If you're an American sports fan, it's hard not to get swept up into the mystique of the National Football League. For years, baseball has been known as the national past time, but if recent ratings are any indications, the old saying should be amended to "football: the new national past time". The television ratings for NFL games absolutely crush the next nearest competitor in NBA basketball. The revenues generated by the NFL and all of its holdings are staggering and completely unprecedented in American sports. Sure, sports like baseball, basketball and hockey get decent rating in certain regions of the country, but none of them can come close to touching the national appeal that NFL football has right now.
Tomorrow afternoon is the day that pathetic losers who are hopelessly addicted to sports have been waiting for for weeks, the NFL draft. The coverage that the draft receives not only on sports networks, but also in the mainstream media is perhaps the greatest testament to NFL's overwhelming popularity. There is a sickening amount of unabashed hype and hoopla that surrounds the circus of the NFL draft, and I'll be damned if I wasn't glued to my T.V. set like countless sports fans across the country watching at home. When you think about it, the idea is really absurd. Here we are, parading these college kids, some barely in their twenties, and speculating as to which ones will find success on the next level, and which ones will flame out. It's a bit like predicting the weather here on the west coast; sure you can see the storms coming, but only God really knows where they will end up in the end. The experts pull of the stats that these guys accumulated in college and basically try to guess about how that success will translate to much more aggressive, fast paced and hard hitting game of the NFL. The bottom line is that nobody, not even the so-called experts really know how these athletes will pan out on the next level, but still it's fun to plop down in front of the T.V. looking at relatively meaningless statistics and just hoping that your team doesn't waste a draft pick on a bust.
In honor of the absurd tradition of the NFL draft, I'm drinking a beer today called Pigskin Pale Ale. Coming from a place called the Beer Valley Brewery in Ontario, Oregon, I had a relly good feeling about this one right from the get go. Pigskin Pale Ale is an exceptionally enticing shade of hazy golden orange, and the scent of the bitter hops literally made my mouth water. I'd like to see a more substantial head and lacing on a beer like this, but I was pretty impressed with the taste. The brewers at Beer Valley really get what it takes to make a good pale ale. Pigskin Pale Ale has a really smooth and even taste, without skimping on the hops. I've said it before and I'll say it again; a pale ale is only as good as the hops that are used to brew it. I'm not sure what variety of hops were used in the process of brewing Pigskin Pale Ale, but it's clear that the Beer Valley Brewery understands a thing or two about balance. I could easily see myself kicking back back, cracking open a Pigskin Pale Ale, and watching my beloved Minnesota Vikings limp their way through another agonizing season this fall. My team may not have improved their chances for next season all that much with their draft selections, but at least I've discovered a tasty new beer to help dull the pain of mediocrity a bit.
Cheers!
Ian
http://www.beervalleybrewing.com/index.shtml
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