NCAA 08 First Thoughts...

...I need to work on my passing game. So I got it at 12:30, got a twelve pack, came home and booted it up in the ol' Xbox 360. Fowler breaks down some new features while you see badass trick plays play through on the screen. This new save your replay thing is either the coolest thing ever or the dorkiest thing ever--basically, you can save replays and upload them to the internet. On the one hand, it'd be cool to beat your friend's ass, save replays and then send email them to him with subject lines like "holy shit scarlett johansson nip slip!" and then some nice play on the other end of that nondescript youtube html. But then again, who the fuck sends NCAA clips of themselves over the internet? Bottom line is, I hope reallyboredugafan gets this game quickly.

So after that, I start up with a Carolina-Clemson game. At this point, I started taking notes, and I'm kinda drunk, so I'll just start to list those notes right now.

--The Gamecock helmets are authentic down to the SC State flag stickers on the back of them.

--Gamecock unis are Under Armour. Click mothafuckin clack.

--CJ Spiller=untackalable. And fast. Probably much more untackalabe than in real life. If you like to run the ball, go with Clemson.

--Blake Mitchell=the most perfectly modeled QB in the game. First drive, he goes 4-4, 58yds, 1td. He then proceeds to go 0-12 with FOUR PICKS over the next two and a half quarters. I benched him in favor of Garcia, who led the Gamecocks to a close 27-24 win over the Tigers. Late Succop field goal was the factor.

--Succop=dominant kicker.

--More on Mitchell-My roommate comes home from the bar and so we play Gators-Gamecocks. Blake torches the UF defense for about 295yds, 3tds.

--The whole game just looks a lot better from EA's last effort on the 360.

--Tebow+Gator playbook=potentially the best option team in the game.

--Passing is more difficult, you need to switch it up a lot, runs with the pass, draws, etc.

--DB's have much better hands.

--Clemson could not cover Kenny McKinley to save their lives.

--I played next as LSU, roommate was Auburn. Two teams with "Tiger Rag" for their fight songs was torture.

--LSU's defense is fucking incredible. Fast and can hit the shit out of people. I picked Cox off seven times. Two picks to the house, one more called back on clipping call.

--Auburn's #44, Ben Tate(?) is pretty fucking good.

--LSU's Alley Broussard is better. The game came down to a defensive stalemate, whereas I could barely complete any passes at all (1-11), I could kinda run the ball. My roommate completed passes all over the field, to me and his own players. Final: LSU takes it, 20-10.

--There is a lot of shit going on in the pre-snap screen now. Audibles for the o-line, WRs, RBs, play switching, etc. Similar things for the defense.

--I am addicted. More info tomorrow here...in the mean time, back to it.

Fuck with NCAA Day

So NCAA Football 08 comes out tomorrow...midnight at my local store. Your intrepid reporter/entirely average NCAA player will begin taking notes and will probably have a "first look" post up by the time you read this tomorrow morning. Until then, enjoy these:

NCAA is always better with "The Chronic."

You (and your life) is not ready.

2007 Gamecock Preview: The Offense

OK so this bender that I was on kind of extended itself right up until I started my summer schooling here on the 25th. Some advice stemming from said bender: Bud Select in bottles is serviceable. Bud Select in cans is fucking terrible. Sweetwater Summer Hummer is all you should be drinking right now. That’s all I’m going to say, though. So sorry about so little postings. In this post, I’m going to outline the Gamecock offense, specifically strong and weak points and some questions heading into the new season. By the way, if you have a chance of taking a six week French 101 course, it is a good way to learn French because it forces you to learn it. But it’s also a good way to not do much else besides learn French. With that said, let’s get into it.

This is it.

Like a lot of bloggers here on these internets, I’m fascinated/terrified by Phil Steele’s knowledge of and subsequent prediction of my favorite team’s upcoming season. He is picking the Gamecocks to be tied for first in the SEC East with UGA. This is terrifying for me because it has marginally increased my hopes of a finish better than 7-5. Marginally—I’m still your reliable Gamecock pessimist, dear readers. So obviously an important factor to a Spurrier coached team is going to be the offense. Let’s take a look at it, starting with…

RUNNING BACKS

I feel as if the Gamecocks are set here. Cory Boyd and Mike Davis are two above-average backs (on a horrible-bad-fair-good-above average-great continuum) that are fully capable of handling the carries required by a Spurrier offense. In the past two seasons, it seems as if Spurrier has run more of a ball control offense, and I believe that this can be shown through how few times the Gamecocks have punted last year: 30 in 2006. Their opponents punted 48 times in the same year. So I guess my point is that Spurrier leaned on Boyd and Davis, especially in that Clemson game where all four Gamecock touchdowns in the 31-28 win was scored on the ground. Davis and Boyd combined for about 170 yards in that game. This is of course helped out by the fact that the Gamecocks had a decent…

