NFL Week 12: Vietnamese Sandwich

One of the great surprises of Asian cuisine for me has been the food of Vietnam. Before heading to Vietnam last year, I had the impression that Vietnamese food was similar to Thai – fish soups, fish sauce, and cold noodle dishes covered in vinegar.
As Larry the cucumber would said, I “couldn’t be more wronger”. (over/under on how many people got that joke? 1.5 –ed).
We had a great food experience in Vietnam when we visited. The first discovery was the Vietnamese sandwich. Wow! The best of Asian spices, good ol’ American pork and French bread. The sandwich is made with pork, usually containing plenty of flavorful fat. Added to it is celery, carrots, cucumbers, and sesame spread. No cheese is included – and that’s a plus. I’m not a fan of cheese on my sandwiches.
The topper, of course, is the bread. The sandwich is served on a French Baguette. As you may know, the French have a huge influence on Vietnamese culture, as they were the colonist presence there before 1950. Oh, the bread is crisp and soft – just like you would see in Paris. I may have had 3 or 10 of them when I was there last October. I haven’t found a place here in Guangzhou that serves the authentic thing yet……I’ll be looking out for it.
The sandwich is served any time of day – it can be a refreshing breakfast, the main course at lunch or an appetizer at dinner. It fits so well and it needs to be perfected and spread out across the US.
No real segue to the Browns this week after another painful loss last week, this time to the Cowboys. We have lost 18 games by 1 possession since 2010. 18! We have lost 18 one-possession games and have only won 10…..not 10 by one possession, but 10 total!!!!! That’s all coaching.

I’m so ready to get rid of Shurmur. If we can’t beat the Steelers this week with 54-year-old Charlie Batch at QB – then Haslam should go down on the field (a la Arthur Blank) and fire him on the spot at 4 pm.
Will we win? Of course not. Batch will throw for 295 yards in a 27-20 Steelers win.
On to the rest of the games:
Chi 17, Min 16. I don’t care who starts – if the Bears can’t get turnovers, they won't score.
Cin 30, Oak 27. Carson Palmer’s revenge in his visit back to Cincinnati!
Ind 31, Buf 20. I don’t get the love for the Bills. Fitzpatrick will make 3-4 mistakes each game to cost the Bills.
Ten 24, Jax 13. The Jags are spent after throwing everything at Houston last week (and still losing).
Den 27, KC 10. I’ve seen this show before – the “everyone quits on Romeo” show.
Atl 24, TB 20. I think Atlanta plays this game with urgency to show the league the truly still are a force.
Sea 20, Mia 16. No idea here. Which Miami team will show up? Which Seattle team – the home powerhouse or the road weakling?
SD 27, Bal 24. The sandwich game for Baltimore between 2 games vs. the Ravens. One last gasp for Norv.

Stl 20, Az 13. I trust Jeff Fisher more than I trust the 4th string Cardinals QB.
NO 30, SF 20. You can’t play games with your starting QB this late in the season and expect things to go well. Plus, the Saints want revenge from last year.
NYG 24, GB 17. It’s time for the resurrection of the Giants! Plus, I still think the Packers are overvalued..
Phi 27, Car 20. When in doubt, take the home team.
Best bets: 17 of them. Last week: 8-8-1; overall: 94-73-5

Min +6.5
Oak +8
Oak/Cin over 50
Ind -3
Ten -4
Ten/Jax under 44.5
Den -10
Den/KC under 43.5
Atl +1
Atl/TB under 51
SD pk
StL +1.5
NO +1
NYG -3
GB/NYG under 51
Phi +3
Car/Phi over 40.5

Supercontest: Last week: 4-1; overall: 31-23-1

Ind -3
Ten -3
Atl -1
SD +1
NO +2

NFL Week 11: Macanese Food

Hello from Qube, the kids play area at the Venetian Macao! The family is here for a long weekend because the kids have a random day off from school on Monday - and Janice and I are celebrating our anniversary!

