Over Beers

The Book of Eli

2012-02-06T19:25:00.000-05:00

Admit it.

You don’t like Eli Manning.

There are several reasons. A few being:

The legacy of being Archie Manning's son and Peyton Manning's brother
The fact that he looks more like a country bumpkin than a football player
He has some very annoying facial expressions
He plays for the Giants (well that's a reason for me anyway)

This is the biggest reason of all...Eli is really reallygood. Possibly the best in the gameright now. Definitely the most clutch quarterback.

A few weeks back, I challenged a few of my friendsquestioning who was the better quarterback right now, Ben Roethlisberger or EliManning. Since they were PittsburghSteeler fans, the resounding answer was Ben. I wonder how they feel today. Probably still in denial.

Once again trailing in the 4^th quarter with Super BowlXLVI on the line, Eli delivered. WhileEli played well all day, the Giants final drive was a thing of beauty. Starting from their own 12, Manning threw afirst down ball 38 yards to Mario Manningham. The ball was perfectly thrown into a tight spot that only Manninghamcould catch.

Most quarterback’s would not attempt that throw in thatsituation. Eli did.

In many ways this Super Bowl came down to 2 plays. The Manning throw & amazing Manninghamcatch would eventually lead to the final score of the game. Somewhat forgotten though, was typicallyreliable Wes Welker’s drop at the Giants 20 yard line 3 plays before. The Tom Brady pass was a little high andbehind, but Welker got 2 hands on the ball untouched by a Giant. Super Bowlwinners make that catch. To Welker’scredit he owned up to the miss, “Hit me right in the hands. It’s a play I neverdrop. It comes at the biggest moment ofmy life.”

That was the opening Manning needed. The 2007 Giants were a run first team with astrong defense. The 2011-12 team struggled to run the ball andhave issues in their defensive backfield. Due to this and their confidence in Eli, the Giants continued to throwthe ball even at midfield with approximately 3 minutes to go in the game. Manning threw 3 more times before thePatriots decided to allow the Ahmad Bradshaw rushing TD in an attempt to preserve time.

Why did conservative Tom Coughlin take this chance? Simple,he trusts Manning more than he trusts his running backs. Bradshaw had fumbled earlier in thegame.

To nobody’s surprise (other than the Manning haters) Elieasily won the Super Bowl MVP award (his 2^nd in 2 games played). Manning is 31. If Eli wins 1 or 2 more, he will be on the JoeMontana level. Hard to believe huh?

Looks clearly are deceiving, because there is no way youwould think this guy has the balls he has to make some of his throws. Think about the converted Hail Mary to HakeemNicks against the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round. In the 2 Super Bowls that Manning has playedin, he has 2 80 yard game winning TD drives. Eli now has an 8-3 playoff record includingbeing an impressive 2-0 in the Supe. Hehas averaged 29 TD’s and 4,300 yards for the last 3 regular seasons.

Want more? Glad you asked. This year Eli willingly put the Giants on his back leading them tovictories while playing with the 32^nd ranked running game and the 27^thranked defense. The result was the Giants coming back to win 8 times this season including the playoffs. Very John Elway-esque.

You may not like it. I know that I don’t. But that is the book of Eli.

For many this realization of Eli Manning’s status as one ofthe most clutch quarterbacks to play the game can leave a sour taste in yourmouth. Here is a better idea. Try a Liefmans Goudenband (8% ABV). This Flemish sour ale offers a complex blendof spices, a very slight nuttiness that is even more enjoyable as you let itbreath. This is a classic Belgian beerthat reminds you more of wine than beer. Much like Eli, it gets better over time.

Super Thoughts (Pre-game)

2012-02-04T19:25:00.001-05:00

Rewind the tape.

December, 5th 2012, the New York football Giants are an unimpressive 6-6. Most Giant fans and many in the NY media are calling for Tom Coughlin's head. Fast forward 6 days. In a must win game against the Dallas Cowboys, Tony Romo over throws a wide open Miles Austin for what would have been most likely a game winning touchdown. Result Giants win 37-34.

The Giants go on to win the NFC East division, crush the soft like cake Atlanta Falcons, catch Green Bay on only their 2nd bad day of the 2011-12 season, get two Kyle Williams fumbles that lead to 10 points and voila these Giants are now the team to beat.

Meanwhile the New England Patriots quietly go 13-3, yes 13-3, with little to no defense, a scant running game, but a lethal double tight end offense that creates nightmares for other defensive coordinators.

Most of the media believes the Giants will win the game. New England is a 3 point favorite in Vegas.

The match-ups favor the Giants. The Giants pass rush is starting to wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks and that is the way to beat Tom Brady. The Patriots biggest (literally) weapon Rob Gronkowski will play with a high ankle sprain. The Patriots defensive backs are so porous that back-up WR Julian Edelman plays in the secondary 50% of the time.

Think that Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz like that match-up? Yes. Yes they do.

Legacies are on the line for both teams. If the Patriots win, Tom Brady surpasses Joe Montana as the greatest quarterback to play. If the Giants win, Eli Manning, yes Eli Manning, surpasses Tom Brady as the best quarterback playing today.

Due to all of the signs pointing to the Giants, I'll say Patriots 24-Giants 20.

I tried my first ever Stillwater Of Love & Regret this week. It was quite enjoyable. Actually screw that. It was damn good. Monks in Philadelphia (a beer Mecca) describes Of Love & Regret as the perfect spring beer, made with touches of chamomile, lavender, & dandelion. This Belgian spiced ale is a perfect example of why this is the greatest age ever to experiment with and enjoy new beers.

It also has me covered for the Super Bowl. Either I will love the pick or regret it. Sorry. I had to.

Thin Line Between Hero and Goat

2012-01-25T11:30:00.000-05:00

Start with this. Neither the AFC or NFC Championship games were well played.

The games were fun to watch. They just were not very well played.

There were some solid individual performances. Joe Flacco played a good game, for him. The 49ers defense was relentless. Vince Wilfolk was a monster especially onclutch plays. Victor Cruz was VictorCruz.

Each game came down to special teams. Both games were lost by Harbaugh coachedteams that typically thrive on special teams.

The Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff and San Francisco49ers WR/punt returnerKyle Williams ultimately cost their teams a trip to SuperBowl 46. I found Williams mistakes farmore acceptable than Cundiff’s missed 32 yard FG. Williams, the 49ers back-up punt returner,first mistake was on a fluke bounce of the football that nicked his knee. He should not have been that close to theball, but remember that he was the back-up returner.

Williams second fumble ultimately gave the Giants great fieldposition for the game winning FG, was due to him being overly aggressive on apunt return. Could you really blamehim? Up to that point what confidencecould anyone possibly have in the 49ers offense? For some reason very few people want to say thetruth. Alex Smith sucked on Sunday (1 of13 on third downs). The play callingwas also questionable at best.

The book on stopping the 49er offense this season was to containFrank Gore and not let Vernon Davis beat you. End of story. Amazingly, theGiants twice let Vernon Davis beat them. I guess they failed their film study of the 49ers win over the NewOrleans Saints last week.

When the Giants finally figured out the strategy, Alex Smithlooked like the Alex Smith of the previous 5 years. Maybe, just maybe Smith will improve withbetter wide receivers. That jury remainsout. The 49ers also have these questionsto consider in the off-season.

What the hell happened to Michael Crabtree? Why did Gore only get 16 carries (4.65 yardper carry)? Why was Gore out of the game on at least two 3^rdand short plays? Why did the whistle blow so quickly on the Ahmad Bradshaw 2nddown catch before the 2 minute warning? Bradshaw is known for extending plays by notgiving up on runs. It was the correct callbecause the official blew the whistle, but why so fast?

The Ravens have similar questions to ask themselves.

Yes, Billy “Don’t Be a Hero” Cundiff missed an easy 32 yardgame winning FG. Yes a case could be made that Lee Evans shouldpull the ball in and not allow Sterling Moore (WHO?) to knock the ball out.

There is no excuse for Cundiff.

None.

How does Billy Cundiff handle himself in the locker roomafter missing the 32 yd fg? “To let RayLewis down – you don’t know how many games he has left – is pretty tough,” saidCundiff. Off the record, Cundiff alsoturned down an offer for a limo ride with Lewis, but suggested that Lee Evansmight be available.

Seriously, too many people are jumping on the Flaccobandwagon or giving him a pass for the loss. Flacco played ok. Consider that Flacco was playing against the4^th worse pass defense in the NFL. It was clear that the Pats strategy was to notlet Ray Rice beat them. Flacco under threw a wide open Torrey Smith ontheir first scoring possession and over threw him on another play where Smithhad separated himself from the Pats d-backs.

Ask yourself these questions. If Tom Brady did not play a poor game how would you feel about Flacco’sperformance? Are you judging Flacco overall or simply comparing him to the disaster that was his performance against the Houston Texans in the divisional round? Which Flacco will consistently show up for a big game? Can anyone who willingly grows that mustache be trusted ever?

Please don’t ask Phil Simms his opinion onthis because he has been officially anointed Mr. Sunshine and Lollipops. Jesus Phil, being positive is great, butcritique where appropriate.

The Patriots continue to get lucky. Bill Belichick may be a genius, but you canonly win for so long playing the Julian Edelman’s at WR and DB over 50% of thetime. If you are going to roll the dicewith so many role players, they have to at the very least minimize mistakes. Danny Woodhead had to hold onto the ball. Screwthe extra 5 yards, hold the ball. Youhave Tom Brady playing QB, not Alex Smith.

Speaking of Brady, good players often get away with badgames (Heretofore known as the Eli Manning rule). Brady forced the ball too manytimes including on both of his interceptions. It was like he was doing an Eli Manning impression. At this point in Brady’s career he knows better than to jam a pass intocoverage for Justin Edelman or Matthew Slater. It is one thing to allow AaronHernandez or Rob Gronkowski to make a physical play on the ball. Edelman and Slater can’t.

The Patriots are hoping for a good pass rush and a healthyRob Gronkowski against the Giants. Belichick will have to find that balance so that his role players can be impactful but not overly relied upon. The Giants have to establish just a little run game to keep the Patriots D honest and hit Brady early.

Remember Eli Manning is no Joe Flacco.

Grantland.com had an enjoyable piece this week. They decided to publish email exchanges between many of their contributors (Bill Simmons included) during the AFC & NFC championships. The AFC exchanges were far more entertaining mostly due to Simmons being a die hard Patriots fan. Simmons has a terrific ability to make you feel or perhaps relive his pain as a fan. Features like this concept are what made many of us so excited when Grantland.com was first announced. This raw personal material (although probably edited) is more meaningful to the passionate sports fan. Hopefully, we will see more of this material and a little less of the Reality Scoreboard.

Winter finally hit in the northeast region of the US. To take the chill off I tried my first Founders Devil Dancer. At 12% ABV, this beer is definitely saying something! This triple IPA is dry-hopped (must be January) with 10 different hop varieties. Founders has quickly become a stalwart of the craft brewing community. Translation, they make great beer. Devil Dancer is a very enjoyable strong IPA. Pour it into a larger glass let it settle and take your time enjoying the complexity.

And Then There Were Four

2012-01-19T20:48:00.000-05:00

The NFL Divisional playoff round is my favorite. Two games each on Saturday and Sunday including prime time Saturday night. Can I get a hell yeah?

Raise your hand if at the beginning of the season you predicted the NY Giants and the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game. Sorry Giant and 49er fans your vote does not count here. Like many people I was all New Orleans Saints vs Green Bay Packers from the jump.

As noted here, I really thought that the Saints were the most balanced team. It turns out that many of the NFL experts were right. It was the 49ers. The 2 things that came out of the 49ers win over the Saints that I did not expect was the overall toughness of the 49ers defense (how you feelin Pierre Thomas?) and Alex Smith’s passing ability in the clutch (you never thought you would read that did you?).

Ouch

Now, if you are a Saints fan you can’t be too unhappy that Gregg “always has been overrated” Williams has departed to be the DC for St Louis Rams. Why? It is obvious that you stop the 49ers by defending Frank Gore and the run game and taking away Vernon Davis. Period. It was completely unacceptable to have Davis in single coverage on the 47 yard pass play that ultimately set up the Davis TD (against zone) to win the game. Even worse the 47 yard pass to Davis was basically the same coverage as the 49 yard TD pass to Davis in the 1st quarter.

Either way Alex Smith had to make the throws. And he sure did. You get that Tim Tebow fans? Make the throws.

Was it just me or do you think that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady really enjoyed the fact that Tim Tebow was getting all the attention leading up to the Denver Broncos vs. the New England Patriots game?

The Patriots looked like they were shot out of a cannon on offense. There was no doubt that their game plan was to score early and force Tebow to beat them through the air. Now please do not get all crazy and believe that the Patriots defense is fixed. Both the Broncos and Ravens have seriously flawed offenses. However, the versatility of the Patriots offense continues to amaze me. Aaron Hernandez lined up at half back, gobbling up 12.1 yards per carry? Seriously.

Yes, that is a tight end playing halfback.

The Ravens basically tried to give away their game to the TJ Yates-led Houston Texans. If any fan base should be crying “this was the year” it is the Texans. Even 2nd string Matt Leinert probably wins that game. Hell, Yates could conceivably have led them to a win had Jacoby Jones not lost his mind and fumbled that early punt return setting the Ravens up for an easy TD.

What if?

NFL Network Mike Lombardi correctly wrote that he liked that the Ravens won a tough game and played poorly. He’s right that is a good thing. They do have obvious concerns though. Joe Flacco is just ordinary. He is easily the worst quarterback still in the playoffs. Flacco is not terrible, but the Ravens were betting that by now he would be more than another Trent Dilfer. Even Ravens safety Ed Reed has his doubts.

Super Bowl QB?

Did the Giants catch the Packers on a rare day off or did they cause the Packers to have an off-day? That is the question that Packers and 49er fans must be asking this week. The Giants fans aren’t asking that. They are so full of themselves that they are convinced that this was simply divine interevention and once again they are a team of destiny or is it density. Either way bring me a yogurt.

The Giants could have easily won that game by 30 points. Aaron Rogers missed several open receivers in the first half when the game was still very close. The Packers skills players fumbled and dropped passes all day.

The 2 plays that stand out the most though were the Bradshaw 23 yard run on a 3rd and 1 play at the end of the 1st half that set up the Hakeem Nicks hail mary. No matter how bad your defense is you can’t give up those plays in a 13-10 game. Actually you can if you are the Saints playing in New Orleans with Drew Brees at QB, but that is another story. The Packers, flat all day, were never the same after those 2 plays. Worse for Pack fans, it was clear that at that point the Giants knew they could win.

So where does that leave us?

In a fun place with two very similar match-ups for the conference championships - two very good defensive teams (Ravens & 49ers) versus to very good offensive teams (Giants & Patriots). This has been the year of the quarterback. So naturally that points to Brady and Manning winning their games.

The NFL is never that clean though. Not these days. One of the defensive teams will break through. The question is which one?

Despite the Ravens record against teams with winning records this year (7-1), I don’t buy Joe Flacco leading enough scoring drives against a mediocre at best Patriots defense in New England. Belichick will try to take away Ray Rice and make Flacco beat them. The Ravens defense will hit Brady which he hates. The Patriots just have too many ways to score though. I don’t see defense completely taking away Rob Gronkowski, Hernandez and Wes Welker.

The Giants/49ers is a coin flip. The Giants are the hotter team. The 49ers can play the “no respect” card. Eli is a stud (I just threw up a little in my mouth). The Giants skills players are superior to the 49ers. The 49ers defense is far more balanced than the Giants. Watch Victor Cruz to see if the 49ers physicality impacts his play. Hakeem Nicks is a far more physical receiver so he should fare better. Michael Crabtree has to catch the ball this week. Frank Gore will run against the Giants. I have a hunch that the 49ers get to Eli more than the Giants get to Smith and special teams decides the game. 49ers 24- Giants 20.

Meanwhile congratulations to grantland.com on their new web design. If you thought that the redesign was also a change in their content choices, think again. Sadly, Taylor Swift’s date with Zac Efron was a big story to them on this week of the NFL conference championships.

Craft brewing has become as seasonal as retail shopping. The pumpkin ales are out by September and gone before Halloween. Winter ales roll in November and are gone by January.

Strangely, the dry hopped IPA is the January beer. Selections like Troeg's Nugget Nectar, Founder's Double Trouble and Bell's Hopslam are all being distributed now. I recently tried a new contender, Wild Onion Hop Slayer Double IPA. While not on the level of the aforementioned, it was also very good. The flavor has my required citrus (grapefruit) and hop balance. I enjoyed it, but for lack of better words, it lacked the smoothness of the others. The good news is that unlike the others, Hop Slayer is available year round.

Can You Handle The Truth?

2012-01-12T20:17:00.000-05:00

There seems to be a fair amount of confusion in early2012.

I am a giving person. I like to give. Give I say. In the spirit of giving note the followingreality.

Take the Penn State Alumni. (feel free is insert joke here) Bill O’Brien was hired as Joe Paterno’sreplacement. O’Brien, the New EnglandPatriots’ current Offensive Coordinator, was not a popular choice of thealumni. Why? Because he is not a Penn Stater. Quick memo to Penn State alumni, you loseyour voice and any opportunity to have someone associated with Penn State whenone of yours is arrested for child molestation. That is just the way it is. Yousee if a Penn Stater is hired as a Paterno replacement, it appears that theUniversity learned nothing from the molestation and perhaps worse, the actionsafterwards.

If O’Brien succeeds all of this becomes a moot point. If hedoes not succeed, the next coach will most likely be a Penn Stater. It is not hard to understand. C’mon use yourPenn State education.

Have you heard the latest anti New England Patriottheories? Good stuff. Apparently good ol Bill Belichick is back tohis “cheatin” ways. You know with thehiring of Josh McCaniels right before the Patriots host the world beatingDenver Broncos (more on their divine intervention later).

Clearly THAT is cheating. After all McDaniels was the driving force in drafting Tim Tebow (thatguy again) in the first round. McDanielsis a Tebow supporter (get in line). Iwonder how much information McDanielshas now since he was the St Louis Rams offensive coordinator in 2011. Talk about a challenging job.

John Fox was hired to be the 2011 head coachof the Denver Broncos. Seems to me that Mike McCoy (Denver OC) and Fox probably brought in a new offensive scheme. McDaniels will help the Patriots, but is mostly there to help O'Brien transition to Penn State.

Can it really be that hard to scheme for Tebow anyway? He is a run first throw second QB (everwonder if Tebow would get the same love if he was African American? Yes I wrote it.) whichcreates issues. Play Cover 2 and runblitz now and again. Force him make thethrows into tight places rather than beat the blitz.

As I noted back in November, white religious America is desperate for a hero. Rick Perry sure asshit is not it. Tebow fills thevoid. He is fun to watch. I love his competitive style. 10 years ago he would have been a QB tobehold. With the new rules that promotewide open passing styles, the Broncos will always have to play a close toperfect game to win. That catches up toteams. It always does.

Ramblings:

National media, please retire the Matty “Ice” Ryannickname. It is simply embarrassing.

Hines Ward, it was a great career. Realize that it is over.

Jerry Jones. OhJerry, where to start? There is no suchthing has having too many smart people to share information with on yourstaff. Put your Cowboys stadium–sizedego aside and get help. It will feelgood.

Jeff Lurie, please have the balls to dump Andy Reid afterthe Eagles barely squeek out the NFC East title next year and lose in the firstround of the playoffs. Again. Look closer and Reid was the main reason the Eagles did not make the playoffs this year.

Jim Rome left ESPN for CBS. I’m sure his act will be completely new and refreshing at CBS.

As a fan of craft beer, I occasionally check out BeerAdvocate. This past week there was athread on overrated beer. Therecertainly are some out there. However,the thread led to some serious venom toward craft brewers, specifically DogFishHead. It always amazes me nownarrow-minded people can be. We live inthe greatest era ever for beer. Thousands of local craft beers are available in several differentstyles. Some are great , some not sogreat. If you want to criticize that isfine, but save the malice for the mass producers that make minimal effort at creating anexciting or different beer.

DogFish Head’s mantra is “off-centered stuff foroff-centered people.” Translation, theycreate beer that can be a little exotic because well, it is fun. If you take that approach, guess what? Theyall will not be winners. Shit happens. Personally, I did not love the Pearl Jam Faithful Ale. So what. They gave it a shot.

So this week, have a DogFish Head World Wide Stout. Drink it in a snifter at roomtemperature. Take your time. Soak it in. This is no typical stout. Maybeyou’ll love it. Maybe you will hate it because you foolishly were expectingGuinness Stout. Either way appreciatethe effort and creativity.

Brandon Jacobs & The New Rules of Being a Sports Fan

2011-12-30T08:35:00.000-05:00

HappyHolidays.

Forthe last few days I was working on an NFL Pro-Bowl snub post. The idea was that talking heads like AdamSchefter put out inane “snubs” like Tim Tebow and Alex Smith not making thejoke that is the Pro-Bowl. Both Tebowand Smith had nice years, but ultimately they don’t compare to theircompetition. In reality, it is not evenclose.

AsI was getting close to completion I stopped. Because, I read this…

Yes,your favorite big mouth, Brandy Jacobs is at it again. This time criticizing Dallas Cowboyfans. Don’t get me wrong (hand shakingup and down), Cowboys fans are an easy target. But, Jacobs is simply a joke.

Heno longer has the talent he had years ago and is quite simply a situationalplayer with limited impact.

Jacobs knowsthis. He realizes that his skills havediminished (555 impressive yards on 3.8 ypg), so Brandy uses his mouth as his onlymeans to try and stay relevant. Wasn’tit Jacobs and other Giants just last week bitching about the Jets and Rex Ryanrunning their mouths prior to the Jets/Giants game.

This week Jacobs said on Thursday "some of their fansare loud, obnoxious and just bad.” Really? I guess you have never hung out with Giants fans then. Or for that matter, pretty much anypassionate fan base. (Sorry Arizona,Jacksonville, Miami, but you have nice weather).

Untalentedhypocrite. This is like A-Rodcomplaining that he does not like prima donna cheaters in baseball.

Jacobs’sstupidity got me thinking about the overall concept of sports fan loyalty. Anunderlying theory in Jacobs rant is that he is troubled because there are so manyCowboys fans in New York. This is theold you should only root for the team of the city you live in. Ridiculous.

Sportstalk radio hosts are the worst in this regard. There are several of these idiots in Philadelphia. This city actually had a very popular host that called all Cowboys fans cockroaches (again don't get me wrong), when years before that host was a Cowboys fan under Jimmy Johnson. Shocking huh? Then again what do you expect from a provincial city with a loser’s mentality? Simple –minded hosts. (Disclosure - I am a die-hard Phillies fan).

Glenn Macnow, ahost that has been shuffled around timeslots more than Casey Kasem, often tells astory about how one of his son’s friends showed up at the Macnow house wearing a Cowboysjacket. Macnow proudly told the boy thathe can come in, but the jacket had to stay outside. The friend wisely never came back to theMacnow household. The irony in this isthat Macnow was raised in Buffalo, NY. Only aftermoving to the Philadelphia area did he became an Eagles fan (using this theory Macnow must have also been a Dolphins and Lions fan in his stops in Ft. Lauderdale and Detroit).

Sofor those of you playing at home, loyalty is not important here. Just make sure that you root for whateverteam plays in the current city you reside in. Grew up a Bills fan? Tough shit. You like the Eagles now son. Chucklehead.

Thelast time I checked this wasn’t Russia. This isn’t Russia is it Danny? Anyway, feel free to root for whatever team you like. Don’t jump teamsto the flavor of the year (hello Miami Heat fans). Be loyal and root for whoever the hell youlike regardless of where you live and that team is located. If possible educate yourself on the team and understand that heartache comes with fandom.

Goodluck Brandon. May your actions be stronger than your weak words.

If you are looking for a solid winter ale that does not include the typical spices try Shelton Brothers Ridgeway Bad Elf. I enjoyed this beer from a firkin which was amazing. Bad Elf is more of a malty IPA brewed English style. With a 6.0% ABV it is a terrific beer to remove the chill of winter.

The Gift of the NFL

2011-12-21T19:50:00.000-05:00

It's the holiday season with the whoop-de-do and dickery dock...(sorry)

Jason Whitlock wrote an enjoyable article praising the NFLthis week. This is not big news as Whitlock is a capable writer when not on a personalagenda. The bigger point is thatWhitlock is absolutely correct. The NFLis “the perfect blend of capitalism and socialism.”

Despite a work stoppage (remember that?), the NFL has never been more popular. They truly revenue share. The rewards include that in week 16 of the season 21 teams still havelegitimate playoff chances.

Think about that.

While this is a down year for the NFC East, it is remarkableand somewhat shocking that the Philadelphia Eagles remain not only in the race,but possibly the strongest team at this point in the season. The Eagles have been officially dead at least3 times this season. They have morelives that William Shatner. The irony inthis is that the most likely scenario is that Andy Reid will survive thisseason and the Eagles fans will be stuck with more of the same next year. Note –in the NFL change for change sake doesmake sense (see Dungy, Tony).

The annual late run by the San Diego Chargers is in fulleffect. Damn, give me Norv Turner inlate November and December any year. Youcan have Turner in September and October thank you. Speaking of the AFC West, can you believethat a team that had Ryan Palko start at quarterback 3 times could stillconceivably win the division? No offenseto Tim Tebow, but that is divine intervention.

The Chiefs and Eagles storylines represent what is possiblythe greatest element of the NFL. Withso much parity, teams do not quit on the season. At several points this year the Cardinals,Bears, Seahawks, Redskins, Broncos and even the Browns could have quit on theseason. They did not.

Teams are winning with John Skelton, Rex Grossman, TavarisJackson and Tim Tebow playing the most important position in sports.

The Houston Texans are still in the race for AFC home fieldadvantage even after losing their top 2 quarterbacks on the depth chart whilestaring somebody called TJ Yates.

The best team in the NFL may actually be the New OrleansSaints and not the previously undefeated Green Bay Packers. The Saints have a better running game and atleast statistically a far better defense. Actually and factually, the Saints are the most balanced team of all thecurrent top teams (Patriots, Ravens, Steelers, Packers, 49ers, Saints). Will that be enough or will a team just gethot at the right time like last year’s Packers (Falcons, Chargers, Cowboys,Eagles)?

Yes Jason, the NFL has figured out the right balance for theleague, the players and the fans.

Happy Holidays.

The craft beer movement continues to progress at an awe-inspiringpace. There are so many great Holidaybeers to chose from you can hardly go wrong with any of them. I recently had a 12 Dogs of Christmas by the Thirsty Brewing Company. If you like a holiday beer that has thetraditional spice, this is a great choice. The spice comes from a perfect balance of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg,honey and a secret ingredient. Like theIPA craze, this ale is at a higher ABV of 8.3%.

The Definition of Insanity

2011-12-13T10:04:00.003-05:00

Why do I do it?

I know the end result? Yet, I still do it. What is the definition of insanity again? Doing thesame thing over and over again expecting a different result?

Clearly, I am insane. So are you. Every sports fanis.

Allow me to paint the picture. Sunday Night Football on NBC. I have been waiting all day for SundayNight. The NFC East division is atstake. The New York Football Giants(pretty sure that the San Francisco Giants are just the Giants by the way)versus the Dallas Cowboys here on Sunday Night Football with Al and Chris. Go get em Ray.

All season it has been clear that the NFC East sucks. The Giants have lost 4 in a row. They start at least 2 guys that they signedoff the street within 2 weeks. TheCowboys have a coach that graduated from Princeton yet still iced his ownkicker resulting in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals last week. The Eagles hired an OL coach to be DefensiveCoordinator in the year that they are “all in”. The Redskins are well the Redskins.

So why am I excited again?

If you watched any NFC East football this year, inparticular the Dallas Cowboys, you knew going in that this game would come downto the last 2 minutes. That is what theDallas Cowboys do. So when the Cowboysscored to go up 12 with just under 6 minutes to go did I think the game wasover? Nope. I knew better.

What I did not know or expect was that Rob Ryan would (UP 12 points) continueto call blitzes that have not worked all night. I did not expect that on 4^th and 3 Terrence Newman would play8 yards off Victor Cruz who would then make an easy catch for a 12 yard gain.

I should have expected Matt McBriar to shank a punt insteadof pinning the Giants deep in their own territory. I even thought that Tony Romo would easilyhit a wide open Miles Austin on a 3^rd and 5 that would have iced thegame. Or did Austin lose the football in all of the lights?

Speaking of “icing,” I should have expected that the bestplayer on the field Jean Claude Killy, I mean Jean Pierre-Paul may actually beblocked when attempting a game-tying FG. Note to Mike Florio, the kicker is not iced when the FG is blocked. Typically I have found that kickers are notresponsible for blocking on FG attempts. In addition, we will never know if the kick would have been good sinceit was blocked. But maybe you are right, maybe Bailey was iced. Idiot.

The reality is that both the Cowboys and Giants are deeplyflawed teams. The only reason that 1 ofthem can participate, albeit briefly, in the playoffs is by not losing thedivision.

Yet, I watch expecting different results only to wake upexhausted on Monday.

Welcome to fandom 2011.

Ramblings

It was fascinating to see all those teams race to signDonovan McNabb after he was released at his request by the Vikings.

