Top 3 Skins (2013-2014) - P2000, USP-S, Glock-18

When Counter-Strike:Global Offensive was originally released, I was mildly interested. I had played the original Half-Life mod and enjoyed it somewhat, but I wasn't really any good at it. It was more, I appreciated the concept, and how it would be fun if engaged in with teammates and opponents of equal skill. I had occasionally read updates on CS:GO, and noted that it included a matchmaking mechanism that would theoretically set you up to play in games with people of similar skill. Still, I didn't rush to grab the game.

Then I heard about their skin system, and how some items were worth a considerable amount of money on the Steam Market, and I was all-in.

Now, while I still have a large number of small investments, and a number of mildly valuable skins (mostly less than a dollar apiece), I've bought into the whole concept of skins, and I find myself comparing new skins to previous ones on a basis of "coolness" rather than simply on investment potential.

In that vein, I'd like to now present the first in a series (yes, another series, relax jerk) of posts sharing my favorite gun skins from the beginning of their implementation in CS:GO through the end of 2014. The final collection included here would be the Vanguard Collection; the Chroma Collection (which looks solid though unspectacular) would be included in some future review.

This post will focus on the three starting pistols: the P2000 and USP-S (counter-terrorist team), and the Glock-18 (terrorist team).

P2000

The P2000 is a solid option as a starting pistol. It's got a fairly large clip with good damage. It doesn't have much armor penetration, but neither do any of the other starting pistols. That's why you buy P250s, obviously.

The P2000 hasn't gotten many flashy skins thus far, but in truth, I appreciate subtlety as much as anybody when it comes to skins. So I still enjoy the P2000 options as much as most guns.

#3 - Fire Elemental

The Fire Elemental is from the most newly released weapon case (Operation Vanguard), and is probably the flashiest P2000 skin available. Part of my appreciation for the gun probably comes from my years of playing fantasy RPGs, and having fond recollections of fire elementals in a variety of circumstances. Still, it's a nice, bold skin.

#2 - Pulse

Pulse is the kind of skin I enjoy almost unequivocally. Dark colors, sharp edges, a kind of electronic vibe. It's also not a high level skin, so chances are I'll grab one for myself at some point. For now, though, I've got way too many of my #1 skin to justify spending more money on P2000 skins.

#1 - Amber Fade

The Amber Fade doesn't look that exceptional in the market, but in-game, it feels like you're the man with the golden gun. It's from the Dust 2 Collection, which many investors including myself believed would be discontinued this past autumn with the new operation. Instead, the collection was made more available, so my stock of Amber Fade P2000s became less valuable. It's bounced back a bit, but it'll probably be a while before I can get my money back on these guys. In the meantime, though, sweet skin.

USP-S

The USP-S was added after the game had been around for a little while (along with the M4A1-S) to give counter-terrorists a few additional gun options. It doesn't have as much ammo as the P2000, so it's better for more accurate players (read: not me). But it's already got several attractive skins, including one of my "wishlist" skins at #1.

It also sounds amazing when you take off the silencer. Functionally it's worse in every way, but the sound, wowie.

#3 - Stainless

Stainless is a simple, classy skin. It looks how a real-life version of the gun might look, which I enjoy. It's just got a nice clean look, definitely one of my favorites.

#2 - Business Class

The Baggage Collection is full of quirky skins, and Business Class is one of the best. The skin really makes you believe in the altered texture of the gun, thinking that if you were to touch it, it would feel leathery, or soft like suede. A definite win.

#1 - Orion

The USP-S | Orion can actually no longer be pulled from the Huntsman Case. The original submitter of the skin had apparently stolen artwork on another skin, and as such got all of their skins removed from the case (six skins all told). But art theft aside, the Orion is a beautiful gun skin. It's got the dark, sharp colors I love, and possibly some subconscious Orioles magic in there as well. Orion, Orioles...can't be coincidence, right?

Glock-18

The Glock is the default terrorist pistol, and by far my least favorite of the three. I feel like I have no control over the Glock, even though I've seen videos displaying how it can be pretty accurate even when running. It also, for my money, has some of the weaker skin options. There are a few solid ones, but none of these top three would make either of my other two lists. Still, there is a noteworthy skin at #2, one worth talking (and reading) about.

#3 - Blue Fissure

This is a skin that looks a fair amount better in-game, actually. The fissures aren't quite so pronounced, and it looks more textured, less broken. This is another skin I think I'd like to own at some point.

#2 - Fade

The Glock-18 | Fade is one of the most famous skins in all of CS:GO. It was a top-rarity skin in the first group of skins released into the game, and its desirability and rarity make it one of the most expensive non-StatTrak guns in the Steam market. Personally, I think the style is pretty good, but not as amazing as others do. Still, among a fairly weak class, the Fade is a strong Glock skin.

#1 - Reactor

Introducing one of my favorite collections, the Cache Collection. Almost every skin in this set is appealing to me, and it tops off with restricted-level skins for the two cheap assault rifles, the Galil and FAMAS. And anyone who knows me knows I love me some Galil. The Reactor is a fine skin as well, a bit more subtle than some of the other options. I like the black base with the nuclear-feeling orange on top. Quite a solid skin.

That'll do it for the first round of reviews. Tune in next time when I get to some of the other pistol options, including a couple of market movers.

Brian Giles Deserved Better

First things first, I don't think Brian Giles is a Hall of Famer. I don't think you'd find many people who think he is. He was a really good player for about ten years on a couple of obscure teams, and he was a fantasy STUD in the old Sandbox system that rewarded players for drawing walks. He wasn't an all-time great, which is the designation that someone should have if they're getting named to the Hall of Fame.

That said, Giles was way better than Hall voters apparently think he was.

Earlier this week, the 2015 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot results were revealed, and Brian Giles received a whopping zero votes. Among the players who received at least one vote:

• Tom Gordon, whose claim to fame is having led the league in saves once, and being a pretty good reliever sometimes;
• Troy Percival, a solid closer who pitched for the champion Angels in 2002; and
• Aaron Boone, a career .263 hitter who had that one big home run.

I would say that these guys don't sound like Giles' peers, but they're not even; they're all considered deserving of a vote by at least one Hall of Fame voter, and Giles was not.

I will grant certain factors. Giles' power peak only lasted about five years, and he played in an era with inflated power numbers across the board, so his career-high of 39 home runs doesn't play as well as it might in today's game. And he wasn't particularly fast either, notching only 109 steals over a career that spanned more than 1,800 games.

But Giles was a consistent force at the plate. In eight different seasons, his on-base percentage was .396 or higher; Giles ended two out of every five plate appearances with a positive result. His career on-base percentage is .3998, lower than only four players: Joey Votto, Manny Ramirez, Albert Pujols, and Joe Mauer. Those are two likely Hall of Fame caliber players (Manny and Pujols), and two guys who should find themselves at least in the conversation if their next eight years go like their last eight years went. He consistently threatened .300, hitting at least .298 in seven different seasons.

He played in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and San Diego, so his media exposure was limited, as were his postseason opportunities. And the numbers suggest he was a below-average fielder. But in a world where you just know, you just know that Kevin Youkilis is going to get a couple of HoF votes, Giles deserved better than he got.

Awesome Games Done Quick - The Best of Twitch

GamesDoneQuick is an organization of video game speedrunners. Speedrunners are players who attempt to take advantage of every possible shortcut, tactic, or nuance of a game to complete it in as short a period as possible. They're basically the sprinters of the eSports world.

Every winter and summer for the past few years, they've put on a charity stream on Twitch, and they're in the middle of that right now. This stream highlights some of the more popular speedrunners in the community, but also extends an invitation to anyone in the speedrunning community to establish themselves as an elite player, make the trip out to wherever the event is (this time it's in Virginia), and join the stream as a participant or fan.

This event is remarkable for several reasons.

