Month: June 2010

100 Favorite Movies…..26-30

We’re moving full steam ahead toward the Top 25, but we’ve got one more stop to make before we get there. Going forward there will be atleast one Christmas film in each group we examine. Today’s entry also looks at a couple modern classics that were made in my childhood but appreciated by me as an adult, yet another George Clooney flick (even though I really do TRY to dislike him), and one more ode to the 80’s from the late John Hughes. Enjoy…and remember that you can find the previous 70 films broken into 14 entries in the archives.


 

 

30 Rocky

The only underdog more famous that Rocky Balboa is The Holy Bible’s David, who felled the giant Goliath. 1976’s Rocky is synonymous with the unknown who takes advantage of his one shot at success and shocks the world (even though he actually doesn’t win until the sequel). In the 34 years that have passed since the film’s debut, it’s thematic arc has been used countless times, some successfully (Rudy, Remember the Titans, Hoosiers, Seabiscuit, The Karate Kid, Dodgeball), some not so much (The Replacements, Summer Catch, any Rocky sequel past 2). Face it…the formula works if the writers, actors, and directors are halfway talented and put forth a little effort. By now though you know my mantra…it is nearly impossible to surpass the original. What is funny about Rocky is that it is remembered as a sports film and for its boxing sequences and some scenes of the titular character in training, when in reality it is a well written film with tremendous performances and really good development of the main players. Burgess Meredith and Talia Shire are probably not given enough credit for their roles, but their support is the backbone of the movie’s success. Sly Stallone actually wrote the script, but was an unknown commodity at the time and had to beg the powers-that-be to let him star in his own story then ended up giving the best performance of his career. Rocky went on to be nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning 3 of them including Best Picture. Not bad for a movie that was made on a shoestring budget and shot in under a month. I am sure that films will continue to “borrow” the formula in perpetuity, but I am also confident that we will still be talking about Rocky in another 34 years.

 

29 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

The movies need more people like John Hughes. While so many teen flicks these days seem to be all about sex and gross out jokes (American Pie, Road Trip, Superbad), Hughes wrote and/or directed a whole slew of teen comedies in the 80’s that had an element of pathos and just enough of a message to make them cool but not preachy. Ferris Bueller, on its surface, is about a precocious high school senior skipping school. But look a little closer because I think it’s a lot more. Matthew Broderick stars as Ferris, the kind of loveable schemer it’s almost impossible not to like and nearly as difficult not to envy. He convinces his clueless folks that he is too sick to go to school and then proceeds to drag his gorgeous girlfriend and his morose best friend to accompany him on a day long adventure. The only people who seem to see through his BS are his caustic sister and the school principal, who seems quasi-maniacal in his efforts to bring down the teenager. Ferris is wise beyond his years. He understands that soon enough he and his friends will be in the “real world” and wants to take advantage of one last opportunity to be carefree and have some harmless fun. I suppose it is possible that the modern tradition of Senior Skip Day owes something to Ferris Bueller…but no one has ever done a Skip Day with quite the panache as Ferris. The film is Hughes’ ode to Chicago, as our trio of truants visit many of the city’s landmarks. They take in a Cubs game at Wrigley Field, go to the top of The Sears Tower, eat at a fancy restaurant (where Ferris passes himself off as Abe Frohman: Sausage King of Chicago), visit The Art Institute, and quite memorably “crash” the annual Von Steuben Day Parade with Ferris hopping up on a float and belting out Danke Schoen and Twist & Shout. I am 37 years old and I have never had such a fun and interesting day in my life…in high school, college, or beyond. Alan Ruck, who now is best known for his supporting role in the television show Spin City, is hysterically sympathetic as Cameron, the best friend with Daddy issues. A pre-Dirty Dancing Jennifer Grey is outstanding as the jealous sister who is tired of seeing her brother get away with everything. I don’t know why Grey didn’t become a bigger star. She did Red Dawn, Ferris Bueller, and Dirty Dancing all within 2 years of one another and then dropped off the map…or atleast has never done anything else anyone gave a damn about. Charlie Sheen has a quick cameo. The always reliable Edie McClurg is funny as the school secretary. And who can forget economist Ben Stein’s droll, tedious call of “Bueller…Bueller…Bueller…..”. There are so many iconic scenes and lines in Ferris Bueller that it has to rank as one of the most quotable films of the last 30 years. My affection is undoubtedly due in large part to being a child of the 80’s. I was 14 years old when this movie came out, so I embodied the target demographic. But I have seen Ferris Bueller many many times in the ensuing 24 years, and in my humble opinion it ages well, like a fine wine. It will still be relevant to high school kids for generations, and that isn’t a feat to which the majority of films in its particular genre can lay claim. Its relevance can be germane to adults too, if we pay attention. Look at Cameron, whose Dad loves his classic Ferrari more than his son. Or look at Ferris, who doesn’t take himself too seriously and advises us all that “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” That is some pretty sage advice from a 17 year old boy.

