Best Blend of 2023: An Elimination Game

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jbfrady

Can't Leave
Jul 27, 2023
460
1,686
South Carolina
Only three blends weren't listed in bold today, so I'll slap two of them.
- Dockworker
- Peterson Flake

Living:
Anomalous - Sutliff - 15
Brown Twist #4 - SG - 21
Golden Sliced - Orlik - 10
Dockworker - HU - 14
Oriental Silk - C&D - 12
Rouxgaroux - WCC - 19
Ennerdale - GH - 9
1989 - Erik Stokkebye - 17
Full Virginia Flake - SG - 22
Rich Dark Honeydew - GH - 17
Bob's Chocolate Flake - GH - 23
Flake - Peterson (Dunhill) - 11
Dark Bird's Eye - GH - 17

Deceased:

Grape - Captain Black
Match 20 - Sutliff
Hogshead - Seattle Pipe Club
Royal - Captain Black
Royal Yacht - Peterson
Exclusive - C&D
Stratfordshire - C&D
Mixture #79 - Sutliff
Aged Burley Flake - Solani
From Beyond - C&D
Pegasus - C&D
Holly's Non Plus Ultra - Dan
Dorchester - Esoterica
No. 69 - Peter Henrichs
Maple Shadows - Sutliff
American Cut Plug - Watch City
Squadron Leader - SG
Luxury Navy Flake - Peter Stokkebye
Lancer Slices - F&K
Wintertime Flake - SG
Black - Sillem's
Skiff Mixture - SG
Red Virginia - Robert McConnell

Red Virginia died today, but hardly anybody noticed. He was hiding in the corner for most of the game, stooping beneath a pub table and calling the police in whispered tones. He was yanked from his hidey hole and promptly discarded.

On a wholly separate note... I love to read. My favorite genre is the well-told biography, by which I might obtain a picture of an entire era through the lens of a pivotal figure. Last year, I stumbled across one of the most memorable biographies I've read. It was a recount of the life of Muhammad Ali, aptly titled "Ali: A Life," by Jonathan Eig.

We all know that Muhammad Ali suffered from brain damage later in life, but what's crazy is... the whole thing seems to have begun with a single fight. Prior to his match with Joe Frazier, Cassius Clay prided himself on his preternatural speed, his ability to evade punches which no boxer in his day could've slipped. After his brutal bout with Frazier, his calling card became his intense resilience, his ability to take vicious punishment with reckless - if not foolhardy - abandon.

Joe was stronger, faster, and younger than Ali. He was prepared, knowing that it was his destiny to enter the ring with the greatest Champ of all time. He'd trained for this, fought for this, lived for this. He landed more blows to Ali's head than any human should've sustained without entering the next world. Still, his job was not - and indeed could not be - finished.

In that fight, Muhammad Ali became his future self. He learned to feel a knockout coming and evade it by the force of his mental prowess. He was still a beast, but one of a new nature. He'd be knocked down more than once in his time, but never would he be knocked out.

I guess what I'm getting at is... Ennerdale's prolly got the shakes, because you've all Fraziered his ass. And yet, he's still standing. He may not win, but he's the champ.
 
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woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
12,023
17,241
SE PA USA
I’m a bit disturbed that you would equate Ennerdale with Philly’s great homegrown legend, Smokin’ Joe. Frazier lived not far from me when I was a kid, and we drove past his Montgomery County, PA house frequently on the way into town. Even though we all knew where he lived, someone in the car would inevitably say, with a bit of awe in their voice, “That’s Joe Frazier’s house!”

Nobody drives past the Gawith factory and declares “That’s Ennerdale’s House”.

More likely, they mutter “What’s that smell?”.
 
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