First of all, a big welcome to China for our dear readers Don and Mike! They have landed here in China for a 2 week excursion in the Estern hemisphere. I have word that they already have their "children peeing in the streets" pictures and have seen more than their share of 40-year-old men's bellies. Congratulations! See you on Friday!
The five of us took a long weekend this weekend and went to Xi'An, home of the Terra Cotta warriors. The Terra Cotta excursion took about 3 hours total; to fill the day, we went to a silk factory (slash- tourist trap) and a home of someone living in a cave. Literally! We went to a cave to see someone's abode, which is a 10 x 30 dungeon with one bed, one light bulb (don't carry Martin in on your shoulders, as he is well within reach of the bare, single electrical cord that enters the cave), and a brick as a pillow.
The cave dweller, in perfect English, asked me "So how is Tim Couch working as the star QB of the Browns?"
Lunch was the local Shaanxi cuisine - and it was average-to-below average. A picture of the dishes is included here. A quick description, starting from 12 o'clock and going clockwise:
- a bowl of rice;
- steamed cauliflower (and Janice was the only one to touch this)
- cabbage fried in oil (which is a wonderful staple of many regional cuisine. The only way to eat cabbage!)
- some chicken mix that looked like Kung Pao Chicken, but without the spices and any heat at all (it was room temperature)
- some imitation pepper steak that was bland;
- some pork and vegetable concotion that looked bad but tasted ok;
- Chinese greens;
- egg drop soup.
Dinner that night was a 10-course dumpling meal, which was good (too bad my battery died, so no immeidate pictures). Xi'An is famous for dumplings, and many were good; however, the "vegetable" dumpings tasted a lot like ground-up Oscar Meyer Wieners.
So the meals we had were ok - until we got to the airport today to leave. We checked in, had some time - and noticed....could it be???? Yes!!!!! A Dunkin Donuts!
I immediately ordered a Boston Cream donut, my favorite....aaah, the comfortable memories of a Boston Creme donut.....
....just like the memories of a Browns-Bills game. Many good memories here on games between the two teams:
- the 34-30 Browns victory in the playoffs in 1989, sending us to round 3 of the AFC Championship series with the Broncos; we would be the last AFC team to beat the Bills in the playoffs for 5 years.
- the Monday Night loss in Cleveland in 1995 when Al Michaels said "tomorrow" would be the day the OJ Simpson verdict would be announced;
- the memorable 8-0 victory in Cleveland in 2007 when Dawson hit two field goals in a blizzard (one, a 47 yarder,easily the hardest field goal I've ever seen hit on TV,including Vinatieri's). I watched this in warm Southern California with Derek.
- A Monday Night win in Buffalo in 2008 when Dawson hit a 56-yarder;
- The worst game I ever saw on TV in 2009; Derek Anderson completed 2 passes in the entire game......and we ended up winning, 6-3!
Buffalo-Cleveland matchups. It's like comfort food. It may not be good, it may not always agree with you, but it is something familiar......like a Dunkin Donut.
On to the games:
Chi 26, StL 13. I think the Bears D line will overwhelm Bradford and the Rams.
Dal 31, TB 20. Tampa has the worst pass D in the league - and that's Dallas's strength.
SF 20, Min 14. A closer game than many think, some letdown here for the Niners after the win at Lambeau and a Sunday night win at home.
Det 24, Ten 16. The Lions are desperate, and the Titans are pretty bad.
Was 31, Cin 21. I know a lot of people are talking about Washington's injuries on D - but Cincinnati's D is not that good. 44 vs. the Ravens and 27 vs. the Browns?
NYJ 23, Mia 13. I think the Jets D can stop an average-to-below average offense like the Dolphins.
NO 34, KC 31. I don't think the Saints D can stop anyone right now -even the mistake prone Chiefs' offense.
Ind 20, Jax 17. Should go down to the wire - and another Vinatieri FG.
Phi 20, Az 17. Both defenses are very good in this game - should be decided at the end by a FG.
Atl 27, SD 23. I worry about a letdown here for the Falcons - but the Chargers have not been tested at all yet.
Den 28, Hou 20. Talking about not being tested - the Texans have played the Dolphins and the Jaguars. That's not exactly two offensive powerhouses there. How will they do vs. a good offensive team?
Pit 23, Oak 16. I know this is a game that the Steelers typically don't do well in, but I just can't see this Oakland team do anything against the Steelers D, which is great against the run.
Bal 31, NE 24. A tough game. I know Belicheck is great after a loss, but I can't see the supposed best team in the AFC lose this one to a one-dimensional Patriots team.
Sea 23, GB 20, OT. I just don't believe the Packers are themselves - yet. They are not playing close to a 15-1 team .
Best bets: 17 of them. Last week: 8-7-1; overall: 18-11-2.
Chi -7
Dal -8
SF/Min under 42 1/2
Det -4
Det/Ten under 47 1/2
Was -3
NYJ -2 1/2
KC +8
KC/NO over 53
Ind/Jax under 43
Atl +3
Den +2
Pit -3 1/2
Pit/Oak under 45 1/2
Bal -3
Bal/NE over 48 1/2
Sea +3
Supercontest picks: last week: 3-2; overall: 7-3
Chi -7 1/2 (oooh, that hook....)
