A Preview of Things to Come

I have a couple things I wanted to say about this whole CIA leak thing but I want to make sure I have a good grasp of what exactly happened and is happening. I have been reading up alot about this and have become really disgusted with the government for its actions as the more and more I read, I realize this was all government fabrication. The lesson of course is that the government can do whatever it wants, even if it has to make up a couple facts to sway public favor its way. Really disturbing stuff. I will post more about this in the upcoming days.

What Else Can I Say?

It was pure domination, right from the get go. Tiki Barber's 57 yard burst off left tackle set the tone for what would be a long day for the Redskins. In the Giants first game after the passing of longtime owner and NFL patriarch, Wellington "Duke" Mara, they came out and played a game that would have made Duke smile. Tiki ended up with 206 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Eli didn't play so well yesterday, but he really didn't have to as the Giants defense stifled a Redskin offense that scored 52 points last week.

A couple of things I noticed while watching the Giants defense yesterday. Osi Umeniyiora was a house. He was wrecking the Redskins left tackle. On one play early in the third quarter he actually just knocked the left tackle right over, flat on his back, and would have had an easy sack however he tripped over the left tackle who was now on the ground. The Redskins resorted to chipping Osi but it didn't help much as he just dominated the left tackle on basically every play, there were at least 8 occasions where there was blatant holding against Osi, however, none of them were called. I know people will say that there is holding on every play but for me to actually pick out holding penalties is a rarity. Generally only 3-4 times a game will I pick out holding on any offense lineman and I am usually right (or validated by a penalty flag) 75% of the time, however, I noticed 8 instances of holding on one player and not a single time did the flag come out. It was a blowout though and I imagine the refs just wanted to keep the game moving.
Also, the coverage looked great. Will Allen was all over the field and he was actually blanketing receivers. The past three home games I made it a point to watch the coverage and I often saw opposing receivers running free around the middle of the field. Yesterday, I saw lots of man coverage and a great deal of well defended recievers. Curtis Deloatch and Corey Webster also played well as far as I could tell as most of my time went to watching Osi and Will Allen. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

My only complaint yesterday was trying to get into the stadium. Because of logistical constraints my father and I headed out to the stadium aroun 10:45. We were trying to meet up with some people by Gate C however, we were unable to make it over there. We drove all around the stadium trying various different entrances and they were all blocked off. After 30 minutes of driving around the stadium we finally ended up back at our normal entrance where we proceeded to drive around the stadium again(which took another 20-25 minutes) and ended up in the usual spot next to the racetrack. It is unbelieveable to me how they close off the stadium parking so much and force you to park in certain areas depending on where you enter the stadium. Not only that but if you enter from Route 3 they dump you in parking lots on the exact opposite side of the stadium after sitting in a line of cars for 20 minutes. It is quite a hassle, only to get worse after the construction of a new stadium begins.

One final comment: there was a very moving video tribute to Wellington Mara at halftime. Of course nothing can really capture the man that Mara was but this video tribute went a long way in helping people understand the enormity of a man who spent most of his time out of the spotlight. There is no doubt, that the NFL would be a different league without Mara's guidance and vision.

I was hoping there would be a stadium-wide "Duke" chant that would occur after the tribute however the stadium crowd never seemed to be able to organize it as it tried to get started.
Something that amused me: With about six minutes left in the game a drunk man sitting 2 or 3 rows in front of me stood up and starting chanting, "Duke, Duke, Duke" he did this for 30 seconds. No one joined him. He stopped and said to himself, "I guess not." At this point he spat on the ground in disgust and walked up the stairs and out of the stadium.

I will be in Boston this weekend and won't be able to watch the game against the Niners this Sunday however I am feeling pretty confident that the Giants will pull out the victory. I will probably post a pre-game analysis on Thursday.

Sunday is Football Day.

Well, I was very busy this week, had two papers and a huge huge huge project due on Friday. So, posting activity was down. But I will try to make up for it this week.
I didn't get to post my Giants analysis but I will post some quick points here before I head out to Giants Stadium.

