Larry Brown Sports

LeBron James has a higher player rating in the NBA 2K12 video game than Kobe Bryant, and naturally that has led to much discourse. Pasta Padre says the two had an even rating in NBA 2K11 (both had 97 out of 100). In NBA 2K12 (watch the awesome trailer here), LeBron received a 98 rating while Kobe Bryant received a 94.

Obviously these scores were determined by some people running the video game, but it reflects the changing mentality of most NBA fans. LeBron James is 26, shot the highest field goal percentage in his career, and he’s widely considered to be in the middle of his prime. Kobe on the other hand is 33 years old and beginning to slow down. He’s been bothered by knee injuries and he plays more of an outside game now compared to when he used to take it to the rack frequently.

Bryant still wins most head-to-head debates with LeBron because he has the championship rings while LeBron does not. However, the video game ratings reflect reality — LeBron is a better player now. And if you think these ratings don’t matter, read this J.R. Smith story and then get back to me.

For the record, Dwyane Wade received a 96 and Chris Bosh had an 80. Where Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kevin Durant rank relative to LeBron is the better question.

You may be wondering what this story is doing on a sports site, but the reality is a lot of fans who enjoy reading about sports on the internet also enjoy playing video games. Therefore it is my duty to inform you that playing video games for an extending period of time can be hazardous to one’s health.

Take for instance the case of Chris Staniforth, a 20-year-old from England who died in May of a blood clot in his lungs. The coroner said his blood clot started in his leg and moved into his lungs, causing blockage. An autopsy showed that Staniforth suffered from a condition called deep vein thrombosis which can be triggered by sitting in one position for a long period of time.

Staniforth is described as an Xbox addict who used to have marathon gaming sessions where he played for up to 12 hours at a time. I’m not a gamer nor have I been most of my life, but we’ve all been there before. Freshman year, Dykstra Hall, yeah, my roomie Rey and I had a nice 36-hour Madden bender where we were wired on cans of Amp and dining hall food. It wasn’t pretty, but it was fun.

The bottom line is everything should be done in moderation and dammit, if you can’t feel your leg because of a blood clot, it’s probably time to put down the controller and head outside. Now excuse me while I get back to the couch to continue blogging.

Thanks to I am a GM for the link

Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay was a guest on The Jim Rome Show Tuesday and talked about a video game grudge match he had scheduled with Mavs guard Jason Terry. Gay and Terry squared off in Call of Duty: Black Ops at Treyarch Studios later on Tuesday, but before that Gay revealed what type of player he is in the popular multi-player shooting game.

“I’m one of those guys that just hides,” Gay told Rome. “Everyone just runs around so I can shoot ‘em.”

Though Rome isn’t much of a video gamer, he called Gay out for his boring gaming style known as “camping.” According to the unimpeachable source that is Urban Dictionary, being a camper is “Usually the sign of a bad player who thinks they are the best.”

Later in the show, Nationals reliever Drew Storen, who was an in-studio guest, called out Gay for his refusal to engage during the game.

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The folks at EA Sports simulate the NHL season each year using their NHL 11 video game, and the video game correctly predicted a Canucks-Bruins Stanley Cup Finals. The simulations occurred in October and they also correctly predicted that the Canucks would win the Presidents’ Trophy for the best record in the League.

Since the playoffs began, they have simulated the outcome of all 14 playoff series and got 13 correct. The only simulation that came out wrong was the Red Wings-Sharks series won by San Jose in seven games. The simulation had Detroit winning in seven.

EA’s simulation had the Canucks winning the Cup in seven games over the Bruins back in October, but they plan to re-run the simulation on Monday using updated information. Last year they correctly predicted the Blackhawks would win the Cup. As a Bruins fan, I’m just hoping the system picks Boston. If that doesn’t happen, then the Bruins will just have to prove the system wrong.

ESPN announced Wednesday that Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis beat Michael Vick to win the cover of the Madden NFL 12 video game. Even though we covered Hillis’ run to the semis, we didn’t see him emerging from the pack.

Maybe we should have.

It probably didn’t hurt Hillis that Packers fans voted against Aaron Rodgers because they didn’t want him to suffer the curse. But how did Hillis defeat the ever popular Michael Vick? There is only one possible answer: he ran with the white running back mystique.

