Sunday Morning Coffee
Good Morning. Here are some beer, football and even some music links to get you through your Sunday. Enjoy
- There is a vocal and mentally ill minority of the Georgia fan base that think Aaron Murray should be on the bench. The blog Lucid Idiocy calls them and the AJC troll out for their, well their idiocy. (h/t The Senator)
- Steve Spurrier is still bitching about Georgia’s schedule last year.
- Hey Texas A&M has already produced a bad rap video. Talk about SEC Speed!
- Arkansas AD Jeff Long’s handwritten notes on his personal investigation of Bobby Petrino are simply fascinating.
- An ad agency is mad at New Belgium for the ad campaign touting their new lager “Shift,” which is very tasty by the way.
- Shock gives a wrap up on what was an amazing beer weekend in Athens Ga last week.
- One of my all time favorites, Levon Helm died this week. I have been on a “The Band” bender ever since here are some gems:
The Night They Drove old Dixie Down from The Last Waltz. Hellagood
The making of Cripple Creek. Simply Fascinating
Levon Helm’s mini movie “only Halfway Home” to promote his wonderful album Dirt Farmer
Brewfest Wrapup
The 17th annual Classic City Brewfest came and went. Below is my wishlist and my thoughts:
FRENCH BROAD IPA – Where are the hops?
FRENCH BROAD RYEHOPPER PALE – OK at best.
WILD HEAVEN LET THERE BE LIGHT – Super session beer. According to owner, Nick Purdy, six pack of bottles coming soon.
SOUTHERN TIER OAKED UNEARTHLY – Fantastic. Everything this brewery does kicks ass.
TERRAPIN EASY RIDER SESSION ALE – Didn’t have it.
MOON RIVER APPARITION ALE – Very good, a little hoppier than I anticipated.
MOON RIVER WILD WACKY WIT – A very solid wit. Great tartness. Tartness, is that word?
TWAIN’S GOLDEN ALE – Didn’t have it.
TWAIN’S HELL FOR SOCIETY STOUT – Solid, not spectacular. Pretty straight forward stout.
TWAIN’S MAD HAPPY PALE ALE – Very drinkable. I’ll have another.
TWAIN’S TROPICALIA IPA – Awesome. lots of citrus flavors as the name would imply. Hoppy, but very balanced.
FINCH BEER CO. CUTTHROAT PALE - Underwhelming.
FINCH BEER CO. GOLDEN WING BLONDE – Blah.
The cask tent had some great beers. The highlight in the cask tent was a Sweetwater Exdous Porter that had some extra hops. Lots of praise was heaped upon the Lazy Magnolia blueberry cask, but it had a strong aftertaste reminiscent of Pledge. Abita had a bourbon barrel aged ale that was phenomenal. New Belguim La Folie was a hit, the standard bearer as sours go, in my opinion. Meads debuted their meed brewed right here in Athens, it was tasty but a little to sweet to have more than a few ounces. Clown Shoes Tramp Stamp was good , but not worth the hype.
Beer of the day: Twain’s Tropicalia.
It was an awesome day with friends. Looking forward to next year. I dare you to go to a beer festival that has live music other than a Celtic or bluegrass band. I dare you.
Classic City Brewfest Wishlist
The 17th annual Classic City Brewfest is today. There will be over 350 beers and 15 one-off casks. Here are the beers I am looking forward to trying. A full report on the all the reverly will be up post-festival
FRENCH BROAD IPA
FRENCH BROAD RYEHOPPER PALE
WILD HEAVEN LET THERE BE LIGHT
SOUTHERN TIER OAKED UNEARTHLY
TERRAPIN EASY RIDER SESSION ALE
MOON RIVER APPARITION ALE
MOON RIVER WILD WACKY WIT
TWAIN’S GOLDEN ALE (K)
TWAIN’S HELL FOR SOCIETY STOUT (K)
TWAIN’S MAD HAPPY PALE ALE (K)
TWAIN’S TROPICALIA IPA (K)
fINCH BEER CO. CUTTHROAT PALE
FINCH BEER CO. GOLDEN WING BLONDE
G Day The Morning After
Well Spring Practice is over and the long grueling march towards September begins. G Day wrapped up everything in a nice little bow for the Georgia Bulldogs.
- Lots of scoring but as Marc Weiszer tells us, nothing to worry about defensively.
