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MAY 2013

VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

May 2013

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On Deck

VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

to honor a legacy

By will martin - mrwill316@blitzweekly.com

Learn from Stern

It was back in October when it was announced that National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern would be stepping down from his post on February 1, 2014.

Thus a 30 year run of commissionership will come to an end, a run that had many, many highs, and sure, a couple of regrettable lows.

Like any transition, you hope this will be seamless, yet even with the unanimous selection of Adam Silver to take over the NBA reins, don’t think Stern will be going away quietly. He will be there to assist from a distance.

Certainly you can’t argue with this rationale as David Stern himself will attest. In case you forgot this is what we were told back on October 25, 2012: Publisher Kelly G. Reed Editor-in-Chief Jus Chris Patterson Creative Director Michael H. Lee Pages 23 & 26 Designs Melody Tarver Photo Editor Darryl Briggs Cover Photography Darryl Briggs Staff Photographers Gregg Case, Steven Hendrix, Rick Leal, Kevin Jacobson, Chuck Majors

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“For myself, I have agreed at the request of the board to make some time available after I leave the NBA, move out of the office completely, but wherever I am, I will be available for some assignments to be directed by the board or

by Adam particularly in the international area where I have some experience,” Stern said.

“In the next 15 months, we are going to work together on the most seamless executive CEO transition that we hope will serve as an example for all business, not just sports leagues.”

You spend an extended period of time in one job, one capacity, for the goal of seeking the greater good of a product to tremendous results. You then gently step aside and pass the proverbial baton to an up-and-comer who will be well-groomed by his predecessor. It would be very easy to make mention of that “L word.” The one that ends in Y and is pronounced ‘legacy’.

Don’t tell that to David Stern!

“I’m not a big believer in the ‘L word,’ legacy,” Stern said. “I just want people to say that he steered the Good Ship NBA through all kinds of interesting times, some choppy waters, some extraordinary opportunities, and managed to on his watch, the league grew in popularity,

became a global phenomenon, and the owners and the players and the fans did very well.”

With the NBA season heading into playoff mode it occurs to this writer that this will be the last one under Stern. Yet we wonder, how will Silver do next February and beyond?

“Adam was a no-brainer,” said new Board of Governors head and San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt. “The point I’m making, he’s been there over 20 years, he has been a huge part of what the NBA has become, he has been involved in every aspect of the NBA, and we want to continue that. We think continuity, particularly at this time, for the NBA and probably sports in general around the world because of the way it’s growing around the world, is paramount, and Adam is the man that can do it. So all 30 owners were absolutely in agreement...We love David, and the timing gives the transformation from David to Adam a smoothness to it that we want to continue.”

Looking back, Stern had many years of grooming to prepare himself for that February date in 1984. It began as acting outside legal counsel under Proskauer Rose in 1966. Under Larry O’Brien’s term he would become general counsel in 1978. He was promoted to executive vice president in 1980.

A few things come to mind about this time frame. The league had a huge image problem with drug abuse that was cleaned up over time through the NBA Players Association.

Additionally, a decision was reached in salary cap as to how teams and players would share money with gained revenues. This came in a dark period in the NBA where, if you are old enough to remember, the 1980 Finals were not shown live but on tape delay on CBS at a late hour.

The NBA as we know it today is chock full of superstars. No less than four entered the league in 1984 along with Stern – Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, and Michael Jordan. In less than a decade’s time, Stern was instrumental in making the game popular in the States, across the world, and accessible to men and women with the birth of the Women’s NBA in the mid 90s.

The NBA now has 11 offices in cities outside the United States, is televised in 215 countries worldwide in 43 languages, and operates the WNBA and the National Basketball Development League. Up to 25 percent of current NBA players have stopped by the NBDL. In barely scratching the surface for the past 30 years David Stern did more things right than wrong. That makes him worthy of that “L word” Legacy!

VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

May 2013

may is the traditional golf month in the metroplex Zach Johnson

T

Jason Rodman

he Masters has come and gone with Adam Scott becoming the first Australian to take home the green jacket. While Scott has captured wins across the world including big tournaments such as The Players Championship, Tour Championship and the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, the 32-year-old previously had come up short in the majors.

His dramatic win over Angel Cabrera on the second playoff hole has most golf fans looking forward to the U.S Open set for June 13-16 at Merion Golf Club just outside of Philadelphia.

NBC and the Professional Golfers Association Tour will play up The Players Championship as the ‘Fifth Major,” but unless Tiger Woods is in contention, the biggest story to come out of TPC Sawgrass centers around the No. 17 island green that sees many a golf ball land in the water, leaving most sports fans changing the channel and tuning Johnny Miller out until they are forced to endure his negativity during the season’s second major.

However, sports fans in DFW have May 13-26 marked on their calendars when the PGA Tour comes to town beginning with the HP Byron Nelson Championship on the TPC Course at the posh Four Seasons Resort and Club in Las Colinas followed the next week by the Crowne Plaza Invitational at the venerable Colonial

By jay betsill - @thefamousjay

Country Club in Fort Worth. Factor in that this is the first time there will be no Mavericks playoff games since 2000 and expect a little extra excitement for the area’s golf tournaments.

The Nelson’s glory days of the mid-90s to 2005 when it was drawing one of the top fields in golf have long passed. Many factors including Mr. Nelson passing away in 2006 and the PGA Tour moving the event up from its traditional second week in May to the third week to move The Players Championship to that spot and position it directly between the Masters and U.S. Open have seen Dallas’ tournament lose some of its luster. However, last year saw the return of past champions Scott, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh to generate some buzz leading up to the event.

“We are proud of the continued successes and accomplishments of each of these HP Byron Nelson champions. They honor our tournament, our charity and the legacy of Byron Nelson by their loyalty and support,” said 2013 tournament chairman Mike McKinley in a release. “We are expecting an extremely strong field and their commitment to play in this year’s tournament will only add to the anticipation and excitement of another memorable championship.”

And, of course, the Nelson may not be selling out of its badges and daily tickets months in advance when it was a given that 1997 HP BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIP May 16-19 Four Seasons Resort & Club in Las Colinas, Irving Total Purse: $6,700,000.

Winner’s Share: $1,170,000 Defending champion: Jason Dufner

champion Tiger Woods was in the field (Woods last played in North Texas in 2005 when he missed the cut at the Nelson). But it always will have huge crowds on hand for what is generally considered one of the bigger party weekends in Dallas. The fun ranges from the exclusive invitation-only bashes in the mansions that line the golf course to the private parties at the resort’s lagoon-style swimming pool and the Pavilion area behind the No.2 tee box that features Pavilion After Dark concerts and a fiesta that goes deep into the night.

Change may be on the horizon for the Nelson as word came down last November that the City of Dallas, AT&T and Southern Methodist University are planning to develop a 400-acre championship golf development on an old landfill site east of I-45 and Loop 12 in southern Dallas. The development will include an 18-hole championship golf course, a nine-hole short course, an administrative and teaching facility, a practice range and a practice academy for SMU students and will be known as Trinity Forest Golf Course. PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem said, “the odds are quite high,” that with support from the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, the Byron Nelson could find a new home in Dallas. Oh by the way, AT&T will also take over as the title sponsor of the Nelson in 2015.

Where many refer to the Nelson as a big

Jason Dufner

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Keith Allison

party with a golf tournament as background entertainment, 30 miles to the west of the prestigious resort is the Colonial, known by many as a golf tournament that just happens to have a great party atmosphere full of attractive women in short shorts. The Colonial is rich in history and tradition having hosted the 1941 U.S. Open, 1975 Players Championship and 1991 Women’s U.S. Open and the Wall of Champions features names like Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino, Mickelson, Snead, Watson, Pavin and Hogan.

The past few years have seen Steve Stricker (2009), David Toms (2011) and Zach Johnson (2010 and 2012) add their names to the wall that sits on the first tee as a reminder of those who have played the historic shotmakers course.

Those who are looking for a good time need look no further than the par-3, 13th hole, the party area in the back corner of the course that is home to the Caddie Races. Others may choose to go the more exclusive route and get the “Special Badges” required to enter the clubhouse or the Champions Club. While talk of the Nelson moving will only continue to grow the closer it gets to the sponsor change, the Colonial is not going anywhere as the Fort Worth citizens support the event like it’s their own.

CROWNE PLAZA INVITATIONAL AT COLONIAL May 23-26 Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth Total Purse: $6,400,000.

Winner’s Share: $1,152,000 Defending champion: Zach Johnson

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MAY 2013

VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

the griner effect By jan hubbard – comments@blitzweekly.com

Brittney is taking over basketball in a big way

A

s he is so capable of doing, Mark Cuban roused the media masses with an entertaining thought in early April. If Baylor University’s 6-foot-8 Brittney Griner, the women’s college basketball player of the year the last two years, happens to be available in the second round of the June National Basketball Association draft, Cuban said he would consider selecting her.

Cuban qualified it by saying, “If she’s the best player on the board, I wouldn’t have any problems drafting her [just] because she’s a female. The point being I want to get the best players – no exceptions.”

Those not fluent in Cuban-speak immediately missed the point. He never said Griner would play for the Mavericks in the regular season. He didn’t even say she would play in the summer league. He said under certain circumstances, he would take her in the draft.

In creating the issue, Cuban was the master puppeteer, generating debate on whether or not women could play in the NBA. When he was alone, he undoubtedly spent a lot of time giggling at his own genius.

And he did generate reaction. The University of Connecticut’s intense women’s head coach Geno Auriemma was flabbergasted.

“The fact that a woman could actually play right now in the NBA and compete successfully against the level of play that they have is absolutely ludicrous,” he said.

Cuban certainly agrees with Auriemma.

Cuban never said anything about Griner being successful; he said he would consider drafting her.

I have two contradicting thoughts on the subject.

First off, there is no way that Cuban would ever waste a draft choice just for show. Although the Mavericks have been lousy in recent years with second-round selections (check out these players since 2007: Nick Fazekas, Renaldas Seibutis, Milovan Rakovic, Shan Foster, Ahmad Nivins, Solomon Alabi, Targuy Ngombo and Darius Johnson-Odom), players like Manu Ginobili, Carlos Boozer and Monta Ellis are secondrounders. Teams live to draft the long shot.

Secondly, even though she won’t be the best player available, Cuban may take Griner

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anyway. Cuban is a master of promotions and what would promote his team more than drafting a woman? Besides, any player he gets midway in the second round might be available as a free agent, anyway.

Drafting a woman is hardly original in the NBA. It’s rare, but not new. In 1969, the Golden State Warriors drafted Denise Long, an Iowa high school player who had averaged 62.8 points a game her senior year. Long was a 13thround selection but later the pick was voided because the league said it was a publicity stunt.

In 1977, Lucy Harris of Delta State University was selected by the New Orleans Jazz in the seventh round (137th overall), but she never showed interest in playing. Still, with the Long pick voided, Harris became the first female to be drafted officially.

So Cuban’s idea in 2013 is 44 years after the Warriors’ idea to draft Long and 36 years after Harris was drafted.

At 6-8 and reportedly 207 pounds, there is no way Griner could compete physically with men the same height and 40 pounds heavier, which is not to say there are not areas where women can compete with men in basketball. Dwight Howard currently is shooting 49 percent from the free-throw line. I checked last year’s Women’s NBA statistics and 137 players shot better than 49 percent. Free-throw contest? You take Dwight; I’ll win with the women.

