Matt's Brain Stowell'n Questions

Lots of lists to be formed in this weeks Q&A...

Well Mark another great week of college football coming up tomorrow, cats vs. dogs up in Washington, I expect a big win from the cougs. But my questions aren’t going to be focused on the cougs this week. This weeks questions will be more focused on classics. So for my first question.

1. Last week when I woke up and heard the opening theme song for college football chills ran up down my neck as a tear rolled down my cheek, and then earlier this week I was watching some classic Jazz games and heard the intro for the NBA on NBC’s theme song and thought man this brings back some good memories. There’s just something about these songs that just get ya going. So what are your top 5 theme songs for intros to shows? Here are some to chose from: NBA on NBC, NFL on FOX, Sunday Night Football on NBC, Monday Night Football, Election 08 MSNBC, NFL on CBS(Matt’s favorite), NBA on FSN, NBA on TNT, NBA on ESPN, ESPN College Football, SportsCenter old school, SportsCenter new theme, College Football on ABC, MLB on FOX, NHL on NBC, Olympics on NBC, NBC Nightly News, NHL on ESPN, and CBS College Basketball.

The five best themes that I enjoy from your list, in no particular order, would have to be:
Monday Night Football

Sunday Night Football on NBC

NBA on NBC

NBC Nightly News

ESPN SportsCenter old school


Other that aren't from the list that I enjoy, and are worth looking into include:
ESPN Baseball Tonight
ABC Wide World of Sports (classic edition)
The Colbert Report
Meet the Press
ABC Nightly News (because if this music interrupted your regularly scheduled programming you know it is a big deal)


2. What are your top 5 all time favorite sports video games?

I have actually written about this question before about the greatest sports video games. Here is a link to that story http://thebigpodcast.blogspot.com/2007/11/marks-thoughts-10-best-sports-video.html . Yet, I would like to modify the top five on that old list. Here is the new top five rankings:

5) RBI Baseball (NES) - RBI is still the best baseball game that was ever made. It kept the game simple; however, the pitching had enough variety to make the game interesting. Each player was unique, and the management of the roster was key to winning the game. RBI is just as enjoyable now as it was when it originally came out.

4) Mike Tyson's Punch Out (NES) - Another example of the advantages of keeping the controls of a game simple. Anyone can play this game and enjoy it, but the AI on the game made it extremely difficult to beat. The game also max out the sound track ability of the original NES system. Plus, being able to say that you beat Mike Tyson was a real badge of honor among closet nerds.

3) Wii Sports (Wii) - I tried to find a reason to leave this game off the list, and I just couldn't find a single reason. How many times before the Nintendo Wii did you hear of grandparents wanting to play video games? Now Wii bowling tournaments are common place in retirement communities.

2) Madden/NCAA Football (Every system) - I was going to keep these two franchises separate; however, the game play is so similar that there really is no reason. It is more of a matter of preference of whether a person enjoys college or pro. Either way these games are a must have on any system. Plus, the online play eliminates the displeasure of endlessly destroying the AI 100-0. Now you can have a challenging game anytime that you turn it on. This franchise will one day have the top spot on the list.

1)Tecmo Super Bowl (NES) - The best sports game ever made. The development of a play book, the ability to throw to more then one receiver, diving on defense, and the start of the kicking game in video games. This was the forerunner of football video games. Yet, you could still play this game now and it is just as enjoyable as when it first came out.

3. Top 5 memorial Jazz moments of all time? My favorite...



My five most memorial Jazz moments would have to be, again in no particular order:

-Frank Layden giving the halftime report about the Houston Rockets during the 1996-97 Western Conference Finals. The Jazz/Rockets rivalry had reach its high point of the 90's and it was absolute war on the court. There was nothing but pure hatred between the two teams, and Frank was showing every ounce of his Jazz pride during halftime. He went into the commentary about finding the weakness of the other team and exploiting it. The Rockets had a point guard that wore a rather large knee brace during the series, and Frank wasn't going to let that slip by. "What do we know about this guy? He's got a bum knee (as he circled the Rockets PG's brace multiple times, John Madden style on the telestrator) and we should be running him into the ground..." The best part of this commentary was that all Jazz fans felt this pure hatred for the Rockets and really wanted to beat this poor guys knee to a pulp. Classic Layden.

-I was at Jazz game with my buddy Jake (Matt's brother) the year after Stockton retired. The Jazz had surprised the entire league and was in the playoff race. The game was coming down to the wire, and the Jazz needed a bucket. All night Ostertag had played awful, and I was making my feelings known about the disgust I was feeling towards his play. With the game on the line the Jazz ran an isolation play for Tag about ten feet away from the basket. As soon as he touch the ball I lost it. I just started going off about what a terrible decision it was to run that play, and how the game was over. There was no hope of Tag doing anything with the ball ten feet away from the basket. To my surprise Tag turned and fired in a line drive sky hook at the top of the key that banked in, and he was fouled on the play setting up a three point opportunity. Everybody in my section went nuts cheering, and then turned and verbally assaulted me for losing faith in Ostertag. As if Tag was an offensive machine that never missed. I think Jake laughed for about twenty minutes over how bad I was attacked by angry Ostertag supporters.

-Hearing the "He's the enemy now speech..." from Karl Malone live on the radio. That speech from Karl was a classic.

-Being in the arena when Karl Malone reach the number two spot on the all time scoring list.

-The shot by Stockton. It still brings a grin to my face, and I think it always will.

For an added bonus the five memories I wish I could erase

-MJ's shot.
-MJ's steal on Karl before the shot.
-Finding out that Stockton retired when I was in Brasil.
-David Bennoit/B. Russ/Chris Morris/random white guy Jazz player trying to take over games by jacking up three pointers in the corner.
-Game 4 of the 2007 Western Conference Finals and the terrible officiating (Steve freakin Javie!!! I will curse that name until I reach the grave.)

4. With the Office returning here in a few weeks, what are the best Dwight moments?

I really like the Jim's Pranks on Dwight. Here is a best of video:


5. This new Forever Strong movie looks like it’s going to be pretty sweet. It’s the story of an LDS seminary teacher who became a championship Rugby coach for Utah's Highland Rugby team. He coached them to over 18 national Rugby championships. His story was published in the LDS Church News, and his extraordinary success caught the attention of a movie production company. It comes to theaters September 26th. http://www.foreverstrongmovie.com/. I like how they have Rudy in it. And speaking of Rudy what are some of your favorite classic sports movies?

After watching the preview the movie looks like it might be good; however, that sure didn't look like Highland High School in the preview, but I could be wrong. Here are some classic sports films I love:
-Rudy
-Field of Dreams
-The Natural
-Karate Kid
-Hoosiers
-The Legend of Bagger
-Rocky (Any movie in the series but V)

All classic movies.