Current Standings
Picklez 33 (Tied for 5th, 3 points behind the leader)
BabySteps 28 (8th place)
LG 30 (7th place)
Hangtime 26 (dead last)
Tiny Tanks 36 (Tied for 1st)
My wish came true and the mighty Hangtime forgot to make his picks. I had a pretty good week with 12 points. I'm 5th place, but there is a 4 way tie for 1st. Maybe this will be the week... Actually, if I can get one point closer, I'll feel pretty good. What's funny is that BabySteps made his picks and yet he is still only 2 points ahead of Hangtime.
Week Four Picks
A lot of upsets last week. I don't think this week will be that way though.
DET @ CHI - I sort of feel that the fix was in last week for DET. I can't comprehend WAS losing to DET, but it happened. The conditions for shenanigans were perfect. It was a home game for DET. What better way to end their losing streak than to win one at home? CHI had another come from behind victory. I just can't understand how spastic Pork Cutlet is. CHI should be able to win this without too much trouble. Picklez Pick: CHI
CIN @ CLE - I'm starting to believe that Cincinasti is for real. Their loss to DEN was extremely flukey and they've beaten two solid teams. I can't stand the Twittering Ouchostinko, but maybe they have some potential as a playoff contender. As much as I hate to do this, I'm going to have to go with CIN. Picklez Pick: CIN
SEA @ IND - I got to see PeyPey in action last Sunday night, and he was pretty amazing. The IND defense got their heads screwed on straight and played a pretty aggressive game. The Suckhawks don't stand a chance. Picklez Pick: IND
NYG @ KC - No intelligence necessary for this pick. Picklez Pick: NYG
BAL @ NE - This one is a noodle scratcher. The NE offense still hasn't gelled. There seems to be some miscommunication between Brady and his receiving corps. The defense did well against the ATL offense last week. BAL rolled over CLE, but that's not saying much these days. Picklez Pick: NE
TB @ WAS - This should be a simple pick, but it isn't. WAS lost to DET - the Suckiest Sucks Who Ever Sucked. The last play of the game was ridiculous, too. They should have just aired it out rather than try that stupid backwards lateral crap. I don't think the Suckaneers will be able to go into the Racially Insensitve Mascot homefield and get a win. "All that's Leftwich" is terrible. Picklez Pick: WAS
TEN @ JAC - It's hard to believe that TEN is 0-3 especially after last year's terrific start. Has so much changed that they can't get a win? On paper they are the better team and it's not like they've been playing terribly. Hmmm... Picklez Pick: TEN
OAK @ HOU - HOU is out to screw me as they do the opposite they are supposed to do. I'm going with them though although I may regret it. Picklez Pick: HOU
BUF @ MIA - My upset pick of the week. If MIA loses I'm going to blame the crappy stadium name. The stain of Buffett is ruining the team. Picklez Pick: MIA
NYJ @ NO - The momentum for the Jets is about to come to an abrupt halt. The Saints are a very solid team on both sides of the ball. I'm feeling that they will at least make it to the NFC championship game. Picklez Pick: NO
DAL @ DEN - On paper, DAL is better. DEN is terribly inconsistent while DAL is simply inconsistent. DAL has a tendency to stomp AFC teams in general though. Picklez Pick: DAL
STL @ SF - MIN got extremely lucky last week. SF is definitely a real threat in the NFC. STL is in competion with CLE for the "Worst Team in the NFL" title. Picklez Pick: SF
SD @ PIT - When's Palomalu coming back? The PIT defense needs him back desperately. I'm sensing an upset, but I'll go with the home team. Picklez Pick: PIT
GB @ MIN - This game will be very, very hateful. Going with the Favre and the Pillagers. Picklez Pick: MIN
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR...(FROM LAST WEEKS NFL POST)
"I don't have much hope for winning (unless Hangtime forgets to make his picks one week)."
I forgot to mention in post #327 that I got bit bunch of times by mosquitoes. I have two bites on my foot, a couple of bites on each ankle, four bites on my right shoulder, 3 bites on my left shoulder and at least two bites in the center of my back.
