DaveO

That is so accurate. Thank you for the correction/reminder.

I've devoured many a cheese steak; 99% of the time the quality of the meat--eh...but its a cheese steak. OTOH for fair amount of time HellBurger offered a cheese steak with great quality meat....and ample gloppy cheese. That was cheese steak heaven in my little opinion. Would cheese steak mavens have critiqued and disallowed it for violating cheese steak quality limits? I don't know, but it turned a sandwich that has never stood out foodie wise into something worth savoring.

....more on Sunday's games. As to the Buck Celtics game, it was one wherein coaching matters. The C's played great defense against Giannis. Great D...against a guy who killed the rest of the league most of the time. They thwarted him down low where he has been unstoppable. They were often able to bring in a double team and Horford simply stuck with him and played Giannis tough. Possibly Horford is one of the only players in the NBA capable of that...being able to be with him on the outside, move with him and provide Deee down low. The double teams made a big-VERY BIG difference. Again as to the offensive styles. Neither team has a big hulking down low center with a low post game. Lopez, the Buck's big center used to be a down low center and I saw him try one or two short jumpers...but he has morphed into a 3 point shooter on the outside to help open the lanes for Giannis. Boston's primary scorers all start on the outside. All of them most of the time. By most I mean over 90%. On drives there are a LOT of kick outs to a 3 point shooter left open by a collapsing defense. That is really a league wide phenomena a predominate style of the game. Neither team played with the methodical sameness that Houston uses...but still it is a game that starts on the outside rather than the inside. It IS a very different style than predominated up to the earlier part of the 2000's.

In Arlington we’ve had HellBurger, then Ray’s had similar quality and nearby Citizen Burger are IMHO just as good. The fries at Earl’s are crispier, better and as numerous at a similar price. Five Guys has dryish little patties. A burger fries and a soda at 5 Guys was about $13 and just inferior all around

@DonRocks I’m aware you have posted this thought several times, the gist being the NBA game has changed significantly, the main reason being the 3 point shot, and you find it less enjoyable. Can’t say that I disagree with you. It has changed. I just watched a significant portion of the Warriors/Houston playoff game. Houston, the team that shoots the most 3’s, on a consistent basis, attempted, of its total number of field goals, over 60% from beyond the 3 point line. Of the remaing shots virtually were inside the paint, virtually all via drives. They basically didn’t have a consistent down low pivot man presence and they had virtually no shots between the paint and the 3 point line; the kind of shot that long time shooters from Jerry West to Larry Bird to Michael Jordan to Kobe Bryant to Carmelo Anthony to Kevin Durant have lived off of. Houston plays a different game. (BTW: The Bucks took the 2nd most 3 pointers this season though significantly less than Houston). The only difference I have is that I still enjoy it (or maybe I’m simply addicted to it). It is very different from how the game used to be played wherein most shooting circulated around and inside the paint but rarely far outside

The space is part of the Market Common complex. I don’t recall what occupied that address in the past but I presume it was built and leased to La Tasca when the project went up

Thinking of the late great John Havlicek got me thinking of the playoff series in 1973 between the awesome Celtics and the underdog but good Knicks. The Celtics had one of the all-time great seasons in the NBA winning 68 regular season games. The Knicks were very good with 57 wins--but the Celtics had been awesome all season. It was a playoff series where John Havlicek had a severely injured shoulder but played anyway. He was at the peak of his career, a regular first team all NBA star. In this series he got hurt and was unable to contribute as he normally did. The Knicks won in 7. While searching "around" on Google I came across the below reconstructed film/radio broadcast of much of that game; the only film of this game: So this is how they used to play....

I’ve been to Della J’s once. A younger family member took our bartending course, trained other staff and have hired other grads. The ownership is nice. I enjoyed it but didn’t consider it exceptional. There are a healthy number of predominately African American restaurants in the region. Most that I’m aware of are in the District or PG County. I’ve been to a number, but not all of them. The one’s I’m thinking about do not receive tons of region wide notice nor are often mentioned in any part of the foodie world. When l’ve been at those places I’m one of very few non African Americans. A lot emphasize Southern cooking— not unlike the hot chicken (Nashville) style places. (Oooh that stuff is way too hot for me) I like Half Note Lounge in Bowie. It’s as much about atmosphere and music and steep pours as it is about the food. I’ve been hearing raves about Catch 22, a new place on Upper Ga Ave in DC near the Walmart, close to the MD line. Haven’t been there yet

There is a Five Guys around the corner from me- extremely convenient. I almost never go. Don’t like it. Just went. It’s still lousy and expensive Not expensive expensive—expensive for the crap they serve.

