The Fives... Summer Beers

The Fives... Sumer Beers

I love sports. That isn't breaking news or anything. Just a true statement that most likely applies to anybody who frequents this site. There is a reason that there is something like 492 different stations dedicated to sports. But that doesn't mean there aren't things about sports that infuriate me. And one of those things are fans. Not all fans obviously, that would be insane. But everyone has had experiences where some idiot fan has ruined there viewing experience. Those are the people that I'm talking about. I'm going to break down the five worst type of fans I have encounter over the years.

Read below....

5) The Excuse Guy- We all know him. The guy who always has an excuse for why his team lost. This guy's team was never outplayed. One of my friends is an excuse guy and I hate him all football season. It is always because the refs blew a call, or a player got hurt, or a ball took a weird bounce that would never happen again. An excuse guy's team could lose 48-3 and it would because they lost momentum when the ref missed a hold on the third play of the game. Just admit your team got outplayed and deal with it, shit happens.

4) "The Expert"- You all know the guy I'm talking about. The guy who watches 3 games a year but talks to you like he broke down film for 5 hours. He's the dude in your office that tried to talk curling strategy with you at lunch today, or talks about how Farrell needs to use his bullpen more but brings up Andrew Bailey as an example 3 weeks into his DL stint. I know part of being a manly man is watching sports, but your only making a fool out of yourself. It never really made sense to me. I don't even understand how they keep score in tennis, so I'm not going to explain why Andre Agassi was more suited to play on clay because he uses some weird sneakers. If you don't know much about a sport just enjoy watching it and learn.

3) The Sacred Cows- Living in the Boston area I have seen more local championships than the average sports fan, so this may not apply to everyone, but it really grinds my gears. The Sacred Cow refers to players/coaches who have had some success, and now fans act like you can't xl critique them. It's stupid. Around here it applies mostly to the Patriots, and specifically Brady and Belichick. I get it, they won some championships. But that means I can't call Brady out for missing throws in the AFC Championship? Or questioning Belichick as a defensive genius (I'm just saying for someone who revolutionized defense he hasn't been able to draft a decent secondary player since Asante)? Winning championships shouldn't make a player/team infallible. Have the fun of being a fan is second casing the decisions made. I will give you a 1 year grace period after a championship. Then it's fair game.

2) The Glory Days- If you listen to sports radio, you know the guy I'm talking about. For some reason 95% of these Uncle Rico mother fuckers are hockey fans. They call up to complain about the power play and say something along the lines of "Listen, I've played the game my whole life, and the first thing they teach you is to get a body in front of the net to screen the goalie." Really? You want to relate your time playing Bantam Hockey's in Quincy Youth Arena? You think coach Bill, a full time telemarketer who coaches his kid on the weekends was able to revolutionize the game? Your an idiot. Your just as bad as the distant relative MMA douche. You know, they guy who where's Affliction t-shirts to the bar and talk about how he's been training in Kung Fu or whatever. Your both idiots.

1) The Loyalty Fans- The worst of the worst. The people who talk about loyalty in sports like by not rooting for the local team your a member of Al-Queda. "Dude you got to root for the Patriots, it's your local team!" So what. I don't see you sporting a Revolution jersey. Bobby Kraft and John Henry aren't giving me a home town discount on tickets. Does me rooting for the Falcons or the Nationals impact your life at all? Of course not . So why do you give a shit who I root for.

So those are the five worst type of sports fans. If you agree/disagree let me know. You can hit me up @michaelrooney26 on Twitter

For the first time in what seems like forever, we have had a pretty solid week weather wise. And as the temperature slowly rises, we are at the wonderful "startt season". What do I mean by "start season"? I mean that wonderful 2 month stretch where some of the best times of the year start. It's the start of the NHL playoffs. The start of mini skirt/halter top season. And the start of the seasonal beers. Spring/Summer is without a doubt the best time to be a drinker, and I'm going to give you the five best seasonal beers to look into this weekend.

5) Ipswich Summer Ale- As a New Englander, I can say pretty confidently that this region really under appreciates the local breweries. It seems like if it isn't Sam Adams or Harpoon the younger generation of drinkers don't recognize it. But there are a ton of great local beers, and Ipwich Ale is one of them. I'm a huge fan of their Summer Ale. It's a Blonde Ale, and it's light enough that you can drink them all day at the grill, but not so light that you think you are drinking water (I'm looking at you Bud Light). So support local business and buy a Summer Ale this weekend.

4) Anchor Summer Beer- I had never even heard of the Anchor Brewing Company until last March, when I was in San Francisco. When I was out there, I tried Anchorsteam based on the recommendation of a co-worker, and no lie, it was the only thing I drank for 4 days out there. It's awesome. Slowly but surely Anchorsteam has started making appearances at certain package stores in the area, and it's always a treat when I see it. I've only tried the Summer Beer once, but it was amazing, so I'm putting it on the list and hoping to see it again this summer.

3) Sam Summer- This was a tough call between Sam Summer and Sam Porch Rocker, but in the end Summer edged it out. I love Sam Summer. My wife and I got married in September of 2012, well past the production stop date for Summer Ale, but I love it so much I called the package store and had them put aside a bunch of cases. Make sure you jump on it quick this summer, because they run out of supply earlier into the summer every year. On an unrelated side note, if you get a chance check out the brewery. It's cheap (they ask for a small donation) and it's pretty cool to see how everything works, plus you get to go to the tasting room.

2) Brooklyn Summer- At least in my area of Massachusetts, the Brooklyn Brewing Company is the most underrated beer brand in the area. It's awesome, and almost every store carries it, but I never see anyone drinking it. I don't get it. Brooklyn Summer was close to being my top ranked summer beer, it really was basically a coin flip. The first time I tried it, I really wasn't a huge fan. But I got it again last summer, and it was great. I don't know if the recipe changed a bit, kind of like how Sam's changes year to year, or if I have just matured as a drinker, but I''ll be picking up a pack this weekend, I guarantee you that.

1) Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy- Luckily you don't have to be able pronounce the beer name to be able to drink it, because if that was the case I'd be fucked. I just picked up a 12 pack yesterday, and am currently drinking one between sentences right now. The reason it gets the number one spot is it is so different from the other seasonal beers. It' has a very distinct flavor, strong on the lemon, so if you don't like lemon you have been warned. Check it out, I bet you will enjoy it.

So these are my top 5 Summer Seasonal Beers. Try one, or even better all 5, this weekend, and let us at NOTBS know what you think. You can follow me @michaelrooney26.

Big Country

Thursday, April 10, 2014