Central Village

My Madden 08 Review

So I was able to get my hands on an early copy of the new Madden this weekend. It's good. It's really good, actually. After the last two 360 versions that were absolutely awful, this one feels like the biggest improvement to the franchise since it went 3D. No joke. It's the first Madden since the Nintendo 64 that I've really been excited to play. And I don't really care about franchise modes or online play. Nice features I really don't have the time or interest to get into. The play on the field just feels fresh. It's by no means perfect, but it makes every previous 3D version seem so primative.

The last two versions were really bad. They were boring! Every game you played felt like the last, the graphics and animations were repetitive and the whole presentation just felt lame. It never felt like a Madden game at all. All the little things were gone at the expense of the better character graphics. The ball didn't wobble on an errant throw, catches were too often made out of bounds and the tackle animations were all the same. It just wasn't any fun.

This year feels like a better version of the PS2 game. The character graphics aren't as wowish necessarily, but they're crisp and perfectly fine. The biggest improvements are all the new animations. There are hundreds of different ways to make a catch, make a tackle, juke, run, throw, etc. It feels much more natural. In previous years you get used to seeing one thing happen and quickly learn to expect the same result. If a certain tackle animation was brought up, you knew you'd get a few more yards before going down, or you'd get pushed back a few yards. Most frustrating is if you got stuck into one of these animations going in the wrong direction. If for some reason you get spun around, suddenly you look like you're guy is fighting for those few extra yards backwards. This kind of stuff would happen several times every drive! This year there are far less instances where goofs like this happen.

Now, you can start a tackle, fall backwards because the running back had enough momentum, but get slowed down enough so that another defender can catch up and finish a tackle in a completely natural way. Same with catches. Receivers often (not always, unfortunately) make the effort to keep their feet in bounds. When they jump to make a catch and get hit in the air, they go down appropriately hard. Again...it doesn't always look perfect, but the effort is there, and its far far more satisfying.

The final big improvement is these "weapon" icons certain players have. Haven't fully grasped if these things really make a difference, but if nothing else, they better separate certain type of players from each other. Power Backs play much much differently than a speed back, possession receivers differently than highlight guys. Whereas most players previously would more or less do the same thing with very minor differences, this mixes it up a lot better. The difference between backs is more like the difference between a PG and a Center in a basketball game. Trying to juke with a Powerback is like trying to do a tricky ballhandling move with a big man. You just don't do it. You learn to make best use of your players.

There are other little things that I feel like I've been saying they should fix for years that they've finally gotten around to. Controlling a receiver is suddenly natural and easy doesn't automatically screw everything up. Same goes for controlling a defensive back. The 2nd stick lets you tackle high or at the legs, depending on what is the best approach. Covering punts on special teams suddenly is possible. The ball wobbles when you're hit while throwing. It's the little things that make it work. There are some week spots as well...The announcer is embarrassingly bad, there are too many interceptions thrown and every once in a while a well-meaning animation looks a bit wonky, but none of this kills the game. It's  simply the most creative and original Madden in nearly a decade. It's just fun again.

Daft Punk at Keyspan Park

It was just a sea of hands and cameraphones out there!

This should properly blow your mind...

Breakwater - Release the Beast (mp3)

(It's the song Daft Punk sampled from for Robot Rock!)

More pics after the J.

CMJ Lineup Announced

First few bands listed here.

So...can Studio B just book the Justice, MSTRKRFT, Simian Mobile Disco, Kavinsky, A-Trak and Chromeo afterparty now? Or do they have to go through the whole process of contacting the bands, clearing the date, etc, etc?

Reviewing the reactions, I'm amused to see Pitchfork give 2006 Best New Musicians Islands the "Whoh, remember them?" tag, while Del Tha Funky Homosapien goes completely unchecked...

Also, a reminder that Gothamist is throwing another Gothamist House at the White Rabbit this year. I'm putting together the lineups AS WE SPEAK. Coheed won't return my calls, but Cambria seems down.

Daft Punk tonight...I think I literally know 50 or 60 people going to this show. That is unprecedented.

Equally unprecedented pic of the inside of DP's pyramid via Bruno. Nice to see they've got more than an iPod shuffle back there.

