A while since I’ve updated so my apologies on that! First off, Blazzers reports! There have been 3 games for each team since my last reports. The 1Z’s, despite battling hard, lost out to the division 1 Dublin Bay Packers by 20-7 in the 2010 cup competition. Not a bad scoreline considering we had 9 players, one of which was someone who’d never played the game before. This was followed by a walkover victory against the Mockingbirds, and a 13 – 3 defeat against the Renegades Black (on a side note, ex-Blazzer John Corkery now plays SS for the Renegades and had a great game, despite the stick we were giving him ). These results leave us on 14 points for the season, one win back from the top of the table.

I’ve pitched in parts of all of these games, and man is it tough! I’ll have a good inning or two, then start to get creamed. It can be quite disheartening, but all I can do is keep working on it and hopefully get into the habit of varying my pitches a bit more. I’ll get there!! We also need to get the bats going, as you’ll never win a softball game scoring only 3 runs

The Blazzers team has faired a bit better. They went over the All Sinners 23-4 in the cup, and have a 1 and 1 record in the provious 2 league games, losing 6-5 to the Sluggers before winning on the road against castleknock. These were all away games, so I couldn’t make the trip, but the first team is progressing along nicely, given the scarcity of numbers they currently have.

Next week is a make-up week, meaning there is no game for the 1Z’s, while a decision has to be reached regarding the Blazzers – Marley game from week 1. I’m going to have to head down to see the conclusion to that one, it should be interesting!

On another gaming note, a read a really interesting article on GamesRadar about video games and their place as art and a thought provoking medium. You can read that here. I’ll definitely be trying out some of those.

And finally, I’m currently downloading the demo of UFC Undisputed 2010. I’ll have my impressions on that one soon too, so keep your eyes peeled.

In all seriousness though, I played my first competitive game at pitcher on Monday night, when the 1Z Blazzers took on Marley in our opening home game of the season. To say I was nervous was an understatement, I’m lucky my pitches were even going near the batters in the beginning. First pitch, and I got clobbered in the chest by their opening batter, and have the bruise to prove it! However, I was able to keep my pitches on target, and together with some good fielding from the whole team, we kept the Marley bats quiet and won out 19-9.

I’m really excited to be trying my hand at pitching, being involved in every play and having more responsibility is pressure I can’t wait to have on my shoulders again. Everyone is finding their rhythm, and this week saw the debut of Jim in right center, making several catches and looking very composed.

The first team had another home game this week, taking on the Dodder Dynamoes. They added John Austin to their roster at pitcher this season, and a Blazzer, who I shall keep nameless, saying “God, I HATE his pitches!!” let me know this was a quality addition.

This game started a lot more like a premier league game than last weeks hit-fest. It was a back and forth game, with a lot of exciting plays and close decisions. The Blazzers, on the back of an eight run 4th inning, had a 10-9 lead, before Dodder leveled it up in the last to make it a 10-10 game. I thought this meant a Blazzers win on count-back (a rule I personally despise), but the umpire let us know we’d have EXTRA INNINGS. Dodder ran in two runs to have a 10-12 lead, and with the Blazzers then losing two outs, it looked done and dusted. However, the Blazzers fighting spirit (well, some kind of spirit, possible alcohol fueled) kicked in, and along with some errors in the normally solid Dodder fielding, the Blazzers ran in three to take the game 13-12.

This game was one of the most exciting I’ve watched in my (admittedly short) softball days, and I’m hoping the entertainment factor keeps up. Next week sees the start of the cup competition, with both teams going away from home. Keep up with the blazzers at the blazzer’s website, and pray I don’t mess up next time

Before I get into the games, I need to bring up the concept of the “Blazzers Inning”. This is an inning, usually occurring once a game (towards the end), where the Blazzers defence becomes as watertight as a sieve in a rainstorm. It usually ends with us turning what would be a comfortable win into a nervous last few outs.