The Tim Tebow story remains compelling and fun towatch. Again, give the guy credit. The formula works well. The defense keeps thegame close. The running game is solid and Tebow plays well in the 4^thquarter when his skill set is best at keeping a defense off balance. The other compelling story line iswatching the media make every Bronco win about Tebow. I realize that it is hardto resist, but ask yourself this. Who had the biggest impact on the game? Tebow? Marion Barber not staying in bounds to allow more clock to run off? Matt Prater kicking a 51 yard FG to tie the game? Marion Barber fumbling in OT? Matt Prater kicking yet another 51 yard FG to win the game? Tell me, if Kyle Orton was still the Broncos QB, would he have been the headline?

Take it a step further and have a little fun. Would Tom Brady, Drew Brees or Eli Manning have the same success as Tebow on this current Broncos team? Probably. Aaron Rogers definitely would because of his pass/run ability.

Would Tebow have the same success on the Patriots, Saints or Giants? I doubt it. All of this speculation is what makes the Tebow story so much fun.

Hey a special shout out to David Stern for making the NBAeven more laughable this week. Meanwhilein real basketball, unranked Indiana knocked off number 1 Kentucky on a buzzerbeater, Kansas beat Ohio State and Long Beach State gave North Carolina allthey could handle.

Pretty exciting week at Grantland.com… lead stories includedfeatures on the Baseball Media Dress Code, the TV Cancellation FantasyScorecard and the writer formerly known as Bill Simmons defending or making funof (I really can’t tell) the NBA with his special series originally title the12 Days of NBA Christmas.

Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale doesn’t. Then again if you have ever tried anyLagunitas beer you knew it wouldn’t suck. This is not a traditional holiday beer in that there is no spice and itis not a dark beer. The Holiday Aletastes more like a summer beer. The amazing citrus & hoppy balance isperfect. It is a reasonable 7.85% ABV. It is not Lagunitas Brown Shugga, but whatis?

Aaron Rogers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees & Pliny the Younger

2011-12-01T12:54:00.001-05:00

Quarterback may be the most important position in all of sports. Teams can get away with mediocre quarterback play if they are dominant in other areas like defense, special teams and a great running game. More often than not a team’s success is directly tied to the play of the quarterback. 2011 is no exception.

The Chargers, Jets and Eagles are disappointments that can be directly linked to the inconsistent quarterback play of Phillip Rivers, Marc Sanchez and Mike Vick. The Broncos have surprised since Tim Tebow has started. The Cowboys ride the Romocoaster.

My question is how many teams can boast having a truly elite QB?

3 definite, 5 with a little stretching.

Since we enjoy a few craft beers let’s have some fun with this and group the current NFL quarterbacks by craft beer.

The Pliny the Younger’s (strong, reliable, nearly impossible to find, but when you do enjoy every minute)

Aaron Rogers, Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Whether you like the Packers, Patriots or Saints, if you are a fan of the NFL you have to appreciate the play of this group. If you don’t, go watch the NBA.

Alesmith Speedway Stout (Rarely lets you down, but with less sparkle then the very best, can be found, but it’s not easy)

You want to make a case for Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning? Fine. Big Ben and Eli are not on the Pliny level, but typically aren’t asked to do as much. When it counts, they perform and have a trophy or 2 to prove it. This year in particular has been impressive since the Steelers and Giants do not have the running games that they have previously relied on to open up the passing game.

That is it. 5 elite quarterbacks playing the most important position in all of sports.

Bells Two Hearted Ale – (very good IPA, but slightly overrated, can disappoint you if expecting more)

Joe Flacco, Matt Schaub, Phillip Rivers, Tony Romo, Mike Vick, Jay Cutler, Matt Ryan? Above average. Maybe even good, not great. Are you ready to trust any of these guys through January? Have they either all continued to take the next step, stalled or taken a step backward?

River Horse Hop Hazard Ale (at first you really enjoy the potential, hope that they continue to put the time in and get better)

Andy Dalton, Matt Stafford, Josh Freeman, Cam Newton, Sam Bradford? Definite maybes with Dalton leading the pack.

New Belgium Fat Tire (amazing press and hype, considered winners with critical acclaim, let’s you down after at first {sip} and conclusion of {pint})

Marc Sanchez & Tim Tebow? Don’t believe the hype. Remember when Sanchez led the Jets to not 1 but 2 AFC Championship games? Sanchez was immediately labeled a leader with greatness potential. Tebow is now getting a similar tag (albeit with less potential) as a QB who just wins. Good for him. Has anyone also considered that both Sanchez (when he was winning) and Tebow (last 4 games) have stout defenses and great running games?

Samuel Adams Boston Lager (you’re stuck {at a chain restaurant} and this is the best they have to offer)

Matt Hasselback, Carson Palmer, Matt Cassel? Your 15 minutes of fame have been over for awhile now.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (hoping for a more complex beer, you settle for this because it’s there)

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Moore, Colt McCoy, Curtis Painter, Rex Grossman, Alex Smith, Kevin Kolb? Quality career back-ups. Note danger signs if you have to play them for more than half the season 2 seasons in a row.

The Furthermore Beer Crew (you respect the effort, are happy that you tried them, but ultimately don’t care if you ever see them again)

Blaine Gabbert, Christian Ponder? Too early to tell, but will either join the quality back-up team or play themselves out of the league.

Ramblings.

Does anyone really feel badly for Andy Reid? As stated here, bringing in several new players without OTA’s, learning a new defensive system and hiring a DC that was previously the OL coach typically does not yield favorable results. Neither does ignoring a top 3 RB to a) have Mike Vick badly punished; b) allow Vince Young to throw the ball 40 times a game. More on this debacle in a future post.

The Houston Texans are snake bit. First they lose Matt Schaub to a season-ending injury. Then, a supposedly rededicated Matt Leinart plays a solid first half only to also suffer a season-ending injury. Now the Texans season is in jeopardy since they have to start TJ Yates. Not sure what was worse, signing Jake Delhomme to be the back-up or having to deal with the inevitable Brett Favre rumors.

Just real happy to learn that Urban Myer’s health issues have been resolved. Funny how $4M and being able to choose your next college program will do that. I guess the lesson learned at Penn State regarding powerful college coaches was lost somewhere crossing the Ohio River.

Hey the NBA is back. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. At least the league resolved its long term issues and changed the structure so small market teams can be competitive moving forward. On hold it that was MLB.

You will be pleased to note that Grantland.com has dedicated time this week to The Worst Toys of the 1980's, an article in support of the horrible song "Closing Time," an incredibly biased giddy article on the NBA being back (despite not fixing a damn thing) and most offensively Bill Simmons pandering about selling Grantland Quarterly so we can all be aware of what was happening in sports at a certain time. Hey, Bill can't you be a little honest and admit that ESPN is forcing this as another revenue stream to pay for the mess that is Grantland.com?

Ten Bold(ish) NFL Predictions in Week 11

2011-11-18T19:05:00.001-05:00

1. ThePhiladelphia Eagles will continue to self destruct and for the most part quiton Andy Reid. Hired mercenaries are muchlike the honey badger. They don’t give ashit.

2. TheTim Tebow led Denver Broncos will win 1 more game the rest of the year. WWJD?

3. TheDetroit Lions will not make the playoffs to the chagrin of most NFLcommentators that were so impressed with them earlier in the season.

4. TheGreen Bay Packers will go undefeated in the regular season. The 1972 Miami Dolphins led by Don Shula will be theirtypical annoying selves during this process.

5. TheDallas Cowboys will win the NFC East if they beat the Washington Redskins thisweekend. If the Cowboys lose to the Redskins they willnot make the playoffs.

6. ThePittsburgh Steelers will once again win the AFC North much to the continueddismay of the Baltimore Ravens. RayLewis will come back for his 73rd season next year claiming that will be theyear the Ravens unseat the Steelers.

7. TheSan Diego Chargers will barely win the AFC West over the Oakland Raiders. This will save Norv Turner’s job yet again.Chargers fans are not sure how to feel about that. Perhaps an intervention with Eagles fansdealing with the same dilemma would help.

8. LeSeanMcCoy will be leading the NFL in rushing going into week 17. Andy Reid will have Mike Vick throw the ball100 times in a game the Eagles are winning leaving McCoy with 5 carries. Thiswill result in Fred Jackson winning the rushing title.

9. JaredAllen and DeMarcus Ware will both topple Michael Strahan’s sack record of 22.5sacks. The reward, other than therecord, will be actually sacking Brett Favre in full speed ala Terry Tate.

10. AaronRogers will throw for over 45 Touchdowns and less than 6 interceptions andstill not be able to get in a good TV commercial.

This week in Grantland.com.

First watch this. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7145177/inside-grantland-featuring-blake-griffin

Grantland.com has introduced a new feature, InsideGrantland. In the premiere of this trainwreck readers get to view Blake Griffin and Bill Simmons watching a homemadevideo of Bill Simmons dunking. ClearlyBlake Griffin should hire a new PR person. I heard E from Entourage may beavailable.

The painful footage shows Simmons dunking on what appears to be an8 foot hoop with a girls ball. Simmons,breaking his humble-brag rules, surprisingly does have some decent dunks. Unfortunately, Simmons never got the messagethat the term “playing hoops” destroys any credibility he may have had. Playing hoops, or worse, “shooting hoops” isin the same school of thought as using the term “frat boys”. Lookingforward to the next Inside Grantland with the Zane Lamprey 6 Six Pack Challenge versus Simmons, Jacoby or the infamous Cousin Sal (head shaking sadly).

The time has come. Ithas officially turned cold in the northeast. Stout time. Although my boy Simpwould suggest anytime is stout time. Ihad my first Southern Tier Jah-va Coffee Stout of the season. It is not for the weak of heart. This stout rocks out at a 10.4% ABV with strong coffee undertones. More bitter than a typical stout, this beerdeserves a snifter on a cold night.

WE ARE..All at Fault

2011-11-11T12:18:00.001-05:00

The Penn State story is sad, tragic, and unbelievable. Or is it unbelievable? Somewhere in time sports changed. Sports were no longer just about the play on a field. Sports were everywhere. Technology gives us information every second. Twitter allows everyone’s opinion to be seen. ESPN sensationalizes the critically important to the mundane. The almighty dollar drives all of it.

If you really think about it all sports fans or sports reporters are oddly responsible, if in only a small way, by our passionate sports fandom. We drive the process. If our continual interest was not there, some of this may not have happened. Who put Joe Paterno on the pedestal? Who deemed him an icon?

The passion that we have drives the power hungry leaders of sports organizations to be all-controlling. Powerful type A people are most often, of course, driven by money. The money that Joe Paterno‘s Penn State football program produced millions of dollars for the college. Paterno, who thrived more on the power than money, charitably donated to the school. Thus the chain began and perpetuated. Penn State relied on Paterno and financially grew incredibly over the past 20 years. Paterno relied on the school to provide him the power to confine his players. You know. Keep it in the family. This however works far better with players than coaches.

This morning I heard on a popular sports talk radio station that the biggest lesson learned from the Penn State situation was that the people have the power to use their voice to drive change. Fair point. Unfortunately, the power (or passion) in this case was mostly used as a witch hunt for Joe Paterno and the Penn State football program when this collective powerful voice could also drive real change to further protect innocent children.

I am not defending Paterno. By his own admission, he screwed up. Royally. More on Paterno in a minute.

The actions of Jerry Sandusky are sickening. The cover-up is not quite as sickening, but obviously horrendous. However, now that the school President Graham Spanier and Joe Paterno are terminated can the focus return to Sandusky (shockingly out on a measly $100,000 bail), the victims and most importantly the lesson of minimizing the risk of these events happening again anywhere?

This situation has made it clear that the current laws regarding child abuse are at best light. The fact that the key witness in this entire ordeal, Mike McQueary, cannot be legally punished for his lack of actions is embarrassing and astonishing. Would our time and fanatical efforts not be better spent working to change the law so that a witness that either makes no attempt to stop child abuse or does not immediately report it to the police is in fact guilty of a crime? Memo to Jason Whitlock, use a voice to improve not simply to deride.

To that point, is anyone considering the damage being done to the other innocent children who attend Penn State today? Aren’t they victims (to a far lesser extent) in this as well? How does all of this condemnation help them? Shouldn’t the collective focus also be on returning Penn State to simply being known to be an excellent learning institution? Nah that would only make sense. Has everyone forgotten the overall importance of a college education?

The vitriol towards Paterno is maddening. Paterno undoubtedly deserves blame for his significant role in this mess.

Think about it. Paterno was 73 at the time of the 2002 incident. His program was struggling and many, including me, were calling for his job. For whatever reasons, Paterno's power (that we the fans elevated) over the administration allowed him to keep his job. Talk about bad timing.

Upon learning whatever information was actually given, Paterno’s first reaction was to control the situation as he probably had with many other significantly less severe incidents. This is not intended as an excuse for Paterno. There clearly are none. It does explain his potential thought process though. The process was about the greater good of the football program which in turn is for the greater good of the school. All of which is further driven by the undying passion of the fans. This is clearly flawed. However, if the legal investigation determines criminal Paterno activity then and only then should he be further punished.

The punishment of unceremoniously being terminated and losing power/control will haunt Paterno every minute of every day for as long or short as he has left on earth.

Talk about the passion.

Tebow Worship

2011-11-03T10:41:00.003-04:00

Here is the thing.

America loves a hero.

Especially an unlikely hero.

Tim Tebow is playing the role of hero, better than he plays quarterback.

Let’s get this straight from the beginning. I have no ill will towards Tebow. Hell, I wish him the best. But, we need to be realistic. The kid is a football player, not a starting NFL quarterback.

That is saying something in a league that has Tavaris Jackson, Jay Cutler, Colt McCoy, Kevin Kolb, Alex Smith, John Beck and Matt Moore starting at arguably the most important position in all of sports.

The Tebow phenomenon is actually very easy to process if you look close enough and are unbiased and possibly not very religious.

Tim Tebow is a white outspoken Christian. That is a truth. The mass frenzy/popularity over him is based on that fact. White Christian America wants a hero. They need a hero now more than ever. Why else would Rick Perry be considered for the most powerful position in the free world? Enter Tebow. The power of the media then latches on and creates the phenomenon.

A popular theory from the pro-Tebow cult is “the NFL experts just don’t want Tebow to succeed and are finding reasons to criticize him.” Right.

Have his supporters watched him play? I mean without those rosary colored glasses. Dude is gutty. He is a leader. He has led the Broncos to an incredible comeback victory in his first official start…against a winless not very good Miami Dolphin team playing in front of many of his former college (University of Florida) fans.

Unfortunately, Tebow simply is not a very good NFL quarterback. He most likely will never be one either. After the Broncos win over the Dolphins several media outlets speculated that Broncos coach, John Fox, would begin to build an offense that specifically catered to Tebow’s skills. You know, essentially a full-time wildcat offense.

STFU! Did anyone really buy this? The billion dollar NFL was going to have a team build a novelty offense for a guy who may or may not be a future quarterback? The air it out NFL was going to revert back to a wishbone offense? This is beginning to sound a lot like the over hyped bullshit regarding Kim Kardashian’s divorce. Yes, of course http://www.grantland.com/ deplorably added to this mess. How could they not? (Head sadly shaking side-to-side) People, here is a simple hint. Ignore it. It will go away. Pay attention to it and it spreads like wildfire (e.g. the longstanding Sarah Palin infatuation).

Watch if Tebow has bad numbers against a similarly poorly-quarterbacked Raiders team and he will slowly disappear from the NFL headlines. Then finally a coach that has a real NFL quarterback will figure out how to appropriately leverage Tebow’s skills as a specialist. Then Tebow will be a story worth reporting on to all NFL fans including devout Christians, Jews, Muslims and atheists. Until then, root for Tebow. Pray that he does well. Just be a little realistic. God actually may love the other NFL quarterbacks too.

With Halloween being on Monday of this week, I attempted a new pumpkin beer, Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale - http://weyerbacher.com/blog/2010/02/imperial-pumpkin-ale/. Traditionally, I am not a big fan of these types of beer. Hands down, the best pumpkin beer that I have had remains Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale. Very few other pumpkin beers even compare. Weyerbacher’s Imperial Pumpkin Ale does. It has a great balance of the traditional spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin) with a slightly bitter taste that makes it not as sweet as the overly popular Pumking. With a solid 8.0% ABV, 1 or 2 will do the trick and treat.

Wile E. Coyote & Tony La Russa

2011-10-26T10:01:00.000-04:00

Admittedly, I am not a Tony La Russa fan. The MLB media will have you believe that La Russa can do no wrong. Unfairly or not, the way La Russa micro manages a baseball game gives the impression that he believes that he is bigger than the game.

Sometimes it works like against the Phillies in the NLDS. Other times, not so much. In Game 5 of a 2-2 World Series, La Russa over managed, thought he was too smart for the game, or simply lost his mind.

Strangely, La Russa blew bullpen matchups and situational hitting.

In the critical 8^th inning with the score tied at 2, La Russa intentionally walked the right-handed Nelson Cruz, despite having his right-handed set-up reliever Octavio Dotel in the game. Then 2 batters later, La Russa allowed a lefty reliever (Marc Rzepczynski) to pitch to right-handed Mike Napoli, who has 10 of the 19 RBI’s for Texas Rangers in this World Series. Result - a Napoli 2 run double giving the Rangers a 4-2 lead.

Later in the 8^th inning, I thought maybe La Russa was f-ing with the Rangers (or at least f-ing with millions of other tired fans and me watching on the east coast) by bringing in Lance Lynn solely to intentionally walk Ian Kinsler. If he was buying time for closer, Jason Motte, why wasn't Motte warming up for Napoli in the first place earlier in the 8th inning with Rangers on base? If the Cardinals bullpen coach, Derek Lilliquist, heard La Russa incorrectly, why would Lilliquist not question bringing Lynn in the game when Lynn was supposedly on the not available list?

The answer is simple. Nobody dares to question La Russa at this point. He is bigger than the game.

This was a classic case of La Russa playing the genius card against supposedly inferior Rangers manager, Ron Washington. Who knew, that the card would be a Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius, card?

Tony La Russa?

While pulling out his Acme Corporation genius moves, La Russa called for a hit & run with Allen Craig (after Craig got thrown out stealing 2nd in the 7^th inning also with Pujols up) resulting in a momentum ending double play in the 9^th. With no outs and your best hitter up, does it really matter if the runner advances to 2^nd base when losing 4-2? All it did was take Pujols out of his game as he became a defensive hitter. Also consider that Ranger closer Neftali Feliz hit Craig to start the inning and was having his typical control issues.

La Russa’s response, “Yeah, I trusted Albert could put the ball in play. In fact, the two swings that he fouled the ball off with the second baseman going over, the hole was there and all of a sudden it was first and third and nobody out and the last pitch, the guy has a very live arm and it sailed on him and he misses. I liked sending him and having a chance to open that inning up, and it didn’t work.”

Translation. The double play was not my fault. My players did not execute my clever plan. Or was it his plan? Classic case of La Russa thinking he was smarter than the game.

The best part of this is that La Russa is unwilling to cop to anything.

The Craig/Pujols hit & run was apparently because Pujols called for it. Again, ummm. WHAT? So the most hands on manager arguably in the history of MLB now allows players to make situational calls at critical moments in Game 5 of the World Series? Right.

The bullpen mistakes were blamed on either the Cardinals bullpen coach or the Rangers’ bullpen phone. Really?

That is about as believable at Tim Tebow someday being a top 10 NFL quarterback, Donovan McNabb preparing for a Vikings practice, The St Louis Rams playing run defense, the Colts not quitting on head coach Mike Caldwell, Jim Schwartz winning an important football game, Chris Johnson running hard this season, the Redskins having an NFL-caliber QB on their current roster and the San Diego Chargers having any balls. Coincidentally, this also serves as the NFL week 7 wrap-up.

Meanwhile on grantland.com, one of my former favorite authors is exploring the Lou Reed/Metallica Album while another contributor I never heard of digs deep into whether the new Coldplay albums sounds enough like Coldplay. Is there any truth to the rumor that Rolling Stone magazine is hiring Peter King & John Clayton to write about the NFL? Just let ESPN keep Stephen A. Smith. Please. I'm so confused.

For the record at approximately 9:45 with the score 2-1 Cardinals, I texted a Rangers fan that the next run scored would decide Game 5 and probably the overall World Series. The Adrian Beltre home run tied the game that Texas ultimately won. Time will tell if the remainder of my prediction holds true. Now that La Russa’s Wile E. Coyote reputation is being challenged, I am more confident in the Rangers. Get ready for at least a 4 hour Game 6 as La Russa really demonstrates his managerial acumen.

To stomach more of La Russa, Super Genius, I recommend enjoying Central City Brewing's Red Racer IPA. This very drinkable IPA (6.5% ABV) has all of the right characteristics. Red Racer, which comes in a can (Nice!), is a year-round beer with an orange body, citrus taste and a perfect hop balance. Red Racer in one of the best IPA's that I have recently had and get this...Central City Brewing is from Surrey, British Columbia.

The NBA Fix

2011-10-20T10:09:00.000-04:00

The new ownership of the Philadelphia 76ers were officially announced this week. At the press conference and afterwards new CEO Adam Aron excitedly welcomed the challenge of making the 76ers relevant again.

Hey Adam, the issue goes deeper. The entire NBA has a relevance problem.

Aron, when asked how the 76ers could make money given they rent the Wells Fargo Center from Comcast and have a mediocre television deal, said the answer was getting Philadelphians to attend the 76er games. Aron, a very successful businessman, is correct. The task will be significantly easier said than done.

For the hell of it, let’s leave the larger NBA strike issues off the table. If sports history has shown us anything, the greed will eventually lead to a compromise so that the wealth is more equitably divided.

Then the league should address the real problems. Peep this.

1. Retire David Stern. He is old and in the way. Stern was an amazing commissioner during the Bird, Magic, Jordan era. Stern seems out of touch with the current fan base (and maybe more importantly the former fan base) and the overall health of the game. Otherwise explain how he could possibly allow a strike to occur following a potential rebirth in popularity of the league? (Mostly due to fans coming together to root against the Miami Heat, but la la la, whatever, la la la, it doesn’t matter. )

2. Change the rule that college players have to attend 1 year to 2 years at college prior to entering the NBA. Many of the college players will then be more mature and better prepared for the NBA game/lifestyle. This should also help with the woeful fundamentals of the NBA game. The game has become 10 amazing athletes on the floor with maybe 4-5 that actually know how to play the game. Guess what? Basketball fans can appreciate a team that plays well and is in every game rather than has 1 “superstar” running and gunning. (Sidenote – the downside is that this would help rent-a-player coaching frauds like John Calipari potentially win an NCAA championship, but yet not really help with the fundamentals aspect of the game.)

3. Remember the jump shot? Neither do the majority of the players in the NBA because they are too busy dribble driving into traffic. A focus on fundamentals including a mandated 2 years in college may also improve this missing art form. Who knows, it could also improve free throw shooting.

4. Lower the average ticket price significantly for good, not great seats. MLB has done a great job of this. Court side seats should be expensive. Lower level seats row 10 and higher should not average $75 a ticket and higher.

5. An unrealistic, but even better idea is to decrease the amount of games so that the regular season has more importance. 50 games would be perfect, but a money loser so compromise at 60-65. Or, get really crazy and create a point system for wins (e.g. 3 points) while giving 1 point for the winner at halftime. Sort of a variation on the NHL. Just do something to create season interest.

6. Insist that each team work more closely to understand and serve its community. To make the NBA games an event, invite local food & beverage vendors to have concession stands at the arenas. Make these stands accessible and even include walking vendors to provide the local goods right to the ticketholder’s seats. A lot of fans travel a decent distance to attend a game. They do not typically have the opportunity for an original (Pat’s, Geno’s, Tony Lukes, etc.) cheesesteak or a real Chicago deep dish pizza, a LA fish taco, etc. The typical concession vendor (ARAMARK, Pepsi, Miller) will still make their money so don’t worry about them.

The teams that were embraced of previous eras also took on the personality of that city. The Detroit Piston Bad Boys were tough. The LA Lakers were all flash with Showtime. The AI-led 76ers played with heart and a blue collar attitude. This is not always possible, but certainly would help the popularity of the sport at a team level.

7. Embrace social media from these vendors to encourage people to attend the games by offering craft beer or certain food specials only at the arena. Add to that by actually having NBA team co-sponsored events.

8. Further leverage social media with Facebook, Twitter & YouTube events promoting, not just the local team, but fan involvement with the team. Who’s the biggest/best/most knowledgeable/crazy fan? Anyone? Anyone?

It is time for the NBA to remember what created its popularity in previous eras while blending current trends of today.

The NFL, with its 16 game regular season, provides week to week excitement. It is funny though how obvious certain trends become.

The Dallas Cowboys are too aggressive one week and lose to the Detroit Lions only to become potentially too conservative the following game to lose the New England Patriots. I said it before and still believe it. Tony Romo can only play one way, balls out. You get what you get.

Wow, Donovan McNabb was benched again (sarcasm dripping). Remember when Andy Reid traded him within his own division? Contrary to what the National Media would have you believe (Adam Schefter anyone?), McNabb was done the season before the trade.

The Oakland Raiders traded a 1st round pick for a washed up quarterback in Carson Palmer. Somewhere Al Davis is smiling.

The Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz complete overreaction to San Francisco’s head coach Jim Harbaugh after the 49ers upset the Lions was laughable. Schwartz is just dying to be taken seriously. It’s ok Jim, we get it. The Lions sucked. Forever. Your overall record, despite being 5-1 this year, is 13-25. Relax Jim. Credibility comes over time. Win a game that counts to make the playoffs or a playoff game and then you can roll the attitude. Same goes for your quarterback Matt Stafford. Bitches.

Good news – Grantland.com has finally written a piece on X Factor. Better than that, the article apparently defends all TV Singing Competitions. Seriously, has anyone else begun to question Bill Simmons’ sanity? Has the arrival of the 2nd child pushed him over the edge? Is it a sell-out or a give-up? I’m lost and looking for answers.

I recently had my first Weyerbacher Harvest Ale. It will not be my last. Most of the autumnal (yes, sure autumnal) beers are in the German maiback tradition. Harvest ale is actually a hoppy IPA that includes a little of that spiciness associated with the popular pumpkin beers. With a 6.2% ABV, you can enjoy a few while debating watching the World Series.

As A True Fan...

2011-10-06T22:15:00.001-04:00

The MLB Division Series round has become 1 of the most exciting events in sports. Take note other professional leagues. The 5 game series creates major excitement. Each game, inning and sometimes at bat is critical.

This year is no exception.

The St Louis Cardinals/Philadelphia Phillies series has offered both the greatest and worst parts of being a sports fan. I have literally paced for innings at a time. The Phillies are the favorites in the series, but once again have not hit. A 5 game series has proven that good hitting can actually beat good pitching.

The Phillies could go down as the biggest disappointment in MLB history with their ace starting pitchers Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt. The Cardinals Jamie Garcia, Edwin Jackson and their entire bullpen have thus far matched the Phillies vaunted staff.

As a true fan, I hang on every pitch understanding the potential impact.

As a true fan, I immediately know that Ryan Howard should first pitch swing (mostly fastballs), but won’t only to fall behind in the count to strike out on a pitch out of the zone.

As a true fan, I know that when Hunter Pence waited to run on a full count to Ryan Howard that he would be thrown out for a momentum killing double play.

As a true fan, I know that Shane Victorino’s slipping on the throw after a Lance Berkman double would finalize the momentum swing.

As a true fan, I know that any pitch up in the zone will be hit hard resulting in baserunners and or runs. Yet, my Phillies impatiently swing at pitches out of the zone.

As a true fan, I realize that the longer the underdog stays in the game/series the more they believe that they are no longer the underdog.

As a true fan, I am incredibly excited about going to the deciding Game 5 matchup between Chris Carpenter & Roy Halladay.

As a true fan, I will simultaneously dread going to the deciding Game 5 matchup between Chris Carpenter & Roy Halladay.

As a true fan, after the 2 tough Phillies losses, I have come to realize that even after using Bill Simmons theory of walking your dog to relieve stress, sleep is a wish not a reality.

As a true fan, I know that if the Phillies win Game 5 they will make the World Series as the LCS are 7 game series where pitching is more critical.

As a true fan, I swear that I will not watch the remainder of perhaps the most exciting MLB postseason ever if the Phillies lose Game 5.

But, as a true fan, I will watch.

Here are a couple of 3 or so things also on my mind.

Does the NBA have any idea how quickly they are ruining any potential return to popularity with the stupidity of this strike? Hey David Stern, you are not the NFL. The fans will not forgive the NBA as easily or quickly as the NFL. Not that I really care.

I guess my theory on Andy Reid from last week continues to prove true. While we are on my theories, see the post on Tony Romo from week 1. No applause please.

The Detroit Lions deserve a ton of credit for going 4-0 including 2 miraculous comeback in the last 2 weeks. We all know that Calvin Johnson is an absolute beast. But, and you knew that but was coming, Jim Schwartz calm down on the post game gloating. What do you really get for ripping Rob Ryan and Dez Bryant for their words? 4-0 gets you all the respect you need. Shut up and prepare the Bears.

Meanwhile on grantland.com, feel free to catch up on The Deleted Scenes Hall of Fame, Waiting for Radiohead, Do We Really Want Another Season of Arrested Development along with my favorites Bad Quarterback Scoreboard and the Reality Scorecard. No, I’m not making this up, but there is always next week.

