Month: August 2006

Speaking of maiden victories, how about Marco Andretti at Infineon Raceway? Dude is so young he could not have Champaign in Victory Circle. Hats off and all that!

Congratulations to Felipe Massa on his maiden victory at the Turkish GP. I think the Alonso/Schumacher battle may have overshadowed Massa’s victory, but you have to give hats off to Massa for a very tidy victory. Just a couple of years ago Massa was considered an erratic mess who had speed, and now he takes Ferrari to the top of the podium. On to Monza in two weeks to see if Schumacher can cut into Alonso’s 12-point led, and to see if Ferrari will make their countrymen proud at the Italian GP.

The Falcons looked decent last night, but that is not saying too much considering the opposition was the Titians. Still, I was looking forward to a few things – could the Falcons establish a rushing defense, was Norwood up to the task (considering the Duckett trade), is Vick ready for the season, and finally would Shockley lock up the 3rd string QB spot? And of course I wanted to see Young in action.

Atlanta’s rushing defense looked solid, only giving up 50 or so yards on the ground. Norwood looked impressive, especially on his 62-yard TD scamper; he put in a nice tidy 100 yards on the ground. Surprisingly, Vick looked solid in the short passing game. He could have done better if his receivers helped him out; Crumpler dropped a pass in the endzone, and there were a couple of other drops including what would have been a nice gain in McCrary held onto the ball. I feel asleep before while DJ was in the game, but he ended the day a respectable 3-6 with 42 yards passing (and no INTs). Looks like DJ led a nice 14 play 60 yard drive for a FG. All in all, what I saw of the Falcons was encouraging, and what I did not see looks good for DJ fans.

I only saw Young for a couple of series, so not much to say except it is going to be fun to watch the kid develop into an NFL QB. I bet he is starting by game nine, because the Titians are going to suck this year.

Bristol under the lights is always a lot of fun, but I feel asleep with about 150 laps to go, which means I missed out on all the fun. From the looks of things the race lived up to expectations, and I have to admit that I like the new angry Jeff Gordon:

“Scott Riggs scored a season-high fourth-place finish and was followed by Jeff Gordon. The two exchanged heated words after the race, apparently disagreeing over the way they raced each other in the closing laps.”

Not sure what the flap is about, but fisticuffs makes for exciting off the track fun.

People generally do not like change. Particularly people who play baseball text-sims. I think we’ve grown very comfortable in our Out of the Park Baseball 6.5 world. I know how to win, the strategies to use that lead to success, and pretty much have it down to a science. So why would I want to leave my certain paths to victory?

Because it is very boring. That’s about it.

Along comes OOTPB 2006 and is (a) difficult to initially set up, (b) more difficult to navigate through, (c) much more complex, and (d) I now have to figure out how to win whenever I please. Jonathan knows satire, because our transition to OOTPB 2006 has been anything but “fun.” The hardest part so far is dealing with the real time nature of the game and getting owners to understand how to initially install league files. Moving from one three letter file (zip) to another type (tar) is a paradigm shift of great proportions for some.

But it is all very, very exciting.

In many ways it probably is best to start an OOTPB 2006 league from scratch with new owners. They will already have a feel for the new game in ways that those being transitioned won’t initially grasp. Some of the best ideas I’ve received about rules, etc. in OOTPB 2006 came from owners who never played OOTP 6.5.

We have a very dedicated group in my league, so their enthusiasm for online baseball greatly makes up for the transition issues we are having. I know that once we are finished, the league will be stronger than before. My first advise to other league commissioners is to set up an initial installation guide. Many owners were able to install the league file with no problem after I created one for my league.

Now we wait for the new patch next week before things get even more interesting!

Refusing to watch the kids play, I just noticed that Columbus beat the team from Oregon 7-3, claiming the title of best little league team in the US. How many times have I mentioned that I played baseball during my formative years at Northern Little League? 🙂

I guess I will have to break down and watch the Championship game tomorrow. What the heck, you have to like the kids from Georgia!

