The mj15 Blog Hall of Famer: The Decision

How could one memorable Lebron James interview with Jim Gray have made such an enormous impact on the NBA in less than a year's time?


The ESPN special? One hour. The announcement? Less than ten seconds. And yet, over a year later, that miniscule moment in time in which Lebron James made official his decision to play for the Miami Heat with fellow Class of 2003 draftees Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade has since had a huge impact not only in the game of basketball, but also in the world of sports.

Look, you and I both know what happened during "The Decision." Hell, you even know what I thought about "The Decision" if you ever read my three days late analysis of it last July. So instead, I'm just going to spend the rest of this Hall of Fame induction post giving you, the reader, a list of reasons (in honor of the amount of years left on James' contract with Miami) as to why I chose this to enshrinement as well as the impact that this fateful moment in early July 2010 had during this past NBA season and (pending a lockout that will last longer than four months) will continue to have for the next few years to come.

1. Well, as far as this blog is concerned, "The Decision" was part of a tiny list of posts I have ever done where the main topic of interest was NBA related. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of basketball. However, my love and passion for the game just doesn't equal my love for other sports like, say, baseball or golf or especially football. However, that moment last July along with the vitriolic reaction against James was so dominant around the Internet and as a point of conversation that there was no reason why I shouldn't have pitched in (I did after all dedicated numerous posts beforehand to talking about James' upcoming free agency and how I would've love it had he decided to play for my Chicago Buls). Also, "The Decision" was such a big sports story that it swayed me to name Lebron James not only my July 2010 Person of the Month but also a member of my 2010 People of the Year. Plus, that first season with James in Miami? I talked more about his team in 2010-2011 than any other team in the NBA, including the Bulls (at least 15 posts have "miami heat" labels on it to date).

2. It wasn't just myself that found that 2010-2011 Miami Heat team captivating. Because of "The Decision," the signings of Wade and Bosh the day earlier and the fact that they now were the new villains in the NBA, interest in that team soared to Michael Vick-led Philadelphia Eagles and New York Yankees level heights. From their first regular season game against the Boston Celtics all the way to those NBA Finals game against the Dallas Mavericks, many took a rising interest in that team, for the most part just so they could either join its fanbase bandwagon or passionately root against them (mostly the latter), leading to big ratings whenever they were shown on national TV (fellow 2011 inductee Brett Favre was like that, too, in that he was also despised by many people while also drawing big game ratings to his last two seasons in Minnesota). When the team had those two periods where they were struggling, that was big news. When Lebron James returned to Cleveland, that was big news. When they were winning and made it to the Finals, that was also huge news. Not since the 2003-2004 Los Angeles Lakers with its Kobe and Shaq feud has there been so much attention paid towards one specific NBA team.

Of course, no other sports enterprise profited from and later got the benefit from "The Decision" more than ESPN. They did everything they could to take that interest in Lebron James and make it into ratings gold, whether it was actually airing "The Decision" to having a Sportscenter crew actually cover their training camps (how often do you see that in the NBA?) to even creating something called the Heat Index, a place to go to on the ESPN website for daily Miami Heat stories and analysis. And you know what? It paid off. After all, just look at those Finals ratings. Game 6 alone got the highest ratings for any Finals game in 11 years, with viewership rising up to 25 million by the end of gametime. This bring me to my next point...

3. Not only did "The Decision" lead to an increase of interest in the Miami Heat and its quest for a title. It also lead interest into the NBA, making 2010-2011 one of its most exciting seasons ever. Don't believe me? Well, then, answer me this: when was the last time that you have ever been interest in the NBA as early as late October as you probably were when the Heat took on the Celtics on opening night? Or better yet, how often did you care more about an NBA season before this one? Here's the editor-in-chief of ESPN's Grantland and 2010 The mj15 Blog Hall of Famer Bill Simmons with a more detailed and more elaborate explanation during his 06/10 column on the NBA Finals (as if the Brett Favre mentioning wasn't enough of a connection between "The Decision" and other previous Hall of Famers):

"You may have noticed this, but the NBA is back. Not since Michael Jordan was coughing up mucus on Ahmad Rashad in Utah has the league been this compelling: personified by its incredible 2011 Finals, currently riding a four-game "Games That Will Be Shown On ESPN Classic" streak. The NBA has more marketable stars than every other American team sport combined. Its three biggest markets (Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago) feature three playoff teams, five of the best 15 players, the reigning MVP (Derrick Rose), one of the 10-best players ever (Kobe Bryant), and the league's most exciting young star (Blake Griffin). Its signature franchise (Miami) has been the single most polarizing American sports team since … since … (wait, has there ever been a more polarizing American sports team?). Even better, the league has gravitated toward an NFL-type model in which fans watch playoff games no matter who's involved, as we found out during the Oklahoma City-Memphis series."

He also went to talk about how well the league has been doing internationally, in the digital market and in the business of selling black athletes to a white-dominated fanbase, but that has really been years in the making, whether the majority of the examples listed in that paragraph can actually be tied to "The Decision" in a way. And to think, the NBA might have just blown that momentum they gained this season with a lockout that has a gloomier outlook at the moment than at any point during this NFL's 2011 lockout.

4. The impact on the two main teams involved in "The Decision," the Cleveland Cavaliers (James' former team) and the Miami Heat (James' current team), was huge. In less a season, the Miami Heat went 47-35 and an opening round playoff loss to the Celtics to 58-24 and an Eastern Conference championship. While the Heat vastly improved this season, the Cavaliers vastly tank in quality since James announced that he would leave the team during "The Decision," going from 61-21 in '09-'10 to 18-63 in '10-'11, and from the #1 seed in the NBA's Eastern Conference playoffs to the #1 worst record in the league...all because of the loss of one guy! If Derrick Rose hadn't led the Chicago Bulls to the NBA's best record this season, I would have been perfectly fine with James earning a third straight MVP award.

5. "The Decision" almost paid off for James and the Heat in year one! This season, the Miami Heat had many doubters wronged by proving that you can have great success in this league with only three good players, dominating all three rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs and being just two games away from an NBA title, the second in franchise history and the first that Lebron James would have received (the sole purpose of him bothering to come to Miami). Unfortunately for the Heat, the team they faced in the NBA Finals was none other than the team on a mission, the Dallas Mavericks, led by Dirk Nowitzki who was making shots as if he were trying to save his life that season, and they lost that series in six games, 4 to 2 (including a 15 point comeback win in game 2). However, with the team having their Big Three under contract for five more years (at least), expect to see them remain one of the league's favorites to win it for years to come (and the mass-nationwide hatred of them to slowly deteriorate as the days since "The Decision" starts to grow overtime).



Be sure to come back Monday as I wrap up The mj15 Blog's Hall of Fame Week with the fifth and final inductee into the 2011 class (I felt like one tiny day off would be good). I'll give you a hint: it's a group of people, all of whom were mentioned multiple times on this site before, yet only one was brought in last year's Hall of Fame honorable mentions post. In the meantime, won't you please enjoy the rest of your Saturday? Thank you.

Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15





If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.

End of the Week: 07/24/11- 07/30/11

END OF THE WEEK:

With so much time this week here at The mj15 Blog dedicated to announcing the 2011 Hall of Fame class, I figure that it's about time that we take a nice little break from the festivities and focus on other pressing issues at hand, mainly a brand new "End of the Week." As always, here are my picks for some of the best and most memorable people, things and moments from the past seven.

Quote of the Week: Pastor Joe Nelms Just Before a NASCAR Nationwide Series Race at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday:

"Heavenly father, we thank you tonight for all your blessings. You said in all things, give thanks. So we wanna thank you tonight for these mighty machines that you've brought before us.

Thank you for the Dodges and the Toyotas. Thank you for the Fords, and most of all, we thank you for Roush and Yates partnering to give us the power that we see before us tonight. Thank you for GM Performance technology and the RO7 engines. Thank you for Sunoco racing fuel and Goodyear racing tires that bring performance and power to the track.

Lord, I wanna thank you for my smokin' hot wife, tonight, Lisa, my two children, Eli and Emma, or as we like to call them, the Little Es. Lord, I pray you bless the drivers and use them tonight. May they put on a performance worthy of this great track. In Jesus' name, boogity-boogity-boogity.

Amen."

Replace the kids names with "Walker" and "Texas Ranger" and that just might have been the most redneck prayer ever given.

Stories of the Week:
-The Actual Story of the Week: House Passes Boehner's Debt Ceiling Billl; Senate Swiftly Rejects It
You gotta love that 112th U.S. Congress! Waiting until the very last minute to complete something even though they all agree that the debt ceiling should be increased so that the country doesn't default. I hope you're happy, now, libertarians! Now, go use that 14th Amendment to increase or eliminate the debt ceiling without any cuts,. Obama!
-The Tiger Woods Saga of '09 Memorial Story of the Week: Dave Chappelle Tells Single Joke, Then Sighs on Stage for 45 Minutes
This man has been testing my patience for sic years long enough! I loved those first two seasons of the show, but this is still pretty unacceptable.

Birthday Present of the Week: Soulja Boy's $55 million G5 jet to himself
This bring up an interesting question: how in the hell did such a simplistic rapper manage to get $55 million from people anyways?

Movie of the Week: "The Town,"
for having a scene that was shown to House Republicans for inspiration this past week. That scene shows Ben Affleck's character going up to Jeremy Renner's character and says "I need your help. I can't tell you what it is. You can never ask about it later," to which Renner's character says "Whose care are we going to take?" (after the clip, Florida Rep. Alan West responded by saying "I'm ready to drive that car"). Man, what a terrific example for today's House Republicans! And the fact that they don't understand the irony of the scene makes it ever better.

