NFL Playoffs: Conference Championship Predictions

Posted on by georgefattell

I am really looking forward to the NFL Conference Championship games this weekend. Both games have the potential to be classic battles. I also think any combination of the remaining teams will produce a very interesting and competitive Super Bowl.

New England Patriots vs. Baltimore Ravens. The Patriots are -7 favorites.

Location: Foxboro, MA

After watching the Patriots destroy the Denver Broncos last week and then watching the Ravens struggle against the Houston Texans, with their rookie QB , it would be easy to predict a fairly easy Patriot victory. I do think the Patriots will emerge victorious, but I don’t expect this game to be easy for NE. Baltimore’s defense is not as dominant as it was a few years ago, but it is still one of the most formidable defenses in league and they should be more disruptive to the NE offense than Denver’s D was. However, I just don’t think Baltimore can neutralize all the offensive weapons that NE has, especially TE’s Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. But again, I don’t see a rout here. Ravens QB Joe Flacco is viewed by many as the weak link of the Baltimore offense , but he should not be underestimated imo. Flacco has a pretty impressive resume for a QB at this stage of his career, with multiple playoff victories under his belt. Flacco’s stat’s were unexceptional this season and his QB rating for the regular season was only 80.9. However, if the Ravens offensive line can protect him the Patriots may have some big problems with RB Ray Rice, who is a run/catch threat and . Baltimore’s capable group of receivers. Both teams have exceptional head coaches.

Patriots 31 – Ravens 23

San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants. The 49ers are -2.5 favorites.

Location: San Francisco, CA

Gosh, this is a tough game to call. I’ve been going back and forth on it all week. Rain is predicted in SF during the game so the field conditions may not be ideal and that probably works in the favor of the 49ers because it might slow down the Giant receivers, but that works both ways. The 49ers probably have the best defense of 4 remaining teams and their offense is not bad. QB Alex Smith has improved markedly this year. He is not an elite QB, but he has proven to be effective this year, under the guidance of Head Coach Jim Harbaugh. SF RB Frank Gore and TE Vernon Davis are two other players that can do a lot of damage. The Giants must control those two. As I noted in my NFL post last week, I am a Giant fan from way back so I am a little biased when it comes to the Giants, but I do think they are a slightly better team than the 49ers right now. These two teams met during the regular season a few months ago in SF and the 49ers won, 27-20, but the Giants actually won the time of possession battle by about 10 minutes and came close to winning despite not playing with a few key players. One big difference this time around is that the Giants will have starting RB Ahmad Bradshaw, who did not play in earlier game. The Giants are 8-1 this season in games in which they rush for 100 or more yards. Still, I expect time of possession to once again be controlled by the Giants and I expect them to win, which will set up a classic Super Bowl rematch with the Patriots.

Giants 27 – San Francisco 23.

SOPA And PIPA Threaten Internet Censorship By Government – Investors.com

Posted on by georgefattell

SOPA And PIPA Threaten Internet Censorship By Government – Investors.com.

I totally agree with this IBD editorial about SOPA and PIPA.

Key quote:

The Internet, perhaps as much as the first printing press, has freed the minds of men from the tyranny of those gatekeepers who know that if you can control what people say and know, you can control the people themselves.

Some suggest SOPA and PIPA are the equivalent of smashing the Gutenberg press, often called the “Internet of its day.”

NFL: Round Two Playoff Review

Posted on by georgefattell

Well, I’ve had better weekends in terms of picks, but I must say those games were a lot of fun to watch. I went 3-1 picking game winners in the 2nd Round, but only 1-3 for picks vs. the spread. I’m glad I didn’t put money down on any of these games, but that may be part of why I went 1-3 vs. the spread. There was at least one game that I picked with my heart and not my head, which was Denver losing by only 7 to New England.

49ers over the Saints 36-32: I got this one right. I thought the SF D was strong enough to slow down the prolific NO offense. Well, I guess holding the Saints offense to 32 pts is slowing it down. The surprise was how well SF QB Alex Smith played. Prior to this game if you told one team in this game would score 36 pts and the other would score 32 pts I surely would have assumed that the Saints rang up 36. Rookie Head Coach Jim Harbaugh has done an incredible job with the 49ers, who were just a .500 team last year. Is there any doubt left that he should be Coach of the Year?

Patriots over the Broncos 45-10 : I really should known that this game had blowout potential written all over it. In retrospect I was way too influenced by the Bronco victory over Pittsburgh and a desire to see Tim Tebow do well. The Broncos played the perfect game against the Steelers and it was unlikely that they would be able to repeat that performance against the Patriots in NE.

Ravens over the Texans 20-13: Ravens won, which I predicted, but only by 7 and the spread was 7 1/2. The guys in Vegas really know how too set those lines. This game pretty much went as expected, but the Ravens offense was disappointing. From here on out the Ravens will have to put more points on the board in order to win.

Giants over the Packers 37-20: A classic example a game featuring one team that is peaking and hitting on all cylinders vs another team that appears to have peaked a month or two ago. The Packers needed a flawless performance from their offense to win in order to compensate a defense which was less then exceptional all season and they didn’t get it. It was strange to see such sloppy play from the Packers on offense. The GB receivers dropped a heck of a lot of balls. However, the Giants had a lot to do with that and I have to give credit where credit is due. Coach Coughlin has done a masterful job with this team and Eli Manning is playing the best ball of his career. At the beginning of the season Eli declared that he was an elite QB, up there with Brady. I thought he rated himself too highly at the time, but he has truly has performed at an elite level this season, so he deserves that tag.

NFL: Round Two Playoff Predictions

Posted on by georgefattell

Now that all the wild-card teams have been washed out of playoffs we can get down to real business with the division winners. With the exception of the Baltimore vs. Houston game I think all these games are pretty tough to call vs. the point spread. It should be a great weekend of Playoff football.

San Francisco 49ers vs. New Orleans Saints.

After destroying the Lions the Saints are -4.0 for this game. I’m taking the points and going with the 49ers. I don’t think the Saints vaunted offense will be quite as dangerous playing on grass and outside the friendly confines of the Superdome. The 49ers have one the best defensive units in the league, but it will take the 49ers best effort to win this game. I see the 49ers winning a very close one here.

New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos. Patriots are -13.5

I think the Patriots are going to win, but not by two TD’s. Pure leap of faith here. I’m counting on Denver and Tebow figuring out a way to keep this close. If Denver can limit the turnovers and keep Brady off the field they have a chance to keep this game close and maybe even win. Patriots by 7.

Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans. Ravens are -7.5

I cannot see Texans winning this game on the road with a rookie QB. The Ravens should win by at least 10 points.

Green Bay Packers vs. New York Giants. Packers are -7.5

This is a very tough call for me because I like both teams. I grew up near the Meadowlands and I have been a big Giant fan since the Phil Simms/Lawrence Taylor era. I can’t help but admire this Packer team. They are simply the best team in league and in Aaron Rodgers they have the best QB. The Giants are playing well and I expect them to test the Packers, but I don’t think the Pack will lose in Green Bay. I think the Pack wins by 10 points.

Favorite Pictures of 2011 Group II – San Diego

Posted on by georgefattell

I was originally going to title this post “Group II – West Coast” or “Group II – California”. However, upon review of my pictures taken during 2011 I decided to simply title the post “Group II – San Diego”, because that was more accurate. The vast majority of the pictures I took in California during 2011 were taken in the greater San Diego area. In past years I have made trips to other parts of California and other parts of the West, but for a variety of reasons I didn’t leave the San Diego area too much during 2011, aside from my East Coast vacation. I did make a couple of trips up to LA last year, but did not take too many pictures up there last year due to less than ideal conditions related to the weather. Hopefully, I will have better photo taking opportunities in LA and elsewhere in 2012.

