Last year, I completed my third edition of “Quarterback Madness,” a March Madness-inspired bracket to determine the ultimate NFL “Franchise Quarterback.” Aaron Rodgers won it for the third time.

In the midst of writing that post, I remarked (on Twitter @midatlanticbias) that I wanted to write a backup quarterback post when I had the time.

Well, as you likely know if you’re reading this, I have the time. Plenty of it, in fact. However, I started that bracket three weeks ago and decided it was a totally foolish exercise to determine who the best backup quarterback in the NFL is (it’s obviously Ryan Mallett…).

(True story, I had a dream last night where I was a running back on the Patriots and we were in the Super Bowl. There were 2:11 left in the 4th quarter and we were losing by 9. I get in the offensive huddle and Brady says, “It’s over. I’m not even going to try.” I say, “Well then let me play quarterback.” Brady says absolutely not. I then say, “Well then get Mallett in the game.” And everyone in the huddle says, “MALLETT?????!!!!” Brady proceeded to throw an INT on the next play. We lost. Probably because I was the running back.)

So here’s (Starting) Quarterback Madness 2013-14:

The rules:

1. This is to determine the ultimate franchise quarterback in the NFL. Not the guy you’d want in a one-game situation right now. No, I want to know which guy you would most want to build your franchise around right now.

2. This is just my opinion. I’ll use supporting evidence where necessary. I’ll also use my opinion. A lot.

3. All 32 teams have a primary starting quarterback. Some of them (Green Bay, New England) are obvious. Some of them (Jacksonville, Minnesota, Houston) are just starting a (technically) living human being. In their case, I’ll just go with whoever I think they would start (health being equal among the depth chart) tomorrow.

4. Quarterbacks are seeded based on their team’s record entering Week 16 when I originally set up this bracket, then ignored it because Christmas, New Years, BCS National Championship travel (I let NFL.com determine the winners of tiebreakers).

5.There are four regions, each named for a backup quarterback from my childhood. They are:

Steve Bono Region (Overall #1 seed)
Scott Zolak Region (Overall #2 seed)
Damon Huard Region (Overall #3 seed)
Stoney Case Region (Overall #4 seed)

In the semifinals, Steve Bono winner plays Stoney Case winner. Let’s get to it.

ROUND 1
Steve Bono Region
#1 Russell Wilson (Sea)
#8 Teddy Bridgewater???? (Okay, Case Keenum) (Hou)
If this were an actual battle between Wilson and Bridgewater, I would probably lean to Teddy, who I think is going to be an elite NFL QB. 

Russell Wilson is not an elite QB yet. He’s very good and perhaps better than anyone at the quarterback position when it comes to escaping a collapsing pocket. 

Case Keenum has a pulse. That’s the best I can say here. Though, to be fair, I think Keenum can work in the NFL long-term. 

#4 Ryan Tannehill (Mia)
#5 Ben Roethlisberger (Pit)
A really tough matchup. I like Tannehill more than I probably should. It’s debatable as to whether he improved this season. His QBR (ESPN’s quarterback rating) was lower in 2013 than 2012, and he threw more interceptions, but, otherwise, his stats were better across the board. He’s also 25 years old.

Roethlisberger is six years older, but has a track record of success. 2013 was arguably his second best season as a starter, even with the loss of Mike Wallace and a less than impressive running attack. 

I go with Roethlisberger’s accomplishments (and the handful of years he has left) over Tannehill’s potential, which I’ve written before I think is only marginal (15th-20th best QB in the NFL). 

#3 Andy Dalton (Cin)
#6 Jake Locker (Ten)
Locker’s completion percentage finally eclipsed 60% this season, in limited time (he started only 7 games). Locker’s complete inability to stay healthy is the biggest red flag here. 

Dalton has proven so far to be a good October quarterback. He’s never won a playoff game. He’s never played well in a playoff game. But he gets his team to the playoffs. 

#2 Tom Brady (NE)
#7 Blaine Gabbert (Jax)
“Hi, Welcome to the Mid-Atlantic Bias Restaurant. We have two specials tonight. One is a seared leg of lamb with a house made chimichurri, served with a  parsnip puree and braised local greens. Our other special is a can of 3 Diamonds Tuna Fish accompanied by a can of Hormel chili. We will not provide you with a can opener. Shall I give you some time to look over the menu while I get some drinks started?”

Scott Zolak Region
#1 Peyton Manning (Den)
#8 Robert Griffin III (Was)
Probably the most fascinating and difficult first round matchup. Manning will be 38 when the 2014 season starts and might not actually play another game of football, depending on his neck’s usefulness. 

Robert Griffin III will be 24 when the 2014 season starts and might not actually play another game of football like we expected him to, depending on his knees’ (I’m not even sure if that plural possessive works there) usefulness.

RGIII also brings with him questions about his diva-ness. Trust me, I listen to local sports talk radio. Peyton Manning doesn’t have any of those distractions. That said, if I have to invest in one of them for my future, I’m reluctantly taking RGIII because I might not get a future with Peyton Manning. 

#4 Nick Foles (Phi)
#5 Geno Smith (NYJ)
This is neither fascinating or difficult. Foles was excellent in Philadelphia this season. Geno Smith was wildly inconsistent. 

Also, all season, people asked, “Who saw this coming from Foles?” I did. At the end of my 2012 mock draft, I listed players who were projected to be later round picks who I thought would be successful in the NFL. Foles was my QB. TY Hilton was my WR. And Duke Ihenacho was my defensive player. All are starters in the NFL now and even though you might not know Ihenacho, he’s an integral member of the Broncos secondary. (In the interest of fairness, Baylor’s Terrance Ganaway was my running back choice. He was drafted in the sixth round and never played a down in the NFL. He recently retired.)

But 3 out of 4 isn’t bad. Seriously, someone hire me to work as a low level scout in their front office. I HAVE A BLOG!!!!

#3 Andrew Luck (Ind)
#6 Eli Manning (NYG)
Maybe you debate this matchup on Week 1 of the 2013 season. You don’t debate it now. It’s Luck. By a mile.

#2 Drew Brees (NO)
#7 Brandon Weeden (Cle)
You don’t debate this matchup on any week of the 2013 season. You don’t debate it now. You never bring it up again. It’s Brees. By a hundred million bajillion infinity miles. 

