I haven't heard much about Palin, slanderous campaign ads, or Tina Fey's impersonation since wall street and the economy went belly-up which I think is a good thing. The election is going to start getting back to the issues instead of personal attacks. Which I think is bad news for people (ie the Mccain-Palin ticket) who don't know the issues, can't talk (or bullshit) about them, and whose stance on them reminds everyone how little reform exists in their proposals.
The issues would have started to take center stage in the next few weeks as the debates started, but getting back to the issues should help the Dems by ending the bump McCain got from the Palin nomination even earlier.
Friday, September 19, 2008
外－curious
The term for a foreigner in China is 外国人 （ waiguoren）(wai sounds like why) . It means outside country person and thus means foreigner. One of my goals here has always been to make some sort of phrase or description that would catch on with the expat community, I started out with waiguoren dazhe (waiguoren discount, to describe the mark-up on goods and the refusal of store owners to haggle over price when they are dealing with a foreigner) but it didn't seem to catch on, with most people telling me that it was called good business. But I threw this term out in a taxi ride a couple days ago and it got a bit of a laugh, so I think I might be on to something, wai-curious.
Sometimes when you walk around China you feel like a bit of a rock star, lots of people are looking at you, they tell their friends who turn around to look at you, they want to take pictures of you, and sometimes you feel like an animal in the zoo for the same exact reasons. The pleasure or annoyance with these actions is usually a result of whether you are having a good or bad day.
The staring doesn't seem to me to have any ill-intent behind it. They are just curious (as it is normally one of the first questions they will ask) where you come from. I have had guesses that I am from France, Germany, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Canada, the US, some Chinese have even suspected I am from the west of China. I have wondered with my friends when the staring will stop happening, but we don't see it ending any time soon, whether or not the Shanghainese start accepting foreigners in their city and find it uninteresting to look at us, there will always be an influx from the countrysides and smaller cities, whose people have not grown up seeing foreigners.
But while the staring is a result of curiosity, this is not wai-curious.
There are Chinese people, usually in the 45-70 range, though occasionally some younger folks like to enter the mix, who simply like to observe the actions of foreigners, almost like they are preparing a report that they might have to one day give to the government. They are different from other Chinese not because they won't ask a foreigner a question, but because they won't even respond to the Chinese who work at the foreign hangouts, eateries, etc. who see their confusion and want to know if they need any assistance as if it is beneath them, and answers would only get in the way of their thoughts. (though this may be a Chinese cultural thing with the older men not feeling the need to respect or answer a younger man)
for example,
wai-curious are the men who walk into Subway restaurant and stare at you and what you are eating, and then at the line that is forming for these odd things that they have never seen, then looking at the food out in the open under the display case, then look at you again, never saying a word. All the while the Chinese "sandwich artists" are asking them if they would like to order something, if they want to get in line, or if they need any help. to which they never respond and eventually walk out.
wai-curious are the men who pass a bar on their bike while staring at the foreigners outside drinking, and then turn around to make another pass to look again. Rarely building up the nerve to go in.
I also like to think that these people go home and make broad generalities about foreigners to their friends and family over dinner as they have become experts on foreigners from watching them for a few minutes, mostly cause that is what I end up doing after watching the Chinese all day. More than likely they just go home, change into their pajamas (if they already don't have them on) watch a little TV, gamble, and go to sleep though.
Sometimes when you walk around China you feel like a bit of a rock star, lots of people are looking at you, they tell their friends who turn around to look at you, they want to take pictures of you, and sometimes you feel like an animal in the zoo for the same exact reasons. The pleasure or annoyance with these actions is usually a result of whether you are having a good or bad day.
The staring doesn't seem to me to have any ill-intent behind it. They are just curious (as it is normally one of the first questions they will ask) where you come from. I have had guesses that I am from France, Germany, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Canada, the US, some Chinese have even suspected I am from the west of China. I have wondered with my friends when the staring will stop happening, but we don't see it ending any time soon, whether or not the Shanghainese start accepting foreigners in their city and find it uninteresting to look at us, there will always be an influx from the countrysides and smaller cities, whose people have not grown up seeing foreigners.
But while the staring is a result of curiosity, this is not wai-curious.
There are Chinese people, usually in the 45-70 range, though occasionally some younger folks like to enter the mix, who simply like to observe the actions of foreigners, almost like they are preparing a report that they might have to one day give to the government. They are different from other Chinese not because they won't ask a foreigner a question, but because they won't even respond to the Chinese who work at the foreign hangouts, eateries, etc. who see their confusion and want to know if they need any assistance as if it is beneath them, and answers would only get in the way of their thoughts. (though this may be a Chinese cultural thing with the older men not feeling the need to respect or answer a younger man)
for example,
wai-curious are the men who walk into Subway restaurant and stare at you and what you are eating, and then at the line that is forming for these odd things that they have never seen, then looking at the food out in the open under the display case, then look at you again, never saying a word. All the while the Chinese "sandwich artists" are asking them if they would like to order something, if they want to get in line, or if they need any help. to which they never respond and eventually walk out.
wai-curious are the men who pass a bar on their bike while staring at the foreigners outside drinking, and then turn around to make another pass to look again. Rarely building up the nerve to go in.
