Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Kind of interesting to see 2K get cracking on the WWE license right away, but not in the way you might think. Since they scooped up the license from THQ, they've clearly been anxious to cash in on the love that WWE '13 has received, especially since they announced WWE '14 almost immediately, which shows that a product probably didn't even exist other than on a financial ledger.
The WWE 2K Games Facebook page had the announcement, indicating that WWE '13 is back in stores, but now with a 2K logo prominently displayed on the box. This is certainly good news for anyone who missed out on the product on its initial run, but clearly 2K just wants to squeeze a few clams out of the 2013 release before seeing what kind of steam they want to put behind the next game.
It's ultimately an encouraging sign that they're getting behind the brand this early, but the jury is still out on what type of product they're going to make later this year (and what platforms it might or might not be on). It would be nice to know some of the particulars so people can start getting excited and providing feedback, but we probably won't know much until E3 in June.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Released for the SNES, Genesis, Sega CD (with improved music) as well as MS-DOS, NHL '94 really came alive because of the increased pace of the action as compared to NHLPA Hockey '93, and this was aided by some additional hit animations (players crashing into the boards and into the benches) as well as some great little touches like manual goaltending (awesome in shootouts), flip passes and one-timers.
One-timers were a crucial ingredient in the potent '94 brew, as most competent players had to at least rely on them somewhat, if for nothing more than to threaten with that potential tactic. The one-timers looked and sounded satisfying as well, adding to the fun when you executed them against human competition (or even the reasonably decent AI).
Then again, there were other ways of scoring, too. The usual back-and-forth deke move that worked so well in the '93 game did the job on most breakaways or partial breakaways, and "the Move" was known for causing one friend to get pretty upset. "The Move" involved flying down the wing and then cutting back in front of the net, across the goalie, and letting go of a slapshot. The goalie would always sell out, making it one of the most effective money plays of 16-bit gaming. There were rebound goals and slapshots that would go in as well, but the one-timers and deke goals were where a savvy player would make hay.
NHL '94 also had plenty of other atmosphere thanks to improved instant replay, authentic organ music for certain arenas, better velocity on the hitting, automated line changes and penalty shots. All of these things helped create a deeper sense of authenticity, and it allowed players to feel more in control of the action on the ice. Penalty shots, for instance, were a really cool addition, and users were signalled that a breakaway was happening by a simple beep when a player crossed the blue line unopposed. It was also really fun to play in the shootout, where you could use the manual goalie to dive, poke check, and stack the pads.
Some of the rough stuff in the game was altered, as the NHL got annoyed at the use of blood in the '93 game. Injuries were still present in '94, but the fighting engine of '93 had been removed (which was a shame). It was neat that you could actually reach out and hook or hold an opponent, and the hits into the benches and boards were really satisfying.
Even though the modes were fairly limited, it was the feel of the gameplay that really fed into the couch battles that users would have with NHL '94. I still feel that NHL '96 did some really meaningful things with the 16-bit hockey engine, but NHL '94 is the game that did it first, and it's the one that's remembered for that reason. Still, it's a game that deserves the accolades it gets, as it's still a ton of fun to play today, which is the only criterion that really matters in my book.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
John Calipari's grand experiment has played out in full color over the past two seasons for Kentucky basketball.
The same program that won the national championship in 2012 couldn't even get out of the first round of the NIT against Robert Morris last night. The analogies and metaphors are raining down on the Wildcats and it's hard to know which one to grab first.
Calipari's approach has been to focus on embracing the inconvenient one-and-done rule in college basketball where players must complete one year post-high school before entering the NBA. Instead of building the stereotypical program, Kentucky has opened its doors to players without so much as a committment beyond one year.
Granted, this attracts some of the best talent in the country who have NBA careers in their sights, but it also turns the Wildcats into a box of chocolates -- you really aren't sure what you'll get.