Video of the Week: "Harrison Ford Settles a Feud"
If only his acting was this good in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," then maybe the movie would have been a little more watchable.



Scientific Discovery of the Week: The Ending to the 1979 movie "The Champ" is the Saddest Scene In Film History
Well, I don't know about this scene, but I did watch the ending for the 1931 original, so I'm going to go with their word on it.

Person(s) of the Week: American Sports Fans
Not only did the NFL lockout officially end this week ending any chance there being no football in 2011 or any future labor dispute for the next ten seasons, but the result of which has now led to us taking being witnesses in a week of frenzied free agency signings and trade acquisitions the likes of which we have never seen before in history. See, because the NFL offseason technically started the day after the lockout ended ended on Monday and because the normal free agency signing period starts around March, each of the 32 teams now had to do everything in high gear. In other words, we got to see moves that have been made in the past five days that normally would have been done in a span of three or four months. And what a week it has been! Nnamdi Asomugha to Eagles, Donovan McNabb to the Eagles, Kevin Kolb to the Cardinals, Matt Hasselback to the Titans, Chad Ochocinco to the Patriots, Sidney Rice to the Seahawks, and oh so much more!

Not to be outdone, Major League Baseball, who has usually owned the transaction rumor mills at this time of year with their annual July 31st trading deadline, has also featured some prominent moves made this week. Some of these deals have included Hunter Pence being traded from the Houston Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Cubs trading Kosuke Fukudome to the Indians, Edwin Jackson and Colby Rasmus traded in a Blue Jays-Cardinals-White Sox three team deal and the Tigers acquiring Tiger pitcher Doug Fister. However, out of all these trades, none have yet to be bigger than the San Francisco Giants acquiring coveted outfielder Carlos Beltran from the New York Mets for their top pitching prospect, Zach Miller. And the best part of all these past MLB and NFL wave of transactions? It has yet to be over! In the NFL, prominent players like Cedric Benson, Darren Sproles, Cullen Jenkins, and Kyle Orton either still on the free agent or rumored to get traded while in the MLB (with a full day to go before the 4 p.m./ET deadline), names like B.J. Upton, Matt Thornton, Carlos Quentin (d'oh!), Rafael Furcal, Tyler Clippard, Hiroki Kuroda and Ubaldo Jimenez rumored to be on the trading block. Yes, sir, it has been quite a week being a sports fans, watching the constant breaking news on SportsCenter and on the two leagues' separate networks, and it should be interest to watch what's going to be happening next.

And that's the way it was! Be sure to come back later tonight to see who or what shall get the second to last induction into this year's The mj15 Blog Hall of Fame class. And now, precious reader, I do bid you...adieu.
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15





If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.

The mj15 Blog Hall of Famer: Karen Owen

Duke University's finest!


About a year ago, I inducted a then 21 year old man by the name of Matthew Clemmens into the inaugural class of this blog's Hall of Fame. There have been plenty of instances of asshole sports fans going too far at a sporting event (just look at the story of those despicable Dodgers fans beating up Giants fan Bryan Stow into a coma earlier this year as an example). However, not many have done so as originally as Clemmens did during a Philadelphia Phillies home game in April of 2010 when he actually vomited right into a cop and his 11 year old daughter when he became pissed that they started to complain about the unruly and obscene voices they made during the match. It was a story so shocking and so unbelievable (how could something really do such a thing?) while also reaffirming the negative stereotype of Philadelphia sports fans that I just had to induct him for it.

I bring Clemmens up in this post because he is a man that was the least recognizable face of the group out of the rest of the 2010 class. Whereas the rest of that Hall of Fame class included famous celebrities like Tiger Woods and Conan O'Brien, prestigious writers like Bill Simmons and notable politicians like Mark Sanford and Alvin Greene, Clemmens was a man who (before that incident) was just some white-crash nobody living in Cherry Hill, N.J.. Since the incident..well, he's still a white-trash nobody, but at least now he's a white trash nobody with an infamous act of vulgarity in his permanent record that sent him to jail for a few months. He was an individual whose story outside any others that might have been given a Person of the Week here or a "Tiger Woods Saga of '09 Memorial Story of the Week" there, at least in this writer's opinion.

In other words, Clemmens was to the 2010 Hall of Fame class as tonight's inductee, Karen F. Owen (who previously got mentioned in this blog as a runner-up for Person of the Week and on the list of the most memorable people of 2010), is to the 2011 Hall of Fame class.

Before the fall of 2010, Ms. Owen was nothing more than a plain looking, ex-college co-ed in her early twenties who, in the past spring, finally graduated as a student of Duke University. But then, on one faithful day in September of 2010, Owen's powerpoint presentation thesis that she has completed and presented four months earlier was released of public viewing. Since then, that name has forever gone down into infamy as the creator of one of the strangest and most ambitious college theses ever.

In this thesis-like powerpoint document titled "An Education Beyond the Classroom: Excelling in the Realm of Horizontal Academics" (a more fancier way to name "f@ck ratings list"), Owen presented a report that spanned her entire four year experience at Duke in which she made a list of thirteen student athletes at the school she had sex with and then evaluated their performance on a scale of one to ten in categories ranging from their penis size to how aggressive and Danny Woodhead-esque gritty they were in the sack. The women issues centered blog Jezebel was the first to present the thesis for the entire Internet public to see for their viewing pleasure. Here is a YouTube slideshow of Owen's 42-point thesis, courtesy of account holder "s31leg":



As you can see, Owen was not afraid to criticize those who just treated her like a place to put their penis in and to praise those who did a good job. Since her thesis was released to the public, Owen has since become quite an infamous name in Duke University lore (because how often be so bold and so naive of possible backlash to do such a thing?). In addition to this instant fame (or infamy, depending on how you view it), Owen has also received a few legal troubles courtesy of the men whose name have been mentioned in the thesis, as well as potential book and movie deals. However, considering how the story has been blown off for the past few months and that Owen has remained quiet from the spotlight, it's hard to imagine that any of these things mentioned will proceed for a while.

So, what do we make of the Owen story now that it has been a full ten months since her thesis, one the most interesting things to pop up in this year in The mj15 Blog's short history, went viral? Well, for one thing you have to admire the girl's boldness and lack of critical thinking to actually forego any attempt of doing a more respected, less Harlequin thesis in favor of, well...the thing that she eventually end up presenting to the university for review. After all, for someone who went to Duke she really was blind of any possible consequences if her powerpoint were ever to be released (and since hers was so juicy, I don't see why it ever would have remained hidden). Second, it was certainly one of the most interesting stories to have been released in the last 12 months, joining the Northwestern sex-toy demo scandal as one of the strangest stories to come out of this past school year. Finally, whether you consider Owen a sad figure or a hero, at least we can all agree that it is something that will take the woman a long time to make people forget of this dark moment in her life. And, unfortunately, I think I may have just made that even more harder to do short term.


Two more left before the 2011 Hall of Fame inductions are finally completed. Be sure to come back tomorrow to see ho is next. In the meantime, enjoy a safe and happy Friday!

Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15





If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.

The mj15 Blog Hall of Famer: Charlie Sheen

The mj15 Blog thanks The AV Club everyday for this wonderful image of Mr. Sheen.

 

Of the five inductees that have been selected into the 2011 class, Charlie Sheen was the latest one to ever be discussed on this blog. From July of 2009 to September of 2010, I don't think I can ever recall yelping the slightest peep about Sheen or any of his on-screen/off-screen shenanigans. That mostly has to do with the fact that he was relatively tamed during this period (that is, unless you consider voluntary rehab tame), and because I don't watch "Two and a Half Men" since I think it sucks. However, once Sheen did make his make his first major appearance onto this blog back in October, he hit the ground off running and eventually went through more wild escapades that would continue to top himself, climaxing in late February/early March when Mr.F-18 infamously made some harsh remarks toward "Two and a Half Men" showrunner Chuck Lorre, leading to his firing by Warner Bros. and the unforgettable, catchphrase sparking interviews with several media outlets soon after. Some might have called Sheen's actions this past year a sad turn of events for a drug addict desperately needing some help. I call it a year worthy of being enshrined into the blog's Hall of Fame.

So, without further ado, here's a timeline of the past year into the life of the Tiger Blood trademarkee, one that saw lose a job working on a hit TV show and some national media attention for a period of around...four to five weeks. And just like the word that Sheen loved to toss around this past March, it surely is "winning."

October 26th, 2010: Despite being released from rehab voluntarily just two months prior, Sheen made headlines with news that he was hospitalized after a wild night in Manhattan's famed Plaza Hotel in which he used hard drugs, partied with a porn star, trashing his entire hotel suite in an attempt to find his wallet and cellphone (total amount damaged= $7,000), trapped said porn star in a closet and was finally arrested by police after the hotel clerk called to complain about the disturbances he was causing. After being reviewed by medical professional, Sheen was released from the hospital the next day. This news prompted me to honor the story in an installment of "End of the Week," the October 2010 edition of "End of the Month," and part one of "End of the Year 2010."

November 2010 to mid-January 2011: All quiet on the Western front. Ricky Gervais had a good bit involving his October incident in his Golden Globes monologue, but that's about it. Basically, it was two and a half months of Sheen working on the set of "Two and a Half Men," and keeping the attention on him to the down low. In other words, it was the silence before the big storm.