Here are my 10 San Diego area pictures that made the cut for 2011 :

1) The First Avenue Bridge, Bankers Hill, San Diego, CA

This bridge was built in 1931 and spans Maple Canyon, in the Bankers Hill section of San Diego. The steel arch bridge is 463 feet in length and 104 feet tall. I love the 1930’s era character of this bridge. They simply don’t make’em like this these days. On a clear day bridge provides good views of San Diego Bay, Coronado and Point Loma.

The First Avenue Bridge, Bankers Hill, San Diego

2) Santa Fe Station, San Diego.

3) Downtown San Diego. This shot was taken from the parking garage next to the new Hilton Bayfront Hotel.

Downtown San Diego

4) The San Diego Blackout.

September 8th, 2011. This blackout caused the lights to go out in a large part of Southern California, as well as parts of western Arizona and northwest Mexico. Fortunately, the blackout only lasted about 12 hours, but it did bring normal life in the area to a screeching halt. I took this picture at the upper end of Laurel Avenue, on Bankers Hill, facing west and looking down on San Diego’s main airport, Lindbergh Field. The airport had emergency power available for the runway, but not the passenger terminals, so flights came to stop as well.

The San Diego Blackout

5) Blue Angels 5 and 6 head for take-off.

I took this picture at the annual Air Show held at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar during October. The Blue Angels are comprised of 6 F-18’s and at the beginning of the show Angels’ 1,2,3 and 4 line at one end of the runway, while 5 and 6 line up at the opposite end of the runway and take-off separately. I have seen the Blue Angels perform at least 5 times now and they always impress. If you have an opportunity to see the Blue Angels in person I highly recommend it.

6) The beach at Cardiff by the Sea, CA.

There are many towns along the coast of San Diego county that are very picturesque and Cardiff by the Sea is one of my favorites. This picture features the view north, toward Encinitas. I liked this particular picture because of the beautiful meeting of sea, sky and land here.

7) The Holiday Season at Ocean Beach.

Ocean Beach is one of several beachside communities in San Diego. Like many sections of San Diego, Ocean Beach has the feeling of a small town, separated from the larger city. If you blow up this picture you can see the Christmas Tree set up on the beach.

8) The Pier at Imperial Beach.

Imperial Beach is the most southern town on the California Coast. The pier is 1,491 feet in length and provides views of Mexico to south and San Diego to the north.

9) The Silver Line Trolly, Downtown San Diego.

In the fall of 2011 the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System stated running this vintage trolley, aka Streetcar 529, on weekends. It travels on a loop of downtown San Diego called the Silver Line. Streetcar 529 was originally built in 1946 and was recently restored to original condition. I happened to catch the 529 standing still here as it was waiting for a traffic light to change at the intersection of 5th Avenue and C Street.

10) The Surfing Madonna mosaic in Encinitas, CA.

This unique mosaic was installed by under a train bridge in Encinitas, CA back on Earth Day, April 22nd, 2011, by a group of men disguised as construction workers. The mosaic became highly popular, but was taken down by the city after a few months and because it installed without permission from the city. There are plans to reconstruct the mosaic and put on permanent display right off an intersection a few blocks away from the bridge site, but final approval from the city and state has not yet been granted, but hopefully that will happen.

NFL: Round One Playoff Predictions

Posted on by georgefattell

Houston Texans vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Texans are -3. My pick is the Texans. I think they win by a TD or more. The Bengals and rookie QB Andy Dalton have had a great season, but the Texans defense is very tough. Texan RB Arian Foster will have a significant advantage at home.

New Orleans Saints vs. Detroit Lions

Saints are -10.5, What ?!? I know the Saints have a high octane offense, but so does Detroit. Not only do I think the Lions can beat the point spread, I think they can win the game outright, in a major upset.

New York Giants vs. Alanta Falcons

Giants are -3. Hmmm, tough call here. I think this game can go either way, but I will go with Giants because of home field advantage.

Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers.

Steelers are -9. I’ve got to go with the Steelers. I think Pittsburgh wins by 10 or more. I am a Tebow fan, but I don’t think he can beat Steelers Defense, it is as simple as that.

POST PLAYOFF COMMENTS:

I went 2-2.

Texan were tough at home and I expected that.

I thought the young Lions would be able to keep pace with the explosive Saints. Not this year. Lions still a year or two away from challenging for title, but they will get there imo.

I predicted the Giants would win, but I did not think they would be able to shut down Falcons the way they did. Kudos to Coach Coughlin. The Giants are peaking at the right time of the year.

The Denver Bronco win was simply unbelievable. Outside of a few die-hard Bronco fans how many people really thought Tim Tebow could beat what might be the best defense in the league? But, I’m happy to be wrong about this one because I am Tebow fan and I’ve been a Tebow fan all season. With this win he has exceeded all expectations, it doesn’t matter what else he does for the rest of the playoffs. The guy can flat out play QB in the NFL and this performance should put all doubts to rest. It won’t, but it should. Of course, the rest of the Bronco team played well too! Kudos to the entire team and the coaching staff.

My favorite pictures of 2011 – Group I: NY, NJ & PA

Posted on by georgefattell

I took quite a few pictures with my little Canon S90 and my iPhone 3GS during 2011. I have reviewed the pictures recently and put together two groups of pictures, which represent the favorite pictures I took during the last year. Of course, the Canon takes better pictures than my iPhone, but at least one iPhone shot did make the cut. Group One is comprised of pictures I took in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania during my vacation back east last summer and Group Two is compromised of pictures I took here in Southern California during 2011. I’m still sorting out which shots I want for Group Two.

.I moved to California about 8 years ago and I like SoCal quite a bit, but I have always enjoyed my trips back to NY, NJ & PA because that is the part of the country where I grew up and spent most of life. Here they are:

1) The Geary NY Tower at 8 Spuce Street, NYC

I took this picture with my iPhone 3GS. Frank Geary’s beautiful 76 story sculpture.

2) Columbus Circle, NYC

Columbus Circle in Summer

3)Hell’s Kitchen – 9th Avenue and 52nd Street, New York, NY.

I lived in this neighborhood for about 5 years during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. There are still a few stretches of 9th Avenue that look a lot like they did 60 or 70 years ago and this is one of them.

9th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen, NYC

4) Hoboken Terminal, Hoboken, NJ

Hoboken Terminal, Hoboken, NJ

5) Applegate Farm, Upper Montclair, NJ

A Northern New Jersey landmark. Applegate Farm has been selling diary products from this location since 1848. For decades it has served some of the best ice cream in New Jersey. I grew up about a mile and a half from Applegate Farm and I visited frequently as a kid. It was great to see that the place has not changed very much in the last 30 years.

Applegate Farms, Upper Montclair, NJ

6) Bachmann Publick House, Easton, PA

Built in 1753, this is the oldest standing building in Easton, PA. This building has a very interesting history. Ben Franklin, John Adams, General John Sullivan, William Ellery and William Whipple all stayed at the House or visited it.

Bachmann Publick House, Easton, PA. July 2011.

7) The Northampton Street Bridge.

This bridge spans the Delaware River and it connects Easton, PA to Phillipsburg, NJ. The bridge was built in 1895 and was designed by James Madison Porter III, a graduate of Easton’s Lafayette College. As you can see from this picture, the bridge is not totally straight. That is due to to the fact that the bridge suffered damage back in 1955, when Hurricane Diane caused floodwaters to pass over the bridge.

This picture was taken on the Easton side of the bridge.

The 2011 San Diego Auto Show

Posted on by georgefattell

I took in the San Diego Auto Show a couple of days ago at the Convention Center downtown and I found it interesting, as I usually do. The SD Auto Show does not feature nearly as many exotics as the auto shows in NY and LA, but there is usually a very extensive field of what one might call “regular” sports cars, sedans, compacts and SUV’s and that was the case this year. If you want to see Ferrari’s, Porsche’s and Lambo’s you won’t find them at the SD Auto Show, although Aston Martin, Lotus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz were represented there this year.

Here are 6 of the cars that I liked best:

1) The Dodge Charger. This car is just the very essence of American brute force. Dodge’s design team did a great job with the redesign of this monster. The R/T model, pictured below, has 370 HP. The SRT model is even more powerful, with an engine which generates 470 HP.

2) Ford Focus. I think this Ford is outstanding in many ways and the best overall car in compact class. That is not an insignificant accomplishment because the competition is stiff from Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and even from rival Chevy, with the formidable Cruze. The Focus is sleek and sporty, as well as very practical. It is nice to see the American car companies raise their game and finally produce cars that can compete with the best foreign cars in the compact class. The Focus has a 160 hp engine and fuel economy is rated at 26/36 mpg.

3) Honda Civic CNG. A few other car maker’s are working on CNG vehicles, but this version of the Honda Civic is still the only regular passenger car made by a major manufacturer that runs on Natural Gas, which I don’t completely understand given the low cost and the abundant supply of Nat Gas. The Civic CNG costs about $27,000.00. Engine is rated at 110 HP. Fuel economy is the equivalent of 27/28 mpg.

4) Scion IQ. The IQ is a very cool mini car. I took a seat in it and found it surprisingly roomy and I’m 6′ 1″, 200 lbs. MPG is 36 city/ 37 highway. I can’t say I would want to use this car for long trips on the freeway, but I think it would make a great little commuter car. It costs about $16,000.00. The 1.3L engine is rated at 94 HP. Fuel economy is 36/37 mpg.

5) The Fisker Karma. The new Karma is the coolest looking electric vehicle on the road today imo. Unfortunately, with a price that exceeds 100K very few will be able to afford it. It is similar to the Chevy Volt in that it has a gasoline powered engine that will kick in when the battery is drained so you don’t have to be concerned about range. However, I’m not sure that Fisker or EV rival Tesla are going to make it in the long run because I think we still at least 5 to 10 years away from the public buying EV’s in large numbers. I think price points for EV’s have come down substantially, re-charge times have to be reduced to under 1 hr and a much more extensive network of EV charging stations has to be built in the U.S. before most Americans will feel comfortable buying EV’s.

6) The Mecedes-Benz SL550. A classic convertible. I love the sleek, elegant design of this car. If I could choose only one car at the show to use for a trip up California’s coast on Highway One it would be this Benz.

UFC 141 Las Vegas

Posted on by georgefattell

Dana White and the UFC have put together what appears to a pretty good fight card for the last UFC event of 2011.

Here are my predictions for the top three fights on the card:

Welterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs. Johny Hendricks.

I think Jon Fitch wins the fight by unanimous decision. This should be tough fight between two very good fighters with similar MMA skill sets. Fitch is 21-1-1 in his last 23 fights, with his only loss coming to the great Georges St. Pierre. Fitch was a NCAA Div I wrestler at Purdue. He also has a Black Belt in Jui-Jitsu. Hendricks is 11-1 and was also a former NCAA D-1 wrestler. I think Fitch’s overall experience gives him the edge here.

Lightweight bout: Nate Diaz vs. Donald Cerrone

Cerrone wins by KO in the 2nd round. Diaz is a very tough and aggressive fighter, with superior striking ability, but Cerrone is one the hottest fighters in all of MMA right now. Cerrone is a very rounded fighter(Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Jui=Jitsu, Wrestling) , who has been trained by Greg Jackson in Albuquerque, NM.

Heavyweight bout: Brock Lesnar vs. Allstair Overeem.

