NFL Week 15: Taipei

Week 15 of the NFL Season brings up to Taipei - our first real weekend getaway when we got here to China. Taiwan always seemed like an exotic destination - I remember growing up in the early 80s when all of our electronics had the tag "Made in Taiwan"...Ooh! A technically advanced island! I wondered how different Taiwan would be from the mainland.



Some quick history on Taiwan, if you don't know; Taiwan was the place where the leaders of capitalist China fled to during the Civil War after WW II. Obviously, the communists won, and the leader of the losing side - Chiang Kai Shek - landed up in Taiwan. They set up shop there, calling themselves "The Republic of China" (the old name of China before Mao) - and that still is the official name of Taiwan. Some old people that have connections to that regime still believe that the Taiwanese government will rise up and "reclaim" mainland China - as it is al rightfully the Republic of China. Some maps in China still have Taiwan and China as one country, called "Republic of China". They even had a congress with representatives from all over mainland China until the 80s.

So it was a bit of a jolt to see the passport stamped as "Republic of China". No Visa required for us Americans! We landed in the afternoon and went to our hotel; that night was January 1 and we were going to visit Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world from 2004-2010. It had an observation deck, engineering exhibits, and all sorts of souvenirs to buy.

Before that tour, we went to the food court at the basement of Taipei 101; the family had Subway but no, I wanted to be cultured and got some soup and pork. Asian food for me!

The tour of Taipei 101 was good - the kids were enthralled and everyone got a T-shirt. We were able to see for miles on the observation deck on the 90th floor. We returned back to the hotel that night, where it was 55 degrees but Freddie and Warren insisted on going into the roof-top hot tub. That was fine, until the two of them wanted to go swimming in the (unheated) pool next to the hot tub. Uh, no.

The next thing I remember was being up at 2:30....and my stomach was not feeling so well.....I tried to close my eyes....uh oh....everyone knows the feeling. This isn't going to end well.

At 3:30 my stomach was empty, and I slept a little bit more.

Everybody awoke and got dressed for the hotel buffet...well, I wasn't ready for that. I laid in bed watching the God-awful 2011 Fiesta Bowl between UConn and Oklahoma (I guess I remember that because that was Randy Edsall's last game as UConn coach before coming to Maryland).  I met them down there an hour later and had an orange and some tea. I still wasn't feeling all that well.....

....so of course it's time to trek to a museum! The one historical place we went to was the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial palace. It was a large stone courtyard with a few buildings; the main building was an impressive temple-ish building with over 100 steps; in there was one large room and plenty of guards. That room is the final resting place of Chiang Kai Shek.

The lasting memory of this trip is Martin being fascinated with all the pigeons in the square - and he kept feeding them popcorn and trying to chase them. We prayed he would never catch one so as not to catch SARS of bird flu.

The afternoon was spent at the Taipei Science Center; a Burger King was inside - and , as everyone knows, the BK Original Chicken Sandwich is the best thing for an upset stomach. (This is no lie. I had plenty of these in college the day after throwing up from drinking; there's nothing better).  The Science Center was great - and the Human Anatomy exhibition was surprisingly blunt.

The night ended in the hot tub again; we left the next day in the morning back home to Guangzhou. In all, it didn't seem that much different than Hong Kong - except you didn't have the British influence. It seemed like a larger Chinese city that spoke more English. The only reason to return would be because that's where the closest Costco is to us. Old friends of ours (who have left GZ now) used to go once a year to Taipei - at least - just for the Costco.

Some good highlights, with nausea and disease-laden birds....sounds like a metaphor for the 2013 Browns! I think I suffered some nausea last week with the loss to the Pats......I watched that in Macau, so add that game to the list of the heartbreaking Browns losses I've seen there (2010 vs Jets, 2012 vs Cowboys).

I'm over it now - this was not as bad as the loss to the 2001 Bears, where we let up 14 points in 35 seconds (giving up an onside kick as well) and lost in overtime when Timmy threw a pick 6. That team was 4-2 with our new brilliant coach at the helm (Butch!)...and that loss hurt for 5 straight days. We finished 7-9 that year, missing out on the playoffs by 2 games, and that included the bottlegate game later......

I have a lot of thoughts on the game last week - the main thing I heard a lot was "well, the Pats got screwed by the refs against the Jets and Carolina, so this evens it out". I understand that thought process....I do.....but.....when will it even out for us? We have the evil Steelers go ahead and knock Campbell out with a blow to the head - no call - and then this. I feel like I'm on the bottom of a Bernie Madoff chain. Everyone else uses us to even out there calls.
Do we get cards for bad calls to be used in the future? "This entitles bearer to one free gift call in a future NFL game". If so, I'm sure we have a pile somewhere in storage in the stadium in a closet. Haslem, send a lackey out to look for it.

Oh well. Thank GOD we were 4-8 going into the pats game and not 6-6 or something.

On to the games.....

Atl 27, Was 24. Something tells me Kirk Cousins == Scott Mitchell.

Ind 30, Hou 13. Hasn't Houston given up on the season?

Jax 24, Buf 17. I don't understand this line. Have you watched the Jags play over the last 5 weeks?

Mia 27, NE 26. I expect the Pats to make a better showing this week; this pick is purely with my heart.

Phi 28, Min 20. The Vikes have not quit at all, and should give the Eagles a fight.

Sea 23, NYG 20. Giants pass offense should move the ball against the Seattle's depleted secondary.

SF 17, TB 10. Still not a believer in the Niners offense yet.

Car 20, NYJ 13. A defensive struggle.

KC 31, Oak 20. I know, too obvious, but I think the Chiefs offense is starting to re-assert itself.

NO 26, StL 13. Yes, the Saints aren't a good road team, but this is in a dome, against a team that can't move when facing a good defense.

Ten 19, Az 16. A good Ten pass rush vs Carson Palmer on the road.

Dal 30, GB 20. Dallas will have something to prove defensively...oh look, Matt Flynn....

Cin 27, Pit 23. How many weeks will I have to say that people are still overrating the Steelers?

Det 34, Bal 20. Detroit will come to play, and pass the ball all over Baltimore, and the Baltimore O will have no answer.

Best bets: 16 of them. Last week: 9-7; overall: 102-97-5

Ind -4 1/2
Jax +2 1/2
NYG +7
SF/TB under 41
NE/Mia over 45 1/2
NYJ +10
NYJ/Car under 41
KC -5
KC/Oak over 41
NO -6
NO/StL under 47 1/2
Ten +2 1/2
Az/Ten under 42 1/2
Dal -6 1/2
Cin/Pit over 43
Det -6

Supercontest: Last week: 4-1. Overall: 36-30-4
Ind -5 1/2
Jax +2 1/2
NO -6
Ten +2 1/2
Dal -7 1/2