Rhino's Sports Pub and Bacon Bistro

Five-star upset special o’ the week: Raiders over Chiefs. Believe it or not, the Silver and Black is going for a season sweep of the AFC West. In addition, the Raiders are vying for an 8-8 finish, which would represent the team’s best record since going 11-5 in Oakland’s Super Bowl year of 2002. The Chiefs have already clinched the AFC West title and could be susceptible to this late-season trip-up.

Lock(s) of the week presented by Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff: Falcons over Panthers. With the National Football Conference’s No. 1 playoff seed at stake, the Falcons get to host a Panthers team that has already clinched the No. 1 seed in the 2011 NFL Draft. This game has “epic blowout” written all over it.

Sunday’s games
Falcons over Panthers
Ravens over Bengals
Steelers over Browns
Lions over Vikings
Raiders over Chiefs
Patriots over Dolphins
Saints over Buccaneers
Jets over Bills
Chargers over Broncos
Packers over Bears
Texans over Jaguars
Colts over Titans
Eagles over Cowboys
Cardinals over 49ers
Giants over Redskins
Rams over Seahawks

Last week’s record: 10-6
2010 record: 144-96 (.600 winning percentage)
Five-star upset special o’ the week record: 5-11
Lock(s) of the week presented by Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff record: 15-4

5. Brewers have better offseason than the Yankees

“Of course, Cliff Lee is going to sign with the Yankees” was a common refrain throughout the playoffs and into the baseball offseason.

Yeah, that didn’t happen. Instead, Lee turned down a more lucrative offer from the Yanks to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies.

That wasn’t the most startling development of baseball’s “Hot Stove League.” A highlight was the shocking offseason of the Beermakers Base-ball Club of Milwaukee, which traded for two front-line hurlers — Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum. These bold moves might elevate the local nine to preseason-favorite status in the NL Central.

Meanwhile, “Hot Stove League”? The Yankees were more “Hot Plate League.” The Yankees’ big offseason moves? Acquiring Russell Martin and some fella named Gustavo Molina (yup, THAT Gustavo Molina).

4. Favre’s pick dooms Vikings

Brett Favre’s final pass with the Green Bay Packers was picked off by Corey Webster as the Giants went on to win the 2007 NFC Championship (and eventually the Super Bowl).

In an eerily similar coincidence, Favre’s — most likely (it’s gotta be) — final chance to get back to the Super Bowl was thwarted by another ill-timed pass to the other team. Minnesota lost in overtime and New Orleans went on to make history …

3. Saints win Super Bowl XLIV

The tide turned on the gutsiest call in Super Bowl history, an onside kick to start the second half that startled the favored Colts and shocked the record viewing audience.

‘Aints no more.

An also-ran for much of their 43-year existence, the Saints were finally champions.

2. U Dub-Dub wins third Stagg Bowl in four years

Yeah, I know this monumental event only shows up on the sporting radar of a select few, but this is my blog and this was a big event here. With such a run of victory, the Warhawks can now lay claim as the dominant program in D-III football. That’s a big deal considering their annual competition is omnipotent Mount Union.

1. USA-Algeria

This isn’t even close. This was the sort of occasion that will be remembered years from now; an event much more than something cool that happened one June morning.

The scene at Joxer Daly’s in Culver City at approximately 9 a.m. PT was exactly as it was elsewhere around the nation … total euphoria, with people high-fiving and hugging random strangers over a goal scored in a soccer game played on the opposite end of the planet. It was the quintessential “where were you?” moment of 2010.

What say you? What are your 2010 sports moment power rankings?

• Follow Rhino on Twitter @jimreineking.

“My biggest beef is that this is part of what’s happened in this country. I think we’ve become wussies.” –
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, on the postponement of the Philadelphia Eagles’ game against the Minnesota Vikings due to a massive snow storm.

• Vikings-Eagles in NFL’s first Tuesday night game since 1946

Brewery: Brauerei Weltenburger

Variety: Hefe-Weißbier Hell

ABV (alcohol by volume): 5.4 percent

Purchased at: The market at Alpine Village in Torrance, Calif.

Beer was enjoyed with … Christmas Day festivities in beautiful Santa Monica. This brew kicked off the day, as a feast of ham, mashed potatoes, apple-squash bake, stuffing and rolls was being prepared. Since we had gotten our fill of The Christmas Story marathon airing on TBS, we opted for an unorthodox entertainment option for background fodder as we got the epic holiday meal ready … The Star Wars Holiday Special (it’s a holiday tradition like no other at Rhino’s Sports Pub).

Will I drink this beer again? If you know me, then you know I am a connoisseur of hefeweizen beers. If you know me, then you will also know that I enjoy a German brew every once in a while. So, the answer here is: Of course!