A worthy all time favorite. I watched him in the 70’s. I vacillated between supporting the Knicks and Bullets, both excellent teams. That damn Havlicek was often the reason the Celts won games. His picture should reflect the dictionary word “relentless”. Not knowing anything about recent health issues I-was stunned to see he passed away. He literally seemed indestructible. One other recollection: The '73 playoffs between the Celtics and Knicks. The Celtics were incredible that year with a tremendous regular season record....the Knicks were very good...but deep underdogs to a super team. Very competitive series. Then Havlicek hurt his shoulder. He missed a game, but when he played he was a shadow of his normal self. Ultimately the Knicks took advantage and won in 7, badly beating a Celtics team in the final game with a severely limited Havlicek. They took advantage of him while he was in the game. Cripes he was great.

Shocked to learn of his death. Havlicek seemed indestructible as a player, relentless as a competitor at both offense and defense. The NYTimes has an excellent article on his life, career, and the well deserved accolades.

The Chris Davis dilemma/saga is intriguing. An article overviewing some player responses and other miserable slumps is only one such story. One person got a Chris Davis tatoo. Meanwhile since he broke the streak he is batting .360 with 9 hits, 2 home runs and 3 doubles. He is on a good streak. But he could lapse back to last years stats....or he could become a big dinger hitter again. Who knows? Meanwhile what do you do??? with the above story only one of several alternatives. Well.....following the Chris Davis story is more satisfying than following the antics of el Presidente the tweeter in chief

Intentional neglect. I consider that an apt description

I have a long response. Around 1992-1993 I watched as someone I had known for about 2+ decades died of AIDS. Most of that last year he lived at his brothers home, his brother being my closest friend and lived in this area. I watched as this extremely nice person withered away. His body shrunk his skin turned sallow. He grew weaker and weaker. Immune deficiency. His body could not fight off the bugs and illnesses that would kill all of us without that built in protection. It took somewhat over a year from the time he learned that what had been HIV turned into AIDS. In '92 earlier '93 there was no way to fight AIDS. There was not a cure or a medicine. AIDS hit the American consciousness in the very early 1980's. It was known as a Gay Disease. It was a complete mystery to science. In its earliest days there was immense fear about it. People including medical personnel were afraid to touch people with HIV or AIDS. That fear lasted for a long time. It was widespread. In March of 1989 one of the more caring loving events with regard to the treatment and interactions of people with AIDS occurred--Barbara Bush, then first lady publicly hugged a baby and then an adult with AIDS. That was 1989. Years had passed. The public still had an overwhelming fear connected to this disease. In the earlier 1980's another of my closest friends bagged his MD and became a medical researcher. As an intern or in his residency he had been treating patients with AIDS. He joined a firm that was attacking the AIDS virus and ways to treat it via a method that had fairly recently been developed and perfected. The company was led by the PHD who had perfected this method and was funded by Venture Capitalists which also included corporate monies from various Pharmaceutical and other med oriented businesses. My friend was close with the president and his wife and I dated the founder/Presidents sister. During that period I learned a lot about the scientific community, its efforts to spread information and knowledge and the funding of research. Overwhelmingly the bulk of the money HAD to come from the Feds. The Private world neither had the money to fully fund the science and the effort was very risky. Over modern American history the Feds have funded many projects that ultimately proved valuable, ie Airplanes, Jets, large scale computers, the internet, etc etc etc. The politics of the "80's severely limited the money and hence the research into addressing and searching for cures, medicines and antidotes for AIDS/HIV. There were endless roads to go down. There were researchers available. There wasn't enough funding. Had more money gone into this research earlier, more avenues would have been tested and explored. The likelihood was that the medicines that resulted in "cocktail drugs" that kept HIV from progressing to AIDS MIGHT have been discovered earlier. Possibly a couple of years earlier. A lot of people might have died because of those political considerations. I can never describe the circumstances as connected to luck. Crappy heartless politics contributed to many deaths. Come to think of it this administration hates science. Funding is dropping in a wide variety of areas. Many will die.

