The House of Crouse 5.10.08
Posted by Mark Crouse on 05.10.2008
This week in The House...more fantasy baseball news and notes, and we talk about the greatest sports video games of all time! And in The Soapbox, I give PETA what for after the Kentucky Derby tragedy.
Greetings, and welcome to another fun-filled edition of The House of Crouse. This week in The House, we'll digest the deluge of fantasy baseball news floating around, I'll give y opinion on the best sports video games in history, and we'll visit The Soapbox for a rant involving last week's Kentucky Derby. But first, to the basebally goodness.
-Brewers starter and perpetual fantasy roller coaster Yovani Gallardo will plague my season no more after tearing his ACL and ending his 2008 season. Since this is another leg injury, it can be safely assumed that his career isn't in jeopardy and that he may be able to return next season, but let's be honest; he's officially snakebit. His recent injuries remind me of Mark Prior's non-arm injuries he seemed to suffer constantly before his arm gave out. Some guys are just unlucky or have weaker bodies. It's a shame too, since what little we've seen of Gallardo has been spectacular. If you have him and are in a keeper league, hold onto him until you hear his status for '09.
-Cubs starter Rich Hill has been demoted to AAA after a horrid start. While he will almost certainly return to the rotation in the near future, Hill may make a contribution later this year if he can regain his form in the minors. Personally, I wouldn't put any stock in Hill helping me this year. It's too risky to activate him when he comes back from AAA, and it might be August before he rounds back into form.
-Portly pitching vagabond Sidney Ponson is 2-0 with a 1.33 ERA in three starts for the Texas Rangers. Since I'm an Orioles fan, I know all too well how Sir Sidney can tease with a few good starts here and there. Don't trust him. His two wins are against weak hitting lineups from Kansas City and Seattle, not to mention he beat the Mariners at Safeco Field. He's a fraud, so don't be the guy who gets stuck with him on your roster when he goes kablooey.
-Arizona Diamondback rookie Max Scherzer is the next hot rookie pitcher to enter the league, going 0-2 with a 5.17 ERA in his first two starts. Scherzer is a perfect example of the time-tested rule of not taking rookie pitchers on your fantasy team until they have established themselves. Scherzer has great stuff, and strikes out more than his share of hitters, but he hasn't displayed the command warranting a spot on your team. Avoid him until he starts to pitch like his press clippings say he should.
-Alex Rodriguez is able to come off the DL on May 15, but the Yankee third baseman is heading to Tampa for an MRI on his quadricep. This is unfortunate news for the reigning AL MVP and his owners, since his original prognosis was a minimal stint out of the lineup. All you can do is hold out and hope your replacement produces if you own him. It still doesn't look like A-Rod will miss a huge chunk of the season, but this setback doesn't bode well in the short term.
Since the NFL is in hibernation (except the Spygate story, which I have no interest in), and I'm not ready to comment further on the NBA playoffs, I've decided to address the topic of sports video games. I've been playing sports games since I can remember, and sadly, they are the only kinds of games I can truly achieve in. This means I have over 20 years of experience playing sports video games. So indulge me as I wax poetic and reveal, in reverse order...
The House of Crouse Top 15 Sports Video Games of All-Time
15.NFL Blitz-Various consoles-1997-What Madden was to football simulations, NFL Blitz was to the casual fan that loved what football was all about: big hits and explosive offense. You didn't have to worry about what coverage the defense was in, or even which play you ran. If you had the ball, you just juke until someone hit you, and on defense you tried to destroy the opposition to see the animations that no other sports game had brought to the table. A solid start to the list, NFL Blitz comes in at #15.
14.Skate or Die-NES-1987-Before the X-Games and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Skate or Die represented the shredding skills of the kids of my generation. It also happened to be the only way I could stay on a skateboard for more than five seconds. SOD's controls were like Q*Bert on speed, moving diagonally until you reached your goal.
13.Mike Tyson's Punch Out-NES-1987-Punch Out set a number of benchmarks for not only sports games, but video games in general. The licensing of Tyson's image marked one of the first appearances of a celebrity in a video game. Iron Mike was as intimidating in his digital form as he was in real life at the time. Punch Out also had one of the most developed set of characters, from Glass Joe to the charismatic Mr. Sandman. Little Mac's foes were more fleshed out than Mac himself, making it easier for the player to put himself in the hero's role. Truly an original concept, boxing games faced a dry period until EA decided to bring back the genre with the Fight Night series. It's ironic that Tyson has been reported to be returning to the video ring when the next incarnation of Fight Night comes out.
12.Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006-All consoles-2005-I chose 2006 to represent the Tiger Woods series because it is the last year EA used a reasonable control scheme before changing the swing interface to accommodate the uber golfers that made the older versions of the games too easy. Well guess what? I am not an uber golfer. From '07 on I can't do anything with the game, and perhaps that's more of a me problem, but nonetheless, this is my list. Needless to say, the Tiger series of games is far and away the best golf experience a video gamer can have, with dozens of PGA Tour golfers, real courses, and slight innovations from year to year. A damn good time, and the closest thing you can get to actually playing St. Andrews, except you won't have to break your clubs as you hit into the high grass for the fortieth time.
11.RBI Baseball-NES-1988-The first game to feature real MLB teams and players, RBI baseball's fat, waddling ballers were the cause of many wasted hours back in it's heyday. While next-gen baseball games have more complexity and way better graphics, the simple pleasure of RBI Baseball got the ball rolling.
