NBA League Pass Broadband - A Tough Choice

Last year, I bought the NBA League Pass Broadband package (their online version of League Pass, which allows you to see all out-of-market games), and was very happy with it. The one thing I found, though, is that I very rarely watched non-Cavaliers games. Sometimes I would tune in just to justify the value of the package -- which cost $99 for the whole season -- but really, I just used it as a way to follow the Cavs.

Well, this year, the NBA raised the price of the full season League Pass Broadband package, but introduced a new option: “League Pass Broadband Choice”. What’s the “choice” for? Well, the package costs $89 (a $45 savings over the full package) and you get to watch every non-national TV game for seven teams.

So, I’ve decided I’m definitely getting this package, but I’m having some difficulty picking my seven teams.

The Cavaliers were obviously my first choice. I’d probably pay $89 to just watch all of their games (I’ve done the math, it’s less than $2 a game for the non-national TV games).

Now, I don’t need to add the Celtics, Knicks or Nets, since they’re all local teams on my TV service (and thus would be blacked out on NBA LP anyway). So who do I add for my other six teams?

Well, I’m definitely going with the Lakers, since they’re the defending champs. And I want to keep an eye on the Magic, since they beat the Cavs in the playoffs last year (and Dwight Howard is a beast). So that’s 3 down, 4 to go. The Thunder are a fun young team, so I’ll add them. Ditto for the Blazers and Clippers, which brings me up to 6.

Now who gets that coveted last spot? The candidates:

1. Chicago Bulls: a Central division rival, plus I’d get to watch Derrick Rose. However, they play a lot of games the same time as the Cavs, so I’m not sure how much I’d actually see them.
2. Miami Heat: yes, they’ve got D-Wade, but other than that, is there a good reason to watch this team?
3. New Orleans Hornets: I love Chris Paul, but I watched this team some last year, and they just frustrated me (and I’ll have enough of that with this year’s Cavs)
4. Golden State Warriors: mostly so I can make more Monta Ellis mo-ped/ankle jokes

I’ve got until Sunday to decide, so if you’ve got any advice -- or want to make a case for a team not listed above -- just let me know.

MobileMe - Apple’s Bastard Child

Apple does a lot of amazing things as a company. They've developed some amazing products in the past decade, and their customer service is usually second-to-none.

However, MobileMe is a special kind of product for Apple -- the kind that sucks.

Now, it you may be surprised to read that on a site that is currently published to MobileMe, but understand that I have stuck with this service more out of necessity than desire. After seven years, the e-mail address has become my primary one, and my entire website (along with LeBron2010.info and the AdamNPooZ.com podcast) are all MobileMe hosted.

To understand my most recent frustrations with the service, let’s go back three days. My account was set to expire, so I logged into my MobileMe account online and updated my credit card information to make sure it would auto-renew. Sure, I wasn’t happy with the service itself (particularly the slowness of iWeb publishing and the incompatibility of the MobileMe photo galleries with multiple third-party browsers), but I didn’t feel like transitioning all my stuff to another host.

On Saturday, I went to publish an iWeb update, but for some reason, iWeb was treating me like I wasn’t logged into MobileMe. I checked my account in System Preferences, and saw that I was logged in, but my account status said “Your account will renew in 0 days.” Well, that’s strange.

I decided to just wait a day to see if the renewal would go through. And, of course, it didn’t. So yesterday, I spent multiple hours online chatting with support agents, who attempted all kinds of fixes for my account, but never resolved the problem.

(And while we’re on this topic, the fact that MobileMe has no phone support is absurd. If you have any problem that may require a restart to resolve, you’re completely screwed, because you’ll lose your active chat. Yesterday one of the chat agents had me perform a Safari reset as a troubleshooting step, and, of course, that disconnected the chat. When I connected to a new agent, I had to go through many of the same basic troubleshooting steps again, since apparently MobileMe support reps don’t enter their notes into the same system as Apple’s phone or in-person support agents.)

At the end of the day, the last agent indicated that my account was set to renew, and should do so on Monday -- a weekday. Yes, this person was convinced that the problem was we were attempting to place a charge on a Sunday. Ignoring the stupidity of that explanation, I decided to give up for the day and wait until Monday. Well, Monday came, and my MobileMe account summary still indicated “Your account will renew on Oct. 23, 2009.” Amazing how it was using future tense for a past date.

I went through the chat wringer again today. At one point, I was in a chat with “Laura M.” for an hour, and at the end, I got the online equivalent of a hang-up. Literally, one minute, she sent me a possible solution. When I indicated that I’d done that and I hadn’t worked, I got a message that “Laura M.” was no longer connected to the chat session. Finally, someone at Apple was able to fix my account. How’d they do it? They canceled it, and made me go in and manually reactivate it. That’s not a solution, that’s half-assery.

Now, if this were the only problem I’d ever had with MobileMe, I might be able to let it slide, but it’s not. Not even close. The most basic problem I have with MobileMe, on a regular basis, is that iWeb takes about 30 minutes to publish a single blog update to AdamReisinger.com. Now, this is an iWeb problem as much as it’s a MobileMe problem, but I can publish to a folder and upload to an FTP site MUCH faster than that (and when you publish to a folder, you have to re-publish the entire site every time).

The other annoying problem I have with MobileMe is iPhoto related. You can publish these great galleries from iPhoto (though people using anything but the absolute latest browsers are going to have trouble using them). I have my iPhoto library on my Mac Mini and use that computer for all my publishing. But when I launch iPhoto on my MacBook Pro it connects to MobileMe and tries to update my galleries, with pictures that don’t exist in that library. It’s a mess. I finally got around this issue by turning my internet update settings to “manual” in iPhoto, but  that’s not how it should work.

OK, enough ranting for now. I could go on and on about the issues MobileMe has, but the fact is, for $99-a-year, it’s still a viable hosting solution, especially when you consider how easy it makes Podcast publishing. I just wish that as a whole it was up to the standards I’ve come to expect from an Apple product, and had a real customer service department to support it.

Technical Difficulties... Please Stand By

OK, so you may have noticed that things have been suspiciously quiet over at AdamReisinger.com (or maybe you haven't... but they have been). Long story short, my MobileMe account is f'd up, so I can't publish right now. I hope to have the problem fixed tomorrow, but if not, I'll start posting the back-log of material here.

Also, unrelated to my publishing issues, but funny nonetheless, how 'bout them Bears?

This Week in Buffy History: October 25-31

October 25

1979 - Sarah Thompson born (played Eve in Season 5 of Angel)

October 26

1999 - Episode 4.04 “Fear, Itself” airs on The WB

1999 - Angel Episode 1.04 “I Fall to Pieces” airs on The WB

October 27

1997 - Episode 2.06 “Halloween” airs on The WB

2002 - Angel Episode 4.04 “Slouching Toward Bethlehem” airs on The WB

October 29

2001 - Angel Episode 3.06 “Billy” airs on The WB

2003 - Angel Episode 5.05 “Life of the Party” airs on The WB

October 30

2001 - Episode 6.06 “All the Way” airs on UPN

Horror and Hotties for Halloween

The annual Halloween party I usually go to isn’t happening this year, and for the 29th consecutive year I failed to score an invite to the Playboy Mansion Halloween Party, so my Saturday is wide open.

