A little TV Talk

Spoiler Alert for shows Prison Break and LOST

Let's start off with the question from Mike Z. since he is the only one apparently asking questions consistently. We thank you Mike and congratulations on your excellent law school performance. Keep it up.

Where would you rank this season of Prison Break among the all time biggest disappointments in television history? Or, how would you would you rank it on a disappointment scale?

Let's name off some TV disappointments in history.
1. I heard the show Dallas is probably number one although I never watched an episode. They basically made an entire season and the erased it by saying it was a dream the next year.

2. 24 last season--I thought it was the worst season and I really just hope Jack Bauer jumped off that cliff.

3. The Practice--how it ended? I loved this show and it just kind of drained off and ended. They had Lindsey kill William Hinks (Michael Emerson aka Ben in LOST). William Hinks was the first time I saw Emerson as the creepiest character in history. He portrayed a guy that killed numerous women, but pleaded insanity. He played off the entire thing to a jury that let him off on insanity and in a chilling episode, he reveals that he played all the lawyers and that he is actually nowhere near insane. Then he becomes a threat and one of the lawyers kills him to which she gets off on a technicality or something. Then they kind of had a divorce and the show which was really just excellent just sort of fell of the face of the Earth.

4. The OC--this show lost Mischa Barton to a car crash I think? She was the staple of the show and they just kind of let her go. I didn't watch the third season at all, but I did watch the first 2 and I really don't know why. I seriously wasted that time in my life and apologize to the world for not doing something during the time I watched the OC.

5. Entourage--I still love this show, but didn't we all just want Medellin to be the best movie ever and everyone to be happy. (I looked for 2 minutes to find the correct spelling of Medellin)

I rank Prison Break as an absolute colossal (that word is tough to spell). Speaking of spelling, let's review the 4 years I participated in the Garfield Elementary spelling bee.

Grade 3: I steamrolled the competition knocking off every 8-9 year old in the city. Skull was the winning word and I remember scoffing at the competition as I confidently took it down and shattered the dreams of everyone.

Grade 4: Expected a repeat performance, I went deep this year. Down to the final 5, they threw me a piece of cake word rabbit. I mean seriously, how much easier can it really. I stepped up to the microphone and said as fast as possible "rabbit r-a-b-i....." and I paused as I knew my doom was near. I knew the rule was once you began you couldn't stop. It was a choke. I knew the word. I knew exactly how to spell it. I used to read every damn book out there about animals. I had a fact file on every animal. I finished off the fake spelling throwing a t out there knowing my fate had been sealed.

Grade 5: I believe I got one word right in this spelling bee. In round two, they threw me to the wolves. They asked me to spell oppose. To this day, I swear the teacher pronounced it "A-pose." If I wasn't sweating my brains out to try and redeem myself, I might have asked for a definition or sentence or anything, but I just said "a p p o s e " XXXXXXX

Grade 6: Round 1. Atmosphere. I knew how to spell it again. I knew exactly how to do this. To be honest, I think I threw this one because it wasn't cool to win the spelling bee in sixth. And no one wanted to face that phenom from Hopkins, an unnamed spelling artist that chewed opponents up and could spell better than Webster. I threw an L in there somewhere after the t for no reason. I hate myself to this day for my lack of performance.

Back to Prison Break...

This show went from one of the most promising shows in existence with a great framework for season 3. Everything was in place. We saw the bald guy that never talked to anyone say "we have Scofield where we want him." This alone made the show genius. The first two seasons and everything that happened was some bigger plot that somehow hinted towards Scofield being a superpower specimen of the "Company." His love for Sara T. was something that gave the show a softer side and balanced out the action, killing, and constant terrible moral decisions. Sara was one of the best actresses on the show. Then, we find out her head is chopped off or something by one of the worst characters in the history of television that annoying Gretchen. The new prison is just a strange society and the prison is impossible to get out of. We haven't been given a single piece of information relating the bald guy. We have been given a piece of information related to anything. It has just been a strangely awkward season and the writers obviously have no direction for the show. What I thought was genius about the show, probably never even existed except in my own imagination. This show is toast and one of the most giant disappointments ever. It beats anything on my list above because of the potential. This show won't gain anymore viewers and I hardly expect it to be continued when the Writer's strike resumes.


LOST (spoiler alert) Episode 2 Season 4

Well, I was write about what "Confirmed Dead" meant and I still think I'm right about the boat being DHARMA related. It would make sense since every one of the new characters appears to have some area of scientific or supernatural specialization that relates to what DHARMA was studying. I think this season has a ton of potential and since I hear the writer's strike is over, I'm really hoping we get to see the full season.

The key questions for me are:

1. If Ben knows everything about the boat, who is the mole and how did they communicate with Ben? Wasn't everything being jammed from the island?

2. What is the purpose of the talking to the dead guy? Is he there to communicate with the island's dead and what does Abbadon know about this? Abbadon appears to be what a lot of people predicted to be a big overarching conspiracy?

3. I'm still wondering where Penny fits into all of this. How did Naomi and their team know to use the rescue Desmond idea? How do they relate to Penny's search team? Desmond wasn't on the plane remember, so how did they even know he was on the island? Something tells me that they are somehow related to Penny's dad who we have seen in the past.

