Soul Renovatus

Mariokart Wii is the best cart game ever made...

Ok, I'll admit, I have been a MarioKart fan from the beginning.  It started on the SNES for me, to the many of hours lost studying in college on the N64, and even playing some on other people's Nintendo DS's. 

Now it's come out for Wii, and my wonderful wife decided to get it for my birthday. 

Let's just say it's the best Mariokart EVER.

It comes with a wireless steering wheel, which works very well.  It's easy to drift, use powerups, and steer.

What is cool on the onset is that they have all of the best tracks from every Nintendo Mariokart available (some you have to unlock, but they're there), as well as somewhere around 24-30 characters you can play.  PLUS, they have BIKES! You can pop wheelies for speed boots by lifting the wheel up, so a very nice feature.  There are 8 different karts and bikes to choose from for each character (again, provided you unlock all of them, with a total of 32 tracks to choose from (16 new, 16 originals).

There's also battle mode, with the regular 3 balloon thing and now a coin battle as well (honestly haven't played it yet, so can't tell you about it), but the greatest feature in my opinion is the online play.

This is the best online game for the Wii so far, hands down.  You can easily connect to play with others by region or worldwide, and you can race other people's ghosts in time trials to see if you can beat them.  They even have a worldwide ranking system to see how you're time measures up to the best.

The online races can play up to 12 players, and you can pick bike or kart to race with, plus any of the unlocked characters you currently have.  It's great competition and endless gameplay.  It's what every Mariokart has wished for (if you don't have a DS).

I would say right now, with the online play, variety of characters and karts/bikes, and gameplay modes, this is the best game for the Wii by far.

Fantasy football draft commentary (part 3)...

Here are the rest of my picks:

11.12 Anthony Gonzalez

12.1 Randy McMichael

13.12 Michael Pittman

14.1 

Miami

Defense

15.12 Demetrius Williams

16.1 Michael Bennett

17.12 Dennis Northcutt

18.1 John Kasay

Gonzalez (Go Bucks!), is playing the Brandon Stokley role in Indy, and looks good so far. It was sleeper pick for me, and I knew he was going to get chosen if I didn’t take him here, so I took a shot.

I grabbed McMichael in round 12 to back up

Davis

, and I think possibly could be a top 10 TE. He’s playing for

St. Louis

, whose offense is pretty darn good.

Michael Pittman was grabbed for two reasons. 1) Cadillac Williams has a short leash, and 2) Pittman catches balls, and in a PPR league that’s valuable. If Caddy goes down, Pittman can be a top 15 back. Plus, he’s slated to play some fullback this season, increasing his chances of getting balls thrown his way.

My 14^th round pick is evidence of why you can wait on defenses (unless DTs score high, like in nfl.com.) 

Miami

was 12^th on my board at the time, but as of late have risen to 5 or 6. Making this pick very well worth it compared to other picks I got earlier to add depth to RB and WR.

Demetrius Williams was one of my sleeper picks at 15.12, as well as Northcutt at 17.12. Northcutt actually is WR1 or WR2 in

Jacksonville

right now, but most people don’t know that.

I picked up Michael Bennett for a possible trade with the Larry Johnson owner or vice versa.

Like I said before, I picked up a kicker in the final round. Kasay is ok. I’ll probably find someone in week 3 or 4 to get.

So here’s my team:

QB: Cutler, Pennington

RB: Maroney, McAllister,

Norwood

, Dunn, Pittman, Bennett

WR: S. Smith, R. Williams, Branch, Gonzalez, Demet. Williams, Northcutt

TE: V. Davis, McMichael

K: Kasay

DT: 

Miami

For drafting out of the 12 spot, I’m very satisfied with my team. I can start Cutler, Maroney, Smith, Williams and Branch (flex) every week, and fill in RB2 with matchups. Same goes for TE. I think in a PPR league this team will be very competitive. I’ll let you know how it goes.
 

