The Life Journey of a Geek

The Live Hat Trick

2015-03-28T10:59:00.000-04:00

I was lucky enough to be at Nationwide Arena for Scott Hartnell's hat trick this past Tuesday. I had previously seen Geoff Sanderson's hat trick back in the winter of 2000 against the Nashville Predators. A hockey hat trick is really one of the coolest sports events to see in person. Getting pelted with hats during the celebration and the crowd's hyper awareness of every moment the player has the puck. It was also a great game as Columbus took down one of the best teams in the league. Probably the best or second best game I've seen them play live this year.

My wife and I ended up going to a lot of games this year. The Anaheim game was our 15th game this season and we have tickets to 3 of the last 5 games of the season. It spurred our decision to get season tickets for next season. We're both really excited as we won't miss any games and we get to control the same two seats for the entire season. There's also a lot of perks and events that season ticket holders get to attend.

I also knocked a lot of teams off my list this season. I believe the only teams I haven't seen play live now are Pittsburgh, Colorado and maybe Montreal. So I really knocked a lot of teams off of my never seen play live list this year.

Kelly and I both got super into the Blue Jackets this year. As I mentioned, we'll have attended 18 games by the end of the year and we probably haven't missed a game since the Nashville game at the end of November. We've really gotten to know the team greatly through out the season. I'm planning to write a couple of posts about the team after the season comes to an end and I plan to write about how I think Todd Richards has done as far as coaching goes. Until then...

Comic Update #8

2014-03-30T19:29:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning I read The Flash #3. Wally heads to the Salt Lake City branch of STAR Labs to be studied. He encounters a robotic lifeform called the Kilg%re, Kilg%re infects the computers at the lab and hen branches out from there. The issue ends with the government recruiting Wally for help and Wally noticing that the professor isn't quite right as the issue ends. Really good issue here. They've done a good job of showing you that Wally still has problems despite the lottery money. I like that he's trying to get his speed and metabolism issues corrected. I think this issue is where you see that Wally West can really hold his own title. It shows some depth to his character and really sets the tone for the book until Mark Waid takes over I believe. I was also surprised to see that Kilg%re makes several appearances past this storyline. He pops back up in the Flash a few times and he seems to be a fairly consistent foe for the Justice League for several year as well.

Next up was Legion of Super-Heroes #38. This issue finishes off the tale that went through the last issues of Superman and Action Comics. The Time Trapper reveals the whole pocket universe concept here to write Superboy out of the Legion. Superboy dies in this issue saying his version of Earth and the Legion. This was a good send off to the concept of the original Superboy but the actual issue was kind of mediocre I thought. I really hate the way they removed Superboy from the Legion and I think this solution was worse than just letting him stay. I couldn't imagine trying to explain this storyline to someone that wasn't in to comic books. I'm pretty sure they would look at me like I was a crazy person. I'm not going to be adding the Legion books to my Post-Crisis reading but sometimes I will seek out the issues to finish a crossover storyline like this one. As a side bar to this issue. I really think this is where DC damaged the Legion franchise badly. There was a point in time where the only book at DC that outsold the Legion was the Teen Titans. And then they kind of flushed the books popularity by removing Superboy and constantly rebooting the title. It's really frustrating to look at the mismanagement in hindsight.

Superman #9 was another really good issue from John Bryne. The main story featured the Joker coming to Metropolis for some mischief and the backup was a Lex Luthor story. The first story is my favorite kind of story. I love when a villain associated with another hero shows up to take on an opponent they don't usually face. Superman vs. Joker happens from time to time but I'm always happy to see it. It was a nice quick and fun story. The backup was excellent. Luthor is eating at a diner in a small town and offers the waitress a million dollars to join him. He gives her ten minutes to decide and then leaves early so she has to live with not knowing which decision she ever made and will forever question herself. Just an awesome dick move on his part and it really provides a great insight into the character of Lex Luthor. Bryne is really firing on all cylinders at this point with the Superman and Action Comics books.

Adventures of Superman #432 kicks off the Gang War storyline. This is considered to be the best part of Wolfman's run on the book. There was a lot of setup in this book as Jose Delgado tries to look out for his students but runs into issues. Lex Luthor is also secretly uniting the gangs for some unknown purpose on his part. This was a really good issue. I've had my problems with Wolfman's run so far but this is up there as one of his best issues so far. I'm really excited to see where this storyline goes in the future. I want to see how things play out with Perry White's son. I want to see what Luthor's motives are. And I want to see the debut of a great Superman supporting cast member in Gangbuster. It's hard to believe that I'm so deep into these Superman books and I'm still enjoying myself as much as I am. I think I'm starting to grow a real appreciation for the character.

2014 Comic Counter: 31

Favorite Video Games

2014-03-24T12:00:00.000-04:00

My wife has been doing this on her blog and challenged me to do some similar lists that she's done. She recommended music but I'm going to wait on that one. Music is tough and I really need to consider what would be my top songs. These lists are going to be in no particular order and I'm going to stick with 10 per list. I'm hoping to do about one a week on these until I run out of ideas.

Mega Man 2

My friend's brother was playing this one weekend back in the 80s. Being a kid in the late 80s meant that anything video game related was awesome so I rented it at a local video place. I was instantly hooked. This game turned me into a life long Mega Man fan. There's just something magical about this game. The Metal Blade as a weapon for all situations, the level design and just how hard the game was. I've never had the same feeling about a Mega Man game since this one. I actually didn't own this game until much later. I probably rented this game a couple of times a year until finally coming across a copy of it. My final thought on this game is it had the best bosses of any Mega Man game. The dragon in Dr. Wiley's castle is just the tip of the iceberg. The eight robot masters are also the best group of any game and the most original if you ask me. I wouldn't say this is my all time favorite game but it's pretty close to it.

Chrono Trigger

This game came about around the height of my Nintendo Power reading. This game got hyped for a long time before it came out. In a rare moment, I bought this game new when it came out. I might have preordered it but I'm not 100% certain of that. This game lived up to the hype and then some. I think this game was the pinnacle of the 16 bit era RPG and stands up as one of the best RPGs ever. This game had amazing characters with a great level of depth. You could easily get emotionally invested in the story of any one character. The story is also dark, really dark. The plight of the world truly seems hopeless at points but the hero wins against all odds. This was one of the first games to feature New Game+ and encouraged you to play the same game over and over again to see the multiple endings. I believe I managed to unlock all of the endings over the course of several years. The music was also awesome in this game. I remember getting a tape recorder and taping all of the songs from the game so that I could have them on a cassette tape at the time. Stay away from the Playstation remake of this game though. It's a really bad port.

Earthbound

There's going to be a common theme to this list. There was a time frame from October 1994 to August 1996 were some of the best RPGs ever made came out. I also bought this one new because you couldn't rent it anywhere at the time. This game sold really poorly and was a total flop but also has one of the most hardcore fan bases ever. This is quite frankly the most bizarre game that I ever played. It's like Peanuts on LSD. The battle system is very similar to Dragon Quest. It also came with a strategy guide. I would say that I've never played a game even remotely like Earthbound since. I can't guess how many times I've played through this game. I fired it up on emulators for years and it was also one of my first purchases on the Wii U e-shop. This one aged really well so check it out if you get a chance.

Final Fantasy VI

This ushered in a great wave of RPGs on the SNES. The Final Fantasy series has always been near and dear to my heart. I first played the NES Final Fantasy at my friend Dan's house one weekend. I had never played an RPG before and I was just blown away by the genre and instantly fell in love with it. I bought this game and beat it. Then I bought Final Fantasy II for the SNES and by the time I got through it, this game was just coming out. I got this for Christmas the year it came out and this was a really strong game. There's a scene about mid-way through the game where one of the characters tries to commit suicide and I had never seen anything like that in a video game before. This game wasn't afraid to tread where games often didn't go in this era. Yes, I know the box says Final Fantasy III, it's a long story but trust me it's the same game.

