Lost Season 4 Premiere Live Blog

It’s finally here! The season 4 premiere of “Lost”, the greatest show on television (and yes, my 12+ hours of “Lost” viewing over the past 2 days has probably left me biased). I’ll be taking notes throughout the episode. Honestly, these won’t make sense if you haven’t seen it, but who cares?

CONSIDER THIS YOUR BIG HONKING SPOILER ALERT!!!! IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THIS EPISODE, THEN THIS WILL GIVE AWAY PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING. SPOILER ALERT. DON’T READ THIS UNTIL YOU’VE WATCHED THE EPISODE. THEN LEAVE COMMENTS, SO WE CAN DISCUSS THINGS. SPOILER ALERT!!!!

• We open with a flash-forward (and this time, no tricks, we know it’s a flash-forward almost immediately).

• Hey, Jack’s not crazy yet. He’s drinking, but he’s not crazy.

• Oceanic 6?! Six?! Who are the other three?! Is one of them the person in the coffin?

• Why would Hurley lie about knowing Ana-Lucia? Is there something -- or lots of things -- the “Oceanic 6” haven’t told the public about their ordeal?

• Jack might not be crazy yet, but Hurley sure is. I wonder what the status of his lottery winnings is. Did he lose all his money and his family? And why is the memory of Charlie haunting him? Wow, less than 10 minutes in and there’s already a ton of questions.

• Back on the island, and this scene is pretty much what I would have expected. Hey, look, it’s Ben, trying to manipulate people again.

• Wow, Hurley’s so happy. It’s amazing how much the people who got off the island went from happy to unhappy. What happens in the last three seasons?

• “I’m sorry, brother.” That’s it. That’s all you’re gonna say. Maybe you should bring up the fact that, I don’t know, Charlie sacrificed himself to save everyone. Maybe then it wouldn’t be so much of a downer.

• Um, how is Naomi alive? That knife to the back looked pretty damn fatal.

• Wow, is Hurley taking a leadership role? First the van in last year’s finale, then tossing the walkie into the ocean. I like this new confident Hurley. Too bad he ends up crazy off the island.

• Hurley’s back in the mental hospital. I wonder if he’ll get any Libby-related answers.

• Um, I don’t trust this Oceanic representative, but I get the feeling we’ll be seeing more of him in these flash-forwards.

• Wow, ok, creepy guy knows WAY more than he should. And I’m guessing the public knows WAY less. Holy crap this is awesome.

• Back on the island, Hurley got separated from the group, and it looks like he’s come upon Jacob’s cabin. I’m gonna say that this probably has a profound impact on his future craziness (oh, and BTW, “Lost” has the most horribly-timed and well-timed commercial breaks. They always come right as the action is getting interesting. It kills you that a break is coming, but you’re not going anywhere. I got so used to watching the episodes break-free in the last 2 days that I kind of forgot about this).

• Gotta be honest, that whole Jack/Ben-Kate/Naomi thing did nothing for me. But hey, at least we know Naomi’s got some evil in her, and the freighter people are coming.

• Jacob is scaring the shit out of Hurley, and starting to scare me too.

• Oh, it’s Locke. Wait, is Locke Jacob? No, no, that can’t be right. Stupid commerical break. Wait, that’s 2 in 5 minutes. That’s that bullshit right there.

• I have ZERO desire to watch “Eli Stone”, but I HAVE to see that Oceanic Airlines commercial. That’s what DVRs are for, my friend.

• Interesting. If Hurley’s siding with Locke (as this scene makes it seem) then how does he end up as one of the “six”?

• Damn, I thought we were gonna get a big confrontation. Instead we got a big reunion. And where did that huge part of plane come from? Is that from 815, or another wreck?

• Man, between Libby, Charlie and the whole Season 2 finale, Hurley’s had to deal with some real shitty emotional stuff so far.

• WTF!!!!! Charlie?!!!! How the fuck?!!! WHAT?!!!

• I repeat: WHAT?!

• OK, I’m so tired of Hurley’s hallucinations. But at least we get to say goodbye to Charlie.

• “They need you.” Is that at all related to “We have to go back.”? God, I hope so. This is fucking incredible. I love this show.

• Finally. Our Jack-Locke showdown. We’ve been waiting 9 months for this.

• Holy crap. Jack was going to shoot Locke. Well, that changes things.

• Um, this is more like “crazy Jack” from the season 3 flash-forward than any other Jack we’ve seen before.

• OK, so the whole group is together now, and “they’re on their way”. That’s ominous. Hey, it’s leader Hurley again. I like this guy. He’s better than leader Jack, leader Locke and leader Sawyer put together (and probably heavier too, hey-o!)

• Ok, so what happens now. Two very different groups, waiting for the freighter people. I don’t see this ending well.