This is a very tough fight to call because both of these huge fighters are very capable of delivering a KO blow or submitting an opponent. Style contrast is what makes this fight interesting. Lesnar is a world class wrestler and former UFC HW Champ. Overeem is a top notch fighter who’s skill set includes kickboxing, Muay Thai and Submission Grappling. Overeem is current K-1 Kickboxing champ, as well as the current holder of the Strikeforce HW title. He is currently on a 7 fight win streak, although this the “Reem’s” first UFC bout.

Vegas has installed Overeem as the slight favorite and I think that is reasonable because he is the more well rounded fighter, with more weapons at his disposal. But, I’m still going to pick Lesnar to win here. A victory for Lesnar is totally contingent upon his ability to take this fight to the ground and then unleash his vicious ground and pound. I think Lesnar has a good chance to do that because Overeem has not yet faced a wrester of Lesnar’s caliber. Of course, this fight could very easily go the other way too. Overeem might KO Lesnar in the first 30 seconds. My pick of Lesnar is a hunch. I just think Brock has little more to fight for, coming off a loss to Cain Velasquez in Oct. 2010. He wants prove he that can be champ again and he also looks like he is in great shape after a long lay off due to surgery that was required to address his bout with diverticulitis.

POST EVENT COMMENTS


Well, I went 0 for 3 tonight. That hasn’t happened to me in a long time. OK. let’s take these fights one at a time:

Fitch vs. Hendricks: Hendricks wins by KO 12 seconds into the 1st Rd.!!! There is no way I saw that coming. Fitch has only been KO’d once before and that was at the beginning of his career back in 2002. First round KO’s happen all the time in the UFC, but usually not to guys like Jon Fitch, who is normally careful and methodical. Maybe it was just lucky. We will see how both fighters fare going forward. Fitch was making his way toward another title shot, but now it appears that Hendricks is a lot closer to that opportunity.

Diaz vs. Cerrone: Diaz won by unanimous decision. This was a tough, hard fought battle and Diaz simply outclassed Cerrone with his great boxing. Cerrone effectively countered at times with very hard sweeping kicks that put Diaz down quite a few times, but was never able to capitalize and move the fight to the ground. I think that was a big mistake, because Diaz clearly demonstrated he was the better boxer in the 1st Rd.

Lesnar vs. Overeem: Overeem wins by TKO in the 1st Rd. Although I picked Lesnar to win this fight, I did point out that Overeem was very capable of winning this fight via a KO in the 1st Rd. and that is what he did. After seeing Lesnar get crumpled by a hard liver kick that Overeem delivered I really don’t think he has ever fully recovered from the surgery he had to treat his bout with diverticulitis. Lesnar looked like he was in good shape as he entered the Octagon, but he was very tentative during the fight and did not exhibit the explosiveness he showed in his early UFC fights. His take down attempts were very weak and they easily defended by Overeem. Lesnar announced his retirement immediately after the fight and I think that is the right decision for him. I’m sure he doesn’t want to be a “gatekeeper” for the HW division.

Now Overeem will now fight UFC HW Champ Junior Dos Santos and I think he find the Champ to be a much more formidable fighter than Lesnar. Dos Santos is young, very quick, and an excellent striker. Although Overeem was impressive in his UFC debut, I don’t think he will be able to defeat JDS. I will be very surprised if JDS is not the favorite to win that fight.

Visit to Taliesin West

Posted on by georgefattell

A few years ago (2008) I made a trip out to Scottsdale, AZ to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous winter home, Taliesin West. I wasn’t publishing this blog at the time of that trip so I’ve decided to post some of the pictures I took during my visit there now because I have noticed that my pictures of Wright’s Hollyhock House in Los Angeles seem to be viewed on a regular basis, so some readers of my blog might enjoy these pictures as well.

I stayed in Old Town Scottsdale when I made this trip and that area offers plenty of hotel options, everything from budget hotels to high end luxury hotels. The drive out to Taliesin West from Old Town was very easy and took about 15 minutes as I recall.

Click on the Hyperlink below for more information about Taliesin West.

Taliesen West website