OMGN: Nexus

Welcome to the first, of many, installments of The Gamer’s Beat. This weekly column will highlight many updates and news tidbits of games in the OMGN Games Directory. If you’re a game developer, or a regular gamer, feel free to send me an email to let me know about updates or news from your game that you’d like featured in the column. Please make sure you leave an url to the game and your name (or in game name) so you can receive credit. Now on with the Beat.

This week we have updates and news ranging from games looking for staff members and games resting for a new round, to games adding new features and scheduled updates.

Avatar, a free, browser-base, RPG, has many openings for staff and contributors. Listed below are the openings and a brief description or requirements.
*PHP Programmers. Must have, at least, a basic knowledge of PHP and MySQL.
*Web Designers. Must have Macromedia Dreamweaver, or a similar program, and know how to work with it.
*Forum Moderators. Must be online frequently and speak proper English.
*Official Bug Trackers. Must play the game often, try to discover bugs and errors and then report them in the Forum or message an Admin.
If you wish to apply to any of these positions, you must meet the pre-requisites. For more information on how to apply, visit the Avatar forums here.

Avatar is also looking for writers and graphic designers. For more information to contribute as a writer, visit the Avatar forums here. For more information to contribute as a graphic designer, visit the Avatar forums here. Thanks to Daishi for the information. Visit Avatar’s website here.

Starwar, a galaxy, conquest, strategy game, will start it’s first round Thursday, September 1, if 100 players are signed up. Otherwise it will be delayed one day, everyday, until they have 100 players. This will be Starwar’s first alpha round. The round will have a five minute tick speed, and end when one empire holds all “artifacts” for more a span of 24 hours. Thanks to William for the information. Visit the Starwar website here.

OilFight, a browser-based, RPG,has mad the following updates:
*Rescaled everyones weapons and the cost of weapons to be 10x more expensive.
*Put a check into weapon buying so that nobody can buy more than 65,000 of the same weapon type.
*”Repair all Attack weapons” and “Repair All Defensive Weapons” buttons implemented.
*Session based login supplemented with a cookie stored on the users computer to reduce unintended logouts.
Information has come via OilFight’s forums. Visit the OilFight website here.

Miniconomy, a free, strategy, trade game, started Round 22 on Saturday, August 27. Last month they welcomed 3,000 new players from more then 100 countries. They have made some “important” changes which they’re hoping to help contribute to make Miniconomy “an even more fun game.” Information via Miniconomy Newsletter 12. Visit the Miniconomy website here.

FOUND: Desert Island, a free, browser-based, strategy has announced scheduled updates:
*Treasure Hunt. Castaways will be able to bury treasures on the island, and create maps/clues for others (or themselves) to find in the future. Release date: September 2005.
*Castaway Territory. Castaways will be able to use items (e.g. wood -> fence) to create an exclusive area, where they can maintain resources for their own use. Release date: October 2005.
*Player-created Islands. Players will be able to create their own islands (to be played by others) based on the templates and resource classes provided by FOUND. Release date: November 2005.
Information via FOUND: Desert Island website. Visit the FOUND: Desert Island website here.

Knight of War, a free, text adventure, strategy is revamping the entire game. The game will be more focused on a single player rather than an army. There will be more stats available, more weapons, more armor, etc. . .. They’ve opened a forum to accept your input on what you’d like a game of it’s kind to include. Information via Knight of War website. Visit the Knight of War website here.

Spirit Wars, a text-base, RPG, has made several updates the past few days:
*Improved efficiency of maze a bit, shouldn’t slow down after long periods of playing.
*By popular demand there are now two new games in the arcade, blackjack and slots.
*In preparation for the opening of the Spirit Town Library, various members of the community have decided to start renovating their buildings! The Pub, Barracks, and Training Arena are all rumored to have planned changes. Layout of Pub has been changed. You can now fire soldiers in the barracks.
Information via Spirit Wars website. Visit the Spirit Wars website here.

Visual Utopia, a free, browser-based, strategy has added updates to their new era:
*Long range attack made a little more stronger.
*MSN function added to the kingdom page. If you have Internet Explorer you will be able to see if someone is online and message him/her by clicking on the icon.
*Training troops when being prepared on or under siege cost double as much.
*Combat losses have been lowered.
*Zoom function added to the map. Click plus or minus on the numpad (on your keyboard) to zoom. Only works with IE though.
*The bless spell have been weakened.
*You no longer loose morale and you do not get news about kingdom mates being attacked.
Information via Visual Utopia’s forums. Visit the Visual Utopia website here.

Rival Kingdoms 2, free, tick-based, strategy has open registration for it’s first Commercial round (which is now open). The prize for this first
commercial round will be $25 dollars. Information via Rival Kingdoms 2 website. Visit the Rival Kingdoms 2 website here.

Empire Forge, a turn-based, strategy has made several updates, Monday, August 29:
*Conquest+CEDE now prevented.
*Balance changes to elves and trolls.
*More changes to score page.
*Disband works anywhere now.
*Minion leader added.
*CONVERT now requires a HIDDEN or REVEALED argument.
Several updates are also planned:
*Create automated page for taking dropped positions.
*Move TURNUNDEAD to a separate phase to make execution predictable.
*Amphibious retreat for amphibious units.
Information via Empire Forge website. Visit the Empire Forge website here.

That’s it for this week folks. Please make sure to email me with any news or updates to any of the games in the OMGN Games Directory. Till next week, remember to play fair with others.

From the Rockford Lightning :

Recent Rockford Lightning free-agent training camps have proven fruitful for Coach Chris Daleo. The Lightning, pending Continental Basketball League approval, announced today the signing of Charlie Ludwig and Sidney Holmes who attended free agent camps on August 13 and 27. Their signing allows both players to attend veteran’s camp, which opens November 6, 2005.

Ludwig’s play at the August 13 free agent camp caught Coach Daleo’s eye. Ludwig attended Oral Roberts University and recently played in the World Basketball Association. “It is not often that you find a seven footer with good footwork and a soft touch at free agent camp,” said Coach Daleo. “I felt that he ran the floor well and worked extremely hard. He will be a
welcome addition to veterans camp.”

The energetic play of Sidney Holmes is very familiar with Lightning fans. Last year was Sidney’s rookie season with the Bolts where he averaged 3.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. A graduate of Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, Holmes also shot 59 percent from the field. Sidney played with the same amount of energy at the August 27 camp as he displayed
throughout the 2004-2005 season. “Sidney made the most of his minutes last year and worked very hard to improve his game” said Coach Daleo. “Sidney came to camp and played extremely well. He was a very easy signing.”

The next Lightning free agent camp is Saturday September 10th. The CBA Draft is Tuesday September 20th. Lightning season tickets are now on sale. Information on these players or on upcoming Lightning events can be obtained by calling the Lightning office at 815-874-4232.

Lately, Cubs manager Dusty Baker has come under attack by the talk radio vultures as well as the likes of the often wrongheaded “Baseball Prospectus” website for allegedly preventing the team from winning the NL Central solely by preferring the services of Neifi Perez as starting shortstop.

Baker is not a guy who deserves another year as manager, but this stuff about him supposedly misplaying Neifi is absurd. For a good part of the season, Neifi was a key hitter and his glove really helped in the field. In other words, Neifi’s been one of the best players on the team this year. Now, if you want to criticize Baker for his mishandling of CF & LF as well as his failure to adequately play the youngsters (esp. Ronnie Cedeno who has been cheated out of contention for the NL Rookie of the Year award by Baker’s misanthropy), there’s more than ample ammunition for that. However, the fact that he had Neifi starting so often is not one of them.

Svengoolie, the excellent late night fantasy/horror/science fiction movie host on TV stations in Chicago and Milwaukee is now on Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia project. This is great recognition for Sven and hopefully, it will enable his show to be added to the lineups of TV stations far and wide.

From the Schaumburg Flyers :

PITCHING COACH GRAY AND SS McCALLUM JOIN TEAM CANADA
Brett Gray & Geoff McCallum To Play In Upcoming World Cup of Baseball

SCHAUMBURG, IL- Schaumburg Flyers Pitching Coach Brett Gray and standout shortstop Geoff McCallum have been named to the roster of Team Canada for the upcoming World Cup of Baseball set to take place in the Netherlands from September 2-17. Gray & McCallum have been freed from the six remaining Flyer games this season to report to a Team Canada training camp in Arizona.

“Brett and Geoff have played international ball before and it’s always a great honor to play for your country,” said Flyers Manager Andy McCauley. “Things are winding down here and it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up.”

McCallum and Gray both live in Ontario, Canada and have played with and against each other since childhood.

McCallum, 27, played in every inning in the first 90 games of the 2005 season. A mainstay in the Schaumburg lineup since 2003, the Flyers leadoff man is the all-time franchise leader in games played, hits, runs, walks, and at-bats. He also set Flyers single-season records in 2004 with a .358 batting average, 138 hits, and 86 runs scored. This season, McCallum batted .275 with 40 RBI and a career-high four home runs.

Gray, 29, was hired as the third Pitching Coach in team history last spring. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2004, the right-hander resumed his playing career in August, going 0-1 with a 4.64 ERA in four starts. After striking out 25 batters in a Frontier League game in 2000, Gray joined the Cincinnati Reds organization and played in that farm system through 2003. He originally joined the Flyers prior to the 2004 season.

The Flyers play three games in Joliet this week before returning to Alexian Field on Friday, September 2 to close out the 2005 regular season. St. Paul will be in town for a three-game series. For tickets, including available seats for the September 3 post-game fireworks display, please call (847) 891-BALL or visit flyersbaseball.com.

If you hit
this link you will find how you too can create your own fan site for the games in the Battelfield game series from Electronic Arts. These games have a
huge number of officially sanctioned “fan sites” . However, exactly none of them are anything but cheerleader/propaganda websites dedicated to promoting the games. None of them offer any sort of objective coverage let alone spotlight any of the problems with the games or the difficulties that gamers face with the lack of support and/or bug fixing from EA. One wonders just why this is. Does the company demand subservience from fan site operators or are bootlickers the kind of folks who are most interested in creating their very own fan site?

From the Kamloops Blazers:

CAMP NEWS – BLAZER TRAINING CAMP 2005

August 29th, 2005

KAMLOOPS, BC – Main camp kicked off with a pair of scrimmages on Monday night with Team Blue and Team Grey claiming victory.

In the opener, Ray Macias scored twice and Brock Nixon and Dallas Goodrunning picked up a goal and a helper each in a 5-2 win over Orange. Shayne Wiebe also scored for Blue while Brandon Wakita and Reid Jorgensen tallied for Orange.

In the nightcap, Keaton Ellerby and Brendon Sobchuk each scored twice as Grey defeat White 6-4. Adam Chorneyko and Marc Connors also scored for winners.

Travis Dunstall (2), Brady Mason, and Bryan Kauk responded for White.

A few scraps punctuated the evening, with Alex Balfour and Derek Liebel dropping the mitts in game one. In game two, Ellerby and Kevin Hayman threw a few punches as did Joel Woznikoski and Garret Thiessen.

=====

SCORING HIGHLIGHTS

KAMLOOPS, BC – Eleven players picked up 2 point nights on Monday. Matt Kassian, Janick Steinmann, Adam Stephen, and Garrett Bailey each had 2 assists.

In all, 29 of the 64 skaters earned points on opening night.

=====

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE

KAMLOOPS, BC – Here’s Tuesday’s schedule for the final day of main camp:

8:30am – BLUE vs WHITE
10:45am – ORANGE vs GREY

6:00pm – ORANGE vs WHITE
8:30pm – BLUE vs GREY

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“FEED THE CHILDREN” BLUE-WHITE GAME

KAMLOOPS, BC – The Blazers’ annual Blue-White Game, set for Wednesday night at 7:00pm at Interior Savings Centre, will be FREE ADMISSION to all fans!

Fans are asked to bring a non-perishable food item, or cash, in support of the Kamloops Food Bank.

For the last few years, horror-minded folks in Tulsa have been able to look forward to the annual Tulsa Ghost Conferece. Held by the Paranormal Investigation Team of Tulsa (PITT), this year’s conference will be on Sept. 16-17 and speakers include Troy Taylor, Ursula Bielski, Melody Bussey, Bill Everist, Chris Moseley and Russell White.

Sounds like it will be one hell of a time!

From the Rockford RiverHawks :

‘Hawks Edge Mavericks 5-4

Columbia, Mo. – The Rockford RiverHawks took an early lead over Mid-Missouri and hung on for a 5-4 victory Monday night.

The ‘Hawks never trailed, scoring three runs in the second, which was the last inning for Mid-Missouri starter Ezequiel Perez (1-2).

With the bases loaded and nobody out in the second, Perez issued an RBI walk to Ashley Farr for the first run of the game. Kevin Ciarrachi then hit into an RBI fielder’s choice and Ryan Larson singled home another run to make it 3-0.

Rockford took a 4-0 lead in the sixth when Larson hit his second RBI single of the game.

The Mavericks made it a one-run game in the sixth, scoring three times off ‘Hawks starter Luke Lambo (1-2). Brent Metheny got Mid-Mo on the board with a sacrifice fly and Wayne Astrauskas drove in two runs with a two-out single.

Lambo picked up his first win of the season, throwing 7 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on 11 hits while striking out eight. Curt Borland relieved Lambo in the eighth and preserved the victory, retiring all five batters he faced for his second save.

Aaron McEachran’s sacrifice fly in the seventh gave the ‘Hawks a two-run cushion but Bryce Morrison hit a solo home run in the eighth to pull the Mavs back to within a run.

The RiverHawks conclude their series in Mid-Missouri at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday. They return to Marinelli Field at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday, August 31, to play the first of six straight home games to close out the regular season. That night the ‘Hawks will give away manager Mike Young’s car, sponsored by 1st Ave. Auto. It’s also a Hooter’s Hot Wing Wednesday and a Sherwin Williams “Sure Win” Wednesday.

The ‘Hawks are the defending champions of the Frontier League, a 12-team independent professional baseball league in its 13th season. All games are broadcast live on WRHL-FM, 102.3 – the Hub.

From the Rockford Lightning:

The Rockford Lightning is looking for players to help them capture the 2006 Continental Basketball Championship. Free Agent Camp is the best way to showcase your skills! Bolts’ Head Coach Chris Daleo has announced a tryout camps in September.

The first open player tryout will be conducted at Patriots Gateway Center- located at 615 S. 5th St. in Rockford, Illinois- on Saturday September 10. The tryouts will be from 9am to 4pm local time with registration to begin at 8:30am. The cost for the tryout is $100.00 for pre-registered players and $125.00 for on-site registration. The camp is open to only 40 players. Do not be late. Be in shape.

The second open player tryout will be conducted on Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Patriots Gateway Center. Times and costs are the same as the Sept. 10 date.

Lightning players who have signed at previous free agent camps include: 2004-2005 Draft Pick – Sidney Holmes, 2003-2004 Draft Picks – Terrence Gulley and Brian Colbert, 2003-2004 Bolt Players – Kevin Frye and Roy Boone. The 2003-2004 CBA Rookie of the Year, David Bailey also attended Lightning Free Agent Camp. You MUST bring your “A” game!! Drills will run in the morning session, and games will be held all afternoon. Be in shape and ready to go!

Any further information can be obtained by calling the Rockford Lightning front office at 815-874-4232 or by visiting the team website.

From the Rockford RiverHawks :

‘Hawks Split Doubleheader on the Road

Columbia, Mo. – The Rockford RiverHawks split a doubleheader with the Mid-Missouri Mavericks on Sunday, winning game one, 12-4, and losing game two, 6-5.

In game one, Tanner Watson (3-4) threw a complete-game, five-hitter and received plenty of support as the ‘Hawks never trailed in the 12-4 victory.

Rockford scored four runs in the first and five more in the second sending Mid-Mo starter Nate Kuhns (0-2) to an early exit. Nick Johnson drove in two runs in the first with a double and Ashley Farr and Olmo Rosario each hit two-run singles in the second.

Watson allowed two runs in each of the first two innings but settled down and retired 10 in a row to finish the game.

In the nightcap, the Mavericks scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh-the last regulation inning-and came away with a walk-off win, 6-5.

After getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, Jason Glosser gave up a leadoff double to Eliot Ayala in the seventh and was removed from the game in favor of Derrick Ellison. The lefty (2-4) allowed consecutive hits to Thomas Bowker and Brent Metheny that tied the game. Following a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk, Bryce Morrison singled home Metheny with the game-winning run.

After the Mavericks scored three times in the first, the ‘Hawks put up two in the third and two more in the fifth-all off starter Eli Sledge-to take a 4-3 lead. Nick Renault (8-6) gave up the fifth Rockford run in the seventh-an unearned run-but picked up the win, throwing the final two innings for Mid-Missouri.

In the doubleheader, Johnson was 4-for-7 with eight RBI and Rosario was 6-for-7 with three RBI. The shortstop also set a RiverHawks’ single-season record with his fifth triple of the season in the fifth inning of game one.

The RiverHawks continue their series in Mid-Missouri at 7:05 p.m. Monday. They return to Marinelli Field at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday, August 31, to play the first of six straight home games to close out the regular season. That night the ‘Hawks will give away manager Mike Young’s car, sponsored by 1st Ave. Autos. It’s also a Hooter’s Hot Wing Wednesday and a Sherwin Williams “Sure Win” Wednesday.

IYT is not the only classy online gaming operation where it comes to keeping the players informed. One such game is TDZK which is the creation and project of a pair of former members of the Trex Mercenaries, Jerle and Hotaru.

Here’s one recent example of TDZK’s communications with its players:

Default Support Tracker to replace bug forums
You will notice a new link in-game this round, a ‘Report Bug’ link. This links to the new TDZK Support Tracker. As you may guess, this is going to replace the bug forums here as are official bug tracking. We hope that this seperate system will make it easier for both players and admins to deal with bugs and other issues more easily.

Since Squee has coded the new tracking system from scratch, we’ll be able to have whatever features or improvements are needed in a relatively quick and easy manner. Some of the improvements of the forum bug system:

* The account system is integrated with the game’s persistant account information. There is no need to register a seperate forum account for reporting bugs and multis.
* Public & private bugs. The private Exploits/Fraud Tracking forums have some serious issues when dealing with these.
* Easy to use search and URL queries, plus bookmarked links and watch lists to make finding and viewing bugs much easier.
* A number of nice admin and moderator features to make tracking these issues much easier.

Squee will be leaving the current bug forums completely open for the next few days, before Squee will lock them (they will still be viewable for several weeks after being locked). Feel free to transfer any relavant bugs to the new system, and definately post all new bugs there. If you have any suggestions for the new bug tracker, please post them in I&S, not the tracker. Actual bugs should stay on the tracker, of course

http://support.tdzk.com/

Following the server problem inception at Its Your Turn , the staff there aka Patrick Chu and the gang, created their very own blog where they post updates on their progress towards total recovery. Here’s one such update that illustrates some of what they are up against:

success!
I was trying to delete “klonken”s comments from the previous post, but I suppose there was so much data that the entire post got deleted with it. Congratulations, klonken, you have successfully implemented a denial of service hack on Blogger. That’s something to be proud of, I suppose. And to think that you were offended when some people were calling you a hacker.

So I’ll post the previous message again:

It appears that all the data will be recovered, including all the game moves. Although the moves database has not been completely recovered, we’re confident that it will happen.

On Monday you should see the site almost exactly as it was at the time of the crash. We will stop the time limits for ALL games for a week to give everyone a chance to return to the site. As always, we apologize for the inconvenience.

Truly, IYT is a classy operation for doing everything they can to keep their gamers informed. Too bad other gaming outfits, such as Blizzard, don’t have the same attitude.

From the Rockford RiverHawks :

McEachran’s Hit Gives ‘Hawks Doubleheader Split

ROCKFORD, Ill. – Aaron McEachran’s walkoff single in the bottom of the seventh inning led the Rockford RiverHawks to a doubleheader split with the Gateway Grizzlies.

The RiverHawks dropped the opener, 10-4, but won the nightcap, 3-2, to regain sole possession of the second and final playoff spot in the Frontier League West, in front of 1,891 at Marinelli Field.

McEachran singled to right field off Gateway reliever Chris Little (1-1) to drive in Todd Dulaney with the winning run with two outs in the seventh. In the top of the inning, McEachran’s pick at first saved a double play to get Rockford reliever Curt Borland out of a two-on, one-out jam. Borland (2-3) pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings for the win.

In the opener, the RiverHawks committed three errors in the pivotal fifth inning. The Grizzlies scored two unearned runs to take a 4-3 lead. Gary Gilbert scored the go-ahead run from second base when shortstop Olmo Rosario threw away the ball on the relay end of a potential double play. Dave Dowling (2-5) gave up the deciding run, as well as six more in the Gateway seventh inning. Ryan Sullivan put the game away with a three-run double in the seventh.

Gateway starter Brandon Smith (11-4) gave up three runs on four hits in six innings for the win.

The RiverHawks host the Grizzlies in another doubleheader at 6:05 p.m. Friday. LaSalle Bank and 96.7 – the Eagle sponsor Rocko Wobblehead Doll Night. The first 1,000 through the gate get free Rocko wobblehead dolls.

The RiverHawks are the defending champions of the Frontier League, a 12-team independent professional baseball league in its 13th season. All games are broadcasted live on WRHL-FM, 102.3 – the Hub.

Have you ever thought that there were analogies between characters on the “Simpsons” TV show and Major League Baseball teams? Well, the folks at the Barstools website sure have and
here are some of their findings:

New York Yankees – C. Montgomery Burns – Driven to success by an almost unimaginable wealth of resources, which they use to ruthlessly crush their enemies, although typically not by the most efficient means possible (blocking out the sun, Bernie Williams). Seemingly unaware of the (obvious) reasons why they are hated. They seem to have been a key factor in pretty much everything important that happened before 1970.

Cleveland Indians – Apu Nahasapeemapetilon – Identity entirely based on a ridiculous stereotype of Indians. Jovial ongoing relationship with a big fat guy who underperforms a lot (Homer, C.C. Sabathia). Soldiering on gamely despite a terrible workplace environment (the Kwik-E-Mart, Cleveland). Used to play a much bigger role in the grand scheme of things, but now they make only occasional appearances, and they’re usually getting abused.

Seattle Mariners – Barney Gumble – Struggling against their personal demons. Just when you thought they were going to clean themselves up and they were looking bulletproof, they suffered an unfortunate relapse.

Atlanta Braves – Ned Flanders – The very definition of “traditional,” “white-bread,” and “boring.” Quietly keeping their affairs in perfect order, but they always end up as the butt of the joke. Spurred to success by a horde of Bible-thumpers. Made a living out of left-handedness in the ’90s.

Cincinnati Reds – Principal Seymour Skinner – Spent much of their existence under the hand of a domineering, insane woman who was impossible to please (Agnes Skinner, Marge Schott). Possessors of a dirty little secret that they would rather sweep under the rug (Skinner’s true identity of Armand Tamzarian, Pete Rose). Their lives were given meaning in the ’70s (Vietnam, the Big Red Machine) but now all they have to escape the monotony of their everyday existence is the flashbacks.

Colorado Rockies – Cletus Delroy, the Slack-Jawed Yokel – Will always have to compensate for where they came from to succeed, something they will probably never accomplish. Always accompanied by a ton of anonymous kids whose names you can’t remember.

From the Prince George Cougars :

Cougars Training Camp Schedule

Thursday, August 25, 2005 Printer Friendly
Prince George Cougars 2005 Training Camp Schedule
Wednesday, August 24th
Registration & Fitness Testing 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Thursday, August 25th
Team Blue 9:00 -10:15 a.m.
Team Red 10:45 -12:00 noon
Team Teal 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Game Blue vs Red 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Team Teal (3 vs. 3) 7:00 – 8:15 p.m.
Friday, August 26th
Team Blue (3 vs. 3) 9:00 – 10:15 a.m.
Game Red vs. Teal 11:00 – 12:30 p.m.
Team Red (3 vs. 3) 4:15 – 5:30 p.m.
Game Blue vs. Teal 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 27th
Games at Elks Centre
Game Blue vs. Red 9:00 – 9:45 a.m.
Game Red vs. Teal 10:00 – 10:45 a.m.
Game Blue vs. Teal 11:00 – 11:45 a.m.
Game (Teams to be determined) 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 28th
Intrasquad Game 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.

From Central League :

The Central League has named El Paso 1B Juan Camacho its 2005 Player of the Year, as voted upon by league managers. Last week, he was also named the CL’s all-star first baseman on the 11-member postseason all-star team.

The Maracaibo, Venezuela, native led the league with 100 RBI, finished the season second with 21 home runs, second with a .598 slugging percentage and eighth with a .328 average as the Diablos narrowly missed the playoffs in their first season in the Central League.

This was the 24-year-old’s eighth season in professional baseball; signed as a nondrafted free agent by the New York Yankees in 1997, Camacho spent six seasons in the Yankees organization, leading the New York-Penn League with 51 RBI for Staten Island in 2001. Last year, he split time between Pennsylvania of the Atlantic League and Gary of the Northern League.

Juan Camacho’s accomplishments in Independent League Baseball have certainly earned him a spot in a MLB team’s future. Is there a MLB team out there that is planning on picking him up in the offseason?

From the Schaumburg Flyers :

LINCOLN, NE- The Lincoln Saltdogs pushed home a run without the benefit of a hit in the bottom of the 11th inning and beat the Schaumburg Flyers 3-2 on Wednesday, August 24 at Haymarket Park. The loss knocked the Flyers 5.5 games behind first place Lincoln in the Northern League’s South Division second half race. The Flyers fell to 18-20 in second half play, 34-52 overall. Lincoln improved to 23-14, 50-35.

Josh Patton beat out a fielder’s choice RBI grounder to end the game as the Flyers were unable to turn an inning ending double play. Cory Harris crossed with the winning run against Blake Williams (2-6) after leading off the inning with a walk. Wes O’Brien (1-1) retired one batter in the top of the 11th inning to get the victory. The Flyers managed just four hits all evening as outfielders Eli Albertson and Ted Ledbetter had two apiece.

Lincoln scored two runs in the bottom of the first off Flyers starter Rick DeHart on RBI hits by Bryan Warner and Patton. The Saltdogs then fell quiet until the very end of the game. Saltdogs starter Brian Rodaway carried a perfect game through five innings, retiring the first 15 Flyer hitters. But Tim Marks led off the sixth with a walk and Ledbetter followed with an opposite field single to right, spoiling no-hitter hopes as Marks stopped at second. Oscar Materano moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt and Geoff McCallum was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Albertson then delivered a sharp two-run single to left past the diving shortstop Albenis Machado to tie the game at 2-2. McCallum beat a throw to third as Albertson took second and the Flyers had a chance for the lead in the sixth inning. But Rodaway struck out Jarrod Patterson and got Justin Hendrickson to bounce out to end the inning in a 2-2 tie. Lincoln had several opportunities in the final three innings of regulation, stranding five runners in that span as DeHart left after seven innings and relievers Blake Cross and Lyle Prempas pushed the game into extra innings. Prempas got Dan Underwood to ground out to end the bottom of the ninth with the winning run stranded at third base. Materano made a good play at second to take away a possible game winning hit.

Albertson had led off the top of the ninth with a single but was thrown out trying to steal for the first out of the inning. Rodaway pitched into the tenth inning and left after 9.1 innings with a runner at first base. Jared Hoerman allowed a two-out hit to Ledbetter but stranded two to end the tenth as Materano struck out swinging. Blake Williams came on for the bottom of the tenth and retired in Lincoln in order.

Albertson reached again with a one out walk in the eleventh inning off southpaw reliever Kyle Allen. With two outs, Wes O’Brien was summoned and struck out Hendrickson to leave Albertson at first base. Williams then ran into trouble, walking Harris to lead off the bottom of the eleventh inning. Machado’s sacrifice bunt advanced the runner and Warner was intentionally walked. But Williams could not re-discover the zone and walked Kevin Sullivan on four pitches to load the bases for Patton. With the corner infielders shallow and the middle men at double play depth, Patton hit a grounder to deep second toward the hole between first and second base. With no chance at the plate, Materano ranged to his left and made a great off-balance fling to second for a force play. Shortstop McCallum’s return throw was high and pulled Hendrickson off the bag as Patton crossed the base with the winning RBI.

The Flyers fell to 2-8 in extra inning games for the season and dropped a one-run game for the second straight night.

Schaumburg will try to salvage one game in Lincoln before returning to Alexian Field for a weekend homestand. The Flyers and Saltdogs will play a 4:05 PM game in the late afternoon on Thursday. LHP R.J. Swindle (5-3, 3.18) will pitch for the Flyers. Catch the webcast at flyersbaseball.com.

Notes: The Flyers have a three-game losing streak in extra inning games, with all three losses taking place in the month of August…They last won an extra-inning game on July 27 vs. Calgary…Lincoln batters drew 10 walks on Wednesday, including the three drawn in the 11th inning…O’Brien is 1-1 with both decisions coming vs. the Flyers…He lost a game at Alexian Field in July…The two teams battled into extra innings for the second time in the second half of the season…Schaumburg won a 13-inning game on July 13 at Alexian…Thursday’s game ends the regular season series between the clubs…Lincoln now leads the series 7-5…Rodaway’s trip into the tenth inning was noteworthy and rare as no Flyers starter has gone into the tenth inning in the franchise’s seven-season history…Eric Cole was ill on Wednesday and did not play…The same held true for Lincoln cleanup man Pichi Balet…

Matt McLaughlin: Director of Media Relations-Team Broadcaster

Recently, a website devoted to exposing the wacko cult group MOVE was established. Entitled, MOVE Watch , it is already a treasure trove of information about this diabolical group. Here’s the website’s statement of purpose:

This website is dedicated to the
dissemination of factual information
regarding “The MOVE Organization,” which
is a Philadelphia based cult. I have created
this website to serve as a resource for ex-
members/supporters, the families of current
members/supporters, as well as for
members of the public who are interested in
factual information about the MOVE
Organization.

Information on this site has been provided
through firsthand testimonies of former
members/supporters, as well as through
articles from the media that we have
deemed to be accurate and informative. I
have also included a list of links to other
sites that information can be gathered
about MOVE.

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mistress@morbidoutlook.com

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Hello readers!

Yes, although we’ve hit the dog days of summer, I’m proud to say that we are celebrating
our 13th year of Morbid Outlook this August.

Morbid Outlook started as a little xeroxed and stapled zine, while I was still in high school
(I was quite a focused teenager!), pasting layouts together in the most punk rock of ways
and sneaking photo copies out of the attendance office. Today, we proudly tout over 5
million hits a month with as many as 100,000 readers. Woo hoo! Thanks for your support!

While I’ve been hiding away from the brutal sun, I’ve prepared this month’s features, which
include a new In Rotation, Ask Witch Hazel and two fashion features: one on Toronto-
based designers Plastik Wrap and coverage of The Aesthetik’s fashion show in Trenton.
There is also lots of great tunes a la Hidden Sanctuary for your aural pleasure on the radio
page, including a new set of mine, Esoterica 4.

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