Brandon Weeden might be the worse quarterback I’ve ever seen.

Damon Huard Region
#1 Alex Smith (KC)
#8 Mike Glennon (TB)
I was frankly surprised to see Mike Glennon have success in the NFL. Yes, he has the measurables. But I was never a fan of his in college and didn’t think he’d be an accurate passer in the NFL. I was wrong. He completed nearly 60% of his passes and put up a respectable (for a rookie on a terrible team) 19:9 TD/INT ratio. 

I like him more than Alex Smith in this scenario because I like a fresh, seeded rye bread over a slice of enriched white bread. Alex Smith is always going to be a game manager. I think Glennon can be more than that. And yes, I’m shocked. 

#4 Aaron Rodgers (GB)
#5 Phillip Rivers (SD)
The Screaming Father (can we please make that Rivers’ nickname?) had a wonderful 2013 campaign. I had written that I thought he was done and he proved me wrong. He was not done. He formed a great connection with rookie Keenan Allen and led an average Chargers team, with a rookie head coach, to the Divisional Round of the AFC playoffs. 

However, Aaron Rodgers woke up today and he was still Aaron Rodgers. 

#3 Joe Flacco (Bal)
#6 EJ Manuel (Buf)
Manuel was not dreadful as a rookie and he wasn’t nearly as inconsistent as Geno Smith, but he was not very good, either. 11 TDs and 9 INTs in 10 games is not very good. Or just plain good. And as I wrote in my 2013 NFL Mock Draft, I don’t expect Manuel to be a long-term option as a starter. Which is a shame, because he strikes me as a nice enough guy. And I like nice guys. 

Joe Flacco is the definition of “average quarterback” despite his enormous paycheck. I’ve started to think of Flacco as the slightly richer man’s Andy Dalton. I’m not sure who I’m insulting or complimenting there. That said, Flacco and his Super Bowl ring advance. 

#2 Colin Kaepernick (SF)
#7 Matt Ryan (Atl)
Kaepernick took a step back in 2013 and Ryan played without any help on the offensive side of the ball, so this is a really tough matchup. 

As I wrote last year, Ryan has reached his ceiling in my mind. And Kaepernick still hasn’t. I think Kaepernick can be the same guy against the other 30 teams as he is against the Green Bay Packers. I’m not as bullish on him this time around because he was inconsistent and looked kind of like the tall, more athletic version of Alex Smith at times, but his potential is so much more than that. A tough exit for a very good quarterback in Matt Ryan.

Stoney Case Region
#1 Cam Newton (Car)
#8 Matt McGloin (Oak)
I don’t even know how Matt McGloin became an NFL starter. This league is so confusing. 

#4 Tony Romo (Dal)
#5 Matthew Stafford (Det)
I hate to do this because I think Romo is a Top 10 quarterback in the NFL, but Stafford is 8 years younger than him (at only 25, amazingly). Stafford looked like a man lost at times this season, but I just can’t overlook his youth and the production he’s already created in his young career. 

#3 Jay Cutler (Chi)
#6 Sam Bradford (Stl)
I’m going with Jay Cutler here. I don’t like it. I wanted Sam Bradford to be a gunslinging 5,000 yard machine in the NFL, not because I loved Sam Bradford, but because he should be that guy. Instead, he’s going to be Matt Hasselbeck. Cutler is going to be Jay Cutler. There’s no one else like him. Thank God. 

#2 Carson Palmer (Ari)
#7 Matt Cassel (Min)
This is a really tough choice because it’s such an awful one. On the one hand, Matt Cassel is a really great backup quarterback who can give you something when you need him to come off the bench. On the other hand, Carson Palmer is 34 years old, but I often mistake him for being 44 years old. Palmer also threw 22 interceptions in 2013, which is an insane number. 

But, alas, he’s the winner here because he’s an actual starting quarterback and not just  a guy who wins a starting job by default over Samantha Ponder’s husband and Greg Schiano’s mortal enemy. 

ROUND 2
Steve Bono Region
#1 Russell Wilson
#5 Ben Roethlisberger
Every year when it comes down to Roethlisberger, I mention the fact that he was twice accused of sexual assault and once nearly died whilst riding his motorcycle like an idiot. 

Now, I don’t spend any time with Russell Wilson (though I will if you’d like to Russ. DM me). But Russell Wilson is probably not going to be accused of sexual assault twice and probably isn’t going to crash his motorcycle. I don’t even know that he has a motorcycle. 

All of this is to say that, on the field, I think an argument can be made for Large Ben. It’s hard to argue against two Super Bowls. It’s hard to argue against a guy who hasn’t had a season QB rating below 90 since 2008. 

It’s even harder to argue against a guy who is 6 years younger, has brought his team to at least the Divisional Round in his first two seasons, had a rating over 100 in both seasons, and is so easily marketable because of his looks, charisma, and general perceived nature. That stuff matters. That’s the stuff of winners. 

#3 Andy Dalton
#2 Tom Brady
There might come a day in a few years when this will require more than a passing thought, but that day is not today. Nor is it tomorrow. 

Scott Zolak Region
#8 Robert Griffin III
#4 Nick Foles
I think Nick Foles is the clear choice here. The one thing that RGIII had on Peyton Manning was his age. Manning is only really going to give you one or two more seasons. Maybe. Foles is 24, though and is coming off of a season where he looked every bit the part of “Starting NFL Quarterback.” 

Meanwhile, Robert Griffin III is coming off a season in which he looked like a broken man. He has youth on his side, sure. But I’m going to place my chips on the healthy guy who exceeded expectations and still has room to develop.

#3 Andrew Luck
#2 Drew Brees
Easily the best matchup of this round. Luck is the winner because of youth and room to grow. Bear in mind, before Reggie Wayne got hurt, Luck had 10 TD and 3 INT. After losing Wayne, and with no real running game, Luck still put up very good numbers. People will remember the interceptions in Foxborough. I’ll remember that he’s 10 years younger than Brees, who is, of course, very good. 

But as I’ve said before, Luck’s ceiling is near limitless. Brees’ ceiling is likely behind him at this point.

Damon Huard Region
#8 Mike Glennon
#4 Aaron Rodgers
This is precisely the point where I stop praising Mike Glennon. 

