Let's Get LOST Tonight (Well Last Night)

from abc.com

***THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS***

It's finally here. The final season of "Lost." The final premiere. I loved every minute of it. I love how they made us think, for just a second, that Faraday's plan worked completely sending everyone back to 2004 and not crashing. They even showed the remnants of the Island on the seafloor (even though I doubt the Dharma houses would have survived a Hydrogen detonation). Nope. We traveled back in time. We've traveled forward in time. Now we are traveling side to side in time. It seems that the Incident merely spawned a parallel universe, which should have been obvious since there were little things that weren't exactly right in the scenes on Oceanic 815. Things like Jack, Rose, and Sawyer's hair, Desmond's presence, Shannon's lack of presence, Hurley's luck. The great thing about the alternate reality was that everyone still seemed to have this feeling they should know each other (especially Jack). I also loved the attention to details. Like when Jack saves Charlie, he angrily tells him "I'm supposed to be dead!" or the way Marshall Mars' head bleeds when Kate jumps him is the same as when the luggage hits it.

from abc.com

The most interesting thing about this season is going to be the Book of Job, good versus evil battle between Esau (the man in black) and Jacob. The crazy thing is how John Locke is at the center of all of this, and not just the John Locke who used to be in a wheel chair because the original Sawyer pushed him out of an office building. First it mirrors the Man of Faith vs. Man of Science dichotomy between Jack and Locke from previous seasons. The second and far more interesting is that these are clearly supernatural beings that won't just die. It is a constant struggle between the belief that man is inherently good and man is a brutish and cruel animal who can be corrupted and destroyed so easily. We see Locke (the 17th Century Philosopher) versus Thomas Hobbes in the Jacob/ Esau conflict. Ironically, Esau, who is a Hobbesian is using the body of a man named John Locke. I won't be surprised if Jacob has now possessed the body of Sayid (not that the spring healed him), who is probably the best example of a good character that has done evil to survive.

Other thoughts:

I found it wildly entertaining that the translator at the Others' temple looked like John Lennon and he had the last line before a Blackberry "All You Need Is Love" commercial. That can't be a coincidence.

In alt-2004 Aaron's 2 mom's share a taxi.

Who IS Richard Alpert? Why was he ever in chains?

 

from abc.com

LOVED the exchange between Ben and Dark Locke: "You're, you're the monster!" "Let's not resort to name calling."

Can Ben somehow find redemption? He was "pardoned" by Smokey last year but we know that being pardoned by the devil means nothing. He has hit rock bottom now; I honestly want to see him redeem himself. Up until this season we have not had wholly good nor wholly evil characters. It has been the refreshing realism of the show that characters are redefined over and over again. Only now does it seem like the Jacob-Esau split is the true good v. evil. I hope characters keep crossing back and forth as they have all series.

Super Bowl Thoughts

I am a Redskins fan. I remember watching them win the Superbowl in '92 and have always been a fan, sometimes not as dedicated in my early teens when I didn't realize anger, disappointment, and angst, were necessary to being a good fan. Despite trying to hide my fandom behind various winners in my younger days, I still felt all those negative feelings of a franchise struggling. I also went to a school whose mascot was also the Saints. So I have always felt the New Orleans Saints as a kindred spirit; I even had my parents get me a hat when they were there for a teachers conference last spring. Couple that with the Katrina thing and I think most of America will be rooting for the Saints on the 7th too.

Here are random thoughts I'm not really going to tie together at all:

I hope the Saints take the same "hit him and take a few penalties" approach on Chicken-dancer daddy's boy Manning.

I hope the Saints learn from last week: blitzing and press coverage doesn't work very well. They were shred by the Vikings and the Jets were shred by the Colts.

I don't care that Archie Manning played for the Saints. Sure Peyton and "Unstoppable" Eli have to be grateful the Saints employed their dad as a professional QB affording them the opportunity they have today, but Archie would have played for another team. Also, blood runs deep. There is no way Archie is rooting for anyone but his son. If he shows up in a halfsies jersey like he's Brady Quinn's sister he should be denied entrance and banned from all sporting events. This is the Super Bowl, the line is drawn, pick a side.

This has the potential to be a very high scoring game if the Saints o-line keeps Brees upright. That defense is not stopping Manning and his 4 receivers.

Lucky for the Saints the Colts don't rush the ball well (because they don't need to). And Addai is not 100% (he starts for his pass blocking abilities thought). This favors the Saints because they aren't stellar at stopping the run. However, I'm guessing Indy will use the run more than usual.

Bold Prediction (note sarcasm): the Saint's ability to force turnovers may play a part in this. Manning quietly threw 16 INTs this year (his highest total since 2002).

