Gaming Tuesday

Gamerscore Last Week: 23620
Goal: 23800
Gamerscore Now: 23620

No Achievements Unlocked

Goal: 23700
$ for HPA: 20.95(+9.00 this week)

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The biggest gaming release this week was a Wii game, so there's not much news in the gaming world. The full assault that gave developers had on our wallets is over for the year. Add to that how much homework I have to do and there's not much I want to discuss about gaming. It will probably be the same next week.

Thanks for reading.

-Michael.

Browns' Monday- Finally a Team That Screws Up Worse Than the Browns Edition

Week 12- Panthers @ Browns

Cleveland 24
Carolina 23

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter
Carolina TD: Mike Goodson rushed for 26 yards
Cleveland TD: Peyton Hillis rushed for 9 yards
Cleveland TD: Peyton Hillis rushed for 5 yards

2nd Quarter
Cleveland TD: Peyton Hillis rushed for 6 yards
Carolina FG: John Kasey 43 yards
Carolina FG: John Kasey 42 yards

3rd Quarter
Carolina TD: Captain Munnerlyn returned an interception 37 yards

4th Quarter
Carolina FG: John Kasey 43 yards
Cleveland FG: Phil Dawson 41 yards

Important Player Stats
Jake Delhomme: 24-35, 245 yards, 2 INTs

Peyton Hillis: 26 rush, 131 yards, 3 TDs, 6 receptions, 63 yards

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Something we definitely learned yesterday is that the Carolina Panthers are not very good a football. The Browns did their very best to make sure Carolina would win in the 2nd half and they still couldn't quite back their way into the victory.

The game followed the typical pattern for a lot of the Browns' games this season with the edition of the Delhomme factor. Yesterday, as has been the case in many other games this season, Cleveland was pretty damn effective on offense in the first half, but went absolutely stagnant in the second half. The Delhomme factor added the, "I'm gonna throw it to the other team" that Colt McCoy and Seneca Wallace were good at avoiding. It's weird that he can be such an impressive QB at times then he just starts throwing interceptions.

I was impressed with the defensive performance for the most part yesterday. That last drive they allowed was kind of embarrassing, but they managed to shut them out of the end zone for the entire game after the first drive. There are still some issues that improved personnel would address, but even with a bit of a talent deficit this defense is pretty damn good.

If there has been one thing us Cleveland fans have had to hand our hats on it's the Browns' Special Teams. The Special Teams have been the best in the league for years now and yesterday was no exception. The punting game was the most impressive yesterday. As much as I really like Dave Zastudil, his days as a Cleveland Brown are done. Reggie Hodges has secured the job.

It's nice to think that the Browns probably won't finish last in the division this year. I think the next 3 games are winnable. That would bring the record up to 7-7. Maybe just maybe they could split the last two and go .500. That's probably just wishful thinking, they're bound to blow a few games down the stretch.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

Buckeye Sunday

Ohio State 37
Michigan 7

Scoring Summary

2nd Quarter
Ohio State FG: Devin Barclay 34 yards
Ohio State TD: Terrelle Pryor passed to Dane Sanzenbacher for 7 yards
Michigan TD: Michael Shaw rushed for 1 yard
Ohio State TD: Jordan Hall returned kick-off 85 yards
Ohio State TD: Terrelle Pryor passed to DeVier Posey for 33 yards

3rd Quarter
Ohio State TD: Daniel Herron rushed for 32 yards
Ohio State FG: Devin Barclay 36 yards
Ohio State FG: Devin Barclay 23 yards

Important Player Stats
Terrelle Pryor: 18-27, 220 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT

Daniel Herron: 22 rushes, 175 yards, TD

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My earliest memories of this game are generally of Ohio State losing to Michigan. Most of the time Ohio State had a superior team, but still would end up losing to the Wolverines. Except for in 1998 when the team had already blown their chance at the National Title, then the Buckeye's managed to win one against Michigan.

Now, it is slowly becoming almost ho-hum to beat Michigan. It's been 7 straight years and 9 of the past 10. I'm not complaining though. It's going to suck when Michigan finally breaks through again.

The game was very similar to the previous two against Michigan. Just general dominance of Ohio State. I don't think Michigan is to far off from being back to being competitive with Ohio State. Provided they don't get rid of Rodriguez.

Pryor had a really nice first half with the exception of his final pass of the half. He didn't really do much in the second half, because he didn't really have to/didn't get to.

The defense did pretty well. You can't really expect to always stop Michigan when Robinson is on the field, but the managed to hold up. Once Robinson was gone Michigan couldn't do a thing.

So, it's on to a bowl game for the Buckeyes. Not surprisingly Wisconsin is ahead of Ohio State in the BCS rankings, so the Badgers will be going to the Rose Bowl. Not to fret though, because Ohio State will be going to a BCS bowl game regardless. Most likely it will against Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl.

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Pasta's Player of the Year Rankings

4. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
3. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State
2. LaMichael James, RB, Oregon
1. Cam Newton, QB, Auburn

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Pasta's Top 5

5. Stanford
4. Wisconsin
3. TCU
2. Auburn
1. Oregon

I'm really wondering if Auburn is already secure in their position in the National Title game. I mean even if they lose next week, I think they may stay ahead of TCU. Or if Auburn would fall in the polls would Stanford or Wisconsin jump TCU.

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I'm skipping the Basketball this week. The games where quite similar and against crappy opponents.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

I'm Cheating

I haven't really had time to think about a blog post today. Now it's 11:30 and OU/OSU is going down and I'm desperate to have a post up by midnight. That being the case I turn to my old friend the survey. So, here's one I quickly found on a friends facebook. I would promise to never do this again, but I need to keep my emergency option open.

What time did you get up this morning? About 9

How do you like your steak? Medium Well

What was the last film you saw at the cinema? This will be sad, but I think it was Angels and Demons

What is your favorite TV show? Futurama

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? I think the Pacific Northwest, specifically Seattle

Where would you visit if you had the chance? England

Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Empty

Where would you want to retire? Suburban Chicago

Bird Watcher? No

What did you want to be when you were little? Astronaut/Ghost Buster/President/NFL Superstar

From whom did you get your last email? My Sister

Like your job? It doesn't exist

What was your favorite vacation? Definitely going to Lollapaloza with my friend in 2008

Ever break someone’s heart or have your heart broken? No

So far what have you done today? Chilled with my best friend Pat. Watched OSU/Michigan, played video games and drove around our old stomping grounds.

Would you ever get a tattoo? No. I'm not a moralist about it, I just don't find them attractive.

What was the last thing you ate? Pizza

What would you do if you opened up your front door to a dead body? Inform the authorities

Do you like to spend time with people? That is very dependent on who is meant by 'people'

Are you a forgiving person? Yes

Do you want a relationship right now? Yes

What are you about to do? Bed time

Three feelings at the moment? I'm pretty content

Last movie you watched? I don't watch many movies and I can't think of the last movie I watched

Have you changed much this year? I think so

What does your most recent received text say? yo, just woke up. im gonna stay at my grandparents house for the game

Would you get back with your last ex if they asked you? No

On average, what do you cry most about? Certain songs

Who was the last person you had a phone conversation with for more than 2 hours? I don't know if I've every done that, but if I have it was with my sister

Is there someone you wish you were still close with? Yes

How many months until your birthday? Five

Any plans for tomorrow? Fakesgiving, Finish my paper for Mythology/read for Mythology and possibly study for my Math test on Monday

What is the last nonalcoholic beverage you had? Water

Thanks for reading.

-Michael

One of us Is Insane

This is going to be a really short one.

I don't really want to deal with Black Friday. I mean, I'll pay more to avoid risking being trampled. I also really don't want to get up that early on a day where I don't have class. But, tons of people do that. I suppose it is a fitting to start to a commercial holiday.

I always look forward to Black Friday for the College Football. It's not what it used to be. It used to be really simple. Texas-Texas A & M then Nebraska-Colorado. Then one of them turned into a lop-sided rivalry and the other into an annual shit fest. Now, there are more games, which is a good thing. Bama and Auburn, Pitt and WVU, Oregon and Arizona and Boise State and Nevada*. It's a good day just sit back and watch the games and think about the people elbowing each other over some sale.

Thanks for reading.

-Michael
*And a few other crap match-ups

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving too anyone who reads this blog. Scratch that. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

So, My family doesn't really do Thanksgiving anymore. There's no great story of resent and politics, we just don't. It's not a big deal and I'm not terribly upset about it, that's just the way we do it now.

Today, I actually did eat a lot of food, it just wasn't really that traditional. Mom made steaks and mashed potatoes for lunch. That was probably the biggest lunch, I've ever had. There were also rolls and honey butter. I fucking love honey butter. Seriously, I ate like 3 rolls at lunch and 5 rolls with my dinner just for the honey butter. I'm going to have a piece of cake once I've finished this post. Fuck it, I'm having it now and I'll finish this later...


Back. That was yummy. I think I'm done for the day now.

Thanksgiving is a tough day for someone like me who strives to be an angsty hipster ;) I mean why be thankful when no one understands me. Also, I need to pretend that I don't really care about anything. It's very important not to care. Just don't care too much about not caring.

