Top 5 sports moments of my lifetime

It's been awhile since I've given any sort of a real update, so I thought I'd post the other sports-related top 5 I mentioned awhile back. This time, I'm going through my top five favorite sports moments of all time, in any sport. I was born in 1984 and didn't really start following sports until the early '90s, so all the moments I'm listing have occurred in the time frame from about 1991. Here's the list.

5. Boise State vs. Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl, January 1, 2007:

When anyone asks me what's the best football game I've ever seen (only on TV, for this one), I tell them this WAC-Big 12 matchup without even thinking about it. Not only was this a great game, but it had a great storyline to it. The Davids from Idaho vs. the Goliaths from Oklahoma. An undefeated season on the line, as well as a chance to prove their program belongs. Boise State ran out to a huge lead, but Oklahoma kept chipping away and away until they finally tied it late in the fourth quarter. Boise State got the ball back with a chance to win with just over a minute left, but Jared Zabranski threw a crippling pick-six on the first play of the drive to give Oklahoma a 35-28 lead. It seemed like the clock was striking midnight on Boise State's Cinderella season, especially when they faced a 4th and 18 at midfield with seconds to play. That's when Boise State scored a touchdown on one of the wildest plays I've ever seen, a beautifully drawn-up hook and lateral that tied the game and sent it into overtime.

On the first play of overtime, Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson ran for a 25-yard touchdown to put Oklahoma up 42-35, and on Boise State's ensuing possession, they once again faced 4th down, this time a 4th and 2 from the 6. This time, Chris Petersen drew up a halfback pass that connected for a touchdown to make the score 42-41. Boise State opted to go for the two point conversion and the win. Cue the video (includes highlight of hook and lateral):



4. St. Louis Cardinals win NL Pennant, 2004:

2004 was a magical sports year for me. The Cardinals got hot in May and never looked back, and Auburn went undefeated, winning the SEC Championship and Sugar Bowl along the way. After St. Louis won 105 games and the NL Central, they moved on to the playoffs. Since Tony La Russa took over as Cardinals manager in 1996, only once had they made the playoffs and I felt good about their performance, in 2001. In 1996, St. Louis led Atlanta three games to one in the NLCS, only to choke the series away. In 2000, the Cardinals fell in 5 games to the Wild Card-winning Mets in the NLCS. In 2001, the Cardinals fought hard in a losing cause, in five games to eventual World Series champs Arizona. In 2002, they lost in 5 games to the Giants. The 2004 NLCS had a similar feel, after Houston had won games 3 through 5 to take a 3-2 series lead. In extra innings, Jim Edmonds blasted a walk-off two-run homerun to send the series to game 7, but the pitching matchup did not favor the Cardinals. Houston sent Roger Clemens to the hill to face off against Jeff Suppan. I was happy the Cardinals didn't roll over and die in game 6, but I didn't feel too confident about game 7. After the top of the third, Houston led 2-0, and that felt like 25-0 with Clemens pitching. However, in the bottom of the third, St. Louis scraped a run across to cut the lead to 2-1, where it stayed until the 6th. On consecutive pitches in that inning, Albert Pujols tied it on a double and Scott Rolen gave St. Louis a 2-run lead on a homerun! Cardinals fans could feel it. After putting up another run in the 8th, Jason Isringhausen worked a 1-2-3 ninth to give St. Louis its first pennant in 17 years. I probably annoyed my entire apartment complex to death with my screaming. Unfortunately, I can't find any youtube video of this series (other than a Jeff Kent walkoff homerun in game 5, grr) but I'll post some photos of Jim Edmonds doing his thing:





3. Duke vs. Kentucky, Elite Eight 1992:

If you don't instantly know what I'm talking about, you either have lived in a cave for 20 years or were born in the 1990s. Even though I was 7 (almost 8) years old, I still have such a vivid memory of this shot. I was in a beach house in Gulf Shores, Alabama with my family for Spring Break. My Mom was pulling for Kentucky, while my Dad was pulling for Duke. I was pulling for Kentucky, probably for SEC reasons, and my 4-year-old little brother was "pulling for" Kentucky, probably because I was. Overtime. Duke down by one. Grant Hill inbounding the ball. 2.1 seconds left....



