Coach Mainieri, don't quit your day job

Preseason: Saints at Raiders

The Saints will play the Raiders this weekend in their week 3 preseason game. Week 3 is the most important game of the preseason, as the starters play more than a half to get acclimated to coming out of the locker room and starting the 2nd half.

There will be lots to watch this weekend:

1. Starters: As I mentioned, the starters on both sides of the ball will get more playing time this week. Drew Brees and company will play into the 3rd quarter so watch to see if they're in rhythym and keep it going for almost three quarters.
2. Robert Meachem, kick returner: The battle for the last receiver spots has been heating up in camp. A major way that the 4th and 5th WRs contribute is in special teams, so the Saints are taking a look at Meachem as a returner. This will solve a couple of issues, one he'll contribute both on offense and special teams and two, they won't have to carry an extra kick returner, who's only job is returning. Leading to...
   
3. WR Battle: As I mentioned, the 5th WR spot is up for grabs with guys like Adrian Arrington, Skyler Green, Courtney Roby and Rod Harper competiting. Harper helped his case with a punt return touchdown, but with Reggie Bush and Lance Moore already doing a good job on punt returns, Harper likely won't get that job. Arrington seems to be the favorite, as the staff drafted him and hung onto him as he recovered from injuries last year. Green and Roby are competiting as mainly returners and will now have Meachem to compete against.
4. Running Back: Pierre Thomas is dealing with an injury and won't play and Reggie Bush is questionable. This will give Mike Bell another opportunity to show that he's in the mix for playing time at running back. The younger backs will also get lots of looks with the starters being limited with injuries.
5. Starting Punter: Thomas Morestead locked up the punting job this week when the Saints cut Glenn Pakulak. It's now up to Morestead to show the consitency that a starting NFL punter should have.

Other:
Watch Anthony Hargrove rush the passer, he's been one of the most impressive pass rushers in camp; the continued maturity of the young linebackers like Anthony Waters; the kicking battle between John Carney and Garrett Hartley; Jermon Bushrod starting at left tackle again; how Malcolm Jenkins comes back after giving up a TD pass in Houston; and the run defense going up against the Raiders' Darren McFadden, Michael Bush and Justin Fargas.

Lost Rewatch: Week 13

This week in the Lost Rewatch winds down season 2 and brings us into season 3, where we learned more about The Others. Fans may recall that the beginning (first 6 episodes) of season 3 were played in the fall in a mini-season format, then the rest of the season finished in February. The results were a mixed bag, and the show has since gone with a full run through the spring from late January to May.

There a ton of information here for "Live Together, Die Alone," but then again, that's because that episode packed in so much. Here's this week's batch of episodes:

Three Minutes (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's Original Recap.
• Flashback fills in the time that Michael was gone after he took the guns and left in "The Hunting Party." We get lots of information about the Others in this episode.
• How was Walt able to communicate with Michael via the Swan computer? Why were the Others pretending to live in the huts around the fake hatch? Walt says they aren't who they say they are, how much more does he know about them?
  
• You want some more questions: Why did they take blood from Michael? Where has Ms. Klugh seen Walt appear (or disappear)? What kinds of tests are they doing on him? What is the true purpose of the room (Room 23)?
• Charlie gives Desmond's vaccines to Claire for Aaron, but we still aren't sure what they were vaccines for or why they were needed in the Swan.
• Sawyer tells Jack that he's the closest thing he has to a friend on the island. Shows us how far Sawyer has come in the past few years.
• There's no fooling Sayid as he's onto Michael, but now knowing what happens when Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley get to the Others with Michael, they should have come up with a better plan.
  

Live Together, Die Alone (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's Original Recap.
• Flashback is the first for Desmond (first flashback for someone not on Flight 815). Penny and Charles Widmore (who would have known at the time that Widmore would become so important) are also introduced.
• The flashback events are those leading up to Desmond's race around the world, including him obtaining Libby's sailboat, his conversation with Penny outside the stadium where he met Jack, and his crash on the island.
• We learn more about Desmond's first few years in the Swan. Kelvin Inman, Just Saving the World, Radzinsky, the blast door map, vaccinations, the fail-safe, Our Mutual Friend ... what's Kelvin's story? He was Radzinky's partner and joined DHARMA after serving in the Gulf War. So DHARMA was still active then?
  