#3 Joe Flacco
#2 Colin Kaepernick
Kaepernick wins this Super Bowl 47 rematch. 

He has the size of Flacco, with as strong of an arm, and acres and acres more mobility (mobility now being measured in acres). Kaepernick’s “step back” in 2013 was still statistically better than Flacco’s regular 2013, which was terrible (22 INTs to 19 TDs). 

Stoney Case Region
#1 Cam Newton
#5 Matthew Stafford
A really tough matchup here. Age isn’t a determining factor. Both have shown weaknesses. Both have shown great strengths. 

What gives Cam Newton the edge to me is the extra dimensions: his size and running ability. Also, his ceiling. I think Matthew Stafford is essentially there. He’s a mistake-prone Drew Brees. Cam Newton’s ceiling, still, I don’t believe, exists. Cam could be the transformational quarterback that I expect Kaepernick to be. It’s been three years now and we’re starting to see small steps that show Newton can be a better manager of the game, while still possessing that wild card in his back pocket (his ability to make game changing plays). Newton is not going to ever pass for 5,000 yards. But I think what Newton “can be” is more valuable than the gunslinger that Stafford is. 

#3 Jay Cutler
#2 Carson Palmer
Jay Cutler. 

ROUND 3
Steve Bono Region
Russell Wilson
Tom Brady
There were moments this season, even when you take into account that he was throwing to guys you’ve never heard of, where Tom Brady looked like he was getting older. There were rough games against the Jets (twice), Cincinnati, Buffalo, and Miami. There’s something to be said about New England’s bizarre move to a power running team late in the season. Brady is 36. 

Wilson has yet to enter the prime of his career. Sure he was better as a rookie, but he’s still only 25 and has the ability and potential to give a franchise 10 more years of dynamic, high-level play. He wins. 

Scott Zolak Region
Nick Foles
Andrew Luck
This is kind of like the Mike Glennon thing where I just pat Nick Foles on the back, tell him he “done good,” and ask him to run on home.

Damon Huard Region
Aaron Rodgers
Colin Kaepernick
Last year’s final becomes a regional final in 2013. Rodgers won last year because I didn’t feel like I was losing anything dynamic with Rodgers and he’s only 4 years older than Kaepernick. That remains true today. Rodgers would have put up another 4,000 yard season if not for his collarbone injury. He just turned 30. That’s probably 6-8 more years of high-level play if we compare him to his peers (Manning, Brady, Brees). He advances to the final four again. 

Had Kaepernick grown a bit this year (or played like he does against Rodgers more often than when the Packers were in town) he would have won. But we didn’t see that development.

Stoney Case Region
Cam Newton
Jay Cutler
That Jay Cutler got to the final 8 when Peyton Manning and Drew Brees didn’t is just evidence of how the seeding can be kind of screwy. 

Cutler is not a bad quarterback. He’s not a great quarterback. He is, and always will be, Jay Cutler. And if you think I should elaborate more, well, I DOOOOOOOOOONNNNN’T CAAAAAAAAAARRRRRE.

FINAL FOUR
Russell Wilson
Cam Newton
Wilson is marginally (six months) older. So that doesn’t matter. 

I’m going to venture into territory I don’t typically like. It means I’ll have to put on my “old white guy newspaper columnist” hat. 

Cam Newton as “team leader” is not yet something I’m comfortable with. No one likes losing in the National Football League. But to see Cam Newton sitting on the sidelines with his head down and a towel over him..well, when was the last time you saw Brady, Manning, or Brees act like that? 

Wilson might not have Cam’s size, but he has a very similar level of dynamism to his game and a very strong arm for such a small quarterback. He’s the guy here. 

Andrew Luck
Aaron Rodgers
Andrew Luck is going to be Aaron Rodgers some day. I think that’s his ceiling and that’s a ceiling that will take him to the Hall of Fame, if his health stays intact. He’s built similarly. He can run, and not just “when needed to.” He has everything you want in a quarterback. And he’s six years younger than Rodgers. 

But, again, I come back to the same thing I did with Kaepernick and (spoiler) the same thing I’ll come back to with Wilson: Rodgers is only 30. He’s still in his prime. And he’s still going to perform at a high level for years to come (injuries aside). And he’s been durable, aside from the collarbone thing which is not something that is going to be a recurring issue, like a knee injury (or multiple). It’s Rodgers.

CHAMPIONSHIP
Russell Wilson
Aaron Rodgers
Congrats to your 4-time winner, Aaron Rodgers. 

Next year might be the year though. I expect a big advancement from Wilson, Kaepernick, and Luck. And Newton will continue to tweak his game. Plus we’ll have the arrivals of Teddy Bridgewater, Johnny Manziel, Blake Bortles, and Derek Carr to weed out some of the uncertainty in places like Jacksonville, Houston, Cleveland, Minnesota, Oakland, Tennessee…God, for a quarterback league, there are some bad QBs right now.

Disagree with any of this. Tell me on twitter (@midatlanticbias) or in the comments section. Unless you’re lobbying for Brandon Weeden. Keep those thoughts to yourself. 

(according to an unemployed person who has never worked in a sports front office, because this is the internet, people)

Normally, I don’t write season previews after the season has begun because that seems unfair. However, regardless of what the schedule says, and with all apologies to UMass-Lowell and Northern Kentucky, the season starts tomorrow, or tonight if you care about Stanford and BYU (I do…11 p.m. on ESPN2).

I love ESPN’s 24 hours (it’s actually about 29) of college hoops to start the season. Maybe you have a job and can’t stay up to watch Wichita State host Western Kentucky at 1 a.m. Eastern, but I don’t have a job and I can. Will I? Only if the fates (and my body) allow.

The 24 hours of college hoops is a fantastic gimmick enterprise that gives teams like Hartford University and New Mexico State nationally televised games at odd hours. When you wake up tomorrow to get ready for work, Hartford will be playing 2013 March Madness cinderella Florida Gulf Coast University.

The whole shebang culminates though in what is probably the best doubleheader, on paper, in the recent or distant history of college basketball with #1 Kentucky and #2 Michigan State playing at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) followed by #4 Duke and #5 Kansas playing at 9:30 (ESPN) in Chicago. There are far too many “made for TV” college basketball tournaments during the non-conference season, but this is not one that I will complain about (it’s also not technically a tournament).

