RICKY?!!?!!

Boyz'N The Hood, has probably, affected me more than maybe any other film I have ever seen. I learned about "hittin' skinz" and "fo-ties" and Crenshaw Blvd and many many intregal things that have come in handy throughout my life. But the scene when Ricky gets gunned down ranks super high on the list of moments that will stay with me forever. And not the good moments, not the Leyritz homer off Wohlers. I'm talking about THE bad list, the Luis Gonzalez hit against Mo. The TJ Duckett catch in the back of the endzone to knock the Wolverines out (mind you, that play never should have happened). Stupid Dusty Mangum kicking it through the uprights on a night when Vince Young shredded the Wolverines. The list can go on and on, and notice how I am clearly side-stepping games 4, 5, and 6 of the '04 ALCS. (Game 7 never happened in my eyes, as I was out of the country).

But with all these crap-tastic moments, the one thing that constantly shudders my spine, is seeing Ricky head down walking towards the street, scratching off lotto tickets. And then the slow mo and Cuba screaming, "RICKY?!?!?!" I can almost hear Ricky's grunts as he turns to run. And then it happens. The dude that eerily resembles Chris Tucker pulls out the sawed off and puts one in Ricky's leg and then his chest. Oh man, it's even getting me now.

Now, I bring this all up, seemingly, out of nowhere not because I want to relive this moment or maybe even hash out some terrible inner demons, but rather to harp on how terribly sad I am for Morris Chestnut. For me, to see that his filmography includes Anacondas and Like Mike absolutely crushes me. I was sure he would become so much more.

His choice turns in these flicks bothers me as much as seeing Brenda Walsh's ex-fiance, Stuart Carson (a.k.a David Gail) doing Dodge Ram commercials.

What can I say, I have problems. But you know what, Ricky passed his SATs and he could have gone to USC. How can you sleep at night knowing that?

-JG