Around the sports world...

1. Ron Artest admitting he drank during the game as a Chicago Bull

"I used to drink Hennessy ... at halftime. I [kept it] in my locker. I'd just walk to the liquor store and get it."

No wonder the Bulls sucked so bad. Their best defender was liquored. How doesn't then head coach Tim Floyd not know about this. It wasn't like he was busy game-planing.

2. Notre Dame Athletic director Jack Swarbrick

"The unique circumstances surrounding our program at the current time prevent us from making the commitment required to compete in a bowl game."

What situation? That your embarrassed to be invited to a lesser bowl. That is the situation. It has nothing to do with firing your coach. Plenty of coaches have been let go after the season and still coached the team. The sad thing is that the players had a vote and the decision was still made that they will not accept an invite. As a player on the team how do you let that happen? As a senior how do you not want to play one more game. Most of you will never play football again. Have your egos been inflated that much simply because you attend Notre Dame? Do you feel entitled to something better? Oh wait, of course, this is Notre Dame I forgot... Do you know how many other schools would kill to go to any bowl game. It is a privilege to get to play in a bowl and it shouldn't be disrespected just because your not happy about what day of the year you will be playing it. I look at the Duke football team and they would do anything for the chance to play in any bowl. You probably won't find a team with a better attitude and better character than the Blue Devils. Too bad Duke can't take Notre Dame's place in a bowl. They certainly deserve it more simply because of their attitudes to the sport of football. They wouldn't turn down a chance to play one more game. Notre Dame shouldn't either.

3. Coach K responding to Doug Gottlieb calling Duke "alarming non-athletic"

"He should be an expert on alarming non-athletic. So I'll have to take a look at that a little bit closer because it comes from an expert who actually knows what it is like to be alarmingly non-athletic."

Great, great answer Coach. What does it say for the rest of college basketball if a top 10 team is alarming non-athletic.

My Favorite Month...

I'm back. The start of December, my favorite month has invigorated me. So I return with my top five favorite Christmas movies. Tis the season... Starting in reverse order #5....

5. Gremlins

I know what your saying, "this isn't a Christmas movie". But oh it is. The Mogwai, named Gizmo, is an early Christmas present for his son. Chaos ensues when the Mogwai touch water or eat after midnight, but the essential principles of the flick are the bonds of friendship and family. (Also Phoebe Cates delivers one of the greatest speeches in movie history when she describes why she hates Christmas. On the unintentional comedy scale it is a 10.

Fav. Line: "And that's how I found out there was no Santa Clause."

4. Die Hard

Once again not your usual Christmas movie, but still damn good. I proposed a theory years ago that if you give Bruce Willis a gun the movie will be good. Well, this movie he has a gun during a Christmas party... So it is freaking amazing.

Fav. Line: "Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho."

3. How The Grinch Stole Christmas (the classic animated TV special, not the crappy Jim Carrey movie)

You can argue this is not a movie, but it is essential viewing for me during December. It maybe the perfect story to show the true meaning of Christmas. Great rhyming from the late Doctor and how can you not love the dog/reindeer. Good old fashioned holiday cheer

Fav. Line: "Maybe Christmas he thought doesn't come from a store, maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."

2. It's A Wonderful Life

This was tough. I was close to making this movie #1, but while I do love it and i do need to watch it before Christmas it still couldn't top my number 1. Maybe in a few more years it will, but right now it is #2. I first saw It's A Wonderful Life in high school during Mrs. Cheffo's English class. Immediately I could not believe I had not watched it before. It touches my heart every time I watch it and Jimmy Stewart gives an amazing performance as George Bailey.

Fav. Line: "What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That is a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary."

1. Christmas Vacation

Could anything else be #1. Cousin Eddie, Clark Griswald, family members yelling, angry neighbors, crazy squirrels, disgruntled employees, it has everything you want out a good Christmas and more and then it also has the heart to tie everything up in a perfect package. I don't know what any of what I just said means, but damn, its a great movie. It is the one that me and my family watched more than any other movie each holiday. We know all the lines and all the great moments, but yet we still watch and we still laugh. Maybe because it is so relatable to our holidays. Maybe that is why it is so good. Every time I would head out into the cold to hang Christmas lights with my dad I am reminded of the scene when Rusty has to unknot the giant ball of lights for his dad. I was Rusty. I had to untangle the lights.

Fav. Line: "Hey. If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, fore-fleshing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is. Hallelujah. Holy shit. Where's the Tylenol?"

Six Things...

Definition of Bitesies - To take a bite of someone's food. These are the six rules of bitesies in grand detail.

Six things you should know about… bitesies
Team 732

1. Bitesies shall be limited to one mouthful or fork/spoonful unless second bite permission is granted from the eating party.

2. Bitesies must be called before more than 2/3 of the food item in question has been consumed by the owner of said food item.

