Monday, November 23, 2009

Am I the Kiss of Death for Sports Teams ?

Ok so I used to be a huge sports fan and I am still passionate about The Leafs but in reality I think My Teams should take up a collection, it wouldn't have to be much, to persuade me to spurn them and give them a fighting chance to win.

Honestly my record is pathetic, we all know the Leafs story, 42 years and counting since a Championship, but I was born into that so there is nothing to be done. I, and countless others, must wear the shame proudly and always remember that the Red Sox actually won something so all is not lost. However my legacy of fan failure is not limited to hockey, in the NFL my team is the Washington Redskins, a once proud organization that have played in five Super Bowls but have not won a Championship since 1992.

In major league baseball I get a bit of a mulligan because although my Toronto BlueJays have not won the World Series since 1993 I do have great man-love for the Yankees who have had some success recently, but really the Jays are pretty much in the toilet.

On the collegiate level, I root for UCLA in basketball and Alabama in football so to the casual observer I'm doing well there but in reality. although both teams consistently compete for National Titles, UCLA has been shutout since 1995 and Alabama has not "roll Tide roll"ed to a title since 1992. I won't bore you with the gory details of Hearts of Midlothian or Scottish football in general but I'm sure you can sense the pattern.

I have, however, saved the "best" for last in that my team of choice in the NBA are the Utah Jazz. The Utah Jazz have never won a championship, that's never ........ not ever, kind of like the Canucks without skates.

A couple of wine notes:

There is a nice Spaghetti red on sale currently at the BCLDB, Montepulcianno D'Abruzzo 2007 from Spinelli, CSPC#454629. Montepulcianno D'Abruzzo is the name of the principal grape and the region of production and it is the every day house red in Abbruzzo and much of Rome as well, the region lies just east of Rome. This version from Spinelli is light to medium bodied with decent fruit and enough acid to cut through the tomato sauce. The wine is currently retailing for $8.99 but the distribution is spotty.

Had a braise of blade steak last night, lots of braising these days, with garlic, rosemary, onions and cremini mushrooms. I was looking for something big and brooding to go with the beef and so I picked up a bottle of Poupre de Grezette, CSPC#549147 a Malbec from the Cahors region in SouthWest France. Cahors is one of the oldest viticultural regions in France and the dominant grapes are Malbec, which is listed on the label of this bottling, and Tannat.

The wines of Cahors are often referred to as "black Wines" due to their deep colour but this one is self described as purple (pourpre). The wines of the region are generally harsh in youth and this bottle was a 2004 so the bottle age had softened the wine, but maybe too much. There was lots of black fruit and jammy flavour and a nice juicy spicy nose and the mouth feel is excellent with a long smooth finish but the acidity was a bit light.

Still for $15.99 this wine delivers rich varietally true flavour and is a nice change from many of the rough and ready Malbecs of Argentina, once again distribution is not great but reasonable.

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