Put into boxing terms, you could almost think of Central as renowned Chef Michel Richard’s “undercard” restaurant when juxtaposed with his heavyweight venue Citronelle in the Georgetown are of Washington, D.C..

Similar to how many of the superhero chefs who own both upscale and “economical bistro” offerings in our nation’s capital, Central is certainly more of the latter. Or, to put it another way: if you want to impress a girl on a first date, without reeking of trying too hard, you take her to Central. …

When a local content creator, thirsting to beat the supremely-plugged-in national media for a scoop, sent out a tweet claiming that the Philadelphia Eagles were close to a deal to hire current New England Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels as their next Head Coach, I thought it was a great decision… for anyone, like me, who revels in the schadenfraude pertaining to the NFC East rivals of my beloved Washington Football Team.

While I don’t despise the Eagles with quite the same vitriol that I own for the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys, I would’ve been more than delighted to see the Eagles wander in a 6–10 wilderness over the next few seasons with someone like McDaniels manning their sidelines; after all, the Bill Belichick coaching tree yields the same crops that I do when I try to plant and grow basically anything: they’re dead on arrival. …

Matchbox-Rockville is located at 1699 Rockville Pike, in the Congressional Plaza shopping center in Rockville, Maryland.

Why is this relevant?

Because anyone from the Rockville and surrounding area is well aware that this venue has been nothing more than a revolving door of failed restaurants for the better part of the last decade.

• It started as a “That’s Amore”
• then became another restaurant
• then probably something else
• Then, it moonlighted as some golf-themed restaurant that seemed wildly unpopular
• and there was also probably something else after that; but believe me, whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t memorable

Given that history, I’d place a very, very large wager that Matchbox-Rockville is going to end that trend. These days, if you attempt to dine at 1699 Rockville Pike on a given night of the week without a reservation (even on a Monday or Tuesday), expect a wait — with those waiting times creeping over an hour or so on the always-popular Thursday through Saturday evenings. …

Let the record show that in those moments when I’m hilariously wrong about a certain prediction or prognostication or pontification, I’m not afraid to admit them or even make light of them.

Case in point? Before the season started, as part of my 2020–2021 NFL season preview (which ended up as little more than a haphazard post on Instagram), I agonized over whether to pick the Dallas Cowboys or the New Orleans Saints as the team that would win the George Halas trophy as the National Football Conference champions, and represent the NFC in the Super Bowl LV.

Obviously, I was dead wrong in eventually choosing the Cowboys to be that team; I suppose that’s karmic retribution, of sorts, for saying anything nice about them. But I’ll take a little bit of solace in recognizing that the arguments for why the Saints could be the very best team in the conference were plentiful, if not…

There’s a phrase I’ve borrowed in recent years, from the legendary Ric Flair, when discussing which team I believe will win the AFC and advance to the Super Bowl:

“To Be The Man, You Gotta Beat The Man”

So until someone proves us otherwise, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are the favorites to win the Lamar Hunt trophy as the American Football Conference champion, and represent the AFC in Super Bowl LV. You’d almost be a fool to bet against them doing so. Outside of losing an otherwise meaningless game in Week 17 (a game in which Mahomes didn’t play), the Chiefs lost a grand total of one game this season — a Week 6 game against their division rival Las Vegas Raiders way back in early-to-mid-October. …

Whether or not the forever-suffering individuals who identify as fans of the New York Jets, believe in Santa Claus or Christmas miracles or the supposed “magic” of this time of the year, this holiday season has at least granted them one major gift: the fact that the dismissal of Adam Gase — perhaps as early as this Monday morning — seems all but inevitable (even if that move too WAAAAY too long to make in the first place).

And while such a dismissal in and of itself is unquestionably worthy for a raging celebration all over Gotham, the more prescient part of such a parting of ways is that it’s major step in the right direction, which builds on some of the slower but steadier moves the Jets have made to get themselves out of being one of the NFL’s perennial doormats. …

One of the most creative descriptions for the exasperation felt by the recently-acquired Russell Westbrook yesterday evening, as the Washington Wizards lost their fourth-straight game to start the 2020–2021 NBA season, came from Quinton Mayo, a Washington Wizards Analyst for @NBCSWashington:

“Your newly acquired 2016–17 league MVP sat on the end of the ‘bench’ postgame looking like that Popeyes lady on her lunch break.”

Certainly, the exasperation felt by Westbrook at the end of last night’s loss was more than palpable; it basically screamed “what the hell did I get myself into?”

The irony of that sentiment is the fact that Westbrook should be very well aware of what he got himself into, considering he basically okayed the recent blockbuster deal that sent him to our nation’s capital (in exchange for beloved if not greatly flawed point guard John Wall), to reunite with his first head coach in the NBA. …

Explain this to me like I’m an idiot (I fully recognize that shouldn’t be hard to accomplish): how is it that the two Pro Bowl receivers on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Mike Evans and Chris Godwin — have been targeted less often this season than 18 different wide receivers, 2 different wide receivers, and even a running back have ALL been targeted by their respective quarterbacks?

How is it that, a year after the duo recorded 1,157 yards and 1,333 yards receiving respectively, both of these guys are on pace to finish with less than 800 yards receiving this year? …