Sports

Beer Birthday: Robert “Mac” MacTarnahan

by Jay Brooks on May 1, 2012 · 0 comments

Today is Robert “Mac” MacTarnahan’s birthday, one of Oregon’s most famous athletes. Mac would have been 97 today, but unfortunately he passed away in 2004. He was one of the original investors in Portland Brewing Co., which was later named MacTarnahan’s Brewing in Mac’s honor. I met Mac twice, once in Portland at an event at the brewery, and once he visited me in California when I was still the beer buyer at BevMo. I hope I have half the energy he did when I’m in my eighties. A couple of years ago, my friend and colleague John Foyston wrote a nice remembrance of Mac in The Oregonian, which included the obituary he wrote in 2004. Raise a glass today to Mac’s memory.

Brewer Alan Kornhauser, Mac and Portland Brewing co-founder Fred Bowman.

Mac’s Oregon Sports Hall of Fame photo. Here’s his entry:

Oregon’s most accomplished Masters Athlete, Robert “Mac” MacTarnahan is the first masters competitor ever chosen for induction into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. His athletic feats are amazing. Mac is a four-time Masters world record holder with a national record in the mile plus three world record holders in the 3000-meter steeplechase. In the steeplechase, he is a six-time AAU National Masters champion, two-time USA National Senior Olympic champion, two-time World Senior champion. Mac is also a five-time National Masters wrestling champion. The wiry Scot owns more the 50 Masters Gold Medals.

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Play Brookston Home Run Derby

by Jay Brooks on April 5, 2012 · 0 comments

in Just For Fun

Over the last few weeks I’ve been trying to figure out if I could have a fantasy baseball game this season — similar to each football season and March Madness — but haven’t really had the time to figure it out. A regular baseball fantasy league seems like too much work, especially as my actual knowledge of current players is so thin. Every year I’ve played in one, I come in dead last, which is not my idea of a good time. But I may have figured out at least something to try, even if it is last minute, what with opening day of the baseball season tomorrow.

This year, Yahoo Fantasy Sports is offering a number of fantasy baseball games, and one caught my eye as potentially a lot of fun but much easier to play, in terms of time commitment and knowledge necessary. It’s called Home Run Derby, and you draft a team and get points only when one of your players hits a home run. You have a roster of 15 players, and each day you have to field a player at each infield position, plus 3 outfielders and a “Util” (utility) player from any position, to round it out to nine (and since pitchers won’t really count for much in this type of game), leaving six players for your bench. Each time one of your players hits a home run, you get a point. If one of your players hits a grand slam, you pick up four points. Whoever racks up the most points over the season is declared the winner, with all attendent bragging rights.

Currently, Yahoo allows the maximum number of teams in a league to be 20, and I already gave a slight preference and invited everyone who played last year or played Marzen Madness. So far, we have six teams, so there are 14 spots left. If you want to play, sign up now. As soon as we reach 20, I’ll turn the league status to “ready” and the auto draft should begin within 24 hours. So we may miss the first day or two of the season, but the settings give me the impression that it may go back and assign retroactive points, so we’d all get the points we’re due anyway. If not, we’re still all in the same boat.

Below are the instructions if you want to play Brookston Home Run Derby this year, but hurry up so you don’t miss out. If it won’t let you sign up, check to make sure we’re not full yet. If we are, sorry about that, there’s always next year. I’ll post the standings throughout the season and update them at least weekly, if not more often.

In order to join the league, follow this link or go to game front page, click the “Sign Up Now” or “Get Another Team” button and follow the links to “Join a Custom League”. When prompted, enter the League ID# and password below.

League ID#: 144900
Password: Homer

We will send you a confirmation with further details once you have completed the registration process.

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Anchor Plaza Debuts At AT&T Park

by Jay Brooks on March 29, 2012 · 6 comments

in Beers,Breweries,Just For Fun,News

Today was media day at AT&T Park, where the San Francisco Giants play. It’s not the kind of event I’m normally invited to, but this year is a little different. Debuting this season at the Giants’ stadium is Anchor Plaza, a new area behind the giant scoreboard where fans can find beer from Anchor Brewing, among other related goodies.

An Anchor beer stand sits in the center of Anchor Plaza.

Which is known as Anchor Taproom.

There’s plenty of seating in Anchor Plaza.