The four teams playing in that doubleheader could very well be your four Final Four teams in April. Kentucky brings in a freshman class similar to the one that won the championship two seasons ago, led by future top 2 NBA Draft pick Julius Randle. Michigan State brings back the leadership of seniors Keith Appling and Adreian Payne, as well as super-sophomores Gary Harris. Duke welcomes Chicago’s-own Jabari Parker, who will host a homecoming of sorts tomorrow when he welcomes Kansas into the United Center.

The Jayhawks are the most high-profile team coming into this season because of Andrew Wiggins, the latest Toronto to America star (joining Aubrey Drake, Justin Bieber, and to a lesser extent, Kelly Olynyk).

Wiggins, or “The Canadian Michael Jordan” (no pressure) is the highest profile freshman since I cannot remember when. There’s a world of pressure on a player with absurd athleticism, great defensive prowess, and, if we’re to believe the scouts, a tendency to “Ben McLemore” (v. To disappear from time-to-time.).

It will be interesting (nay, fascinating) to watch Parker in his hometown arena play Wiggins with the eyes of the college basketball world glaring at him for the first time. Neither freshman will feel this much pressure again until the tournament starts. It will be interesting to see who, if either, can excel in that environment. I’m more than a little excited for this game.

And that’s to say nothing about the “undercard” between the top two teams in the country (according to the entirely subjective and predictive rankings of the Associated Press).

So, who else is good?

Well, we should probably start with the Louisville Cardinals, who return Russ Smith, who thought for some reason that he would be a coveted NBA Draftee, but lose Peyton Siva and (more importantly in my mind) Gorgui Dieng. Chane Behanan returns (and was just (literally as I was typing this paragraph) reinstated by Rick Pitino) as does Kevin Ware, whose recovery from tearing his leg apart was much faster than the “forever” I though it would be.

Arizona is also good and well coach, with Sean Miller still at the helm. The Wildcats bring in a great freshman class led by Aaron Gordon.

The Wildcats travel to Ann Arbor in mid-December for a game against the Michigan Wolverines that will be a big test for both teams. Look for the intriguing matchup of the freshman Gordon with Michigan’s “out of nowhere” NCAA tournament sensation Mitch McGary.

Outside of the traditional power conferences, Virginia Commonwealth and Wichita State are the cream of the crop, as both return key players from teams that made the tournament last season (with the Shockers advancing to the Final Four).

The one team who I think is on the outer fringes right now who could make a big run this season is Oregon, assuming they aren’t jet-lagged from having to open the season in South Korea.

Okay, I’ve Read Enough. Who Is Going to the Final Four?

Michigan State is. I love Tom Izzo coached teams. Michigan State won’t out finesse anyone, but they will brutalize everyone. The matchup tomorrow with Kentucky’s athletic young players will be really interesting to watch, but even if the Spartans fall, this is a team that is made for March and early April, led by the best coach in college basketball.

So is Kentucky. Last year’s weird mix of talented players with no rhythm is a thing of the past. This team resembles the championship team too much for me to ignore. I expect Julius Randle to play himself into the top pick of the NBA Draft.

I also really like Arizona. Sean Miller keeps getting teams close. This is the team to get over the top, led by the freshman Aaron Gordon who will lead the Pac-12 in rebounding.

And finally, VCU, which seems, I’m sure, like just trying to go against the grain, but much like with Michigan State, this is a team whose style is suited for March. They’re deep. They shoot well. And they run better than anyone else. And with a fairly easy regular season schedule, I expect VCU to have a fairly smooth path in the tournament, likely as a 2 or 3 seed.

In the finals, I like the contrast between Michigan State and VCU. It will be a physical, bruising, probably low-scoring affair, but ultimately, I like Michigan State to come out on top.

Who Is The Top 10 Team That Won’t Be There At The End of the Season?

Oklahoma State. I like Marcus Smart a lot. How could you not? But Oklahoma State is ranked in the top-10 right now because a really good player came back to school, not because they’re exceptionally deep or do anything really well. Le’Bryan Nash is a good player too. But again, my previous point…

Who Is The Player of the Year?

Julius Randle at Kentucky.

What Are The Chances That Any Of This Will Be Right?

21.35%.

“Distance is an essential American pleasure, the greatest American chore. Each of us must conquer it.”

It took me 9 months to quit my job in the Senate. 9 months from the first time I decided I needed to do it to the day I handed in my resignation.

Uncertainty is fear-inducing for most people. In that way, I am like most people. Routine and certainty run my life. For over 5 years, I knew where I was going every Monday through Friday (and sometimes on Saturdays and Sundays too). I checked my blackberry at the same time every morning (as soon as I woke up) and at the same time every night (the moment right before I got into bed) and about 150 other times throughout the day.

Most people quit a job because they hate their job. In that way, I am unlike most people. I loved my job. I still do love my job. I miss it immensely. Never during my childhood, teen years, or college years could I have predicted that I would live in Washington, DC and not only live in this great city, but work for our government. My interest in politics was and will always be long-standing. I enjoyed watching CSPAN2 as a teenager because it made me feel smart. I was so excited when I first had the chance to vote in an election. Never though did I think that as an adult I would watch CSPAN2 more than I saw my family, my friends, and my girlfriend.

My time working for Senator Reid was the greatest blessing I’ve ever received in my life. I got to work for a political figure I respected (and always will) and I got to meet and work with people from every part of North America. Because of that job, I now have life-long friends who grew up in places like Las Vegas, Mexico, Georgia, Louisiana, Philadelphia, and a host of other places I’m only leaving out for space purposes. For a kid from Taunton, Massachusetts with no pedigree to speak of and no great academic background, well, how lucky could I possibly get?

So why would I leave a job like that, in a place where I was respected and well-liked for a world of uncertainty and all of the fear and anxiety that comes with it?

That’s a really great question that I just asked myself. In the most truthful sense (and this will assuredly be something that if you’re a future employer reading this to vet me you will probably raise a red flag over) I just didn’t want to work any more. I was exhausted. And my job was keeping me from doing the things I enjoyed. Traveling. Writing. Cooking. Sleeping well. Not having anxiety attacks. Eating dinner with Amanda. And so on.