Ok. Enough of that :)

In the style of the 5 Awesome Girls here is my 2 thanks and a lie.

I'm Thankful for honey butter
I'm Thankful for the baller people that are in my life
I'm Thankful for camping assholes in Call of Duty

Tell me which one is a lie :)

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

Random Wednesday- International You Day

Someday, I'll actually put more into a Random Wednesday post again. To tide you over here's a random thought: Nothing is more annoying than having your pick fall into the sound hole*.

"International You Day" by No Use For A Name is song I've been particularly fond of lately. I can't believe I've never how much a sweet love song it is before recently. Punk Rock will do that to you, I guess. Check out the Acoustic version; I think it's amazing.







Thanks for reading.

-Michael
*That's what she said

Gaming Tuesday

Achievements

Gamerscore Last Week: 23130
Goal: 23350
Gamerscore Now: 23620

Achievements unlocked

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Brotherhood 20G
Your Wish is Granted 10G
Bang! 20G
Pincipessa in Another Castello 20G
Dust to Dust 20G
Fundraiser 20G
Forget Paris 20G
Splash! 20G
Home Improvement 20G
One-Man Wrecking Crew 20G
Bloody Sunday 20G
Vittoria Agli Assassini 20G
Requiescat In Pace 20G
A Knife to the Heart 50G
Plumber 20G
Spring Cleaning 10G
Deja Vu 20G
Tower Offense 20G
Amen 20G
Boom! 20G
Kaboom! 20G
Synchronization Established 10G
Fly Like an Eagle 10G
Show Off 20G
Perfectionist 20G

Goal for Next Week: 23800
$ for HPA: 11.95

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Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Review

The most noticeable thing about this game is how similar it is to Assassin's Creed 2. It even feels like just an expansion pack. There aren't even the typical "learning" missions where you are taught the special moves. If you haven't played Assassin's Creed 2, you probably will have some difficulty getting acclimated to this game(-1). That being said, the fact that it is so similar to Assassin's Creed to isn't a bad thing. Much like Assassin's Creed 2, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a beautiful game with an amazing plot and exciting gameplay(+20).

There are some subtle differences from Assassin's Creed 2 that do make Brotherhood a slightly better experience(+1). The combat system has not been entirely revamped, but it has changed. It is now very quick and offensive. You no longer will be stuck in long sword fights with guards, but will be able to take down enemies more quickly. That ability is counteracted by the fact that you have to face a lot more guards during battles in this game. Over all the combat system has been improved and some of the frustrating elements of prior games have been removed(+3).

Another new element is the introduction of Assassin recruits. Ezio now has trainees at his disposal to help him in battle and get rid of bothersome guards. As they help you and perform assassinations and fight beside you against hoards of guards, they will earn XP and will rank up, which allows you to improve their abilities. This is another cool feature introduced into Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and is another way to expedite combat sequences. It doesn't add something tremendous to the game, but it does improve the experience(+1.5)

The Story Mode is organized exactly like Assassin's Creed 2 was. You complete DNA sequences and there are tons of side missions. Again this isn't a drawback to the game. Assassin's Creed 2 was great and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is greater(+5).

The new Multiplayer mode is alright. It is not great, but it is certainly not awful either. It is definitely a brand new multiplayer experience(+2). It is all about stealth and blending in with the crowd. You are spawned into a map with other players and lots of NPCs that look like one of the user controlled characters. You are given a contract to assassinate another player and likely someone has a contract to take you out. It is most beneficial to remain hidden in the crowd to take out your target and protect you from your pursuer.

The multiplayer doesn't really allow you to do the things that make the single player so fun(-5). You can't sprint, you can't climb buildings. You have to try to make yourself look like an NPC and so running and climbing onto rooftops make you stick out. So, while the multiplayer is actually pretty fun(+2), it really seems to be lacking.

I think this game could have benefited from true Free-for-All and Team Deathmatch game modes. I really want to be able to sprint and climb around in Multiplayer. I would definitely love to see a multiplayer free-roam mode as well.

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

78.5 Nerd Points

The review system is explained here

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Call of Duty: Black Ops' First Patch

So, the first patch is out and it actually addressed quite a few of the criticisms that I had of the multiplayer. The match-making system in both regular games and wager matches has been much improved. Nuke Town isn't in the rotation as much and more importantly they changed the voting system so that a lobby won't get stuck on that map. Also they patched footsteps, making Ninja a useful perk again.

The fact that Treyarch released a significant patch just one week into the release of a game makes me happy. Black Ops has really showed me just how awful Modern Warfare 2 was. It's like the transition from a crappy relationship to a good relationship. It not only makes you appreciate the good relationship so much more, but also makes you realize how shitty the old one was. I had always stuck up for Modern Warfare 2 when it got so much bashing, but now Black Ops has made me realize how terrible of a gaming experience MW2 was.

Seriously, I think I've been noob tubed 3 times since I've been playing this game. In fact explosive deaths have been pretty damn minimal. It is just so much better without all the bullshit that went along with MW2.

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An Announcement of an Announcement about an Announcement

I will be announcing my nominees for Game of the Year on the December 14th* edition of Gaming Tuesday. I think if you have followed this blog, I may have tipped my hand as to which games will be nominated. If you have any thoughts about what you think should be game of the year let me know in the comments of this post.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael
*There's something about that date ;)

Browns' Monday- Turnover -> 3 and Out Edition

Week 11- Browns @ Jaguars

Cleveland 20
Jacksonville 24

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter
Jacksonville FG: Josh Scobee 47 yards

2nd Quarter
Cleveland TD: Colt McCoy pass to Peyton Hillis for 11 yards
Jacksonville TD: David Garrard pass to Mike Thomas for 5 yards

3rd Quarter
Cleveland TD: Abram Elam returned Jacksonville fumble for 18 yards
Cleveland FG: Phil Dawson 38 yards

4th Quarter
Jacksonville TD: David Garrard pass to Mercedes Lewis for 14 yards
Cleveland FG: Phil Dawson 41 yards
Jacksonville TD: Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for 1 yard

Important Player Stats
Colt McCoy: 17-28, 241 yards, TD, INT

Peyton Hillis: 21 yards, 48 yards, 6 receptions, 95 yards, TD

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5 straight turnovers by the defense. Three offensive points. That's just pathetic. The Browns' offense opened the 2nd half with 5 three and outs in row, 4 of which came off turnovers. The Browns win yesterday if the offense could just get first downs on two of those drives.

I mean the defense did as much as they could, but it was clear that they were dead tired late in the 2nd half. It was entirely due to the failures of the offense.

The game yesterday was just very frustrating.

McCoy played another solid game. He didn't do much in the 2nd half. That's not entirely his fault considering most of the times he passed in the 2nd half were 3rd and longs after two failed runs. The Browns need to find some decent receivers on the outside.

As a game it was reminiscent of the first two games of the season. It just doesn't make sense that Daboll has regressed, but the play-calling in the second half yesterday was tired and predictable, which is something he avoided in recent games.

I don't know what to think about this offseason. The record isn't good enough for Mangini to keep his job, but this team is already lacking talent and is injury depleted. They have been as impressive as I have ever seen a 3-7 team. This team shouldn't be as competitive as they are. So, I'm kind of leaning towards Mangini should keep his job.

Top Draft needs: WR, DE, ILB, DB

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

Buckeye Sunday

Ohio State 20
Iowa 17

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter
Iowa TD: Ricky Stanzi pass to Marvin McNutt for 19 yards

2nd Quarter
Ohio State FG: Devin Barclay 18 yards

3rd Quarter
Ohio State TD: Terrelle Pryor pass to Reid Fragel for 5 yards
Iowa FG: Michael Meyer 31 yards

4th Quarter
Iowa TD: Marcus Cocker rushed for 1 yard
Ohio State FG: Devin Barclay 48 yards
Ohio State TD: Daniel Herron rushed for 1 yard

Important Player Stats
Terrelle Pryor: 18-33, 195 yards, TD, 2 INTs, 15 rushes, 78 yards

Dane Sanzenbacher: 6 receptions, 102 yards

Daniel Herron: 20 rushes, 69 yards

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Yesterday's performance was probably the most impressed I've been with an Ohio State team in a tough game since the 2005 Michigan game. It was by no means a perfect game and there was a lot of adversity on both sides of the ball, but they managed to tough it out in a difficult environment and get the win.

Terrelle Pryor made some mistakes yesterdays, but did a great job keeping his composure. The Ohio State receivers were dropping balls at a level I've only seen the Cleveland Browns at. He didn't get terribly frustrated and do something stupid, which is awesome. I also really like that he is finally running again. He seemed to be hesitant to run through the middle of the season, either due to injury or over-coaching, but yesterday on scrambles and designed runs he gained yards and kept the opposing defense honest. Since he is such an amazing athlete, he was able to use his legs not his arm to make the biggest play of the game.

The rushing attack definitely benefited from the reintroduction of designed runs for Pryor. Herron wasn't able to put up the big numbers he has been in previous games, but Pryor's numbers more than made up for it.