Keys for Giants Defense:

1-Figure out a way to confuse Redskins offensive line: The Redskins will hold 8 men in to block for Mark Brunell and send only 2 receivers out in patterns. The only way to get pressure is by causing some confusion on the line. The Giants will have to be patient and resist the temptation to blitz.
If 2 receivers go out in patterns the Giants should hold back 6 men in coverage, let the Cornerbacks cover the WRs in man coverage with Deep safety help and let the outside linebackers roam around underneath the recievers limiting the short pass. With 5 very active pass rushers I feel if the WRs are covered well enough they will get some pressure.

2-The Giants will not be able to keep Joe Gibbs from trying to run the ball, he will not abandon it. The key to holding up against a Joe Gibbs designed-offense's runs is to maintain gap coverages. There will be alot of counters and misdirections. The Giants D-Lineman have to maintain their gap responsibilities.

Keys for the Giants Offense:

1-Shock 'em: With Sean Taylor likely not playing today, and Matt Bowen basically being the least athletic member of the Redskins Defense it will become paramount for the Giants offense to get the ball to Shockey, he will have mismatches all day if the safeties are covering him. Not only that but the Redskins linebackers are not quick enough to stay with him, even if Lavar Arrington is on the field, who has the quickness, he is not good enough in coverage to stay with Shockey. If Shockey goes for over 80 yards and a TD that will go a long way in determining the outcome of this game.


2-Keep the pressure out of Eli's face: Eli has shown good movement in and out of the pocket the past two weeks. He will be able to slide around and buy himself some time, however if there is pressure coming up the middle it will be very difficult for Eli to get any clean looks at his recievers. The onus is on the guards and center today, David Diehl, Shaun O' Hara, and Chris Snee. They need to have a big game in keeping pressure away from Eli. Gregg Williams, the Redskins Defensive Coordinator, is one of the most creative defensive minds out there and he will come up with some interesting looks for the Giants offensive line. However, if Diehl, O' Hara and Snee all have good games, Eli will be able to pick apart the Redskins defense.

Ok, it is time to head out there. Post game analysis coming tomorrow.

Waiting......

So, I checked out the movie Waiting. I thought I would post a little thing about it.
I personally thought it was excellent although the highlight of my movie experience was 45 minutes in I looked to my right and saw a older couple, walking out of the theater. I am not sure what they thought this movie was about.

Anyway, like I said, I thought it was an excellent movie. I was laughing out loud for most of the movie. Ryan Reynolds is brilliant in his portrayal of Van Wilder. I could watch him play Van Wilder all day long. Dane Cook was very good in his limited role. A couple of solid lines here and there. Solid performances from the guy in Dodgeball and some other guy I have never heard of. I am too lazy to imdb thier names. Andy Milonakis makes an appearance and even takes the time to drop a rap song off in the closing credits.

So, solid movie overall, makes you rethink going to restaurants like Bennigan's. Remember to be nice to the people that handle your food. I would suggest anyone who enjoys totally screwed up movies with jokes about male packages and sex, see this movie. You won't regret it.
And wait till the end, there is some fun Rube Goldberg action.

Prison Break

Apparently, I take requests now because someone requested this post. I wonder who it was?
But anyway, I caught my first episode of "Prison Break" last night. I had wanted to watch Prison Break after seeing some promos for it in April/May. I thought it was a pretty creative show idea and wanted to give it a chance however I missed the first show and just couldn't get myself into it. Last night I watched it and was very entertained. I am already looking forward to the next episode. I won't talk about the plot at all because I am still figuring out whats going on.

In other TV news I also watched CBS's "How I Met Your Mother" for the first time last night. I laughed a couple times but that it was pretty generic EXCEPT for Neil Patrick Harris's character, him alone almost makes the show worth watching. NPH and Bob Saget's narration at the beginning and ending of each episode that is. I doubt I will watch it regularly but I can see myself catching random episodes every now and again.
That's it for now. Keep checking back.

The Giants Find a Way to Win

So, I was in attendance watching the New York Giants make a miraculous comeback against the Denver Broncos, Sunday at Giants Stadium. It was the best non-playoff game I have ever been to. That is excluding the Giants-Eagles matchup the last week of the season three years ago since the Giants had to win that game to make the playoffs so it was in essence a playoff game.
But this week's game came close to that Eagles game.