• This season finale was another stellar one, as Lost always knocks it out of the park. Some highlights to remember "We are stuck in a bloody snow globe!"; Desmond calls the Others Hostiles, the same as 1970s DHARMA did; Sun starts getting morning sickness; the Hurley bird reappears; tubes from the Pearl are all piled up; "Smells like carrots."
  
• The 4-Toed Statue was one of the top mysteries for years. Sayid's line is still great, even knowing everything we know: "I don't know what is more disquieting the fact that the rest of the statue is missing, or that it has four toes." So why is most of the statue missing?
• So if Desmond crashed their plane, what happens if Jack's plan works and the Swan is never finished?
• When they the counter runs out, the scene is mirrored in the Incident from season 5 with all the metal objects flying around and being sucked toward the electromagnetic source. We don't learn what happened to Desmond after turning the fail-safe key until "Flashes Before Your Eyes," but man, was it ever worth the wait!
  
• Did Ben know what would happen if the button wasn't pushed?
• Will Lost revisit the ending scene again? We know that Penny had been looking for Desmond for years. How much did she know about the island and why was the group set up in the Arctic or Antarctica looking for the electromagnetic anomaly?
  

A Tale of Two Cities (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's Original Recap.
• Flashback focuses on Jack going through his divorce from Sarah.
• The opening scene blew everyones' minds at the time. Fans knew of the Others has hillbillies, walking barefoot through the jungle. Now we see that they live in cottages, listen to CDs and host book clubs. Did not see that coming.
• There are a few theories about the Other Amelia. Some think she's Amelia Earhart. Others think she's Ethan's mom, Amy. Guess we'll have to wait and see. She's likely part of the Others group that's been hiding out at the Temple.
  
• Henry chooses Ethan and Goodwin to infiltrate the survivors. We know that he sent Goodwin away to get him away from Juliette, but why send the doctor, Ethan, away, especially when he'd recently learned of his cancer.
• Some questions about the Others: Again, why do they take blood samples? How are they able to get so much information on the survivors? (Mikhail starts gathering info, but how can he accumulate so much?)
• Jack hears his dad's voice on the intercom saying let it go. Now that we've seen more of island Christian, him being on the broken intercom isn't that big of a deal.
  
• Henry's name is revealed to be Ben. Remember how hard it was to change from calling him Henry? Most fans switched to Benry, then got used to Ben.
  

The Glass Ballerina (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's Original Recap.
• Flashback focuses on Sun and Jin's complicated relationship and the secret that Sun has been living with ... that she cheated on Jin with Jae Lee.
• This episode shed a whole new light on Sun. Her character was stepped up another level with the reveal that she wasn't the 100% good person fans thought she was. The flashback also sheds light on her conversation with Claire from season one about them being punished for the things they've done.
• Sawyer and Kate are brought to work on the runway on Hyrda island (the one that Flight 316 uses 3 years later). Talk about planning ahead.
• Sun kills Colleen, something that the Others (and most fans) didn't think she was capable of doing. This was the start of the new version of Oceanic 6 Sun.
• Ben shows Jack the Red Sox winning the World Series. A major shock to him on multiple levels. One that his dad's team actually won the series (he can't use the catchphrase anymore) and two that the Others actually have contact with the outside world.

Preseason: Saints at Texans

Tomorrow, the Saints will play their second preseason game against the Houston Texans. There have been a number of changes since last week's game, so here are a few things to look for:

1. Left tackle situation: Starting tackle Jammal Brown is out with a sports hernia injury and his backup, Zach Strief, is also battling injuries so third stringer Jermon Bushrod will get the start at left tackle. Bushrod is a promising young player and is worth checking out, especially with him protecting Drew Brees' blindside.
2. The kicking battle: Last week, Garrett Hartley was the only kicker on the Saints roster, but my how things have changed. Word came out that Hartley is going to be suspended for the first four games of the season, and the Saints promptly signed veteran John Carney. Now the big question is, "Will there be a job for Hartley when he returns?" Fans will be watching Carney, who many felt the team never should have let go a couple of years ago. Carney made the Pro Bowl last year as an injury replacement for the Giants and never gave the kicking job back. Will history repeat itself in New Orleans?
3. Running Back: Mike Bell is set to get extensive playing time and with a good performance, he can lock down the third running back position. He's been impressive in camp and if he can show some ball security, the job should be his. Last week, none of the runners were overly impressive, and Lynell Hamilton had some issues holding onto the ball. Reggie Bush doesn't look to be playing with his calf injury, so some of the other young backs should get a long look as well.
4. Defense, Defense, Defense: The defense showed improvements against the Bengals, but they still gave up big plays, didn't put much pressure on the QB and gave up a couple of nice runs. This week, the Saints will go up against the league's #3 offense from a year ago, and it will be another test. Gone is Jason David from the secondary, so fans won't have him to blame if big plays are given up. Malcolm Jenkins looks to have moved into the nickel cornerback spot and should get more playing time this weekend. The d-line and linebackers also need to show that they can stop the run up front. Sure producing those turnovers was nice, but when Darren Sharper cause the fumble last week, Cedric Benson has already gained about eight yards.
5. Joey Harrington: Fans have heard about Harrington's improvement in his second year in Sean Payton's system, but at practice, he's mostly throwing to the 3rd-4th teamers, basically a number of guys who won't make it in this league. This weekend, he has a chance to show what he can do as Drew Brees' backup. He'll come in with the second team and play into the 4th quarter. This is his chance to show that there's really a battle for the #2 QB job on the team.

Other:
A few other things to look for include the battle for the return job/5th WR position, where Skyler Green and Courtney Roby are competing for both spots; the depth at linebacker, where guys like Jonathan Casillas and Anthony Waters can make the team forget about calling Derrick Brooks back; the punting battle; Usama Young's transition to safety and former d-lineman Jeremy Parnell's transition to tight end; and the continued career turnaround for Robert Meachem.

Lost Theory: Flight 815, Next Stop Fiji?

During the Rewatch of the first few seasons of Lost, I got to thinking about how the show will move forward if Jack's plan works. You know, blowing up Jughead so the Swan is never completed leading to their plane never crashing on the island in 2004. Remember, if the plan works, they assume they'll be landing in Los Angeles. But I have another idea of what might happen.

Remember way back in the first episode when the pilot, Seth Norris, told Jack and Kate that they'd lost radio contact and had traveled 1,000 miles off course. Then we know that Desmond failed to enter the numbers in time on Sept. 22, 2004, causing Flight 815 to break up and crash on the island.

So with that in mind, if Jack's plan works will they land safely in L.A. or will it be Fiji? The answer to that question lies in what caused the radio contact to break down. If they weren't near the island when their radio contact ended, then it's safe to assume that wasn't Desmond's work. After they lost contact, they flew 1,000 miles for 2 hours back toward Fiji and passed over the island as the Swan counter reached zero. The electromagnetic forces from the Swan broke up the plane and it crashed.

Many fans will say that the island caused the radio contact to break down, leading them to turn around and pass over the island. So if the Swan is never completed, will the island still cause the radio contact go down, leading the pilot to head toward Fiji? In that case, they'll land in Fiji since there's no Swan to cause the crash. Or their radio contact will never be lost and they'll end up in L.A., safe and sound.

But then again, what ever happened, happened ... so it's probably a moot point.

In other Lost news, there's a couple of things floating around the Web to hold fans over until the final season. Over at DamonCarltonandapolarbear.com, check out updates of art work about the show and other Easter Eggs. Also, at Comic Con Mysteries of the Universe Part 1 was shown. ABC's Lost site has release the second video (see below). Apparently this documentary will be part of the season 5 DVD set.

Brett Favre is Back

I guess I'll join everyone else in the sports world and acknowledge that Brett Favre has unretired again. Favre signed today with the Minnesota Vikings after months of build up and then "staying retired" to now signing with the team. What a roller coaster? But do fans outside Minnesota even care anymore?

The 24-hour news cycle has killed Brett Favre's reputation because media outlets like ESPN and NFLNetwork were staked out outside his Mississippi home for weeks trying to get any bit of scoop. Then it all died down, only to have the tents brought back out to become the circus all over again today. Football fans are tired of it, and the once fan-favorite Brett Favre has now joined the likes of Michael Vick, T.O., Pacman Jones, the Dallas Cowboys and Plaxico Burris as NFL figures who get way too much airtime on ESPN and when fans see them coming up, they'd rather change the channel.

With that said, I loved watching Favre in his prime. He's from the South and the "gunslinger" mentality made him enjoyable to watch when he was flinging the ball all over the field. He was the Packers when I was growing up. Many never thought they'd see him wear another uniform, but there was the ugly breakup in Green Bay and he was shipped to New York.

After a pretty good year with the Jets, before breaking down toward the end of the season, fans were ready to see him ride off in the sunset again. Then all the flirting with the Vikings started ... the team he really wanted to play for last year.

Does Favre have anything left in the tank? Is this really a move just to stick it to the Packers? Can Favre lead the Vikings to a deep playoff run and will that rebuild his legacy?

Do fans even care anymore? The media sure does, so look out for ESPN, Sports Illustrated, the NFL Network, any preseason game this weekend, etc. The only person who is really happy about this is Michael Vick, since he's gets to go on the backburner for a while and his first game with the Eagles won't be the top story ... especially if Favre is starting for the Vikings this weekend, as ESPN is already reporting.

Lost Rewatch: Week 12

Hey Lost fans, looking to Rewatch seasons 1-5 but you don't have the DVDs? Well, here's some good news: Besides ABC streaming the episodes on their official Lost site, Hulu now has episodes from all the Lost seasons. They have the complete seasons 1-4 and a few from season 5. So get to Rewatching Lost. Here's a look at this week's episodes.

S.O.S. (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's Original Recap.
• Flashback is Rose and Bernard's first and only on Lost. It shows how they met and their trip to Australia to a faith healer.
• Bernard took Rose to the faith healer to cure her cancer. The healer talks about places in the world with unique energy that can be channeled to heal people. Australia isn't that place for Rose, but fortunately for her, the island is.
• Rose sees Locke in the wheelchair at the airport, joining the late Boone in knowing that Locke was paralyzed (Sawyer also learns about Locke's condition in "The Brig," and it's not seen, but implied that Locke told Walt about it). Rose and Locke have later have a conversations about the healing powers of the island.
  
• Bernard (revealed to be a dentist off the island) works on making a huge S.O.S. sign on the beach to alert any planes of their whereabouts. The infamous Neil "Frogurt" gets introduced here, as one of the people who helped Bernard.
• Benry's manipulation of Locke is taking shape, as Locke wants to know the truth about whether Benry pushed the button or not. This manipulation lasts through season 5 until Locke "returns" to the island.
• Michael returns, but we won't learn his true motivations until "Three Minutes."
  

Two for the Road (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's Original Recap.
• Flashback focuses on Ana Lucia and the reason she was in Australia -- to serve as a body guard for Christian Sheppard. Yeah, great job there Ana, considering he was drunk the whole time and died during the trip.
• Christian is in Australia to see his daughter. He finally works up the nerve to go to her house, but her mother won't let him in. It isn't reveal yet who his daughter really is. But most fans figured it out. The aliases Sarah and Tom are Christian's kids significant others (Sarah was Jack's wife and Tom is Aaron's father).
  
• Benry tells Locke that he was on his way to get him ... is he just pulling Locke's chain again? We never have gotten a clear answer as to why Ben got caught. Was he really trying to meet Jack so he could do his surgery or was John part of his plan?
• Hurley still thinks that he knows Libby from somewhere. Yes, yes you do.
• Michael sets up everything we'll see in a couple of episodes (Three Minutes). Many fans were happy to see Ana Lucia bite the bullet, but unfortunately for Hurley, Libby had to go as well, leading to years of frustration over her backstory.
  

? (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's Original Recap.
• Flashback focuses on Mr. Eko, who isn't really a priest, going to investigate a miracle in Australia at the house of the same phychic who told Claire to get on Flight 815.
• More crazy island dreams, this time by Eko and Locke. We haven't seen many of these dreams/visions in recent seasons, but early on, that was the way that the island would lead people as we've seen them with Locke, Claire, Charlie and Boone previously. In one dream, Eko's brother Yemi tells him to go to the ? with Locke. In Locke's dream, Yemi directs Eko to climb up the cliff near the beachcraft.
• With what we later see of Yemi in "The Cost of Living," we have to wonder if the Yemi vision was the Smoke Monster or maybe Jacob's enemy. But why was he leading them to the Pearl?
• Locke and Eko find the Pearl station, and Locke's faith is tested once again. Why did the Pearl visit reinforce Eko's belief in pushing the button at the Swan?
  
