My Ode to Heady Topper (The Beer)

I don't often write about beer.  I like to enjoy it.  I like to enjoy 3 or 4 of them with LC or my friends.  It's rare that I would actually sit down and write about a beer.  That's how special the Alchemist Brewery's Heady Topper is.  It has inspired me to write it about it.

The story is now a part of drinking lore.  Located in Waterbury, Vermont, Heady Topper was born out of this idea that canned beer made with quality is a great thing that should be enjoyed. A hoppy canned beer was actually the way to brew these kinds of beer to preserve the flavor and aroma.  Starting as a tavern, the Alchemist as a restaurant was destroyed by Hurricane Irene a couple of years ago.  Only the small brewery remained.  Pumping out a couple of hundred cases every day was not enough to meet demand, thus a legend was born.

People stand in line for hours at local central Vermont corner stores waiting for that days delivery of Heady Topper.  The closest one to me is the Hunger Mountain Coop in Montpelier, three hours away.  And yes, I have tried to plan going up there to wait in line like everyone else.  I have had a taste of these beers before; a friend of mine was given one can (ONE CAN!) by his uncle and knowing that I was a beer maven, he decided to bring it down to share with me.  ONE CAN!!

Who cares that you wait in line for a four pack of beer for 3 hours when it really comes down to it?  It's the experience and the journey in getting the beer that is more important than the beer itself.  I think they like it that way.  My story will be told with more detail some other time, suffice it to say though that I was able to score a case of the wonderful suds.

Which leads me to my review.  It's the number one rated beer in Beer Advocate.  Ratebeer.com has it in the top 10.  But how does it taste?  How does it match up to some other imperial IPAs that are de rigeur around New England?    

The drinker is implored not to pour the beer into a glass and to drink it from the can.  I surreptitiously ignore that plea, look around to see if anyone is watching, and pour the heavenly beer into one of my favorite drinking glasses.  It pours out a bright cloudy orange, just like a good imperial IPA should.  You are immediately hit by the hop aroma as the beer comes out of the silver bullet can (the real silver bullet).  I throw the empty can into the recycling bin - it's a Vermont beer after all - and swirl the beer around.  The first taste is full of hoppy flavor, with some notes of citrus.  It's a classic Northeast IPA.  Not too bitter either.  It tastes like a wonderful ray of sunset sunshine attached to it.  And at 16 ounces, there is always an extra bonus of 4 ounces of beer when you think that it has gone away.  A truly wonderful beer.

Now don't get me wrong.  There are numerous beers that match up nice to Heady Topper and don't require you to sit in line for 3 hours to enjoy it.  But this is my ode and I'll enjoy it if I want to.   Three hours in line to sip a little sunset sunshine?  Count me in.

Dean Smith, UNC and the Carolina Way at the Heights

I've always liked North Carolina Basketball.  Although they enjoyed the same kind of success as the hated Duke Blue Devils, UNC always seemed like a nicer, more benevolent alternative to ACC Basketball.  UNC had Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Vince Carter.  Duke had Christian Laettner and Cherokee Parks.  Enough said.  I always liked North Carolina.

That's why Dean Smith's passing saddened me so much.  More than Roy Williams, Dean Smith was an icon.  He made North Carolina Basketball.  Jesus, they named the Tar Heels home court after the man, instead of after some tobacco company!  You can read a lot of better obituary-type odes to Dean Smith.  He was the first Deep South program to recruit a Black player.  He was the catalyst that gave us the shot clock (Because of his 4 corners offense). And he was the believer of the "Carolina Way."

Which made it somewhat ironic that we saw the Boston College game versus the Tar Heels just hours before he died.  The Tar Heels, still ranked No. 12 in the Country despite losing convincingly to the Virgina Cavaliers earlier in the week, was looking for an easy win as they went into their showdown with Duke in a couple of days.  Boston College, mired in the bottom half of the league with a losing record (1-9 in conference) was checking out how Billy Curley's (Take that Tar Heels!) students were doing down in the South Shore.  Similar to our Duke game last year, we were looking forward to the opponent more than the home team.  Although, Roy Williams doesn't have the same cache as Coach K, we were still interested in seeing how Dean Smith's successor works his 5.