1. AGDQ is an event that features small-time streamers and relative nobodies. Unlike the championships of competitive games like Counter-Strike:Global Offensive or Dota 2, AGDQ doesn't have the same huge, single-game community to generate competitive interest. The very best speedrunners are appreciated mostly by other speedrunners, or fans of a particular game. That is, the best Contra speedrunners will attract mostly fans of Contra, and other people who speedrun Contra or similar games. Yet despite these smaller fan bases, AGDQ will regularly have around 100,000 concurrent viewers, and generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in charity. With virtually zero starpower, that's incredible.

2. Related to that factor, the stream succeeds despite changing games constantly. Most streams succeed because of consistency. They feature the same streamer streaming the same game for several hours, several times a week. This marathon stream, however, will include Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Streets of Rage 2, Pilotwings 64, and Halo 2. And it's a fair bet that a lot of the same people will be watching each of those speedruns. The nature of the speedrunning community is such that they enjoy all attempts to attack world records and display virtuosity. And somehow, random viewers hold similar priorities.

3. The stream generates an ass-load of money for charity. Look, everyone likes charity. We all like the idea of pitching in to help combat a disease, or clean water, or assist the less fortunate. But most of us, on a given day, do not contribute to charity. Then, along comes this stream, and people give donations of $50, $100, or $10,000 dollars (this legitimately happens). Lots of people try to generate money for charity while playing video games, and many of them use Twitch streams to do this. But success to this level is incredible.

4. The streams aren't really "competitive" streams. Rather, they're solo or cooperative streams against each game's innate artificial intelligence. Far and away the most watched game on Twitch is League of Legends. The rest of the top four are usually (in some order) CS:GO, Dota 2, and Hearthstone. Competitive games are what draw the most water on streams, but AGDQ has no trouble pulling amazing numbers despite staying in the realm of single-player or competitive games. This might be the most impressive factor here; nobody cares about time trials when it comes to track and field, or swimming, or stock car racing. It's all about the races. Granted, there are a few races on AGDQ as well, but people appreciate both kinds of content just the same.

Despite these factors going against them, AGDQ is able to regularly produce a wildly entertaining stream that generates massive revenue for a good cause. If you've got the time and the inclination, I strongly encourage you to check out the stream (link here again for ease of access). And marvel at the beauty that is a speedrunner's paradise.

The 2015 Winter Classic

Coming into this Washington Capitals season, I was optimistic about the team's chances to make some noise, but I didn't really plan on going to the Winter Classic. My family has season tickets, so we were awarded two tickets as part of the season ticket package, and afforded the opportunity to buy up to 4 more (double the number of our season tickets), but to me, it seemed foolish to spend that money. Ticket resale was high, so I figured, why not just resell the tickets and make a little cash?

Well, time passed and time passed, and none of us made the call on what to do with the tickets. My one brother was adamant about going, and the other was interested if not quite so demanding. We had three pairs of tickets available, and the decision on what to do with them went unmade for far too long. Finally about two weeks ago, we finalized our plans: my cousin and I would join my two brothers at the game, and we'd sell the final pair. We ended up getting back a little extra for the pair, though it wasn't the windfall I had originally hoped for. Still, positive is better than negative.

And so, the four of us went to the game.

I remember going to Disney World for the first time, and that being the most "magical" experience I can remember. But there was something even more special about this experience for me.

There's a great camaraderie at any sporting event, but the Winter Classic felt like it reached a whole different level. I felt excited while walking up to Nationals Stadium with hundreds of other fans, enthralled while stepping to the railing in center field and seeing the scene, and a combination of frustrated and pleased while trying to navigate through a sea of thousands of fans in the concourse. The singing of the national anthem was done by an armed forces chorus, punctuated by a flyover by a pair of fighter jets, and that was probably the height of the non-hockey events for me. Just a really cool presentation.

The seats we had were center ice, though they were fairly low, which made it difficult to see all of the action. The big screen in center field provided a good view of the game when things got too muddled, but it was fantastic to see things play out on the ice level when I was able.

And the game was amazing. Eric Fehr's early goal on a breakaway was reminiscent of his similar goal at the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh. After Chicago tied the game at 2 in the second period, tensions were high throughout the stadium. Every penalty (and most of them were against the Capitals) created a chance for someone to break through, but the score remained tied through most of the third.

Late in the third, Matt Niskanen got called for a questionable boarding penalty, then a few minutes later, perhaps as a make-up call (which I hate, by the way), Jonathan Toews got called for something of a phantom hooking penalty. On the ensuing penalty, after Alex Ovechkin carried the puck into the zone...

...well, you really just have to watch it.


The crowd exploded after the goal, reminding me of playoff goals back when the Caps scored those kinds of goals. I also just love everything about how Ovechkin carried himself throughout the whole day. He was grinning almost every minute, and he pumped up his guys on every play.

The thing that struck me the most was that, for the first time since he got the letter sewn on his jersey, he really looked like a captain. Not a captain in the snarky, dickish way that some guys can be, but a guy who leads by playing his ass off and getting his teammates excited to compete for 60+ minutes. He may never get recognized as one of the great leaders in hockey, and maybe that's correct, but there's no doubt in my mind that Barry Trotz has helped Ovechkin to rediscover himself, and be a better version of himself.

I can't help it. I'm optimistic. This might be a really good year.

2015 - The Year of the Blog

Longtime blog-readers will know that 2014 was a pretty solid year for this blog. While it wasn't as prolific as some years, I feel like I provided some of my best content overall in 2014. Between some standard sports posts, a few new feature-style sports posts, and a variety of gaming-related articles, I generated something for everyone. Alright, well, not everyone, but anybody who would've come to the blog in the first place should have been able to find something fun to read.

Still, when it comes down to it, I had higher hopes for the blog than the totality of the year that I had. I wanted to expand the features to include not just baseball stories, but interesting tales from other sports as well. And just on sheer volume, there were extended periods during which I didn't provide any content, and I don't feel great about that.

But, rather than lament about opportunities lost, I'm going to set goals for the coming year. Most of these will be blog-related goals, but I'm going to throw a few other goals up there, just so you know what I've got brewing in my mind, and so that I feel a little more beholden to the goals, since "everyone" will know about them.

Here goes.

1. Publish a blog post at least once every week. There's really no reason I couldn't do this; there have been stretches on the blog when I've posted 2-3 times a week for over a month. Part of what hangs me up is that a lot of my blog ideas are larger posts; the CS:GO trade-up post took me over a month to compose and revise. So, this goal is going to have a couple of sub-goals:
   
   • Plan ahead. Have a couple of larger posts in the pot simmering at all times, and try to schedule posts in advance
   • Find smaller post options. Not everything has to be a six page epic about the adventures of Bret Saberhagen. Some of them, sure, just not all of them.
     
2. Post about the big three at least once a month. My big three topics are sports (baseball), sports (non-baseball), and gaming (board or video). This plan should help me get focused on my bigger posts, and also help give myself some direction for goal #1.
   
3. Get my editing landing page refined and ready to share. Most of you are probably unaware this has been going on in the background, but I've been spending some time trying to set myself up to offer editing services. I've been editing for a website for a few months, and editing for friends, family, and co-workers for years. I'm hoping to turn those skills into a small supplemental income. So as the main part of that, I've been working on a landing page to be able to link for potential customers. My goal is to have that up and running by the end of January.
   
4. Stream more (or at all). Longtime readers will know that a previous role of this blog was to support a regular Friday night Twitch stream by myself and two friends. We streamed mostly Magic, and we generated a small but robust following. Problems with Twitch, changes in our personal responsibilities, a general displeasure with Magic's recent sets, and MTGO's consistent bugs and other issues made us mostly give up the streaming game, but almost any time I've streamed solo, I've still enjoyed it. Whenever I set out to stream again I seem to get distracted from it, but hopefully establishing it as a goal will get me back on the horse. And of course, I'll continue to use this blog to support the stream, when necessary.
   
5. If possible, find ways to monetize the blog that also add value to it. I have an affiliate partnership with Amazon.com, and Amazon has thousands of ways to link to their goods and services. Right now I just have a single banner advertising Amazon Prime, but I'm thinking that with sufficient commitment, I may be able to post timely advertisements of great deals to both provide a useful deal-finding service to readers, and create a small amount of income for myself. I'm sure there are other ways to effectively monetize the blog, but those will take some further research.
   