There might be a woman sometime in the future who could be to basketball what Eddie Gaedel was to major league baseball in 1951. Gaedel was 3-foot-7 and infamously hired by Bill Veeck – who was a Mark Cuban-like promoter long before Mark Cuban – to bat in a St. Louis Browns-Detroit Tigers game. Gaedel was walked on four pitches, then was replaced at first by a pinch-runner. He retired after the game.

I suppose that some team could park a great female shooter at the 3-point line and try and set her up with open shots. There are women who easily have the range to shoot NBA 3-pointers and be successful. That sort of player, one with great shooting skills, would have a better chance of playing than a low-post player like Griner.

But then, of course, there is that nasty part of the game called defense. And that would not be pretty.

That doesn’t mean Griner can’t be drafted, although if it does happen, it will be nothing more than a line on her résumé. She was the No. 1 pick by the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA draft on April 15 and even though WNBA money is in the low six figures, the league plays during the summer and the best players go overseas during the regular basketball season.

Griner almost certainly will sign a lucrative contract to play in Europe, where the money for women players is substantially more than it is in the U.S. There are sports where women can compete with men. The most obvious is motor sports, where Danica Patrick – although not a dominant driver by any means – has had a measure of success, even winning an open wheel race in Japan and also becoming the first woman to win the pole position in qualifying for a Sprint Cup race.

Kelly Kulick, a bowler, was the first woman to win a tournament on the men’s tour, beating Double Oak’s Chris Barnes in the Professional Bowlers’ Association Tournament of Champions.

Manon Rhéaume, a goalie for the Canadian women’s Olympic hockey team, played for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1992 and 1993 preseason exhibition games.

Katie Hnida, a placekicker for the University of New Mexico, was the first woman to score in a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-A football game when she kicked two extra points in a 2003 contest.

And Annika Sorenstam competed in a Professional Golfers Association event and although she missed the cut and finished 96th of 111 players, she did, in fact, beat 14 men.

Those women were trail blazers but keep in mind they played in limited situations. None of them had long careers in a men’s sport.

I suppose there is no harm in having conversations about outrageous ideas. The idea of Griner being a full-time member of the Mavericks certainly qualifies as outrageous. But then again, it does seem that Cuban was merely entertaining himself. And I’m pretty sure he had a good time doing it.

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MAY 2013

VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

ufc 159 PrEVIEW

By brian beard – comments@blitzweekly.com

Jon “Bones” Jones (17-1-0) vs. Chael Sonnen (28-12-1) Chael Sonnen is one of my favorite fighters.

Not because of all the shit he talks (although I get that part) but due to his style. He is a great wrestler without too much else skill wise. His striking is getting better but he isn’t going to win a K-1 fight anytime soon. He is a hard-nosed, very aggressive fighter that is very good at putting his opponent in the cage, dragging them down, and beating the shit out of them for the duration of the fight. He knows how to make a fight ugly and do what he has to do to impose his will and win. “Bones” Jones is a totally different type of fighter. This young man has all the tools! He is a freaky athlete, great wrestler, great striker, and intelligent fighter. He is smart enough to keep his distance from Chael (although I believe he can out wrestle Chael) and use his striking to win the fight. I don’t see this one lasting too long.

My prediction: Jones by TKO in the first round. Chael will be on his way out of the UFC or at best, will be a gatekeeper.

Michael “The Count” Bisping (24-5-0) vs. Alan “The Talent” Belcher (17-6-0) I don’t know many MMA fans that wouldn’t love to see Bisping get KO’d in a brutal fashion (thank you Dan Henderson). He is as annoying as anyone but is also about as tough as anyone. He is also very well-rounded. He is a very good striker and his submission defense is really on point. Belcher is well rounded and good at all facets of the game. He is also a finisher. He has finished 9 out of 10 of his UFC

PRESENTED by get blitzed

wins and has 11 career wins via TKO. I look for his striking to be the difference here. I don’t foresee this one going to the ground and look for these two to bang it out on the feet.

My prediction: Belcher will need to out strike the Brit in order to win and I think he will.

He will find Bisping’s button in the third and TKO the annoying fucker.

Roy “Big Country” Nelson (19-7-0) vs.

Cheick Kongo (28-7-2) This will be the battle of the physiques. We have fat boy vs. muscle man and if you go by appearance, Kongo wins every time.

Fortunately for Nelson, physique means nothing. Nelson is a world-class athlete and an excellent fighter. He has outstanding cardio and a great ground game. His stand up isn’t bad either. Kongo has always been a great striker but can resemble a fish out of water on the ground. Although he is improving his ground game, I think it is still his Achilles heel. Nelson will strike for about 30 seconds and then will push Kongo into the cage and seek the takedown. If he can continually get it, he will win easily. If Kongo defends the takedowns he will have a chance.

My prediction: I see this one going the way of “Big Country” Roy Nelson via submission late in the second round.

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VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

May 2013

By cj gardner - @BlitzWeekly

T

he 117th running of the Boston Marathon will be one that no one ever will forget after the 2013 edition was marred by an act of terror that killed three and injured more than 170 people.

Every sports fan’s worst fear happened when two bombs went off near the finish line. The two bombs were about 50 yards apart and were set off within seconds of each other. The two blasts sent up big clouds of smoke and caused confusion for runners and spectators alike.

The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest marathon and takes place every Patriot’s Day along with other festivities in the city including the annual Patriot’s Day Boston Red Sox

taken for other sporting events in the city as the Boston Bruins game was postponed later in the day and the Boston Celtics game set for April 16 was postponed.

Soon after the news broke of this tragedy, President Barack Obama came out with a statement about the events.

“We still do not know who did this or why; we still don’t have all the facts. We will get to the bottom of this,” Obama said. “We will find who did this and we will find out why they did this.

Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice.”

Two suspects have been identified as the bombers, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and brother

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game that begins around the same time as the marathon. This is one of the biggest sports days in Boston with those two events going on at the same time. This day of celebration turned into one of mourning.

More than 27,000 runners participated in the April 15 race. The first of three large waves of around 9,000 runners left at 10 a.m. from Hopkinton, Mass. The runners started crossing the finish line around noon. It was around four hours into the race for the third wave of runners at 2:50 p.m. that the two bombs went off in the spectator area near the finish line. Medical personnel and spectators at the scene rushed to look after those injured at the scene. First responders did their best to attend to those wounded by the blast and tend to injuries including deep cuts and lost limbs. Three people, including an 8-year-old boy, were killed by the bomb blast and more than 170 others were injured.

After the blast news spread of the attack and caused fear throughout the nation, because no one knew if this was an isolated incident or if there were more to come. Cell phone service was shut down in Boston and planes were grounded as precautions. Bomb squads were deployed in all major cities to try and find any other bombs that could have been planted.

There was a third explosion reported at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, but it was later confirmed to be just a fire that had nothing to do with the other explosions. Precautions also were

Pete Tschudy

Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Dzhokhar is now in custody following a shoot-out with police in Watertown, Massachusetts that took place after his brother was killed in a gunfight earlier that morning.

The reason for the bombing is still unknown, but authorities are looking to find Dzhokhar and question him for the reasons behind the bombing.

Americans have been very lucky that sporting events have not been targeted more often by terrorist attacks. The only other case of a sportsrelated attack in the U.S. was the car bombing during the Atlanta Olympics. This will increase security awareness that sporting events could be targets for terrorist attacks. While everyone hopes that this was just an isolated incident, the explosions will raise questions of event security for all sporting events. For example, British police quickly reviewed security for the London Marathon which was scheduled for April 21, just six days after the Boston Marathon.

Just like after 9/11, this means increased security measures around the nation. Sports fans should feel safe when going to games, but this attack reminds us that terrorist attacks can happen anywhere. Hopefully we can learn from this attack and increase security around sporting events so that a tragedy like this will be prevented or do less harm next time.

In this time of tragedy, our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by this terrorist attack. www.blitzweekly.com

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VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

ranger bullpen works hard to support team By mark miller – mmiller@blitzweekly.com They may be the most misunderstood players in all of baseball.

Maybe it’s because some don’t play every day. Heck, some might not see action for days, a week or longer.

In the rare case of a complete game by a starting pitcher, fans may not even realize they are at the ballpark. One day, four or five of them are needed; the next, just one or two suffice.

Yet don’t ever think members of the bullpen are slacking. Truth is, they work just as hard as position players or starting pitchers. With games ending 8-10 hours after arriving at the ballpark, it truly is a full work day for all involved.

“Most people think we show up at 6 o’clock for a 7 o’clock game,” said Texas Rangers closer Joe Nathan. “This is a job. We’re here playing every day. This is not something where you can just step on the field and feel good all the time. You have to prepare yourself and be a professional.”

Veterans like Nathan, bullpen coach Andy Hawkins and bullpen catcher Josh Frazier set the tone for the Rangers. Hawkins and Frazier generally start their days earliest, between 8 and 9 in the morning for afternoon contests and noon for night games. Bullpen pitchers generally arrive soon after and start getting ready right away.

“You get in a routine, something that works and you stay with it,” said Hawkins, a starter for most of his 10-year career. “It seldom ever varies, especially once you’ve had some success with it.”

“You have to start with a routine,” said rookie right-hander Tanner Scheppers, whose routine starts with cardiovascular exercises and stretches to warm up followed by lifting weights, then some light throwing. “I’ve been blessed to be around Joe Nathan the last couple of years. He has his routine down to the minute.

“He’s had such an amazing career, and that’s something a young player wants to borrow. To be pitching so well at his age and for so long he’s doing something right, so it’s not a bad idea to pay a little bit of attention to what he’s doing.”

What is the Nathan routine?

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“I get my workout in, get out there and stretch, nothing too crazy,” he said. “It’s just something you find that works, something that’s comfortable and go from there.

“It’s all about being comfortable.

It’s all about finding consistency Darryl Briggs Bullpen pitchers have to be ready at any moment and a lot of down to warm up that day’s starting pitcher. that comes After game time, it’s a waiting game. from how you prepare yourself.”

“We basically sit and watch the game until Nathan is honored that younger players watch they call us,” Frazier said. “We hope we don’t his style much like he did in 1999 and 2000 get a call early.” with the San Francisco Giants. His mentors were What happens during the game generally starters Tim Worrell, Sean Estes, Russ Ortiz, Kurt dictates what happens in the bullpen. Though Rueter, Jason Schmidt and veteran reliever Robb rarely used, the long relievers must be ready Nen. once the game starts.

“It just kind of gets passed down from time to “Someone might get hit by a line drive or time,” said the 38-year-old Nathan, a full-time whatever so they have go down there right reliever since 2003. “Of course being an older away,” Hawkins said. “It’s a fluid thing. It always guy, having been around, hopefully there are depends on the situation which determines who some things to pass on down to the younger goes in there. Guys have their routine and it players. I had guys who were like that. If I can seldom ever varies. do that for someone else leading by example “They pretty much know when they will be used they will pick up on stuff as we go. That’s the so they’re stretching at various times, reading the best I’ve seen.” game as it goes.”

