Rhino's Sports Pub and Bacon Bistro

Brewery: Kona Brewing Co.

Variety: Longboard Lager

Bought at: Pavilions

Beer was enjoyed with … A happy little personal celebration of a number of things. First off, Wisconsin’s 70-23 rout of Northwestern that — in all likelihood — will earn the Badgers a trip to the Rose Bowl, as well as defending Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl champion Wisconsin-Whitewater advancing to the quarterfinals of the D-III playoffs. There was also that victory in my age group in the Santa Monica Gobble Wobble 5k race. So, overall, good day. Let’s talk some beer …

Longboard is the flagship beer of the Kona Brewing Co., which is based in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i and — having opened for business in 1994 — decidedly much younger than many of the breweries Rhino’s Sports Pub will discuss in this space — such as Weihenstephaner, Franziskaner and other fine selections from Deutschland that are currently cooling in the fridge. Just because a beer is relatively young doesn’t mean it can’t be all kinds of tasty, which Longboard — which is fermented and aged for five weeks at Kona — certainly is.

It’s a go-to lager at Rhino’s Sports Pub. It’s clean, crisp and, did we mention tasty? And fun too: Each bottle comes with a “collectible cap” which features Hawaiian words and its English definition. The first Longboard of the day featured the word “Kâmau,” which means “cheers.”

Cheers!

In 1621, on a plantation near the famous Plymouth Rock, the pilgrims and Wampanoag indians got together to celebrate the autumn harvest with a friendly game of football … and perhaps a feast of some sort … parts of this story may and/or may not be true … Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

1. Snickers
2. Twix (caramel)
3. Milky Way Simply Caramel
4. Kit Kat
5. Heath

Did you know …

The 1929 Green Bay (Acme) Packers — with Curly Lambeau, Johnny (Blood) McNally, Verne Lewellen and all the gang — played on Thanksgiving Day that season to a 0-0 tie to the Frankford Yellow Jackets. That was the team’s only non-win that season en route to a 12-0-1 record and the league championship.

What’s amazing about this team is it ended the season with an eight-game road trip. Check out that schedule. That Thanksgiving week was particularly brutal, as the Acme Packers played the New York (Football) Giants on Nov. 24, then that tie with the Yellow Jackets on Nov. 28, and finished the week with a 25-0 crushing of the Providence Steam Roller.

On Dec. 5, when the Packers host the San Francisco 49ers, the team will wear stylish throwback uniforms to honor that undefeated 1929 team, which earned Green Bay the first of its NFL-best 12 championships.

The year was 1993, and we should have known things would get weird when there was snow on the artificial turf in Texas Stadium. Mr. Biceps himself, Ed Hochuli, was on hand to referee, and his decision paved the way for the second major football folly executed by Leon Lett in the calendar year …

• Watch: Remembering Lett’s Thanksgiving Day blunder

The year was 2008, Sarah Palin lost an election but wins for greatest moment ever on a major news network …

Lock(s) of the week presented by Rhino’s Sports Pub: Thanksgiving football. Thanksgiving Day games between NFL teams is a tradition that dates back to the league’s inaugural season, when the Akron Pros pig-in-a-poked the Canton Bulldogs 7-0, the Decatur Staleys rin-tin-tinned the Chicago Tigers 6-0, and the Dayton Triangles crusty-bobbed the Detroit Heralds 28-0. Since that time, teams such as the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys have taken over as hosts of annual Turkey Day games and the game of football has become almost as synonymous with the food-themed holiday as turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and tryptophan-induced comas. This is all good for America.

What else is good for America? The so-called “America’s Team” losing. Here, we’re picking both the Cowboys and Lions to lose, to the Saints and Patriots respectively, on Thanksgiving. We’re also going to pick the Jets to defeat the bumbling, stumbling Bengals in the Thanksgiving night game on NFL Network.

Five-star upset special of the week: Packers over Falcons. Rhino’s Sports Pub and Bacon Grille would hate to get too far ahead of itself, but this showdown could decide home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs. With that being said, Rhino’s Sports Pub and Bacon Grille would also prefer that the NFC playoffs go through the proverbial “Frozen Tundra” over some climate-controlled, boring dome with fake grass. Domes and fake grass are no fun, so let’s go Packers.

