Author: jcalvert

I read earlier today that NCAA Football 07 is going to be released on the PSP, which is a nice move for me because I would love a portable version of the game. Of course I would be happy with the PSX version of NCAA 2000 running in emulation mode (see previous story), and I may have to hold out hope for the emulation route because the next version of EA college franchise may have gone just a little bit too far for me to stomach. I read this tidbit under the game’s propaganda on EBGames:

“Back to School�Excel in the classroom to improve your overall character, and then balance your time wisely between studies, practice, and social events as you live the life of a Student Athlete.”

I want a football simulation. Off field recruiting is one thing, and even some form of spring ball to improve statistics (which by the way I do not like) is something I can live with, but student life? That sounds like one of those squirrelly Japanese dating simulations. No thanks.

Please do not tell me what this says about me, but I did not manage my Yahoo fantasy baseball team for the first three weeks of the season and managed to hold onto first place. Why? Pujols rules!

I did not know that Sony was still producing the PSX (I still do not want to call it a PSOne), but they are, or rather they were. Turns out that after an 11 year run, the PSOne has seen the end of its run. The interesting news here is that PSX games may be coming for the PSP. The system needs something to add some life, and this may be just the trick.

My son is begging for a Nintendo DS. There was a time when I would have picked one up a launch, but that time has now passed me by. Now I am considering getting one that we can “share” – the fact is that my seven-year old son will just abuse the heck out of the thing, as he has done with his GBA. Still, an arrangement of some sort could be in the works because of a couple of games that may put me over the edge. Ages of Empire – I have wanted to try this on the PC forever, but I know what would happen. Besides I just do not want to play in front of a PC for hours on end. A portable version could be just the trick, giving me the ability to play on the go, as well as playing in the living room around the rest of the family while they are playing board games, watching TV, reading, etc. Stay tuned.

I am not sure what to make of the Falcons draft. Trading up for Jimmy Williams (CB, VA Tech) may be a great move, but everything I have read indicates a serious attitude problem. I guess the Falcons want to become thug city; screw character is what it says to me. Norwood (RB, Miss St) could be a good hedge with Dunn getting older, and Duckett in the last year of his contract. No idea about Ojennaka (OG, Syracuse) who looks like he has good size going for him, or Jennings (WR, Fresno St) who seems to be a rather small target. My son was ecstatic that the Falcons took Shockley; may be a good fit to back up Vick at some point. I guess the Falcons did all their work prior to the draft, so I was not really expecting much over the weekend.

Thanks to Chris for keeping the action fresh around here. Of late I have been doing everything except gaming and posting. I am not going to go into tons of personal details, but my dad is pretty sick, as is my geriatric cat.

I have been reading “Game of Shadows” � a fairly interesting read, but you have to wonder about the credibility of an ex mistress. I don’t doubt for a minute that a ton of folks were on something, including Bonds, so it is not as if everyone should be surprised.

Remus “Ming Fu” (my Shih Tzu) likes beer. Not sure why that is important to write about right now, but it is pretty funny. He accidentally knocked over a beer bottle one night, and enjoyed lapping in the mess. Now he intentionally knocks over my beer at every opportunity. So he is trying for a beer right now while I am watching Team USA’s lackluster performance vs. Jamaica (1-1 at the half).

I keep thinking I am going to have some gaming time at some point soon, but there is always another something in the way. I have tons of stuff to play and write about when I get around to finding the time.

Not sure what the last post (Chris’ previous Just to be Clear) is about, but I remember the days when publishers/reviewers asked if I would give their game a “favorable” score if I was provided with a review copy, interview, or other such collateral. Chris can probably go into more details than I can, but the game review industry can be rather disenchanting. My game reviewing days are long behind me.

Chris, thanks again keeping things up and running.

I only filled out one bracket, and I had Duke winning it all, so I am done. Too bad, because prior to tonight I had my final eight intact. Yet another reason for me to not bet on sports.