I love how after Laettner hits the shot, Jim Nantz just yells "YES!" and shuts up, letting the moment speak for itself.

2. Auburn football 2004:

I can't really pick a particular moment from this season; the whole year was awesome (except for the BCS picking show...grr). I've already mentioned two games from this season in my Top 5 Auburn games attended post, so if you want to read more about the season, check out that post. Anyways, this Auburn team was the most dominant team I've ever followed, and possibly the best I've ever seen. It's a shame we didn't get to see how they would have fared against USC or Oklahoma. For the record, I think we would have beaten OU by double digits. I'm not sure we would have beaten USC, but we would have played them much better than Choklahoma (see what I did there?). The way Auburn's "hard-fighting soldiers" came out and spanked every team it faced after LSU was amazing. The fact that this happened less than a year after AU administrators tried to oust Tommy Tuberville made the season that much more of a storybook season. We need a montage:



1. St. Louis wins 2006 World Series:

The early-to-mid 2000s Cardinals teams were incredible. They made the playoffs every year except one from 2000 to 2006, winning the division five times in seven years. However, despite all their regular season success, they had always met postseason failure. As mentioned earlier, the 2000-2002 teams all met early exits. The 2004 team won the pennant, but was swept in the World Series by Boston. The 2005 team was nearly as good as the 2004 team (maybe better), but lost the NLCS to Houston in 6 games. Once the team started to fall apart in large stretches in 2006, it looked like the Cardinals had missed their chance to win a title in the prime of Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, and Scott Rolen. The Cardinals almost blew a 7 game lead with 12 games to play. By the time they limped into the playoffs, they had gone 83-78, and only one ESPN analyst predicted they would even win the NLDS, much less go all the way. But St. Louis beat San Diego in 4 games to win the NLDS, then defeated the heavily-favored New York Mets in an epic 7 game series to go to the World Series. Once there, nobody gave St. Louis a chance. Bob Nightengale of USA Today picked Detroit in Three. Rookie Anthony Reyes, who had gotten shelled in Game 4 of the NLCS, took the bump in Game 1 against Justin Verlander. Even Cardinals fans were wondering how many games it would take Detroit to beat St. Louis.

Then something funny happened.

Reyes pitched a beautiful 8-inning game in game 1 to give St. Louis a 1-0 series lead. Detroit won game 2 behind Kenny Rogers' -- ahem -- dirty hand to tie the series up. Chris Carpenter pitched one of the best games I've ever seen in game 3 to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead. The Cardinals came from behind to win game 4 behind the bat of David Eckstein and take a 3-1 lead. Jeff Weaver dominated Detroit for eight innings and Adam Wainwright closed out the 9th to give St. Louis a World Series championship in five games. I erupted with joy and yelling. Best sports moment of my life.



Honorable Mention:
Mark McGwire hits his 62nd HR
Josh Hamilton goes off on the 2008 HR derby
George Mason makes the Final Four
Raiders go to Super Bowl in 2002 season

Adventures in white people dancing

Baseball. America's national pastime. You pay $10 or so for a mid-level conference tournament ticket, maybe buy a beer or two, maybe a hot dog, sit around and chat with your friends. Then, a rain delay comes. What a bummer, right? Unless you're at this particular game. Then you're in for a treat.



I hope Auburn and LSU football players do this in the middle of next year's Tiger Bowl.

**Thanks to commenter cardsgirl95 at Viva El Birdos for pointing me to this video.**

Quick Update

Hey everyone. Just thought I'd throw a real quick post up before Memorial Day weekend comes and goes with zero posts from yours truly. I'm going to Memphis tomorrow evening (as is usually family custom) and will be back on Monday night. I don't have anything useful to post, other than these two awesome videos shamelessly stolen from The FYC. Enjoy, and have a great Memorial Day!

