2010 Emmy Nominations

The 2010 Emmy Noms came out today and I figure I'll do my predications early, mainly because I have nothing to really write about lately and it's definitely worth having some fun with.

OUTSTANDING COMEDY
Glee-My Pick
Modern Family
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Nurse Jackie
30 Rock 
The Office

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Lea Michele (Glee)-My Pick
Tina Fey (30 Rock)
Toni Collette (The United States of Tara)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine)
Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
Matthew Morrison (Glee)-My Pick
Steve Carell (The Office)
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) (but he really deserves to win eventually)
Tony Shalhoub (Monk)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Chris Colfer (Glee)-My Pick
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) (won't go home empty handed)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family)
Jon Cryer (Two and A Half Men)
Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family)
Ty Burrell (Modern Family)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Jane Lynch (Glee)-My Pick (is there a doubt?)
Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live)
Jane Krakowski (30 Rock)
Julie Bowen (Modern Family)
Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)
Holland Taylor (Two and A Half Men)

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Mike O’Malley (Glee) (tough call, won't be pissed either way)
Neil Patrick Harris (Glee)-My Pick
Fred Willard (Modern Family)
Eli Wallach (Nurse Jackie)
Jon Hamm (30 Rock)
Will Arnett (30 Rock)

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory)-My Pick
Kathryn Joosten (Desperate Housewives)
Kristin Chenoweth (Glee) (doesn't deserve it)
Tina Fey (Saturday Night Live)
Betty White (Saturday Night Live) (would be awesome but won't happen)
Elaine Stritch (30 Rock)
Jane Lynch (Two and a Half Men)

OUTSTANDING DRAMA
Lost-My Pick
Breaking Bad
Dexter
Mad Men
True Blood
The Good Wife

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife)
Mariska Hargitay (Special Victims Unit)
Glenn Close (Damages)
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)
January Jones (Mad Men)
Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights)-My Pick

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights)
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
Hugh Laurie (House M.D.)
Michael C. Hall (Dexter)
Matthew Fox (Lost)-My Pick

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
John Slattery (Mad Men)
Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad)
Martin Short (Damages)
Terry O’ Quinn (Lost)-My Pick
Michael Emerson (Lost)
Andre Braugher (Men of a Certain Age)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Sharon Gless (Burn Notice)-My Pick
Christine Baranski (The Good Wife)
Christina Hendricks (Mad Men)
Rose Byrne (Damages)
Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife)
Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Beau Bridges (The Closer)
Ted Danson (Damages)
John Lithgow (Dexter)
Alan Cumming ( The Good Wife)
Dylan Baker (The Good Wife)
Robert Morse (Mad Men)
Gregory Itzin (24)-My Pick

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Mary Kay Place (Big Love)
Sissy Spacek (Big Love)
Shirley Jones (The Cleaner)
Lily Tomlin (Damages)
Ann-Margret (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)-My Pick
Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost)

OUTSTANDING REALITY SHOW HOST
Ryan Seacrest (American Idol)
Phil Keoghan (The Amazing Race)
Tom Bergeron (Dancing with the Stars)
Heidi Klum (Project Runway)
Jeff Probst (Survivor)-My Pick

OUTSTANDING REALITY SHOW COMPETITION
Project Runway
Top Chef
The Amazing Race-My Pick (safe bet)
Dancing with the Stars
American Idol

OUTSTANDING REALITY PROGRAM
Antiques Roadshow
Dirty Jobs
Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List
Mythbusters-My Pick
Undercover Boss

OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Real Time With Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live
The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien-My Pick (why else would it get a nom if it's not going to win)

MINISERIES OR MOVIE
The Pacific (HBO)-My Pick
Return to Cranford (PBS)

OUTSTANDING TV MOVIE
Endgame (PBS)
Georgia O’Keeffe (Lifetime)
Moonshot (History)
The Special Relationship (HBO)
Temple Grandin (HBO)
You Don’t Know Jack (HBO)-My Pick

Downfall...A New Game Show Concept

Last week ABC debuted a new show after Wipeout called Downfall. I was curious because the show is hosted by WWE's Chris Jericho and since I didn't know anything about the show, I DVRed it and watched it.

It was intriging. The concept is insane. You answer questions and play for a million dollars a section at a time, $5,000, $10,000, $25,000 and so on. The categories are fun. But the crazy part is that there is a moving belt hanging over a building over a backalley in L.A. and you have to answer the questions as fast as you can before the prizes fall off and if the money falls off you lose everything. Did I mention that there you are wearing a harness? And you get two "lifelines" persay where you can hit the panic button and then you have to put either a personal item on the belt or your guest that you brought with you? Confused yet? Try watching it.

