The Recycle Bin

Videogame Overload – It’s Raining Games

My wife is probably going to look at me a little squirrely – Amazon has just shipped backorders of NIER and the Tomb Raider Trilogy, and has also informed me that Captain America will be arriving by Wednesday. Let’s not forget that Madden Day is tomorrow with the ‘official’ release of Madden 12.

When I explain that two of the games (NIER and TR Trilogy) were heavily discounted, and that the Captain America game was purchased at its first significant price drop, she is going to look at the stack of backlog games I have just waiting for some TLC. Yep, I’m fucked. It doesn’t really matter that Captain America will most likely be tucked away until Christmas for my little guy.

It doesn’t help my cause that Iron Man 2 (sort of, kind of, purchased for the younger guys), and another Cabela game (Cabela’s North American Adventures), along with Kung Fu Rider showed up last week.

It’s great to stock up on hours and hours of future gaming action, but … there is really no justification for the onslaught of games raining on my front porch. I think survival is going to require a couple of these are going to have to team up with Captain America is the ‘Christmas’ box.

Mel B – Week 4

As I move into week four with my Mel B workout routine, things have sort of fallen off the rails. While my weight is still down, which was part of the reason for this adventure in the first place, finding time to commit to daily jaunts with Mel B is proving difficult.

I only worked out two days last week (Sunday and Friday), which means Days 23-26 and Day 28 saw me lazy as Daisy. Thankfully I am managing a couple of non-Mel B workouts by coaching soccer. Yes, I actually run with the nine and ten year old boys.

I committed to making it until the end of August, so expect at least one more update followed by some periodic news; still working out, Trophies earned, calories burned, lbs dropped, etc.

Day 27
Today I decided to go after some medals; have not attempted any of the fitness tests yet and at some point I need to earn the Silver ‘Full House’ Trophy for getting gold medals in all the fitness tests.

Abs of Steel Test – silver medal. First and second reps of 32 were rated over 90%, but the last rep hit in the 50s because of poor camera + Move tracking. I’ll have to practice in order to see what is tracking in correctly. I don’t remember the final calorie count, however my stomach will vouch that it received a decent workout.

Fighting Fit Test – gold medal. I had one really subpar exercise because of tracking issues; however the others were obviously rated high enough to earn a coveted gold medal. This test was actually good enough to burn 230+ calories, so that was a nice bonus.

Day 22
Today I decided to go Trophy whoring. I signed up for a 40 minute Dance Aerobics workout in order to go after ‘Flash Dancer’ (collect over 350 Stars in a Dance Aerobics workout).

Two things of note. First, this was my first 40 minute Mel B workout. Second, I was not sure how much time I would need to hit the 351 mark. In the back of my mind I kept wondering (in a concerned sort of manner) if I would actually make my goal. It would suck in a big way if I came up a few Stars short.

For those keeping score at home, Mel B awards Stars based on your performance during each exercise. Score higher and you are awarded more Stars. While Get Fit tracks total Stars earned, I am not really sure what purpose they serve other than being required for the ‘Flash Dancer’ Trophy. The Stars could play a part in how fitness levels are earned, but I have not done enough research and experimenting to confirm.

For my efforts, I earned 411 Stars (Trophy ding), burned 240 calories, and got a small bump to Dance Aerobics Level 80.

I am now at 50% complete Trophy total. Happy days!

Falcons in need of a win …

I know it is just preseason football, but my goodness, the Falcons do need something to hang their hat on Thursday night against the Ravens after falling 34 – 16 to the Steelers last night.

For the first time this preseason, the Falcons starters ‘lost’ during their tune-up time, 24 – 16, which I guess is respectable, but not enough to inspire confidence.

You can break down all the tape and come away with a lot of different concerns, but for me I was left with two thoughts. First, the one knock on Julio was his ability to hold onto the ball. We say it firsthand last night on a wasted play.

Julio Jones, who was brought into bring explosive plays and allow Ryan to showcase his arm, slightly beat his man and dove for a pass that couldn’t have been put in a better location.