My quick thoughts on Barry Bonds and 756*

Is it just me, or does anybody else have the feeling that in 30 years, when Barry Bonds is old and quiet and ravaged by cancer brought on by all the steroids, we're gonna look back on the last couple years and say man...we were really tough on that guy. Ya know, cause he's clearly not the only person who took steroids. Sooner or later we'll find out that nearly every superstar took em at some point or another from this era, and it we'll look at the last decade just like we look at the deadball era or the pre-1900 game. It was there, and those records are officially on the books, but it was just part of the history of the game.

Think about it like this...If in a couple years someone hits 60 home runs in a season. Are we not going to still get excited about it? Will that mean any less because Sosa and Bonds and McGuire did it before? Of course not. Above all else..above the game and the players, baseball's history is about the discussion. If there were so many clear cut answers, if wouldn't be a sport people would feel so passionately about. And this era in baseball is doing nothing else but continue that trend. There isn't a record in the sport that can't be argued or disputed. I once read a columnist who wrote Cal Ripken did a disservice to his city and his team by insisting on playing every day, weakening him over the season so he couldn't fulfill his potential. And that is the one record that pops to mind that you couldn't possibly complain about. So who knows.

Everything looks better in time. Everyone tries to hold on to their youth and claim that their memories are the most valuable and important ones. Right now the loudest voices in the media are still the ones who remember Sgt. Pepper and Roger Maris so fondly (tho they just as likely booed both when they came to town in the 60s.) The advantages that one player has over the ones of the previous generation will continue on and on until the end of time. Sure, Aaron did it without steroids, but he also did it without legal supplements, advanced weight machines, digital video analysis and the whole lot. Whatever. We can only dream what the guy who breaks Bond's record will have at his disposal. I can already see the "Bonds did it without cloning!" Signs in the outfield of decrepit CitiField.

But in the end, nobody got hurt. There's no way to go back and change things now, so what can you do. It's all just something else to talk about. The need for that will never go away.

Eskimo Joe Have My Attention

I just got this big fancy package delivered to my apartment this morning from a band called Eskimo Joe. It's for their new album, "Black Fingernails, Red Wine," and the package contained, along with a copy of the CD, a bio and some other normal promotional stuff, a bottle of red wine and a little guy of black fingernail polish. Now, I don't even know how these guys got my address, to be honest. I rarely give out my home info to labels or PR groups to send me stuff. Hardly ever anymore. I figure I will find a way of getting your album if I really want to hear it. I'm an Internet person, after all. But even still, I have a closet with three giant boxes filled with promo CDs I've gotten mailed to me over the last 3 years or so. Frankly, I hardly have the time to listen to the music I actually like, let alone time to listen to a bunch of CDs that just literally show up on my doorstep. So this tactic rarely works on me, I'm afraid.

BUT...if you're gonna hand deliver a bag that looks like something leftover from the Turn on the Bright Lights yard-sale, I would be ashamed NOT to at least take a listen. I haven't gotten around to the wine and polish yet, but the CD has been ripped onto my laptop and I'm listening now. Honestly, the music is pretty good on a first pass. I'm glad they didn't waste all this effort on a shit product. Apparently these guys are massive in their home of Australia, played Live Earth Sydney last month, and are heading here in a few weeks to play Mercury Lounge (8/15) and Union Hall (8/17). While flipping through the nearly 30-some odd page promo guide, through all the press scans and articles written about them, they appear to put on a fairly epic live show too. So pencil me in for one of those two dates.

They have a song called New York, which *ahem* DJ Never Forget threw a remix of into his latest mix. Here it is:

Eskimo Joe - New York (mp3)
DJ Never Forget - Down and Out at the Rooftop Hang (mp3)

I don't like I'm From Barcelona

They seemed like a pure gimmick. Now granted I never really got into their album all that much, but it seemed to me as if they were forcing themselves on so many different levels. As if they spent more time trying to act like a band I was supposed to care about rather than one I was actually into. From the ironic, misleading name to the 25,000 people on stage trying to be cute, it all just went over my head. I wouldn't have bothered to even bring it up if I didn't run into a bunch of friends at the pool Sunday who were really in to the whole thing. I was dumbfounded.