The defense played a solid game. The secondary had its moments, where you had to worry, but overall it was a good game. Iowa's running game was largely made ineffective. Most importantly, they came up with stops when it was most important. They were able to make Iowa go three and out and four and out in their final two possessions ensuring the Ohio State victory.

I think yesterday's game was the best so far by the Special Teams units. The kick off coverage team had no major lapses. The field-goal unit was finally successful at a long Field Goal attempt. The punting game is still lacking, but it didn't do anything to really mess up.

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Michigan

Yes it is Michigan week. The biggest rivalry in college football. It has finally been pushed till after thanksgiving to somewhat reduce the ridiculous wait that Big 10 teams have until BCS bowl games. No matter how good or bad either team is, this is always a big deal.

Michigan is really simple to explain. Pretty Damn impressive offensively with a high school level defense. It's like this, if you can stop Michigan's offense once, they're fucked, because their defense can't stop anybody, ever.

Ohio State 65
Michigan 24

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Pasta's Player of the Year Rankings

4. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
3. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State
2. LaMichael James, RB, Oregon
1. Cam Newton, QB, Auburn

Note: The winner is not announced until the end of the Bowl season
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Pasta's Top 5

5. Wisconsin
4. TCU
3. Auburn
2. Boise State
1. Oregon

I think Auburn is going to lose to Alabama. My current theory is that Auburn would fall(to 6 or 7) and TCU would move up to #2. Then if Auburn wins the SEC championship, the voters will move them right back up to number 2, because of the entitlement the voters have given the SEC*.

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Ohio State 93
Florida 75

Player Stats

Jared Sullinger 26 points, 10 rebounds

David Lighty 26 points

William Buford 16 points, 8 assists

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Ohio State 81
UNC-Wilmington 41

Stat: Every healthy player on the Ohio State roster played at least 13 minutes

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It was tight for most of the game, but Ohio State took over in the later parts of the 2nd half to rout Florida on their home court. Florida was ranked 9th at the time, but they are overrated. They got that ranking almost entirely on all the starters they returned, but the problem is that those starters aren't very good. So, this victory looks nice now, I don't think it will much matter come selection time in March. Considering that this is without question the toughest out of conference games this year, it may be tough to get a higher seed without a very impressive Big 10 resume.

Jared Sullinger is very impressive. Just three games in and I feel fairly comfortable saying that he is by far the best front court player I've seen at Ohio State.

Something completely different about the Florida game I want to address is the decision by ESPN to cut away from the Ohio State game to go the UConn women's game. Yes, the Ohio State game had gotten out of hand, but damn it I want to watch the Buckeyes not some women's basketball that I do not give a damn about. It's not even like the Women's game would be hard to find if someone really wanted to watch it. It was on fucking ESPN 2! Also, you can't tell me that ESPN isn't able to make sure viewers in Columbus, Ohio can still watch the Ohio State game.

*A Blog First* ESPN, you're on notice.

Yea, UNC-Wilmington was totally outmatched. That's really all that can be said about that game. Holding any team to 41 points does make me one happy dude though, because nothing makes me happier the great defense in Basketball.

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Question for today, How would you like me to organize the Basketball portion of Buckeye Sunday? Do you want the scores and stats for all games that week and then a discussions? Or perhaps have each game taken individually? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael
*See LSU in 2007

Black Ops Stats

I'm seriously lacking inspiration or even ideas for posts. I don't know. I'm normally able to come up with something to write about that make a decently long and coherent post. The past two days that has not been the case. I look forward to the next few days where I've provided myself a post theme and template already.

So in a desperate attempt to provide you all with something, here are my Black Ops multiplayer stats:

Time Played: 13 hours 35 minutes
Wins: 43
Losses: 56
Ratio: .77
Best Streak: 2(there is no way that is accurate)

Kills: 1434
Deaths 1386
K/D ratio: 1.03
Assists: 102
Accuracy: 18%
Headshots: 77
Best Killstreak: 9

That's something that is very cool about Black Ops. I could go into greater detail with numbers, because of how in depth the "Combat Record" feature is.

Also, I changed the design of my emblem this evening from what it had been to something new. I now have the Cookie Monster as my emblem. That is the most baller shit around.

Thanks for reading.

-Michael

Offensive to My Eyes

Boise State is wearing orange unis on their blue field. As a general rule, Orange uniforms are ugly. Put them on a blue field and it equals seizure.

What else? ALL CAPS. Seriously, I get that you're trying to convey that you're excited/angry/happy/loud. Trying typing what you want to say normally then press Shift+1.

End of bitching session.

Today, I woke up, went to class, and played video games afterward. That' s pretty damn typical for me.

This is bad, I expected something better to come me, but it just isn't.

So, that's it.

Thanks for reading.

-Michael

The New Trend

I've fallen into the habit of waiting until the evening(that's being generous) to start posts. Initially, I didn't post like this. If you look at my earlier posts, you'll see loads that were posted in the morning. You'll see posts in a strange abundance posted at precisely 9:00 am. That isn't coincidence, those are posts that I completed the night before or earlier. In fact, I used to try to keep at least one finished blog saved as a draft in case I would became to busy to post on a particular day. I'm never actually busy in the real world.

So, lately, I've been posting much later. I mean there are certainly legitimate reasons for this. This quarter is heavy with school work. My school schedule also, has largely prevented me from posting earlier in the day during the week. Still, it is mostly a habit I've fallen into. I've started pushing the blog further back in the day, because once I'd done it a few times, I knew I could do it and get away* with it. I don't have any finished posts saved as drafts, and I haven't really worked on/finished any posts the night before in a while.

I would like to say that there was a point to that, but there just isn't.

Today, I woke up at 6:30 for Bio lab at 8 and didn't feel much like going, so I didn't. I had this lab circled in my head as one I would skip, if I was going to skip any. Backtracking a bit, there are 10 labs in this class and the professor drops the lowest grade, so getting a zero on this lab doesn't matter because it will go away. So, this was the final lab period with only a single lab to do in it. Also, lab periods suck slightly harder than regular classes and skipping this week has made it so I'll be without having to do a lab for 3 weeks**.

So, I didn't get back to sleep until about 8 and slept until around 11. I basically played video games all day. So, I don't really have any good stories***. There was this kid on Jeopardy who was an idiot and ended up with -6,000. That was pretty funny.

I've got to do some reading for Mythology class tomorrow. And really this post should just stop now.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael
*I don't know who exactly is enforcing these rules, but...
**Last week was Veterans Day, this week I skipped, and next week is Thanksgiving
***I never have good stories

Random Wednesday- Unless It's Kicks

Gaming Tuesday

Achievements

Gamerscore Last Week: 22665
Goal: 22800
Gamerscore Now: 23130

Achievements unlocked

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Some wounds never heal 10G
Up close and personal 15G
Never get of the boat 15G
Clarity 10G
Stand Down 35G
Just ask me nicely 15G
Eaten by a Grue 15G
"Insert Coin" 5G
In The Money 20G
Death to Dictators 15G
Unconventional Warfare 15G
Ready For Deployment 15G
Cold Warrior 25G
The Dragon Within 15G
Down and Dirty 25G

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Technical Difficulties 10G
Battle Wounds 20G
Sanctuary! Sanctuary 20G
Serial Killer 20G
Mailer Daemon 20G
Golden Boy 20G
Rome in Ruins 20G
Undertaker 2.0 20G
Gladiator 20G
Perfect Recall 30G
Fixer-Upper 20G

Goal for Next Week: 23350
$ for HPA: 11.95

I don't think I've had that many achievements listed in blog yet. Hooray for me ;)

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Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood First Impressions

Well my first real thought about this game is that it is an Assassin's Creed 2 clone. It is almost entirely the same game play mechanics and while the plot is 'different,' it is still very familiar to the Assassin's Creed games. I don't think that's a bad thing though. I loved AC 2. I even loved the original Assassin's Creed even though a lot of people got bored with it pretty quickly.

Something that is new is the ability to play as Desmond as much as you like. During a memory, you can quit out of the Animus and have a modern-day, playable Desmond. You can talk to Lucy and the others, check your email and wander around in the town you've fled to. There isn't much point to it though, but it is something to do. There are supposed to be artifacts you can find wandering around, but I had no luck in my trip outside.

If Desmond and Lucy aren't fucking by the end of this game, I think I may have to quit the series forever ;)

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Black Ops Review

I couldn't decide whether or not to have an arbitrary rating system for this or not. I mean so many points out of ten or thumbs up or stars are so subjective. A 9/10 for me could be totally different than a 9/10 for you. Or the score can vary by day depending on my mood, what specifics I'm looking at that day, etc. Still arbitrary rating can kind of make it more concise. Whether than just having a review that say's this is what I liked and what I didn't like, ratings give some weight to it.

Ok, so what I have decided to do is a rating system of Nerd points. Every time I do a review, the game will start with 50 Nerd points. I will then add or subtract from that total based on the attributes I discuss. I will add or subtract .5-5 points for attributes of significance. If something about a game is gamebreaking or really fucking awesome, I will go above my 5 point limit. These changes will be detonated like this:

In Modern Warfare 2, explosives are far to common and effective in Multiplayer[-5]

Ok. Are we clear?

