Hypeman Trophy... No Thanks!

Ballots are due in today for the 900+ Heisman Trophy voters across the nation. Big deal right? WRONG! The Heisman trophy has never been one of my favorite awards, trophies, etc. Now that one of Alabama's own FINALLY seems on the cusp of winning it you'd think I'd feel differently. WRONG, Mark Ingram is as deserving as just about any offensive football player in the country. He's tough, about 1000 of his almost 1500 rushing yards are after contact. That's an astronomical stat! Yet I've got news for the Heisman Trophy voters, Mark Ingram isn't even the best player on his football team, little lone all of college football. Rolando McClain is the best football player wearing Crimson this year and easily one of the best across the country.

The best two football players I've seen this year are Ndamukong Suh and Rolando McClain. Sadly though neither of these two beast will even sniff a trip to New York's Downtown Athletic Club. I took to calling this trophy the Hypeman trophy about 10+ years ago and I won't stop just because one of Bama's own wins it. It's not even an honest award. Supposedly designated as signifying the best player in college football defensive players rarely are considered. I came to my senses and dismissed this award as being as significant as something between a paper weight and doorstop following the 1988 season. You remember that season don't you? Why that's when Andre Ware won the award for throwing for a gazillion yards against high school level talent, not even good HS talent at that. Surely you remember his coach leaving him in the games at Houston even in the 4th quarter with 40+ point leads. Contrast that season to the one Derrick Thomas had, 27 sacks! That's right 27 sacks in one season while being double and yes triple teamed on every passing down. When thinking about the greatest college defensive players of all time; Bruce Smith, Reggie White, Lawrence Taylor, Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary, the list goes on and on! Yet none of them had a senior year like Derrick Thomas, 27 sacks while ALWAYS facing double teams, often triple teams. Twice his senior year he was the National Defensive Player of the Week, most notably against Penn State. In the PSU game they quickly realized they'd have to put a tackle and tight-end on him, then the running back was shaded to his side to pick him up when he'd inevitably beat the double team. Should I mention that the plays were designed to roll away from him yet Tony Sacca became a bruised and beaten meat sack by the end of the game all thanks to Thomas' relentless pass rush. Did I mention he blocked a few kicks including a game winner that year? That's right, I lost ALL faith in the Hypeman trophy in 1988.

To be sure, getting these things right aren't always easy. For instance as good as Suh is, Alabama's Terrance Cody is a better and more dominant nose tackle in Bama's NFLesque 3-4 defense than Suh could think of being. The same is true of Suh as a 4-3 DT vs Cody in the same situation. Given Cody's game winning heroics vs rival Tennessee this year and his impact on the best defense in college football one could make an argument for him. Thusly systems and the talent surrounding a player have a huge impact on any one players success.

Yet seeing the Hypeman trophy for what it is isn't so hard either. For several years there's been a trend to simply award it to the best player on one of the top 2 or 3 teams. See this year for an example. So if Bama's Mark Ingram wins the trophy, and surely he or Colt McCoy will, I'll be happy for him and the university. Yet sadly it'll be awarded to the second best player on Alabama's team. Besides I say give it and the Hypeman Jinx to McCoy!

Wandering Son of Scotland

Anyone who knows me well knows I long to one day return to the home of my ancestors. While it is true that my ancestry like 99% of Americans is a mixed bag, it is being a son of America and a wandering son of Scotland which gives me identity. I'm not sure what it is but for a very long time, long before I became aware that I was of Scottish decent, I've been moved by the sight of the Scottish countryside! While I'm amazed by scenes like these;



it's really the scenes like these;




which speak to my soul and makes my heart swell with pride yearning for the homeland from which my people and my name came. I realize it's a romantic view of Scotland which grows more socialist and less free with every passing day, yet I'm still drawn. I hope to receive a church appointment in Scotland once I'm done with seminary, live there for a few years. Only time will tell if this dream is realized. In the meantime I'll have to settle for the occasional one of these;

while keeping visions of this in my head!

Schlante!

