Below are the 7 most recent journal entries recorded in rosebowldefense's LiveJournal:

Wednesday, December 27th, 2006
2:02 am	Johnson has advice for Jarrett: Stay in school Gary Klein Los Angeles Times Keyshawn Johnson advised Mike Williams to stay in school when the former USC All-American receiver was considering turning pro after the 2003 season. Johnson, the No. 1 pick in the 1996 NFL draft, said Tuesday that, if asked, he would tell receiver Dwayne Jarrett the same. Jarrett is the Trojans' only frontline draft-eligible junior who has not stated that he would return for his final season of eligibility. Jarrett has said that he would wait until after the Rose Bowl to decide. "He's not ready for the NFL in my opinion," Johnson said in a telephone interview. Johnson, who plays for the Carolina Panthers, made his comments on the same day that Coach Pete Carroll gave Trojans juniors, sophomores and freshmen a post-practice seminar about agents and the NFL draft. Unlike last year, when he asked an agent and a former NFL player personnel executive to make presentations, Carroll flew solo Tuesday, using examples from last season to educate players. After last year's Rose Bowl, running backs Reggie Bush and LenDale White, offensive linemen Winston Justice and Fred Matua and safety Darnell Bing decided to turn pro with a year of eligibility remaining. Only Bush was selected in the first round. White, who was a second-round pick, Justice (second round), Bing (fourth) and Matua (seventh) would probably have been drafted higher and made more money had they remained in school, according to Carroll. "People see the mistakes guys made in the past and, if you're a smart person, you try not to make the same mistakes," junior tackle Sedrick Ellis said. "And I think for the most part, as a class of juniors, we're doing that." Williams decided to forsake the advice of Johnson and coaches after his sophomore season and ultimately was forced to wait until the 2005 draft, when he was selected with the 10th overall pick by Detroit. Williams signed a contract that included $10.5 million in guaranteed money, but has barely played in two seasons. Johnson, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win a Super Bowl, said that if Jarrett's family was in a "dire" financial situation, then he should turn pro. Otherwise, he said, Jarrett would be better off improving his skills with the Trojans, especially with Georgia Tech junior Calvin Johnson regarded as perhaps the top receiver in the draft. Keyshawn Johnson said Jarrett "is not the wide receiver from Georgia Tech…. The best thing would be for him to polish his skills, stay in school and he'll go higher next year." Johnson said he watched the Trojans this season and saw Jarrett struggle in the opener. "Any time you go down to Arkansas and you allow those guys to jam you at the line of scrimmage and run poor routes, you're not ready," he said. Jarrett's three-TD performance against Notre Dame was not enough to convince Johnson. "Notre Dame?" Johnson said. "Those corners aren't any good." Like many former USC players now in the NFL, Johnson said there was a big difference between college and pro football. "You're not playing to have fun and to get the cute girls," he said. "You're playing for the owner of an NFL team that wants to win Super Bowls and competing against grown men who are fighting to put food on their families' tables." Williams has said he regretted his decision to turn pro early and told The Times last month that Jarrett should seek counsel from Carroll and the NFL before making his decision. Johnson said Williams should have heeded his advice and so should Jarrett. "Eleven years, 800-some catches and a Super Bowl ring later, I'd think I'd be listening to this guy," he said. (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 2nd, 2006
1:44 pm	Rose Bowl Drive Having not been out painting in a while I was a bit apprehensive today. I thought about what I have learned from William, and I proceeded. After about two hours, I heard a crash behind me, realized that I was witnessing a hit and run. I tried to run and take down the license number, but was unable to see it. Kicked myself, because I could have just picked up my new camera, and taken a photo. If there is ever a next time, I will know what to do. Luckily someone else witnessed it as well, and got all the information for the disappointed truck owner. By this time, my shade, light and spirit was lost. This photo is for Lydia... (Comment on this)
Friday, August 18th, 2006