While I will continue to give the show a chance, it can get confusing and right when you are getting into the flow of the show, an item falls off the belt and they cut to it and you lose your train of thought. I know I found myself yelling at the TV a few times because I wanted to know the answer to the questions but they were obsessed with showing the damage of the items instead of showing the answers.

I don't know if people are actually watching this show yet, or if it will even catch on. Jericho makes a great game show host but overall it might be too confusing for someone to keep up with even in the short term. I hope I'm wrong.

WWE NXT:6/29/10 (Surprise Elimination!)

When the new NXT season started I was going to limit my discussion about it till it got to it's first elimination. This was supposed to be a few more weeks away. So it was a major surprise when I tuned in this week to watch the show to see the first poll come out and find out that they moved the elimination date up, unadvertised and unexpected. So thus now here I am. To make it easier, I'm going to go through the top eight till the elimination and  talk about wrestlers one by one.


#1 Kaval
This is the one guy I personally voted for on Tuesday night. He's one of the only guys I've seen wrestle in the past and is a really good one at that. I'm also glad they gave him his first victory this week so he didn't have Daniel Bryan disease. His interaction with Laycool has actually been really entertaining and I think it's hysterical that he's wearing that terrible pink shirt every week now. This doesn't surprise me at all and I'm glad he's ranked this high.

#2 Percy Watson
This surprised me, but in an entertainment factor, it makes sense. This guy is extremely funny and will get over fast as long as they give him the time to do it. It also helps that they showed a package video for him while the voting was going on so he was fresh in people's minds.

#3 Michael McGillicutty 
a.k.a. Joe Henning, he's a really good performer, you can tell he takes after his dad. Deserves to get the credit he's getting and is a real treat to win this show.


#4 Alex Riley
This really surprised me. I had him at #2 on my rankings, and even maybe #1 if the anti-face voters got in. This guy is great on the mic, his interaction with Miz is amazing and he's one of the few that can just straight up wrestle. If you don't believe me, find the Kaval-Riley match from a couple of weeks back, it was fantastic, especially for a NXT match.

#5 Lucky Cannon
This guy earned immunity this week by winning the awful keg carry competition (seriously, who's idea was it to bring that back???), so he was safe no matter what. My only issue with him that he can get over, but he's got to stop using all the cliches all the time. Just talk from the heart and he'll be fine down the road.

#6 Eli Cottonwood
I honestly had this guy going home. He's super tall and while he's not as robotic as Great Khali, he's still not that agile. He also didn't deserve the win over Kaval. I'll be shocked if he makes it past the next elimination.

#7 Husky Harris
I figured he would have been safe because of the storyline he's in with Cody Rhodes and Matt Striker, I guess I was wrong. He has the tools on the mic to be a very good heel, but his ring skills really have to improve in order to not embarrass himself every week. Then again if Miz can improve, I don't know why he can't too.

#8 Titus O'Neil 
And finally the guy who was eliminated first, Titus O'Neil, Zach Ryder's rookie. I honestly think he was good on the mic and had a chance to be good in the ring. He never got a real chance to shine and I was actually ready to give Ryder the benefit of the doubt as a pro. Oh well, so much for that.

Overall, an okay show. I just hope this surprise elimination thing doesn't become a normal thing. The ratings were terrible because all the casual fans thought it was just going to be a normal show. They have to advertise these things. Still, I have to admit, I'm looking forward to next week's show more than I did for most of season 1.

New Jersey Devils-A Look at the Future

It's July 1st and it's free agent day in the NHL. As a Devils fan, I should be on the ball especially with three major players on the market today. But honestly, I'm not going to worry about it.

This year the cap went up, but looking at the Devils roster and salary (capgeek.com) they don't have alot of real cap room. So looking at this season's UFA list, who can the Devils really afford to get?

As for the current roster, the three big names that are on everyone's minds and are being talked about are Ilya Kovalchuk, Paul Martin and Mike Mottau. So that's where I will start.

Kovi is gone. Simple as that. The Devils don't need him.  They have Parise and Elias to lead the team in scoring, especially if they are on seperate line, which with the addition of Arnott I see that happening. Kovi only came to NJ as a rental to make a playoff run, which didn't work at all. It was nice to see him in red and white in April when I was at The Rock, but he just doesn't belong on this roster. I'll be shocked if Lou pays him.

