Joe H

Interesting comment about the influence of one player on a game in basketball vs. "soccer." I'm not so sure that I agree unless we're talking about a situation with a Wilt Chamberlain or Jabbar and the opposing team at least a half foot shorter. Robben/Messi/Ronaldo and a few others consistently demand two or more players on them. Of course one player out of five is not like one player out of eleven. Still, I think of Bayern when both Ribery and Robben were healthy, Real with both Bale and Ronaldo and the upcoming season (after the end of October when the Italian gourmet is able to play again) where Barca will feature three of the best attacking players in the world. I must add this: FWIW I have no interest in soccer in America. I've been fortunate to experience a number of European stadiums in my travel and it is just a different game, a different experience in Europe. Several years ago I saw Bayern play Dortmund in Dortmund's stadium-it was incredible. I think of the old RFK where the steel and concrete stands would seemingly rock with the passion of fans. Dortmund was the same and then some. This is a poor analogy but somehow it seems to fit: in 1965 I saw DeMatha beat Power and Alcindor at Cole Field House with 12,500 others. The woman next to me was eight or nine months pregnant (no, I had never met her before!). Three, four times in the second half she exclaimed "I'm going to have my baby...right now!" She was serious. I think she actually wanted to say almost a half century later that she gave birth during DeMatha winning that game! But she was passionate. Extraordinarily passionate. In Dortmund and a number of other places there could be a lot of babies born in the stands during a good game.

I have been on the waiting list for the mailing list at Cayuse since the spring of '09. I was told today that I "am close...very close." I'm just curious how long people may have waited on a waiting list to make a winery's mailing list. My luck is that the first vintage I can buy will be a bad one....

Bayern Munich, on paper, would beat the German team. Remember Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery play for Bayern. That's seven Bayern players plus two of the best offensive players in the world. Ribery was third in the voting for best player in Europe last year (behind Messi and Ronaldo) and Robben won the bronze medal as the third best player at the WC behind Messi and Mueller. A lot of people thought that Messi should not have won. I am biased but I believe that Robben is the most exciting player in the world when he has the ball. Shaqiri (Switzerland) and Alaba are both very young and talented and arguably the rock of Bayern's defense a year ago was Javi Martinez, a E 37 million transfer who, I think, remarkably does not start for Spain. The one player that Bayern need-and they failed to get him two years ago-is Marco Reus who extended at Dortmund. On paper, I believe that both Barca and Real would beat Spain (maybe Athletico Madrid who won the CL this year too). Several English clubs could beat their National team. Totally agree with Daniel about the CL. Fantastic futbal/fussbal/soccer. The top European clubs pick off the best players in the world. Consider Real adding Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, Barca adding Messi, Neymar and now Suarez. Bayern noted above adding Robben and Ribery. According to Forbes six of the top sixteen highest paid athletes in all sports play for European "soccer" clubs.

When Gotze came on in the 98th minute seven of the German players were from Bayern and had played together much of the season. Hummels grew up in the Bayern organization and represents one of Munich's greatest losses along with Kroos who is leaving for Real. Prior to Gotze coming on, Klose was Bayern's striker for several years. Podolski before him. At any time from 7 to 9 of the eleven German players have played or play for the same German team in the last several years. Several Bundesliga clubs (Bayern, Dortmund, Schalke) have excellent youth programs where students live full time from a very young age. Many of the Bayern players came through this. Fussball is every bit of the obsession in Germany as it is in Brazil, Argentina or anywhere else. Here are the television ratings for yesterday's game in Germany: 86.3% of all televisions turned on in Germany were tuned to the game-the highest tv broadcast in history. 34.65 million Germans (out of about 81 million total) watched the game. Germany has the highest % of attendance of all soccer clubs in the world (i.e. Bayern Munich have sold out every single seat of their now 71,000 seat stadium since it opened in 2005). I watched ESPN last Wednesday when Germany played Brazil and they did a short feature showing traffic on a major downtown road in Rio which was gridlocked several days earlier. Thirty minutes before the game started there was only the odd car to be found. My wife and I were in Munich when Bayern played Dortmund a couple of years ago in the Spring-the game was at Dortmund. We watched the first half in a Marriott ballroom with a 1,000 or so passionate Germans (many of whom had their whole family there!) and left at halftime to return to our hotel next to the Haufbahnhof. The ride was about four or five miles through downtown Munich traffic. There was none. I believe I saw a total of four or five cars during the entire ride. Verizon carries TyC Sports in its Spanish language package which we subscribe to. This is Argentina's national sports channel similar to, say, ESPN in the U. S. Incredible the wall to wall coverage they are still giving their team who just met with Cristina Fernandez the Argentinian president. I believe D. C. had the highest TV ratings overall of anywhere in America for the World Cup.