Super Mario RPG

Yes, this game out in the same time period as the above 3 RPGs. This was about a year and a half period where there was an awesome new RPG to play every couple of months. This was Nintendo and Squaresoft teaming up to deliver Mario in a very unique situation... an RPG! This was just a really fun game. It had awesome graphics and music and an enemy so bad that you had to team up with Bowser to save the world! I remember this came out towards the end of a school year and playing this through a pretty nasty heatwave one weekend. This series turned into the Paper Mario games which are all just as awesome. You can get this on virtual console and it's worth a look.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

I bought a Playstation for Final Fantasy VII back in 1997. This came out I think about a month later. I was a huge Castlevania fan so this was a no brainer. I was blown away by what I got with this game. They turned Castlevania series into an action RPG starring Dracula's son Alucard. This game featured some intense action and a a truly moody game design. It also featured some of the best music that's ever been featured in a video game. Do yourself a favor and Youtube the game music. I would put it up against any video game ever made. This game also had an original twist. If you managed to get to the second half of the game you had to play in an upside down version of Dracula's castle. I can't recall any other game that's done something like that since. It's also a bit of an oddity as it's a sprite based game on the Playstation. You can get this pretty cheap on the XBox Arcade. It's worth a look if you've never played it before.

Diablo 2

I remember this got delayed maybe a year and I was pissed at the time. I still remember driving to Bestbuy, buying a copy and then playing this for hours on a random Saturday in the summer of 2000. The Diablo games are hack n slash RPGs. Basically, you kill giant hordes of monsters, get better gear and level up so you can kill bigger monsters and get better gear and so on and so on. The game also featured a very moody setting and some really great music. You would spend hours planning out the specs for your character and it was always awesome when you'd get that rare gear drop that your character could use. I probably dust this off about every 2-3 years and give it a good run through. The expansion is a must if you want to play this game.

Planescape Torment

If I had to call a game my favorite of all time, it would probably be this game. You wake up as an immortal with amnesia called the Nameless One. You explore a barren world and meet strange characters that join your party. You get a floating skull and a mage that looks like the Human Torch. There's no standard character when it comes to this game. The game is like Baldur's Gate and is based on the AD&D pen and paper game. This is a very tough game. You feel like you have to battle for every inch in this game. It's also really satisfying when you start to unlock memories for the Nameless One. I loved all of the AD&D titles that came out in the late 90s and early 00s but this was by far the best of all those games.

Pokemon Red and Blue

Last time I checked, I believe I had logged about 120 hours on my copy of Pokemon Red. I had all 151, even the one you had to use a glitch to get. My friends Dan and Matt used to battle with me all the time on this game. This game was easily a good year and a half of my life. I'm not going to go into any huge details on how the game works because I think everyone knows at this point. I started with Bulbasaur as my starter in this game. I've checked out every Pokemon game since the originals and a lot of the games are better but there's a charm to this game that will never be replaced. I can think of few games that have ever grabbed me and just held me for as long as this game did.

Phantasy Star Online

This was an MMO that hit a bunch of systems in the early 2000s. You can't play it online anymore but thankfully it has an offline mode. This is a lot like Diablo 2 in that it's about upgrading your gear and you're mowing down tons of enemies to do it. I bought a Dreamcast keyboard to better play this game at the time. Rare items would appear in red boxes and it was always a mad dash when one of those would show up during a game. This is probably still my favorite MMO. I liked the way it did small parties to tackle the levels and it did a good job of minimizing people being idiots. This one is hard to track down now I think. If you can find it, the Gamecube version is the best copy to get.

Comic Update #7

2014-03-23T15:58:00.000-04:00

Thursday I continued on my DC kick as I read Superman #8. This starts the storyline that eventually ruins the Legion of Superheroes franchise. You see, in the Post-Crisis DC they decided that Superboy can't be involved with the Legion anymore because Superman was never Superboy in this continuity. So this storyline is their way of closing that chapter on the Legion's history. Superman is hiding out with his parents after the events of the previous issue when he checks out a disturbance. He comes across several Legion members and accidentally attacks them, his heat vision is acting up, and a brief battle follows. Brainiac settles things down and they explain how they met Superboy and why they are here. The issue ends with Superboy confronting everyone. This was a decent issue. I don't like what this storyline does to the Legion as a franchise but the actual story isn't bad. It was kind of funny that it took them 4 pages to recap what was originally an 8 or 10 page story. This one is going to continue into Action Comics and I think an issue of Legion of Super-Heroes. I will make sure to read any issues that this ties in with.

Sunday I started off with Adventures of Superman #431. This one featured a villain called Dr. Stratos. He believed he was a god and had created a machine that could control the weather. Most of the issue is Superman saving cities from extreme weather until he finds Stratos. The issue ends with Stratos being hit by a beam and falling into the sea. At the end of the issue he's become a god and vows to come back. Unfortunately for Stratos, he never makes another appearance in a DC comic. Erik Larsen filled in for Jerry Ordway on art duties this time and the result was not so good. I've never been a big fan of Larsen's art but this seemed bad for even him. I didn't care for this issue much to begin with. Watching Superman battle the weather isn't my idea of a fun comic book. This was obvious filler so they would be able to get the Gangwar arc completed on time. You're always going to get some bad issues here and there so it's no big deal.

Next I read Action Comics #591. This continued the Legion story from Superman #8. This issue really explains the whole pocket universe concept and how Superboy was a part of the Legion. It's a really convoluted idea that they came up with here. I honestly think the fix was worse than the problem they had. Superman and Superboy fight until Krypto alerts the Kents to Superboy's stash of Kryptonite. It has no effect on Superman but Superboy gives up. Superman points out that Superboy wanted to lose the entire time and Superboy admits to it. They release the Legion and prepare to combat the Time Trapper. The Legion sends Superman back to his time to end the issue and this story will continue into the Legion comic. Like I said, kind of a convoluted story but this was a decent farewell to the Pre-Crisis Superboy. These are the kind of issues that you hate trying to explain to non-comic readers. The plots are just so ridiculous and convoluted that you know you just sound like an idiot for trying to make sense of it. Kind of a disappointing slate of Superman books for this month compared to the awesome output from last month. The Legion stuff was okay but not great and the Stratos stuff was pretty bad. The next set of issues are better, I do know that much. We'll get Big Barda in Action Comics, the Gangwar story starts and the Joker shows up in Superman.

In the afternoon I read Justice League #4. This issue features Booster Gold vs. the Royal Flush gang. Booster gets the win and impresses the League. An android Ace attacks and is designed to defeat every member of the League. Booster Gold saves the day and earns a spot on the team for his performance. Maxwell Lord continues to be a thorn in the side of the League as he announces that he's their media liasion as the issue comes to a close. I thought this was a really good issue. They do an excellent job of introducing Booster Gold to an audience that maybe hadn't read his series yet. You know what the character is all about and his motivations from this single issue. They also immediately start to establish his friendship with Blue Beetle which is cool to see. I honestly love this book so far. It's an interesting team and the dynamic of the characters makes you want to read more issues. I've always had a love/hate relationship with the Justice League. I love the concept and love the 2000s cartoon but the execution in the comics has always lacked something to me more often than not. This version of the League is really hitting a sweet spot for me. People rave about the Giffen/DeMatteis League and I 100% see what they were talking about.

Suicide Squad #4 was the next thing I read. This featured a racist vigilante called William Hell. The Squad came in to discredit Hell in their typical fashion. Not a bad issue here. It seemed a little less than the suicide missions that they established the group with but not every mission will be a big one. Captain Boomerang acting like an ass has been a constant highlight of this book so far. I'm really enjoying this series as well but I do think the last two issues were a little down from the quality of the first 2 issues. That's not to say either issue was bad though. They were above average comic books, just not great comic books. I like seeing original concepts like this playing out. I wish Marvel and DC would take more risks like this from time to time.

