NFL picks 2019-2020 week 12

Overall - 91-71

I'm really discouraged with football at this point. This week my team is down significant players once again, my fantasy team has more injuries, and the appeals process (with what occurred a week ago on TNF) with the racist remarks added has left a sour taste in my mouth.

However, I'm not a quitter, so here we go...quite a few games this week that are neck and neck.

Indianapolis over Houston - Out of the gate, and I'm already down one.

Atlanta over Tampa Bay - The Falcons came back from their bye an entirely different team. Like, what the hell happened? But, will that streak continue today against a division rivalry? One that is struggling? Ack. What to do, what to do... Tom has picked the Bucs. Maddy and I went with Atlanta.

Buffalo over Denver - I've lost track of who is quarterbacking the Broncos.

Chicago over Giants - I'm not sure why the Bears are favorites, but I went with that. Daniel Jones can't save the Giants this year.

Pittsburgh over Cincinnati - Please, oh, please let's not lose to a 0-10 team, but, dear God, with what we have left of our team, this might not be easy.

Cleveland over Miami - Go Dolphins! I hope this goes the other way.

New Orleans over Carolina - I'll go with Brees.

Oakland over Jets - Another one that I was unsure of. I think my sour taste with Le'Veon Bell forced me to make this decision. Jeez, what would I have done if AB had stayed a Raider?

Seattle over Philadelphia - I hate picking all the favorites, and if ever there was a game to take the underdog, I figured this one was it.

Detroit over Washington - Maybe the Redskins can pull this out??? I didn't have as much faith by the deadline.

Tennessee over Jacksonville - Another good match. I think the Titans have an edge at home.

Dallas over New England - Call me crazy.

San Francisco over Green Bay - Hmm...do the 49ers come back from their loss? At home?

Baltimore over Rams - I'm dreading that the two AFC teams that might be in the Super Bowl are the two teams I really, really hate.

Indiana Birthday trip - the beginning

When I was young, I thought I might have some seer abilities. My aunt would say this was because I wanted to control my life, and she is probably correct, but I knew most times when the phone was going to ring before it did, and this led me to believe I had powers.

I sort of still think that at times.

When my husband first suggested going to Indiana "for my birthday," really so he could cross off see a Notre Dame game off his bucket list, I didn't jump up and down. A football game in South Bend in November?

Me: "It'll be snowing!"

Tom: "in November? Please. It'll be fall weather."

Me: "You truly don't pay attention to happenings in my life, do you?"

But, I understand wanting things, and for some reason, Tom is a Notre Dame fan, and since he rarely takes off of work to do things, who was I to be a Debbie Downer? We bought the plane tickets, alerted my brother and SIL, and my brother scored the tickets to the game.

A week before we left, I had a bad feeling. Two days before we left, it snowed twelve inches in South Bend, and the highest temperatures for the week were 35. The bad feeling returned with a vengeance, and despite excitement at spending time with my family, it didn't go away.

We woke up at 4:00 a.m. I hadn't gone to bed until way after one o'clock after the Steelers game where all the drama occurred, and that sporting event also did not help in contributing to my feelings. Madison was elected to drive us to the airport. I had suggested someone else because the girl had to work a twelve-hour day, and the drive is across the bridge, and, yeah, I didn't feel good about it.

Tom: "Why wouldn't she take us?"

Off we went. Tom drove to the airport and pulled up at the drop-off. We unloaded, kissed Madison, and headed inside. We had only one suitcase, and I stepped up to the kiosk to register it. I got all the way through the process, giving the bag to Tom, and submitted it only to have it come back with an error. I tried it again. Same thing. I moved to another kiosk and started again. This time I gave the suitcase to myself. Success!

While we waited for the tag to print, my phone rang. It was Madison on the other end. Immediately I knew. My hands shook when I answered. She was crying. She had hit another car in the parking lot.

Frankly, that was a relief as it meant she was reachable, but we had to get our luggage tagged and then wait in line for a human to take it. I had to give my license since the case was registered to me. I told the lady my daughter had hit another car. She processed us quickly, and we went outside to find Madison.

Tom got there first. In events like this, I defer to him. It has more to do with him working and earning a paycheck, I think, more than the whole male/female thing. Or maybe not... He stood and surveyed the cars.

I pushed him out of the way and grabbed Madison into a hug. She began sobbing and apologizing and the woman of the car she'd scraped, because really she'd miscalculated on pulling away and the two back ends rubbed against each other, was saying nice things about mother being there for Madison making me think she'd been kind. Apparently, not the case, but I didn't learn about that until later.

