Tuesday, December 22, 2009

This Week in Fantasy Sports: The Final Countdown

Well here we are, no the Maulers aren't here but the Stingers are in an epic battle against the Patriots this week. Here's the stats:

Stingers

Record:
10-5-0 (W3)
Coach Rating: 91 (4th)
Schedule Difficulty: 4th
Passing Rank: 8th
Rushing Rank: 7th
Receiving Rank: 1st
Defense/ST Rank: Tied for 3rd


So as you can see my terrible rushing is definitely a hindrance but is made up for by my wide receivers and defense.

Patriots

Record: 10-5-0 (W2)
Coach Rating: 91 (5th)
Schedule Difficulty: 12th
Passing Rank: 7th
Rushing Rank: 2nd
Receiving Rank: 7th
Defense/ST Rank: 11th


You can get several things from this, the first is his great rushers but terrible receiving, defense and passing. In fact, he has an over saturation of rushers with 3 good rushers in reserve! The second thing you can tell is how he got in the playoffs. My team had to claw its way into the playoffs with the 4th hardest Schedule, meanwhile he cruised on his rushers with the easiest schedule in the whole league!



Preview:
Caledonia Stingers by 12

Current Lineup:
QB- Warner
RB- Grant
RB- Moats
WR- Austin
WR- Johnson
WR- Rice
TE- Gates
K- Hartley
DST- Vikings

Possible Wavier Claims:
Morris RB, Bush RB

Monday, December 21, 2009

GOING TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP!

The Stingers won their game against DogvsDog in an upset 103-85. It was a battle the whole way, here's a breakdown:

Quarter Backs:
S- Warner 17
D- Romo 20

I wish I had played Roethlisberger who got an astounding 38 points. But Warner at least kept it in reach.

Running Backs:
S- Grant 9
Moats 4
D- Jackson 12
Johnson 13

My terrible running back issue from the season follows me into the playoffs. Note to self, next year pick good running backs.

Wide Receivers:
S- Austin 19
Johnson 19
Rice 4
D- Holmes 7
Welker 4
Cribbs 0

What I lack in running back, I make up for in WRs. Both my healthy WRs did amazing and Rice played sick, so I'll cut him some slack. DvDs WRs had bad games.

Tight End:
S- Gates 9
D- Gonzalez 9

Goes to show that if you want to get into the playoffs, you need a decent tight end.

Kicker:
S- Hartley 5
D- Prater 15

Hartley had an okay game, but meanwhile Prater had an amazing game, I was praying "Don't let me lose because of a kicker!"

Defense:
S- Texans 17
D- Packers 5

In my opinion, this gave me the game. True, I would've won without any points from defense at all, but this just gave me the security that I needed.

So it looks like that unless my division rival J&J can get at least 26 points with Steve Smith tonight, I will be facing Central Division Leader Patriots.
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

This Week in Fantasy Sports: Stingers in, Maulers out

Good and bad news as you can tell from the title. The Maulers didn't make the playoffs. Looking back it's a very disappointing season, we were on our way to an easy glide into the playoffs but suffered a 4 game losing streak coming into this week (we won our last game though). Unfortunately, my trade for Vincent Jackson didn't help us until this week (and the guy who got Romo is in the playoffs now). My biggest problem was my Running Back draft decisions. In week 1 I started with Jerious Norwood (total of 25 points the WHOLE SEASON!), Darren McFadden (only 41 points), Kevin Faulk (who did okay) and Marshawn Lynch who didn't perform nearly as well as I needed (especially since he started suspended). Another disappointment was Steve Smith who has had a wonky season. My Eagles DST also was a disappointment along with Tom Brady at times. What can I say? That's my whole team!

Most disappointing was that we actually had a good team in the end. Strong WRs, good RBs, great TE and Kicker. We definitely had a shot at the championship had we won.

The Stingers took different approach, having with RBs, Kickers and WRs, and QBs being injured CONSTANTLY. Almost every week seemed to alternate between winning and losing. I don't know how we finished in the first position for the East Division. I'm going up against the extremely tough DogvsDog, who is the overall 1st place in standings, with a SEVEN game winning streak! Currently it's projected to be a tie, but we both know the Stingers are gonna have a steep hill to climb.
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Friday, December 11, 2009

Stinger503's Report of Toolbaggery 11/12/09

For those of you who don't know, Australia's game rating system doesn't allow games for people over 18 years of age. To put this in perspective, imagine if we had no 18-A or R rating in North America. How many good movies, that aren't appropriate for children, would we be missing?

Well probably one of the biggest toolbags of the year is Australia's Attorney General, Michael Atkinson, who says "I accept that 98 per cent, 99 per cent of gamers will tell the difference between fantasy and reality, but the 1 per cent to 2 per cent could go on to be motivated by these games to commit horrible acts of violence," he added. Yeah buddy, that's how society works. Only 1 to 2 percent of people flying are terrorists but let's not allow anybody to fly.

To quote Pink Floyd "We don't need your education! We don't need your thought control!"

What a toolbag!
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Monday, December 7, 2009

Playoff Run Update

I'll be posting This Week In Sports tomorrow, however today I'm posting the projected standings. Currently both teams are in the playoffs, however the Maulers are in a 5-way tie for 4th, leaving the whole thing wide open, so next week will be key for the Maulers chances.

The Stingers meanwhile are in a 4-way for second. Again it's wide open, but I like our chances here better.
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Thursday, December 3, 2009

25 Holy Crap Moments in Gaming

25. Left For Dead: Dead Air
In the finale to Dead Air, you step out onto the tarmac to prep the military plane for flight. When you first come out you see a plane coming in and crash, throwing debris everywhere! Video

24. Halo: 343 Guilty Spark
Just simply iconic Halo level..."I've got a bad feeling about this..." Video

23. Metal Gear Solid 2's Ending
So your playing this game and then suddenly your in a 20 minute cut scene about the new world order. As you just crashed into downtown New York and then battle it out from there. Video

22. Braid's Ending
Although overrated in many cases still a solid mysterious ending to a extremely well made game. Video

21. F22 Lightning II's Big Honkin' Air War
Basically self explanatory, its you and your team vs the other team, with literally dozens of aircraft flying around, its enough to make Maverick from Top Gun crap his pants.

20. Call of Duty 4's 1st Level
Although this isn't what most people remember Call of Duty 4 for, it certainly set the tone. Basically you are a national leader captured by a rebelling force and are being taken to be executed. You can't do anything but look around as your country is being overrun by rebels. Basically Infinity Ward's way of saying: "You ain't seen nothin' yet" Video

19. Call of Duty 4's AC130
The moment you pull the trigger and blow up a house, you simply want more. An amazing level and fun to play. Video

18. Half-Life 2: We don't go there anymore.
Only moments after she told you that Ravenholm is a hell hole, Alyx tell you to go through this festival of haunted nightmares (that's right nightmares that are haunted as well). Video

17. Splinter Cell Chaos Theory's Mexican Standoff
There's was definitely a holy crap moment when your faced with shooting Sam's war friend Douglas. Video

16. Gears of War 2: Riding horseback
Definitely the best moment in the Gears series was riding on the Brumak and blowing the hell out of everything in sight. Video

15. Prey's Opening

Prey was probably the biggest sleeper of 2006. I still remember the feeling I had playing the demo. The first level starts you in a bar where you explore the area, interacting with objects, and then the UFO comes. It's a great opening, and it only gets better too. Also: Killer soundtrack (needs more cowbell though) Video

14. Red Alert's Ending
I giant WTF happened when I played Red Alert to the end of the Soviet campaign as NOD leader Kane comes out of nowhere and shoots the Nadia who just poisoned Stalin. "I AM the future" Damn! You don't screw with Kane. Video

13. Halo: The Pillar of Autumn
The opening level of Halo perfectly sets up the franchise and multi-million dollar money maker. Starting of with some light diagnotics they drop you straight into some fighting. Video

12. Splinter Cell: The CIA
The is just something inherently awesome about breaking into the CIA. Video

11. Call of Duty 4: Ghillies in the Mist
One of the most badass levels of all time, just wonderfully developed. Period. Blowing off a guys arm and then jumping out of a building as it explodes is awesome. The Last Stand, avoiding soldiers, and just the amount of detail put into the old Soviet city is simply amazing. Video

10. Fallout 3's Ending
No I'm not talking about its crappy ending. I'm talking about it's HOLY CRAP THAT ROBOT IS BLOWING THE HELL OUT OF EVERYTHING ending. Video

9. Titanic Adventure Out of Time
One of the best games I've ever played. But the ending takes the cake as you run around the ship as it sinks, trying to figure out how to do everything right while not getting killed. Video

8. Half-Life 2: Meet the Antlions
You're in your little car and getting carried over a ton of giant bugs ala Starship Troopers and over course the DROP YOU! Of course no one tries to help or anything either.

