An open letter to my patrons, Since opening my pub years ago, I have tried my best to stick with tradition. I have not added big screen televisions nor have I changed my beer selection with all those new fancy-foofy bottles of rubbish. And if anyone's noticed, I still even have a jukebox that plays actual CDs that were suggested by you the customer! Not the soulless digital music systems the new sports bar has. And up until now, I have offered traditional camel hair dartboards with real darts.

Unfortunately, during the last tournament, a couple of our better-known regulars (I'll not name names – Goddard) had a few too many pints and just about pinned another customer's head to the wall with a few wayward darts. To remedy this situation and to add a bit more excitement to our tourneys, I have purchased two Arachnid Commercial Dartboards. These machines use the soft tip darts, but are extremely accurate and are actually fun to play. This may also eliminate some of the fisticuffs over hand scoring as it also keeps track of scores, missed darts, handicaps, and every other tournament statistic.

So the camel hair dartboard now has a 3-pint maximum and is not to be used for tournaments. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I think everyone will appreciate the advantages of the new Arachnid dartboards and feel safer knowing they are no longer subject to beer-soaked projectiles. Though I'm sure someone will still stand a chance of losing an eye if not careful.

Cheers.

Having finished my baseball themed rec-room in all its sporting glory, I tapped a keg and waited for my buddies to stop by for an inaugural test run of the facilities. I thought of everything: big screen, comfortable lounge chairs, fully stocked wet bar, popcorn machine, baseball themed dartboard, and pool table. And here's the rub, everything had a baseball theme, except the pool table.

Luckily, one of my stadium buddies gave me a home run of a gift, the MLB Rival Billiard Set. It's simple, really, two sets of balls with no numbers, no stripes, just the color and logo of two Major League Baseball teams. After a night of just two teams, you know we had to go and order a few more. Now when we watch the game, we can play pool with the same teams!

Sure it may seem strange to play pool with baseball themed balls, but there's nothing better than beating your opponent when your team wins at the same time. Are we baseball geeks? Yes we are and proud of it. Do I smell peanuts?

There are few things that I am really good at in this life. Two of them are cooking on the grill and drinking beer. Though this may not seem like the defining qualities that make the perfect husband, my wife happens to love my cooking and appreciates a good brew. Which must be why she gave me one of the best birthday presents, the Beer Can Chicken Cookbook.

Now I have to say, I rarely use cookbooks when grilling, but this was too good to pass up. First off, the book itself comes in a beer can shaped container and comes filled with crazy beer can chicken recipes. Of course to some, just sticking a beer can up a chicken's butt and grilling it may already sound crazy, but that's only from those that have never tasted it. Trust me, however, some of these recipes are incredible! Spicy Peanut Chicken, Saigon Chicken, Stoned Chicken (not what you think!), and many others make your ordinary chicken a smash hit with friends and family. Not to mention it's the perfect excuse to keep plenty of beer on hand.

They were a sad looking lot. The field was worn, players were not as agile as they were in their youth, and it was obvious to anyone who cast a pitiful look upon the once-impressive arena that the time for change had come. So with a heavy heart, I sold my battle-weary foosball table at a garage sale. It was then I started searching for a new team, one with fresh players, a newly painted playing surface and lust for fast-paced action.

I traveled the world via the Internet looking for the perfect replacement that would once again rally my friends and bring screams of enjoyment to my basement. And then, there it was, the Chexx Bubble Hockey Table. No, it was not foosball, but the classic style of hockey we used to play as kids on the cheap tabletop model, crafted in all its adult sized glory. Friends were stunned. Miniature hockey pucks awaited the almighty slapshot while an overhead score box beckoned legendary battles on faux ice. And so in tribute to our fallen comrade that was my foosball table, we embraced our new game and paid homage with hours of quick paced, hard-hitting table hockey. That night we welcomed sleep as champions, with victory in our hearts and the lingering battle scars of slight wrist fatigue reminding us we were heroes.