Logo from In De Goot

The Carnival of Madness Tour has announced this year’s lineup and we must say we’re pretty impressed. Evanescence, Chevelle, Halestorm and New Medicine will be hitting the road starting July 31st and crossing the country through the summer and into late fall. By the looks of it they have only announced East Coast and Midwest dates so check out the COM website here and keep checking back for any dates that may come up on the West Coast.

7/31: Springfield, IL – Prairie Capitol Convention Center

8/1: Columbus, OH – LC Pavilion (Indoor)

8/3: Atlantic City, NJ – House of Blues

8/4: Chester, PA – Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack

8/6: Boston, MA – Bank of America Pavilion

8/7: Baltimore, MD – Pier Six Concert Pavilion

8/8: Charlotte, NC – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

8/10: Atlanta, GA – Aarons Amphitheatre at Lakewood

8/11: Gulfport, MS – Jones Park

8/13: Belton, TX – Bell County Expo

8/14: Laredo, TX – Laredo Energy Center

8/15: Midland, TX – Midland Horseshoe Arena

8/17: Lubbock, TX – Lone Star Events Center

8/18: El Paso, TX – Don Haskins Center

8/20: Sioux City, IA – Tyson Center

8/21: Milwaukee, WI – Eagles Ballroom *

8/23: Grand Rapids, MI — Rock The Rapids – Downtown **

8/24: Detroit, MI – DTE Music Theatre

8/26: Chicago, IL – Toyota Park

8/28: Pittsburg, PA – Stage AE **

8/29: Holmdel, NJ – PNC Amphitheatre

8/30: Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun**

9/2: Buffalo, NY – Venue TBA

9/5: Evansville, IN – Venue TBA

Enter today to win your work wings for next week!

Wingstop has 2 locations to choose from here in the Tri-Cities, on Burden Blvd. in Pasco and off of Gage Blvd. behind Columbia Center Mall. If your craving wings, Wingstop can take care of that crave.

So a little searching and vuala, Focker’s Top 5 Best Inked Up Ball Players.

Getty Images(Marc Serota)

#5 -  Jose Reyes(Miami Marlins) – Born in the Dominican he’s a 4-time All-Star and led the majors in triples in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Shortstop for the Miami Marlins Jose’s got both sleeves covered including a spiderweb on his left elbow and a portrait of his daughter on his left shoulder. You also may notice a nautical star on his right forearm.

Getty Images(Mike Stobe)

#4 – Prince Fielder(Detroit Tigers) – Playing first base for the Detroit Tigers this is a man you do not want to upset. His size alone scares even the best on the mound and if he charges just pretend to be DEAD! Covered in LOVE, his knuckles and right hand prove that. He also claims that a little simple smiley face on his right hand is one of his favorite tattoos.

Getty Images(Ralph Freso)

#3 – Henry Blanco(Arizona Diamondbacks) – Born in Venezuela, he’s known as ‘Hank White’ by his teammates. As the catcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks when it comes to tattoos he’s got some competition with the 3rd baseman.(You’ll see below). Henry has the tribal tattoos going up both arms along with the word ‘Hank’ representing the love his fellow teammates have given to him.

Getty Images(Jaime Squire)

#2 – Josh Hamilton(Texas Rangers) – On Tuesday this beast took the Orioles deep a total of 4 times, yeah that’s right 4 home runs in one game. Left fielder for the Texas Rangers I personally believe he gets his power from flames on his left arm. Either way this guy is a threat at the plate and takes the #2 spot on my Top 5 Best Inked Up Ball Players.

Getty Images(Sarah Glenn)

#1 – Ryan Roberts(Arizona Diamondbacks) – My number 1 Best Inked Up Ball Player in the major leagues is Ryan Roberts, third baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He received his first tattoo which was a cross with a crown and thorns attached for his 18th birthday. Other notable markings are a bulldog that represents his high school friends. His latest are the image of 2 little footprints on top of both of his own feet that are those of his 1 year old daughter. By the way, both of those tattoos Ryan did himself.

Check out more pics of my Top 5 Best Inked Up Ball Players. How does your top 5 compares to Focker’s? Leave your comment below.

