Rocky Mountain Hi

If you have been wondering where I have been the last few days here is my answer…

Clearly, not in Los Angeles. I have been in beautiful Denver, Colorado since Saturday and hanging with two of my favorite people in the world, my brother and my sister-in-law.

Personally, I’m a girl who doesn’t like when the temperature drops under 70, but after three days of it looking like this here in Denver...

I was thrilled when they said it would be 40 today.

I don’t even know myself anymore.

This is a trip that’s a lot of work and some play for me, so I just wanted to do a quick photo post while I had the chance.

And, since we couldn’t go without mentioning something sports related, I took this on Tuesday:

Invesco Field is just a short walk from my brother’s office, where I’m helping him with a few projects at his job. It’s been so much fun.

But don’t you worry, there’s a food post coming. My trip happens to coincide with Denver during Restaurant Week (!!!!) and on Sunday, I had one of the most phenomenal meals I’ve ever had.

It involves meat. Lots of meat. 

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Tales of Running Hater Part IV: This is the Remix Edition

Week Two: The REMIX of the Couch to 5k program is well on its way.

I had stated in last week’s post that I was re-doing the second week, because due to an illness, I didn't complete Week Two. I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied at the end of this program if I cut corners. Thus, the REMIX.

Week Two is really pretty easy for me. The program is six intervals of running for 90 seconds, and each one is followed by two minutes of walking. The 30 minutes goes by in a flash.

My goal is to always run a little faster on each interval. I also do one of the intervals on an incline to challenge myself a little more.

As much as I complain about running (you can read my whining here) I always feel so much better after I run. It gives me more energy throughout my entire day. I’m not ready to say I like running yet…we are definitely not on those terms at this point. But I will say I’m warming up to the idea.

I am also excited scared because for the next two weeks, my Couch to 5k will be taking place in Denver. I am visiting my bro and sister-in-law and so I will have to run in two situations that are completely foreign to me: high altitude and snow.

It will definitely be an adventure for this snow-phobic (who am I kidding? Anything-below-70 degrees-phobic) Los Angeles girl. Any Denver runners out there have some good advice for me?  I have the feeling I am going to need it.

If you are running in Denver next week and you see a girl in her mid-20s in a parka, laying on the sidewalk panting for breath in an embarrassing, pathetic sort of way, say hi. That will probably be me after running 200 yards down the street.

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Athlete's Palate: Dessert First

I must have sounded really good.

Like I really had things together around here.

You know, like committing to running three days a week for the next eight weeks. Or, purchasing the cookbook “The Athlete’s Palate,” which has loads of healthy recipes for endurance athletes.

But somehow — totally on accident, of course — I skipped to the dessert section. 

We’re starting with Red Velvet Cupcakes.

Don’t judge me. If it’s in this cookbook, they must be good for you. Plus, my mom was throwing a Valentine’s Day party and as an attendee I was required to bring a red, white, or pink dessert.

This cupcake recipe was contributed to the cookbook by Beth Pilar and Ellen Sternau, who collaborate at their New York City bakery How Sweet It Is. 

Ingredients:

Cupcakes
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2 ½ cake flour (I only had all-purpose)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon vinegar

Frosting
8 oz. of cream cheese (at room temperature)
½ pound unsalted butter (at room temperature)
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 325° F. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, mix the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vanilla extract and vinegar. Combine wet and dry ingredients and fill your greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full with the batter. The recipe says to cook the cupcakes for 15-20 or until the cupcakes spring back when you touch them.

Since everyone coming to the party was supposed to bring a dessert, I decided to make them mini cupcakes, because people were going to have plenty of sweets. The mini cupcakes took about 15 minutes, so if you are going with smaller cupcakes, 15 minutes is probably the longest time you’ll need. Cook in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, and then remove them too cool completely.

And now, we have come to the frosting.

This is when you know you are making something good:

Make sure your cream cheese and butter is at room temperature and mix together until smooth. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar in batches and then add the vanilla extract.

The frosting makes a ton, and I don’t believe in going crazy on the frosting. It’s against my morals.