I don't really think there are many other important things. This episode was good but wasn't great. It seemed necessary to introduce the plot for this upcoming season and open up myriads of questions.


I had a very disappointing exit from the HORSE tournament tonight. I consider myself a very good player in all the games played here. I know I'm not perfect because there are so many different situations, but I really don't make too many mistakes. One Stud Hi/Lo hand that really cost me the tournament, I'll describe below.


Full Tilt Poker Game #5166952450: FTOPS Event #3 (35825861), Table 46 - 600/1200 Ante 100 - Limit Stud H/L - 0:57:46 ET - 2008/02/08
Seat 1: pokerbrutas (18,843)
Seat 2: CrystalBalla (37,666)
Seat 3: bigdogpckt5s (6,507)
Seat 5: k0derkid (20,510)
Seat 6: epokerounder (7,844)
Seat 7: BlackJackLeak (20,794)
Seat 8: kice32 (11,824)
pokerbrutas antes 100
CrystalBalla antes 100
bigdogpckt5s antes 100
k0derkid antes 100
epokerounder antes 100
BlackJackLeak antes 100
kice32 antes 100
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to pokerbrutas [7d]
Dealt to CrystalBalla [6c]
Dealt to bigdogpckt5s [Ts]
Dealt to k0derkid [9s]
Dealt to epokerounder [4c]
Dealt to BlackJackLeak [Js]
Dealt to kice32 [Ah Kd] [Kh]
epokerounder is low with [4c]
epokerounder brings in for 200
BlackJackLeak folds
DutchVinny (Observer): nh
kice32 completes it to 600 (I'm not sure I love my raise here, but with a lot of weak high cards showing and 4 6 7 as the low cards, I feel like I should take a shot at taking down the pot here. I don't expect to be playing against another high hand in the pot.)
pokerbrutas calls 600
CrystalBalla raises to 1,200
bigdogpckt5s folds
k0derkid folds
epokerounder folds
kice32 calls 600
pokerbrutas calls 600
*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to pokerbrutas [7d] [Td]
Dealt to CrystalBalla [6c] [Kc] (Ok so he raised here with a 6c showing. It's important to note that the 4 of clubs is out as that is a blocker card as is the 7 diamonds. Blocker cards are those that prevent the low from making a straight or flush along with their low which gives a high hand the chance to jam a hand when the other player is still drawing to a low.)
Dealt to kice32 [Ah Kd Kh] [Qs]
kice32 bets 600 ( I bet here because they both pick up a high card here, but it does make them both suited, so I want to get information)
pokerbrutas calls 600
CrystalBalla raises to 1,200
kice32 raises to 1,800 ( I don't really love my 3 bet here, but at the time the K he got doesn't really scare me)
pokerbrutas folds
CrystalBalla raises to 2,400 (when he reraises, I put him on only two hands, a 4 club with 3 low cards or rolled up 6 6 6)
kice32 calls 600
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to CrystalBalla [6c Kc] [4d]
Dealt to kice32 [Ah Kd Kh Qs] [As]
kice32 bets 1,200 ( I pick up two pair here and he picks up a 4 of diamonds. If a club falls for him, I think I just give up the hand completely) At this point though, I still assume that he has a club draw. When he raises, I'm a little concerned now but it could also just be a big draw)
CrystalBalla raises to 2,400
kice32 calls 1,200
*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to CrystalBalla [6c Kc 4d] [6s] (a six? Hmmm must not be rolled up sixes because that would be kind of weird now wouldn't it. At this point, I'm thoroughly convinced, I have the best hand and he is drawing. With that being the case, I make a bet here as he is still drawing_
Dealt to kice32 [Ah Kd Kh Qs As] [Qc]
kice32 bets 1,200
CrystalBalla calls 1,200 (He just calls. 100% a draw now and he has a lot of cards to help him here probably. A club wins him the high hand if I don't hit any of the remaining 5 cards that make me a full house. A low card would win him the low and it's possible he has like 7 8 6 of clubs with the 4, so a 5 is straight for the scoop.)
*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to kice32 [Ah Kd Kh Qs As Qc] [2d]
kice32 checks ( A check here is the 100% correct play. I'm only getting called by something that's beating me or better yet raised.)
CrystalBalla bets 1,200
kice32 calls 1,200
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CrystalBalla shows [8c 7c 6c Kc 4d 6s 5h] a straight, Eight high, for high and 8,7,6,5,4, for low
kice32 mucks (As expected, I really put him on the exact hand when I playing this. He started with a monster 8 7 6 of clubs. Then he had a flush draw, then he had a low draw. It really is almost a race in stud hi/lo.)
CrystalBalla wins the high pot (9,750) with a straight, Eight high
CrystalBalla wins the low pot (9,750) with 8,7,6,5,4
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 19,500 | Rake 0
Seat 1: pokerbrutas folded on 4th St.
Seat 2: CrystalBalla showed [8c 7c 6c Kc 4d 6s 5h] and won (19,500) with HI: a straight, Eight high; LO: 8,7,6,5,4
Seat 3: bigdogpckt5s folded on 3rd St.
Seat 5: k0derkid folded on 3rd St.
Seat 6: epokerounder folded on 3rd St.
Seat 7: BlackJackLeak folded on 3rd St.
Seat 8: kice32 mucked [Ah Kd Kh Qs As Qc 2d] - HI: two pair, Aces and Kings

I"m not sure if I played this hand properly. I think I should have controlled the pot better with my weak hand. The only problem is that I really was in bad position against a hand that was drawing to a dominating hand. I should have just called the initial bet and hoped to improve and let the action develop. I made the plays I had to make based on my read on the later streets and was unlucky to have the any 5, 6 or club come for the scoop, but that's poker.