The pumpkin beers are out and available, but more on that next week. This post pardon the repeat, but I’m going with the Victory Brewing Hop Devil IPA. Victory is a local Philadelphia brewer that was a craft beer early adopter since 2006. Hop Devil is a strong IPA that is well, hoppy. At 6.7% ABV, Hop Devil will help me get through Game 5. And yes, they serve it at Citizens Bank Park.

What You See Is What You Get

2011-09-27T17:22:00.001-04:00

Andy Reid has received a fair amount of credit as a head coach in the NFL. Somewhat surprisingly, he has received minimal criticism from the national media frequently getting a pass for his significant lack of discipline.

Whatever happened to the theory that a team often takes on the characteristics of the head coach?

Look at Reid.

Does this man look like he practices conscious control over lifestyle? So you say that is an easy shot. Maybe it is. Can you really say with confidence that you never thought it is conceivable that the Eagles have a tough time taking direction from someone who clearly does not take care of himself?

This is not personal. It is business. Big business.

Ok. Now it is time for the “but they are professional athletes” defense.

Let’s roll with that. As a professional athlete is it not possible to become frustrated when Reid continually (key word) mismanages the clock, struggles when to leverage replays, poorly uses timeouts, and has had suspect at best play calling in critical moments (last 5 minutes of Super Bowl XXXIX anyone)?

In fact, when looking back on Reid’s success you can make a very good case that many of the biggest moments in Reid’s tenure have been off broken plays. The Freddie Mitchell 3rd and forever catch against the Packers, the incredible McNabb scramble that lead to a 63 yard completion against the Cowboys, most DeSean Jackson bombs and Mike Vick scrambles. Go back and look at early McNabb highlights. Most of them are due to McNabb making plays with his feet, not a dialed up play call from Reid.

The week 3 Eagles game against the Giants gave clear examples of Reid’s lack of discipline and poor judgment.

The Eagles had 7 penalties, 1 of which that gave the Giants a key first down on a FG attempt that concluded in a Giants TD giving the Giants a 2 score lead later in the 4th quarter.

The Eagles were tackled for a loss 6 times

The Eagles were 1-5 in the Red Zone.

With 11:43 to go in 4th quarter Eagles leading 16-14, Reid chooses to go for the first down on 4th and 1, rather than punting & pinning the Giants. Reid calls for a run and loses 3 yards. The Giants scored and never looked back. Reid’s unnecessary risk created a huge momentum swing after the Giants had struggled to score for 2 quarters.

Reid called for a deep pass off a double move on back-up QB Mike Kafka’s first snap of the game. Kafka, with far less mobility than Vick, gets hit as he releases for an easy interception.

Many also suggested that Reid should have never played Vick after the concussion he suffered last week.

You could also make the argument that planning (another key component of a head coach) has also become a deficiency of Reid’s. Forget about the Giants game for a minute. If you have a $100M (ok make that potentially $80M) quarterback that is somewhat slight by NFL standards, should you consider protecting him with better offensive lineman? Could you make an argument that this is how McNabb got so old and slow so fast? The current strategy clearly is not working.

If you, as a head coach, truly believed that this was a Super Bowl contender, why would you promote your offensive line coach (who had mediocre at best success) to defensive coordinator? As if that does not sound bad enough, would it potentially trouble you more knowing that this offensive line coach had not coached defense since coaching at the high school level?

Would you consider going after a few veteran linebackers and safeties to assist your new defense?

People that lack of discipline also rarely have the ability to recognize that they make mistakes. Many of these people do not like criticism of any kind and are condescending when responding to these “non-experts” that inquire about mistakes or lack of perceived order.

How many people that you suspect lack discipline raise their hands and admit weakness and then do something different about it? After all how many times in your life have you said “my fault” or in Reid’s case “I have to do a better job” and then made the exact same mistakes over and over again? Sounds like a lack of discipline to me.

Meanwhile on grantland.com, Bill Simmons and crew explore the end of REM and pontificate on the problems of the NBA for the millionth time. A Chaz Bono article is minutes away. It has to be.

One more thing. My earlier comments on Tony Romo remain on point. Romo played a gutty game versus the Washington Redskins last night. Only he truly knows the magnitude of the pain he played through. Romo's courage has not been questioned. His ability to make solid decisions with all of his playmakers has been debated. Credit Romo for a good comeback versus the Redskins. The jury remains out until Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, Jason Witten & Felix Jones are healthy and on the field at the same time. That is when Romo must also remember to throw the ball away.

Oktoberfest has officially began. Year after year this fools me since it starts in September. Go figure. A classic that should be had at least once during this celebration is the Spaten Oktoberfest 5.9%ABV. Personally, I am not a huge fan of Marzen beer. That noted, you can really taste the caramel flavor of the malts in Spaten's offering.

It's A Quarterback Thing

2011-09-22T10:03:00.000-04:00

Many sports experts have stated that an NFL starting quarterback is the most important position in all of sports. Arguments can be made for point guard, a dominant starting pitcher, a standout goalie and whatever the hell is important in soccer.

This early NFL season helps to prove the point.

Watching Tom Brady and Drew Brees orchestrate their respective offenses is a thing of beauty. Their combination of situational knowledge, confidence, accuracy and winning is virtually unmatched. Aaron Rogers can also be considered in this class with another stalwart year or 2.

The Philadelphia media has been all over Eagles coach Andy Reid and Eagles management regarding spending extravagantly on Mike Vick while being “cheap” on the offensive line. The theory being it is important to spend money wisely to protect Vick. Why? Since when is Vick a classic Tom Brady/Peyton Manning/Drew Brees drop back quarterback? Vick is at his best when…he’s out of the pocket with a threat of running. Has anyone watched Vick this year? He is clearly back to his college & Atlanta Falcon days of playground ball. Vick is Vick. He will take off whether he has a good line or not. The Eagles season will rest on his ability to stay healthy, or not.

Donovan McNabb has the best PR team in the world. McNabb’s nickname should be Teflon (among others). This guy throws for 39 yards in his first game as a Viking and it is barely mentioned outside of Minneapolis. In the second Vikings game of this season McNabb gets a pass (get it?) from the media. Interestingly, the McNabb-led (hehehehe) Vikings are now 0-2 after losing to Tampa Bay at home. Teflon’s game statistics were ok, 18-30 for 228 yards so what is the big deal? The Vikings were leading at halftime 17-0. Look closer. Teflon’s first half numbers were 11-17 for 153 yards. When McNabb’s team needed him in the 2nd half as Tampa Bay got back into the game, he went 7-13 for 75 yards. When Tampa closed to 17-20, McNabb went 1-3 for 6 yards. Down 24-20 he was 2-3 for 21 yards. Result L. This makes 2 straight weeks that the Vikings provided McNabb with halftime leads that resulted in losses.

To steal from Fox Sports Jason Whitlock, Andy Reid and Mike Shanahan are both cackling while smoking a blunt.

If you disagree with the importance of the quarterback position simply look at the Indianapolis Colts season.

Tony Romo was appropriately lambasted (such a great word) for his 4th quarter debacle in week 1. Does his gutty performance (admittedly against a lesser opponent) now make him a better quarterback? Is Romo the same guy as week 1? Yes. He won with heart in week 2 and lost with his head in week 1.

Are you still looking for the real reason that the Jets, Falcons and Ravens have not been able to make that final leap to the Super Bowl? Look no further than the quarterback in play of Marc Sanchez, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco when it mattered most.

Rex Grossman & Jay Cutler support this as well. In the rare occasions that they play well, fans of the Redskins and Colts are fooled into thinking that these teams are capable. When reality hits (as it always does), and they play to their real abilities, mediocrity ensues.

NFL week 3 will continue to prove the QB thing. Mike Vick and Tony Romo are banged up going against division rivals the Giants and Redskins. They both will play. How they play or maybe how long they play will determine both team’s fates this week.

Meanwhile on grantland.com rather than comment on the last minute MLB wildcard races or the early nuances of the NFL season we have another WWE review along with a column on an Emmy Awards show that nobody cares about. Well done sirs.

My go to "try a new craft beer store" Pinocchios Beer Garden, has recently stocked a fair amount of Central Waters Brewing. I have typically found Wisconsin beers hit or miss. Maybe that is due to my overall hate for anything Miller brewed. Either way, Central Waters Ouisconsing Red Ale is a keeper. The first thing you notice is the sweet aroma. The taste matches slightly nutty and sweet evenly balanced with hops. At 4.8% ABV this red ale is an excellent choice for Sunday football.

There Goes My Romo (NFL Week 1)

2011-09-14T20:50:00.002-04:00

What was the worse event on Sunday night?

Was it Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo’s fourth quarter collapse or the series finale of Entourage?

Tough call. They were both awful. Let’s go with Entourage and its painful fairy tale ending bullshit. I guess that is what happens when you become so big that you completely lose focus on what the audience wants/likes. Hold it. Are we talking about Entourage or Grantland.com?

The question all Dallas Cowboys fans and even Dallas Cowboys haters must ask is “at age 31 in Tony Romo’s sixth season as starting quarterback, will he ever learn the importance of protecting the football?”

After Sunday night’s exciting (or exacerbating for Cowboy fans) game indicated, Romo is the ultimate tease. Romo continues to defy logic putting up great numbers (making him a fantasy football hero), making all the throws, eluding a tough Jets pass rush, and then concluding the game with not one, but two boneheaded errors.

The Jets game was classic Romo. For three quarters he played the elite quarterback part. I kept waiting sensing “it” was coming. The Jets had just cut the game to 7 points. Any Cowboy response score at this point drives another dagger into the Jets. I was almost a believer after a brilliant Romo pass hit Jason Witten in stride taking the Cowboys to first and goal at the Jets 3 yards line.

Then on 2nd down he threw a ball to Miles Austin that had pick 6 written all over it. Luckily, Jet DB Antonio Cromartie missed it. Third and goal, Cowboy Coach Jason Garrett calls for a pass (Garrett’s head shaking feverishly now). Romo sees that everyone is covered and runs for it. He had a minimal chance at scoring and fumbled. Arguments will be made that it was an aggressive play to try for a two touchdown lead. Romo may be elusive, but he’s not fast. He should have not taken the risk and settled for a 10 point lead. Here’s an idea Tony. Put the pressure on the other team.

Later after a series of crazy events Romo receives another chance, this time with the game tied, with the ball around midfield. For reasons that no one on the earth can explain, Romo threw into double coverage. It gets better. He threw to basically a one-legged Dez Bryant against Darrelle Revis. Yes, that Darrelle Revis.

All three components of Romo’s decision were well, stupid.

You know this.

We all do.

This act has been seen time and time again.

The question used to be “will Romo ever learn?” That is no longer the question. He will not.

The question now is, “should he?”

My vote is no. I think that if you take that carelessness away from Romo, he becomes ordinary. He loses his confidence. He does not make that throw to Witten. He gets sacked more often. He becomes what Donovan McNabb has become (but lighter, with a smaller head and not as insecure).

If you are a Cowboy fan this is your sentence. You live with Romo the wildcard and hope like hell that everything else falls into place. The pieces on offense are there (Bryant, Witten, Felix Jones, Miles Austin, possibly DeMarco Murray). If the young offensive line improves as the season goes on and if the defense can get healthy maybe they can make up for Romo’s gaffes.

However if you want Romo to change at this point… It would only make him ordinary.

Quick hitters:

Cam Newton was impressive and will be the biggest fantasy football pick-up this week. Cam, welcome to the Green Bay Packers defense. Good luck.

Philadelphia Eagles fans, say hello to playground football. Population you. The combination of that offensive line and Vick’s tendencies will drive Andy Reid crazy. I saw a lot of Atlanta Falcon Vick in the first half of that game.

Here lies Donovan McNabb. He had a good career, but did not realize that it was over in 2008.

The over/under is 8 for KC Chiefs wins this year. Anyone? Anyone?

Cleveland and St Louis don’t quite look like they are ready for the leap that was expected although it’s early days.

The Detroit Lions look ready. Unfortunately Green Bay is Green Bay and Chicago does not realize that they are Chicago.

Watch the DC media go completely overboard if the Redskins beat Arizona in DC next weekend. Remember that mid season when the Redskins are under .500.

Yards, a local Philadelphia brewer, has released a double IPA called Cape of Good Hope. This is an amber colored beer that has a citrus smell balanced very well so that it is hoppy but not overboard as many of the other double IPA’s available today. Enjoy, but be careful the easy drinking taste comes with an 8.1% ABV.

I'm Ready For Some Football!

2011-09-09T19:32:00.001-04:00

Football is back.

Before you get all “no shit Clay” on me, think about it for a minute. Don’t you remember after the NFL Draft contemplating a potential lost season? What about a partial season? You did. Your excitement over the season finally starting is giving you short term memory loss. There. There. It is ok.

The NFL is phenomenal for so many reasons – the criticality of each game, the incredible athleticism, the quarterback play, and the amazing speed of the game. I could go on all day. It was these reasons and more that pissed me off so much when Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith almost ruined it.

What about the NFL media though? I typically kill them and will continue to do so. However, the NFL media in their own demented way have added to my excitement of this pending season.

Take one of my personal favorites for example, Schefty (Adam Schefter).

Schefty writes a weekly column for ESPN during the NFL season, “Adam Schefter’s 10 Spot.” Don’t get me wrong (hand shaking up and down), Schefty has mad sources and delivers some great breaking news. Column writing, not so much (insert the John McEnroe sound of his early Bic Razor commercial responding to “some people like John McEnroe, some…”).

Don’t believe me?

Just look at Schefty’s NFL week 1 column. Looking for insights that you typically expect from Schefty?

Look someplace else.

The gems include:

Schefty shared 5 potential teams that did not make the playoff last year that could this year. Seriously if you are even a little bit of an NFL fan, off the top of your head you say San Diego, Detroit, St Louis and Dallas (exactly who Schefty chose). The last one is a judgment call, but Schefty wows us by picking perennial pre-season favorite, Houston. No Shit Clay!

Let’s move on to the actual 10 spot.

Sit down and hold on to something tight.

Peyton Manning could move to a new team next year. (desperately trying to make a story where there is none…)
How about this classic point? The preseason means nothing. Wow! Who knew?
You have to win early. (head shaking in disgust)
Eagles spending wisely. This one confused me. The lead suggests well that the Eagles spent wisely. However Schefty accurately points out that 40% of the Eagles roster are players in their first 2 years. Umm, Adam how is that spending wisely? Also, if you invest $80M in your QB, would you not consider investing a few duckets in the offensive line? Err, umm uh?

Side note - will any national media outfit criticize the gold standard organization for the porous offensive (love the pun) line? (It doesn’t count after Vick gets hurt).

Hey Adam, any thoughts on the benefits of consistency for NFL teams particularly at the beginning of this NFL Season? Clearly the teams that did not change systems (Packers, Saints, Patriots, Jets, Steelers, Ravens, Falcons, etc) are going to have an early advantage against teams that are installing new systems (Cowboys defense, Eagles defense, Broncos, Titans, 49ers, etc.). And you wanted to be my latex salesman.

Whew. I feel better now. FOOTBALL!

On a different note, Grantland.com, bless its heart, remains steadfast in their mission to ignore Bill Simmons’ core fan base and capture the ever elusive “pop culture” demographic. I’m sure it’s just me, but I simply can’t get into the “RazzieWatch: Which Twilight Star Will Win Best Supporting Actor” or “Could the Cast of Magic Mike Cut it as Chippendales Dancers?”

We are slowly but surely heading toward Fall beer. I’m fighting this since that also signifies the end of summer. It’s all about compromise. So enjoy a New Belgium Fat Tire. For those of you in the mid-atlantic, great news... you can actually enjoy a Fat Tire as New Belgium has expanded their distribution. Can I get a Hallelujah? Fat Tire is their marquis beer. This amber has a toasty, yet piney taste with a clean hoppy finish. Fat Tire has a 5.2% ABV allowing you to have a few on this opening NFL weekend.

Just Win ONE Baby

2011-08-10T21:22:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles front office for winning the NFL off-season!

Joe Banner (Eagles President), Howie Roseman (General Manager) and Andy Reid, your Teflon Lombardi Trophy is in the mail. The bad news is that DeSean Jackson will probably attempt to be your spokesperson accepting the trophy.

The Gold Standard Management Team

Seriously. Listen to these guys speak or read their quotes and you would believe that the upcoming NFL season is simply a formality to the 1^st ever Eagles Super Bowl win. Please note the term “first ever.”

Adding ignorance to injury, Banner continually compares the Eagles management to that of a MLB sports franchise with a recent successful track record. Your guess would be the Eagles next door neighbors, the Philadelphia Phillies?

Of course it has to be. Right? What other MLB team has shown the Eagles recent ability to game plan and attract the highest profile top players to fulfill needs on their team? The Phillies in the last few years have acquired Cliff Lee twice, Roy Halliday, Roy Oswalt and most recently Hunter Pence. Impressive stuff.

However, Banner is referring to the Boston RedSox. “I would use the Red Sox as an analogy,” Banner says. They have a great team and they still go out and get great players like Josh Beckett. We grew up watching Red Auerbach and a Celtics franchise that wouldn’t rest. They looked for opportunities, and we feel like we had five or six that came free (in free agency). What we were not going to do was hesitate. Not if you are going to win.”

Joe, don’t let the fact that the Red Sox acquired Beckett almost 5 years ago while the Phillies nabbed 3 of the best pitchers in baseball in the last 18 months. Oops, I forgot that you despise the fact that the Phillies are more popular and likable than the Eagles. Sorry about that. Is it possibly because the Phillies management enables the players to be in the spotlight and not the management team? Just a thought.

And therein is the story with the Eagles management. They are an arrogant, stubborn rose-colored glass wearing team that has won ZERO championships. Eagles owner Jeff Lurie a few years back famously called the organization the “gold standard.” Straight silly.

The Eagles had a great abbreviated off-season. Signing Nnamdi Asomugha and Cullen Jenkins and trading for Dominique Rogers Cromartie were impressive. Jason Babin will help take pressure off Trent Cole . Ryan Harris is an upgrade over Winston Justice.

Now the National Media is fawning over every move they make. Is Ronnie Brown a significant upgrade over Jerome Harrison? I doubt it. Will wannabe “dream teamer” Vince Young contribute at all? If you have an injury prone Mike Vick as QB, do you really want to trust your Super Bowl or bust year to Vince Young?

I’m not so sure.

On paper, the Eagles are right there with the World Champion Green Bay Packers, NY Jets and New England Patriots. If they stay healthy they should get better as the year progresses. It will take more time than people realize. Remember, there were zero OTA’s and a shrunken training camp. Logic would suggest that the teams with less player movement and the same schemes as last year will be in better shape to start the season.

Prior to booking those Super Bowl tickets, consider this:

1. The Eagles have potentially 6 new defensive starters (middle LB, safety, 2 cb’s) with a new defensive coordinator that last year coached the offensive line. Digest that for a second.

2. Jeremy Macklin has a mysterious health reason that has kept him from practicing. (It must be bad as the Eagles just signed former Giant Steve Smith who is recovering from microfracture surgery.) DeSean Jackson is pissed off and unrealistic about his contract status. I say pay him. Hell he caught 47 balls last year and only had 2 concussions among several dropped balls over the middle of the field.

3. Some experts believe that Special Teams are responsible for 2 wins/losses per season. The Eagles have a new punter and kicker this year.

Don’t get me wrong (hand shaking up and down). Any fan would be thrilled to have their organization develop and execute a plan that accumulates talent to pursue a Super Bowl. I question the management team’s continually celebrating their greatness without results on the field.

Mike, DeSean, LeSean (any Sean will do), Brent, Trent, Asante, Nnamdi, Cullen, here’s the ball. Good luck. No pressure from management, I swear.

Grantland.com continues its cutting edge impressive focus on such topics as women’s golf, The Rise of the Planet of the Apes and weekly favorite the Reality TV scorecard. Hey Bill, this experiment is going off the tracks dangerously fast. Maybe pay less attention to that moustache and more to the website?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

As summer begins to slowly wind down enjoy a Lancaster Brewing Company’s Kolsch beer. This golden yellow summer beer has a slight citrus taste with a nice slightly bitter finish. It can also be found in cans which for some reason also attracted me to it. At a lowish 4.8 ABV you can enjoy a few during the remainder of summer’s hot days.

Are You Really Ready For Some Football?

2011-07-25T12:20:00.001-04:00

NFL football is back.

It really is. This time. I swear. I mean we should be pleased that Adam Schefter, Chris Mortenson, Albert Breer, Peter King, Sal Paolantonio, Mike Lombardi and a cast of others have reported the same news for 2-4 weeks now.

This time it is real damnt. Seriously, Jay Glazer says so.

Ok, I get it. With the strike, let’s all just admit it. These guys had nothing else to do. Nothing. I am guilty too. I follow many of them on Twitter. So I guess that means I feed the fire. But seriously, how many f-ing times could Shefty tweet about a potential agreement?

Shefter should have ended his tweets with lines like “it’s true this time, I swear, I really swear, I’m not joking, this is my job.”

Chucklehead.

Now that the labor agreement is in place how you do feel? Are you euphoric like a few of my friends? “Who gives a shit? Football is back!”

Or, are you a little bitter about the situation getting to this point in the first place? That’s the camp that I am in. These greedy bastards do not care about you and me. They never did. They never will. It is all about the almighty dollar or in this case, billions of dollars. If they really cared, this situation would never have gone as long as it did.

So now what?

In typical NFL form, the league is turning their negative situation into an opportunity. And that folks is why they are brilliant.

Early indications are that the following could occur:

Teams can begin negotiating with rookies, undrafted free agents, and other free agents
Most teams will report to camp on July 27th
Teams can begin to cut players on July 28th
There will be only 14 full contact practices allowed for the year against a 16 game season (17 weeks). Not good.

The signings will be fast & furious and the media will jump all over this creating excitement in the fan base.

The typical fan is going to eat this up. They should not. Why?

The NFL has always separated itself from other sports by the product in the field. Guess what people. The product on the field this year is going to be substandard. Teams with new coaches/systems will be awful. The penalties will be higher, the games longer and execution much poorer. Any guesses on whether the amount of injuries increases?

But hey, the NFL is back baby.

Meanwhile on Grantland, Chuck Klosterman and Molly Lambert wrote a column discussing how Entourage should conclude. Bill Simmons added an article on entrance songs for wrestling and the reality TV scoreboard was updated.

WTF is going on there?

Citi Field is an amazing place to see a MLB game. The product on the field has some issues, but the venue is special. Add that you can have Brooklyn Summer Ale while you enjoy the game. That combination almost makes you forget that the Mets are playing. Almost.

Brooklyn Summer Ale is a perfect summer beer. Unlike the trend of wheat beers or even worse fruity beers, Summer Ale delivers a lighter yet very tasty golden ale. The Summer Ale (5.0% ABV) has slight hops balanced with a slight citrus taste making for a really enjoyable summer beer. Cheers.

The MLB All Star Shame

2011-07-13T22:00:00.000-04:00

You know the story. Yes, it is sad and somewhat pathetic.

Back in 2002, the All Star game ended in a 7-7 tie.

Baseball fans were mortified. Bud Selig was embarrassed. A change had to happen. God forbid that a meaningless game like the All Star game have a blemish on it. I mean, the NBA All Star & NFL Pro Bowl are nothing but pristine displays of sportsmanship, so how could that national pastime afford this atrocity?

This could never ever ever happen again. Ever. So Bud Selig in his infinite wisdom either decided or more likely agreed to alter the game with the provision that the winning league of the All Star game would have home field advantage in the World Series.

This Bud's for you.

Seriously.

For most of you this is not news. It is now 2011 and the same decision applies.

Contemplate this. Has the decision had an impact on the play in the actual All Star game? The way the game is constructed, could it possibly have an impact?

The reality is that most of the best players are long gone from the game by the time the later innings occur. Many players choose not to play due to potential injury or if they have current nagging injuries. Did the AL players last night have intensity? It surely did not appear that way with all of the inactives and the laughter seen frequently in the dugout even with a 5-1 score.

If I was anointed Commissioner of All Sports (and I should be), there would be no All Star games. They are basically a money stealing mockery of sports. More of that another time though.

Baseball is a game of purity. Sure, they had a horrible period during the steroid era. The game itself though is untainted. The little things count. Walking the lead-off batter in the 9th inning of a close game always comes back to bite you. Not getting that runner in from 3rd base with less than 2 outs usually results in a loss even if you are winning at that time. The list goes on.

The current format of the All Star game degrades the game.

The solution is simple. The team that has the best overall record deserves home field advantage. This is also not new. This solution is brought to Selig’s attention each year. This year Selig’s response was “you can’t wait until the end of the year. At least once one league wins, now you start making hotel reservations. The Super Bowl, they award them six years in advance.”

What a load of shit and it is somewhat deceitful.

Is there any correlation to teams not putting 100% effort out in late September? What about the fans that attend those late season games where the first place team has nothing left to play for?

Making matters worse, Selig eventually provided his real answer “our television partners certainly like it. Ratings do mean something to every club.” It’s all about the money money money.

I wonder if the Boston Red Sox are happy with the All Star game format now that the pitching rich Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants have home field advantage?

New feature - weekly Grantland.com assessment. Unfortunately nothing much has changed since our initial review of Grantland.com. The tennis stories predictably have been replaced with soccer features (zzzzzzz). Worse than that, the unthinkable actually occurred much earlier than I thought. Yes the first (I'm sure of many) Jennifer Aniston column appeared. 1,507 (business people use commas) words on Jennifer Aniston. I'm speechless, without speech.

Ponder this over a Firestone Walker Double Jack. This imperial IPA packs a nice wallop at 9.5% ABV which will help you take your mind off of Selig’s greedy ineptitude. The Double Jack masks its higher alcohol content with strong tangerine and grapefruit taste blended perfectly with big hops.

Grantland.com Review

2011-06-23T19:54:00.001-04:00

Bill Simmons' baby, grantland.com, was launched on June 8, 2011.

As a huge Simmons fan on ESPN.com, I was very excited when I heard of the Grantland project. My anticipation grew when I learned that writers Chuck Klosterman, Chris Jones and Malcolm Gladwell would be key contributors.

Simmons gift, other than being humorous, is his ability to relate to his audience. He writes like most of us feel or speak to our friends.

As much as I love Klosterman, Gladwell and Jones, well they write very differently. I wonder if the average Simmons reader will appreciate the other writers who may be deeper thinkers expounding on the importance of Albert Hammond to the Strokes or what happened to the three man weave in basketball.

The name, Grantland, is after an early 20^th century sportswriter, Grantland Rice. Rice was best known for labeling the famous Notre Dame backfield the “Four Horsemen.” Can you say pretentious? I knew that you could.

Any bets on if Simmons created the Grantland name or if ESPN did?

As you can imagine, the articles are written for a wider potentially more obscure audience (read wealthy). The big question is will the typical Simmons fan looking for his hysterical mailbag, Las Vegas gambling stories, and reviews of guy shows like Entourage be excited about Klosterman’s take on VORM (Value Over Replacement Player) for rock bands, any article on Cricket, or not one but now four articles on professional tennis within 3 weeks?

Conversely, will the Klosterman and Jones fan really appreciate a weekly article on a reality TV fantasy league? (Who could make that up?) Is the horrible Jimmy Kimmel father’s day article a payback for Simmons’ writing stint on the Kimmel show, or does the Grantland team actually think that drivel was interesting? (Sidebar – Kimmel is a very funny talented entertainer, but I wouldn't rush out to buy any books written by him.)

Grantland’s initial variety of topics are reminiscent of a Public Enemy lyric - What is pure? Who is pure? Is it European state of being, I ain't sure.

Don’t get me wrong (hand shaking up and down), Grantland has quality content. Simmons initial column recounting the events in his life that led to the launch of Grantland was an amazing read . The “NBA game 6 retro diary” and “A Black and Gold Day for Boston” were classic Simmons. Klosterman’s article "Are Spoilers Flipping the Script" was also engaging. Jones' column, The Beast, Being John Lackey is a must read for any sports fan.

I wonder if Simmons considered including some of his other current sportswriting peers? Was Jason Whitlock considered or is he not the right voice for the prestigious Grantland? Does thingy thing and cackling while lighting a blunt not translate to the Grantland fan?

Simmons states, “The main thing for the website is we’re going for quality over quantity and we’re not going to chase page views.” I wonder if big brother ESPN will have the patience to maintain that attitude while also substantially paying these established writers if the viewership is as inconsistent as the topic selection.

I’m personally torn, but looking forward to see the evolution of Grantland.com. By Simmons own admission in his initial article, Grantland may end up with a very different look and feel then its initial planned beginning.

The summer beers are in full gear. Chicago’s Goose Island is another craft beer stalwart. Their Summertime Ale is consistent with their excellent offerings. This Kolsch style beer has the correct amount of hops with a fruit almost grassy balance for the hot weather. At 4.7% ABV, you can enjoy several while rooting for those lovable losers the Cubbies.

LeBron James & Betty Crocker

2011-06-17T08:52:00.000-04:00

The Dallas Mavericks are the 2011 NBA Champions!

Who cares?

The real story, of course, is LeBron James. How could it not be? Sports fans are confused and have not seen anything like this from a premier athlete.

The theories are running amuck.

LeBron is not an alpha male, but a follower

LeBron did not have a strong father figure.

LeBron has received poor advice from his inner circle.

LeBron received weak support from the Heat management.

LeBron did not know how to react when Dwayne Wade yelled at him on national TV.

LeBron is still learning the game (of life?).

Whatever.

The real truth that nobody wants to say is actually pretty simple. Ready for it? Sitting down? Have a beverage of choice in hand?