6. Post something in the Steam Workshop. There are two possible avenues I could use here. The first is posting a CS:GO skin. I've tinkered with the workbench a little bit, and while I'm no expert, I'm definitely more comfortable with it than I was at the outset. I haven't made anything too exciting so far, but I've got some more content to work with, so we'll see if it goes anywhere.
   
   The second possibility is posting a collection on Tabletop Simulator, a recent gift I received (thanks Nick). I've collected a few items and boards from other workshop posts, and I'd like to assemble a kind of "catch-all" collection for a certain tabletop role-playing game I've played with a few friends. (Nerd alert! Just kidding, you knew I was a nerd when I started posting Magic decks.)

So those are my blog/internet goals for the coming year. I'm hoping to increase the amount of content I provide overall, as well as hopefully generating a little bit of revenue.

If you've got any suggestions or naysaying you'd like to offer, feel free to post a comment.

Happy new year!

Magic Deck Review - Landfall and Fling (RG), First Pass

As some of you (probably most of you) will remember, I posted not too long ago regarding the first homebrew deck I wanted to retool. It was a Red and Green deck focusing mostly on Landfall boosts, and using Fling to snipe problem creatures or finish off opponents. In case you don't remember, the full deck is here.

Well, I got a bit of feedback in various mediums, and I've got some possibilities as far as additions/replacements for the deck. Here are the brainstorms I received (not Brainstorms)...

Titania, Protector of Argoth - The biggest (and most expensive) possible addition is Titania. She's a big creature with a distinct lean towards land action. Specifically, she makes Evolving Wilds and Harrow absolute monsters. It's a fairly expensive card though ($6.75 average price on TCGPlayer), so it may not be in the cards...pun intended.

Groundswell - I'm pretty sure I have a couple of these in my vast collection. Although truthfully, if I do, I'm not sure why I wouldn't have included them in the first place. They're simple Giant Growth-type cards, but obviously they fit nicely with the deck's theme.

Gatecreeper Vine - This is a card that probably wouldn't make the cut. It's a perfectly fine card, but it doesn't really solve our creature problem, and we've already got plenty of fixing in the deck.

Vinelasher Kudzu - I like a few things about this card. First, it's a creature, which as I said was something this deck is looking for. Second, it's a low drop. This deck spends a lot of time with lands that have entered the battlefield tapped, so having a minimal mana cost is important. And third, obviously, it benefits a lot from all the land drops this deck offers. Should be less than a dollar to acquire as well, so wins all around.

Rampaging Baloths - Baloths is a card that fits with the deck's style, but isn't as clever or exciting as some of the other cards I've mentioned. That said, while it's deliberate, it certainly gets work done. I'm not sure it's considerably better than Baloth Woodcrasher based on how the deck hopes to win, but I'm open to including maybe a one-off of RB.

Scute Mob - I feel like Scute Mob is maybe a card that helps you out when you don't have the action cards like Harrow or Baloth Woodcrasher to make the magic happen. Kind of like an insurance policy for the Landfall blasts. I do have one copy of Scute Mob in one of my other decks, so maybe I'll transition it over to this one.

What do you guys think of the cards I've mentioned? Anything else come to mind? Leave it in the comments below!

The Buggy Old Republic

Overall, I've been fine with the game quality of Star Wars: The Old Republic. It does definitely seem to be a little laggy at times; sometimes an ability will finish channeling on the server well before it shows on my end, or I'll miss an interrupt that it doesn't look like I should've missed. But all told, while it's not as crisp as World of Warcraft, the combat is fairly stable.

The video rendering can be a little twisty, though. Here are a few screenshots from my time in The Old Republic that I found pretty funny. None of them created a quest issue for me, so I could appreciate them as simple video quirks.

I've got one more image for you. It's not an issue with the video loading slowly or improperly, though. It's just a funny little design choice that I appreciate...even though I'm not a big fan of Johnnie Walker:

Apparently folks on Tattooine enjoy their scotch.

Trade String - Bartolo Colon

Note: This post uses links from baseball-reference.com. I'm still not pleased with their advertising system, as it still punishes your entire computer if you even just keep a browser window open for too long, or try to open more than one window from the site. I just wanted to provide links to some older players, and that's more easily done through Baseball Reference than through other sites.

I've always been fascinated with trades. When I was a kid, I used to trade baseball cards, not really knowing anything about their values, just swapping this guy for that guy. I remember trading a lot of nobody players (mostly non-Orioles to get Orioles), but I also remember doing trades involving cards of Gary Sheffield, Nolan Ryan, and for some reason Gregg Jefferies.

My love of trades has continued into adulthood, moving from sports cards to fantasy players, Steam games, and whatever else I've got in my life, physical or digital. When I moved back to the area from college, I remember I traded my desk, a microwave, and a bookshelf for a PS2 console, a couple accessories, and some PS2 and N64 games. I was pleased, the other guy was pleased, it was a great experience. And my interest in bartering grew.

I've also always been interested in trades that real-life sports teams make. When I was little, I remember writing a letter to the Baltimore Orioles (I don't know if I wrote it to someone in particular), listing out a number of players I thought they should trade for. I don't know if the letter ever got mailed or read, but I don't think I ever got a response. I still believe they should've traded for Julio Franco. I'll believe that 'til the day I die.

Anyways, all of this is leading into what this new "segment" will be about: trades. The question that these posts will seek to answer is, "What did they really end up getting for _______?" Mostly, it will focus on players who were involved in large trades that sent them alone from one team to another in exchange for a variety of veterans, rookies/minor leaguers, and draft picks. The articles will delve into what those assets actually were, and, if they were subsequently traded, for whom they were traded. The idea here is that when a deal is made, you create a string connecting the involved players; these posts will follow those strings to see the "end result" of those trades.

Here's our first one.

June 27, 2002: Montreal Expos Acquire Bartolo Colon

On the morning of June 27th, the MLB-owned Montreal Expos were 40-36, and Major League Baseball was under scrutiny for its management of this league asset. There were questions abound as to whether or not this arrangement was creating an unfair situation for other teams in the league; were the Expos, without an ownership group behind them, still pursuing victories as aggressively as other teams?

Perhaps as an answer to these contentions, and perhaps in a genuine attempt to make a push for the playoffs over the summer, the Expos traded a few young prospects and Lee Stevens to the Cleveland Indians for Bartolo Colon. Were they important prospects? Well, who can know?

We can, duh, that's what this is all about. Here's the full list of players involved in the trade:

Cleveland Indians trade

• Bartolo Colon
• Tim Drew

to the Montreal Expos for

• Cliff Lee
• Brandon Phillips
• Grady Sizemore
• Lee Stevens

Oh god.

Cliff Lee was one of Cleveland's strongest starting pitchers in twenty years, going 83-48 from 2002-2009, and capturing the 2008 Cy Young award. Phillips never amounted to much for the Indians, but since being shuffled off to Cincinnati has been named to three All-Star teams, and has netted four Gold Gloves. Grady Sizemore was one of baseball's most prolific power-speed combo guys for several years, and he won a pair of Gold Gloves, although truthfully he may have been more useful as a fantasy player than a real-life player. Lee Stevens was past his prime by 2002, and didn't play in the majors beyond that season.

The problem for the Indians, of course, is that they didn't make the most of these assets. As the other Joe will constantly point out, Cleveland has a notorious history of poor player evaluations, and the fact that they couldn't find a way to get Brandon Phillips more than 12 games between 2004 and 2005 is criminal. They traded him to the Reds for a player to be named, who ended up being Jeff Stevens. If the name doesn't ring a bell, don't worry. He was a small-time reliever who didn't play in the majors until 2009...with the Cubs.

They did have four really good years with Grady Sizemore, and four-and-a-half with Cliff Lee. Sizemore suffered a variety of injuries and missed the 2012 and 2013 seasons altogether and being granted free agency by Cleveland. He signed with the Red Sox last offseason, played up and down for a couple months and was released. He caught on with the Phillies, and figures to be in a platoon or serving as a 4th outfielder for them next year.

