July 11th, 2010 | permalink

LeBron James

A lot has been said and written about LeBron James and “The Decision”. These are my notes for posterity’s sake.

Everyone knew that this time would come. Ever since LeBron signed the three year extension on his contract with the Cavaliers, there was going to be a major announcement involving where he would go three years later. I guess the surprise came in the spectacle that “the decision” evolved to.

In happier times… the picture above was taken after LeBron was presented the MVP trophy in the 2008-2009 season. They lit up the WITNESS billboard. Representatives from the lighting company stood behind Erika and I and got a photo of us taking a photo of the billboard. The photo was also on the Wieden + Kennedy blog (the ad firm that does all of the LeBron Nike advertising).

In the weeks leading up to the decision, I had been ok with whatever decision he would make. After all, how can you blame someone for what they want to do with their lives? I was resigned to the fact that he would probably move on… Chicago or Miami. Hey, I am not the biggest Cavs fan and have only seen him play live twice. He would move on and we all would get on with our lives.

About a week or so before the decision, billboards started popping up around town trying to get Lebron to stay. “HOME” was one of the themes used by morethanaplayer.org. There were flash mobs, an LBJ Appreciation Day and many more efforts to try to appeal to the superstar. The desperation was disgusting.

Then, it was announced that there would be a one-hour special to announce his decision. Can we really blame LeBron for treating us like we are his minions when you look at how high we placed him on a pedestal? At first I thought that it was ridiculous and that I wouldn’t even watch it. But I was sucked in like everyone else. This is when my opinion went from not caring to anger.

I knew that it was a no win situation for Cleveland, the city. If he left not only would it be another chapter in the history of the misery of Cleveland sports culture but it would also fuel the nation’s perception of how destitute my home city is. “God Bless those people”, Stuart Scott. – Thanks Stu, but we don’t need your sympathy.

If he had decided to stay in Cleveland, this whole ego-trip and backlash that is happening in the national media would be tied to our city. Either way, Cleveland was going to be cast in a bad light.

We all should have seen this coming. After all, he wanted to be a global icon not the mayor of Cleveland. He said on more than one occasion that he is from Akron, not Cleveland.

Side note – Jim freaking Gray? Really?

And then there is Dan Gilbert. Even without the Comic Sans, his open letter to the media was a disgrace.

TV crews were all over the city: at bars, in front of the Q, in front of the WITNESS billboard. They were just waiting for something to happen. I am glad to see the city held it together pretty well except for one riled up fan. Burning jerseys is not really my thing either. I think grown men in sports stars’ jerseys look ridiculous to start. Burning them you look doubly so.

So the conversation has turned to who will be the next Cleveland Icon. “Great” ideas have been spawned including putting Josh Cribbs on the Witness Billboard. It is funny how people claim he is so loyal and quickly forget how he whined and cried to get more money with a year left on his current contract. Let’s not try to crown the new king. Don’t you see how well the first one turned out?

I think the majority of the city was more angered by the circus around the decision and not so much the decision itself.

Other good reads on this topic:

LA Times
Vanity Fair
Yahoo Sports
Deadspin
Detroit Free Press
Mo Williams Twitter Reaction (Cleveland.com)
Inside the Decision (Cleveland.com)
All of Northeast Ohio Isn’t Mad (Cleveland.com)

April 21st, 2010 | permalink

Win two tickets to Thirsty Dog Craft Beer Dinner at The House of Blues

Have you ever wanted to get the Rock Star treatment? Here is your chance. I have been given a couple of tickets to give away for the Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. Craft Beer Dinner at the House of Blues Cleveland on Tuesday, April 27th. Thirsty Dog is one of North East Ohio’s premiere breweries hailing from Akron, OH. The concept is unique, experience the House of Blues as if you were the artist. This is the first in their Craft Beer Dinner Series. Meet and greet at 5pm and dinner on stage starts at 6pm. The Price is $75 per person, but I am giving you the chance to win 2 tickets free of charge simply by commenting on this post.

Here is the lineup and menu…

A Special Cask Conditioned Meet & Greet Backstage Accompained by House Made Bavarian Pretzels & Mustard Seed Aioli

“Chicken & Waffles” – Confit Organic Bell & Evans Chicken Thighs, Roasted Corn Waffles and Cabbage Slaw, Truffled Honey Drizzle paired with Whippet Wheat

Coriander Crusted Diver Scallops, Micro Cilantro Nage Braised Baby Potatoes, and Root Vegetables paired with Hoppus Maximus

“3 Little Pigs” – Porter Brined and Double Roasted Pork Shoulder, Hickory Smoked Port Belly and Crispy Pancetta, Sauteed Dill Dumplings, Brussel Sprouts, and Spring Onions paired with Old Leghumper

Siberian Night Imperial Stout & Milk Chocolate Gelato, Pan Toasted Poundcake, Thirsty Dog “Raspberrys” paired with Siberian Night

Download the full House of Blues Thirsty Dog Beer Dinner Menu

All that you need to do to enter the contest is comment on this post. You must be 21 or over to win. In your comment, please include your name and email so that you may be notified. All entries are due by 11:59 pm Sunday, April 25th. A winner will be randomly selected by Random.org on Monday, April 26th.