This is a cool hand I think and one that I'm going to learn from. When you have a high hand against a low, this is almost always when you get in trouble in Stud Hi/Lo. Getting deep in a tournament, you really only have one big hand that you have to be right on every time in order to do well. At the same time, this was a race situation, but I could have prevented it by being more patient and finding better spots.

I'm an Uncle, LOST, Super Bowl

Alyssa Catherine Iacofano
Born: Thursday January 31, 2008 at 3:55 P.M.
18 inches, 6 1/2 pounds!!



Congratulations to Mark and Angel on their first child, a beautiful daughter. I really wish I could have been there, but this was a little bit earlier than the Feb 17th due date and trying to guess is birth is just about impossible. I'll be heading back to Cleveland after my Chicago visit after Valentine's Day to see my new niece and I'm excited. This is my first niece or nephew and I couldn't be happier for Mark and Angel. I was so excited when I heard some of the early news in the day and when Shrub called and told me it was a girl, I almost broke down crying. It was really quite unreal to be honest and I can't wait to see her.


LOST (spoiler alert)

That started off a great day and LOST closed it out. What a great start to the season. The main characters all have to choose sides between the man of faith and the man of science. Furthermore, we find out that there is an Oceanic Six that have apparently done something that involved leaving people behind in some way. Now we have to guess who did what and how it all happened. Jack appears to have been the leader of something terrible in order to get off the island. I'm just going to go through a couple of points.

1. The Oceanic Six-- We are supposed to assume that Kate, Jack and Hurley are three of these people, yet Kate was a wanted fugitive. With all the press that she would be given, there is no way she would be as free as she looked in the season 3 finale. So I'm thinking it's possible that there are 4 other people besides Hurley and Jack. I'm almost positive we will find out at least one of these people in the next couple of weeks because that story will develop and be the whole series. The writer's strike though will really put a damper on this show if it isn't resolved soon. This season can't stop right in the middle after 8 episodes and I really miss the podcasts Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse would normally do after every new episode.

2. What really happened to get off the island? It appears that Jack may be a fake hero now. If you guys remember in the season 3 finale, the new chief of surgery says to Jack "the hero, twice over" meaning that Jack is perceived as a hero to the outside world still. I'm guessing that Season 4 will give us the answer to what really happened and the rest of the show will be resolving that because Jack will have to fix it if his character stays true to form.

3. Jacob--As my last post gave a link (a faulty one and I apologize about that, but I added one that worked under it), Christian Sheperd, Jack's dad shows up at the very beginning of the series. He showed up last night too in Jacob's house when Hurley peered in. I don't really have any explanations for this at all to be completely honest and am looking forward to what happens. Jacob is still a huge mystery to the show but probably has almost everything to do with a lot of the mysteries, appearances and phenomena that the occur in the show.

4. Naomi--Why would she protect the people on the island when one of them stabbed her? Is tell my sister I love her a code word for they know you guys aren't here to rescue Desmond.

5. Next week's episode title --"Confirmed Dead" I can't wait for this episode, and I don't even know who this would refer to, but I have to imagine it has something to do with the shipwreck that was found and has been the subject of the whole find 815 side story going on. If you haven't checked this out, go search it on lostpedia and read through the articles and watch some of the videos. It is basically the side story that leads to the finding of the Oceanic 815 wreckage. My prediction is that there will be some revelation as to this incident.


SUPER BOWL

Sunday will be that time of year when we can all crown a champion in the great sport of football. I don't think this game is complex. Whoever wins between NE offensive line and NYG Defensive line will win the football game hands down. I'm taking the Giants with the 12 points, but I still like the Patriots to win the game. I don't think any team playing as well as the Giants should ever be 12 point underdogs in a fair surface football game. This team has won 10 straight road games including 3 straight road playoff games against TB, GB, and Dallas. The have consistently done things to make them win and when you have a team that does that, you can't give them 12 points. I still think the Giants are the sucker bet of the year, however, so I'm not going to bet too much, but I'll drive to Red Rock today I think and fire up a bet. NE is going for history and I really don't see them not getting it, but Brady has looked shaky the last two weeks and if the D line can get to him and rattle him, they might be able to force a big turnover in this game.

I'll give you all an update after the Sunday tournaments that I will be playing, but I'm probably going to play a lot less volume during the game, so I might play the big tournament on Full Tilt, UB, and Pokerstars along with some of the early in the day tournaments.