I also like to think that these people go home and make broad generalities about foreigners to their friends and family over dinner as they have become experts on foreigners from watching them for a few minutes, mostly cause that is what I end up doing after watching the Chinese all day. More than likely they just go home, change into their pajamas (if they already don't have them on) watch a little TV, gamble, and go to sleep though.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Re-Gifters
Yesterday was Mid-Autumn festival, the chinese harvest holiday, and an excuse to give out terrible desserts called moon cakes. Apparently you are supposed to buy moon cakes for your relatives and friends, though I was told by people that have to do these things, that you don't neccesarily see them on the day off, so you can give them moon cakes that have been gifted to you, cause why would you ever want to eat something that tastes so terrible.
It got me thinking, the big holiday gifts here are all things that can be re-gifted money,mooncakes, or fruit which require no thought into who you are giving it to (unless the person is allergic to fruit). I like to thing in America people put a little bit of effort into buying gifts for the big holidays, something that they think the recipient would like, or would have some meaning to them. It doesn't mean they will be right, and more than likely the gift will be returned, but at least the effort is there. (or they cop out and give them money or a gift certificate, so maybe we aren't all that different)
It got me thinking, the big holiday gifts here are all things that can be re-gifted money,mooncakes, or fruit which require no thought into who you are giving it to (unless the person is allergic to fruit). I like to thing in America people put a little bit of effort into buying gifts for the big holidays, something that they think the recipient would like, or would have some meaning to them. It doesn't mean they will be right, and more than likely the gift will be returned, but at least the effort is there. (or they cop out and give them money or a gift certificate, so maybe we aren't all that different)
I woke up monday morning and flipped on the TV to the most wonderful sight in the world, The Pittsburgh Steelers playing live on Chinese Television. Apparently my friend was correct about NBC having made a deal with Chinese TV to broadcast the sunday night games. I was ecstatic, my french roommates friend who was on the couch reading asked if it was the Super Bowl, I told him it might has well be for the Brownies (He did not understand the joke), though he did seem to intrinsically know that Santonio's big catch was a good thing.
I unfortunately was not in the best state of mind for watching the game, having apparently decided at some point the previous evening to start drinking baijiu. baijiu for those of you that don't speak Chinese literally means really strong alcohol that tastes horrible no matter if you buy the 50 cent bottle or the 20 dollar bottle. Actually it's rice wine, though it tastes like I would imagine formaldehyde would, and in the 5000 years of tradition and history that this country has somehow no one has been able to create a better tasting alcohol.
Well watching the steelers hung over is still better than watching the little field tracker on ESPN the website, telling me on a 30 second delay that willie parker ran 3 yards and then showing the corresponding run with a gold line going three yards on a field.
It wasn't the prettiest game and the conditions didn't seem to suggest that it would be the high scoring affair that the game against the Texans was, but it was still enjoyable to watch nevertheless.
I got to see Aaron Smith dominate, and even BIg Ben make the Nate Washington face, where he looks up in disgust after Nate drops another pass that hits him in the hands, though after reports of Big Ben having a separated shoulder maybe that was actually the face of a person in pain.*, and I got to see the Lers take their 10th in a row from the Brownies and what seems to be control of a weaker than I expected division.
(2-0 after two games, I will take it)
*They will never do this, nor do I think that a week off will help him recover that much, so perhaps I just talked myself out of it, but what would be the harm of resting Big Ben for the week. Although the Eagles are a good barometer game, it can't be much of one because it is early in the season, and it is against a team from the NFC that will have almost no impact on our playoff implications. Ben could use the week to get healthy and then come back strong against the Ravens, Jags, and Bengals all of which are much more important games to win than the next one. Plus we could see what we have in Leftwich. Though if you can throw the ball 50 yards with a separated shoulder, how hurt can you really be?
I unfortunately was not in the best state of mind for watching the game, having apparently decided at some point the previous evening to start drinking baijiu. baijiu for those of you that don't speak Chinese literally means really strong alcohol that tastes horrible no matter if you buy the 50 cent bottle or the 20 dollar bottle. Actually it's rice wine, though it tastes like I would imagine formaldehyde would, and in the 5000 years of tradition and history that this country has somehow no one has been able to create a better tasting alcohol.
Well watching the steelers hung over is still better than watching the little field tracker on ESPN the website, telling me on a 30 second delay that willie parker ran 3 yards and then showing the corresponding run with a gold line going three yards on a field.
It wasn't the prettiest game and the conditions didn't seem to suggest that it would be the high scoring affair that the game against the Texans was, but it was still enjoyable to watch nevertheless.
I got to see Aaron Smith dominate, and even BIg Ben make the Nate Washington face, where he looks up in disgust after Nate drops another pass that hits him in the hands, though after reports of Big Ben having a separated shoulder maybe that was actually the face of a person in pain.*, and I got to see the Lers take their 10th in a row from the Brownies and what seems to be control of a weaker than I expected division.
(2-0 after two games, I will take it)
*They will never do this, nor do I think that a week off will help him recover that much, so perhaps I just talked myself out of it, but what would be the harm of resting Big Ben for the week. Although the Eagles are a good barometer game, it can't be much of one because it is early in the season, and it is against a team from the NFC that will have almost no impact on our playoff implications. Ben could use the week to get healthy and then come back strong against the Ravens, Jags, and Bengals all of which are much more important games to win than the next one. Plus we could see what we have in Leftwich. Though if you can throw the ball 50 yards with a separated shoulder, how hurt can you really be?
Friday, September 12, 2008
I'm so vain, I probably think this blog is about me
How does Blogger decide how many times my blog has been viewed? Does it count the number of times that I go to my blog to look to see if anyone is reading it? Does it only count a view if it comes from a different IP address? If the same person visits the page twice does it count as two views?
Right now I have 37 views, but I feel like at least 30 of those are from me going on to see if anyone is reading it and leaving a comment. So far I only know of 4 people that have read a blog entry because of comments left, so the number of times that I have been registered as reading my blog could be as high as 33 (hurray subtraction!) or about ten percent of the people reading my blog are not me (that .108 mark is coincidentally around the Pirates winning percentage since their "blockbuster" trade)
Perhaps I should pander to my known audience and discuss Nazi's, fast food, Team USA Basketball, and Chinese grooming and body art choices? But really we (the royal) need to bring in new readers without alienating the old ones. I thought the solution would be three straight blogs about the Steelers (I mean who doesn't want to talk about the Steelers all the time) but that doesn't seem to be working either.
It could take some soul searching.
Right now I have 37 views, but I feel like at least 30 of those are from me going on to see if anyone is reading it and leaving a comment. So far I only know of 4 people that have read a blog entry because of comments left, so the number of times that I have been registered as reading my blog could be as high as 33 (hurray subtraction!) or about ten percent of the people reading my blog are not me (that .108 mark is coincidentally around the Pirates winning percentage since their "blockbuster" trade)
Perhaps I should pander to my known audience and discuss Nazi's, fast food, Team USA Basketball, and Chinese grooming and body art choices? But really we (the royal) need to bring in new readers without alienating the old ones. I thought the solution would be three straight blogs about the Steelers (I mean who doesn't want to talk about the Steelers all the time) but that doesn't seem to be working either.
It could take some soul searching.
Why I miss Tom Brady
I don't...
But for selfish reasons I wanted the New England Cheaters to be at full strength when we played them in the playoffs. As a Steeler fan, this decade has been defined by a Super bowl and two losses in AFC championship games to the Cheaters. The first loss was not a result of the Pats dominance but rather a game that swung rather drastically on special teams. (and while their were allegations of cheating, we dominated them on O and D in that game that unless they were taping our field goal blocking schemes, it didn't seem to help them) and the second loss was a massacre in Big Ben's first season at the helm when we were lucky to even get past the Jets. I'm not one for speculation and we lost both games. I don't need them back. But I've always felt the Steelers needed to beat the team that was keeping them from the Super Bowl.
In the steelers super bowl year the Broncos beat the Cheaters in the division round, so I could argue we beat the better team in the Broncos, but I would have rather had the Steelers get the monkey off their back by beating the Cheaters, the way the Colts were able to two years ago.
With Brady out suddenly the Cheaters look rather pedestrian, there aura is gone, and even if they were to get to the playoffs and we were to meet and play it wouldn't feel the same. Maybe Brady never comes back as the same player, the Pats never return to the level that they were at...the monkey remains.
But for selfish reasons I wanted the New England Cheaters to be at full strength when we played them in the playoffs. As a Steeler fan, this decade has been defined by a Super bowl and two losses in AFC championship games to the Cheaters. The first loss was not a result of the Pats dominance but rather a game that swung rather drastically on special teams. (and while their were allegations of cheating, we dominated them on O and D in that game that unless they were taping our field goal blocking schemes, it didn't seem to help them) and the second loss was a massacre in Big Ben's first season at the helm when we were lucky to even get past the Jets. I'm not one for speculation and we lost both games. I don't need them back. But I've always felt the Steelers needed to beat the team that was keeping them from the Super Bowl.
In the steelers super bowl year the Broncos beat the Cheaters in the division round, so I could argue we beat the better team in the Broncos, but I would have rather had the Steelers get the monkey off their back by beating the Cheaters, the way the Colts were able to two years ago.
With Brady out suddenly the Cheaters look rather pedestrian, there aura is gone, and even if they were to get to the playoffs and we were to meet and play it wouldn't feel the same. Maybe Brady never comes back as the same player, the Pats never return to the level that they were at...the monkey remains.
O Frabjous Day! Callooh! Callay!
My friend told me that NBC has partnered with G-sports China to show Sunday Night Football games on Chinese Television. Just the thought that I could actually watch the Steelers play the Brownies live gets me so excited I didn't even have words to describe it so I had to make some up, (or more correctly borrow them).
I have never seen this G-sports channel, but I will find out where I can see it. I can't wait to watch the steelers finally take the lead in the lifetime series away from the Brownies. Or just watch Steeler football so I can do a legitimate commentary on the game and see for my own eyes how my squad is looking this year.
I just hope that my information is accurate. I'm already too excited and in the back of my mind I know I will turn on the TV monday morning (12 hour time difference) only to find out they are replaying the chinese mixed doubles badminton finals from the Olympics.
I have never seen this G-sports channel, but I will find out where I can see it. I can't wait to watch the steelers finally take the lead in the lifetime series away from the Brownies. Or just watch Steeler football so I can do a legitimate commentary on the game and see for my own eyes how my squad is looking this year.
I just hope that my information is accurate. I'm already too excited and in the back of my mind I know I will turn on the TV monday morning (12 hour time difference) only to find out they are replaying the chinese mixed doubles badminton finals from the Olympics.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Steelers preview- so late, so cocky
Editor's note: Preview was written a day before the first game was played and with no knowledge that the Lers would dominate a texans team he was a bit worried about, or that Brady would get injured (mildly pleased) his antics for the New England Cheaters override any good will he gets for being a michigan wolverine. but then 李岩 got his 喝酒 on before he remembered to post it.
I'm excited for the Steelers season as I am every year, unfortunately they don't show the games in China, except for the Super Bowl and sometimes AFC NFC championships in sports bars. But I will survive, and the lers wil thrive with me in China (When the steelers play when I'm out of the country the steelers are 23-8 (.741) including that magical 15-0* when I was studying abroad in italy, but the horrible season coming off the SUPER BOWL playing for a retiring coach with a QB who should have taken the season off to recover from almost dying. I will take a .741 win percentage this season, though it shows how stats can be manipulated. So really I'm just .500 in the country I;m now in, not so good. (that's the dream of the Pirates, we expect a bit more out of the Lers. Maybe that stat is saying that I should go back to Italy.)
Steelers O.
It could be a big year again for big Ben, he has some serious weapons around him. I have dreams where they line up in two tight end-two running back formations. Some in which they even throw the ball out of it.
If nothing else they got two of the best names of the draft. Limus Sweed and Rashard Mendenhall, if they play half as well as I enjoy saying their name we could make a serious run.
There is a lot of talent to be excited about. Nate Washington is even thinking about catching some balls this year instead of dropping most of them
I'm not as worried as most about the o-line. think they will handle themselves well, but I think we will use a bit more no huddle, shorter drops, to get the ball out of ben's hands sooner. making it easier to protect him.
A lot of people are talking about Santonio having a break out year, and I think he will have a big one, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Heath Miller get a lot of balls. He seems like he is underrated around the league, though I'm probably wrong and he is a favorite target of Big Ben. The boy sure can run and catch and he never seems to get stopped in his tracks, but pick up yards after contact. he was given a lot of consideration for Adam's All Madden Player of the Year, until he broke essentially every criteria for it.
Steelers D
Welcome back Aaron Smith, it seemed the football world finally noticed how crucial you are to the steelers ability to stop the run. We are getting a bit older up front, but just having a healthy Smith, and keeping Polamalu healthy the D should continue to be one of the leagues best. Of course having Dick Lebeau calling the plays doesn't hurt either, nor does Lamarr Woodley getting to start.
It scares me that we've yet to find someone that can outplay Deshea Townsend at cornerback. I'm not saying Deshea is bad, but I would think one of these young guys we have drafted in the last four years would be able to supplant him by now, so he can go on to become a secondary coach for the Steelers. Wouldn't be surprised to hear that Darren Perry pays off Tomlin to start Townsend so Townsend doesn't retire and take Perry's job.
Like a little more depth at Safety too. But if Polamalu can stay healthy it won't matter (and this might be the year I finally can name a student after him)
Big Ben vs. Carson Palmer
I saw this from ESPN the websites preview of the Steelers and one thing seemed extremely out of place.
QB Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger had 3,154 yards passing and 32 touchdowns in '07. He is close to joining the NFL's elite quarterbacks and could solidify his spot next to Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer with an even bigger year in 2008.
Carson Palmer hasn't even won a playoff game and he is in the same sentence as Manning and Brady, while another Super Bowl winner Big Ben, who led the Steelers to the Superbowl, is still trying to reach that upper tier
Excuse me a moment while I get on my soap box... When did Carson Palmer become a better quarterback than Ben Rothlisberger, I am not saying that Carson Palmer is bad, he is one of the better quarterbacks in the league**, has the heisman and the USC pedigree, and the is the proto-typical pocket passer, but that does not a better NFL quarterback make. If I am not mistaken winning counts in this league. and one of the quarterbacks BEN is a winner and the other Palmer is not, We can blame all of the loses on Carson, but they are both the leaders of their team Ben leads his team to victory and Carson sulks, complains, and qets quoted in SI articles about how he hates the steelers.
