Junk Food Nation, now that we have a bit of lull in sports action with NBA and NHL over, golf and tennis quiet for the moment, and baseball ABOUT to head into the All-Star Break, I wanted to bring up another topic – the US Men’s Basketball Team.  Because of COURSE that’s topical with all the Sharknado talk, right?

The question is, WHO will be part of the 2016 US Men’s OIympic Basketball Team?  This was 2012’s roster:

	Carmelo Anthony	F	6-8	230	5/29/84	New York Knicks / Syracuse
	Kobe Bryant	G	6-6	205	8/23/78	Los Angeles Lakers / Lower Merion H.S. (PA)
	Tyson Chandler	C	7-1	240	10/02/82	New York Knicks / Dominguez H.S. (CA)
	Anthony Davis	F	6-10	220	03/11/93	New Orleans Hornets / Kentucky
	Kevin Durant	G	6-9	235	9/29/88	Oklahoma City Thunder / Texas
	James Harden	G	6-5	220	8/26/89	Oklahoma City Thunder / Arizona State
	Andre Iguodala	G/F	6-6	207	1/28/84	Denver Nuggets / Arizona
	LeBron James	F	6-8	250	12/30/84	Miami Heat / St. Vincent-St. Mary H.S. (OH)
	Kevin Love	F	6-10	260	9/07/88	Minnesota Timberwolves / UCLA
	Chris Paul	G	6-0	183	5/06/85	Los Angeles Clippers / Wake Forest
	Russell Westbrook	G	6-3	187	11/12/88	Oklahoma City Thunder / UCLA
	Deron Williams	G	6-3	209	6/26/84	Brooklyn Nets / Illinois

By 2016, there will be several members of this team who will be over 30 years old, and also several members who may not be the “best” players the US has to offer.  And with only 12-slots to fill – some people have to go.

1)      I think of the over-30 crowd (Kobe, Lebron, Carmelo, Chandler, Iguodala, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams), I’m only going to keep two – Lebron and Carmelo.  Carmelo was the second highest scorer on Team USA last year, ahead of Lebron.

2)      Some of the younger players will be about 28 years old, and HAVE to stay.  Durant, Harden, K Love are locks – I’m putting Westbrook on the bubble because there are so many good guards coming.

3)      So who will the remaining seven slots go to?  My predictions, with ages: Blake Griffin (F 27), Steph Curry (G 28), Paul George (G 26), Kyrie Irving (G 24), Anthony Davis (F 24), and Greg Monroe (C 26).

4)      That’s only six players I’ve named, because the remaining spot could easily go to a great rookie in the next three years – an Andrew Wiggins, for example.  I’ll leave that blank.  Or it could go most likely go to Russell Westbrook (G 28).

5)      Notable omissions?  Mainly, I was thinking big men – Roy Hibbert will be 30 years old exactly, so I eliminated him because of that.  Dwight Howard and Bynum – both over 30, and also they are both awful people.  Demarcus Cousins will only be 26, but he’s also an idiot.  Sorry.

6)      Possible people that could get in there? Kawhi Leonard (F 25), Derrick Favors (F/C 25)…but these two have a lot more to prove over the next couple years to be considered for USA Basketball.

Therefore, my final roster guess would be:

C: Greg Monroe

F: Lebron, Carmelo, A Davis, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love

G: Durant, Westbrook, Steph Curry, Paul George, Kyrie Irving, James Harden

Looks like gold to me!  What do you think / who is YOUR predictive roster for 2016? Since, you know, these are the issues that matter.  Let me know in the comments below!

Today’s junk food: Saratoga Kettle Chips!

Saratoga Kettle Chips were sent to me directly by the good company, and they sent me three different varieties: original, honey BBQ, and rosemary garlic.  Branding Saratoga, NY as the birthplace of America’ First Potato Chip (since 1853), Saratoga Chips also have a newly designed bag design, for two reasons:1) 150 years of horse racing at Saratoga Springs, and 2) 160 years since the Original Saratoga Chip was invented in 1853.  Wow.  Thems some old chips.

Non-GMO, these Saratoga Kettle Chips are also kosher, lactose-free, gluten-free, shellfish-free, nut-free, zero trans fats, zero cholesterol.   Geez louise, are these chips made in a hermetic chamber somewhere?  I hope so…It’s time to see if these chips taste good when you’ve removed all the bad stuff.

I opened these Original Saratoga Kettle Chips, and the first smell I got – potato-y goodness.  Fresh potato-ness.  The chips looked standard sized, not tiny, but also not those HUGE chips that a lot of companies have trended towards.  I munch on a big handful, and was VERY pleased.  Perfect crunch of a kettle chip (not overly crunchy, but definitely MORE than crispy), and the perfect amount of salt.  Just enough to bring out the basic potato flavor.  The chip texture wasn’t overly bubbly, which I appreciated.  This was a multi-muncher – before I knew it, I had eaten most of the bag.  Dangerous…dangerously good.

The Junk Food Gal really liked the Honey BBQ Saratoga Kettle Chips, so I’ll describe them as she did.  Please note, the Junk Food Gal does NOT like barbeque chips at all.  But she liked that these were sweet – they emphasized the honey aspect of the honey BBQ more than the smoky component.

When I ate them, I could see what she meant – these had no spicy burn at all, and definitely leaned more towards the sweet.  There was also, IMO, very little salt – just enough to get that sweet/savory thing going.  You know how kettle corn has that salty sweet taste?  That’s sort of how these potato chips were, adding a splash of ketchup-y BBQ taste to it.  Pretty good – but only if you like honey BBQ as opposed to a more vinegary BBQ.

These Rosemary Garlic Saratoga Kettle Chips were the last I tried, and were probably my least favorite of the bunch.  Don’t get me wrong – they tasted good, but I have to be honest about my criticisms.  Same great crunch and potato taste, but these particular chips were very salty.  Like, saltier than I personally enjoy.

Good savory flavor with the onion powder and garlic powder, but I could’ve used a lot more rosemary.  I know some people don’t like to be clubbed over the head with rosemary, but if you’re gonna call yourself a rosemary chip, I need it to be powerful.  All in all, a decent chip that could use less salt, and more herb flavor.

So, if I were to rank them, I’d go Original, Honey BBQ, Rosemary Garlic.  I could eat the Original Saratoga Chips all day, every day.  Thanks to Saratoga Kettle Chips for letting me try these out!

PURCHASED AT: Find out all the places you can buy them here.

COST: Looks like it costs $3.99 per bag

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