But, if you like more frosting than cupcake, you go ahead and do that.  If you decide to eat the leftover frosting with a spoon and nothing else, I won’t tell anyone.

Then, sprinkle on some colored sugar and make the cupcakes look all pretty. Or, if you're like me, try to make them look pretty. Sometimes it works out, but usually it doesn't.

Pretty or not, these cupcakes will still taste ridiculously good. Believe me.

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Is inexperience to blame for Kumaritashvili’s death?

Certainly, it was a one-in-a-million chain of events.

Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili’s hit that final turn in just the wrong way. He had so much momentum going that it carried him off the track where the Georgian then struck a steel pole.

No one imagined something like that could happen. The death of Kumaritashvili was shocking.

In the wake of his terrible death, two aspects of the story have left me particularly stunned.

Olympic officials and even some of the people in the luge community blame the 21-year-old’s inexperience. In essence, those people believe if Kumaritashvili handled the turn better, we wouldn’t be talking about the dangers of the Whistler track this week.

I don’t know much about luge and I am certainly not a mathematician or physics expert, but it seems obvious to me that lugers going 90 miles per hour down a track with only a helmet to protect them spells danger even for a minute mistake. What would people be blaming this on if a more experienced luger died? If those sleds go that fast, momentum could fling any of them up and over the track, no matter how many luge competitions a person has under their belt.

If inexperience did cause the death of Kumaritashvili, why did the officials move the men’s start down to where the women start? Olympic officials said they did it to ease concerns of the athletes, but it seems many of the lugers did not agree with the changing the track.

And, it’s not as if this particular track hadn’t raised concerns among some of the athletes beforehand. Tragically, one of those lugers was Kumaritashvili himself, who voiced his concerns to his father days before he died. In my mind, inexperience might have been a factor, but cannot be completely to blame. If he’s an Olympian, whether for a powerhouse country or not, I would think he has enough experience to handle turns. His error did not seem out of the ordinary; it looked like something that could happen to any luger at any minute.

The second aspect that upset me was the decision by NBC to show Kumaritashvili’s death over and over. I kept looking at the ground every time the video would start; I couldn’t watch.

One thing I am at least somewhat knowledgeable on in this situation is journalism ethics. I have a degree in journalism and have been a newspaper writer for the last seven years.

When decisions arise such as these — to air or not air a video or a photo — it is tough to know what the right answer is. My local NBC Los Angeles affiliate aired the video to the point where Kumaritashvili lost control of the sled and then cut it off; I felt like that was the appropriate line.

You aren’t dealing with one of those spills we’ll see on a highlight reel one day that we can laugh about. Someone died. Would they show a video of a pedestrian getting hit by a car? Or someone getting shot and killed?

Whether people in the general public want to see the video or not, we just don’t need to see someone lose their life like that. I look at it as a matter of respect for the person who dies. You can’t think of ratings in this instance.

You have to think of respect.

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Friday Favorites and Fails

Friday Favorites

Living in Southern California: We’ve had a rash of bad rainstorms here over the last few weeks, but that is nothing compared to what the Mid-Atlantic is going through right now. I’m sure these are great places to live, but 45 degrees and rainy is generally as bad as it gets here, which is something to be thankful for. I can see snow on the mountains from my house, and that’s exactly where I like it: close enough to take in how beautiful it looks…but far enough away where I am in no danger of the snow touching me if I go outside.

My new cookbook: My plan is to write a full post on this later, but it’s truly ridiculous and nerdy how excited I get about buying new cookbooks. If I wasn’t a writer by trade and actually had money, there’s no doubt the collection on my shelf would at least be double what it currently is.

This particular cookbook makes me happy because it’s a cookbook for athletes called “The Athlete’s Palate.” I plan on cooking through many of the recipes and writing about it here on this blog…and I may or may not be trying the cupcake recipe first.

The Lakers winning without Kobe Bryant:  It’s impressive, first off. Second, it makes other NBA fan bases really jealous and they hate the Lakers even more. This always makes me laugh.

The Winter Olympics getting under way: Opening Ceremonies is tonight in Vancouver. It’s always a great two weeks where we get to hear lots of incredible stories about extraordinary athletes who have sacrificed a lot to get where they are. The Concession Stand is especially pulling for Tim Burke, Emily Azevedo and Jeff Isaacson who have been featured here!