One slight problem — Jones dropped the pass. But, hey, it’s a preseason game and the fact he dropped it doesn’t really matter. What’s important is Ryan — who completed 22 of 42 passes for 220 yards with one touchdown and one interception while playing only the first half — showed himself, his teammates, his coaches and his critics that he’s got a big enough arm to do some deep damage.

The Falcons have made it pretty clear they’re going to throw down field more often this season. Now, they should have the confidence to do it frequently and maybe Jones will hold onto the ball.

I bet A.J. Green holds on to that one. I doubt teams watching the tape are going to back off in coverage until Julio proves he can hold onto those catches. I wonder if anyone keeps track of a balls dropped statistic, because I have a sick feeling in my stomach (and it is not because of too much beer and chips last night) that Julio is going to be a top five contender.

Second, and this has been the case for a while now, the secondary needs help. Today. As in the Falcons better try to trade to improve now or they can kiss any deep playoff run bye-bye.

From the Q&A with Coach Mike Smith via D. Orlando Ledbetter’s ajc.com blog:

CONCERNED ABOUT THE PASS DEFENSE?: I’m concerned when you give up big plays. You can’t give up explosive plays. We talk about it all the time. We can’t give them up and you have to try to create them on the offensive side of the football. There were some very good things that took place in the ball game in all three phases. After the opening kickoff that they ran back, I thought our coverage units did a good job. We had a nice punt return by Eric Weems. Defensively, until the first half they weren’t able to run the ball. We thought we had a pretty good handle on them.

Nice deflection there by not directly addressing the issue. Bringing up the coverage on kickoffs is another concern. Unless he is just messing about, Matt Bosher does not inspire confidence that he can drill kickoffs into the endzone. Seems like an oops to me taking him with a 6th Round pick.

Final thought; Falcons are not running the ball. I thought Jacquizz Rodgers looked pretty good in his second half action, but Turner, not so much with the first team.

Hopefully the Falcons are holding something back until the games actually count. At least I keep telling myself that.

Go Falcons!

Now Playing – The Random Trophy Stuff Edition

I continue on my no longer so torrid tour of Mel B, but with the kids’ soccer I am only hitting one or two workouts a week.

While Mel B may not be the best Move implementation (there are a handful of exercises that will not register correctly with the camera + Move), Sports Champions seems to be really solid. After putting this one aside for a long time, I returned to it in order to get more Move satisfaction. Pretty decent game, enjoyable by the whole family; Trophies are a complete grind.

I finished up Sam and Max (episodes 4 and 5) this week. Mostly because they were sitting on my HDD waiting to be played, partially because I may let my PS+ subscription expire in a few months, sort of because the series is less stress and semi-entertaining. And I would be lying to you if I did not say the Trophies were an easy bonus. Sam and Max episodes 1 – 5 were free earlier this year for PS+ subscribers.

Pixiljunk Shooter – First one; highly addicting, fun shooter + puzzle combo. In this case I have to say that the Trophies add to the overall ‘experience’ – I could just blow through the game, but how would that be fun? I had to get some help for the ‘Coin Collector Trophy’ – for me it was much more luck than skill.

Not to digress too much, but I think Trophies are kind of like those collection JRPG games. You either are into them or you are not. When Trophies were first introduced, I could care less; however now I am card carrying Trophy whore. To me they add a little extra excitement, as in the case of Pixiljunk Shooter; these are actually fun to try to unlock. For other games, some of the Trophies are just meat grinders. These types I can pass on, and typically do.

Just got the Platinum Trophy for Madden 2011 this morning. Yes, I’m still playing the current (old) one. I have become a certified Trophy whore. I decided to ‘finish’ up the game before the new version is release on Tuesday. Technically Madden 2012 is already out for those that spent the extra cash on the EA Season Ticket crap; obviously I did not.

Speaking of those Trophies, the ‘Pick Up 6’ Trophy, which requires you to win a ‘Fight for the Fumble’ in the end zone was a major PITA. It was not going to happen for me during the course of normal games, and while I attempted some ‘cheats’ to make it easier, I just could not close off this final Trophy until I stumbled across this video. Using this technique it only took me two attempts to close off my third Platinum Trophy.

