andPOP » Football

Rob Lowe Says Peyton Manning Will Retire

Natalia Buia — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:40:55 +0000

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Leave it to an actor to break a story before a journalist. “Parks & Recreation’s” Rob Lowe just tweeted that Colts quarterback Peyton Manning will retire this year.

How Rob Lowe discovered this story, we don’t know. But we love him for trying to keep up-to-date with all things sports.

Rob is friends with Colts owner Jim Irsay. USA Today also adds that Rob’s is the first person Irsay followed on Twitter, before the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell. So perhaps Rob just leaked some insider info without realizing it!

The Manning family, however, is claiming Rob’s tweets are incorrect. Peyton’s father Archie Manning told ESPN “he ain’t retiring. I think he would’ve told me!”

Glee’s Cory Monteith Named Grey Cup Grand Marshal

Natalia Buia — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:35:34 +0000

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Since landing the role of Finn on the hit show Glee, everyone wants a piece of Cory Monteith, even football players.

CTV explains the Chairman of the Safeway Grey Cup Festival Parade has appointed Cory as the Grand Marshall taking place around the end of November in his home province of British Columbia.

What exactly is a Grand Marshall, you ask? Well, we don’t really know! We do know it’s the highest honorary postion at a parade. Maybe Cory will be donning a football uniform while holding a baton?

Cory released a statement saying: “I love any excuse to come home and this is a thrilling one.”

Mark Wahlberg Produces a New Comedy

Megan MacKay — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:55:50 +0000

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It looks like Entourage producer Mark Wahlberg stopped talking to animals long enough to make a new comedy pilot!

The project, called Home Game, was purchased by mega network CBS and should launch into production soon. The show is loosely based on the life of the show’s co-producter, Superbowl vet and NFL pro Mark Schlereth.

Sports! Comedy! Together! Very inventive Mr. Wahlberg. Say hi to your mother for me, ok?

Any thoughts on the new pilot? Is this a money grab on Wahlberg’s part or do you think the show actually stands a chance?

Game Review: NFL Madden 10

Josh Salem — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:12:43 +0000

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The pig skin never looked so good

I’ve never been a huge fan of football (American football for those reading overseas). I never enjoyed playing it in the real world, I never enjoyed watching it. But playing it digitally was always a blast. My first Madden experience was on my original Gameboy in 1996, and would you believe it spoke? Like real audible words!

Now, before I dive into the game, I wanted to point something out. Madden 10 is not for someone who doesn’t understand the finer details of football. You can get by with basic knowledge, and with the help of the Madden quiz, practice, and the virtual trainer included in the title, you can pick it up very quickly. Just don’t expect to buy the game, read the manual and kick ass online.

As the game evolved with technological advances and thanks to EA’s talented abilities, the graphics grew astronomically. From legs jittering, yards moving by slowly and other players moving frame by frame towards you to full motion captured pretty movements from all over the field, Madden 10′s attention to detail were just astronomical. The fluid movement in each player as they hurl forward, deke in a hundred different ways, and look around for openings give players an eerie feeling that they are actually controlling real people in some alternate universe of god-like power. The texture of grass, fans chompin hotdogs and tossing towels, and even the detail of each stadium; from the biggest effects like weather to the smallest details like seat arrangement. Madden 10 raised the bar yet again for graphical quality in a football game. Just as long as you don’t mind seeing freakishly odd shaped facial features of the players up close. My favourite graphical aspect? The shakey cam as players run for a touchdown. What I didn’t like graphically? The sponsored replays, granted it does make things more realistic, but for the amount I’m paying for a game I don’t want sponsored ads in my face. What’s next to increase the realism, commercials in between plays?

