Breaking Down Polygon’s Top 500 Video Games of All-Time

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So the VOX Media gaming site Polygon just released its Top 500 Games of All-Time. I’ll save you the scrolling, but I guarantee you’ll be disappointed with No. 1. You’ve been warned. With so many classics making the list though you’re sure to have some serious nostalgia dopamine dumps here. So take a look at the list highlights and then dive into what I think are some of the most glaring omissions from the Top 100. Throwing a pity ranking in the 200’s doesn’t count. If these games aren’t in the Top 100 then someone is asleep at the wheel.

  • No. 70 – Final Fantasy 7 – Never played it myself, but considered by many to be the best game ever.
  • No. 66 -Madden NFL 2005 – EA changed the game forever with the introduction of the Hit Stick. No more needs to be said.
  • No 60 – Goldeneye 007 – The first first-person-shooter that everyone got together and played for hours on end.
  • No. 50 – Mass Effect 2 – One of my personal favorites. Mass Effect was one of the first games to master the concept of making choices and having those choices affect the game’s story and eventual ending.
  • No. 43 – The Sims – Everyone built a pool without a ladder so your character would drown. Man, kids are sick.
  • No. 42 – Halo: Combat Evolved – If you were like me and didn’t have an Xbox when Halo dropped, you soon became best friends with a kid who had an Xbox.
  • No. 39 – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Epona is my spirit animal.
  • No. 26 – NBA Jam – Still play this game to this day when back home for the holidays with my brother. Nothing like a Best of 7 series over an 18 pack of Rolling Rocks.
  • No. 25 – Metal Gear Solid – Incredible franchise with the best storytelling of any game ever made.
  • No. 21 – Super Mario Brothers – Its what got us all into video games. Should probably be No. 1 itself.
  • No. 16 – Super Mario 64 – This is when I realized I wouldn’t just be playing video games as a kid. This is when I first understood that video games could be something special.
  • No. 12 – Grand Theft Auto 3 – And this is when I understood how games would keep me entertained at any age; open worlds where you could do whatever you wanted, incredible story telling, and a great way to blow off steam by racking up a 5-star rating.
  • No. 7 – World of Warcraft – Not for me, but hey you gotta respect the legends.
  • No. 6 – Ms. Pacman – Get the FUCK out of here with this. The 6th greatest game of all-time is Pacman’s wife?
  • No. 5 – Pokemon Red/Blue – The first game I played non-stop. I still have my cinder block game boy with scotch tape and cardboard on the back to keep the batteries from falling out. Realistically I must have logged 80 hours in this game over the years. I even have Pokemon Red stashed away in my drawer so no one accidentally deletes my file because I have all 151. Thats right, I got that sonofabitch Mew at a South Shore Plaza giveaway when I was like 11.
  • No. 2 – Super Mario Brothers 3 – Mario dominating this list for good reason.
  • No. 1 – Tetris – Really? Reeeallly?

Not surprisingly a lot of Mario in the Top 100, the most popular gaming franchise of all-time. But you got duds like Ms. Pacman and Tetris dominating the Top 10? Wrong.

Omissions from the Top 100:

        • Mario Kart 64 (#197) – In fairness, the SNES version of Mario Kart made the Top 100, but the N64 version is the GOAT. Probably the only old game I still routinely play with friends. Its evolved over the years to a pre-game staple while drinking with buddies before going out. Not many games can say that after 25 years.
        • Sonic the Hedgehog (#191) – One of my favorites growing up, Sonic is what kept SEGA in business. The fast as lightning blue hedgehog is one of the most iconic characters in gaming history. Its the reason the opening is forever etched into my brain….”SEEEGAAAA”
        • Mortal Kombat 2 (#146) – How Mortal Kombat didn’t make this list is outrageous. The single greatest fighting game of all-time. Terrible oversight here.
        • Fallout 4 (#430) – As you get into your twenties and start having to work a real, adult job for 40+ hours a week, you naturally have less time to devote to massive open world games. Which is why Fallout 4 was such a pleasant surprise for me. It was my first entry into the series, but the trailer sold me. Some 40 hours later I had traveled across the post apocalyptic world, made alliances, friends, and enemies all while building up my arsenal to go from just some guy who woke up from a cryogenic freeze like Austin Powers to becoming the most powerful being in the world. Pretty cool trip. Not to mention reviving that absolute banger “The Wanderer” after all these years.
        • Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (#331) – Zelda had 3 other entries make the Top 100 so its hard to be too upset, but Majora’s Mask is what made that franchise legendary in my opinion. One of the few games to adopt the concept of time travel effectively without just confusing everyone.
        • GTA Vice City (#105) – Incredibly this franchise had 4 entries in the Top 100, but I routinely go back and forth which is the best GTA of all time. Is it 3 or is it Vice City? Can’t go wrong with either, but both are better than San Andreas. Vice City is only one of a handful of video games that I actually bought the soundtrack too.
        • Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (#102) – Revolutionary game that the industry has been unable to replicate to this day. It made skateboarding and big air for everyone, not just the kids ripping cigs outside your high school. Another game with an all-time classic soundtrack that whenever I hear any of the songs from it like “The Impression That I Get” by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, it instantly transports me back to my parents basement and that old Playstation.
        • Star Fox 64 (#484) – Used to play this game so much growing up that it got to the point that I would wake up, blow through it, and smoke Andross from the back entrance all before leaving for school. Way too low on this list.
    • Sonic Adventure (unranked) – Another game that gets virtually no love because it was on the Dreamcast, which was a very underrated system. It was the first to incorporate interactive memory cards. For whatever reason (probably the immense competition with Playstation, SEGA, and Nintendo) it never took off. Which is a shame because Sonic Adventure is one of the best Sonic games of all times. It was the first one to really tell a coherent story and you got to play multiple characters across a huge world.
  • Shenmue (unranked) – This is one of those games that most of my friends never actually played. In fact I accidentally stumbled into it as a byproduct of Dreamcast never really having a huge library of games, but it was one of the first open world games with incredible, cinematic storytelling. In fact the game was so beloved, that the originally cancelled third and final game in the series is set to be released in 2018 after being entirely crowdfunded by fans on Kickstarter. Polygon dropped the ball on this one for sure.

Obviously everybody will have their own personal favorites based on what they grew up playing so what do you think? What games did they miss? What should have been ranked higher?

Defenses Should Not Win Fantasy Football Championships

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With another fantasy football regular season in the books and the playoffs starting tonight, it’s time for me to share my biggest takeaway from the 2017 campaign.  The time has come for the Defense/Special Teams position in fantasy football to be completely reevaluated and be massively overhauled or eliminated completely.

The NFL is constantly evolving. The NFL is not afraid to make changes that make the game more exciting, fairer and (hopefully) safer. In just the last few years extra points have been moved out to the 15-yard line, overtime has been made (slightly) more equitable, and kickoffs and touchbacks have been moved around. It’s time for fantasy football to show that same ingenuity.

The top scoring defensive unit in fantasy football last week was Miami. In a standard Yahoo! league, the Miami defense posted 28 points and was the fourth-highest scorer of the week. The same Miami defense that is 15th in real football against the pass, 21st against the run and 24th in points allowed.

Among the top 20 scorers in fantasy football last week, 7 were quarterbacks, 6 were running backs, 3 were wide receivers, 1 was a tight end and 3 were defenses. I know the Dolphins were playing against the rudderless Denver Broncos offense – making them a smart waiver wire pick up – but are you comfortable with a defense being as important to a fantasy football lineup as every other position? I’m not. Especially considering how fickle fantasy defenses can be.

The top defense in fantasy football this season, Jacksonville, has had four weeks with 20+ points, five weeks with 10-19 points, two weeks with 0-9 points and one week with negative points. On what planet does it make sense that they scored 15 points in a 23-20 loss to the Jets and only 5 points in a 20-17 win over the Chargers? I thought football was a results oriented business? I don’t care how many sacks or interceptions my team has, I’ll take the 20-17 win over the 23-20 loss every damn week.

How do we solve this problem? I’d be fine eliminating the position from fantasy football all together. Picking up Miami last week may have been smart, but I say it was more like winning on a scratch ticket. Don’t tell me there is skill in fantasy football and then tell me the goddam Dolphins defense was the fourth-best play of the week. A defensive unit owned in a whopping 11% of leagues last week.