Lee was traded along with Ben Francisco to the Phillies in a deadline deal that brought back Carlos Carrasco as well as three non-factor players (Jason Knapp, Jason Donald, and Lou Marson. Carrasco was supposed to be the jewel of the deal, but didn't produce right away. Things are finally looking up a little bit after five years; he pitched in middle- and late-relief during the dog days of summer last year, and finished strong and back in the rotation. He's still under his rookie contract until 2018, so the Indians have some time to figure out if he's for real.

What about those 2002 Expos? They finished 83-79 and missed the playoffs. Colon went 10-4 with 3.31/1.32 averages, fine numbers, but not nearly as good as they were with the Indians prior to the trade. At the end of the season, Montreal traded Colon and minor leaguer Jorge Nunez to the White Sox for Rocky Biddle, Orlando Hernandez, and Jeff Liefer, none of whom had a noticeably positive impact on the Expos.

This was a curious case, where one of the most valuable pieces (Phillips) ended up being particularly valuable, but not for the team he was originally traded to. Still, the Indians were able to get four great years of production from Sizemore and Lee in exchange for an over-performing starting pitcher.

Endgame Winner: Cleveland Indians
(sub-winner: Cincinnati Reds)

Sigh...the Washington Redskins

Note: This post has nothing to do with the Redskins' team nickname, other than its use of the nickname in discussion.

So the Redskins are pretty bad. I mean, they've been competitive in some games this year, and they've even won a couple, but overall, they're just not very good. Historically, I'd have a standard response to this issue, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that my old solutions are symptomatic of the overall problem with the Skins (and to a lesser extent, the Capitals).

A change in personnel will not improve this team.

In the past, I've constantly come up with trade ideas or exciting potential free agent acquisitions, always thinking of ways to "win the offseason" in order to become a better team. This very rarely works. Teams that are good tend to have gotten good over the course of time. The Seahawks didn't show up out of nowhere; they'd been building up for years.

Now, with the impending change from Robert Griffin III to Colt McCoy, there's a lot of frustration in the air, and with good reason. Some people think Griffin deserves to finish out the season on merit. Others believe McCoy doesn't have a future as a starting QB, so any game he starts is a waste of an opportunity to learn about other QBs like Griffin or Kirk Cousins. And a lot of people are just pissed off that we're in this situation less than two years after the Griffin-led Redskins beat the Cowboys in week 17 to get into the playoffs. They're all valid gripes, and par for the course in Washington...which is exactly the problem.

I didn't agree with signing Ryan Clark in the offseason. He's past his prime, and I never thought he was a great player to begin with; he benefited from one of the most consistently strong defenses in the league in Pittsburgh. But he did have a history of playing on good teams, and I think that's what this Redskins team lacks the most. So many of the Skins' players are longtime Redskins, which means they're longtime losers. The culture of failure and disappointment is I think what's most problematic in Washington. That doesn't get solved overnight, and it doesn't get solved by addressing a skill concern.

The way I would approach trying to fix the Redskins is a "five-point plan" overhaul (I'm still feeling political; Election Day wasn't that long ago):

1. Refuse to accept losing. After a near lifetime of disappointment, we in Washington expect to fail. So, why not "fail big" in order to improve draft status? I would cite the 76ers, the Raiders, and the Jaguars. The players you acquire have to hate losing. Fighting tooth and nail for every win is a direct way to improving the team's culture. And that means giving Colt McCoy a chance.
2. Stick with the same coach. Some people don't like Jay Gruden, but I think his tell-it-like-it-is nature is refreshing. And by the way, other than Marty Schottenheimer, the Redskins' fan base was on board with every coaching change the Redskins have made in recent years. Steve Spurrier was panned, Jim Zorn was despised, and Mike Shanahan was soured upon. Don't get pissed at Dan Snyder for changing coaches when you call for exactly the same moves.
3. Draft people, not skillsets. The players who pay off the most are players who are driven to perform from within. JaMarcus Russell was an impressive physical specimen with great arm strength and size, but he seemed to coast along, expecting those skills to carry him. You want guys who have fight in their hearts, who strive to improve every day. Football is such an intense sport that guys who take plays off are going to cost you, on the field and in the locker room.
4. Stop signing bad players to bad contracts. Albert Haynesworth was one of the worst signings in NFL history, but he's far from the only mistake Washington's made in recent years. Signing guys off their best seasons, signing accomplished veterans for starter money when they aren't worthy of starting any more, signing guys because of their names and not because of their skills. All bad. I don't know if it's a scouting issue, or an "owner-involvement" issue, but the Skins have had trouble using their funds appropriately of late. So, in the same vein...
5. Sign the "right" guys. There are thousands of guys trying to play professional football, and hundreds more come in from college every year. But there are a few key components the Skins have been missing. This past offseason was the first time they'd spent any legitimate money on a punt/kickoff return guy, even though it's been a weakness for a decade. They still lack a LOT in the leadership department; when DeAngelo Hall went down, could anybody name a leader on this defense? Plenty of good players, but no leaders. If I could draw a blueprint for the perfect guy for the Skins to sign, he'd be a productive middle linebacker with pedigree, leadership skills, a clean bill of health, and experience winning in the playoffs. I know that's a narrow definition, but I'm not saying it's got to be Brian Urlacher or Ray Lewis. Just someone who can play.

Look, I'm no GM. I'm no head coach. I'm no scout. I never played organized football, and I'm not particularly good at disorganized football. But I see how other teams perform, and I compare their actions to the actions of my favorite team, and I find differences. I want my team to be a team that wins regularly, that always feels like they're a couple good bounces away from a division title.

I'm just trying to get there.

Unsubscribing from Star Wars

So I recently allowed my subscription to lapse for Star Wars: The Old Republic. It wasn't a mistake; I had subscribed for a month and enjoyed it, but I knew going in that I'd be headed back to a free-to-play status. Well, not exactly that; SW:TOR has a middle tier called "preferred" players, giving a few extra bonuses for players who have spent any money in the Cartel Market, or have ever been subscribers. The middle tier has a few more character slots, quickbars (which really shouldn't be limited on any tier; they're part of gameplay), auction slots, etc. It's also got a credit limit of 350,000 credits for each character, and this factor has had an effect that I couldn't have anticipated:

I'm playing the game again.

While I was a subscriber, I spent the majority of my time trying to make money. I was going to say "a good portion," but the truth is it was a majority of my time in the game. I would log in, send my crew on missions to pick up crafting materials, then peruse the auction house for this or that, then Alt+Tab to work on whatever else I had going on, or just watch Orange Is the New Black.

Sometimes I'd swap into another character while I was waiting for my crew to get back, so that I could send another companion on another crew mission. I was literally grinding out a job on days I had off from my real job. And not even with a goal in mind; there isn't really anything credit-wise I was saving up for. I was just acquiring credits so that I had them.

But now, with the 350,000 credit limit, there's no reason for me to wildly accumulate. As a result, instead of wallowing on the Imperial Fleet, I'm pushing forward with my class missions. I'm a bit over-leveled because I have a habit of doing every single mission I get, so I only get experience on like half of the missions, but the story is moving along, and I'm enjoying that.

Additionally, I'm less concerned about spending money on the Galactic Trade Network (I called it the auction house earlier, but GTN is the official name). The one thing I'd spent money on before was mounts, but I was always reticent to shell out the cash, because I didn't know if I was getting a good deal. Now I don't care much; I have a credit limit, so if I don't spend the money, it gets locked away in "escrow" until I pay to have it transferred or re-subscribe. So if I see a mount I don't already have, I buy it. No researching the prices, no wondering if it was for sale somewhere from a vendor, just nom nom nom.

I still send my guys on crew missions, of course. I'm not going to change who I am at my core. But the credit limit has helped to change my play habits, I think for the better. I'm getting a lot closer to that "experiential gaming" I mentioned in a post last week.

And I am pleased.

Pie Tuesday

Today is Pie Tuesday.