3. Steve doesn't participate in bitesies...ever
3(a). EVER!
3(b). Unless Pat just calls bitesies and takes a bite, in which case Steve unplugs the Xbox.

4. Unless approval is granted only one person may act on the right of bitesies per item of food.

5. If you call bitesies, you must be fully prepared to reciprocate the bitesies on your own food item.

6. Patrick Galindo has exclusive rights to Prima Bitesies (i.e. Mr. Galindo has first 'dibs' of bitesies on any food item being eaten by any of the roommates, in fact any one ever who is eating food). Also under this rule, the right of Prima Bitesies supersedes rules 1-4, ergo Patrick has the right to act on bitesies even after someone else has on any item of food, can bitesies the last bite of food, and there is no limit to the size of said bitesies.

The Very Best

I have never been to the place that serves the world’s greatest cup of coffee or the best apple pie. I don’t know where these places are. My travels in life have not led me to sample these items, but I have found the location of one such beverage that is better at in Durham, N.C. then any other place I have ever consumed the drink. It is so good that I will make the claim that it is the world’s greatest. Yes people you should travel from wherever you live to Durham, N.C. to try the best root beer in the world. The Chipotle on Erwin Road has the world’s greatest root beer. The best Barq’s root beer pours of the soda fountain at this location. I was as shocked to taste this liquid delight as you are to read that the best root beer resides in North Carolina. But it’s true. I wouldn’t lead you astray.

It's about time...

… for a new Kanye West album, not another 808s & Heartbreak but a rap album. Ye hasn’t put one out since 2007s Graduation and with no new album scheduled for this year I must look to 2010 for a new West album. I can only hope he has something planned. Why the sudden need, well, Jay-Z’s BP3 leaked early and I wasn’t blown away. It made me think that I have not been blown away by a new album in a long time, THAT SUCKS. The only other album I’m excited for this year is Lupe Fiasco’s L.A.S.E.R.S., but that’s not coming until December and his stuff has a history of getting pushed back. So I’m left with the hope that Kanye is in the studio right now (we know for a fact Steve is, even though he wants us to shut it down). Four albums. Four classics.

And yes, I am listening to Kanye as I am writing this.

Album Rankings
1. Late Registration (Heard ‘Em Say, Gone, Roses, Diamonds are Forever)
2. The College Dropout (Family Business, Two Words, Jesus Walks)
3. Graduation (Flashing Lights, Stronger, Good Morning, Can’t Tell Me Nothing)
4. 808s & Heartbreak (Welcome to Heartbreak, Heartless, Robocop)

For your listening pleasure my favorite all-time Kanye song - Family Business from The College Dropout.

Pt. 2...

So I hear this rumor (from Lauren, check out her blog, The String Bean) about a new Wal-Mart that just opened and the urge to check out its $5 bin hits me across the face. I walk in and the place is huge and everything looks brand new, but I left disappointed. THERE WAS NO BIN. Yes, they had $5 movies, but they place them on the rack instead of a big bin. You don’t get that feeling of rummaging and hunting for that majestic movie that may or may not exist. What is the world coming to when you no longer have movie bins in Wal-Mart?

Needless to say I still purchased a movie, The Rainmaker for $5... But it just wasn’t the same.

$5 Binning...

There is a tale, I kid you not, about a man, who made a journey that he never expected to go down as one of the greatest binning explorations in history. Now before we go further I must explain binning for those of you who are unfamiliar with the art form.

The only reason I feel warrants a trip to Wal-Mart is to go binning. Each Wal-Mart I have ever visited has a $5 movie bin, filled, sometimes to the very tip top with movies old and new, good and bad, classics and straight-to-DVD. Now to fully commit to binning one must arrive with the intention of reaching the bottom, no matter how it may look to others. Even if there is already someone hap-hazardly rummaging through upon your arrival, your must not back away scared. Plant your feet, plunge your hands in and begin searching, even if you intrude on others. You have a goal - to find the best $5 movies possible- come hell or high water.

Now you don’t always need to reach the bottom to succeed in your mission. Sometimes its easy to find the gem your looking for, other times you leave empty handed. It is the risk you take.

My last attempt binning was a fail. The bin was full of straight-to-DVD releases and old westerns, as well as a large amount of Spanish language films. I left saddened. But a few days later I received a phone call from a friend. He had been binning and returned with one of the greatest hauls I had ever heard of.

I have had my share of successful missions returning with Trading Places, Van Wilder and Swingers. But my friend called me with a haul that toped every binning quest I had been on. He left with a $25 haul. FIVE MOVIES!!! Incredible. They were - Spiderman 1, My Cousin Vinny, American Beauty, Dumb and Dumber and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. The names speak for themselves. This binning exploration took 15 minutes. He committed, he succeeded and will go down in history as one of the best binnings ever. Thank you G for setting a standard for everyone else to live up to.