MS Paint Nintendo Art

Happy Halloween, everyone. Celebrate and view some MS Paint Nintendo art I made.

What should Mega Man go as for Halloween?

Click to Enlarge

Everyone has these days

These were created out of boredom. Happy Halloween!

5 Reasons 2 Hate: Outlaw Star

I don't think I've ever talked about Anime before. I slightly like it. I used to like it a lot more in my teenage days but the more I got into it, the more crap I found. Seriously, good Anime is RARE. I mean, REALLY RARE. It all starts to blend in together and not very many stand out. Outlaw Star is a good example of a bad Anime. Funny thing is, I thought I liked this show. I watched the first 5 episodes again a week ago with my friends and I was psyched. I was all, “I like this show. It's really cool.” My friends agreed. Maybe we should rethink an opinion about something we haven't been exposed to in seven years. Fuck, were we wrong. This show is TERRIBLE. I think I might have been a complete moron in my youth.

1. The dialogue repeats itself. The dialogue repeats itself. The dialogue repeats itself.

This is no joke. NO FUCKING JOKE. Every episode has several lines of dialogue where one person says something and the other repeats. Hilda: “This ship is made from the brains of pirates and the technology of the government.” Gene: “This ship is made from the brains of pirates and the technology of the government?” EVERY. FUCKING. EPISODE. At first, I thought maybe I was hearing everything wrong. NO! You want to know a fun drinking game? Take a shot every time someone repeats something else in Outlaw Star. You'll be shit faced after the first episode. Who wrote this crap?! And you know what, I'm not going to blame bad translation on this one. I'm pretty sure the original writing is very close to this. I feel bad for the guy who had to watching this is in fucking Japanese and had to write out this ridiculous shit. You can't even pay attention to anything because your mind fucking detonates every time this happens. It is SERIOUSLY, that fucking bad. My question is, had anyone noticed this before?

2. What the FUCK is going on?!

I can't grasp what is going on. The first five episodes basically just tell you, “Gene is a, fucking, Outlaw now. Spaceships, paint it red, OUTLAW STAR...fuck yeah!” That's it. Nothing sucks you into this. If I'm watching a show, you have to give me a reason AT LEAST in the first 5 episodes. What the fuck am I supposed to do? Keep watching? Would you keep watching the same turd on the sidewalk after 5 seconds? What, I have to listen to the fucking intros done by Jet from Bebop's voice and put it together my stuff? I can't even get past repetitive dialogue, let alone, have the will power to try to piece this together based on two minute intros explaining something that happened in the past. Why are there freaks floating around casting magic, how??? Why are there space robot ninjas that jump around every where and no one seems to care? Why THE FUCK SHIT is some guy in a mech, with ARMS, and using a lightsaber??? Why?! IT MAKES NO SENSE! Why do the ships have fucking arms, AND WHY ARE THE FUCKING ARMS HOLDING FUCKING GUNS?! JUST BUILD THE DAMN GUNS OF THE MOTHER FUCKING SHIP! This show is such a bunch of random garbage; a hobo stew of shit and sand, if you will. Nobody wants it and they don't know why it was made in the first place......WHY THE FUCK DO THE SHIPS NEED ARMS?!

3. Why should I care about these characters?

No character in this show gives me ANY reason to give two flying fuck sticks about them. “Oh, Gene had a past in space and it makes him sick.” And? Jim is some super genius mechanic child. So? “But, but, but, the chick plugs into the ship, it's so cool!” No! No it is not. I don't care. Some chick springs out of a suitcase and everyone acts like it's normal. No way questions her about it. They're just like, “Fuck, shit happens every day, bro.” Therefore, she is irrelevant. I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO WATCH AN ENTIRE SHITTY ANIME SERIES TO FIND OUT HER PURPOSE. The only somewhat interesting character, Hilda, gets offed in, like, the third episode. AND NO ONE SEEMS TO GIVE A SHIT! Character development is bland and it seems the creators would just assume the characters will be liked just because the shot is being watched. I fucking hate it when something like that is made. I'm not going to automatically care for characters just because they exist. And that assassin chick is just an excuse for fan service. Don't get me wrong, I like tits as much as the next guy, but tits with no purpose is just soulless. And that dumbass Gene Starwind...