My Dad and I arrived around 2:30, we had subs and beer. For the record I was wearing my red Manning jersey. We then decided to meet up with some of my Dad's friends and headed over there around 3:00. We finally got to our seats with about 12:00 left in the 1st quarter. Denver was driving after a Tiki Barber fumble. The game moved along very quickly with not too much scoring going on until about 4 minutes left in the first half. At that point I commented to my Dad how the game was moving fast. At that point Denver proceeded to score a TD to take the lead 13-7. Then there was a barrage of incompletions and penalties slowing the game down to a crawl.

The Broncos received the second half kickoff and drove 60 yards in 3 plays and scored to take the lead 20-10. The Giants were playing sloppy on defense giving up huge chunks of yards and not forcing turnovers. On offense there was a couple 3 and outs and they just couldn't seem to find a groove. Going into the fourth quarter the Giants were down 23-10. My keys to the game for the Giants were on Offense to keep from turning the ball over and get Tiki involved with some screens and quick dump passes out of the backfield. They only had 1 turnover so far, with 1 more coming in the 4th quarter. Tiki had run the ball a little more than last week but wasn't getting the ball on swing or screen passes and wasn't really able to get the ball in open space as there wasn't very many open running lanes. On defense my keys to the game were to control the running game and create turnovers. The Bronocs totaled just under 200 yards rushing and had forced no turnovers so far. The result of this was a 23-10 lead for the Broncos.

Things started to change in the 4th quarter however. The Giants drove down and scored a TD to bring the score to 23-17. With 9 minutes left in the game the defense let the Broncos drive down the field and take up some time. With 6 minutes left the Broncos ran a play that got them down to about the 20 yard line and got them a first down, however there was a holding penalty which backed them up to the 40 yard line for 3rd and 15. The Broncos picked up 9 yards on 3rd down to set up a 49 yard FG to go ahead by 9 and thus make the Giants need two scores to win. The FG would have essentially sealed the game for the Broncos. Jason Elam lined up for this second 49 yard FG of the game. His first was with the wind, as this kick would be also, however on his first kick, it barely, and I mean barely, by about 1 foot, cleared the cross bar. So on this kick Elam wanted to put a little more oomph into his kick. It was heading towards the uprights and right around the goalline the ball hooked to the right and was wide by about a foot. That holding penalty loomed very large in determining the outcome of the game. The Giants had the ball back with plenty of time to drive down the field for a TD that would take the lead.

Unfortunately on a 20 yard crossing pattern, Manning overthrew Burress by a little bit and the ball landed in the arms of a diving Champ Bailey. Watching replays it looked like Burress had a shot at the ball and seemed to pull up. It is always hard to tell these things watching replays though. Now with 4 minutes left it was up to the defense.
1st and 10: run for 3 yards
2nd and 7: run for 2 yards
3rd and 5: Tatum Bell comes out of the backfield and runs a 7 yard out. The ball hits him in the chest and Will Allen hits him and the ball comes loose.

The defense held and now its time for a punt. Plenty of time left to drive up the field. The Broncos punt and the Giants get a great bounce and the ball rolls out of bounds at the 28. However there is a two flags on the play. A chop block against Denver. That penalty alone would have moved the ball 15 yards for the Giants meaning they would only have to go 57 yards to score and take the lead however the other flag was on Shaun Williams for unnecessary roughness, a dumb penalty. No reason for it at all, so the penalties offset and there is a rekick and Chad Morton fair catches the ball on the 17 meaning the Giants now have 83 yards to go to score. It was an essence a 26 yard dumb penalty. But the Giants start the drive with 3:29 left on the clock and 2 timeouts. Plenty of time to drive down the field.

