Hope springs eternal

Is there any better feeling than getting the clubs out for the first time every spring?

Heading to the range today for the first session of the year. Getting the kinks out. Goal is to not throw out my back.

Pulling the clubs out for the first time every spring also gives me a chance to remember which ones I broke during my last round the summer before. This year it looks like I'm in need of a new driver and 6 Iron. Damn it. Trip to Golftown in my very near future.

Seriously though, what a day. Stop touching yourself and get outside.

Top 10 SNL Cast Members No. 5: Darrell Hammond

Over the next couple weeks (err, months), I'll be counting down my choices for the all time best cast members from Saturday Night Live, one of my favourite shows over the years.

Two certain criteria need to be met: 1) no cast members before 1990, because I didn't watch the show before that time, and 2) no members of the current cast, because it just isn't that good.

Darrell Hammond (1995-2009)

The top 5 begins with the longest tenured cast member in show history.

Darrell Hammond is, simply put, an SNL Hall of Famer.

He has appeared on the show more than any other cast member in history, and his impressions total a whopping (and mostly bang-on and hilarious) 107. He also holds the record for most times uttering the catch phrase "Live from New York, its Saturday Night!" All these tidbits alone are enough to put Hammond on my list, but the fact of the matter is, no matter how long he's been around, Darrell Hammond is a beauty.

Nobody will ever forget Darrell's snarly portrayal of Sean Connery on "Celebrity Jeopardy!" That character is a timeless treasure. Even if you aren't that familiar with or a fan of SNL, if you haven't seen a Celebrity Jeopardy! skit, I don't even know you anymore. Suck it, Trebek!

Hammond had the task of playing some very crucial political roles on the show over the years. His Bill Clinton was spot on, as was his John McCain (eerily so), his Dick Cheney and, to a lesser extent, his Al Gore.

No Hammond impersonation made me smile more than his Donald Trump though. Some of the skits during the Trump vs Rosie O'Donnell feud were painfully funny, all thanks to Darrell's work. He pulls of the know everything, I am always right, I'm the boss schtick to perfection.

I give you the following link for your pleasure, and as always, YouTube is your friend...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdREPjP_-EQ

"do do do dee do do.... The Apprentice."

To say that the show misses Darrell Hammond is a gross understatement. Cast members like him come around maybe once every 10-15 years. There is nobody on the current cast list that could even hold a candle to him.

Top 10 SNL Cast Members No. 6: Jimmy Fallon

Over the next couple weeks (err, months), I'll be counting down my choices for the all time best cast members from Saturday Night Live, one of my favourite shows over the years.

Two certain criteria need to be met: 1) no cast members before 1990, because I didn't watch the show before that time, and 2) no members of the current cast, because it just isn't that good.

Jimmy Fallon (1998-2004)

First of all, it seems ridiculous that Jimmy Fallon left the show SEVEN years ago. Time... man.

Despite Fallon drawing the ire of some SNL traditionalists, I never found him to be anything but funny and entertaining. Sure, he holds the world record for most times breaking the "fourth wall", but I don't think it ever took away from a skit. Quite the opposite, I'd say.

Pictured above is Fallon as "Sully" of "Sully and Denise", the Boston teens who over-do the Boston accent to perfection. "You ah so retahded!" "No, you ah!" When Ben Affleck got involved, it was even better. Yes, I'm also an Affleck apologist.

Fallon is included in this list simply because I think he was great as a cast member and this is my list. It's too easy to look at him breaking down in laughter on camera and hate it. I embraced it and I'm glad chose to do so, because I would have missed out on a lot of funny material.

"Hello, my name is Carson Daly, and I'm a MASSIVE TOOL." I mean, come on.

His most well remembered character is probably "Nick Burns", your company computer guy, always called in to an office to do some tech support. "MOOOOOOOVE!"

While "Sully" is my favourite Fallon character, his impersonation of Barry Gibb is not far behind. His work with Justin Timberlake on the "Barry Gibb Talkshow" was tear-inducingly funny.

And let us not forget that he was the co-host of Weekend Update for a long period of time as well. Solid stuff with the always funny Tina Fey there. Oh how the thought of those two make me hate Seth Meyers even more.