4. Gene Starwind is a god awful protagonist.

...dude, fuck Gene. What a fucking idiot. “Oh, because I'm a space guy, with red hair, and a, fuckin, magic gun, I'm so badass! I puke on spaceships!” A good protagonist needs a backstory. Gene has one, BUT WHO FUCKING CARES. Whoever designed this character is a moron. A straight, moron. Need an example? You NEED the god damn proof? How about this little piece from episode 3, I believe: Hilda: “Gene, I need you on the guns!” Gene: “Who, me?” …..WHO THE FUCK ELSE – you know what, never mind, he's retarded. This show is retarded. Starwind just has cliché lines with an attempt to look “cool.” If I EVER see someone cosplay as Gene Starwind, I will automatically assume, you are a big pussy. And then, AND THEN, when he's in space, he gets sick. “Oh, but, he had a bad past!” FUCK, I DON'T CARE! A hero of a story does not get SPACE SICK...IN A SHOW SET IN FUCKING SPACE! He's a one dimensional character and how HE gets the lead of this stupid piece of crap Anime show – Why was this made? Why? Who thought this was good? Japan...you get minus 10 cool points. One more thing, and guess what? It's positive! Who ever did the english voice for Gene needs a thumbs up. He sounds exactly like James Woods. Think about it, James Woods in space would be so much more enjoyable.

5. Aisha could be the most annoying character in an Anime.

To wrap up this piece of dookie is your typical ANNOYING, SHRIEKING, HIGH PITCHED, Anime character. The stupid Tiger/Woman/Dog, Aisha Clan-Clan. Fucking Clan-Clan. She runs around SCREAMING at everyone, SCREAMING in dismay of her failures, SCREAMING and WHINING about how nothing is fair. Is this part of some fucked up Anime formula. How do people stand this shit? How do you not turn the channel when you hear a character like this. Ok, so, she has like, amazingly huge boobies. Nope, sorry. That doesn't make up for it. Boobs are not greater to or equal the ear shattering experience of Aisha. I don't get it, I just don't fucking get it. The characters in this show are so bad. There are no redeeming quality to ANYTHING. And Ms. Fuckhead Clan-Clan here is just the shit cherry on top of the shit sundae.

ND Football 2012: Week 9

Respect. It is not something that is given freely, it is something that is earned. And let me tell ya, Notre Dame earned it Saturday night in Norman, OK. The Irish came in against #8 Oklahoma as a double digit underdog. Everyone had the Sooners crushing ND in this game. They said the Irish wouldn't be able to stop Oklahoma QB Landry Jones. They said the Irish wouldn't stop the plethora of OU receivers. But when you looked at the score board at the end of this contest, we saw just how wrong everyone was. Notre Dame DOMINATED the Oklahoma Sooners on the road improving to 8-0. Lets take a look at what happened at last night's victory.

Starting with the Defense; achievement unlocked: “Respect Earned.” ND's defense along with their young secondary was written off in this game. A defense that has been one of the best in the country. Hmm, lets see, Oklahoma did not have a single passing touchdown. Oklahoma rushed for only 15 yards. Heisman candidate and start ND line backer Manti Te'o had 11 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, AND ANOTHER INTERCEPTION(making 5 this year...for a MLB...that's unheard of). ND was getting heat all weak about their defense not being able to keep up with the Sooners, but head coach Brian Kelly and defensive coordinator Bob Diaco game in with a great gameplan and the Irish executed it at a high level. Basically, it was let the Sooners get yards in the passing game between the 20 yard lines, just don't give up big plays and manage the points, keep them scoring low. Also, shut down the run game completely. The ND defense made an Oklahoma offense that was averaging about 44 points a game, one dimensional. They couldn't run the ball and ND capitalized on any mistakes. Sure, the Irish gave up their first rushing TD of the season(the only TD Oklahoma had), but I think they would exchange that for a win any day of the week. An impressive display of defense, on the road, as underdogs, after being disrespected, doubted, written off, how ever you want to put it, ND earned respect from the country in Norman and it starts with the defense.

Manti Te'o sacking Oklahoma QB Landry Jones

On to freshman QB Everrett Golson. I think he played his best game so far. He made no mistakes, played with confidence and managed the offense very well in this game. He took a huge step in this game as a player and grew up before our eyes. Throwing the ball away when no one was open, getting first downs with feet when he needed to, being a leader in the huddle; doing this all on the road in a hostile environment. An impressive game for the young QB. ND's rushing attack was in full force again. Rushing for over 200 yards, including a 62 yard run by Cierre Wood in the first quarter putting the Irish up 7-3 early(Notre Dame trailed 0-3 and after Wood's TD, never trailed in the game again). Golson had a 1 yard plunge in the fourth quarter to break the giving ND a 20-13 lead. And the dagger in the heart was delivered at the end of the game with Theo Riddick's 15 yard score with 1:36 left in the game to give the Irish the 30-13 victory. I was very proud of the ND offense. They got along of things together and came to play, making big plays. One in particular was a 50 yard pass from Golson to WR Chris Brown. A play action pass and Brown ran a deep post pattern. First off, it was tied at this point 13-13, and OU just tied the game, so it was a big answer. Secondly, it's about damn time this play worked. Back in the Michigan State game, ND tried this exact strategy(throwing deep to Chris Brown) but Golson over threw him when he was open. In this game, this was the second time Brown was targeted but this time, it was on the money. ND's gameplan was GREAT. Being aggressive on the road, making big plays; a great offensive performance.

