I cannot recall a time when I was LESS prepared for the start of an NFL season. Between teaching and writing and moving, I've been blindsided, insert obligatory reference to Kurt Warner getting sacked here.
What? Kurt Warner is no longer in the league? Oh no! Well at least Matt Leinert will finally get his shot.
What?
Oh, okay. Derek Anderson. You don't happen to know if the Cardinals got the 2007 version, do you? D.A. was awesome to watch that year. Not so much the last coupla years, though.
I am unprepared for class. But like any number of my overzealous, underprepared students, I will spout off as if I've done my homework.
Just to put this all in perspective, I was super prepared last season, living up in Billings with not much to do. How did those predictions go? Let's take a look back, shall we?
Super Bowl: Chargers 26, Vikings 13. LaDainian Tomlinson caps a great season with a 190-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Vikes. Brett Favre can't win it all in his final NFL game.
On the plus side, the Vikings got to the NFC Championship Game. The Chargers were good, but again underperformed in the playoffs. LT didn't cap a great season, and Favre is back for more.
NFC East: Giants
NFC North: Vikings
NFC South: Falcons
NFC West: Cardinals
Wild Cards: Packers, Saints
AFC East: Patriots
AFC North: Ravens
AFC South: Titans
AFC West: Chargers
Wild Cards: Steelers, Texans
4-for-6 in the NFC. The Giants went 8-8 and took third in the East, and the Falcons (I predicted they'd have homefield advantage throughout) went 9-7 and were the best team not to make the playoffs.
3-for-6 in the AFC, which is especially bad because I didn't even pick the Colts (14-2) to make the postseason.
So given that I was barely at .500 last year, what could possibly go wrong this year, when I know nothing?
Here goes:
Surprises:
1) I said it last year, and I'll say it again. The Lions. They'll be better than we think. They've won just two games in two seasons, but this year they could win seven. I love Stafford, but then again, I loved Matt Ryan last year and that didn't work out so well. I should know better than to get excited about second-year QBs, but I'm going with seven wins for the Lions this year.
2) The top running back this season will be Michael Turner of the Falcons. I say this not because I am sure of it, but because I like to pick against the obvious choices. Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson are awesome, but it's gonna be someone else. I like that Turner isn't getting the press this year he was getting last season. Another weird choice: LeSean McCoy of the Eagles.
3) First coach fired: Lovie Smith, Bears. Too many Cutler-isms (that's when your team drives down the field like nothing can stop them, and then, once you're at the five-yard-line, Jay Cutler seemingly aims a pass into the chest of an opposing linebacker) will doom Lovie this time.
4) The one team that everyone loves that won't make the playoffs: The Baltimore Ravens. Yes, they've been annointed Super Bowl champs by just about every expert this preseason. That rarely works. The Steelers will come on strong once their shady QB waits out his suspension, and I can't wait to see the Bengals with that defense, Ocho Cinco and Terrell Owens. I think the Ravens will start slow and find it hard to recover in a tough division. 9-7, maybe 8-8, and watching the playoffs from home for Baltimore.
5) MVP -- Okay, I'll bite. Aaron Rodgers of the Packers. I don't like hype, but I like him. And my husband thinks he's soooo handsome.
NFC East: Redskins (Shanahan and McNabb equals paydirt)
NFC North: Packers
NFC South: Saints
NFC West: 49ers
Wild Cards: Falcons, Giants
Hard to pick against the Eagles and the Vikings, but that's how I see it. The Packers and Saints get the byes. The Redskins host the Giants and beat them, and the 49ers host the Falcons and lose. The Skins head to New Orleans and lose in a close one, and the Falcons don't do so well in snowy Green Bay. The Pack over the Saints in a nailbiter at Lambeau in the championship game.
AFC East: Jets
AFC North: Bengals
AFC South: Colts
AFC West: Chargers
Wild Cards: Patriots, Texans
I have trouble believing the Ravens won't be there in January. But I like this Bengals team, as much as everyone is sure they'll implode, and I also like the Texans to take that next step. Colts and Chargers get the byes. The Jets host the Texans and win, and the Patriots travel to Cincy and get stomped by the Bengals. That means a rematch of the Jets in San Diego, and what happens every year the Chargers host a playoff game? Yeah, it happens again. And there are two upsets, because the Bengals find a way to take out Peyton Manning and the Colts. That leaves a championship game at the new Meadowlands, and I'll take the Jets into the SB.
Super Bowl: Aaron Rodgers vs. Darelle Revis. Rodgers wins this battle. Packers 26, Jets 22.
That's how I see it!
Jan
12
The blog formerly known as...
...Wadorf to Your Astoria is done. Through. Finished.
This will be the final post here.
But fear not! If you go over to my brand-spankin' new website, billkonigsberg.com, you will see that I am still blogging over there. And on that site, powered by the fine folks at wordpress, you may comment using your Facebook account.
Sorry, Blogger. We liked you, but we needed more. We needed actual comments!
So thanks to those of you who perused this blog regularly.
This will be the final post here.
But fear not! If you go over to my brand-spankin' new website, billkonigsberg.com, you will see that I am still blogging over there. And on that site, powered by the fine folks at wordpress, you may comment using your Facebook account.
Sorry, Blogger. We liked you, but we needed more. We needed actual comments!
So thanks to those of you who perused this blog regularly.
Dec
27
To Recap...
Just four more days in 2012... Hard to believe how quickly --
Who the hell am I kidding?
