RBI Baseball: It's Back...Officially

You may have read that a recent release by the Electronic Software Ratings Board (ESRB) revealed a couple of new titles planned for the XBox 360 Arcade. One of them was listed as RBI Baseball, published by Six Degrees Games. Yes, that RBI Baseball. Now, there were a lot of questions about whether this was actually happening - nothing was listed on the Six Degrees Games Web site, and there have been other rumors of revivals of the RBI Baseball franchise that have come to nothing. Was this just another mirage that would bring a faint glimmer of hope to the millions thousands of fans of the greatest sports game ever created.

Well, allow me to be the first blog to officially break the news to you...

IT...IS...ON!

An intrepid soul (and Your Face reader...) named Beefmaster at the Dee-Nee RBI Baseball Forums (the nexus of the RBI Baseball Universe) took the time to write to Six Degrees Games to get some information. Surprisingly, he received this response soon after:

I'm a senior producer at Six Degrees Games and ultimately responsible for R.B.I. Baseball, currently being developed for Xbox LIVE.

We're not really responding to formal inquiries about the game at this time, but as R.B.I. Baseball fans, we relate to you in a big way. It's that same love for R.B.I. Baseball that made us sidetrack from the development of our virtual world (Action AllStars for young sports enthusiasts) in order to remake this awesome game for LIVE.

It's not a port, but the re-write is being done by people who were members of the old R.B.I. Baseball development team, and so a lot of the old nuances are being preserved. It's still easy, fast and fun baseball that doesn't require a complicated control scheme and it will feature the present day MLB teams and players.

We're having a ball testing it! The feedback from external groups is really positive, and I hope you can wait just a little longer while we put the final tuning on the game. There's not much more I can say than that, and I won't be able to answer any direct questions at this time.

Of course, the big news here is that it is official: Six Degrees Games is in the process of creating a new version of RBI Baseball for the XBox 360 Arcade. Which is pretty much enough reason for me to immediately run to Best Buy and get an XBox 360 JUST TO BE READY FOR IT.

But it also leaves a lot of questions unanswered: how similar is this going to be to the original version; can you create a new version for the XBox and keep the same feel and simplicity that has made RBI Baseball such a cult hit more than two decades later; who are these mysterious "members of the old R.B.I. Baseball development team" that Jason is talking about (as far as is common knowledge, Peter Lipson is the only person who was involved with the port from the Japanese Famicom version to the American RBI Baseball - are they bringing back the old Famicom development team); and most importantly - will Manny Ramirez be fat, white and approximately 400 pounds in the new version of the game? (We know the answer to two-thirds of that question for David Ortiz.)

I'm sure that there will be a crusty sub-section of the RBI Baseball community that will be pissed off at the new version, no matter what the development team does. And Six Degrees Games is a new company with a track record to feel good or bad about.

Me? If there's a chance, even remote, that I can hit a baseball that goes through the right field wall for a home run, I'll be a happy man.

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 2:45 PM 3 comments  

The college football magazines are out!

Well, Lindy's and Athlon's so far - Sporting News isn't out yet, as it's always the last to arrive. But hot damn, who cares - for the true college football fan, getting the first college football preview magazine is like Christmas, New Year's and your birthday all rolled into one. I'll be giddy for weeks as I cramp my brain trying to read every bit of information about every team. I'm like the dad from "A Christmas Story" after he receives his major award: these magazines are hot sex for me.

Trust me, many, many more updates to follow. Why?

BECAUSE COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 9:42 PM 1 comments  

The worst/best weekend ever for MMA

Almost undoubtedly, this weekend marked a huge embarrassment for Mixed Martial Arts in the United States, a blight that might have set MMA back years in the public's eye. Or, it was a banner weekend with exciting, anticipated matches that more than lived up to the hype. Actually, it was probably both.

Confused? Let me explain.

CBS held its much-hyped first-ever network TV broadcast of an MMA fight on Saturday night. It wasn't from one of the established organizations, but from Elite XC, which is about like placing a AA baseball game on in primetime as someone's first exposure to baseball. And to make sure they put butts in the seats, they headlined with "Internet sensation" Kimbo Slice, a man who rose to fame by fighting people in alleys for money, and then having the videotaped results show up on YouTube.