As for Paul Martin, I'd say move on. I honestly don't think he's that great of a player. He's a 2nd line defenseman at best. The only reason he got the playing time and spot he got was because they didn't have anyone else after Colin White, and then when White got injured especially, when Scott Niedermayer and Brian Rafalski left as free agents and Scott Stevens and Ken Daneyko retired. I'm sorry but Martin leaving is that a big deal. They played 50 games without him this season. They practically clinched a playoff spot without him. They can play without him. Why spend the money? It doesn't make any sense in my eyes.

As for Mike Mottau, he's a cheap player. I'd say giving him a 1.5 a year contract for a few years, make him your #2 with White and then the rest of the defense go younger.

That brings me to my next point. Youth. The Devils' three Cups were all built on youth. People always seem to forget that. I mean look at the 2000 Cup winner (airing at the NHL Network on August 8th if you want to see it again), Arnott was not a home-grown player but Elias was and still is. The whole 95 team was young players except for a few role players. The facts are there that the franchise is known for having young teams.

One thing that came out a couple of weeks ago that no one is really talking about is the John MacLean, the new Devils coach, lead the Lowell Devils to the playoffs last year. Why is that a big deal? The Devils' AHL team hasn't been relevant since the late 90s. They haven't made the playoffs in over 10 years. Yet Johnny Mac led this team to the playoffs and it didn't even get talked about by Devils fans. That's a major deal. How I look at is that MacLean knows that roster. He knows who is ready to move up to the main roster and I think he knows who he can trust. I have a feeling Lou and him have been talking about this and that's why they brought back Larry Robinson as assistant coach. Sure his experience will help MacLean is his rookie campaign but Robinson can groom and shape the young defensemen coming down from Albany (formerly Lowell) and make them NHL ready. PLUS during training camp they will have plenty of time to make a system and put it in effect and gross the new young players to their system. Everyone knows that it's easier to groom young players in a new system then older experienced players that are set in their ways.

Back to the subject at hand of this year. How I look at things, the team has to get younger. As if they are going to sign anyone in free agency, what they really need is a good second line winger, someone to lead their checking line, especially if Rob Niedermayer leaves and now that Jay Pandolfo is off the team and a good back-up goalie because the living legend is getting older and he can't play 70 games despite what he thinks. (On that note, I hope MacLean has the balls to sit Marty on the second of back-to-backs and against weaker teams that he doesn't have to play against. There are no more records to set, it's time to worry about having a strong goalie for the playoffs and he needs to play less for that to happen.)

Money is always going to be an issue and alot of people are looking at the fact that the cap went up this year as a good thing. But the Devils have to make sure they save some money just in case in the cap goes down next year, so they can afford their top player Zach Parise.

NHL Awards-Reaction to the show

Well after watching the NHL Awards last night, I had alot of mixed reactions to it. I have alot of problems with the show and saw alot of positives.

Positives:

• Winners: I agreed with everyone who won last night, despite my picks being wrong. I never have real issues with stuff like that, especially when someone like Hendrik Sedin, Ryan Miller and Duncan Keith winning and getting the respect they rightfully deserve. Plus hear Jose Theodore's speech was a total tear-jerker.
• The Stage: I loved it big time. I thought it added alot to the show. I loved how they had the jerseys in the air that changed with each award with the color of the player and their # and then when they won all three jerseys changed to their. It was well done and something I'd never seen before.
• Former Players: It's always great to see the legends of the game. This was the main difference on the night. I think the players that accepted awards from the legends like Ted Lindsay, Guy Lafleur and Mark Messier, actually felt more respected, then the ones who got them from random celebrities.
• USA Army: Okay this was a HUGE surprise and you can see the joy in Shane Doan's face when he received the King Clancy straight from the US Army soldiers. It was a great moment.

Negatives:

• Jay Mohr: What the hell? This was a TERRIBLE hosting job. His jokes bombed. His impressions were off. And overall I felt him being there was a total waste of time. Besides a maybe C-list comedian is the best the NHL could do to host this show? Gary said it perfectly last night: "Jay Mohr was bombing so bad I heard Al Qaeda is trying to recruit him.
• Random Celebrities: I had alot of issues throughout the night that all these celebrities didn't care about the sport, respect the game or even know the history of the awards they were giving out. They were paid to be there and it very obvious. I know that the NHL was using them to expose the game and awards to mass media but as a long time fan, it was awful.
• Music Performances: Ugh! I didn't turn into the NHL Awards to watch Snoop Dogg, Shinedown or the Goo Goo Dolls. And also what the hell was Cirque De Soleil doing there? Just because they were in Vegas right? At times if it didn't say Versus on the bottom of the screen, I thought I had changed the station. This was a terrible idea. In general. Also it led to my biggest problem of the night...
• Acceptance Speeches Cut-off: This really pissed me off. I want to hear from Duncan Keith and Ryan Miller and Hendrik Sedin and all the winners of the awards. I did NOT like the fact that their speeches were cut short due to time and they couldn't enjoy the moment of winning the award. This was NEVER an issue in the past till it turned into a half award show/half concert like it did last night.