I’d also be fine going back to the old days and only awarding points for safeties and defensive touchdowns. Denver gave up 35 points to Miami, but did manage a pick six. It’s akin to a quarterback throwing TD passes when his team is down by four touchdowns in the fourth quarter. It still got on the scoreboard.

My last proposal would be for defenses to go head-to-head. If my opponent played the Minnesota Defense (9 points allowed) last week and I played the New England Defense (3 points allowed), only my team would score points at the defense position. It could be a set point total every week, such as 1, 3 or 6, to keep defenses from becoming more important than real position players. Or it could be the difference in points allowed (6 in this example). That would value actual, real-world defense. Not fluky kick returns and flashy INTs.

If you have any better ideas, please let me know.

LaVar Ball Continues Quest to Ruin His Kids Lives, Pulls LiAngelo Ball from UCLA

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TMZ – It’s a stunning move … LiAngelo Ball will no longer be on the UCLA basketball team and, in fact, he will not be a student at UCLA … because his father, LaVar Ball, is removing him from the institution … TMZ Sports has learned.  As you know, LiAngelo was indefinitely suspended from the team after he stole from several stores during a trip to China. LiAngelo was placed on house arrest but was sprung after Trump and others went to bat for him.

It was crazy enough when LaVar Ball took his youngest kid, LaMelo, out of high school. But at least that could kind of be defended by saying hey the family is rich and famous and he wants the kid to travel and train full-time while not being bothered by things like “studying or “learning to play with teammates.” Pulling LiAngelo Ball out of UCLA? Thats fucking nonsensical. LiAngelo, while dumb enough to shoplift in China, is still a college student AKA a goddamn adult. So pulling him out of school and off of a promising D1 basketball team is a lot different than just yanking your 15 year old son out of high school.

Its just another delusional move from the guy who thinks he can somehow mold all 3 of his kids into elite NBA athletes by himself alone. And this part?

We’re told LaVar believes the suspension was unfair, especially since the charges were dropped. LaVar’s people tell TMZ Sports the famous dad thinks, “There’s no need to break down a kid’s spirit for making a mistake.”

The kid was shoplifting in fucking CHINA. He’s lucky he’s not in Chinese prison still. I think a little suspension from UCLA was a pretty fair response.

Real question though, what’s he do with LiAngelo? Just take the time off to train? If I’m an NBA executive I’m not going near the kid who didn’t even play a game in college and just expect him to jump right into the NBA. I would say he could go play ball overseas, but if I’m him I’m probably never leaving the United States again. Part of me can’t help but think its another storyline for their reality show as LaVar looks to overtake the Kardashians for Reality TV royalty. So this should be an interesting one to watch play out.

Giants Clean House and Fire EVERYBODY. Eli to Start on Sunday Now.

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ESPN – The New York Giants cleaned house on Monday, firing coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese in the midst of a 2-10 season…Mara said he and co-owner Steve Tisch met and “agreed it was pointless to wait any longer to make these changes.” “This has been the perfect storm this season,” Mara said. “Everything that could have gone wrong this season has gone wrong.”

This is like the market having a correction. Eli was not playing well, but the entire Giants organization is a dumpster fire currently so to bench him for a 27-year-old Geno Smith was not the solution. It was handled so poorly that the coach got fucking fired for it a week later. So did the GM! Look, if the Giants had some young 1st round pick riding the pine, I would have been totally fine with seeing what the kid’s got. Its basically how Eli got his start, with the Giants benching veteran QB and Super Bowl champion Kurt Warner. But to bench him for the guy we all already know is trash, even the guy who drafted him in Rex Ryan said so, is just laughable.

So what do the Giants do? Fire EVERYBODY. Geno actually played pretty decent, but the Giants still lost. And being a head coach in the NFL is a lot more than just x’s and o’s. You are essentially the CEO. Its more like being a politician. You have to keep certain constituencies happy, you have to make tough choices, and then you also have to perform. The only guy who gets away with being a clown to the media is Bill Belichick and thats because he’s been to SEVEN fucking Super Bowls in the past 16 years. He gets the benefit of the doubt. Ben McAdoo does not get that same privilege. So when he created an absolute shit storm and made national headlines for benching the best QB in franchise history with the same tact as a high school coach, it was only a matter of time until he got the ax.

