January 15, 2016

This week: NFL Playoffs, Powerball Mania, Parenting Storytime, and more...

NFL Playoffs continue - A shanked chip shot FG and two dumb personal fouls kept me from going 4-0 last weekend.  My bookie wasn't hearin' my sob story, so I'm officially 2-2 after the Chiefs won with ease (sorry Texan fans, Brian Hoyer is a lot more Billy Joe Tolliver and a lot less Warren Moon) and the Packers staved off eventual elimination for one week.  But those finishes in Cincinnati and Minnesota were maddening and shocking.  Selah, on to next week.  I see Carolina dispatching the Seahawks in convincing fashion, Arizona kicking the Packers to the curb in a tighter battle than their Week 16 matchup, Kansas City continues their march to Super Bowl 50 by beating up Brady & co., and Peyton Manning proves his 20-yd ducks are slightly more accurate than Ben Roethlisberger's 20-yd ducks as Denver wins ugly.  Who's joining me?? Dibs on the recliner.

We hit (only) the Powerball!!!! - My wife and I got caught up in the Powerball fervor this past week and put $50 in the pot the past two drawings.  A cool billion will make you do crazy things.  Laying in bed Wednesday night as the excitement built I saw the first white ball (an 8) roll into place and immediately knew our dreams of wandering the Earth in my dream coach RV went POOF.  Each subsequent white ball kicked me while I was down, but then that magic red ball rolled into place and the mini-burst of elation salvaged an experience that I never really put much faith in despite the excessive research I'd done on "how to claim my winnings".  We had the Powerball and the multiplier and E and I will happily share the $8 we'll claim later this month after setting up our LLC and telling her boss that she's taking an extended vacation.  Lottery dreams do come true.  You're all invited to her retirement party in Tahiti.

The CFP saved the best for last - The New Year's Six really stunk, but the College Football Final between Alabama and Clemson was classic.  I'm always surprised how quickly the season comes and goes, but it certainly concluded with a game you didn't want to see end.  It was a much better game than I was anticipating.  Deshaun Watson should enter next year as the Heisman frontrunner and Clemson has a very good chance to be back in the title game.  But they've gotta get past a pesky Auburn team to start the season.....ahhh, I'm just kidding, they're gonna kill Auburn by 4 TDs.  

NFL Playoff addendum - I'm sticking with Denver to beat Pittsburgh in a race to the injury cart, but I also foresee backup QB Landry Jones possibly strutting in after halftime and leading a comeback that comes up short.  He and WR Martavis Bryant have a good chemistry and there might be an upset in the Rockies.  

DraftKings winning lineup - The PGA is back in action and I jumped on the cart and made $0.75 on the following lineup:

• Padraig Harrington
• Chris Kirk
• Peter Malnati
• Graeme McDowell
• Jordan Spieth
• Jimmy Walker

The Random Triumvirate - This pic of Craig Biggio, George Foreman, and Lil Jon made the rounds this week, and it got me thinking of other trios that would make you do the double-take.  

• Don Beebe, Lennox Lewis, and J.Cole
• Eric Lindros, Charlotte Church, and Willard Scott
• Gary Sheffield, Daniel Craig, and Selena Gomez
• Toni Kukoc, Aretha Franklin, and Donald Rumsfeld
• Jeff Gordon, Flava Flav, and Bindi Irwin
• Jessica Alba, Darryl Strawberry, and Jerry "The King" Lawler
• Greg Ostertag, Peggy Marshall, and Bonecrusher
• Florence Henderson, Robert Lewandoski, and El Chapo

Got any good ones?  Submit them in the comments section.  My favorite will win two tickets to last year's UNC vs Appalachian State basketball game and a $10 gift card to Chili's.  Submissions must be made by Thursday, January 21 at midnight EST.  Make me laugh/smile and you may have yourself a winner.

UFC Fight Night - Another championship belt is on the line Sunday night on FS1 as T.J. Dillashaw faces Dominick Cruz for the bantamweight title.  For a breakdown of the fights, check this out.  The prelims start at 8pm and the main card starts at 10pm.  This is essentially a PPV card that the UFC is giving away for free.  If your New Year's Resolution was to "try out this UFC thing" this is the perfect opportunity.  This card is unlikely to disappoint.  

Parenting Storytime - At H1's 18-month check-up the doctor cited his lack of speech development and used a term that has bounced around my head ever since: verbal explosion.  In the last six months his labeling has steadily improved; he'll say things like "light", "shoe", and "jacket".  He's never suffered from a lack of understanding, he's a bright little guy, its his enunciation that's needed professional attention.  Since early December we've noticed his attempts at sentence formation and storytelling, and the improvements continue to impress us and sometimes catch us off-guard, in a good way.  Aside from his speech stuff, H1 is a remarkably loving, caring child.  I talked to lots of parents of two kids prior to H2 showing up trying to get a headstart on what to expect.  I heard all sorts of stuff that encouraged me and worried me.  Thankfully, from the very beginning he has been nurturing and compassionate towards her.  It regularly warms my heart to see him stop playing with his trains and race over to make sure she has her toy du jour.  He loves her tremendously and I really hope it stays that way.  She woke up the other morning nearly three hours after he did (5am wakeups are common around here, ugh) and within seconds he was pleading with me to put "baby, down" and she was eagerly squirming her way out of my arms to see him.  And off they went crawling side-by-side down the hallway.  He left her in the dust and instinctively transitioned to running into the bonus room.  He quickly returned, dropped down to her level, gave her a big two-armed hug and said as clear as a summer day "I'm so glad to see you".  It was heartwarming on multiple levels and my brain (and heart) had a lot to process from one fleeting moment.  I think the "verbal explosion" is upon us.