I decided to make the best of this, by having a day dedicated to Horror and Hotties (two of my favorite things). As of right now, here’s the planned movie marathon schedule for Oct. 31, 2009.

Noon - “The Craft”
Hottie rating: 6.5
I always had a weird crush on Fairuza Balk, and Robin Tunney looked solid in this one. The best hottie moment comes when Neve Campbell’s Bonnie has magically had her scars removed and shows up at school showing major skin the next day. Good times.

2pm - “I Know What You Did Last Summer”
Hottie rating: 8.5
Jennifer Love Hewitt, yes. Sarah Michelle Gellar, double yes. This movie even gives us a little extra hottie action with Bridgette Wilson as Gellar’s older sister. Only the unfortunate Anne Heche prevents this from getting into the 9 range.


4pm - “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer”

Hottie rating: 6.5

We still get Hewitt, and her breasts look even better in this one (though not as good as they look on the amazingly airbrushed poster). But then we downgrade everywhere else -- Brandy replaces SMG in the second lead role, which is like going from... well, from Sarah Michelle Gellar to Brandy. Even Jennifer Esposito, as the random extra hottie, isn’t as hot as Wilson.


6pm - “Scream”

Hottie rating: 9.5

This movie is LOADED with hotties. Drew Barrymore may only be in the opening scene, but she looks amazing. Then we get a young, nubile Neve Campbell in the lead role, and the incredibly underrated Rose McGowan (aside: I still miss “Charmed”) in the second role. Even Courtney Cox is looking solid, though you have to block out the constant reminder that she ended up marrying David Arquette.


8pm - “Scream 2”

Hottie rating: 10

Campbell is still around, still looking amazing. Then we go from McGowan to Gellar (YES!) in the secondary role. Plus, the sorority house setting results in all kinds of random hotness -- including both Rebecca Gayheart and Portia de Rossi, both in their mid-20s at the time. Oh, and be sure not to miss Heather Graham as “Casey” in the movie-within-a-movie, “Stab”.


10pm - “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)”

Hottie rating: 5

Jessica Biel has to carry this movie’s hottie score almost single-handedly (and, trust me, she’s fully capable of doing so). Erica Leerhsen falls more into the “cutie” category, and no one is hot when they get sawed in half by a guy in a mask made of human skin. Lauren German has become something of a hottie in recent years, but she’s far from it as the crazy hitchhiker in this one. Still, it’s worth the watch for Biel.


Midnight - “Wrong Turn”

Hottie rating: 7.5

This one has Eliza Dushku (my current favorite TV hottie), Emmanuelle Chriqui (Sloan from “Entourage”) and Lindy Booth, though Booth bites it pretty early in the movie. Dushku makes it the distance, because, as you’ll notice, the uber-hottie never dies (with the exception of Gellar, who got screwed in both “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and “Scream 2”, but got her revenge weekly on “Buffy”).


I’m open to changes in this schedule, but again, the idea is Horror+Hotties -- so no “Exorcist” or anything like that, where the movie is insanely scary but doesn’t feature hotties. Also, if you want to stop by at any point during the marathon, consider this your open invitation.

Series of Tubes: “Dollhouse” Reaction - Best (Aired) Episode Ever

Last night’s episode of “Dollhouse” was not the best ever. That honor still belongs to “Epitaph One”, the future episode that FOX chose not to air, but is included on the Season 1 DVD set.


That said, last night’s episode, “Belonging”, is probably the closest one of the aired episodes came to capturing the tone of “Epitaph One”, while also laying the groundwork for the character developments that we saw completed in the bleak Dollhouse future.


To understand why I liked last night’s episode so much (other than the performance of the amazingly talented Dichen Lachman and her super-hot Australian accent), you have to go back to season 1. One of the things that made “Dollhouse” so hard to like in the first season was that many of the characters in power in the Dollhouse were just reprehensibly evil. From Topher to Mr. Dominic to DeWitt to the mysterious Rossum Corporation, everyone just seemed to be completely amoral. Then “Epitaph One” came along and gave many of these characters a conscience. In “Belonging”, we started to see the seeds of how these characters (well, except for the long-departed Mr. Dominic, obviously) go from evil to remorseful.


The turning point for Topher was pretty obvious, and handled very well by this episode’s writers. DeWitt tasks him with an assignment which amounts to resigning Sierra to a life of sexual slavery to a depraved doctor (who was responsible for putting Sierra in the Dollhouse in the first place). Topher asks how he’s supposed to do this. DeWitt responds thusly:

“You’ll do it because you must. The cold reality is that everyone here was chosen because their morals have been compromised in some way. Everyone except you. You, Topher, were chosen because you had no morals. You have always thought of people as playthings. This is not a judgment. You always take very good care of your toys. But you’re simply going to have to let this one go.”

You can actually see the entire character of Topher change in Fran Kranz’s facial reaction to this speech. DeWitt herself has her own moment of disgust earlier in the episode, when she’s ordered by a Rossum superior to make the Sierra deal happen, but it’s this exchange that makes the episode. Topher looked like he wanted to breakdown and cry when he realized just how horrible a person he’d been -- and in fact, after Sierra’s un-wiped personality murders the doctor, Topher does suffer a mini-breakdown.

I really hope “Dollhouse” can build on this creative character building. Unfortunately the show is now on a five-week hiatus, then goes into rapid episode burnoff mode in December, which doesn’t bode well for its longterm health. Still, maybe an episode like “Belonging” can build some solid buzz, and a bigger audience, for a great show that not enough people are watching.

This Week in Comics - Oct. 21

OK, just some quickie reviews this week, since you probably don't want to read my ramblings on all four books I bought.

Amazing Spider-Man #609 - Marvel Comics
As you know if you read my review of Web of Spider-Man last week, I have no idea why Marvel would want to re-live the clone saga, so this three-part storyline just bothers me. Amazingly, Kaine's presence isn't the worst part of this issue -- that honor instead goes to a meaningless appearance by Screwball -- but there's just not much to like about this one. Except one incredibly funny Kanye West joke. I laughed out loud when I read it.

Angel vs Frankenstein - IDW Publishing
Another book by John Byrne that puts Angel in an historical setting -- this time he faces the fictional character of Frankenstein's monster (despite this misnomer in the book title). Though I love stories about Angelus's past (pre-soul), this book seemed a little sparse and I didn't buy Angelus's motivations for his actions at all. The Spike vs Dracula series IDW did a few years back was so much better.

Invincible Iron Man #19 - Marvel Comics
When I met Matt Fraction a couple weeks ago at Baltimore Comic-Con, we got to talk about this series a little bit, and he assured me, based on what I told him I'd liked so far, that I would love this issue. He was right. This felt like a perfect conclusion to the "World's Most Wanted" story, with Tony anticipating everything Norman Osborn would do. I can't wait to see where the book goes from here.

