Ladies and Gentlemen...The 2006 JESSIE Awards

I was inspired by Ry to start back up with my blog again. What better way to do that then to present you, my loyal readers, with the 2nd annual Jessie Awards. You might notice that I've added some categories since last year. So read on and find out what's hot and what's not...

Best Sporting Event I Attended: The UM-MSU game. Sorry to say, Jen, that this isn’t totally because of the game itself. I mean, sure, it’s always fun to beat up on the Sparties as much as possible (John L, Miss you already, buddy!!), but the best part about this game was the Tigers play-off game that was happening at the same time over at Comerica Park. Getting periodic updates during the game (thanks to Diddy’s radio) created a huge party-like atmosphere in the stadium. The cheer when they announced the final score was audible on TV and was pretty darn awesome.

Worst Performance by a Coach: Urban Meyer, Florida. Now, I know what you’re thinking: but, Jess—shouldn’t this be “best” coach? After all Urban Whiner’s team will be playing in Glendale in January. Dude must have done something right, no? Yes, I will tip my hat to him, he did do a masterful PR job with a giant assist from Gary Danielson and the CBS/SEC crew, bellyaching until the voters had pretty much no choice but to put the Gators in the game. However, I guess it didn’t matter to anyone that the BCS should be about the 2 best teams, not the 2 teams whose coaches complain the most.

Honorable Mention: Jess, Check it to Pancakes. Yep, I win again for the second consecutive year. I did what I could with the team, but ended up missing the Playoffs (PLAYOFFS!) for the second straight year. Too bad the Greedy Snoody draft rules will still give me like the 20^th pick next year or something.

Best New Show: (tie) Heroes (NBC). This show features a cool premise and interesting storylines. There are lots of characters, so sometimes it can be hard to keep up with everyone. Luckily, I know a lot of the actors from other shows, so I can just refer to them as “Jess-from-Gilmore-Girls” or “Agent Weiss”. My only complaint is the monotonous Mohinder voice-overs. Yes, yes, we understand- life is mysterious; people have special powers, zzzzzzz. What. Ever. And Friday Night Lights (NBC). I was anxiously awaiting the premiere of this show, having loved the book and movie and of course, football itself. First of all, it’s a visually interesting show with creative camera angles and shots. The plots are somewhat recycled, but the writing and (most of) the acting is superb. Seriously, I know it’s a show with HS kids on it, but many of the actors (especially the kid who plays Matt Saracen) are great. My only complaint is the goody-two-shoes baby-voiced cheerleader girl. I think she’s my arch enemy. Otherwise, I’m sold. It’s definitely worth watching, check it out online if you haven’t seen it yet.
Honorable Mention: (tie) Ugly Betty (ABC). Big props to the folks at ABC.com for putting new episodes up online, giving me something to do every Friday morning at work. This show has fun characters and cute storylines. How much do I love/hate Marc and Amanda? The only negative—Betty’s stick-in-the-mud loser boyfriend. And My Boys (TBS) is a recent newcomer, but has quickly become must-see in our house. The premise: a girl loves sports and hangs out with a group of guys. Her only problem…finding a date. That one hit a little close to home with us SportsGirls.

Worst New Show: The Nine (ABC). “There were nine of us…we were all in the bank…” The annoying voice-over should have said “There were nine of us…we watched this show until we just couldn’t take it anymore and then we turned the channel.” Seriously, you can’t have a show with the premise of being a giant flashback/forward to a bank heist and the hostages without actually giving us ANY info about what happened. No joke, in the 6 episodes I watched, they showed MAYBE 2 minutes of footage in the flashback to the hostage situation. If that’s the most interesting thing you’ve got in your show, maybe you actually tell us what the crap happened in the bank.
Honorable Mention: Six Degrees (ABC) Oh J.J…working with Tom Cruise must have fried some brain cells. What a snoozefest.

Best Returning Show: How I Met Your Mother (CBS) gets better and better every week. The characters are funny and I laugh out loud every week. The “Robin Sparkles” episode speaks for itself. Do yourself a favor and watch this show.
Honorable Mention: The O.C. (Fox) Taylor Townsend instead of Marissa—upgrade.

Most Disappointing Returning Show: Lost (ABC). So let me get this straight, ABC. You show me 8 episodes where practically nothing happens and then go hiatus for 2.5 months and you have the balls to expect me to tune back in in February? I mean, yes, it was all very suspenseful with Jack & Henry’s surgery, but overall, this mini-season was a total disappointment. And way to introduce some terrible pointless new characters. I barely hear about the people I already know and like, but you want me to care about blond girl and dude from “Love Actually”? Sorry, no can do.
Honorable Mention: Gilmore Girls (The CW). They’ve started to win me back by breaking up Lorelai and Luke, but I still can’t totally get on board the Lor-Chris train. I mean, he’s cute and everything, but it all feels so forced.

Best New Technology: The new HDTV. Yes, I am the girl who didn't notice the difference between HD and regular at first glance. However, I've been shown the error of my ways and now I love the new TV.
Honorable Mention: Digital Cable. It's true that I still don't see eye-to-eye with that annoying remote, but I do like On Demand.

That's it from the Jessies! See ya next year!!