While the pitchers are going through their “We’ll kind of watch how the game goes, try initial routines, Hawkins and pitching coach to see if different hitters have any patterns and Mike Maddux watch videos on that day’s see early how they approach each at-bat,” hitters to help them prepare the game plan for Scheppers said. that day’s pitchers. Then it’s out to the field for When the game gets to the middle innings, it’s some early throwing and early batting practice time for pitchers like Scheppers and Nathan to and regular batting practice where much of the get ready. training, teaching and practicing occurs. Since “I personally start getting ready in the fifth pitchers don’t hit inning with a little band work, arm warm up and in most games, leg stretch,” Scheppers said. “From then on we they continue have to be ready.” loosening up Nathan enters the bullpen about the fifth inning and shagging after spending time watching hitters on television flies hit by the in the clubhouse or trainer’s room. That means batters. he misses all of topics bullpen members have After batting previously discussed. practice, the “It depends on how many games we’ve team returns to the clubhouse for played,” Scheppers said. “You name it, we talk a pre-game meal about it from to pitching to certain guys to how someone’s family is doing.” and any final “A little of everything. It just depends,” Frazier workouts. Then it’s 30 minutes of said. “It’s just like having conversations with your buddies. Sometimes we’re like a group of kids hot tub-cold tub and sometimes we’re like a group of adults. contrasts before “We have a lot of time to kill. It’s a long taking a shower season. We try to make it fun.” and putting In a season that starts in February and ends as on the game late as October, it can be a challenge keeping uniforms. it fun.

About 40 “It’s grinding it out,” Frazier said. “There’s not minutes before as much of a physical toll as mental. It’s a long game-time, season and the days are long.”

Darryl Briggs Frazier crouches

Former DFW baseball star enjoys role as bullpen catcher Bullpen catchers like Josh Frazier of the Texas Rangers are unsung people. While a good many fans may not even know about them, pitching coaches like Andy Hawkins appreciate them..

“We’re always together. We talk a lot,” Hawkins said. “We talk about a lot of things.

He knows his job and I know mine.

“We split the work. He does all the catching. I’m not a catcher. These guys have fantastic stuff. Once they turn it loose, it’s over my head. I don’t squat down and get up too good any more. I let him do the catching.

These guys throw strikes and throw hard. I’m not catching them.”

Frazier’s route to the Rangers was different from most others in uniform. Like many others, he was an all-state high school catcher at Rockwall in 1995, then played the position in college, Northwood University in Cedar Hill for four years. He even earned an honorable-mention selection to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics AllAmerica team in 1999.

While he wasn’t drafted or signed by any major league teams, his days in a uniform were not over thanks to his Northwood coach, Don Kalkstein. The current Rangers’ sports psychology consultant was the team’s director of performance enhancement from 1995-2005 and helped Frazier secure an internship in 1999.

For two years Frazier handled a number of team-related tasks including throwing batting practice. In 2001, the team then hired him as major league video coordinator, a job he worked at for five years.

When then-bullpen coach Nate Lasseter was hurt in a 2005 road game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Frazier stepped in and has held the job, and loved it, ever since, though he has learned about some of the job’s misconceptions.

“A lot of people think we show up about a half-hour before the game and don’t travel with the team,” Frazier said.

He’s part of a brotherhood of bullpen catchers who often share the same route to the job and have a mutual affection for what they do.

“I talk to as many as I can,” he said. “Of course I know the American League guys the best. We go out of our way to say hi to each other.”

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Giselle

lle l:Gise y: Modeo Courtes ography Phot Star Phot Rick

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“The type of guys that I am most attracted to are confident ones… nothing is sexier than confidence.”

972-337-2645 www.cajuncrawfishco.com www.blitzweekly.com

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B ig D M oving I nto T he B ig L eagues of R estaurant C ities

By steven doyle – cravedfw.com

I

n recent years Dallas truly has started to come into its own regarding the restaurant scene.

Naturally we look to cities like San Francisco and Chicago when describing a ‘restaurant city,’ but Dallas generally never is part of that conversation.

Historically Dallas has been snubbed by the James Beard House’s annual awards, but ironically invites these same chefs to cook for their weekly dinners in New York.

Dallas is the definitive melting pot, and so is its cuisine. It is difficult to describe what our food is all about. We have plenty of Asian restaurants. Look to Little China in Richardson, or the Korean district near Walnut Hill and I-35E. But we are not considered just for our Asian cuisine. There are plenty of Italian eateries, too, like Lucia in Bishop Arts and the new Battuto on Preston, many are hard pressed to discuss Italian.

Dallas actually once flourished with a strong Italian neighborhood where Jimmy’s Food Store is located.

One by one, the Italian meat markets, florists and other shops vanished leaving Jimmy’s as a reminder to our Italian past.

Examples like these lay heavy and could possibly discourage your average interloper looking for the latest in haute cuisine in the Dallas area, But alas for those hungry enough to seek out the very best we have as a city accelerated that effort, and many incredible restaurants lie in wait for those willing to seek and destroy a great plate.

Marquee Chef Andre Natera thinks there is a fantastic movement with our restaurants.

“Dallas is in a really nice ascension with regards to where our chefs are going,” he recently said.

“If you look back five years ago you couldn’t find restaurants like FT33, Driftwood, Spoon, or even Marquee for that matter. There is a younger new guard of chefs coming up now onto the scene.”

Natera believes that with the advent of the Internet and social media in general these chefs are better able to grasp their inspiration than they could before these mediums existed.

“This makes it more of a level playing field for

get blitzed

us with regards to other major markets,” Natera continued. “The Food Network and other television programs have opened up people’s minds to be more adventurous and educated with food. As the diners are educated, and the chefs become more educated, you have this quickening process amongst the two groups, you have a better dining scene.”

The only missing ingredient, according to Natera, is talent. And Natera claims that the talent pool in Dallas has increased exponentially.

“Dallas chefs are starting to collaborate,” he said. “We are eating at each other’s restaurants, collaborating and brainstorming, yet there is a varied style of cooking.

“You have chefs like Matt McCallister, Omar Flores and Bruno (Davaillon) who all have a very specific style of cooking working together. Yet you walk into FT33, or Spoon, or my restaurant, you definitely know who is cooking.”

Natera went as far as to predict that within the next few years Dallas will be competing with the likes of Chicago, Los Angeles and New York for the best restaurants.

New Restaurants, Young Chefs Natera’s belief that these young chefs are changing the way we eat is obvious when you look to the new restaurants that have popped up even in the past year. In the Design District, we have Oak cheffed by Mansion on Turtle Creek alum Jason Maddy.

Chef Maddy had his humble beginnings working as a sous chef at Macaroni Grill before finally attending the Culinary Institute of America. He also worked at a whole host of incredible restaurants before finally moving to Austin where he did a threeyear stint at the Driskill Hotel. He then was offered a position that lasted more than three years under David Bull at the Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas. Maddy was recruited to the Mansion by Chef John Tesar and the French wunderkind, Bruno Davaillon.

When Chef Maddy opened Oak, it was soon

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Burgers, Dogs and Beer. Oh, My! Dallas isn’t just about its recent influx of fine dining. We also appreciate a good burger, and in the past year have experienced a surge in hot dogs. The obsession might be a reflection on economic times, but the methods in which these restaurants are opening are showing great panache, giving all their customers a good experience.

On the hot dog front we have restaurants such as Hofmann’s Hots which Phil Romano recently opened in the new Trinity Groves area of Dallas. Romano told me that he was looking to open a restaurant using the 125- year-old brand of wiener he grew up eating in New York. He envisions the brand to scatter across the country almost to the scale of Subway, with locations in every city. The hot dogs are unique and they bake their own buns and use high-end ingredients. The cost of the dogs themselves is consistent with the average fast-food chain, but so much better in quality.

Another success story emanating from Dallas is Luscher’s Post Oak Red Hots, created by Chef Bryan Luscher, owner of the Grape on Greenville Avenue. The man is drawing on his Chicago roots to smoke a true red hot, and sells them at a local farmers market, and wholesale to restaurants such as The Green Grocer on Greenville and Bolsa Mercado in Oak Cliff.

Restaurants already have picked up on the newly-offered dog, and you can find them on the menu of the newly opened The Lot in East Dallas.

The burger business seems to be in high gear still, with steam moving that movement along at an alarming rate. Recently Maple & Motor won a national award featured on a television program. This burger seems to be the gold

Cocktails Anyone?

The raging cocktail movement which has heated the city map for the past few years seems to have matured, and is winning high praise. This is a movement I can wrap my head around, as have many in Dallas. I recently overheard a young man in Tate’s Craft Cocktails in Uptown explain to his lower 20-something friends that they absolutely need to try a Manhattan. His revelation in a true cocktail usurped his drinking buddy’s desire for a light beer, and eventually won them over to craft cocktails as many of the good barmen in this city have been working towards.

Our good cocktail bars are being infiltrated by members of the growing Bartender’s Guild, a group dedicated to properly mixing it up each evening to take off the edge of a busy day.

These same bartenders are competing, and winning, on a national level. Find these talented people behind the stick at bars such as Tates, Standard Pour, Cedars Social, P/S, People Last Stand, and more recently the reservation bar located (and somewhat hidden), Smyth.

A friend once explained to me that when it came to Manhattans you needed to order two at the beginning of the evening; one for sipping quickly for the heady affect, and the other to savor slowly, picking up the favorable nuances imparted by the quality ingredients.

The state of Dallas’ hospitality scene is ever growing as we become more comfortable in our own dining skin. The way to explore these new venues is by being a curious guest, and an adventuresome diner. Order what might make you question your sensibilities, and imbibe in that which gives you pause. These are good times, my friends.

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standard by which other burgers are judged, but there are some amazing examples in play all over the city. Consider the Austin transplant Hopdoddy located in Preston Center, which often has lines snaking around the building late at night.

To wash down all of these burgers and dogs are many new breweries now open in North Texas. Peticolas Brewing Company won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Colorado. The Royal Scandal brew took the highest honor for Classic English-Style Pale Ale, not bad for a business open for a mere 10 months. The Peticolas Velvet Hammer, an American Strong Ale rated at 9.1% ABV, continues to be our personal favorite.

Other breweries, such as Deep Ellum Brewing Company, Lakewood, and Franconia are putting Dallas on the map with their innovations in brews and marketing genius. Beer just lends itself to boastful speech, and high praise.

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declared by some as the best restaurant in Dallas, serving up his new American cuisine. This undefinable cuisine seems to be what we do best in Dallas. These chefs also appreciate the local farmers and ranchers, and you often will hear the tired term farm-to-table bandied about. This simply means a less reliance on farmed goods grown across country, or beef from questionable feedlots located anywhere on the planet.

Boulevardier located in Bishop Arts is another example of a young talented chef making his mark on the dining landscape in Dallas. Chef Nathan Tate grew up in the North Texas area, and his family actually raises the beef he uses at the French-inspired bistro. Tate also relies on a quick turnaround in shipping for his seafood and fine selections of oysters offered up daily.

Matt McCallister has drawn in a huge fan base since opening his Design District restaurant, FT33. McCallister’s cooking style is different from any cuisine you might find in Texas, or possibly the United States. Having started at Stephan Pyles as a pantry chef with little or no formal training, McCallister rose through the ranks quickly, taking in all the knowledge he could from books and online.

The chef dabbled in molecular gastronomy for a bit after being inspired during an excursion to Spain with Pyles. After working for the legendary Pyles for five years, the young McCallister took his cooking show on the road for a year and staged in various top restaurants in the country, and performed pop-up dinners in Dallas before finally opening his restaurants to high praise from local and national media.