OFFENSIVE LINE

…by that point in the season. The inside three from this effective unit is now gone. So once again the Gamecocks have to rebuild the O-line. Some projected starters include two defensive linemen that are switching to the O-line. I honestly have no idea how this is going to turn out, and from what I can tell, the opening SEC game vs. the Georgia Bulldogs will be a battle to see who has the worse O-line. We’ve lost five straight to these guys and I’ve promised myself that I’m not going to pick the Gamecocks in this game until they can prove me wrong. Hopefully the O-line can limp along thru the Georgia and LSU games, and get to a relatively easier stretch against MSU, Kentucky, UNC and Vanderbilt. Regardless if the line is solidified or not, the schedule gets significantly harder at that point, with games at UT, at Arkansas and then home for UF and Clemson. The o-line is probably the biggest weakness of the offense, and it just so happens that this will affect everything, especially…

QUARTERBACKS

…Blake Mitchell. OK here’s the thing about Blake. He can be good and then he can be awful. A big key of this is how good the offensive line is doing. Last year the o-line couldn’t block, so Syvelle Newton, my second favorite Gamecock of all time, had to go to QB. But back to Blake. I think he can be a solid quarterback, and as Brandon from Cock-n-Fire recently mentioned, but he tends to fuck up a lot…so I don’t know if he ever will be a solid QB. I really don’t know what to do with this guy. I never thought I’d really utter this line but…I wish the Gamecocks could have Phil Petty back. Kill me now. No smooth transfer here so let’s just jump to the…

No Phil Petty picture to be found, but when I Google Image searched him, a My Lai pic came up. Appropriate.

WIDE RECEIVERS

The new man?

I think the squad is deceptively deep here. Kenny McKinley was pretty much the go to guy for the middle stretch of the season until Sidney was able to get going. Kenny had 8 catches for 110 yds and 1 TD vs. Auburn, 4 for 70 vs. Tennessee, 7 for 87 and 1 TD vs. Arkansas, 5 for 71 at Florida, 5 for 66 at Clemson and 3 for 112 and 2 TDs in the bowl win vs. Houston. Besides that, not too many people have seen action, but big things are supposedly expected from incoming freshman Chris Culliver, a five star recruit, and JUCO transfer Larry Freeman. Freeman is expected to play right away, and he is famous already for being bitched out by Spurrier during the spring game for running the wrong route…oh and this was nationally televised.

Others that may see time include Mike West, whom Spurrier said “looks like Calvin Johnson. But that’s it…he just looks like Calvin Johnson. Let’s see if he can play like him.” For what it’s worth, West converted from linebacker to WR, he weighs 220 lbs and runs a 4.4 40.

One more thing:

As per usual, Brandon writes so I don’t have to: Recruit ineligibility news

Whew. I don’t know why, but it took me forever to finish this post. We’re a week away from NCAA 08’s release date and I’m getting ready to log some major hours on that and do some reportage here at Third Down Draw.

French...winning for once.

Real life is kicking my ass...in the form of a six week French 101 class. Meets M-F, quizzes every day, tests every Friday. Thing is, I need it if I'm going to continue in academe. Expect a badass post this weekend though...I'm going to give yall a teaser. Clint Eastwood. German uniforms. Tons of explosions. Cable car fight scenes. Massive amounts of dead Nazis...and this:

If all that doesn't interest you, then I don't want to be your friend.

Blogtable discussion.

One of the funniest blogs out there today stars Trev Alberts and is called Fire Mark May. The editor over there recently proposed a series of questions and here are my answers to them.

Your Home Field Advantage

Give the more zealous portion of your fanbase a religion. What's this cult following? Feel free to give the splitters a derogatory nickname.

Gamecock fans fall into three camps: the realists, the pessimists and the insane. Anyone that is familiar with SEC blogs knows that about 70% of Gamecock fans on the internet fall into the third category. I really want to know which team they’re watching, because I see no MNC in our near future, but they’re always carrying on about it like the Gamecocks are equipped with Panzers this season. Personally, I am a realist/pessimist, but only a realist when very, very drunk. So I’d give the insane Gamecock fans a Jim Jones cult.

Your biggest rival is in town, and College Gameday is coming....to your citaaaaaaay... Create a blatant corporate sellout promotion to appeal to the mass unwashed.