Carson seems to get credit for completing 1 pass in a playoff game (the only year he has been above .500). It was a nice throw, but their was no guarantee that the Bengals would have won that game, games are not won and lost on the first throw of a game. Its as if he won the Superbowl. But the person who actually won the Superbowl that year Ben, gets forgotten. granted he had a poor year the next year after playing poorly in the actual superbowl taking some luster of his performance, People say he is a product of a system. But he has never really had a great line, makes plays out of nothing (people laud Steve Young for his ability to scramble, but this quarterback skill is always conveniently left out of comparisons between Ben and Palmer), and when the system was changed when we switched coaches he had his best year, perhaps suggesting the system was holding him back. I've read message boards that he doesn't have the numbers and can only throw short passes and hand the ball off, but when you look at the numbers he is usually ahead of Palmer in categories like yards per pass. Most of his quarterback numbers are up there with the best in the league, shouldn't Carson be having incredible stats like Ben cause all anyone hears is how great his receivers are.
(there is some other bit about the leadership Palmer has, if he had leadership why are there so many problems every year on his team)
How about Palmer has another winning season and then we can start thinking of putting him in the company of Peyton, Brady, and Ben. Probably asking him to win a playoff game or god-forbid a superbowl is too much to ask.
I called you out Carson. Go on TV and talk shit on me, blow my blog up.
NFL Toughest Schedule.
THis to me is a joke, something for the pundits to spend an afternoon argueing about. The league changes so much from year to year that how a team played the year before has almost no relevance to how they will play the next year. At the end of the year the steelers will not have played the hardest schedule in the league, it will be another team. What scares me is that this year the Steelers seem to play all the good quarterbacks in the league, a good quarterback usually can keep a team hovering above mediocrity. I have to say I'm a bit worried about that. We play against a lot of QBs that can win a game for their team (McNabb, Garrard, Rivers, Palmer, Brady, Romo, Manning), not a lot of rookies or journeymen at the helm of the teams we are playing this year (sans Ravens) , but even that can change as people start to get injured.
Sometimes their is so much information available that we need to muzzle it until actual games start being played.
Adam's All Madden Player of the Year.
Started while watching who was dominating while Mac was playing madden, or who i liked on the steelers and we decided to impove his skill to make dominate and it has been a extremely accurate barometer of how a person will play or their improvemnet. Past recipients include Aaron Smith, Larry Foote, Clark Haggans and Lamarr Woodley.
IN order to be chosen it has to be a players rookie campaign, or his first year taking on a major role on the team, (starter, key sub), he can't be a proven big name (leaving out the likes of Big Bens , Polamalus, and Hamptons) and although there is no official rule there might as well be one that it has to be a defensive player (The Big Nasty D gets me more fired up than the O, but that might be the Pittsburgher in me, but they make Styx songs rowdy) It has also been pointed out to me that most of my selections are linebackers and 50% have been Michigan linebackers (I like to hedge my bets and pick comodities that are proven) and Lamarr Woodley is an animal.
THis year I am not braking tradition, except for the pick being a little too obvious (but no one seems to care about this when they hop on the Jets bandwagon for most improved team) Lawrence Timmons, yes he was the first round pick last year but he didn't get a lot of run, and didn't seem to make the impact that Lamarr did in his limited action, but what impressed me was that he always seemed to be around the play and come up with the ball on fumbles (a skill that can't be taught) I;m looking for big things from him this year, and think his improved play will make up for the age of some of the guys upfront.
Predicition:
I can see the Lers going anywhere from 10-6 to 12-4. I know they are going to play some shitty games, every team does, sometimes you win them and sometimes you don't. But I think we will win more than we lose. I do think the division will be tougher than people think and not because of the Browns (Derek Anderson does not scare me, nor do I see Winslow and Edwards playing all 16 together again, (though Brady Quinn feels like the real deal. I can definately see the Bengals being competitive with their coach on the firing block and they still supposedly have an offense of course that assumes Carson Palmer has leadership abilities like everyone says. Also sometimes a little shake-up is all a team like the Ravens needs though they seem to be a year or two away and if Ed Reed, like Polamalu, is hurt they are a lot less formiddable. But I think The Lers will win the division again. and that the Brownies are soft. As for the playoffs, no point in projecting it now, its all about getting to the dance, because if you are there you have a shot.
* the Jets-Steelers playoff game in which the Jets missed two field goals in the final 2 minutes, and the lers won in OT was the first game I had seen all season, I was so excited to finally watch this team that had dominated the regular season, only to watch them play so shitty and luckily squeak out a win. I watched it in Boulder and according to eye-witness reports apparently grabbed the head of one of the girls that came over to watch the game at Mac's house and started shaking her head violently saying "I can't believe it" . I don't think her or her friend ever talked to Mac again. But Definately a magical moment in the my steelers upbringing.
** I sometimes am surprised with how many quarterbacks their are at the College level, that their aren't enough that around that only about 15 teams have legit quarterbacks. and even of this group only about 5 with whom you are confident going into every game.