The itching is driving me absolutely crazy!!!
THAT IS ALL
My weekend consisted primarily of going over to Oxford for a party at Big Red's new house.
Oveur dressed
When this party was first explained to me by the Medic, I was placed under the impression that it was going to be a fancy shindig that was a combination House Warming and Belated Wedding Reception. After all, I was asked to do a small DJ set up. Furthermore, many of us did not go to Big Red and Rita's wedding in Japan so it was our chance to celebrate their marriage. The guest list included karate people and Big Red's immediate family.
We were running sort of late so I made sure to get dressed in my khaki pants and black dress shirt. BabySteps and the Admiral were going to change once they got to the Ranch (my new name for the Man's place). I thought I needed time to get set up so I had them drop me off at Big Red's house.
After we pulled up, Big Red met me at the door wearing some cargo shorts and a polo. Later, the Medic arrived wearing cargo shorts and a plain t-shirt. I was greeted with "What the hell are you wearing?!" I explained that I had been misled as to the type of event they were hosting. BabySteps glanced at me and shook his head and chuckled to himself. Needless to say, I changed clothes. The Medic quipped to me, "Well, if it's any consulation, you did look very handsome." Thanks, Jackass!
A look at the competition
I helped the Medic set up a big 10' X 10' portable pavilion. He said that they have another one that they are going to use at Kangeiko next year to set up a Pell City/Oxford temporary dojo. I said that it would pale in comparison to "Tentlanta". My plan is to get every TA member who goes to Kangeiko to bring a tent and then we'll aquire a portable generator and have some music as well as a "Tiki Bar". It is going to be awesome.
My whole purpose behind this is to make the camp more memorable for everyone and to get people excited about it. When other dojos see what we're doing, they'll want to out do us. To out do us, they'll have to start showing up. It's already working because we have Pell City and Oxford combining forces to create their own temporary beach dojo. All this because I just marked some place out in the sand last year and got people to bow before entering our territory.
If anything there will be some really interesting pictures for next year's Kangeiko!
Learning Experience
Some might say I became an expert in drywall Saturday because I got PLASTERED! I did imbibe a great deal. I don't know how many beers I had and I must have had at least 3 carbombs. I know I had a couple of swigs of some Bacardi 151 "Zombie" drink mix. I also had a shot's worth of triple distilled Smirnoff vodka. That was gross!
I was pretty drunk. Big Red's mom was very entertained by my antics and she said that she's known me a long time and never seen me so relaxed. Later, she told everyone that I had met my limit and that I shouldn't drink anymore. Hahaha!
Extensive Vocabulary
I had a Nascar Black Belt challenge my use of the word "illicitly". I told him that it was indeed a word and that I was a published writer and that he shouldn't question my word usage. He used his phone to determine that I was correct and promptly apologized.
Karaoke
I remember singing. What song? I don't know. I do know that I sang very well. In my own mind anyway.
BabySteps' singing
This is just a short aside and I know I've said it before, but BabySteps is a terrible singer. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate his upbeat attitude and it's nice to know he has a song in his heart. I'm not knocking him for that. The problem arises when he sings in an attempt to annoy me. He's really trying to do his best and that's what irritates me. His best is really bad. To quote Shakespeare: "If he had been a dog that would have howled thus, they would have hanged him." Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing
If I had to describe his singing style I would have to say that he is the female Biz Markie.
Hand Jive
A Nascar Black Belt and a Honbu Black Belt were at the party. Apparently, they are dating. Anyway, BabySteps thinks that the Honbu Black Belt is "sweet" on me. He kept pointing at her and signaling to me with his hands (written in old telegraph style):
NEWSFLASH!
FROM: BABYSTEPS
TO: PICKLEZ
CHECK OUT THE HONBU BLACK BELT STOP
YOU SHOULD "LIVE THE DREAM" STOP
MAN/MAN/LADY THREESOME POSSIBILITY STOP
YOU ARE "GO" FOR OPERATION: SPITROAST STOP
END OF TRANSMISSION
I could have slapped him.
