Poll of the Day > Sports Discussion Topic #161: You Won't BELIEVE What Happened At TRAINING CAMP!!

(+) Yeah! (+)

And speaking of contracts, a lot of people here seem convinced there's no way that Charlie Blackmon or Nolan Arenado are gonna stay, but I can't actually think of a single big free agency loss in the team's history. Maybe one of the 90's/early 00's original Blake Street Bombers that I don't know as much about, but off the top of my head, all those guys were in their 30's and past their prime by the time they left Colorado. We've been able to keep Tulo, CarGo and Helton. The closest one I can think of might be Matt Holliday, who technically was traded, but IIRC they traded him because he wasn't expected to re-sign.
---

It's become very clear that the Cards are not going to attempt to retain Lynn. Ken Rosenthal even said they were unlikely to give him a qualifying offer. They're brutally cheap.

twins will make the playoffs. you heard it here first.

and then get swept

Rockies posted...

ColbyRasmus posted...

Do Game Overs make you restart the whole game? That's how it worked in the old games. I never got close to a Game Over in Mania, but I'd be pissed if it made me start all over. Sonic 2 and its zero-ring final boss gave me dozens of game overs as a wee lad, which was the epitome of frustration.

I meant they make you go back to the first act of the current stage, but that's still pretty stupid. I think that's actually how the old games worked, but you had to use a continue and if you ran out of continues, then you'd start the whole game over. With Mania they should have just made it so a game over takes you to the beginning of the current act. I've seen some complaints that still using lives at all is dumb, but I think that's too far.

That Sonic 2 final level is bullshit. I'd play through that game so many times and fail to beat it every time, even when I was pretty old. When I finally did beat it, I just used a bunch of save states because I don't have the patience for that. Not only is no rings ridiculous, but the "safe" hitboxes on both bosses are very unclear (a problem that plagues a lot of the boss fights in the Genesis games).

I think I know basically nothing about Mania. Should I be interested in it?

Also, I feel like we've discussed before how much total fucking bullshit the Sonic 2 final boss is. That's still the only reasonable opinion on that level, tbqh.
---

MNTwins1991 posted...

twins will make the playoffs. you heard it here first.

and then get swept

Swept? If you can be swept in one game, sure. Everyone knows they can't get past the Yankees
---

The D-Backs are gonna roll into Coors Field after sweeping the Dodgers and winning seven straight fml
---

The Cards play the Giants. Wow the Giants record is bad! Always surprised to see it.

Yeah the Giants are pretty garbage. I was looking at team stats last night and, even after hitting rock bottom this season, they still rank higher than the Padres in a lot of categories, so the situation could be worse.

I should be happy that we have a bunch of series with the Giants and Padres this month, but honestly I don't even have the confidence that the Rockies can beat them either. The Brewers or Marlins would be okay outcomes but the Cardinals making it would be the worst (nothing personal)
---

chocoboslayer posted...

Rockies posted...

ColbyRasmus posted...

Do Game Overs make you restart the whole game? That's how it worked in the old games. I never got close to a Game Over in Mania, but I'd be pissed if it made me start all over. Sonic 2 and its zero-ring final boss gave me dozens of game overs as a wee lad, which was the epitome of frustration.

I meant they make you go back to the first act of the current stage, but that's still pretty stupid. I think that's actually how the old games worked, but you had to use a continue and if you ran out of continues, then you'd start the whole game over. With Mania they should have just made it so a game over takes you to the beginning of the current act. I've seen some complaints that still using lives at all is dumb, but I think that's too far.

That Sonic 2 final level is bullshit. I'd play through that game so many times and fail to beat it every time, even when I was pretty old. When I finally did beat it, I just used a bunch of save states because I don't have the patience for that. Not only is no rings ridiculous, but the "safe" hitboxes on both bosses are very unclear (a problem that plagues a lot of the boss fights in the Genesis games).

I think I know basically nothing about Mania. Should I be interested in it?

Also, I feel like we've discussed before how much total fucking bullshit the Sonic 2 final boss is. That's still the only reasonable opinion on that level, tbqh.

If you liked any of the 2D Sonics, not counting Sonic 4, then you'll really like Mania. It's made with a lot of love, and the developers are working on some of the minor bugs and whatnot.