 

28 The Ref

I have warned you repeatedly that I LOVE Christmas movies. And while you have seen or will see many of the usual suspects that have shown up on our television screens every December for decades, here we have a criminally overlooked holiday treat. Somewhere in the deep dark recesses of my mind I vaguely recall seeing this for the first time in The Original Bachelor Palace back in my college days with a few good friends. It may have even been the same night we rented Trapped in Paradise. Or I could be totally off base. If my memory isn’t playing tricks on me it would partially explain my affection for The Ref. At any rate, whatever the particular circumstances may have been initially, I have seen this movie multiple times in the past 16 Christmas seasons. It is required holiday viewing in my household. Denis Leary…an excellent stand-up comedian who is now known primarily for his TV show Rescue Me…stars as a crook who, after a robbery has gone awry, is forced to hold a haughty Connecticut couple hostage in their home on Christmas Eve. The problem for Gus is that Lloyd and Caroline have some major issues. They are in marriage counseling because Caroline had an affair, Lloyd hates his life, and both blame each other for their son’s troubles. Now I know that doesn’t sound funny, but trust me…it is h-y-s-t-e-r-i-c-a-l. The bickering couple really tests Gus’ patience. Things get more complicated when Lloyd’s even snootier family shows up for dinner and then the conniving son comes home from military school. Hilarity ensues. Kevin Spacey makes almost anything instantly better…he’s such a great actor. The Ref isn’t as easy to find on your television as many of the better known holiday classics, but Comedy Central usually shows it once or twice. It is well worth the rental if you cannot find it on the ol’ tube though. For anyone who has never seen it, I assure you…you won’t be disappointed.

 

27 Ocean’s Eleven

Even though I am a huge fan of The Rat Pack and their music, their movies aren’t exactly high art. So I am not referring here to the 1960 original but rather to the 2001 remake starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon. It’s bad enough that Clooney movies keep showing up on this list, but now I am adding Pitt and Damon?? What in the world is wrong with me?? I suppose there’s no accounting for taste. I am just going to blame it on my love for anything and everything Vegas. Anyway, Ocean’s Eleven is the textbook definition of popcorn cinema, and I =guess that’s not a bad thing. Danny Ocean is fresh out of prison and has his sights set on robbing not one…not two…but three Las Vegas casinos all at the same time. He recruits his best wingman and they assemble a team to pull off the job. We eventually learn that Ocean’s real beef is with the owner of said casinos, played by the always superb Andy Garcia. The evil casino owner has hooked up with Ocean’s ex-wife, played by Julia Roberts. The crew that is to pull off this massive heist is a ragtag group of con men, played by guys like Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Elliot Gould, and Carl Reiner. They all have their key roles to play in the masterful plan, and for the most part the plan goes off without too much consternation. As a viewer I advise against trying to figure out details or attempting to apply logic. There are some holes…like: they are supposed to be robbing three casinos, but really they’re just robbing one vault that holds the money from three casinos. But it’s all good. The cast is very Rat Pack-esque in their breezy delivery and cool demeanor. There’s a little action, a little romance, a little comedy. The performances are very good. Don Cheadle is an underrated actor, and it is nice to see old timers Gould and Reiner in a big time flick with the younger, hipper It Guys. Two sequels were made, and as per usual the second was a subpar money grab while the third rebounded nicely with the addition of Al Pacino to the cast. I am tempted to point out that it is another case where the original is the best, but technically it is a remake of an original.

 

 

26 The Blues Brothers

When one is in college and joins a fraternity a few songs and a few films kind of come along with the package. I am not sure why this is so, but it is what it is. I am sure things have changed in the 15 years since I last graced a college campus…or a fraternity house… with my presence, but in my heyday The Blues Brothers was one of those beloved films. It is also one of the two movies (the other being Animal House) that made Saturday Night Live alumnus John Belushi a superstar. I have often wondered what other treasures Belushi would have offered us and how his career would have evolved had he not tragically left us far too soon. He stars as Jake, who along with his brother Elwood (played by Dan Aykroyd) formed a successful blues act before he landed in prison for armed robbery. Upon Jake’s release, the duo gather up the rest of their old band so they can do a benefit show and help the orphanage where Jake and Elwood grew up pay its property taxes. Along the way they manage to tick off the police, a group of neo-Nazis, Jake’s ex-fiancée, and a country band called The Good Ol’ Boys, all of whom chase The Blues Brothers and cause mayhem and destruction. Our heroes make the gig, pay off the taxes for the orphanage, and are ultimately sent to prison for all the havoc they have wreaked. The soundtrack is spectacular if you like blues music, and I do. There are alot of fun cameos…Ray Charles, Carrie Fisher, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, John Candy, Chaka Khan, John Lee Hooker, Paul Reubens/Pee Wee Herman, Joe Walsh, and Steven Spielberg, among others. The Blues Brothers is just a lot of mindless fun, and it continues to be a unique classic thirty years later.