Pyles recently told me that, “we (Dallas) are finally becoming the city we always thought we were.”

May 2013

TOUR AT 11AM EVERY SATURDAY THE BIER FROM HERE FRESHEST GERMAN BIER IN TOWN www.franconiabrewing.com • (972) 542-0705 495 McKinney Parkway • McKinney • Texas

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the big list of big d restaurants W

e are asked daily what the best restaurants are in the Dallas area, and daily we dispense advice centered around the particular person’s needs, be it expense, a particular cuisine or geographic location. This month we celebrate the very best restaurants by category and hope you will find your way into one of these star locations very soon.

pound. The otherwise forgettable fries are kicked up with the essence of bacon which they cook up in the deep fryer. 2615 S. Beckley, Dallas.

Adair’s Saloon is home to the half-pound no frills burger that has been made the same way since before your father was allowed to drink a Lone Star beer. Now you can do both and rock to some really good bands from around the Dallas area, 2624 Commerce, Dallas.

to Dallas. Look for extremely refined seafood dishes flown in fresh daily. First-timers will want to take part in the chef’s tasting menu, 8220 Westchester, Park Cities.

Driftwood shares its parking lot with Bolsa Mercado in Oak Cliff and serves refined seafood dishes such as an amuse-sized lobster roll, and delicious fish and chips (here called frites for their certain classiness), and the most ethereal grilled octopus you can find this side of Davy’s Locker, 642 W Davis, Dallas.

Best Burgers Maple & Motor Burger continues to top all the best burger charts. The smallish burger restaurant also serves up a tiny menu consisting of burgers made in every known fashion using a blend of top ground beef and brisket for added flavor. It also offers fried bologna sandwiches, and a mean yardbird. Bonus points for the shakes and the amazing chili that can top most anything, 4810 Maple Ave., Dallas.

Dairy-ette has been serving homemade burgers and shakes for the past 55 years. It also takes great pride in mixing up its own house root beer. Look for rock-solid greasy cheeseburgers at this epic diner, 4785 Ferguson Rd., Dallas.

Off-Site Kitchen is operated by the same fellow who throws down at one of several Neighborhood Services around Dallas. The very small restaurant shines on the map serving what owner Nick Badovinus calls ‘light industrial food.’ Call it what you will, it is the best burger in Dallas to date, 2226 Irving Blvd., Dallas.

Wingfield’s Breakfast and Burgers is located in Oak Cliff in a precarious position that might not lend itself to anything but this magnificent and enormous burger. A single with a side of fries can easily weigh in at more than a get blitzed

By steven doyle – cravedfw.com

The Grape tops most lists in Dallas and Texas Monthly magazine raved about its burger which is sold only on Sunday and Monday. Look for a really tasty chef-driven burger topped with house-made bacon and its own mustard. It really is good, 2808 Greenville Ave., Dallas.

Good Friend Burger and Beer Garden is home to some pretty spectacular burgers made many, many ways. The best might be the one with the added slices of brisket. Who knew burgers could taste so swell? Come for the burgers but stay for the killer selection of craft beer, 1154 Peavy Rd., Dallas.

Best Seafood 20 Feet Seafood Joint is a simple neighborhood spot for great seafood created by two award-winning chefs taking life a little easier at their East Dallas restaurant. Look for crazy good fish and chips, fried clams and the creamiest chowder you can find in Dallas. For the non-seafood fan, look for the house-made ramen with rich and flavorful pork belly, 1146 Peavy Rd., Dallas.

Spoon is the new restaurant opened by Top Chef John Tesar who has worked across the country including at the Mansion on Turtle Creek. We are excited to see this new addition

TJ’s Seafood Market and Grill is an extension of the old seafood market located on Forest Lane at Preston. That location sells only seafood to go, and will do limited preparations, such as steaming your lobsters. The new location has seats and invites you to order from the menu or choose your seafood from the case and suggest your own cooking style. Look for the very freshest seafood in Dallas to fly through these doors, 4212 Oak Lawn, Dallas.

Oceanaire is located in the Dallas Galleria and has a strong presence as one of the toprated seafood restaurants in Dallas. Look for the best crab cake delivered in the area along with strong entrees and an incredible oyster selection not found on any menu in North Texas, 13340 Dallas Parkway, Dallas.

Hook, Line and Sinker is old-school Dallas seafood offering quality preparations such as fish and chips, oysters and crawfish. The restaurant attracts a crowd of hungry regulars looking for cold beer and hot seafood, 3103 Lemmon Ave., Dallas.

The Boiling Crab is one of our city’s hidden gems and we are not helping the place by mentioning them here. Look for a long wait that is well worth it at this mostly steamed seafood joint. The prize is the crawfish that are served large and in charge. This is where you bring your Cajun friends who brag about their crawfish, 10560 Walnut, Dallas.

Seabreeze Seafood Market is Plano’s answer to all things seafood. What it doesn’t have, it can get. All the seafood is flown in fresh daily and can be taken home to cook, or served at one of their ample tables. Look for hard-to-find fish. The lobster roll is on the ‘must try’ list, 4017 Preston, Plano.

Best Italian Cuisine Battuto Italian Kitchen is the latest addition to the fine Italian dining category set in a quiet neighborhood in North Dallas. Owned by radio’s Gene and Julie, Battuto offers up fresh made Italian pasta dishes, wood burning oven pizzas and other dishes roasted in the same oven. Look for refined fare at a reasonable price with an excellent wine selection priced fairly.

18101 Preston, Dallas.

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Guide To Good Eats Continued

Nonna is set in a small and unassuming strip mall off Lemmon Avenue serving up exquisite regional Italian cuisine, including house-made salumis, pastas and other refined fare. Do not miss the wood-fired white clam pizza as a starter for any meal, 4115 Lomo Alto, Dallas.

Nonna Tatta should not be confused with the Nonna in Dallas. Our lists are primarily in Dallas, but we had to offer up this fine momand-pop restaurant. The prices in this gem of a trattoria will make you feel guilty. Side that with the fact that Nonna Tatta is BYOB, and you have a fantastic evening in Fort Worth well worth the drive. The Usual next door will take seatings for the restaurant and serves up the best drinks found in Texas, 1400 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth.

Lucia might be the most successful tiny restaurant in Dallas, and is located in the prospering Bishop Arts District. The brilliant menu changes nearly each day, but we can say that each dish is handled with care and served with delightful Italian wines hand selected each week, 408 W. Eighth St., Dallas.

Zio Cecio is far removed from the hectic restaurant rush across the city, and home to some delicious fresh pastas and seafood Sardinian-style by an honest-to-goodness Italian fellow. Trade your Italian fishing stories with owner Francesco, and gaze into the candle-lit beauty of the romantic surroundings, 4615 W. Lovers, Dallas.

Urban Crust is downtown Plano’s answer to all things Italian. This might be better filed under our pizza category, but the restaurant offers so much more. The chef is a friendly fellow who you must listen to carefully to hack through the thick accent that endears this beautiful spot.

Look for solid Neapolitan pizza along with fresh pasta dishes, and a damned good grilled steak, 1006 E. 15th, Plano.

Best Pizza Dough is currently tops in our favorite pizza category serving up the finest example of Neapolitan pizza in Dallas. In addition to amazing pizza, look to the burrata bar for freshly made burrata which is stuffed mozzarella that oozes cream onto spritzes of olive oil and balsamic, 11909 Preston, Dallas.

Serious Pizza is over-the-top pizza found in Deep Ellum and served New York style and large as manhole covers. A single slice often is all any one human should eat, but we have blasted through nearly a half of a pizza single handedly, 2807 Elm, Dallas.

Bryan Street Tavern is our go-to late night pizza place when we must have the best beer in Dallas, and need a good patio for chilling. This bar offers so much more than just pizza, making it a fantastic spot for dining as well as boozing and cruising. The music is tops as well, 4315 Bryan Street, Dallas.

Louie’s makes almost everyone’s list, and was off mine for many years due to the rudeness of the staff. Since then, I have come to embrace the lunacy called service at Louie’s and accepted

the fact that the pizza is good enough to crawl through the bs. Oh, there are some tasty butter-drenched crab claws offered up that will make the wait worthwhile. Louie is much like the Honey Badger, he doesn’t give a shit if you come or not. So do, and enjoy the pizza, 1839 Henderson, Dallas.

Coal Vines makes our list of tasty pizzas because we want to share the top secret underground pizza that will make your toes curl.

The sliced meatball pizza is not to be ignored, and the very reason you should go to Coal Vines in Uptown tonight and grab a pie of any size, 2404 Cedar Springs, Dallas.

Eno’s Pizza Tavern is located in the Bishop Arts District where it serves one of the better pizzas in the area. Perhaps it is the beer talking, but it truly is a refined pizza that will have you back for repeat offenses. Great beer selection in comfortable surroundings, 407 N. Bishop, Oak Cliff.

Best Mexican Food Mesa Veracruz Coastal Cuisine takes you to another world that is not Tex Mex. The only enchilada you will find begrudgingly is filled with lobster. But do not let that ingredient trip your wallet, Mesa is fine interior Mexican cuisine served at family prices. Look for supple hand-made toritllas served with the best moles, guisos, empanadas and a deliciously prepared Cochinita Pibil, 118 W. Jefferson, Dallas.

Cuquita’s is another city gem that must be shared with friends and family. This family-run restaurant has garnered high praises including best Mexican Restaurant by Texas Monthly.

Enjoy hand-made tortillas, and fresh-from-scratch tamales made daily, 13260 Josey Lane, Farmers Branch.

Komali is operated by the chef who has the very successful next door, Salum’s. This is his homage to his Mexico City roots, offering dishes he grew up on as a child. Look for anything adorned with the Mole Colorado, or the Chile Rellenos. The best margaritas in Dallas also can be found at Komali, 4152 Cole, Dallas.

MesoMaya now has two locations. One is convenient to the Klyde Warren park downtown, and also has a side restaurant that simply serves street tacos in the back by the parking lot. A perfect Cochinita Pibilis served up with a platter of house-made tortillas (requisite) and splendid margaritas with an ample nod to the best tequilas that can be sourced in the U.S., 1611 McKinney Ave., Dallas.

Mr Mesero is Mico Rodriguez at his finest.

Mesero will entrance you with beautiful plating that you will insist should cost more than it really does. The enchiladas can be served in a combo so you have the ability to sample each, but you will swear to the mole sauced version. Powerful margaritas carry you wistfully into the night, 4444 McKinney, Dallas.

Herrera’s Café is a must for any Mexican food list that is written in Dallas. A Tex Mex staple since the beginning of time, Herrera’s gives the giant list of numbered plates with their alpha spin offs a run for their money. Look for super solid enchiladas, thick flour tortillas and a bountiful plate called the Jimi’s Special. The complimentary bean soup is to die for, 4001 Maple Ave., Dallas.

Escondido has the best beef enchiladas made in the city of Dallas. Stop looking, you won’t find better. Great Tex Mex with no frills and terrible hours. The word Escondido means ‘hidden’ and this restaurant is off the beaten path. Besides the enchiladas, go for the chalupas, 2210 Butler, Dallas.

