Madden 15 Review

EA will be releasing Madden NFL 15 on Tuesday August 26^th, but thanks to the new EA Access app, for just 30 dollars a year you can play any EA game five days before its release.

                Madden is the first game that is available for early access, and you  have six hour of game play to decide if you want to go and spend the sixty dollars or not.

                The trial version of the game opens with a short video clip of the Seattle Seahawks and the Carolina Panthers battling for the NFC Championship. We see a fumble by Russell Wilson which gives the ball back to the Panthers inside the two minute warning. This is the player’s first chance to experience the game play of Madden 15.

                The graphics in the video were outstanding, and the situation of it already has you saying, “this game is going to be great!” followed by, “Let’s do this!”

                Once you see the new camera angle it already feels so unlike any Madden you have played to this point. The camera is much tighter.  It’s so close that you feel like you are right in the middle of all the action.  Once you hike the ball you will be 100% sure this is a whole new game that bows the last 25 years of football gaming out of the water.

                The stadium sounds, the broadcast presentation, and the player likenesses make it seem like you’re watching the game on Sunday afternoon. Every snap is so realistic and the game speed feels so different from what we are used to.

                After scoring a rushing touchdown with the Panthers, I got a quick idea of what is new in Madden 15 from Cam Newton. Then it was time to play for real.

                I played in exhibition game, Patriots VS. Jets and the game just got better and better. This was my first chance to play defense and the changes made to the D were a lot of fun. Instead of button mashing as the Defensive line to try ti get off your block, there is now a different system for pass rush and run stop.

                 There is a button specifically used to try and stop the running back, and a specific button for pass rush defensive moves.  All of this depends on how fast you get off the line which now is measured as perfect, early or late displayed above your defender.

                Perhaps the best addition to the defense in Madden 15 is the ability to player lock on defense and control one defender through an entire play. This has been seen in NCAA Football but was not in Madden 25.

                The best part is this is how you control your defender on connected franchise which now gives you the camera angle of your defender in third person view and the offense at the top of the screen which makes it much easier to keep track of a play.

`               The connected franchise mode is similar to last year but now instead of practice to gain XP you can now go through different forms of game prep with the addition of confidence which gives you individual game boosts or the typical XP that is more permanent.

                The Madden Ultimate team menu has changed and is now easier to navigate and introduces new challenges which give the player more chances to collect coins and buy new packs. Not much has changed the new very popular MUT game mode that has become the most popular mode in the game.

                New is the word to describe this game. It is unlike any Madden we have ever played before and when the full game is released on Tuesday, we will have enough time to see them all.

                Six hours was hardly enough time to experience everything so  If you haven’t bought Madden in a few years, now is he time to get back in the game. You will not be disappointed.

               

Guardians of the Galaxy

On Friday, Marvel released its 2014 summer block buster Guardians of the Galaxy. The Movie stars Chris Pratt (Peter Quill)), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), and Vin Diesel (ZGroot).

               

      The story is about 5 outcasts who meet after Peter Quill steals an orb that holds a power unknown to him.  Once they discover what the orb is and what Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace,) plans to do with I, they team up to stop him and become the Guardians of the Galaxy.

              

      I respect Marvel for not   inserting an Avenger or any other character in to the film to help along the story. They trusted that people who did not know the Guardians prior to the movie would relate to and fall in love with the Guardians with no extra help. I mention this only because in the latest volume of the Guardians comics, the first few issues feature Ironman and I personally did not believe the Guardians needed that crutch.

               

       The story of the film was very well written. As a reader of the comics, there were a few things I thought would happen differently but we all know it takes different stuff to make a relatable movie.  In the end, the changes that were made were not drastic enough to distract from the film.

               

       The humor used in the movie was used just right. Star Lord, or Peter Quill was a perfect capture of the comic book character, and the same goes for Rocket. The other characters however were made a little sillier then their comic counter parts, but that did not change the core of the characters. Drax was still a maniac, and Gamora was still a kick ass assassin. Groot was a great compliment to the comic book character with the use of his mesmerizing abilities and his one line of speech, “I am Groot.”

              

       Speaking of lines, I was disappointed that Rocket lacked the use of his personal swears from the comics that make me laugh every time I read them, and he also is without his tag line, “Blamo! You’re dead.” I spent the whole movie with the thought that it might come up in the back of my head but with no luck. Perhaps in the sequel that was announced at San Diego Comic Con I will get to hear some Rocket originals.

