Perfect Record

Put some sprinkles on the ice cream folks, that episode was dessert! The Lions dished out an old fashioned butt whoopin' but more than that FNL served up yet another great episode.
What a great start to this week as Eric yelled out "if y'all punch this one in we can go home." Such a classic coaching maneuver for all you ex-jocks out there. The opposite of which is "we're gonna stay here all night if we have to until we get it right."
Buddy and the boosters showed up to stand watch over the Lions's field to start Rivalry Week off right. How about the Colonel bringing along his rifle? "Don't worry Coach, the safety's on and I still got the bullets in my pocket!"
We knew the final season was going to bring some old faces back, but I was blown away when Jason Street a.k.a. "6" returned and announced he had become a real deal big shot agent. You had to respect the hustle and initiative he showed by trying to gauge Eric's interest in taking a college job. He had to ask the question before Bob Sugar came calling right?
He looked great and I loved hearing about his family and how his son is only throwing a loose spiral but is working on it. A Panther for life he cracked me up as he told Eric that Street's look better in blue when Eric handed him a Lions hat. Eric tried to tell him that RED is the color these days and by the end of the game he certainly saw that for himself.Only weak spot in the former QB 1's game was showing up to the Lion's practice rocking his old Panthers jersey. You're a big time agent now son, act as if. He bounced back though when he was in the center of the Dillon huddle firing up the Panthers before the game. That was some palpable intensity.
Jess knew right away that Vince's dad moving back in was not a good idea. He is moving in more ways than one that was evident. Good on Vince for not taking the free shoes even if they were fly.
What Ornette doesn't understand is that Eric always puts his kid's welfare ahead of his own. He marched right into the Panther's den and told the boosters to go after him if they want, but to leave his kids alone. You could see the look of regret on Mac's face as his old friend was most certainly right.
Eric was pissed, the Lions were pissed and I was pissed at the web site. I liked how Eric controlled the situation though and told them to focus on practice and come Friday they would punish.
Billy continued his training of Luke but called out his toughness. Their back yard workouts provided a number of amazing quotes.
Billy: Real men don't use real weights! Real men fender bench!

Billy: Stevie gets angry when you don't run hard!

Billy: My wife is a woman dumb ass.

Luke: Ms. Riggins works at the Landing Strip?
Billy: Yeah whatever, listen, you gotta let them know that they can't get this. They gotta earn this.
Luke: So does she still work there? Like nights or weekends?
Billy training Luke while he carried little Stevie in the Baby Bjorn and sipped his beer was as good a moment as I've seen. "Goodness in a Glass"

Ornette seemed like he may have been getting back into his old ways as he stalked the sideline at practice and ran his mouth like he was hopped up on something. Reminded me of Marlon Wayans in Above the Rim.
Vince's mom though was too happy to see her man's interference as troublesome. She has he boys back and could not have been more happy watching them play ball with the kids in the Taylor's front yard. She did have to tell them to give the little kids their ball back though which took me back to Boyz N the Hood.
Tami and Eric has great chemistry once again playing off one another like seasoned vets. Some of my favorite moments have come when Tami and Julie are talking and Eric just shouts things out from the other room. This week it was when he was cleaning out the fridge and came across what must have been Julie's tofu and exclaimed, "what the hell is this, who eats this stuff?" I thought it weird how Julie earlier on asked Tami if Eric had made any tofu scramble. This is a guy who cooks bacon in his own office. Somehow I don't think tofu scramble is in his repertoire.
The scene where he and Tami were in bed and she fell asleep while Eric tried to get her to fool around was so amazingly accurate. Just ask any married men out there.
As for the game what can I say? From Luke saying "Good Night 85" to Tommy Larkins to Buddy Jr.'s hit on kickoff coverage, the whole game was stellar. I've been on the wrong end of plenty of blow outs and nothing hurts more than a team running up the score on you, but after what the Panthers did to the Lions with the web site I didn't fault them in the least. Tinker screaming at the Panthers to get off the field was a bit much, but I was not a fan of Coach Crowley getting all uppity and in the face of Billy. Look Billy has some growing up to do before he can become the head coach, but he gets these kids unlike any of the other staff. Even Eric had trouble holding back his enthusiasm during the game. Crowley needed to remind himself of the criminal nature and potentially career threatening consequences of the web site put up by the Panther faithful.
To close out the week we saw Luke and "Fours" finally get it on again, this time in a more G Rated manner, but not lacking any passion. I liked how he channeled Tim by calling Becks "Rally Girl" and such but he played the bashful boy in love well too.
Great episode and just another solid step toward the show's ultimate finish. I have to share one bit of hilarity with you all. When Luke layed out the Panther receiver to open the game I jumped up and cheered as consequently got yelled at by my wife for threatening to wake the kids. Like Billy i was so caught up in the excitement that I forgot for a second that they were just at the other end of the hall. So it seemed as if we all let our emotions get the better of us this week, but hopefully Vince will see his way to getting back on track and playing for himself and his team mates and not for the father who let's face it was not there to catch Vince when he fell, Eric was and gave him a chance to discover his talent.