Thurston Blogging

I know nothing about basketball

Here is a quick hit from Fox Sports B-Ball Blog:

 

We saw a theme in yesterday’s NBA games: rejections. In what was probably the play of the night, Kobe Bryant had a ridiculous left-hand open court swat when Deron Williams tried to dunk on KB24 on the break.
Josh Smith had a sick block of his own, pinning Chris Bosh’s layup to the backboard from behind. J-Smoove finished with four blocks …

Why do I put a post up about this?  Because all four of these guys are on my Fantasy Basketball Team.  It's not good to have one teammate beat on another.  Stop the violence!

No real changes to my team - I've added the aforementioned Willams and released Battier.  Also picked up Chris Webber for Pau Gasol. 

I won my first week, got crushed in week 2, and it's neck and neck so far this week.

My Fantasy Football Team - Week 12

                                                                                                                              

Position	Player	Team
QB	Peyton Manning	Colts
QB	Mike Vick	Falcons
WR	Muhsin Muhammad	Bears
WR	Chad Johnson	Bengals
WR	Marvin Harrison	Colts
RB	Thomas Jones	Bears
RB	Julius Jones	Cowboys
TE	Ben Watson	Patriots
W/T	Plaxico Burress	Giants
W/R	Dominic Rhodes	Colts
K	Nate Kaeding	Chargers
D	Atlanta	Falcons
Bench	Mike Furrey	Lions
Bench	Randy Moss	Raiders
Bench	Ronnie Brown	Dolphins
Bench	Corey Dillon	Patriots
Bench	DeShaun Foster	Panthers
Bench	Kevin Jones	Lions
Bench	Phillip Rivers	Chargers
Bench	Vince Young	Titans

All hail the Chumps.  They pulled off a much needed win last week.  This gives me sole possession of 5th place, and I was very close to moving into 4th.  If LT had one more touchdown for the Chargers, I would have been in. 

A few lineup changes this week.  Gone are Chad Pennington and Lamont Jordan.  Pennington was never going to play behind Peyton, Vick, Vince and Rivers.  Jordan didn't do jack all season long, and he blew out his wheel, so he's on the shelf for the season. 

In are the enigmatic (read: insane) wide receiver Randy Moss, and the  Colts  running back Dominic Rhodes.  Moss is too good of a talent to let sit on the waiver wire, so (like Vick) I snatched him up.  With injuries to Kevin Jones and D. Foster, I needed a solid running back.  Rhodes is splitting time with Joseph Addai, but I'll take what I can get.  Even though I have a million QB's, I considered Tony Romo.

I need a win to get a shot at the playoffs, but it's going to take some work.  I'm favored this week, but it is only Tuesday.  With three games on Thursday, I wanted to get my lineup set early.

Now to things I don't like - I DO NOT like the third game on Turkey Day.  This is the league giving into that old fart Lamar Hunt, who griped that the Cowboys and Lions got to host the games each year.  Too bad!!  And NFL Network wanted to start broadcasting games, which seems like an anti-trust suit in the making.  It's tradition, and you're mucking it up.

Christmas Ale

Here is a quick video of Jeff and I making a Christmas Ale.  It smells friggin' fantastic.  I cannot wait four weeks from fermenting to bottling to drinking.  Hope to be able to enjoy it with each and everyone one of the blog's viewers.  Since there are only three, we can get smashed!

My Fantasy Football Team - Week 11

                                                                                                                             

Position	Player	Team
QB	Peyton Manning	Colts
QB	Mike Vick	Falcons
WR	Muhsin Muhammad	Bears
WR	Chad Johnson	Bengals
WR	Marvin Harrison	Colts
RB	Thomas Jones	Bears
RB	Kevin Jones	Lions
TE	Ben Watson	Patriots
W/T	Plaxico Burress	Giants
W/R	Julius Jones	Cowboys
K	Nate Kaeding	Chargers
D	Atlanta	Falcons
Bench	Mike Furrey	Lions
Bench	Chad Pennington	Jets
Bench	Ronnie Brown	Dolphins
Bench	Corey Dillon	Patriots
Bench	DeShaun Foster	Panthers
Bench	Lamont Jordan	Raiders
Bench	Phillip Rivers	Chargers
Bench	Vince Young	Titans

If I win this week and another guy loses, I can jet into fourth place in my league.  The playoffs aren't for a few weeks, so a win would be timely.  I'm not counting on it, but anything is possible.  My weekly Furrey or Burress dilemma is still bothering me, and I've considered starting Foster over T Jones.  We'll see, but for now this is the lineup.

