NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS Big Ten Football Champions 1903, 1926, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1995, 1996, 2000

COLLEGE FOOTBALL MAIN PAGE

There's nothing like the feeling of walking into a packed college stadium on a crisp Autumn Saturday. And no sport produces as much excitement week in and week out. If they would only get a reasonable playoff system, it'd be perfect. But for now, it's the closest thing out there. Some selected links ...

• PIGSKIN PICKS - An annual contest among friends and members of the NU sports list to see who is a peerless prognosticator of the gridiron. Check out the final standings, hall of fame and consider yourself invited to join in the fun this year.
  
• SjTOP 25 - The era of parity seems to be over as there's a big gap between the top 8-10 teams this year and the rest of the top 25. But that doesn't make it any easier to predict who will emerge from that octet with the national title. Check out my weekly rankings to see who's on top of the college football world ... they may not be perfect, but they're certainly closer to reality than those silly computers.
  
• BIG TEN PICKS - Again, it looks as if there's a power rift with the Big Two looking down on the rest of the league ... but there could be one spoiler to that pecking order in Iowa City. And will the league get eight bowl bids again? Maybe nine? Check out my predictions.
  
• CATS CORNER - My little slice of purple paradise, with Wildcat Wrapup reports for each game, links to NU fan sites from fans with far greater computer skills than myself and more.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS NFC West Champions 1991, 2000

PRO FOOTBALL MAIN PAGE

I prefer the college game to the pro in any sport, but the NFL comes pretty close to matching the excitement of its college counterpart. It's better organized than other leagues and Pete Rozelle's dream of parity is now realized, meaning fans in every city can genuinely get excited about their team's chances of winning it all each year. A welcome sight in a professional world where the NBA (Lakers), Baseball (Yankees) and NHL (Red Wings) have really only one or two legit competitors to their top team. Some selected NFL links ...

• POWER RANKINGS - Can the Pats make it three for four? Will Peyton and Dungy finally win the big game? Are the Eagles out of chances? Find out who's headed to beautiful downtown Jacksonville and the Super Bowl.
  
• STEPHEN'S SAINTS SHRINE - My small but hopefully growing (before next season at least) collection of Saints musings, links to Saints sites around the world and other goodies for WhoDats of all ages.
  
• NFL PICKS - My preseason outlook on who's gonna take the crown from Belichik's head.

STEPHEN'S SILVER SCREEN Reviews! Top 10 lists! Hollywood links and more!

MOVIES MAIN PAGE

With classes and all, I haven't had time to update the movie page -- but will hopefully be able to do so sometime before the end of the year. This summer, however, has been a pleasant surprise with sequels that are at least as good -- if not better -- than the originals. Spider-Man 2, Shrek 2, Harry Potter, Bourne Supremacy ... all were solid entertainment, and the summer also featured Fahrenheit 9/11, an explosive and entertaining editorial video essay that led to an explosion of interesting documentaries. But if you're looking for a good movie, here's a six pack of films that stand out among the releases in 2004:

• ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND - The one to beat so far, this looks like it's just another quirky story from the mind of Charlie Kaufman with a fine cast, but even better, it's much more and ultimately a moving exploration of what love is.
  
• KILL BILL - VOL. 2 - The first one was all style and flash, and while that was fun, part two is a different and better movie, held together by an Oscar-worthy performance from Uma Thurman. There's still some great action, but much more substance and emotion.
  
• THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR - A wonderful drama that despite an air of sadness, has some funny and entertaining moments. Terrific performances all around from the cast, and a story that slowly unravels into a poweful tale of a family shattered by tragedy.
  
• FINDING NEVERLAND - Johnny Depp delivers another knockout performance, this time in an understated role as a writer who befriends a widow and her children and finds his inspiration for "Peter Pan." It's a magical movie that truly captures the innocence of the story and earns every tear audiences will be shedding at the end.
  
• SIDEWAYS - Paul Giamatti was robbed of an Oscar nomination last year for "American Splendor" -- hopefully the snub won't be repeated this year because he's wonderful as a pessimistic writer and best man, who's getting away for the week with his friend before the wedding to California wine country. It's Alexander Payne's most complete movie, and as usual with a Payne movie, the performances are first-rate.
  
• RAY - Jamie Foxx, already with a strong performance in "Collateral," delivers a knockout punch in what's sure to be an Oscar-nominated performance as the legendary singer Ray Charles. Foxx disappears into the role and the biopic doesn't sugar coat the life of the musical genius. Nice supporting work as well and a terrific soundtrack.

To find out more, check out my weekly column and the paper's movie page.

• The Times Movie Guide -- Mini-reviews, theaters, discussion boards and more, plus a link to the Movie Scene column, authored by yours truly. For past columns, visit the archives.

Also, look back at what was a pretty good year for Hollywood...

• Reviews of 2002 releases -- From "Abandon" to "Y Tu Mama Tambien," read my views on the films I saw last year.
• SjTen Best of 2002 -- My picks for the ten best films of last year, along with a look at the great movie moments, top performances and the biggest bombs.

More to come. Any comments or suggestions, e-mail me.