Cleveland is now the rising star city in America. (Edited to add this comment: for at least two years.) With all due respect to the players of the last thirty or forty years I would make a serious argument that Wilt Chamberlain (Philly's Overbrook high school), Lou Alcindor (Jabbar-Power Memorial and arguably the biggest hs reputation of all to this day), Bill Russell (somewhere in San Francisco) and Elgin Baylor (Spingarn) were the equal of any of them. I think I'm back to the early or mid '50's but Russell and the Boston Celtics were incredible. So was UCLA under Wooden with Alcindor and later Walton (interesting comment from him). Cole Field House's first sellout (12,500+) was DeMatha vs. Power Memorial in '64. Until '65 Alcindor had never lost a game-his reputation helped sell it out. Red Auerbach's Celtics with Russell won the NBA title 9 ot 10 times. Chamberlain was the first (and only) player to score a 100 points and he did it in Hershey. Elgin Baylor could even be reading this-he's almost 80. Many would argue that he was the greatest player of all time. LeBron has a few more years to go. Huge applause to him for "going home." BUT...it was just reported that he has a TWO YEAR deal. Would he really consider leaving Cleveland a second time? I understand this will allow him to renegotiate and there is no real intention of leaving...a second time. But somehow it would seem that if he is really "going home" he should have signed a bit longer of a contract.

Incredible Suarez photo! Barca must want their players to have a healthy appetite because Liverpool have agreed to sell him to them. It will be interesting: Messi, Neymar and Suarez attacking. (the latter with a knife and fork...)

Delaplane's '13 PM is its equal. They are both outstanding. I've had a number of pm's around the state but these two are superior to any other. Jeff also makes a '11 Raepheus which is a late harvest petit manseng. (Is this what you mentioned by a "dessert style?") It is a superb wine that is rich and voluptuous. I had a bottle of it a week ago and can only imagine what it will taste like five years from now. I don't believe Jim Dolphin does a dessert wine, at least not yet. They are good friends, by the way.

I once drove through Austria about 100 or so km into Slovenia and stayed in Moravske Toplice. What is important about this is that it was a four star quality resort with a very good dining room at remarkably low prices. Slovenian wine was actually very good for the price, E 15 a bottle or so. Room was about E 75 or 80-incredibly reasonable. I also met several people from Ljubljana at the resort and thought that I would love to visit their city one day.

"He also intends to open in Fairfax, but Rockville will be first because the space requires less renovation."

I believe that there is a different model in Charlottesville wineries: going to the winery and having a view of the mountains with either a tasting or buying the cheapest bottle available. Most wineries have a good bottle but on three visits in the last four months it is a rarity when someone buys anything more than the cheapest to drink. Overall, I totally agree with plarkins above: Jim Law has passed on different standards for Linden/Delaplane/Glen manor and RDV. I believe the finest wine in the entire state (fine by any definition-not just VA) is being made fifty miles west of the beltway off of I 66. Certainly, one of the most beautiful places on earth, too. I'd also add Hillsboroughs and their Onyx to this list. I was at Delaplane several days ago and he has two of the best wines in VA: his 2012 Williams Gap red and his 2013 Petit Manseng. Linden's 2010 Hardscrabble Red is the best he has ever made ('10 Boisseau, too) and Jeff White at Glen Manor is quietly setting the standard for everyone else in the state. '10 Hodder Hill, '10 Petit Verdot, '12 Petit manseng. Both linden and Glen Manor have superb late harvest dessert wines well worth trying a bottle of. The Washington Post's recent major attention to the above wineries is more than warranted. We are extremely fortunate that they are so close to us. And so serious about what they make.

