Tag Archives: Football

Kansas State quarterback vomits his way to victory against UCLA

Posted on by
Reply

There’s something decadent about watching a Kansas State football game 50 yards from the sandy beaches of Anna Maria Island, Florida, on a Saturday afternoon while dining on grilled grouper fresh from the Gulf of Mexico, asparagus, summer squash and sweet potatoes.

Then Coffman started barfing.

Carson Coffman (right, during Saturday’s game, pretty much as shown), K-State’s starting quarterback (for now) was seen hurling on the sidelines and had to leave the game in the third quarter to get rehydrated with an IV-drip. According to media reports KSU’s QB barfed about 10 times during the game.

It wasn’t my cooking. No word on whose cooking it was, or whether the yakking was food-related at all. And who cares. K-State beat UCLA 31-22. And we just finished a delightful lunch of grilled Gulf shrimp accompanied by grilled peaches, pineapple and strawberries.
 

Stuck in D.C. snow, watching hockey, hoping for decent hotel food safety standards

Posted on by
1

With record snowfall in Washington, D.C. why not walk 8 blocks to take in the Washington Capitals-Atlanta Thrashers hockey game Friday night?

With the Caps in first place, the mood was festive on the streets outside the Verizon Center as Amy, Sorenne, 17-year-old daughter Braunwynn — down from Canada for a visit – and I slogged through the slush to the game. Our hair was so wet by the time we arrived that Braunwynn shaped Sorenne’s hair into a fauxhawk that lasted the entire game. There were many comments. Caps won 5-2 to extend their league-leading 13-game winning streak. Braunwynn has retained her hockey knowledge. That Ovechkin kid has prospects. Now if we can only get tickets for Sunday afternoon’s sold-out game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

That slush is now 20 inches of snow outside our hotel. We’re going to be stuck in D.C. for a few extra days. I’m hoping our hotel has better food safety standards than the headquarters hotel for National Football League employees in Fort Lauderdale for tomorrow’s Super Bowl XLIV.

The Sun Sentinel reports that 25 of those NFL employees got sick from some sort of stomach bug, and that earlier this week, inspectors found a dozen critical food-safety violations in the hotel’s restaurant.

The oceanfront Westin Beach Resort also had failed a restaurant inspection in September, and let its license expire in December by not paying a $457 renewal fee, state officials said Friday.

Health officials were quick to say they did not yet know what caused the outbreak, how the guests got it or whether the hotel bore any blame. Samples were still being tested.

Hotel general manager Amaury Piedra said the hotel was cooperating with the investigation. He does not believe the hotel’s food was the cause of the illnesses, saying the symptoms match a virus.

Like maybe norovirus, which could be transmitted from a sick employee, especially one serving food?

An inspection on Wednesday found violations such as open food stored in unclean places, employees handling food with bare hands, lack of handwashing and dirty conditions.

Poland: ‘We want to live in a country that doesn’t stink’

Posted on by
Reply

Poland’s soccer team may suck, but the co-host of the 2012 UEFA Euro championships wants to make sure the toilets sparkle.

Arkadiusz Choczaj, leader of the so-called "Clean Patrol" campaign, told reporters in Warsaw,

"Our toilets are better prepared for these championships than our football players.”

"Clean Patrols", made up of volunteer inspectors dressed in white overalls, recently sniffed around 200 public toilets in six Polish cities slated as Euro 2012 venues or back-ups. The "Clean Patrol" project was co-sponsored by CWS-boco, a sanitary products supplier.

Public potties were rated on accessibility, hygiene, smell and whether toilet paper, soap and hand towels were available.

Just one toilet scored a perfect 100 points, while a three-quarters majority rated 65 points, the basic acceptable standard.

Loos in airports, hotels, restaurants and cafes were rated the highest by both the patrols and tourists surveyed by the independent TNS OBOP pollsters. Poland’s tourist-magnet southern city of Krakow received the highest ratings.

At the bottom of the rankings were a quarter of public restrooms — in train and bus stations, on trains and in camp grounds — rated as danger zones by the patrols and foreign tourists alike.

Jan Orgelbrand, head of Poland’s Chief Sanitary Inspectorate said,

"Regardless of the Euro finals, we have to improve standards because, let’s face it, we want to live in a country that doesn’t stink.”

