Raising a son has challenges along the way to be sure, but there is a lot of enjoyable aspects to teaching the boy to be a man. One of those, in my opinion, is to make sure that he has seen the movies that have the qualities that he must possess as a man. Or at least they are entertaining enough that you have to have seen them because all the other guys will and you do not want your kid to look stupid.

Now this list will no doubt be different for every father out there, but I thought I would share my list and solicit for any movies I may have overlooked as a part of the Y chromosome experience. Realize too that some of those movies are only for the late teenager to watch. Let Mommy deal with getting him the needed dose of Barney and whatever animated movies he needs. When he gets into his teens is when you need to jump into action.

And apologies if I am ignoring the daughters but I do not have any myself and I am old-school enough to actually think there is a huge difference between a boy and a girl anyway. Perhaps someone else can add the movies to watch with a daughter.

In case you are wondering how I arrived at 11, I aimed for ten and when I was done I shockingly remembered about Saving Private Ryan which is a mandatory watch. But so are the other 10 movies. So we have 11.

The Top 11 Movies To Share With Your Son (in no particular order)

1. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly - Clint Eastwood at his Spaghetti-finest. Searching for buried civil war gold has Clintwood as the ultimate “get it done” bad-ass loner. The Dirty Harry series was great and most his films are must-see. But G-B-U is a classic with the most recognizable theme song in the world. Special mention - High Plains Drifter. The best “ride off into the sunset” in cinematic history. HPD makes a top 20.

2. Red Dawn - Reasonably one of the greatest films ever made, what better movie to show a teenager in high school than what to do when some country invades the United States of America? I think it is important for a young man facing adulthood to believe that he could survive on his own wiles and that he could hold off an entire army by trading up from his deer rifle to an RPG and spray painting WOLVERINES on smoldering wrecks of military vehicles. He needs to see it. What father doesn’t want to be able to yell “AVENGE ME!” when confined in a prison camp and know that counter-insurgency will ensue?

3. Scarface - Okay, heads up - not a kiddie movie. When Michelle Pfieffer asks Al Pacino why he always uses the F-bomb, it is a sign that even the characters themselves think the bad language is excessive. This is the final movie I would show my son and my 16 year-old has not seen it yet (or that he wisely claims to not have seen). Constant cursing and significant violence and all about the cocaine trade of the 1970’s. But Scarface is one of those movies that just perfectly filled some cinematic void. You must know where “Say hello to my little friend” came from. I’ve seen the movie maybe 20 times. At some point, you must watch this movie to get your man-card. Good Fellas and The Godfather series would be substituted here by many and maybe most. I prefer Scarface for my organized crime flick.

4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Assumedly British humor plays well all over England but in the states, it just seems like only guys get it. The entire movie is quotable. The premise is ridiculous and stupid. And it’s simply one of the funniest movies ever made that almost no woman I know of has enjoyed. My son loved it. 30+ years from when I first saw it, I can throw my napkin at my son after dinner and suddenly it is the Holy Hand Grenade.

5. Full Metal Jacket - Lee Ermey isn’t just the guy on Mail Call (which by the way was a great series on cable). As the cantankerous and later murdered Sergeant, his character offers a stereotype that every male must understand and recognize. Language was bad and wonderfully descriptive using vivid imagery. Movie shows what can happen when you pick on the creepy, dumb guy - just do NOT push him too far. For military movies with boot camp scenes there is none greater. If nothing else, this movie shows how a professional can lay down smack. Ermey doesn’t just call people names; he brings in all the hot buttons and shows impressive imagination when he berates someone.

6. Platoon - A second Viet Nam movie is just pure testosterone and blood. Great action. This was Charlie Sheen’s ode to his father’s (Martin) Apocalypse Now. I had my son watch Apocalypse Now (the converted Heart of Darkness by novelist Joseph Conrad) and he thought it was slow. Seesh - Kids these days. Platoon is never slow. Imagine being in the firefight at night in a foxhole with a flare floating above the jungle canopy. Whoa. If you work in a big office, you can pretty much draw a line from each character in the movie to someone where you work. And no, you cannot do that to your boss under any circumstances.