I'm excited for the Steelers season as I am every year, unfortunately they don't show the games in China, except for the Super Bowl and sometimes AFC NFC championships in sports bars. But I will survive, and the lers wil thrive with me in China (When the steelers play when I'm out of the country the steelers are 23-8 (.741) including that magical 15-0* when I was studying abroad in italy, but the horrible season coming off the SUPER BOWL playing for a retiring coach with a QB who should have taken the season off to recover from almost dying. I will take a .741 win percentage this season, though it shows how stats can be manipulated. So really I'm just .500 in the country I;m now in, not so good. (that's the dream of the Pirates, we expect a bit more out of the Lers. Maybe that stat is saying that I should go back to Italy.)
Steelers O.
It could be a big year again for big Ben, he has some serious weapons around him. I have dreams where they line up in two tight end-two running back formations. Some in which they even throw the ball out of it.
If nothing else they got two of the best names of the draft. Limus Sweed and Rashard Mendenhall, if they play half as well as I enjoy saying their name we could make a serious run.
There is a lot of talent to be excited about. Nate Washington is even thinking about catching some balls this year instead of dropping most of them
I'm not as worried as most about the o-line. think they will handle themselves well, but I think we will use a bit more no huddle, shorter drops, to get the ball out of ben's hands sooner. making it easier to protect him.
A lot of people are talking about Santonio having a break out year, and I think he will have a big one, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Heath Miller get a lot of balls. He seems like he is underrated around the league, though I'm probably wrong and he is a favorite target of Big Ben. The boy sure can run and catch and he never seems to get stopped in his tracks, but pick up yards after contact. he was given a lot of consideration for Adam's All Madden Player of the Year, until he broke essentially every criteria for it.
Steelers D
Welcome back Aaron Smith, it seemed the football world finally noticed how crucial you are to the steelers ability to stop the run. We are getting a bit older up front, but just having a healthy Smith, and keeping Polamalu healthy the D should continue to be one of the leagues best. Of course having Dick Lebeau calling the plays doesn't hurt either, nor does Lamarr Woodley getting to start.
It scares me that we've yet to find someone that can outplay Deshea Townsend at cornerback. I'm not saying Deshea is bad, but I would think one of these young guys we have drafted in the last four years would be able to supplant him by now, so he can go on to become a secondary coach for the Steelers. Wouldn't be surprised to hear that Darren Perry pays off Tomlin to start Townsend so Townsend doesn't retire and take Perry's job.
Like a little more depth at Safety too. But if Polamalu can stay healthy it won't matter (and this might be the year I finally can name a student after him)
Big Ben vs. Carson Palmer
I saw this from ESPN the websites preview of the Steelers and one thing seemed extremely out of place.
QB Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger had 3,154 yards passing and 32 touchdowns in '07. He is close to joining the NFL's elite quarterbacks and could solidify his spot next to Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer with an even bigger year in 2008.
Carson Palmer hasn't even won a playoff game and he is in the same sentence as Manning and Brady, while another Super Bowl winner Big Ben, who led the Steelers to the Superbowl, is still trying to reach that upper tier
Excuse me a moment while I get on my soap box... When did Carson Palmer become a better quarterback than Ben Rothlisberger, I am not saying that Carson Palmer is bad, he is one of the better quarterbacks in the league**, has the heisman and the USC pedigree, and the is the proto-typical pocket passer, but that does not a better NFL quarterback make. If I am not mistaken winning counts in this league. and one of the quarterbacks BEN is a winner and the other Palmer is not, We can blame all of the loses on Carson, but they are both the leaders of their team Ben leads his team to victory and Carson sulks, complains, and qets quoted in SI articles about how he hates the steelers.
Carson seems to get credit for completing 1 pass in a playoff game (the only year he has been above .500). It was a nice throw, but their was no guarantee that the Bengals would have won that game, games are not won and lost on the first throw of a game. Its as if he won the Superbowl. But the person who actually won the Superbowl that year Ben, gets forgotten. granted he had a poor year the next year after playing poorly in the actual superbowl taking some luster of his performance, People say he is a product of a system. But he has never really had a great line, makes plays out of nothing (people laud Steve Young for his ability to scramble, but this quarterback skill is always conveniently left out of comparisons between Ben and Palmer), and when the system was changed when we switched coaches he had his best year, perhaps suggesting the system was holding him back. I've read message boards that he doesn't have the numbers and can only throw short passes and hand the ball off, but when you look at the numbers he is usually ahead of Palmer in categories like yards per pass. Most of his quarterback numbers are up there with the best in the league, shouldn't Carson be having incredible stats like Ben cause all anyone hears is how great his receivers are.
(there is some other bit about the leadership Palmer has, if he had leadership why are there so many problems every year on his team)
How about Palmer has another winning season and then we can start thinking of putting him in the company of Peyton, Brady, and Ben. Probably asking him to win a playoff game or god-forbid a superbowl is too much to ask.
I called you out Carson. Go on TV and talk shit on me, blow my blog up.
NFL Toughest Schedule.
