Friday, October 16, 2009

Disappointment...


I tried to support it, folks. I really did. I, along with the rest of the HBCU community, had so much hope for the BCFX video game. After hearing of its move from PC to Xbox 360, I knew I had to get it. I then read about the special features, the exclusive band battle, the drumline challenge, and the use of the HBCU teams. Along with many others - I. Was. Hooked.

The fact of the matter is, for about 6 years, EA sports would go back and forth with adding teams from the MEAC and SWAC on their NCAA Football series. My best friend, who went to Columbia University would pick his alma matter, and I would pick mine for an Ivy League/MEAC battle. After all, on those games, if you weren't a AP poll Top 25 school, your team had terrible - better yet, almost unplayable ratings. So it was a fair fight. Then, as the gameplay and graphics progressed, they had to make room somewhere - why not cut these HBCU schools. So there went our friendly underrated battle.

But then the creator of BCFX teamed up with Grambling State Alum and Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams, I knew there was a chance to play with our teams with good ratings and fair gameplay. I tried to look up some game ratings, but most of the ratings were complaining about the name "Black College Football Xperience," "why is there not a game called White College Football?" - But we'll save that for another blog. After finding no concrete ratings, and having some extra Gamestop trade-in credit, I said "why not," i'll go check it out.

To keep a long blog short.......the game sucks. The band competetion is somewhat fun, and the drumline battle is pretty cool, too. But even the graphics, accuracy, and Sound output are spotty at best. It will definitely make you think your surround sound speakers need repair. As for the graphics....imagine playing NCAA Football 2001 (for PS1).....except playing on Sega Genesis. Yup, that bad. It truly does not look like a professional final copy ready to sell. Very blocky, no fluid motion, graphic skips and glitches, and the sound is again horrible. From the custom urban dances in the endzone, to Doug Williams poor grammar in the "Ask Doug" playcall list, I was so disgusted with the game, the HBCU fact section was not even entertaining.

And on top of that..... NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY is NOT on the game!! There are roughly 100 HBCU's, and their selection of 1/3 of them was sketchy at best. No disrespect, it was probably a money issue for some schools, but the list is skipping out on some of the more known schools.

Having said that, the creators of this game should have teamed up with the Guitar Hero or Rock Band group and made "HBCU Band Hero." Now, that would have been a quality investment. BCFX is going back to Gamestop today...Guitar Hero 5 has a pretty good set list =D

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

No room for Fair Weather...




When you say you are a Detroit Sports Fan, you better mean it. Our teams make you prove your allegiance to them. For many years, there has always been at least one team that made you growl at their name and temporarily wish they would move to Indiana, and at least one team that made you invest your heart in their success...most times leading to an emotional crash.

Nothing has really changed with that situation, but because our auto industry is in the tank, the people of the city and surrounding areas are desperately looking for something to enjoy, celebrate, and believe in. If you read my boy Pastor Marcus's blog, then he'll tell you what we should be believing in regardless; but I will just stick to the sports aspect.

We've had a season of letdowns...well a few seasons. The Pistons started making big moves with hopes of one last big run before restructuring began...but that flopped. The Tigers made huge moves to stack the lineup to destroy the competition...but they did just the opposite. The University of Michigan Wolverines had a HORRIBLE year! The Lions did their best to make the impossible...possible. 0-16. The Lions made Detroit feel like they were 0-16. But at least the Shock won, and the Wings won.

For many years, we've been used to the clearcut answers about our teams. "Yeah they are winners" or "they are some bums." These days Detroit sports are taking their fans on rollercoaster rides, and with everything going on in our lives, we don't need it. We've already shown our love, we have invested EVERYTHING that we've got, but how much stress can Detroit optimists take? As a true fan, it sucks to lose faith in your team, but with the Pistons fading away, the Lions giving us 1 win, and hope for a season of close games for 3 quarters, the Wings losing in game 7, the Shock fading in the playoffs, and the Tigers giving away the AL Central...what's left?

Not living in Michigan anymore, I have to break my neck to follow my teams. ESPN gamecasts, mobile updates, and www.channelsurfing.net help keep me going. I love being one of a few Detroit fans in a conversation, or at a restaurant/bar. I just think, "if I'm cheering like this, I know its crazy at Hockeytown." I watch ESPN religiously like most men, and will continue, but ESPN is just a cool version of Fox News (we'll save that discussion for another blog) ....and the way they do Detroit sports is no different than the way Glenn Beck does Barack Obama.

I know things won't change overnight, and probably not for a while. I guess the whole purpose of this blog is to vent on behalf of true Detroit Sports Fans. I salute the George Blaha's, Mitch Alboms, and Ernie Harwells, because they always have our backs, no matter what. We just want our teams to invest in themselves and their fans, as much or more as we have invested in them...Until then, the fans and I will continue to treat each Lion win like the Superbowl, each Piston win like a championship, and each Wing victory like another cup. Let's go Michigan. Let's beat ohio state!!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

RIP Derrion Albert

When will it stop? I saw the video - It was absolutely crazy. I was so shocked, I had to watch it again. Sad, Sad, Sad. Wreckless. Everyone knows that Satan works overtime, but why make his job easier?

Here's some of what Nas had to say...via The Rundown and Global Grind...

I remember feeling like I was the hardest “n*gga” breathing. And I couldn’t wait to prove it. But let’s think. What are we really proving?? And proving what to who?? Everybody knows Chicago breeds the strongest of the strong but I just feel, me, being ya brother from another state feels your pain as if I grew up with you in ya very own household.

You have the ability and mindpower to change they way we are looked at. Look who’s watching us young warriors, look who’s throwing us in jail constantly, look at the ignorance in the world. Look at the racist dogs who love to see us down. Loving to bury us in the ground or in jail where we continue this worthless war on one another.

Young warriors…. We are WASTING more and more time. We gotta get on our jobs and take over the world. Cuz this movie left the theaters years ago, Juice, Menace, Boys n the Hood , Blood n Blood Out, Belly!

When we see each other why do we see hatred? Why were we born in a storm, born soldiers, WARRIORS….and instead of building each other up we are at war with each other.. May the soul of this young person find peace with the almighty. I’m with you young warriors. You’re me and I’m you. But trust me! you are fighting the wrong war.

This sh*t sucks !!
Source: Global Grind

Here's a clip of What Bow Wow had to say...


Monday, September 21, 2009

Use it for Motivation

T his week's article (and title) was
inspired by an old story I saw
in an American publication long
time ago. Last week, while cleaning up my
closet (as they say!), I encountered some
of my old notes I have taken during an
early work of Total Quality Management I
have done with one of my clients.(I would
not reveal the name to protect the innocent!)
Any road, the client said they would
buy into the concept, if they see success
stories of that same formula I was suggesting.
Even though that was an easy job,
I decided to take the opposite approach:
the "what if" approach.
What if we had less than perfect out put:
product or service? What if we get as close
as perfect, but not exactly that? And, what
if we give our customers less than 100%
of quality, accuracy and consistency?
Here are some examples of my "what if
questions" provided from the American
industry figures of production if it was
done at 99.9%:
* 22,000 checks will be deducted from
the wrong bank accounts every 60 minutes!
* 1,314 phone calls will be misplaced
by telecommunication services every
minute!
* 12 babies will be given to the wrong
parents each day!!
* 2,488,200 books will be shipped in the
next 12 months with the wrong cover!
* 5, 517, 200 cases of soft drink produced
in the next 12 months will be flatter
than a bad tire!
* 18, 322 pieces of mail will be mishandled
in the next hour!
* 880,000 credit cards in circulation
will turn out to have incorrect card holder
information on their magnetic stripe!
* 114, 500 mismatched pairs of shoes
will be shipped this year!
* $ 761, 900 will be spent in the next 12
months on tapes and CD's that won't play!
* 315 entries in Webster's third new
international dictionary of the English language
will turn out to be misspelled!
Incidentally, 99.9% accuracy would be
a remarkable improvement in the context
of observed performance level. For example:
* A Hewlett-Packard study of 300, 000
semiconductors from three American
firms and three Japanese firms found the
average failure rate of the American chips
was over 0.1 %, while the failure rate for
Japanese made chips was zero!
* The US airline industry, despite reams
of advertising about improved performance,
reported that just 80% of its flights
departed on time, and only 74% arrived on
schedule. The airline industry also
assumes 5-10% of all luggages will be
mishandled, and 3% of all checked baggage
will be lost on route!
Mind you, these are old figures, can you
imagine with the tremendous growth in
business what today's figures might look
like? But it we decide to take them as indicators,
and then we would know what a
big trouble we're in.
Bottom line note: business today can
not deliver less than 100% quality products
and services. You customers will not
tolerate any deviation. You are in the business
of undifferentiated products, so if you
can not match your high customers expectations,
somebody else will.

Friday, September 18, 2009

14 Classic Foods For Life

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

3. Use a DVR to tape your late night shows and get more sleep.

4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, "My purpose is to _______ today."

5. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, ENTHUSIASM, and Empathy

6. Play more games and read more books than you did last year.

7. Make time to practice meditation, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.

8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.

9. Dream more while you are awake.

10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

11. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan slamon, broccoli, almonds, and walnuts.

12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

13. Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.

14. Don't waste energy on gossip, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Invest your energy in the positive present moment.

Monday, September 14, 2009

VMA = WTF






This was clearly a mess, but honestly there was a lot wrong with this show. Madonna's soliloquy was too long, and too personal. I got it, but at the same time I definitely didn't get it. As far as the Michael Jackson tribute, it was very live (minus dude that couldn't do the lean), and WAY better than BET's tribute awards. But Jermaine and Joe Jackson...Slick hair, slick talkers.

I absolutely love Jack Black (pause) and every dumb thing he does, and I was rollin with the outfit, but the prayer to Satan? Really? Absolutely confusing. Absolutely not awesome.

I dug Lady GaGa's crazy outfits, they were entertaining, but did she thank GOD and GAYS?! No judgment on the subject matter, but random controversial ignorance is not live. C'mon man.

WHY is RUSSELL BRAND doing this awards again?! Just as terrible, just as senseless, just as ready to turn the channel, but after Kanye happened, I went crazy hard on Twitter and Facebook...

As for Kanye...seriously, that was so dumb. Beyonce ended up winning the "highest" award of the evening, and also the one she wanted...after doing a good performance. Whatever point he was trying to make...I missed it. He is acting out violently like a child or teenager. Ever since he lost his mom, he's been on some bull. Today just took it too far. He keeps going off like this and acting invincible, somebody will surely let him know that he is not...and the worst part about it, there will be very few people to talk about his success without mentioning this foolishness first.

Beyonce, you are like the San Antonio Spurs. I sure don't like 'em, but they find a way to win. Way to get the points with the the Taylor credit.

All in all, i'm upset I watched the whole thing, but lets not end on a bad note...LMAO!!