What On Earth?-Column #20, January 2004

Well, here we are in 2004. 2003 was a lot better year than 2002, 2001, and 2000. And if you want to know why, you'll see why, when I start my "Year In Review." In addition, I'll talk about 2 birthdays, and a big anniversary, too.

As I stated in my January 2003 column, it's all about football to start the year, from the Fiesta Bowl (Tempe, Arizona) to the Cotton Bowl (Dallas, Texas), to the grand-daddy of all College Bowls, the Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California), and its Tournament of Roses Parade. The above 2 also have done parades, but none come close to being popular than the Rose Parade. Of course, you also have the Orange Bowl (Miami, Florida), and the Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, Louisiana). Others have closely followed, but the Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Rose Bowl are the top four games. On CBS, after the 2 1/2 hour Rose Parade coverage (NBC's lasts an hour and a half, ABC's lasts 2 hours), they head to CBS Daytime's "The Bold And The Beautiful," "As The World Turns," and "Guiding Light."

And of course, the Bowls continue with the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl. The Pro Bowl is just like the Super Bowl, but each team has had picked members from the individual teams in each league. The Super Bowl is the NFC Champs against the AFC Champs. So, get the dip, chips, chicken wings, all the other football food, water ,and soft drinks ready, because it's time to score big! The Pro Bowl is played a week after the Super Bowl, and both are on Sundays, with the latter being played the last Sunday in January. And remember, DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE! If you've had too much to drink, PASS THE KEYS!

This month marks the birthday of the KING, Elvis Presley, who would've turned 69. We still enjoy his music to this date, even if he's passed on. This is what makes rock n' roll music as popular as it is today.

In addition, we have Martin Luther King, Jr., the man who says "I Have A Dream...." That's the speech that made him famous, and led to the Civil Rights Movement. THAT led him to winning the Nobel Peace Prize just a few months before his death. We can thank him for that.

OK, now it's time for a "YEAR IN REVIEW" perspective, as we take a look back at the headlines and events that made 2003 the year to remember forever.

Let's start at the top with SPORTS. After going 5-11 for 3 consecutive seasons under Dave Campo, the Dallas Cowboys fired him at the end of 2002, and at the beginning of 2003, they hired legendary coach Bill Parcells. It was a good decision, because we just made it to the playoffs, after a 10-6 season under his reign. Of course, when someone comes in, another goes out. That was the case for running back Emmitt Smith, who was released at the end of February. He's now retaining that position and the good ol' number 22, but is now playing for the Arizona Cardinals. And we can head on to Ivan (Pudge) Rodriguez, who was released by the Texas Rangers earlier that year. He's now playing for the Florida Marlins, and they won their first World Series ever with him, by beating the New York Yankees on their own home turf of Yankee Stadium. Speaking of the World Series, the Chicago Cubs wanted to get to their first World Series in over 100 years, but was denied that when a loyal fan tried to catch a foul ball. That fan was deemed the most hated, just because of that! I probably would've done the same thing. I, like you, am the kind of guy, who, when going out to a baseball game, would like to catch a piece of history. Speaking of the Chicago Cubs, there was a big controversy surrounding Sammy Sosa and a corked bat he used. When they found out that that bat DID have cork, he was suspended, for a short time. He did manage to come back though. But did that have any effect on the Cubs losing out on a chance to go to the World Series? Nope, just that stupid fan. Did we have any deaths in the Sports world? You bet we did! From Bobby Bonds (Barry Bonds' Dad) to Althea Gibson (First woman to pioneer womens' sports), 2003 was a year when we lost a lot of people. But we had a lot of firsts, too. From LPGA legends like Annika Sorenstam playing against the guys of the PGA, to Lance Armstrong winning his 5th consecutive Tour De France, the sports world had plenty to be thankful for in 2003. Any milestones? You bet that, too! From Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight's 800 wins in MEN'S Basketball to the University of Texas head coach Jody Conradt's 800 wins in WOMEN'S Basketball, from 1st baseman Rafael Palmeiro's 500 homers with the Texas Rangers to pitcher Roger Clemens' 300 strike-outs and 4,000 wins with the New York Yankees, the milestones just keep on going! Of course, we saw the Dallas Mavericks make it to the NBA playoffs, but lost to the San Antonio Spurs, who would go on to beat the New Jersey Nets, and win the NBA Championship. In addition, the Dallas Stars went back to the NHL playoffs, but lost to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, who'd lose to the New Jersey Devils, the Stanley Cup champs. Speaking of the Dallas Stars, it was 10 years ago in 1993, that the Stars moved from Minnesota (formerly called the North Stars) to Dallas, and Mike Modano, the captain, has been with the team since its' inception. And it's also been 10 years when we saw Nolan Ryan play with the Rangers one final time at Arlington Stadium, in 1993. In 1994, he'd be there to help celebrate the opening of the Rangers' new stadium, dubbed "The Ballpark In Arlington." (The old one was demolished to make way for a new parking lot.) Ryan was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 1999. Recently, he's been the spokesperson for Olshan Foundation Repair, which celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2003 (It's been around since 1933.) And who could forget, 10 years ago, January 1994, the Cowboys won back to back Super Bowls, defeating the Buffalo Bills in both (Super Bowl XXVII in Pasadena, CA on 1-31-93; where they won, 52-17; and then again in Super Bowl XXVIII in Atlanta, GA on 1-30-94; where they won yet again, 30-13.). However, after that head coach Jimmy Johnson and owner Jerry Jones didn't get along after that, so after a 4-year relationship, Johnson was fired, and in came Barry Switzer, who like Johnson, coached at Oklahoma State U. Switzer actually resigned at the end of the 1997 season after a 3-year relationship with Jones, becoming the only Cowboys coach not to be fired (Tom Landry was, Jimmy Johnson was, Chan Gailey was shown the door after 2 playoff losses, and Dave Campo was given HIS walking papers after three straight 5-11 seasons.).

