Todays 1-0, no-hit loss to VT by the USA Softball ladies has to be one of the most embarassing losses since...well, anyone lost to the Knicks.
The USA ladies had previously won 185 games in a row dating back to 1996. So i figured we'd take a look at the state of the world the last time the women went down in exihibition play.
in 1996, 2pac was killed (He's since released 73 hit records)
Janet Jackson signed an 80 million dollar contract, (then lost a boob and a career)
Seal won record of the year with, "Name of the Rose." (He's since gone on to make babies with super models....gives all of us with acoustic guitars alot of hope)
Braveheart won best picture (they since did take Mel Gibson's freedom for a night due to him hating jews, nice mug shot tho mel)
George Burns died (ironically, Julio Franco was still older than Burns in 96)
The first sheep was cloned.....(thats funny enough by itself)
Ken Caminitti won the baseball MVP...what a slippery slope it was after that huh Ken?
Sal Fasano was a rookie in 96 and hit a whopping .203
Today is a dissapointing day for the girls in red white and blue, but hopefully 08 will be more exciting than 96...geez
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
"That dyke can throw"
As Patches O'Houlihan said in Dodgeball, softball girls can throw... while wearing plenty of eye make up.
ESPN has been showing many of the USA Softball Bound 4 Beijing tour, exhibitions for the national team to partake before the Olympics. I think its sad that it's come to this. I don't mean the games themselves, but rather the KFC sponsorship and the challenges baseball and softball have to face for being an Olympic sport. While both sports are played by few countries (I doubt England has a great baseball team), the sport reminds me of the goodwill exhibitions Major League Baseball used to do. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig would go to Japan with a team of all stars to showcase baseball to other parts of the world. Now, we have the Oakland A's playing the Boston Red Sox in Japan or the Dodgers playing in China. There is a slightly good chance a player could be on one of the teams and also a native of this country. Something you don't see in the NFL.
It amazes me that the NFL actually thinks people care about the NFL in Europe. NFL Europe failed, because no one went to those games, even with really low beer prices. Despite the sell out in London for the regular season game, chances are tickets were bought on the basis of the novelty of an NFL game. There cannot be that large of a demand to have an NFL expansion to Europe.
I'm not saying that no one in England knows a thing about the NFL or even the NBA. For those who watched such British sitcoms in the early 1990's such as Keeping Up Appearances, the character Onslow was seen every few episodes wearing a Green Bay Packers t-shirt, even though the only football he was watching was English Premier. Even the paperboy in the show was seen wearing an Orlando Magic t-shirt.
But the fact remains that few sports that were created or developed in America are in the Olympics. Basketball is getting competitive and if baseball and softball was given a better chance they could help create more competition from the Latin American and Asian countries. Who knows maybe someday it can be as competitive as the hockey teams in the Olympics.
I chose the Cat Osterman photo because... well, she is pretty hot and the official softball player of Sal Fasano's 401K.
Our Mission Statement
From the Desk of Sal Fasano's 401K
So recently, blogs have been getting a lot of flack. The word on the journalism street is that blogs are "irresponsible", lack "journalistic integrity" and do not wear "Cosby sweaters". In fact Buzz Bissinger, pictured here, really hates blogs. He is a god, no one can touch Bissinger because he is the law and can decide what is real journalism.
Everyone has heard, seen and talked about the round table discussion on Bob Costas's show, but I and this means Sal Fasano's 401K, needs to lay down what the overall mission and objective of this sports site.
Sal Fasano's 401K is a sports website that wants to go beyond conventional journalism and talk about sports in the context of history and overall fandom. We do not try to blur the lines between giving straight fact and opinion, but will try to communicate so that our message could be deciphered to eliminate bias, unless specifically mentioned. Overall, this site is to look at sports from more than just the context of now, but rather in the big picture. When we talk about great match ups, they will be examined from not on the present but also the past and incorporate the culture of which we live in now.
While we here at Sal's 401K respect Bob Costas as a broadcaster, we disagree with his feelings too about blogs. Well, slightly, yes some blogs do offer nothing but mindless opinion that no one cares about with no overall message, though you won't see that here.