 

 

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Another State of The Manofesto Address

A little over a year ago I began this adventure in blogging. I am not vain enough to think these things I write have had any sort of significant impact on society, but hopefully they have made a few people laugh, given others pause for reflection, and inspired some to dig further into a thing or two or three that piqued their interest. In the introduction to The Manofesto (found on The Welcome Wagon page) I made mention that this is a work in progress. To some degree I am “stuck in my ways”, in some cases to my detriment and in others to my everlasting relief. However, I am all for growth and progress, and the time seems right for The Manofesto to evolve, to take that next baby step. To that end, I want to address a few changes on the horizon.

First of all, in the 10th edition of Random Thoughts, published nearly one year ago (7/11/2009), I wrote “I seriously doubt if I will ever get into Twitter…..but never say never.” I am glad I put the “never say never” stipulation in there, because it has been laid upon my heart that now is the time to become a part of Twitter Nation. I am not sure why I have been so reluctant. I suppose I figured that anything I had to say could be said here or atleast on my Facebook page. Plus, when an entity’s most renown supporter is Ashton Kutcher it is underwhelming at best. But two thoughts occurred to me. First, Jesus commanded his disciples to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you”, and He also said “come…follow Me…I will make you fishers of men”. Now I know that it is highly unlikely that Christ was referring in any way to Twitter, but I also am open to new ways to spread The Good News and if I at some point tweet a thought or a scripture that touches even one person and points them down the correct path then hey…why not??

The second thing that occurred to me was that Twitter is a good fit for Random Thoughts. In fact, it seems like the perfect marriage. Therefore, beginning on July 4th 2010 I will be utilizing Twitter for my pithy comments & quick jabs and will be closing the Random Thoughts section here at The Manofesto. I will transfer all archived Random Thoughts to the Potluck section. This will enable me to react quicker to events rather than having to wait sometimes several days or even weeks until I have enough thoughts to justify a blog entry. It will also allow me to use the blog to focus on lengthier, more substantial subject matter, something I feel is a necessary step. We’ll still have some fun writing about movies and sports and other pop culture minutia, but I feel like the majority of what I write needs to be a bit meatier.

The final new development (for now) that I want to address is a possible talk show version of The Manofesto. Now this is not something that is going to happen soon, like the Twitter thing. This is something that I am in the process of pondering and exploring, but something that I feel strongly will happen in the not-too-distant future. My college pal Deb, whose blog Real Widows is linked here, has recently gotten together with a fellow “widster” and started a show on BlogTalk Radio. I have done a cursory assessment of what BlogTalk has to offer and it seems user friendly enough and something I could manage easily. Also, I have been talking with my friend The Owl for awhile now, encouraging him to do his own podcast. Whether we will end up doing something together or separately remains to be seen. I know we both have a lot of opinions about things and share a similar desire to spread Jesus’ teachings to the masses, so we’ll see what happens. I may even talk some other friends into joining in or atleast contributing on occasion. Much more prayerful consideration needs to be put into this particular idea, but I feel confident in saying that eventually there will be yet another outlet through which I unleash my unique perspective.

Please be sure to start “following” me on Twitter beginning 7/4/10, and stay tuned for more information down the line about how plans for the show on BlogTalk Radio are progressing.

 

100 Favorite Movies…..31-35

I promised that my hiatus from this series would only be a few weeks, and I was almost right. It has been a couple of months. But in the meantime I have been working on some things (not all published yet) that God had been tugging at me to focus on, so it’s all good. Once again today’s group of five is an incongruent mix of comedy, drama, and action, with a little romance thrown in. Release dates range from 1964 to 2000.


 


 

