Hawks, Blues to Busch

Source: BluesBuzzBlog.com

It's finally happening. The St. Louis Blues are hosting the 2017 NHL Winter Classic, the league's annual outdoor game normally occurring on January 1st. This coming year will actually be played on January 2nd due to NFL conflicts (which won't be happening in St. Louis...). 

The Gateway to the West will play host to the Chicago Blackhawks, who will be playing in their fifth outdoor game since first playing in the "Classic" in 2009. This obviously is a call for a little controversy due to their overexposure on the NHL's largest stage, outside of the Stanley Cup Final. 

The question now is what uniforms will be worn by the teams in the outdoor game. There are plenty of options available for the Blues, who have yet to play around with various alternate uniforms. The Blackhawks have had an away outdoor uniform in each of the past two seasons. 

Source: BleacherReport.com

This is a great concept, by Tom Vopni, which I believe will be very close to what the Blues will wear come Jan. 2nd. I would probably guess their famous note logo will be added right below "Blues" on the front of the sweater. 

As for the Blackhawks, I think a simple stripe change up and the inclusion of the pre-1960's logo would be perfect. This older looking Blackhawk is simply gorgeous and underused. 

Soruce: DRodDesigns

This would be a fantastic design and would definitely persuade me to make a purchase as soon as it came out. 

Hockey fans in the Midwest have a lot of look forward to next season. 

Nashville Chicken So Hot, the Chicken Ran Away

                                            

Source: GrubGrade.com

The "hot" new fast food choice (as you've probably seen in commercials lately) is Kentucky Fried Chicken's Nashville Hot Chicken. This chicken has been promoted by the likes of Jim Gaffigan, who seems to be promoted as the new Colonel.

As a big hot wing fan, I was instantly intrigued by the new addition by the fried chicken restaurant. The Nashville Hot Chicken looked pretty appealing from the commercials and was being advertised as "Limited Time", so my roommates and I headed over to KFC down the block. We each ordered a three-piece boneless meal and took it home to enjoy. 

My Order

When we opened the container, which proudly proclaimed "The best spicy chicken you will ever have", we realized we got ripped off. There were three measly pieces of chicken, a biscuit that had already soaked up all the sauce from the chicken, and a tiny container of coleslaw. Don't get me wrong. After tasting the chicken, it was pretty spicy for my weak tastebuds and tasted pretty good. The size of the meal was surprisingly filling after sitting on it, but I still was not happy with the size of the chicken tenders. Kentucky Fried, you should know better. 

Price: $5.49

Grade: C+

Up Next: A request for Hardee's from a young fan

Hold the Ketchup, BK

                                   

Source: nrn.com

Hot Digitity Dog. Burger King has added grilled hot dogs to their menu, answering the various additions to competitors lineups, including Taco Bell's Quesalupa. This is not a new idea to American burger joints. McDonald's tried selling hot dogs about ten years ago, only to be deeply criticized for the effort. In fact, I remember asking my mom for one while we were in the drive-thru but she wouldn't get it for me. I wonder why. 

                                   

Source: Enkivillage.com

Thank you Mom for saving my insides and my eyes. Holy cow that looks horrible. Not to mention, it has ketchup on it. Go ahead, call me a Chicago snob. I will not eat a hot dog with ketchup on it and haven't since I was about 12 years old. Which brings me to my concern about the Burger King "Grilled Dog." It has ketchup on it! I honestly don't remember the last time I had to specifically ask for no ketchup while ordering a hot dog. Just ask for everything and expect heaven. Not at Burger King.

                                             

                                               My hot dog from Burger King

After asking BK to hold the ketchup, I received my grilled hot dog from the young woman in the drive-thru. I drove home and showed my roommates what I had gotten. They seemed to be a little confused that I was even going to try the hot dog from the fast food joint. Not only did I try it, the hot dog actually wasn't bad. The grilled taste, found in Burger King's burgers, is definitely in the dog and was pretty tasteful. The onions and relish tasted fresh and made for a pretty good late night snack. The bun did seem a little stale though. Overall, a pretty nice job for a place that has no business selling hot dogs. 

