Tokyo to Hiroshima

We left our hotel room with the heated toilets and fog-prevention spot in our mirror and walked about 5 miles from Asakusa to Tokyo station with little direction. We were proud to have the station and we got to see some different neighborhoods. Kando was colorful in a cartoonish way. Around Tokya station, were sterile modern building signifying a financial district.

We became frustrated in the station when we saw miles of restaurants, but Candaxe wanted a bento nox for thevtrain. We finally decided to go to the train. An attendant stopped us and pointed to the scooter. He had such a pained look as he tried to muster up the English words to tell us something. Finally he called the big dogs, a man who pointed at Candace's scooter/wheelchair and said, "This, no."

We somehow convinced thwm that taking to scooter wouldn't be a problem. But Tokyo station, to get on the bullet train, was not handicap accessible. There were stairs and an escalator, but no elevator. I first took the luggage up the escalator and then ran down the stairs. I then grabbed Candace and made sure the escalator wouldn't decapitate her (a real possibility). Then I ran down the stairs again. When I went to bring up the scooter, our non-English speaking friend reappeared. He again tried to tell me something, but I was too busy positioning the scooter on the escalator to feign politeness.

We made it! We were at the track! Except that our same friend tried to tell us something else. We listened, but no English words came. So we walked and quickly realuzed there was an even larger set of stairs and escalator. So I did it all again. We mad e it and even found a stand selling bento boxes!

There was a handicap designator car, but our agent had put us elsewhere. It was four minutes before our train was to depart an  the doors hadn't evn opened. When the opened, I scrambled to get all our stuff on board, but had no idea where to put the scooter. Candace suggested the seats behind us, which worked until the next stop. Then I took it out of our car just next to the trash can and that worked for awhile.

As we got closer to Osaka, our transfer point, the seat brhind us became empty, so I put the scooter back thrre. A worker onboard pointed to the scooter and crossed hand exclaiming, No!" He then wrote, "station staff" in English on a piece of paper.

When we got to Osaka, station staff escorted us to our next train. It was a whole production. It was nice to know the staff would make sure we got on the right train, but they really just slowed us down. I ha  to wheel the scooter for some reason, which was extra annoying because it locks if you go too fast. The staff really looked out for us. They counted our luggage multiple times even though there is virtually no crime here.

When we got Hiroshima, the same the happened with fifferent staff. These stations were accessible. We're still not sure what the deal was. Maybe electric "vehicles" are not allowed in the station, but that would be ridiculois. This scooter/wheelchair can't go faster than a pedestrian. At the end, it seemed like the guy in charge of letting us leave had a problem with us not paying to bring the scooter, but a staff member set him straight.

It was an odd experience. We were accused of doing something wrong, which offended us, but were treated like VIPs at the same time.

We gound the right way to go in Hiroshima, but the scooter ran out if charge halfway on the two mile walk. So I pushed until we found an unattended outlet on the side of a building and clandettinely charged the chair.

We found the hotel, got some good curry for dinner, and bought candy from 7-11.

On the bullet train, which felt like we were on a plane on a runway about to take off, I noticed the constant stream of cities along the route. I also noticed a lot of solar panels on people's houses. I also saw the solar arc as we raced by Gifu. It was quite the site.

In Tokyo

We woke up early and walked to Ueno Park. We saw a cute tiny garbage truck slong the way. The park was packed with people gawking at the rows of cherry blossoms. Many tourists, local and foreign, stopped in the middle of the path to take pictures. It was infuriating to get around. We also saw the line for the zoo. It was ridiculously long.

We walked around the pond and grabbed some food. I got a stick of imitation crab meat. Candace got some noodles. We stopped 7-11 on the way back to the hotel and grabbed lunch with a bunch of Japanese businessmen there. The food was pretty good. We also got green tea kit kats. I liked it, but the matcha ice cream we were served on the flight over was better.