Now, let's move onto FINANCE. As you may be aware of, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finally closed above the 10,000 mark for the first time in a year and a half. That's the best thing that could ever happen to the stock market. There were no scandals this time around, and one could bet that the money they invested in stocks went to those that companies have succeeded in the last 365 days, and that, my friends, is a happy ending to what would've been another down year for stocks.

Now, we move onto POLITICS. California was really fed up with Democratic Governor Gray Davis, and they had enough votes to hold a recall election. And, as it turned out, to everyone's surprise, Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Hollywood name, and the Republican nominee won the spot. So, now that we've said "HASTA LA VISTA, DAVIS!" who's gonna be shown the door next? Hopefully, I say, the Republicans. Democrats like me are so fed up with the Redistricting plans that have been held by Texas, Colorado, New Jersey, North Carolina, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, just so that the GOP can help Bush be re-elected in 2004. Well, I'm hoping Bush DOESN'T get re-elected. He's not good enough. He's led us into a recession that has led to the millions of lost jobs, and an unnecessary war that has claimed the lives of millions of our troops over in Iraq. And he still holds his ground? And, usually, I'll say this at the end, but I'll use it here now: WHAT ON EARTH! Or in the words of you know who: GIVE ME A BREAK!

Now, another big headline that made 2003 a memorable year, the WEATHER! Believe it or not, 2003 started out as a very snowy, wintery year. Most of the nation had at least 2 inches of snow, and many states had sub-zero temperatures AND wind chills. Then, of course, you have the very big HEAT WAVE in the summer! Many deaths contributed to the heat waves across the world, including a big one in France that killed over 100 people.

And, of course, HEALTH news was another big serving. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS for short, made a big impact on the world, as did the flu and cold bugs. Even fatness increased among the country in 2003. So if you wanna stay fit AND healthy, eat in moderation, get a flu vaccine, and quarantine yourself if you're gonna travel to any country that's been hit with the SARS virus. You never know when ANY of these is gonna hit again!

As I mentioned earlier we had a lot of DEATHS this year. From our good neighbor Fred Rogers to the illustrious Rod Roddy, from Bob Hope to David Brinkley, from Katherine Hepburn to Gregory Peck, from June Carter Cash to her husband Johnny Cash, we saw a lot of celebrities taken from us. May God bless them all.

Now, I'd like to focus on some of the HEADLINES. The BIG headline, as you may have guessed, was the War In Iraq. A few days into the war, we saw the capture and rescue of US Army First Private Jessica Lynch. She lived to tell the story of her violent ordeal in a new book that was published before the end of the year. I'd like to meet her someday. Now, in April, we tore down a huge statue of Saddam Hussein, then the leader. This was to show the Iraqis that they no longer had to live in fear, because the US was here! In May, President Bush declared major combat operations over. Well, the WAR itself is far from over, and with a lot of people criticizing Bush for taking the US to a war that was TOTALLY UNNECESSARY (I'm included), it looks like Bush, like his father, will NOT be going to a 2nd term, and it also looks like the Democrats will take back the White House. That's what I'm looking forward, too! Now, back on topic. We took out Saddam's statue in April, but in December, we did something that took most of the world by surprise: WE CAPTURED SADDAM! It took about 9 months, but it was worth it.

