This and That

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I flew back from India a few days ago and, boy, are my arms still tired.

From the “Lessons I am reminded of every year” Dept:

• It is not as bad as after the outbound trip though --- jetlag is worse, a whole lot worse, when you travel 11 time zones east than when you travel the same time zones back west.

• Also, no matter how seasoned a traveler you are there is no planning for/adjusting to jetlag when a kid is involved. If your kid’s awake you’re gonna be awake, so you aren‘t getting over your lag till the kid gets over his/hers. Bank on it.

• And you truly realize how tough your kid is only after you watch her take in stride, I mean like a total freaking trooper, a 27-hour transit that includes a 15-hour flight.

I was gone for 18 days and managed to miss 3 weekends of late/post season NFL action---nice scheduling job there, huh? I had a tough time keeping up with the news too as I couldn’t find a reliable high-speed internet connection close to where I was. I realized more than ever how much I’ve come to rely on The Internets for my daily intellectual sustenance.

There was a ton of TV to be had if one was in the mood for it. I had about 110 channels of shit on the TV to choose from (reminds me---I haven’t listened to Pink Floyd in a long time) but most of them were “Breaking News” and none of them carried the NFL playoffs (not even a mention of scores) so basically I had nothing to watch. It’s pretty amazing really---there are the BBCs and CNNs and their ilk, the CNBCs and their ilk, the ESPNs and their ilk. And all these channels have the prototypical talking heads babbling in typically vacuous and invariably hyperbolic tones about the overblown crisis du jour, accompanied by flashing “Breaking News!!“ graphics and annoying sidebars and bottom-crawls, and all, of course, interrupted every ten minutes or so for five minutes worth of commercials. Yay! It was like I never left!

Getting back to the NFL:

I’m surprised that the Eagles made the playoffs, but not at all surprised that they beat the Giants. I believe I called that one a while ago.

I’m also not surprised that the Giants are about to make Eli Mediocre the highest paid QB in the league. I mean, a QB who has never posted a rating of 90 or above for any season, who has never thrown more than 24 Tds in any season, who in his best season to date had a completion rate of 60.3% and ranked 14th of 32 QBs----if he doesn’t deserve top money, who does? Goes to show you that the #1 success strategy in modern times still remains “Be born a fortunate son”.

I am somewhat surprised that the Chargers made the playoffs. They always had a run in them but I didn’t think the Broncos would completely go into the tank like they did. I am not surprised that the Chargers beat the Colts though---the Colts were living on the edge all year.

I am very surprised that Arizona’s still playing. I don’t see them getting past the Eagles’ D though.

I am not at all surprised (and not at all pleased either) that the Steelers are having to play the Ravens for the AFC title. I don’t like it. The Ravens are a tough out for the Steelers on any occasion. Now they have a QB, Flacco, who’s got some serious mojo (like he sacrificed chickens to Jobu, mojo) going on. And their emotional leader, Ray Lewis, is possibly playing for his last hurrah SuperBowl-wise, so he’ll be something desperate and will bring all his killer instinct (ba-dum-tissshhhhh. Thank you, thank you). I don’t like this matchup at all. I just hope the Steelers do not give up on the run at any time during this game. If they keep running regardless of their effectiveness, and if the D does its job and keeps it close, I think the Steelers will wear them down and prevail in the 4th Qtr.

I will not complain if the Steelers get up on the Ravens by 3 TDs in the first half and then cruise home the rest of the way.

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