Dave's Thoughts of the Day: October 1st

Welcome to October, everyone.   October usually means baseball playoffs...   hrm; we'll get to that later.

Gave the Counter a second chance and in summary, I gave it a bad rap beforehand.  The Counter is pretty good.  I'm not saying its a top five burger or that thing but it's pretty good.   The customizable toppings and the cheaper price are big assets.   Thumbs up to the Counter.

Carmageddon II was about as good as Carmageddon I out here on the Westside.  The story for Midtown and Hollywood is not as pretty.  It looked like traffic was pretty lame and in some cases miserable.

Without question, this year's version of Carmageddon was not as good as last years from a "how good the traffic was" standpoint.  Nonetheless, the freeway demolition was completed on time again, so overall, it's a big success.  I didn't chance it -- my entire weekend was spent in Santa Monica and at home.

The Bills defense is a joke.  What happened to all those great defensive transactions they made?  They played like complete utter crap this weekend.  What a joke.. I mean a JOKE.   Fitzpatrick is a joke too... the Bills were boneheads for giving him an extension so soon.   Perhaps the defense didn't get a fair shake because of all the giveaways from the Bills, but here's the bottom line:  Serious Super Bowl Contenders are 1) Smart, 2) Capitalize on scoring opportunities 3) Decent at Quarterback, and 4) Good at Defense.   The Bills are none of those things, and I was fool for not picking up on these traits last year.   The one thing is -- I was hoping for the Bills defense to show marked improvements, but frankly it seems like it got worse.  I *also* was not paying attention to just HOW bad Ryan Fitzpatrick is.  I thought he was blase/mediocre but not a literal drain on the team.

How do the Bills get blown out by the Jets?  THE JETS?!  The Jets couldn't score a point at home against San Francisco.  That's the team that kicks the tar out of Buffalo??

Other teams that I think are a joke, but also have good records...

The Caridnals.  Now there's a team with a bad quarterback!  Anyone want a sack?  Here's Kevin Kolb!   How did they go 4-0?  LOVE the defense, but these guys can't score.  It's only a  matter of time before they finish 8-8.  You watch, it will happen.

The Bungles at 3-1.   This is the classic cream "puff" schedule.   What was it my buddy Mike in North NJ said to describe tomato cans...?  "Cream Pie?"  "Cream Cake?"  Haha, it's all good.  At any rate, the Bungles beat the Jags, well, anyone does, basically.  They likewise beat the Browns and the Redskins.  The Redskins aren't bad, but they're still working out the growing pains.  The Browns, well.. haha, need we say more?

The Vikings at 3-1.   I need another month or so to evaluate the Vikes, but it's safe to say their current standing at 3-1 is a surprise.

What happened to all the great defense in the SEC?   Georgia 51, Tennessee 44.  Ah... perhaps Georgia was a bad example.

DK Donuts... nondescript little donut shop but the people have spoken... on Yelp it's the highest rated Donut Shop in Santa Monica, and after getting some for friends and I during the football games, I agree big time.

Enrolled in the Fall UCLA Bruin Swim meet.  They posted the registration link so late that I don't think there will be great turnout.  For the meet I have five events: 200 IM, 100 fly, 50 free, 50 fly, and 100 IM.   I may scratch the 100 fly but I'm going to play it by ear.   The pool will be short-course-meters.   Looking forward to it!

and the LOCKS of the Week went 2-1!  Let's hear it for Philly!!   That Eagles team is on shaky ground, but they did just enough to beat the Giants.   Oh GOODNESS is Andy Reid a bad football coach.    What in the hell was that sequence inside of 3 minutes?   First playing for a field goal knowing how great Eli Manning is with 2 minute offense, then calling the timeout as weak-legged Tynes tries and misses a 54+ yard field goal.   Wonderful.   Reid is a nutjob, folks.  Seems like a good dude, but he's nuts!   Logic does not calculate his coaching decisions.

Normally LOCKS does a lot of College Games for the 2012 season, but as you saw on Saturday, the schedule was completely unpredictable against the spread.   It was nearly impossible to find a reliable prognostication with all of those hard to gauge matchups.   Fortunately for LOCKS, the picks stayed away from College save a UCLA/Colorado game.

By the way, for those who partake, Buffalo Wings at The Shack in Santa Monica on Wilshire and 26th are quite good.  Right up there with Buffalo Wild Wings.  These things are legit.

Let's face it:  I am miserable at Fantasy Football.   Judgement call and I choose a barely off an injury Freddy Jackson instead of the man who scored 245 yards and 51 fantasy points i.e. Brian Hartline.  For the record, Jackson scored 8 fantasy points.  Miserable.

I'm out of time for this blog, but hope you all have a good Monday.