Also, as an aside on "Invincible Iron Man"if you haven't been reading the book, now is the perfect time to catch up, with World's Most Wanted wrapped up.

Spider-Woman #2 - Marvel Comics
I LOVE this book. It's just so much darker than anything else I'm reading, which is stunning considering how different it is in tone from the other Bendis-penned book I read (Ultimate Spider-Man).

Series of Tubes: “Modern Family” Reaction - Football Makes Everything Better

First things first: “Modern Family” is growing on me.

Yes, I know I trashed the premiere, but I’ve kept watching, and somehow I’m enjoying the show more and more every week (still, I get the most laughs from Ed O’Neill’s character, but the other characters aren’t annoying me as much as they did early on).

Last night’s episode was hilarious, and I think I know why: football.

I love football. I watch college football and the NFL constantly. I’ve made a 12-hour round trip drive three times this season to watch my alma mater play in person. Football is amazing.

So when you integrate football into the plot of your sitcom -- and do it in a way that actually stays true to the characters -- I’m pretty much guaranteed to enjoy it. Plus, making the gay son-in-law a former football player was an inspired bit of creativity. I never would have seen that coming for his character, but it ended up fitting nicely. I don’t know Eric Stonestreet’s height, but he at least seems passable as a former Big Ten center. Ed O’Neill is 6’1”, so Stonestreet is probably 6’2” -- Illinois does have a 6’2” lineman on this year’s roster, and linemen that size would have been more common when Stonestreet’s character was in college.

In the end, the football game was such a minor part of the episode (and the video of the game was probably at least 8 years old, based on the old on-screen graphics), but it drew me in and gave me something to care about. When that happened, I found myself enjoying the rest of the episode too, even if I think Ty Burrell’s Phil is way too annoying.

I saw earlier this week that “Modern Family” got a full season pickup, which I’m actually happy about now. I look forward to watching the rest of this season, even if ratings are moving in the wrong direction.

Series of Tubes: Enjoying Guest Stars on “Castle”, “Gossip Girl”

I watch a lot of TV shows for specific actors and actresses. If not for David Boreanaz, I never would have started watching “Bones”. Nathan Fillion was the only reason I started watching “Castle”. I checked out “Mad Men” for Christina Hendricks and added “How I Met Your Mother” to my rotation a few years back solely to get an Alyson Hannigan fix.

Then there are those actors that I don’t specifically follow, but seem to keep popping up on my favorite shows. Last night was a good example of two of them.

I wouldn’t count myself as a Reed Diamond fan. Hell, last night, I had to look up his name on IMDB because I couldn’t remember it. Back in the day, I watched him on “Homicide”, but he was never really the standout of the show for me (Richard Belzer and Andre Braugher usually shared that honor). A few years later he showed up in a supporting role on the short-lived show “Journeyman”. When he did, I remember seeing him and saying “hey, it’s the guy from ‘Homicide’.”

“Journeyman” didn’t last long (but it was amazing, and I highly recommend you pick it up and watch it, if you’re into a good blend of sci-fi and drama). Diamond moved on to “Dollhouse”, and I repeated the process. The first time I saw him on screen, I said to myself, “hey, it’s the brother from ‘Journeyman’.” And the process repeated yet again last night, when he showed up in a guest-starring role on “Castle” and I said “hey, it’s Mr. Dominic from ‘Dollhouse’.”

At no point have I added a show to my DVR with the intention of seeing more Reed Diamond -- he just keeps popping up. I guess that’s part of being a good actor -- you keep getting jobs on good shows.

The same principle applies to to Gina Torres, a slightly bigger star than Reed Diamond, who showed up on last night’s “Gossip Girl”.

Torres earned her fame with the nerd crowd as Zoe on “Firefly”, but my introduction to her was as Anna Espinosa, one of Sidney Bristow’s best foils in the early seasons of “Alias”. In addition to her work on “Firefly” and “Serenity” Torres has also shown up in the Matrix movies and “Angel”.

Torres started making the “Adam’s DVR” rounds last year when she showed up on “Bones”, “Eli Stone” and “Dirty, Sexy, Money” (the latter two of which have since been cancelled). And in the past two weeks she’s appeared on “FlashForward” and “Gossip Girl”. Again, I never plan to watch a Gina Torres guest appearance, it just keeps happening.

I’ve had so many negative things to say about this TV season so far, but these kinds of casting choices will always be a positive in my book.

This Week in Comics - Oct. 14

Picked up two books this week (a little late, since I didn't get to the shop on Wednesday, and was in Baltimore all weekend), and quite frankly, both of them were underwhelming.

Angel: Only Human #3 - IDW Publishing
I really liked the first two issues of this story, but this one took a turn for the worse. Illyria's past has never really been fleshed out, and this is the kind of issue that shows you why. The background on the character, with the ancient demons and the "demonic pet" just isn't interesting. Also, the action-focused plot doesn't translate well on the page. I will say that the Gunn background was somewhat interesting, but only if it develops more in the next issue, as well as the ongoing Angel comic.

Web of Spider-Man #1 - Marvel Comics
Two years ago, when Marvel went to a three-times-a-month schedule on "Amazing Spider-Man", they tried to eliminate the extraneous Spidey titles. Yet here we are again, in what seems to be a money grab by the company. First off, I will never understand Marvel's insistence on re-living the clone saga (with a re-done monthly book and the ongoing Ben Reilly/Kaine appearances in "Amazing") and the first story of this issue is all about that. Clones even make an appearance in the second story, which is excusable since it's an Amazing Spider-Girl story and I miss that book. I may keep picking this up just for the Spider-Girl stories, I'm not sure it's worth the $3.99 they're asking for it.

Series of Tubes: “Simpsons” Reaction - Treehouse of Horrible

Back in my high school and college days, I used to watch “The Simpsons” religiously, and my most anticipated episode every year was the annual “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween episode.

I eventually stopped watching “The Simpsons” every week, but still would make the time to catch the Halloween episode -- which thanks to FOX’s baseball obligations would usually air after Halloween.

Thanks to a World Series scheduling quirk this season, FOX had to air “Treehouse of Horror XX” two weeks before Halloween, so it kind of caught me off guard (actually, the incessant promos this week caught me off guard -- there were so many of them that by the time Sunday rolled around, I knew the episode was this week).

After watching last night’s episode, I don’t want to make the reactionary statement of “worst... treehouse... ever”, but it was pretty bad.

The first segment was a reference-heavy Hitchcock homage that never really got going from a comedic standpoint, and just fizzled out at the end. The second segment was a semi-timely zombie story that had its moments, but paled in comparison to recent feature film “Zombieland”. And the third segment, a Sweeney Todd homage featuring a fake play production was almost unwatchable.

A few years ago, “The Simpsons” hit rock bottom creatively as the staff was focused on making the movie, but it bounced back over the last couple seasons. Now, though, it seems to be sliding again. The non-Halloween episodes so far this season haven’t been great (each of the last two had a “done that before” feeling), and this episode barely made me laugh. I’m still holding out hope for this season, but compared to last year, things aren’t looking good.