Before I end this post, I wanted to talk about some of the things I'm hoping to get to as the year progresses. I want to continue reading DC in the manner that I currently am. There will be some additions of titles as I progress through time. I also want to dig into the Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams run on Batman in the Bronze Age at some point in the near future. I have read some of those issues but I've never gone in depth with that series. I also want to read Marvel's Invaders series from the 1970s by Roy Thomas. I hear great things about that and it's on my list. I would also like to get into some Legion of Super-Heroes, more Defenders and Avengers West Coast as the year progresses. Hopefully I can knock a few things off of my list but only time will tell.

2014 Comic Count: 27

Comic Reading Update #6

2014-03-19T20:53:00.000-04:00

Tuesday night I started off with Suicide Squad #3. This issue featured the Furies of Darkseid breaking Glorious Godfrey out of prison. This was a good issue as it showed the internal struggled within Task Force X and it also showed the difficulties relying on super villains can create. When the chips were down Captain Boomerang and Deadshot were nowhere to be found. I really liked the development they did for Amanda Waller in this issue. It really establishes her as the tough, no nonsense leader that we all love to hate. I was also kind of surprised to see the Squad straight up lose in this issue. It was kind of refreshing to see in a comic book. I believe this was a one shot issue but we'll see if there's any follow up on this later. I'm still loving this book.

I read The Flash #2 on Wednesday night. A lot of this issue cleans up the plot points from the first issue. Wally collects his lottery winnings and starts to spend it. He has two encounters with Vandal Savage along the way. It appears they beefed Savage up in the post-Crisis as he displays some abilities that he had forgotten during his battles with Barry Allen. They did a really good job of establishing Vandal Savage as one of the top threats in the Flash book in this issue. He came across as a very weird and very eerie villain. As I've mentioned previously, I've read these Flash issues before. I started this series in the mid 2000s on a whim and absolutely fell in love with the Flash as a character. I'm really enjoying the revisit with this series. Anyways, I think this was a good issue. They are setting out to establish a world for Wally to live in and I think they've done a good job so far. I can't wait to get deeper into this series.

I also read Blue Beetle #8. This was a little different as it was told from the perspective of an ex-con named Ed Buckley. He tries to get a job at Kord Industries and after not getting it falls in with a villain named the Calculator. They set up a job at CES and Buckley ends up saying the Blue Beetle at the end of the issue. This was a predictable kind of story but it was a fun read. I think this issue benefited from not having to keep track of all the dangling plot points that Len Wein had created and maintained through the first 7 issues. He did a good job of making you root for Buckley and wanting to see him come out on top. The Calculator becomes a big player down the road in the DCU. He loses the stupid costume and becomes more of a professional organizer for the super villains in the DCU. He actually becomes a really cool character when they go that route. He was pretty lame here. I enjoyed this issue like most of the others in this series. I really need to step it up and finish this series off as it's only 24 issues.

I finished the night off with Superman Annual #1. This was the story of Titano. A chimp that grows to a large size after a science experiment goes wrong and battles Superman throughout the issue. This was kind of interesting as it read more like a comic you'd find at the shop today. There was less text with the focus on the art telling the story. That was really weird to see in a comic from 1987. I had a mixed reaction this issue. I really enjoyed the story but the narration was an article that Lois Lane wrote for the Daily Planet. That's where this book just fell apart. Lois is supposed to be a journalist with few equals in the field. I doubt such a celebrated journalist would resort to such cliched and corny lines as they used in this issue. It really hurt my buy in with this story because you knew that someone like Lois Lane wouldn't write that article. With that said, I still enjoyed this issue. Titano appeared in one of my favorite Superman Animated Series episodes and so he became a character that I like. Unfortunately for me, he's a very minor character and I don't think I'll be in for anymore appearances any time soon. Ultimately this was an Annual and those can be mixed bags but I think it was enjoyable enough overall.

I'm currently at 10% of my reading goal for 2014. That's not where I want to be but I still feel I can reach my goal of 200 issues by years end. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm really digging the post-Crisis DC right now and I plan to continue forging ahead with it.

2014 Comic Counter: 22

Comics Update #5

2014-03-16T20:20:00.000-04:00

I've been focusing on current stuff the last month or so which is why there hasn't been an update in awhile. That's how it goes with comics though. Got to try and shave down the read pile from time to time or it will be taller than you in no time. I'm still sticking to post-Crisis DC currently.

Superman #7, is kind of like those 1950s monster movies where some person or creature gets irradiated and becomes a problem. Lois is investigating an alternate energy source when there's an explosion. The creature known as Rampage emerges and pretty much just beats the shit out of Superman for the entire issue. They think Rampage is Lois for most of the issue but it turns out to be the doctor that invented this source of energy. Superman absorbs all of the radiation from Rampage and flies off and discharges it in a rain cloud. Clark shows up at the end of the issue and there are hints that he has had some adventure in the meantime. Really solid issue here as it had a good long fight too it. I really enjoy Bryne's take on Clark Kent and Superman. He's not a dull boy scout by any means in these books.

I read Adventures of Superman #430 next. This was interesting as it featured the Fearsome Five who are Titans villains. The story here was about how Supes is struggling between his life as Clark Kent and his life as Superman. The give and take was leaning too heavily to the Superman side and it was messing things up for Clark. This was mentioned briefly in the previous Superman #7 issue. The Fearsome Five worked really well for this issue. A nice team of C listers that a distracted Superman couldn't beat but then could take out in easy fashion once he was focused again. I really enjoyed the character work here. Pa Kent gives out some great advice to Clark towards the end. This felt kind of like something you'd read in an issue of Spider-Man in the 70s or 80s. Strong focus on character development and the struggle of being a superhero. I think this issue humanized Superman in a way that I've seen few writers manage to do. I've read 26 issues of the post-Crisis Superman and I think this has been the best issue of the bunch so far. Marv Wolfman really hit this one out of the park.

Action Comics #590 was my third issue for the day. This issue featured one of my favorite villains in Chemo. He's kind of a C list villain that pops up every great once and awhile but he's really cool looking. This was a team up with the Metal Men. Clark falls into a vat of chemicals as the issue begins and this leads to Chemo appearing but with Superman's powers. This was just a ridiculously fun issue. I've never read any Metal Men comics but they are a really fun concept whenever they pop up in something that I do read. This was set up for some series involving the Metal Men post-Crisis so I might have to check it out. The July slate of Superman comics were very strong. Each series brought a really good issue to the table for a variety of reasons. I hope that trend continues.

I finished my evening off with Justice League #3. It put the wraps on the storyline with the aliens trying to disarm the world's nuke's for the time being. At the end of the issue Maxwell Lord reveals himself finally and introduces the team to Booster Gold. This was a really fun issue as the team is starting to get a feel to it. Guy Gardner is a little too much of a jerk for my tastes but he does make a good foil for Batman, Captain Marvel and Blue Beetle. I've always had a love for team's with offbeat lineups and this book really does have a nice offbeat lineup. This issue also featured an appearance from Rocket Red who also happens to be one of my favorite DC characters. Can't wait for him to join the team!
I have to hand it to DC with this book. They were really taking a chance with this book. They were using it to showcase a lot of newer characters and the tone of this book isn't typical of what DC was like at the time. I'm eager to read more.

I'm running behind where I want to be for my classic comics reading in 2014 but that's okay. Life happens and sometimes you fall behind on stuff. I'm sure a rainy weekend at some point this spring and I'll be back on track with this. My goal is to still focus on DC for the time being. I might get back to Defenders at some point this summer. But that's always up in the air when it comes to me. Until next time...