So, here for the first test of this system is Call of Duty: Black Ops:

Single Player

The Single Player campaign in Call of Duty Black Ops in large part takes after it's CoD predecessors made by Infinity Ward. Certain plots elements definitely reminded me of both Call of Duty 4 and Modern Warfare 2[+1]. For example, the third level in Black Ops, "Executive Order" is very similar to "No Fighting in the War Room" in Call of Duty 4.

The plot is way more over the top ridiculous than even Modern Warfare 2[-.5]. It's still quite fun and interesting to play through[+4]. The story, unlike previous Call of Dutys , is very character centered. In the other games there often wasn't even a character model for the player's character, but in Black Ops it is all about the player's character, his history, what he knows, and his mental state. It is really just a different means to the same end though, albeit adding a new dimension to the series[+.5]

Veteran Difficulty will be as difficult if not more so than in World at War[-3]. I just find that kind of disheartening. I mean Treyarch did get rid of the Grenade spamming[+1], but seem to have replaced with amazingly accurate blind-firing enemies[-1].

Zombies is back and better[+5]. The mode you unlock after beating the campaign is so awesome. The first map you get is cool too. Plus an arcade version of Zombies, which can be easily unlocked without even playing the game.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer in Black Ops has definitely impressed me so far. It seems pretty well balanced[+4]. I've yet to see any major issues or exploits[+3].

Explosives are not really that useful in this game. I've yet to be killed by or even heard of Grenade Launcher[+5]. Explosives are no longer replaced by Scavenger, so no more claymore spamming[+1].

Wager Matches are fucking awesome[+4]. The match making system for them is totally broken though[-2]. It takes forever to get into a game, then once you've finally gotten one, you only can play one game before somebody backs out, which leaves you trapped in a lobby with only 5 players. Eventually, people get tired of waiting for another player and the whole process starts over again.

I have seen a few minor things that concern me in multiplayer. *And out comes Negative Nancy*

The RC car is annoying on many levels[-3]. Having a lethal killstreak at 3 kills(or two with Hardline) isn't really cool with me. Having those thing buzzing around my feet, knowing that someone didn't even have to do all that much to get it kind of sucks. But that's not even the most annoying part about it to me. It's the fact that so many people equip it over the Spy Plane. Having teams with the RC car just sucks. The Spy Plane is so much more useful than that damn car.

All the equipment is designed to promote camping[-1]. I mean all of it and one doesn't even have to give up Grenades to use it. I haven't really run into too many people hiding with their cameras or motion sensors yet, but it still concerns me.

The last of my real concerns is that virtually no matter what game type you are playing, if Nuke Town pops up, you're stuck playing it for a while[-1]. I actually really like the map[+.5], but I don't want to be stuck playing every match on it. It sucks having to leave a lobby with good players, because you're stuck on Nuke Town.

Just overall, the multiplayer has really impressed me[+15]. It's kind of hard to quantify without rambling, so I'll it at that. It's like getting out of bad relationship and then getting into an awesome one. It allows you to appreciate how awesome the new one is and also see horrible the old one was.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

82.5 Nerd Points

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Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

Browns' Monday- Butterfingers Edition

Week 10- Jets @ Browns

Cleveland 20
New York 26

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter
Cleveland FG: Phil Dawson 34 yards
New York FG: Nick Folk 27 yards
Cleveland TD: Peyton Hills rushed for 12 yards

2nd Quarter
New York TD: Mark Sanchez pass to Jericho Cotchery for 25 yards
Cleveland FG: Phil Dawson 23 yards
New York TD: Mark Sanchez rushed for 1 yard

4th Quarter
New York FG: Nick Folk 25 yards
Cleveland TD: Colt McCoy pass to Mohamed Massaquoi for 3 yards

Overtime
New York TD: Mark Sanchez pass to Santonio Holmes for 37 yards

Important Player Stats

Colt McCoy 18-31, 205 yards, TD

Peyton Hillis 19 rushes, 82 yards, TD

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That was a heart-breaking loss. There's not a lot to be said about it other than that.

Colt McCoy played another solid game. He didn't turn the ball over yet again. He also did something that it feels like ages since it has been done for Browns. He led a late game drive to tie the Jets and force Overtime.

It was looking good in overtime. Colt McCoy completed a nice pass to Stuckey, who proceeded to make some nice moves and got the ball into the edges of field goal range. Why are the players acting weird? It's almost like there's a fumble. Oh shit, Stuckey lost the damn ball. Well, Robo got on top of it right? No. Well then the Jet's players stepped out before recovering, so they weren't allowed to touch the ball? No. But, but, but...

The defense played very well. I mean they got three stops in overtime, which is impressive in the NFL. They even made sure that the turnover in OT didn't lead to anything. The offense was non-existent for the Browns in the second half as well and the defense was able to hold and give McCoy a chance to drive down the field late.

The key play as I see it, is that 2nd and 10 late in the overtime in which Shaun Rogers had Sanchez sacked, but let him escape and complete a pass to Dustin Keller. That was really killer. Almost as much as the fumble by Stuckey. Had he been able to make that sack it would have been 3rd and very long for the Jets at their own five yard line. That would have been nearly impossible for them to convert. Allowing Sanchez to get away, flipped filed position and made it so the Browns were pinned deep to start their final drive, which made doing anything very difficult. It also allowed the Jets to get the ball back in great field position and few missed tackles later; Game Over.

At least, it doesn't look like Cribbs is too badly hurt. Hopefully, he'll be able to practice and play this week.
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Thanks for reading and please comment

-Michael

Buckeye Sunday

Ohio State 38
Penn State 14

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter
Ohio State FG: Devin Barclay 26 yards
Penn State TD: Matthew McGloin pass to Justin Brown for 23 yards

2nd Quarter
Penn State TD: Matthew McGloin pass to Derek Moye for 6 yards

3rd Quarter
Ohio State TD: Daniel Herron rushed for 5 yards
Ohio State TD: Devon Torrence returned an interception 33 yards

4th Quarter
Ohio State TD: Terrelle Pryor passed to Dane Sanzenbacher for 58 yards
Ohio State TD: Travis Howard returned an interception 29 yards
Ohio State TD: Terrelle Pryor passed to Jake Stoneburner for 3 yards

Important Player Stats

Terrelle Pryor: 8-13, 138 yards, 2 TDs, INT

Daniel Herron: 21 rushes, 190 yards, TD

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I couldn't tell whether Ohio State just didn't care in the first half or if they were really that bad, but in the second half they made Penn State look terrible.

Terrelle Pryor wasn't all that impressive yesterday. Virtually all his passing yards came on just two throws. At least he is finally running the ball again.

Matthew McGloin proved that he is still someone who walked on in the Second Half. Playing against Ohio State's defense when they are actually trying made him look bad.

Herron went straight beast-mode.

Yea, I feel like I should be able to offer more insight, but really there wasn't a whole lot to yesterday's game.
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Prediction

Ohio State 27
Iowa 25

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Pasta's Player of the Year Rankings

4. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
3. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State
2. LaMichael James, RB, Oregon
1. Cam Newton, QB, Auburn

Note: Given recent circumstance I feel I should address eligibility requirements for this 'award.' To be considered my Player of the Year one must be eligible to play in the NCAA. If a player is to be given that award and is found to have been ineligible post-fact, the award will be vacated and no one else can be credited with that award.

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Pasta's Top 5

5. Wisconsin
4. TCU
3. Auburn
2. Boise State
1. Oregon
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1st 2nd
Ohio State 102 52 50
North Carolina A & T 61 25 36

Player Stats

Jared Sullinger 19 points, 14 rebounds

Deshaun Thomas 24 points, 8 rebounds

Dallas Lauderdale 12 points, 13 rebounds, 8 blocks

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For the first time in the Blog's brief history, Ohio State Men's Basketball.

The Buckeyes opened this season on Friday night against North Carolina A & T. A new season with four starters returning and a whole lot of Freshman.

Jared Sullinger, Deshaun Thomas and Aaron Craft each played well in their first collegiate playing time. They probably outplayed the returning starters. Of course, we'll have to wait for better opposition to find much out about this team.

The starting line-up lacks a true point guard again this year and that is a major area of concern. I hope Craft will be able to step up and take that role.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

Malware Issues

I'm having some issues with my normal CPU. There is some pervasive malware, but it isn't destructive. It basically prevents you from running basically any executions. Anytime you try to run anything a message will pop up that says, "*name*.exe is infected. Do you want to activate antivirus software now? It serves two purposes that I can figure: 1) to get idiots to pay them and 2)make it nearly impossible to remove it through normal means. Seriously, it makes it almost impossible to open even the Windows' processes.

At the moment, I have it running a malware removal tool in Safe Mode. That should do it. It's just annoying, because you have to run a full scan to get rid of it, which takes nearly two hours.

I'm to the point now where I almost have to install Firefox on any computer I use. Internet Explorer just sucks so bad.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

Oh Shit

It is 11:42 PM and I just realized that I haven't posted anything yet today. So here's what you get in 18 minutes or less.