Entirely too early College Football Top 25

Hey, if Athlon and Lindy's can do it, why can't I? Of course, I haven't spent every work day (and probably more) since the end of the National Championship game preparing my notes for this moment, but here goes anyways. I'll list all the teams, with a short sentence or two explaining the pick (or something that's hopefully insightful about the team). Come back in late September to see how wrong I was!

1. Florida - If you gave me even money on Florida vs. the entire field for who would win the national championship, I'd take Florida every time; anybody who doesn't have them as #1 at this point is a fool.

2. Texas - The team that deserved to be in the national championship game last year gets its shot at Florida this year, with McCoy and company coming back for more.

3. Ohio State - I cannot stand anything about this team, except that Terrell Pryor is the most baller shit ever!! As a true freshman last year he played like Vince Young did in the 2005 Rose Bowl, so I suspect great things from him going forward.

4. Oklahoma - The one team I may hate more than Ohio State for my #2 (outside of UAT, natch) least favorite team, they'll be good again; they're talented enought again to probably win all games outside of the Red River Shootout, then choke again in a BCS bowl game.

5. Virginia Tech - Call it a hunch, but I see good things from the Hokies this year, starting with an ACC payback game in tha Dome versus Alabama. Tyrod Taylor will continue to improve, and Sean Glennon won't be around to Daniel Cobb things up for Beamer's bunch. Expect another Orange Bowl victory for the Hokies.

6. Louisiana State - Ole Miss is the trendy pick for SEC West champion, but to me, LSU is the team to beat. Jordan Jefferson asserted himself as a solid starter in LSU's waxing of Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, and with John Chavis taking his defensive prowess down to the bayou, expect the Purple Tigers to bounce back in a big way.

7. Southern California - Maybe I should have put them higher, but losing an entire LB corps and Mark Sanchez will hurt the Trojans. They still figure to be the class of the Pac-10, and will probably win their 27th (accurate number) Rose Bowl in a row. Aside: You probably won't find a bigger USC (or Pac-10, for that matter) sympathizer than me this side of the Mississippi/Mason-Dixon.

8. Mississippi - Houston Nutt took Ed Orgeron's recruits and worked his Nutt magic to a New Year's Day bowl win over previously once-beaten Texas Tech. Many people think the Rebels, with ace QB Jevan Snead, will win the SEC West; I'm not buying it. Houston Nutt is a good coach, but he's ten kinds of crazy, and not in a good way when he's predicted to be good. They'll lose a game or two that they should win (hmm, Auburn maybe?????), and Miss out (see what I did there?!) on the program's first trip to Atlanta.

9. Oklahoma State - Mike Gundy will be 42 pretty soon (if not already), and he's a pretty solid coach. Not national champion or even Big 12 champion material, but good enough for 8-10 wins a year. With Zac Robinson coming back to the Cowboys' explosive offense, expect another high-scoring, zero-defense year from the Pokes from Stillwater.

10. Alabama - I had to fight off my hatred for this team (to a certain extent) to give them a fair ranking. Some people will have them in the top 5, where I see a team with no QB with starting experience, and holes to fill on the offensive line. They'll be good, no doubt, but probably not good enough for better than 3rd in the SEC West.

11. Boise State - The little team that keeps on winning. Chris Petersen is in charge of a fantastic small-school program, and don't be surprised to see them back in the mix for a BCS bowl game with an experienced QB and a weak conference slate.

12. Oregon - The Ducks have turned into a solid #2 Pac-10 team. It will be interesting to see how the transition from Mike Belotti to Chip Kelly goes, but I have a hunch that the explosive offense we've seen from this program won't be going anywhere with the regime change.

13. Georgia Tech - Paul Johnson proved that the triple option can work in the weakest BCS conference. With another year of practice an experience, can it translate into an ACC title? I say no, but he's getting there; unfortunately for the Jackets, most skill position recruits won't want to come play in that offense, so we may be seeing the best of the Paul Johnson years right now.

14. California - Jahvid Best is a beast. Jeff Tedford could probably get ten San Francisco Chippendale dancers to fill out the rest of the offense and the Golden Bears would still make a bowl game.