I know some of you recognize March 14 (or 3-14) as Pi Day, and bully for you. But Pie Tuesday has a storied history that goes back like seven or eight years.

Alright, I'm being a little facetious, but I like that Pie Tuesday is our own. The original Pie Tuesday sprung from my friend Mark and I visiting my cousin Michael at his late night job as a desk clerk in College Park. The plan was to surprise him with snacks and company. We went to a few different spots searching for pies (on a whim), but each place we went to was closed. Perkins, Target, even the Wal-Mart we visited was shut down for the night. We were all set to give up hope when we remembered that there was a Shoppers Food Warehouse in College Park. So we scooted on down the highway and made our way to CP.

We grabbed a case of Little Hugs fruit drinks, a tray of cinnamon rolls, a half gallon of ice cream, and a pair of pies that would become our standard: apple and pumpkin. We surprised Michael, fun times were had, snacks were eaten, and a tradition was born.

These days, Pie Tuesday has evolved into a general guy-time hangout, with an emphasis on pies (unsurprisingly). It's no longer a surprise for anyone, but we sit around and play board games, watch sports, stuff our faces, and be loud and obnoxious. It's great.

If you're not celebrating Pie Tuesday, you should. And if you are, save me a slice.

A Gambler's Secret CS:GO Fun: The Trade-Up Contract

Note: Prices from this article were retrieved in November, 2014. CS:GO market fluctuations may result in jumps and dips, but the relative prices between tiers should be consistent.
 
If, like me, you're new-ish to CS:GO, you may only have a cursory knowledge of the Trade-Up Contract. And that's okay; it's not like you're missing out on a key game feature, like grenades or deathmatch. It's a sideways way of getting new weapon skins when you've got a lot of junkers. But if you like gambling, it can be a slightly less risky way to wet your whistle than opening cases.

The Basics

First, let's go over how it works. Weapon skins have multiple grades, progressing in the following order from least rare to most rare:

• Consumer
• Industrial
• Mil-Spec
• Restricted
• Classified
• Covert
• Contraband*

*Contraband is a designation given to only one weapon thus far, the M4A4 Howl, which was redesigned and discontinued due to art theft by the submitter. For our purposes in this article, Contraband Grade weapons are irrelevant.

In order to "trade up," you select ten weapons of all the same grade, and you will receive one weapon of the next grade up. For example, If you trade up ten industrial grade weapons, you get one mil-spec weapon. If you trade up ten mil-spec weapons, you'll get a restricted weapon, and so on. So, if you wanted to trade from only consumer grade weapons and get a covert weapon, you'd need 100,000 consumer grade weapons. There are certainly that many consumer grade weapons out there, but at a nickel apiece, you'd be spending five grand to get to that point; not exactly a great strategy.

Map Collections and Case Collections

Of course, there's more to it than that. How does the game decide what weapon to grant you? Each weapon is part of a specific "collection." There are two different kinds of collections. There are collections that drop at the end of matches. We'll call these "map collections," because each of these collections is named after a map in CS:GO. So you have the Dust Collection, the Mirage Collection, the Train Collection, etc. The other kind of collections are those that drop when you use a key to open a weapon case. We'll call these "case collections," for obvious reasons. Something to note is that case collections only drop mil-spec or higher weapons. Consumer and industrial grade weapons only exist in map collections, and only drop at the end of matches.

If you trade up ten items from within the same collection, you'll get an item from the next tier up in that collection. For example, take a look at the Arms Deal Collection, the first case collection in the game. If you were to trade up ten AUG | Wings, you would be guaranteed to get one of three items: Glock-18 | Dragon Tattoo, USP-S | Dark Water, or M4A1-S | Dark Water. So, your chances of getting any one of those three items would be about 33.3%. You could also trade up three AUG | Wings, three SG 553 | Ultraviolet, and four MP7 | Skulls, and have the same odds of the three restricted-grade weapon skins.

With the original Trade Up Contract, this was your only option. You were required to trade up within the same collection. Now, however, you have more options, which creates greater gambling possibilities.

Mix and Match

With the current Trade Up format, you can now trade up ten equal grade weapons from any collection and receive a random item from the next tier up among those collections. Each of the ten items contributes 10% of the odds of the resulting skin. So for example, using the AUG | Wings from above, each AUG | Wings you use in a contract would add a 3.33% chance to draw each of the Glock-18 | Dragon Tattoo, the USP-S | Dark Water, and the M4A1-S | Dark Water. If you were to add a PP-Bizon | Brass from the Dust 2 Collection, you would add a full 10% chance of drawing the P2000 | Amber Fade (one of my personal favorite skins). Each base item contributes ten percent to the total, so adding this list of guns to your Trade Up Contract...

AUG | Wings
AUG | Wings
AUG | Wings
PP-Bizon | Brass
PP-Bizon | Brass
PP-Bizon | Brass
PP-Bizon | Brass
PP-Bizon | Brass
PP-Bizon | Brass
PP-Bizon | Brass

...would result in the following odds:

Glock-18 | Dragon Tattoo = (3.33 + 3.33 + 3.33) = 10%
USP-S | Dark Water = 10%
M4A1-S | Dark Water = 10%
P2000 | Amber Fade = (10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10) = 70%

But Math Isn't Fun...

So what's the big deal, right? The Mil-Spec weapons from the Phoenix case (UMP-45 | Corporal, Negev | Terrain, etc) are about $0.05 apiece, and at the trade up level, the Restricted weapons from that case range from $0.25 to $0.45 apiece. So a trade up only loses you money...

...unless you mix and match sets. For example, look at the Assault Collection (which you'll find is everyone's favorite because of the Glock-18 | Fade). The only industrial grade skin is the Five-SeveN | Candy Apple, which is about $1.11 on the market right now. If you traded up with only consumer grade skins from the Assault Collection, you'd spend about $1.50. But, if you only included, say, two skins from the Assault Collection, and then put in eight skins from lower end collections (Dust 2 consumer grade skins are about $0.03 right now), you could roll the dice on a 20% chance at getting the Candy Apple. It's still mathematically a losing proposition, but now it at least boasts the possibility of a big win. That's gambling, folks.

So what you're looking for are skins whose values at various tiers are notably different from the same tiers in other collections. Some rough base values to use:

• Consumer - $0.03 - $0.05
• Industrial - $0.05 - $0.09
• Mil-Spec - $0.09 - $0.14
• Restricted - $0.34 - $0.45
• Classified - $2.00 - $2.45

Covert weapons can't be traded up, only case collections go up to cover level, and covert weapon skins generally set the value for the whole collection. So, there's no reason to concern yourself with them on this chart.

An important note: there are some skins that are regularly below average market value for their grade that you should never, ever buy for trade ups. The reason is that some skins below Covert are still the top level weapon skin for their collection.

Which Collections Have Outliers?

All collections are going to have some variation in price from one tier to the next. It's a complicated result of a number of factors, most specifically the following:

• Age/supply of collection
• Demand for highest tier of weapon

That's really it. Other people will try to tell you there are more factors, like how much time is left in the current operation, or the value of lower tier weapons within the collection, and maybe they're right. But the impact of those factors is almost always negligible. I use CSGO Stash to get quick glances at various collections when I'm in the mood, or just to check up on a particular skin. The information is usually up-to-date, though it's almost always a couple cents off. Still, not enough to be a problem.

You can, of course, do your own research, but I wanted to provide a little information directly regarding which spots have some potential for gambling upside. These are skins that you can slide in as your "lotto ticket" for a reasonable price, and give yourself a chance at a big win. These are in no way guarantees, and I want to impress upon you that, even these adjusted tactics will still, more often than not, lead to a negative result, value-wise. It's just fun to give yourself that chance.

Anyways, these skins have trade-up potential that goes above and beyond the normal values for that tier. These are also only skins that have 100% trade up "win" potential; that is, if you "hit" on this skin, you're going to get a valuable skin as a result.

