Early this morning (well, late last night), I had this urge to check into my flight online. Don’t know why, I just did. So I went to Emirates’ website and was like, “Yo, browser. Check me in.” But in Arabic, the site shook its head feverishly, “No, fool, your itinerary doesn’t exist.”

I was quite taken aback. Two reasons, one: It called me “fool.” Two, and probably more importantly: I didn’t have tickets.

How did this happen?! My flight’s in 8 hours and I don’t have tickets? I paid for them! Just my luck. Not even in Karachi yet and I’m already getting robbed.

I called Emirates and some Indian girl picked up. I tried to keep my cool because she was being so helpful, but I had to throw the smack down. “Yo, where be my tickets!”

Turns out, the system canceled them because I had reserved too many times and the system got confused which tickets I had actually bought. Dumb system. Luckily though, I was able to find the same departure tickets from the site, for the same price.

However, all the economy tickets on the return flight back to LAX were sold out leaving me with only the option of arriving in Los Angeles five hours later than I wanted. But to compensate, the nice lady offered me a free hotel, food and transport during my longer stay in Dubai. But I gave her a counter offer — I noticed there were a few remaining business-class tickets so I was like, “Yo, how about upgrading me to Business, no charge?” And guess what she did!

She said no.

Ah well. It was worth a shot! The hotel’s called Copthorn. I wonder if it’s super fancy! Okay I’m out. Gotta mentally prepare for this 15 hour flight. see u.

If the Saints win, they win their division. They could sit at 2 or 3, depending on how the Niners do today in Seattle. I’m picking the Niners to lose up there (but you can read about that later) giving the Saints home-field for their first game in the playoffs.

But it starts at home against their divisional foes, the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons have been a bit of a disappointment (though their record doesn’t show it). They’re inconsistent and are forgetting what made them special a couple years ago. That’s a good thing for the Saints, since that specialty is their running game, something the Saints have had a history of sucking at. But the Saints are even worse defending the Falcons’ new MO (ranked 28th against defending the pass…).

But a bad defense gets helped by a great offense, and the Saints definitely have that. If Drew gets an average 305-yard game Monday Night, he’ll surpass Dan Marino’s 1983 record of 5,084 passing yards, with still another game remaining at home next week. Drew nearly broke the record a couple years back on the final play of the season, but came just a few yards short.

So it goes without saying the Saints will probably get whatever they want on offense, especially at home. And Sean Payton and the boys love to show off in prime time games, so get ready for an offensive explosion. The Saints can see that No. 2 seed around the corner, and are going to everything they can to get it.

Christmas Picks!

I was a disgusting 8-8 last week (second 8-8 of the year, second in three weeks…). So I’m saying screw it — I’m not going to get 175 wins this year so I might as well play like the Colts: play with no pressure.

Three of my picks that will sure to be wrong:

• Giants at Jets. Giants almost always lose after winning a game and almost always win after losing a game. And Eli is great on the road. They lost badly last week, and it was at home. They’re on the “road” this week. So odds are they’ll win this week, right? Well maybe. Problem is, while they’re on the “road,” it’s only technically. They play the Jets, and it’s the same stadium. But something about this game and what it means to the Giants going into the Cowboys game next week, and the annoyance that I have for Rex Ryan tells me the Giants will win.
• Eagles at Cowboys. The Eagles have surprisingly gotten better as the season has progressed and are pretty dialed in right now. While their chance of going to the Playoffs is real slim, a lot of people like them right now. And while I would love to see the Cowboys implode and see all the random LA Cowboy fans wearing frowns, I feel Romo will put up a good show against the Eagles defense today. I’ll probably be wrong, but hey, I’m playing with no pressure.
• Niners at Seahawks. I’m picking the Seahawks. Why? Because I’m dumb. But also because I want the Saints to get the No. 2 pick. In all honesty though, I really do think the Seahawks can win. Niners showed off a great defense last week, but the Seahawks are somewhat underrated. And they’re at home, with their 12th man. The Niners will win this game, but I am picking the Seahawks to pull it off. But I’ll be wrong.

Keys to the game: Saints D have to stop Adrian Peterson, Saints D can’t give up the big pla against the sometimes explosive Christian Ponder, Saints O-line have to stop Jared Allen, Saints O have to dominate the passing game. Vikings may be a 2-11 team, but they’re exactly the kind of team Saints like to lose to.