With that in mind, first up is the 1Z Blazzers vs the Wildcats of Castleknock. Personally, travelling to that game was a nightmare. I ended up being 15 minutes late, and as such not in the starting lineup. After a 3-run first inning for the 1Zs, we then proceeded to have the Blazzers Inning, conceding 14 runs to a castleknock team who seem to have had their bats working right from the start. Anything hit into the outfield would carry due to the pitch, and there was not much that can be done when a team is in that mood. After that, it was very hard to get back into the game, the 1Zs eventually losing 37-15 after 6.

Alot of positives can be taken from that match though. The new players are settling in very well, and will only get better with each game. We’re working the bats quite well considering the amount of BP we’ve been able to get in due to our training ground being mostly unavailable; Steve and Dan in particular hitting home runs in our defeat.

I also went to watch (and eventually track the stats of) the first team when they took on Marley on Tuesday night. I couldn’t believe my eyes when they too had a Blazzers Inning the first inning of that game, conceding 13 runs. Of cource, we were playing with only 9 at the time, with Ruth running late. What made it worse was that all 13 runs came after two outs had been attained, which, I know from experience, is painful.

The game was quite even after that, with both teams exchanging runs. That was until the Blazzers had a superb  4th inning, getting in 13 runs of their own and almost batting around the order twice. Special mention has to go to Ruth, who hit her first league home run (after what must be at least 20 years of trying I assume ) and couldn’t believe she was being told to round third. I thought of telling her it was an error in the outfield, but I couldn’t be that cruel. It was 25 – 20 blazzers after 4. (Apparently, premier league games are supposed to be low scoring affairs, but that certainly didn’t seem to be the case)

There was controversy when the game was not being called for light, even though the normally steady Jens and Conor both made errors that wouldn’t have happened under normal conditions. Eventually, time was called with Marley leading 30 – 25 in the middle of the top of 6, and will have to be continued (decision reached after a rulebook lookup – who knew) apparently it should have been brought back to the last full inning played, which would mean a 25-23 Blazzers win. We shall see how this unfolds.

I’m going to try get to alot more games than I did last year, and bring my camera next time. All those embarrassing moments have to be documented

But I’m not here to complain about Ubisoft, I happen to enjoy alot of their games. Instead, I’m here to celebrate the game manual, and everything good about it. I don’t know about you, but the first thing I do on the bus home after getting a new game is open it up and read through the game manual. It has such a distinctive smell, it will always remind me of new games. I’ll read that thing front to back (mind you I’ll still be rubbish at it when I first play it). It just one of those things I do with every new game.

Or who remembers looking up moves in the Street Fighter 2 manual back on the Mega Drive! Halfway through a fight you’ll be flicking through pages of manual looking for how to do Zangief’s spinning piledriver or some other move you just couldn’t seem to remember when you were eight years old.

Pages and pages of blank pages at the back of every manual, simply titled “Notes”. I don’t know a single person who ever used these notes pages for anything, but every manual had them. Hell, I bought Just Cause 2 yesterday, flick to the back of the manual, 4 pages of space for your notes.

Finally, everyone must remember biography sized game manuals. 3 inches thick, really small text and a foreword by Stephen Hawking. Yet the actual section you’d have to read is only about 5 pages long, and then translated into every language under the sun; French, Nav’i, even Klingon.

So here’s to game manuals, you will be missed.

I have a new found appreciation for gingers after Paul Scholes took that last minute header to seal the win against city.

Blazzers Logo

Tomorrow, the 1Z Blazzers take the field for the first time this season. That’s right, the Leinster Softball League starts back up, and I for one can’t wait. We had the Start of Season Blitz last Sunday. As usual, it was a blast. I pitched my first game (getting hammered 18-1, I’ll really have to work on that), and we had a good few victories to start the year off.

This is now when the serious business starts. We play a 14 game season over the course of the summer (not including cup games, IOST and other Blitz tournaments). I expect the usual bedding in issues we have each season, but we have a good team and should be competitive, if not vying for the league title.