LeBron is soft. Soft like cake. (Insert Duncan Hines jokes here).

Call it whatever terminology fits your need (soft, weak, punk, p$#*y, beyotch, etc.). Either way it is the simple truth.

Now, take it a step further. It is ok. Not everyone can be Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Isaiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, even Kobe Bryant. The real problem, which is way too strong a word, so maybe the real fascination is all based upon the fact that LeBron acts like he is Michael Jordan, but thus far in the biggest games defining moments his play does not back up his actions/words.

That is the problem resulting in the fascination.

We love a villain. But, the villain has to back up the talk by delivering and making you hate them more. History proves this time and time again. The Detroit Pistons “bad boy” team was easy to despise. Rick Mahorn and Bill Laimbeer giving cheap shots to anyone that drove. Isaiah, all 170 pounds of him, acting tough to only hide behind the thugs. But, they won.

Allen Iverson is another classic example. AI represented thug life through and through. He refused to play the right way. Dribbled 18 seconds of every 24 second shot clock forced millions of bad shots, famously hated practice, wore a white t-shirt like a dress, hated authority, but played every game like his life depended on it. AI never won a title. When the game was on the line, AI demanded the ball. If he lost the game it was on his terms. Fans loved him for it, because he was never afraid when it mattered most.

Need another? Michael Jordan is a perfect example. MJ loved the spotlight. In his prime, you loved him or hated him. As a fan of the game you always could count on one thing. Jordan owned the 4^th quarter. Always. Sure, the Bulls lost some games in their amazing run. Sure, Jordan was not perfect. But, MJ wanted, f that, demanded the ball in the 4^th quarter. He was never afraid. He never caught the ball only to immediately to defer to BJ Armstrong or Ron Harper. He would dribble drive, access the situation and then potentially kick to an open shooter, but that is a vast difference.

WFAN’s Mike Francesa said it best on Monday. LeBron played most of the NBA finals like a point guard that can’t shoot. That’s fear, not ability, or mental, not physical.

I have also seen the Ben Roethlisberger, Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd opinions. You know. LeBron is being overly criticized and he didn’t rape or beat up any women like the aforementioned athletes allegedly did. Clearly there should not be any ethical defense for Ben, Kobe and Jason. That argument still misses the common denominator that resolves those guys in the public eye. They all won. Not only did they all win, but they all played key roles in critical times. Can that be said about LeBron?

Err, umm, ahhh.

So where does that leave us?

Simple. Nobody would give a shit about LeBron’s play or his comments if he did not portray himself as a villainous super athlete that is not bothered by anything. Strangely enough his popularity would grow if he played the villain role and won.

Sports fans do not accept ostentatious over-the-top behavior that is backed up by running away from the biggest games defining moments.

That’s soft.

Sierra Nevada, one of the craft beer founding fathers, has released a “Best of Beer Camp” case this year including a Weizenbock, Juniper Black Ale, a Summer Ale and my personal favorite the Double IPA. The west coast just makes a better IPA. The Double IPA has all of the key ingredients – hoppy, but not over the top, citrus and pine combination topped with a smooth great finish. The 8.5% ABV is typical for a double IPA. Enjoy them while you can as this is a limited release.

An Ode To Jason Twitlock

2011-04-17T20:16:00.000-04:00

The NBA playoffs started this weekend.

Apparently, some people somewhere are actually excited about this.

I’m not sure why.

ESPN’s Bill Simmons and Jason Whitlock are very excited about this.

I’m not sure why.

Jason Whitlock tweeted “NBA playoffs won’t be exciting all the way through but people who think the league sucks (especially in comparison 2 NCAA) r stupid."

Pretty solid thought Jason. How long did it take you to come up with that one?

No sane person can compare the talent level of the NCAA to the NBA. That is a silly argument. The NCAA has basically been demeaned by that bastard David Stern to be simply a training ground for the NBA.

We can however compare the early rounds of the NCAA tournament to the opening games of the NBA. The NBA hides behind a best of 7 (yes 7 money milking boring games) series rather than the lose and you are out format of the NCAA tournament.

Not only does the best of 7 format make the NBA playoffs less exciting it benefits the favorite team in each series until the conference finals. Did I mention that each series is a best of 7?

Rather than having 3 weeks of madness, the NBA prefers 2 months of sports malady.

The opening round of the NCAA tournament this year had at least 5 games that were decided on the last play of the game. Pretty exciting stuff.

Highlights of the opening games of the NBA playoffs so far include:

The Indiana Pacers refusing to either double team or try to remotely take Derrick Rose out of his game during the final 5 minutes of the game. If I’m suggesting a double team from my couch, I’m pretty sure that a college coach may have as well.

While I’m on the defense topic, why did the Miami Heat have to resort to a 2-3 zone defense against an anemic Philadelphia 76er offense? Do you realize that Andre Iguodala is the leading scorer for the 76ers? Now there is a threat huh? Back to the question, the Heat with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosch resorted to a zone defense because their starters don’t care enough to play man to man defense.

Man to man defense is about commitment and desire. Athletic ability does not hurt. If you don’t give a shit, especially with the athletes in the NBA, you will get burned early and often.

But, the NBA is definitely better in comparison Jason. I really enjoy overpaid assholes that have no love or respect for the game. And why should they? They love the dough, have minimal appreciation for anything but the lifestyle and in the playoffs they have a 7 game series to let the athletic ability take over and eventually win.

This leads me to the New Orleans Hornets vs. the Los Angeles Lakers game. The Lakers did not care the entire game. Kobe Bryant, when his team needed him most, simply decided to go 1 on 5 (shocker) with poor results. Worse than that, Zen master Phil Jackson decided to leave Derek Fisher on Chris Paul for the deciding moments of the game. Exciting? Not really. Laughable? Definitely.

Does anyone really believe that the Lakers, Spurs (who lost to Memphis), Bulls and Heat will win not their series handily? Remember, the best of 7 series minimizes any chance of a logical upset.

So Jason, I’ll happily remain stupid enjoying the purity, albeit not as talented NCAA game. I’m pretty sure most of those players care about the results.

This weekend, I enjoyed a Victory Headwater Pale Ale. It was my first, but it will not be my last. This Pale Ale reminds me a little of the Yards Pale Ale in that it is slightly hoppy with pine and citrus accents. The Headwater Pale Ale has a 5.1 ABV and is perfect for early spring.

Spring Has Sprung?

2011-03-31T14:46:00.000-04:00

Somewhere.

It has to have, but here in beautiful Philadelphia PA sadly it is still very much winter. MLB opening day is today. The weather prediction is for a mixture of snow and rain. Batter up.

Riddle me this. There are 5 warm weather teams in the AL and 7 in the NL. Yet, the LA Angels start the season in Kansas City, San Diego starts in St Louis, Houston is in Philadelphia and Arizona is in Colorado. Why does MLB not mandate that the cold weather teams start the season out west or? Guess that would make way too much sense.

Last year Over Beers gave you the insight on the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds. This year look for the Braves, Reds, Giants, Red Sox, Tigers, Rangers to win their respective divisions. The Phillies and the Rays will sneak in leaving the Yankees watching post season baseball and Brian Cashman most likely on the street.

The obvious top story lines to watch include the overall health of Chase Utley and the Phillies who seem to be falling apart already, when the Yankees push the panic button and trade for pitching, Miguel Cabrera, the Giants young pitching, the ownership struggles of the Mets and Dodgers, Bryce Harper’s debut, Stephen Strasberg’s return and the Albert Pujols & Cecil Fielder new team derby.

March Madness Update

Let’s see how the tourney compared to Over Beers’ last post.

Emotion of games, underdog factor, first weekend, coaches impact, down 3 factor, seniority, Superman, team play – check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check

Ok, so some of that is a given.

Still, you have to appreciate the VCU & Butler underdogs, Kemba Walker’s continued Superman act, the great senior play of the 4 teams remaining (UK would not be there without the inside play of Josh Harrelson), and the impact of the 3 ball. Ask Rick Pitino his thoughts on whether he should have fouled or not in that situation versus venerable Moorehead State (hehehehe). Never mind he’s already moved on from that.

Look for Shelvin Mack & crew to hold off scrappy VCU and Kemba Walker to do it one more time to Kentucky. Not that Jim Calhoun is a coaching genius, but who wants to wager that this is the game that Calipari shows his true coaching (not recruiting) colors.

Other quick thoughts on Madness 11:

Have you ever seen a more scared #1 seed than Kansas?

Is Duke happy that Kyrie Irving came back for the tourney?

If Billy Donovan really outcoached Brad Stephens then why did FL not go inside once in the last 3 minutes of their loss to Butler?

Will UNC return their formidable frontcourt of Tyler Zeller (yes), John Henson (maybe) and Harrison Barnes (doubtful)?

If Thad Matta is not to blame for OSU not advancing to the Final Four, who is?

Enjoy this because the NBA playoffs are soon to follow. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Can Butler win this thing so once and for all every newspaper and web site can lead with the headline “The Butler Did It!”

To celebrate the beginning of Spring, at least in concept, enjoy a Two Bros Bitter End 5.2% ABV. This pale ale has some elements of your traditional west coast ales, citrus, pine & hoppy. Fortunately, the beer is much better than the web site.

Enjoying the Madness

2011-03-17T11:55:00.002-04:00

Sadly, even College Sports has recently had its share of underhandedness.
“I sincerely apologize for what we've been through. I apologize for the fact I wasn't able to find the ones to partner with to handle our difficult and complex situation.”

Recognize this quote?

You should. Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel said this at his first public appearance after being suspended two games proactively by the school for lying about his knowledge of players selling memorabilia.

What a scumbag. So nice of him to drag the OSU fans into his poor decision-making by using the collective “we." Pete Carroll and John Calipari have never been more proud.

What? You liked that so much that I’ll give you another.

Jalen Rose, another favorite criminal of mine, while promoting his Fab Five mockumentary on ESPN’s 30 For 30 series, credited the Jim Rome book The Fab Five: Basketball Trash Talk the American Dream as his main influence for the documentary.

So what? Well, Mitch Albom wrote the book that supposedly motivated Rose. You might think that he would at least get that right. Rose is motivated by one thing, himself. He is shameless and it is fraudulent that ESPN continues to utilize him. On the other hand, if ESPN creates a reality show with Rose and Stephen A. Smith, I’m in.

Thankfully, the real March Madness starts today.

To follow are 10 reasons to kick back and enjoy it.

1. The emotion of the games. The one and done lose and you are out structure is the best in sports.

2. The underdog factor. Over the years, I have changed my stance on filling out brackets. I still fill them out, but care less about the results. Regardless of my picks, I tend to root for the underdog even if it kills my bracket.

3. The first weekend. The games are on all day Thursday and Friday and most of the day Saturday and Sunday. Enough said.

4. The bracket controversy. Every year it is easy to question which team appears to have the easiest bracket. This year Ohio State is the number 1 team in the country according to the polls. Yet, there path seems much more difficult than Duke or Pitt’s. Duke, in particular looks like an easy path the Final 4 with a suspect San Diego St team as a 2 seed (who have they played?), Connecticut as the 3 seed (spent from winning the Big East tourney), and Texas (Coach Barnes has a terrible track record in NCAA’s) as the 4 seed.

5. The coaches have real impact. The NCAA format of having to win 6 games typically demonstrates two predominant coaching styles – those that can coach within the game and those that are great talent recruiters that really just let the boys play. Coach K, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim, Mike Brey are examples in the first group. John Calipari, Rick Barnes, and Steve Fisher are in the latter group.

6. The “down three” factor. Here’s the scenario. Team A is down 3 with 15 seconds to go. Should the coach call for a foul with under 10 seconds to go resulting in 2 free throws or risk the 3 point attempt? More often the coach lets the other team play and attempt the 3. Watch how many games are impacted by this scenario.

7. Seniority. The reality is that there are far fewer contributing seniors in the game than ever. Thank you NBA. The teams that have starting seniors tend to either steal early round games or advance further. Look no further than last year’s final between Butler and Duke for this evidence.

8. I am Superman and I can do anything. This year will test that theory as there are less marquis players, but Nolan Smith, Jared Sullinger, Harrison Barnes, Ben Hansborough, Kemba Walker, JaJuan Johnson and the Jimmer are all capable.

9. Team play – unlike the glorified one-on-one game known as the NBA, college teams respect the purity of the game. In the NCAA’s it is still about the name on the front of the jersey, not the one on the back.

10. US Reed, Christian Laetner, Moses Scurry, Derek Chievous, Keith Smart, Rumeal Robinson, Tyus Edney, Derek Chalmers, Dwayne McLain, Juan Dixon, Miles Simon, Lorenzo Charles, etc. The list is endless. Who will join this year?

Every year the boys and I gather at McGillins's to enjoy a few beverages and the opening Saturday of the NCAA tournament. McGillin's is one of the oldest bars in America. It is a must hit when visiting Philadelphia. Typically, the stouts are flowing. We tend to migrate toward the Sly Fox O'Reilly's Stout. This beer is smooth with a slight English hoppy taste. At a low 3.6 ABV you can enjoy several and we do.

The Doctor Will See You NOW

2011-03-09T11:49:00.000-05:00

March Madness is just about here. The NFL labor talks continue. The NHL is winding down. The NBA is in denial. Thankfully, MLB Spring Training is well under way.

As I have mentioned before, two events represent the official start of spring in the Sports world – The Masters and the start of the MLB season. Each day we get closer.

If you follow baseball even a little, you are aware that the Philadelphia Phillies have positioned themselves for a World Series run. The Phillies starting rotation looks like this:

Roy Halladay

Cliff Lee

Roy Oswalt

Cole Hamels

Joe Blanton

Pretty damn scary. Baseball is a long season. It is doubtful all of the starters will remain healthy for the season. Who cares? With that rotation, the Phillies have margin for error.

The Phillies offense is a different story. It is aging. That is putting it nicely.

The average age for the position players is 32 years old at the beginning of the season.

Howard 31 Utley 32 Rollins 32 Polanco 35 Ibanez 38 Victorino 30 Francisco 29 Ruiz 32

This line-up did not play to their potential offensively last year. Injuries were a factor as they tend to be with advancing age.

Rather than staying on the Phillies 2011 World Series bandwagon, Jason Werth chose to steal money from the Washington Nationals. He now “hates” the Phillies. Good luck with that Neanderthal.

The real complication is that during the weekend that the grapefruit league play was to begin, the Phillies announced that Chase Utley would not play due to “soreness.” People, it was the first week. Utley is one of the toughest players in the league.

And therein lies the problem.

Let’s play baseball monopoly. If you owned the Phillies or were the GM of the Phillies and your #3 hitter, arguably the glue to your team was diagnosed with patellar tendinitis what would you do?

Before answering consider this. Utley is known to play with pain. He is rumored to keep his injuries from the trainers as well.

Now consider that Milton Bradley and Ryan Sweeney were lost for the season last year after trying to play through the injury. Josh Hamilton and Brandon Inge played through it. Hamilton was successful, whereas Inge was not. Hamilton is also 29. Utley is 32.

So with those statistics why don’t the Phillies simply insist on Utley having the surgery? Now. Today. Like this second.

The first reaction was rest would be the cure. When that did not work, a cortisone shot was applied. As of March 9, 2011, the cortisone shot has had no impact and now rest is again the best answer.

Ruben Amaro Jr was quoted today saying, “for us this is a long term thing.” Yet, when asked about surgery Amaro responds “no, we’re trying to to do this non-operatively.”

It is March. Typically this injury is nagging unless repaired. Why are the Phillies risking this season in March? Is it not always better to fix the problem before the season starts rather than during it? Would the Phillies not be better served without Utley while the starting pitching is rested early in a season? Is there not value in getting the injury completely fixed and having a healthy potentially rested Utley for the final, more important half of the season?

Does anyone have the balls to say this or better yet demand this of Utley?

Injuries are different for each individual. This could still amount to a lot about a little. Why risk what is supposed to be a magical season?

With March's tease of spring bring the slow transition from the Stouts to the Pilsners. One particular pilsner I really enjoy is Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils. This underrated Colorado-based brewer can be tough to find on the East Coast. This pilsner is well worth finding. It reminds me of the classic St Pauli Girl and Becks german beers. At a reasonable 5.3% BV, you can enjoy several on those warming spring days.

The NBA, it's Smoke & Mirrors

2011-02-23T15:37:00.002-05:00

Help me understand something. Please.

Why is there all this talk that the NBA is back better than ever? This is coming from credible resources too; Bill Simmons, Jason Whitlock, J A Adande, and Stephen A Smith (ok not all of them are credible).

NBA Commissioner David Stern, albeit very biased, feels that the depth of the league may be better than any time in its history.

I don’t get it.

Please, do not go down the hater path. I have been a basketball fan for well into 25 years. Proof is in the pocket and in this case I was a season ticket holder for the Philadelphia 76ers since 1996 - 2010. This NBA though, just doesn’t do it for me. And, I’m not alone.

Every sports All-Star event is horrible, however with a pending lockout looming you would hope that the NBA would really raise its game this past weekend.

This weekend’s All-Star celebration in LA was underwhelming at best.

The 3 Point Contest included three household names (Kevin Durant, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen) and three guys name Daniel Gibson, Dorell Wright and James Jones.

Before we go any further, is this the best that the NBA can offer or simply a sign of the today’s game?

Quick who leads the NBA in 3-point shooting? Easy right? Has to be Ray Allen. Nope?

How about that Matt Bonner? Of course while googling that you may also want to google what team Bonner is on (San Antonio). Now, please explain why Matt Bonner can’t make the All-Star 3-point contest. What? Bonner was there, but nobody recognized him so he could not particpate. My bad.

Your NBA 3 Point Shooting Leader

The Dunk Contest has always been a bit of a joke. The more successful years always had the higher profile players (Doc, MJ, Nique, V Carter, D Howard, etc.) or the x-factor like Dee Brown, Nate Robinson or Spud Webb.

This year featured newly anointed mega star Blake Griffin (Side note – Griffin is revered for his fierce dunks. He reminds me of someone currently playing. Hold it. Yes. Dwight Howard. Well that explains the hype.), JaVale McGee, DeMar DeRozen and Serge Ibaka.

This is how I envision the dunk contest planning meeting (please use a Michael Buffer voice, it works better).

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the 2011 Dunk Contest including Blake Griffin and 3 people you do not know or remotely care about. To compensate for not including any well known names we have also decided each particpant should also be able to touch the rim without jumping. But don't worry Darryl Dawkins will be there.

Griffin and the other guys will get what seems like a day (2 minutes) to achieve their dunks. There is no pressure if they miss, because essentially they will get 5-7 attempts and they are all at least 6'10". We realize that this will take away the "awe" factor, but hey this is the NBA and damn't we really want Griffin to win (he is the future).

To nobody's surprise Griffin won, cementing the victory by having a choir sing “I Believe I Can Fly” (relevance please) and jumping over the hood of a parked Kia for a two-hand slam. Griffin is rumored to be signing a sponsorship deal with...yes Kia.

Also, is the irony of a Kia being the car sponsored not lost on anyone? We can be fairly certain that the only Kia an NBA player associates with, in the least, would be if that was the name of their daughter. Maybe.

Anybody seen my girl Kia?

Apparently there was a “game” Sunday night. By then I was so bored by this event that I could not bring myself to watch. Shockingly, LA Laker Kobe Bryant managed to shoot the ball 26 times in 29 minutes in front of his hometown fans. For that of course, Kobe is rewarded with the MVP award and you are provided a key hint as to why the NBA sucks. (Wait. The NBA would foster the idea of the Dunk Contest winner (the future) and the game MVP are from the hometown teams? The only thing that would be that predictable is if the New York Knicks ended up with Carmelo Anthony. Ooops.)

Not shockingly is that NBA attendance is slightly down this year averaging just less than 17,000 per game. This year is also down approximately 3% from the 2008 season. This does not sound too bad if you ignore that David Stern and the media would have you believe that the league is in this golden age and everyone is back on board.

The LeBron decision was a debacle. There simply is no defending it. Now Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams demanded to be traded prior to any pending lockout. Chris Paul would normally be next, but the NBA has ownership involvement in the New Orleans Hornets. In any other sport this may occur, but be incredibly less transparent. In the NBA, probably due to the culture, all these guys just seem like rented whores. Possibly worse than that, they do not come across as likeable.

Scan the All-Star rosters.

Who jumps out as appealing? Dwayne Wade? Ok, but certainly less so after his role in the LeBron disaster. Kevin Durant? He certainly has potential. Kevin Love? Fundamental player, but who even knows about him? Chris Paul? See Love, Kevin. Tim Duncan? Well Duncan appears to be a good guy, but isn’t he 100 now? Does he speak?

Possibly the biggest issue is overall fan complacency. Everyone I ask about the NBA says the same thing. The NBA? I used to be a huge fan, but have lost interest in the last years.

For basketball fans, we can only hope that the labor dispute will serve to resolve many of these issues. Listening to David Stern and his complete lack of reality, I strongly doubt the future of the NBA will be any brighter. Worse than that, the NBA will also most likely continue to negatively impact the college game.

If you never had an Ommegang beer and tried one, you might think they are a Belgian brewer. In reality they are located in Cooperstown NY. That is another great reason to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. This weekend, I enjoyed my first Three Philosophers thanks to a well thought-out friend (or an alcoholic depending on your views). This Belgian quad immediately tastes of cherries along with a subtle chocolate flavoring. It is a perfect sipping beer in the remainder of this cold winter. The ABV is a solid 9.8% which is just enough to help you forget about the NBA.

Exposing the Exposure

2011-02-14T15:24:00.001-05:00

It is only 1 week removed from the conclusion of the NFL season and I have withdrawal symptoms. How many times can I check the mock drafts? Is Prince Amukamara rising or falling? Is that his real name? How depressed can I get reading about the pending NFL lockout? How long can I read Adam Schefter’s tweets about Brett Favre, a new positional coach for some random team or worst commentary on another sport?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Stop it. Make it go away. Please.

Ok. Compose yourself. There have to be other options. Think. Think.

Got it, the NBA. Ooops. I forgot that league died about 11 years ago. Rest in peace.

Flipping around the channels late last week and this weekend I found the answer. College basketball.

Whew. On Wednesday night in “Rivalry Week” a veteran Duke team was matched up against a young and improving North Carolina squad. Duke was impressive in coming back from a 14 point deficit at halftime. As usual, the crowd at Cameron did not disappoint. There is nothing like the emotion of the college game.

Yet, even with the purity of the college game comes the evil of big business. In this case there is a little disease called ESPN exposure.

Does anyone really need 7 interruptions; I mean reports from Erin Andrews? Sure it’s great to hear her thought provoking commentary on topics that have been fed to her by producers such as “UNC is still upset about being blown out at Duke last year.” Or, “the official word from Coach K is that Duke is not planning on having Kyrie Irving for the remainder of the year.”

And, who could miss out on the halftime interview question of “what can Duke do better in the 2nd half?” Well Erin, we are down 14 so we can do, let’s see, hold it one second, let me think…EVERYTHING BETTER. Now go make yourself look pretty.

This week ESPN went to the Villanova campus for its live College Gameday show. They go live at about 10:00 am eastern time and broadcast in front of a gym full of college students. This must be incredibly cool if you are a college student and ESPN comes to your campus.

The irony of ESPN being at the Villanova campus this Saturday for the game against #4 Pittsburgh is that while the students packed the Pavilion for the College Gameday event, only approximately 20 - 25% of the students can get tickets for the actual game. The Pavilion seats a 6,500 for basketball games.

Imagine the home court advantage if at least 50% of the crowd were Villanova students? But no, only the student section, which is in the south end, is available for students. 2,000 students that win the lottery for that game have the privilege of attending the game. The rest of the crowd, well they are the alumni (majority season ticket holders) and anyone else that can buy a ticket from brokers or StubHub.

Any guesses at the average ticket price for the Pitt game? Try between $200 and $300. That seems reasonable for a college student doesn’t it?

Now the way ESPN presents College Gameday, a viewer would think that all those kids ESPN is showing going crazy would also attend the game. Right? Would ESPN comment on the fact that the majority of those students will watch the game like you and me on TV? Naah. Why let the truth get in the way of an exciting broadcast? I mean Erin Andrews is here along with Hubert Davis & Jay Bilas.

Scary enough, the Philadelphia Inquirer also had an entire article on ESPN being on the Villanova campus for this big event. Did that article mention the student ticket issue? Of course not. However, they did mention that ESPN being on campus creates “impossible value” for Villanova and great exposure. That word again.

Sure, if you are a kid debating on attending Villanova it sure as hell appears that you will be on TV for College Gameday and attend the game too. A lucky 20% of you will have that ability.

Nice work ESPN and Inquirer.

Is it coincidence or intent that the Inquirer writer of the Villanova Exposure article that neglected to share the ticketing issue also frequently appears on ESPN programming such as the Sports Reporters and Outside the Lines?

Hmmm.

Spring fever is also bringing on some IPA fever. The beer can movement continues with a good selection from Caldera Brewing, the Caldera IPA. Caldera is an Oregon-based brewery. The IPA is a hoppy selection with a 6.1 ABV. The Caldera IPA is in the west coast vein, but a little more mild than your typical Russian River, Stone or Lagunitas model. Caldera does a nice job of distribution and you can typically find them in local grocery store.

Go Pack Go

2011-02-07T20:59:00.000-05:00

Another year, another "what if" Super Bowl. Sure the game ended with the Pittsburgh Steelers having one last chance to win the game in dramatic fashion. Somehow, we all knew they wouldn’t. The final drive (generous use of the word drive) was similar to the entire game. The Green Bay Packers made the plays and the Steelers looked out of sync.

Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers and their fans. In a challenging year, due to an incredible 17 injured reserve players including starting RB Ryan Grant and TE Jermichael Finley, the Pack were resilient. This continued in the Super Bowl as they lost leaders Charles Woodson and Donald Driver in the first half.

It did not matter. In a year when player after player got hurt, the Packers simply plugged in the next guy.

Aaron Rogers will get accolades for his play. To me, Rogers was named MVP by default because no individual Packer really stood out. They won as a team. Rogers had a nice day for an “elite” quarterback. To his credit, he took advantage of the turnover gifts that the Steelers gave him (21 points off TO’s).

The real story were the unknown heroes on the Packers.

Raise your hand if you have ever heard of Jarrett Bush (interception and Woodson’s replacement), Charlie Peprah (led Pack in tackles) and Howard Green (hit Roethlisberger causing first pick for TD) before the game.

Donald Driver gets hurt? No problem Jordy Nelson will exploit the Steelers lack of depth at DB. He did early and often.

For the Steelers, Ben Roethisberger played poorly. Throw the statistics away. He played poorly. Roethlisberger’s first interception was a poor decision throwing deep into coverage from his own end zone. Nick Collins easily intercepted the punt, err pass and made a great run for the pick 6 TD.

Not so big Ben’s second pick was not as terrible a throw. Yet, Roethlisberger either missed open guys all day including an easy TD pass to Mike Wallace in the first half or simply made bad reads. What the hell happened to Heath Miller? Tight ends killed the Packers all year. Miller had a lame 2 catches for minimal yardage.

Admittedly, I missed this when predicting the Steelers to win. I expected the Roethlisberger from Super Bowl XLIII. Instead, we saw Roethlisberger from Super Bowl XL.

All-time great (wonder if that moniker still fits?) Roethlisberger is now 1 for 3 playing well in Super Bowls. He played poorly (9-21, 2 interceptions) against the Seahawks (SB XL) and great (21-30 & game winning TD pass) against the Cardinals (SB XLIII). Against the Pack his overall numbers were ok (25-40), but he missed open WR’s, had bad reads and had too many interceptions. Even if his record is 2-1, Roethlisberger has had at least 1 interception in each of his Super Bowls.

As poor as Roethlisberger played, the Steelers shockingly had a legitimate chance to take a lead when Rashard Mendenhall fumbled at the Pack 33 yard line early in the 4th quarter. The momentum had clearly swung the Steelers way at that point. The Packers were starting to play a little scared. Mendenhall just can’t cough it up there. He just can’t.

It would have been interesting to see Rogers react to being down 24-21 with approximately 10 minutes to go after leading the Steelers the entire game. Would he have responded and truly put himself in the elite category? We will never know.

Pack fans, enjoy several Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat beer (ABV 4.8). Normally, I would not recommend a summer beer in February, but it is the only Leienkugel beer I have tasted. Plus, there is no way I would ever recommend a Miller product. Ever. Never ever.

Super Bowl XLV Preview

2011-02-02T20:27:00.001-05:00

Are you ready for some football? A Sunday night party…

By now you know the deal. Two venerable NFL football franchises with similar defensive mindsets and styles, arguably the best two teams in the NFL are meeting in Super Bowl XLV for a chance at NFL immortality. Or, in Ben Roethlisberger’s case another chance to become bigger than the law.

Let’s face it, Big Ben’s “God is great” exploits and his engagement is today's professional athlete’s version of a “beard.” By the time the game is played most people will be completely tired of the Roethlisberger redemption story line anyway.

In reality, as an NFL fan do you really care about your teams best players off-field behavior? If you are honest with yourself, the only answer is that you care about them keeping out of trouble because that could also keep them off the field.

What? You don’t believe me (head shaking vigorously)? Then please explain Mike Vick being the number 6th most popular NFL jersey in the entire league. You know good ol role model Mike Vick. Vick is a remarkable comeback story (on the playing field). However, the last time that he was in trouble (rumored to be possibly cut) was right before the 2010 training camp. But, damn he can really run and throw the ball so go get your kids those jerseys.