Friday Fails

College basketball: UNC is having an off year…and so is UConn…and so is LSU…and so is the entire Pac 10 Conference. My interest in college basketball, pre-March, continues to wane as each new season comes. Which could be a sign I’m getting old, but my interest in college football remains unchanged. The only college hoops game this year that I have flipped by on TV that compelled me to watch to the end was Kansas-Kansas State in Manhattan (if for no other reason than to see if K-State’s head coach would finally explode from intensity). It’s not that the college game is without good players, but there is no one in my mind that I HAVE to watch when he’s playing. And that’s a problem.

Myself: Spilling a berry smoothie all over the floor and on my tan canvas shoes this week is pretty worthy of a fail, I’d say.

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Enjoy your Valentine’s Day everyone!

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Tales of a running hater part III: Slacker Edition

 

Nope, I haven't put these on in a week. 

Well, that didn’t last long.

Two weeks ago, I was all gung ho. At least, about as gung ho as you can be when you don’t like what you are about to take on.

In this post here, I discussed that despite my hatred of running, I was going to get more serious about doing it on a regular schedule. I picked the program, Couch to 5k. I downloaded a super helpful podcast of the program that would play music, as well as tell me when to start and stop. I joined the facebook fanpage even! Don’t I sound seriously into it?

It took me a week and a half to ruin my streak of keeping with the program.

Impressive, I know.

See, I didn’t just stop because of laziness. I came down with a cold and suddenly my weekend got super busy. I only ran two out of the three scheduled days.

But in a turn of events that is quite different from the normal me, I am sticking with it. If this nine-week program takes me 20 weeks to complete, so be it. My New Years resolution, after all, is “finish what you start.”

My first thought after missing a day was, “well, I’ll just start on the third week Monday. I ran two out of the three days this week. That’s enough.”

It made me feel like a slacker; like I was completely incapable of sticking to anything. All the people that actually enjoy running would be ashamed. And I know and love some of those running enjoyers, as a one-year member of my high school’s cross country team. It only took me one season (it took a lot less than that, but I stuck it out to the end) to realize that running 10 miles a day is not my idea of a good time.

Also, I had read a story last week of a girl who continued to run while having cancer and going through chemotherapy.

So, um, yeah. What was my lame excuse again?

So, we’re going to give it another go, starting on Monday. Couch to 5k Week 2, the REMIX!

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Some Valentine's Day tips for the dudes

Guys, in the words of Snoop Dogg, it’s time to step your love game up.

(yes, anytime I can mention Snoop Dogg here, I will take advantage)

We are four days out from Valentine’s Day, and some of you have literally done nothing towards showing your best girl you consider Feb. 14 different from Feb. 13.

This is not in your best interests. Trust me.

For some guys, I truly think Valentine’s Day is an enigma. They know it can be catastrophic to screw up, but they aren’t really sure how to not screw it up.

Before we get to some tips you can use, keep these two absolute truths in mind about women and Valentine’s Day:

Truth #1: women really just want to feel like they are worth your time and effort (and not just on Valentine’s Day, but especially on Valentine's Day).

Truth #2: women want to have the Valentine’s Day story that all their girls get jealous of when they discuss it the next day. And believe me; we all talk about it the next day.

If you only hit a home run once a year, V-day is the day to do it. Rock this day for your best girl, and it can get you several Get out of Jail Free cards.

One of the best ways to satisfy both of the absolute truths about women and V-day is simple: cook something yourself.

Getting in the kitchen — especially if you usually don’t — will make her feel like she’s worth putting in the extra mile for. Not to mention, it's pretty universal that we find men who cook incredibly sexy.

So, when she’s talking to the girls the next day, if she can say, “My man took me to my favorite (art exhibit, hike, band, store, etc) and then he cooked for me” all of her friends will burn with envy. Then they will go home and exclaim to their husbands or boyfriends, “why couldn’t you be more like (enter your name here)?!”

It doesn’t make sense to guys (and I don’t blame you) but friends burning with envy is a good thing. Believe it.

