Image: sxc.hu

Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon all allowed sports betting, even though it was federally banned in 1992. These four states were allowed to continue offering sports betting due to a grandfather clause – they already offered sports betting and so could continue.

The NCCA has often used rules regarding holding events to make political statements. You can read more about their decision to limit events at ESPN.

Post from: EveryJoe

NCAA Limits Event Locations Based on Bets

Everyone wants to know what’s in those documents. The NCAA had previous annonced that they’d strip coach Bobby Bowden of a number of wins, and this documnt is in response to an appeal of that decision. Bowden’s in the running to become the most winningest major football coach of all time, trailing Penn State’s Joe Paterno by just one win.

President T.K. Wetherell, Image: Newscom

FSU President T.K. Wetherell, who recently announced that he was ready to retire, is named as a defendent in the lawsuit. He says that its his job to protect the school and he’s bound to get sued occasionally.

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Press Sues NCAA and FSU

Should you be allowed to drink in public? Where does public begin? We’re about to find out, it seems.

Kimber VanRy is testing the waters. The 39 New Yorker sat down on his stoop to have a beer (a Sierra Nevada) when he was cited for drinking in public.

In New York, and other cities states, drinking a beer outside – even if it is on your stoop – is unlawful. The New York City law prohibits anyone from drinking an alcoholic beverage, or possessing and intending to drink from an open container containing an alcoholic beverage, “in any public place.” That includes sidewalks, streets and park. The punishment for violations is a fine of no more than $25 or imprisonment of up to five days, or both.

VanRy plans to plead not guilty. He questions whether his stoop should qualify as a “public place” as defined by the law. VanRy’s lawyer says it’s a bigger question that whether it’s a simply a question of definitions, and more of a policy question that stems from treating what folks consider private property as public property. Apparently, the officer who ticketed VanRy stated that if the stoop had ben gated, he would not have been cited.

In cities like New York – and my own city of Philadelphia – stoops are like front porches for folks who don’t have porches. Should drinking there be okay?

What do you think? A good ticket? A fair law? What is fair to consider public or private when it comes to drinking? Do you drink in public? Check out the poll in the sidebar and leave your comment below!

Post from: EveryJoe

Should You Be Allowed to Drink In “Public” – Ever?

Who didn’t show up for the London Beer Festival? Alistair Darling, though clearly he was on the minds of festivalgoers.

Members of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) protested the UK beer tax outside of the festival in London, England.

The British beer tax is the highest in the EU, ringing up at more than 80p per pint. Taxes for other spirits in Britain are just as high, as part of the recent national budget.

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London Beer Festivalgoers Protest Beer Tax

Earlier in the year, we posted about the problems that Vaune and Barbara Dillmann of the Mt. Shasta Brewing Company was having with the message “Try Legal Weed” printed on his bottle caps. Apparently, commingling references to drugs on alcoholic beverages is prohibited – a little something the Dillmanns learned when the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau got involved.

The Dillmanns appealed the ruling and were in the middle of preparations to litigate the matter when they received some good news: they can continue using the slogan on the Mt. Shasta Brewing Company bottle caps.

The Dillmanns’ argument stems from the fact that his brewery, Mt. Shasta, is based in Weed, California. They reasoned that the slogan was a play on words – and not an inducement to mix beer and pot. The feds now agree.

The town’s name is not – as much as you want to think it is – named after the marijuana plant. The town’s name honors its founder Abner Weed, who eventually became a state Senator. The Dillmanns have used the reference to the town’s name on five prior beer caps – but the feds balked when they attempted to use it on their newest product, Lemurian Lager. The brewery used blank caps while the matter was being appealed but will switch back to the original, now really legal, “legal weed” caps shortly.

The drama might have been a bit more than the Dillmanns had bargained for but it has brought at least one good thing: sales are booming. Distribution is, however, limited. The beer is currently available in California, Oregon and Washington.

Now, of course, I’m curious, too. Have you had any? Is it worth all of the fuss?

** Don’t forget to enter this month’s contest! Click here to find out how to win! **

(c) Brew Ha-Ha, 2008

Post from: EveryJoe

Beer Brewer Says “Legal Weed” Is Okay Again

As InBev grows more aggressive with respect to its bid to take over Anheuser-Busch, A-B has started fighting back. This week, A-B filed a lawsuit against InBev in Missouri. A key issue in the suit? InBev’s operations in Cuba. According to the complaint, InBev’s “business in Cuba is substantial, with more than 570 full-time employees, distribution centers located throughout the country, and sales accounting for 44 percent of total beer sales on the island.”

And this matters why?

Th US has regulations that prohibit just such a venture, notably the (and I’m not making this up) Trading with the Enemy Act.

For more on what A-B (and its lawyers) have to say about the acquisition, you can read the entire complaint (download here as a pdf). For InBev’s side of the story, check out this InBev web site, created specifically to deal with the proposed acquisition.

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Anheuser-Busch Plays the Cuban Card with InBev

If you read the recitals to that law, you’d think craft brewers are heroes (I certainly do), which is particularly ironic given that there are others who feel that there is a new movement afoot to stigmatize social drinking (referred to as “Prohibition drip-by-drip).

Anyway, make sure you celebrate with your favorite local craft brew, and lift one for me as well.

Post from: EveryJoe

American Craft Beer Week

There are a lot of obscure and strange laws on the books which relate to how beer and other alcoholic products can be marketed, sold, distributed, and pretty much limiting all aspects of the product which can be limited. The Mount Shasta Brewing Co. found this out the hard way, when the FDA decided that its advertisements violated a rule against the use of drug references in alcohol labeling. Given the promo – “Try Legal Weed” – they might have a point.

Then again, they might not, because Shasta brews in the town of Weed, California. For more info check out this article from law.com.

Image from Wikimedia, copyright-free

Post from: EveryJoe

Try a Weed beer

For an overview of some of the other strange and silly beer laws out there, check out this article from beerfestivals.com. As a Pennsylvanian, I can certainly attest to the strange nature of our beer supply chain.

Post from: EveryJoe

Beer’s not what it was yesterday, at least in Maryland