Friday, June 22, 2007
A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward.
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
In my innocent years as a child I, like many, spent a great deal of time seated in front of the television. From Inspector Gadget, to Full House, to Family Matters, to Boy Meets World, I grew old with those little hysterical characters running around inside of my thirteen inch Emerson television. Now? I rarely watch television, and if I do it’s generally a talk show of some sort; think Conan O’ Brien, or Colbert. That, however, is a rarity. Anytime that I want to fall asleep to the TV or watch something with my egg sandwich at breakfast, I flip on the NFL Network. I am not alone.
As a basic subscriber to Comcast’s Digital Cable service, I know that I and many of my friends live and die by the NFL Network. Although you will rarely hear anything you didn’t already read on the internet somewhere, there is always some kind of opinions worth listening to, some live games worth watching, or some classic games worth reliving (unless, of course, we’re talking about “NFL Europa.” I can’t say I care a great deal about that).
Regardless, it goes without saying that when I awoke a few days ago and turned on channel number 180 to find that NFL Total Access was on but I was “unauthorized” to watch it, my breakfast became undeniably less enjoyable but the day went on. Then, as I committed myself so some semblance of peaceful slumber, I was still unauthorized to watch NFL Network and was forced instead to fall asleep to an episode of Scrubs.
The following morning I called Comcast and apparently they and the NFL Network had some kind of legal battle involving the NFL Network not capitalizing on the popularity of their station thanks to Comcast’s somewhat “financially friendly” digital cable plan. That’s what I was fed, anyway, but it tasted like crap to me. Ultimately, the situation was resolved by me paying an additional $5 a month for not only the NFL Network, but NBATV and some other nonsensical football, baseball, soccer, and golf channels.
I did my research, and I could find nothing about this battle between Comcast and the NFL but rest assured I am skeptical. If anyone reading this knows anything, I would love to hear from you.
Now then, I feel obliged to touch briefly on the continuing controversy revolving around Adam “Pacman” Jones. I am well aware that a celebrity of any medium knowingly puts themselves in the eye of the public, leaving the window open for inevitable scrutinizing. As the old saying goes, however; enough is enough.
Is it any secret to anyone reading, or anyone who follows football to the slightest degree, that Pacman is a troubled young man who has had some run-ins with the law? Of course not, so it would be nice if the media would stop blowing it out of proportion and condemning the guy to the pro sports hall of shame. Sure, he’s made some mistakes; more than many, perhaps, but he is human. Let him suffer the suspension he’s earned, even if it means that his career is over. Who are all of these know-nothings to judge the character of someone who they don’t know in the least?
There was a psychiatrist who is employed by the 49ers who was interviewed on NFL Total Access and suggested that people like Adam Jones could hijack the NFL the way that steroids have hijacked the MLB. His logic, I suppose, is that people watching the MLB no longer know the difference between who’s cranking home runs al-natural, and who’s got a guy who knows somebody who knows somebody who knows something about the juice. The sport, as such, has lost some legitimacy. He hypothesizes that Pacman’s immature behavior sets a standard for NFL players and if there are more and more Pac(men?) coming into the league, the NFL loses some legitimacy. It becomes a child’s game.
Did this guy really compare illegal performance enhancing drugs in baseball to the irresponsible acts SOME NFL players involve themselves in OFF the football field?
Sully, your team may be improving, but its public relations campaign is whack.
The Obscure Movie Reference for this week is “A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints,” starring Shia LaBeouf and Robert Downey Jr. Each play a character named Dito Montiel (LaBeouf in Montiel’s younger days, Downey in his elder state) who grew up in the 1980s in the inner city of New York. An autobiographical novel that lead to an autobiographical movie, “A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints” is yet another drama recommendation from yours truly, this one following Dito in his troubled youth up until he leaves for California, and then returns to his hometown decades later.
When dealing with the drama genre only so much can be said, as the selling point for any movie of this type is its story and this tells a fine story indeed. Made even more impressive by its autobiographical nature, the movie maintains a certain authenticity, mainly through the camera techniques and the killer soundtrack, which I’m certain the real Dito Montiel was striving for in his directorial debut.
Now it is time, once again, for the “dorky gamer” part of my persona to shine through. I frequently make note of the fact that I rarely play games, yet it seems I’ve always got something to say about them one way or another in these columns. Interesting.
Manhunt 2, the sequel to Rockstar Games gritty, disturbing, torturous game that debuted a few years back to much controversy, is picking up right where its predecessor left off. Earlier this week, the game was banned from being sold anywhere in the UK. Shortly thereafter, the ESRB tagged the game with an Adults Only rating here in the United States. What that means is, this would be a game you would find only at specialty stores (Electronics Boutique, for example), while stores such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy would not carry the title. What that means, of course, is lackluster sales. The trickle down effect continues; because of the likelihood for lackluster sales, both Nintendo and Sony have said the title will not show up as is on their consoles.
Now what?
The game will be censored. Chalk one up for censorship, and put a tally in the “L” column for the good guys. That’s right, you guessed it; I am EXTREMELY anti-censorship. What is the point?
From what I’ve read, this game features things such as strangling people and cutting off their testicles. That doesn’t seem much different to me than what is showing up on DVD shelves in Wal-Mart and Best Buy with the movie Hostel. What is the difference? It’s interactive, children might get their hands on it, and the hands-on nature of the experience could lead them to do bad, bad things?
Give me a break. This may be touching a chord with any parents reading, but in my opinion it is 100% the parents’ responsibility to know what their child is doing, and that includes knowing what video games they may be playing. Who is going to argue against that?
There were a few things which I felt to be noteworthy in the MPL this week. First, where’s MPL Radio? I feel like it’s been quite a while since I’ve listened to an episode.
Second, I’d like to welcome Moneyball back into the league. He’s in a situation similar to the one I was in last season. I came in and took over a Jaguars squad that was 0-5, but the hole dug by the previous owner was too deep to crawl out of, despite losing only one game the rest of the way. Moneyball comes back into the league taking over the Lions at 1-4, and with this season running only ten games, he is essentially looking at being nothing more than a spoiler. It’s a shame to see someone as good on the sticks as he is in such a predicament, but the competition is welcome. I have a feeling the Lions will finish with quite a few more wins than the one they’ve amassed thus far.
Finally, there was a discussion on the forums about teams that run the 3-4. Some people, apparently, stay away from these teams because really, how many people can run that 3-4 in Madden? It can be wicked against the pass, but you can have your way rushing the ball against it. Even still, there are some FANTASTIC teams that run a 3-4, with the Patriots and Cowboys being the first that spring to mind. Why should these teams be avoided because of the defensive base formation they use in real life? It doesn’t necessarily have to be used in Madden. The Cowboys, as I recall, have the personnel to run a 4-3 in Madden but, since Vixen is one who’s have problems with that Patriots defense, lets look at their squad. They too could run a 4-3, although it would pose a glaring weakness at one of the defensive tackle spots, with the second defensive tackle being rated only a 69.
You have to ask yourself: Would you rather run a stud defense that you don’t like, or run a defense with a potential weakness that you are familiar with? For me, it would be the latter. Just some food for thought.
My nephew, who is about two and a half years old, has a tendency to pick his nose. Being the wonderful uncle that I am (not to mention not living with him, and thus not having to worry about where his treasures end up), when I see him committing this act I simply laugh and ask him if he’s digging for gold. Recently, he has begun telling people that he is digging for gold during the act. Now, he sings a song that goes something like “Siiiiilver and gold….siiiiilver and gold…” Apparently this is a song from one of his favorite movies, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer.
Now, I’m not a big fan of kids in general, but I found that to be entertaining.
|
