South:

New Orleans Saints – Coming off their historic first Super Bowl victory, the Saints come into the 2010 season with the difficult task of repeating as champions. They will also be facing an improved division with Atlanta and Carolina likely to be threats to their title as NFC South champions. That being said, the Saints should be up for the challenge under the leadership of Drew Brees and Sean Payton. The Saints offense was unstoppable at times as they led the league in points scored. While most of that credit is given to Brees, the Saints were also 6^th in the league in rushing yards per game and are hoping that Reggie Bush can consistently show some of the flashes he showed last postseason. On the defensive side, the Saints are susceptible but they cashed in on turnovers as safety Darren Sharper tied for the league lead in interceptions with 9. Defensive lineman Will Smith was 5^th in the league in sacks with 13 and the Saints were among the league leaders in takeaways. They will need to be more consistent on the defensive side if they hope to repeat and will have to capitalize on turnovers once again. While I don’t expect them to start 13-0 again this season, they will certainly be a team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations. They will get a stiff test right away as they have a rematch of the 2009 NFC Championship Game when Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings come to the Louisiana Superdome to open up the 2010 season.

Carolina Panthers – With Jake Delhomme now in Cleveland, Matt Moore will likely be the starter for the Panthers this season, who went 4-1 down the stretch with Moore as the starter last year. While Moore was consistent and steady, the real power behind the Panthers offense lies with the two-headed monster at running back comprised of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Williams and Stewart became the first teammates in NFL history to rush for over 1100 yards a piece. Steve Smith is still an elite receiver and Dwayne Jarret and draft pick Brandon LaFell will have the opportunity to establish themselves as reliable options alongside Smith. The defense, which was strong against the pass but struggled against the run last year, will be without pass rushing specialist Julius Peppers after he was signed by the Bears. The defense was fairly solid as they were 9^th in the league in points allowed and middle linebacker Jon Beason leads the way as he had 142 tackles last season. If Moore doesn’t work out at quarterback, 2^nd round pick and former Notre Dame star Jimmy Clausen is waiting in the wings and is the future of the team. The Panthers likely won’t be too much of a threat to the Saints, but if they perform to their capabilities they can make a run at the playoffs.

Atlanta Falcons – Quarterback Matt Ryan’s sophomore season didn’t go as well as he and the Falcons had hoped, but Atlanta will be in the thick of the division race this season. Ryan’s 2^nd season was a disappointing one despite the fact that the team finished above .500 at 9-7, but failed to make the playoffs after getting there the season before. The defense was vulnerable against the pass, which Atlanta hopes to have taken care of by adding former Texan Dunta Robinson to the secondary. After a breakout season in 2008, Michael Turner suffered from injuries last season and failed to even reach half of the carries he had in 2008 when he had a league high 376. He also only had roughly half of the 1699 yards he totaled in his first year as a full time starter. With a more mature and seasoned Ryan to throw to Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White, combined with a healthy Michael Turner and improved defense, Atlanta could challenge the Saints for a division title and make a run at a playoff berth.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Last year’s first round pick, quarterback Josh Freeman, will now be ready to take the starting job from the beginning of the season as he took over the role in Week 9 last year. While the Bucs finished 3-13 last season, there is good news for them in 2010. Since the realignment of the divisions in 2002, the last place team of the NFC South has gone on to make the playoffs the following season, and even won the division in 6 of those 7 situations, the lone exception being the Falcons in 2008 who made the playoffs as a Wild Card after finishing last in 2007. The division is also the only one since 2002 to have all four teams make a Super Bowl appearance, with the Bucs and Saints winning it. The Bucs should be improved, although I wouldn’t expect them to continue this inexplicable trend that has occurred in the division since it was formed. The Bucs finished dead last against the run last year, but 1^st round pick Gerald McCoy should certainly help improve that statistic. Running back Derrick Ward was recently released after a disappointing first season in Tampa Bay, leaving Cadillac Williams and Earnest Graham to do the bulk of the carrying. Draft picks Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn, along with the emergence of 2^nd year receiver Sammie Stroughter and a healthy Kellen Winslow Jr. at tight end, should provide Freeman with some weapons to make improvements over last season, but the Bucs are at least a couple of years away from making a playoff run.

West:

San Francisco 49ers – The 49ers haven’t made the playoffs since 2002, but now that Kurt Warner has retired in Arizona, this is the best chance for San Francisco. Led by coach Mike Singletary, the 49ers have a hard nose defense led by linebacker Patrick Willis. Since his rookie year in 2007, no player has had more tackles then the All-Pro Willis. The defense was underrated as only 3 teams allowed fewer points then the 49ers last season and they had the 5^th most takeaways in the NFC. They are also hoping that former 1^st overall pick Alex Smith with finally be ready to lead the team on offense. Although he has struggled with injuries through both his professional and college careers, running back Frank Gore is among the league’s elite backs and is poised for an All-Pro season if he remains healthy, especially given the division he plays in. Last year’s first round pick, receiver Michael Crabtree, is also coming off participating in his first full training camp and will be ready to go by game one after holding out until mid-season in 2009. The offensive line is also greatly improved as their best tackle Joe Staley missed significant time last season. They also added two first round draft picks to the offensive line in Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati to help protect Smith and provide holes for Gore to run through. I think in a year when the division is down, the 49ers will emerge as the division champions and qualify for the playoffs for the first time in 8 years and they may surprise a few people when they get there.

Seattle Seahawks – Seattle finished last season at 5-11 and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck seems to be passed his prime, although he has faced injury problems for parts of the last two seasons. The Seahawks first round draft picks, offensive tackle Russell Okung and safety Earl Thomas should help both sides of the ball. Wide receiver Golden Tate out of Notre Dame was also drafted in the second round to provide more weapons to Hasselbeck. There has been discussion that backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst could perhaps take the starting role at some point in the season if Hasselbeck and the Seahawks struggle. Although they have talent at certain positions, the offensive and defensive lines aren’t strong enough to propel the Seahawks to a playoff berth in all likelihood. In a division where I can’t see more than one team making the playoffs, Seattle just doesn’t have the talent and ability that the 49ers have.

Arizona Cardinals – The Cardinals had a good run in the playoffs last season, but with the retirement of Kurt Warner, they will find it much more difficult in 2010. Incumbent Matt Leinart was supposed to be in line for the job that Warner had once taken from the former 1^st round pick, but former Browns quarterback Derek Anderson is threatening him for the starting job and now there is talk that Leinart may be traded. Warner, although the biggest loss, certainly isn’t the only player Arizona will be missing from last season. Pro Bowl safety Antrel Rolle is now with the Giants and middle linebacker Karlos Dansby, who led the team in tackles, is now in Miami. On the offensive side, wide receiver Anquan Boldin is now in Baltimore which means more coverage can now head toward Larry Fitzgerald’s way, although Steve Breaston, the man who will take Boldin’s place, is a quality receiver in his own right. The Cardinals have added pieces to replace what they have lost in Joey Potter and Kerry Rhodes on the defensive side as well as All-Pro offensive tackle Alan Faneca. Without Warner, however, I don’t see Arizona performing close to the level they have the past two seasons and a playoff berth is likely out of reach.

St. Louis Rams – The Rams finished 1-15 last season, which was the worst record in the league. The good thing about being the worst team is that you get the first overall pick in the draft where the Rams landed quarterback Sam Bradford. While Bradford is the future, the Rams will still be rebuilding even in what is probably the NFL’s worst division. Only the Lions allowed more points than the Rams and nobody scored less points than St. Louis in 2009. While they have made improvements, the Rams suffered a blow when their best receiver Donnie Avery went down with a torn ACL this preseason. The lone bright spot of perhaps the entire team last year was running back Steven Jackson, who had another stellar season finishing only behind the Titans Chris Johnson in rushing yards, although it was second by some distance. He accomplished all of this despite the absence of a great line or passing threat. With Bradford and second round pick, offensive tackle Rodger Saffold, perhaps Jackson will be able to be even better. While improving on a one win season sounds trivial, the Rams will be moving in the right direction and their season will revolve around the development of Bradford at quarterback and looking into the future.

Let’s do this, Twitter Nation! Emmy night begins soon. I’ll be tweeting here through the night as the show goes on. -JR

On the couch with 4 minutes to spare. And rewarded with Sofia Vergara. Nice.

