For football fans, the summer months are a doldrums of things to help satisfy the hunger for games and content. OTAs for the pros aren't here yet and college teams are even less active with at bets Media days to fill the void. One of the best things the last two years though has been Netflix's Last Chance U. The program followed the premise of Hard Knocks, just at a prominent team at the JUCO level instead. The team at East Mississippi was filled with former Power-5 cast offs looking to spark an interest from other programs and fulfill the promise they tended to have in their recruiting rankings. The show was very well produced, and the players, coaches and Academic Advisor were all interesting and provided drama for a behind the scenes look at a football team already knowing how their season and attempts to move forward went.
Its an important show to watch for football fans, in large part because it gets beyond the field. It gives a look into some of the preparation for each week, and the grueling schedule and effort players and coaches must show. It also shows the absolute struggles some of these players come from, and how for many of them football is the only answer to moving on from it. The show is at its best showing the redemption stories of players having found themselves mired n addiction or violence, and finding a way to focus themselves back onto the right track and getting a degree and a possible shot at redemption.
The show moved on from Mississippi this year to Independence Community College in Kansas to follow Head Coach Jason Brown's second year of a turn around of the ICC team. ICC had been a doormat in one of the most competitive conferences at the JUCO level, but just a year in the expectations were set extremely high for the program. Without divulging spoilers, this season was not as good as the previous two iterations. The show needs strong characters to attach to, and this season lacked a likability of many of the featured players and coaches. Jason Brown was more abrasive than Buddy Stephens, and the show showed only glimpses of the care he put into the players. The season also expends a lot of time following him, when the previous years had a better mixture between the players and coaches. It probably isn't helped that most of the players the show follows are sulky at their position in the program, instead of becoming resilient like so many in the past.
Overall the move to ICC should help the show remain fresh, since these interest stories have trouble maintaining authenticity as more people find out about them. THis season though was light on the likability of the characters involved, and that hurt the show. Its still worth a watch to see into a different JUCO program and the struggles these players have, but hopefully next season sees a shift back to player focus and to more stories of off field triumphs. Below are a few more specifics but they come with a spoiler warning.
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Friday, July 20, 2018
Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire. Review
On one of the Podcasts that I listen to they do a book club style episode every month or so and there was one that stood out to me. However, the Library didn't have it in stock, and I felt like I might need a little it more of an introduction to the Mediterranean in the 14th to 18th centuries. So I turned to one of the books that was available, Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire. Written by Jason Goodwin, this 325 page book is an introduction from the humble beginnings of the empire as a group of nomadic warriors to an empire that stretched from Baghdad into Europe and all through the Mediterranean.
This book was tough to read. Goodwin's style is a bit flowery and poetic, which makes it tough to retain the focus on the source material. While roughly organized in chronological order, there are a lot of instances of jumping around in each chapter. This makes keeping all of the main players difficult, as you try to track which Sultan is still in control or Vizier is making the calls for a particular campaign. THe content of each chapter is also only roughly organized, with descriptions of fortifications on the frontier intermingling with descriptions of poetry and an out of date tax system.
Apart from the style, the book also is mostly concerned with the European portion of the Empire, with long details of holdings in Eastern Europe and exploits there, with only a cursory look at the Turkish people that made up a majority of the empire. There is also a large reliance on works by Europeans visiting the Empire versus primary sources of Turkish origin. The descriptions of many of the campaigns and important battles are built more narrative than likely should have been for such important inflection points in the Empire's history. The Siege of Vienna especially was written without any insight into the tactical moments.
Overall I'm a bit disappointed in this book and its overall ability to give a real working history of the Empire, and to provide a framework for which to study the topic further. I would only give 2 stars for it.
This book was tough to read. Goodwin's style is a bit flowery and poetic, which makes it tough to retain the focus on the source material. While roughly organized in chronological order, there are a lot of instances of jumping around in each chapter. This makes keeping all of the main players difficult, as you try to track which Sultan is still in control or Vizier is making the calls for a particular campaign. THe content of each chapter is also only roughly organized, with descriptions of fortifications on the frontier intermingling with descriptions of poetry and an out of date tax system.
Apart from the style, the book also is mostly concerned with the European portion of the Empire, with long details of holdings in Eastern Europe and exploits there, with only a cursory look at the Turkish people that made up a majority of the empire. There is also a large reliance on works by Europeans visiting the Empire versus primary sources of Turkish origin. The descriptions of many of the campaigns and important battles are built more narrative than likely should have been for such important inflection points in the Empire's history. The Siege of Vienna especially was written without any insight into the tactical moments.
Overall I'm a bit disappointed in this book and its overall ability to give a real working history of the Empire, and to provide a framework for which to study the topic further. I would only give 2 stars for it.
Saturday, July 14, 2018
Wheat Street Dogs Review
Wichita continues to have a growing food truck culture, and one of the newest additions to the group of trucks is Wheat Street Dogs. They're a vegan hot dog cart that started earlier this year and have been pretty good reviews. They were near work for me the other day, so I decided to try them out. I am by no means a vegan (see my other food reviews), but I have no problem branching out and trying something new.
The cart makes their dogs themselves, from a variety of began ingredients. They currently have a few specialty dogs and their standard Ball park dog. I saw this month they had a Banh Mi dog, and had to give it a go. A banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich that I am always drawn to, so this dog had a bit to live up to. The hot dog was prepared it looks like by having been heated up in a water bath, and then placed on a small flat top grill on the cart to finish it. This was a nice touch because it also let them give the bun a little bit of a toasting which was a nice addition. The owner warned some customers after me this one might be a little spicy, since it had both jalapenos and a sriracha mayo, but I went ahead and added some extra sriracha just to kick the heat up a bit more.
The toppings for the dog were delicious and plentiful. The daikon and carrots had been done just right, so they were still crisp and had just a right amount of sour tinge. The mayo and hoisin were at good levels, although I wish there had been a little more kick to the mayo. If I hadnt added the sriracha there would have been little heat overall. The only other minor complaint was I wish the cilantro had been a little more chopped up, because it fell off right away on the first bite. The bun was also good, although it might be a little thick for all the other toppings that were loaded on. As to the dog itself, I liked the taste. A little less sweet than regular hot dogs tend to be, and it was certainly of a good size overall. The hoisin suce paired very nicely with it in every bit. The only issue I had was that it tended to be a little chewier. Not a big detriment, but something I was not expecting really.
I'll need to try them again when they dont have such a tempting specialty dog to give the regular ball park a full on try. But Wheat Street Dogs are likely going to find more fans and add a very different take on food here to the Wichita scene.
Monday, July 9, 2018
Far too early College Football Ratings
We're fewer than 50 days left until the kickoff of the college season, it's time to start looking at the far too early rankings. The Top 25 seems reasonable, although I'm not certain I can see Northwestern making their way into the top. But they return an experienced team, and have recruited solidly. Full rankings are after the jump.
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