When I explained to people what I was doing during the month-long period between submitting my resignation and actually leaving, I was struck by the reactions. Some people hugged me and expressed joy and envy. Others thought I was dying of a disease. Still others questioned why someone would want to leave a job. The general trend though was that the “lifers” (those people who had been working on Capitol Hill for 20+ years) were those that fell into the first group. These are people who were journalists or staff members who had given so much of themselves to their cause. These are people who didn’t do what I was planning to do when they were 29. And these were people who, by and large, regretted that.

So for all of the 30-somethings who said it was a bad career move, I was comforted by the more experienced people with the greater perspective who saw very clearly that prestigious employment, even in a town like This Town, isn’t more important than personal happiness. Those people gave me the inspiration to make this happen. Without that support, those final days in the Senate would have been more difficult for me than they were.

And so, as you know, I hit the road. I had absolutely no idea how much of a challenge my road trip would be. I could not have accurately estimated how lonely the road can be when you know at the end of the day, you won’t be seeing someone you know. There were moments where I felt completely empty. Those usually came when I was out of place.

Near the end of my trip I needed to stop for gas and a bathroom break in the town of Dalhart, Texas, way up in the panhandle, north of Amarillo. I will never forget the glare I received from a woman who saw my license plate before she saw me. The glare said, “Get out of here.” It was cold and mean and frankly everything I would expect from a small-town Texan, unfortunately. Inside the gas station, the attendant would not make eye contact with me when I paid for my Coke. It felt like the sort of scenario you’d experience in a dream. Experiences like that sour you on not just individual people, but on the towns and cities they live in.

Once I left Los Angeles, I decided that I didn’t want to be on the road anymore, which presented a rather difficult logistical problem, namely that I was 3,000 miles from home, in my car. At that point, I had run out of the strength it takes to walk into a new restaurant every night, pull up a seat at the bar, and hope that someone nearby was in a talkative mood. And then, even if they were feeling gabby, I was just repeating the same story to a different face. “No, I’m not from here. I’m from Washington, DC. I’m on a road trip. Yes, I’m by myself. No, I have a girlfriend. Yes, she’s very understanding. No, traveling alone is not everything it’s cracked up to be. I worked in the government. No, I don’t have a job anymore. No, I’m not sure what I’m going to do when I get home. Yes, my chicken is delicious, thank you.” It’s an exhausting endeavor. I love people and I especially love people’s stories and backgrounds. But after 3 weeks, you just sort of stop caring about their own stories and, even more, your own.

The open road is romanticized in prose. And it’s long been romanticized in my head. I thought that spending a handful of hours on the road by myself every day would make things clear. I’d know what I wanted to do professionally. I’d decide, once and for all, whether or not I want to stay in DC. My life would become clear. And I had done the cross-country road trip before, albeit with Amanda. I knew how to travel. It would be a breeze. A freeing, comforting breeze.

Instead, I spent those hours thinking about every conversation I’ve ever had in my life. I would find myself lost in thought going over conversations I had with classmates in 4th grade. One night, when I couldn’t fall asleep because the time zone changes had caught up with me, I spent a solid hour trying to pinpoint the exact most important moment in my life. Then, I turned that into a sort-of Rorschach test:

Given the choice, would you rather (a.) Witness the most important moment in your past or (b.) Witness a randomly selected (presumably by the god or genie who is allowing you to do such  a thing) 5 minutes of your future life. Eventually, I turned the TV on.

By the way, I chose A.

One thing a lot of people told me before I left was, “Wow, I wish I could do that.” I could not discourage you enough from taking a trip like this. Spending all of your days alone can be a very sad experience. I pride myself on being independent. I like going to the movies alone. I like driving alone. I also prefer to sleep alone (Amanda knows this. Please don’t think I’m dropping some great bombshell here). If I learned one thing from my trip it is this: I’m not as independent as I’d like to be. I need the comforts of my life, primarily the people who bring me great comfort and joy. Three weeks is not a long period of time. I get that. But the days move by very slowly when you have no one to turn to when you’re feeling alone or when you’ve spent too much time reflecting on your “self.” Self-reflection, like black tar heroin, is great. But only in moderation.

The quote at the top of this post is from Esquire Magazine’s “75 Things Every Man Should Do Before You Die.”It’s a ridiculous list. Very Esquire. The quote is a companion for the number 9 item: “Drive By Yourself Coast to Coast.”

I conquered “the greatest American chore.” The relief I felt when I walked into my apartment at the end of my trip was unlike anything I’ve ever felt. Did it make all of the lonesome, sleepless nights in cookie-cutter hotel rooms worth it? Absolutely not. But it certainly gave me an appreciation for what I have in my life. And so if that’s the lesson of all of this, well, lesson learned.

TRIP STATISTICS, FACTS, LISTS, MINUTIAE:

October 7-28
Total Distance Traveled: 7,582.5 miles
Total Driving Time: 134 Hours, 1 Minute
Amount Spent on Fuel: $756.23
Average Fuel Economy: 35.5 MPG
Average Speed: 58 MPH

Highest Elevation Reached: 7,500 feet above sea level (Mogollon Rim, Arizona)
Lowest Elevation Reached: 225 feet below sea level (Salton Sea, California)

U.S. License Plates I did not see:
Connecticut
Delaware
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Mississippi
Rhode Island

I saw my first Kansas license plate 5 miles south of the Kansas border. Kansans do not like to leave their state.

Cheapest Gas: $2.95/gallon in Hamilton, MO

Favorite (ironically) Roadside Highway Sign: Somewhere in rural northern Missouri: A confederate flag next to a hand-painted sign that read “IMPEACH THE CLOWN.” I wonder who that educated fellow is talking about…

I saw a lot of confederate (I refuse to capitalize the word) flags in Kansas and Missouri, which reflects very poorly on those two places.

Best Breakfast: Bison Benedict at Main Street Overeasy in Bozeman, Montana
Best Lunch: Pork Carnitas Burrito from Yuca’s in Los Angeles (Los Feliz)
Best Dinner: Chicken Mole at The Dish in Boise, Idaho

Album of the Trip: Haim’s “Days Are Gone.” I went back to this album any time I needed a pick-me-up. Just a terrific collection of pop songs with nods to a lot of genres and styles. On the short-list for my Album of the Year along with Vampire Weekend’s “Modern Vampires of the City,” Generationals’ “Heza,” Chvrches’ “The Bones of What You Believe,” and Yo La Tengo’s “Fade.”

