This is partly a result of my failed attempts to procure something ready-made from the Internet and partly because this guy is a freaking awesome defender. I searched all over the Internet but could not find anything good for poor Branislav, although you could find hundreds of pictures of lady Ana Ivanovic. Not any more. Here’s my latest creation so that future searches for ‘Branislav Ivanovic wallpaper’ don’t return a ‘Did you mean Ana Ivanovic?’.

Well in my case, I tend to save myself the trouble of writing something and instead, when I have some free time I fiddle with the blog’s theme. Call it stupid if you like, but that’s the way it goes for me. A lazy Saturday made even lazier by the doctor’s pills was spent in searching for a new look for my blog. At least it will remove the cobwebs, if not shoo away the spiders from my site. The 8 legged creatures will be back soon as I’ll inevitably go back to my busy life.

Speaking of life, there’s been a sort of revolution. Gone are the days when I moseyed over to the office after waking up just in time.  Now I need to wake up at least 2 hours before I’m expected at my workplace, thanks to my new abode. Yes, I’ve finally moved closer to the city and closer to civilization. And although I have joined the horde of commuters who travel… actually, they just stuff themselves into the local train and hope that merciful Lord will somehow push them out of the tin when they reach their destination. It’s a small price to pay for the convenience that you get by staying closer to the city. For one, you won’t die of hunger. Ever. There’s always some or the other eatery that’s open for a Sunday dinner.

Ah, dinner. That reminds me of the beans that I cooked (burnt would be a better word) today. Yup, yours truly is now trying his hand at cooking food. Don’t laugh or I’ll shove a spoonful into your mouth. Safe to say, I won’t be assisting Sanjeev Kapoor on his show any time in the near future. But at least I can survive for a few days even if all restaurants go on an indefinite strike.

Okay, I think that should be enough for today. After a month, I’ve finally managed to clear the cobwebs from my site and make a blog post. That should set me up for about 2 weeks of busy-ness (is that a word?). And lest I forget, I also need to write an article for The Final 3rd. Don’t want that site to become a carbon copy of mine, crying out for attention while weeping in a corner.

We’ve got contributors from all over India, yours truly included. Check it out!

That is all.

The Final 3rd

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See what I did there? Inspired by Spurs (don’t worry, I’ll wash my mouth with soap afterwards) making good use of the 5-1 scoreline against Ar5ena1, I came up with this little gem of a title. Genius.

*ducks to avoid the dozen or so rotten tomatoes and eggs*

Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, allow me to present my first match review after a very, very long time. Of course, you may ask what is there to review? The scoreline of 7-1 says it all, really. Well, that is technically correct.

Still, I want to write something and a something I shall write. Yesterday was a match that was billed as one of those which could make or break our season. But after the initial hiccup when Villa equalized through John Carew, it was Chelsea all the way. Scoring 7 once in a season is noteworthy. But twice? That, my friends, requires something special. And yesterday it was special. We had Malouda terrorising the Villa right-back all game and bagging 2 goals for the second successive game. And Yuri Zhirkov too decided to join in the attack twice, earning 2 penalties for each foray into the opposition box.

Super Frank was at it again, taking his season’s tally past the 20 goal mark yet again with 4 (yes, four) goals against a hapless Villa side which came into this game as the only unbeaten team in 2010. I guess they had it coming.

Salomon Kalouless came on later and he too chipped in with a goal which must have made Martin O’Neill wish the earth would open up and swallow him. It didn’t.

So 7-1 it was in the end. Chelsea were seemingly on seventh heaven while it was a hellish nightmare for Aston Villa. After a few minutes at the top of the table, Manchester United went back to the top after beating Bolton Wanderers 4-0. And if you’re not aware, we’ll be visiting them in Manchester next week for a game that is billed as the title decider.

I’ll leave you with the comment made by a Villa fan that I happened to read on a forum today. Till then, take care and Keep The Blue Flag Flying High!

Villa Fan: Woken up this morning by my girlfriend saying ‘Get up, it is 8′. I thought, ‘Oh no, they’ve not effing scored again have they?’

Okay, so here’s a brief recap of all the things that happened and didn’t happen during the past couple of weeks. First off, I got myself a new cellphone – the Nokia N79 that I’d been dreaming about ever since I read its review on GXSaurav’s blog. It’s a sleek petrol black model and I am in complete awe of its beauty, intelligence and all the things that a pretty girl should have. Okay, so that was a little weird, but what else did you expect from a techie?

