Dolphins 21, Bills 17

This photo was taken about 10 days ago at the top of Kala Patthar, the highest point we reached on our recent Everest Base Camp trek in northeastern Nepal - elevation 5,545 metres or about 18,500 feet above sea level. The top of Everest is above my head (where it shall always remain). Our entire team made it to this point but as illness took its course (in the form of either GI issues or chest colds - or both), two were evacuated by helicopter on the descent. The team was fully re-united in Lukla. By dumb luck, I was the only one who suffered no illness on the trek.

We generally had spectacular weather throughout the 12 day trek with deep blue skies every day offering us clear views of the Himalayan alpine peaks and the valleys we ascended. My small digital camera recorded about 650 images and I am starting the process of vetting them to come up with about 25 of the best ones. There are many images of animals - yaks, donkeys, goats, dogs - and some irresistible images of Sherpa children to choose from as well as all of the breath-taking shots of the various snow-capped sets of incisors which are the Himalayas. John Krakauer used the term "incisors" to describe the mountains in Into Thin Air and when I first saw them on the flight from Khatmandu to Lukla, it was clear why.

Our journey not only took us up the Khumbu valley toward the world's highest mountain, but also through the rich history of the region with our Sherpa guides providing an ongoing and thorough context for us which connected the ancient world of subsistence farming and animal husbandry with the rapidly growing tourism industry which is now the backbone of the local economy. Nepal is a desperately poor country with an annual average per capita income of about $400 USD. Licensed trekking and mountain guides earn enough to place them in the top 1% of the Nepalese income scale. Porters, many of whom carry unimaginably heavy loads of supplies to the teahouses where trekkers eat and sleep (not to mention loads of lumber, building materials, rolls of flooring and carpets etc), earn less than guides do but still more than most others in Nepal.

In May of 1953, Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary became the first humans to reach the summit of Mount Everest. After his famous ascent of the mountain, Hillary made it his life's work, through his foundation which carries on today (some 10 years after his death), to help build infrastructure in the Khumbu, including schools, hospitals and bridges. He is rightfully a revered figure whose legacy will endure. Our lead Sherpa guide attended one of the schools which Hillary built in 1962 (and which we toured). He was the only one of his 12 siblings to attend a proper school - and this enabled him to learn sufficient English to become a trekking guide. He hopes to be able to move with his wife to either the US or Canada within the next couple of years.

I last named a winner of the Vontae Davis Halftime Retirement Award in my post on November 5th. The winner that week was Nathan Peterman who claimed his third such honour. For the period since then, which includes two Bills wins and a bye week, I have decided to claim the award myself since I obviously abandoned the team by leaving the country. As for this week, I've decided to give it to Bills wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin who has been pretending to be a No. 1 NFL receiver for a season and a half. He isn't and should have retired weeks ago.

Yesterday in South Florida, Josh Allen took another step in his evolution to a No. 1 quarterback. In fact, had the ball not slipped from his hands on the Bills final offensive play from scrimmage, Charles Clay would have easily caught the go-ahead touchdown and the Bills could have found themselves at 5-7 this morning. Allen has shown that he is an accomplished runner with impressive pocket awareness and deceptive speed. This is all fine except the team also still employs LeSean McCoy and Chris Ivory in the running back position and, as has happened to so many mobile quarterbacks in the NFL, Allen's running - however prolific - will eventually lead to injury.

The New York Jets travel to Orchard Park next Sunday for an irrelevant game but one which will offer Josh Allen another opportunity to work on his throwing accuracy. I hope he focuses on that and tries to leave the business of running to the running backs. If anyone wants to go to the game, my tickets are available and at this point, I'm a pretty motivated seller. The Jets are ranked 32nd - or dead last - in the most recent NFL Power Rankings. Let me know.