Expeditious Clean up
As the party wrapped up, Mrs. Man asked Mr. Man to throw out some chips. Because of his inebriated state, he simply took the bowl of chip fragments, tossed them over his shoulder, and then handed the bowl back to Mrs. Man with a very amused look upon his face. "M!" Mrs. Man yelled.
Big Red busted out laughing and stated the obvious, "He just tossed that over his shoulder!" That set the rest of us to laughing. Someone blurted out the biodegradable nature of potatoe chips to help assuage Mrs. Man's shock.
Breakfast at the Ranch
I woke up kind of late, but apparently, so did everyone else. Breakfast was pretty tasty. We had the usual Man Ranch breakfast of biskies, sausage, eggs, and grits.
I told BabySteps that we should make them a wooden gate post with a sign that reads: "Man Ranch - We don't rent pigs!" BabySteps was amused by that.
Innocence lost
Big Red let me borrow a book written by a very high ranking man in C-Ryu (the style that Y* came from). What we have been told is that GM studied under Dr. Ch of C-Ryu and was given permission to start his own style.
What this book says is that GM split out on his own without permission. I don't automatically discount what this guy is saying, and my loyalty is still to GM; however, I do believe that there are details of the story not being told. The purpose of the C-Ryu guy's story is to show how he was used in a diplomatic matter in a high level/high risk situation. In no way did the guy talk badly about GM and apparently the two of them came to an understanding because he ended up staying with GM a few days and helping with a demonstration.
What I sense is that there was a breakdown in communication or a misunderstanding that led up to the C-Ryu guy's story. His involvement and subsequent negotiations between GM and Dr. Ch ultimately resulted in the formation of Y*. In other words, Y* is still legit, but many details of the story of its formation are omitted.
As I've gotten higher up in rank, I have been exposed to more and more of the seedy underbelly of the martial arts world. I'm not talking about underground martial arts tournaments held to eliminate the enemies of a criminal kingpin and to recruit powerful lieutenants for a far east organized crime syndicate. I'm simply talking about the ommission of truth and the propagandising that occurs.
In this example, the end result is the same. I believe that GM and Dr. Ch worked something out, but I don't think that it occurred exactly or as simply as I have been taught. I'm not disillusioned or overly traumatized in any way because this is the nature of all things. Nothing is simple. Will I be telling my students all the facts? No, because it's too complicated, it will cause them to lose heart, and it isn't my place to say anything. If a student comes to me and tells me that they discovered these facts on their own, I won't deny them, but I will tell them that this is information best kept to one's self. On the other hand, I won't be as zealous about slapping down these other versions of Y* because we are using the same tactics as these other people. The difference being that we are omitting details rather than making up facts. One could say that this is just as bad except that I think that the omission is sparing many people from a not so pretty truth. Besides. We ALL have dirt and no one is completely clean no matter what we may think.
END OF LINE
Fall is here and it's time for me to remind you of how terrible an actor Nicolas Cage is. Here are his best scenes from The Wicker Man.
Just for good measure, here is a comedy recut trailer.
THAT IS ALL
JapanFest
This is an event that is put on by the Consulate of Japan in an effort to share the Japanese culture and to foster the spirit of cooperation between the U.S. and Japan. I learned a few things. First, I learned that Fukuoka is a sister city to Atlanta. Fukuoka is about an hour's drive from Kitakyushu. Second, I learned that JapanFest is attracting more and more anime freaks.
Yes. I'm saying that the anime freaks is a bad thing. I noticed several vendor booths that pandered to these cosplay jokers. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with the hot chick cosplayers. I have a problem with the overweight, WOW playing, basement dwelling mouth breathers that think that just because they buy a shinai that they can kick my ass. Sure, I know I'm being an "Internet Tough Guy" right now, but anyone that knows me would probably tell you that I'm a legitimate tough guy. Seriously though, listening to these idiots comment on our demo is bad enough, but when they are standing their with their friends holding oversized foam swords...
I just feel like the whole thing is starting to pander to the lowest common denominator and it won't be too long before these losers will no longer be in the minority. I enjoyed the festival much more when it was more authentic Japanese culture rather than the manufactured pop culture. But I digress...
