EAP Arena: 2006 Rivalry Week Picks

In one of those blog sharing moments, the EAP Arena comes to Cinco for a game of pick 'em. I'm not worried about the spread, just who wins.

The Lonestar Showdown
Texas Longhorns v. Texas A&M Aggies
Cinco Pick: Look for UT to hook the aggies as they try to keep their slim BCS Title Game hopes alive

The Battle for the Boot
Arkansas Razorbacks v. LSU Tigers
Cinco Pick: I see Arkansas stumbling into the SEC Title game after getting "upset" by LSU

The Governor's Cup
Florida Gators v. Florida State Seminoles
Cinco Pick: The Noles have been blasted by damn near every ACC team they've played at home this year. Add to that they almost lost to Troy. Gators win this one easily.

The Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh
Notre Dame Fighting Irish v. USC Trojans
Cinco Pick: I don't like the Irish. I'd rather not see OSU/Mich II. I'm picking the Men of Troy on those reasons alone.

The Bedlam Series
Oklahoma Sooners v. Oklahoma State Cowboys
Cinco Pick: Is anyone really picking the Cowboys? Sooners roll in this one.

The Egg Bowl
Mississippi State Bulldogs v. Ole Miss Rebels
Cinco Pick: Look for Sylvester Croom to have his boys ready. It takes a few years to build a program, but a win over his rival will show the boosters that he's on the right track.

The Commonwealth Cup
Virginia Cavaliers v. Virginia Tech Hokies
Cinco Pick: A battle of the have and havenots. VT is the Coastal Division's best team, however they'll be at home next week. Look for them to take that frustration out on the Cavaliers (keeping them home for the post season in the process).

The Holy War
BYU Cougars v. Utah Utes
Cinco Pick: I know nothing about BYU, but I hear they're good. Good enough for me.

The Border Showdown for the Indian War Drum
Kansas Jayhawks v. Missouri Tigers
Cinco Pick: After getting homered by the Big XII officiating crew the Tigers should bounce back against a Kansas team that's had their spirit broken by losing one too many close games.

The Civil War
Oregon Ducks v. Oregon State Beavers
Cinco Pick: Sure the Beavers handed USC their only loss this season. But do the Beavers have an answer for the Ducks' yellow on yellow jerseys? My money is on no. Ducks take this one.

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate
Georgia Bulldogs v. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Cinco Pick: Georgia Tech is extremely overrated. If it weren't for the fact they were in the Coastal Division of the ACC they would be no where near the Top 25. Dawgs take the Jackets out back and show them who still runs the Peach State.

The Territorial Cup
Arizona Wildcats v. Arizona State Sun Devils
Cinco Pick: ASU has a cooler mascot. They win. (Who cares either way)

Southern Fried Football Probation Bowl
North Carolina Tarheels v. Duke Blue Devils
Cinco Pick: This game was supposed to pit a 1-10 UNC team against an 0-11 Duke team, but NC State decided to blow that scenario. While the Tar Heels have a newfound sense of confidence, I really want Duke to pull this one out. Blue Devils by 4. Yes, 4.

The Battle for the Palmetto State
South Carolina Gamecocks v. Clemson Tigers
Cinco Pick: Which team shows up? The Gamecocks that played tough with Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, and Arkansas? Or the Carolina team that took the field against Wofford and Georgia? In the same breath, which Tiger team takes the field? The BCS-bound Tigers of the early part of the season or the team that's slowly backing its way in to the Mieneke Car Care Bowl? Too tough to call. But right now, the Gamecocks are looking to get over the hump and the Tigers (led by Will Proctor...) are barely trying to hold on. Hopefully the two weeks off have done the Tigers some good, but right now going off of what I've seen over the past 3 games (as much as I hate to), I see Carolina snapping their 4 game losing streak to my beloved Tigers.

I pray that I'm wrong.

Top 5 Horror Writers

I notice there isn't a whole lot of talk about literature and writing on here. Maybe that's because Terence spends too much time watching wrasslin' and not enough time reading. But fear not, Cobby is here to save the day!

5) Stephen King
Right out the gate, let me say that King has not been scary for about twenty years. Weird? Yes. Scary? Not really. His earlier stuff, most notably his first two short story compilations, has some pretty frightening stuff that kept me up many nights.

