Leave it to Raifie

Raifie Bass is Aspen's favorite real estate broker.  Raifie is a self proclaimed "bike geek" he's also a "tech geek" and most importantly a "music geek".  Over here at AspenSpin...we love us some Raifie.

RB has come up with a great contest.  It's simple to enter, "like"his fan page on FaceBook and win two fully paid 2-day passes to Jazz Aspen/Snowmass...the winner will be selected June 10. 

To enter --all you have to do is LIKE his  FB fan page.

FIRST PRIZE---  two 2-Day passes to JAZZ ASPEN SNOWMASS.

Click the link to "like" Raifie on FB...and to jam.

Drew Brees Celebrity Golf

When AspenSpin sees professional athletes giving back, walking the walk as they say,  we put it on our cover...unlike ESPN the mag.  Sure the sports section is filled with negative articles about salary caps, collective bargaining agreements, domestic abuse cases, DUI's and more...this is not one of those stories.  Click COOL BREES for photos.

DREW BREES is one of the GREAT guys in sports. He's a philanthropist.  He's a super-bowl winning quaterback and he's nice  to everyone--especially the kids. Brees hosted the 13th annual Cox Celebrity Championship Golf Tournament at Morgan Run in Rancho Santa Fe over the weekend to benefit San Diego charities.  The Brees Dream Foundation (website) was founded in 2003 by Drew and  his wife Brittany to "advance research in the fight against cancer and provide care, education and opportunities for children in need".  The Cox Tourney has raised for than $1 million over the years and The Brees Dream Foundation has committed more than $6 million since inception.  This years event raised $135,000 for local charities.  The 2011 recipients are:

RADY'S CHILDREN's HOSPITAL  (website)

FRIEND's of SCOTT (website)

SAN DIEGO ARMED SERVICES YMCA (website)

NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY (Pacific South Coast Chapter). (website)

Drew and Brittany Brees The Brees Dream FoundationAspenSpin loves pro sports. While golf is NOT one of our favorite activities, watching Hall of Fame caliber jocks knock the little white ball around Rancho Santa Fe was a blast.   Some of the celebs are excellent golfers, some are hackers, but everybody had fun and helped raise a few bucks for the kids.  Hall of Famers in the house included Jerry Rice, Marcus Allen, Jan Stenerud, Rollie Fingers and Grant Fuhr.  A-Spin's personal favorites included Truck Robinson, Jeremy Roenick, Carson Palmer, Mike Euzione, Dave Krieg, Marshall Faulk and Andre Reed. 

Dallas Cowboy's QB, Tony Romo enhanced his reputation as a winner by scoring 5 under par to take the championship.  He showed a ton of class by donating the $25,000 first prize back to The Brees Dream Foundation.  Stellar celebs golfers included Jack Wagner (Melrose Place), former pitcher Rick Rhoden,  former NBA player Jack Marin and No Doubt drummer Adrian Young.  Closer to duffers were, Ray Romano (Everybody loves him), Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton from Fresh Prince), QB Jeff Garcia and corner Quentin Jammer. 

It never gets old seeing the elation on the face of a kid who gets an autograph from somebody famous.  Even if the athlete retired before the kid was born.   It never gets old seeing Brees and some of the other all-stars interacting with children suffering from cancer or hanging with heroic military personnel.  A "what's up" can go a long way when it comes from an all-pro.  Unfortunately for every pre-teen who is excited to get his t-shirt or hat signed by a star, there's an over 30 dude with an 8 x 10 trying to get that signature and put it up on e-bay.

Check the Pix.  COOL BREES.

Thanks to the athletes who were all very friendly and accessible.  Thanks to crowd, who was well behaved and respectful of the golf, although, like A-Spin, they were mostly fans of the players...not the game. Thanks to Drew  and Brittany Brees and The Brees Dream Foundation for all you do.  Thanks to Cox Communications and Morgan Run for the hospitality and thanks to San Diego for being America's finest city (and for staying classy).

The kids love Jeremy Roenick. click for more pix. Tony Romo showed surperior skill in Winning the Cox Celebrity Championship.