• This is so weird seeing this version of off-island Jack. “Thinking about growing a beard.” Nice

• This conversation is even more ominous that they “they’re on their way” comment. I really want to know how much they’ve told people and how much they’ve kept secret.

• “We’re never going back!” That seemed more like Jack being angry about that fact than trying to convince Hurley of it. I’m pretty sure he’s not as “with it” as his appearance would suggest.

• Oooh. A helicopter. Now things are getting really interesting. Of course, I look up at my clock and there’s only two minutes left in the episode. Man, I hate this.

• “Are you Jack?” I’m not sure I’d answer that.

• And of course we’re not going to get an answer this week. I can’t wait until next week. That teaser wasn’t NEARLY enough. “I’ll tell you why we’re here!” I seriously doubt that freighter guy.

Lost-a-thon 08 (and other Wednesday Night Ramblings)

• What am I doing with my back-to-back days off this week (besides posting a comic book review that I should have had up two weeks ago?) Well, I’m re-watching most of Season 3 of “Lost”, leading up to Thursday’s Season 4 premiere. I started with episode 6 (the last episode of the mediocre mini-season that started Season 3) and I’m through about 12 episodes so far. I’ll finish off the rest Thursday, including the special version of “Through the Looking Glass” that aired on Wednesday night with all the little facts included.

• Worth noting, I’m watching the episodes on Blu Ray -- which is just visually stunning. But the Blu Ray discs also have a feature called “Season Play”, which means when I turn off my PS3 tonight, it’ll pick right up where I left off. If I put in the wrong disc, because I can’t remember exactly where I left off, the PS3 will prompt me for the right disc. Very cool feature.

• My DVD player in my basement doesn’t do that. This is pertinent, because I’m re-watching the entire “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” series. I’ve been working out on my exercise bike and rotating through various movies, when I decided to just make “Buffy” part of my routine. With the episodes being about 40 minutes long, they make for the perfect workout timer (I can bike for 10 minutes, take a 2 minute break, and start biking again).

• Also “Buffy” related, I’ve updated the collection section, adding pictures of the “Essence of” statues and scans of all the latest comics. Honestly, I don’t see that section growing much more, since there doesn’t seem to be much more stuff coming.

• Don’t forget to vote in the Desktop Girl of the Week Tournament. Right now, there’s an upset brewing, as Kiele Sanchez has a slight lead over Britney Spears. Now, you all know my feelings on Britney, but I could have never imagined that so many people were so down on here that they’d rather vote for one of the most detested characters in TV history.

Angel: After the Fall, Issue #3 Review

Three issues into the ongoing “Angel” series we still have very few answers about what led to the circumstances we’re in now (the entire city of L.A. being sucked into hell) but we are getting some answers about the current circumstances. Illyria and Spike are in Beverly Hills, giving off the appearance of neutrality while helping Connor. Connor has become a champion for the remaining humans, and Angel is one of those humans.

Wait, what?

I’ll get to that shortly. For now, let me say that this issue had the best action of any of the 3 so far. I loved the throwdown between Illyria and Angel. The appearance of the dragon was also fantastic, though I’d still like to know what led Angel to tame him and and not slay him, as he stated he wanted to do with the last lines of the TV series.

There’s some nice Season 5-esque interplay between Angel and the Lords of L.A., which was much needed. So far, through two issues, we hadn’t really seen Angel do much of anything that resembled an Angel-like plan, but that all came to fruition in this issue.

Of course, this issue really boils down to the last three lines, an Angel voiceover:

“Another thing about Hell. Doesn’t alter a vampire’s healing faculties, so a vamp can still mend quickly. Which, of course, would mean so much more... if I were still a vampire.”

So what does this mean. Is Angel human (as I suggested a few paragraphs ago)? Well, we don’t know. That’s where the issue ends. If Angel were human now, that would sure answer any lingering questions about the outcome of the Shanshu prophecy.

Honestly, this issue, more than any of the series so far, felt like a Season 4 or Season 5 episode, which is a very good thing. Still, with no resolution (or even progression) on the Gunn storyline, I can’t quite give it a perfect score.

The Tournament Begins! (and other ramblings)

• After much hype and anticipation (or a couple mentions on the site and in the podcast), the DGOW Tournament is finally here! Shiri Appleby (formerly of “Roswell”) has been revealed as the final entrant, filling out the field of 32. The Tournament has its own page, available here, or at http://web.mac.com/adamreisinger/DGOW.

• I’ll be posting previews of each round as the polls get posted. First up is the region in which Britney Spears is the No. 1 seed. And while I can’t imagine her losing in the first round, her recent craziness makes it hard to see her getting to the Final Four.

• As for actual college basketball (ya know, that thing that inspired this whole tournament format), I’ve been watching a lot more games lately -- since my job kind of requires it -- and I can’t see anyone beating Memphis OR Kansas. I know everyone thinks that Memphis could go unbeaten because their conference schedule is so easy, but Kansas could go unbeaten because they’re just that good. Or they could lose to K-State on Saturday (Michael Beasley is a beast).