This Week in Buffy History: October 18-24

October 19

1999 - Episode 4.03 “The Harsh Light of Day” airs on The WB

1999 - Angel Episode 1.03 “In the Dark” airs on The WB

October 20

1998 - Episode 3.04 “Beauty and the Beasts” airs on The WB

2002 - Angel Episode 4.03 “The House Always Wins” airs on The WB

October 22

2001 - Angel Episode 3.05 “Fredless” airs on The WB

2002 - Episode 7.05 “Selfless” airs on UPN

2003 - Angel Episode 5.04 “Hell Bound” airs on The WB

October 23

2001 - Episode 6.05 “Life Serial” airs on UPN

October 24

2000 - Episode 5.05 “No Place Like Home” airs on The WB

2000 - Angel Episode 2.05 “Dear Boy” airs on The WB

Delaware Rains on Towson’s Homecoming Parade, 49-21

TOWSON, MD -- Through three quarters, Towson had significantly more quarterbacks used (4) than points scored (0). Only a 21-point fourth quarter salavaged any positives from a blowout homecoming loss that saw Towson (2-4, 1-2 CAA) lose by 28 points and lose its starting quarterback to a knee injury.

No. 23 Delaware used a balanced attack -- on offense, defense and special teams -- to build a 49-0 lead before a fourth quarter letdown led to the Tigers only points. Entering the fourth quarter, the Tigers had been outscored 106-7 in their last seven quarters at home, including a 57-7 loss two weeks ago against New Hampshire.

The Tigers trailed just 7-0 after the first quarter Saturday, but lost freshman quarterback Peter Athens to a knee injury. Athens had solidified himself as the team’s starter, and was able to move Towson into Delaware territory multiple times before leaving the game. Ambrose said his team was hurt by Athens’s departure, and not just from a physical standpoint.

“I think there was [a letdown] and naturally so,” he said. “There was a little emotional lull. We had pretty much declared Peter was going to be the guy.”

The Tigers turned to Blair Peterson (1-3, 4 yds), then Brian Potts (4-11, 46 yds, 2 INT), to replace Athens but couldn’t get anything going in a second quarter that saw Delaware score 28 points and out-gain Towson 150-58. The game turned quickly when the Blue Hens pinned the Tigers on their own 1-yard line. Three plays later, Bill Shears shanked a punt, and Delaware took over on the Towson 26. Penn State transfer Pat Devlin tossed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Mark Duncan on the very next play, putting Delaware up 14-0.

“Pat did a great job,” said Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler said. “He’s got such great poise.”

Devlin played just one series in the second half, but finished 9-of-15 passing for 127 yards to go along with 49 yards rushing on just four carries. Devlin came into the game with just 89 yards rushing on 44 attempts for the season.

“A couple times we were dropping back to pass and [Towson] was in a real good coverage for the situation,” Devlin said. “They brought a blitz on one side, and I was able to get out and escape on the other side.”

With the rain preventing much of a passing game, Delaware kept the ball on the ground. Leon Jackson scored on short runs in each of the first three quarters, and Jerry Butler finished with 82 yards on just 13 carries.

Any hopes of a Towson comeback were dashed in a 20-minute span -- that took just 14 seconds off the game clock. On the final play of the first half, Potts’s desperation heave was picked off by Charles Graves and returned 90 yards for a touchdown. Towson kicked off to open the second half, and Butler -- who also had a kickoff return for a touchdown last year against Towson -- returned it 89 yards for the score. The two plays turned a 28-0 game into a 42-0 blowout.

Towson turned to Tommy Chroniger, who had been practicing at linebacker during the week, and was able to put 21 points on the board in the fourth quarter. Chroniger ran for 97 yards on 11 carries, including a 71-yard romp to set up a touchdown.

“I promised that we would have something worthwhile here, something we could be proud of,” Ambrose said. “That no matter how we matched up, we would not quit and we would keep fighting. I think that’s pretty much a guarantee.”

NOTES: Delaware has won 3 straight meetings with Towson, the longest streak by either team in the rivalry. The Blue Hens now lead the all-time series 7-4. ... Towson is on the road next week at Northeastern. The Tigers have lost three straight to the Huskies, and are 0-4 all-time at Northeastern. ... Ambrose said he wouldn’t have an update on Athens’s condition until after Sunday ... Dominique Booker scored his first career touchdown late in the fourth quarter. ... Ambrose was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after a verbal confrontation with an official in the second quarter. He said the official apologized to him at the start of the second half, but did not elaborate.

Postgame News Conference Audio
- Towson - 12:16, 5.9 MB
- Delaware - 11:31, 5.5 MB

Friday Five - Grading the New TV Series I’m Watching for ’09-10

Fact: I watch way too many TV shows on a weekly basis.

Fact: Because of this, I limited the number of new series I started watching this year to five.

Fact: Those five TV series have aired enough episodes for me to form an opinion on them. So let’s go.

OK, a little more background first. My current DVR schedule consists of 20 scripted shows that air weekly (I don’t watch any so-called “reality” TV, but I do also watch lots of sports in between those 20 shows). That doesn’t include “24”, “Lost” or “Chuck”, all of which are returning midseason, or “V”, which debuts next month. Knowing how full my schedule was, I replaced five canceled shows (“Eli Stone”, “Dirty Sexy Money”, “Privileged”, “Reaper”, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”) with five new shows.

I’m going to grade those new shows now. Understand, a show has to blow me away to get an A. And an show has to just plain blow to get an F. Everything in between is fair game.

The Cleveland Show - Sundays, 8:30 ET on FOX
I figured this show wasn’t going to be great, but I also figured I’d give it a shot, since I was already recording the other three shows in “Animation Domination”. I guess you could say it’s lived down to my expectations. Through three episodes, I may have laughed once or twice. It’s just not funny, and the humor is often forced and uncomfortable.
Grade: D- (very close to F territory, but it doesn’t get an F until I remove it from the DVR schedule)

Modern Family - Wednesdays, 9:30 ET on ABC
I slammed the premiere of this show when I first reviewed it. Amazingly, it’s growing on me. I still don’t find myself laughing out loud often, like I do during a good episode of “30 Rock” or “How I Met Your Mother”, but I definitely am enjoying about half of the characters. The other half? Eh, not so much. Also, I feel like the show could be so much better if it just ditched the faux-documentary style that’s becoming so popular these days. You’re not “The Office”, so stop trying to be.
Grade: C

Eastwick - Wednesdays, 10 ET on ABC
Three witches bonding over their powers and their man troubles, with a dark and mysterious stranger who keeps popping up in their lives? It was like Season 3 of “Charmed” all over again (my favorite season, by the way). Only they’ve somehow managed to make me hate most of the characters -- especially Lindsay Price’s Joanna. Despite being better than “The Cleveland Show”, this show is probably the closest to being dropped from the schedule.
Grade: D+

The Vampire Diaries - Thursdays, 8 ET on The CW
Yes, I’m watching this show? Are you surprised? Well, you shouldn’t be. Despite this being marketed at the “Twilight” crowd, this is actually much better, mostly because of the presence of Ian Somerhalder. He plays Damon, the evil brother, with just the right balance of terror and disdain -- much like David Boreanaz’s Angelus in Season 2 of “Buffy”.
Grade: B

FlashForward - Thursdays, 8 ET on ABC
This has quickly become appointment viewing for me (meaning I actually watch it live, and avoid all distractions during that hour). The plot is progressing well enough to avoid some of the lulls that can hurt developing serial dramas, and the characters are actually turning into people I care about. Plus, I love the schism that is developing between the people who treat the visions of the future like guidance from above and the people who blow off any greater meaning (a theme that was front and center in this week’s episode). Also, Dominic Monaghan finally made his long-awaited debut this week, and it looks like he’s playing a pretty damn important character, so that should be good.
Grade: A- (The only thing keeping this from a full-fledged A is the fact that none of the skeptical main characters have done something to outright change the future from the visions... yet...)

