Chris's blog

The official NFL video game license is a moneymaker for Electronic Arts, but dealing with the sometimes-questionable personal lives of NFL players must keep EA up at night. Last year’s Madden NFL 09 featured, then retired, Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, on the cover. While the game was being shipped to stores, Favre decided to come out of retirement and play for the New Your Jets. EA latter released a roster update and a new cover of the game to download. This season, EA's biggest insomnia cause has to be Michael Vick.

Michael Vick is a talented quarterback who used to play for the Atlanta Falcons. Recently he has been known for his dog-fighting shenanigans. Thursday he signed as a second string QB for the Philadelphia Eagles, but he's ineligible to play until Week 6 of the NFL season. Vick is not included in the roster of the Madden 10 football game either... so is Vick going to show up in Madden 10 eventually?

If you were thinking that EA was going to take some kind of moral stand on ex-con Vick by not including him in the game, you'd be wrong: You'll should be able to play as Michael Vick as soon as Madden 10’s next roster update is released. That update is scheduled for Aug. 19 for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

On September 9th Harmonex will be releasing Band Beatles Edition. They have just announced the song list for this game. By the looks of it, Beatles fans will not be disappointed.

RockBand: Beatles, Track Listing

Please Please Me (1963)
I Saw Her Standing There
Boys
Do You Want To Know A Secret
Twist and Shout

With the Beatles (1963)
I Wanna Be Your Man

A Hard Day's Night (1964)
A Hard Day's Night
Can't Buy Me Love

Beatles For Sale (1964)
Eight Days a Week

Help! (1965)
Ticket To Ride

Rubber Soul (1965)
Drive My Car
I'm Looking Through You
If I Needed Someone

Revolver (1966)
Taxman
Yellow Submarine
And Your Bird Can Sing

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a Little Help From My Friends
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Getting Better
Good Morning Good Morning

Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
I Am The Walrus
Hello Goodbye

The Beatles (White Album) (1968)
Dear Prudence
Back In the U.S.S.R.
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Birthday
Helter Skelter

Yellow Submarine (1969)
Hey Bulldog

Abbey Road (1969)
Come Together
Something
Octopus's Garden
I Want You (She's So Heavy)
Here Comes the Sun

Let It Be (1970)
Dig a Pony
I Me Mine
I Got a Feeling
Get Back

Love (2006)
Within You Without You/ Tomorrow Never Knows

Singles
I Want To Hold Your Hand
I Feel Fine
Day Tripper
Paperback Writer
Revolution
Don't Let Me Down

With the economy the way it is, it was no surprise that Chrysler announced that they would be going into bankruptcy, also the discontinuation of the Pontiac line, and the imminent demise of GM’s Saturn. So I was thinking let’s take a look back at some other American car brands that have gone belly up.

Studebaker
Studebaker started out in 1852, as a family owned blacksmith business. It would later become the world’s largest wagon builder by the end of the 19th century. They successfully turned their wagon enterprise into a horseless carriage enterprise, Studebaker turned out unique and creative cars, including the bullet-nose Land Cruiser. Their last car rolled off the lot in 1966.

AMC
American Motors was created in a 1954 merger between Hudson (the maker of the Hornet) and Nash-Kelvinator. The carmaker really came into it’s own when in the late 60s and early ‘70s with unforgettably cars like the Javelin, Gremlin, Pacer, and Eagle. Chrysler eventually bought out AMC. They stopped making cars in 1988.

Duesenberg
Duesenberg possibly made some of the finest cars ever produced in America, Duesenberg was unfortunately a casualty of the Great Depression. Even with celebrity owners like Clark Gable, and Phillip Wrigley (of chewing gum fame), the top-of-the-line and top-priced cars simply couldn’t survive. They made their last production car in 1936. The few that are still around today rarely change hands, and when they do, seven figures are typically at stake.