Now, before I talk about the last drive, I have two quick things I wanted to say.
One is a quick aside about stadium etiquette. I don't understand why fans do what they do. When the other team's offense is on the field the idea is to make noise when that team is up on the line, this makes it difficult for the QB to call audibles and makes it hard for the players to hear the snap count leading to false starts and delay of game penalties. However, it is also important to make noise when the other team's offense is in the huddle so the QB has trouble hearing the playcall and then relaying it to the rest of the offense. It seems most fans don't understand this. This same principle works in reverse when the home team is on offense. The QB is trying to hear the call and relay it to the offense, then when he is up at the line he needs to call audibles and make sure everyone can hear the snap count so there is no false start. Fans will start cheering like crazy after a big play or when the team gets down near the goalline. Now I understand being excited because I am, but cheer when the team scores or right after the big play. When the offense is huddling or at the line they need to be able to hear and you aren't helping them. I wish more fans would understand this principle.

One is that the Giants have never really had a good offense, nor have they been resilient enough to make comebacks like this. The Giants I have grown to love, just don't come back from 13 points down with 9 minutes left in the game. They will lead the whole game and find ways to lose. Things have started to change with the beginning of the Eli era in NJ. Last year, last game of the year, Giants-Cowboys. The Giants drive down the field and score a TD as time runs out to win the game. Last week, Giants-Cowboys again. The Giants generally played terrible all game but hung around so that they were only down 7 points with time running out in the 4th quarter. Manning drives the team down the field and scores the game-tying TD. They lose in OT but they never had the ball as the Cowboys won the coin toss and just ran down the field and kicked a FG to win. This week, much of the same thing as last week. The Giants played a little better but overall played fairly poorly. However, they hung around and here they are down by 6 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the game, ready to drive down the field to win the game. And I actually started to believe. My body was tense. You could feel the nervous optimism flowing through the stadium. People weren't thinking the Giants were going to mess up somehow, they believed Eli was going to drive the team down the field and win the ball game.

So onto the critical last drive.
1st and 10-83 yards to go: Incomplete pass
2nd and 10-83 YTG: 6 yard pass
3rd and 4-77 YTG: 6 yard pass (First down)
This was a crucial play for a couple reasons, one it was third down and the Giants need a first down. Secondly, Eli was running around like a crazy person, he rolled right then spun back left and found Plax on the sideline for a tough 6 yards. Thirdly, Denver rookie CB Darrant Williams was hurt on the play.
So now, 1st and 10-71 YTG (2:13 left): 7 yard pass and the clock winds down to the 2 minute warning.
2nd and 3-64 YTG: 6 yard run
1st and 10-58 YTG: 9 yard screen pass
2nd and 1-51 YTG: 5 yard pass
1st and 10-46 YTG:9 yard pass to Toomer who gets upended in a pretty cool looking tackle.
Time out Giants. 1 Time out left
It's now 2nd and 1 from the 37 yard line. There is 51 seconds left on the clock, still enough time but the Giants will have to hurry up from here on out.
2nd and 1-37 YTG: 3 yard run
1st and 10-34 YTG: Pass incomplete. The Giants elect to run a quick out to Plax instead of spiking the ball. I like the playcall, unfortunately the pass is behind Plax and he can't hold on.
36 seconds left.
2nd and 10-34 YTG: Pass incomplete. The Giants go for it all with a deep pass to Tim Carter. Carter got behind the defensive back and the ball was thrown perfectly. The ball is coming down and Carter dives towards the back of the end zone and the ball hits him in the hands and falls through. The replay came onto the big screen and you could hear everyone in the stadium groan.
3rd and 10-34 YTG: 26 yard pass to Shockey on a crossing pattern. Shockey looked wide open from where I was sitting however, upon watching replays he was very well covered by Ian Gold and it was a great touch pass by Eli.
1st and goal- 8 yard line: Eli rolls around and throws it away.
2nd and goal-8 yard line: Little screen pass to Tiki, he cuts to the middle of the field and looks like he is heading for the end zone when John Lynch stands him up and plants him at the 2 yards line.
Time out # 3 for the Giants. 10 seconds left. 2 more pass plays to try and score.
3rd and goal- 2 yard line: The ball is snapped DJ Williams is coming off the left side for a blitz, Tiki stands him up. Eli starts to backpedal away from pressure to his left. He slides back to the 15 yard line and fires a bullet while backpedaling and leaning backward high into the endzone while Toomer runs underneath the CB who replaced Darrant Williams and jumps up to snag it out of the air 2 yards deep in the end zone.

