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Interesting Articles January 11, 2008

Posted by boydzone in : points, sports, video games , add a comment

I was just browsing the sportsgamer.com site when I stumbled across some interesting articles.
Both of these deal with ideas that I’ve touched on before, so I thought they were relevant and worth a mention on my own blog.
First off is this article about LSU using video game simulators developed by EA Sports to prep their QBs for live game-time situations:
LSU Wins… Thanks to Madden
This was something that Hoopes and I had briefly discussed in SportsBlast 4. In that show we had discussed Madden’s role in introducing players to real life sports.

This next article: The NFL: Scripted , deals with the NFL’s meticulous control of all aspects of their game and their dominance over competing leagues. I thought this was somewhat relevant to my first Boydzone post NFL.gov.

Oh, and while I’m at it, they also have an article on their discussing if Vince Young beat the Madden curse. This is something we discussed in SportsBlast5 “Monotonin”, back when when the Madden 08 cover was announced.

Jags v. Pats January 10, 2008

Posted by boydzone in : points, sports , add a comment

Normally when I look at teal in a sports uniform, I get a little turned off, feeling like there isn’t an easier way to date a teams look to the 90s. For some reason though I find myself actually getting kind of into the Jacksonville Jaguars uniforms today while looking at this picture from an ESPN article: US Presswire
It could be that I’m instantly transported from wintery Pittsburgh to sunny North Eastern Florida as I gaze at Jack Del Rio’s shades, teal zip-up shirt, and blonde locks. I don’t know. It could also be the toughness that the two backs flanking their coach bring to the game while sporting these jerseys.
This idea has been kind of beaten to death lately, especially in light of “Jacksonville out Steelersing the Steelers” in their last two meetings. This couldn’t have been more true in the first Steelers/Jagz game from this winter. The second game was a little bit different as the Jags running game barely showed up. Jones-Drew did break a couple of key tackles and made a few huge plays (40yard TD reception, 96 kickoff return). In a different life, I would be a big Jones-Drew fan; he’s shorter than most NFL players, but still escapes tackles, runs hard, and makes big special teams plays. It often looks like he’s too stocky and quick to tackle. Its also hard not to like Fred Taylor, who has made apparent just how underrated he is (7 out of his 10 seasons have been 1000+yard years).
As a Steelers fan, I have trouble getting into the Jags, as I honestly can’t remember the last time the Steelers beat them (I guess it was 2004?).
The Giants were able to return a kickoff against the Pats. The Ravens were able to run on them. So maybe Jones-Drew and Taylor could have big days. The Eagles were able to pass on them. Garrard has proven he can manage the ball well, which Eli Manning did with some success against the Pats. And even though their team’s colors include teal, they still seem far more timeless than the Patriots American Gladiator uniform design.
Are all of these things enough to topple the Pats? Probably not, but perhaps there is a chance that they’ll be able to rain some of that North Eastern Florida sunshine onto the North Eastern Atlantic’s seemingly inevitable avalanche of athletic accomplishment.

Steelers 2007-2008 Top 10 List January 7, 2008

Posted by boydzone in : points, sports , 2 comments

The Steelers 07 season has officially to a close with their lost to Jacksonville, though their previous losses to the Jags and the Ravens really seemed to signal the end. The Steelers were just too injured and too inconsistent to compete convincingly in the Playoffs. They showed with their string of late game come-backs that they were capable of playing hard, but they were steadily falling short of their goals.
Despite the fact that the season has ended without a Super bowl ring (or a first round playoff win), there were several memorable moments. I’m going to list my top ten favorite plays/moments and I’ll soon follow with another post of my 10 least favorite of the 2007-2008 Steelers season.

1. Roethlisberger to C.Wilson 55yard pass, Preseason week 1-
this play was on the initial drive of the Mike Tomlin era. The Steelers opened up on their second play with this long bomb. It sparked some hope and excitement for the coming season under the new coaching staff, and signaled more of what was to come from Big Ben in 07.
2. Dismantling of the Browns Reg. Season Week 1-There was some hope of the Brownies before the season actually started; prettyboy QB, reinforced O-line, beefed up running game…but the Steelers wreaked havoc on the Browns to kick off the regular season, causing some confusion and desperation in Cleveland. This desperation ultimately led to some critical changes being made in Cleveland, namely the exportation of QB C.Frye, and the installation of D. Anderson, who ended up having a monster year.
3. Pittsburgh 26 Bills 3 Week 2- A near shut-out for Tomlin’s first regular season home game.
4. Alan Rossum 98 yard Kickoff Return for TD- The Steelers had some difficulty fielding kickoffs and punts in 06, so we picked up Rossum in the preseason to help us out with this area of the game. I was at this game, and though having guys like D. Hester, J. Cribbs, and Jones-Drew in the league, bringing the number of kickoff return TDs to an all time high, it was fun for to see the Steelers get some of their own at home.
5. Steelers 21- Seatle 0- I was interested to see the Super Bowl XL rematch, so considering all of the questionmarks surrounding the Super Bowl (not that they matter much) it was nice shut them out completely.
6. James Harrison’s monster few weeks- Harrison forced a fumble out of a Kenny Watson as the Bengals were driving in an attempt to close the gap against the Steelers in our first match up this year. He then followed it up with 10 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 interception against the Ravens on MNF.
7. Big Ben’s 30 yard run vs the Browns- The Steelers were losing going into the fourth quarter. Big Ben took off up the middle for this 30 yard scramble. Everyone in the room that I was watching with figured that he would go down on his own, but he just kept running and put the Steelers on top for the first time all game.
8. Big Ben/Ward against Miami- Roethlisberger went 18/21, completing something like 17 passes in a row in this swampy MNF game. Ward showed up to do what he does best. He worked the slot position, catching the ball in the middle of the field, getting pin-balled around, and being the possession receiver that he is.
9. Sweeping the Browns and Bengals- Considering the fact that the Browns did so well this year, it was important to have the tie-breaker against them, and it always feels good to beat the Bengals.
10. Vs JAX- Week 13: This was a loss, which wasn’t so great, but it was a great snowy, hard-fought, late-season football game. Every season has to have one of those, and this was it. Wildcard Playoff game: Two memorable plays in playoff loss to JAX- a. Big Ben threw incomplete to TE Heath Miller along the hashmarks,. The ball grazed his finger tips has he and the defender reached to grab it. The ball got deflected up into the air falling into Hines Ward’s hands mid-stride who carried it out of bounds passed the first down, but not before giving the safety a healthy stiff arm. b. James Farrior brickwalled Jones-Drew on a an off tackle run. Farrior shot threw the gap and nailed Jones-Drew, who fell straight back, taking a seat on the turf as they attempted to drive late in the 4th. Neither of these plays went anywhere (the Ward play was followed by an INT and the Farrior play was followed by a game winning FG for JaX), but they were two great plays made by two great Steelers playing tough football.

Other positives were Willie Parker’s second Pro Bowl year and Roethlisberger’s first. Hopefully these guys can keep bringing it over the next few years.

Off the Unbeaten Pat January 1, 2008

Posted by boydzone in : points, sports , 1 comment so far

So, what exactly will it take for the Pats to lose, if there is anything that can stop them? I pretty much figured they would go undefeated once I saw them destroy the opening few games of the season. And like everyone else, was lured into a false hope that the Eagles, Colts, and Ravens would actually pull off the upset.
Playing the Pats is like having a staring contest. If you blink they will beat you, and Saturday night, the Giants, who were perched on the brink of victory, blinked and their victory slipped right away.
They were able to hold the victory for the first 30 minutes as they managed the clock well, held the Pats to a few field goals, and made a great special teams play.
The second half saw some of that great ball management/movement, but also the type of minor inconsistancies that the Pats will feast on: a muffed snap, a dropped pass (jacobs), an interception, and totally chaotic clock management within the last few minutes of gameplay.
That game should not have come down to an onside kick, had these factors been a little better controlled, but the Giants found themselves like all the other teams that had led the Pats before them, scrambling to stop a Pats comeback towards invetiable victory.
Before this game, I was wondering what would be a bigger motivator for the Pats;
the taste of a loss to remind them how bitter that feeling is and just how much they want to avoid it, or that feeling of invincibiliy and momentum.
Hopefully they will plan to coast on this momentum while someone (jags, colts, bolts, and ideally Steelers, but I don’t see it in them this year, bless em’) will be able to act just that bit more inhuman than the Giants, in the Pat’s image, and beat them at their game.