Today I went to Mythology. We discussed Alcestis. I'm behind in the reading, though, so I have generally just been sitting there quietly this week. I think I've had pretty good reason this week to not keep up to date with it though. Awesome real world stuff totally trumps Week 7 of the quarter stuff.

I have spent most of today, like yesterday, playing Black Ops. Its very good. I started on Veteran and I can already tell that my suspicions have been confirmed; it's going to be fucking super hard. I have been playing mostly multiplayer, though. I'm up to level 25. I've been doing surprisingly well(for me) in most matches. Also the new Wager Matches are so much fun, but the match making for them is totally fucked. I hope it gets better.

I've been getting some random songs stuck in my head today Three in particular, that all totally different.

Ohio State played their first Basketball game tonight and they beat the shit out of Hapless State*. I got to watch it thanks to XBox live being connected with ESPN 3 now. That is totally worth the annoying new Dashboard.

God, I have used the word totally way too much in this post.

You should go read yesterday's post. It was much better.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael
*North Carolina A&T

For dealing with the hasty nature of this post:

Armistice Day

I do have a bit of a obsession with World War One. It is quite the morbid obsession to have. I just find it fascinating. It's hard to wrap my head around it and I like that. It was such a stupid and unnecessary war, but it is one of the most significant wars that mankind has ever fought.

In every history class that I took in K-12, which covered World War One, the war was largely glazed over. It was more about the Americans showing up and the War ended shortly after. I mean Trench Warfare and such was mentioned, but never really delved into. Nor were the true causes of the War. I mean Archduke Ferdinand's assassination gets a lot of credit for starting the war, but really it only slightly hastened it's arrival. Germany and France were going to go to war and that would draw in Russia, and England and the French side and Austria on the German side.

In turn of the Century Europe, massive military buildups were undertaken by every European power. Germany was only thirty years old and had pissed a bunch of people off to gain its independence. The German's felt disrespected by the older Monarchies and was itching for a fight. In the European military academies, the idea of the offensive was deep and pervasive.

What was lost in all of this was that the military technology had improved greatly since the last war in Europe in 1870. While it really made its debut in the Russo-Japanese War, no one would really know the power of machine guns, artillery, aircraft, tanks, etc until August of 1914.

Shortly after the war began the ideas that were coming out the military academies were proving to be very wrong. Still Generals on both sides held onto the idea of the offensive war. The orders were sent out and thousands and thousands of young men were killed needlessly. In response to the amazing power of the new technology was to dig and hold defensive positions, which Machine Guns made easy.

World War One basically turned into a fight for holes in the ground in Belgium. There would be great battles and thousands of men would die just to trade trenches. It quickly became a war of attrition and that was the real help of the Americans. When the U.S. joined the Entente, it provided the French, and English another bank account and armory to wear down the Germans. Also the American soldiers brought the biggest pandemic of the modern era to Europe. That's a big thing the Americans did.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the War stopped. They kept fighting right to that very point. Prideful Generals didn't hold back in the last days and thousands and thousands of more men were killed for no good reason.

A peace treaty was signed, that basically even more fucked a bankrupt Germany. There is a lot that can be said about the Treaty of Versailles. I think all of it can be summed up like this. The Treaty of Versailles ensured that there would be another war. There's a lot in that, but it all comes down to that.

World War One's effect on World War Two in the European theater is perhaps the most significant effect on the war. World War One was a bloody war of position. In opposition, World War Two was a bloody war of movement. In WWII the Germans, while on the aggressive, moved fast. When the allies were on the offensive, they kept moving. Neither side every really dug in with a few exceptions.

One thing that we can say about World War One, is that at least it didn't really involve civilians. It did, but relative to the total warfare of WWII it was very small.

In World War Two, the armies didn't even bother with trying to prevent civilian casualties. It's strange to me that while the sides of right and wrong are so clear in WWII, but the military tactics were just as wrong as the axis. Whereas in World War One, which side was right is very muddled, but the military tactics were actually largely right.

So, on this day that was originally to remember the end of the what was to be final war of mankind, we should remember the lessons of that war. I think the most important lesson we can take is that war is stupid and mankind should just stop it. There should be no need for faulty offensive or defensive military doctrines. Mankind should be able to look at the incredible loss of life in World War One for no good reason and realize that we should never, ever do that again.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

Why I Didn't Post Yesterday 2

Yesterday, it was two things. The first being Call of Duty: Black Ops. I didn't want to put it down for long enough to write a post in the morning. Then I went to a concert in the evening and it was amazing. I met some wonderful people and had some fanboy moments.

It was a house Wizard Rock Concert in Lebanon, Ohio.

It may seem kind of weird to show up as stranger at someone's house. My anxious/shy/nervous nature certainly says so. I didn't know exactly what to expect when I rang the door bell. It was awesome to be welcomed so kindly. *Fanboy moment* I look the right when I get inside and it's Lauren Fairweather. woah shit just got real ;) Everyone was really friendly, which made me feel as at ease as I get.

Monica, our host, was wonderful. She made an awesome hot dog dinner for us all.

After dinner the show started. In order, Armoured Bearcub, Steph from Tonks and the Aurors, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Lauren Fairweather, and the Whomping Willows. All the sets were great. Here's Justin's setlist(on a paper plate with wonderful artworks):



Also I got this shirt:

It is in the competition with my Cookie Monster shirt for which will be my favorite.

Afterwards I was introduced to this song.

Last night was pretty damn awesome. I can't thank everyone who was involved enough.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

Random Wednesday- "wrong for the next war"

"Although the French did not yet know it, the slaughter at Morhange snuffed out the bright flame of the doctrine of the offensive. It died on a field in Lorraine where at the end of the day nothing was visible but corpses strewn in rows and sprawled in the awkward attitudes of sudden death as if the place had been swept by a malignant hurricane. It was one of those lessons, a survivor realized afterward, "by which God teaches the law to kings." The power of the defense that was to transform the initial war of movement into a four-year war of position and eat up a generation of European lives revealed itself at Morhange. Foch, the spiritual father of Plan 17, the man who taught, "There is only one way of defending ourselves-- to attack as soon as we are ready," was there to see and experience it. For four more years of relentless, merciless, useless killing the belligerents beat their heads against it. In the end it was Foch who presided over victory. By then the lesson learned proved wrong for the next war." -The Guns of August

I read this paragraph on Monday and thought it was brilliant. This is such a good book. It's dry and all about military tactics, but really it is about so much more than that. I really think anyone who get elected to public office should have to read The Guns of August

The post I'll being doing tomorrow will be about the stupidity of WWI, Armistice/Veteran's Day and how perhaps we should observe that day differently.

Thanks for reading.

-Michael

Gaming Tuesday

So, the day of the biggest video game release of the year I don't do a gaming Tuesday. Yea, I didn't manage my time/have enough time yesterday to write a post. So welcome to the Wednesday edition of Gaming Tuesday.

Achievements

Gamerscore Last Week: 22365
Goal: 22400
Gamerscore Now: 22665

Achievements unlocked

Call of Duty: World At War
For the Motherland 30G
Bearing the Burden 30G
Hardened War Hero 100G
The Professional 15G
Lights Out! 10G
Firestarter 15G
Kamikaze 15G

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Sacrifice 10G
Give me liberty 10G
VIP 10G
A safer place 10G
Looks don't count 10G
Raining Pain 15G
SOG Rules 10G
Broken English 10G

Goal for Next Week: 22800
$ for HPA: 11.95

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Call of Duty: Black Ops First Impressions

I haven't gotten as much time in playing this game as I would have like so far. I've only played about 5 hours of gameplay and that's split pretty evenly between the Multiplayer and Singleplayer game.

I went to the midnight release at Gamestop and I told myself that I would truck through and pull and all nighter. My goal was to stay up till 5am playing multiplayer, ranking up, and maybe unlocking some of the awesome customization features. That definitely didn't happen. I played until about 2:15 and I was done. Those 2 hours(roughly) are all of my experience with the multiplayer so far.

In my brief time playing, I really thought this was the most fun I've had in a CoD game in quite sometime. I mean everyone else was new and no one could afford the Grenade Launchers yet, but still it was fun. It was also a little different than any other CoD game I've played. I mean it's still Call of Duty and it felt like CoD, but it actually takes more accurate shots to take someone down.

It felt pretty good on Tuesday morning, but I wonder what the multiplayer looks like now. I hope noob tubes aren't out in force.

When I woke up Tuesday, I went right into the single player campaign and played for maybe 3 hours. It was a lot of fun. It is different than any other CoD game in that respect. In fact the actual narrative is close to Assassins Creed. The missions themselves play just like other CoD missions. I can already tell this game is going to suck on Veteran difficulty even if Treyarch fixed the 'nade spaming that was World at War.

I don't want to give too much up on the story, so I'll leave it at that From my understanding this campaign is pretty short, so I'll probably have it beat tonight.

