GTA IV this GTA IV that, enough already!

I'm one of the few in this country that has yet to buy into the hype of Grand Theft Auto IV. I can't explain exactly why, maybe it's because 90% of the sales are from little rich punks that had to have mommy and daddy pick up the game for them. It's this group of gamers that annoys the hell out of me and forces me to rip my headset off when playing any game over Xbox Live.

What the broom totting witch that's already lost to Obama needs to realize is that her insane push to ban games like this leads to more attention than necessary. Kids notice that politic wackos push so hard to have certain media removed from store shelves and that's what piques their interest.

I have no doubt that this is a great game, but it's what I laid out above that's keeping me away. The game has been out for two weeks now and it's still the buzz on all the gaming sites out there. With minimal advertising compared to other giant games like Halo 3 (which had an insane amount of advertising to include many spots during NFL Kick Off weekend), GTA IV has already nearly doubled Halo 3's sales, smashing world records.

If I ever check this one out, it will be much later down the road when I can use my 10% off used games card at Gamespot. There's plenty of great games out there and many more to come, so please people, enough of the GTA IV hype already!

Vikings Already Climbing the Power Ranking Ladder

Earlier in the month Sports Illustrated's Peter King raised some eye brows by ranking the Minnesota Vikings number seven in his May Power Rankings. Too soon? Sure, and he admitted that it may be, but with the moves this team has made, they have improved significantly.

Today ESPN released their May edition of NFL Power Rankings and they have the Vikings at number 12, up from finishing the season at 15 last year. Another clear indication that the off season moves the Vikings made have garnered national attention.

At this point I feel Peter King's seven ranking is rather high, but I do feel that ESPN's number 12 is more than appropriate. I do expect this team to move into the top 10 within the first few weeks of the season. The Vikings have improved on both sides of the ball, targeting two areas of need from last year. They made a double move at WR by improving by subtraction (see ya Troy Butterfingers Williamson) and adding a up and coming receiving leader in Bernard Berrian. The two combined should provide more confidence for Tavaris Jackson in his receiving corp.

The other glaring need that was no secret was at defensive end. While Mr. King felt that the Vikings gave up too much for Jared Allen, I feel the deal was needed and will pay dividends for the next several years. He's only 26 and has established himself as one of the best pass rushers in the game today. The Vikings have good talent in their secondary, but the lack of a consistent pass rush allowed for any quarterback to come in and pick them apart.

The Giants proved last year that a solid defensive line with a great pass rush is more than enough to turn the tides as they did the impossible, they beat the undefeated New England Patriots. With a solid defense, great running game thanks to the dynamic duo of Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor, and a serviceable passing attack, there's no reason to think that the 2008 Vikings can't be a contender.

It may be early to some to start talking about Power Rankings, but the truth is that we are only a couple of months away from training camp! So where do you have the Vikings ranked in Mid-May?

Gomez already making Twins history

The young center fielder that came to the Twins from the Santana deal is already in the record books. The zesty speedster became the first Twin since Kirby Puckett to hit for the cycle against the hated White Sox last night. It's been nearly 22 years since Puck did this and other than Houston's Luke Scott, is the only player to hit for the reverse cycle since Jim Fergosi did it in 1968.

"It's amazing," Gomez said. "Kirby Puckett, I saw the video of the player. He is an All-Star and I can't explain it to you. That's unbelievable."

Gomez is the eighth player in Twins history to hit for the cycle. Here's a breakdown of all eight:

Player	Date	Opp.
Carlos Gomez	5/7/08	vs. CHW
Kirby Puckett	8/1/86	vs. OAK
Gary Ward	9/18/80	at MIL (AL)
Lyman Bostock	7/24/76	at CHI
Mike Cubbage	7/27/78	vs. TOR
Larry Hisle	7/4/76	at BAL
Cesar Tovar	9/19/72	vs. TEX
Rod Carew	5/20/70	at KC

The Twins currently hold a 1.5 game lead over the Indians for 1st in the American League Central.

Iron Man, best comic book movie ever?

Well once again I've failed to be a consistent blogger. I'd promise more again, but refuse to this time as life happens and this unfortunately does not pay the bills. So moving on.....

This morning on the way to that dreaded activity called work, I was listening to KFAN's Power Trip Morning Show here in the Twin Cities. Ah yes, how I love to torture myself listening to other grown men that actually get paid to talk about sports, games, and movies day-after-day. This morning they had an interesting topic that I thought would be fun to expound on. The big talk these days in the realm of movies is the incredibly (and well done) Iron Man. Having seen this on Sunday afternoon, I found the main question of the morning from the Super Star and crew rather interesting.....What is the best comic book movie of all-time? From the three that were a part of the discussion, I heard Iron Man, Spider Man, and Batman Begins. Three outstanding choices, and more surprising to me, three different movies spawned from the question.

As I noted earlier, I wanted to expound on this topic, and here it is. My Top Five Comic Book movies based on the current Iron Man release.

1. Iron Man - This is a hands-down, clear-cut, no-brainer to me. I have to confess, when I first heard that Robert Downey Jr. was playing Tony Stark, I was very skeptical. Actually, I was irritated that someone like him continues to get another chance, but I'm more than pleased now that he did. I could not imagine anyone else playing this role. His on screen charm and witty remarks brought life and heart to a Super Hero character, a combination rarely seen in this genre.

2. Batman Begins - Now this movie was a proper representation of what the Dark Knight is all about. Other than Jack Nicholson's role as the Joker in the prior Batman movies (which very well may be usurped by the late Heath Ledger), the others were far too corny and "light" for me.

3. Sin City - For the record, I place graphic novels right alongside comics which is why this fits here. With an intricate combination of live action and CG backgrounds, Frank Miller's amazing work came to life on the big screen. It didn't hurt that this film included a wealth of outstanding acting talent.

4. 300 - Another breath taking work from Frank Miller comes to life. The Battle of Thermoplyae is shown in gruesome, yet beautiful detail as it should be when you consider the premise of 300 Spartans taking on an entire Persian army. While Iron Man got its high marks for deep characterization and spot-on dialog, 300 sits here for the unbelievably bloody battle scenes.

5. Spiderman - This one set the tone for Comic Blockbusters. While it still had some of the corny elements that many comic book movies suffer from, this one had a passion filled story and did a wonderful job developing Peter Parker.

Honorable Mention: X-men - I had a hard time not fitting this into the top five so I had to mention it here. While there is enough story with in the X-men comics to make movies for ever, this first movie was clearly the Wolverine show, and Hugh Jackman was great in the role. I can't wait to see X-men Origins: Wolverine in 2009.

That's my list and I'm sticking to it. There are several others that I love such as The Crow, Ghost World, Blade, The Punisher (NOT the Lundgren version) and Superman, but the ones I listed I could watch over and over. Feel free to comment on my list and I'd love to see some others. Besides, I'm sure I forgot a few that might make me say.....oh yeah.....

Later, and if you haven't seen Iron Man yet, get your ass in the theater now!