So this is the band's deal...There are anywhere between 20 and 28 people on stage at once. The exact number is irrelevant because there's only 4 or 5 of them seem to be actually doing anything on stage at once. The rest just kind of prance around in costumes, sing along and smile a bunch. This isn't a band so much as it's an untelevised children's show. Something better suited for Saturday morning on PBS than Sunday afternoon at the pool. So you watch them, and you hear people talk about them and the first thing everyone talks about is that there are 20-someodd people on stage and how cool that is etc etc! But it's just a gimmick! Any band can have 20 people on stage if 15 of them don't do anything! This isn't the Polyphonic Spree or Broken Social Scene, where you've got this massive cacophony of sound pouring out from every integral member on stage. This is just a band with a bunch of friends along for the ride. Added as pure spectacle, and nothing else. I suppose I understand the need for bands to make themselves stand out, but having a guy with his pants pulled up and a propeller cap jumping across the stage comes across and tacky and forced. The music should speak for itself. If it doesn't, this type of performance art shouldn't make up for it. Give me something substantive, please. It felt cheap. I don't like being pandered to.

I suppose I could overlook this little show they put on if I was really into the music, but I'm not. Aside from the opening track, 'Oversleeping', which is pretty good, the rest of their music is just kinda plain. Twee pop, by definition, is light and substanceless, but this doesn't have enough of anything that sets it apart from itself. All their music sounds mostly the same and the lyrics are empty and vague. If that's the point, then I wish they'd just stick with that and have the band go along with the music. If this was a normal, 5 piece band, the music would be fine and they'd just be another band I could listen to and forget about. But this live show really irked me. And everyone raving about to awesome they were got me more frustrated. You don't need 28 people to say nothing.

I am a Knicks 2007-2008 season ticket holder

I did something silly a few weeks ago, and while I am extremely excited and in no way regret what I've done, I understand the hesitation when I tell people the news.

I bought season tickets to the Knicks.

I know! But let me explain. I split a pair of tickets with a friend of mine who's a big NBA fan. The Knicks are having a deal right now for $25 tickets, and l called up and got the best ones they had left. They're in the 400's section, but in Row A on the isle. They're about as good as 2 seats in the bargain section get. (for what that's worth.) I was on the fence about the whole thing, but being in the front row was the kicker for me.

So! Now that I've got an invested interest in the New York Knicks, I've got a few things to say about the upcoming season.

• I like the Randolph trade. Sure, interior D is a big concern when he and Curry are both out there together, but I can't figure out how any team in the East is going to defend both of them at once. When 2 players demand a double team at the same time, how on earth are there enough players on the floor to cover them both?
• Yes, it would be nice if Curry was more of the rough, down low beast that he looks like. I really don't understand how someone can be that big, yet not be able to establish himself down low without the damn ball. Perhaps having a gun pulled on him this summer will toughen him up a bit. That said tho, even with his current skill set, I still can't see how a team will guard him and not leave a shooter or Z open. He does what he does pretty well.
• If the team doesn't change from now till opening day, my biggest offensive concern is there not being a lock-down outside shooter. Between Q and Crawford, they might get by from time to time, but it's really nowhere near enough. The whole point of having a thumping post game is to draw double teams and leave shooters open, right? I'm just not happy having Nate Robinson launch 3s all night. That would kill me. It's really tough to work anything out (especially with my Artest business below going through as well,) but a Mike Miller type would be ideal. I'm looking around, and there's gotta be some shooter signed for another 3 years that a team would be willing to take Malik Rose's contract to rid of. Jason Kapono would have been PERFECT, had he not JUST signed to the Raptors this summer (awful contract, BTW.)
• Yes, this Demetrius Nichols kid would supposedly be the perfect fit for the role, but of course the team already has like 17 players signed, so they can't even bring them on even if he was good enough. 2nd Round picks always look great in July and August, but the fact that the potential answer for the shooter role got passed over by every team (some twice) is not exactly reassuring.
• I'm still confident the Knicks will make another move before the season starts. Nothing, however, will happen until the end of the month, when Dickau and Fred Jones can be moved. These guys represent about $6 Million in expiring contracts that are the key to anything happening. They can't be traded until two months after they were last dealt, which I believe is August 28th or so.
• Lets just assume that Kobe is out of the question. The Lakers, like the Knicks, are not going to blow up the team and put a bunch of rookies, projects and scrubs on the court for an entire season or two. The Knicks can't offer them anything that would draw half the interest having Kobe on the floor does, and they're not gonna do it.
• I think the Artest rumors hold water, however. Ric Bucher recently said that the combination of the Kings looking to get rid of him, Artest's desire to come to NY and The Knick's interest in having him is too perfect a combination to not eventually work out. I was actually reading some Kings message boards this weekend, and it seems that they'd be thrilled to get the expiring contract/young talent pu-pu platter (Simmons' term.) Sounds like they'd even be content with some sort of Malik Rose deal!
• This is what they proposed:
  