7. SkiFree's Abominable Snowman
You probably don't remember it now, but when you were just skiing around having fun and then all of a sudden a monster comes out of nowhere and eats your skier alive, you likely said holy crap. Video

6. Red Alert 2: Intro Movie
I still say holy crap whenever I watch this. Drive Friendly. The Texas Way.

5. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Final Battle

One of the best games I've ever played and probably one of the best endings in a game I've ever played. Having beaten Gannondorf, you run out of the crumbling tower and then in the collapsed ruin you fight the monstrous Gannon in an epic ending battle. Video

4. Halo 3's Ending
What more do I need to say. Just the perfect finish to the great series. Video

3. Portal
You knew this game had to be here. One of the most perfect games of all time. Especially the ending where the entire building blows up and then you have GLADOS sing you Still Alive. Video

2. Call of Duty 4: The Nuke
Of course I wouldn't dare not mention this. During the game you thought you'd play as to characters. Instead, your American character gets his as blown up in a huge nuclear explosion and then you get to walk around like its Fallout 3 as ash rains down on your fallen comrades. Video

1. Doom's Ending
No one could ever have expected to be teleported to a pitch black room full of monsters, but that's exactly what happened. The "what the hell is this?" is the icing on the cake. Video

Black Friday Indeed

I'm not going to do a This Week in Sports because I'm annoyed. First the Stingers lost the championship game. It didn't come as a surprise, the death knell was Texas vs Texas AM (I have Texas Defense and AMs QB) and that happened Thursday. It was still rather close so I'm not too disappointed.

Meanwhile NFL was a complete disaster. I have RBs injured everywhere. Both Roethlisberger and Warner were out so Stingers went without a QB. Guess how that went. I made a bunch of good grabs on waivers and have a small chance at Sim-Walker today. In fact, I'll check right now...

Hasn't gone through waivers yet so we'll see.

Surprisingly my best players were the tight ends Shiancoe and Gates. Go figure.

Update: I did get Sims-Walker, hooray!

I read that this is the kind of week that makes people want to quit fantasy all together. I just wish I had a league that allows walk ons dammit!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

This Week in Fantasy Sports: ON TO THE FINALS!

Niagara Stingers vs Big Red Crushers : Projected- Stingers by 23
Actual: Stingers 147 to 82 Crushers
Analysis: A decisive win against my Division rival, the Big Red Crushers. We were fortunate for two things: A lot of his players were on BYE/injured and my players played extremely with almost everyone getting at least 5 points (Williams-WR got 2). Johnson-QB got 33, Batch-RB got 30, Locke-RB got 28, Childs-WR got 10, Hankerson-WR got 20, Barden-TE got 6, Waldon-K got 8 and our Texas D got 10 points. (Varner-WR who was on the bench got 21 points and could replace Williams for the final)
Final: The final will be against Salem Downpour. Who is a wild card also in our division and pulled a 167-128 upset over Kiss the Baby, who was #1 in the standings with a 8-2 record. Salem only had a 5-5 record. In our last meeting Salem beat my team 161-118 in week 8. The fact that they got 167, and we had 147 gives me a ton of hope (If we did have Varner in the game we would have won against them too).

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

This Week in Fantasy Sports BAD EDITION

College Football
Maulers vs Shrek : Projected- Shrek by 11
Actual: Maulers 142 to 135 Shrek
Analysis: Finally my defense pulls through. Air Force (who I used earlier this season) got a strong 12 points. Ingram-RB got 26, Williams-RB got 18, Broyles-WR got 21, Pettis-WR got 38. Johnson-QB only got 8 points, which could have cost us the game. But everyone else got atleast some points.
Trades: Unfortunately the Maulers didn't make the playoffs. Which is sad too, because we finally got the ball rolling. The Maulers' season closed with 5 wins and six losses. Tied 3rd in East Division, Tied 4th in the league. Good to go out with a bang

Niagara Stingers vs MBSU : Projected- Stingers by 22
Actual: Stingers 63 to 72 MBSU
Analysis: The only thing that stood out is Texas Defense with 28 points, after that no one did better then 9 points.
Trades: Fortunately the Stingers are moving into the playoffs. Our Division final is against Big Red Crushers. Who we defeated in week 4 135-112.

NFL Football
Caledonia Stingers vs Seachickens : Projected- Stingers by 13
Actual: Stingers 96 to 99 Seachickens
Analysis: Warner had another good game with 25 points, Rice-WR, had an amazing game with 20 points. The Vikings defense got a sturdy 12 points and call out to Betts-RB who I brought in as a BYE replacement with 17 points. Big busts were Austin and Wallace this week.
Trades: Hopefully the Texans getting off BYE will help us a lot.

Hamilton Maulers vs Lord Dinkins: Projected- Maulers by 27
Actual: Maulers 71 to 80 Lords
Analysis: Both RBs were busts as well as the Eagles Defense. Brady got a strong 31 points. Crotchery got 12 points and Smith finally got 15 points.
Trades: Benson, who's been a key player, maybe injured. I also have a trade in voting period with the Trippers for Vincent Jackson in exchange for Romo

Monday, November 16, 2009

Commentary: Football Overtime

Overtime is a tough subject in sports. In hockey it goes to from sudden death to a shootout. But in football it's even more confusing. NFL football has a sudden death overtime where a team just needs to put a point on the board. While NCAA & Canadian football have a shootout like system where a team gets a chance to score and then the other team gets a chance until one is eliminated. Both systems are flawed.

Here's why: NFL's system means that a team only has to get a half decent run or pass and then they can kick a field goal for the win. That's no fun because it's extremely hard to defend against (given that the team starts with decent field position), it's not because "the other team doesn't get the ball".
The Canadian & NCAA style isn't really fun because it's too complicated. It doesn't give the sense of urgency that you get in sudden death.

My solution: Six Point Sudden Death Overtime. Capitalizes on both systems. Scoring a touchdown is difficult. So reward the first team who gets a touchdown a win. No disrespect to kickers, but a game should not hinge on a single field goal. So the reason for six points is that it requires two field goals to win. Which means that if one team goes for the field goal, the other team would get a chance at the ball, which they could use to score a touchdown and win flat out or tie the game with a field goal of their own.

Now your saying, "But then the other team doesn't get a chance to play if a touchdown is scored" which is right. Like I said, it puts the game in the hands of the defense and offense rather then kickers, but it should reward the team the gets a touchdown. If the team can't hold them to a field goal, they don't really deserve try themselves.

So imagine your at the 30 with a 4th down. Do you throw for the end zone, looking to win the game? Or do you kick a field goal and put it in the hands of your defense? That's why this system works, it equalizes the risk. This creates strategy.

And that's what's important. Football is a game of strategy. And with the NFL's overtime that strategy becomes limited to "Get lucky with a pass/run or get field goal". But this still keeps the excitement.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

This Week in Fantasy Sports NFL Edition

NFL Football
Caledonia Stingers vs Tenacious Timberwolves : Projected- Stingers by 21
Actual: Stingers 130 to 61 Timberwolves
Analysis: After last weeks colossal failure, I in no way intended to play Kurt Warner. In fact last week I said I would consider trading Kurt. But for some reason Sunday morning, I looked over my team and noticed around 70% of Kurt's owners were playing him. Looking at the projected scores, and every other detail I could, I couldn't see a reason to play Kurt over Big Ben. But, I figured, they MUST know something I don't.
Luckily my hunch was right. Kurt scored 40 points! But over all my whole team was amazing. I would have won, without Kurt at all! My Falcons Defense (who I got because the Vikings are on BYE) got 17 points, Grant-RB and Slaton-RB got 15 and 8 each. Austin-WR and Johnson-WR both got 10 points and Wallace-WR got 12 (more on that in the Maulers analysis). Gates-TE got a reasonable 6 points and finally Carney-K got an astounding 12 points.
Trades: Ugh, the Texans are on BYE which means I'm down three players (Slaton-RB, Johnson-WR and Moats-RB*reserve). Luckily the Vikings are playing Detroit, so I should be able to shed the Falcons and bring in an RB and simply move Rice into Actives.