 The Cox Celebrity Championship hosted by Drew Brees raised $135,000 for local San Diego Charities. Click for more pix.

@CavsNick dominates the NBA draft.

@CavsNick defying the odds again at the NBA Draft LotteryMeet @CavsNick... he's the 14 year old son of Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.  

@CavsNick (follow him @CavsNick) represented the Wine and Gold in last nights NBA draft lottery to determine the selection order of the 2011 NBA Draft.  The Cavs scored BIG TIME winning the #1 and #4 picks in the upcoming NBA talent show.  During his post ping pong ball interview on NBA TV Nick was called "the greatest good luck charm in the history of the NBA draft".  He was cool, confident and calm during the  nationally televised selection show.

Nick is more than just lucky, he's tough too.  He has been fighting a terrible disease and defying the odds since birth.  He suffers from Neurofibromatosis (NF) a nerve disorder which causes tumors to grow anywhere on his body at anytime.  He's battled through countless hospital visits and Doctor's appointments,tons of medication and 4 bouts of chemotherapy...you name it, unfortunately Nick has experienced it. 

 Nick is the  2011 Ambassador for the Children's Tumor Foundation (CTF).  You can learn more about Nick's ongoing struggle ,CTF, World NF Awareness day and donate by clicking CTF.

@CavsNick #1. No Big Deal. Click to contribute.May 17 was a BIG day for Nick.  Not only was it World NF Awareness Day, but it was also the NBA draft lottery and @CavsNick first day on twitter (he has more than 7000 followers already). Nick who was called "my hero" by his dad gathered his posse and flew to New Jersey to represent the Cavs at the lottery.  It's been a long year for the Cleveland Cavaliers and their fans.  LeBron may have taken his talents to South Beach, but Nick and Cavs fan cheered on their team anyway. 

As @CavsNick stood on stage with all the other NBA execs towered over him. The TV lights shone bright and the ping pong balls began to fly.  Nick was backed up by his dad @CavsDan,  his bro, Grant, Jeff (Jeffro) Cohen, the Cavs GM Chris Grant and Cleveland Browns players Josh Cribbs and Joe Haden as well as Ohio legend Bernie Kosar.  The prize at stake...the #1 selection in the 2011 NBA Draft.  Balls were flying.  The Pistons, The Timberwolves, The Nets all received their positions...Nick was still standing...looking for number one.  Dapper in  a tailored suit and Cavs bow tie,  Nick appeared to be very self-assured the entire time.  This was not his first time on national TV...when it got down to the last ball...the Cavs had the #1 pick (and #4).  NICK GILBERT wins again.

We're predicting that the brain trust in Cleveland will select stellar Duke PG Kyrie Irving with that #1.  Irving is only 19...just 5 years older than Nick, but in the guard oriented NBA he  has the quickness and the skilz to be "the man".  @CavsDan, who is a long-time friend of AspenSpin, guarenteed  last May (using comic sans) that the Cav's will win the NBA title before the dastardly LeBron and his Miami Heat.  Thanks to a young hero and good luck charm Nick Gilbert....they are on their way. Go Nick.

Click the link.  Dig Deep.  Support Nick, CTF and World NF Awareness Day.

Grant, Nick and Dan Gilbert scored the #1 pick in the NBA Draft for the Cleveland Cavs. #winning 

Nick schmoozing with NBA Commish. David Stern. 

Nick schooling Cleveland Browns Josh Cribbs and Joe Haden in tunk.

The Legend of In-N-Out

In case it's not obvious, AspenSpin likes fast food.  In our extremely experienced opinion the BEST EVER fast food --by an overwhelming margin,  is California's own In-N-Out Burger. 

In-N-Out Burger (wiki) began in 1948 as a single drive-through location.  Founded, owned and still operated by the Snyder Family in Baldwin Park near Los Angeles, In-N-Out has grown to more than 250 locations in 5 States. 

