So Long and Thanks for All the Fish
Apologies posthumously to Mr. Adams.
After three and a half years, it's time to head on down the blog trail. I leave you in the hands of Dan and Glen. My blog contribution hasn't been up to snuff of late and I'm just burnt out so instead of just hanging around and posting random crap once a week, I'm going to simply let the people who are running the blog ...run it.
My sportsgamer blog email should still work so if you need to reach me for anything, I'm there or at GameShark via wabner@gameshark.com.
I'm sure I'll turn up on the blogosphere soon--when I actually have something to say.
Until then, I'm looking forward to playing College Hoops 2K8 on my new totally bad ass 60" Sony! Woo.
Thanks for reading my silliness for the past few years. I've appreciated it. Even the NCAA football flames. Because even though I know I'm right, I appreciated the passion. :)
--bill
The Big 10…WTF?
I have said for years that officials do not decide games, and that one play is never a reason a team wins or loses. I still believe that. Bad calls happen and teams have to deal with them. But this is just plain weird. Illinois outplayed Ohio State Saturday. The picture below was a huge play. This was not ruled a fumble. (Seriously, how do you miss that?) The ball went into the end zone and and should have been OSU ball on the 20. Illinois scored on the next play. The B10 said that "replay was not working in the 1st quarter." What is this? Division III Field Hockey? Are you kidding me?
But that is not the reason I post this. While this was an obvious bad call (one of many really) tuns out the Big10 KNEW that this officiating crew was 100% The Suck.
Posted: November 8, 2007
A suspension and possible firings are coming for a Big Ten officiating crew that worked Saturday's game between Purdue and Penn State.
A source told me Big Ten coordinator of officials David Parry told Purdue coach Joe Tiller that the crew missed several calls during the game in State College, Pa.
"We sent in our usual (report), but there were more than normal this particular game," Tiller said at his weekly press conference. "I have talked with the Big Ten office. They agreed with us on numerous instances. I'm convinced they'll take the proper action."
The crew is working a game this weekend but will be suspended for games on November 17, according to my source.
I also was told some members of the crew might be fired.
The Big Ten doesn't comment on specific officiating issues.
The crew that worked Penn State's 26-19 victory comprised referee Stephen Pamon, umpire Pat Bayers, linesman Jack Teitz, line judge Robert Davis, back judge Dennis Morris, field judge Bobby Sagers and side judge Joe Duncan.
Again...are you freaking kidding me? Even if this game was called perfectly...how do you let THAT crew call a game with such huge national implications on the line? It's like Martin Short runs the conference.
Crow.
Yep. I'll eat it. Served however you like.
OSU's loss today was a real bitch, no doubt about it. But a few things have been building up the past few weeks. When you really follow a team, watching every snap of every game -- really follow a team, you see things that the casual observer just doesn't see. Now, I'm a self-confessed Ohio State homer and very much proud of it, but I also try to be as fair minded about it as I can. Calling a spade a spade is what I do for a living and I try to keep that philosophy with the Buckeyes (and the Browns for that matter...I think we get crushed Sunday). The past few weeks, even going back to the Penn State game, cracks in the OSU defense started to show. Nothing glaring, but enough to give diehards pause. Wisconsin moved the ball. Penn State ran it but just couldn't throw it.
Today, Illinois exposed the OSU defense. Plain and simple. It's surprising that OSU took Benn (1 catch for 7 yards) out of the game and even limited Mendenhall (26 carries 88 yards) but stil gave up 28 points and gobs of rushing yards. If you would have told me before the game that we'd shut down Benn and Mendenhall would get 26 carries and OSU would hold him to 3.5 a pop, I'd say we'd win by 20+. Illinois depends on those guys for big plays. Illinois, all year long, has self-destructed. They've lost 3 games this year by a combined 21 points and in all 3 losses they practically gave away wins with turnovers and penalties.
Today they had zero turnovers and 1 penalty. They should have had a turnover on the fumble in the first that wasn't reviewed, but bad calls are part of football. You have to overcome it. Today they didn't self-destruct. It was a culmination of two things, really: Illinois playing a nearly flawless game and Ohio State playing its worst game of the year both offenesively and defensively.
