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Beer Selection at Nassau Coliseum

Only a couple of games left this year, and really ever, for the New York Islanders but the beer selection at Nassau Coliseum ain’t half bad.

This picture is blurry, sloppy work on my part, but it’s a chalkboard inside a little bar area that’s right near the entrance by the box office. This is the best place to go if you want something special. Top drafts include Kelso Nut Brown, Blue Point Hoptical Illusion and Toasted Lager, Goose Island IPA, and Fire Island Lighthouse Ale. Except for the Goose Island, those are all local beers to Long Island (Brooklyn and Kelso are physically on Long Island, yes).  I remember this list being different last year, and if you browse Google Images you can find chalkboard pictures featuring different beers.

 

Also available around the coliseum were Blue Point Blueberry Ale, Goose Island 312 Wheat, and both Sam Adams and Brooklyn lagers, including the seasonals. Of course you can also get the standard macro stuff, as well as the Shock Tops and Blue Moons of the world.

 

I had the Kelso Nut Brown ale, which is the same brown ale they serve at 5 Napkins locations around the city, and while it wasn’t my favorite, it was still tasty. To top it off the Islanders had a fantastically dominating game against the Philadelphia Flyers and continue their playoff push.

 

Hopefully when the Islanders move to the Barclay’s Center they continue to provide quality craft and local beer. I haven’t been to the place, so I can’t attest to what they’re serving now to Nets fans.

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How To Give David Wright His C

He's the Mets Captain in all but nameWe know David Wright is already the captain, if only unofficially, but it’d be nice to get him the official title.  I thought of a fun way to possibly do it.

 

There is a 50% chance that one of the local hockey teams is going to win the Stanley Cup.  So if this comes to pass, have that team bring the Cup to Citi Field for the Mets to see and have the captain, either Zach Parise of the Devils or Ryan Callahan of the Rangers, present David Wright with a Mets jersey with a ‘C’ on it.

 

Clearly as an Islanders fan I’m rooting against the Rangers and am not sure I really want the Devils to continue on and win it all either, but from a New York City standpoint I think this would be a fun way to do it.  It wouldn’t have the same impact without the Cup, but you could probably have one of them do it anyway if you wanted to make pomp and circumstance out of it.

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The Islanders Battle For Contention

John Tavares celebrates a goalFootball is over and it’s still nearly two weeks until pitchers and catchers report and even longer before baseball games start. In the meantime I’m going to enjoy some New York Islanders hockey. Last night they held off the Flyers for a 1-0 shootout win. Evgeni Nabokov played an amazing game in goal, blocking all 45 shots and he always seemed to be in exactly the right place.

 

The Islanders are not one of the top teams in the league, but luckily the NHL takes the top 16 teams into the playoffs. The Islanders are not currently one of those 16, but they’re starting to make a push at it. They currently sit in 11th, 9 points behind the 8th place Ottawa Senators. However they’ve played four less games than them, and still play them head to head. In essence this means the Islanders actually control their own destiny, although there are still too many games left to break it down like that.

 

Can they do it? They certainly can, although it still remains a long shot. They would need to eliminate the extended periods of time in which they’re just not playing very well. They got away with one last night, but Nabokov will not always be perfect. On the other hand, John Tavares had very little to do with this victory and stealing a game when he’s not at his best is a good way to get winning streaks going.

 

The Islanders may not be talented enough to maintain the level of play they need for long enough to make the playoffs, but they’re still quite a fun bunch to watch. They’re playing some thrilling games and John Tavares is one of the best players in the league. Still, long shots occasionally do come through, and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see the Islanders play good enough hockey to leapfrog some other teams that also aren’t great at hockey. Either way they’ll provide some good entertainment to bridge the gap to baseball.

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Nothing to Watch Between Sundays

Today is why football will never touch baseball as far as greatest sport goes. Football has it’s moments..on Sundays. Today there is nothing on again until Sunday. That’s too many days without a game being played for me to really get into it.

From MetsStuff

I don’t watch amateur sports, so college football gives me no respite. Even that’s not until Saturday. There is only so much midweek analysis I can take, sooner or later I just want to see more action. There is preseason hockey, but that’s not overly exciting, the Islanders aren’t on tonight, and Taveras has the flu anyway.

It’s no wonder television starts around this time. As most baseball teams are just finishing off the schedule fans like me are mentally switching gears to other things. I’ll have MLB playoffs to watch in October many nights, but in terms of devoting myself to a sports team and getting excited, football just isn’t played often enough for me. It’s no more exciting than happy hour drinks on Friday night; great for a couple of hours, but a momentary distraction.

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Postseason baseball

Last year I got right into the postseason, and the Phillies being pummeled didn’t hurt. It was like I was so expectant of the season not being over. This year I was just so disappointed and disillusioned that I haven’t been into it. Sox looked good last night, but I’m still pulling for the Rays I think. (I like to compare them to the ’69 Mets, but last night certainly reminded me of the ’08 Mets. Both teams blew it after Kazmir left! haha..that was..bad)

Islanders don’t look great, but I’m thinking there might be some fun there. I caught opening night at the Prudential Center against the Devils, they lost, but I had fun.

I’m going to be in Buffalo this weekend, I wonder if I should pick up a Bisons shirt or something.