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NFL picks......or Wade's Best Guess...is it the Year of the Tiger?

In the recent issue of ESPN the Magazine, they printed their NFL predictions for this year. Actually not sure if I should say it is their picks, because they based their predictions on STATS. THEY went with analytics. They turned to some of NFL's smartest stat heads. 

At first I thought their Stat heads were way off base. They actually picked the Dolphins to win the AFC East..... What? 

They picked the Saints to finish last in the NFC south.....

They picked Denver and Seattle to go to the Super Bowl with the Broncos taking home the prize.

Like I said, at first I thought some of their picks were cracked.

Then it came time for me to put in my 1.5 cents.

This year I did not look at each game, so therefore, I did not pick a winner of each game.

What I did do, was look at each division. I thought about (based on division, schedule, current states of teams, etc) who would win the division, who would come in second, etc, then from that I picked the wild cards and so on.........

So not to bore you any longer (if you are still reading) ...

Here are my picks for this year's NFL season....

BUT before I get to them, this will be one of the closest NFL seasons ever. In many of the divisions, it can easily go differently. 

AFC EAST

1-New England 

2-Miami

3-Buffalo

4-New York 

AFC NORTH

1-Cincinnati

2-Baltimore

3-Pittsburgh

4-Cleveland

AFC SOUTH

1-Indianapolis 

2-Houston

3-Jacksonville 

4-Tennessee 

AFC WEST

1-Denver

2-Kansas City

3-Oakland 

4-San Diego

NFC EAST

1-Dallas 

2- Washington 

3-New York

4-Philadelphia 

NFC NORTH

1-Green Bay

2-Chicago

3-Minnesota 

4-Detroit 

NFC SOUTH

1-Atlanta

2-New Orleans 

3-Carolina

4-Tampa Bay

NFC WEST

1-Seattle

2-San Francisco

3-Arizona 

4-St. Louis

BUT, I wouldn't be surprised if .....

Arizona wins the NFC west.....

Any team wins the NFC south.....

Chicago jumps Green Bay....

So here we go...

AFC PLAYOFF TEAMS

New England

Cincinnati 

Denver

Indianapolis 

Baltimore - Wild Card

Miami - Wild Card

NFC PLAYOFF TEAMS

Atlanta

Seattle

Green Bay

Dallas 

New Orleans - Wild Card

San Francisco - Wild Card

It gets harder from here......any team in the WADE playoffs can go to the Super Bowl.....but with much thought, here are my thoughts.......trust me it was tough.....In the AFC I think it will be down to Cincinnati or Denver, but my gut tells me.........

In the NFC it is almost like a coin toss..the glamorous pick for many is Seattle, and they just might do it...

I'm not drinking the Dallas cactus juice or the West coast Peace train juice or eating the 49er bandwagon beans, but the NFC IS really up in the air......so with much thought (about ten minutes)......

SUPER BOWL MATCH UP

Cincinnati Bengals (my first thought was Denver, but i kept going back to the Bengals) VS.  Seattle Seahawks   

SUPER BOWL CHAMP

CINCINNATI BENGALS!!!!!!

There you go. 

3 Meals

While strolling Magazine St (New Orleans) this weekend, we picked up a copy of the September 2013 issue of OFF BEAT magazine. 

This happened to be the food issue.

On page 20, the article "Desert Island Dish" caught my eye. The writers wrote about anxiety after Hurricane Katrina on whether or not they would ever be able to enjoy some of their favorite New Orleans dishes.

I honestly think most of us had that feeling. I know I did. What if some of our favorite restaurants would not re open? 

We did experience this some with restaurants not opening when others did. Some raising their prices just so they can keep the doors open. It was a rough time for the owners and their patrons. 

The writers of this article interviewed several people in the New Orleans music scene on what 3 dishes they would recommend you eat.......just in case something happens (like Katrina) and you won't get to eat them again. 

The article was quite interesting with dishes ranging from the Double-cut grilled pork chop from Houston's, to the Blackened redfish at Jacques-Imo's, to the Peacemaker po-boy at Mahoney's, to the Shrimp and Grits at Grand Isle.

It was a very mouth watering list. (You can check the article out. Pick a copy in the city or go to www.offbeat.com.)

As usual, reading this got me thinking about some of my favorite dishes.

I always say that if you told me I can go eat at one restaurant and then I would never eat again, I would have to go to Broussard's in the French Quarter.  It is THAT good.

What 3 dishes would I want to eat if I knew I could never eat again?

This was actually a very hard thing to think on. I have had so many great dishes in the city. 

So I helped myself by making my own rules. 

I picked my favorite dish (this was the easy part). Then I made myself put a sandwich on the list. And then my last choice would be something great, but not necessarily hard to get.

The 3 choices I came up with can be put in front of me at any time day or night and I would be happy.

Of course there were MANY dishes that didn't make the list, but thats not to say they didn't deserve to be on it. 