How bad was it? OSU closed the gap to 28-21 at the end of the 3rd...and Illinois kept it for 13+ minutes in the final quarter. Yep. Ohio State had the ball for THREE PLAYS in the entire 4th quarter! That's not a typo. 3 plays. It was the definition of surreal. 3rd and 7 -- Williams runs a QB draw for a 1st. 3rd and 10 --same play. 1st down. OSU simply could not stop Juice Williams when it mattered.
His stat line, 12/22 140 yards doesn't tell the story. He was the story for Illinois on offense.
When you add an inspired game like that to the fact that OSU QB Todd Boeckman picked today to have his worst game of the year -- you have a recipe for disaster. Boeckman tossed 3 picks after OSU's fast start where we scored in 2 plays to start the game. All 3 were huge and 2 were on decisions that you expect a true Freshman to make, not a guy who was played the role of Cool Hand Luke for 10 games. He also missed several passes that should have been huge, huge plays. When your defense is playing poorly, you can't afford to leave points on the field and OSU left about 21 at the Shoe today. It beat them.
Poor QB play, Beanie once again not getting enough carries (man I wish that kid was healthy) and an Illinois team that simply played lights out...and there you have it.
After OSU beat Washington, back when we were on the old blog, I said that very few OSU fans felt that this is a National Championship team. We're too young in too many key areas. The Bucks fooled me a bit and I really thought we were heading to New Orleans, and turns out our initial feeling on this team was correct. We're a year away. And that's OK. For a team that was picked to finish 3rd or 4th in the Big10, to be playing for a Rose Bowl berth isn't something to cry about, despite the fact that we were so close to capping a magical run with such a young team.
When the team that plays the better game wins, there's nothing you can do but move on. I hope they put this loss in the rear view mirror.
It's now MICHIGAN WEEK.
The Worst Blogger Ever
Yes, that's me.
One day I will consolidate all of my rogue email accounts into one happy email account so I don't miss reader email. I promise I'll do this one day. I'm terribly sorry for seemingly ignoring you guys. I just never think to check the blog email. I have tied a string around my stuffed Brutus Buckeye doll to remind me. Anyway...sorry about that.
Also my blog time is nil right now due to work. When College Hoops is released I'll be talking about it at length. It's one of my favorite sports franchises. I'm currently playing The Witcher which is a HUGE PC RPG so that's a real time eater.
The Great Home Theater Drive of 2007 is almost complete. I have everything here right now: subwoofer, speakers, receiver, wires/cables, new DirecTV HD-DVR. I'm just waiting on the new furniture (today! woo!) and the TV, which has been in the warehouse since LAST TUESDAY but I had to delay delivery because of the lack of a place to put the damn thing.
By Tuesday I will be basking in the glory of my new TV room after DTV installs my new 5LNB dish. If I vanish even more in the coming weeks...chances are it's not work. It's TV overload.
Wheeee!
Mary somehow managed to get a Wii at a Wal-Mart in Mount Vernon, Ohio. I can't believe those things are still so damn hard to find. Anyway, Ashley will be happy on Christmas, so score one for mom.
Now I need to find a great Wii game for a 7 year old...
Weekend Goodies
Just some random thoughts from an amazing sports weekend.
Ohio State got punched in the mouth Saturday, took it on the chin, and then punched back. Hard. When Beanie got rolling, Wisconsin simply had no answer. Wells is a strong Heisman candidate next year. Bank on it. And as much as the National view is skewed toward OSU simply because of what happened against Florida last year...the Buckeyes are playing championship level football.
The right tackle for Wisconsin just gave up another sack. Man that kid had a rough day.
LSU getting 5 first place AP votes is a friggin' joke.
If, and it's still a big if, OSU gets through Illinois and Michigan, I'd rather play LSU than Oregon in the title game. Oregon would score 50 on LSU and would put up points on OSU, too. I have watched LSU play 3 games this year and I have yet to see that vaunted defense look anything other than average. Auburn scores 24, Alabama scores 34, and Kentucky 43? I know UK has a good QB, but 43? And this is the consensus A List team with the best defense in the country? Get the hell out of here. Put down the Southern Comfort and watch the games. There are flaws all over that team.
