One Year Later

I started the blog a year ago.  The original idea was to blog about what I'd be doing for a year without a job.  Of course, I started a little early.  Then I got a job, so I decided to keep the Year of Jim going for an indefinite amount of time.  So let's review of some things I've done and some updates to some previous posts.

I wanted to get to as many states and baseball stadiums as possible.  I got to four new states in the last year (Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, and Wisconsin) and I saw 15 baseball games in 10 different stadiums (seven that I hadn't been to before) in the last year.  There's a good chance that I'll never go to Wyoming again, so I'm glad I crossed that off the list.  I could see going to Arizona, Colorado, and Wisconsin again at some point.  I recently ranked the stadiums.  Since then I was at Miller Park, which I have ranked 13th of the 17 stadiums I've been to.

In my first blog post, I mentioned some things I was definitely doing and some things that I hoped to do.  I hoped to see Notre Dame play in Ireland, go to the entire Big East Tournament, and go to 2013 Opening Day.  I made it to Ireland, which was my first trip out of the country.  I went to Opening Day in Los Angeles and it was awesome.  I couldn't go to the entire Big East Tournament because of work, but I got to four games.

I went to four football games including the National Championship Game and 11 basketball games including the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  The National Championship Game was obviously disappointing, but I'm glad I went.  I don't know if I'll get to go again because the next time Notre Dame gets there, planning it could be very difficult with only a week or a week and a half to figure out arrangements with the College Football Playoff starting with the 2014 season.  So hopefully Notre Dame gets back in the final season before the playoff and I can get to the National Championship Game in the Rose Bowl in January 2014.  As for the NCAA Tournament, I'm glad I did it once, but part of the fun of the tournament is sitting on the couch and watching as many games as possible.  I did get to see a big upset, but it wasn't the one I was hoping for.

Last May, I posted about the Sam Adams summer variety pack and how disappointing it is every year.  They made some changes, including taking my suggestion of a blueberry beer.  I had to do the side by side taste test featuring the reigning champion of blueberry beers, Blue Point Blueberry Ale, taking on the challenger and favorite, Samuel Adams Blueberry Hill Lager. Your winner, and still blueberry beer champion of the world, Blue Point Blueberry Ale!  It was a stunning upset.  I was planning on bumping Blue Point Blueberry Ale from my Beer Power Rankings in favor of the Sam Adams Blueberry Hill Lager, but Blueberry Ale holds onto its spot.  The other changes to the Sam Adams Beers of Summer pack were positive.  Porch Rocker came out last year, but was added in the variety pack this year.  It's a lemonade beer, which is good and definitely belongs in the summer pack.  Little White Rye is the other new addition and it's solid.  But between the disappointment of the blueberry and keeping Belgian Session (it has to be the worst Sam Adams beer I've had, it's like the beer is angry at your mouth), it's still not worth it.  I still have one Belgian Session to drink and I'm not looking forward to it.  I drink by mood, so I'll drink that if the Celtics get eliminated from the playoffs.  I'm not giving the summer variety pack another try next year unless they get rid of the Belgian Session.

But some good news for Sam Adams, their Summer Ale remains undefeated.  I bought a six pack of Goose Island Summertime after hearing good things last year.  It's fine, but it's no Summer Ale.  I've tried summer beers from Sam Adams, Harpoon, Brooklyn, Blue Point, and Goose Island (I might have forgotten something also), and Sam Adams Summer Ale has won the championship every summer.  I would rank the Brooklyn Summer Ale second.

And I mentioned my Beer Power Rankings.  I included Brooklyn Pennant Ale '55 even though I had never had it before.  I needed to fix that.  It's staying in my rankings and jumping Coors Light for the number 9 spot.  It's nothing special, but it has my favorite name of all the beers that I drink.  Whenever I finally get to enjoy watching the Dodgers win the World Series (hopefully this year), that's definitely what I'll be drinking to celebrate.

So where do I go from here?  I'm a little frustrated because I can't really figure out what to do.  I have to get to some games in some stadiums that I haven't been to yet, but I don't have anything planned right now.  I think I'm going to England this summer, but I haven't booked the trip yet.  Hopefully I'll get that taken care of and then I can start to figure out what else to do.  I would really like to get to Gettysburg and Cooperstown this summer.  Also, the Long Island Ducks have been around since 2000 and I've never been to a Ducks game.  I want to go to one this summer.  In the fall, I'd like to get to at least three Notre Dame games, including the game at Cowboys Stadium.  Perhaps I could include a trip to the George W. Bush Presidential Library in that trip.  And I want to get to an Islanders game at Nassau Coliseum before they move to the Barclays Center.

I've done a lot in the last year, but I still have a lot more to do.  If anybody wants to get in on Gettysburg, Cooperstown, or any baseball trips, let me know.