Chestnut Hill, MA.  3pm.  We enjoyed great seats, right next to the BC band in Section C.  Close enough to see the action but so close that the annoying drunk college students were getting in our way because they wouldn't sit down.

It was a great game to begin.  For a Saturday afternoon, the crowd was pumped up considering the enduring legacy of Conte Forum is that they don't sell beer at the games.  A little bit had to do with the fact that the Tar Heels were making one of their first appearances at the Heights (and brought all of their fans with them), a little had to do with the fact that it was Saturday afternoon in the middle of 4 feet of snow.  What else were we going to do?  The boys were just as pumped up too.  Although they couldn't name anyone on the current roster, they did know Harrison Barnes and Michael Jordan, and that made it better than BC.

Now BC was led by a high scoring guard named Olivier Hanlan, BC's 6'4" Junior from Puerto Rico.  He's really the only Eagle who has a chance to go to the next level.  It wasn't a fair fight, when you think about it.  But that didn't stop BC from making a game of it.  At the end of the First Half, the game was tied at 36.

The Human Slinky was our halftime show.  What the Hell was that?

North Carolina comes out in the Second Half ready to take over.  They break out a run at the beginning of the half to take a 13 point lead.  North Carolina's strategy of playing all of its big men together seemed to finally be working.  Even Justin Jackson, the Freshman who runs like he's 50 years old got in on the action.

At the end, despite a couple of mini runs by the Eagles, The Tar Heels prevailed by 11 points, 79-68.  North Carolina even broke out some of the 4 corners delay tactics at the end as they were drawing the shot clock down.  The Carolina Way, indeed.

Brady, Butler and Edelman - Super Bowl Champions

Super Bowl XLIX - Patriots 28, Seahawks 24.  Super Bowl Champions!

The first thing I thought of after Tom Brady's second kneel down is that the Patriots have to build a new room at the Hall of Fame for this Lombardi Trophy.  At first glance, this game set up a lot like the Patriots last two Super Bowls.  A tough match up against a strong, stout defense.  A QB that people were hyping up because no one knows what a good QB looks like any more.  A lot of talk about "legacies," "history" and "gates."  The game featured a miraculous play, big come backs and questionable play-calling.

Only the game was flipped on its head.  While some would say that Jerome Kearse's fumbling and bumbling catch on the Seahawk's last drive was miraculous, the real miracle came when Malcolm Butler jumped the quick slant on one yard line to intercept Russell Wilson's pass to seal the game.  While some would say that the Seahawks almost drove down the field in 2 minutes to wing the Super Bowl, the real big comeback was the Patriots erasure of a 10 point deficit in the Fourth Quarter to score 14 unanswered points.  And while I was certainly questioning Belichick's decision not to call time out when the Seahawks had the ball on the one yard line, the real questionable call was that pass on second and goal.  Why not run the ball on second down, call the timeout and then pass if you don't get in?

A couple of fleeting thoughts:

1.  C told me after the Seahawks took the 24-14 lead that "That's it.  The Patriots lost."  I actually told him that I would not be able to handle it if he talks about that again.

2.  G went over a friends house with his cheesy nachos.  While I did most of the work, he actually did chopping and other prep as well as the cheese topping.  He texted us after the game about whether we watched the game.

3.  DLG was pretty sure that the Patriots won the Super Bowl, she was too busy working on her Minecraft mansion.

Carroll took a Dump, I agree

4.  Pete Carroll's explanation for why they called a pass on that last play of the game was non-sensical.  Way to step up and take the blame for the Offensive Coordinator who called a terrible play.