• Lots of questions remain about the Pearl. The Pearl is set up to observe the other stations, but with what we later see about the notebooks from the Pearl piling up ("Live Together, Die Alone") and what happens when you don't enter the code, it looks like the Pearl was the site of the psychological experiements. Who was smoking in the Pearl recently? Why did Pierre Chang us the alias Mark Wickmund here? When was the Pearl constructed (Chang doesn't have his arm injury in the video)? Who made the giant "?" out of salt?
  

Saints Cut Jason David

It's the end of an era. Yes, the Jason David era has come to an end in New Orleans. After one of his poorer showings in the Saints first preseason game, the teams has cut the veteran cornerback.

David, who was said to be shining in practices in Gregg Williams' new scheme, was torched against Chad OchoCinco and Chris Henry. Missed tackles and blown assignments still hampered the former #42 (he'd switched to #29 for a fresh start after the teams signed Darren Sharper, who wanted #42).

I'm not sure if he'll be picked up anytime soon. In the past two years, fans around the league have come to know the name Jason David and that's not a good thing. Studies even showed that a hole in the defensive coverage was a better defender than David. So finally, the Saints have done what many fans have been waiting for them to do, cut bait with David.

In other news, Saints kicker Garrett Hartley will be suspended for four games for taking a banned supplement. Hartley took Adderall to stay awake during a drive from Dallas to New Orleans. To take his place during the suspension, the Saints have resigned John Carney.

Carney, who the team has acknowledged that they never should have cut, made the Pro Bowl last season with the Giants. It will be interesting to see if Hartley can keep his job when he returns from the suspension. He was 13-13 last year, but missed a 20 yarder against the Bengals. He made up for it later with a 54 yarder. Carney doesn't have the distance that he used to, but he'll be accurate with all his kicks.

Preseason: Bengals at Saints

The Saints kick off their preseason schedule tonight against the Cincinnati Bengals. While the Bengals provide a good early test for the Saints, everyone knows preseason isn't really about winning or losing. The coaches want to see their players going up against another team and see how they react to the many situations they've been practicing all summer and in OTAs.

Here's a look at a few things to watch for on offense, defense and special teams:

Offense:

1. The league's #1 offense returns most of the pieces from last year, but the main spot fans will watch is running back. Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas are the Saints 1a and 1b starters, but who's going to pick up the slack as the top backups. Mike Bell has impressed in camp and could be the short yardage/3rd back in the rotation. Lynell Hamilton, P.J. Hill, and Herb Donaldson all have had their moments in camp. Let's see how they perform under the lights.
2. The buzz around camp is that one of, if not the top performers this summer has been Robert Meachem. Meachem, the former 1st round pick, is fully healthy and has a grasp of the offense. He's been filling in for Lance Moore, who is still limited from his shoulder injury, and has taken advantage of the reps. Don't be surprised if Meachem is the #3 receiver, beating out the inconsistent Devery Henderson.
3. A fully healthy Jeremy Shockey and the battle for the #2 QB job will also be interesting to watch. How much Shockey and the first team actually plays will be interesting, but the battle for the #2 job will last the entire game and preseason. Can Joey Harrington beat out the veteran Mark Brunell? Fans will be watching closely.
   

Defense:

1. The defense will be on most fans' minds tonight. They'll want to see the new scheme that Gregg Williams has installed. Will the players play as aggressively as they've been saying? Will they be able to force turnovers? Can they stop the run? Is the leaky secondary fixed? These questions will also be monitored closely when the defense is on the field.
2. Speaking of the secondary, is the Saints Achilles' heel finally repaired? There is major depth and competition for once, and it seems this competition has brought the best out of everyone, even Jason David who is also having a good camp. It's unclear if rookie Malcolm Jenkins will play tonight after only being in camp for less than a week, but with or without the rookie on the field, the secondary will be studied by Saints fans.
   
3. The last thing I'm going to watch for tonight on defense is the depth at linebacker. When Mark Simineau went down with an injury, the Saints brought in veterans Derrick Brooks and Derek Smith for workouts. Neither received a contract, but the rumor is that the Saints will contact Brooks after tonight's game, so it will be interesting to see if any of the young linebackers show enough for them to not make that phone call. The depth at DE is also worth taking a look at since Will Smith and Charles Grant will likely be out the first four games with their suspensions.
   

Special Teams:

1. In the 2009 draft, the Saints surprised many by trading into the 5th round to take a punter. Tonight, Thomas Morstead gets to show fans why the team targeted him. The early word is that he looks better than last year's starter Glenn Pakulak.
   
