May 2009 – Page 2 – The Recycle Bin

Is the Falcons defense too young?

I really enjoy Pat Yasinskas’ ESPN NFC South Blog. He just wrote an article offering up his thoughts on Atlanta’s rebuilt defense.

“Sure, Atlanta’s defense played well enough to help the Falcons win 11 games, but it was done with smoke, mirrors, John Abraham and a whole lot of luck.”

So let the rebuilding begin by releasing a handful of aging veterans and drafting some key talent at critical positions. Peria Jerry at DT, and underrated (and undervalued) S William Moore. There is no doubt that Moore could be the steal of the draft. I absolutely think his stock dropped due to an injury plagued senior season, which in effect gave the Falcons two late First Round draft picks.

“Linebacker Keith Brooking, defensive tackle Grady Jackson, cornerback Domonique Foxworth and linebacker Michael Boley were allowed to walk in free agency and safety Lawyer Milloy was released.

The truth is Foxworth was the only one of the bunch the Falcons wanted to keep, but only if they could do it at a reasonable price and that didn’t happen. Brooking, Jackson and Milloy were great players — a few years ago. But last season, they were old guys and liabilities.”

I am as big a homer as the rest, and Brooking contributed mightily to the Falcons defense over the years, by oh my gosh did he loose a step or three last year. How could anyone forget the dumb zone read against the Cardinals in playoffs? I still think his play against the Rams in the last home game of the year was far worse. At times he looked completely befuddled, dazed, and confused.

Of everything the Falcons have done with their defense, not being able to keep Foxworth stings the most. Not that he is an elite player, but he was clearly the cream of the crop of the Falcons secondary.

I hope before it is all said and done the Falcons somehow are able to bring in a decent cover cornerback. Chris Houston and the rest just do not do it for me, but hopefully Smith and Dimitroff know best.

Now drinking …

It has been a while [been saying that a lot in the last couple of posts] so let’s get straight to it before our time comes to an end.

First – Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Classic stuff; a beautiful full flavored ale. I am not sure how else to describe it except to call it a superior quality brew.

Next up – Sam Adams just released their Summer Ale; at least it just showed up in the local Publix. This one is a very nice ale, with a little fruity flavor, which is perfect for those occasions when I do not want the more robust, and dare I say more complex flavor of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Finally Sam

Adams always brews some good bottles, and is probably my favorite brew right now. Their version of a light beer is probably my favorite when I want some of the fizzy stuff (that would be a lager to you).

Now for something a little different … some recent iTunes purchases.

The new Green Day is out tomorrow, but I plan to pick that one up on CD (with extra CD of unreleased songs) for my wife’s new Sienna XLS. Also an excuse to teach her how to rip a CD and load to her iTunes. Hey, someone has to suffer.

Soon to be the weekend!

There and Back Again.

Yes, you may have guessed it; I just finished up the Hobbit. It has been a while since I last read that lovely adventure, but a few days ago, after coming off The Malloreon, I decided it was time. Sometimes I also like bubblegum music. Sue me.

Over the last few months I have put aside video games and have taken up reading. Seems like a less stressful way to pass the night. As mentioned a few days back, I would have jumped back into PS3’ing [did I just call it that?], but the PS3 is currently somewhat jacked up.

The Belgariad, and The Essential Conan in reverse order are the most recent conquests. All of which are good, solid classic fantasy inspirations. Of course I am about to tackle The Lord of the Rings. It has been a while [x2 – seems to be the theme of this post], so it was time to dust off this one and try to time it with another viewing of the Extended Edition DVDs. Yes, I am sick that way.

So I have been there and am going back again.

A home team of our own?

I thought this ajc.com article was interesting, but I do not think it is a new phenomenon.

“We’re fair-weather fans here in Atlanta,” Champs store manager Terry Presley said. Though Hawks jerseys are selling more briskly following the organization’s first playoff series win since 1999, other teams’ stars still rule our decidedly non-partisan corner of the NBA universe.

It’s a local phenomenon not restricted to basketball. Cowboys and Steelers fans typically show up in large numbers whenever Dallas and Pittsburgh come to Atlanta. The same applies at Turner Field when the Red Sox and Cubs visit.

“There’s a bandwagon element to Atlanta fans that doesn’t just apply to Atlanta teams,” said John Kincaid, co-host of “Buck and Kincaid” on 680 The Fan.

When I was growing up, there were always kids that were Cubs and Yankees fans. Of course cable and the Super Station helped spread the Braves, but not everyone followed the local teams. Same for football – Cowboys and Steelers dominated, but that was typical for the time.

Growing up in SEC country, it was fairly predictable that everyone followed Georgia, Alabama (Bear was akin to God), and Auburn, with a smattering of a few others. Of course there were always your random Irish fans, and the yearly fluctuations of new teams depending on who was at the top of the polls. For example, the rise of The U saw influx of obvious bandwagon jumpers. And so it went.

When I moved to Atlanta was the first time I realized that no one living in Atlanta was actually from Atlanta. Still, you would expect transients to eventually pull for their new hometown team. Not so much.

It always sucks going to Falcons games and seeing so many opposing fans; kind of kills the home dome advantage. Then again, it was joy watching all ‘Da Bears fans hang their heads after Atlanta kicked them in their collective nuts last year.

And with that … I’m out. Happy Saturday!

Eye Candy Retro Style

I have a huge catalog of Original PlayStation (PSX) and PlayStation 2 (PS2) games just sitting around in my entertainment center, various bookshelves, boxes and bins. I know; this sort of sucks as a waste of perfectly good (and not so good) games. I have written before that at one point in time I was pretty much addicted to videogames – buying the game, holding it, owning it, preordering it, playing it for a few minutes. Getting a new game was akin to crack.