(Photo by M. Shawn Crahan)

Everyone has become a world class photographer with the increasing popularity of InstaGram, Tumblr. and other photo-sharing websites. M. Shawn Crahan of Slipknot, better known as Clown or #6, has been taking photos for years and he shares his take on the world by posting on Facebook and Twitter on a regular basis. Check out some of my favorite pictures from his collection and enter to win tickets to see Slipknot at the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival this July!

A major portion of his photos are of what I am assuming are his children, wearing different ‘halloween’ masks and even a few Slipknot masks. Plus up-close shots of oil spots on cement or just random things going around him…mostly abstract shots and quick pics. Take a look at the pictures below and find him on Facebook or Twitter to keep up with the latest additions to his collection.

Well the 9th Annual Jackson’s craw fish boil was another success and with over 600 lbs. of craw fish put away I’m proud to say me and my crew did our fare share. Thanks again to Chuck and the entire crew at Jackson’s Sportsbar in Richland for putting on another great event. Also big thanks to Buddy who hosted the event and has every year since it began. Rumor has it the only reason it’s not still in his backyard is because it got so big his wife said move it or lose it.

Craw fish, jambalaya, corn, potatos, boudin(a cajun sausage mixture that’s awesome on a Ritz cracker) and good ole New Orleans style music made for a great day.

If you’ve got any pics from this years event send them to 97rockpics@gmail.com.

I even found the pickiest eater in the world fell in love with craw fish and I’ve got the video to prove it. Now there’s no excuse for not eating his entire dinner as he put away about 2 lbs. himself.

Enjoy the ugly golf outfits (yes I call them outfits) below. Oh yeah today is Monday Madness Golf at Canyon Lakes click to make a tee time or call (509)582-3736

Photo from Facebook

The Avengers Assemble movie hits theaters on Friday May 4th and 97 Rock has teamed up with Dr. Pepper to get you into the movies for free.

Movie passes, Dr. Pepper/Avengers gear including a hat, t-shirt and power band plus you’ll have a chance at a solar powered ipod/iphone sound system valued at $250.

Here’s how you win, starting Monday April 23rd through Friday May 4th listen weekdays for the Avengers Cue-2-Call(attached to the bottom of this post) to score a Dr. Pepper/Avengers qualifying kit that includes the following:

• (1) Avengers t-shirt
• (1) Dr. Pepper Power Band
• (1) Avengers hat
• (2) Dr. Pepper Movie Tickets to see Avengers Assemble

Then if you win your automatically entered into the grand prize drawing for a $250 Solar Powered iPod/iPhone player. It’s that easy!!

Make sure your listening for this Dr. Pepper/Avengers Cue-2-Call!

Photo from Facebook

97 Rock and Dr. Pepper have teamed up for one of the biggest movies to hit the screen, Avengers Assemble in theaters May 4th. Check out the pics below of the Dr. Pepper qualifying kits and pictures from the Avengers official Facebook page and get ready to win.

Photo from ACRG

The Atomic City Roller Girls are in town this Saturday night at the Toyota Arena to take on the Hellgate Dirt Road Dolls from Missoula. Tickets are available through the ACRG website, the Toyota Center Box office or online through Ticketmaster.

If you haven’t seen our ladies in action yet, this Saturday is the time to check them out. It’s 97 Rock night and we’ll be on hand to cheer on our Atomic City Roller Girls with the doors opening around 5p and the bout starting at 6p.

Here’s your chance to score free tickets to the event this Saturday by playing the famous game sweeping the nation, “Name That Bruised Body Part”. We all know that the last time these girls had a bruised free body was probably, well NEVER, so we’re showing off their temporary body trophies.

Here’s how the game works, take a look at the bruised body part pictures below and then submit your guessing in the form below. Randomly two lucky winners that have correctly identified all 4 bruised body parts will win a pair of tickets to Saturday nights bout.

(Photo by The Brad)

Holy weekend…I made it up to Safeco Field on Friday for the Seattle Mariners home opener and made a pit stop at Iron Horse Brewery on the way to the game for a ‘little’ sampler platter, then back for a wild Saturday in the Tri-Cities. Between Tri City Americans Playoff Hockey, Social Distortion at the Toyota Arena, Smash For Cash Demolition Derby at the TRAC, and whatever else you crazies got in to, there were plenty of options to have get out and have some fun this weekend.