Benny with the good hair flew a little too close to the sun and he got burned. Dude started feeling himself just a bit too much. Once McAdoo went from this:

to this:

you just knew it was curtains for this guy. Can’t walk around pretending to be The Cooler from Road House and start 2-9 then bench the beloved franchise QB and live to talk about it.

PS – If I was Eli Manning, this just pisses me off even more. Oh you mean that 200+ games started streak that I earned over the course of 10+ years, we pissed that away to let Geno start for a week and then bring me back after you fired everybody? All those consecutive starts down the tubes just for a one week vacation? Yea cool, no problem, I won’t hold ANY resentment towards you guys for that one. Players can say records and numbers don’t matter, but its bullshit because they do.

The Return of Joseph Q. Ballgame – New York Media Having A Meltdown Over A Bad Player Getting Benched (Not The Name Of A Novel)

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Image result for eli manning manning face

 

“The FCC won’t let me be or let me be me so let me see. They try’n shut me down on MTV but it just feels so empty without me.”
– Marshall Bruce Mathers III

 

There are very, very few stories that could have brought me back here. I left my post at the 300’s due to the pro-Bieber regime’s constraints on this peacock’s ability to fly. I said I would never come back and I didn’t. Not when 100000 Patriots went down for the year. Not when UFC 217 saw 3 titles change hands, eye-rollingly becoming the most overrated PPV of all time (Cody-TJ could have gone either way, JJ gets hit every fight, just never got stopped, GSP is GSP, stfu), I think Tiger came and went 4 times but I can’t keep up. My point is through all of this, with entire blogs written in my head I stayed dormant, a keyboard-laden Bruce Wayne choosing to hole up in Wayne Manor rather than engage in internet battles I was deemed unworthy to fight in. That ends here. That ends now.

The New York Giants have decided to bench Eli Manning to give Geno Smith a look down the home stretch of a lost, fruitless season. And the New York sports media is FUCKING. OUTRAGED. They are saying the Giants are ending the Eli era in the most “ugly way possible”, which must mean they are taking a Manning family photo at some point in the near future. They’re bitterly saying Ben McAdoo only did this to save his job, as if Geno going 5-0 and leading the Giants to a playoff-less 7-9 season will do the trick. Mike Francesa is hitting the organization with school yard insults and may march up to Giants HQ with an angry mob and torches demanding the Beast release Belle. They’re saying this is at the wrong way to treat a man of class and grace, as if Eli isn’t just a robot that does what Daddy tells him (It just dawned on me the Manning Brothers are just two versions of the QB from “Mr. Deeds”.) The NY sports media is butthurt. They’re angry. They’re legitimately throwing a shit fit like only the has-been sports media can. It’s fucking bizarre. Anyway, I understand I’m a Pats fan and it’s easy to say I’m just biased, but look:

I get it.

The not-originator-but-master of the Manning Incredulous Facial Expression was the face of the only two NY teams to win anything in the past decade. Throw in Jersey and Connecticut and I believe Thanksgiving Day has been the only other cause of a parade in the Tri-State area for a long time. He threw two iconic Hail Mary’s to win two Super Bowls – the fact that two anonymous receivers made a pair of obscene catches on kind of lousy throws seems irrelevant for some reason, but I digress.

And so I get it.

The things is, the two years the Giants won the Super Bowl it took a GIGANTIC team effort, not just Eli pulling David Tyrees out of a hat. Their defense in particular played out of their tree’s both years. Additionally, since that 2011 Super Bowl Eli has gone one-and-done at best in the playoffs, missing them completely in the years he doesn’t bow out after one game. He has led the league in interceptions three times, his passer rating sucks year in and year out, and OH IN CASE YOU FORGOT, the Giants would never have to be these “legendary,” Cinderella teams if he didn’t always play like particular ass the first eight weeks of every Goddam season.