15. North Carolina - Butch Davis was the coach I wanted Auburn to replace Tommy Tuberville with more than any other, because he is a beast of a recruiter and has a fantastic defensive mind. Imagine if we'd hired him, then still gotten Malzahn, Trooper Taylor, et al. We'd feel much better about the upcoming season, no doubt. Anyways, Davis should have UNC back in ACC title contention in 2009.

16. Georgia - No Stafford and no Moreno equals growing pains between the hedges for the Bulldogs. Expect Joe Cox to be the starter for the first few games, but the reins will be handed over to Logan Gray a la Tereshinski III/Stafford in 2006. This will be a rebuilding year for the Bulldogs, but still a solid 8- or 9-win campaign.

17. Penn State - Joe Paterno is still doing a fantastic job "coaching" the Nittany Lions; not bad for someone who lost in a run-off to William Henry Harrison in the 1840 general election. At least you outlived him, JoePa! Expect the Lions to compete for the Big 10 crown again this year.

18. Brigham Young - These white boys know how to play some football. With Utah taking a step back after graduation losses, BYU will step to the front of the MWC and challenge for a BCS berth. I personally hope they make the Sugar Bowl, so I can go and see a Mormon's expression when he sees his first flashing on Bourbon Street.

19. Kansas - Mark Mangino said he'd eat me if I didn't put the Jayhawks in my top 25. Expect the Jayhawks to win the Big 12 North and get beat by triple digits in the championship game by Texas' third string.

20. Michigan State - I don't know why, but something about Mark D'Antonio makes me believe he can build MSU up into a top-tier Big 10 program. Chalk this pick up to random optimism.

21. Florida State - Jimbo Fisher Bobby Bowden is turning around the Seminoles' program, one felon at a time. They'll challenge for a New Year's Day bowl.

22. Iowa - The loss of Shonn Greene will hurt the Hawkeyes, no doubt, but expect them to continue to be a solid team.

23. Arkansas - I thought the Razorbacks were the most improved team in the SEC from week 1 to bowl season, and I expect that improvement to continue into 2009. The same team that started the year with near upsets to Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe came back to beat Auburn and LSU later in the year. There's no doubting that Bobby Petrino is a fantastic college coach; the only question is, how long will he stay in Fayettenam?

24. North Carolina State - This was another team that improved throughout the year last season, starting with the offensive offensive (redundancy on purpose; if you saw them play South Carolina last year, you know their offense was offensive in that game) performance in Columbia, and finishing with a bowl game. Tom O'Brien is a solid, if not spectacular, head coach, and he has the Wolfpack headed in the right direction.

25. Oregon State - I really wanted to include Auburn in this ranking, if only because it's something I want to see, but my better judgment told me that the Tigers aren't a top 25 team this year. I hope I'm proven wrong, but until then, the last spot in this top 25 goes to the midget little person-filled Beaver squad from the Pacific Northwest.

Gene Chizik is no good at golf

Check out this video from al.com:

Gene Chizik, Bo Jackson putt around

Even though the results are there, his putting stroke is just horrible. Once upon a time, I was pretty good at golf, so I know when someone has no idea what he's doing when I see it. Chizik's putting stroke isn't as bad as Chuck Barkley's full swing, but it's not any good. He has too much movement in his body and wrists; he doesn't have the pendulum stroke like Tiger Woods.

Anyways, the best thing to take from this, as Goldberg notes in the blog post I'm taking this stuff from, is that Bo Jackson is taking a more prominent role with Auburn than he had. He spoke at graduation last week, and he's appearing with Chizik, having fun. This can only be a good thing for our rebuilding program.

I kinda wish they had shown Bo's stroke, though.

Top 5 Auburn games attended

As promised in my last post, I am going to give the top five Auburn games I've seen live. Before I get to the list, I must offer this bit of biographical information:

I was born in the quaint town of Johnson City, Tennessee to a mother whose entire family was from Memphis and a father who spent much of his childhood and younger adult life in the hills of East Tennessee. As such, I was raised a Tennessee fan; that is, until I started at Auburn in August, 2003. While UT still holds a special place in my heart, I mention this to explain the fact that the five games on this list occurred in this decade.

