Monday's Musings on Sports -The NFL Draft 2013 - Wants, Needs, Value & Faith

Every year, the NFL draft seems to become a larger event than the year before. Where the NFL draft used to be a one day affair in which only the first round was televised, it has now become a three day bonanza in which the first round is televised in prime time on Thursday night, the second and third rounds are also televised, but start at 6:30 PM and the remaining four rounds still have heavy TV coverage.

This year's draft had some added intrigue as none of the usual skill positions (QB, RB, WR) had highly rated prospects. Where most (if not nearly all years) have a QB taken in the first three or four picks, there was no QB prospect who distinguished himself enough to go in the top 15 selections. In the days leading up to the draft, the pundits predicted that the draft would be mostly about meat - meaning big offensive and defensive linemen. Those predictions came to fruition as the first seven picks in the draft were wide body offensive and defensive linemen.

Because the first round of the draft was so heavy in linemen (no pun intended) there was significant intrigue leading up to the second round. To a not so casual observer, it appeared that the second round had almost the same level of interest as the first round. There was the story about Geno Smith who reportedly sat and pouted on live TV when he was not selected in the first round, although he had been an early pick for the Heisman Trophy. There was Matt Barkley who had projected in 2012 as a potential top 5 pick in the draft, but after a sub par season, his stock fell precipitously as well. There was Tyrann Mathieu aka "Honey Badger" who has a world of talent but can't seem to stay clean. All of these stories were still percolating on the second day of the draft and many even continued over into the third day.

The buzzword used by many draft analysts for players who dropped in the draft is "value". If a player originally projected as a high round pick, but he slips later into the draft, the pundits will label him as high value, because the team that drafted him got a talented player but did not need to use a high pick on him. This year's draft included many value picks including Tank Carradine going in the second round to the 49ers, Eddie Lacy (viewed by many as the best RB in the draft) going late in the second round to the Packers and Matt Barkley going in the fourth round to the Eagles.

However, for each player that is deemed to be a value pick, there also needs to be an assessment of whether the team actually got value. By way of example, when Mrs KB and I were first married, we lived in a second story walkup in Queens. The apartment was nice, but it did not have that much in the way of storage. Every time that Sarah & I went to Costco we needed to ask ourselves - although the 16 pack of (fill in the blank) was a good deal, did we really need that many of them and where could we possibly store them.

When a team drafts a "high value" player they may have landed a gem. But if they don't have a particular need for a player at that position, the question becomes - was this truly a good value at all? Wouldn't they have been better off by addressing a need, even if the player that they picked may not have been the best player left on the board?

 The analysis makes me think about the shmitta (sabbatical) year. The Torah teaches that every seventh year, a farmer must stop farming his land and let it lie unworked. This creates a great deal of consternation for the farmer as he must put his faith in Hashem that he will be able to live on his prior harvest until he begins to reap in the eighth year of the shmitta cycle. However, Hashem has promised the farmer that he will harvest all that he needs in the sixth year and it will in fact sustain all of his needs through the eighth year. While the farmer may be tempted to work the land in year seven for financial gain, he knows deep down that all of his needs are taken care of and that the "value" of the seventh year is sitting in study with his family, rather than being in the field.

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Sunday Night Suds - Lakefront Brewery Big Easy Imperial Maibock

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Lakefront Brewery's Big Easy Imperial Maibock.

Your eyes are not deceiving you and no, I did not add the beads to the bottle. The Lakefront Brewery Big Easy Imperial Maibock does come all decked out in mardi gras finest. Below is a picture of the six pack holder at Total Wine:

Normally the descriptive term "Imperial" in front of the title of a beer is a tip off that the brew has a higher than normal alcohol content. The Lakefront Brewery Big Easy Imperial Maibock is true to the style as the beer is 7.1% abv which is on the higher end of the bock style.

The beer itself also picks up much of the bock style as the malt profile in the brew is very pronounced. While I would not put this on the same level as a Shiner Bock, the mix of malt and caramel makes this a very enjoyable beer which would serve as nice accompaniment to fish dishes like broiled or even teriyaki salmon.

Lakefront Brewery's Bock is under the kosher supervision of the Star-K (there is even a Star-K on the label). For the experts' take on the Bock, please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/741/3479.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver. If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Emor

The following is a brief summary of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parshios this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand. 

Vaykira 24:10-23 contains the story of the mekallel - the person who blasphemes by cursing G-d. The Chumash begins by telling us that there was a man who had an Egyptian father and a Jewish mother and that this man got into a fight with another Jewish man. The son of the Jewish mother then cursed Hashem and he was put under guard until they could figure out what to do with him. Hashem then tells Moshe to take the man out and that everyone who heard him curse should put their hands on him and then stone him. Immediately thereafter, the Torah repeats the punishment, stating that whether one who curses is a Jew or a convert, he will be put to death. Next the Torah recites that the punishment for killing another Jew is death. Afterwards the Torah recites that a person who injures the property of another must pay. The Torah then states that one who who injures another should have the same done to him, with various specifications. Finally, the Torah gets back to the story of the mekallel and indicates that he was stoned. 