This is fairly off topic, but today I was cleaning out another box of junk. Forget that this should have been done before we moved, not now, but I digress. Among the Good Will goodies were Borland software aplenty – Turbo C++, ObjectVision, and Turbo Pascal. Not sure why I hung onto this stuff for so long. It is not like I have a working 5 1/4″ FDD; actually I did, but I put this into the Good Will pile as well. Seriously, when I ever try to hook up that sort of relic again?

I also parted with the original Sim City. I burned countless hours on that game my freshman year in college. I also found Sim Ant; never did much with it despite actually liking ants. That is a story for another day; remind me sometime and I will share.

I also uncovered Master of Magic and the Official Strategy Guide along with Sim City 2000. I kept both of those. Not sure if I will play them again anytime soon (Windows XP will never allow it to happen), but MoM is only of my all time favorite games.

Figured someone could appreciate the clutter and the old time gaming classics.

I should be working in the yard. Or maybe catching up on some office work. I would have, but the weather is just too nice (79F right now, partly cloudy sky) to do anything of the sort. I could have gone for a run at the park, although I did go for a nice two mile walk with Tonya at the park this morning (should be worth some brownie points tonight).

Some days are just like that – I should have done something different, I would have done something different if I were not having so much fun being caught up in the moment, and I could have been more productive. Instead I find myself sitting on the deck, laptop in hand (typing this blog entry), drinking a Michelob Ultra Amber, watching the kids play in the yard, getting ready to fire up the grill and throw on some Nathan’s Famous hotdogs. Nice life this of mine; truly blessed.

For some reason I feel like writing today; hell I may even break out a video game tonight just to have something game related to write about tonight or tomorrow morning. Then again, there is a lot of Ultra Amber in the beer … so who knows what sort of path this will take us down.

Tonya has decided that it is high time to get some more blinds for the house. Problem is that the damn things are expensive – because of the age of the house, everything has to be custom made. What did the view out of my kitchen and dining room window provide this afternoon? None other than the nice young thing next door catching some sun, skimpy bikini and all. Not sure why I am even bothering to write this (other than the nice life and blessings and all, and some views are worth describing) because my wife would kick my ass in so many ways if she read the above. Damn blinds are expensive …

I am not much of a college basketball fan, but I will try to catch some of the action tonight. I am starting to get in the mood to catch F1 tomorrow morning (6:30AM EST I think). I guess that is something to get me past the dry season (i.e. no more football).

I do not normally read this sort of stuff, but I cannot wait to read “Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports” by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams. The book is due out March 27; I plan to preorder from Amazon later this weekend. I normally shy away from this sort of stuff, which is one of the main reasons I stopped subscribing to SI – I just do not care for all the negative print on athletes.

For some reason this book is actually different. I actually want to see how and why Bonds started juicing (assuming the authors are actually correct with their assertions). It is bad enough that the steroids era in baseball has messed up many a record, but Bonds was actually good before he started with the cream. Players like Fred McGriff (.284AVG, 493HR, 2490H), Dale Murphy (.265AVG, 398HR, 2111H), and Jim Rice (.298AVG, 382HR, 2452H) look damn impressive compared to todays artificial players. Being a huge fan of Murphy, I demand he start getting some serious Hall of Fame consideration because no way, no how, did Murphy ever juice.

The weekend got off to a good start, which a date night; my parents let the kids sleep over. This gave Tonya and me a chance to have drinks with some friends, and some much need time alone. It is always fun to have a lazy Saturday morning – breakfast at the ATL Bread Company (their vanilla nut coffee is to die for) while reading over the newspaper, followed by a shopping trip to the book store, and then a nice walk around the park. Needless to say, date night is highly recommended!