Thanksgiving Day games
Patriots over Lions
Saints over Cowboys
Jets over Bengals

Sunday’s games
Giants over Jaguars
Steelers over Bills
Redskins over Vikings
Browns over Panthers
Packers over Falcons
Texans over Titans
Seahawks over Chiefs
Raiders over Dolphins
Eagles over Bears
Broncos over Rams
Ravens over Buccaneers
Chargers over Colts

Monday’s game
49ers over Cardinals

Last week’s record: 14-2 (OK, that’s more like! Only the Titans and 49ers kept me from having a perfect week, which — I think — would have been a first-ever occurence in the nearly three seasons of doing NFL picks in this spot)
2010 record: 94-66 (.588 winning percentage)
Five-star upset special record: 3-8
Lock of the week presented by Rhino’s Sports Pub record: 8-3

Five-star upset special of the week: Bills over Bengals. The Bills, meanwhile, are coming off an inspiring first victory of the season. The Bengals, meanwhile, are riding a six-game losing streak. Thanks to the horrific seasons of the so-called “America’s Team” and that one team with old-man Brett Favre on the roster, the awfulness that is the Bengals has slipped under the radar. Terrell Owens — formerly of the Bills (and Cowboys … and Eagles … and 49ers) — has had a splendid season. His T.Ochocino sidekick? Not so much.

Working in the Bills’ favor is a nine-game winning streak against the Bengals. Also possibly working in the BIlls’ favor is the relative hideousness of the Bengals’ uniforms, arguably the worst in the NFL (Shameless plug: My worst uniforms in the NFL power rankings soon to come!).

Lock of the week presented by Rhino’s Sports Pub: Jets over Texans. Remember a couple months ago when the Texans were 2-0 and many a football pundit was saying that perhaps this year, 2010, would finally be that year that the Texans took that next step. That next step, of course, would be the playoffs, a lofty height that the Texans — members of the National Football League since 2002 — have yet to achieve. Then, the Texans lost to the Cowboys. That loss was embarrassing, given it took until last week for the Cowboys to finally win again. The Texans? Well, they’re now sitting in last place in a very competitive AFC South. It is clear that Houston just doesn’t have what it takes to be a winner in their current incarnation.

The Jets, on the other hand, aren’t winning pretty (consecutive overtime victories … the first time ever that was accomplished in road games), but they find ways to win games. They should have no problem with a Texans team that appears ready to get to 4-8 before finishing the season with a four-game winning streak to hit 8-8 once again.

Thursday’s game
Bears over Dolphins

Sunday’s games
Ravens over Panthers
Bills over Bengals
Cowboys over Lions
Jaguars over Browns
Chiefs over Cardinals
Packers over Vikings
Jets over Texans
Steelers over Raiders
Titans over Redskins
Saints over Seahawks
49ers over Buccaneers
Falcons over Rams
Patriots over Colts
Eagles over Giants

Monday’s game
Chargers over Broncos

Last week’s record: 7-7
2010 record: 80-64 (.556 winning percentage)
Five-star upset special record: 2-8
Lock of the week presented by Rhino’s Sports Pub record: 7-3

Brewery: Tap Room No. 21 Brewing Co.

Variety: Amber Ale

Bought at: Ralphs

Beer was enjoyed with … A great, sunshiny Saturday in Santa Monica with plenty of solid college football options airing on the 40-inch HDTV.

In 1920, an unspeakable evil was thrust upon the land by the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

This unspeakable evil, of course, was Prohibition, a.k.a. “The Noble Experiment.” While this was thankfully abolished in 1933, those over at Tap Room No. 21 celebrate this curious time in our nation’s history. Thankfully, in the year 2010, no bootlegging was involved in securing a six-pack of Tap Room No. 21′s Amber Ale at the local Ralphs grocery story (it was on sale, so it was decided to give it a whirl).

Rhino’s Sports Pub and Bacon Grille could not in good faith recommend this beer to friends. This is kinda what we would imagine Budweiser’s attempt at an amber ale-style beer would taste like (that’s not a compliment … there’s a very good chance we never, ever try the Budweiser American Ale. We’re sorry … not really. Let’s move on).

The current standard for Amber Ales, of course, is the Green Lakes Organic Ale made by the Deschutes Brewery in Oregon (we’ll expound on that fine selection in due time). This Tap Room Amber Ale falls short of the lofty standards set by the Green Lakes Organic Ale (found locally on tap at N.Y.&C. in Santa Monica, for what it’s worth).

Rating: One pint (out of a possible five). This just doesn’t work for me. I wanted it to. but it didn’t.