Hamilton Maulers vs A League of Their Own: Projected- Maulers by 26
Actual: Maulers 89 to 88 ALOTO
Analysis: Can you say: "By the hairs of his ass!" This is kind of sad because he didn't have a TE, K, and was missing a WR. But still, a win's a win. Brady-QB did alright with 19 points. Benson-RB got 17 points, Carney-K got 12 points and my Eagles D got a disappointing 10 points. So at the end of Sunday it was 77 to 88 for the Leagues and only one player on my team was left, Wallace-WR. I watched the game on Monday and you wouldn't believe how elated I was when Wallace caught a touch down catch to give us the win.
Trades: Moats is on BYE but now Lynch is back so we're good.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

This Week in Fantasy Sports College Edition

College Football
Maulers vs Hurricanes : Projected- Maulers by 11
Actual: Maulers 80 to 106.25 Hurricanes
Analysis: I was so optimistic for this game too. Our two early week games yielded a 17 point game by Williams-RB and 16 point game by Pettis-WR. Then yesterday Johnson-QB got 20 points and Ingram-RB got 15 points. So guess what f'd me in the ass! My newly brought in Oregon Defense, got 0 points. UGH! Guess how USC Defense did? 22 points! AHHHHH! Cobb-WR also got 0 points, no excuse either because it was a 37-12 win.
Trades: Picking USC back off waivers, I'm number 1 so I should be able to get it.
STANDINGS NOTE: Drops me into possibly last place with 4-6 I'll update on Greens game tonight, don't hold your breath, he'd need a 26 point game to get us there.

Niagara Stingers vs Sacramento Thunder : Projected- Stingers by 26
Actual: Stingers 63 to 62 Baby
Analysis: I'm not going to hold my breath here, after last weeks shifts I would not be surprised if I lose by 46 or something. But I hope it stays the same. Johnson did okay with 20 points, Texas Defense got 14 and everyone else did pretty poorly. Exception being my kicker Sturgis with 9 points.
Trades: The big problem this week wasn't that my players are bad, it's the match ups. I should have known better than to but my players up against NC and FL, but what can you do? Trade away for poor players and hope for the best later on?
STANDINGS NOTE: If the win stands it keeps me tied for number 1

Thursday, November 5, 2009

This Week in Fantasy Sports NFL Edition

NFL Football
Caledonia Stingers vs Dirty Dogs : Projected- Dogs by 4
Actual: Stingers 55 to 113
Analysis: Well first problem right of the start, Big Ben was on BYE so I had to put Warner in as my QB. He got 9 points. Really Warner? 5 pass interceptions? AND a fumble. Second problem, Slaton-RB got -1 points, and he's a player I depend on! Apparently he fumbled on his 2nd play and the coach benched him! WTF? Third problem, mediocre play by everyone else except Austin-WR who got 13 points.
Trades: Had to bring on Moats in case Slaton doesn't play this week. Other than that I had to bring in the Falcons Defense since the Vikings are on bye. Collie will be playing since Rice is on bye as well. Big Ben will definitely be play, I think if Warner doesn't start performing I might drop him.

Hamilton Maulers vs Trippers : Projected- Trippers by 23
Actual: Maulers 80 to 68 Trippers
Analysis: Their QB did bad. Our did good, pretty much sums it up. Other than Romo with 27 points, only my Eagles Defense and Steve Smith-WR were able to get over the 10 point barrier. Both my RBs were slacking off today.
Trades: Luckily my usual RB, Benson, is off bye now so he'll be playing. But now Lynch is on bye so I brought Moats on to the team and if he plays that's good, but if not I have Jamal Charles on backup. Cotchery-WR is on bye to so I have Austin Collie in his position.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

This Week in Fantasy Sports College Edition

2nd UPDATE: The score of the maulers game changed again, Page actually score 22 points making it a 125-108 win! Hooray! Also wtf CBS?
UPDATE: The score of the maulers game changed to a 101-101 tie, yay
College Football
Maulers vs The Knights : Projected- Maulers by 25
Actual: Maulers 102 to 106 Knights
Analysis: AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry had to let that out. My QB, Johnson, did great with 37 points. Hardesty-RB got 25 points! Royster-RB and Pettis-WR got 17 and 12 points each! HECK my kicker Lawrence got an astounding 11 points! And look at the other teams QB, ONLY 5 POINTS! This should have been an easy win.
But then... Page-WR, Smith-WR and Green-TE: 0 points. Guess who else got 0 points? My USC number 3 ranked defense! 47 points against! THAT'S EMBARRASSING!
Trades: Definitely bringing on a different defense. 3 games in a row with under 10 points! WTF USC?

Niagara Stingers vs Kiss the Baby : Projected- Baby by 2
Actual: Stingers 149 to 107 Baby
Analysis: I called Johnson perfectly on both of these games. Luckily my Texas D didn't let me down, in fact the got 32 points! And they're rated 6 behind USC! Also Batch-RB matched Johnson with 37 points. Everyone else got 2 points or more.
Trades: Not sure, see what pops up on waivers, very happy were back on track.

Monday, October 26, 2009

This Week in Fantasy Sports

College Football
Maulers vs Greenville Tigers : Projected- Maulers by 55
Actual: Maulers 71 to 149 Tigers
Analysis: Well, what more can you say? The projection showed me by 55, then the other team won by OVER 55. Just complete team failures across the board. QB Reesing? Who's lowest score was 14? Only 9 points! My USC defense? Who I thought would bounce back from last weeks off game? 6 points! No one got over 12 points! And then look at the other team with three players with over 25 points! He could have just had those players play, left the rest off, and still would have won. Sad.
Trades: What can you do really? It was pathetic. I'll look through the wavers, but they just need to play better. I'll also let Johnson play over Reesing.

Niagara Stingers vs Salem Downpour : Projected- Stingers by 19
Actual: Stingers 118 to 161 Downpour
Analysis: Another rout. My team has been getting hit hard with players going cold. Wake Forest, a former powerhouse giving me tons of points, seems to be crashing like the Red Baron. Dez Bryant, my #1 drafted WR, was suspended. My team that was unbeatable two weeks ago, now has suffered an embarrassing loss.
Trades: Fortunately it's not all bad. This week has pointed out where the holes in the ship are and hopefully I can plug the holes. Unlike the Maulers, the Stingers are trying to maintain their lead, not playing catchup. This is good because I can start to look at the final weeks coming up.

NFL Football
Caledonia Stingers vs DogvsDog: Projected- Stingers by 13
Actual: Stingers 129 to 115
Analysis: Roethlisberger, only got 13. As did my reserve Warner. Luckily both my RBs, Grant and Slaton, did amazing, with 20 and 18 points respectively. But BOY did patience play off when I picked up Austin last week while he was on bye. He gave me 29 points! Wouldn't have won without him. My Vikings Defense, Rice-WR, and Carney-K, all did well too. Gates also put up respectable points.
Trades: Johnson-WR got injured late in the game, but will hopefully be good to go next week. My team very strong. Even with Roethlisberger's weak game, we were still the best team in the league (of course there's still a game on tonight)

Hamilton Maulers vs First Down Syndrome: Projected- Syndrome by 2
Actual: Maulers 127 to 63 Syndrome
Analysis: Brady did well and Benson-RB got a great 24 points. Lynch-RB, Collie-WR, Smith-WR and Wallace-WR all did well. Carney again did well. Finally, the Eagles Defense put me in front of the entire league. Which is great.
Trades: Miller had another weak game, have to find another TE.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

This Week In Fantasy Sports NFL Late Edition

NFL Football
Caledonia Stingers vs Patriots Nation: Projected- Pats by 2
Actual: Stingers 100 to 88 Pats
Analysis: Roethlisberger-QB, Johnson-WR and my Vikings Defense did great. Special thanks to bye week replacement Miller-TE who got 11 points. Everyone else did badly.
Trades: Replaced my WRs and got some more players.