2014 Comic Counter: 18

What I'm Playing: February 5th

2014-02-05T14:21:00.001-05:00

I finished off Ducktales Remastered Saturday morning. The only part I really hated in this game was the last bit of platforming after you find the No. 1 Dime. It just needed super precise platforming done in a very quick manner. The game never really properly prepares you for that kind of leveling and the imperfections in the game cause a lot of frustration. I needed one more jump and got caught under the platform and died at one point. I wasn't under the platform, just a bit of the characters graphic was under it and that was enough to kill me. Other than that, I really enjoyed the game. It's a really decisive game because of the changes but I have to say that it's a good game. There's a lot of talking but they got the entire voice cast from the show back. How can you not love watching those guys do their thing? If you loved the NES game, I think this is a no brainer.

I'm still pushing my way through Steam World Dig. I believe I'm in the last area of the game. This game is best played in 15-20 minute chunks I think. I love this game. You never know what you're going to come across while digging in the caves. Finding a doorway is always cool and finding an upgrade is always exciting. My only complaint with this is still the combat. It just doesn't work very well in this game.

I also started Project X Zone on my 3DS. This is a turn based strategy game that features characters from Capcom, Sega and Namco Bandai. It's kind of a crazy game. You lead these parties of video game characters around and battle villains from various video games. Once in battle you do button combos to do certain attacks. I'm guessing this is going to be a fairly long game but I'm interested in it. The battles are just the right length so far. 20-40 minutes makes it a good game to pick up right before bed or to hit up a battle if you have nothing better to do.

I still have Pokemon X lurking on my 3DS as well. It's a really good game and I do have the itch to play it. I've been avoiding it for some reason or another. I will probably dig into that more once I'm a little further into X Zone.

Comics Update #4

2014-01-28T12:00:00.000-05:00

My wife Kelly and I somehow caught colds on the exact same day. Laying down tended to result in the sensation of drowning so I decided that was out of the question for a bit. I got up and resumed my Blue Beetle reading with Blue Beetle #6. We pick up where the last issue left off. Another good issue here as Muse gathers the gangs up in a theater and Blue Beetle and Question crash the party. This issue really established an interesting relationship with BB and the Question. I really enjoyed the back and forth between the characters and it made me want to see them interact more. The book's side stories seem to have settled into a groove and the book seems more focused overall. There's a third and final part to this storyline. I was also curious about Muse and if he was important and this is essentially the only DC storyline he's ever appeared in. I am unsure if he ever made appearances when Blue Beetle was a Charlton property. If he did, he was a fairly insignificant character. I also found out I had the Secret Origin issue for BB so I'll probably read it after this gang storyline is over.

I took about a week and a half off after reading that issue and picked back up with Blue Beetle #7 on a Sunday night. This issue finished off the Muse storyline. It was an okay issue. It kind of went off in a direction I didn't expect and had a lot of downtime for the conclusion to a three part storyline. It turned around and finished on kind of a hack note. They make the identity of the Muse pretty obvious about halfway through the issue. I'm not sure if it was meant to be a big reveal or not. The pop culture references in this one kind of date the issue but you kind of get that when writers try to be topical. I don't know if I have said this in a previous post but I really miss this style of comic. In the New 52 some of those issues are on #26 and haven't had as much content or character development as this book has had in 7 issues. It makes me wish people would stop writing for the trade and start creating a deeper universe for their characters to live in.

I moved on to Suicide Squad #2 as the next book for the weekend. I really enjoyed this issue as they threw some good stuff in there. The book is very cinematic with down to earth action and it just feels like the Expendables movies. Mindboggler bites it in this issue and that establishes that no one is safe in this book. People rave about this series and this issue really shows why. I can't wait to pick up another issue and get further into this series. It's rare to find a series that actually feels different. It's also nice to have a book that's got a darker tone but isn't rolling in grim and gritty darkness at the same time. I honestly wish that I had dived into this series years ago.

Flash #1 was my final read of the night. I read this series for the first time back in 2005 and I really fell in love with the Flash character. Barry Allen is unfortunately a bore but Wally West is a great character with a lot of depth. He starts out as a sort of immature douche and he grows and matures as the series progresses. This issue really establishes the fact that Wally isn't a super likable person and that he has limitations. He can only go 705 MPH at top speed and any use of his speed kicks his metabolism in. So you'll see Wally eating tons of food to keep up his strength. Wally delivers a heart across the country and wins the lottery in this issue. At the end of the issue he's confronted by Vandal Savage. I'm really glad that I decided to reread this series. It's really a nice romp down memory lane and it scratches the itch that the current series hasn't been getting. If I made a top 5 list of my favorite characters in comic books, I think I would feel comfortable having Wally West at the 3 spot. He's just a great character that you really get to know and rereading this is like visiting an old friend. I may have to write a bigger article at some point about why I like Wally West so much.

2014 Comic Counter: 14

What I'm Playing: January 27th

2014-01-27T09:56:00.000-05:00

I bought a Wii U back in November as a gift to myself for my promotion at work. If you're into video games, you know it doesn't have a huge install base. I've always owned the Nintendo system and this time was no different. I really love the system. There's a great community attached with the Miiverse. You can post and see comments from other players as you go through the games. It's a fun and easy way to interact with other people that are playing the same game as you are.

I used my birthday and Christmas money to pick up Super Mario 3D World last weekend. I beat the main part of the game yesterday and have the post-game levels to dig into now. I really loved this game. It has a lot of elements of Mario 2 and 3. You can play as Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad like in 2 and they play in a similar fashion. Peach floats and Luigi has his crazy legs jump. This is also the first post-Miyamoto Mario game and you can feel the influx of new ideas in the game.

I've absolutely loved this game. It's really reminded me of how much I love video games. The power ups in this game are awesome. The cat suit never got old and makes you want to run back to old levels to see if you can find some secrets with the wall climbing. The cherry is also interesting as it creates a clone of your character and if you can successfully navigate a level with enough clones you can unlock some things. This game is also a little more cerebral than previous entries. You need to take it a little slower to make sure you aren't missing stars or stamps.

I'm also getting back to Ducktales Remastered. I'm halfway through this game. I have the Moon and Himalayas left before the final stage. This game seems divisive online but I've really enjoyed it. I was a fan of the original and it's been really fun to revisit the game. It's also really cool to see the entire cast of voice actors to reprise their roles from the show. That makes the game really special and it's probably going to be the last role some of the older actors ever play. If you're a big fan of the cartoon I think you should check it out.

I also had some money sitting on my eshop account so I grabbed Steam World Dig for the 3DS. Now, this is a really fun game. You play a robot and dig and mine ore under a town. You make money so that you can upgrade your gear and robot so that you can dig deeper. It's a really good game to play in smaller chunks before bed or when you don't have anything else to do. The sense of exploration and accomplishment provided in this game are really good. I'm not sure how long the game is but I don't think I'm very far into this one. I would say this is one of the best 3DS games out there and it's only $8.99 to boot.

The Coffee Chronicles

2014-01-26T09:54:00.002-05:00

I'm just going to slap a disclaimer on this article. I'm not a coffee drinker. I've tried and I just think it's gross. And I'll add that I don't understand coffee drinkers and their obsession with it.

With that said, one of my least favorite parts of working in an office is the constant drama that surrounds the communal coffee pot on a daily basis. In my old department my co-workers decided to bring in a coffee pot for themselves and the drama started probably within 2 days of it arriving. This drama of course carried over to my new department. My assumption is that these issues are the same in every office you could end up in. These issues seem to always be:

1. Not making new coffee and just leaving a little in the bottom.

2. Not cleaning up messes.

3. Not contributing to the coffee fund.

Now, theses issues don't seem like a big deal on paper. But think about hearing this on a daily... let me say that again DAILY basis. From multiple people, in email and hearing the arguing in the cubicle two spots down for hours at a time. It's just a bizarre world to examine as a non-partisan viewer.

I don't know what it is about coffee that brings out the worst in human beings. It's one of those small things in life that make you realize people will turn on each other in a second in the case of a zombie apocalypse or those episodes of the Twilight Zone where the buddy buddy neighbors turn on each other when weird stuff happens. It's just freaking coffee and why does it have to be so complicated?