Best Hotel Experience: Staybridge Suites, Bismarck, North Dakota (Very comfy bed, large suite, functional shower head)
Worst Hotel Experience: Holiday Inn Express, Springfield, Illinois (My room smelled like mold, the fan wouldn’t turn off, and the rusty shower head dripped water)

Hotel Discovery: I’m a 3 1/2 star hotel person. I stayed at two 4-star hotels on this trip and found them to be an unnecessary middle-ground. Either stay in a 3 1/2 star or a 5-star. There should be nothing in between. I’d also like to add that at both 4-star hotels, I had the privilege to pay $10 for WiFi as well as the great honor to pay $5 for a 16 oz. bottle of Nestle PureLife water.

City I Can’t Wait to Go Back To: LA, obviously. But also Bend, Oregon
City I Can Wait to Go Back To: A lot.

With that, thanks for reading these. From here, this will return to its irregularly scheduled sports blog.

And remember, YOLOBus.

There are three types of teams in the NBA:

1. Championship caliber teams
2. Fringe playoff teams
3. Lottery teams

In baseball, you get surprises like the Pittsburgh Pirates (not quite a surprise to some, certainly) this year, the Orioles and Athletics last year, etc.

In football, you get the Minnesota Vikings and Indianapolis Colts making the playoffs last year and the Kansas City Chiefs going from worst to first this year.

Hockey is a crapshoot all the time.

The NBA? Not so much.

In the NBA, in the words of the immortal Dennis Green, you are who (we) thought you were.

There are more than a handful of teams that have absolutely no hope this season. Those teams are, in some order:

Phoenix
Philadelphia
Toronto
Boston
Charlotte
Milwaukee
Sacramento
Portland
Utah

One of those 9 teams is very likely going to finish with the NBA’s worst record. None of them are going to make the playoffs. They are truly the have nots.

Phoenix and Philadelphia are especially terrible. Philadelphia is one of the more perplexing franchises. Two years ago, the 76ers were taking the Boston Celtics to 7 games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Last year, they took a step back. But the Sixers had some great young assets. Had.

The Sixers took their best young asset, Jrue Holliday, and shipped him to New Orleans in a draft night trade. Now, 9 of their 15 rostered players are entering their third NBA season or less. They’re very young and coached by first-time head coach Brett Brown. Everything about what they’ve done in the past six months screams “We Want Andrew Wiggins!”

In their way (besides the whole “lottery” aspect of determining the top pick in the draft) are the Phoenix Suns who are, on paper, perhaps the worst NBA team ever. They’ll also be coached by a first-time head coach, albeit with a more recognizable name than Brett Brown, in Jeff Hornacek. I think there’s a solid chance that the Suns will challenge the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats for futility.

Then there are the teams that could make the playoffs and be eliminated in the first round, or could have a subpar year and finish 34-48. These teams are going nowhere in particular this season. In the big picture, some are getting better (Cleveland, New Orleans) while others are just merely existing (Atlanta, Dallas, Memphis). Those teams are, in some order:

Detroit
Atlanta
Dallas
Cleveland
New Orleans
Denver
Los Angeles Lakers
Minnesota
Orlando
New York
Washington
Memphis

Now, there’s a large gap in that group between New York at the top and Orlando at the bottom. But these are the 2013-14 also-rans. New Orleans will be fun to watch on a Tuesday night in January when there’s nothing else on. But you’re not going to invest your time and energy (and financial backing in the form of legal betting) on the New Orleans Pelicans to win the 2013-14 championship. And unfortunately, Vegas does not accept bets for most fun team to watch. If they did, I might be putting money on the Pelicans and Cavs.

And then, there’s the big guns. The eventual NBA champion is below. Again, in no particular order:

Miami
Chicago
San Antonio
Oklahoma City
Los Angeles Clippers
Brooklyn
Indiana
Houston
Golden State

Do I actually think that Houston is going to win the NBA championship? No. Same thing with Brooklyn and Golden State. Would I be surprised if any of those 3 teams got to their conference finals? No.

Miami, Chicago, and Indiana are the class of the East.

San Antonio, LAC, and Oklahoma City are the class of the West.

I’m going to cut to the chase here. I think the 11 games the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat play this season will be great to watch. I think they’ll go to 7 games in the Eastern Conference Finals. At the end of the day, seven months (?!) from now, I still like the Heat because of LeBron James, the best basketball player in the world. For the next few years, he’ll only continue to get better. And while Derrick Rose looked great in the preseason, lets see how he looks after a back-to-back or four games in six nights. The Bulls are deeper. But the Heat have the king.

Out west, it’s a little more open. Ultimately, I like the Clippers. Chris Paul is hungry for a title. I love the additions of Darren Collison and JJ Redick to the Clipper bench. Oh, and I have a certain fondness for the guy on the bench, coaching the team.

In the finals, I like the Clippers. Yes, the Clippers.

Doc Rivers makes a difference on that team. So too do the bench additions of Collison and Redick (as well as Jared Dudley). The Clippers are a more complete team than the Heat. The Heat certainly have the best player in LBJ. But the Clippers have the best team. They’re as deep, if not deeper, on the bench, as the Bulls, with a much more balanced starting lineup, led by a healthy, hungry Chris Paul.

AWARDS (at least the two that mean something)!!!

NBA MVP: LeBron James
NBA Rookie of the Year: Victor Oladipo (Orlando)

Yes, I did just reference an Early November song in my title.

Since the last time I wrote one of these, I drove down the Pacific Coast Highway (terribly overrated drive), spent two nights in Los Angeles, took a detour to the Salton Sea, and spent a very quiet night in a hotel room in Phoenix, and drove to Albuquerque today. I’ve now stayed at both Best Westerns in the ABQ.

The stay in LA was wonderful. I found a room on Airbnb (use it if you haven’t), with a couple who were just a joy to be around. Granted, I spent most of my full day outside of the house, doing some eating, walking, hiking, driving, and sitting, but my interactions with them were just great. If you’re going to LA any time soon and want to stay in a super comfortable room, in a nice house in the Silver Lake area, with two people who will laugh and talk and just be great to interact with, let me know.