Kansas is getting screwed. If that team wins out and doesn't play for the title, just blow up the entire system. It would be a sports travesty if that would happen. If you are in a BCS conference and go undefeated, and there is only one other undefeated team--you're in. Otherwise what's the point?
I love Charlie Weis. Thank you Chuck. Really. This has been a BLAST. Seriously. This couldn't happen to a better guy. You truly deserve it.
Dan has to turn in his Patriots fan card. Turning off the TV? There's fair weather, and then there's that. Drunk or not, that's hilarious. Sure you're not a Bengals fan? We have a lot of those around here that aren't screaming WHO DEY at anyone anymore. Funny how that works.
The best game of the week was on at 4:00 ET Sunday. It didn't involve Tom Brady or Eli Manning. It involved Derek Anderson and the no longer hapless Browns. Down 21-6, game tying drives, failed 4th down conversion in OT, and to win 33-30, the Browns are one of the most exciting teams in the entire league and are a blocked 40 yard FG from being 6-2. No defense, all offense, and a no-name QB who is playing on an All Pro level. A huge test for DA next week against Pittsburgh. We kinda owe those guys.
You'd never know how amazing a game it was by watching the ESPN highlights, which consisted of 4 plays, 2 of which were field goals. ESPN is the bane of the sports world.
Adrian Peterson is obviously amazing. Less obvious is just how amazing rookie LT Joe Thomas is. Thomas, as a ROOK, has given up zero sacks and takes the right DE out of every game he plays. What a great, great pick.
Please, please, please...do not let the Browns trade the 6'6 gunslinger (Anderson) because we have Brady Quinn on the sideline. I can see it coming though. That would be exceptionally crazy.
Happy Halloween and the Home Theater Links
Happy Halloween everyone. Ashley won her school's costume contest for "funniest" by going as Mac and Cheese. It's a 100% custom made costume and I'll post some pics soon. It's unique to say the least.
The Home Theater goodies are on the way. I will be EATING mac and cheese for the next two months because of it, but hey...I'll make that sacrifice. I like mac and cheese. The good people on the AVS forums helped me tremendously when it came to picking out the hardware.
We start with the Sony Bravia SXRD KDS-60A3000 60" 1080p Rear Projection HDTV
I went with the Yamaha RX-V661BL Receiver
The Athena Bookshelf series of speakers with two stands and the center channel.
The Velodyne VX-10 Subwoofer.
I think I'll be getting the Omni center channel holder as well to place on top of the TV.
With a new HT system you gotta get furniture, right?
The new Ent. Center (w/o the top hutch part)
The two-piece love/seat recliner.
I'm still debating on the Blu-Ray HD DVD thing. Not sure which one I will go with eventually. I'm also most likely going to get the DirecTV HD DVR and, sadly, saying goodbye to the Series 2 TIVO (sigh).
So obviously we're really excited about all of this. This is going to be Christmas this year, but hey...Christmas is basically for Ashley more than it is us. We're also "adopting a family" this year so Ashley can start to see what the season is really supposed to be about: helping others, kids in this case, who don't have the luxury of getting toys on Christmas morning. My father had to deal with that when he was a kid, and he drove that lesson home to me years ago. So while I'm pumped about our new toys (really pumped) I always feel just as good when I can help someone out, even if it's anonymously.
Finally — FINALLY
I am finally getting an HDTV. Long time blog readers will know that I was going to get one back when we built our new house. Then I sat down at closing of the old house and was cut a check for $186. Whoops. Then, my wife was assaulted by two lowlife thugs in a restaurant parking lot and we received a little money from said restaurant. She wanted to use that money to get a TV, but ya know...I couldn't do that. Every time I turn on the thing I'd think "wow my wife got the shit beat out of her so I could watch the Buckeyes in HD."
Blood Money TV. Not good.
