Century blog

A century is usually a pretty big deal, whether measured in life years, miles on a bike ride or runs produced by a batsman in a single inning of cricket. Today Blog on the Half Shell hits the century mark, and although that feels as if it should be some sort of milestone, I’m not even sure it’s have-a-beer worthy.

But that won’t stop me. There’s a cold Helles Blond Bock, the 27th offering in Harpoon’s Hundred Barrel Series, waiting for me in the fridge after work (to go along with Italian sausage, peppers and onions for the grill, slathered in spicy horseradish mustard). The 100 Barrel Series, the best use of a century yet devised by humankind, is an idea born in beer heaven, and even though I’ve missed a few stray brews here and there, I keep making the rounds at R.I. packies, hoping to find a bottle left behind. (Session 20: Glacier Harvest Wet Hop Beer, where are you?)

Benedict Arnold lives
Just when it looked as if Connecticut was embracing its New England roots, a new Quinnipiac University poll begs to differ. According to the poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points, the New York Yankees (42 percent) are Nutmeggers’ favorite baseball team, followed by the Boston Red Sox (38 percent) and New York Mets (9 percent). Last year the Sox beat the Yanks in the Constitution State poll for the first time since Quinnipiac – better known for its every-four-year presidential polls – began asking the question in 2001. As the New Yorkification of Connecticut continues, New Englanders can take heart that the Red Sox remain the favorite baseball team of the Canadian Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island), where only the Toronto Blue Jays come close in rooting interest.

Connecticut on ice
Not content to be Yankee turncoats, Connecticut is going after the national yardstick. A recent posting on the Web site thedailygreen reported that “an ice bridge holding the Connecticut-sized Wilkins Ice Shelf in place broke up.” Not for nothin’, but Wilkins can’t melt fast enough to get down to a more favorable Rhody-sized example of climate change (at which point, for the sake of global harmony and convenience, it should just stop melting). At least thedailygreen hasn’t completely forgotten the universal media mantra: “Whenever possible, measure in Rhode Islands.” The Larsen Ice Shelf, the report goes on to say, “has lost its entire northern portion, a chunk three times the size of Rhode Island, in the space of 23 years.”

Leading to this week’s question: What could New England get in a trade for Connecticut?