Friday Night Lights

I am among the horde of rabid Friday Night Lights fans who think that anyone who doesn't watch the show doesn't know what he/she is missing. FriNiLi is a vastly underrated show in terms of the number of people watching it. The critics seem to love it, and those who finally come to understand that it's not really about football usually come to love it, too.

I know that sounds condescending, but it's also a really valid reason for people who don't care for sports to give it a chance. The storylines are (mostly) engaging - damn you, second season murder plot thread! - and the characters are as realistically drawn as any set of characters on television. And, even though the news that the show has been picked up for two more seasons is great, I'm still putting the word out there for those not in the know.

One of the big questions facing the program, though, is how they're going to face the graduation of all the main characters from season one. A few have already departed this season - sorry, guys - and Minka Kelly will not be returning for next season. Does that mean Riggins will be gone, too? Could they follow them to college and call it Saturday Afternoon Delight? I'm sure something will be done, but I wonder what it will be. Will they keep a revolving cast of characters to keep the show going? It's definitely something the creators probably didn't think about when they envisioned the show, but the topic of character departure is something FriNiLi has handled with an amount of grace that other shows on NBC - ahem, Heroes - could manage. So let's celebrate the show's renewal with a trip to Applebee's.

From the Dugout

The Diamond Dawgs went up to Knoxville for the rainy weekend and swept the Vols, thanks to some outstanding play by Rich Poythress. Counting the loss to Wright State, Poythress batted .615 with 5 HR's and 12 RBI's. He has been named not only SEC POTW, but a Louisville Slugger National POTW, as well. The Dawgs handled Tennessee across the three day stand, 12-6, 11-6, 4-3. Georgia has a home-and-away with Clemson this week before hosting LSU for a weekend series.

BTW, from the Lady Diamond Ddawg dugout: The Softball team has also been kicking a little butt this season. Poythress is not the only spring sporter pulling in honors recently, as Chrisitie Hamilton also earned the SEC POTW. Let's just hope they can hang in with Florida if they cross paths again in the conference tournament.

Spring sports aren't really holding my interest enough, so the posts have been few and far between. As the season wears on, I'll be digging through various pop-culture categories and sharing some views and insights on a hodge-podge of fun facts. Stay tuned.

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REMEMBER: Brewfest is April 5 and G-Day is April 11!

A Catch-Phrase

"I don't normally talk sports, but, when I do, it's From the Sidelines."
~Jinx Protocol

A-Rod B-Comes C-List

I remember not being very upset when Barry Bonds hit 756 back in 2007, because I thought there was an ace in the hole to save us from having to endure Bonds's *record for decades. I think you know who I'm talking about.

A-Rod...right. And he was going to show the world 756 could be reached without the aid of steroids. I don't remember even hearing rumblings about him way back then, because the big bad baseball bastard was Barry Bonds. Boy, was I wrong.

A-Rod's newest scandal is so 2008. I mean, who thought Eliot Spitzer's name would be mentioned in the news ever again? A-Rod's package has made Spitzer (and, probably the whore he humped into the public arena) famous by proxy. Again.

Steroids? Eliot Spitzer? Hookers? Madonna? A-Dud, you need to stop living in the past, man. To your credit, you tested positive way back in the day, but, seriously, you need to stop tripping over your own douchieness to get a little perspective.

If you want to improve your Q-Rating and popularity, Twitter about showing your genitals in public, or have eight kids for your reality show with Brett Michaels. Madonna probably doesn't even know what Twitter is. And, seriously, if Chris Brown gets more sympathy than you do, you're doing something WRONG, buddy.