Easy. Stuffed-animal tigers, soaked in gasoline, and instead of cotton or whatever, they are stuffed with fireworks. Only on sale after 9pm Friday before the Clemson-Carolina game.

Add one local delicacy to your stadium's concessions. Post-tax pricing is optional.

Mustard-based barbecue. Arguing over barbecue is like arguing over which religion is better, but I stand by the South Carolina style. Serve it on a bun with a Coke for $5.

The good stuff.

With an unlimited AD budget, add or subtract one thing to your school's gameday experience that has nothing to do with football.

Can I buy wins? Short of that, I’d want to expand the North Endzone so that the stadium is completely closed off and increase the student section. I’d also like to see the student section “re-opened” so that anybody who wants to can sneak into it like you could a couple years ago. In the student section, seating is first-come, first-serve. Also, live sacrifices to Mars, the god of War.

I'm using this image as often as I can.

General NCAA questions

Coin a hilariously unrealistic stereotype that you would like to "make stick" for this upcoming season.

A reality tv show is following around the Seventh Floor Crew as they contemplate life post-Buddhist conversion and where to go on pilgrimage—to the Bodhi Tree or to the monasteries of Nepal.

Redesign your conference or independent schedule with reckless abandon. Be prepared to include compensation for jilted schools and conferences in your explanation.

I’d like to see the Gamecocks play FSU, but only if we can get in our time machines and play last year too. I’d also like to see the UNC-USC tilt become a regular occurrence, but this looks to be impossible. So we drop SC State from the schedule so far. I’d also like to see Alabama play Auburn in Panama City Beach, with Evan Williams Green Label sponsoring it and being served. Two drink minimum. I’d need a box seat for that game.

Evan Williams Green Label: When black simply doesn't get you drunk enough.

Following up on your new realignment, blow up the BCS and devise a national playoff system, money grabs and missed exams be damned. Using your new fantasy conferences is optional.

Top four team playoff would be my system. The bowls would begin the Monday after Christmas and would be played two a night, one at 5:30 and one at 8. On Saturday, the two first round games would be played. The following week, the various conference champs left out of the playoffs would play each other, along traditional lines (B10-PAC10, SEC-ACC) or highest ranked vs. highest ranked. These would take place on Monday night and Thursday night. The rest of the bowls would take place this week too. Championship game would be held on Saturday night, time and place TBA.

Elect one public figure to replace NCAA president Myles Brand. Anyone with proper name recognition is eligible.

Does this have to be a real figure? Because if not, I’d be torn between Bill Brasky or Mark Antony from HBO’s Rome. If it has to be real, then I pick….me! Let me post my qualifications—college graduate, willing to work in excess of 30 hours a week, and I’m currently marginally employed (grad student) and I am smarter than you. Few requests, though: I would require a private jet to be available to me on a 24 hour standby basis, no oversight on any NCAA credit cards that I may or may not possess, and I’d have to be addressed as “Sir” or “My lord” at all times.

Yup, this guy.

Non sequitur posting and Spurrier photoshop.

One of the nice things about grad school—ok, THE only nice thing about grad school—is that you get summers off. So I’ve been taking full advantage by going back to SC for a week, going to Atlanta for a week and when I haven’t been doing that, engaging in a nice, respectable bender. So what I’m trying to say here is posting should increase shortly, mainly because I’m running low on money and my summer classes start in a couple days. Just wanted to get to a few things stated, along with a short war movie review before posting some Spurrier photoshops.

Firstly, obligatory Sopranos final episode post. I have been watching the show since it started, and I’m roughly Meadow’s age in the show, so the post-Sopranos HBO world will be interesting. Right now I’m into Big Love (polygamy is weird!—more on this show at a later time) and just wish that another season of Rome didn’t have to cost $100 million to make. As for the last Sopranos episode, I enjoyed it. My take was that life just goes on for Tony S. and family…but if you want real, actual commentary, then suggestion of this Salon piece can’t be beat (Thanks Kanu!). And as always, leave it up to Deadspin.com commentators to discover the real bullshit of “no more Sopranos:” We never got to see Meadow in a sex scene or get a boob shot of her.

Bob Barker signed off on Friday for the last time. Now it is generally well-known that this show is an American institution, but the better American institution that I associate with it is a little different. There is nothing better than waking up, turning this on and then cursing some dumb motherfucker out because s/he can’t correctly guess a seemingly random number from 0 to 9 in order to win a car. I engaged in this on Friday. “EIGHT YOU DUMBASS!!!” Oh and if you’re jealous of me being able to wake up at 11:15am on a Friday, don’t be. If you’re employed at all you probably have more money than me right now. Ahh, grad school!

