LSU Jersey Tweak

LSU has added the letters L-S-U to the front of their football jerseys. Lke the change? Vote in the poll to the right.

New Lost ARG?

For the past few offseasons of Lost, there's been alternative reality games that tease details of upcoming seasons. These included the Lost Experience, Find 815 and DHARMA Initiative Recruiting. These usually revolve around a launch at Comic Con.

This year, DocArzt & Friends have launched http://thelostpendium.com/. Not sure what this is all about, but I'm sure more information will be available at or around Comic Con. I know the ABC ARG, DHARMA Initiative Recruiting, was canceled due to budget concerns, so DocArzt may be working on their own version gearing up for the final season. We'll see what happens with this.

Lost Rewatch: Week 6

We're now onto Week 6 of the Lost Rewatch. These three episodes gear up for the season 1, two-part finale, Exodus, which many Lost fans still rank in the top 5 best Lost episodes. I thought it would be fun to post another link to recaps of the episodes this week. My favorite Lost blog, Long Live Locke, started recapping episodes way back in season 1 as part of an email chain to her friends. These later turned into Long Live Locke. I'm going to go back and include her recaps on my earlier Rewatch posts as well.

I'm going to post the link to her original recap and they are interesting read now. Seeing how she questions where the show is going and what to think of different clues. With everything we know now, it's fun to look back at someone's first responses to these episodes. As always, the episode titles link back to the Lostpedia page on those episodes and I've included a link to Zap2It's Lost rewatch from last summer.

Do No Harm (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
• Flashback focuses on Jack, to the events around his wedding weekend to Sarah.
• Boone's in need of a blood transfusion, but Charlie only finds four people who even knew their blood type. Too bad Kate was preoccupied with delivering Aaron, she's a universal donor.
• Crazy doctor Jack is in full force this episode. Christian sure was right in telling Jack that he can't let go. Good thing Boone lets him off the hook.
• Kate delivers Aaron. This scene is brought up another notch after the events of recent seasons and the different perspective Sawyer saw in season 5.
  

The Greater Good (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
• Flashback focuses on the events that brought Sayid to Australia.
• The survivors hold a funeral for Boone and Locke shows up covered in Boone's blood. Not the best choice of funeral attire.
• Charlie nicknames Aaron Turniphead, since Claire hadn't given him a name yet.
  
• Locke reveals that he was the one who knocked out Sayid in The Moth.
• Did Sayid cause Shannon to miss shooting Locke or was it the island's work?
  

Born to Run (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
• Flashback focuses on Kate and her trying to see her mother who is dying of cancer. An unanswered question from the flashback: who sent Kate the letter that she picked up as Joan Hart?
  
• Dr. Arzt is subtly or no so subtly introduced, stepping out as a "background character." But don't get too attached to him.
• Another character is introduced in Kate's flashback, the man she loved/killed, Tom Brennan, i.e. her childhood friend and original owner of the toy airplane. Kate and Tom's time capsule is the New Kids on the Block lunchbox that Jacob purchased for Kate.
• Jack learns about the hatch, all of the survivors learn that Kate was a criminal ... some of the group's secrets are getting out in the open.
• Walt's warnings still stand out, even years later after everything we know about the hatch. He warned Locke not to open that thing and told Michael that they need to go. How much does Walt know/see? Things weren't so bad once they got in the hatch. It was dealing with the Others that caused so much trouble and that started on the raft. So why was he so against opening the hatch?
  

Hornets Summer League Team

The Hornets announced the roster for their summer league team, which will play July 10-19 in Las Vegas. The team include this year's draft picks, undrafted players and those with minimal NBA experience.

