Ferentz entrenched, The Manzier, and why Slumdog is worth a million.

• Kirk Ferentz isn't going anywhere. Hard to believe it was less than three months ago when many Hawkeye fans wanted Kirk gone. It's helped that Iowa football players have stayed out of trouble, but who are we kidding, it's all about winning. Team wins, fans love the coach. Hard to imagine Iowa could find a better fit than Ferentz. Ten years at one school is going the way of the affordable season ticket.
• Passionate Big Ten fans, like my friend Hunkahawk, can try all they want to spin this bowl season, but the scoreboard doesn't lie: 1 win, 6 losses. The conference should send a thank you note to Iowa's football team (and one to South Carolina's). I think the Big 12 is a tad overrated too. Plenty of O, not much D.
• I watched the Outback Bowl again. Iowa would have beaten a lot of good teams on New Year's day, but the Hawks didn't have to. On second viewing, South Carolina is worse than I realized. Steve Spurrier looks completely frustrated by losing, and his players look like they don't want to play for him---or themselves. That team was a dysfunctional mess. I worked in Gainesville when Spurrier arrived to coach Florida. My guess is he doesn't want to work as hard as he needs to. The man lives on the golf course. SC doesn't pull the recruits Florida does. I don't see it getting much better in Columbia.
• I applaud Boston College Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo for taking a hard line stance against the wandering eye of head football coach Jeff Jagodzinski. DeFilippo hired Jagodzinski with the understanding he'd be there for the long haul (sound familiar?). When DeFilippo learned Jagodzinski wanted to interview for the Jets job, just two years into his five year deal, and without asking permission first, DeFilippo hold him, "Do it, and you're fired." Jagodzinski called his bluff (what he thought was his bluff), and DeFilippo fired him. Good. I'm sick of these coaches signing long term deals and then leaving whenever they feel like it---without penalty. The student-athletes can't do that, even if the coach leaves a trail of broken promises in his wake. However, if the school fires a coach, they still owe him millions. It's been a one way street for too long. Time to bring it back to some common sense. As soon as I heard Gene Chizik interviewed at Auburn, I said, and believed, Jamie Pollard should tell Chizik, "Hope for your sake Auburn hires you because you have no job to come back to here." It's ridiculous. Bravo Mr. DeFilippo.
• Paul Rhoads is an unproven head coach, which makes him a somewhat risky hire. Rhoads is also a defensive coordinator by trade, so hiring an offensive coordinator was his first big test. He aced it. Tom Herman wore out the scoreboard at Rice, and proved he could do more with less---absolutely essential for success in Ames. Rhoads is quietly putting together an impressive staff.
• Jon Miller knows his stuff. I kept track this season. When it comes to the Hawks, the guy knows what's going to happen 90% of the time.
• Not sure which moment from SoundOff is more burned in my brain: Cy handing his cell phone to Andy and asking him to take a picture of Cy and Jon Miller, or the guy from the RV walking into the studio wearing that Manzier... Who am I kidding---it's Manzier.
• Utah just blew up the fraud of a national championship known as the BCS title game. The Utes are 13-0 and beat six bowl teams including Alabama (easily). How is Utah not the champ?
• Most exciting basketball game this week was UNI winning at Creighton. Didn't see that coming. Panthers looked great. Dana Altman looked as uncomfortable as he did doing that Arkansas Pig Soooieee chant.
• Cowboys cut Pacman Jones. See the Scorpion and the Frog.
• Jenny and I were planning to see "Marley and Me" Saturday night. Erin and Mike Kiernan invited us to "Slumdog Millionaire". Score one for Team Kiernan. Slumdog Millionaire is the best movie I saw this year. I had to drag Jenny---she didn't think it sounded like anything she'd like---and she loved it. It's stunningly original and will make you feel all the emotions. It's an A . Go see it. You'll be glad you did. And let me know what you think (like I have to add that).
• Gran Torino's next on my must see list. "GET OFF MY LAWN."

Time to clean out my cluttered 2008 closet of entertainment highs and lows. Off the top of my head:

• My favorite movies this year: Slumdog Millionaire, Role Models, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Iron Man, Dark Knight, Quantum of Solace, and Step Brothers.
• Great movies I wouldn't watch again anytime soon (too depressing): Changeling, In the Valley of Elah.
• Movies I found disappointing: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (title should have been a hint), Cloverfield (nearly puked, and it sucked), Speed Racer, Walk Hard, and Hancock (second half).
• Best acting I saw all year: Heath Ledger/Batman, Cate Blanchett/Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Gene Chizik/Firmly Entrenched in Ames.
• Three songs I couldn't get out of my head, even though I wanted to: I Kissed a Girl, Womanizer, and 5 Dollar Footlong.
• Favorite TV shows: The Mentalist, Life, Entourage, 30 Rock, Saturday Night Live (thank you Tina), House, The Office, Real Sports, Costas Now, Colbert Report, Daily Show, American Idol (sue me. At least I'm honest :-), and reruns of M*A*S*H and Seinfeld.
• Shows I wanted to love, but couldn't: Lost, Heroes, Mad Men (maybe I needed more than one episode).
• Show that went off the crazy cliff: Grey's Anatomy.
• Show that almost made me get DirecTV, but I'm glad I waited for NBC return: Friday Night Lights.
• TV show I haven't seen that 10 people have told me I must see: The Wire
• Best mini-series I saw this year: John Adams (if you don't count my fourth viewing of Band of Brothers).
• My favorite TV moment of the year: Andy Fales' return on SoundOff.
• Most heartbreaking TV moment: Lolo Jones kneeling on the Beijing track in disbelief, tears in her eyes. (Western Kentucky's lucky 3 finishes second.)
• Inappropriate song my kids love that sounds like songs I loved when I was a kid: All Summer Long by Kid Rock.
• Most confusing song to my 4 year old, Colin: I Kissed a Girl (sung by a girl!)
• Favorite three albums of the year: Viva La Vida by Coldplay, Accelerate by REM, Magic by Bruce Springsteen.
• Favorite book of 2008: Why We Suck by Denis Leary.
• Favorite year of all time: 2008. Go figure.

All the best in 2009,

Keith