The game: Patriots at Steelers The beer: Long Trail Hibernator Ale The result: Win, 21–18 The method: NFL+ The record: 3–10 The headline: “Has the world gone mad or is it me?” – Hawkwind, “Master of the Universe” The commentary: Hawkwind, as related throughout Hawkwind: Days of the Underground—Radical Escapism in the Age of Paranoia, […]
The game: Chargers at Patriots The beer: Berkshire Lager The result: Loss, 6–0 The method: NFL+ The record: 2–10 The headline: “Can we ever really know why, why the bad things come our way? Can we ever really know? Well, this is where we’re going, and this is where we’re heading. We’re hitting a new […]
As a college sophomore I interned in the advertising department at the Boston Globe. Several times a week I signed a minivan out of the motor pool and drove downtown to pick up or drop off various publishing-related materials—page proofs, contact sheets, Baldini’s pizza, etc. More often, though, another intern and I took turns using […]
The game: Saints at Patriots The beer: Von Trapp Bohemian-Style Pilsner The result: Loss, 34–0 The method: Live via CBS The record: 1–4 The headline: “Where do we go? Where do we go? Where do we go from here?” – UFO, “Rock Bottom” The commentary: Say what you will about Scott Zolak—I know I have—but […]
The beer: Earth Eagle Good Helmet Schwarzbier The headline: “This history lesson doesn’t make any sense.” – Built to Spill, “The Plan” The commentary: At Canobie Lake Park, a teenage boy with an alarming chest rash gathers among friends and wet towels. Nearby—too near, by accident—a man approaching fifty kills time on his phone while […]
The beer: SingleCut Frequency Lager The headline: “Don’t you know that I’ll always be true?” – Iron Butterfly, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” The commentary: Three generations of Halfenhalfs returned to Patriots training camp after a year’s hiatus and it’s just as well we missed Matt Patricia’s failure to sit up straight and build a functional NFL offense. Good […]
Scene: it’s autumn. Route 1 along the North Shore (title case) of Massachusetts—rather, “Old Route 1,” to distinguish it from the stretch with strip clubs and furniture outlets and orange dinosaurs. The scenic portion with private schools and shuttered restaurants and blind intersections that almost kill you (truth). Radio: on. “Fire” by the Crazy World […]
Week seventeen The game: Dolphins at Patriots The beer: Great Rhythm Long Beach Lager The result: Win, 23–21 The method: Live via Paramount+ Week eighteen The game: Patriots at Bills The beer: Twisted Fate My Promises Are Lies Tonight India Pale Ale The result: Loss, 35–23 The method: Live via Paramount+ The headline: “All the […]
The game: Patriots at Vikings The beer: Berkshire Turkey Trotter Brown Ale The result: Loss, 33–26 The method: NFL+ The headline: “Who could imagine that they would freak out in Minnesota? Who could imagine?” – Mothers of Invention, “Help, I’m a Rock” The commentary: I got no time to write this, baby. But Mike Reiss, […]
The game: Jets at Patriots The beer: Ipswich Brown Square English-Style Brown Ale The result: Win, 10–3 The method: NFL+ The headline: “No one makes me close my eyes.” – Pink Floyd, “Echoes” The commentary: The less said about this one, the better. They should have! They should have made me close my eyes! Rhamondre […]
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