Review: Buffy #29, “Retreat, Part 4”

Well, I’m a week late with my review, but I still wanted to share my thoughts on last week’s issue of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, especially after getting to talk to artist Georges Jeanty at Baltimore Comic-Con.

COVER TWO
Massimo Carnevale steps in for Jo Chen on the main cover, and I can’t say I’m a fan of the cover. First of all, Twilight isn’t in the issue at all (and we’ll get to that soon enough). Secondly, Chen’s style is incredibly realistic to the actors and actresses. Carnevale’s style is more art-like. As for the Jeanty cover, he went with an homage to the old Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos covers from the ‘60s. Not only does it fit the plot of the story, but it looks really cool (and, side note, Jeanty had to draw the title itself, because he wasn’t sure he could find the font).

THE WRITE STUFF
After three issues of build-up, Jane Espenson really advances the story here. There is a battle on the scale of the final battle between the Slayers and the ubervamps in “Chosen”. I loved the shoutout to Season 2 when Buffy used the rocket launcher, with the use of the torpedo in this battle. I’m not sure if Espenson was going for that (I have a tendency to find connections where there are none), but if she was, then kudos to her.

Also, I thought Willow’s dialogue was so much better in this issue than in the previous one. It seemed much more authentic to the character. But she wasn’t the best character in this issue, not even close. In the few pages where he appeared, Giles was perfectly written. I could actually hear Anthony Stewart Head delivering his lines in my head. It was fantastic. Plus, any issue where Xander gets to shine is fine by me.

THE ART STUFF
Unlike in past issues, I had no problem distinguishing the characters, though that may be more due to increased exposure to them as opposed to anything Jeanty is doing different. I loved his ability to capture the range of emotions that Willow and Buffy experience in this issue. His interpretation of the Tibetan Goddesses on the final page is very cool.

My favorite part of the issue, artistically? In the background of the final panel of Page 9, you can see Xander and Dawn kissing again (oh, and Dawn looks more like Michelle Trachtenberg in the third panel of this page than I’ve ever seen her drawn before). It’s a subtle inclusion on a panel that focuses on something else entirely, and also provides the framework for the cover of Issue #31.

WHO IS TWILIGHT
OK, when I first read the issue, I was PISSED that we didn’t find out who Twilight was, because I was under the impression that this was the issue in which the reveal came. However, that’s not the case. Not only that, but he doesn’t even appear, so we have no more clues as to who he is. I’m still on the Graham bandwagon, but there’s a lot of internet chatter about Pike (the Luke Perry character from the original movie).

<-- Previous Issue (#28: Retreat, Pt. 3)

Next Issue (#30: Retreat, Pt. 5) -->

Tuesday Countdown: T-Minus 89 Hours to Towson Homecoming

Yes, it’s another trip to the Baltimore area, this time for Towson Homecoming. The Tigers are playing Delaware in football, kicking off at 3:30 eastern.

But it’s not just about the football game this year. I’m actually going down early for a mini Towerlight reunion. This is the first time I’ve been to homecoming since I was in college, so it should be an interesting experience.

On a related note, this will probably be my last trip down to Towson for awhile. This will be my third consecutive weekend in the Baltimore area, and the trip is starting to wear on me (I was exhausted after Sunday night’s drive).

I will try to get down for a basketball game at some point this season, and probably a lacrosse game in the spring, but this going down every weekend thing is gonna stop.

Still, I’m definitely looking forward to this weekend, seeing old friends, and enjoying a good football game.

Series of Tubes: “Heroes” Reaction - Focus on Deanne Bray

The more I watch “Heroes”, the more I realize how bad the show is. So instead of rehashing the badness, I wanted to focus on something good: the performance of Deanne Bray so far this season.

Bray plays Emma, the deaf character added to the show’s cast this season. More importantly, Bray herself is deaf. Often, Hollywood will use a hearing actor/actress to portray a deaf character, and badly botch the sign language. For someone that knows sign language, bad signing is as easy to spot as a bad foreign accent is for a native speaker.

Bray’s signing has not only been spot on (as would be expected), but her interactions with her on-screen mother are spot-on with how I’ve experienced hearing-deaf conversations. Louise Fletcher is herself a child of deaf parents (like me), so it’s no stretch for her to communicate like she does on the show -- a mix of signing and speaking, with direct visual contact to assist in lip-reading -- but it’s amazing to see it actually portrayed accurately on a mainstream TV show.

If you remember, a couple years ago NBC tried to hire a hearing actress to portray a deaf character on “Bionic Woman”. That didn’t go over well. Then, they dumped the character entirely, which didn’t go over well either (neither of these issues were the reason the show was canceled after eight episodes; it just sucked). So it’s nice to see such a shift in philosophy at NBC, adding a deaf character to a genre show and featuring her so prominently in the story. I’m not sure how I feel about the developments in her ability at the end of last night’s episode, but at least her character gives me someone to root for on a show where I find myself rooting against so many of the characters.

(And yes, that’s an entire post about last night’s “Heroes” without mentioning the big moment between Claire and her roommate, which is just a shitty ratings grab, and I refuse to justify beyond that.)

2009 Baltimore Comic-Con Recap

For those of you that follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you probably expected this recap Saturday night. However, I realized it was pointless to recap just the first day of my experience at the 2009 Baltimore Comic-Con, so I wanted to wait until after Sunday. Then, by the time I got home Sunday night I was exhausted. Add in work on Monday, and that’s why this recap is coming to you Monday night instead of Saturday night.

Also, I’m saving a couple stories for the podcast, so you’ll just have to wait for those (and, in the meantime, subscribe to the podcast, either via iWeb or iTunes).

So as you probably know from Friday’s post, I drove down to Baltimore to attend the 2009 Baltimore Comic-Con. This was the first time I was truly attending a comic book convention solo (yes, I didn’t have any friends with me at Wizard World Chicago ’06, but I was working with the people from Time & Space Toys, so it wasn’t like I was solo).

