LSU vs. Tulane

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LSU takes on long-time rival Tulane on Halloween night, the 50th anniversary of Billy Cannon's famous run against Ole Miss, in what appears the be the last match-up for a while between the Tigers and Green Wave. The two schools ended their 10-year home and home contract this year, after LSU only played in the Superdome once since the agreement was signed.

Tulane officials are none too happy with LSU not wanting to play in New Orleans, but there's really no incentive for LSU to give up a home game each year to play in a smaller stadium in New Orleans. So look for more games against other in state or Sun Belt teams in the near future (McNeese has been scheduled for the first time).

This week's game appears to be a tune up for the Tigers as many fans are looking ahead to their trip to Alabama next week for a game that will likely decided the SEC West champion. The team shouldn't overlook Tulane, with this being a rivalry game, but this one shouldn't be close.

LSU should be able to run a similar gameplan that they did last week against Auburn and continue to show improvement on offense. Tulane is really struggling this year and this one should be over fairly quickly.

Prediction:
LSU 45
Tulane 10

20th Anniversary of "Bleach"

Nirvana's debut album "Bleach" is turning 20, so there's lots of cool, new information out there on about it. Check out the Seattle Weekly blog for lots of articles and interviews about "Bleach," head over to Sub Pop for a track list and info on the new delux edition being release on Nov. 3 (including a never before released live show from 1990) and PopCandy asks, "Where did you first hear it?"

I'm not sure I first remember hearing it. I was and still am a huge Nirvana fan so I've been listening to "Bleach" for years. I know after Unplugged, everyone wanted to hear the original version of "About a Girl," and that song soon became one of the only complete songs that 7ate9 (my band from high school) could play completely.

I'm definitely going to check out the delux edition and if you are a Nirvana fan and have never given "Bleach" its due, you should check it out as well. The songs are different that what you hear on "Nevermind" and "In Utero," but in a good way. This was before Dave Grohl joined Nirvana so there's a different vibe to the drumming and the guitars are more raw, but songs like "School," "Negative Creep" and "About a Girl" will show you where Nirvana was headed before Nevermind, while other songs like "Floyd the Barber," "Sifting," "Paper Cuts" and "Mr. Moustache" show you a more heavier, metal/punk, experimental early style.

Saints Make the Cover of SI

Did Sports Illustrated just jinx the Saints season? Before there was the Madden Curse, there was the SI cover jinx.

Athletes are very superstitious, and SI just went and did the equivalent of talking to a pitcher in the dugout during a no hitter. The Saints are in the midst of their best season ever and are 6-0 heading into their Monday contest with rival Atlanta. Now SI goes and puts us on the cover. The Saints are the same team that once has a voodoo ceremony done in the Superdome to cleanse that building of its own curses.

Thanks a lot national media for joining the bandwagon; you better not have jinxed our season.

Lost Rewatch: Week 22

This week in the Rewatch, we reach the season 4 writer's strike. The show had finished up to "Meet Kevin Johnson" before the strike, so there was a five-week layoff before "The Shape of Things to Come" aired. This forced season 4 to be shorter than expected and the back portion of the season became faster paced. Here's this week's batch:

Meet Kevin Johnson (Zap2It Recap)

• GulfCoastOffense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashback focuses on what happened to Michael since he left the island and how he became Ben's man on the freighter.
• How does the island's control work? It won't let Michael die because he still has work to do. Was working for Ben to stop the freighter really the work Michael had to do? Couldn't anyone have posed as Kevin Johnson? And since Michael is consumed by the guilt of killing Ana Lucia and Libby, how would killing a whole freighter of people removed that guilt? Michael's whole line of thinking is off in this one.
  
• As I said in my original recap, I still don't buy the reasoning for Michael wanting to kill himself. When he was on the island, everything he did was to make sure he and Walt left safely. Now that he and Walt are off the island, he destroyed his relationship with Walt and his own mom, but still, to now want to kill yourself ... I don't know. Way to really be there for your son.
• Miles knows more than he's leading on. He knows Michael is posing as Kevin but says 80 percent of the people on the freighter are lying. We've come to see many of those lies, but is there more to this?
• I hope we get some resolution to Ben always referring to the Others as the good guys.