If you want something simple but special to finish off your V-day, go to the store and buy a cute container (shouldn’t be hard to find right now). Buy a roll of sugar cookie dough and some heart-shaped cut outs. Roll the dough out, cut out some heart shapes and stick on the cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheets in the fridge for at least an hour, so the hearts keep their shape when they cook. Let them cool and then decorate as you please. Stick them in the cute container you bought.

But, if you want to bring out the big guns and do more than baking, there are many places that can help.

Whatever you want to cook, there’s probably a video on the Web on how to do it.

My favorite cooking Web site in the world is www.allrecipes.com. There are videos, recipes and tips from real home cooks.  You can click on a recipe and it will have reviews from people who have tried cooking it, and many of them include tweaks and changes. You can learn a lot from the reviews, like good ingredient substitutes or how to make a dish healthier. They have a section of Valentine’s Day recipes here.

Check out www.lookandtaste.com too. They have videos for just about anything you would want to cook. They also have an awesome glossary that will tell you things like what mangoes are used for, and then demonstrate how to cut them in a video.

And if those don’t give you ideas and some help, there are oh-so many more.

Another Web site I really dig these days is Real Simple.  They have everything from food to beauty advice, and clearly, the overall goal is to keep it simple. This site has loads of easy, delicious dishes.

They also have a page here of easy Valentine’s Day ideas, which includes five easy Valentine’s Day desserts. The desserts have basic ingredients you probably already in your kitchen. One is a chocolate panini recipe which literally needs two ingredients: chocolate and bread. Honestly, there’s no downside to that.

Valentine’s Day — despite its overall lameness in your eyes — truly has little to do with how much money you spend (OK, some of you high super high-maintenance girls, and that’s a you problem. Get a girl who is more into you than sparkly jewelry). If it even looks like you thought ahead and did something that’s meaningful to her, you’ve done your job.

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Super Bowl Analysis

I said it myself, but I didn't listen.


People would ask who my pick was for the Super Bowl. My answer was always the Colts, but then I'd qualify that with something similar to what I said on twitter: "Everyone is so sure the Colts are going to win the Super Bowl. If I were Indy, that would terrify me."


Think of what little chance any "expert" gave the Saints. The build up to the big game gets pretty out of hand (and by "out of hand" I mean if some catastrophic event happened this week, we never would have heard about it) so I limit my TV time, but any person I saw predicting the outcome picked the Colts (including me in this post).


New Orleans needed three things to align to get its 31-17 Super Bowl win. Here's why they pulled it off:


1. The Saints kept Peyton Manning from getting into a rhythm. The time of possession was nearly equal, Saints 30:11 to Indy's 29:49, but the game had a feel that Manning was not on the field enough to get the offensive motor going. Remember after the AFC Championship game, what New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan said?


"With Peyton Manning, if you can't disrupt his rhythm he's going to kill you," Ryan said, "and we couldn't disrupt it enough."  


The Saints simply didn't let Manning kill them. At the end of the game, Manning started rifling 150 MPH-passes at people. Uh, that would be the definition of forcing it, my friends. They flustered Manning, and that turned out to be all the Saints really needed to do to neutralize the entire Colts team. 


2. Drew Brees played nearly perfect. It hardly seems realistic for Brees or anyone else to even dream of performing the way he did in the Super Bowl: 32-39, 288 yards, 2 touchdowns, no interceptions. He never got flustered (the Colts defensive line can blame themselves for that) and he just methodically moved his team down the field almost every series they had. His team backed him up and didn't cough up the ball 150 times like they did in the NFC Championship game against the Vikings. 


3. The Saints got their huge momentum moment. This is a team that is used to feeding off a frenzied fan base. Maybe more than any team in the NFL, they feed off of emotion. New Orleans needed a moment where they felt like, "hey, we can win this." It came at the start of the second half. 


In what could be one of the gutsiest calls in Super Bowl history, the Saints did an onside kick to start the second half. It's one of those, "if we pull this off, we're geniuses, but if not, we're idiots" moves, and it caught Indy completely off guard. It changed everything. 