Our Demo
I think it went well. I sort of felt like we were a bunch of "country bumpkins" after watching the U.S. Taido demo. Theirs was extremely organized and well choreographed. BabySteps said that they just took the demo much more seriously than we did. "This is their SuperBowl!" he commented. I tried to be laid back and cool in between activities. I noticed that quite a crowd gathered during our demo. I was pleased with the performance of our students.
Other Demos
The sumo stuff was pretty cool. The aikido stuff was boring. I thought the Taido demonstration was very well done, but I'll never understand all that backflipping they do. It is certainly impressive (although useless on the street). I was going to watch the Ninjutsu demo, but I could see all of their participants so I'm guessing it probably wasn't very good. I'm curious to know how the World Oyama demo went. I think they take the same laid back approach that I do, but they just sort of beat the tar out of each other for 30 minutes.
I'm also happy to report that our demo took the least amount of time to set up/take down. We had to get our banner up and put our breaking stuff on the stage. That's all. Everybody else had to set up mats and what not. Mats... Pfft! There's no mats on the street.
Good Looking Ladies
There were quite a few nice looking females at the JapanFest. I'm sort of perplexed as to why some of the really cute women were with the mouth breathing manga freaks. I was like, "Damn, I'm 4 steps up from those losers. Come 'Glomp' on me a little!"
Good Food
Got some Udon. Had some mochi snacks, Pocky, and some Sunitori shaved ice. Tasty.
Pre-Test
Hangtime, Overboard, Sweet Tooth and I went to the Oxford Black Belt Pre-Test. There was a really bad accident on 20 so we got to the Civic Center right on time. As far as the pre-test went, it's my understanding that Overboard did well and showed a lot of improvement according to the Rooster. The Masher told me I needed to help her with StB #s 3 through 5. No problem. I don't think Sweet Tooth fared too well, but he was mainly testing for the experience seeing as it has been 2 years or more since anyone really examined his technique in a clinical setting.
I got to work with kyu grades. I think they learned something. I also decided to name one of the Oxford Green Belts as "The Most Attractive Woman in Y* Karate". The competition is pretty fierce, but in my mind, she takes the crown. Believe me though, if you saw her, you would say the same thing.
Party Zone and the trip home
I had about 4 beers. Sweet Tooth had a couple of beers and a couple of shots of Tequila. So many in fact that he dropped one of Shihan M's shot glasses on the ground and broke it. We had pizza and it was delivered by a 7' tall high school kid. PFC was able to join us, too. Big Red and the Medic did not. Hangtime shot his first real firearm (.22 rifle).
On the trip back we stopped for some ice cream at Maggie Moos. It's very reminiscent of Cold Stone Creamery. I thoroughly enjoyed my ice cream and I got to tell the group what giving a woman a "Buccaneer" means. Awesome.
The weather on the way back was pretty rough. So rough that we felt compelled to pull over to the side of the road for a bit.
Lonesome Dove
Saturday night and part of Sunday morning, we watched the entire Lonesome Dove TV mini-series. I'll have to admit, it was pretty good. I've seen bits and pieces of it. It was nice to be able to watch the whole thing in its entirety. I really want to read the book now.
The story is really kind of sad. Gus and Call sort of remind me of BabySteps and myself. There are a lot of good one liners in the movie too. Some of my favorites:
"Well, Jake's just being Jake. It...It's a full time job!"
"You ride with an outlaw, you die with an outlaw!"
"That's money well spent, 2 times!"
"I'm not saying I did [cheat at cards] and I'm not saying I didn't, but a man who wouldn't cheat for a poke don't want one bad enough!"
"Well, I made it. Here you are just like I promised. Which has helped me to learn I ought be more careful with what I promise to people."
"I'm just tryin' to keep everything in balance, Woodrow. You do more work than you got to, so it's my obligation to do less."
END OF LINE
I haven't done a post like this in a while. Much like the "Potpouri" category on Jeopardy, you never know what you're going to get.
