Yearly Archives: 2014

Counter Trays

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I’ve only sparingly followed the happenings of the local Fire in the Triangle series (which I just recently learned is a stepping stone to an even larger series), but this past week’s event really caught my attention. Along with featuring a chef from a new favorite, the secret ingredient pairing was Angus Beef and Counter Culture coffee. Curiosity piqued!

Overall it doesn’t seem like the food fared well, with the evening’s courses peaking unceremoniously with dessert. That said, I’ll never look at my bags of Counter Culture the same, equipped now with the knowledge that I should take them into consideration when planning my next meal.

Additional Reading

For other coffee-infused treats, check out Stumptown Coffee’s Fourth of July recipes.

The Next Greatest

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When I first read Bill Simmons’ Book of Basketball a couple of years ago, the surprise of the book was Tim Duncan’s appearance in the Top 10 all-time players list1. It’s not that I don’t have mad respect for Tim Duncan. I was fortunate to know what every other ACC fan knew before Duncan ever stepped on an NBA court – Tim Duncan is crazy good. He’s just so quietly good it’s easy for the superlatives to escape you when his name pops up.

In his post-Finals wrap up over on Grantland, Simmons sums Duncan up perfectly:

Kareem’s A-game was better — that’s undeniable. His first 11 seasons were as great as LeBron’s first 11 seasons. Duncan was never THAT good for THAT long. But Kareem was more of a loner, a tortured genius, a once-in-a-generation talent who motivated teammates mostly by being outstanding at his job. Duncan’s most underrated “skill”? He’s one of the greatest and most unselfish teammates of all time. The Spurs realized early on that they could build a franchise around his personality, his competitiveness and his work ethic, so that’s exactly what San Antonio did. Everyone from Duncan’s generation was jealous of the players who got to play with Tim Duncan. It’s one of many reasons why he’s had the second-greatest career of all time.

The thing that makes Duncan the best player of the post-MJ generation according to Simmons is primarily his character, a trait that no stat sheet or box score can accurately portray. Duncan didn’t need this year’s championship to define his legacy, it just provided the exclamation point.

  1. Duncan comes in at #7.↩
Toms Coffee

Watering Beans

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“As a company, we’re in business to help improve lives.”

That’s how TOMS represents their novel approach to business, according to the home page for their new coffee. Because it’s TOMS, you know there’s a buy one, give one here and in this case, the give is one week of water for a person who needs it for every bag of coffee you buy.

Even if TOMS didn’t invent the One for One model, they can certainly claim some responsibility for popularizing it. Numerous other e-commerce sites are dedicated to the mission of making a profit and giving back. When I first heard about TOMS’ plans to break into the red hot coffee business, I was excited and eager to test it out. That day has finally arrived.

I’m primarily a purveyor of what is probably best described as a homemade iced latte hack, so my bean of choice was the TOMS espresso roast, Carpe Diem. Because I’m a sucker for cool mugs, I also splurged on the beautiful, but admittedly way overpriced espresso mug. The mug is smaller than I anticipated but it’s elegant in its simplicity and the fit and finish is above and beyond what I expected. There’s a good chance I’ll look at it more than I drink from it, but I’m okay with that.

Back to the coffee. While I certainly enjoy specialty roasts more than your typical bag of beans, I can’t say that I have a flavor palate finely tuned for the specific subtle flavors often found in carefully roasted beans. I can tell a difference between various roasts, but ask me to verify a specific flavor profile and you’ll find me speechless. With that in mind, I’ll normalize this conversation by mentioning that my go-to roasts for my daily iced lattes are Counter Culture’s Toscano and Larry’s Beans espresso roast. This morning’s TOMS espresso latte certainly won’t supplant either of those as my daily driver, but I am confident that I will enjoy the next week or two of this new entrant on the shelf. All that to say, the TOMS bag is pretty good. This initial tasting was positive enough to quell my fears about this venture into roasting being all about the gimmick – the coffee seems good enough to sustain the buy one, give one model if and when the product is able to gain even just a little bit of traction.

TOMS sells their coffee by the bag or as part of a curated subscription service with various pricing options depending on your level of commitment (monthly, six month, or annual). Because I primarily drink milk-laced concoctions, blend variety is pretty much wasted on me; but I think the TOMS subscription is worth a go if you’re interested in giving back while trying something new. I can’t promise a cadre of superlatives about the coffee (due more to inexperience than disappointment), but it does seem like the product is at least on par with other specialty roasters and above the level of your typical, roasted for shelf-life supermarket offerings.