Price: $1.99      (Not too bad)

Grade: B

                                               

They're Back. It's Time to Go Green.

Source: Delish.com

They're back folks. (Almost) everybody's favorite shake of the year is once again available at McDonald's. The legendary Shamrock Shake is back because of how close we are to St. Patrick's Day.

Seeing as one of my favorite desert options is now available...down the block from my apartment... another food-related blog post was needed. As soon as I found out Shamrock Shakes were available, I was in the McDonald's drive-thru lane. After our intramural hockey game victory, (ok, so maybe the other team didn't show up), my buddy Colin and I drove over to Mickey D's and got the green version of heaven. Wow. It was just like I remembered. The delicious mint flavor was amazing and the thickness of the shake was perfect. I am definitely looking forward to many more Shamrock Shakes throughout this spring.

One of my favorites stories I always tell about Shamrock Shakes is how I was able to achieve one in June one time in my hometown in West Chicagoland. Apparently they serve the shakes until their syrup runs out. This allows enthusiasts such as myself to purchase Shamrock Shakes late into the summertime and enjoy a cool mint shake on a hot summer day.

                                                       Source: ClickAmericana.com

Some readers commented on my grading scale last week on my Quesalupa. I will clear the rumors and say yes, there is a scale. Don't ask the details.

Grade: A

Taco Bell Just Got Cheesier

If you know anything about me, you know about my obsession with a certain fast-food chain known as Taco Bell. The excellent marketing schemes the restaurant comes up with fool me every time. From the Doritos Locos Tacos to the Starburst freezes, I feel the need to try each one because of how appealing it is to my very college-like appetite.

The day of Super Bowl 50 (February 7), Taco Bell released the "Quesalupa", a chalupa with cheese infused inside.

Therefore, Monday evening's dinner was instantly decided to be Taco "Ding Ding". Alongside a cold Mountain Dew Baja Blast, I dove for the pepper-jack-infused Mexican snack. I have to say, I was pretty impressed. Honestly, it tasted like a taco with a quesadilla as its shell....which I will not complain about. I will most definitely recommend the new shell to all of my fellow Ding-Ding fans.

Price:   $2.99 (Beef)
Overall Grade: A-

Super Bowl LI Logo Released

Source: SportsLogos.Net

The NFL will be going back to the Roman numeral system after this year's Super Bowl 50. This is a huge relief to passionate football fans and historians who grew attached to the roman numerals of the past, whom were disappointed once the league came out with the Arabic version "50" for it's semi centennial. Next year's Super Bowl in Houston will be known as Super Bowl LI, as seen in the back of Super Bowl 50's program. 

Compared to the design of Super Bowl logos from XLV through XLIX which were much more standardized, this logo will feature the "L" and the "I" moved up right next to the Lombardi Trophy and also include red as an accent color. (A first since Super Bowl XLIV.) This would lead the belief that the following Super Bowl, Super Bowl LII, will have purple accents, due to being played in Minnesota's brand new U.S. Bank Stadium in February 2018. 

Source: SportsLogos.Net

Here are examples of Super Bowl logo designs before 2010 when the standardized system was enforced.

Source: TheLogoAddict.com

Uniforms set for Super Bowl 50

Source: USA Today

      The Denver Broncos are allowing an age-old superstition affect their uniform choice for Super Bowl 50.

       Denver will be the home team versus the NFC-Champion Carolina Panthers, but will choose to wear their white uniform, which is normally their away uniform. This is because of their track-record in past Super Bowls, going 0-4 while wearing orange jerseys. Not only did Denver go winless, they were blown out of each game, being outscored 167-38.

       According to Panthers.com, Carolina will be forced to wear their home black jerseys, but will opt to stick with the normal silver pants, typically worn with the black jerseys. There was a slight chance we could have seen black pants which were worn a few times before 2014.

       Personally, I feel this will make for a great uniform matchup which will be seen under the sun due to a 3 p.m. local time zone start in Santa Clara, California. I am a big fan of the Carolina black-over-silver look which will be put on the spotlight and in historical images now. Denver's white uniforms have been left virtually untouched since the Nike redesign back in 1997.