Outbursts
There are two I think that bear mentioning (even though it is way after the fact). First, Kanye West's outburst at the VMAs and second, Serena Williams' outburst at the U.S. Open. They are significant because they are so outlandish and one of them even got the attention of the U.S. American president.
Kanye
His outburst was fueled by stupidity and drunkeness. If he wasn't drunk, there would still be a 40% chance he would have bum rushed the stage anyhow. It makes the South Park "Gay Fish" thing even funnier too me. If you haven't seen the episode click here to get to it. It is in Season 13.
Simply put, Kanye is as the President states, a jack ass. He's an idiot. If he is the voice of the current generation then the future looks mighty bleak. He went on Leno and apologized and Taylor Swift has kind of blown the whole ordeal off. After all, in 10 years, she'll still be selling records. Kanye, not so much.
I was going to put a bunch of links and videos of Kanye interrupting and apologizing and of course POTUS calling him a jackass. Actually, I think I'll put that up.
You would wonder why the President would even allow this video to circulate, but seeing as all the crummy things his adminstration is doing right now, people would rather be distracted by the leader of the Free World commenting on pop culture rather than learning that our great nation is being run into the ground (more). Still waiting on my hope and change, by the way.*
*I may not be eligible for "Hope and Change" (TM) as I am viewed as one of the "Evil Rich" a.k.a. middle class member trying to make his paper.
Serena Williams
She is probably one of the best female tennis players ever to have played the game and yet she allows herself to get frustrated and bust her racket on the ground. Understandable. She then threatens a line judge with bodily harm. Unacceptable. Honestly, I would have suspended her from play for 365 days. Why the hell do you do that? Threaten a judge, I mean. It makes no sense.
Rain
We've had a break in the weather finally but I would have to say that the amount of rain we've received lately is pretty impressive. Lake BabySteps made a reappearance and clean up efforts for that will keep the Admiral from coming to class this week. I had my Monday night class cancelled by the Rec Center so tonight will be the 1st night of class. I don't think we have too many new people though.
Tech Support/Rodent Removal
I went to work on someone's computer and there was a flying squirrel trapped in the building. No, it wasn't wearing aviator glasses but that little critter could jump! I was working in an office and I heard one of the cleaning ladies start screaming! "Ahhhh! You guys got a rat in here!" Everytime it reappeared she screamed again. I looked out of the office and saw the little critter bounding toward me. It came into the office I was in so I got up and closed the door. I was in our history museum and the garden club has some stuff in storage so I was able to procure two nets. I went back into the office and trapped the critter and then took him outside. Not something you see everyday...
I need some PAYING gigs
I've gotten tapped to do some DJ gigs, but none of them pay. One of them is for the tournament coming up (no pressure) and the others are for some friends. If I could get two paying gigs a month, I would be very happy. No such luck yet. I keep thinking about paying for some leads, but then the whole Glen Gary thing pops up in my mind...
END OF LINE
Current Standings
Picklez 21 (Tied for 6th, 5 points behind the leader)
BabySteps 18 (dead last)
LG 19 (8th place)
Hangtime 26 (1st Place)
Tiny Tanks 23 (Tied for 2nd)
What the hell happened?! There were quite a few upsets and not the ones I predicted. I actually didn't watch any games last week so I don't have much upon which to comment. I was over .500 which is OK. Hopefully, I can recover and do better this week. I don't have much hope for winning (unless Hangtime forgets to make his picks one week).
Week Three Picks
I've gone with my gut on all of these so let's see what happens...