Best Neighborhood Restaurants Parigi Café has a locally-sourced fresh menu that rotates on a bi-weekly basis. It is a neighborhood favorite that serves Parisianinspired food. Fresh soups, salads and entrees that warm the soul bring back regulars who have dined here for years. Great wine list at fair prices, 3311 Oak Lawn, Dallas.

JoJo Eating House has a small French leaning simply because the chef hails from France, but be there no doubt this is a neighborhood café that serves delicious pizzas, a few great steaks, some over-the-top seafood options and imaginative starts. This all makes for a fabulous meal served with a superb wine list and cocktails, 2626 Howell, Dallas.

Marquee Grill is a stand-out restaurant in Highland Park Village. This neighborhood spot has something for everyone, cooked with a refined hand and served by a capable staff.

One of the better bars set in a Dallas restaurant.

Look for steaks, seafood, house-made pastas, and a delicious chop, 33 Highland Park Village, Dallas.

Salum’s is sitting all alone in a non-restaurant neighborhood, but doesn’t mind the lack of company as its guests are able to make their way to this easy-on-the-eyes gem. Look for standard American fare including one of the best lamb chops around served with a mushroom bread pudding, 4152 Cole, Dallas.

Oak has been labeled one of the best restaurants in Dallas and it is difficult to disagree with the New American menu that has a classic feel and over-the-top execution. Reservations are a premium, so make plans well in advance. Oak houses one of the best pastry chefs in Dallas, so save room for one or two desserts. Cocktails are a must, 1628 Oak Lawn, Dallas.

The Grape has been a neighborhood staple for so many years it is considered the template for how a restaurant should be run. Look for house-made charcuterie that is off the chain, the best mushroom soup, and that burger that everyone keeps talking about. The menu changes often, so look for your favorites in rotation. The wine list is very solid, 29808 Greenville, Dallas.

Boulevardier is located in the Bishop Arts District of Dallas and is billed as an American www.blitzweekly.com

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Guide To Good Eats Continued

French Bistro. The raw bar offers a delicious selection of oysters, and a haunting grilled baby octopus. The lamb’s neck is filling, and the bouillabaisse is fantastic. The starters are hard to pass up, including the crawfish beignets, 408 N. Bishop, Dallas.

Fearing’s is Dean Fearing’s eponymous restaurant located in the beautiful Ritz Carlton in Dallas. Fearing offers his fabled Texas cuisine set in a beautiful surrounding of the best hotel in the state. Look and find Dean’s famous tortillas soup, some delicious shrimp tacos, and host of meats including bison and antelope. Sunday requires Granny Fearing’s “Paper Bag Shook” Fried Chicken. We love all the pastries as well, 2121 McKinney, Dallas.

Rise No. 1 is largely a soufflé restaurant, but there are plenty of other dishes offered including sandwiches and steaks. Try the marshmallow soup, which actually is a tomato soup with lumps of delicious goat cheese. The soufflé is king here and you will need to try them all. The ham and cheese is wonderful, 5360 W. Lovers Lane, Dallas.

Shinsei is a beautiful neighborhood Japanese and sushi house located at Lovers Lane and Inwood. The sushi bar could very well stand get blitzed

on its own, but the chef-driven Japanese fare satisfies those who do not appreciate fish as much as the rest of us. Fun bar and delicious food, 7713 Inwood, Dallas.

best examples of ribs and brisket in the area. The sides are over-the-top, and include a formidable rib jam that is good for the take home, 400 W. Davis, Dallas.

Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen is open all day and supplies its guests with local cuisine favorites such as shrimp and grits, pan fried chicken, duck breast served with scallops and a mean filet of beef. Look for daily specials, 6130 Luther Lane, Dallas.

Mike Anderson’s is of the old-school cafeteria-style barbecue houses. Chew on tender beef and pork, along with some tasty ribs. Anderson makes his own sauce and often is found slicing meat at the head of the line. Bonus prize: Bacon-wrapped brisket stuffed jalapenos, 5410 Harry Hines, Dallas.

Best Barbecue Pecan Lodge is open Thursday through Sunday until it runs out of meat. Some days this is earlier than others, but you can bet it is well before 3 p.m. Pecan Lodge serves up juicy smoked brisket, meaty spare ribs, pulled pork and house-made sausages. Try the fried chicken and the Hot Mess, which is a giant baked sweet potato filled with pulled pork and the rest of the pantry, 920 S. Harwood (Shed 2), Dallas.

Lockhart Smokehouse has roots that go back to the early days in Lockhart, Texas. Hill Country BBQ is by far the best example of Texas BBQ and that is what the pit-master sends out each day. Emphasis on nothing fancy, just delicious smoked meats that includes some of the

Off the Bone is the latest addition to the barbecue front in the Southside area of Dallas.

Weekends find the rib shack open late nights, and for the hungry beast in you, try the all-youcan-eat rib option. These are the more expensive and tasty baby backs that you sing about, 1734 Lamar, Dallas.

Hard Eight is in Coppell and well worth the drive for the Dallas crowd who often is frightened of setting foot outside the loop. This place grabs awards for their hard smoke and deliciously tender meats and sides, 688 Freeport Pky., Coppell.

Meshack’s Bar-Be-Que Shack uses Texas pecan for the wood of choice and specializes

in ribs and brisket. The brisket has a thick, black crust with a bright red smoke ring. The ribs are smoked through the rind, almost making them edible as well. Bring cash and a lawn chair.

There’s no place to sit and they have no idea what a credit card looks like, 240 E. Ave B, Garland.

Best Steakhouses Nick and Sam’s Steakhouse should not be confused with the Nick and Sam’s Grill.

One offers delicious, tender steaks, the other has burgers and pasta dishes. The steakhouse is all about the beef. Great steaks served with amazing service, a fun wine list and many options for those not wanting beef. Excellent wine cellar with a knowledgeable sommelier, 3008 Maple Avenue, Dallas.

SER Steak+Spirits is located on the 27th floor at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. Here the view almost plays second fiddle to the steaks, and both are tops in their categories. First-timers are encouraged to order the spinalis, which is the heart of the ribeye. Excellent seafood and yummy wine list, 2201 N. Stemmons, Dallas.

Guide continued on page 20

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meet the chefs that make dining in dallas great

D

allas quickly is emerging as a real force on the U.S. culinary stage. Amazing restaurants are opening constantly and great new chefs are proving their skills to be worthy of a spotlight on that stage. This has been made possible by pioneering chefs who have stayed the course and stuck to their guns.

While Dallas historically has been blessed with relatively impressive restaurants, primarily due to its centralized location as a trade route and travel hub and its sheer size and population, the Big D culinary boom didn’t really occur until the mid-1970s and early 80s. This due in part to the popularity of TV chefs such as Julia Child, Graham Kerr (The Galloping Gourmet), Jacques Pepin, and Jeff Smith (The Frugal Gourmet), who began reaching into American households, and holding the cooking hands of wives, husbands, and anyone who simply wanted to cook a good meal.

PBS was one of the first networks to broadcast cooking shows in the U.S. and Dallas, and one of the early PBS titles was “Great Chefs of the Southwest,” which showcased two Dallas chefs destined for celebrity status – Dean Fearing and Stephan Pyles. They are considered the fathers of Southwestern cuisine and each has trained numerous world-class chefs in their own right. They have hosted their own TV shows and appear regularly on food-related shows today.

Here is a list of prominent Dallas food royalty.

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By greg holman – EATDALLAS.BLOGSPOT.COM

Kenny Bowers

Kent Rathbun

Culinary Training: La Bonne Auberge, American Restaurant, and Milano in Kansas City; Mr. B’s in New Orleans; The Mansion on Turtle Creek; and the Landmark Restaurant in the Melrose Hotel; Iron Chef champion Style of Food: Contemporary Global Cuisine Current Restaurants: Abbacus, Jasper’s, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Special, KB Woodfire Grill

Brian Luscher

Culinary Training: Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park Style of Food: European Bistro Former Restaurants: Routh Street Brewery, The Grape (former Executive Chef) Current Restaurants: The Grape (Owner) – the first restaurant in Dallas to offer a blackboard menu and one of the first to offer wine by the glass.

Tim Byres

Culinary Training: Johnson and Wales College of Culinary Arts Miami, work with Stephan Pyles Style of Food: Farm-to-Table New Southern American Former Restaurants: Pacific Time in Miami, U.S. Embassy in Brussels, Belgium Current Restaurants: Bolsa, Bolsa Mercado, Smoke, Chicken Scratch, The Foundry

Culinary Training: Beginning in 1992, he was actually taught everything he knows by Jack Chaplin, (who was in the fourth graduating class of Johnson and Wales College of Culinary Arts) Style of Food: New American, Seafood, Italian, BBQ Former Restaurants: Daddy Jack’s Lobster & Chowder House, Lefty’s Lobster & Chowder House, Big Fish Little Fish, Rockfish Seafood Grill Current Restaurants: Kenny’s Wood Fired Grill, Kenny’s Italian Kitchen, Kenny’s Burger Joint, Kenny’s Smoke House

Dean Fearing

Culinary Training: Graduate of the Culinary Institute of America Style of Food: Southwestern or Elevated American Cuisine Former Restaurants: Executive Chef at The Mansion on Turtle Creek for more than 20 years Current Restaurant: Fearing’s

Stephan Pyles

Culinary Training: Great Chefs of France Cooking School at the Mondavi Winery Style of Food: HighSouthwestern Former Restaurants: Ruth St. Cafe, Baby Ruth, Star Canyon, AquaKnox, et al Current Restaurants: Stephen Pyles’, Samar, Stampede 66

Tim Love

Marc Cassel

Culinary Training: Dallas El Centro College – began his career at age 32! – it’s never too late folks.

Style of Food: New American/Seafood Former Restaurants: Baby Routh, The Mansion, Star Canyon, Azalea, Green Room, Park on Henderson, Dragonfly at Hotel Zaza, turned down a spot on Top Chef Current Restaurant: 20 Foot Seafood

Graham Dodds

Culinary Training: Cordon Blue London, work in London, Switzerland, and Thailand Style of Food: Farm-to-Table Former Restaurants: Star Canyon, The Grape, The Green Room, Dragonfly, Bolsa Current Restaurant: Central 214

Culinary Training: Self-taught Style of Food: Urban Western Cuisine Former Restaurants: Kiva Grill in Knoxville, Tenn.; Radisson Hotels, Mira Vista Country Club, Reata; Iron Chef Champion Current Restaurants: Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, White Elephant Saloon, Love Shack, Woodshed Smokehouse; Queenie’s Steakhouse These are just some of the people who have steered Dallas’ culinary path in its current and true direction. Visit their restaurants and try some of the food that has shaped the Dallas culinary topography. In future articles I hope to present some of Big D’s current kitchen stars, up-andcomers, and under-rated chefs of the Metroplex.

Eat on… www.blitzweekly.com

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VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

Food truck fever � spreading throughout DFW By steven doyle – cravedfw.com

Guide To Good Eats Continued

Chamberlian’s Steak and Chop House in Addison is the perfect hide-a-way for those looking for a fine cigar, a great steak and a perfect glass of wine. The 22-ounce bone-in ribeye is aged for 40 days, and the Waygu beef is a succulent must have here. Service is splendid, 5330 Belt Line, Addison.