R' Frand asked - why did the mekallel curse Hashem? R' Frand answered by quoting R' Bechayei who quotes the Zohar who explains that the mother of the mekallel was Shlomis Bas Divri who was married to Dasan. One morning in Egypt, Dasan was sent to work by an Egyptian and the Egyptian snuck into Dasan's home and pretended to be him. When Dasan found out, he fought the Egpytian and Moshe saved Dasan by using Hashem's name to kill the Egyptian. 

The story then fast forwards to this week's parsha. Why was the mekallel cursing Hashem? Because the mekallel meets Shlomis' current husband and the man tells the mekallel - do you know how your father died? He died when Moshe said Hashem's name. The mekallel is so mad that he blasphemes by cursing Hashem. 

R' Frand then asked - why are these rules about property damage and punishment for killing inserted after the rule for killing the mekallel and before he is actually killed? Also, why does the Torah recite that the convert has the same rule as a Jew? This is usually written when there is a doubt!

R' Frand answered by quoting  a sefer (I am unclear as to the name of the sefer but believe it may involve the word Tzror) who explains that Hashem is saying that He takes the honor of the Jews as seriously as His own honor. The one who curses Hashem will be killed, but also one who kills another will be killed because it is like an attack on Hashem. 

R' Frand then quoted the Tolner Rebbi who explains that the reason the Torah specifies that the rule applies to a convert and a Jew is to make clear that the convert is treated just like a Jew born from Jewish parents - both types of people are taken seriously by Hashem because they are both created in Hashem's image.

R' Frand also mentioned an answer given by R' Moshe Feinstein in Darash Moshe. R' Moshe explains that the reason that these other laws are quoted here is because a person is about to be put to death and that this is very serious. Before killing a person, the Torah recites all the laws of killing or hurting another Jew to show that this act normally has severe consequences. Only because this man cursed Hashem do we dispense with punishing those who will injure and kill him.

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Monday's Musings on Sports - Heads Held High and Low Blows

The events of the last week are still fresh in my mind and I certain highs and lows that I can't seem to shake. I will use this post to vent on some of these issues and try to tie it together with some Torah thoughts.

Last Monday afternoon I was sitting at my desk in the office, trying to get my work done and thinking about the post I wanted to write this evening. Then the news broke about explosions in Boston. The workplace devolved into a mass discussion of what happened and why it happened. How many people were killed? What was the cause? Was it connected to fires at the JFK Library (still no answer to that one)? And the all encompassing question - who was behind it and why did they do it?

It was a good few hours before all the secretaries and paralegals left and I was able to go back to doing work. I wound up working until close to 9PM and by the time I walked in the door of my home, the subject that I wanted to write about was no longer important.

Over the course of the following days, we learned how courageous the people of Boston are and that they would not be frightened by the acts of these cowards. There were quite a few false starts and news reports which proved to be false. Pictures were circulated and then discounted and the story continued to evolve.

As with the aftermath of 9/11, sports played a role in healing the wounds in Boston and the rest of the country. After cancelling the Bruins game which was supposed to be played on Monday night, the next sporting event played in Boston was another Bruins game on Wednesday Night. The night started with significant cheering during the National Anthem and great displays of patriotism and "Boston Strong" pride. It did not matter that the Bruins lost the game, the night belonged to the City of Boston.

As the week went by, we learned that (again) it was Muslim terrorists who exploited the freedom offered by this country in order to attack that which we hold so dear. The City of Boston was locked down for much of Friday and the entire mass transit system was shut down while the animals were hunted. They managed to take down yet another innocent police officer while a second sits in the hospital as it write this post.

Meanwhile, the sporting world gathered to show support for Boston. There was a moment of silence before the London Marathon. There were many standing ovations and chants of USA, USA at various arenas when it was announced that Dzokhar was captured. A Phoenix Coyote player wore a jersey during warmups with the name Martin Richard (the eight year old boy who was killed in the bombings) on the back of the jersey. (For a great post on Keith Yandle and the jersey, click here - http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl--keith-yandle-to-give--martin-richard--jersey-to-family-of-8-year-old-bombing-victim-215816073.html ).

But there was also a low moment and it had nothing to do with the conspiracy theorists and their bizarre attempts to claim that these brothers were "framed." The moment took place on Saturday Night at Madison Square Garden. Prior to the first game of the Knicks-Celtics playoff series, the Knicks presented a color guard and offered their sympathies to the City of Boston. Paul Pierce stood with Carmelo Anthony to accept these wishes, but when he began to speak, some Knick fans booed him. I could not believe the story when I heard it later (the event took place on Shabbos). How low can people stoop with their fanatical hatred of other teams? The world cried for Boston, but these Knick fans can't show any respect?

