just outside of Austin, a place I hoped would be very different from Frisco and Hidalgo. In fact I had so much faith that it would be different (i.e. better) that it's the only place I decided to spend two nights on this entire trip. My one and a half days and two nights in Austin started with the Austin Toros hosting the same Maine Red Claws (did I mention best name and logo in the NBDL, hands down?) that I saw face the Rio Grande Valley Vipers the previous evening some 300 miles or so south of Austin.

Austin, contrary to what the Lea Thompson's character in the original Red Dawn movie believed ("Wrong, Commie! It's Houston!), is the capital of Texas. It is also the music center of Texas which is why I've wanted to visit Austin for years. I've already checked Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans off my list, it was time to hit Austin. Austin's music history is one of country and blues, with Willie Nelson, Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan all having associations with the town. I hoped I could hear some good music while I was in town in addition to watching hoops. I was determined to find some after the Toros and the Red Claws game and then again the next night.

The Austin area was first settled in 1830, the year that Mexico decided to close then Tejas' border with the United States to stem what had become a troubling number of American settlers crossing the border. In 1839, the capital of what was at the time the Republic of Texas was moved to the Austin area and incorporated as Waterloo. The name was changed shortly thereafter in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas," who brought the first significant number of American families to settle in the Texas. Today, Austin is big to support the state capital and the University of Texas. There are about 650,000 residents in Austin, a far cry from the 11,000 in Hidalgo.

Unlike the Legends and Vipers who joined the NBDL as expansion teams, the Austin Toros are one of the three surviving original D-League franchises, along with the Tulsa 66ers and the Canton Charge. And just like those other two original members of the league, the Toros didn't begin life where they are now. The team started out in Columbus, Georgia as the Riverdragons in 2001 but moved to Austin after four seasons in 2005. The Toros are the defending NBDL champions although last year's championship won't necessarily translate to success this season as teams in the D-League tend to change over personnel fairly quickly. There is exactly one player, Jamarr Sanders, on this year's team who spent time in Austin last season.

The Toros actually play a little more than 20 miles from Austin in a suburb called Cedar Park. Their arena, the cleverly named Cedar Park Center, seats about 8,000, so it's larger than the arenas in Frisco and Hidalgo and it shows. The Cedar Park Center is the only one of the three D-League arenas I went to with a center scoreboard and instant replay. It gets closer to an NBA experience but with the replay on the scoreboard, there's no space left for stats, which are displayed annoyingly infrequently. As I did the previous night in Hidalgo, I once again sat center court second row for the game and paid far less than I would for an NBA ticket, in this case $40. Beers at the Cedar Park Center are $7.75 for a 24 oz. Budweiser about the same as the other two arenas. My friend Mike texted me during the game with the rhetorical question "Why is beer so expensive everywhere?" Because people buy it at that price, that's why.

The game was competitive into the fourth, when the Toros managed to break the Red Claws' spirit and pull away for a 111-94 victory. The game experience was a good one just like the night before in Hidalgo. My disappointment in the overly kid catering environment in Frisco didn't carry over to Austin or the Rio Grande Valley. I'd go back (but probably won't) to games in either of those places. I managed to track the Wizards-Pistons games on my phone during the game. Our winning streak was ended at four. Just can't beat Detroit this year.

The interest in Wednesday's D-League game for me was to see former Wizard Shelvin Mack play again. And I saw Shelvin play a lot Wednesday night as he logged all 48 minutes with the Red Claws down to only eight healthy players. Shelvin was the Wizards second round draft pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. He lasted all of his rookie season before being cut in training camp in favor of either Jannero Pargo or Earl Barron, depending on your perspective. Shelvin is consistently on the top of the D-League's prospects call up list and has had stints in the NBA twice this season, once with the Wizards and once for two 10-day contracts with the Philadelphia 76ers. 

Watching Shelvin's game, it's clear to see why he's bouncing between the NBA and NBDL. He's clearly the leader of his team. He calls all the offensive sets and defensive assignments, handles the ball every time up and makes sure his team is paying attention to the shot clock. There's no doubt he understands the game very well and he's serious about what he's doing. But he's also physically limited. He's not really quick enough or skilled enough to play point guard in the NBA as a guy with heavy minutes and he's not really long enough to defend or rebound against taller shooting guards. Shelvin's invariably in place to rebound or right in his guy's face on defense but he lost rebounds to an opponent taller than him and couldn't reach a few fadeaway jumpers from his counterpart. I hope the D-League serves him well and he gets back to the NBA again this season. I appreciated Shelvin coming over and saying hi to me before the game. As Royce White told me the night before, Shelvin's a good dude.