The stadium erupts. I started screaming my lungs out. I was jumping up and down, I gave high fives to everyone around me. I think I gave out 20-25 high fives in 20 seconds. It was crazy.
Jay Feely booted the extra point to take the lead by one point and then after a squib kick and an intercepted lateral by James Butler, the victory was sealed.

It was an unbelievable victory for the Giants. A win against a very good Broncos teams after playing fairly mediocre the whole game. This was not the kind of game the Giants usually win. The Giants are looking like a confident team heading into next weeks showdown with division rival, Washington Redskins. It is a huge game... HUGE. I will be there once again. Like this week I will post some pre and post game analysis so look forward to that.

I just wanted to close with a little more analysis of the final play. It was an amazing play all around. Tiki Barber gave a huge block on a blitzing DJ Williams, obviously without that block Eli gets sacked and the game is over. Then Eli's ability to slide away from the pressure while waiting for someone to come open was amazing. He held onto the ball until the last second when he threw the ball up in the air. If you watch the replays you see he can't really see where he is throwing the ball as he has John Lynch in his face. So backpedaling with a man in his face Eli throws a perfect pass blindly. Then Amani Toomer goes up and grabs that ball that was destined to fly out of bounds was amazing. Everything about that play was just sublimely awesome. It was an offense performing in perfect harmony and I cannot wait to see it make some beautiful music again this Sunday against the Redskins.

Ok enough procrastinating and more working.
Keep checking back.

Ain't karma a bitch

http://www.evolicious.com/airbag-bang.html
Sent to me by my lovely girlfriend.
I like this clip because it is someone being a dick.... then karma bites him right in the ass.

Some Giant Ramblings

So work is wrapping up and I am looking to kill some time, and I started to think about this weekend. On Sunday I will be trekking out to Giants Stadium to watch the Giants take on the Denver Broncos. This is a very big game for the Giants. For the second week in a row the Giants will be playing against a solid team as opposed to the relatively weak teams they had played in their first four games.

Last week the Giants played the Cowboys in Dallas. It is always a battle playing in Dallas and the Giants were not able to pull it out. Although I was depressed about it there was some things to be happy about it. The Giants hung around all game, forcing four turnovers early and only scoring six points off of them. But the offense did come through when it needed to. They got down to the 2 yard line and if it wasn't for the Brandon Jacobs fumble the game would have been tied earlier and the drive that ended up tieing the game, could have possibly won the game had Jacobs held onto the ball. I am sure Jacobs will be holding that ball real tight next time he gets in the game.

The defense did alot of bending but held a fairly potent offense to only 16 points. The coverage was still terrible but the rush defense was solid. I really can't be too happy with the defense though since just about everybody who was watching knew once the Cowboys won the overtime coin flip they would run right down the field and score to win.

The thing that really made me happy about the game though, was how the Giants did hang around. Even though they should have put the game away early and didn't, they should have easily lost this game. They were just hanging around and hanging around until Eli drove them down the field to tie up the game (in essence, he did it twice). And he did it when the pressure was on. In the past the Giants never made these drives and if they didn't put a team away early, they ended up getting blown out. This might just be a new Giants team. Something to feel good about.

Now, a quick aside before I give some quick thoughts about this Sunday's game.
As the Giants were driving down the field for the game-tying touchdown the second time, I started to think, "Should they go for 2 if they score?" Now, I know the statistics. There is a 98% chance of making the extra point to tie it. The NFL average of successfull 2-point conversions is around 40%. So, from a purely statistical standpoint you kick the extra point. However, the Giants offense had been performing at the highest level all day and had some serious mismatches over the Cowboys D in the red zone. Burress, Toomer, and Shockey all had mismatches to exploit. The Giants had been running the end zone fade with great success. I believe they are 4 for 6 when trying it from the 3 yard line in. Now, that is a small sample size. But considering that the Giants D couldn't stop the Cowboys D at all, I think given the situation going for the win should have at least been a consideration. Of course, it might have been. I can't presume to know what Tom Coughlin was thinking. But it was something I was thinking about and of course hindsight is 20/10. Coughlin might have been thinking that if they won the coin toss in overtime they would have just driven down the field and won, which is a distinct possibility. Other factors to consider include the fact that Jose Cortez, the Cowboys's kicker had missed 2 FG's so far in the game. And of course there is the blame factor. A coach never wants to make a decision that can cost his team the game, for if it fails he will get the blame. If he makes the safe decision and the team loses, the players are to blame not him. But that is a story for another day.