I really hope the Cards don't keep Lynn, and I'm super fucking happy to get rid of Leake. I hated the Leake signing, and I was worried that any drop in his fastball would leave him unplayable, since he just had the 4th-worst K/9 in baseball that season. Well, Leake's fastball has lost a lot of velocity after his great start this season, and he's been awful as a result. If his fastball never returns, he becomes Allen Craig 2.0. I hope it works out for the Mariners, but they picked a really bad time to acquire Leake.

Lynn certainly deserves a QO, but his peripherals are ugly as hell, and he relies on his fastball even more than Leake. If Lynn loses his fastball, he's toast, since he literally has no other pitches. I wouldn't go more than three years on him, and I think he can easily get the Leake contract, so he's gone.

Normally, I'd be happy with freeing up a chunk of money, but not if they don't fucking use it. The team has gone into the last two seasons with glaring holes, so if they want to go into 2018 with a ton of cheap arms in the rotation (Weaver, Flaherty, Reyes all make the minimum for a few years, and Martinez has a team-friendly deal), they need to get at least one big bat. Stanton would be incredible, but it's not the type of move this front office makes.
---

Verlander to the Astros. Too bad the Tigers didn't trade him before he ended up kicking our ass... Upton, to a lesser extent, too.
---

Is he still good?

He's pretty middle of the road honestly. The Astros needed SP help but it sounds like they gave up a lot for a guy who isn't really that good. But what do I know.

I keep (fruitlessly) checking SNES Classic preorder sites in case more trickle in, and I noticed that Walmart doesn't even have the product on their site anymore. I don't know what that means but I started imagining what it would be like if they actually just decided to sell their whole stock as preorders. That's probably a little far-fetched but it's not like you or me would really know the difference since they'll be gone within seconds on September 29.

More likely is that they aren't going to put the page live until the 29th so that bots can't have it saved, but damn. I want to have all those bookmarks ready. What time does something like that usually go live, midnight eastern? That would be a good time for me because then I can go wait at a brick and mortar later in the night when I inevitably fail to get one
---

I heard some Gamestops might get extras shipped to them but I know how the employees operate and they'll probably stash the extras for themselves and friends

And BTW, Toys R Us is only doing brick and mortar sales, so I think that would make them the best chance if you want to go that route? But I'm not sure. That's going by the assumption that they get a comparable amount of stock to the other retailers and therefore all that stock is going into physical stores and not being partially divided into online. But it's entirely possible that they just didn't do pre-orders because they didn't have as many.

Actually, they said this:

The SNES Mini will be available in our stores on 9/29. There will be no pre-orders for this item. TY!

So I guess it's kind of vague as to whether or not they will be selling it online; it's definitely just not as preorders.
---

Also, speaking of SNES, did you hear about Capcom releasing a new cartridge for Street Fighter II? Except that it costs $100, isn't officially licensed by Nintendo and could cause your SNES to catch fire
---

If they do a midnight release for the SNES Classic @STLCards1991 and I will launch an assault on two fronts. One at GameStop and one at best buy. If they don't do a midnight release and you have to be at a store at 10 AM we won't be able to get even one.

This is the perk of not having a job


I actually really don't want to go wait in line, but I probably could. I have no idea how early you might possibly need to show up, for starters (assuming it is just normal opening hours). Then I'm not sure how much I want to be waiting around a possibly sketchy parking lot in the middle of the night without anywhere to go to the bathroom. I mean, I'd probably go with somebody, but still, what a nightmare. And to think there are some people who do this sometimes for things that are widely available, just to get it on launch or save like $40 on Black Friday
---

My best friend got shot in the face and died in a sketchy parking lot. If only he had brought someone with him....

I need help coming up with a name for my fantasy team


I want it to be a hilarious joke based on a player's name, and maybe GoT themed, like Doug RR Martin or Demaryius Targaryen, but I can't think of anything for my players.

A friend suggested "Anderson Cooper" which is pretty decent but I would want my team picture to have Anderson Cooper's hair/glasses photoshopped onto Amari Cooper and CJ Anderson, but I'm not good at photoshop.