Also, I think these sports writers and broadcasters are failing to realize the idea that the internet is filled with opinion and amateur journalism. But then again, every newspaper is pushing their top writers to post blogs and you can see that some could care less. Here in Rochester, nearly every sports writer has a blog and some are barely updated. It's just a transition period between the old school and new school of journalism. Since both writers for this site are in their early twenties, we expect this kind of flack, but also take it with a grain of salt.
Enough said, let's get to talking about sports!
Sal Fasano says: Blogs are COOL! d:)
The Unlikely Cycle
In light of Carlos Gomez's cycle last night, i've decided to put out some other players who you would never expected to have achieved this feat...and of course, a little info about them.
1998- Neifi Perez - This amphetamine abuser had a lucky day for Colorado on July 25th of 98, but the rest of his career has not been so lucky. Stints with the Royals and Tigers both turned out badly. Even with extra illegal boost, Perez only managed 64 career home runs and a bottom basement .297 On Base %. This guy made Billy Ripkin look like Tony Gwynn
2003 and 2005- Brad Wilkerson - WHo? Somehow this hapless outfielder ended up hitting for the cycle twice. Nothing on his stat sheet points to how this could have happened, a .249 career hitter who has struck out 894 times in only 887 games, Wilkerson is pretty much pathetic. Even funnier is that 03 and 05 were very poor overall seasons, hitting .248 with 11 HRs and 57 RBIs in 05....that was enough to lose his job. Congrats Brad for the feat, but otherwise you suck.
2002- Gred Colbrunn- When i first did a player seach, MLB.com said he didnt exist. Took awhile, but i found him. Greg was around from 92-04 and won a series in 01, but never really achieved anything. He was a career backup first baseman who only played over 100 games three times. I'll give ole Greg the credit for swinging the bat though, he only walked 170 times in 992 games. If you swing that much, your bound to hit it eventually.
1998- Alex Ochoa- From 1995-2002, Ochoa played for 6 different teams. He hit a grand total of 46 home runs and had a career high of just 119 games. The guy was about as forgettable as Marcus Thames. Ochoa was last seen trying to make a roster spot with Boston, to which he failed miserably...well Alex, there will always be your potential, which the Mets are still talking about you, Bill Pulsipher and Bobby Jones being the future.
1992- Andujar Cedeno- Ok so, only baseball card collecting guru's will remember this guy. I had a ton of his cards and despite his 92 cycle, they are worth less than 5 cents. From 90-96, he only managed 98 doubles, 13 triples and 47 home runs...its really a wonder that he could do one each in a game. His career .236 batting average suggests that he shouldnt even be able to get a single off of major league pitching. Even more interesting, Cedeno wasnt even a good fielder, a measley .951 fielding % is pretty pathetic for a back-up short stop.
FUN FACTS ABOUT CYCLES:
The Rays and Marlins have never hit a cycle....big shock, right? But neither have the San Diego Padres. A team that had Tony Gwynn and Steve Garvey, you would have thought someone would have managed to pull it off, judging by the above info, maybe even Quilvio Veres?
Also, Bob Watson had cycles in consecutive years, 78 and 79 but for different teams in different leagues. 78 with the Astros and 79 with the red sox
1998- Neifi Perez - This amphetamine abuser had a lucky day for Colorado on July 25th of 98, but the rest of his career has not been so lucky. Stints with the Royals and Tigers both turned out badly. Even with extra illegal boost, Perez only managed 64 career home runs and a bottom basement .297 On Base %. This guy made Billy Ripkin look like Tony Gwynn
2003 and 2005- Brad Wilkerson - WHo? Somehow this hapless outfielder ended up hitting for the cycle twice. Nothing on his stat sheet points to how this could have happened, a .249 career hitter who has struck out 894 times in only 887 games, Wilkerson is pretty much pathetic. Even funnier is that 03 and 05 were very poor overall seasons, hitting .248 with 11 HRs and 57 RBIs in 05....that was enough to lose his job. Congrats Brad for the feat, but otherwise you suck.