Dakota’s Steakhouse often is overlooked in lists like these becaue of its precarious location downtown. Let there be no doubt that this is a steakhouse you need to make a reservation for soon. The 16-ounce filet always is a keeper, but the cowboy cut ribeye is the way to go. Don’t forget brunch service, 600 N. Akard, Dallas.

Best Sushi Teppo Yakitori and Sushi Bar continues to be a Dallas favorite and has maintained quality for many years. Look for all your sushi favorites.

The fish is flown is daily and hand selected.

Look to the $20 Sashimi plate that offers a wide variety for little loot, 2014 Greenville, Dallas.

Royal China looks beautiful, but do not let the shiny new interior fool you. This is the oldest Chinese restaurant in Dallas. Look to the newlyadded noodle bar where hand-tossed noodles are the name of the game. Whatever you order, you will be best advised to try the soup dumplings, which are the very best in Dallas, 6025 Royal Lane, Dallas.

Tei An often is confused as a sushi restaurant, but it is actually a soba noodle house that happens to make very good sushi. Top-rated, and priced accordingly, order some of the very best Japanese food that Texas has to offer, 1722 Routh St., Dallas.

Namoo has solid Korean fare and offers much in the way of the free sides called banchan. The Korean BBQ is what to order here, but there is so much more offered, including top quality soups for very little cash, 11425 Goodnight, Dallas.

Tei Tei Robata Bar was once related to Teppo, but split when the original owner sold it to his employees. The same great service and fresh fish flown in daily. The added robata bar makes for a fun evening with grilled selections, 2906 N. Henderson, Dallas.

Sapporo Ramen and Sushi offers just that, ramen and sushi. Great bowls of lovely liquid brimming with delicacies in a whole variety of ramen offerings, plus some fantastic sushi at the tiny bar. This is located in Little China where you will wish to discover many of the other restaurants one by one, 400 N. Greenville, Dallas.

Yutaka generally is considered one of the best sushi bars in Dallas. Located in Uptown Dallas, the bar offers many fresh fish selections and a full line of sakes. Visit the sister restaurant Sharaku Sake Lounge next door offering Izakaya serving Kushiyaki, Kushiage, Shabu Shabu and Sushi, 2633 McKinney, Dallas.

Kirin Court is the best spot for dim sum in Dallas. The large restaurant offers many Chinese dishes in addition to the dim sum menu which is served mid-day until 3 p.m. Weekends have a broader selection, but weekdays are half price and equally as delicious. Bring friends and share, 221 W. Polk, Dallas.

Best Asian First Chinese BBQ offers a true Chinese experience often overlooked in the North Texas area. The menu reads better in Chinese than its English interpretations. None the less, the best way to order may be the old look-and-point method. You can’t miss by ordering the roasted duck for the table to share. This is BYOB and it only takes cash, 111 S. Greenville Ave., Dallas.

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orth Texas is steeped in the quicklyemerging food-truck scene. Dallas has been a bit slower to the punch than Fort Worth, but in the last few years we have seen more than 100 new vehicles take to the streets.

These are not the catering trucks servicing construction sites, but rather higher-end cuisine offering everything from freshly grilled burgers, to a vast assortment of ethnic cuisine such as Korean tacos and Indian dosas.

The food-truck movement, and it is a movement in its own right, might have started with the advent of Twitter. In 2009 Kogi Taco of Los Angeles took the city by storm, using Twitter as its primary way of communicating with its guests.

At that time Kogi operated out of a single truck and Tweeted its locations, much as many trucks do now, to its growing audience. The locations were mainly outside busy nightclubs on any given party night, and the lines grew. Hungry revelers often would wait more than an hour for a taco, and thus the food truck culture was born.

Across the country would-be chefs were snapping up old delivery trucks and having them converted into mobile kitchens, wrapped in snazzy signage and parked outside busy intersections where people gathered most.

Eventually we saw the invention of the food truck park.

What an amazing time we live in. A family can conceive of a restaurant and within a few short months they are called chefs in their own right, using recipes that made them famous at backyard picnics, special occasion dinner parties and family gatherings.

Full-on traditional brick and mortar restaurants can cost more than $1 million to open their doors, but a food truck could fly open with a small loan from a rich uncle. Upon this dreams are built.

Dallas has relented a bit on its restrictions and allowed trucks to infiltrate the city’s byways.

These trucks are closely monitored with very few incidents being reported for cleanliness. This is the American Dream at its finest.

Enter trucks such as ssahmBBQ, another entry

into the Korean taco, or Ruthies Rolling Café, with its fleet of three trucks offering grilled cheese sandwiches, and even crepes to the masses.

Fort Worth has been on the leading edge of the food truck park scenario, though one of the parks recently failed. Dallas has been slow to the punch in that regard, unwilling to give up precious real estate for mobile food vendors who will pay small rental fees. Look for one such park to open this summer on Lower Greenville Avenue adjacent to the new Trader Joes. That will be a tight squeeze for the trucks as there is limited real estate being offered, but we will have our truck park soon.

With nearly 90 trucks in operation in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, there also have been some major casualties taking place. More than 30 trucks have failed or reconcepted in the past year. Some of the reasons are that these trucks find out that the restaurant industry is not for them. Others simply were not that well received by the food truck dining public. We only can handle so many burger or taco trucks. As with any industry, only the strong will survive.

A way for trucks to make their bank is to enter into the catering business, replacing the traditional chef who has an off-site kitchen to perform cooking duties. These trucks are sequestered at specific locations such as weddings with guarantees for the evening secured by the hosts. The trucks also are replacing traditional fundraisers which may have taken place at fancy hotels. There is huge cash to be made in catering, and some of the trucks have discovered this secret.

In Dallas look no further than the Arts District during any given lunch period or the new Klyde Warren Park any time of the day or night for an awesome truck experience. Find your truck and follow them on Facebook or Twitter. It is the American way.

THE END

summer blockbusters 2013

VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

May 2013

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By gary dowell - movielink.com

I

t’s summer time, which in Texas means at least part of the next several boiling-hot weeks will be spent in a cool, dark movie theater. Here are some of the high-profile releases scheduled for this summer, along with my thoughts on which ones are – or are not – worth your hard-earned dollars.

May Iron Man 3 Robert Downey Jr. suits up for a fourth outing as billionaire genius philanthropist playboy Tony Stark, who finds himself pushed to the edge of destruction by the villainous Mandarin (a suitably over-thetop Ben Kingsley). Shane Black (writer of the “Lethal Weapon” films) steps into the director’s chair, and a series of intense trailers and commercials suggest that a third time could be the charm for this stalwart franchise.

Release Date: May 3 The Great Gatsby Leonardo DiCaprio and director Baz Luhrmann (“Moulin Rouge”) unite for the fourth adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel – but can they pull it off? DiCaprio has had mixed results with heavy drama, and Luhrmann’s heavyhanded sense of style (or lack thereof) has sucked the life out of many a promising project (though we still dig “Romeo + Juliet”). Still, the material combined with a supporting cast that includes Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, and Joel Edgerton piques my curiosity.

Release Date: May 10 Star Trek Into Darkness J.J. Abrams’ surprisingly effective, brilliant 2009 reboot of the flagging “Trek” franchise and the casting of Benedict Cumberbatch (“Sherlock Holmes”) as an enigmatic villain make this arguably the most-anticipated sequel of the year. Consider it a hint of what to4. expect stylistically when Abrams delivers the next “Star Wars” sequel in 2015.

Release Date: May 17

The Hangover: Part III The Wolfpack returns for another hedonistic adventure after a so-so sequel in 2011. This time Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, and Ed Helms will hit Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Tijuana. The quick turnaround has us wondering if this outing will recapture the energy of the original, or merely rehash it.

Release Date: May 24 After Earth M. Night Shyamalan hasn’t made a decent movie in years, but this science-fiction drama seems compelling, and the director is working from someone else’s script for a change. Will Smith and his son Jaden star as a father and son stranded on Earth 1,000 years after humanity has abandoned it. The trailer hooked us, and the set-up makes “Avatar” look like a teddy bear’s picnic.

Release Date: May 31 June This Is the End While attending a party at James Franco’s house, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, and a slew of other celebrities find themselves faced with the apocalypse. With so many end-of-world movies on the market, what makes this one stand out? The fact that each of the actors placed an exaggerated, farcical version of him- or herself (including Michael Cera as a coke-loving sex deviant). It will be interesting to just how many body blows these guys’ egos can take.

Release Date: June 12 Man of Steel Zack Snyder (“300”) and Christopher Nolan (the “Dark Knight” movies) attempt to re-invent Superman for the modern age, casting “The Tudors” star Henry Cavill as the last son of Krypton, Russell Crowe as his father Jor-El, and Michael Shannon as the evil General Zod. Expectation is high – this is Superman, after all – especially after Bryan Singer’s bland-yetunderrated “Superman Returns.” Nolan can do no wrong, but Snyder’s “Sucker Punch” was a suckfest. With any luck, Nolan and Warner Bros. have kept him reigned in.

Release Date: June 14

World War Z This adaptation of Max Brooks’ cult-favorite novel has been troubled from the start, from its curious choice of director (Marc Forster, “Finding Neverland”), to its out-of-control budget, delayed release date, and heavy reshoots. Still, if it’s as intense as the trailer makes it out to be, then we’re in for a treat. It will either find new – ahem – life in the waning zombie sub-genre or be its last hurrah.

Release Date: June 21 July Lone Ranger Director Gore Verbinski worked with Johnny Depp on the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies and “Rango.” Still, we’re having a hard time getting into this oddball reboot of the classic character (played by “The Social Network’s” Armie Hammer opposite Depp as Tonto). Constant delays, reports of a skyrocketing budget, rumor that the movie features CG werewolves (Hollywood has a poor track record when it comes to weird westerns), or the bird worn on Tonto’s head have all dampened our enthusiasm. All we ask is that it’s at least better than “Dark Shadows.”

Release Date: July 3 Pacific Rim Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”) first project in years features two subjects near and dear to our hearts: giant robots and giant monsters.

The director’s output has been inconsistent lately, and so far the trailers have failed to excite (we blame Michael Bay for making megarobot battles uncool), yet we remain cautiously optimistic.

Release Date: July 11 The Wolverine Hugh Jackman returns for his fifth feature-length appearance as everybody’s favorite cranky mutant. Granted, the last Wolvie solo outing sucked big-time, but Fox seems to have learned from its mistakes: A more focused story adapts a classic tale from the comics, and the Japan setting gives it an exotic flair.

Release Date: July 26

Mirren, John Malkovich, and Mary-Louise Parker returning, with Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones joining the mix. This one could be a hit as well, so long as sequelitis doesn’t set in.

Release Date: August 1 300: Rise of an Empire Greek general Themistocles battles an invading army of Persians led by the self-proclaimed god Xerxes in this questionable prequel to the 2006 cult fave “300.” The latter helped put director Zack Snyder and actor Gerard Butler into the mainstream, and both have gone on to bigger and (sometimes) better things; “Rise of an Empire” has a largely unknown cast directed by the very unknown Noam Murro. One doesn’t need an oracle to be a bit skeptical.

Release Date: August 2 Elysium Neill Blomkamp, who seemingly came out of nowhere with the gritty and original “District 9” in 2009, returns with another sociopolitical sci-fi epic set in the 2154, where the world’s elite live aboard a paradisaical space station while the other 99.999% struggles to survive on a ruined Earth. Enter Matt Damon as a desperate man on a dangerous mission that may just bring equality to the world.