(Which kind of undercut Frank Shamrock's point in the into that "these aren't guys fighting in bars or on the street.)

It was, in almost every way possible, a train wreck. Slice almost got beat by designated opponent James "Colossus" Thompson, who apparently didn't realize that he was getting paid to look frightening, then find a soft place to land as he had done in six of his previous eight fights.

(At least he had the "look frightening" part down, at least his disgusting cauliflower ear which then popped, spewing blood, pus and God knows what else all over the place. Truly a fine moment in the Tiffany Network's history.)

The co-headliner was a match featuring "the face of female MMA" and current American Gladiator Gina Carano, who distinguished herself by coming in four pounds overweight, and then blaming that on her Gladiators taping schedule, showing the commitment and dedication you want from one of our marquee athletes. She did manage to turn the face of her opponent into a modern art project, which is always nice to see.

The only thing CBS had going for it was that Mr. Excitement Gus Johnson was on the call. He showed his usual amount of restraint and perspective during his call of the fight, which is to say none. Actually, Screamin' Gus did a decent job, and the announcing was probably the best thing about the broadcast. Which isn't saying much, since it ran more than 30 minutes over, had lots of skanky cheerleaders, and generally looked like it was produced as a visual arts project in high school.

Contrast that with the WEC card that was on Versus last night. If you aren't aware, WEC is the sister organization of UFC (both owned by the same company), which runs live, free fights on Versus. They focus on the lighter divisions (which UFC doesn't have) and generally has some of the best talent available in those weight classes.

Last night's card was a showcase for the company, featuring featherweight champ Urijah Faber taking on Jens Pulver in a match-up between two of the best in that weight class in the world. And the fight matched expectations. Faber showed an unknown level of skill with his stand-up, pummeling Faber with hook after hook. And Faber took everything and kept pressing forward for all five rounds while delivering some bombs of his own, losing the decision but gaining a ton of respect in a total classic.

Throw in Miguel Torres' tougher-than-expected brawl with Yoshiro Maeda and you had a free card that rivaled anything that UFC has done on a PPV. If this had been the introduction that most casual viewers had to MMA, a lot of people would be checking out future matches. It was compelling for even the novice.

Of course it wasn't, and that's that. Dan Wetzel posted a column about it on Yahoo that sums up a lot of my feelings, which is worth checking out. The bottom line: this weekend didn't kill MMA's chances of mainstream acceptance in the US...but a major opportunity was botched.

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 10:59 AM 3 comments  

One half of the NBA Finals is set

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers, for re-enacting the last scene from "Old Yeller" last night, only in this case the dog was the San Antonio Spurs and there was a lot less crying. I know that Kobe Bryant is a polarizing figure, and he's done everything to deserve any bad feelings anyone might have about him. But that being said...I can't imagine how any fan without a rooting interest would rather have seen the Spurs play in the Finals versus the Lakers. The Lakers were clearly the better team, and certainly the more entertaining to watch.

And, Kobe's "we're used to playing in the Finals" comment after the game, they are a new face in the Finals. Which they accomplished by specifically NOT BEING THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS. We've seen Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, etc., for long enough to know what to expect from them: solid, "fundamentally sound" basketball that leaves you about as impressed an excited as a WNBA game. The Lakers are always a wild card: Kobe might score two points in the first half and then 30 in the second. Lamar Odom might dominate, or disappear. Phil Jackson might have a shit-eating grin on his face while saying something snide and sarcastic to Michelle Tafoya at halftime (OK, that's pretty much a guarantee).

Here's my confession about basketball: I don't have an NBA team. I used to be a huge fan of the Showtime Lakers when I was growing up. I mean, seriously, if you were a kid in California in the 1980s, there was no team that was cooler or that you would have wanted to be on more - in any sport - than the Lakers. The 49ers might have been just as if not more successful, but they were about as "exciting" as their leader. While Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and company were all about hard work and that bullshit your parents tried to teach you, the Lakers were glitz and glamour and more than anything else, about style. The 49ers would get you to the top, but the Lakers would get you laid, so to speak.

