• 9Oct 08

  Tuberville "The Great" or "The Terrible"?

  To begin, let me say that I do not always agree with how Tuberville coaches. In particular his "let their offense make mistakes" mentality when Auburn has any kind of lead is brutal to my nerves. With that said however, recent posts across the internet about how Tuberville needs to go at the end of the season are, in my opinion, incredible (look up the term in the dictionary). So to remind those fans with short and skewed memories I have decided to list some facts about previous Auburn football coaches.
  
  The revered, and rightfully so, Ralf "Shug" Jordan went 175-83-7 (.674) over a 24 year period. He was not good consistently, especially against Alabama (9-16). His first winning season was his third season (7-3-1). He had 3 ten win seasons, including the 1957 National Championship team but he also had 5 six win seasons. His longest streak of winning seasons with 8 or more wins was from 1969-1972. Outside of this he never went more than 2 seasons in a row with 8 or more wins. More importantly in his first nine seasons his record was 63-27-3 or (.677).
  
  The next great coach was Pat Dye, who in 11 years was 99-39-4 (.711). Part of Dye's allure comes from the fact he finally broke Alabama's 9 game win streak in 1982. Dye had more consistency in his winning than had Jordan winning 8 or more games from 1982-1990. Never did he go undefeated but he did have 4 ten or more win seasons. Unfortunately he also had 3 five win seasons including his last two before he left Auburn burdened by his shady recruiting tactics. Against bama he was 6-6, and 6-3 in his first nine attempts. His first nine seasons he went 71-25-2 (.724).
  
  Riding Dye's recruits to success was Terry Bowden who was 47-17-1 (.731). After winning his first 21 games, Bowden's production slowed. Still he was seemingly a stable coach, but his coaching tactics lead to his departure in 1998 in the midst of a 3-8 season. Not counting his last half season he was 3-2 against Alabama, otherwise his teams were 3-3.
  
  Then came Tuberville to clean up the mess of Bowden, much as Jordan and Dye had done for their predecessors. Against Alabama he is 7-2, a feat achieved by no other coach in their first nine years. His first 9 seasons he went 78-32 (.709), and he has won 8 or more games since 2002, including the impressive but national championship denied 14-0 of 2004.
  
  At this point Tuberville, regardless of whether we always agree with his coaching, belongs in the trinity of great AU football coaches. His first nine years are only bested by Pat Dye who it seems, like all the big coaches of his day, earned that record through illegal and ultimately costly recruiting. Having earned his spot among the AU coaching greats he deserves the same leniency those other coaches received. Jordan went 19-14-2 (.542) in his last three seasons and Dye went 18-14-2 (.529). Even if Tuberville does not win another game this season he would still be 24-14 (.631).
  
  It is hard to dispute the numbers, though no doubt some of you will. Tommy Tuberville deserves to stay at Auburn until he has at least two seasons in a row with less than 6 wins. Let's face it, Jordan wasn't fired and Dye would have lasted longer had he not be force out because of the recruiting scandal. Other coaches were given more slack and Tuberville deserves no less. He has proven he can coach and win in the SEC, a hard feat to manage even at top-tier schools (see Tennessee the last few years).
  
  To state or even hint that Tuberville needs to be fired at the end of the season only demonstrates an ignorance of Auburn history and a refusal to recognize Tuberville's success (he's gotten us the closest we've been to a national championship team since 1957). I may not always like him but he is the best thing for Auburn football and to throw him aside after his accomplishments at Auburn really smacks of Tuscaloosa, not Auburn, football and character (see Bill Curry, 26-10, .722 and was fired after 9-3 and 10-2 seasons). War Eagle and Long Live Tuberville!
  • Posted Oct 9, 2008 1:41 pm PT
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• 27May 08