We rested for awhile and then walked back to Ueno train station yo get our JR train passes and make reservations. We grabbed dinner from... 7-11 of course! I had octopus balls. We've noticed that people here in Tokyo aren't always paying attention to where they're walking, or just don't care. We've already seen some people walk right into others.

Tokyo has been great in terms of wheelchair accessibility so far. At night we saw Senso-Ji, which are some temples in Asakusa, near our hotel. These ancient temples date all the way back to the late 1950s. My house is older than that. So is my mother! But the temples commemorate an ancient event. Our excursion was dampened by the rain and the fact that all of the stalls had closed up. But the lit up temples were cool.

Then we went back to the hotel and saw a ten minute video about a day in the life of Hachi the lucky cat with pronounced eyebrows.

DC to Tokyo

We made it to Tokyo, but it wasn't a smooth trip. We decided not to sleep before the shuttle picked us up at 5:15. We hoped we'd fall asleep on the plane rides over.

We did fall asleep a little on the way to Denver. Those seats were a litlle cramped, which is saying a lot because we're tiny. The ride to Tokyo was far worse.

We got the last seats on the plane. This made it more difficult fir my wife to get to, but the was the least of our problems. The seats didn't recline far enough. We're short, so the seats' extra neck padding poked up in the back of the neck. There was constant chatter from the bathroom area. There was a dog in cargo that kept barking. And there were the babies.

Normally babies don't bothe  me on planes. But these babies screeched constantly, whether happy or sad. The babies must have had a screech-like snore. The plane ride was not smooth. There a few moments when the plane shook wildly.

I couldn't sleep and felt worse and worse. I usually feel a little nauseous on flights, and this was no exception. Towards the end though, I motioned to my wife for the barf bag and repeatedly threw up a stomch-full of oranged juice.

Immigration was chaos. The line was so long. We went to a much shorter wheelchair line, got our, bag, and went through customs, accidentally smuggling a package of illegal cured turkey pepporoni.

We found all the right train stuff because my wife had done the research. We couldn't exchange our JR train voucher for the pass, because the line was too long. We saw the bamboo forests on the outskirts of Tokyo, but I still didn't feel well.

We found the hotel and had fun experiencing the bidet in our tiny souped up room. I've always talked a big bidet game, but this was my first experience. Then we slept for 8 hours, woke up and slept 5 more.

Top 5 QBs, RBs, WRs Now

This list takes more into account than one pass, one game, or even one season. But it's not a list one the best who happen to be active. It also isn't a prediction of what will happen either. Injuries are not ignored. The previous list was posted on February 19, 2015.

Quarterbacks

Rank	David's	(PR)	Mike's	(Previous Rank)
1	Tom Brady	(2)	Tom Brady	(2)
2	Aaron Rodgers	(3)	Cam Newton	(NR)
3	Drew Brees	(4)	Carson Palmer	(NR)
4	Russell Wilson	(NR)	Russell Wilson	(NR)
5	Cam Newton	(NR)	Aaron Rodgers	(1)

Running Backs

Rank	David's	(PR)	Mike's	(Previous Rank)
1	Adrian Peterson	(NR)	Adrian Peterson	(NR)
2	Le'Veon Bell	(2)	Le'Veon Bell	(4)
3	Doug Martin	(NR)	Doug Martin	(NR)
4	Todd Gurley	(NR)	Todd Gurley	(NR)
5	Matt Forte	(NR)	Devonta Freeman	(NR)

Wide Receivers

Rank	David's	(PR)	Mike's	(Previous Rank)
1	Antonio Brown	(2)	Antonio Brown	(2)
2	Julio Jones	(3)	Julio Jones	(4)
3	Calvin Johnson	(1)	DeAndre Hopkins	(NR)
4	A.J. Green	(NR)	Odell Beckham	(NR)
5	Odell Beckham	(NR)	A.J. Green	(NR)

2016 NFL Playoff Predictions

AFC
3 Cin over 6 Pit 17-12
5 KC over 4 Hou 28-10

2 NE over 3 Cin 24-14
5 KC over 1 Den 31-28

5 KC over 2 NE 21-20

NFC
6 Sea over 3 Min 27-13
4 Was over 5 GB 17-14

1 Car over 6 Sea 23-17
2 Ari over 4 Was 31-7

1 Car over 2 Ari 24-20

Super Bowl L
Carolina over Kansas City 31-21

NFL's New Format Final Standings

If the NFL moved back to two divisions per conference, we would get fairer and more exciting playoff games.