I Got Drunk at the Christmas Party and Sat on the Copier Ale

Thurston Brewing is open once again.  After a long layoff, I'm firing up the brew kettle.  Plan on getting hammered this Christmas on home brew.  I'm anticipating that this brew will top the charts at about 6.5 % Alcohol by Volume (ABV).  Stay tuned for video clips of the brewing extravaganza this Sunday at the Thurston Compound.

Here is the recipe I cobbled together with help from the dude at The Red Salamander in Grand Ledge.

I Got Drunk at the Christmas Party and Sat on the Copier Ale

Ingredients:

9 lbs. Light Malt Extract

½ lb. Crystal 60 Malt

½ lb. Dextrine Malt

¼ lb. Chocolate Malt

¼ lb. Special Roast Malt

1 oz. Northern Brewer Hops

1 oz. Fuggles Hops

¼ oz. Star Anise

½ oz. Juniper Berries

½ oz. Cinnamon Sticks

½ oz Sweet Orange Peel

¼ oz. Coriander

1 dash Nutmeg

European Ale Yeast

 

 

Directions:

Mill the malt and place in grain bag.

 

Drink beer.

 

Place the grain bag of the crushed malt in a small pot with two quarts of 150 degree water and hold this temperature for 30 minutes.

 

Remove grains from the pot and sparge the grain bag with 1 quart of hot water.

 

Next, add the wort to the boiling pot with enough water to make 1.5 Gallons total.

 

With the heat on Low, stir in the liquid malt is mixed before turning the heat back up.

 

Drink beer.

 

Add the Northern Brewer Hops and ½ oz. of the Fuggles Hops and boil for 60 minutes.

 

Add the remaining ½ oz. of Fuggles Hops for the final two minutes of the boil.

 

Turn off heat, and run beer through the wort chiller until beer is cool.

 

Fill the fermenter with 3.5 Gallons of cold water and transfer the wort to the fermenter to make 5 Gallons total.

 

Pitch the European Ale Yeast.

 

Insert Blow-Off tube for 48 hours or until yeast is no longer going apeshit.

 

Drink beer.

 

Remove Blow-Off tube and insert Air-Lock.

 

Bottle the beer after 14 Days.

Call of Duty!

The wife lost a bet to me, so yesterday we went to the Circuit City in Novi, and she bought Call of Duty 3 (for the XBOX 360) for me. 

I'm sure the actual game is going to be visually incredible, more challenging than the original and have new locations weapons and vehicles.  However, I'm getting it for the ability to kill my friends on XBOX Live.  Now, while playing COD3 on Live, you can use vehicles to go after helpless opponents and crush them like bugs.  Wonderful!

Here is a screenshot from IGN from Call of Duty 3:

My Fantasy Football Team - Week 10

                                                                                                                             

Position	Player	Team
QB	Mike Vick	Falcons
QB	Peyton Manning	Colts
WR	Chad Johnson	Bengals
WR	Marvin Harrison	Colts
WR	Muhsin Muhammad	Bears
RB	Kevin Jones	Lions
RB	Thomas Jones	Bears
TE	Ben Watson	Patriots
W/T	Mike Furrey	Lions
W/R	Ronnie Brown	Dolphins
K	Nate Kaeding	Chargers
D	Jacksonville	Jaguars
Bench	DeShaun Foster	Panthers
Bench	Lamont Jordan	Raiders
Bench	Julius Jones	Cowboys
Bench	Plaxico Burress	Giants
Bench	Corey Dillon	Patriots
Bench	Chad Pennington	Jets
Bench	Phillip Rivers	Chargers
Bench	Vince Young	Titans

Here is this week's lineup for the Grand Rapids Chumps.  Not many changes this week - I'm riding the backs of the guys here.  Speaking of backs, Burress may make the lineup if healthy.   Be healthy, and roast Da Bears, foo!

