It had been so long since I did blog entry, tonight I'm doing a double dip. I'll call this one my "rant, critique and brag." I'll start with the "brag":

For the second straight year, I correctly predicted the winners of the Masters and PGA Championship (two of the four golf majors). I realize that the winner each time was either Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, and they're not exactly longshots. But though it may seem like I could have simply picked them each time and had a good chance at being right, even if I were to know in advance that each time the winner were going to be one of the two and pick randomly, I'd have only a 1/16 chance at being right. That's pretty good, eh?

Furthermore, I didn't pick them to win the other four majors, so it's not like I blanketed all the majors with those picks. And Tiger Woods has only won four of the eight majors (only!) so it's not like he made it much easier for me to be right by picking him for one each year (only a little easier).

Now looking specifically at Phil Mickelson, the past three years he was won three majors (one each year). I have correctly predicted each one, and he has never won a major that I didn't predict he would. If you're a Phil Mickelson fan, you may want to convince me to pick him to win all four majors this year! :)

So, that's three years in a row now that I've correctly predicted two out of four majors. Have I done enough bragging now? I should go into sports betting.

Speaking of sports betting, I saw "Two for the Money" the other day. Al Pacino is awesome. And I really like Matthew McConnaughay. (He was great in "Contact", one of my favourite movies.) Anyway, "Two for the Money" is pretty good. I thought the movie was going to be about sports betting for a living, but it was actually about sports advising for sports bettors. That's a lot more interesting.

Working in sports media, I know this, but I still find it funny that such services are legal while the actual betting is illegal. It's like the law that says it's legal to upload pirated music to an accessible server but it's illegal to download. The only reason you would upload said music is for people to be able to illegally download it, so shouldn't that be illegal too?

Anyway, the movie was entertaining, though there were parts that were a bit farfetched. Like how he's able to go perfect in his weekly predictions, just because he says he's going to, even when one of his picks he got some clerk to pick them for him whom he had no reason to think would pick correctly. And how he suddenly can't pick winners anymore. And one thing I didn't like was how he arrogantly told a co-worker his pick for a certain NFL game was wrong, and then they didn't show the outcome. A great dramatic moment missed! Okay, so that was my "critique." I'll finish with my rant, on my favourite NFL team, the Eagles, who just suffered the most ridiculous collapse I have ever seen.

Leading by 17 points in the fourth quarter at home against the Giants, they blew the endgame in so many different ways I just can't believe. It all began when a long reception by the Giants' Plaxico Burress was fumbled and the Eagles' safety Michael Lewis had a chance to recover the fumble at the one-yard line. He fell on it, but somehow let the ball get away. It bounced in the end zone and was recovered by the Giants for a touchdown. Oh well, I thought, the Eagles are still up by 10 points, yet I had a funny feeling that this would come back to cost them. I wish it had been just a feeling.

The coach did some ridiculous play-calling after that, calling an entirely different type of offence than the one that had built up a 24-7 lead. I'm sure he was playing more cautiously trying to keep the lead, but there was still a lot of time left on the clock such that playing it as such would not bleed the clock enough to be effective. They needed to try to move the ball, get scoring chances, but barring that, force the Giants into bad field position. Unfortunately, Andy Reid not once but twice senselessly went for it on 4th-and-1 plays and failed. I get why. You make it, and you ice the game. But I'm not of the camp that believes that if you can't make one-yard, you don't deserve to be on the field. And if you are going to go for it, do the quarterback sneak or any play where you start going forward. Not a handoff to a running back in the backfield, which gives the defence time to penetrate!

I can forgive the fumble by Westbrook, which immediately led to a touchdown to make it 24-21, and the missed 49-yard field goal by Akers early in the game, which may have made a difference. Those things happen. What I can't forgive is terrible decisions, and routine things that you practice. Players should be able to recover fumbles when you get both hands the ball. (There was at last one other opportunity to recover a fumble later in the game that would have given the Eagles an excellent chance to win.) Players should make receptions when they get two hands on the ball, especially for first downs. (There were at least a couple of those that would have iced the game.) And kicking a player for no reason, which draws a personal foul and puts the team in almost gimme field-goal position to tie the game? That's inexcusable too.

It was just one mistake after another, and it gave the Giants a win they had no business getting. The Eagles will be okay, because I still think they're the better team. But it will take a while to get over. And I really hope they beat the Giants the next time they meet.

I just watched the season premiere of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. I was really looking forward to it, not only because it's my favourite show, but because of the anticipation of who would replace Jamey Sheridan's character as the new captain.

Unfortunately, I must say I did not like the premiere at all. Actually, in my opinion it was the worst episode of CI ever.

I didn’t care for the new captain. I’m sure that’s just because I’m comparing him to Deakins and in time I'll get used to him. But that’s not the real problem.

The real problem is that the style was COMPLETELY different from what we’ve come to love through the show’s first five seasons. The pace was awkward - scenes cut from one to another too quickly. There was no dramatic tension built up when Goren would realize something and go with it. The music was overdone, and the lines were cheesy.

But most importantly, it sorely lacked the component of the show involving ADA Carver. You cannot have a LAW & Order show without that. The scene with Eames struggling to find a way out of the “dungeon” would be great for serial killer movie, but not for this show.

This episode lacked everything that makes Criminal Intent great. If this is what can be expected for the rest of the season, sadly, it will no longer be one of my must-watch shows of the week.