Once in a while we'll see a season like 2012 where the 'Cats cut down the nets on the backs of Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. But for every one of those, another disjointed year like 2013 is a real possibility. For kids who are focused on the NBA and assume a quick run to an NCAA title en route, little effort came out of this year. The Wildcats had plenty of times to overcome or persevere -- instead they had their cake and ate it too; a little too soon.
Perhaps this year's squad just thought they would roll in and repeat the efforts of the 2012 team. But when things got tough and players went down with injury, no one stepped up. Instead, everyone seemed to step down -- especially against Robert Morris. Were the Wildcats too good to play on the road against such a "lesser" opponent? Their perceived disinterest sure painted a picture as such.
But John Calipari and the grand Kentucky experiment will likely go on. They will probably nab a championship once in a while, but so too will they have to sleep in the bed they made. Unfortuantely for the 'Cats in 2012, it's lights out and bedtime a little too soon.
Sound Off: Will Kentucky be able to repeat their 2012 performance in the future, or is John Calipari's style of running a program unsustainable?
Justin Mikels is a staff writer at Operation Sports. Give him hell in the comments below or on Twitter @long_snapper.
09:52 AM - March 20, 2013. Written by JohnDoe8865
5. Spread 'em out!
With the new spread offenses that are coming into popularity thanks in no small part to potential Madden NFL 25 cover boy Colin Kaepernick and similar quarterbacks, the offensive playbooks desperately need an overhaul. We've had very few changes in this department for years and it's even worse in the defensive playbooks. You simply can't replicate some of the more dynamic option attacks on offense and some of the exotic NFL defensive schemes right now and that needs to change.
4. The way you move...
Player movement has been a major gripe of Madden NFL players for years. A particular gripe are the mo-capped run cycles that show players stepping too high and striding too far. The change of direction animations are among the worst in sports gaming. We need true foot planting and momentum. The analog sticks should be more responsive when controlling a player allowing you to finesse the player's speed and agility. And while we're at it, can we please get WR/DB interactions back in the game? The five yard fight for the ball and the jostling for position?
3. CCM 2.0?
Connected Careers mode was more or less a critical success and while it left more than a few die-hard fans spurned it appears that it's here to stay. If that is the case, then the mode needs some pretty drastic improvement and that shouldn't be too much to ask. I think it's important that the Madden NFL team come to some sort of compromise with the fans who want 32 teams control. The sim engine was supposed to be good enough in Madden NFL 13 that 32 team control wouldn't be necessary, but we all know how that turned out. I could literally write pages on the improvements that are needed to CCM, but our own Madden forums do a pretty good job of outlining the issues, and frankly EA Sports should be aware of those problems and be working on a fix for Madden NFL 25 by now anyway.
2. Infinity Engine 2.0?
Most everyone agrees that the infinity engine was a needed innovation in Madden that was a long time coming. With a years worth of data collected and a full development cycle to refine the physics engine, Madden NFL 25 should be a much tighter, more dynamic experience without many of the quirks that exist in the Madden NFL 13. Simply put, clean it up, tighten it up, and expand it to further eliminate the reliance on animations. The infinity engine has the potential to be great and it flashed at times in Madden NFL 13, but the frustrating glitches and body morphing that happened really served to kill the immersion.
1. Get in the trenches!
One of the biggest complaints, for as long as I can remember playing Madden NFL, is that the blocking and Offensive Line/Defensive Line interaction is borderline broken. Blocking assignments in the open field are particularly troubling. Linemen seem to stick to each other, unable to disengage at the point of attack. The animations are stiff and often times out of place. There is no horizontal movement from the defensive linemen trying to shed blocks. Great defensive ends aren't nearly the threat that they should be. This is, in my opinion, the biggest offender in Madden NFL that is long overdue for significant improvement.