We were nay sayers once too  "Seriously, how good can it be?" we inquired of our friends in "Smell Ay".  They were very confident in their answers --"In-N-Out is the best" was the typical response.  Over and over we kept hearing about the legend---the double-double.  It was about 1990 when we got to actually try one for the first time. "Wow, dude...this is a pretty damn good burger" mmmmm was all we could mumble between bites.  "Yaaaa, it's the best" we decided even before we finished our first double-double. 

The Snyder's. Click to enlarge.When is In-N-Out coming to Colorado?  Rumor has it the In-N-Out Family is working on it.  They just opened in Texas a few days ago---so it can't be long now.  What's In-N-Out's connection to Aspen?  Nothing really, but the long tentacles of the legend found time to fire off a cease and desist letter to the Ajax Tavern at The Little Nell for serving their own $17 double-double (now called the double cheeseburger).  John Speers, (out of touch with reality?) was probably not even aware that In-N-Out existed.  Aspen's old In-N-Out House sandwich shop is now called Grateful Deli...we're not sure how that deal went down...but someone is grateful.

In the 20+ years since our first double-double we've refined our tastes.  First off A. Party has a burger curfew while in La Jolla---no more than one In-N-Out per month. One and done for the kid.  That's a hard and fast rule, once a month, no cheating either---Mcdonald's, BK and Wendy's are strictly forbidden.   We've also discovered "Animal Style".  Animal style is when the patties are sloshed in a special sauce (something close to thousand island) prior to being cooked on the grill.  The Pacific Beach location now has an Izzy-Style burger (see picture below).  The Izzy is a Double-Double, animal style, no lettuce and raw onions instead of cooked.  Go ahead--order it by name---you won' regret it.

The Classic Double -Double.Last night we were ordering our May double-double Izzy-style when a school bus full of suburban lacrosse players pulled into the lot.  27 hungry La Costa Canyon high-school knobs and 3 coaches formed a single  and very rowdy line.  Pandemonium had just struck the PB In-N-Out.  Luckily our order was already in ...and we had seats...so it was on.  Like a well oiled machine the In-N-Out team got after it.  It was unbelievable to watch-- a group of clean-cut, smiling young adults in the red and white uni's working together to produce stellar results. It was as if they simply turned it up a notch--- it was an incredible performance to see in person.  The boisterious and blond lax players in blue and gold were served within minutes.  It was amazing to see how fast the orders were taken and fulfilled reducing the riotous and victorious Mavericks to a quiet and satiated group of burger eaters.  The PB In-N-Out kicked out more food in 10 minutes than most places do all day. 

In-N-Out; Its the freshest highest quality fast food,  served with a friendly smile in a sparkling clean atmosphere. They keep it simple and it's the best. Can't wait until June.

 

The Izzy-Style. All photos courtesy of In-N-Out, except the Izzy-Style, thats mine.

Steppenwolf crushed it in San Diego

Steppenwolf Rocks San Diego. Click 4 pix.Iconic rock band Steppenwolf led by lead singer John Kay crushed it in San Diego this weekend.  Kay and "the Wolf" got after it 60's style at 4th and B in downtown San Diego at a benefit show for Orangutan Foundation International. 

The house was packed with bikers (real ones and weekend warriors) and lots of senior citizens who apparently still like to rock.  John Kay looked to be in great shape and his stellar voice flashed the audience back to the late 60's.  Steppenwolf energetically played all their hits,  BORN to be WILD, MAGIC CARPET RIDE, ROCK ME, SOOKIE SOOKIE and THE PUSHER.  It was a great show enjoyed by the SRO crowd and it help raise money and awareness for Orangutans who share 97% of their DNA with humans.  See the pix , click: STEPPENWOLF.

Steppenwolf is generally credited for coining the term "heavy metal" in the lyrics of the biker anthem Born to be Wild.  Steppenwolf's music has been featured in over 100 Hollywood movies, most famously in EASY RIDER. Steppenwolf was named after the Hermann Hesse novel Der Steppenwolf and still lives today in the vocal stylings of John Kay. 

The Wolf. John Kay "Stay Wild". Click 4 pix.