68th Edition - 12/15/06

• Blatant Self-Promotion

*Click here to read my interview with Paul Feig. He is the director of "Unaccompanied Minors," the creator of "Freaks and Geeks," and has directed multiple episodes of "The Office."

*Click here to read my interview with Will Smith. I shouldn't have to explain who this man is, but he's the one who brought us such classic songs as "Nightmare on my Street," "My Buddy," and "Parent's Just Don't Understand." -- We didn't talk about any of those songs.

• NFL: Game of the Week

Eagles vs. Giants. The Eagles were left for dead a couple weeks ago when they lost Donavan McNabb for the season ... that hasn't happened yet. If they lose to the Giants, everyone can say, "I told you so." Because they will be dead. Both teams are 7-6 and one game behind the Cowboys.

*And don't forget -- there is football on Saturday night (Cowboys v. Falcons)

• NFL: Game of the Weak

Combined, the Packers and Lions are 7-19. But this game still matters ... to me. I have Roy Williams, Donald Driver, Ahman Green and Kevin Jones on my fantasy roster. Yes, I know Kevin Jones is out for the year.

• Bears: Bear down, Chicago Bears (not the song, more of a disappointment)

Tank Johnson, the Bears defensive tackle, was charged Thursday with not having a gun owner identification card after six firearms were found at his Gurnee (close to Six Flags) home. His neighbors had been complaining about Johnson and friends shooting guns in the backyard and also having six pit bulls in a cage. The police had been investigating Johnson for the past six weeks. Knowing the NFL, he will not miss any time this year for the incident.

• The Picks

j NCAA: (23-16-1)
billy z NCAA: (27-12-2)
j NFL: (21-23-3)
mike d NFL: (22-23-2)

The Bowl games are close to starting. Billy z and I will be picking them (but probably not all of them -- just enough to allow me a comeback.)

Until then, you're stuck with mike d and me dominating the NFL (of recent).

Mike d picked the 49ers over the Seahawks last night, I don't know the spread off hand, but it doesn't matter because the 49ers won outright. So he is sitting at 1-0 already. Look for mike d's two other picks later today in the comments.

j NFL:
Eagles +5 over Giants
Rams +2 over Raiders
Buccaneers and Bears over 34 total points

• Stuff

Oh, a soap box, give me a second to get up on this ... I can't stand that Meryl Streep was nominated for Lead Actress instead of Supporting Actress. It just doesn't make sense. I sat through "The Devil Wears Prada" (it was fine, for what it was) and at no point did I think I was on Streep's journey. It was clearly Anne Hathaway's journey. The film was about her, and her life, about her job and about the people in her life. One of those people became Streep.
This all started (for me) when Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor for Silence of the Lambs. With less than 16 minutes on screen, Hopkins was given the "Lead Actor" nomination. It's ridiculous. He was a supporting character (and should have won for that). It doesn't matter if his role was cool, crucial, or the best male role, he wasn't the lead. All of this is determined by the studios that make the films. It shouldn't be. It should be up to a nomination committee. And I formally announce my candidacy for this position. Vote for j.

Quick Movie Review:
"The Pursuit of Happyness"
Totally worth seeing. Both Will Smith and his son Jaden give great performances. The movie's goal is to actually put you through the hell that Chris Gardener went through in real life. It does.
B+

Here's some Christmas movie trivia to get you through the weekend. Not that easy. Click here - I expect John and Kenzie to post their scores in the comments section. I will also.

If you like year-end lists, here is a list of those lists. This shall waste the rest of my morning. Click here

Dan Marino loses it on the HBO's "Inside the NFL" - Click here to watch the video

"Heroes" has comic books. Click here to read

And finally, whether you watch "30 Rock" or not, you would be stupid not to take advantage of sending your friends a message from Alec Baldwin. It's personalized, and it's fantastic. Click here for the link

67th Edition - 12/14/06

Not much going on today.

• NBA: a litte boring

Dwayne Wade had his wisdom teeth pulled out. Allen Iverson hasn't been traded yet, but Bill Simmons has written a great article about the situation. Click here to read

• MLB: about time

Daisuke Matsuzaka finally signed with the Red Sox. They spent $103 million ($51 to talk to him, then a six-year $52 million deal).

• NFL: a fixture

Lamar Hunt, the Kansas City Chiefs owner who coined the phrase "Super Bowl" is dead at the age of 74. My heart goes out to my friend Brian Hunt, who recently changed his name from Brian Schneckloth (marriage reasons). Losing a Hunt this early in his name change must be hard for him.

Also, former Iowa Hawkeye Wayne Drehs has written about former Iowa Hawkeye Chad Greenway, an early draft pick for the Minnesota Vikings who has spent his season on the IR list. Click here to read

• Stuff

Coming tomorrow: An interview with Paul Feig (creator of "Freaks and Geeks")

Coming soon (maybe tomorrow): An interview with Will Smith

Golden Globe nominations are out today - here's the complete list

My quick thoughts on the Golden Globes ...
*"Babel" is now overrated. But then again, what did you think the foreign press would vote for?
*The race for "Best Comedy/Musical" is a tougher competition.
*Beyonce Knowles and Meryl Strepp are not the leads of their movies, they are just the biggest names.
*Mark Wahlberg getting nominated for "The Departed" is a waste of a vote. He was great, but his role was small and Jack Nicholson being nominated in the same category proves how pointless it is.
*I am so sick of people calling "Desperate Housewives" a comedy.
*Tony Shalhoub (love him from "Wings") better not win again for "Best Actor - Comedy."

I haven't even begun to think about all the mistakes that were made from people not on the list of nominations. More on that later.