Over the years I have broken this habit; sort of. The addiction is partly what drove me from reviewing games, and not getting new material every week also contributes to not having anything new to say, but I digress. Writing about the latest, greatest videogame releases became more of a core than a welcome distraction.

At any rate, I do a much better job of selling some games if I figure I just do not enjoy them or will never get around to completing the game. I try to time selling sports games on eBay so I can get $25-30 in preparations for the next release. At other times, I have a hard time letting go. Seeing the Gran Turismo 4 (GT4) game case, knowing that the disc is destroyed (see previous blog entry – “Life without a PS3?”), I think about tracking down a replacement copy. I know that I will never finish it; the only GT series game that I have completed 100% is the first release for the PSX. Still, to me, GT4 is the best release in the series, even if the graphics do not compare to the PlayStation 3 (PS3) eye candy in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, which finally brings me to the point of this column.

I was poking around looking for some information on older PSX games; need to make some decisions on which games to sell and which ones to keep a while longer. I came across this article about upcoming PSOne (I still like PSX) games for the PlayStation Store.

Medal of Honor
Spyro: Year of the Dragon
Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage!
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Wipeout XL

I still have Wipeout XL (and the original Wipeout). Fun games that I never really got into, but never sold because I know they are “classics” that I will eventually came back to one of these days. I never got into the Spyro games; I am sure I purchased them, but that is a different story. I own Medal of Honor, but never got around to playing it. Several times I thought about selling it, but I always thought I should hang onto it for a while longer. I use to play the heck out of the Street Fighter Alpha series, but was never very good. I think I still own one of these games, but will have to look to see. I do still have the Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter game, which I have held onto just because. Seriously, no real reason other than the Marvel characters in the Street Fighter engine was pretty cool.

The only problem with these older games, that I may or may not get around to playing one day, is that the graphics really do suck on my HDTV. Funny; I have become a graphics whore. Every time I attempt to cull my collection, I think about which games were fun (at the time of the PSX) and which ones have gameplay that would hold up well today. This pretty much rules out sports games, but you cannot get more than fifty cents for many of the older games, unless they have some collectable value (i.e. Tecmo Super Bowl). I would actually play some of these games if I could get my PS3 and PSP to do a decent job with Remote Play. Maybe one day.

I have been having a good time with my two oldest sons playing Midway Arcade Treasures 3; mainly Rush 2049 and Hydro Thunder. Back in the day this collection averaged a metacritic score of 67.

It goes without saying that the graphics are certainly better than any of the PSX offerings, but nowhere near the level of PS3 arcade racers. In this case, it all comes down to gameplay and that all important fun factor quality. It is fun “re-discovering” some of these older titles with my boys. They could care less about the graphics (they are use to the Wii and their Nintendo DS); I think they are actually OK with enjoying a game for the pure pleasure of playing something new.

So maybe there is still some life in that old collection of mine, and along the way maybe I can educate my kids in the finer arts of PlayStation and arcade style gaming classics. If my kids learn to value fun factor and gameplay over eye candy, I win.

Life without a PS3?

Any longtime readers of this humble site have realized for a while that I lost my gaming jones. As the NFL draft was approaching I decided it was high time to get in some Madden. Imagine my surprise when I could not insert the disc. After a while I realized that my youngest son decided he wanted to play a game, so he tried to help himself. To the tune of loading up the PS3 with three discs!

I have no idea how he accomplished this feat, but none the less, three discs were in the PS3. Dragon Tales (original PSX – this must have been what he wanted to play), Crazy Taxi (PS2), and Gran Turismo 4 (PS2). What to do? I was awfully pissed off, so I went outside so as not to take out my frustrations on my family.

The lovely and talented Mrs. Calvert decided to appraise the situation, and tweezers in hand, she removed Gran Turismo 4. Of course it was broken and completely ruined. I guess that is one game that I have an excuse not to complete at 100%. That was all she could do.

After I calmed down, I came back inside and attempted to get the other disc out. At the time I had no idea that my son jammed in three games! Good grief. After numerous attempts to eject, turning the system on and off, Crazy Taxi finally emerged (I have no idea if this one still works; lots of scratches). Finally, my son’s prize emerged – and of course as luck would have it, Dragon Tales still worked.

The PS3 did not survive the forced gameplay process. Results were mixed. Often when inserting a disc, it makes a horrible noise, and does not recognize the disc. After several attempts 5-10, a disc will finally be show in the XMB, and will actually play. Last weekend I did get in a couple of games of Madden, and a few older PS2 arcade type collections (kids love the Midway collection with Rush 2049).

Earlier in the week, the new Star Trek Season 1 collection arrived, and seemed to work OK, after the above process of multiple disc inserts, turning the system on/off, etc.

I realized that the PS3 was on its last leg; something in the blu-ray insert, load, read mechanism is badly jacked up (you know you like these technical descriptions). Last night the system decided it would not play any blu-ray movies would not work, and they sure as hell would not eject. After 10 minutes, the PS3 finally gave me back 300. Thanks.

So now I have to decide if I want to attempt my own repairs, taking about the PS3, and disassembling the blu-ray drive in order to clean the lens and maybe see if I can align the mechanism that moves disc in/out of the device. Or I can send in the PS3 for repairs.

At any rate, after a long sabbatical from the PS3, now that I am starting to feel the jones again, I have to prepare for life without a PS3. I do not really want to spend $150 on repairs, and I sure as hell do not want to buy a new PS3.