Assault Collection 
All consumer grade skins 
Five-SeveN | Candy Apple

Bank Collection
CZ75-Auto | Tuxedo
Galil AR | Tuxedo

Cobblestone Collection
All industrial grade skins
All mil-spec grade skins
All restricted grade skins

Italy Collection
Sawed-Off | Full Stop

Overpass Collection
All industrial grade skins

Vertigo Collection
All consumer grade skins

For giggles, and in case you were unsure of what this whole process looks like, I've prepared the videos below for your pleasure.






Thanks for reading all the way down, and good luck with your gambling!

Joe and Joe Sports

I got an email notification yesterday reminding me that www.joeandjoesports.com is going to expire soon. So you guys who've been coming here for a while, make sure that your bookmarks are all in order. You'll want to make sure that you keep coming to www.GoodPointJoe.com...daily.

Maybe many times a day.

Experiential Gaming

I was at a friends' house a couple weeks ago, and we were watching some random Twitch streams. He's got an Xbox One, so we were able to browse Twitch from the comfort of his living room couch. Anyways, the stream that we settled on was a guy playing the recently released Alien: Isolation on his PS4. He was very animated, and he did a great job of ramping up the tension in the stream. He was clearly nervous and scared (of the outcome of the game, not of streaming; he seemed perfectly comfortable sharing his gaming experience, and I wish I remembered his name). He was truly "experiencing" this game.

As I watched, I realized that this guy's gaming experience is almost completely opposite my own recent experience, and his experience is what I wish I was getting out of gaming.

I've been playing the following games of late:

PAYDAY 2

Payday 2 has a number of different heists, usually with both a stealth and "loud" approach. Each mission holds several different challenges, and some are multi-day affairs that change based on your actions on the first day. The game also offers a wide variety of moddable weapons and customizable masks, both of which are consistently supplemented through DLC (some of which I've bought, some I've not bought).

But I've really done everything I wanted to do in Payday 2. There are some achievements I don't have, some guns I haven't bought, and some missions I haven't completed on the highest difficulties, but I don't feel compelled to satisfy any of those "incomplete" aspects of the game. I've completed all I feel compelled to complete from this game, though I keep playing, because "levels" and "unlocks" I guess.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

About two months ago, I decided to finally check out the Star Wars MMO. I was a huge fan of Knights of the Old Republic, and I had actually played a little bit of the beta for SW:TOR. It was fun enough, and story-heavy, which is a nice change of pace from some of the other MMOs I've played. So I've been playing for a while now, and while the stories are interesting (and unique for each class!), I find that most of my time "playing" the game is simply spent on crafting while I do some other task outside of the game, like watch a TV show or work on a Magic deck. It's like I'm only seeking the regular validation of a successful crew mission, not actually caring about the time spent.

Pattern?

Counter-Strike:Global Offensive

I go through spurts of playing CS:GO a lot or very little. The game recently began a new "Operation," which involves a few new maps, some new weapon skins, and a revival of the mission system that was present in the last operation. The missions require you to complete some task in the game (get 20 kills in deathmatch, win a match on a particular map, etc), and after completing the mission, you receive a reward of some in-game item. These items can be worth anywhere from $0.03 (most often) up to a hundred dollars or more (pretty rare, obviously). So, naturally, I grind out some games here and there to feel like I'm "accomplishing" something.

What the shit, right?

Remember the old days of playing games just because you hadn't beaten them? Or damn, I mean, I've played Mega Man 2 a thousand times, and probably 900 of those times were after I'd beaten the game. I keep playing because the gameplay itself is fun. I don't get any achievements or register any points when I play. I just play.

So much of my gaming these days is in pursuit of small, artificial, unsatisfying goals. I'm not saying I don't like getting achievements; I'm saying I want to want to play the game, not solely want to pursue the achievements.

I have managed to get back to playing "the game" of Star Wars; I'm actually scheduled to regress from "subscriber" to "preferred user" in the next day or so, so actually I'll have fewer options with regards to crew skills and auction houses anyways. It's possible that this artificial barrier, designed to encourage users to re-subscribe, might actually help me play the game I want to play it again.

I have 846 games just on Steam. I've got a dozen more on Origin, maybe 40 on GOG.com, and probably another 30-40 on Xbox 360 (my one console that's set up). There's literally zero chance that there isn't a game in here that will get my blood pumping again. I just have to A) find it, and B) feel like I'm okay with adding a new game to my "rotation." I should feel that way, since as I said, my gaming isn't satisfying me in its current state. But I'm a complicated guy, so you never know.

Magic Decks for Review - Landfall & Fling Deck (RG)

As I mentioned last week, I was looking for the best way to open up my home-brewed casual decks for comments and suggestions. You spoke, and I basically ignored you. Well, not you. But you, I totally ignored you. Sorry bro.

Anyways, the way I decided to go is using TappedOut to build the decks. The links to all of them are on the sidebar to the right, or you can view them on my profile page on TappedOut. The one downside is that you have to create an free account on TappedOut in order to leave a comment. It's simple, but it is an extra step, and for that I apologize. But I'd definitely appreciate it if you guys would take the time when you have it to review the decks. Some of them need a lot of work; others just need some tweaking.

But, I'm not going to just sit around and hope people chime in on their own. I'll highlight decks over time, asking for pointed feedback at various times with regards to a particular deck. Today's deck is a deck that I think is pretty close to being ready, but has a single definitive weakness.

Deck: Landfall & Fling RG

This deck relies heavily on the Landfall mechanic and Fling (or Soul's Fire, which has a similar effect). The idea is usually to take out the opponent in one huge turn, using cards like Evolving Wilds, Harrow, and Khalni Heart Expedition to provide a bunch of extra land drops. It works a fair amount of the time, but the problem is that the deck, in its current form, only eleven of the sixty cards provide creatures, and that includes those 7/1 Elemental tokens that last only one turn.

So, I'm looking for potential insertions serving that purpose. I could definitely see letting go of the Adventuring Gear in favor of some creatures. And I'm open to any other input you've got.

Go!

How to Frame Upcoming Magic Posts

I've got a series of Magic posts in the works that will (hopefully) provide you readers with the opportunity to share your opinions, correct me where I'm wrong, and help me to refine some personal decks I've created.

Let me backtrack a little.

Several years ago (back before The Good Point Bros were even a thing), I bought a big lot of random Magic cards on eBay. I used to collect baseball cards when I was little, and it was fun to sort through everything, looking for rares and interesting cards.

Since that first batch, I've bought several more, sometimes the same amalgamation of cards from random sets, sometimes repacks of one set or another, and sometimes something in between. One that was really fun was a box of 24 packs from the entire history of Magic. It was neat to see Fire Whip and Evil Twin in the same pack, and it made for a really interesting draft one summer when James was stateside.

Anyways, as I perused cards from throughout Magic's history, I became more and more interested in thinking about how cards from different eras worked together. A natural follow-up to that was that I started to build my own decks. I remember the first one was a tribal Merfolk & Wizard deck, and I remember the first two cards in it were Streambed Aquitects and Sage's Dousing. I thoroughly enjoyed the process of researching possible additions/swaps, checking mana curves, and assessing a deck's win conditions to build as strong a deck as I could.

And of course, through all this work, I'd come across some other card that begged to be highlighted. So I made a red equipment deck featuring Bloodshot Trainee, a green/white enchantments deck featuring Primal Huntbeast and Armadillo Cloak, and a black/white lifegain deck with cards like Suture Priest.

I love the whole process, but there are two hurdles that I have to deal with.

The first is a simple matter of availability. I don't have planeswalkers or Moxes; most of my cards are common or uncommon, and not terribly many of them are new. So a lot of my decks feature pedestrian cards from Zendikar or Lorwyn or 8th Edition. I actually have no problem with this limitation; I feel like it's the same level of challenge as building a deck with boss cards, and since I really only play my decks among the other decks, there's no concern about a wild advantage by one deck because of raw card power.