10.Blades of Steel-NES-1987-Blades of Steel marked the crucial evolutionary step between Ice Hockey and the NHL series for hockey fans. The sad part about BOS is that the fighting was the best part of the game. Ah, when political correctness didn't stop us from having fun.
9.NBA Jam-Arcade, Super NES, Sega Genesis-1993-This game was one of the last reasons to go to an arcade for me, since I am not a DDR fan. It also increased my awareness of the NBA by taking the game and returning it to its playground roots. NBA Jam was an addiction, causing players to play over and over with different combinations of players for their favorite teams to maximize their skills. A groundbreaker in arcade sports fare, NBA Jam belongs on the list.
8.MVP Baseball 2005-All consoles-2005-MVP 2005 was the last year EA had the rights to the MLB Players Association, meaning it's the last EA baseball game produced (with the exception of their college baseball games). This is a shame, considering EA had refined the controls of their baseball engine further than current 2K and The Show series have. MVP is the last baseball game I've enjoyed to the point of playing more than a few games. I hope EA can get the license back someday and continue this series. And by the way, long live Jon Dowd.!
7.NHL '94-Super NES-1993-Let me be blunt with this selection: I don't like hockey. Never have. I can't even blame the work stoppage a few years ago, because I barely knew the NHL wasn't playing. But this game made me know who Jeremy Roenick and company were, because I needed to know who had the skills to put the biscuit in the basket. This is also the first year for the series to include one-timers, record keeping, and other tidbits. For making me care about the NHL, this game comes in at #9.
6.Super Mario Kart-Super NES-1992-I've lost more hours to this game than I care to admit, since SNES was the only game system I had access to my freshman year of college. While the concept of putting Mario and friends into go-karts and having them throw shells at each other was sheer genius, it gave Nintendo the idea to put them in all kinds of stinkers like Super Mario Strikers and Mario Tennis. It's a silver cloud with a grey lining.
5.Wii Sports-Wii-2006-In ten years, when the Wii technology is but a dusty memory for another motion-controlled system, this set of simplistic party sports games will look like Pong to us now. Nevertheless, Wii Sports is a great time. I recently had my wife's family over for the holidays and had four folks over the age of seventy playing bowling. That, my friends, is a rare treat. Sure the golf controls are touchy, and none of the games have any depth, but the concept of Wii Sports gets it on the countdown.
4.Madden'06-All consoles-2005Let's talk for the Madden series for a minute. I have read articles about Madden '09 coming out in August and how the 20th anniversary of the game will break new ground for the genre. I certainly hope so, because I'm having some trouble forking out the cash for the same game over and over again. I chose '06 because it introduced QB Vision Control, which, along with the Hit Stick, are the last real innovations Madden has offered (and no, I don't consider customized concessions at each stadium to be an innovation). Don't get me wrong, I bought '08, but I quickly realized I spent $50 for the same game I bought a year ago. It should be noted that Madden has created a game culture that almost no other franchise has managed to generate, and that while the versions are similar, the series is a great visceral and intellectual experience.
3.Baseball Stars-NES-1989-I thought I was ahead of the crowd on this game, but as I did research for this list, I found that Baseball Stars has quite a cult following. A brilliant idea, Baseball Stars taught us that licensing for MLB teams and players wasn't necessary to make an engaging, sharp baseball game that sucked you in and wouldn't let go. The first game with a salary cap, my friends and I spent countless hours creating ourselves and playing the American Dreams until we could earn enough money to make us competitive.
2.Tecmo Bowl-NES and Arcade-1989-What can I say about Tecmo Bowl that hasn't been said already? Bo Jackson is the greatest video athlete of all time. Having a play collapse when your opponent picks the same one is the most frustrating feeling in video games. The fact that gamers still play it is a testament to it's genius. And it's so good, only it's offspring could best it.
1.Tecmo Super Bowl-NES, Super NES-1991-Behold, the finest sports video game of all time. I remember like yesterday when I opened TSB for Christmas and my brother, my uncle and I played it for twelve hours straight. QB Eagles was my boy, running circles around pass rushers and slinging the ball downfield at will. TSB featured every NFL team, as well as record keeping and statistical leaders that were ahead of its time. Just writing about this game makes me want to play it to relive the all-night tourneys we would have. With great affection, I present Tecmo Super Bowl as the greatest sports game of all time.
To wrap up this week, let's head to The Soapbox where pretentiousness and poor common sense go to die. Last week the Kentucky Derby featured an inspired race run by Big Brown, with Eight Belles coming in second place. Tragically, Eight Belles collapsed after breaking both ankles during a post-race trot, forcing its trainers to put down the suffering filly. Immediately, groups like PETA sprung into action, calling for everything from a suspension of jockey Gabriel Saenz, to protesting the sport as a whole.
It is obvious that PETA was waiting for an incident such as this to perpetuate their own soft-headed agenda, which is to stop all acts of what they consider animal cruelty. After watching interviews with PETA's mouthpieces calling for action, it became apparent that they cleverly use the death of a horse at the biggest race of the year without looking at the facts. I'm no expert on horse racing, but everyone knows how well thoroughbreds are treated and how big an investment they are for their owners and trainers. By coming out without doing their research, PETA has done Eight Belles a disservice by taking the focus off of the horse's triumph and onto themselves.
That's it and that's all for this week. I'm looking for any feedback on this week's column at mark_crouse@hotmail.com. Thanks for reading, and godspeed.