This was the slowest year in the history of man. I don't mean that in a bad way. It just went slowly. To me, last December seems like years ago.
It was a great, slow year:
1. My agent sold my next book, Openly Straight, to Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic).
2. I got involved in a very cool project at ASU, to be explained/described in due time.
3.
Who the hell am I kidding?
This was the slowest year in the history of man. I don't mean that in a bad way. It just went slowly. To me, last December seems like years ago.
It was a great, slow year:
1. My agent sold my next book, Openly Straight, to Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic).
2. I got involved in a very cool project at ASU, to be explained/described in due time.
3.
Dec
21
Finding the perfect partner
People often ask me: Bill, how did you find the perfect man?
Okay, no one outside of my head has ever asked me that. While people do often say nice stuff about Chuck, about him being handsome and funny and kind, I have found that people rarely ask questions:
A) Like the aforementioned outside of bad movies and trashy novels
B) Of me in general in which advice of any kind is sought.
So while this has not been asked of me, I do feel as though I have some expertise on the subject.
Okay, no one outside of my head has ever asked me that. While people do often say nice stuff about Chuck, about him being handsome and funny and kind, I have found that people rarely ask questions:
A) Like the aforementioned outside of bad movies and trashy novels
B) Of me in general in which advice of any kind is sought.
So while this has not been asked of me, I do feel as though I have some expertise on the subject.
Dec
10
Now Me vs. Later Me
About four months ago, I took a home test and found that my blood sugar was in the "pre-diabetes" range.
I can't say I was shocked, because it wasn't the first time I'd had that result. But I was horrified, because it was rising from the last time I'd had it checked. I decided that if I wanted to avoid having diabetes, I needed to change my diet and my exercise.
I did both.
I can't say I was shocked, because it wasn't the first time I'd had that result. But I was horrified, because it was rising from the last time I'd had it checked. I decided that if I wanted to avoid having diabetes, I needed to change my diet and my exercise.
I did both.
Oct
31
The Shoulds
Tomorrow is the first day of NaNoWriMo, also known as National Novel Writing Month. Every November, all sorts of writers take on the challenge of trying to write a draft of a novel in a month. Note that I say "Draft," because very, very few novels are finished in one draft, and while some writers might be able to draft and then revise a novel in a month, I don't think that's a very realistic goal.
For me, especially.
For me, especially.
Oct
25
DON'T De-Friend Me
I'll tell you what, people who plan to vote for Mitt Romney:
I disagree with you, and not just a little. Your support of the Romney/Ryan ticket feels like a kick to the stomach, because as a gay man, this stuff is personal to me.
But you know what? Don't de-friend me.
In his Huffington Post blog post on Oct.
I disagree with you, and not just a little. Your support of the Romney/Ryan ticket feels like a kick to the stomach, because as a gay man, this stuff is personal to me.
But you know what? Don't de-friend me.
In his Huffington Post blog post on Oct.
Oct
23
The Gay Jackie Robinson?
What would happen at an all-boys boarding school in Massachusetts if an athlete came out as gay?
This is NOT the subject of my upcoming novel, Openly Straight. In fact, it is the setting for that novel, but it is the plot of my first novel, Out of the Pocket.
I mention it because of a comment I received last week from a former student at a school I visited three years ago.
This is NOT the subject of my upcoming novel, Openly Straight. In fact, it is the setting for that novel, but it is the plot of my first novel, Out of the Pocket.
I mention it because of a comment I received last week from a former student at a school I visited three years ago.
Oct
18
Openly Straight - The Cover
Here it is, boys and girls! The cover of my forthcoming novel "Openly Straight."
Like it? I love it!
I love that it is a visual representation of the story. Given a choice of all the labels my main character, Seamus Rafael Goldberg, can choose, he chooses the most innocuous one. He just wants to be a "normal kid."
I had no idea, when I wrote this, about how much I was writing about myself. That's how clueless I can be about myself.
Like it? I love it!
I love that it is a visual representation of the story. Given a choice of all the labels my main character, Seamus Rafael Goldberg, can choose, he chooses the most innocuous one. He just wants to be a "normal kid."
I had no idea, when I wrote this, about how much I was writing about myself. That's how clueless I can be about myself.
Oct
3
Using Songs in Novels
Today I've decided to be one of those helpful authors and let you know what happens when you attempt to use copywritten song lyrics in your novel. So if you are not a regular reader of this blog, I'm guessing you found me because you just used those lyrics to Rapture by Blondie in your novel, and then you thought, "Wait. Can I do this?"
The answer is: yes and no.
I love using lyrics.
The answer is: yes and no.
I love using lyrics.
Sep
7
Vacation, all I ever wanted...
We are back from our first full-fledged vacation in about three years!
Chuck, Mabel and I went to Northern California for two weeks, and what can I say? Paradise!
We had such an amazing time doing nothing and loving it. We drove about 900 miles each way and stayed for nine days at a place called Driftwood Bungalow in Manchester, California. It's about 150 miles north of San Francisco, about 30 miles south of Mendocino.
Nothing is there, and that's how we wanted it.
Chuck, Mabel and I went to Northern California for two weeks, and what can I say? Paradise!
We had such an amazing time doing nothing and loving it. We drove about 900 miles each way and stayed for nine days at a place called Driftwood Bungalow in Manchester, California. It's about 150 miles north of San Francisco, about 30 miles south of Mendocino.
Nothing is there, and that's how we wanted it.
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