I came to the convention with a bag full of issues to be signed and a pile of cash to get some commissioned art. This was the first convention I’d been to at all since Big Apple Con in 2007. If you remember, that was the one where PooZ and I both got sketches from Adam Hughes. Well, I was hoping to repeat that success this past weekend, but due to an illness he had to cancel his appearance. Still, both Georges Jeanty and Jo Chen -- the artist and cover artist for the ongoing Buffy series -- were there, so this was going to be a good weekend no matter what.

I got to the show early on Saturday, but not early enough, since there was already a HUGE line to get in. Amazingly, I still got into the show at about 10:15 -- 15 minutes after doors opened -- and got on the commission lists for Stephane Roux, Mike McKone, Georges Jeanty and Craig Rousseau.

After getting onto the commission lists, my Saturday was mostly spent getting books signed. I was going to post the full list, but honestly, it’s too damn long. I brought about 160 books with me (mostly individual issues, but a few trades and hardcovers too) and managed to get nearly all of them signed. My comic collection -- all obtained in the last four years -- is over 600 books now, and it’s possible that almost half of them are signed, which is pretty cool. The part I like about getting something signed isn’t the signature itself, but the interaction with the creator, and I’ll share some of those stories on the podcast.

The signing highlights for me included getting the entire run of Buffy signed by Jeanty, as well as a bunch of them signed by inker Dexter Vines, an incredibly cool guy who had a table right next to Jeanty. I also got a bunch of stuff signed by J. Scott Campbell, one of the heavy-hitters in the industry.

Campbell was also selling some exclusive prints -- one of the best part about these cons is getting prints that you’d otherwise have to scour eBay for -- as well as an exclusive version of Amazing Spider-Man 606 with an incredibly cool cover. I also got an amazing limited edition Faith lithograph from Jo Chen, who has done some amazing work with the Buffy covers.

Now, with all this buying and signing, you’d think I’d have a hard time managing all this stuff, but I made the smart move of staying in a hotel adjacent to the convention center. Some people will walk around these conventions with suitcases full of books. I can’t bring myself to do that (partly because I don’t even own a real suitcase), so I split my books, packed what I could in my laptop backpack and made multiple trips.

Saturday also featured a great panel discussion with Jeanty, Chen and Dark Horse editor Scott Allie, where they took questions from the fans. Yes, that included me (twice), and they had some pretty cool information to share. Chen had her own panel on Sunday that was more focused on her creative process. I attended that one too, and learned a lot even though I’m not an artist.

As for Sunday, that was my art collection and shopping day. I ended up not buying anything from the many dealers there, mostly because PooZ helped talk me out of buying a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 (the first appearance of Spider-Man). I eventually want to get one, but just throwing it on the credit card is not the way to go. I did buy a published page from “Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane” inker Norman Lee -- who also signed a set of books for me -- and an inked copy of an Amazing Spider-Man page from inker Karl Kesel.

As for my commissions, Jeanty and Rousseau both were unable to get to me on their lists, but were both kind enough to offer to do mail-order art for me. Jeanty also sold me the original art for the cover for Buffy #31, which doesn’t come out until December. He had to finish some inking on it, but he’s FedEx’ing it to me today, and I should have it tomorrow. I’m pretty freaking excited about it.

As for the art I did get at the show, Mike McKone did an MJ head sketch for me that turned out fabulous, and Stephane Roux came through with a Mary Jane sketch that exceeded all my expectations. It was the last sketch he did at the show, and it turned out amazing (coincidentally, the Buffy I got from Adam Hughes was the last one he did on the day I was there in ’07 -- sometimes it pays to stick around all day).

I’m sure there’s a ton more I could write about my adventures at the convention, but I don’t want to use up all my material for the podcast (and I don’t want to bore those of you that aren’t comic fans). When all is said and done, it was definitely a fun and successful weekend.

This Week in Buffy History: October 11-17

October 11
1985 - Michelle Trachtenberg born (played Dawn)
2003 - Alyson Hannigan (Willow) marries Alexis Denisof (Wesley)

October 12
1999 - Episode 4.02 “Living Conditions” airs on The WB
1999 - Angel Episode 1.02 “Lonely Hearts” airs on The WB

October 13
1980 - Ashanti born (played Lissa on episode 7.14 “First Date”
1997 - Episode 2.05 “Reptile Boy” airs on The WB
1998 - Episode 3.03 “Faith, Hope and Trick” airs on The WB
2002 - Angel Episode 4.02 “Ground State” airs on The WB

October 15
2001 - Angel Episode 3.04 “Carpe Noctem” airs on The WB
2002 - Episode 7.04 “Help” airs on UPN
2003 - Angel Episode 5.03 “Unleashed” airs on The WB

October 16
1968 - Todd Stashwick born (played M’Fashnik Demon on episode 6.04 “Flooded”)
2001 - Episode 6.04 “Flooded” airs on UPN

October 17
2000 - Episode 5.04 “Out of My Mind” airs on The WB
2000 - Angel Episode 2.04 “Untouched” airs on The WB

Friday Five - Tales from Today’s Drive to Baltimore

Well, for the third time in a month, I’m in Maryland. The previous two times I drove down, I was driving to Towson, and my drive was pretty uneventful. Today, I was driving to Baltimore (for Comic-Con), and I figured I’d share some stories from my drive, as today’s Friday Five.

1. When I left Connecticut this morning -- at about 10:30 -- it was 53 degrees and raining. When I got to my hotel in Baltimore (as an aside, a beautiful hotel with a 15th-floor view of the Inner Harbor) it was 82 degrees and sunny. Remind me again why I ever moved back to Connecticut?

2. So I’m wearing my LeBron James jersey T-shirt -- I normally am not a fan of jersey tees, but this one is incredibly comfortable and perfect for a six-hour drive -- and I’m at a rest stop in New Jersey. Some guy sees me and asks “hey, are you a fan of minor league sports?” I say “I guess.” He says “I could tell from the Cleveland shirt,” and laughs at his perceived cleverness. I quickly respond, “It could be worse, I could be a Knicks fan.” I then turn around, so he can see the “JAMES” on the back, and say as I’m walking away, “Enjoy Eddy Curry.” He wasn’t pleased.

3. The reason I stopped at that rest stop in Jersey? To pick up an EZ Pass. Why have I been making this drive for more than a decade without one of these? This trip was so much easier because of it.

4. As I got into Delaware, there were road signs indicating major congestion on I-95, causing delays of up to an hour. Now, I hate sitting in traffic, so I decided to get off the highway and take Route 40 into Baltimore. Not only did I avoid the traffic on 95, but I actually got to see Maryland, instead of a generic interstate highway, so that was pretty cool.

