Avery Speechless?
Oct 12, 2008 NHL
Here’s a video from the Dallas/Nashville game, that featured a line brawl after a hit on Tootoo, who then battled with Turco, and it went downhill from there.
My favorite part is at the end, with Sean Avery in the box. He’s getting yelled at by a woman just on the other side of the divider…prompting the Nashville crew calling the game to say that Avery is one of the ‘premier debaters’ in the NHL. Come on, you don’t go with master debater there? H/T to Kukla.
Tags: dallas, Hockey, nashville, NHL, predators, Sean Avery, stars, youtube
Sean Avery - Man of Fashion!
I’m sorry, Jerkwad, but no matter how much of an ass you try and make of yourself on the ice, how much you try and ‘agitate’ and make yourself sound tough, I will always picture you looking like this:
Short Pants FTW
and laugh. Good job. Thanks Wyshynski. And, uh, Mens Vogue I guess for the picture. Never thought I’d be thanking them in this space.
Old Game Tuesday - Stars!
Apr 29, 2008 PC Games
As I roll through these old games, you are going to notice that 4X games are well-represented. One of my personal favorites is Stars!, released wa-a-ay back in 1995. Jeff Johnson and Jeff McBride created the game for their own enjoyment, and decided to release it as Shareware. People still did that back then, you know. I came in a bit later, after Empire Interactive picked it up to sell in stores.
By the way, a bit on 4X: it means eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. The details vary game to game, but in general in a 4X game you start with a base of operations (your home planet in Stars!, or your Settler unit in Civ), from which you expand your territory. You have to exploit the resources of the map, and exterminate your opponents. That’s one that varies now, as there are usually less than lethal win conditions.
Stars! has all the 4x standards. You begin with one planet and a couple of ships. Early turns are spent exploring the nearby systems and colonizing whatever ones are habitable by your (customizable) race. During this time your scientific research is progressing, and some basic improvements are being built. Soon enough, you will encounter your first opponent, ripe for destruction. As time goes by, your research ramps up and you start learning of new technologies, from weapons and shields to new terraforming abilities. If there is one downside to the game, it’s the sheer volume of stuff to manage. There are dozens of ship parts, for example, and a whole mess of hulls for custom-designing ships. It really hepls to try and keep a standard naming convention for ships, creative names are fun but not when you can’t remember the stats for each one. There’s a TON of micro-management in the game, which of course is not for everyone, but can get tedious. Thankfully, planetary management has some helpful shortcuts, including the ability to save preset build orders. You can set a default that any new colony starts to build as well.
There is a lot more I could say - this is one of those games that I always come back to, and it never gets old. It’s very hard to find, I’m not even sure if you can get CD keys for it any more, but if you like this style game and find a copy, try it!
NHL Playoff Picture
Apr 21, 2008 NHL
A few more team advanced to the next round of the playoffs over the weekend, but not the defending champs. The Dallas Stars took out the Ducks in 6 games, and join the Avalanche and the Red Wings coming out of the West. Kipper forced game 7 for Calgary as the Flames shut out the Sharks 2-0.
The Rangers took out the Devils in 5, joining the Pens in the next round. Boston has won 2 straight games to force game 7 up in Montreal, and Washington staved off elimination on Saturday but play in Philly tonight. No late game tonight, which sucks as that’s the one I’m more likely to see.
Tags: anaheim, avalanche, boston, bruins, calgary, Canadiens, colorado, dallas, detroit, devils, ducks, flames, Hockey, Montreal, new jersey, new york, NHL, playoffs, rangers, red wings, san jose, sharks, stars
Playoff Update
Apr 11, 2008 NHL
Three series are underway in the East, with Montreal, Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers all holding a 1-0 lead. Montreal scored twice in the first two minutes (one each from the Kostitsyns) and took the body on the supposedly more physical Bruins. I’d vote the Bruins most likely team to get swept if the Sens didn’t look so terrible right now. The Rangers took advantage of an off-his-game Brodeur, and Devils fans are hoping that was a one game let down or they have no shot. Washington and Philly get started tonight.
All four Western Conference series are underway, with Detroit, Colorado and Dallas holding 1-0 leads. Calagary/San Jose is 1-1. I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve been able to stay up and see of the Flames and Sharks (especially Iginla ripping it from Campbell and scoring). A little shocked that Anaheim got shut out. Should be some fun stuff tonight.
Tags: avalanche, boston, bruins, calgary, campbell, Canadiens, colorado, dallas, detroit, devils, flames, Hockey, iginla, Montreal, new jersey, new york, NHL, ottawa, penguins, pittsburgh, playoffs, rangers, red wings, san jose, senators, sharks, stars
Roy Nets 2 to Beat the Stars
Jan 25, 2008 NHL
So THAT’S what a close win feels like. I’d almost forgotten with all the losses and the shootouts and the hurting. Derek Roy scored both Buffalo goals (with able assistance from Stafford and Vanek) to beat the Dallas Stars last night. Stu Barnes had the only Dallas goal, thanks in part to Soupy. Miller made 25 saves in another solid efford, but was bailed out on the last play of the game by Jochen Hecht. Hecht swept the puck away from the wide open side of the net with 10 seconds to go.
The Sabres have some winnable games coming up after the ASG, they need their strong play from last night to continue on into Florida.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, dallas, Drew Stafford, hecht, roy, Ryan Miller, sabres, stars, Thomas Vanek
It started so well…
Jan 23, 2008 NHL
It’s been a few days since I’ve posted about the Sabres, partly because I haven’t gotten to watch much of the games. I DID see the awesome beatdown of the Thrashers, and was all set for that to be the beginning of a dominant stretch.
Never mind.
I was unable to listen to the rest of the last game against the Coyotes, thanks to Kevin Sylvester calling a bunch of soft goals. My thought was the Sabres would win one of these two before the break, and break off some wins on some weaker teams afer. They can still do that, but Dallas is a tougher nut to crack than Phoenix, Bryzgalov or no Bryzgalov.
Tags: atlanta, B-Lo Sports, bryzgalov, coyotes, dallas, phoenix, sabres, stars, thrashers