THis to me is a joke, something for the pundits to spend an afternoon argueing about. The league changes so much from year to year that how a team played the year before has almost no relevance to how they will play the next year. At the end of the year the steelers will not have played the hardest schedule in the league, it will be another team. What scares me is that this year the Steelers seem to play all the good quarterbacks in the league, a good quarterback usually can keep a team hovering above mediocrity. I have to say I'm a bit worried about that. We play against a lot of QBs that can win a game for their team (McNabb, Garrard, Rivers, Palmer, Brady, Romo, Manning), not a lot of rookies or journeymen at the helm of the teams we are playing this year (sans Ravens) , but even that can change as people start to get injured.
Sometimes their is so much information available that we need to muzzle it until actual games start being played.
Adam's All Madden Player of the Year.
Started while watching who was dominating while Mac was playing madden, or who i liked on the steelers and we decided to impove his skill to make dominate and it has been a extremely accurate barometer of how a person will play or their improvemnet. Past recipients include Aaron Smith, Larry Foote, Clark Haggans and Lamarr Woodley.
IN order to be chosen it has to be a players rookie campaign, or his first year taking on a major role on the team, (starter, key sub), he can't be a proven big name (leaving out the likes of Big Bens , Polamalus, and Hamptons) and although there is no official rule there might as well be one that it has to be a defensive player (The Big Nasty D gets me more fired up than the O, but that might be the Pittsburgher in me, but they make Styx songs rowdy) It has also been pointed out to me that most of my selections are linebackers and 50% have been Michigan linebackers (I like to hedge my bets and pick comodities that are proven) and Lamarr Woodley is an animal.
THis year I am not braking tradition, except for the pick being a little too obvious (but no one seems to care about this when they hop on the Jets bandwagon for most improved team) Lawrence Timmons, yes he was the first round pick last year but he didn't get a lot of run, and didn't seem to make the impact that Lamarr did in his limited action, but what impressed me was that he always seemed to be around the play and come up with the ball on fumbles (a skill that can't be taught) I;m looking for big things from him this year, and think his improved play will make up for the age of some of the guys upfront.
Predicition:
I can see the Lers going anywhere from 10-6 to 12-4. I know they are going to play some shitty games, every team does, sometimes you win them and sometimes you don't. But I think we will win more than we lose. I do think the division will be tougher than people think and not because of the Browns (Derek Anderson does not scare me, nor do I see Winslow and Edwards playing all 16 together again, (though Brady Quinn feels like the real deal. I can definately see the Bengals being competitive with their coach on the firing block and they still supposedly have an offense of course that assumes Carson Palmer has leadership abilities like everyone says. Also sometimes a little shake-up is all a team like the Ravens needs though they seem to be a year or two away and if Ed Reed, like Polamalu, is hurt they are a lot less formiddable. But I think The Lers will win the division again. and that the Brownies are soft. As for the playoffs, no point in projecting it now, its all about getting to the dance, because if you are there you have a shot.
* the Jets-Steelers playoff game in which the Jets missed two field goals in the final 2 minutes, and the lers won in OT was the first game I had seen all season, I was so excited to finally watch this team that had dominated the regular season, only to watch them play so shitty and luckily squeak out a win. I watched it in Boulder and according to eye-witness reports apparently grabbed the head of one of the girls that came over to watch the game at Mac's house and started shaking her head violently saying "I can't believe it" . I don't think her or her friend ever talked to Mac again. But Definately a magical moment in the my steelers upbringing.
** I sometimes am surprised with how many quarterbacks their are at the College level, that their aren't enough that around that only about 15 teams have legit quarterbacks. and even of this group only about 5 with whom you are confident going into every game.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
I'm not from England or Xinjiang
A lot of my friends tell me that I hate China because most of the “differences in Culture” I point out, sound to their ears like complaining. But I do like Shanghai and nights like last night when I get to interact with locals who are just excited to talk with me are part of the reason.
I stopped into a ma la tang place (essentially cheap soup to which you can add ingredients) to eat some dinner last night when I got off from work around 10PM. I overheard the owner saying that I was English, so I corrected him in Chinese that I was American.
When I sat down to eat he sat down with me, he couldn’t believe I wasn’t English ( the other guy that worked there couldn’t believe I wasn’t from Xinjiang, which is probably another post altogether). In between being amazed that I used my left hand to eat (which means that I’m smart), general questions about how long I’ve been here, how much I liked it, whether I wanted more broth, and complimenting (as only the Chinese can tell white lies) my Chinese ability, he still refused to believe that I wasn’t English. (His friend was still a bit on the fence about me being from Xinjiang as well).
He wanted to know where my father was from, to which I said America. Then he wanted to know where my grandfather was from, America again. Eventually he asked me where my family originated. I said that I thought it was Austria, Hungary, or Czechoslovakia
I didn’t know how to say them in Chinese, (not surprisingly) he didn’t recognize them written in English. But the man was determined.
He went to another store and comes back 2 minutes later carrying a 8x8 map of the world and together we go through the countries ( I though am not entirely sure where they are located, world geography is not my forte) and the Chinese translations aren’t exactly sounding like the names I am familiar with. So he starts banging on the window of the foot massage parlor next door, which is closed, the lights off and the people sleeping.
