Free Form Friday is a smooth blend of college sports and pop culture, fair trade sourced from around the world and delivered to you hot and fresh every Friday afternoon. Its distinctive aroma and robust character make it the choice for discerning Bulldog fans just looking to kill time while waiting for the start of the weekend. Free Form Friday is pro-sundress, anti-climactic, and carbon neutral. If Howard Schultz were a college football fan, this is the open comment thread he would be charging you $4.50 a cup for. So enjoy . . .
Maestro, the music:
Let me begin by saying that there are a lot of good blogs across the far flung SB Nation universe. But one of my favorites is Rocky Top Talk. The orange-clad stable of writers there are uniformly talented, and when judged on the sports blogger scale could be characterized as "unreasonably reasonable."
I think part of that is the humbling dumpster fire they've been roasting weenies in front of for the past few years. Everything is relative, and when you consider where the Tennessee football program was in 1998 and on into the early part of this millenium, you can understand why some in the Volunteer camp might be filling out name tags that say "Hi! My name is Job." However, I think it is safe to say that Tennessee has not in fact endured the most difficult four years in all of college football.
Don't get me wrong, it has not been all wine and roses for the Vols. But there are other fanbases who have endured just as bad. Miami Hurricane fans, of which I'm told there are some, and even some who actually went to college in Coral Gables, have a pretty good case for the worst four years around. Being a Syracuse or Duke fan has sucked at least as much in the past four years as it did before. And other than the hiring of Mike Leach, I am aware of nothing which should give a Washington State fan any joy whatsoever.
Perhaps my view on this issue is somewhat tempered by my lack of sympathy for Tennessee fans. Speaking of which, Tennessee fans, why don't you have a seat right over here? We need to talk. There was a period there in the late 90's when, and you're gonna hate hearing this, you were at least as annoying as Tebow-era Florida fans. Really, Peyton Manning was at least as whitebread fabulous as Timmy Ballgame. And as the internet became the preferred media for college football fans to interface about their passion, a few of you were as smugly convinced of your inate superiority as any Alabama fan currently trolling the interwebs.
On behalf of my mates in the graduating class of 2000, allow me to point out that your clinically obese football coach and army of talented Atlanta-area blue chippers ruined my collegiate football viewing on more than one occasion. Including the 1997 UGA/UT tilt, which I watched as a fraternity pledge with the one active brother in my fraternity who hailed from Manchester, Tennessee. I love them both and have forgiven them for it, but he and his friend George Dickel made my day Hell, and Jamal Lewis helped. Him I'll never forgive.
But enough schadenfreude. You may recall last summer that we took a look at a few good movies. This year, based upon a great idea from Dawg Sports resident golf scholar chuckdawg, we'll be taking a look at great movie scenes. More than likely some of my fellow authors will chip in their picks along the way, and you should feel free to do the same.
To keep things on the rails, we're going to go by category. First up: best scenes from a buddy comedy. Hollywood has a long history of "Buddy Films", so much so that there's even a wikipedia page about them. In this day and time that's how you know a thing has become, you know, "a thing." So I'll start us off with a couple of suggestions. I'm not saying these are the best buddy comedy scenes of all time, but I think they should be in the discussion.
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Waking up in Vegas-The Hangover. A scene that is equal parts surreal and juvenile, which turns out to be a fine combination. Stu (played by Atlanta native Ed Helms) is the first to come to after a night gone awry in Vegas. Sure it's not the first movie to explore this particular theme, but the combination of The Cramps' dull headache-tinged version of "Fever" and the woozy steady cam shots of Helms surveying a hotel suite that's been trashed in an inexplicable manner and to an unbelievable degree may be even better after seeing the entire movie and understanding how it all transpired. Money quote: "Hey Bro, you mind putting on some pants? I find it a little weird I have to ask twice." Phil Wenneck to Alan Garner (or things overheard at a Dawg Sports staff meeting, whichever). Warning, this clip is decidedly R rated. You've been advised:
The Jumper-Lethal Weapon. Hey, remember when we thought Mel Gibson was acting like he was crazy? Turns out he was acting in the same way that Charlie Sheen was acting like a wealthy degenerate on Two And A Half Men. Art imitates life quite frequently, but the results are mixed. This one was a clear success. Money quote: Riggs: How Ya Doin'?" Jumper: "None of your [Gosh Darn] business!" Riggs: "Fair enough." Again, like most good art, it's PG-13 or above, but like Gibson's Richard Marx hairstyle, tastefully so:
That should get you all started. Let me know your nominations, and next week we'll poll the commentariat and determine the best ever scene from a buddy comedy. Like Mel Gibson in a manic moment, I may not sleep until then. Have a great weekend, and . . .
Go 'Dawgs!!!