January 27th, 2011: A new year, a new "Charlie Sheen has wild night with pornstar!" story. Around 7 a.m. that morning, the man was rushed into the hospital after suffering severe abdominal pains following a 36 hour partying binge with two pornstars (now known as his former "goddesses," Natalie Kenly and Rachel Oberlin) that (surprise!) involved cocaine and other drugs. Because of this story, I ended up choosing Sheen as my pick for the 01/23-01/29 Person of the Week.

January 28th: In response to Sheen's trip to the hospital a day prior and the news that he would go through a substance rehabilitation program in his home, television network CBS, home of "Two and a Half Men" by announcing that the show would be put into hiatus for the second year in a row.

February 24th: In an interview on "The Alex Jones Show," Sheen publicly made angry, derogatory comments against "Two and a Half Men" creator and executive producer Chuck Lorre, calling him the anti-semetic slur "Hymie" among other things. For CBS and especially Warner Bros., who had become frustrated by Sheen in the past, this interview was the straw that finally broke the camel's back, and they officially stopped production of the eighth season of 'Men,' even putting the status of any return of the show in jeopardy. In an open letter to TMZ (the tabloid website who would eventually become the Ed Werder to his Brett Favre in future days to come), Sheen expressed anger with the move while continuing to show his contempt towards Lorre. This, my friends, was just the tip of the iceberg.

February 25th-March 7th: Oh man, where to start! Well, thanks in large part to CBS and Warner Bros. shutting down "Two and a Half Men" for the rest of season 8 and his open letter to TMZ, Sheen took part in a bunch of memorable interviews including ones with The Howard Stern Show, CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight and ABC's 20/20, and CBS's The Early Show. As a result of these interviews, the constant amount memorable of Charlieism quotes like "I have a disease. It's called Charlie Sheen" and "Duh, Winning," the American tabloid-loving public became captivated with the chaos of Sheen's life (so much so that he launched a Twitter feed and U-Stream live videos under the name "Sheen's Korner" during this time that became massive hits instantly). And of course, as someone who loves it when celebrities publicly go crazy, Sheen's wild time ended up dominating not only the 03/06/-03/12 edition of "End of the Week" (probably the most dominating "End of the Week" since the Tiger Woods saga domination in November 2009) but also March 2011's "End of the Month."

March 8th: Despite rumors of CBS wanting a potential Sheen return to "Two and a Half Men," Warner Bros. studios officially announced that they have fired the show's former star and even went as far as banning the man from returning to the studios again. In response, Sheen did what you would except Sheen to do and sued Warner Bros. and Chuck Lorre for a combined $100 million. This lawsuit never ended up in trial.

April 2nd: In his first performance of the Profiting Off The Media Spotlight State Show, a.k.a. the "Violent Torpedo of Truth" in Detroit, Michigan, Sheen did nothing short of bombing live on stage, with the crowd booing him as well as leaving the are in frustration. Sheen would end up re-writing the script for future shows, and the tour would go on as planned. Since I was apparently in awe of every little thing that Charlie Sheen did at the time, I once again included him on another installment of "End of the Week."

May 13th: Over two months since Sheen was permanently fired as the star of "Two and a Half Men," CBS and Warner Bros. announced that actor Ashton Kutcher, whose previous TV appearances including a starring role on "That 70's Show" and a hosting gig on "Punk'd," would fill his role on the show during its ninth (and possibly final) season. In response to the replacement choice, Sheen responded with a backhanded remark, congratulating Kutcher for getting the role while also proclaiming a big fall in the ratings for the show once the new episodes begin airing this September.

July: Charlie Sheen agrees to be the next celebrity to receive a Comedy Central Roast. The premiere of this special? September 22nd, the same day that the Ashton Kutcher era of "Two and a Half Men" is scheduled to premiere. Speaking of Sheen, Lionsgate studios announced (after weeks of rumors) that a new sitcom starring him, based on the 2003 movie "Anger Management," is set and has been greenlighted into production. The show will probably air on TBS sometime in 2012. Oh, and the amount of time it's been since Sheen hasn't appeared in a drug-related trip to the hospital? Over six months, although since this is
Charlie Sheen we're talking about, another one is bound to come eventually.


And there you have it. A quick summary of how Sheen got to this blog's Hall of Fame. Be sure to come back tomorrow when I reveal inductee #3 into the Hall of Fame. Until then, can I get a little dubstep to close this post right?



Thank you.

Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15


If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.

The mj15 Blog Hall of Famer: Brett Favre

The lasting images of Brett Favre's final seven games played in 2010.


Before I continue, I just want to make it clear that the Brett Favre that was chosen as the first of this blog's five 2011 Hall of Famers is not the Brett Favre that we all knew between the years 1992 and 2008. I repeat, this isn't the Brett Favre that you saw in Green Bay win a Super Bowl, receive multiple MVPs and break a ton of quarterback records including most TD passes, most career yards and most interceptions to name a few. Neither is this Brett Favre the Brett Favre that we saw constantly adored by John Madden and by the Green Bay faithful, was actually the sympathetic person during his first un-retirement in the summer of 2008 and was actually slightly less irritating than he was as late as this past January once upon a time.

No, wonderful reader of mine, the Brett Favre that I'm inducting here tonight is the one whose life and career we saw unfold before our very eyes from the period of the summer of 2009 to the winter of 2011. This was the Brett Favre who one year saw his football career reach the highest of highs, and then reached low, schadenfreude-tastic proportions the next. In this span of time, we also saw Number Four take part of two straight offseasons in which he re-retired the one minute and then spending an entire summer (much like in 2008) with the sports media watching his every move in his Hattiesburg, Mississippi home, coying everyone about his desires to come back and play football even though we all knew that's what was going to occur. And of course, we saw a man go from one of the most beloved players in the game to one of the most loathed, someone that many people loved to hate.

In addition, it was the Brett Favre that was one of the topics which I periodically brought up on this blog in these past two years (most of the time during football season, obviously), and that's really the most important in this situation.

Anyways, this infamous (and most likely final) period in the 20 year long Brett Favre saga all began as early as February of 2009, nearly five-and-a-half month before I decided to start this blog, when the ol' gunslinger (then a member of the New York Jets) decided to retire for the second time in two years. Even though Favre later conducted an interview with ESPN's Ed Werder claiming that this retirement was "the real deal," once the Jets officially released him from his contract on April 28th, making him a free agent by definition, suspicion began swirling across the football world that the former Packers QB would now be signing a deal with his former team's rival, the Minnesota Vikings, who were lacking in good QB talent (their #1 starter in the 2008 season was Tavaris Jackson, who did help lead the team to a division title that year and was athletic but was never close to being as good of a passing quarterback as Favre). For Favre, signing with the Vikings would mean that he would go to a team that has a dome stadium where he could potentially prove that he was still a good QB after a relatively disappointing year in New York (capped off with an interception in his final pass of the season) and, of course, was a way to try to get back at Ted Thompson and the rest of Green Bay's managing office for failing to let him back in as a starter the previous season in favor of initiating the Aaron Rodgers era. After all, if you're gonna get back at a team, why not do it by beating them twice in one year?

Since this was a very logical place for Favre to play, and because football fans had seen what happened when Brett Favre retired a year prior, many of us just assumed that this all-time great would eventually sign with the Vikings. And yet despite all of this, it took nearly four months, the end of training camp and one preseason game in the books to finally get Mississippi's finest to stop throwing football to high schoolers at some local Hattiesburg, Mississippi football field and instead throwing it to actual pro wideouts like Sidney Rice and Bernard Berrian. In that span of time, we got to saw an unbearable four month coverage of the situation that saw him being interviewed by Joe Buck on HBO in which he stated that the Vikings offense is familiar to him (playing it for 16 years in Green Bay) and that he went through surgery to repair his torn biceps tendon, then-coach Brad Childress hilariously giving him an ultimatum like it was supposed to mean something, and Favre announcing that he will stay retired in late July. Again, it was a four month game of hard to catch by Favre that would make any of Andrew Marvell's lovers look at him in awe.

But the worst part of the whole thing was, of course, the media's coverage of the whole thing, specifically from ESPN and the NFL Network who had reporters ranging from Werder and Chris Mortensen to Chris Hansen and Rachel Nichols stationed outside of his ranch home for weeks, following his every move until he arrived via the Vikings private jets to team facilities on August 18th to sign his 2 year/$25 million deal. It would be because of this constant amount of reporting for something that was, in hindsight, a forgone conclusion months earlier and the fact that Favre's ego was so big that he would allow this story and his constant spotlight on him to continue that would cause the massive backlash against him that still stands to this day and probably will until years after he doesn't complete a season as an active player.

But while the lead-up to the Vikings signing was pretty awful, once Favre finally put on that Minnesota uniform and actually began playing as the team's starting quarterback for the '09 season, the remainder of the year was anything but. By the time the regular season was over, Favre ended up leading the Vikings to a 12-4 season, good enough for a division title and a #2 seed in the NFC playoffs. It was also during this season that the then 39 year old had himself one hell of a rebirth wearing the purple and gold, throwing for career highs in completion percentage (68.4%), yards per pass (7.91), and TD to INT ratio (33:7) while also throwing for over 4,200 yards and earning his 11th career Pro Bowl selection. Meanwhile, the man's quest for revenge against the Packers was a complete success with the Vikings winning both of their meetings with Green Bay that season and Favre (throwing for 515 yards, 7 TDs and O INTs) and it appeared that the constant hyping by the media and his center of attention in the summer paid off for every network covering the NFL as ratings soared every time his team played in a nationally televised game (most notably Minnesota's game against the Vikings on Monday Night Football receiving the highest ratings in cable TV history). Basically, it was a great four month period to be Favre.