I guess I could go with Hooked on a Thielen but that's not very fun or original

is the state fair a big thing where you guys live?
I'm going tomorrow and I'm stoked. I normally hate everything, but the mn state fair is actually supes fun

I was going to Photoshop a pic for you but it's like 110 degrees and I lost all motivation before I started

I'm super late to the party on this, but ambiio DLC is garbage. I shouldn't have to track down a hard to find toy to get the Samus Returns DLC...

Ultima_Dragoon posted...

I was going to Photoshop a pic for you but it's like 110 degrees and I lost all motivation before I started

That's ok. It's the thought that counts.

SkynyrdRocker posted...

I'm super late to the party on this, but ambiio DLC is garbage. I shouldn't have to track down a hard to find toy to get the Samus Returns DLC...

What exactly were they doing with Samus Returns? I heard people were upset about it, but I think this is the first time actual in-game amiibo content has caused much of a stir. Most of it so far has just been minor content and/or stuff you can already get in-game. Hopefully that's just an aberration and not a sign of things to come.

The way BotW has handled amiibo is pretty decent, but I'm wary of the upcoming Champion figures given whatever's going on with Metroid. Hopefully the figures don't actually have a big role in the Champion DLC. I mean, I'd probably try to get them anyway, but I don't wanna feel like the DLC is actually $84 instead of $20
---

I believe the only way to get giant Mario in Super Mario Maker was with one of two Amiibo.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/07/29/metroid-samus-returns-fusion-mode-is-amiibo-exclusive

The new squishy Metroid amiibo not only lets you reveal the location of nearby Metroid on your map, when you beat the game it will also unlock a new "Fusion" difficulty mode where Samus has her suit from Metroid Fusion. In addition to the squishy Metroid amiibo, a new Samus Aran amiibo will launch alongside the game on September 15. This figure unlocks an extra energy tank, as well as a Metroid II art gallery when you finish the game.

The Zero Suit Samus and classic Samus amiibo that are part of the Super Smash Bros. amiibo line also have special functionality. The former unlocks a bonus energy tank, as well as a Sound Test mode when you beat the game, and the latter unlocks a missile tank, as well as concept art when you finish the game.

Oh yeah, I remember that giant Mario, but I thought that the amiibo shipped with most copies of the game. Well, they had it in the Walmart bundle I got, at least, and it's not like courses with those were that exciting anyway.

I'm not really seeing the big deal with the Metroid content if that's it. I don't know exactly what "Fusion" mode is but the rest of it sounds pretty par for the course with the amiibo stuff they've done before. I guess an alternate difficulty mode should just be ordinary DLC at most (or just included, but they made it DLC for BotW), but until actual new missions/campaign content in a game get locked to amiibo figures I'm not really gonna freak out.


Anyways the Rockies are garbage
---

Remember early in the season when the Rockies were doing well and you were saying they always did this and then sucked and then later you started to believe and then they started sucking just to be dicks?

To be fair, they normally don't lead a playoff spot into September, although with the way they're trending and the lead being only 1.5 games now it feels like they're pretty much done. I predicted earlier that they would relinquish the spot by early September and then never get back to it, we'll see if it comes true...

I've read that they've been the worst team in the NL West since they peaked at 47-26. It's kind of hard to believe when you look at the Padres' and Giants' records, but I guess they've been more consistently bad and the Rockies just got off to an even crazier good start than usual. But they've played nearly the same amount of games since that start and showed us who they really are, which is the usual lower-mid-tier team. I looked at their remaining schedule and I think that generously they can reach 87 wins, which I'm not sure will be enough to cut it.
---

The Giants are so bad. Even on the rare days when the offense and starting pitching makes you think the Giants will win the game, the bullpen reminds you how bad they are.

Guys, I was running an errand at work which involved getting tickets to a skybox for the opening game of the eurobasket championship between Finland and France for one of our partners and his clients. When they showed up it turned out that someone had to skip it, so they gave the extra ticket to me!

Amazing experience, great atmosphere, the skybox experience with those guys was really cool and Finland won the game by 2 points in OT, so it was really close.
---

Yeah but at the end of the day it was still soccer

Basketball
---

Oh I didn't see eurobasket, I just saw Finland and France and assumed soccer

Who did you root for?