College Football's Sleeping Giants

I'm always interested in this conversation. I live in MS which has 2 SEC schools and 1 Conf. USA. Yet I'm a die hard born that way Alabama fan who bleeds crimson... don't we all ;)! This makes for an odd dichotomy between being a fan of Alabama which has almost all the built in advantages, and MSU/OleMiss which have few. Yes it helps in recruiting for both MSU & OM to play in the SEC. But the fact is that MSU is almost equal to Vanderbilt in many ways. They have surprisingly good facilities, better than most would think, I've heard tell of recruits coming back from some of the northern powerhouses and being amazed at how their facilities didn't measure up. They certainly don't have the academic restraints of Vandy which helps with recruiting.

I find Ole Miss to be quite similar to VaTech, not in modern achievement but in terms of resources and capacity for success. There are a HUGE number of people/fans in this state that say, "oh well we're OM, what can we do." This seems to be said after every truely disappointing loss. Every time I hear it I'm so glad I'm a Bama fan. They will never achieve what they're capable of because they don't realize their potential. Sure OM should be very good this year, maybe good enough to be SEC champs, but it's one year and I don't expect their recruiting to keep up with Bama/LSU in the west nor the eastern powers. I mention all of this as it's a snap-shot of what's happening in schools across the country. Struggle to be equal yet too often holding themselves back.

The fact is that ND has a ton of 'built in advantages' and they make a tangible difference, not the least of which are name recognition and guaranteed TV exposure (which is becoming less important with each passing day due to the large # of televised games, the SEC can now basically claim the same thing). But there are also high academic standards, a woefully outdated stadium, and crumbling facilities (at least that's what I heard a couple years ago). Someone cited Oklahoma, USC, & Bama as more recent examples. The fact is the big traditional schools have to work harder now to be dominant. Michigan is now figuring that out. Because the Big 10/Midwest has progressed at such a slower rate in terms of CFB than the rest of the country OSU and Mich. are still fairly insulated, but it's getting tougher and tougher on all the perennial powers. Yet they still have built in advantages.

Taking Alabama for instance. Bryant Denny possesses more luxury boxes than some NFL teams. Most everything football related has been upgraded in the past 5 years; stadium, concessions, coaches offices, filming & viewing facilities, training rooms, standalone recruiting rooms, locker rooms, student academic center, and more. Arguing who has the best facilities in the nation is pointless. But when looking at the whole from the minutest detail to the grandness of the on-campus stadium, there is no debate Alabama is among the best. Fact is Bama was swimming like a one legged duck until the powers that be saw fit to upgrade everything in the program to provide the best chance to bring in the best players and coaches giving the program the best chance to succeed at the highest levels. The results speak for themselves. Much of the same can be said for VaTech. The upgrades in recent years coincide with success, it's no coincidence. Fact is if any school will make the necessary commitment they can succeed! Michigan is currently figuring this out. I've heard of a couple of Mississippi kids going up on recruiting trips and coming back amazed at what a "dump", their words not mine, it was. Rich Rodriguez is working hard to get facilities reworked, it's necessary or they'll fall behind just like Oklahoma, USC, & Bama. Poor ND hasn't figured it out yet, when they do they'll miraculously awaken from their coma!

Paterno IPA, an Enduring Flavor

The latest creation from 4th Generation Brewery is the first IPA produced. This is a full bodied beer that goes down easy. The 'special' qualities are the rye character and use of Cluster hops as flavor/aroma additions. As you'll see in the recipe below bittering was accomplished with Colombus, flavor and aroma during the boil with Cluster and Cascade, and dry hopped with Cascade hops. The only thing I'll change on the next go around of this beer is to include 1/2-1 oz. of Cintenial in with the flavor and aroma additions.
My inspiration for this bier was Hop Rod Rye, an amazing flavor explosion. I wasn't trying to clone Hop Rod, just shooting for a similar character and this bier does just that. Also it seems I've finally dialed in the best mash temp/temps for my system, 151-152 degrees Fahrenheit. Enjoy the label, pics and recipe coming soon!


Get-em JoePa!

4th Generation Brewery

You may have noticed the name of my brewery has changed. That's with good reason. The original brewery name was rooted in the elements of my family genealogy, as is the new brewery name. The roots of my family reach to the Scottish Highlands and Clan Donald in particular. My great grandfather's last name is Cooley and he was a brewer of bier during prohibition, thusly my brewery was named Clan McCooley paying homage to both my Scottish roots and my more recent family history of brewing. I decided to change the brewery name to take it more away from the "Clan/Scottish" influence and more versatile. Thusly I've embraced 4th Generation Brewery as the new name. That's not all, I've embraced a brewery motto.... Brew Free or Die! Read more below in a statement I made to my local brewing community.