7. Braveheart - About as graphic of fight scenes as you will ever see, the beauty of this movie is that it still appeals to women because of the love story. But the political intrigue from both sides protecting their lands coupled with tremendous action scenes and the always lovable underdog kicking the royals around. The King and his fancy son had an interesting relationship that included Flying Phillip. And then the princess tells the mute king that she carries the seed of another man. The ending was one of the greatest in Man-Flicks movie history with the tortured and yet never-bowed William Wallace shouting “FREEDOM!”

8. 300 - No problem with attention waning in this movie. The Spartans stand at Thermopylae was legendary anyway and the treatment in this flick was spectacular in graphic appeal. Nothing like 300 guys holding off tens of thousands of soldiers (for a while anyway). This was the Alamo before there was a Texas. Just good fun in a bloody, militaristic sort of way. The small band knew they would die and yet for the good of the many gave their lives. Special Mention - The Alamo for the line in the sand. The John Wayne version is the classic. The recent attempt was revisionist history thanks to historians who have nothing else to do but try to rewrite the past based on speculation and micron-thin “evidence”. Then again what else do they have to do? There’s nothing wrong with seeing an example of sacrificing yourself for the greater good.

9. This is Spinal Tap - 25 years old and it still speaks to musicians who take themselves too seriously (or at least value their skills too highly). This is a classic spoof documentary that is a treat for anyone who loves rock and roll. The entire movie could be boiled down to the one scene where Nigel touts how loud his amp is because the volume button goes up to 11 and all others stop at ten. Every garage band must see this movie. It should be included in the box with the starter set of a Yamaha electric guitar and tiny amp.

10. Saving Private Ryan - Certainly one of the best war movies ever made. Both moralistic and yet shows the insanity of war. The beaches of Normandy are way too intense for youngsters but once he is of age, this is a must see. Individually the men acted like heroes and collectively, the government was willing to sacrifice a lot of men to find just one guy that would be a PR problem had he died. The ending to the movie in the cemetery was the most powerful I have ever seen when he asked his wife “tell me I have lived a good life, tell me that I have been a good man”.

11. Tremors I, II, III and IV - This movie could be almost anything but it is the one movie (series sort of) that my wife has long-thought was stupid and yet my son and I will always watch if we channel surf into it. No matter that we have seen them all over and over. Tremors is something that we share that defies logic and reason. It is our movie(s) and in a few years when he is gone living his life as an adult, I will come across Tremors playing and just watch it and shed a small tear that he will not be here to trade barbs and comments. Half the fun is winking at each other as we try to convince mom that giant Pre-Cambrian worms could really exist. If you got a kid, you have to find your own “Tremors”. My Dad and I shared The Guns of Navarone and Bridge Over the River Kwai.

There are tons of other movies and perhaps your list is completely different than mine. Limiting it to just 11 movies is hard but is also doable with just a few years of the occasional rainy weekend. Other movies that are present in my second tier but may be your first tier include Caddyshack, Predator, Deliverance, Brian’s Song, North Dallas 40, Apocalypse Now, Rambo, Remember The Titans, Patton, Billy Jack and Kelly’s Heroes.

Also worthy of honorable mention - Old Yeller. This will tell you if your son has a heart or if he should have been named Damien. Watch it with the lights down low because it can cause those darn watery allergy eyes. Yeah, allergies. You know - What’s Travis doing with that rifle??? Travis? TRAVIS!… Hmm… I think maybe he should watch that one with his mother…

What would you share?

The Cardinals are hosting the NFC Championship game. Let’s allow that to sink in. The Cardinals who have not won a championship game since 1947 are now hosting the NFC Championship. If there was anything that we have learned over the last two weeks it is that not only can any team make the playoffs and win, but that maybe we do not even need the regular season. I mean keep it and all since it is the basis for fantasy football. But it doesn’t seem to have a very big bearing on who will advance in the playoffs.

They will be facing the Eagles who were not even sure that they were going to the playoffs until the Buccaneers were nice enough to lose to the visiting Raiders (yes, Raiders on the road) and allow the Eagles to sneak into the playoffs. And the Eagles look formidable after dismantling both the Vikings and the Giants. The NFC will have either the #4 or #6 seed advancing to the Super Bowl. If that has happened before, it has been a very long time ago.