Final Thoughts
There are numerous other important improvements which could be touched on, including correct NFL uniforms, a challenging kicking/punting mechanic, fixing the broken penalties, and fixing the broken challenge system. All of these are important for the team at Tiburon to get right for Madden NFL 25. Only time will tell, but if the top five issues are addressed in this year's game, we could see what I believe would be the first great NFL football game on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Winning Eleven Blog has posted a more detailed writeup from Edge Magazine's preview of PES 2014's Fox Engine. Some additional interesting tidbits:
- I know it's all words, and we're getting to the point where we should start to temper our expectations until we, you know, actually see something from the actual game, but this is another encouraging anecdote: "the article states that real and engine versions of Old Trafford were shown and they were indistinguishable to each other."
- "Players will be able to drop a shoulder BEFORE the ball arrives": A million times yes. Again, this can go a long long way to controlling the pace of the game, especially when the action is in the middle of the park. The ability (or at the very least, the potential) of faking out a defender before the ball arrives can encourage opponents, CPU or human, to play a less aggressive (and some might say more realistic) pressing game.
- The speculation is that the right stick is going to do a lot of the new "body controlling" feature. While I'm very much in favor of deep control schemes, let's hope it doesn't get too, too complicated to perform a split-second action.
- The match atmosphere is supposedly much improved. Nope, I'll believe it when I see/hear it. This is the one area where I'll remain skeptical until proven otherwise.
- Home/away momentum effect: Basically, a loud crowd can give the home team a boost and throw off the away team's game, while players with strong mental makeup can negate the negative effects to a certain extent. A good idea in theory, but it can be a potentially hard task to find that balance between underplaying the effects of momentum, or making them too exaggerated.
- "The Player and Ball are now a complete separate entity": There's not a lot of detail on what exactly this means. It's probably more about how a player can control the ball while dribbling, but allow me to dream a bit here: The best case scenario is that if a pass is hit (or deflected), the match engine will finally stop "choosing" a selected recipient to try and receive it, while everybody else jogs on like there's not even a ball on the pitch.
Happy Tuesday! Here are some soccer related bits n' bobs you may be interested in.
- Make your own chicken puns: Blackburn sacks Michael Appleton less than three months into the tenure.
- Michael Owen will retire at the end of the season. What are your fondest memories of him? I somewhat naively thought he and Rooney were going to be the next Shearer and Sheringham. But it wasn't to be.
- Bayern are 20 points up from Dortmund in the Bundesliga, Barcelona 13 from Real Madrid, and Manchester United 15 from City. The relegation battles are looking more and more exciting than their top of the table counterparts. QotD: Any chance of the three teams slipping up?
- Dave Whelan says this tackle from Callum McManaman was clean as a whistle. And he's right, if the whistle was just blown into by somebody with severe bronchitis and an overload of phlegm, that is. FYI, the tackle is being retroactively reviewed, and it's likely McManaman will be banned. (UPDATE: Erm, maybe not.)
- And because it was Mark Halsey reffing, your regular internet tough guys have sent their usual twitter death threats and cancer jibes. The fact that these people may have children is very disturbing. Even Graham Poll has ripped him on the radio. Because he's never humiliated himself on a soccer pitch, right?
- In their typically understated fashion, The Sun reveals the details behind the Rio Ferdinand "fiasco" (other words used in the article include "crisis" and "shambles"), as they begin twisting the knife into Roy Hodgson's reign.
- Wins against Bayern, no matter how little it ultimately meant, and Swansea have made Gunners fans feeling better, but Patrick Barclay goes full on sunshine rainbows and lollipops with this following statement: "Wenger has made Arsenal contenders again." Sure, they've definitely played better (and the clean sheets were impressive), but contenders? As in for the title next year? That's jumping back on the bandwagon a little too quickly, no?
- One more from The Sun, just because of the pun: Goldenbrawls.
- If you own a PS3, you could've played against Messi on FIFA. The best thing? He rage quits too.
- Sign up for FIFA 13's CONCACAF Interactive Gold Cup before March 31st, and you can win an all expenses paid trip to the competition's Grand Final, held at the actual Gold Cup's semifinals.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
1) Never Gonna Give You Up!
