So I lost a 1/4 inch around my waist, for a total of 2.25 inches lost since the beginning of January. I'm now at 48.75 inches around my waist. I'm happy that I did this despite my less than stellar eating schedule. This week was slightly "pizza heavy" i.e. too many white flour carbs. My stated goal is to lose 2 inches every 4 weeks, so an average of a 1/2 inch per week. Over the next three weeks I'll have to lose more than 1/2 an inch a week to maintain that goal.
So this week I don't plan to eat any wheat/flour based carbs, so no bread, pasta etc. My "diet" will be lean meats, low fat dairy, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. I'll be interested to see what happens next Saturday morning. By the way one other thing I'd like to mention. Since I've started this I have NOT counted any calories. I'm really relying on my ability to make largely good food choices, though it seems I'm still losing inches around my waist despite eating "clean" foods perhaps a little over 60% on average, versus my stated goal of 90%. This week I will aim for that 90%. I'm very interested in the results of next Saturdays "taping", after 5 days of being all in on my eating and exercise program.
So rant time. Just finished watching the Superbowl. The New England Patriots with a regular season 13-3 record, vs. the New York Giants with a regular season record of 9-7. The latter was the wildcard team. So many of you have heard me rant about this before but it absolutely pisses me off that a wild card team can squeak into the playoffs with single digit wins and play well enough to win 3 playoff games on the road and the Superbowl. I am not convinced we are seeing the BEST teams play. That is my point. I would have preferred that the Patriots had won, but if they were going to lose at least lose to a team such as the San Francisco 49'ers that had a 13-3 season. To me in my non nuanced understanding of the game we are looking at numbers. Numbers tell us who won the game, (team with the most points). So to me in football the regular season has to count. In the present system a team could possibly have a losing record, (say 7-9), and still win their division and possibly make it into a wildcard slot, win three more away games, and then take the Supebowl, say against a team that had a 12+ win season. I am not convinced as a fan, that the BEST teams, the ones with what I would say have at least a 10-6 season, are fairly being represented. So I would like to propose a few rule changes.
1.) Any team eligible for the playoffs must have a minimum of a 10-6 regular season wins, thus this becomes the minimum number to be the wildcard. If your team has less than this number, well your season is over, thank you for playing, we'll see you next year.
Some have said to me that the above isn't "fair" because some teams have harder schedules than others. Someone told me that the Patriots wins this season, came from teams that were below .500 in wins for their season. To this I say SO. It's not like the Patriots asked to play against these teams. They had the same opportunity to have better records, but blew it. Man up and play football, and get your wins.
2.) It should take a monumental effort for the wildcard team to go all the way and win the Superbowl. More than just playing 3 playoff games on the road. The difficulty for a 10-6 wildcard team should be palpable. Preference for advance should be given to the teams that have had a better record in the regular season "Any given Sunday" in the regular season is okay, but in the playoffs it is too random. So here are a couple of rules that wildcard teams advancing through the playoffs should have to abide by:
a.) On ALL 4th down plays they must go for the down, or a touch down. They are not allowed to punt. This rule gets really dicey for said wildcard team if they blow a 4th down, and are DEEP in their own territory. This rule remains in affect throughout the playoffs, but not the Superbowl.
b.) If they make it to the Superbowl then the above rule is replaced with the following rule, the wildcard team can ONLY score through touchdowns, and punting for the extra point. They are not allowed to kick field goals for 3 points at all.
c.) These rules are only for wildcard teams with a 10-6 regular season record, but become null en void if two teams are equally matched in regular season wins, say within a 1 game difference in wins during the regular season.
To me these crippling rules will almost guarantee that a wild card team will be knocked out early on, leaving the teams with solid double digit wins in the regular season to move on, thus assuring fans that they are seeing the best teams in the league compete, and one of them becoming the BEST by winning the Superbowl.
However if a wildcard team overcomes the playoff games on the road with the 4th down rule, and overcomes their Superbowl opponent, despite not being able to kick field goals, and scoring solely through touch downs, and extra point kicks, then too me that is a true David vs Goliath story, and despite all of those obstacles, that perhaps this wildcard team is the BEST in the league. As a fan I it would be easier to root for an underdog wild card team in the Superbowl. I think these rules changes would preserve the integrity of the game, make the regular season mean more, an almost guarantee to the fans that the trully best teams are being represented in the playoffs and the Superbowl.
I suppose if I was relying on pro football as a source of income, thus the more teams in the playoffs, the better, then I probably don't like these ideas. NFL are you listening?
Rant off, until next week.
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