Midway’s new QB for Blitz
Oh my gawd, this is funny. Midway has added "Ron Mexico" to it's QB list, according to this IGN Post. Ron Mexico is the supposed alter-ego of Michael Vick and is the name he supposedly uses to get women on the side. This is hysterical. I'm buying this game.
I Live
I'm still here, I guess more in spirit at the moment but I figured I'd check in today before diving back into Almanac World.
The book continues to chug along and I have about a quarter of it written (first draft anwyay). Last night I was finishing up an essay on game review databases and three things caught my eye.
- There are a lot of review databases out there. I found Gametab, which is a pretty cool news round up site.
- Did you know that the best reviewed sports game of all time was NFL 2K1 on the Dreamcast? Take a look at GR or Metacritic. EVERYONE raved about that game. Granted, it was pretty darn good.
- The best reviewed game ever is The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time on the N64. Can anyone verify this game's awesomeness?
- There are no PC games in the top 10 on Gamerankings. That either means that PC games are worse (I disagree) or that console reviewers are more lenient (this I have found to be true, generally speaking). Or maybe PC game reviewers are crusty old bastards that hate games? I guess there's an argument to be made for that, too.
Busting Pipes
It's Game 7 tonight. No matter how many times you've had to hear about it in the last 48 hours, it's still worth restating. I want you to stop what you're doing and focus. Hear me.
IT' GAME 7!!!
I don't care who you are or where you live. I don't care if you hate basketball or just the NBA. Or if you just hate the brand of hoops played in San Antonio or Detroit. I don't care if your game of choice is cricket. Whether you actually watch tonight's game or not is completely irrelevant. But if you're any kind of sports fan and you can't --at the very least- appreciate the inherent greatness of everything that Game 7 of a championship series represents then you should forfeit your membership card in the Sports Fan's fan club. Period.
Nobody makes sports movies where, in a battle of two teams of equal heart and talent, one team sweeps the other one without breaking a sweat. Personal feelings and team loyalties aside, Game 7 of a championship series is what you hope to see if you're a fan of the game. The NFL playoffs and Super Bowl are great. So is the NCAA Tourney. But you're guaranteed to get them every year. Game 7's don't come around all that often. It's been 11 years since the last Game 7 in the NBA Finals. You don't have to appreciate the style of basketball these teams play to appreciate the moment.
I still have no earthly clue what to expect tonight, but there seem to be two different stories in the media. For the Pistons its all about legacy. About destiny. And with good reason. The laundry list of firsts that they would own if the did win is unheard of. Honest to god, every player quote, every media article talks about the Pistons like they've already won. I don't mean in the championship sense, but in the sense that they don't have anything to prove to anyone.
Contrast that to the Spurs. Every time I read about them in the last twenty-four hours -despite two championships in the last few years- all the talk is like they have everything to lose, so they better win... or else. If that mindset makes it onto the court tonight then I think it's a huge edge for the Pistons. The Pistons really do believe they're playing for destiny. And I think they draw desire and inspiration from that, things that make you play your best at crunch time. Maybe I'm wrong, but you can't help but feel the Spurs will be playing this game not to lose. And that's not how you win.
This morning the Detroit News had this quote from Manu Ginobili, "Of course you are nervous and a little anxious. I mean, whatever we've done the last 10 months, it comes down to one game. You win it all or you go back home with nothing."
Granted, the guy has a gold medal at home and I am in no way questioning his stuff, but compare that to the human "Moment of Zen" machine -Rasheed Wallace- who said yesterday, "Ain't no pressure on us. Pressure busts pipes. We don't bust pipes." I have absolutely no idea what that means. It's like when Pinky (of Pinky and the Brain) chimes in with one of those completely nonsensical lines that only makes sense to him. I guess Sheed meant their pipes don't bust under pressure. But whatever he's talking about, one thing is clear: He sure as hell doesn't sound nervous.
