Mariano Rivera Out, David Robertson, You’re Up

 Analysis, Sports  No Responses »
May 082012
 

Time for a sports post! Been meaning to start putting up moar sports posts because after all, we’re a blog for all forms of entertainment.

I never imagined in my wildest dreams, that the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera, would succumb to such a freak injury like he did last Thursday, May 3rd. To tear your ACL shagging fly balls–a routine Rivera has done in every pre-game warm-up in his career–is as random as it gets.  As sad as this news is for all Yankee fans, there is hope. Rivera, one of the fiercest competitors in all of sports, has vowed to come back. He has vowed not to end his career due to some fluke injury, but to leave on his own terms.  The best never quit.

However, the closer void still needs to be filled. Enter David Robertson. This Alabama native (woot!) has been one of the best relievers in baseball period over the past 1+ seasons. Last year, he had an insane stat line: a 1.08 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 100 K’s to 35 BB’s, all in 66.2 IP.  He gave up ONE home run. This season, in 13 IP, he has a 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and a 23:5 K to BB ratio. Incredible. He has had two straight appearances where he struck out the side (4/30 vs. Baltimore and 5/4 vs. Kansas City).  Tonight’s outing, in which he recorded his first save of the season, he loaded the bases.  What did he do? He remained calm and poised, and he struck out the final batter, Carlos Pena, on a called strike three.

It is because of the ability to remain calm under pressure which has helped Robertson become one of the most dominant relievers in baseball.  Who also possesses this ultimate calm? You guessed it, Mo himself. Just to further prove this, according the the Elias Sports Bureau, Robertson has held opponents to one hit in their last 25 at-bats with the bases loaded, and he’s retired 16 of those batters via strikeout (tonight’s performance included).  So while he’s no Mo (Robertson even joked tonight saying, “Mo would have probably thrown 12 pitches and broke a bat and we would have been done 20 minutes ago”), Robertson is as close to him as you can get. Not bad at all.

Posts You Might Like

Review: L.A. Noire

 Review, Video Games  No Responses »
May 082012
 

Every once in a while, we get a game set in a genre not often explored. Last year, we got L.A. Noire, which gives us a film noir experience. The game now is pretty notable for introducing a new technology in facial animations, despite taking five years to develop. It got quite a bit of publicity, as a result. Also, since it’s a detective game, much of the gameplay involves investigating crime scenes, questioning witnesses, interrogating suspects, and other things you may find in a police drama on TV (though there’s a decent amount of shooting). But, seeing as how there was quite a bit of development troubles, it’s not unthinkable that L.A. Noire has some problems. And on a basic level, that’s exactly how I would describe L.A. Noire.

Also, our site's banner is inspired by the game, so I thought, why not review it?

Continue reading »

Tuesdays with Judge: The Urge to “Fix” Your Old Work

 Analysis  No Responses »
May 082012
 

Another edition of “Tuesdays with Judge.” What’s the topic today? Fixing your old work. As any artist will tell you, they don’t like looking at their old work. Ok, generalizing here, but most will say that (ok maybe I’m still generalizing). The reason? They think it’s crap and and want to A) destroy it B) fix it. Like artists, I can’t stand looking at some of my old writing. I think it’s awful. Why is this? C’mon, do I really have to spell it out for you?

It’s only natural that the moar you write, the better you get. The moar you practice anything, the better you get. Articles that I wrote 6 months ago, pale in comparison to my writing now. Friends tell me otherwise, but you are your harshest critic; you notice even the smallest things that you have changed over time. That’s why I try to refrain from reading my older articles unless I have to.  The urge to “fix” my old articles becomes too strong. I admit, I’ve already gone back and changed a few of my older articles.

But is this such a bad thing? To go and “fix” your old work? Yes and no. Yes because part of me believes your work should remain intact as written, for historical purposes (yup, 100 years from now, people will be looking back at Moar Powah and marvel at my writing).  And no because it is tangible proof, at least to me, that I am becoming a better writer.  This brings up a point I’ve wanted to make.

Part of any craft is to not only practice, as stated earlier, but to study others’ work. I look at many other bloggers and study their writing.  Hell, I even study my own writers’ writing! There are some incredible writers scattered across the various blogospheres.  People erroneously think “study” means “to copy.”  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  For me, I particularly focus on how bloggers use syntax and diction in their writing. My goal is to become a writer whose material flows smoothly, and I feel studying syntax and diction is the best way to achieve a “good flow.”  Hopefully, I can get there one day, as my dream would be to write for a living (yes, that is my silly dream).  Until then, I’ll continue to write, continue to study. Everyday, I’m shuff–ahem–improving.  Until next time people…

Posts You Might Like

Review: The Avengers

 Comics, Movies, Review  12 Responses »
May 082012
 

It’s probably not surprising to hear that your resident comic reviewer went to see The Avengers on its opening weekend. With my tickets pre-ordered and a big group of friends (including fenrir) I headed to the theater clad in my Captain America t-shirt with high hopes for this awesome film. Marvel’s invested a lot in this film and built up to it with movies like Captain America: The First Avenger over the last few years. There’s also been buzz right hear on Moarpowah with pluffei’s awesome artwork of some writers as the Avengers (including yours truly) and my look at Marvel’s Avengers vs. X-Men event. Obviously, this movie’s had people talking for awhile. Is it worth watching? Does it live up to all the hype established in the past several films?

Continue reading »

Posts You Might Like