Jim Vallet and Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter
Back after four days of Jamaican music and no WiFi. This was my second cruise in my life, so I consider myself now well-qualified to give my list of cruising dos and don’ts. If you doubt my qualifications as an expert on cruising, consider that I know at least as much about cruising as I do about the NFL, probably more. I never played in the NFL, I have been on “multiple” cruises, so I am more qualified to write about cruising than the NFL right?
Anyway, my cruising “Dos”.
Do go on one, if, for no other reason than the price. The price for four days of cruising, including all food and entertainment, was cheaper than four days of room only in a decent San Diego hotel.
Do make your wishes known. The cruise line gave us a late afternoon boarding time, and the late dinner time. They also added a bottle of wine to our tab that we did not have. When we asked about these things, we got them changed with no hassle.
Do spend at least some time on the deck that allows children. I’ll admit the adults only section is quieter and less crowded, but the people there seemed to have the attitudes of nonsmokers and environmentalists. They seem to be more worried about rules than having fun.
Do go to the free shows…they're great!
If you go from this area to LA, do fly there. The ride is long and awful.
Do carry your own luggage off, if possible. It’s faster and easier.
Do buy gas in Nevada…it’s almost a dollar a gallon more expensive in California.
On the other hand, there are several don’ts, and the first one is don’t take the drink deal. The cost was $360 per person for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Although alcohol is VERY expensive onboard the ship, you can get a five beer bucket of beer for $37.73, including gratuity. One of those per day, plus a bottle of wine with dinner, plus two after dinner drinks apiece cost $150. So for all the alcohol we wanted, we bought the drinks we wanted individually for $120.00 cheaper.
Don’t take the WiFi deal. When we saw the price packages STARTED at 10 bucks a day so a service we already are paying for would not be blocked, we knew we could go without WiFi, which included TV. We both read a couple books…it was neat.
Don’t wait for the last minute to get your show seats, unless you prefer to sit next to someone other than your wife.
Don’t get mad at the crowds or lines for almost everything.
Now, since I’m in the mood, I have dos and don’ts for watching and betting NFL games.
Do watch the games…they’re fun.
Do bet only what you can afford to lose.
Do use your voice to let the NFL know how you feel about some “roughing the passer” penalties. The ones on the Falcons and the Chiefs last week were nothing short of crimes against football.
Do trust Andy Reid’s offense, the Buffalo Bills, Cooper Kupp, Justin Tucker, and Aaron Donald.
Don’t go onto an NFL field. As recently again illustrated by both Bobby Wagner and Davante Adams, the NFL football field is no place for us mere mortals. Also, don’t forget that you are usually under six feet, have no equipment, and are probably in questionable physical condition. Compare that to a fully padded, 270 pounds of pure muscle in prime world-class physical condition football player and you can see why my seat in the stands is close enough for me.
Don’t go overboard (pun intended) on the Lions or 49ers. Lots of talent, but lots of injuries, too.
For gosh sakes, don’t trust the Raiders’ defense! They can’t tackle, and they can’t cover receivers, either. At the start of Monday night’s game, they were having success blitzing Patrick Mahomes. So, of course they changed to only rushing three defenders, giving Patrick Mahomes lots of time to tear apart their secondary that can’t cover anybody. Which Mahomes did. If I played for the Raiders, I would expect lots of tackling drills this week.
Don’t believe anything the Miami Dolphins say. Are you flipping kidding me? Tua Tagovailoa looked OK to you??!!
Don’t believe that placekickers are football players.
Don’t miss the Buffalo-KC game this week. Their last meeting was the best football game I ever saw.
While I’m sure of my does and don’ts, I’m not so sure about my picks against the spread. I’ll do my best, but watch the injury lists. Lines are from sportsline.com on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
Atlanta Falcons (+5 ½) vs. San Francisco 49ers: The Falcons are playing pretty well and are at home against a very beat up 49er team making its second straight trip to the Eastern Time Zone.
Minnesota Vikings (+3) at Miami Dolphins: Do you believe Tagovailoa will play?
Seattle Seahawks (+3) vs. Arizona Cardinals: Conner and Hopkins are both out and the ‘Hawks are at home.
Buffalo Bills (-3) at KC Chiefs: The regular season game of the year. I think the Bills will get revenge.
Dallas Cowboys (+5) at Philadelphia Eagles: A lot of points to give a very good defense against an offense that has struggled against good D’s.
Last week: No picks
Season: 14-12
Robert’s picks
After an embarrassing 0-5 showing in college football last week, the less said the better.
Kansas (+9) at Oklahoma: It concerns me a little that Jalon Daniels is out for Kansas, but Jason Bean threw four touchdown passes against TCU. If Kansas was having Oklahoma’s season, and Oklahoma was having Kansas’ season, Oklahoma would be favored by four touchdowns. Instead, the team having the better season is a 9-point underdog.
Nebraska (+14) at Purdue: Purdue wins close games. Nebraska loses close games. I just need this to be a close game.
Clemson (-3 1/2) over Florida St.: Clemson is just steadily getting better. Their steadiness against Florida State’s volatility should be enough for a solid victory.
Utah (-3 ½) over USC: Maybe Lincoln Riley makes all the difference for USC, but Utah has bullied them them physically the past few years. Coming off the loss to UCLA, which plays a more physical style than USC, I think the Utes get back on track in a game they need if they have any chance to get back to the conference championship game.
Washington St. (+3 ½) at Oregon St.: USC kicked a late field goal to spoil my ticket +13 ½ on Wazzu last week. Oregon St. got one of the luckiest wins you’ll ever see against Stanford. I like the Cougars coming off that loss, and the backup QB for Oregon St. didn’t impress me last week.
Ravens (-5 ½) at Giants: Gotta be some jet lag for the Giants after celebrating that win in London over the Packers. Sooner or later the Giants are going to have to do more than run Saquon Barkley to win. I think sooner happens Sunday, and with so many injured receivers, I don’t think they can do it.
49ers (-5 ½) at Falcons: The 49ers spent the week at the Greenbriar Resort in West Virginia, as they have the last two years whenever playing back-to-back games in the East. Even with their defensive line injuries, they still have a deep rotation, and they will still put plenty of pressure on Marcus Mariota. Atlanta has covered all five games this year, and streaks like that don’t last long in the NFL
Last week
College: 0-5
NFL :1-1
Season
College: 7-14-1
NFL :6-6
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