The Shape of Things to Come (Zap2It Recap)

• GulfCoastOffense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashforward focuses on Ben after he turned the frozen donkey wheel to move the island (though fans didn't know about the wheel yet). Ben "recruits" Sayid and confronts Widmore and promises to kill Penny, something he attempted but was unable to follow through on in season 5.
• How many times had Ben been to Tunisia before and what for? He gives the name Dean Moriarty and says he's a preferred guest. Did he know that's where he'd end up after turning the wheel? How does he know about the wheel anyway? Is there an Other Leader 101 course he had to take that goes over everything?
• Claire's house blows up and she is uninjured ... or was she? With Claire's future behavior and her leaving Aaron to go with her ghost father to the cabin, many fans still wonder is Claire didn't really die in the explosion. Later, she says that she's OK and will live and Miles replies, I wouldn't be too sure about that. This along with Desmond's vision of her and Aaron boarding a helicopter or the two biggest holes left in Claire's story.
• While playing Risk, Hurley says Australia is the key to the whole game. Is this loaded dialogue or was he simply talking about Risk. As always with Lost, there's always an underlying reason something like this is said on the show.
  
• Once Keamy kills Alex, Ben says that he changed the rules. What rules did Widmore change and who laid down those rules?
  
• What control does Ben have over the monster? His house was connected to the hieroglyphic door where he summoned it. Does the Other's leader have a special connection with the monster? Did DHARMA discover it when they built the barracks and leave that door as part of the house?
  
• The last scene with Ben and Widmore packs a punch. Lingering questions, what kind of nightmare is Widmore having? Why can't they kill each other? "What" is Ben as Widmore claims to know what he is? There's also another mention of the rules.

Something Nice Back Home (Zap2It Recap)

• GulfCoastOffense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Why did Jack get appendicitis on the island? How do the healing powers on the island work and why are some healed and some get sick?
• Claire leaves Aaron behind in this episode to go with Christian, but we aren't sure why. It's strange that she'd leave her baby behind to go with the dad that she never really knew.
  
• Charlie gave Jack the message, "you're not supposed to raise him, Jack." We assumed him meant Aaron, but it be someone who was raised up? Like Christian or Locke?
• Jack sees his dead father off the island, showing us that these island vision/manifestations occur off the island too. But what causes them? The smoke alarm was malfunctioning, giving a hint that it might be the smoke monster.
  

Saints at Dolphins

The dreaded trap game. That's what this week's match up between the Saints and Dolphins is getting labeled by many media around the country. The Saints are on top of the world after blowing out the previously unbeaten Giants and the bandwagon is filling up quickly. The Saints themselves could start "eating the cheese," to borrow one of Sean Payton's lines, this week against the unfamiliar Dolphins.

The Saints have rarely played in Miami (only three times ever in the regular season) and a loss to them being an AFC opponent wouldn't hurt very much in the standings. The Saints next opponent, division rival Atlanta, is a much bigger game and will take place on Monday Night Football. Then there's the wildcat factor. All of these factors are leading people to think the Saints are due for a let down.

Well, I don't see it. Sean Payton and Drew Brees won't let that happen. They know that they are playing for something special this year and games like this one is when the character of your team is built. It's easy to overlook the 2-3 Dolphins, but this Dolphins team is hot, having won two in a row, and it is playing inspired being new QB Chad Henne.

The Saints will have their work cut out for them this week defending Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams in the wildcat formation, but I think Gregg Williams is licking his chops to get a chance to defend this new hot trend. The Saints aren't totally unfamiliar with the formation, having seen the Eagles use is in their matchup earlier this year.

There's also the revenge factor. Drew Brees was set to be a Dolphin a few years ago, but the team doubted his ability to recover from shoulder surgery, and the Saints put all their faith on Brees' right arm. Sure Nick Saban and the rest of that Dolphins team are long gone, but I think Brees wants to show Miami first hand what they missed out on.