2002- Gred Colbrunn- When i first did a player seach, MLB.com said he didnt exist. Took awhile, but i found him. Greg was around from 92-04 and won a series in 01, but never really achieved anything. He was a career backup first baseman who only played over 100 games three times. I'll give ole Greg the credit for swinging the bat though, he only walked 170 times in 992 games. If you swing that much, your bound to hit it eventually.
1998- Alex Ochoa- From 1995-2002, Ochoa played for 6 different teams. He hit a grand total of 46 home runs and had a career high of just 119 games. The guy was about as forgettable as Marcus Thames. Ochoa was last seen trying to make a roster spot with Boston, to which he failed miserably...well Alex, there will always be your potential, which the Mets are still talking about you, Bill Pulsipher and Bobby Jones being the future.
1992- Andujar Cedeno- Ok so, only baseball card collecting guru's will remember this guy. I had a ton of his cards and despite his 92 cycle, they are worth less than 5 cents. From 90-96, he only managed 98 doubles, 13 triples and 47 home runs...its really a wonder that he could do one each in a game. His career .236 batting average suggests that he shouldnt even be able to get a single off of major league pitching. Even more interesting, Cedeno wasnt even a good fielder, a measley .951 fielding % is pretty pathetic for a back-up short stop.
FUN FACTS ABOUT CYCLES:
The Rays and Marlins have never hit a cycle....big shock, right? But neither have the San Diego Padres. A team that had Tony Gwynn and Steve Garvey, you would have thought someone would have managed to pull it off, judging by the above info, maybe even Quilvio Veres?
Also, Bob Watson had cycles in consecutive years, 78 and 79 but for different teams in different leagues. 78 with the Astros and 79 with the red sox
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Catcher's do it better
A little trivia here.
Q: Who won the 1972 World Series MVP?
A: Gene Tenace - Catcher Oakland A's
Yeah, that's right on those trio of Oakland teams loaded with star talent and future Hall of Famers - Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers - the best player in the World Series was a career .241 hitter.
No disrepect directed to Tenace, he can tell his grand kids that he won something over those guys that year. He had a hell of a series.
But if you look up the winners of the World Series MVP, you'll find some amazing picks from a lot of catchers... many of them will only get into the Cooperstown by paying admission at the door. Since the 1970's 6 catchers have won the MVP during the Fall Classic. Some of these come as a shock and I consider myself I very knowledgeable baseball fan. Here's the list.
1972: Gene Tenace (Oakland Athletics)
Tenace hit two home runs in his first at bats and finished the Series with four total. He went 8-23 in route to the championship. He career wasn't much after that, the .241 average, 201 home runs.
1976: Johnny Bench (Cincinnati Reds)
This Hall of Famer had a great career, so I won't mention anything about him. This post is targeting obscure players
1981: Steve Yeager (Los Angeles Dodgers)
He shared the award with Ron Cey and Pedro Guerrero when they beat the Yankees. His performance was not exactly overwhelming (4-14 , .286 avg, a game winning HR), but the voters felt it was worthy of an accolade. Yeager finished his career with a .228 AVG and 102 HR.
1982: Darrell Porter (St. Louis Cardinals)
The late catcher was known more for his drug problem rather than his playing days, but 1982 was a great postseason as Porter went on to win the NLCS MVP as well.
1983: Rick Dempsey (Baltimore Orioles)
So in a three year span, a catcher won the MVP of the World Series. Dempsey, was a veteran and far from the end of his playing days (1969-1992), helped lead the Orioles over the Phillies. His career numbers were not fantastic (.233 AVG, 96 HR), but he built up a reputation as a solid backstop.
1992: Pat Borders (Toronto Blue Jays)
Who would have thought Borders would win this. He hit .450 and knocked a home run in route to the first Canadian team victory in the World Series. Borders would go on and become a journeyman, seeing action in several towns and finish his career with a .253 AVG and was one of three American players with an Olympic Gold Medal and a World Series Ring.
So this October, watch out for the catcher, he could be the next MVP. It's been 16 yrs since the last catcher won an MVP.