In Istanbul Massa captured his first poll, and inside the next hour, the circle bunch are going to kick it around Bristol, which happens to be one of my favorite NASCAR events. Nothing like Bristol at night!

Several weeks old now, but there was a great NFL training camp article in the August 14, 2006 Sports Illustrated titled “Game of Survival” by Peter King that really shows what a cutthroat industry the NFL is for the middle class players. Only a couple more weeks until the NFL kicks off, and seven more until UGA takes the field! I cannot wait.

No stuffs today, just the straight poop on the weekend. As seems to happen a lot lately, work has taken on a life of its own, which usually sucks because game time is thrown out the window. Boo-hiss.

The Northern Little League team, from Columbus, GA is one win away from the championship. Did I mention that was my home league? And did I mention that I hate the idea of the Little League World Series being on TV? If Northern wins today, I may have to break down and watch the next game.

Looks like Chris is having a joyful experience trying to get us converted to OOTPB 2006. Me? I am just trying to figure out what the hell to make out of the new game. Not enough hours in the day to figure this one out.

The Falcons get to take on the Titans tonight. I cannot wait to see Young in action, but it looks like Ashley Lelie will not play. I hope this turns out to be a good trade for the birds, but I am a little nervous because Dunn always gets banged-up, and Lelie seems to be a malcontent.

Speaking of Young, there was an article in today’s paper where Vince said he was not like Mike. Unlike Vick, Young looks to throw the ball first. Pretty funny stuff.

We will wrap this one up on a cheap beer note. Picked up some Miller Lite last night; Chris is turning up his nose right about now. Just for grins, I saved one can of High Life Lite, so I can do a taste test to see if I can tell the difference in cheap beers. More to come on this later.

I am working like a dog around the house. Mowed the lawn, setup a small flower garden area (and transplanted some bulbs), planted some grass runners in a bare area of the side yard, dug up some left over construction mess from the renovation, and painted a couple of bookshelves. It is only 1PM and there are still a ton of chores left to do today. You better bet your sweet cheeks that it is Miller Time.

Happy weekend!

Today is National Lemming Day. Madden 2007 was released to various outlets. The lemmings rejoiced and purchased it. Now they are moaning and groaning in various forums. This year is highlighted by NLD coverage at ESPN.com, just in case you missed the ridiculous lemming pay-per-view event.

I’ll wait a few weeks and purchase the PC version. My brother must once again feel the pain of my Madden skills via the internet! That’s the only reason I buy Madden these days anyhow.

I think Geoff beat me once last year, so maybe he’ll want some Johnson Madden pain as well…

We’re at the point where our league file can be converted to OOTPB 2006. I’ve decided that we’ll wait until the next patch is released next week to start our regular sim schedule. Patch 1.0.3 fixes some online league and other important issues, so no sense in rushing things at this point. Our biggest problems continue to be the contraction in OOTP 6.5 beause if we did decide to stay with the older version, our schedule is all messed up.

I will use as much restraint as possible to state that the views expressed by Jonathan Calvert concerning any beer product are his and his alone, and not the official opinion(s) of the Recycle Bin game blog! I figure I’d get that legal disclaimer out there so that my friends who read this won’t think I’ve become a fan of anything produced by Miller, Budweiser, etc. Shiner Bock is about as low as I’ll go!

Every once in a while we have to talk about beer – it is sort of the American way. It has been an extremely long week. In fact, last night I found myself ordering Domino’s Pizza for the crew at work, which was sort of a strange feeling because the last time I ordered pizza for a late night was the week my dad passed away. Anyway, strange how things like that stick with you.

So I found myself wanting a beer after work last night; a quick stop at Mr. B’s and I found myself with the “champagne of beers” – Miller High Life Light. I am not sure if I have ever had a regular High Life; if I had, it has been years past, and I have never had the “light” version. The price was right – under $10 for a case of 18 delicious cans – and the taste is refreshing for cheap beer. Not sure if I can tell the taste between Miller Light and HLL, but as I said, for cheap beer you cannot go wrong with The High Life Light.