5. On most of my long road trips lately, I’ve been forgoing my iPhone’s shuffle option and cycling through albums. Today’s album list went as follows:
-DJ Break Presents Britney (a Britney Spears mixtape; yes, they do exist)
-Kanye West - Graduation
-Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted
-Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon
-Lindsay Lohan - Speak
-Michael Jackson - Thriller (25th Anniversary Edition)

Yes, I’m aware how strange that mix of music is. I’m not sure what I’m going to listen to on the way back (the last two times I was driving back from Towson, it was Sunday afternoon and I listened to the Redskins game). I’m sure Britney will be involved, but beyond that, I’ve got no idea. Even today, when one album finished, I went back to shuffle and just kept skipping until I got to an album I wanted to hear (it took two skips to get from Kanye to Kelly). I kinda wish I had the new Mariah, but I don’t yet. Of course, I also wish I could watch video during my drive, but that’s incredibly dangerous, and pretty illegal too, so music it is.

Series of Tubes: “Eastwick” Reaction - I can’t stand Lindsay Price

I want to like “Eastwick”, I really do. But each week, I find myself enjoying it less and less, and I think I’ve finally pinpointed the reason: Lindsay Price.

I mentioned this back when I reviewed the premiere of “Eastwick” a couple weeks ago, but Price -- who has appeared on “Lipstick Jungle” and the previous Rebecca Romijn project “Pepper Dennis” -- was best known to me as Cathy, the one-time over-talking girlfriend on “How I Met Your Mother.”

Ever since I made that mental connection, her character has annoyed me to no end. It doesn’t help that she has been saddled with the dumbest romantic plotline of the three main women, or that her power involves her taking off her glasses and squinting annoyingly. But mostly, I just can’t separate the actress from her previous role.

This has happened to me before. In season 2 of “Bones”, Tamara Taylor joined the cast as Dr. Cam Saroyan. Immediately, I disliked her, but I wasn’t sure why -- aside from the fact that Cam was replacing Dr. Goodman, who I thought was a cool and under-utilized character in Season 1.

After a few episodes, I remembered where I’d seen Taylor before -- she had played Michael’s ex-wife on “Lost” and River’s teacher in the flashbacks in “Serenity”. Those were two characters who the audience was supposed to dislike. That dislike translated to Taylor’s next big role for me, and, honestly, it took about two seasons before I got over it.

I’m not sure “Eastwick” has two seasons for me to get over my dislike of Price (and, again, Lindsay, it’s nothing personal. You’re probably a really nice person. It’s just the one role I ever saw you in before “Eastwick” was both incredibly memorable and incredibly grating. Though, to be fair, you didn’t do yourself many favors with last night’s screaming bit upon seeing your front-page story.). The show itself seems to be working on a slow build to a big dramatic reveal, but the show is shedding viewers weekly (at a more dramatic rate than Romijn is shedding her baby weight). If it survives the season, I’d be surprised.

Tuesday Countdown: T-Minus 84 Hours to Baltimore Comic-Con

For once, my Tuesday countdown isn’t counting down to a concert or sporting event. This week, it’s Baltimore Comic-Con, which should be pretty amazing.

A few months ago, PooZ and I were considering going to this together, but he decided to save his money. I, however, had to take the opportunity to be at a convention where the primary artist, cover artist and editor of Dark Horse’s ongoing “Buffy” series are going to be in attendance.

I haven’t been to a comic convention since PooZ and I took a trip down to Big Apple Con in 2007, so my collection has obviously grown since then. When I did my pull of books to get signed, I had probably close 100. Yes, I am bringing them all. No, I’m not sure how I’m going to manage that many all weekend, but I’m assuming it will involve my hotel room, which is in very close proximity to the event.

Despite the fact that none of my normal con-buddies are going with me, I’m pretty damn excited about this. I’ll keep you posted on the goings-on throughout the weekend, and I’m sure PooZ and I will have a nice podcast afterwards, despite his lack of attendance.

Fantasy Football Update

For those of you that listened to the last episode of the podcast, you know that PooZ and I are battling it out in Fantasy Football -- for last place. Well, this week, my team finally managed to win a game (by .98 points), while PooZ lost again, putting him alone in the cellar. Can he be this year's Lions? Probably not, but it'd be funny as hell, wouldn't it?

(Also, PooZ can't make fun of me this week, because the Redskins managed to win a game. They might be the worst 2-2 team in NFL history, but they are 2-2.)

New Verizon Commercial Skewers AT&T

Oooh, Verizon... you think you're pretty clever.

Yes, the AT&T map is pretty spotty, but I get 3G coverage everywhere from my house (in Manchester, CT) to my alma mater (in Towson, MD). And yes, I've made that drive twice in the last month, so I've definitely used that coverage.

Also, Verizon hasn't had an exclusive phone worth owning in... well... ever. Maybe they just regret not taking up Apple on the iPhone a few years back.

Series of Tubes: “Castle” Reaction -Worst... cops... ever...

If you look at my weekly TV lineup, you’ll find it nearly devoid of “procedurals” -- the CSIs, NCISs, Law and Orders and such that seem to fill so many hours of primetime television these days. The only two I watch weekly are “Bones” and “Castle”, and it’s no coincidence that both of them star former Whedon-verse leading men.

I realized last night, while watching “Castle”, why I’m not a huge fan of these shows: most of the characters suck at their jobs. Yes, in the end, they usually do get their man (or woman, or if it’s sweeps week, some hybrid). But on the way to the satisfying conclusion, there’s a series of missteps, accusations and policy violations that would get any real cop suspended.

Now, I understand that some of that is what makes these shows fun to watch, but last night’s episode of “Castle” featured four interrogated suspects for a single murder -- that’s people who were actually brought in to the station and accused of the murder.

Being a sports guy, and more specifically a sports stats guy, I wondered why there wasn’t a web site that tracks stats for all these various procedural shows. For example, last night’s “Castle” had a 4.0 SIPC (suspects interrogated per case), and a 2.0 SPIR (suspects/person of interest ratio). There are all kinds of other stats you could track too:

Win Pct - very simply, the number of cases that result in an arrest (or a conviction/plea agreement for lawyer shows).

SIPC - suspects interrogated per case

SPIR - suspcts/person of interest ratio (basically, how many people does the show treat as suspects versus witnesses)

RHR - red herring rate - what percentage of clues turn out to be false leads

SPW - stories per witness - how many different accounts/alibis/etc do they get from each person

WPS - “What did you just say”s per show - this one is a little more complicated. A common thread with shows like this is the case will seem to have reached a dead end, until a random line in a conversation sparks an idea in one of the main characters. This results in the character saying “What did you just say” or something like that. The higher this rating, the worse the show’s writing staff is.

CMC - Computer Magic Count - a sum of every time the show has a computer do something that real computers aren’t capable of doing.

I might start tracking these numbers for “Castle” and “Bones” -- then again, I might also decide to continue having a life. But if you want to chip in with your favorite procedural, feel free (also, all of this can be turned into a drinking game, so enjoy that too).