This will be the last weekend I’ll be watching live games in the States until half way through the playoffs as next week I’ll be in Chicago, the week after that I’ll be in Tokyo and the two weeks after that I’ll be in Karachi (Inshallah!). Happy that I’ll be traveling the world once again, but bummed that I’ll be missing HD. Don’t worry, I’ll have be watching Saints/Laker games with a Slingbox at 2 am! But now picks:

I did much better than I thought last week, went 12-4. This week, however, I might have made some dumb picks. But we’ll see about that.

If there is only one game you can watch this weekend, make sure, MAKE SURE, you watch the afternoon game on CBS: Patriots at Broncos. I love Tim Tebow and secretly want to marry him. He’s such a fun guy to watch, root for and make fun of all at the same time. But Tom Brady is in town. I don’t know why, but I’m choosing against Tom Brady. Partly because Patriots suck. Broncos defense is better than Patriots offense I feel, and Patriots defense is horrendous. It’s the game of the week in my eyes. Forget watching the 10-3 matchup with Steelers and Niners tomorrow night, it’s Patriots at Broncos that are most important!

But keep an eye on the result tomorrow night. If Big Ben plays, Steelers could win, and if Steelers win, Saints will be #2 in the NFC getting a Bye in January. Go for it Pittsburgh! I love San Francisco, but I’m rooting against you this weekend.

Enjoy the games. see u.

Today’s matchup puts the Saints outdoors in 50-degree weather in Tennessee against the Titans. While the Saints are a perfect 6-0 in the Mercedez-Benz Superdome, they’re a mediocre 3-3 on the road, losing twice outdoors (the last time they played outdoors was almost two months ago!).

Today’s game will be the last Saints’ outdoor game until the playoffs, it will be a good test as the Saints will most definitely need to play outdoors in the playoffs in order to reach the Super Bowl: against either the Niners or Packers (though I foolishly predicted that the Giants would beat the Packers in Lambeau in the second round, then on the same day the Saints would beat the Niners in New Orleans as the Saints would get the second seed, then the following week the Saints would play the Giants at home in the NFC Championship game).

Chris Johnson finally has been doing a better job running the ball, and run defense is a bit of a Saints weakness. Secondary is also a bit weak, and Matt Hasselbeck knows full well about that. It’s the Saints’ first non-prime time game in a couple weeks, and that too against an average team. Saints love the spotlight and love playing against good teams (that’s when they perform the best), however, this game has neither.

But the Saints have to perform just as strongly as they have as of late. If they do, they’ll have the Vikings next week and the Niners will have to host the Steelers (though Pittsburgh is beat up), and if the Saints win again and the Steelers beat the Niners, the Saints and Niners will both be 11-3 and the Saints would be that much closer to grabbing the second seed with only two games left in the season.

I’m recording this game to watch tonight, so no one ruin it for me! Go Saints!

There are some interesting games today. If the Texans beat the Bengals and my Saints beat the Titans, the Texans will win the AFC South and go to the Playoffs for the first time in team history. The NFC Wild Card teams will also become more clear after today as the Falcons are playing their rival Panthers and the Giants and Cowboys are facing off on Sunday night (they will also play again in three weeks). And can Tebow win again? This time against an injured Bears team? Some very fun games today. So enjoy! see u.

The Saints manhandled the Giants last week in New Orleans, and tonight they’ll get to show off to the nation again, but this time against the Lions. Detroit will be without the dirty Suh after he kicked a Packer while down like the disgusting bag that he is. Too bad though, because I was really looking forward to the Saints O-line stopping him. Oh well, guess we’ll have to wait until next year for that because they won’t make it to the Playoffs next month. Get ready for the Lions implode.

It won’t be as simple of a game as it was last week, the Lions actually have a good offense. They may not be the rest running team in the league, but with Stafford throwing to Calvin Johnson, anything is possible. It’ll be a great test for the Saints secondary, which has been the only reason why these Saints aren’t the best in the NFC… yet. It’s going to be a great game, even the NFL agrees — that’s why they moved the matchup to primetime and dropped the Colts/Patriots back to an early start! Sunday Night Football, on NBC! GO SAINTS! Now picks.

I’m keeping steady at 71%. It’s respectable but I’m not totally happy with it. We’ll see how this week treats me.