So onto this Sunday. The Broncos definitely are going to give the Giants some trouble. Their defense matches up well with the Giants offense. They have a very active and big front four, athletic linebackers to match up with Shockey and Barber and a shutdown corner in Champ Bailey to clamp down on Burress. And we all know that the Giants defense doesn't match up well with anyone. The key to the game will be how well the Giants can contain Tatum Bell who has posted two monster games in a row. Jake Plummer is going to throw for 300 yards no matter what the Giants try to do so the key should be holding Tatum Bell to no big plays. If the Giants can control the running game and force 2 or 3 turnovers that will give the offense a chance.
I think the key for the Giants offense is running alot of misdirection. Tiki Barber has to be the key this week for the Giants. He need to run some screens and delays to get the front four off balance. He needs to catch some balls out of the backfield to utilize his quickness in the open field. If Eli can keep from turning the ball over and get Tiki the ball consistently I think the Giants have a chance this week.

So, there is my game analysis, feel free to respond and I will get back on Monday with some post game analysis as well as the game experience in the stadium.

The Best Show on Television (Not just of shows currently on TV)

From the bad (Lost) to the GOOD.... The very very good.
Some of you may have heard of a little show called Arrested Development. Yes the same name as the popular rap group from the early 90s. Don't let the name fool you though. This show has nothing to do with that rap group. It is one of the smartest, wittiest, fast-moving, dysfuncitonal sitcoms to grace the airwaves. Granted it is a new breed of sitcom. It is a mockumentary of the Bluth family. The intro narration says it all: "Now the story of a wealthy family who lost everything and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together. It's Arrested Development."

It is shot like a reality show, using handheld cameras, no laugh track. There are certain occasions where you can see cameras in the background. There is cursing (bleeped out) so the dialogue seems natural. There is a narrator who keeps the show storyline moving along and fills in the blanks. Also, this show is filled with flashbacks. Sometimes these flashbacks will show scenes from earlier in the episode, sometimes it will show scenes from earlier episodes. Sometimes the flashbacks will show something we have never seen before. These flashbacks will often highlight why a certain action or thing someone said is funny.

Now to the characters. There are many main characters, first the Bluth family.
Father: George Bluth
Mother: Lucille Bluth
Oldest Son: George Oscar Bluth (Gob)
Twins: Michael Bluth and Lindsay Funke
Youngest Son: Byron (Buster) Bluth
Lindsay's Husband: Tobias Funke
Michael's Son: George Michael Bluth
Lindsay and Tobias's Daughter: Maeby Funke
These are the main characters. There are many other recurring characters as well as big name co-stars. Some big names who have had cameos on Arrested Development: Ben Stiller, Liza Manelli, Henry Winkler (Hey!), Charlize Theron, Scott Baio, Carl Weathers, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus just to name a few.

The major plot line as well as all the characters are explained in detail in the pilot episode, but I will give you a quick overview. George Sr. was the president of the family owned Bluth Company and while he was giving his retirement speech the SEC boarded the boat party where this was talking place and took him into custody for "using the company as his own personal piggy bank." Michael is forced to hold the family and the company together as no one else in his family has ever done any real work and has no idea how to run a business. We soon find out that his family had been spending company money freely for years. There are many character specific plot lines but I wouldn't want to ruin the fun.

Now you may be wondering where the comedy comes in, that is a good question. The comedy pours readily from the brilliant writing. Mitch Hurwitz, the show's creator, just claimed the best writing in a comedy Emmy for the second year in a row. The way the characters interact is downright hilarious most times. So let me tell you about the characters.