Looking Forward …
Georgia takes on Boise St. September 3 in the Georgia Dome, so I really need to jump back into NCAA Football 2012. It has been years since I was successful at getting some decent value for my money out of two football titles. With three kids plus work, I bet I am screwed.

I have several games on pre-order including the before mentioned Madden 12, F1 2011, FIFA 12, and the ICO Collection. September is awfully full.

I am also considering looking at WKC II, although I have no earthly idea why because I never got very far into WKC:I. I guess I got distracted doing the needful.

We will wrap up with Kung Fu Rider. I think this one will suck, although I hope to get a few hours of family fun out of it for my efforts.

Danica Patrick – NASCAR’s New Marking Machine

How’s this for negative reporting? I’m only quoting the negative stuff. In this case, I think it is fitting to jump right into the details …

Patrick will indeed contest the full NASCAR Nationwide Series with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports team next season, as well as a limited run of Sprint Cup Series races with Tony Stewart’s Stewart-Haas Racing team. She will also end her long association with Andretti Autosport in IndyCars. However, the specifics of her Cup schedule remain to be ironed out, as does the possibility of her continuing to race at the Indianapolis 500.

I have always found it interesting that Danica is such a polarizing figure. I think this is a blow to IndyCar. Say what you want about drivers with more talent not getting the exposure due to the Danica marketing machine (and dare I say hype), but in this day and age, the financial side of motor racing is critical.

Sponsors (Danica’s or any other for that matter) know that if Danica runs OK, they are going to get exposure because the fans love Danica. Where does IndyCar turn now when a would be almost convinced sponsor decides not to throw in a few hundred thousand dollars because there is not an extra exposure boots without Danica?

Dustin Long of ‘INSIDE NASCAR’ (SI.com) has three comments I would like to tackle.

[Brad Keselowski (Twitter handle @keselowski)] Then he wrote on Twitter: “All that said, her assent up the ladder of the sport thru various branding ‘techniques’ (swimsuit ads etc) only serves to undermine the … future credibility of female races who wish to make it based on skill, mental toughness and a never give up attitude. That to me is wrong. Essentially, she has opened a pandoras (sic) box for all female racers. If she doesn’t succeed, no female will get the chance for years to come.”

100% true, and I am glad Keselowski brings up this point. It is kind of hard for Danica to have it both ways. In a male dominated market, sex of course sells. Just look no further than the SI Swimsuit issue. Anyone that doubts Danica’s ability points right away to some of her adverts.

I have mixed emotions on this one. On the one hand, Danica should capitalize on her brand, and if trying to be sexy works for her, then go for it. On the other hand, I think her approach prevents whatever natural ability she has to speak for itself.

Kyle Petty — He’s been among the most vocal critics of Patrick’s move. If she fails, Petty’s stock could rise in the broadcasting arena, further enhancing his image as one who is not afraid to hold back on what he thinks. If Patrick succeeds, there will be those who will want to tell Petty, “I told you so.” Then again, Petty is telling it as he sees it and isn’t that what an analyst is supposed to do?

Female drivers — Patrick is scheduled to make her Cup debut next year, a decade after the last female, Shawna Robinson, competed in the Cup series. Patrick will be only the second female to compete in Cup in more than 20 years. If she succeeds, she could create opportunities for other female drivers working their way through the ranks. If she fails, the path to Cup could become much more difficult for other female drivers unless they truly stand out on the track.

Kyle Petty obviously has years and years of experience as a back-marker, so you have to take his ability to call out similar talent into consideration. You also have to question his ability to judge said talent.

Other female drivers will have a tough sell if Danica fails; see swimsuit and sex symbol type ads. And I would be remiss if I did not point out that Danica is not all that hot, but I guess some guys are desperate for T&A.

Best Crap Money Can Buy

OK, maybe they are not all crap, not by a long shot. I did do the needful and stock up on several hundred hours of gaming pleasure (and maybe pain and suffering). Why?

