Review: SweeTarts Holiday Gummies & Peyton Manning, Sportsman of the Year?? WHAT.

Junk Food Nation, Peyton Manning was recently named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.  And some people are PISSED about this.  But why? Let’s figure this out.

Now, what IS the criteria for Sportsman of the Year?  Is it like TIME Magazine, who’s Person of the Year is just the story with the most influence/buzz?  Well, then your SOTY might be Aaron Hernandez, Lance Armstrong, or Richie Incognito.  Is it the most DOMINANT performance of the year?  Well, then your SOTY might be Jimmie Johnson, who won a SIXTH Sprint Cup this year.  Is it a lifetime achievement award?  Well then step right up, Mariano Rivera.

The actual criteria: “the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement.”  Ok, so at least as *I* read it, we’re talking performance for THIS YEAR only.  And “achievement” for me means WINNING.  So I feel like you had to help your team either win the big one, or win A LOT.  Now we’re narrowing the pool in my head – Flacco, LeBron, JJ is still up there.  “Sportsmanship?”  I mean… I’m not keeping track of these guys charity trips.

So, in terms of impact on the sport, my pool would include Peyton, but also Flacco (for winning the Super Bowl), LeBron (for winning the NBA Finals), JJ (for his 6th Sprint Cup), Ortiz (for winning the WS), Koji Uehara (WS dominance).

Anyways, back to Peyton.  Is he deserving?  Well, he is the only one of the players I listed who did NOT win a big title this year, so he’d have to be performing PRETTY BIG this year to take home the award. But, as any football fanatic knows, no one gets into Football like Peyton does. He’s arguably a top ten offensive coordinator in the league RIGHT NOW. He’s leading the league in passing yards AND touchdowns, AND the Broncos are the #1 seed.  And then there’s THIS recent picture:

Now that's dedication

Now that’s dedication

I mean, cmon. Peyton with one foot in a cold tub, watching an iPad of football plays, wearing his helmet so he can listen to the audio???  Hilarious, but not surprising.

So OK.  You’re gonna give it to Peyton, since Football is KING in America, and you’d rather give it to Peyton over Flacco – I get it.  But for me, the Sportsman of the Year is…..DAVID ORTIZ.

Despite being a Yanks fan, I cannot deny this.  The Red Sox were a force this year, in part because SO many people played well, but in the playoffs, Ortiz reached “Bonds”-status.  He was unstoppable.  He was instrumental to their victory.  Without Ortiz, the Red Sox would’ve lost. I have no doubt. But with Ortiz?  Lock it up, folks.

Anyways, who do YOU think should’ve been Sportsman of the Year?  Tell me in the comments below.

Today’s junk food: SweeTarts Holiday Gummies!

SweeTarts Holiday Gummies

SweeTarts Holiday Gummies: The Money Shot

You know, I made fun of these SweeTarts Holiday Gummies a while back, saying I wouldn’t buy them because they seemed uncreative.  And look at this – they ended up in my cart anyways!  What can I say, I love gummy candy, and I was feeling festive.

I still contend that I don’t know if the name of this candy is SweetTarts or SweeTarts.  So confusing.  Let’s do some photos and get right to the review:

SweeTarts Holiday Gummies

SweeTarts Holiday Gummies: Trees, Bells, Stars, and….er….Two ball snowmen??  Weird.

SweeTarts Holiday Gummies

SweeTarts Holiday Gummies: ZIPPY NUTRITIONAL VALUE!

SweeTarts Holiday Gummies

SweeTarts Holiday Gummies: LOTS OF SUGAR!

SweeTarts Holiday Gummies

SweeTarts Holiday Gummies: A cavalcade of pink and green!

When I opened this bag of SweeTarts Holiday Gummies, all I could smell is sour apple.  Oh no. SOUR APPLE.  Well, I LIKE sour apple, but this is NOT what I expected the bag to smell like!  Especially since recently I’ve been bashing the fact that Skittles replaced their GREEN Lime flavor with Sour Apple.  Ugh. Let’s chew…

SweeTarts Holiday Gummies

SweeTarts Holiday Gummies: Fuzzy with sugar

Ok, these SweeTarts Holiday Gummies are nothing revolutionary, but they’re not bad either for anyone who loves gummi candy.  The basic flavors: Green = Sour Apple. Pink/Red = Sour Cherry.  I chewed a bunch together, and the cherry/apple combo wasn’t a bad one, and individually (I think) you’re really able to get the distinct fruit flavors.  And by distinct, I do mean artificial.