Vanderlei Silva is known for his devestating Thai clinch, but I don't think anyone has ever seen him show this much dedication to the technique during one of his fights. Matt Hughes just keeps working away as Vanderlei starts getting anaconda choked by his own hubris, and it leads to some pretty awesome kidney shots from Hughes once things get turned around. I love that Hughes manages to even cut Vanderlei from the other side.
Then things get really crazy near the end...
2) Xbox Live Guy + UFC 3 + Chuck Liddell = ....
In this video, Chuck Liddell absolutely flatlines Anderson Silva with a superman punch that comes after a brief initial exchange. The knockout is definitely deserving of a highlight reel, but the video is also noteworthy for buddy's ridiculous laugh once the knockout happens. I need to get that "BWAHAHA" as a ring tone.
3) Mark Hunt, beasting... on the ground.
Everyone knows that Mark Hunt is a tough SOB, but here he shows how tough he really is. I've heard of boxers using the "Philly Shell" to turtle up, but this is taking "turtling" to a whole new level.
After one guy whiffs on a soccer kick, he just can't seem to make Mark Hunt pay, no matter what he does. Maybe he feels sorry for the Super Samoan, but that's probably before he realized that "Hunt-O" was going to get a chance at JDS.
4) Volume Punching
This montage shows all sorts of devastating knockouts, mainly from fighters' fists. You've got uppercuts, spinning back fists, hooks, feint punches, counter shots, elbows and just about everything else.
Even though UFC Undisputed 3 has certain aspects that be more fluid and dynamic, it sure is awesome seeing all the possible ragdoll animations for fighters when they get dropped.
5) The Rare "Checked" Leg Kick TKO
Jon Fitch finds himself on the outside looking in when it comes to the UFC, but many would argue that it exposes the fallacy of the UFC's rankings and how MMA as a "sport" still has a long way to go in order to shed its entertainment focus.
I don't think John Fitch is ever going to become known for his leg kicks, but if he tried to do one, this is probably what would happen. All you need is the ref holding up the "X" sign, ala WWE, to add to the comedy.
05:13 PM - March 14, 2013. Written by VisceralBishop
Fast & Furious 6 releases in theaters this May, but it looks like it will have its own video game as well. Fast & Furious: Showdown is set to bridge the gap between Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6 and is rumored to release on May 15 for the Nintendo Wii U and May 22 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game was revealed via a listing on EB Games.
A lot of gameplay information was revealed on said listing, but Activision has not officially announced the game, so all of this information should be taken with a grain of salt. We also don't know if any of the actors in the movie will reprise their roles for the game, but chances are very slim on that front. When it comes to the developer, Firebrand, the folks behind NASCAR Unleashed and the 3DS/Wii versions of Need for Speed, is set to be behind this movie tie-in game.
Here is what the EB Games listing disclosed:
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Once we learn more and a trailer is released, we will be sure to bring all of that to you. Since the release date is a mere two months away, expect to learn more in the coming weeks.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
And so it begins.
PES fires the opening salvo in the battle of previews, with fresh details on (mostly) PES 2014's new Fox Engine. What to make of them?
- Barycentre Physics: Great, another feature name, like FIFA'sImpact Engine, that I'll have to remind myself not to overuse in the articles/reviews.
- This is a particularly interesting tidbit from the writeup: "You control the player and the physics drives the animation, not vice versa." Now obviously much of it depends on how it's executed, but there's a lot of potential if this works as advertised.
- Just throwing this one out there: With the game now more cognizant of a player's weight and gravity, this has potential to slow the game's overall pace down without artificially controlling how quickly the players move. More stop-starts and feinting (and hopefully, more risk and reward to them) rather than simply taking the ball and run.
- "Agile players can unbalance defenders with dropped shoulders or ball skills, and push the ball further ahead to exploit their acceleration." I may be a tad optimistic, but hopefully this can work off the ball as well: Imagine a striker faking a break forward, unbalancing a lumbering centerback, and then immediately dropping back into the huge chunk of space the centerback vacated.