From the Dugout

I just listened to the #1 Diamond Dogs flop against Wright State, 8-5. I wish we could have won this game, but I'm not that upset by the loss. The game I really want to win is tomorrow night's showdown with #3 Georgia Tech in ATL. We need to clean up the base running and overall road woes if we want to win, but I think we can do it. Now, I now we'll never ever take all 3 from Tech, but winning this first one would be extra nice, since it would give us some pep going into the away stand in Knoxville this weekend. That, and we'd have to wait 3 weeks for another shot at the Jackets. If there was a game I had to pick to lose, tonight's tangle with the upstart Raiders would have been it. I think sweeping Miss State here over the weekend was crucial to conference play and who ever wants to lose to Tech?

Suck it, Teixeira.

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Update: At least Georgia Tech laid a turd last night as well, losing to mighty Georgia State, 10-1.

Cuttin' Ties

UGA pulled a scholarship offer to Dexter Moody today. He was dropped because of an altercation he had a teacher and poor academic performance. Apparently he was on a bit of a short leash anyway, having been given certain expectation he needed to meet. According to his high school coach, "...he’s a senior in high school and when they give you a plan to follow and you don’t follow it, you kind of reap what you sow." Moody seems unfazed by the news:

“I’m not upset about it,” Moody said. “It ain’t no big deal really. It really
wasn’t my favorite school. I was going because I had a teammate on the team that
was going too. He encouraged me to go.”

As far as we know, this has not affected the other signee from ECI, RB Washaun Ealey. Honestly, if we weren't looking the other way on this, he probably wasn't that great of a player. I like the idea that we have high standards we're living up to, but, c'mon, this is SEC football. If he was good, we would have just talked about 'character building' and 'moral improvement' as we shipped him off to Hargrave to get eligible.

Moody's coach seems to think this will have little impact on the student's future, stating that he's sure other schools would come in with offers. Moody was an ESPN top-150 prospect who was also looking at LSU, Florida, Georgia Tech, SoCar.

Haiku/Match Made in Heaven/ Fulmer Cupdate (but not really)

I'm dying without College Football. So much so, that I clamor for the little snippets of info that some of the year-rounders bring me like a crackhead for a hamburger. But, my need for CFB is more glorious than some dirty addiction. It is true, soul cleansing, life affirming love. I have written it a haiku:

O you fall fanfare//
Your glory shines on my soul.
How long til kick-off?

Where else are you getting cfb haikus, folks? That's right. No-fucking-where. We keep it classy here at FTS. Now, on to the news...

It seems only right that Bryce Brown chose Lane Kiffin and Tennessee. Now I hope to see both of them go down in flames, mwahahahahahaha.

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Wisconsin RB PJ Hill really fucked up this weekend, potentially earning Wisconsin 11 points and first place in the Fulmer Cup standings. The only thing that saves the Badgers? Hill just announced he was going to the draft. He's Goddell's problem now, huh, Bielema? If you like the band Cake or the song "Going the Distance", you'll love this write up of the incident.

My Spring Break in Movies, conclusion

Here's the riveting conclusion to my film by film recount of my recent staycation. I never did make it deep into my instant queue and only went through 3 netflix movies. But, to my credit, I made up for it with the Saga and some choice cable discoveries. I never made it to 3:10 to Yuma or the Hunter S. Thompson doc, Gonzo, though.

- Thursday -

Inglorious Bastards - This is the 1978 WWII film that inspired the upcoming (and for some reason misspelled) Tarrantino re-make, Inglourious Basterds. It was fun to watch, but by no means a quality film. Everything about Fred Williamson is out of place, but it's nice having him there.

Attack of the Clones - Episode II of the saga and a huge improvement over Ep. I. Still, it carries the weight of poor acting and over Lucas-ing that the entire prequel trilogy suffer from. The back 45 is great, though, as the titular attack ushers in perhaps the greatest era of the SW EU, The Clone Wars.

- Friday-

Matinee - I caught this on cable and didn't mean to watch it, but the next thing I knew, it was over. Set in 1960's Key West, it plays the home front of the Missile Crisis against the escapism of sci-fi/monster movies. John Goodman plays the big time movie exec pushing his newest flick; Mant. It's an enjoyable period piece, but not much more.


