Day 33 – Loyalties

Another nice day in paradise, sunny and warm in the upper 80's. Being a meteorologist in Tucson can't be that difficult. Day to day, it's a simple copy-and-paste of yesterday's forecast. How tough can that be? You'd have to predict snow in July to get yourself fired.

I thoroughly enjoy living in Tucson, more so than I did Michigan, which was cold and gray far more often than it was sunny and warm. Sports-wise, though, it's going to take me a while to embrace the Arizona teams. Phoenix is playing Detroit in the Stanley Cup playoffs and I can't help but root for my Red Wings. Hell, I grew up watching Hockey Night in Canada with my dad. How can I root for a team from the desert? Loyalties.

I noted with interest two nights ago that there were a lot of red jerseys in the crowd when they played in Phoenix, but nary a Coyote jersey in Detroit. Loyalties again. Transplants from Michigan to Arizona have red (wings) in their blood. I don't suppose there are too many transplants from Arizona to Michigan, huh? No, probably not.

Okay, so the Wings lost. I'm still a die-hard fan. Not to be critical or anything, but I did notice that the Wings gave up less goals with an empty net than they did with Howard in goal. Something to consider...

By the way, on the local news tonight, the lead story for sports was (1) University of Arizona softball, (2) UofA baseball, (3) Phoenix Suns basketball, and (4) the Coyotes win over Detroit. In Michigan, it would have been the opposite. Of course, we all have our priorities and perspectives.

I'm finding myself in a similar situation with beer styles. I love wheat beers. I love ales. The ratebeerians? Not so much. I drank a wheat beer today from Breckenridge Brewery called Agave Wheat that they rated 2.9. I thought it was a full point above that and said so.

Loyalties.

At first it bothered me that my taste was so far off from the majority's. Now, not so much. It's the style I love, so why pretend otherwise? Litebeerians don't apologize for their preference. Ratebeerians, dominated by hopheads much like Congress is dominated by Democrats, don't apologize for their preference, either. So I see no reason to apologize for my preferences.

Loyalties.

Next I tried a brown ale from Avery called Ellie's Brown Ale. This was a nice brown ale, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the wheat ale. It was a bit malty for my taste. And the last beer I tried was an amber ale from Breckenridge called Avalanche Amber. I tend to like amber ales, but this one was below average. It wasn't that it tasted bad. It was that it tasted, well, like not much. There wasn't a lot present in the aroma or taste. It was like beer-flavored water.

Loyalties.

So, what does loyalty mean, exactly? I had three beers today whose styles I profess to love. One I gave a high rating to, the second a medium rating, and the third a relatively low rating. Should I have given all three a high rating because I favor the style? Or rate them individually on their own merits?

Like my favorite sports teams - the University of Michigan, Detroit and State of Michigan teams - I can still root for them, but I have to be honest about them as well. I love Michigan football, but they suck right now. I love the Red Wings, but their defense is porous and they won't reach the finals this year. And I love wheat beers and ales, but they have to be good for me to give them a good rating. Today, I had a mixed bag.

Wait until next year. Wait until tomorrow. The only constant is change...and loyalty.

Prost!

Goal...............524.....365
Progress...........61.......33
Remaining.....463.....332