The Blog for the Sports Gamer

According to this post on the official 2K forums, we could be getting a 360 patch for MLB 2K8 today (Tuesday, it’s after midnight)….wonder if it will stop “Cleveland Rocks” from playing in Boston…

Dan and Glen just keep coming up with more show material.  Here’s the low down on this week’s episode.

- NCAA Basketball and Hockey

- Sports Gamer Blog bracket challenge

- MLB Opening Day

- New rosters for MLB 08: The Show… but not for MLB 2K8

Enjoy the show.  As always, feel free to comment here or in the forums.

3 run lead in the 9th…. 1st save opportunity for a save as a Brewer… Gives up a 3 run bomb to Fukidome. Grrr.

Game isn’t over yet… but that’s not a good start.

Edit: Bailed out in the 10th. Blows the save…gets the win. A win is a win.

Wow, isn’t it worth putting down $50 with odds like that? 100,000,000:1? Even the Pirates are only 5,000,000:1!

I got a release yesterday that the MLB 2K8 video game tour is wrapping up soon. Here are the remaining dates and locations. Let us know if you stop out and take a look at the game. I’ve never been to one of these, so I’ve always to hear feedback from the people that attend.

Also, here is a link to the event, so you know what to expect when you get there.

4/1 Albuquerque NM

Univ. of New Mexico – SUB Mall / Student Union Building 11-4PM

4/2 Secaucus NJ

Best Buy – Secaucus

925 Patterson Plank Rd. – Between Plaza Drive & Westside Ave. 5-9PM

4/3 New York NY

The City College of New York – 138th Street & Convent Ave. 11-4PM

4/4 Boston MA

YMCA – little league challenge – 316 Hunington Ave. 3-6PM

4/5 Washington DC

George Washington Univ. – Spring Fest 12-5PM

- Because Dan seems to be URL impared… here is the link to MLB 2K8 for the PS3 at Amazon.

- Also, if you’re in the 2K8 mood.  NHL 2K8 for the 360 has dropped to $20.94.

- If you like racing games and have a Target nearby you may want to check them out.  PGR4 for the 360 was on clearance for $29.98 last week and should be dropping to $14.98 today.

- So, having young kids you have to be incredibly entertained by the stupid things that they do, but hold back on the urge to laugh.  Here’s my example for this week.  I had some friends come over on Saturday night and so I wasn’t paying as much attention to my 3 year old as I should have.  I look up and she’s attempting to beat her, 1 year old, sister over the head with a rug. Not a small rug either.  This was like a 2 by 4 foot rug.  She had semi-rolled it up and was trying to smack her with it.  Needless to say that she was sent to her room for this, but as soon as I closed the door I just about lost it.  That’s the most creative way that I’ve seen thus far that she’s tried to beat up her sister.

* We weren’t able to record the podcast last night, so I apologize that you weren’t able to get your weekly does of Dan and Glen. We’re planning on recording it tonight, so again, if you have any topics you want us to cover, post in the comments.

* Today’s Amazon DOTD is MLB 2K8 for the PS3. Definitely NOT the best PS3 baseball game, but hey it’s $39.99 (use our Amazon search so we get $0.23 if you buy it LOL).

* VC offerings suck…well there’s a new Sega Master System game, Wonder Boy…and the horrendous Crusin USA for the N64. Blech. Interestingly enough , although we were told that SMS games would be 400 points, this one is 500 points. Go figure.

* GameStop/EB now allow you to use your gift cards (Edge) card online, and create wishlists, and cancel pre-orders. You will soon also be able to preorder online and pick up in store. Now if you could just buy online and pick up in store for regular items, that would be great. Yay! I was going to try to buy one of those crappy wii games so I have a second wheel for Mario Kart…then I realized that the wheel is stupid.

* The CC 50% off HDDVD sale is either a load or in store only becuase the Transformers HDDVD is still full price. WTF?

* Opening day today. Please let the Orioles win today so we can avoid the 1988 comparisons. My MLB.tv is ready to go at 3PM…We start off playing our direct competition, the Tampa Bay Rays. Orioles..Rays…baseball fever..catch it!

* George Takei is back on Stern this week. Also, supposedly Jose Canseco will be on tomorrow. Should be interesting.

- The Badgers had a 2 goal lead and blew it in less than a minute.  UND took them to overtime and beat them 2 minutes in.  Wisconsin totally controlled the game until that 1 minute of hell.  Oh, well.  It was great to see Wisconsin play like the team that I expected them to be at this point in the season.

- I was in first place alone in the blog brackets until Kansas won tonight.  Don’t think I can win, so no worries about the grand prize being won by me.

I actually fell asleep during the game.  Nothing about the game was bad, just the fact that I was up until 3:30 the last two nights and up at 7:30 both days.

- Ocean’s Eleven is on TNT right now.  This movie is like Shawshank Redemption for me, any time that it’s on… I drop what I’m doing and watch.