35 Scent of A Woman

When we looked at Cast Away I mentioned that sometimes a single performance is so good that it carries the film and makes the whole thing seem better than it probably really is in reality. Such is the case again with Scent of A Woman. I am a huge Godfather fan, but even I think this is Al Pacino’s best role. Is it subtle or nuanced?? No. Pacino is 100% all out, full throttle, balls to the wall…and that’s okay. In my opinion he never crosses over into caricature, though some may disagree. The plot itself is rather flimsy. Chris O’Donnell stars as Charlie, a soft spoken prep school student who needs to earn some cash to pay for his cross country trip back home to Oregon for Christmas break. To that end, Charlie takes on a kind of babysitting gig over Thanksgiving, keeping an eye on a blind retired Army colonel whose family is not taking him with them wherever they are going for the holiday. Colonel Frank Slade is a real pill…angry, bitter, obnoxious, and a heavy drinker. The weekend doesn’t go according to plan right from the very beginning, when Colonel Slade drags the reticent Charlie to New York City, where he plans to “to eat at an expensive restaurant, stay at a luxury hotel, visit his big brother, make love to a beautiful woman, and then blow his brains out”. The Colonel apparently wants to go out in a blaze of glory, and has a few fun adventures, like doing the tango with a lovely and accommodating stranger, test driving a Ferrari (getting pulled over by a clueless policeman…who doesn’t catch on that Slade is blind…in the process), and ambushing his unsuspecting brother’s family on Turkey Day. Meanwhile, Charlie has his own issues. He and a buddy witnessed a few of their classmates vandalizing school property, and the school’s headmaster has bribed a reluctant Charlie to snitch on the perps by guaranteeing that he can singlehandedly get Charlie into Harvard. Maybe it says a lot about my moral fiber or lack thereof, but I’d take that deal in a heartbeat. But Charlie doesn’t want to be THAT guy, so he is conflicted. It is rather weakly constructed drama and definitely takes a backseat to the main story, that of Colonel Slade. Pacino plays Slade in such a way that one dislikes him, feels sympathy for him, and is kind of rooting for him all at the same time. I especially enjoy when Charlie and the Colonel visit Slade’s brother’s family on Thanksgiving. We learn more about Slade’s backstory and how he ended up blind. We begin to understand why he acts the way he does, and somehow we end up cheering him on as he faces off with his prickly nephew (played by a pre-West Wing Bradley Whitford). Gradually Charlie and Colonel Slade form a respectful bond, and the movie culminates with the Colonel defending Charlie against a disciplinary committee at his stuffy prep school. Pacino’s soliloquy rivals anything Shakespeare ever wrote and is one of my favorite movie scenes of all time. He won the Oscar for his role in Scent of A Woman, and rightly so. Sometimes I think maybe it would have been a better movie if someone else besides O’Donnell would have portrayed Charlie, but I suppose it was necessary for Charlie to fade to the background so Colonel Slade could be what anyone who watches this film will remember.

 

 

34 A Shot in the Dark

There were a total of 9 Pink Panther films (I am not counting the recent remakes starring Steve Martin), 6 starring Peter Sellers as the hilarious Inspector Clouseau. Made in 1964, A Shot in the Dark is the second in the series, and in my opinion the best. Clouseau is charged with solving the murder of a chauffeur in a very wealthy and large household. The prime suspect is one of the maids, Maria Gambrelli, who was sleeping with the chauffeur. Despite the fact that all the evidence undeniably points to Maria, Clouseau will not arrest her because he has instantly become smitten with the undeniably beautiful woman. He bumbles his way through the investigation, getting himself arrested several times and driving his boss, Commissioner Dreyfus, absolutely mad. Several more murders are committed as well, but Clouseau refuses to believe Maria is guilty. A subplot involves Clouseau’s servant, Cato, whom the inept detective orders to attack him “whenever and wherever he least expects it”, a command that Cato follows in hysterical fashion. The relationships between Inspector Clouseau and the Commissioner and Cato, respectively, are laugh-out-loud funny, the very best parts of the film. Those relationships and the antics of Clouseau in general make the particulars of the whodunit plot relatively insignificant. Like any film series The Pink Panther became more and more ridiculous as the powers-that-be tried to squeeze more money out of the franchise, but A Shot in the Dark is a true gem and not to be missed.

 

 

33 Titanic

You’ve seen it…don’t even try to tell me you haven’t. Men especially seem unwilling to admit they have ever seen 1997’s Titanic, an epic blockbuster about the infamous “unsinkable” ship that sank on its maiden voyage on April 14, 1912. I have never really figured out if this reluctance is because in essence Titanic is a romance, or just some sort of ode to nonconformity in refusing to acknowledge that they saw what everyone else saw. All I know is that the film made nearly $2 billion and was in theaters for 10 months (over 3 of those were spent at #1 among the competition, which included such films as Good Will Hunting, Men in Black, Liar Liar, and Batman & Robin) in an era where most movies are gone within a month or two…so somebody watched the damn movie, and the law of averages would point to just about anyone and everyone. Personally I believe Titanic is a very well written movie with great performances and tremendous effects. I had been fascinated with the tragic story of the Titanic long before the movie was made, and I think the tale is told well. Some may say that real life, historically accurate characters should have been the focus and the movie about them. I understand that point, but I also see what James Cameron was trying to do and why he did it. The characters of Jack and Rose, as well as some of the other supporting roles, were meant as tributes to all 1500 passengers that perished. The “rich girl falls for a guy from the wrong side of the tracks” motif may be a bit cliché, but it works. The framing plot of the old lady who essentially tells the story as a flashback allowed Cameron to use actual footage captured on a dive in a submersible to the actual wreckage, which is pretty ingenious. If you really are one of the handful of people who has never seen Titanic, quit being a stubborn jackass and rent it. It’s a timeless narrative that I believe will stand up well for decades to come.