               

       I was also expecting to see Peter’s father, and there be some of his story in  the movie. If you don’t know about Peter’s father I will not spoil the surprise that awaits. I will only say that he is a big part of why Peter is a Guardian.

                               

       If the missing Rocket quote, and Peter’s father missing are the only complaints I have, then I can live with that. Marvel has given us another great film that leaves us wanting more. There will be no lack of Marvel films in the next four to five years as the Studios have announced their line up through 2019 with 2 more Avengers moves, another Guardians of the Galaxy, and many more.

     Go see Guardians of the Galaxy it’s a great film for all ages and who knows maybe you’ll pick up the comics that made me fall in love with these characters. It will only help Marvel bring other lesser known stories to the big screen and believe me there are a lot more characters to see and stories to be told.

                

Pats V. Jets

After a narrow escape in their game Sunday, the Patriots face the New York Jets tonight, an 8:25

The Patriots took the W and ran after just beating the Bills only four days ago. The 23-21 victory was not what Pats fans were looking for, but the Bills do tend to sneak up on the Pats

The biggest question in tonight's match up with the Jets, is who is Brady going to throw to?

We are not expected to see the Pats free agent pick up Danny Amendola after he re-aggravated a groin injury that had kept him out of a few weeks of training camp. Amendola had 10 catches for 108 yards. He lead the Patriots in receptions.

The Pats will also be without running back Shane Vereen. Vereen played most of Sundays game after Stephen Ridley fumbled the ball. Vereen had 101 rushing yards and caught 7 passes for 58 yards.

Vereen and Amendola accounted for 159 of Brady's 288 passing yards, and some one will need to step in and fill that void.

Brady will most likely look to Julian Edelman. Edelman caught 7 passes Sunday for 79 yards and caught both of Brady's TD passes. Edelman will be Brady's most reliable target in the game tonight although we can expect to see a few catches by the rookies.

Aaron Dobson will be playing in tonight's game, and Kendrell Thompkins will try to shake off his first game jitters and hold on to some of the passes he dropped on Sunday. Zach Sudfeld will also look to redeem himself after fumbling a catch that lead to points for the Bills.

Unfortunately for the Pats they might not be able to compensate for the loss of Amendola and Vereen with the run game. The Jets only gave up 65 rushing yards to Doug Martin of the Tampa Bay Bucs.

The Pats do have a superior offensive line, but the Jets will be able to shut down the run if Brady can't clear the linebackers out of the box with a consistent passing game.

Defensively, the Pats might not want to overlook the performance Geno Smith had in his NFL debut. The rookie threw for 256 yards with one TD and one INT.

The Jets were also in danger of losing their game last week.

The fact is it is only week 2 so it is hard to tell how the season will shape out, but when the Pats and Jets meet it is always going to affect how the AFC East standings sit at the end of the year.

If I can give one piece of advice tonight it will be to start Edelman if you have him on your fantasy team.

Enjoy the game sports fans!

World War Z Movie Review

World War Z was not just a great movie for Zombie lovers its a good movie period

World War Z Follows Gerry (Brad Pitt) a former U.N. Investigator, through a world that has started to become over run with zombies. While in Philadelphia, Gerry and his family witness people attacking each and those bitten turn into something else. Gerry gets a call from his old boss who says they will keep Gerry's family safe as long as he helps find the cause of the outbreak. Gerry goes on a mission to keep his family, and what's left of the world safe.

The movie stayed true to some of the stories from the book. The stories are just now told through Gerry's eyes so that the audience can follow what is happening in the places Gerry visits. It worked out well even though they obviously could not tell every story, I think they hit the major points.

`The story telling in the movie worked well, there was never a dull moment, even if people were just trying to move quietly, viewers were on the edge of their seat

I felt the human reactions in the film were very realistic. Gerry taught us some great ways to reduce chances of being bit by taping magazines to his arms. He also made a great household weapon by taping a knife to the end of his rifle.

One scene that related viewers to the world of the film was a scene in which Gerry and his family head to a pharmacy. In the pharmacy Gerry's wife is being taken away by some men, and Gerry shoots one of them. A cop comes running into the store, and Gerry throws his hands up in surrender, and the cop runs by, and starts grabbing supplies. This scene shows the desperation in the entire population.