I do not really care much for the Little League World Series, or at least what goes on as far as TV coverage these days, but I do have to pull for the Georgia team, the Northern Little League team, from Columbus, GA. This is not only my home team, but my home league. Way back in the day, I made the All-Star team as an alternate, but we did not advance past the state tournament. Glory days and all that.

This article focuses more on New York, but Georgia won the game 3-2 in 7 innings.

Go Northern All-Stars!

I missed this last week, but Sports Interactive announced the new features for NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2007. The real-time 2D engine caught my eye. It looks like one of those table top hockey games of yester-year. I like it.

I just love how the rest of the world believes PC gaming is dead. Wolverine Studios released the first ever PGA Tour-like career text-game last week. There are three serious contenders in the text-baseball world for career baseball fans. Sports Interactive has their classic soccer game and now NHL EHM is moving on up to the Eastside (my “Jeffersons” reference for the day) as a polished product.

Throw in a little World of Warcraft time and who needs a console?!

If only SI would make all of their products online gaming friendly. I’d love to play NHL EHM in an OOTPB-like online league.

I decided I am going to include World of Warcraft discussion here on the good old blog. Like all addictions, WoW is something you don’t bring up in casual conversation. I wouldn’t meet someone and say, “Hey, did you know I am an alcoholic?” That’s how I kind of feel about my WoW experience to date. I play the game way too much. But I just can’t stop.

My message to the kids? Stay away. Check that, run away from anything WoW-related.

I started playing WoW around the second week it was released. I began my career as a member of the Horde. My Tauren hunter made it to level 56 before I was convinced to join the Alliance. For those unfamiliar, there are a number of different WoW servers that are their own virtual worlds. The total number of players is capped on each server. They have colorful names (I play on Bronzebeard) and server choice determines who you will be enjoying your WoW-experience with.

I am in the Shadows of Shockforce guild on Bronzebeard. We’re a relatively small group of 60 characters. Since each of us has a main character and a couple of “alts”, that translates into about 20-25 live human beings in the guild. My first 60-level character is Fwarn, a dwarf hunter. I have an alt 60-level priest (Swarn), a 34-level human mage (Thillor), and a 23-level dwarf warrior (Bwarn).

My theory is that the old ladies you see in Las Vegas sitting in front of slot machines for hours are the perfect WoW player candidates. That’s essentially what the loot system is in the game. Pull the handle (kill a monster or “boss”) and see what drops in the tray.

A sad way to spend a large portion of one’s life.

Got a newsletter from Diamond Mind that discusses the merger of the franchise with a company called “Simnasium.” No, I’ve never heard of them either.

I must say that the DIamond Mind newsletters are hands down the best sent out by any gaming company I know of. They are entertaining to read. Tom Tipett won’t just try and sell you the latest and greatest all-time players set. He always includes some interesting discussion about baseball in general.

All of you historical text gamers ripping out your hair in the Out of the Park Baseball forums really need to check out Diamond Mind or PureSim Baseball.

We solved the draft and conversion problem – no thanks to Sports Interactive since nobody there could answer this queston. Our own study revealed that the prospects generated in OOTP 6.5 convert to OOTPB 2006.

A couple of people continue to post their concerns over and over again on the OOTPB 2006 boards. I really wish they would move on to PureSim or some other game. Or if they could at least vary their message it would make things much more enjoyable. Idiots like “The Wolf” (a serial basher) can only be trolling for posts by this time since he/she has nothing good to say about OOTPB 2006 (or repeats the same thing over and over again).

At least lynchjm24 moans and groans once or twice and varies his complaints a bit.

A bit off-topic, but I think Richard Jewel and the Ramsey family can feel each others pain about right now. Both were found guilty by the press, only to have it revealed that they were, in fact, not responsible for any crime. It’s pretty sad that the mother passed away before she saw this headline.