Junk Food Nation, I want to speak directly to my readers who are not only sports fans, but baseball fans.  I know that the title talks about Fantasy Baseball, but I know baseball fans will appreciate this too.  As I’ve mentioned before, I play Fantasy Baseball, and I love it.  One group of guys I play with I’ve known since high school.  They are all very nice, and very knowledgeable.  These guys were (mostly) former athletes themselves, and they are no slouches when it comes to insider knowledge of the game.  And, given the fact that we’ve played together for over 12 years together, they know I am not either.

Last night, I received the worst baseball trade offer I think I’ve ever received, in any league I’ve ever played in, ever.  Fantasy gamers have to deal with bad trade offers all the time, and the spittle that comes with it. “Whaddya mean you won’t trade me Adrian Peterson for Kevin Kolb?  Did you see the numbers Kolb put up last week? Man, you stoopid.”  BS like that.  And in my high school fantasy league, we’ve all done it, and we’ve all made fun of each other, etc.  Hell, I send out bad offers all the time. Guilty, as charged.  In my high school league, we’ve reached a point where most people just roll their eyes and click Reject, without bothering to flame the other owner.  We’ve got better things to do with our time.  Like mock draft fantasy football.

Then I got the following offer from my friend Bex:

Bex offers Alex Rodriguez, Jhonny Peralta, and Albert Pujols, for Eric’s Mike Trout.

When I got it, I actually started laughing.  Then I wasn’t sure whether to be offended, or puzzled.  Then I started laughing again. This had to be a joke, right?  Then I thought, what if it wasn’t? But it had to be! And after discussing it with a co-worker, we agreed – it was a joke, and a good one.

For the uninitiated and for anyone not following sports news, performance enhancing drugs are all over the headlines.  Alex Rodriguez is the big player, and while he is negotiating a deal, he is 99% not going to play the rest of the year.  Jhonny Peralta is another person who is implicated and will likely be suspended for the year.  Albert Pujols is not implicated – but he’s injured and will probably be out the rest of the year.  So I was offered three players who might not even play another game this season!  Top that off with the fact that he was asking for Mike Trout, who’s a top 10 player, and you have an wonderfully absurd trade.

And so, Bex, I gotta give it to you – you have a beautiful family with adorable kids, you have kicked my ass in fantasy baseball every year, and you definitely made me chuckle with this one.  Truly, I am impressed – I can honestly say, you got me.  Made my mind spin just enough to unsettle me.  Well played.

But seriously, dude.  You should just drop those three. Stat.

Today’s junk food: Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles!

Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles and the other Xtra varieties

Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles were found at Walmart and were lined up with two other Xtra varieties – Screamin’ Dill Pickle and Tangy Buffalo Wing.  Personally, I’m not sure what the hell Pringles is trying to pull here, since I’m pretty sure Xtra Tangy Buffalo Wing is the same as Blastin’ Buffalo Wing Pringles Xtreme, and the Xtra Screamin’ Dill Pickle is the same as Pringles Extreme Screamin’ Dill Pickle.  STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME THINK THIS SH*T IS NEW WHEN IT’S NOT, PRINGLES!

But whatever.  The Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ I knew was NOT a re-brand, so I grabbed it and ran.

Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles: The Money Shot

Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles.  So many flavors, so little time. Spicy? Sweet? Smoky? Onion-y?  And all on a salty potato chip? Child, please.

Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles: Awful artwork.

Not a huge fan of the artwork on these Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles. Red onion, a couple of sliced tin peppers, and a chip with a glob of BBQ sauce on it? I get it…and I know no one really cares…but I do. I do, Pringles.

Plus, is the big “X” back in fashion, now? XXXTREEEEMMEEEEEE FFLAVVVOOOOORRRR!  Are we revisiting that 90’s trend again?

Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles: 150 cal per serving

Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles: I see dried hot sauce and smoke and molasses

Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles has dried hot sauce, which I guess is different than dried cayenne pepper sauce…so these won’t be a sweet Buffalo flavor (which is good).

Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles: speckled with brownish red

When I opened these Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles, I just grabbed a short stack of three and popped them into my mouth. I crunched and BAM! I was hit by surprise by the spice!  DEFINITELY started coughing.  I chewed more, I realized they were NOT *that* spicy, per se – I just expected them to be kind of wussy, and they weren’t.  They had a nice kick – it did indeed SORT OF taste like cayenne pepper sauce, with some sweet BBQ sauce notes.

The second time I ate these chips, they didn’t seem spicy at all.  Something wasn’t right.  So I carefully pulled out a chip and licked the powdered side – and there was that strong flavor again!  I guess the second mouthful I had, I made the mistake of eating them, powder side up? (So, powdered side NOT on my tongue.)

Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles: close up!

When I tasted the powdered side of these Xtra Fiery Sweet BBQ Pringles carefully, I immediately picked up a semi-jalapeno spicy kick – it wasn’t vegetable-y, but definitely had that immediate curl-the-sides-of-your-tongue spicy flavor.  For me, the burn was not strong at all, but enough to sizzle the taste buds.  After the spicy initial kick however, a good traditional BBQ sauce flavor emerged.  Nothing special, just your standard sweet molasses-brown sugar BBQ taste that is accented with onion and garlic powder.  There was a slight smokiness to it.

But, essentially, these chips delivered on their name – a spicy BBQ – so I rather enjoyed these Pringles.  I don’t really LOVE BBQ chips anymore, but this added spice appealed to me.  Nice job, Pringles.

PURCHASED AT: Walmart

COST: $1.50

Thoughts? Please comment below 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 do this.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy