NFL Week 3: Australia

After the last two weeks of incredibly poor picking, and the Trent mess, it feels like it is time for a vacation from the picks and NFL analysis to get recharged. The best way to do this is to recap the best vacation we have had out here in Asia so far - our trip to Australia.

In February, we spent 4 days in Sydney and 5 days at an island near the reef. The whole trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience - kind of like trading your star RB after 18 games. The trip started off on the wrong foot, as we watched a replay of the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl in the hotel lobby as we checked in. Not knowing the score (or the whole story about the power outage), we kept hoping that Kaepernick would pull something out to win...but no dice.

Sydney was wonderful - clean, clear, friendly, beautiful. I was surprised to see that the city is fairly small in terms of size and population...it's about 4 million people in total, and the total area of the city limits seemed to be shrunk in. It reminded me of Boston (but with much, much nicer people and weather).

The best part of Sydney was a water taxi coming in from a day trip to the mountains back to the harbor. What sites! The Opera House glistened that day.

Oh - and the gambling! I meant to make this a separate post earlier - but I never got around to it. Australia has gaming - and it's great! Yes, there is one casino in Sydney. We went there one night, taught my friend how to play craps. Two impressions:
1. It was a $10 minimum; we were playing the pass line with single odds. I threw $2 on the hard 10. It was returned to me. Why? "Sir, this is a $10 minumum table!". So the minimum on the hard ways was $10, as well.......surprising to see them turn down that action.
2. At the end of the session, we made a few dollars, so I threw a couple of purple chips to them. (In Australia, purples are $5.). It also was rejected. "No tipping allowed, sir". OK then!

But the best part was the TAB machines. I'm not sure what TAB stands for, but it is an electronic kiosk that was everywhere in downtown Sydney. The kiosks are set up for sports betting....multiple sports were available from all over the world!. On this random February day, it was lunchtime - about 1:00 Australian time - which meant it was 10:00 pm Pacific time. I stepped up to the kiosk - there were late night NBA games still to tip off!

$5 wager on Sacramento getting +7.5 vs. Utah - easy money! (yes, they did win)

And then it was off to the Reef. Just amazing. The water was clear, the weather was wonderful, and I can't even try to do justice to the sea life we saw in the ocean. It was disconcerting to be sent out 18 miles away from the island to a random buoy in order to go snorkeling.....but it's something the boys and us will never forget.*

(*except for Martin. We kept him home at the day care. Hope he will forgive us!)

The recreational activities were memorable, too. 90 minutes of tubing for the boys. They had a racquetball court - and everyone had fun whakcing the ball all over the walls. Sailboating and trying to see Dad manage a catamaran.

An incredible vacation...and it's full of memories of great times when things get depressing here in China.

Kind of like now....these are the days I sit in the corner, hold me knees, and just mutter "Bernie.....Brennan.....Dixon..... Minnifield.....Matthews .....Mack......Langhorne...... Slaughter....."

I just hope our managment knows what it's doing to send us down this path.......or else I will be dreaming of Australia and the mid-80s Browns more and more.....

Now, to the picks ....I'm recharged after that recollection Down Under! Time to reclaim the mojo!

Hou 23, Bal 13.  I watched that Ravens offense vs. the Browns last week - I am not impressed.

NYG 31, Car 20. Hmmm...a desperate team with a good passing offense (Giants) meet a team where it's biggest weakness is its pass defense......

Cin 23, GB 20. I'm thinking the Bengals D will put up a good fight against the one-dimensional Packers.

Dal 27, StL 17. I don't see the Rams keeping up with the Cowboys offense in Dallas.

NE 21, TB 16. I don't think any outcome would surprise me here.

NO 30, Az 27. I am impressed with the Palmer - Fitzgerald connection.

Ten 27, SD 20. I know very little about the Chargers..but I have been impressed with the improvement of the Titans so far this season.

Was 27, Det 24.  I don't think we can trust Detroit outside until further notice...(or until Oct 13th.)

Mia 24, Atl 20. A classic stay away game. Is Miami for real? Can Atlanta play well outdoors? Will Miami's run game show up? Will Atlanta's offense be consistent against a competent defense?

NYJ 20, Buf 13. Let's be clear - the Bills had 3 points in the first half vs. the Panthers - at home - and 7 offensive points at the half vs. the Pats - at home. This is a road game. I have faith in the Jets D.

SF 30, Ind 17. The Niners will take out their anger from last week against the poor Indy line.

Sea 23, Jax 10. You always take 19 points. Always ! Especially after an emotional win by the home team the prior week.

Chi 24, Pit 23. I see a turnover fest here leading to easy points on both sides.

Den 34, Oak 17. We all know what Denver can do - I am interested to see how good or bad Oakland is.

And if these results hold, there will be a three way tie for second in the AFC North at 1-2. I have a good feeling about the game today. Just when everyone writes them off.....

Best bets: 15 of them. Last week: 6-9; overall: 12-19-1.
Hou -1
Hou/Bal under 45
NYG -2
Cin +3
GB/Cin under 49 1/2
TB/NE under 44
Az +7
Az/NO over 48 1/2
Ten -3
Was +1
NYJ  -2 1/2
SF -10
Jax +18 1/2
Sea/Jax under 40 1/2
Chi/Pit over 40 1/2

Supercontest: time to get in gear. Last week: 1-4; overall: 2-7-1. Ugh.

NYG +1
Ten -3
Cin +2 1/2
NYJ -2 1/2
Jax +19




 

The Richardson Trade: Peter Griffin or Albert Einstein?

Anything happen in the sports world this week?

Well, that was a nice wakeup call on Thursday morning...It's a 4 day holiday weekend here, I leisurely wakeup, have a coffee - and see several texts on my phone.....Did the market go up 200 points? (Well, it did...)

I'm still trying to process the trade. Yes, it was a shock. But I think we really have to forget about the short term effect here and think long term. And net, I think this is a long term positive for the Browns (but there's a big if).

Here are some of the arguments:

1. They just drafted him last year! What's wrong with the Browns' front office - getting rid of a first round draft pick from last year!

Um, this is the dumbest argument I have heard. This is like saying "We had Rumsfeld as our Defense Secretary in 2008 - and now we have a new one in 2009!" Why is that?
Because there was a little event called an election in November 2008.....

Same thing here....there was a regime change last year. New Owners, new front office - and I think they got fair value for Richardson. So the new leadership had no ties to the past.

2. How can you throw in the towel on the season on September 18th??

Did you watch the first two games? Even Eric "Pollyanna" Zahn was disappointed. After the loss to Miami, it was clear my estimate of 8-8 was a bit....um....inflated. And then we score 6 points vs. teh Ravens. We're throwing in the towel on the season when the best case was....6-10? Oh dear, how will I survive?

3. The Family Guy "Mystery Box" argument.

I saw this on Deadspin...and it's convincing! I love this episode. Required viewing before we go on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir-s3Cn52FU

We're stockpiling draft picks! We could even turn them into a all-star stud RB!

I'm 98% sure we will be drafting a QB with these first round picks next year - but we somehow we draft a RB, Banner/Lombardi should be sent on a ship to Lake Erie.

4. Your GM drafted Jamarcus Russell #1 overall one year.

OK, it's not confirmed that Lombardi pulled the final trigger on that one...but yes, he was part of the staff that drafted Russell......I can't defend that.

Arguments for the trade:

1. How long will we plod along, doing the same thing, over and over, until we finally blow it up (and mean it)?

This is where Einstein comes in. I use this quote at work a lot: "Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, and expexcting different results".

The last few regimes were trying to do the same thing - get talent on the team - somehow get the QB through free agency (Anderson, Delhomme) or a later round draft pick (McCoy, Frye, Quinn to some extent, Weeden to more of an extent) and home the talent lifts the QB up.

I think it is safe to say that has not worked in the past 8-10 years.

This strategy has given us one winning season in the past 10; one playoff season in the past 15.
In the past 10 years, our 2nd best season - OUR SECOND BEST SEASON - is 6-10. 

2. This is a passing league.

Can any of you doubt this? Running backs seem to be going out of style. It is not necessary to have a great RB on your team to be championship caliber. This was not the case 10-15 years ago; it certainly is now. Trent is not going to lift this team up to 8-9 wins - he just isn't, not in the league today. So trade him while we can get value. And I think his trade value would have decreased.

3. The QB is of utmost importance - so you have to get one.

Getting the QB is paramount to success in the league nowadays. It's clear to me (now), and was clear to Banner/Lombardi from day 1 when they took over.

They have a plan, and are going to execute it.

I am in favor of this plan now, going forward. We needed a radical change to get out of this rut. The key, of course, is getting the right QB - whcih is no guarantee.

My advise is to draft a QB at every pick we have in the first 3 rounds - so we have 4 rookies on the roster. One of them has GOT to work out, right? And there is precedence for this - look at the Redskins last year. they drafted RG III, and then drafted Kirk Cousins later (who beat us and others down the stretch). Why not draft 2 or 3 to see if one of them is the star?

So those that will "quit the Browns" now - *cough*Don*cough* - fine. This is like sticking to your driver that you constantly hit out of bounds, but are too stubborn to change...so you keep swinging "harder" and steer it more - but it just makes things worse. Get the new driver and get on with life....there will be growing pains, yes....(like a 2-14 season this year)....but the payoff down the road could be fantastic.

 

NFL Week 2 : Hong Kong

Well, that wasn’t a very good first week. Some bad beats, some complete miscalculations on teams (Patriots??) and some obvious traps that I did not avoid (Texans) foiled me last week. Time to get back to normal this week (hopefully) as we get a better sense of these teams.

When we want to get “back to normal”, the closest outlet we have for that is Hong Kong. Hong Kong is officially part of China, but it does feel like a completely different culture and society. First – and most importantly – English is an official language there (still), so you can actually understand all the signs that surround you. Almost everyone speaks English as well. This is an incredbible rellef after being in China for months at a time dealing with simple miscommunications.
 

The city is far, far more diverse than Guangzhou. There is a heavy Australian population there, as well as a big European influence – not to mention the British. Any sort of food is readily available….just last weekend we were there and we had BLT for dinner! Yes, the real hamburger restaurant! I had the tex-Mex burger with the Vanilla shake. Exquisite.

(There’s also a breakfast “diner” down the road from our regular hotel that serves pancakes, omelettes, and French toast like any American diner. We’ve been there many a time).

It’s not home, but it’s the closest you can get while over here. As I have said many times before, you can “breathe” there. The people are friendlier, and don’t seem to crowd you as much as in Guangzhou. The city is clean and organized –helpful for taxis and for reading maps. The tourist sites are understandable – like Stanley, an English outpost on the back end of the main island that has a San Diego-feel to it.

The reason why we went there last week was for a group boat trip; someone organized a group of 60 of us to rent 2 yachts and cruise around the island for a day. Pure heaven to get away – except for the part where the group of 8- to 12-year old kids found that if you put ice on the upper deck, you can slide around like a curling stone on ice…..fun, until someone’s legs (mine) got in the way of one of those stones…..

Hong Kong is a great place to get away for a few days – you really can’t spend more than 3 days there – every six months to get your fill of regular, normal, Western life. Let’s get that normalcy back here in week 2 with the picks…time for a winning record! I did get a wager in on the Jets for the Thursday game, so I do feel a bit better.

I hate to say it, but I see a “normal” beatdown of the Browns this weekend. What are we on now, 8 losses in a row to the Ravens? I really can’t see anything different here, with an angry Ravens team and our surprisiningly inept offense. Oh sure, we will give hope – like we always to – we will be down 3 late in the 3^rd, driving, and then something will happen – a Trent fumble, or (more likely) a tipped pass interception. It won’t be Ed Reed running it back 105 yards for a TD – who’s the safety now for the Ravens? That’s the guy to score a defensive TD against us.

On to the games:

Car 23, Buf 17. The Panthers have the run game to attack Buffalo’s D. I was not impressed with Buffalo’s offense last week.

Ind 30, Mia 23. I think we were the main cause of Miami’s victory last week – it wasn’t much of what the Dolphins did. And I think Luck’s home magic will pull them through again.

Hou 24, Ten 13. I know they played Monday – but Houston has something to prove after that ugly game. And let’s not crown the Titans yet.

KC 28, Dal 24. No real clue what to expect here – Dallas usually doesn’t do well on the road – but how good is KC, really?

GB 31, Was 21. The Packers are desperate here – and Washington can be exposed against the pass.

Phi 31, SD 20. The Eagles seem to sure be the easy pick here, right? This seems too easy – SD, a West Coast team, losing a heartbreaker and heading east….yes, I may fall for it.

Chi 24, Min 16. I will be one of the last doubters of the Bears – now watch them go 6-0 to start the season.

TB 24, NO 23. This seems like a game where everyone will be on the side of the Saints – and they are in the Supercontest – but it’s a game they can easily lose to a suddenly desperate Buccaneers team.

Atl 24, StL 13. Speaking of desperate – the Falcons will lay the wood on the Rams here. I was not impressed watching the Rams last week….tough to say if the Cards D is good, but I think Atl’s D is better.

NYG 30, Den 27. Way overvaluing the Broncos and totally disrespecting the Giants (and Coughlin). The Giants turned the ball over 7 times – and almost won! – last week!

Az 27, Det 24. I have no idea – can we really trust the Lions on the road just yet?

Oak 17, Jax 13. Not sure if Oakland can move the ball consistently – we don’t know how good or bad the Colts D is just yet – and the Jags will have problems on O. So watch this game be a classic 38-35 shootout.

Sea 27, SF 20. I think people are consistently underrating the home field advantage the Seahawks have. They absolutely have to have this game if they want to reach the Super Bowl. That is not an exaggeration.

Cin 21, Pit 20. Desperation with the Steelers plus the “great” coaching of Marvin Lewis equals a game that will be a lot closer than people think. Big Ben doesn’t lose in Cincinnati, and he’s used to having his line collapse.

Best bets: 15 this week. Last week: 6-10-1.

Car -3

Ind -2 1/2

Mia/Ind over 43

Hou -8

Ten/Houo under 43

Dal/KC over 46

Phi -7 1/2

TB +3

Atl -5 1/2

StL/Atl under 46 1/2

Az +2

NYG +4 1/2

Jax/Oak under 39 1/2

Sea -3

Pit +7

Supercontest picks: Last week: 1-3-1

Car -3

Ind -2 1/2

Atl -6 1/2

NYG +4 1/2

Pit +7

Jeesh, I don't like the number of favorites I have this week......

NFL Week 1: Kota Kinabalu

Welcome to another annual edition of Eric’s themed NFL picks! This year’s theme is Asia vacation spots. After being here for 3+ years, we’ve racked up a few vacations around Asia – both very good and so-so. You know the deal – we will relate this week’s NFL theme to one of our vacations over here on this side of the world; then give one-sentence predictions on each game – and then ending with the world-famous best bets.

For the first week, I bring you Kota Kinabalu. This is a city in Malaysia – the  largest city on the east island of the country (Borneo). This was our first vacation outside of China when we landed here. We moved here August, 2010, and one week later our friends asked us “So – where are you going for the October vacation? You need to book now!” That was a shock – we haven’t even moved into our real apartment yet, and we were forced to make plans for a trip 6 weeks from now?

Our friends told us to go to the Shangri La at Kota Kinabalu – it’s easy and a good first trip. We had no idea what to expect for this trip. We picked a room on line – 31 sq m sounded big. There was a bus to take us from the airport to the hotel; and from there, it was a beach and a pool. What would the language barriers be? Safety? Food?

The trip was a good introduction to life and trips in Asia. Immigration was a bit rough – we quickly found out that we should fill out all paperwork ahead of time, instead of doing it on line. The “bus” to the hotel was a 50-passenger bus that was half full and had a bunch of Europeans that were not friendly at all; the “city” of Kota Kinabalu is stretching it. Saying that’s the largest Malaysian cityin Borneo is like saying ND St. is the best college football team - in MT, WY, ND and SD combined. And hotel rooms in Asia are not built for 5 people – 31 sq m is waaaaaayyyyy too small for 3 kids. Lesson learned.

But we quickly learned many things as well. It’s ok to take a vacation where you go off the property for only 1/2 day. Floating villages do exist. People in Southeast Asia are very friendly, generally. All sorts of food options were available. Their idea of a “beach” was not exactly the beaches I had in mind from Ocean City, Rehoboth or Fort Walton Beach. Asians don’t necessarily use their beach for swimming. And the boys got to feed orangutangs.

In all, it was a great introduction to Asia vacations – it wasn’t the most cultural (in fact, it was certainly the least cultural, with the exception of Warren being a prince in the nightly parade). But It gave us a clue on what to expect when planning trips for the future.

And that’s what week 1 is here for the NFL. We’re not sure what to expect – we have an idea on how these teams look from past years – but of course, 2013 will be different, as every year is. This week, like Kota Kinabalu, will give us a sneak peak at the changes for 2013 in each team. For instance, I would relate Norv Turner to the GM of a Shangri La- and Pat Shurmur is the night janitor at the Macau Grand Waldo.

Can we please change it up this year? Can we actaully win in week 1? The line is moving - the Browns are a popular pick! They are one of the top 5 picks in the supercontest, and the line has moved 2 points in 3 days. I think that scares me even more about this game.

(And – can we expect the Ravens’ D to give up 7 TD passes every week? I’ll take 6 TD’s next week….)

On to the games:

NE 24, Buf 9. I know EJ Manuel is the starter in place of Tuel. I just have to believe Belichick will design something for the rookie QB with only one good receiver.

Car 20, Sea 17. Carolina has the LB’s to neutralize Marshawn – and I’m not sure I trust Wilson yet on the road, outdoors, in a 1 pm Eastern game with no Percy Harvin.

Cin 23, Chi 19. Are we sure we know how good Chicago is? It takes a while to learn Trestman’s offense.

Det 31, Min 24. Should be a lot of points, as Detroit can’t stop the run (Peterson) and Minnesota’s Pass D is very shaky (for Megatron)

Ind 28, Oak 17. Oak may be able to move the ball here against the weak Ind run D.

KC 19, Jax 17. I’d be very scared of this game if I were a Chiefs fan. What exactly do you have in Alex Smith and Andy Reid?

Atl 34, NO 31. From personal experience, you don’t get that much of a defensive upgrade when you hire Rob Ryan.

TB 19, NYJ 10. If the Jets go down 7 in this game, how do they move the ball?

Pit 23, Ten 20. I’m sorry, I may be biased(um – you are. Period. –ed) but I think the Steelers are ready for a decline. Can the revamped Ten O open up holes for Chirs Johnson? I say yes.

StL 19, Az 10. Regardless of what my idol Bernie Kosar says, I like Jeff Fisher and the foundation is in place in St Louis. I think that means a easy win vs. Carson Palmer.

GB 24, SF 23. The Packers had all off season to solve Kaepernick – and I believe they will design the D to force Kapernick to throw the ball – and who will he throw it to? This is a statement game, just like week 1 last year when the Niners went into Lambeau and won.

Dal 31, NYG 27. Is every NFC East game going to be within 3-7 points?

Was 24, Phi 20. This is a game I will just watch to see how Chip Kelly’s offense will perform in the NFL – and if Vick can actually run it.

Hou 27, SD 17. I know this is a trap , but I just can’t see how the SD Offensvie line stops Houston’s pass rush.

Best bets: 17 of them.

NE -9 1/2

NE/Buf under 51

Car +3

Sea/Car under 45

Cin +3

Min/Det over 46 1/2

Atl +3

Atl/NO over 55 1/2

TB -3 1/2

TB/NYJ under 39 1/2

Ten +6 1/2

StL -4 1/2

Az/Stl under 41 1/2

GB +4 1/2

NYG/Dal over 50
Phi/Was under 52

Hou -4

Supercontest picks:

Cin +3

Ten +7

GB +4 1/2

StL -4 1/2

Hou -4

NFL Nostaglia

It seems every year we spend the NFL opening kickoff weekend in Hong Kong. This allows me to have free access to YouTube - and to get pumped up by watching old NFL broadcast openings !

While we wait for the week 1 picks to come up - later today China time - spend some time down memory lane by watching these NFL telecast openings on CBS. Which theme song reigns supreme ?
Stay to the end of each for some fun surprises! In the first, you will see our friend Verne 25 years younger ( and 60 pounds lighter); in the second, someone needs to get Hank Stram some AquaNet immediately !


http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cE5Sn-DWXhE&feature=related

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JXIaXleffC0&feature=related

Supercontest Notes

It's just about here - the NFL season! We will continue the weekly posts here on the blog, linking the NFL picks each week to a random subject....last year, it was Asian meals; the year before, it was a review of casinos that I have been at. Any ideas for the topic for this year's picks are welcome!

To recap:
Last year: record: 142-124-9 (53.4%)
Overall record: 875-794-51 (52.4%)

We will be in the Supercontest again this year! Our 3rd year of running with the bulls and seeing where we stack up with the best handicappers in the world. I've compiled some interesting stats from our picks over the past 2 years - and they are eye openers. Maybe I should have these tattoeed inside my eyelids so I get this information ingrained.

Record for the 2 years of the Super Contest:
Overall: 81-83-6.

Picking Away Favorites:  14-7-3  (!)
Picking Away Dogs: 25-27-1

Picking Home Favorites: 25-38-2 (!!!)
Picking Home Dogs:  17-10


Most picked teams in the last 2 years:
11 times: New York Jets: 4-5-2 in those games
10 times: Tampa Bay: 4-6
9 times: Dallas: 4-4-1

Least picked teams (outside of the Browns):
2 times: Oakland: 0-2
3 times: Green Bay: 2-1
3 times: New York Giants: 1-2
3 times: San Fran: 3-0
3 times: Washington: 1-2

Now, for opponents: Who did we pick against?

Most times picking against a team:
9 times picked against Oakland: 5-4
8 times picked against Chicago: 4-4
8 times picked agaisnt Houston: 5-3
8 times picked against San Diego: 5-3
8 times picked against Tennessee: 2-5-1 (!)

Least times picking against a team:
2 times picked against Atlanta: 0-2
2 times picked against Denver: 0-2
2 times picked against KC: 2-0

Random notes:
We are 4-0 when picking with the Bears
We are 5-1 when picking with the Patriots, and 3-0-1 picking against the Pats!


I'm still shocked we picked Rex Ryan's team 11 times in 2 years.










 

What I am known for in Guangzhou

So this one hurt a bit. All the families arrived back in Guangzhou this weekend - I went to the clubhouse to take Martin swimming. Freddie was in the lobby with 8 or 9 of his middle school friends.

One of them, Sean, is an 8th grade (good athlete - his dad works at Nike!) and was on Freddie's local basketball team last year. I was the assistant coach.

Sean said hi to me. "Hi Freddie's Dad!"

Hi, Sean. How was your summer?

"Good. Hey - are you going to coach basketball again this year?"

You mean in the league that starts in January? Uh, I don't know. Probably.....

"Oh good! I love it when you coach and yell at the Chinese officials all the time!"

Oh - that's why you want me to coach? For your entertainment?

"It's great! You yell and they have no idea what you are saying!"

Maybe I should tone it down a bit in 2014.....

 

Twitter up and running

Yes, I know I am about 3 years late on this bandwagon - but I set up a twitter account last week. It is @Ericez74. I'll still have the blog for longer posts - like the one above - but it's much easier to post on Twitter when I am around on my mobile. Come follow me! (that's pretty shameless -ed. )

 

Eric as Kevin McHale

For the past couple of years, I have been playing basketball many Tuesday nights at the American school. The peope that play on Tuesdays are about 75% ex-pats and 25% Chinese. There are some (not many) Americans; Russians (hoo boy, that's fun), Filipinos, Africans, and Hong Kong-ese. The basketball there is fairly recognizable to any American....

However, I'm about to enter another adventure. The different functions at work (engineering, IT, line businesses, etc) have started a basketball round robin tournament. The engineering group have asked me to play on their team. These guys are all in their mid- to late-20s, and - well, they are fairly small. About 5 people have come up to me - seperately - and have said "oh great, we need a center. You can play center, right?" Um, I'm barely 6 feet and 41 years old, trying to run with 27 year olds.  A center? Sure - you realize I can't move well, right?

We had the first practice tonight in a university gym - with no air conditioning. Holy crap, it was hot. Some random notes:

- It's the first pick up game - ever - where everyone on the team says "ok, we are slow, so we are not going to play man-to-man." Zone? Really? In a pick up game? I haven't played a zone defense since 1989.
- We were shooting around to begin with; I hit a jumper. I stayed in my spot, expecting the rebounder to pass me the ball back.....uh, no. None of that courtesy.
- There is no "checking" when playing a half court pick up game. You get the ball at the top of the key, and go..... no chekcing to see if the opponent is ready.
- Rules will be obeyed! A team voluntarily called a half-court violation on themselves. They  actually inbound the ball when it goes out on the sidelines (vs. just checking at the top).
- Not a lot of jumpers are taken. The offense is either drive into the lane and get fouled (a la LeBron) or pass to try to get someone a layup. Many are reluctant to take the 10, 12 footer. I hit one near the start - that elicited a lot of ooohs and aaaaahs.
- Terminology: someone passed to me when I was open, but I wasn't looking.....I apologized; he said that I was "empty" and that's why he passed it. Empty? Oh, you mean I was open..... I guess it could mean the same thing.....unless I was insulted and don't know it.


Our first game is Sunday morning - and I've been told (by another American) that we are playing in a school gym that resembles the Thunderdome. I'll try to take more pictures.

Back (in China) for More

Hello all - back from our 4 month hiatus from blogging and back from our 5 week summer trip home to the US. Things got crazy in the spring with work and too many kids activities - no time for blogging.

As most of you know, we've got good news to share - Janice got promoted to a new role in late May. It is in Guangzhou as well.....so that means, of course, that we will be here for another 2 years, as the clock resets. So - 2 more years of fighting the VPN for blogging, 2 am Mondays in the fall and pretty cool vacations.

Thanks to all for a great summer - lot of memories and activities packed into the 5 weeks. Some random thoughts:

- I think kids need to be 4, 4 1/2 years old to be self-sufficient on long flights. Martin was not too bad on this trip - except where he spilled his Sprite on himself in the first 45 minutes of the 12 hour trip.....didn't expect to use the one change of clothes that early on.
- Thanks to Don for hosting the annual get together at his house.....it's always nice to have that to look forward to when the year becomes long in April, May.
- Golf over the summer is getting worse year after year; the Vineyard was an embarassment (especially round 2). But got to see our friend Paul win the event.
- A gambling bonanza from July 2-9, with a trip to Vegas to see Layup and his family, and then bonus days with Wiz coming into town for golf and gambling for 2 days. I introduced Layup to baccarat and Janice to Salon drinks.....saw the Hoover Dam in 120 degree heat....and, of course, had a horrible bad beat to a parlay where we needed an under 8.5 to come through to win, and the score going into the 9th was 3-0......
- I need to spend more time with Steve and Kermit somehow...... my 39 on the front nine at Champions where I hit 0 fairways and 1 green was the highlight of my golfing summer....

- Freddie and Warren are old enough now to play golf on a "real" par-3 course; my Dad and I went out with them during the last week. No, the picture is not from a real-life "storm chasers" - it's an impending storm coming while we were on #4 at the Bruin.
- It's good to be able to start clubbing your son; hole #5 is a 85 yard par 3 over water - it's no longer an automatic driver for Freddie. He hit a 7 iron over the green.

- Weight loss: I didn't blog about this, but in the spring (post-Vegas), I made a concerted effort to lose weight. I got serious about exercising and my diet. It's surprising to really see how much a difference my diet makes - if I just eat smart, I lose 1-2 pounds a week with regular light exercise. I lost a total of about 15 pounds from March - June; I only gained 5 back over the summer. Now, back in my routine, time to get back to the diet and lose some more.

It's hard to find 30, 45 minutes straight to write/post topics; I am thinking about getting a Twitter account to post quick thoughts about random topics, pictures, etc. I'll still try to post on the blog once a week - and the football picks will be coming too!
 

Our secret weapon - Fast Food

If China gets too far ahead of us in the race for world domination, never fear....we are unleashing our secret weapon....American fast food, and the huge amount of meat on each on the sandwiches.

Here are actual advertisments seen by the McDonalds and Burger King near work in the past few weeks. First, the McDonald's new offering, which looks like something that would be on my plate during a 4th of July celebration:



And then the BK offering - the Quad!

How does this actually work?

The video below is from a typical intersection in Guangzhou. Traffic is coming from my left - and then also from my right, meeting at a right angle at the intersection.

To start - you see the traffic coming from the left. However - look at the traffic light above the yellow bus. It's green - and that's for the traffic from the right. As I pan the camera, you can see the traffic from the right moving - and you can see the light green as well for the traffic coming from the left.

The one thing to know is that the traffic from the right can not go straight; it's a one-way street coming at the intersection.

So we have green lights all over the place, cars heading straight and turning right into the same lanes - and it all somehow seems to work. Fascinating if it's not so scary.

Hometown boy at the Masters

By now, I'm sure many of you have heard about the 14 year old phenom from China that will be playing in the Masters this week. His name is Tianlang Guan. Gene Wojcechowski came to China in March to meet the kid. Here's the link to the story - it is a must read.

The kid is from Guangzhou! How about that! The picture of the airport check in is from the Guangzhou airport, and it is the exact same checkin booth that we use all the time (because we are "Sky Priority" for Delta, which is a China Southern partner). I left for Vegas on Tue, March 12; it looks like he left for the US on Wed, March 13.

Some comments about Gene's article:

- His description of Chinese Vodka (called "Bai ju", or literally, White Alcohol) as jet fuel is spot on.
- Do the Chinese lift their shirts and scratch their bellies in public? Is Tiger the favorite this week?
- The article talks about Tianlang going to the Zhixin high school, the best public high school in Guangzhou. I asked my driver about the school.
"Oh yes, good school"
Can anyone go there?
"Uh....no. only government and businessmen go there"
You mean their kids?
"Yes. Only government families and rich businessmen families can go there. You have to pay to get in....100,000 RMB" (about $15,000)

So, I wonder how "public" was translated....


 

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to all of you out there. I did my religious deed for the year today. Our good friends here in the ex-pat complex are Americans that are Jewish and are celebrating Passover. The oldest son stayed overnight last night with Freddie, and they were up this morning at 7:30 to watch the Ohio St- Wichita St game.

That's when we had the Easter baskets all out for the boys; I decided that my outreach would be to take some of the extra candy, put it in a basket, and send it home with Freddie's friend. Hey - who can say no to Jesus when there is a Reese's Peanut Butter Egg involved? Boy, that better be an entree in Heaven......

2012 Vegas Diary, part 3

Saturday, March 16

Saturday was the day that was set up to be a pure gambling day. There were no excurisions, no golfing - just an appointment to be on the floor for the day. A nice break from the logistics of the comings/goings of the past 3 days.

I finally got out of bed around 11 and headed to the floor - there was a debate, I guess, on whether to wake me up for a parlay pick; the consensus was "to let him get some sleep". I appreciated that gesture, even though it wasn't nearly enough to get me back on track.

One of the first things we saw that morning/early afternoon was the great white whale of gambling.....an open $5 craps table on a weekend! I've never seen that before - not even at the Monte! Well, we couldn't say no to that!  My rolling sucked, again, and we got sand kicked in our face - again. $5 craps is a trap. A pit. A pure money vaccum.

We all ended up at a Pai Gow table for most of the afternoon - all 6 of us filling the table, as we watched Maryland come up short vs. Carolina and one of us running to the book to place bets as games were tipping off/went to half. After that long session, we went back to the craps table, where we did a little 3 vs 3 formation to try to change our luck - 3 on one end, 3 on the other. The formation change did not work until an African American - and his posse - came to the table; I think his name was "C.C.". This C.C. character rolled for about 20 minutes and saved most of the crew from horrendous losses; that roll helped me to at least get to a manageable loss. One of the guys in his posse was straight from Kid N Play from 1991 - with the high flat top hair cut.

The group split up a bit after that; Leland had a friend in town and at this point, he disappeared to the pool at the Mirage and then to a club at the Cosmo. Wiz mentioned that he - nor any of us - should not expect to see him the rest of the night. Ok, then...everyone has his priorites.....

....and one of mine at the moment was trying to play UTH while wathcing the Southland conference championship. The 5 of us sat down at the UTH table just as the Moutain West game ended on CBS; the TV was showing local news. Well, this can't stand. We asked the pit boss to come over - I asked him to change it to ESPN2.

He immediately said, "No, the Louisville-Syracuse game is on ESPN".

I didn't miss a beat. "No, I want to watch Stephen F. Austin."

He looked at me for 2 seconds, signed, and rolled his eyes. It was a proud moment in my life as a degenerate. My degeneration level went up a few more notches as we were playing when Leland texted me multiple times to "get on out here immediately".  I didn't know where he was immediately - then I found out he was at Bare. I declined to go out, as I was comfortable playing UTH, drinking Tom Collins's and watching Northwestern St-SFA. Again, each has their priorities.

After a good UTH run - and Wiz making money by banking Layup's trips bet - it was time for dinner.....or so we thought. Don, Mike and I were hungry; Layup and Wiz wanted to eat somewhere else. They took off on their field trip as Don and Mike treated for dinner at Stack.

It was a Saturday evening at the Mirage - so I decided to change into something a bit more formal for the evening; I took off my Adidas tangerine sport shirt and changed into my Adidas tangering golf shirt. Hey, I have class - the night called for a collar.

The five of us met again at the same UTH table for  part 2. We were about 45 minutes into the session when Layup - on the other side of the table - tried to ask me a question. He asked me 5 times before I finally understood.

"Is that Herman Cain over there?"

I look behind us - and at the other UTH table, separated by the pit, is a African American guy, balding, late 50s, sweater vest and Oxford shirt....and yes, is a dead ringer for Herman Cain. We all start asking ourselves the question and start to stare at him.

We asked the dealer - who was no help, as she couldn't turn around - so we asked the pit boss. She was a dead ringer for Edie McClurg (and now I have the Small Wonder theme song in my head. Thanks. -ed. ) , and in her Minnesota accent, she said she would make a few phone calls.

After a while, she confirmed it - it was Herman Cain, live and in person. She said the dealer asked for a card - but he refused to provide a players' card or sign up for one. But "her best friend" up in security confirmed it was him.........

(Note - I found this link when poking around on Herman Cain; I now am 99.999% sure it was him.)

It was getting late in the evening, so it was time for one last session in the salon. Mike went up to bed - I said goodbye to him as I headed over. Wiz and Layup were at a table, but for once, they were not alone - there was another guy at the table on third base.

I jumped in, starting with the second shoe; Wiz and Layup were losing steadily as I was valiantly trying to hold my own- but to no avail, as my pile dwindled away. The shoe mercifully ended, and it was time for a new one. Wiz cut ( I think) and off we went.

The first 4-5 hands were very good, as we all won, or at least won all but one. At that moment, the third baseman spoke up.....no, no, please don't say it. Please don't.

"Well, this shoe's looking great! It's much better than the last two!"

Oh dear. In an instance, Wiz raised his hands and dropped the F bomb. "What the fuck are you doing??" he shouted, not looking at him. "Why did you say that??"

I think you all know what happened next. I managed to survive - I broke even on the shoe.......but Wiz and Layup got destroyed. That was their last shoe; they picked up and left.  I wasn't in the mood to leave just yet - it was about 12 midnight and I was still fresh! - so I stayed with the third baseman. We played another shoe - again, it was choppy.

I was debating whether to leave or not when I got a tap on the shoulder. Don! Don, what are you doing here?

"I was thinking about trying my luck here...."

Sure, join the fun! The three of us played one shoe - it was an ok shoe; I made a bit and so did Don, making the decision easy on whether to play another shoe. The third baseman picked up and went to another table. The cut card came to Don; he decisively cut it.

Well, it was a historic cut. The table turned, for the positive. We were winning 2, 3 hands in a row; a loss and then another 3 winners. It was hot.....

I had 1 1/2 units in play when I got dealt 7-7 vs a 2. OK, a split. Next card  - a 3, for 10. Gulp. OK, double...card dealt face down. On the second 7....a 7.......another gulp as we split again......a 10 was dealt on the 2nd 7, and then a final 4.....Oh dear, let's double again.

So I have 7-4-X, 7-10, 7-3-X.  Dealer - well, I think he had a 10, and then pulled another 10.  Oh my!

At the end of that shoe, I was a bit delirious and pleasantly stunned when Don turns to me: "Well, the table is not getting any hotter, so I think I'll color up".

Oh yes, that would be the prudent play, correct? Good idea. I colored up and received one chip back in a new color. That's a first! Honestly, I probably would have played one more shoe if Don did not mention anything. I think I owe him at least a greens' fee this summer for the suggestion.

He was done, and headed upstrairs; I was far from it. Now alone on the floor, I was determined to conquer craps. I went to an empty $15 table and started shooting. I was there a while meeting all sorts of characters - a group of guys at the other end of the table who kept calling me "tangerine"; a 22 year old girl from Minnesota who was celebrating her birthday - I put $15 on the pass line for her and ordered her to shoot; she made 2 points and walked away with $60 profit. The majority of the session was spent with a drunk Navy guy from New Jersey as we slowly lost our bankroll.

About midway through the session a voice whispered in my ear.....

"A 5 is coming here...bet the 5 hopping". Out of nowhere, it's Leland! Where have you been?

"At the Cosmo....I'm so wasted". He stayed for another 10 minutes, calling rolls about 20 seconds after the roll finished....

Craps burned me again, so I went back to a blackjack table where I sat down alone at a table; it was going poorly when 3 young 2-somethings joined me; only one was playing; the guy playing was taking orders from his girlfriend (who knew how to play).

I cut the shoe; as a result, I lost about $100 but the group doubled their money. They insisted I cut again; again, I lost money but they won at least $300-400 more.

I was ready to go, but there was no way they would let me leave. Cut again! You're doing great!
What's the proper etiquette here? I was ready to sleep, but I was the ATM for them! Do I have to take one for the team?

I finally got back to even on the last shoe as they made another $300 or so...and I called it a night.

Sunday, March 17

Woke up around 9:30 or so, and the horrible task of packing began. It took me an hour to shower and pack - due to all of the target bags strewn around the room. Finally done, I headed downstairs for breakfast where Wiz talked me into one last Salon run.

Nothing notable was happening - I was bobbing up and down - until Wiz had to leave; it coincidentally was the end of the shoe and Wiz decided to color up.

The dealers challenged him - "cmon....let it ride for one hand....."

Now, if this was in the middle of a shoe, there's no way Wiz would have done it. But, as luck would have it, there was the "TV timeout" as the dealer shuffled, and as the shuffle went out, Wiz started to shift.......

"OK, I'll do it!"

I quickly texted Layup to get in the salon immediately. I did not want to screw up anything, so I asked Wiz if I should play this first hand . "Yes, you're with me here....." ok.

The cards came out; I got dealt 11, Wiz 18 - the dealer had a 4. I asked permission to double. "Hell yes!". The dealer turned over a 2, then a 10, then a 7. Winner.

On that note, the gambling ended for the trip. Layup and I drove to LA, listening to an incoherent John Thompson analyze the brackets on the radio. We had a great dinner in the airport.

I took two sleeping pills before the 15 hour flight home. I was so tired once I got in my seat; I managed to stay awake for dinner, and that was it. I swear I was hallucinating right after dinner, seeing the lights in the plane float around the cabin.

I slept 7 hours straight, gotup to go to the bathroom, then slept another 5 hours - then it was breakfast. 12 hours of sleep in a coach seat on China Southern. That, in itself, is something to blog about.


 

2013 Vegas Diary - Part 2

Thursday, March 14

The last time I checked the clock, it was 2:00, and I drift off…..

I wake up….seems dark outside….. it’s 2:30. Crap.

2:30 turns into 3:00, which turns into 3:30. No dice. I am wide awake. I surf the net and get aggravated with the horrid wireless connection, and at 4:00 sharp I send out the golf side pool update. I actually do some work before I give in around 5 and head back to bed.
 

At 8, the alarm goes up, and a rush of adrenalin goes through me- it’s Southern Highlands day! This has become a mainstay tradition for the trip – a golf round that I think about at least 10 weeks in advance.
 

I actually played well on this round, even though the score did not show it; I limited my losses to Wiz (and was finally man enough to swallow my pride and take strokes from Wiz). And – finally – I played the 18^th without picking up in the middle of the hole.
 

I broke out my Rickie Fowler gear to the group; I’m starting to love the Puma shirts that he wears – which should come as no surprise to this group. The problem is, I was unsure of what shorts go with the paint splatter on the shirt; I chose a dark tan, conservative color and got roundly booed. Yes, I could have worn white shorts – or maybe I just go the whole hog and buy white pants. Maybe next year.

 

(Layup insisted that I wear khakis to match the shirt; he has a point. I pulled out some khaki cargo pants to wear later on in the week for a day lounging in the casino; he pointed to them and said: “See? You should have worn those golfing with that ugly shirt!”

Cargo shorts at Southern Highlands. I will stop listening to Layup for fashion advice now.
 

Anyway, the gambling day started off good with the sports bets while I was on the course. In the 1^nd round of the A-10, I had Charlotte +4.5 vs. Richmond. The score was stuck on 63-60, Richmond, with 0:10 left on the clock…..and our phones did not update for a good 10 minutes. What the hell was going on?

Then we get the cryptic, crazy play-by-play updates from the phone:

0:06: Charlotte FT good

0:06: Charlotte FT good

0:06: Charlotte FT good

0:06: Charlotte FT good

0:06: Charlotte FT good

Next thing I know, Charlotte is up 2. They end up winning – somehow – by 5, in a game that was talked about all night on ESPN. Here’s the game recap.

It was a good morning in the book; we came back to the casino where I rested a bit; Layup and Wiz went to a massage, Leland went God knows where, and Don/Mike napped. I spent most of the late afternoon in the book, seeing the results come in (and they were favorable today!) as well as finding games to wager on, including 2^nd half wagers. Everything seemed so clear that day….why is Tulsa an underdog at home? Why is New Mexico St only a 5 point favorite? Western Mich is only up 2 at half over Eastern – and the 2^nd half line was only 3? I’ll jump on the Broncos….

And most – not all – started hitting. I did miss on some very easy money on the Clemson/Florida St game; I did have Fla St on the game; Clemson led by 5 at half and the 2^nd half line was Fla St -4 ( I think). That was a gimme. That was the Mirage saying “come to the book and pick up your free money”. Wiz got in on it, I missed it, and Florida St ended up winning by 5.

Finally met up with the group at the UTH table; 4 of us were hungry and the other two (I’ll let you guess) went to the Salon. We went to Japonais where I got up at least two (probably three or four) times to head to the book for late action; scores were coming in and they were very profitable; I didn’t want to waste this hot streak, so I plowed the profits into later investments. Washington/Oregon over. Hawaii 2^nd half. UT-Arlington. All came through. My entry for our group parlays were winners, but the best we did on the 2 that day were 4-2.

In short, I was up 16 units in the book, which was a record day for me. It was one of those days where everything you saw made sense; you didn’t waste bets on random games (like I tend to do), and things were clear – very much like a golfer in the zone.

The night was spent at craps – again – where Leland had the field rolls going and then a long UTH session; it was good to sit down after running about 2 miles in the casino that day back and forth from the book. I headed upstairs at 2 as another golf round awaited in the morning.

Friday, March 15

More jet lag and trouble sleeping; I finally fell asleep at 3 and woke up around 7:30. And I hurt. The lack of sleep over the past 2-3 days started to really catch up, as any adrenalin from the trip is now gone.　I was physically sore and mentally grumpy; but the show must go on.

The first order of business was to place the day’s parlays for the group. In the next hour, we got picks from 5 of the 6 in the group; I was waiting on Wiz. I’m standing in the sportsbook waiting to place the bet whenever Wiz’s text comes in.

I call him – no answer. Text – no answer.

Leland tries – no answer.

Now, apparently, Wiz may have been working, but there was plenty of advanced notice for this pick. Finally, after about 10 minutes of waiting – Wiz’s pick comes in; it’s the same as someone else.

We go through another round of calls – no answer; emails – no answer; texts – no response. Another 10 minutes goes by as I am waiting in the book.

Wiz finally responds to texts, picks another game that’s already taken, and then his third choice is acceptable. So that’s 25 minutes or so of valuable time in the morning wasted waiting for Wiz’s pick.

Needless to say, I’m not in the greatest mood as I head to the valet station to get in the car. As soon as I see him, I start loudly complaining at him as he lights into me. We verbally go at it, artificially creating a scene in front of the Mirage for a good 2 minutes – half in jest, but half giving him crap for his stunts.

We get to the course – Spanish Trail – and check in at the clubhouse. We were there as guests of a Shufflemaster executive, register at the pro shop and expect to pay the greens fees.