The recent trailer and secrecy surrounding the plot details have made this a highly anticipated film.

Release Date: August 9 Kick-Ass 2 At last, the sequel to Matthew Vaughan’s gloriously hilarious and vulgar spoof of superheros. Jim Carrey, Donald Faison, and John Leguizamo join returning cast members Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (who plays a villain named The Motherfucker) – what more could a comic-book geek want?

Release Date: August 16

August Red 2 This movie’s 2010 predecessor about retired assassins on the run was a surprise hit featuring a stellar cast and smartly-written action-comedy script.

This second outing sees Bruce Willis, Helen www.blitzweekly.com

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the dos and don’ts of online dating By karina manlove - @BlitzWeekly Last year, I did an online dating no-no: I sabotaged my date.

I thought it would go well, as we had a lot in common. We had the same college major, liked to travel, and had a similar sense of humor.

Everyone at work knew I had a date with him at

me after dinner that it was great to meet me but he didn’t foresee things working out between us.

I was appalled, and I didn’t understand what I’d done until much, much later. I didn’t realize that I was the jerk.

So, here are a few rules for when you meet

The keyboard is getting sticky

the end of the week and how pumped I was to meet him, especially since I had left a stressful and unhealthy relationship three months before.

I was ready to move on.

After communicating via a dating site for a few weeks, we decided to finally meet for dinner after work on a Friday night. We met at Starbucks. It was the perfect place to meet, so I could quickly leave in case his pictures weren’t accurate or if he creeped me out.

Thankfully, his pictures were quite accurate, and he was polite and well-groomed. I was glad he wore actual clothes and not a sports jersey, pajama pants, and Crocs. All aren’t acceptable first-date attire, unless you are going to a sporting event, having a sleepover (I suppose if your first date is a sleepover then you probably put up an ad in the “casual encounters” section of the personals on Craigslist), or really are trying to woo your date with plastic footwear. I waited outside for him and after we exchanged the awkward “Are you...?” and “Hi, yes, I am he/she from DateMe123.com,” we walked to the restaurant, where I suggested we go after we discovered a mutual appreciation for Thai food.

However, none of the mutual interests we shared mattered because I spent the entire date on my iPhone which I had just obtained. I told him excitedly that when I went to the store to upgrade my old phone, the sales associate told me he hadn’t seen my phone model in four years. True, upgrading a phone manufactured in 2007 with little features to a smartphone was a big deal – at least for me – but it had nothing to do with getting to know each other!

I swiped from app to app, showed him videos I thought were funny on YouTube, and chattered about all the gross guys on dating sites. Yes people, I actually talked about a couple of trolls who sent me messages and I showed him pictures. In hindsight, I did everything I could to turn him off, and it showed then because he told get blitzed

someone for a date so your experience is better than mine:

1) Put your phone away. If you are obsessively tapping away, nodding “yes” and shaking your head “no” while your date talks to you, they’re going to think you’re not interested. Put it on silent and keep it in your pocket, or simply turn it off. If you have to leave your phone in your car so you won’t be pulling up Internet memes and cat videos, please do. Using your cell phone at the table is rude. Learn from my example.

2) Avoid the awkward “who’s paying?” conversation by agreeing before the date to split the bill. This is particularly convenient if you don’t think the date is going anywhere. It happened to me during my date last year and it wasn’t pleasant to discuss payment after he told me we weren’t going to have a second date.

3) Don’t talk about who’s messaged you on the dating site, and certainly don’t show your date pictures! It’s like presenting your date with their competitors: “So these are the people who didn’t make the cut! Look, this person obviously doesn’t shower!” I cringe thinking about that mistake. Don’t let it be yours.

My mistake was embarrassing, and as a result, I lost out on a second date. It’s taken me months to realize that the reason he didn’t think things were going to work out was because I didn’t present myself as someone interested in him. The date wasn’t spent getting to know each other at all, which is what first dates are all about. At the end, knowing nothing more than I’d been on a dating site for a while and had basically chosen to talk to him because he was the least threatening and the most attractive out of the bunch, he most likely had no problem telling me “no thanks.” Lesson learned.

VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

May 2013

How Eddie Vedder Ruined Rock & Roll

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By peter gerstenzang - pzang7@optonline.net

T

here is little doubt that Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder probably is the most influential, famous singer of the past 20 years. But that’s a little like saying the best-known disease of the past 20 years is Mad Cow Disease because despite his many fans, Eddie drives me nuts.

See, he speaks normal English, but when he sings, he sounds like a demented Tuvan Throat Singer who’s having a fatal brain aneurysm. In other words, nothing like the way he talks. It’s all a bit like listening to Gomer Pyle who talks like a hayseed one minute, then bellows “The Old Rugged Cross” like Paul Robeson.

Unfortunately, there are now 10,000 Eddie wannabes, mush-mouthed, tongue-tied yowlers.

Which means Eddie Vedder has ruined rock radio. My favorites?

Dave Matthews (Jazz Eddie): There are several explanations as to why this guy sings like he’s having a psychotic break and needs to be hosed down with Thorazine. One

is that Matthews only records when he feels the Holy Spirit and can talk in tongues. The other is, by scatting in that silly voice, it takes a while to realize his lyrics have all the depth and meaning of the ingredients of Special K cereal. There is one great thing about Matthews, though. You can play his stuff backwards and forwards and there’s absolutely no difference.

John Mayer (Singer/ Songwriter Eddie): Mayer’s Eddie-like garbling is all his own. He sounds like he swallowed three Quaaludes an hour before church and then whispers, ‘Hey, can you hand me a prayerbook?’ His mushy diction is bad enough, but he always sounds like he’s trying to seduce some poor, unsuspecting girl who ends up going out with him, because she figured out too late what he just said. Mayer plays the blues, too. And if I’m any indication, he also causes them.

All ’s Fair in Love and a

Sh*t Sh By posie pockets comments@blitzweekly.com

fter my most recent attempt at a love affair, this entry should be “Pocketful of [insert female equivalent to peens].” Let the record show that I am fessing up to an instance where I was the supreme ass on a date. No pointing fingers. No making excuses. And I can double damn guarantee I won’t be asked out on a second date. Heck, I’m shocked he drove my uncouth butt home. Let me start from the beginning, where there was a blissful lingering promise of a potential new beau.

One of my besties casually knew this fine as hell Latino lawyer. She suggested a setup to him and he said, “She’s gorgeous. Done and done.”

I was busting out of my skin with giddiness that he was eager for a setup. And sure as the sun, this boy requested my digits and said he was going to call me instead of those text shenanigans. My most recent article was about how phone calls and voice to voice interaction was a lost cause. Well this Latin lover was proving me wrong. One last Romeo left…

A one-hour midnight phone call later, I got myself a date for date night. I couldn’t help but build him up a little in my head. He had so many of the qualities I thought I wanted in a fella. He was ruggedly handsome, from west Texas, he

w

was a lawyer, appeared to be chivalrous and had a big-ass, jacked up truck. I gave myself a pep talk before the date. “Alright, let this be your core shaker!” Lord knows I like my men with a little salt. And he sure sounded like a salt of the earth cowboy who most likely had a gun in his truck.He picked me up and my heart sank a little bit. No offense but he definitely looked more handsome in his pics on my trusty sleuthing tool, Facebook. His face was cluttered with a thick beard/mustache combo that kind of looked like an overgrown bush. I thought, “If we were to ever kiss, could I found his mouth?“ Plus he was wearing too many layers of clothing for the temperature and was hiding under a sweat-stained baseball cap. A baseball cap accompanying work clothes; was he trying to hide a receding hairline?

We sit down at the restaurant for drinks and I can already tell I’m going to be a lightweight for the night. I had just gone on a long run because I wanted to feel skinny and didn’t have any dinner. I may have been filling skeletal and lean, but I would have rather felt doughy and full if I knew what was in store for me.

First comes a margarita, then comes a vodka water, then two hours later he is assisting my

Rob Thomas (Pop Eddie): The tip-off might be that this guy leads a band with the meaningless name Matchbox Twenty. Still, that’s clear and straightforward compared to Thomas’s voice, which sounds like a circus performer singing while doing his sword-swallowing act.

The only difference between him and Eddie? Thomas wears a hat.

Isaac Slade (MOR Eddie): Another singer with a deep voice whose phrasing suggests he was having root canal surgery while recording. His band is in the Guinness Book of Records, though, because

every song his ‘rock’ band has ever done is a ballad.

And each one is about Slade feeling sorry for himself. At least, that’s what I think he’s saying. I can’t really tell. Only difference between him and Eddie? Slade just needs a date.

Chad Kroeger (Canadian Eddie): Yes, he also yarls and sings incoherently like Vedder while his band, Nickleback, lurches Frudd along behind him like a car driven by a kid who can’t use a stick. Worse? Dude gets played on the radio.

You just want to slap Kroeger when you hear him. But being Canadian, he’d probably smile and do the worst thing possible: Say thanks.

And keep singing.

stumbling body to the bathroom so I can pee.

The low point was when I tried to get up, jiggled Incessantly dramatic, I considered myself the and jolted around before sitting back down and laughing stock of the town. If I got so drunk on whispered, “I can’t do this independently. I need the first date, he probably thought I was some you to help me.” What a class act. At one point loosey-goosey floozy who walks around with this chipper little gay rattled something off to her legs wide open. Definitely not the best me in a mocking manner I didn‘t appreciate. It first impression, but I’m sure it’s going to stick. was like an out of body experience. I couldn’t I suppose he really is a stand-up guy for not believe I was “that drunk girl” at the restaurant, taking advantage of me in a sexual manner. tripping and yelling random shit loudly. The Although I do remember shaking my finger in waitress gave me a look I knew all too well. his face and chanting, “Don’t try to kiss me on a Usually because I was first date.” I’m sure he was the one giving looks thinking, “No problem you to pitiful little drunks kooky little lush.” He said who were reckless and there’d be another date, sloppy. Hello kettle. My but can you blame a guy I buried myself under name is pot. for not keeping his word on that? I certainly don’t in this my covers and pleaded I have never ever ever situation. with my imaginary been blackout drunk genie to undo the mess until this night. Some Lessons learned? Don’t of an evening. parts of the night were drink so much on a first dangerously foggy date on an empty stomach. when the sun’s rays Honestly I had absolutely unwelcomingly invaded no intention of getting that their way into my inebriated, but I can’t take bedroom window. Other tidbits from the night it back. In our morning-after texts, he told me I were crystal clear, like when I asked if he had had four drinks with hard liquor. You wouldn’t a big penis, or when I told him I have orgasms think that would mess someone up so much, but easily. I also casually demanded to know how for some reason on this night it did. The puzzling many women he’d slept with. The epitome of a thing is he texted me for two days after our date. trampy little whore! And that’s what stung me So I thought there was a sliver of hope he would the most: that’s not me at all. I’ve never once see past my drunken mishap and request date possessed those wild characteristics and don’t number two. No such luck. Oh well. My “perfect know why they emerged on this specific night. guy on paper” slips away into a memory. And I haven’t had a drop of alcohol since. I think I’ll I buried myself under my covers and pleaded stick to my usual, non-wild-ass ways and have a with my imaginary genie to undo the mess of latte from Starbucks as my drink of choice. This an evening. My head pounded like a drum, my will keep me from starring in my own date night stomach was convulsing and I was hurling like shit shows ever again. a party animal frat boy. I looked at my phone and there was a slew of discombobulated texts between the Latin lover and me in the midnight hour. www.blitzweekly.com

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ladies and gentlemen, emily is the future N By arthur bellfield - abellfield@blitzweekly.com

ot every woman can become a Kegel Camp counselor, go toe-to-toe with Dr. Drew on Love Line, and write a sex manual Hot Sex: Over 200 Things You Can Try Tonight in her spare time. Then again, not every woman is Emily Morse.