A New Hope - Here it is: Where the journey began in 1977 and ends for me this particular trip, as I'll probably never watch Episode I all the way through again. There's not much to say for this movie that isn't already out there. I wish I could go back to a time in my mind where I didn't know anything about this world and watch this, as my immersion in the EU has tainted the simplicity of the story.

-Saturday-


Hot Rod - I watched this while extremely hung-over - but it was still funny. I'm not sure why hardly one's seen this. Hopefully the new surge The Lonely Island has received will get more folks to check it out.


Foot Fist Way - Danny McBride has quickly become one of my favorite funny people in the biz right now. If you're not watching Eastbound and Down on HBO, you're missing out. Foot Fist Way is by no means a masterpiece or even comedy classic, but it's worth a look for a fan. Also, the film left me wondering how angry the founder of Tae Kwon Do would be if he could visit modern day America now and see that his fighting style has been co opted by over coddled suburban adolescents.


In the Electric Mist (sober) - Better this time, but still spotty. If you're a fan of the character and series, check it out. It's not much better than Heaven's Prisoners, but it's not worse, either.

Death Sentence - I watched this recent Kevin bacon flick on HBO late night. Skip it.

-Sunday-


Religulous - Bill Maher is smug. Very smug. But, he also makes some good points. They must pass out the "what's stopping atheists from being murderers" argument in young adult Bible camps, because it's the third time I've heard the argument in less than a year. And, you know what, if neither side is willing to acknowledge the base of reasoning for the other's argument, it will never be settled. I've had this argument personally with two of my closest friends who I consider intelligent people and am as shocked at their refusal to acknowledge our evolved cognitive group instinct as they are that I cannot acknowledge that god built it into us. Oh, well. Live and let live.

The Talented Mr. Ripley - I couldn't fall asleep last night so I flipped around the channels in bed and lingered here for too long to flip away. I saw this the first time when was released int heaters. I remember not getting it, but for some reason, liking it. When all the kids I saw it with trashed it, I hid my opinion and went with the herd and said the same thing. I watched it one more time when I worked at a movie store and it made more sense, but I didn't like it as much. Finally, all the parts clicked last night as I appreciated it and enjoyed it thoroughly. It's a great cast - Damon, Law, Paltrow, Blanchette, and P.S.Hoffman - and a good, creepy story that's shot in a convincing manner to be 1950's Europe. I flipped through the original novel once years ago and this seems to be a case of the film actually being better, due to the layering given the titular character.

Well, that's it. My lame-ass, no vacation taking, Spring Break in movies. On a sports related note, after an amazing 14-0 start, the diamond dawgs dropped 2 of 3 to Bama last weekend. In doing so, they gave up 30 runs, walked 16 and committed 7 errors. I figured they'd drop at least one, but I won't lie and say I didn't hold out a glimmer of hope for them to return undefeated. Georgia State comes calling this week at Foley Field. Let's hope we've cleaned up our act a little bit.

My Spring Break in Movies - Part 1

I've been on Spring Break this week, but instead of going on some sweet vacation, I stayed in town to watch a friend's dog and just enjoy not having to work. The only goal I laid out for my self was to watch a lot of movies. I was hoping to clean out my instant queue, but so far, I've only picked one of those off. Well, it's Wednesday and I figured I'd update you all on what I've seen during the first half of my break. I've included any movie I watched in the theater, online, on DVD or caught on cable. Enjoy:

-Friday-

The Watchmen - It was pretty awesome. I loved the GN and this didn't disappoint as a film adaptation. There were some flaws, but for the scale and ambition of the project, I was impressed. Standing alone as a move it's easier to pick apart; acting, pacing, etc. But, I'm not a real critic, so I don't have the responsibility of doing that and I can enjoy it for what it is: a loyal to the source adaptation that indulges itself into the world created by Gibbons and some other guy. The soundtrack's great and the opening credits are amazing. I know KTL didn't particularly like it, but he also thought Funny Games and Teeth were really great movies. However, I did like KTL's joke about Rorschach's mask (at least I hope it was a joke).

