NFL Week 10: Xi'An

It's bye week! The Browns are on a bye this week, so I don't have to spend 2 paragraphs this week discussing the pros and cons of our various quarterbacks, who change as much as lead characters on "The Edge of Night". The bye week is a good time to step back and take stock of where you are with the season - is your record really indicative of how you are playing? Are you lucky to be where you are at, or are you really a 7-2 team trapped in a 4-5 record? (Don't answer that, Chargers fans.). In short, at the bye week, you ask: "Is this real?"

And that was a question we asked a few times in Xi'An last year. In September, another family and us took a weekend trip to the inland city of Xi'An, home of the Terra Cotta warriors. We left on a Friday, landing in time for dinner - and going to a Brazilian steakhouse at the hotel with the boys. After the first 30 minutes, they were in heaven - meat! more meat coming! - but then I was pissed as they asked for so much but didn't finish it all. What the F are you doing? There are ex-pats in China that would DIE for that meat! You WILL finish your plate!

Saturday was the big day - a full day tour of the town with the focus on the Terra Cotta warriors in the afternoon. The morning was spent going to a market - a clear tourist trap, with the kickbacks from the shopkeepers to our driver/ tour guide barely hidden from us. A few "ancient" China coins were bought, and we were on our way.

The next stop was a cave dwelling - in the side of a mountain, we were able to visit a hole in a cave where two families actually lived. The tour guide talked a bit how this is culturally important, and how we need to preserve this way of living for the native residents - but, again, how much of this was real, and how much was staged?

In the afternoon, we visited the Terra Cotta Warriors. What a site. A 100 acre area - at least - was roped off into a national park, with a good entrance fee. There were three structures - each about the size of a college field house (like Cole Field House, for instance) that were excavation sites. They clearly built the structure around the site. Inside, you could see about 1/2 of the site - the area that was exposed contained the re-constructed terra cotta warriors as they were guessed to have been laid in the earth some 600 years ago.

We watched a video at the beginning of the tour that gave some details on how this all came about: in 1971 or so, a farmer was innocently out farming his field, when - voila! - he found one of the Terra Cotta bodies. He dug some more - and found another, then another, and kept going! The government was then called in.....and soon after that, they started mass-digging the area as they realized what was going on.....

(and in 1972, Nixon came to China and China was opened up...Coincidence?)

So they built these strucutres/buldings - brick museums next to the field houses, pavement all over the place leading into the three houses.....and I was struck by one thought....


How do they know there isn't more underneath the concrete sidewalk? Or under the big entrance plaza?

Janice is convinced the whole thing is staged.....that this is a government ruse to "create" worldwide tourism to a depressed part of China. I'm not so sure....In any event, it is very impressive; the soldiers are massive, about 7' tall....and there are thousands of them in the area. If you fully buy into the idea, it is mindblowing.....but.....you just have this nagging feeling.....

..... We left the next day back to Guangzhou - and we were happy to leave as the pollution that day was especially bad. We did not see the sun on the whole trip to Xi'An, and this picture may be a small reason why..... So when you complain about the smog in LA, or the air quality in Cincinnati, it can always be worse. A lot worse.

....about that nagging feeling, however.....where are we with the Browns? Is this really a 7-2 team that got trapped with a bad QB for a few games, and are stuck with a 4-5 record? Or are we really a true 4-5 team, a team with no running game, inconsistent passing and pass coverage? The second half will tell.

On to the games:

Ten 27, Jax 10. So many people say this is atrap game for the Titans, as the Colts are next.....they could be right, but I can't take the Jags.

GB 30, Phi 20. The Pack have a stellar run game and a solid D, and they are at Lambeau.

Pit 23, Buf 20. I would not be surprised by any result here.

NYG 34, Oak 17. Yes, I'm swallowing the bait here. The Giants are a pass-first offense, off a bye, against a team that let up 49 last week.

Ind 23, StL 20. How many lives do the Colts have?

Sea 20, Atl 16. Boy, Seattle is struggling offensively. Is this an upset in the making?

Bal 23, Cin 20. The Ravens make magic at M&T stadium, especially in division games.

Chi 33, Det 27.  Seems like a crazy, back and forth game with a late Stafford interception.

SF 20, Car 13. I will refuse to believe in Carolina until they beat somebody. This would count.

Az 27, Hou 17. The Texans have a one-dimensional offense (pass), going against a stellar pass D.

Den 34, SD 24. Yes, yes, I know. Too easy.

NO 34, Dal 23. Same thing, but I can't see the Saints coming out flat after a loss like last week.

TB 23, Mia 16. Tampa is starting to play a bit better, and will win on the Mnday night stage.

Best bets: 14 of them. Last week: 6-7; overall: 66-64-2

Ten -12 1/2
GB +1 1/2
NYG -7
Oak/NYG over 43 1/2
StL +9
Sea/Atl under 44 1/2
Bal +1
Chi -1
Det/Chi over 52 1/2
Car/SF under 43
Az -3
Den -7
NO -6 1/2
TB +2

Supercontest picks: last week: 2-3; overall: 20-23-2

GB -1 1/2
Bal +1 1/2
Chi +2 1/2
Az -2 1/2
NO -6 1/2