There are games such as Bayern over Barca last year 5-0 (two games) and Juve 2-0 (two games) and then Bayern losing to Real 4-1 this year which are inexplicable. Similar would be Germany and Portugal along with the NL and Spain. But I believe Germany's best player is Marco Reus from Dortmund and he has not played in this WC. He is a fantastic offensive player. Nobody mentions him, at least nobody on this side of the Atlantic. Regardless Brazil played like it was a sandlot game without structure; Germany was precise and supportive of each other. But I write this as someone who believes that Arjen Robben is as exciting of a futbal player as anyone on earth and has flown to Munich more than once specifically to see Bayern play. Germany vs. Argentina is the most interesting matchup. I just want Robben to score and/or assist vs. Brazil. I'm actually glad that he is not playing against his seven Bayern teammates on Sunday, six of whom start for Germany. One last comment: Reus is phenominal. He'll leave Dortmund and go to a team like Real/Barca/Bayern/ManU and eventually receive the recognition here that he already has in Germany.

I am a huge fan of Arjen Robben and believe he is more important to the Dutch than Messi is to the Argentinians. This has the potential to be the most exciting of all the games because of these two. One comment about Brazil w/o Neymar: Germany is without Marco Reus who many believe is Neymar's equal for Germany. Reus is certainly Deutschland's most creative player and along with Lewandowski allowed Dortmund second place in the Bundesliga. I should also note that Bayern will probably start seven of the eleven German players.

Is this the best seafood restaurant in Maryland? It looks remarkably similar to Staunton's The Shack: https://www.facebook.com/TheKitchenAtRockHall/photos/a.187109167966204.49813.187108904632897/187109171299537/?type=3&theater Two Maryland magazines have also called it the best seafood restaurant in the northern Bay (defined as Rock Hall south to Solomon's island also including Easton, St. Michael's and Annapolis) http://www.chesapeakeboating.net/Media/Feature-Stories/Best-of-the-Bay- is from Chesapeake Boating while What's Up Magazine has named its chef as the best for two years in a row. Throw in best crab cakes (beating the Narrows which placed third and had previously won 14 or 15 years in a row), best "undiscovered restaurant" and several others and this represents a remarkable haul for this tiny restaurant and an adventure for us to drive the two hours to find it.. http://bestof.whatsupmag.com/2012/index.php/site/winners/1-best-of-eastern-shore-2012-food-dining is the listing from What's Up? Serious question. In Rock Hall. 18 seats and they take reservations. Could this possibly be Maryland's best seafood restaurant? A real sense of anticipation...

There are benches on the Ocean City boardwalk that one can "sponsor." There are hundreds of them. All from people who want their memories to be shared with those who come today. My wife and I will probably sponsor a bench. We will welcome your sitting on it and watching the world walk by. --- Hooked (Joe H)

The Marriott Courtyard is now $525 a night in July and August. If I was there right now I would be taking the elevator down to the bar on the third floor to buy a glass (or two) of wine. Then, I'd return upstairs to sit on the balcony overlooking the boardwalk and bitch about how much the room cost... ...still worth every penny. I love O. C.

The same family has had Captain's Table for several generations. My guess is that the hostess on your grandmother's last trip is still the hostess except today she owns it. Crab guacamole. ...and I am seriously jealous. You are in Ocean City tonight and we are not. Have a great time! ...A great town for July Fourth!!! I can only imagine what the Boardwalk must be like as I type this...

Thank you, Genevieve: really, really appreciate your trying what my wife and I love. I cannot tell you how badly I would like to have some crab guacamole right now!