First Conan joke of the night! Poehler’s looking pregnant. Strong first 8 minutes. (Post-note: Poehler’s not actually pregnant, but she had her baby about a month ago. Mess-up by me on that one.)

As comedy starts, here’s my top 6 in my comedy power rankingshttp://www.storps.com/2010/08/09/comedy-power-rankings-part-2/

Stonestreet FTW!!! Good for him! Amazing year for him, and he deserved it.

Did the Emmys spoil the winner there? Sounded like they played the Modern Family theme before it was announced.

BTW, just got back from a trip to Cle, Chi (primarily), Mil, and Pitt. Lots of laundry to do. Great trip.

Modern! 2 for 2! Are we feeling sweep?

Greg Daniels: “I’m Rick James, Bitch!” Well, that was a highlight.

Good for Jane Lynch. Thoroughly deserved. South Side of Chicago! I was just there a day ago!

I just realized: This comedy part is gonna be over soon. The thing I care about most is comedy. Uh oh. Could be a long night.

Fallon did a nice job with the cold open, but he’s looked nervous since. Perry and Graham just tanked. Gotta love hilarious Emmy writing!

Glee answers back with 2 in a row! It’s on like Donkey Kong. Is that still on? Is that on anywhere? Either way…the showdown is on.

I feel like Ryan Murphy is an a-hole. He hasn’t really done anything to deserve that. But…might be an a-hole.

Modern answers with a great skit. Business has picked up.

It’s sad that The Office isn’t really a factor in the top comedies right now. A real shame. Let’s hope Carell’s swan song turns it around.

September 8th, 2011: The day I watch You Again on HBO, hide my head in shame, don’t tell anyone, and secretly enjoy it.

Shhhh Jeremy, NPH is on.

So…now what? Baseball time? Special sneak preview of You Again?

Gob Bluth…you’re better than lame banter. COME ON!!!!

The Amazing Race is down, and it can’t get up! Down goes Frasier!

Anyone notice that when the announcer starts talking about the dramatic actors, her voice gets lower? Like they’re more important? Weird.

I’ve never watched Oprah a day in my life, yet these commercials are getting me choked up. What will I do without her?!?!

I’m hungry. What should I eat? Athlete tweet translation: I’m staaaaaarvin y’all!! What should I eat I could eat a horse right now lol!!!!!!

Malcolm Reynolds in the house. Rose Byrne: Underrated hotness.

We’re getting close to that time. Kyle and Connie coming up soon. Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can’t Lose.

Bryan Cranston’s daughter…like her. I like her more than baseball, too.

Tyler Perry…really, America?

Ok, America, we get it. Matthew Morrison’s hair is funny. Can we stop now?

A big 0 for 2 for FNL. Crap. Hopefully next year it gets what it deserves. 2011: Wins for Carell, Chandler and Britton? One can dream.

Broadway love!!! The Tonies in da house! Broadway baby! Wooooooooo!

Chase: potential for NBC? It might be good. Wow Gervais looks good.

Gervais killing it at the Emmys: a new yearly tradition. Love it.

Next segment’s prospects are bleak. Folding laundry it is!

Doesn’t Juliana Margulies have an oddly deep voice? Has anyone ever mentioned this?

Clooney, how dare your humanitarian efforts make Betty White have to stand up? She’s tired!

Really nice, honest speech by Clooney. I feel like I should think he’s a d-bag, but I just don’t.

Who’s watching these Cranford movies? They’re nominated every year. Do you know one person who has EVER watched this series???

Can’t get over this Cranford thing. Return to Cranford? Who watches this?

Emminated for a nommy. Funny by Ormond. Seriously. Name me one person who’s watched Cranford and I’ll give you a thousand dollars.

What’s the correlation between ’serious dramatic indie actor’ and ‘growing a dignified beard’? Why do the two always coexist?

So, Temple Grandin is a person? Not a temple? I didn’t wanna watch some religious thing. Oops.

I’m ready for the Jewel comeback. So ready. She just does it for me.

Is there anything better than awards show banter? At all?

So, we have a black president now…is it okay to make a TV show with a white president while the real one is black? Is that kosher?

So, what’s the over/under on mainstream media ‘worshiping Temple Grandin’ puns tomorrow? 20?

Closing with comedy this year. If lost would win, it would close.

Bingo. Mad Men it is. Way to go out on a limb there, academy.

That being said, thrilled that comedy is getting its due this year. Modern Family! Glee! It’s the Emmys on NBC!

Here we go…

Modern!! Good for them. Totally and completely deserved, and hopefully this takes the show to the next level.

That’ll do it here. Off to catch up on 2 episodes of Entourage, which wasn’t represented at the Emmys tonight. Could it be because it sucks?

Thanks for reading, Twitter Nation. Check back to Storps for more updates, and here on Twitter. Goodnight!

NFC

East:

New York Giants – After winning the Super Bowl in 2008, a lot was expected from the Giants last year, but they finished 8-8 after starting the season 5-0. The main issue was their defense, which was so good in their Super Bowl triumph, but allowed 40 plus points 5 times including 3 of their last 4 games. They did have a number of injuries on defense, most noticeably in the secondary which was abysmal in the 2^nd half of the season. They have added veteran linebacker Keith Bullock and safety Antrel Rolle to help the defense improve while defensive captain Antonio Pierce retired in the offseason. They also picked defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul in the draft and are hoping that Kenny Phillips, who was strong when he played in the beginning of last season before getting hurt, will be fully healthy in 2010. Running back Brandon Jacobs also had a disappointing season and Ahmad Bradshaw may prove to be the number one back as the season goes on if Jacobs doesn’t improve. One positive for the Giants last year was the play of Eli Manning and his young receiving core. Manning had his best year statistically last season and Steve Smith was the first Giants Pro Bowl receiver in 41 years. The Giants will go as far as their defense can take them this season and they happen to be in what is the NFL’s toughest division. Despite their disappointing year, they won both games against Dallas and will need to continue their strong divisional play if they want to return to the playoffs in 2010.

Dallas Cowboys – The Cowboys come into the season after they had their first postseason win since 1996 last year when they defeated division rivals the Philadelphia Eagles, their third win that season against the Eagles. They appear strong again and are the slight favorites to win what is the division. Tony Romo got that elusive playoff win last season and now has a strong receiving core with the emergence of Miles Austin last season and the pick of Dez Bryant in the draft this past summer. Felix Jones is also on his way to becoming a star and provides a strong running threat along with the hard running Marion Barber. Now that they have gotten over the hump, Dallas will be looking to make a deep playoff run. The defense, led by sack machine DeMarcus Ware, was strong against the run, but not as good against the pass. Despite losing twice to the Giants, they did go 4-0 in their other division games and beat the Eagles for a third time in the playoffs. As great as their performance against Philly was, their game against the Vikings in the Divisional Round was disappointing to say the least. While the running attack seemed to be strong in the beginning of the game, the Cowboys got away from it when they fell behind after committing turnovers. The offensive line will need to be strong to protect Romo and help the running game if Dallas wants to move further along in the playoffs and perhaps contend for the Super Bowl.

Philadelphia Eagles – With Donovan McNabb now gone, the Kevin Kolb era is now underway in Philadelphia. I always thought McNabb was never fully appreciated for all he accomplished for the Eagles, including taking them to 4 straight Conference Championship games and a Super Bowl. I thik this season the Eagles will find out how much of an impact McNabb had on the team. Kolb, however, does have the making a great quarterback in his own right, although I’m not completely sold he can lead the Eagles to the playoffs this season. He performed well in the few games he appeared in last season when McNabb was injured, but although he put up big numbers in terms of passing yards he threw 3 interceptions against the Saints and had a great game against the lowly Chiefs. Kolb certainly has weapons at his disposal, even with the departure of Brain Westbrook. DeSean Jackson was a Pro Bowler at both receiver and as a punt returner and Brent Celek emerged as one of the league’s elite tight ends. Running back LeSean McCoy had a solid rookie season in 2009 and is now the unquestioned number one back for the Eagles. Philadelphia certainly has the potential to be a playoff team, but they will need to figure out the Cowboys and have Kolb come into his own rather quickly if they are to overcome their divisional foes.