He shows them the paper I have the names written on and they don’t know, during this time his son looks in a dictionary and finds them. The boss, pleased he now has the answer, goes back to the massage parlor and wakes them up again to tell them where I’m from.
I then explain as best I can, that I am not Hungarian, but American, that my grandfather was born in America, he’s not Hungarian either, but American. And his father might even have been born in America as well (made me want to learn my family history a little bit) Then I got confused what he was having a hard time believing because he was saying that English people came first came to America so I have to be English. Apparently they did not teach immigration in his schooling. I tried to explain that while England did have colonies in America, there were other countries that inhabited America, in addition to tons of people in the 1800's, 1900’s who immigrated there. I don’t know if he understood though with my tones and a my lack of vocabulary.
When I finished I asked for the bill, which he told me was about 1 US dollar, to which he asked how much ma la tang would be in the states. I told him we didn’t have it, but soup might be about 5 US dollars. He seemed interested.
Whether or not he thinks I’m English, Austrian, or American. I hope he doesn’t start raising the price of the soup.
I stopped into a ma la tang place (essentially cheap soup to which you can add ingredients) to eat some dinner last night when I got off from work around 10PM. I overheard the owner saying that I was English, so I corrected him in Chinese that I was American.
When I sat down to eat he sat down with me, he couldn’t believe I wasn’t English ( the other guy that worked there couldn’t believe I wasn’t from Xinjiang, which is probably another post altogether). In between being amazed that I used my left hand to eat (which means that I’m smart), general questions about how long I’ve been here, how much I liked it, whether I wanted more broth, and complimenting (as only the Chinese can tell white lies) my Chinese ability, he still refused to believe that I wasn’t English. (His friend was still a bit on the fence about me being from Xinjiang as well).
He wanted to know where my father was from, to which I said America. Then he wanted to know where my grandfather was from, America again. Eventually he asked me where my family originated. I said that I thought it was Austria, Hungary, or Czechoslovakia
I didn’t know how to say them in Chinese, (not surprisingly) he didn’t recognize them written in English. But the man was determined.
He went to another store and comes back 2 minutes later carrying a 8x8 map of the world and together we go through the countries ( I though am not entirely sure where they are located, world geography is not my forte) and the Chinese translations aren’t exactly sounding like the names I am familiar with. So he starts banging on the window of the foot massage parlor next door, which is closed, the lights off and the people sleeping.
He shows them the paper I have the names written on and they don’t know, during this time his son looks in a dictionary and finds them. The boss, pleased he now has the answer, goes back to the massage parlor and wakes them up again to tell them where I’m from.
I then explain as best I can, that I am not Hungarian, but American, that my grandfather was born in America, he’s not Hungarian either, but American. And his father might even have been born in America as well (made me want to learn my family history a little bit) Then I got confused what he was having a hard time believing because he was saying that English people came first came to America so I have to be English. Apparently they did not teach immigration in his schooling. I tried to explain that while England did have colonies in America, there were other countries that inhabited America, in addition to tons of people in the 1800's, 1900’s who immigrated there. I don’t know if he understood though with my tones and a my lack of vocabulary.
When I finished I asked for the bill, which he told me was about 1 US dollar, to which he asked how much ma la tang would be in the states. I told him we didn’t have it, but soup might be about 5 US dollars. He seemed interested.
Whether or not he thinks I’m English, Austrian, or American. I hope he doesn’t start raising the price of the soup.
Good Bar
What you don't see in the picture is the Cleveland Browns cornerback missing the ball as Randel El catches it, Unforetunately the newly added televisions cover him much better than a Brownies cornerback ever could.
A lot to like about a bar that serves dollar beers and shots and has players that will forever be in steelers lore on the walls, now if they could only start showing Football instead of soccer.
Elevator etiquette in Shanghai
1. As soon as the elevators doors open get on, you don't have to wait for people to get off the elevator first, (this goes for any public service with sliding doors ie. Subway, Buses.)
2. If possible light a cigarette immediately before you get on the elevator or while on the elevator. Hopefully you can also stand next to the chinese sign that prohibits smoking. If you can't wait for people to get off the elevator it only makes sense that you can't wait the 30 seconds it takes for the elevator to get to your floor to smoke in a room that actually has a window.
3. As soon as the door opens at a floor that is not your own, make sure to press the "close door" button. You may be closing it on people getting on the elevator, but it is their fault for not following rule number 1. and getting on the elevator while the door is opening.
2. If possible light a cigarette immediately before you get on the elevator or while on the elevator. Hopefully you can also stand next to the chinese sign that prohibits smoking. If you can't wait for people to get off the elevator it only makes sense that you can't wait the 30 seconds it takes for the elevator to get to your floor to smoke in a room that actually has a window.
3. As soon as the door opens at a floor that is not your own, make sure to press the "close door" button. You may be closing it on people getting on the elevator, but it is their fault for not following rule number 1. and getting on the elevator while the door is opening.
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