Rendclaw

I played it at a party last weekend, and I am getting my copy next weekend when I get paid. Its fucking addictive, two player mode is a lot of fun, and yes, Bark at the Moon is fucking hard, even on Easy. Hell, I have been playing guitar since I was 19 and I have tried to learn that song for years. Damn.

While I might not agree with it, 5 games was the absolute minimum that he was going to get. Anything less would have made the league office look weak after what happened last year, even though the circumstances might have warranted a lesser suspension.

This is news? ESPN's NBA game coverage is a joke, even if they are just going for the high-ratings matchups. It makes me long for the days when ABC had the NBA back in the 70s, where they would put on pretty much any two teams and call it the Game of the Week.

Yeah I know, it can get a little frustrating when they're jacking up shot after shot from 20 feet and further out, they're obviously not falling, and they don;t adjust... their love affair with the long range shot cost them games last season, and at least Flip will change things up if they aren;t working, a major change from LB's stubborn ways. The aforementioned Cleveland game is a perfect example....

Fucking ouch.

Yeah Utah gives the Pistons fits... Kirilenko is just sick at times with everything he can do... hell, that's why I put him on my 2k5 version of the Suns, platooning the small forward spot with Tayshaun Prince and Darius Miles. All I can say about them is thank God there is not much of a chance that the Pistons will see them again this year. Not that I don;t trust them to eventually figure that team out, but a seven game series against the Jazz would be more stressful than a seven game series against the Spurs right now, considering what the Pistons did to them in their own building. The one thing that the Pistons need to do in regard to having a big lead on a team is to stop shooting threes and long range jumpers in order to wipe them out quickly. Keep doing what got that lead in the first place, and you would be up by 30. That 2 for 12 stretch against the Spurs might have been enough for them to snatch that game away from the Pistons had they been able to somehow win through against the defense of the Pistons, of which I had not seen at that level since last year. My only gripe with the Pistons is one I have had since they got Rasheed, and that is he needs to work his offense from the inside out rather than drifting out to 20 feet and further back. Tim Duncan, whom I hold in high regard and have since his days at Wake Forest, couldn't do a thing against Sheed when he had his back to the basket. But that's my only complaint, unlike a lot of people around here panicking about the bench and getting more players in. All that being said, that was a dominant performance by the Pistons. And speaking of my Team B, the Magic, Francis definitely needs to go. I never really liked him because of his attitude, even back when he was at Maryland. He has all the talent in the fucking world, even to be a superstar in this league if he truly applied himself, but he would rather be the stereotypical NBA baller and bitch out when things aren't going his way. Once I heard about that suspension, any chances they Magic have of making the playoffs are gone. They seriously need to rebuild that team around Howard. Grant Hill is still an excellent player when healthy, and they have a couple of players to compliment those two. I'm just wondering whether they need to just blow the team up.

Considering how powerful Luke was by the time the Thrawn Trilogy came out, it had to be balanced with something that could "cancel" his powers. And without focusing on the main characters, there is no way that a Star Wars book could sell. As much as I loved the Rogue Squadron books, they didn't do as well as the Thrawn Trilogy, or some of the crappier series, like the Jedi Academy Trilogy.

Wow, who knew? You would think that Sandy Eggo and St. Louis would have a better fanbase for an NBA franchise than OKC.

Don;t feel bad... that's one of the reasons why I never finished it. That's what is called an impulse buy. Best Buy does that for exactly that reason, and you fell for their Jedi mind-trick. You weak-minded fool. :: ::

Episodes 7 to 9 were allegedly Luke's fall to the Dark Side and Leia saving and redeeming him, about 10-20 years after Return of the Jedi. They can't do that with the original actors without it looking like shit on a stick. I would be much more interested in a TV series based off of the Rogue Squadron books, but that won't happen even though Wedge would be in it from beginning to end, and that alone would be a major selling point, as it seems everyone loves Wedge. Yes, Zahn wrote the Thrawn Trilogy, and did a damned good job of it too. One of the best things Lucas ever did was to give the green light to the EU.

The problem with Martz is that he began to think he was smarter than he actually was, and earned the "mad scientist" tag for tinkering too much with the offense. Nonetheless, the Lions are going to chase him hard. Tice had this coming, in all honesty.

