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The GMAC Bowl Can Kiss It: Post Holiday Thoughts

Hey everyone. Hope you all had a good holiday season. I spent half my time off visiting family, half at home doing very little, and practically all of it playing World of Warcraft. Some thoughts that occurred to me during my two weeks of sloth:

- Okay, I get the Fiesta Bowl happening on January 4. It's a big game between two respected opponents; it deserves a spotlight.Same for the National Championship game on Thursday, January 8: Yeah it kind of sucks being that late, but I guess I can understand it. But can someone please tell me why the sweet buttery Christmas they waited to hold the freakin'GMAC Bowl until January 6? I mean, Ball State versus Tulsa? Would anyone have minded if they had just held that game at, like, midnight on December 22 or something? Would anyone have noticed?

- NBA 2K9 is a damn good game; too bad I don't want to play it anymore. I finally got around to cracking open my copy of 2K's latest hoops game over the break. Depressed by Baron Davis' departure to Los Angeles, I couldn't bring myself to load up a franchise with the Golden State Warriors--whose suckage continues to amplify with each successive week--so I thought I'd go the cheap route and start a Celtics franchise. Within minutes I was utterly convinced that this game was superior to NBA Live 09. The problem? Even when playing with the hands-down best team in the game, I wasn't having much fun. Specifically, I'm flat out tired of missing gimme shots from six feet out--shots that KG and crew make on a regular basis with their eyes closed. I admire the game's tough defense AI; I love its ability to adjust to my admittedly uninspired offensive attacks. But there is no way real life NBA players miss as many shots as I do in NBA 2K9 from close up, even with a hand in their face. The contrast is all the more stark because the AI players never seem to miss the same shot on the opposite end of the court, no matter how tight I play them. It used to be a frustrating lack of layups with the NBA 2K series… now it seems like the problems are just a little further away from the net.

-This bookis occasionally frustrating, outrageously pretentious, often gorgeous, and well worth a read. Even a casual basketball fan (like me) will find something to appreciate here. Between that, and Bret Hart's autobiography, I've been cranking through some great sports-related reading material lately.

- My created wrestler, Le Douche (Note: rhymes with "ouch") from TNA iMPACT! is awesome. I'll try and get a screenshot of him this week for the world to see. Too bad the wrestling engine in TNA is flawed--full of great-looking, impact-ful moves that cause next to no damage. It's sort of obvious the developers designed it this way to artificially increase the length of a match but it ends of feeling artificial and not at all, well, impactful. The first order of business for TNA 2? Up the damage for every move in the game.

- Like I mentioned at the top, I am woefully addicted to World of Warcraft. Again. I wanted to play NHL 09 to continue my Be a Pro San Jose Sharks career. Instead, I leveled by Death Knight for two weeks straight. I haven't abandoned our Sports Game of the Year altogether, but I will say that WoW's hold on me continues unabated. Which, I suppose, makes 2009 just like 2008, and 2007, and 2006 and, well, you know…

9 Comments

  • jtmoney430

    Posted Jan 13, 2009 3:56 pm PT

    How far along are you with NHL 09? I played around 120 games on my be a pro mode and I came back another day and all my stats and everything was lost. This includes online stats too. So needless to say the game has taken a back seat in my collection. It is by far the BEST NHL game ever made though.

  • metaljeff

    Posted Jan 8, 2009 7:52 am PT

    Well, it is a shame that the Gamesot Sports guy isn't very good at sports games....I tell ya what, if you suck at shooting try playing as a PG in PLAYER LOCK mode...You will enjoy a great SIM sports experience and you won't be able to complain about your poor shooting skills as much Seriously, I shoot 50-60% a game on the second hardest mode and I shoot tons of midrange shots and 3 pointers No wonder they rated NHL09 so high...It is easy

  • cell_dweller Site moderator

    Posted Jan 6, 2009 5:35 pm PT

    You know, the Fiesta bowl was one hell of a game, and I'm hoping to see more awesome college action on Thursday.

  • LastPRmarine

    Posted Jan 6, 2009 3:02 pm PT

    I'm still trying to get NHL 09 I saw it was on sale at Best Buy but it was sold out

  • Hoodlym_UK

    Posted Jan 6, 2009 2:37 pm PT

    I played WoW like crazy for a year and I'm glad I managed to "finish it". I don't need to play through Wrath. I'm done. Done. DONEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

  • phil315 GameSpot staff member

    Posted Jan 6, 2009 10:44 am PT

    As a huge NBA fan, and an avid Free Darko reader, I too will recommend The Macrophenomenal Basketball Almanac. The artwork alone makes it worth it.
    Another sports book I recommend is Will Leitch's God Save the Fan, which is really good if you want to, you know, hate pro athletes, owners, and the media, but still love professional sports.

  • geaux321

    Posted Jan 5, 2009 10:56 pm PT

    You know that crazy weather in Mobile can be crazy in December...

  • the2ndmouse

    Posted Jan 5, 2009 6:43 pm PT

    what are you guys going to do about sports now that shanker and aaron are gone? I was just going to talk about Jon Miller but the poor guy got laid off as well.

  • WaterLord0

    Posted Jan 5, 2009 1:45 pm PT

    I had World of Warcraft for a while and i never got addicted to it am I the only one.

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