2007-02-14 12:39![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
digitaldiscipline
digitaldiscipline[an excerpt of a letter I just sent to John Buccigross, ESPN's Resident Hockey Guy]
You write, "Major League Baseball's All-Star Game is held during the week."
The MLB All-Star game is unique in all of professional North American sports in that the day before, and the day after, are the only sports-free days on the entire calendar. It has, literally, no competition. The NHL ASG, by comparison, has to fight with, at the very least, the NBA, which (despite my staunchest efforts), remains far more popular [there's a prolonged rant I do here about the screen minute disparity between these two leagues on SportsCenter]), and possibly the playoff or Superbowl hype monster that is the NFL.
Long story short, the NHL ASG has the deck stacked against it, and making it a mid-week affair, even if it wasn't on the hard-to-find VS network, only exacerbates the problem. I hadn't considered the idea of a season-opening ASG like the one you proposed, but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. Sure, the play will be pre-season sloppy, but casual fans won't notice, and real fans will hardly care - the current ASG is hardly representative of the average game in terms of play style, anyways.
Now, on to my question - what's your shortlist for best hockey video game of all time? I have a soft spot in my heart for both Blades of Steel on the old Nintendo and the first EA Sports NHL Hockey (before, you know, it became a franchise juggernaut, and sketchy AI allowed the lowly 92-93 Senators, they of the 38 team rating, to run up 40 goals a game with a .903 shooting percentage).... but nothing tops the EA NHL '99 (yes, the one with Lindros on the cover) for having the best, pump-you-up intro montage - great music, great footage (and LOTS OF HITTING - sadly overlooked when highlights focus on sweet goals and great saves)... after watching that for 45 seconds, you didn't just want to grab a controller and throw down, you wanted to lace 'em up and let fly.
And now, for your tedium and detritus pleasure, 50 trivial questions nicked from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wyngdlyon:
1. Height?
Five eight-ish. On a good day.
2.Have you ever done heroin?
This falls into the category of "I will not ingest shit that could kill me easily."
3. Do you own a gun?
Not at the moment. It's gotten some measure of consideration, however.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
Not particularly. However, I do get a little excited, which I have to consciously push down if I'm ever going to get accurate pulse & blood pressure readings (at last check, those were 54bpm and 126/78, two weeks ago, and my cholesterol is a much-happier 167).
6. What do you think of hot dogs?
They're small-bore bologna. I like microwaving them until they split open like angry cephalopods, then eating them with a fork and some A-1 sauce. This offendsaishlynn's sensibilities horrendously, and since she's the one who does the grocery-shopping, I don't indulge in this often.
7. What's your favorite Christmas song?
I like the Carol of the Bells, especially Trans-Siberian Orchestra's version.
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
The blood of my enemies. When that isn't available, I usually make do with green or white tea. Coffee on the weekends.
9. Can you do push ups?
Does the pope wear a stupid hat while shitting in the woods?
10. Is your bathroom clean?
Fairly.
11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
Since I wear only one item, this is kind of a narrow field.
12. Do you like painkillers?
Having never had anything appreciably stronger than Advil, or what's available at your nearest bar, I can't really say much to this. My one experience with Tylenol 3 wasn't that interesting - I felt tired, went to bed, and woke up in a pool of my own blood (which sounds exciting, until I point out that this was after having my wisdom teeth pulled).
13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
It used to be a unique sartorial charm. Now, I've learned the trick is actually to have a small black hole secreted about my person at all times, preferably in the pocket of a Utilikilt.
14. Do you have A.D.D.?
Nope.
16. Middle Name?
Classified.
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
"Where the fuck is my income tax return?"
"Holy fuck, the office coffee is vile."
"I wish my massage therapy appointment was tomorrow, not next week."
18. Name the last 3 things you wanted to buy?
Hormel Turkey Pepperoni (Yes, via coworker-as-purchasing proxy)
Watercooling rig (Yes. A Newegg.com sale and rebate; it is in repose, waiting for me to do something silly like upgrade to an Intel socket 775 CPU, which will entail a major upgrade cycle, since it will require new mobo, ram, and video card.)
Bugatti Veyron (No. I'd have to sell my house approximately six times to afford it)
19.Name 3 drinks you regularly drink
Green tea, water, Chocolate soy milk
Where did 20 & 21 go?
I'm guessing that they sucked, and now pay Henry Rollins for the priviledge of mowing his lawn.
22. Current worry?
How my folks are coping with all the snow headed their way with travel planned, friends with bad stuff nipping at their asses. Also, boring shit like credit card debt.
23. Current hate?
The fact that nobody unbalanced has acted on the fact that we're two heartbeats from President Pelosi. Talk about killing to birds with one stone....
24. Favorite place to be?
Snuggled up withaishlynn.
25. How did you bring in the New Year?
WoW (Stratholme, specifically), interrupted by laundry and Dick Clark's reanimated corpse.
26. Where would you like to go?
London, Denver, SF, Sydney, Mars.