Partaking in tasty, fermented beverages to celebrate Christmas is one of the holiday’s oldest traditions (in fact, the holiday had developed a reputation for its rowdy drinking-themed characteristics). Two very different ways to celebrate the holiday emerged: 1. A religious one focusing on the birth of Jesus Christ, and 2. An unrestrained gathering more like a frat party (encountering people caroling for beer was very common).

For quite some time, the rowdier version of Christmas was the more prevalent. In time, of course, that changed, we think.

Long story short, we’re here to celebrate, to a certain extent, the drinking-themed Christmas with a Weltenburger Hefe-Weißbier Hell (Hell is German for light, like Dunkel is German for dark).

The Weltenburger Hefe-Weißbier Hell behaves just like your typical German hefeweizen, it needs to be poured extra carefully into a pint glass (or das boot, if that’s how you roll) as to not experience a frothy head eruption. The beer is thickly clouded, and the yeasty goodness includes citrus, banana, spice and all that is nice.

This was an enjoyable hefeweizen, but not sure where it would rate in my hefeweizen power rankings^TM (yet to be published here at Rhino’s Sports Pub, and likely to be dominated with the likes of the Fransizkaner and Weihenstephaner weißbiers). Guess, we’ll just have to do some more research.

Prost!

Brewery: Scheuerer Breweries

Variety: Kellerbier

ABV (alcohol by volume): 5.4 percent

Purchased at: The market at Alpine Village in Torrance, Calif.

Beer was enjoyed with … This was a Christmas Eve treat, consumed while making the evening’s feast with background entertainment provided by The Christmas Story marathon on TBS.

Will I drink this beer again? I have a soft spot for the ol’ flip tops, so chances are I’ll have this again.

It’s Christmas Eve. A feast of steaks marinaded in beer (of course), teriyaki sauce, brown sugar, crushed red pepper and black pepper, along with potatoes and asparagus is being prepared.

This special occasion calls for a special beer; one I’ve never enjoyed before. A recent trip to Alpine Village netted a score of fine German beers, one of which was the Moosbacher Kellerbier. The reasons for the purchase of this beer were three-fold … 1) It was a German beer, 2) It had a cool-looking label, and 3) It was a flip-top.

For some reason or another and without any pre-conceived idea of what to expect, I was anticipating a big, bold blast of flavor from the Moosbacher Kellerbier. Instead, it was rather smooth and appeared like a V8 Fusion fruit juice mix, but with alcohol. The Kellerbier was like a lighter version of a dark beer with a dark beer look. This thing was easy to drink, and I could probably put down quite a few of these in one sitting.

For what it’s worth, the brewery’s official site describes the Kellerbier as such …

Dark golden-brown hue. Pours with a foamy white head. Spicy aromas follow through on a medium-bodied palate with a creamy mouthfeel and dry, toasty finish showing a hint of hop character.

The Kellerbier is one of eight different types of beer brewed at the Scheuerer Brewery, which has been at this beer thing since 1887 (a young pup in the world of German brewing, but still brewed according to the Bavarian Law of Purity of 1516).

Moosbach is picturesque little town — population of less than 3,000 — near the Czech border (here’s a fun photo of cows chillin’ in Moosbach). Moosbach also has to have the lamest Wikipedia page there is.

“Christmas can’t be bought from a store … maybe Christmas means a little bit more.”
– Dr.Seuss

Five-star upset special o’ the week: Lions over Dolphins. The Lions finally ended that historic, NFL-record 26-game road losing streak last week in Tampa. So, how about a road winning streak for Detroit? The Dolphins are a dismal 1-6 at home. Expect to see a strong finish from the Lions, who could go into the 2011 season as a legitimate playoff contender. Don’t laugh.

Lock(s) of the week presented by Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff: Steelers over Panthers. The AFC North-leading Steelers figure to kick off Christmas weekend on NFL Network with a chilly reception for their holiday guests, the two-win Panthers.

Thursday’s game
Steelers over Panthers

Saturday’s game
Cowboys over Cardinals

Sunday’s games
Patriots over Bills
Bears over Jets
Ravens over Browns
Jaguars over Redskins
Chiefs over Titans
Lions over Dolphins
Rams over 49ers
Chargers over Bengals
Texans over Broncos
Colts over Raiders
Packers over Giants
Buccaneers over Seahawks
Eagles over Vikings

Monday’s game
Falcons over Saints

Last week’s record: 7-9 (totally got Scrooged by Week 15 … bah, humbug!)
2010 record: 134-90 (.598 winning percentage)
Five-star upset special o’ the week record: 4-11
Lock(s) of the week presented by Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff record: 14-4

1. Christmas Day
2. Thanksgiving Day
3. New Year’s Day
4. Fourth of July
5. End of April Day

1. Charlie Brown Christmas

2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

3. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

4. Shrek the Halls

5. A Claymation Christmas Celebration

Honorable (or, is it dishonorable?) mention: