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 description of the game Mouse Trap sounds a lot like the season 5 conflict between Jacob and man in black.
  
• 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 or did the island want him out of the picture?
• 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. We'll see this shot from a different point of view on the island in season 5.
  

Hornets Draft

With the 21st pick, the New Orleans Hornets selected PG Darren Collison out of UCLA to back up point guard Chris Paul. Many fans were hoping for the local player in LSU's Marcus Thornton. They didn't have to wait long, as the team traded two future second round picks to Miami for the rights to Thornton, who was taken with the 43rd pick.

Looking back, the Hornets sured up part of their bench, but they still haven't found the size and toughness that they lacked in the postseason. Pittsburgh forward DeJuan Blair was on the board, but his bad knees may have scared off the team. His knees scared off enough teams for Blair to fall all the way to the second round, where the Spurs selected him.

Now the team will have to look for some rebounding and height in free agency. The team would love to move a few players during the offseason as well, so look for the Hornets to be one of the more active players in trade talks.

Here's a look at the newest Hornets:

• Darren Collison, PG, UCLA

• Marcus Thornton, G, LSU

A few grades for the Hornets picks:

• ESPN: B-
• SI.com: B
• Yahoo: 7/10
• NBADraft.net: C
• Houston Chronicle: D+
• CBSSportsline: A (1st round only)
  

More grades and analysis can be found at Ken Trahan of NewOrleans.com's draft report

We Are the Champions!

CWS Championship

LSU vs. Texas. Best two-out-of-three. National seed #3 vs. #1. The match-up that most analyst predicted is the one that came true. Starting tonight, the best team in college baseball will be crowned in a few short days.

Many fans thought LSU should have been the #1 seed, but that honor went to Texas, who ended up in a tougher CWS bracket. There will be no more speculation on who the top team is after the three game championship series.

They both got to the championship series in different ways, but when you look at the CWS bracket, both teams made it to the final series the same way: Perfect 3-0 records. LSU returned to its Gorilla Ball days and blasted Virginia 9-5, Arkansas 9-1 and Arkansas again 14-5. Texas, some would say, caught some breaks in defeating Southern Miss 7-6, Arizona State 10-6 and Arizona State again 4-3. But none of that matters now. It's LSU's best against Texas' best for all the marbles.

This is what LSU fans have been waiting years for. Since Skip Bertman retired and Smoke Lavall ran the program into the ground, fans have wondered if LSU would return to the glory days. With more colleges putting an emphasis on college baseball and the new CWS format, LSU fans wondered if five titles in 10 years were what LSU baseball would forever be known for.

But Paul Mainieri has rebuilt the program into a giant and last year the team took its first step to returning LSU to glory. This year the team is looking to cement themselves alongside the 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000 teams.

The journey starts tonight and hopefully ends tomorrow night with the Tigers raising the championship trophy. Tiger fans would love nothing more than a perfect world series record, but if it goes to Wednesday and the Tigers win, there will be no complaints. The team just needs to continue what they've done all postseason and focus on the next at-bat or the next pitch and worry about the celebration later.

Lost Rewatch: Week 4

Week 4 of the rewatch continues to lay the groundwork for the mysteries of Lost. Fans will debate Locke's actions, especially in "Hearts and Minds," throughout these early episodes. Character development was key in season 1 and from Boone and Shannon to Walt and Michael to Charlie to Sawyer, these four sure gave fans a lot of backstory to digest. Just when the audience thought they knew where a character was coming from, their backstory threw their theories for a loop.

On a side note, have you ever wondered what Lost would look like as a sitcom? Well, wonder no further. Thanks to Youtube, some fans have edited Lost as some favorite sitcom openings. Check it out for a funner side of Lost.

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

Hearts and Minds (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
  
• Episode flashback focuses on Boone and Shannon's relationship and their time in Australia. It's revealed that Boone and Shannon aren't blood relatives.
• Don't miss Sawyer in the background while Boone is at the police station in Sydney. One of the many character crossovers in these early flashbacks.
• Kate learns that Sun speaks English, becoming the second Lostie (along with Michael) to learn Sun's secret.
• Jack and Sayid discuss the reasons why their compass isn't working. The first of many things they discover that's different/unique about the island's properties.
• Locke puts forth a test for Boone using a hallucination. This entire exercise is looked at in a different light now that fans have seen season 5. What is Locke's true motivations here? Was his focus really on just getting into the hatch? How does he even know how to mix these hallucinogens and what effects they will have on Boone? This is by far the most intriguing part of this episode for me.
  