Hamilton Maulers vs The Punishers: Projected- Maulers by 18
Actual: Maulers 80 to 61 Punishers
Analysis: Not exactly a rout, but my QB, RBs, and Eagles Defense did well. Unfortunately my WR's, K, and TE feel weak. Hopefully players coming off BYE will help
Trades: Took on Collie-WR in reserve to see how he does, Holt is a replacement for Crotchery who's injured and brought on Crabtree who should beef up my WRs if he's good.

This Week In Fantasy Sports Double College Edition

College Football Week 6
Niagara Stingers vs Smelly Sox: Projected- Stingers by 3
Actual: Stingers 130 to 100 Sox
Analysis: Sox is basically out of the league at this point
Trades: Whole bunch

Maulers vs Flying Legends : Projected- Maulers by 13
Actual: Maulers 94.75 to 137 Legends
Analysis: Sad loss, a 45 point game by Legends WR Barnes and mediocre play by my team sealed the loss. Maybe if I played some others it would have turned out differently.
Trades: Supporting my weak WRs

College Football Week 7
Niagara Stingers vs GA Bulldogs : Projected- Bulldogs by 2
Actual: Stingers 89 to 89 Bulldogs
Analysis: Can you say by the hairs of on my chin. It was close, Bailey-K saved the team with an astounding 15 points (almost won it too). Johnson-QB disappointed me with 19. Wake Forest did awful which means 2 of my WRs did awful (didn't realize they were on the same team). And Peek, my replacement TE did bad too.
Trades: Possibly my WRs and hopefully players coming off bye will help.

Maulers vs I am Tebow's Son : Projected- Maulers by 19
Actual: Maulers 112 to 48 Tebows
Analysis: Exactly what my Maulers needed. 8 of Tebows 9 players got 10 points or less. My USC defense, Page-WR and Rudolph-TE had bad games. But everyone else did well.
Trades: Find a better TE and just scope out other players as well.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

This Week In Fantasy Sports SWEEP EDITION!




Allow me to say "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Because we got the SWEEP!



NFL Football
Caledonia Stingers vs Dirtydogs: Projected- Stingers by 20
Actual: Stingers 115 to 105 Dogs
Analysis: I was worried a little bit when Dogs RB Brown got 23 points and QB Manning got 25. But Roethlisberger-QB matched him with 25 points, but the star was antonio gates-TE with an astounding 24 points. Everyone else did well too, great in a match up where every point counts.
Trades: Ugh half my team is on bye week. Gonna have to get rid of Henderson-WR, he's not performing well anyway. Hartley-K and Carney-K (both New Orleans) are both on BYE this week, and they aren't saying who is going to play yet since Hartley just got out of suspension, so I have to keep both which sucks.


Hamilton Maulers vs Bangkok Stars: Projected- Stars by 45
Actual: Maulers 108 to 72 Stars
Analysis: I was a bit worried when Stars RB Brown got 23 points. Luckily their QB, Brees, only got 7 points. Meanwhile my QB, Brady almost matched Brown with 21 points. But the star of the team was my BYE week replacement for the Eagles, my Saints Defense with an astounding 34 points! I watched the Saints game live and I was shouting "GO GO GO GO!" When they got an interception for a touchdown. Definitely gonna keep them around.
Trades: Eagles are off by and Saints are on BYE so that's an easy switch. My kicker is on BYE so I'll have to get a replacement. Unfortunately injuries are plaguing the team, McFadden-RB is injured and not playing well anyway. Buckhalter-RB, an extremely reliable player is injured. Along with Norwood-RB, who is just coming back from an injury in week 2-3 and a BYE in week 4. Mario-WR was brought on two weeks ago to replace my weak WRs but hasn't preformed well at all. Luckily my team is mostly off BYE and my strong players are ready to play.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

College Fantasy Football Standings Update

Five Weeks (Only four games though, late start)
League: College Blitz
Team: Niagara Stingers
Conference: East Division
Division Standing: #1/5
League Standing: #1/10
Record: 4-0
Streak: 4 Weeks
Analysis: The Stingers are strong. We barely got by in Week 2 with a 58-50 win, Week 3 had a strong 126-95 win and week 4 had a just as strong 135-112 win. This week was an 82-58 win, closer than previous weeks. However my Defence, WRs and Kicker were all on BYE, this means next week they'll be fresh, and I won't have to worry about them on BYE for the rest of the season.

Five Weeks
League: Out for Blood
Team: Maulers
Conference: East Division
Division Standing: Tied for #4/5
League Standing: Four way Tie for #6/10
Record: 2-3
Streak: 1 Week
Analysis: We came out so strong in Week 1 but got destroyed in Week 2 but Shrek QB Tebow, who got 46 points. Week 3 had a heart breaking 100-98 loss to BFTE, followed by a devastating 139-89 loss to standings leader gospokes. Luckily there's light at the end of the tunnel. This weeks 148-53 win hopefully will right us out of the death spiral and back into contention. I still have to pick my players carefully, because several teams would have still beaten me. Time will tell.

This Week In Fantasy Sports NFL Sun. Edition

Caledonia Stingers vs Dirty Dogs: Projected- Stingers by 20
Current: Stingers 94 to 105 Durty Digs
To Play: Stingers-
Donald Driver- WR
Vikings Defence
Dirty Dogs-
None
Analysis: I'm actually quite happy. If Vikings do well then I win, if they do poor and Driver does well, then I'll probably win too. Not gonna raise the victory banner yet though.

Hamilton Maulers vs Bangkok Stars : Projected- Stars by 45
Current: Maulers 108 to 56 Stars
To Play: Maulers-
None
Stars-
Vikings Defence
Analysis: I'm surprised we are dominating, my Saints defense got in the 30s! Pretty good for a backup team off waivers (I think I might keep'em around). Am I afraid of his Vikings defense? Not really, not trying to jinx my stingers but even if they had an amazing game like the Saints it wouldn't be enough.

Tune in tomorrow for the possible SWEEP!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

This Week In Fantasy Sports College Edition

College Football
Niagara Stingers vs KSU Wildcats: Projected- Stingers by 28
Actual: Stingers 72 to 50 Wildcats
Analysis: Not impressive when you consider the Wildcats were missing an RB and a QB. Johnson saved the team on QB. But I'm am happy because most of my team was on Defense.
Trades: I should be able to just switch the team back to normal next week.

Maulers vs PSU National Champs!: Projected- Maulers by 46
Actual: Maulers 126 to 49.5 PSU Champs
Analysis: Johnson-QB got 26, Ingram-RB got 25, Banks-WR got 15, Pettis-WR got 18, and my South California got 22pts.
Trades: Page-WR got 0 points, Evans-K got 3 points and hasn't been good as kicker.

That's two wins! TOMORROW WE GO FOR THE SWEEP!

This Week In Fantasy Sports Late Edition

Okay straight up, busy week for me. Not busy as in, I had a lot to get done (which I did) but that I just wanted to get through the week. So I'm just gonna post the scores of the games from last week so I can get to this week.

College Football:
Maulers 89.25-139.5 GoSpokes09
Summary-Gospokes had a 31pt QB, 24pt RB, 26pt WR and 28pt defense. No chance. My guys put up mediocre stats except for Todd Reesing QB (29pts) and USC defense which got a solid 18 pts.

Niagara Stingers 135-112 BigRedCrushers
Summary-Johnson QB had an amazing 53pt game! My Texas Defense had an amazing 36pt game! Throw in Buckner-WR 19pts and McCalebb-RB 14pts and that more than makes up for the lack luster performance of the others.

