NFL Who To Root For & Wild Card Predictions

Note #1:  I have a rule that I can root for a bad team, but not a stupid one.  Given the recent decisions of the Cleveland Browns, I have put them in the latter category, and am looking for a new NFL team to root for.



So let's figure out which NFL team left in the playoffs I should root for.  The remaining teams are:

NFC:
1- Seattle
2- Carolina
3- Philadelphia
4- Green Bay
5- San Francisco
6- New Orleans

AFC:
1- Denver
2- New England
3- Cincinnati
4- Indianapolis
5- Kansas City
6- San Diego

OK- start by removing the teams that have already won the Super Bowl sometime in my lifetime.  This includes the Packers, and while I have a blood relation to Dom Capers, I also grew up in Chicago- so I figure that cancels each other out

That leaves:

NFC:
1- Seattle
2- Carolina
3- Philadelphia
4- Green Bay
5- San Francisco
6- New Orleans

AFC:
1- Denver
2- New England
3- Cincinnati
4- Indianapolis
5- Kansas City (won the Super Bowl, but before I was born)
6- San Diego
So now it becomes, "Find reasons not to root for the teams".  Let's elimiante Cincinnati and San Diego- I find both teams boring.  Kansas City is interesting, but I don't think they have a real chance.  That eliminates the AFC teams.

I like the way all three of the other teams play.  So who's fan base do I want to win it more?  Carolina is still more of a basketball center than a football town.  And Philadelphia- well, I'm still mad about them winning the World Series with Cliff Lee.

Congrats, Seattle Seahawks.  Here's hoping you win it all.



Note #2:  We still haven't found evidence that I am not a sports curse, so whatever team I do root for may be in jeopardy.  If so, I apologize to the fans and the team of the Seahawks.


Wild Card Predictions (winners in bold):

Saturday Games:
Kansas City at Indianapolis:- KC played an easy schedule this year, and probably aren't as good as their record.  If this were at KC I'd give it to them, but in Indianapolis, I'll go with the home team.

New Orleans at Philadelphia:   Three teams have great home-field advantages; Kansas City, New Orleans, and Seattle.  Unfortunately for the Saints and Chiefs, all of their games will be on the road.  Really liking Chip Kelly's offense.  Going with the home team again.

Sunday Games:
San Diego at Cincinnati:  Biggest coin flip.  Not a huge fan of either team.  But Cincinnati has a hard time getting out of the first round.  Going with the upset here.

San Francisco at Green Bay:  In Green Bay, with Rodgers returning and wanting revenge?  Tempting.  Really tempting.  The weather forecast shows it as cold (10 degrees) but no snow.  Going with San Francisco- their defense is good, and the defense is helped in bad weather. 

2014 Resolutions

I know people like to point out that one can start a resolution at any time, and that there is no need to wait until New Year's Day.  But sometimes you need an excuse to hit the reset button.  I wasn't happy with 2013, and am looking forward (hoping?) to a better 2014.  With that in mind, I have three resolutions.

1)  Project 190.

I weighed myself this morning- 229.2 pounds.  That's not my heaviest- I've been as high as 248.  But I keep wanting to drop the weight.  My goal is 190 pounds (I'm an engineer; I measure things with numbers).  

Now, I exercise.  I have an elliptical, and I use it 4-5 times a week.  My problem is food- I like it, I love breads and carbs, and I eat so fast I'm on my third helping before realizing I should have stopped.  

Mentally, I know this.  But it's hard to stop.  In a way, my Meniere's will help.  I'm supposed to cut out salt from my diet.  No salt, there's no need to get chips at the store or Chipotle.  And the vertigo is so miserable that it's suprisingly easy to say no to salt.

Now it's just a job of eating healthier and slower.


2)  Freelance Destruction

One of the best parts of 2013 was being part of Cleveland Improv Jams.  There's some fantastic people there at Mahall's Bowling alley on Tuesdays.  And it seems like everyone has a side project or three.