27. What were you doing an hour ago?
Eating lunch at my desk (where "lunch" equals the aforementioned pepperoni, fresh garlic salsa, and whole weat tortilla chips. I'm healthy-like, y0). Also, reading Gardner Dozois' "Best of the Best SF 2" ("Sailing to Byzantium," specifically).
28. What shirt are you wearing?
Black waffle-weave workout shirt underneath a nondescript but soft grey polo.
29. Do you burn or tan?
Tan
30. Favorite color(s)?
Black, gunmetal, royal blue.
31. Would you be a pirate?
Only if I could have todays modern conveniences. And less scurvy. Being bulletproof would also help.
Bye bye 32....
I though this was supposed to be 50 questions?
33. What songs do you sing in the shower?
I seldom sing; instead, I am besieged by hideous earworms.
34. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
If you've ever watched Cosmos, picture the depiction of space-time as a flat but elastic grid. I wasn't scared of the grid, but I had a recurring lucid nightmare that there were two huge boulders bouncing on it, and it was only my force of will that kept them from whacking against one another. I still have no fucking idea what this might represent.
35. What's in your pockets right now?
A money clip with some cash, my ID, and a couple credit cards in it. Also, some change I forgot to unload last night.
36. Last thing that made you laugh?
http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6042/3366/320/358321/nympho.jpg
Picture is probably on the edge of worksafe, it's the cover of a pulp wank book called "Nympho Librarians."
37. Best bed sheets as a child?
I had a lot of boring sheets, and one set of Empire Strikes Back ones.
38. Worst injury you've ever had?
In terms of discomfort, breaking my clavicle. In terms of gore, I took all the skin off both of my knees when I was a kid.
40. How many TVs do you have in your house?
One that's actually hooked up. There are two others in varying states of storage. One of them, a 27" Phillips, is for sale, cheap, if anyone wants it.
41. Who is your loudest friend?
draxzaster, in a walkover.
42. Who is your most silent friend?
Baal, unless he's got "veinage" going on.
43. Does someone have a crush on you?
Probably more people than I'm aware of (though that may just be my ignorance and ego speaking, heh).
44. Do you wish on shooting stars?
Nope.
45. What is your favorite book?
Ghaaaah. Can't pare that down at the moment, sorry.
46. What is your favorite candy?
Plain, original M&M's.
47. What song do/did you want played at your wedding?
Paul Simon, "Call Me Al." Unless you're talking the processional, in which case, Mussorgsky's "The Great Gate at Kiev."
48. What song do you want played at your funeral?
"One More Minute," by Wierd Al Yankovic
49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night?
Sleeping. I'm old, and have a day job.
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
"Fuck. I don't want to get up yet."
You write, "Major League Baseball's All-Star Game is held during the week."
The MLB All-Star game is unique in all of professional North American sports in that the day before, and the day after, are the only sports-free days on the entire calendar. It has, literally, no competition. The NHL ASG, by comparison, has to fight with, at the very least, the NBA, which (despite my staunchest efforts), remains far more popular [there's a prolonged rant I do here about the screen minute disparity between these two leagues on SportsCenter]), and possibly the playoff or Superbowl hype monster that is the NFL.
Long story short, the NHL ASG has the deck stacked against it, and making it a mid-week affair, even if it wasn't on the hard-to-find VS network, only exacerbates the problem. I hadn't considered the idea of a season-opening ASG like the one you proposed, but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. Sure, the play will be pre-season sloppy, but casual fans won't notice, and real fans will hardly care - the current ASG is hardly representative of the average game in terms of play style, anyways.
Now, on to my question - what's your shortlist for best hockey video game of all time? I have a soft spot in my heart for both Blades of Steel on the old Nintendo and the first EA Sports NHL Hockey (before, you know, it became a franchise juggernaut, and sketchy AI allowed the lowly 92-93 Senators, they of the 38 team rating, to run up 40 goals a game with a .903 shooting percentage).... but nothing tops the EA NHL '99 (yes, the one with Lindros on the cover) for having the best, pump-you-up intro montage - great music, great footage (and LOTS OF HITTING - sadly overlooked when highlights focus on sweet goals and great saves)... after watching that for 45 seconds, you didn't just want to grab a controller and throw down, you wanted to lace 'em up and let fly.
And now, for your tedium and detritus pleasure, 50 trivial questions nicked from
wyngdlyon:1. Height?
Five eight-ish. On a good day.
2.Have you ever done heroin?
This falls into the category of "I will not ingest shit that could kill me easily."
3. Do you own a gun?
Not at the moment. It's gotten some measure of consideration, however.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
Not particularly. However, I do get a little excited, which I have to consciously push down if I'm ever going to get accurate pulse & blood pressure readings (at last check, those were 54bpm and 126/78, two weeks ago, and my cholesterol is a much-happier 167).
6. What do you think of hot dogs?
They're small-bore bologna. I like microwaving them until they split open like angry cephalopods, then eating them with a fork and some A-1 sauce. This offends
aishlynn's sensibilities horrendously, and since she's the one who does the grocery-shopping, I don't indulge in this often.7. What's your favorite Christmas song?
I like the Carol of the Bells, especially Trans-Siberian Orchestra's version.
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
The blood of my enemies. When that isn't available, I usually make do with green or white tea. Coffee on the weekends.
9. Can you do push ups?
Does the pope wear a stupid hat while shitting in the woods?
10. Is your bathroom clean?
Fairly.
11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
Since I wear only one item, this is kind of a narrow field.
12. Do you like painkillers?
Having never had anything appreciably stronger than Advil, or what's available at your nearest bar, I can't really say much to this. My one experience with Tylenol 3 wasn't that interesting - I felt tired, went to bed, and woke up in a pool of my own blood (which sounds exciting, until I point out that this was after having my wisdom teeth pulled).
13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
It used to be a unique sartorial charm. Now, I've learned the trick is actually to have a small black hole secreted about my person at all times, preferably in the pocket of a Utilikilt.
14. Do you have A.D.D.?
Nope.
16. Middle Name?
Classified.
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
"Where the fuck is my income tax return?"
"Holy fuck, the office coffee is vile."
"I wish my massage therapy appointment was tomorrow, not next week."
18. Name the last 3 things you wanted to buy?
Hormel Turkey Pepperoni (Yes, via coworker-as-purchasing proxy)
Watercooling rig (Yes. A Newegg.com sale and rebate; it is in repose, waiting for me to do something silly like upgrade to an Intel socket 775 CPU, which will entail a major upgrade cycle, since it will require new mobo, ram, and video card.)
Bugatti Veyron (No. I'd have to sell my house approximately six times to afford it)
19.Name 3 drinks you regularly drink
Green tea, water, Chocolate soy milk
Where did 20 & 21 go?
I'm guessing that they sucked, and now pay Henry Rollins for the priviledge of mowing his lawn.
22. Current worry?
How my folks are coping with all the snow headed their way with travel planned, friends with bad stuff nipping at their asses. Also, boring shit like credit card debt.
23. Current hate?
The fact that nobody unbalanced has acted on the fact that we're two heartbeats from President Pelosi. Talk about killing to birds with one stone....
24. Favorite place to be?
Snuggled up with
aishlynn.25. How did you bring in the New Year?
WoW (Stratholme, specifically), interrupted by laundry and Dick Clark's reanimated corpse.
26. Where would you like to go?
London, Denver, SF, Sydney, Mars.
27. What were you doing an hour ago?
Eating lunch at my desk (where "lunch" equals the aforementioned pepperoni, fresh garlic salsa, and whole weat tortilla chips. I'm healthy-like, y0). Also, reading Gardner Dozois' "Best of the Best SF 2" ("Sailing to Byzantium," specifically).
28. What shirt are you wearing?
Black waffle-weave workout shirt underneath a nondescript but soft grey polo.
29. Do you burn or tan?
Tan
30. Favorite color(s)?
Black, gunmetal, royal blue.
31. Would you be a pirate?
Only if I could have todays modern conveniences. And less scurvy. Being bulletproof would also help.
Bye bye 32....
I though this was supposed to be 50 questions?
33. What songs do you sing in the shower?
I seldom sing; instead, I am besieged by hideous earworms.
34. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
If you've ever watched Cosmos, picture the depiction of space-time as a flat but elastic grid. I wasn't scared of the grid, but I had a recurring lucid nightmare that there were two huge boulders bouncing on it, and it was only my force of will that kept them from whacking against one another. I still have no fucking idea what this might represent.
35. What's in your pockets right now?
A money clip with some cash, my ID, and a couple credit cards in it. Also, some change I forgot to unload last night.
36. Last thing that made you laugh?
http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/6042/3366/320/358321/nympho.jpg
Picture is probably on the edge of worksafe, it's the cover of a pulp wank book called "Nympho Librarians."
37. Best bed sheets as a child?
I had a lot of boring sheets, and one set of Empire Strikes Back ones.
38. Worst injury you've ever had?
In terms of discomfort, breaking my clavicle. In terms of gore, I took all the skin off both of my knees when I was a kid.
40. How many TVs do you have in your house?
One that's actually hooked up. There are two others in varying states of storage. One of them, a 27" Phillips, is for sale, cheap, if anyone wants it.
41. Who is your loudest friend?
draxzaster, in a walkover.42. Who is your most silent friend?
Baal, unless he's got "veinage" going on.
43. Does someone have a crush on you?
Probably more people than I'm aware of (though that may just be my ignorance and ego speaking, heh).
44. Do you wish on shooting stars?
Nope.
45. What is your favorite book?
Ghaaaah. Can't pare that down at the moment, sorry.
46. What is your favorite candy?
Plain, original M&M's.
47. What song do/did you want played at your wedding?
Paul Simon, "Call Me Al." Unless you're talking the processional, in which case, Mussorgsky's "The Great Gate at Kiev."
48. What song do you want played at your funeral?
"One More Minute," by Wierd Al Yankovic
49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night?
Sleeping. I'm old, and have a day job.
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
"Fuck. I don't want to get up yet."
