Beer and this modern man

My first taste of beer was of a lukewarm Coors Original... sigh. It's amazing, thinking back to that moment, that I ever sought out beer again. Boring, passion-less, dead, over carbonated and (eventually) vomit-enducing. I guess the only good thing I can say about it is, in the words of Dave Chappelle, "It'll get you drunk!"


( Mm-mmm, bitch!)

Thankfully I have moved beyond such things as staple pilsner lagers from the big 3 foreign-owned American breweries. (Slight digression.... of all of the things that could happen to the Jingoistic portion of America, could anything be more devastating than the big 3 being owned by foreigners? I imagine it would be a lot like finding out that Jimmy Johnson was actually a French foreign national. In the end, I guess its a good thing that the majority of America hasn't figured this out yet.)

Hey, if you like Bud or Miller, God bless you. It's your damn right to drink and pay for what you like. In my mind, I just view it as if one spent their entire life just eating red beans & rice. Delicious, sure, but after a while you would, invariably, start longing for something else. When I consider my beer choices I generally prefer to go for something I've never tried before. While I certainly have favorites, more often than not, I'll pass them up for the opportunity to try something new. I just love to experience new flavors, and new ideas.

Variety is, after all, the spice of life. I guess that's why there has been a massive proliferation of beer variety thrust upon the American market over the past 15 years. The free market being what it is (...is the liquor market really free? The 3-tier distribution system seems to hold back diversity in many states) once there proved to be a demand for beer diversity companies began to spring up that were more than willing to oblige. While the big 3 still dominate the national market, micro-brews are becoming much more common-place. I fully expect that every bar or other type of watering hole (watering hole makes me giggle) that I go into will have at the very least Sam Adams and/or Fat Tire, and possibly something more local, available. It's not just the variety, but the development of such wide-spread access to craft brewing that is so incredible.

In all actuality, I don't consider myself to be that much a beer snob, I just know what I don't like. I certainly don't spend that much time considering the intricacies of that which I am drinking. The primary question I ask myself when I try a beer is "Is this awesome?" Usually the answer is "Of course, keep drinking!"

I love beer for the exploratory nature of the craft. People are always trying new things, be it in their home kitchens or in the multi-million dollar set-ups that the big 3 have designed to get in on all of the craft beer fun. Just as long as no one takes it too seriously, no one will get hurt, and we can all keep drinking!

60-59

60-59.... That score has haunted me since January of 2003. It started out as a good thing... a win over nationally ranked Kansas that eventually lead to an NCAA tournament appearance (albeit a brief one). But, slowly over the past seven years, that score, or more precisely that game, has haunted my dreams.

It was almost deja vu all over again last night. Kansas was in the building, exhausted from the weight of a high (in this case #1) ranking on their shoulders, in a year that has seen a number of top teams stumble (including Kansas themselves earlier in the year). Through grit, determination, and some impressive coaching, the Buffs found themselves with a 60-59 lead with less than a minute left.


(For reference, that's what grit looks like. From: The Daily Camera)

60-59... in the seven years since Stephane Pelle drained his jumper, I never thought I'd see that score in a CU-KU game again... I had imagined that that game was some unicorn of an event that would elude me forever. But there it was again last night... staring me in the face. I tried to convince myself that in all reality that score couldn't last the 55 seconds remaining in the game, someone would have to score, but just the memory gave me the shakes.

It wasn't to last, Sherron Collins hit the second of his two free throws with 38 seconds on the clock to wipe away the possibility of 60-59 being the final. Cory Higgins would miss a pitiful look at a long 3 with 2 seconds left, and the Buffs would go on to fall in overtime.

I don't mean to get lost in the shuffle of my longing for moments past, it just tends to happen that way. More importantly, that's not what I take away from last nights game.

What I do take away from last night is the tremendous effort put forth by the Buffs. If you would've given me 500-1 odds on a $50 bet that the buffs would out-rebound the #1 Jayhawks through 40 minutes of play, I still wouldn't have taken it, yet Marcus Relphorde and a revolving door of big men, crashed the boards with tenacity.

But, there were even more bright spots. Casey Crawford and Austin Dufalt(!) made All-American KU center Cole Aldrich's time in Boulder a living hell. Levi Knutson actually hit multiple open shots in a game(!). And, outside of the final 4 minutes and overtime, Nate Tomlinson showed why he's one of the best point guards in the Big XII. It was a performance that I hadn't believed was possible.

But in the end, a loss is, as "they" say, a loss. Just another missed opportunity.

It does comfort a little to remember that Al Burks (for the record, I call him Al), and his near 17 points a game, was out. Perhaps the re-match 16 days from now in Lawrence will have a better outcome in store, or possibly next year will finally show as the year those single-digit losses become wins. Either way, being 70% good and constantly coming close to, but not actually, breaking through is starting the get old.

I rumble on...

I reserved this blog address about 2 years ago... since then nothing.

Originally, I promised myself that I would dive right in to the glamorous life of an amateur blogger, but life, as it often does, got in the way.

Now, however, the days of this space on the lost edges of the interwebs lying fallow are at an end! (FYI, this is probably not a good thing)

I intend to use this space to ruminate on the goings on as I see it. Mostly, I plan on focusing on my favorite topics of sports, beer and video games. I apologize in advance.