Pumpkin Ale

Last weekend, I took a trip out to my local beer store (how awesome is it to live in a part of town where there's a beer store just five minutes down the road). It was coming up on the football draft and I figured I'd bring a twelve to the draft and get another to replenish my stock at home.

I pulled out a cart in front of the store and walked in. Immediately on the right are all the new seasonal beers. I grinned big - my favorite beers are finally coming in season. Oktoberfest and Pumpkin Ale. And sure enough, there were many to choose from. I picked up one of our good stand-by's, and then another of them, so I could bring some to the football draft. And then I proceeded to check out all the other Pumpkin Ales I could find. Once I made it the twenty feet past the front door, I started heading to the back of the store past all the wines in order to pick up some beer for the draft.

I looked in my cart.

I already had 36 beers.

Well, no stopping there! I didn't want to bring all those to the draft because they were beers I actually wanted to try. Had to head on and pick up a few more. I ended up with a six of Hex, a Magic Hat Oktoberfest, and a six of our stand-by, Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale.



Well, I've been slowly trying out all the other brews I bought, and I have to say, so far I'm enjoying the Williamsburg Alewerks Pumpkin Ale the best. It's much more spicy than most pumpkin ales I have, so you can't drink too much of it, but it tastes exactly like pumpkin pie smells (I don't actually eat pumpkin pie, though after drinking this beer, I'm thinking I might start). I recommend giving it a try if you're in a part of the country that can get a hold of it.

2010 Fantasy Football Draft!

If I had known Jesus actually played football, he'd have been my number one pick, no questions. I bet that guy can play a mean game.

So this weekend was the fantasy football draft, our third year running. We play with two keepers, neither of which can have been kept last year, and neither of which can have been taken in rounds 1 or 2 last year. That means the top talent generally gets redrafted and a few of the emerging players from last year stick around on your team into the next year. The past two years I ended up in fourth place, which makes me the only repeat player in the championships, but neither time was I able to win even one game.

I only had two players from last year worth keeping at their spots: Michael Crabtree at 10, and Brandon Marshall at 14. Knocking them out early meant I had two good WRs to start. I had the 7th draft pick, and the first six went exactly where I thought they would, with the top six running backs (Johnson, Peterson, Rice, Jones-Drew, Gore and Turner) dropping off the board before my turn. Steven Jackson was on the board still, but I ended up switching to WRs and picking up Andre Johnson, even though I already had two WRs. Our flex position this year switched from being WR/TE to WR/RB/TE, which meant to me that I should pick up the best RB/WR at that position. I value Andre Johnson a bit more than Steven Jackson, and decided he was the better pick.

Coming back around, I was able to start going heavy into Running Backs, already having three good WRs on the roster. I picked up DeAngelo Williams (passed on Ryan Matthews who was picked up immediately after me... we'll see if that was a good move by me), then Tom Brady in round three as the last top tier QB, before hitting into my running backs heavy again with an occassional WR. I kept being in exactly the wrong place to pick a TE without reaching for it, so I ended up with Owen Daniels at round 9.

So I'm pretty happy with my team, overall. In order, I have Andre Johnson (WR), DeAngelo Williams (RB), Tom Brady (QB), LeSean McCoy (RB), Ricky Williams (RB), Donald Driver (WR), Ahmad Bradshaw (RB), Fred Jackson (RB), Owen Daniels (TE), Michael Crabtree (WR - keeper), Jerrico Cotchery (WR), LaDainian Tomlinson (RB), San Francisco (DST), Brandon Marshall (WR - keeper), Anthony Armstrong (WR).

I've already had to adjust my team, seeing as I didn't pick up a kicker. Fred Jackson was the first to be cut. My first game is against Ryan who got the first overall pick, so I'm facing off against some folks from last year's team like Chris Johnson, DeSean Jackson, Dallas Clark, etc. We'll see how it goes.