Prediction:
Saints 33
Dolphins 20

LSU vs. Auburn

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One of LSU's biggest rivals travels to Baton Rouge this weekend when the SEC's other Tigers from Auburn take on the Fighting Tigers of LSU. Ever since I was a student at LSU, this has been a fierce rivalry. I wasn't around LSU for the Earthquake Game, but I've seen my fair share of great ones between these two.

No matter what happens, the LSU/Auburn game is always a big one. It either meant the winner was going to the SEC Championship or it was going to be a tight contest going down to the end.

LSU is coming off of its bye week and is looking for an identity on offense. Auburn is coming off back-to-back losses and looking to get back on track after their unexpectedly good start to the season.

I think Les Miles will use this game to quiet some of his critics. His defense has been solid enough to keep LSU in any game, but his offense hasn't lived up to its billing. This week LSU will look to right the ship both running the ball and trying to show fans that Jordan Jefferson is the best option at QB (even though Jarrett Lee could provide a spark with a couple series a game or Russell Sheppard could run the option 10 times better than Jefferson).

Prediction:
LSU 28
Auburn 13

Lost Rewatch: Week 21

This week's Lost Rewatch continues the strike-shortened season 4. We're still on the pre-strike episodes, but after "Meet Kevin Johnson" next week, the pace certainly quickens. This week's batch features an all-time great, prehaps top 5, episode of Lost in "The Constant," and one that after initially viewing it, I deemed season 4's "Stranger in a Strange Land" with "The Other Woman." That was mainly due to it having to follow "The Constant." Enjoy this week's group of episodes:

The Constant (Zap2It Recap)

• Gulf Coast Offense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• This episode is the first to not feature a flashback or flashforward ("Flashes Before Your Eyes" sort of works as a flashback). Desmond's consciousness flashes back and forth from 2004 (helicopter/freighter) to 1996 (Royal Scouts Regiment, Oxford, Auction, Penny's Flat).
• How long has Daniel studied the island? How much does he know about its unique properties, especially the time differences between the island and the freighter. Widmore recruits him to join the freighter group in "The Variable," he promises the island will cure his memory loss. How long did he have to really study the island?
• Penny has also be researching the island. She tells Desmond that she's looked for him and researched the island for 3 years. How did she know he was there? How exactly do you research an island that you can't find? Did her father tell her information about it or had Penny actually been there before?
• Desmond is Daniel's constant and as Daniel later tells Desmond, the rules don't apply to him. Why is Desmond so unique in relation to the island?
  

The Other Woman (Zap2It Recap)

• Gulf Coast Offense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashback focuses on Juliette and her affair with Goodwin, which angered Ben as he's infatuated with her. Not some of Ben's best moments in this one.
  
• Harper says Ben likes Juliette because she looks just like "her." Is she referring to Annie or Ben's mom? And what's up with Harper anyway? When Juliette and Jack see her, was she really there or an island manifestation? She said she'd been in communication with Ben, but he's locked up with Locke. Why'd she tell Juliette to kill Daniel and Charlotte?
  
• Ben talks about the list again in regards to Emma and Zack. Are we going to get a full explanation of these lists and if they really were provided by Jacob?
• How do Daniel and Charlotte know about the poisonous gas at The Tempest? They reference the purge, was that part of their briefing prior to arriving on the island?
• Since Widmore was once an Other, shouldn't his beef only be with Ben and not Ben's "Others?" In the video, Widmore's seen beating one of Ben's people. Ben lies so much though, the person in the video could not have any affiliation with the island.

Ji Yeon (Zap2It Recap)

• Gulf Coast Offense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashforward focuses on Sun giving birth to Ji Yeon. Flashback focuses on Jin delivering a stuffed Panda to the Ambassador for Mr. Piak. The audience is lead to believe that Jin is trying to get to the hospital to be with Sun.
• The people on the freighter were a messed up bunch. I doubt we'll ever learn more about the captain or Regina, but it seems like there's more of their story to tell. Who were some of the other people on the freighter? They blame all the issues on cabin fever ... really? More like crazy island time travel and Keamy's mercenaries.
  
• When Hurley arrives to see Ji Yeon for the first time and go to the cemetery, he's happy that no one else is coming. Why would Hurley be so happy about this? Is it just because he's having such a hard time keeping up with the lie?
  

Saints vs. Giants

The two best teams in the NFC will meet this weekend in the Superdome as the Saints take on the Giants. The Saints ate 4-0 and coming off their bye week and the Giants are 5-0 and basically coming off a bye having played Oakland last week.

The Saints are turning into one of the darlings of the NFL and if they knock off the Giants, they'll be the early favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

There are storylines galore in this game. This will be Eli Manning's first ever chance to play in the Superdome, so look for him to be extra pumped about returning to his hometown to play. Brandon Jacobs and Corey Webster are also making their return to Louisiana. Jeremy Shockey gets to go against his old team and among the other storylines, it's one of the last battles of the unbeatens in the league.

The Saints will have their hands full in this one. The Giants feature on of the NFL's top defenses and we all saw what their pass rush did to the Patriots a couple of years ago in the Super Bowl. On top of that, their offense is also one of the tops in the league, especially running Ahmad Bradshaw and Jacobs.

With that said, Saints fans will be extra excited to see their team again this week, and I think the Saints fans will give New Orleans the edge in this one.

Prediction:
Giants 21
Saints 27

Lost Rewatch: Week 20

This week in the Rewatch, we reach the first episodes that I recapped on this very blog way back at the start of season 4. Yes, I know, I'm late to the game of recapping, but I enjoyed reading everyone else's recaps over the first few years. I just decided to throw my hand in the pot after starting this "sports" themed blog. Season 4 is also the strike shortened season of Lost, so the story starts to gain speed toward the second half of the season as the Lost writers started eliminating unnecessary story elements.

Onto this week's episodes (you can check out my original recaps in the bullet with one of my favorite Lost blog's LongLiveLocke).

Confirmed Dead (Zap2It Recap)

• Gulf Coast Offense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashback focuses on the freighter group. In each of their flashbacks, they learn of the found "wreckage of Flight 815."
  
• Faraday is crying when he sees Flight 815, but doesn't know why. This is the confusing thing about time travel. His present consciousness doesn't know anything about the 815 survivors, but he was them in the past (his future). You think your head hurts thinking about this now, wait until season 5.
• Why do the picture frames change after Miles returns from upstairs in his flashback?
• Charlotte is in Tunisia, I'm guessing at the spot where the frozen donkey wheel dumps people/objects out. When did Widmore start monitoring this area? Was it after the polar bear was discovered? When was this polar bear transported to Tunisia? How long have its remains been there?
• Miles confirms Jack and Kate's story when he talks to Naomi's dead body. Why weren't they more freaked out by this?
  
• What was Ben doing off the island? When and where was the photo of him taken?
  

The Economist (Zap2It Recap)

• Gulf Coast Offense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashforward focuses on Sayid and it's revealed that he's working for Ben.
  
• Who is the economist? Ben provided Sayid with a list of people to kill (under the assumption that these people could harm his friends). But from the looks of things the people are either close to Widmore or just people Ben had killed off so Ben could manipulate Sayid. I wouldn't be surprised if Elsa's economist was Ben himself.
• What does the inscription on Naomi's bracelet mean (N, I'll always be with you. R.G.)? Elsa has a similar bracelet in the flashforward, but the producers have said since this episode that sometimes a bracelet is just a bracelet (meaning that Lost fans over analyze everything).
• Jacob's cabin has moved and isn't where Locke thought it would be, but the gray ash is still on the ground. I'll ask the question once again, what's up with this cabin?
• We assumed that time worked differently on the island than off it, but Daniel's experiment confirmed it. The two clocks were off by 31 minutes and 18 seconds, which Daniel says is not good. Is this because the island is constantly moving or is there something else causing the time flux?
• What was Ben doing off the island? Sayid finds his secret room with currency from around the world and IDs using aliases. I guess running the Others is like being a CEO.