You would think that when I write about Macao food, I would talk about Asian dishes or the popular Portuguese Egg Tart - but no. The enduring memories from Macao will be two restaurants:

- Morton's, and

- Fatburger.

As I have mentioned before, Macao is our escape - we are not interested in the culture here; we come here to get away from it all for a short while and shop/eat/gamble (I guess I have to, since it is here). And the presence of familiar Western chains make it all the more comfortable.

This trip we had some long delays in immigration and got into the hotel at midnight Friday night. The kids were hungry - thank God Fatburger was open until 1:30! That's usually our first stop on any Macao trip - the Fatburger and the milkshakes are soothing after weeks of green beans and pork.

And yes, Morton's is here at the hotel as well. It's the only place we regularly go to for real steak. Wiz took me here on a date last winter (he paid); I was here for my 40th; we took my parents here, and Janice and I have been twice. It's nice now that the boys are older and can stay in the room by themselves for 2 hours as we indulge ourselves.

So we leave the culture-exploring to other countries; for us, we strictly eat American when in Macao.

On to the games:

Atl 31, Az 27. A letdown for the Falcons - and I think the Cards will have some tricks up their sleeve after the bye.

Car 20, TB 17. I am jumping off the Bucs bandwagon here.

GB 31, Det 24. Green Bay needs to keep accelerating to have a chance at the division.

Hou 20, Jax 17. After winning "a playoff game" last week (their words), a letdown is coming for the Texans.

StL 23, NYJ 16. Boy, that Rex Ryan sure can coach, can't he?

Phi 23, Was 20. I know where the Eagles are at - but what about the Skins? Are they still trying their best? Are they playing their youth? Who knows with Shanahan.

Cin 27, KC 10. Last Monday night was the last stand for the Chiefs.

Oak 31, NO 27. Another letdown game. The Saints - after their big win - going outdoors to the West Coast? Not a good situation for the Saints. 

Den 26, SD 23. I just don't htink the Chargers will be embarassed again.

NE 30, Ind 27. The Colts offense will keep this close (even though their defense may get torched).

Pit 27, Bal 20. The Steelers have experience in playing with Leftwich - and I don't think the Ravens D is all that good to shut down the Steelers. 

SF 20, Chi 10. It looks like Campbell will go Monday night, right? The 49ers will be ready. 

Best bets: 17 of them. Last week: 11-7; overall: 86-65-4.

Az +9 1/2

Az/Atl over 44

Car +1 1/2

TB/Car under 48

GB -3

Jax +15

StL -3 1/2

Phi +3 1/2

Cin -3 1/2

Cin/KC under 43

Oak +5

SD +7 1/2

Ind +9 1/2

Pit +3 1/2

Bal/Pit over 40 1/2

SF -4

Chi/SF under 36 1/2

Supercontest: Last week: 2-3; overall: 27-22-1.

Cin -3

Jax +15

StL -3

Pit +3 1/2

SF -4

HSBC Review

As many of you know, we went to the HSBC champions tournament in Shenzhen last week. I took Freddie and Warren for Thursday and then Janice and I went on Sunday. Some random thoughts:

1. If you are going to take kids to golf tournaments, there's no question the best day is Thursday (or Friday). We got there around 10 - and there was no one there. None. We went directly to the 15th (a par 5 over water) and had a great view of the 2nd shots coming in. We were 15 feet from the back bunker, was able to sit down and enjoy everything.
The kids were the only caucasian kids out there on Thursday, so we stuck out - which was good for our next point.....

2. Phil is awesome. Enough said. On his back nine, we positioned ourselves from the walkway from 4 green to 5 tee; he saw the kids and flipped the ball to Warren. "Here you go" he said. He looked at Freddie and said "if you keep following me, I'll have something for you later".

We followed him for 2 more holes, then went to the 9th green (his last); he made eagle for 66. He walked off the green, down the walkway and saw Freddie; he went directly to Freddie and said "I promised I'd have something for you! Here you go!" and gave Freddie the ball.