- Just in general, the focus towards contact and physicality is definitely a good step forward, but only if it means that, once and for all, the "locking into place" thing is gone.
- Unlimited editing slots: Yay, is all I can say.
- Bye bye boots: You mean my $200 a pair Adidas doesn't automatically make me a better shooter? Damn.
- Shirt tugging: The logical next question is how will PES' referees (never a sure thing) call them? Done properly, it can be another risk/reward action for players to consider. If not, worst case scenario is another potential exploit.
- How about diving? Don't think the feature is going to be taken out for 2014, and you have to wonder how that's going to work in tandem with the greater emphasis on physical play.
- New tactical settings: Sounds promising. The key is to have enough settings to reflect the decisions that go into formulating a strategy. There's a big difference between a low-tempo possession team and a high-tempo possession team, and hopefully there's enough meat in the tactical settings to distinguish between them.
- Improved Graphics: We've waited long and hard for this. The writeup states that they're going for "photo-realism" in terms of graphics. I don't know if I'm reading too much into it, but photo implies being still, and visually PES' biggest problem was never whether the players looked realistic, it's that they didn't move that realistically-- as in, the animations. This will be interesting to watch going forward. In the meantime, anything to get them to brighten up the dull looking colors, I'll gladly take.
- Also: "One closeup of a Japanese player’s face in EDGE shows detailed skin pores and individual eyebrows." Look, I'm all for photo-realism, but skin pores (and potentially, acne) is where I draw the line.
- Defense is never a sexy marketing object, but even with that in mind, this is still quite an attacking-centric preview. If the attackers get more tools to work with, hopefully the defenders will as well, to keep the balance.
- Of course, PES was never going to reveal its entire hand in one go. With the visuals and physics stuff out of the way, the biggest questions going forward are these: Does the AI play realistically, and whether there have been significant improvements to Master League and online play.
- Well, there's also the audio commentary, but who are we kidding?
Monday, March 11, 2013
As I've written about before, the scourge of online connectivity is nothing new for EA, especially on the sports side. While SimCity is taking a pounding right now -- and justifiably so -- nothing is really surprising about this whole affair. The constant umbilical connection to the EA servers has been a reality for years with sports games, and now EA is firing a salvo towards solo gaming, conditioning users to accept the always-online reality as the norm while simultaneously creating an ecosystem where multiplayer and solo content are blurred, muddying the argument altogether.
For starters, sports titles have been the initial test bed for online passes over the past several years, including the NHL series. This was seen by the publishers as the softest way to introduce a type of tax on uses games while ensuring more new copies in the channel. Because the "tax" was essentially baked into the cost of the new game, users have generally taken it as a cost of doing business, as most hardcore players will buy a new copy to participate in the early community passion and support that a game initially receives.
At the same time, server connectivity issues are nothing new for EA Sports games, including NHL 13. There have been plenty of releases in the last few years of NHL that have had shaky launches for the EA server part of the equation, and server outages for maintenance have become commonplace. On top of this, the constant EA server connection has led to my favorite EA Sports reality, the spinny wheel. The constant juggling of server communication, marketing data, user interface, hard drive saving and upload traffic lead to a constant hitching and bottleneck when trying to navigate menus in NHL games, but this has also been a big issue in titles like NBA Jam: On Fire Edition as well.
What becomes so bothersome about these problems -- both the current SimCity issues and the longstanding EA Sports annoyances -- is that they're forced upon the consumer because of developer/publisher design choices and philosophies. It's one thing to institute always-online DRM or third-party servers for your product; it's another thing to require this and then hold your consumers hostage with bad performance of these design choices. The audacity of these sorts of design decisions is even more frustrating when the price of the products on offer is being buoyed by an online pass model as well as extensive DLC.