Cierre Wood on his 62 yard score

So here we are. ND will a big win, on the road, sitting at 8-0. And yes, this is a HUGE win. I mentioned in the last article that I read some stuff about why OU fans hate ND, and how people that remember ND's victory over OU from the 50s still weren't over it. Well, I'm sure this was not what they expected. Because of all those articles I read, it gave me a good feeling going into this game. Ok, now that that is out of the way, we got Pitt next week. YES, I am still thinking in the same mindset as I have the only season. One game at a time. ND can't drop an egg after a big win. Pitt comes calling next week and the Irish have to be ready. Ignore the noise, ignore all the BCS talk; just focus on winning games. The Irish have played great away from Notre Dame stadium(like against Navy, MSU, Miami, OU) but are having close games at home(Purdue, UM, Stanford, BYU). I want to see a good performance AT HOME. So when the Pitt Panthers come calling, I don't want to see any hangovers. No loss of focus. None of that crap. Go out there and get a win. ND has a great team this year and I look forward to watching them play in November. It's crunch time; the late stretch. November is when we see what teams are made of. Until then,

Go IRISH! Beat Panthers!!

5 Reasons 2 Hate: Smart Phones

1. Technology and I do not agree.

You know that guy who will somehow get the blue screen of death using a corded home phone? That's me. Seriously, technology and I are like Nascar loving, white trash, male rednecks and the Lifetime channel; we don't go together. Technology and all its devices are a struggle for me. For example, if something on it doesn't work, I believe the answer should be simple because we live in an age where movies raised me to believe I should have a flying car by now(still waiting, fuckers). But NO. The answer is complex and I have to buy a different model graphics card because the one I got requires me to run on the ground like the Flintstones to make it work, or when my phone alerts me of my data usage when I have unlimited data and I don't know how to make it stop. But to make it stop, I have to upgrade to a new model phone. Or how about when every time I print something at work, it doesn't print, I have to shake, what looks like, a black robot's dildo, hit Go, check the paper, hit Go again, go back to my computer and print it again, so on and so forth. I don't get smart phones. I don't understand the fascination of a touchscreen. I'm now texting for the first time in my 25 year existence, and based on my experience using a touchscreen and according to the fucking spell check on my phone, I'm as bad a speller as Helen Keller. Touchscreens are flawed, in my opinion, and I don't think they will ever be perfect. I don't know what the big fucking deal is. Wow, I can use Twitter from my phone. Whoopty friggin do. Everyone shits fucking happy with their smart phone while I'm left with a puzzled look frozen in the history of time.

5:25pm 24 Oct 12

2. Texting.

The idiot way of conversation in our time. I hate texting. And I do text. I don't know, you figure it out. People seem to reveal more in text based communication than an actual conversation. “I don't have to look at their face, so it's ok if I tell them, 'I want to hatefuck your mom' and just as long as I end it with, 'lol' it's ok.” Even the typical male must sometimes lower themselves to this embarrassing game of text and mouse. Women love to text. I have no fucking clue why. You can get no where with a face to face conversation but after 20 minutes of texting, you got pictures of her straddling her favorite teddy bear in bra and panties. Texting seems to dumb people down and smart phones are not helping. Making easier ways to be fraudulent to one another is not some epic step in any type of development. There used to be a phrase known as “telephone tough guy.” What is it now, “kthxdai, fml, lulz, bro?” Stupid fucks that think because they can type to you their dislike for your existence from I-Phone5S Hyper Turbo Championship Edition phones it makes them manly. And how about the stories you hear about people breaking up over text messages? Don't they have any decency? At least have the common courtesy to do it on Facebook. Texting is handicapping our society into even more lazy mouth breathers.

Sent from my Galaxy S2

3. Too fucking fragile.

I had an old school flip phone for about 7 or 8 years. It has been dropped, smashed, flooded in a toilet, thrown, stepped on, you name it. After all that abuse, it never broke, it never stopped working. Ask yourself this: How many people do you know that have a smart phone, have a shattered fucking screen? I know quite a few. They tell me they dropped it. I ask, how many times? They say once. I'm going to sound like an old person here, but fuck it, they don't make'em like they used to. Maybe Chris Rock in Lethal Weapon 4 got it right, they make phones so you can break them so you can buy more phones. Where in age where we can pretty much nuke half the planet by the push of a button, but god forbid we make a god damn phone that survives a two foot fall onto a pillow. This is money being pumped down the drain. But Tom, didn't you just get a smart phone? Yes. Yes, I did. For reasons that I will not go into -cough- girlfriend, bosses, FUCKING EVERYBODY! “Get a smart phone! Get a smart phone!” Holy shit the fucking pressure! THERE I GOT ONE, I FUCKING GOT ONE!! HAPPY?! HAPPY NOW?! -cough- I did get one and these things still annoy me. If my phone breaks by some random incident, then I'm saying good bye. Yes, I got a smart phone, but I will NEVER get a Facebook.