Cleveland Browns fans are numerous and passionate, but they can’t possibly overpower every other fan base in the NFL. And I don’t believe some sort of Rory Fitzpatrick scheme was at work either. This was about one thing — race. America loves white running backs and this is confirmation. Here’s more on the matter if you’re interested.

The Buffalo Bills will unveil new jerseys for the upcoming season and it turns out their new look can be seen in a Madden NFL 12 teaser video. The discovery was made by Chris Trapasso who noticed it while watching the promo video, and it was confirmed by Tim Graham. The Bills’ new unis have an old school feel to them, similar to the throwbacks they have worn recently. Graham has more details on what the uniforms will feature.

“The helmets will be white with the blue charging buffalo and gray facemasks. Jerseys will have broad stripes on the shoulders instead of the sleeve bottom. Pants will be blue or white, the opposite of the jersey. Blue pants will have red-between-white piping. White pants will have red-between-blue piping.

Socks will have blue-and-white striped tops, and players will have the option to wear blue or white shoes as opposed to black. Belts are believed to be gray.”

For a comparison between the new and old uniforms, here’s what they wore last season:

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As we wrote earlier this week, Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis actually beat Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the semifinals of the Madden cover vote. Unlike past years when EA Sports selected the player who would appear on the cover of the game, EA decided to create a 32-player tournament and leave the vote to the fans. Rodgers was beat out by Hillis and expressed some disappointment.

He told WKNR in Cleveland Wednesday “I think it definitely would’ve been cool. It was a game that I played as a kid. Not really a game I play anymore, but I played as a kid growing up. I was able to keep up with it through my twitter. I know there were a lot of Green Bay fans that were voting against me because they believe in the so-called Madden curse, but I was following it for sure.”

Rodgers may be somewhat disappointed but Packers fans are not. It’s probably better this way for Rodgers’ longevity. There’s a long history of players appearing on the cover and getting hurt, including Troy Polamalu two seasons ago, and possibly Drew Brees last year.

Aaron, you may have to settle for covergirls instead of cover games for the time being, but that may not even be a bad thing.

Thanks to Deadspin and Sports Radio Interviews for the transcript

While Michael Vick and Peyton Hillis will battle for the Madden ’12 cover in the NFL, it was announced early Tuesday morning that Alabama running back Mark Ingram would be the cover boy for NCAA Football ’12. Ingram won an online vote that took place on facebook, and he beat out Jake Locker, Nick Fairley, and DeMarco Murray. I’m sure Bama fans will view it as another victory for the Tide over Auburn. Here’s a picture of the cover via Roll Bama Roll:

No surprise, the folks at EA say Ingram was the vote leader most of the way. Kegs ‘n Eggs has a video of the trailer for the game, and it’s pretty sweet. Check it out.

Unlike past years when the cover of the popular John Madden football video game was selected by EA Sports, this year they chose to have the cover determined by a vote. Sports Nation has hosted a 32-player March Madness-style tournament (one athlete per team) to determine who will end up on the cover of the game. They’re down to the semifinals and the four remaining players are Aaron Rodgers, Michael Vick, Adrian Peterson, and Peyton Hillis. Ask yourself one question: which athlete does not belong?

In that group, we have a Super Bowl MVP, the MVP runner up, a four-time Pro Bowler, and a guy who has 1,574 career yards and 17 touchdowns. The guy with the fewest accolades out of that group is by far Peyton Hillis.

Don’t get me wrong, Peyton Hillis was pretty outstanding last year until getting hurt, but he really doesn’t belong with those three just yet. Those other three guys are stars in the game while Hillis has had one good year. And his one good year wasn’t even as good as say, Arian Foster’s one good year. So how did he end up in the semifinals of this tournament?

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There’s a video of Serena Williams in a Top Spin 4 ad that’s been making its way around the internet the past few days. Top Spin 4 has not associated itself with the video and the official trailer for the game is significantly different and cleaner. So what’s the story behind it?

As Sports by Brooks points out, the website joystik.com says the ad was clearly produced by 2K Sports even if they decided not to use it in official marketing of the product. It’s a racy commercial featuring Serena and another woman in lingerie and lots of sexual-sounding grunts. Best part of all, it raises awareness for the game. Here it is:

It’s easy to see why the commercial wasn’t used in official marketing, but it was sly to throw it out there anyhow. Think about how much more coverage the game received as a result. It reminds me a lot of the viral nudity campaign run by a shoe company last year.