Hopefully that will help you on some strategy. Feel free to pick on or ask questions.

Fantasy Football Draft Commentary (part 2)...

Ok, here are rounds 6-10. 

Round 6:

6.1 Deion Branch

6.2 Brandon Jackson

6.3 Tony Gonzalez

6.4 Lamont

Jordan

6.5 Santana Moss

6.6 

Baltimore

Defense

6.7 

Chicago

Defense

6.8 Todd Heap

6.9 Vince Young

6.10 Calvin Johnson

6.11 Jeremy Shockey

6.12 Jon Kitna

Why I picked who I did: I didn’t want Moss, and figured I could get a top 5 TE on the way back. I thought about grabbing Heap or Shockey, but Branch is one of my sleeper picks, and given that we can start another WR for a total of 3, Branch is a great WR#3 for me. I feel fairly confident starting Smith, Williams, and Branch every week. He really picked it up late in the season last year and now has had ample time to continue to learn the

Seattle

offense and should be in for a great year.

Surprise Pick: Brandon Jackson was a surprise at the time at 6.2, but this was before he got the starting job for

Green Bay

. Now, it doesn’t seem like far of a stretch. I think taking the defenses was too early, even for these two, but it could pan out for them. I always wait until later to grab a defense.  I can usually get a top-10 D and still get great depth at RB and WR. Really no other surprises here.

Best Value Pick: I think everything’s pretty even here. Every pick seemed to make sense.

Round 7:

7.1 Fred Taylor

7.2 Tatum Bell

7.3 Lendale White

7.4 Ladell Betts

7.5 

Chester

Taylor

7.6 Braylon Edwards

7.7 Jerricho Cotchery

7.8 Donte Stallworth

7.9 Julius Jones

7.10 Terry Glenn

7.11 Chris Chambers

7.12 Jay Cutler

Why I picked who I did: I was going to take a QB with one of these 2, and Cutler was my next one up. I had to be careful with bye weeks as well. I’m actually pretty balanced so far, so I took my highest ranked QB in Cutler. He did very well when he stepped in as the starter last season, and I don’t see him taking a step back this year either.

Surprise Pick: I thought Ladell Betts at 7.4 was too early. This was his 4^th RB and at the time he only had 2 WR’s. With Edwards, Cotchery, Glenn, and many more left, he could have shored a solid WR3.

Best Value Pick: At the time, Tatum Bell arguably was, although now he’s been struggling with injury. I think Braylon Edwards at 7.6 was also a great pick as well.

Round 8:

8.1 

Vernon

Davis

8.2 Jason Witten

8.3 Philip Rivers

8.4 Mark Clayton

8.5 Santonio Holmes

8.6 Chris Cooley

8.7 Kellen Winslow

8.8 Bernard Berrian

8.9 LJ Smith

8.10 San Diego Defense

8.11 Devery Henderson

8.12 DJ Hackett

Why I picked who I did: I knew I was going to get a top-10 TE on my board by the time I came back. I’ve shored up 3 RBs, 3WRs, and my QB so TE was logically the next step, and I’m happy to get Vernon Davis. He may be the next Antonio Gates, and barring health, he should put up incredible numbers this year. I will look to grab another TE in the later rounds just in case

Davis

is going to have health issues, but feel good about this pick here.

Surprise Pick: I think LJ Smith is not going to be who he was in the past. He doesn’t seem to be recovering well from the injury and there are clearly better options.

Best Value Pick: I think Bernard Berrian at 8.8. Had a great start last year then tailed off, but I think he’s still a great deep threat this year. Will be very interesting to see how this pick pans out. You always want to try to maximize your value with every pick, and Berrian was a great WR3 for this team.

Round 9:

9.1 Eli Manning

9.2 

New England

Defense

9.3 

Pittsburgh

Defense

9.4 Brandon Jones

9.5 De’Shaun Foster

9.6 Vincent Jackson

9.7 Greg Jennings

9.8 

Oakland

Defense

9.9 Joey Galloway

9.10 Kevin Curtis

9.11 

Denver

Defense

9.12 Warrick Dunn

Why I picked who I did: If there’s one rule you must follow, it’s handcuff your top players. In this case,

Norwood

was not the original starter, but picking up Dunn as well assures me of having the RB corps in

Atlanta

. Of course 2 weeks, after this draft, reports are Dunn might be ready to go as the starter in week 1, which might make this one of the steals of this draft so far.

Surprise Pick: I don’t think

Oakland

’s defense is going to be spectacular, but I think he was feeling desperate for a first defense. My philosophy is, again, if your league doesn’t score astronomical for DT, then wait for the later rounds to get one and shore up your RB and WR depth. Defenses don’t get hurt like individual players do, and more than likely there is always one sleeper on the waiver wire you can pick up.

Best Value Pick: I clearly think mine was by a huge margin. Getting the NE Defense at 9.2 was a great value pick as well. He picked 3 more quality players and still got a top 5 D.

Round 10:

10.1 

Chad

Pennington

10.2 Isaac Bruce

10.3 Michael Turner

10.4 Alge Crumpler

10.5 Ben Roethlisberger

10.6 Leon Washington

10.7 Vernand Morency

10.8 Alex Smith

10.9 JP Losman

10.10 Adam Vinatieri

10.11 Brett Favre

10.12 Ben Watson

Why I picked who I did: I always try to get a 2^nd QB not far after my 1^st. I had Alex Smith and Delhomme higher, but already had a lot of bye week 6 players, plus already had

Carolina

and SF players. One rule I try to live by, do not pick two studs from the same team. If the team has a bad game, then you’re both going to suffer. I think the only exception to that rule is getting Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. That’s about it.

Surprise Pick: Adam Vinatieri. Even though this is where he usually goes, can I let you in on a bit of info? If you don’t have outrageous scoring for kickers, don’t pick a kicker until the last round. There’s usually 3-4 above the rest (he may be one of them), but overall only score on avg. a little more than 20-30 points than the next 20. Plus, there’s always one sleeper sitting on waivers that emerges as the top kicker or top 5. (i.e.—Neil Rackers in 2005 and Robbie Gould in 2006, both on waiver wire those years after draft). I always hawk the WW for a kicker early in the season, and got both Rackers and Gould those years in 2005 and 2006.

Best Value Pick: If Harrington turns out ok, then Crumpler will be a great pick here. I’m a little concerned with him b/c of the new offense and new QB, but we’ll see. Could be a great pickup for this team.

Next we'll have rounds 11-18, and here's my team so far:

QB:  Cutler, Pennington
RB:  Maroney, McAllister, Norwood, W. Dunn
WR: S. Smith, R. Williams, Branch
TE: V. Davis

I'm pretty happy with the flow so far.

Fantasy Football Draft Commentary (part 1)...

Again, if you don't like fantasy football.  Go ahead and read something else in your blog feeder.  Otherwise, here's a breakdown of a draft I was in a couple of weeks ago, with some thoughts on strategy, why i picked who I did, and some comments on best value and worst picks of each round. 

Today is rounds 1-5.

 I was picking out of the 12-hole, which meant back-to-back picks every time. Just wanted to give you a glimpse into what I was thinking with each pick and other commentary.

 

Breakdown of scoring:

 

1 for 25 pass/1 for 10 rush/rec

-2 for INTs

1 pt/reception (VERY IMPORTANT)

All TD’s 6 pts.

Start QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, K, DEF, 1 Flex (WR/RB), total 18 players

Round 1: (my pick in bold)

 

1.1 LaDainian Tomlinson

1.2 Steven Jackson

1.3 Frank Gore

1.4 Shaun Alexander

1.5 Brian Westbrook

1.6 Willis McGahee

1.7 Joseph Addai

1.8 Larry Johnson

1.9 Willie Parker

1.10 Reggie Bush

1.11 Travis Henry

1.12 

Lawrence

Maroney

Why I picked who I did: LM is the workhorse RB this year for an always efficient Patriots offense. I wasn’t scared to take him here. Belichick has been keeping him back b/c he’s going to work him like a horse. Explosive, and will catch many balls from Brady, who likes to throw to RB’s.

Surprise pick this round: McGahee at 1.6 was a shocker. Clearly thought Addai, Johnson (this draft was before the signing), and Bush were better here. Just not confident in McGahee at all, especially over the other options.

Best value pick this round: Larry Johnson at 1.8 is great. Why didn’t people think he wouldn’t sign? He may be iffy for week 1, but he’s a superstar. To get him at 1.8 is a steal.

Round 2:

2.1 Steve Smith

2.2 Rudi Johnson

2.3 Peyton Manning

2.4 

Clinton

Portis

2.5 

Carson

Palmer

2.6 Ronnie Brown

2.7 Cedric Benson

2.8 

Chad

Johnson

2.9 Edgerrin James

2.10 Torry Holt

2.11 Maurice Jones-Drew

2.12 Larry Fitzgerald

Why I picked who I did: Waiting 23 picks, I knew the top WR’s were not going to be there, so I picked my #1 ranked WR. I have had Smith in several leagues, and he’s been pretty consistent for me (except for the BAGEL he put up in week 16 last year, lost 2 titles because of that). Smith is a WR fantasy stud, period.

Surprise pick: Cedric Benson at 2.7. Some can argue, but I thought Thomas Jones was much better in

Chicago

(of course he’s hurt now, so what do I know?). I thought James or Jones-Drew (b/c of receptions) would’ve been better here, but really not a huge surprise.

Best value pick: Not too many choices, maybe Larry Fitzgerald at 2.11. I think he’s going to have a crazy year. The

Arizona

offense is much better than last year. Provided Fitz is healthy he’ll be top-5 this year.

Round 3:

3.1 Marshawn Lynch

3.2 Marvin Harrison

3.3 Terrell Owens

3.4 Reggie Wayne

3.5 Brandon Jacobs

3.6 Plaxico Burress

3.7 Thomas Jones

3.8 Antonio Gates

3.9 Anquan Boldin

3.10 Carnell Williams

3.11 Donovan McNabb

3.12 Deuce McAllister

Why I picked who I did: I had Deuce last year, and surprisingly he racked up to 1275 total yards, 11 TDs and 30 receptions. I expect more of the same this year. The Saints have a great weapon with Bush and Deuce in the backfield. I knew I wasn’t going to get a shot at another RB for a while, so I took Deuce as he was my highest ranked RB left.

Surprise pick: Marshawn Lynch at 3.1. He has not looked good in preseason, he’s a rookie, and Anthony Thomas is competing for carries. Much more value out there at 3.1 then Marshawn. I think this team had a great shot at picking up a high quality WR2 to go with LT and Fitz. Just shocked here at the pick.

Best value pick: I think it’s a toss up b/w Marvin Harrison and Terrell Owens at 3.2 and 3.3. Usually these guys are off the board by round 2. Great value for 2 top-5 receivers.

Round 4:

4.1 Roy Williams

4.2 Marques Colston

4.3 TJ Houshmandzadeh

4.4 Drew Brees

4.5 Jamal Lewis

4.6 Andre Johnson

4.7 Tom Brady

4.8 Tony Romo

4.9 DeAngelo Williams

4.10 Marc Bulger

4.11 Javon Walker

4.12 Donald Driver

Why I picked who I did: Mike Martz, Mike Martz, and…Calvin Johnson. Martz is an offensive genius, Calvin is already drawing some double teams, and Williams quietly had over 1300 yds, 7 TD’s and 82 receptions. I think I have a solid 1-2 with the WR corps now. Feeling really good about the draft so far.

Surprise Pick: Tony Romo at 4.8. How do you pick Romo before Marc Bulger? Seriously…I’ll be glad to eat my words later but Romo?

Best Value Pick: Honestly I think my pick with Roy Williams was the best value here. He’s a top 10 receiver in my rankings. I can’t complain with who I have so far.

Round 5:

5.1 Lee Evans

5.2 Matt Hasselbeck

5.3 Randy Moss

5.4 Laveranues Coles

5.5 Hines Ward

5.6 Darrell Jackson

5.7 Matt Leinart

5.8 Ahman Green

5.9 Marion Barber

5.10 Adrian Peterson (MIN)

5.11 Reggie Brown

5.12 Jerious

Norwood

Why I picked who I did: At the time of this draft, there were no reports that Dunn was even close to coming back. They were quite the opposite. I was aiming to pick up Dunn in the later rounds (which I did eventually at 9.12), and

Norwood

was a quiet sleeper on my board.

Surprise Pick: I thought Darrell Jackson was a stretch at 5.6, but that’s debatable. Otherwise not too many surprises here.

Best Value Pick: Lee Evans. Here’s another quiet receiver who racked up 82 rec. for almost 1300 yds. and 8 TDs. Why do people rag on this guy? He’ll put up the same numbers if not better this year.

 

Rounds 6-10 will come soon, then I will sum up the rest of my picks from rounds 11-18, and give worst and best picks on each round there.  I will stop the "each-pick" designation after round 10.  You'll have the gist of where my team stands by then.

Hope it was enjoyable. You can always see where other teams were picking as well.

My dart buddies...

There is a group of people I look forward to hanging with every week, my dart buddies.  I've only known them for about 6 weeks or so, but it is a time I look forward to every week.  Not just because I like darts, but because these are some genuinely fun and nice people to hang out with.

Most people don't know I'm a pastor yet, they just know me as "Ringer."  There are some I've been able to talk about that stuff with, but for the most part they just know I'm extremely kind.

The stories I hear every week are incredible.  I'm not going to go out and say I sense authentic community more with them than I do my church, but I'll be honest, they have a lot more deep connections than most people in churches I see.  Sure, people are getting drunk all the time at the bar, obscenities fly (and maybe some from my mouth when I can't hit the bull), laughter abounds, but they're just a lot of fun to be around.

Even more amazing was the conversation I had a couple of weeks ago with one of my new dart buddy friends.  We were talking about what we did for a living (which is always interesting for me at the moment), and my buddy told me he was feeling called to be pastor!  So obviously a lengthy conversation ensued.  The funny thing is that he told me that he doesn't think most churches would accept him so how could be a pastor! 

He is not too familiar with church and hasn't seen to many good examples of his kind of pastor.  I mentioned Mars Hill being a different kind of church and extended an invitation to come to our house church...we'll see.

With that I just want to say how important it is to hang outside of your "group."  So many times Christians live in this bubble.  If your only friends are Christians, this sounds kinda weird, but you're going to be pretty shallow and most likely very judgmental.  I know that sounds harsh but that's been my experience.  My dart buddies keep me balanced.  Talking life with them lets me know how good God is, how much hurt there is all around me, and what kindness can do to relationships. 

I basically want to be the kindest, most competitive darter there. :)  We draw partners every Friday, and I always make sure I can sit down and hear about my partner's life and what things they're wrestling with, enjoying, etc...It's just really a lot more fun that way.

So if you have a hobby, join a group outside of your context.  If you don't have a hobby, pick one and join a group.  I never threw darts until Christmas, and now I can't find myself doing anything else on Friday nights at the moment.

Anyone want a PS3?

Well, I got one. 

Was just walking around Best Buy and out they came rollin!

20 systems went down in 30 minutes.

It's up on ebay with an extra controller and Tony Hawk Project 8.

Check it out.