The story made me think about the eruv rav - the group of outsiders who accompanied the Jews when they left Egypt. This eruv rav were not true Jews, they had converted out of fear and joined the Jews as a way out of Egypt. But once the eruv rav saw that things were not 100% rosy all the time, they started to create trouble for the Jews in the desert. The eruv rav were the architects of the Golden Calf and the eruv rav were the ones that were attacked by Amalek because they straggled behind and complained. Why did they act this way? Because they were not really Jews, they just joined the bandwagon.

These Knick fans do not represent New York and are not true New Yorkers. People who suffered through the emotional scars of 9/11 could not possibly have booed a tribute to the City of Boston. Only a group more into itself than being productive members of society, could boo such a moment. These people are not New Yorkers, they just happen to occupy space in New York.

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Sunday Night Suds - Samuel Adams Boston Lager

This week's Sunday Night Suds pays respect to the brave people of Boston and reviews Samuel Adams Boston Lager.

I realized a few months ago that although I have reviewed thirty seven different varieties of Samuel Adams, I had never reviewed the Samuel Adams Boston Lager. At the time, I thought about saving this for this year's Fourth of July post, but after observing how proudly the people of Boston soldiered through the horrific events of the last week, I decided to offer a small tribute to the City of Boston by reviewing the Samuel Adams Boston Lager.

The Boston Lager is the flagship brew for the Boston Beer company. It can be found in most of the seasonal mix boxes that Samuel Adams produces, including the new Beers of Summer box. It also is available in six and twelve packs of its own and can be found on tap (the best way to enjoy it!).

The Boston Lager pours a rich orange color, which is typical of a Vienna style lager. The beer has a significant amount of sticky foam which adhered to the glass for more than half an hour after I poured the beer. The first taste of the beer is pure malt and the caramel note stays with you long after you have swallowed the brew. There is also a small influence of hops that gets picked up in the aftertaste, but it is not all that prominent.

The Boston Lager is a versatile beer that can go with anything from charred meat to pizza or even hero sandwiches. I have yet to experience a meat meal which clashed with Samuel Adams Boston Lager.

The Samuel Adams Boston Lager is under the Kosher Supervision of the Star-K and has a Star-K certification mark on the label. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/104. 

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver. If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable). 

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshios Acharei Mos - Kedoshim

The following is a brief summary of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parshios this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand. 

R Frand stated that Parshas Kedoshim has the famous pasuk - v'ahavta l'reiacha camocha (Vayikra 19:18) which the Ramban teaches that a Jew should treat every other Jew as if he loves him. R' Frand noted that it is ironic that while R' Akiva's famous phrase was vh'ahavta l'reiacha camocha zeh klal gadol baTorah, 24,000 of his students died because they did not show respect for one and other. 

R' Frand quoted the Chofetz Chaim who asked - why is it that the lack of respect was worthy of the death penalty? The Chofetz Chaim answers that the disputes were public and this created a chillul Hashem. While arguing and berating one and other is problematic, it is not a capital crime. But creating a chillul Hashem through a very public argument is a greater problem.

R' Frand next quoted the pasuk - Btzedek Tishpot Es Amisecha (Vayikra 19:15)- when seeing someone do wrong, give them the benefit of the doubt. R' Frand quoted a gemara in Shabbos which states that if a person gives another the benefit of the doubt, Hashem will give him the benefit of the doubt. The gemara continues by telling a story of a man who worked for another man for three years and on the eve of Yom Kippur he asked for payment. The master said I have no money. The worker then asked for fruit and was told he had none. The worker asked for real estate and was again told there was none. The worker asked for linens and was told there were none. So the worker went home. 

After the holidays, the employer came to the worker with donkeys laden with riches. The employer said to him, what were you thinking? The employee responded - I thought your capital was tied up in a deal. And the gemara continues and the employee responded each time with the equivalent of - I gave you the benefit of the doubt. At the end of the conversation, the employer said - you are correct and properly gave me the benefit of the doubt. The employer then said - the same way that you gave me the benefit of the doubt, so should Hashem give you the benefit of the doubt. 

R' Frand asked - I understand how a person can judge another by giving him the benefit of the doubt, but I don't know how Hashem can do the same. If a person sees another person driving on Shabbos, he can give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that there is a medical emergency. But Hashem knows all, so how does He give the benefit of the doubt? 

R' Frand answered by quoting the Ba'al Shem Tov who notes that the Mishna in Pirkei Avos (1:6) states that one should judge Kol HaAdam for the benefit of the doubt. He explains that this means that a person should judge a person both based on his action and his history before drawing his conclusion. R' Frand concluded this portion of the vort by stating that the Kol HaAdam is the standard that we want Hashem to apply to us. Hashem knows the reason that we act, but He should take into account our motivation and our history when judging us. 

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