The single best restaurant in the Charlottesville area right now is the Ivy whose chef/owner was nominated for a Mid Atlantic James Beard award this year. We had a 12 course tasting menu that was extraordinary. On Monday eve ning every single one of the 50-60 seats was filled-the restaurant is known and has a very real loyal following. At this point I believe I have been to every Charlottesville area winery and my absolute favorite is Grace Estates which also has the most spectacular setting and view of any of them. This may seem difficult to believe given the views and settings of King Family, Veritas, Pollak and Afton but Grace, a 20,000 square foot Georgian mansion on the plateau top of a 1100' mountain with 30+ mile views is spectacular. Their '12 PV and '12 Tannat are among the best '12's in the state and bothv ery reasonably priced in the mid to high '20's. '13 from the barrel will challenge for the Governor's Cup next year as VA's best wine. Jake, the winemaker, was at Pollak until a couple of years ago. He had several wines in VA's Governor's Case. He'll win it at Grace. Grace Estates is virtually unknown but a true destination, I think the primary destination of a any Charlottesville area winery followed by Barboursville and Keswick, possibly Pollak also.

Passion Fish has the best happy hour in western Fairfax County. Virtually everything is $5.00 at the bar and done well. Small but gets VERY crowded on weeknights. Tuscarora Mill's "tavern" in Leesburg. Also, the Wine Kitchen in Leesburg. The bar at Red Hen. The bar at Iron Bridge Wine Company in Warrenton. The bar at Shark on the Harbor in Ocean City. Or across the street at the Sunset Grill. Any opinions on Tommy Joe's on Montgomery Lane in Bethesda as a "cheers" type bar?

Island House: one dozen local oysters $12.99.

I wish Jose Andres and Marriott the absolute best of luck with their new restaurant. But, I fear that this may be another celebrity chef restaurant where the celebrity chef never steps foot in the kitchen.

"If I get a promotion for a new appetizer or a coupon over my app..." I am so sick of reading about "apps." I don't care about "apps." I would love to know how the Chili's are doing in the Villages, Solavita and near other larger over 55 communities. I honestly believe there are two different epistemologies emerging (have not said this since college!). Each is tied to age and the associated community this reperesents. The other is to the physicality of simply trying to remember that which one has previously learned. It can be a real stretch to learn something new. Especially a new system (epistemology) of knowledge. Far too many companies' existence now depends on promoting a new system. From a Treo to a Blackberry to an IPhone. Four, five or whatever. I still have a rotary dial in one of our rooms. It will be there tomorrow. Of course for someone much younger it will take a bit of an education to learn how to use the rotary dial...

Daveo, really enjoyed your post. Thank you for sharing.

Astrid, thank you for taking the time to share so expressively. Sincerely appreciated.

Thrasher's for french fries but ONLY the original stand which is on the inlet. Fisher's popcorn, again, ONLY the original stand on the south end of the boardwalk. Both the rockfish and soft shells will be at Captain's Table or Shark on the Harbor. I also want to make the sincere point that Ocean City is really about the boardwalk and the experience of walking on it or watching over it as the sun sets or at nighttime. I would put the Ocean City boardwalk in the middle of the summer one on one with Venice Beach or Bourbon Street. It is an experience that is one of the best of its kind on earth. Standing in line at Thrasher's or at the counter of Fisher's is a tradition. Sitting on a bench and watching the world walk by is a great past time. My wife first went to Ocean City when there was only a ferry crossing and not a Bay Bridge. She has gone for over sixty years and still passionately loves the boardwalk as much today as she did when she was pushed down it in a carriage. Alternatively, the Fractured Prune for a serious donut. The Sahara Cafe is also generally thought of as the best breakfast in Ocean City. It is good and the motel dining room has a great deal of character with a Flo like waittress who will put it over the top. But it is not quite on the level of a top Jersey Diner (i.e. the Silver Coin in Hammonton) Go to the Fractured Prune instead and expect to come home quite a bit heavier. Captain's Galley in West Ocean City is famous for crab cakes. The original was in Crisfield and had a great deal of ambience. It closed and now the O. C. outpost is their only one. A landmark for locals. For ourselves, several rungs on the ladder below the Narrows for crab cakes. I'd also seriously consider a small side trip to Berlin which is one of the great small towns of character in America. FWIW I graduated from high school in Silver Spring. My 25 year reunion was in Ocean City because so many of us, the day we graduated, drove to O. C. and slept on the beach. Today, a lot more time has passed and a 25 year reunion is only a memory. Still, my wife and I go to O. C. three or so times a year. I am fortunate to have travelled heavily all over North America and Europe for three + decades. Still, it is Ocean City that I want to go back to. And do.