The Pistons are the old man in the "Bring Out Your Dead" scene in Monty Python's Holy Grail that won't be put on the body cart. "I'm not quite dead... I don't want to go on the cart... I'm feeling better... I think I'll go for a walk!" Maybe tonight's the night San Antonio finally whacks them over the head with a mallet. I hope not, but if they do, that's fine. It's game 7 and both these teams are already champions.
Deep Thoughts
1. Does anyone still play Links for Xbox?
2. Does anyone still play any of this year's baseball games for consoles?
3. Has anyone preordered NCAA 06 yet?
4. Does anyone care about the NBA Finals.
5. Does anyone else feel impending doom about the Orioles?
6. Check out this urban dictionary entry for "suffer like G did." Love the Bush quote. (Yes, it's fake.)
7. Have you seen the Road to Sunday trailer? I have to say, after seeing it, my GameShark preview...well it looks like less football, more RPG.
8. Anyone want to buy Tiger Woods for PSP? I'd rather keep Hot Shots.
9. Netflix now sells used DVD's for $9.99 and free shipping. I just bought Team America. Love that movie.
Inclement Weather Alert: Parade Delays Likely
Note - The end of my All Day, Everyday NBA Finals Coverage is in sight. Thank you for your patience.
Word is, San Antonio had a victory parade scheduled for tomorrow. Evidently news also spread to Detroit's locker room chalkboard. Not long after that, the parade was called off. Evidently it started raining threes in San Antonio and no one's quite sure when or if the skies will clear. We'll know more Thursday night.
Okay, so I caved. I said I wouldn't watch Game 6 last night. Then I sat down at 8:00, called up the TiVo guide and realized, hey, there's nothing else worth watching. What's a guy to do?
So today the stage is set for Game 7 and I can hardly sit still. I think anticipation of Game 7 is often much better than the game itself, so why not enjoy it, right? And screw the ratings and the claims of unwatchable basketball from the peanut gallery. I know what I like, and this series has plenty of it. While I know I sound like a Pistons shill, you just can't help but love this team. There's no "It's all about me" egos. There's no '04 Lakers style dysfunction. Everyone has everyone else's back, instead of putting knives in them. (The same can be said for the Spurs, btw.)
Above all, you have to respect this team's ability to get up off the mat with unheard of regularity. Every time they've been written off the last two seasons they've answered the bell. Whether it's down 3-1 to Orlando in 2003, 3-2 to New Jersey last year or 3-2 to both the Heat and Spurs this year. They just keep finding ways to stay alive. They're like a horror movie villain that doesn't know when "The Final Chapter" is supposed to mean the final chapter. In the last three years, they're 10-0 in games where they can close out a series. In that same span they're 8-1 when a loss means the start of their summer vacation.
I'm making no predictions. Honestly, there is no result that would surprise me anymore. For the sake of fans of both cities, I have to hope that Game 7 is as tight as the last two have been. A blowout for either side now just wouldn't seem fair.
And before I get jubilant about a win or bitter over a loss -now that I've really seen them play the last six games- let me just say how highly I think of the Spurs. Yes, I've got my issues with Ginobili. I don't like it when players appear to work as hard at getting phantom calls as they do at making a jump shot. But he and the rest of the Spurs are first-rate players and if you can't appreciate how well they play basketball then you're not watching closely enough. In as much as I'd hate to see Detroit lose tomorrow night, there's no team in the NBA outside the state of Michigan right now that I'd rather see hold up that trophy. (That doesn't mean I wouldn't still be cursing and throwing things at the screen, however.)
Tonight’s Game 6 Prediction: Pistons
Here's the thing. I've been wrong with just about every prediction I've made in this series. Pistons to take either Game 1 or 2 in San Antonio? Wrong. The Pistons not having anything in the tank to rebound into the series upon coming home. Wrong. The Spurs not having the ability to rally back in Game 5 on the road after getting doused in Games 3 and 4? Wrong. Tayshaun Prince the darkhorse MVP of the series. Ugh.
The way I figure it, I'm due to get one right. So Pistons all the way tonight. Game 7 to come on Thursday.
