Junk Food Nation, last night was the championship game between my Jayhawks and the No.1 team in the country, Kentucky, and the Bill Self-John Calipari rematch played out in exact opposite fashion of 2008. I’m not going to blog about the game; you can read 20+ articles about it over at ESPN.

ESPN, what kind of headline is this?

No, I thought I’d look ahead to the NBA draft, where players such as Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, unibrow Anthony Davis, Thomas Robinson, Harrison Barnes, and Jared Sullinger will all likely go in the Top 10.  But how will they fare in the pros?

1. Jared Sullinger.  Look, I’m not a scout, but this dude has no ups, at all.  Can he even jump?  Sure, he’s big and tough at 6’10”, but it seems like he has a 3 inch vertical.  That’s going to be a problem in the NBA. He’s sort of slow and despite being about the same height and weight as Dwight Howard, Superman will abuse him the first night on the court. All power, no grace.  I predict: BUST.

2. Harrison Barnes.  Wow, how the mighty have fallen. A blue chip prospect who was once debated to be the No. 1 pick in the draft over Kyrie Irving in last year’s NBA Draft, Harrison Barnes put up straight Zs (as in ZZZZZZZZ) for UNC during this year’s tournament.  What’d he shoot, 2-for-19 in one game?  What happened, man??  This small forward better have a good workout and prove he can shoot if he hope to run with Lebron. With no real display of overwhelming athleticism in the tourney, I predict: BUSTO.

3. Thomas Robinson. I should be hyping this guy since he’s a Jayhawk, but that game I watch between Kansas and Ohio State was ugly, and T-Rob didn’t look great either.  He has SOME burst which will help him in the pros, but no real finesse and honestly, he’s kind of small to be a power forward in the NBA. And he’s not athletic enough nor does he shoot well enough to be a SF. He’s a tweener, and tweeners? THEY BUST.

The two Kentucky prospects after the jump.  Today’s junk food: Kozy Shack Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding!

The Money Shot

I’ve loved bread pudding ever since college when I had it for the first time.  Growing up in a house that rarely had dessert, much less sweet fatty dessert, I remember thinking “this is bread…soaked in something sweet…and I just eat it with a spoon? It’s soggy sugar bread?”  And I loved it.

This Kozy Shack Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding is the first time I’ve ever seen someone try to replicate that experience in a lunch-size container.

Quivering and gelatinous

Kozy Shack Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding looks gelatinous and tasty.  Apple cinnamon is an interesting twist on it – I’d only had bread pudding with raisins and a sugary creme sauce.  Mmmmm.  Creme sauce.

Finally, bread pudding when you want it...what!?

1967??? Damn, Kozy Shack…why have I never heard of you before.  Still, I’m not going to complain about custard soaked bread.  And just 150 calories in a cup of Kozy Shack Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding? Nice.

Stabilizer blend

 Kozy Shack Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding is full of chemicals, but who’s shocked about this? I’m more distracted by the fact that this snack was made in Hicksville.  Really?

REMOVE THE LID!

Kozy Shack Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding can be microwaved!  I’ll be trying to both ways – hot and cold.  Ah yes, and remove lid – ever try to microwave foil before? I have.  It lets off the prettiest blue sparks.

Ooooooo creamy

Well…that’s….glutinous-looking.  Deep breath…ok, despite the fact that this looks like cold clam chowder, it smells sweet and tasty.  Time to dig into this Kozy Shack Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding!

Apple pie filling?

When served cold: the texture of this bread pudding was mysteriously like a gelatinous flan, and not like bread pudding at all.  The creamy creme brulee like taste of the pudding portion of this snack was kind of Jello-ey.  Meanwhile, once I dug into the apple portion of the cup, it tasted like a runny version of apple pie filling – which while it tasted ok, was a really odd mix with the shivering flan-like pudding.  Tasted like a cool dessert that didn’t really go together.  Got very little cinnamon taste.  Maybe this would taste better warmed?

Looks like McDonalds apple pie filling

When served warm after a 20 second nuke job: the buttery flan-ness comes out more and the apple cinnamon filling becomes more muted as it mixes in with the pudding.  The whole thing has a sweet, buttery, cinnamon-y taste that can really only be tasted warmed.  The tiny apple pieces were ok, but really only added texture, not flavor.  Cinnamon taste more present.  Now that the heat helped soften some of the pudding, I can feel that there actually ARE some textural differences and some “chewier” portions of the pudding.  This actually felt much more like a bread pudding than when cold.

All in all? Not a bad treat, though I would of course choose real bread pudding any day.  Definitely better eaten warmed than cold.

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4. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.  You know, I watched him very carefully during the championship game.  And he displayed some good athleticism.  Good at the cut lanes.  Good at rebounding. Good energy and clearly has great burst.  Problem: HE CAN’T SHOOT.  When I see him, I AM reminded of Derrick Rose, John Wall, and Tyreke Evans – all Calipari products.  The problem: HE CAN’T SHOOT.  Look, he has good percentages because he can dunk and layup with the best of them, but he’s sort of one dimensional – he rebounds ok and can take it to the basketball ok.  He’s got surefire quickness – that’ll help in the pros. But all around game? Not there…yet. I predict: BUST (with potential to be DECENT).

5. Anthony Davis. The unibrow. This kid loves to block and he knows how to get in position to do so. He’s not Javale McGee-ing it and just trying to swat shots into the stands.  He prefers to block the shots down to create turnovers.  He gets rebounds…because he just steals the ball from his opponent’s hands.  Davis doesn’t shoot particularly well either, but that’s ok – NBA teams will be drafting him for his Kevin Durant-like body and his amazing length.  My worry: he’s so slight he might just get crushed when trying to defend someone like Kendrick Perkins or Lebron.  But that’s ok – as he grows, so will his game.  Prediction: DECENT (with potential to be GREAT).

Thoughts? Hit me in the comments below or hit me on Twitter @junkfoodguy or on my Facebook Page. Sincerely, Junk Food Guy