“Yes, guys, you will be teeing off in 30 minutes. The rate is $59”.

There’s dead silence for all of us for a good 15 seconds.

“Did you want me to double that rate for you?”

We were all stunned at the low cost for the round. Yesterday’s round at Southern Highlands was $400 – and everyone agrees it was worth every penny. Now here we are at a private club paying one-sixth that.

The golf was horrible; I was in no shape to stabilize my body on the lack of sleep; the whole round was spent sliding all over the place during the swing. I did birdie 18 after hitting driver off the deck on the tee box – it was the only way I knew where the ball was going.

The drama, however, was with the parlay. My pick was Tennessee -1.5 vs Alabama. I have faith in Cuonzo Martin! The picture of the entire ticket is at right.
 

(and, just for history’s sake, here’s a link to the scoreboard that day….)

On the 5^th green, the finals from the Indiana (Don) and St Louis (Layup) game came in about at the same time; we were 2-0. By the 8^th hole, NC State (Wiz) was well on top and cruising; Wisconsin (Leland) was hanging tough with Michigan. On the 10^th tee, my game was tipping off; Mike’s game – Southern Miss – would not start until about the 14^th hole.

On the 11^th hole – the NC State game went final. 3-0.

On the 14^th – The Wisconsin game went final – that’s 4-0.

My game was at halftime, with Tennessee losing; the last 4 holes with most of us watching the phones. Wiz started texting me “Roll Tide” messages and yelling it from the group behind. On the 16^th hole, Tennessee made a run to close it within 4…..

….and never got closer. 4-1. At that time, Southern Miss got out to a 15 point lead.

We had lunch at the club house (where we declined – declined! – a free round of drinks from John Esposito, only one of the 10 most famous gamblers in Vegas) watching the rest of the Southern Miss game – and my fate was sealed. I was paying for dinner that night. Everyone in the group wished we would have split the $4800 – except Wiz, of course.

Now I was pissed. An evening massage helped; and Lavo was the dinner that night – so at least I knew I would get a good meal out of it. The staple courses at Lavo: the giant Kobe bef meatball; Chicken Parmiagian, and (of course) the deep fried Oreos.

Well, after that, there was no way we were going to be able to sit down – so off to the craps tables where we could feel like exercising (standing) while playing. That’s when we encountered THE WORST craps dealers in the world. Dealers that kept asking “who’s bets are these?”. Dealers who did not pay the come bet off (just the odds) when the come bet hit. Absolutely annoying. And the table was moderately hot, too! That’s a horrid tug of war that goes on in your mind.

After picking up, it was time for the first foray into the Salon. It was about 10, 11 pm on a Friday night. Wiz, Layup and I head in there , we find an open table and start playing. It immediately goes south for me, as this 6’2” dealer from Bulgaria – Svetlana – starts dominating me. It wasn’t utter destruction, but it was a steady, unmistakable losing streak.

About halfway through the session, we see a group of African-Americans come in. There was one….three…..7…..12……at least 20 of them. They all gather around a table on the other side – and it seems that there are 3-4 people actually betting; the rest are crowding around the table watching and hovering. The group was at least 2 rows deep standing around the table.

Light bulbs started to go off in our heads as we tried to figure out what was going on. That weekend, the Mirage hosted a birthday party for Rob Kardashian – and there was the mom, Kris, sitting at the table. It looked to us like they were betting $25 chips….which is less than the minimum in the salon.

That’s when things started to get chaotic. People from the Kardashian started roaming the Salon. Checking in at each table, heading from one table to another by cutting through the pit, etc. There was one member of the gang who was a guy, but – I swear – looked like a 15-year old girl with a slight moustache. He had a 5’11” leggy model in a low cut dress in tow.

What the hell is going on here? Wiz yelled more than once.

The Kardashian clan stayed there for about 15 minutes – no more – and I assume they went back to the clubs for the party. But the damage was done to our group. We were all off kilter.

I was near the end of my stake – three chips left – and on tilt; I decided to go all in. I got dealt 20, but the dealer had an ace. I have a policy to take insurance if I have a 20; the idea is that the worst I can do is break even on a good hand. But my whole stake was already in play.

“You don’t have enough for insurance!” Wiz laughed out loud. That made me more determined. Looking back, I did have the funds in my wallet if I wanted to – but I was stubbornm or forgot about it.

You can guess the ending – the dealer pulled the face card. Wiz laughed some more as I stormed away from the table. I did hear him say something like “I’m not laughing at you”, but after the Alabama shenanigans, he lost any benefit of the doubt.

Ended up at the craps table again, where I watched a obscenely drunk man roll dice all over the place; one of every 2 rolls had to be called back since it was short, in the chips, or off the table. Had a miserable UTH session, and found myself ending the day at Pai Gow with Leland and John with a cast of characters; one of them was a 40-something teacher from Minnesota who was drunk but was flirting with John; another was an angry 20-something Asian-American girl from Seattle who asked me where I was from.

I said, well, I live in China right now.

“Well, I think you live in the land of bull shit!”

Um, nice to meet you too, bitch. It was time for bed after a rough day.

2013 Vegas Diary - Part 1

Well, here we are again – time for the 2013 Vegas Diary. I may have waited too long before putting the diary on paper, as I have already forgotten a lot of the sessions during the week.

Two general thoughts before we get going:

I think we are all in agreement that moving the trip to conference championship week (vs. the first week of the tournament) is a great move. The crowds were definitely less, which means less time waiting for dinner; more space at the gaming tables, little (or zero) lines at the sports book and a generally more relaxed atmosphere. As we get older, we don’t need the chaos, and the trip seemed a little more laid back and relaxing. The downside? This is the weekend of Rob Kardashian’s birthday (more on that in a minute), so we will have to plan around that accordingly.

It never ceases to amaze me that each trip can provide a distinct set of memories. My unverbalized fear before the trip was: are we getting into rut? Will it be the same stories, same inside jokes that may get old soon? And the answer is no. Every year something different comes to keep us on our toes. For instance, this trip was the worst in terms of craps stories/memories/performance, but experiences elsewhere more than made up for that.

 

Now on to the diary:

 

Tuesday, March 12

Allow me a bit to describe the travel problems I had in getting to Vegas in the first place. When I made the reservations, I allowed for a 2 hour layover in LA to go through customs, get baggage, and go from the Tom Bradley terminal to the Delta terminal. The China Southern flight was supposed to land at 7 pm and my Delta connection to Vegas left at 9….should not be a problem if nothing goes wrong, but….

 

First, Delta sends a note 2 weeks before informing me that my flight has changed; the connection to Vegas now will leave at 8:45. So there goes 15 minutes off the buffer.

  

The China Southern flight shut the doors in Guangzhou on time, but we spent an good while taxiing. Once we got in the air, they made the announcement; we plan to land at LA at 8 pm. Um, really? I talked to the flight attendant; he said “no, no, it’s 7 pm, I guess there is a time change and that’s why they said 8 pm”. I didn’t believe him. That’s the China experience – make up an answer and hope the customer will accept it and go away.

 

Oh – it was nice to relax on the flight and not have to frantically cram through 130 pages of 6-point font on 68 basketball teams. Another plus for championship weekend.

 

Well, they started serving “breakfast” at 6:30 pm LA time – that’s when I knew I was in trouble. We landed at 8, got off the plane at 8:15, flew through immigration, waited too long at baggage claim for my clubs – and exited customs at 8:45. I went to the baggage transfer to drop off luggage; they said “Sorry, go see Delta”. Uh oh.

 

So I lugged the suitcase and clubs to the Delta terminal – 400 yards away. They said the plane left, and they can’t do anything for me since it is a China Southern ticket. I had to go back to the International terminal and have China Southern work it. Oh yeah, that will work.

