The game: Patriots at Dolphins
The beer: Southern Tier 2X Double Milk Stout
The result: Win, 23–16
The commentary: Yet another example this season of a beer label’s hierarchy confounding me. Is it just “2X Stout”? Or “2X Stout Double Milk Stout”? Southern Tier also brews a “2X IPA.” So “2X IPA Double India Pale Ale”? That’s a redundant mess. Rock Art’s smoked porter similarly threw me for a loop—its label reads “Double Porter” with the word “Smoked” beneath it. Is that a carefree line break or a deliberate separation? Should I have inferred an em dash? “Double Porter—Smoked”? Are other “Double Porters” available? “Double Porter—Stochastic”? Or is “Smoked” merely the “Undilutable Slang Truth!” to “2X Stout”’s Room to Live? These are the problems I create for myself.

My cousins came by for a little AFC East Championship action. G., of course, thought that was a great time to nap for the first Sunday in weeks. Luckily she didn’t sleep through the entire visit or else she would have missed out on some serious book snuggling! She loved every second of it and they couldn’t get enough of her. It was really sweet.

Elaborate tie-breaker formulas currently position the good guys as the second playoff seed. Woot! Thirteen wins (so, winning out) should sustain that but twelve might be alright too. I think they need a bye week more than ever this season though. These are the problems Patriots fans create for themselves.

Up next: The Texans travel to Foxborough to try to prove to me that they really are a good team. I remain unconvinced, even though I know nothing about them—they’re the friggin Texans. Cheers!