2. Many fans were taken aback when the team cut deep snapper Kevin Houser and replaced him with veteran Jason Kyle. The coaches say it was a performance decision and not based on the movie tax credit issue that Houser and several teammates were involved. Kyle better live up to the billing because Houser didn't have a bad snap in his Saints career.
3. Another battle to watch is the kick and punt return jobs with Reggie Bush, Courtney Roby, Skyler Green and others battling for the job. But one job that has no competition is kicker. Garrett Hartley performed so well last year and in the offseason that the team didn't even bring in a kicker to compete with him. With no one pushing him, will he still be the perfect kicker (he didnt' miss a FG or PAT) the Saints picked up last year?

Best Fishing Trip Ever

This past weekend, I took part in the best fishing trip ever. Now, I'm no expert fisherman. I can actually count on my hands how many times I'd been freshwater fishing, and could probably use my fingers and a couple of toes to count the number of freshwater fish I'd caught in my lifetime.

But this weekend that all changed. An invite to the Coastal Club in Southwest Louisiana and the freshwater curse was broken. In less than three days of fishing, nine guys (with not all of us fishing each day), caught more than 500 bass ... and that's no exaggeration.

A few of the guys are avid bass fishermen, and they even said that it was the best fishing weekend of their lives. These bass hit on just about anything we'd throw, but dark colored (blue, black, dark green and pink/black) worms seemed to work the best.

Here's one of the biggest ones I reeled on our last fishing day:

Here's a monster that Kyle pulled in that will soon be replicated on his wall. It weighed in at 8.6 lbs.:

Of course, every fishing trip has to include a good fishing story and one of the last fish I hauled in gave us all a story to tell (besides the monster pictured above and the many similar bass we put in the boat). On our last day of fishing, I got a good bite and reeled in what I thought would be another bass, but when I pulled it out of the water, it was a shinny silver color.

Matt asked, "What's that?" and Kyle assumed it was a freshwater mullet. But I noticed the spot near its tail and knew right away that it was a redfish.

Normally, including this day, it would be odd to catch a saltwater fish in freshwater. But Hurricane Ike had flooded the area and there's still remnants of saltwater. So I guess this little guy had adjusted to the fresh water and was living among the bass. Apparently, they haven't caught any other redfish in this canal, but of course the guy who grew up fishing saltwater would reel in a saltwater fish.

You can take the boy out of saltwater, but you can't take saltwater out of the boy.

A big thank you goes out to Jon for arranging the trip and to Mr. David for treating us like kings all weekend.

LSU to Play in the NIT

LSU has been selected to play Indiana State in the NIT Tip Off Tournament Nov. 16 in the PMAC. LSU is the #3 seed in the 16-team field.

If the Tigers win, they'll play the winner of Western Kentucky/Milwaukee. The goal is to win two games and make it to Madison Square Garden. If they lose either of the first two games, they are still guaranteed two more games in the consolation round.

This will be great exposure for a rising LSU basketball program. They are predicted to be down this year after winning the SEC in Trent Johnson's first year. But this exposure will be great in the long run.

Top programs like Duke (#1 seed), UConn (#2 seed) and Arizona State (#4 seed) will also compete this year.

Lost Rewatch: Week 11

Another week, another set of episodes in the Rewatch. This is a good group from season 2, especially the stellar Lockedown. Benry Gale is on top of his game, and they mysteries presented and resolved in this group start the payoff for long-term fans. Some of these early episodes present mysteries that fans still debate today.

Maternity Leave (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashback is unique in that it focuses on on island events, when Claire was abducted by Ethan in season 1.
  
• A few questions remain from this one. Why did the Others quit using The Staff? What is Ethan injecting into Claire and why? Desmond was taking injections as well, in fear of the sickness, but the only sickness we've learned about is being brainwashed by Smokey.
• Sun tells Claire that a mother shouldn't leave her child. Guess season 4 Claire didn't get that message.
  
• Benry's character is starting to develop and his dry humor starts to show for the first time.
  
• I still don't buy that Rousseau hadn't discovered the DHARMA hatches before. She lived on the island 16 years and doesn't know more that she lets on?
• Great interactions between Benry and Eko and even better, one of the first great interactions between Benry and Locke. Benry started to plant a seed in Locke.
  