Washington Redskins – With a new starting quarterback and head coach, the Redskins may finally be moving in the right direction, although it is unfortunate that the biggest story regarding Washington lately has been Albert Haynesworth and his issues with new coach Mike Shanahan. McNabb could be the integral piece the Redskins have been missing lately, as their defense has been above average in recent years despite having to step up with the offense being lackluster. The Redskins have also amped up their running game with additions of Larry Johnson, Willie Parker, and Ryan Torain. Clinton Portis will need to be healthy again to carry the load this season, but he had some of his most successful seasons under Shanahan when they were both in Denver. If Washington is to compete in this tough division, they will need a big year from McNabb and Portis and the offensive line will have to hold up to support both.

North:

Minnesota Vikings – Of course the big story here is the return of Brett Favre, but Minnesota has other issues, particularly at receiver at the moment. Last year’s leading receiver Sidney Rice will be out for at least half the season and Percy Harvin’s migraine issues could linger for all season, although it was a good sign that he returned to practice yesterday. The Vikings have added Javon Walker, former teammate of Favre’s at Green Bay, and traded for former Dolphin’s receiver Greg Camarillo. Expect tight end Visanthe Shiancoe to also have an increased role in the offense this season. There is always Adrian Peterson to rely on at running back to go along with a strong offensive line. The defense is also strong as Jared Allen and company help provide what is arguably the best front 4 in the league. They weren’t as strong against the pass, but were the 2^nd best team at stopping the running game. They fell short of a Super Bowl by a single interception, which led to the Saints defeating them in overtime of the Conference Championship Game and an eventual historic Super Bowl title. While Favre remarkably had his best year statistically last season, I don’t expect him to put up those same kind of numbers again. This will put more of an emphasis on Peterson and the rushing attack to carry the load and propel the Vikings to a run at the Super Bowl.

Green Bay Packers – The Packers made the playoffs last season, but lost to the Arizona Cardinals in an epic 51-45 overtime thriller, which ironically ended on a defensive touchdown by Arizona. Despite the loss and disappointing defensive effort, the Packers announced themselves as a team on the rise and quarterback Aaron Rodgers stepped out of Brett Favre’s shadow and established himself as one of the league’s best in his own right. While Rodgers’ season was overwhelmingly successful, he was found on his backside more often than the Packers would have liked to see. A fully healthy Mark Tauscher on the offensive line and 1^st round pick Bryan Bulaga should help give Rodgers more time in the pocket to perhaps have an even greater performance than last season. A stronger offensive line should also help Ryan Grant at running back to have his third consecutive 1000 yard season. While their defense finished 2^nd overall statistically, they were certainly exposed on national television by now retired Kurt Warner and company in last season’s playoff game. If the defense can play like they did last regular season as opposed to that playoff game, they can potentially overtake the Vikings as division champions.

Chicago Bears – In 2009, Jay Cutler’s first year in the Windy City was certainly disappointing as the Bears finished third in the division. They will find it tough again to fend off both the Vikings and Packers if they want to reach the playoffs, although I do expect Cutler to be greatly improved over last year. While running back Matt Forte was incredible as a rookie in 2008, he was anything but that last season as the Bears finished 29^th in the league in rushing. They added former Vikings running back Chester Taylor to help Forte in the running attack. The defense of the Bears also isn’t the fearsome unit that it was back when the Bears made the Super Bowl in 2007. The most important factor is that Brian Urlacher must be healthy all season. Chicago also added pass rushing specialist Julius Peppers to help improve the defense. While they went 7-9 last season, it’s a bit deceiving since they beat the Lions twice, as well as the Browns, Seahawks, and Rams, who had a combined 13 wins last season. While I expect Cutler and the Bears to be improved, I don’t think they are quite on the level as Green Bay or Minnesota yet.

Detroit Lions – While the Lions are still in the rebuilding process, at least they now have some pieces in place and seem to be moving in the right direction, although it is hard to be worse than 0-16 which was their record in 2008. Last year’s first overall pick Matthew Stafford had a pretty good rookie season at quarterback given his lack of an offensive line and running game. Stafford has a few more weapons to go along with Calvin Johnson this year as the Lions added Nate Burleson at receiver and late first round pick Jahvid Best to help the running attack. On the defensive side, the Lions drafted highly sought after defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh with the 2^nd overall pick in last year’s draft. They also added defensive tackle Corey Williams and defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch to help a defense which finished dead last in the NFL against the pass and 25^th against the run last season. Safety Louis Delmas, last year’s 2^nd round pick, has also shown signs of being a potential star in the near future. While Detroit is certainly moving in the right direction, it will be another uphill battle this season, especially in a pretty tough division.

The National League looks like it will have 3 exciting division races that will all come down to the wire. Even the Wild Card winner could be represented from any of the 3 divisions. We are in for an exciting 6 weeks in the National League and the pennant is up for a number of teams to try and capture.

NL East: The two-time defending National League champions, the Philadelphia Phillies, are looking for their 4^th straight division title, but the Atlanta Braves are currently leading the way in the division. After the Phillies won the World Series 2 years ago and then returned to the Fall Classic last year, they were big favorites to repeat in the East and were the most likely candidates to win the National League yet again. Although the Braves started relatively slow, they now lead the division thanks to owning the best home record in all of baseball at 42-16 as well as the league’s 2^nd best ERA, largely due to Tim Hudson’s great year. They also recently added first baseman Derek Lee to bolster the offense which will be without Chipper Jones for the remainder of the year. The Phillies are starting to come on strong, however, and trail the Braves now by only 2.5 games and currently lead the Wild Card. If the Phillies manage to make the playoffs, they are a very dangerous team with Roy Halladay leading the rotation to go along with a resurgent Cole Hamels. No other team in the division is above .500 as the Mets, Marlins and Nationals are all building towards the future. While the Nationals aren’t going to be a factor this season, they will certainly be an exciting team to watch in the coming years as they are accumulating a vast amount of young talent, including phenom Stephen Strasburg as well as the newly signed Bryce Harper, this year’s first overall pick in the draft. As for this year, it’s very possible that both the Braves and Phillies will make the playoffs, and both are playing well as of late. The clubs have 6 more games against each other including a 3 game series in Atlanta to conclude the season which may end up deciding who wins the division.

NL Central: The St. Louis Cardinals were favorites to win the division coming into the season, but the surprising Cincinnati Reds have been neck and neck with the Redbirds all season. The two clubs met last week in Cincinnati, with the Reds leading the Cardinals by 2 games at the time. St. Louis ended up sweeping the Reds in 3 games, which included a fight where both benches cleared. Since that series, I thought St. Louis would take off while the Reds dwindled after their tough defeat, but if anything it has been the opposite. The Reds have now established a 3 game lead in the division while St. Louis has lost 4 games in a row, including a 2 game series sweep at home at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers where their offense was no where to be found. If I had to chose a Cy Young winner right now in the NL, it would be the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright, but even he could not stop the Cardinals losing streak yesterday afternoon. The Reds meanwhile have started their 9 game road trip 2-0. The two clubs have the easiest remaining schedules in baseball, largely due to the fact that they have mostly division games left, which include the Cubs, Brewers, Pirates, and Astros. As they are the only two teams in the Central, probably baseball’s worst division, with winning records, the three remaining games they have with each other at the beginning of September loom large. The 2 home games the Cardinals just lost to the Brewers are inexcusable for a team trying to push for a playoff position and if they don’t right the ship soon they will find it hard to stay with the Reds. That being said, they are certainly capable of getting the job done.