NFL Football:
Hamilton Maulers 75-59 Underdogs
Summary- All my players contributed decent numbers, meanwhile Underdogs had three people with 0 points and 2 with only 2 points. Their Ravens Defense kept them in the game with 24 points.

Caledonia Stingers 104-94 Polar Bears
Summary- Roethlisberger got a strong 21pts, McGahee-RB and Driver-WR got 16 each and my Vikings Defense got 15 points. Everyone else did decent as well.

So overall a really good week. But I was kind of disappointed that the Maulers lost on Sat. eliminating any chance for a sweep.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

This Week In Fantasy Sports NFL Sun. Edition

There isn't going to be a Monday edition this week.

Niagara Stingers vs The Fish: Projected- Stingers by 50
Actual: Stingers 105 to 66
Analysis: Johnson-WR got a great 26 points, both my QBs seem to be back in form. Slaton and Crayton both did poorly.
Trades: Slaton-RB and Crayton-WR will likely be reserved, but I'm 2nd in waivers, so we'll see.

Hamilton Maulers vs Sweet Leafs: Projected- Tie
Actual: Maulers 52 to 94 Sweet Leafs
Analysis: Complete team collapse. Brady-QB got a miserable 6 points and back up QB (Romo) got only 10 as well. Only stars were McFadden-RB and Smith-WR, but even they barely got over 10 points. Miller-TE didn't get a single touch, Norwood-RB got injured. My Eagles D had a 48 point loss.
Trades: Lynch cannot come back soon enough! We'll see.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

This Week In Fantasy Sports

Niagara Stingers vs GA Dullbogs : Projected- Dullbogs by 15
Actual: Stingers 125 to 97 D
Analysis: Johnson-QB did amazing with 43 points, Bryant-WR got a strong 27 points. Everyone else did well too.
Trades: The only one who got no points was Spencer-WR who's team won with 45 points, but he didn't put out a single yard. I'm wondering why. Unfortunately my reserve WRs got low points too, so we'll see.

Maulers vs Beast From The East : Projected- Maulers by 23
Actual: Maulers 98 to 67 BFTE
Analysis: Excellent, Beast left one of their RB and WR empty and then their QB and another WR got 0 points. Reesing-QB did excellent this week getting 36 points, Royster-WR got a strong 19 points with others getting a decent amount of points usually.
Trades: Banks-WR has only gotten 10 points, in all three games, combined. Same with Adams-WR. I might switch one of them with Nunez and pick up a different WR, I'm 2nd in waivers so that should be good.

Monday, September 14, 2009

This Week In Fantasy Sports NFL Mon. Edition

Here we go:

Hamilton Maulers vs Blueblood : Projected- Blueblood by 35
SUNDAY: Maulers 78 to 104 J&J
To Play: Maulers-
Tom Brady- QB Points Made: 25
Darren McFadden- RB
BlueBlood-
Patriots Defence Points Made: 12
Analysis: After a weak 1st half Brady came back in the final minutes and got me within shooting distance, and the weak Patriots defense helped a lot. It's all on McFadden to get me 11 points.
CURRENT: M 103-114 BB
To Play: Maulers-
Darren McFadden- RB Points Made: 4
Analysis:
It's only a couple into the game and McFadden is already putting points on the board (104). McFaddens movin up (107). Grabs another yard before going to the 2nd quarter (108). Fadden fumbles it, back to 106. Brings it back up to 107. McFadden makes a play later in the 4th 108. Another good play 109.
Final Score: M 109-114 BB
Final Analysis: If I put Romo in instead of Brady (which I should have because Brady just got back) I would have won. Sadface :(

Caledonia Stingers vs J&J : Projected- Tie
Current: Stingers 73 to 90 J&J
To Play: J&J-
Terrel Owen- WR Points Made: 4
Analysis: Terrel Owens poor performance kept it close. I'm optimistic.
CURRENT: S 73-94 JJ
To Play: Stingers-
Antonio Gates- TE Points Made: 7
Analysis: Gates (and San Diego for the most part) gets little play in the 1st quarter. Gates gets on the board with a point 74. Picks up a deuce, 76. Makes a play in the 4th, 77. Makes another play, 80. Late play with 45 secs left, 81. TOUCHDOWN PLEASE??? Nope
Final Score: S 81-90 JJ
Final Analysis: Both my benched WR and RB got almost 20 points a piece. Sadly, more than anyone on my active team got. Sadface :(

P.S. On a positive note, for a first week, still getting used to my lines, players still getting used to getting back on the field, my teams actually did well. Hopefully they'll be strong next week.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

This Week In Fantasy Sports NFL Sun. Edition

Caledonia Stingers vs J&J : Projected- Tie
Current: Stingers 73 to 90 J&J
To Play: Stingers-
Antonio Gates- TE
J&J-
Terrel Owen- WR
Analysis: It's a long shot, but if TO plays really badly there maybe a chance. J&J's TE got 21 points, why can't mine?

Hamilton Maulers vs Blueblood : Projected- Blueblood by 35
Current: Maulers 78 to 104 J&J
To Play: Maulers-
Tom Brady- QB
Darren McFadden- RB
BlueBlood-
Patriots Defence
Analysis: This is in reach, Brady better have a damn good game, because I benched Romo and he got 32 points. I have to hope that the Patriots D performs poorly, and McFadden does well hopefully

Saturday, September 12, 2009

This Week In Fantasy Sports

Niagara Stingers vs Decatur Bandits : Projected- Stingers by 2
Actual: Stingers 57 to 51 Bandits
Analysis: Gods be praised! The Bandit's owner left on 3 of his players who were on bye this week (TE, WR, WR) and his QB and 1 of his WRs got stomped in a 35-3 loss. Even then I still scrapped by. Gresham, my Tight End, is having surgery and will be out for the year! THANKS FOR TELLING ME CBS! Warren (WR) failed to get any points but got 7 yards. My trade yesterday for McCalebb (RB) saved the day, with 17 points. Relf (my traded QB) got only 4 points in a 49-24 loss. My Texas D got 12 points and the RBs and WRs split the rest. It was close because Bandits Boston College D stomped Kent State 34-7 and his RB Dixon got 17 pts.
Trades: Obviously Gresham is gone. Hopefully my team will be strong since my QB and RBs aren't on bye anymore. My reserve WR, Spencer, got 7.5 points and might replace Warren.

Maulers vs Shrek : Projected- Shrek by 2
Actual: Maulers 112 to 155 Wildcats
Analysis: This was a hard game to win by any standard as Shrek QB, Tebow, got 46 points and 1 of his RB and 2 of his WRs got a combined total of over 60 points. His kicker got 10 points even! Reesing (QB) didn't do as well as he should have, getting only 14 pts in a 34-7 win. Bolden (RB) has been the work horse of the team, getting 35 points, getting us in the ball park at least. Royster (RB) also did really well with 22 points, so I have a strong RB section which is good. Adams (WR) failed me with 0 points and Banks (WR) only got 3 points. Pettis (WR) was exceptionally strong with 17 points in a 34-0 win. Slate (TE) got a point in a 52-10 loss, Flint (K) got 8 points and my USC D got 12 points.
Trades: I'll consider trading my WRs but I'm last on waivers so I doubt I'll be getting anything decent.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The Return Of This Week In Fantasy Sports

Finally football season is here! I'm doing the same thing as last year, 2 college and 2 NFL teams, here's the low down.