4) Clive Barker
Barker created the character Pinhead, and that isn't even his meanest, nastiest creation. Need I really say more?

3) Robert W. Chambers
Chambers writes in the Lovecraftian style, but he does so better than most. He leans more towards the "this guy is just plain crazy" than Lovecraft did, but his stories are all very, very good.

2) There is no number 2. Number 1 is so awesome he takes up both spots.

1) Howard Phillips Lovecraft
Lovecraft is the king of horror. He is the most emulated writer in the genre, and most horror writers get their start by writing short stories to fit into the Cthulhu Mythos. Lovecraft's stories deal predominantly with ancient beings toying with mankind in various ways, but you're always left wondering whether or not the events in the story actually happened, or were they the ramblings of an insane mind. Even after 70 years his works have not lost their appeal, and I doubt they ever will.

Top 5 Horror Games

I figured I'd follow up my horror movie list with one about games.

5) Resident Evil
While certainly not the first horror game, it was definitely the first with mass appeal. It's not really scary by today's standards, but back in the day, I was too scared to play this game at night.

4) F.E.A.R.
There are two ways to play this game. One way is to treat it like another first person shooter and just run at full speed, killing everything. It's not particularly scary that way as you tend to run past or jump over all the little flourishes. However, if you play it more like the developers intended and take things nice and slow, this game will scare the crap out of you.

3) Clive Barker's Undying
This is easily the scariest computer game I've played. Clive Barker has a truly twisted imagination, and he brings every ounce of it to bear on this game. You are always scared of what might be around the next corner.

2) The Fatal Frame series
Ok, so it's not a single game, but you have to lump these three together or else they'd dominate most of the top five. To get an idea of what this game is like, think of Resident Evil, only instead of zombies and monsters you have ghosts, and instead of pistols, shotguns, and grenade launchers, you have a camera. Yes, you read that right, you have to fight off ghosts with a goddamn camera! And these aren't your friendly types of ghosts like Slimer and Casper; oh no, these are the "raping you is the nicest thing I'm going to do tonight" ghasts from movies like 13 Ghosts.

1) The Silent Hill series
Like the previous entry, I had to list this as a series rather than a single game just so I could list something besides Silent Hill games. These games are scary for the exact opposite reasons as any Resident Evil games; the RE games are scary because of what is happening right there on your screen. The Silent Hill games are scary because of things you may just catch a single glimpse of, or maybe something you think you might have heard but can't be sure but holy Jesus was it horrifying. The unknown will always be scarier than the known.

Top 5 Horror Movies

Terence's list was incredibly lame. Here's a much better one.

5) The Exorcist
Ok, so I agree with him on this one.

4) Jacob's Ladder
You know that crazy-face-movement thing that has been played out to death in the last five years? This is the movie that started it all. It was also a major inspiration for Silent Hill.

3) Audition
This is one of the dullest movies until the last half hour or so, and then it becomes one of the sickest and most twisted things you'll ever see.

2) John Carpenter's The Thing
This movie holds up well for being almost 25 years old. No movie since this one has managed to capture the overwhelming sense of isolation and paranoia quite so well.

1) Two-way tie between The Ring and John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness
The Ring terrified me like few other movies. However, I will readily admit that freaky little children scare me more than anything except spiders. But seriously, if that scene where Samara climbs out of the TV didn't scare the crap out of you, then the crazies are right and overexposure to violent and disturbing media can desensitize people.

ItMoM is a truly stunning story about what defines insanity...but the presentation leaves a bit to be desired. Sam Neil is the star, which is also quite bad ass.

Top 5 Live Performances

5) Eminem ft. Dido - "Stan" - Saturday Night Live
4) Bush - "Glycerine" - MTV Spring Break 1996
3) Radiohead - "Karma Police" - The Late Show with David Letterman
2) The Killers - "When You Were Young" - 2006 MTV Video Music Awards
1) The Cure - "Pictures Of You" - The Cure, Live From Lyon

Top 5 Game Show Hosts

5) Pat Sajak
4) Richard Dawson
3) Alex Trebek
2) Chuck Woolery
1) Bob Barker

Honorable Mention: Regis Philbin