NFC South and East
1) Carolina 15-1
2) Washington 9-7
3) Atlanta 8-8
4) Philadelphia 7-9
5) New Orleans 7-9
6) NY Giants 6-10
7) Tampa Bay 6-10
8) Dallas 4-12

NFC North and West
1) Arizona 13-3
2) Minnesota 11-5
3) Green Bay 10-6
4) Seattle 10-6
5) St, Louis 7-9
6) Detroit 7-9
7) Chicago 6-10
8) San Francisco 5-11

The playoff seeding would look like this:
1) Car, 2) Ari, 3) Min, 4) GB, 5) Sea, 6) Was.

The Wild Card round would look like this:
3) Min 11-5 vs. 6) Was 9-7; 4) GB 10-6 vs. Sea 10-6.

Instead of this mess:
3) Min 11-5  vs. 6) Sea 10-6; 4) Was 9-7 vs. GB 10-6.

AFC North and East
1) New England 12-4
2) Cincinnati 12-4
3) Pittsburgh 10-6
4) NY Jets 10-6
5) Buffalo 8-8
6) Miami 6-10
7) Baltimore 5-11
8) Cleveland 3-13

AFC South and West
1) Denver 12-4
2) Kansas City 11-5
3) Houston 9-7
4) Indianapolis 8-8
5) Oakland 7-9
6) Jacksonville 5-11
7) San Diego 4-12
8) Tennessee 3-13

The playoff seeding would look like this:
1) Den, 2) NE, 3) Cin, 4) KC, 5) Pit, 6) NYJ.

The Wild Card round would look like this:
3) Cin 12-4 vs. 6) NYJ 10-6; 4) KC 11-5 vs. 5) Pit 10-6.

Instead of this mess:
3) Cin 12-4 vs. 6) Pit 10-6; 4) Hou 9-7 vs. 5) KC 11-5.

Top 10 Pound-for-Pound List

Here is the updated version of my obnoxiously unnecessary and utterly superfluous list of the top 10 pound-for-pound boxers. The previous list was posted on November 16.

1. Roman Gonzalez (44-0, 38 KOs) [Previous Rank : 4]
2. Guillermo Rigondeaux (15-0, 10 KOs) [PR: 2]
3. Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) [PR: 3]
4. Saul Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) [PR: 9]
5. Adonis Stevenson (27-1, 22 KOs) [PR: 6]
6. Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) [PR: 7]
7. Gennady Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) [PR: 8]
8. Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) [PR: 5]
9. Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) [ PR: 10]
10. Erislandy Lara (22-2-2, 13 KOs) [ PR: NR}

Exiting the list
Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) [Previous Rank: 1]

New NFL Format Standings after Week 14

Current AFC Standings
1) NE 11-2
2) Cin 10-3
3) Den 10-3
4) Indy 6-7
5) KC 8-5
6) NYJ 8-5

AFC in New Format
1) NE 11-2 (up one game over NorthEast rival Cin)
2) Den 10-3 (leading SouthWest)
3) Cin 10-3
4) KC 8-5
5) NYJ 8-5
6) Pit 8-5

Simple math tells us that the current system doesn't work. A 6-7 team makes the playoffs because it is beating up on the other mediocre teams in its division while a n 8-5 team is out of the playoffs because it is in a tough division. There's no logic to it. There would be two out of two division races at the highest level. The 8-5 teams would be fighting for a home field game int he Wild Card round instead of the right to play the terrible AFC South winner on the road. The new format is a fairer and more exciting system.