College Football
Out for Blood League
Team: Maulers
QB- Todd Reesing- Kansas
QB- Juice Williams- Illinois
RB- Chris Brown- Oklahoma
RB- Evan Royster- Penn State
RB- Jewel Hampton- Iowa
WR- Kris Adams- Texas-El Paso
WR- Brandon Banks- Kansas State
WR- Juan Nunez- Western Michigan
WR-Austin Pettis- Boise State
TE- Cody Slate- Marshall
K- Morgan Flint- Oregon
K- Ross Evans- Texas Christian
DST- Southern California
DST- West Virginia

Fantasy College Blitz League
Team: Niagara Stingers
QB- Jerrod Johnson- Texas A&M
QB- Jevan Snead- Mississippi
RB- Darrell Scott- Colorado
RB- Jay Finley- Baylor
RB- Michael Smith- Arizona
WR- Jason Barnes- South Carolina
WR- Dez Bryant- Oklahoma State
WR- Brandon Warren- Tennessee
WR- Owen Spencer- North Carolina State
TE- Jermaine Gresham- Oklahoma
K- Dan Bailey- Oklahoma State
K- Hunter Lawrence- Texas
DST- Texas
DST- South Carolina

**Guess what? Both my Qbs have bye this week and 2 of my RBs have it too! I'm gonna have to drop my SC defence and Lawrence-K

College Football Week 1
Maulers vs Hurricanes_09 : Projected- Hurricanes by 18
Actual: Maulers 104 to 89.25 Wildcats
Analysis: I really dropped the ball here, Hampton-WR was out for the season, Oregon did terrible so Flint-K didn't get anything. Reesing-QB, Slate-TE and my South California defense did really well. Royster and Pettis did good too.
Trades: Definitely getting rid of Hampton ASAP, got 5 WRs on waivers, so I'll see who I get tomorrow.

NFL Football
NFL Canada Champions League
Team: Caledonia Stingers *Note I did not get to participate in the draft because of scheduling*
QB- Kurt Warner- Arizona Cardinals
QB- Ben Roethlisberger- Pittsburgh Steelers
RB- Ryan Grant- Green Bay Packers
RB- Steve Slaton- Houston Texans
RB- Willis McGahee- Baltimore Ravens
RB- Johnathan Stewart- Carolina Panthers
RB- Fred Taylor- New England Patriots
WR- Lee Evans- Buffalo Bills
WR- Andre Johnson- Houston Texans
WR- Antonio Gates- San Diego Chargers
WR-Patrick Crayton- Dallas Stars
TE- Antonio Gates- San Diego Chargers
K- Garrett Hartley- New Orleans Saints
DST- Minnesota Vikings

Kings of Fantasy League
Team: Hamilton Maulers
QB- Tom Brady- New England Patriots
QB- Tony Romo- Dallas Stars
RB- Marshawn Lynch- Buffalo Bills
RB-Darren McFadden- Oakland Raiders
RB- Kevin Faulk- New England Patriots
RB- Jerious Norwood- Atlanta Falcons
WR- Steve Smith- Carolina Panthers
WR- Jerricho Cotchery- New York Jets
WR- Ike Hilliard- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
WR- Steve Smith- Carolina Panthers
TE- Nate Washington - Tennessee Titans
K- Robbie Gould- Chicago Bears
DST- Philadelphia Eagles
DST- Indianapolis Colts

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Pink Floyd: Rockband

Here is how I would do a Pink Floyd Rockband game.

The Early Years:
Piper At The Gates of Dawn
-Astronomy Domine /A Really Good Starter Song\
-Interstellar Overdrive /A really fun guitar instrumental\
-Bike /Would be fun for a vocalist and drums\

A Saucerful of Secrets

-Let There Be More Light /Listen to it, it's the Doom theme!\
-Corporal Clegg /Has a Beatles/David Bowie feel to it\
-Saucerful of Secrets /Crazy Instrumental\
-See-Saw /Interesting Song\

Ummagumma

-Careful With That Axe, Eugene /An 8 Minute Pink Floyd Epic\

Meddle

-One Of These Days /Awesome guitar instrumental\
-Echoes /How could I not use this epic 20+ minutes song to wrap up the Early Years\


Hitting It Big:

Dark Side of The Moon (Full Album)
-Speak To Me/Breathe /The Drummer starts by pedaling the heartbeat, which goes into the sound effects, vocals screaming, then the awesome guitars start with a sweet drum beat. It would be amazing to sing as well\
-On The Run /I think this would be possible to do (Instrumental)\
-Time /What can you say? Classic song, epic solo\
-Great Gig In The Sky /Almost has to be done, thought of has just a piano song but has good guitar pieces and drums\
-Money /Classic song period\
-Us And Them /Great to sing\
-Any Colour You Like /EASILY Pink Floyd's best instrumental WOULD be amazing on guitar (especially if they could both be guitars\
-Brain Damage /Great Vocals\
-Eclipse /One of my favourites\

Wish You Were Here
-Shine on You Crazy Diamond (I-IX)
-Welcome To The Machine
-Have A Cigar
-Wish You Were Here

Is There Anybody Out There: The Wall
(Live)
Stop. Why The Wall live you ask? "People are going to ride the whine train all day!" you say. I'll explain it in the songs.
-Master of Ceremonies: ATMOS & In The Flesh (LIVE) /These are just to great not to go together. The singer would say the announcement part. (Which is okay since there's an instrumental)\
-The Thin Ice /Great lyrics, There's an extra bit of instrumental in the live version too\
-Another Brick In The Wall Prt. 1 /Not really to much difference here\
-The Happiest Days Of Our Lives /The originals a bit better, but I also like the lives stronger beat\
-Another Brick In The Wall Prt. 2 /I'll be honest this is the only song not as good as the original, the singing and guitars don't sound as good. However the 2 minutes of extra instrumental is pretty awesome\
-Mother /Again another song with extra guitar solo, yes please\
-Goodbye Blue Sky /Both equally good. The orig. has better light parts, while the live has better dark parts\
-Empty Space & What Shall We Do Now /If for no other reason, What Shall We Do Now is the reason that you'd have the live version of the Wall. Just a cool song. There's a drum solo and a big rock ending!\
-Young Lust /The starting solo guitar makes it so worth it to go with live\
-One Of My Turns /The guitars sound a little better live, but not much difference\
-Don't Leave Me Now /Again, not much difference\
-Another Brick In The Wall Prt. 3 /The guitar is better in the live version\
-The Last Few Brick & Goodbye Cruel World /An awesome instrumental live only, would lead into a pretty much singing solo ending song\
-Hey You /I like the guitars more in this one\
-Nobody Home /Pretty much the same\
-Is There Anybody Out The /There is a ton more to do for the singer in the live version\
-Vera & Bring The Boys Back Home /Basically the same on both\
-Comfortably Numb (LIVE) /solo has an extra minute of badassedness on it. It is literally THE best guitar solo in any Pink Floyd record released. It also ends with a big rock ending.\
-The Show Must Go On /Basically the same, some extra lyrics in the live version\
-Master of Ceremonies: Atmos? & In The Flesh /Just a ton more loud, especially drums\
-Run Like Hell /I love the guitars a ton more live, and the opening speaking to the fans would be great to do\
-Waiting For The Worms & Stop /Basically the same\
-The Trial /Basically the same\
-Outside The Wall /There's nice background singing in the live one\

TOTAL SONGS: 50

Debate: The Wall
In my opinion after completing the game, or completing a challenge like: "Do the entire Wall: Live as a setlist with 5 stars on every song" then you'd unlock the original Wall. However, there's also a possibility of making it DLC, if they did this they could offer Another Brick In The Wall Part II as a freebie with the game. Or the entire Wall as a freebie with a pre-order.

Downloadable Content:
Singles
-Apples and Oranges
-Candy And A Currant Bun
-It Would Be So Nice
-Paint Box
-Point Me At The Sky

Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
-Lucifer Sam
-Matilda Mother
-Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk
-Flaming

A Saucerful Of Secrets

-Jugband Blues
-Remember A Day
-Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun

Music From The Film More

-The Nile Song
-Cymbaline
-Ibiza Bar
-More Blues
-A Spanish Piece & Dramatic Theme

Ummagumma
-The Narrow Way: Part I
-The Narrow Way: Part II
-The Narrow Way: Part III


Atom Heart Mother

-Atom Heart Mother Suite
-If
-Summer '68
-Fat Old Sun
-Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast


Meddle

-A Pillow of Winds
-Fearless
-San Tropez

Obscured By Clouds (Full Album)
-Obscured By Clouds /Instrumental\
-When You're In /Instrumental\
-Burning Bridges
-The Gold It's In The... /solo could easily be mistaken for AC/DC\
-Wot's... Uh The Deal
-Mudmen /Instrumental\
-Childhood's End
-Free Four /Cool Solo\
-Stay
-Absolutely Curtains

Animals (Full Album)
Pigs On The Wing Pt 1&2
Sheep
Dogs
Pigs (One Of Three)

Final Cut
-When The Tigers Broke Free
-Fletcher Memorial Home
-Your Possible Pasts
-The Hero's Return
-The Final Cut
-Not Now John
-The Post War Dream
-Two Suns In The Sunset

Momentary Lapse of Reason
-Learning To Fly
-The Dogs Of War
-One Slip
-On The Turning Away
-Yet Another Movie
-Terminal Frost
-Sorrow

The Division Bell

-A Great Day For Freedom
-High Hopes
-What Do You Want From Me
-Poles Apart
-Marooned /Instrumental\
-Wearing The Inside Out
-Take It Back
-Coming Back To Life
-Keep Talking
-Lost For Words

On An Island
-On An Island
-The Blue
-Take A Breath
-Red Sky At Night /The Sax would be amazing to turn into a guitar solo\
-This Heaven
-Smile
-Where We Start

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Game Review: Resident Evil 5

Resident Evil 5 has an amazing story. Really epic. So for that alone, at least rent the game.


