After the Glue woke up sick on christmas morning I ended up getting sick in the afternoon.  Merry christmas to the Melvin family

The exceedingly long christmas season is coming to an end and I'm ready.  I'm just not a christmas type of guy.  To top it off the Glue woke up puking this morning so we had to cancel the annual breakfast.  I did go out to Baileys house and watched the twins open presents but rara was more excited about me being there than anyone.
Outside of the twins the best part of christmas was going over to Everett's house and seeing my old buddy Garry who I haven't seen in 20 years.  I'd stopped by Twinks house in the morning and he came over to so it was a great time.
We spent way too much money this year and I've told the Glue we can't spend that much next year.

Tower Square Pizza is in an old bank that maintains a lot of the original structure and is really nice on the inside.  They have a buffet and they also have chicago style pizza but it's expensive.  We decided against the buffet and went with the standard pepperoni and mushroom pizza along with a pitcher of Mich Ultra.  The pitchers are metal and they keep them in the freezer which is really nice.  They are limited in the draft selections but we found out they had just added Blue Moon which wasn't on the menu.
The pizza was good but need a little more sauce on it which the waitress said is no extra charge.  There was also a different taste that I couldn't place and the Glue said got a little old towards the last piece.  Good overall experience and the waitress was very friendly and helpful so we'll go back again at some point.
With both of us not feeling 100% yesterday we opted for a Cummares pizza.  It's unusual for us to have pizza that close but the Cummares one really hit the spot and was a lot better than the Tower Square one.  Of course Cummares pizza is one of my top 2 or 3 pizzas in the area and may well be my favorite.

Yesterday we went to Carbondale and decided to get some appetizers for lunch before warming up he Glue's delicious beef stew in the evening.  The Glue mentioned 17th Street for crispy wings.  The Glue also ordered some chicharrones which I used to really like but not any more.
The wings were great, they had just enough heat for me to taste but of course the Glue didn't notice any.  Probably the best wings I've had out in a long time if ever, just have to remember to order it crispy.

We went over to Sams Wednesday and stopped at 618 Taphouse to get a beer and a bite to eat.   I got a cuban sandwich with house made chips and the Glue got crunchy shrimp with asian slaw.  The crunchy shrimp is awesome and is probably a must get every time we go there.  The slaw wasn't as good as I remembered it and the chips didn't have much seasoning even though they are supposed to have it on them.  The cuban was good but nothing really stood out about it.  The beer was good and cold though and a really good selection of drafts.
On Monday we made a rare non-Wednesday visit to Quatros to use a $8 coupon that was expiring.  I've been a little burned out on Quatros but they're still the gold standard for pizza and they didn't disappoint.

Wow, what a run and what a great thing for the community.
Starting with the heartbreaking loss to the dreaded terriers after having a 17 point second half lead. Then going on a run before forfeiting a game because of the teachers strike.  Then finishing the regular season with another run and beating Benton and DuQuoin who were both undefeated at the time and then it was playoff time.
In listening to the Althoff game the last minute seemed to go on for hours but the Devils held on and moved to the next round.
In the second round the Devils played undefeated IVC from Chillicothe and the surrounding area.  In watching the game I had no doubt the Red Devils were far and away the better team.  They proved me right and on to the next round.
In the third round the Devils played perennial  powerhouse Kankakee McNamara.  If I was a McNamara fan I would be pissed.  They lost a lot of big plays due to penalty and lost a fumble recovery deep in Devil territory because of an early whistle.  Murphysboro ran the opening kickoff back for a td then recovered an onside kick which they took down the field for another td.  McNamara came back though and tied the game late in the fourth quarter.  The Devils answered with a long drive capped off by a td and a win.  My high school teammate and buddy Twink said early in the third quarter that McNamara's lineman were getting tired and he proved right.
In the quarter finals the Devils played Effingham who have the unfortunate name of Flaming Hearts.  The field was awful and had a big impact on the game.  The Devils got on the board with an early safety on a bad snap for a punt.  This proved big since the Devils kicking game wasn't very good.  The Red Devils scored twice more in the first half and had a 14-0 lead.  The Hearts came back behind a couple long passes but their kicker missed the second extra point and the score was tied 14-14.  Effingham got the ball back and drove down inside the Devil 10 and was setting up for a winning field goal when they fumbled the snap and the Devils recovered to sent the game to OT.  In OT they kicked a field goat however on second down the Red Devils scored a TD on a deflected pass and it was off to Dekalb.
In the championship against Richmond-Burton the Red Devils were outclassed.  They had a very big line and some really good backs and the game was never close. 
I really hope there isn't any of the 2nd place state champions stuff that occurred a few years ago with the basketball team.  There's only one champion and that's Richmond-Burton.  2nd place is a great accomplishment in itself.
As a lifelong Murphysboro resident and a former Red Devil player I'd like to thank the coaches and players for what they accomplished.  While I'm ecstatic about what they did on the field I'm even more ecstatic about what the accomplished off the field.  People were talking Red Devil football in the stores, restaurants and bars around the town which reminded me of the way things used to be and hopefully will be again every year.
THANKS.