• LeBron had another showdown with Kobe on Sunday and came away with the win -- both on a personal stats level and the team level. The Cavaliers are playing as well as any non-Hornets team in the league right now (even with that blown lead against Phoenix) but the injuries are starting to pile up. I could deal with Sasha Pavlovic being out for a month, but if Anderson Varejao is out for any extended time, that could really hurt the team (no pun intended).

• My trip to Cleveland is booked, paid for, and confirmed. I’m gonna get to see two games while I’m out there, and I’ll have full reports on each of them (Cavs-Wolves and Cavs-Bulls). Hopefully they’ll go much better than the dreadful Cavs-Celtics game I attended earlier this season. LeBron didn’t play. No one wanted to score. The Celtics won by 10. Yeah, that blew.

• Last note for today: last Friday, PooZ, Sarah and I went to see “Rambo”. I wasn’t expecting much. I even said to PooZ just before it started, “You know this is going to suck.” Except, it didn’t. Sure, the story was incredibly stupid, but once the body parts started flying (oh, and they flew) that didn’t matter any more. It was just Rambo kicking ass for an hour, which was just what I needed. Sure, some of the levels of violence bordered on the absurd, but we don’t get enough of that in movies anymore. Everything has to be toned down for ratings. Not this. This was bloody and it was awesome.

This Week in Buffy History: Jan. 28-Feb. 3

January 28

2004 - Angel Episode 5.11 “Damage” airs on The WB

January 29

2002 - Episode 6.12 “Doublemeat Palace” airs on UPN

2003 - Angel Episode 4.10 “Awakening” airs on The WB

Friday Afternoon Ramblings

• As my front page has said for a week now, “holy crap, Lindsay is hot again!” Check out that picture from the premiere of “Cloverfield”. She’s almost all the way back. Lindsay, I’m ready to take you back.

• Britney, you still stay away. Holy crap, you’re more crazy than ever. I’ve tried to keep up with all the latest developments, but I can’t. She’s just too crazy to track.

• Oh, as for “Cloverfield”, I saw it the day it came out and have been meaning to write about it since (there was that neverending tennis match that kind of got in the way). I know “Cloverfield” won’t appeal to everyone, but honestly, it’s a really well-done movie. The party scene at the beginning is WAY too long, but once it gets past that, everything moves really quickly. I liked that we didn’t get the scene with the scientist explaining how all this was happening, leaving us with the same “in the dark” feeling as the characters. One of my friends complained that with most of the characters, you actually wanted them to die because they were annoying. I didn’t see this as a problem, since the opening premise of the movie establishes that they’re all probably dead anyone. And besides, I was kind of rooting for Rob to get back to Beth, whether she was dead or not.

• Some of the TV series I’d been watching at the beginning of the season are starting to come back and burn off their remaining pre-strike episodes. “Big Shots” is actually getting watchable (something it wasn’t at the beginning of the season) and “Carpoolers” has actually been funny. NBC aired the last 2 episodes of “Chuck” last night, and I’ll probably catch up on them sometime today.

• I’m loving how the Cavaliers have been playing lately. That third quarter Wednesday against the Wizards was a thing of beauty. LeBron is back on track, and I don’t even think the injury to Sasha will matter at all -- if anything, he’s been a liability on offense, and not particularly good on defense. According to the folks at 82games.com, the Cavaliers are -3.1 points per game when Pavlovic is on the court. They’re +3.2 with Daniel Gibson playing. So with Boobie getting more minutes now, they should be even better than the team that’s gone 11-2 since Christmas (that is as long as Eric “-14.3” Snow doesn’t get more minutes, too).

This Week in Buffy History: January 21-27

January 21

2002 - Angel Episode 3.12 “Provider” airs on The WB

2003 - Episode 7.12 “Potential” airs on UPN

2004 - Angel Episode 5.10 “Soul Purpose” airs on The WB

January 22

2003 - Angel Episode 4.09 “Long Day’s Journey” airs on The WB

January 23

2001 - Episode 5.12 “Checkpoint” airs on The WB

2001 - Angel Episode 2.12 “Blood Money” airs on The WB

January 24

1969 - Stephanie Romanov born (played Lilah Morgan on “Angel”)

January 25

2000 - Episode 4.12 “A New Man” airs on The WB

2000 - Angel Episode 4.12 “Expecting” airs on The WB

January 26

1987 - Andrew J. Ferchland born (played the Anointed One)

1999 - Episode 3.13 “The Zeppo” airs on The WB

January 27

1998 - Episode 2.15 “Phases” airs on The WB

Buffy: Season 8, Issue 10 Review

The first issue following the Faith arc is called “Anywhere But Here” and picks up the Buffy/Willow sub-plot that was seen running concurrently with the Faith arc.