 

 

32 Back to the Future Trilogy

Yes, I know…this is technically a tie. But I maintain that it really isn’t. Though these three films were released over the course of five years, the story is continuous. Home base, so to speak, is 1985. In the first film Marty McFly is accidentally transported back to 1955 in his pal Doc Brown’s newly invented time machine (which is in the form of a DeLorean). There he meets his parents and inadvertently changes history by altering the moment the future Mr. & Mrs. McFly first make googly eyes at one another. So he has to fix that little problem before he can worry about getting back to his life in 1985. Needless to say the mission is accomplished and all is well. The second film sees the wacky Doc Brown take Marty and his girlfriend Jennifer 30 years into the future…2015…to help their misguided children. Marty must save his son and daughter from the nasty grandson of his father’s nemesis, Biff Tannen. We know from the first film that Biff has bullied and mistreated Marty’s father George since high school, but that Marty changed the course of that relationship for the better when he was in 1955. Unfortunately Biff has discovered the secret of the time machine and went back in it himself to once more alter 1985 so that he is a wealthy and powerful tyrant that has killed George and forced Marty’s mother, Lorraine, into marriage. So Marty and Doc have to go back to 1955 one more time to fix the damage. They do and all is well…for a brief moment. Lightning strikes the DeLorean, Doc disappears, and Marty is stuck in 1955. We have a cliffhanger. The third film has Marty, stuck in 1955, receive a letter from Doc, who has been transported back to 1885. Marty finds a way to have 1955 Doc get him to 1885, where he meets up with Doc and some of his own ancestors as well as forebearers of the Tannen clan. Marty saves Doc’s life, which is the reason he went back to 1885. He then finds a way, with the help of a steam locomotive, to get back to 1985. Doc is once again inadvertently left behind trying to get to his 1885 girlfriend Clara. At the end though, Doc and Clara arrive in 1985 via a wicked cool souped up train that has been converted into a time machine. The first Back to the Future is the best, and the third film the weakest. But it’s another case where a trilogy really needs to be treated as one entity. Time travel is almost always an awesome movie device, and these movies do it really well. We see what was at the time modern day, the 1980’s…go back to the 1950’s…go forward to a technologically advanced future in 2015…and go back to the 19th century Old West. It is the very definition of escapism. I haven’t done it for awhile, but it is a lot of fun to spend a rainy day watching all three movies consecutively. I have heard rumors for years about plans to revive the franchise, and I am sure at some point it shall be so, albeit with a whole new cast and likely nothing more than a cameo from Michael J. Fox. If and when that day comes I will judge the new film appropriately, but I will say this much…it’d have to be pretty special to live up to the original trilogy.

 

 

 

31 The Perfect Storm

I have tried very hard to dislike George Clooney. He is a pretty boy liberal who I would just love to bitch slap…but I’ll be damned if he isn’t a pretty good actor. There is no doubt that he is charismatic and charming. Here he plays the down-on-his-luck captain of a Gloucester fishing boat. Captain Billy Tyne and his crew…all of whom have lightly touched upon subplots…decide to go out on one more trip before the season ends in an effort to make more money. Unfortunately they get caught in a “perfect storm”, the convergence of three storms in the same place. I am not usually a fan of action films, but in this case the action is so well done…plus it’s unique, i.e. not the usual guns ablazing and mindless explosions but instead a fishing boat and its crew fighting horrendous weather. Even if considered alongside natural disaster flicks like Twister, Deep Impact, and Dante’s Peak, The Perfect Storm stands out due to excellent performances and good writing. The first time I ever watched the film I was not aware that it was based on a true story. I kept waiting for the heroic rescue and the happy ending. When it did not happen and I realized that it was a factual account, I almost cried because it was so sad. Subsequent viewings, with full knowledge of the real life tale, has only deepened my appreciation.

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Saving College Football Part Deux

A quick look in the archives will show that awhile back I put forth a 10 point plan to save college football. Because of recent developments involving radical changes in conference membership now seems like the perfect time to dive back into the issue with a follow-up or two or three.

 

One of the things I proposed was indeed conference realignment. But what I had in mind was NOT what is happening now. What is occurring at the moment is complete chaos fueled simply by greed. I continue to be amazed that these conferences seem to be independent entities over which the NCAA has absolutely no control. I am just a fan and I will not pretend to have command of the ins & outs of the business of big time collegiate athletics. But it seems to me that it shouldn’t be all that complicated.