The second hurdle is what I'm hoping you'll be able to help me with. While I've done my share of research and discussion, I'm still a long way from being fluent in Magic's history. But between me, and James, and Nick, and talbott_matt, and PuresteelPally, and Kouseband, and 0utlier, and Rekanos, maybe we've got it all covered. So what I'd like to do is to provide you guys with decklists, and welcome your input on how to improve the decks, either by incorporating generally better cards, or refining the mana curve, or swapping in cards that better fit the particular intentions of the decks.

The problem I have is this: I don't know how best to share with you the current state of the decks. I have a couple of options, but I'm open to other ideas if you've got them.

First, the simplest option, though it'll probably take the most work: I can just list each card with the quantity in the deck, along with a link to its Gatherer page. This would be easiest for phone browsing, but isn't really intuitive at all, and doesn't take advantage of any particular resources available.

A second option would be to create the decks with the deck editor in Magic The Gathering Online, then upload the deck file and invite readers to download the file to view the deck. This would make for easy manipulation of the current deck and searches of potential alternatives. But it would require that you have MODO available; not exactly going to work for people browsing on their Samsung Galaxies.

A third option would be to create and save the decks using TappedOut.net. This would be similar to the first option, except that the list would be hosted on another site, forcing you to navigate back to the blog to comment on its related post. But, for decks that have several updates (which will probably be all of them), you'll be able to see the process as it evolves, and respond only to the most recent iteration of the deck.

So my question is, to those of you who think you might be up for helping me out, which method sounds the most appealing to you? Or is there something I haven't thought of/am unaware of that would fit the bill even better than what I've mentioned? Leave feedback in the comments, por favor.

Top 5 "Sports-Watching Beers"

We're well into autumn now, and that means a few things:

1. the holidays are coming up;
2. it's time to put away the shorts for a little while; and
3. football and hockey are in full swing.

While the holidays are important, and I know you'll all miss my exposed sexy legs, the third item on the list is what I want to talk about. There's something purely human about watching sports and drinking a beer. Men and women, young and old, rich and poor, everyone can get on board with cracking open a cold one while reclining and watching a sporting event.

Not every beer is built for this sort of event. There are a lot of brews out there that are built on pretentiousness and expectation and basically anything hipsters think is so rad. But there are a lot of beers that encourage you to relax and just enjoy the damn game. My favorites are below.

5. Bud Light - Does Bud Light make my socks roll up and down? No, it does not. But I like it well enough, I can drink pretty much as many as I want, and it's fairly cheap. Sometimes when you're watching sports (at a bar, for example), you just want a beer you can forget about. For me, Bud Light is that beer.

4. Molson Canadian - The best thing about Canadian beers is that, almost without fail, they're all twist-offs. Who wants to waste valuable drinking time looking for a bottle opener? Also, Molson tastes good.

3. Honey Brown - There are a lot of "sweet" beers out there. Leinenkugel makes a few that are good, and plenty of companies make ones that aren't so good. Honey Brown sounds like it would be a sweet beer, and it's got a hint of sweetness, but really it's more hearty than sweet. It's a great chilly outdoor beer; if you're tailgating or at one of the NHL's outdoor games, Honey Brown is a good fit.

2. Killian's Irish Red - I didn't know this for a while, but apparently Killian's is a "value" beer. A year or two ago, I was in a county liquor store and was browsing their beer selection, and I noticed that Killian's was a sight cheaper than most of the other selections. As it was already one of my favorite choices, the price is a constant tipping point when I'm planning ahead and have time to chill the brews (liquor stores here don't sell cold beer).

1. Blue Moon - At first, I didn't think of Blue Moon as a winter beer; the crispness and freshness of it would make you think it's a summer brew. But for my money, Blue Moon is a beer for all seasons. The Blue Moon beer stand is also right at the concourse entrance where my family's Caps tickets are located, so it's even convenient. Win-win.

Honorable mention: Busch Light. In the words of Dave Chappelle, it'll get you drunk.

Dwight Howard and the Houston Rockets' NBA Championship Hopes - by Sam Smith

The following is a contribution by guest blogger Sam Smith.

Ever since Dwight Howard played out the end of his 1st part of his career with the Orlando Magic, he has been under a microscope. He was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, and he had a subpar season for the one year he was there. Now, he is starting his 2nd season with the Houston Rockets. People in fantasy basketball love his start, and he is the major reason why this team looks like a legitimate NBA championship contender.

Howard struggled in the last few years mainly due to some nagging injuries. It is still very early in the year, but it looks as though Howard is finally healthy enough to play the minutes he wants to. He is a force on both sides of the floor, and he can make up for a lot of deficiencies the Rockets might have in general.

Other than Howard, this team is not particularly dominant on defense. He shuts down the paint, and that really gives the rest of the team a lot more confidence knowing that they have some security.

In the Western Conference, every contender looks slightly vulnerable. Oklahoma City is really hurting with injuries, San Antonio is a year older and the Los Angeles Clippers are pretty inconsistent. The door might be opening for a team like Houston to put their hat in the ring.

A few years ago, Howard led a pretty mediocre Orlando Magic team to the NBA Finals. This team is better than that Magic team, but they do know that the Western Conference is extremely loaded. With Howard playing like his former Defensive Player of the Year, Houston might just be ready to take the next step. He is certainly solidifying himself as the top center in the NBA once again with his strong start to the season.

2014 National League Awards

As usual, the National League is worse than the American League.

I'm joking mostly, but it brings up an interesting point. When I was young, and interleague play wasn't a thing, I didn't care for the NL. I didn't really like any of the teams, and when I watched the All-Star Game, I was rooting, legitimately rooting for the American League to win. Not forced rooting because MLB tied World Series home-field advantage to the game, but just deep-in-the-soul rooting. I'm sure more people watch more baseball live and on TV because of interleague play, and I'm sure some people like that the All-Star game "counts" now, but I miss those days.

Rookie of the Year
Jacob deGrom, Mets
Billy Hamilton, Reds
Kolten Wong, Cardinals

While it may have been a joke, there was a smack of truth when I said the AL was better than the NL. Our choices here are a 9-6 starting pitcher, a .250 hitter with 56 steals, and a guy who started 100 games at second base for the division-winning Cardinals.

Hamilton will probably win, but my pick is deGrom. In addition to his 9-6 record, he posted averages of 2.69/1.14 and over a strikeout an inning. His final two starts were great, notching 23 strikeouts in 13 innings. The Mets still need hitters (they batted just .239 last season), but if Matt Harvey can come back and return to his 2013 form, they might have a nice little pitching staff.

Manager of the Year
Bruce Bochy, Giants
Clint Hurdle, Pirates
Matt Williams, Nationals

Be honest. None of you thought the Pirates could do it again, especially with young slugger Pedro Alvarez taking a big step backwards. But somehow Clint Hurdle dragged this scrappy group to another wild card game, losing to the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants. Bochy and Williams did well, but those were both teams that you sort of expected to do well. Right or wrong, Hurdle gets a bump in my book for cooking with raw ingredients.

Cy Young
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
Johnny Cueto, Reds
Adam Wainwright, Cardinals

Kershaw led the NL in wins, ERA, WHIP, complete games, K/BB ratio, and basically every advanced metric you can think of, and he finished 3 strikeouts behind Cueto and Stephen Strasburg for the league lead. And he did it all while missing his first five starts of the season with a muscle strain in his back. Cueto and Wainwright were great, but Kershaw was a cut above.

Most Valuable Player
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins
Andrew McCutchen, Pirates

This is an interesting call. McCutchen was extremely productive, but without the eye-popping stats that draw people in. Stanton was the NL's most prolific masher, but he was on a bad team and struck out in 1/4 of his at-bats. Kershaw was phenomenal, but he only pitched 27 times, exactly 1/6 of a full season. On top of that, I'm just overall reticent to bestow the MVP award on a pitcher.

The way I approached it was this: if you took these players off of their respective teams, how would their seasons have been affected? A Stanton-less Marlins would probably drop from 4th in the NL East to 5th. Taking Kershaw off of the Dodgers would've been rough, but they're still a really good team (especially if they stop being ridiculous and play Matt Kemp every day).