Now, without further ado, J.D.'s top 5 Auburn football games!

5. Auburn 34, Tennessee 10 - October 2, 2004, Knoxville, TN

The 2004 Auburn Tigers were a great team; perhaps the greatest I've ever watched, and without a doubt the greatest I've ever followed. However, Auburn fans didn't realize that something special was happening that season until this crisp October night on the banks of the Tennesseee River. In four games up to this point, Auburn had handily beaten three also-rans and edged defending national champion LSU by one point -- while only scoring ten -- at home. The trip to Tennessee was the first big road test for the veteran Tigers squad, with new offensive coordinator Al Borges. The Vols, on the other hand, were 3-0 behind waxings of two also-rans and a last-second, 50-yard field goal to beat Ron Zook's last Florida team in Knoxville. UT featured two true freshman QBs in Erik Ainge (the thrower) and Brent Schaeffer (the runner). Most analysts predicted that the home crowd would be too much for Auburn to handle, but Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams had the last laugh:



Auburn would run out to a 31-3 halftime lead, and leave Knoxville with an emphatic 34-10 victory. This would be the point in the season where Auburn went from "Hey, they're pretty good" to "Damn, this team is nasty."

4. Auburn 10, LSU 9 - September 18, 2004, Auburn, AL

As mentioned in the AU/UT recap above, Auburn edged LSU by one point behind some last-minute heroics by Jason Campbell, Courtney Taylor and Junior Rosegreen. Earlier in the week, the game was in danger of being postponed due to Hurricane Ivan; Auburn let class out for Wednesday through Friday of the week, and Ivan hit hard on Thursday. However, by game time on Saturday, the weather was warm, muggy, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. LSU came in on the heels of winning the program's first national title since 1958 in 2003, but with two green QBs: Marcus Randall and JaMarcus Russell. The purple Tigers were 2-0 with a close, should-have-been-a-loss win over Oregon State (OSU's kicker missed like 30 field goals and 15 extra points) and a laugher over Arkansas State. Auburn was also 2-0, and had yet to be challenged. LSU came out and took an early 9-3 lead (thanks to a missed (or was it blocked?) extra point following their lone touchdown); from there, it would be a battle of the punts (and an unsuccessful 4th and goal attempt from Tommy Tuberville). On Auburn's final drive, Jason Campbell completed 4th-and-long and 3rd-and-long passes to Courtney Taylor to tie the game, then John Vaughn gave Auburn the lead on his second extra point try (LSU was penalized on Vaughn's first try, which was a miss). Junior Rosegreen intercepted a late Russell pass, and the celebration was on. Enjoy this, which may be my favorite Auburn game montage on youtube:



3. Auburn 28, Alabama 18 - November 19, 2005, Auburn, AL

Alabama started 2005 9-0, and were supposedly "back." Auburn started the year off with a loss to Georgia Tech, and was seemingly out of the SEC West race with an overtime loss to LSU in mid-October. However, by the time this game was starting, Alabama had lost a heartbreaking overtime game to LSU in Tuscaloosa, and Auburn had quietly gotten on a post-LSU roll (including a certain game that may appear next in this list...what could it be??). On a cool, overcast day, Auburn started the game by forcing a 3-and-out (including two sacks), outscored Alabama 21-0 in the first quarter, and the outcome was never in doubt after that. Brodie Croyle was sacked eleven times in the game. Here's the highlight package:



