Raising Arizona

Good evening everyone.  I am giving you my Monday blog post just a little early this week because I have to work tomorrow night - let me explain...  I usually wake up for my 8:00 p.m. shift at work at about 7:00 p.m.  True to form, I just woke up (it's 8:00 p.m. now, but last night it would have been 7:00 p.m. right now due to the time change).  Anyway, I am wide awake, and having just slept through the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, I want to get this blog entry out, and then I can take my first serious look at the bracket for this year's field of 68 so that I can start formulating my predictions for Wednesday's blog entry.  There is a free bracket contest that I participate in annually at http://espn.go.com/ if you are looking for a place to compete with your picks.  The contest is called 'Tournament Challenge' and they allow you to submit up to 10 different brackets for the Men's Tournament.  The deadline for submitting your entries is the tipoff time of the first game on Thursday, March 15th.  Speaking of basketball, I want to congratulate the UC Santa Barbara Lady Gauchos on earning a trip to the 'big dance' in the Women's Tournament this year.  During my high school coaching days, we had a player who went on to play at Rutgers and is now an assistant coach for UC Santa Barbara.  Congratulations to Coach Locke as she makes YET ANOTHER trip back to the NCAA Tournament...  :)  The title of today's blog refers to another prediction of mine that I first revealed on facebook earlier today.  I believe that Peyton Manning will play for the Arizona Cardinals next season.  Manning has made visits to the Broncos and the Cardinals so far, and I saw some film of him getting off of the plane for his meeting with Arizona earlier today.  Once I put some thought into it, I believe that the Cardinals will be the best choice he can make.  Arizona has an offensive-minded coach in Ken Whisenhunt who took the Cardinals to the Super Bowl a few years ago with Kurt Warner at the helm, Larry Fitzgerald is on the roster, and Arizona plays their games indoors.  So far the word on ESPN is that Seattle and Tennessee have shown interest in speaking to Manning but have been unable to set up a meeting with him.  Considering that the Broncos play in some nasty weather in Denver, and that Manning would have to face the Chargers, Raiders, and Chiefs twice each season in that division, I think the Manning will choose Arizona - we shall see...  For those of you who like to take vacations, and/or play poker in casinos, I have a resort review for you.  Very recently one of my friends and co-workers visited Lake Tahoe with his family.  They stayed at the Harrah's property in Lake Tahoe for five days.  Early in the trip they dined at an 'upscale' restaurant on the property ('upscale' for the purpose of this blog entry refers to the fact that my friends paid $ 300.00 for 3 meals - it does not mean that they had a positive dining experience).  Two members of the family ate a seafood salad that had shrimp on it, and both of them got food poisoning.  We're talking about food poisoning that put them out of commission for over 24 hours, but even after speaking with 3 different representatives of the Harrah's corporation, they received no compensation OF ANY KIND for their inconvenience.  Instead, they were met with an "oh well" attitude, and again, this was a party that stayed at the 'resort' for FIVE DAYS...  I hope that helps at least one of you to avoid a potential pitfall in your travels.  One last piece of advice before I go dive into the brackets at ESPN....  If you are asked to leave a bar or a nightclub by the staff, JUST... LEAVE...  In the HISTORY of bars and nightclubs, I would wager that there has NEVER been one instance where a patron has been asked to leave the establishment, and then was able to overpower the whole staff, the local law-enforcement, the state police, the National Guard, and then the rest of our nation's military to remain and enjoy the festivities.  IF this did happen, I bet that the other patrons probably weren't interested in hanging around.  PLEASE, just leave...  :)  We have now reached the end of this ramble and I am going to start studying this year's tourney bracket.  I hope that you have an outstanding week, and I will see you again on Wednesday with some predictions regarding this year's field of 68.