But the Pirates' whole lineup is held together by McCutchen. He led the team in hits, runs, doubles, home runs, RBI, OBP, and slugging percentage, and finished second in just about everything else (batting average, triples, steals). I think Kershaw will probably actually win, in no small part because McCutchen won the MVP last year. And he's not a wrong pick. He's just not my pick.

2014 American League Awards

As usual, I'm here to offer my opinions on the baseball awards season. However, I wanted to say something first.

This year's awards seem way more predictable overall than they've been in years past. Some gambling websites aren't even offering odds on Mike Trout winning the MVP; it's such a sure bet that there are no odds that a bookmaker could offer and still expect profit. That said, there are a couple of ones that will be fun to talk about, as always. And probably my favorite argument is right here in this post. I'll give you a clue: it starts with American League, and ends with Cy Young.

I'd also like to point out that, at least for these two posts, I won't be using links to Baseball Reference. I continue to be frustrated by their bombardment of advertisements, and I refuse to link to them, as at this point, their usability is below even Yahoo or ESPN. It saddens me, but I can't in good faith link to such a problem website.

My choice in italics.

Rookie of the Year
Jose Abreu, White Sox
Dellin Betances, Yankees
Matt Shoemaker, Angels

Abreu holds a special place in my heart as one of my better draft picks in fantasy baseball history. Interestingly, I've traded almost all of my best picks: Abreu, Clayton Kershaw, Prince Fielder. Watch out Chris Sale, you're probably next.

Anyways, Abreu was a masher all year, and just his power numbers would've warranted a Rookie of the Year victory. But on top of that, he seemed to mature before our eyes over the course of the season, pushing his batting average up from a solid .292 in the first half to a stalwart .317 at the end of the season. Betances was a great short reliever, and Shoemaker had a great season (16-4, 3.04/1.07). But Abreu came onto the scene loudly and only got louder. He's my pick.

Manager of the Year
Mike Scioscia, Angels
Buck Showalter, Orioles
Ned Yost, Royals

I can't speak to this award much, because I'm biased towards Buck and because I think Manager of the Year is one of those awards that relies heavily on the eye test. Showalter is far and away the guy I saw the most of with regards to lineup adjustments and pitching decisions, and he managed to pull a patchwork pitching staff to a runaway win of the American League East. Good enough for me.

Cy Young
Felix Hernandez, Mariners
Cory Kluber, Indians
Chris Sale, White Sox

Sale had a great two-thirds of a season, but his injury took away his ability to earn the Cy Young award in my book. So it's really a two-man race between Felix and Kluber. Felix led the league in ERA and WHIP, while Kluber had more wins and strikeouts (total and per 9 innings) than Hernandez. Both guys finished strong, both guys played for teams that nearly played the playoffs.

It's six in one hand, half a dozen in the other, but I'm going with Kluber. I still don't like the idea of giving the Cy Young to someone who gets 15-16 wins, even if it's a flawed statistic. I also like that, while the Indians were gasping for air in September, Kluber registered at least 7 innings and 104 pitches in each of his final five starts, nabbing the win in all five. When the season was on the line, Kluber did his best work. Felix was good down the stretch, but not that good.

Most Valuable Player
Michael Brantley, Indians
Victor Martinez, Tigers
Mike Trout, Angels

It's not really worth discussing this one very much. Trout is far and away the most prolific offensive player in baseball right now. Every simple or advanced statistic you want to look at, he's at the top. Martinez and Brantley are fine players who had great seasons, but Trout is a force of nature.

We'll get the baseball writers' picks next week. My National League picks will come out before that.

2014 NFL Predictions - Midway Madness

After a few posts on Magic, I figured I'd better post about sports again so you guys don't think (/realize) I'm a total nerd. Football!

Every team has now played at least eight games, and the standings are looking very interesting. Coming into the season, I'd have never expected to see the Arizona Cardinals at the top of the NFC West. There's still plenty of football to be played, but the season is starting to take shape. So, given the information we've got to this point, here's where I think things will end up after week 17.

AFC


East: New England Patriots - It's hard to pick against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, much as I might dislike them. Spoiler: it's a lot.
North: Pittsburgh Steelers - Don't look now, but the Steelers just scored 94 points against two teams above .500 over the past two weeks (Colts & Ravens). They're never down for long.

South: Indianapolis Colts - I don't think Andrew Luck is ready for the big time like everybody else does, but in the AFC's weakest division, he's far and away the best QB.
West: Denver Broncos - I'll be a Philip Rivers fan until the day I die, but there's no denying Peyton Manning's regular season domination. He's a force.

Wild Cards: Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs - Both defenses look legit, and I'm becoming a believer in Ryan Tannehill. Andy Reid can't help but put his teams in the playoffs.

NFC

East: Philadelphia Eagles - I don't think Dallas's perceived problems on defense were false; as the season goes on, I expect them to look worse, not better.
North: Green Bay Packers - The Lions have been good, but in today's NFL, I don't believe you can average fewer than 21 points a game and win long-term.
South: Carolina Panthers - Ron Rivera coached the cats out of a funk last year, I'm betting he can do it again. The Saints' run appears to be over.
West: Seattle Seahawks - I just can't bring myself to believe the Cardinals will finish as strong as they started. The defending champs will get back into form.

Wild Cards: Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers - Maybe I'm wrong about Detroit, but I just can't see things ending well in Motor City. And I expect the Cowboys to fall back to earth...and then some.

Super Bowl Prediction: Green Bay Packers over Pittsburgh Steelers - Because nothing new and fun ever happens.

I wanted to get this down on paper so you can hold me accountable for it down the road. So when the Super Bowl matches the Lions against the Dolphins, feel free to throw angry comments at me.

Top 5 Modern "Core Set" Cards - Red

Top Five Red Core Cards

1. Fireball (many times, most recently M12) - There's value in Volcanic Geyser of course, but Fireball has such a history in Magic that it makes the top of my list. I also actually kind of like that it's a sorcery spell; the flavor of X mana spells feel like they ought to take full focus, rather than being instant speed. The massive burn available to Red is its calling card.
2. Furnace Whelp (5DN, 10E, M13, M15) - I picked Furnace Whelp when I could have just as easily picked Shivan Dragon. I went with the Whelp because uncommon cards feel more "core" than rares. But either card in this "slot" fits two important roles: dragon, and firebreather. Firebreathing is like Fireball in creature form, and it's probably Red's most important creature characteristic.
3. Lightning Elemental (many times, most recently M12) - Lightning Elemental captures two features of Red. The first is obvious: haste shows up in Red more than any other color. The other is the vast difference between power and toughness, usually with power being considerably higher. Fire Elemental is a classic Red card, but it's not particuarly, you know, Red. You could put the same stats on a card in any color and it'd make some sense.
4. Fling (STH, M11, M12, DKA) - I had initially planned on including Shock or Lightning Bolt, but I came away with the opinion that Fling was perfectly suited to describing Red. It's instant-speed burn, and it depends on building up a creature's power (or, "enraging" them). It also has the added bonus of being exploitable; I've got a Landfall-based deck that's really all about Fling. One of my favorites.
5. Siege-Gang Commander (SCG, 10E, M10) - Red has hundreds of goblins to choose from, so I tried to find one that helped explain a little more of Red. Goblin tokens are in fact a fair part of what Red can do, so that goes in there. Additionally, the sacrifice of any creature, but goblins in particular, for the greater good is a typically Red or Black feature. It came down to Siege-Gang, Goblin Arsonist, or Goblin Grenade. Grenade didn't fit my set rules (and has effect overlap with Fling), and Arsonist is too typically Joe. So Siege-Gang Commander and his goblinburn is the choice to round out this list.

I hemmed and hawed for a while before electing to leave a Threaten/Act of Treason type card off the list. It was a tough call because the effect is definitely Red, but in the end I had to go with the cards I chose above. Just know that #6 would've been one of those two.

So there it is, the last of my top 5 "Core Set" lists. It was a fun exercise, but it feels somehow incomplete. Like, talking about these cards in only the context of each other is insufficient, and there's some other way to take these lists to the next level...

...I'm working on it. Stay tuned.