#7 Football Movie- Rudy

Rudy (1993)
Starring: Sean Astin, Jon Favreau, Ned Beatty

I don't even know if I like Rudy. I've only seen it once or twice and not in a long time. I remember it being quite boring and I know I didn't like Rudy himself. He was an idiot. On the positive side, I do remember the jersey scene as being fantastic. All the dudes on the team laying their jerseys down on the coach's desk so that he will let Rudy suit up for his final game...emotional. Then we have the Ru-Dee chants from the crowd during the final game...awesome. Here's the thing we couldn't embellish the story more so that he didn't just get a single tackle? How bout a forced fumble, fumble recovery and a touchdown? I'm just sayin.

#8 Football Movie- Any Given Sunday

Any Given Sunday (1999)
Starring: Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid

As in most sports movies, and especially the football variety, great coaching characters can make the movie. In Any Give Sunday Pacino is fantastic, if extremely exaggerated, as Coach D'Amato. Cameron Diaz, per the usual, puts a damper on the whole thing, but between Pacino, James Woods, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J and Lawrence Taylor, there are plenty of positives to bring it back up to par. I love that they couldn't use any of the actual NFL teams or logos, because it was such a negative portrayal of professional football. When it comes down to it, Pacino's final game speech is one of the best and gives the film the number eight spot.

Trio of Trailers

How bout we get a bit excited for movies on the horizon...

July 1st 2009
Public Enemies
Johnny Depp and Christian Bale



December 25th 2009
Sherlock Holmes
Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams



June 18th 2010
Toy Story 3
Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Potato Head

#9 Football Movie- Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights (2004)
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund

The only real reason Friday Night Lights made the list is because it paved the way for one heck of a television show. Although the show, the movie and Varsity Blues were all based on the HG Bissinger book that chronicled a West Texas high school football team, it was this movie that created the buzz for the serialized, scripted drama that is fantastic.

In this version Billy Bob plays the coach and he is somewhere in between Jon Voight's Varsity character and Kyle Chandler's on the show, but he's not as good as either of them. None of the players stand out to me and I can't tell you if they won or lost in the end, and that is why it is no higher than ninth.

#10 Football Movie- The Longest Yard

The Longest Yard (2005)
Starring: Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Burt Reynolds

I never saw the original, but since it was made a long time ago, we can assume it wasn't very good. Burt Reynolds is good and all, but I wish they had Norm MacDonald playing Burt Reynolds, because that is always hilarious. Chris Rock is never actually funny (but fools A LOT of people) and this is far from Sandler's best work, but it's still a decent football flick. I loved all of the football players and wrestlers in it; Michael Irvin, Goldberg, Bill Romanowski, Diesel and Stone Cold brought a nice vibe to the film.

The Sopranos Award (2009)

The Sopranos Award for Best Action Series

Rank. Show- Total Points...(My Rank)
10th. Criminal Minds- 1 point

9th. Fringe- 2 points

8th. The Mentalist- 4 points...(5th)

7th. Harper's Island- 6 points

6th. Heroes- 6 points

5th. True Blood- 7 points

4th. Terminator: TSCC- 7 points...(4th)

3rd. Lost- 20 points...(2nd)

Runner-Up
2nd. 24- 21 points...(3rd)

The Poolie Goes To
1st. Chuck- 23 points...(1st)


And now with a few words on why Chuck deserves this year's Poolie, here is T-time of Solomons Lines...

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A spy show from the creator of “The OC.” A cast of unknowns. A far-fetched plot line. That seemingly doomed Monday slot on NBC. The prospects for Chuck were dubious at best. Two seasons later, Chuck has defied the odds and become one of the best shows on TV. It does action, comedy and romance and it does them all well. The moments that are supposed to be heartfelt, are. The comedic parts are legitimately funny. The action parts push the plot line, and while no characters are ever in real peril, the contrast enhances the dramatic scenes.

While bringing a little of everything, Chuck manages to not take itself too seriously. It knows what it is, a lighthearted show, about a lighthearted guy. Zach Levi's performance as the title character is outstanding. His character tends to take things lightly, able to find the humor in almost any situation. Seamlessly, humor translates to drama for Levi and as so often in well done comedies, the moments of emotion are incredibly sincere. Relationships built up during comedic and action scenes often possess greater authenticity. Chuck builds toward that concept with well established characters, never ceasing to be entertaining along the way.

The Seinfeld Award (2009)

The Seinfeld Award for the Best Comedy Series

Rank. Show- Total Points...(My Rank)
10th. Greek- 0 points

9th. Rules of Engagement- 2 points

8th. My Name Is Earl- 2 points

7th. Flight of the Conchords- 4 points...(4th)

6th. Gary Unmarried- 5 points

5th. Eastbound & Down- 5 points...(5th)

4th. Family Guy- 7 points

3rd. Curb Your Enthusiasm- 26 points...(3rd)

Runner-Up
2nd. 30 Rock- 30 points...(1st)

The Poolie Goes To
1st. The Office- 32 points...(2nd)
And now with some words on The Office here is Jaydon of Jaydon's Cave...

