In Lieu of a Football Post

A musical message.

And another year of not watching the felons and ingrates toss a ball around...

Negligent Discharges

In the approximately nine years I've been playing gun games, I've seen a few DQ's for safety reasons. (The percentage of DQs to shooters is actually quite minuscule.) These are typically 180° violations, or negligent discharges when reloading or moving. In the interest of full disclosure, my own DQ was for a dropped gun. There's a reason for the strict safety rules in USPSA and IDPA and a reason all gun handling happens under the watchful eye of a safety officer. Thanks to those strict rules, the sports have an excellent safety record. Even experienced competitors make mistakes, and when it happens, it's only right that they are done for the day. It hurts, but if your brain isn't fully engaged, it could hurt even more more.

What brings this to mind? Recently, for the second time in about two years I witnessed a negligent discharge, up close. Neither was during a sanctioned match. The first time was when I arrived at the range as an acquaintance was leaving. He knew I was fan of SIG Sauer guns, and wanted to show me a SIG he had with him. We stood at the back of his pickup truck, he uncased the gun and went through his clearing routine; rack the slide, then drop the mag and pull the trigger. The round went right into the bed of his truck. Fortunately, I was very aware of his muzzle and had positioned myself to his side. This man is a very experienced shooter and retired federal law enforcement. 

The most recent occurrence was at another shooting club. I was standing at my car going through the gear I was going to need for shooting that day. Suddenly I heard what sounded like a gun shot, though the sound was somewhat muted. There was a bit of commotion two vehicles over, where I saw two men looking through the cab of their truck. I later heard bits of a conversation regarding "lowering the hammer on a 1911." 

Both of these events occurred at a gun club, but away from the firing line. Both events occurred at the gun owner's vehicle. Both shooters were showing the gun to someone or (apparently) otherwise distracted by another person. I've often remarked that one of the reasons I dislike "gun free zones" and gun shows is that people are fiddling with guns in their cars. There are times when I need to remove a firearm from my belt while in a vehicle. I strive to be attentive and undistracted when I find myself doing that.

Firearms are tools. In fact, they are relatively simple tools. And those four rules work pretty well. 

Good Beer and Sports Celebrity Sightings

A lack of blogging recently isn't an indication of a lack of life activity, just the opposite in fact. It means I've been too distracted by life to sit down and write. We were out of town last weekend, in part to attend the Spring Game at VA Tech. I was pleased we had reservations at the same hotel at which we found good beer last year. Before I even checked in at the front desk I detoured to take a peak at the taps in the lobby bar. I was not disappointed.

Colleen and I visited lobby bar in the evening to relax over a few beers. Three of the offerings were old favorites, along with one new to me beer. I tried a sample of a local beer, River Company Dumpster Dog Porter, but opted to go a more hoppier route. Colleen enjoyed a pint of the Porter. I couldn't resist a pint of an old favorite, Loose Cannon from Heavy Seas, and later a pint of Bell's Two Hearted Ale.

As we were enjoying our drinks and talking with other guests, there was suddenly a lot of excitement in the lobby and bunch of folks leapt from their seats. Buffalo Bills Quarterback Tyrod Taylor was checking in to the hotel. He posed for a few selfies and things quieted down. For a bit anyway, until Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Bruce Smith walked in. He too posed for selfies and signed autographs and the lobby calmed once again. Seattle Seahawks player Kam Chancellor also made a pass-through of the lobby.

The commonality among the players is of course, they are all VA Tech alumni, in town for the Spring Game. In all honesty, if it wasn't for the other fans at the bar, and some quick Google searches, I wouldn't have known who they were, not being a big sports fan. Nonetheless, it added some excitement to an already enjoyable Friday evening.

Ego Crusher

Just as soon as I'm feeling pretty good about my shooting, I come across this video.

Yea, that's a 1,000 yard shot, off hand. With a revolver. On the second try. 

The man is a machine. I'm pretty jealous of his ammo shelf too. 

Oh, Canada! Free Beer!

A recent Twitter post from the Winter Olympics has gotten a lot of attention this week. According to the post, the Canadian Olympic team has a unique beer fridge that can only be unlocked with a Canadian passport. The only reports I've seen on this supposed beer fridge are repeats of that lone Twitter post. I was skeptical at first, not seeing any pictures of beer actually being vended. But I recently came across this commercial Molson posted last year.

Assuming it's the same fridge, I'm sure it's a big hit with the athletes.

I recall (way) back when I was in high school. I worked at an auto parts supply store. There was a soda vending machine in the store that always had one selection marked "Out of Order." What I later learned was that the owner stored his beer in the machine to keep it cold. If you were to put enough quarters in the machine, and pushed the "Out of Order" selection, a cold can of beer would be dispensed. It's too bad I didn't like beer back then!

Homefront IPA

Center of the Universe Brewing in Ashland, VA is announcing the upcoming release of Homefront IPA. Proceeds from sales of Homefront IPA will go to support Operation Homefront, a charity that provides emergency assistance to our military heroes and their families. The efforts of nine participating breweries are coordinated by Hops for Heroes, which was co-founded by Center of the Universe.

In a press release, Center of the Universe announced this year's Homefront IPA ambassador.

HOPS FOR HEROES ANNOUNCES JIM JOHNSON AS AMBASSADOR FOR HOMEFRONT IPA IN THE VIRGINIA/DC/MARYLAND AREA 

Baltimore closer Jim Johnson is proud to support “Hops for Heroes” and Homefront IPA and thanks Center of the Universe Brewing Company in Virginia for their efforts.  

Ashland, Virginia, May 2: Hops for Heroes and Homefront IPA are proud to announce the support of Baltimore closer Jim Johnson and name him ambassador for the charitable efforts in Virginia.  

Center of the Universe Brewing Company, located in Ashland, Virginia will release Homefront IPA on Thursday, May 23rd at the Richmond Flying Squirrels Stadium. They will also hold a special event in their tasting room on Saturday, May 25th with all proceeds benefitting Operation Homefront. 

Other baseball ambassadors will be announced in Washington, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Missouri and Pennsylvania.

COTU founder, Chris Ray is a former pitcher for Baltimore, Seattle, Texas and San Francisco. Appropriately, Homefront IPA is aged on Louisville Slugger maple bats. 

Run n' Gun

Not exactly USPSA.  

Gnat Shooting

Now this looks like fun. In a twist on shooting clays, "Gnat" shooting lets participants take aim at a specially designed remote controlled airplane. The sport was developed in, of all places, the United Kingdom. The target plane, which flies at speeds up to 80mph, has 10 flash pads attached to its underside that explode when hit. Hitting three pods at the same time can even bring down the plane.

"Real planes. Real Shotguns." Sounds like real fun.

It's Not For Drinking and Driving

And now for something a little different. We've talked about traditional beer steins previously, but here are some more, shall we say, contemporary designs. A collection of NASCAR-themed beer steins is on display at the town of Appomattox Visitor Center.

From WSET-TV,

Appomattox, VA - Beer and NASCAR often go hand-in-hand. And with the Daytona 500 less than a week away, the town of Appomattox is already revving up.

Two dozen NASCAR beer steins are on display at the visitor's center and will be throughout the racing season. Some have been signed by legendary drivers like Bill Elliott.

Something to put your PBR in I suppose. See the complete story at NASCAR Beer Stein Collection on Display in Appomattox.



H/T to the Virginia Tourism twitter feed.