5.  On that subject, I am convinced that the Seahawks were Hell-bent on making sure that Marshawn Lynch was not going to be the star of the game, the MVP of the Super Bowl or the face of the franchise.  At the time of the interception, Russell Wilson had 2 TDs, but did not look dominating.  Lynch had one TD and a second may have put him over the hump for the MVP award.  Not only should they have run Lynch one more time, but when you see the overhead view of the play, Lynch was open in the flat for an easy touchdown on that Butler play.  He could have waltzed into the end zone.  Carroll just hates these kinds of guys who don't believe in his "ra ra" motivational voodoo.

6.  I think Carroll wanted his guy, Wilson, to win the game.  It would have been sweet for Carroll to show Robert Kraft what was what after all those years ago when Carroll was fired.

7.  If Kearse's catch at the end of the game would have led to a Seahawks' victory, would we be calling the last 8 years the curse of Spygate?

8.  I don't think Edelman suffered a concussion on that hit by Kam Chancellor.  It was just a big hit that staggered him for a couple of moments.  I think he also hurt himself on that play right in front of the goal line.

9.  Who allowed Mark Mark out on the field at the end of the game?

10.  Why were the commercials trying to get people to cry?  Nationwide and dead children.  Budweiser and a lost puppy.  Nissan and an absent Father.  #likeagirl, Toyota and sad Fathers.  What the Hell was this all about?

In any event, to coin a term from Bill Belichick, We're on to Baseball season.

DeflateGate and the NFL's Genius Marketing Ploy

Let me start off by saying that I have never been a fan of the 2 week break between the Championship games and the Super Bowl.  My opinion is that the NFL should either play the game the following weekend (and let injuries be what they may), add a second bye week so the NFL season ends up 18 weeks long or have the Super Bowl fall on the President's Day weekend (with a two-week break) so people have the following Monday off.  The two week break is just too long, particularly for hungry sports media and fans.

Deflated Footballs anyone?

Which brings me to DeflateGate.  By the time this is published, this is an old news story.  You know why?  Because after the weekend between the Championship games and the Super Bowl, teams and fans start arriving at the Super Bowl location, Media day starts and all of the hoopla associated with the Super Bowl begins in earnest.  The NFL doesn't need anything to keep fans and advertisers tuned in starting the Monday of Super Bowl week.  Which was part of the problem all along.

Stories were popping up everywhere last week.  Brady likes the balls under inflated.  A ball boy took the balls into the bathroom and the NFL has video.  The balls were checked before the game.  Belichick actually sounded convincing and human-like in answering the questions.  (He wasn't too worried about the DeflateGate during the first week.).  Where did all of these stories originate?  The Colts? the Ravens? D'Quell Jackson?  Bob Irsay (well, maybe)?  No.  It was the NFL!  The same organization that failed to inspect the balls properly.  The same organization that took weeks to decide what to do and is still hemming and hawing.  The same organization that failed to interview any of the players involved.  The same organization that has been battling a image problem for years...

Many will say that the slowest sports news week during the season in the week after the AFC and NFC Championship games.  The NBA and NHL are in the middle of their seasons.  Baseball and soccer are outdoor sports no one plays in the Winter.  There were no Olympics or other news stories that could distract the media from the stories that the NFL did not want anyone to talk about - Concussions, Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson.  What better way to get the media in a frenzy about the sport than to leak a story about how the Patriots - notorious cheaters - some how cheated their way to the Super Bowl?!  You have a harmless violation that people can have very strong opinions about.  You have a wonderful villain.  And you have a readership that is thirsty to talk about anything football.  No one is talking about Ray Rice, or Adrian Peterson, or the latest guy to get arrested for domestic violence.  They are all talking about Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft and their deflated balls. 

The NFL got off scot-free.  It was a genius marketing ploy.

I don't have any misconceptions.  Our favorite team is hated - HATED - outside of New England.  We are not going to be getting any breaks this week.  Almost every former player on TV has some axe to grind because of the Patriots or the players involved.  Yes, I'm talking to you Ray Lewis, and Marshall Faulk, and Mark Brunell and Troy Aikman.  Brady and Belichick have been around for so long that they are hated by everyone who played football between 1986 and the present.  That's another story for another time.  Did they cheat?  Yes, of course.  Every team does it and the Patriots allegedly got "caught."  The NFL failed to check the balls and the slight deflated balls that Brady likes using were permitted.  Did it mean anything to the game or the outcome?  No, but it doesn't matter.

