Only 1 good commercial
Not happy about the results of the Super Bowl, but at least it was a good game.
I only saw one commercial that I liked.
Yes I’m alive
I know it's been a long time since I've posted. I honestly don't have a good reason why. I guess I could blame some personal things going on or just the fact that I haven't been playing many games, but neither is a good reason.
Gaming:
Madden: I'm in season 3 of my Patriots franchise having won my first 2 Super Bowls. My players are starting to show their age however and ratings are dropping. Overall I'm rated an 83. Part of that is that I refuse to pay top dollar for most players. I'll pay someone rated an 80 the minimum rather than someone rated an 86 10M a year. I did find a strange bug this year. In week 6 I decided to try to trade around some draft picks. Being 5-0 I found 2 teams that are 0-5. Both were willing to trade me pick for pick. So my 1st round for their 1st, my 2nd for their 2nd and so on. That's an easy way to start boosting your team. Linebackers jumping 20 feet in the air making 1 hand catches still piss me off.
NFS: The Run - I have only played about an hour of this one, but I like it. My son just finished the run across country so maybe I'll start putting some more time in. I actually like the gamepad controls better than the wheel.
Diablo 2 - Yea, still playing this one...enough said
Movies
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - This is a very good movie. I was not a fan of the ones in the 70's but I loved this one
Captain America - Just so so. I really liked how they picked the guy to become Captain America, but not really enough action in the movie for me
Music
I've been using Spotify since Dan sent me an invite and still like it a lot. Not everything I look for is on there of course, but I have found a bunch of new music. My current favorite is "Falling in Reverse". I had never heard of them, but they were a Spotify recommendation. Now I listen to them all the time. They will be in Atlanta on January 24th. It's a Tuesday night. I will be going!
Sports
The Patriots D has been terrible and I don't see it getting any better. They might be the strongest team in the AFC, but if the O has a weak week they can't hold on. I still think the Packers will repeat.
Red Sox - What were they thinking? Bobby Valentine? Give me a break. We might not sink to the level of Baltimore, but we are going to have issue this year. On a positive note, I'm glad they let Papelbon go. Give Bard a shot. Sure he might be a little rough stll, but I honestly think he's ready. Of course maybe that's why I'm writing here (when I do) and not on the Red Sox payroll.
Clemson looked great in the ACC title game and I think they can handle West Virginia. Next year looks very promising too with Boyd, Watkins and Hopkins coming back. I expect Dwayne Allen to leave for the NFL, so that will hurt, but Watkins was so impressive as a true Freshman, I can't wait to see him next year.
Riding the Pines – Episode 74
Well, we got the whole band together tonight.
Dan, Craig, and Glen get together to discuss all of the recent sports games.
Dan rants about the scoring system in Fantasy Football
Craig rants about Glen not buying NHL 12 after he did
Glen rants about the Brewers.
Another classic episode.
Here are the links to grab the episode
Enjoy!
Riding the Pines – Episode 73
Well, well, well... guess who's back with another episode.. only two weeks removed from our last one.
Dan, Craig, and I all got together tonight to talk about the following.
- What game Glen just abandoned playing (NCAA Football 12)
- What game Dan and Craig are currently playing (Madden NFL 12)
- What game Dan has convinced Craig and Glen to buy (NHL 12)
We also cover a bit on the new Pro Evolution Soccer and FIFA demos.
You can find the show at all the regular places
Enjoy!
Riding the Pines – Episode 70
Well, it's a Friday night and the gang is all here.
Here's what Dan, Craig, and Glen talk about tonight.
- Netflix changes
- NCAA Football 12
- Various DVR setups
- Spotify
- Fantasy Baseball and Football
- The NFL lockout issues
Definitely one of the more entertaining shows this year.
Here are the links to the show.
Enjoy!
Riding the Pines: Episode 67
Here's what we covered this time around
- Craig and Glen cover how disappointing E3 has become
- We then discuss the strange pricing for the new Xbox Live Arcade version of Backbreaker
- Dan joins us a half hour late and adds his thoughts about the Gameboy classic Tennis on the 3DS store
- and the show tails off from there.
Here are the links to the show.
Enjoy!
Duke Nukem if ever
I bought DNF for the PC today as I knew I would. On trying to install I instantly get an error that says "No language configured." 30 minutes on hold later with 2kGames I'm told to install steam manually, then click "add game". I do that, enter my code and my copy is now registered. It then starts to download DNF. WTF. If I wanted to download a 4GB game I would have bought it on Steam. I have the fucking DVD in the drawer, but it will not let me use it. To make matter worse I'm getting a blazing 128kb/s. At this rate I think I have 3 weeks left until the download is done.