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Blacks is all there is and all there will ever be.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

Browns' Monday- Where Has This Been? Edition

Week 9- Patriots @ Browns

Cleveland 34
Patriots 14

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter
Cleveland FG: Phil Dawson 38 yards
Cleveland TD: Peyton Hillis rushed for 2 yards

2nd Quarter
New England TD: Tom Brady pass to Aaron Hernandez for for 2 yards
Cleveland TD: Chansi Stuckey rushed for 11 yards

3rd Quarter
Cleveland TD: Colt McCoy rushed for 16 yards

4th Quarter
Cleveland FG: Phil Dawson 37 yards
New England TD: Tom Brady pass to Aaron Hernandez for 1 yard
Cleveland TD: Peyton Hillis rushed for 35 yards

Important Player Stats
Colt McCoy: 14-19, 174 yards, rushing TD

Peyton Hillis: 29 rushes, 184 yards, 2 TDs

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Well, I certainly didn't expect this. This team shouldn't beat the Patriots like that. Unless, maybe, just maybe, they actually are that good.

Colt McCoy had another solid game. It is being made out to be more impressive than it actually was on ESPN and the like. He didn't turn it over and offered enough of a passing threat to help out the running game. He had an awesome highlight running the ball as well. So, he should be credited with an impressive performance for a rookie, but he doesn't need to be anointed yet.

Also, how about the Massaquoi sightings?

Peyton Hillis went straight beast mode yesterday. The offensive line did the same. The Browns held the ball by running the ball very impressively.

The defense put in another great performance. New England was constantly being shutdown on first down. That caused 2nd and 3rd and long situations, which allowed for Rob Ryan to dial up the pressure. The pass rush was effective at putting the pressure on Tom Brady and that is important to stopping an offense.

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Projections

This is a new part to my Browns' Monday post. I'm calling it projections. The idea here is to project what the playoff teams will be given the current data.

With 6 of 17 precincts reporting

AFC North: Too Close to Call(Steelers/Baltimore)
AFC East: Too Close to Call(NYJ/N.E.)
AFC South: Too Close to Call(Indy, Tennessee, Houston, Jacksonville)
AFC West: Too Close to Call(Kansas City and Oakland)
Wildcard : AFC North 2nd place and AFC East 2nd place

NFC North: Green Bay Packers
NFC East: Too Close to Call(Philadelphia, NYG)
NFC South: Too Close to Call(Atlanta, New Orleans)
NFC West: Too Close to Call(Seattle, St. Louis)
Wildcard: NFC East 2nd place and 3rd place

No Longer in the Race: San Francisco, Carolina, Detroit, Buffalo,

On the Brink of Dropping Out: Dallas, San Diego, Denver, Oakland, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Cleveland, Washington

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Checking my preseason prediction

Week 1- @Tampa Bay W Actual Result: L
Week 2- Kansas City W Actual Result: L
Week 3- @Baltimore L Actual Result: L
Week 4- Cincinnati L Actual Result: W
Week 5- Atlanta L Actual Result: L
Week 6- @ Pittsburgh W* Actual Result: L
Week 7- @New Orleans L Actual Result: W
Week 8- Bye
Week 9- New England L Actual Result: W
Week 10- NY Jets L
Week 11- @Jacksonville W
Week 12- Carolina W
Week 13- @Miami W
Week 14- @Buffalo W
Week 15- @Cincinnati L
Week 16- Baltimore L
Week 17- Pittsburgh L

Overall Record: 7-9*(1-5)* Current Record: 1-3

*Under the assumption that Roethlisberger will actually have serve his entire suspension

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

Buckeye Sunday

Ohio State 0
Bye 0

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I'm kind of up to my eyeballs in homework. Ohio State didn't play this week, so there you go*.

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Pasta's Player of the Year Rankings

4. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
3. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State
2. LaMichael James, RB, Oregon
1. Cam Newton, QB, Auburn


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Pasta's Top 5

5. Wisconsin
4. TCU
3. Auburn
2. Boise State
1. Oregon

-Michael
*If you feel cheated, remember I posted twice on Tuesday, which means I'm averaging more than on post a day right now :)

It Would Be An Understatement

To say I'm a hermit. I mean sometimes I do things, but I generally don't have a real life. I do go to class 2-5 days a week depending on the quarter and its not like I just stare ahead blankly and refuse to interact with anyone around me when I'm there. I mean I'm not the most social person there, so if someone doesn't talk to me I probably won't start a conversation with them. I'm not even good at conversation, so if a conversation needs to be carried by me, it probably will cease, but I still am willing to talk. My point here, if there is one, is that I stay home a lot, I don't have a life in the real world for the most part.

So, I guess most of my life is virtual. I mean I have this blog and anyone in the world can see how truly lame I am by reading. Not only that, there is facebook, twitter, and to a lesser extent forums where I'd say the majority of my desired interaction occurs. Also, through Xbox Live, I have talked to and played video games with tons of people there is no way I'll ever meet in the real world. Is this equal in value to person to person interaction? as healthy? I don't know. If anyone has thoughts share them in the comments.

This entire socializing through the internet thing is very new. So, there is still a tendency to view 'internet' friends as somehow less significant/important/socially healthy. I don't necessarily agree with that idea.

Anyway, I hope this didn't sound too pathetic. I swear I do actually have friends in real life.

I went with one of my best friends, Nick, to the Columbus Crew game today. The game went to a penalty shoot-out and there is nothing more stressful as a fan. The Crew didn't win the shoot-out after a shanked final PK. It was definitely a disappointment, but I still had a blast. I cheered, yelled and sang loud as I could, which is something I always enjoy even though I am the shy, meek, and socially awkward individual I discussed earlier.

In fact this blog is largely a contradiction to my personality in the real world.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael

Savannah Smiles

I'm totally lacking ideas today. I can't even say I'm debating between two post ideas, I just don't have any good ones. My day was pretty lame. I went to the one class I have on Friday's, took a quiz, and then played video games when I got home.

The best I got is that I've been trying to figure out how to play this song on the Guitar today. It's kind of tricky. It's not even that complex, I just can't quite put it all together yet.

I also realized today how close Black Ops is to being out. It's been a future, going to happen thing for so long now, but it's only a few days away. It's not even that I can't wait. I've been excited about it for quite a long time now, but I've always tried to keep expectations in check. In the back of my mind there has always been a voice about how fucking awesome it is going to be though.

Seriously, I don't have anything else to share right now.

Thanks for reading.

-Michael

Midterms Recap

If there one thing to take from any election, it is that everything can change in two years. There are never any absolutes in electoral politics. In the short time that I've been old enough to care about/get politics, I've seen both major parties pronounced dead by pundits. In 2004, it was how marginalized the Democrats had become. In 2008, it was about how the Republicans had become little more than a regional party, whose only supporters are fearful/hateful old people. Lesson here, is that two years following each of these death calls, the party in question had huge electoral victories. So, while the Democrats lost about as bad as any party can in American politics, it doesn't change the fact that the Democrats are still a major party and will without doubt take back congress someday*. And divided may actually work in favor of the Dems in upcoming election, but more on that later.

So, what I want to do is share somethings I think this election did teach us or perhaps some trends that emerged. Again, I'm refraining from any absolutes here, because things can change quick.

Colorado Turning Blue?- Colorado used to be a solid red state. A state where it was a waste of time for a Democrat to spend his time. I mean it would go blue in absolute landslides, like Georgia, but for the most part those electoral votes would go Republican.

Michael Bennet, the Democratic incumbent was able to hold his Senate seat in Colorado. This seemed like a sure pick up for the Republicans, but somehow in a year such as this, a Democrat was able to hold on in Colorado.

Colorado is state that has rapidly changing demographics and those are playing into the Democrats hands. Particularly the increase in the Hispanic population, along with the Republican position on immigration have given the Democrats a pretty good shot at continuing to win in Colorado.

The Tea Party Hurt the Republicans- As massive as Tuesday's victory was the Republicans, it could have been so much worse. Almost the entire reason for that is the Tea Party. The Republican may have picked up 80+ seats in the House and likely would have won control of the Senate had their not been 'Tea Party' candidates. In Colorado, Nevada, and Delaware the Republicans probably would have won easily had their Senate candidates just been mainstream Republicans.

If the tea party continues to be a force in Republican politics, and managed to get their nominee for President, shit will have really had to hit the fan for him to lose reelection. The tea party is very unpopular outside the conservative base and will likely hinder the Republicans in the future.

Of course now there are Tea Party members of Congress now, so the reality of governing may force them to change their ways. Things like voting against raising the Debt ceiling sounds good when you're just rabble-rousing, but when you're actually in government, it's very bad.

2012- It's hard to exactly project what this means for 2012. I mean 2 years is forever in Politics, now more than ever. With the constant media attention, a party or person can go from media darling to pariah. So, here are brief overviews two possible paths. These are both under the assumption that the economy remains shitty.

Good for GOP- The Democrats did hold onto the Senate and of course Obama is still President. If the economy is still bad, the Republicans can blame the Senate for acting on any of their bills or Obama's veto pen. That will probably have some resonance, if the Democrats are as bad message making as they are always are.

Good for Democrats- With GOP control of the House, the Republicans can be forced to take some ownership of the government. This would be aided if the Republicans go for a government shut down or something equally extreme. This allow the Democrats to blame the Republicans for the lack of anything getting done.

