I attended the annual Spring Game yesterday in Evanston. I was surprised by the crowd, which might have numbered around 3,000 in total for the scrimmage and pre-game festivities. While that doesn't compare to the 73,000 which Penn State drew, its impressive as we had expectations of being the only fans there. Instead, we found a lively tail gate crowd in the West lot, already partying when we arrived at 8:45 AM. Enthusiasm was somewhat dampened by the cold temperatures and gusty winds, but the Heineken mini-keg (the greatest invention of all-time) kept us warmed and by game time the sun was out and the temperatures reached 60 or so.

The post-game ritual of beer and brats was followed by a pit stop at UBAA, a nice little bar a few miles from the stadium which is known mostly for being next door to the parking lot where the Fish Head's brother lay prone vomiting up Knob Creek after a game last year.

Long morning till Longmorn

The Scotch Blog votes this the most under-rated whisky and adds "Most of the Longmorn produced is destined for blends such as Chivas Regal. Chivas Brothers do very little to promote this gem - which is a real shame, as aficionados consider this to be one of the very best Speyside single malts.
Complex, smooth and elegant - and surprisingly reasonably priced - when you can find it."

Well I found it and its pretty damn good.

Holy mackerel

A good friend from work was nice enough to coordinate a a side trip to Wrigley, including a beautiful box seat which he graciously funded. Good news: Cubs pummelled the Reds. Bad news: I was unable to attend.

The Cubs are off to a good start this year, and there is hope for October as the recent quake opened a hole in the earth and swallowed the curse goat.

Spring game

I always mean to drive up to Evanston to catch the Spring Game, but I have never once made it. This year, I can spare myself the recriminations as this glorified scrimmage-which-serves-no-purpose will be streamed live off BigTenNetwork.com. Yes, that same Big Ten Network which has been battling with Comcast for many months. Yes, that same Big Ten Network which I cannot see on my TV. Yes, that one, the one we love to hate.

old boring dead soldier

I bought this one a couple days ago but it didn't last long. Work has been pretty crappy lately, so I have been closing out my workdays with a couple stiff ones, and since I normally have a couple stiff ones during the workday, I am whizzing thru the bottles faster than normal.

This particular brand, Glen Garioch, had sort of a light, sweet taste, and I did not particularly care for it. I guess that is what Japanese (Suntory) ownership does for a scotch...come to think of it, it had a vaguely sake-like taste to it.