Anyway, Christmas is coming early this year and here's what we're looking at:
Sony 60" SRXD KDS-60A3000 (on sale for $1900 at Circuit City)
Micra-6 5.1 speaker system w/ Subwoofer from Athena - we have an 11x13 room so these little beauties should work great.
We're also on the fence about getting an HD DVD player.
I'm still debating the receiver, as well. Was thinking about the Pioneer VSX-516 or spending the extra cash on a Yamaha RX-V659.
Anyone have any experience with any of these?
Penn State White Out — Not This Time
Penn State is a very, very tough place to play -- especially at night. It's incredibly loud and defines the term hostile environment. That's pretty much all you heard leading up to the PSU/OSU game last night. The last time OSU lost a regular season game was in 2005 at Penn State in the infamous White Out game. Typical of the sports media they failed to mention a few things about that game.
Most important of those is the fact that the 2005 Penn State team was very good. So good in fact that they beat a mighty SEC team in a BCS game. OSU lost in 2005 17-10. This year, Penn State isn't nearly as good as that 2005 team and the 2007 Buckeyes are better. Yes, this Buckeye team, at this point of the season, is much better than the 2005 Buckeye team when they played Penn State. (That was the OSU team that dismantled Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.)
Last night's game didn't surprise me at all. Bill Harris emailed me Friday asking what I thought would happen. I said we'd win by 14 all things being equal. The PSU fans can dress in all white or go into the stands naked. I didn't think it would matter. This OSU team is very, very good and unless we self destructed Penn State simply couldn't win.
OSU's defense played their worst game of the season last night. And gave up 10 points and 260 yards of total offense.
I'm not saying the final three games are lay-ups for OSU. Wisconsin ALWAYS gives OSU fits, even in the Shoe. (Hill's injury will be key) Illinois took us to the mat last year, and Michigan is Michigan. But last night's game was a statement that this OSU team can play. Anytime. Anywhere. And beating up on PSU at their place, at night, in primetime, should give Michigan fans pause. The Big House is nowhere near as intimidating as Happy Valley. The Big House is actually pretty quite considering they pack 100,000+ in there.
The bad taste from the Florida game is still there with a lot of these players. And it's showing. Despite being #1 all through the 2006 season, OSU fans knew -- there where chinks in the armor that showed up several times last year. NIU's Garrett Wolfe running wild in the opener, a tight game with an overmatched PSU team at home, a 17-10 struggle against Illinois, a defensive collapse against Michigan, beating up on demoralized teams like MSU, Northwestern, and Indiana who gave up at halftime, and, most important, going into the title game with a feeling of entitlement. This year's team is different.
In a year that was supposed to be a rebuilding season for Ohio State, and in a year when every team and every conference is up and down like a 4th street hooker, OSU's consistency is paying off.
Can we stop with the "White Out" nonsense now? You need the horses before your fans can make a difference.
Interesting stat:
Troy Smith 2006: Effenciency Rating - 161.9
Todd Boeckman 2007 Effenciency Rating through 9 games- 164.3
Number of QBs with a better ratings than Boeckman? Two. (Tebow and Bradford)
NBA 2K8 360
My thoughts are posted today.
I'm also about halfway through Jericho (PC). Still dunno what I think of it. It's not as dreadful as the 3/10 EGM review would lead you to believe, but there IS something missing. Maybe it's the similar enemies? On rails gameplay? Or the unsatisfying combat? That's proabably it.
Oh, yeah, and I think I know what my first DS game is going to be -- the one that forces a father to "borrow" his 7 year old daughter's new toy. I can't help it. It's Warhammer. This is a PSP vid, but still...
Deep Route Football Needs Beta Testers
Just an FYI.
A new online text-based NFL football sim, Deep Route, needs beta testers to help test the league functionality. It's easy to sign up, and you'll be asked to provide feedback and look for bugs, etc. You'll be auto registered for the forums.
You can sign up at http://deeproute.com
or go there to get more info on the game.
Disclosure: My father had a hand in making this game (he designed the playbooks and game planning) so in this capacity I have my media hat in the shredder. I am not covering this game in any capacity. I am gonna play it, though.
There are only 9 or so spots left for the beta test so if you are interested, hop on over.