Cabela’s North American Adventures ($25.45): I’m a sucker for these hunting games. I probably over paid. OK, I did. I should have waited until this one hit the sub $20 mark, but in the back of my mind I was thinking that there will probably be a new Cabela title this fall, and I may miss out on this one. Doubt that would happen, but you never know.
NIER ($14.99): Backordered 2-4 weeks. Not sure what to say about this action RPG, except that it looks interesting.
Captain America: Super Soldier ($29.99): Backordered 2-3 weeks. My youngest son loves Captain America (and in general, super heroes). This one may be too hard for him, but I’m sure there will be some points where he can just button mash the heck out of the bad guys.
Iron Man 2 ($14.99): Certifiable crap. See Captain America comments. I did read that for my efforts there are some easy Trophies, so there is that thrown in for good measure.
Kung Fu Rider ($12.80): Certifiable crap; however Kung Fu rider is something for the Move and something that the kids can enjoy. This one is one of the first Move games; it was panned – highest score on Metacritic is 65. Ouch.
Majin And The Forsaken Kingdom ($14.99): I’ve always been a little interested in this one, but not for MSRP. For a tick under $15, I’m happy.
Tomb Raider Trilogy ($19.99): Backordered 2-4 weeks. I wanted to get in some Laura before the re-boot hits.
PS3 Eye Camera Mounting Clip ($6.68): For good measure, I picked up one of these mounting clips. Not really sure why as I have lived without one since the Move was released.

With the exception of Captain America, I am not sure if I will actually get any of the titles on backorder. Maybe Amazon has a slow boat to China (or elsewhere) where these older discounted titles are being pressed for a fresh batch of suckers.

My gaming needs are stocked for the foreseeable future. Well, at least until all my stuff on pre-order is released, but that is another article.

White Knight Chronicles II

I gave up on White Knight Chronicles: International (WKC:I) a long time ago. To be honest, I forget why. Too many other games at the time? Got bored with the back story and the game mechanics? Something else? I really don’t remember …

Am I interested in the sequel? Sort of, but only because I am a semi-JRPG junkie. With that said, I can’t see purchasing White Knight Chronicles II (which interestingly enough includes WKC:I) until I actually finish WKC:I or at least make a concerted try to progress the story.

Trophy whores need not apply. If White Knight Chronicles II is anything like WKC:I, Trophies are few and far between and extremely time consuming.

Mel B – Week 3 Update (Slacker)

I’ll hit the summary first; I only managed bookend workouts this week. I am now at 3400 calories burned via Get Fit, and I dropped another 1-2 pounds this week. So that is 4-5 since I started three weeks ago, although this week adding in two soccer practices certainly did not hurt my cause.

Day 15
I started week three by changing my goals. I selected Lifestyle, keeping up with the kids, and Shape, pecs to die for; selected a 50/50 split for my workouts. Mel B. then put me through the paces of a 30 minute Pump ‘N’ Tone workout, which burned a very satisfying 220 calories. Along the way two Trophies popped: ‘Pumped’ (lifted the equivalent of an SUV) and ‘Bring It On’ (raised any category’s fitness level by 10).

I was impressed (I am easily amused) to see my Pump ‘N’ Tone level now sits at 85.

It may be a while before I see any more Trophies. I know I keep saying that, but there is very little in the way of low hanging fruit out there for me to whore. ‘Abs Of Steel’ (1000 long-arm crunches) and ‘Drop And Give Me 1000’ (1000 press-ups on toes); not any time soon. Maybe ‘Flash Dancer’ (collected over 350 Stars in a Dance Aerobics Workout), although Dancing is just not my thing. And so on and so forth – challenges, repetition, and increases in leveling are the only things standing in front of me an another elusive Platinum.

Day 16
And on the 16th day, I rested …

Seriously, I decided it was time to take a break. Kids soccer starts tomorrow with practices Tue (9 year-old), Wed (4.5 year-old), and Thur (9 year-old). I am co-coaching my 9 year-old, so I figured a day off was in order before hitting the pitch three days in a row.

Day 17
Two for two; although I did have soccer practice to help run, and we did run around a lot with the kids.