And just a side note to this whole conversation. I find people really hypocritical when they bitch about the price of something when they're holding their daily Starbucks coffee in their hand. "What do you mean you want to get pizza, I don't have $5 to contribute, count me out!" Argh...

Anyway, that's my rant for the day. This one had been kicking around my brain for awhile.

Doc Savage #1

2014-01-19T22:45:00.001-05:00

This is a book that I had been long anticipating. Dynamite has taken on the pulp heroes and they've really created something special with their pulp line of comics. I really enjoyed Masks last year and I have really high hopes for this series.

Chris Roberson takes on the writing duties for this book and Bilquis Evely is your artist. The cover is by none other than Alex Ross. I haven't heard of the artist but Roberson did Masks last year and DC books that I've enjoyed.

People are randomly becoming extremely violent in New York. The event happens over and over again and Doc Savage and Co. are trying to find out who. It ends up being a mad scientist of sorts and a larger plot is hinted at as the issue closes.

I have to say, I was really a little disappointed by this issue. The execution was fine and the tone was good. But this is a pulp story and a Doc Savage one at that. Doc Savage should be over the top adventure that never ends. Not a fairly pedestrian mad scientist story. I've only read a couple of the original novels but those are just oozing with action. Exotic locations, fancy cars, science and whatever you could ask for in adventure. I guess I was just expecting more from this series.

I will give this book credit though. It is an excellent jumping on point for new readers. It introduces you to all the characters in the Doc Savage team and gives you an idea of who they are and their relationships with each other. It also would give a new reader a good idea of what Doc Savage himself is all about.

I'm really torn on this. I really wanted to like this book from the get go because it's Doc Savage but this unfortunately left me feeling a little flat about it. I'll probably give this 3 or 4 issues to draw me in and then move on if it doesn't. I'm thinking this was a smaller story to lead into a bigger one. If that's the case then this issue might be redeemed down the road.

Overall this was a well written book but it was a disappointment versus my expectations. I think I'd grade it as a C+ until I see where the next issues go.

Hockey...

2014-01-18T22:57:00.001-05:00

Monday was my birthday and my wife scored us tickets to the Blue Jackets. This was our third game of the season. It was a really good game as they were down 2-1 going into the 3rd period and scored the go ahead goal with about 3 minutes left and came away with the 3-2 victory. It was a really great game. This is going to be the last season before I invest in quarter season passes for the team. My wife Kelly and I have really enjoyed the games we've gone to this year and we honestly need something to get us out of the house in the winter months.

Anyways, this season has seen me renew one of my long term goals. Seeing every NHL team live at Nationwide Arena. When the team showed up in 2000 that was my big goal. I haven't gotten there yet because I didn't go to any games for a long time. But with my renewed interest I figured out who I've seen them play. Here's the list:

Detroit Red Wings
Chicago Blackhawks
St. Louis Blues
Nashville Predators
Vancouver Canucks
Minnesota Wild
Atlanta Thrashers - now the Winnepeg Jets
Anaheim Ducks - Mighty Ducks at the time.
Phoenix Coyotes
Boston Bruins
New Jersey Devils
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
Carolina Hurricanes
Florida Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning - checked this one off on Monday!

That leaves 13 NHL teams for me to see live. I'll be catching the Ottawa Senators later this month which will knock my list down to 12 teams. That's not a bad run of teams. The hard team to see in Columbus would be the Pittsburgh Penguins. They seemed to have a large fanbase here before the Jackets came to town and that game is always really hard to get tickets for. So that will be a must have if I do go for season tickets next season.

I wanted to end this post with showing my TTM successes from the Blue Jackets thus far this season. Ii'm hoping that a few more come back as the season progresses.

Cam Atkinson

Brandon Dubinsky

Matt Calvert

Sergei Bobrovsky

Sean Collins

Artem Anisimov

RJ Umberger

Mark Letestu

Comic Reading Update #3

2014-01-11T23:05:00.003-05:00

I've decided that I really hate January. It's cold and there's a lot of snow. I don't really care for either and I think if my family wasn't so entrenched in Ohio that I would move to North Carolina for the beaches and better weather. The one nice advantage to awful winter weather is it gives you plenty of time to catch up on your reading.

I read Justice League #2 Sunday morning. Some aliens come to Earth and want to get rid of all the nukes. They eliminate the stockpile of a small country and the leader of that country starts to manipulate them for his less than honest goals. Not a bad issue as it was mostly set up. It appears that they're trying to make this book very Avengers like with the team bickering and being dysfunctional. It also has a pretty oddball collection of characters and that always wins me over with a book. My biggest complaint with this book is that it doesn't feel like a reboot at all. That's one of the really annoying things about the Post-Crisis era. Properties like Superman and Wonder Woman got a hard reboot while other titles like Batman really didn't have much done to it. It can be a confusing mess at times due to factors like that. Black Canary's costume is also beyond awful in this series. I don't know, I was only 6 when this came out but 1987 seems to be a little late to still be rocking the Pat Benatar head band. I think I can safely add this to my list of worst costumes of all time. Just bad on every level imaginable.

I read Blue Beetle #4 before I went to bed on Sunday night. I felt a little embarrassed that I didn't know who Dr. Alchemy was from the last issue. As a Flash reader, I've actually seen him pop up a couple of times. Dr. Alchemy gets away and merges with his Philosopher's Stone. This goes badly for him and he slowly gets consumed by his powers before turning into a statue by the end of the issue. This issue was really good. All of those plot points seemed to merge really well into this issue and it felt much more focused. I'm really enjoying Ted Kord. It's nice seeing a hero with a bright outlook on life in a comic book. I also love his Beetle ship. It might be the coolest form of transportation ever in comics. I think this series has started to hit it's stride and I'm excited to see where it goes. Vic Sage, aka the Question, appears towards the end and he'll be taking on the Blue Beetle in the next issue. That should be a good one.

Monday was a bad day where I live. With the wind chill it got as cold as -30 degrees outside. I thought I lived in Ohio, not Minnesota. With that said, I didn't feel like moving outside of my pile of blankets so I read Blue Beetle #5. All the youth gangs of Chicago are teaming up with the backing of a Mister M. This draws the attention of the Blue Beetle and the Question. They bust up the gangs but Mister M bails them out and the escape. Mister M reveals himself as the Muse as the issue ends. Again, this issue was much more focused like the previous one. The gangs were very 70s down to the lingo. But it is comics so it's not like they are usually on the cutting edge of what "the kids" likes these days. I enjoyed this issue quite a bit. This series has been a really fun romp. I say it over and over again, but Ted Kord is a really great character. I wish I would have had a larger amount of exposure to him in my earlier comic reading days. This series only lasted 24 issues and that's a real bummer to me. Unfortunately, this is the kind of series that never catches on for whatever reason. The Blue Beetle has just never had any real pull as a solo act.

I didn't get as much read this week as I wanted but I'm hoping to get a few issues in tomorrow.

2014 Comic Counter: 10

Comic Reading Update #2

2014-01-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

I snuck in Blue Beetle #2 after writing my post on New Years Day. Blue Beetle escapes the burning building he was trapped in last issue. We get some backstory to Firefist, it's your cliched super villain stuff, and a little more development of Kord and his supporting cast. There are a ton of side plots going on right now. I counted two mystery men in the shadows, alongside another villain up to stuff and a supporting cast member with a terrible secret! That's a lot of stuff swirling around a book that's just two issues old. We also get the final showdown with BB and Firefist. It doesn't end so well for Firefist. Len Wein is a really consistent writer for me and this book proves that. There are a lot of side plots going on right now but I've enjoyed the first two issues a fair amount. They aren't earth shattering but I do want to pick up the next issue and see what happens next.

