NFL Week 4: Damon's

Damon's! A place for ribs! Technically, Damon's has not disappeared - there are reports of about 6 restaurants still open in the US. But Damon's was a big name for ribs, beer and sports in the late 80's and 90's.

Yes, Damon's was supposedly known for its ribs - and its onion loaf, more about that later - but it was one of the first restaurants to have big screen TVs on a wall for sports - and they were one of the first adopters of the on-line trivia craze in the 90s spurred on by NTN.

But the wall of TVs was the attraction to me. The first memory of Damon's I have is our golf spring break trip of 1992 down in Hilton Head....spring break was the same time as the NCAA first and second round games. My God, I thought, when I get a real job, I'm going to spend 10 hours in Damon's eating ribs, onion rings and watching all the games. No one else in our group - Steve, or Kermit -  had an interest in Damon's - I couldn't get them interested in (12) New Mexico St. vs (5) DePaul or (8) Evansville vs (9) UTEP. *

*ed note - yes, those were real games. New Mexico St and UTEP were the winners. 


Damon's started in Columbus in 1979, and at its peak in the early 90s, there were 130 locations in the Midwest and South. Wow. In the mid 90s, there were 4 Damon's in the Dayton area alone. And in 1996, I finally got to live out my college wish - spend an afternoon at Damon's watching the tournament games in the afternoon. I spent it with my similarly-obsessed co-worker Paul....who first introduced me to fantasy football a year earlier.

Anyway, the games that afternoon were good, highlighted by a talented MAC team with an NBA star (Earl Boykins) beating a small school from North Carolina. It was an 8-9 game. The score?

Eastern Michigan 75, Duke 60.

We loved it.

Other games that day that we didn't watch at Damon's but were significant:

(1) Purdue 73, (16) Western Carolina 71. I have zero recollection of this close 1-16 game.
(12) Drexel 75, (5) Memphis 63. I had Memphis as my sleeper for the final four; this game was the mystery 5:00 pm game that no one in America could watch. Remember that time slot? We left Damon's around 5; I got home around 5:30 and got no updates on this game until CBS re-started coverage at 7:00 pm Boy, was I pissed.
(13) Princeton 43, (4) UCLA 41. Nothing else to say.

Anyway, the food at Damon's? Well, ribs of course, but the star was the onion loaf. This was a literal loaf of onion rings that were shaped together like a bread loaf and fried---- and served with this delicious southwestern sauce. You shared this and you barely had room for the full slab of ribs that was coming. For a mid 20s bachelor - yes, I think I ate a whole onion loaf myself sometimes.

It wasn't much of a date place - maybe I took Janice there once, and she wasn't the biggest fan of having a nice rib dinner interrupted by shouts and cheers of her date and others around.

I think that was a big part of Damon's downfall.....if you focus on sports and trivia, it needs to be more of a bar atmosphere instead of a full service, sit down restaurant. I think BW-3's was the main competition for Damon's in the 90s- and BW-3 executed it perfectly. It had TVs and trivia, and delivered good quality bar food - quickly, in an informal atmosphere. A perfect match. A 90 minute rib dinner just doesn't seem to go with trivia and sports....and I think that's why Damon's failed, It couldn't decide if it was a rib joint or a sports bar. It turned out being neither.

There is still one up in Wilmington, OH - about 30 minutes away from us - and there is one in Myrtle Beach. That makes sense since 80% of Ohio vacations in Myrtle Beach each year (the other 20% go to the redneck Riviera on the Florida panhandle), and the owner of the Damon's down there says he exists because of the Ohio visitors who recognize the Damon's name.

Maybe, if I get my appetite back, I'll head up to Wilmington to watch an NFL Sunday with my good friend the Onion loaf......

On to the games...

Phi 27, GB 23. I know this is a day late, but I predicted this....

Atl 26, Ten 20. I don't like either of these teams. Atl has talent but no coaching, Ten has coaching but no talent. I would take Atlanta but there's the dumb Matt Ryan interception coming at any time.

NE 24, Buf 13. I just don't see how Buffalo is going to score here. They struggled against Cincinnati, the Jets, even at times vs. the Giants - I can't see them getting past the teens against the Pats.

KC 31, Det 23.  Detroit will score - if Stafford plays - but of course, the Chiefs will answer on their own. The Lions D is not that good to keep the Chiefs out of the 30s.

Hou 23, Car 16. Sure, Matt Allen played well last week - but now Romeo has a week to prepare against this, frankly, one-D offense. Houston will do just enough offensively to win.

Ind 31, Oak 24. We have to watch and determine when this crazy Oakland travel schedule will cause them to fall off the cliff. This is just week 2, so it's not it - Indy has injuries in the secondary and Oakland may keep this close.

LAC 27, Mia 17. Miami showed some life vs Dallas last week - the game was close than the final score. I think the Chargers D is soft enough so Miami can get into the teens - and that will be enough to stay close.

Was 31, NYG 27. Let's not crown Daniel Jones just yet. My God. It was a horrible Tampa defense. And the Giants D is still bad. Look for a high scoring game here.

Sea 30, Arz 20. Seattle will come out pissed off, and will come after Murray. If Murray can't conquer Carolina's D at home, they will struggle as well vs. the Seahawks.

LAR 31, TB 14. The Rams are due for a breakout game - we know Goff's home/road splits, so I expect a big game from Goff. And the Rams D was impressive vs us - and will stop Tampa at home.

Min 20, Chi 17.  What a game this will be. Can Cousins deliver on the road? Will Chicago do anything on offense when not given turnovers? Fascinating. Not really confident that the Vikes can actually win.

Den 24, Jax 14.  If supposed wizard D coach Vic Fangio can't stop this Manshew-mania, then what good is he? I've got to believe he has the game plan with the rushers to stop Jacksonville's one-D passing offense.

Dal 27, NO 23. A great game. Dallas is the class of the NFC, but who have they played? No one. This is their first real test. I still have questions on NO's D- I expect Zeke to have a big game.

Pit 31, Cin 27. Wow. Enjoy, America! Cin and Andy Dalton will move the ball through the air - but the home field advantage will give the Steelers just enough. I will watch this hopefully laughing at both teams.

Best bets: 14 of them. Last week: 7-8; overall: 28-17-1.
ATS: 3-6 last week, 13-14-1 overall
over/under: 4-2 last week, 15-3 overall

Phi +4 (winner!)
NE -7
NE/Buf under 42
Hou -4
Hou/Car under 47.5
Oak/Ind over 45
Mia +15.5
Was +3
Was/NYG over 49.5
Sea -5
LAR -9
Min +2
Den -3
Cin/Pit over 44

Supercontest picks: Last week: 2-3; overall: 8-7

Phi +4 (winner!)
NE -7
Mia +15.5 (gulp)
LAR -9.5
Den -3