The Whole Truth (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashback focuses on Sun and Jin having difficulty getting pregnant. We learn that Jin is infertile. But not on the island ...
• Because Sun finds out she is indeed pregnant. We don't find out all the issues facing Sun until later, so it's interesting to watch her expressions when she finds out and tells Jin.
  
• Kate said that she has taken a pregnancy test before too. This sets up a future flashback in "I Do."
• Benry nails it again. Talking about the secrecy among the survivors and toying with Jack and Locke about if he really is an Other what he would do. Classic Ben. Awesome to see this character develop so well this early in his Lost tenure.
  

Lockdown (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashback focuses on Locke during the time when his father faked his death and he cons Locke into helping him again. Nadia also appears in Locke's flashback.
  
• When Helen finds out about Locke trying to help his dad again, she leaves him after turning down his proposal. Watch for Helen asking the familiar line, "Are you him?" to Anthony Cooper.
• Jack learned poker in Phuket. Yep, we got that flashback later and it led to the Lost producers asking for an end date for the show. You know the great episode about Jack's tattoos.
  
• This episode opened up a whole new can of mystery on Lost. The blastdoor map! Food drops! The real Henry Gale! Ben entering the numbers! Things that are still questioned and debated today. What is the purpose of the map? Why is it hidden? What caused the blastdoors to come down and retract later? Who's still bringing food drops if DHARMA is over? Who killed and buried Henry Gale? Where's his wife?
• What did Ben really know about the Swan station? It was constructed during his childhood, after he'd been healed by the Others. Does he know anything about it? Are his questions just to screw with Locke and Jack?
  

Dave (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Focuses on Hurley's time in the mental institution, and it's reveled that his best friend Dave is a figment of his imagination with a Sixth Sense like reveal (that many people saw coming) near the end of the episode.
• It's also revealed that Hurley was placed in the institution after a deck collapsed that he had walked onto, killing a couple of people. Oh, and its also revealed that Libby was also in Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute, but don't look for much more info on that backstory.
• Why is the Polaroid of Hurley by himself so different than when the doctor took the photo of him and "Dave?"
  
• Hurley spends the entire episode chasing around Dave and almost kills himself before Libby intervenes. Was Dave still all in Hurley's mind or did the island or Smokey manifest him? With Hurley seeming to be one of the only genuine good people on the island, it's hard to believe the island would want him to kill himself. Many fans believe that Hurley is the key to they show, especially in light of Jacob and his enemy's talk in season 5's finale.
• Benry has some more great lines, but you never really know with him. Is he lying or telling the truth? Who is the Him he's refering to (himself as leader or Jacob)? Did he push the button? If the Swan's such a joke, why does it alter the dynamic of the show in both season 2 and season 5's finales? What does he mean when he says God can't even see the island?
  

Damon, Carlton and a Polar Bear

At Comic Con, there was a throw away bit where comedian Paul Scheer gave Damon and Carlton a velvet painting of them with a polar bear. It was funny and he said that he had a Web site, http://damoncarltonandapolarbear.com/. You can see the whole bit on You Tube of course.

Well it looks like there's more to this damoncarltonandapolarbear.com. Paul Scheer now has released a video where he breaks into the ABC studio lot and finds a bit of Lost info: the title of the season 6 premiere and a little bit about a set being designed for episode 6:01.

It's kind of spoilerish, so if you want to stay totally spoiler free heading into season 6, don't watch ... but your DVR channel guide will give away the episode name anyway, so I don't really worry too much about episode names, and there fun to speculate about once we know them anyway. The set design give away is one that many fans have been asking about and assumed would be showing up in season 6.

Here's the video if you want to find out the title. I'm sure they'll be more of these in the offseason. Damon and Carlton both make brief appearances, so they are obviously involved in this promotion. Damon is seen on cell phone having what could turn out to be an interesting conversation.

Enough teases, here ya go:

Saints Sign 1st Round Pick Jenkins

The Saints have finally agreed to a deal with 1st round pick Malcolm Jenkins. I'm not sure what took so long since the player picked just before and after Jenkins agreed to deal before camp, but at least it's done now. With five days before the Saints first preseason game, fans will likely get to see him in action on Friday.