Day 18
Three in a row …

Day 19
Four days in a row without Mel B. I would say I suck, but I helped run another soccer practice. Maybe tomorrow I will hit Mel B with vengeance. To be honest, I am starting to miss my old regular routine. That’s right; I’m longing for some Mel B. Done; I’ll check out Mel B tomorrow, I promise.

Day 20
It’s Friday; bite me … I promise I will have a date with Mel B tomorrow. Really, I mean it this time.

Then again, we are having a b-day party for my oldest son who becomes a teenager Monday, August 22.

Day 21
So I finally found some time to spend with Mel B. I was expecting some sort of “… where have you been? I missed you …” type message, but no such luck.

Mel B gave me a 30 minute Fitness workout, which was good for 230+ calories. I thought I did a great job, but apparently this workout was only good for 89%. I did get a +5 Fit bump to Level 55. It is going to be slow going raising my fitness, which is strange because I feel pretty darn fit.

The problem is that a few of the exercises will not register properly no matter what. To advance, I will probably have to go into Practice mode, and figure out how to ‘game’ a few of the exercises to make sure the Move + camera tracks me properly.

I have learned that low light settings seem to work much better than bright lights. The chandelier is a definite no-no; it must be off. Natural lighting works best, but the Move cannot be anywhere near direct lighting sources (windows, lamps, etc.).

Falcons – Jaguars (Random Notes and Comments)

While the Falcons lost 13 – 15, once again our first team beat the opposition. This is interesting because it may imply that the Falcons do not have enough depth.

The biggest concerns for me are the lack of a rushing game and the continued short passing dink and dunk offense. Jacquizz Rodgers looked more settled, which was good to see; maybe he can grow into the ‘change of pace’ role. If you discount Matt Ryan’s 76 yard TD pass to Harry D. (a lot of which was YAC), Ryan averaged a very pedestrian 6.6 yards / completion. While that is on par with last year, I was expecting the Falcons to open up the offense. Maybe they are just holding back until the regular season. I like fooling myself that way.

From the ESPN South Blog (Pat Yasinskas is always good for a lot of different info, and I really enjoy his perspective), on Harry Douglas:

With Jones and Roddy White lined up at wide receiver, Douglas lined up in the slot. He ran a slant route and never really was covered. He caught it in the middle of the field and headed for the sideline. He never was touched. But, just in case he needed help, Jones was downfield and ready to throw a block. That wasn’t needed.

The Falcons believe he’s a natural slot guy. That’s where Douglas is playing now and the difference is significant. With White and Jones on the outside, there are going to be plenty of times when Douglas doesn’t draw much coverage. If he makes a few big plays, he’ll get more coverage and that will mean less attention on White.

That will mean more big plays and that’s exactly what the Falcons want.

Agree. Harry Douglas has looked very sharp in the first two preseason games, racking up 5 receptions, 2 TDs, and is averaging almost 27 yards per catch. Not sure how many of those yards are YAC, but the totals are still impressive. It looks like Harry D. is finally turning into the slot player the Falcons expected when the front office secured him in the third round in 2008.

Back Mr. Yasinskas …

Cornerback Brent Grimes continues to have a strong preseason. He had an over-the-shoulder interception deep in the end zone in the first half. He took it out and made several athletic moves before getting stopped around midfield. Although undersized, Grimes might be the best natural athlete to come through Atlanta since Deion Sanders.

I have to grudgingly agree. It is not as if I don’t like Grimes, but I keep saying this experiment will never work. Grimes keeps proving me wrong.

Preseason; the games don’t count, right? Sure. At some point the Falcons better put it all together and account for more than three first downs.

The starters played the entire first half and could amass just three first downs. Running back Michael Turner had seven carries for 14 yards. Julio Jones had two catches. Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez had one catch each.

It will be interesting to see if the Falcons try to be anything more than vanilla on offense next Sunday night against the Steelers, who by the way looked really good the other night against the Eagles. If the Steelers do not use generic blitz packages, they should be an interesting barometer for the Falcons offense.

Go Falcons!