Roethlisberger’s record is 10-2 in playoff games. That would be 10 wins and 2 losses. I have 3 very close friends that are Steeler fans. They rarely talk about Ben's actions off the field. Why? They do not care as long as he's playing on Sundays. Just win baby.

So what about the game? It may be a cliche, but in this close matchup it really comes down to which team executes better on that given day. They are that evenly matched.

The Steelers keys to the game are simple.

Get to Aaron Rogers early and often. Trade a penalty for a good legal hit or two on him. Rogers has proven to be very mortal after getting knocked around. The latest evidence was in the NFC Championship when Julius Peppers crushed him like a Duke point guard. James Starks will probably fool the Steelers defense all of once and then they will completely shut him down. Watch for the Steelers to run blitz in an effort to also take away the short passing game that the New England Patriots used to kill them a few weeks ago.

When the Steelers are on offense it is critical that Rashard Mendenhall is running north and south rather than dancing prior to hitting the line. The Pack’s defense is too fast for him to hesitate at the line of scrimmage. Expect Heath Miller to have a solid day with 5 to 6 catches for 80 yards as Green Bay struggles against the Tight End (hey now). For the Steelers to win though, one of the younger WR’s must have an impact. That puts some pressure on Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown

The Packers formula for a win is equally easy.

Borrowing an overused, but undervalued term, the Pack needs to win the battles up front. Specifically on defense, the Packers need to slow down the Steelers running game. They will not stop it, but they need to find times in the game where they are forcing 3rd and long situations. The Packers defensive backs are a strength of the team, but they have to remain patient and “stay home.” Roethlisberger is the king of fooling defensive backs into thinking he will run only to throw the ball at the last minute.

On offense, the Packers will stay committed to the run. Coach Mike McCarthy has all year and he will not change in this game. However, expect him to cheat the running game a little by installing some very quick passes in the 5-7 yard range. Donald Driver and Jordy Nelson have proven to be adept at the short game although they prefer longer passes. James Jones has the ability, but I question his toughness over the middle. Expect Rogers to have a moving pocket several times during the game as well to avoid obvious blitz situations and take advantage of his mobility.

Both the Packers and the Steelers are proficient on special teams. The difference in a close game that should scare Steelers fans is Shaun Suisham. Suisham has blown his share of games in a short career. Give me Mason Crosby every day of the week.

If you think for a second that the media’s overblown coverage of the Packers team picture controversy will have any impact on this game, you are high or you should get high. I’ll leave that up to you to discern.

Final score Steelers 27 – Packers 26 in what hopefully will be a truly classic game.

Ahh what beer to drink for this important event? A stout to match this relentless winter? Nah, been there too often this season. Everyone that really loves craft beer has a “go to” beer or in my case “go to” beers. One of my favorites is Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA (6.0 ABV). It is a classic beer for what all NFL fans hope is a classic game.

The 60 Minute IPA is a beer of beauty. If you read this blog, you know that I am very partial to the West Coast IPA’s (Lagunitas, Russian River, Stone, etc.). The Dogfish Head 60 Minute tastes like a west coast beer. The reason is simple. It is continuously hopped for 60 minutes (get it?) using northwest hops. The citrus taste makes you really want to have more than one.
The only east coast IPA that rivals the 60 Minute IPA, well that would be the Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA. The 90 Minute packs more of a punch though at a 9.0 ABV. Even Sports Illustrated’s Peter King is a fan as he recently found that 90 Minute is now sold on the Acela Washington DC to Boston trip. Can I get an Hallelujah?

Enjoy the game.
Peace and love, peace and love.

Big Players Make Big Plays

2011-01-24T16:56:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers. Somewhere Pete Rozelle is smiling.

Way back in November, I questioned whether there was a dominant team in the NFL. Well, we now officially know. There is not.

Both Conference Championship games went the same way with the team that ultimately won jumping out to big leads. This led to playing conservatively allowing the other teams to creep back into the game. Are either the NFC’s # 6 seed Packers or the AFC’s #2 seed Steelers dominant? No. Could several teams that were either in the playoffs or close beat them on any given day? Absolutely.

Welcome to the NFL in the 2000’s. Either way, it should make for a competitive Super Bowl.

Watching the NY Jets vs. the Steelers got me thinking about the noticeable comparisons between their quarterbacks Mark Sanchez and Ben Roethlisberger.

Roethlisberger is obviously the better quarterback and well ahead of Sanchez. However, notice how they both make the big play when their team absolutely must have it. They both tend to win games ugly and will never be compared to the Tom Brady’s, Drew Brees or Peyton Manning’s from a mechanics perspective. Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a Super Bowl victory (playing a horrible game) in his first year. Sanchez has led the Jets to 2 straight AFC Championship games in his first 2 years.

Both QB’s can disappear for parts of the game often times inexplicably missing open receivers with high or overthrown balls. Yet, game on the line, you would have to say Sanchez and especially Roethlisberger make the plays when it counts. Never was this more true for Roethlisberger than the final drive. The Steelers needed two first downs to close out the game. Twice Steeler coach Mike Tomlin put the game in Roethlisberger’s hand despite a shaky statistical day. Tomlin was rewarded each time with a perfect pass to Heath Miller and then Brown.

Quarterback comparisons could also be made in the NFC Championship game.

Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rogers came out firing and as hot as he won the previous week against the Atlanta Falcons. The Chicago Bears defense was not immediately prepared although they did settle down later in the first half.

Unfortunately for Bears fans, their worst fears came true. Jay Cutler returned to being well, Jay Cutler. Forget about his knee injury. That is far too shaky ground to debate. How does anyone know whether Cutler tried to re-enter the game or not? It really does not matter. Cutler was ineffective the entire time he was in the game.

Cutler held the ball seemingly forever. Sure the Packers could have had great coverage on the Bear receivers. So what? Throw the damn ball away and don’t take a sack/hit. Move out of the pocket to either buy time or challenge the defense with the threat of a run. Cutler’s knee did not lose this game. His head did.

Do not forget that the Bears had changed momentum after Lance Briggs fluke interception. Cutler had an open Johnny Knox and simply under threw him with less than a minute to go in the first half.

The other huge factor in the game was the field position. Green Bay had it for the majority of the game and thanks to Green Bay punter Tim Masthay, Chicago rarely did. Devin Hester was an afterthought.

Note to the Bears and all other NFL teams, Todd Collins can’t play. I’m not sure he ever could, but he really can’t now.

Note to the Steelers about the Packers and specifically Aaron Rogers. Hit him. Hit him hard and hit him early. Take a penalty if you have too. Rogers, a favorite QB of mine, proves that very few quarterbacks come back and play well after taking a hard hit. Rogers was a different QB after Julius Peppers rang his bell early in the third quarter.

The last thought on the Packers Bears game – what the hell is Mike Martz thinking calling a timeout on 3rd and 3 while Caleb Hanie (Google him, I did) is leading the Bears to an improbably fairytale comeback. The football gods do not like interrupting momentum to call a trick play under 3 minutes to go in the game. Who the hell seriously thinks, hey we have Matt Forte single handedly beating the Packers on this drive, but let’s let the Pack defense reset and run a reverse for Earl Bennett? Earl f-ing Bennett? Lovie Smith – fired. Mike Martz – fired. Blutarsky – fired.

Speaking of people who should be fired, how bad is Shannon Sharpe on TV? He is terrible, can barely speak and tries so hard to make a controversial point that he ends up not making any sense.

There was a classic example yesterday. Boomer Esiason offers an opinion about the Cutler injury and instead of jumping on it from another player’s perspective Sharpe responds with the Pack could have won by more if they had better success on 3rd down. No shit Clay. Really? Commentators like Sharpe ruin it for other minority talents. Watching Sharp or Deion Sanders as analysts makes even the most unprejudiced person wonder what exactly was considered when they were hired.

Hey, who is excited for the Pro Bowl during weekend before the Super Bowl? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

To get you to the Super Bowl weekend, enjoy a few Maredsous 8's. The cold weather in the Northeast has motivated me back to the excellent Belgian beer world. Maredsous 8 is a brown Belgian ale with an 8% ABV. The initial smell is sweet, but the taste is incredibly well balanced. Pour Maredsous into a wider glass to truly enjoy the flavor. The smooth taste can easily lead you to drinking Maredsous at a fast pace that will catch up with you later.

2011 NFL Championship Games Preview

2011-01-21T23:04:00.000-05:00

Toughness. Decision-making. Experience. Desire. Playmakers. Execution. Weather?

All of these factors will determine which team advances to Super Bowl XLV. So who will it be?

The Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Here is why:

The Green Bay Packers vs. the Chicago Bears is a toss-up game. Green Bay is finally playing like many predicted they would at the beginning of the season. Aaron Rogers is playing at an incredibly high level and James Starks has provided a spark in the running game that was missing all season long due to the Ryan Grant injury. The Pack defense has Clay Mathews and Charles Woodson among others as great playmakers. So why the Bears pick?

It comes down to two simple factors. Desire, or in this case a lack of respect toward the Bears. They are a home underdog to the Packers. They received very little national respect in the divisional round against the subpar Seattle Seahawks. The Bears are playing angry, but smart.

There is no Jay Cutler love. Despite his improvement from the 2009 season to this year, everyone still considers him a turnover machine. In big games Cutler has played well making huge plays with both his arm and legs whenever needed.

Could the Packers come into the game overconfident?

The second reason is the weather. Chicago is built for bad weather. Green Bay is not. Several Green Bay players have already commented that Soldier Field is the worst in the NFL. Rogers likes to pass to set up the run. The Packers offense, as witnessed last week in Atlanta, are best on a fast track. The Bears are balanced and can run or pass. Matt Forte is proven and reliable. James Starks has started two games in his entire career. Devin Hester knows how to prepare for Solider Field. Does James Jones?

Bears 23 Packers 20

Both the Steelers and the NY Jets will bring strong and exotic defensive schemes to the AFC Championship. Rex Ryan had his defense sit back against Peyton Manning and attacked Tom Brady while often times having six defensive backs on the field taking away the Patriots short passing game.

Who knows what scheme Ryan will try against the Steelers? My guess is blitzing on the outside to take advantage of the weak Steeler tackles. Either way Ben Roethlisberger will have the benefit of experience, a solid running game and veteran receivers to combat it. Neither the Colts or Patriots had all of these to face Ryan.

Flip the coin. Will Mark Sanchez be ready for Dick LeBeau’s blitz schemes? Probably not. Will Sanchez surprise and make an occasional “wow” throw? Yes. Will it be enough to beat the Steelers? No. Count on this. The Steelers will minimize LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene putting the game in Sanchez hands.

The Steelers offensive line will struggle against the Jets defense. However, there will be enough Rashard Mendenhall running and Roethlisberger’s uncanny ability to take a hit and still deliver a pass for the Steelers to win an uncomfortably close game.

Steelers 27 – Jets 20

Since we are down to the final two games of the season, enjoy Founders Double Trouble (ABV 9.4%). This is an imperial IPA brewed in Michigan that has that west coast piney, citrusy, slightly bitter taste. The Double Trouble is in the same family as the Russian River Pliny the Elder. Double Trouble is a limited release through April so try it while you can.

R E S P E C T

2011-01-19T11:28:00.001-05:00

I was never a big fan of that classic soul song by Aretha Franklin. The 2011 NFL Divisional Round was all about RESPECT, or in three specific cases, the lack of it. The Bears, Jets and Packers all entered the Divisional Round feeling disrespected. The Steelers on the other hand demand the respect of the Ravens, and earned it.

I admit it. Honestly, I can’t stand Rex Ryan. He is annoying, obvious, and obnoxious. So are most of his players. While I am at it, I can’t stand Mark Sanchez either. Sanchez just does not look like a great quarterback should during the game often times looking lost while overthrowing recievers. Yet, he makes the big play when he has to and wins. Ryan and Sanchez both do. You have to respect that.

Ryan’s Jets team is 24-13 in the last two years and 4-1 in playoffs including wins at #1 seed New England and at #2 seed San Diego in 2009. The result of this is two straight AFC Championship games.

The Jets clearly did not respect the Patriots offense. In hindsight it is easy to understand. Remember when Over Beers questioned BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead, Deion Branch and Wes Welker? They are all nice complementary players, but not game changers. Do you really want Danny Woodhead to touch the ball 20 times in a playoff game? In any NFL game?

Shonn Greene, LaDainian Tomlinson, Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards are all potential game changers with chips on their shoulders.

The Patriots and Tom Brady looked slow and methodical. Worse than that Bill Belichick, who should know better, tempted fate by angering the football gods late in the first half down only 7-3. Belichick called for a fake punt a little shy of midfield. The play failed and more importantly it gave the underdog Jets even more emotion and reason to believe that they would win. The gods do not like this, not one bit.

In both the Baltimore Ravens vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers vs. the Atlanta Falcons similar events occurred.

The Ravens, with a little luck and a lot of intensity, had a 21-7 halftime lead. Three ensuing turnovers changed the game along with one defensive lapse. A Ray Rice fumble combined with a Joe Flacco interception and fumble enabled a down Steelers team to crawl back in the game. Anquan Boldin and TJ Houshmandzadeh both picked up to be playmakers had key drops while unknown rookie Antonio Brown got behind the Ravens coverage on a 3rd and 19 play. Roethlisberger hit Brown with a perfect strike.

The football gods do not respect having three turnovers in the second half of playoff games while only generating 28 yards in total offense. They just don’t.

Other than the Chicago Bears, the Atlanta Falcons received the least amount of respect coming into the Divisional Round. Unlike the Bears, they did nothing to change that perception.

The Packers came in with the belief that they were the best team in the NFC as many predicted going into the season. The Falcons played like they had nothing to prove.

Do you ever get the feeling that Aaron Rogers plays every game like he wants to be out of the shadow of Brett Favre? Two things will help Rogers. The first, which he can control, is playing well against the Bears and getting to the Super Bowl. The second is if Favre finally does retire.

Rogers played lights out against the Falcons. Consider this. Rogers went 31 for 36 with 3 TD passes completing 26-28 directed toward his wide receivers. That was 26 out of 28 for those of you not paying attention.

The QB formerly known as Matty Ice left this game looking for respect. Ryan will have to learn from mistakes such as forcing the ball resulting in a game-changing interception return for a TD while only down 21-14 late in the first half.

No team in the playoffs has been disrespected as much as the Chicago Bears. Despite the Bears having a 11-5 regular season record and the 7-9 Seahawks having a 2-6 road record, several in the NFL media had the gall to predict that the Seahawks would beat the Bears in Chicago. Crack smoking junkies.

Repeat after me the Seahawks suck. Repeat after me again, the Bears are pissed that they have not received any respect all season despite some big wins (including over the Jets and beating the Packers in Green Bay).

Apparently the “no respect” theory beats the “nobody believes in us theory” hands down.

Speaking of no respect, did anyone on the field want this game as much as Jay Cutler? Cutler ran with authority and delivered beautiful passes, in bad weather, when needed.

Give Pete Carroll credit though. It’s tough to motivate an entire team that is being paid, rather than motivating 4-5 guys by paying them.

Mark Sanchez, Aaron Rogers, Jay Cutler and Ben Roethlisberger are all in the NFL Final Four. Could the Manning, Brady & Brees, era be ending, not over, but ending?

After a relatively boring Divisional Round, other than the Ravens/Steelers game, the Conference Championship games look amazing. Look for more on those games on Friday.

To get you to Friday, enjoy a very respectable beer, Avery Old Jubilation Ale. Believe it or not as we are heading toward late January it will become tougher to find some classic winter ales. Grab an Old Jubilation (ABV 8.0) while you can. Like many winter ales, initially Old Jubilation has a sweet taste that is balance by the malts resulting in a smooth finish. Unlike many Colorado beers, Old Jubilation is worth the hype.

1 2 3 4 Pressure

2011-01-13T09:57:00.002-05:00

The Seattle Seahawks shocked the football world and the New Orleans Saints in the opener of the 2011 Wild Card weekend. I was wrong. So were millions of other people. How did this happen?

Simple really. The Saints blatantly overlooked the Seahawks. It was not hard to do. After all so did most of the football world.
The Seahawks regular season record was 7-9 and they had to beat the St Louis Rams on the last weekend of the season to even get in the playoffs. Due to some crazy NFL rules, all division winners receive a home game even if their record is, yes, 7-9.

What else can explain the terrible tackling display by a relatively solid Saints defense? The Marshawn Lynch run was amazing, but did he really juke anyone? No, he simply showed great physical power and was the beneficiary of some horrid tackling. Credit Lynch, but watch the highlight and count the poor tackle attempts.

The Lynch run, which I dare say is overrated, exemplified the poor defensive play of the Saints all game. The Saints somehow managed to make washed up QB Matt Hasselback look young again. You have to admire Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll for selling the Seahawks that they could win this game. Carroll has not had a sales job like that since he recruited at USC, only this time it was apparently within league rules.

Congratulations Seattle. You have an all expense paid for trip to have your asses handed to you in Chicago.

There was a great John McEnroe Bic shaving commercial in the 1980’s. Something like some people like John McEnroe, some people hmmmmm. The same goes with Peyton Manning, but for very different reasons.

Manning is as intense a competitor as possible. Somehow he balances his on field competitive nature with a great sense of humor off the field. This is similar to McEnroe. For some reason (jealousy), this creates animosity toward Manning. Is Manning overexposed? Sure, but not compared to Brett Favre. Is he overrated? Not really. Yes, Manning should have more championships to be considered the best of all time. The simple point is that many of the Colt teams over achieved due to Manning (see Elway, John). The 2010 Colt team never makes the playoffs without Manning.

The Colts have 18 players on injured reserve. The list includes some of Manning's favorite pass targets in Dallas Clark, Anthony Gonzalez and Austin Collie. On defense, never a Colt strong suit, they lost annual injury-bound Bob Sanders, LB Glen Cody and 9 (not a typo) other DB’s. Yikes.

All teams have injuries this time of year. This is another reason not to have an 18 game schedule which is pure insanity. However, the Jets simply were less injured than the Colts and definitely in less key positions.

Yet, Marc Sanchez did his best to keep the Colts in the game until the end. The Colts left too much time on the clock (wonder if that happens with Clark & Collie playing) after Adam Vinieteri’s go ahead field goal. To complicate matters, the Colt special teams allowed a long kick return by Antonio Cromartie. Sanchez miraculously moved the Jets into easy makable FG range on an amazing catch by Braylon Edwards. Game Over. Manning gets criticized. Jets move on.

The Kansas City Chiefs were a fun story all season. They exceeded expectations with a solid defense, great running game and took advantage of playing in a poor division. Unfortunately for the young Chiefs, the Baltimore Ravens are at a different place in their playoff maturation.

In reality, the Chiefs need more players other than Jamal Charles, Tamba Hali and Eric Berry. The Chiefs immaturity led to 5 turnovers while the Ravens offense essentially did what it needed to all day. Todd Heap riddled the Chiefs all day catching 10 passes for over 100 yards. This game ended up being the only laugher of the weekend.

Many believed that the Green Bay Packers vs. the Philadelphia Eagleswould be the game of the week with two high powered offenses lighting up the scoreboard.

Both Mike McCarthy and Andy Reid receive a decent amount of criticism for not winning championships despite having highly rated teams on paper. Sometimes fairly, sometimes not so much.

This game had all the signs of an aerial showcase, but something strange happened.

McCarthy completely surprised Reid and his overmatched defesnsive coordinator Sean McDermott by running the ball early and often with formerly little known James Starks. Starks torched the Eagles with 123 yards on 23 carries. This was critical for two reasons. Green Bay QB Aaron Rogers was very shaky with ball and missed some wide open guys that he would normally hit.

The second reason was by controlling the ball with five minute, seven minute and six minute scoring drives, the Pack kept Mike Vick off the field and limited the Eagles opportunities. McCarthy's effective strategy begs the question if Andy Reid gave any, I mean any, consideration to using a similar game plan with a far more proven RB LeSean “Shady” McCoy. The Eagles scoring drives were 4 minute and less than 2 minutes (due to a Green Bay turnover).

Anyone that has watched McCoy this year noticed that he has made a significant jump to one of the elite backs in the league. Early prediction – unless McCoy starts getting the ball 15-20 times a game consistently, he will leave the Eagles when he becomes a free agent in 2013.

By stubbornly not running McCoy, Reid once again left Vick exposed to several hits by the Pack defense. Yes Andy, we can do the math and know that David Akers missed two key field goal attempts that he usually makes with ease. However, smart fans understand that the Packers would have changed their offensive philosophy had either of those FG's been made. Using Reid’s logic, even though my math skills are not as good as his, one could also suggest that the Eagles were lucky to even be in the game considering James Jones drop of a beautiful Rogers bomb that would have given the Pack a 21-3 lead at halftime.

It is time for a quick Over Beers reality check. The Eagles are a middle of the pack team with an amazing talent in Vick that kept them in games. Their offensive line was well offensive. The Eagles defense was poor all season. Using the Reid school of thought, rather than acknowledging this, McDermott went on the defensive suggesting that his defense “kept the team in the game.” Did they, or did Green Bay simply get conservative with a two score lead?

Let’s deal with DeSean Jackson too. Surely you remember his amazing punt return against a fading Giants team in early December. What an amazing play and talent. Do you also remember the dropped pass at the Green Bay seven yard line that stopped a potential scoring drive? To refresh your memory, Vick hit him in the numbers, but he heard footsteps and dropped the ball just like he did in an earlier loss to the Chicago Bears. Newsflash, DeSean is soft. He does not like contact. Big players make big plays. Big egos talk about making big plays.

“It is a bad way to go out, but hey I went out swinging.” Did anyone else find this comment by Vick interesting? Hmmm. That sounded a lot like pre-converted Mike Vick. Remember, Vick has yet to go through an off-season without drama.

The divisional playoff round is the best NFL weekend of the season. The best eight remaining teams slug it out over two days. Even better, this weekend also includes two bitter rivalries. Every year it looks like the favorites should win and every year an unexpected team ruins the party. Who will that team be this year?

The Divisional weekend kicks off with one of those rivalries, the Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers. The teams dislike each other as much as the fans do. Each game this year and for the last several seasons has been a nail-biter. You know the players are into it when the Ravens Terrell Suggs openly where’s a t-shirt like this.

The Steelers and Ravens split their 2 games this year including the first one without starting QB Ben Rothlisberger. Each game has been decided by 3 points. So what will be the deciding factors on Saturday?

There has been lots of hype about both Matt Ryan (more on him later) and Joe Flacco since they both have overachieved since being drafted in 2008. Flacco is solid, but Rothlisberger will be the difference in this game. Flacco will be called upon late in the game to make the big play. Unfortunately for the Ravens, he will not. The Steelers win a close one.

Green Bay vs. Atlanta is the Saturday nightcap. Atlanta has not received the respect typically found in a 13-3 team. Why? They do not have dominant players. Similar to Flacco, I don’t buy the Matty Ice propaganda. Has Ryan won a big game yet in his career? Has he put the team on his back and said we will not lose this game? Nope. He won’t on Sunday either.

The Pack has Rogers, Charles Woodson and Clay Matthews Jr. Green Bay is built to play in a dome. Watch Greg Jennings have a huge day with James Starks (that guy again) keeping Atlanta off balance all day. Rogers goes for 300 yards while Matty Ice melts.

Sunday’s games start with a clunker. The Chicago Bears will destroy Seattle on Sunday by at least two touchdowns. The Bears are far more talented, have a revenge game (Seattle beat them 23-20 on October 17th) and possibly most importantly are playing with a huge chip on their shoulder. The only team that has received less respect than the Falcons this year is the Bears. That changes on Sunday setting up another rivalry revenge game with the Packers coming to Soldier Field to play the Bears in the NFC title game. Even Jay Cutler will not ruin this.

That leaves us with the final game of the weekend, another bitter rivalry between the NY Jets and the New England Patriots. As expected Rex Ryan is once again running his big mouth off this time picking on Tom Brady. Memo to Rex, nobody on the Patriots cares. At least now everyone understands why Ryan likes to continually put his foot in his mouth. Hey now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This game starts close because the Jets will be fired up and New England’s defense and skill players on offense are young and relatively inexperienced. The game will change late in the 2nd quarter or early in the 3rd quarter when this game becomes a laugher at the expense of Ryan. Bill Belechik will take away the Jets running game and make Marc Sanchez beat them. Sanchez will fall for the bait and ultimately make too many mistakes as that is what he does. Tom Brady will be Tom Brady. The result is New England in a laugher.

Winter, and in particular January is great Stout weather. There are many great craft beer stouts to choose from. Lately, I have been enjoying Terrapin Moo Hoo Milk Stout. This stout uses its many cocoa and chocolate ingredients to give it a smooth taste perfect for these cold evening. The combinatation of it's chocolatey goodness and 6.0% ABV make it very enticing to enjoy more than 1.

2010 NFL Season Recap & Wildcard Weekend Thoughts

2011-01-06T19:08:00.000-05:00

Well that week 17 was exciting huh? All those old school division match-ups – Bears vs. Packers, Cowboys vs. Eagles, Chiefs vs. Raiders, etc. how could thisnot be an amazing weekend of football?

What? Oh yeah. I forgot the inaugural “win and you are in” game between the Rams and Seahawks. How could I? After all, it proved to be yet another cure for insomnia.

Welcome to 2011 where Over Beers only resolution is to continue keeping it real because we're keeping it real. Ok, that made no sense, but that’s why we have beer.

Enough. So what did we learn in the 2010 NFL regular season?

How about a Top 10 List?

10. Arian Foster led the NFL in rushing. Jamal Charles was 2nd. Brandon Lloyd led the NFL in receiving, while Roddy White followed. I’m sure this was the first round draft order in fantasy leagues too.

9. Brett Favre retired yet again. What will ESPN have to report on now? Real sports stories with thoughtful cutting analysis? Ummmmm....nah.

8. Randy Moss played for 3 teams that all played better without him.

7. A Jay Cutler-led team that plays good solid defense can be successful even with a receiving core of Johnny Knox, Devin Hester and Earl Bennett. That is far more impressive than it sounds.

6. The Matt Moore, Alex Smith, Kyle Orton, Chad Henne, Jason Campbell experiments have mercifully ended. Unfortunately, the Tim Tebow experiment has just started. God help him. (Get it?)

5. The Donovan McNabb era (newly defined as 1 year) ended unceremoniously after a hugely over-exaggerated contract extension (smoke & mirrors) and subsequent benching. Playoffs? Don’t talk about Playoffs! Are you kidding me? Playoffs?

4. Mike Vick, hero to millions or is it minions? Either way Vick proved himself to be the most exciting player in the NFL and an amazing competitor. Here is genuinely hoping his off season behavior matches his on field play.

3. You can demonstrate progress year over year, go 6-0 in your division and still be fired for no other reason than Al Davis is the owner.

2. Rex Ryan is as big an asshole as we all thought he was. Sadly, his foot fetish exploits have nothing to do with this statement of fact.

1. The Patriots, Steelers & Ravens, were for the most part who we thought they were. The Falcons, Bucs, Eagles & Chiefs were significantly better than we thought they were.

Wild Card Weekend Thoughts

The Saints will destroy the Seahawks well because the Seahawks suck and do not deserve to be in the playoffs. With Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory on the IR for the season the Saints may have issues playing either at Chicago or Philly next week.

The Jets will win a close game against the Colts. The Jets just have more healthy players. Peyton Manning will make it close and potentially pull it out at the end because he is, well, Peyton Manning. Unfortunately, the jackass (Rex Ryan) express will most likely continue for one more week. Watch Shonn Greene. He seems reenergized much to the dismay of fantasy owners everywhere that overvalued him at draft time.

The Chiefs are a great story of this NFL season. Unfortunately, they do not have enough yet to take out the Ravens. Ray Rice seems ready to explode in this game and Anquan Boldin will also have a major impact while the Ravens defense slows the Chiefs running game down.

The game of the week is the Packers vs. the Eagles. Neither team likes to run the ball. The only difference on the offense side of the ball is that the Eagles have a stud RB in LeSean McCoy and the Pack do not. Still, this game at some point will come down to which defense can stop the other offense. And as stated here, the Eagles defense is horrible and the Pack has Clay Matthews and Rod Woodson. They will be the difference.

Peter King, easily the best NFL writer in the business has recently added a “beernerdness” blurb to his great weekly Monday Morning Quarterback column. King has made a few good selections, but could definitely expand his horizons. Hey Peter, it is a compliment that you picked up on something I have been doing since October of 2009. Much love.

Monks is a Belgian Bar located in Philadelphia. It may be one of the first Belgian bars established in the US. They serve excellent mussels & frites, but the real story is the beer. They do not have a beer menu. Monks has a beer bible as well as several rotating taps focused on primarily Belgian beers with a nice selection of US craft beer as well.

At a recent visit, I was lucky enough to try a La Chouffe Houblon. This is an excellent Belgian beer. It is a rare combination of a US craft strong IPA and a Belgian trippel. Typically in a beer with a 9% ABV you can readily taste the alcohol. With the Chouffe Houblon you simply taste a terrific blend of malts (slightly bitter) with a dry fruity finish. This is a serious beer that has championed the cause of comparing beer to wine. Cheers!

There Goes My Hero

2010-12-23T18:27:00.000-05:00

Monday Night Football brought about another exciting return of Brett Favre. This was a perfect time for ESPN to break from tradition and play the Foo Fighters “My Hero” song. Most of American would have thought the song was a fitting tribute to Favre. Me? I would have focused on the line “there goes my hero. He’s ordinary.”