WAS @ DET- DET still sucks. WAS is solid. If only they could start gelling better, I'm sure they could start putting the hurt on people. They had a win last week so hopefully the momentum will stay in their favor. Picklez Pick: WAS
GB @ STL - Definitely a no brainer. GB should clobber Suck Louis despite their humiliating loss to Ouchostinko and Cincinasty. Picklez Pick: GB
SF @ MIN - SF is definitely for real. MIN is also for real. Going with homefield advantage (although it didn't do the Cards much good). Picklez Pick: MIN
ATL @ NE - NE sucks now. They had a good run, but the legacy is over. Picklez Pick: ATL
TEN @ NYJ - I guess the Jets are for real, too. I don't give too much credit to Sanchez though. I'll have to tip my hat to the Jets Flight Crew. Picklez Pick: NYJ
KC @ PHI - As much as I hate PHI, Kansas Shitty. They couldn't even get a homefield win against the Oakland Gayders. Picklez Pick: PHI
NYG @ TB - This isn't too hard of a pick. If the Giants lose to Brian "All that's"Leftwich and the Tampa Gay Suckaneers, then they don't deserve to be the leader of the NFC East (Toughest division in the NFL). Picklez Pick: NYG
CLE @ BAL - Every year, I hope that this is the year the Browns stop sucking and start playing football. Every year I'm disappointed. The question is whether or not CLE wants to be the worst team in the AFC or the worst team in the NFL... Picklez Pick: BAL
JAC @ HOU - How HOU beat TEN at home, I'll never know. But they did it. I think they should be able to pick up a home game win against the ailing Lesser Jungle Cats. Picklez Pick: HOU
NO @ BUF - All last week's game against Tampa Gay proved is that Tampa Gay really, really sucks vs. just really sucking. NO will run over BUF and their no huddle offense having asses. Picklez Pick: NO
CHI @ SEA - CHI was able to beat the Super Bowl champs in a huge upset. If Pork Cutlet has his head on straight then they should be able to defeat the Suckhawks. Picklez Pick: CHI
PIT @ CIN - At first glance, this seems like a no brainer. But CIN stunning win over GB proved that they might just be giant killers. Still going with the SB champs though. Picklez Pick: PIT
DEN @ OAK - DEN is coming off a win against a sucky team (CLE) and OAK is coming off a win against an equally sucky team. Conventional wisdom says to go with the homefield advantage. Not me. Picklez Pick: DEN
MIA @ SD - Somehow SD got beat by BAL. I don't think they'll lose 2 home games in a row. Picklez Pick: SD
IND @ ARI - This is my upset of the week. Not only that, it should be a pretty good game. Picklez Pick: IND
DAL @ CAR - CAR is completely out of contention now, in my opinion. Delhomme gets rattled way too easily. If he throws one interception, you know he's going to throw 3 more. Picklez Pick: DAL
TEXT MESSAGE SENT TO PICKLEZ FROM HANGTIME:
"Your picks keep on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future..."
Yes. Just thought I'd share a few of the songs I currently have on "heavy rotation" on my iPod.
I don't know exactly who does this song, but the famous (?) shamisen playing Yoshida Bros are featured. It's a very peppy song and makes you want to move. I like it!
This is by Shakira. There's two times when she howls like a wolf. It's really cute.
That's right. It's the Ken stage music from Street Fighter II. It gets me amped during training. By the end of the song, I'm ready to Sho Ryu Ken someone in the nuts.
This is an older Franz Ferdinand song. I first heard it on Guitar Hero 1. I really like the song. This is another great training song.
Another older song, and although overplayed at the time, it still has a funky groove that I enjoy.
Another Yoshida Bros. song. You'll recognize it from early Wii advertisments.
THAT IS ALL
Current Standings
Picklez 12 (Tied for 5th, 2 points behind the leader)
BabySteps 11 (Tied for 7th)
LG 9 (dead last)
Hangtime 14 (1st Place)
Tiny Tanks 13 (Tied for 2nd)
I learned a lot this weekend. First, I learned to go with my gut. I knew that HOU would lose and yet I changed my mind and picked them. I stand by the rest of my picks even though some of them were losers. I thought CAR would have done better, I didn't expect SF to do so well, and BabySteps and I have come up with a new theory about CHI. Apparently, once a QB puts on the CHI helmet, he becomes a tard. I call it "Punky QB Syndrome".
On a side note, what is up with ATL's kicker? You don't miss 30 yard field goals in a dome. You most certainly don't miss extra points... Everybody talks about how sure footed Elam is, but if he misses another under 35 yard kick, I think he should be fired.
Week Two Picks
I've gone with my gut on all of these so let's see what happens...