1. Glen and I may or may not do a podcast today. What would you like us to cover if we do have one?

2. MLS Fever — catch it. The Revolution were freaking awesome last night even though it was frigid up here. I couldn’t see the game live as I don’t pay $10/month for Fox Soccer Channel so I just subscribed to MLS.tv. Then I found out that all FSC games are blacked out. Oh well, I can watch on demand, so that’s cool. The price is only $20 for the season, which is a no-brainer if you like soccer. Even better, the MLS.tv site is acutally run on the same platform as MLB.tv, so if you’re famaliar with that, you’ll be familiar with this. I never thought I’d be using my computer to watch games live…but now I am with baseball and soccer. Can you imagine how much money the NFL would make if they did this and not the extremely gay NFL Field pass? I don’t think stupid begins to explain the NFL and their idea of broadcast rights. Their loss.

3. NCAA hockey — yeah, never mind that.

4. NCAA basketball – I’m in next to last place on our bracket. The last place person didn’t even do the bracket. Wow, I suck.

5. I got my 5 free bly ray discs yesterday, which is nice. The only think is that instead of Full Metal Jacket, I got Superman, which I already have on HDDVD

6. Speaking of HDDVD, Circuit City is doing a 50% off sale on HDDVDs ,except for the ones you want like Beowulf and Shrek the Third.

- If you’re looking for March Madness 08 for the 360 or PS3, it’s $25 at Amazon as their deal of the day.   Personally, I prefer College Hoops 2K8, but $25 is a good deal.

- I wouldn’t have believed it possible, but the Wisconsin hockey team really put it together last night.  They absolutely whupped on Denver last night, winning 6-2.   I can’t wait for tonight’s game against North Dakota, as that’s  my wife’s favorite team, and it’s always good fun in the house when we get to watch the teams play against each other.

- Well, we’re up to the Elite 8 and I’d have to say that at least 10 people are still in the contest for the prizes. Somehow or another, I’ve managed to crawl into a tie for first. Having 6 of the Elite 8 can do that, I guess. If I get a North Carolina Memphis final, I should be in good shape… but if UCLA makes it, then I might be hurting.

Good luck to everyone as we approach the Final Four.

- I shouldn’t have said that I would have a free Sunday. If Wisconsin beats Denver tomorrow night, I’ll be watching some hockey on Sunday. I just don’t have the highest of hopes for that.

- Still bummed about the Badgers losing last night, but they did lose to the Cinderella for the tournament. That Kansas game will certainly be an interesting one to watch now.

- Played a few hours of the RTTS mode in MLB 08 tonight and it’s just incredibly fun. I got sent to AA right out of Spring Training, as I deserved… I only was hitting .198, and have moved from a backup OF to a starter. Hitting .377 through the first 28 games, primarily as a pinch hitter, seemed to give my manager enough reason to make me a starting OF. I’ve actually had a few really great moments where I’ve had to come to the plate in the top of the 9th and come up with a hit to get the win. When you do, it’s a really cool feeling. I’ll give them credit for that, they really get you involved in the game.

The one thing that is annoying the crap out of me is the commentary. I’m only in May and I’m hearing repeats in every game. That’s a definite downer.

Other than that, I’m loving my time with the game of late.

I can’t believe that Wisconsin could play that badly in a second half. The game isn’t over yet… but there is no doubt in my mind that the game is over. They haven’t played any trace of defense, keeps turning the ball over, and Davidson just isn’t missing any shots. Oh, well. I have really enjoyed watching this team play this season. I just wish that I would have seen them go further into the tourney. Thanks again for another great team to be proud of, coach Ryan.

- On another note, I just noticed the New Hampshire hockey score… 7-3 Notre Dame.  Ouch, that’s got to hurt, Dan.

We’ve put up a new series at Game Shark called “Top 10″…creative huh…anyway we start it off this week with Top 10 Baseball games. Needless to say there was some internal discussion about the list, but while you can always argue about placements, I think it’s a pretty good final product. Check it out here.

My weekly column, This Week In Downloads, is now online. Check it out here.

- To finally close the matter of NFL Head Coach, I kid you not, I’ve never spoken so much about a game I care so little about.  The game is exclusive to the CE Edition of Madden 2009.  There will not be a version that sells on it’s own.  I like how they call it the “ultimate Madden package.”  I think the ultimate Madden package would be a version of Madden that didn’t drive me to drink.

- 3 of 4 of the Elite 8.  Damn you Louisville.

- DiRT on Gametap on.  About time.  I’ve been waiting to play that on there for quite a while now.

- Commodore 64 games are coming to the European Virtual Console on Wii very soon.  500 points.  First titles are International Karate and Uridium.  Please bring the C64 here.  There are a few old games that I would love to see again.  Beachhead II and Summer Games leap to mind.

- Less than 8 hours ’til the Badger game.  Go Bucky!

1. Oh great, more snow. Supposed to get up to 8 inches today. Fantastic.

2. Thanks for the comments. I did email UPS and Amazon. Amazon got back to me lightning quick and said they have re-ordered both items for me and upgraded to overnight shipping. Now that is customer service — thank you Amazon. Granted we’re only talking two books here and not, a 50″ LCD HDTV..but still, Amazon built up my loyalty even stronger than before. UPS on the other hand, no emails yet. Granted, I sent the email at midnight..but Amazon got right back .

3. GameTap is releasing games next week on Tuesday 4/1, including a new GameTap original call “Captain McGrandpa”..and finally DiRT is coming out…unless this is some sort of April Fools Joke..in which case I fell for it big time.