And the entire Anchor Plaza is also ringed with related food and beverage vendors.

Anchor co-owner Keith Greggor behind the taps at the Anchor Taproom. Sadly, no beer was flowing today.

The sign overlooking Anchor Plaza.

Which is located out of sight, behind the scoreboard. It looks like it could be a great place to get away from the crowds for a spell, and enjoy an Anchor Steam Beer. There are large screen televisions back there so you won’t miss the game while you sip your beer.

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Marzen Madness 2012 Reminder: Sign Up Today To Play

by Jay Brooks on March 14, 2012 · 0 comments

in Events,Just For Fun

With the first tip-off tomorrow, today is the last day to sign up to try to pick the winners for this year’s March Madness. I’ve again set up a bracket game through Yahoo which I call “Märzen Madness.” It doesn’t look like there’s a limit to the number of people who can play, so sign up and make your picks before March 15, which is when the first games take place. I’ll post and update standings each day there’s games played until a winner is declared.

To join Märzen Madness and play the Yahoo! Sports Tournament Pick’em game, just follow this instructions below. You’ll also need a Yahoo ID (which is free if you don’t already have one).

To accept the invitation, just follow this invitation link. For reference, here’s the group information.

Group ID#: 10019
Password: beer

Good luck everybody.

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Marzen Madness 2012

by Jay Brooks on March 11, 2012 · 0 comments

in Events,Just For Fun,News

While not the biggest fan of college basketball, I still enjoy March Madness every year. The tournament is usually a fun diversion for a few weeks each year, so for the second straight year, I’ve set up a fantasy game, similar to fantasy football. It’s a bracket game through Yahoo which I call “Märzen Madness.” It doesn’t look like there’s a limit to the number of people who can play, so sign up and make your picks before March 15, which is when the first games take place. I’ll post and update standings each day there’s games played until a winner is declared.

To join Märzen Madness and play the Yahoo! Sports Tournament Pick’em game, just follow this instructions below. You’ll also need a Yahoo ID (which is free if you don’t already have one).

To accept the invitation, just follow this invitation link. For reference, here’s the group information.

Group ID#: 10019
Password: beer

Good luck everybody.

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The Super Bowl: By The Numbers

February 2, 2012

You usually see this kind of list for Oktoberfest; how much beer, how many sausages, etc. But Tree Hugger put together a list of what’s consumed during the Super Bowl: By the Numbers: Super Bowl Facts and Figures. The statistics are from 2010′s big game, but I feel confident they’re close enough. Here’s the most [...]

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Top 8 Beer Sales Days

November 26, 2011

This two-year old SlashFood article showed up in my Paper.li today, retweeted by a brewery I follow. The article, Super Bowl Sunday — The 8th Biggest Beer Day of the Year? questions the list of the top eight “Holidays/Events for Beer.” The list was complied by Nielsen, and as he points out is “combined beer [...]

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Beer In Ads #465: Fans Who Know …

October 28, 2011

Friday’s ad, in honor of the St. Louis Cardinal’s world series victory earlier tonight, is a Budweiser ad that appeared on the Cardinals scorecard in 1954. With the tagline “Fans Who KNow … Buy Bud,” the scene is a baseball game in the late 1800s. I love the block of ice sitting on top of [...]

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Guinness Ad #90: Guinness Rugby

October 22, 2011

Our 90th Guinness ad is a sports-themed one with, naturally, the familiar slogan “Guinness for Strength.” The Guinness rugby player, presumably bolstered by his drinking Guinness, is running for a score wile keeping the entire opposing team at arms length — literally.

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Baseball Bat Beer

August 3, 2011

ESPN had an interesting little item today by Jim Caple entitled Pitcher Finds Good Use For Mariners’ Bats. The story concerns Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Chris Ray. In addition to pitching for the Mariners, Ray is also an avid homebrewer and has plans to open his own brewery, along with his brother Phillip, in Virginia. [...]

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Moylan’s Releases Orange & Black Congrats Ale! For Giants’ Opener

March 28, 2011

As the Giants get ready to take on the Athletics in the annual Bay Bridge Series that begins tonight, a local brewery gets set to release a new beer to honor San Francisco’s world series victory last year. Moylan’s, in Novato, California, will release Orange & Black Congrats Ale! on March 31 to coincide with [...]

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