Author: jcalvert

I written enough about HD and my Sony BRAVIA KDL-40V2500 for everyone to know I think the TV is wonderful for HD viewing pleasure.  However, no matter how good the HD broadcast, I still cannot get into hockey.  I tried to watch some of the Rangers/Thrashers game yesterday, but I just cannot seem to hit the sweet spot with the sport.

I will continue to follow hockey, casually, much as I follow (at a distance) many other sports.  The Thrashers are now down 2-0, which is not a good start for their first post season trip.  I have no idea what they need to do to turn around the series; changing goalies did not do the trick.

Everyone says that there is nothing like seeing the game live (may do this one day yet), but I have also been told that HD broadcasts would do the trick because you can see more of the rink, most of the players, and it is easier to follow the puck.  A few years ago I tried some of the hockey games on the PSX and PS2, but no dice.  Everyone loves a winner, so maybe Atlanta will make a major comeback, advance to the next round, and give me another reason to make a go of it.

I watched some F1 for the first time this year; actually watching the closing laps of the Bahrain Grand Prix as I write this entry. Like the great masses, I enjoy watching Ferrari run up front; I think it is good for the sport because it gives everyone someone to love or hate (depending on your preference).

Too bad Scott Speed was out on the opening lap. I just wish he had a better car to provide him with a more realistic chance of running up front with the big boys. Hamilton? Running second; no idea where he came from, but he is having a terrific year. A few years ago everyone said Massa too reckless to make an impact. Funny what a good car will do to perceptions. Poor Raikkonen; I bet he thought he was going to be Scuderia’s top dog.

I have not felt compelled to watch F1 this year, but the first two races were too far out of my comfortable viewing zone (i.e. I am too damn old to watch F1 at crazy hours of the night/morning). It used to be an experience for me, but not any more. Maybe I just need to get into some of the new personalities, new rules, and a new video game would do wonders to jump start my interest again.

So the Falcons are going to sign Harrington to a two-year deal to compete for the backup QB spot. Joy; exciting news.

Saturday and Sunday proved to be great for HD sports viewing. I finally got to see the Braves in full HD glory as part of Saturday’s FOX broadcasts, parts of two MLS games, some of the Masters, some random baseball games, and parts of a Bush and CART race. That Masters one is crazy; I am not much for watching golf on TV, but I am a fool for the HD broadcasts. I think some of the broadcasts are higher resolution than standard definition broadcasts, but not wide screen (i.e. sidebars on the screen). Not sure of the technical terms, but even the broadcasts that are not full HD (for lack of a better description) such as tonight’s AFL game on ESPN2 HD just look impressive.

Speaking of impressive, for some reason I had Cinemax HD over the weekend. Cinemax HD, plus being up late with Joseph, plus nothing being on while I am up late with Joseph, equals getting to appreciate HD. It also makes for a hell of a run-on sentence. HD is grand.

Not a whole lot of gaming going on besides OOTPB 2007. I have been experimenting with a couple of historical simulations and a fantasy league or two. I always find it interesting to see if I can change history – how well would the Braves do if they did not make that stupid trade for Len Barker in 1983 (Brett Butler and Brook Jacoby)? I will try to post more because this game deserves to be purchased.

Over the weekend I discovered Red Guitar, which is a great every day Spanish wine. I included the link to give you a nice picture of the label, which is a great part of the wine tasting experience. Much like cheap beer, I try to keep my every day table wine at $9.99, and this was on sale for $7.99. Going to try to land a case of the stuff later this week.

Have a great week!

I thought this was an interesting Falcons article at squibkick:

“There have even been suggestions that Petrino likes Adrian Peterson in the draft, because Warrick Dunn has been around for 10 years and Jerious Norwood is not his kind of back.”

The Falcons have so many needs that I am not really sure where they should turn, but with 8 picks in the Top 150, I would just assume they stand pat and go for immediate help. Trading up could land the birds Calvin Johnson or maybe Peterson, but if there is not a decent o-line to provide Vick some protection (to throw to Johnson) or to open holes (for Peterson) moving up would not make a lot of sense.