NHL PLAYOFFS: How the West will be Won
So I gave you guys the Eastern Conference Preview, now it's time for the West.
Western Conference
Dallas comes into the series coming off the 4OT win against San Jose. Yes, San Jose didn't make it this year, so every analyst can stop riding their dick. I don't question their pick, with strong offense (especially that Joe Thornton who became a new man since leaving Boston), a punishing defense and superb goaltending, Dallas proved to be the better squad. Dallas was saved by the strong goal play by Marty Turco. He has no Stanley Cups to his credit and this is a huge theme of this series.
Turco is pitiful against Detroit. In fact, during the postseason, he has never really been successful in Detroit (0-7-2). Since taking the position from Ed Belfour, winner of the No Goal Cup Final, Turco has been unreal during the regular season but absent in the playoffs. You could essentially make the comparison to Peyton Manning pre-2006.
The entire team is going to have to step up to a Red Wings team that is 5-0 at Joe Louis. With the first two in Hockeytown, the Stars have to at least split; better case being winning Game 2. Brendan Morrow leads the Stars with 7 goals in the postseason, he along with Mike Madano (how do guys still not find ways to cover him) and Mike Ribeiro (leader in points) will need to cranking out goals.
But Detroit, to go with a winning streak at home, are coming in as the President Cup winner and this team is loaded and ready to go. It's getting sick to see Johan Franzen, NHL leader with 11 goals, nine in the Colorado series, keep scoring and helping Detroit. Dallas has to find a way to stop him.
Oh yeah, and don't forget Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk out of the scoring column.
Don't forget that Detroit has a strong defense as well. Okay, so Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom are the AARP of bluelines, but them along with Brian Rafalski and Brad Stuart are younger studs who play to that kind of intensity. Dallas's offense could run into a road block.
Then in goal, Mike Babcock can choose his poison between Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek. While Hasek was skated out by the Nashville Predators, Osgood came in and cleaned up the mess. Then he helped sweep the Avs, an upstart team that was beat up coming into the series. Though no one can challenge them in that they've played this far in the season and have both won Stanley Cups.
In the end, I think we'll see Turco's demons come back. He has to deal with a hot Detroit offense that cannot be stopped and the defense is just so good and too smart to lose in a short series. I'll take Detroit in five games.
Western Conference
Dallas comes into the series coming off the 4OT win against San Jose. Yes, San Jose didn't make it this year, so every analyst can stop riding their dick. I don't question their pick, with strong offense (especially that Joe Thornton who became a new man since leaving Boston), a punishing defense and superb goaltending, Dallas proved to be the better squad. Dallas was saved by the strong goal play by Marty Turco. He has no Stanley Cups to his credit and this is a huge theme of this series.
Turco is pitiful against Detroit. In fact, during the postseason, he has never really been successful in Detroit (0-7-2). Since taking the position from Ed Belfour, winner of the No Goal Cup Final, Turco has been unreal during the regular season but absent in the playoffs. You could essentially make the comparison to Peyton Manning pre-2006.
The entire team is going to have to step up to a Red Wings team that is 5-0 at Joe Louis. With the first two in Hockeytown, the Stars have to at least split; better case being winning Game 2. Brendan Morrow leads the Stars with 7 goals in the postseason, he along with Mike Madano (how do guys still not find ways to cover him) and Mike Ribeiro (leader in points) will need to cranking out goals.
But Detroit, to go with a winning streak at home, are coming in as the President Cup winner and this team is loaded and ready to go. It's getting sick to see Johan Franzen, NHL leader with 11 goals, nine in the Colorado series, keep scoring and helping Detroit. Dallas has to find a way to stop him.
Oh yeah, and don't forget Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk out of the scoring column.
Don't forget that Detroit has a strong defense as well. Okay, so Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom are the AARP of bluelines, but them along with Brian Rafalski and Brad Stuart are younger studs who play to that kind of intensity. Dallas's offense could run into a road block.
Then in goal, Mike Babcock can choose his poison between Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek. While Hasek was skated out by the Nashville Predators, Osgood came in and cleaned up the mess. Then he helped sweep the Avs, an upstart team that was beat up coming into the series. Though no one can challenge them in that they've played this far in the season and have both won Stanley Cups.
In the end, I think we'll see Turco's demons come back. He has to deal with a hot Detroit offense that cannot be stopped and the defense is just so good and too smart to lose in a short series. I'll take Detroit in five games.
NHL PLAYOFFS: The Battle for Pennsylvania
It all comes down to a battle for the Keystone State. Now as college kids start stock piling the Keystone (Be it Light, Ice or the "Red Can"), this one should be a great match up. Then on the other side of the country, the Detroit Red Wings and the Dallas (formerly of Minnesota) Stars will throw down. But who will win.
Eastern Conference
The war is on as the young Penguins take on the resurgent Flyers. Now, we here at Sal Fasano, located in the hockey hotbed of Rochester, NY (Brian Gionta, Marty Reasoner and Ryan Callahan), watch a lot of hockey. In fact both contributers went to see RIT get whooped by Air Force despite people hoping the Air Force players would be sent to Iraq. Direct quote.
Putting Penguins bias aside, I am a huge fan of Pittsburgh in this one. Apart from the strong play of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, it's been a team effort when it comes to the scoring column. Gary Roberts was a great pick up by the Pens. Sure, he's an old geezer, but you need veteran leadership on a hockey club. Mixing in young talent with some key veterans will be beneficial. It comes at the best time, as the Penguins were able to sip the playoffs last year, before Ottawa sent them home.
The blue line has been stellar for them as well. Brooks Orpik will never chip in 20 goals but he will not let you go coast to coast. Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang have been great on being stellar two-ways. Going against Philly should be strong for the Pens.
Of course the last defense has been amazing for Pittsburgh because, yes, Marc-Andre Fleury has shown up! I know, I cannot believe it. The number one pick for Pittsburgh is posting a .938 save percentage and allowing only 1.76 goals in the playoffs. Goaltender wins you Stanley Cups.
Philadelphia is your Rudy... no scratch that, your Vince Papale. One of the worst teams in the league last year, the Flyers are cruising due to a key pick up in Danny Briere (former Sabre, still French looking 12 yr old). He wasn't the captain at Buffalo, but there was definately a reason the Sabres failed to make the playoffs. He brought his stick to Philly and it showed.
Buffalo dealt Marty Biron to the Flyers at the trade deadline last year and these playoffs are the reason he is a great number one goalie. Despite having to duel with Cristobal Huet in round one, he got some well needed rest against Montreal.
Kudos to the speed and great playmaking of Jeff Carter and Mike Richards. This is what the Penguins blue line will have to go up against.
Overall this is going to be a great series, in the end, don't be surprised if the Penguins take it in six games. It just feels like the Penguins year, the players are ripe and the leadership is there.
Detroit-Dallas post coming soon.
Eastern Conference
The war is on as the young Penguins take on the resurgent Flyers. Now, we here at Sal Fasano, located in the hockey hotbed of Rochester, NY (Brian Gionta, Marty Reasoner and Ryan Callahan), watch a lot of hockey. In fact both contributers went to see RIT get whooped by Air Force despite people hoping the Air Force players would be sent to Iraq. Direct quote.
Putting Penguins bias aside, I am a huge fan of Pittsburgh in this one. Apart from the strong play of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, it's been a team effort when it comes to the scoring column. Gary Roberts was a great pick up by the Pens. Sure, he's an old geezer, but you need veteran leadership on a hockey club. Mixing in young talent with some key veterans will be beneficial. It comes at the best time, as the Penguins were able to sip the playoffs last year, before Ottawa sent them home.
The blue line has been stellar for them as well. Brooks Orpik will never chip in 20 goals but he will not let you go coast to coast. Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang have been great on being stellar two-ways. Going against Philly should be strong for the Pens.
Of course the last defense has been amazing for Pittsburgh because, yes, Marc-Andre Fleury has shown up! I know, I cannot believe it. The number one pick for Pittsburgh is posting a .938 save percentage and allowing only 1.76 goals in the playoffs. Goaltender wins you Stanley Cups.