"Not every football fan or tourist will get to the stadium, but all will visit our public lavatories and their standard speaks about Poland as a nation."
 

Porta handwashing in Overland Park, Kansas

Posted on by
Reply

College football is OK as a sport. It’s no hockey, but the carnival atmosphere for five hours of tailgating before kickoff is something uniquely American.

At Kansas State University there is a permanent section adjacent to one of the parking lots – it’s called Cat Town — where several university departments host informal functions for hundreds of people before home games.

The veterinary college, where I am academically housed, always hosts a spread and it’s always well attended. More gets done in five minutes at Cat Town than hours of meetings during the week.

With all the discussion of H1N1 flu and the emphasis on handwashing, several of the Cat Town tents had hand sanitizers prominently available. But why not go one step further, with the potable handwashing facility?

The people who make porta potties have apparently figured this out, and Gonzalo send these pics back from Overland Park, Kansas, this afternoon while attending some fall fair thingy.
 

Ten Arizona Diamondbacks out with barf

Posted on by
Reply

I used to play a lot of video games in my spare time. I really only liked sports games and readily finished baseball, football, basketball and hockey seasons on my sega, PC and Playstation. I’ve won a few championships (sometimes thanks to the reset button).

I’m not super-proud of my nerdy tendencies, but at some point in the past 5 or 6 years my video game attention turned to fantasy sports, especially football and baseball. This time of year (Jan-Mar) is the fantasy sports dead zone for me, although I’m getting close to gearing up for baseball. It’s a bit like the anticipation many have for the holiday season. Emails full of trashtalk, trade offers and rule changes have been flooding my inbox over the past couple of weeks. 

Last night Doug beat me to a post about Tony Scheffler, Denver Broncos Tight End who came back from the Pro Bowl with E. coli O157 symptoms (which may have been linked to the Western Stock Show — infosheet below). Scheffler was on my team, Bend it Like Brady, for most of the past year. His oft-injured groin cost me at least two games this year, and maybe a shot at our league playoffs.  I really don’t like that guy.

Today, I’m taking the sports-related post — ten Arizona Diamondbacks (including Scott Schoenweis, who was once on my team, the Berserkers) missed spring-training drills today with some GI issues.

The team isn’t sure if the illness stems from something the players ate, a virus going around the clubhouse or some other factor.

"I’m not an authority on gastrointestinal conditions," Melvin said, but after talking with the team physician he expects all to return to practice Monday.

Some players fell sick Saturday night, others arrived at the clubhouse Sunday morning feeling sick and were sent home.

And if you think I’m crazy about fantasy sports, I’m nothing compared to this guy or this dude (who hired a couple of interns and gave t-shirts to players on his team)

You can get the Western Stock Show/E. coli O157 food safety infosheet here (and they are all archived at www.foodsafetyinfosheets.com).

 

Football food safety

Posted on by
Reply

I expect there are some Pittsburgh Steelers fans up preparing for a day of tailgating, even though the kick-off in the American Football Conference Championship game is not for another 12 hours.

Amy will be cheering for the underdog Baltimore Ravens, because back-up wide receiver and special teams specialist Yamon Figurs played ball at Kansas State.

Amy never really followed football, except for the band. I started taking her to Kansas State games, more for the spectacle than the sport, and Amy became a fan.

Those purchasing food at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh may want to be wary. Like tailgaters, perhaps people need to take their own digital, tip-sensitive thermometer.

ThePittsburghChannel.Com reports that three-quarters of all food vendors at the stadium have been cited for critical violations in the past two years.

“Inspectors cited the Steel City Grill for serving chicken, chipped beef and hot dogs as much as 40 degrees below the required temperature. …

“The Steel City Grill was cited for serving meat at lukewarm temperatures in 2007 and again in 2008.

The 2008 inspection also said the "cook does not know the proper cooking temperature for chicken."

As far as K-State football alumni in the three years I’ve been in Kansas, I prefer Zac Diles, who now plays for the Houston Texans. Unassuming, hard-hitting linebacker at Kansas State, just like I was in my own mind back in high school. We even wore the same number – #52.
 