So yes – buy these if you like gummy candy and sour gummies.  They’ll look nice in a bowl.  And they weren’t particularly messy or sticky.  Just fun chewy goodness for everyone!

PURCHASED AT: Target

COST: $2.29 on sale

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy

Discuss - 6 Comments

  1. Justin Cornwell says:

    Good call on Ortiz, throw in the post Boston marathon bombing speech and it’s hard to believe he didn’t get the award.

  2. Kahnfucius says:

    Perhaps some of the pro-Peyton thinking is that his neck could literally fall off his body at any time. It’s like if someone defrosted Ted Williams, got some German doctors to reattach his head and he spent the subsequent seasons hitting .400. Are you going to tell Unfrozen Teddy Ballgame that he doesn’t deserve to be named Sportsman of the Year simply because he never won a World Series?

  3. John C. says:

    @junkfoodguy: Sorry I’ve been off the reservation for a while! Busy last few days/weeks, so haven’t had time to keep up with our normal sports chatter. My bad, but hey- I’m here to make up for it now haha.

    Peyton Manning, Sportsman of the Year?? Ugh! Not only do I happen to detest Peyton and everything he stands for (tacky, over-rated, corporate shill that charges little girls if they want him at his Bat Mitvah, then has the audacity to call it a charity…..) but how Mariano Rivera didn’t win this award is beyond me. It’s the classiest player on the planet’s final season; he goes on a farewell tour specifically designed to thank all those that cheered him along the way, and of course was an outstanding teammate to boot. How does that NOT win the award? Just stupid….

    Speaking of Yankees, I was totally distraught over Cano leaving too, and hated the move for Ellsbury, but I’m definitely starting to shift my stance. Cano seems like he’s almost going out of his way to rub me the wrong way at this point, doing everything he can to be the anti-SOTY. Complaining about disrespect, saying that he doesn’t run full-tilt cause he wants to play in 160 games a year, ignoring everything the Yankees did to help him with his career…eh. Meanwhile, Ellsbury went out of his way to avoid talking about the past, and only wanted to talk about a positive future in Pinstripes during his press conference. Dude even took out an ad THANKING the fans and his teammates for his time in Boston. Much, much classier. And he’s a decent player to boot.

    The one I don’t quite get is Beltran. Why go with the older Beltran when you could’ve kept Granderson, albeit for more money and more years?? Can’t say I hate it- Beltran seems like a great get; just a little confusing.

    Going forward, I’d love to see the Yanks snag a sold starting pitcher, but above all else DO NOT WANT THEM TO GIVE UP GARDNER!! Like your description of Cano as your homegrown guy, Gardner’s definitely been one of mine (I also fall into the Jeter camp, but Gardner’s right up there with my favorites). If the Reds want him, gotta give up way more than an overpriced second baseman.

    What about you?? Thoughts on the offseason thus far??? Can’t wait to hear from ya and get the sports talk rolling again.

    Talk to you soon!

    -John C.

    • junkfoodguy says:

      @John C: WHAT UP. No worries – I get busy plenty too, obviously.

      Yeah, I would’ve liked Mariano getting it, but eh, I can see them not doing it if they didn’t want to make it a lifetime achievement award.

      Also, Cano is pissing me off too. It’s like, Why say all this shit now? You’ve moved on, so make your peace in Seattle. Plus, Seattle fans can’t call him Robbie, because WE gave him that nickname.

      I never hated Ellsbury on the Sox, I just didn’t like that he played FOR the Red Sox. He wasn’t Derek Lowe to me.

      Beltran, I can see why – they’re making a play for shorter contracts and better OBP. Better OBP, Better OPS – I like the move to cut down on Ks, make the whole lineup flow better.

      Yes, please please keep gardner. He’s all that we have that’s home grown. I thought the Brian Roberts and Matt Thornton moves were ugh…but what can you do? Besides Jeter and Gardner, this is like a whole new team they are scotch taping together.

      Choo going to Texas is huge. Sucks he didn’t end up with the Yanks, but at least not with Boston. Choo had such a good year last season, and with him at the top of the a lineup with Prince and Beltre?? He’s gonna score 5000 runs. Ah well. The Choo deal means Texas is out on Tanaka, which is good for us.

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