Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Mark Jackson, Pastor By Day, Cheerleader By Night

People/teams I'm rooting for:

The Tennessee Titans... we're actually 4-0. I don't know how long it will last, but I'm happy that hearing Titans scores doesn't make me want to cuss like a sailor. (This has been a problem some years... and don't get me started on how we lost the Super Bowl by about 1/2 a yard - seriously, don't get me started.)

The big problem, of course, is that living in the Central Valley I literally NEVER get to see the Titans play. Instead, I get to watch the Raiders & the 49ers, both teams which would fold like origami against a mediocre Texas high school team.

Bob from Survivor: Gabon... a 57 year old high school physics teacher who's way cooler than the Professor on Gilligan's Island. (I also like Paloma - who seems to be befriending Bob... for once, people I like in an alliance? Nah - probably won't happen.)

The rest of the cast is pretty forgettable - you've got your requisite buff studs, your two types of reality show women (flirty & useless and ornery & useful), and some other assorted folks who won't last long enough for me to be interested. Like I said before, it's nice that they're not doing the typical "stuck on a beach" thing - and it's cool that elephants are wandering right around their camp. Here's hoping they're smart enough this time around not to create challenges that are veiled attempts to KILL contestants. (Yes, Fans vs. Favorites season, I'm talking to you.)

Baylor Bears football - hey, even though we're 2-2 in non-conference play AND we have to play Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas Tech and Texas A&M, I still believe. Where's Grant Teaff when we need him most?

OK, lots of you have no idea who Grant Teaff is... when I was a student at Baylor (yes, many many moons ago), Grant was the head football coach. He had a real gift for taking B level players & turning them into an A level team... or, at least, a whole lot better than they were supposed to be as individuals. He produced not just good players but good guys - Mike Singletary is a product of the Grant Teaff years.

Mark & Bill from The Amazing Race... hey, they're comic book/gaming geeks! And they actually look like they'll do pretty well at this. (At one point, they referred to the race as a game played on a really large game board.) They look like they'd fit in real well at Origins - but they haven't been specific about what kind of gaming that they do. (They showed 'em playing chess at one point during their intro bio, but most of those are staged. For all I know, they could be Eurogamers.)

Now, except for the Siblings, I'm not a big fan of any of the other teams - good grief, why would anyone in their right mind go on a race around the world to decide whether to get or stay married?! OK, I liked the Beekeepers, but they were pretty much toast from the beginning.

3 comments:

Scott Rushing said...

Being on the west coast, are you always guaranteed to miss the early NFL games on Sunday because of church?

Even with games starting at noon, we never get home from church/lunch afterwards until at least 2:00, just in time to see the 4th quarter.

And those games almost never include the Titans, unless they are playing the Texans.

Speaking of Baylor, everyone around here is gaga for Robert Griffin. I'm looking forward to the day when the rest of the country knows his name.

Mark (aka pastor guy) said...

Since we live in the parsonage (next door to the church), I usually can catch the 4th quarter - but it's pretty much "let's watch SF throw 2 interceptions in the end zone" rather than "go, Titans, go!"

At least you can watch Dallas... or do you still need to visit someone on the south edge of Waco?! (When I was a Baylor student, the blackout line ran through the middle of town.)

Scott Rushing said...

I'm not sure where the blackout line is now...but I'm pretty sure the Cowboys have sold out every game since I moved here four years ago. I haven't even heard about a possibility of a blackout.

More often than not, the Texans play at noon and I miss all of the game except the 4th quarter. And more often than not, the Cowboys game is on at 3:00. And then we all get the same Sunday and Monday night games.