This Week in Buffy History: October 4-10

October 4
1969 - Abraham Benrubi born (played Olaf the Troll)

October 5
1999 - Episode 4.01 “The Freshman” airs on The WB
1999 - “Angel” premieres on The WB with Episode 1.01, “City of”

October 6
1997 - Episode 2.04 “Inca Mummy Girl” airs on The WB
1998 - Episode 3.02 “Dead Man’s Party” airs on The WB
2002 - Angel Episode 4.01 “Deep Down” airs on The WB

October 7
1972 - Jason Padgett born (played Holden Raines in Angel Episode 2.12 “Blood Money”)

October 8
2001 - Angel Episode 3.03 “That Old Gang of Mine” airs on The WB
2002 - Episode 7.03 “Same Time, Same Place” airs on UPN
2003 - Angel Episode 5.02 “Just Rewards” airs on The WB

October 9
1981 - Zachery Ty Bryan born (played Peter Nicols on episode 7.04 “Help”)
2001 - Episode 6.03 “After Life” airs on UPN

October 10
1970 - Bai Ling born (played Jhiera on Angel Episode 1.13 “She”)
2000 - Episode 5.03 “The Replacement” airs on The WB
2000 - Angel Episode 2.03 “First Impressions” airs on The WB

New Hampshire hands Towson worst home defeat in school history

TOWSON, MD -- After watching his Tigers fall behind 30-0, en route to a 57-7 loss to No. 6 New Hampshire, Rob Ambrose was asked if there were any positives to the worst home loss in Towson football history.

“Nobody died,” the first-year head coach quipped.

That bit of levity aside, there wasn’t much that went right for the Tigers. They turned the ball over eight times, committed eight penalties and managed just seven points to fall to 1-3 on the season.

Things started to go badly for Towson right from the opening kickoff. Hakeem Moore, still recovering from a broken hand suffered in the preseason, bobbled the kickoff. After Towson picked up a single first down, the Tigers punt was blocked, leading to a five-play, 20-yard drive for New Hampshire, capped off by a Chad Kackert 7-yard touchdown.

Over the next three minutes and 50 seconds, the Wildcats racked up 23 more points, while running just four more plays from scrimmage. A touchdown pass, a safety, a kick return touchdown and an interception return touchdown left Towson in a 30-point hole before the young Tigers could even regroup.

“I’ve got a litany of times when I was here, of big numbers early in the game and big comebacks,” Ambrose said. "And the difference between then and now is nothing but age."

It was more than halfway through the first quarter before either team ran a play from New Hampshire’s side of the field, and with 7:09 left in the first quarter, the Wildcats had 30 points to Towson’s 11 yards.

“We got a bad snap over the head because of our pressure,” New Hampshire coach Sean McDonnell said. “We returned a kick. Those are just two big momentum swings that are huge when you’re trying to establish some things.”

Towson scored its only touchdown early in the second quarter. Freshman Alex Blake dropped a pass, leading to a punt situation, but New Hampshire muffed the punt, giving Towson possession again. The Tigers went right back to Blake, who deflected a fade pass to himself for his first career touchdown.

After the drop, Ambrose had pulled Blake aside on the sideline for some one-on-one coaching, before going right back to him.

“I told him that he's going to have a very long and successful career here, if he does what he's taught," Ambrose said. "And he will remember that play in his career as the bad one that gave him focus for all the good ones."

The touchdown was one of the few good plays for Towson, in a game in which the Tigers used three different quarterbacks, who combined to complete nine passes. Starter Peter Athens was seven of 20 for 67 yards, with Towson's lone touchdown and five of the team's six interceptions. Tommy Chroniger, who wasn't used last week in a loss to Morgan State, was 0-2, while sophomore Blair Peterson was 2-of-6 for 40 yards and an interception. After the game, Ambrose called his quarterback situation "extremely frustrating."

"You saw some plays made that were indicative of the skill level," he said. "You saw some bonehead plays that were indicative of many things."

Ambrose pulled Athens from the game before he could challenge Dan Crowley's single-game school record for interceptions thrown.

"It is what it is," Ambrose said of the turnovers. "Are they all his fault? No. But as a quarterback, you're damn right they're all his fault. Physically, are they all his fault? No way."

The Tigers were in danger of setting a school record for the most points allowed in a game -- 62, done three times, including twice against New Hampshire -- but the Wildcats were shut out in the fourth quarter. Ambrose, who has preached playing 60 minutes, admitted his team didn't do that Saturday, but was pleased with the effort at the end.

"I'm a little pleased at the eyes I saw," Ambrose said of his team. "They believe, they just don't know how yet."

NOTES: Towson's next game is at Rhode Island. The Tigers have won the last two meetings with the Rams, though Rhode Island leads the all-time series, 5-4 … Late in the fourth quarter, Ambrose got into a verbal confrontation with a spectator. He addressed the situation in his postgame news conference. "What he said was embarrassing to myself and my family, but I still should have kept my mouth shut." … For the first time this season, Tremayne Dameron was not the team's leading rusher. Dominique Booker had 64 yards on 12 rushes, though 37 of his yards came in the fourth quarter, when the game had long since been decided.

Postgame News Conference Audio
- Towson - 13:08, 6.3 MB
- New Hampshire - 3:34, 1.7 MB

iPhone Game Mini-Reviews: Madden 10, Lady Gaga Tap Tap Revenge

So on my flight back from Las Vegas this weekend (check AdamReisinger.com for all the details on that extravaganza) I decided to grab some iPhone games to play. I've never really used my iPhone as a gaming platform, but I figured I'd give it a shot.

Madden 10

I skipped Madden for my consoles this year, because I hadn't had much fun playing the game in recent years. As it got more realistic -- and season/franchise modes got more complex -- the game got more boring. Madden 10 for the iPhone is distilled down to the best part of the game: the actual football. The gameplay is surprisingly good, for such a small device. There's a pretty complete playbook, and once you get used to the on-screen D-Pad and buttons, you can get good pretty quickly (I'm 3-0 in my season with the Redskins, which is two games better than the real-life team).

The game offers a "bullet-time" effect for executing special moves, but I found I didn't always have to trigger them to break off big plays. That's good, since the button to enter bullet-time is in kind of an awkward place, and it's hard enough to watch the screen and control the D-Pad without having to worry about an extra on-screen button.

My favorite part of the game was actually the auto-save capabilities. When I was playing and had to go out to the home screen for some reason, the game would pick up right where I left off when I went back in. The game also automatically maintained my progress in my season, and when I went back in and chose season mode, it asked me if I wanted to continue my in-progress season. It's nice to have this all happen transparently (though not surprising, since EA Sports' Tiger Woods Golf does the same thing).

Lady Gaga Tap Tap Revenge

Let me just say, I suck at rhythm games for consoles (Guitar Hero, Rock Band, etc). I just can't use the controllers for some reason. But despite this inability on consoles, I kick ass at Tap Tap Revenge for the iPhone. I exhausted all the songs on the lite version, so I decided to go up to a paid version, and picked the Lady Gaga specific version (which will probably result in PooZ questioning my manhood on the next podcast).

I'm not afraid to admit, I like her album. Plus, it's really the perfect kind of music for a game like this. It's fun, and a great time killer. Also, again, I kick ass at it. Even on extreme mode, which isn't that compatible with my "two-thumbs" style of control.

My favorite feature of the game? The final song of each level uses a rotated screen, with an extra column to deal with. It's a nice challenge, and makes use of the iPhone very nicely.