The games I’ll be paying attention to in the early slot are Bengals/Steelers, Broncos/Vikings and Falcons/Texans. But mostly Tebow. He won’t be able to get it done if he pushes the Broncos to the Playoffs, but won’t it be fun watching to see if he does?

Then of course, the afternoon game which could either be great or the most boring and sad game of the day, Packers/Giants. I honestly think the Giants will put up a big fight, I nearly picked them to win. I hope they do, so Saints are that much closer to a No. 1 seed, but I don’t see it happening. It’ll be a fight though.

Tomorrow night’s game is a fun matchup. But only because both teams could be moving to LA in a couple years! The Chargers are the most likely team, but the Jags are possible too. A Pakistani-born Muslim dude (a Khan) bought the team earlier in the week. He’s a big football fan and is from Illinois. He says he won’t be moving the Jags out of Jacksonville, but who knows for sure. Jags also fired the coach Del Rio earlier the same day they announced Khan would be buying the team. I’d welcome the Jags with open arms to LA. Galpin will no doubt sponsor it! Okay that was a very dumb joke. Enjoy the games. see u.

At the moment, however, Dallas is a half-game ahead of the Giants for the top-spot in the NFC East, and surely after tomorrow night, the Cowboys will sit alone atop the East (with two games against the Cowboys coming up, plus a game against the Packers, Jets and rival Redskins). It doesn’t look good for the Giants. Even moreso because they’re injured. But everyone will say, if the Giants want to prove they’re the NFC East leaders, the journey will start in New Orleans tomorrow night.

But New Orleans has a different look on things of course. The Saints are currently number one in their NFC South, but are looking elsewhere around the NFC, particularly to their former division of forever NFC West, and their former rivals the San Francisco Niners (I write this in San Francisco – Bay Area by the way). They lost Thursday night against their brother Baltimore Ravens. The older Harbaugh handed his little brother his team’s second loss of the year, and now the Saints, if Monday yields a win for them, will be only a game behind the Niners, and thus will give them a first week Bye in the Playoffs.

So while the Giants are playing for the playoffs, the Saints are playing for that Bye, coming off a Bye of their own. And while the Giants tend to alternate their wins and losses per week, the fresh Saints with a rested Sean Payton is too tough of a match for the Giants to beat, even moreso with the Saints’ Dome Field Advantage down in the Mercedez-Benz Superdome!

Now picks!

I was on fire last week — maybe this whole ‘not watching the games’ is working? Well let’s try it again. Last week was the auto show, today’s the Bay Area (I’m watching parts of the morning games, but that’s it, will be out in the afternoon, unfortunately, not watching the Bears who are visiting Oakland today).

Games to pay attention to? A couple of former ‘SC Quarterbacks (the USC UCLA game is DVR’d at home! so SHHH) — Can Sanchez and the Jets bounce back? And can Leinart lead the Texans to the Playoffs? How about Tebow in San Diego! Great weekend, folks. Enjoy! see u.

But, a dumb NFL weekend isn’t too bad though since Thanksgiving is only 100 hours away and with it comes food and football all day long (I’ll be making turkey burgers for the first time… I’ve never been a fan of the turkey gobble gobble). And the Saints will make their return to the season, and this time be featured on Monday Night, at home, against the Giants! A fight for the 2nd and 3rd NFC seed! But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, that’s next week, let’s take a look at the few exciting games for this weekend:

1. One of the three games that was pretty exciting already ended, Thursday Night’s Jets at Broncos. I picked the Broncos (see previous post’s comment!) to win a game that not many thought they would win! It was a snoozer up until the final 6 minutes of the game in which Mr. Tim Tebow worked his magic and won the game!
2. The second of the exciting weekend games will be kicking off later today in Chicago, with the Bears hosting the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers have been deteriorating as the season has progressed, almost the opposite of years past when they deteriorate in the beginning of the season to only surge back… and miss the playoffs. But this year, every team in the AFC West is either tied for first place or is one game behind first place. So while no one outside of San Diego thinks they’ll win their division (but maybe people down there also don’t think they’ll win), they have a shot.
3. The last exciting game of the weekend is not even really exciting since Michael Vick won’t be playing in New York against the Giants tonight in primetime. Now, I say that from others’ points of view, because I don’t find Michael Vick the least bit exciting. I find him annoying and stupid. I hate watching him play. But conversely, I love watching Tebow play so go figure.