What’s in a title?
As you can tell I haven't posted in a while. No real excuse, just haven't.
Over the weekend the family and I want to see the new X-Men movie. It's not a must see, but we all like it. It was fun seeing the development of characters and there are some good action sequences. I didn't realize going into it that this was considered a reboot of the franchise and as such saw some continuity issues between this film and the last 4. I just assumed it was a prequel. Knowing about the reboot going in would have alleviated some questions during the movie.
I've been playing some more MLB2K11 post patch. I still like the game, but still don't feel drawn to it like I was with 2k10. I've had twice now where a ball hit to center would be picked up by the outfielder and they would not throw it in. The runner gets to 2nd base and all of a sudden I have the ball. You never see the OF throw it, or the ball travel thru the air. I've also had 1 case where when attempting to steal home the pitcher went thru the motion, the ball moved 2 feet then stopped in mid air. After I scored the ball continue to the plate and a ball was called. Speaking of stealing I've noticed that with runners on the corners, if the guy on 1st takes off for 2nd, the catcher usually just holds the ball. Sometimes if it's me stealing 2nd he will throw to 3rd, but he never throws when I'm the one on 3rd. I never saw any of those 3 situations pre-patch.
Is tomorrow going to be a big day? A year ago I would have bet on it, but after seeing IGN give a negative review and the comments I've heard about the demo I'm just not so sure. I'm sure I'll end up going to the store and picking up Duke, but I'm just not as excited for it as I thought I would be. I'm not sure about Glen and Dan, but I'll be getting the PC version...assuming I get it at all.
Glad to see Miami get beat. Once the Celtics were out, I didn't care who won as long as it wasn't Miami.
Speaking of Boston, the B's are trying to force a game 7 tonight. As many of you know, I'm not a big hockey fan, but I am a Boston sports fan, so I have to pull for the B's. I've watched more hockey in this years playoffs than in the past 10 years combined. I have to admit I've enjoyed it too. I doubt I would enjoy it so much if I didn't have a team I was really pulling for
Riding the Pines – Episode 64
In a very special episode of Riding the Pines, here's what we cover...
- A brief history of the early years of Operation Sports
- Games that we've been playing
- and some Golf and Baseball talk.
Here are the links to the show.
Enjoy!
Riding the Pines – Episode 63
Well, well, well. It's been a few weeks since our last recording, so we figured we'd get the band together and put forth a little show for you all.
Here's what we cover tonight.
- A little bit of live baseball play-by-play
- New recording equipment for the podcast (I'll post a picture of that later)
- Our Nintendo 3DS impressions
- Games we've been playing
- Dan's obsession with that Friday song (that Craig and Glen haven't heard yet.)
- Videos that you should never send to people at work
You can "enjoy" the show via the following links:
Music
So I listened to the new Avril CD last night. I use to be a fan, but OMG, that CD sucks. I didn't like a single song off of it. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less as they have been going downhill since her debut and the last one was boarderline at best.
One CD I'm really looking forward to is the new 3 Doors Down. It's been listed as being released "Spring 2011" for a while now, but I read last night that it's been pushed back to July. Three more months. I'd have to say I think 3 Doors Down is my favorite band right now. I've loved every CD and from listening to the first single off the new one I don't see that changing here. Now I just need them to schedule a local show.
Random stuff
Thanks for the feedback on the images I posted the other day. I have finally gone thru the entire shoot and really only got a couple more that stand out. I determined that I need some better gear if I'm going to shoot sports. I made the first move this weekend and bought a new camera body. I picked up a Rebel T2i. 18MP, but the most important part to me is that the noise at ISO 1600 is about the same as the noise at ISO 400 on my Rebel XT and Lightroom can clean it better too. So I now feel like I can shoot 2 stops faster with the same lens. I do want to pickup a new lens, but the one I want (70-200 2.8 IS II) is $2,500 and out of my budget right now. Here's a link to what I think was the best picture I got at the game. It's an INT for the Georgia Force. http://www.flickr.com/photos/craigtompkins/5618737155/
I went to the Gwinnett Braves (AAA) last night as they hosted Norfolk Tide (Orioles). I was able to go in about 2 hours before the game and watch the Tide take BP and warmups. The SS looked farmiliar, but I didn't know why. Then I recognized his name during the lineups. It was Nick Green, who played for the Red Sox in 2009. Green actually pitched 2 no hit innings in the 8th and 9th against the White Sox that year. I always liked and hope that he gets called up somewhere again soon.