DS in the House; OSU; and Sore Losers
Today is Ashley's 7th birthday and we got her a pink DS-lite. She really digs it; we got her the High School Musical DS game and she's getting better at it. She's a huge fan of that movie (like every 7 year old girl I imagine) so this is right up her alley. I am curious as to other DS games I should look at for her. Thing is...I can now see why this system is such a huge hit. It's an addictive little sucker.
The Buckeyes won yesterday against Michigan State 24-17. If there was a ever a score that did not reflect the game...it's that one. OSU completely dominated the Spartans. MSU came in with the #1 offense in the B10 and the #7 rushing offense in the nation and only managed 185 TOTAL yards, 65 of that coming on a 4th quarter drive which led to a FG. Think about that. With 5:00 to go MSU had a total of around 120 yards of total offense. Javon Ringer, a damn good back who couldn't get into OSU due to a low ACT score (we wanted him bad) came in averaging 7 yards a carry for the year -- he had 18 carries for 49 yards Saturday.
It was 24-0 until we took a trip to crazy town. With the ball on the 50 and OSU in complete control, Boeckman was pressured and made a bad decision and threw a pick that was returned for a TD. Our next play, Boeckman was sacked by an unblocked blitzer and fumbled, which was again returned or a TD. 24-14. On the NEXT play Wells fumbled and we somehow recovered it on our own 12. It was 1:08 of pure bizarre-ness. After that, MSU was out of magic tricks and we went on to secure the win, but it was a very, very odd game. A game that OSU dominated but it just goes to show how turnovers can make stats moot.
I do wish Chris Wells was 100%. He had a HUGE game Saturday, carrying the ball 31 times for 221 yards...on one ankle. Wells has had a bad wheel since spring ball and is right now at about 75% effectiveness. Not bad for a gimp. On two good ankles...well next year you'll see what I mean. He wasn't the #1 recruit in the country for no reason. He's a beast, and we're just now starting to see it.
So, is OSU legit? Yes and no. The defense is remarkable and anyone who questions that just isn't paying attention. It'sa much bette defense from last year in almost every way. They're faster, and more experienced. I thought Laurinitis was highly overrated coming into the year and benefited from some big plays, which lead to him winning all those awards. This year, he's taking over games. This is in no way the same defense from 2006, which was also great until the final two games. Through 8 games, the first team OSU defense has allowed *23* points--TOTAL.
Anyway, OSU is #1 in the nation. Are they the best team? Well, we don't know that yet. OSU's schedule has been less than brutal thus far. But there is two ways to look at that. Everytime a team plays OSU, it's supposedly the "first big test." Washington on the road was a "test." Washington has a legit offense, ask Oregon--and USC. OSU dominated that team. Purdue and Michigan State, (two more "tests") when they played OSU had the #1 offense in the Big 10. Neither can say that now.OSU dominated Purdue, on the road at night. It was never even a game. Michigan State needed two miracle plays to avoid a 24-3 beatdown.
But it is hard to say OSU is really #1 because while there have been "tests" there has yet to be a truly TOUGH test. Is that OSU's fault? Nope. They play who they play and this year their big OOC game happened to be against a good but not particularly threatening team like the Huskies. As for playing YSU, Akron and Kent State? People that rip OSU for that need to due some fact checking and then promptly shut the hell up. The Big10 IS down this year, bigtime. Is that OSU's fault? Nope.
Like Steve Spurrier, who amazingly called out Ohio State after losing 17-6 to VANDERBILT. Spurrier said something to the effect that, "we didn't overlook Vanderbilt...Vanberbilt lost to 3 good teams, if Vandy played nobodies, they'd be at the top of the BCS standings like Ohio State."
Vandy's previous wins coming into the game against #6 South Carolina? Richmond, Ole Miss, and Eastern Michigan. If you are the #6 team in the nation, you don't lose to Vanderbilt. But Spurrier continues to be perhaps the sorest loser in sports.