Good luck to all! I hope to see you all at this unique dinner concept.

April 12th, 2010 | permalink

Indians Home Opener

Less of a post, more of a series of phrases.

Opening day in Cleveland, Indians baseball, sun, hot dogs, Stadium Mustard, Great Lakes Burning River IPA, salty peanuts, Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids, Ketchup wins the hot dog race, Me, Kade.

And the Tribe lost 4-2 in 10 innings.

April 8th, 2010 | permalink

Baseball Beer

Above is the newest tap handle for The Greenhouse Tavern and Buckeye Brewing Co. that I designed. After the first design for Saison de Maison (pictured left), some people were offended by the nude female figure. So with this design, we opted for the nude male figure in the style of the old Chief Wahoo sign that stood at the top of Cleveland Municipal Stadium for years. It also ties in the likeness of one of the bartenders at GHT, Will Hollingsworth, who was up for an award as Metromix Cleveland’s Hottest Bartender.

The story of this series of tap handle logos is further explained on the Cleveland Magazine Blog in an entry written by Laura Taxel.

Baseball Beer is three-way blend and cask conditioned ale made up of Buckeye Aquarius, Buckeye Bling Bling and Saison de Maison. This beer will be released (on tap only) on Sunday, April 11 from 2pm – 11pm, the day before the Cleveland Indians home opener. It is part of the Pre-Opening Day festivities at The Greenhouse Tavern.

Also, congratulations are in order for Chef Jonathon Sawyer and the whole GHT crew as he was named one of Food & Wine Magazine’s Best New Chefs 2010. This is a truly great accomplishment and I think it is just the beginning for this great person and chef.

March 31st, 2010 | permalink

Passion Pit at the House of Blues, Cleveland

I am glad that I got to see Passion Pit again, this time at the House of Blues here in Cleveland. The tickets went on sale a while back and they were pretty cheap, part of 92.3‘s Cheap Date offerings. The cost was $9.23 per ticket. You can’t pass that up.

Our first experience seeing Passion Pit live was pretty cool. It was at Lollapalooza 2009 in Chicago and they put on an amazing show.

This show was great as well, however, Erika was not able to attend due to some family health matters. So I took my friend “Kromer”.  It was nice to run into some other friends, Nicole & Eddie and Rachel & Mike.

After watching some of Mayer Hawthorne‘s performance from the balcony, we decided to get to where the action was a couple songs into the Passion Pit set. I am glad we did. Totally different point of view being on the floor in the pit. They played a three-song encore and threw in a cover of The Cranberries “Dreams” which may be on the upcoming album.

Yes, I may have been on the upper end of the age scale of the concert-goers, but hey, good music is good music. Plus, our kids ages 6 and 3 absolutely love Passion Pit. Played some tonight while cleaning up dinner and Sweet Baby Girl dances through the kitchen and tries to sing along (The Reeling: “Oh no oh oh oh oh, Oh no oh oh oh oh ).

Fun times.

March 14th, 2010 | permalink

Buckeye Beer Engine

A true beer treasure on the west side of Cleveland is the Buckeye Beer Engine. This is the brew pub of the Buckeye Brewing Company located in Lakewood, Ohio. The Beer Engine has an amazing lineup of craft beers in bottles, on draught and two beers on cask. The beer list is always changing based upon limited releases and seasonal brews.

I met my friend, Matt Kromer, at the Beer Engine for lunch today. Beers tasted on draught were:

Buckeye – Aquarius Double IPA
Bells – Java Imperial Stout
Ithaca – Cold Front Belgian-style Amber Ale

I also filled my growler with Buckeye Beaucoup D’Houblon Belgian IPA for $11. Good beer at a good price.

Mark your calendars now for 420 Hopfest which is held on and around April 20th annually. If you are a hop-head this event is a must.

March 14th, 2010 | permalink

SEBBL Texas Hold’em Fundraiser

Yes, I will be managing the Pirates again this year in the South Euclid Boys Baseball League T-ball division. Looking forward to coaching those little Pirates again. I think our new sponsor is going to be the South Euclid Cooperative Preschool.

The league, in conjunction with the South Euclid Girls Softball League, will be hosting a Texas Hold’em Tournament Fundraiser. It will be held on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Winking Lizard Party Center on Miles Rd. Doors open at 5pm and the gaming begins at 6pm. The entry fee is $75 and is limited to 120 participants. The total payout is estimated at $5,000. Hope to see some of you gamblers there.