36 hours later, I remain stupefied by the end of Game 5. How could Horry be left that wide open for a three? How unlucky can they get that Chauncey Billups could not draw a foul in any number of attempts when driving the lane late in the 4th quarter and in OT where he ended up on his back? How unbelievably lucky was Rasheed Wallace that his phantom TO call came just tenths of a second after time expired? (You think he's the goat now for leaving Horry open? Imagine if the refs had T'd him up for calling a non-existent TO and that had cost them the game in regulation.)
I also wonder how -when your PG's nickname is Mr. Big Shot- you don't go to him to attempt the game-winning buzzer beater in OT of an NBA Finals game? I love Rip Hamilton, but it looked to me like he wasted the Pistons last chance trying to get a foul by initiating contact himself rather than focusing on making the shot. If so, that's a bigger mistake than Rasheed leaving a red-hot Horry open to double-team Ginobili. Yes, Chauncey had missed his last few attempts, but even then there's no one else -maybe in the league- who I'd want to have their hands on the ball for a game-winning attempt in the NBA Finals than Mr. Big Shot. It was either a bad play call by Larry Brown or bad execution by the players.
Can I also just reiterate how much I hate the 2-3-2 NBA Finals format? Since its inception only the Pistons have won all three games at home (last year). In fact the Pistons franchise is the only one to have won all three of those games on the road as well (1990, against Portland). It's not balanced to ask a team to win three straight games -at home or not- against NBA Finals caliber competition. So the series road team is not only faced with winning a game on the road, they also have to either win three consecutive at home or a second road game. Meanwhile, the series home team gets the luxury of two sets of back-to-back home games. Honestly, this isn't about me being a Detroit homer. I just think it's silly because it seems to me this format makes it even less likely that you'll see a series go seven games. Besides, they spend the whole playoffs in a 2-2-1-1-1 format and it works great. Why change it up for the Finals?
In any case, the Pistons make their name by defying expectations and winning when everyone else thinks they're done. I hope that continues tonight, though I profess I may not watch it. I mean I'll either be crushed watching them lose or they'll win and I'll still end up glued to the screen for Game 7 anyway. The best thing for me is probably to just go to bed early and check the score in the morning when the result won't haunt my dreams as it did into the wee hours of Monday morning.
Registration, EA Style
As we suffer through the 230498230946th shitty day (55 and rainy) here, I took the time to play some of my Gamefly games...today I played TimeSplitters: Future Perfect. Cool game, but beware, as soon as you sign on to Xbox Live, EA says you've 'registered' the game. You can't opt out. You go online, you registered the game. What a great idea -- just the thing we've come to expect from EA. Beware!
Area 51 Xbox WTF
I just started playing Area 51 for the Xbox. The thing ran slow as shit. Kinda like Doom 3 on a P4-1.8. 
. Anyway, I checked the boards--no one has this problem.
I found my issue: the MaxDrive memory unit connected to a separate controller port was responsible. When I unplugged it, it ran fine...WTF? I guess it polls controller port 3, eh? Goofy. Just an FYI.
HR – Helton or the Curse of Jeff Meier
Ugh. Last night was disgusting for Orioles fan. In the Box Score, it says HR for Todd Helton. Unfortunately by having the MLB Extra Innings package it was instead the Curse of Jeff Meier.
In a 0-0 game, Helton cranked one. Right to CF and Newhan was jumping up to make the catch, when this a-hole of a fan reaches out and catched the ball with his glove. And he's happy about it. Fans like this should be shot. You know how I feel about Jeff Meier, but at least he was at Yankee Stadium supporting his team. This was an ORIOLES fan catching and interfering with a ball that literally cost the Orioles the game. I fully support the death penalty for times like this. Mind you this was no "Cubs" ball that was in the stands and the fielder was reaching in -- this shitbag reached out. I'm so pissed. Now the lead is down to 2. Granted the O's left 23,320 on base last night, but still...you know?