- After Drinking-

In the Electric Mist - This is a film adaptation of James Lee Burke's In the Electric Mist with the Confederate Dead. The novel is one of my faves in the Dave Robicheaux series and the first one I ever read, so I really wanted this to be good. Well, (surprise, surprise) it wasn't. I was pretty drunk when I watched it, but I remember it being exceedingly not good. Tommy Lee Jones plays Robicheaux, and does a good job, but he's not enough to save the movie from the general funk of suck that lingers over it. I'll check it out again sober, but doubt it'll be that much different. I cannot wait to send it back to Netflix.

-Saturday-

Lakeview Terrace - Not terrible. If you have a couple hours to kill and catch it on cable, check it out. However, if you never see it, you'll be OK. I almost wish I hadn't Netflixed it and just waited for Starz or Encore to get it.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall - The night wore on and TV selection faded, so I popped in this DVD. It's always funny. This is one you need to see. If you didn't like it - you're just lying so you can feel cool being the guy who didn't like it. It was getting late, so I drowsed in and out, but it still cracked me up.

-Later-

Heartbreak Kid - I woke up not feeling well in the middle of the night and watched this while I fought through the pain (late night hangover guts). It's a miss. It's good for killing time or background noise, but other than that, skip it for something better. Malin Ackerman, a relatively dead spot in Watchmen, plays alongside a seemingly phoned-in Ben Stiller. The real treat is the Ole Miss family watch dog'ed by Danny McBride.

- Sunday-

Vertigo - This has been in my instant queue for a while, so I thought I'd knock it out with the week off. It's a very well done movie, but Hitchcock's got better out there. Stewart's charismatic as all get out, but he can't hold the whole movie up. I think it's 'perfect' rating is a bit much - but it was fairly creepy, which the 'Cock (that's his new FTS nickname) is always good for. The score was good, too, lingering over me well into my second hour of Battlefront II time. It's a must see for any AH fan, but don't start with it.

-Monday-

Zack and Miri Make a Porno - I've been meaning to watch this since it was released in the theater, but never got around to it until JINX let me borrow his copy. I love Seth Rogen and I love Kevin Smith, so I was excited. It was unimpressive early, but it really picked up steam as I got to know the characters and overall, it's very entertaining. Check it out when you have the chance.

The Empire Strikes Back - This is one of the best films of all time. It's my favorite in the saga and where I usually start when I get into the movie watching phase of a Star Wars kick. Things I love about it: The lightsaber duel on Bespin; Bobba Fett; Vader's super star-destroyer; Billy Dee just being Billy Dee, but set in space; The Battle of Hoth; The ending. Awesome.

4th Floor - Another late night cable find. Juliette Lewis moves into a new apartment and begins having problems with a downstairs neighbor. It's not as terrible as I would have thought reading the cast and plot summary, but it's not necessarily 'good', either. William Hurt, Artie Lang and the Saw dude co-star. This might really be all you ever need to know.

-Tuesday-

300 - The Watchmen release had me thinking about this movie again, as both were directed by Zach Snyder. While 300 is nowhere near as cerebral as Watchmen, it's still pretty good, and I think I have to agree with the Moviegoer in saying it's almost perfect in what it's trying to be. But, what should get more credit, when a guy walks perfectly around the block, or when he runs 24 miles of a marathon but limps across the finish line?

Return of the Jedi - The beginning of this movie has been butchered by Lucas. The stupid dance/music number does not fit into the darker and adult tone of the original trilogy. The scenes with Luke and Vader are some of the best in the entire saga, though, and it's my fave lightsaber duel. The space battle above Endor is pretty rad, too. Best line: "You failed your highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me." Super-tuff.