12:02 pm	A SOMEWHAT OBLIGATORY ASSESSMENT OF: TEXAS A SOMEWHAT OBLIGATORY ASSESSMENT OF: TEXAS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - By popular demand - 31 blank spaces and the dubious voracity of the identity of signee "Denver Lamberth" not withstanding - SMQ begins his final week of fire sale, non-binding predictions with the mythical champs Today: TEXAS - - - - - Three white whales - a rival, a conference, a national crown - felled in one swoop, but whence the state of Mack's new kingdom sans Sir Score-a-lot? PAST FIVE SEASONS: 56-8 (36-6 Big XII) - 2005: 13-0 (9-0 Big XII, Champs), Won Rose Bowl, Mythical National Champs STARTERS BACK, ROUGHLY: 13 (6 Offense, 7 Defense) WHAT'S CHANGED: On the bright side, Mack Brown Inc. stunned doubting Thomasi (like SMQ), finally achieving nirvana by riding its loping, rocket-armed chakra past its main blockage in the South Division and on to enlightenment in the Rose Bowl. Loosening Oklahoma's psychlogical death-grip on the the teams' series - and, subsequently the conference - should not be underestimated. Of course, even few Sahasrara are otherwordly enough to have these actual, very earnest words written about them: For Vince, it had always been about "team," and as the Rose Bowl approached and passed, it became obvious that the world would no longer allow him to fit in that role. With his magnificent performance in the National Championship game, Young became larger than life, and as much as he tried to deflect credit and give it to his teammates, the media and the fans would never allow that. And so, just as the mythical character in Kahlil Gibran's poem "The Prophet," Vince Young sailed off in the sunset on Sunday. Behind, he left an amazing legacy, a rare and unique person whose qualities were many, whose significant shadow will be cast on Texas football forever. Yet lest fans despair in the wake of the adulatory funeral pyre of their gridiron yogi's amateur career, they are comforted, for "Young's final, selfless act for the Texas Longhorns was to talk to his would be successor about leadership." In this case, the reference is to iconicly-named and thickly-eyebrowed redshirt freshman Colt McCoy, though "Wait, he's white?" all-star Jevan Snead was an early enrollee and competed during the Spring. To date, neither has anything to recommend him but the ungodly prep stats one would expect of a potential freshman starter at one of the nation's primo blue chip magnets. Also, neither is quite as highly regarded as Chris Simms was out of high school. So ve know nottink. - - - - - McCoy: More or less acquainted with Vince Young WHAT'S THE SAME: "Ungodly" is also a nice way to describe Jamaal Charles' 7.4 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns (on just 119 carries) as a true freshman, and the Longhorns' returning skill talent in general: Charles, Selvin Young, Billy Pittman, Limas Sweed, Quan Cosby and SMQ fave "Heavy" Henry Melton collectively topped 4,000 total yards from scrimmage in '05 (a little over 308 per game, or about 10 yards per touch) and could all play and start for just about anybody in the country. Those numbers do not include all-purpose virtuoso and epic hash hound/armed peanut farm brawler/banished MySpacer Ramonce Taylor, who had more than 800 total yards and a stunning 15 touchdowns on 103 offensive touches but may or may not return for the fall. Whether losing a quarterback whose talents commanded ad libs and many carries of his own, as well as defenses' undivided attention, hurts or helps those numbers is probably a toss-up, but whether opposing coordinators will grow pale and jelly-legged watching these guys on film is not. HEROES AND VILLAINS: While Taylor was busy getting his multiple felonies on, McCoy was living up to his moniker's big-hearted maverick potential by intrepidly helping to rescue a neighbor suffering from a seizure on Memorial Day (an act accompanied by a story, coincidentally, that stops dead in the middle of Colt's harrowing climb up a bank of rocks to get to the man to point out that a few other neighbors were - gasp - Texas A&M fans! "I'm an Aggie, but I'm darn proud of that kid," one reluctantly reports). McCoy - whose Wikipedia page is already as long, before he's taken a snap, as 'Horn legend and NFL Hall-of-Famer Bobby Layne's entry - will soon find that off-field virtues earn little acclaim if one looks more like Chris Rix under the lights, and his inexperience (or that of Snead or fellow true freshman Sherrod Harris) will be the main impediment to this absurdly talented team's chances of repeating. The only two teams in SMQ's lifetime to win a mythical title with a non-junior or senior QB were Alabama in 1992 and USC in 2003, and both of those very different quarterbacks were redshirt sophomores, not freshmen. It's not a particularly original question, but it must be asked: even at home, how much confidence can be placed in any of these kids when they line up against Ohio State in September? Against