2a. Of course, Warren being Warren, he tried to get that ball from Phil as well, but was denied. Phil's playing partner (walking 10 steps behind) saw all this, and seemed to take pity on Warren. "Here you go, kid" and the partner gave his ball to Warren.

That golfer? Lee Westwood.

2b. Got random golf balls from Brendan Grace and Robert Garrigus as well.

3. I have to say this - the spectators were the rudest I have ever seen. Photos constantly during play. The Marshals clueless - the marshals were even moving while golfers were over the ball! Watney was putting at one point, and had to back away twice because a marshal was moving in his sight line and then an inside-the-ropes photographer was moving around. A voice boomed from teh other side of the green. "STAND STILL!!!!" yelled Ian Poulter.

4. Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano is a very slow golfer. Janice mentioned that to me - and she has seen me play tournament golf, so she knows slow golfers.

5. Back to the photos - on Sunday, the lead groupd had additional marshals roving with the groups to help control the crowd and the photos. The marshals would look right at a spectator with a phone - and say "Put the phone away". The spectator would nod. The marshal would say again, "Phone - down". The spectator would nod and hold up one finger - as if to say "yes, in a sec...let me get this shot first''.
The marshal would start moving his hand to the camera, then the spectator would lower the camera from his face - but hold near his chest.
"Away! Down!" . The spectator would nod again, but in reality, he has no clue what he is supposed to do.

This would be repeated 15-20 times on Sunday.

5a. The Chinese also think that port-a-potties are sound proof; people went in there to take phone calls and start yelling into their phone.....while play is proceeding 20 yards away....

6. I am no Verne Lundquist. Here is Westwood's approach to the par 15 on Thursday:

 

NFL Week 10: American Food

The Browns are on a bye - so I can take a break as well from reviewing Asian food! Let's talk a short bit about the American food options that are present over here.

Fast food:
McDonalds - It's true! A Big Mac here is about the same as a Big Mac in the US. The basics are identical - Big Mac, Hamburger, Quarter Pounder, Egg McMuffin, Hash Browns....it's the peripheral items that are different. They serve a Spicy Chicken Filet sandwich here that is good. There is a lot of boiled/steamed pork on buns that I haven't had the courage to try yet. There's no milkshakes, but there is a mango juice, ice, and ice cream float....

Burger King - Whoppers are the same - they have Spicy Whoppers here. DO they have this in the US? It's the same as a Whopper with a cayenne sauce spinkled on the burger. It's very good. Onion rings are hard to find. No Chicken sandwich, however....(that's the official Hangover sandwich of F&J).

KFC - the biggest American food presence in China - No one gets a bucket of chicken here. It's all chicken sandwiches and "rice" dishes. These dishes are rice with meat gravy poured on them, served in a bowl. Completely for the local appetite.

Subway - Growing day by day here in Guangzhou! The taste of the steak sub is a little "off", and there are no meatball subs. (This makes Freddie very mad). The turkey doesn't seem to be exactly right - but it's close enough. Toppings all the same as in the US. About 97% of the customers order a 6 inch for their meal. I, of course, am one of the 3%.

Pizza Hut and Papa John's  - Not bad; pepperoni topping is really salami. Other popular toppings include corn, popcorn chicken bites, green onions, shrimp, and actual chili peppers.

Sit down restaurants
There are two in the city that can truly be called "American"-style restaurants. One is Gail's, which used to be only go-to place in town. The burgers are ok; they serve pierogis that are straight out of the freezer (but are delicious) - but the salsa is horrible for their fajitas/burritos.

A new pub opened up which is an "Irish" pub but really seems like an Irish pub that would be in suburban Cincinnati. Their burgers are HUGE - until you realize that 90% of the volume of the burger is the huge bun. But the beer is good, and the kids menu is decent - so it's our favorite place to go when we need Western food.

The best burger is by far at the Ritz Carlton hotel - but that's priced at $25 each so it's a special treat.