On a side note I was interacting with a grad of the bartending school who bartends at Cap One Center for Caps and Wizards games. During the playoffs this year she has been earning roughly twice what she makes at any regular game. Actually great money for an event that isn't that long. I think the employees at Aramark at the Cap Center are rooting as hard as anyone for the Caps to win tonight.

That is one perspective. Not mine.

More on the Chris Davis saga.....

It turns out others who were ranked #1 at year end are not in this photo: Pete Sampras is probably the one with the longest period of year end #1 ranking who was not at that photo shoot. Regardless, its a neat picture and between Nastase and recent and current #1's it covers a lot of decades, not just years. That is a lot of tennis history. Boy I disagree on the "luck" description concerning Arthur Ashe. He reportedly contracted HIV from a blood transfusion in the 1980's due to a heart attack. I knew someone over a long period, who died from Aids around the same time period as Ashe. During his last year of life, while with AIDS, I watched him whither away at my best friends home (his brother). It was devastating. During the 1980's another very close friend was a very active AIDS scientist working at some companies that were trying to find a cure for AIDS. I knew his colleagues and the President of that firm (whose sister I dated for a bit). I learned a fair amount about the entire scientific process wherein researchers around the globe were trying to find a cure for AIDS or a medicine(s) that would prevent HIV from turning into AIDS. One horrible accounting for the time it took to come up with a medicine that could prevent HIV from turning into AIDS was the political environment that severely limited total dollars and research to come up with an antidote. It was overwhelmingly political in the US. Funds were limited. It was completely political. There was no guarantee that more money, more research, more testing, more effort could have arrived at a cure more quickly. But it might have. The scientists were well connected in terms of sharing results and branching off into newer possible solutions. It is possible that the "cocktail combination" of drugs that prevented HIV from turning into AIDS could have been discovered earlier with more money and more effort. To me it was one of the ugly episodes of predjudiced politics that possibly resulted in many more deaths than needed to occur. I can't accept the description of terrible luck.

Interestingly since the Washington Business Journal broke this story no other source has learned anything more. Its a well guarded secret or transaction. The Georgetowner added a piece that rehashes the WBJ article. They contacted both Clyde's and the Graham holdings groups and received "no comments". As it should be. Its a private transaction. I'm with KN above. It would be nice if the Graham's purchased Clydes. They are benevolent and community minded owners for the most part. I suspect they would be "remote" owners as food and beverage is not their expertise. If this story is accurate it would be a positive to have local ownership maintain Clyde's and I hope their seasoned professional management continues to do a great job.

I know that for at least part of one year Boris Becker was ranked #1 in tennis. He isn't in the photo. How many other pro's going back to the earliest #1 in the photo (I'm guessing Conners or Nastase) were ranked #1 at some point and are not in the photo?

I'm not enough of a fan or tennis historian to name all these players, but per the blurb I saw on my FB feed all of the men in this photo were at one time ranked #1 in mens tennis. Can you name them?

The Graham family (as in former majority owners of Washington Post) are in negotiations to purchase the restaurant chain which has evidently been for sale for some period following John Laytham’s passing

On Thursdays I work late at the bar school handling a once a week service we provide to grads. About 7:45 I stepped outside and heard this huge singular cheer. We are next door to the Arlington Roof Top Bar. Immediately went to my cell and checked the scores. Bingo....Ovi had scored and the Caps had tied the game 1-1. Not exactly sure what all that means....but it was nice to know Ovi tied up the game.

Hmmm. I'm eating the smoked wings right now as take out. Wow. Excellent smoke and spice combination. I could feast on these. Texture wise?? Its fine. I'd describe it as not exceptional, not bad....very acceptable ....but that smoke and spice combo is absolutely great.

Vincenzo was terrific. Fantabulous food. Wonderful evenings. A very special place imho. I was fortunate through a friend to meet Gerard Pangaud several times and dine at his extabllishments (primarily Gerard's Place). Memorable dining experiences.