Watchmen (IMAX) - The Moviegoer, JINX and I met a friend to see this on the IMAX. It wasn't that much different for me; some visual details are crisper, but that's it. The second viewing did, however, reaffirm how great this movie is - at least, if you liked the GN. While it's not a must see on IMAX, I'm glad I did it.

Revenge of the Sith - By far the best of the prequels. It grades out to a solid 'good.' It could be much better, but every tense interaction between the heroes and villains or bad ass battle scene is undone by the ensuing Anakin-Padme love scene. The movie climaxes with my third favorite lightsaber duel - Anakin vs. Obi-Wan - but loses any street cred that scene delivers by telling us with a straight face that Padme dies of a "broken heart." But then we get to see Vader, Tarkin and Palpatine looking over the infant Death Star and get the sweet tie-ins to episode 4. Nice.

-Wednesday-

Over Her Dead Body - I watched this in a bar with the sound off, reading the sub-titles between conversations with the Moviegoer and taking shots provided by one of my favorite bartenders. It probably shouldn't count, but, for some unexplainable reason, I was mesmerized by this movie. Don't get me wrong, it's bad. But, apparently Paul Rudd can make any movie palatable. He's like the Srirachi of films.

After leaving the bar, we went to a baseball game which Georgia won 12-0. The Diamond Dogs are now 14-0 heading into SEC play in T-town this weekend.

Still up: The rest of the saga (I cannot help myself); the original Inglorious Basterds; the new 3:10 to Yuma; some more Hitchcock; the Footfist Way; Electric Mist (sober); some documentaries; what-the-fuck-ever I feel like. Check back for the cocnlusion next week.

Another Grab

At 4:40 pm today Orson Charles decided to join our brotherhood here at Georgia, adding another huge weapon. He was rated as one of the top receivers in the country, but my best guess is he is going to drive SEC Defensive Coordinators crazy as a Tight End. He has the ability to stretch the field like Shannon Sharpe did in the pros... and he is a pretty solid blocker too.

My SEC B-Ball Tiebreaker System

Does Auburn deserve a tournament bid over Kentucky or Florida? My answer is, and this should make the Moviegoer happy, Yes. Why? It's simple. They have similar records in conference but Auburn's put together some big wins and just seems to want it more. Besides that, and this is my real reason: Auburn didn't lose to Georgia. Georgia is awful. We've covered that. So, to lose to them is, as a team feat in athletics, equally as awful. It leaves a black mark a foot across and that shit don't wash off easy. After last night, there's only one team on this list of 3 not bearing that mark of shame: Auburn. Now, in reality, the tournament will settle most of this, but it's a fun debate being had on/with ESPN, Clay Travis, dawgvent, al.com, and sports radio, and I think my system is a fair way off settling it.

Bobo Wants to Compete!

It appears that Mike Bobo, unlike the other coaches at Georgia, was, like the rest of us, disappointed with how we played last season. Not only that, but he's got a challenge ahead of him to ready Cox at QB, adapt the offense and sync up the patch-work O-line (props to Searels for keeping this part easy). He discusses all these things in a post written up by Chris Low at ESPN.

Good for him. My favorite quote's below:

"Even though Georgia finished second in the SEC in total offense and third in scoring offense last season, Bobo said the bottom line was that the Bulldogs lost three games.

"Yeah, we had some productive numbers and all that, some good stats, but that really doesn't mean anything," said Bobo, who recently received a $57,500 raise to take his salary to $325,000 annually. "We lost three games, got blown out in two of them and basically disappeared in stretches of those games and then lost to our archrival, Georgia Tech, in our last game.

"I'm excited about getting out again and getting going. I'm glad we came back in the last game and beat Michigan State in the bowl game and ended on a positive note, but there's still a bad taste in our mouths around here."

I'm glad he sounds pissed off and ready to try again. That's what we need, a little fire in our bellies. The Senator commented on this article as well, summing it up nicely:

"That’s all I wanted - to hear a coach say what most of us have been grousing
about for months. Nothing about the schedule. Or the injuries.
Or how unbelievable some of Georgia’s opponents were. Just that the staff
and the players didn’t get the job done as most of us would have liked."