2. Auburn 31, Georgia 30 - November 12, 2005, Athens, GA

Georgia was a win away from a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game. Auburn needed some help and to win out to make the trip. Georgia was the heavy favorite, though Auburn had put together a quiet run of nice wins. In a game that was back and forth the entire time, Auburn came out with a miracle victory thanks to a 4th-and-15 completion from Brandon Cox to Devin Aromashodu and a last-second chip shot field goal from John Vaughn. Coming down the stretch, it was apparent that the last team to have the ball would win the game; this was true, excepting for the few seconds Georgia had the ball after the Vaughn field goal. Poor clock management by Mark Richt could have cost the Bulldogs the game, however; Georgia scored a touchdown to take a 29-28 lead, and while deliberating going for two (what's to deliberate?!), Georgia took a delay of game penalty, then another, before finally opting for the PAT from the 13 yard line. **EDIT: I was mistaken. The PAT/2-point conversion mistake occurred when the score was 21-20. Going for 2 would have made it a 28-21 game, but the extra point only made it 27-21.** The only thing to remember from this game, though, is "Are you kidding me?!"



1. Auburn 27, Florida 17 - October 14, 2006, Auburn, AL

This was hands down the most fun football game I've ever attended. When Auburn blocked Florida's punt early in the third quarter and Tre Smith recovered it and flipped into the end zone, Jordan-Hare was louder than I've ever heard any football stadium, and it was literally rocking. After Florida dominated the first half en route to a 17-8 lead, Auburn took the opening drive of the second half and kicked a field goal to cut the lead to 17-11. **EDIT: Auburn kicked the field goal right before halftime, not right after. It was 17-11 at halftime, and I believe Florida actually got the ball first in the second half.** After a Gator 3-and-out, the magical punt block occurred, putting Auburn ahead 18-17. Florida would not score another point in this game, as Auburn used four John Vaughn field goals, a safety, a special teams touchdown and a game-ending defensive touchdown to fell the Gators. This would be Florida's only blemish on their 2006 national championship team. Charles Barkley's 21-17 prediction would have been exactly right were it not for the last defensive touchdown; I'm sure he could have paid off some of his gambling debt with that kind of prediction. Enough talking, here's the awesome video:



You can always tell how big of a touchdown it is by how crappy the Auburn band sounds playing "War Eagle" afterward. Listen to how out-of-tune the band is after Smith's touchdown.

Honorable Mention:

AU 23 Clemson 20 - 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl
AU 24 Georgia 6 - 2004
AU 28 Alabama 23 - 2003

The last one is my first Iron Bowl experience. The very first play of my very first Iron Bowl:



I can't imagine a better way to get your feet wet in the biggest college football rivalry.

Special thanks to Auburn youtube-maker extraordinaire autiger96 for putting together several of those videos, and to the makers of the other videos.

Viva Huntsvegas

Well, my spring 2009 semester has come and gone. I'm not sure what to expect on the grades front, but grad school grades don't matter, right? I guess I'll find out in the next few days. The statistics final was kinda tough, but not as bad as it could have been. That having been said, I slept three hours last night, drove for five today, and it's now almost 2 in the morning (central time) and I'm wide awake. What's up with that?!

Anyway, as a reward for finishing up my semester, I'm spending the next several days in Huntsville, the town I grew up in (The town in which I grew up....er....the town, up in which I grew? Whatever. Insert "preposition" scene from Beavis and Butt-head Do America.). Our house is undergoing some major renovations so that it can get on the market soon, so my bathroom is out of order. If I want to take a shower, I have to go down two flights of stairs to the basement. That's not going to be a hassle through Wednesday, not at all! At least I can use the toilet. Not sure what kind of trouble I'll get into these few days, but Mother's Day is on Sunday, and I told Mom I'd take her out to a nice dinner and a movie afterward (since I make money now!).

Also, Tuesday is my 25th birthday (barf). It's amazing how from year to year I get less and less excited about my birthday. When I was around four or five years old living in Charleston, WV, I actually remember having like a 100-day countdown to my birthday. It was a big deal. When I was in my elementary school years, I used to itemize everything I wanted, from the newest video game to legos to even a typewriter (okay, so that was Christmas; sue me). Now, I'm just looking at what I need as far as birthday presents. I'm honestly hoping to get a new duffle bag, because the one I've been using for the past ten years is falling apart. Imagine my joy, when I open a present on Tuesday, look inside, and scream "Yes! Luggage!" Cooooooool.