But the best part of the game is the co-op, yelling "HOLY CRAP!" and coordinating with your teammate is a ton of fun. The graphics and locales are well done.

But here's the problems. The single player is ass. It's just not fun playing by yourself. The second problem is the controls are kind of sluggish. I tried replaying a couple time but it was just a struggle. So I ended up reselling it too.




Programming: 5/10 : Controls felt kind of sluggish. Single player teammate AI is horrid!
Graphics: 9/10 : Graphics are really great
Story: 10/10 : Story is thrilling
Atmosphere: 10/10 : The various African locales are really well done
Multiplayer: 7/10 : The co-operative is really fun
Overall: 7/10 : There's an exceptional game here, I think it just gets bogged down a bit.

P.S. I love the main character because his name is Chris, memo to developers: NAME YOUR CHARACTERS CHRIS!

Game Review: Halo Wars


Halo Wars is an RTS based in the Halo universe. The plot is nothing special, Covenant take a thing, try to blow up the world... yadda yadda. In the end it doesn't have an impact on the Halo universe we know and love.
The problem I have with the game is that the pace seems kind of slow. Also a thing that bothered me was that you could on build a couple buildings and defences. And they can only go in specific places around the main construction base. I like the Red Alert scheme where you could build building anywhere around a building you own. It let you be creative with your bases. But they did it for easier controls.
In the end there's nothing wrong with the game. It has some interesting scenarios. However when I finished and looked at the achievements, I thought "ugh". And I knew right then, if playing through levels was feeling like a hassle, I was done. I traded it in for money.
Programming: 9/10 : Very well made game, controls really well too.
Graphics: 7.5/10 : The graphics are pretty good for a RTS
Story: 5/10 : The story kind of weak because of the low impact on the Halo universe.
Atmosphere: 9/10 : The Halo units are done really well
Multiplayer: NA/10 : Didn't really play multiplayer
Overall: 7/10 : Like I said I didn't hold onto the game.

Movie Review: Public Enemies

Public Enemies stars Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands) as John Dillinger, a bank robber. The movie starts off with John breaking his friends out of prison. Marion Cotillard (La Vie en rose) plays Billie Frechette, John's wife.

While John robs banks, Christian Bale (Dark Knight) plays the man whose hunting him down, Melvin Purvis. With Billy Crudup (Watchmen) playing J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI.


The movie follows John as he goes through his life. There is a couple really good action scenes. The camera work is superb. A problem with the movie is that there's no one to really latch on too. Both sides have their faults. The 30s feel is amazingly done.

Acting: 9/10
Story: 8/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Overall: 9/10
Rated 14A (ONT) R (USA) I liked it

P.S. There was a scene with a singer and I thought I recognized her. I nailed it. (Cameo was Diana Krall)

Movie Review: Defiance

Defiance stars Daniel Craig (Casino Royale) as Tuvia Bielski who along with his brothers Zus Bielski (played by Liev Schreiber, The Manchurian Candidate), Aron Bielski (George Mackay, and Asael Bielski (played by Jamie Bell, King Kong) are hiding from Nazi German oppression in the forests of Poland.

Soon their story spread and they are joined by many other Jewish people. The movie follows the struggles of their camp and the differences between the brothers.

Overall it's an entertaining movie.

Acting: 7.5/10
Story: 8/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Rated 14A (ONT) R (USA) I liked it more than Pyjamas

Movie Review: The Day the Earth Stood Still

Keanu Reeves (The Matrix) stars as Klaatu an alien representative. Co-Starring is Jennifer Connelly as microbiologist Helen Benson. Kathy Bates (Revolutionary Road) plays the Secretary of State, who's a constant pain. Jaden Smith (Pursuit of Happyness) plays Jacob Benson, Helen's step-son. John Cleese (Monty Python) plays a professor and friend of Helen.

Helen eventually finds out Klaatu's here because they are going to destroy the Earth, or rather, protect the Earth by destroying us. Yeah it's sort of environmentalist propaganda but let's keep going. So the majority of the movie is Helen trying to convince Klaatu not to end humanity.

While this is happening the American Army (led by Robert Knepper of Prison Break) is doing various attacks on the ship/sphere and Gort, a giant robot.

The movie is interesting but doesn't have the pizaz of Independence Day or Day After Tomorrow and the story is too shallow. So it fails as a disaster movie and an action drama.

Acting: 7/10
Story: 6.5/10
Atmosphere: 6/10
Overall: 6.5/10
Rated PG (ONT) PG-13 (USA) Okay movie

Movie Review: Frost/Nixon

Frank Langella (Goodnight, and Goodluck) plays a post Presidential office Richard Nixon. Looking to rebuild his political career (and a little bit of money) he agrees to an interview with journalist David Frost (played by Michael Sheen, The Queen). Frost is trying to rebuild his career and is taking a huge risk by spending a ton of money for the interview.

The supporting cast includes a rock solid Kevin Bacon as Nixon's advisor Jack Brennan. Sam Rockwell (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) as James Reston, Jr. who along with Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt, Year One) and John Birt (Matthew Macfadyen, Pride & Prejudice) study up on the former President for Frost.

The dialogue is well done and humourous at times and is actually quite tense at moments (which is surprising for an interview)

Great camera work, acting and writing make this movie amazing.

Acting: 9.5/10
Story: 8.5/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
Rated: PG (ONT) R (USA) Overall really well done

Movie Review: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Newcomer Asa Butterfield stars as the young Bruno, son of an SS Officer (palyed by David Thewlis, Harry Potter) who is stationed at a Nazi concentration camp. Bruno's family includes his mother (Vera Farmiga, Nothing But The Truth) and his sister Grettel (played by Amber Beattie who's also in her first major role).
From his window Bruno notices a "farm" with people wearing "striped pyjamas". There he meets a boy named Shmuel (played by Jack Scanlon who again is new) and they become friends. Another key character is Lt. Kotler, a young SS officer played by Rupert Friend (The Libertine).

The movie has an interesting story, and is well done.

Acting: 7/10
Story: 7.5/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Rated 14-A (ONT)* PG-13 (USA) Overall a good movie

P.S. Spoilers: I was left wondering if the father really did get the point? That what they were doing was evil? Or was he just sad because his son died?

*I couldn't find this so that is my best guess, though it could be PG

Movie Review: Year One

Year One stars Jack Black as Zed and Michael Cera, his sidekick, as Oh. They start off as small time hunterer/gatherers at a tribe and dream of going over the mountains, which Oh believes is the end of the world. After eating the forbidden fruit and being banished they are exiled from the tribe and begin their journey.

David Cross (Kung Fu Panda) plays Cain (of the famous Cain and Abel brothers). Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad) plays Issac and Hank Azaria (Godzilla) plays Abraham, his father. Juno Temple (Atonement) and June Raphael (Bride Wars) play Eema and Maya, Oh and Zeds love interests from the tribe. Oliver Wilde (House M.D.) plays the Princess of Sodom and there are several other small parts and cameos throughout the movie.

