NBA NHL Playoffs 04/25/11

getting into exciting first rounds

Games I watched

Watched a lot of playoff basketball. Nice to see the high seeds struggle and even lose to the young upstart teams like the Grizzlies.  Chris Paul doing well again. I hate to see someones career be hampered by injury so to see him in full force against the Lakers is a highlight. He definitely filled up the highlight real with some flashy crossovers, making people look silly. Lakers losing game 1 in round 1, good stuff for the Laker haters.

Sharks came back to win 6-5 in overtime in game 3 against the LA Kings. Booya. I watched it all. It was glorious. Down 4-0 in the 2nd quarter. Sharks have consistently started bad this series though. They need to start strong to wrap up the series and avoid game 7. I don’t want to shave my hockey beard.

Other High notes

Rick Adelman mutually parted ways with the Rockets. That is a shame. He mutually departed ways with the Kings years ago also. We went through I think 3 coaches after him. I felt his departure was premature then as it is now with Houston. A shame too he had bad luck with injuries with the Kings and even worse with Yao Ming and Tmac. I hope he gets another chance in the NBA.

My crappy short review – Walking Dead (comic)

I didn’t have a game to review. Then I just remembered what game I wanted to. oh well, next time. This comic doesn’t really need any more press or a bump in sales really. I’m sure with the popularity of the television show the sales numbers are doing just fine. The series was super popular before the show was even announced. Regardless I bet there are people out there who don’t read The Walking Dead. And some who don’t read any comics at all. For the uninitiated comics are usually 24 pages released in single issues on a monthly basis (usually) and sometimes biweekly or quarterly and so on. The Walking Dead is your typical ongoing monthly series. Same as Superman, Batman, Uncanny X-men, it comes out every month and you can plan on it staying that way for a loong time. These single issues are collected into what is called trade paperbacks, trades for short. Trades are sold on amazon, comic shops, and various bookstores in the comic and graphic novel section. So after you finish all the trades of your fav comic, go into a comic shop. Don’t worry the nerds don’t bite. Ask to open a pull list and just tell them what comics you want to follow. Oh I forgot to mention, comics come out every Wednesday. With a pull list they will reserve a copy for you each time an issue comes out on that Wednesday. So you can stay completely up to date with Rick and company every issue. Look at that you are a genuine comic book nerd now. Careful comics are addicting.

This was all probably just an excuse to bring up the holy shit! moment of issues 83. No spoilers here just a wow! I really hope they get around to more and more crazy stuff in the tv show that writer Robert Kirkman does in the comic.

10/10.

And finally

quote of the playoffs so far. reporting.

Arron Afflalo from the denver nuggets asked by a reporter, “Could it be that they’re just better than you.” response is – “hah.  think so? (“exactly”, heard from the reporter.)
“No… but they up 3-0 so a win is a win that’s all that means on the scoreboard. But. No”

NBA NHL Playoffs 04/17/11

its playoff time. Yes!

Games I watched

Watched March Madness. I won the pool I was participating in. Win for me. On championship day a friend of mine came over and she ended up watching the big game with me. It was fun because I ended up getting her to root for Butler just like me. The bad news is Butler stunk the joint up. Badly. We were screaming at the TV. I really don’t get how you can play a 2nd half that bad. The game was entertaining either way. I just wished Butler put up more of a fight. I heard from PTI that Brad Stevens uses advanced analytics. He didn’t go into detail about exactly what he does but I bet some fancy new school analysis is going on.

Just watched the Sharks get killed by the LA Kings. The announcers threw out the penalty kill stat for the Sharks is ranked 24th. Yikes, and it showed. After the first and second penalty its like they gave up because they knew they sucked at penalty kills. The play and stat does not bode well honestly but the constant optimist in me is confident in at least a 1st round victory.