The story is very reminiscent to some of the plots we saw in Season 7, when Buffy, Giles and crew were trying to get answers about The First. In this case, the villain is now “Twilight” (who, for the most part, remains a mystery), but many of the journeys are the same.

To be honest, that’s not entirely a bad thing. Some of the first 9 issues of this series were so different from what we’d seen on the TV series -- in part because the comic format allowed Joss to do things he couldn’t do on TV -- that its nice to see some familiar elements. Buffy and Willow on a mystical journey for answers (i.e. Season 5’s “The Weight of the World”), Xander and Dawn sharing a heart-to-heart (i.e. Season 7’s “Potential”) and even a blast from the past in terms of the artwork.

That’s right, for the first issue in this run, Cliff Richards is back. He drew about 50 issues of the original Buffy series with Dark Horse, and his character likenesses were probably the best of anyone (save for Jo Chen’s cover art, which has been flawless so far). I haven’t been a fan of “Giant Dawn” so far, but his facial similarity to the actual actors is a big difference from Georges Jeanty’s more stylized look.

Two small nit-picks: I could have used at least one scene with “Twilight” (or whatever his name is) playing off the ending to issue #9. Also, the Willow-Robin interaction was just a little too weird. I understand that Willow has all these mystical powers now, but it seems like at times, she’s so powerful she could really wipe out any threat with her mind, and these time games don’t do anything to disprove that.

Tuesday Night/Wednesday Morning Ramblings

• LeBron put on a show Tuesday night in Memphis, scoring 51 points, including 25 in the 4th quarter and OT. But he wasn’t perfect. In fact, when Mash asked me for some reasons why I responded, “do you have 30 minutes”. Now, everyone knows I love LeBron, but if you’re going to be an MVP (the point Jalen was making, that Mash wanted to counter), you have to shoot better than 4-of-8 from the free throw line in OT, and you can’t settle for such a crappy shot at the end of regulation. Great, yes. MVP? Not quite yet.

• Now, to be fair to LeBron, the crappy shot at the end of regulation might not have been entirely his fault. That seems like just the kind of steaming pile of dung Mike Brown would have drawn up. In fact, I can imagine LeBron leaving the huddle shaking his head in wonderment, running that crap play, then going back into the huddle for the start of OT and saying “OK coach, we tried it your way, now let’s do it my way and win.” And yes, I’m angry and bitter than Mike Brown got a contract extension that will likely keep him in Cleveland longer than LeBron -- because at the end of LeBron’s contract, he’s bailing for Brooklyn or Los Angeles, count on it.

• Speaking of steaming piles of dung, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” premiered this week. I was watching the first episode while chatting online with PooZ, and I managed to point out 3 major problems within the first scene of the show. Each time, PooZ asked “why are you watching this?” Well, two words: Summer. Glau. The star of “Firefly” and “Serenity” is co-starring in this show, and so I had to tune in. After two episodes, I described the series to PooZ in this manner: “Good thing about the show: Summer Glau. Bad thing about the show: EVERYTHING ELSE!” But I’ll keep watching.

• Another thing I’m sticking with despite my better judgement is “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” The first issue came out last week, and honestly, it’s not bad if you take it in the context of being a generic “Amazing Spider-Man” story from about 20 years ago. But the problem is it erases all the continuity we’ve come to know and love, so much so that they had to put a two-page primer in the issue so we’d know Spider-Man’s backstory. At least they kept Gwen Stacy dead. I’d like to think that bringing her back would have been the thing that kept me from ever reading it again.

• Last item of interest: I’ve booked my trip to Cleveland for late February/early March. I’ve already got my Cavs tickets in hand for two games. Now I just have to pray LeBron doesn’t get hurt between now and then, and I might actually get to see him play for once. Go me!

Fave 5 - TV Shows in 2007-08

This TV season has been truncated by a writers’ strike, and filled with lots of crap that wasn’t particularly well-written to begin with (hint to the writers: get better at your jobs before demanding more money). That said, there were some gems, so here they are, my top 5 for this season (and to understand what Top 5 really means in this case, I’ve watched every aired episode of about 21 different shows this season... yes, I watch too much TV... I know).

5. 30 Rock
Talk about a show that took a quantum leap forward. Last season, this was just the kind of quirky show that no one really watched. This year its one of the funniest shows on TV (though, still, not enough people are watching). They decided to focus the show on Jack, Tracy and Liz, reducing the roles of everyone else (Josh is barely background fodder at this point) and it’s worked. Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy is probably the 2nd funniest character on TV (behind NPH’s Barney Stinson on “How I Met Your Mother” -- a show that would have cracked my Top 5 if not for a couple really bad episodes to start the season).

