Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
January 2001
Thursday
January 25, 2001
9:55 AM EDT
I send my prayers and wishes out to Michael Pickney, a relative of mine who was involved in a
plane crash in Nashville yesterday. The three other passengers on the plane died; Michael is in
critical condition after suffering third-degree burns over 80% of his body. He is my dad's
first cousin, and so I'm not sure what that makes him in relation to me precisely... but he's
family, I know that, and I'm pulling for him. It won't be easy... for him or his wife or
his five kids.
My car is back in working order (including now having two working windshield wipers) after a
visit to Jiffy Lube. I think they figured out whatever it was that was causing my car to
leak (they said it was the radiator cap).
My old friend Otter sent me a note in the mail (not e-mail, but the real U.S. postal service)
talking about his wedding, which is coming up in April. Regardless of if I'm here or
elsewhere by the time April rolls around, I'll be there for it.
I also hope to get up to Oxford to visit Josh sometime soon (it's about a 3 hour drive
from Huntington). I've done my fair share of travelling lately, though; Nashville and Colorado
over Christmas and New Year's, and then New York City the weekend before last (followed by a
quick trip to Tampa, though that was for business and not amusement). But when you have
friends scattered all over the country like I do, sometimes that's the way it goes...
Wednesday
January 24, 2001
10:01 PM EDT
Perhaps I spoke too soon. Wouldn't you know it, the WVU/Rutgers game went long and cut off
the first ten minutes of Temptation Island... But hey, whatcha gonna do? This week's
episode (at least the non pre-empted final 50 minutes) proved to be rather compelling.
Granted, the element ripoffs from Survivor are pretty blatant (same story with The Mole on
ABC as well though), but nonetheless the show is worth watching, I think (though some
disagree, such as Steve Beverly of the excellent
TVgameshows.net website).
Wednesday
January 24, 2001
7:26 PM EDT
Survivor II makes its season debut this Sunday (after the Super Bowl, as if it needed a boost
for its audience). The move to go head-to-head with Friends is rather ballsy, but I think it
will prove to be quite effective for CBS. The first Survivor was one of the most compelling
and well-produced television shows of the past 10 years, in my opinion.
Speaking of Survivor, my friend Brook Gardiner told me the weekend before last that he thought
I should go on the next
Survivor. It would be interesting, I'm sure, though I've never classified myself as anything
of an outdoorsman. From a logic and a strategy standpoint, I think I could have
more than held my own against the original Survivor crew (though I tend to believe that the
second Survivor crew will be much more cunning and ruthless in their planning than the band
of idiots in the first who refused to team up and were picked off one-by-one).
The Super Bowl is on Sunday, and it will be an interesting matchup. Baltimore is a three
point favorite, and I pick the Ravens to win due to their incredibly stifling defense. The
New York Giants looked more like the St. Louis Rams airing it out against the Vikings in the
NFC Championship, but it will be much more difficult for them to do that against the very
stingy Ravens defense. Prediction: Baltimore 17, NY Giants 3. MVP Prediction: Jamal Lewis
with two rushing TD's. Will it happen? We shall see...
I had been afraid that the local Fox affiliate here would pre-empt Temptation Island tonight (due to the West Virginia University basketball game), but luckily the game should be wrapped up before 9, when Temptation Island comes on. ABC's The Mole appeals more to the strategist side of things, while Temptation Island... well it makes no mistake about its appeal factor.
I personally think the show is great, and after missing last week's episode (due to that pesky thing called sleep), I look forward to tonight's show...
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