I back track the 400 yards to Tom Bradley where I was met by 749 people at the China Southern counters, since it is check in time for the return flight to Guangzhou. Someone was there to help me; they took my passport and ticket…..and disappeared for 30 minutes.

 

Now I’m stuck. I have Wiz yelling at me to get on a Southwest flight at 10;30; I can’t get through to National to see if I can rent a car to Vegas…I’m sitting there as time ticks off the clock.

 

Finally at 9:30, the China lady says “let’s walk over to United; there is a 10:30 flight and there is one seat, but no one is answering the phone over there.” I think it was during that walk where a wheel fell off my suitcase. Finally, I was able to get a seat on that flight and landed in the new, completely deserted terminal 3 at midnight, arriving at the Mirage around 12:30.

 

I’m not sure what happened when Layup and Wiz was checking in; but there were some major screwups with the reservation. Thank God it was a Tuesday night. Layup said we are on floor “E”. E? I opened the door to a two bedroom suite. Wow. The suite may be an option for the family in the summer. I was greeted by Wiz in his boxers in the room; he was done for the night but mine was just starting.

 

I meet again Layup on the floor and the initial game for the trip is craps. Unfortunately, this was the best craps session of the trip for me as Layup again hits back-to-back hard 4’s when I parlayed – two years in a row now. At around 2:00, Layup decided he had enough and went to bed.

 

I laid in bed…2:00, 2:30, 3:00…..and was wide awake. That’s not going to work. Downstairs I go to play UTH….alone…with no one else at the table. Vegas probably isn’t much quieter (and lonely) than a Tuesday night at 3 in the morning. At 5, I had enough; I was starving for Triscuits and bought a box for $10 and went to bed.

 

Wednesday, March 13.

“Eric!” “Eric??” “Eric! Do you want SMU or not????”

I awoke to Layup literally screaming at me to get my parlay pick in. It was 8:30, and he wanted to confirm my pick for our group parlay; the group would send in a parlay once or twice a day for $20 each; each of us would pick a game. If we get all 6 right, that’s a $4800 payday; if we go 5-1, the loser pays for dinner; if we go 1-5, the single winner would get a free dinner. SMU was my pick for the morning; the Vegas trip is officially underway when Layup has to wake me up to get this pick in.

The day was spent with Wiz, Layup and I on a road trip; first to Target for the annual Supermarket Spree. I think I heard Wiz ask Layup: “How long will this take? About 30 minutes?” Layup just shook his head; they went and got coffee and stale popcorn while I went up and down the aisles for plain white T-shirts, Leap Frog Pens and Combos.

(By the way, is Combos out of business? I can’t find any on the West Coast).

Then we headed to Red Rock for the long-awaited bowling challenge. There were 58 lanes at Red Rock; about 20 were in use so we were able to have some space to act like fools during the competition. The vodka tonic for each game helped to get the energy level up as well.

Layup was a complete sandbagger; Wiz and I gave him 20 pins and he starts by rolling a 193. Wiz and I played straight up, and at $1 pin I profited in the triple digits. Excellent – a 647 for 4 games.

After that, of course we stayed for a $5 craps session there, where none of us could roll; it’s amazing how much money one can lose at a $5 craps table when it goes cold.

We got back to the Mirage around 4:30 to see the rest of the group – Don, Mike and Leland, who all had arrived. The first truly group game was Pai Gow, where we were all relaxing before our appointment at dinner that night with Jose Andres. More on that later.

I was feeling very good – from all the drinks during the day – and having fun until there was a slight problem at the table. I think I had 2 small pairs and an Ace up top; I was half paying attention when the dealer showed a pair of queens and a king-high up top. I started paying more attention when she didn’t ask for commission.

I was a bit confused when I told her that I think I won that hand.

“No, it was a push”

No, I had 2 small pairs down below, I think.

“Do you want me to check and pull the cards out?”

At this point, I had to guess how confident I was in my hand . I put it at 90%, even though most hands I can’t remember what I had on top. Yes, go ahead and reconstruct the hands.

“Floor!”

 

The pit boss came over as the dealer pulled piles of 7 from the stack. One at a time, she – and all of us – tried to identify the hands. It was like CSI: Pai Gow as the dealer placed the seven cards on the table, re-played each hand as we tried to identify the owner.

“That was mine”, Don said…the second hand was claimed by Derek. Then the dealers’ was found.

My hand ended up being 6^th in the pile, and by that time I was shaking. I had better be right on this – it’s not the money I was worried about, it was the embarrassment and my memory. Should I have stopped the game for 3 minutes just for $25?

“Pair of 6s, Pair of 3s…..yes, you were right…..you won the hand”.

I slumped in my chair and let out a deep breath. I haven’t been that nervous in a casino in a long time.

Dinner that night was the Chef’s table at the Cosmopolitan. Just walking through that casino made me feel 10 years younger. Wow. I can be cool! I can be hip! (and I wasn’t even wearing a mock turtleneck!). Seriously – what a nice place.

The dinner was a special 24 course meal prepared by the chefs in front of you . It started bad with some sort of drinking talent show where it was clear that all the other members of the group are adept at handling cylindrical objects that spurt liquid into their mouths. I’m not sure where all of you got the experience for that.

The courses were one, two or three bite portions of incredibly fancy, over-the-top dishes. Some were exquisite, like the fried fish sandwich or the chicken oysters. Some were discomforting, such as any dish with truffles. But the meal was unforgettable – and it is still shocking that we were out of there in less than 3 hours.

We headed back to the Mirage for a group craps run; the table was choppy (and it was clear that Layup and I were the Mantle/Maris of cold rollers; we could not be stopped rolling “7”s. Mike shows an uncanny ability to roll a) “9”s on the come out roll, and b) Field rolls. Leland and I kept track; at one point, he rolled 10 fields in a row and a total of 15 out of 16 field rolls. (But did you make the point during that run? I don’t think so).

At about 1, 1:30 the party broke up as we had an early tee time tomorrow…..maybe I can get some sleep…..

Snow Sculptures and the Ice City

The main draw of Harbin is the snow and ice monuments they build every year, mainly to draw tourists. There's no religious/cultural significance to any of this.

In the afternoon, we went to a large outdoor park where snow sculputes were built. These were pretty impressive. At least 40 feet high, and 60-70 yards long, in this case below. This sculpture tells a story about a grand battle with the gods....

At night, we went to the main attraction, the Ice City. Even though it was about 0 to -5 F temperature, we bundled up enough so that all of us walked around for about 75 minutes. The main draw were the lit-up, colorful buildings, all built out of ice. Two examples are here below - just beautiful. There were ice slides, games, and activities to keep everybody moving throughout the night.

 Some pictures of the ice sculptures in the darkness: (this was about 5 pm when we took these pictures. Gotta love being so far north.)

Harbin Tigers

I'm finally getting around to posting on our Harbin trip in late January - this is the northernmost 'big" city in China; they have an Ice festival every winter that is world famous. Great, right? Except for the temperatures - the high each day was about 0-5, and it was -15 in the morning. We were very lucky; there was very little wind.

Our first stop was the Siberian tiger park. This is well known in the ex-pat circles, especially with families with boys! They feed the tigers live animals - like chickens - to the the delight of the paying consumer.

Here's how it works. There is a wire about 8-9 feet up above the ground; the person ties a chicken to it - upside down - and wheels the chicken out on the wire. There's about a minute or two of pacing and plotting by the tigers, before one jumps up, snatches it, and runs off with the chicken while the other 10 tigers chase after him.

Here's a video of the pacing and plotting; my clip sadly did not capture the actual eating of the chicken.....