4. Heroes
Holy too many characters Batman. My No. 1 show from 2006-07 suffered the same problem that “Lost” did last season -- adding characters and trying to make us care about them, while simultaneously screwing up the characters we already loved. Hero in feudal Japan would have been cool for an episode or 2, but not 7. Ditto Peter with no memory. I hated the Maya/Alejandro combo, and didn’t really care for Claire’s new boyfriend either. But the Parkman/Mohinder/Nathan story was solid enough, plus by the end, they seemed to have fixed all the storytelling problems, enough that I’m pretty sure Volume 3 will be back to normal.

3. Family Guy
Let’s be honest. The show has had it’s off-moments this year. But man, the season premiere (“Blue Harvest” aka the “Star Wars” episode) was fantastic. The Stewie Kills Lois/Lois Kills Stewie double episode was everything I wanted it to be -- even the cop-out ending was handled wonderfully. This is easily the funniest show on TV -- now we just need to get the writers back on it.

2. Gossip Girl
You might think I have this show too high. Hell, part of me even thinks that. But no show made me want to tune in on a weekly basis with as much regularity as “Gossip Girl”. Amazingly, I was more excited to hear Kristen Bell on “Gossip Girl” than I was to see her on “Heroes” (at least on “Gossip Girl” she didn’t seem out of place -- since she was just the voiceover). I know some people may disagree with me, but I’m a big fan of Leighton Meester (who plays Blair). She’s got a look to her.

1. Lost
What? You say they haven’t aired an episode yet? I don’t care. I’m 10000000% convinced that this season, even truncated, will be remarkable. I promise to revisit this ranking once a couple episodes have aired, but I see no reason it will change.

This Week in Buffy History: January 14-20

January 14

2002 - Angel Episode 3.11 “Birthday” airs on The WB

2004 - Angel Episode 5.09 “Harm’s Way” airs on The WB

January 15

2003 - Angel Episode 4.08 “Habeas Corpses” airs on The WB

January 16

2001 - Angel Episode 2.11 “Redefinition” airs on The WB

January 18

1955 - Ken Lerner born (played Principal Flutie in Season 1)

1962 - Jeff Yagher born (played the Leader of the Fell Brethren in Angel Episode 5.19)

2000 - Episode 4.11 “Doomed” airs on The WB

2000 - Angel Episode 1.11 “Somnambulist” airs on The WB

January 19

1998 - Episode 2.13 “Surprise” airs on The WB

1999 - Episode 3.12 “Helpless” airs on The WB

January 20

1998 - Episode 2.14 “Innocence” airs on The WB

Wednesday Morning Ramblings

• Man, it’s been a weird few days for Britney Spears, since I declared she’d gone past rock bottom. On Monday, Dr. Phil announced he was canceling a planned one-hour special that would have analyzed Britney’s situation, saying it was “too intense”. Then on Tuesday, it was revealed that her car got towed and she had to get a ride home from the Paparazzi. Ouch. On a positive note, Mr. Blackwell left her off the annual Worst Dressed list, saying “she’s had a rough year.” Sympathy for Britney from Mr. Blackwell and Dr. Phil? Could people actually be listening to “Leave Britney Alone”? God I hope not.

• Joe Gibbs retired as the Redskins coach Tuesday. Honestly, I think this was the right move. The four-game win streak to get into the playoffs was the last hurrah for the old coach. Now it’s time for the ‘Skins to move into a new era.

• Speaking of new eras, the new “American Gladiators” debuted this week, and I was pretty impressed overall. There are definitely some kinks to be worked out (the whole show is over-produced, and they completely screwed up Assault) but overall, it’s not bad. Toa -- aka former Hawaii football player Tanoai Reed -- is definitely my favorite male gladiator (he’s best known as The Rock’s stunt double, but he also appeared in two episodes of “Buffy”). As for my favorite female... well, let’s just say Crush is an appropriate name. I definitely have a crush on her, after just two episodes.

• This week’s DGOW is Amanda Peet. That leaves only three more to be revealed before I start the tournament. Also, when the tournament starts, I will definitely keep unveiling new DGOW, so that way I can build up a field for the next tournament. Possibly, a couple years down the line, I’ll have a tournament of champions. Remember, we didn’t actually finish the first tournament, but PooZ and I declared Monica Bellucci the winner on the podcast a couple weeks back.

• As the days go by, I get more and more excited about “Lost.” Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to re-watch the final few episodes of Season 3 to get ready for Season 4. I don’t care if its an abbreviated season (which reminds me -- get back to work, writers!) I just need my “Lost” fix.

College Football Top 10 - Final Edition for the 2007 Season

Ya know, it just wouldn't be an edition of the College Football Rankings without my entire order being exploded... so here we are, again. In bowl season, 4 of my top 5 teams lost, once again causing destruction in the rankings. So let's take a look at how things ended up.