Anyone can feel free to come down and take a look at our home games, which take place in Eamon Ceannt park on the Sundrive Road. It’s entertaining to watch, and you with the good weather, is a good place to have a few cans (along with the team, of course).  Our home fixtures are:

• April 26th – Braves
• May 10th – Mockingbirds
• May 17th – Renegades Black
• July 12th – Wildcats
• July 19th – Suspects
• July 26th – Beachers
• August 9th – Homers

You never know, you might want to join up afterwards Not too serious, and drinking is encouraged

To get you prepared, I’ll leave you with something every softball player and fan needs to know:

Thought I’d steal a page from Joe Lennon’s book, and write about something that truly annoys me. His rants are quite fun and I’d recommend reading them (although I don’t know if he’ll put them on his facebook after deleting his bebo account). Mine is to do with all those annoying text subscription service ads that seem to come on just to annoy me.

We all know them, two minutes of incessant blabbering from someone with a voice as grating as nails on a chalkboard. They sell the most ridiculous things – if they were to be believed I wouldn’t be able to have a successful relationship without checking if me and my partner’s names are compatible (otherwise she may be crying on the steps of a church), I could know anyone’s location at any time through my phone (boy I bet the garda have bought a shitload of those ones), and my phone would spout “Silence – I KEEEELLLLLLLL YOU” over and over. Add to that that most are subscription services and you can bet that there were alot of shocked parents when little Timmy’s phone bill was €68.50.

Now someone could correct me if I’m wrong, but was “No Penis Allowed” crazy frog the first of these to really make it big?? Anyone else wish they could go back and place a magnum on that frog’s temple, smile and ask him if he’s feeling lucky?

But there’s one in particular that really makes me want to shred my ears in hopes that it will end my suffering. Anyone who listens to the Adrian Kennedy phone show will know Bongo. A guy and girl sitting down talking, and he’s asking her all sorts of personal questions. She won’t answer, so like the good little stalker he is, he texts Bongo to find out!!! Ad ends with the line “Bongo is for Fun – Bongo may not always be accurate.“. Immediately I was thinking I bet you my €2.50 (yes, €2.50 per text message, that’s more expensive than sex lines…. so I’m told *cough*) will get me answers like “Oh Michael is a Marine Botanist with a penchant for midnight gardening and collects stamps”. But no, after checking their website (I’m not going to link to it) they retrieve their answers through their extensive database and extensive research.

I for one don’t like the idea of someone even remotely being able to get that information about me through this service (you could argue that I’ve put the information out there myself but that’s through restricted channels and I have a measure of control over who can access it and what exactly they can see) and I’m wondering if they have a way to make yourself “X directory” as it were.

Short and sweet today So, any of these ads annoy you? Or do you love  it? Comments appreciated, as always.

Michael

Today I’m going to go down through Wrestlemania XXVI and give my opinion on “the granddaddy of ‘em all”. I watched this with a group of friends (as I always do) and brought down the 50″ widescreen make sure I didn’t miss a beat. I’m not going to use notes or other people’s comments, so it’ll be a purely straight from the hip , 100% biased opinion

Match 1: ShowMiz vs R-Truth/Morrison

For what it was, I enjoyed this match. Yes it was quite short, and I could never see Morrison and Truth taking the titles, but it provided a good way to open the show.

Match 2: Orton vs DiBiase vs Rhodes

Way way too short for what it was. This match had gotten quite the build-up, steming all the way back to Ted Jr’s problems with Orton many months ago. I felt it didn’t really live up to the hype it was surrounded with. Saying that, I thought Cody shone in this bout; he’s starting to come out of the shadow of his (supposedly) superior tag-team partner, and I can see maybe Rhodes – DiBiase feud upcoming. Another thing to note – how over is Randy Orton now!!!

