M*A*S*H Top 20 Episodes (6-10)

Into the top ten episodes... these are all classics at this point.

10. The Joker is Wild (Season 11)
After an argument, B.J. bets the others that he can get each of them with a practical joke in the next 24 hours. As the day wears on, Hawkeye gets increasingly paranoid, not trusting anybody or anything, even refusing to take seriously a patient's attempted choking of a visiting doctor.

9. Adam's Ribs (Season 3)
Sick and tired of being served the same meal choices (fish or liver and onions) for 11 straight days, Hawkeye throws a fit and hatches an elaborate plan to get some ribs and barbecue sauce shipped in from a restaurant in Chicago. The shipment arrives, but a fresh wave of wounded disrupts the feast before anyone can enjoy it.

8. A Night at Rosie's (Season 7)
One by one, the staff takes refuge in Rosie's Bar, trying to forget for just one day the war that surrounds them. This is the first appearance of Joshua Bryant as Sgt. Jack Scully, a new love interest for Margaret.

7. The Ringbanger (Season 1)
Hawkeye and Trapper try to have Buzz Brighton (Leslie Nielsen), a colonel with a high casualty record, sent back to America by convincing him that he is insane.

6. Germ Warfare (Season 1)
Hawkeye and Trapper discover that an injured North Korean in the 4077th care has a rare blood type and requires a transfusion. Since Frank has the same blood type, they furtively steal some of Frank's blood in the night. However, when the patient develops hepatitis, they suspect Frank is the carrier.

M*A*S*H Top 20 Episodes (11-15)

Continuing with my M*A*S*H countdown...

15. The Army-Navy Game (Season 1)
The 4077th is under enemy fire and an unexploded bomb lands in the compound. Henry calls the Army and Navy for aid, but both are too busy listening to the football game to provide sufficient help. The Navy eventually identifies the bomb as belonging to the CIA and gives them advice on how to disarm it. The bomb explodes after the doctors cut the wrong wire, but it turns out to be a leaflet bomb.

14. The Billfold Syndrome (Season 7)
Major Winchester suffers a setback to his civilian career and vows to never speak to anyone in camp again (a promise Hawkeye and B.J. enthusiastically try to get him to break), while Dr. Freedman shows up to treat a medic who has lost his memory.

13. The Winchester Tapes (Season 6)
After a month at M*A*S*H, Charles records a taped message home to his parents, begging them to do whatever it takes to get him home. Hawkeye is invited to spend the weekend with a newly single nurse formerly assigned to the camp, but duty calls--over and over and over.

12. No Sweat (Season 9)
In a particularly powerful heat wave, everybody is trying to keep cool, despite problems ranging from Margaret's prickly-heat rash to Winchester's tax problems. Comic relief is provided by Klinger trying to teach himself electronics on the PA system and Winchester and Houlihan having to convince Colonel Potter, stoned on sleeping pills, to order supplies.

11. Rally Round the Flagg, Boys (Season 7)
Colonel Flagg returns to the camp, this time trying to recruit Major Winchester to spy for him against Hawkeye, who is under suspicion of being a communist sympathizer after Hawkeye operates on a North Korean soldier before an American, due to the North Korean being in worse shape. However, Winchester proves to be far more cunning than anyone suspected, and B.J. loses his cool in the face of the angry American soldier attacking Hawkeye.

Hockey Goon Hall of Fame - Part I

My Hockey Goon Hall of Fame is a part of my blog that will be periodically updated as a celebration of Hockey's greatest enforcers, who do not get their proper respect in the regular NHL Hall of Fame.  The first class is, to me, the four most absolutely necessary members in any NHL Goon Hall of Fame.  Numerous other solid candidates will be included in future classes.

JOHN FERGUSON

John Bowie "Fergy" Ferguson Sr. (born September 5, 1938 - died July 14, 2007) is widely considered to be
the NHL's first "enforcer", and a winner of five Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens.

Ferguson was called up by Montreal in 1963-64 to help protect captain Jean Beliveau and promptly pummeled Boston's Ted Green to take the unofficial title of Heavyweight Champ, a title he would hold until his retirement in 1971.

A potent offensive threat, Ferguson scored the Cup winning goal in 1969, a year which saw him score a career best 29 goals.  He finished his career with 500 games, 145 goals and 1,214 penalty minutes playing in an era when penalty minute totals were not so high as the next several decades.

DAVE SCHULTZ

David William "The Hammer" Schultz (born October, 14, 1949) was one of hockey's greatest enforcers and holds the NHL record for most penalty minutes in a single season with 472.

As a left wing on the Philadelphia Flyers, Schultz earned the nickname "The Hammer" for his aggressive style.  He was the most notable enforcer on the Flyers "Broad Steet Bullies" teams of the early and mid-1970s that won two Stanley Cups. 

His 472 penalty minutes in 1974-75 with Philadelphia still stand as the NHL single season record, and his 405 minutes in 1977-78 with Los Angeles and Pittsburgh is the fourth most in a single season.  Schultz has a career total of 2,294 penalty minutes in just 535 games.

Schultz is generally considered to have been the "Heavyweight Champ" of the NHL for a period from early 1973 to May 8, 1975, with a loss to Clark Gillies largely responsible for his losing that spot.  Schultz was a good but not great fighter, but his general craziness and fear instilled into opponents is what set him apart and made him a legend of sorts.

DAVE "TIGER" WILLIAMS

David James "Tiger" Williams (born February 3, 1954) is the NHL's all-time leader in penalty minutes with 3,966.

Williams played with several teams, most notably the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks.  He was considered an enforcer and agitator, although with modest size (5' 11") he was never considered a heavyweight fighter.

His 1980-81 season was his best, as he scored a career high 35 goals while amassing a NHL best 343 penalty minutes and making the All-Star game where he skated on a line with Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy.  Later that same season, his Vancouver Canucks made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals before losing.

Williams career total of 3,966 penalty minutes came in 962 games.  He played for five different NHL teams, surpassing 300 penalty minutes in a season six times, and leading the league in penalty minutes three different seasons.

BOB PROBERT

Robert Alan Probert (born June 5, 1965 - died July 5, 2010) was arguably the greatest fighter in NHL history.

As a left wing on the Detroit Red Wings, he was one half of the "Bruise Brothers" with fellow enforcer Joe Kocur.  His best season came in 1987-88 where he made the All-Star game and scored 62 points to go with a league best 398 penalty minutes and numerous impressive fights.

After eight seasons in Detroit, Probert joined the Chicago Blackhawks for the final seven years of his career.  His career totals include 3,300 penalty minutes in 935 games.  He is well known for his off-ice problems with drugs and alcohol.

It is generally considered that he assumed the NHL Heavyweight Champion title in the 1987 season, briefly losing it to Troy Crowder in 1991, before re-claiming the title for several more years before loses to younger, bigger fighters like Sandy McCarthy and Chris Simon.  His list of epic bouts and rivalries includes Tie Domi, Marty McSorley, Craig Coxe, Craig Berube, Todd Ewen and Crowder.  A win over Dave Brown in 1991 perhaps ensured his spot as the toughest man in hockey in what was hockey's toughest era.

M*A*S*H Top 20 Episodes (16-20)

M*A*S*H is, in my opinion, the greatest television series of all time. No show combined comedy and drama as well, then or now. This ranking isn't to rate the best overall episodes, or most historically significant, but the most enjoyable episodes.  

20. No Laughing Matter (Season 9)
Hawkeye makes a bet with B.J. that he can go 24 hours without making a joke, while Major Winchester has a confrontation with the Colonel who had him sent to Korea, and both must practice extreme self control.

19. Bug Out (Season 5) 
A one-hour episode. With North Korean forces on the march, the 4077th must bug out and move the entire camp, but a soldier who has just had serious spinal surgery cannot be moved. Hawkeye, Radar and Major Houlihan stay behind as the rest of the camp tries to set up a new base. Hawkeye is told MASH 4077 is on the "front Lines".

18. The Korean Surgeon (Season 5) 
An escaped North Korean prisoner of war who is a skilled surgeon passes himself off as South Korean (with the help of Hawkeye and BJ) so he can work at the 4077th. They are glad for any help they can get, but Majors Burns and Houlihan suspect he is not who he says he is. In a subplot, Major Burns is taken as a POW by North Korean soldiers pretending to be South Koreans.

17. The Trial of Henry Blake (Season 2) 
Henry Blake is accused of aiding the enemy, and to prevent Hawkeye and Trapper John from getting evidence to exonerate him, Major Burns (in temporary command) confines them to quarters. Trapper and Hawkeye escape and go to the courtroom with proof that the North Koreans who Henry is accused of aiding were refugees and children at a civilian clinic near the border. Frank refuses to drop their charges, so Hawkeye and Trapper use what they know best to change his mind: blackmail.

 
16. An Eye for a Tooth (Season 7) 
Angry to be passed over for a promotion once again, Father Mulcahy boldly takes matters into his own hands with near disastrous results. Hawkeye and B.J. and Margaret embark on a practical joke war, but unbeknownst to them, the entire thing is being masterminded by Winchester.