Well said, Senator.

2 out of 3? Who are these guys?

Georgia's men's basketball team went on the road last night and knocked off the (mediocre at best) Kentucky Wildcats. That's 2 wins in 3 games for Georgia, which Clay Travis has called the worst men's' program ever. I'm not saying he's not right, they're awful for sure. I'm just saying watch out next weekend. We're going to make it 2 Tournament Championships in a Row! no way in hell

Now, I know what you're thinking: Baseball and Basketball? What the hell, FTS?! Well, football's dead till the draft, so we have to get our fix somewhere. I love football. I merely like other sports. You know who else like sports? These guys:



The Lonely Island Rocks!

Ain't Weather a Bitch?

As I watch the piles of snow left in Athens by this weekend's storm, I just have to wonder: WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!?! Thanks to Jinx and LP for rescuing me when I had no power. Quick note to my Friends out there: Please do not leave me alone with no electricity and a gun, boredom does strange things to a man.

Diamond Dawgs

The Georgia Baseball team, which was one win away from a NC last season, is off to its best start in nearly a century, defeating Wofford tonight 13-6 to move to a perfect 9-0. This includes an on-the-road sweep of Arizona, whose head coach, Andy Lopez, said that this year's Dawgs have one of the best offenses he's ever seen. That should mean a lot coming from Lopez, who has taken three different teams to Omaha, eventually winning a title at Pepperdine. He's right, too, as Georgia's closest margin of victory so far is 5 runs. While last season's success was a surprise, this year is loaded with expectations, with UGA ranked in the top-15 and picked almost unanimously to win the SEC and play deep into the series. It certainly would be nice to see us back in Omaha and maybe even when the whole thing this time. This team, especially the bats, is exciting and, individually, Jonathon Taylor is getting some Golden Spikes talk early. Combine all that with a tad easier schedule than '08 and things look good for Georgia. After such a dismal mens' b-ball season, it's nice to have a successful team to pull for in Athens again. On a more personal note, I hope to make it to a few games this spring. I've been saying I was going for a few years now, but haven't actually made it since I graduated. Maybe this week during spring break...

Easy, little Guy

The Mountain West, home of football darling Utah, has publicly proposed a playoff system to the rest of the BCS. It's borne out of a spirit of what the MWC calls unfairness in the current system. By unfairness, I;m assuming they mean Utah not playing in the BCS title game. They want to do away with BCS rankings altogether and replace it with a committee that would choose which 8 teams played in the tournament. It would also revamp the way the automatic qualifiers are chosen by comparing records against he current qualifiers. The only result of which it seems is simply to put the MWC in with the 6 big boys. If we're drawing from a pool for a playoff, why do we need auto-qualifiers anyway? Wouldn't your work speak for itself? This all sounds great and I'm sure everybody's very eager to listen to the mountain-zone Mormon step-children of football to make their pitch, Bill Henrikson style. What strikes me the most, though, is the lack of analysis as to what this would mean for a MWC team. like, let's say, I don;'t know....Utah in 2008. They were tough and competitive, pulled out the close wins and thumped Bama in the Sugar Bowl. Cheers to them. But it was a disappointed, unfocused and distracted Bama playing with a makeshift O-line and I don't know if the Utes could've beat TCU again if they had to. Which, under this system, they might have played TCU again. Or, more likely, Texas. Or maybe, USC or Florida. Do we really think Utah had what it takes to beat those three teams b-b-b? Doubtful. So, in the end, yo have to admire their moxie, but they're getting ahead of themselves. We all know (here comes the douchebaggery*) Utah (despite what they did to Bama) would be 8-4 tops playing an entire season in the SEC last season.

The Home-Supplies Plus Playoff System

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* interesting note: douchebaggery spellchecked in blogspot as, swear to god, 'torchbearer.' WTF?