But I gave up on the Lakers a few years ago. Mainly it was the Kobe/Shaq/Phil drama - there had always been some drama with the Lakers (hello Magic "Coach Killer" Johnson), but never had it seemed so venal and petty. And the fans...oh Lord, the fans. Maybe growing up several hundred miles away insulated me from the mass of Laker fans. Maybe we didn't have talk radio 24/7 lime we do now. Or maybe Chick Hearn being around to cut off an idiot caller on Post Game Laker Talk was enough to keep people in line, but the endless rounds of "Kobe is the best" followed by "Kobe needs to go" followed by "Shaq should have stayed" and on and on...it just drove me past the breaking point.

(Actually, the breaking point is the thousands of Lakers flags that mysteriously appear on car windows during the playoffs when the Lakers were doing well byt suddenly disappeared as soon as they were knocked out.)

So, will I be rooting for the Lakers? Yeah, I guess. I sure as hell can't root for Boston or Detroit, that's for sure. But will I be that broken up if they get swept? Not really.

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 11:11 AM 3 comments  

Well, there goes that...

Hey, Boston Celtics: remember all that hard work that went into that long, grueling regular season to make sure that you got the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and with it, home court advantage? It's amazing that all it took was one off night (where the team really wasn't that off) to see that go "poof" in a cloud of green smoke. Last night's 103-97 loss to the Detroit Pistons leveled their Eastern Conference Finals series at 1-1, which normally wouldn't be cause for alarm. Except that the Celtics now have to do something they haven't done all post-season: win a game on the road.

Equally bad news: Doc Rivers hinted in the post-game comments that Sam Cassell might see some playing time in Game 3. I know several Celtics fans who are loading up their pistols to shoot out their TVs in advance in case this happens.

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 9:43 AM 0 comments  

Lester no-hitter leaves little room for snark

I didn't post about Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester's no-hitter from last night for a very good reason: what else can I say? (And also in response to the smug tone of Boston sports fans that is symbolized by Dan Shaughnessy's column linked above. And an embarrassment of riches? Wow, your basketball was taken to seven games in both series against far weaker teams, and your football team fell flat on its face at the doorstep of history. Note to all Boston sports fans who wonder why everyone else is getting to hate them: this is why.)

But back to the topic at hand - less than two years ago, we was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphomia. And now - he's been the winning pitcher in a World Series clinching game and he's thrown a no-hitter to boot. Throw in the fact that he's by all accounts a great kid, and it's a story that not even the most venal and snarky blogger could ruin.
















But man, aren't Boston fans a bunch of assholes?

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 2:14 PM 1 comments  

Bush gives up golf to support troops; Singh taken to Guantanamo Bay as possible terrorist sympathizer

WASHINGTON, DC - Coming days after President Bush declared that he had given up golf to show his solidarity with US troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, champion golfer Vijay Singh was arrested for "suspicion of supporting terrorists" and reportedly shipped to the government's Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

Singh was seen being led away from the driving range at the TPC Sawgrass course near Atlanta by several men in dark suits and into a white, unmarked van. PGA Tour officials would not comment on Singh's disappearance, but Singh's Web page on the PGATour.com Web site has been ominously marked "DNP" for the rest of the season.

White House spokesperson Dana Perino would not confirm or deny reports of Singh's detention at the notorious US military base located in Cuba, citing "national security interests."

"All I can say is that when we are at war, anyone living in the United States should follow the lead of the President," Perino said. "Clearly, if someone were to continue to do something that the President, in his infinite wisdom, has personally decided to not do out of respect for the troops, then I would think there would be reason to question if they are providing comfort and perhaps aid, to terrorists."

This would be especially true, Perino said, if said person were dark-skinned, and from a far-away country such as Fiji that may or may not have a significant Muslim population.