My Fantasy Basketball Team - Week 1

                                                                                                                             

Player	Team	Position
Shaq Oneal	Heat	C
Kobe Bryant	Lakers	SG
Tracy McGrady	Rockets	SG
Carmelo Anthony	Nuggets	SF
Dwight Howard	Magic	PF
Chris Bosh	Raptors	PF
Jason Kidd	Nets	PG
Amare Stoudemire	Suns	PF
Kirk Hinrich	Bulls	PG
Jason Richardson	Warriors	SG
Baron Davis	Warriors	PG
Chris Kaman	Clippers	C
Jason Terry	Mavericks	PG
Josh Smith	Hawks	SG
Adam Morrison	Bobacts	SF
Pau Gasol	Grizzlies	PF
Luke Ridnour	Sonics	PG
Shane Battier	Rockets	SF
Tyson Chandler	Hornets	C
Ben Gordon	Bulls	PG

Here is the first lineup of the Brass Ballas.  Veritable all-pro squad.  It's easy to have good teams with only four total in the league.  I took that cry-baby Morrison.  I needed a rookie, or wanted one anyway and he and Reddick are the only two I know.

Please note the amount of Jasons on my team.  Mistake?  Nope.  Also, I took fellow Chip Chris Kaman round out the center position.

The Good Life

Tonight, we're sitting in bed watching a crappy Adam Sandler movie on TNT, at the wonderful Holiday Inn Express in Schoharie, New York.  It's midway between Cooperstown and Albany.  Drinking the Back Yard IPA from Cooperstown Brewing from Milford, New York.  It is terrific - nice hop flavor with my absolute favorite two hops - Fuggles and Cascade.

The world is my oyster, and (much like the growler to my left) I'm sucking it dry.

Cooperstown Brewing Company is no brew pub, its just a little tap room. 

What I enjoyed about the place was free beer.  We walked in, and they just poured beer from the bottle and the tap.

It isn't located near the Hall of Fame, but it is on the way to the expressway.

In between the Hall and Cooperstown Brewing is Brewery Ommegang.   The Belgium-style brewery is owned by Duvel, and is located on a former hop farm.  They, too, offer free tours of their brewery and free samples of their beer afterwards.  Already a big brewery that brews 10,000 barrels a year, they will be expanding by adding 4 times the space that will include a tap room featuring authentic Belgium food.  Hello, waffles.   

Cooperstown

Today, Sharon and I made the pilgrimage to Cooperstown, New York to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

The entire town of Cooperstown is devoted to baseball.  Each storefront has throwback  a throwback jersey from your favorite Hall-of-Famer, a made-to-order baseball bat, or a 100-year-old catcher's mitt.

Inside, they have floors of memorabilia that, as a baseball fan, blew me away.  Lots of jerseys of great players, but they had the entire locker of Mantle, the "No Lights" sign for Chicago Cubs, programs of each World Series, the White Sox exploding scoreboard to the first hooker Babe Ruth had "relations" with as a Yankee.

If this place served beer, it would be just two blocks away from heaven. 

Being more of a football fan than a baseball fan, without a doubt this Hall blows Canton out of the water. 

Much more to see, and the town is out of a Norman Rockwell painting.  Or you can actually see a Norman Rockwell painting in the Hall.

The real joy of the visit to the Hall is to go through the first-floor hall to see the plaques of each Hall of Famer.  As a Cubs and Tigers fan, it is nice to see that each team had some talent.

From Banks to Cobb, the greats of Chicago and Detroit are all there.  One of the interesting things that we noticed as we toured the Hall is the amount of players that served in the military. 

If a player served, a special medallion was placed by their plaque.  Hammerin' Hank served in WWII while The Georgia Peach served in the first World War.

If you are looking for directions to Cooperstown, it is 17 miles past the middle of nowhere.  New York isn't like Michigan. 

Each highway exit isn't representative of of the actual mile marker of the road.  For example, going from exit 17 to exit 18 may be a twenty mile drive. 

There are no chain restaurants in Cooperstown, so we didn't eat in town.  We found an interesting restaurant about 45 miles away called Taco Bell. 

If you haven't been there, I strongly advise you make the trip to just eat at this wonderful place.