Easter weekend brings low 30s to Columbus, GA.  What is up with the cold stuff?

Last night was Locos night, which means a good amount of Sweet Water 420, some of the best beer going down these days.  Lemon pepper wings go down great with the 420; awesome combination.  Of course the nice thing about Locos (besides the awesome beer selection, well, at least for Columbus) it has a great bar for hanging out, but it is also a good family restaurant.  My wife and kids never mind when I offer Locos up for supper.

Friday night was also, “try a different bourbon” night.  I decided to pick up some Jim Beam Black Label, at about $20, which was a little less than my normal favorite, Maker’s Mark.  Honestly I figured I was getting a cheap mixer bourbon, but I think it is fairly good for sipping.  My taste in bourbon is not refined enough to notice subtle hints of oak, vanilla, charcoal, or whatever.  I did notice that it had a decent bite, and was not as sweet as Maker’s.  I bet Chris says I am nuts or something, but in my defense I do keep Knob Creek around, but I guess I have not convinced myself that a $30 bourbon should be my every day drink.

Today is going to be “clean up the house, and throw down some more pea gravel next to the driveway” day.  My wife is going to host Easter lunch tomorrow for my family; thrills a minute.  Thankfully I have enough wine on hand to deaden the pain and suffering that is sure to follow.  I have already picked up a good 200 pounds of pea gravel at Lowes earlier this morning.  Will make for a fun afternoon.

If I do not get another post in today, Happy Easter!

Wow. Altman (and I have no idea who the hell he is), the coach of Creighton (who? where?) turns down the Razorbacks basketball job. It is no secret that I am not a Hogs fan, and I just know that somewhere my dad is having a good chuckle over this one:

Altman was believed to be at least the Razorbacks’ sixth target. Arkansas officials reportedly offered the job to Texas A&M’s Billy Gillespie, Kansas’ Bill Self, Southern California’s Tim Floyd, Memphis’ John Calipari and Marquette’s Tom Crean, who each turned the job down.

As a card-carrying SEC fanboy, I still find this pretty funny.

With opening day just around the corner (tomorrow for the Braves), I thought I would post a few random Braves links. In no particular order of interests:

• Braves Journal – no real roster surprises.
• Braves-Nation – random predictions are not very useful, but sometimes entertaining.
• Rowland’s Office – funny Red Sox rant.
• Talking Chop – Noc-A-Homa-Win-A-Lotta; long time Braves fans will get a chuckle out of this one.
• Braves & Birds – Atl Sports Blog – who will excel and who will fail.

Now it is feeling more like opening day…

Tomorrow Charter is adding ESPN2 HD, so more and more HD broadcasts are in my future. Too bad ESPN2 HD is not arriving in time for opening day, but it is a long season.

NL Quick Picks: Braves take the East (homer pick, sue me), Cardinals in the Central, Dodgers in the West, and the Wildcard goes to the Mets.

AL Quick Picks: Yankees take the East, Tigers in the Central, Angels in the West, and the Wildcard goes to the Red Sox (just barely over the Indians).

Still hope to find a few minutes to write a little more about the upcoming season, and why I think the Braves will rebound in a big way.

If you cannot tell, I absolutely love watching sporting events broadcast in HD, so I will watch today’s Martinsville race on FOX HD. My wife and the kids are sick and tired of me switching back and forth between HD and standard broadcasts, but you can really tell the difference with race broadcasts. As I have previously mentioned, March Madness has been phenomenal. I have even watched a few minutes of HD NHL and HD NBA, not that I think I will be a fan of either, but HD is TV worth watching.

What is up with poor Michael Waltrip? What a horrible season for any team owner and racer to withstand. JPM is in the Top 20; Montoya will get better and better as the season progresses, so maybe some front runner will mess up, allowing JPM to slip into the back half of the Chase mix. Crazy talk.

My wife hates the 80’s; pretty much everything about the 80’s, especially the music. Naturally I had to put together an “80’s guilty pleasures mix” and “80’s soul mix” to drive my wife nuts.