Do professional football players barf during games – yes

Posted on by
1

Like National Hockey League legendary goaltender Glenn Hall, I used to puke before hockey games when I was a kid. Seriously, that’s how serious hockey was when I was 11-years-old in Brantford, Ontario.

A few years later I decided to abandon my destiny as a NHL goaltender and started playing high school football. I played linebacker because after all those years of being shot at with pucks, it felt good to be hitting someone else.

One of the other schools in town had this tank of a fullback – this was old school, when teams had halfbacks and fullbacks. He ran over me so hard once I didn’t move for about a minute. And then I barfed on the field.

The Washington Post has decided to follow up on the hit heard round the Internet – the one where the kid was hit so hard in a college football game that he vomited – and has asked the Washington Redskins their best vomit stories.

This is no Jamie Fox on Any Given Sunday; this is the read deal.

Player Casey Rabach says,

"Oh yeah, I’ve thrown up on the field. That happens a lot, yeah. Guys puke all the time. It’s funny when the guy across from you starts puking, that’s the best part. Oh my God, so funny. You’ve never seen a player who puked on the field? It’s pretty funny. The guy’s sitting there puking in front of you, and you KNOW you’re just gonna kill him the next play. It’s awesome. Jansen, you ever puked on the field," he called out to Jon Jansen, one locker over.

"Yeah," said Jansen, who was in the middle of interviews at the time.

Stick it in: Use a thermometer to cook foods so your friends don’t barf at football

Posted on by
Reply

U.S. college football kicks off Saturday. Time to put on your favorite school’s colors and brush up on that fight song. Thousands of students and alumni will be heading out to the stadium, tailgating, and firing up those grills. Hamburgers, chicken, ribs, or beans, there will be plenty of food on hand.

Use a food thermometer to make sure you aren’t serving your friends and family undercooked meats. Make sure to cook ground beef to 160°F(1), while chicken needs to reach 165°F(2). That way when your team takes the field, you aren’t puking or stuck on the toilet. And using a thermometer will make you a better cook. People are impressed by this. Good food safety will allow you to fully enjoy the tailgating atmosphere, so you can cheer your school onto victory.

It’s all on video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmyMmjfFo5Y

References

1: Ryan, Suzanne M., Mark Seyfert, Melvin C. Hunt, Richard A. Mancini. Influence of Cooking Rate, Endpoint Temperature, Post-cook Hold Time, and Myoglobin Redox State on Internal Color Development of Cooked Ground Beef Patties. Journal of Food Science. Volume 71 Issue 3 Page C216-C221, April 2006
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2621.2006.tb15620.x?prevSearch=authorsfield%3A%28M.C.+Hunt%29

2: Focus On: Chicken. Food Safety and Inspection Service. United States Department of Agriculture. April 4, 2006. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/chicken_food_safety_focus/index.asp
 

When football and food safety collide

Posted on by
Reply

I love it when two of my favorite things, football and food safety, intersect.  Last year it was pigeon poop in stadiums.  This year it’s about changing culture.   USA Today published a profile of 4 new NFL head coaches and one spoke specifically about changing the losing culture of a team.

Mike Smith of the Atlanta Falcons said:  "When you change the culture, you have to change people’s behaviors. And when you change behaviors, you change their habits."

I think this philosophy should be the same in fields, packing sheds, processing facilities, retail stores and kitchens:  Leadership that values food safety should have a goal of changing the culture of an organization, resulting in behavior and habit changes on on the front-lines.  And the organization doesn’t have to be complicated or large, it could be an independent restaurant with 4 staff members or a church dinner committee with 20 volunteers.

Places I want to eat at or buy food from should be able to say that handling and producing food safely is what we do.  Just like Smith wants his team to have a shared belief that winning is what they do.

Lamb leg thrown at football match

Posted on by
Reply

A lamb’s leg (right, photo from BBC) was one of several missiles thrown onto the pitch after a football match between Ballymena United and Distillery on Saturday in Northern Ireland.

Animal welfare types were not amused.

A USPCA spokesman said it,

"demonstrated general disregard for animal welfare. It also follows a recent incident in which a horse’s head was left outside the home of a hockey player in Cookstown."