Special (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
  
• Flashback focuses on Michael and Walt off the island and Michael's relationship with Walt's mother.
• In one of the most interesting season 1 scenes, Walt seems to cause a bird to crash against the window and die. Walt's stepdad later tells Michael that Walt is different and things happen when he's around. Fans immediately want to know more about Walt, but five seasons later, we're still wondering why he's so special.
• An interesting note from Lostpedia, Egypt is first referenced on Lost by Walt. Interesting since there's been so many other shout-outs to Egypt in later seasons.
  
• Michael starts to build the raft in this episode.
• Black Rock is mentioned for the second time on the show (the first was in Solitary).
• Claire returns at the end of this episode, setting up Homecoming.
  

Homecoming (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
  
• Flashback focuses on Charlie dealing with his heroin addiction as a washed-up rocker.
• Lost went to the well with the old amnesia story when Claire returned.
• Charlie kills the first Other, when he shoots Ethan. While the death was deserved, the audience probably sided with Sayid way back in season 1 about catching him alive, since we wanted to learn more about Ethan and his people.
• Ethan is killed on the island, interesting since we now know more about his birth.
  

Outlaws (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
  
• Flashback focuses on Sawyer and why he was in Australia. Oh yeah, he has a few drinks at a bar with this guy ... Christian Sheppard, ever heard of him?
• "That's why the Red Sox will never win the World Series." What a great conversation between Christian and Sawyer, but how frustrating was it when Sawyer didn't tell Jack about meeting his dad? Just add it to the times that the Losties didn't share info with each other. That payoff conversation would come later.
  
• Sawyer hears the whispers in the jungle, joining Sayid as having heard them.
• What a way to flesh out a bit of backstory, with a game of "I never." Some interesting bits of info revealed, setting up future flashbacks.
• Locke delivers a story about his foster mom thinking that a golden retriever was his recently deceased sister, but Locke tells it way better than that, proving once again how awesome a character Locke is.
  
• Sawyer says, "It's just a boar." But was it? Interesting how Locke shows up shortly after the board ran through Sawyer's stuff a second time. Smokey? Jacob's enemy? Hmm.
  

A Look at the Hornets Offseason

With the Los Angeles Lakers capturing their 15th title, the 2008-09 NBA season official came to an end. Now teams are in full offseason mode and the new league year will get underway next week with the NBA Draft.

There are lots of rumors going around involving the New Orleans Hornets. The team is over the salary cap and fans may be disappointed to hear that the team may sell their 1st round pick again. Last year, the team selected Darrell Arthur and then traded him to Portland for cash. Arthur eventually landed in Memphis. Fans won't like seeing the team trade another 1st round pick for money, but with the salary situation, the team may decide that's the best option.

But there may be other moves that change the face of the Hornets. Former Hornet PF Jennero Pargo may be on his way back and the team would love to move players with huge salaries like Peja Stojakovic and Tyson Chandler, if they can find any takers. To make a trade work though, the team may have to include a valuable player like David West in the deal.

The Hornets have brought in three groups of prospects for work outs recently. The players included 1st round prospects like LSU's Marcus Thornton and UNC's Tyler Hansbrough and some late round/free agent types like Xavier's Shaun Dumas and LSU's Terry Martin.

Here's a look at who a few mock drafts have the Hornets taking at pick #21:

• SI.com: Tyler Hansbrough, PF, UNC
• Draft Express: Eric Maynor, PG, VCU
• Walter Football: DaJuan Summers, SF, Georgetown
• Court Vision: Marcus Thornton, SG, LSU
• Portland Tribune: Marcus Thornton, SG, LSU
• Draft Party: Terrence Williams, SG, Louisville
• NBA-Draft.com: Chase Budinger, SF, Arizona
• NBA Draft Press: Tyler Hansbrough, PF, UNC
• Draft Tek: Jeff Teague, PG, Wake Forest
• Cippon Sports: Marcus Thornton, SG, LSU
• NBA Draft.net: Eric Maynor, PG, VCU
• My NBA Draft: James Johnson, PF, Wake Forest
  

Lost Rewatch: Week 3

Season 1 continues this week in the Rewatch. Episodes 9-12 are on deck and a couple of characters get their second pre-flight flashbacks, while two others get their first flashbacks. Some new, important players are introduced to the Lost universe, and island mysteries continue to unfold. It's crazy that there's so much stuff from these early episodes that fans are still focused on and questioning today.

One character that many rewatch fans have been focusing on is John Locke. Was Locke always Locke on the island or did the mysterious man in black take Locke's form much sooner than is alluded to in season 5? Right now, I'm with the majority of folks who think Locke was himself up until Ben killed him, then man in black became Locke after Flight 316, but I can see it the other way too. There is a lot of mystery around Locke in these early episodes. Just something to keep in mind.

Also, in the world of Lost, EW's Doc Jensen has finally posted his post-season 5 blog. Check it out, as he's a must read for Lost fans.

Here are somethings to check out in this week's episodes.

Solitary (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
  
• Flashbacks focus on Sayid's time in the Republican Guard.
  
• Sayid actually encounters the first DHARMA station, but the audience doesn't find out more about it until "Greatest Hits."
  
• Some major character introductions take place. Two important female characters are introduced: Danielle Rousseau and Nadia (Nadia was first seen in a photograph in Walkabout). Alex is also brought up as Rousseau's child, but not much more is known about her (the audience is led to believe that Alex is a boy in these early episodes). And Locke returns from hunting with Ethan, and the Losties island life is about to change big time.
  
• The whispers are heard for the first time on the island. Sayid gets the lucky or is it unlucky distinction of hearing them first.
• Rousseau gives the name The Others for the first time.
• The 815 survivors finally get to relax a bit when Hurley puts together a golf course and the first Island Open.
  

Raised by Another (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
  
• Flashback focuses on Claire's time off island and trying to decide what to do now that she's pregnant. Interesting scene when none of the ink pens would work at the adoption. The island's work perhaps?
  
• In the flashback, Claire goes to see the infamous psychic, who at first told her she has to raise the baby, but later set up meeting a couple in LA to give the baby to. What did he know/see? Did he know the plane would crash?
  
• Claire has some weird nightmares, including the one where Locke has one black and one white eye.
  
• Shannon nicknames the island, Craphole Island.
• Sayid returns from Rousseau's and tells everyone they aren't alone.
  
• Hurley takes a census of the survivors and learns that Ethan wasn't on the plane. We also learn Hurley's real name, Hugo Reyes.
  

All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
  
• The is the second episode to focus on Jack's time before the flight. The flashback shows the final falling out that he and his father had, the moment that Jack's mom referenced in "White Rabbit."
  
• Boone talks about the red shirts on Star Trek. With so many background characters dying in five seasons, Lost has perfected the use of the red shirt.
• Interesting scenes with Locke and Walt. Walt and Hurley are playing backgammon and Walt rolls everything he needs. Locke tells Boone it's going to rain in 1 minutes, give or take a few seconds, then it starts raining.
  
• With Ethan's fairly easy beat down of Jack, many fans wondered if he had superpowers.
• Did Jack save Charlie or was it the island's will?
  
• Boone and Locke find the hatch and Lost sets up their season 1 cliffhanger.
  

Whatever the Case May Be (Zap2It Recap)

• Long Live Locke's original recap.
  
• This episode features Kate's second flashback, to a robbery in Mexico.
  
• During the robbery, Kate obtains the key to deposit box 815, the same number as the flight (and two of Hurley's numbers).
• Lostpedia points out something interesting about the tides coming in. Sayid mentions that the tide is changing too quickly...an early reference to time moving differently on the island. I hadn't caught that the first time around.
• Jack is on to Kate's manipulations. Looking back on their relationship, they've had a lot of back and forth, I trust you, I don't trust you over the years.
  
• With the tides coming in, the Losties have to move to the second beach camp.
  
• If the toy airplane meant so much to Kate, why has it not been seen with her since this episode? (all the other times we've seen the plane, it has been a flashback).

College World Series Time

It's the most exciting time of the year for college baseball with the College World Series starting tomorrow. Eight teams, double elimination. What an exciting week, if your team made the field.

LSU has to be considered one of the favorites to win the whole thing, but they have a tough first round game with Virginia. Here's a look at the schedule for all the games. And here's a little something to get you pumped as the Tigers look to capture their 6th CWS title:

Zack Morris is back

If you grew up in the early '90s, chances are you saw each episode of Saved by the Bell about 20 times each. If Saved by the Bell was a major part of your Saturday mornings, check this out:

Saints Mini Camp: News and Notes (Update: Dan Moran Re-Retires)

Due to an unexpected hospital visit with our little one this weekend, I haven't gotten to check up on much coverage of the Saints mini camp this past weekend. If you're like me and looking for some news from the weekend, neworleanssaints.com, the Times Picayune and WWL are great places to look. Also don't forget about Saintsreport.com, as this is a site for the fans, by the fans.

From what I hear, Mike Bell looks good and could be a surprise at RB. Marques Colston is back to his old self and the defense is wreaking havoc already by showing different looks from 4-3 to 3-4 to some surprise formations. It didn't seem like there were any major injuries. Guys like Dan Campbell and Dan Morgan suffered injuries, but should be OK for training camp. Pierre Thomas brusied a hand/wrist, but he too should be 100 percent for camp. Rookie Malcolm Jenkins finished his finals early so he could make the mini camp, showing his dedication to being the best he can be.

Anyway, here's a look at what took place this weekend, so we can all catch up. :

Saints Official Site Coverage:

• Sean Payton Q & A: Day 1, , Day 3
• Practice Reports: Day 1(morning), Day 1 (afternoon) Day 2, Day 3
  
• Reggie Bush Q & A

Times Picayune Coverage:

• Day 1 Coverage
• Overview of Day 1 (lots of links)
  
• Day 2 Observations
  
• Saturday Practice Video
• Overview of Day 2
  
• Day 3 Observations
  

WWL Coverage:

• 1st Practice
• 2nd Practice
• Day 2, Practice 1
• Day 2, Practice 2
• Day 3 (what we've seen) and Practice Notes
• Post Mini Camp unofficial Depth Chart
• Mini Camp Review

UPDATE: According to Drew Rosenhaus' Twitter, Dan Morgan has re-retired. Two years in a row, Saints fans have gotten excited about Morgan returning to his old self, and two years in a row, he retires before camp.


*Photo by Michael C. Hebert from NewOrleansSaints.com

Lost Rewatch: Week 2

I love the Lost Rewatch idea, and in the Lost offseason I always like to go back and check out old episodes. But I usually don't get to watch them all, as I intend to. The past couple of years, I seem to make it through season 1 and get stuck in season 2, right around "The Other 48 Days."

So not that I'm bowing out way early in the Lost Rewatch project, but I'm going to change up my format just in case I can't keep up. Last week, I watch all four episodes and pick out tidbits of info that stuck out for me or new/interesting questions I have.

But really, there are so many recaps/analysis of these episodes on the Web already, I was regergitating a lot of info already out there. There were a couple of new questions/analysis based off season 5, but the official Lost Rewatch bloggers are doing a good job of picking those up too. (Check out JOpinionated or DocArzt)

For my aspect of the Rewatch project, I'm going to try to preview the week's episodes and try to pick out cool things to look for or think about. Lostpedia is a great resource, as they have analyzed every aspect of every episode of Lost already. Even the show's producers say they check out Lostpedia. I'm also going to look at Zap2It's "We Have to Go Back" rewatch from last year for things he noticed when he took up the task of rewatching Lost last year.

So here's the episodes on the schedule for Week 2:
(Lostpedia link as episode title, Zap2It link in parenthesis)

White Rabbit (Zap2It recap):

• Flashback focuses on Jack and his daddy issues. This is the first episode to open with a flashback.
• Charlie says, "I don't swim." Do you think he said this because he didn't want to try to rescue the person drowning, was too high to do it or meant that he didn't swim, not couldn't swim? (We know from future espisodes that he indeed could swim).
• Locke says that he looked into the eye of the island and it was beautiful. Is he talking about the smoke monster?
• Jack gives his famous line, "if we can't live together, or we're going to die alone" in this episode and officially becomes the leader of the survivors.
  
• We still don't have an answer on why/how Christian is seen walking around the island. He could be Jacob's enemy or a manifestation of Smokey. But with Locke, his old body was found on Flight 316, while Christian wasn't in the coffin.
  

House of the Rising Sun (Zap2It recap):

• Flashback focuses on Sun.
• We get introduced to two important skeletons in the caves. Locke dubs them Adam and Eve, the audience is still guess at their identity (Rose/Bernard? Desmond/Penny? Kate/Jack?).
  
• Jack has an interesting line about the skeletons that I didn't remember: "Someone laid them to rest here." Who could that have been?
  
• The skeletons also had a black and a white stone with them. As far as we know, Jack is still in possession of those.
• Locke is on to Charlie and begins to help him overcome his addiction.
• Michael learns that Sun speaks English, a major early Lost revelation.
• Watch for Michael's line about Jin's watch: "Time doesn't matter on a damn island." It may not matter on other islands, but it's pretty huge on this one.
  

The Moth (Zap2It recap):

• Flashback focuses on Charlie and his times in Driveshaft.
• Sayid tells Kate that there's no way they should have survived the crash. Our first signal that these people were brought to the island for a reason?
  
• Locke helps Charlie to realize that he doesn't need the drugs. He gives him three chances to ask for them back.
• Sayid's mission to try to located the French women's signal is thwarted when someone knocks him unconscious. Remember who it was?
  

Confidence Man (Zap2It recap):

• Flashback focuses on Sawyer and a con he was pulling on a couple.
• Sawyer had been reading Watership Down, beginning the Lost theme of planting books as Easter Eggs for the audience.
  
• Sayid returns to a place he didn't want to, back to being a torturer.
  
• Kate figures out the real source of Sawyer's letter. We learn that Sawyer isn't his real name.

Omaha Bound!

Congratulations to LSU for defeating Rice in a two-game sweep and advancing to the College World Series in Omaha.

Saints Hold Mini Camp this Weekend

You smell that? It's the smell of football in the air. Sure teams don't even report for training camp for another about two months, but with Saints mini camp being held this weekend, fans know football season is right around the corner.

I won't be attending the practices that are open to the public, but here are a few things I'm interested in hearing about from them:

1. How's the running back situation? There has been a ton of talk about bringing in another running back, but this weekend will be the first of many evaluations to see if the players on the roster, Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush, Lynell Hamilton, Mike Bell, P.J. Hill and Herb Donaldson, can provide a solid running game.
2. Is the secondary really improved? This is an area that's been the weakest point on a less than average defensive unit. In the offseason, the Saints have brought in Darren Sharper and Jabari Greer, drafted Michael Jenkins (who won't be at mini camp) and Chip Vaughn, moved Usama Young to safety and get a healthy Tracy Porter back. Will all these moves pay off?
3. Is Sedrick Ellis ready to step up? Ellis had a solid rookie season, but this year he could be the anchor for the entire defense. Just look at what Albert Haynesworth meant to the Titans last year. Ellis is poised to become one of the top DT in the league. Is this the year that he takes the step?
4. How improved is Robert Meachem? After being drafted in the first round, Meachem can be considered nothing but a bust so far with the Saints. There have been a few bright moments for him, but first round picks are looked to contribute more than he has. Finally healthy, reports say he was impressive in the OTAs and has been getting a lot of reps with Marquis Colston and Lance Moore nursing injuries.
   
5. Was it really worth trading two draft picks to select a punter? Thomas Morstead will be one of the most scutinized players on the field in training camp, and he's a punter. The scutiny comes from the Saints trading their 7th rounder this year and a pick next year to take him. Most fans didn't even think punter was a need area, but Coach Payton and Mickey Loomis did. Hopefully, the pressure doesn't affect Morstead, and he can show why the team valued him so highly.
   

There are lots of other storylines to follow this weekend. Jeremy Shockey will certainly get a lot of coverage due to his recent "dehydration" spell in Las Vegas. Reporters will likely have an eye on the defensive end roation to see who could get playing time if/when Will Smith and Charles Grant have to serve their suspensions. And of course, although we take his efforts for granted since he's so good, Drew Brees is always fun to watch since he gives the same effort in mini camp as he does in Week 6 of the regular season.

Lost Rewatch: Week 1

This week in the Lost Rewatch, fans are taken back to the beginning of the series with the Pilot (Parts 1 & 2), Tabula Rasa and Walkabout. I'm not going to recap these episodes, there's plenty of recaps around the web (click on the episode title for the Lostpedia synopsis). I'm going to try to point out things that stood out for me, stuff I may have missed the first time around or things that I still question/raised new questions based on what we now know.