We reassured Madison. She'd done everything she'd needed to do with the woman in exchanging information. Tom watched her drive off. We rode the escalator to the shuttle. I opened my wallet to get my license to pass through the agent to the shuttle. Nothing. No license.

I panicked. Tom rolled his eyes. We tried to find the escalator to take us back to the ticket floor, which was harder than we knew. I rechecked my wallet because I couldn't believe the woman hadn't given me back my license. Turns out, I hadn't put it back where it belonged in my need to get to Madison.

Tom: "Are you kidding me?"

I burst into tears. Tom stared at me. I didn't bother to explain. 

I wiped my eyes, sucked up my feelings, and we head off to security, where we ended up in different lines due to my misunderstanding of something an agent said. Tom rolled through security. I took forever.

Once we got to the gate, I left to get water. When I returned, Tom was nowhere to be found. Which isn't unusual when we travel. I sat down and promptly called Madison, who had just texted that she was back home. She cried some more. She told me the lady was NOT nice after the scraping incident, yelling and saying unkind things. We talked everything through while I watched group A and group line up to the board. Group C was our boarding letter, and I was wrapping up our phone call when my phone started buzzing.

Me: "I still don't see your dad, but now he's calling me. Why can't the man just sit?"

Turns out, I was at the wrong gate. While I was sitting in the area where the podium to our gate stood, the gate was behind me several feet. The only person in that area was my husband. I started crying again. I gave my boarding pass and went through only to get stopped by the long line of people waiting to board the plane. I turned just in time to see Tom get pulled at the entrance. What?

He disappeared. The line moved. Six more people entered behind me. No Tom. I called his phone, and it went to voice mail. I frantically texted Madison that Tom had been pulled. The line moved. I could no longer see the gate entrance. I called again. Texted. Nothing. I panicked. What to do, what to do? Should I go back? Get on the plane?

Tom answered his phone laughing and then I saw him come around the corner. He had been pulled due to a luggage concern. Apparently, at our kiosk with the errors, it still registered Tom with luggage. He had to go to the airline counter where he had to wait in a long line only to be told all was well and to go back to the gate.

We were stuffed into middle seats on a full plane where I sat next to someone who was sick. 

 I cried through the taxing and long after we were in the air. Then, I pulled myself together and thanked the good lord we were off.

NFL week 11

I didn’t get my picks in on time this week. I made several, picking the Steelers as always, but I was undecided on a couple games and left it for later, missing the deadline. It's been a lousy week beginning with TNF and ending with a trip out of the state.

First, I’m going to address what occurred Thursday night with eight seconds left in the Steelers/Browns game. Three thoughts before it happened?

1. Are we playing the Bengals?
2. Three helmet to helmet hits by Cleveland players that have knocked out three major Steelers players? Something is fishy.
3. The Browns were winning, yet why are they so angry?

Funny enough, during the play, my eyes were on Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph. I was concerned. Not only was he frustrated, but he was getting late hits that weren’t being called. I saw Myles Garrett take him down before the cameraman cut to follow the ball’s trajectory. 

My thoughts:

1. Nice, gentle takedown but unnecessary with .8 seconds left and the game basically over.
2. Probably should have drawn a flag.

Then came the moment. If you follow football—heck, even if you don’t—you’ve seen it. The scuffle between Garrett and Rudolph on the ground, which escalated until Garrett ripped off Rudolph’s helmet and hit him in the head with it. Steelers guard David DeCastro got between the two, pushing Garrett around the field. Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey who had joined DeCastro to help, saw the helmet hit, and he lost it, pummeling Garrett until DeCastro took him to the ground where Pouncey then kicked the man. 

Nothing new when the Steelers play their division rivals. 

But...seriously?

I barely slept, and I had to be up at 4:00 a.m. for an early flight to Indiana. Twitter went wild. The football analyst was shell-shocked. There was talk of charges being levied against Garrett. It went viral. 

Here are my thoughts:

1. David DeCastro should’ve been more of a topic. He was handling the situation the way it should’ve been dealt with. He got in between the two men to separate them. After the hit, he subdued the abuser, taking him to the ground. He had it handled!
2. For Maurkice Pouncey to erupt, the way he did is inexcusable. I’m tired of everyone talking about his protection of his quarterback. No, DeCastro’s protection of his quarterback was correct. Pouncey’s anger? Kicking a man when he was defenseless and being held down on the ground? That video is horrendous. Had that been a police officer, we would be calling for his job.
3. The hit by Garrett on Rudolph? Same thing. Inexcusable. He is so lucky he didn’t seriously hurt the Steelers quarterback. Hit him in the crown, and he’d be facing charges. 
4. Rudolph isn’t innocent. He took exception to the takedown, and words were exchanged. Garrett refused to get off Rudolph, so Rudolph tried to take off Garrett’s helmet. Childish, sure, but typical in football. Doesn’t make it right, but the BROWNS WERE WINNING. Why was Garrett rubbing it in? At some point, the high road has to be taken. By both sides.
5. The Browns are the most penalized team this year in the NFL. Browns coach Freddie Kitchens, just like fired Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, is responsible for not nipping that in the bud. It’s a problem. The NFL should be addressing that. Why aren’t they? Before things get out of control. 