Eggtown (Zap2It Recap)

• Gulf Coast Offense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashforward focuses on Kate's trial. Jack testifies on her behalf (recounting the lie they all agreed to about the crash) and ultimately she agrees to a deal since her mom won't take the stand against her.
• Kate's mom was supposed to only have 6 months to live, but she's been alive for 4 years since. Wonder if there's another force at work here (Jacob?).
• Ben and Locke's conversation and their subsequent reactions (Locke's frustration and Ben's smile) is reminiscent of their talk in the Hatch in "Maternity Leave."
• Miles knows how powerful Ben really is and demands $3.2 millions from him. There's a lot more to the Ben Linus story. How would he be capable of getting $3.2 million? How powerful is he really? Who's providing this kind of funding?
• At the end of the episode, it's revealed that Kate is raising Aaron. According to Claire's psychic (who later admitted to Eko that he was a fraud), only Claire could raise him. What are the consequences of Kate raising him as her own?
  

#1 Florida vs. #4 LSU

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Will he play or won't he? That's the biggest question surrounding LSU's matchup with #1 Florida. Will Tim Tebow play?

I'm torn on which way to go in this game. On one hand, these are the kind of games the Tigers step up for, the ones where they show why Death Valley is one of the most feared places to play. On the other hand, I've watched this team for five games now, and I have major doubts about them stopping Florida's offense and scoring against the Gators tough defense.

Tebow is an X-factor in the game for sure. If he plays, we don't know if he'll show effects from his concussion. Will they run the same type of offense (QB draws, lots of QB options, etc.) that they'd normally run. His backup, John Brantley, is an unknown. Sure he may be one of the top QB prospects in college football, but how would he react to starting his first game, on the road in front of the loudest stadium in the nation?

Then there's this LSU team. Does anyone know what to think of them? They've struggled against lesser opponents this year and then come up big at the end of the 4th quarter against Georgia (after most of the game was ugly for both teams). I'm not sold on Jordan Jefferson, and the LSU running game (thanks to sub-par O-line play) has underachieved all season.

So will it all come together against Florida? Can Saturday night in Death Valley will the Tigers to knock off the #1 team in all the land?

Nope.

Prediction:
Florida 24
LSU 17

Lost Rewatch: Week 19

This week's Rewatch episodes wind down season 3 and start season 4. The season 3 episodes are some of the series' best overall and season 4 took the audience off the island and into the future of the 815 survivors we know and love. Flashbacks gave way to flashforwards and fans learned that there will never be another show on television quite like Lost.

Greatest Hits (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's original Recap.
• Flashback focuses on the Greatest Hits of Charlie's life, including meeting Claire and the time he saved Nadia from a mugger. Just before he saves Nadia, the setting is similar to when Desmond first(?) meets Charlie in "Flashes Before Your Eyes."
  
• We see two instances of Charlie swimming (in the flashback - listen for someone saying Desmond at the pool - and down to the Looking Glass). Curious since in season 1, he claims he can't swim. I chalk that one up to drug addict Charlie not being able to help out, even though he could swim.
• Desmond claims to have seen a vision of Claire and Aaron boarding a helicopter after Charlie drowns while turning off the communication jamming. It remains to be seen if this will play out. As far as we know, Claire is dead or an island ghost and Aaron is now staying with Claire's mom in California. So did Desmond really see this vision or did he know this was the only way to have Penny make contact?
  
• The Looking Glass Station is introduced, clearing up the season 1 mystery of what the cable going out to the water leads to (from "Solitary" & "Numbers").
  