The one who steals the show is Cera with his Eore like attitude, which make every line he says pretty funny. I'll admit the movie is far from perfect. There's a couple of gross moments. But overall I thought it was pretty good.

Acting: 7.5/10
Story: 7.5/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Rated: 14-A (ONT) PG-13 (USA) If you like Jack Black or Michael Cera you'll probably like this movie

Movie Review: The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 revolves around Ryder (like train rider) played by John Travolta (Hairspray, Wildhogs) who takes over a train, full of hostages, and demands a ransom. The man he talks to over the radio is Walter Garber, a man who's worked on the subway system for years, played by Denzel Washington (Deja Vu, American Gangster).

Ryder's motive is unclear, but what is clear is that he has a beef with the Mayor of New York City (played by James Gandolfini, the Sopranos) and the "man" in general. The main problem with the movie is that there's only a few "tense" moments. And even they seem contrived, and some don't even involve the characters in the movie. The movie doesn't really go anywhere until the end as well.

The second big problem is that this has already been done. And done better. The Italian Job, Phone Booth, Die Hard and many others have tread these grounds before. Heck, Inside Man was released in 2006, so even Denzel has been here before. Denzel and John both do well but there isn't much to work with.


Acting: 7/10
Story: 4/10
Atmosphere: 5/10
Overall: 5.5/10
Rated: 14-A (ONT) R (USA) Exciting at parts but not enough

P.S. A lot of the "twists" could be seen from miles away

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Movie Review: Terminator Salvation


The movie stars Christian Bale (The Dark Knight) as John Connor, leader of the resistance against the robot overlords (i.e. Skynet). Sam Worthington (The Great Raid) plays Marcus Wright, a man who was on deathrow in the past but doesn't remember anything now.

He finds a young Kyle Reece (played by Anton Yelchin) and they, along with Star (played by Jadagrace). Michael Ironside seems wasted as a leader of the resistance. Moon Bloodgood plays a pilot who also plays a key part in the story. The rest of the characters play minor parts.

Overall the movie had some great cinematics. The gas station scene was epic in my opinion. Also if your going to compare to the previous movies, keep in mind that this one had to play a different tune and couldn't just go with the "single terminator going after Connor" theme.

Acting: 7/10
Story: 7.5/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Overall: 8/10
Rated 14A (ONT) PG-13 (USA) I thought it was definitely worth seeing


P.S. I thought I saw a seen where there were people watching them go to the death areas. If true, what could it mean?

Movie Review: Bottle Shock




Bottle Shock is a movie about the taste testing contest between French and Californian wines in 1976. The movie stars Chris Pine (Star Trek) as Bo Barrett the son of Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman, Independence Day) who is following his dream of owning a successful winery. Rachel Taylor plays Sam (fitting perfectly as a California girl) an intern at the winery. Freddy Rodríguez play a young man who has a passion for wine and is friends with Bo. Eliza Dushku plays a small part as a local bartender.

Finally the one who steals the show is Alan Rickman (Harry Potter) as an English "wine snob" trying to run a wine store in France. He comes up with the idea to do the blind taste contest and begins searching California for the best wines. Every scene he's in is excellent

However most of the movie revolves around the troubles of the Barrett winery and the relationship between Bo and his father. There's also a small love story but it seems kind of uneccessary.

Overall the movie is great.

Acting: 8/10
Story: 8/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Rated 14A (ONT) PG-13 (USA) Very interesting movie

P.S. Alan Rickman is also in one of my favourite movies Galaxy Quest

Movie Review: Revolutionary Road




Revolutionary Road starts off with the Wheelers, Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio, Titanic) and April (Kate Winslet, Titanic also), having a fight, and you immediately know that the gloves are off for this movie. The movie for the most part revolves around them. The other standout performer was Kathy Bates. The rest play more minor roles but do well none the less.

April has dreams of going places, not staying in your standard 50s suburban neighbourhood. Frank, also had these dreams but that part of seems has given in to the pessimism of working at his job (the same company that his father did too).

Both Leo and Kate do exceptional here. Director Sam Mendes (Jarhead, Road to Peredition) does a great job with the camera. The fifties clothing and settings were also done very well.

Acting: 9/10
Story: 7/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Overall: 8/10
Rated: 14-A (ONT) R (USA) Well done movie

P.S. Didn't realize this was based off a book

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Movie Review: Crossing Over

Crossing Over is several stories about immigrants in the United States. The first is Harrison Ford as Max Brogan, a immigration officer who tries to get an illegal immigrant her young boy back.

The second is Claire Shepard (played by Alice Eve) an Australian actress who wants to make it big in the U.S. and meets Cole Frankel (played by Ray Liotta) an immigration official.

Another story is Gavin Kossef (played by Jim Sturgess, Across The Universe) a friend of Claire, also seeking citizenship, and is using his Jewish faith to get in.

Taslima Jahangir (played by Summer Bishil) is a member of a family who is partly illegal and ends up being arrested for a school report she did. She is taken care of by Denise Frankel (Ashley Judd, Double Jeopardy) who is an immigration lawyer and takes care of another immigrant child.

Finally Cliff Curtis plays Hamid Baraheri who is involved with a death in a family. And the last story is an Asian family, who's eldest son is getting involved with gangs, only weeks before he's to become a citizen.


Overall they're all kind of enjoyable, but it doesn't really stand out on it's own.


Acting: 8/10
Story: 7.5/10
Atmosphere: 7.5/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Rated: 14-A (ONT) R (USA) Good stories

P.S. I was annoyed with the opening speech by Taslima. Also I didn't realize that Austrailia was such a hell hole.

Movie Review: Fanboys


Eric Bottler (played by Sam Huntington, Superman Returns) reunites with his old high school buddies Linus (Christopher Marquette, The Girl Next Door), Hutch (Dan Fogler, Balls Of Fury) and Windows (Canadian Jay Baruchel, Tropic Thunder) and refire their dream to go to Skywalker Ranch and see the Phantom Menace before anyone else.
Zoe (Kristen Bell, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) is a co-worker and friend of Hutch. The gang heads west in their van and get involved with a ton of hijinks.

I loved the movie for it's various cameos, Star Wars related humour and humour. I definitely reccomend seeing it.

Acting: 8/10
Story: 8/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Rated: 14-A (ONT) PG-13 (USA) Hilarious movie

Movie Review: Nothing But The Truth


Allison (played by Kate Beckinsale, Click) is a journalist on the verge of releasing a huge news story: the wife of a government official is a CIA agent. backed by her editor (Angela Bassett, ER). She goes ahead with the story, knowing it will cause controversy. Immediately the government wants the source from her, getting a special prosecutor for the matter (played by Matt Dillon, Crash). Things go downhill from there.

Noah Wyle (ER) plays the lawyer defending her for the newspaper. While Alan Alda (Aviator) plays a lawyer defending her and does a really great job. I thought Kate did a really good job too. David Schwimmer (Friends) plays her Allison's husband and one of the stand outs was Vera Farmiga who plays the ousted CIA agent.

Nothing but the Truth suffered the same problem that Stop Loss had I felt. The movie is good but it doesn't really provide answers.

Acting: 8/10
Story: 6/10
Atmosphere: 7.5/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Rated: 14-A (ONT) R (USA) Overall an okay movie

Movie Review: Adventureland


Adventureland is a good mix of teen comedy and drama. Set in 1987 James Brennan (played by Jesse Eisenberg) is just leaving high school, looking forward to college. But his parents are short on money, so he picks up a job at the local theme park. There he meets a unique cast of characters including Bobby the manager (played by Bill Hader, Superbad), co-worker Joel (Martin Starr, also in Superbad) and Mike Conell (a shady guy played by Ryan Reynolds, Waiting...).
But James sets his eyes on Emily Lewin (played by Kristen Stewart, Twilight) and they begin a relationship.
The acting is fine, mostly because of a good supporting cast. I think Kristen did well for one of her first movies and Jesse also did well for one of his first big movies as well. The story moved at a good pace and it wasn't raunchy like most teen comedies are. A little moreso than Juno.
Acting: 7/10
Story: 7/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Rated 14A (ONT) R (USA) I liked it
P.S. Why do I always mix Ryan Reynolds with Dane Cook?