Gob is a failing magician who is just desperately seeking approval from his family. Lindsay is a self-proclaimed activist who spends her time trying to make her open marriage work while still trying to make everyone thing she is fighting for a cause. Her husband, Tobias, was a therapist until he lost his doctor's license. He is now an aspiring actor, although aspiring is being kind because he is just terrible at it. Lucille spends most of her time drunk, and it shows, she is extremely mean and self-centered. She is also very close to her son Buster who is basically a 32-year oldmamma'ss boy. Michael is the closest to "normal" in the Bluth family. Now that his father is in prison, he runs the Bluth company and does his best to get his father out of jail. His son George Michael is a work-a-holic. He works at the family's banana stand(where he sells a novelty item, a frozen banana covered in chocolate and nuts). He works very hard in school, so he can, "live a happy life, full of hard work", his words, not mine. He is basically a dork. An interesting plot line is the crush he is on his cousin Maeby. Maeby spends most of her time rebelling against her parents. She plays by her own rules and is often getting herself into trouble.

So that is the main rundown of the characters. To fully appreciate the show there really is only one thing to do.... Watch it. I suggest you do and I don't think you will bedisappointedd.
Now, I write this whole little story because of one reason. The show is in trouble. The ratings are very bad right now. The ratings for episodes 1 and 2 of season 3 were down from last season, and although ratings for episode 3 were the highest of the season the show could still be in trouble. Fox renewed the series for a full 22 episodes this past May but we cannot be so sure this will happen again next May if the ratings continue to sag. The fact that the ratings are so low boggle my mind, as it boggles the mind of many critics. In two season this show has won 8 Emmys and been nominated for many more. It's first season won the vaunted "Best Comedy" Emmy. Critics praise this show all the time, but critical acclaim can only go so far. People need to watch this show.

Why are the ratings so low?
I am not really sure. Some of the reasons I have heard suggested are that it moves too fast, there are too many plot lines, the plot lines carry through too many episodes, it is too intelligent, and that it just isn't that funny. I will agree the show moves fast, so fast that I often miss some jokes that I only pick up upon re-watching the episode. I will get to the plot lines in a second. In response to those that think this show is too intelligent, they must think that the American public is extremely dumb. There is loads of physical comedy and some toilet humor. The jokes are very obvious. The intelligence is in the writing. Some lines are only funny after you see a flashback, some lines are only funny knowing the context of the show, the storyline, and the characters. The intelligence is in how well everything is woven together. I won't even comment on anyone who thinks the show isn't funny, because...Welll I won't.

Now, about the plot lines. There area lott of plot lines, and yes, some carry through many episodes, some as long as a whole season's worth of episodes. So, it can be difficult to follow sometimes. However, having a narrator and multiple flashbacks per episode goes a long way to helping viewers keep up on the storylines. It won't go the whole way, and I personally have watched the first and second seasons over many times and will pick up on jokes I may have missed along the way because of the number of storylines and situations that occur in each episode. But isn't this what people should want? I have heard various people complain about the lack of intelligence in television shows. That TV is made for idiots essentially. Why doesn't America embrace this brilliantly written show? The best answer I can come up with is that America has been brainwashed. Brainwashed by shows like Law and Order and CSI. These shows are completely self-contained where a full storyline runs it course over an hour. Problem, conflict, climax, resolution.... boom one hour. Quick and easy. Most sitcoms are very similar in this regard, where a storyline will run its course in one half hour. Arrested Development does not submit to this instant gratification.

Now, I want to make two quick show comparisons and just wonder outloud, why those shows are successful but Arrested Development is not.
The first show I will compare it to is a new show on NBC "My Name is Earl". It is shot in a similar way, like a documentary with no laugh track and lots of flashbacks. The comedy comes from brilliant writing and character interaction. Earl is one of the highest rated comedies that has debuted in a long time. Why is Earl so well-received and AD isn't? My best guess is promotion. NBC pumped Earl ads everywhere. I even saw ads for Earl before a movie. Arrested Development is hardly ever promoted on Fox except on the night it is on. I have seen more Prison Break promos than I could ever want to see during the baseball playoffs but not a single ad for Arrested Development.

The second show is a drama....Aa show a talked about not too long ago. That show is Lost. It is also shot in a very unique way, with many flashbacks and storylines that run over the course of an entire season. For some reason people flock to that show but don't appreciate Arrested Development. It really boggles my mind.