I haven't been keeping up with gaming news, but I just saw the E3 critics award who picked the PS3 best of show. Folks, Game Critics are fucking idiots. This thing was not on the floor, no one played with it, but yet it's the best of show? Aren't these the same people that picked Duke Nukem forever or Half Life Dreamcast or Daikatana as best game also? Something tells me Sony had the best E3 party, that's all I'm saying.
Edit: To clarify, CNN.com had the post about GameCritics, it does not refer to GameCritics.com. Sorry for the confusion! My understanding is that they just asked a bunch of critics what they thought was best, it wasn't site-specific. Sorry!
Yeah, I'm in a shitty mood. It's been 58 and raining all week. It wears on you.
Non Sports Thoughts
If you haven't seen 30 Days on FX, I highly recommend it. The first episode shows Morgan Spurlock of "Super Size Me" living in a place right next to Bill in Columbus Ohio. The only difference is that Morgan and his fiancee have no money and they had to make minimum wage jobs so they had to take the bus, live in a lovely apartment and more. I really enjoyed the $40.00 in the hospital for the Ace bandage.
Morgan does the show in a way that's not anti-Bush or Pro-anyone, just shows it the way it is. FX is pretty much the network of choice between The Shield and Rescue Me.
Haven't played much sports games recently, or other games for that matter...been pretty tired with 'real work'.....
What the hell? Irene Cara wins that Hit Me Baby show? WTF. Sure Howard Jones lost his hair but still....what a feeling my butt!
Okay, I Give Up
I don't know which Spurs team is the real team. I don't know which Pistons team is the real team. What I do know is that to have any chance of coming back in this series Detroit has done exactly what they needed afer those two horrendous efforts in San Antonio: own the Spurns the way the Spurs owned them. And how?
When Lindsey Hunter is drilling every shot on the floor in the 3rd quarter and Ben Wallace is hitting perimter shots you know it's your team's night. The had seven players in double figures. Seven. The thing is the Pistons have basically run a seven-man rotation in this series (with the occasional appearance from Carlo Arroyo). So every Piston on the team that plays regular minutes scored in double-figures. The only thing more mind-boggling than that is the four turnovers for the game, an NBA finals record. Along the way they held the Spurs to under 75 points, while at the same time putting up 102. So now the only team to have put up 90 points on the Spurs in an NBA Finals game has done it twice in a row. Even Darko Milicic got a nice-looking bucket in garbage time in the fourth quarter. That's really as good as it gets for Detroit. I just hope it isn't all downhill from here.
With all the Lindsey Hunter talk after the game last night there's one thing, however, I have to note. One of the ESPN guys called him the best player on the floor last night. Uh uh. He's one of the best defensive point guards in the game (at least that's the rep). He also used to be a good scorer and he was a good scorer last night. And I'm not going to slam the guy, but on offense he burns too much off the shot clock holding the ball looking for his shot and too little time looking to help teammates get theirs. The only difference between Lindsey Hunter last night and Lindsey Hunter in every other game this series is that his shots were falling. But then, maybe I just take for granted just how good a point guard Chauncey Billups has become.
In the last two games Billups has had 37 points, 14 assists, 10 rebounds and 2 turnovers. Two turnovers in two games. Two. Keep in mind this is the guy who handles the ball more than anyone else on the team. That is simply staggering. If the Pistons win the series the only thing that would stop my fictitious MVP vote from going to Billups is the play of Ben Wallace, who is the spoon that stirs the drink for Detroit in this series.
Right now, I do think the Pistons will take Game 5 on Sunday. I did not see a Spurs team last night that was ready to fight back and I don't know that you get back your killer instinct as a team when on the road against a team that is suddenly flying as high as Detroit is. But I have no clue what to expect when the series returns to San Antonio. No clue whatsoever. San Antonio is just far too good a team to lay down and die in four straight games. What will be interesting to see is how a driven and re-focused Spurs squad (presumably in Game 6) matches up with a re-ignited Pistons lineup where both teams bring their A-game at the same time. This one's far from over.
