Are you ready for some football? Not really?

Okay, it's the Steelers v. Seahawks in the Super Bowl. Wow, what a barn-burner. Will anyone be watching this one? If the Seahawks win, will anyone at this time next year remember they won? Can you name who won last year's NBA championship? (ah, think about it, I bet it doesn't jump out at ya). It's not that I dislike the Steelers, I just haven't gotten over them beating my beloved Cowboys in the 1979 Super Bowl. I know, I need to move on. But doggone it, I keep seeing Jackie Smith going for that ball . . .

Paula gets engaged!

While I was off administering an ACT exam, Dorene received a call from Paula indicating that her long wait was over. She was now WITH RING! She is engaged to one Tom Merkle over yonder in Ohio. They have known each other basically since childhood, with Benjamin (Paula's brother) and Tom being best friends.

Is this a good thing? Absolutely! Tom is a wonderful guy and will be an awesome husband. My niece is in good hands. We are all very excited for her. Looks like the wedding will be sometime in June.

Bad Day for Football in the Midwest

Everything was in place for the Colts. Home field advantage all the way through, a quarterback on fire, the Patriots were out of the way. So what in the world were they doing down 21-3 to the Steelers??? But even so, they still came back, assisted by a horrendous call from the officials (so bad that they now admit they botched it).

The game seemed to be over, but then came a bizarre series of event. Jerome Bettis fumbled at the one yard line. He NEVER fumbles. But the guy to pick it up was stabbed over the weekend in some domestic altercation, so he isn't as fleet footed. So who stops the game winning touchdown? The quarterback. The quarterback is NEVER supposed to make a game saving tackle. That's like getting taken down by the punter or placekicker. Even so, Peyton Manning has the team where he wants them. Almost to midfield, all the timeouts left, and only needing a field goal. First play, huge gain. Then it all falls apart. Peyton tries to win it all. Big, big mistake. They should have used their timeouts wisely and thrown in the middle of the field and gotten closer for a couple shots at the end zone. Okay, it's fourth down, and it's going to be a 46 yard field goal. Mike Vanderjagt is the most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history. Not just this year, but in HISTORY!!!! His kick doesn't just barely miss, or swing right at the last minute. It's not even close. Season over. They start 13-0. But none of that matters. Season over. I guess it's wait till next year, but I thought this was next year. They say Manning can't win the big game. So far, he can't.

So who to root for in the Super Bowl now? The Bears went out too. I would have gladly briefly shifted allegiances to them. But nope, da bears are da gone too. I kinda like the Broncos because they have former Arizona State and Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer. I don't like the Steelers because I've never forgiven them for beating my Cowboys 30 years ago. The Panthers? Yeah, why not. The Seahawks? Whatever. Not much to root for this year.

Supreme Court Confirmation

Okay, so we're in the midst of the confirmation hearings for Judge Alito. If you watch the hearings or read about them, you'd almost think Alito is on the ropes and will not be confirmed. Look, it's very simple. The Democrats on the senate judiciary committee are going to go after him like nothing else. But in the end, he'll be confirmed. It's actually very rare a court nominee doesn't get confirmed (Robert Bork is the lone exception in the past 25 years). Even if it's by one vote, he'll still be confirmed.

Rick's Picks for the Best Flicks of 2005

I don't see a lot of movies anymore, so my list isn't exactly comprehensive, but here are the top 5 movies, in no particular order, that I saw last year.

Batman Begins - Quite a pleasant surprise. I wasn't sure how this would work by going back and starting over. But it was great. Looking forward to the next installment.

Capote - Fascinating biography of Truman Capote and the story of how he wrote "In Cold Blood." Phillip Seymour Hoffman will indeed win the Oscar for Best Actor.

Murderball - Documentary about quadriplegic wheelchair rugby. One of the most entertaining movies I've seen in a long time. Gives you a very different perspective of people in wheelchairs, especially when you see guys slamming into each other at full speed in what looks like wheelchairs from a "Mad Max" movie.

Walk the Line - I'm not a big Johnny Cash fan, but I really enjoyed this movie. Joaquin Phoenix did his own singing and did a magnificent job. Equally good was Reese Witherspoon as June Carter, and she also did her own singing. See this in the theatre with a good sound system. If Jamie Foxx hadn't won Best Actor last year for portraying Ray Charles, then Phoenix would be a lock to win this year.

Star Wars III - George Lucas finally got it right for this first trilogy. After the immensely disappointing "Phantom Menace" and the good, but not great, "Clones," this one ties everything together and bridges the gap between episodes III and IV. Wish he'd go on and do a part III 1/2 and tell the backstory of Han Solo, Lando Calrissian and how Leia became a princess and found herself on that star cruiser at the beginning of episode IV searching for Obi Wan Kenobi.

If I had to pick the worst movie of 2005, it would hands down be "War of the Worlds." A big-budget mess. Very boring, not engaging in the least, and an annoying performance by Tom Cruise (who is just overall getting annoying anyway). In a close second would be "Crash," a movie that thought it was the greatest statement about racism in the history of cinema. To me, it's message was , I'M racist, YOU'RE racist, we're ALL racist? And why? JUST BECAUSE!! Full of unbelievable coincidences. At the end of the day, just be sure to hug your Latina housekeeper and the world will be a better place. I'm not against movies that deal with racism, just this one. It didn't make me uncomfortable, just bored. For a far better movie on the subject, try "Rosewood" or "Do the Right Thing."