In the end, if we could all settle down a moment, the real truth of this whole overblown mess is pretty clear: There are five games left in a lost season. There’s a former 2nd Round pick with some natural gifts sitting on the bench. There are some other pieces on the team, but also some other holes that may be more worth addressing with early draft picks than the Quarterback position if either Geno Smith or Davis Webb could be the answer there. I understand your 37 year old “Aw, Shucks” looking QB has semi-inexplicably become some sort of icon in the way so many New York icons have, but he sucks. And he has sucked. And don’t get me started with this ridiculous “Games Consecutively Started Streak.” It reminds me of when we had a competition in high school over who could wear the same pair of pants the longest number of days in a row. Plus, would you rather this or sit him for the last game at the Meadowlands? Maybe cut him in the offseason to little fanfare? You can’t even answer that question, can you Tri-City?

Aw, shucks.

Japanese Super Prospect Shohei Ohtani is Leaving $200 Million On the Table by Coming to the MLB Early

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Yahoo – Baseball super agent Scott Boras is, in no uncertain terms, upset about the process that’s lead up to Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani’s arrival in Major League Baseball. Ohtani, after a posting agreement was finalized last week, is set to hit the open market Friday. The catch is: Since he’s an international free agent under 25, the market isn’t as open as it could be. MLB rules put a hard cap on how much teams can spend on international free agents under 25, so the most money Ohtani could possibly get is $3.5 million from the Texas Rangers. Some teams have as little as $10,000 to offer Ohtani. This isn’t about the money for Ohtani, who has long expressed his desire to play on baseball’s most competitive stage. To do so, he’s willing to leave upward of $200 million on the table. Were he over 25, Ohtani could be a true free agent and sign with any team for any amount. Since he’s a two-way star who can throw 100 mph and hit long home runs, getting upward of $200 million on the open market would be entirely plausible.

This guy is INSANE. He is leaving, literally, tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars on the table by coming to the MLB early. Because he is under 25 years old the international rules in place by MLB cap his earning potential $3.5 million. MAX. But if he had waited until he was 25 he could have entered the MLB as a true free agent and would have been free to go to the highest bidder.

Why the arbitrary age of 25?

“picking 25 years old as the cut-off means that a player like Ohtani will hit free agency around the same time as a player from the U.S. who went through the normal draft procedures.”

Just to put this into perspective, the most recent big name Japanese free agents coming MLB earned HUGE pay days. The Yankees signed Masahiro Tanaka for $155 Million. The Rangers signed Yu Darvish for $60 Million. The Red Sox even signed old friend Daisuke Matsuzaka for $51 Million and that was 10 years ago.

So this guy better hope he has the juice and actually performs well in the United States or he just sold low on a winning lottery ticket. Thats half the appeal with international players. You just never know how good (or bad) they’re gonna be. It’s impossible to project how their talent will translate to playing in the MLB. Thats how absolute bums like Rusney Castillo swindled $72 Million out of the Red Sox. Imagine if that guy had come over the US and played for peanuts in hopes of getting a big pay day later? That guy would be working at the Burger King off I-95 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island instead of earning $10+ Million a year to play 2 miles down the road for the PawSox.

Remember the last guy who wanted to pitch and hit in the major leagues? Red Sox super prospect Casey Kelly? Yea, turns out he couldn’t do either one well in the pros. Godspeed, Shohei.

 

ESPN Laid Off 150 Employees Today. On-Air Talent Not a Part of the Purge.

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Chicago Tribune – ESPN says it is eliminating 150 studio and production employees as the sports broadcasting giant continues to shift its focus to a more digital future. The company says the layoffs, which were announced Wednesday morning in a memo to employees, don’t include on-air talent and will have a minimal impact on the network’s signature SportsCenter news program. The company says it will grow its business in several key areas, including the planned launch early next year of “ESPN+”, an app-based service that will allow viewers to purchase sporting events a la carte. The 38-year-old network has been squeezed by rising fees to broadcast live events. ESPN also has lost about 10 million subscribers during the past six years, based on estimates by Nielsen Media Research. The sports broadcaster has about 8,000 employees worldwide. ESPN laid off 100 employees in April, including some longtime on-air personalities.