Frankly, there's a fair way of implementing these kinds of changes while still respecting your customers. Pricing of the initial game, season passes and DLC need to reflect this new reality. When users are being asked to jump through hoops and suffer through new realities without gaining any benefits, either in new services or added features, then why are they still paying as much, if not more, then they have up till this point?
I think EA will probably leave products like NHL 14 out of this debate for now by not requiring an always-online connection. The online pass requirement and DLC revenue model allows EA to maintain its existing "online server" setup without needlessly forcing people into always-online for solo play. Then again, the rumors of Microsoft's new console suggest an always-online reality (or at least a limit on the used games market), which would bring this issue into even sharper relief.
I truly hope the power brokers who hold sway over these types of decisions aren't so shortsighted that they cut off the nose to spite the face all in the name of some piracy crusade that they'll likely never win.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Just checking in on another Friday with some links from the world of hockey. The league just approved the realignment, so my previous thoughts on the subject have been brought into stark relief. It'll be interesting to see how fans across the league view the new reality of the team's they'll be facing, as some teams, like Detroit, will get to play some of the stronger and more exciting teams in the league, whereas a team like Winnipeg now loses some of those marquee match-ups (then again, easier teams would probably be a good thing for Winnipeg at this point).
Then you've got Chicago, who just continues to pound on everyone who gets in their path. It's getting pretty crazy, as they have strung together 24 games without losing both points, and they could easily go to 22-0-3 tonight (Friday), as they are taking on lowly Colorado, who is third-worst in the league right now. How long can they keep this up?
HUT Promotions for the Weekend
Starting now (Friday), you can grab a HUT Premium Player Pack for the next 48 hours. The pack includes 12 high-end 80+ player items. More details are here.
There's also a 2x puck promotion going on for this weekend, so you can gain double the pucks to spend in the HUT store.
Finally, there are specially bossted Team of the Week player cards for this week when you buy gold packs, so you'll see last week's standout players such as Patrice Bergeron, Max Pacioretty and Niklas Backstrom showing up in pumped-up card form. Read more here.
Plays of the Week
As per the norm, EA has posted a new Plays of the Week video. There's a pretty good double save in there, and a pretty sweet off the back-boards rebound goal as well.
Keep the Streak Alive
There's a new NHL Moment posted in NHL 13 to commemorate Chicago's historic run. Check it out.
Celebrate Good Times
This celebration ALMOST causes a blown ACL.
Goodbye, David Beckham. Hello, various over the hill ex-Premier Leaguers! (And, yes, good homegrown talents.)
Last week was a fun opening weekend for Major League Soccer, wasn’t it? The Timbers and the New York Red Bulls battling to a 3-3 draw (my, what sound and fury from the Timbers fans), and the Impact upsetting the Sounders with a 1-0 win. Good old unpredictable MLS.
So who’s going to win it all this year? I don’t know. I really don’t. On the one hand, the usual suspects—the likes of Sporting KC, Chicago Fire, New York Red Bulls in the east; the Earthquakes, Sounders, and Real Salt Lake in the west-- will probably be there or thereabouts by the end of the season. But on the other hand, especially with the playoffs, it’s not as easy to predict a winner in the MLS as, say, in the Premier League. The Dynamo were fifth in the east last year while the Galaxy—however much they underachieved—were fourth, and yet they played each other in the finals. Each of the aforementioned contenders have reasons to go all the way, but just as importantly, as strong as they are, they all have reasons not to either:
- The Sounders didn’t just lose a playmaker in Fredy Montero, but also a player who made you feel like the game is never out of reach when he is on the pitch. Add to that, Obafemi Martins (remember him?) is still in Spain, with his transfer to the Sounders in limbo. As they showed in the loss to the Impact (with Alessandro Nesta turning back the clock in Montreal), the attack without Montero still needs a little gelling. But the rest of the Sounders core is still solidly intact, and they’ll certain be hanging around come playoffs time.
