Junk Food Nation, the World Cup is FINALLY HERE. And I am super geeked out – between that and Game 4 of the Spurs/Heat series, I plan on watching sports from the second I get home from work until I pass out tonight.  But before that…

TODAY’S TURKEY HILL FREE COUPON WINNER:

Yesterday’s comment contest had 39 comments/entries! Thanks to all who entered. What’s the deal with Bacardi Dragon Berry, and why did it kill more than one of you?  Gross.  And today’s random winner is …KAITLYN (kaykay___@_________). Congrats, Kaitlyn! Email me your contact info to Junkfoodguy@junkfoodguy.com and I’ll get the free coupon in the mail to you!

TODAY’S WAY TO WIN A FREE 1.5 QT OF TURKEY HILL ICE CREAM:

Twitter contest today!  Very simple way to win – in honor of the World Cup, simply tweet me @junkfoodguy and do three things:

1) Tell me who you’re rooting for in the World Cup,

2) Tell me your favorite Turkey Hill All-Natural ice cream flavor or flavor you’d most like to try (there’s a list RIGHT HERE), and

3) Hashtag it #TRKAmbassador

EXAMPLE: “@junkfoodguy Brazil, Salted Caramel #TRKAmbassador” or  “@junkfoodguy USA, Mango #TRKAmbassador”

See? Very simple! And as an EXTRA INCENTIVE to win, tomorrow I’ll be picking TWO winners.  TWO.  So go do it.

WHO ELSE HAS FULL BLOWN WORLD CUP FEVER?

Junk Food Nation, a quick story about my childhood. Growing up in Upstate New York, the biggest sport at my high school wasn’t football, it was soccer.  Not surprising – these days more youths play soccer than any other sport in America.  And if you were on my high school’s boys soccer team? You had elite status in my school. You had popularity and you had girls – and when I was a kid, that’s all that mattered to me.

Of course, I wasn’t ON the soccer team.  For one, I was not good at soccer, and for two….well, wasn’t reason number one enough?  Regardless, because of the high school culture, soccer related things pervaded the school, even if you weren’t a soccer player. Umbro shorts. Adidas shoes. Soccer jackets.  Oh yeah, I did all that.  Looking back at my wardrobe, I had Juventus and AC Milan jerseys, and I’d never even seen them play before. I owned cleats. I had Eurosport and TSI Soccer mags sent to my house, just to look at pictures of different kits. Super geeky. I loved it.  I had no idea what anything meant.

So that’s how soccer was on my brain consistently.  But again – aside from watching high school soccer, I never watched ANY soccer.  I mean, it was certainly never on TV.  This was pre-MLS. I knew the names Pele and Diego Maradona, but only because of my soccer friends.  Who’s watching soccer on TV when there’s baseball/football/basketball/hockey on?

Then came the 1994 World Cup – the one held in the US. My mind almost exploded with glee as I threw myself into watching “professional soccer players” play. I was in high school, and I remember watching almost every single game on my parents’ living room couch.  Tony Meola in goal. The hair of Alexi Lalas and Carlos Valderrama. The US game vs. Colombia, where Andres Escobar scored an own goal against the US and then was killed shortly after back in his home country.  The final match between Brazil and Italy, where Roberto Baggio skied the penalty kick over the goal to seal their fate. Drama from start to finish. I remember it like it was yesterday.

It was THAT tournament that sealed my World Cup fandom. After being such a soccer poser through much of my childhood, after that tournament, I thought, “Hey…I actually DO like soccer!” Still, I’m like a lot of Americans – don’t watch MLS, don’t watch Premier league, ESPN FC is never clicked on my web browser.  But once the World Cup rolls around, I AM ALL IN.  The countries. The national pride. The back stories.  I plan on immersing myself. So enjoy this World Cup, Junk Food Nation.  You know where I’ll be for the next month.

What about you? Thoughts on the World Cup? Who are you rooting for? Any former / current soccer players out there? Tell me in the comments below.

TODAY’S JUNK FOOD: Kellogg’s S’mores Blasted Rice Krispy Treats!

I Instagrammed both of these new Rice Krispy Treat varieties and asked you all to help choose which one to buy.  Most of you said to by the Chocolatey Chip Marshmallow one.  Well, damnit, I didn’t listen and ended up going with the S’mores one.  We’ll see if I chose wisely.

Kellogg’s S’mores Blasted Rice Krispy Treats are basically Rice Krispy Treats with what looks to be chocolate and graham pieces embedded into the surface.  I mean…it LOOKS good.  But would it taste like S’mores?

Do we really need a slingshot to rocket these pieces into the Rice Krispy treat? I say nay.  Just use your little elven mascot hands to do the work, stop treating this product like a carnival!

Wait, where’s the graham in all this?  I see honey as an ingredient…hmph. This doesn’t bode well.

Kellogg’s S’mores Blasted Rice Krispy Treats came individually packaged…

…and each Kellogg’s S’mores Blasted Rice Krispy Treat was actusally pretty small.  No wonder each of these only have 90 calories.  Each side was about two inches long…this is a two bite snack.

I munched on one of these Kellogg’s S’mores Blasted Rice Krispy Treats and… hmm.  Yeah, I’ll keep this review short: this tasted exactly like a regular Rice Krispy Treat.  Like, almost to the T.

I don’t know why I thought this would be different.  The chocolate added only a TINY bit of chocolate taste despite being VISUALLY there.  And the weird “graham pieces”? I could barely taste them.  MAYBE they added a TINY bit of honey flavor, but honestly, the predominant marshmallow flavor killed it.

So did I get a S’mores taste?  I didn’t – at all.  To me, this was a Rice Krispy Treat with a bit of chocolate.  Sigh.  I chose poorly.  Or maybe my poor choice was choosing to by either this or the Choco-Marshmallow one, period.

Anyways, yeah – disappointing.

PURCHASED AT: Walmart

COST: $1.98

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy