MONEY TALKS

You've gotta give new NBA Commissioner Adam Silver credit. The man has balls. And he knows what makes the NBA world go 'round.

In a league that is 80% African American, and with a team in a city that is heavily populated with Hispanics, what Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling thinks in private and says in private is still his business, but once it becomes public, no matter HOW it becomes public, you can't turn back. You can't put the genie back in the bottle, the toothpaste back in the tube, whatever analogy you wanna use. 

The league was on the brink of a league-wide player boycott, the exit of substantial sponsorship dollars, and national/international ridicule. And Adam Silver, the OTHER 29 owners, and the 450+ players, were not about to suffer through that. 

Money talks, and exposed racism walks. And Adam Silver knows that. And now, so does Donald Sterling.

EYES WIDE OPEN

It has probably been years since I'd actually opened and tasted a Budweiser. But last night, I broke down and bought a six pack of those uniquely shaped cans and popped one open. Beautiful yellow pour, bright white head.  Gentle subtle aroma of, well, it was absolutely 100% Budweiser aroma. I could almost smell the beechwood and rice (yes, they use rice).  Big bright light crisp first sip, playful bubbles (they tickled my nose!), with a lingering Budweiser finish.

Something in Annheuser-Busch beers has always given me a headache. I've been told by brewer friends that there is something they put in the beer to make the head white that often doesn't agree with some people. Well, I am one of them, and I waited for the headache as I sipped each sip, sip after sip, until my glass was empty.  The head ache will come soon enough, I guess.

But I have seen the light.  I have been missing this experience for most of my life and now I feel free. I have grown SO tired of craft beer, so tired of the bourbon barrel aging, so tired of the hop varietals, so tired of the brettomyces, so tired of the wild yeasts running free. So tired of the collaborations, the blends, the bombers, the brewpubs, the tickets for Pliny the Elder and his son/nephew, Pliny the Younger, so weary of the wait for Pliny the Great Grandfather and Pliny The Grandmama.  I mean, what ever happened to simple , plain yellow beer with a bubbly white head (that tickles your nose!)?

This is my beer now.The voice of George Clooney in all those Bud commercials has finally broken through and spoken to me. And I have heard. And I have acted on what I have heard. And I have drunk the bright yellow beer and it was good. I can endure the headaches.

I'm a Bud man now.