Legendary Blog for a Legendaddy Episode

HIMYM for threeeee! YESSS!!! | Credit: IMDB

I rarely write about a specific TV episode unless it is part of a topic about TV shows. I would either comment or include the TV episode as part of the blog entry rather than have the whole write-up’s theme revolve around that singular episode. However, I will make an exception on HIMYM’s latest episode (Legendaddy).

“How I Met Your Mother has been one of my favorite shows through the recent years but I have criticized the show a lot recently. It was shaky at the start of the year when the writer’s made a horrible tease at the season opener. They have been teasing us about the mother excessively that there would be a 99% chance that the audience will get disappointed once they introduce Ted’s future wife. Then, the next few episodes featured sloppy writing and uninspired comedic scenes. I had to re-watch HIMYM Season 1 just to reminisce how amazingly funny the show was then. Upon watching the first season, I get to laugh a lot even if I already knew/remember the outcomes. The punchlines were damn witty. The recent seasons were more about forced or crude humor. For instance, how realistic is a monkey mugging someone? HIMYM has liberties because of its storytelling form (making exaggerations acceptable) but because the show once was about making witty lines or scenarios, it was disappointing to watch such nonsensical humor in place. This season almost hit rock bottom when it featured the episode about Marshall and Robin not being able to hang out with each other. HIMYM has had a consistent writing crew through the years but I could not believe how they missed the fact that Marshall and Robin bonded in the Minnesota restaurant a few years back.

March Madness 2011 Week 1: Idol, Parenthood, Glee and of course...NCAA!

He's baaaaaaccckkk!!! Kyrie Irving is set to shoot the lights out | Credit: Bleacher Report

In a week where most of the shows that I follow are in hiatus, it is quite remarkable that TV-related entertainment is still at a high gear. Here are the reasons: NCAA March Madness, American Idol, Parenthood, Glee and… wait for it… NCAA March Madness. Have I mentioned March Madness?

NCAA March Madness has been awesome that I have to mention it thrice. OK, I am exaggerating (since there is a relative dearth of talent this year). Nevertheless, I am psyched for US College Basketball because of brackets, brackets, and brackets. Even if I have a very low chance of defeating President Obama’s college bracket. For an extremely busy guy leading a country in times of crisis, he has a remarkable skill in following sports.

It is quite ironic that I am getting entertained in a week where NBA takes a back seat. I have not even followed NBA for quite a long time now. I did not even notice that my fantasy keeper league’s trade deadline has ended.

NCAA 2011 March Madness Bracket

The HIMYM gang even picked Duke to reach the National Championship Game. Click the image to see clearly. | Credit: How I Met Your Mother

Here is a short blog entry about my March Madness picks this year. Last year, I was successful in predicting who will win the NCAA tournament (thus beating Bill Simmons and President Obama’s brackets in the process). It was a lucky pick (based from my gut). This year, I will attempt to beat their brackets again. I have not seen Obama’s bracket though. It also took me little time to make my picks for the NCAA tourney outcome this year but I have to say that I am more informed on the stories behind the teams… ahem! Jimmer’s 52 points. Ahem! I think I can explain some of my picks as well. Without much further ado, shown below is my March Madness Bracket for 2011:

March Madness: Of Brackets, American Idol and TV Series

Credit: Sports Illustrated

It is March Madness time again! Actually, it has not started yet but I am very excited to make my NCAA picks (although I doubt that I can predict the champion again). The best thing about March Madness is the bracket. If you love team sports, you know that brackets are the best way to decide the champion. You get to pit the best of the best with one another and who wins, advances to the next round. However, the ultimate team sport for brackets (I don’t consider doubles in tennis as team sport) is March Madness. Currently, 64 American colleges battle it out to gain basketball supremacy. The big number of teams involved just suggests how extensive the scope of the competition is. Predicting who which teams will advance in each round and who wins the crown is a very improbable task to perfect. Good teams fall unexpectedly because there is just one game per round.

Predicting makes March Madness fun. Anything can happen. You can make your most in-depth analysis and you can still fail in predicting the winner. Or if you were a lucky fantard like me, you may end up predicting (at least) the big winner.

8 Random Thoughts: The Jerry Sloan Write-Up

Credit: Sports Illustrated

It has been quite some time since my favorite coach has retired from Utah but it will never be too late to write about him. I have spent almost two decades rooting for Jerry Sloan’s team so this write-up is necessary. I am doing 8 Random Thoughts to have a wider breadth (and I have a shortage of creative juice).

Wearing the D-Will jersey. Yup, I look stupid now.

Coach Jerry Sloan has always been known as great leader. He runs a structured offense that requires hard work, discipline and selflessness. He would not be able to coach this long without being stern and consistent. But before we get to that, let us talk about other interesting current events.

Random Thought #1: How important is it to have swagger in sports?

Very important. If there is one competitive activity where swagger gives a significant advantage that would be sports. Heck, it is even strongly recommended. Being nice and congenial will not bring you success in sports. At a tender age, I already knew this when I was watching those “Rookie of the Year” and “Mighty Ducks” movies. This was largely apparent even in NBA’s golden age as the best trashtalkers like Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Reggie Miller and Dikembe Mutombo (Dikembe was more of a swagger guy with his finger wagging after a successful block attempt) shone the brightest by putting their opponents out of the game.