Random Thursday thoughts..

Some random Thursday thoughts before the weekend…
I like the Falcons (-1) tonight. They’re just so good at home (18-1 under Matty Ice), and these short weeks tend to favor the home teams as they don’t have to use up what little time there is to prepare on travelling. I also think both teams pound the run tonight because of the short week and you’re going to see the under hit pretty easy. Atlanta 17, Baltimore 13.

I haven’t been keeping up with my reviews on Dexter and Boardwalk Empire lately. Sorry if you were tuning in to read those, but Sunday-Monday nights are crowded with football and doing fatherly things with the toddler. Often times I don’t get these shows watched until the middle of the week and it seems pointless to keep going. I’ll try to give some thoughts on them when I get the chance, but don’t expect reviews. My quick thoughts on the last few episodes though as we head towards the end of the season for both shows:

I might be out on Boardwalk Empire next season. I love the grandeur of it all, with all the gorgeous 1920’s outfits and buildings and such. I love Nucky, and Steve Buscemi has proven he can carry this show. But there are just WAY too many fringe characters floating around who I don’t really care about. Anything with the FBI agent almost gets tuned out, and the same with Nucky’s brother. There was a lesbian scene last week and I still have no idea who the two participants were. (Side note: Thanks to HBO for all the gratuitous nudity in this show. It really makes up for all the lag time. Even the Scottish lady got naked Almost makes me want to go back to the 1920’s, it seems to be an epic time for nudity, which is weird since nobody could drink) But until they cut back and have only about 3-4 main characters, it will continue to be dizzying to watch this show. Especially since everyone is dressed alike. Can we at least get the characters some nameplates?

As for Dexter, it started off slow, but the last few episodes have been crazy and have me excited to see how it turns out. I was leery when they said there wouldn’t be a primary serial killer for Dexter to go after, but they’ve proven me wrong. Michael C. Hall seems totally re-energized this season and even the additions of Julia Stiles, Robocop and Angelina Jolie’s first husband haven’t slowed anything down. Finally, we’re seeing a dilemma for Quinn as he falls for Deb and isn’t sure how much further he wants to investigate Dexter, and he actually comes across as likeable. And they’ve focused less on Batista and LaGuerta, always a good thing. Though it is creepy watching Dexter and Lumen hang out in Dexter’s old house, especially the bathtub scene. I hope they don’t take the easy way out and have these two fall for each other. The uneasy partnership is paying off right now in terms of plot and I don’t think we need to mess with that.

How about those Miami Heat? Can we just call them The Big Two now and stop talking about Chris Bosh as part of the superstars? Seriously, 14 points and 5 boards a game? This guy is becoming another Antawn Jamison, a guy who piles up stats on bad teams but shrinks to the background when he plays with better players on better teams. Right now, I still like Boston in that conference as they have Garnett, Big Baby Davis and the O’Neals (plus Kendrick Perkins returning in February) to throw at a suspect Miami frontcourt.

Last, the great Dave Niehaus passed away last night. For those who don’t know, he was the play-by-play guy for the Seattle Mariners, and had been doing that job since the inception of the team in 1977. As somebody who watches around 100 Mariners games a season, this has meant hundreds upon hundreds hours the last few summers have been spent listening to this man. His way of storytelling would make you feel like he was part of your family, and when you spend that much time listening to somebody, he essentially becomes extended family. The Mariners and the baseball world lost a great one. I never understood how Philadelphia or Detroit or St. Louis fans felt when Harry Kalas or Ernie Harwell or Jack Buck passed away, but now I see how it can affect them. RIP Dave, you will be missed.