NL West: The most surprising team in baseball this season has been the San Diego Padres, who currently lead the division by a season high 6 games. The Padres have relied on their pitching, as they lead the league in ERA, to propel them to first over a division where experts favored other contenders like the Dodgers, Rockies, and Giants to win the NL West crown. The division currently has 4 teams above .500 with the Diamondbacks being the lone exception. The Padres also currently own the best record in the National League and, if they make the playoffs, can be poised for a long run if that pitching staff continues to have success. The Giants, meanwhile, have great pitching of their own, but find the division crown slipping away. They also are now involved in a critical series against the Phillies and have lost the first two games already. Colorado and the Dodgers are probably too far back to make a late playoff push in the division and will find it hard to jump 3 other teams to claim the Wild Card as well. It’s remarkable how San Diego’s pitching has held up all year when they lack a clear ace. Mat Latos, who should have been an All-Star this year, is leading the rotation with a 2.32 ERA, good enough for 5^th in the National League and is tied with teammate Jon Garland for the club lead with 12 wins. He is also only one of two pitchers in the NL who currently have a WHIP (Walks plus Hits per innings pitched) under 1, the other being Wainwright. Additionally, Heath Bell has been great closing games this season and leads the majors with 36 saves. I think the Padres won’t be caught in the division at this point, despite having 7 games left with the Giants, 4 of which are on the road while the other 3 games are at home to finish off the season.

NL Wild Card: The Wild Card race in the National League is far more exciting than the American League. Three teams are in the thick of the race currently with 2 more teams that could possibly make a late run to make things interesting. The Phillies currently lead the Giants by two games and the Cardinals by 2.5 games. The Cardinals have the easiest schedule of the three, thanks to the division they play in. They also play host to the Giants with a 3 game series that begins on Friday, and 6 of their last 13 games are against the lowly Pirates. The Giants will try and salvage the final game against the Phillies tomorrow, to try and cut Philadelphia’s lead to 1 game, before heading off to St. Louis. After Sunday, none of the three teams will face each other again for the rest of the season, making these remaining games important. All three, the Giants a little less so, are also involved in close division races and can easily overtake the division leaders with a strong run. I give the edge to the Phillies to make the playoffs right now as they seem to be hitting their stride at the right moment, but the Cardinals easy schedule may be a difference maker if they don’t manage to overtake the Reds in the Central. The Giants are the only team of the 3 to have a losing division record, which will make their lives more difficult down the stretch.

The list remains at just Lidstrom, Wakefield, Cox, Sloan and Fisher. There are many more managers that I can’t remember their leagues without, but that list gets too long. This last has become more and more of an endangered species recently. In the last few years, Joe Sakic, Brett Favre, Bill Cowher, Michael Strahan, John Smoltz, Mike Shanahan and Steve Yzerman have all come off of this list. But, it makes sense. Most teams I started remembering in the early 90s, between 1990 and 1993. It’s now 2010, so if the guys were 23 in 1993, they’re 40 now. It’s not surprising. But, in some way, it’s sad. We all look at sports differently as a little kid. As we grow up, we look at these players as heroes on our TVs; guys that can do no wrong, even if they make a misstep once in awhile. But once those guys retire, and we’re mature enough to see these guys for who they are, what’s really left?

Now that I’m 23 years old and have become a marginally responsible adult, it’s a lot easier to see athletes for who they are on a more personal level. As I wrote in my Oliver Perez column, some of these athletes may just be regular guys who happen to be really good at one particular job that pays handsomely. They don’t have to be super-competitive freaks of nature that are willing to sacrifice themselves at all costs in order to win. They might just be guys doing their jobs. It’s also a lot easier to see the bad apples in the bunch, and a lot harder to forgive guys like K-Rod for doing what he did last week to get himself arrested. When we look at the game from a strictly person-to-person level, it’s a lot tougher to idolize the players. I can be disappointed about the fact that Derek Jeter is having among his worst years in his career, but then I remember that he gets to go home to Minka Kelly every night, one of the hottest actresses on TV. Life isn’t bad for Mr. Jeter. Once we learn too much about certain players, the mystique of them goes away, and so does the idolatry. Last week, I tried to change all of that.

Last Tuesday, my podcast co-conspirator Allen Pines and I decided to take a one day road trip from New Jersey to Washington D.C., all in the name of seeing Stephen Strasburg pitch. Coming into last Tuesday’s game, he was 5-2 with a low 2.32 ERA, and had a sparkling 75 strikeouts in only 54 innings pitched. We were looking forward to hitting the road for a day out of town, but the main reason we were going was to see the phenom pitch. Here was a guy that is almost exactly one year younger than me, almost to the day. Outside of his amazing ability to pitch, I know almost nothing about him. I know he was a great pitcher in college, but that’s about it. He had his worst start of his young career while we were there, but the mood remained positive afterwards. We had all seen a young star, just as he was figuring it all out. It was an exciting place to be.

For the last week, I’ve had this running question in my head: How do the retirements of so many of the players that I grew up with as a kid, and the borderline insanity of driving 9 hours in one day to see Strasburg pitch relate? Why would I do something that extreme in order to see a player, when I’ve learned in past years not to idolize them? What’s the point of idolizing someone that’s so unproven, and someone that’s younger than me? After letting it fester in my brain for the past week, I came to this conclusion: we all idolize what we haven’t seen before. When we were younger, we idolized all of the players that we saw, because we hadn’t seen anything like it before. People playing the games that we loved to play in our backyards at this high of a level? Unprecedented. We sought their autographs, wanted to meet them, bought their baseball cards, and wanted to learn as much about them as we possibly could. As we got older, we started to see more and more repetition in the sports. Of course we cheered on our teams, but it wasn’t quite as special as when we were little kids and everything was new. Whenever we can find something that we haven’t seen before, it’s a lot easier for us to idolize it. And that’s why we went to see Strasburg. How many 22-year-old starting pitchers have come into their rookie seasons and dominated the National League like Strasburg has? Not many, if any ever. It’s a new phenomenon to see a pitcher pitch like that. Rangers fans idolize Mark Messier because he brought the vast majority of them something new, that they hadn’t ever seen in their lives: a Stanley Cup. Anyone under the age of 60 in 1994 couldn’t have remembered the Rangers winning the cup, so since he did something totally new, he was idolized as if his fans were little kids. And let’s be honest: As a Rangers, Magic and Yankees fan, I’d be much more excited to see either the Rangers or Magic win a championship than for the Yankees to win another World Series. Sure, I’d be very excited and happy to see the Yankees defend their crown, but it’s something that I’ve seen 5 times in my life already. Although I remember 1994 like it was yesterday, another Rangers title would mean a whole lot more to me, since I was only 6 when they won it last. And, of course, the Magic winning the NBA Title would mean a ton, since they’ve never done it. It would be an entirely new experience. We all want to see what we’ve never seen before. That’s why we have a special love for the players in our childhood, normal people like me would drive for 9 hours to see a kid pitcher on a last place team, and we all care so much about our teams winning championships. In the sports world, at least, what we haven’t seen before is very, very exciting.

1.  A Cy Young Dark Horse

In the National League, it looks like Ubaldo Jimenez is the obvious front-runner for the Cy Young Award, with Adam Wainwright in a close second. Nobody else will challenge either one for the honor. In the AL, it’s a different story. There’s no obvious front runner, with David Price, Clay Buchholz and CC Sabathia looking like contenders, but it’d be tough to say which really has the obvious advantage. With no clear top candidate, how about Mariano Rivera? He took the loss on Tuesday against Texas, in a rare poor performance for him this year, but his season remains outstanding and borderline absurd. He has 23 saves to only 2 blown saves, and his era is at 1.09, and was as low as 0.88 before giving up the run to Texas. The 23 saves don’t look that impressive, but the Yankees have had an odd way of either winning by 4 or 5 runs or losing by about that many, so the work for him hasn’t been as much as in past years. This has been as good a season for him as any in his career, and it would be a shame if the best closer of the era went his entire baseball life without winning a major award, assuming that we’re not taking the Rolaids relief award as a big time thing. New rule, in the words of Bill Maher: If you get a sponsor for your award, and the sponsor is a heartburn medicine to take after eating a few too many chicken wings at Hooters, we aren’t going to take you seriously. If he were to win the award, skeptics would claim that the Cy Young isn’t meant to be a lifetime achievement award, and should reward the best of the best. It’s a fair point, but there really hasn’t been a more dominant pitcher than Rivera. Price was hit hard at Yankee Stadium in a big game for his Rays a few weeks ago, Buchholz is still young and proving himself, and Sabathia has been shaky on more than a few occasions. Cliff Lee could be in the discussion as well, but he didn’t put up incredible numbers in Seattle, and voters rarely reward a pitcher that switches teams midseason. Rivera has given up 5 earned runs this season. Not this month, or in his last 10 outings. This ENTIRE year. That’s pretty unbelievable. Despite his loss against the Rangers, he needs to be in the discussion. He’s going to be 41 after the season. There’s no better time than the present to give an award of this magnitude to a pitcher that has endured like Rivera has.