October 24 at 5:35pm

151 people like this.

4. Too fucking expensive.

Everyone has to agree with this one. Phones, FUCKING PHONES priced at $400?! The hell age have we drunkenly stumbled into where a phone costs more than a god damn video game console? You know what I could do with $400? Get, like, fuckin, 400 copies of Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt for the damn Nintendo, that's what I would do. At least I'll still have my fucking soul after a purchase like that. Honestly, the smart phones are too much money. It starts with the phone itself and then the continued rape moves on to the service plans. “You can get everything for too much ORRRRRRR, you could get barely anything for not as much!” I pay $100+ for my damn phone. The shitty thing is, I need unlimited calling and data and all that horse shit for work, talk to family, etc. $100 is too damn much. Everyone screams that the economy is ass, but it can't be, if fucking companies think people will spend hundreds of dollars on PHONES, and we do! That's the sad part, we fucking do. Money jumping out of your I-Pad carrying case and flushed down the fucking drain.

This message brought to you by Sprint*

5. Look, phones just suck in general.

I personally, hate talking on the phone. I'm a straight to the point type of guy; phone conversations must last an average of 30 seconds with me. You'd think I'd like text messaging since it's short and simple. But then I get my first text essay from someone and all that goes out the fucking window. I now, TRULY, understand the term “blow up.” I hate talking to people on the phone, especially if I don't know them. I hate it when people try to drag out a conversation on and on and on. There's this great invention that I do agree with called e-mail(and NO, texting and e-mail is NOT THE SAME THING). And coming from someone that works in a call center, you can pretty much gather my further hatred of the telephone. It's a sad but somewhat necessary invention that is, for some fucked up reason, being further advanced every year. “Now you can talk to your mom, while browsing Adult Friend Finder, while watching a YouTube video of bricks being dropped on squirrels!” Eventually, civilization will be every sitting on their own chair for their lifetime while their smart phones controls every action, thought, orgasm, smell, everything. If there is one thing that Snake got right in Escape From LA, it was shutting down the world and sending us back 500 years. Hmm...now that I think about it, how many people were in flying through the sky in planes? Or how many people were in elevators? Good fucking god, HOW MANY PEOPLE DID SNAKE KILL?!

The name's Plisskin.

* - Any message in this article was not brought to you by Sprint. Sprint has nothing to do with anything I have written above.

Review: Final Fantasy III

So, I've taken my first step into joining the 21^st century. For the longest time, I had the oldest flip phone. It was universes away from being a smart phone. Seriously, I had this thing for like, 8 fucking years. But, like all things, it finally stopped working and died out. So, I bought a Galaxy S2 smart phone. I wasn't entirely hyped for it when I first got it. Until exploring the Apps and Games and discovering a game that I had no clue was on a smart phone. That game was Final Fantasy 3. I was pumped. Out of the Final Fantasy games, I've beaten 1 – 10 except for 3(A. FF 12 & 13 don't count because they suck. B. 10 sucks but I include it because it's at least better than 12 & 13. C. I refuse to buy Nintendo handhelds so I have never played 3 on the DS). I attempted to play a translated version via Emulator/ROM but it did not work out very well. But now, I finally had the opportunity to play an old school FF game. How does FF3 hold up after all this time? Lets dive in and see how many Job changes I will make before this review is over.

FF3 was originally released April 27th, 1990 in Japan

We all know the story before the game begins. A group of youths band together because of destined circumstances to save the world. Luneth, Refia, Arc, and Ingus are the protagonists of the game and are know has the Heroes of Light. If I recall, this is the premise of the first three Final Fantasy games; the Heroes of Light save the world from the power of darkness. Pretty straight forward. Now, this is a port of the game, but I don't think much dialogue was changed. You get no feeling for any characters in this game due to the lack of development. It's pretty much broken down to simple terms: “You defeated the monster! Go to cave in the north.” Or, “Oh no, John died. Go to cave in the north.” Not really compelling and you will probably be spamming your finger on your phone just to skip it. BUT, just make sure you DON'T skip the part where someone tells you where to go, because this is one of the games where some people don't repeat themselves and you can end up wandering and heading to Google for assistance. The Heroes of Light have to find four crystals and unlock their power to defeat the power of darkness. Super simple. Now, I'm sure back in the NES days, this was groundbreaking stuff, but how the story and development, or lack there of, carry over to today is pretty much throw away. But this game is not know for it's story.

Does anyone else miss overworlds in FF games? I do.