 

At any rate, what has dawned on me over the course of the past few weeks is that conference realignment is not enough. What I would do is abolish the conferences altogether. College football should be about tradition and rivalries, and an important driving force has always been geography. As a general rule your favorite team’s biggest rivals are likely somewhat close in proximity. Oklahoma-Texas, Pitt-West Virginia, Alabama-Auburn, Ohio State-Michigan, Florida-Florida State-Miami, Oregon-Oregon State…all geographical rivals. USC-Notre Dame is a notable exception, but I defy anyone to come with a half dozen more. You can’t. There is a reason Washington St.-Maryland or Arkansas-UCLA aren’t rivalries…they are thousands of miles apart. Therefore, what I am proposing is that all current Division 1-A…or FBS or whatever they are calling them now…teams be placed into regions instead of conferences.

 

There would be ten regions, each with 10-13 teams. The ten regional winners would go into a 16 team playoff with and additional six at large teams, but more on that later. Since there is a lot of overlap in some areas of the country, most prominently the southeastern and western United States, there is an opportunity to take into consideration competitive balance in placing teams. For example, Ohio State and Akron may both be in the same state, but no one would argue that they are evenly matched programs. But since there are more than enough teams in the midwest for two overlapping regions this issue can be resolved pretty easily. Each team would play 11 games…7 within their region and 4 against whomever they wish. This accomplishes two things. First, it allows strength of scheduled to become an important factor and gives every team plenty of flexibility to take that into consideration when putting together schedules. Secondly, it allows traditional rivals an opportunity to keep playing. USC and Notre Dame may not be in the same region, but they can still play if the powers-that-be at those two schools deem it proper and feasible. The teams that did not play each other one year within any region would be required to play one another the next season. This would mix things up from year to year, which would certainly keep the game fresh for players, coaches, and fans.

 

As mentioned in the previous post on this topic, three teams…Army, Navy, and Air Force…would remain independent. In an effort to promote those programs every other school would be required to play atleast one of the independents every so many years. I will leave it to people far smarter than me to work out exact details, but you get the drift. So without further adieu, here are the ten regions:

 

Atlantic Coast

Clemson

Duke

East Carolina

Florida Atlantic

Florida International

Georgia

Georgia Tech

North Carolina

North Carolina St.

South Carolina

Wake Forest

 

Southeast

Alabama

Arkansas

Auburn

Central Florida

Florida

Florida St.

Louisiana St.

Miami, Fla.

Mississippi St.

Ole Miss.

South Florida

Tennessee

 

Midsouth

Kentucky

Louisville

Marshall

Memphis

Middle Tennessee St.

Troy

Tulsa

UAB

Vanderbilt

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Western Kentucky

 

Northeast

Boston College

Buffalo

Connecticut

Maryland

Penn St.

Pittsburgh

Rutgers

Syracuse

Temple

West Virginia

 

Gulf Coast

Arkansas State

Louisiana-Lafayette

Louisiana-Monroe

Louisiana Tech

North Texas

Rice

Southern Methodist

Southern Miss.

Texas Christian

Tulane

UTEP

 

Big Sky

Boise St.

Colorado

Colorado St.

Idaho

Kansas

Kansas St.

Minnesota

Nebraska

San Jose St.

Utah

Utah St.

Wyoming

 

Great Lakes

Akron

Ball St.

Bowling Green

Central Michigan

Cincinnati

Eastern Michigan

Kent St.

Miami, OH

Northern Illinois

Ohio U.

Toledo

Western Michigan

 

Midwest

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa St.

Michigan

Michigan St.

Missouri

Northwestern

Notre Dame

Ohio St.

Purdue

Wisconsin

 

Pacific Coast

BYU

California

Hawaii

Nevada

Oregon

Oregon St.

Southern Cal

Stanford

UCLA

UNLV

Washington

Washington St.

 

Southwest

Arizona

Arizona State

Baylor

Fresno State

Houston

New Mexico

New Mexico St.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma St.

San Diego St.

Texas

Texas A&M

Texas Tech

Independent           = Army, Navy, Air Force

 

I am not foolish enough to think that there is a perfect solution, but I think the NCAA can do much better that the current fiasco that we see playing out in the sports pages and on ESPN. When the mood strikes me to next tackle this subject we will go into more detail about how the playoffs and the revised bowl system will work.

The Fruits of the Spirit – Joy

joyLast summer I began a series on the Fruits of the Spirit, but did not get very far before getting distracted with other things. The truth is that those other things are usually either easier or more fun to write, or spur of the moment musings brought on by something that has inspired me in my daily life. Something like a close examination of a lengthy and important Biblical passage takes a bit more research and prayerful consideration and therefore becomes a bit more of a task. However, circumstances have converged in a way that has aroused my desire to pick up the mantle. A general malaise and feeling of dissatisfaction with my life has somehow coincided with the writer’s block that hits me on occasion lifting. So rather than write a bunch of stuff that would only be of interest to disciples of Sylvia Plath, Ernest Hemingway, and Kurt Cobain, I have decided to write about joy. Oh how I dig irony.