And, unfortunately, we had tragedy in the space community as well. The Space Shuttle Columbia broke up over Texas, killing all 7 crew members on board. The space program is on hold for now, pending the investigation into what happened. But that didn't stop me from learning more about Space Shuttles, my favorite area of study in Space Sciences. Heck, I started learning about them in 1991, and by 1994, learned about the 1986 tragedy of the Space Shuttle Challenger. You'll learn more about the 2 space tragedies in my February column.

And, NY marked the 10th anniversary of the 1993 WTC Bombing, and I'll detail more about that event in my February column. And, if you haven't heard about it yet, now you will: There's a new memorial that will feature 2 reflecting pools that will reflect where the Twin Towers once stood. This is dedicated NOT ONLY to the 9-11 victims, but to make me happy, as well as many others, as well as their families, this memorial will also be dedicated to the 6 victims of the 1993 attack. Remember, over 1,000 were hurt, but only 6 died. That's about 1/500th of the number killed on 9-11.

And, it was the 10th anniversary of the Cult Davidian Compound raid and standoff in Waco. It all started on February 28, 1993, and lasted 51 days, and it cost many Cult Davidians their lives, including their leader David Koresh. Since then, many are asking the question: Was the tear gas the cause of the blaze at the compound, when FBI agents raided it? The only question EVERYONE is asking is: Why did they do that?

Remember Elizabeth Smart, the Utah teen girl who was kidnapped back in June 2002? Well, she's back home now, after her rescue in April 2003. It took a long time, but we got there. It took some patience, but again, we got there. And all I have to say is: REJOICE!

Now, we'd like to go onto the ENTERTAINMENT world. THIS was the area where we had the Scandals. From Kobe Bryant to Michael Jackson to Martha Stewart, the entertainment world is figuring out how to put these events behind them and move on. Well, it's not easy, I tell you. Names like these are in the news almost EVERYDAY, and it's hard for people like the above 3, to avoid the media.

There were a lot of Oscars given out as well, and a lot of great movies in addition. Halle Berry and Denzel Washington are back on the list, and a great batch of movies, including the "Charlie's Angels" sequel lit up the Big Screen in style. Hey, even "The Hulk" and "The Cat In The Hat" got their own movies, like "Spider-Man" did back in 2002.

Let's move on to Television. Remember "Star Search," that great talent show hosted by Ed McMahon? Well, it came back in 2003, but with Arsenio Hall hosting. And we all remember Kelly Clarkson from my home state of Texas becoming an "American Idol" back in 2002, with Justin Guarini being the runner-up. Well, in 2003, Ruben Studdard from Alabama got the top honor, with Clay Aiken being the runner-up. And, due to the success of "American Idol", Fox decided to do "American Juniors," a Kids' Edition. That didn't do too well, and it is most likely not to come back for another season. Now, speaking of "American Idol", the 3rd season starts this month! Hope you auditioned and made it! I want to see judges Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, and the "Man EVERYONE LOVES TO HATE," Simon Cowell smile, if you perform well enough!

We all know how popular Reality TV is shows like "Survivor", "Big Brother," and "The Amazing Race" are. But how about Reality TV shows that have to do with LOVE? We all remember how bad Darva Conger's marriage to Rick Rockwell was. Did we make a comeback after that? Well, we got many of those in 2003, with shows such as "Joe Millionaire," "Average Joe", and "For Love Or Money." And, of course, who could forget "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette"? Well, one of the cast members from each show tied the knot, and those two were Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter. Hopefully THAT marriage will last longer than that of Darva and Rick.

"Buffy, The Vampire Slayer," "Dawson's Creek," and "Touched By An Angel" all had their series finales. I particularly liked the TBAA finale, because, all in all, it shows how much we trust in them to lead us to good paths. Good path to us.

Also, CBS celebrated its 75th Anniversary, and one of its own shows, "THE PRICE IS RIGHT," helped host Bob Barker celebrate his 80th Birthday, with a Million Dollar Spectacular, with guests like Chuck Norris and Larry King out to help Bob blow out the candles on his birthday cake, even if the late Rod Roddy wasn't there to see it. Pretty neat, I should say. And one of CBS's alumni shows celebrates its 20th Anniversary in Press Your Luck, and Wheel Of Fortune, which did its daytime shows on CBS from 1989-1991 celebrates 20 years in syndication. By that, we're talking about the current incarnation with Pat Sajak and Vanna White, and not counting the early era of Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford.