So here are my three choices: 

The Louisiana Bouillabaisse from BROUSSARD'S in the French Quarter. 

http://www.broussards.com/

This is my favorite dish from my favorite place. It is a tomato saffron stock, chock full of fresh Louisiana seafood. I can literally die aft eating this. I get this dish ( except for three occasions) each time we go to Broussard's. I love it.

My next choice is a sandwich. 

The Corned Beef and Swiss ( with those delicious French fries at CAFE MASPERO in the French Quarter. 

http://cafemaspero.com/

Really you can't go wrong with anything at MASPERO. But this sandwich is my favorite. Also, I would have the get a bowl of their French onion soup. Every time!

My last choice is something you can get all over the USA. It is BBQ. But not just any ole BBQ. 

I LOVE the Brisket plate with 2 sides from UGLY DOG SALOON in New Orleans' Warehouse District. 

http://www.uglydogsaloon.net/

When you first step into the Ugly Dog, your nose will tell you that your belly will be happy.

The menu is small so it is easy on your brain. Each dish comes with 2 sides. I always get the Chilli beans (served in a mug) and either the Slaw or Potato salad. Since this is my blog, I will take both. The food is cheap and Awesome. 

Again, this list was hard but the three dishes chosen would make my stomach happy.

I could have picked several others. But this is my list.

I thank God often for the blessing of being born and raised in a wonderful area with so much great food. 

Not being biased but we are truly blessed to live in South Louisiana. 

So until your next Crawfish Boil or your next eating trip to the city, Aways thank the Good Lord for what you have and never take for granted the blessings He gives you.

 

Football is here ...Taking the High Road

LSU football that is.....

In the past, I have always tried to make predictions. I even went as far as picking champs in each conference, etc. but this year, I won't bore you with the gory details. Plus, I don't think my brain could take all of the thoughts. 

So I will leave it at this. 

Here are just a few predictions to get it started. 

Either LSU or Alabama will win the SEC and whoever does, will also win it all. If you "put a gun to my head" I would (sorry Tigers) pick Bama. But also look out for Florida and S. Carolina. 

Ohio State will play (and lose to) either Bama or LSU in the Championship game. 

Here are a few more NCAA Football predictions. 

Johnny Manziel will Not win the Hiesman Trophy. And it won't be Jadeveon Clowney from S. Carolina either. 

Tulane will win 6 games. 

The SEC will once again rule college football.

That's about all I have this year.

Look for my NFL predictions this week. Also we will re-visit my MLB picks to see how they are stacking up. 

GEAUX Tigers! 

TTMOLS or OPATAIS or...

I have a problem. Or a solution. Or neither. 

I think way ahead and obsess over it.

Like when we go on a trip. Sometimes I wish we could plan a trip and I not think about it constantly until a couple of weeks before. 

That, of course, would be impossible. Or would it?

I talk too much. I talk Too much about things in my head. 

Like books. I'm thinking I need to finish a short story I started reading, before starting a book I just downloaded.  The thought is normal, but I think I just said it out loud - twice. 

I don't think I have OCD, Or COD, or TTMOLS, or OPATAIS, or whatever. I can't even spell those. 

In my young adult life, if I would accidentally touch my left knee, I would make sure I would touch my right. Or if I had an itch on my right forearm, I would rub it, but then rub my left. You get the picture. 

Was there something in the water?

I make a lot of notes, but rarely look at them. And the stuff still gets done. Hmmmm?

Sometimes I say ( out loud ) that I will try to be quiet for awhile. This never works. 

I talk a lot and am comfortable talking to people, but yet I tend to shy away from the general public, If I can. Weird I know. 

Like this blog. Up until this point, I actually thought of deleting the whole thing ( this post) and moving on. But thoughts are thoughts. 

And if you ever offer me "a penny for my thoughts" you better offer up at least 10 bucks, because I have a lot of them.

Happy Saturday. Have a thought provoking day and talk about it as much as you want to. 

Back to Blog

For a long time now, I have had the desire and urge to get back to blogging on my page. Whatever blocked the actual "getting there" did a great job. If you look, you can see the huge time gap between blogs. 

It's almost embarrassing. 

But here I am. Going to give it another go. 

The blog will be as it was before. No real frills, but honest, random thoughts. I will write down what clutters my head and mind. Maybe if I write, I can think more clearly.  Who knows?  

I will write about things I like. Food, music, sports, God, etc. 

I will touch on sports, but don't worry, every blog won't be about the Dodgers or LSU. I won't make you listen to my music, but hopefully open up your music doors. 

You will get very little politics, if any. Politics actually bore me to tears. I do, however, think that we (as a society) find it very easy to blame politicians or religion on our problems. Maybe that's about all the politics you will get on this blog. 

Anyway, if you read, I hope you enjoy. If you don't.....

Paying bills

Paying bills is a blast. Seriously! Not really, but how can I complain about doing something that I cause.  I am the cause and the affect. I affects levy cause myself to have to pay bills. It's the way of the world. I live. I eat. I breath. I pay. I'm not complaining because I am blessed to have a job that affords me a way to pay these bills. One day, I might not have bills. Good Lord willing that day will be before I die. Paying bills is a blast. Now back to paying bills.