- Meanwhile, in Kansas City, gone are Roger Espinoza and Kei Kamara—two pieces integral to the team’s quick and relentless 4-3-3 system. And judging from the performance in week one, Zusi has adjusted well to his new role. It will be interesting to see, going forward, how effective Sporting KC were in replacing Espinoza and Kamara (and to a certain extent Julio Cesar) with him and Feilhaber. On the bright side, you can pretty much bank on the team’s solid defense, and if they can get the goals, they will certainly have a chance to atone for their quick exit from the playoffs last year.
- Then you have the changes in New York, where they have a new manager in Mike Petke, new playmaker (and a pretty damn good free-kick taker) in Juninho, and a new partner for Thierry Henry in Espindola. The talent is definitely there—and if first impressions are anything to go by, Espindola will certainly do just fine in New York, with the two goals on his debut—but this is also a club that has underachieved for a while now, and it remains to be seen whether the change of personnel can get them playing to their potential.
- Speaking of Espindola, his old club Real Salt Lake has also dealt away Jamison Olave, and in turn recruited (re-recruited?) Robbie Findley and Joao Plata. Can they come in and make a contribution? Probably, but it’s not exactly a certainty, especially in the case of Plata. However, the rest of the team still looks strong, and under Jason Kreis’ steady hand, playoffs should still be a minimum expectation for the club.
- And then you have the bubble teams—the Vancouvers and the Chicagos—who are going to fight to the death with each other for the remaining playoff spots. And don't forget about last years' finalists, even with the Galaxy losing Beckham and Landon Donovan’s sabbatical. Houston, too, seems to be that team that can always grind its way into the playoffs. And then-- as they've shown last year-- who knows could happen once they're in?
(Photo via the MLS)
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
If you're unfamiliar with what might happen, essentially the NHL is looking to go back to the format it had years ago where there are four divisions (still with an eastern and western conference), with seven or eight teams in each of these divisions. The top three teams in each division would make the playoffs automatically, much like the conference format now, but then there would be four wildcard teams, two for each conference. The two wildcard teams in each conference could come from either division, meaning you could have a situation with one division having three playoff teams and another having five.
In theory, this is to remedy the complaint of third-place conference teams stinking out the joint because they're in a weak division and they've got less points than a team that's actually below them in the standings. By casting a wider net with these division, it could mean you get a better top-three representation, and then the wildcards account for any major talent disparities between the divisions.
The rub comes from the fact that you'd be seeing a lot of the same teams over and over throughout the year, and many rivalries would be lost from before. Then again, the league (and Gary Bettman) is probably salivating thinking of the media exposure and revenue of Pittsburgh playing against the likes of Montreal, Toronto, Boston and Detroit on a regular basis.
Admittedly, it would be good to have Columbus, Winnipeg and Detroit playing in much more appropriate divisions for their time zones, and hopefully Phoenix heads its way to Seattle sometime soon, making the new Pacific division make even more sense.
The biggest conundrum I still see is that the conferences would be unequal, with the west having 14 teams and the east having 16. When the math to make the playoffs isn't equal for each side, you've got a problem. It's absurd for the NHL to consider expanding at this point, and they honestly should just contract a couple of teams -- Florida, Columbus, New York Islanders and Phoenix all come to mind. The travel inequalities throughout the league would still really go unaddressed here, with some teams actually having it worse.
Amusingly, I think this type of setup could actually make a mode like GM Connected in NHL 14 a lot of fun, as users wouldn't be stranded in one-off divisions without having many human opponents to play. With the proper time zones and more regional focus, it would be easier to create a league with your friends that actually allowed you to play against each other and still have teams you'd want. Either way, we won't know if the realignment will be waiting for us in next year's game for a little while longer.
What do you think, OS? Should the league go ahead with the realignment? Should it be tweaked? Should it be thrown out altogether?