GEO
The General Motors brand, was first introduced in 1989, and was built to compete with small, economical foreign imports. It’s models, Metro, Prizm, Storm, and Spectrum did ok, but not well enough to stay around. GM stopped production in 2004, which may have been about two to three years too early. With the huge gasoline price spike of 2006-2007, used Geo prices skyrocketed due to the cars’ incredible fuel economy and dependable reputation.

MLB merchandise just keeps getting weirder. Last week the New York Times ran a really weird article about Yankees Sod, a new product that’s pretty much just what it sounds like. It is grass that’s been licensed by the New York Yankees for sale to fans. The turf actually comes from the same 80-acre plot as the grass that was recently installed in the new Yankee Stadium. If you go to a New York-area Home Depot you can pick up a a five-square-foot patch of this grass for around $7.50.
To most fans, this idea seems kind of crazy. By some kind of strange logic of MLB product licensing, there’s nothing odd about it. In fact, there are a lot of unnecessary things a MLB team has licensed. Here are a few other “currently available” products that give Yankees Sod a run for its money in the ridiculousness department.

A Wincraft Chicago Cubs 5 Quart Galvanized Pail

At some point in his career, a dairy cow runs into the same problem. He doesn’t know what MLB team to moo for. This galvanized milk bucket can help out any confused cow pick a team to graze the pasture for. Well worth the $15.99 asking price.

Still not convinced? Well maybe this sales pitch from MLB.com will help you out: “They have a waterproof sealed bottom and are great for holding ice, water, dirt, or anything else you would like to carry or hold in these great decorative pail.”

Really? That’s your selling point for a bucket? That it won’t leak and you can put stuff in it? This is a bucket. It’s just like every other bucket you’ve ever seen, but with a Cubs logo on the side and more expensive. Shouldn’t the Cubs logo make it less expensive?

Fleer New York Mets B2 Stealth Bomber

You want your kid to play with sports toys, but he loves military ones. What to do? For just $25, you can buy a die-cast stealth bomber replica covered with New York Mets “stickers” logos. There’s no underlying logic that ties the team and the plane together, so this novelty is just a bit of licensing absurdity. If the Mets fans want to talk about something quiet, fast, and awesomely destructive, they can talk about the team’s bullpen.

Caskets and Crematory Urns

Has a lifetime of being a Pirates fan not been quite enough for you? Now you can take your frustration into the afterlife with MLB-licensed funerary products from Eternal Image, Inc. In early 2007, the company started selling MLB-themed urns, and towards the end of 2008, it introduced its MLB caskets. They sold out within a week. The urns, which will run you $799, come with a baseball as part of the display. The product’s website notes that the family can replace the ball with one from their collection. Just don’t take the ball start playing with it; that’s a one-way ticket to a haunting.

Garden Gnomes

Ever think your garden should start to show a little more team spirit? Forever Collectibles has a line of lawn gnomes where the hats feature MLB logos. I don’t know really what to say about this one. Just, why? A garden Gnome? It’s just going to get stolen.

ProMark Arizona Diamondbacks Level and Hammer

When Brandon Webb does home improvement projects, do you think he uses just any old hamer? Of course not! If he’s got any team loyalty!! He picks up his special 10-inch Diamondbacks level and matching hammer when he starts to work on his house. For around $40 you can hammer in style. “The comfortable molded rubber grip is designed to fit the sport.” What sport, baseball or competitive hammering?

Les Paul, who invented the solid-body electric guitar, died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 94. According to Gibson Guitar, Paul died at White Plains Hospital, with his family and friends at his side.

The use of electric guitar gained popularity in the mid 1940s, and then exploded with the rise of rock in the mid-'50s. It was then, when it was recognized that power is a very important part of the music," Paul once said. "To have the dynamics, to have the way of expressing yourself beyond the normal limits of an unamplified instrument, was incredible. Today a guy wouldn't think of singing a song on a stage without a microphone and a sound system."