Caught some NBA playoffs games. Indiana was robbed in their first game. I jumped into the game late but I saw Indiana leading with the end of the game looming in the close distance. Good win for the Bulls. Strangely I’m not nearly as bitter about basketball as I was last years playoffs. I’m thinking its because the Tim Donaghy scandal is a becoming a farther memory (haha I know what you’re saying- dumb Kings fan, get over it!) and that there is more of question mark of whose going to make a finals run.

Other High notes

The Sacramento Kings. I’ve been on high alert constant Kings news watch. Every little news bit has me either angry, crying, or hopeful. For the uninitiated the Sacramento area has been unable to create concrete plans to build a new arena. Plenty of people are at fault the city, the politicians, the people of sacramento, the maloofs, hell maybe the Kings for not competing more and getting more wins. Point is I love the Kings and so do many others and we want the team to stay. Latest news is Ron Burkle, savior of the Pittsburgh Penguins, is trying to save the day and keep the Kings in Sacramento. Oh and who the hell is going to go to the games or watch the games in Anaheim?

My crappy short review – MLB the Show 11

This game is good. Damn good. Best baseball game ever. I haven’t been able to play previous versions since the ps2 and it was pretty good then. Excellent animations. Excellent ballparks. Just plain fun. Better than MVP Baseball 2005. If you are even a slight baseball fan you really should give this game a try. Only thing is if you already are a MLB the Show fan I’m not sure how much new material is in this years version to make your mind explode like mine. I consider this my first time really playing the franchise. I play too many sports games. I want to play Dragon Age 2 but I don’t know if time will permit any time soon. Too bad too because the first one rocked my socks.

10/10.

And finally

I just found and joined http://volunteers.playpower.org/. Description is “We support affordable, effective, fun learning games. We’re starting with an existing $10 TV-computer as a platform for learning games in the developing world.” The $10 computer is equivalent to the NES. The tutorials teach you how to program for the original NES! and for a good cause. How cool is that. check it out.

long post. keep watching the playoffs. my blog sucks.

03/01/2011

hmm. I thought I had a post super bowl post. Oops.

Games I watched

I did watch the super bowl. Aaron Rodgers was good. I was right. woohoo. I’ve been watching Sharks and Sacramento Kings games. Sharks are doing well and things get even worse for the Kings. There was a recent rumor that the Kings were going to move to Anaheim. The team has had troubles for a while with getting an arena. I’ve grown up watching the Kings. Last night was fan night at Arco Arena. I’m a ridiculously sad pathetic Kings loyalist, so seeing Arco Areno filled and buzzing in our game yesterday against the Clippers felt great. The win was sorely needed. I’ve joked for a while that the Maloofs are going to take the Kings and set up shop in Las Vegas. Hope I’m completely wrong.

Other High notes

Dunk contest was sick. google it. Oscars was Sunday. This year I watched every Best Picture Oscar nominee. I was surprised at how many I initially watched then I actively searched for and watched the rest. My pick is Toy Story 3. All good movies though.

My crappy short review –none

Hm. I’m playing quite a few games but nothing new. Haven’t completed anything either so no new review. I’ll aim for a double review next post.

NA/NA.

And finally

March madness up next.

NFL Playoffs 01/18/2011

The pats lose. That says it all. Post late 

Games I watched

I think I caught almost all of the games. Thanks to the handy dandy dvr. Aaron Rodgers is damn good. Just entertaining to watch. His throw is a fastball. Tom Brady and the Patriots were just plain disappointing. No idea why Brady took so many sacks. Throw the ball away

Other High notes

This post is old so I’m not sure. I will say I’m excited for Blake Griffin in the NBA dunk  contest. If you haven’t seen this youtube top 10 yet. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gG4W0L41FI&feature=channel

My crappy short review – Skate franchise

Skating is fun. Gamers remember when Tony Hawk came out, it really changed skateboarding games. I would say it even changed skating. I know I picked up a board after falling for the game. Skate 1 had at least the revolutionary gaming impact similar to Tony Hawk’s Skateboarding. Hard to believe that was 2 console generations ago on the playstation 1. From the moment Skate gameplay videos were shown it was obvious that this game had the nuts. I really like the authentic realistic skate feel of the game. At the same time they allow the crazy outrage we love in gaming. A surprisingly welcome difficulty just helps the long term love of this franchise. I haven’t touched skate 3 yet but I did beat 1 and am in the middle of part 2.  My friend used to say skating feels like your flying. The skate games put you in the place to stomp an ollie and feel like you’re flying down a hill on a board.

