NBA goes Bye Bye

It is always interesting when someone decides to intentionally damage it's brand. This is the case with the NBA. I will be the first to say...BYE BYE! In all honesty, I have heard discussions about salaries, contracts, etc. Unlike the NFL lockout, very little has been said about the fans. In fact the closest players have done is something like charity games to show how much THEY (the players) love the game of basketball....not for the fans (quoting Amare there who just said it).
I also find it kind of amusing how many player leaders state "we just have had to be saving money". It is almost laughable in this age that players live such outlandish lifestyles that they need to save money when the players that play the game have the highest average salary of players in any sport IN THE WORLD (second place was a cricket league in India, followed by MLB)! The average salary in the league is 4.79 million dollars (not including endorsements...this is a little over 92k per week). By comparison, the average NFL salary is 770,000. Base salary in the NBA was $428,163 (with a 14k raise each year guaranteed as well as EVERY player in the NBA gets a $30/game allowance). The median salary 3 years ago in a US household of four was a smidge over 65k. Forgive me if I am not worried about the players losing money by not playing and having to "save" by not buying a new Ferrari. Instead, lets talk about who this fight between billionaires and millionaires will really effect....the people. To analyze this, lets focus on the nations largest city with only one major league sports franchise (another topic completely)....San Antonio. Directly, according to a Reuters report, the San Antonio Spurs not playing will affect 4,000 people who make either partially or entirely off of Spurs basketball games.Some estimates have this impacting the San Antonio and even the Austin areas by almost $100 million dollars.Not as bad as a layoff or complete work stoppage of another business, largely because people who will spend money in one venue will spend in another. It does still impact businesses. The direct affect on fans are the loss of jobs for those 4,000 people. Unlike the NFL, NBA players do have the option of playing in other countries during the lockout if they choose to. Now of course no team in another country will pay 20 mil for a player...or at least could pay it, but players can still play (look at Kobe Bryant, Derron Williams, etc). Of course, what about these rookies that just got drafted? Some have had offers in other countries, others will live off of parents or agents until the payday hits. I personally think it was class A stupid for any underclassman to come out last year. In fact I believe it is 100% the reason some of the big names did not. Why come out to a lockout, when you can still play, get better, and have most of your needs taken care of at college (and of course live the college life).
 Now for you fans who love NBA basketball, I guess you have two options. First is the easiest...watch NCAA basketball (I always enjoy it better than NBA anyway). Secondly, find out a way to get Euro basketball. Some dish providers provide the ability to buy foreign programming, so maybe they carry it?
 Best of luck NBA, I don't feel sorry for the players or owners, I will open my tailgate, watch the NFL (who did get a deal done), watch some crazies in college basketball, and enjoy!

First axe of the season

The first network axe of the season belongs to......The Playboy Club (NBC). This comes with little surprise as the show struggled to gain viewers. NBC tried to promote it heavily, but in all reality with a less than stellar cast, a terrible lead-in (The Sing-Off) and tough competition with Castle and Hawaii Five-O, it stood no chance and was my pick for one of the first to go.

Moneyball

I will admit I am an amazing baseball fan. There is something about walking into a stadium and smelling popcorn, hot dogs, peanuts, etc that get one in the mood for a ball game. What game has that true feeling but baseball? None.

The movie Moneyball encompasses a lot of that magic. The beauty of the game, the sound of the crack of the back and the poetry of move but move. How dare a person break down the game into a game of math right? Well, that is unless you want to win. Moneyball tells the story of Billy Bean who with the help of an overly educated assistant breaks the game down just such. It is not like he dislikes the poetry of the game, in fact he talks a lot about it, but also wants to win, and this strategy just might work. In fact, as we find out with teams like Boston, it very much does.

Moneyball is solid entertainment, with a lot of great performances by the likes of Brad Pitt (oscar worthy) and Jonah Hill. Check it out!

Grade: A-

The Executioner

While no show has been cancelled yet in this young TV season, it is easy to say that there will be casualties.
There have been no cancellations yet, but I have a feeling that by early next week, if not later today, some will get the axe. The Thursday returns have not yet been released and that will have an impact on who will last and who may not. One thing you will notice below is that NBC is having another HORRIBLE year. Almost every other channel in the NBC Universal family of networks are successful, except NBC and it's news channel MSNBC. Why that is? Who knows. Maybe they need to move some USA shows over to NBC. From looking at the releases so far, NBC is having a horrible year all around. Even Law & Order: SVU is in trouble with a little under 8 million viewers on average. Here is how bad it is for NBC. They increased the season order for season 3 of Parenthood. It only averages around 5.5 million viewers this season.