Oklahoma's rabid D a month later? That's a steep learning curve, one no freshman or redshirt freshman quarterback in SMQ's memory - probably Michael Vick included, given his opponents as a redshirt - has ever aced out of the gate. THE DIRTY WORK: The goal, of course, will be to take everything out of whichever kid's hands are being employed at any given point, and the backfield talent are offensive line are geared to pick up that sort of slack. Mack Brown commissioned a study two years ago to determine exactly what ingredients made a champion over the past decade or so, and determined that line play was the most consistent factor present in every title winner. Hence, the 'Horns put together probably the best combination of offensive and defensive line play in the country last year, and might be in a position to pull that off again. Departed Jonathan Scott and Will Allen were the most decorated of '05's veteran line crop, but all-leaguer Justin Blalock is back at one tackle with honorable mention pick Kasey Studdard and center Lyle Sendlein. No Rodrique Wright is no big whoop on defense, where there's ridiculous depth at end and size in the middle in the form of Frank Okam. It was a group that wore down towards the end of last year, though - it allowed opponents more than 5 yards per carry in four games, all in the last six - lost three of its four leading tacklers and might have a hiccup or two in the good-looking but Michael Huff/Cedric Griffin-less secondary. OVERLY OPTIMISTIC POST-SPRING CHATTER: Oh, that Colt, saving the neighbors, fending off the preppies and receiving high praise from Austin's former quarterbacking Zeus: "I see a smart quarterback, and a lot of hard work, a lot of hard work," Young said. "I've seen a great arm, as well. He's already gained the respect of the guys, and like I told him all year, that's the biggest key." Added Young, "He's been answering a lot of questions in meetings that when I was a freshman, I couldn't even answer. I'm just proud of him as a freshman and I look forward to seeing him play." Of course, Vince Young's been known to struggle with the answers of a lot of questions. Oh! Thank you. REASON FOR HOPE: Obviously. This team is still absurdly talented everywhere you look. REASON TO BE AFRAID, VERY AFRAID: Obviously. Vince Young could have carried this group like it was a two-year-old on his shoulders, but it's going to seem more like a, well, herd of longhorn steers to McCoy if he's forced to assume anything remotely resembling the same burden. Even as a "within the offense" type for now, will the passing game be good enough to keep more competent opponents from ganging up on the stud backs? IF THIS TEAM WERE ANY POP CULTURAL, HISTORICAL, LITERARY, POLITICAL OR OTHERWISE NOTABLE FIGURE, IT WOULD BE... Spider-Man 3, the much-awaited, spare-no-expense follow-up to other big-budget, star-studded, massively successful mythical champions - one on the box office, one on the field - and hoping the dollars and mostly returning talent, under the same direction, can live up to the franchise's recent past success. - - - - - Ramonce Taylor's second-favorite Mary Jane HONESTLY, WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE SCHEDULE, SMQ'S THINKING...: Two losses max, BCS game as Big XII champ or at-large. The quarterbacking youth would seem to preclude a successful mythical title defense, but it's going to be tough to pick against a collection of athleticism and experience across the board like this in any game. Beat Ohio State, and SMQ will believe. - - - - - - PREVIOUS REASONABLY ANTICIPATORY ASSESSMENTS: June 3: Boston College...June 4: Arkansas State...June 6: Hawaii...June 8: Virginia...June 10: Rice...June 11: Boise State...June 14: Tulane...June 18: Oregon...June 21: Colorado...June 24: South Florida...June 26: Fresno State...June 30: Minnesota...July 2: UAB...July 7: Virginia Tech...July 9: Michigan ABSURDLY PREMATURE ASSESSMENTS: April 3: Central Michigan...April 4: BYU...April 5: Kentucky...April 7: Bowling Green...April 8: Southern Cal...April 11: Rutgers...April 12: Marshall...April 13: Florida State...April 15: San Diego State...April 16: Alabama...April 19: Oregon State...April 20: Buffalo...April 21: N.C. State...April 23: Arizona...April 24: Memphis...April 25: Louisiana Tech...April 28: Iowa...April 30: Toledo...May 2: Ohio State...May 3: Mississippi State...May 5: Southern Miss...May 7: Louisiana-Lafayette...May 11: Akron...May 12: North Carolina...Michigan State...May 15: Air Force...May 17: Stanford...May 18: Georgia Tech...May 21: Connecticut...May 23: Purdue...May 24: Navy...May 27: UCLA...May 28: New Mexico State...May 29: Tennessee - - - - - Permalink (Comment on this)
Friday, August 11th, 2006