NFL Sunday Ticket (PS3 Gets More Options)

Sony just announced a partnership with DIRECTTV to offer access to NFL Sunday Ticket; this should be considered a decent option for someone without DIRECTTV.

At the start of the season, viewers who do not currently have access to DIRECTV will be able to subscribe to NFL SUNDAY TICKET at the season price of $339.95. Existing DIRECTV customers who already have NFL SUNDAY TICKET and NFL SUNDAY TICKET To-Go through DIRECTV can access the service on their PS3 for no additional charge.

If I ever decided (out of choice or financial necessity) to give up my Falcons season tickets, I would subscribe to the service. With that said, while I love the NFL, I cannot justify the additional $339.95 a year to have access to upwards of 14 games a week, when I can typically access 5-6 games on any given week. Not to mention that with the NFL Network and RedZone coverage, and all the highlight shows, I pretty much get saturated with football coverage day and night.

MLS Moves to NBC

I have been trying to figure out if last week’s announcement that the MLS will move to NBC (really Versus Network, which will become NBC Sports Network on Jan 2, 2012) will really push the MLS (and U.S. Soccer) forward.

The best I can tell is that the MLS is anticipating a huge marketing banana as result of the larger NBC Sports coverage of the 2012 Olympics. I’m never one to call hoping a decent strategy!

Versus Network in and of itself has been a death sentence for the IRL.

IndyCar’s ratings, while still a long way from NASCAR’s, for example, recently resulted in its three most-watched races on Versus this summer (Texas, Toronto and Edmonton), though all of those ratings points were less than 1.0, which represents 1.1 million households.

The rebranding of Versus should make the channel–which some have complained is too obscure and difficult to find, especially for casual fans–much more of a household name. IndyCar certainly hopes some of that expanded recognition will rub off on it.

There we go with that hopeful thing again. The top three IRL races on Versus have netted a total of 3.3 million viewers. Wow; let’s be honest, those number suck.

I agree that moving to the NBC brand will be better for the MLS, but to me it seems like the MLS would have tried to go all in with ESPN.

F1 2011

I have been closely watching F1 2011, which looks incredible on multiple fronts – graphics, dynamic weather, key technical changes for 2001, AI improvements, and then some. Love this Q&A segment over at the EU official’ish blog.

This time, is there going to be the facility to save the game midway through a race?
There is no mid-race saves in 2011 but with the all new handling you will go so much faster, you’ll not want to save!

In this day and age, any sports or racing game should include an easily accessible in-game save feature.

I decided to do my usual Amazon pre-order thing; September 20th release date.

PS3 HD Collections …

So far I have really enjoyed The Sly Collection; currently in the swamp on Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racoonus. Getting past Muggshot to continue the game and earn the Silver “Giving The Dog A Bone” Trophy had to be one of the most frustrating gaming experience I can recall. Or maybe I am just getting too damn old for platforming games.

At any rate, I have to decide it I am going to double dip on the God of War Origins Collection which feature the two best games on the PSP – Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta. Seeing these two titles in HD, with the added bonus of Trophies, may tempt me … maybe. If you have a PSP and you have never played these titles, for shame!

Rounding out the collection list is the Ico and Shadow of Colossus Collection; the official’ish Sony Blog just released some of the bonus content (videos and two dynamic themes) along with the Trophy list. I have had this on one pre-order since Thanksgiving weekend last year, so I am really looking forward to seeing this one arrive in late September.

While it is not a PS2 HD re-release collection, I thought I would add in one random PlayStation LifeStyle link. Pretty good article and strong reader comments on what XSeed will do with the PSP Ledgend of Heroes series. Me? At this point I am firmly committed to not purchase any more UMDs, although my 9 year-old a PSP … he is not into RPGs, much less JRPGs so I will probably miss out unless these somehow port to the PS3 or get a Vita release.

Random Falcons News and Notes (Post Dolphins Observations)

I wonder if the Falcons are going to attempt to call in some DB help. According to Pat Yasinskas (ESPN NFC South Blog), the Falcons are keeping their fingers crossed that they can shore things up within their current roster.