2. Teixeira, Dunn, and the Post-Steroids Era

After a very slow start, Mark Teixeira has put the Yankees on his back for the last few weeks, and with 26 home runs and 85 rbi, he’s put himself in a position to hit around 35 to 40 homers this year, and drive in between 110 and 120 runs. He joined a small class of players that have hit at least 25 home runs in the first eight years of their careers, which is something that hasn’t been done often. Despite never playing for a contender, Adam Dunn continues to be a force with the long ball, hitting 30 home runs already this year. He’s well on his way to another 40 home run season. His numbers throughout his career are ridiculously consistent, as for the last 6 years he’s hit between 38 and 46 home runs every year, and driven in between 92 and 106 runs in every year since 2004. There’s no reason why he wouldn’t hit almost exactly to those numbers again this year. Teixeira turned 30 at the beginning of the season, and at this point has 268 home runs to his record. Dunn turns 31 in November, and is sitting at 346 homers thus far. Teixeira looks to have a chance to get near 500 home runs in his career, if he keeps it up, and Dunn could exceed that with 4 or 5 more years of putting up his consistent numbers. Neither guy has ever had a sniff of PEDs attached to them. Both are considered to be good guys without any sort of track record  of controversy. In any other era, both players would be prime candidates to be on their way to Cooperstown. But in 2010, can we really be sure?

I’ve said this before, and I’ll likely say it again: The entire steroid era doesn’t really resonate with me as being that terrible. Players needed to keep up with the times, and they did what they needed to do in order to succeed. Is it morally right? Probably not. But I understand the rationale, and I don’t really begrudge them. But, ethics of the era notwithstanding, the numbers that players put up are ridiculously inflated and are impossible to compare to the current day and age. A couple of weeks ago, I watched part of the 2000 MLB All Star Game on the MLB Network. It was the heart of the steroids era, and the numbers were through the roof. Ivan Rodriguez strolled to the plate. The league leader for home runs at the 2010 All Star Game was 23 by Jose Bautista, and Josh Hamilton led the league at the time with 77 RBI. Here were Pudge’s numbers: .366, 26 HR, 80 RBI. And he wasn’t even leading the league! He was a catcher! I went to Washington DC to see the Nationals play the Marlins (another story for another time), and Pudge had 2 home runs on the year as he was playing in mid-August. That’s just crazy. The point is, when players like Rodriguez put up those numbers only ten years ago, it makes Dunn and Teixeira look worse by comparison. When countless players from the era hit 500 home runs and weren’t even close to the best players at their positions, how are we supposed to evaluate what these two first basemen are doing? Most people wouldn’t claim that Fred McGriff, Carlos Delgado, Rafael Palmeiro or Jim Thome were ever indisputably the best first basemen in baseball. Yet, they each hit over or around 500 home runs for their careers. When Dunn and Teixeira put their eventual career numbers against those, they’ll at best look like equals, when in reality they were better.

And that’s where the shame of the steroids era comes in. I’ll never get worked up about the game being ‘disgraced’, because I think that’s a really immature way of looking at it. But baseball records are so strongly based on numbers that losing the ability to compare players from different generations is really too bad. It will hurt these two, and it will hurt fans in the future that want to learn the history of the game. That’s really a bummer.

3. The Mets Fade Into Obscurity; Now What?

The Mets have faded away in the last month and a half, and it looks like another year without a playoff race for the Mets fans. They haven’t won back to back games since June 23^rd, and they still haven’t won a road series against an NL team. Things have gotten ugly, fast. With this season all but over, it’s time to put it in the rearview mirror and look at where they can go from here. Fred Wilpon said last week that Omar Minaya will be keeping his job next year, since he has another year on his contract. With money tight and rumors flying about exactly how much money the Wilpons lost to Bernie Madoff, it doesn’t look like they’ll be letting go of people that don’t have expiring contracts. That being said (courtesy of Jerry Seinfeld), the Mets need to send a message to their fans. It’s one thing to tolerate another losing season, but something altogether different about letting players that aren’t contributing continue to play, only because of their contracts. Here’s my three-step process towards a brighter future for the Mets.

-Fire Jerry Manuel…today. He’ has an expiring deal, and keeping him at this point is just making the ownership look like they’re accepting what’s happening. Wally Backman can be promoted cheaply, so it wouldn’t cost a whole lot more money to bring him in, even on an interim basis. Even if the Mets have to live with the laughable Razor Shines as the manager for 2 months, the world will go on. But keeping Manuel just makes management seem lazy, even if not everything that’s happened has been his fault. There’s no better way to send a message than to fire the manager. He’s the fall guy, and it’s not all his fault, but that’s part of being an MLB manager. These things happen.

-Cut Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo. I know that only two paragraphs ago I said that the Mets can’t cut salary of players that have contracts next year, but this is an exception, and the cost wouldn’t be much more anyway. Ruben Tejada can be the regular second baseman next year, and he’s not making more than a few hundred thousand dollars a year, so Castillo is expendable, despite owing him money. Perez hasn’t been in the starting rotation for the Mets since late-April, so it’s not like they really need to replace him. He’s owed a good amount of money next year, so he should be cut, despite my defense of him a few weeks ago. The Mets need to send the message that positions on the team will be earned based on merit, and not due to the mistakes ownership has made with long-term contracts. This would be a good start. With that in mind…

-Promote Angel Pagan and Josh Thole to regular starters on Opening Day. Like I said before, it’s time for the Mets to start giving out positions based on what players have done, and not what they make. Pagan has been the most consistent Met all season, hitting over .300 and playing his hardest every day. Thole has given the team a spark off the bench, and has played well enough behind the plate to warrant the starting position. If these guys get rewarded, it will send a message to the clubhouse that if you play the game the right way and work hard, moving up on the team is very possible. I’ve never been a professional, semi-professional, or even a high school athlete, but I can’t imagine it feels great to play hard and succeed, only to learn that you can’t move up due to other contracts and commitments. We’ve all been in jobs where someone unworthy gets a position over us due to something other than the work at hand. Maybe it’s knowing the boss, or having a family tie with the company as a whole. Either way, it sucks. It sucks for workers, and it sucks for athletes too. Keeping Perez and Castillo will only enforce that, and moving Pagan and Thole up will give everybody something to strive for.

If the Mets can do all that, they should be competitive next year. A lot of their future is dependent on how well Carlos Beltran comes back from his knee injury, and if Jason Bay can turn it around. But, at the very least, they should be able to get their farm system to be a positive to support the stars.

The division races in the American League could come down to the wire, with perhaps the AL West, where Texas has a comfortable lead, being the lone exception. The AL East is the unquestioned best division in baseball with what are probably the three best teams in the American League, if not all of baseball, with perhaps apologies to Texas. The Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox are all battling for what will likely be two playoff spots.

AL East: The defending World Series champions, the New York Yankees, lead the way in the division and currently have the best record in baseball, however, the Tampa Bay Rays are right on their heels. In a division where four of the five teams are currently over .500, each division game will be tough to win. The Red Sox currently sit 5 games back of the Yankees and are still in the thick of the race as well. The Wild Card winner is also likely to come down to the 2^nd and 3^rd place teams of this division, although the team that doesn’t win the Central out of the Twins or White Sox could also be a contender. The Yankees are my pick to repeat this year, although I know I’m not really going out on a limb on that one, and I think they will hold off the Rays and Red Sox to take the division. The Yankees do have certain questions they have to answer before the postseason, particularly in their bullpen and with the health of certain players. Joba Chamberlain hasn’t faired well this year when he was put in the set up role to get to closer Mariano Rivera and David Robertson has become the 8^th inning man recently. Kerry Wood was also added to the bullpen at the trade deadline and he picked up the win in the Yankees comeback win against Texas last night. Andy Pettitte should come back soon fully healthy and ready to continue his all-star season. A.J. Burnett has been inconsistent, but this isn’t anything new in his career. Tampa Bay has the pitching to contend, but I think they are lacking slightly offensively compared to the Yankees and that might just be enough for New York to take the division.

