two things:

firstly, on my plane ride home from Phoenix (it was a connection flight). I sat next to a young boy who kept asking me questions non-stop. I didn't mind so much except at one point i felt like sleeping but he kept on going. the thing is though, on the other side of the boy was his older sister, probably around 15-16 years old (the kid was about 11, although i never asked).

after a barrage of questions, she turned to him and told him to be quiet and leave "the man" alone.

haha. that shocked me. sure, legally i am a man, at 25 years old, i'm well past the legal definition of a man. i don't know why but i still feel like a kid and refer to people my age as kids as well. now if she had said to "leave that guy alone", then that would've been fine.

gosh.. i'm a man. maybe i should start behaving like one?

secondly, i was reading an article in an entertainment magazine from Vegas. there was an article about the goo goo dolls, one of my favorites. they talked about how most of the dolls' songs invoke vivid memories from various parts of our lives. i thought about that and i think the author is right. if i think about songs like Name, Slide, Black Balloon, Here Is Gone, Iris, Dizzy, Broadway, they all invoke memories of my past. i guess i could say that if the Dolls released a greatest hits album, it would be the soundtrack of my adolescence. That's pretty wild..

= sports = (seriously, don't read this if you don't follow the NFL)

the US covers football extensively, (it's like their hockey).

just a quick flip on the nfl playoffs.

i've been cheering for the Vikings and Seahawks this year. i'm a sucker for high octane offenses and teams with no defense at all. they're fun to watch. however, they don't win unless they're perfect, so Vikings missed the playoffs. i've been scouting the Seahawks for the last couple of seasons, and I think this is the year they could make some noise. Next year will probably be their year as Holmgren finally has his offense, they just need to work on defense over the offseason.

initial predictions is that the packers will probably beat the seahawks and force me to cheer for the pack. that's okay though, i'd love to see Favre make a run for the bowl.

that said, i believe it will be Rams or the Panthers coming out of the NFC. The Panthers are a lot like the Ravens, they have a good running game and strong defense. I like the cowboys and bill parcells, but they are very young and inexperienced.

Philly. They remind me of the Pats two years ago when they won it all. The downfall of this team is Donovan McNabb. McNabb is a far superior QB to Tom Brady, and I think ultimately he will hinder this team from going deep into the playoffs. Doesn't make sense right? Philly is McNabb, whereas that NE team was just a big team of no-bodies. McNabb will take it upon himself to perform, and he will feel pressured to get things done on his own. He'll put the team on his shoulders and carry the team. The trouble is, he can't afford to rely on the players around him like Brady did that year. You heard it here first.. Philly will choke.

I'm an NFC type of guy. I'll cheer for any team that makes it to the finals, other than the Panthers. Imagine a Panthers/Ravens SB? Booooooring!


in the AFC i like the Colts but i see the Ravens as a definite force. If they can by some miracle get past the might titans, i could see them reach the finals and possibly win it all. the trouble is, Tennessee is for real this year, not like in previuos times when they squeaked into the playoffs or won by some miraculous play. they're actually really good this year. McNair played through the pain for once in his life.

The Colt's hopes lie in Manning's ability to step up in the playoffs, which he's previously been unable to do. I have a feeling this is the year Manning finally gets this monkey off his back.

Everyone talks about Tom Brady and the Pats. I have never liked Tom Brady because I've always felt he gets undeserved credit. He is the type of QB who keeps his team in games because he doesn't do anything. And the reason he doesn't do anything, is because if he does something, he'll likely make a huge error. He is the modern day Troy Aikmen.

Pats had a relatively easy schedule this year, and finished 14-2. They have basically the same team as the past 2 years minus a few key defensive players. 1 year they won the SB, the other year they sucked. How do you explain two identical teams, won winning the SB and the other year sucking, and then being really good again?


There are too many great teams in the AFC this year. Ravens, Colts, Titans.. even the Chiefs all have good enough teams to beat any of the NFC teams. They're like the western conference of the NBA. Another reason to cheer for the NFC.


The very truth is I haven't followed the NFL as closely as in previous years. I've been known to make scoring predictions but I can't do that this year because I just don't know enough to make a guess. As with every year, thousands of experts make their early predictions and 99% of them get it wrong.

My pick is the Rams vs. Titans in a rematch.