1. LSU (previous: 2)
Can't really argue with their credentials now. Sure, beating Ohio State doesn't seem like a big deal in my eyes, but they did it in convincing fashion. Good for them.

2. Georgia (previous: 7)
Man, I sure wish I could have seen this team play LSU. If only to have avoided the embarrassment of seeing them destroy my No. 1 team (what was I thinking?!). The Dawgs looked as good as any team in the country over the last month and a half.

3. USC (previous: 6)
Boy, if only J.D. Booty admitted he was hurt and sat out the Stanford game, instead of trying to play and possibly costing his team a spot in the national championship. They'll be my preseason No. 1 heading into next season (not that I actually do a preseason poll -- you won't see a poll from me until at least Week 6).

4. Missouri (previous: 8)
Look, Georgia and USC have national title beefs, but they lost twice. Missouri, on the other hand, was No. 1 heading into the final week of the season and didn't even get a BCS Bowl bid. Tony Temple proved he belonged with the big boys, and did it against one of the teams (Arkansas) that beat LSU. Connect the dots... La, la, la, la... Connect the dots...

5. West Virginia (previous: 9)
The experts say that if you're in a bowl game with an interim coach, you're in trouble. Well, for most of bowl season, that was right. Then Bill Stewart and West Virginia proved that wrong -- and did it without Steve Slaton for pretty much the entire game. Not bad.

6. Kansas (previous: 10)
Remember what I wrote about Missouri about 2 paragraphs ago? Well, due to BCS rules, to put Missouri in the BCS, we would have had to remove Kansas. And the Jayhawks actually proved they belonged by beating Virginia Tech solidly. So, I really have no idea what to do about this (Playoffs?! Don't talk about playoffs?! You kiddin' me, playoffs?!)

7. Ohio State (previous: 3)
Honestly, if I could drop them any lower I would, but I'm out of non-crappy teams. At one point in the national championship game, FOX showed a graphic with the seniority of OSU's 2-deep. They're mostly sophomores and juniors. Which means OSU could be back next year. I beg of you, Harris Poll and Coaches Poll voters. Please make sure this doesn't happen.

8. Virginia Tech (previous: 5)
Yeah, they lost their BCS bowl game, but at least they weren't a total embarrassment.

9. Oklahoma (previous: 4)
They WERE an embarrassment. Please, Big 12 teams, beat this team in the Big 12 title game so they can stop going to BCS games.

10. Texas (previous: UR)
The Longhorns had their share of problems this year, but by the end of the season, they seemed to have figured them out. The 52 points they dropped on ASU in the Holiday Bowl (as an aside, always an exciting game) were damn impressive. This team -- combined with the other 3 Big 12 teams in this top 10 -- could make for a pretty good conference next season.

Dropped out: Hawaii (previous rank: 1... God, I'm stupid...)

This Week in Buffy History: January 7-13

January 7
1971 - Jeremy Renner born (played Penn on Angel Episode 1.11 “Somnambulist”)
2008 - Episode 7.11 “Showtime” airs on UPN

January 8
1977 - Amber Benson born (played Tara Maclay)
2002 - Episode 6.11 “Gone” airs on UPN

January 9
2001 - Episode 5.11 “Triangle” airs on The WB

January 11
1972 - Marc Blucas born (played Riley Finn)

January 12
1998 - Episode 2.12 “Bad Eggs” airs on The WB
1999 - Episode 3.11 “Gingerbread” airs on The WB

Redskins: Countdown to kickoff...

We’re less than three hours away from what I believe is the most important playoff game the Redskins have played since Super Bowl XXVI. I really believe this team can go into Seattle and beat a solid division champion on the road, but let’s break it down, position-by-position:

Quarterback

Matt Hasselbeck may not be Brady or Manning, but he’s gotten his team into the playoffs for 5 straight seasons now, and if he’s not in the upper echelon of quarterbacks, he’s right in the next level. Todd Collins hadn’t started a game in 10 years prior to last month, and has never started a playoff game.

Advantage: Seahawks

Running Back

Shaun Alexander once set the single-season rushing TD record but this year he ran for barely 700 yards and 4 TD. Meanwhile, Clinton Portis topped the 1,200-yard mark (the real milestone for RBs) and ran for better than 100 yards in 2 of the last 3 games.

Advantage: Redskins

Fullback

Mack Strong was forced to retire earlier this year, which could explain some of Shaun Alexander’s struggles. Mike Sellers is still going strong for the Skins.

Advantage: Redskins

Wide Receivers

Both groups have their share of big names (Deion Branch, Santana Moss) and both, collectively, put up lower numbers than you might have first anticipated. The Redskins duo of Moss and Antwaan Randle-El might have more big play ability, but the Seahawks foursome of Branch, Bobby Engram, Nate Burleson and D.J. Hackett is a little more consistent.