Philadelphia is your Rudy... no scratch that, your Vince Papale. One of the worst teams in the league last year, the Flyers are cruising due to a key pick up in Danny Briere (former Sabre, still French looking 12 yr old). He wasn't the captain at Buffalo, but there was definately a reason the Sabres failed to make the playoffs. He brought his stick to Philly and it showed.
Buffalo dealt Marty Biron to the Flyers at the trade deadline last year and these playoffs are the reason he is a great number one goalie. Despite having to duel with Cristobal Huet in round one, he got some well needed rest against Montreal.
Kudos to the speed and great playmaking of Jeff Carter and Mike Richards. This is what the Penguins blue line will have to go up against.
Overall this is going to be a great series, in the end, don't be surprised if the Penguins take it in six games. It just feels like the Penguins year, the players are ripe and the leadership is there.
Detroit-Dallas post coming soon.
STOP! OR LeBRON WILL SHOOT!
Oh, Lord.
See this is what happens when you try to defend LeBron James. So, like any schmuck, he needs to go out and have a bad game. Now, since I'm a defender of him (mainly in the argument that he is not Michael Jordan, but he could be a Hall of Famer), a lot of people will be like, "wow, nice shooting there soldier" or "Hey, does Brevin Knight still play for Cleveland?" Shooting 2 for 18 is nothing I'm happy to see from my team. Yes, I can call them my team, seeing that being born in Ohio and having an aunt who used to work for the organization, not to mention having to suffer with young players not playing up to par (I'll blame Diop and Chris Mihm, just because he's Chris Mihm).
Though it was a small victory in proving that the Cavs are for real. A lot of people didn't quite understand some of the moves or decisions to keep certain guys in Cleveland. Like, Wally Szczerbiak, who I've loved since Miami (Ohio) because he can shoot the ball, scoring 13 and going 2-5 from 3 point range. Ben Wallace was questioned, the guy is having back problems but he's still able to get you about 10 boards a game (9 last night). Teaming him up with Ilgauskas is crucial for the team to control the glass and even better, seeing that Ilgauskas was there for some tip ins, I'll take the bald, European guy. Ok, Delonte West apart from being a very sick looking man (is this trade his make-a-wish) and Joe Smith being called bums... well, I won't disagree but I think they help add some depth to the roster.
But even though the Cavs lost to Boston at the Fleet Center (again, I'm using old names), it's not like the Celtics walked away with this. The Celtics struggled against a weak Hawks team. While the Hawks put up a strong effort only at home, the Boston Three Party threw them into the Charles away from Hot-lanta. I think some people are not giving the Cavs enough credit, despite allowing LeBron only ten points, the rest of the Cleveland team found a way to put 62 points on the board. If the Boston team had a tough road trying to beat a team that finished below .500, they have to be careful if LeBron goes on a tear and starts posting 30-35 point games.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
More on Video Games
I'd just like to further the discussion of greatest video games and toss in some of my personal favs.
1) ESPN NFL 2k5
Simply the best football game to ever be released. In 2005, I purchased the game for just $20, as opposed to the $50 being asked for Madden. The game offered a different kind of running style where the user taps repetedly to build up speed, then holds it down to burst into the potential tackeler. It made you feel as if you were the one actually running the ball, rather than just holding down X. Also, the halftime show alone was something to marvel at, Chris Berman (however annoying in real life he may be) showed all of your highlights including TD's, FGs and INTs from the first half and would describe them to you, this is a feat still unmatched by any video game. The game also offered more in depth attribute stats rather than just Throw Power and Throw Accuracy being the only ones that mattered as with Madden. You can still find this game for about $4 bucks at any shop that sells used games, i suggest giving it a try.
http://2ksports.com/games/nfl2k5/
2) Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro 96
This PC game is a stat lovers wet dream. You cant be average Joe Baseball Fan to play this game, you have to have an understanding of how a manager actually handles a game. The game would display the most in depth statistics you could imagine. If you had a lefty comming up in the 8th down by two runs with runners on second and third, you could find out the batters average in Close and Late Situations as well as Against Left and with Runners in Scoring position. Ok, maybe that just makes me a geek, but the game really put you inside the game of baseball, something MLB games fail to do today. Plus since the game was made in 1996, its fun to see that Ben McDonald actually had a career then.
