Holiday Road Trips
can be so very boring, frustrating and stressful. So let me take some stress off of your plate and let you put that Thanksgiving turkey on it.
Last year more than 43.4M Americans traveled 50 miles or more for Thanksgiving. That's down from 44M the year before and 90% of them travel by automobile. So based on the numbers, most of you reading this are going to travel more than 50 miles total by automobile for Thanksgiving. Just for me to drive from Columbus to Vandalia it's 75 miles. Then to go to Cincy from Vandalia is another 64 miles. Then 64 back to Vandalia, some miles in between going to Centerville and maybe Tipp City, then 75 back to Columbus on Sunday. I'm well over 300 miles on my trip and I am sure a lot of you will drive even more than that.
TIPS:
1.) Get GasBuddy - iPhone, Droid, Windows Phone or Blackberry??
a.) If you have a Blackberry... Get rid of that.
b.) If you know you're going between Columbus and Dayton and you're going to need gas, don't just fill up just anywhere, check the GB Map. Right now, Sam's club is offering gas a cheaper price, I'm a member, so I should fill up there if it's within reason. You may say, it's only a few cents/gallon which is like $1 saved maybe. But remember, it's not about the individual savings, it's about all the savings as a whole.
c.) By reporting gas prices, you also help other consumers and can be entered to win prizes such as free gas. It takes less than 10 seconds to report the price so if you just catch a red light, it might be worth it to open it up.
2.) Stock up on Gas
a.) It's cold out so the gas won't evaporate as quickly, storing it may be worthwhile.
b.) Gas prices usually go down in early November right before Thanksgiving (also right around election time) and typically go up in the days before Thanksgiving. Stocking up on gas would have saved you an average of $0.20/gallon the last 3 years. You may not think it's much, but when gas prices up $0.20/gallon you sure notice.
3.) Previous Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
a.) As my dad always said, remember these P's... Plan your trip accordingly and make sure you're aware of any alternate routes. More people on the road, means more congestion and more accidents which leads to more traffic, more stress and less people knowing what to do. Get ahead of the game if you're traveling from Columbus to Pennsylvania or some other unfamiliar area that you travel to once a year. Most of the people on the road won't have any idea what to do if there's an accident other than wait for it to get cleaned up. They're just as unfamiliar with the area as you are.
Did you know you get worse gas mileage idling in your car than going 150 MPH? So why would you just sit in a car, pumping the heat and not going anywhere?
4.) Download a Google Maps, Waze or SigAlert.
a.) These apps work well in conjunction with the tip #3. If you know traffic is ahead, you can try and avoid it. Personally, I like Google Maps because it's integrates with Waze and tells you any reported accidents and what's ahead. I would suggest every 30 minutes having a passenger check Google Maps to see if there is any red ahead, meaning traffic. Also there will be a little notification if there is an accident.
a.) I wouldn't run a marathon (at all, regardless of the circumstance, never ever) if I wasn't in shape (which I am not), so why would you make your car drive all that distance when it is used to your 20 minute commute? Now, I don't mean waste gas driving 30 minutes, then 40 minutes to build up the endurance, but make sure your car is tuned up in the best MPG condition it can be in. Get an oil change, check the tire pressure, check the air filter and drive on cruise when applicable. You can save more than 20% in fuel by following these tips.
Now lets look at some road trips in the NFL.
SHERMY'S SAFE SIX!
These are going to be the picks that I like the MOST this weekend with a SHORT analysis.
Last week I went 3-3 again. It should have really been like 3-3.5 (that Miami game was such a blowout, I should lose a half a point for that). For the season we sit at 11-13, but guess what, only one of these "experts" was over .500 last year, so I feel okay with that.
1.) CLE @ CIN (-6)
I-71 (4 Hours)
The Browns started 4-0 on the over, they are now 4-4 O/U.
The Bengals started 0-3 on the over, they are now 4-4 on the O/U.
It appears going after that is a crapshoot. My thought would be the under with the strong wind expected, but mixed with potential rain, that could mean some unexpected turnovers and quick scores so I am staying away.
AJ Green proved he is back, Jeremy Hill proved he can run and Jordan Cameron proved that playing football does have consquences (and I don't mean having your sister knocked up by Matt Leinart then Blake Griffin). HE HAS A CONCUSSION. Also, Josh Gordon is still a car salesman which is very different from selling cars because at least check, he hasn't sold a car yet. Cameron out, Hoyer sore butt, Hawkins is questionable (their top target man). The Browns lost to Pittsburgh when they were bad, beat Pittsburgh right before they got good, lost to Jacksonville (who is always bad), beat the lowly Raiders and Buccs and came from behind by 25 to beat the Titans and Charlie Whitehurst (as Locker got hurt). They're unpredictable, but so is the traffic on I-71.
It's a rivalry game, so it should be close, but it won't be. I think the Bengals continue their home winning ways, win by a TD. Bonus prediction, I feel that we have a Johnny Manziel appearance at some point.