9/10.

And finally

NFL final four this weekend. My picks are the Packers and the Jets with the Packs going all the way.  Stay tuned!

Happy New Year!! 12/30/10

Well almost. I was gone from this blog a long time. I don’t really know why but I’m back. And we’re back

Games I watched

I watched football. The NFL season is coming to a close. Playoffs will be awesome. The playoff picture isn’t set yet but my pick will be Philly Eagles. Like that Michael Vick. I missed posting for the whole season. Some highlights – Bay area teams still suck even with a lot help. Would be nice if the Raiders or 49ers actually made the playoffs instead of being not even really close but appearing to be somewhat in the hunt. Also Brett Favre texted his oenis to Jenn Sterger.

The San Francisco Giants won the world series. hell ya

The Kings drafted Demarcus Cousins this year. He is thought of as a good player with possible attitude problems. He’s good and no Artest moments yet. Problem is the Kings still suck. Losing all the time must suck. Awesomely Tyreke Evans got a halfcourt game winning shot last night.

Other high notes

Nothing. Zach Galifinakis was pretty funny on SNL. Tiger will play before the the Masters (I think). and Favre will play next year. Sorry I know these are cheap but I got nothin.

My crappy short review – Fallout 3 New Vegas

I wonder what I would grade Fallout 3 when I played it when it came out. I recall that I wasn’t very kind on my opinion of it. Same goes for New Vegas. The game did have is addicting and charming traits but it was bundled with a lot of frustration. There is lots of getting lost, backtracking, and drab claustrophobic areas. Just too much of an expansion pack of Fallout 3. Still fun game. I’ll go with a 7/10

 

and finally

Last week of the season before NFL playoffs. happy holidays. happy new year!

Late late 03/14/10

This is a late late post. That makes me sad. I’ve never been this late.

Games I watched

I’ll be honest. I’m trying to think of games I saw last week and the week before and I can’t remember much. I am positive that some sports were watched though. I caught parts of some Kings and Sharks game. Oh, I also remember catching some of the NHL on NBC sunday game. The Kings lost as usual and the hockey game was exciting. Yes, titillating news for a sports blog.

Other high notes

Nothing. Zach Galifinakis was pretty funny on SNL. Tiger will play before the the Masters (I think). and Favre will play next year. Sorry I know these are cheap but I got nothin.

My crappy short review – Left 4 Dead

Played this co-op with a friend like Halo 3: ODST. Good game. Fast zombies. The zombie package must be good if fast zombies are used. Must be really fun with 4 human players. Any and every 1st person shooter big fan should check out Left 4 Dead. It has a pretty unique trigger finger style. Its just damn fast. I guess some can say it is short and can get repetitive. Once you learn to cover an area well with 4 people, the next next and next area won’t be incredibly different than the last. Note though that I’m not taking much multiplayer vs online or offline experience into the score because I don’t have xbox live. and I just don’t play much online games nowadays.

and finally

I will try to post early to cover this week. It is selection Sunday today. March madness is good easy fun.  pick a team and hope they win.

Late Olympics wrap-up 03/05/10

argh. This post is late. I try to get them posted Monday. Tues/Wednesday at the lastest. Not that anyone cares but I guess I do. I surprisingly haven’t missed a weekly post yet.