Final Fantasy 3 stands out as the first game to use the famous Job System. You unlock different Jobs to assign to your party and with them come different abilities. For example, a Monk has hit attack and vitality, White Mages can use healing magic, so on and so forth; look, if you don't know this shit by now then I don't know what to tell you. This has been in existence since the 80s and is common knowledge in the Video Game community. So, if you don't get it, you don't deserve to call yourself a gamer and you should hold that shit. Moving on, each character gains levels, like in normal RPGs, and each Job has a level set as well. There are a SHIT LOAD of Jobs in this game. I was actually put back on how many there actually were. I didn't expect much from a game that was ported from the NES but it's overwhelming the number of options you can assign. This is what makes the game. You will spend most of your time fighting and grinding to raise levels for the classes you like. I found myself moving from one to other. With Luneth, I started with Warrior, then moved to Knight, then to Dark Knight, then to Ninja. I'm not sure if the idea of getting new Jobs throughout the game means that they are better than the last, but the selection is surprising and fun. My favorites include Monk, Dark Knight, Onion Knight, Ninja and Black Belt.

The Job selection is vast

Combat is your standard, old school Final Fantasy style. Turn based play where you select to Attack, use an ability, cast spells, use items, etc. And if you're still not understanding this and you actual require a full explanation of how Final Fantasy fucking works then drown yourself in a toilet.....Now.....I'm waiting. The old school feel is there with a next generation twist on the Android. Graphically, the game looks great for an NES port. Characters are nicely designed, though, I think their design is supposed to target a younger generation, which when thinking about it, that's probably why this port exists in the first place. Settings are very colorful and combat abilities are nice and flashy. The music in the game, which is a Final Fantasy staple to have good music; and if I need to explain – you know what, fuck it, never mind.

New graphics, same old school combat

The game is a fun experience all around. Since the game is on a phone, it offers a quick save ability. So, if you get a call and come back to the game when it is done, you're right where you left off. I guess since this is a game for a smart phone, I should get into the experience of such. It's bittersweet. Positives include the ability to move around by using your finger on the touchscreen. But the drawback is that sometimes you will struggle moving around to get to the point you want to go. Like going across a simple mother fucking bridge that ends up taking too long and you have to go through 4 random fucking encounters before you cross it just to find that the treasure chest there contains a potion in which you already have 99 of the fuckers. Personally, I still prefer a controller with D-Pad and buttons. Touchscreen is convenient though. You just tap what you want to do. Until you accidentally select Curaga to be used on all the enemies. Or, when you accidentally chose your dying White Mage to attack with your powerful, badass Monk instead of the fucking boss and because he is positioned at the end of the god damn order, once the selection is done it can not be undone. But I will give it this: I have never been able to play a Final Fantasy game while taking a dump before. So, the Android port does have an advantage as far as convenience.

Just make sure you're careful when making selections during combat

My only other gripe about the game as it relates to the Android, is that the battery feels like it's about explode. Seriously, I feel like my hands are melting to the back of my phone like I'm cooking a fucking grenade or something. And don't even try playing it for a long period of time unplugged from a charger. This game drains the shit out of the battery. You'll drop an easy 40% in 20 minutes of play. What I do is some times play it at work on breaks or in the bathroom. But I always make sure I'm in a part of the game where I'm grinding, not advancing story or going through a dungeon. Last thing I need is for the fucking thing to die when I'm at a boss fight. Also, normally on smart phones, you can flip or turn it so you can adjust your handle of the device to your preference and the screen will flip and adjust with you. In this game, you have to go into the menu and physically select the Flip. So, we can port NES games to high technological devices, but we can't make it flip. The game's like, “Fuck you, you do it!” Hmm...I kind of feel like a snob after that. What the fuck ever, it's annoying, ok?!

My main issue with the game itself is it's unbalance. For example, you get new Jobs for each Crystal you find. But you find the final Crystal right in front of the final dungeon. So I'm thinking, “the fuck do I need to use those for, I'm at the end?” And the game is pretty easy in difficulty. I didn't really struggle with anything...until you get to the last dungeon and the game drags barbed wire across your face and cranks this shit up to eleven. Just look at this god damn tweet in my attempt to finish this game. It drove me to this exaggerate display of anger:

Ok, so there's not “100 dungeons” and not “100 bosses” but it's fucking hard. The game just sets you up to get fucking obliterated. This is what happens: The last stage in the game, the Crystal Palace, takes about thirty minutes to crawl through. Then you get to the boss at the end. I fought him and won. Then you have to go through a Void and go to the actual last dungeon. Here, there are four bosses you have to fight before you fight the final boss of the game. I got killed on the third of the four bosses. And they were raping the shit out of me. Aside from that, the regular enemies in the Void dungeon are like boss fights. You can't take them lightly, you have to use your A-game strategy while trying to conserve MP for the god damn boss fights. And the final shit that sprays the top of the bowl, there are no save points. The last save point you have is before you enter the Crystal Palace. During my rage time, I researched on Google and found that the most powerful classes are the ones you get at the end right before the Palace. So, I basically have to do this: Build the strong classes, STARTING AT LEVEL FUCKING ONE, up to a beastly level, go through the Crystal Palace, beat the boss, walk all the way back out, save, buy items, then try to go through the gauntlet of bosses and enemies in the Void, AND THEN, MAYBE, fight the last boss. All this work for a game I thought was simple. An epic twist indeed.