So a bunch of us are starting our own.  We're going to write some sketch comedies and put them up on youtube.  We've got about a half dozen sketches written- now it's just a case of filming them and setting up the channel.

Work is going to be a giant pain for me the next couple of months, so it may not happen right away.  But it is something we hope to have set up in 2014.  *Knock on wood*


3)  Blog more

I enjoy this blog- a place to put down my thoughts for the world to see.  But I tend to run bipolar- post a lot for a few weeks, then drop it.  I need to be more consistent.

Fortunately, this one will be easy to measure- every post is accounted for. 

I know what I want to do- now it's just a case of doing it.

Closing Out 2013

2013... it was a year.

I can't say it was a good year.  The economy is a weird mix, where the stock market is at an all-time high while unemployment remains high and prices continue to rise even though the interest rates are at an all-time low.  

Sports continue to be depressing- instead of bad, this year the Cleveland sports teams are disappointing, raising up hopes only to destroy them.  Actually, that only applies to the Browns and Cavs- the Indians did quite well.  But baseball itself doesn't interest me anymore.  

Politics?  The GOP self-destructed in spectacular fashion, shutting down the government on a lost cause and somehow managing to lower an approval rating that was already under 15%.  Then the Democrats took this gift and raised (lowered?) the bar by doing such a poor job on the Health Care plan they spent three years working on that they dropped below the approval rating of the GOP.  It's annoying when the politicians that you don't agree with win; but now it seems like there's no one who knows how to do the job- and that should terrify you, no matter what you believe on the political spectrum.  

World Events?  Two terrorists planted a bomb during the Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring dozens of people.  Assad used chemical weapons against his own people and is still in power.  The world seems full of problems with no obvious solutions, but 2013 seemed more

On a personal level- well, the job continues, and I'm having a blast at Improv.  And we've found not one but two RPGs to start playing in.  But a lot of the personal projects I've been working on stalled and need to be restarted.
 
Ah well- at least I have Cute Emergency for self therapy.  Nothing like cute animals to make you feel better.

Here's hoping for a better 2014.

 

Hypothetical Discussion Question: Experiencing Another Lifetime

You have an opportunity to experience a famous person's life. Now, you end up experiencing their ENTIRE life- all of the highs and lows. If they have emotional problems, you experience those. If they have an injury, you experience that also. You get the entire package- all of the highs, and all of the lows. It can be any person, past or present

I'll split it into three categories:

1) Athletes

2) Entertainers/Celebrities

3) Historical Figures (politicians, newsmakers, etc.)

Who do you select?

Hypothetical Discussion Question: Entertainment Career

Discussion question for all of my friends who want to be professional entertainers- singers, comedians, actors, writers, etc.:

You get an offer- for two years, you will be one of the most successful and famous entertainers on the planet. You will sell out stadiums, people will beg for you to appear on their tv shows, you will make millions.

The price is, at the end of the two years, it all ends. You go from selling out stadiums to being a punchline for a has-been, and your name is radioactive. You keep what you have in terms of wealth, but you'll never work again.

In other words, I'm offering you Andrew Dice Clay or Stephanie Meyer's career path. If you don't take it, you'll continue on whatever path you're going.

Do you take the offer?

 

 

NFL Predictions- 2013/2014 season

Like I know what I'm talking about...
 

AFC East                            NFC East               

1     New England       12    4     1     NY Giants         9     7

2     Miami             7     9     2     Dallas            8     8
3     Buffalo           6     10    3     Washington        8     8
4     NY Jets           3     13    4     Philadelphia      7     9

                                           

AFC North                           NFC North              
1     Baltimore         10    6     1     Green Bay         11    5
2     Cincinnati        10    6     2     Chicago           10    6
3     Cleveland         8     8     3     Detroit           7     9
4     Pittsburgh        5     11    4     Minnesota         7     9

                                              

