Albert Banks

If you’re like most Americans, you’ve got a DVR or Tivo for your TV watching. This brilliant device allows us to cram more viewing into less time. We no longer have to sit through the 20 minutes of commercials per hour.

Nor do you have to sit through a show’s intro. But do you? Most of the time I don’t, but there are a few show that I just can’t skip. Here’s my list:

The Office
The jingle gets me every time.

Chuck
Cartoony Bond-like intro backed by Cake’s “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”

Battlestar Galactica
Closes with high-energy snippets of the current episode

What TV Show intros do you watch?

If you have a next generation gaming console, odds are you were one of the millions of people who purchased Grand Theft Auto 4 (GTA 4). I hadn’t played a GTA game since the original on a PC, but the reviews convinced me to give this one a try. Not only are the graphics and audio ridiculous, the physics and AI are off the charts. It is so realistic!

I found myself hooked. So much so that I started thinking about the game while driving around doing everyday tasks. Thoughts kept popping into my head. I present them now as the Top 5 ways to know you’ve played too much Grand Theft Auto.

5. You start wondering how much money nearby pedestrians have on them.

4. You think you can squeeze down the middle of the cars on a two lane road.

3. You doubt anyone would really hit you if you drive fast enough through an intersection.

2. You start justifying giving The Intimidator move to the jerk next to you.

1. You get excited about a straightaway in front of a pile of dirt. Stunt Jump!

With the recent update to Wordpress 2.5 and my new theme, the commenting function was no longer working. I found the problem and have fixed it. Thanks for letting me know, Jesse! So, feel free to post comments…

A majority of Americans still rely on cable companies for television service. Here in Charlotte the culprit is Time Warner Cable. We all know the benefits of cable: service not affected by weather, low installation costs and package deals with internet and home phone.

But in recent years satellite has been gaining on cable in the quest for subscribers – and for good reason. I’ve recently considered switching from Time Warner Cable for a very simple reason: High Definition (HD).

Many of us have joined the HD revolution. In fact, I can’t even watch standard definition stations anymore. Once you go HD, you can’t go back – and cable companies continue to lag behind in their offering of HD channels.

Out of 500 or so channels on Time Warner digital cable, there are only 29 high definition channels with the premium HD and movie package. And that includes the HD channels available for free over the air (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, WB and PBS).

Meanwhile, DIRECTV has 88 HD channels with the highest HD package. Even Dish Network beats cable with 58 HD channels. And both satellite options plan to add more channels in the near future.

So, cable better hustle. The numbers don’t lie. High Definition customers, such as myself, are ready to overlook the pitfalls of satellite to increase their number of channels. We didn’t invest in HDTVs to watch pixelated or stretched standard def channels.

HD offering numbers for Charlotte found at www.whereishd.com.

Like many regions across the US, the Charlotte area has been experiencing a drought. The city and surrounding counties imposed mandatory water restrictions including no watering of lawns, no car washing and no fountains or pools. Residents were also encouraged to take shorter showers and run less loads in the dishwasher and washing machine. Residents complied and due to recent rains, the drought status will soon be downgraded.

There was another effect of residents using less water in the past few months. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities Department made less money, leading to a whopping $20 million deficit. Charlotte City Council is bailing them out by approving a 15 percent hike in the water and sewer rates starting next month.

So, our prize for doing what the city mandated? Less water for a higher price. How no one at the Utilities Department or City Council foresaw this is mind boggling. Perhaps they were dehydrated…

Up nine points with 2:12 to go in the game, it appeared the Memphis Tigers would win the National Championship game. With time against them, the Kansas Jayhawks had no choice but to foul to extend the game. As any basketball fan knows, to win a game down the stretch you will have to make free throws.

All season long, despite winning an NCAA record 38 games, Memphis was a terrible free throw shooting team. At one point this season they were 347th out of 350 NCAA teams in free throw shooting percentage. Ouch. Many pundits argued that this Tiger “Dream Team” was good enough to overcome the deficiency. In fact they shot much better during tournament play.

But on Monday night on the biggest stage, they missed four of five free throws allowing Kansas to stay in the game. Mario Chalmers took advantage, hitting a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left to force overtime. The Jayhawks had all the momentum and controlled the extra period, winning 75-68.

In a sporting event there are often five to ten moments that can change the momentum and outcome of the game. But I’ll disregard that by simply stating the obvious. If you hit your free throws you will win the game. Sure, the opponent could trade 2 for 3 and close the gap, but a free throw is a much higher percentage shot than a contested 3-pointer.

Free throw shooting is truly a lost art. Even guards, traditionally the best shooters on the court have trailed off in recent years.

Perhaps the modern basketball culture has gotten too caught up in alley-oops, step back threes, crossovers and thundering dunks. True, the free throw is not glamorous. It will never appear on a poster, but it wins games. Any player who cares about winning should step back 15 feet and shoot until it becomes natural. As natural as winning a championship.

AP Photos by Mark Humphrey.