Beginning of the Beginning of the End

Hahaha, I totally spacemaned and forgot to finalize the Loom Bracket of Awesome. I didn't get quite the response that I had hoped for, so it slipped until I saw the bracket on the floor. So Ii will throw it down to the final four, hence the title of this blog. I can't believe how far a few games went or didn't go, this really puts the idea in my head of what is the best way to determine a champion. The NCAA has three distinct styles, which, in my opinion, are the best format for each sport. The BCS really gets knocked around hard, but it really does a descent job of getting the best out there. They should use it when the inevitably go to an 8 or 16 team playoff format because everyone loves money in college sports. There is virtually no leadership and they are willing to let people do whatever they want. One of the biggest power conferences is about to be ripped apart due to the Pac-10. I'm all for competition, but if I am a student athlete, I'm not sure I'd be enthralled with travelling across the country on weeknights all the time then coming home and going to class, it seems like the best interest of the student-athlete was lost a long time ago. They are treated like robots in a lot of cases, I don't want to get into the "They should get paid" argument, because I believe a free education and a weekly stipend is an incredible gift that many take for granted, but if everyone is looking for their best interest, what kind of realignment can we figure? I hate Kansas. Despise. Everyone knows this and I make no secret of it. But, hypothedically, if Mizzou and Nebraska book it to the Big Ten and Colorado, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech jet for the Pac-10 that leaves Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, and Iowa State to fend for themselves. I love how the Big 12 has screwed Mizzou twice. Royally. The year we beat KU and they let them go to the BCS game and then last year when they let Iowa State wiggle ahead of us into a better bowl game. I am all for Mizzou leaving and going to the Big Ten. More academic prestige, we'd still have Illinois and Nebraska as rivals, and I would love if we played Notre Dame every year. No one knows if Notre Dame is going to commit, but I keep hearing them and Rutgers come up in conversation. I guess time will tell. The college world series format is somewhat similar to the 65-team bracket with the regionals setup, but is a little bit more confusing. There is no one-and-done and complications arise. This suits baseball a bit better, but makes a pool at the office nearly impossible, that and the fact that nearly no one follows college baseball, except maybe fans of crappy MLB teams that have high picks. I pay attention a bit more than I should. Aluminum bats? Bit silly. Anyways, digression over, some games I thought were really good and would easily make the elite eight were upset by others. This is perhaps temper mental, but so is college hoops. Certain teams match up better with other teams strengths, weaknesses, hot/cold, that is why things get so exciting. I figure I will have to do this yearly, if I continue to keep this blog up, which can be taxing at some times and rewarding at others. Great conversation piece, anyways, that is for future Loom to worry about. Let's get nasty with the Mushroom Kingdom regional:

Bonk's giant noggin cannot break through Oblivion's massive armor and loses in the play-in game. Not even Elder Scrolls can hold a candle to the timeless classic Zelda:A Link to the Past. The Ms Pac Man Tetris/Dr Mario was an intriging matchup of widely popular family-type games. Tetris/Dr Mario was simply too much in this one. Does anyone remember getting Super Tecmo Bowl? The stat tracking, the hospital, the halftime show, the plays, the everything was way advanced and completely ahead of its time. I remember playing every game into a season and the power went out in week six at casa de Anderson, thus rendering all my data gone. From then on I'd take a team and take them to the promised land, hey, you can only take the Chiefs to the Bowl so many times. This game upsets GTA barely, although that was the game that started it all with the open environments and such that everyone continues to copy to this day. Crazy Taxi is fun to play to this day, everyone loves to take people to KFC, and it really got the dreamcast off of shelves and into homes. I cannot fathom to this day how many quarters I put into NBA Jam Arcades or hours Ii spent playing it on every system. I love playin Hoef in it, and enjoyed being a top ten player when the machine was at hair of the dog. The rest of the games are pretty self explanatory, the games they beat were each good in their own right, but simply overmatched. I did enjoy Soul Reaver, I may pick up a copy on Ebay since my PSOne is broken and my dreamcast is hooked up currently. The puzzles, the soul-reaving, it was one engaging and tough game. Fable II would keep me from going out. Winner.

Captain N:

Hit N Run was a fantastic game and pong is old school. Ya know what? Who really wants to hear me babble about video games for a half hour? I'm going to clean my loft and play a little MLB 2K10. The toughest game to pick in each regional is highlighted, here it was KOTR and Wii Sports. Enjoy and see the bracket below.