If the Colts get the ball there at the start of the half, they probably score at least a field goal, and New Orleans starts to worry that they just won't be able to stop the Colts and Manning. Instead, the momentum goes crashing onto the Saints' side and it never leaves. 


My friend James, an avid Saints fan, brought up an interesting point after that onside kick. The cameras showed Dwight Freeney getting his bum ankle re-taped on the sideline. 


James said, "Do you think they went for that onside kick knowing Freeney would be getting his ankle re-taped at halftime?"  


I think that's a total possibility; they knew he wouldn't be ready right at the start of the third quarter. Either way, a brilliant move by the Saints. 


When it was all over, the Saints had their win and my friend James was sitting on the floor, crying tears of joy. When they first showed Bourbon Street, it didn't look all that crazy. But I pictured many of those people sitting together after the game was over, crying tears of joy like James was, and saying what he said:


"I never thought I would see this happen in my lifetime."

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It's the most wonderful time of the year

Sunday. You know what it is.

An epic day of awesomeness that combines the two things we hold most dear at the Concession Stand: (in no particular order) food and sports. Also known as the Super Bowl.

The game itself rarely gets me pumped up. Being from Los Angeles, I am a NFL orphan. My football fan life has been spent voting for specific players more so than teams. Maybe that sounds lame to you, but what else am I supposed to do, vote for the Raiders or Rams? Please don’t make me.

This is where my brand of NFL fandom sort of falls into a crisis. Guess which two NFL players I enjoy watching above almost any other?

That would be Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts and Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, the two quarterbacks who will be facing off on Sunday. I’ve followed their careers since they were at Tennessee and Purdue, respectively.

Am I excited for Sunday? Oh. Yes.

While I am still deciding who to actually root for in this game, I did make my food choice between the two cities this week, and that winner is New Orleans.

No offense Indianapolis. It’s not you. It’s just that New Orleans food is so unique. And so… tasty.

I tried my hand at jambalaya this week, and consulted the recipe of the Commissioner; the Tailgating Commissioner, that is (and really, what other commissioner matters?). Joe Cahn has traveled all over the country in his RV, checking out how every corner of the country tailgates. He also happens to be tailgating in Miami this weekend, where the big game will be.

Cahn was kind enough to let me interview him a few weeks ago (you can read the post here) and one of the recipe suggestions he had was for his jambalaya. He’s from New Orleans, so you know he’s not messing around when it comes to jambalaya.

He said this recipe is interchangeable with just about any meat or seafood you want to use, but I stuck with chicken and sausage. You toss it all in one pot and let it go. For someone whose cooking skills are still a work in progress, that fact is much appreciated.

The recipe: (you can see the jambalaya recipe here, or the rest of Cahn’s tailgating recipes here)

Joe’s Jambalaya

Servings: 12-15

1/4 cup vegetable oil 5 cups chicken stock or water flavored with chicken bouillon

1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces 1 tbs. minced garlic
salt and ground black pepper 4 cups long grain rice
1 ½ lbs. sausage cut in ¼-inch slices 2 tbsp. Kitchen Bouquet (browning agent)
4 cups chopped onions 2 tbsp. seasoning salt
2 cups chopped celery 2 cups chopped green onions
2 cups chopped green bell pepper

After cooking the chicken and sausage for a few minutes you remove them and start going on the onions, green bell peppers, garlic and celery in the same pot.

At least, you would have the celery if you liked celery. I don’t, and neither does anyone else in my family. If you’re from New Orleans, I’m sorry for breaking up the trinity there. My personal theory on celery is: if peanut butter can’t even improve the way you taste, you aren’t worth my time.

Ahem, but my celery issues aren’t important. Let’s keep going.

Once the peppers and onions soften, you toss in the chicken broth, the chicken and sausage, seasoning salt, and for red jambalaya, paprika.

Bring it to a boil, and toss in the rice. Bring it to a boil again, then cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Stir it well, re-cover and simmer for 15-20 more minutes, or until the rice is tender.

Then, you have pot of meaty, flavorful deliciousness that will feed a ton of people comfortably, and you don’t have to put a whole lot of work into it.

