First, as much as I like to pretend, I’m not actually a beer snob by any stretch. I really will try any beer once, and sometimes if the price is right not even a “moderate” tasting experience will deter me from being a repeat customer.
The other night I had just finished a game of football (the International kind… the one complete with diving and hooligans. Hey, lay off the hooligans!) when Jack Stone, writer of “Jack’d Off” on this very site, handed me a cold Blue Light. What a kind gesture from a selfless individual. While the prospects weren’t terribly exciting, who am I to turn down a cold beer? Hell, even luke warm has its place.
I cracked it open and tossed the cap at the garbage (and missed…wonder if it’s still there?). My first swig was, for lack of better words, uneventful. I don’t know if it was just the fact that it was a light beer, slightly too watered down for my liking, or if the beer itself is just uninspiring. The experience was not too dissimilar to the couple of games I’ve seen the Kansas City Chiefs play this year.
At the risk of alienating all Chiefs fans, and Blue Light drinkers as well, I have nothing against either. Both offer very proud traditions in strong markets – Folks in Missouri love their football, and Blue Light is as close to Canadiana as Wayne Gretzky or Tim Horton’s (despite the fact that Labatt is no longer Canadian owned…you get the idea). It really leaves me with an ill taste, literally and figuratively, that just doesn’t sit well.
The Chiefs have very little going for them, as you undoubtedly determined already given their deplorable record. In fact, Jack Stone has them sitting as the worst team in football in his weekly “Top and Bottom Power Rankings“. They do have some bright spots mind you, mostly in their impressive 4th ranked running game lead by Charles and co. But it’s hard to win when you average a league worst 15 ppg, which is good for, you guessed it, 32nd in the NFL.
How Romeo Crennel has kept his job I’ll never know. He has recently chosen to flip-flop quarterbacks, electing to go with Brady Quinn over Matt Cassel. Actually for the record I do support that decision as he needs to test the former Irish pivot. I do feel for Cassel, and I think a change in scenery is important because I feel he is underperforming, yet would thrive in a better situation. Feel free to disagree in comments below as I duck and cover under a desk, ready for your onslaught.
Labatt Blue Light is not dissimilar. With the influx of new flashier brands, as well as the value people see in the cheaper labels, Blue and Blue Light sales have sputtered. They did make an attempt to recapture some of their former successes by lowering prices, but to be honest I think they are going through an identity crisis. Rivals Molson Canadian and Coors Light are more expensive, yet their flashy, forward-thinking brands have increased exposure, while fewer people, at least amongst the former Blue and Blue Light drinkers I know, are opting for the Labatt brand.
As I sipped the last drops of my Blue Light after a hard-fought football match last Friday night, I couldn’t help but to get a solemn sense of appreciation at the brand I was drinking. It wasn’t horrible. In fact, it wasn’t really that bad. Perhaps I was being a little harsh as I opened the bottle, ready to damn the drink to hell just because of the label.
This weekend the Chiefs will probably lose again, this time to the Peyton Mannings. As the season winds down and the last few drops are squeezed from Chiefs, perhaps we can take the time to find a silver lining n their season. There is always the draft. There are new coaches to be hired, players to be fired, and it is inevitably up to the team to re-address their brand and label. The same can be said for Labatt’s.
Until next time, drink responsibly.
Don’t forget to catch the boys on Last Word Radio live on air every Sunday at 8pm EST for “The Fastest 30 Minutes in the NFL“. And definitely check out “Beyond the Field” every night from 8-10pm EST for lively football discussion, industry leading hosts and phenomenal guests.