11:24 am	My Free Football Picks Win. Period. Greetings Kielbasites, It seems like two days into the un-official start of Football Season things are up and running at the Sedge Court Journal Football Pick Sheet. The Aldawg is ripping me while posting losing picks (Guess he didn't count on the POLSKA kicker) and Scott AKA "The Rat" is back to his schizophrenic ways sending me hate e-mails under an assumed name. I've got nothing to hide so here is the email I received from one of the Rat's imaginary "Fans": From: Yu Li yuli3885@gmail.com To: Keilbasa@sedgecourtjournal.com Date: 8/7/2006 4:14 pm Dear Robonsticator, You suck as a capper. The polls prove it. If I want to win money, all I have to do is bet the opposite of your picks. Each week, I expect to see a weekly commentary by "The Rat." You can call it the Rat's nest. He is the most popular capper as evidenced by your poll. This guy actually knows the difference between a football and the grass. If you cannot accommodate my request, I will stop visiting your site. We are all fans of "The Rat." He told us to visit your website and all I find is a person whining about gambling online and some naked pictures of Janelle. Is this a sports site or a porn site? We have been fans of the "The Rat's" commentary on his website. I also see that you are the winner of your own contest for 2005. No conflict of interest there. Yu Li Thanks Yu Li for your insightful comments but indulge me the opportunity to clear up a couple of things. First. I was the "Best Handicapper Ever" for 2005. My Free Pick Record as well as "The Rat's" was well documented last year. In fact, I challenge you to find any discrepancy in my record against the spread. All my free picks are archived along with "The Rat's" collection of losers here. The Rat's record was 37-41-1 and he ended down -40 points in our competition. If you flip a coin 78 times statistically speaking you ought to get 39/39. The Rat can't even pick winners 50% of the time!!!!! But when he picks one of his "5 cheese slice locks" you better watch out because that trap will come snapping shut pretty fucking fast. For example, I love "The Rats" Pick of the Year. Of course, I saw things differently and we all know the outcome. Second, go ahead and pick against me. My Polish Prognosticating Process is deadly for bookies. I agree with you that "The Rat" knows the difference between football and grass. In fact looking at his Rose Bowl pick last year I would submit that he is indeed an expert when it comes to "Grass". I owned this site last year with my solid winners week after week. Third, whats wrong with naked pictures of Janelle? The chick is hot. Seems to me you would rather look at Pics of the Rat than those of fine women. Hey, it's cool. We don't care what side of the plate you bat from we are just curious why "fans" of the Rat have problems with naked women. The Rat has not let me know about this mysterious site he's running and your professed man-love is giving me a sense as to why it is such a "secret". Finally, we welcome the Rats commentary. He talks a good game and is amusing but its high time he put up or shut up. We altered the rules this year based on the Rats recommendations now lets see if he can live up to the hype. However, like his political affiliations we are not optimistic and expect "more of the same". As for you Yu Li, we know you will be coming back when it comes time to place your wager. And you'll be looking for me... The Polish Prognosticator!! BTW, I thought your people ate rats? Stay Polska, -Robnosticater (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
6:18 pm	Scoring by quarters One of the biggest complaints Michigan fans had about the 2005 team was that the Wolverines could not seem to hold a lead and/or close out a game. Many theories abound to explain these difficulties but suffice it to say that as a result of last year's struggles Michigan is boasting new Offensive and Defensive Coordinators for the upcoming season. Taking a (sometimes painful) look back at last season's results, here is the 2005 team's scoring by quarters: 2005 Michigan 94/1st 123/2nd 38/3rd 81/4th 9/OT 345/TOTALOpponents 51 71 22 97 3 244 By way of comparison, here are the scoring by quarter figures for 2004: 2004 Michigan 78/1st 70/2nd 105/3rd 99/4th 18/OT 370/TOTALOpponents 66 64 55 84 10 279 The 2004 team finished 9-3 and played in the Rose Bowl while the 2005 team finished 7-5 and played in the Alamo Bowl. Yet, scoring-wise the two seasons were very similar. The 2004 (30.8 pts./game) and 2005 teams (28.8 pts./game) scored roughly the same number of points (370 vs. 345). Likewise, defensively the two teams yielded roughly the same number of points(279 in 2004 vs. 244 in 2005). Overall, the 2005 Wolverines outscored its opponents by a margin of 101 points