If it’s a food competition, my pick is New Orleans. If it’s a football competition, I’m going with the Colts, 31-24.

Happy Super Bowl everyone!

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Over the river and through the woods...

A couple of years ago, while a friend was over at my parents’ house with me, he grabbed some candy out of one of our candy bowls. Yes, one of our candy bowls.

“I don’t know anyone else who has bowls of candy out at their house,” he said.

I was in shock. I would even go as far as saying I was flabbergasted. Yes, I was. Flabbergasted.

“What?!” I said. “I know lots of people that do.”

After some thought on the subject, I realized the list of people I knew that had bowls of candy at their house looked like this:

1. My grandma

2. My mom

3. My aunts

It honestly never occurred to me that this might not be the norm. I thought it was just something everyone did, but really, it’s just a result of my Grandma’s sweet tooth, which rivals just about anyone else’s in human history. Which apparently, is genetic.

Today, at the last minute, I hopped in my car and drove out to where my grandparents live, which is a little over an hour from me. I don’t get to see them nearly as much as I’d like. They are two of my favorite people in the world and whenever I go, I basically eat and laugh at their funny stories.

What’s better than eating and laughing? Nothing, except eating and laughing with my grandparents.

Here is what I found upon arrival at their house today (in addition to the photo at the top of this post):

I try to eat healthy, I really do.

Once I step into Grandma’s house though, my self control, my rules, my waistline, all of it goes flying out the window.

My grandpa picked up TWO boxes of See's Candies earlier in the week, each weighing more than a pound.

My grandpa told me, “I asked grandma if I could try one of hers” (this is her box):

“She said, ‘well, I’ll trade you.’”

This is my grandpa’s box:

Within two hours of being here, I’d eaten fresh tamales, peanut M & Ms, and one piece from each of their See's boxes.

But that’s the beauty of going to Grandma’s house.

The rules are different. My Grandma would be the first to tell you.

And Grandma's rules are the only rules I care about.

Especially this rule, expressed eloquently by my cousin last year when she was in fifth grade.

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Tales of a running hater: Part II

                                 Running isn't fun. Downloading podcasts on your new iPod is.

 Week 2 of the Couch-to-5k program has come.

Or more specifically, as I’ve seen on the Couch-to-5k facebook fan page I just joined, W2D2. People refer to where they are in the program by week and day. So in the interest of solidarity with my 40,000 new facebook friends, I’ll do it too.

As mentioned in my first post about the program (you can read it here), running and I are not BFFs.

Not even close.

But so far, the Couch-to-5k program has been exactly what I was looking for.

First, it’s free. You don’t have to sign up for anything. I’m a writer; needless to say, free is good.

Mostly though, it works for me because the program is 30 minutes long, three times a week. Much of my dislike of running is more dread than anything else. The idea of spending everyday doing long runs holds about as much interest for me as making a visit to the DMV. This program makes you feel like you can get in decent running shape (which is all I want) with 90 minutes a week. That, I can get on board with.

At this point, the workouts are pretty easy. This week, you run six intervals at 90 seconds apiece, and in between each of those you walk for two minutes. Doing intervals at this point helps too; running can be monotonous for me, but this helps break it up.

So obviously, “running” is pretty relative. I didn’t push it too hard on Monday, but went a little harder on the running sections today. As each running interval comes, I try to run it a little faster. By the sixth and final one today, I was probably running at about 90 percent of my full speed.

The podcast I use to help me through it is great too. It’s nice to not worry about looking at a watch to see when your interval is up. The podcast by Robert Ullrey I found on iTunes keeps track of all for me, playing upbeat music and telling me when to start and stop. 

It feels good now, but I’m wondering how long that will last. I’m sure by Week 6 I’ll be missing these 90 second intervals.

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Olympic Q & A: Sweeping the ice with curler Jeff Isaacson

 

Photo of  Jeff Isaacson courtesy of USA Curling

When the Olympics are on, I get all swept up in it. It sucks me in.

The precise turns made in traffic on the speed skating track make my heart pound. When an ice skater does a jump, I get all nervous that they won’t land it right. I marvel at how freakin’ crazy you would have to be to do aerials skiing or ski jumping.