At 41 years old, having suffered several serious hits this year and over his career, Brett Favre is ordinary.

From the moment that Mr. Ego decided that he was going to play I figured that this was a mistake. It was something like 10 degrees against a quality Chicago Bears defense that was going to hit the QB. The game meant more to the Bears (NFC North Division lead, #2 seed in NFC at stake) than the Vikings.

So why did Vikings coach Leslie Frazier give in to Mr. Ego and let him play?

After one good drive, Favre was ummmm ordinary. Worse than ordinary, he got knocked out of the game later in the first half. Like Favre or not, this is no way for a former hero to go out.

The Philadelphia Eagles comeback versus the NY Giants was one for the ages. Unfortunately, most people will only remember the game winning punt return by Over Beers new public enemy number one, DeSean Jackson. Great play? Sure. Heroic act, hardly. Jackson’s actions remind me of another hero lyric, “ain’t nobody’s hero, but he wants to be heard.”

Jackson is a super talent. Super talent’s get their bell rung too. That reminds me of a funny story. Years ago at a bar a drunk guy decides to come after one of my bigger friends. The drunk guy, filled with beer courage says "I'm not afraid of you" to my friend. My friend replies with the classic, "you don't have to be afraid to get your ass kicked." Words of wisdsom for DeSean...For two weeks in a row, Jackson has made an amazing football play and demeaned it with unnecessary “look at me” actions. Something tells me that the both the Giants and Cowboys (and probably many other teams) may have long memories regarding this.

In reality, the Jackson punt return overshadowed the real hero of the game, Mike Vick. At one point in the 4th quarter the fox camera caught Vick on the sideline pacing with a very serious look on his face. The look said this is not over, not by a long shot. The score was 31 – 10 at the time. Vick proceeded to put the Eagles on his back and take over the game. At 31-24 even the Giants knew they were going to lose.

I want to congratulate Bill Cowher, or his people, in announcing the teams that he would coach next year. The Dolphins, Giants, and Texans promptly took Cowher off their holiday card list. Hey Bill, you may want to consider 2 simple things. Each of those teams has a head coach. With the status of the 2011 season risky at best, many teams that would normally consider a coaching move will hold tight rather than risk paying a coaching contract for a strike season. Then again, maybe Cowher put that info out there to get Jerry Jones to stop pursuing him.

If you have Sirius/XM radio, listen to the NFL Blitz during the week with Adam Schein. This guy has a voice for radio and really knows football. That’s kind of the opposite of Bill Simmons who has a face for writing. Heyooooo!

Adam Schefter is a great source of NFL breaking news. He has done an admirable job of creating sources league wide and due to this frequently breaks stories. It is clearly his strength. Why does ESPN allow him to write a weekly column during the season? In week 15 with critical match-ups including the Eagles/Giants, Saints/Ravens, Pack/Patriots Schefter's big story is the Bengals versus the Panthers in the battle for the #1 pick in the draft. Outside of the thriving Cincinnati and Charlotte and greater Niagara Falls areas, who cares? What about Denver? They are in the hunt too? Hello Carlo.

Who is as excited as I am about San Francisco versus St. Louis in a battle for NFC West supremacy, I mean mediocrity? Winner potentially gets to host a playoff game and get their asses handed to them. Although don’t forget about barely breathing Seattle who could also stumble to a division win. NFL parity, catch the excitement.

So Ohio State has suspended 5 players including QB Terrelle Pryor. Anyone surprised, or have you forgotten about the Maurice Clarrett fiasco that coach Jim Tressel magically escaped from unscathed. Here's an official welcome to the Teflon club. Lou Holtz will show you to your seat.

It is Christmas week so time to ratchet up the beer recommendation for the holiday. To help get through this weekend, I encourage you to have a Troeg’s Mad Elf. Drink this cherries-based Belgian in a snifter or chalice shaped glass and let it breathe. The cherry taste is subtle, but the ABV is not at 11%. Hello Carlo again.

Happy Holidays.

The Abbreviated Return of the Chucklehead

2010-12-17T15:55:00.001-05:00

Ah, that was a good day.

Remember?

Talk of Donovan McNabb being the next John Elway resulting in Washington Redskin Super Bowls. What?

Remember the laughable quotes that I informed you about from the Redskins about McNabb’s positive leadership skills? Remember ignoring that division rival Philadelphia Eagles traded their then starting QB for 11 years within the division for a 2nd round pick? Hello Dumb Dumb.

Just because I care, Over Beers also appropriately profiled McNabb’s overstated leadership skills here.

Then of course we all remember that fateful October 4th game where McNabb came back to Philadelphia to settle all scores. The Redskins won the game and McNabb proclaimed in the locker room that the Eagles had made a mistake. Chucklehead.

Of course, I told you then that the national media bought the hype and that in reality the Redskins running game was the difference and McNabb only threw the ball 18 times because Coach Mike Shanahan already knew he had a mistake at QB.

Then just a few short weeks ago, the National Media grossly overstated McNabb’s $78M contract extension deciding not to wait to get the facts which included the Redskins ability to dump McNabb for only $3.5M.

Now, Donovan McNabb has been benched for Rex Grossman. Coach Mike Shanahan said he informed McNabb of the move Thursday after practice, adding he wasn't sure that McNabb would be on the roster next year. The move was made because Shanahan wants to evaluate the other quarterbacks now that the Redskins have been eliminated from the playoffs. Not on the roster?  And this is from the great QB evaluator that resurrected John Elway's career? Uh-oh.

Even more embarrassing, McNabb will drop to third string for the final two games, with John Beck serving as backup.  John Beck? Beck does have an impressive 7 fumbles in 5 games played in the NFL. Sorry Don, we just have to evaluate all the QB's on the roster (translation = dumpsville population you)

As Andy Reid surmised back in April, the 34-year-old McNabb is struggling through his worst season since he was a rookie in 1999, having thrown a career-high 15 interceptions and ranking 25th in the NFL with a 77.1 rating.

Sadly, another NFL team will make the same mistake as the Redskins and be the next team to revitalize/finalize McNabb's career.

In a bit of confusing information, this news led ESPN’s Adam Schefter to tweet the following, “How fitting: The Redskins and Donovan McNabb married on Easter night and are divorcing just over a week before Christmas.”

Now, I’m not really sure what Schefter means by this. I am pretty confident that Schefter either requires more than Twitter’s 140 characters allowed or he simply should try not to offer opinions as they tend to be completely nonsensical or not newsworthy. More on this next week…

The signs were all there. They always were.

• The trade within the division by a coach who is acclaimed at coaching QB’s (See Vick, Mike 2010 version).

• The desperate coach trying to relive glory days when he had an older QB (Elway far superior skill set).

• The team trying to say the right things about the new QB being a leader in simpler times like training camp. Leadership qualities tend to be demonstrated in challenging times though.

• The horrible on field decision making, completion percentage and very noticeable aging of a guy who played best when moving in the pocket.

If you paid attention, the only surprising element of the benching was that McNabb has fallen below Rex Grossman. The rest was there in front of your own eyes.

Continuing with the holiday beer season, try a Lagunitas Brown Shugga. Lagunitas is one of my favorite brewers. I like everything that they brew.  The Brown Shugga, with one of the best beer names, is perfect for the holiday season. Like many holiday beers, this is an amber colored ale brewed with real brown sugar balanced with a slightly citrus hoppy taste. It rings the bell at an 9.8% ABV which really helps quickly take off the chill or quite frankly make you forget what season it is. Cheers.

Rules of the Game

2010-12-09T16:15:00.000-05:00

Michael Vick is leading the NFL fan’s Pro Bowl voting with approximately 730,000 votes. He leads Peyton Manning by approximately 40,000 and Tom Brady by over 100,000 votes. Is it just me or is this slightly disturbing? Does anyone else remember that in late June early July of this year, Vick was being investigated regarding his involvement at a shooting during a birthday party in his honor?

After serving his jail sentence for illegal dog fighting and killing dogs Vick stated that he is a changed man. That same changed man ends up a party in his honor (I believe anyone could attend for a fee - brilliant planning) where a man formerly involved in the same dog cruelty issues was shot. To be fair, the investigation found Vick innocent.

The morning of the party according to a Sports Illustrated article (November 29, 2010); Vick questioned his actions and not listening to his mother who suggested that he did not go to the party. Remember that event was less than 6 months ago.

In the same article, former head coach and current NFL players’ evangelist Tony Dungy visited Vick in prison. Dungy came away impressed because Vick wanted to be a better father and a better man.

Seems noble right? Let me pose this question. After you have had too much to drink or been caught doing something unethical, do you not have remorse? I do. Was the remorse genuine or because you got caught?

So actions speak louder than words right? And to his credit Vick does a fair amount of public speaking regarding how wrong his former life was and how he is now changed. Cynically, does Vick really have a choice in this matter? Was it part of a deal with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodall? Speaking of Goodall, he and Eagles owner Jeff Lurie have been frequently quoted as impressed by Vick's behavior since his return. Is this a tiny bit hard to believe considering that both Goodall and Lurie have the most to lose (other than Vick) if Vick's behavior changes?

For the best interest in professional sports, the NFL and Vick it would be beneficial if he truly is rehabilitated. Vick certainly has paid his debt to society and brought positive attention to dog fighting and the ASPCA.

I simply question how fast NFL fans can forget the heinous acts he admittedly performed and this quickly make him 1 of the most popular figures in the NFL and sports. Would this be the case if he was Kevin Kolb's back-up? If you are a dog lover and an Eagle fan do you have any moral struggle rooting for Vick each week? Before everyone gets on board, can Vick have just 1 off-season where his name is out of the headlines?

The rule of the gamehas become that if you have enough money and can dominate a sport, your off field-conduct hardly matters.

Well well well. As written here, New England now is the hands down (what does that even mean hands down?) media favorite NFL flavor of the week. Anyone notice that the national media is trying to make the NFL similar to the BCS by continually ranking the “best” teams? The good news is that the media’s rankings have about the same credibility changing on a weekly basis.

The Patriots destroyed the NY Jets Monday night. Destroyed may actually be too soft a word to describe this massacre. Marc Sanchez looked like a scared west coast QB and the vaunted Rex Ryan-led NY Jet defense was completely outplayed by guys names BenJarvus, Woodhead, Gronkowski and some guy you may have heard of named Tom Brady.

I still do not buy into New England as the NFL’s best team. Their lack of skill players on offense and youth on defense will catch up to them at some point. Still, Tom Brady is the NFL MVP. Give Mike Vick the comeback player of the year award. Do you really think Vick has the same success for a team with BenJarvus at RB, Welker as lead WR and Gronkowski at TE? Please.

If you are an NFL fan, you must like watching the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Baltimore Ravens. One of the plays of the 2010 season is Troy Polamalu’s sack versus the Ravens who were leading by 10 points in the 4th quarter with less than 4 minutes to go. The Steelers call a blitz with Polamalu on Joe Flacco’s left side and Lawrence Timmons on the right edge. Ray Rice picks up Simmons leaving Polamalu alone. This was a horrible decision by Flacco, who at this point in his career should know to check out of the play. Result, sack, fumble Steelers score winning TD. Welcome to the wildcard hunt Ravens.

So Urban Meyer retired as Florida football coach for the 2nd time in 12 months (must be a record right?). Time will give us the real answers on this, although it does sound a little Favre like. WTF does the following quote piss me off so much? “The world of college football will miss Urban," said former USC coach Pete Carroll, who left his job for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks. "He did a great job coaching at Florida. He had major personal issues and health issues a year ago, and I'm sure that he did everything he could to fight it off. Now he's making decisions that are probably exactly what he needs to be doing."

My people tell me that Carroll excused himself from his weekly poker game with like coaches Bobby Bowden, Lou Holtz and basketball coaches John Calipari and Rick Pitino. In case you were interested the poker game is high stakes, very hush-hush and must frequently move to a new location for a fresh start.

Continuing with the holiday season of beer, this week I recommend a Fireside Chat by 21st Amendment Brewery. In staying with the tradition, the beer has a hoppy spice to it comparable to the Anchor Steam Holiday beer. It registers a solid 7.9% ABV which his perfect to take the chill off the season.

NFL Week 12 & the 2010 NFL MVP Race

2010-12-03T13:01:00.001-05:00

First and foremost congratulate the Atlanta Falcons for officially being this week’s best team in the NFL. Enjoy the week Falcon fans. The Eagles enjoyed their status, until they played an above average offense in Chicago and well, you know the rest.

Unfortunately for Atlanta, even if they beat the Tampa Bay Bucs this week, it really does not matter. The winner of the NY Jets versus the New England Patriots game will be anointed the official best team in the NFL next week by the national media.

Like it or not, this is shaping up to be a team of the week season.

Week 12 was interesting with a fair amount of match-ups involving the “top” teams.

Atlanta beat Green Bay at home in a very close game where Matt Ryan was the difference. Ryan is 18-1 at home and at this point the Falcons look like a good bet for home field advantage. That looks good on paper, but would you bet them to make the Super Bowl even with home field advantage?

The New Orleans Saints were very fortunate to beat the Dallas Cowboys on an amazing play by Malcolm Jenkins when Roy Williams was 10 yards away from giving the Saints their 4th loss of the season. Jon Kitna lighting up your defense at will should not give Saints fans very much confidence.

The Baltimore Ravens took care of the Tampa Bay Bucs in a game that exposed both teams as being non-contenders. The Ravens defense is not even close to what it used to be and they still struggle throwing the ball. The Steelers will take them out this week assuming Big Ben is healthy enough to play.

A new/old contender is going to replace Tampa as an elite contender this week. If it is November/December then the San Diego Chargers are on a winning streak again. Seems Norv Turner just can't coach until November and December and then reverts to his September status again in January. Got that?

We can also officially put the Mike Vick MVP discussion on hold indefinitely as well. Vick showed to be human (kind of funny considering his previous reputation huh?) by throwing a critical interception in the end zone that changed the entire scope of the game against the Bears.

Sure interceptions can happen, but also consider this.

Vick has only played 8 games (including last night's game against Houston). The other QB MVP contenders have played 11 games heading into this weekend.

Phillip Rivers and Tom Brady have thrown for 3,362 and 2,703 yards respectively (in 11 games). Vick has thrown for 2,243.

Rivers and Brady have 23 TD passes. Vick has 15.

Rivers sometimes has Antonio Gates to throw too along with Malcolm Floyd and Patrick Crayton and no running game, none.

Brady has Wes Welker, an old Deion Branch, Aaron Hernandez and some guy name Gronkowski in his receiving core. Yikes. To offset that Brady has the venerable Danny Woodhead and BenJarvus running the ball. BenJarvus is now officially in the Bono, Elvis, Pele, O.J., Tyson, Kobe world. Rumor has is that if Deion Sanders has another child, he is considering naming him BenDeion, but I digress.

Vick has Jeremy Macklin, DeSean Jackson, overrated Brent Celek, and underrated LeSean McCoy.

Which group of skill players would you take? Hello. Yoohoo.

Is Vick having a great year? Sure, but Rivers and Brady have had better years, playing 4 more games with significantly less skilled players. Rivers has a chance to surpass Dan Marino's NFL record for passing yards too. Brady and Rivers also deserve greater consideration for playing in a superior conference.

Vick is also showing signs of slowing down as he continues to get hit more each game and as NFL defenses adjust to him.

Last case in point, Kevin Kolb playing in a game while Vick was hurt (get used to that Eagles fans) against current NFL flavor of the week Atlanta Falcons, threw for 326 yards and 3 TD’s. Think that diminishes Vick's MVP consideration at least a little?

Quick Hitters:

The NFL network needs to replace Joe Theismann, like yesterday. He talks incessantly and rarely has any awareness as to what is actually occurring in the game. C’mon NFL, you can do better. Much better.

If Mike Vick really wants to improve his human being credibility, I strongly suggest that he only accepts interviews from competent reporters. James Brown was fine. Tony Dungy has somehow become the moral conscience of the NFL. Even though that is completely ridiculous, I mean ludicrous, it makes sense that Vick would allow Dungy to interview him. Now, if you truly are trying to improve your off-field perception, respectfully decline the Deion Sanders interview. Can anyone really take this guy seriously? Deion is all about Deion. How can he help Vick's credibility? Trying to add a little perspective on this consider that Deion named his daughter Deiondra. You can't make this stuff up. C'mon Mike choose your interviews wisely. Who's next, hard hitting Mike Irvin?

How many people in survivor pools were very nervous when Carolina’s John Kasay attempted his game winning FG versus Cleveland last Sunday?

Did you know that the Cowboys are 1-5 at JerryWorld this year? Think that makes Jerry Jones happy in the year that he is hosting the Super Bowl?

Hines Ward’s outspoken interview this week was outstanding. Finally, a player willing to call the League out about their blatant hypocrisy feigning concern of the player’s health while insisting on an 18 game season.

The now popular theory that Peyton Manning is on the decline are premature. Is he having a challenging year? Sure. But, by whose standards? Would you take 3,344 yards and 22 TD’s through 11 games? Is there any chance that with Dallas Clark out for the year and Joseph Addai, Austin Collie, and Pierre Garcon injured for most of the year, that he may just be trying to do too much? Enjoy Manning while you can. He is an incredibly special player in the NFL old school mold.

Yes it is officially that time. Welcome to holiday beer season. Wahoo! I enjoyed my first Southern Tier Old Man Winter ale. As described by Southern Tier, it definitely takes the chill off with a 7.2% ABV. This amber ale that has a smooth finish mixed with subtle hops. Enjoy it in a wide glass to truly get a feel for the aroma and taste.

Flavor of the Week

2010-11-24T16:51:00.000-05:00

The teams with the best records through week 11 are:

NY Jets 8-2

New England Patriots 8-2

Atlanta Falcons 8-2

Baltimore Ravens 7-3

Pittsburgh Steelers 7-3

Philadelphia Eagles 7-3

Chicago Bears 7-3

Green Bay Packers 7-3

New Orleans Saints 7-3

Tampa Bay Bucs 7-3

Any dominant teams jump out at you?

Me either.

It is quite easy to find major flaws in each of those teams listed. Off the top of my head here are just a few:

The Jets do not dominate any teams (good or bad) and their defense, a supposed strength, is easy to run on and gives up far to many points and yards.

New England has very limited skill players and their D is awfully young. Do you really want to trust Danny Woodhead and BenJarvus Green-Ellis in January running the football? Do you really want to trust anyone named BenJarvus?

The Steelers offensive line is well offensive. They are 1 injury away from playing Flozell, the human penalty machine, Adams.

Speaking of probable injuries, the Eagles are a Vick injury (it is a matter of when, not if) away from mediocrity and their defense has yet to play a good offensive team this year. Don’t give me the injury riddled Colts either. Seriously, what good offense have the Eagles played? The Giants had 2 injured offensive lineman and 2 wide receivers that they signed off the street the week before last week's game.

The Bears have Jay Cutler. Enough said.

The Pack has no running game. Lambeau Field is not exactly conducive to an all air it out attack in late January.

The Saints are starting Julius Jones at RB. Anyone trust Garrett Hartley for a game winning FG?

Baltimore’s defense is finally showing some age. Carolina scored 13 points against them with somebody named Brian St Pierre playing QB.

Atlanta and Tampa Bay are well Atlanta and Tampa Bay. We will learn a lot about Atlanta this weekend when they play Green Bay although it is in Atlanta. The Eagles manhandled the Falcons with Kevin Kolb playing QB. That’s not exactly encouraging. Tampa Bay is a great Cinderella story this year. Unfortunately for a young team with limited playmakers (Rhonde Barber anybody?), the clock is going to turn midnight awfully fast.

Looking at other divisions, Seattle, Jacksonville and KC lead their respective divisions. Yikes. They all scream one and done in the playoffs. San Diego you say? Say it all you want. Norv Turner. Next question please.

Somewhere Pete Rozelle is smiling. Are you?

Sure it is interesting that entering the 12th week of the NFL season there are no dominant teams. Every contending team has a chance to win it all or lose their first playoff game. Each week the national media anoints a new best team only to watch that team fall apart or at least back to the pack of pretenders. Remember when the Giants were the team to beat? Ah, that was a good day. And only a day.

I miss a dominant team. Wasn’t the NFL better when you just knew that the Cowboys, Steelers, Raiders, 49ers, or more recently Patriots were the team to beat? Those teams had both dominant offenses and defenses. They had star quality across the board mixed in with lunch pail guys like Billy Bates, Rocky Bleier , Todd Christensen, Tom Rathman.

Regardless of your rooting interests, was it not exciting when the NY Giants upset the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII even with Eli Manning trying to give it away? This was not simply the underdog effect. This was a wildcard team beating a dynasty in the making Patriots team. The game included one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history. Would the result have been as exciting if it was the NY Giants against either the Jacksonville Jaguars or San Diego Patriots? No, those teams did not dominate the 2007 season like the Patriots.

Are you really going to be jacked up watching a NY Jets versus Green Bay Packers Super Bowl this year? That does not excite you? How about the Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Atlanta Falcons? Ahh, nope. Then you would really love the Baltimore Ravens versus the Philadelphia Eagles. The 2011 battle of the birds. Sounds fowl to me.

In honor of the official beginning of the holiday season, the beer recommendation this week is Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale. Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams are often forgotten about with all of the amazing newer craft brewers in today’s marketplace. However, without Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams leading the way there may be no Dogfish Head, Founders, or Russian River.

Celebration Ale is a personal favorite of mine. It is a dry hopped amber Ale (6.8 ABV) with a nice bite blended with a slight citrus taste. Enjoy a few during the annual Thanksgiving games. Each game has good blow out potential. So maybe have more than a few.

Happy Thanksgiving.

All the News That’s Fit to Print?

2010-11-16T16:05:00.002-05:00

This is the New York Times motto dating back to 1986. I wonder how they feel about how news is published in 2010.

Yesterday ESPN’s Michael Smith reported that Donovan McNabb received a $78M contract extension with an estimated $40M in guaranteed money. This was huge news. Many of the usual suspects (Peter King, Michael Lombardi, Chris Mortenson) questioned the logic in giving an aging QB (34 November 2010) having his worst season since his rookie year such a huge contract.

Who, other than McNabb's family and agent, would not question this information?

A popular tweeted thought (oxymoron) was if McNabb was paid $78M, what would Michael Vick be Paid? In reality, the question should have been if McNabb is paid $78M, what is Vick worth? The Vick contract discussions will be interesting for many reasons and don’t think for a second that the Eagles (very savvy business people) won’t use Kevin Kolb as a negotiating piece. Remember that at a later date.

Sorry, I digressed.

The truth came out today that McNabb essentially received a $3.5M raise for this year with the Redskins having 4 one year options at no penalty. That is dramatically different than $40M in guaranteed money. I mean it is not even close and embarassing journalism.

So much for Donovan really just wanted to play in DC. The reality is the Redskins are the only team that wants McNabb and he knows it. It is a good deal for the Redskins and fair to McNabb. If the Redskins deem that he can still play in 2011, which is very questionable at this point, he gets $12.5M. There is no chance that he is a Redskin in 2012. Period. End of the McNabb part of the story.

The question that should be asked is why did ESPN report this story with incorrect, or at the very least with misleading information? Has the high tech world of tweets, blogs, facebook updates, etc. driven the media, in an effort to be first to market, to minimize the importance of producing accurate information? Does ESPN even care?

The hints were there. Typically when news like this is published we expect Jay Glazer, Adam Schefter, Mike Lombardi, Mortenson, King, etc to be the source. Sometimes, it is a local source from the team, team’s website or even the local paper (rare, but it happens). Who the hell is Michael Smith? How many stories has he broken? Again, did ESPN care?

I doubt it. They won the battle of first to market. Did that help drive viewership of the Monday Night Football pre-game show?

You bet.

Was it also coincidental that it was announced/leaked in the early evening of a Monday Night Football game broadcasted on… ESPN? I think not.

Was it not also interesting that Tuesday morning, ESPN’s Adam Schefter “broke” the news that in reality the contract only had $3.5M in guaranteed money? Hmmm. Schefter, an ESPN employee, is also a well-know Shanahan loyalist who authored the book “Think Like A Champion. Any guesses who co-authored that book?

Bingo. ESPN wins again.

This type of “breaking news” happens every day with very little thought to the accuracy or ramification if incorrect. Somewhere along the way our thirst for information or innuendo has replace our quest for facts.

There can be no debate however to the enjoyment of a Russian River Supplication Ale. Unlike some of the other Russian River offerings, the Pliny’s, the Supplication Ale (7.0 ABV) is relatively easy to find. It is not inexpensive (note the accuracy of the information), but it is damn tasty. The Supplication Ale is a Pinot Noir barrel aged ale combined with sour cherries. It has a slightly sour taste that mellows as you drink it. In this day an age have several on stand-by for the next breaking news event.

Where There Is Smoke...

2010-11-11T11:36:00.001-05:00

Strange days indeed…

My favorite excuse maker Donovan McNabb finally discussed his opinions on his benching and more importantly the crazy comments made by the Shanahan family. McNabb suggested that an implication that he doesn’t know the play book or has trouble calling plays in the huddle is “hilarious” and “really funny.”

Actually Donovan's play in the final 2 minutes of a game is hilarious and really funny. Apparently either McNabb gets great direction from his PR team or he really is as dumb as Kyle Shanahan thinks.

McNabb's head coach and offensive coordinator have lost faith in his ability to deliver with the game on the line. They have so little faith in McNabb that they replaced him with Rex Grossman. Do I really need to continue?

McNabb's end of game statistics, well there is no easy way to say this. They suck.

Since 2005, McNabb’s record in games with less than 5 minutes to go in a game that his team was tied or was losing is 3-13-1.

It was the tie that Donovan did not know the overtime rules either. McNabb believed that if the teams were tied after regulation, and after the overtime period, the game continued until a team won. He then furthered his ignorance by stating “I hate to see what happens in the Super Bowl, or I hate to see what happens in the playoffs. You have to settle with a tie."

What do you mean I don't know the play book?

That was in 2008 people. 2008.

Did the Shanahan’s handle this situation well? No. A coach should never leave their QB out to dry like that when you still have a chance at making the playoffs and are trying to build a new culture in the organization.

Was this racism as is now is being put out by McNabb’s savvy people, I mean being speculated by the media?

No. This is most likely a classic case of nepotism. Kyle Shanahan was fed up with McNabb’s play. He certainly was aware of McNabb’s historical end of game collapses and was so desperate that he went with Grossman. Smart move? Hell no. But if you read Mike Shanahan’s responses, it was clear that he was firmly making excuses to protect Kyle.

Regardless, McNabb's history tells the story. He is the classic victim. All day every day.

Oh well, onto the other fire of the week or as I like to call it “the Devil in Mr. Jones.”

The Dallas Cowboys finally removed Wade “Coach Cupcake” from his head coaching responsibilities. Rumor has it that Phillips looked 10 years younger and 50 pounds lighter as he left Valley Ranch. Does anyone else find it hysterical that the team gave Phillips a standing ovation as he left?

“Hey, sorry Wade. We totally quit on you this year and made you a national embarrassment in your last ever coaching assignment in the NFL.” But, the players will uncomfortably clap for you mostly in deference, but also because they probably suspect that the accountability has shifted solely to them.

Returning to the where there is smoke, there is fire theme, think about this.

Jerry Jones was quoted as saying he was “in denial” about this team until the Green Bay game. Hey Jerry, your beloved Super Bowl contenders were 1-6 (0-4 in Jerry World) going into the Green Bay game AFTER getting lambasted by the Giants at home (after spotting the Cowboys a 20-7 lead for grins) and then got crushed by the world beater Jacksonville Jaguars at home. During the Jaguar game the Cowboys defense (supposedly Phillips’ strength) allowed David Garrard to have a perfect quarterback rating. David Garrard. David F-ing Garrard.

While Jerry was in this stupor, sorry denial, he apparently did not read or hear that Garrard thought that the Cowboys defense was not trying as hard as they could and simply going through the motions. Garrard, who nobody will ever even confuse with even the aforementioned McNabb, could easily predict what the Cowboys were going to do on defense.

Speaking of denial, Jones had continually allowed and believed Phillips when Wade would continuously throw out lame excuses after losses like we out played them statistically, we made a few mistakes (the same ones for 3 years) that hurt us and of course the all time best we did win a playoff game during the bye week.

As most NFL fans realize, Wade did bring something to the table that few NFL coaches can. He was more than willing to be an absolute puppet for Jones with no care for the damage to his own reputation.

The hiring interview probably went something like this:

Jones (in a Boss Hogg voice): See Wade here in Dallas we are real interested in your ability to coach a 3-4 defense.

Phillips (in a Roscoe P Coltrane voice): Perfect, Jerry I have had success in Atlanta, Buff…

Jones: Great (totally not listening anymore), now the most important thing is that this here is Jerry’s world. Jerry runs the show. You get to be on TV during the game, but I am the big cheese. I decide the draft, the free agents and who starts. You just coach that Defense and let Tony win games for us. Now, we had a couple of fellas here that wanted it to be their show. That was not consistent with what we are trying to accomplish here.

Phillips: Winning Super Bowls?

Jones: Hell no. I have 3 of those.

Phillips: Sorry boss.

Jones: That’s Mr. Jones. And that is the answer on what we are trying to accomplish too.

Phillips: (head nodding up and down without a clue)

Jones: This is going to work out just great Wade.

