Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Sweet TV

I am so effing unemployed. You know it’s bad when on a Saturday night you’re designated driving for your parents (although the DD may quickly turn to drunk driving after a few more Brooklyn Ales). You know what’s more depressing? Loving every second of it. For the first time since I was throwing poop out of my diaper, my house is empty. I’m sitting in my basement, housing some college sodas, and watching TV. I have no job, no prospects, no friends, and this is seriously the best night I’ve had in a while.

But you know what makes this night better? Football. And I’m not talking college football (although I enjoyed watching Nick Saban and his quarterback - who looks like the villain in Ghost - eat a deli-sized shit sandwich from Les Miles AKA Kurt Russel).

I’m talking Friday Night Lights, the television series. The show is incredible. I typically hate TV dramas, but this show really tickles me pink. My interest started with the bad-ass movie, and then was further piqued by Bill Simmons article “Please, help me keep the 'Lights' on” (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070919 ). But my curiosity got a real shot of methamphetamines when I got mono my sophomore year in college. I went home for two weeks and decided to explore some episodes. I was instantly hooked. Doctors said I slowed my recovery by a month; I was up until 3 am every morning watching the series. Worth every minute.

Not much has changed. I’m currently catching up on the 4^th season. Everything about it is cooler than me. One of the main characters, #33 Tim Riggins, is the coolest guy you wished you met. He makes The Most Interesting Man in the World look like Maggie Gyllenhaal. He was Matt Leinart when Matt Leinart used to be Matt Leinart. When he’s not golfing beer cans into a gorge or sleeping in a pickup in the desolate Texas landscape, he's driving down to Tijuana to get weird or hooking up with truckers wives and then beating their asses as if they were the adulterers. The guy crushes beers, crushes babes, and crushes it on the football field. He’s the James Bond of West Texas. Just check out how cool this guy is : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IvQGHSaPo0&p=513D270A6678405E&playnext=1&index=4 . Even trying to describe him is a fool’s task. Just watch the show.

Not only is Riggins simply awe inspiring, but the rest of the cast is entertaining as well. They’re the rug that ties the room together. The girls are all smoke (except for the baby Taylor. She’s a combination of an alien and Damien from The Omen). Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly) is just phenomenal. When she’s not knocking boots with Riggins on the show, she’s cutting a rug with Derek Jeter (Is it gay if I’m jealous of her?). Mrs, Taylor is a pleasure to watch, and I would be so lucky for my wife to look that good at 50. And Coach Taylor is just as cool. He’s come a long way from his days on Early Edition. He’s a solid actor, playing a very convincing coach and dad, which is tough to find in most cable shows. In addition, the McCoy’s are perfect douchebags. They do a great job of getting people to hate them. I legitimately dislike them as characters and hence, as people. If they needed a ride somewhere, I probably wouldn’t pick them up. That’s hatred.

And to really top it off, the show is about football, not the OC, or 90210, or other non-sweet plots. It’s about football in West Texas. Even the lame, chick-flick-esque aspects of the show seem completely enjoyable while mixed with a solid dose of the pigskin. It’s simply, purely, cool. Take my word for it and watch it. I guarantee if your unemployed, a little buzzin, and bored as hell, you’ll be saying “Texas Forever” by the end of the night.