The one piece I was hoping to hear coming out of all this was that it would be primarily on-air talent. Not that you ever want to see anyone get fired, but seeing 150 behind the scenes workers get laid off rather than the bloated on-air personalities is a shame. ESPN has clearly gotten too big for its own britches, but axing the camera guy making $30K a year isn’t really going to fix the problem.

Overpaying for live sports broadcasting rights, declining cable subscriptions, and multi-million dollar contracts for hosts of shitty shows is whats dragging the network down. The company continues to reshape itself, but I’m not convinced ESPN knows what it wants to be exactly. Cutting the fat and saying that you want to be “more digital” is like a string of buzzwords you’d expect to hear from the incompetent boss at your 9-5 job, not a billion dollar media empire.

Aside from all the business missteps, the biggest issue at ESPN is the content itself, which is why hearing things like the layoffs “will have a minimal impact on the network’s signature SportsCenter news program” is disappointing. Thats your problem.

SportsCenter used to be the go to show right before bed and again right when you woke up. Obviously it was always going to lose a bit of its luster with evolving technology as everyone now has every score and update right in their pocket. But great content is the one thing people will always come back for. People didn’t love SportsCenter for the score updates, they loved it because Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann were doing something no one had ever done before. They loved it because Stuart Scott was entertaining and legitimately made it *fun* to watch mindless highlights of a Milwaukee Bucks game you didn’t actually give a shit about.

ESPN used to bring the content and the characters, but thats fading now and they’re struggling to figure out the best way to plug the holes. Is it bringing in fresh talent like Katie Nolan? Or maybe revisiting partnerships with the pirate ship they fear most in Barstool Sports? Who knows. What we all do know though is that its going to take a lot more than laying off some production employees and cameramen to get them back on track.

PS – Seriously, RIP to the GOAT Stuart Scott. I met him once while taking a tour of the ESPN campus and he was the nicest guy. Was with his little daughter and still took a minute to stop and shoot the shit.

Arby’s Will Soon Have More Meats

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CNN Money – Arby’s is buying Buffalo Wild Wings, the chain of sports bars, for $2.9 billion.

In an all-cash deal, Arby’s is paying $157 per share for Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), a 7% premium based on Monday’s closing price. Buffalo Wild Wings stock had been much lower before rumors about a deal with Arby’s surfaced two weeks ago…

The deal will take Buffalo Wild Wings private. Arby’s is owned by Roark Capital, which also has big stakes in Auntie Anne’s, Carvel and Jimmy John’s.

Buffalo Wild Wings, known as B-Dubs to its fans, was facing pressure from activist investors who support the deal.

The two most disappointing restaurant chains in America are joining forces? It’s a match made in fast food heaven! Buffalo Wild Wings, the home of 75¢ Boneless Thursdays. And a place where the flat Pepsi flows like wine. I’m talking about a little place called Arby’s.

Seinfeld GIF

Woof. Not exactly a power couple. More like Arby’s leaving with the last girl at the bar at 2:15 AM. What’s the matter, Arby’s? You big swingin dicks couldn’t close on Hooters?

Now Buffalo Wild Wings and Arby’s can combine forces to sling bastardized chicken wings and roast beef sandwiches more efficiently. I love chicken wings but I won’t set foot in a B-Dubs unless it’s 75¢ wing night. I shudder to think what those small, cold, under-sauced wings go for on a regular night. Hooters beats B-Dubs ten times out of ten. And don’t even get me started on Arby’s. Jon Stewart covered them pretty well.

It’s unbelievable to think that they sell the same food as Kelly’s. Comparing Kelly’s roast beef to Arby’s roast beef is like comparing apples to hockey pucks. And I still miss the Allston Kelly’s.

I’d also like to take a moment to discuss the soda situation at Buffalo Wild Wings and at Arby’s. I love a cold one-liter bottle of Diet Pepsi on a hot summer afternoon as much as any one, but fountain Pepsi at restaurants sucks. The Coke at McDonald’s can’t be beat and Burger King has stepped up its game with Coke Freestyle machines. The flat Pepsi is the worst part of any Taco Bell trip. Thankfully I usually don’t drink soda from Taco Bell unless it’s after dark and it’s mixed with some Admiral Nelson. Dumping Pepsi and getting back with Coke would be an easy improvement for B-Dubs and Arby’s.

