Football! Week 12 – Vive la Beet
Thanksgiving’s this week, which is like the Super Bowl for yours truly. It’s going to be a crazy week with cooking, traveling, Wednesday night partying, shopping, etc. So I’ll keep this brief.
Last week I was bragging about doing better than all of the ESPN guys so far this year and trouncing my competition – veggies and my kids. I guess I spoke too soon – the Beet beat me. But seriously, who would’ve thought the Eagles and the Dolphins would’ve won? I guess I shouldn’t feel bad, he did as well or better than all but one of the ESPN experts.
The Beet and I had a side bet. If he won, I had to do a special tribute to him that didn’t involve roasting. So here’s some interesting trivia about how Napolean loved his ancestors –
A royal decree led to the first factory devoted to sugar extraction from beetroots being opened in Kunern, Silesia (now Konary, Poland) in 1801. The Silesian sugar beet was soon introduced to France where Napoleon opened schools specifically for studying the plant. He also ordered that 28,000 hectares (69,200 acres) be devoted to growing the new sugar beet. This was in response to British blockades of cane sugar during the Napoleonic Wars, which ultimately stimulated the rapid growth of a European sugarbeet industry. By 1840 about 5% of the world’s sugar was derived from sugar beets, and by 1880 this number had risen more than tenfold to over 50%. The sugar beet was introduced to North America after 1830 with the first commercial production starting in 1879 at a farm in Alvarado, California. The sugar beet was also introduced to Chile via German settlers around 1850.
Week 12 picks
Well, since he was victorious, the Monsieur Beet gets to pick again.
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