So, this is it fellas. The Hail Marry pass with 1 second left on the clock was dropped and the game's over, the fans are leaving the stadium and the lights will be turned off for the last time. BlogFaction is being decommissioned immediately and that means all the fun content you've grown to love on GamePro Sports grinds to a hault as well.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the readers and most importantly our writers for all their hardwork. But first, I'd like to take this opportunity to take full responsibility for the antics that ensued on a certain “Ask the GameGirls” post a while back. We hosted a hilariously funny contest at your expense and we don't regret any of it. We figured you'd never catch us because, well, we knew you didn't read our site. It just didn't make sense, under these circumstance, to not own up to it.

More serious goodbyes after the jump.

MS Paint contest (23 images)

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When you think football, at least the American varient, what are the first things that pop into your head? Probably incredibly tough things. Very large men in armor crashing into eachother at high speeds on the gridiron. Smashmouth. Violence in its purest and most entertaining form.

That isn't all there is though. Somewhere between a bone crushing hit and an "alleged" Fred Smoot boat party is where the real beauty of football is. The art. Week 5 helped me realize how artistic this game can be. Whether it be a masterful Kyle Orton drive to help keep the Broncos undefeated season alive or the Bengals continuing their trend of ruining former commish Paul Tagliabue's desire to make football as unentertaining as possible, there is a wondrous amount of art behind these sweaty guys of questionable mental stability. So when I sat down to do a recap of this weeks antics, I no longer cared about analysis or stat regurgitation. Statistics are not artistic. The only way to do America's beautiful game any justice is with the written word.

So like the brilliant Yone Noguchi to his American poetry peers, I hope to convince sports-writers across America who currently just regurgitate the same opinions of EFSPN* to take a new and fresh angle on things.

Why do a review,

when you can do... a haiku.

Click after the jump.

 

 

* The F stands for Favre. Get it. Because they talk about him. A lot.

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That’s right you heard me correctly. Broadcast Integration. For those of you don’t know what that means, allow me explain.

For this year’s version of NCAA Basketball (or known more widely as March Madness) there will be not be just one, but two broadcast teams. Two for the price of one! That’s called a bargain my friends.

Now it’s not like EA skimped out on the trimmings here either. You are getting quality broadcasters in your interactive experience. You don’t just get the turkey, you get stuffing, gravy, and some sweet potato pie to go along with it.

ESPN remains as one of the commentary options that will be frequented by players. For those of you familiar with playing the NCAA Football series, you will recognize the man calling the plays as Brad Nessler, who also provides play by play with the quarterback Kirk Herbstreit, and the Coach Lee Corso. (Yo!) Color commentary is provided by the man, the myth, the mouth, Dick Vitale (It’s awesome baby!) Check out the trailer for the ESPN Presentation below:

Along with ESPN, CBS will be joining the commentary fray with their team of Bill Raftery as the color man, and in this humble viewer’s opinion, the most exciting play by play guy in the business, Gus Johnson. If you haven’t heard of Gus Johnson, shame on you. Look him up, and watch a football or basketball game with him at the helm. He makes watching games involving bad teams completely enthralling with just with his voice, and I think this is a phenomenal addition to this series that will help take it to the next level. Trailer below:

As you can see, both presentations of the respective networks are pretty spot if you follow NCAA Basketball on television. Perhaps this is just the beginning of future sports games having duel commentaries? We’ll see…

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Another Peyton Manning commercial. I might just be doing this out of spite.

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Tonight is the first night of the MLB playoffs. After a thrilling end to the regular season with the Twins earning the right to be beaten by the Yankees, everyone is excited about the playoffs. I’ll tell you my picks for the first round and then we’ll look at what MLB2K9’s simulated playoffs with the same teams and updated rosters comes up with. I should remind you that in the first round of MLB playoffs the series are best of 5.

ALDS: Yankees (Al East Champs) vs. Twins (Al Central Champs)

Nobody seems to be giving the Twins a chance here. The Twins were not expected to make the playoffs but got incredibly hot to steal the division from the Tigers. They are probably the hottest team going into the playoffs right now. However they are going against the Yankees with no rest and with Joe Nathan unavailable for at least 4 games. Joe Mauer will be big as the league’s best hitter, but they still do not have Morneau and the Yankees have the best lineup in the league.

The Yankees, on the other hand, are well rested. While they haven’t played meaningful games for a little while, they have so much more rest and the schedule with home field and the 8 game schedule which they were able to choose due to their superior record gives them a huge advantage. Not to mention the Yankees are at full strength. The Yankees have been, in the second half, have been scary good. They have been by far, the best team in baseball and are 7-0 against the Twins this year. No upset here the Yankees will win.

My Prediction: Yankees in 4. I give the Twins one game because they have momentum on their side, but nothing else.

MLB 2K9: Twins in 3. I know wtf, right? Apparently the Yankees bats slept and they lost two close games followed by a 9-2 drubbing as the Minnesota offense beat up on Andy Pettite. 

(Read on after the jump for the rest of the predictions)

Major League Baseball 2K9 screens on GamePro.com

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The WWE is by far the very best wrestling company when it comes to innovating matches. From the Ladder Match, evolving into the TLC Match, the Inferno and Casket Matches, the Elimination Chamber, the Money in the Bank Ladder Matches and so on and so forth, those of us who watch wrestling can never fault the WWE for not trying to be innovative in terms of match creativity. Some work brilliantly, and some don’t, (Playboy Bunnies Pillow Fight anyone?) but there is one particular match that has set the standard for specialty matches and great booking in the WWE: The Hell in a Cell.

The Hell in a Cell Match is a very simple modification of the Cage Match that professional wrestling has utilized since the early 70’s to settle feuds, hold title matches, and smack someone in the face for insulting their mother. Unlike the traditional cage match where just the perimeter of the ring is surrounded by a cage, the Hell in the Cell shadows the ring and the outside area so that matches can be more creative in terms of bumps and high spots. The very first Hell in a Cell match took place in late 97 when the Undertaker faced Shawn Michaels for the WWE/WWF Title. It was one of the most brutal and brilliantly constructed matches in the history of professional wrestling, and still remains the benchmark for all cage matches that have followed.

Last night marked the WWE’s very first all Hell in a Cell Pay per View in their history. While not every match took place in the confines of the cage, three matches including both World Championship Matches did…with mixed results. Results and analysis to follow.

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The true battle for the cup began Thursday night with the start of the NHL season. There is plenty of hype over who is the front runner for the Stanley Cup. Can the Penguins repeat? Are the Red Wings finally too old? Have the Sharks removed that chicken bone from their throat?

Thankfully, we have this year's edition of EA's NHL series was without a doubt the authority on simulation hockey this year (until it decided who would win the cup...) so I decided to let it help us figure out exactly who's going where this year in the NHL.

Check out the results of the 09-10 NHL season after the jump! 

NHL 10 screens (22 images)

I just saw this on Sportscenter this morning and I felt it was absolutely necessary to share with everyone. Thanks go out to YouTube, the Internet, and people with seemingly no lives for providing this video so quickly.

The rundown

  • This guy not only predicts that a rookie is going to hit his first homerun...
  • He predicts it's going to happen in his second at-bat...
  • On a 3-1 count...
  • On a fastball...
  • And that he'll pull it over the left field fence.

Unreal.

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In this week's commercial, Peyton Manning shows us the art of trash talking on XBL.

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This week we've got two commercials featuring the recently sidelined Troy Palomalu. This should hold off a few Steelers fans as they wait for his return in another 1 - 3 weeks.

On the field:

And, in the locker:

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