It’d be interesting to see if Arby’s interest in Buffalo Wild Wings had anything to do with Buffalo Wild Wings venturing into the fast casual realm with B-Dubs Express. Does Arby’s hope to make B-Dubs Express the next Raising Cane’s? That might make sense with millennials “killing” chain restaurants, but there’s not much Buffalo Wild Wings has to offer to start with. If you take away the loud music and big screen TVs, what’s left?

The New York Giants Will Start Geno Smith Over Eli Manning at QB This Week. BAHAHAHA

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Giants.com – Coach Ben McAdoo announced today that Geno Smith will start in place of Eli Manning when the Giants face the Raiders in Oakland on Sunday. Rookie Davis Webb will also play, if not this week, then sometime before the end of the season. “Geno will start this week,” McAdoo said. “Over the last five games, we will take a look at Geno, and we will also give Davis an opportunity.” Manning has started 210 consecutive regular-season games, the second-longest streak by a quarterback in NFL history, behind Brett Favre’s 297. He has started every Giants game since Nov. 21, 2004, when he took over for veteran Kurt Warner in the 10th game of his rookie season. Manning has also started 12 postseason games, and twice led the Giants to Super Bowl victories.

BAHAHAHA! What a sad, confused little franchise. Sure, Eli Manning sucks. I’ll be the first one to say that, but benching him in favor of GENO SMITH? Its not like he’s some rookie who could be good, no its Geno Smith. We all KNOW that guy sucks.

The man with the sterling career completion percentage of 57.7% The man with a career 28/36 TD to INT ratio? Thats the guy you turn the reigns over to? Man, Ben McAdoo is fucked in the head. Its like Costanza just doing everything he can intentionally trying to get fired.

But seriously though, Geno Smith played on the same exact fucking field as you guys for four years. Literally nobody aside from Todd Bowles has seen more of Geno than the Giants. But, yea lets throw that guy in there and really piss *everyone* off. Eli may not be Peyton, but the Giants have a whole shit ton of problems bigger than the QB play. Like having 19 guys on IR. Not to mention, most of the Giants fans I know love Eli because he, ya know, won two Super Bowls. How does McAdoo handle that situation?

Manning was given the option of starting against the Raiders to keep the streak alive, but declined. “Coach McAdoo told me I could continue to start while Geno and Davis are given an opportunity to play,” Manning said. “My feeling is that if you are going to play the other guys, play them. Starting just to keep the streak going and knowing you won’t finish the game and have a chance to win it is pointless to me, and it tarnishes the streak.

Benches the best QB in Giants history and then offers to keep his consecutive starts streak alive by having him take the first series and then mixing in Geno and 3rd stringer Davis Webb like its fucking Texas Tech. Props to Eli for basically telling Benny Mac to go piss up a rope.

Yes, the Giants beat us in the Super Bowl (twice), but again I find myself saying thank god I am a Patriots fan as we march towards Minneapolis and Super Bowl title No. 6.

Evidence Mounts that Laptops Are Bad for Students at Lectures. You Think?

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The Verge – Do you use a laptop or tablet to take notes during school lectures or meetings? If so, you might want to reconsider pen and paper; there’s increasing evidence that using laptops during lectures decreases learning, which can result in lower grades, reports The New York Times. To study this, researchers at Princeton University and the University of California asked a group of students to take notes at a lecture using pen and paper while another group used laptops. The experiment found that the students who used a laptop did not understand the lecture as well as those who wrote their notes out by hand.

Yea, no shit! Scientists strike again. Seriously I’ve never seen a group paid more to do less than scientists. Maybe TV weathermen, who don’t even need to be right with their weather predictions to stay on my TV for two decades.

Of course laptops for students in class are bad. You know what I used to do on my laptop basically all through senior year? I downloaded a ROM and played fucking Pokemon Red Version ALL year.

Granted, I was a Journalism major, which didn’t have the most grueling classes, but still. I had a kid that sat in front of me in my math class and he would just pop in one earbud and literally just watch Netflix in class.

If college wasn’t such an amazing four years of experiences, then I’d be prettyy pissed off about all those crippling loans paying for student debt that we took on under the promise of jobs that don’t exist anymore.