Or not.

Jerry Jones and Wade Phillips discussing Wade's contract.

Jason Garrett has a fighting chance of success. He is smart. He apparently believes in accountability (Jones only accountability is the almighty dollar). Garrett most likely has 1.5 years due to the pending lockout. Maybe most importantly, he understands and has seen how Jones works. Hopefully for Garrett’s sake, he stands up to Jones on day-to-day decisions (e.g. Barber benched for a duo of Jones and Choice).

That is where the smoke gets ugly or threatening.

Up to Jones purchasing the team in 1989 there was 1 head coach. In the 21 years since then there have been 7 or (thinking feverishly…) 1 new head coach every 3 years. How many GM’s have been in place in those 21 years?

Jerry the GM is not going anywhere. He is just too damn stubborn for that. The Cowboys and their fans only hope is that Stephen Jones has the ability to persuade, beg, or drug his father and that a young coach, perhaps Garrett, can lead by example. This will have to happen in small wins (e.g. this year’s model showing some heart on the field) for Jerry to acquiesce on decisions such as who starts week to week, the draft and pursuit of free agents.

This becomes more critical with an aging OL (a position JJ always devalues) and an overrated defensive backfield in need of 3 new starters. The Romo, Witten, Gurode, Ware, James, Ratliff, Spencer core remains in their prime, but they require help fast. Help like Kyle Kosier, not Roy Williams.

Thankfully there are other continuing sagas to watch play out over the next few weeks. The Favre/Mr. Whipple (Childress) situation. The Moss in Tennessee situation. Or in other sports, The Chris Bosch debacle and The Cliff Lee sellout reality show. Thankfully there is no shortage, ever.

How will these be resolved? Well, where there is smoke…

In honor of our smoky theme, the beer recommendation of the week is a Stone Smoked Porter (5.9% ABV) Admittedly, I am not a big fan of smoked beers, but have found that Stone’s Smoked Porter has a great drinkability blending the smoky taste in a very subtle way. The chocolate and coffee mix very well with piney hops to creates a perfect porter to enjoy.

Fall Sports Lessons

2010-11-02T14:42:00.001-04:00

One of the all time classic movie quotes comes from the Godfather Part II’s Michael Corleone. He states, “if anything in this life is certain, if history has taught us anything, it is that you can kill anyone.”

What has sports history taught us in the past month?

Glad you asked:

You can win a World Series with great pitching and a group of cast-offs that get incredibly hot at the same time for no apparent reason.

Cody Ross would make a great rodeo clown and should strongly consider this career transition. Soon. Now.

The best team on paper does not win most of the time. See Yankees, New York; Phillies, Philadelphia.

Taco Bell can permanently retire the Joe Girardi & Mariano Rivera closer commercial. No need to replace them with Bruce Bochy and Brian Wilson. Side note, I’m not sure that Bochy’s head would fit in the commercial.

The Texas Rangers are good for baseball. Maybe Cliff Lee will figure this out, but probably after signing with the Yankees.

The Donovan McNabb experiment is charting exactly as planned (just not the Redskins plan).

So are the demise of Brad Childress, Mike Singletary and Coach Cupcake.

The Arizona Cardinals passed on Donovan McNabb to move forward with Derek Anderson and Max Hall.

Read that again.

Jerry Jones is the quintessential unchanging living proof that early success in the NFL is not always a good thing.

The Cowboys had Sean Payton, Todd Haley and Tony Sparano on the same NFL coaching staff and chose Wade Phillips to replace Bill Parcells. Sadly, Jones would make the same decision again today.

There really are no dominant NFL teams and there probably will not be for the balance of this season.

The Bucs, Chiefs, Titans, and the Lions are the exciting (not the best) teams to watch this year.

Brett Favre only cares about Brett Favre and his legacy, but does not realize that he is killing his legacy.

Randy Moss is a great guy in the room. We just don’t know which room. Champagne perhaps?

Mike Vick is the Eagle’s savior.

The Houston Texans will always underachieve.

The Oregon Ducks are the best team in College Football, but won’t be in January.

Lee Westwood is the number one Golf player in the world.

David Stern is considering contraction to avoid a lockout in 2011.

Uber-NBA fan and ESPN columnist Bill Simmons thinks that the NBA has more talent now than it has in decades.

ESPN and columnist do not seem like a natural pairing.

Although Halloween has passed, you can still access some quality Pumpkin beer. Try Brooklyn Brewery’s Post Road. This ale is available through November and has a nice combination of spice and malts with a great crisp (not crispy Phlat) finish. Unlike my other fall favorite Dogfish Punkin Ale (7.0), the ABV for Post Road is a reasonable 5.0.

After this nightmarish election season, more than a few Post Roads go along way and I endorse this message.

It is All About the Bats

2010-10-20T12:41:00.000-04:00

This is a simple game: You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball.

Hit’em where they ain’t.

The Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees are struggling with those clichés. Unfortunately for those teams they are following one of Yogi Berra’s many famous quotes “Slump? I ain't in no slump... I just ain't hitting.”

Think about this All Star line-up.

SS Jimmy Rollins .182

2B Chase Utley .190

3B Alex Rodriquez .192

1B Mark Teixeira .148

RF Jason Werth .190

CF Shane Victorino .208

C Jorge Posada .217

LF Nick Swisher .185

Normally, I’d take my chances with that line-up. Unfortunately this year the highest average in the bunch of them is Posada at .217.

So maybe the power numbers outweigh the averages since there have not been that many AB’s. Guess again. Utley, Werth and Teixeira share the lead with a whopping 1. RBI’s? Rollins and Utley have 4, although Rollins got 3 of his RBI’s on 1 hit.

In 2010, the year of the pitcher, the championship series are really all about the bats or lack of them. Seriously, Colby Lewis, Tommy Hunter and Matt Cain are hardly world beaters. Cain has been very good over the past few years, but hardly had dominating stuff in Game 3. He mostly followed a good plan against the Phillies, throw slow junk. Repeat. Mix in fastball on occasion.

Those guys are hardly Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum. As a matter of fact subtract Sandy Koufax, I mean Cliff Lee, and the other guys got hit pretty hard (did not give up a lot of runs, but definitely hit hard).

Two theories come to mind for the lack of hitting by the Phillies and Yankees.

1. The Rollover – How dare you hit HR’s and play small ball. Who the hell do you think you are? We are the Yankees and Phillies you mf’ers. Now be in awe of us and let us get on with the World Series.

2. The Let’s Get Mikey – Who is going to get the big hit for us? Umm, I don’t want to do it. You do it. Hey, I don’t want to do it either. Let’s get Mikey. In this case, Mikey is Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and/or Alex Rodriguez. The problem with this theory is that the best way to beat good pitching is to string together a series of good AB’s (hits and walks). The Yankees and Phillies appear to be playing Earl Weaver (wait for the 3R HR from Mikey) ball and it doesn’t work well in this year’s playoffs.

What happens next?

Well the Yankees hole is deeper at 3-1 in the ALCS, but they at least have CC Sabathia to rest their hopes on. Not a horrible option. But, watch these Yankees. Where is the swagger? Where is the confidence? Add a missing Teixeira due to injury and they could be in trouble unless they all start scratching out some hits. I say this ALCS goes back to Texas, where Texas ultimately prevails.

The Phillies are in a little better shape only down 2-1 in the NLCS. However, they really have no choice but to hit better. Joe Blanton does not pitch shutout ball. He battles, gives up 3-4 runs and hopes for run support. This series is all about Game 4. Whoever wins this game wins the NLCS. Period.

Flip the coin. The Rangers have a good hitting team. Their lineup is solid 1-9 and many times the bottom of the lineup gets the big hit (Bengie Molina 3R HR last night). They can hit for power and speed. Credit them for not being afraid of the once mighty Yankees.

The Giants? Are you kidding me? Sure statistically they are ok. Look closer. They are a team of cast-offs. You know guys that other teams did not want. Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell, Cody Ross, Edgar Renteria are all guys that no other team wanted. Burrell and Ross were picked up off waivers this year. Ross in particular has been unbelievable. He has always hit the Phillies well, but this has been amazing. (Small side note, Ross’ amazing hitting aside, does anyone give a shit about him almost becoming a rodeo clown? Why does this story continue to repeat every game? It must be because he looks like a rodeo clown right? Is the rodeo clown community upset about this? Is it because he’s like 5’9” with clown shoes on? Somebody help me or I’ll keep going.)

Look closer. They are loose and having fun. Which gets me back to “this is a simple game: You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball.”

It is that time of year again. Yes time for the Pumpkin beers. Admittedly, I have not tried many of them this year. New Holland’s Ichabod Ale, Brooklyn’s Post Road Pumpkin Ale, Southampton Pumpkin Ale and Southern Tier’s Pumking are all getting great reviews. For me though it is all about the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, but what do you expect from the king of off-centered beer. This brown ale has the perfect balance of spice and sweetness. Punkin is a classic beer that tastes very good allowing you to quickly forget that at an ABV of 7.0 you better check yourself before you wreck yourself (much like the Phillies and Yankees.

Southern Comfort

2010-10-14T14:41:00.000-04:00

T

Texas.

The boys and I visited Dallas, Texas this past weekend for a weekend of MLB playoff baseball and a regular season NFL game.

A little backdrop for those of you not paying attention (Wade Phillips, Andy Reid, Brad Childress, Norv Turner)… The Rangers surprised many by taking the first two games of the ALDS in Tampa for a commanding 2-0 lead. The Cowboys had high expectations (again) coming off of a must have win against the then impressive Houston Texans and a bye week. All of this equals a potentially exciting sports weekend.

Now for those of you (especially from the Northeast) that have not been to a sporting event in Dallas, this is a very different sports environment. Twilight Zone different.

The Ballpark at Arlington is impressive.

This is game 3 of a best of 5 series. The Rangers win this game and they win the series. People are excited, they can’t sit down to watch the game, at every opportunity they are on the Rays applying additional pressure.

Who am I describing? The Rangers fans? Incorrect. That would be 3 Phillies Fans and a Met fan that we brought with us for sympathetic reasons.

Annoying Met Fan

No lie.

When Matt Garza makes a key mistake who stands up and starts yelling “GARZA, GARZA, GARZA…?” Not the Ranger fans. Now, before you go down that evil Philly fan tact (get original will ya?), know this. We were polite. We recognized that there were children in our section. We simply stood up and cheered for the home team. Did the fans around us get upset? Hell no. They loved it. Did they join us? Nah, it just wasn’t them.

You’d think that after listening to country music or religion on almost every radio station that this fan-base would be vehemently angry. I mean Tea party angry.

Umm, not so much. At one point we spotted a Rays fan in a Carl Crawford jersey in a row below us and started having fun with him. What did he do? Stare straightforward like a zombie thinking “if I just ignore them they will go away.” Incorrect Carl wannabe. The Rangers fans reaction, “That's funny. You northerners are alright."

This was the most polite fan base that I have ever seen. When Darren Oliver, who I think came up with the 1986 Mets, started to give the game away how did the fans react? "That’s a darn shame. We’ll have to get them tomorrow."

What? Excuse me while I go buy another bacon-wrapped hot dog, sausage on a stick or our personal favorite, the enormous turkey leg.

Mmmm Turkey Leg

Southern hospitality I guess.

The fans at the Cowboys game are not much different, although significantly dumber I think. Or they are probably just comatose from the lackluster product currently playing at JerryWorld. Let’s just say this, if any team in the Northeast (Ravens, Steelers, Eagles, Jets, Giants, Patriots and even Redskins) played a must win game falling behind early 17-3, gave up 6 sacks, 3 turnovers and had 12 penalties including a potential game killer “celebration” penalty at the end of the game, JerryWorld would probably have been set on fire. No court in the land would have found someone guilty other than Wade Phillips ("Golly, he had a match and we just won our bye week game so we are 1 and 1 in the last 2 weeks.").

Phillips of course was quoted after the game saying “Our quarterback is throwing the ball well; our receivers are catching the ball; we’re able to run the ball; we’re playing tough defense; we’re playing tough; I think we’re playing very tough on defense.” What game did he watch? Was it the film from the Saints game last year?

At the simplest level (Coach Cupcake’s comfort zone), your players should not celebrate a game tying TD with over 3 minutes to go when you have been playing from behind all game. A game winning TD is different, not that Cupcake understsands. The reaction after Jason Witten scored should have been handing the ball to the ref and getting your collective asses off the field or preparing for the extra point.

Coach Landry would not approve.

Not satisfied? Me either. How about this? When will Tony Romo grow the hell up? Tony when you are outside of the hash marks (the small lines that measure yardage in between the numbers) you can throw the ball away and not get sacked or penalized. You can actually throw it into the sideline and not get a penalty. This can be really important in a tie game on 3rd down with a suspect at best kicker. There is a time and place for the big play. This was not either. Throw the ball away and present your kicker with a 39 yard FG rather than a 44 yard FG. Watch the replay of the missed 44 yard kick and ask yourself if this would have made a difference.

Whew.

One last rant about the NFL, at this point of the season the NFC just blows. Anybody buying the Falcons as the team to beat? How about the Bears? The Saints have time to correct themselves, but clearly did not realize the impact that Reggie Bush has for them on offense. Sometimes it is just the threat of speed that alters a game.

Back to baseball, look for long ALCS and NLCS series. The fan in me wants a Phillies/Yankees rematch, but something tells me that one of the favorites is going to get knocked off. I’ll go with the Phillies in 6 and the Rangers and their polite fans in 7. More on why next post…

For the ALCS and NLCS opening games I encourage you to enjoy a Dogtoberfest by Flying Dog Brewery. Lately, I have been really enjoying the many offerings of Flying Dog. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I no longer confuse them with Dogfish Head Ales (awesome) and Flying Fish (not awesome at all). This is a classic Octoberfest beer (German syle marzen with caramel finish) having won 3 awards. A 5.6 ABV means unlike Miller Lite, you can drink 3 and catch a little buzz.

MLB Division Series and NFL Week 4 Thoughts

2010-10-06T11:45:00.000-04:00

It is truly odd having the Philadelphia Phillies be prohibitive favorites by most major media outlets. Sure my Philadelphia inferiority complex is coming out here, but how could it not? I mean if the Phillies are truly the best team in baseball on paper as the experts would have you believe, then why are the Yankees and Twins playing the prime time game?

Why indeed. The Rangers play the Rays today at 1:37 pm in Tampa. 1:37? Ok, we all understand that these are not traditional baseball markets. Wouldn’t any fan of baseball want the opportunity to see last year’s playoff stud Cliff Lee pitch against potential Cy Young winner David Price? Ridiculous.

Nope, we will not see Roy Halladay in his first ever playoff appearance versus a young scrappy Reds team in primetime either.

America will see the largest MLB market NY Yankees take on a small market Minnesota Twins. Anyone outside of NY excited about this? Hmmmm. Lee versus Price or CC Sabathia versus Francisco Loriano? America get ready for countless close-ups of A Rod chewing, spitting sunflower seeds and just generally looking like an ass.

Good call TBS.

The Yanks are 9-2 against the Twinkies in the past 10 years of first round playoff series. Will this year be any different? Probably not. These Yankees are not your typical Yankee team. They are old, beat up and have NO starting pitching other than CC. Will it matter versus the Twins? My guess is no. Yanks in 4 or 5.

Rumor has it that the Braves and the Giants start their divisional series tomorrow. People in Atlanta don’t even care so why should I? Giants in 4.

The most interesting and closely matched divisional series on paper is the aforementioned Rays versus the Strangers. The Josh Hamilton rib injury is a potential killer for the Strangers. The Rays take this series mostly due to their playoff experience from 2 years ago.

The Phillies take out the Reds in either 3 or 4. Why? Simple, their starting pitching is better. The Reds can scare or prolong the series though if they get some early leads as their bullpen is strong with Cuban stud Aroldis Chapman and inconsistent but talented Francisco Cordero.

One more prediction – the TBS coverage of the MLB playoffs is so horribly bad that fans will actually be looking forward to the NCLS and World Series with Joe Buck doing play-by-play on Fox. And that’s saying something since Buck is such an arrogant prick.

NFL Quick hitters:

The Vikings will regret their pending trade for Randy Moss. This is a desperate move to keep Favre from retiring mid season and totally screwing their season more than anything else. Feel the team chemistry? I do.

Are there any dominant teams this year? Probably too early to tell, but the Saints, Packers, Colts, Jets and Ravens hardly look like world beaters.

The Mike Singletary countdown has officially begun. If the 49ers lose to the Eagles at home this week consider him gone. Remember, I alluded to problems with that team here.

What makes a team with good management make such poor decisions? Why would a team 2 years removed from a Super Bowl and a playoff team last year trade its best possession WR and bring in an interception machine in the off season? Is that how you prepare to move forward when your Hall-of-Fame QB retires in the off-season? Even Donovan McNabb would have been a step up compared to Derek Anderson replacing Kurt Warner.

Are the Rams, Lions and Chiefs really that improved or are we seeing some early schedule flukes? Time will tell, but I suspect the Chiefs get rudely awoken from their dream season this weekend in Indy.

Nice job by Chuck Cecil with the FU salute to the refs. Chuck have you ever heard that we now live in a digital age where your actions will quickly be viewed by millions worldwide? Perhaps the NFL should also have post concussion testing on coaches too. Congratulations for your continued success being a jackass just like you played safety in Green Bay.

If a tree falls in Ralph Wilson stadium during the Jaguars versus Bills game this Sunday will anyone notice? Sorry couldn’t resist.

Welcome to the 2nd quarter of the NFL season.

The craft beer in cans movement continues. Philadelphia local brewer Sly Fox is a big proponent of this and the beer surprisingly tastes alright (although I suggest pouring into the appropriate glassware but that's a different topic). Oskar Blues, a Colorado-based brewer, also distributes solely through cans. I strongly suggest their Dale's Pale Ale. This Pale Ale is a little more hoppy than a traditional Pale Ale. The beer also has a 6.6% ABV which helps on cold nights of the MLB playoffs. Enjoy.

Donovan McNabb's Triumphant Win...

2010-10-04T15:49:00.000-04:00

Matt Mosely – “It’s hard to imagine a better homecoming for McNabb.”

Peter King – Offensive Player of the Week – sentimental maybe “I don’t care if he had gone 2-33 on Sunday…McNabb kept the chains moving (8 of 19 for 125 yards) in Washington’s victory. For one day, the major advantage went Washington’s way.”

Two national web sites reporting on the NFL – two irrational reviews of Donovan McNabb’s return to Philadelphia as a Washington Redskin.

I simply don’t get it. What has McNabb ever done to merit such kit glove reporting? Was it a big story? Probably, given the slate of games on the schedule.

Did McNabb deserve the standing ovation from the Philadelphia Eagles fans? Yes. 11 years and 5 NFC Championship games and 1 Super Bowl appearance warrant that reaction.

Did McNabb’s team win? Yes.

How did they win? Running the ball and playing good defense.

"You get into a throwing game especially here, in this environment with the crowd, usually you're in for a long day," Shanahan said. Umm with all due respect Mike, did you not know that McNabb averaged over 30 pass attempts in his career at home for the Eagles? Or was it if McNabb gets into a throwing game here, usually you're in for a long game?

Did McNabb have impact? Sure. He threw a beautiful pass to Chris Cooley to go up 14-0. He ran a few times for big first downs.

What about the Redskin running game? What about Mike Vick getting hurt? What about Kevin Kolb’s inability to throw the ball down field? What about Andy Reid’s botching yet another clock management situation with seconds to go in the first half? Speaking of that, hey Chris Mortenson, is Reid still your pick for best coach in the NFL?

What? None of that had to do with McNabb?

Ok.

How about McNabb throwing only 18 times for a paltry 125 yards?

How about 2 completions in the 2nd half?

How about wildly overthrowing a wide-open Fred Davis in the first half that would have led to an easy TD?

How about the 2nd half interception?

How about not sliding with 3 minutes to go after running for a BIG first down on 3rd and 4? Can someone anyone everyone please at least note that a 12 year veteran QB must know to slide rather than going out of bounds waving a finger for first down? Had he done that the game probably ends there without the Eagles almost stealing a win on the last play on a ball that should have been caught by Jason Avant?

Is it too wrong to just ask for some even journalism on this guy?

Ask yourself this question. If Brett Favre has that kind of game and wins does he get the same accolades? Remember, Favre went back to Green Bay and legitimately crushed his old team.

There is something up with McNabb and the national media.

Last night I enjoyed a Cigar City Maduro Brown ale with the games and dinner. The chocolate flavor blended very well with the chili I had for dinner. This beer is a comfortable 5.5% ABV, but leans toward the, sweet side so you may opt for only a few per setting.

The Return of Chucklehead

2010-10-01T07:21:00.000-04:00

One of the Philadelphia Sports Stations had the audacity to use “the Don Returns” as the lead for this weekend’s Redskins vs. Eagles game. How laughable. That is like Fredo being the “Don” instead of Michael in the Godfather.

This entire Donovan McNabb returns to Philly hype machine is getting ridiculous.

The Eagles traded McNabb in their own division, at that time replacing him with unknown quantity Kevin Kolb. Translation – thanks for the memories, but we think you are done.

McNabb had a lot of in-season wins during his Eagles tenure. True dat, but have we forgotten that the QB gets too much credit when a team wins and not enough when they lose?

Speaking of losing, rightfully or wrongfully who got the most blame when the Eagles lost 3 straight NFC Championships and ultimately a Super Bowl? Who remains vilified because of his alleged on-field puking in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl? Any guesses? Anyone?

My other favorite story line now that Mike Vick has become Steve Young reincarnated and this is due to Donovan’s great influence on Vick becoming a better QB and teammate. (Sorry Steve, I know you are still among the living, but you are the unfortunate recipient of being compared to the new and improved Mike Vick.) Yo people, has everyone forgotten McNabb giving his head coach and offensive coordinator the “kill this” sign after being summoned out of the game the first time for a Vick Wildcat play?

By the way, how much credit does any player deserve for this type of conversation? “Hey Mike, heard you were an 8 and skate QB in Atlanta.” Vick – “Word.” Player – “Hey man, now that you have been, suspended from the NFL, waived by your first team, in jail and temporarily retired Ron Mexico, you may want to study the film and playbook in off hours.” Vick – “For real?” Player – “Word.”

The media wants to know if the Philadelphia fans will boo McNabb or not. They booed him when he was drafted and had not yet ruined their ultimate Super Bowl fantasy. His last appearance as an Eagle he air-guitared on his way onto the field of a playoff game and promptly sucked in the game. What do you think the fans will do?

In 6 or 7 weeks this “game to save the Redskins season” will most likely be entirely meaningless as both the Eagles (young team with an incredibly tough 2nd half of the season schedule) and the Redskins (old team with a somewhat difficult schedule) most likely will be battling for a .500 record anyway.

One other thought about all this Chucklehead returns nonsense – have you looked closely at this week’s games? The only other interesting games on paper are the Ravens vs. the surprising Steelers (too early for this match-up) and the Patriots at the Dolphins on Monday night. ESPN, SI, Fox, etc are looking for some stories this week with ESPN the worldwide leader in overhyping the Redskins (1-2)/Eagles (2-1) in every possible way.

Week 3 recap quick hits:

The Cowboys saved their season by self motivating and playing with appropriate intensity versus the overrated Texans. Of course instead of acknowledging that fact, Coach Cupcake was quoted as saying that he “thought that his team played well the first 2 weeks too.” I guess 17 penalties and multiple turnovers are playing good in his bizarro world.

The 49ers are getting closer to totally quitting on Mike Singletary by getting crushed on the road to the Chiefs. Yes the 3-0 Chiefs. I’m sure firing the OC Jimmy Raye will resolve all their issues.

Remember the concept of not paying too much attention to Week 1? The Falcons do. They knocked off the Saints thanks to some faulty FG kicking by Garret Hartley.

Could this be the year that Jay Cutler puts it altogether? His game against the Pack was him most impressive this year. He showed discipline which is a shocker. The Bears special teams are once again special with Devin Hester back in form.

Think the Jets are missing Darrelle Revis only a little? Chad Henne lit them up for 363 yards last week. Yes, that Chad Henne. Good thing they have the woeful Bills this week. Wonder if Lee Evans gets some starts this week in fantasy football leagues?

I recently enjoyed a Terrapin Rye Pale Ale, from Athens-based brewery Terrapin Beer. This 5.5% beer goes great with spicy food which is perfect for some football chili. It can be tough to find, but is well worth the effort. http://www.terrapinbeer.com/beers/1-Rye-Pale-Ale

The Head Coach Factor –The NFL Week 2 in Review

2010-09-22T14:45:00.001-04:00

Quickly, raise your hand if you predicted that the Bears, Dolphins, Chiefs and Texans would be 2-0.

Then I’m sure that you also predicted that projected division winners the Cowboys, Vikings and 49ers would be 0-2.

How many of you thought that the Steelers would be 2-0 with Big Ben suspended and Dennis Dixon getting hurt early in week 2?

The NFL never disappoints on the field. Never.

So what is the difference between the Dolphins, Steelers & Chiefs compared to the Cowboys & Vikings?

Schedule?

Sure that is a factor no doubt. The Chiefs upset the Chargers in KC and then beat a poor Browns team on the road. The Vikings played away against the Super Bowl winning Saints and home against the Dolphins. The Vikes were in both games and arguably could have won each of them, but they didn’t.

Now flip the coin.

The Steelers played at home against a healthy resurgent Atlanta Falcons team and away at a confident 1-0 Titans squad led by all everything back Chris Johnson. They played game 1 against the Falcons with a QB that had never started much less played an entire regular season NFL game. Against the Titans, Dixon got hurt and they rolled with 4th string QB in Charlie Batch who must be close to 50 by now(Byron Leftwich got hurt in the last pre-season game).

Why? Defense wins games?

Not buying it.

The reason is actually simple. Coaching is the difference in this parity-driven day and age. Think about this. Do you really think that a talented, albeit overvalued team like the Cowboys were going to respond to Wade Phillips trying to motivate them in their home opener against the Bears after an embarrassing loss to the less talented Redskins in DC?

Well "gee golly guys, we need to play better" does not cut it.

The results don’t lie. The Boys were once again sloppy versus the Bears with 3 turnovers, 6 penalties, allowing 3 plays over 25 yards and a missed FG that could have tied the game in the 2nd half.

Does a Mike Tomlin team ever play like that? Ever?

Guys like Tomlin, Tony Sparano and Josh McDaniel will look each player in the eye and demand accountability. Do you think for one second that Wade Phillips and Brad Childress (3 turnovers 7 penalties against the Dolphins) have that in them? Hell if they tried it would be embarrassing.

Teams like the Cowboys require the players to self-manage themselves which can be no easy task in the NFL. Still don’t believe me? Which teams held players only meetings this past Monday?

Give me Tomlin, McDaniel, Sparano, Sean Payton, Rex Ryan, and John Harbaugh any day of the week. I like my chances.

Now you may have noticed that Mike Singletary is not included. Singletary tells it like it is, but guys like Tom Coughlin and him have short shelf lives. The message gets a little quieter as the voice gets louder. There is more to management then who has the loudest voice and biggest threats.

Other week 2 highlights:

Here is a little story for you. Coach meets QB1. Coach falls in love with QB1 and proclaims him QB of the future. Coach finds QB3 and believes he can fix QB3 and trade him for 1st round picks. Coach falls out of love with QB2 in the offseason after stating that QB3 is the starter for the 2010 season and trades him to a division rival. QB1 starts week 1 of 2010 season and gets the snot beat out of him. Coach says he is still in love with QB1. Week 2 coach starts QB3. QB3 plays great. After game Coach says he still loves QB1 and QB1 will start week 3. Tuesday before game 3 Coach falls out of love with QB1 and states QB3 will start.

Confused? Welcome to Philadelphia home of Andy Reid and his convoluted management of QBs in the last 5 months. Don't worry Eagles fans, Coach Reid is doing what is best for the organization or at least what is best for himself. Much much more on this in another post later this week.

Gotta love the Jets. Rex Ryan is cursing machine on Hard Knocks. Darrelle Revis holds out and then promptly gets hurt thanks to missing training camp. Now, Braylon Edwards (always a questionable character guy) gets busted fur DUI with 2 other Jets in the car. Maybe this is Rex Ryan’s way of getting even with Al Davis for not officially hiring him.

I think you really have to appreciate a columnist that puts it on the line and makes a bold statement like the 2009 AFC Champion Colts could be on their downside like Bill Simmons did last week. He could very well be right and wrote a great column that you should read if you have not. Maybe Mike Caldwell, Peyton Manning, Joseph Addai, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis read it. Based on their game Sunday night I’d say their death has been slightly overstated for now.

Pete Carroll welcome back to the NFL. Expect more of the lesson that the Josh McDaniel led Denver Broncos taught you on Sunday. It’s a shame that Reggie Bush had to hand over his Heisman but Carroll remains unscathed which seems wrong on every level.

Hey kids it’s time for the Donovan McNabb disgrace of the week:

The media applauds McNabb for his 400 yard performance against the Texans Sunday. The Redskin offense definitely played better against a weak Texan defense than against the Cowboys. Again those of you with a realistic and clear eye, how many clutch throws did McNabb make when it counted? Yes you in the back with the raised hand. 0.0

You are correct sir.

Don’t believe me?

Up 27-20 in the 4th Quarter needing your veteran QB to put the game away…

5:06 to go, on 1st down McNabb’s pass is short right to Sellers. On 2nd down S. Moss runs an end around for -8 yards. On 3rd down McNabb’s pass is incomplete short to Joey Galloway.