Games I watched

I did watch the Canada vs USA olympic hockey final. Superb game. I don’t know what you could ask for more. I guess US winning for us Americans. Regardless, super entertaining game. Now that this is over I’m looking forward to catching Sharks games.

Other high notes

There has been talk of whether Warriors’ Stephen Curry or Kings’ Tyreke Evans. Of course My vote goes for Reke. I just hope that the warriors keep Curry around and not trade him like all the talent the teams gets a hold of.

My crappy short review – Halo 3: ODST

Another 1st person shooter beaten. I co-oped this one this time. The experience didn’t really feel much different that my solo adventures but its more fun. I liked Halo 3. It was fun and solid. ODST is just as fun. The hub main world where you wander as a rookie in the streets is a little annoying. Its dark and kinda boring wandering around looking for the target checkpoint. Cool voice acting and cool story. Nerd fav Nathon Fillion plays a major roll. This is hard to grade. 8.4/10

and finally

The olympics are over. Spring training has started. Baseball “season” is way too long.

Olympics 02/25/10

I wanted to date that for Sunday the 21st but it doesn’t really make sense now the football posts are done with. This post is late. sorry to the nobody who read this blog.

Games I watched

Olympics. Since this post is well past the weekend I forget what I specifically watched during the weekend. Throughout the week there was plenty of Olympic winter watching. This is my first season snowboarding and I am know in agreement that ice and snow is awesome.

High notes

Plenty of random thoughts.

Shaun White is insane on the snowboard. He airs 100 feet higher than the competition. And the mctwist 12 is digusting.

Hockey. I love hockey now. I don’t know what other sports I can follow at this point. I’m not sure why it took me this long to come around to hockey. My first cool roommate was a big Ducks fan. I did recently get addicted to NHL 10 on the 360 and that shirley [sic] is some reason for my new found fascination with hockey. If sports can be called beautiful  then hockey should be an easy example right? Its like figure skating but with a puck and net.

Snowboard cross. Cool. Needs to be built and snow resorts, parks and hills.

Sunny winter games. The conditions  have been entertaining. The coarse for many races was Kwik-E mart slushy from infavorable temperatures and sun.

Lag. Tape delay in this day and age. Fresh off the heels of the late night fiasco NBC disappoints again. No freaking sense. NBC should show a live showing and have a primetime recap.

My crappy short review – NBA2k10, Fifa 10, NHL10

This is a sports blog. I love sports. Love vid games too. “Nintendo” is what most parents would say to us now older players. I’m not sure when it became the norm to include a “Be a pro” mode in sports game along with franchise and season. Its probably my fav thing in gaming today. I’ve become addicted to the mode in each of these games. There is just a different perspective when you only control yourself and have to play your role on your team. Getting a game winning goal or shot is satisfying as hell too. The combo of graphics and authentic feel of the sport in all these games is aces. Madden also has a Be a pro mode but its kind of ho-hum and everyone has freaking played madden to death anyways. I said I would attempt a scoring system so here goes. I want to say 9/10 because perfection should be harder to come by. As typing this I came up with a solution I’m happy with. Collectively the games get 10/10. Individually 9/10. Go buy all 3 games at the same time for 10/10.

And finally

That made me happy. Kevin Martin was trade in some funky deal with Houston and New York. That made me sad. I hope his prime is still beyond him because he was a beast and fantasy basketball favoritve previously. I hopeful that Carl Landry will be badass for the Kings because many sign point to him being so. watch hockey olympic and nhl. usa!

Olympic NBA All-Star Weekend 02/12/10

Football is over thats the headline. I watch way to much television and sports. I think the blog is safe for the nobody that visit it.

Games I watched

I watched the olympics and NBA All-Star Weekend. I think that was dumbly clear (on my part, poor writing). Both good but AllStar weekend did have its disappointments as did the the winter olympics.

High notes
The dunk contest sucked. I gotta say it. I’ve always found something to enjoy in the dunk contest even in the off years. Newbie hungry Gerald Wallace,  J-Rich  showstoppers, Fred Jones, and Josh Smith.The All-Star Game wouldn’t have sucked if they did’t foul. I like the street ball suggestion of no refs and having them call their own fouls.

I didn’t really watch the olympics until the 2008 Summer Games. It was good and the Winter side hasn’t disappointed me either. The opening ceremonies was not as good as the Chinese spectacle but its still all good. There is just something fantastic about being on ice.

Tons of olymipics stuff to keep you glued to the TV.

My crappy short review

No official review this week. I’m playing Bayontta right now and have some other games lined up. I’m thinking  of a comic, movie, or tv show to switch it up maybe nextime though.

Lindsey Vonn is hot and supposedly has hurt buzz.

Snowboard cross looks awesome. This is my first snowboarding season. Its awesome seeing the snow and these athletes do their thing.

Comcast!! Other blogs and reports have mentioned the non-availability of MSNBC HD in their areas. It sucks. That’s gonna be hocky sometimes. wtf?

Delay! Living in the west coast. Once again screwed by not seeing things live again.

and finally

In this part I usually add something about the Kings so I will mention that Tyreke Evans won Rookie vs. Sophmore MVP. But I think some other player were in high contension. Enjoy the olympics. I’ll try to talk about the NFL next week.

Super Bowl 02/07/10

Ever since the genesis of this blog and this lazy format I have, I’ve wrestled whether I should include NFL in the post title. I feel like football applies to soccer. But NFL is very corporate and NFL Football is just too redundant. ah well. Good thing everyone knows what the Super Bowl is the Super Bowl.

Games I watched –

The Super Bowl.

High Notes –

Great game and great finish. I did pick the Colts to win. I wanted the Saints to win for New Orleans but I wanted the Colts to win just on from the fact that I thought they would win. Payton was not the killer sniper quarterback only in the 1st quarter and the Saints were the dominant destined team from the early seasons in the 2nd half.

The offside kick, the big dropped passes, the interception.

Garrett Hartley is the Saints kicker that made 3 field goals. Nate Kaeding missed 3 field goals for the Chargers. Just watching the play I expected him to miss but he made long field goals again and again. His points were timely and clutch. If he missed, Saints could have been in a much deeper hole.

Wilbon from PTI and other sports peeps from the sports world have said the NFL has stuck to old acts like the Who, Tom Petty, Rolling Stones since the Justin Janet boobie debacle. While this is sadly true, it upsets me for these list to miss shining spots in bad runs. Many people say the NBA dunk contest sucked except Vince C’s showing. I think Jason Richardson did things in the dunk contest that were incredible and shit amazing. Just like J-Rich, Prince should not be overlooked for being a standout in a line of duds. I like lots of music and even the old doods in recent sb history but the oldness is disparingly obvious.

My crappy short review – Mass Effect 2

After some marathon like playing, my ME2 Shephard has once again made paragon decisions, romanced a Normandy crew member, and saved the galaxy. During some playtime I thought at times that ME1 was better than ME2 but it really is just a continuation. I liked Penny Arcades comparison to DE2 in the terms of RPG streamlining. My aha moment was when at some point in playing ME2 I thought – it’s like playing an old school adventure game except instead of solving the quest through a difficult mind confusing blowing puzzle, you action adventure modern shoot and cover. Part 2 still has an engaging story. Cool ending. (no spoilers but I dunno why Thane couldn’t fill a roll in the end, he was a badass.) Sadly it felt like it was over quickly. We gotta wait forever now for ME3. The Mass Effect franchise does not disappoint.

I was thinking of having a score system with my reviews. I really should. Writing is easy for me to write but so are scores for people to read. will try for next time

And finally

woo. finally got this post out. You’d think with the big game I’d at least get this post out by Monday. I’m not sure yet how I’m going to continue my posts. Stay tuned. I have at least 1 post and random ideas for other posts.