The first iTunes play list features Fleetwood Mac “Greatest Hits”, Ratt “Out of the Cellar”, Tracy Chapman’s self titled debut, and a few random singles such as Sister Christian (Night Ranger), Mr. Roboto (Styx), Here I Go Again (Whitesnake), Every Rose Has Its Thorn (Poison), Janie’s Got a Gun (Aerosmith), and a couple of Culture Club tunes (I did call this one “guilty pleasures” for a reason).

The second iTunes play list really drives my wife crazy. Brick House and Nightshift (The Commodores), White Lines (Grandmaster Flash), Sexual Healing (Marvin Gaye), Apache (The Sugarhill Gang), and the 12″ Collection (Gap Band). The Party Train starts here … OK, maybe not, but this is really a fun list for a run around the park.

Chris switched the IOSBL to OOTPB 2007 … and life is good. I am just touching the surface of the 2007 edition of OOTPB, but it is easy to recommend a buy for this one. If you left OOTPB in the past (say after the 6.5 release), or if you have always been curious about baseball simulations, you should check out the free demo.

I was trying to think of some reason to slip in a cheap beer reference (there is always a reason to talk about cheap beer), but I am going to have to wait until lunch for some real life inspiration.

The usual stuff has been going on of late.  Not a whole lot of gaming time, but I did spend an hour with WoW the other night.  Funny; sort of forgot how to pay, so my hunter and his pet snow leopard quickly made for the graveyard.  I have also found myself spending some quality time with OOTPB 2007, which looks to be everything OOTPB 2006 should have been (and more).  Thankfully, Chris is about to switch the IOSBL from 2006 to 2007; good riddance 2006, don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.

Team USA had a rather up and down week.  Donovan had a hat trick in a 3-1 victory over Ecuador, but to me all the good stuff was lost due to the scoreless draw with Guatemala.  For every reason Ecuador was a good win, Guatemala was a bad draw.  I only got to see the back half of the Guatemala game, but I do not understand why we cannot seem to field a half-way decent defensive line.  I can understand that quality strikers may be impossible to come by (those with true world class talent), but it should not be that hard for the US to get some quality defenders.

Rumors are swirling that the Falcons are going to make a play for the bumblebee’s Calvin Johnson.  The Falcons need a lot of help, but if we are going to be 100% committed to Vick, we may as well go after someone that can help him.  It would be refreshing to have a receiver that could actually catch a ball.  I think signing Joe Horn pretty much means the Falcons will not go WR with the first pick, but maybe they will surprise me.  Why not bring in Horn to teak Jenkins, White and a young Johnson how to play the position?  White is going to be a bust unless he does something this year; with Horn on the roster, White is probably gone by mid-June.

Hard to believe that baseball season is upon us.  I should really find time to write something meaningful about the upcoming season, but Joseph is crying, so my time here is done.  For now.  Happy Saturday!

So Carr is out in Houston after the arrival of Schaub.  I am surprised that Carr was an out right release.  I assume that interested teams realized that (A) they could get Carr for free if they were patient (B) no interest in Carr was generated by the Texans attempt to dangle a bruised and battered carrot.

I also see that the Texans re-signed Ron Dayne, which further proves the trash/treasure deal.

Tubby gets the trash treatment in Kentucky, but is a crown jewel in Minnesota.  Go figure.

Last night was the first time I had a chance to watch any significant amount of games for this year’s tournament.  I was out of the country last Thursday, and the first weekend back after being out of town for a while was not going to pay off for me.  So fast forward (or rewind) to last night.

I got to watch most of the Kansas/Southern Illinois game, which was a real treat, followed by CBS switching to the final few minutes of Memphis pulling a fast one on Texas A&M.

Then we get the Tennessee/Ohio State game, which was a complete fiasco for the Buckeyes.  At least it was when I went to bed – Tennessee was up by 17 at the half.  I figured no way they are coming back.  Ohio State wins 85-84?  Choke job by the Volunteers or major comeback by the Buckeyes?  Madness.

Not a lot of time for blogging of late, but I have a few minutes for some random stuffs (yes, with an s).