All of these sports get me excited about the Winter Olympics. But few of the sports suck me in more than curling.

For real.

It will come on TV and then suddenly, it’s an hour later, and I haven’t moved from the couch. Curling is one of those sports that is completely foreign to me (as a resident of Los Angeles, I don’t hear too much about curling events coming to town), but it’s so fun to watch during the Olympics.

So, exactly two weeks out from the first round of curling matches in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, we’re going to get some serious curling discussion in with our next Q & A.

Today we are hearing from Jeff Isaacson, a curler from Minnesota who was part of the 2009 national championship team. He’ll be representing the U.S. in curling with teammates Jason Smith, John Shuster and John Benton. The 26-year-old Isaacson spoke to the Concession Stand via e-mail and discussed what his job is during the curling match, why he almost walked away from curling competitively, and what his favorite food is.

CS: How did you get started in curling? What do you like about it? 
JI: Most people get involved with curling because they have family members who curl.  This was the case with me as well.  I would go with my dad and watch his teams compete anywhere from weekly league nights to state and national championships.  When I was 13, I decided it was time to try the game for myself.  I have been playing ever since.  By age 18, I won the Minnesota State Championship and was runner-up in the nationals competing with my dad before he retired from the game.  I was fortunate to learn and compete with him.  Some of the things that I like about curling are the great people you meet.  Curlers truly are some of the best people you will ever meet.  It is a game that is far more complex than it looks.  It involves a great deal of strategy as well as athleticism.  I also enjoy traveling, and curling has given me the opportunity to see the world, having competed in tournaments all across the U.S. and Canada as well as South Korea, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, and Denmark.

CS: What is your position in curling? For those who aren't as familiar with curling, what is your job at that position?
JI: The team has four positions; lead, second, third, and skip.  I am the second on the team.  This means that I throw the second set of rocks (each player throws two rocks per end, 10 ends per game, with an end being similar to an inning in baseball).  When I am done throwing I sweep for the other guys.  Sweeping does two things, it causes the rock to travel further down the ice and it also keeps the rock straighter.  I also work with the lead on the team to communicate the speed of the ice to the skip.
 
CS: What are you most looking forward to about the Olympic experience?
JI: I am looking forward to the chance to compete against the best curling teams in the world on the biggest sports stage.  Our team has spent lots of time and worked very hard for this moment and we are all excited for the opportunity.  So many people talk about what a great experience the Opening Ceremonies are.  It will be nice to be a part of that.  It will also be great to experience the Olympic Village where we can meet other athletes and hopefully get a chance to go out and cheer them on as well during some of our down time.

CS: What are your goals for the Olympics?
JI: My goal is to go out and play the best I can play and have the best tournament possible.  If I can go out and do my job, it makes everyone else’s job that much easier.  Our team wants to make the final four after the round robin.  After that, it’s just two games.  We want to be on the medal stand.

CS: I read that for awhile, you considered giving up curling competitively. Why did you want to stop and what made you decide to come back?
JI: After graduating from college, I spent a couple seasons curling.  It was just getting to the point where I felt it was time to move on and start working on a career.  So many people told me that I was still young, and if I have a chance to curl and make a run at the Olympics I should do it now while I still can.  With the encouragement of my teammates, I decided curling was what I loved to do and we stayed together to make a run at representing the United States at the Games.

CS: What does a typical training day look like for you?
JI: I live with two of my teammates so we usually practice/train together.  We have practice ice available to us after 10 a.m.  This allows us to sleep in as none of us are really morning people anyway.  Monday through Thursday — when we are not on the road — are our practice days.  We spend around an hour and a half to two hours in the late morning going through practice drills on the ice.  Attached to our curling club is a skywalk system that we use to walk to the gym where we work on cardio, free weights, and core exercises.  After that we have a light meal (usually at Subway) and go home for awhile.  On Mondays we have an additional night practice and on Tuesday we compete in a competitive league at our curling club.