I thought the four analysts on Fox on Sunday made the most sense. This action shouldn’t define Myles Garrett. He immediately apologized. He’s now lost his job indefinitely. It was a stupid moment in his life that he will regret and think about forever. 

What hasn’t been discussed? The anger from both sides. My husband reminded me how most hockey games have this type of brawl in each game. Why is that? It shouldn’t be the norm. It shouldn’t be all accepted. Is this how we want our kids to play sports?

I’m glad to step away from the NFL this week while I spend time with family. I got my football fix at the Notre Dame/Navy game, which was full of respect, not only for our military people past and present but for the players and the fans. 

It was the first game I watched that didn’t have a million thrown flags. It was serene. Respectful. Laidback. Nothing happened, but the game. The students behaved. The fans cheered for the opposite teams' band upon entrance into the stadium. 

At the end of the game, one in which Notre Dame dominated, scoring over 50 points, both teams went to Navy’s end of the field and stood while their band played the Navy school song and then both teams hiked to the opposite end where the ND band did the same thing. Every person in the stadium stood in dead silence for both songs, cheering at the end of each. 

That’s the way sports should be. The NFL could learn something from these two teams. 

I heart you

Sometime in September, while I was rolling along on the exercise train, I began noticing my heart skipping and jumping and doing a happy dance. Nothing I hadn't experienced before because I'd been diagnosed years ago with premature ventricular contractions and premature atrial contractions. I wore a Holter monitor and had an ultrasound of my heart, and everything came back normal. My children were toddlers then, under the age of 5, and it was a relief to know all was well.

Because my dad died of a massive heart attack, my brother and I are very conscious of that organ. I have high blood pressure, and when my PVC's or PAC's come on strong enough for me to feel them, it is usually accompanied by a spike in my blood pressure, and my medications are tweaked. I had experienced that very thing over a year ago. But this time, my blood pressure was low. Although now the powers to be have changed the required BP standard so that anything lower than 120/80 is considered excellent.

Yeah, but that isn't normal for ME. I explained this to my regular doctor, whom I sought because the skipping heart was making me cray-cray. She didn't care. My bp at that reading was 112/65 and was considered EXCELLENT. She gave me an EKG and, as all my EKG's do, it read abnormal with regular sinus rhythm. The doctor then turned to my last EKG done in 2010, and in comparing the two, she found a difference.

Her: "You may have had a mild heart attack in the past. I'm not saying you did, but it is a possibility."

I did not freak out. I've been saying for years, at certain times, that my heart hurts, and perhaps I am having a heart attack. I sort of say it in jest, but I also say it in case I keel over clutching my heart. Did I mention how my father died?

Apparently, not everyone in my family believes me. Here is a time in 2009 when I announced that very thing.

I reminded my doctor about the LifeScan, where I had also had an EKG one year ago. She compared that one with this one, and it was the same. The "heart attack" happened between 2010 and 2018.

She suggested I see a cardiologist, and I jumped on that. Yes! Shouldn't I have had one of those already? Naturally, I could not get in to see one for two weeks, so I lived with my irregular heart and became even crazier, although I took great joy in reminding my family how they never believed me when I claimed a heart attack.

I took my LifeScan paperwork to the cardiologist. She did an EKG and explained to me that it is rare for an EKG to be healthy on a woman because we have breasts that block the very area where they need to place the leads. I have large breasts, so I have a double whammy. She was not concerned about the EKG difference, and that was the end of that.

When she examed me, my heart behaved and jumped. A PVC. She explained it was normal, and said in times of stress, women issues, etc. it happens more frequently. Great. Add another blow to being a woman.

In my mass of paperwork from the LifeScan, she found my stress test, all normal, and the work-up on the angiogram I had done with contrasting dye. Highly impressed, she told me that was the granddaddy of all tests, something she would've never ordered for me, and she had absolutely no worries about my heart because that test had come back clean and clear as a whistle.