CAR @ ATL- Jake Delhomme was abysmal last game. Ryan seemed a little jumpy. No one should ignore the effectiveness of the ATL defense as long as they can keep from getting stupid penalties. The ATL secondary still needs some work. The OL should do a better job of making opportunities for Turner. Picklez Pick: ATL
MIN @ DET - Kind of a no brainer here. If Farve just lets Petersen run, then they should have no trouble beating an 0-17 team. Picklez Pick: MIN
CIN @ GB - I'll admit that DEN got extremely lucky last week against Cincinasty; however, if the offense can only score 7 points, then they are in for a long season. Twitter on that Ouchostinko. Picklez Pick: GB
HOU @ TEN - Any hope I had of HOU being any good this year has already been dashed. They won't beat TEN with a veteran QB like Lumberg if they couldn't beat the NYJ with a rookie QB like Sanchez. Picklez Pick: TEN
OAK @ KC - What a shitfest. Picklez Pick: KC
NE @ NYJ - I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this was an upset. I think that Brady is looking OK and the rest of the team seems solid. Sanchez had a stand out performance last year, but it was against one of the worst teams in the league. Picklez Pick: NE
NO @ PHI - McNabb broke his McRib and from what I understand, the Dog Murderer can't play until next week's game. NO had a solid performance against the Suckiest Sucks Who Ever Sucked, but who's to say how they fare against a quality team on a road game. I'm hoping for an upset here and just because I hate PHI. Picklez Pick: NO
STL @ WAS - WAS has a decent team. They are just in a tough division. Suck Louis hasn't shown any improvement from last year. Picklez Pick: WAS
ARI @ JAC - I hope that ARI gets their heads on straight for this game. Picklez Pick: ARI
TB @ BUF - As craptacular as BUF is, they should be able to get a win at home against Tampa Gay. Picklez Pick: BUF
SEA @ SF - This one's a real noodle scratcher. Both teams played well last week. SF was on the road at the NFC Champion's house and SEA was at home. It should be an interesting game. Picklez Pick: SF
CHI @ PIT - Definitely a defensive battle here, but since CHI has no offense... Picklez Pick: PIT
CLE @ DEN - To say that CLE did poorly in their home opener against MIN wouldn't actually be untrue; however, if they can't beat a team that got extremely lucky against an extremely crappy CIN, then they are truly sucky. Picklez Pick: CLE
BAL @ SD - Another tough one. I think on paper, SD is the better team. Especially at home against an East Coast team. Picklez Pick: SD
NYG @ DAL - This is my upset of the week. I think that the Giants will pull out a win against Tony Homo and the Cowpokes. The offense for NYG was a little flighty, but Homo takes too long to get into the game. Also, he's not that good. Picklez Pick: NYG
IND @ MIA - MIA didn't have much it could do against the ATL defense. IND's defense has much to be desired, but IND has a much more high powered offense even with the injuries and changes to the line-up. Picklez Pick: IND
COMMENTING ON THE CHI @ GB GAME:
"I don't know what it is about the CHI helmets, but everytime a QB puts one on they become a tard..." - BabySteps "Yeah, but 'Pork Cutlet' is still better than 'Sexy Rexy'!" - Picklez
BabySteps was relating a little funny anecdote from work which led to this post. He said they were in a training seminar and the guy wrote "ABC" on the board. He asked everyone, "Does anyone know what this means?" BabySteps replied by saying, "I don't know, but I've heard it's as easy as '123'!" Hilarity of course ensued, but then the Admiral said, "It means 'Always be closing' to me." This is because she works in real estate. This reminded me of the following clip*. *-Explicit language
A lot of salesman use this scene as a mantra to get themselves psyched up. Sales is a tough game. It requires a lot of dick swinging and a minimal amount of morals. Good salesman only slightly overreach their means. That's how they make the sale.
I was in retail sales in high school. I worked for Thom McAn shoes. I was the Sales Associate of the month for 3 months straight and I was the district Part Time Sales Associate of the month two times. For us it wasn't about selling shoes. It was all about selling socks and shoe care products.
I'm really not a "people person" but if I believe in a product, I can sell it. I've been selling karate for the past decade after all.
THAT IS ALL
