If you listen to ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike In the Morning,” you know that former NFL defensive lineman Mike Golic is one half of the equation and the counterpoint to long-time “Sportscenter” anchor Mike Greenberg. While both share a passion for sports, Golic takes the role of the “man’s man” and frequently discusses his passion for food and in particular, his love for grilling out. Well, lucky for us, Golic recently teamed up with Kingsford Charcoal to promote their new and improved briquets (and their new flavors of KC Masterpiece sauce and marinade), as well as with chef Chris Lilly, who owns Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q and is an award winning barbecue chef. So we’ve got some of their special recipes on our Grub For Guys page on Bullz-Eye.com, but we also had the opportunity to interview Golic about ESPN, grilling out, and of course, football:

The Scores Report: Hey Mike, we know you love to eat and love to grill. What is your favorite KC Masterpiece new flavor and why?

Mike Golic: I’m an original flavor kind of guy – no bells or whistles needed for me. But, I’ve tried the new KC Masterpiece Smoky Bourbon Barbecue Sauce and the smoky, sweet taste gives the original flavor some good competition for best sauce.

TSR: What are your thoughts on the new briquets, and do you use your grill year round?

MG: I have a fairly busy schedule with “Mike & Mike in the Morning,” ESPN analysis, and my family, but I definitely try to keep my grill fired up year-round whenever I have down-time. There is no better way to bring family and friends together than over the smokey flavors of a charcoal grill. In fact, when my boys where in high school, I used to travel to their football camps in early-August and grill for their entire teams during two-a-day workouts.

Kingsford MatchLight is my go-to charcoal – it has lighter fluid built into the briquet formula so it lights quickly and easily – which is especially convenient when I’m tailgating. I’ve heard that Kingsford briquets now light easier and faster, which I can also appreciate since I’m always crunched for time with my busy schedule.

TSR: Do you have any go-to items you like to grill for Super Bowl Sunday, or are you usually too busy working to cook that day?

MG: I will be working the whole week leading up to Super Bowl in Miami, but I’m excited to be able to go home and watch the actual game with my friends and family. But, while I’m in Miami, I will be firing up the grill with my buddy, world champion pitmaster, Chris Lilly earlier in the week. Chris has taught me quite a bit about grilling over the years and has inspired me to create a few tailgate recipes of my own. I will be demonstrating my BBQ Blitz Chicken Wraps for a few TV interviews with Chris before sharing a little tailgate with the lucky winner of the “On the Grill with Golic” sweepstakes that took place earlier this year. The recipe is attached in case your readers want to try it at home. For more great grilling recipes become a fan of Kingsford on Facebook at Facebook.com/KingsfordCharcoal.

TSR: The press notes said you have tips and recipes to share….can you give us a glimpse into that at all, or offer a recipe we can feature on Bullz-Eye.com?

MG: Since I’ve already shared my BBQ Blitz Chicken Wraps recipe, here are a few tips:

· Feeding a crowd doesn’t have to cost a fortune. There are many flavorful, inexpensive cuts of meat to choose from that are ideal for serving to a large group. For example, I use chicken thighs in my wrap recipe, which is a cheaper alternative to breast meat that I actually prefer.

· Plan ahead and marinate meat before guests arrive. Try KC Masterpiece® Marinades, which can penetrate meat in as little as 30 minutes, but feel free to marinate longer for more flavor. Two to four hours works well to increase saturation and intensify taste.

· Even when cooking over a single-zone fire, leave a small space unheated so there is somewhere to move food if you have a flare-up or if something is cooking too fast. Take it from me, no one likes burned food!

TSR: In regard to what looks to be an awesome job at ESPN, is it really as much fun as it looks like, or are you constantly working?

MG: Well, I have been blessed to earn a living doing something that I love – playing football, and now talking about sports – I can’t really complain. You know that cliché saying that if you’re doing what you love then it doesn’t feel like work at all? Well, that couldn’t be more true for my “job” at ESPN – sure there are longer hours some days, but I have a passion for sports and what I do and wouldn’t trade my job for anything.

TSR: Is your ribbing and banter with Greeny more of a show or is it really how you guys are all the time?

MG: Greeny and I have a great time on and off set with each other. We are dynamically different people – everything from looks and personalities, to experiences and backgrounds – but I think that is what makes the chemistry between us so special on “Mike & Mike in the Morning.”