I bought myself a little "birthday" present (hell, I guess it was just an "I need new t-shirts" present), too. I'll be stylin' and profilin' rocking this bad boy around. Check out this retro Montreal Expos tee!



I also have already gotten one of my actual presents from somebody in the mail, a new iPod shuffle from my younger brother. Yes, I'm the last person in America to get an iPod, but before I started working in the lab and trying to get some exercise, I really saw no use for having one. I have all of my music on my computer, and when I'm driving, I'll be listening to XM or CDs. I don't take public transportation or travel by air much, so really it would have been a waste. Now, I'm using it all the time. I've got my "Chill Out" mix for work or just -- go figure -- chilling out, my "Rock Out" mix for when I'm working out or in an angry mood, and all the rest of my music at my disposal. The only complaint I have about this gadget is that I can't select the next song that will play; since there isn't a screen display, I can only make the iPod choose a random song from the playlist. The thing is about the size of my pinky finger, and aside from the earphones hurting my ears, the sound quality is incredible. When I got home tonight, I showed Mom and had her listen to the various features. I said, "I hope nothing embarrassing comes on." She was bobbing her head to the music, then she made kind of a funny face. When she gave it back to me, I put in the earphones, and found out the random song she chose was this nice little ditty (Warning: The song is vulgar and inappropriate for anyone who's younger than 13, older than 30, anyone with little kids nearby, a boss nearby, etc. You've been warned.)

If you'd like to see a demo of how this little baby works, check it out below:



Lastly, I'd like to give a little preview of my next top 5 installment. I said in my first post that I'd opine about a number of things, and the first thing on the list was sports. All I've given as far as sports info goes are some pictures of the Hawks game (Aside: Before the Hawks/Cavs series started, I thought the Hawks would make it an interesting 6- or 7-game series. After having watched most of the first two games, I say they'll be lucky to make it back to Cleveland. This LeBron fella is pretty good, have you heard of him?); not that that wasn't great or anything, but maybe something with a little more substance would be nice. So the next top 5 will either be my top 5 favorite Auburn football games or my top 5 favorite sports moments. I haven't decided, but both of those top 5's will make an appearance in the near future.

Have a great weekend.

Procrastination

Statistics final tomorrow. Studying? DO NOT WANT. Looking for something to kill time...



Perfect.

Top 5 Arcade Games

If you're like me, and you spent your elementary school years at the skating rink, patiently biding your time in line to spend maybe a minute and a half getting your ass kicked by the fourteen year old whiz kid at Mortal Kombat, then you undoubtedly remember arcade games. Whether you preferred a circular, yellow, uhhh thing chasing after different-colored ghosts, or just liked to put your quarters in for relentless bloodshed, you probably wasted hours of your life with a joystick in one hand (mind out of the gutter please) and an A and B button in the other. I would like to own any or all of the five games I'm listing below, as well as several others that didn't quite make the cut (Golden Tee Golf, I'm looking at you). I hope you enjoy the second installment of my Top 5, for arcade games!

5. Galaga

The object of this game is simple. Shoot down a number of different enormous insects before they crash into your spaceship. At least, they look like insects, although their flight pattern synchronicity suggests their brains are more developed than Earth insects. Either way, this game was fun for about four minutes, when you would inevitably lose all three of your spaceships before reaching level 5. Even though the description of this video says "NES" (which, I've never even heard of the NES version of this game; eBaying in 20), the gameplay is exactly the same as the arcade version.



4. Cruis'n USA

The ultimate in racing arcade games, Cruis'n USA gave my mother nightmares when she watched me play just before turning 15 and getting my learner's permit. It proved that you could survive a head-on collision with an oncoming car while going around 200 MPH, which is totally lifelike. And trees? Pfft. I'll just knock them down with my sports car. You also apparently had a female riding shotgun with you during these races, as determined by the whoa's heard when you're about to plow into a semi. The best part of the game was racing in different locales around the U.S., although it seems like the game was a little "west-coast-centric" since half of the race courses were in California. Oh well, time for some video.