Agreed on XML 1 and 2, though after starting 2, I stopped. I think it had something to do with a co-worker of mine just tearing through it and telling me every little thing about it. Black Isle is no more, so the chances of a BGDA 3 coming out is slim at best.... le sigh.

I wonder if Kobe was goaded into doing that somehow. I may think he is a ballhog with delusions of being Michael Jordan II, but not a dirty player. And yes, the Heat-Pistons game went exactly as I thought it would. Wade goes off, Shaq does well but they go away from him late in the 4th quarter, and the Pistons lock them down defensively and they cannot adjust. I don't think the Pistons will win 70 games, and unless there are in a position that they can go for it and not endanger their chances of gaining the homecourt, I doubt that they will try for it.

If the old guy wasn't Jean Reno, I would agree. If you like action RPGs, I of course recommend Baldur's Gate I and II. Its harder yet more fun when playing with a friend or in kkk's case, your SO. Once my gf learned the ropes we had fun killing everything in sight. Speaking of multiplayer RPGs, has anyone any opinions on the new Gauntlet game?

I think the last game I finished was NFS Underground 2. I'm trying to get through NFS Most Wanted but I am struggling right now with trying to get to #5 on the Blacklist. The races aren't that much of a problem, but getting the milestones against the cops can be downright maddening, now that they are using heavy SUVs for their Rhino units. If you have more than three cops on your tail and you get hit head on by one of those fuckers, you're done. The map gives you maybe a half-second of warning to hit the Speedbreaker to avoid them. Maddening, I tell you.

True, but he is really gaining notice around the league... he just needs to continue his development and put on about 15-20 lbs of muscle, then look the hell out....

Yes, and which one turned out to be the better game? That's the point I was making. The game turned out halfway decent almost by accident, considering there were stretches where neither team could throw it in the ocean. When TV analysts were "jokingly" calling the previous game the JV game, I just had to shake my head. I heard an opinion that the Pistons-Spurs game was treated as a three hour pre-game show for the Lakers-Heat, and I couldn't agree more. It wasn;t even about the game itself for all the backstory that were doing between Riley, Jackson, Shaq and Kobe. Just cover the game itself instead of asking the question "Will Kobe and Shaq acknowledge each other?" five thousand times. I wouldn;t have been all that interested even if they squared off at half court and started throwing blows. The look that Shaq gave Lisa Salters at the end of the game spoke volumes. Even he is tired of it. This is the seedy underside to the NBA that both the networks and the league itself have cultivated. For all the clamoring people do about the mega-hyped, spoiled brat modern-day athlete, they sure get bored easily with a good defensive, teamwork-oriented game. Its getting to the point where the fans are talking about the Pistons negatively in a joking manner. Hell, the record itself is like playing 2k5 or 2k6 or Live.... Now everyone is gearing for the letdown, even going so far as to say that they might drop the next two against the Heat and the Cavs. The Heat maybe, if Shaq and Wade go off and actually shut the Pistons down defensively which I can't quite see, unless Riley breaks out the Thug Ball style for this game.

I was listening to my favorite sports radio show this morning, and the host was talking about how the NBA is missing the boat by selling the players instead of the teams, something I agree with. In a couple of cases, you have to sell the player because the team is complete shit, but the networks and the league were selling individual matchups before Jordan ascended, and in the end it takes away from the actual matchup. That's why a match between the two contenders for last year's title got short shrift compared the the overblown and overhyped soap opera which is the Lakers vs. the Heat.... Like I said before, the Pistons record is forcing people in the sports media to talk about them. I saw a stat where there have been only three teams in I think the last ten or twelve years that have had a better record at 25 games. That's just unbelieveable when you think about it.

double post

The Pistons are systematically dismantling the Raptors, as expected. Chris Bosh did a very smart thing by developing a mid-range game. Once he puts on some bulk he is really going to be dangerous, ala Karl Malone.

As frustrating as the game can be at times, I'm loving NFS: Most Wanted.

And just about the most senseless death really, considering that both strategy guides indicated that you could raise Aeris up to level 4 Breakers, just like everyone else.

Which is what I am going to do. I looked at all of the options and I just was not impressed. Seeing how I drive a lot, especially in the morning and afternoon hours, I want a unit that is truly portable, going from my car to my delivery truck and back again.

When last I heard, they were up by 11 with 6 minutes to play.

I would be remiss if I didn't recommend Baseball Stars. Its satisfying to create your own team and dominating, as time consuming as it can be.