Red Sox

To anyone who has bothered making an appearance to read this...hello! I've not posted in months and decided now was the time to make some sort of effort. The topic...the Red Sox.

Since attending a game in Tampa against the Devil Rays in 2005, the Red Sox have been the American sports team which I have really taken to. I didn't know ANYTHING about baseball at that point (even the fact they had won the World Series in '04!) but, after seeing 'that big guy' (as i knew him at that moment) launch to balls into the seats, i was hooked. Since then I have enjoyed seeing Big Dave hit homer after homer on MLB.tv and become a great fan of the Sox. However, after a promising and exciting start, injuries followed, as did the list of defeats.

One such defeat came in May against the Yankees. I ensured that my trip to New York was based around a game of baseball, however i managed to pick the wrong night and see my team go down 14-3. Gutted! Who i felt even more sorry for was a young boy around 8 or 9 who was sitting with his Gran and Papa next to me. He was also a Red Sox fan who's face lit up we he saw me in my Red Sox gear surrounded by Yankee fans. His face didn't light up after that as Josh Beckett let run after run go their way. Around the 5th, his Gran turned to say goodbye since they were leaving...he had to be in bed as he had school in the morning. It was a real shame...even though I was the one who'd travelled from the UK! Not long after that and it was us who decided to head for the subway and home.

However, one thing I do like about sport in America is exactly this. Fans of any team can sit and enjoy the game together, whilst sitting together aswell.

Anyway, the Red Sox will be back even stronger this season and are basically guaranteed the Divison, League Championship and World Series, in my unbiased opinion!

Next time, the current postseason situation at Fenway Park.

The Playstation 3 Situation

This PS3 is going to be very, very, VERY expensive...will Microsoft benefit?

A popular topic of conversation in recent weeks has been the PS3 and how it will fare when it's releases into the market. Will they make money? Will they even sell a lot due to the price?

Whether or not they sell a large amount will ultimately depend on what the consumer is willing to pay. At launch it will cost $499 or $599 in America for the 20GB and 60GB hard drive models respectively. The European launch won't be till March 2007 and by that time Sony may drop the price if the demand isn't at a sufficient level. Several top analysts have already stated that the price cut of the PS3 in Japan for launch is already a sign of weakness within the company regarding the PlayStation 3.

When it finally arrives here in Europe the Xbox 360 will have had full exposure to the Christmas market once again, this time being able to cope with demand unlike last year. This may be a key fact in the console battle - how many consoles can Microsoft shift during the holiday period here. In my opinion, I think this number will be vast, taking out a large percentage of potential buyers from Sony. The simple question is why would you wait to spend £350 to £425 on a PS3 in March when you could get an premium Xbox 360 for a maximum expense of £280 (although do you really think this price will remain the same for Christmas?).

The games coming for Xbox 360 running up to Christmas also look immense. FIFA 07, Pro Evo 6, the NBA and NHL Games, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, F.E.A.R., Alan Wake, Need for Speed Carbon are some. And then there are these of course:

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas

Splinter Cell 4: Double Agent, Call of Duty 3

Forza Motorsport 2

Gears of War (picture)

An additional game called..em..HALO 3 will be released next year as well as the new strategy game Halo Wars. At an event not long ago Bill Gates stated that when Sony released the PS3, they would walk straight into Halo 3 - unlucky for some! I already know two people who will be buying a 360 simply to play Halo 3!

Also, a reason to buy a PlayStation was the GTA series of games - not any more! Xbox 360 will release GTA IV on the same day as the PS3, October 16, 2007. To add to this, Rockstar have revealed that TWO online packs will be available to download from Xbox Live. This won't just be a couple of new characters or a new car, but a couple of exciting new adventures to involve yourelf in.

Another main point to consider here is the online facilities available from Microsoft - Xbox Live is a proven system with millions of software already downloaded. The online community is already massive and growing at a fast pace. Microsoft is ivesting large amounts of money to take this online base a stage further, with PCs and mobile phones being integrated into the Xbox Live system.

To go refer back to Halo 3, Bungie is currently working to enable online multiplayer gaming with not 8 or even 16 gamers but 32 or even 64! Imagining this is simply breathtaking in itself - consdiering how good this would be to play is unimaginable.

An important piece of information recently released is the fact that the PS3 console in Japan WON'T be shipped with an HD cable. It is not known yet about America or Europe but I find this decision strange. However, the PS3's AV Multi-Out interface accepts the same cables used with the PS2 so if you already have S-Video, D or Component cables, you should be able to use them.

The PS3 is way over-priced for my liking and I think that this will be it's downfall. Sure the hardcore gamers of PlayStation persuasion will buy a console regardless, I'm not convinced the average person will.

This concludes my first rant about the console war.

A Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD opinion may come soon!

Xbox 360 will win anyway!

Scotland 1 v 0 France, Hampden Park

October 7, 2006

The game I witnessed last week may be the greatest game our country has ever played. Up there with beating England, World Cup holders at the time in 1967, beating France was unimaginable. They are one of the top three teams in the world, if not THE best. Look at their side:

Starting:
23 Gregory Coupet
3 Eric Abidal
15 Lilian Thuram
2 Jean-Alain Boumsong
19 Willy Sagnol
4 Patrick Vieira
6 Claude Makelele
7 Florent Malouda
22 Franck Ribery
20 David Trezeguet
12 Thierry Henry
and by the way, the subs included Wiltord and Louis Saha.

Here was out team.

Starting:
1 Craig Gordon
2 Christian Dailly
4 Steven Pressley
5 David Weir
3 Graham Alexander
8 Gary Caldwell
7 Darren Fletcher
6 Barry Ferguson
11 Lee McCulloch
10 Paul Hartley
9 James McFadden

In my opinion, the first half consisted of hanging on to a blank scoreboard until the first 45 minutes were up. We managed to get through the two disallowed offside goals as well as Henry's glorious free-kick early in the first half. We did ride out luck here but the decisions were right and turned out to be most of France's best efforts during the entire game. It was a dogged effort to go in at 0-0 and the crowd's reaction when the whistle went showed our appreciation. The fact I spent the full 15 minutes of the break in a queue for a pie and moved about two steps couldn't even dampen my spirit. We are holding on against FRANCE!

The atmosphere built up as the second half started, as did the performance of the team. We started making passes and started to make a couple of decent moves. McFadden's challenge on Boumsong will be remembered as he slid in and just kept going.....could have seen red instead of yellow. The rain started to come on and the determination was seen not only through the players on the pitch but through the aggression from the crowd. We were doing ok.

Then, 66 minutes and, the goal...

Couldn't see much of it as it was down the other end. Merely saw the ball curling in and then..BANG..the net rippling. ERUPTION...Hampden burst into scenes of mayhem, sheer Ecstasy. The atmosphere was amazing. Didn't bother sitting down after that and, to be honest, didn't have an option - the place was rocking! Still 24 minutes plus stoppage time to hang on...CUMMON!

The minutes were ticking by and we were still making moves forward and had a couple of chances to make it 2-0. To be honest, France had a few opportunities and when one fell to Henry near the very end of the match - a free header straight at Gordon...EASY EASY was the chant!

A few nervous minutes on and there it was...the final whistle!

We've beaten France - the place erupted once again, sending Hampden into scenes of joy and perhaps shear disbelief.

Well...Scotland 1, France 0.

I was there.

When you hear the noise of the Tartan Army boys, We'll be coming down the road!

My pics coming soon

Trial

This is my first blog. Not sure what to add....hmm.

Em ok I'll try adding a picture with a link.

Click the pic to see the link - superb.