 

Most may assume that we have a firm grasp on what joy is, but do we really?? Joy is defined as great delight, gladness of heart, keen pleasure, elation, glad feeling, and festive gaiety. Oftentimes the terms joy and happiness are used interchangeably, but is that accurate?? I think not. The author CS Lewis pondered the question thusly: “I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy. Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is”. We can follow that up with this musing from another author, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “You shall have joy, or you shall have power, said God; you shall not have both”. I think one would be correct in stating that happiness is much more akin to pleasure, and therefore happiness and joy are not the same. Lewis is right…happiness is usually within our power. It doesn’t take all that much to make the average person happy. The possibilities are endless and depend on one’s own individual preferences. Personally I am happy reading a good book, when my favorite sports teams win, playing with my puppy, eating good food, and whenever I catch a favorite old movie on television…just to name a few. Others have spouses and children that make them happy. Some folks travel. Others play music. The problem, however, is this…as easily as we can be happy we can also quickly become unhappy. Anger, bitterness, and frustration are byproducts of being fallible human beings and dealing with others just like us. Happiness is all too temporary. Those things that make us happy may only last mere minutes or hours, and then it is right back to the inherent unhappiness in a world fraught with sin.

 

We spend our entire lives in the constant pursuit of happiness and pleasure. “The pursuit of happiness” is even written into the United States Declaration of j2Independence as an unalienable right endowed to men by God. The Founding Fathers almost had it right…but not quite. What we tend to find is that this pursuit of happiness is exhausting and ultimately empty. At the very least we are limited by time, money, and other responsibilities. In extreme cases we see people who tried to find happiness via alcohol, drugs, illicit sex, and other assorted illegal or unhealthy activities have their lives destroyed or even ended prematurely. St. Thomas Aquinas once stated “man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joy it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures”. Now I am not saying that we should stop having good clean fun. To be honest I get aggravated with Christians who unwittingly put a bad spin on the faith because they are uptight wet blankets that will not allow themselves to loosen up. However, what I am suggesting is that we put fun/happiness/pleasure into its proper perspective and understand its fickle nature. What we truly need to pursue is joy, and that cannot be found in a bar, as an ingredient in any drug, on television, at the mall, in any food we eat, or in the seemingly intimate embrace of another human being.

 

Romans 14:17 tells us that “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”. At the end of the day the pursuit of happiness will always leave a void remaining within us, but true joy in The Lord is eternal. That joy will enhance the highs of life, but it also assists in riding out the low points…and there WILL be low points. One of the problems we run into is that we don’t like feeling sad, lonely, angry, disappointed, etc. In order to avoid those bad feelings we pursue more happiness, which in turn eventually lets us down again. We are like a cat chasing its tail, and it’s a game we cannot win, a most vicious cycle. What we need to do is change the game. Life does not have to be like golf or tennis…us against the world. Life is a team effort, but we not only have to accept the help of our teammate, but we have to make Him the captain of the team. Psalm 16:11 says “You will show me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of joy. At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore”. The only way we can grow from the meaningless, vacant pursuit of happiness into having joy is to put our ego aside and let Him lead.

 

Now one thing we do have to understand is what I mentioned about those low points. I truly believe that the closer we draw to God the more it ticks off Satan and the more he tempts us in an effort to force us into sin. And while it is a certainty that we will still sin on occasion, we can lessen the impact if God is our team captain. I don’t want to plunge too deeply into the topics of salvation and grace, not only because it is straying from the purpose at hand but also because those subjects deserve their own focus. Suffice to say that if we are covered in the blood of Christ our sin is washed away and we are assured eternal life. But more germane to the present issue, if we have full joy in God then we can better weather the storms of life that are sure to come along. Habakkuk 3:17-18 says “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls— Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation”.

 

Also, if we are experiencing true joy in our life then we are better equipped to witness to others. Mother Teresa once said ““joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” And isn’t that part of our mission?? We are to be “fishers of men”. I am certainly not an expert fisherman, but I know enough to understand that it is a lot easier and one will catch more fish with a net.

 

for_joySo how do we find joy?? I am not sure I am qualified to answer that question, as I am still figuring it out myself (and, to be quite honest, not doing such a great job lately), but I know a few things. I know that we are to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”. One needs a personal relationship with Jesus Christ…that is the foundation for everything. I know the basic rules, i.e. The Ten Commandments, and other teachings of Jesus and that we are to strive to be Christ-like. I know that I am “in the world but not of the world” and that we (Christians) are to be “peculiar people”.  And I know that, as Ecclesiastes tells us, everything else is vanity. But there is a difference between knowing and doing. Famed 19th century minister and author Henry Ward Beecher said that “There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousands truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away.” We are so busy pursuing temporary, meaningless, and sometimes carnal and sinful pleasures that we overlook the eternal joy within our grasp. Stopping the cycle of futility is an ongoing battle. Much like an alcoholic is never truly “cured”, we need to fight for our joy every day, resisting empty temptations and turning instead to our Father in heaven. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Let your gentleness be known to all men. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” – Phillipians 4:4-7.

