John Lopez: Ravens can clinch playoff bye with win over Cincy
Baltimore Ravens (11-4) at Cincinnati Bengals (9-6)
Three things you should know about1. Will Bengals fans realize this is not the Beef O'Brady's Bowl and actually show up for a game that may change the city's football dynamic?
Officially, Sunday's crucial game with the Ravens is a sellout. It took a buy-one-get-one-free offer, several passionate pleas from players and coaches and some sponsors stepping up to get there. Still, an official sellout is a sellout.
But the Bengals' attendance struggles have been well-chronicled and almost inexplicable to the outsider watching this entertaining, winning team that features a pair of dynamic rookies in Andy Dalton and A.J. Green.
How bad have the draws been at Paul Brown Stadium? The Bengals were fighting for their playoff lives last week, fending off the Cardinals before a paltry announced crowd of 41,273. Earlier the same week, a Texas high school game between Aledo and Manvel drew 43,369.
It's easy to blame a lagging economy on what once was a premium football ticket in Ohio, but there's much more involved -- namely, lingering ill will and resentment toward the Brown family.
After years of deep-ceded resentment toward owner Mike Brown for sticking citizens with a ridiculously one-sided stadium deal, while building a team on the cheap, it only makes re-connecting with fans more important. Throw in an array of bad draft picks, washed-up free agent signings, a scouting department held together with gum and string, along with the summer's Carson Palmer debacle. And it's understandable why Bengals fans still hold a grudge.
But if somehow the synergy between fans and franchise reignites, this could be one of the more significant days in Cincinnati football history.
2. Is the Ravens' defense showing signs of cracking? Aging? Both?
It's ludicrous to suggest that a defense that features four Pro Bowlers and ranks No. 3 overall is over the hill or broken. Still, it's impossible not to notice late-season trends and wonder if the calendar might have something to do with recent Ravens struggles.
Aging Beef At Home - News
Another tell-tale sign of an aging defense the Ravens hope to dispel on Sunday: Winning at home, which the Ravens' have done in all eight home games this year, but losing even to bad teams on the road, where energy and adrenalin may occasionally lag.
Diabetic meals are available. Home-delivered meals also are available in some areas. Reservations are needed one day in advance by calling the site between 10 am and 1 pm or Aging & Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin, 715-421-0014.
Dry-aged steak is fantastically tender and flavorful, but it's rare to find it outside of steakhouses or quality butcher shops, and it's pretty expensive. America's Test Kitchen shows you can dry age a supermarket steak yourself in your fridge.
Homeland Security officials determined several years ago that the aging facility may not be suitable for continued research and studied several sites around the country, settling on Manhattan, Kan. That lab is not supposed to open until at least 2018,
Or if you plan in advance you can employ my trick and “wet age” it yourself in the refrigerator, resulting in a tenderloin with great depth of flavor. Home wet-aging is effortless and especially handy because you can buy the tenderloin when it is on
Hasty-Bake Grill Owners Forum • View topic - Dry Aged Beef ...at ...
I have dried aged ribeyes at home before and would recommend it. This is best done with large primal cuts. Best results i got came from taking a full 15 to 18 lb uncut rack of ribeyes(boneless or with bone works). Reasors just had a sale with these big hunks of meat and i almost bought one but just couldn't part with the cash. Here is how i did it and real butchers i knew in New York did it. Things you will need: 1. a pan to catch dripping with a rack that will elevate the meat from sitting on bottom of pan. ( a cooling rack for baking and a baking pan works. 2. lots of cheesecloth 3. a fridge to keep a nice even temp of 38 degrees. (you can use your regular fridge but the environment is constantly disturbed by opening for everyday use. I use a garage fridge for this) 4. Meat Hope you give it a try. It's not hard too do but it is timely and good meat in only comes out better. Worth spending the extra bucks on good ribeyes. I although i prefer to eat a bone in ribeye, it is much easier to age and cut a boneless ribeye. I hear the aging bags work but I've never seen real butchers use it. You need a meat with good internal fat marbling. Don't forget to trim the outer fat off the meat as it will prevent air from getting at the meat for aging.