I went to the Social Distortion show at the Toyota Arena. I got there a little later then planned and missed out on Lindi Ortega. How was her performance? Drop a comment below…Toadies absolutely rocked and sounded great! Then of course Social Distortion put on a wicked awesome show. Mike Ness was a total showman and had some good interaction with the crowd as the So Cal boys ripped out hit after hit.

(Photo by The Brad)

After that show got over, me and a couple buddies high tailed it out to Richland to catch the last of Eclectic Approach with Pitch The Woo and Citizen Hi-Fi at Ray’s Golden Lion. We missed out on EA and Pitch The Woo, but caught Citizen Hi-Fi’s set. They sounded awesome and rocked out to a packed house that came out for both their CD release and Pitch The Woo’s as well! All and all, it was a kick ass weekend, filled with plenty of good people, good music, and good beverages.

Now, we want to see how YOU rocked out this weekend. Got a pic from Smash For Cash, Social Distortion, Americans playoff hockey, or whatever else kind of craziness you managed to survive this weekend? Upload your picture to Facebook and tag 97 Rock, shoot out a tweet with your picture mentioning @97rockonline on Twitter, or use the form below and upload your pic and we will post it up right here.

Sunday’s Masters finale was one for the books with Louis Oosthuizen and Bubba Watson both finishing at 10 under but that’s not the excitement that everyone is talking about. On the 2nd playoff hole from the pine straw and behind trees Bubba Watson made one of the greatest shots in Masters history to 10 feet from the pin and left him a chance at a birdie and the coveted ‘Green Jacket’. Two putts later after a struggle to get it in the hole from Oosthuizen and Bubba Watson is your 2012 Masters Champion.

Photo from Twitter

Bubba Watson for those that may not know is a good ole boy from Baghdad Florida and when I say good ole boy I mean it. He recently just purchased a replica General Lee from the TV show The Dukes of Hazzard. He’s a twitter hound with over 490,000 followers.

Photo from Twitter

Him and his wife Angie also just adopted a child by the name of Caleb who couldn’t make it to Augusta to see his dad win because, well he’s 1 month old. Congrats Bubba.

To wrap it up it was an amazing Masters tournament and Augusta should be proud to have Bubba Watson as a champion. He’s got faith a family and a fast car, oh yeah and a brand new ‘Green Jacket’.

Don’t forget to practice your ‘Bubba’ skills each and every Monday at Canyon Lakes Golf Course with the 97 Rock crew for Monday Madness golf.

Who’s your favorite golfer?

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You know that feeling when you crave one specific restaurant. While at the 97 Rock Glass Hook Studios today, I got the wicked craving for Teriyaki Grill. One of my favorite restaurants here in the Tri Cities. Locally owned, friendly, fast, and affordable…the food rocks too.

I’m a teriyaki nerd. I could eat the stuff everyday. Rice and some chicken or steak and topped with some Teriyaki. Mmm Hmm. Teriyaki Grill in Pasco actually makes their own sauce, in house and they definitely know what they are doing. The nice couple that works and runs the restaurant always greets you with a smile and nice greeting and says ‘thank you’ as you are walking out the door. I usually order the fried rice with chicken and steak and get a side of gyoza. The sauce that comes with the gyoza is almost as good as their homemade teriyaki sauce. The yakisoba rocks too.

Stop by Teriyaki Grill at 5325 N Road 68 in Pasco and on the corner of Clearwater and Columbia Center Boulevard in Kennewick.

Nike.com

Even though Major League Baseball will be fully underway this week, the National Football League continues to make headlines with free agent signings and the upcoming draft. This morning, Nike kept pro football on sports fans minds by unveiling the new jerseys for the 2012 season. Most teams look has stayed consistent with years past, but the Seattle Seahawks received the largest overhaul to their uniforms.