- By all accounts the Running Backs have had a nice spring. Yesterday confirmed that as Ken Malcome got the start and looked good gaining 32 yards on 8 carries. His Touchdown run was legit SEC stuff. Isaiah Crowell looked good too. Even though he was doing it against the reserves I thought Richard Samuel looked rather beastly in his second half performance at running back.
- The offensive line still has some work to do as expected. However I thought the #1 unit held their own against the #1 defense.
- I was interested in seeing how Christian Lemay looked and he has most definitely improved from last year. That being said Hutson Mason looked really sharp.
- Justin Scott Wesley had a nice day catching the ball O(3 catches for 46 yards) and Jay Rome showed some serious wheels for a big guy on his late game touchdown.
- Special teams are probably the hardest thing to judge during the spring and not much to report from G Day other than we need a real punter. Miss you already Drew!
Really not too much to day other than that. The first team defense looks like a legitimate championship unit and Aaron Murray looked confident.
Only 19 more Saturdays without football you guys.
Oh Steve, You Rascal
The Old Ball Coach is feeling saucy again. This time he is throwing a few jabs at Georgia as well as Alabama. When asked about his thoughts on the Georgia game being moved from its usual spot early in the season to October, Spurrier had this to say…
“I don’t know, I sort of always liked playing them that second game because you could always count on them having two or three key players suspended”
Back in the day this would have riled me up, but I have come to learn that it is just Spurrier being Spurrier. In an odd way I have to come appreciate ol Stevie. Maybe it’s because Georgia has beaten him a few times more than when he was at Florida. It’s good to see Spurrier feeling his oats a little bit, must mean he feels good about his team. A compettive Spurrier is a good Spurrier because he has always been a bit of a sore loser. So my advice to fellow Dawg fans is don’t get too upset over this little jab, that’s exactly what he wants, plus as my friend Justin points out, just remind any Carolina fans about their oft-suspended former QB Steven Garcia or the traditional late season losing streaks Carolina usually suffers. Happy Saturday.
G Day and Spring Practice Information Overload
Tomorrow UGA wraps up spring practice with the annual G Day game. It’s been an eventful spring so far for The Dawgs full of position changes, arrests, suspensions, and other goings-ons. Here is all you need to know …
- The offseason got off to a great start when a bevy of underclassmen announced they were staying for a championship run in 2012. Then….
- Several of those guys started to get in trouble and they continued to get in to trouble.
- Due to unanticipated attrition Georgia’s leading receiver from 2011, Malcolm Mitchell, is moving to corner back. It sounds permanent-ish. I am still on the fence how I feel about it, but you need your best players on the field and he is one of Georgia’s best.
- Richard Samuel has moved again, this time to fullback.
- The offensive line has been shuffling around, but it sounds like a top 5 are emerging. Also good to see Kolton Houston finally getting a shot after being in NCAA purgatory. The top 5 in rotation is likely to change when uber-recruit John Theus gets on campus this summer.
- Jay Rome is emerging as the heir apparent to Orson Charles, who is going pro and driving drunk.
- Joe Tereshinski has a new group of assistant strength and speed coaches.
- Jarvis Jones is basically the baddest of asses. Bad Ass
As for G Day tomorrow :
- No super frosh Keith Marshall and maybe no preview of Malcolm’s defensive skills.
- Isaish Crowell has by all accounts been doing the right things this spring, I am interested to see what he looks like.
- Christian Lemay looked really raw last year at G Day, I am curious to see how far he has progressed.
- The rosters appear to be #1 offense vs #1 defense. To me that means G Day may be a decent litmus test to see how the new OL fares against a legit SEC defense.
- DawgSports.com has your guide to G-Day 2012 here.
- Tyler from Georgia Sports Blog has three items for your G-Day viewing pleasure.
- Remember that G Day, like all spring games, is just one scrimmage and is by no means and end all be all indicator of how things will go in the fall so don’t get to excited or get your panties in too much of a bunch. Just relax and enjoy a day between the hedges. Cheers
Back in The Saddle
It’s been a while, but I’m cranking this puppy back up. Look out later today for a G-Day primer and spring football update. Also coming soon I profess my love for Steve Spurrier and some other tidbits on beer. In the meantime…
Since we last spoke numerous UGA players have found trouble, Bobby Petrino lost a fight with a motorcycle and lost his job, Malcolm Mitchell has moved to defense, Kim Jong Il and Furman Bisher have died, a dude named Bubba won the Masters and I have a sweet new kegerator. Lots to catch up on. Stay tuned!