I ate at one familiar spot (Yuca’s) and two unfamiliar spots while in LA. I hiked Runyon Canyon. I walked up to the Silver Lake Reservoir (which I found to be totally unremarkable). I sat and people watched (including watching two guys next to me roll giant blunts at 4:00 p.m.) at Echo Park Lake. And, on a total whim, I drove to the top of Mount Wilson, which sits 5700 feet above sea level and offers great views of a distant Downtown LA and, at the time I was there, the sun setting in the west. Also, three bears.

All in all, LA was as good as it was when I was there 6 months ago and as good as I expected it to be. I got a beautiful weather day and I (mostly) relaxed. LA remains at the top of my list of places I’d like to move to one day (soon).

Notes:
New states: Hawaii, Missouri, and Arkansas. I’m going to do a wrap-up soon, but I’m just perplexed as to how I still haven’t seen a Kansas plate.

-On that same track, I saw an inordinate number of Minnesota license plates. In fact, there was one road in Arizona, highway 377, on which I don’t think I saw a single Arizona license plate. Lots of Minnesota. Lots of Virginia. Lots of Colorado.

-I haven’t seen a DC plate since Maryland. I have seen a few people give me some stares as they pass me, though. Taxation Without Representation. Learn about it.

-I passed a billboard for thegreatestpresident.com, which I would suggest you visit for some giggles. Or, if you agree with what you read, it’ll let you know that you should see a doctor.

-Last night, while driving north through Arizona from I-8 to I-10 (in what felt like the middle of the night, but was in fact, 5:45 p.m., which is what happens when you don’t believe in Daylight Savings Time), I experienced a 10 degree temperature drop, followed by a 5 degree temperature increase, in a span of 15 minutes. That seemed really cool to me, but I had also been in my car for 8 hours.

-I posted a video over on Facebook from my trip to the Salton Sea yesterday. If you are unaware of the Salton Sea, read about it here.

-I don’t foresee writing a new post each of these next few days. I’m going to be driving a lot so that I can get home and hug Amanda as soon as possible. There’s really no way to account for the lack of familiar human interaction on a trip like this, even after spending 6 days with my family in the middle of the trip.

To spend any amount of time greater than this paragraph telling you about my 7 hour drive from Bend to Sacramento would be a waste of our time. There’s a town/county in California called “Yolo,” whose bus line is “YoloBus.” That’s topical. North of Yolo is Weed, which, whatever. I also saw a sign advertising “Dirt For Sale.” Moving on…

I’m coming off a week in Bend, Oregon. There’s probably a good chance that, if you’re not a beer snob or a traveler, you’ve never heard of Bend. It’s in Central Oregon. Not quite “dead center,” but close enough. There are 80,000 people in Bend. So it’s not small, but it’s also not Houston.

I wrote, ever so briefly, about Bend in my previous blog post. I had been there for a few hours and in my typical fashion, I judged it. I called it “Portland overflow” despite having, at the time, never been TO Portland. But that’s what I do.

I can report that after spending a week in Bend, it is a much better place than wherever you are right now. Or where I am. I’m in Sacramento.

During my time in Bend, I ate great food, drank seriously great beer, and breathed seriously clean air. One of the really great advantages of lots of trees is that the air is remarkably fresher. I got kind of lucky in that every day was perfectly clear with a high temp between 60 and 70.  With that luck came some time outdoors “recreating,” to steal a term from my uncle. I hiked. I rode a bicycle. I went for walks along rivers and through meadows. And I ate a lot of great food and drank some great beer and probably evened out the health risks/advantages of it all.

Cut to the chase, Bend is great. But maybe I realized unemployment is really what is great. People don’t necessarily work much in Bend. I’m sure there are career-types there. But I interacted with a lot of people who are just doing what they need to do to make enough money to enjoy their life. This is a vastly different mindset than that which I’m used to in D.C. where people work a lot, make very little money, and don’t really have hobbies. Or at least don’t talk about them socially, because you’ve just got to talk shop when out on a Saturday night.

(I deleted a large chunk of “big picture” life lessons that I had written in this space. I’ll save the “big picture” life lessons for when this trip is over. That could come within the next 7 days. I’m tired of being on the road. I want to get home to D.C. and to Amanda, most especially, and continue to enjoy my unemployment. That said…)

I’ll head to Los Angeles tomorrow morning where I’ll spend two nights in Silver Lake.

Notes:

-No new license plates. Lots of British Columbia, though. Snowbirds, I’d guess.

-I had another solo dinner in a nice restaurant tonight, though thankfully, the bar was mostly empty. The only patrons at the bar were a wonderful couple in their mid-50s from Kentucky, by way of New Hampshire. They started a conversation about Kentucky politics with the bartender, who didn’t seem too interested. I, however, was very interested in said conversation. They were great to talk to and gave me some hope for ALG14.

-No, seriously. Weed, California. Complete with “I
-The walls in the Holiday Inn Express Downtown are thinner than mid-90s Kate Moss. So after sleeping in a blissfully quiet, dark room for the last week, tonight should be great. Especially if this guy continues talking to what I would presume to be a deaf old woman.

-I don’t think I could ever get used to the time change relative to sports. I mean, I had never seen the Sunday Night Football wrap-up. Not only did I just see it, but it’s only 9:30. Included in that: I typed this while watching a football game, so forgive me if “you’re” became “your” inadvertently.

There was nothing special about today’s drive. I spent the morning in Boise, eating breakfast and running/walking/nearly crawling up a steep hill to get a photo of the city before sunrise.

The drive from Boise to Bend was nothing like I expected it would be. For what it’s worth, I expected lot of pine trees and towns filled with smiling Oregonians. Or something. Instead what I got was wide open space and very little civilization. Eastern Oregon fits the bill of what I enjoy geographically. Wide open spaces, distant mountains, and steep inclines opening up to panoramic views. That said, after driving for 3500 miles and just under 53 hours, even my favorite landscape couldn’t satisfy me.

I was very lucky to be able to randomly pick up a Westwood One signal over the only (I’m not exaggerating) AM or FM station I could receive. Unfortunately, that game was the Steelers/Jets game.

A common thread over most of my trips in my life is that I fall off the sports grid. I have a general idea about what’s happening in the sports world, but there’s always some stuff I miss. For example, I had no idea Stanford lost to Utah yesterday. To most of you, that’s not very important to know. To me, though, not knowing that kind of stuff is just weird.