while the 2004 Wolverines outscored its opponents by a margin of 91 points. However, as previously noted, the 2004 team won two more games and went to the Rose Bowl. Four of U of M's losses last season were by a margin of four points or less (a fact that Wolverine fans seem to be able to recite with as much ease as they recite the lyrics of "Hail to the Victors!"). U of M got beat late in games. In fact, in 2005, the Wolverines were outscored in the 4th quarter by the score of 97-81. This was a virtual flip-flop from the 2004 season when the Wolverines outscored their opponents in the 4th quarter by a score of 99-84. Everyone knows about the "4th quarter collapses" but it is also interesting to review what happened last year in the 3rd quarter with respect to a reduction in scoring. Traditionally, Michigan owns the 3rd quarter as the coaching staff makes adjustments at the half and emphasizes having a strong 3rd quarter to set the tone for the rest of the ballgame. The 2004 season was a typical dominating Wolverine performance as U of M outscored its opponents 105-55 in the 3rd quarter. However, last season the Wolverines only managed 38 third-quarter points and only outscored its opponents by the score of 38-22 for the season. Thus, the Wolverines were not entering the 4th quarter with big leads and this repeatedly spelled trouble for U of M when the play-calling became conservative as the game went down-to-the-wire. To remediate last year's difficulties, Coach Carr has ordered the players to become more svelte so they will not wilt in the 4th quarter of close games and he has, as previously mentioned, hired new coordinators on both sides of the ball. Hopefully, these changes will be enough to get U of M back on the winning track in 2006. Go Blue! (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 29th, 2006
5:08 pm	must be one o dem hot dog carts done burned it down (and TV list) So I finally figured out how to put pictures in blogger.... and it's so easy a crippled lemur, or better yet, FDR, could do it (too soon?). Thanks to my wonderful girlfriend for showing me. It was really easy, although I said earlier I wasn't gonna mess with pictures. And I won't that much. But she did so much for me in her post, and I love her for all her support, that I had to show you all what a beautiful girl she is. Also, you get to see me in full beardo mode. We got a treat on the 4th when the Rose Bowl, which we were sitting in for festivities, caught on fire (Fire at the Disco! Fire at the Rose Bowl! Fire at the TACO BELL!!!) from fireworks, naturally. It made our night... honestly. If only it could burn down certain parts of California. And on the way home we witnessed a strange celebration that could have been a party gone bad or a Satanic ritual. In LA, who knows? A few days ago she posed me the question of making a list, since I like making lists so much, about my favorite TV shows ever. This is a fairly obvious list but I don't know if any of us have tackled it before. As someone who's trying to write for TV, it should be an important one for me. I named 300 movies that were great... shouldn't I be able to come up with a few good series? .... maybe. I had to think back to the cartoons of my youth to fill it out. Hmmm. Myabe I should just stick to animation, as it dominates the list. I'd like to, for sure, but not kids' stuff. Not quite. After doing this list, you may wonder why I'm going to start off as a lowly dreg for a sitcom that I will undoubtedly have no respect for. And... yeah me too. But that's the business, as they say. I decided to break it down into two groups. Comedy and drama? No, scripted and unscripted, since that's a real difference for me. I hate 90 % of dramas anyway. In fact, I hate 90 % of television. Hire me now! But yes, it was hard to sort out all the different kinds of shows there are. A while ago on myspace I tried to come up with a sketch show list, but I hadn't seen much of UCB or Mr. Show then. Now I know much better. So I split up my list into scripted shows and sketch / variety shows. I think that works much better. I'm going with pure favoritism, not just what's more acclaimed, because TV is mostly not like film where I can appreciate the art of it. Soemtimes I can. But usually, either it's entertaining or it's not. And, like my music list, I'm grouping it, since I see a tough time choosing. The top scripted / fictional shows of all time: 01 Simpsons 02 Family Guy These go on a pedestal by themselves, and it shouldn't be that surprising if you know me. They've been a huge part of different stages of my life. Nothing can really compare to the Simpsons; they've been my show for years, since I was a kid. I grew up with them. I know they've sunk the past few years, but most of the shows on this list only lasted a short while. They still had at least seven great years and many good ones. That's unmatchable. And since FG is the new Simpsons, the torch has been passed, and they are almost one the same level. Don't know if they can or should make it to season 17, though. This next group was the toughest to sort out. The top two were easy, but the battle for number three is impossible. At times, all sorts of shows have held that ranking. These ten could be nearly interchangable; they're all great, but they either lasted too short, or I haven't seen enough of them (and some are still going). 