My thoughts on sports and life

One of the areas of the Madden video game franchise that is the most iconic is the fact that you can reset the NFL, and draft a team from every NFL player currently in the league. It's a concept that is always fun to think about. If I were to start an NFL franchise, and could choose from anybody currently in the league, who would I start with? Obviously, the quarterback position is the most important on the field, so they're going to get first consideration. Pass rushers are next in line, then playmakers on either side. I assembled the following list taking into consideration: past play, age, positional importance, and projection for the future. Money did not factor in. Neither did current contract. I assumed each player was currently at full health, but injury history could have an effect. Here are the top 40 players that I'd take to start a franchise right now. 40. Chris Harris Jr: His size might not be ideal, but his play on the field speaks for itself. He's earn...

Here it is, the culmination of my life in video games thus far. Here are my 20 favorite video games of all-time, as determined by...myself, of course. 20. Batman: Arkham City: As I previously mentioned, the Batman: Arkham games are all excellent games, and I enjoyed each of them. Arkham City was my favorite. It had the most infamous ending, with Joker choosing to die, rather than letting Batman save him. It also was the one I ended up spending the most time on, with a cool main story, and plenty of side missions to make it worth whatever might be paid for it. 19. The Witcher 2: I went into the Witcher 2 with no idea what to expect, and was rewarded in a big way. The graphics, story, and combat were all very well done, and original. There multiple ways to play, several different endings, and beautifully rendered characters, and I'm not just talking about the ladies. This was so good, it remains the only game that I ever got through GameFly, and then kept when i was finished with...

We're getting into the meat of things now. Here are the games ranked from number 40 through number 21 on the list. 40. Gran Tourismo 2: Racing games aren't really my thing, for the most part. However, Gran Tourismo 2 is my all-time favorite in that category. Everything that it did appealed to me. The customization options were amazing. The graphics were really good. I also enjoyed the challenge of attaining the licenses to run the different races. Later versions never quite attained the level of this one for me. 39. Dishonored: I had considered buying Dishonored a few times before I finally pulled the trigger. I'm glad I did. It's a stealth game, which isn't necessarily my favorite type of game, but with great graphics and a brilliant back story, I found myself drawn into it quickly. It was difficult enough to give me fits, but it only made me want to finish it even more. I look forward to playing the sequel. 38. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out: It was silly and mo...

Blah, blah, blah. Here is numbers 60-41 of my 100 favorite video games of all time. The previous 40 can be found in other posts on here. 60. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: San Andreas was a good game, hot coffee mod or not. It had all the signature GTA play style, but a unique storyline that was fun to play. It might be most well known for the mod, which is a shame, because it's a classic game. It also had some features all its own that made it stand out just a little from the other GTA titles. 59. NBA Jam: I've never really been a fan of basketball video games, with the exception of NBA Jam. My first experience with it was on the Sega Genesis at the home of a friend, where we, and his brothers, played it relentlessly. It was nothing like actual NBA action, but the simple mechanics and exciting dunks made it even better. And who didn't love to hear "OH MY! HE'S ON FIRE!" 58. Genghis Khan: I'm willing to bet that most people will have no idea what thi...

If you need an explanation of how this works, I refer you back to the first part of these rankings. Basically, here are my 100 favorite games of all time, based on criteria that is my own. Here is number 80-61. 80. Fable II: The entire Fable series was a novel idea, and a good one as well. Like most RPGs, there is an overall narrative, but along the way, there are so many things you can do. Get a job, get married, become a hero or a villain. The makers went all out to add realism to the game, and it shows. Depending on choices you make, your looks can change. You even gain weight if you eat too much. It was the best game of the series, and one that has great replay value. 79. Blue Dragon: When I started playing Blue Dragon, I thought I was in for a childish game, and almost sent it back to GameFly. I'm glad I decided to ride it out. It has a bit of a cartoonish look to it, but it is a nice RPG anyway. Once I got into it, it ate up hours, and wound up being a pretty long story, ...

Video games have always been a part of my life. I love playing them, talking about them, and even reading about them. Recently, I played a tremendous game that got me thinking about how I would rank the greatest games of all-time. That led me here, where I rank the 100 best games. Now, obviously, 100 games is a lot, and nobody is going to read an blog post with 100 games listed, so I'm going to break this down into smaller, digestible bits. A little background to begin, which will help explain why some of your favorites aren't on here. First of all, if I never played it, I can't rank it. As a kid, my family did not have a lot of money, so while we eventually got systems, we didn't get them early, and we didn't get to buy a lot of games. So, there are likely some very good NES and SNES/Sega Genesis games that I missed out on. I did rent when I could. I also never had certain systems at all, and therefore didn't play games exclusive to that system. I had: Atari,...

The universe owed them one. Rarely has a team gone from high to low so quickly in an NCAA Tournament championship game than the North Carolina Tarheels did a year ago. A miracle shot, with four seconds left tied the game, and brought fans to their feet. In a blink, Villanova answered. Kris Jenkins hit a buzzer-beating three pointer, simultaneously creating an all-time great moment in sports, winning Villanova's first championship in over 30 years, and ripping the collective hearts out of North Carolina basketball. Joel Berry remembered. He stood just a few feet from Jenkins as he launched that fateful shot. He could only watch as it went over his head, toward destiny. He returned this year, looking for redemption. Justin Jackson remembered. Like Berry, he was on the court when "The Shot" went down. He seemed destined to leave for the NBA after his sophomore season. The former top recruit stayed, though, looking for another chance. Kennedy Meeks remembered. He wasn...

There are three sure things in life, at least in my experience: death, taxes, and people missing "The Good Old Days." Every teenager in America, and I'm certain there are international versions, has heard their parents, or various other adults wish for the days of their youth. Eye rolls tend to commence afterwards. As I have left childhood, and even young adulthood behind, and have had kids of my own, I have gradually discovered why people say it. I'm in my 40th year, and I find myself longing for the days of my youth. I'm not talking about just being young again, because that's life, and I wouldn't trade my experiences for anything. But I do miss a less complicated time. My first job was working at one of the two grocery stores in town. It was the smaller of the two, but it had its own charms. As a kid my cousins and I would walk down there for candy. It looked huge at that age. It's special feature was on the end of one of the aisles, where rows ...

My grandfather was always larger than life. His massive pot belly preceded the rest of him by a few seconds wherever he went, but I'm not talking about that. His booming voice could be heard, as he called for his chickens, far and wide across the property we shared when I was growing up, but I don't mean that either. He wasn't just my mother's father, my neighbor, and the slightly crazy guy who talked to chickens on his little farm. He was the farm. Even as a small child, he seemed ancient, with a grey buzz-cut, weathered skin, and rough, gorilla-sized hands. Those hands were something. His balled-up fist was the size of a watermelon, and it was easy to imagine that if you angered him, those hands could twist off any appendage that he wished. Even as an old man, he looked like he was a just a few years removed from bench-pressing a tank. He also moved slowly, sometimes with a limp, and could be heard sighing anytime he stood up from the couch where he took his daily n...