Are you good at picking winners?  The NFL playoffs started this weekend, and I decided to pick the winners of each game, all the way to the Super Bowl winner.  If there’s any indication that my picks aren’t too good, then look no further. 

I chose Dallas, Green Bay, Cincinnati and New England for the first weekend.  Dallas was the only pick that I had that won their game.  The other 3 teams that I chose lost.  I’m sure glad that I didn’t have money riding on the games.  What a loser.

Still, I’m not completely done yet.  I have Minnesota, New Orleans, Indy and San Diego winning their games this weekend.  For the conference championships, I have Minnesota and Indy moving to the Super Bowl.  And my Super Bowl pick?  Minnesota!

Like I said, I’m not too confident after the first weekend.  But, you never know…

Which NFL team is your favorite?  Or NBA or MLB favorite team?  For me, the St. Louis Rams have always been my favorite.  Ever since my flag football days as a youth, when my team was the Rams, I’ve been a Rams fan.  Back then, the team was based out of Los Angeles.  The players I remember were Roman Gabriel, John Cappalletti, Hacksaw Reynolds and Merlin Olsen.  There were many more memorable players over the years.

There were many ups and downs over the 30 plus years now that I’ve been following the Rams.  They made it to the Super Bowl in the 70′s, only to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  In the 90′s, they were doing so badly for several years that I contemplated choosing a new “favorite team.”  My reasoning was that they were no longer the true Rams since they moved to St. Louis.  But I remained faithful and I was rewarded the next year when Kurt Warner took the team to Super Bowl victory.

The last couple of years have been dour.  I think they only won 2 games last year, and this year they are winless.  I believe that teams go through cycles.  It wasn’t that long ago when the 49ers dominated the NFL.  Lately, they haven’t been as successful (although they look like they may cycle into winning form with their new coach, Mike Singltary).  I will remain loyal to my Rams.  Maybe they’ll do better in a few years.  Right now, that’s how long it looks like it’s going to take to get better.

My favorite MLB team is the Dodgers.  They went through some lean years after their glory years in the 80′s with Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Ron Cey and Bill Russell.  They won an emotional World Series in the early 90′s with Kirk Gibson.  But until last year, they haven’t been doing so well.  They’re back in the NLCS this year after sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals.  I have something to cheer about this October!!

Curiously, my favorite NBA team is not the LA Lakers.  You would have thought that all my favorite professional teams would be from LA, but it didn’t work out that way.  My favorite NBA team is the Philadelphia 76ers.  The reason for this is because I loved to watch Dr. J in my youth.  Ever since then, I’ve remained a Sixers fan.  We had some good years when Allen Iverson was a Sixer.  Alas, we are in a down cycle right now.

So there you have it – my favorite professional teams.  Overall, I can’t complain.  They’ve all had good years over time and that’s all I can ask for.

WOW. I watched the Hawaii team from Waipio beat the team from Louisiana earlier today.

What an accomplishment!! My wife and I were so excited in the sixth inning, when the boys from Waipio scored five runs to take a 7-5 lead. Chicken skin moments. After the game, the boys were interviewed on national TV. They said that their coach urged them to keep trying no matter how bad the situation was. I think we can all learn from this team. They never gave up hope. And now they’re headed to the championship game.

Best of luck to the team tomorrow. I hope that they can match the success of the 2005 Ewa Beach team. Even if they don’t win, I think it shows that Hawaii has one of the best Little League programs not only in the nation, but in the world!

I’ve been hooked on the Olympics this year.

Watching Michael Phelps slowly make his way to Olympic history has been a joy to watch. When the week started, I read a sports column that presented a very realistic outcome — Phelps not winning eight gold medals. The columnist went on to point out that even if Phelps didn’t win eight gold medals, we shouldn’t think any less of him. Most athletes don’t even win one gold medal in their lifetime. Even if Phelps won just one gold medal, he should be praised, not admonished for his efforts.

But here we are on the brink of history. Last night’s victory was by 1/100 of a second. What a race!!! It looked surely like Phelps would get the silver in the race, but he somehow prevailed. 1/100 of a second. Think about that. The result could easily have been the other way around. One thing about sports — sometimes it’s that lucky bounce or something that helps you to victory. It seems like it’s Phelps’ time and nothing can stop him.

It was interesting watching Mark Spitz humbly passing the torch to Phelps. I am lucky to say that I was able to watch both swimmers win seven gold medals in my lifetime. Who know when someone like Phelps will appear again. It’s been over 30 years since Spitz won his seven gold medals.

Tonight, we’ll see if Phelps can break Spitz’s record. He’s already won more gold medals than anyone in history. Eight gold medals in one Olympics will be another record he can hold. But even if he doesn’t, he will still be one of the greatest Olympians in history and we can proudly say that we saw it in person.

Go Michael!!!

Went surfing at White Plains Beach this morning. Small and windy, but rideable. I was one of the first guys out around 6:00 AM, so I had my fair share of waves.

If you’ve never been to White Plains to surf, let me tell you about the break. The beach is located in Kalaeloa (formerly Barber’s Point Naval Air Station). It’s a nice sandy beach. The surfing area is pretty spread out. On the right side (facing the ocean), the wave breaks further out with mostly rights to surf. Towards the left is a break known as fenceline. You can catch both lefts and rights in this area.

The surfers are predominantly longboarders. The waves are not the best. Any wind causes a pretty good chop. Best on calm days. I used to surf Cliffs at Diamond Head for many years. I can’t compare the waves (DH is better). But the conditions are similar. It’s usually pretty windy and choppy on most days. But every once in a while, you’ll catch a day when the surf is up and the wind is down.

Today wasn’t one of those days…

I spent (pun intended) a few days in Vegas at the end of June. Arrived around 11:30 PM on Thursday, June 26th and left Monday morning on June 30th. I went with three of my high school buddies. One lives in Las Vegas. Another lives in Seattle. The third friend and I are living in Hawaii.

This is our second trip together. Six years ago, we all went to Lake Tahoe for our 40th birthdays (now you know how old I am). It was a memorable trip, as we enjoyed skiing, gambling and partying like we did in our younger days.

After a pleasant flight to Las Vegas, things turned a little ominous. We checked into the Orleans Hotel. The hotel front desk girl handed me my room key and said: “You’re in Room 1313.” I looked at her in disbelief. There’s a 13th floor in a Vegas hotel? And a room No. 13 on the 13th floor? I had quick thoughts about asking for a different room, but decided not to be superstitious.

I should have asked for a different room. Prior to this trip, I have never lost money every single night of gambling. On this trip, I lost every night. Even my favorite game, blackjack, was letting me down. I didn’t win any time I sat at the blackjack table. Darn room No. 1313!!

Other than the gambling, the trip was very enjoyable. My friend from Seattle is not a big gambler, so we made time to do other than gambling activities (My other two friends on the other hand, are major poker fiends — playing until the sun comes up in the morning.). On Saturday, we went to an indoor electric go-cart track. You may not think an electric cart can go very fast, but these carts zipped around at 35-40 mph. Good fun!

We also went golfing on Sunday. Nice course, but the temperature was 107 degrees! My poker friends were hurting after staying up all night drinking and playing poker.

One of our other friends drove up from the San Diego area to join us for Friday and Saturday night. It was like old times again — just having a good time with the boys.

We’re already thinking of our next trip. Maybe for our 50th birthday?