South Carolina's OOC schedule this year includes: South Carolina STATE and Louisiana -Lafayette, North Carlona, and yearly underacheiever Clemson. Washington is better than ALL of those teams. So instead of just taking care of business and beating a team that a real contender would hammer, Spurrier jabs OSU. He's like the cry baby 10 year on the playground who when he doesn't get his way tries to tear down the other guy. In short, Spurrier's a douche-bag. He always has been one. Will he be singing that tune when OSU plays home and home games with USC, Oklahoma, VTech and Cal over the next several years? Who is South Carolina scheduling down the road?
Teams schedule games against small schools. It's the way this thing work. Look at any team -- think Michigan thought Appy State was going to be a challenge? Wisconsin played The Citadel, Oklahoma played North Texas and Tulsa, Utah State and a very down Miami. These things are scheduled so far in advance that you never know when an OOC game like that will be tough. Washington, when that game was scheduled was a top 20 team. Think Oklahoma thought the Hurricanes would suck when they added them? USC played Idaho, a SHITTY Notre Dame, and a very weak Nebraska team. It's part of college ball.
Anyway, that's enough for today. I have a party to get ready for. Have a good Sunday.
AI AI AI
Just to follow up on my Franchise thoughts from yesterday. Bill Harris and I are perhaps two of the biggest 'franchise' guys around in that ...we actually play them. Bill has tested franchise modes in games for years to an incredible degree and I guess I have never understood why a company didn't just hire someone like Bill --someone to come in and simply do nothing but test and help design a game's franchise mode. One guy. That's all you'd need. Someone with a load of experience who can spot stupid shit within ten minutes. This isn't small details here folks.
I recall when 3DO tried to hire "DangerZ", creator of that ultimate High Heat editor. So that idea isn't too far fetched. You NEED someone with a critical eye to see things...and make sure that they get fixed. That is, if in fact franchise modes are worth fixing.
It all goes back to player progression. Without this...any franchise mode is doomed to failure or at best mediocrity. You have to have players age, progress, decline, and retire within the realm of possibility otherwise the whole thing just breaks down. You need sleeper draft picks -- the 4th round pick that ends up an All Pro. The 3-Star Recruit that ends up being an All-American (AJ Hawk) -- even the 2-star recruit that does the same (Pats RB Maroney was a 2 star throwaway recruit who went to Minnesota. Could that EVERhappen in NCAA 08?). Conversely, you need the 5 star recruit that ends up busting and not living up to the hype -- the Buckeyes have a kid, a great kid who everyone on the team loves, who was a 5-star can't miss prospect who is now a Junior and only plays on special teams. It happens. You need to have kids fail to meet expectations. It's this level of variety that makes franchise/dynasty modes fun. It's the WHOLE POINT.
You also need to ditch every piece of design inside a franchise mode that isn't fun and is just feature creep tedium. That includes staff hirings, assigning a friggin practice schedule, training modes, yadda yadda. Don't make these things overly complicated. Every "Owner mode" needs to be canned. Stat.
But you also need a sharp AI both on the field and off, particularly draft AI which is still horrendous in most games (Madden being the King of Crap here.) Now, a lot of people equate AI to players using smart behavior. That's part of it, but the area of AI programming that continues to go ignored -- game planning.
Playing games against the AI in most games is still staggeringly predictable because the teams always play the same. I don't mean teams playing to their "style." That's a great thing and one of the best features in NBA 2K8, but PLANNING. The AI needs to start looking at personnel. It needs to see that I have no running game but an All Pro level WR and must try and take away my biggest threat.
It needs to see that my basketball team relies almost 100% on low post play, and plan accordingly. It needs to double team. It needs to put 8 men in the box if it knows it has no run defense to speak of and I'm going to hit them with with an All American tailback. It needs to run a zone when it knows I have no perimeter game. It needs to see who my weak defenders are and expose them mercilessly.
"If you can run the ball you can bring up the safety and it opens up the passing game."
"If you can make them fear the three pointer you can open up the middle by extending the defense."
Basic stuff. Stuff you learn in middle school. I still don't see this in today's games when playing against the AI. And until the AI starts to plan around its players and plan against mine, we're still going to be playing predictable games. I think it's time the games took that next step.
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