Overall it was a C effort on trying to do something different with the awards this year, but I know I'm one of the many that actually missed the old low-key format from Toronto that was about the game. Just the game, nothing else. I know the NHL wants to grow the sport in the US, but this was an embarrassment to the sport, an embarrassment to the loyal fans and a mis-opportunity to explain and show off the history of the game. 

NHL Awards-The Results

Last night was the NHL Awards and I'm going to put my comments into two separate entries. First up are the awards and how my picks went:

Vezina Trophy (Top Goaltender)
Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils-My Pick
Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix Coyotes
Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres

When I made this pick, I was going on loyalty. Marty is my goalie and the only Devil nominated for anything tonight. Ryan Miller deserved this award for his work in Buffalo and Team USA (even though that doesn't count).


Frank J. Selke Trophy (Top Defensive Forward)
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings-My Pick
Ryan Kesler, Vancouver Canucks
Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh Penguins

This was a slam-dunk pick. No one is better than Datsyuk right now in his position. (1-1)

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (Skill/Sportsmanship)
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Brad Richards, Dallas Stars
Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning-My Pick

I'm shocked I got this one right. LOL. I didn't know who to pick here because it's a weird award to win. 


Calder Memorial Trophy (Top Rookie)
Matt Duchene, Colorado Avalanche
Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings-My Pick
Tyler Myers, Buffalo Sabres

This was a really tough call. If they could have more than one winner, then all three could have won. There was no loser in this category, except well me for picking the wrong player.


James Norris Memorial Trophy (Top Defenseman)
Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
Mike Green, Washington Capitals-My Pick
Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks

You know with all the hype behind Mike Green, I'm shocked he didn't win. Keith definitely deserves it though. Very cool. 


Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (Perseverance & Dedication to Hockey)
Kurtis Foster, Tampa Bay Lightning
Jed Ortmeyer, San Jose Sharks-My Pick
Jose Theodore, Washington Capitals

Until last night I didn't even know why these three were nominated, but after watching the video clips, Jose Theodore deserves it big time for all the charity work after losing his son. 


NHL Foundation Player Award (Contributions to Charitable Causes)
Dustin Brown, Los Angeles Kings
Mike Green, Washington Capitals
Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres-My Pick

Wow two awards for Ryan Miller and a $25,000 check for charity. That's a hell of a night. 


Jack Adams Award (Top Head Coach)
Joe Sacco, Colorado Avalanche
Dave Tippett, Phoenix Coyotes-My Pick
Barry Trotz, Nashville Predators

Take a team who most people didn't even know were going to be in Phoenix when the season, mold them into a winning team, almost win the division, make the playoffs and then almost beat the Red Wings. That's impressive. No one else ever comes close to deserving to win this award more than Tippett.

Ted Lindsay Award (MVP Voted by the NHLPA)
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins-My Pick
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks

This could have gone either way. I figured Crosby was going to win something, but the NHLPA likes Ovi more right now. I knew I should have went with my instincts.

Mark Messier Leadership Award (Top Leader in Hockey)
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Shane Doan, Phoenix Coyotes
Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres-My Pick

Well, I picked Miller to win two awards, just the wrong two. I guess Crosby wasn't going to be shutout. And he can say he's the first official winner of this award.

Hart Memorial Trophy (League MVP)
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals-My Pick
Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks

Until yesterday morning's NHL Live, I wouldn't have even thought that Sedin had a chance, but they made me believers. So when he won, Sid and Ovi looked surprised. Let me say though, if you told me back when the Sedin twins got drafted back-to-back by the Canucks years ago that one of them was going to turn out to be league MVP, I would have said you were crazy.

GO USA!

Wow. Simply wow.

That's all I can say after this morning.

To be honest, going into the World Cup, I didn't care. I'm not a soccer person. But due my passion for my country, I have been watching and rooting for Team USA. Today was a sight to see.

USA advanced on to the second round of the World Cup in dramatic fashion. But that's not the whole story.

There are very few moments in sports that bring together an entire country, this morning was one of those moments. I haven't seen so much American pride on web site, at work, in texts, since the USA-Canada hockey game during the Olympics in February. This was unreal.

I've gotta say, for the first time in a very long time, I'm actually excited for a soccer game. I will be watching as much as I can this Saturday. Wow, I never thought I'd be looking forward to a World Cup game.