• Speaking of not enough time, I have not seen a whole lot of March Madness, but tonight’s Kansas/Southern Illinois has been fantastic.  Have to love the 1080i on the Sony BRAVIA KDL-40V2500.
• MLB 2007 The Show (PSP) has some absolutely crap load times.  Second generation game, WFT?  Seems like a familiar theme for Sony.
• Speaking of MLB 2007, just got my free promotional Braves cap.  I would have been happy with the hat if not for the cheesy “MLB 2007 The Show” logo.
• Just download OOTPB 2007 … hope to convert a 2006 and 6.5 test league, do a historical sim or two and otherwise have some fun.
• If Chris follows-up on his Smackdown Comparison, Chris should figure out a way to “cash out” on the article because it will have to be damn impressive.  Cannot wait!
• Last night I almost played WoW for the first time in weeks, but Joseph started crying (gas pains I suppose), so I could not pat his back, and move my man (so to speak).  Maybe this weekend.
• The weather in these parts is awesome.  Maybe upper 50s in the morning and upper 70s in the afternoon.  Too bad it will only last for a couple of weeks, and the pollen has started.  The yard work has also started.  Oh, never mind.
• Currently enjoying Sweet Water 420 Extra Pale Ale and Amstel Light.

More stuffs later, especially if I actually have some quality OOTPB 2007 time, but for now I am all out of words.

A major ouch move that will pay off big for Houston in the long run. I am not comfortable with Vick, much less comfortable with him playing an entire season. I am also not sure if the Falcons can draft well enough to justify the swap in first round picks and the additional picks second rounders. ESPN.com is reporting:

“When the trade is completed, Atlanta and Houston will flip-flop first-round picks in April’s draft, and Atlanta will receive Houston’s second-round picks in 2007 and 2008. The deal likely will be completed later Wednesday afternoon. Houston has the No. 8 pick in the first round of the draft, while Atlanta is slotted 10th.”

Can this really be a good thing for ATL? They need help now, and I doubt they are going to get it with this move. Plus they lost their insurance policy. I believe that Schaub is the real deal; hell of a move for the Texans.

I just got a burr up the backdoor after reading (and responding to) a post in the DSP forum about “must have” PSP games.  Are there really in must have PSP games?  I keep writing about my PSP dilemma, but to be honest, I continue to sour on my PSP.

I keep debating selling the system, but the resale value of the games suck.  I recently cleared (on eBay) just under $10 for last year’s Winning Eleven game, $15 for Colin McRae, and cannot even move last year’s MLB game for $5.  It seems like this is has been the same story over the last couple of years; the resale market for PSP games is completely depressed.

Winning Eleven 2007 and MLB 2007 are great sports games; as close to “must have” purchases for the PSP as I have seen.  Madden 2007 is also a damn fine game; pretty much a pint size PS2 game.  What else?  WipeOut is solid, Namco Museum’s analog controls are flaky at best, and a handful of other games currently collecting dust.

On my last UK trip I spent most of my PSP time with Pinball Hall of Fame, Lumines, and MLB 2007 (Vice City and WE were next in line).  Just seems unreasonable (and costly) to spend most of my PSP time with a pinball game.  WTF is wrong with me?  I still have not bothered to play Tiger Woods, which was a desperation purchase.  I do not even play golf (I am not even sure I like golf), but I was desperate to find something to play on my PSP.

Is it time for a DS?  I do not want to be in a situation where I travel with a PSP and DS, so this is going to have to be an all or nothing situation for me.  The question is can I give up my PSP, even if it means taking a huge loss on the hardware and games?  I am not sure if I can stomach the pain.  At the same time, how do I justify holding on to the damn thing?  I guess I am still holding out hope for some sort of killer app, but as the months go by, I am becoming increasingly blue in the face.

The coolest part of my recent Nottingham trip was visiting Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem which may or may not be the oldest pub in England (established in 1189AD). Its pretty damn impressive, and a great place to get beer. Having an open seat next to me on the flight back was also nice, but these 9 hour flights pretty much suck; hell of a long time to be on a plane.