However, once the calendar year changed from 2009 to 2010, so did the fortunes of not only Favre, but for the Minnesota Vikings and for everyone (including I) who were tired of his antics. It began in January, when Minnesota met the New Orleans Saints in the season's NFC Championship game at the Louisiana Superdome for the right to play in Super Bowl XLIV. With the score tied late in the game and the Vikings having possession in Saints territory, Favre threw a costly interception straight into the hands of Tracy Porter with :12 seconds left in regulation time, sending this game into overtime. New Orleans would go on to win the coin toss, and eventually the game on a Garett Hartley field goal later on. The 2009 Vikings season wrapped up as a failure and Favre finished for the third year in a row throwing an INT as his last pass of the season.

While that was indeed a heartbreaking moment for Favre, the Vikings and their fanbase, it would not be the last time that we ever saw of #4 in Minnesota. For the second year in a row, we all had to sit back and watch another summer of "will he or wont' he" speculation as to whether Favre would return to play football with Minnesota (this time for his 20th season), with media once again covering the story to unbearable heights. As expected (again), Favre did agree to play for the Vikings during the 2010 season on August 17th, after a three month period that saw Favre go through arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle, a report from NBC sports saying that he declined to play for the Vikings, Werder having to sacrifice himself on Favre's truck in order for him to confirm that he was going to return to the NFL if healthy and a trip by three Vikings players in which they begged him to return.

Unfortunately for Favre (and a delight to everyone who has hated him for his antics the past year and a half) that August signing with the Vikings would mark the downfall of a man who, just a year ago, was one pass away from playing in his third career Super Bowl. Sure, he ended up throwing his 500th career TD pass and his 70,000th career yard, but the Vikings ended up finishing that year 6-10, and Favre had a down year while getting hit in the nuts in the process. Furthermore, on December 2nd, Buffalo Bills linebacker Arthur Moats injured Favre with a behind-the-back hit, an injury that was so bad that it finally forced a man once nicknamed the NFL's Iron Horse to sit out a game for the first time in 321 total games. If that wasn't all, two weeks later against the Chicago Bears in a frozen TCF Bank Stadium, Favre sustained a concussion after being tackled by defensive end Corey Wooton, a moment that would mark the last time he ever played on an NFL field. As this that weren't bad enough, one of his former teams (the Jets) made it as far as the AFC Championship game without it while another, the Packers, actually won the Super Bowl, forever proving that Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy and the rest of the Packers management made the right call in the summer of 2008 trading the QB in favor of Aaron Rodgers.

Of course, 2010 didn't just see Favre experiencing some problems on the football field. On October 7th and 8th, the popular sports blog Deadspin published two major stories regarding the man. The first was an update on a story they did in early August in which Favre sent numerous voice mails and dong shots to former Jets sideline reporter Jenn Sterger during his 2008 season in New York, this time with the actual voice mails and pictures shown as proof that they weren't joking. The second was a report that Favre sent explicit text messages to two of Jets' massage therapists in '08 as well. These two reports resulted in the NFL investigating the matter and eventually fining the quarterback $50,000 (a bit too lenient, in this writer's opinion) and the two therapists eventually sued him for sexual harassment. So not only will Favre be known as the once great player who in his last two years held an entire organization and news media hostage for being the world's great media savvy whore, but also as the guy who was dumb enough to send sexts while married and not believing that he will ever get caught (two big reasons why I selected him as one of my top people of year 2010).

For some, the year 2010 marked a sad, spiraling end to a man that was once one of the league's best and most fun to watch players in the game. For others, that year marked a triumph of revenge. Me? Obviously, I fell into the latter group, as you can tell by the fact that I once listed "Brett Favre Haters" as my people of the month for October and that I've used the post label "f-you brett favre" 15 times (and counting) in the past year alone. I just thought that everything about Favre, from his "Boy Who Cried Wolf" tactics toward retirement from 2008 to 2010 and the fact that ESPN and every major network covering the NFL drooled over him like he was the epitome of how NFL players should act like, reached a major point of frustration that I never got out of. So when I saw the entire season unfold, from the Jenn Sterger story to the Corey Wooton injury, I felt like Kyle watching Cartman's amusement park fail on that 2001 "South Park" episode "Cartmanland." In other words, watching it all unfold and covering it on this blog brought a nice warmth into my heart knowing that things like karma do exist.

On January 17th of this year, for the first ever, Favre officially filed his retirement papers to the NFL, something that he never did in any of the three years prior. It appeared to be a serious move from someone that finally appeared to be serious about not playing in the NFL again. As further evidence of Favre's seriousness to finally remain retired, his agent, Bus Cook, denounced any rumor that he would un-retire to the Clarion Ledger, even if there are reports circulating that the Philadelphia Eagles are rumored to want him as Michael Vick's back-up. So, folks, I think it's officially safe to say it: Brett Favre is finally gone now. No more "will he or won't he," no more of Ed Werder hiding behind a bush outside of his Hattiesburg home, none of that! The NFL's version of a vampire is now officially stabbed to death at the heart with a wooden stake, now forever spending the rest of his mortal life as a retired player with tens of millions of dollars in savings and his next major appearance in the spotlights either coming during his inevitable jersey number retirement in Green Bay or during his first-ballot enshrinement to Pro Football's version of the Hall of Fame. I repeat: You no longer have to fear him! And thank God for that, because these past three offseasons have been nothing short of ridiculous!



One Hall of Fame inductee down, four more to go. Be sure to come back again tomorrow to see who else will join Mr. Favre into the 2011 class of The mj15 Blog Hall of Fame. In the meantime, in accordance with this "I Hate Brett Favre" theme, here's a Favre video parody from this past January (based on Lebron James' infamous "Rise" Nike ad) to finish this lengthy post off properly. Enjoy.



Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15




If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.

Another Year, Another Batch Full of Crap...

It's almost as good!

Today, July 26th, marks a special day in the history of The mj15 Blog. It is the day where, two years ago, I wrapped up six hours of typing on my desktop keyboard and uploaded this, the first ever blog post in the history of this site. To summarize, it featured winners predictions for the (at the time) upcoming 2009 Emmy awards (a tradition I continue to this day, as you may have noticed during these past few weeks), a very memorable quote during the last moments that Stephon Marbury could be considered a "current" NBA player and my first of my countless mentioning of Bill Simmons. Two years, 330 or so posts, around 10,000 total hits (thanks, whoever you are!) and one permanent move from one blog domain to another, I am still happy to say that this blog is still operating and continuing to thrive (if you count an average of three to four posts per week, with work that is half-assed half of the time thriving, that is).

And, just like last year, I will be commemorating this special milestone in the site's history by spending the next week introducing the "Fabulous Five" that will be inducted members into The mj15's Blog's 2011 Hall of Fame Class. For those of you that don't know, the blog's annual "Hall of Fame" induction ceremony is where I introduce a group of five people, things and/or moments that can be considered highlights of this blog's two year history based on the extensive amount of times that I covered them during a certain point or the enjoyment that I had covering them. The criteria pretty much follows the same that I wrote down one year ago, with one change. To be a member into the "Hall of Fame" one must have fulfilled two of the following qualifications:

1. It must have been mentioned and/or honored in at least two separate blog posts and mentioned at least once during an installment of "End of the Week," "End of the Month," or "End of the Year."
2. It must have been a fun topic for mj15 to cover in these past two years of blog posts.

As you can see, not much has changed in terms of the criteria. However, unlike last year, anything from the past two years in blog posts are eligible, including the people and moments that I listed in last year's honorable mentions post. To get you an idea, here are the five that were inducted into last year's inaugural Hall of Fame class:

The 2009 Tiger Woods Sex Scandals
South Carolina
The 2010 Tonight Show Conflict
Matthew Clemens
Bill Simmons

Hope that you stick around this week, beginning tomorrow evening, to see the Hall of Fame inductees that I selected. In the meantime, I'd figure that I spend this remaining space that I have honoring the things that helped get what every blogger or blog owner loves to see: viewership. Without further ado, with help from my beloved friends Google Search and StatCounter, here are the top posts and traffic sources that have brought the most viewers to The mj15 Blog during the past year.