AFC South                           NFC South              
1     Houston           12    4     1     New Orleans       11    5
2     Tennessee         9     7     2     Atlanta           11    5
3     Indianapolis      8     8     3     Carolina          6     10
4     Jacksonville      3     13    4     Tampa Bay         5     11

                                               

AFC West                            NFC West               
1     Denver            12    4     1     San Francisco     11    5
2     Kansas City       9     7     2     Seattle           11    5
3     San Diego         5     11    3     Arizona           6     10
4     Oakland           4     12    4     St. Louis         5     11

                                              

                                               
Playoffs                                             
1     Denver                        1     Green Bay        
2     New England                   2     New Orleans      
3     Houston                       3     San Francisco          
4     Baltimore                     4     NY Giants        
5     Cincinnati                    5     Atlanta          
6     Kansas City                   6     Seattle          

                                              

                                               
1st round   Baltimore over Cincinnati     Atlanta over NY Giants                          Houston over Kansas City      Seattle over San Francisco           

2nd round   Houston over New England      Green Bay over Seattle

            Denver over Baltimore         Atlanta over New Orleans           

Conf.       Houston over Denver           Atlanta over Green Bay       

                                            

Super Bowl              Atlanta 31, Houston 24      

Memo to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy: Scandal Edition

To:    members@vastrightwingconspiracy.con
From: mightybastard@vastrightwingconspiracy.com (membership ID:  TK-421)
Password:  0bama15aween1e


Folks,

We're handling these scandals all wrong.  The IRS Scandal and the Justice Department wiretapping the AP- we need to point out the real dangers here, not score political points.

Everyone's talking about how these scandals hurt Obama.  That's not the point, nor should it be.

For one thing, Obama's irrelevant.  He won in 2012 on a campaign of "I'm not Romney", and never pushed an agenda.  Plus, he's terrible at the job of, you know, actually running the country.  He's going to spend the next 18 months with one goal in mind- trying to vote out the GOP House.  After that... I don't know; he'll play some golf and make some speeches, trying to set up a Legacy.  Outside events will drive the topics in Washington; the President won't.

So forget about figuring out how these scandals hurt Obama.  Instead, try to find ways to make sure they never happen again.

The Conservative Argument against Big Government can be stated in two bullet points.

1)  A Leviathan Bureaucratic State is so inefficient that it causes more harm than good compared to a smaller, limited government

2)  A Leviathan Bureaucratic State grants so much unchecked power to others than abuse of the system is inevitable and causes harm to innocents.

The IRS Scandal is a perfect example of #2.  A bunch of IRS employees used their power to grind a political axe.  They targetted groups they didn't agree with, threatening them with audits.

Everyone understands that the IRS is a frightening group.  It has the power to tax our income, to take our homes, and to arrest us if we don't fill out there 20,000 pages of tax forms exactly right.  People dread the idea of dealing with the IRS.

And the people responsible used that dread to intimidate political groups they didn't like.

I don't want firings; I want arrests and perp walks for those responsible.

But more importantly, I want transparency in the way the IRS targets groups for audits to make sure this doesn't happen again.  The IRS has gotten so powerful that these types of abuses are going to happen unless they change how the IRS can use its authority.

THAT'S what we should be going after- some limitations to what the IRS can do to prevent these types of abuses.

Same with the AP Scandal, although I'm thinking the media should do the heavy lifting for us there.  Using the Department of Justice to record private conservations reporters have?  We all know the media is in the tank for the President, but I think this will cause a few unpleasant dinner dates between them. 

But stop targetting Obama- he's irrelevant.  Concentrate on finding ways to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Sincerely,
TK-421

PS- You'll notice I haven't mentioned Benghazi.  That was a serious screw up- four men were killed when they were put in a dangerous situation.  In retrospect, it was obvious they needed more protection.  By all means, hold hearings to figure out why this happened.  But this is less of a scandal and more a case of incompetent screw ups.  The IRS and AP are scandals; Benghazi was incompetence.  Combining the two only muddies the water.