Without further a due, here's a look at the episodes:

Pilot, Part 1:

• After showing the awesome Lost logo for the first time, the camera focuses on an eye (a shot that becomes a staple of the series). Jack wakes up in the jungle. So with everyone else from the fuselage scattered on the beach, why is Jack alone in the jungle?
• Jack runs out of the jungle and onto the beach, and we get about 10 minutes of the best television ever broadcast.
• No sign of Nikki, Paulo, Arzt or Frogurt on the beach. :)
  
• Seven minutes into Lost, and we get Hurley's first "Dude."
• When Jack asks Kate to sew him up, he chooses the black thread. From everything we've learned on this show and all the black/white themes, it's interesting that he picks black.
• Kate points out that Jack isn't scared, and this leads to Jack's surgery story and only letting fear in for 5 seconds, before finishing the surgery (and then sharing an Apollo bar with Jacob). But why was Jack so calm after the crash? Was this really his first time experiencing all of this?
• Hurley hands out food, foreshadowing his job overseeing the food in the hatch, and his future (or is it past?) vocation with DHARMA
• Kate said that she saw smoke, so she knew where the cockpit might be. Did she see smoke or Smokey?
• Speaking of Smokey, he puts on a show for the 815 survivors on their first night there. Rose later mentions that there was something really familiar about the sound. Why was it familiar to her?
• This episode features only one flashback scene, to Jack on the flight.
  
• In one of the best scenes of the Pilot, it starts to rain and everyone is scrambling for shelter ... except John Locke, who is sitting with his arms spread out embracing the island.
• There was something up with Vincent when he was peering through the bushes at Jack, Kate and Charlie. Could he be Smokey?
• The pilot, who had on his wedding ring from what I could tell, tells Kate and Jack that the radio went out six hours into the flight, so they turned around and headed for Fiji before hitting turbulence. Why did the radio go out? If Desmond caused the crash, how soon after they turned around did they crash? Or as we can now speculate, did Jacob bring them there?
  
• Why does the rain start and stop so suddenly?
• At the end, Jack pops out suddenly when Kate and Charlie discover the pilot's body in the tree. Jack claims the monster was right behind him but he didn't see it before diving into a bush. Is there something fishy with Jack? Probably not, but five years of this series has me analyzing every little move a character makes.

Pilot, Part 2:

• Sawyer's nicknames start in this episode, including calling Hurley Lardo.
  
• One thing of interest is the altered dialogue from on the plane. Check this out from Lostpedia: In one flashback, Cindy says the pilot has switched on the fasten seatbelt signs. In another, she says the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt signs, and in the last one, she says the captain has switched on the fasten seatbelt signs. It's probably just different takes spliced together, but still weird that the dialogue changes.
• Sawyer is seen reading his letter to Mr. Sawyer for the first time.
  
• Locke explains Lost, I mean, the game of backgammon, to Walt, saying there are two players, two sides, one light, one dark. Talk about loaded dialogue there.
  
• Locke fills Walt in on his secret. Why did he choose to tell Walt and no one else? Did he sense that Walt was special?
  
• Sawyer shoots a polar bear and the audience begins to take notice that this isn't your typical plane crashes on an island drama.
• They hear Rousseau's message for the first time and learn that it has been on a loop for 16 years (first reference to the numbers?).
  
• Charlie delivers the line of the series (a question that fans are still trying to answer 5 years later), "Guys, where are we?"

Tabula Rasa:

• This episode features the first traditional pre-crash flashback (Centered around Kate's time in Australia).
• There are a couple of appearances of the now famous numbers: Ray Mullen's wife died 8 months ago and Kate's reward was $23,000.
• Walt wants Michael to go find Vincent, but it's raining. Michael says he'll go when the rain stops, then boom, it stops. Did Walt stop the rain?
• We get the first character death when the marshall dies. This is the first of many post crash deaths.
• Sawyer was a chain smoker in these early episodes. They never showed him have nicotine withdrawals, but with Charlie's storyline, it probably wouldn't have compaired.
• Man, I miss the old Locke, but that last shot of him watching Michael and Walt, whoa ... getting ready to set up our first Locke-centric episode.
  