AL Central: The Twins won the division last year after defeating the Tigers, who did their best Mets impression by having a collapse down the stretch, in a one game playoff to decide the AL Central winner. They went on to get swept by the Yankees and an injury to closer Joe Nathan which has forced him to miss the entire year had some people question whether they could repeat. Minnesota is right there again largely thanks to Jon Rauch who has stepped in for Nathan. They also boast the best bullpen in the American League in terms of ERA. They are currently battling the White Sox in a pivotal series for first place while Detroit sits a ways back and will need a big comeback to win the division at this point. Joe Mauer isn’t having the MVP season he had last year, but he still is 5^th in the league in batting. After Chicago’s win last night, the White Sox and Twins are in a dead heat for first with the rubber match coming tonight to decide who claims first place. Minnesota’s offense has been strong this season as they are 4^th in baseball in runs scored. Chicago’s pitching has been strong as they are 4^th in the league in team ERA, but Minnesota isn’t far behind them as they are 7^th. I think Minnesota has the edge coming down the stretch and they have the experience of being defending division champions. It will likely come down to the wire between the two clubs, but I see the Twins repeating as AL Central champs.

AL West: The Texas Rangers have always had a potent offense, but their pitching has recently become the reason for their success, and with Nolan Ryan as Team President, maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise. They currently have the 3^rd best ERA in the American League and boast a particularly strong bullpen full of hard throwers. Ryan has made it clear that he doesn’t regard pitch counts for much and is preaching for his pitchers to build up their arms and throw longer outings throughout the organization. They currently have the largest lead of any team in baseball with a 7.5 game lead, 5 more games than any other division leader currently has. The Mariners have been a disappointment this season and recently fired their manager, while the Angels, who have been the class of the division in recent years, are also struggling with their former ace John Lackey being traded to the Red Sox at the beginning of the year as well as slugger Kendry Morales being sidelined for the remainder of the season. Texas should be in line to win the division and make their first playoff appearance since 1999 barring a surprising turnaround. Outfielder Josh Hamilton is having an MVP type season and is leading the majors in batting with a .357 average. DH Vladimir Guerrero, who played for the Angels last season, is also having a resurgent year for the Rangers and is currently 4^th in the AL in RBIs with 86. Neftali Feliz has been strong at closer and the addition of Cliff Lee provides the Rangers with a legitimate ace to head their rotation. Come playoff time, they could surprise a few people and make a deep run.

AL Wild Card: The Wild Card winner is likely to come from the East, and the Rays currently lead the way. The Rays currently sit 1.5 games behind the Yankees for first in the East and have the 2^nd best record in all of baseball. They lead the Red Sox by 3.5 games for the Wild Card and boast a 5 game lead over the White Sox and Twins, who are tied for the Central lead. After that, another AL East team, Toronto, is actually the next in line so it’s safe to say no other team will likely contend for the Wild Card. The Red Sox were supposed to be built on pitching and defense, but Jon Lester has really been their only consistent starter all year, however, their offense is 2^nd in the league in runs scored. The Rays on the other hand, lead the AL in team ERA and are led by young David Price, who leads the league in wins. The Rays young arms are comparable with any rotation in baseball and I think they have the pitching to hold off the Red Sox and win the Wild Card, although Boston is giving them a strong test and will be right in the thick of things until the end.

Before we start with the final 6 shows, I should mention that I didn’t rank South Park, since it’s never clear exactly what label it should get. But it should be acknowledged that it had an outstanding season, and one of its best in years. If I had ranked it, I probably would have put it between numbers 4 and 5 on this list.

6. 30 Rock Still funny, but the element of surprise seems to be gone here. All of these characters have been used so much that nothing that they do or say seems surprising or even particularly interesting anymore. At this point I get that Liz Lemon is a slob, Tracy Jordan says ridiculous things and Kenneth had a crazy upbringing in the south. What can the show do that’s unique? They’ve tried to bring in guest star after guest star, which has worked to a degree, but even that’s getting boring. They need to shake things up, or things will get stagnant quickly. The jokes are still good, but without caring about the characters, like on The Office, it could be a problem. This show would have easily been number 1 for the last 2 or 3 years, so having it this low either means that a lot of fresh blood has come into the comedy scene (which is true) or that this show has really fallen (also true).

5. Curb Your Enthusiasm It feels like years ago that this was on HBO, but it was only one year ago. Larry David put together one of the best seasons in the show’s run, and the Seinfeld reunion to cap it all off worked nicely. He managed to give each person in the show some moments to shine, as well as leaving a few episodes for his usual craziness. At least three or four of the episodes were instant classics, and this season will be remembered for awhile, even if I almost forgot to put it on this list. The one other thing that I took from this season is how funny Jerry Seinfeld is, and that we may have all forgotten that. Each of the other characters were decent on Curb, but Seinfeld and David’s interplay was what really made the season work. Without him, it wouldn’t have been nearly as well done.

4. The League I may be ranking it a bit high at number 4, since it only had six episodes and was still a bit rough around the edges. But I can’t remember a comedy that has ever represented what it’s like to be a sports fan and to be around a group of male friends as well. This is the first show that has accurately described fantasy football. It’s clear that the writers have actually played, and that really helps. But the most important part of the show was the fact that people that don’t like fantasy football could still enjoy it. There’s a fine line between not having the credibility to produce a legitimate comedy about fantasy football and using it so much that it alienates every other person to the show. The writers managed to maintain that balance, and it paid off. Each character had fantastic moments, and the season finale was possibly the best half hour of TV of the entire season. Before judging this show, watch the finale. It’s on Hulu. I beg you. It’s 22 minutes of pure greatness. Was the overall season of Curb better than League? Very possibly. But the potential that The League shows earned it this spot. The other proof: of every show coming back in the fall, I’m the most excited for either this or Eastbound and Down. For that alone, it deserves this high spot.

3. Parks and Recreation What a difference a year makes! In its first season, Parks and Rec felt sloppy and slow; the ugly sister to The Office. But, in its second season, things changed. In the same way that The Office formed its own identity in its second season, after its first season felt like a copy of the British version, P&R did as well. The first season made Leslie Knope, Amy Poehler’s character, seem too much like Michael Scott, but the writers went away from that this season. Leslie’s coworkers began to respect her, even though she was certainly quirky. A dynamite supporting cast was formed, led by rising star Aziz Ansari and Nick Offerman as boss Ron Swanson. The show got better and better, even as ratings fell. It’s amazing how Community and Parks and Recreation made for one of the finest hours on TV all year, but was one of the lowest rated. Bummer. In Parks’ first season, I felt that it had the same potential that The Office showed in its initial six episodes. They were raw, but had the makings of a great show. Parks and Recreation proved me right, and I can’t wait for it to come back midseason.

Now that we’re down to the final two, it’s time to get down to business. Two shows remain, and they’re by far the best two of the season. Let’s match these two up, in a final showdown, to see which deserves the number 1 spot.

Glee Vs. Modern Family

Pure Comedy: Let’s answer a quick question: which one was funnier? While Glee had great characters and some priceless lines, every character on Modern Family was a riot. The one-liners here were unparalleled. Edge: Modern Family

Characters: This is among the closest calls. Both shows have created so many complex, deep characters that it’s impossible to choose one. The entire Dunphy family was fresh and totally unique, yet Sue Sylvester may be the best character to come along since Tony Soprano…did I just go there? You bet I did! Both shows created such rich characters in one season, that I can’t choose. Edge: Push

Guest Stars: This one’s a blowout. While Fred Willard, Chazz Palminteri and Benjamin Bratt did nice jobs on Modern Family, Glee’s group of stars were unprecedented. Neil Patrick Harris stole an episode, Kristen Chenoweth was fantastic and Idina Menzel added to the show towards the end of the season. Each person brought in was everything the audience could’ve asked for. Big Edge: Glee