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This past season of The Office has been even better than you remember it. There have been many shake ups over these 25 episodes, and the laughs came steadily. Just think about the starting point (this is all from the first double episode): Andy was still engrossing himself with wedding plans, ignorant of Dwight and Angela's affair; Michael had just met his soul mate in Holly; Pam had just left for art school leaving Jim to fend for himself solo in the office (they got engaged in the rain), Kelly was dating Darryl largely to make Ryan (in secretary mode) jealous and Phyllis had just taken the reins of the Party Planning Committee in a blackmailing power play over the two-timing Angela.

Here are some of the Greatest Hits from what may be the best season of The Office: -Holly thinks Kevin is retarded
-Toby is hospitalized with a broken neck in Costa Rica
-Dwight gives birth to a watermelon to prepare Michael for Jan's baby
-Dwight tests the durability of Jan's baby's stroller with said watermelon
-Michael tries to sing the blues with Darryl on the 7 hour goodbye trip in honor of Holly -Andy and Dwight compete over who loves Cornell more
-Andy and Oscar bond in Winnipeg
-Kelly dumps Darryl via text message for Ryan, Darryl is overjoyed
-Micheal screams "NOOOOO" when Toby returns as HR
-Dwight tricks Angela into marrying him in a Schrute Farm test run wedding
-Dwight sells Princess Unicorn dolls during the Christmas rush, Toby buys one from Darryl for $400 only to find out it is black...http://www.princessunicorndoll.com/
-Andy pins Dwight to the bushes in his Prius after finally finding out about the affair
-Dwight stages a fire drill causing Stanley to have a heart attack
-The Michael Scott Roast hurts Michael's feelings, he reflects in the park throwing whole pieces of bread at pigeons
- "BOOM ROASTED"
-Michael flubs his lecture to Karen's Utica branch: "I have an amazing mnemonic device, by which I have memorized all of your names. Shirty, mole, lazy eye, Mexico, baldy, sugar boobs, black woman."
-In Nashua, Holly's branch, Michael calls out Holly's new boyfriend AJ and leaves in a huff. Pam takes over and throws chocolate bars at the staff.
-Michael hides 5 golden tickets in one batch of paper for one client, threatening the branch's survival.
-Michael and Pam leave to form the Michael Scott Paper Company. The clueless Charles Miner makes Kevin receptionist and Stanley "Productivity Czar"
-Michael prolongs breakfast with Pam as he has no idea how to start his new business
-Charles asks Jim for a "rundown"
-Dwight mentions a major client's gay son to poor results after trying to use Michael's screwy rolodex color codes -Dwight embarrasses Charles in a meeting with David, repeatedly pushing an idea involving a hive of bees to solve their client losses to Michael Scott Paper Company
-Meredith flashes on Casual Friday
-Michael fake fires Pam, then fake fires Erin
-Cafe Disco Dance Off
-Michael and Holly are reunited (the sparks are intact) at the company picnic where they perform "Slum-Dunder Mifflinaire", causing unrest when they prematurely reveal the closing of the Buffalo branch
-Pam is implied to be preggers

With all that said, The Office was an easy winner for our Inaugural Seinfeld Award. A really impressive season.

Mad Men World

My summer tv catch up has begun and today I watched the season one finale of Mad Men. This show was getting buzzed about by everyone and my brother. That is a literal statement. T-time highly recommended watching the Advertising Men of Madison Avenue to me. With awards and high praise from one and all I gave it a chance.

I really choked my way through this one. I struggled. My first reactions were that it was bland, boring and cold. In a sense, it was comparable to a performance by Idol's Lil Rounds. I thought I just had to give it a try, finish off the season. Now that I'm through with the opening season, my opinion of Mad Men has tilted ever so slightly in the positive direction.

Maybe it's a correct portrayal of the times, but all of the characters seem dry and withholding. Between Don and his wife Betty Draper, as well as secretary Peggy Olson, the three main characters hardly show any emotion throughout the season.

Okay so the characters aren't that sweet, maybe it's a story based show? Wrong again. People working in advertising. It's pretty boring. Oooooh, he nailed that presentation. Wow, they got another client. It's all so trivial, and if the characters were 'jump off the screen' interesting, it could still be a top notch show, but I don't think they are.

Characters; good and bad. Although Don is sweet with his cool attitude, Roger Sterling definitely has to be my favorite character from season one. On the flip side, between Peggy and Pete Campbell, Mad Men has two of the worst characters on tv. I absolutely have to stop myself from kicking the screen any time one of these two say anything. Their scenes together? Wowzers.

That seems like a lot of terrible complaining. I will definitely be watching season two.