Match 3: Money in the Bank

Again, I’m going to say this one was a slight disappointment for me. Maybe it was increasing the numbers from 8 to 10, maybe it was that the mix of wrestlers this year wasn’t up to the standard of previous years, but I came away from this one feeling underwhelmed. No doubt there were some great spots in the match (Bourne in particular with his Shooting Star Press from the top of the falling ladder) but when thinking back to previous ‘Mania MITB matches, one can’t help but feel this will be compared unfavorably.  I predicted Swagger picking up the win, and I’m glad to see that I was correct, as he is one of the handful of the current mid-carders who has the potential to climb the ladder (no pun intended).

Match 4: Triple H vs Sheamus

I really enjoyed this match. Sheamus and HHH really put on a great match for the time they were allowed. Sheamus showed that he still has some things to learn (I think he was getting up too quickly from some moves, even beating HHH to his feet on occasion after Triple H had delivered a devastating move), but definitely showed enough to prove some of his doubters wrong and that he belongs in WWE. Was very surprised that HHH got the victory, really expected him to “do the job” for Sheamus.

Match 5: CM Punk vs Mysterio

If it wasn’t for Undertaker / Shawn Michaels, I think this would have gotten my pick of match of the night. These two seemed to have a chemistry working together that Mysterio has been laking recently, and it’s an interesting story arc leading to Mania (Punk singing to Mysterio’s daughter was positively creepy). These two pulled of some awesome stuff in the ring (Punk reversing the 619 into the GTS anyone??) and I would happily watch this match again. Real glad this feud is set to continue, though I’m surprised again that Mysterio pulled out the win.

Match 6: Bret Hart vs Vince McMahon

Worst match on the card (note that I don’t include the diva’s match as a match; more on that later). I was hyped for this one. I know it was never going to be a wrestling classic, in fact I was expecting an all-out brawl, but what we got was a major cop-out. I doubt there was anyone in attendance or watching at home that didn’t see that swerve coming a mile off. After that, the 25,000 on 1 match that happened was both dull and poorly put together; I actually started to feel bad for Vince, as Bob Kelso once said “after a while you’re just beating up an old man”. I’m still glad that the Hitman came back and was able to be part of ‘Mania once again, but please let that be the end of this.

Match 7: Edge vs Chris Jericho

Another close contender for match of the night. When two gifted wrestlers, both in their prime, are competing, it shows what an art form professional wrestling can be, and these two have it down to a t. They played off each other perfectly. Another surprise result in my book, the spear after the match was great, and I can see this feud continuing (though after smackdown this week I’m not so sure)

Match 8: 10-Diva Tag Team Match

I feel like I’m insulting wrestling here by even mentioning this match in the same breath as Undertaker / Shawn Michaels or Edge / Jericho. First off, I’m not against women’s wrestling. And WWE does have some talented female wrestlers (and I’m talking of the Beth Phoenix / Gail Kim wrestling talent, not the Kelly Kelly “talent” (which I very much admire too) ). But putting them in a match like this does nothing for them, the diva’s or WWE women’s wrestling as a whole. Vicky is an awesome heel, I’ve never seen someone generate so much heat purely from being on screen, but she’s not a wrestler, nor should she have to be.

Match 9: John Cena vs Batista

For all the Cena haters out there – he’s growing on me again. I thought this match was great. Both men played to their strengths, and pulled off a match they can both be proud of. This was always going to be overshadowed by other matches on the card, but these two definitely pulled off an entertaining, fast paced bout. Batista should never be a face again, he’s the perfect heel – big, strong, and has a pompous arrogance about him. Not surprising Cena pulled out the victory, couldn’t have neither world title change hands. Interesting fact – Cena now has 9 world title reigns, the same as The Rock.