You know what, scratch the Eagles at Giants being exciting. I’m going to kick them off the list and hope the MLS championship game featuring the LA Galaxy will get more viewers (as if). Instead, I’ll boost the early game, Bengals at Ravens, to the exciting games list.

3. Rookie Quarterback who looks wonderful versus a sad and pathetic Ravens team which won’t even have Ray Lewis to inspire them. Both offense and defense of the Bengals will be better than their opponents and the Bengals will sit atop the AFC North with the Steelers, yet Steelers will have first place because they beat the Bengals last week.

Ahhh, that feels better. Now for the boring picks:

I hit 100 last week, which means I’m averaging about 10-4, about 70%. That surprisingly isn’t that bad, considering I had a bad series of games Weeks 6-9. 6-9 is rough. Anyway, have fun this weekend folks. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to head out to the LA Auto Show. I have a date with an Audi A3. see u.

Luckily for the Saints though, all of those pivotal games will be at home… except for the match today, against the team that has been money at home in the Matt Ryan-era. Saints are a different team on the road. I mean, they lost to the Bradford-less Rams on the road a few weeks ago. And Vilma is out again this week. Julio Jones of the Falcons is active, so Saints have to make sure they keep it up on defense. Offense is of course no worries for the Saints, especially in a big game, but the O-line has to block Abraham. Oh man I hate him. If the Saints don’t make any silly mistakes or any silly turnovers today, it’s very possible for the Saints to run the table.

Now picks.

This weekend is very peculiar. Because the Raiders played the Chargers (well) on Thursday night, there are only three late games today with 10 early games. A lot of the snoozers are in the early slot, so that makes the late games that much more fun. Lions at Bears, Giants at Niners and Patriots at Jets will be the only games anyone cares about. All three will be great.

A few games to look out for in the early slot though are Steelers at Bengals (can Andy Dalton get it done against a Steelers team coming off a bad loss?). Bills at Cowboys (can the Cowboys start their bounce back against the Bills?). Broncos at Chiefs (can Tebow keep the Broncos in the AFC West race?). Jags at Colts (will they finally get a win?!).

Enjoy the games everyone. see u.

Also, make sure you stop the run, please? You’re 24th in the league. So stop the run! Winner of the game sits atop the NFC South, so win.

Vilma isn’t playing today, so the defense will look confused today. He’s their anchor. Last time Vilma didn’t play (in the Houston game), scores were in the 40s because the Saints couldn’t keep the Texans off the field. So make sure you pay extra attention on defense today and don’t allow big plays against the young Buc team.

Now the picks!

I won’t talk about them because kick-off is seconds away! GO SAINTS!

This week, the Saints decided to take their explosive offense on the road, up the road, to St. Louis. Bad news for those in east Missouri… St. Louis is 0-6 as well. And with Sam Bradford out for the second-straight week, so long as the Saints can stop the run (Steven Jackson is a beast), look for another huge win this week. Sean Payton will be coaching from the booth again, but it didn’t look like it affected them last week! Go Saints. Now picks.

Most of the games are snoozers today. In the early slot, the only competitive game may be the Vikings at Panthers, but that’s only because both teams are equally poor, however, the Vikings are better than they look and will win that match up. But don’t be surprised if Cam Newton uses his intelligence to win the game at home.

The later games are where most of the fun will happen: the back-to-back loss Lions will face the Denver Tebows (I’m not buying Tebow, not for this weekend at least), the Pats will fight it out against the Steelers (I don’t know why so many are picking the Steelers, I think this is going to be an easy game for the Patriots) and the one-loss Niners hosting the .500 Browns (Niners are coming off a Bye that may hurt their rhythm, but they’ll come out on top).

Both the Primetime games today and tomorrow are great division rivalries, starting with the Eagles hosting the Cowboys tonight (probably the best game of the weekend, with the Cowboys winning a close game) and the upsurging Chiefs hosting the Chargers tomorrow night, with the winner sitting atop the AFC West. While the Chiefs have been showing a little better promise as of late winning three straight, they still suck and will lose!

I had a horrible picking weekend last week, probably because all I do is post about football lately. I will do much better this week because I promise to have an original post up in the next few days. Take care everyone. see u.