The new Nike Elite 51 Uniform will be worn by each of the 32 NFL teams. This includes every aspect of the uniform from the helmet to the socks, and even added an aircraft-grade aluminum D-ring belt to reduce weight. That might be a little drastic, but according to Nike ‘Fast Is Faster’.

There were pictures released last year showing a drastic change to the look of almost every NFL team, but those NFL Blitz looking jerseys were actually fake. Luckily the league and Nike didn’t go the route of those and kept drastic changes .

If you don’t need the latest and greatest, brand new jerseys means that last years jerseys have dropped in price. Replicas are only $50 and Authentic jerseys are down from $300 to about $150 on NFLShop.com.

Here is what Nike had to say about the Seahawks new Elite 51 jerseys:

The Seattle Seahawks have chosen to take full innovation and a completely new re-design for the new Nike Elite 51 Uniform. The core uniform design looks back at Northwest tradition and culture with a Native American heritage. The team’s logo – a striking seahawk bird taken from Native American culture provides a focal point of both the uniform and helmet. At the top of the helmet a new pattern gives a nod to Seattle’s loyal, passionate fans. The horizontal graphic stripe across the front of the shoulders replicates the powerful horizontal seahawk wings carved into the wooden poles, while the same pointed wing pattern lives on the outside of each leg, with twelve wing icons to each side.

The new uniform colors are rooted in Seattle’s own environmental hues – the deep blue of the ocean water that tucks into the harbor near downtown and the Seahawks’ stadium. The new color addition called Action Green represents the green of the ubiquitous trees, ferns and moss literally covering the Pacific Northwest landscape. This brighter shade of green is designed to provide a pop of color on the uniform just as the vibrant bright greens pop in the rain-soaked environment. The Wolf Grey color accents complete the combination, an embodiment of the ever-changing clouds overhead that bring rain and life to the area. Lastly, bright white accents the uniform just as the snow capped peaks of the Olympic and Mt. Rainier accent the skyline around Seattle.

The native influence goes all the way into the numbers, which are shaped with the same straights edges and curves as the stoic hawks that reign atop the tallest totem poles.

In addition to these new design elements, the Nike Elite 51 uniform features Flywire technology to reduce weight and provide a lockdown fit over the pads. The uniform is completely engineered from the inside out, focusing on creating a system where the baselayer, padding, jersey and pant work in concert. A few of the new innovations include increasing sleeve articulation for better range of motion and integrating new four-way stretch fabrication to provide a streamlined shrink-wrap fit.

In addition to serving as Seattle’s on-field supplier for uniforms, sideline apparel, practice wear and baselayer, Nike will also provide men’s and women’s fan wear apparel. Athletes will also be able to wear the Nike Vapor Jet 2.0 Glove featuring the interlocking team logo on the palms.

Key features of the Nike Elite 51 Uniform include:
LIGHTER - The Nike jersey and pant, wet or dry are lighter than previous versions
FLYWIRE TECHNOLOGY – Eliminates layers, reduces weight, and provides lockdown fit
ZONED MESH VENTILATION – Provides cooling zones for optimal thermoregulation
ZONED STRENGTH – High tenacity, stretch material, for lightweight lockdown strength.
CUT FOR MOBILITY – Four-way stretch, hydrophobic materials enable range of motion wet or dry.
STRETCH TWILL NUMBERS – Four-way stretch even on numbering system
CUSTOMIZABLE BASELAYER PADDING – Nike Pro Combat Hyperstrong baselayer with integrated lightweight, Deflex padding offering customizable flexible protection.
DEFLEX PADDING – Lightweight, flexible impact protection integrated into top “hit zone” areas
ALUMINUM D-RING BELT – Aircraft-grade aluminum D-ring belt reduces weight.

Flickr, thegregbarris

You can get anything on a calendar these days from kittens to robots and countries of the world to outer space, but this is definitely the first of it’s kind that I have seen.

You know the childhood saying, “If you love it so much then why don’t you marry it?!” This may be the calendar for that exact person who absolutely loves Pizza. “Pizza Is My Lover” is a 2012 calendar created by L’asso, a New York Pizzeria, and features a different “sexy” pizza for each month of the year.