TOP POSTS
1. The WrestleMania XVII Minute-by-Minute Recap (04/07/11)
2. End of the Year 2010: Part 1- A Twelve Month Retrospective (12/27/10)
3. End of the Week: 09/26/10- 10/02/10 (10/02/10)
4. The 2010 Emmys LIVE! Blog Post (08/29/10)
5. The Ten Best TV Shows of 2010, NFL Comebacks and Cash 4 Gold (a.k.a. Blog #237) (12/20/10)
6. End of the Year 2010: Part 4- The One With Assange, Favre, White and a Whole Lot of Others (12/31/10)
7. A First Hand Account of the BLIZZARD OF THE CENTURY...and January's "End of the Month" (a.k.a. Blog #262) (02/02/11)
8. End of the Year 2010: Part 3- A Cornucopia of Random Awards (12/29/10)
9. The 2010 Emmys (Part Three), "Glee" vs. "Modern Family" and a 40-Ton Whale (a.k.a. Blog #155) (07/24/10)
10. 2010 NFL Predictions: The NFL Is Back! (cheers) And So Are the Picks! (silence) (09/09/10)

Honorable Mentions: Week 13 NFL Picks, November's Best and a Very Tired Blogger at the End (a.k.a. Blog #224) (12/01/10), The 2010 Emmys (Part One), Spain and a Really Pissed Off Mel Gibson (a.k.a. Blog #153) (07/18/10), Six Thoughts on "The Decision" (07/11/10), The One Where I Bring Back the Thursday Random Thoughts and Reveal September's Best (a.k.a. Blog #186) (09/30/10), The Killing, Rebecca Black, Svedka Vodka, March's Best and More (a.k.a. Blog #288) (04/04/11), The Seven Best Gus Johnson Calls of All-Time (11/18/10), Blog Retraction: "The Killing" Is Actually a Waste of Your Time (06/18/11), Random Thoughts: 08/16/10- 08/23/10 (08/23/10)

TOP SEARCH KEYWORDS THAT HAVE LEAD TO BLOG READERS

themj15blog.blogspot.com
wrestlemania 27 stage
katy perry bouncing boobs
hey killed my nigga ned
2011 emmy predictions
casey anthony netflix
hermon raju
michael c. hall
bald eagle attacks post office
kiernan shipka masturbation scene

Kind of strange to look at the search keywords. I've already commented on the Kiernan Shipka thing before, but that is still creepy even if it already happened 11 months ago. Also, since the post with the WrestleMania 27 stage design and the one with Katy Perry's bouncing boobs on "Saturday Night Live" are part of two of my three most read blog posts from the past year, it's no surprise that they would also count as some of my three most popular keywords as well.

So, that's all for now. See you tomorrow (hopefully)!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15




If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.

2011 NFL Offseason Check-up: The Lockout Is Finally Over!

Well, it's over. After 136 days and constant bickering by both the NFL owners and the NFLPA, the newest ten year long collective bargaining agreement has officially been approved unanimously by both sides today, ending what was one of the darkest days in the NFL in the past! And SWEET MERCIFUL JESUS ON A CROSS AM I GLAD THIS IS OVER!

After all, for the next decade no longer will we have days where actual football play might be in jeopardy, and Americans potentially at loss of NFL games (unless you were one of the 200 or so people that actually cared about that Bears/Rams Pro-Football Hall of Fame game)!No longer will we live in a world where the league has a labor dispute where there is constant argument from both sides about revenue sharing, rookie wage scales, veteran player benefits, franchise tags that no one else in America really cares about! No longer will there be conversations about the upcoming season without mentioning the year's five awful words: "...if there is a season"! No more will we see that stupid face of Jeffrey Kessler and all those other lawyers sucking the soul out of a league millions of Americans love to watch! No more, friends! NO MORE!

Of course, now that the lockout is over, all the settlements have been signed and all the hugging between owners and players reps have been finished (seriously, wasn't that Jeff Saturday/Robert Kraft hug a nice moment?), it also means that we're on the brink of the most unprecedented and most frantic period. Beginning tomorrow afternoon, the league will now embark on a period in which every NFL team will fit an offseason that would normally take five months to unfold in mere weeks. That means everything from training camp to free agency to draft signings to major questions like the destinations of DeAngelo Williams and Santonio Holmes and the possible trades of Kevin Kolb and Donovan McNabb will be covered in a shorter than usual span of time, and I for one cannot wait! It will be like watching a highlight reel of past offseason events and transactions, only done in real time!

So, thanks to the Roger Goodell, DeMaurice Smith, the owners and the rest of the NFLPA for finally agreeing to a deal today. Sure, they were the same people who helped initiate the lockout in the first place, but at least they were finally able to stop it in time before any games were lost and against the belief of many people earlier in the year who felt that this labor dispute would last much longer. These next few weeks are going to be insane, and like almost every other football fan I am psyched (much more than I ever was for a single MLB trading deadline). Let's see you take less than five months to solve your labor dispute, NBA!

/Starts fearing a probable 6-10 letdown season for the Bears.

Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15




If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.

The 2011 Emmys (Part Three), Comic-Con and Another Reason to Watch "Community" (a.k.a. Blog #329)

Expect Academy Award winning director Martin Scorsese to win his first Emmy for last year's "Boardwalk Empire" pilot.


So, it has come to this: the final installment of my really early predictions for the upcoming 2011 Emmy awards (or as I like to call it: the Creative Emmys edition of the picks). There's around 15 or so categories left to be tackled, and with the weather conditions where I'm currently living in (and almost everywhere except the Pacific Northwest, where temperatures have reached 80 or higher once) a mix of hot, humid and moist, there's no better time to be near a labtop and wrapping up one of my favorite yearly columns. In case you missed any of the two previous predictions columns, feel free to view them by clicking here, and here. Otherwise, let's cut the chit-chat, wrap this thing up and continue to treat the Emmys as something of uber-importance. Here we go!

OUTSTANDING COMMERCIAL

Will and Should Win: Chrysler 200, "Born of Fire"
Out of all the commercials which made their television debut during the airing of Super Bowl XLV, not many did match the level of quality that this commercial aired. Almost everything about it I liked: the captivating narration, the gritty and intense images of Detroit from its major building to the outdoor art, the guitar riff with Eminem's "Lose Yourself" playing in the background, etc. The one thing I ddn't like? Eminem's appearance, mostly because I don't believe that he would ever drive such a car like the Chrysler 200. Nonetheless, it's a nice love letter of an ad to the city where Chrysler is centered in, and the ad does (kind of) make you want to buy a Chrysler and (even more improbably) like the city, and that is what's the most important in this case.

Other Thoughts: Overall, out of the six nominees, the Chrysler ad, the McDonald's ad and the American Express ad with Conan O'Brien were the ones that I enjoyed watching the most. Speaking of the Conan O'Brien ad for American Express, I think that this will be the likelier one to challenge the Chrysler ad for the award simply because it was both enjoyable and funny. I could also see the Old Spice ad winning it, since it does have Isaiah Mustafa (who helped Old Spice win this award last year), but I don't think that the Emmy voters vote for ads that can technically be classified as a sequel. Also, since mentioning snubs is one of the favorite pastimes of people discussing major awards, I'm surprised that the Volkswagen ad with the little kid dressed up as Darth Vader didn't get nominated. After it was a hit during the Super Bowl and adored by almost everyone this past winter, I'm surprised that the Emmy voters didn't share the love as well. Was it even in the nominations ballot?

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES

Will Win: Matt Hubbar, "30 Rock": "Reaganing"
In retrospect, the fifth season of "30 Rock" was a nice resurrection year in quality compared to the previous two seasons (which were average at best), and this episode was one of the best examples why. It was sharp, funny and consistent, with not a single bad plot in the episode, from Liz discussing her sexual intimacy problems with Jack to Tracy Jordan's troubles shooting a Boys & Girls Club ad and the Kenneth and Jenna cake C-story, bringing the whole episode down. Also, it's kind of hard to imagine this show go without a single award two years in a row, and I feel that this episode was just good enough to finally break the show's losing streak of sorts.

Should Win: Greg Daniels, "The Office": "Good-Bye Michael"
What a terrific episode this was for the show! While you could say that this season was one of its weaker ones (and you would be right for the most part), this episode was simply not one of the reasons why. It made you laugh, it made you cry, and it made you feel nostalgic, and it made you feel a handful of other emotions. It was also a great sendoff to the show's Steve Carell era and easily one of the show's finer episodes since the Jim and Pam wedding episode from a year and a half ago. Because of this, Daniels (who has won an Emmy for his work on "The Office" before in the 2006 episode "Gay Witch Hunt") will certainly be the writer that I am rooting for to win.

Other Thoughts: Since a show hasn't gone the past three years winning an Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy without also winning this writing category, I wouldn't be surprised to see Steve Levitan and Jeffrey Richman win this award for their co-written episode "Caught in the Act," even though it wasn't one of the second season's best overall.

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES

Will and Should Win: Matthew Weiner, "Mad Men": "The Suitcase"
I've said it before dozens of times on this blog and I shall say it again: "The Suitcase" was one of the best, most riveting episodes in the show's four season run and in all of television during the 2010-2011 season for two reasons: the incredible "holy crap, they can act!" performances from Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss (both of whom I already praised in part one of the Emmy predictions list) and the wonderful script from Matt Weiner. With that in mind, why shouldn't this man (who has already won three straight Emmys in this category) get an award for that achievement in television drama.

Other Thoughts: Not a bad list of nominees, in my opinion. The penultimate episode of this season on "Mad Men" was also one of the show's finer achievements, so congrats to Andre and Maria Jacquemetton for that nomination, while David Benioff and D.B. Weiss did an exceptional job with the "Game of Thrones" episode "Baelor," the best one of its freshman season. Hell, even Veena Suds kind of deserved it for her job writing the pilot episode of "The Killing," since that was the series' highpoint thus far. I am a bit surprised that not a single writer from "Boardwalk Empire" was nominated this year. With all the love that the show has been getting in this awards show (18 nominations), I'm surprised that none of them at least went into that terrific pilot episode.

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Will and Should Win: Justin Timberlake as a host of "Saturday Night Live"
Well, he did do a great job hosting in what was by far the best episode of "Saturday Night Live" this season (though to be fair, with such a bad season of SNL as this one has been, that's like naming somebody the tallest midget in the room), and we did see him win an Emmy for his last SNL hosting gig in 2009, so...