Sound wise, while Madden 10 boasts Hammond and Collinsworth’s commentary. I understand it’s hard to have good commentary in a game people will play for hours on end, over and over again. I just wasn’t feeling it. They tried, I feel the effort is there, but otherwise it just seemed a little unpolished, especially compared to the graphics. Again, the commentary at times sounds like it was just random words pieced together after the fact, not smooth and realistic in the forms of speaking to say the least. While the commentary is varied and often times customized and useful, after a while you begin to hear the same phrases and comments time and time again. In terms of the sound track, I would have to admit that while I first expected many frat anthems, after playing through and taking a look at what the game had to offer, I think this may have very well been my favourite sound track in a sporting video game. Music from 2Pac, Alice in Chains,Beastie Boys, Mastodon, System of a Down, and Nirvana, just to give fans out there a feel for what’s available. As always otherwise the smashes, tackles, and whistles all sound realistic and well done. EA is good with these kinds of noises by now.

In terms of gameplay, there is just so much depth and detail to every aspect of Madden 10 that I would be here for months writing about it all, and you for weeks reading and soaking it all in. For the sake of both time and sanity I’ll just provide you with a rundown of ALL the modes of play and the feel of gameplay itself, and trust me, there’s a lot to discuss. To start off, let’s talk about what’s new and all the talk about Madden 10 over Madden ’09; Online franchise mode allows up and coming NFL manager types to take the franchise mode they loved, and play it online, much in the same way one could play it offline in ’09, this is again souped up with things like The Extra Point a little segment that summarizes what had happened in the week before. As well, aspects throughout the game have been somewhat tweaked (some times well, sometimes not so well) as the passing system and feel have been improved to new levels as well as the tackle system which provides gamers with new and more innovative ways to bring the pain to their competition. Other aspects new to the game also include more realistic gameplay including pile-ons, fumbles, and a somewhat slower – less arcade like speed to simulate real life. My favourite new feature in Madden 10 may have to be the small details they added in, like Superbowl patches to the jerseys during, well… The Superbowl. Actually playing the game gives a lot of power to the player, being able to tweak nearly every aspect of Madden and having access to so many plays, variables, and being able to alter all of these gives fans nearly endless possibilities… That is, IF you know what you are doing, which takes time, research, and practice for those new to the Madden world. For those that are new to the game, again, there are methods to get you up to speed, but for those who are seasoned pros – the difficulty levels are there for them. Personally, I found Madden 10 to be challenging, hard even, on the easy difficulty… But then again, I found NHL 10 to be just as hard, and I’m a bigger hockey fan than football. The control layout for Madden 10 has been perfected year after year, and from what I can remember from last year’s title, they have remained the same, an aspect myself (and I hope many others) appreciate. The controls are set up perfectly for this football romp and from controlling the QB to audibles, the flick of a joystick or click of a button is all that is needed to score that hail mary touchdown. Like I said before, there are A LOT of game modes and options; for an overall feel, check out our Madden ’09 review which can be found here, otherwise just play the game and see for yourself, I think you’d like it – especially if your a football fan.

Overall like most sports titles, lasting appeal is never an issue. You can play against computers over and over again, play against your friends until you go blue in the face. If you get too good for the game you can always up the difficulty, choose teams with lower stats, or play with one hand tied behind your back. Beat everyone you know, all the computer settings and used every team out there? Madden 10 boasts one of the best online modes available from single games to leagues to online franchise mode. While I enjoyed playing (and getting beaten severely) playing online, I did experience quite some lag while playing my opponent, both of us located in Canada, and both with broadband connections.

Madden 10 is exactly what you would expect from the leading football developers who launch a new title every year. Some new features, some improvements, some aspects that still need work (but mostly all improvements in themselves). If you’re a football fan you owe it to yourself to pick up Madden 10, if however you are on a budget and can’t afford a new title, Madden ’09 can still do what you need it to do and enjoy on a regular basis. You just won’t get the best of what’s available without Madden 10.

Graphics: 4.0 / 5.0
Gameplay 4.0 / 5.0
Sound 3.5 / 5.0
Lasting appeal 4.5 / 5.0

Back To Los Angeles For Beckham

Joelle Tomlinson — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 12:06:51 +0000

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David Beckham’s success in Milan will not last much longer. According to perezhilton.com, Beckham will be returning to Los Angeles on March 9.