Advantage: Seahawks

Tight End

Chris Cooley is a Pro Bowler. He’s the perfect safety blanket for a relatively inexperienced QB, and he makes plays happen after the catch. Marcus Pollard used to do all those things, back when he was playing with Peyton Manning. Not so much anymore.

Advantage: Redskins

Offensive Line

Both of these units have been banged up this year, and have gone through some turnover in recent years. The left tackles (Walter Jones for SEA, Chris Samuels for WSH) are mainstays who haven’t had as good a year as expected, but are still pretty consistent. Honestly, the lines are almost mirror images of each other.

Advantage: Push

Defensive Line

Patrick Kerney, who finished the season with 14 sacks is the best known player among the two units, but don’t sleep on Andre Carter, who had 10.5 sacks and four forced fumbles for Washington. Outside of the two star DEs, there isn’t much in the way of name power on these two units, but they’re effective nonetheless. However, Kerney gives the Seahawks the slight edge.

Advantage: Seahawks

Linebackers

Both of these teams are led by a duo of good linebackers. The thing is, Lofa Tatupu and Julian Peterson are like a younger version of London Fletcher and Marcus Washington. So the advantage has to go to Seattle here.

Advantage: Seahawks

Defensive Backs

Sean Taylor’s death really left Washington in a bind in the defensive backfield. Losing Carlos Rogers for the season to a knee injury didn’t help matters. Shawn Springs has been playing admirably while his father is in a coma, and Fred Smoot has experienced a resurgence since rejoining the Skins, but this group is just too banged up to give the advantage. The Seahawks group of DBs may not be well-known, but thanks to Jim Mora (the younger) they are well-coached.

Advantage: Seahawks

Special Teams

Both teams have good kickoff return units. Both have dynamic wide receivers who handle punt return duties. Both have good kickers who can put points on the board.

Advantage: Push

Coaching

After the Buffalo game, this one would have gone to Mike Holmgren by default. Now, I’m inclined to give it to Joe Gibbs for the way he’s coached this team over the last month. Plus, no one is better at dealing with unrest under center.

Advantage: Redskins

Intangibles

The Seahawks have the 12th man. The Redskins have the memory of Sean Taylor. I’m sorry, but the motivation for Washington is far greater than Seattle’s semi-famed home-field advantage.

Advantage: Redskins

Yeah, so that comes out to 5-5-2. Maybe I should have listed an odd number of categories. Whoops.

Either way, I’m still picking Washington to win in a mild upset, 21-16.

Three to Get Ready: January 5-7

Saturday January 5
Redskins at Seahawks, 4:30 ET on NBC
Are the Washington Redskins a team of destiny? Can Todd Collins really lead a team on the road and win a playoff game? Has Joe Gibbs recaptured the magic? Is this writing style of asking lots of questions really annoying? Yes, yes, yes, and very yes. I’m not scheduled to work until 5:30 on Saturday, but I’ll be coming in an hour early so I can be in place to watch this game. I know lots of experts are talking about how hard it is to win in Seattle, but the Redskins have been winning hard games for a month now.

Sunday January 6
Cavaliers at Raptors, 1 ET on Fox Sports Ohio
The Cavaliers have gotten back to what got them to the Finals last year: hard-nosed defense and letting LeBron carry the offense. They threw up a stinker last week in New Orleans, but otherwise the plan has been working. The Cavaliers are back in the playoff picture in the East, and with a couple more wins, could be right back in the top half of the conference -- which is actually where the Raptors currently reside.

Monday January 7
BCS National Championship Game
LSU vs Ohio State, 8 ET on FOX
We’ve been counting down to this one for more than a month here on AdamReisinger.com and it’s almost here. With Hawaii’s loss (holy crap that was bad), one of these teams will officially be named the 2007 AdamReisinger.com National Champion. And let’s be honest, that’s the real title these guys are playing for on Monday. And look, we all know that Georgia and USC are both playing really well right now and both seem like they deserve some kind of shot, but that’s not going to happen, so we shouldn’t let that take away from what should be a pretty damn good game.

Britney Spears: WAY past rock bottom...

It was late in the evening when the news crossed the wire at the WWL... police had been dispatched to the home of Britney Spears in what was being called a “custodial dispute”.

As the night went on, the story just got more and more out of control -- all while we were doing a show entirely about sports, with no mention of Britney whatsoever (that’s not to say we weren’t talking about it during commercial breaks or feature pieces... because we were... gotta love TMZ.com for the breaking news updates).

Here are the basic details as we know them, right now:

-Britney showed up nearly 2 hours late for her 2 hour deposition Thursday morning, then was deposed for all of 12 minutes.

-When K-Fed’s security showed up at 8 p.m. to take the kids from Britney, they were rebuffed (details are still a little hazy on this

-The police were called in, and one statement was released to the press that called the incident a “family custodial dispute that we are trying to resolve ... peacefully by court order.” (worth noting: if you’ve gone to the step of “court order”, you are well past the point of peaceful resolution).