My New Phone

Then we had a freshers party on the very same day for the latest bunch of recruits. That went well, even yours truly managing to jive a bit. Sunday was nothing special, what with all of us catching up on the several hours of sleep lost during the week. Then came Monday, and I agree with Garfield. It’s the worst day of the week. I just about managed to scrape through it, half-awake. On Tuesday, my Internet connection started acting up and wouldn’t let me log in. The same had occurred with a couple of friends who had bought theirs from that retailer. The next day I went to the retailer and told him about the problem. He asked me to fill up another CAF form and assured that the connection would be re-activated soon. But as expected, his assurance turned out to be holow. 3 days passed by without any action being taken. I’d made up my mind to get this thing sorted out myself, since complaining to the customer care didn’t help matters either.

My Internetz

On Thursday, I got a minor shock. I was out having a cup of tea during lunchtime when a friend called me up to tell me that the speaker from our classroom was missing and the IT guy was calling the Class Rep, which happens to be me. I frantically rushed back since the stupid thing costs Rs.6500, which would have to be  borne by the scapegoat. Err, I mean the Class Rep. Thankfully, someone had casually picked up the speaker and kept it in the conference hall. My wallet could breathe easy once more and we enjoyed ‘Chak De India’ after a few initial hiccups.

My Class (With Lights On)

Then came Friday. Usually the Class Rep gets bullied around by the faculty, has to be responsible for every mistake that the class makes and has to do all sorts of stupid things. But call it my luck, that I’d not been subjected to any of that. That was until Friday. It was lunchtime and I had dozed off in the class, as had most of the others. The next lecture was free since the faculty was busy in a workshop. The lights were off, a few cellphones were playing music and the ambience was highly conducive to sound sleep. Then all of a sudden I heard a call to hide the cellphone and the moment I opened my eyes, there was the director standing at the door, turning on the lights. Needless to say, his first question was – “Who is the CR?”. That was the call for me to get ready for a kicking. But thankfully, I just got to hear a few choice words and nothing much happened. My attempts to save my skin and my class, did earn me a few comments of “Well tried!” from my mates, though.

These don't NEED a caption!!

Oh look! It’s Saturday already! Today I was on my own. That was because I’d been watching a movie late into the night and woke up at 11:39 AM, when the rest of my mates had already gone to the academy to play cricket. “No problem, I’ll just get the Internet connection sorted out today”, I thought. So after a quick bath, I caught a bus to the nearest Reliance Web World. The customer service rep over there was a pretty helpful chap named Santosh. It took 2-3 hours, but he managed to get my connection up and running. I was delighted! After that I just needed to get myself a blanket and a new pair of shoes. Did that, and hopped on the bus back to base. On the way I met a few of my mates returning after the match(es). They had won 1 and lost the other. No need to worry, though. Those were just practice matches. The real thing starts next weekend. My class (F) has been drawn in the group containing sections J and H. I’ll keep y’all updated on the results.

And I hope this time we fare better in football. Last time around, we cruised to the championship in cricket and even beat the other 2 trimesters. But in football, we were knocked out in the first round. We had put out a make-shift team and I had an absolute shocker that day.

And to make things better, Chelsea have just beaten Wolves 4-0 with a depleted squad. We’re now 8 points clear of Arsenal who got turned over by Sunderland. ManU are playing against Everton as I write this. Let’s hope they lose as well.

Joe and Flo Celebrate!

Oh well, I guess that’s about it. If I had to rate it, I’d give this week an 8 on 10. Bring on next week, I say! But first, cheers to Sunday!!!

And here’s what the scene looks like after the picture underwent some lazy editing:

Vermaelen (Gladiator) saves Silvestre (Damsel in distress)

I could have aded speech bubbles too, but the picture says it all.

I was so bored.

ManU lost to Fulham earlier and had Rooney as well as Scholes sent off. Chelsea could and should have taken advantage of their slip-up. But we didn’t and the gap still remains at 4 points.

As things stand, we’re 2nd in the table but could be overtaken by Liverpool if they win tomorrow. Oh well, let’s just wait and watch. And pray a little, maybe.

For the uninitiated, the Vital Football Network is one of the most respected football fan-sites on the Internet, which is managed by the fans themselves. It provides a platform for football fans all over the world to share their thoughts, discuss ideas and make their voices heard. I’ve been a member of this site for a long time and there were occasions when I had the urge to contribute something, but nothing materialized. In the wake of the painful defeat on Sunday, I finally made up my mind, wrote a piece and promptly dispatched it to the site editor. Over there, my moniker is ‘blueklaw’ and you can read the article here.

I must admit, the feeling of seeing my work published was amazing!

Yay!!

Anger is not an emotion I normally associate with a Chelsea defeat. Usually it’s bitter disappointment coupled with an unwavering optimism that we’ll bounce back stronger. However, the events that occured on matchday 4 of the UEFA Champions League left me fuming. And it was not just because of the defeat or even the match entirely. Allow me to explain.