Other Thoughts: I find it kind of funny that after being one of the best actors on "The Wire" for a good period of three seasons and not receiving one single Emmy nomination for them, that Idris Elba would be nominated twice for his acting this year (one for his work on "Luther" and one for his work on "The Big C").

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Will and Should Win: Michael J. Fox as Louis Canning on "The Good Wife"
Winner of five Emmy awards already including a 1986-88 three-peat for his work on "Family Ties" (something that no one else has done since in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series) and one guest acting award a mere two years ago for his role in "Rescue Me," Fox has never been a man who the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences ever shied away their love and appreciation of. And in what is a relatively weak category this year, expect one of the most beloved actors in American TV history to win another golden winged statuette for his acting this coming September.

Other Thoughts: None.

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Will and Should Win: Gwyneth Paltrow as Holly Holliday on "Glee"
Movie star who previously won multiple prestigious awards? Check. Guest appearances on a show that has already given multiple actors awards? Check. Acting that was well-recepted by critics and many fans of the show? Check. In other words, it appears that a Paltrow victory at the Emmys looks like a shoe-in at this point.

Other Thoughts: At this point, it looks like a three woman race between Paltrow, Cloris Leachman and Tina Fey, with the other three nominees just lucky to be invited to the ceremonies.

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Will Win: Julia Stiles as Lumen Pierce on "Dexter"
One of the things that I enjoyed the most in this overall mediocre season of "Dexter" was Stiles, who I enjoyed very much as the rape victim turned Dexter Morgan's murderous partner-in-crime on. Her portrayal of the vendetta and the internal pain inside the mind of this woman was outstanding, and a continuation of the list of guest acting performance that this show has had before (most notably last year with John Lithgow, who by the way did pick up a guest acting Emmy of his own by the way).

Should Win: Randee Heller as Ms. Blankenship on "Mad Men"
Come on, ATAS! How can you possibly not vote for this woman? After all, she did play a character who was born in a barn in 1898 and died on the 37th floor of a skyscraper. She was an astronaut for crying out loud!
/Just had to get that out of the way
//One of my favorite quotes in the show's history

Other Thoughts: All right, I'll admit it: out of the six nominated in this category, only Buono, Heller and Stiles have I seen in action, so pardon me if I failed to mention an actress that was absolutely great in this category. However, considering how good Stiles was this year I fail to see an actress on the list that could defeat her.

OUTSTANDING VOICE-OVER PERFORMANCE

Will Win: Christopher Plummer as the narrator of "Moguls and Movie Stars: Legends of Hollywood"
Because no one dares defy the soothing and charismatic voice of one of the film industry's most respected actors!

Should Win: Dan Castallaneta as Homer Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Barney Gumbel and Louie on "The Simpsons"
I don't care how many times he has won this category in the past! This man still doesn't get enough credit for providing one of the best range of voices in all of television!

Other Thoughts: This is one of the greatest categories ever! Only in this list of nominees can you have Christopher Plummer paired up with Seth Green and the guy who does the voice of Porky Pig on "The Looney Tunes Show."

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES

Will Win: Michael Alan Spiller, "Modern Family": "Halloween"
With show getting 60% of nominees in this category, the question isn't whether if they will win this award but rather which of those nominees will receive it (which is weird because I don't think that the show is best known for their directing). The reason why I think that Spiller will come out on top over Steve Levitan ("See You Next Fall") and Gail Mancuso ("Slow Down Your Neighbors") is because this episode was more gimmicky and more entertaining, with costumes and decorations (of the Dunphy household) that was well done. Oh, and it was also one of show's better moments (one of the handful episodes this season that I mentioned in part one would give the Emmy voters justification for awarding them with an Outstanding Comedy Series repeat), although I'm not sure if Spiller should be given the most credit for that.

Should Win: Beth McCarthy-Miller, "30 Rock": "Live Show"
The episode was a gimmick plain and simple: watch an episode of this beloved show done live and in the same stage where they air episodes of "Saturday Night Live." And the result? A flawlessly executed half hour of episode without any major slip-ups. Sure, the audience did get a bit raunchy during the East Coast broadcast, but that only affected the episode slightly. With that in mind, I think McCarthy-Miller should be awarded for being the one in charge of the entire process.

Other Thoughts: None.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES

Will and Should Win: Martin Scorsese, "Boardwalk Empire": "Boardwalk Empire (Pilot)"
Last time I checked, none of the other nominees are world-famous, Academy Award winning directors like Mr. Scorsese. Unless hell freezes over, there is nothing stopping the acclaimed director for getting honored for his work directing this great pilot episode.

Other Thoughts: Speaking of great pilot episodes, I'm a bit surprised to see Frank Darabont not receiving a single nomination for his work as director of the pilot episode for "The Walking Dead." I thought that it was just as cinematic and filled with as many beautiful-to-watch imagery as the Scorsese episode of "Boardwalk Empire," and it was really the only time that you could point towards the first season of the show and it was just as brilliant as "Mad Men," "Justified," "Boardwalk Empire" or any of the other great dramas on TV before they followed up the pilot with some pretty dreadful episodes.

OUTSTANDING NONFICTION SERIES:

Will Win: "American Masters"
With not a single Ken Burns documentary, compelling History Channel specials or pretty-to-look-at animal programs from the makers of "Planet Earth" nominated, expect this veteran PBS program (who has already won this category five times since 2000) to come out on top once again.

Should Win: "30 for 30"
While this outstanding ESPN documentary series aired some of its weakest episodes during the 2010-2011 TV season, including the dull "Unmatched," the awful "Marion Jones: Press Pause" and the pointless "Four Days in October," it also aired some of its best. Brett Morgen's "June 17, 1994" was a true achievement in narration-less storytelling while "The Two Escobars" was one of the best sports documentaries that I ever saw, just to name a few. It was an entertaining series of stories that was told, and I hope that it finally gets the Emmy recognition that it deserves after being shunned from a single nomination last year.

Other Thoughts: None.

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES

Will and Should Win: "The Colbert Report"- Barry Julien, Stephen Colbert, Tom Purcell, Richard Dahm, Michael Brumm, Rob Dubbin, Opus Moreschi, Peter Gwinn, Jay Katsir, Frank Lesser, Glenn Eichler, Meredith Scardino, Max Werner, Eric Drysdale, Scott Sherman, Dan Guterman, Paul Dinello

I think this will be a repeat of years past, with "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" winning Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series and "The Colbert Report" taking the writing category for this genre.

Other Thoughts: None.

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SPECIAL

Will and Should Win: Louis C.K., "Hilarious"
Umm, because it was sharp and just as the title says it was? Why else?

Other Thoughts:
a. What an outstanding year it is Emmys-wise for comedian Louis C.K. Not only is he nominated for his acting on "Louie" and in this category, but also for his writing in the "Louie" episode "Poker/Divorce" and his editing for this very stand-up special. Overall, I guess it must feel good to be the reigning king of comedy.
b. Expect either C.K. or the trio that wrote this year's Tony Awards to come out as the victors. The rest of the nominees are just happy to be nominated.

OUTSTANDING MAIN TITLE DESIGN

Will Win: "Game of Thrones"- Angus Wall, Robert Feng, Kirk H. Shintani, Hameed Shaukat
Just a simply fantastic title sequence that introduces the show each week like the opening map in the beginning of the "Lord of the Rings" books, with a quick look around all of the major kingdoms of Westeros that will have a major purpose in the upcoming episode's plot. Also, unlike fellow HBO show "Boardwalk Empire," this title sequence had a theme song that actually matched the era that this show was set in. Nothing to hate about it at all.

Should Win: "Rubicon"- Karin Fong, Michelle Dougherty, Lauren Hartstone, Cara McKenney
Because this show was really good in its short period of time, and I at least want people to forever call them "Emmy award winning," even if they were just nominated for this award.

Other Thoughts: Feels good to be Cara McKenney and Karin Fong, who were nominated in this category for two different title sequences (one for "Rubicon," one for "Boardwalk Empire.")

Well, there you have it: 35 predictions for 35 different categories in this year's Emmy awards (the most I've ever done in my three years here on this blog). I hope you enjoyed my analysis and insight into each and every one of them, even though I will admit I didn't have a single clue of who to pick for a few of them. Last year I finished 17-12 in my predictions, a major fall from the year before when I went 18-5, and I am looking forward to seeing how right, or how wrong, I was this coming September. Also, in case you were wondering: yes, there will be another live blog this year. Wouldn't be right if I didn't do one. And now, let's end this post the right way with another brand new edition of Random Thoughts, shall we?

The following were on my mind between Monday, July 18th and Monday, July 25th:

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

- If narrow-minded conservatives can brag about this past winter's massive blizzards as signs that global warming didn't exist, then Al Gore has the right to brag himself about last week's massive nationwide heat waves.

- I have no idea what Direct TV is trying to tell me with their most recent ad campaign. Buy Direct TV and you will be exactly like that small Asian with a large panda as his couch, or a successful boxer who has everyone around him proclaiming everything he says with the same word as his nickname? I don't get it.

- The 24/7 news channels (CNN, FOX News, MSNBC) should be ashamed of themselves for their coverage of this past Friday's shootings in Norway. At least 90 people were murdered, and yet you wouldn't have known it had you been watching those channels. They would have rather talked about the debt ceiling battle for the billionth time or give an interview to an author of some self-help book.