The AFC had the Ravens beating the Titans who lost Chris Johnson to a high ankle sprain in the second quarter. That allowed the Ravens to get the upper hand and be yet another road team that advanced. The Steelers were the only favored team that won this week and the only team that was expected to be a part of the respective division championships.

Is such transition from expectations good for the NFL or bad? Certainly fans of the Eagles, Ravens and Cardinals have zero problem with their teams showing up. But powerhouse teams of the regular season like the Titans, Colts, Giants and Panthers have to be bitter about how their team failed to deliver after a season that created high expectations.

In the end I think it has to be considered good even though getting a bye week has seemed more like a kiss of death than a benefit. Football is all about one game, winner takes all. No playoff series, no losing three games and then still winning the title. One and done. And in the NFL playoffs this year - that’s all about who is the best for that one day.

This is always a weird time of the year for me and not just because I have to buy my wife gifts for Christmas, Anniversary, Valentine’s Day and her birthday all in about 65 days. After all the work of the summer preparing for summer drafts and then spending the last four months tending to them weekly if not daily, the season is just about over. In a few leagues it already has died and for three leagues and two contests, it will be over this week. One league goes to week 17 so I have (hopefully) two more games there. But the season is about over.

In the few leagues that either crashed and burned a while ago or even just last week, I find myself still submitting lineups for them even though I have no opponent and it doesn’t matter. I just get used to it and by now each team has certain nuances to make it unique. I tend to have a few players on almost all my teams each year because the way drafts work out. This season I had Chris Johnson, Jonathan Stewart, Roddy White and Hines Ward on almost every team. But each team has at least one or two unique “studs” to define them. There is the Addai team that never really took off this year. A couple of Andre Johnson teams. The Moss/Owens team that never met expectations.

But after all the work, it just seems hard to say goodbye. Sure, there are always a team or two that I have no problem letting slip off into obscurity but for the most part you cultivate these rosters, use free agency and make those weekly starting decision. And now…. it is about to be over. It’ll feel like I should be doing something but I cannot figure out what. I may actually go back and look at a few rosters just to see what I did right and what went wrong. In a very small way, they are kind of like a puppy you raised and now they are no longer a part of your home.

I play in one dynasty league that we’ve had about ten years or so. That gives one roster to look at during the off season and since it is a salary cap league, I’ll get to obsess over who to keep and who to release. For at least two more years, it’s my Randy Moss-Andre Johnson-Roddy White-Calvin Johnson team.

But aside from the one, it is about to all be over and it is just weird for me. Maybe I am spending a bit too much time on my fantasy teams but I have to think that other guys are the same way. You stamp the team as yours and ride it for four months. And then it’s over.

…until NEXT YEAR!

Happy Holidays to everyone!

This is the time of year that those league decisions last summer come to bear - how to divide the winnings? Sure, there’s the beer can with a shamrock painted on it for a trophy but many local leagues like to throw anywhere from $25 to $50 into the pot and then distribute the winnings at the end - but how is best?

I’v played in about every kind of league I can think of and most are not even “money leagues”. But when it comes down to the end, I guess I am a little more of a purist. If a guy wins first place, I think it should feel like first place. I’ve been in leagues where they wanted to pay out for weekly high score ($5) and reward the top six teams in a league of twelve. But the time it was all done I got back maybe $125 for winning first place in a $50 league. Whoopee.

I am not adverse to winner take all, personally. But I think my favorite is to just reward the top three teams. The third place finisher gets his money back. Then the first and second place teams split it 70/30 or even 75/25. I cannot imagine any of us are playing fantasy football for the money since there are WAY better and faster ways to pick up a dime. I am okay not getting any money coming in 4th or lower. Heck, I do not even care so much for getting my money back, I would prefer just the top two really.

Some leagues out there have higher dollar team fees and others add in free agent fees and the like until there can be a nice pot at the end. I know some leagues end up with $1000 or more. But in the end, the money doesn’t matter really to me. It is about the winning. And being able to point that out for a whole year. And then the money.

The way I look at it, I am okay with nothing from falling short. But make it worth my while to reach the top.

Or am I in the minority?

If there is one constant in the NFL it is that there is always change. Granted much happens thanks to the aging process, injuries or plain economics, but rosters and depth charts are in a constant state of flux. Oh yes, and one more reason - young men with millions of dollars and egos to match will always turn into idiots and give a tremendous opportunity to someone else. It happens all the time.

I don’t really hold it against an athlete when he is caught with some performance enhancing drugs in his system. Heck - they only get a few years to earn a King’s ransom as it is so the risk may actually be outweighed by the reward. I would suspect a lot of people cut corners or try to get an unfair advantage at work. When you work during gametime in the NFL, you take steroids, etc. It is wrong, but it is a little sad to see someone resort to that knowing their consequences.

But players that get caught with marijuana or cocaine or whatever you have to love. I mean here is a person who could be making between $750,000 and what, $5 million per year but only for a few years. And so for a moment of pleasure, they risk that? Brilliant! And someone else gets their shot. It is like Darwinism taken to a whole new level perverted with fame and fortune. A player would smoke a joint now knowing that they could be throwing away everything and yet if they could just hold off for a few years they could buy their own island and retire into a white smoky haze for the rest of their days. It’s not like the NFL said they could never do it, they just cannot do it while a player.

Drugs help to weed out the stupid ones. Granted - having your fantasy player take a three game hiatus is no fun but at least you know you are relying on someone with the decision making skills of sailor on shore leave. And let’s not be too high and mighty here. Who among us would not have run afoul of the law or at least reason if we had been fabulously wealthy at the age of 24? The beauty is that so many of them live like it is going to last forever. Like they are going to challenge George Blanda for games played when the reality is that they are one bad cut on the carpet or a bone crushing tackle away from never playing again.

And that brings up Plaxico Burress. The man signs a $35 million contract. Think what $35 million would look like. What you could buy with it. If you spent money like a normal person, you could never spend it all. 100 normal people could not spend it all. And it was set up so that a big chunk of it would disappear if the team decided to part ways with you. Man… I would be like washing the owner’s car on Fridays and mowing the head coaches lawn on Saturday. I would want them to be happy. I’d be a clown at their kid’s birthday party if it meant protecting $35 million. I would hate to think what I might do for $35 million but I am pretty sure pride and dignity would be placed on the shelf long before I got to that much money.

And what did Burress do “allegedly”? He brought an unregistered handgun into a bar and then accidently shot himself in the leg. How great is that? Seriously? How can one tiny little act say so much? Who in the world was he scared of? Umm… could he not afford the body guard to carry the gun for him? If he believed he would be in a place and situation that could conceivably need him to have that - why go there? Remember - wait a few years and $35 million later and you can build your own bar, pay for only the patrons you want there and then walk around it shooting it to pieces knowing that there would be no repercussions because yes, you could afford to buy the sheriff’s department as well.

Now I live in Texas where pistols come as prizes in cereal boxes and we can legally sit on the porch and wait to shoot anyone who stepped on our property. Heck, we used to have to shoot people and drag them back to the yard but now we can just shoot them where ever long as they have been on our property and we were o”fficially scared”. So it seems an overreaction to me for the city to say they intend on prosecuting this scapegoat for hand guns to the fullest extent of the law. But it is their city and laws so have at. Just as bad is the NFL who is pretty insistent that going to a bar while packing an illegal pistol falls outside of “appropriate behavior. In this one case, Burress has already taken a double hit of looking stupid for violating everyone’s rule and shooting himself. It is hard to be cool when you have just fired a slug into your leg. There is no cool or funny thing you can say. You are pretty much an idiot. When you are an NFL star making millions, you are a super idiot. I think that is pretty much the definition of it.

It always happens because young men never learn. And the beauty of it is that there are plenty of other guys just waiting for a chance at the dream of a lifetime. I cannot conjure up any sense of sympathy for the drug-using, gun-toting, wife-slapping Man Children who hope they have enough money to buy themselves out of trouble they never thought would happen to them. On behalf of every young guy who has made football their passion and devotion and know that their window of opportunity is always closing, I love those guys.

Oh yeah, Michael Vick gets out of prison next summer. You know what? Who cares? The NFL just keeps on moving on…