03 Gilmore Girls 04 Freaks and Geeks 05 Arrested Development 06 Home Movies 07 The Office BRITISH 08 Reno 911 09 Aqua Teen Hunger Force 10 Harvey Birdman 11 Stella 12 Six Feet Under Watch out for Six Feet Under... that could be number three some day. It's fantastic, and I need to see more. By the way, I'm including Stella and Reno in this list, despite their sketch comedy bases, because they involve stable fictional characters in a continous story arc, however crazy it may be. The next group includes some recent discoveries as well as some sentimental favorites. Note that the D would be much higher if they did more than six episodes. But what power those six had.... 13 Tenacious D 14 Futurama 15 Eerie, Indiana 16 The Critic 17 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 18 Garfield and Friends 19 Animaniacs 20 South Park 21 Seinfeld 22 Adventures of Pete and Pete And finally, to close out with all the scripted shows that deserve to be on a list, I give you the rest of my top 40, which is again a mix of recent faves and nostaliga crisises (read: cartoons). 23 X Men: the animated series 24 Curb Your Enthusiasm 25 News Radio 26 Batman: the animated series 27 Freakazoid 28 Entourage 29 The Job 30 Boston Public 31 Space Ghost 32 the Cosby Show 33 Twilight Zone 34 Tom Goes to the Mayor 35 The Office NBC 36 The Tick 37 Sopranos 38 Lost 39 H. R. Pufnstuff 40 Law & Order I can't go to 50 without choosing things I liek purely for Unintentional Comedy and datedness (well, Pufnstuff does, but that's on another level... seriosuly, how did this get on air? How did it make it past censors? How could they NOT see the drug imagery? If you tried to air this show today, 200 Republican congressmen would have a fit and have the Kroft brothers tarred and feathered... unbelievable....). So I'm stopping this list at 40. Here were some honorable mentions, mostly out of nostalgic glee: Tazmania Life with Louie Sonic the Hedgehog Beetlejuice Tiny Toons Duck Tales Rescue Rangers all Nintendo related cartoons Twin Peaks Family Matters Perfect Strangers Family Ties Good Times The Jeffersons What's Happening? Taxi basically anything from the late 70's And there you go. Perhaps Hal Hartley was right. Now, to the sketch / variety list. Hard to grade the sketch shows with the late night talk and variety shows, but I think I represented them all well. Like my scripted shows, two of the variety stand out to me... and like before, this ought to be very obvious. 01 the Daily Show 02 the Colbert Report Yeah. No question. These guys bring great comedy and satire and really, more information than you could get from "real" news sources... and they do it four times a week. That's tough. Now, the list moves on for the best sketch shows of all time. Note that I broke up Saturday Night Live into different eras, because every other show had a stable main cast. I can't include it as a whole when absolutely every cast member changes every six years or so. 03 Saturday Night Live ('90-'95) 04 Upright Citizens Brigade 05 Mr. Show 06 the State 07 Kids in the Hall 08 Monty Python's Flying Circus 09 the Dana Carvey Show 10 Chapelle's Show 11 Saturday Night Live ('75-'79) Yeah, I feel a little sad for giving in and going with SNL, a show that has really dredged itself lately (save for the channel 101 people) and has become a terrible monopoly of sketch comedy now. Seriously, there's nothing else. From 87-00 we had different outlets like Kids, State, Mr. Show, and UCB. Now nothing. I wanted to go with the upstart State, my favorite memory of middle school (not a hard task, believe me), but I haven't seen a large deal of it in so long. So I guess I'll go with the early nineties SNL. But, it's first for a reason, because you just can't beat that cast, which performed every time and had great people like Conan O'Brien, Bob Odenkirk, and Robert Smigel writing for them. They weren't afraid to try things or be crazy and go strange directions. Toonces the driving cat was the dumbest sketch idea ever, so predictable every time... and it still makes me laugh my arse off. I could switch UCB and Mr. Show each time I make this. That's just too