Farmers Market

This isn't related to sports at all, but thanks to a great suggestion from my mother, I decided to post some thoughts and photos from my morning at the farmers market here in Madison. Every Saturday, people from all over the Madison area come together on Capitol Square to check out the great produce, cheese, bread, and pretty much everything organic you can think of. The food is incredible, and it's really a great experience, so I thought I'd share it.

This is a pretty typical scene on Capitol Square on Saturday mornings (when weather permits). Hundreds (maybe thousands, I really don't know) of people come to take in the beauty of the city and everything the market has to offer. My personal favorite is the spicy cheese bread, which is pictured here to the right. It's not really spicy at all, but it's so delicious and it's served fresh out of the oven. Generally, a group of friends will buy a loaf of it and just eat it on the grass in front of the capitol building while it's still hot. My friend Curren and I couldn't finish it, but we'll probably just stick it in the oven when we want to eat it next.

Since I eat out so much in Madison, I get the opportunity to try out a lot of great local restaurants, but I will say that the produce and most of the food offered at the market is some of the best I've ever had in the city. I took some pictures of the vegetables just to give you an idea of how fresh everything is here. And what's even better about this farmers market compared to other ones I've been to, there's so much variety among the different vendors. Just to give you an example, there are — to my knowledge — three different vendors that sell piping hot spicy cheese bread. Mmm...

I can't even tell you how many vendors sell sugar snap peas. I haven't tried them personally, but I hear they're great. They also have fresh carrots, herbs and spices, jams, etc. But probably my favorite part of the farmers market — aside from the cheese bread — is the incredible assortment of cheeses from all over Wisconsin. One stand in particular has the best cheese I've ever tasted. It's pretty pricey, but there aren't too many places where you can get raw milk (like I know what that means...) cave aged bandage wrapped cheddar cheese. Here's a shot of the cheese stand right below.
I have quite a bit more, but I think you've probably gotten the idea by now. Essentially, the farmers market is one of those reasons students wake up early on Saturday mornings after a night of intense Wisconsin style fun. If you ever go to Madison, make sure you stop by the farmers market, you won't regret it.

Lakers turn game 1 into joke

The Lakers were magical. That Magic didn't really live up to their name.

You can talk about how poorly Orlando shot the ball (29 percent) or how bad Dwight Howard played, but when it's all said and done, Kobe outscored the Magic's top three players, and the Lakers absolutely destroyed Orlando in game 1.

Now begins the discussion (at least in my head) of whether or not this highly anticipated matchup — though not as hyped as Kobe vs. LeBron was — could turn into a huge bust.

Can the Lakers sweep the Magic? Probably not, but I think it will be pretty close. Unless Michael Pietrus figures out a way to stop Kobe (haha), I really don't think the Magic will slow down the Lakers. It all starts with Kobe, and he can then distribute the ball and get his other teammates involved. Don't forget that last night, Bryant had eight assists in addition to his 40 points, so he's not just scoring.

It might be a bit of unwarranted speculation after a game where the Magic were clearly unprepared to defend Kobe and Lamar Odom. Perhaps game 2 will give me something to cheer about instead of changing the channel in the fourth quarter to the Dodger game, which was far more entertaining. Either way, I smell a championship for LA.

Happy June & Thoughts on the Dodgers

Well, it was fun working for the Mallards for a few weeks, but I won't be part of that staff anymore for a number of reasons, but I just want to let everyone know that I'll still be blogging — it just won't be about the Mallards. In fact, I'll probably be writing a lot more than I did before, so keep on the lookout for some previews, thoughts, and updates about the Dodgers, Lakers, and Wisconsin athletics.

--Jonah