The sex and relationship expert turned podcast host of Sex with Emily, and Bravo television star of Miss Advised, has appeared on everything from The Doctors, The Today Show, Playboy Radio, and everything in between. Now she’s blessed the Blitz with an exclusive interview!

Sitting Pretty

Your podcast Sex with Emily continues to be one of the most popular sex advice shows on iTunes, so why do you think that after all these years people still want to have “Sex With Emily?”

People still want to have Sex with Emily because it’s the best sex (talk) you’ll ever have! People don’t talk about sex enough, or at least they aren’t having the right conversation about sex.

People mostly talk about how they want to have more sex or the bad sex they had last weekend.

Sex with Emily talks about how to have great sex and get into healthy relationships, which is something everyone needs help with.

Sex with Emily consistently presents sex and relationship information in an entertaining way that people can’t find anywhere else.

And, what piece of advice do you find yourself quoting-over-and-over again to sexually dysfunctional men? Or, women everywhere?

I prefer to call men and women sexually challenged rather than dysfunctional. Labeling someone as dysfunctional often exacerbates their situation, and makes them feel like their get blitzed

problem is physical and insurmountable. But a lot of people’s sex challenges are mental.

I advise men and women to get out of their heads and more in tune with their bodies.

Men and women get caught up with their own insecurities, desperately to “perform “perfectly or look perfectly. They’re too busy obsessing about their image to get in touch with their body and what they’re experiencing.

What have you learned about relationships and sex from Dr. Drew?

I’ve learned a lot from Dr. Drew over the years, listening to Loveline as a young adult and now recording the live show with him. His depth and breadth of knowledge from a medical, psychological and overall health standpoint gives him a unique vantage point. During his illustrious career he’s dealt with a wide range of issues from a holistic perspective.

I loved watching you on Miss Advised on Bravo, is it coming back for a second season? If so, what can viewers expect from the upcoming season?

So happy you enjoyed Miss Advised. It was amazing to have Sex With Emily reach an even wider television audience. Currently, I am developing a Sex With Emily talk show for television. More details to come!

And, finally what other projects do you have in the works for 2013 and how can people get more Sex with Emily?

There’s a lot happening in the Sex With Emily world over the next year. I’m launching a product line (more to come on that soon), I will have another iPhone app in addition to Kegel Camp and Sex Drive, I’m working on another book that will be easily downloadable on my site, and finally I’m earning my Doctorate in Human Sexuality in May. As always we’ll continue to release at least three podcasts for free a week on my website www.sexwithemily. com and through iTunes.

I’m also giving away sex tips and information that will rock your sex and relationship world when you sign up for my mailing list at www. sexwithemily.com. We also give away lots of free sexy products to our listeners. We’ll only hit you up via email with all the good stuff.

t s ou u k c Che acebook on F

wise words By mitch hedberg

VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

May 2013

Jack Johnson, boxing’s first black heavyweight. He’d been convicted of accompanying a white woman across state lines. If still alive, March 31st he’d have been 135 years old.

I haven’t slept for ten days, because that would be too long.

What am I drinking? NyQuil on the rocks, for when you’re feeling sick but sociable.

I saw this wino eating grapes. I was like “Dude, you have to wait”.

The last time I called ‘shotgun’, we had rented a limo, so I f*ked up.

I think Bigfoot is blurry, that’s the problem. It’s not the photographer’s fault. Bigfoot is blurry. And that’s extra scary to me. Cause there’s a large, out-of-focus monster, roaming the countryside.

Taurus April 20 – May 20 At some point in the near future you will be the victim of a drive-by egging by some bastard riding a segway.

Gemini May 21 – June 21 Your attempt to sext your girlfriend while making Star Wars references will end in failure and result in a date with your hand.

Cancer June 22 – July 22 You will get your DNA results back and will be informed that you are a 50% match with your mother but will not share any DNA with your father.

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By Andrew J. Hewett www.chewednews.com ABOUT TIME! Relatives and hometown supporters met in Galveston, TX, in March 2013, to prepare a YouTube presentation asking President Barak Obama to pardon

Leo July 23 – August 22 That catchy Japanese song that you like so much is about a dildo.

Virgo August 23 – September 22 You will learn two things soon. First your girl loves to have sex. Second, you’re practically the only one she hasn’t had sex with the past two months.

Libra September 23 – October 22 You will inform your boss that you’re a pathological liar and would like to get help. He’ll reply that you’re joking and that you should get back to work.

AN UNSOCIABLE SHIP Remember when the Carnival cruise ship Triumph became crippled in the Gulf of Mexico, causing thousands of tourists and crew to suffer clogged toilets, no air conditioning, no electricity for several days? After all aboard were rescued, the Triumph was towed and docked at Mobile, Alabama, where it broke loose April 4, 2013, “rolled-down-the-river” and crunched into a cargo ship.

Scorpio October 23 – November 21 This month you’ll borrow your friend’s laptop. The sticky keyboard will give you a good idea of the browsing history.

Aquarius January 20 – February 18 You’ll go on your fifth date with your new girlfriend later this month. She’ll be so excited to see you that she’ll forget to take off her wedding ring.

Sagittarius November 22 – December 21 A prayer group will circle you and start praying that the good doctors and nurses heal you from the disease that has disfigured your face.

Pisces February 19 – March 20 People say you’re unmotivated, easygoing and too accepting of your own flaws, but you’ve learned to live with that.

Capricorn December 22 – January 19 Next week you will walk in on your roommate eating cat food out of the cat bowl in a cat costume.

Aries March 21 – April 19 The stars would love to tell you what’s in your future but would rather see the look on your face when it happens.

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MAY 2013

VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

By amber lafrance - alafrance@blitzweekly.com

Taste Addison,

it’s not just about the f

Taste Addison, now in its 21st year, causes hundreds of Dallas residents to flock north of I-635 for its familyfriendly, hybrid music and food festival each year. I rarely venture this far north these days, but do plan on making the trek for this weekend-long mini-fest in May. I’m looking forward to gorging myself on everything from chili cheese fries to BBQ brisket sliders, and enjoying a complete Texas-style calorie overload.

But Taste Addison is not just about the food. This year, you can enjoy a lineup of artists with deep country and Southern rock roots, including acts like Reckless Kelly, Turnpike Troubadours, Sister Hazel and Blue October. The line-up hasn’t been fully announced yet, but you can check out the Taste Addison website for additional acts closer to the event.

Here’s a few of the already announced performers for this year:

Blue October These Texas-based rock stars are no newbies to the game. For 18 years, they’ve been known for their dynamic sound and platinum album releases. Shortly after their Taste Addison gig, the group’s famed record producer/lyricist/guitarist/lead singer, Justin Furstenfeld, is set to begin his 24-date one-man show, fully equipped with intimate showcases, spoken word, Q&A sessions and acoustic neverbefore-heard songs for die-hard fans.

Reckless Kelly After 15 years together and a whopping nine album releases, these Austin-based country rockers released their last album in 2011 titled Good Luck & True Love and continue to swoon

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fans across the nation with their powerful live performances.

Sister Hazel This Southern rock/alternative group from Gainesville, Fla., has been around just as long as Reckless Kelly and continues to gain momentum on the Billboard album charts after eight full-length albums. The band’s members recently spent a whole weekend on a booze cruise with fans during what I’ve heard is the “world’s largest floating music festival” dubbed the Rock Boat.

Turnpike Troubadours Five members make up this Oklahoma-based Red Dirt group. After releasing their third fulllength album, Goodbye Normal Street, they’ve toured the country throwing back beers with bigger and bigger crowds along the way. In March, the quintet riled up fans and got the crowd movin’ at White Horse Saloon for its official SXSW showcase in Austin.

Breaking Southwest This group of up-and-coming country artists from North Texas played Channel 8’s NYE celebration at Victory Park. After winning the Texas Motor Speedway Fast Track to Fame Big D NYE competition, members performed live in front of a crowd of nearly 40,000 people after releasing a mere two albums and a music video.

Tim Urban Discovered in 2010 on American Idol, Texasbased country artist Tim Urban won over viewers with his smooth vocals and smalltown boy charm. After finishing seventh in the competition, this 23-year-old singer-songwriter performed on the American Idol summer

d

concert tour and released his first EP Heart of Me later that year. Rumor has it he’s now working on a full-length album to be released before the end of 2013.

Ryan Edgar Eclectic Dallas-based performer Ryan Edgar has been seen traveling cross-country between Los Angeles and Memphis, performing original songs with classic rock and soul influences.

After making local pit stops at the House of Blues Dallas and the Granada Theater, the artist has recently appeared on the television series Troubadour Texas, which provides viewers a sneak peek into the lives of some of some of today’s most talented singers and songwriters.

You can check out him and more artists from the series on the Troubadour, TX Stage that weekend.

Dos Equis Main Stage Schedule: Friday, May 17 6:00 p.m.................. Breaking Southwest 7:30 p.m................... Troubadour Texas Presents 9:00 p.m.................. Reckless Kelly 10:30 p.m................Turnpike Troubadours Saturday, May 18 10:30 p.m................Blue October Sunday, May 19 2:00 p.m.................. Tim Urban

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Sunday, May 20 2:00 p.m.................. TJ Broscoff, Guthrie Kennard and Max Stalling 3:00 p.m.................. BlackTopGYPSY 4:00 p.m.................. Woody Russell Band Live music isn’t your thing? Check out the inaugural Taste Run 5K, fully equipped with food stops to snack along the way or channel your inner child and hop on one of the many carnival rides. Sherlock’s is even hosting a “flair bartending exhibition” where local bartenders show off their moves by flipping, spinning, throwing, balancing and catching bottles, drinks and various bar tools while making your whiskey and Coke.

What: When:

Where:

The 21st Annual Taste Addison Friday, May 17, 6 p.m.-midnight Saturday, May 18, noon-midnight Sunday, May 19, noon-5 p.m.

Addison Circle Park

Come grab yourself a beer, a mouthful of food and join the nearly 70,000 people who regularly attend the annual get-together. Parking is free at the corner of Dallas Parkway and Arapaho and it’s cheap to get in at only $5-$15 a pop.

See you there.

Troubadour, TX Stage Schedule: Saturday, May 19 2 p.m. ...................... Phoenix Hart, Kirk Thurmond and Cary Cooper 3 p.m........................ Tom Prasada-Rao, Melissa Greener and Rohn Bailey

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4:00 p.m. ................ Jon Christopher Davis, Ryan Edgar and Tom Faulkner 5:00 p.m. ................ Zane Williams Band 6:00 p.m.................. Little Brave Band

Your Prescription Is Ready!

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Amber

VOL. 6 - ISSUE 4

May 2013

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