Classic old school FF

I think FF3 is a pretty decent game overall. I would rather suffer through the end of the game then touch 12 or 13. Back in the day when I played the first FF on the NES, I thought it was hard and I would never be able to beat it and that it sucked. Then again, I was like, fucking 6 or something. But when I got older, I beat it, and to my surprise, it was a good game. My feelings reflect my time playing FF3. I say it's worth a buy(I think it's about $15) and if you're love the old school style of things, like myself, you will enjoy playing it.

ND Football 2012: Week 8

This isn't going to be a long recap. I had to work from home last Saturday so I only caught about half the game between looking at my computer and the TV. But good god, this was a trap game. ND turned it around in the second half but the first half they were not at their best. Lets look at this real quick:

Everrett Golson was still a little dinged up from the concussion he suffered against Stanford the week before, so Tommy Rees got the start. Let me put this bluntly; the Irish offense is very predictable when Rees is playing QB. First down, run the ball. Second down, run the ball. Third down, throw an incompletion. Not very exciting. The Irish trailed 14-7 at halftime. I give a lot of credit to the BYU defense. They are a good group. But ND came out in the second half and dominated. Great running by Cierre Wood, Theo Riddick and GAIII led to the Irish to over 220 yards rushing for the game(Wood and Riddick had 100+ yard games). Tyler Eifert showed more life in this game getting 4 catches and a TD(though, it was all in the first quarter). The Irish offense looked a little slow, but competed to the end.

Cierre Wood and the Irish rushing attack led the Irish to a W

The defense I think was caught a little off guard at the start of this game. They gave up two touchdowns in the first half. Now, these were passing touchdowns so the Irish have still not allowed a rushing touchdown this season. But after the halftime break, they shut down the Cougars. BYU only had 66 yards rushing for the entire game. Even Heisman hopeful Manti Te'o got his fourth INT and had 10 tackles. He is still playing out of his mind and according to ESPN.com, he is currently ranked number 2 in the Heisman race behind Kansas State QB, Collin Klein. The ND defense also got several sacks on the BYU quarterback(2 from Stephon Tuiit, I believe). The Irish have shown great adjustments at halftime, and this game proves it. Maybe the team was a little behind at first, but they quickly caught and over came some adversity. Some call it a character win, I'm just happy they're 7-0.

Stephon Tuitt and the Irish D recorded 4 sacks

This Saturday, the Irish travel to Norman, OK, to take on the #8 Oklahoma Sooners. Another tough game for ND this season. On the road against a great team. Now, I have to admit, I did have bad feelings about this game. Then I read the zillions of articles about OU fans explaining why they hate Notre Dame. A little history lesson real quick. Back in the 50s, Oklahoma made an college football record with consecutive wins(47). It was ended in 1957 when Notre Dame came into Norman and beat the Sooners 7-0. Apparently, people alive from that generation refuse to forgive ND. After reading these articles, I see that this game is bigger for OU than it is for the Irish(not saying it's not a big game). I think this puts pressure on the Sooners. That pressure that leads to fear that you don't want to let anyone down, and in this case, the entire state of Oklahoma. My doubts drifted away and lead to fuel. An entire fanbase grudging an ax against the Irish just puts a grinchlike smile on my face. Now, in reality, this is going to be a tough game. OU has destroyed its last three opponents and they are on a roll. Everyone keeps saying that ND has never faced an offense like Oklahoma; a team with a quality QB and great wide receivers. -sigh- Once again, “a team ND has never face before, etc.” Shit sounds like a broken record. It will be tough on the road and should be an excellent game. Until then,

Go IRISH! Beat Sooners!! #BeatOU #BeatOU #BeatOU #BeatOU

ND Football 2012: Week 7

Dear lord, Saturday's game made ND fans reach for the heart medication. What a thriller in South Bend. Notre Dame and Stanford was everything advertised; a tough, physical game. It had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Notre Dame has improved to 6-0 on the season, making them bowl eligible, after an Overtime win against the Stanford Cardinal. This game will go down as a classic featuring two amazing defenses and a controversial ending. Lets recap what happened at this weekend's game.