For more information Download the PDF.

March 13th, 2010 | permalink

St. Malachi 5 Miler

No, I did not run it. But Erika did.

About a week or so ago, Erika told me that she was going to run a race, the St. Malachi 5-Mile Run. I was pretty surprised as it has been a while since she told me she wanted to run in an event. This was to be her first race since Chicago Marathon 2008, and most of you know how that turned out.

She woke up this morning, prepared for the race and tested her sugar… over 330. Not this again.

Her running mate, Andrea came to pick her up and she tested in the car. Her sugar was down in the low 200s. This is a good thing.

I prepared the kids, who were very excited to see Mama run. They made little running leprechaun signs and wore their St. Patrick’s Day garb. We picked up Adam, Andrea’s boyfriend, and headed downtown to see the finish of the race.

It was not the best of days, a little rainy, but we waited it out in anticipation of Erika and Andrea’s arrival. It was great to see Erika’s smile as she spotted us after she finished. I have never been more proud of her.

We stopped to have a celebratory drink with the running crew at McCarthy’s Downtown and continued the celebration with a great lunch at Bar Cento.

Congratulations, Erika, way to get back on the horse.

March 13th, 2010 | permalink

Cleveland Craft Beer Meetup

Thanks to all that showed for my first attempt to organize a craft beer meetup in Cleveland. It was a good showing, 15 people, for short notice of the get together. It was nice to see some friends that I have not seen in a while and meet people that I have only spoke with through Twitter. The event was held at RateBeer’s 25th Best Beer Bar 2010, La Cave du Vin. Erich Lasher and crew treated us to a great evening of great beer. He also gave us the option of what to put up on draught as one of them opened up.

After my delivery of 33 Beers beer journals arrived earlier in the day, I decided to give one away to the 3rd person that showed. Congrats @buildingjason.

Here are some of the beers that I tasted…

New Holland, Pilgrim’s Dole – Wheat Wine
New Holland, Charkoota Rye – Smoked Doppelbock Lager
Southern Tier, Back Burner – Imperial Barley Wine Style Ale
*North Coast Brewing Co, Old Rasputin – Russian Imperial Stout on NITRO

*Best beer of the night, silky smooth and the nitro did not hurt.

There are are already plans in the works for the next meetup, which will be held at the Buckeye Beer Engine on Sunday, March 28 at 2pm. I will not be able to make that one, but there are also rumblings of another one coming up April 11. If you would like to be aware of future Cleveland craft beer meetups, contact me or join the Facebook Group.

March 11th, 2010 | permalink

Man v. Kyle

You’ve all heard of the Travel Channel show Man V. Food, right? The  show where the host goes to different cities, hits a couple interesting places and then does a local food challenge. Well, the star of the show was recently in our fair city. He hit Kate’s Fish in the West Side Market, a few other places and then did his challenge at Melt Bar & Grilled. As he was shooting, many fans were tweeting his whereabouts and what he was doing. So, I asked the question (via twitter):

“So, where else is @adamrichman getting his slob on today while in Cleveland? @manvfood“.

I also recommended that he check out the Cleveland Clinic while in town. I admit I was busting his chops, but I was a little shocked by the prompt and direct response. As I was walking through Whole Foods on my lunch, I received a TXT from a twitter Direct Message. I don’t even follow this guy on twitter, I didn’t think you could get DM’s from someone you don’t follow. Anyway, the DM was right to the point… “‘getting my slob on’ Dude- not gonna lie, that’s fucking rude.” He also called me out on his public feed, his fans were up in arms, yadda yadda yadda.

I didn’t think my comments were that controversial. In fact, I saw a lot of similar tweets mentioning him and the Cleveland Clinic. Is “getting your slob on” that offensive if that is the basis of your show? I am not the healthiest of eaters, I have been known to get my slob on from time to time. Sometimes items on This is Why You’re Fat even look good to me. I don’t necessarily eat as much as he, but I do put down some food. And I don’t have a problem with the places that he visited. It is great that he comes to showcase Cleveland’s food scene, but I don’t think it enhances the rest of the world’s view of Cleveland by throwing down mass amounts of food.

While he does hit some good food places in his television show, yes I have watched, but the amount of the food that he consumes is pretty disturbing. I have never had a big problem with the show, nor Adam for that matter, but watching Man V. Food does for my appetite what watching Intervention or Celebrity Rehab does for my want to have a drink.

*Note – after his blowup someone deleted all of the tweets referencing me from his account. But I still have the DM he sent me:

Ok, maybe I was rude, but hey, so is the way he eats. And FYI, supposedly his challenge here in Cleveland is a 4 lb. grilled cheese sandwich. Not that there is anything wrong with that. No hard feelings, Adam. I wish you good health.

Thanks to @JoeG2001, @azrael, @twitderek and others for backing me up during his tirade as well.