It seems like it has been book review central around here for me lately, and I do not see much of an end in site. I started perusing through the “Baseball Prospectus 2006,” and earlier this week, “The Book: Playing The Percentages In Baseball” (Tom M. Tango, Mitchel G. Lichtman, and Andrew E. Dolphin) arrived in the mail, and just this morning I picked up “Steal Away: Devotions for Baseball Fans” by Hugh Poland.

I am not sure what to make of the prospectus book – I have never even glanced at a register or prospectus type book on baseball. The section on the Braves was fairly interesting, especially the writer’s take on C. Jones and Smoltz ultimately setting back the team by restructuring contracts (Jones), and insisting on moving back into the starting rotation (Smoltz). The book also pretty much says Jones sucks as a fielder, but “The Fielding Bible” shows him as middle of the road among other 3B. It is always interesting to see different perspectives on the same players.

I have only glanced at “The Book” so nothing really to report at this point. There is a chapter on base running and how much a runner actually distracts a batter (as opposed to the pitcher); should make for interesting reading.

I have always read that baseball is a religious experience; “Steal Away” looks to be just that (on in a book). I normally struggle to finish devotional books (just not my thing I guess), but I figure I have a pretty good chance at making my way through a devotional book that makes all sorts of references to baseball stories, facts, players, and other sorts of nuggets of information. I have only read a few pages, but I think I can highly recommend this book to baseball fans that want some type of devotional book.

What else? Looks like the F1 season quietly got underway at Bahrain; I saw quietly only because I have not followed the off-season this year. The US advanced to the next round of the World Baseball Classic thing; would have been embarrassing if we did not push forward. March Madness is upon us …

All for now. Happy weekend!

After a few more days with The Fielding Bible by John Dewan, I have to say it is a pretty darn interesting book. Certainly not a purchase for everyone, but I imagine that fans of statistical baseball analysis, fantasy baseball, and students of the game will really enjoy the book.

One of the most interesting sections of the book shows each team’s field (in glorious color) and indicates where hits landed in 2005. The layout clearly shows where a team is better than average, average, and worse than average. I always thought that the Braves were an excellent fielding team around the mound, but the book indicates that the Braves were worse than average compared to the rest of the league. This is certainly not light reading, but never the less interesting reading for most baseball fans.

Another section shows the author’s personal rankings and comments by position. In 2004 and 2005 Derek Jeter won the AL Gold Glove for shortstops, but according to the author’s plus/minus system, the awards should have been given to Miguel Tejada and Juan Uribe (respectively). It is all good stuff.

The book servers its purpose; it does a good job of putting its arms around fielding. With that said, I do not think the book is going to be relevant in a few years. Interesting, and historical (to review the three year fielding register), but this is not going to be a book that you will turn to year after year. Of course I have never read this sort of book, so I could be way off the mark. With all that said, the book is interesting enough (and priced cheap enough at $19.95) that I would certainly purchase the next edition, assuming Mr. Dewan decides to do a yearly annual.

My kids have been asking (no, begging is a better word) for a dog for a while now. Tonya and I promised them that we would get them a dog once we moved into the new house (since the yard was fenced in). No doubt you can see where this is going …

Today we picked up a six-weeks old male Shih Tzu; all black with some white markings around his chin, on his front feet (like socks), around his chest, and a few white hairs on his head. I lost the name battle. I wanted to call him Ming Fu (sounds like a good, solid, scrappy name to me), but alas his name is Remus. I told the kids that Remus was his name, but his secret Shih Tzu name was Ming Fu. He cost enough duckets that I can call him pretty much anything I darn well please!

More to come on the adventures of Ming Fu.

The Atlanta Falcons just did some shady bookkeeping with Vick’s contract:

The bookkeeping transaction has no impact on Vick, since he would have received the $7 million whether it was treated as a roster bonus or as a signing bonus. The five-year veteran and Pro Bowl performer is due to earn a 2006 base salary of $1.4 million.