- Michael K. Williams signing up for a guest role on "Community" as the new biology professor is such a great casting move. Not only does it add an element of one of the past decade's best dramas ("The Wire") to one of the decade's best comedies, but it also gives the show some additional buzz that they normally wouldn't have otherwise received. Who knows, maybe this move would have solidified the show's strong chance for a fourth season. Plus, now it gives the show an excuse to either have a paintball episode with Williams using a paintball shotgun or a themed episode based on "The Wire," either one of which I (and I'm sure many of the show's fans) would be happy to see (if it's well-done, that is).

- For next year's Comic-Con, organizers should consider adding larger convention rooms to certain TV shows like "Game of Thrones," "Chuck," "Doctor Who" and any other TV show with a large cult following. From what I've read, the lines to see some of those show panels were insane, and much too large to justify the relatively small rooms they were placed in.

- Why do primetime game shows these days need to have contestants that are out there for some major reason like "my mother has breast cancer" or "I'm in crippling debt"? Can't game show contestants get on the show just because they like money and want to win it?

- 1903: Man flies for the first time ever.
1919: Man makes his first transcontinental flight ever.
1961: Man orbits space for the first time ever.
1969: Man lands on the moon.
1970-Now: .
(sighs)

Well, that's gonna do it for this post. See you when I see you!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15



If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.

The 2011 Emmys (Part Two), Breaking Bad and the Domination of Harry Potter (a.k.a. Blog #328)

Jeff Probst has already won three Emmys for his work on "Survivor," but is he a lock to win again in 2011?


The return of "End of the Week" in a moment. But first, time once again to delve into the huge list of nominations for the 2011 Emmy Awards and offer my predictions for about ten or so of them. In case you first the first part of this installment, in which I discussed the eight lead and supporting actor categories while also showing my affection for "Mad Men" and "Parks and Recreations" for the eighth millionth time, just click here. Otherwise, let's stop procrastinating and get this started...

OUTSTANDING MINISERIES OR MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE

Will and Should Win: "Downton Abbey"
When I first heard that this show was nominated for this category and that it also had received some solid reviews over the course of its run on both sides of the pond (ex: 92/100 rating on Metacritic), I decided to burn through all seven of its episodes over the course of this past weekend just to see what all the hubbub was about. My quick review: as a whole, there are some pretty obvious criticisms that one could find watching this show. For one, the majority of the plots from "Downton Abbey" have ranged from being too soapy to boring to even outrageous, with the "Downstairs" storylines being much more compelling than those from "Upstairs" (then again, maybe that just stems from the fact that I don't generally sympathize with individuals that either live in the upper middle class or enjoy privilege and the high life ever since they were born).Take the second episode, for instance, where the most dramatic moment of the show occured when the show's butler, Mr. Carson, revealed to have (gasp) been a dancing performer in his previous life, or when two episodes involved the tension between the abbey's valet, Mr. Bates, and his knowledge of one of the footman stealing a bottle of wine. Also, the show's two main villains (the footman Thomas and Lady Grantham's maid Sarah O'Brien) were two unsympathetic, one dimensional characters (Ed. note: I know that Thomas is gay, and his bitterness probably stems from years of oppression and suppression, but that still doesn't mean that the show couldn't have given us something to like about him).

On the other hand, I still found this miniseries, which aired on PBS during the winter, to be a fairly enjoyable program as a whole. The episodes were sharply well-written by creator Jullian Fellowes, and terrifically acted. Brendan Coyle was ever so graceful as John Bates while while Maggie Smith was classy as usual in her role as the Dowager Countess of Grantham (the Roger Sterling of the show in terms of her witty one-liners) and the young actress trio of Jessica Brown-Findley, Sophie McShera and Joanne Froggatt had some fine breakout performances. Furthermore, almost every single character on the show is interesting, while I think the fact that the show is set in such a revolutionary time (the Edwardian 1910s) could provide some interesting storylines over time, much like how I feel about "Mad Men" and its setting in the 1960s . Plus, I like how watching this show makes us, the early 21st Century viewer, feel a little smart knowing how naive and foolish these characters were about the inventions and changes that to us seem perfectly normal to us today (Ha, they're afraid of the sound of the telephone! And look how stunned they are that a girl wears pants! Oh, 20th Century aristocrats, if only you knew!) Current score of the first season, a solid 8.5/10 (which is much more than I can say for the dull "Mildred Pierce").

Other Thoughts:
a. So, this category is basically a two show battle between the British "Downton Abbey" and HBO's three part miniseries "Mildred Pierce," who had the most Emmy nominations out of any other program this TV season. I thought about giving "Mildred Pierce" my Will Win vote while just giving "Downton Abbey" my Should Win, but I have a good feeling that the Emmy's will continue their long history of admiration towards "Masterpiece Theater" shows and that they will find "Mildred Pierce" inferior to it in comparison, so there.
b. Hmm, no "Carlos." Interesting.
c. A grand tip of my hat towards the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for finally realizing what I and many others have realized before in that separating the miniseries and TV movie categories were pointless and that they should instead combine the two categories together. I know that the move had nothing to do with my mini-rant about it last year, but for the purposes of this blog I would just like to say that I did and move on without mentioning it ever again.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE

Will Win: Edgar Ramirez as Carlos the Jackal on "Carlos"
Winner of the Golden Globe of the same category earlier this year and outright frontrunner in the minds of pretty much everyone working in the TV industry. I see no reason to not choose Ramirez as my pick.

Should Win: Idris Elba as John Luther on "Luther"
Haven't seen Luther just yet, but after seeing his terrific three-season long performance as Stringer Bell on "The Wire" and hearing that he's fantastic once again on this show is good enough for me to root for an Elba victory this coming September.

Other Thoughts: Pretty packed category as a whole, with Elba, Laurence Fishburne, William Hurt and Ramirez leading the pack in nominees. Whoever wins, let's just hope that this year's winner at least gives a nice redemption to last year's TV movie actor award winner Al Pacino and his God-awful speech (easily the lowlight of the 2010 festivities) in the form of one that is at least interesting and not incoherent.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE

Will and Should Win: Kate Winslet as Mildred Pierce on "Mildred Pierce"
Yeah, this one isn't even a contest. Winslet should probably just receive the award as soon as she steps onto that red carpet, 3/4ths away from her EGOT (if you replace "Grammy" with "Golden Globe," that is), and make her acceptance speech right there to preserve that three hour show running time.

Other Thoughts: None.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE

Will and Should Win: James Woods as Richard Fulk on "Too Big To Fail"
Because this really good adaptation of the book on the 2008 U.S. economic collapse needs to win an award of some kind, especially for its fine acting. Pearce and fellow "Too Big to Fail" star Paul Giamatti will provide some tough contention for Woods, but I thought that he had the stronger performance as the former CEO of Lehamn Brothers over the other two, so there's that.

Other Thought: Man, was this a tough category to decide! It's probably one of my few predictions that I will not be sad to get wrong if that time does come. Along with Woods, I could easily see every one of these actors nominated (well, maybe not Brian F. O'Byrne) be recognized as the winner come this September.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE

Will and Should Win: Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess of Grantham on "Downton Abbey"
Well, it was pretty obvious watching "Downton Abbey" that executive producer and main writer of the show, Jullian Fellowes, loved having such a talented actress like Maggie Smith working on the set, giving her some of the show's funniest and most clever lines over the course of the first series ("What is a weekend?," "I have plenty of friends that I don't like," and so on), so I think that this love towards the experienced British will carry over come award giving time. Also, she's British, and you know how much American award shows love those actors.

Other Thoughts: If there is anyone that will be challenging Smith for the award this year, it's going to be the "Mildred Pierce" duo of Melissa Leo, who won an Oscar earlier this year for her role in "The Fighter" and was also great this year on the second season of "Treme," and Evan Rachel Wood, who was actually tolerable to watch in part three of the miniseries. Either way, 2011 will go down as a great year to be an actress playing a role in a miniseries set in the early 20th Century.

OUTSTANDING REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM

Will and Should Win: "Top Chef"
I think that last year's victory for "Top Chef," the first in this category by a show not named "The Amazing Race," represented a changing of the guard moment. Sure, "The Amazing Race" is still a great program, but I feel that after going through the entire '00s undefeated, the Emmy voters just decided to give it a rest with their honoring of this show and move on to the fresher, better produced show in "Top Chef." At least, that's just my opinion (after all, the Emmys could've just gotten lazy and vote for "The Amazing Race" last year, but didn't).

Other Thoughts: None.

OUTSTANDING REALITY PROGRAM

Will Win: "Hoarders"
I feel that the American pop culture phenomenon on the subject of hoarding (just look at the amount of shows doing an episode with hoarding as a plot, from "South Park" in the episode "Insheeption" to "The Simpsons" in that Cheech and Chong episode) and the fact that this show is some damn riveting programming would propel to its first ever victory in this category. But then again, with 2010 winner "Jamie Oliver: Food Revolution" not nominated this year and two-time past winner "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List" in the same list of nominees this year as "Hoarders," anything is possible in this category.

Should Win: "Mythbusters"
Well, it certainly hasn't stopped being entertaining in 2011, that's for sure.

Other Thoughts: Once again, this category is one of the most unpredictable categories of the year. That is why I would probably steer clear from betting on who will win this based on my totally half-assed explanation.

OUTSTANDING HOST FOR A REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM

Will and Should Win: Jeff Probst as host of "Survivor"
They should rename this category the "Outstanding Jeff Probst for a Jeff Probst or Jeff Probst-Related Program." He's won this category every damn year since its beginnings, and until "Survivor" comes to an end because CBS decides that the show has become too non-profitable, I don't see the Emmy love stop.