In 1952, Gibson Guitars began production on the Les Paul guitar. Pete Townsend of the Who, Steve Howe of Yes and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page all made the Gibson Les Paul their trademark six-string on stage. Over the years, the Les Paul series has become one of the most used guitars in the music

Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots has been keeping busy in the past 11 months since getting injured in the fist quarter of the first game of the 08 NFL season. He married a supermodel, spent time with his 2-year-old son, and appeared on the HBO’s "Entourage," where he joked about his knee injury.

After a year off Tom Brady is ready to return to the NFL on Thursday night when the Patriots take on the Philadelphia Eagles in their first pre-season game of the year. This game is where the two-time Super Bowl MVP plans on proving that, despite all that time off and his injured knee, he still got it.

Brady said this summer, "I'm a believer that talk is real cheap," "I know it looks glamorous at times, but I think what I enjoy the most is playing football and being with my family, and those are the kind of things that I do. I'm excited to go out there and compete. And anytime I have a chance to compete, I love that."

Brady had started 128 consecutive games, but he only played just 5 minutes, 58 seconds since the loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII, that spoiled the Patriots' chances at a 19-0 season. He sat out the entire pre-season last year because of a foot injury. Then to make things worse he was knocked out of the whole regular season in the first quarter of the opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Their first pre-season game against the Eagles might not be a bad test for the recovering Brady, considering six of the Eagles starters will be sitting out from injuries. Running Back Brian Westbrook, Right Tackle Shawn Andrews, Right Guard Stacy Andrews, Left Guard Todd Herremans, Defensive End Trent Cole, and Middle Linebacker Stewart Bradley will all see no or little action in Thursday’s game. This will give Brady a chance to start off slow trying to get back in the grove he once had in the record setting season of 07.

"I'm expecting to play; there's no reason why I wouldn't.” Brady said after practice. “ I mean, I've been out here and doing everything, and it will be nice to get out there and play some football."

DIRECTV will now be offering local channels to customers in the Shreveport, La.

The following broadcast networks will be available in HD:

KTBS - ABC, Channal 3

KSLA - CBS, Channel 12

KPXJ - CW, Channel 21

KMSS - FOX, Channel 33

KSHV - MNT, Channel 45

KTAL - NBC, Channel 6

KLTS - PBS, Channel 24

The University of North Carolina picked up another NCAA men’s basketball trophy this year, which will make a nice addition to the school’s trophy case. The adorned wooden plank is one of the more recognizable awards in all of sports, but what’s the story behind it? What does it mean? Here’s the scoop on the NCAA championship hardware, plus the cups, statues, and trophies other athletes strive to claim.

NCAA Basketball Championship

The NCAA Championship trophy was first raised up high in 1952. This walnut plank that is embellished with a metal NCAA seal and olive branches replaced a silver cup that had previously gone to the winners. The walnut plank only valued at $500 or so.

This understated trophy isn’t the only thing champions get for winning. The morning after the last game, the National Association of Basketball Coaches presents the winners with a much larger and more elaborate marble trophy topped with a Waterford crystal basketball.

The Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy

The NBA’s championship trophy made its debut in 1978. It was originally called the Walter A. Brown Trophy, after former Celtics owner whose name had been on the league’s previous championship trophy. In 1984, the league renamed the trophy to honor outgoing NBA commissioner Larry O’Brien. The trophy is around two feet high and depicts a basketball going into a net. The Tiffany designed trophy is made of sterling silver coated in 24 carat gold and weighs over 14 pounds. According to the NBA, each trophy is worth $13,500.

The Vince Lombardi Trophy

This NFL trophy went to the Super Bowl’s winner for the first time in 1967. Tiffany and Company also created this trophy. The trophy took on Lombardi’s name after the legendary head coach of the Green Bay Packers sudden death in 1970. It’s just less than two feet tall and depicts a regulation-sized football. The trophy is made of sterling-silver and weighs just under seven pounds. The Lombardi Trophy is said to have a value of $25,000.