Following a highly publicized trade from the LA Galaxy to the AC Milan, perezhilton.ca reports that 33-year-old Beckham will be returning to Los Angeles once his loan deal expires in March. Beckham has been performing exceptionally well in Milan, scoring twice in five games for the Italian team. He signed a five-year contract with LA Galaxy in 2007, but had earlier expressed interest in staying on with Milan if they would offer the MLS side substantial money for the trade. The AC Milan was given until Friday to offer the money that Los Angeles specified, but no offer was made.

Tim Leiweke, chief executive of Galaxy owners AEG told the LA times: “We received an offer. It was rejected. We need to end the circus and the zoo.”

Sports Column: Lay off Zidane

andPOP Staff — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:35:38 +0000

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In the crazy, testosterone — driven world of sports — shit happens. And just as often as shit happens, boneheaded broadcasters will spend eternity demonizing and chastising incidents which, for the players involved, were in the heat of the moment? and for the broadcasters, in the heat of their cushy seats in the press box.

Case and point: Sunday?s World Cup finale.

Why the random leap into the deep end of World Cup madness? I can?t stand by as Zinedine Zidane?s good name is sullied from one headbutt that was, although ill-advised, in the heat of the moment.

This happens all the time. Many great players, including Michael Jordan, have lost their cool in crucial games due to trash-talking defenders. If you talk trash (yes, I?m looking at you, Gary Payton), you have to understand there is a chance that you?re going to get a fresh fist across the noggin — or in the case of soccer players, a headbutt in your chest.

The difference between the sports? If a guy gets cheeky with you in basketball, hockey or American football, you fight back when that first punch is thrown — and the referees get involved to defuse the situation. In soccer, however, the slightest gust of air from an opposing team member?s flailing limb sends these poor gentlemen flying to the ground like sacks of grass-loving potatoes. Not to say Zidane?s headbutt wasn?t vicious, but that poor Italian defender (Materazzi) looked as if he?d just been run over by the Juggernaut.

It?s also important to establish this isn?t speculation. It?s clear upon reviewing the incident that there was indeed a heated conversation between the two players, and if you look closely enough, it appears as if Materazzi actually gives Zidane a ?purple nurple? before the headbutt counter-offensive.

It has also been reported by FOXSports.com, that Materazzi may have used a racial slur which provoked the headbutt. Even with this news surfacing, the headlines across the globe are filled with words like ?regrettable? and ?stupid? smeared across bolded headlines. If Materazzi did indeed racially offend and nipple-twist Zidane — I?d say the headbutt was almost justifiable. He?d be lucky that?s all that happened! Just try twisting Charles Oakley?s nipple and see what happens!

I also have to vent about how annoying it was to watch Italy pack it in on defense. From halftime on, the ball was on Italy?s side the majority of the time. France was really working hard on offense, and it?s no wonder? Italy had almost every fielded player playing defense! Every time France would make a move, that one white shirt would be flanked by three or four blue shirts. The strategy became clear: Italy wanted no part of this being an exciting game with goals and the like. It was unlikely there would be a single goal coming out of half time. All of Italy?s players were defending, so France couldn?t score. And as such, Italy wouldn?t be able to score as they had but one player on offense! Doesn?t that bother anyone other than me? Sure it?s perfectly legal, but Italy might as well have jumped on each other?s backs and constructed a human wall in front of the goal.

It?s like that annoying kid you used to play Mortal Kombat with. He?d habitually choose Sub-Zero, and his move repertoire would consist of two things: freeze then uppercut, freeze then uppercut, freeze then uppercut. Sure it?s perfectly legal, but it?s cheap as hell and pretty damn annoying. I commend those of you, like France, who took the Johnny Cage approach and wielded a more balanced attack.

The fact is France outplayed Italy in the second half of that game. And just think of all the energy the French team expended on offense trying to crack Italy?s Sub-Zero defense. It?s no wonder studs like Thierry Henri weren?t available for the final shootout.

Italy has two things to thank for their World Cup final victory: Firstly, their cheap tactics on defense (to which I don?t accept the excuse ?that?s the way they play, they play tough defense.? France also played superior defense and picked at the ball all game. The difference, however, is they also put effort into their offense. And the second and most prevalent factor in Italy?s ?victory?? Luck. And when the Vatican is in your country, it should come as no surprise that luck would be on your side.