close to call. And once I FINALLY get some State stuff on DVD, I'll be free to judge it correctly, and see if it was just an exaggeration of my teenage mind or if it was that good (okay, I know it is, I've seen stuff on youtube, and all their future projects were great). And Kids is a fantastic comedy, still today. I could live off the DVD's of just these shows and never be bored. The next ones I feel like mentioning, a mix of variety and sketch: 12 Da Ali G Show 13 TV Nation 14 Conan O' Brien 15 TV Funhouse 16 Robot Chicken 17 Trigger Happy TV 18 Real Time with Bill Maher 19 In Living Color 20 Letterman You might not remember TV Nation. It was a half hour show on NBC, on Friday nights, that didn't last very long. It had a format strangely similar to what the Daily Show does now... very similar... with Stephen Lynch as a correspondent, no less. And who was the host of that show? NBC gave it to a young filmmaker who had just begun making waves with his politcal satire.... one Michael Moore. Yup, Michael Moore had a show on NBC. Hard to believe now, isn't it? And yes, he tackled corporations and right wingers and so forth. But he did it with a self-deprecating wit that he seems to be losing now. It was hialrious in a very Daily Show type way, and it got results too. He got things to change. Too bad no one watched it. Honorable mention goes to Whose Line is it Anyway?, both the British and American versions, and the Will Ferrell- Molly Shannon led SNL. And also, I need to give a special prize to Unsolved Mysteries. I don't know what to define it as, but those reenactments are better than any sketch. So there's my 60 TV shows that matter. It doesn't deaden the inner core of my being all the time. The dream for me is landing a spot on something that would make this list. Then I would be very happy. Will it happen? Uhhh.. I hope so... If you'd like to help me out in this quest, you can do me a favor. I have specs of my top three scripted shows (Simp, FG, Gilmore) and I'd love to hear comments on them. Let me know and I'll hit you up. And to end, since I spoke of youtube..... I didn't get into the list of music videos because I haven't seen many, but I've been watching the ones Stevkitis put down on their lists incessantly. I swore off MTV and videos when I was 14 because Phish wasn't on them. In retrospect, this was a dumb move, although I still hate MTV and everything it stands for. I missed out on a lot of stuff and a lot of great directors. But now, with the internet and DVD's and such, I can pick and choose. And I will. Here's a quick list of ones I do know are good: Gondry's White Stripes & Beck - mulitple videos Gonry's Bjork - mulitple videos (okay, let's just say Gondry rules) Sabotage (those sideburns still kill me) Jo Jo's Jacket (just saw it and nearly nated myself... Malkmus, you are offically one of my rock Gods) Everybody Have Fun Tonight (so much seizuring!) Down with Disease (alright, it's lame, and you can see why they never made another one) Thriller (shut up) Heart Shaped Box (last of my MTV days) Radiohead's entire collection (esp. Just) Sweater Song (Jonze is great) Weapon of Choice (come on, how can you not love Walken dancing) Gay Bar (my choice for number one.... insane genius) (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 27th, 2006
11:11 am	The Next National Champion: Notre Dame Bold predicttion from covers.com The Notre Dame bandwagon is packed tighter than a Tokyo subway car at rush hour, but there’s a good chance backers could ride along with the legions of South Bend straphangers all the way to the National Championship. A nine-win season in 2005, a head coach rapidly approaching Knute Rockne status, and a returning senior quarterback who could very well be posing with the Heisman Trophy at year`s end – these are just a few reasons a school-record 41,279 fans showed up to check out this year’s annual spring game at Notre Dame Stadium to get a glimpse of the team picked by many to kiss the crystal football this winter. It’s also why oddsmakers like the Irish at +600 to win their first championship since 1988. But before we all go off painting the town green, maybe everybody should forget about Rudy and the Gipper for a second and ask if this Notre Dame squad is for real, or do we have another 2003 scenario on our hands? College football aficionados have been guzzling coach Charlie Weis’ Kool-Aid like it was free beer at frat party ever since the former NFL coordinator took over last year and brought the glory days back to Notre Dame. It also doesn’t hurt that the school, which hasn’t produced a first-round draft pick in 12 years, has the most promising pivot in the nation in Brady Quinn and a Biletnikoff Award finalist in Jeff Samardzija – arguably the most potent offensive combo in the nation. Things haven’t looked this good in South Bend since Joe Montana rallied the Blue and Gold to a national championship in 1977. But even though there seems to be a rainbow leading straight to the Golden Dome, the shadows of 2003 have to be hanging somewhere in the back of every bettor’s mind. That year, Ty Willingham was a promising sophomore coach at Notre Dame just like Weis. He was coming off a 10-3 debut season in which the Irish didn’t blow a pointspread until Week 11. Then it all fell apart. Willingham, who came off like Ulysses S. Grant in his inaugural campaign, looked more like a Chevy Chase impersonation of Gerald Ford when Notre Dame followed up the 2002 season by stumbling to a 5-7 straight up record that hurt bandwagon bettors even more thanks to a 4-8 ATS record. Another bad performance in 2004 spelled the end of Willingham’s stay in South Bend. It was all bad news for Irish Nation until Weis turned up last spring. There might not be much comparison between these two coaches or their respective teams, but it’s one of those things that has to make you think twice about Notre Dame futures. More than any other school in the country, playing for the Fighting Irish brings heavy baggage for players – especially in a season like this one with such high expectations. A renewed television deal with NBC means no team gets more airplay than Notre Dame. Don’t think that won’t affect 19 year-old kids on the field. But a repeat of the 2003 Irish collapse in 2006? Don’t bet on it. You only have to look to last year’s Rose Bowl to realize what ingredients it takes to win a college football championship. You don`t want to oversimplify the equation, but both Texas and USC were lead by mature quarterbacks who knew how to grab a game by the stones and squeeze out a win. If you were a college football coach and had the chance to choose any player in the country to run your offense, you’d have to be crazy not to take Quinn this season. His numbers last year were brilliant, he has the arm to stretch defenses and the smarts to protect the football, but he’s got something else too – that magical je ne sais quoi that separates the Tom Bradys of the football world from the Ryan Leafs. Quinn is a winner. Under Weis’ wing, Quinn dropped the baby fat and blossomed into the kind of quarterback that can take his team on his back and charge to the end zone. He nearly did it against USC last year with a fourth quarter drive that was capped with a courageous run to put the Irish ahead against the No. 1 team in the nation. That game was ultimately won on a last-second touchdown by SC’s Matt Leinart, but with Leinart and his Rose Bowl nemesis, Vince Young, off to the greener pastures (as in greenbacks) of the NFL, the college gridiron should belong to Quinn this year. People might tell you that Notre Dame’s defense couldn’t stop the cheerleading team from putting up 28 points, but that situation will also improve this season. The star power is considerably less lustrous on the defensive side of the ball, but with nine returning starters and some promising recruits, things can only improve on defense. Notre Dame’s biggest competitor, on the other hand, took a big hit to its vaunted defense when the NFL came knocking. With last year’s top teams in rebuilding mode, Ohio State (+600) is one of Notre Dame’s few serious challengers for the National Championship. But you can’t expect the Buckeyes to rebuild the defensive stonewall that permitted only 15.2 points per game without the assistance of what was perhaps the best trio of linebackers in school history (A.J. Hawk, Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Schlegel). Oklahoma and West Virginia are the only other teams listed with comparable odds to win the National Championship, but the Sooners looked at least a couple of years away from a return to prominence and it’s tough to take West Virginia seriously coming out of a Big East conference that’s sorely lacking in serious competition. That brings us back to Notre Dame with its overplayed fight song and overhyped history. Some people might not appreciate the pomp and circumstance that follows this team around like they were the crown princes of college football, but unlike the Irish teams of the last few years, this one is the genuine article. Last fall was a high point at Notre Dame, but don’t expect things to go downhill this year. Every move Weis has made since taking the reins of this program has been positive. His recruiting class was one of the best in the country and with a schedule that doesn’t take the Irish anywhere too dangerous until a trip to L.A. in late November, the path to the National Championship will certainly go though South Bend. By Julian Dickinson (Comment on this)