I’m in Bend, Oregon tonight and will be here for the foreseeable future. I get the impression that my aunt and uncle would be perfectly okay with me hanging around here for as long as I want. Bend is an interesting town. It strikes me as having been built six months ago to provide overflow space to those who couldn’t make it all the way to Portland. Of course, this is an assumption based upon being driven around town for 30 minutes. I’ll have a few more days here to really experience “this town” (lowercase).

I don’t foresee posting much while I’m here. Once I get back on the road, wherever that takes me, I’ll start updating again. If you care for these things, you can follow me on twitter @midatlanticbias and on Instagram @jasonbotelho (formerly @midatlanticbias).

The notes section of my notebook was relatively desolate after today’s drive from Salt Lake City to Boise, ID. I decided this morning that the 11 hour drive from SLC to Bend was going to be too much and given the halfway point, excitedly settled on splitting the drive.

8 years ago, I traveled to Boise, Idaho for the first time. My aunt had recently moved there from Berkeley, California (via Ogden, Utah) with her boyfriend (now husband). For most people the idea of visiting an aunt seems arduous, at best. Aunts are, inevitably, weird invasive versions of your parents. This aunt, however, was never that. She was always the “cool aunt” (apologies to my two other aunts who will certainly not read this, but in the event that they somehow do, they’re cool too. I’m not playing favorites. I promise). Years younger than my father (10, give or take) she listened to Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. and lived in San Francisco and Berkeley and basically did all of the things I would have done had I been born in the early-70s. And really, she never treated me like a nephew. She treated me as a “future equal” if that makes sense. She treated me like someone who could be like her, some day. And I always appreciated that. In short, she served as a guide for what I wanted to be like: cool, free-spirited, and adventurous.

And so, if visiting the aunt wasn’t the problem, surely visiting a place like Boise, Idaho would be. I mean, all they do is eat potatoes and vote for people named C.L. Butch Otter in Idaho, right?

Well, unfortunately, part of that is true. But there is so much more to Boise than anyone who hasn’t been there has ever really given any thought to. Boise is, as my bartender/server tonight put it, like a really perfect melding of the snobbery of Seattle and the friendliness of Portland.

8 years ago, I was barely 21, yet my very cool aunt and very cool soon-to-be-uncle took me to bars and nice dinners and showed me how cool this little pocket of western Idaho could be. I was star-struck.

But I was also just 21.

I returned to Boise at the age of 26, this time with Amanda (who had heard for years, how awesome this town was) to visit my aunt, uncle, and their newborn (one month old, at the time) child. I didn’t think for a second that my years of expectation-building would win over Amanda. She is, after all, I think slightly predisposed to balance out my extremes of LOVE! and HATE! And yet, a few days into our trip, with no real provocation, she turned to me in the car and said, (paraphrasing slightly), “This place is really great.” The tone in her voice evoked surprise and I completely understood it. You don’t come to Boise expecting to have your entire life’s prejudices altered, but Boise does it for you, if you give it the chance.

Today, given the opportunity to return, I did. My aunt and uncle and niece have moved on to Bend, Oregon, but I was still filled with excitement when I woke up this morning, thinking about that first moment that I would see Downtown Boise from I-84.

I had a wonderful solo dinner at a new restaurant in town called The Dish. Put a mixed greens salad, a plate of sous vide chicken thighs in a nutty mole, and a hoppy IPA in front of me and I’m generally happier than Mumford and Sons at a suspenders convention. And that held true here. My bartender was a real gem; a wonderfully pleasant guy from northern Washington, two years into his time in Boise, who was more than happy to talk beer snobbery with a fellow beer snob. After dinner, I moved on to a hip brewery (based in Bend) called 10 Barrel, where I pulled up a seat at the bar, enjoyed another IPA, and watched some of the Boise State/Utah State game. As I walked back to my hotel, I approached a real, live record store. I spent about a half hour walking around, looking at used and new cds and vinyl, before ultimately making one purchase (I refuse to tell you that it was Bob Seger’s Greatest Hits for $7) and commenting to the clerk, essentially, “wow.”

Tomorrow morning, I plan on eating at Goldy’s Breakfast Bistro. Goldy’s is, in my mind, the best breakfast spot in America (sorry to my Philly pals who would cite Sabrina’s, which is also phenomenal). I’ll savor that mile walk to Goldy’s knowing that it may very well be my last walk in this amazing city, as my reasons to come here dwindle.

If the variables were different (less harsh winter, any sort of base for Democratic politics, Amanda being willing to move to the Gem State), I’d move to Boise in a heartbeat. But life doesn’t always work out that way, and that’s fine. I just know that whenever I get the chance to come back here, I will. And I’ll love it just as much as I did almost 10 years ago, when I first laid eyes on the Mountain West.

Notes:

-I’d be remiss if I didn’t give some mention to the great state of Nevada. I took the long way from SLC, west on I-80 into the Silver State. Perhaps I would fill differently about Nevada had I not spent 5 1/2 years working for the best senator Nevada has ever seen, but I’ve come to truly love the state. I understand its regional politics and what matters where. I understand its challenges. I understand its achievements. And, more than anything, I love being surrounded by its life. Many people would look at a state like Nevada and think, “barren.” But I really feel like I see and experience something different there. The mountains, the near-limitless desert landscape, I just feel a connection there. So, taking the drive from Wendover to Wells, then up US93 to Jackpot today, I felt kind of at home, even if my birth certificate would tell you that home was much further away.

-No new states today, though I did see multiple Georgia plates in Nevada which seemed odd.

-I reached mile 3000 at milepost 32 on US93 in Idaho today. Exact time: 2:11 p.m. (MDT). Total driving time: 49 hours, 25 minutes.

-Tomorrow, I’ll take the short drive west on US20 to Bend, Oregon, where I will spend a few days with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. After that, I’m thinking about spending a few days in Los Angeles, another city I’ve come to really appreciate. So if you’re reading this and in LA, let me know. I’d love to talk to real live human beings when I get there.

Thank you again for reading this. The wind did not cooperate with me posting a Facebook video blog today. I hope that you’re having a safe, fun, and explorative Columbus Day weekend.

Good people, good food, and good (exceptional) views can cure a lot of homesickness and loneliness.