In India, the rights for Champions League matches are allotted to Ten Sports and Zee Sports. Now these two channels are like the poor cousins of ESPN-Star Sports, and have to survive on whatever little coverage of European football they are allowed to broadcast in the Indian subcontinent. And how grateful I am, that it’s only a ‘little’. The reasons for this are plenty – poor presentation, lousy commentators (barring a few times when Andy Gray & Martin Tyler commentate), ignorant TV pundits. The list goes on. But the biggest gripe is their shameful bias towards Liverpool and Manchester United. On matchdays, 90% of the time they’ll be showing live mgames of these two teams, while other matches are either delayed or shown Live on Zee Sports. Zee Sports being the poorer of the poor cousins, is not available on my Tata Sky DTH service and hardly any cable operator carries this channel.

So here I was, my DTH box connected to the PC, tuned in to Ten Sports, watching the pre-match scenes at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. They had earlier told us that Liverpool vs Atletico is on Zee Sports, so it was only logical to conclude that Ten Sports will be showing Roma vs Chelsea. You can imagine my surprise when the host informed the viewers, with a sheepish grin I may add, that there’s been a mistake and Roma vs Chelsea is on Zee Sports.

That wasn’t in the script!

Thankfully, I’d noticed a few days ago while channel-surfing, that my cable operator was carrying Zee Sports. I swiftly unplugged the DTH box from my PC and attached the cable wire in its place. A few minutes and adjustments later, I was all set for the match.

However, it just wasn’t going to be my day. At half-time, I left my chair to get myself some refreshments, hoping we’d be able to overturn the 1-0 deficit in the second half. When I returned, i was greeted by a black screen.

What the hell happened?? Arrrghhh!!!

As I switched to another channel, I feared the worst and thought that there must have been a power failure at the operator’s premises. That wasn’t the case. Other channels were there, only Zee Sports had gone missing!! Another channel scan yielded the same result. I’d been left stranded with a stupid cable connection that was of no use to me now.

As a last resort, I fired up my browser and went straight to Justin.tv, hoping they’d have a decent stream for the game. Guess what? They did. And what a stream it was. On my 256kbps connection, it was butter-smooth and re-buffered only 7-8 times during 45 minutes. If only the match had ended in our favour as well.

So what are my views about the match?

• First, we need a proper striker who won’t go missing in crucial matches. Anelka was nothing if not anonymous during the game.
• A genuine pacy winger is a must-buy in January. Letting Robinho slip from under our noses feels worse with each bad result.
• Mikel, who has been a revelation this season, had a poor game. First he sold Deco short with a pass, causing the Portuguese to foul Totti. The freekick led to the opening goal for Roma. Then, he lost the ball which led to another goal.

• Carvalho’s absence in the defence is telling. Alex does not offer the same pace and mobility as Carvalho does.
• We lack a Plan-B. Sometimes we are too predictable – full-backs will go forward, swing in crosses into the box. Lather, rinse, repeat.
• The referee had a bad game. Deco’s second yellow was pretty harsh. The ref also missed a couple of dives from the Italian team.

This 3-1 loss is the worst defeat Chelsea have suffered under Scolari so far. That said, I still think we’ll top the group and make it comfortably into the last-16 of the Champions League. I just hope the next time it’s a European night, I don’t have to go through this kind of ordeal again.

FIFA 09 for the PC

The next instalment of EA’s football game is here. Where you ask? Apparently the game has released in Europe and has rapidly spread all over the bit-torrent network. Some may have pre-ordered their copies while some might be waiting for it to hit the store shelves in their town. However, the ones who couldn’t wait for the game to release and were not afraid to get their hands dirty, got their hands on it through the generous torrent community. So what we have here is a scenario where people were playing the game one day before its scheduled release. Nice.

Anyways, let’s get down to the interesting part, the things most of you would like answers to. Is FIFA 09 really next-gen, as promised? Does it deliver oh-so-realistic visuals? Have the quirks and bugs in previous versions been ironed out? How does it compare to its arch nemesis – Pro Evolution Soccer? All these and more will be answered!

First Impressions

Okay, I’ll skip the installation part as most of you are aware of it. Started the game, and the first screen asks me to select a language. Did that, and the mandatory declarations about the leagues and the copyrights came up.

I waited with bated breath as the opening cinematic began. Looks like EA have stopped making interesting opening videos since FIFA 2004. Even the video quality was not all that impressive. Not at all enticing. Selected my beloved Chelsea as the favourite team and I was all set.

The Interface

The interface is carried over from FIFA 08, with Adidas Live Season being a new addition. It basically allows you to select a league, for which you’ll get periodic updates from EA. For example, if a certain player is performing well in real life, his stats will be affected in the game as well. And if a player has a dip in form, his game stats will be reduced. Cool, innit?

The much-acclaimed Be-A-Pro mode is also there, with a new camera angle that looks better than the one in FIFA 08. This time around, you can opt to play a single Be-A-Pro game rather than a whole season. The other game modes are the same as in previous releases. Enough small-talk, now let’s get down to business.

Gameplay & Visuals

Sadly despite all the hype surrounding the so-called next-gen features incorporated in FIFA 09, the game did not live up to my expectations. What I expected was pretty clear – smooth, stunning visual quality, fluid player movement, ‘intelligent’ AI, engrossing gameplay. In short, I was looking for something which would make me go “Wow!” and make me want to play the game again and again.

But this was not to be. Now please note, I’m expressing my own opinions here, which may or may not correspond to your views. The first time I fired up the game, I set all details to high including 3-D Grass, Depth of Field and Shader Quality. Then I proceeded to set up my cheap PS-2 controller lookalike. But what’s this? Some buttons just would not get mapped and remained ‘EMPTY’! After a little searching on the Internet, I was able to find a solution for this.

Strike One.

Then I started a quick match and waited in anticipation at the loading screen. Ahh!! Looking good! The match began and being the seasoned footballer that I am, I could’t wait to… what the hell??

Why is the game stuttering??? Is something wrong with my setup? Is my 8600GT graphics card unable to handle the next-gen visuals?

Quit the game, reduced the detail level to minimum and started a new match, hoping for better results. Damn. Not again.

After much research on the Internet, I found many unfortunate souls plagued with the same problem. A solution was found, but the game was still not smooth enough, though playable.

Strike Two.

Okay, so I can manage with a handicapped controller and laggy visuals, but glitches in gameplay? Not at all tolerable. The first glitch is, that after managing to get my controller working, whenever I pass the ball to a teammate, the ball bounces off him, as if the right-analog stick is pressed in some direction. Secondly, goalscoring is insanely easy! It’s as if the keepers have been picked up from a pub team!! Then, in a bid to improve the player physics, they’ve made it such that in a crowd of players, the ball just keeps bouncing off players until someone manages to get control of it. Imagine that while trying to clear the ball in front of your own box surrounded by opposition attackers.

Strike Three. You’re OUT.

My Verdict

Let’s start with the good. The players look absolutely breathtaking, much more realistic than ever. The crowds have been considerably improved. Overall visual quality is pretty nice, with some subtle touches such as sweat on the foreheads of players. The ambiance is well-maintained by the chanting of fans and the crowd noises. There are loads of licensed leagues, teams and players to chose from. The Adidas Live Season is a good concept. The ability to use the mouse to play the game is quite innovative.

Now for the not-so-good. The gameplay is definitely not next-gen. Players can still move only in 8 directions and the fluidity in movement is almost absent. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not so intelligent. Apart from the visual elements, the game is not a big leap from its predecessor. Rather, it seems like 1 step forward, 2 steps backward. After all, it’s not just tricks & flicks that make up a football game. The core element, that is the gameplay, the feeling of actually being in the game, is lacking.

FIFA 09 is a good game, but after so much hype, I was expecting more than just a visual upgrade. There are several bugs that need to be ironed out and more than once, you’ll get the feeling that EA has short-changed PC gamers.

If I had to rate it, I’d give it 7 out of 10.

Issues, Issues!

1. Where is Andrei Arshavin? One of the best performers of Euro 2008 can’t make it into this game.
2. Where are the UEFA Cup holders Zenit St. Petersburg? Actually, where is the Russian League?
3. Klaas Jan Huntelaar, one of the best strikers in Europe, coveted by some of the biggest clubs, does not have a face in this game. But he’s not alone, there are many more like him.
4. Many gamepads don’t work out-of-the-box with this game.
5. Graphics on high-end systems are poor, but surprisingly good on mid to low range machines.
6. Why can’t we assign custom offensive and defensive runs to players?
7. Where is Mineiro, who has now signed for Chelsea?
8. When a player is substituted, I couldn’t find out the substitution if no cinematic was played. There could have been at least a simple popup.
9. The cinematics are all from previous editions of the game.

Okay, so that’s enough FIFA-bashing for now. In short, it’s not a bad game at all, but it’s not great either. So if you love the FIFA series and don’t care too much about gameplay or simply want to soak in all the visual goodness, you can very well go and get this game. Otherwise, in my opinion it would be wise to wait until Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 releases, and compare both games to pick out the one that suits your taste.

More Screenshots!