Dude looks like a lady...

The Governor General of Canada figures it would be a good idea to award the Stanley Cup this year to the North American Women's champion. Please. It's a non-starter. The Cup is for professional hockey. Specifically the NHL champion. Get over it. There is no season. Get the girls their own championship trophy. Look at the WNBA and NBA as a guide if you don't understand the concept. NBA champions have their trophy. WNBA has their own trophy. Same sport. Different leagues. Different trophies. Seems almost symmetrical.

And while we are on the NHL subject. How dumb are the players? This little "show of solidarity" cost them collectively somewhere in the billion dollar range in salaries. As Mark Cuban points out, 30 teams at say an average of 35 million dollar salary level per team is $1.05 billion. You can't get that back. The only guy that got paid was Goodenow. Two minutes for delay of game while his bank account grows and everyone else's shrinks.

Bargain Gaming

Do you ever check out the bargain bin for games? Usually at Christmas I'll check out the bargain titles and older titles and pick up some as stocking stuffers. I was able to pick up 3 games for less than 20 dollars.

Tropico is a Civilization type of sim game where the player plays the part of a tropical dictator that must build up his island and keep the people happy so that he stays in power. While not nearly as deep as the Civilization franchise, the game is interesting and the cartoonish graphics reminded me of the old Theme Hospital game. The game allows for open ended play and mission based.

Stronghold is a real time strategy game (RTS) where the player is a knight sent on various missions. Economy building and castle building are the main activities here. Some of the characters in the game are pretty funny. Overall, the game is a good diversion but nothing extraordinary.

The last game I picked up was Medieval Total War. This was the second in the Total War franchise and while not as pretty as the recent Rome Total War, it is still a very robust game with a lot of aspects to master. This is an excellent pick up for under 10 dollars.

The other thing that makes bargain titles even better is that since they are usually older titles, the hardware requirements are reasonable enough that you can get some extra life out of an older PC. Since my kids inherit my older PC's this is a perfect fit.

World of Sports

NFL Super Bowl

New England by 13. Maybe 10 if T.O. is back. Even though I have no time for guys that think they are bigger than the game you can't deny he is an impact player. But the Patriots are too solid and no matter what's thrown at them they just find a way to win.

Steve Nash

He is hands down the MVP. I don't think anyone is having a bigger impact on their team with the possible exception of Shaq. It's hard to gauge Tim Duncan as he is in the same situation he's been in for the last few years.

NHL Lockout

I'm passed caring. Even if they get something down on paper the season will be a farce. Of course the Leafs would stand a chance then.

Rafer Alston

He has some growing up to do. But he sure is good to watch when he plays the right way. It's not easy taking the street out of someone who's reputation and "legend" is so closely tied to the street game. Kudos to management for sticking to their guns (again) and staying focused on turning this franchise into a respectable organization. The NBA needs more front offices that aren't afraid to put the burden of responsibility for player actions where it belongs...on the players.

Vince Carter

He is playing like he should have been playing from the start of the season when he was in Toronto. Admitting he wasn't putting in the effort in Toronto is going to come back to haunt him in later years. There is no denying that the change in scenery has helped him out but the help has come more from within himself. He's putting forth the effort he's paid for.

Jalen Rose

His handling of coming off the bench was very professional and I respect that. He made it known that he didn't like it but he didn't let that negatively effect his game. Instead, he goes out every night and does his best for the team and if that means torching the opponent then that's what he does. He's starting again. Not because he whined or threatened but because he earned it.