I told her it was driving me nuts.

She put a Holter monitor on me for 48 hours and suggested I start drinking electrolytes.

I left the office, took the elevator downstairs to my gym, and began working out. My heart jumped and skipped the entire hour and the hour after that, and I just knew I was going to be able to say TOLD YOU to my new cardiologist.

Then I went to Pennsylvania, and my heart hasn't done it since then. My follow-up visit with the cardiologist showed precisely what the last monitor had shown back in the day. I have PVC's and PAC's, and they are all within the normal range.

Her: "I have no concerns about your heart. Yes, the PVC's can make you worry more. Yours are normal. You only had one couplet where they were back to back. All normal. I don't have blood work on you (which I had taken that very day for my primary doctor), but I don't see anything with your heart that shouts WARNING. Go into the world and live your life."

She tweaked my medications. Four days later, I had my yearly physical where my blood work came back EXCELLENT. Not only was my cholesterol lower than its been in years, but everything else was EXCELLENT. That's the word my primary kept using. She told me to hop back on the exercise train, relax, follow the cardiologist's advice, and maybe since getting away from home helped, leave town.

She was kidding about the last part, but, hey, maybe there is something to that.

I think I'll add it to my 2020 resolutions.

Tales of my dog - pb

We are terrible pet owners. We feed our dog people food.

But here's the thing, and I've written this many times, I didn't want a dog. Or a pet for that matter, especially after our fish committed hara-kiri (okay, he didn't disembowel himself, but he did jump out of his bowl to his death), and my kids never took care of the turtle. My point is that had I planned for a pet, I would've been prepared, studied up on pet ownership. I did not. Plus, my dad was from the farm. Dogs on the farm eat scraps from people's dinner. Hell, the chickens eat chicken scraps. There was no special pet food for farm animals in my father's day, and so when we had leftover bones and meat, he threw it out the back door for the neighborhood dogs.

Who lived healthy and long lives, FYI. Just sayin'.

My dog has his likes and dislikes of people food. He loves lettuce, preferably with a little dressing, but he won't eat a raw carrot. Green beans are a favorite, but pumpkin causes him to vomit. He is a dog who begs, but he will usually give up eventually if he doesn't get his way. If we are eating at a table. Which we rarely do.

This month I got bored with lunchmeat and salads, and so I switched things up with a little peanut butter on an English muffin. My dog loves peanut butter, and when Elliot heard the lid opening, he stood at my feet with his big, brown, soulful eyes. I let him lick what was left on my knife.

The next day I started to give him the knife and then thought how it probably wasn't a good idea for him to lick a knife even if it was just a table knife, and like all the knives in my house, not sharp at all. But I put a little dab of peanut butter on a paper plate, and he happily got some exercise chasing the plate all around the kitchen's tiled floor until he'd had his fill and walked away.

Since that worked out well, I did the paper plate technique again the next day, but he had also learned and knew to hold the plate with his paw so that he could avoid the exercise part of my trickery. Whatever. I had lunch to eat and writing to get back to, and I ate my lunch in peace. When I finished and stood up to wash my dishes, I found this on the floor behind me.

Apparently, he needed some fiber to go with that peanut butter.

Monday morning recap week 10

Ugh. I didn't get the note that Matt Stafford was out because of back pain, announced right before kickoff, so I didn't get him switched on my fantasy team.

Steelers:

• The name of the game now in the NFL is: protect the football. You have it, by god, make sure you keep it. I lost count of how many forced fumbles we had in this game and in the other games played on Sunday. Wrap two arms around that baby and HOLD THE FUCKING ball! Can guys not run with both arms cradling an object? It's crazy how easy it is anymore to pop out the ball, yet players still run with one arm dangling.
• Here's an idea. Practice at home. Let your wives walk you through it because, believe me, mothers know how to protect an object in their arms. 
• I guess we should be thanking the refs for not blowing the ball dead when Goff got hit before he could come forward with his arm. The ball bounced on the ground and into Minkh Fitzpatrick's arms. He took the ball and ran into the end zone for the TD. That's the kind of play the refs keep blowing dead, but, hey, maybe their learning.
• Another missed kick by the opposing team that looked suspiciously like the one last week by Adam Vinatieri. 
• Defense again this week. Three sacks. Three takeaways. Eight forced punts. Pressured Goff. Scored. Slowly stitching the holes in the Steel Curtain!
• Mike Tomlin actually won a challenge and, in doing so, about broke Twitter when he did.
• Good team win for my guys. They are a more cohesive team with a positive mentality than the units of the last five years. I'll take that over everything. Proud of them. Now we have to get our offense rolling, especially with JuJu.

