Thursday, July 28, 2011

NCAA 2012 quick review

So my favorite video game came out a week or two ago, and even though it drives me crazy at times, I still keep coming back to it. I, the abused girlfriend, thinking that the game, my abusive boyfriend, will someday change its ways, it nevertheless keeps beating me senseless.

Anyway, my quick rundown of the good and the bad:

Good:

-Running the ball seems better this time. They are supposedly using some new graphics thing that doesn't initiate a tackle until two players actually touch each other, as opposed to have a certain tackle graphic automatically happen once the players are close, and it has made a difference. The running and tackling physics do seem better. There are still issues though, like doing a spin move that causes you to go backwards five yards and or point your momentum the wrong direction, but still, it's better.

-It's now possible to actually hit a deep receiver in stride sometimes, which is great. Every once in a while you'll actually throw a deep ball to a receiver who has a step on his man and glory, glory, hallelujah he will catch it without slowing down. Also some of the catching animations are pretty cool. Jeff Fuller for Texas A&M sometimes looks insanely realistic as he fights for and catches a pass over the middle.

-Customizable playbooks and conferences are included. I like the playbook feature. I've always enjoyed trying to find the perfect combination of plays and formations, and now you can control that 100%. And if you're a college fan who always has ideas about how each conference should look, you can now mix them up as much as you want.

The bad:

-This has been an issue for years, but the magical jumping linebackers and psychic safeties are still a major problem. Almost so much so that it makes me not want to play the dumb game. You can throw to a wide open receiver 30 yards down the field, and a linebacker halfway between you will jump 5 feet in the air and deflect it. And this happens numerous times per game. If the linebacker doesn't get you, you're still not safe because even if you've made the right read and found the open receiver, the nearest safety on defense may decide to magically speed burst his way over, around, or even right through you to deflect or intercept the pass. Again, a major problem and almost annoying enough to just throw the game in the trash, and I'm a patient guy.

-Another problem in the passing game is the fact that your QB takes so long to wind up when he is throwing that he ends up getting sacked way too much. He gets sacked in completely unrealistic situations, situations where you "threw" the ball when the defender was still five yards away from you... except that your quarterback hasn't thrown the ball and instead is doing an exaggerated Nolan Ryan pitcher's windup which gets him sacked.

-Fatigue is still really, really stupid. They'll have your quarterback get so fatigued that he has to leave the game if you happen to scramble a few times on one drive. Riiiight, because these guys are so unathletic, they can't play football for 5 minutes without needing a break. The fatigue aspect of this game needs to be completely re-done so that it basically never shows up until the fourth quarter. Cumulative fatigue, in other words. No college athlete would be tired in the first quarter.

There are other good and bad aspects, but those are the big ones for me. Otherwise, the game is basically identical to what it's been in the past several years, just with new player ratings and the addition of some new traditions for basically every team in America besides Texas A&M. And trust me, I could go on for a long time about that one, but I better not get started...

Monday, July 18, 2011

Golf talk: British Open

Ahh, the British Open. My 3rd favorite golf tournament. It's always fun to watch these guys play a different style of golf, especially when you throw in the crazy weather over there. I didn't get to see much of the first 3 rounds, but did watch the majority of the Sunday action. And on the front nine, there was a LOT of action.

Mickelson made quite a run, getting to 6 under par at one point. That was the point that I and many other golf fans said to ourselves, "well, now he'll probably make nothing but bogeys and miss a bunch of makeable putts the rest of the way." Which, of course, is exactly what he did.

Dustin Johnson had a chance, but after shanking a basic iron shot out of bounds when he was merely trying to lay up, his chances dwindled.

So that left Clarke. The other players all sort of faded away and after it looked on the front nine like we would have a heck of a battle, the last four holes featured a comfortable, drama-free stroll for the winner, allowing the announcers to get us all up to speed on why exactly we should like Darren Clarke.

And for the record, he is indeed likeable. Seems like a great guy, and I have to say, his winner's speech was really, really good. Something about it struck me as very humble. His wife died a few years ago and he's now engaged, and rather than have a big "look at all I've gone through" moment, he was able to mention it without seeming like he needed the attention. Here's the speech.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

A couple pictures from Port Aransas

Spent a weekend with the family down at Port Aransas. I love that place. I think the big draw for me is simply the nostalgia of it, since that's the beach town we've always gone to as a family. Lots of fishing trips and vacations, both to Port A and to the old beach house an hour away that my grandparents built a long time ago (since sold).

So this trip included golf at Newport Dunes, which has become a new tradition for me. That course is incredible, by the way. One publication named it the #2 best public course in Texas. It's right on the beach, basically, and is a links style course designed by Arnold Palmer, or as they refer to him around the pro shop, The King.

The trip also included the requisite seafood eating, some body surfing in the gulf, a trip to the aquarium in Corpus, and intermittent opportunities for me to keep playing with my new hobby, photography.










Tuesday, July 5, 2011

A couple pictures from the Belton Rodeo

Thanks to some good fortune and good friends, we had front row seats at the rodeo this past weekend. I brought my DSLR and was able to take some decent pictures. It was really dark in the arena and I think a much more fancy (expensive) lens would have helped immensely, but even so, it was cool to get a few good action shots.