The movie “Knocked Up”: If you enjoy comedies at all, go and see this. Right now. Seriously, stop looking at porn and go see this. It’s a rare date movie that, I think, could be enjoyed by both men and women. Probably the funniest conservative movie ever.

War film review: This time, I’ll be doing “Piece of Cake,” a Masterpiece Theater miniseries about a fighter squadron during the first year of World War Two. This thing has lots of cool aerial cinematography, plot twists, a little romance, class conflict and five hours of running time lead up to a stunning conclusion during the Battle of Britain. It shows some real character development and this helps out the miniseries tremendously. Each loss is felt because one is familiar with the character enough to give more than a “…eeh.” It also shows just how close the RAF was to utter destruction in the summer of 1940. I should probably do more on this, but maybe at a later time.

Why should you see this: Great acting jobs all around, compelling storyline. Enough gratuitous Spitfire shots for me to safely label it “Spitfire porn.” See it if this youtubedness interests you.

Why you shouldn’t: Builds up slowly, but I still say “see it.”

Finally, Spurrier photoshop:

AP Photo after 2005 UT Game: During the handshake, Spurrier actually ripped Fulmer's heart out.


Great and Glorious Leader Spurrier Leading the Nations!

John has a long mustache.

OK so I missed posting this on June 6^th, but in order to make up for it, my first installment of action/war movie reviews will be The Longest Day. When one uses the term “epic,” The Longest Day is what should be envisioned. Daryl F. Zanuck’s 1962 film about the invasion of Normandy in 1944 weighs in at around three hours and is jam-packed with plot, historical accuracy and most of all, stars. I’ll attempt to list the ones I know here:

Eddie Albert (Green Acres)

Paul Anka (singer)

Richard Burton

Red Buttons (Poseidon Adventure)

Sean Connery

Henry Fonda

Peter Lawford (Mrs. Miniver, member of the Rat Pack)

Roddy Mc Dowell (Cornelius from Planet of the Apes)

Sal Mineo (Rebel Without a Cause)

Robert Mitchum

Robert Ryan (60’s version of “That Guy”)

Rod Steiger (In the Heat of the Night, On the Waterfront, Dr Zhivago)

Robert Wagner

John Wayne

Thousands of real-life men were used to recreate the invasion. Shooting took place on location in Normandy, at many of the actual sites. The cinematography is especially good, considering when it was shot. However, it must be realized that this was filmed during the height of Hollywood’s “victory lap” of World War Two. Many of Hollywood’s stars and directors, including Zanuck, joined the armed forces during World War Two. Many directors and producers were put into the Army’s Signal Corps…including Zanuck. Zanuck was charged with making the official documentary of the Normandy landings. As a result, after the war, he was obsessed with producing the ultimate recreation of the Normandy landings. He got the scale right, but not really the sheer terror aspect of a seaborne invasion into the teeth of Nazi guns. This glossing over/glamorizing the real horror of war is a key aspect of the Hollywood “victory lap” era of the 50s and 60s, and honestly, more modern war films shouldn’t be viewed without this context.

Good things about this movie: Scale. D-Day was THE most epic invasion in history, and this film provides that through its endless parade of stars and its length. It is also the quintessential “victory lap” war film, glorifying sacrifice (otherwise known as death) for the Allied cause and, while providing a human face to the German opponents, wholeheartedly condemning Hitler from both the German and Allied perspectives. The movie, while not accurately depicting combat, is accurate at depicting many of the key events of the invasion. It can, and is, seen as a historically accurate depiction of the D-Day landings.

Bad things: Length. It’s about three hours long. While I find “victory lap” films entertaining, I also think that at a certain level, they’re cynical ploys to attract movie goers by not showing the true nature of war. And like I said above, this is the quintessential victory lap film.

Verdict: It should be seen because it is a classic and has so many stars, but should be viewed in the correct context. It should also be viewed in order to correctly recognize what movies like Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Hamburger Hill or Saving Private Ryan were in response to. Personally, I do enjoy it.

Interesting facts: The movie has four principal directors, one for each nationality: French, German, British and American. According to Wikipedia (which should be trusted above all else), it stars not only Sean Connery, but two Bond villans, Karl Stromberg from The Spy Who Loved Me, and my favorite Bond villain, Auric “No Mr Bond, I expect you to die!” Goldfinger.

Also, Daryl Zanuck was brought back in by Fox to oversee the completion of this movie and the completion of another legendary epic, Cleopatra. Let me say that again: The Longest Day and Cleopatra were being produced at the same time by Fox. In 1961.