Let Every Play Lead the Way to Victory

How 'bout those Chicago Bears?! 3-0 QB Craig Krenzel led the Monsters of the Midway to a whopping three points, and yet the Bears still won 19-17, after an OT fumble in the endzone lead to a Chicago safety. Now, what started out as a bleak season with the loss of starting QB Rex Grossman and All-Pro linebacker Brian Urlacher at least has a ray of light as the Bears are one game behind division leader Green Bay, and hold a tiebreaker on the Packers following an early season 21-10 victory.

I Just Don't Get People

OK, real quick I'm going to sit on my sexist, male-chauvanist horse for a moment, but please... It's with the best of intentions. But why, oh why, do guys kill hot women? I mean, not that I condone murder in any circumstance, but kids and hot women are especially more egregious. Over the weekend, a local Tampa insurance adjuster was murdered and had her body dumped into a river. The woman was just doing her job, expecting a home that was damaged during one of the hurricanes, and the home's owner apparently beat her to death. I just don't get it.

Now, to totally make a 180 with how I don't get people (and probably trivializing the tragic murder that occurred), Maurice Clarrett is ratting-out his former college Ohio State to apparently clear his name or something. First things first, there's really not a doubt in my mind that what he says more than likely occurred. And that's my beef... I don't get why these boosters and alumni do stuff like that. What's the gain, that your team beats their arch rival on Saturday afternoon? So the fuck what!!! I love instances like Chris Webber at Michigan where the school pretty much wiped clear the record books of the years he was there as if they never happened. Yeah, way to do something valuable for your university. I guess, in reality, I'm a sports fan with a little something called "perspective". What's the point of cheering for a team when you know that they're cheating to get where they are? It's almost like when FSU plays Duke in football or when the Devil Rays play anyone, the game just loses its entertainment value.

Game Review

Halo 2 - **** (out of five stars)

I'm not going to pretend that I'm a professional game reviewer, but I have to tell you... This is one of the reasons that I kept my Xbox instead of trading it in for a PS2. The Xbox just has a superior graphics engine, and yet most of the games that I have just don't appear to try and tap it. But, Halo 2, with most stuff issued through the Microsoft Game Studios, tries to unleash every ounce of graphics power the Xbox can muster. Obviously, I mention this because Halo 2 looks incredible. I'm still pretty early into the single-player campaign, but the cutscenes and environments are nearly movie quality (speaking of which, they're making one, so I'll be taking bets on how bad it's going to suck shortly). Being able to use two weapons at the same time just makes you wish that you could do a slow-mo replay to get the full John Woo effect of the carnage that you're inflicting.

I'll definitely write more as I progress through the game, but needless to say, if you have an Xbox and love a good shooter, BUY IT! No point in waiting, you still can't get the first Halo cheap and it's three years old. So, don't be cheap and get your hands on a copy.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - *** (out of five stars)

OK, while I give this game three stars, I'm not totally feeling it. For those in the know, yes, KOTR is over a year old. I just got it, as I am a cheap bastard and picked it up from the $20 Platinum Hits bin. But, I thought that KOTR would make a good first attempt for me into the realm of the role-playing game. For those outside of the gamer community, an RPG as they're called is pretty much where you live the life of a character and lead them through different adventures... In this case, as a member of the Star Wars universe as you may lead your character to the light side of the Force as a Jedi, or to the dark side as a Sith. I've always found RPGs boring, as they just simulate stuff that I could be doing on my own (you spend a lot of time talking to people to learn information; if I wanted to talk to people I'd go outside).

While I love the graphics and the general story of KOTR, I just can't get into it. After about an hour of running around a city talking to people and collecting items, I'm ready to pop Halo 2 back in (just a small side note, for some reason first-person shooters like Halo 2 cause me to feel sick... this from a guy who's a roller coaster junkie with no effect, but I can't play a dumb video game). Anyways, like with Halo 2, I'll probably write more about it as I progress through the game.

Random Thoughts

• I'm sitting here watching Monday Night Football, when Eagles tackle Tra Thomas gave some love to the DeLand High School Bulldogs in the opening intros. Being a fellow Volusia boy, I appreciate the shot-out. Meanwhile, my alma mater Lake Mary High School... Well, they just continue to suck.
• How sad is this, I took a test today as I proceed towards my license in the securities industry... Totally cheated and still only managed an 83%. Guess that's what I deserve for spending the weekend playing Halo 2 instead of studying.
• ESPN started their broadcasts tonight of the college basketball season with a preseason NIT matchup between George Washington and Wake Forest. Just have to mention that because I'm a huge college basketball fan. Kind of sad considering that I went to Florida State, obviously a big football school, and just couldn't care less about them. But when it comes to Noles hoops, I've got you covered. Also, while I was there, big into women's college volleyball. They tend to be tall, and I just love those short-shorts they wear.
• Another item to show my sad state, I was watching the Jason Alexander sitcom Listen Up! tonight and the special guest was Wayne Knight. Think about it... Yeah, I was sitting there and couldn't figure out why the studio audience was going nuts, and they were talking about knowing each other from somewhere before. Then, it finally dawned on me that they were both on Seinfeld together. This from a guy who LOVES Seinfeld, and actually plans on getting the DVD set this weekend (comes out tomorrow, and should be good for those other Seinfeld fans out there). I'm telling you, I'm going senile in my old age.
• Who saw the officials give the game over to the Pitt Panthers against Notre Dame on Saturday? Absolutely horrible officiating, with phantom pass interference calls leading to at least two Panther scores (yet an Irish interception was caused by a Pitt player nailing him before the ball was in the vicinity, which the officials let slide). But, I'm usually good for one upset pick a season, and here's mine for 2004... Get your bookies on the line... The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will beat undefeated USC in Los Angeles in two weeks. My prognostications come from gut instinct, and during that debacle on Saturday, it came to me that the Irish will beat the arch-rival Trojans.
• Speaking of the Irish, it tells you the current state of Notre Dame football when the NBC announce team had to constantly talk up that the Irish had a Toyota Gator Bowl bid on the line. Yeah, who needs the exposure that a national championship can provide when you have the prospect of spending the new year in beautiful Jacksonville, Florida. Of course, I'm thinking that it was being talked up so much because, well who happens to air the Gator Bowl... NBC, of course. One prospect that may have me spending my New Year's Weekend in J-Ville... A match-up between Notre Dame and Florida State. But, with their loss on Saturday, that's not looking very likely.