Opening up with Everett Golson. Lets get this out of the way. Fumbles. 3 lost fumbles to be precise. The young Irish QB had his hands full with the Cardinal defense. One fumble gave Stanford a touchdown to put them up 10-3 at halftime(the first TD that has been scored against the Irish since their second game against Purdue). Golson seemed rattled but determined. He bounced back from his mistakes and threw a great TD pass to Tyler Eifert in the second half to tie the game 10-10. In the fourth quarter, Golson was knocked out of the game with a concussion while making a lengthy run. No lets transition to the rest of the offense at this point. Tommy Rees game in to the game to relieve Golson and was 4/4 for 43 yards and 1 TD(made in OT). This brings up something I want to get into. When Rees was in, the offense moved very well and when they scored the TD(pass to TJ Jones), they made it look easy. Several times during this game, Golson had wide open receivers but missed them due to his inexperience and the toughness of the Cardinal D. I'm pretty confident that if Tommy was in there, he would have saw those receivers and made big plays. So, question: If Tommy Rees played this game, would it have been different? I think so. Now, I don't want this to seem like I think Tommy should have the starting job, but in this specific match up, I think ND could have put 30 on the board if Rees played the whole game. He would have saw the open receivers and would have picked the Stanford secondary apart. But lets look at the other side of the spectrum. Golson needs to play against tough defenses so he can learn. I honestly thought ND coach, Brian Kelly, was going to pull him but he stuck with Everrett. The young QB needs the experience against great defenses so he can get better. I understand why Brian Kelly kept him in, and I can see why(bouncing back from 3 turnovers to tie the game). For the rest of the O, I think Eifert had a great game, Cierre Wood had a good game and TJ Jones is emerging as the WR that ND can depend on.

Tyler Eifert catching a TD pass to tie the game

Onto the defense. Godlike. Again. Lets look over the facts after the Stanford game:

• Notre Dame, has still, not allowed a rushing TD this season
• Going back to last year, this makes 8 straight games the defense has not allowed a rushing TD
• Notre Dame's defense has not allowed a TD in, now, 4 straight games
• Notre Dame is still ranked 2^nd in scoring defense

Manti Te'o had another great game recording 11 tackles. Based on what is saw from ESPN, they currently have him ranked 4^th in the Heisman race. ND's secondary played well as they got 2 INTs(1 by Mathias Farley, 1 by Bennett Jackson). The front seven was dominant again but lets dive into the end of the game where the Irish defense made one of the greatest goal line stands in ND history. ND is up 20-13 in OT as Stanford gets a 1^st and goal on the 4 yard line. Stepfan Taylor runs the bull and gets stuffed. 2^nd down, Taylor runs it to the 1 yard line. 3^rd down, Taylor gets stuffed at the line. It brings up a 4^th and goal and Stanford must score a TD to force the game into a second OT. What do they do? What Stanford does best. Another run up the gut with Taylor, who is stopped. Now, there is immense controversy on this play. It looks like that he stopped and maybe his second effort helps him stretch out and cross the goal line. The call on the field was that Taylor was stopped short. It went to the Replay booth to decide the final result and the ruling on the field was confirmed. Irish win. This thing has blown up, naturally, and everyone has their opinion about it. I know that Lou Holtz(former ND coach and current analyst for ESPN) said there was no way he got in. Not sure about that one, meaning, I wouldn't say there is no way he got in. This is very debatable, I personally felt, it could go either way, but I don't think the Replay booth has disputable evidence to overturn the call on the field. Others say that he got in and the refs blew the game for the Cardinal. Mike Golic(former ND player and co-host of Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio) said something to effect that the refs were Pac-12 refs(same conference Stanford is in) and you can't really have an argument that they favored ND. Also, he pointed out that the ref made the call on the field with is a different angle and view than the replays we see on TV, so from the ref's view point, Taylor appeared to be short. There is a lot of buzz about this play, there was even someone who commented on the ESPN conversation board that this call was worse than the Packers/Seahawks blown call(if you keep up with the NFL, they had replacement refs and the Seahawks won the game on a bad call; pass in the endzone was intercepted but called a TD). I disagree with this and there is something everyone should realize. If this was a blown call, it did not mean that Stanford got screwed out of a victory. They still had to kick the extra point in rainy conditions, and if they made it, they still had to keep playing into another OT period. Therefore, IF THIS CALL WAS BS, it DOES NOT mean that Stanford would have won the game. And for someone to say it was worse than the Packers/Seahawks call; that call ACTUALLY DID cost the game for Green Bay. The call in South Bend did not for reasons I have previously stated.

Irish defense stop Stepfan Taylor

Moving on, once again, it was a classic game and a great win for the Irish. The Irish improve to 6-0 and according to the BCS Rankings that came out on Sunday, they are ranked 5^th in the country. But, of course, as I have stated numerous times, ND fans should take it one game at a time and not even worrying about rankings.

On a final note, I had a prediction that was correct. College Gameday was at the game in South Bend on Saturday and Desmond Howard picked Stanford to beat ND. I'm pretty sure he has picked against the Irish in almost every game. From what I can recall, he picked Purdue, Michigan State, Michigan, Miami, and Stanford to beat the Irish. For all I know, he picked Navy to win as well. So, once again, FUCK YOU, DESMOND HOWARD.