"I don't know much about Fiji, but I know that it's in the Pacific Ocean, and so was Bali and we all know what kinds of terrorist activities they have there," Perino said.

Tiger Woods released a statement through Nike in response to Singh's disappearance and possible detention. In the statement, he expressed sympathy for Singh's family but said he did not want to speculate on Singh's possible ties to terrorism. He also said that his recent knee surgery was not healing as well as previously hoped for, and that he might not be able to play golf "until some point on or after January 20, 2009 at the earliest."

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 10:43 PM 0 comments  

Uecker Stalker Redeemed

Ignore what is I'm sure an intense game of ping-pong taking place center stage in the photo. Ping pong is for suckers. Why play ping pong when you can play beer pong?

Instead, feast your eyes on the tall drink of awesome on the right side of the picture sporting the super tight trunks and silvery tuft of chest hair. It's the one and only Bob Uecker.

If this picture doesn't put a stirring in the loins of the ladies of retirement communities nationwide, I don't know what will.

Also, I'm not gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

yes, Uecker had a crazy stalker. Pic from this week's Sports Illustrated.

Posted by McLane at 2:12 PM 1 comments  

Why the Javelin Catch is not an Olympic sport

I used to cover high school track & field, and my No. 1 goal at any meet was to not get hit by a javelin, discus, shot put, or anything thrown during a field event. (My No. 2 goal was usually trying to find a cool, shady area to sleep off my hangover.) Despite my general cluelessness and propensity for accidents, keeping my own personal safety top of mind help me avoid any problems.

I guess this guy needs to reevaluate his priorities: a photographer for the Standard-Examiner based out of Ogden, UT was struck in the leg by a javelin thrown during the Utah state high school track and field championships. The injury was described as superficial...

"...lifting the skin on the front side of McGeeney's leg without hitting the bone just below the knee.

Wilkey said McGeeney never lost consciousness and was laughing with medical personnel while he was being taken care of. The javelin was cut off, leaving the tip inside the leg so medical personnel could transport McGeeney in the ambulance."

First, any injury that involves leaving the tip of a javelin inside any part of my body is not "superficial," no matter how life-threatening it is. And if that was me, I wouldn't be "laughing" with the medical personnel. "Crying and screaming that I have a javelin in my leg" would be a better way to describe it.

The big unanswered question that I have: did they count the kid's throw from where it hit the photographer, or the photographer fell after he was struck? Because if it's the latter, the least the guy could have done was limp to record territory before collapsing...

(Original link credit to Deadspin)

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 12:18 PM 1 comments  

Peralta admits he is tanking this season just to screw over your Fantasy team

CLEVELAND - Indians shortstop Jhonny Peralta admitted to reporters yesterday that he is purposefully under performing at the plate this season in an attempt to ruin your fantasy baseball team.

"Of course, this off-season my goal was to get myself in shape and ready to have the best season I possibly could," Peralta said after a 1-for-2 performance against the Reds that "lifted" his average to .225. "But then I thought to myself 'I bet that a-hole built his whole draft strategy on getting me as a 'steal' in the fourth round. Wouldn't it be a riot if I tanked this season just to screw him over?' So that's what I did."

Peralta also admitted that his brief spurts of hitting during the course of the season have been done just to get your hopes up and keep you from trading him.

"By showing flashes of brilliance, I'm able to keep (you) thinking that I'm going to be pulling out of this slump now and returning to last year's form, said Peralta, referring to his .271 average with 21 home runs last season. "And just when (you) put me back into the line-up, BAM! I come back with another 1-for-18 streak."

Peralta also noted that he has purposefully focused on hitting home runs with the bases empty just to get you more irritated with him for having a decent 8 home runs but an implausible 15 RBI.

If you are unhappy with him, Peralta suggested that you trade him for Brewers slugger Prince Fielder, who is "sure to be coming out of his slump any day now," Peralta said. "I just talked with him the other day, and (you) should expect big, big things out of him in the second half of the season."

Peralta then proceeded to giggle for the next few minutes before shooing reporters from his locker.

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 12:02 PM 0 comments