Likely will be cancelled soon:
The Playboy Club (NBC) 5.02, 3.97
Free Agents (NBC) 6.12 million viewers, 3.87, 3.07
H8R (CW) 1.29, 1.03, 1.37 (Kim Kardashian episode)
Heart of Dixie (CW) 1.88 (.8 rating which is horrible)
Whitney (NBC) 6.84

Limping, but critics may keep it alive the whole season:
Up All Night (NBC) 10.95, 6.05, 5.32---decent show, but rating plummet....critical darling
Prime Suspect (NBC) 6.05---well respected show from the UK, well reviewed...may get the year

Up in the Air
A Gifted Man (CBS)9.45/1.4 rating....which is really bad even for that many viewers and CBS has high standards
Charlie's Angels (ABC) 8.76...shocked that this many people watched it, but doubt this show will last.

The only new show to receive a full season pick up has been the really funny New Girl (Fox).

Terra Nova

I will admit that I love the Sci-fi genre. So when I heard of this television show being brought to us by Steven Spielberg, I became very excited. Add to that, this summer brought us the amazing Falling Skies, and I get even more excited. Now comes opening night and while it may not have lived up to all of the hype, it did not totally disappoint.

For those of you who do not remember, this show was a year behind schedule because they wanted to perfect some special effects. I completely understand, as with a show like this, the CGI effects can make or break the show. In this case the end result is completely mixed. On one hand, the effects can be completely breath taking. On the other hand, there were times that they looked like they came from a syfy channel original disaster movie.

Some early reviews have criticized the show for being unoriginal and not being enough like the amazingly original Lost. I for one completely disagree with this notion. If the show went with the crazy Lost type storyline, would it really be that original? While the show goes with the pretty standard story lines such as family conflict, rebellious son meets a group and an attractive girl, puts his life in danger and must be rescued, the show works and I have a strong feeling this show has more original things up it's sleeves. I actually like the idea of being eased into the mystery of this place and this time porthole. I for one am looking forward to the adventure, and look forward to the show growing on us all.

GRADE: B

The Amazing Sunday

Unlike Sunday evenings of the past, it looks like a lightweight viewing night (hey always good for football!). This Sunday, I watched two television shows. I still intend on giving Pan-Am a chance, but I have yet to catch up to it on my DVR.

The Amazing Race

Another season, another race. I will be the first to admit that while I love the show, I think it may have run its course with me, but since nothing else of interest takes that time slot, I will gear up for another season of globetrotting fun. One of the things I have always liked about the show is the way the teams interact with each other as they compete. I would love to have a camera in the required off hours in between legs. In the end, watching these people run around my house could be interesting television. It is easily the best "reality" show on television, and the premier did nothing to make me think it will lose that distinction. I just hope the show retires while still on top, not becoming Survivor, Idol and the aweful Dancing with the Stars.

GRADE: A-

CSI: Miami

Probably the biggest characature in television is David Caruso's Horatio Caine(how many ways can he take off those sunglasses?). The season premier had record low ratings for the show, and really it did nothing to resurrect itself. This show actually had the lowest ratings of the three CSI's. It has always been the more light hearted of the CSI shows and used creative lighting and crazy computer systems that look like they belong in an episod of Mission Impossible. Of course, the show some how gets you to completely suspend disbelief, at take you on another thrilling mystery. This show continues the story of the finale and wraps up loose ends. The weakness....I was actually hoping Natalia died to do something that put some spice in the show.

GRADE: C

Friday Television

My favorite Friday show has yet to debut (Chuck will debut in it's final shortened season October 21), but the shows that have launched are pretty good.

CSI:NY

I will say this show is the most awkward in it's start. For one Mac Taylor (Gary Senise) and Danny (Carmine Giovinazzo) are no longer in the lab and the lab is now being led by Jo (Sela Ward). Everything is not as put together with this new lab as I am used to, and I am sure these are temporary plot points, of course we wonder if too much damage will be done before bringing things back. This show was barely spared last year....I have a feeling this is the last year for this show. The premier episode was a nice and appropriate 9/11 tribute, but with the broken up cast, we have a major issue in chemistry.

GRADE: B-

Blue Bloods

This show has always been a strong show, especially in the middle demographics. Now that the show has moved on from the death of Police Commissioner Reagan's son by the Blue Templar, it is going to be interesting how the show will continue on. While this show did nothing to reveal any long term storyline, it did a good job introducing the new Mayor and the relationship the characters will have. Overall, nothing groundbreaking, but still a solid procedural drama.

GRADE: B