Temp Theater Closure

If you're in the Northeast of the United States like me, you won't have many, if not, any options to go see new movies if there are any. Drive-ins are shutting down and will return in the spring time. One of the more premium theater chains, Regal Cinemas, is looking to shut down all their theaters for a temporary amount of time. Speculation will be until 2021. Could be right around April or May if I had to guess. No way you're having theaters all around open during the late part of fall and the winter.

This is coming after the new James Bond film got delayed a second time. Some places have tried to get people into the theater and it hasn't worked altogether. That Tenet film is a big example. Studios have tried both On Demand and theaters on the same day. I see it as temporary as well. It's much easier for me to justify going to a theater for a very affordable price. Local theaters can sustain themselves in terms of pricing. That's the advantage versus spending 20 dollars on the On Demand feature, which some question the validity of specific numbers to films like Mulan. To be fair, On Demand is a case by case basis. Some people are alone. You got families, get togethers. There's a lot that can go into justifying staying at home.

Best case scenario, I think the world overall is expecting vaccines very soon. Things calm down, sickness goes down. That's at least what most businesses are hoping for. Not just movies. I'm not sure how much longer places like Regal and AMC can survive without customers, though. Can't expect to have premium prices or premium food be high in price when or if they return to normal. Multiple other things that I probably couldn't think of.

Get hunkered down and get used to On Demand for now. That is if you think it is justifiable pending your living circumstances.

Death of Baseball Central

East and West. New York, Tampa, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Oakland,  San Diego, and Los Angeles. No Central team. I look at the choking, past experiences, and no experience from the teams that exited from the playoffs.

Life hasn't been good for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs. Since the 2016 World Series in which the Cubs won for the first time since 1908, both have struggled since. A run by the Indians after a 2-0 lead in the 2017 ALDS was ended by the New York Yankees coming back and eliminating them. They got swept in 2018 by the Houston Astros and swept this week by the Yankees. Maybe not playing them hurt, but when you have a Cy Young caliber of a pitcher in Shane Bieber, this should be a no doubter you hope to win against a shaky Yankee team. And from what I listened to, one of the great bullpens. Some of the batters struggled overall against an otherwise good Yankee bullpen despite their struggles in Game 2. Should not have gotten rid of Gio Urshela.

The Cubs did not lose in blow outs. They had a chance in Game 1. Pitching did its best, but those bats went cold. Not facing Miami probably was a factor. David Ross' approach to managing will be questioned I would think. Some of the players they have. I don't know. There's a lot at stake for the players, the staff. Even the front office. Looking at the Minnesota Twins, they didn't lose in blow outs either. Bats went cold and the pitching did its best but blew it late in the games. I think there's a mental issue and psychological issue considering they have lost 18 postseason games in a row. Thirteen of them to the Yankees, two to Houston, and three to Oakland. It must toy with them as time goes on. They had a chance in 2017 and pitching let them down. I don't know how much more the fanbase can stomach getting in and losing. Minnesota sports in general, too. The closest was the Vikings a few years ago and getting blown out in the NFC Championship game.

Whatever momentum the St. Louis Cardinals had, they blew it. Blowing a huge lead to San Diego when you're on the cusp of advancing. It's going to be huge disappointment. They still got a few more years left though with this group of players. However, considering how good the Padres have been this year, they faced adversity throughout the year. And nothing seemed to click for Milwaukee. You're facing the Dodgers, who may be the best team in baseball this year. Not good enough with the bats. As with other teams eliminated, the pitching tried its best.

You can't complain too much with the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds. The best I could say for those teams is to learn from your inexperience. Let the postseason soak in and hope to fix any problems to get back in next year. Cincinnati fought hard against Atlanta and the pitching in Game 1 was through the roof. There's some positives despite the elimination. 

It's shaping up to be quite a playoff series when things begin this week.

YouTube Videos: Sep 25-Oct 1

 

Too Much Bron?

You could look at this in many ways. Ratings for the NBA Finals first game was not good. Step up above the Conference Finals, but still nothing the league should be proud of. Less than eight million viewers. You could point out multiple things. Obviously, September into October, there's other sports going on regularly. The political aspect doesn't help. But I have a theory of my own. The oversaturation of LeBron James and the LA Lakers probably sweeping.

With James, I think most people are tired of seeing him in the Finals. I don't know what it was like in the 60s with Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics, but they weren't as big a problem compared to James. James is also a very divisive person. Like any mega star, has his fans and haters. But he also doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. Any other year, it would be a win for the NBA because people want to see him win or lose. Haters will want to see another failed championship attempt. Losing six Finals in your career is not something to be proud of compared to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. I'm sure criticism could be said for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but his Laker teams were able to rebound and get Finals wins.

I think that's the other part of my theory. If it were Lakers vs. Celtics, or Toronto, I think there'd be a more competitive Finals. Miami has a great team, but with the performance in game 1, it leaves a lot of questions. Heading into the season, Los Angeles was said to be one of the favorites to win a championship this year. You see more of these type of games, it will be a turn off for the NBA. Some of the MLB favorites will be more of a ratings grab as the baseball playoffs go on. There's a time to watch LA sports, but this may be like it was back in 2010.

Whatever the case, this is going to be something the NBA will look at when they negotiate deals with networks. They were struggling earlier in the year, but the complications make it even more harder. Adam Silver should anticipate some lost revenue and start looking to fix things that will help his bottom line. And I believe it will start with not giving players and teams all this freedom. Ratings do dictate a lot of things for a sport.

Rona Titan

And it had to happen to an undefeated team in the NFL. 

The Tennessee Titans are the first team to have an outbreak in the league. Couple handfuls, which includes four players. Two defensive guys, a long snapper, and a backup tight end, as brought up by Titans Wire. Minnesota is not going to take it lightly either as the Vikings suspended activities along with Tennessee. The matchup between Tennessee and Pittsburgh has been postponed with the suggestion of playing on Monday night or Tuesday.

Defensively, it will hurt a little bit if injuries occur. Of course, you need to keep players fresh as a game goes on. Small things can impact a team. The tight end who tested positive I don't think would have gotten any play on the team for the time being.. Barring an injury, not a huge deal. However, that long snapper is going to bite. The Titans have won thanks to their field goal efforts in the closing minutes of games this season. You need a guy that can snap it cleanly for the punter or the field goal/extra point holder. Given how extra points have been since 2015, they are a cog that can dictate the closing seconds of halves.

I don't think it will get as severe as the MLB back in the end of July, but I think you'll see another team get some positives. A lot of concern will come around November and December when flu season hits. Half the league is in cold weather, snow driven areas, regardless of having a domed stadium or not. With how much the NFL has handled things, this should be taken cared of a lot better than baseball.

PS5 Compatibility

Back in June, I believed the PlayStation 5 could do PS4 games and that was it. It was not a surprise to me that it was the only form of backwards compatibility for this upcoming generation for Sony. Not having PS1, PS2, and PS3 games work on it is not a shock. Quite frankly, it's something the hardcore gamers fail to grasp on. Even with taking a glance on what I said a few months back, here's my takes. Probably some repeat stuff in here.

First off, the difficulty in getting well over 8 thousand games combined, maybe more, from three systems is going to be very rough. If I had to guess, you have to figure out all the bugs and stuff in the code to ensure that the game would work. The problem is that it'd be hard to know because of lost source codes, licensing, copyright limbo. Multiple things. It's not as simple as gamers online think. 

Another thing is the technology advancing to where it may not be feasible to get older stuff to work. Even with an 11 year difference, PlayStation 3 struggled at points to run PS1 titles. For every Crash Bandicoot and Syphon Filter that worked, you had issues in games like Mission: Impossible and Medal of Honor. It ranged from audio issues to games not loading properly. Speaking of Medal of Honor, you can get it digitally for PSP, PS3, and Vita. I would be curious to see if it had issues compared to my disc version of it. Even a working game can crash like Tiger Woods 99. This goes into my issue with the PC.

Some like to claim PC is 100 percent backwards. I smell a lie for today. Maybe not back in the mid 90s, but it's in that situation long before PlayStation 3. Even with countermeasures to combat the removal of features of stuff like adding DOSBox, DOS is not always guaranteed to work on every game, even if you have a disc for it. Certain games can only work on a specific operating system. I hear about patches and updates to some games and Virtual Machines. The average person may not want to dabble in it. Same thing with people outside of the hardcore not wanting to hack a PS3 or a Wii just to play other systems. Computers are not always used for gaming. And I doubt most play the most demanding titles out there now these days.

All that being said, not a surprise for PS5. Gamers need to calm the fuck down with backwards compatibility. It's not a make it or break it deal. Nice to have, but taken way too seriously. At some point, I'll say my thoughts on Xbox Series X/S

MLB Postseason Thoughts 2020

The strange world of baseball. When the Miami Marlins tested positive at the beginning of the shortened season, I doubted MLB would get through 60 games. But here we are. Postseason baseball.

There are plenty of question marks. How do the New York Yankees and Houston Astros do? Not exactly the hottest in batting and pitching. Plenty of injuries. The monkey is still on the Tampa Bay Rays to win a World Series. What will the playoffs taste like for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. Some of the veterans will have to guide both teams through postseason play. Particularly Chicago, having not been in contention since 2008. Oakland gets another crack, but it may be another case of moneyball not working yet again. Same with Minnesota. At least they don't face the Yankees. Or will they? Toronto is back in it for the first time in four years, but some of it will be training wheels for this crew.

Half the NL playoff teams from last year are back. Atlanta, St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Milwaukee get their stab at a trophy. Atlanta and St. Louis have some hot bats. I just wonder about the pitching. The Braves have lost some good talent. Can it sustain itself? Like Tampa, the monkey is on the Dodgers to win the World Series. A whole lot of nothing in the last decade. Kershaw's last stand? Probably, but maybe another year or two. The Brewers need to just survive and hope everything clicks. The Chicago Cubs got experience of the postseason. Will some of it rub onto the newcomers as the vets of the 2016 championship go for their second? San Diego may be a dark horse favorite. Let it loose and they could get to the pennant for the first time since 1998. A team just as long is the Miami Marlins, going to the postseason for the first time since 2003. Only their third postseason appearance, this should be a learning lesson. I'm not expecting to go far, but some of it will feel nerve racking. And there's veteran talent on the Cincinnati Reds. Some might consider them a favorite. I'm not sure. But they could play spoiler.

This year might be the World Series year for Minnesota or Oakland. Even with the success, I'm hesitant on saying Tampa gets in. The White Sox could be the one that spoils it for the American League. My National League choices come down to the LA Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, or the dark horse San Diego Padres. If health wasn't a factor, I'd say Atlanta. An interesting year, this will be a very interesting postseason to watch.

YouTube Videos: Sep 18-24

 

3DS Discontinued

I was kind of expecting it to finish up with production next year, but this isn't surprising. Nintendo 3DS has been around since the early part of 2011. Now in 2020, The Big N has decided to pull the plug on it, giving it one of the more interesting lifespans of any of their handhelds. Obviously coming after the original DS, it would have been difficult to find the next hook. Three dimensional handheld was their gimmick.

It might be hard to believe, but I do kind of remember the complaints about the price. At 250 dollars, it was a bit out of reach for a handheld. The price drop that summer helped stabilize bleeding of sales and it caught on. Just not to the level of the DS. It's problem I think is not many companies jumping in on the handheld bandwagon. Support from Sega, Square Enix, Capcom, and a few others did get releases out there, but in comparison of library size, it didn't get the level of DS. However, eShop had old titles and a share of original games.

If people were to look back at it, I do think there will be a sense of appreciation. Unfortunately, there will be the question of "what if?" put into it. If Western companies were more involved. European publishers or developers like Ubisoft or Rockstar if they would have done anything. The usage of the 3D and if customers enjoyed it. If online was a substantial improvement over the DS. There are stuff in some people's eyes that could have been better.

Where does Nintendo go from here?  I don't think there will be a handheld for a while. Of course, the hybrid of the Switch will be something that will keep customers interested. Why waste resources to make unique versions on a handheld and a console? It is said that Nintendo is not getting rid of online immediately. I'd give it a good two to three years similar to the Wii before it disappears. Whether there's new digital games, I'm not sure. PlayStation 3 got a digital game release back in August. Until then, the 3DS will get its love. Try and get some of the titles now before the prices skyrocket.

Geeks and Jocks: Episode 44

 New episode. 

https://anchor.fm/ryan-sullivan1gaj/episodes/Episode-44-The-Mental-Side-ek1434