Back in the Ol' Days

Yesterday was a Sal's 401K retreat. It's a great way to fortify the team that brings you these lovely posts on the world of sports and sports history.

One of the activities was a trip to our local video game boutique. I was in the quest of trading in a bunch of crappy Super NES games that had no business in my room. One of the critical tasks was buying some new Super NES games.

The conversation went from girls (when is it never about that) to great games in the history of playing sports games. Growing up without a Super NES I was a novice to shopping for 32-bit games. Though by instruction of my colleague I needed a few "essential" games. The first was College Basketball, followed by MLBPA Baseball, along with NBA Live '95.

I had my heart set on two games; Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball and NHL '95. Visiting friends as a youngster I loved playing Ken Griffey Jr. The great music that reminded me of a electronic rip off of "Radar Love" by Golden Earring was a timeless throwback. Then you add that with the great strikeout animations from the batters; breaking the bat, sighing and my personal favorite the 32-bit batter turning towards you with, "AH C'MON!" That should have been Paul O'Neill because he loved whining about strike outs. However, they did not have a copy which broke my heart.

I did acquire a copy of NHL '95. Now, this is a very,very special game for me. For those who know me, I am a great fan of old games and old teams that don't exist. NHL '95 allowed me not only to play as the Hartford Whalers, but also the Winnipeg Jets and the Quebec Nordiques. I love playing with Stephane Fiset (even though he is not great) or with Geoff Sanderson on the Whalers, this is my hockey. Also the music in the game is great, with the old organ playing, something you don't get with games now.

I'm nostalgic about old sports games. It's great to see how far we've come, if you need proof just compare NCAA Basketball with this years March Madness. The only thing better would be to get back a couple copies of NASCAR Racing 2. Oh glory years.