Not Just Another Day at OTAs

For the first time in nearly a month, I visited the Jaguars OTAs (Organized Team Activities) Thursday.

Why the long absence?  For a while, I was on vacation, then I was (and am) out of a job.

So today, I stopped by practice and acted like I was employed.  First, I must thank my colleagues in the Jacksonville sports media, who have, without exception, been supportive of me since word got out of my predicament.

Times-Union columnist Gene Frenette put it well today I think that anyone could find themselves in the same situation in this economic climate. 

But enough about me.

What about the practice?  How do the Jags look, you ask.

Let's put it this way: Clint Ingram conducted a press conference without a shirt on and that wasn't the most notable thing at practice today!

John Henderson was.  Or more pointedly, what Henderson didn't do.

As expected, Big John was limited in the amount of work he did today...he has a Grade 2 separation if his shoulder, and much to the dismay of the head coach, Henderson has things throttled back.  

In the heat of the day, with heat indeces in the triple digits, Henderson was laboring when he was working.  At one point it looked like Big John was going to keel over.

Then came Strength and Conditioning coach Luke Richesson, who was set to work Big Hen in some wind sprints.  After a couple of sets, Henderson walked over to the covered area of the practice fields, disappeared from my view and didn't return.

Richesson called Henderson back to run, but it was clear that Big John was through for the day.  Score: veteran defensive tackle 1 new strength coach 0.

But these things have a way of turning around in a hurry.  While Henderson didn't work the rest if the day, I have to think that the Big Hen vs..  Del Rio and Richesson is far from over.  Maybe he is upset about the way Del Rio called him out.  Maybe he was just hot and tired.  What ever the reason, I have a feeling that we'll hear more about this saga the rest of the off-season and maybe into training camp.

Practice Notes: The Jaguars announced that they had cut cornerback Will James and tight end Charles Davis.  James did not play well last year with the team.  Davis was a developmental tight end who I'll remember most as a judge for the 2009 Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships (along with David Garrard, Greg Estandia and former Jag Kyle Brady)...Seems like those moves are going to pave the way for some rookies to sign contracts.  I would expect more cuts over the next couple of weeks...Vince Manuwai worked out on the bike and on the side with head trainer Mike Ryan.  His knee seems to be responding but he's dealing with some gout in his foot.  That has limited him.

I Just Can't Fall in Love

Maybe it's just me...maybe I'm distracted by, you know, trying to get another job.

But here I am, able to stay up past 10 o'clock at night for the first time in eight years and I find myself more entranced by Deadliest Catch than the NBA Finals.

I know, it's Kobe against Orlando. What's not to like, right?

But I just can't fall in love with this NBA Finals.

In fact, if Orlando wasn't in the Finals, I'm not sure I would even flip back and forth between Sig Hanson landing big numbers of opilio crabs in the Bering Sea. As I'm writing this on the couch during the second quarter, my wife grabbed the remote to switch over to the 10 o'clock news on Channel 4. AND I LET HER!

I'll admit that since being moved from an afternoon show on the radio (for those of you who remember, the Mac Attack on AM 600 The BALL) to the mornings on WOKV, I haven't watch as many sporting events on TV. It just wasn't possible with that 4 am alarm looming. But now, here I am with all the time in the world and I just can't get going about the NBA Finals.

It would be a great story if Orlando were to shock the world and win the title, but it just isn't that compelling. Kobe is a big personality. He's a star. But Orlando? Can you pick Orlando star Dwight Howard out of a lineup?

If the finals had turned out to be Kobe's Lakers against LeBron James and the Cavaliers ,then there is something I could get into. But instead, it's Kobe having his way in the Magic Kingdom.

By the way, Tom Wills is still really good on the anchor desk. I gotta get that remote back from the wife.

Weekend BBQ Tip

Each weekend, I'm going to post a BBQ tip here to (hopefully) make your summer more tasty.

This tip comes from a conversation that I had with a listener recently who was telling me all about his technique for ribs.

He told me that he wraps his ribs in foil for the entire 5-6 hours that he smokes/cooks them.

Buzzers should be going off about now.

Here's your BBQ tip #1: Ribs (or anything else really) can't get the smokey flavor from the smoke unless the smoke is hitting the meat! Okay, that sounds obvious. But here's the second part to this tip: after about two hours, the meat is basically saturated with the smoke. There is a limit to how much smoke you can get into ribs.

So, here's one of the techniques I use, feel free to use it the next time you do ribs.

Marinade or brine first. Choose your favorite marinade, just know that the point to marinading ribs is partly about putting a subtle flavor into the meat, but its mostly about breaking down the connective tissue. If I am using an acidic marinade, like lemonade or something vinegar based, I'll marinade for a shorter time (maybe 3-4 hours) vs. something that is less acidic (which I may let sit overnight).

Make sure whatever kind of wood or chips you are going to use for smoking are well saturated. If you are using store bought chips, submerging them in water for 3-4 hours will be plenty.

Then you have your smoke. After two hours or so, you can wrap the ribs in foil to get a steaming effect so they'll be super-tender, but remember, you don't want them to totally fall off the bone. You want them to need a little tug to come off. That's the perfect rib.

I'll have another BBQ tip next weekend and I'll have more on the sports scene during the week.