Cavaliers come tumbling down

For my final local college basketball poll of 2006, Virginia falls dramatically from the top spot. With two losses in Puerto Rico, the Hoos have to win several ACC games in the New Year to get a sniff of the Top Five. GW has a huge chance to impress tonight against Air Force. I'll be listening to that one on the way home from a presumed blowout of Mount Saint Mary's by the Terps. I plan to see Towson against VCU next week, and if the Rams look as good in person as they have on paper and in brief highlights, they could stay in the mix with the big guys all season. I thought American looked pretty good for a half against Maryland; the Eagles keep it up and they will move ahead of Navy soon

Big Stein has posted a sans-comments poll, last time I checked. My complete thoughts are below:

1. Maryland
Gary Williams now 1-1 against former employers. Could be tough to win the series with Ohio State as the rubber match.
2. Virginia Tech
Hokies finally get a road win after Seth Greenberg points out the obvious similarities between South Orange, NJ, and Blacksburg, VA.
3. VCU
Boasting the poll’s longest active win streak of seven games, VCU applies to upgrade its status from “Team of Probably” to “Team of Destiny.”
4. GW
All’s quiet at Foggy Bottom as Karl Hobbs tries to work his way back onto the media’s “Nice” list.
5. Georgetown
Hoyas now 5-1 this month. JTIII demands that Sports Information Office reprint schedule to show all games as slated for December.
6. Old Dominion
Monarchs get a win against poll whipping boy UAB; Blazers now 0-3 against poll members including Radford.
7. Virginia
Dave Leitao dismayed to learn that his “All-Inclusive” resort package only includes one win. Gotta read the fine print, coach.
8. Navy
Mids rip another Division III opponent (Washington College) before falling to Hoyas. So when is Feinstein going to write a book about Navy’s domination of its DIII opponents?
9. American
Strong first half against Maryland convinces Jeff Jones that he made the right move leaving Charlottesville for Tenley Circle.
10. George Mason
Patriots reenter poll with win over Holy Cross, but must beat Drexel, the best Dragons not in Eragon, this week to stay

Frosted

We watched the Rudolph/Frosty doubleheader as planned on Friday night, and the quality of the classics showed through as always, but CBS made a major goof in selecting the awful "Frosty Returns" for the last half hour. Apparently this piece of dreck has been around since 1992, but somebody needs to put it out of its misery before we are subjected to a 20th Anniversary Celebration.

The original Frosty and its eponymous Christmas carol survive and thrive because of the simple story that appeals to children and adults. The small touches, like Frosty wishing himself a happy birthday when he comes to life, the miming talents of Hocus Pocus the rabbit, and of course the unforgettable dialogue of Professor Hinkle the evil magician ("Busy, busy, busy ...), and other touches of wry humor allow you to enjoy yourself while watching your kids fight a tear the first time they see Frosty melted into a puddle inside the greenhouse. The writers wisely choose to have Santa Claus - rather than the army or the President, as Hocus first suggests - save the day. In doing so, Santa explains to Karen, and all of us, that every year the magic of Christmas returns and can make miracles happen. Yes, it's simplistic, and no, it's not subtle, but only minutes after the show reached its satisfying conclusion, I learned how easy it is to mangle such a great premise.

"Frosty Returns" takes us to Beansboro, a small American burg where Frosty comes to life to help a little girl save her town from an evil industrialist who seeks to enrich himself by ridding the world of snow. So, right away, we have a lefty political agenda, featuring those Hollywood favorites, environmentalists against corporate overlords. Frosty, no longer just a happy jolly soul content to run and play before he melts away, is now some sort of superhero, "SnowMan," ready to defend the rights of skiers and snowboarders. The vocal talents of Jonathan Winters, John Goodman, Brian Doyle Murray and Andrea Martin cannot save this excruciatingly bad script compounded by animation from the "Charlie Brown" team that becomes utterly charmless without the writing and music that made those shows great. Worst of all, the "Let There Be Snow" anthem sung by Frosty is still reverbrating in my head. Ugh.

So, a note to the CBS programming department. Bury this garbage in whatever pit you dug it up from and maybe, just maybe, Santa will leave a quality CSI spinoff in your stocking instead of lumps of coal like the already-cancelled "3 lbs."