Here's the Summer League roster:

• #55 Earl Barron C Memphis
• #11 Earl Calloway G Indiana
• #20 Jaycee Carroll G Utah State
• #2 Darren Collison G UCLA
• #34 Brian Cusworth C Harvard
• #10 Terry Martin G LSU
• #50 Luke Nevill C Utah
• #25 Larry Owens F Oral Roberts
• #8 Marc Salyers F Samford
• #44 Courtney Sims C Michigan
• #5 Marcus Thornton G LSU
• #35 Anthony Tolliver F Creighton
• #15 Quinton Watkins G Dominquez H.S.
• #32 Julian Wright F Kansas
• Head Coach: Rob Werdann, St. John's

Saints have a new long snapper

In a surprising move, the Saints have parted ways with long-time long snapper Kevin Houser and replaced him with free agent Jason Kyle.

Houser has been with the team since he was drafted in 2000, and was set to become the all time Saints leader in consecutive games played this year. I can't recall him ever making a bad snap. The guy was as automatic as you could be as a snapper. He has even performed well in kick coverage on special teams.

To say the least, this is a surprising move. But there were signs that the end was nearing for Houser. The Saints had brought back former draft pick Rob Ninkovich to be a backup DE, but in minicamps and OTAs, he'd been working out more as a long snapper. So now with Houser gone, the snapper position will come down to Kyle and Ninkovich.

I know that many fans won't see this move as a major one, but Houser was the longest tenured Saint. He's been with the team through tough times and is the only player who can say he was on two playoff winning Saints teams. Kyle and Ninkovich are more versatile and could be better all around special teams players, but the move still makes me wonder: if it ain't broke, why fix it?

Lost Rewatch: Week 5

The Lost Rewatch cuts back a little with only three episodes on the schedule. So if you're behind on the Rewatch, this week might be a good one to do some catching up.

Here's a preview of this week's episodes:

...In Translation (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
  
• Flashback focuses on Jin. (They are the same time frame as "House of the Rising Sun, but from Jin's point of view.)
  
• Jin tells Sun's dad that his father is dead, but we later see him as an old fisherman, explaining why Jin is so good at catching fish on the island.
• Sayid and Shannon's relationship is growing. It's kind of weird seeing them together. Not only do we now know how it ends for them, but we know so much more about Sayid, both his past and future.
  
• The raft is becoming a major plot element. Sawyer bought a spot on the raft and Jin and Michael get in a fight because Michael thought Jin burned the raft. It's revealed to the group that Sun can speak English when she must defend Jin during the fight with Michael.
• Locke figures out that Walt burned the raft in another great conversation with Walt. Locke touches on his own father not being cool, setting up Locke's backstory.
• Jin's starting to pick up some English word, saying Boat.
  

Numbers (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
  
• Flashback focuses on Hurley. Hurley wins the lottery and bad stuff starts to happen. He thinks the numbers are cursed.
  
• 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42...the numbers, forever linked in the Lost mystery. This episode sets the audience up for years of questions.
• Hurley is the owner of a box company in Tustin...making him Locke's boss.
• Leonard, Sam Toomey, Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute. Just a few of the major players in the mystery of Lost that were introduced here.
• On their way to Rousseau's camp, the group comes across a rope bridge. Wonder who built that?
• Rousseau mentions the Black Rock again, this time to Hurley. She doesn't know what the numbers mean, but agrees with Hurley that they must be cursed. She gives an overview of her group's time on the island. Something fans will see take place in season 5.
• The episode ends with one of season 1's best shots. The camera pans to the hatch that Boone and Locke are working on to reveal 4 8 15 16 23 42 etched on the side. Chillbumps.
  

Deus Ex Machina (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
• Flashback focuses on Locke and his not cool dad, who cons Locke into donating a kidney to him and then abandons their relationship again.
• Locke's mother had been admitted to the same mental hospital that Hurley was, Santa Rosa.
• Is Locke's strange vision the island speaking to him? He learned of the beach craft's location and saw Boone covered in blood. Foreshadowing Boone's demise perhaps?
• Locke losing feeling in his legs? A Nigerian drug plane on the island? Virgin Mary statues filled with heroin? We're the survivors of Flight 815 (shout out to Bernard)? Man, what an episode. Locke-centric ones always deliver.
• Another great ending. With Locke ready to give up on the island, a light shoots out from the hatch renewing Locke's faith and making him more determined than ever to get inside the hatch.