SPORTSbyBROOKS

Speed Read: Steelers Salvage Opening Night Win

Richard Manfredi — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:00:34 +0000

If anyone wanted to know the difference between college football and the NFL, you just needed to watch the two games last night. (At least the two that anyone cared about - sorry, Florda A&M at Winston-Salem State on ESPNU.) If you like offense, crazy plays and wild comebacks, then the Clemson at Georgia Tech game was for you. But if you prefer low-scoring, hard-hitting football that’s kind of not very exciting until the final five minutes, then the NFL kickoff game between Pittsburgh and Tennessee was for you. (Sorry, is my bias showing?)

First let’s talk about the Steelers’ 13-10 overtime victory. Plainly put, Pittsburgh had no reason to win this game. They could not run the ball, gaining a whopping 33 yards. (Note to the guy in my fantasy league bragging about “stealing” Rashard Mendenhall: eat it.) And between Jeff Reed almost shanking the game-tying 32-yard field goal into the offensive line’s backsides and Hines Ward fumbling after a reception took him inside the Titans’ five with a minute to go, they were teetering on disaster. (more…)

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Manny Being Booed By Bonds-Loving Giants Fans

jason — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:26 +0000

• Suspected steroid abuser Manny Ramirez gets a rude reception from San Francisco Giants fans - the same Giants fans who were so passionate in supporting suspected steroid abuser Barry Bonds.

• 49ers coach Mike Singletary makes a mountain out of a molehill, forcing QB Alex Smith to watch the rest of practice from high above.

• Bobby Bowden would like to share his prostate problems with you.

• EA sports donates advanced copies of Madden 10 to a U.S. submarine crew who are shipping out before the game’s official release date.

• Would it really kill the NHL to let Jim Balsillie move the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton, Ontario?

(more…)

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That’s It, Houshmandzadeh Boycotting Madden ‘10

Rick Chandler — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:00:53 +0000

ESPN may be boycotting the Ben Roethlisberger story, but it’s all over this breaking news: Former Cincinnati Bengals & current Seattle Seahawks receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh (“championship!”) is boycotting “Madden ‘10″ because, he says, his rating is too low. (Terrorists throw up hands in disgust, say it’s just not worth hating us anymore).

Houshmandzadeh (“championship!”) appeared on Colin Schrutebag’s show on Monday and waxed eloquently on a variety of subjects, including the fact that Seahawks coach Jim Mora invited Houshmandzadeh to climb Mount Rainier with him. But the most head-scratchingly funny moment came when he discussed the Madden ‘10 video game: (more…)

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UFC Has Competition With EA Sports MMA Game

Richard Manfredi — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:52:37 +0000

What the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo is for fans of erotica, E3 is for hardcore gamers. Starting today in Los Angeles and going through Thursday, E3 is a virtual cornucopia of excess for the gaming world, with all of the big names making major announcements and rolling out new titles. (And with every company employing scads of scantily-clad “booth workers” to intice horny video game nerds, it’s a lot closer to an adult video convention than you would think.) And while the main headline so far has been the announcement of “Rock Band: Beatles” (complete with a virtual Yoko Ono shrieking at you during the Expert levels), there has also been plenty of news on the sports video gaming front.

For example, GAMASUTRA says that EA Sports (the 700 lb. gorilla of sports video games) is readying an MMA video game for a 2010 release, as a competitor to the UFC-branded game series by THQ. Their press release on “EA Sports MMA” mentions that they plan on having “a vast array of top fighters and fighting styles from around the world,” which seems almost impossible without the UFC brand. They could include fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski, but the names the casual fan knows will be tough to pull off since they are all part of the UFC banner.

(more…)

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