The other key battle is for the nickelback position. The Falcons aren’t going to take the safe route and add a veteran later in the preseason. They’re set on letting Christopher Owens and Dominique Franks battle it out in camp and the preseason. The Falcons like both young players and are hoping the competition forces one of them to really step forward.

Keeping your fingers crossed and hoping are never good fallback positions. Owens looked like crap against the Dolphins, getting beat multiple times. While I think Franks has plenty of upside, it may be time to pull a minor deal to land a dependable (i.e. experienced) nickleback.

Meanwhile, Steve Wyche of NFL.com thinks the Falcons safeties are beyond top notch.

I will state this now: safeties William Moore and Thomas DeCoud could emerge as the top back-end tandem in the NFL within the next year. Both can run, have good size and have great instincts.

Good stuff. While I like DeCoud and Moore, I never thought they would (well, could) end up as one of the top tandems in the league. In the same article, Mr. Wyche raises some concerns about Jacquizz Rogers (the new Norwood).

There was a lot of buzz about the former Oregon State running back when he was drafted in the fifth round, but he’s deep on the depth chart and has an uphill climb. Antone Smith and Gartrell Johnson are currently behind Michael Turner and Jason Snelling. Rodgers, at 5-foot-6, has some scatback potential, but was physically overmatched in pass protection in the preseason opener against Miami.

I didn’t see much from Rogers, and while it is preseason, I would certainly like to see more than 3 yards a carry. I don’t remember if the Falcons even threw it to Rogers once out of the backfield; must be saving those screens and dump-offs for the regular season.

JPW vs. The Salary Cap
I thought it was interesting that JPW got a good long look against the Dolphins before getting his bell rung into next week; Mr. Yasinskas thinks this was all about cap maneuvering.

Interesting that the Falcons went with John Parker Wilson as the second quarterback after Ryan. Chris Redman has been the backup. The Falcons already know what they have in Redman, but he’s carrying a salary-cap figure that’s more than $3 million. If Wilson (12-of-19 for 111 yards with an interception) shows he’s ready to take a step up the ladder, Redman could be a cap casualty later in camp.

My take – JPW was a 2009 undrafted FA. Normally you like to give these guys 3-4 years to see if they can land the backup spot. If they can’t, you cut bait and move on (or move said bait to the practice squad). Seems a little early for that; besides Redman may be a $3 million cap hit, but Redman is a certifiable decent backup (i.e. insurance policy against a minor Ryan injury).

Corey Peters
Let’s hope Corey Peters’ injury proves just troublesome at best; a temporary setback on the way to regular season glory. It is certainly good news that Peters will not require surgery, but still very disconcerting.

Go Falcons!

NFL Network – Finally Getting Some

Imagine my surprise this weekend when I stumbled across the NFL Network’s replay of the Falcons 23 – 28 defeat at the hands of the Dolphins third, fourth, and umpteenth reserves.

NFL Network in my living room? I say Christmas just came early.

Charter and NFL Network have announced a new, long-term agreement for carriage of NFL Network. Charter, among one of the largest communications and entertainment providers in the country, will also offer the innovative NFL RedZone service to its customers. NFL Network and NFL RedZone will be available through Charter in time for the start of the 2011 NFL regular season.

NFL Network will be available to Charter customers on the Digital View Plus tier and in high-definition to customers with high-definition service and an HD television set. NFL RedZone will be available on Charter’s Sports View tiers. NFL RedZone is a Sunday only service, beginning with the Sept 11 start of the regular season, providing live game action from around the league as a team enters inside the 20-yard line and prepares to score.

It’s about time that Charter and the NFL finally settled their differences and moved on with getting fans more of what they want – NFL football!

It is also interesting that this deal transpires just as Charter put some vague notice in my July bill that after a period of being provided subsidized Sports View package at $5 per month, the package is now going to $10 per month. Funny how it was subsidized for 5-6 years until the NFL Network came to Charter.

I don’t mind paying the extra $60 per year for the NFL Network, especially since they are offering it, along with NFL RedZone in HD.