More Game Show News: This year is when Jeopardy! celebrates ITS 20th Anniversary, with a new rule: You can remain champ as long as YOU keep winning! Pretty good, because we've had only one winner who had a 6-day cash winnings total of $123,797. Pretty neat, I should say! "Pyramid" with Donny Osmond and the Daytime version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" with Meredith Vieira both got second seasons, and now on "Pyramid," just like they decided to do to keep up with tradition, YOU can choose whether to give or receive in the Winner's Circle. Pretty nice, I should say. If you're a loyal "Hollywood Squares" fan, you may notice this MAY be the show's final season, as the format has been changed from the "Building Pots and awarding money for Leftover Squares" to a "Best 2-Out-of 3" match. In addition, there's only ONE prize each time the Secret Square game is played, but they don't accumulate. On "Family Feud," the dreaded "3 single rounds and the one-strike triple round" format is gone, and in its place is the ever familiar and ever so popular "300 points to win" rule. The daytime version of "Weakest Link" got the boot because so many cities played the show in the wee hours of the morning. Blecch. In addition, PAX has cancelled the 2002 version of "Beat The Clock," and "Supermarket Sweep"'s future is now limited to reruns. In BTC's place is a new version of "Shop 'Til You Drop." Replacing veteran host Pat Finn is JD Roberto, and instead of a mall, the set is now a megastore, but the goal is the same: Get the most points after 2 rounds of stunts and 1 round of questions, and you'll advance to the bonus round to "Shop 'Til You Drop," where 6 gifts adding up to $2500 or more will get you a nice trip. As usual, the front game still retains the "Shoppers' Special," and whether or not you get to $2500 in the bonus round, you get to keep all the prizes you got. Neat.

Also, if you followed the British version of the show, you know the story about a scandal that unfolded the day before the attacks of 9-11: British Major Charles Ingram wins 1 million pounds, by using some coughs to figure out the answers. When Celador (the company that produces the show) found out about this, they also found out that his wife Diana (who won 32,000 pounds on an earlier show) and Tecwen Whittock, a fellow contestant, had organized the scheme to use the coughing to get Major Ingram to say the correct answers, the 3 of them were arrested. On April 7, the 3 were convicted of "procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception" The Ingrams were sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined 15,000 pounds; and Whittock was sentenced to 12 months in prision and fined 10,000 pounds.

Now, for Game Show Network fans: In 2002, we got the rights to Greed. In the first half of 2003, the Primetime "Weakest Link" came in. The second half saw the Primetime "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" come to our TV's. In addition, GSN did its first documentary in "Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal," where in a combination of the story and the 2-part episode from June 1984, we got to see how Michael Larsen managed to take the Big Board and CBS for an incredible $110,237 in cash and prizes. In the 2002-2003 season, most of the GSN Originals saw some new changes. I'll give you the lowdown on each one.

"Whammy! The All New Press Your Luck"-In Season 1, the players introed themselves, and the big board gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and prizes, and up for grabs was a GEM Car (Hit GEM in Round 1, CAR in Round 2). If you hit a Whammy/Double Whammy, your winnings just disappeared. In Season 2, announcer Gary Kroeger introed the players, a new car was up for grabs in the form of a Suzuki Aerio (hit both halves of a car key on the board), and now, if you hit a Whammy/Double Whammy, your winnings now go into a growing jackpot known as the BIG BANK, which starts at $3,000. Hit the BIG BANK square, answer a short-answer question correctly, and all of the BIG BANK contents are yours! In honor of an April Fool's version of the show, host Todd Newton did all the Double Whammy stuff, while Cram's Graham Elwood hosted.

"Friend Or Foe?"-In Season 1, the teams were partnered at the show's start, and were given $200 to build on. In Season 2, the teams were partnered before the show's start, and are no longer given the $200 to build on. If the low-scoring team is eliminated with no answers right and no money to build on, they get $200 to play for in the Trust Box, and as usual, if both vote Friend, they split the pot, if one player votes Friend and the other votes Foe, Foe takes all, and if both vote Foe, both go away empty-handed, heads hung low. On the April Fools' version of the show, Russian Roulette's own Mark L. Walberg hosted.