Like your pizza windblown, taking a stroll on the beach, or classically spread out on a silk table cloth? This calendar is perfect for that person who just can’t get enough pizza pies in their life…or fans of This Is Why Your Fat.

Side note: Whatever happened to Far Side calendars?

Check out a few pics of the calendar below and purchase the “2012 Pizza is My Lover” calendar for $10 from L’asso’s online store.

lasso.bigcartel.com

lasso.bigcartel.com

lasso.bigcartel.com

Tattoo by Valio Ska

Growing up, tattoos were a taboo thing that were more of a unique feature that only a few really had. Now, you see grandma’s with tattoos, kids still in high school getting their fair share of work done, and lots of others who are running out of space on their body for more. Ive always been interested in tattoos, but haven’t found anything that I would necessarily like to have on my body for the rest of my life…that’s just me. Definitely don’t wanna wake up from a night of Fireball/Dr. Peppers with a god awful  Tasmanian Devil tattoo.

In these peoples case, they have used tattoos make what would be a negative part of life into a positive one by getting a tattoo to modify an amputation. Check out these 5 awesome amputee tattoos.

If you’re into winter sports: skiing, boarding, snow shoeing or snowmobiling look no further than White Pass. It is by far one of the best ski hills around and it only takes 2hrs. to drive there. White Pass has 43 trails and averages 350 inches of snow per year. There are 8 lifts on the mountain to get you to your favorite trail. Adult lift tickets are $58 for full day and $44 for half day. Kids 7-12 and seniors 65-72 are $ 37 for full day and $30 half day.

If you’ve never skiied or boarded no worries White Pass has a great learning center with all sorts of packages to fit your needs. I just took a lesson last week and I’ve been skiing for a few years. If you have little one’s they have child care and a pee wee ski program. And a free ski check when you’re hanging at the lodge.

 There is on mountain lodging at the White Pass Village Inn and  down the hill in the nearby town of Packwood you’ll find some great cabins or motels.

White pass is my favorite because there is something for everyone and it’s relatively close.

I’m sure that Jackson has other very important duties like picking up dry cleaning, resetting the alarm clock, and making runs for non-caffeinated soda, but this has got to be one of the most embarrassing moments of his life.

The next question, why didn’t he hold the chair for Ann Romney too? What a dick!

bluewood.com

Send 97 Rock funny photos of you playing in the snow and be entered to win prizes from SKI BLUEWOOD. We’ll share the images and choose a random weekly winner from now through mid-January, one of whom will be a grand winner at the end of the month.

The weekly winner receives a Family Four Pack of lift tickets to Bluewood. Once we have four winners, one will win also receive a private family lesson!

We’re looking for different themes: awkward family portraits in ski, funny ski outfits, funny wipe-outs and funny shots from the bunny hill

Bluewood is open now. Visit www.bluewood.com for details or find the resort on Facebook.com.

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So I had to chance to road trip to Missoula Montana on Monday Rock-tober 24th to catch the Share the Welt Tour featuring Hatebreed, All That Remains and headliners Five Finger Death Punch.

Photo by Scotty B.O.S.

It started off with a kick-butt bus driver by the name of, and I’m not SH*&ing you Santa Claus. Hands down one of the coolest and laid back bus drivers around the NW. You’d have to be when Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax and Metallica are blasting over your sound system from the DVD playing on the TV’s.

As we got to Missoula I’m glad I had a few beers on the way over as it was colder than the majority of beers at the local bars around town.(That’s a compliment to all the bars by the way cause it was damn cold).

The show kicked in with Hatebreed followed up by All That Remains who were great to meet backstage before the show and headlining the gig, Five Finger Death Punch. Ivan the lead singer of FFDP was sicker than a dog but still came out and gave it 150% and proved that Knuckleheads should be proud to follow this man into battle anywhere he goes. I had a blast and enjoyed the ROAD TRIP immensely. Enjoy the pics and check out the videos (NSFW – Explicit Lyrics) below.

If you ever get a chance to see any of these bands in person, DO IT cause they are Focker Approved!

Here’s Ivan announcing how many copies of American Capitalist have sold in it’s first week… Not Bad but also NSFW – Explicit Audio.