-Britney was eventually taken out of the house on a gurney and loaded into an ambulance, allegedly as a result of being under the influence of what multiple media outlets are calling a “substance”.

-A child may or may not have also been loaded into an ambulance. Details are hazy on that too.

So, basically, Britney’s done.

At this point, there’s pretty much no lower she can go without actually devouring her children on live television, then attempting to dance. Right? I mean, really. This is just pathetic.

Remember the break-up letter I wrote to Lindsay Lohan a few months back? (On an aside -- that letter seems to have turned around Lindsay’s life, at least until her little New Year’s Eve relapse.)

Well, we’re beyond that with Britney. It doesn’t matter if I break up with her or not, she’s just not going to get the message.

Now, I’ve been one of Britney’s biggest supporters throughout the years. Honestly, if I weren’t as well-adjusted as I am (something many of you who know me may dispute) I could have easily done something as crazy as “Leave Britney Alone” (ok, maybe not that insane, but I really, really liked Britney back in the day). But this is truly the end.

At this point, my only interest in Britney (at least going forward; I’m not going to stop listening to the music she already released) is as a Mike Tyson or Isiah Thomas-like figure. It’s like a never-ending train wreck that keeps blowing up every time you think the fire’s almost out.

Oh, and by the way, check out Britney’s career album sales... not exactly a trend you want to have as a successful music artist.

2007 - A Year in Review; 2008 - A Year in Preview

It's the first day of 2008 (at least, it still is in some parts of America), which seems like a pretty good time to look back at 2007, and look ahead to 2008. I wish I had the time to research and write a day-by-day look, but honestly, you don't want to read all that. So instead, I reflect on the one sports moment I'll remember most from each month in 2007, as well as the thing I'm looking ahead to each month in 2008 (that's what we in the business call a gimmick... Just work with me here...)

January2007: Boise State wins the Fiesta Bowl. This may be the greatest game I ever witness in my time at ESPN, and it happened after I'd been there for barely a year.
2008: Hawaii wins the Sugar Bowl. Whoops. I guess seeing the Patriots so-called perfect season come to an equally disappointing end would be nice.

February2007: Watching the dunk contest with Dee Brown, who had a vested interest in two of the contestants (he trained Dwight Howard and was the subject of an homage by Gerald Green).
2008: I'll see my first Cavs home game in person (on the very last day of the month) and hopefully LeBron will be healthy for this one.

March2007: Kobe Bryant scores at least 50 points in 4 straight games, including a 60-point game and a 65-point game (the 2nd-highest total of his career).
2008: Kobe Bryant does something re-dunk-ulous. Seriously, it's like the guy goes to the all-star game, gets reminded that he's really good, and decides to prove it again in March.

April2007: The Warriors shock the basketball world (I know this series ended in May, but it started in April, and that's what got everyone excited).
2008: The Celtics wrap up their regular season with a crazy win total. I'm guessing it'll be in the 65 range, but then again, I predicted the Heat would be in the Finals, so what do I know.

May2007: LeBron. The Game. The last day of May.
2008: Taking a look at how the conference standings are shaping up so far, this year's NBA conference semifinals could be some of the best series in recent memory.

June2007: The Cavs go to the Finals, behind Boobie's big game.
2008: NBA Finals. Hopefully I'll be there this time, unlike last year's massive fail.

July2007: Who's Now? Um, that would be one Jessica Biel.
2008: Do I get to meet another hot celebrity? If not, I don't care.

August2007: The Rangers score 30 runs in a game. I watch baseball expecting pretty much anything on a daily basis. 30 runs, not on that list. Not even close to being a blip on a distant radar.
2008: It's an Olympic year, and hopefully this is the year that Kobe, LeBron and 'Melo restore Team USA to its rightful place atop the basketball world. Solid Gold LeBron indeed.

September2007: Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32.
2008: Seriously, nothing could come close to that. But I am kind of looking forward to the waxing Florida is going to put on Hawaii, especially after the anti-Tebow comments by June Jones.

October2007: There's only one OCTOBER! And for most of that month, there wasn't a single team that could beat the Rockies. Sure, the run came crashing down in the World Series, but it was fun while it lasted.
2008: A-Rod's gotta eventually do something in October, right?

November2007: Sean Taylor, rest in peace.
2008: Giving thanks for the things that are really important in life, so much more so than wins and losses.

December2007: The Redskins win 4 straight to make the playoffs, capped by a 21-point win against the rival Cowboys on the season's final day. Not a bad way to end the year.
2008: The first round of a college football playoff? Yeah, right, wishful thinking. How about some less sucky bowl matchups. Do we really need two 6-6 teams facing off to decide who doesn't end the season with a loss?