Fans in Austin are hard core. Some dude brought a giant Shelvin Mack head to wave at Shelvin and taunt him.

I didn't stick around much beyond the final buzzer for this one. I needed to get a beer or two in a blues club somewhere quick. Wednesday night I decided I'd take about any music played competently whereas Thursday I thought I should be more selective and serious. Austin's main drag is Sixth Street, sort of an equivalent to Memphis' Beale Street or New Orleans' Bourbon Street, although way smaller scale than the latter. Wednesday night I bounced between a couple of clubs with bands playing bad George Thorogood or Tom Petty covers before settling in at Latitude Thirty, a club on San Jacinto Boulevard, for a couple of Lone Star beers and a partial set. At one time while I was there, the club actually had four musicians and three patrons; most people were stepping in for $2 shots before quickly moving on, probably for another $2 shot somewhere else.

Sixth Street by day. It looks much different (i.e. drunker) at night.

Thursday night I weighed my options more carefully, ultimately choosing to see the Big Guitars From Texas at Antone's on Fifth and Lavaca over Tift Merritt and David Wax Museum on Sixth Street. If there is a club to know in Austin, it's Antone's. The place was founded by Clifford Antone in the mid-1970s and has been played by many blues legends, including Clifton Chenier, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Stevie Ray Vaughan. So as this may be my only night spent in Austin, I had to not pass this one up.

Little did I know but Big Guitars From Texas were nominated for a grammy in 1986 in the Best Rock Instrumental Category (they lost to Jeff Beck) for their instrumental Guitar Army. This show was a reunion and benefit show for one of their members, Evan Johns, who played but who clearly was ailing, preferring to sit through the show. And ultimately the show was a great ending to a quick trip, a four guitar mostly instrumental show to send me back to D.C. with some good memories. I clearly didn't spend enough time in Austin. Live and learn.

Paying Tribute To Stevie Ray

In the spring semester of my senior year at the University of Michigan, I bought a ticket to see Eric Clapton at the Palace in Auburn Hills, MI. I couldn't find anyone sufficiently motivated to go with me so I went solo, not the first or last time I went to a show by myself. Before the concert, I was talking to a guy sitting next to me who raved about a Stevie Ray Vaughan show he had seen two nights earlier at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. He questioned if Clapton would measure up to Vaughan. I thought this guy was insane to question Clapton's preeminence since I really didn't listen to Stevie Ray Vaughan's music or understand how good he was at that time.

Halfway through Clapton's show, which I thought was lackluster to that point, Vaughan joined EC on stage and sat in on "Before You Accuse Me" and "After Midnight." Without question, Stevie Ray torched Clapton that night; he absolutely blew him off the stage. And when he was done hosting, Clapton, as if embarrassed, picked up on the energy brought on by Stevie Ray and finished the show strong.

Almost 23 years later, Stevie Ray Vaughan is one of my favorite guitarists. I have every one of his solo and Double Trouble studio albums but his live stuff is what I really love. His Live at Carnegie Hall is one of my favorite albums of all time and the double album which documents his 1982 and 1985 shows at the Montreux Jazz Festival is almost as good. I never got to see Stevie Ray Vaughan play a complete show by himself because about three months after I saw him that night in Auburn Hills (from waaaaay back in the Palace, I might add), he died in a helicopter accident after leaving an outdoor show near Milwaukee.

Vaughan was born and raised in Dallas, Texas but dropped out of high school at 17 and moved to Austin, where he really cut his teeth playing clubs in various groups. So Austin, which has such an amazing music scene, became his home and he likewise became a son of that city. In October 1993, a little more than three years after his death, a statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan was erected in Auditorium Shores park in Austin. I just had to make the walk from my hotel, across the river to the park to see his statue, listen to my iPod and think about the great music Stevie Ray left behind for me and everyone else to enjoy. Gone 23 years now, I hope he's still playing the blues somewhere.