The Commissioner’s Trophy

The MLB first gave out this trophy in 1967. The St. Louis Cardinals won the first Commissioner’s Trophy by beating the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. Ever since then, the winners of the World Series have received one of these monuments. The design has undergone a few minor changes over the years, but this one probably has more symbolism than most trophies. The ebony base has 30 miniature pennants, each represents one of the 30 clubs. The flags encircle a giant silver baseball with 24-carat vermeil stitches that is engraved with latitude and longitude lines symbolizing the world. The 30-inch trophy weighs nearly 30 pounds and is worth an estimated $15,000.

The Stanley Cup

The NHL’s Stanley Cup is named after Frederick Arthur Stanley, the 16th Earl of Derby who was the Governor General of Canada from 1888 to 1893. In 1892 he decided that Canada’s hockey teams needed to vie for a trophy. So he gave 10 guineas to purchase a silver bowl made in Sheffield, England. The trophy was originally called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, but Stanley’s name quickly attached itself to the bowl. What might be surprising to fans is that the cup wasn’t very big. The bowl Stanley purchased was only seven inches tall and 11 inches in diameter. The trophy went to the top hockey team in Canada, but in 1910 it began bouncing around from one professional hockey league to another. In 1926 the young NHL had adopted the trophy on an informal basis by 1947 it became the official spoils of a championship.

The 35-pound Stanley Cup we all know isn’t the original Stanley Cup. The original bowl that Stanley purchased has been retired and is on permanent display at the Hockey Hall of Fame. The familiar Stanley Cup didn’t come about until 1947, when an engraver redesigned the trophy to make it less unwieldy. Since then, it’s become one of sports’ most coveted treasures, because its rings bear the inscription of the rosters and staff of winning teams. Of course, every so often the room for engraving on the trophy fills up, so the league pops off the oldest ring, flattens it out, and sends it to the Hall of Fame for display while adding a new blank ring to the trophy’s base.

15. In May 2002 Baltimore Orioles left fielder Marty Cordova fell asleep in a tanning bed and got a sunburn on his face. His doctor ordered him to stay out of direct sunlight, which meant Cordova had to hide out in the clubhouse during day games until his face healed.

14. Pitching great Nolan Ryan once missed a start after a coyote allegedly bit him.

13. Chicago Cubs outfielder Jose Cardenal missed a game in 1974 because his eyelid was “stuck open,” which prevented him from blinking. He eventually overcame this ailment, it didn’t help his reputation as a player who liked to use suspicious injuries to get out of games; two seasons earlier he had missed a game because crickets in his hotel room had kept him up all night, leaving him exhausted.

12. Atlanta Braves Pitcher Tom Glavine suffered from food poisoning during the 1992 season; his symptoms were so bad that he broke a rib while vomiting.

11. Atlanta Braves first baseman Ryan Klesko missed several games in 1999 after straining his back while picking up his lunch tray.

10. Brazilian soccer star Ramalho once missed three days of action because he was bedridden after taking a suppository orally.

9. Reliever Greg A. Harris once missed two starts for the Texas Rangers after he inflamed his elbow by spending an entire game flicking sunflower seeds at a friend who was sitting nearby.

8. Boston Red Sox pitcher Clarence Blethen didn’t have a long career, but he did have a fine set of false teeth. According to legend, Blethen liked to carry his false teeth in his back pocket when he played, which was a decent enough plan until he had to make a takeout slide at second to break up a double play during the 1923 season. When Blethen slid, his false chompers supposedly bit him on the rear, which led to a bloody mess that forced him out of the game.

7. Baseball players should not play Basketball. Atlanta Braves closer Cecil Upshaw missed the entire 1970 season when his ring got caught on an awning as he tried to demonstrate his slam-dunk technique.

6. Hall of Fame third baseman Wade Boggs once missed seven games after straining his back while trying to pull on his trademark cowboy boots.

5. Hall of Fame offensive tackle Turk Edwards suffered a career-ending injury in 1940 during the pregame coin toss. When Edwards turned to return to the Washington Redskins’ sideline, he caught his cleats on the turf, which wrecked his fragile knee and forced him into retirement.

