NFL Week 9: Shanghai Cuisine

Falling behind on blogging this week after a bad week at work. I wanted to post something about our experiences at the HSBC Champions event at Mission Hills (proving, once again, why Phil is the #1 fan favorite in the world.....and Lee Westwood is a nice guy, too); and I want to post something about the election next Tuesday....

But no time! Time for week 9 of the NFL!

Today's theme is Shanghai cuisine. Shanghai was an old sleepy fishing village until the 1930s, when it opened up to the West and then later it was determined that it should be major city. Bam! Investment, business and people. It is a shoppers' paradise as well...there is a saying in China that:
a) The only thing that people in Beijing do is talk;
b) The only thing that people in Shanghai do is shop; and
c) The only thing that people in Guangzhou do is eat.

Where was I going with that? I guess there is no discernable theme to the food in Shanghai. The twon is on the ocean, so the food is centered around seafood - but there is no real spice/cooking style to tie it all together. It's very much a mixture of different types of food. You don't know what you are going to get.

You get the "fried" fish that is presented as a living fish (with the pea eyeballs).
You get the "yin and Yang" soup (very oatmeal-y).
I was offered a soup once with many small pieces of bones in it; each bone piece has a small amount in it. It looked like boiled human knuclkes in chicken broth.

I asked - "Um, what is this?"

3 second delay. "Why don't you try it first then we will tell you?"

Um, ok. I took a bone piece and chewed on the end for the small piece of meat. "Ok, not bad. So - what is it?"

"It's frog". And it wasn't frog legs.

The fried fish above was good, and the beef they serve is a bit bland but good - but you have the other dished that are complete mysteries and could be a "1" or "10" on the scale from 1-10. You just don't know.

I'm getting to that point with the Browns now. Spin the wheel - you don't know what you will get on offense or defense. Some days Weeden will be above average and throw for over 300, but the defense lets us down. Or the D is good and the receivers drop balls. It's a crap shoot right now - no discernable theme yet to the team .

There's no way I am picking them to win this weekend. The Ravens, off a bye and off an embarrassing loss? No thanks. We may keep it close, but in the end, I see a 7-10 point loss.

On to the games:

Cin 23, Den 19. The pick makes no sense whatsoever - so it must be right! Cinci off a bye, and Denver has played a few emotional games in a row.

GB 31, Az 17. I think Rodgers won't take his foot off the gas in this one.

Hou 24, Buf 13. The Texans will shut the Bills down, and I think the Texans are more one-dimensional on offense than anyone realizes.

Mia 20, Ind 17. I don't have a lot of faith in Indy to score against good defenses.

Det 23, Jax 21. I don't trust Detroit on the road just yet.

Was 31, Car 13. I believe that Carolina will be disheartened after throwing away last week's game vs. Chicago.

Chi 24, Ten 16.  The Bears defense will always be there to bail them out.

TB 24, Oak 21. Can we truly trust the Raiders? Do we give them credit for last week when KC handed them the game?

Sea 28, Min 17. I think the Seattle D will be able to copy what Tampa did against Ponder and company.

Pit 27, NYG 24. Just a hunch. When is the home clunker coming for the Giants?

Atl 30, Dal 20. Like the Panthers, this will be an emotional letdown because of last week's horrible loss.

NO 31, Phi 23. In the Superdome? I think Brees and co. will take care of business.

Best bets: 15 of them. Last week: 9-6; total: 64-54-4.

Cin +4
Den/Cin under 48
GB -10
Buf/Hou under 47 1/2
Mia/Ind under 43 1/2
Jax +5 1/2
Was -3
Car/Was under 48
Chi -3 1/2
TB +2
Sea -4
Min/Sea over 38 1/2
Pit +3
Atl -3 1/2
NO -3

Supercontest: Last week: 3-2. Overall: 22-17-1
Was -3
Sea -4 1/2
NO -3
TB +1 1/2
Cin +3 1/2