Dal -7
NYJ +3
Den +2 1/2
Sea +3
The five of us took a long weekend this weekend and went to Xi'An, home of the Terra Cotta warriors. The Terra Cotta excursion took about 3 hours total; to fill the day, we went to a silk factory (slash- tourist trap) and a home of someone living in a cave. Literally! We went to a cave to see someone's abode, which is a 10 x 30 dungeon with one bed, one light bulb (don't carry Martin in on your shoulders, as he is well within reach of the bare, single electrical cord that enters the cave), and a brick as a pillow.
The cave dweller, in perfect English, asked me "So how is Tim Couch working as the star QB of the Browns?"
Lunch was the local Shaanxi cuisine - and it was average-to-below average. A picture of the dishes is included here. A quick description, starting from 12 o'clock and going clockwise:
- a bowl of rice;
- steamed cauliflower (and Janice was the only one to touch this)
- cabbage fried in oil (which is a wonderful staple of many regional cuisine. The only way to eat cabbage!)
- some chicken mix that looked like Kung Pao Chicken, but without the spices and any heat at all (it was room temperature)
- some imitation pepper steak that was bland;
- some pork and vegetable concotion that looked bad but tasted ok;
- Chinese greens;
- egg drop soup.
Dinner that night was a 10-course dumpling meal, which was good (too bad my battery died, so no immeidate pictures). Xi'An is famous for dumplings, and many were good; however, the "vegetable" dumpings tasted a lot like ground-up Oscar Meyer Wieners.
So the meals we had were ok - until we got to the airport today to leave. We checked in, had some time - and noticed....could it be???? Yes!!!!! A Dunkin Donuts!
....just like the memories of a Browns-Bills game. Many good memories here on games between the two teams:
- the 34-30 Browns victory in the playoffs in 1989, sending us to round 3 of the AFC Championship series with the Broncos; we would be the last AFC team to beat the Bills in the playoffs for 5 years. - the Monday Night loss in Cleveland in 1995 when Al Michaels said "tomorrow" would be the day the OJ Simpson verdict would be announced;
- the memorable 8-0 victory in Cleveland in 2007 when Dawson hit two field goals in a blizzard (one, a 47 yarder,easily the hardest field goal I've ever seen hit on TV,including Vinatieri's). I watched this in warm Southern California with Derek.
- A Monday Night win in Buffalo in 2008 when Dawson hit a 56-yarder;
- The worst game I ever saw on TV in 2009; Derek Anderson completed 2 passes in the entire game......and we ended up winning, 6-3!
Buffalo-Cleveland matchups. It's like comfort food. It may not be good, it may not always agree with you, but it is something familiar......like a Dunkin Donut.
On to the games:
Chi 26, StL 13. I think the Bears D line will overwhelm Bradford and the Rams.
Dal 31, TB 20. Tampa has the worst pass D in the league - and that's Dallas's strength.
SF 20, Min 14. A closer game than many think, some letdown here for the Niners after the win at Lambeau and a Sunday night win at home.
Det 24, Ten 16. The Lions are desperate, and the Titans are pretty bad.
Was 31, Cin 21. I know a lot of people are talking about Washington's injuries on D - but Cincinnati's D is not that good. 44 vs. the Ravens and 27 vs. the Browns?
NYJ 23, Mia 13. I think the Jets D can stop an average-to-below average offense like the Dolphins.
NO 34, KC 31. I don't think the Saints D can stop anyone right now -even the mistake prone Chiefs' offense.
Ind 20, Jax 17. Should go down to the wire - and another Vinatieri FG.
Phi 20, Az 17. Both defenses are very good in this game - should be decided at the end by a FG.
Atl 27, SD 23. I worry about a letdown here for the Falcons - but the Chargers have not been tested at all yet.
Den 28, Hou 20. Talking about not being tested - the Texans have played the Dolphins and the Jaguars. That's not exactly two offensive powerhouses there. How will they do vs. a good offensive team?
Pit 23, Oak 16. I know this is a game that the Steelers typically don't do well in, but I just can't see this Oakland team do anything against the Steelers D, which is great against the run.
Bal 31, NE 24. A tough game. I know Belicheck is great after a loss, but I can't see the supposed best team in the AFC lose this one to a one-dimensional Patriots team.
Sea 23, GB 20, OT. I just don't believe the Packers are themselves - yet. They are not playing close to a 15-1 team .
Best bets: 17 of them. Last week: 8-7-1; overall: 18-11-2.
Chi -7
Dal -8
SF/Min under 42 1/2
Det -4
Det/Ten under 47 1/2
Was -3
NYJ -2 1/2
KC +8
KC/NO over 53
Ind/Jax under 43
Atl +3
Den +2
Pit -3 1/2
Pit/Oak under 45 1/2
Bal -3
Bal/NE over 48 1/2
Sea +3
Supercontest picks: last week: 3-2; overall: 7-3
Chi -7 1/2 (oooh, that hook....)
Dal -7
NYJ +3
Den +2 1/2
Sea +3
No comments:
Post a Comment