4. Point guard Muggsy Bogues once missed the second half of a game after he became dizzy from inhaling ointment fumes while receiving treatment for a sore muscle at halftime.

3. NHL goalie Glenn Healy enjoyed a long career, and he also enjoyed playing the bagpipes. While playing for the Maple Leafs in 2000, Healy needed stitches after slicing himself while repairing an antique set of pipes.

2. In 1994 Steve Sparks missed out on a chance to make his first big-league roster when he dislocated his shoulder during spring training with the Milwaukee Brewers. He tried to rip a phone book while imitating a group of motivational speakers who had visited the team.

1. Sacramento Kings small forward Lionel Simmons missed two games in his rookie season (1991) because he had tendonitis in his right wrist and forearm from playing too much GameBoy.

Whenever my friend is having a party I always show up late. I just don’t want to be the first one there. I like to wait and let the party settle in before I show up. At every party you have different kind of party friends. You have the “Lightweight” who is passed out by the time you show up. “The Klutz”, this person can spill your beer from across the room. There is the “Couch Potato”, “Mr. I have to Drive Tonight”, “The Meathead”, the list goes on. Me, well I’m the “Late Guy”.

So I was thinking Facebook…No difference. You have a group of friends all in the one place, doing a bunch of annoying things, but you are having a great time! I know what your thinking, “at a party there is alcohol”. Well with Facebook, there is the Internet. The Internet is the “alcohol” at this Facebook party, and at this Facebook party you have different kind of  friends. So here is a list of different types of Facebook friends.

The Overzealous Updater - This is the friend who can’t go a half an hour without sharing what’s on his mind. Honestly I really want to know about how you burnt your Hot Pocket, I don’t need to know that you’ve just had your second shower of the day. For that matter, I didn’t need to hear about the first one either.

The Linker - This is the friend who does nothing but share links all day. Links to articles he’s read that he thinks the whole world should be reading, links to movie reviews, links to new games coming on the market, links to his Twitter page where he’s gone and posted 10 more links. Links to his links to links!! There needs to be a limit. Some links are good; especially when it’s some funny you tube video of a guy getting hit in the crouch with a football.

The Groupie - This is the friend who jumps on more band wagons then a New York Yankees fan when they start winning again. They join every group that comes their way. “The I like to cut my crust of my sandwich group” REALLY?!

I Am My Kids - This friend only uses Facebook to post photos of their kids, or updates that read: “Tommy didn’t feel well today, so he stayed home from school.” Hey don’t care so shut up! Might as well not even have your own profile; just create one for the kid.

Spies - This is the Ex-girldfriend or boyfriend who only friends you so” he or she” can spy on you and make sure you have fewer friends then “he or she” has, and that your new significant other is less attractive than “he or she” was. I know it’s complicated.

The Wanna-Be - This is the person who friends someone with the great hope of becoming friends with that person in real life. Just because Ryan Seacrest is you friend on Facebook dose not mean he will call you later to get some drinks.

The Two-facer - This friend will accept your friend request just to be polite, but then hides your updates immediately. Unfortunately, you have no idea who the two-facers are.

The Networker - This is the friend whose sole purpose on Facebook is to build a list he can tap when he needs a job. You know these friends because they only message you with e-mails that read “So you still over at Stop and Shop?”

The OverPoker - No need to explain this one. You know who you are!!

The Attention Seeker - This is the friend who posts status updates that are purposely vague, and therefore beg for a comment. Their status is all about getting you to respond, getting attention, getting sympathy, leaving you wanting more. “Lori is scared, but hopes everything works out…” What? What happen? Son of a…!

The Lyricist - Will not post anything except song lyrics. This does not make you cool. In fact you are now less cool.

The Good Friend - This is the friend who doesn’t fit in any of the above categories and is, hopefully, just one of many normal, average facebookers you’ve friended. Let’s hear it for the Good Friend!