LSU Ranked 9th in USA Today Poll

LSU comes in ranked #9 in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll. LSU joins Virginia Tech and Ole Miss as new teams in the top 10 since the last poll. Here's a look at the top 25:

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. USC
5. Alabama
6. Ohio State
7. Virginia Tech
8. Penn State
9. LSU
10. Ole Miss
11. Oklahoma State
12. Cal
13. Georgia
14. Oregon
15. Georgia Tech
16. Boise State
17. TCU
18. Utah
19. Florida State
20. North Carolina
21. Iowa
22. Nebraska
    
23. Notre Dame
24. BYU
25. Oregon State
    

Lost Rewatch: Week 10

I have to admit. The real world has caught up to me, and I'm way behind on the Rewatch. But have no fear, I'll still preview the next batch of episodes each week (maybe not with as much depth and detail as in the past posts), but I still enjoy going back and looking at these old episodes. I do plan to watch all 5 seasons before the final season too, but I just haven't been able to keep up with the Rewatch schedule.

The Hunting Party (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's orignial recap.
• Flashback focuses on Jack and his need to always fix things. This is when his marriage to Sarah comes to an end.
• The "hunting party" of Jack, Sawyer and Locke go out to find Michael, who left again to find Walt and they are instead confronted by The Others. We are reintroduced to Zeke, aka Tom/Mr. Friendly.
  
• The Others give the survivors a line that they can't cross. This is similar to the arrangement DHARMA had with the Others in the 1970s (season 5).
• We also get our first Geronimo Jackson sighting, setting up future Easter Eggs.
  

Fire + Water (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's orignial recap.
• Flashback focuses on Charlie and the falling apart of Driveshaft due to his brother's drug use.
  
• Charlie has some weird dreams about saving Aaron. Religious overtones and the crashing beachcraft gave fans lots to discuss.
  
• Hurley thinks he knows Libby from somewhere. Yes, Hurley you do, but fans will continue to grumble even though showing Libby's full-backstory now doesn't really fit in with where the show has gone.
• Charlie tries to baptize Aaron himself, but setting a fire as distraction and stealing him is not the way to go. That earns him a few punches to the face by Locke.
  

The Long Con (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's orignial recap.
• Flashback focuses on Sawyer, the former con man, and a long con he played on Cassidy. Yep, the same Cassidy who later became friends with Kate.
• In the diner, Sawyer's waitress is Kate's mom.
• Sawyer, along with Charlie's help, pulls a long con on the camp. They fake attack Sun and force Locke to hide the guns. Sawyer ends up with them and gives his "new sheriff in town" speech.
• Hurley and Sayid pick up a transmission of Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade." Sayid says the transmission could be coming from anywhere and Hurley replies, "or anytime...just kidding dude." A subtle way for the writers to hint at time travel?
  

One of Them (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's orignial recap.
• Flashback focuses on Sayid's time in the Republican Guard and when he was trained to be a torturer by the Americans, mainly Kelvin Joe Inman. Who's Kelvin Inman? Maybe you should ask Desmond or Radzinsky.
  
• One of the American soldiers in Iraq was Kate's father, Sgt. Austen.
• Rousseau has captured "one of them." Turns out its only Henry Gale. Not that Henry Gale, this one will become known as Benry and later just Ben ... and Lost was changed forever for the better. We get Benry and Locke meeting for the first time and seeing it again now will give you goose bumps knowing everything that's going to take place between those two.
  
• The question still remains, why did Ben let them catch him? What was he doing at the time? Was this all part of his plan to get Jack to operate on him?
• Also, now that we know that it was Ben who stole Alex, did Rousseau recognize him? It's been 16 years, but still, she should remember the man who stole her baby.
  
• This episode gives the first big tease about what will happen if the button isn't pushed. Hieroglyphics appear on the countdown clock just before it resets. I remember at the time how frustrating it was wanting to see what would happen.
  

Hornets Schedule Released

The NBA released their schedule today and the Hornets open up at the Spurs on national television on October 28. The Hornets home opener will be against the Sacramento Kings on October 30. In total, the Hornets play nine times on ESPN and TNT. They'll wrap up the season on the road against the Houston Rockets on April 14. Here's the full schedule.

Here are some tidbits from Hornets.com:
The Big Easy Blog breaks down the schedule and here are 20 games to watch this year.

Nola.com also looks at the schedule:
Here are 10 games to not miss and they point out that the Hornets won't be playing during the holidays this year.