Junk Food Nation, there were so many things I wanted to talk about today. I wanted to wish all my friends who are taking the Bar Exam good luck.  I wanted to write a whole piece about what its like to take the Bar Exam. Not gonna happen today. (But GOOD LUCK, BAR TAKERS!)

I also wanted to write about the Penn State penalties.  As a result of their sex scandal, PSU got handed a number of sanctions by the NCAA. But, I’m also not gonna write about that today – honestly, there’s plenty of news sources and discussion boards out there to debate that stuff.  I will say I think that more than anything, the reduction in scholarships and no bowl games for four years is what is going to cripple that program for a decade.  What legit prospect is gonna wanna play there if you can’t strive for a bowl game the entire four years you are in college?  None, that’s who.

But I digress.  The whole reason I am not writing about any of those is because last evening, my Yankees made an astounding trade.  They dealt two pitching prospects for arguably the most successful Asian player of all-time, ICHIRO.

Ichiro wearing the colors!

Look, you’re all going to have to deal with the fact that I’m a Yankees fan – I’m from New York, so get over it.  You’re allowed to hate them. I’m allowed to root for them. We can all be friends, yada yada yada.  And if you don’t know who Ichiro is, read up on him on Wiki. In a nutshell, he’s a 10x All Star, a 10x Gold Glove, a 2x batting champion, and is one of two players ever to win the MVP and Rookie of the Year Award in the same year.  He’s also 38, a fading star.  Still, he was a player I followed ever since he arrived from Japan. I had Ichiromania, like every other Asian baseball fan back in the early 2000s.

I used to dream that maybe one day he’d join the Yanks, and now its happened.  As the Junk Food Gal said as I stared at ESPN’s headline last night, silently slack jawed: “You’re just gonna float home on that Ichiro cloud, aren’t you?”  Yes. Yes I am.

Ichiro in pinstripes!

Critics will say, “This is BS! Another one of the Yankees ploys to buy championships!” Yes, sure.  But know this: Ichiro wanted to be traded as well. Look, we’ve all seen teams unsure of what to do when their stars start to reach the end of the line and don’t know how to broach the subject of trades.  It was awkward when Pedro and Nomar were was dealt from Boston.  Everyone remembers how badly the Griffey saga ended n Seattle.  Ichiro was a 38-year old ballplayer who was looking around the Seattle locker room and could see they were trying to rebuild.  He offered himself to be dealt.

Could this be seen as a little selfish, like a star jumping ship? Sure – but at least he wasn’t cagey about it (I’m looking at you, Dwight Howard and Brett Favre).  He made his intentions clear, and never put down the team or their efforts. Moreover, the Mariners were ready to move on. Ichiro is a declining star with not too many years left in him.  Shipping him out meant opening up a spot for their young outfield studs.  They don’t have to worry about insulting him with a lowball contract offer, nor worrying about team payroll if he indeed WANTED to come back.  When Ichiro retires, he’ll go into the Hall as a Seattle Mariner, no matter what happens with the Yankees.

Ichiro in a suit!

This trade is a rental – Ichiro will get his wish to vy for a ring while keeping the spot warm for Brett Gardner next season. Last night, Ichiro wore 31 as opposed to his usual 51 in deference to another Yankee great, Bernie Williams.  During his press conference, Ichiro was slightly emotional and praised his former team for giving Japanese position players the chance to play in the big leagues. According to a friend of mine watching Ichiro’s debut with the Yanks, the Seattle crowd gave him a standing ovation and he bowed to the crowd.  Very classy, Seattle. And welcome to pinstripes, Ichiro.  I’ll be buying a #31 T-shirt very, very soon.

OK, Yankee haters.  My love rant is over.  Please resume junk food reading positions. Today’s junk food: New Coconut Delight Oreo Fudge Cremes!

New Coconut Delight Oreo Fudge Cremes: The Money Shot

I first heard about these new Coconut Delight Oreo Fudge Cremes from Twitter follower @KingRhino, and then my friend the Foodette reviewed them on her site. First reaction: how many new flavors are you going to come up with, Oreo? Smacks of desperation.  But I’ll eat em!  Ohhhh, I’ll eat em.

See what they did there? Do you see?

Clever move, Oreo, using the imagery juxtaposing an Oreo next to a split coconut.  I like the use of palm tree leaves too – I’m preparing myself to be whisked away when I eat these.

60 cal per

Where’s the coconut?

You know, I read the ingredient list for these New Coconut Delight Oreo Fudge Cremes like three times, and didn’t see coconut listed ANYWHERE.  The only place it could be: “artificial flavor.” Second to last ingredient.  Awesome.

Sidenote: Artificial flavor is listed BEFORE chocolate, which is the LAST ingredient!  WHAT!?

Coconutty rows of fudgey goodness

New Coconut Delight Oreo Fudge Cremes have the standard look of other Oreo fudge cremes – coated in fudge and lined up in separate pockets in the container.  As soon as I peeled back the top, the smell of coconut IMMEDIATELY wafted up.  Really strong.

New Coconut Delight Oreo Fudge Cremes

With the first bite of these New Coconut Delight Oreo Fudge Cremes, I immediately got really big, and really artificial, coconut flavor.  This isn’t one of those cookies that has pieces of flaky coconut inside – though I wish it was.  No, this was coconut flavor mixed into the hydrogenated fudge surrounding the cookie.

New Coconut Delight Oreo Fudge Cremes

The Fudge Creme had the usual soft crunch that a half-Oreo has, and the creme itself was very sweet and kicked up the coconutty quotient of this cookie. That wafer, when eaten by itself, was a standard Oreo chocolate cookie – when I scraped the fudge and creme off with my top row of teeth and let that mixture spread over my tongue, it was clear that that was where all the coconut flavor was hidden.

All in all, it sort of had the same profile as a Girl Scout Samoa, but without the nice texture, or the caramel.  Just a very chocolatey, coconutty cookies that was very sweet.  Not a huge fan, but not a horrible treat either.  It’s like a 5 of 10 in my book.

PURCHASED AT: Walmart

COST: $2.98

Thoughts? Please comment below (I always reply) or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. Also, you can always email me at junkfoodguy@junkfoodguy.com. Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy