The United States defeats Germany 4-3 in an International Football Friendly

     In a stunning fashion this past Sunday, June 2nd, The United States managed to defeat Germany 4-3 in an international friendly. This is unthinkable to many in the football world because Germany is ranked 2nd in the FIFA World rankings, and the United States is ranked 29th. So naturally, it is within reason to assume that Germany should have won the match, due to them heavily outranking the United States team by 27 teams. Not many sports analysts predicted this outcome, even with Germany not using it's first squad.

     In the thirteenth minute, the United States took the lead with a goal by Jozy Auditore, assisted with a cross by Graham Zusi. Two minutes later, late into the fifteen minute, the US offensive pressured Germany's defense on a goal kick and forced German goalie Marc-Andre ter Stegen to make an error, resulting in an own-goal. The United States were up 2-0 at the half. Arguably, this mistake could be said to be the cause of Germany's loss, because they eventually would come back and score three goals. This would have tied the game 3-3 had it not been for the own goal. This own-goal received backlash on Twitter, when Grant Wahl from Sports Illustrated tweeted:

"Ridiculous own goal by Germany. Decent pressure by US, but that should never happen at this level. 2-0."
 
     A goal is a goal though, and things like this happen in sports all the time. If mistakes like this did not happen, then everyone would be a perfect machine, and there would be no wins; only draws. Soccer is not just a game of skill, it is one of patience. You can't just go score goals, you have to build up to that point, whether it may be playing defensively and then exploding into an all out offensive, or just constantly putting pressure on the ball.

  In the second half, Heiko Westermann, a German defender, scored in the fifty-first minute to cut the lead to 2-1. Immediately after, in the fifty-ninth minute, Clint Dempsey volleys a ball from the top of the penalty line to increase the United State's lead to 3-1. Dempsey strikes again in sixty-third minute, with a goal that resulted from cutting out a defender, lining up a shot, and kicking it left-footed uncontested into the German goal. With two goals in the game, Dempsey moved to second on the United State's all time international scoring list, only behind Landon Donovan. 

    Germany managed to score two more goals before the end of the game, but it was not enough, as the United States held on to win 4-3. This game was only an international friendly though; there are more important matter at hand coming this week, such as the three world cup qualifiers. On June 7, the United States will face Jamaica; on June 11, the US will face Panama; and on the 18th, they will face Honduras. If the United States wins all three matches, they will be guaranteed a spot in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.  
   

Tiger Woods Wins the 2013 Players Tournament

     After a long weekend in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, Tiger Woods hoists the trophy for the coveted Players  Championship. After shooting 13-under-par for the tournament, and staying under par for each of the 4 rounds of play, Woods was able to win his second Players, his first was won back in 2001. Like many sports events, there was controversy surrounding the win, especially when Woods took a drop on the 14th hole in his Sunday final round. His tee shot hooked left just at a fairway bunker into a lateral water hazard. The issue when taking the drop was whether or not Woods took it where the ball actually went crossed the hazard line, going into the water. NBC commentator Johnny Miller made a comment when Woods was taking the drop stating that he thought he was too far forward from where he should have taken his drop. However, Wood's playing partner on Sunday, Casey Wittenburg, sides with Tiger, saying that they both agreed that he took his drop from where the ball crossed into the hazard. 
     This was not the only issue to strike Woods during the Player's Championship. On Saturday, while matched with Sergio Garcia, Woods took a 5-wood from his bag on the par-5 second hole to play a high risk shot from a grouping of trees. When Woods retrieved this club, the crowd started to cheer wildly for him. Meanwhile, 50 yards away, Garcia was taking his shot, and made poor contact, resulting in a poor hit. This led Garcia to an unsatisfactory bogey on the par-5 second. After the round concluded, Garcia was interviewed during which he stated that the noise the crowd made did have a negative impact on his shot. He also slightly hinted at the possibility that Tiger Woods instigated the crowd to cause Sergio to make a mistake so that he could have an advantage. Here are the facts though: Brian Nedrich, a marshal that was at the second hole, stated that he himself told Woods that Garcia had in fact hit, allowing him to take his club out. Also, the noise from the crowd was generated right before Garcia's swing finished, specifically during the back swing. This means that he could have stopped his shot from happening, which is feasible during the slow, drawn out back swing. 
     There is still controversy though, as the head Marshal at the Players for the section of the course Woods was on, John North, told Sports Illustrated that there was zero communication between Woods and the marshals on the course when this incident took place. As with any sport though, there will always be controversy, especially with the most famous players, as they are the ones who are criticized the most when they make a mistake. What happened at the Players may have been a communication problem. It could also have been a purposeful attempt for personal gain for Woods. But at the end of it, Tiger still defeated Garcia by six shots, so one bogey did not make the difference.

Penny Arcade Expo East 2013

George Zoghbi Photography

This year, I had the opportunity to visit the Penny Arcade Expo in Boston during March 22nd to 24th. There were many exhibitors this year, and I had the chance to meet many high profile individuals in the gaming industry and test out unreleased games and technology. I also learned how to wear a scarf in three different ways! At PAX, many popular developers were there, as I found the Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo Booth. Microsoft was showing mainly the new Castle Map Pack for Halo 4, and they also had a booth for  a Dance Central setup with a Kinect Sensor, allowing a line to form for those who wanted to play. Nintendo was showcasing the 3DS along with its Wii U. I never tried out the Wii U before, and was skeptical about its performance. I was surprised though, when I was able to run an instance of a newer Burnout title seamlessly, on the television screen itself, and on the actual Wii U controller's LCD screen. The function of the touchscreen added to the game play  and made options like changing cars which usually takes many steps to do in most racing games, into a 3 step process that takes seconds. Overall, I enjoyed Nintendo's booth, and was only disappointed by the 3DS platform, only because it seemed to give me a headache. I give Nintendo an A- for their booth; the exhibitors were heavily involved and helped keep the visitors focused on their booth.

George Zoghbi Photography

Microsoft was showcasing mostly Halo 4 and Dance Central 3. Their booth was conservative, not showing any new games, but it was heavily involving the attendees at PAX by letting those who wait in line a chance to play competitive or social games of Halo 4, and even to take part in a game of Dance Central. I give Microsoft a B grade for it's booth, only because there was nothing entirely new on display, but it did involve crowds of visitors.

George Zoghbi Photography

George Zoghbi Photography

The most intriguing exhibit on display though had to be, in my opinion, Nvidia's. There were showing their new Nvidia Shield, which is basically their take on a handheld console. The Shield was light, compact, and boasts a 5 inch, capacitive touch screen. It also has a directional pad, 2 analog sticks, 4 face buttons, and 2 shoulder buttons. The game play itself was interesting, but I was limited to my options. The Shield is powered by a powerful, Tegra 4 quad core processor, so it can be sure to power through intense games. If it is unable to though, then you can connect your shield to a computer that has a newer Nvidia graphics card, and use the power of the PC to stream these games to your shield over a wifi connection, with the PC doing most of the rendering work. I give Nvidia an A+ for their booth, for they also involved the crowd especially with the giving out of free swag to those who demo their new software, which was also very enthralling because of new technologies such as streaming full fledged games over an internet browser.

George Zoghbi Photography

Overall, PAX East was a great experience, and was filled with new experiences set to enter the gaming industry later this year. I hope to go again next year and to write a more serious report while equipped with a better camera. I recommend that if you have a chance to go to PAX East, Prime, AUS, or DEV, then you should take that chance instantly, because the experience is incredible.

Oscar Pistorius on trial for the Death of his Girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp

The famous South African track start Oscar Pistorius is standing trial for the death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. The prosecutors are claiming that he murdered her premeditatively, while the defense is claiming that it was an accident, and that Pistorius thought that she was a home intruder taking cover in his bathroom. Pistorius fired 4 shots through the door, 3 of which struck Steenkamp, mortally wounding her. Prosecutor Gerrie Nei is claiming that Pistorius planned this murder and put on his prosthetic legs and went to the bathroom and shot at her, while the defense is arguing that there is no evidence to support the prosecutor’s claims. The chief magistrate of the hearing, Desmond Nair, has charged Pistorius with premeditated murder, which hinders Pistorius’s ability to get bail. The defense is fighting to get bail, promising the court that he would not attempt to flee the country.  Bail is property or money given as surety that a person released from custody will return at an appointed time.

Pistorius, in a statement given by his lawyer, claimed that the death of his girlfriend happened because it was the middle of the night, and he thought that there was an intruder in his house. He was not wearing his prosthetic legs, and felt vulnerable in the dark, so he did not turn on any lights. He then claimed to pull his 9mm pistol from under his bed, approached the bathroom, and fired 4 rounds into the door. Pistorius then stated that he called for his girlfriend, Steenkamp, and then realized that a terrible accident may have just taken place. He then said that he broke down the bathroom door, and took the fatally wounded Steenkamp and brought her downstairs for help.

The prosecution is making the claim that Pistorius put on his prosthetic legs, walked to the bathroom, and intentionally shot Steenkamp through the door, killing her. The defense, in response, is saying that there was no evidence to say that Pistorius put on his prosthetic legs prior to the shooting. They are claiming that these are false assumptions.

“I tried to render the assistance to Reeva that I could, but she died in my arms,” Pistorius said in his statement, “I am absolutely mortified by the events and the devastating loss of my beloved Reeva.”

Pistorius was well known for his participation in both the Olympic and Paralympic games for South Africa. He made history in London this past summer for being the first double amputee to compete in track and field events. He made it to the 400 meter semi finals.

Reeva Steenkamp graduated from law school, who also had a career in modeling. She was twenty-nine years old.

Sources: 
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2013/02/19/blade-runner-pistorius-appears-in-court-for-bail-hearing-in-alleged-murder/
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/19/world/africa/south-africa-pistorius-case/index.html?hpt=wo_c1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21502541

Do Video Games Influence Youth Violence?

In a world where a parent can easily go buy the latest first person shooter for their child, you may think that games such as Call of Duty or Halo may affect the minds of children due to the excessive amounts of violence present in games such of these. It would make sense too, since one may take experience seen in-game and apply them to the real world, which may cause dire consequences. Allegedly, the shooters from Columbine were influenced by violent video games. Do these games have a similar effect on all teens though? Do violent video games cause teens to go out and commit crimes because of what they view in them? Here is a graph of a correlation between video game sales and youth violence:


Source : http://videogames.procon.org/files/youthviolencevideogamechart.jpg

This chart graphs video game sales in the United States vs. incidents of serious youth violence. In the case of youth violence, it has steadily declined from 1996 due to the increased amount of video game sales.
So in actuality, it appears that video games do not influence youth violence in a negative way. They appear to decrease it. This may be because instead of going out and breaking the law, youth have a chance to relieve their anger with the use of recreational gaming. This makes sense; instead of going out and hurting someone, a kid can just load up their favorite first person shooter and "kill" virtual people with no repercussions that would affect their life.

Let's look at the sales of violent video games in the past 10 years now to see if there is a correlation:



This graph shows that the crime rate started to decrease when popular titles such as Doom series and the Grand Theft Auto series started to become released. This further more shows that violent video games may actually be a remedy for violent crimes instead of instigating them. The media constantly claims that violence in video games only cause problems, but no evidence is ever given showing that they cause people to commit crimes. The shooters at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and recently in Newtown just happened to be known to play violent video games. This shouldn't be a surprise, since 68% of American households are involved with either pc games or console games. Therefore, you can not tie violent video games to three separate incidents because such a vast amount of people are involved with gaming. You're always going to have outliers, so accurately  you can not come up with a conclusion that they do influence the youth to commit crimes.

If anything helps with the situation, it is that a child that is younger than 17 can't purchase an M rated game without a parent present. This enables the content given to the child to be controlled so that it doesn't become a problem. If a parent does not want their child exposed to it, then they can simply choose to not buy the game for them.


Source:
http://www.theesa.com/facts/gameplayer.asp
http://www.webpronews.com/nearly-70-percent-of-us-households-play-video-games-2009-06
ESRB