Can I see the future?

Probably not. But I did have a dream last night about the upcoming football season (Ponies kickoff against Rice in Houston on ESPN August 29).

In my dream, the Mustangs were playing some faceless, nameless team that was probably Texas Tech. The team was on the field in the now old red uniforms of the the last few years and Justin Willis was at QB.....but without a helmet. I was in the stands yelling "Justin, where's your helmet?"

Willis completed a couple of passes and Emmanuel Sanders fumbled one of the catches out of bounds as he was getting tackled near the goal line. Some small running back had a great break up the middle (Chris Butler perhaps?) Meanwhile, June Jones was lying down on the sideline on a bed while sleepily reading the plays out to the assistant coaches to send in.

It was a bizarre, frustrating dream. And we lost 37-6 (which also made me think it was Tech that we were playing).

For the sake of our sanity and the upcoming season, let's hope my dream stemmed less from any insight I may have in the future and more from the Grolsch I was drinking last night.

Random Beer Thoughts

First and foremost, yes it has been awhile since we last posted (I address that to the three of you reading this). Starting a blog and trying to find time to balance it with work and home life can be difficult. We will make it happen however.

Moving right along. Earlier this summer, I was over at a friend's apartment to watch Nascar (I have $40 riding on our fantasy league). On my way, I had stopped by the store to get some beer, because Nascar while sober, is usually boring. Now, being from Texas I am a devotee of Shiner. I've had and enjoyed Shiners Bock, Light, Summer Stock (now called Kolsch), Winter Stock (Dunkelweizen), Hefeweizen, Blonde, Black Lager (which I recommend), and Shinner 99 (also recommended). But on this particular day, I saw something from the Spoetzel Brewery that I'd never had before: Shiner Spezial Leicht.

Let me start by saying this: do not try Shiner Spezial Leicht. If rubber could be brewed and bottled and marketed as an alcoholic beverage, this is somewhat like what it would taste like. It has a bland yet still offendingly putrid taste to it. Apparently, this particular offering from Shiner is meant as their entry into the increasingly popular low carb beer market. The brewers at Texas's oldest independent brewery should've known better than to delve into such tasteless, anti beer territory .

Beer is meant to be flavorful, aromatic, thought provoking and alcoholic. It is NOT meant to be a part of a low carb diet. And if you want to have a low carb beer to go with your low carb diet then I say 'Fuck you'. Why don't you just switch to wine coolers instead.

And to the good folks at Shiner let me beg this of you: Please stop brewing this awful excuse for a beer and please withdraw those that are already on the market. Shiner Spezial Leicht's very existence is a blight upon the good name of beer everywhere, but especially of Shiner.

Oh, if you could go back to putting Summer Stock, er Kolsch, in the cool bottle that had the horned frog on it, that would be cool too.

Spoetzel Brewery: I await your response.