a few random thoughts ...

while prepping for the Idol Live Blog in an hour.

* Lost effing rocks. Every week I dig this show more. I am still in denial that only 25 episodes remain. I loved this week's episode. I love the travel back in time aspect, the Island now locked into 1977.

And I love how every question that is answered, leads to even more questions. Like, for example, we finally saw some of the four toed statue this week ... but what's its implication? We know Jack, Kate and Hurley reuinte with Sawyer and Jin (and presumably, eventually, Juliet, Miles and Faraday) in the past ... but is Locke in the past, the present, or the future? And did Sayid, Sun, and Lapidus survive the landing?

And what of Ben? We haven't seen or heard from him since the plane went def con 4 and the trippy flashback landed Jack back in the jungle, 31 years in the past.

And if everyone who left had to come back, what of Aaron?

And who the hell did Amy just give birth to?

Sadly, we have to wait two weeks for more answers.

* Rough week for the BuKCs. The margin for error is all but gone. The Bulls are tied with us for the 8th slot, the Nets are a 1/2 game back, and the Knicks are closing fast. Which means that Friday night's game at Chicago is freaking huge.

But the next two weeks, this is it. 6 straight at home, all against powerhouse teams or playoff contenders. Somehow, this injury riddled, playing on guts alone squad has to take 4 of 6. I'll be rooting for them every step of the way.

* Congratulations to Mike Anderson. What a performance last night. What an amazing, gutty, grapefruits! victory over OU last night. Like I told Dusty today, every MU team since Norm was kicked to the curb, loses that game in a blowout last night. Coming off the worst defeat in a decade to your hated rival, blowing your shot (possibly) at a 2 seed, Big XII championship and opening at the Sprint Centre. Quin's teams would have grabbed the ankles. Anderson had 72 hours to right the ship. And boy did he.

I know I should hate MU, and I do ... but there's something to be said for beating your rival when they're on top. Its why KU / MU in football has rocked the last few years. Both teams are now legitimate top 25, New Year's Day bowl contenders that can make the BCS if they spring an upset along the way. KU hoops has always been good, but MU hasn't been this solid since I was in high school, that 94 team that swept the Big 8, got a 1 seed, and reached the Elite 8. That was the last time MU hoops was truly revelant like this. (Spare me the Elite 8 run in 2002. You did it as a 12 seed. That's not relevancy, that's last team in that catches a fart in the wind).

Anyways, its great to see. I'm rooting for a classic Saturday night showdown in OKC next week. KU vs MU for the Big XII and the opening rounds in KC.

* And I love how the Big XII moved their final to Saturday. What a night of hoops awaits us next Saturday, the Big XII Title, then the Big East finale ... and you get a probable Duke / UNC grudge match less than 12 hours later. God, I love basketball.

* If this makes sense ... I think last night's loss was good for KU. They've had two games in the last couple weeks (at KSU, at OU) where they got down huge early ... and somehow gutted out a win. Last night they got down huge ... and could never mount a comeback. I kept thinking of the Oklahoma State game last year, when KU whizzed all over itself in an embarrassing loss in Stillwater. KU never lost again after that defeat. Perhaps history is about to repeat itself.

* this week's top 10 songs played on the iPod:

1. "Bent" by Matt Nathanson. I love this song more every time I listen to it. Its definitely in my top four by him, along with "Answering Machine", "Come on Get Higher", and "I Saw".

2. "Shimmer and Shine" by Ben Harper. I can't wait to see what the new cd has. This single is awesome. He'll be hard pressed to ever top "Both Sides of the Gun" but based on this single, he's got a chance.

3. "This Town" by OAR. Don't know why I didn't get into this last summer, considering it was the theme song for ESPN's coverage of my favorite summer event (the College World Series). But its a great song. Anytime you have the lyrics "come on y'all, let's take this town ...", you've got a winner.

4. "Innocent" by Our Lady Peace. Its my favorite song of all time. It will almost always land in the top 10.

5. "Mad" by Ne-Yo. Awesome, awesome song. Hopefully I find someone that the lyrics fit in the near future. (Or even more hopefully, I already have ...)

6. "The Remedy" by Jason Mraz. I've been on cloud nine lately. The song really fits my mood at the moment.

7. "I Don't Care" by Fall Out Boy. "I don't care what you think, as long as its about me! The best of us can find happiness in misery ..." Pretty much sums up the job at this point.

8. "Take Your Mama Out" by Scissor Sisters. Great, great song. Can't get enough of it.

9. "Why Don't You and I" by Santana and Alex Band. Another great song that you never hear much on the radio anymore.

10. "The Gregarious Raconteur", by Theocracy. The official "theme song" of JackO's appearances on The BS Report. Anytime a song works in a "pepper his sauce" reference, you've got a winner on your hands.

* Finally, Idol Wild Card live blog in 30 some odd minutes ... (go Anoop!) ...