Current NFC Standings
1) Car 13-0
2) Ari 11-2
3) GB 9-4
4) Was 6-7
5) Sea 8-5
6) Min 8-5

NFC in New Format
1) Car 13-0 (clinched the SouthEast)
2) Ari 11-2 (up 2 games over NorthWest rival GB)
3) GB 9-4
4) Sea 8-5
5) Min 8-5
6) Was 6-7

Instead of a race to see who wins the NFC East and gets a home game in the playoffs, every 6-7 team would have an equal shot at the last playoff spot. There are 5 6-7 teams in the NFC and 3 more 5-8 teams, but only 3 of those 8 teams have a legitimate shot of making the playoffs under the current format. If the NFL switched the new format (the AFC North and East are in one division and the South and West are in another; in the NFC the South and East are together and the North and West are together) all 8 teams would be playing for that last spot. The NFC would not only be more exciting, but fairer as well.

New NFL Format Standings after Week 13

Current AFC standings

1) Cin 10-2

2) Den 10-2

3) NE 10-2

4) Ind 6-6

5) KC 7-5

6) NYJ 7-5

AFC in New Format

1) Cin 10-2

2) Den 10-2

3) NE 10-2

4) KC 7-5

5) NYJ 7-5

6) Pit 7-5

Three important differences if the new format was in place. The first is the teams that make the playoffs. Teams with better records would make the playoffs. The second is the playoff race. Right now there are two races: one for the AFC South and one for the final two wild card spots. Indy and Houston have a much better chance of making the playoffs than Pittsburgh and Buffalo even though Pitt's record is better and Buffalo's is the same as those two teams.

The third difference is the division races. Currently, the only division race in the AFC is in the mediocre south. The better teams have their divisions wrapped up. Under the new format, Cincy and New England would be tied for first in the NorthEast, a division race at the highest level.

Current NFC standings

1) Car 12-0

2) Ari 10-2

3) GB 8-4

4) Was 5-7

5) Min 8-4

6) Sea 7-5

NFC in New Format

1) Car 12-0

2) Ari 10-2

3) GB 8-4

4) Min 8-4

5) Sea 7-5

6) TB 6-6

Int he new format, teams would make the playoffs based on their record. A 5-7 team would not get a better seed than a 8-4 team simply because the other teams' in the 5-7 club's division are also terrible. 

New NFL Format Standings after Week 12

Here is the updated playoff picture if the NFL had two divisions per conference. In the AFC the East and North become one and the West and South. In the NFC, it's the East and South joining and the West and North.

Current AFC Standings

1. NE 10-1 (4 game division lead)

2. Cin 9-2 (3 game division lead)

3. Den 9-2 (3 games division lead)

4. Ind 6-5 (tiebreaker)

5. KC 6-5

6. Hou 6-5

AFC in New Format

1. NE 10-1

2. Den 9-2

3. Cin 9-2

4. KC 6-5

5. Ind 6-5

6. Hou 6-5

Int he AFC, the new format would make for an exiting division race in the AFC NorthEast. And it would the race would be between a 10-1 team and a 9-2 team (instead of the only division race being between some mediocre 6-5 teams).

Current NFC Standings

1. Car 11-0

2. Ari 9-2 

3. Min 8-3

4. Was 5-6

5. GB 7-4

6. Sea 6-5

NFC in New Format

1. Car 11-0

2. Ari 9-2

3. Min 8-3

4. GB 7-4

5. Sea 6-5

6. Atl 6-5

The new format makes things fairer for more teams. The NFC NorthWest divison would be competitive at a high level. The teams behind in the playoff chase wouldn't be penalized for being int he wrong division. The teams int he current NFC East would have to earn a playoff spot by winning mroe than the other teams in the conference, not by the luck of being in a weak division.