Deep Thoughts Before Bed
1. The Shield finale was pretty good. I hate it when they say "new episodes in 2006"...ugh...oh well, they will be on the same time the new Sopranos is on, so there you go.
2. O's kick ass. That play Brian Roberts had in the 1st was amazing.
3. Terri had irreversible brain damage. Hey Bill Frist, I'm glad you're not my doctor.
4. Pac-Man turns 25 this month. I'm old.
5. Opie and Anthony on XM 202 is very, very addictive.
6. Anyone watching the Morgan Spurlock show 30 days?
7. Anyone watching Hit Me Baby 1 More Time?
8. Rescue Me starts next Tuesday. Program your TiVo now.
9. With Bill doing this mammoth job, will he have time to review NCAA Football 06 or will he defer to Dan?
10. The NBA Finals - It's fannnntastic. Unless of course you prefer Evander Holyfield dancing, which more people did last night according to Nielsen.
11. Goto 1. Run. Sys 62648.
Send me your tired, your poor, your Gaming Bookmarks
I'm doing an essay in the book on "Gamer Bookmarks" so if you have any off the wall gaming links you'd like to share, send 'em my way either by commenting or via email. I have quite a list already but the net being the infinite home of weird shit, I figured I'd throw this out there.
Ask Not for Whom the Bell Tolls
Dotty Hensen: "You look like shit Jimmy, don't you ever shave?"
Jimmy Duggan (giddy as a school girl): "We're gonna win... We're gonna WIN!"
It took less than 30 seconds of Game 3 last night for those lines from A League of the Their Own to cross my mind. San Antonio had just attempted to inbound the ball only to have Ben Wallace make the steal, charge down for the dunk, get the foul and make the free-throw. That's all it took to know that on this night we were going to get the Pistons best effort and that the team that had taken the floor in games 1 and 2 had been stuffed in a sealed crate and left back in San Antonio.
I mean let's face it, the man Detroit fans all know as Big Ben and whom Rasheed Wallace calls "Clockwork" hasn't been seen since he was in Indianapolis shutting down Jermaine O'Neal. Surely you saw all the "Missing" posters around the city of Detroit? He may have been on a milk carton or two as well. Last I heard the Pistons had contacted the gang from Without a Trace in an attempt to find out where he's been stashed. Who knew it would be Mrs. Chanda Wallace that would find her husband and pry him out from beneath the tread of Shaquille O'Neal's shoe? According to ABC "reporters" she had questioned her husband's effort, something that had never happened before. If the Pistons come back in this series and that's really what lit a fire under the guy then give the lady the MVP trophy. Big Ben set the tone for everyone else last night and if she set the tone for him then she's earned it.
Without any doubt, this was the kind of win the Pistons needed. They couldn't just eek out a victory and they needed everyone involved. While it took a run in the fourth quarter to do it, they had to own the Spurs the way they'd been owned in the first two games. No. Obvoiusly, one game doesn't change a series, but I can't explain the relief I felt seeing the real Pistons on the floor. Those first two games were just so ugly that it was painful to think that this would be how the championship run would end: with barely a whimper. If Detroit loses the series playing the kind of basketball that they brought to the table last night then so be it. They'll have no reason to hang their heads.
The media guys have expounded all the core stories from the game to death, but let's also give a big assist to the Pistons PA announcer. I forget his name, but when the lights went down in pre-game, the music to "The Final Countdown" kicked off and this guy starting announcing the Pistons rosters it was impossible not to get juiced. Even my wife commented that the whole production was much more intense than the San Antonio equivalent, in which their PA guy read off the names of San Antonio's players like he was just going through the motions. I'm normally not into the whole pompous, dog and pony show of these kinds of things, but you can't deny the impact a good home PA guy has on a crowd. He worked that building into a frenzy and it's hard not to believe that it didn’t help energize the Pistons players (who had also played four of their last five games on the road).
Welcome to the series, Pistons. Take off your jackets and stay awhile.
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