We are starting our journey to become the blog, community, and podcast centered around bourbon and sports.  In the past I had a very successful pocast centered about some important topics and after stopping that part of my life when I decided to get back into the podcast/blog world I realized in order to succeed I needed not just to dive into a topic I enjoy but I had to find something I was passionate about.     I didn't think spending most of my time listening to "The Wiggles" sing "Rattlin Bog" with my granddaughter and falling asleep in my recliner would be enough to entertain, or upsetting the Funko World by opening all the boxes to display my collection would make a great topic, so use my passion for bourbon and sports.    

Where did this passion come from and why is it so important to me, let me explain.   Today we see the "Tv Dads" drinking beer like crazy, Homer Simpson with his Duff,  Hank Hill always drinking his Alamo Beer,  Peter and his Pawtucket Ale, Dan Conner his Canoga Beer.   But when I was young I remember watching TV with my Grandad and seeing Humphrey Bogart, always coming home hanging his sports coat up and pouring a glass of whiskey, or Ward  Cleaver and his glass of brandy,and JR Ewing with his private reserve of Bourbon.   So growing up I always wanted to be that guy who wore a cool hat, a nice suit jacket and had a whiskey cart by the door.     

Today I wear a lot of hats all ball-caps and can't tell you the last time I had a suit coat on, but I have my whiskey cart, and bourbon is my drink choice.   Its the story behind the bourbon, the men and women who pulled the wagons full of barrels.  Charring barrels, The origins of charring barrels are unknown, but some theories include making staves more pliable, appealing to French settlers, and avoiding fish-like flavors.   How bout Evan WIlliams who founded the first America Distillery and still going strong today.   Bourbon isn't just a drink its a story, hell if it wasnt for bourbon we wouldn't have straws.   The only drink you could have during prohibition. (as long as you had a perscription)  Each glass is unique, the sip, the shot, the mix, all came from the same bottle, but that bottle along with hundreds of others, came from a barrel and that barrel has a story.   

For me its that bottle of Wellers my wife got me for a gift and the story of how she came about it, its the first Bottle of Knob Creek I bought, its the old fashions made from Evan WIlliams, to the first taste of Blantons,each one of those has a story.  Its the smell of a freshley opened bottle of Jim Beam, the look of the "RED WAX" top of a bottle of Makers.   For me every time I grab that that Bourbon Glass, and have an Old Fashion after a stressful day its the smell of my grandpa or each of those life lessons hed teach me.  The  burn as it goes down is a reiminder of the love my grandpa taught me as he took care of my grandma, so the passion of bourbon to me is much more than is it single barrel or double barrel, its something that shapes my life.   

And for the sports passions just spews out.  The good vs evil the, the rollercoaster ride that 18 holes at Agusta takes us on,  the "One Shining Moment" that we get every March.  Its the smell of the grass as you walk into the baseball stadium, the crunch of the peanuts as you walk to your seats, the sounds of the cheers, and the announcer, and everyone around you, all being silenced by a man yelling "Get Your Hot Dogs, COooooooooold Beer Here!"   

When I think of sports I think of the tears I shed when the team manager got to dress out on Senior night aftr 4 yrs of handling laundry and the entire team ralleying around him as he scores a goal.    Its the smiles on my face as my granddaugter dances to Usher in her "GO TAYLORS BOYFRIEND" shirt.   Its the nod or simple hello to a complete stranger because you both have the same ball cap on. Its the Chants of USA from my wife as I have to root agains my favorite hockey player since he is Canadia during the Nations Face Off.   Its a 16 beating a 1 seed, its a 9yr old shooting a shot in his back yard as he yells "KOBE!!!!!!!!."     The passion of sports is watching men who spent most of their lives proving how manly they are, now wearing a pink 22 Catilin Clark shirt.    The Passion of sports is my family telling the story about how funny it was when the Cubs won the world series and I ran around the house in circles crying.   

In 1988 as a 10 year old kid I watched a injured Kirk Gibson come on to pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth game one of the world series, and as he hobbled with his torn hamstring to the plate to face Dennis Eckersley and hit a walk off home run, pumping his arms as he round the bases, I remember thinking how cool would it be to bring the world together and for one quick moment every care in the world was gone, and that swing of the bat is all we spoke about,  so 36 years later I don't have a torn hamstring but every bone in my body crack, snapples, and pops when I stand up and Drinking In The Bleachers With Pop Pop is my chance to Kirk Gibson, so I hope you will join us on this ride, read the weekly blog, listen to our podcast when they begin, and come out and join us on our live events in the future.