But additionally, the rookie draft, rule 5 draft, expanded rosters, in depth minor league rosters and custom defense positioning were all featured, something that at the time was revolutionary.
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/sports/frontpagesportsbp96s/index.html
3) NBA LIVE 95
Ok so maybe my nostalgia is getting the best of me here, because not only did my brother and I have wire to wire battles with East vs. West custom all-star teams, but also 1995-96 was just a great year for basketball. That was the year Motombo and the Nuggets, the 8 seed, upset favorite Seattle Supersonics, the 1 seed, in the first round of the playoffs. You could back down big men with Hakeem, do fade aways with Miller, or even have Rodmans hair change mid-game. This game was the first to feature realistic looking size differences between Centers and Guards. If you play live 95, then look at NBA games now, you will see where all the ideas for custom dunks, free throw shooting and incorporating usable offensive plays came from.
http://www.mobygames.com/game/nba-live-95/screenshots
I must concur about Madden. No Madden game belongs on a best games list. For every system, they were just lazy repeats of the same game year after year with minor, even silly changes. The only reason you bought the new one was for the new roster, which if you have time, you could just go in and change it all yourself (which we've been known to do). Plus two giant middle fingers up to EA Sports for buying exclusive rights to the NFL so we'll never know how good 2k could have been.
1) ESPN NFL 2k5
Simply the best football game to ever be released. In 2005, I purchased the game for just $20, as opposed to the $50 being asked for Madden. The game offered a different kind of running style where the user taps repetedly to build up speed, then holds it down to burst into the potential tackeler. It made you feel as if you were the one actually running the ball, rather than just holding down X. Also, the halftime show alone was something to marvel at, Chris Berman (however annoying in real life he may be) showed all of your highlights including TD's, FGs and INTs from the first half and would describe them to you, this is a feat still unmatched by any video game. The game also offered more in depth attribute stats rather than just Throw Power and Throw Accuracy being the only ones that mattered as with Madden. You can still find this game for about $4 bucks at any shop that sells used games, i suggest giving it a try.
http://2ksports.com/games/nfl2k5/
2) Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro 96
This PC game is a stat lovers wet dream. You cant be average Joe Baseball Fan to play this game, you have to have an understanding of how a manager actually handles a game. The game would display the most in depth statistics you could imagine. If you had a lefty comming up in the 8th down by two runs with runners on second and third, you could find out the batters average in Close and Late Situations as well as Against Left and with Runners in Scoring position. Ok, maybe that just makes me a geek, but the game really put you inside the game of baseball, something MLB games fail to do today. Plus since the game was made in 1996, its fun to see that Ben McDonald actually had a career then.
But additionally, the rookie draft, rule 5 draft, expanded rosters, in depth minor league rosters and custom defense positioning were all featured, something that at the time was revolutionary.
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/sports/frontpagesportsbp96s/index.html
3) NBA LIVE 95
Ok so maybe my nostalgia is getting the best of me here, because not only did my brother and I have wire to wire battles with East vs. West custom all-star teams, but also 1995-96 was just a great year for basketball. That was the year Motombo and the Nuggets, the 8 seed, upset favorite Seattle Supersonics, the 1 seed, in the first round of the playoffs. You could back down big men with Hakeem, do fade aways with Miller, or even have Rodmans hair change mid-game. This game was the first to feature realistic looking size differences between Centers and Guards. If you play live 95, then look at NBA games now, you will see where all the ideas for custom dunks, free throw shooting and incorporating usable offensive plays came from.
http://www.mobygames.com/game/nba-live-95/screenshots
I must concur about Madden. No Madden game belongs on a best games list. For every system, they were just lazy repeats of the same game year after year with minor, even silly changes. The only reason you bought the new one was for the new roster, which if you have time, you could just go in and change it all yourself (which we've been known to do). Plus two giant middle fingers up to EA Sports for buying exclusive rights to the NFL so we'll never know how good 2k could have been.
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