2.) MIA @ DET (Under 44)
I-75 (20.5 Hours)
Ryan Tannehill has played good in every other game for the last five. Even the games in between he hasn't been turrible, but his QB Rating has been over 100 in games 1, 3 and 5 ago. He's also accounted for over 300 yards in each of those games (combined running and passing). Miami's defense has been oustanding, bolstering to a 1st place tie for the best defense in the league.
Detroit's offense has been okay, but not the great offense they've showed in the past or even in the 1st game of the year. They haven't scored more than 24 points since the first game of the year. In fact, they're the 3rd lowest scoring team in the NFC in front of Tampa Bay and St. Louis. Excluding the first game of the season, their PPG would be ranked 29th in the league.
Great playing defense (Miami), poor playing offense (Detroit), Tannehill odd numbered game along with Megatron being interegrated back into the offense, I see a struggle. I'll take the under on this one, but I do like Detroit to pull out the victory.
3.) ATL (-2.5) @ TB
I-75 (7 Hours)
Atlanta has played bad. They've lost to MIN (13), NYG (10), CHI (14), BAL (22) and DET (1). Those teams have a combined winning percentage of .500 so at best they're average. There has been 134 games and only 11 have had a spread of 10 or more. That tells me they're losing by much more than even the huge underdogs are predicted to lose by. Flip it, the 1st game of the season the 3rd game of the season (before the above streak started) they won by 42 points against this TB team. ATL now has lost their starting center, back up center and three other starting lineman, not good.
That being said, Tampa Bay is BAD. When a team playing as bad as Atlanta is comes into your house and is favored, that means you're playing really bad. This is a real crap bowl quite honestly. TB has lost five straight, but before that they won. Before that they lost five straight, but before that they won. So, does the streak continue? Can they actually pull off a victory here?
I'm going to say no. Atlanta is the less crappy of the Crap Bowl and I think they can win by a FG in this one, I mean you can't go from winning by 42 to losing, can you?
4.) DEN (-11) @ OAK
I-80 (19 Hours)
Teams favored by 11 are 15-27 since 2003. Teams that are 11.5 point favorites cover at a rate of 13-10. So there's that. I personally think Peyton is going to be a little pissed off after losing to Tom Brady... Again. Last year after Peyton lost to Brady, in New England he through 5 TD's against the Chiefs, in KC, when they were undefeated.
The Raiders are just...defeated. They've been within a TD of winning 4 times. This won't be one of those games.
Not much to say... Denver covers.
5.) DAL @ JAC
U.S. Airways (12H to, 17H fro)
Due to the wind, this trip is much longer coming back and I think the same will be said for the Jaguars. Romo is not projected to play via the GM, CEO, President AND Owner. No there aren't four different people confirming it, just Jerry Jones himself. Personally, I would like to see Romo rest, then rest next week on the bye, then come back for the tail end of the season. Despite how bad Weeden has looked and how much Jerry wants that possible playoff revenue, it doesn't matter if you make it to the playoffs if your QB is too sore to play in them. Dallas is America's team and Sunday they will be London's team.
With common opponents the Cowboys have a winning margin of 3 while the Jaguars are (-33). When you Google a QB and his gf comes up in the top 3, or even twice in the top 7, that's usually not a good sign.
Even Tom Brady's search waits until the 4th result... And he's married to one of the most famous supermodels in the world...
6.) CHI @ GB
Lake Michigan (Varies due to sharks)
This should be a great, high scoring affair. The last few meetings (in no specific order) have put up 55, 61, 47, 56 and in January, 2011... 13 points. Usually MNF games are high scoring, averaging almost 49 points/game this year. But I am not going to pick the O/U because weather can play too much of a factor in my opinion.
Green Bay, after covering four times in a row, really crapped the bed against the Saints, but that was Drew Brees, that was Sunday night that was in New Orleans and I can just imagine how tough it was to play there. I will give the Packers a reprieve on that. It's hard to beat anyone when they run for almost 200 yards and keep you off the field. Also being -2 in the TO department doesn't help. His hamstring really got in the way of a good thing. With 9 minutes and change, Rodgers scrambled to the right and came up lame. The game changed quickly after that. He threw 17 TDs and 0 INTs in the 6 games before that injury and threw 2 INTs and 0 TDs in the next two quarters. He's now had almost two weeks to heal and they're coming off a bye.
Chicago on other hand has lost by 21, 7, 13 and 28 in four of their last five games, including the 21 point loss to the Packers, at home. In two of those games, Forte has been both their top rusher and receiver. Against Miami he could have through a few passes and probably been their top passer too. Brandon Marshall is due for a big game, having only 1 100+ yard game (he had 6 last year) and he wasn't even the leading receiver on his team that game. They have the offensive weapons, Alshon, Marshall, Fotre, Bennett, Cutler, but they can't seem to put them all together. I just don't see it happening on the road, tough Green Bay crowd, division game, at night, coming off a bye week.
I like the Packers to cover in this one at home.
Have a great weekend everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment