Gruesome Sports Moments

        In honor of Halloween, we take a look at some off the most gruesome and scary moments in sports. Be warned: you must have an ironclad stomach to proceed. This is not for the faint of heart!!!

Star Gazing

        The Dallas Stars haven't raised the Stanley Cup since 1998-1999. However, they're playing like they're a contender to start off the season. Dallas is 6-1-0 in their first seven games this season, good enough for 1st place in the Central Division.
        The reason for the Stars' success so far has actually been through many acquisitions that have been made over the past few years. One of the most prolific trades was the trade with the Boston Bruins in the 2013 offseason. They acquired Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley and Ryan Button for Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith, Matt Fraser and Joe Morrow. Seguin has ten points so far (six assists, four goals).
        The Stars also acquired Jason Spezza from the Ottawa Senators in 2015, a trade that has proven to be quite successful. Spezza has five goals and eight points to start off the season. Also helping matters was the signing of Ales Hemsky, who was also formerly of Ottawa. Hemsky has five assists and a goal to start his season.
         So who's the mastermind behind all of these great moves? It's a guy named Jim Nill. Nill was a former assistant general manager for the Detroit Red Wings. He shadowed Ken Holland from 1994 to 2013, helping oversee the prospects for the Red Wings in their minor league affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. He also directed the amateur scouting and drafting. In his tenure, the Red Wings have won four Stanley Cups. He's not overly responsible for these four Stanley Cups, but he did play a major role.
        The biggest surprise of all of this? The Dallas Stars are having this much success in the NHL's toughest division. The defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks are still a deep team. The Nashville Predators have lofty expectations this year that include a Stanley Cup. The St. Louis Blues are perennial contenders. The same can be said for the Minnesota Wild. The Winnipeg Jets are coming off a playoff appearance from last season. The Stars have beaten the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road and have beaten the Pittsburgh Penguins twice.
        Can the Dallas Stars sustain this level of play? More division play will dictate whether or not they have staying power. In the past, the Stars had a tendency of starting off fast and fading as the season progressed. Dallas is hoping that this season will be different.

Nostaliga Game Review: Ready 2 Rumble Round 2 for the Game Boy Advance

        The series Ready 2 Rumble was popular during the mid-late 90s. With its zany humor and extreme comic mischief, R2R was a series that reinvented the boxing genre of sports games. However, this game comes up a bit short.

        The graphics in the game look extremely nice, rendering 3D models into graphics that fit just right (Donkey Kong Country!) for the GBA. The sounds and music in the game are also decent. However, the gameplay is severely lacking. 

        When you are pitted in a boxing match, you're doing nothing but moving around. You're either getting away from your opponent or closing in on your opponent. When you are in range of your opponent, you can only throw one punch. That's it. No combos allowed. The closest thing you can get to a combo is when you're in "Rumble" mode and you fire off a punch a second. 

        The difficulty of the game isn't hard until you fight the last opponent. Then it jumps from quite easy to insanely difficult. The training in R2R is alright, but it can be improved upon. There are also not as many characters in the game as the PS2/N64 versions (Only 11 playable characters in the game).

        Overall, this game is pretty disappointing. It looks and sounds good, but it doesn't having a feel of boxing to it. But at least you get to play as Shaq or Michael Jackson. This game's got that going for it.

Playoff Busters?

        The College Football Playoff has yet to be released. However, there seems to be the equivalent of the old "BCS busters" that are hoping to crash the College Football Playoff. It's unlikely that one of these schools will be in the playoff, but it's still fun to envision a non-Power Five team getting in. Unfortunately, Boise State will not be a part of this list since they lost yesterday. Here are a few schools that would fit this description of a "playoff buster."

1. #22 Toledo:  The lone non-American Conference team on the list, the Rockets started off the season in impressive fashion, upsetting #18 Arkansas in Little Rock. However, that Arkansas win has faded a bit due to the fall from grace for the Razorbacks. Their toughest game will be a road test on November 17 against Bowling Green. They also have the MAC Championship game to worry about if they want to be considered for a playoff spot.
2. Memphis: The Tigers got their statement win today against #13 Ole Miss, beating the Rebels 37-24. Memphis can bolster their resume more if they can beat both #24 Houston and Temple on the road. Winning the American Conference Football Championship will help matters even more. 
3. #24 Houston: Houston got its statement win by edging Louisville on the road 34-31 on September 12. However, that win has become like Toledo's win over Arkansas and has faded a bit. However, the Cougars can make their situation better by beating Memphis at home on November 14 and winning their conference championship. 
4. Temple: This Philadelphia school got a win against Penn State in their first game that looks better by the week. The Owls have the biggest opportunity to bolster their resume with home games against #14 Notre Dame on October 31 and Memphis on November 21. The narrative for the Owls is similar to the other American Conference schools: Win the conference championship to boost your resume.

Food "Buy"

        Today on Food "Buy", we take a look inside the Pumpkin Spice craze and see if it's all the hype. This month's food item is the Pumpkin Spice Shake by Burger King. In a time where pumpkin spice lattes are all the craze, it seems adequate to put pumpkin spice into a milkshake, right?

        "Bye": That's where you'd be wrong. The aftertaste that the shake left in my mouth was that of bologna. I can't see how people go crazy and barrel through one another just for an item that has Pumpkin Spice. I guess I'm not a big fan of fall (Except when it comes to football coming back). But pumpkin spice does nothing from me. It's just a hodge podge of spices mixed in with pumpkin flavoring.

On the Playlist

        Here's another edition of On the Playlist, where I share songs that are on my playlist with you! Some you might like, some you might tune out. Anyways, enjoy!!

Detroit's Officiating Woes

        It seems that the Detroit Lions can't catch any breaks with officiating. Yesterday's game was proof of that as a referee missed an illegal bat by C.J. Wright from a Calvin Johnson fumble in the red zone. This was late in the game and this would've helped the Lions at least tie the game. The NFL has even stated that there was a mistake in spite of the referee not admitting to missing the call. It isn't just the Detroit Lions that can't catch a break with officials; the Detroit Tigers had the same thing happen to them a few years back with Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game. Hey, at least Jim Joyce admitted that he screwed that play up. Anyways, here are some other times where the referees have toyed with Detroit sports fans.

        ^This was the call that made Mike Pereira famous, by the way.^

Much More Internet Randomness

        Found on the internet waves, here's another edition of "Internet Randomness". Enjoy!!

                                                                                                                                                

While you're at it why don't you make sure Joey Crawford doesn't officiate anymore playoff games.

Seriously? I still can't believe it's not butter.

Never send a woman to do a man's job.

Q: who is the WNBA's all time leading shot blocker?
A: the rim

More fans attended the White Sox/Orioles empty stadium game than WNBA games

if waka doesnt get elected we riot

My names Jeff.

Got to protect the McNuggetts!!!

If anyone but Matthew Berry wrote this, I would read it

His wife doesn't read his column?

Bet your fatass never touched a basketball before.

I thought only the Seahawks and Broncos cancelled practice due to grass...

Baylor is starting up a fierce rivalry in 2019 with Incarnate Word.

Michael Sam gets a lifetime movie and we can't even get a picture of this guy

Well at least he isn't a pitcher or a catcher because the jokes would be endless.

If Kershaw's arm isn't too tired, he should go egg Baez's house right now.

Are Joe Flacco's tweets elite?

The real question is how much did opendorse pay for this article.

Lebron tweet my new mixtape I'll pay you back next friday.

Ball or Fall: The Rise of a King