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!
...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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I have been a highly effective person at times in my life. You don't become successful in a creative field without working diligently. It simply doesn't happen. Likewise, it's about impossible to succeed in any endeavor without concerted effort. I don't mean to brag, but when I'm on, I'm really on.
I woke up this morning thinking about the novel I am working on, BEST OF BIPOLAR DISORDER. There is a fantasy element in the novel. It's the first time I am working with an element of the fantastic in a novel.
This makes me nervous.
This makes me nervous.
So I had a HUGE treat yesterday... I got to have lunch with the former student who served as the inspiration for the character "Carrie" in OUT OF THE POCKET!
I hadn't seen her in nine years.
I hadn't seen her in nine years.
I have a new book deal!
I've wanted to scream it from the top of a mountain for the entire world to hear for the past couple months, but I couldn't -- not until the deal was signed and official. Well, it is now signed and official.
I've wanted to scream it from the top of a mountain for the entire world to hear for the past couple months, but I couldn't -- not until the deal was signed and official. Well, it is now signed and official.
Chuck said something yesterday that really struck me. It was a comment about how things have changed in his lifetime, especially for gay people.
The novel I am currently working on involves a journey taken by two best friends: Duffy and Aisha.
Duffy is 17, straight-but-different, and bipolar. He has lived his entire life in Billings, Montana.
Aisha is 19, a lesbian, and black.
Duffy is 17, straight-but-different, and bipolar. He has lived his entire life in Billings, Montana.
Aisha is 19, a lesbian, and black.
Contrary to the title, this posting is not about how I used to trudge four miles to school through the snow, and how "The Kids These Days" don't know how good they have it.
Instead, I want to focus on something that I feel "The Kids These Days" don't have.
Instead, I want to focus on something that I feel "The Kids These Days" don't have.
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