Unsung Heroes: For Modern Family, it’s the kids. Phil and Claire’s three kids, along with Manny, Jay and Gloria’s son, brought far more than anyone could’ve expected. Luke and Manny together could be a sitcom in itself. But a certain ex-host of GUTS stole this category. As Kurt’s straight father, Mike O’Malley may have been the best actor on all of Glee, in his unwavering support of his gay son. If I had given you 100 to 1 odds 5 years ago that Mike O’Malley would be nominated for an Emmy as one of the best serious actors on a hit show, would you have taken it? I doubt it, although to quote Kevin on The Office, “I take 100 to 1 odds on anything. If John Cougar Mellencamp ever wins an Oscar, I’m going to be a very rich man.” O’Malley’s been a revelation, and his presence alone put this show on higher ground. Edge: Glee

Overexposure/Burnout: Both of these were big hits in their first season, leading to worries about both of their future. Fortunately, Modern Family has kept a low profile ever since its season finale, quietly showing reruns on ABC and not doing a ton more. Glee, however, has been everywhere. The cast has gone on tour, a book has been released, albums continue to be cranked out, DVD sales are through the roof, and a phenomenon has been born. What worries me about its future is that the song-and-dance element to the show, which I haven’t even mentioned yet, could become too important to the show’s success. While the music was nice, and I’m always a proponent of more Broadway in my life, what made the show were the characters and the humor. If it weren’t for Sue Sylvester, I believe that this show would have failed. If there’s too much music and not enough story, we’ll lose our commitment to the characters and the show will become almost a revue of old music, in an American Idol world. That’s not a good thing. Fortunately, creator Ryan Murphy said this week that he plans on lessening the music for next season, and keeping the focus on the characters. That’s a good sign. But, still: Edge: Modern Family

Degree of Difficulty: For one, Glee is twice as long as Modern Family, so they had double the content to write for the season. Both shows had to be confined within network TV standards, so there’s no edge there. While Modern Family did show heart in many of its episodes, showing us why we should care for the entire Dunphy family, Glee’s ability to mix humor with true emotion was unparalleled. The ability to go back and forth with verbal sparring between Sue Sylvester and Will Schuster, and then deal with legitimate issues like homosexuality and anorexia, was amazing. There were plot holes galore (How did the musicians in the music numbers always know exactly what song the kids were going to sing, when the kids decide to just sing spontaneously? Are they the greatest players in the world? How did the glee club show up for rehearsals every day and have a fully lit stage waiting for them, lighting cues and all? How did they have a constant struggle for money, yet could afford such a detailed lighting and sound system, and then pay for a professional choir to sing behind them occasionally?), but the ability to tackle these problems made up for them. Edge: Glee

And, finally, the last, and most important questions:

Which was more unique? Which could never be duplicated? When I think about this season in 10 years, what will pop up in my mind? Modern Family is an outstanding show, and will have a great shelf life. It’s extremely well written, and it deserves every accolade it gets. But it’s not hard to imagine another smart, funny, well-written show about a big family coming down the pipe in a few years. The show already feels like a relatable mix of 70 percent Arrested Development, and 30 percent The Office, mixing into a nice hybrid. But I can’t compare Glee to anything that I’ve ever seen on TV. It is completely unique, and it feels like a once in a lifetime phenomenon. Glee captured the country’s attention this year, and it’s high points were higher than anything else’s. Modern Family was more consistent, for sure, but Glee is the one that climbed the furthest. I’ll remember that. So, while it was a nail biter:

2. Modern Family

1. Glee

As Sue Sylvester would say, that’s how I see it.

First off, here’s the notable comedies of the year that I didn’t watch. I can’t compare them to the shows that I ranked. For fans of these shows, I’m not disrespecting your show by not ranking it; I just can’t without watching it first:

2 and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, Weeds, Cougar Town, The Middle, Ugly Betty, Better Off Ted, Hung, Bored to Death.

1,987. Scrubs: Med School I’m having war flashbacks thinking about this show, that was on in the later parts of 2009. Is this what it’s like to come back from Vietnam? Not only was this show a complete and total disaster, but it may have ruined 8 years of one of my favorite shows of all time. The episodes in which Zach Braff returned as JD weren’t awful, but the others were as bad as anything I’ve ever watched. I felt bad for Kerry Bishe, a likable enough girl that was strapped with having to play the main part on this new show, picking up where Zach Braff left. Creator Bill Lawrence and the rest of his staff had moved on to Cougar Town, leaving the remains left for us to watch. Donald Faison and John C. McGinley stayed on, but didn’t have even close to the impact that they had on Scrubs. While the last season of the real Scrubs wasn’t very good, the finale was spectacular. It seemed like Lawrence and Co. had written it for whenever the last season would be, and it was as good as any episode in the show’s history. It left a great taste in my mouth, and it should have been left at that. But the new show came, and I watched like a sap. And I was punished for it. And honestly? I love some of the characters from Scrubs enough that if, in a bizarro universe, the new Scrubs was renewed, I’d probably still watch it. I’m a sucker.

12. Entourage To call this the 12^th best comedy gives it WAY more credit than it deserves. I’m confident that if I watched any of the shows in my list above that they’d be ahead of Entourage on this list. At this point, even reviewing Entourage seems like a waste of time. Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) remains a fascinating character, although he becomes a bit less interesting each year. Everyone else on the show remains as stagnant as ever, and the stakes for each character have never seemed lower. The last legitimately interesting storyline to come from the show was in 2007, when Medellin tanked at its premiere. Since then, nothing remotely interesting has happened on the show, and every character has gotten his way enough that every obstacle thrown at them seems temporary. If there’s no realistic chance that a character won’t get what he wants, why bother at all? Yet, I continue to watch every week, and will continue to. I think there’s three main reasons why:

1. Summer Programming- There’s not a whole lot to watch on TV over the summer, so Entourage smartly positions itself as the thing to watch. What’s its competition, anyway? Not a ton.

2. No commercials- This may seem stupid in the age of DVR, but it’s nice to just plop down in front of the TV for 30 minutes, shut the brain off and watch a TV show. After each episode, I almost feel like I’m awaking from a nap. It’s a 30 minute period of relaxation, without anything to really think about. In a way, it’s nice.

3. Selection of women- Entourage does this better than any other show on TV. Emmanuelle Chriqui is always some nice eye candy, and Alexis Dziena’s run last year was among the few highlights of the season. Plus, each random girl that gets to live it up with Vincent Chase each week is always fun to look at. This is what constitutes great TV in the barren desert of summer programming.

11. Californication This is a show that isn’t that different from Entourage, but has more likable characters. David Duchovny’s Hank Moody is a far more sympathetic character than anyone on Entourage, playing a frustrated writer trying to keep a family together while dealing with his flawed self. Along with Evan Handler’s Charlie Runkle, this is a likable cast that has the viewers emotionally invested in them. Since actual bad things have happened to each character throughout the show’s run, the stakes actually seem high. This isn’t the funniest show on TV, but it’s a solid, well-rounded show. The first legitimately good show to make the list. The selection in women on this show might not be at Entourage’s level, but it’s a close second.

10. How I Met Your Mother Bit of a down year for this show, after a strong few years before. Still, this show at its best may be better than any show on the list. Two episodes in particular, “The Playbook” and “Perfect Week”, stand out as being as good as it gets. The episodes where Neil Patrick Harris carries the show are usually among the best, such as those two episodes. But, the second half of the season really faltered, with little plot development and too many individual episodes that don’t relate to others. There were also too many guest stars, and while I love Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lilly (Alyson Hannigan), their quest to have a baby wasn’t intriguing. I think the show will turn it around, though, and soon.

9. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Another consistent, strong year, from this show that gets away with more on FX than I can remember any show getting away with on either HBO or Showtime. Lots of good things here, but nothing that stands out to put it higher than 9. I’ve described this show as “Seinfeld” with less boundaries, and the main 5-person cast works as well together as any on TV. I wish I had more ways to describe the show, but I really don’t. It’s always a fun half hour. It was overshadowed a bit by the show that followed it on FX , but we’ll get there later.

8. Community It was a rocky first season for the new show on NBC, starring Joel McHale, among others. While it started strongly, it went into a major lull in the middle of the year, to the point that I was able to walk around and do other things while watching it and not fear of missing anything. But, by mid-March, it had regained its early season form and its final month was as good as any network show. Its third-to-last episode, Modern Warfare, was an instant classic. At some point, the show decided to stop taking its characters so seriously and used them to parody different things left and right, and it culminated in this episode. Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed (Daniel Pudi) found ways to be funny even when not caring a ton about their character development. When that can happen, a show really starts to succeed, because it gets the freedom to do whatever it wants without risking judgment on the characters. Unfortunately, Community’s ratings went downhill as the year went on, and its final few, and best, episodes were among the least watched. Hopefully it can rebound in this coming year, or it could be a candidate for cancellation. But, with NBC’s state right now, it wouldn’t be wise to cancel a fresh, funny show that gets good reviews. NBC has done dumber things in the past.

