An Early Look At Pageantry

Because it’s a rainy Wednesday and I need to go to my happy place. Here is a quick look at the 2006-07 college football season. Of course I will have a much more in-depth look in August when the season comes closer but for now here’s what to look for…



Consensus Preseason No.1: The Ohio State University, does not play Vince Young in September, plays Penn State at home, Michigan is not a threat this year.



Team with most holes to fill from 2005: The Ohio State University (must replace 9 starters on defense, including all three linebackers) also USC and Florida State



Biggest Shoes to Fill: Vince Young’s replacement at Quarterback for Texas, Colt McCoy. I did not make that up. They are not making “Necessary Roughness 2”. That is his real name.



Finalists for the Heisman Trophy: Notre Dame Quarterback Brady Quinn, Oklahoma Running Back Adrian Peterson, Ohio State Quarterback Troy Smith, Northern Illinois Running Back Garret Wolfe.



Trendy National Championship Pick to Avoid the Hype: West Virginia



Sleeper National Championship Pick to Get Behind Now: Cal



Best Reason to Hope for Syracuse Fans: Bill Callahan will have Nebraska back in the Top 25 in his third year replacing the Option Offense with the West Coast Offense.



Second Best Reason to Hope for Syracuse Fans: Six winnable games this season. At Wake Forest, at Illinois, Miami (OH), Wyoming, at Cincinnati, Connecticut. If they win three that’s a 200% improvement over last year :)



Controversy of the Year: The new “BCS Championship Game” which has served to piss off college football purists and playoff advocates alike. It will be difficult to describe at weddings, that’s for sure. For now all it is is another BCS bowl meant to appease Fox which is taking over the rights to the BCS bowls except for the Rose Bowl. Of course the BCS couldn’t sell the rights to a fewer amount of games for more money so they threw in this game and the “double-hosting” model. The first “BCS Championship Game” which still doesn’t have a name or a sponsor will be played in Glendale, Arizona which will also host the Fiesta Bowl one week before. The No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams at the end of the REGULAR SEASON will be sent to this game. The other four BCS bowls will compose of conference champions and four at-large teams. Skeptics think the “BCS Championship Game” will be used for the “And-1” model, a championship game that would be played AFTER the bowls are over and could be even more controversial than the system in place now.

Searching for the 'Next Jennie Finch'

Tonight is Game 2 of the Women's College World Series Championship between Arizona and Northwestern. Five years ago I watched the Women's College World Series tip to trophy because of a certain hot as hell pitcher for Arizona. Four years later the Jennie Finch bandwagon is as big as ever with company endorsements finally coming her way.

This year's field didn't provide much but when it comes to hot softball players, you can always count on Arizona.

OF Autumn Champion seems to be the runaway winner of this beauty pageant. The picture below doesn't even do her justice. Unfortunately she wears a caged batting helmet at the plate but she's always in the front of the dugout. Be sure to watch for her tonight and possibly tomorrow (Arizona is up 1-0). She is a first team All-American and Player of the Year finalist. Plus her name sounds like a horse and if I ever see her in a bar I could say "Autumn, I think I'm FALLing for you".

Caitlyn Lowe joins her in a very hot outfield.

If you have time you can see Northwestern is completely outwomaned

Cunnilings & Psychiatry: "Kaisha"

(SPOILER SPACE: If you don't want Sunday's episode of "The Sopranos" spoiled for you do NOT scroll down past the picture of Christopha and his smoking new wife)


The last episode until January 2007 was a sex-filled hour that did not have the big payoff of previous "season finales". Christopha claimed he did not bring his new goomah around the crew because she was "a shine" when the truth was she was Tony's latest extra-curricular interest, Julianna Skiff. Furthermore Julianna met Christopha in Narcotics Anonymous. For a while they are strength for one another but after Julianna treats a cold with some Valerian Tea they dive back into heroin.

Its actually AJ's new love interest that seems to be more objectionable to Tony. Bianca a clerk at the construction company is ten years older than him and has a three year old son named Hector. But after AJ bribes a couple thugs to stop hanging hear her apartment with a bike, they have a jarringly rough sex session.

On top of this tensions between Phil Leotardo's Brooklyn crew and Tony's New Jersey crew remain high after Tony goes ahead with blowing up Phil's "wire house" where he and HIS goomah/housekeeper were about to "get something straight between us". Little Carmine manages to smooth all issues but stupidly brings up the death of Phil's brother which sets off Phil until he has a heart attack leading to an emotional truce between him and Phil that in the long run didn't mean anything.

Tony is able to settle Carmela's Sherlock Holmes instincts by getting her spec house project approved and the entire family minus Meadow (more on this later) gets together on Christmas Eve for a loooooonnnnnnnngggggg Christmas vacation.

I noticed right away that HBO advertised this show as the "last show of the year" rather than a "Season Finale". According to them these past 10 episodes and the following 8 are one long season, similar to the fourth season of OZ which took a couple month hiatus between episodes. I imagine that was to temper expectations as some one-time appearing character's secret sex and drug addiction really wasn't the payoff I was looking for. Her character in this episode made me wish I waited a week to do my "All-Time TV Go Team" column.

They spent a lot of time on AJ this season and while if I never see another sex scene with him again, it'll be too soon. It did have some effect on the audience in this sense. AJ is known up until now for one thing, being the pudgy fuckup kid of Tony Soprano who once said "so what, No Fucking Ziti now?" his first sex scene reminded us of how much he's "grown up" and how long we've gotten to know this family as one of our neighbors.

What should be discouraging was Meadow getting the "Brenda Walsh Treatment" during the episode, "calling" the house having the phone passed around but never did her character make it on camera or even her voice. It makes me think as if Jamie-Lyn Sigler's Sopranos days may be over.

I still think someone in the New York Crew will go after either Christopher or Tony in the final eight episodes, although I must admit I don't know what to expect from this show anymore and am looking forward to the day I don't have to defend its letdowns.

Next Week: The debut of "Hugging it Out"