NFL Week 9: Cambodia

Cambodia. For those of us ages 30-50, I think the word "Cambodia" brings up one image. Not the Khmer Rouge....but Sally Struthers.
I remember so many commercials in the afternoon of the 80s where Sally implored us to donate to the poor Cambodian kids, as they were holding out a empty bowl begging for food...Won't you do something?


So last December, we decided to go to the Siem Reap, Cambodia, to visit the ancient temples of Ankhor Wat....and all I could think of before I went was of those commercials. Was there abject poverty everywhere? Was I safe? What in the hell is Cambodian cuisine?

Siem Reap turned out to be a pure treat, if you stayed on the beaten path. We landed in the afternoon and quickly went downtown (which was all of about 6 blocks). There were several markets and plenty of Western restaurants - including a Swensen's Ice Cream shop. Oh yes, we visited that twice. I got my fill of Adidas golf shirts (the Tangerine one that I wore in Vegas was from there), and Warren and Martin got PSY shirts with "Gangnam style" all over it. Yes, that was the craze a year ago.


At dinner, Janice announce we are going to the templates the next day - that's fine. Oh but wait, we are not going during the "day", but supposedly it is magical when the sun rises over the temple in the morning - so we will be there at sunrise. We did the calculations.....sunrise, getting tickets, when the tour guide suggest we leave the hotel....so it was a 3:30 wake up call. With three boys! Nice!

The  next morning, we get out of the hotel and out the door, and arrive at the park around 5 am in pitch black darkness. And it was packed. We get to the location of the main temple where there is a reflecting lake in front - and we are no better than in the 3rd row of tourists. All Asian, of course, so they are all packed in with more coming behind and elbowing you.

It's unfortunate - clouds blocked the sunrise from being fully seen - but it still was impressive. As the morning became lighter and lighter, the temples became more and more massive. These temples were constructed by hand and no "adhesives" were used in the rock structure - no mortar, for instance. The rocks were custom-cut to fit perfectly on each other. Fascinating.

We went to two other temples; some had trees growing in them (with roots all over the ground in the temple); it really gave off a "Indiana Jones" vibe. I believe that the "Tomb Raider" movies were shot there. By then, it was 11:00 am, and it was already 95 degrees. We decided we'd had enough - and back to the hotel, pool , and markets for the day.

The next day we went on a riverboat ride to see the floating villages. This is where Sally's kids have been hiding all the time. It's not near the temples, but in the outlying locations. As you made your way from the docking station to the main lake where you had lunch, these kids - no more than 6  or 7 years old - would be in a tiny metal bowl rowing up to you. The bowl was no more than 3' in diameter, and the kids had no clothes on. "Dollar? One dollar?"

You immediately figured out that this is like seagulls on the East Coast - you feed one, then 59 more of them come up. So of course we gave one a dollar, which resulting in more impoverished kids rowing up to us. It was hard to say no....but then you look in the floating villages, and almost all of them had TV antennas and TV's in there "hut". So how much was real poverty, and how much was a show for the tourists?

I played golf the next day at Nick Faldo's signature golf course just outside the city; a nice course - nothing spectacular - and from the 17th hole, I looked over to my left - outside the walls of the course - and there is a basketball court; four children are playing on the dirty court, again without clothes.

So the poverty is out there. The city (country?) just does a great job of sweeping it under the rug and having it hidden from the tourists that come in. It's a good strategy. You can close your eyes to it for a good 3-4 days if you want, or you can look out just a bit and you will find it easily. It all depends on what you want to see on your vacation.

To the Browns: we've lost 13 in a row to the Ravens - which makes us seem like the Sally Struthers victims of the AFC North. (The last win was November 2007, where Dawson miss/made that crazy FG to send it into overtime....where we kicked another FG to win and essentially knock the Ravens out of the playoff chase.). We need to stand up - finally - and not be the little brother in this relationship. I have a good feeling about this one. We will be hiding our poverty (Brandon Weeden) and putting our best face forward. I expect a lot of trick plays here as we pull out all of the stops, going into the bye.

(And if we do win here, we have Cin, Pit x2, NYJ, NE, Chi, Jax left. Not exactly murderer's row. Can you say 5-2 finish???)

On to the games:

KC 19, Buf 16. It all depends on Buffalo's QB here. Who is it? I was surprised how well a good D line (like the Browns) got to Alex Smith.

Car 27, Atl 24. This is the last stand here for the Falcons - and Carolina has beaten up on pansies the last 3 weeks.

Dal 30, Min 24. Dallas plays to the level of competition.

NO 23, NYJ 20. Brother vs Brother in New York. I like the Jets' running Offense vs. the poor run D of the Saints.

Ten 23, StL 13. This seems to easy - why is Tennessee only a 3 pt favorite? St Louis gave its all last week...and lost.

Was 30, SD 27. Just another gut feeling - Washington plays well at home.

Oak 24, Phi 13. I have faith that Oakland will move the ball vs. the poor Philly D. Go Pryor!

Sea 24, TB 10. Seattle's struggling O vs. a team ready to quit on their coach.

NE 20, Pit 17. Another 4 pm Eastern classic that goes down to the wire.

Ind 27, Hou 23.  I think Case Keenum will keep the Texans in the game, at home, vs. a shaky Indy defense.

GB 31, Chi 20. How can you pick against GB after what they have showed the past several weeks?

Best bets: 13 of them. Last week: 8-6; overall: 60-57-2
Atl +7 1/2
Atl/Car over 45 1/2
Min +9 1/2
NYJ +6
Ten -3
Was -1
SD/Was over 51
Oak -1 1/2
Phi/Oak under 44 1/2
TB/Sea under 40 1/2
Pit -6
Pit/NE under 44
Ind/Hou over 44

Supercontest: Last week: 3-2; overall: 18-20-2
Atl +7 1/2
NYJ +6
Was +1
Oak -2 1/2
Pit +6 1/2