Pokémon & Sports
My apologies for not having anything posted yesterday, but this should more than make up for it going into the weekend. There wasn’t much I wanted to discuss especially with the White Sox looking stupid against Bartolo Colon and the Blackhawks getting bounced out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in lackluster fashion.
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It didn’t take long for the White Sox to revert back to killing pets due to their ineptitude on the diamond. The team is struggling mightily and has the final days of April to get above the 10 win mark. The road trip is best described as a disaster after going three and eight, avoiding a sweep from the Rays (correction from earlier post, the White Sox and Rays split the season series), were swept by Detroit last weekend, and split the series with the Yankees. I honestly figured that they would have come back from this road trip at the .500 mark, but sadly that isn’t the case. I don’t know if it’s the malaise of a rainy April or will the team perpetually stink in the first month. I hate starting out down because it’s against my entire mindset.
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When the Blackhawks lost to the Canucks, it was easily the most disappointing and anticlimactic loss in recent Chicago sports history. I think it’s safe to say that the entire Red Wings/Blackhawks rivalry is dying and being replaced by the Canucks. With the Blackhawks playing the Canucks in the post season the past three years and winning twice, rivalries are forged in the post-season and there’s nothing better than knowing when the Canucks lose. The Red Wings rivalry is a relic from the past and hasn’t carried over with the Blackhawks renaissance. The Red Wings have been a multiple championship caliber team and their success, while pesters Blackhawks fans, isn’t sowing seeds of hatred, Todd Bertuzzi aside.
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The Atlanta Hawks upset the Orlando Magic, but upset maybe too generous. The Magic have a bunch of bums around Dwight Howard and the Hawks exploited that weakness. The midseason shuffle from the Magic didn’t’ seem to propel them to any great strength and already has fans looking forward to a possible Bulls vs. Heat/Celtics Eastern Conference Series. After surviving the stupid buffoonery of the Pacers, the Bulls may end up with the better defensive match up simply because theAtlantaroster doesn’t have a glaring low post presence like the Magic, and could simplify their defensive rotation.
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Outside of Chicagosports, I’ve been able to get through most of the main story behind “Pokémon: White” as well as move along through my MLB 2K11 franchise. I still don’t know what to think about the “Pokémon” update because some of the new monsters are just lazy but there are some creatures I like and could see adding into my team, but there I’m left wondering what’s next for “Pokémon?” Will there be more expansions and grow the Unova region? Will look to abandon the previous four regions or will the all be tied together and truly create a “Pokémon” world? In order to help pass the time and relax each night, I started up the “Diamond/Pearl: Galactic Battles” series that I’ve been meaning to get through. With the second volume shipping in May, I figured this would be a good pick-me-up and to rekindle my passion for the series.
What I’m left thinking is that I loved the Sinnoh region (and tie in with HeartGold / SoulSilver games). I’ve already bred a team and ready to start training for casual competition. I have yet to find a complete team from the Unova region that I’d be comfortable with battling in casual competition, mainly because there are a lot of creatures that don’t appeal to my style or are going to be changed or added in future installments. Most glaring is the addition of an evolutionary form to Emolga, the electric-flying type Pokémon that resembles a flying squirrel. It looks like Emolga is the Unova region of Pikachu, but Pikachu had an evolutionary from the start. The other peculiarity of the new games is the seeming influx of flying and bug type creatures. It’s nice they’re getting some appreciation, but it seems like desperate, unoriginal pandering. There aren’t many “Pokémon” I can see in anyone’s team in the near future, simply because people’s styles seem to remain constant and there aren’t many in the new 150 that fit the bill that would be easy replacements. That will come in time, but “nerfing” competition by limiting to the new 150 is a poor move on Nintendo and Pokémon’s part.