  Something about Haze

  
  Wow, Haze, the latest by Free Radical Design, has had an interesting life so far as an exclusive for the PS3. The game's ratings range anywhere from 9/10 to 4/10, with most falling somewhere in between. For me this meant I should try the game myself, which I did, and curiously I really enjoyed the experience. The varying reviews, I can only assume relate to how Haze was perceived by the various sections of the FPS gaming world. Haze is not a looker, and it does lack the plethora of multiplayer modes found in other FPS titles, such as FRD's own Timesplitter series or Unreal Tournament. However, Haze provides smooth gameplay, flawless controls (fully customizable), seamless on and offline multiplayer coop and vs (and this includes the option for bots), and a story that far eclipses the standard FPS fare of "this is the bad guy, shoot all of them."(This category is filled with top-tier games like Halo and COD). When examining the user reviews, there is an obvious trend where you can tell the people who played the game and those who, for whatever reason, wanted the game to fail. Those who played the game, at least somewhat objectively, rated it somewhere between 6-9, and those reviews illustrate the growing divide between FPS fans looking for a fun, solid game they can enjoy with many others, and those who want top of the line graphics and no story to bother them (after all if there is no story then there is nothing to possibly rub you the wrong way). Clearly you can see which side I lean toward.

  Haze's exclusive for the PS3 status also doomed it to irrational reviews by many gamers (mostly fanboys no doubt), and even some professional reviewers. For some reason Haze bore the mantle of fulfilling many people's Timesplitters 4 fantasies and demonstrating the graphical and technical horizon for the PS3.Although the game provides perhaps the most robust multiplayer options found on the PS3 (who offers bots anymore!) it is not up to the standards of maniacal fun set by the TS series. Also the game looks good, perhaps a shade better than Resistance, but it does not come close to the likes of Uncharted, a PS3 exclusive that delivered on the hope that it would show the system's potential. Unfortunately, for the developers, the game fell somewhere between the two, and as such it received a ratings thrashing. For the most part people have been unable, or unwilling, to see the game separate from either of these points of view and so it is, to them, a failure. The casualties here are undecided gamers. They may miss out on a fun experience because others were upset that FRD did not make TS4 or because it was not a graphical/technical powerhouse. The whole Haze experience has really left me questioning the low rating of several other games, that I personally wrote off after reading reviews. Might I have also fallen prey to the unattainable expections of reviewers. Perhaps recent events which challenged the credibility of reviewing sites, have disillusioned enough people so that this game might be properly enjoyed, but I fear this is too optimistic a view. I have come to the conclusion that exclusive games this generation face higher standards than multiplatform games; and in addition to this, established developers making exclusive titles are judged against the memories of their past games, placing them in the unfortunate position of having to recreate those experiences while breaking new ground to satisfy a new and contemporary audience. With this in mind, it is no longer difficult to understand the turbulent life of Haze.

  Hope that this was not too muddled and that all is well.

  • Posted May 27, 2008 7:15 pm PT
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• 13Dec 07

  Where have all the action RPGs gone, long time passing . . .

  I imagine this will be short so don't fret. Something happened to me in the fall of 2002, I bought Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance for the PS2 and I had a blast. Then I showed my wife and she and I had a blast. That Christmas I had a blast with several other people as I introduced them to the game. Afterward I was googling "Snowblind" desperately hoping they had a sequel or ten in the works. Fortunately the PS2 was blessed with Dark Alliance II and the Champion of Norrath series and so my cravings found a fix. With the introduction of the "next gen" I was bitterly disappointed and still am. The PS3 has two games now that fit in the multiplayer Action RPG range--Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Untold Legends. Untold helped about as much as a breadstick to a starving man. There was fun to be had but it was clearly a rush job that paled in comparison to even the first Dark Alliance game. Marvel Ultimate Alliance did a better job at placating me, but since I am not that big a fan of comics I was not able to get into the game as much as I had with the PS2 games. I like to really shape what my character looks like and that is hard to do when your character's appearanceis predetermined (i.e. spiderman, wolverine, and so on). It seems that game fills aniche within a niche in gaming.Where are all this gen's titles? Ithought to myself "Snowblind games are going to be sweet on the PS3," but there aren't any so I don't know. If this weren't enough there isno onewilling to fill that void. For being such a success on the PS2 where is next Champions of Norrath? Sony should beall over that since there wouldbe no competition in the genre. That game would rake in some cash, especially mine.I know it would fall into a niche market probably but I would love to see a multiplayer (four hopefully) action rpg along the lines of Champions or Dark Alliance but set in the Star Wars Universe. Imagine running along with a lightsaber or a blaster or a crossbow with three friends. It's a nice dream isn't it. That's all I have the steam for today. Merry Christmas.

  • Posted Dec 13, 2007 7:28 am PT
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