Next week will be an interesting review as we are heading out of town.....to a location to be named later......

On to the games:

NE 30, Buf 20. Have the Patriots fixed their problems in their secondary? We will see.

NYG 27, Cin 16. Has to be a bounce back game for the Giants, right?

TB 27, SD 17. Chargers victories have come against SD (twice), Ten and Oak (week 1).

Bal 27, Oak 24. The Ravens will win, but their offense does not seem to be in sync.

Atl 30, NO 23.  Went back and forth on this one - until I realized that NO hasn't beaten anyone good.

Min 27, Det 20.  The Lions are not good enough to be a road favorite in a divisional game.

Mia 24, Ten 10. The Titans are awful on the road - and the are playing a good defense in Miami.

Den 23, Car 17. Maybe the Panthers are better than I thought.

Sea 20, NYJ 17. Rex will have something cooked up (Tebow?) after their bye.

Dal 27, Phi 23. How many more things can go wrong for Andy Reid? And - in one of these games - things have to go right for the Cowboys. (of course, it will probably be next week.....)

SF 17, StL 10. I like Jeff Fisher after the bye.

Hou 20, Chi 16. All the focus is on the Bears and their turnover machine defense. Um - who has that been against? Carolina, Jacksonville, St Louis, Dallas (cough).....anyone good in there?

Pit 19, KC 13. With the Ravens looming next week, isn't this a classic look ahead for the Steelers?

Best bets: 18 of them. Last week: 11-4; overall: 75-58-4.

Buf +13
NYG -4
NYG/Cin under 49
TB -3
Oak +7 1/2
Atl -2 1/2
Min +2 1/2
Mia -6
Ten/Mia under 45
Den/Car under 47
NYJ +6
Dal -2 1/2
Dal/Phi over 44
StL +12 1/2
Stl/SF under 38 1/2
Hou +1 1/2
KC +11 1/2
KC/Pit under 42

Supercontest: Last week: 3-2; overall: 25-19-1.
TB -3
Atl -2 1/2
Oak +7 1/2
NYJ +6 1/2
Dal +1 1/2
 

Election 2012 - Open Thread

I have a feeling that todays election will produce some surprises. I'm just not sure which way yet! Here is a quick preview of my thoughts as I try to keep this as fact based as possible. Please feel free to call me out on the facts if I have something in error.

Fact: Obama won in 2008 by a 53-47 margin (7 points).

Opinion: I think we can all agree that the popular vote polls are about even right now. Some say Romeny +1, some say Obama +2  - can we call it even?

Fact: If we call it even, then that's a 7 point swing to the R side.

Fact: The Presidency isn't decided by the vote, it's decided by the states

Fact: Florida went for Obama by 2.8% in 2008 and Ohio for Obama by 4.6%.

Opinion: It's hard for me to understand how Obama keeps Florida. I think that state (and NC, and IN) is in Romney's column now.

Opinion: If the national swing is 6 points, then I think Ohio will swing to Romney. Barely, but it will.

Fact: Obama won Virginia by 7% four years ago.

Opinion: This will be a nail biter in VA. How much does the federal worker presence in Northern VA outweigh coal country?

Opinion: Is Pennsylvania really in place?

Fact: On 5 dimes, I can bet on Obama with -340 odds (and Romney with +280 odds).

Fact: The partisan turnout in 2008 was Democrats +8 ( I think).

Opinion: There's no way that is repeated again this year. I think it will be D +2, D +1 or so.

Fact: Many of the polls you see show a "weighting" of D+6 or higher (CNN was D+11 yesterday).

Opinion: How does that even make sense? How is Romney tied with a sample of Democrats 11 points higher?

I just hope this election is decisive one way or another.

Prediction: really? I have to pick this? I think Romney will win Ohio, eke out Virginia and that will put him within one state......and I think Wisconsin will decide it all............

I'll be here in the morning (my morning) to comment....let's have a good old fashioned open thread as the results come in......

 

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