 

 

 

 

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Persons of the Month – May 2010

I honestly do not know what sort of mental block I have when it comes to writing the Person of the Month entry every 30-ish days. My goal is always to complete the task in the last couple days of the month or no later than the first day of the new month. Somehow though I always run a few days late. I suppose it’s a good thing I’m not getting paid to do this…yet. When that day comes I will have to be more mindful of deadlines.

It seems like we are constantly breaking new ground here, which is fine by me. For May 2010 we will once again be selecting two POMs, but this time it is entirely by choice and not because I played a practical joke last month. Also, the two people we will be honoring are both politicians, which is sort of like giving the key to the city to an IRS agent or letting a stripper babysit your kids. However, I have retained just enough of my idealism to believe that there are still decent people whose goals are mostly selfless and untainted. As Padme  Skywalker said to Obi-Wan Kenobi about her husband Anakin…right about the time he was morphing into Darth Vader…”there is still good in him”. Admittedly my overriding cynicism will only allow that belief to be very limited, but atleast it’s something, right??

Our first honoree is a guy I am really growing to like and respect. In the past month I have seen countless video clips of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and in every one of them he absolutely owns the room he is in and the people who have the audacity to challenge him. He has taken on thin skinned media weasels, teachers unions, tax & spend liberals, and all manner of other critics. He is direct and does not mince words. Governor Christie is a statesman, not a typical 21st century politician. I do not live in New Jersey so what happens there does not affect me in the least, but when I see Christie speak it leaves me wishing my home state of West Virginia and our national government in Washington DC had such strong and effective leadership. This is a man who appears to have a deeply ingrained set of conservative core principles and the wherewithal to not back down from a fight. Governor Christie is fairly new to the spotlight but is already being touted by some as a possible 2012 Presidential candidate. He has stated that he has no interest in a run for the White House, and that’s fine by me. I would have no problem with seeing his career progress for another few years, whether that means another term as Governor (a tough proposition in liberal New Jersey), or maybe some other prominent position. One thing is for sure…Chris Christie is not some soft spoken moderate like John McCain or someone that people will refuse to take seriously like Sarah Palin. Folks do and will pay attention to him no matter what his job title may be, and that can be nothing but positive for conservatism in America.

Our second POM is another Governor, this time from the other side of the country. Jan Brewer was Arizona’s Secretary of State until then Governor Janet Napolitano was chosen by Barack Hussein Obama to become Secretary of Homeland Security. The line of succession made Brewer the new Governor and she is up for election to a full term in 2010.

Despite having been in office only a little over a year, Brewer has already been thrust into the glare of nationwide scrutiny.  In April she signed a state law that will…gasp…actually enforce immigration laws already on the books. This law has spawned widespread whining and temper tantrums from liberal politicians, pansy ass celebrities, the idiotic drive by media, and various sectors of an increasingly wussified American public. Protests, boycotts, and threats abound. Accusations of racial profiling have bleeding hearts wringing their hands and complaining, which is what they’re good at instead of actually solving problems. The law specifically states that police can “question people about their immigration status if there is reason, other than race, ethnicity or national origin, to suspect they are illegal immigrants after they have been stopped, detained or arrested for another crime or suspicion of another crime.” So, first of all, if you are in the country legally you have nothing to worry about. Secondly, even if you are already committing the crime of being an illegal immigrant you still having nothing to fear as long as you keep your nose clean and don’t commit another crime. That sounds pretty fair to me. I do not want to go off on a tangent about illegal immigration right at the moment, but I do not understand what all the consternation is about the issue. Yes, our Statue of Liberty is inscribed with the statement “”give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me”, but that does not mean chaos should reign. There is a process. You want to come to The Melting Pot?? Fine…but dammit you better be willing to melt. In my mind that means going through the proper procedure of legally entering the country and following the steps that have been laid out. My paternal great grandparents both came from Italy in the early part of the 20th century, and both went through Ellis Island and did what was right and what was expected of all new citizens. They did it, so why should people entering from Mexico or wherever else in 2010 be any different?? Why is doing the right thing such a difficult concept to grasp these days??

Thus far Governor Brewer has stood strong and faced the vocal opposition to the law she signed. She even met with President Obama and apparently did not give in. Tom Petty once sang “I won’t back down…you could stand me up at the gates of hell but I won’t back down…gonna stand my ground, won’t be turned around…I’ll keep this world from draggin’ me down…there ain’t no easy way out in a world that keeps on pushin’ me around but I’ll stand my ground”.  As long as the Governor sticks to her guns she will be another shining example of conservatism done right.