Well, I guess that ends my rant for now. I will surely be back with more info on Arrested Development in the coming weeks as it is my favorite show and I am obsessed with it. So, when November 7th comes around and you aren't doing much, flip on Fox at 8:00. Give Arrested Development a try. You just might find out what I have already found out, that Arrested Development is the Best Show on televisionn (not just of shows currently on TV).

Lost has Lost me.

So, I am sure most of you have heard of the show "Lost" on ABC. I started watching it when it debuted. It is a pretty novel idea, in my opinion, very creative. I got away from the show around mid-season. I started watching again around the end of the season and did start to get back into it. However, things have changed with season 2. The show is all over the place, they throw in all sorts of random things. There are lots of things that just don't make any sense. The flashbacks each show have become very flat and un-interesting. It is pretty much an excuse for the show to bring in some quasi-stars. The last show had Hurley having flashbacks about when he found out he won the lottery. After winning the lottery, "everything changed". The flashbacks have become a way for the show to explain why certain characters act the way they do. I find it extremely boring and slow, it interrupts the flow of the show and adds very little to the experience. Not that the show has much of a flow, it jumps from storyline to storyline all over without every getting anywhere. In the first few episodes how many times did they show that same scene from twenty different angles without revealing anything new? I have become extremely frustrated with Lost and didn't watch last night.... And I don't think I am going to watch it again.

Why is it always racism?

So, as some of you may or may not have heard, the NBA instituted a dress policy for it's players.
I do think this is a very good idea. It is their job and they should have to dress appropriately.
However, whether or not I think it is a good idea is irrelevant for the purpose of this post. My gripe is how certain people are handling this dress policy, specifically some media and players.
It is the opinion of some players and media that this institution of dress policy is a racist act. Now it is hard to argue that the NBA's player population is mostly black. So, this decision to institute a dress policy affects more black people than white people. However, how is this any different than any other job anyone might have. There are many occupations where there is a dress code. Where I work there is a dress code that happens to be very similar to the one the NBA is instating (business casual). My boss tells me that I have to dress a certain way so I do, or I would get fired. Since my boss pays me I respect his decision and dress a certain way when I go to work. I don't really see much problem with this scenario.

Certain media and NBA players see it differently, they view it as Upper class white men trying to hold them down. This is just ludicrous. To think that the powers that be in the NBA have some hidden agenda to hold down those people who carry the sport and create the entertainment that people pay handsome sums for. Sure this dress policy is hindering the player's expression, but it does not prevent these players from wearing whatever they want on their own time. Also, do those who object realize that this dress policy also affects the white players?

There has been issues like this that have come up fairly often is the past few years. I hate to use the NBA as an example again, but last year during CBA negotiations the players union was objecting to the league instituting an age minimum. The union argued that the league was trying to keep young black players from cashing in at a young age. Now, it is my opinion, and one that is shared by many, that the league's motivation to institute this age limit was to improve quality of play in the league. Ratings for nationally televised games had dropped significantly since Michael Jordan retired. The strange thing is that the union did not really consider the fact that their population is mostly black and that when an 18 year old athlete enters the league(he is most likely black), he is taking the roster spot of a 25-35 year old player who is most likely black.

Instead of having a debate on the merits of a certain issue, people end up arguing over racial issues when in reality, there is no racial issue to discuss. Now I am not too naive to think that we live in a perfect society where there is no racism. I know there are plenty of racists out there as well as sexists and anti-semites and many other people who discriminate in a malicious fashion. But we have come a long way since the 1800s and a long way since the 1950s. Things have changed for the better and although it is a work in process, crying race at every little thing is more a setback than anything.

Alright, I guess that is the end of my rant for now. I'll be back with more tomorrow probably. Most likely on a not so controversial topic. Maybe I'll take about my favorite show of .... ever. But more on that tomorrow.

My first post

So this is my first post. I've been missing having a blog....and I am definitely not using MySpace for it so I decided this wa the place to be. I will update this 3-4 times a week. Talking about everything that I find interesting.
So keep checking back for updates.