I'm 35, have a mortgage, amazing wife, 2 awesome kids, am in a mentoring program for ministry, work hard 5 days a week. I'm obsessive about a few things like educating my children, family, faith, college football, and homebrewing! But all the things that are truely important too me I can count on one hand without using all my fingers! The fact is I find being honest with myself about who and what I am is far more important than concerns which arise from promoting, consuming, or creating homemade malt beverages. My great grandfather and grandfather brewed beer in rural Clarke Co. MS during prohibition and BEYOND! My father ran shine during the 60's and his father before him cooked it. Me I'm the 4th Generation and my son and daughter will be the 5th Generation. That's who I am, that's why I promote homebrewing... oh yea and I like good beer!
I like the founders of this great nation believe every man has the right to choose for himself what is right and wrong too a point. I just believe that point stretches beyond the limits currently imposed by the laws of this great state! It is with this in mind that I proudly proclaim... BREW FREE OR DIE as the motto of 4th Generation Brewery, formerly known as Clan McCooley Brewery, both names deriving from my proud brewing heritage.

Smashing Blonde Ale

In certain circles of the homebrew community the idea of brewing a SMaSH ale is embraced as a means to experiment with grains and hops to develop an understanding of the properties unique to those ingredients. A SMaSH is any bier brewed with one grain, usually a base grain, and one hop. For my first SMaSH I decided to use Am. 2 Row (Rahr) and German Tradition hops. This bier turned out to be really good, much better than I thought for such a simple recipe. When tasting this bier you get a grainy underpinning with candy sweetness and earthy spice notes. The hops really shine in the flavor. Also this is the first all-grain, my 4th AG batch overall, bier that has had excellent head and lacing. The pictures below tell the story, though the full glass is of the bier at 1 week in the bottle and isn't fully carbed so the head is suffering.

Recipe:
11 lbs. Am. 2 Row (Rahr)
1 oz. German Tradition Hops @ 60 mins.
.33 oz. German Tradition Hops @ 22 mins.
.33 oz. German Tradition Hops @ 8 mins.
.33 oz. German Tradition Hops dry hopped
Yeast US-05
Mash Temp 151-152
OG 1.056 (this is a guess as I didn't take an OG reading)
FG 1.008
IBUs 27
SRM 6
Carbed with 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon of corn sugar


Label

The bier!

The bier almost gone with very nice lacing!

Sloppy Drunk Mild Ale

This is my label for my most recent creation, a British style Mild Ale brewed while listening to Big Joe Williams and dedicated to this legendary bluesman.  Before posting the recipe I'd like to say a few more words about Joe Williams than can be reasonably fit onto a bier label.  Big Joe was a bluesman in every way.  Bigger than life vocals, song writer, amazingly delicate guitar work delivered with force, sometime talent scout for a couple of record labels, and overall lover of life.  For some time I've kept a running tally of what I think are the greatest songs ever.  'Baby Please Don't Go' makes my top 3.  For posterity sake, 'Redemption Song' is number 2 and 'Strange Fruit' comes in at number one.  Far and away my favorite version of Baby Please don't go is sung by Big Joe Williams, though BB King performs one of the more rollicking versions.  Anyone who's a fan of the blues should give Big Joe's work a listen, you will be impressed!

Now for the recipe.  The recipe is simple enough. It's Jamil's recipe with 1/2 lb carapils added.
Fermentables:
5# Marris Otter (Any British Pale Malt will do)
.75# Crystal 60
.5# Crystal 120
.375# Chocolate Malt
.5# CaraPils
Hops:
.75 oz. Kent Goldings - 60 Mins.
.5 oz. Fuggles - 20 Mins.
.5 oz. Fuggles - 0 Mins.
Your IBU target is 17-20. Also if you want to keep it in style eleminate both late boil additions.
Yeast:
Safale S-04 (pitched on approx 1 qt of yeast cake from Irish Red Ale)

Mash @ 158 degrees
Brewhouse Eff. 71%
O.G. 1.036
target F.G. 1.011