Happy New Year

I know, more than a few days late. But I hope everyone had as happy and unsafe a New Years as I did. Anyways, I've truly enjoyed the rest of my vacation. Since I last blogged, I've spent time in LA, Miami, and, of course, Vegas. Here are some of the highlights:

- Cal's 45-10 drubbing of Texas A&M. Shut up Big 12 fans.

- USC's 32-18 dribbing of Michigan. Shut up Rematch Proponents.

- "David" Boise State's THRILLING Overtime victory over "Goliath" Oklahoma. Again, shut up Big 12 fans. I really do feel bad for the Oklahoma fans though. They're the only ones who didn't get to enjoy one of the best college football games in my lifetime. The Oklahoma bettors too, but I don't feel bad for them. Gambling is bad. Stay away. More on this later.

Ok those were just the sports highlights. To the real fun stuff:

- Amit walking around South Beach - including on the beach itself - in jeans, a polo shirt, and dress shirt. Smooth.

- Happy Hours at the Clevelander. If you're ever in South Beach - trust me. Good crowd, good drinks, NFL Sunday Ticket, and amazing bikini runway shows. I could have done without the multiple guys jocking me because of my Eagles jersey though.

- Running into randoms in Miami (or anywhere for that matter). I still find it cool that I almost always run into someone I know no matter what city I'm in.

- Partying, quite literally, on the beach for New Year's Eve. We went to Nikki Beach for the evening, which is basically a small indoor restaurant/lounge that leads into a huge outdoor area, complete with its own private beach. Amazing girls, views, and atmosphere. Too bad I celebrated with 4 guys. I love you guys, but still. Fuck.

- Miraculously losing 4 different bets on a single football game. I hate you Wake Forest, and I hate you Louisville. That's what I get for betting on a football game involving two big-time basketball programs. Damn Title IX screwing everything up.

- Quote of the year (through 7 days) As I, in a drunken haze, apparently ignored a "dancer" on stage, she looks and says to me: "You don't like my tits? Maybe I don't like your face." Ouch. Nothing more demeaning than getting insulted by someone who works solely on tips.

- Blackjack sucks. I think I played an entire shoe at one point without winning a hand. I honestly didn't know that was possible. Fuck.

- If you weren't sure whether ordering porn at 4am was always a bad idea, take note. It is ALWAYS a bad idea.

- I had one of the worst hangovers of my life on Wednesday, after waking up from a night in Vegas. This was depressing on a whole multitude of levels. Firstly, we didn't even stay out THAT late. As I mentioned above, we were back in the room at 4am. Secondly, we only had one day in Vegas. Given our 730pm flight, waking up at noon by myself, with a throbbing headache and empty wallet was not my idea of an eye opener. Most importantly, I never feel hungover in Vegas. Whether it's all the air they pump into the casinos, anxiousness to drink/gamble more, or just the adrenaline from being there, I always seem to wake up OK when I'm in Vegas, regardless of how much I've drank or how little I've slept. So this was definitely one of those "Fuck, I'm old" moments.

The Seahawks just failed on a 4th and Goal conversion. Looks like the hated Cowboys are going to advance to the 2nd round of the Playoffs. More importantly, I think this is like the 7th straight sports bet I have lost. What a waste of time spending all those hours on espn.com. WOW! Seattle just tied it on a fumble recovery in the end zone. I'm sure this is gonna be challenged. Here's to keeping my fingers crossed and hoping the Cowboys lose.