  Ron Artest $7.8mil
  for
  Fred Jones $3.3mil (ender)
  Dan Dickau $2.8mil (ender)
  Nate Robinson $1.3mil (ender -- team option)
  Renaldo Balkman $1.2mil (ender -- team option)
  1st rnd pick
  
  Not only are their fans agreeable, but excited about it! I like Balkman in principle, but to basically trade him and a 1st rounder for a player with the ability and impact of Artest seems like a no brainier to me. He would make the Knicks an instant contender in the East. He fills their need for a 3 who can defend the parameter, rebound and score his share. And honestly, if the worst case is that he loses his mind and does something batty, at least we get to watch that trainwreck all season. It's win-win as a fan just looking for an entertaining season. if you don't make that trade (or something like it) the Knicks will struggle to get that 7th or 8th spot in the playoffs, only to get killed by The Bulls or whoever in the first round. They make that trade, there are suddenly few teams they can't run with.
• No, that doesn't directly address the shooter concern noted above, but they should be able to get someone on the cheap to come off the bench and do nothing except sit in the corner and hit open 3s. There must be an overpaid guy like that somewhere they can rope in exchange for Malik Rose' shorter deal...
• My final point is about Lee and Balkman. Listen...I like them both. A lot. I've been a David Lee fan since he won that High-School dunk contest before going to Florida. I'd like nothing more than to be able to watch him in New York for the next 10 years. But lets get real. He's an athletic, undersized power forward. He's playing out of his mind right now. I love him. But he is at the absolute peak as a player and his trade value will never be higher (Not to mention this curious, lingering ankle injury...) He might be good for 13 and 10 for his career...excellent numbers, no doubt, but not someone worth what the Knicks will surely be pressured to pay him once he becomes a Free Agent. If the Knicks insist on keeping him around to be stuck behind Z and Eddy for the next however long, it'll just be a big waste. If they can put him in a deal to net an actual good player, then they gotta pull the trigger, right? He's the type of trade asset Isiah always talks about getting to make big moves. If you keep him around just for the hell of it, it defeats the purpose. Same goes for Balkman, but on a lower scale. Sure, he's been a great surprise, but he's not getting any better. He's an energy guy. They're nice to have, but the longer they play, the more their faults are exposed. Trade them now, like they should have traded Frye after his big rookie season, cause they'll never be worth more and they'll never help the Knicks actually win. Mark my words.

I have for almost a decade now since the Knicks hit this post-Ewing, post-Van Gundy drought, exclaimed that the Knicks need to clear salary and start over. Well, now that I'm paying for this team with my actual money, I'd prefer them to win now. But hear me out...The East has a handful of very young and very well constructed teams that are built for the near future. The Knicks make a push for a real team today and they have maybe a 2 year window before the rest of the league catches up. They can really do this. The West will start getting older soon and the east will move in to balance the league. I would rather make a move now instead of when the rest of the league comes around. This is what the Celtics decided to do (they're totally fucked in 2 years, but have a shot right now)

Everyone always says you can't mortgage your future for one year. Well, you can. If your future is, at best, a 1st round playoff team for the next decade, you go for broke when you can make a serious run. Realize that David Lee will not stay in New York to be a backup, and the guys in front of him aren't going anywhere. Realize that Balkman will never look better than he does now. Get what you can and make a push. Realize how bad the East is right now, and how much better it will be in 3 or 4 years.

Do I have faith that Isiah can pull this off, either as a Coach or a GM? No way. But I'm prepared for whatever. I'm invested.