The Colts defense may be "under-sized" but they don't play like it. What they lack in size they make up for in blinding quickness. They don't blitz, they don't press, they play straight up more often than not. They adjust well; why do you think the Jets didn't score after halftime?

This might be the best "chess-match" Super Bowl ever. What team adjusts better than Coach Manning and his head-set carrier, Jim Caldwell? Is there a more bizzaro coaching combo than Sean Peyton and Gregg Williams; they are mad scientists when it comes to schemes. The Saints have so many different looks its like each game is a new team.

Boycott Leno

Two blog posts in a week? Yeah work is that boring.

It's been an ongoing saga for 2 weeks now, but Leno (and NBC) v Conan is finally over. As predicted the scumbag Jay Leno won out, kicking NBC's most underrated (by them, not by anyone who uses the internet) talent.

Why did NBC do what they did? There has been such a massive public backlash on every internet site, from Twitter, to Facebook, to even the inspiration for this blog the Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, podcasting with the San Francisco Chronicle's Tim Goodman (one of the best two TV critics in the nation) about how Conan got the raw deal and how terrible Leno is. The real key is that the demographics Leno is strong in don't use the internet. They are people who don't like the little things to change. They liked the fat chin, flat humor, and all about ME interviews of Leno because its what had happened for 17 years. They didn't like this active, smart, witty, gangly red quaffed host. He was too much for them. And in their defense I think Conan was a little over-awed with his new gig and held back a little. But in his defense when he took over Late Night he had a painfully slow start.

Now, believe it or not Conan is better off. He will get a new show, and the millions of people will flock to it simply because he comes out of this mess looking better than ever. He cut loose his last weeks and reminded us why we love him. He took the classy road by generously thanking NBC for the chance to host, but he didn't want to destroy the legacy of the show by moving it's time slot; he put the show before him. Hopefully Fox will sign him to an 11 o'clock gig where he will return the favor to Leno by snagging all the best guests for the earlier time slot.

What do NBC and Leno get out of this. Well, they look horrible. NBC execs pretty much claimed 2 failures in this. They look loyal, but to a guy who is ruthless, selfish, and egotistical. This is not the first time Leno has stabbed someone in the back, ask David Letterman. How do you think he go the Tonight Show? Also, in 1979 when comedians went on strike against the Comedy Store in L.A. many believe Leno was feeding info to the management, like the little weasel he is. NBC had set it up from Jump Street for Conan to fail, and everyone knew it. They sandbagged him by giving Leno the prime time show, where he would get the best guests first. But they knew a prime time talkshow would never work because the serial dramas in the 10 o'clock hour are some of the best loved shows (CSI x3, The Mentalist, NCIS, and its where Law and Order and ER used to run). Leno could have done the classy thing and respectfully declined the show and kept doing his weekly Las Vegas stand up for big bucks. He could have become the Wayne Newton of comedy. But no, his need to be in the spotlight and have everyone looking at him prevented that.

So I say we show NBC that one of the reasons Leno failed at 10 was because he just isn't funny. We show NBC that we love Conan and they cut him loose way too early. DON'T EVER WATCH THE TONIGHT SHOW AGAIN. Kill the franchise out of respect for Team CoCo!

What's Wrong With College Sports

Every day I find myself disliking major college sports more and more. Major football and basketball programs have become cesspools of corruption and broken promises. It starts with the funding of the whole damned thing.

Boosters are everything to these two cash cow sports; the donations of the boosters are what keep these programs on budget, allowing for the profit by the school. These people only care about wins and final rankings. They could care less about the actual players. If a player isn't playing well but acing all of his classes, take him out; if a player plays excellent but can barely read, no big deal. Colleges are not the minor leagues, they are academic institutions where learning is the top priority, not a football score.

The thing that really disgusts me is the coaches. Coaches like Mark Mangio, formerly of Kansas, or Jim Leavitt, formerly of University of South Florida, whose heads are so big (literally in Mangio's case) and egos so inflated they think they can abuse players and get away with it. Jim Leavitt is actually suing USF because they fired him; what an ass. I can't stand coaches like Pete Carroll, Lane Kiffin, or John Calipari who laugh at the rules and regulations of the NCAA then leave right before the shit hits the fan. Well, in Kiffin's case he jumped from one sinking ship to the next. Coaches like Nick Saban, Rich Rodriguez, and Bobby Petrino, they get to make all these promises to recruits, getting them to commit to their programs, then leave as soon as the money's good somewhere else. Disgusting.

The type of coach I hate the most are the Mack Brown types (Calipari is in this boat too, along with the Saban class, so I think he's the ultimate scumbag coach). These coaches are ultimately failures in my eyes. They sacrifice their players' futures for W's. This is proof enough for me that Texas had no business in the championship game. The number one mission of every college and university is to educate. Many major college sports programs fall woefully short in this aspect. The coaches lure the players there with promises of preparation for the next level. This is wholly unrealistic for a vast majority of scholarship athletes; like the NCAA commercial says: "we will be going pro in something else." Another incentive is the lack of academic commitment at schools. Places like Florida State, Texas, Georgia, they all have massive academic support systems for their athletes. They have special classes for athletes, special majors for athletes, special tutors (read test takers) for athletes. All in all these institutions are failing their students by allowing this to pass. The athletes are in no way prepared for getting a job after sports. What is someone going to do with a major in recreation and leisure? Is that seriously a major? Are some of the courses 345 Platform Wars: N64 vs PS1, 395: Seminar on the History of the Master Chief, 400: Advanced Pick-Up Basketball? It is despicable that the NCAA allows this to continue.

The real victims in all of this, as you no doubtedly guessed, are the players. They make millions for the universities and receive almost nothing in return. Sure there are some who only could get to college because of basketball and once there pick a real major, study hard, and earn every penny of the scholarship they're granted. Yes there are some how major in video game studies but go on to make millions in the pros. But so many are being misled and in the end see nothing of the hard work they put into practices, games, and off-season workouts. What's even more perturbing is the nature of their scholarships. If a new coach comes in and doesn't like you, sorry you can't go to school here anymore. If you get hurt and can no longer play, the bill will be sent your parents. If you decide that your athletic commitment is seriously jeopardizing your academics (because that is the priority in going to college, the classroom), better take out a loan to pay for it. Essentially these "student-athletes" are brought in as unpaid workers. There has to be some solution to right these wrongs. Guarantee scholarships, set up trusts for each athlete that they can only get if they graduate, instead of joke majors have more vocational majors for those who cannot handle an academic discipline.

All in all the major college sports situation in this country has completely failed. It glorifies ego-maniacal coaches who laugh in the face of not only their employers, but the governing body. Schools make millions of off the players. And the players themselves are the victims of all this. They put in the blood, sweat, and tears, the long hours in the weight room, the wind sprints, the summer practices. What do they get in reward? For the most part they are completely unprepared for life after sports. All too often the system fails them.

I Have Never Been So Mad

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4725887

This is probably the worst thing our current administration is doing. This debate is all because President Obama said he was in favor of a play-off system to pander to the voters during his campaign.

What business is it of our federal government of how 119 schools decide who they name as a champion? What about the economy you have failed to revive? What about this health care bill that is going to stymie necessary job growth and drive our budget deficits (which you claimed you were going balance) through the roof burdening future generations with untold taxes? What about the two wars you won a Nobel Prize simply for claiming you want to end, yet you have repeatedly ignored the generals on what will effectively end them and simply sent more men to fight? Don't these things take a little more precedent?

In 1620 a group of Protestant separatist landed in Massachusetts. In 1776 the colonies revolted from England. In 1787 a Constitution was adopted to form what we know as the American federal government. On April 6, 1917 America declared war on Germany and it's allies; in December 1941, we declared war on Japan. In 1945, the Cold War began, and became "hot" wars in Korea and Vietnam. What do all of these events have in common? They highlight the fundamental principle of America: government should have as little role in the lives of the citizens who give it its legitimacy. The preamble to our Constitution outlines the role of the federal government: "We the people of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

I did not see anything about football or play-offs or the BCS in there. There is no way that anyone is truly wronged by the BCS system. There are no riots in the street for a play-off. In general life goes on without skipping a beat when the BCS teams are announced. Therefore the federal government has absolutely no right in interfering.

In fact this interference also goes against America's firm belief in capitalism. The member schools of the BCS participate on their own free will; no one holds a gun the the commissioner of the ACC's head and says he has to put his best team in the BCS. Why do they do that? Because it makes money. We buy the tickets to the games, we pay the hundreds of dollars to travel to the game sites, and we turn on the TV when we can't be there. This is exactly what the free-market economy dictates. If we are so adamant for a play-off don't buy the tickets, don't watch the game, don't drink the BCS Kool-Aid. If it ceases to be a profitable venture, it will cease to exist. For the government to say a perfect legitimate system of supply and demand cannot exist because "it's not fair to everyone" suggests Marxist principles. Yes, I know it's extreme but essentially the government is saying that capitalism should not function in this case because it isn't an utopian situation. This is flat-out wrong and has no place in American politics.

Let me assure you, I firmly believe that there should be a play-off in the top level of college football. But this is not the way to do it. The government has no business wasting tax-payer's money even debating it; it is not their jurisdiction, nor their constitutional right to put their nose in a private endeavor such as this. The great thing about America is that everything comes from the people who are free to choose. So let that be the catalyst for the change to a play-off system. No one is going to give it to us just for complaining. We need to get out and make it happen. Vote with your remote. If you really feel so passionate about seeing a play-off then don't watch the BCS. I know this won't happen. Why? Because in the long run it just doesn't matter. Will the world end if it just so happens that TCU is actually the best team in the land and never got to prove it? No, it won't. Is it a great social injustice the because Florida lost one game they won't get a chance to defend their title? No, not hardly. It's sports, not life and death. And as a result the Congress shouldn't even pretend to take this seriously.

Distraction

Since all of my thoughts on my teams have been horribly, horribly wrong (who knew that Jim Zorn was actually completely incompetent?) I have decided to distract myself from football and write about this past season of Entourage.

This show for some odd reason keeps me interested despite the fact that it's the same thing every single season. There is almost no depth to the show and for the most part it is one inconsequential action after another for the characters. So let's look at it from a character by character basis, starting with the most pathetic leading to the only two interesting ones left. This does contain spoilers.

Let's start with Vince. I'm guessing the show's writers tried to make a season where everything didn't go perfectly just to see what Adrian Genier had to offer us as an actor. While last season was captivating, I don't think the writers were impressed by his acting abilities (much like the director of the ill-fated Smoke Jumpers). So they decided, this show is best when he is doing well, making money to pay for everyone else, and having sex. This is fine with me, but it doesn't make him interesting or compelling.

E comes next. This guy hasn't changed one bit. OK this season they actually gave him success as a manager by putting him in a big firm. And they tried to make us want him to get back/ not want him to get back with Sloane AND Ashley the entire season. YAWN. We're tired of E being the lovesick workaholic. It doesn't count that he "changed" because they brought up a "problem" that he only likes girlfriends on his terms with 10 minutes left in the season and he "fixed" it 2 seconds later by proposing. This is the same E we saw from the second he hit the screen: little Irish guy who wants to prove he can make a living and get attractive, stable women without Vince's help. The sad thing is, Kevin Connelly might be one of the better actors in the series yet he is severely limited in this role.

Johnny Drama almost fooled us this year. But like E, his "problem" was short lived and easily remedied. This year we saw a little more depth with his fierce loyalty to his friends (and their girlfriends) that he was willing to sacrifice his first major success since Viking Quest to uphold their reputation. Unfortunately they played the same anger-issues card they have played ad nausea. We were also led to believe that the man who couldn't find work for so long was now ready to not look for work (brought on by his well documented anxiety, boring). This major decision lasted an episode and a half; are we really supposed to believe that Turtle flying to New Zealand is really enough of a catalyst to make him change his mind? Sure once he realized he was meant to be an actor he found himself in the right emotional balance to nail an audition causing the network to want him to star in his own show, but shouldn't such a powerful and life-altering realization be sparked by something a little greater?

Turtle, surprisingly is the second most dynamic character on this show. This season we really saw that Turtle is not some mooch who hangs around Vince to get chemically altered and laid. He decided he wanted to be his own man, to make his own money, to do some heavy lifting (unlike his failed attempt at being a manager for Saigon, where the first sign of trouble or real work he split). He went back to school to learn how to start a business. In a very related note, we also saw that Turtle can be a one woman man. Jerry Ferrara's real life girlfriend, Jamie Lyn Siegler, actually made Turtle cry when she left to film in New Zealand. The old Turtle would have hopped right onto the co-ed who had flirted with him the entire season without missing a beat. The new, mature Turtle actually couldn't do it (even though he told the boys he did); he missed Jamie too much and went to New Zealand to get her back (even though he failed). This season we saw Turtle grow up as a character and as a fictional person. It will certainly be interesting to see if the writers are able to continue this growth next season. Will they bring Jamie back? If they don't will he fall back into the static, flat character he was in seasons previous, or will this new-found motivation and maturity persist without a good woman driving it?

Finally we come to the most compelling character in the series: Ari. This season Ari was involved with trying to make Lloyd an agent and buying out his old boss, Terrence, from his agency to make the world's largest agency, as well as giving aid to Andrew, Turtle, and Drama. This led to Ari being a man of many hats. First we saw a new side of Ari: the fatherly figure. He mentored Andrew, Turtle, and Drama superbly this season. He also put Lloyd through his paces on what it really took to be an agent, Ari the teacher. We also saw an incredibly vindictive side of Ari we really only got to see shades on in the past. Seeing such pure anger when Lloyd jumped ship was a surprisingly refreshing twist on an old theme for Ari. We also saw a savvy business man in his dealings with his old boss. He admitted that "yes I would love to destroy 3 people at his old agency, but no he is purely motivated by the fact that it would be great business to buy, and even worse to pass." Finally, we saw Ari the merciful/ Ari the repentant. The final episode blew me away with the depth it added to Ari (and I was already impressed with it so far this season). I thought for sure it would be a typical Ari vs Terrence ego battle with Ari failing to buy over a stupid point. But no, Terrence apologized and Ari realized that a real man doesn't have to have everything his own way, that it would be OK to honor the man that helped make him who he was by keeping the name. Ari also realized that he was wrong with what he did to Lloyd. He knew Lloyd didn't betray him, that in fact Lloyd was nothing buy loyal and it was he who drove Lloyd away out of fear Lloyd would do what he did to Terrance. He apologized sincerely to Lloyd and even made him the agent he deserved to be (and it led to the funniest moment of the season when the sign on Lloyd's office said "Congratulations You're Finally a Real Asian").

While this season really put a damper on my opinion of Entourage (maybe because I would watch it on TiVo right after Mad Men) there were a few bright points that hopefully the writers will expand upon next season to get this show where something with such high critical acclaim should be.

Football Finally

So it is the start of both football seasons. And I don't mean college and pro, I mean American and the other kind. As you probably know I have become an avid fan of European pro soccer in the past four plus years; but I will touch on that later.

Football season is upon us. The college kickoff happens next weekend and the NFL the week after. I wouldn't call my hopes for the two teams I support high, but I certainly think of them as potential sleeper teams. I'll start with the college game.

It's sad, but I actually know UVa's fight song and not my alma mater, Washington and Lee's famous W&L swing (though I do know a very inappropriate version sung by my fraternity). I have been going to UVa football games since I was at least in 5th grade and despite the fact that they seem to be the second fiddle to VT, I will always root for them. No one is predicting much for them this year. However I think a bowl is very likely. Last year they had a not so good offense because they didn't really have a quarterback; Jameel Sewell, who led the team in '07 to a top 25 finish, was academically ineligible. Yet despite this they were about 3 minutes away from not only beating VT, in Blacksburg, but also being bowl eligible. This year with the introduction of a spread offense and either the return of Sewell, Vic Hall, a 3 year starter at corner and former state champ winning QB for Gretna in high school, taking over, or a more experienced Marc Verica that should not be a question mark position. Also Mikell Simpson should be healthy and there is an entire stable of variously shaped and sized backs behind him. If the defense and o-lines can be as good as the past few years then 7 wins would be easy (but let's be honest 1 win against a certain team would be a successful season).

In the pros I have always and will always be a Redskins fan. No one is picking them to do anything. Ok yeah they are in one of the toughest division in football. I love it when no one likes the Skins because they almost always make the playoffs that year. They would have made it last year if the offensive line wasn't playing with the 8th string in by the end of the year. I think having Jason Campbell in the same offensive in consecutive years for the first time since his sophomore year in college is going to work wonders. Clinton Portis is always a horse and Ladell Betts is one of the best spell backs in the league. I think Malcolm Kelley is about to become a great 3rd receiver (it usually takes a year for receivers to adjust fully to the pro game). Chris Cooley, Santana Moss, and Antwan Randle El are always productive. I don't need to say anything about the defense. It was great last year and got better this year with the addition of Haynesworth and Orakpo (and a full season of Deangelo Hall). Don't sleep on this team. They could make some noise, they really will only need to score 20 points a game to win.

Now to my newest passion: European soccer. I just want to thank ESPN profusely for buying EPL and La Liga rights to replace their loss of Champions League coverage. Sure the CL is much more prestigious, but week in and week out league play is ten times more exciting because there is a lot more history between the sides involved. I also want to thank Comcast for finally getting on the ESPN360 ship, so now I can watch even more coverage. I think I have never been more excited for a soccer season, probably because I understand the game so much more, and because of my beloved FC Barcelona's dream season last year. Even after becoming the first Spanish side to win 3 trophies in a campaign, we have no pressure; thanks to crisis mode in the nation's capital. The Madridistas brought in over 200 million euros worth of talent including Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Xabi Alonso. All we did was sell off Samuel Eto'o and replace him with much needed height, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. So we are not the favorites for anything, yet I'm extremely confident of at least one trophy and a great season battle with Real Madrid.