3. Street Fighter 2

Number three in this top 5 is actually shared by two similar-style games: Street Fighter 2, and Mortal Kombat. The reason Street Fighter 2 gets the nod for the title game in #3 is because I liked it a little more. What's that? I don't know what I'm talking about? Well, it's my blog, and it's MY LIST. Tough cookies.

Anyways, Street Fighter 2 was great because you could beat the game with a few characters by having a seizure. Blanka, E. Honda and Chun-Li were almost unbeatable just because you could rapidly press the buttons down and effectively put up a forcefield; Blanka's was electricity and the two Asian characters were a flurry of fists and kicks, respectively. Another great aspect of the game was the freaks involved. The aforementioned Blanka could electrocute his opponent, and Dhalsim could extend his limbs past their normal threshold! Unreal. Cut to the video.



2. NBA Jam

NBA Jam was the first intentionally unrealistic sports game that came out (as far as I know). John Stockton could jump 20 feet in the air and bring down the house with a 360 dunk. You could throw your opponent away from the ball and nothing would be called. The best part about this game, however, was the announcer. To this day I still use "He's heating up," "Is it the shoes?" and "BOOM SHAKA LAKA!!!" in my everyday vernacular. Even though this video says SNES in the title, the gameplay appears to be the same.



1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Just as #3 was (sort of) a tie between Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat, #1 is a three-way tie between three similar games: X-Men, The Simpsons and TMNT. I picked TMNT because even now, as a 24-year-old male, I get excited thinking about this game. The graphics were ground-breaking. The characters were from the TV series that had taken the youth of the country by storm. The karate was sick. You and three of your friends (or three complete strangers) could fight the foot clan at the same time. It really was the recipe for the perfect game. Every kid I knew was super excited when Konami announced they were going to come out with a Nintendo version of the game, but it was such a disappointment compared to the arcade classic. If I owned a TMNT arcade box in my apartment right now, I'd fail out of school. Same could be said for X-Men and The Simpsons. TMNT gets the nod because I was such a nerd for the Turtles. TURTLE POWER!!



Cowabunga!

Hawks/Heat in pictures

So as I promised late last night, here are some pictures from my trek to Atlanta for game 7. The game 7 of the worst 7-game series in the history of 7-game series. Every game in this series was decided by double digits. There were no lead changes after the first inning in any of the seven games. When the Hawks took a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter, I turned to my friends and jokingly said "well, I guess we can go back to Athens, this one's over." I didn't realize how right I would be. The Hawks took control in the second quarter, outscoring the Heat 29-18, and never looked back after that. Even though the final margin was only 13, the game wasn't nearly that close. With about eight minutes left in the game, the Hawks led by 29 points.

It was nice to see the Hawks come through in the clutch in the first game 7 in Philips Arena history. It was also worth the short drive, MARTA passes, and price of admission and a couple of beers. I had a great time. Here are the pictures:

Our view of the court. Mezzanine level, not too shabby



Jermaine O'Neal warming up



ZAZA!! (on the right side)



Warmups, Heat side



One of the Hawks' mascots with some dudes near us



The Hawks lineup gets announced with a drumline playing, getting CRUNK



Action shot



Final score!



That's right baby!



Also, near the end of the game, they played this awesome Zaza montage to pump up the crowd. Needless to say, it worked. Watching it by myself didn't do it the same justice as being in the crowd coming down the stretch of a game 7. Enjoy, and have a nice Tuesday!

Quick Update, GO HAWKS

Today I went down to Atlanta with a couple of friends from UGA to watch the Hawks defeat demolish Dwyane (shouldn't it be pronounced dwy-yane with that spelling?) Wade and the Miami Heat. It was my first NBA game experience, and it was an enjoyable one. Joe Johnson really impressed me with his range and defense, especially after a lackluster first quarter. I'll get another post up probably tomorrow with pictorial evidence that I actually attended this game and give a little more in-depth analysis, along with a brief preview of the LeBron Cavaliers series. GO HAWKS!!