There are some smart people int eh NFL after all.

Patriots 23, Seahawks 17.  Pound the under on this one.

Celtics Halftime Show to Kick Off 2015

"Dad, what was coach talking about when he said we would have a team field trip to Boston on Friday?" G asked me.  "Are we going to play the Boston Bobcats," the AAU basketball team he faced a couple of times last Spring.  G's basketball coach had talked about the field trip at practice on Thursday.  It was after Free Throw shooting but before the sidelines they had to run.  G would continue to badger me trying to figure out what was going to happen on Friday.

"You'll find out on Friday."  My standard answer to questions like that.  Usually I add a little but of sarcasm to my answer, but this time, I wasn't going to spoil the surprise for him.  Although in retrospect I should have told him we weren't going anywhere unless he read for 2 hours on Friday, I was excited for him.  Although he ended up finding out from one his buddies on the team what they were doing, I still told him to keep it on the down low.  Maybe some of his teammates didn't know what we were doing.

The secret?  His 5th Grade travel team was going to play at half time of Friday's game against the Bulls.  It was going to be the Blue team vs the White team. 6 on 6. Mano y Mano.  Well not really, but 6 on 6.

The Celtics had traded away Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green.  They also traded the some of the Flotsam and Jetsam that they got for those two guys, leaving Brad Stevens and a bunch of D-League guys (Sorry Jared, it's true).  So it was not a stressful game from the perspective.  As an assistant coach on the team, I was nervous for them.  It was going to be a sell out crowd and having gone to these games before and observing the unforgiving nature of the crowd, I was a lot more nervous than I needed to be.  G's biggest concern going to the game was whether he was going to take an NBA 3 pointer or not.

8:30pm.  Boston.  With 5 minutes left in the second quarter, we take the elevator down to the runway below the stands.  You know the stark concrete runways that they show on TNT when stars walk in to the stadium before the game in their suits.  It was just as I imagined it to be.  Large buses, strange paraphernalia, random security guards.  The boys get together for some pictures as a team and with Brandon LaFell who came underneath to say good luck to the boys.  And yes, I thought it was Brandon Browner.  I took some pictures myself so it must have been important.  All the time though, I was watching the game clock count down.


With 30 seconds left in the half we walk out of the tunnel.  As the horn sounds we immediately get going.  The funny thing was, we were 6 on 6.  The emcee helping us out shouted to the boys "Do you want to play 6 on 6?" We thought it wasn't a great idea, but then decided that the Court was big enough to accommodate us.  6 on 6 it was.  The 12 boys got in their positions.  I was not partial to one team over another, I just wanted to see some boxing out and everyone having fun.  When the HC said to not play any defense, I knew this was a perfect situation for G and his jumper.  Who cares that he's our tallest kid and our starting Center.  He could shoot his jumper!  And that is exactly what he did.  He spotted up on the left baseline and took his jumper.  Now normally, the shot would be from 20 feet, but somehow he managed to get to within 6 feet.  The ball clanged around the rim, hitting all sides of the cylinder before dropping in for the first bucket!  I don't know what I was more proud of, the fact that he scored the first bucket of the game on the first shot, or the fact that he took the shot from within 8 feet and not from behind the 3 point line.

The rest of the 7 minutes went by like a blur.  We tried to get everyone a basket.  We told them to stop playing defense any time someone looked like they were going to try and steal.  And we saw a lot of smiling faces.  As we come off the court, the boys were greeted by high 5s by everyone on the Court.  Although the boys weren't playing defense, they still looked fluid on offense.  Everyone was really psyched.  This is something that they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Oh yeah, the Celtics lost by 16 points.  But we weren't there for the big boy game.  We were there for the little kids.

Surprise!