Beer and football VIII — week fifteen

The game: Patriots at Steelers The beer: Samuel Smith Winter Welcome Ale The result: Win, 27–24; Jaguars win, 45–7 The commentary: Survivor’s Jeff Probst, wisest of the wise, laid on the tribal-council empathy last week and—moments before Devon incomprehensibly voted out his lone ally, positioning Ben as his future destroyer instead of a possible swing […]

Beer and football VIII — week thirteen

The game: Patriots at Bills The beer: Long Trail Ale The result: Win, 23–3; Chargers win, 19–10 The commentary: Nothing more about the knockout pool until people start getting knocked out again. Three straight weeks at eleven with the playoffs likely coming into play? Gimme a break. In the spirit of “nothing,” I’m a bad […]

Beer and football VIII — week twelve

The game: Dolphins at Patriots The beer: Zero Gravity Little Wolf Pale Ale The result: Win, 35–17 The commentary: Discouragement looms over a new installment of “Beer and knockout-pool drama.” Six projected outcomes resulted in eleven wins: Katie, the third and final Mike, Robin and I went with the Pats; Andy and Dan with the […]

Beer and football VIII — week eleven

The game: Patriots “at” Raiders (in Mexico City) The beer: Boulevard Tough Kitty Milk Stout The result: Win, 33–8; Steelers win, 40–17; Brandon Kentaro wins, 4–0–0–0 The commentary: The Geeee Mennnn! Hal, Asterisk Jeff, Stephanie, the third and final Tom and the Kansas City Chiefs were no match for the Giants, G. and me at […]

Beer and football VIII — week eight

The game: Chargers at Patriots The beer: Murphy’s Stout The result: Win, 21–13; Vikings win, 33–16 The commentary: “Come on you motherfuckers! I’m supposed to win this goddamn thing!” Competition brings out the worst, particularly when your heavy favorite is settling for field goals and your wife and daughter are out of the house. Entitlement […]

Beer and football VIII — week seven

The game: Falcons at Patriots The beer: Anderson Valley Fall Hornin’ Pumpkin Ale The result: Win, 23–7; Cowboys win, 40–10 The commentary: I thought the death blow was coming for us all. Given the reasons I listed last week, none more so than “watch your ass,” I suspected an overabundance of Steelers, Panthers, Titans and, […]

Beer and football VIII — week six

The game: Patriots at Jets The beer: Ballast Point Dead Ringer Oktoberfest Lager The result: Win, 24–17; Texans win, 33–17 The commentary: “Recency bias is one of the trickier forms of bias that may interfere with an effective performance review. When managers RICO perps are affected by this they tend to over- or undervalue short-term […]

Beer and football VIII — week five

The game: Patriots at Buccaneers The beer: Bear Republic Racer X Double India Pale Ale The result: Win, 19–14; Eagles win, 34–7 The commentary: Too soon? But that’s my ET stuffie since Christmas 1982! This fucking defense still blows but what are you gonna do? Trade Malcolm Butler for a tight end? No thanks. An […]

Beer and football VIII — week three

The game: Texans at Patriots The beer: Warsteiner Dunkel Lager The result: Win, 36–33; Rams win, 41–39 The commentary: Football! If I can survive the Rams game (those color-rush yellows were it), with Brian Hoyer (!) evaporating a fourteen-point third-quarter deficit while I remained blissfully unaware until switching over to the NFL Network after Project […]