66th Edition - 12/13/06

• The Weekly Bull (11-10) (8-2 at home)

This week the Bulls went 3-1, losing only to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but I think the real reason they lost was simply to begin the courting of Kevin Garnett. It's the wounded puppy dog theory, they tried to show Garnett that they couldn't win without him. Hopefully, he hasn't paid attention to the rest of the dominating performances lately.

Some numbers:

3pt percentages:
Kirk Hinrich: 43% (19th in the League)
Andre Nocioni: 42%
Chris Duhon: 39%
Ben Godron: 34%

FG percentage:
Loul Deng: 56% (9th in the League)
Andre Nocioni: 48%
Kirk Hinrich: 46%

Predictions for the coming week: Wed. Seattle (W), Fri. Milwaukee (L), Sat. at Atlanta (W), Tues. Lakers (W)

• NFL: The rookies

There are four rookies to truly pay attention to ... who should win the "Rookie of the Year?" ... who will?

Matt Leinart:
3-6 (as a starter); 56% completion; 2,171 yards, 10 TD, 10 INT; Passer Rating - 73.9

Reggie Bush:
405 yards rushing; 3.2 yards per carry; 79 receptions; 687 yards receiving; 6 TD; 1 punt return TD; 1 interception thrown

Vince Young:
6-4 (as a starter); 52% completion; 1704 yards, 10TD, 11 INT; Passer Rating - 65.7; 458 yards rushing; 5 rushing TD

Devin Hester:
36 Punt returns - 14.4 avg. (leads NFL) - 3TD; 10 Kickoff returns - 35.1 avg - 2TD; 1 missed FG returned 108 yards (ties NFL record); 6TD returned is a single season record; 5 tackles

So - right now, who gets the nod?

• Stuff

If you want to help PBS, drink their coffee. In a partnership with Green Mountain Coffee, PBS will market the PBS Blend on shoppbs.org. The hope is, the coffee can be another income source for people wanting to help fund PBS.

Prince is playing the Super Bowl Halftime show.

65th Edition - 12/12/06

• Bears: Yes, I'm calling it a comeback

Even though Rex Grossman wouldn't want the Bears 42-27 victory over the Rams to be known as his comeback game, that's exactly what it was.

Grossman was 13/23 for 200 yards and 3TD. More importantly, the Bears ran 34 times verses 23 passes. I believe that is the key to their future.

Devin Hester is insanely good. He returned two kickoffs, of 94 and 96 yards. He had six TDs on the season (a record) and perhaps is the most brilliant draft pick of all time. Perhaps.

Click here to see what the current playoff schedule would look like. Remember, the 3rd team plays the 6th, and the 4th and 5th play each other ... with the 1st and 2nd teams getting first-round byes.

• NBA: Balls

The NBA is switching their balls. The current set of balls are too slippery, especially when sweat gets on them. Sweaty balls. Plus, the older the balls get, the harder they are to grip. They lose their feeling. Nobody likes playing with this current set of balls. The men have always said they don't like playing with these balls, and the women would probably say the same thing if the men ever stopped playing with them long enough to let the women touch them. But, historically, women have never been as good as playing with the balls as men.

The leather balls will be back December 1.

• Fantasy: the playoffs begin

1. 7th Place: 10-4, 1292.52
2. bo knows: 9-5, 1297.56
3. Turd Ferguson: 9-5, 1296.02
4. T.D. Parker: 8-6, 1339.44 (me)
5. Shane Falco: 8-6, 1331.04
6. the hunt begins: 8-6, 1289.58

I made the playoffs by 8 points and have to play 7th Place (Tomlinson) in the first round. Prognosis, negative.

• Stuff

The Scrubs people have put their voices on the "Charlie Brown Christmas Special." Click here

64th Edition - 12/11/06

• The NFL

LaDainian Tomlinson is the MVP. Drew Brees is the only other name allowed in the conversation. Tomlinson scored three more times to make it 29 (a record) for the season. Brees threw for five TDs against the Cowboys and is somewhat on pace to break Dan Marino's single season passing yardage mark.

I'll be talking about the playoff picture on Tuesday.

The Best
QB
Chris Weinke: 423 yards, 1TD, 3INT (L)
Drew Brees: 384 yards, 5TD (W)
Peyton Manning: 313, 1INT (L)
RB
Willie Parker: 223 yards, 1TD (W)
Ladell Betts: 171 yards (L)
Maurice Jones-Drew: 166 yards, 2TD (W)
WR
Donald Driver: 160 yards, 1TD (W)
Terry Glenn: 150 yards (L)
Drew Carter: 144 yards, 1TD (W)

• The Picks (revisited)

Wow. It's obvious if billy doesn't participate mike d and I do great. And if I don't bother picking college games, I can't lose. Yes, these two things are obvious.

j NCAA: (23-16-1)
billy z NCAA: (27-12-2)
j NFL: 3-0 (21-23-3)
mike d NFL: 2-1 (22-23-2)

• WSOPC

The Team: Happy Fun Ball
The Captain: j
The Teammates: John and Kenzie
The Purpose: To prove pointless knowledge has a point
The Stage: World Series of Pop Culture on VH-1
The Beginning: February 2, 2007
The Where: Chicago Try-outs

j strengths: Movies, Hollywood crap, Saturday Night Live
j weakness: Remembering names, caving under pressure

john strengths: Music, lyrics, videos, band names, songs, 80s movies
john weakness: Quick to accept defeat

kenzie strengths: TV, sanity
kenzie weakness: huge crush on the team captain could blind her to the true purpose of the competition.

That's it. That's the team.