Tebow
I think we should all vote for Tim Tebow to be on the cover of Madden. Just because it would make EA have to redo him in his new uniform, wherever that is.
Tuesday notes
- So, I'm going to start up the fantasy baseball league again. Anyone have preferences for the league site? We used CBSsports last year, but I'm open for anything.. that is free. heh.
- Over the weekend I took the opportunity to try out Star Wars: The Old Republic as they had a free trial for the weekend. What did I find out? I like MMORPG's for the first 10 to 15 levels. What did I remember after that? That I hate being forced to play games with other people.
For me games are an outlet where I escape and just get away from dealing with everything... so why would I want to HAVE to deal with other people?
The game is terrific though. I've never played a game like that where they handled the story aspect of the game that well. So, the game was impressive, but I know for a fact that I won't be picking up the full version.
- Yesterday I started playing Mass Effect 3 and I'm amazed at how they took a somewhat tactical 3rd person RPG and turned it into a 3rd person shooter... with RPG elements. The game better grab me in the next few hours, because otherwise I'll be happy to send it back to Gamefly and be done with the whole series.
- Lastly, I spent a bit more time with MLB 12: The Show and started to wonder... is there anyone here that has ever finished a career in the Road to the Show mode? I've gotten my player to the bigs in years past, but I can't imagine playing the game out for years and years... just on the off chance that my player becomes a superstar.
That's why I always like playing the MLB2K series more, I think. It's just a more fun game to play for a longer period of time.
Just my opinion.
- Later, taters.
Monday night notes
- As Madtowner was quick to call me on, I didn't think that the Badgers would make it past the 2nd round a few months ago. Then when I filled out my bracket, I put them in the Final Four. This is how I consider myself to be completely full of crap almost all of the time. I change my opinion about things almost constantly. It's why I'm a fun person to have a political discussion with... you just never know what I'll say. (Kidding, of course... on many issues I'm completely steadfast in my beliefs... as most of you are... but all we all hate the Dutch and that's what unites us as a people.)
Still, it was a fun Badger game to watch on Saturday night as they really controlled the tempo and got the shots that they wanted. I commented to my wife during the game that I thought it was odd that they never really tried to take the ball inside, but focused almost entirely on having the ball around the 3 point line and never really trying to post up. They must have decided well before the game that Vandy's interior D was just going to be too much for them. Credit to the coaching staff for whatever decisions they made... as they worked.
- On another basketball note, congrats to the UW-Whitewater Warhawks for winning the Division 3 basketball title over the weekend. Winning the national championship in football and basketball is pretty damn impressive.
- On a music note... I hadn't seen anything about this site, but it's kind of cool to see Daryl Hall and Cee-Lo Green singing "F- You" together.
- Manning to Denver? Um, ok. Dan will be happy to see the Manning face again, but this time in Orange and Blue.
- Does anyone really want to put together another Fantasy Baseball season? I got crushed last year as I attempted to learn what in the hell I was doing. Let me know either via comment or email and we can maybe try to put something together relatively quickly.
- Have a good week.
This is what we watch the tournament for….
Norfolk State and Lehigh beating two number 2 seeds in less than 3 hours. Absolutely amazing.
Still not as good as this moment in sports... but these were sure a hell of a lot of fun to watch.
Bracket contest prizes
I forgot to mention it before, but the prizes this year will be as follows.
1st place - $50 amazon gift card
2nd place - $20 amazon gift card
Keep on passing those invites out to your friends.
Tuesday notes
- So, I'm back from New York and I had a sensational time. Spent a day in the city, saw a broadway show, and got to go to my first Islanders game.
The show, Once, was amazingly good. A great balance between a sensational musical and amazing music. So glad that my sister and I got a chance to see it.
Also, another great part was the fact that they let you buy a drink on the stage before the show started and the performers came out and sang while you were having your drink... being on a broadway stage was pretty damn cool in my opinion.
As for the Islanders game, they took a 1-0 lead in the 3rd and then gave up 2 late goals in the 3rd to lose the game. Disappointing finish, but it was fun to be at the game. Oh, and Nassau is a dump. Holy crap. That place is like an old college hockey arena at this point. I completely understand why half of the free agents wouldn't want to go there. Ugh.
- After putting in a 16 hour day at work last night, I actually got a chance to get some gaming in tonight and spent a few hours with The Show. I still don't care for the pitching interface, but the game is still entertaining to play. For the life of me though, I have no idea why people would want to play more than a season or two in RttS mode. What variety do we actually see after playing it for a while? Sure you keep making your player better, but man... it's going to be hard for me to stick with this for a very long time.
Oh, and I did get the online roster. Thanks for getting that right Sony.
- Regarding the iTunes issues with the podcast, I have absolutely no idea what is going on there. If you click on the link for the XML file, you can see the episode there. iTunes just isn't updating it. About 2 years ago they took away the ability to force an update to your iTunes podcast status and ever since then... it's a mystery as to when it gets updated.
Maybe when Dan and I do another show it'll show up. Got me.
- If you have a blog bracket email, go ahead and forward it to anyone you know who might like to join... or have them send me an email. Either one works since they'll get the password for the site that way. The more the merrier and that way more people have a chance at winning a game. Co-workers, friends, family, neighbors, bring 'em all. Show them how bad Dan is at this sort of thing.
- Back tomorrow with more nuggets of wisdom.
Sportsgamerblog Bracket Challenge
Drop me an email if you'd like to join in and I'll send you an invite. If you were in it last year, you should be seeing a group message in your mailbox letting you know all of the details.
Good luck!
Oops, I guess I like MLB2K12 more now
Well I have played a couple of games on MLB2K12 (360), and the Show (PS3 and Vita). I have to say, I'm having more fun right now playing 2k12 than The Show.
No doubt The Show wins on graphics and animations. The Show loses on the dumbass pulse pitching circle of death. The Show is not fun on hitting either. While the Show is probably more realistic, it is also extremely frustrating. There's a reason I'm not a pro athlete, and I can't time the damn hitting in the Show. By the time I figure out what pitch is coming, it's already by me. Some may like the realism. I just get pissed I can't hit the damn ball.
MLB 2k12 has great commentary, the MLB Live (stats are shown and talked about from yesterday's spring training game [yes this has been in the game for a while, but worth mentioning], the pitching model is much easier to get used to and hell, I even understand the baserunning now...
I played an O's vs Red Sox spring game today, and wow was it fun. I was down 2-0 in the first but got 1 back later from a Wieters HR and then despite leaving a ton on base (bases loaded in 2 consecutive innings and hitting into DP's), I did get a run on in to tie it. Then in the 8th, the Sox pitcher broke down and I got 3 on some great baserunning. Pedro Strop pitched 3 innings of amazing baseball including 4 straight K's to get the come from behind win. It was a lot of fun. Pitch counts were right, it didn't feel broken...except for the animations. Watching Wieters "swing" for a HR more or less looked like a bunt.
But it was still fun. Meanwhile I went back to the pitch meter from last year on the show and still can't seem to do it right. Gah!
Cool thing about the Show
The Orioles are featured in the intro because of game 162 last year. You know what sucks? If the new playoff format was implemented last year those games would have been meaningless.
Saturday Thoughts
I think pulse pitching sucks. anyone else enjoying it?
Contrary to what Glen said, after you upgrade to v1.05 of MLB The Show you can download rosters without an online pass. Vita, well uh good luck, it seems like you need a pass to turn on the game. Kidding of course, but implementation could have been so much better.
I'm going to pick up the MLB2K12/NBA2K12 double pack tonight. Because I can 
.
Riding the Pines – Episode 77
Dan and Glen get together to talk about tons of recent events in sports and gaming... including....
- Grand Slam Tennis 2
- Playstation Vita
- The SuperBowl
and much much more...
You can find the show in the following places...
Thursday Thoughts
I have to agree with Glen, the Show's default pulsing circle is stupid. You can go back to last years model easy enough though.
Fair warning to Vita gamers: like the PS3, this game has an online pass and you pretty much need it. However if you liked the Show before, buying is a no brainer as we said on our podcast...which should be posted any minute now, right Glen?
Wednesday night notes
- Well, I'm just finishing getting ready for my trip out east and wanted to post a few more things.
- Just donated $50 to the Kickstarter for Gridiron Heroes. If you're an old school Tecmo fan, think about dropping the guys a few bucks to make this game happen. It looks to be so much more than Tecmo's most recent efforts with the franchise. Can't wait to see what they can do if they get their funding.
- I played a few hours of MLB12: The Show on the PS3 tonight (thanks for eliminating roster downloads without your online pass Sony!) As I do every season, I create a reliever and try to start a Road to the Show career. The obvious major difference between The Show and 2K12 is how much better the graphics are in The Show. Outside of that, I still like the analog pitching controls more in 2K12 than the weird pulsating circle that they're using this time around in MLB12.
I'll give it some more time when I get back to see how the franchise plays out and see how much fun it will be to putz with all of the aspects that I can play with without purchasing the online component.
- Ice Cream Sandwich on my Asus tablet is absolutely terrific. Sensational speed and when you add in the new Chrome browser that is in beta on ICS for phones and tablets, you have an awesome experience. I'm sure Dan will be talking about buying 3 new iPads when they come out, but this tablet is absolutely perfect for everything that I want to do.
- Have a great weekend all. I'll try to make a few posts from NYC and Nassau.
Attempting to return to normalcy… notes
Work is finally starting to settle down and after next Monday, I should start to see my schedule returning back to normal. Hopefully that will mean more posting on the site. Spare time just isn't something I've had a lot of lately.... but here's what I've been up to.
- Over the weekend I had a chance to play some of an upcoming beta... in fact I played it for about 8 hours during the late night hours on Friday and Sunday... so it's safe to say that I really like what they've done with the beta to this point. No idea when it will get released, but I can say that it isn't a sports game... and it will eat up a ton of my gaming time once it is released.
- I got my copy of MLB2K12 last night, and as I was working until near midnight, I'm just diving into it tonight.
Some of the early impressions that I've seen for the game have been remarkably negative, but based on my time with the demo and my first few games tonight, I am enjoying it as much as I did with last years game. Now, I can say that after time last years game started to show some of it's warts and made me dislike it more and more as time went on... but I'm trying to remember a sports game that didn't make me feel that way lately. I'll try to spend as much time as I can with it tonight and tomorrow and post some more thoughts then.
- As for the rest of the week, I'll be heading to New York to catch an Islanders game with my sister on Saturday night. It's my first chance to see an NHL game (actually, I've had offers to see games in the past, but I always wanted to see a home game for my favorite team first, hence the trip to L.I.) and I couldn't be more excited about it. The Isles are 7 points out of a playoff spot with 16 games, and while I don't think the odds are good that they'll make the post season, I just can't wait to see them play. I've been an Isles fan since I was 5 or 6 years old and found out that my mom was from NY, and I just can't wait to finally get to a game.
I'll try to post some pics during or after the game, but I'm sure I'll be the only one really excited about being there. heh.
- Lastly, Dan and I recorded a podcast last Friday night and I should be able to post it tomorrow. I'm sure you'll all be anxious for that.
Gridiron Heroes Kickstarter project
As an old timey Tecmo fan, I figured it would be nice to mention that there is a game project on Kickstarter called Gridiron Heroes looking to secure some funding to develop a new game in the Tecmo style, for Facebook.
You can find a link to the site here. They only have 2 days left to fund about $4,000 to make the project a reality, so if you like supporting that sort of thing, give them a look.
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