Other:

• It was nice to see Robert Griffith III back on the NFL field. I hadn't even known he was still in the league. He's the backup quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens? How did I miss that?
• RGIII lined up and got an option pitch from Jackson for the first down. Scott Hanson was pumped because RGIII, Mark Ingram, and Lamar Jackson were all Heismann trophy winners on the field at the same time. "I don't think there's ever been a play maybe in NFL history where there were three Heismann trophy winners lined up in the backfield on the same play. That's remarkable stuff right there."
• Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston threw his 13th interception for the year--the worst in the NFL--on the opening drive. Better to get it over with and out of the way at the beginning, huh?
• The Ravens Lamar Jackson had himself a game. I'm not disputing that, but can we also remember the Ravens were playing the 0-8 Bengals? I'd have been worried if Jackson didn't have himself a banner game.
• The Saints had four illegal hands to the face called in their game against the 1-7 Falcons. Jeez, was that something the defense had a bounty on getting away with today?
• A crazy, exciting game in Tampa at the end of the third quarter. A tipped ball thrown by Winston was recovered by the Arizona Cardinals, who then, in the next play, had the ball ripped from a receiver's hands for a fumble. The Bucs missed the FG, but a penalty by the Cardinals gave them a second chance, and this time the kicker made it for 3 points. 
• It was the week for the losers (well, except for the Bengals) with the Browns, the Jets, and the Falcons recording wins to improve their records. What?
• Best play of the day? The Cardinals faking a punt on fourth down for a reverse flea-flicker back to the punter who threw a BEAUTIFUL pass ?? down the field for the first down.
• Six sacks by the Atlanta defense on Drew Brees, who spent way more time on the ground than he did throwing passes.
• Snow flurries in Lambeau but nothing that stuck. Credit their defense for their win. Great stuff at the one-yard line to pull out the W.

NFL 2019-2020 picks week 10

Apparently, someone from my husband's work is reading my blog. Before he gave up the URL, my husband read "four entries". I guessed that was to make sure it was appropriate to pass to a co-worker as I recently told him he was fodder for the blog. He had a few things to say, mainly pointing out inaccuracies in my entry on the opossum.

Me: "What was incorrect?"

Him: "The whole husband's mindset and leaving the door opened."

Me: "You do have that mindset. You believe if a burglar wants to get into a house, he will."

Him: "He will."

Me: "Exactly. So, that wasn't incorrect. As for the leaving the door opened, was the garage door and the front door opened when I got home that night?"

Him: "It was."

Me: "And when you left the house this morning while Madison and I were still tucked into bed, did you leave the front door open?"

Him: "Okay, well you have way too much football stuff on your blog. I'm just letting you know that as a novice and new reader to the blog, it's too much football."

Hello, Tom's co-worker, thanks for taking an interest. FYI...I write about the NFL on Sunday and Monday for those who have an interest and for those who don't, but who read me so they have something to discuss by the water cooler on Mondays as if they do watch football. Skip those days during the season if you have zero interest!

Last Week 8-6

Overall 78-57

Madison 0-2

Oakland over Chargers - I said last year the Raiders would build up to be a team to watch. They're getting there.

Detroit over Chicago - Maddy picked Chicago. So did Darcy who was home and included. Tom and I went with the Lions so we have a split here at home. Now I'm thinking maybe I should've gone with the home team.

Baltimore over Cincinnati - Yeah, uh, no brainer.

Buffalo over Cleveland - Both teams are meh. The Browns are at home so there is that small advantage. Maddy leaned more toward the Browns. I stayed with my original gut feeling.

Kansas City over Tennessee - Patrick Mahomes back this week? Either way, I like the Chiefs for this one.

New Orleans over Atlanta - Both coming back from a bye. Yeah, who we kidding?

Giants over Jets - Again, hard not to go this way.

Tampa Bay over Arizona - Maddy's and Darcy's pick went to Arizona. I went against their advice. Call me a rebel.

Indianapolis over Miami - This week seems like a no-brainer, although there is always a chance.

Green Bay over Carolina - The Packers had a lousy last week. The Panthers lost Cam Newton for the season this week. Aaron Rodgers won't lose again.

Pittsburgh over Rams - No one is picking my Steelers. You know my feeling...gotta support my team. Defense! Defense! Defense!

Dallas over Minnesota - I went with the home team. This should be a good game tonight.

San Francisco over Seattle - I had the 49ers but I don't believe it will be easy against Russell Wilson who is in the MVP talk already for this season. Good MNF game for a change.