ND is 6-0 for the first time since 2002

Next up for the Irish this Saturday is a home game against BYU. Now, some would call this a “trap game.” Meaning, ND has come off a big win and then after BYU, they have to go on the road and play Oklahoma, so they good be distracted by the upcoming challenge or hung over from the big win. Lets not overlook BYU. One game at a time. The Cougars come in sporting a top defense just like Notre Dame. In fact, they are right behind the Irish as they are 3^rd in scoring defense. The Irish need to make sure they are not “trapped” in this game and need to focus on better offensive performance and keeping their D dominant. Feels good to be undefeated but there is still another half of the season left and the Irish have many more challenges ahead. Until then,

Go, IRISH! Beat Cougars!!

ND Football 2012: Week 6

The talk going into the game at Soldier Field Saturday night was that Notre Dame would be tested against the speed of Miami's offense. By test, did they mean Miami wide receivers dropping passes, not getting anything done on the ground and getting crushed into oblivion by the Irish? Well, that's what happened. Notre Dame improved to 5-0 this past weekend and lets take a look at how this occurred.

Normally, I open up with praises for the defense, but I will start with the offense. 376. That is the total number of rushing yards the Irish put up against the terrible Canes defense. 4. That is the total number of different running backs that scored a rushing touchdown. 2. That is the number of Notre Dame running backs that rushed for over 100 yards(Cierre Wood and GAIII). 0. That is the total number of times the Irish turned the ball over. The offensive line controlled an underqualified Miami D and the Irish backfield had a field day. Cierre Wood had two touchdowns while GAIII had 1(55 yards). Everett Golson, who had his best game so far this season, even got a couple of runs rushing for 50+ yards. Golson was very accurate throwing the ball as he was 17/22 for about 180 yards. He was very improved, despite not getting the start(was benched for the first series for being late to a team meeting). The ND offense clicked and everyone got to see what they are made of, which was good, considering how much criticism the offense has been receiving since the victory over Michigan. Granted, the Canes defense is just god awful, ND got it done and fans got to see just how explosive this offense can be.

George Atkinson III running for a 55 yard TD

As for the defense, well, I'm liking the facts:

• Notre Dame is the only FBS team to not trail in a game this season
• Notre Dame has not allowed a rushing TD so far this season
• Notre Dame has not allowed a TD for three straight games
• Notre Dame is now ranked 2^nd in Scoring Defense(behind #1 Alabama)

If you watched the game, you did see the D adjust to the speed of the game after coming off a bye week. On Miami's first drive, they had two opportunities to score on big pass plays(catches were dropped). But after that, ND gained control and man handled the Miami offensive line. Even this young secondary, which is always the biggest question mark for the ND defense, played pretty well. They held the Canes to under 100 yards rushing and only about 285 total yards for the game. Another dominant performance.

ND is 5-0 led by their defense

This was a big win for ND, in my opinion. I felt the Irish needed a crushing victory to show that they can completely destroy teams that they are favored against. Also, I love having the bragging rights against The U(hold that shit!). Now, the Irish are ranked #7 in both the AP Poll and Coach's Poll. But, as I have been saying all year so far, we got to take this one game at a time. There is a lot of football left to play and we as ND fans can not get too excited. Next up, the Irish face rival #17 Stanford. College Gameday will be there(why, I don't know considering that the Red River Rivalry is next week, figure that would be a bigger game, but whatever). And, of course, like it has been with almost every game ND has had, someone is going to say “Notre Dame has not faced a team like this.” Now, I'm not saying ND is going to roll over the Cardinal(it should be a great, close game that can go either way), but how about some respect? Each game, people have been saying the following:

• Against Michigan State: “Notre Dame won't have a chance against LeVeon Bell and the MSU defense.” ND won.
• Against Michigan: “Notre Dame won't have a chance against the speed of Denard Robinson.” ND won.
• Against Miami: “Notre Dame won't have a chance against the speed of the Miami offense.” ND won.

Seriously, just some respect would be appreciated. I'm not saying the Irish are the best and most dominant team, but they deserve more credit defensively that what they have been getting; at least, that's what I think.

Before I close, I just have a special Fuck You to send out to Desmond Howard. The former Michigan player and current College Gameday host, picked the Canes to beat the Irish. Seriously, bro? Get the fuck off that show, you biased mother fucker. And there will be no doubt, with Gameday in South Bend, that he will pick the Cardinal to beat ND in front of the Irish fans.

Stanford comes in with a great RB, Stephon Taylor, and a young QB starting his second road game(Stanford lost their first road game to Washington, 13-17). But that Stanford defense is pretty good. So it will be a great challenge and a great rivalry game in South Bend, IN. I'm hoping the Irish offense grows off of their success and continue to improve while the Irish defense stay dominant. It's going to be a great one this Saturday. Until then,

Go, IRISH! Beat Stanford!!

ND Football 2012: Miami Week

Get pumped! Tomorrow night at 7:30pm EST on NBC, Notre Dame goes against Miami from Soldier Field!

Here are some videos to expand the hype for this week from the Notre Dame Athletics YouTube Page and und.com!

GO IRISH!

Stickmin Issue #3

The final issue of Stickmin. Enjoy.

Stickmin Issue #2