Walkabout:

• This episode features flashbacks of Locke's time at the box company and getting ready for his walkabout in Australia.
• Charlie has an interesting line, now that we know what happens later in the series: "We are positively made of time."
• Kate says that she's a vegetarian, but in Tabula Rasa she eats bacon and eggs.
• The scenes with Michael asking Sun to watch Walt is funny to see now, knowing that Sun understood everything.
• Jack tells Rose that he was in seat 23A. (the numbers)
  
• Locke establishes a couple of the themes he's known for, talking about destiny a couple of times in his flashback and then saying "Don't tell me what I can't do!" (to Randy at the box company, to Kate and to the walkabout attendant).
• Charlie and Hurley's friendship blossoms on their "fishing trip."
• What exactly did Locke see when he came face-to-face with Smokey?
• What happens between the time Locke saw the monster and the time he showed up with the boar?
• Jack sees his dad for the first time on the island.
• Michael gives Smokey the nickname "the monster."
• Locke says that he's dealt with his condition for the past 4 years. (another one of the numbers)
  

I'm sure I missed lots of great tidbits. I'll post anything cool or new revelations that I come across from the other bloggers participating in the Rewatch project. It's fun to go back and see where the series originated. It's so crazy to see where the show is now after watching the first couple of episodes.

I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up each week with the Rewatch, but if I'm unable to watch and post about a week's episodes, I'll at least try to provide some info about what to look for that week.

Braves have a busy day

The Atlanta Braves were busy yesterday, releasing Tom Glavine and trade for centerfielder Nate McLouth from the Pirates.

The release of Glavine shows that these aren't your old Braves. In a sentimental move, the team resigned Glavine in the offseason, but injuries hampered his return. Now that he's healthy, the Braves don't think he still has it. They decided to let go the last of the big three (Glavine/Smoltz/Maddux).

It's a tough call, but fans should understand. Glavine is getting up there in age and may not have much left. The Braves have to do what's best for the team now and not what "feels good." Bringing up an ace prospect like Tommy Hanson is a better move for the long-term than added Glavine back to the rotation.

The team also traded for All Star CF McLouth from the Pirates. He won a gold glove last year and finished with 26 HRs and 94 RBI. He adds some much needed pop to the Braves lineup and give some power to an outfield that was lacking in hitting the long ball. This is a great move for the Braves and fans should soon enjoy watching McLouth play in the ATL.

Sean Payton vs. The Saints

Yep, you read that title correctly. A Saints fan has unearth a treasure from the 1987 strike season. Sean Payton was a "scab" QB for the Bears and he played against the very team he now coaches, the Saints. Check out the highlights, or should I say lowlights, of Payton's career:

Saints Sell Out Season

New Orleans Saints fans once again proved that the Saints belong in the Big Easy and no where else. Not Los Angeles. Not San Antonio. But right where they are in New Orleans.

The Saints have sold out the Superdome for the 4th straight year. That's every seat to every game to season ticket holders. So while other notable teams like the NY Yankees and NY Giants are struggling to fill their new stadiums, Saints fans are stepping up and showing that the Superdome is the place to be.

With Louisiana and the team coming to a lease-extension agreement, the Saints will be a part of Louisiana for many years to come.

Ready for the Lost Rewatch?

The Lost Rewatch starts this week. Basically, Lost fans have come up with a way to get them through the long offseason hiatus before the sixth and final season of Lost. Each week, a few notable Lost blogs are going to watch 3-4 episodes and then start the discussion on them all over again, based on what we now know, 5 years after the show premiered.

The Lost bloggers are going to post thoughts, analysis, questions and reactions throughout the offseason as they go through the episodes on the schedule.

Last summer, Zap2It did something similar with their Lost: "We have to go back" blog on their site, and it was an excellent way to relive Lost. Each week, they reviewed a new episode up to the start of season 5. Here's a look at their take on these episodes (remember they reviewed them prior to season 5), to get ready for this year's rewatch:

• Pilot (part 1)
• Pilot (part 2)
• Tabula Rasa
• Walkabout

I'll try to keep up with some of the rewatch activities here and offer my opinions on the episodes whenever I get a chance to follow along.

Saints in Early Power Rankings

Many sports sites are looking to fill their NFL offseason coverage, so they turn to the annual tradition of stirring up a fan base with power rankings. Here's where the Saints turn up in a few recently released:

• ESPN: 16th
• SI's Peter King: 24th
• CBS Sports: 10th
  
• Walter Football: 8th
• Bleacher Report: 21st

So as you can see with the NFL in the offseason, no one really knows what to think of teams this time of the year. The Saints are in the playoffs in one ranking and picking in the top 10 of the draft in another. So take these offseason rankings with a grain of salt. In most cases, they are just meant to drum up interest for the Web site that publishes them.