I'm finnish.
---

Right but who did you root for

The Broncos cut a QB who had (statistically) the best preseason on their roster (albeit as mainly the third-string/final game guy) so they could go and get BROCK OSWEILER. It's kind of hilarious how it's come full circle after one season, but why they want a taller, less mobile and (arguably) less accurate version of Paxton Lynch (who sucks) is beyond me.


Realistically, though, Kyle Sloter is probably destined to be a nobody and I see too many people around here freaking out. I think he could end up on the practice squad, for one, so he isn't really gone. These unknown QBs who light up the preseason actually come around fairly often, then don't make the roster and people freak out for a couple weeks, and then after the season gets rolling pretty much everyone forgets about them entirely.
---

Checking on the Rockies and finding out that they're losing (as they are again tonight) kind of drives me insane sometimes. Honestly, I wonder if it would be better to just ignore that they exist and come back at the end of the season to see where the team is at.


I can't remember if I already talked about it, but back before the internet, pretty much the only way I'd find out if the Rockies won on a game-to-game basis was if I caught a score in the ESPN scroll. And I usually wouldn't know where they were in the standings except when I'd occasionally read the weekend paper that my parents got. Now I've gotten into the point where I'm a little obsessive, but that sounds nice looking back.


Okay, that wasn't really even before the internet, but before I cared/thought to use the internet to check on sports. Did anyone else go through a phase where you found the internet to still be novel and only wanted to use it for "internet-y" things and not stuff that had already existed through other avenues? Now I'm like the polar opposite and get slightly irritated when I see people use a cookbook or paper map or I have to make a phone cool to reserve a room or whatever
---

Rockies posted...

The Broncos cut a QB who had (statistically) the best preseason on their roster (albeit as mainly the third-string/final game guy) so they could go and get BROCK OSWEILER. It's kind of hilarious how it's come full circle after one season, but why they want a taller, less mobile and (arguably) less accurate version of Paxton Lynch (who sucks) is beyond me.


Realistically, though, Kyle Sloter is probably destined to be a nobody and I see too many people around here freaking out. I think he could end up on the practice squad, for one, so he isn't really gone. These unknown QBs who light up the preseason actually come around fairly often, then don't make the roster and people freak out for a couple weeks, and then after the season gets rolling pretty much everyone forgets about them entirely.

They clearly did it so elway looks like a fucking genius getting a 17 million dollar qb that he refused to pay for the vets minimum.

So...
what happened at the training camp?
---

Rockies posted...

Checking on the Rockies and finding out that they're losing (as they are again tonight) kind of drives me insane sometimes. Honestly, I wonder if it would be better to just ignore that they exist and come back at the end of the season to see where the team is at.

But that's the "fun" of it. You squirm and torture yourself and hope your team is good enough to make the playoffs. You either get an amazing payoff or come to the realization that the team sucks and you wasted all of your time.

Rockies posted...

And I usually wouldn't know where they were in the standings except when I'd occasionally read the weekend paper that my parents got. Now I've gotten into the point where I'm a little obsessive, but that sounds nice looking back.

I kind of miss the naiveté of both being a kid and from the pre-internet days. It seemed like anything was possible, that there was so much to explore in this world until the internet came around and gave us all the answers so easily. Now I'm just lazy because the answers are spoonfed to me.

The Twins beat the royals 17-0. It will probably take the Vikings 4 games to get that many points

chewy the vikings signed that QB you were talking about to the practice squad

Vikings confirmed SBLII champs
---

MNTwins1991 posted...

Right but who did you root for

Lol. Another nailbiter today. Finland-Poland went to double OT and the finns pulled through again. Lauri Markkanen looks like an incredibly promising player in the mold of Porzingis or, dare I say, Dirk.
---

This topic sure is crawling to 500. I'm always surprised when it gets to 490+ and nobody spams it (though that does happen on occasion)


Somebody else make the next one
---

I got Rodgers in fantasy so I got to go with the classic Mr Rodgers Neighborhood for my team name

Rockies posted...

This topic sure is crawling to 500. I'm always surprised when it gets to 490+ and nobody spams it (though that does happen on occasion)


Somebody else make the next one

This is that occasion