"Russian Roulette"-In Season 1, first round questions were worth $150 (the stake each player starts with), second round questions were worth $200, and third round questions were worth $300. In the bonus round, if you answered 5 Killer Questions correctly (and started your answers with the phrase "My Answer Is..." to count), you won $10,000; and could gamble it all for $100,000 on one final pull of the handle and survived. If you gave an incorrect answer or 60 seconds expired (Each of the 6 Drop Zones opens every 10 seconds), you dropped, and got $500 for each correct answer. The players wore nametags. In Season 2, rounds 1 and 2 stayed the same, but third round questions were worth $250. In the bonus round, you now had to answer 10 three-choice questions to win the $10,000 (no more "My Answer Is..."). If you won the $10,000; you could gamble it for $100,000 as usual by pulling the handle. If you ran out of time or gave an incorrect answer, you dropped as usual, but you got $300 for each correct answer. Also, the players no longer wear nametags. On April Fools' Day, Todd Newton of Whammy! hosted the show.

"Lingo"-In Season 1, the American version taped on the Netherlands' version's set. In Bonus Lingo, each word equaled $100 cash and a Lingo Ball. If you made a Lingo on any of the balls you won, you would add a $4000 prize package to the $100 x # of balls. The prize package consisted of a Casio Pocket PC, a Borders Gift Card, a Croton Watch, and an Argus Digital Camera. In Season 2, the show taped in LA for the first time. But here's the twist: You got some bonus letters for Bonus Lingo: One for winning the game, and one for every Lingo you made (Ex. If you made 3 Lingos during the front game, you got 3 bonus letters, in addition to the 1 bonus letter for winning the game, for a total of 4). If a Lingo was made on your first try, you got a $10,000 Jamaican trip, and $5,000 in cash. Any Lingo after the first, was just for the $5,000. If you failed to make a Lingo at all, you got to keep the $100 a word you got. In addition, Randi Thomas, who we know best as the "Hooked-On-Phonics" lady who reminded us to call 1-800-ABCDEFG on those ads, was the announcer. This season, the 3rd, the announcer is British's own Stacey Hayes, and she's the on-air judge, too. There's a new, futuristic-style set, too. For Bonus Lingo, the winning team is now playing for a trip to Harrah's, in addition to the $5,000 in cash. The same rules apply, here. For a special April Fool's version of the show in Season 2, the show involved ALL 6 hosts of the current batch of GSN Originals: Kennedy of "Friend Or Foe?", Graham Elwood of "Cram", Mark L. Walberg of "Russian Roulette", and Marc Summers of "Wintuition" all played the game. Chuck Woolery retained his duties as host, and Todd Newton of "Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck" was in the announcer's booth.

Now, I'd like to talk mostly about "The Price Is Right." As I stated before, the show's announcer Rod Roddy, the successor to Johnny Olsen, died of cancer in October at the age of 66. But that didn't stop the crew from going ahead with a new batch of Million Dollar Spectaculars! These special shows, which sent people off their feet when they realized they could win A MILLION BUCKS on one spin of the big wheel, started in February, and then returned in May. A 3rd batch, which was done AFTER Rod's death (the previous 6, he was still kicking), began with a big birthday bash to Bob, who turned 80. The second one was dedicated to our military heroes, and we, like them, send our wishes to those fighting overseas, whether in Afghanistan, or Iraq.

Anyway, this month also marks the start of Lunar New Year 4702, and the Chinese celebrate it by setting off firecrackers, having a big feast, and sending people money in Hung Bao, or red envelopes in Chinese. The idea of these is to remember that people should have good fortunes and other good things in the upcoming Lunar New Year. Last year, 4701, was the year of the Goat. This year it's the year of the Monkey. My sister was born in the year of the Rooster, and I was born in the year of the Boar, and last year, I turned 20!

This year, "NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT", the most watched daily business news on public television, turns 25 this year. And believe it or not, Paul Kangas, a former stockbroker who is best known for covering the stock market summaries as well as the Market Monitor interviews, has been with the program since its premiere on January 22, 1979. His knowledge of the markets and his rapid-fire stock quotations has helped him a lot, I tell you! Linda O'Bryon, who was then the news director when the show began, is now a co-anchor and in addition, she's the show's executive editor.

In addition, 10 years ago, this month, January 1994, the sports world was in total shock, when figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, practicing for the Lillehammer Winter Olympics, was struck by a club by a bodyguard of her opponent, Tonya Harding. Kerrigan would eventually skate to a silver medal (Oksana Baiul won Gold), while Harding would serve probation for the incident. Let's hope something like this never happens again.

And also 10 years ago, we got our first look at Anna Paquin in a series of TV commercials for NetworkMCI. She's seen donning a black hat, and black dress, and constantly sending a message about long distance. The commercials were taped in 1993, but didn't make it to the airwaves until 1994.

Well, this wraps up my Year In Review column. I hope to add more in February! This is John Lee saying "Go HOME!"