CS: What is our routine on the day of competitions? What do you eat before matches?
JI: When competing at tournaments, we usually have a team breakfast.  Usually this involves some cereal, eggs, and toast.  We then travel to the competition venue.  Depending on the time of the game, I like to have something light, such as a sandwich and some type of fruit before I begin preparing for the game.  I try to learn information on the ice, rocks and our opponents and mentally prepare for the game, which involves blocking out distractions and visualizing positive outcomes.

CS: Are you a big fan of any other sports? If yes, which teams?
JI: I have to admit I am not a huge sports fan.  I enjoy watching a good tennis match, with my favorite player being Pete Sampras.  I find it interesting reading about certain athletes, what they go through and what makes them tick.  So much can be learned by reading about other people’s stories.

CS: What is your guilty pleasure food?
JI: I do have a weakness for pizza.  It also doesn’t help living with a cook from a local Italian restaurant.  He brings home great meals and desserts so I find myself eating way more than I should sometimes.

CS: What do you enjoy doing when you aren't training or competing?
JI: Being from Minnesota, there are lots of outdoor activities that I enjoy.  I live around a lot of lakes, so I like to get out and go boating and fishing, although the past few years I haven’t got to do very much of that.  There are lots of 4-wheeling trails so it is fun to make a day or two out of that.  I do love to travel, so when I can I like to get away and see new places.  I was able to go to Sweden and Finland with some family members this summer and also enjoy Las Vegas and the nice beaches of Florida and Hawaii.  As I am finding out, time goes by very fast, so I try to make the most of what I have and make the best of it.  It is important to take time for the simple things in life.

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Many thanks to Jeff for answering my questions! Good luck in Vancouver!

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Some Kobe Love

Kobe Bryant elicits some pretty emotional reactions from people.

Good or bad. Love or hate. He’s not a bring-both-sides-of-the-aisle-together kind of guy.

Born and raised in the Los Angeles-area, I'm a Lakers fan who leaned more toward the dislike side for awhile. Over the last two seasons though, that outlook has changed significantly.

When the rape allegations came out against Bryant in 2003, I felt like I couldn’t really get behind him after that point. Even when the trial didn’t go on, he did admit to cheating on his wife, so that was still a problem for me (he's certainly no different than most pro athletes in doing that, I might add, but that's a discussion for another day). It made it difficult to watch the Lakers play; I wanted the purple and gold to win but didn’t want it to happen due to Bryant scoring baskets. But of course, over the last 13 years or so, you can rarely have one without the other.

Then, he had that off season in 2007 where he wanted to be traded, then he didn’t, then he wanted to be a Laker forever. That was annoying.

Over the last two seasons though, he’s made it almost impossible for me not to appreciate him.

From just a basketball standpoint, the amount of clutch shots he hits is incredible. Is there anyone else in the NBA where we are more surprised when he misses a shot at the buzzer than when he makes it? It is all the more impressive to me because every person playing in the game and watching it knows he’s going to get the ball with the game on the line, and he still manages to sink shots.

Yesterday, he even did it to the defensive-minded Boston Celtics (I do LOVE game-winning shots against the Celtics). It’s probably the best defensive team in the league and they knew Bryant was going to take that shot. But that never matters.

Bryant also isn’t an over-celebrator when he does something good (I’m looking at you, NFL players. Good heavens, you’re scoring touchdowns or making tackles. It’s what you get paid for). I get the impression he doesn’t celebrate excessively because for him, he’s simply doing what he’s supposed to do: score points. That shouldn't warrant an inordinate amount of beating your chest.

Last, and maybe the largest influence on my new found appreciation for Bryant is his toughness. He’s had a finger injury, back spasms, knee and ankle problems this season. He could just sit out a few games and heal up and no one would blame him (in fact, I sort of wish he would, so he doesn’t make any of those injuries worse as the season goes on).  But if he can walk, he plays. I like knowing that if I watch the Lakers, I can always count on him playing hard. Some superstars show up in games only when they feel like it (I love knowing that everyone who reads that sentence will immediately think of Vince Carter, like me).

In a week where Bryant will almost certainly move to the top of the Lakers all-time scoring list, I realized that if this happened four years ago, it would have made me cringe. Now, I just appreciate watching someone's who unbelievable amount of hard work is paying off.

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