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.

63rd Edition - 12/8/06

• WSOPC (World Series of Pop Culture)

Once again, I am at my work computer and can't upload the necessary photos... So with that said, the update on "World Series of Pop Culture" will be happening on Monday. Promise. I mean it. Listen, I swear. Come on, don't give me that look. Good lord, not everything is my fault. Get off my back. I hate you. Is that what you needed to hear? I. Hate. You.

• MLB: Bonds is back

Barry Bonds signed a one-year deal with the San Fran Giants (the only team that can love him), for $16 million. He needs 22 home runs to break Hank Aaron's record. It should happen if his knees hold up. So we are stuck watching Sportscenter URGENT UPDATES for one more year. I guarantee Bonds will hit the history making home run at home. No way he hits it on the road.

• NBA: High

Damn. The Suns beat the Nets 161-157 in double OT. It was 133-133 at the end of regulation thanks to a three-pointer by Steve Nash with two seconds left. Jason Kidd had the most impressive line with 38 points, 14 rebounds, 14 assists. Thirteen players had double digits in points.

• Fantasy World

Turd Ferguson: 9-4, 1214.28
7th Place: 9-4, 1181.86
T.D. Parker: 8-5, 1245.14 (this one's me)
Shane Falco: 8-5, 1223.46
the hunt begins: 8-5, 1222.92
bo knows: 8-5, 1176.20

Those are the top six team in my Fantasy Football league. Bonus points if you know what my team name is a reference to. Four of us with make the playoffs, two won't.
I would be more excited, accept I am going against Willie Parker and he already had 26 points last night against the Browns.

• The Picks

the update ...
j NCAA: (23-16-1)
billy z NCAA: (27-12-2)
j NFL: (18-23-3)
mike d NFL: (20-22-2)

NCAA: Billy and I will be taking a break as he enjoys his comfortable lead.

NFL:
Falcons -3 over Buccaneers
Vikings +1.5 over Lions
Titans +1 over Texans

• Stuff

I only saw one of the flicks opening this weekend ...

"Apocalypto" - It's a good action movie. Very similar flow to "Braveheart." There are some great chase scenes. I wish more directors would attempt to do what Mel Gibson has done. Instead of making a mindless action movie, he has made a mindless action movie set in a world I didn't know. You only get a glimpse of the Mayan culture, but that is much better than what we are normally handed.
B

Here are the top 50 videos of 2006, presented by DoCopenhagen. They also have a link the the top 50 of 2005. That way you have something to do in the morning AND afternoon. Click here to go to the site

Did Ali invent Rap by Chuck Klosterman. Click here