The effects of the movie captured the mass number of zombies, and their actions.

There were multiple scenes in which zombies had bad run ins with aircraft. First off, the zombies were seen dumped out of the back of a military plane, then there are zombies hanging off a helicopter like monkey's in a barrel, and then zombies, are sucked right out of a plane. The effects in the scenes were handled so well, but the most mesmerizing scene takes place at the wall built around Jerusalem.

There is a lot of singing and noise going on inside the walls, and as us zombie lovers know noise can be your worst enemy. As the music gets louder, viewers see zombies throwing themselves at the wall, and a mountain of zombies form until they start to make it over the wall. It was amazing to just see the pile grow, like a wave crashing off of a sea wall.

The only thing about the movie that bothered me a little bit was the superhuman characteristics of the zombies. They seemed to be able to jump really far and run faster then the humans. In my opinion, and what I think Max Brooks says in The Zombie Survival Guide, is that zombies are decaying bodies, so there for the way they ran and jumped in this film seem to be unrealistic to the definition of zombies.

I would definitely recommend you go and see World War Z, it is full of action and does stick with the book, as long as you don't mind the crew trimming a lot of the fat, by that I mean doing what all books- to movies have to do and cutting the content way down. You'll be on the edge of your seat, maybe cry, maybe have one or two laughs at the Chomper zombie, (you'll see) but all together you won't regret buying your ticket.

Melting Pot

There has been a lot going on in sports the past few days, and instead of witting seperate blogs I want to comment all in one.

There are three things I want to talk about. Stanley Cup, NBA Championship, and Aaron Hernandez.

First, the Bruins lost a heart breaker last night 6-5 as the series gets tied in a third overtime game (most in final history.)  The Bruins went down by a goal somewhat early, retied the game, went down by two, scored, the Hawks got that goal back, scored 2 goals, and sent the game into over time.

In the overtime there were a lot of chance for the Bruins to score in OT, and what seems to be a pattern for the Bruins is not being able to finish. They seemed to miss on perfect chances, and could not take a series lead.

Either the Bruins love to make things interesting, and keep you on the edge of your seat, or they jave a real problem.

This goes back all the way to the Toronto series where they were up in the series and let Toronto take them to game 7 and had to come back from 3 goals down to win in over time.

I had thought we wouldn't see anything like that again after sweeping the Penguins, but I guess that was too much of a good thing for them to handle. The most frustrating thing is that I feel that the Bruins have been the better team in every game, mainly Tuukka Rask has been better then Corey Crawford, and the Bruins D has stopped a lot of pucks from getting to Rask. Chicago took advantage of mistakes and were able to put away game 4

The series has gone from a must win for Chicago to a must win for Boston. With two games left in Chicago the Bruins are forced to try and win game 5 and then hope to win the cup at home.

Regardless, I do not like waiting two more days before the next game.


Okay, so the NBA Finals. I never really watch Basketball, because the game just doesn't really hold my attention, and the refs just aggravate me more then any other sport.

Well two nights ago I saw that the Spurs were uop by 15 when I turned the game on they were up by 10, and then I change the channel come back and the game is tied..... Okay so the heat come back into the game good for them, makes it more interesting. SO the game gets a little back and fourth, Parker makes a 3, gets a steal, gets two and the Spurs go up by 5.

Unfortunately, after choking on a couple plays, LBJ  did bring his team back, and then Ray being Ray makes a clutch 3, and so on, so the game goes to OT and I'm chomping at the bit hoping the Spurs can pull it out, and I'm actually enjoying the game.

THEN, I am reminded why I do not watch the NBA. Ginobali goes for a lay up, and he gets fouled. This isn't just a slap of a wrist foul, Allen practically intentionally fouls him... NO CALL????? are they serious? I can not believe it! I start flipping out, posting on FB and just yelling at the TV.

In my personal opinion the NBA will do ANYTHING to get ratings, and keep the cash flow coming in. Oh and how could I forget exploiting LeBron for all he's worth. I wouldn't be surprised if they just hand him another championship. I think I will just get my text message update on tonights winner, I can't watch this happen again.... Oh and by the way STOP CALLING THE HEAT PLAYERS THE BIG 3!!! It's a Celtics term. 

Now, on Aaron Hernandez. He was questioned on a murder that happened near his home in North Attleboro. Now all kinds of reports are coming out about incidents he's been involved in in CT and RI. Everything is speculation as of right now but this is a problem with NFL players.

We see it every off season. I feel like every week there's a player getting in trouble, or being involved in a police investigation. If you even feel that something bad is going to go down, get out of there. If you say, "it's my boys, I got to have their backs," that's no excuse if your "boys" are pulling you into this crap they clearly don't care about you and your career.

These players work their butts off to get to the NFL,  and they let it all go down the drain by getting involved in stupid stuff.

So those are my thoughts today just thought I throw that out there.

NHL Relocation

I have spent the past few days thinning about this, and I am excited. I have been reading an article from Forbes trying to find out some money information about the NHL because I want to talk about some relocating in the NHL. There are a lot of teams not doing well financially, and a big reason is because of their location.

The five most profitable teams are the Toronto maple leafs, Rangers, Canadians, Bruins, Red Wings and Blackhawks. Which makes sense due to the fact they are all original six teams in good sized COLD markets.

What was interesting to me was that some of the teams in the bottom 5 weren't from the warmer areas. Like the Islanders who do not pull in much money, possibly due to the Rangers consistency as o ne of the top teams in the NHL. Columbus is also a place I would expect hockey to do well but it's not working out that way. Some teams that I expected to be sitting in the bottom five are Phoenix, and Carolina.

Here's is where we start this party. Some of the teams in the lower markets could benefit from a location change. Let's start with Phoenix. The team is playing in Glendale Arizona.... A hockey team in the DESERT???? Wonder why they aren't very profitable, I mean the games must sell tickets just for people to escape the heat. The team has been on the verge of a relocation, but the past 2 years they have been payed for to stay, and they have no owner the NHL had been running the team.

Although they are not in the bottom five, I believe Nashville is not the place for a team either Truly if it doesn't snow at least 5-6 times a winter, there shouldn't be a hockey team there.

There are a few teams that could benefit from a move, and there are cities that are looking to pick up a team, so why not get these teams to a city that wants them.

Seattle has a built a new arena, and while looking to get their Super Sonics back they would love an NHL team. Portland Oregon is looking to find a team to share the spotlight with the Trail Blazers. Amateur hockey thrives out there so why not give them an NHL team, It won't hurt. Another city looking for a team is Quebec City. Moving an NHL franchise to the great white north can never be a bad idea.

Some other cities that might work are Milwaukee and Hartford Connecticut. Get those Canes back where they belong as the Hartford Whalers, and Milwaukee is cold, and those Wisconsinites love their sports and would probably love to see some pro hockey.

I don't really want to get into what teams should go where, but I think getting the lower market teams a new home could spark the players, and create some competition, such as a rivalry with teams in Seattle and Portland, and a battle for New England with the Bruins and Whalers, if they choose to go back to that name.

It's just something to ponder, for now we will see how the new conferences work out.

Game 2 preview

Saturday Night at 8p.m. We will see the Bruins and Blackhawks play game two of the Stanley Cup Final.

The Hawks took game one in a triple overtime game, after trailing by two goals, the Hawks capitalized on a turnover by Tory Krug, and then a shot bounced off of Bruins defender Andrew Ference, which tied the game.

In game two both teams will look to continue their play from game one. Each team spent a good chunk of time in the offensive zone cycling the puck for shots. Both teams also had a few break away chance, and odd man rushes.

In game one there was a lack of specialty teams due to a total of only six penalties called in the entire game. The Bruins were able to capitalize on their first power play opportunity, but neither team would see a power play goal for the rest of the game.

In game two the Hawks and Bruins will be hoping to get a few more chances on special team play.

The Bruins may be with out their top line's right winger Nathan Horton who is considered day to day with an upper body injury. Horton was seen at practice today, but not with his line. That spot was taken by Tyler Seguin.

The Bruins may need some bounces to go there way after going down 0-1 in a hard fought game one. The team had ample chances to finish the game in OT and either a defenders stick, or an extra move kept the puck from the back of the net.

The goaltenders who put on a show in game one will again show up on their game so both teams will need to be quick and precise in their offensive game while the defenders will be looking to keep every puck from the net.

Clearing the puck out of the defensive zone may be the key to this match up. In game 1 both teams had trouble clearing the zone which resulted in a lot of time in the offensive zones for each team.

If game one was any sign, game two could very likely take more then 60 minutes. What's better then play off hockey? More playoff hockey.