TSR: Which NFL team is the most pleasant surprise to you this season, and which is the biggest disappointment?

MG: I would have to say that Cincinnati surprised me the most this year – with the emergence of Cedric Benson from his woeful first few season in the league, a healthy Carson Palmer who is showing no signs of his knee injury, and Chad Ochocinco getting back to his premier status as one of the league’s most valuable receivers. And it goes without saying that this team has shown great strength through dealing with the loss of not one, but two family members this season with the passing of defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s wife, and the tragic death of wide receiver Chris Henry in early December. It was a shame to see the team exit the playoff picture so early this year but I have a feeling this team will be a force to be dealt with again in the 2010 season.

As for the biggest disappointment this year, I would have to go with Chicago. With the huge off-season acquisition of Jay Cutler and what was thought to be a strong running-attack with Matt Forte, no one imagined this team falling apart the way they did.

TSR: I lived in Cleveland for ten years and my wife is from South Euclid…..I’m assuming you live near ESPN now, and if so, what are some things you miss most about Cleveland?

MG: Yes, I live in Connecticut now to be close to the studio, which was a great place to raise a family. However, I will say that I do miss having a local team to root for, as there aren’t any pro teams that represent the state that I now call home.

TSR: Did you agree with Notre Dame (Golic’s alma mater) making a coaching change and are you happy with Brian Kelly’s hire?

MG: I’ve always thought you should get five years and that’s what Charlie got, I like him as a coach very much, but the wins have to come with it – I think the Golden Domers made a great hire with Brian Kelly. The guy has a proven track record everywhere he has coached – building a Division II powerhouse at Grand Valley State with two National Championships in three years, restoring a Central Michigan program to glory with three MAC titles, and recently bringing Cincinnati to the forefront of the college football world with two Big East titles and an impressive undefeated season going into their bowl game.

Kelly is going to bring a different look to South Bend with the run and shoot, shotgun offense, and given the Notre Dame five-year coaching standard, I think he will bring the team back to national prominence.

TSR: If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have one food item indefinitely, what would that be?

MG: Well, I would have to make one exception to your question – I would want to be stranded on a desert island with a charcoal grill with an endless supply of charcoal. As for food, I would have to go with a nice, juicy steak. I am a meat and potatoes type of guy.

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Let’s start with everyone’s favorite blowhard — and I doubt he’d take that as an insult given his commentary stylings — Stephen A. Smith. In his “Up Front” column, he criticizes Oscar De La Hoya for not knowing when to give it up.

Help, someone! Pretty Please!

It would be really nice if someone could muster some plausible explanation as to why a fighter like Oscar De La Hoya, beyond his prime for quite a while before the Manny Pacquiao bout, still chose to step into the ring and get his brains beat out. The mismatch was so obvious that Oscar’s wife, Millie, was screaming for him to quit before he had the common sense to do it himself.

It’s really easy to knock De La Hoya after the match is over when it’s clear that he shouldn’t have fought the fight. But one quick look at the pre-fight odds (-165 Hoya / +135 Pacquiao) reveals that this fight fooled a LOT of people, not just the Golden Boy. According to the betting public, De La Hoya was the clear favorite in the fight, so why would Oscar think that he was about to step into a beatdown? The betting public clearly doesn’t know everything, but it’s a pretty good gauge of public opinion and if the public is fooled, why would De La Hoya — who has an ego of a big-time fighter — know any better?

If Smith writes this column before the fight, I’d give him props. But this is classic kick-’em-while-they’re-down writing.

Let’s move on to Mike & Mike (Golic & Greenberg) who answer “The Big Question” — if the best players in college sports don’t make any noise in the pros, what’s their legacy?

GOLIC: If you think about it, we have two players this year who could end their college days as two of the all-time greats in their sports: Tyler Hansbrough and Tim Tebow. But neither one of them appears to have the type of skills that would make them excel as pros.
GREENY: It’s probably the best illustration we’ll ever see of the difference in athleticism from one level to the next. In college, guys can still dominate even if they’re not athletically superior to the competition. I don’t care how hard you work; if you’re not freakishly gifted physically, you are not going to be a star in the NFL or NBA.

I don’t have any idea if Tim Tebow can make it as a QB in the NFL, so I’ll let Anthony Stalter field that question. As for Tyler Hansbrough, I think he’s going to be a productive power forward at the NBA level. Whether or not he’s going to be a “star” depends on your definition of the word.