As for gaming, yea, um, I haven't played much of anything. Not even MLB2K11 which I do still enjoy. Just too much other stuff going on right now that is taking priority. I will make time for Duke Nukem for sure - yes even if it bombs. I'll be picking up the PC version, but will definilty be interested in seeing which system it sells best on. I'm going to guess the 360.
AFL
As Dan mentioned I was at an AFL game last night. I do enjoy the games and it might be the only pro football we have fora while. What Dan didn't mention is that I had a press pass and was on or just off the field for the whole game. I've got a lot of photos to process, but looking thru them quickly I know I only several keepers and a couple really good shots. I do see how out dated my camera is (Rebel XT) and will have to upgrade it soon. The lens I was shooting with was a bit slow for the lighting conditions, but I can't afford the faster lens that I want, so next time I'll rent it before the game. I didn't have time to do so last night as I didn't know I was getting the press pass until about 3 hours before game time. Here are 2 quick shots and I'll post more to my flickr account when I finish processing them.
- As Glen mantioned I too signed up for the Amazon cloud. 20 Gig for 69 cents was a no brainer for me. I however had to ask a co-worker who Glee was. I still don't know, but I'm told it's High School Musical TV.
- MLB announced today a 7 day DL for concussions. I'm all for this and think it's the best off season move in baseball.
- I finished my first season of MLB2K11 in My Player mode. I'm a SS for the Red Sox and got called up from AA over the All Star Break. We won the World Series over the Giants 4-3. Of course we beat the Yankees 4-3 to make it to the Series. After a full season I've got some quick comments, both good and bad
- It's definitly more difficult starting out, but after 1 full season I'm finally comfortable with my skill set. Of course I want to be better, but I'm hitting about .280 and I think I had 13 HRs. Nothing spectacular, but considering how much longer it takes to get skill points this year I'm happy with my progress. I do strike out a lot however, but that's me haiving a hard time with curves and sliders that start in the zone and move away from me.
- My arm strength is an 80, but I still can't get the ball to 1B in the air on any balls hit to my right.
- I have a hard time turning what should be easy double plays as it takes too long to get the ball out of my glove for underhand throws. Overhand throws are a much faster animation and work fine.
- Haing played about 150 games between AA and the Majors, I have yet been involved in a 4-6-3 Double Play. I have to assume that happens without me if at all.
- I've also noticed that I have to cover close to 2nd whenever there is a runner on and a lefty up to bat. Not a big deal in itself, but I have yet to have the pitcher try a pickoff with me.
- I've had 3 times now where we had bases loaded and me on 1st or 2nd and the guy on 3rd has tried to steal home. Not Crawford or Elsbury either.
- Often times after the game, my team seems to show the wrong emotions. If we win we have our heads down and if we loose we clap.
- After this season the Red Sox lost 1. Papelbon (expected), Jed Lowrie, Varitek, Wakefield, Gonzalez (so much for that extension), Oritz, Scutaro, J.D. Drew and Josh Reddick. That seems like a lot of turnover to me, but I guess we will not know for sure for another 10 months or so.
Thoughts
- MLB2k11 - I still like the game, but after playing 10+ seasons of 2K10 I'm starting to get tired of it already this year and I'm still in my first year. Of course I am just doing the My Player mode so maybe I should switch to Franchise mode. My issue with Franchise mode is that I will want to play all games and not sim them, but I can't do that for multiple baseball seasons.
- Tiger Woods 12 - The demo has been out for a week and I still have not grabbed it. I probably should. I really want to like a golf game again, but I don't think the motion controllers on any system are the way to go. Sure it might be cool for some, but as someone who takes his golf pretty seriousely it's just not accurate enough. So the question becomes "Can I be satisfied with an arcade stick controlled golf game?" I probably could if done right. By right I mean, take the arcade aspect out of the game. No adding spin after you hit the ball. No putting lines that you can move directly to the hole. That sort of thing.
- NFL - By now we all know the NFL is on hold. I really don't know which side I'm on and honestly don't care. As a fan it bothers me because I think those guys entering the draft are in limbo and frankly I don't want to miss football. I have seen several polls online asking what you will do on Sunday's without football. Not a single one (that I've seen) has my idea as an option. If there are no NFL games, I think the NCAA should move some of their games to Sunday. Maybe make it the 2-4 biggest games of the week? What do you guys think?
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