Rating: Notable.

Out With the Old

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In breathtaking fashion, Jurgen’s USMNT set its mark on this year’s World Cup in record time, netting a goal faster than any other American side in history. So much was said leading up to this US team’s World Cup campaign – out with the old, in with the new – how fitting that it was a member of the old guard, Clint Dempsey, finding the back of the net at the 34 second mark of the match. It is the third different World Cup that Dempsey has scored and represents so much about what he has meant for American soccer (football), especially with his success abroad.

Without a doubt, this is Jurgen’s team, and the quick score echoes that sentiment louder than any roster omission or foreign-born recruit. It was Dempsey that sent America into a frenzy early, but it was Klinsmann’s dogged determination in John Brooks who delivered the deciding goal, fed beautifully by America’s final substitution, Graham Zusi – the only sub Jurgen was able to make of his own volition due to injury or threat of injury. One has to wonder if that ball might have been fed by … well never mind, I won’t say it.

There were definitely moments where it looked like we were still the same America – content to try to ride out the last 45 minutes of the match with the one goal lead, resigning themselves to settle for a draw. But they didn’t. They fought and they took advantage of their chances. For once, America were the opportunistic side, ceding control to the Black Stars for most of the second half but mostly surviving the onslaught. If resilience is what Klinsmann brings, it showed in this first match. It was tenuous for much of the match, but I liked what I saw. I hope they can keep it up.

Another Pointless Prediction Thread

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Knowing full well I wouldn’t get a full post out of him, I asked my football frenzied co-editor who he thought would win this year’s World Cup. His response, recut and paraphrased in paragraph form:

I started something last night, but from a different angle because the last thing we need is another pointless prediction thread — why it’s fun to watch and be part of the world community. That said, gun to my head I’d go with Germany.

So there you have it. The official World Cup 2014 prediction from Notably Worthless is Germany. For a more in-depth, statistically influenced prediction, check out FiveThirtyEight’s prediction model.

Photo Credit: edmarmoreira via Flickr

Leaving Landon

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In January 2010, the stars aligned1 and I attended Landon Donovan’s debut at Goodison Park during his first stint with EPL’s Everton FC. Back in Europe after a less than fruitful early-career stint in Germany and six months before the shot heard ’round the world, Landon Donovan was on his way back. Donovan’s successful winter in Liverpool and his heroics in the World Cup set the stage and expectations for the next four years into high gear. And then, halfway through, burnout.

Fast forward to May 21st, 2014. Landon Donovan has returned to soccer, has returned to the US Men’s National Team and has re-emerged triumphant on the pitch. Grantland’s Noah Davis offers a prospectus on the future of American soccer, a prospectus that includes Landon Donovan even if only as a bridge from America’s mediocre football past to its seemingly bright future.

Bridges, oh how they burn.

On May 22nd, 2014, Jurgen Klinsmann’s 2014 World Cup roster is announced, and one name is notably missing. In an instant, the man who has scored more World Cup goals than Lionel Messi, Christiano Ronaldo, and Robin van Persie combined, more international goals than any US player in history, and more MLS goals than any other player in the league’s relatively young history is left to watch the World Cup at home like the rest of us.

I won’t pretend that I follow US Soccer with any more than passing glances at box scores and occasional forays into soccer blog rabbit holes. I love watching World Cup soccer, though, and for all of my adult life that has meant watching Landon Donovan. I have to admit, I took the news of Donovan’s exclusion from the roster like a punch in the stomach. I think we all did. The idea, the opportunity for one last hurrah; a farewell, of sorts, for Donovan on football’s biggest stage was just too good to ignore.

Donovan deserves his farewell, as much as anyone deserves such a thing, and I still believe he earned a place on this roster. But as much as Donovan deserves our respect and adoration, so too does Klinsmann deserve the right to build his team his way. I don’t have to agree with every Klinsmann decision to love what he’s doing and how he’s shaping the future of American soccer. This one stings, but I know this decision can’t take away what Landon has given us and I’m excited about what is still yet to come.

  1. A close friend graduating from Durham University, his dad a lifelong Everton fan, and serendipitous timing.↩

Additional Reading

SBNation: Why Landon Donovan’s Legacy Couldn’t Carry Him to the World Cup

Grantland: The Landon Donovan Decision

Slate: Why Jurgen Klinsmann Never Trusted Landon Donovan

Raleigh & Co.: Thank You, Landon