7. The Office This may be a bit high, for how the season went, but I’m biased. The Office is my favorite show of all time, and its second and third season is as good as anything that I’ve ever watched. But it’s slowly gone downhill, not in the quality department, but more so in its humor. There seems to be a need for drama constantly now, and that wasn’t always the case. Instead of highlighting the absolutely fantastic supporting cast, there has been more and more emphasis on real-world problems, such as the shutdown of Dunder Mifflin and the downturn in the economy. That’s made the show less enjoyable as a whole. The acting is still excellent, with Steve Carell putting on a weekly clinic, and Ed Helms is consistently great. Jim and Pam’s romance was a key part of the first few seasons, but with their plotline resolved, they’ve each turned into far less likable people. They’ve gone from being the two people with sanity in an office of crazy people into characters as flawed as everyone else. This isn’t a bad thing, necessarily, but they haven’t given us a reason to root for them. It’s tough for us to root for Jim to prank Dwight in some mean way when we realize how flawed Jim is, as well. In fact, an argument could easily be made that Dwight is a better person than Jim. That’s a bit of a problem. But I love this show and these characters so much that I couldn’t put it any lower than 7^th. With Steve Carell leaving after this season, here’s hoping that it reverts to its old form. We have 22 episodes left with Michael Scott. Let’s make the most of them.

Come back on Friday for Part 2, as I reveal the top six comedies of the 2009-10 year.

But we did. We all did. And now we’re reconciling.

Jersey Shore premiered on MTV on December 3^rd, 2009. For the following 9 weeks, we all fell in love at the Jersey Shore. Each week the show had a party element to it, and people gathered with each other to watch it. It was mass viewing at its best; people could come together to have a good time, and not have to struggle to grasp the meaning of what was happening. Everyone understood how crazy the show was, and most people loved it. If it were 1992, things would have been different. The show would have taken a while to gain traction, and it would have gathered a cult following of diehard fans that wouldn’t miss it for the world. The stars of the show would have stayed relatively unknown, and they could have gone on to continue to make the show and make their loyal fans happy. Not one person on The Real World was ever even a fraction of the celebrity that the Jersey Shore cast has become. Unfortunately, it was 2009, and things heated up faster than The Situation suggesting that Snooki ‘had some rolls’.

In the generation we live in, things don’t build up slowly, with very few exceptions. They skyrocket instantly, or they never really gain traction. Within the first few weeks of Jersey Shore, the cast had been on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jay Leno’s 10 o’clock show and countless awards shows. By the time that the holidays rolled around, there were really only two topics of conversation at parties: Tiger Woods and Jersey Shore. I talked about beating up the beat with people more than anything else for a whole month. GTL hadn’t been established yet, so we didn’t go there. But every other little reference was talked about over and over again. I’ll remember the 2009 holidays for family, friends, grenades, hippos and smushing (Ronnie’s term for sex). For at least a few weeks, the show was ours; everyone who watched it had a coolness factor that others didn’t have. We were in an exclusive club. By the time New Year’s Eve rolled around, the show had exploded into a phenomenon. Michael Cera was given the Guido Look by the cast for promos for his movie. The cast was co-hosting MTV’s coverage of the ball dropping in Times Square. The overkill had begun.

In the coming months, the first season of the show came to an end. We were introduced to GTL, The Situation’s routine of gym, tanning and laundry each day. We learned about Single J-Woww and the gorillas and juiceheads on the beach. My go-to declaration of victory became “That’s one shot, kid!” But, in due time, the season ended, and we were left without the show itself, but with the greasy remains that spread themselves out over the pop culture world. The cast continued to yuk it up with Jay Leno, every talk show had members on, and New Jersey jokes were everywhere. Bobby Moynihan played a parody of Snooki on Saturday Night Live, and Ellen Degeneres made Jersey Shore references on American Idol, the least cult-y show in the history of TV. Slowly, the initial fans started to lose interest, since they were only getting the watered down version of each character without the actual show. Plus, a huge part of what made the show great was how it was edited and put together. One of the best jokes from the whole season was when Snooki was describing a guy that she had decided that she was in love with, and had potential with. As she finally said his name, it was revealed to the audience that she had completely gotten his name wrong, and it was something different altogether. Those kinds of moments couldn’t happen on talk shows. After a while, everyone needed Jersey Shore to go away for a few months, in the same vein as eating only fast food for two weeks. After all, how much bad food can you eat in a row without a break? It may taste really good, but after awhile you’ll just want a salad. We all needed some vegetables to counter the fried fat that was Jersey Shore, but it wasn’t being given to us. It was constantly being forced down our throats. It was announced that the cast was going to Miami for the second season, and it seemed to be a sell-out move. When the 2^nd season was set to begin on July 29th, I wasn’t even sure if I would watch it. It had come to that.

But, fortunately, things turned around. As filming of the second season started, the talk show appearances died down. The talk from all sources about the show gradually wilted. The housewives and 70-year-old men started to eliminate Snooki, guidette, and every other Jersey Shore-ism from their vocabularies. Now, as commercials promoting the new season have kicked up, I’m as excited as ever. Snooki announced that she didn’t want to cheat on her boyfriend, but “Put a bottle of So-co in front of me and who knows what’ll happen”. Pauly D announced that “We’re living in a GFA, a Grenade Free America”. The Situation talked about wearing his “shirt before the shirt”, meaning that he’ll put his going-out shirt on later. I forgot how much I missed these people, for brilliant moments like these. How could these ever be replaced? Finally, MTV showed a video of the whole cast beating up the beat and dancing in a packed Miami club to Enrique Iglesias’ I Like It,  arguably the catchiest song of the summer. With that, I was in. Done. Let’s do it. But there are still questions about what we witnessed.

The fact of the matter is that as long as we have hundreds of channels on our TV, limitless websites to promote shows, and the ability to use Youtube at our fingertips, overexposure will be a part of life. Whatever the next show is that becomes an overnight sensation will face the same problems. Let’s just deal with that matter, and get over it. More importantly, what does the backlash and then the backlash to the backlash say about us? Why are we so influenced by the media that our perceptions of something can so radically be changed by something we can’t control? By mid-April, if I never saw The Situation and Vinny again, it would have been too soon. (Sidebar: It would be unjust to do an entire Jersey Shore column without once mentioning and giving ample props to Vinny, the one cast member that seems to be smarter than it all. He seems like a bright guy who just happens to live in this culture. His jokes were on a totally different level than the other cast mates throughout the first season, and it’s clear how much more intelligent he is than everyone else. Thought that needed to be said.) So how can I go from being madly in love with a show to being tired of it to hating it and then going back to loving it, without the show even being on the air? I actually felt bad for MTV at one point as this was going on. All they did was produce an enjoyable show; they didn’t ask for all the hype that made everyone tired of it. The problem is within. We all decided to judge Jersey Shore for what was happening with it on other TV shows. If we had only judged it based on the episodes of the show, we would have still loved it. If John Krasinski has a lame appearance on Leno, I’m not going to start hating The Office because of it. It’s a totally separate entity. The same must be applied to Jersey Shore if the show is going to have any sort of lasting impact. The show is what matters. The hype around it is all just noise trying to drown out its actual voice. I know that I’m making this goofy, stupid show to be much more than it actually is, but even if it were a great work of art, the fact would remain the same. Judge the product, not the hype. As we go into season 2, the show will have to address this pressing topic: How will these people’s lives change now that they’re famous? I can only hope that we find out not from Jay Leno and Billy Bush, but from The Situation, Snooki, J-Woww, Vinny, Pauly D, Ronnie and Sammi Sweetheart, our voices of truth.

The Situation, Snooki, J-Woww, Vinny, Pauly D, Ronnie and Sammi Sweetheart. Voices of truth. God help us all.