Game now tied at 27 needing your veteran QB leader to make plays…

2:03 to play, on 1st down McNabb is short to K Williams. On 2nd down McNabb is sacked. McNabb’s 3rd down pass is short for Moss. (Sensing a trend anyone?)

In OT, on McNabb’s 1st play he takes a sack at his own 18 yard line, but a roughing penalty gets the Skins to their own 37 yard line. To his credit he hits 3 short passes in a row to get out to the Texans 37 yard line.

Keep in mind that the Skins have a rookie kicker.

McNabb goes incomplete short right to Galloway. McNabb completes a 3 yarder to K Williams Needing just a few yards to help his rookie kicker, McNabb goes throws deep incomplete to Moss. Result is the rookie kicker misses a 52 yard FG. I know he made the kick prior to Kubiak calling a time-out. That only puts more emphasis that a few more yards from the veteran QB wins the game. But, I forgot he was still in a save situation from last week. Or was he the bus driver this week?

O

Overrated

Flying Dog's Brewery Raging Bitch Belgian IPA is not overrated. It is far from it. The Raging Bitch is a great combination of a west coast tasting IPA (hoppy with a spicy citrus blend) mixed with a classic Belgian taste. It registers at 8.3 ABV and is rightfully getting a fair amount of positive press. This is a great transition beer as Fall begins.

NFL Week 1

2010-09-15T15:25:00.001-04:00

Ahh mid September – easily my favorite time of the year.

In the words of Marv Albert, YES!

Major League Baseball that counts…(hey Yankee fans are you talking loudly now?)

The slow turn from summer to fall…or summer beer to colder weather beer..

College football on Saturdays (Thursdays, Fridays and shit every other day of the week now too)

And of course, the return of best run professional sports league, the NFL!

One thing that you can count on every year is the "world is ending" reaction from fans of projected playoff teams that lose in week one. Check any NFL team’s web page or local newspaper and all comments have a similar tone.

Coach ______ is a jackass and should be fired. There is no way this is a playoff team. The _______ will be lucky if they go 9-7. Fans of the Bengals, Jets, Cowboys, Chargers, Falcons, and 49ers have all gone down this path. Week 2 cannot come fast enough for these teams and fans.

Take it easy everybody, the law of averages always pans out (unless your team gets crushed with meaningful injuries which is also a fantasy football headache, but yet I digress).

The 2010-11 NFL Season began Thursday night Football NBC style with the best broadcast team, Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth. They have a billion cameras and in general do a great job. That stated, with the NFL’s popularity does NBC really need to continually try and reach out to all potential audiences? I can barely handle Dave Matthews Band, but Taylor Swift for the pre-game kickoff? Is Roger Goodell aiming for growth in the 12 to 18 year old girl market? Is it not bad enough that on Sunday nights they have Faith Hill sing the opening number and it’s not even the hot version of Faith Hill.
Every time that song begins just a little more testosterone disappears from me.

Not sure about you, but I was incredibly energized for Vikings vs. the Saints. How can you argue with a rematch of last year’s NFC Championship game? 5 years after Katrina, Saints fans celebrating last year’s Super Bowl W and Drew Brees in an exciting offense I say go Saints. Add the Favre hatred factor, Brad Childress Mr Whipple imitation and Jared Allen’s mullet and away we go.

Brad Childress?

Unfortunately, as a fair amount of week 1 games are, this game was pretty boring. And if you are a Vikings fan or fantasy football guy, how many times did you ask why Brad Childress decided to completely get away from Adrian Peterson in the 4th quarter? Strange days indeed, but early days…

Quick hits:

Eagles fans, calm down. The Packers are a potential Super Bowl team. Kevin Kolb is a young QB in his first season home opener. Give him a chance. And those of you that previously hated Vick for obvious reasons (he’s a dog hating punk) and now anoint him starter, wake up. It is a big difference when you game plan for Kolb (slow white) and then Vick (not slow, not white) is the QB. Team’s that game plan for Vick will have greater success due to his passing limitations.

The Steelers squeak by the Falcons in game 1 without Big Ben, but can their defense hold up for 4 more games? Are the Falcons the 08 or 09 team? Both teams will be interesting to watch.

Tom Brady and Wes Welker sure look like they have something to prove this year. Too bad they don’t play defense.

Tim Tebow’s homecoming was exciting huh? 2 whole plays. Get used to it Bronco fans. So glad that so many idiots, I mean fans, went out and bought that jersey.

You had to love Kubiak’s game plan for the Colts. Hey Colts, we are just going to smack you in the face all day. Andre Johnson, the best decoy going. Sweet. I loved Arian Foster as a Fantasy Football pick this year. Damn did he have an excellent opening day?

The 49ers were a popular pick to win their division this year. They still could. But, wow that was a smack down in Seattle. It will be interesting to watch how this division plays out with Seattle rebuilding under the 2000’s version of Lou Holtz (criminal Pete Carroll), the Cardinals rebuilding on the fly, and the talented 49ers trying to put it altogether. The Bill Parcells theory is in full effect this year in San Fran as Mike Singletary enters his 3rd year. Something tells me that the team may not be hearing Coach this year.

Relax Charger fans. That was the Chiefs Super Bowl on Monday Night. The Chargers will gel over the season like they always do and the AFC west sucks. See Raiders, Oakland; Broncos, Denver, and Chiefs, KC. Jason Campbell, Kyle Orton and Matt Cassel are starting QB’s. Pass the oxycontin please.

Normally this is where I would add commentary on what a jackass Rex Ryan is and how great it is that they lost to the Ravens. Consider this my post 9/11 gift to just let that lay for a week. I expect that Rex and the Jets will have a popular place in this blog.

Disgrace of the Week:

There is one historical topic that requires some commentary. Well well well the Redskins beat the Cowboys in a horribly played game Sunday night. First things first, the Redskins absolutely deserved to win the game.

Hell, if a team spots you 7 points when they should simply kneel down with 3 seconds to go in the first half, has 12 penalties and does not compensate all game with extra blocking for a right tackle that should not be in the NFL, they deserve to lose. But, the media could not just let it go there. Oh no. This is a different Redskins team because of Donovan McNabb. Really?

Shut the F up. Now. Michael Wilbon, Rick Reilly, et al. “5” as he likes to be called had a pedestrian day at best. Don’t give me “he was in a save situation” Wilbon. This is the NFL and he is not a reliever. Plus not many quality relievers have McNabb’s pension for choking in tight games. 15-32 for 171 yards 0 TD’s and a whopping 6 points is hardly an impressive debut. Jason Campbell last year averaged 24-37 for 227 yards against the same Dallas defense.

Then, McNabb’s leadership clearly must be the difference. As a matter of fact, I’m sure it was McNabb’s leadership that resulted in the multiple 3rd down incomplete passes in the red zone that led to FG attempts.

Stop please. The story undoubtedly would have been how underwhelming McNabb’s performance was if not for the bonehead errors by the Cowboys. Of course then the apologists would have said that McNabb’s performance was due to his learning a new system after 12 years. Just wait until he loses a few games with similar performances. Guaranteed McNabb points the finger everywhere else but in the mirror.

Can’t wait for week 2…

It is a little early for all the pumpkin beers that have recently been released. I am collecting a few, but waiting until October to enjoy them. For this week go with a 21st Amendment Brewery Brew Free or Die IPA How can you not love the name of the brewer? For those of you non-historians or too lazy to google it, the 21st Amendment was the official repeal of prohibition. The IPA is a classic California IPA with strong hops (6 different hops in fact) a slightly bitter taste, but great finish. Live Free or Die has a 7.0 ABV so be measured in your consumption. Or for Bengals, Jets, Cowboys, Chargers, Falcons, and 49ers fans have several.

August Ramblings

2010-08-03T16:05:00.000-04:00

August is a great sports time of year. Now before you say "No shit Clay" consider this - MLB races continue to heat up, the PGA Championship may offer another non-household name winner, and of course it is the official beginning of NFL training camps and preseason games.

With all of this comes annual BS such as…

Hey it looks like Brett Favre will retire again. But wait, Coach Childress will not accept this AP report until he speaks directly with Favre. How suspenseful. Please. Favre is a genius at staying in the spotlight and that is all he cares about, selfish Wrangler-wearing MF-er.

Albert Haynesworth can’t pass his endurance test to begin training camp with the Skins. Or, as I like to call it, Haynesworth hates training camp and will gladly sacrifice the media ridiculing him for less work in the hot summer sun. Do we really think Big Al cares about what Tony Kornheiser says about him when he’s getting paid that sick amount? That’s about as believable as E getting Sloan on Entourage.

TO signed with Cincinnati combining with OchoCinco to provide Carson Palmer with an explosive WR core. I actually struggled to type that nonsense. Maybe, the Bengals or Dallas of the rust belt, was the only team to consider him? Any team that signs PacMan Jones to be their 3rd DB has a serious credibility problem to start. And now add TO to the mix? Carson Palmer must have seriously screwed someone somewhere to have to deal with this mess. Relax Bengals fans, I'm sure that Antonio Bryant will have a calming influence in the huddle and locker room.

Great news gang, Adam Schefter and Chris Mortenson are providing daily training camp and first round pick updates on Twitter. This is a great source for all the Favre speculation you could possible stomach including exciting tidbits like “Favre retires has 1.2M hits on google.” Hard hitting stuff Mort. Schefter is equally strong with “Had Favre retired after season, Minnesota could have had McNabb, Campbell, or Bulger.” Gripping.

August always brings another simple formula to understand. NFL training camps = injuries. Less then 2 weeks into training camps, both Denver RB's are hurt, Dallas 1st round pick Dez Bryant is out for the pre-season and Eagles all everything WR LeSean Jackson was carried off the field (he's ok). That is just a sampling. Screw it make the season 18 weeks anyway.

Back to MLB, you have to love how A Rod handles any type of pressure. He’s been on 599 HR’s now for half the season. Fear not A Rod fan; I am sure that the Orioles must be on the schedule soon.

While we are on the Yankees, does anyone understand the Lance Berkman and Kerry Wood pick-ups? Not exactly Cliff Lee and Ryan Ludwick huh? These roster moves have nothing to do with Hank Steinbrenner recently buying Hot Tub Time Machine on DVD. I swear.

Remember when the Red Sox were exciting? Me neither.

This just in and it is a shocking NBA announcement! LeBron and the Heat will kick-off the season playing the Boston Celtics. The over/under gambling line is set at the halfway point of the fourth quarter for when LeBron will quit this time. In other news, the Heat will be the ESPN, ABC, TNT, and TBS national game every game this year.

Speaking of the player formerly known as King, he apparently thanked hometown Akron in a full page ad in the local newspaper and did not mention Cleveland once. That LeBron is so gangsta!

New feature – the guest Beer recommendation. Marc, an improved beer drinker, strongly recommends finding a bar with Kasteel Du Chateau. This is a Belgian Ale aged for an impressive 10 years. Apparently it is damn tasty and with an ABV of 11% you may want to have a few glasses of water with it so the next day you are not parched. Check out their website to learn about their other beers and if nothing else, because it's a cool site with an elevator included.

Baseball? You bet.

2010-07-22T16:00:00.002-04:00

Quietly MLB is having a great season.

Pitching is back. There are tight division races. The trade deadline should have more meaning than other recent seasons. The steroid era seems to finally have ended in people’s minds. Hall of Fame Managers Bobby Cox and Lou Piniella are in their final seasons with strong rumors that Joe Torre may be as well.

Yet, there is next to no hype. Why? Are people too fed up with or focused on farcical maniacs like LeBron?

When you weren’t looking did MLB steal a page out of the NFL parity playbook?

Sure the Yankees are the Yankees. They spend so much dough that it would be surprising if they were not in 1st place, although they only recently overtook the Rays. And if you look closely at the Yanks their pitching (less Mo) is not scary. CC and Pettitte are solid, but does anyone believe in Phil Hughes? Not me.

As of this post, 19 teams are playing .500 ball or better. Hello Parity.

12 (5 AL & 7 NL) teams are currently in the wild card hunt, not including the current division leaders.

Speaking of the division leaders, how about the White Sox, Padres, Braves and Rangers representing?

Back in March I predicted this – “Speaking of the Reds, my MLB people tell me to look for the Reds, Phillies, Dodgers, Yankees, Twins, and Mariners to win their divisions with the Braves and Red Sox joining them in the playoffs with the Rangers (yes those the Texas Rangers) as a potential surprise team.”

Ok, so the Mariners and Phillies look like bad choices. The Phillies are still in the wildcard hunt, but look like my friend Matt DeFrank did in college– “old and in the way.” It was during my search for Pliny the Younger time period that I projected the Reds to win the NL Central and the Rangers to be a surprise team. More reason to drink Pliny I guess.

Pitching is definitely back. I am a traditionalist. Sure I enjoyed the Sosa/McGuire run of 1998. It was hard not to be fascinated by it. However, does anyone else remember the 4 hour games of the steroid era? I enjoy the 3 hour pitcher's dual. Thank you. Vodka shots – straight up!

NL pitching in particular has been amazing. Ubaldo Jimenez leads the world in wins with 15 almost single handedly keeping the Rockies in the NL race. Josh Johnson, the best young pitcher you probably never heard of, has a 1.62 E.R.A. in late July. That was 1.6.2 people. 1.6.2.

In the AL, David Price of the Rays has finally put it altogether and is tied for the league lead with CC Sabathia at 12 wins. Price’s 2.84 E.R.A. is not shabby either. The aforementioned CC and Cliff Lee are also having excellent years. But so are guys you probably never heard of like the Rangers C.J. Wilson, the Rays Jeff Niemann, and the A’s Trevor Cahill. Check them out.

More parity? Cliff Lee, the AL ERA leader becomes available due to Seattle’s complete under achievement this year. The rumors had the Yankees obtaining quickly obtaining Lee making them prohibitive favorites. So who comes in and steals Lee at the last minute? The Red Sox? Nope. The Mets? Do they still play baseball? The Dodgers? Not until a nasty divorce is settled. The bankrupt TEXAS RANGERS. I love it.

We are Americans so we like action. Why else could minimal talents like Stallone, Arnold, Steven Segal, Duane Johnson, and Vin Diesel. have made millions in acting careers? So you want action? 2010 MLB has action. Josh Hamilton, the former phenom burnout, leads the majors in hitting at .357 with 23 HR’s and 69 RBI’s. Miguel Cabrera leads the AL with 82 RBI’s and also has 24 HR’s.

In the NL, for once a player that was rewarded with a healthy contract extension delivers that season. Ryan Howard has 22 HR’s and leads the NL with 75 RBI’s. Imagine his numbers if the rest of the anemic Phillies were simply playing to their averages.

Do you want more? Ok. How about Jose Bautista leading the Majors with 26 HR’s? Bet you did not know that Jose had 59 CAREER HR’s going into this season.

One last one for you, there are fun young teams to watch. The Rangers, Reds, Marlins, Rays and Tigers have young teams that for the most part have home grown young talent. Watch for guys like Joey Votto, Mike Stanton, Ian Kinsler and the Braves exciting rookie Jason Heyward. Stephen Strasburg deserves mention too although he receives enough hype on his own (deservedly).

NFL Training camps start this weekend. Ignore the Brett Favre BS and sit back and enjoy America’s Pastime with some potentially great pennant and wildcard races. If the MBL truly has found parity, there will be plenty of time for football in the fall.

Troegs is a brewer in not-so beautiful Harrisburg PA. In this continuing heat wave I have been enjoying their Sunshine Pils. This beer is a hoppy pilsner with a drinkable 5.3% ABV. Perfect for the 90 degree days of summer.

The LeBron Farce

2010-07-09T15:41:00.001-04:00

All sports fans now know about the farce known as “the decision” by former King LeBron James.

It is a sad state in the NBA today. All of this hype for a guy who never has won anything big and willingly turned down the opportunity to enter the pantheon of greatness that includes other 1 name legends – Magic, Bird, Jordan, Hakeem, Shaq, and yes Kobe.

The real decision that everyone should be discussing was how team LeBron(where was Nike in this?) allowed him to schedule a live press conference on the former world-wide leader, in the first place? Or why ESPN allowed team LeBron to contract Jim Gray (a formidable puppet) from his Westwood One radio show that nobody listens to or even knows about (thank you Wikipedia)?

In the process, did team LeBron have a clue how this reality tv train wreck would be perceived by his and the NBA’s dwindling fan-base? Did Shaq produce this?

LeBron said that he notified the Heat a few minutes prior to the live interview last night. Why not show some respect and professionalism and also notify your previous team at the same time? Cavs owner Dan Gilbert claims that LeBron did not return phone calls or text messages since the end of the season. (Raise your hand if you believe that more negative LeBron news will quickly surface.) The Cavs learned of LeBron’s decision last night at the same time you did. Classy.

Hey kids, here is a role model for you. Be blessed with incredible athletic ability, have the good fortune to be selected by your home town team, be continually coddled & yet revered, then spit in their face.

It is LeBron’s right to enter free agency. Personally, I think it is a sign of weakness to switch teams if you truly are 1 of the best players in your sport unless your franchise did not try to build around you. The Cavs have made the effort. Sure they have made mistakes along the way, but they and their fans did not deserve this treatment.

The other side of the coin is the “LeBron is a team guy by not taking the max amount and joining the team that has the best chance of winning a title” theory. That is very suspect at best. How much money does the guy need? I mean it’s not like he will play for the league minimum and his endorsements are going away (although maybe they should decrease based upon this self-indulgent romp).

Using the "best chance of winning" theory, many NBA prognosticators suggested that Chicago would have been the best fit for several NBA championship title runs. They already have a great young point guard in Derrick Rose, a complimentary scorer in NBA All-Star Carolos Boozer and toughness in Joakim Noah. The problem with this scenario is that LeBron still would have to be "the guy" which is clearly something ne no longer wants. Enter Dwayne Wade.

Don't get me wrong (hand waving) the Heat are imposing with the big 3 in Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron. But, with only Mario Chalmers under contract building the remaining roster and staying within the cap could pose problems.

Let’s say that Pat Riley builds a complimentary roster around the big 3 and they win a championship. How will LeBron’s legacy be remembered? As a better skilled Scottie Pippen? The guy is entering his prime at 25, but acting like this is his last chance at a ring.

Or, if LeBron truly cannot handle the pressure as his historical playoff games have indicated, does he not realize that he will be considered an even bigger playoff choker if the Heat do not win championships? To that point, interestingly LeBron began deferring to Wade even last night. Where is that Jordan slit your throat mentality?

You do know who the big winner in the NBA was last night right? Not the Heat.

Kobe Bryant.

Think about it. Kobe is loyal to the Lakers. He has the killer mentality and says jump on my back in crunch time. He is not afraid to be the goat. Kobe finds a way to win at all costs by being the go-to-guy.

This is something that the artist formerly known as the King still needs to learn.

Pilsner beer typically does not do much for me. However, Victory Prima Pils breaks that mold. It has a hoppy little bite to it in the classical German style lager family. At 5.3% ABV it says a little something too. Prima Pils is an excellent selection on hot summer nights good enough for a king.

The NBA – Where Appalling Happens

2010-07-07T16:00:00.000-04:00

Remember when David Stern was the Commissioner that other professional sports leagues admired? That was a great day.

With a mediocre NBA Finals despite two iconic franchises playing (ZERO Wow moments), a painfully boring NBA Draft, and now the free agent parade of self grandeur, Stern’s NBA continues to shoot itself into oblivion.

The LeBron James whore tour has been a complete embarrassment for the league.

The formerly classy Dwayne Wade (quoted as “I’m one of the luckiest mans in the NBA and the world ”, Chris Bosh and Amare Stoudemire free agency maneuverings have not been much better.

The NBA teams have not disappointed either. Joe Johnson staying in Atlanta for 6 years and $119M? Sure. Amare to the Knicks for 5 years and $99.7M? I would love to.

On a smaller level, the Bucks retain John Salmons for 5 years and $39M? Proving that the Bucks have actually patented “money trees” they also signed Drew Gooden for 5 years at $32M. Pretty solid for 11.9 P.P.G. and 7.9 R.P.G. and equally impressive 1.0 T.P.Y. (1 Team per Year as Gooden has played for 8 teams in his 8 years in the NBA).

When you add commentary from some perennial jackasses like “insider” Stephen A. Smith (Smith is like an NBA 3-point specialist. If he throws enough junk up something has to stick.), ESPN’s NBA crew and Adam Schefter of all people, it makes you yearn for the start of NFL training camps, fast.

LeBron James (the face of the NBA?) in an incredibly self-indulgent move even for the NBA has confirmed that he will announce his decision on the “world-wide leader” live Thursday July 8th. I wonder if the King will also finally answer why he seemingly gave up in Game 5 against the Celtics in the playoffs? Isn’t that when legends are born?

LeBron surely appreciates and respects the legacies of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. I remember the Jordan and Magic press conferences after they whored themselves out for a week during their free agency periods. Don’t you? Oh that’s right; they never even contemplated free agency during their prime.

Amazingly, the aforementioned NFL insider Adam Schefter has tweeted the Lebron James press conference an “I remember where I was when I heard” moment. Right. Of course Adam also includes each time that Brett Favre retires, Bill Romanowski’s shocking steroids confession, his many make-out sessions with girls in the greater Niagara Falls area and the date of the Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson split in this category.

Argggh.

The league also continues to willingly hurt its own credibility in other ways. Anyone that watched or read even a little about the NBA Finals quickly recognized that Pau Gasol was the X factor. When Kendrick Perkins went down with his knee injury Gasol took great advantage of the situation (Game 6 17 points 13 Rebounds, Game 7 19 points, 18 rebounds).

So who gets the Finals MVP award? Kobe Bryant. Why? It could not have been his 6 for 24 shooting performance in the final game (also 0 for 6 from 3 point range and an embarrassing 2 assists). If you look closely at Kobe's statistics (Bryant had 1 more assist than Gasol in the entire series - C'MON SON!), he only had one dominant game (Game 5) where he had 33 points and the Lakers were soundly defeated. Even Ron Artest (yes that Ron Artest) was more deserved than Kobe.

Please stop with the Michael Jordan comparisons. Oh well, another lost opportunity to make the game more credible.

Remember when you looked forward to the NBA Draft? That seems like ages ago. Well, it was. This year the draft lost whatever interest it may have had after pick 5, DeMarcus Cousins. And that is giving a fair amount of credence to John Wall, Evan Turner, Derrick Favors, Wesley Johnson and Cousins. That hardly screams of O’Neal, Mourning, Laettner, Jim Jackson, L Ellis. Quick, name 3 players taken in the draft after Cousins? I’ll give you 1. Ed Davis. Any others? Anyone? Anyone?

These are sad times in the NBA. There is no other way to look at it. The NBA continues to be their own worst enemy as I previously noted here.

Of course, don’t say that to John Calipari. During the NBA Draft he was quoted as saying that it “was the biggest day in Kentucky Basketball history” because 5 of his temps, I mean players were drafted. Clearly championships do not equate to great days. Hey Coach, tell that to the 7 teams that won the big game.

Who is to blame? There are so many people. David Stern should be at the top of any list. The media, mostly ESPN, is certainly a culprit.

Ultimately though, you the fan is at fault too. The game does not merit the audience (decreasing year by year) or attention it receives. LeBron decides to sign up for a Twitter account and 150,000 lemmings follow him within a few hours. Disgraceful. What are you going to learn from that other than he likes to call himself King James.

Is that really a kingdom you want to be part of?

Green Flash Brewing Co brews interesting and enjoyable beer. I have enjoyed their IPA’s many times. Last week, I tried my first Hop Head Red (6.0 ABV) and it was excellent. Hoppy, crisp with a blend of caramel/citrus make for an exceptional Red Ale that drinks like an IPA.

The U.S.A. Soccer Fairy Tale

2010-07-02T09:45:00.002-04:00

Here is a little soccer reality as you are killing time before the July 4th holiday weekend...

Can we all admit that the USA's latest new found fascination/interest in soccer was solely due to the potential of the U.S. team continuing to advance in the World Cup? Once the U.S. lost to Ghana (hardly a powerhouse), the majority of sports fans have now turned off the World Cup.

In reality was this very different than our overall increase in interest in hockey during the recent winter Olympics when the U.S. battled a superior Canadian National team in a highly entertaining gold medal game? How many of those viewers stayed with the NHL for the balance of the season? Very few is my guess.

Sure you can read a funny interesting article like the Sports Guy's latest column offering 20 tongue in cheek reasons that the USA is ready to fully be entertained by professional soccer. Simmons is talented, but even he can't keep up this charade frequently mixing in NBA references to keep the reader's attention. Does this column mean that we can all expect "The Book of Soccer" to be his next tome?

Let's face it, ESPN is very motivated to keep you interested in soccer at the very least for the balance of the World Cup that they and ABC are broadcasting.

What makes this debate so interesting is that soccer is incredibly popular at the youth level. There are soccer camps and clubs everywhere you look for children, which is great. Why does this not translate at the professional level? Despite living now in a world with immediate access to results and highlights, the game is too slow for Americans. We need lots of scoring or to be continually entertained - two things that soccer rarely provides.

Why do you think the MLB owners were ok with the "juiced ball and players" era in baseball? Is it a coincidence that all of the recently built MLB ballparks have at least one short porch for an easy home run? The new ballparks have also made it easier for fans to create a social event at the stadium by offering standing room only options near the concessions (alcohol) rather than solely relying on the action in the game.

Enough with the BS national media comparing Landon Donovan's great goal against Algeria to the "Miracle on Ice." That is about as believable as LeBron James selecting his new team solely based on winning a championship, believing that "sportswriter" Stephen A. Smith's potential late night talk show will be less embarrassing than the Magic Hour or that people go on the Bachelorette to find true love and not fame.

The U.S. run in the World Cup was highly entertaining. Now let's all admit to going back to our regularly scheduled programming like we have in years past.

For this holiday weekend I'm going to celebrate with a few Independence Brewing Pale Ales. I was recently introduced to this beer. It perfectly fits my Pale Ale specifications with a hoppy initial taste but smooth finish due to a citrus balance. It registers a middle of the road 5.5% ABV. Cheers to a few during this weekend fireworks.

Showtime's Potential Late Night Disaster

2010-06-24T20:52:00.001-04:00

Thanks to a Bill Simmons (aka the Sports Guy) tweet, I read this article on the potential of NBA columnist Stephen A. Smith potentially having a weekly late night talk show. Huh? The guy has been let go of Fox and ESPN repeatedly (radio and TV). Last I saw he now writes a column for the Philadelphia Inquirer and unless it is on the NBA, the articles are horribly boring and rarely offer the reader anything new.

My Over Beers people told me they thought that Smith was rehired by the sports editor of the Inquirer because he lost a bet. Of course the Inquirer sports section also has a daily feature that is essentially an email exchange between 3 sportswriters on sports and pop culture topics. Who could make that up?

What? Don't believe me? Well in the past few months Inquirer readers have been given the privilege of such amazing Stephen A Smith columns as:

"Jettisoning Dalembert will help the 76ers" - Now that's thought provoking. Magically Smith does not mention that the reason the Kings took Dalembert is because his contract comes off the book after the 2010-11 season making him valuable trade potential. Good thing the NBA is his expertise.

"Holmgren Deserves Credit for Flyers Resurgence" - Could have been a great idea if it wasn't written after the Flyers Stanley Cup run. Seriously, fill in any GM after they make some moves and the team has made an unexpected playoff run.

"Something wrong with those Phillies" - Written during their recent hitting slump when studs like Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jason Werth all went into a deep slump. Did Smith offer a potential reason or opinion why this occurred or suggest that in the long MLB season these things tend to work themselves out? No. Why? Because he is not capable.

"Harper's rise a clear case of hyprocrisy" - This one is a favorite of mine. Smith tries to compare the MLB 2010 number 1 draft pick, Bryce Harper, with former NBA draft picks Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James for skipping college and going to the NBA. He also tries the same comparison with Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony and John Wall for playing 1 year of college then going to the NBA.

Shockingly (but not for shock value) Smith suggests that the reason that Harper does not get criticized for going professional after graduating early from high school by getting a GED and going to a junior college is because he is white.

Hey Stephen, did you ever hear of minor league baseball which is where Harper will be going? Maybe had Garnett, Bryant, James, Rose, Anthony and Wall gone to the "D" league this would be comparable. Does Smith not know that high school kids are drafted every year by MLB teams and go to the minor leagues? I bet some of them are African American too.

Ladies and gentlemen your potential new late night host.

Can you imagine his monologue?

How about that BP oil spill? I heard that BP will no longer stand for Big Problem and maybe it will be Better Prepared. Holla!

Have you ever seen a Will Smith movie that isn't great? Me either. Word.

Thank you to Showtime for this gig. Speaking of Showtime, if the LA Lakers and the LA Clippers ever made a major trade that would be some NBA-style Californication. I'm droppin it like it's hot!

Seriously folks, that Kobe Bryant does not get enough cred.

Yo, I'm going to keep it real because I'm keeping it real.

With all of this complete bullshit and temperatures around 100 degrees today, I need a quality summer beer. Good thing that Great Lakes Brewing Holy Moses White Ale is available. This Belgian ale only packs a 5.4 ABV so you can enjoy more than one during these hot summer days. Holy Moses White Ale is in the wheat beer family carefully combining orange peel and coriander for a great taste much better than those popular "light" beers. Holy Moses White Ale is a perfect summer beer.