Vick, 25, signed what amounted to a 10-year, $130 million contract, which runs through 2014, late in the 2004 season. But the final season of the contract has already been voided, making the contract a nine-year deal worth approximately $118 million. The contract, which included an initial signing bonus of $7.5 million, features $37 million in guarantees.

Included in those guarantees was the $7 million roster bonus Vick will collect this month.

Not sure what all this means other than you have to be a f’ing genius to understand NFL cap rules.

I am going to have to post this without the permission of Scott Carter, who happens to be my boss (cause that is what a good employee does).** He put this together to take a jab at my dad, who just so happens to be a huge Texas fan. I figure a cc is pretty much all the permission I need to post this; plus Scott likes being famous. As background material, Scott and my dad have a bit of a thing going back and forth about Texas (dear old dad) and Georgia (Scott), and this is just too good not to post somewhere …

I am excited for Texas … Any team that wins a national championship with a QB who scores a 6(out of 50) on a Wonderlic test, clearly has the best coaching staff in America. I read a blurb from a reputable scout as follows….”You have to question a player who went as far in college as Vince Young without flunking a course. I think I heard that a score of 6 equates to a 7th grade education.”

To help you out, I thought I would send you my top 10 positive spins on the Vince situation…feel free to use these as you are being barraged by mean people who do not appreciate what Vince brings to the table.

10) What’s wrong with a six? Oscar Davenport got a six and it didn’t seem to hurt his NFL career.(By the way, you may want to check into a follow-up for the question “Who the heck is Oscar Davenport?”)

9) Had Vince scored one lower, he would hold a world record in something.

8) If you multiply Vince’s score by 5, it is only 3 points lower than Tom Brady

7) 7th grade is an academically challenging grade

6) Vince is now qualified for a promising career as a bagboy

5) This score enables Vince to publicly practice his official “see what ha happened wuz” statement

4) Vince would have scored higher, but it was a timed exam and he couldn’t get the answers off of his shoe fast enough….damned cowboy boots!!

3) At least Vince enjoyed his college years, completely unencumbered by the distraction of textbooks….and pencils……….and thinking

2) Draft position is overrated. Anyway, Vince wants to live a more modest lifestyle.

And last but not least, the #1 positive spin you can use with your friends….you knew it was coming….

1) Finally, Quincy Carter looks intelligent!

Seriously, good stuff!

** Scott takes no responsibility for this post. Just in case …

There has been a lot written this week about Young’s alleged low Wonderlick test score – and more to be posted later on this site. I found the following quote on ESPN.com, from Young’s agent (Major Adams) fairly interesting:

“People are going to try to bring him down between the Rose Bowl and the draft day,” Adams said. “They will try to take shots at him, and he hasn’t done anything wrong, so we just take it with a grain of salt.”

Conspiracy? Why would anyone want to “take shots” at Young? From what I have read, it looks like Young’s agent is not doing him any favors.

I finally got brave and joined a second OOTP league: JOBL. I am taking over Orlando, which seems to be a decent team, with playoff aspirations this season. I have not hard time to study Orlando’s history, but I am sure it will be challenging to keep the team on the up and up. Will make for a fun weekend trying to learn my team, and setup some semblance of strategy.

In my other league, IOSBL I am having a hard time getting Columbus back to its winning ways. Seems like I was better at the initial draft and the early days of FA; lately my team has been a bit of a mess. Of course I am not an OOTP expert, which probably puts me at a disadvantage compared to many of the other GMs in the league, but I often dig my own ditch by trying non-traditional stuff with my team.

Hopefully I can keep up the pace, manage both teams to prosperity, and become a little more OOTP savvy in the process.

For those of you that care about this sort of thing, I just got the following from Amazon:

We are pleased to report that the following item will ship sooner than expected:

Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts “Baseball Prospectus 2006 :
Statistics, Analysis, and Insight for the Information Age (Baseball
Prospectus)” [Paperback]

This is the first time I have picked up this annual; hope it makes for a decent purchase.