Friday night, I decided to stay on the same track and read Blue Beetle #3. A group called the Mad Men attack Kord Industries and the mysterious redheaded man reveals himself as Dr. Alchemy. I'm really at a loss for my thoughts on this series. I have read 3 issues but this book is just all over the place. Two of the supporting cast have hidden secret sort of storylines and an officer is investigating Ted Kord. I like the character of Ted Kord and I really dig him as a hero. I just want a more focused comic book from issue to issue. I don't need to half of the cast to be in deep shit 3 issues into the story. I do plan to keep reading this series though. I want to get to know the character of Ted Kord a little more as I continue to get deeper into the Justice League books.

Saturday mornings are a great time to sneak in an issue or two before my wife gets out of bed so I read Action Comics #589. I decided I wanted to really explore the history of Superman and the Post-Crisis era seemed like the best place to pick that up. So my goal is to read from the Man of Steel mini-series in 1986 to Infinite Crisis. That's a metric crap ton of comics as there were 4 a month for most of this time frame. I also added in the Justice League from this era, Suicide Squad and the Flash to provide some variety to the Supes fest. I'm not as big a DC fan as Marvel and I've really only read the DCU hardcore since One Year Later happened in 2005 or 2006. I'm trying to stay immersed in DC right now so I don't think you'll see much Marvel appear here for the next little while. This issue was okay. The Green Lantern Corp show up and help Supes battle a living planetoid. This wasn't a classic issue or anything but it was nice to read a much more focused comic after 3 issues of Blue Beetle.

2014 Comic Counter: 7

Comic Reading Update #1

2014-01-02T12:00:00.000-05:00

Like most Americans, I had the day off for New Years and it seemed like a good time to get a jump start on one of my goals for the year. I want to read at least 200 back issues over the course of the year.

I started off with Suicide Squad #1. This has been on my to read list for at least a decade and I just never seem to get around to it. It seemed like a great idea to sneak this in with my Superman reading since it started just a few months after the Post-Crisis Supes stuff really kicked off. The basic premise of this book is that super villains are recruited onto a top secret government team. They then run suicide missions and if they are successful they get part of their sentences commuted for each mission they come back alive from. Being that these are suicide missions, a lot of people die over time. The team in this book is Rick Flag, Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, Enchantress, Mindboggler and Plastique with Amanda Waller calling the shots behind the scene. This issue was mostly set up for the concept of the team. Their first mission will be taking down a group called Jihad in the terrorist nation of Qurac. Like I said, really enjoyed this one.

I hit Superman #6 a little later in the morning. This was part 2 of a story that started in Superman #5. This issue wasn't as good as part 1 of the story. Part 1 was a fun battle with Supes and a giant mummy. This issue brings in a race of aliens and things have to come to a halt so the aliens' backstory can be explored and explained. Superman did use his brains to beat the aliens in this issue which was a nice change though. The aliens never appear in a comic again as far as I can tell so it makes their backstory an even bigger waste of time. The mummy from issue 5 was actually a robot carrying the minds of 500 of these aliens. Superman played dead while battling the robot and the aliens all tried to possess his body at once and it destroyed the robot. Pretty clever solution on his part there. I would say this was a pretty so-so issue. Not bad or anything, just not very interesting or fun.

Adventures of Superman #429 provided me with some afternoon reading. This issue was a tale of two stories for me. The character development with Cat Grant was really good and I enjoyed that stuff. The Circle storyline was bad. Concussion is a villain that's very typical of this era. Stupid name, paper thin character, etc. I have to say that Marv Wolfman has been a real disappointment when it's come to his Superman work thus far. The Circle storyline just isn't that good or interesting. I kind of wish he would just get it over with and do something more interesting.

I also added Blue Beetle #1 to the mix today. It's not June 1987 cover dated like the other books I'm reading but it is Post-Crisis. This issue mainly introduced Ted Kord into the DCU proper. You get his origin, a quick introduction to his supporting cast. Kord takes on a villain named Firefist. Pretty generic if you ask me but this issue was about creating a world for Ted Kord to exist in. Decent enough issue and I think a fairly good intro to this series. Looking forward to reading more.

That's it for what I read on New Year's Day. I think I'm off to a great start for my comic reading in 2014.

2014 Comic Counter: 4

New Years Resolutions

2014-01-01T07:46:00.000-05:00

I don't really make New Years Resolutions as a rule. I tend to think that if you want to change your life, you should just get off your ass and do it. But I do also think the start of a new year is a good time to reflect a little and to set some goals or focus back in on goals. So here's my list, these aren't really Earth shattering or anything:

Read more old comics than in 2013.

This was a goal I made for myself in 2013. I did okayish. My guess is that I read somewhere between 100-200 issues of old comics in 2013. That's better than 2012 by a lot so that's a success. So if I'm sitting here at the end of the year and I've read more than 200 issues, I think I can safely call my reading a success. I'm currently focusing heavily on Post-Crisis Era DC, late 80s, and the books I've been reading are the Superman titles, Justice League, Suicide Squad and the Flash. I'm going to progress with that for quite awhile I think.

Read more books.

I was absolutely pathetic in 2013 when it came to the books I polished off. If I got through 5, it would be a miracle. My wife is aiming for 2 a month this year but she's also a faster reader than I am. I've been taking my Kindle to work and reading during my lunch breaks. I've really enjoyed that as I think it's better for my brain than staring at my phone for the entire 45 minutes. I'm winding down Witches Aboard by Terry Pratchett and I don't have an official to read list for the year. Thanks to the Kindle deals and cheap books, I have more than I could ever hope to read.

Work out more.

I slacked off a lot in 2013. I kept the weight off, put some on during the holidays, but I also didn't lose any. I want to get back into a solid workout routine and try to slid into the 240s weight wise.

Get into Yoga.

I listen to a medical podcast called Weird Medicine. One of the regulars on the show is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. Yoga comes up from time to time and they've said numerous times that even a few times a week will make a great difference in your back. It's been on my list for awhile now but I think my wife's goal to stretch every morning will sync up well with this.

Well, those are my main ones as of this moment. Hope you all had a good New Years!

The Sci-Fi Boys: A mini review

2013-10-02T16:56:00.000-04:00

I caught this documentary on Netflix today. It features interviews with many of the guys that are big names in sci-fi like Ray Bradbury and Roger Corman.

The first thing that struck me about this movie is just the passion these guys have for their craft. A lot of them were making movies when they were 10 years old and in the days when video equipment wasn't a cheap or easy thing to come across. Some of them even developed some sophisticated special effects for amateur's. The passion of the men interviewed was really infectious. You could really feel their love for the art of movie-making. You get the feeling that making money was just a happy side effect to their passion.

I think this is a must watch movie if you have Netflix. It was a really fun look at several creative people and getting a little insight to what makes them tick.

Football Friday: Big Ten Season

2013-09-27T12:01:00.000-04:00

Well, not really. There's been a few games played but this weekend features the first important Big Ten conference game as Ohio State takes on Wisconsin. This has been more of a rivalry the last decade as Wisconsin has been more on par with Ohio State talent wise. Wisconsin has taken a bit of a step back the past few seasons though.

Ohio State has looked really good for 3 of their 4 games and were a preseason favorite to contend for the National Championship. Wisconsin I think has looked better than expected but aren't what I would call an elite level team.

This is the first real challenge that OSU faces this season. I don't expect Wisconsin to win or even come close in this game though. OSU is just better plan and simple. I think there's a chance that they'll slip up and lose a game, it's just too hard to go undefeated for 24 straight games, but Wisconsin isn't going to be the team that beats them.

The keys for an upset here and the running game and defense. If Wisconsin can establish the run early and get a lead, they might have a chance of grinding out a victory. If they fall behind at any point in the game, I think they're done. OSU seems to get a head of steam in these games and just keep piling on the points.

The only other game in the Big Ten this weekend is Minnesota vs. Iowa and really? Who gives a damn about that?

Middle Manager of Justice Review

2013-09-26T12:01:00.000-04:00

I came across this game while we were sitting in a restaurant last Saturday. It looked interesting but I decided that it would probably play better on my tablet. I really have a love/hate relationship with mobile platform video games. I try to convince myself that I'm really enjoying the game but then I turn on my 3DS and realize that 90% of mobile games are just garbage in comparison. There are always exceptions to those rules and MMoJ is one of those rare games.

You're a middle manager that's in charge of a group of superheroes. You hire them with special packs and then send them on missions, train them and level them up. The heroes are interesting and varied. They all have unique personalities that come out during their promotion ceremonies and during the missions. The little world that the game built is intriguing and grabs you.

Most games of this nature fall apart due to the free to play aspect. You eventually hit some invisible wall where you either have to spend money or you aren't getting any further or getting the cool stuff. The Simpsons Tapped Out game is one of the worst culprits of this. You could dump $10 into the game's currency and literally get one thing for your efforts. I've put 5 or 6 hours into this game and haven't felt the need to do it. I did drop $1 so I could get a beefed up superhero for my squad. But it was hardly necessary. As long as you keep doing missions and pushing forward, you can get all the upgrades and nicer heroes. You just have to be a little more patient with it.

The game really keeps you moving forward. The missions are basic but strategic. The way you train your heroes up is also vital. You can completely hamstring your heroes if you don't train them properly. When you aren't on missions or training your heroes, you're busy managing their moral and upgrading your base. Unlike most time sink games, you never really feel like you're waiting around.

If you have an Android or iOS device, you owe it to yourself to try this game out.

NFL Week 3 Thoughts

2013-09-25T12:01:00.000-04:00

I may do this weekly but I haven't totally decided yet. This is going to mostly consist of random thoughts by me. They probably won't be long form or anything like that. Maybe a couple of sentences about a particular player or team. So let's go...

Barkevious Mingo has 6 tackles and 2 sacks through the first 3 games of the season. I would like to see a written apology for all of the sports writers that bashed the Browns for taking him with their first round pick. Mingo has been a super athletic player and really causes issues on the line for other teams. So far he's my defensive rookie of the year.

Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Washington, NY Giants and Jacksonville are all 0-3. Only 3 teams have started 0-3 since 1990 and rebounded to make the playoffs and zero teams have done it since 1998. I know we like to say "it's early" but I think 0-3 is a good indicator that you aren't making the playoffs. The math is a really hard thing to overcome. Just to go 9-7 these teams would have to go 9-4 the rest of the way. And have you seen these teams play football? Woof... it's for the dogs.

I haven't quite figured out the Tennessee Titans yet. They seem to have a tough and gritty defense that keeps the offense in the games. Jake Locker has played pretty well so far too. The main knock I have against the Titans are that they beat an awful Steeler team and a pretty mediocre San Diego team. I think they'll probably beat the Jets next week and then their real challenge is going to be Kansas City. Who would have thought that would be a critical game?

Chip Kelly really doesn't seem to understand how NFL football works. He doesn't seem to understand that you're not going to wear down the opposing defense by just running a bunch of rapid fire plays. He also made the classic misstep of implementing his offense before he had the players to do it. So now the Eagles are running an offense that have averaged 20 minutes of possession the last two games and are leaving the D out their for 40 minutes a game. That's how you wear down an NFL calibur defense. It seems like the league adjusted to this style almost immediately and have it figured out. A couple of stops and the team just falls apart.

Peyton Manning is the MVP no questions asked thus far.

I think the Cincinnati Bengals are maybe the second best team in the AFC. They've gutted out two close wins, a feat which previous Bengals teams have struggled with. The Green Bay win was ugly but that was a signature win by a team that hasn't really had any in the Marvin Lewis era. This is the year for the Bengals to make a playoff run if they ever intend to.

Monday TTM: GOAT Edition

2013-09-23T18:29:00.001-04:00

We're going to keep it brief today. I got this back this afternoon and it's easily the best autograph that I've ever seen come back.

That's right. The greatest wide receiver of all time and probably my favorite NFL player of all time. He's really tough to get as the site I use has him at a 22% success rate. This one was gone for 47 days. I will say that there are few autographs that could beat this as far as being my favorite.

That's all for this week. I think Jerry Rice deserves a post all to himself.

Top 10 Reasons that Fall Rules

2013-09-22T17:57:00.001-04:00

1. Football

This is an obvious reason. Football comes back in September both college and the NFL. You can spend a good weekend glued to the tv and gorge yourself on football from noon Saturday until midnight Sunday. What could be better.

2. Apple Cider

It's not officially fall until you've taken that first sip of apple cider. There's a local apple orchard called Lynd's where I live and they have absolutely awesome cider. It has a nice deep flavor to it. Not too sweet and not too tart. It's just that perfect spot between the two. A great weekend snack is to get some mini Hostess donuts and wash them down with a nice cold glass of cider.

3. Halloween

There's many reasons why Halloween is one of my favorite days of the years. For starters, the old horror movies come on television. There's always some odd movie on television or Netflix to really get into the mood for the season. I love old horror movies, it's a bit of a hobby of mine. On top of that you have all the cool costumes that people make and dress up in. I don't really do the costume thing but it's cool to see what people can think up.

4. The leaves change

Ohio has kind of gotten screwed in this regard the last few seasons. But there's nothing like a cold fall evening with all the bright and vibrant colors as the trees begin to shed their leaves.

5. It's the epicenter of the sports world

Think about this. Football, hockey and basketball are all amping up AND you get playoff baseball. There's literally something awesome on every night as far as sports go.

6. The start of fire season

Those first couple of chilly days come around and you get to hunker down with a nice fire. There's always something special about those first few fires of the season.

7. Pumpkin pie

Namely from Big Boy. Pumpkin pie is probably my favorite of the pie world. When it's well done, nothing can compare to it.

8. Honeycrisp apples

The king of the apples. I tried these for the first time this year and absolutely fell in love with them. I've been heard saying many a time that I would "knife a bitch for some honeycrisp apples." These are amazing. They are super sweet and just full of flavor. You owe it to yourself to go to a farmer's market and get some.

9. HOODIES

Need I say more?

10. WOW

My wife and I are seasonal World of Warcraft players. We usually pick the game up in November some time and play till April. We usually retire the game for the summer as we do a lot of outdoor activities. WOW is the perfect cold weather kind of game. There's always something to do and it gives you a sort of routine to pass the short winter days with. MMOs aren't for everyone but my wife and I really just get a lot out of the game. We can play together or apart if we want. It allows you to set goals for yourself and there's always the allure of starting a new character and building them from the ground up.

Football Friday: NFL Quarterback Ratings

2013-09-20T12:01:00.000-04:00

My friend Jonathan and I were going back and forth over texts last week about where we'd place the starting quarterbacks in the NFL. I really enjoyed the conversation and it seemed like a good idea for an article. I'm not going to go one by one here. I'm going to divide the QBs into groups and then review why I put those guys where I did.

THE ELITE:

Drew Brees
Peyton Manning
Tom Brady
Aaron Rogers

Don't put too much into where I placed these guys. I think you could list any of them from 1-4 in any order and it would be justified. I went with Drew Brees as #1 for his performance last season. The Saints were headed towards a 3-13 season and Drew Brees drug that team to a 7-9 record on pure will alone. If they had a competent defense, they might have been playoff bound. Manning, Brady and Rogers, what can you say about them that hasn't been said already? Just the best of the best when it comes to the QB position in the modern NFL. I think there's a good sized drop off from this group to the next...

GOOD BUT NOT GREAT:
5. Matt Ryan
6. Ben Rothlisberger
7. Eli Manning
8. Joe Flacco
9. Matt Schaub
10. Matthew Stafford
11. Tony Romo
12. Phillip Rivers

I actually didn't mean for this division to be as large as it is but it didn't make sense to put these guys in the next group. Rivers has had the biggest freefall in my opinion as I would've considered him elite level a few seasons ago. But he's been a fairly bad QB and has slid down the charts. I think Eli's performance the last calendar year is starting to erode his place on my chart as well. On a brighter note, I think Matt Ryan is close to making a jump into the elite level. Last season he took a big step forward when he threw for 4,719 yards and 32 TDs. Another season or two of that and I think he will be there.

Joe Flacco is #8 you say? But he just won the Super Bowl! That's very true, he did just win the Super Bowl but that still doesn't change what he is. Flacco is going to have bad games a few times a season. He needs good receivers because he doesn't necessarily make them better. I would be happy to have him on my team any day but he's not an elite level QB by any means.

NEEDS MORE COWBELL:
13. Andy Dalton
14. Russell Wilson
15. Colin Kaepernick
16. Andrew Luck
17. Robert Griffith III

This is like the Elite section in that I think you can move most of the pieces around in any order and I'd be okay with it. I put Andy Dalton at the top of this list because I think he has the least to prove. He's 19-13 as a starter in his first 2 seasons and has 2 playoff appearances. That's a level of success that few QBs have ever pulled off. Kaepernick and Wilson look like franchise QBs for their teams but they need more time to do it.

Luck and RGIII bring up the rear on this list. I think there are some real questions about RGIII's long term health in the league. He hasn't looked good to start this season and I think the ACL is an obvious cause. Luck got a lot of hype last season but his stats were the least impressive of the newer QBs. I think he's also not with the right franchise for long term success.

DO OR DIE TIME:
18. Cam Newton

Newton is the ultimate empty calorie guy. Great stats in a vacuum but then you realize, he isn't getting his team any wins. He isn't leading any big comeback drives and he doesn't really make the players around him better. Sources like ESPN will hype him because of those stats but all of the guys in the group above him have had more of an impact for their respective teams. I think another losing season for the Panthers and it's time to start questioning if Cam Newton is the right fit.

YOU CAN DO WORSE:
19. Alex Smith
20. EJ Manuel
21. Jay Cutler
22. Sam Bradford
23. Jay Cutler
24. Ryan Tannehill

This group is just what it sounds like. You can win with these guys and make a playoff run but you're also going to always be looking for an upgrade. Manuel and Tannehill don't fit that description. This is just where I decided to throw them in this article.

EH, IT'S A LIVING...:
25. Christian Ponder
26. Michael Vick

Vick and Ponder have their moments of being okay. I think the jury is still out on Ponder and how viable he is as an NFL QB. Vick is at the end of his playing career and had an awful season last year. I think this season will tell us where Vick is at.

WHO'S OUR QUARTERBACK AGAIN?!?!:
27. Brandon Weeden
28. Josh Freeman
29. Jake Locker
30. Terrell Pryor
31. Blaine Gabbert
32. Mark Sanchez

I feel bad for putting Weeden and Freeman in this category. There's still a slight chance that Freeman can have a bounce back season and regain his form from a few years ago. Likewise, there's a slight chance that Weeden could have a good season or two before he starts to decline as a QB.

The rest of that group though, yeah... it's bad. I think the tough question here is who is worse? Gabbert or Sanchez. I decided that Gabbert gets to be #31 because he doesn't cost as much money and he didn't fumble the ball by running into an offensive lineman's ass. What more can be said about Sanchez, he's just a colossally incompetent QB on the pro level. He has no arm strength, he plays scared and he makes bad decisions with his throws. Congratulations Mark Sanchez, YOU SUCK!

The NFL Walking Dead

2013-09-19T12:01:00.001-04:00

I know, I know. It's only week 2 and it's early and blah blah whatever. Through 2 weeks of the season I feel comfortable enough to say that the following teams are out of it. These team has shown some horrible flaw that tells me, they aren't making the playoffs or if they are it will be some giant fluke and they'll get destroyed in the first round. So let's take a look at our animated corpses shall we...

New York Giants

Few teams have ever had such an incompetent running game. Through 2 games the Giants have carried the ball 33 times for 73 yards. That's 2.2 YPC! That's insane, even bad teams can get 3 yards a carry. David Wilson is the leading rusher with 14 carries for 36 yards and he's already got 2 fumbles. Ouch. The team is also dead last in defense as they're giving up 38.5 points per game. while allowing 747 yards of offense against them. This team is just bad. The only positive for this team is they play in a god awful division and 8-8 might be able to get you the crown. I'm saying dead though.

Washington Redskins

Another NFC East team. This team has just been brutal to watch this season. RG3 doesn't look like he's 100% and the defense is just beyond awful. If it wasn't for how terrible the Giants defense is, they would have the worst defense in the league. They've allowed over 1000 yards of offense in just 2 games. 2 GAMES!!! How does that even happen? This team also can't score on offense. Don't be fooled, most of the points they do score come in garbage time. Green Bay was up 38-7 and just quit trying. What I don't get about this team, is why are you sending RG3 out there when he's clearly not fully healed and risk him further when Kirk Cousins is sitting on the bench and he can win you games. This seems like a perfect time to sit RG3 and let the guy fully heal.

Philadelphia Eagles

3 out of 4 NFC East teams. That must mean that Dallas is winning the division... I don't know. All 4 of the teams suck, Dallas just hasn't looked as bad as the other teams. The Eagles haven't been brutal by any stretch but they have some fundamental flaws that are going to hurt them in the long run. For starters, their defense isn't very good. Their time of possession against San Diego was less than 20 minutes. So you have a mediocre defense and you're going to force them to be on the field constantly. They might score 30 a game but they could also allow 30 a game. Plus, Vick's health is a constant concern. He could get injured and start playing poorly again. I see them falling off as the season progresses.

New York Jets

Their only victory was kind of a fluke. The offense is just awful. I think Geno Smith is doing better than Mark Sanchez would be but that's not saying much. They can't run, their best offensive option left the team. I just don't see how they can win more than 3-5 games this year.

Cleveland Browns

The offense is the issue here. The defense has played some really good football through the first two games. Trent Richardson isn't getting the job done on the ground, Weeden just isn't going to work out as an NFL calibur QB and the offensive line has really struggled. The Baltimore game is what this season is going to look like. I foresee a lot of games where they hold the team to 17 pts. and can't manage more than 10. This team has no shot of a playoff spot.

Author's Note: This was written before the Richardson trade went down yesterday. It doesn't really change the outcome of their Walking Dead status. They're going to probably win 3-5 games at best.

Pittsburgh Steelers

I thought the Bengals played a pretty poor game last night and I also never thought for a second that the Steelers were a threat to win the game. Bill Simmons linked to this article in Pittsburgh Magazine about how Todd Haley is ruining the offense. Past that, they don't have a running back, they don't have a deep threat and the secondary isn't very good. They're 0-2 right now and they haven't played what I would call amazing teams. I think the Bengals are winning the North but they haven't been what I would call good through 2 games.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Need I say more? I think Chad Henne makes them a better team. But I think Henne makes them a 4-12 team instead of a 1-15 team. Their offense is bad on an epic level. Fun fact, the team is currently on pace to score 88 points this season. It's really just sad that a team could actually be this bad.

Carolina Panthers

Ron Rivera is just a bad coach. Kicking a field goal instead of going for it on 4th down probably cost the team the game. Cam Newton hasn't been good so far this season. The running game has been okay and and the defense has been okay. This team just doesn't win close games and I think you're looking at another losing season.

Oakland Raiders

Come on... do I even need to write anything here? I think not.

That's quite a list for it only being Week 2 of the season. There are just some bad bad teams out there. I will update this list periodically when more teams join the ranks of the NFL Walking Dead

Boo Berry appears again...

2013-09-18T12:01:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again. Boo Berry has made it's first appearance on store shelves for the Halloween season. I posted about the virtues of Boo Berry last year. I decided this year to post some Boo Berry commercials just for a fun trip down memory lane.

Enjoy your Boo Berry while it lasts, I know I will.