Through the Looking Glass (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's original Recap.
• Episode introduces the flashforward. This one focuses on Jack and his depressed state since leaving the island. The audience was tricked into believing it was a flashback until the final moments when he meets up with Kate.
• In the flashforward, Jack references his father a couple of times. Is this just the drugs messing with his head or does he believe his father is alive?
• Ben's thread of lies starts to unravel, especially regarding the Looking Glass. Bonnie and Greta are working down there, despite the rest of the Others thinking the station is flooded and the duo on assignment in Canada. Mikhail, who handled the island's communications at The Flame, is surprised to learn that the Looking Glass is jamming communications. Good thing for Ben, Mikhail is a loyal Other. What other things has Ben lied to his own people about? (Jacob? Smoke Monster? Being born on the island? The purge? Widmore?)
• I've mentioned Mikhail's 9 lives before, but it bears mentioning here as well since he was shot with a spear gun and lived.
• A few questions: Why can't Ben let the 815 survivors leave? Was that really Walt (taller, ghost Walt) or the island/smokey? What musician programmed the Looking Glass? Will we ever see The Temple?
  
• Charlie's death is one of the toughest for fans, since he was one of the original three (along with Kate and Jack) who fans got to know from the Pilot. He could have easily gotten out of that room and shut the door in time, but he knew he had to die for Claire and Aaron to be rescued.
  

Beginning of the End (Zap2It Recap)

• LongLiveLocke's original Recap.
• Flashforward focuses on Hurley and his return to the mental institution after being "rescued." Charlie visits Hurley, starting his "I see dead people" ability.
• The term Oceanic 6 is introduced, but fans had to wait for the entire six (Hurley, Jack, Kate, Sun, Sayid and Aaron) to be revealed.
• Jacob's cabin is still one of the big mysteries on the show and this episode adds a lot of fuel to the speculating fire. The cabin moves locations (how? what is the cabin?), Christian Sheppard is sitting inside (Smoke monster? Ghost? Man in black?), who's eye is that in the window? and then Locke (Man in Black?) appears out of nowhere once the cabin disappears.
  

New Doctor Who Logo

New Doctor, New Logo

Lost Season 6 Poster

The poster is out for Lost season 6 and get pumped, the final season is about four months away. Check out the poster below (notice there's a lot of old faces on it):

Saints vs. Jets

3-0 vs. 3-0, offense vs. defense ... however you want to spin it, this week's game between the Saints and Jets is one of the top ones of the early NFL season.

The Jets will throw multiple looks at Drew Brees and the league's number one offense, but ultimately, this game may come down to the Jets offense and rookie Mark Sanchez versus the new look Saints defense. The Saints struggled moving the ball through the air last week at Buffalo, but thanks to Pierre Thomas' 100-yard rushing second half, they were able to pull out a comfortable victory. Drew Brees and the passing game will look to get back on track against the Jets secondary, which is missing two starters.

The Saints should be able to move the ball, even on the Jets solid defense, so it will be up to Sanchez and the Jets offense to try to keep up. The Saints defense is no slouch themselves, but they seem to be getting overlooked so far this season. They are tied for the league lead in interceptions and virtually pitched a shut-out against the Bills (they did shut out T.O.). I see the Saints defense showing up big time in the team's first game at home since week 1 and I think the Saints will leave the Dome at 4-0.

Prediction:
Jets 20
Saints 31

LSU at Georgia

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The 4th ranked Tigers travel to Athens this weekend for their toughest test of the season when they meet the Georgia Bulldogs (#18 Coaches, #14 AP).

LSU hasn't beaten Georgia in Athens since 1987 and winning this weekend will be another big challenge for the Tigers. LSU fans are still looking for some consistency from their team, after an ugly showing at Mississippi State last year. Thanks to Chad Jones' punt return and great play on the 4th quarter goal line stand, LSU was able to leave victorious.

Many around the country think LSU is overrated at #4 and they're probably right. LSU hasn't played well this year, even in their "cupcake" game against ULL. If LSU can make a strong showing at Georgia, they'll go a long way to earn respect around the nation. This Georgia team is also showing some inconsistency, and LSU has a good chance to go between the hedges and get a victory. If LSU does lose, this could begin an ugly part of their schedule with them playing Florida, Auburn and Alabama in the next month.

Prediction:
LSU 33
Georgia 31