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The biggest thing about that can be assured by the results is that absolutely nothing will pass for the next two years. The current congress was amazingly productive, but doesn't get any credit for it. That is almost entirely due to bungling of virtually all the big things that did pass by Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress. However, I think after two years of truly nothing getting done in Capitol, this congress will finally get some credit.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael
*Probably sooner rather than later.

Random Wednesday- No Politics

Considering the past few posts have been heavy in political jargon and tomorrow's will be as well. So, the goal of this post is to break up that monotony. Of, course making a point of avoiding politics is in it's own way an acknowledgment of politics.

I got my Mythology midterm back today and did pretty well. I got an A 93/100. You almos always kind of know whether or not you did good an a test when you turn it in. Still, considering this was the first big thing my Professor has graded, you never know how tough she will be. Especially since the essay was 50% of the grade and a picky professor could really fuck you on that. As I expected she wasn't a ridiculous grader and she was definitely a fair grader. I got a 43 of 50 on the essay portion.

This week has brought two updates that I think are trying to blind me. The new XBox Live Dashboard's text is small, but totally forgivable, because I have ESPN 3 on my XBox now! Also Facebook has decided that squinting is the new cool. It looks like they've reduced the text side of the feed to 6. Maybe 8. Just way to small.

Something kept me up really late last night. So for the first time this quarter I skipped my 8am Biology class. Next week may be even worse though. I'm going to a concert on Tuesday night. I may not be getting home until well after midnight. So, I may be skipping again. It's ok, because that class is terrible. The other students are cool though. Just such terribly boring material and annoying professor.

My project for this week before Black Ops comes out, is to finally beat World at War on Veteran Difficulty. I'm advancing slowly, one checkpoint at a time. I'm almost done with the second to the last level.

I'm terribly boring.

Thanks for reading

-Michael

Election Night

So, here's going to be the organization of this post. At the top I'll have the current numbers for the House and Senate. Also, I'll have numbers of the important Ohio Races. Below that I'll provide some of my thoughts throughout the night, with the newest ones near the top. Along with that I'll be updating Twitter as well. So, here we go:

U.S. Senate

At the moment with projections
Democrats: 52 seats(including independents) Republicans: 46 seats

Seats That Have Changed Party Control
Indiana D->R
Arkansas D->R
North Dakota D->R
Wisconsin D->R
Pennsylvania D->R
Illinois D->R
Net change: +6 Republican

U.S. House

Pasta's Projection: Republicans 234 Democrats 201 +/- 7 seats

Net change: +61 for the Republicans so far. Only about 10 races are yet to be determined.

Ohio Races

Governor
Ted Strickland(D)
John Kasich(R)*

Senate
Rob Portman(R)*
Lee Fisher(D)

OH-6
Charlie Wilson(D)
Bill Johnson(R)*

OH-12
Pat Tiberi (R)*
Paula Brooks(D)

OH-15
Mary Jo Kilroy(D)
Steve Stivers(R)*

OH-18
Zack Spacke(D)
Robert Gibbs(R)*

*Projected winner

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The Colorado Senate races is finally decided. Michael Bennet holds on to the seat for the Dems in a very tight race.

Washington and Alaska are still undecided. In Washington, the vote counting has come to a stand still at 65% reporting. I can't really find out why. My only guess would be that there is a lot of Mail-in voting there.

In Alaska the winner is likely Lisa Murkowski, the incumbent who failed to win the Republican nomination. In Alaska, they only count Write-in ballots as write-ins unless they can determine the winner of the election, so as of now we just now that Write-in is winning for sure, but Write-in is undoubtedly Murkowski.

This will be the final update on this post unless there is a result out of Washington pretty quickly. I will be doing a wrap-up post on Thursday.

Thanks for reading

-Michael

P.S. I'll update the actual numbers in this post as they come in.

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1:30 am- Apparently there has been a vote counting error in Colorado. Possibly 30,000 to 40,000 votes have been switched from Bennett to Buck. If so, Bennett would retake the lead with a lot of Democratic vote outstanding. It's not clear whether this is an issue with AP or Boulder County itself.

The numbers out of Washington are stagnant.

Unless something interesting happens in about the next fifteen minutes, I'm done for tonight.

Good Night.

-Michael

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1 am- Colorado and Washington are still basically the same as they were. Alaska's polls have closed.

In terms of American politics, what has happened in the House tonight is big. It doesn't get any bigger that this. The Republicans may pick up 65 seats. That's basically a 15% percent turnover, which just doesn't happen.

It's interesting that how bad it is in the House for the Dems, it isn't such a terrible night. It certainly isn't a good night for them, but it could have been so much worse. Really, I think the Democrats can thank the tea party for most of their holds.

I don't know if I'll be up for much longer. Probably only a few more updates.

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12:30 am- Harry Reid holds his seat in Nevada. The Dems are at 51. Still wonder if his leadership will be challenged?

Colorado is looking good for the Dems as well. A lot of the outstanding vote is in Suburban Denver, which should go strongly for the Democrat. So, the margin may be growing there soon.

Washington is also looking good for the Democrats as well.

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The worst kept secret of the night. If you want to read my partisan views on this check the twitter feed on the right side of the blog.

Only 4 Senate seats yet to be decided. Alaska will close at 1am and that will go to the nominated Republican or an independent who would likely caucus with the Republicans. So, there are 3 competitive races left, in Nevada, Colorado and Washington. I'm thinking the Dems go at least 2 of 3 in those races. Maybe even get the sweep.

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It's official Kasich is Governor-elect.

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Thinks it will be called for Kasich pretty soon.

Pat Toomey has won the Pennsylvania Senate seat and Mark Kirk has won the Illinois Senate seat , a fifth and sixth pick up for the GOP

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Midnight- The Governor's race is tightening, but not by enough. It looks like Kasich will win by 50,000+ votes. Provisional ballots still to be counted.

With the polls closing in Hawaii, the Democrats have now won 50 seats. Things are also looking up for them in Nevada and Washington. Pennsylvania and Illinois are looking like Republican pick-ups in very tight races. Colorado is close as well.

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Updating the House Projection. Adjusting the Republican numbers up.

The Ohio Governor's Race is basically down to whether or not Strickland can close the margin with the outstanding vote out of Cuyahoga and Lucas counties. Kasich's vote is virtually entirely in. Once this vote starts coming in the margins will start to close quickly, but still don't think it will be enough.

The Republicans have officially hit their magic number in the house picking up 39 seats. They are likely to just add to that and are unlikely to lost anymore seats.

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11:30 PM- Watching the Governor's race intently. The margin is up to 130,000 votes for Kasich. 1/3 of Cuyahoga county(Cleveland) is yet to be counted and about 40% out of Lucas County (Toledo) still to be counted. This race is going to tighten, but I doubt it will be enough for Strickland.

The Senate Races in Illinois and Pennsylvania are still very tight. They may go into tomorrow.

An hour and a half late we finally get the first returns out of Nevada.

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OH-12 is now called for Tiberi

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I wouldn't have thought OH-12 would be the last one of the four I featured to be called. OH-15 is officially for Stivers. The Governor's races is very tight still. Unlike the Senate races in PA and IL, the Governor's race here in Ohio still has a lot of Democratic vote out. This may take days to figure out who wins.

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11 PM- Nevada still has no returns and their polls have been closed for an hour. The NBC projection for the house just keeps getting worse. They're basically predicting a 60 seat gain, which still seems very generous to me. The Democrats are getting beaten severely, but are showing some more fight that I would've thought.

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OH-6 is another Republican pick-up. It is also showing some evidence that voters in that District voted Republican for the House race and Democrat for the Governor's race.

OH-15 is also looking like another pick up for the GOP.

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10:30 PM- Still no news out of Nevada. Pennsylvania and Illinois still look good for the Democrats. Better in Pennsylvania than Illinois. The vote is largely in for Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, so we'll have to see if Sestak can hold his lead. A lot of Republican vote is still out in Illinois with some of Chicago still to be counted. Either of those holds are big for the Dems on a night such as this.

Ron Johnson has defeated Russ Feingold, which is another pick up for the Republicans.

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OH-18 is looking like it is going to be a Republican pick-up. Space's vote is in and he is still down by a big margin.

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The Ohio Governor's race still looks like it is going to be very tight. Still lots of votes to be counted in Cuyahoga and Franklin county which will be Strickland strongholds. Kasich is running up margins in the rural counties of the western and central part of Ohio. Strickland is doing quite impressively well in his former Congressional District. He's winning in counties in Southeastern Ohio that a Democrat shouldn't.

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10pm- Nevada's polls are closed. This is where the night will really start to get interesting. Pennsylvania and Illinois are still close to call, but it is looking better for the Democrats than I thought they would.

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I made my House Projection. The Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives at the end of this night. The NBC number is still high to me. The Democratic losses will still be ridiculous though.

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9:30 PM- It's looking like Governors race in Ohio will go late into the night as well as the Attorney General race. The votes appear to be coming in very slow from Franklin County. Still a lot to be seen in this state.

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The NBC projections seem quite high to me. I think the Republicans are likely on their way to controlling the house, but 237 seats seems at the very top end of what they can expect. If I had to venture a guess right now, I'd say they'll end up with between 220-230 seats.

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9 PM- NBC news projects the House will be under Republican control. 237-198. It is looking like there is going to be a lot of bloodshed for the Democrats.

Pick up for the Republicans in North Dakota. Another one that isn't at all surprising.

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8:30 PM- The Republicans pick up their second Senate seat. No surprise there. Same as Indiana.
Manchin holds the West Virginia Senate Seat for the Dems. The Dems just need to hold Washington, Nevada, Illinois, or Colorado and will be able to keep control of the Senate.

Not many returns yet out of Ohio.

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No changes in the Senate right at the 8pm closings. I think things are looking good for the seat in West Virginia staying in Democratic hands. I think we're looking at very tight races in Illinois, Colorado, Nevada and Washington. Also it may be closer than expected in Pennsylvania.

The first returns are in for Ohio, but little is too be known yet. The governors race will be close. How close? It's hard to say.

Still looking for more definite info for the House. One pick up for the Dems so far, so the Republicans now need to pick up 40 seats for a majority.

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A lot of closing at 8pm. Things may start to become more clear in the next hour. As of yet it's hard to say.

Gaming Tuesday

Achievements

Gamerscore Last Week: 22365
Goal: 22300
Gamerscore Now: 22235

Achievements unlocked

Red Dead Redemption

The Superior Dance 10G
All's Right With the World 25G
Spinning Plates 25G

Call of Duty: World At War
Blowtorch & Corkscrew 30G
Guardian Angel 10G
Setting of the Sun 30G

Goal for Next Week: 22400
$ for HPA: 11.95

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Black Ops preparations

Only one week until Black Ops is out. I'm definitely excited. I've decided that World at War will be my best preparation for Black Ops, so that's what I've been playing. I hardy played any World at War multiplayer, so I feel it is a good way to prepare for Black Ops since I will be unfamiliar with the maps and weapons in that game as well.

I've always have started my eternal struggle again with beating the Campaign on Veteran difficulty. I only have to complete two more missions, but god damn are they are tough. I think the game should be called Call of Duty: Grenade Dodgeball. I hope Veteran difficulty is better in Black Ops. I don't expect it to be easy, but damnit it shouldn't be as ridiculous as it was in World at War.

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Yea, not much this week. It's definitely the lull before the storm of the next two weeks. Black Ops is out next Tuesday, so expect a big Gaming Tuesday next, if I can tear myself away from playing the game/concert attending.

Thanks for reading and please comment

-Michael

Election Eve

You know the best thing about this is that I won't have to see anymore of these damn political ads. As much of a political junkie and partisan I am, I just want it to be over. I can't wait until I don't have to hear unfounded attacks as the only thing on TV. It's great that politicians and advocacy think that if you phrase it as a question, you aren't actually making an assertion, but rather are just asking question. I've got to get in on this:

Is Pat Tiberi really a woman?

Does Steve Stivers rape puppies?

Is John Kasich secretly a Nazi who plans to change the Ohio flag to a Swastika?

I'm totally not insinuating anything, I'm just asking questions :)

I've already done my rant about these damn ads. On to more pressing matters.

U.S House of Representatives

It is really hard to get a true grasp as to what exactly will happen when it comes to the final tally in the House. It's clear the Republicans are going to do very well. It's just hard to say whether that very well is 30 seats or 50 seats. The real problem is the lack of reliable polling data for most House races. So, please understand why my projection has wiggle room.

My Projection: The Republicans pick up 40 seats +/- 5 seats.
So, the final tallies: Democrats 210-220 Republicans 210-220

I think we're in for a long night while we try to determine which party will be in control of the House. I think it will be very close and it may hinge on a select few incredibly tight races.

Local Focus

Here are some projections for some of the House Races that are local to me. I'm using a system of my own creation to predict these races. It is based on when I think the race will be called. So here are the four ways I'll be classifying the races:

Called when the polls close- For races that won't really be close

Let me get in a few return to make sure- For races that have the potential or the illusion of being close

Late Night Call- Close race, but the winner becomes evident as the votes get tallied into the late night and early morning

This may take a while- Races that will be very close and the winner might not be known on election night.

I'll be focusing on four Central Ohio races

OH-12

This is the district I live in. It's a pretty safe Republican seat,but has been edging towards almost being competitive the past few cycles. The incumbent Pat Tiberi(R) faces former Franklin County Commissioner Paula Brooks(D).

Tiberi wins reelection easily

Projection: Called when the polls close

OH-15

The three Columbus congressional districts are evidence of the Republicans effective gerrymandering here in Ohio. Columbus is a major metropolitan are that produces 3 Republican seats in virtually every election. That doesn't make sense, but it's the way the lines are drawn. The only seat in the Columbus area that is ever really competitive is OH-15. It definitely leans Republican, but in years such as 2006 and 2008 it can swing to the Democrats largely due to the fact that this district includes Ohio State University. This year it's a rematch of the very close race in 2008 between Steve Stivers(R) and Incumbent Mary Jo Kilroy(D)

Stivers wins comfortably.

Projection: Let me get in a few return to make sure

OH-18

This is a largely rural district, but it has voted overwhelmingly Democratic the past two elections. This district was once held by the disgraced Bob Ney, which is part of the reason a Democrat has been able to do so well in that district. Zack Space(D) is the incumbent and Bob Gibbs is his challenger. This quite the interesting race and has had a ton of money pumped into it. It will be interesting to see if this district reverts back to its conservative ways. It's going to be close.

I think Gibbs wins this one, but it will be very close. I don't think these candidates will be separated by more that 1000 votes.

Projection: This may take a while

OH-6

This is quite the product of redistricting. This district stretches along the Ohio river from just South of Youngstown to the Southern tip of Ohio. It was formerly held by Ohio governor Ted Strickland(D) who went unopposed in 2004. In 2006 and 2008 the Democrat Charlie Wilson won by large margins. This year he is being challenged by Bill Johnson(R). I think this race will be tight, but I think the Democrats will hold.

Charlie Wilson wins in a tight one

Projection: Late Night Call.

U.S. Senate

I'm almost certain that the Democrats will be able to hold Senate. The Republicans must have virtually every competitive race go their way and I don't see that happening. The gap will tighten considerably, but the Dems should still hold the advantage once all the votes have been counted. Here's who I think will win. *Signifies incumbent party keeps the seat.

California- Barbara Boxer(D)*
Colorado- Ken Buck(R)
Illinois- Mark Kirk(R)
Nevada- Harry Reid(D)*
Pennsylvania- Pat Toomey(R)
Washington- Patty Murray(D)*
West Virginia- Joe Manchin(D)*
Wisconsin- Ron Johnson(R)

Add to that sure Republican pickups in Arkansas, Indiana, and North Dakota and it's +7 for the Republicans, which still leaves them short of 51 votes at 48. The races in Nevada and Washington are toss-ups, so the Republicans could easily pick them up, which would leave them at 50 votes, which is still short. If it gets to that point, the biggest race will be for Joe Lieberman. Also Illinois and Colorado are very tight races, which could go either way as well and if the Dems can hold one of those seats, the Republicans won't have a chance.

Projection: 50 Democrats 48 Republicans 2 Independents(who caucus with the Democrats)

Just a side note. This won't really affect the balance of Power, but the Senate Race in Alaska is a 3 way cluster fuck. One of the Republican candidates is sure to win, but I doubt any of them breaks 40%

Local Focus

Ohio Senate Race

This race isn't competitive. Rob Portman(R) will be able to win the seat easily, which is being vacated by the retiring George Voinovich(R). This may be the most impressive of the Republican victories statewide.

Projection: Called when the polls close

Ohio's Governor Race

The fact that this race is even close is a credit to how poorly the Kasich Campaign has been run. The incumbent Governor Ted Strickland(D) has been effective in his attacks against Kasich and has used his war chest to flood the airwaves and the web with last week advertising. John Kasich(R) has been consistently ahead by 3-5 points in the polls for the past week. He's pretty close to getting to 50% as well and it's almost a certainty that the undecideds will break decisively for him.

Kasich wins by a few points.

Projection: Late Night Call.

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Things to Look For Tomorrow Night

Is there a liberal back-lash against the Tea-Party?

It's obvious that the apathetic voters this election are on the Democratic side. A lot of Dems aren't too thrilled with their leadership. However, if there is something that can fire up the Liberal base, it is the tea party. Will the tea party cause enough of a spike in the Democratic vote to help the Democrats hold onto congress? I say look to the Senate Race in Nevada and see what effects the tea party candidate has on turnout on both sides.

Is the recent tightening of races by Democrats an indicator of them being able to survive the night?

This is really hard to say. In races like these, the party in power will likely see a tightening in the polls late, as some apathetic and wandering party voters are pulled back into the fold. The problem is that undecided voters will break overwhelmingly to the Republicans on election day. I'd say if a Democrat isn't up in the polls now, he or she is more than likely going to lose. Again, it will be a long and nervous night for the Democrats.

If Harry Reid loses who will be the new Leader of the Democrats in the Senate?

Chuck Schumer.

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Alright, there you have it. It might all be wrong. Check on this blog tomorrow night as I will provide election night coverage.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

-Michael.