Other Thoughts: Another nice surprise reading these Emmy nominations for the first time last Thursday was finally seeing Cat Deeley's name nominated for this category. I don't often watch "So You Think You Can Dance?" but in the small doses that I have, I was often impressed at Deeley's ability to maintain the energy of the show by herself and has a wonderful personality on camera. She seemed like she deserved it is what I'm trying to say.

OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES

Will Win: "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"
Another sharp, well-written, consistently great and well-executed year in the run of one of America's great 21st Century television institutions. 2010-2011 also featured another year of great moments, ranging from Stewart's post-Giffords shooting speech, calling out all of the FOX News lies corrected on Politifact since 2009, his interview with President Obama, his sequel to the terrific Glenn Beck parody of last year, and more. Expect the already eight time defending champion to making it nine in a row.

Should Win: "The Colbert Report"
Don't get me wrong, this is no shot against "The Daily Show." It's still a great show to watch and I look forward to it almost every weekday. It's just that I felt that in 2011, around October when Colbert appeared in Congress and in the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear that the show just took on a whole different level of quality. The one-liners seemed to get better and sharper, the attacks against G.O.P. politicians and Colbert was both brilliant and witty once again that it seemed at many times that the spawn of "The Daily Show" had actually exceeded its predecessor. Besides, "The Daily Show" had already won this award eight times. I repeat, eighth times! If "The Amazing Race" could finally lose last year, then why shouldn't "The Daily Show" lose to another deserving nominee?

Other Thoughts: Expect Comedy Central to rule this genre portion of the awards show once again in 2011.

OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SPECIAL

Will and Should Win: "The Kennedy Center Honors"
Let's just say that I've learned my lesson from the past two years when I voted against this program over something else. I will not lose this category three years in a row, do you understand me!

Other Thoughts: None.

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED PROGRAM

Will and Should Win: "Futurama": "The Late Philip J. Fry"
In what was the best "Futurama" episode of season 6.1 and the best overall since their final episode on FOX ("The Devil Hands are Idle Playthings") we saw Fry, Bender and Proffesor Farnsworth travel forward through time in hopes of coming to a time in human history where a backwards time machine was created so that Fry could get back in time to have a date with crush Leela, who was celebrating her birthday. The well-executed episode was simply a perfect mix of what makes "Futurama" great and a reason why I'm still very grateful to Comedy Central for bringing it back on the air. It was hilarious (my favorite parts was seeing Professor Farnsworth stopping twice to shoot Adolf Hitler and then failing the second time, shooting Eleanor Roosevelt instead, and then the final shot of Bener burying the bodies under the same bridge that Fry and Leela were on), it was sweet, it was touching (Leela's message at the cave), it was compelling, it was metaphysical, it had some great music (most notably that great "In the Year 2525" parody), and it had some great bits of animation (who didn't love the beautiful sequence where they showed billions of years of the Earth's history repeat itself before our eyes?). Honestly, I don't see what more you can ask for from an animated cartoon.

Other Thoughts:
a. If there was a main contender for "Futurama" in this category, it would be "South Park" for their episode "Crack Baby Athletic Association." It wasn't the best episode the show released this year, but it was still pretty great, from Cartman dressing up as a plantation owner to the reveal that Slash wasn't real (easily one of the best moments of the show in regards to its mythology, that I felt this a good job spreading the message of the hypocrisy of the NCAA. The darkhorse? Definitely "The Simpsons" (the only other multiple-time Emmy award winner) with "Angry Dad." Hollywood loves shows that have plots involving Hollywood and show business as a whole. Why else would you explain the past Emmy successes of "30 Rock" and "Entourage"?
b. Why an episode of "The Cleveland Show" was nominated over any episode of "Archer," "American Dad," "Bob's Burger," and even the "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" episode of "Community," I will never understand.

Be sure to come back later this week for the final installment of my 2011 Emmy predictions! And now, as promised, here is a new installment of "End of the Week" for this, the week between July 17th, 2011 and July 23rd, 2011:

END OF THE WEEK:

TV Premiere of the Week: "Breaking Bad"
The show that is arguably the best on television returned after a thirteen month hiatus with what was inarguably their season premiere this past week, and I will just state plainly (to the people who missed it or haven't started watching the show yet) that it didn't miss a beat, especially when it came to the show's notorious levels of suspense and intensity. Let's just say that the record breaking audience that watched the show and it's biggest "Holy Sh*t!" moment will never look at box cutters and Kenny Rogers T-shirts the same way again. Also, I think it speaks well to the show's acting where Giancarlo Esposito can only have one line the entire time and Aaron Paul doesn't say anything period for the first forty-five minutes, and they were both just as brilliant as Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, and the rest of the cast who had the most lines. As you might have guessed from reading this paragraph, I am so glad to have this program back into my life.

Internet Meme of the Week: The "Two and a Half Men": Season 9 Ad Parodies

















In preparation for their first (and possibly only) season in the post-Charlie Sheen era, the marketing geniuses at CBS decided it would be a good idea to have the three stars of "Two and a Half Men" (Jon Cryer, Angus T. Jones, and Ashton Kutcher) pose nude (including the 17 year old Jones) behind a white board saying "All Will Be Revealed... 09.19.11" Since the ad is just too perfect for photoshopping, the Internet had fun with it by writing their own advertisements on the poster's board. You can find some great photoshops over at Warming Glow, and the AV Club. My personal favorite is the one shown above.


Stories of the Week:
-The Actual Story of the Week: Norway Devastated With Oslo Bombings, Youth Camp Shootings
Such a horrible tragedy. In the span of 24 hours, a relatively peaceful country was struck with not only a devastating terror bombing in its nation's capital but also a terrifying shooting to schoolchildren if you'd believe me (and from the same group of people). The total amount of deaths: at least 92 (and, sadly, probably counting). Thankfully, the person responsible for this massacre has been captured, so at least there's one bright side into all of this.
-The Tiger Woods Saga of '09 Memorial Story of the Week: Konrad Schmidt, Suicidal Son, Crashes Plane Into Mother's House With Her In It
I don't know what's worse: the fact that he went on a kamikaze mission to kill his mom, or that he ended his life with such a bad pun like "Are you there, Mom? I'm just about to drop in." For shame, sir!

Record Breaker of the Week: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
for breaking several box office records in the span of less than 10 days, including the record for highest gross of an opening midnight screening ever ($43.5 million domestically, easily surpassing previous record holder "Twilight: Eclipse"), the record for best opening weekend domestically (around $169.2 million, beating 3 year long record holder "The Dark Knight" by around $10 mil.) and in the foreign markets (around $314 million) and the record for the 3rd largest opening week ever ($226.1 million domestically). The movie also became the fifth ever in cinema's 120 year history to reach $200 million domestically in five days, joining "The Dark Knight" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" in that exclusive movie club. Skeptics and cynics nationwide have been trying to bring down this significance of these records, citing inflation and the high prices of tickets these days (especially 3-D movies). No matter what you think of the record, though, I think we can all agree that this past week and a half have shown exactly how big the Harry Potter franchises exactly is in the United States and around the world and how much people are willing to pay to watch their beloved wizard fight Voldemort on the silver screen one last time (that is, until some greedy movie executives decide to re-boot it 30 years later).

Video of the Week: "Best Penalty Ever! Awana Diab (UAE) vs. Lebanon via Backwheel"
The small level of difficulty it took for this man to score this show makes you question the U.S. Women's Soccer Team's PK loss to Japan Sunday more and more.



Death of the Week: Singer Amy Winehouse
Well, this is some sad piece of news. Can't say that I'm surprised, though. A woman with that many substance abuse problems over the years was bound to do some serious damage to herself eventually. Still, such a waste of Grammy award-winning talent. R.I.P.

Person of the Week: Comedian Jonnie Marbles
for three simple reasons:

1) Throwing a pie at the face of Mr. Rupert Murdoch, a.k.a. the chairman of Newscorp. and real life replica of Mr. Burns, during his hearing at the British Parliament this week in regards to the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

2) Introducing the world to Mrs. Rupert Murdoch, a.k.a. Wendi Deng, who famously sprang up from her seat to defend her husband like a guard dog the second he was about to throw the pie in his face (and doing so after countless minutes of her looking angrily at the Parliament members asking him questions during the hearing). Now that is one feisty Tiger Wife any man would like to have!

3) Doing something that nobody thought possible at the time of the hearing: actually make Rupert Murdoch sympathetic in the eyes of the media, the members of the British Parliament at the time of the hearing and precious Newscorp. stock holders. Here's Stephen Colbert of "The Colbert Report" with the more detailed explanation:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Humanized by Pie
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

To recap: not only did many cable news pundits feel sorry for him, but the British Parliament members apologized to the man (who they were basically bashing mere minutes ago) and the Newscorp. market value went from a loss of $7 billion in four trading days to gaining $395 million in five minutes. Hmmm, interesting. Apparently, embarrassing moments do bring you pity! Whodathunkit!


And that's the way it was! Be sure to stop by to this site next week, when I will not only have the final installment of my 2011 Emmy awards predictions but also will be celebrating the blog's 2 year anniversary by introducing the 2011 class of The mj15 Blog Hall of Fame. It's poised to be one of the best weeks on the blog all year, so don't miss a post! But until then, enjoy a nice, comfortable weekend, everyone!

Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15




If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.