Whenever I heard or read interviews with the guy, he always seemed like a pretty grounded individual. He constantly projected a vibe that acknowledged the mercurial business that he was in, whether that was pro wrestling management or as an actual funeral director. Much like the countless other performers and personalities in the business, he had a life beyond "the life," including a wife, who passed away from cancer in 2009, and two kids.
In the wrestling business, he seemed to survive and maintain his popularity as a frontman, even after years away from the spotlight. People were always genuinely stoked to see him show up with 'Taker at a random Wrestlemania, and he was definitely a manager who added to the theatrics and spectacle of the business. He's also someone who managed to get through the cartoon era of pro wrestling, much like the Undertaker did. He didn't have to adapt as much as 'Taker, in terms of persona or appearance, but he remained relevant.
It's unfortunate to lose such a colorful personality such as him in the wrestling business as well, since many of the managers and stables of today don't really mean all that much. You've usually either got people that are injured or random hot gals repping for various wrestlers, and it doesn't seem that there are very many true "managers" left that provide a presence such as Paul Bearer, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Jimmy Hart, etc. Like all great "managers," he was able to be the voice for a wrestler who didn't have all that much to say, and he made the characters he was supporting better -- a thankless job, in a lot of ways.
Moody was a showman, and he was tailor made for the wrestling business. I don't think anyone who watched -- even casually -- during the '90s wouldn't recognize his rubbery facial expressions or distinctive vocal style. With all of the people who fail to stand out in today's crop of talent, it's sad to see someone go who accomplished that feat so effortlessly.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
What's all this hoopla-- an important match was played today? Did something controversial happen?
- Treble No More: Well, there goes Manchester United's dreams of a treble, in probably the most contentious fashion possible. So what comes next for the team? They could lose momentum, stumble, lose a few games (maybe get knocked out of the FA Cup too), and City can pip them for another year; or Fergie can summon his motivational powers and get his team to go unbeaten for the rest of the season. Of course, the outcome is most likely to be somewhere in between the two scenarios, but it's crucial for United to bounce right back, especially given last year's slip up, otherwise the race will be back on before they know it.
- The Red Card: So, what did everybody think? Definitely harsh, but, if you strictly abide by the book (without applying common sense to the situation, mind you), yeah, it's a red for a dangerous play.
Speaking of which, Roy Keane also thinks it's a red. The man's goading of Fergie continues. And it's fun to watch.
(Update: UEFA has no problem with the red, and, as always, a percentage of our population should not be allowed to reproduce, has taken to twitter to issue death threats to the referee.)
- Rooney's Future: Keane, in his pre-match comments for ITV, also thought the writing is on the wall for Wayne Rooney, who started the game on the bench. This I agree with. Long gone is Rooney's explosiveness, and the convenient narrative, that he is more "controlled" and "clinical" doesn't really work either because he's been quite sloppy in his performances for a while now. Plenty of people, myself included, thought he was going to drop into the Scholes role and dictate play from there, but currently that looks doubtful at best.
- Ronaldo's Homecoming: The winger got a nice pre-match ovation from the Old Trafford faithful. What better place to consider how much he has matured over the years than on the pitch where he first vaulted into stardom? From a pimply-faced teenager who was too preoccupied with his own trickery, to the mature, clinical player who rarely wastes a touch today. Two years is a long time, and there may well be a lot of "next Peles" bursting onto the scene by then, but if Real Madrid sells him or he walks after his contract runs out, CR7 is going to be close to irreplaceable.
- Michael Cox talks about Mourinho's tactical nous on bringing on Modric immediately. Regardless of the red card before his introduction, that was a sweet strike by the Croatian.
- Will Real Madrid Win It All?: It's still too early to call, and there are plenty of big guns left in the competition (Dortmund, today, looked especially lethal in their dismantling of Shakhtar), but you would imagine Mourinho is craving to leave on a high note (and give a final finger to his detractors in Spain) if he is, as expected, returning to England in the summer.
What did everybody else think about the match?
(Photo via Tom Jenkins/The Guardian)
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