Match 10: Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels

This one was always going to be the big one. And it was no let down. Match of the night hands down. Started off perfectly with Michaels doing the throat slice. This match felt completely different to the one at ‘Mania 25, and that’s no bad thing. I wouldn’t have wanted to see the same match again. There were times when I was convinced the streak was over, especially after Shawn hit the moonsault through the table. But it was not to be and Taker is 18 – 0 (thankfully the Miz is only 18 wins away from putting the dead man in his place ). Both men deserve the plaudits for putting on one hell of a show, and providing entertainment not just tonight, but over the course of the feud. HBK, you will be missed

So that’s my WM XXVI opinion. I’d be surprised if everyone agreed with me, in fact I’d be downright scared of my oratory skills if I could get everyone to agree. So, do you have your own opinion? Not agree with my choices?? Post your comments below

I suppose I should actually explain what the draft is. Many people will know fantasy football, where you build up the best squad of players possible within your budget. Any player can play for any (or all) teams, and over the season points are accumulated to find the eventual winner. Fantasy baseball is a little different. A player can play for one and only one team. The season begins with a draft, where owners take turns selecting who they want to play for their team. This adds an extra bit of strategy, and there are numerous websites completely dedicated to the art of team selection and team strategy.

Our draft took place in Slattery’s pub, and all ten owners were there. This added to the atmosphere as picks were scrutinized, players struggled with the 90 second pick time limit, and keeping track of who was picked became more and more difficult (selecting a player already drafted meant you lost that draft pick until after the end of the draft)

Red Sox V Yankees opens the 2010 season

I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t know too much about what was going on. But I soon got into the swing of things. A few times after I made my picks there were audible groans from other team owners; this must mean I was doing something right

A few picks ended up being surprises: Carlos Pena went very late, and I’m told Mike Napoli secured his highest ever draft position when he was drafted in the 9th round. I’m sure I made a few mistakes, taking players too early, or missing a bargain when I had the opportunity but again, I’m new to this so it can be forgiven.

For the record, I drafted 6th of 10, and ended up with the following team:

• Miguel Montero – Catcher
• Ramon Hernandez – Catcher
• Joey Votto – 1B
• Brian Roberts – 2B
• Mark Reynolds – 3B
• Derek Jeter – SS
• Alexei Ramirez – MI
• Aramis Ramirez – CI
• Matt Kemp – OF
• Shane Victorino – OF
• Josh Hamilton – OF
• Franklin Gutierrez – OF
• Garrett Jones – OF
• Carlos Pena – Util
• James Shields – P
• Brian Matusz – P
• John Danks – P
• Ryan Dempster – P
• CC Sabathia – SP
• Javier Vasquez – SP
• Matt Garza – SP
• Andrew Bailey – RP
• Neftali Feliz – RP
• JA Happ – Bench
• Buster Posey – Bench
• Todd Helton – Bench
• Juan Rivera – Bench
• JD Drew – Bench

It looks a strong enough squad for someone who’s never played fantasy baseball before. I guess we’ll have to find out when the season kicks off on Thursday!!

Another writeup on the draft was written here. Opinion on my team I’d like to hear, is there anywhere I could be stronger, or somewhere it could use a little tweaking.

I suppose the best thing for me to do would be to quickly run down what’s been happening with me:

• I bought a new phone, the Nokia 5580. I’m really liking this phone, well prefer it over my old LG Cookie.
• Arranged to go to Download in Donnington this year. I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE AC/DC AGAIN!!!!!
• Started listening to Major Nelson (http://majornelson.com/) podcast as well as the PSNation (http://www.psnation.org/) podcast. Both are great listens (people say great reads so I can say great listens)
• I’ve actually started to complete games. So far I’ve worked my way through AVP, Heavy Rain (absolutely awesome), Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and currently working my way through God of War 3
• Softball has started back up again. Trying my hand at pitcher, but it is one TOUGH gig.
• Prepping for WrestleMania 26 this weekend. Michaels v Taker II will be an epic.

In relation to development, I’ve started doing some simple Zend Framework stuff to try and get my head around it. If anyone knows any good tutorials, screencasts, books etc relating to this, please pop it into the comments.

I will be posting more regularly from now on (if I don’t, please harass me in the street and publicly ridicule me), and if people want me to talk about anything in particular, just suggest it to me, or you can message me on Facebook or Twitter. Laters!