Is he going to turn into another Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire? Probably not. But if a team can land a starter in the late lottery, that’s considered a success. I see Hansbrough as a player who will focus on defense and rebounding. In fact, he could be a Dennis Rodman-type who can hit a 15-foot jumper. The Worm had the innate ability to rebound, and while Hansbrough doesn’t quite have his nose for the ball, he does have the work ethic, and then some. If he plays 30 minutes a game, I see him averaging 10 rebounds at a minimum. He has really improved his face up game, so if defenders help off of him, he’ll be able to make them pay. He should be especially productive in the regular season — while his opponents are loafing through three-quarters of the game, he and his non-stop motor will be running around like a kid on a sugar high. Work ethic is something that is often overlooked when it comes to the NBA draft and I think Hansbrough is a guy that has the drive to make himself the best player he can be. Other guys might have higher ceilings, but it doesn’t matter if they don’t have the heart to reach them.

Mike & Mike also discussed the upside/downside of a college football playoff…

Golic: As the bowl season ramps up, I cannot stress enough the need for a college football playoff. March Madness is the best tourney of the year, and a deep run by a Cinderella is one of the best parts of it. In the BCS, teams like Boise State and Utah will never play in the championship game.

Greeny: Cinderellas are all well and good, but they should know their place. The regular season is the one thing college football still gets right. A Cinderella team winning it all in a playoff would put that at risk.

Was the editor drunk on egg nog when he reviewed this? Golic’s point is clear, but what is Greeny talking about? Forget about the fact that he seems to be defending the current system — his response is nonsensical. First, he says that Cinderellas “should know their place.” Huh? An undefeated team like Utah or Boise St. should just shrug their shoulders and admit that they don’t belong because they only beat one ranked team all year? Who’s to say that they don’t have the talent and execution to play with the big boys? What’s worse, Greeny just contradicted his point from the previous topic — that, at the college level, a player can still dominate without being athletically superior to the competition.

He goes on to claim that a Cinderella winning it all in a playoff would put college football’s regular season at risk. I don’t have any idea what this means, so I’m not even going to try to speculate. I will say this — whoever wins a playoff deserves to be the champ, and I don’t see how a team like Utah winning three playoff games against the best competition in the country can hurt college football’s regular season.

Lastly — and this is a relatively minor point but it hits close to home because I am (admittedly) a fan of the Milwaukee Bucks — in the “NBA Insider” section, under the article heading “Contract Killers,” Chris Broussard lists a number of guys that are not living up to the contracts they signed this offseason, beginning with Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand. He goes on to say this…

Chicago locked up Luol Deng for $71 million; he’s scoring 13.9 ppg, Baron Davis got $65M from the Clips; he’s shooting 39%. Andrew Bogut ($60M) and Emeka Okafor ($72M) are checking in below their career scoring averages.

Granted, Luol Deng’s FG% is down (48% last year to 44% this year), Baron Davis is not shooting well (actually 37% now, but he’s a career 41% shooter so no big surprise there) and Okafor’s scoring numbers are down (though his FG% is up 5.5% and his PER is the second highest of his career). But why does Broussard have to bag on Bogut?

Sure, he’s averaging 11.5 ppg, down from 14.3 last season. But, in case Broussard hadn’t noticed, the Bucks added Richard Jefferson (and his 14.4 shots per game), so it’s no surprise to see that Bogut’s attempts are down almost three shots a game. His rebounds (10.7) and FG% (55.3%) are at career-high levels even though he missed three games with a knee injury in late November. And it’s no coincidence that the Bucks lost those three games.

Considering that his deal ($12 million per year) was the most affordable on that list of bad contracts, the guy doesn’t deserve to be listed amongst the other “contract killers.”

So, according to Golic, it’s okay for Favre to answer questions about the Packers’ tendencies as long as he didn’t initiate the call. Golic compared the situation to players that were signed for a week by a team just to give their new team info about their old team. But Favre wasn’t signed by the Lions.

Is Golic saying that it’s not okay if Favre called the Lions to BS about something else, and then they asked him about the Packers? Or is he saying that as long as Favre didn’t initiate the discussion about the Packers, that he’s in the clear.

I don’t know why whether or not Favre initiated the call even matters. As soon as the Lions asked him about the Packers, he should have ended the call.

For his part, Favre has denied that he called the Lions and helped them game plan.