Regis the Genius

Many argue that Regis Philbin is one of the most talented television show hosts that has stepped in front of a camera, and not many of us will contest I certainly won't. He began, not unlike many young broadcasters, taking all the jobs he could get. He started out as he has ended up, as a morning talk show host in Los Angeles, California. However, many of my generation remember Regis vividly as host of (along with Live With Regis and Kelly) Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

This show was a hit when it first hit the air. The prospect of a John Doe winning a million dollars was entertaining for all the regular John Doe's out there in TV-land watching and aspiring to be the next millionaire. The show - which aired weekly in prime time - selected participants through a grueling screening process because it only want the best of the best. The question on the show began with easy, warm-up type questions and were followed by extremely difficult question which made the participant earn his million dollars. When a participant was eliminated (or in the rare cases, won) the next participant (out of those invited after being screened) was selected by answer the skill testing question live in the shortest amount of time. The process to become a participant did in fact seem grueling, that's more that I can say for the new Regis-less Who Wants to be a Millionaire that airs daily on day-time television, which I saw today.

Now hosted by Emmy-award winning television personality and journalist, Meridith Vierra, the show - in my opinion - definitely depicts through its contestant selection and contestants that it really does not compare at all to what it used to be. The quality of the contests has severely diminished, there are no longer several contestants around the "hot seat" waiting to answer the skill-testing question the fastest to get in the hot seat. This is probably because since Regis left and the show was no longer watched, the 'best' contestants stopped applying. I think that they probably don't get enough 'smart' contestants who apply to the show, so they take who they can get. In the new show once one contestant leaves, the other just walks on to the show after being pre-selected before the show.

Fine, I may be jumping to conclusion when I say that the quality of contests may be lower and that the number of applicants has also diminished, just because the format has changed. But what else could explain the following? While I was watching the show today, a contestant was posed the following question: What is the total number of wheels/tires in the following group of vehicles: 3 unicycles, 2 bicycles, 3 tricycles?

The contestant was baffled. She had no idea what the answer could be, so she asked the audience. 99% of the audience answered C: 16 wheels.

Are you kidding me? That is ridiculous. Who doesn't know how many wheels a unicycle has? Or a bicycle? Or a tricycle? Besides it being common sense, it is also stated blatantly in the names of the vehicles! I don't think anyone should sit there and tell me that the contestants are as bright as they used to be, because obviously they aren't. Credit to this lady, she won $1000. It's just sad to see a show that used to be so good, now be so bad.

I guess all you who contest that Regis Philbin is one of the most skilled at what he does can be proud, because without Regis Who Wants to be a Millionaire - in less than millionaire language - sucks.

New CBA, New Rules

A new article by me for Chewing the Canada Bacon is now up that the CTCB website. Here is a link: http://www.chewingthebacon.ca/chewin/chewinarticle/chewingarticle.php?id=28

Enjoy.

I Had A Dream

It was a good dream, albeit a bit personal, so I can't share. Well I could, but I don't want to. But rest assured, it was a good dream (and no, not in that way - sicko).

Revived

I just thought I'd drop a line and say that I'm back baby! From where you ask? The bowels of my house. I was hiding all winter break - some may call it hibernating.

Rollin' Around

I have just about had it with all the whining and acting from Dwayne Roloson. I saw a lot of it when he was with Minnesota, I saw more of it last year with Edmonton, and I saw more of it tonight when he was diving around and complaining all over the place.

Now I understand that players do this on the ice to get the calls, and hey, I have done it a few times in my day. I am also not ignoring the fact that the Canucks have players like Burrows who do pretty much the same thing. But tonight, when the first Canucks goal was disallowed, Roloson was clearly outside of the crease and he clearly embelished like no other. After the game when he was asked about what he was thinking when the first goal got disallowed and he said "I am was just trying to not get injured".

His acting has officially spilled over into his post-game comments and I officially cannot take it. He said that the Canucks were running the net and it was dangerous for him. That's a load of crap, he dove on that play when he was knicked while he was OUTSIDE of the crease. I'm sick of him.

You know what is dangerous? When he is taking his helmet off in the middle of the play and trying to make a save helmet-less, under his own steam. Does he actually think anyone believes that he cares about injury when Herik Sedin of all people, gives him a little nudge while he is, and I say it again, OUTSIDE the crease.

I mean, give me a break.

And this does not stem from the Canucks being shutout by Roloson. I know the Canucks can't score, and I accept that. I just can't accept the fact that people think that Roloson is a marquee goaltender, because he is a joke.

I may be a little frustrated be4cause of the Canucks loss, but I can guarantee I will think the same of Roloson tomorrow, when I am cooled off.

The Rory Revolution

For me, the true meaning of productivity is not studying for the four exams I have in the next four days, but it is voting for Rory. For the past half an hour, I have been taking advantage of the NHL's new all-star game voting system. This year, instead of allowing only one vote per IP address at their online voting website, the NHL is allowing unlimited online voting to vote players into the 2006 NHL All-Star Game (to be played in Dallas, TX on the 24th of January).

After hearing about this new voting system, some hockey fans thought that it was not accurately representing the players that are voted into the game. Voters are allowed to vote more than once for specific players, therefore inflating the votes for the more popular players and decreasing the chances for those who may be having spectacular seasons but based on lower standards. This doesn't seem to be too much of a problem right? I mean, the most votes will represent the most wanted players. Wrong, says one hockey fan. The creator of VoteForRory.com thinks that the NHL voting system is not fair because it does not allow for other players, besides the already established superstars to be voted into the game. He started the website in an effort to rebel against the NHL and try and reward a player that would otherwise have no chance of getting voted into the NHL All-Star Game. Rory Fitzpatrick, defenseman of the Vancouver Canucks and formerly of the Buffalo Sabres, is this player. Fitzpatrick is a hardworking player who gives his all every game and does not get rewarded with the fame and glamour. VoteForRory.com is trying to change that.

Last week, the NHL released preliminary all-star voting results and Fitzpatrick miraculously was 11th in votes, only 200,000 votes behind the leader (former Norris trophy winners Scott Niedermayer and Niklas Lidstrom). And this was before the Rory Revolution hit. Fans all over North America have been joining the Rory Revolution, some for fun, some to help further the point, and some who just have a dream - or who just get a kick out of it. No matter what the cause, Rory Fitzpatrick is getting more votes as each day passes and the joke which once was nothing more, is becoming a real possibility.

So if you find yourself sitting around being unproductive at anytime during the next week or two, snap out of it and visit www.nhl.com/allstarballot/ and vote for Rory as much as you can, because well, you can. Help the underdogs be represented for their hard work! The final results will be revealed in early January, so vote now and vote often!

Until next time, vote Rory and good day.

Chewing Some More

My second article at Chewing the Canadian Bacon, entitled "Put the Canadian Aside", is now up, check it out here.

More Snow

Well it was still snowing last night and its still snowing now. This is what it looks like outside of my house. I guess the forecast was right.