Sweet Holy Moses

TFC also gets a new head coach in Kiwi QPR defender (and former DCU man) Ryan Nelson. Paul Mariner and Bob de Klerk (technical manager) are out. Looks like almost all of the Aron Winter staff are gone. Once again, it`s musical chairs at BMO field -- six seasons, eight coaches, none with a winning percentage higher than 40%. FML.

We'll use the other buyout on Luongo. >_>

Tremendous film. Absolutely tremendous. As was the case with Zero, this is the first Tarantino film that made me truly uncomfortable. But I can't think of any other slavery film I've seen that made me feel that way. And I consider that a very good thing for Tarantino, because slavery was abhorrent, and it should make the viewer feel uncomfortable. I felt what I should feel. DiCaprio was tremendous. He should be a heel in all his films. Seeing him in this, I don't know if I can see him as anyone else. He was that good, I felt. And holy hell Christoph Waltz. I haven't seen Inglorious Basterds yet, so I'd not seen any of his work, but that man is a fucking revelation. He had me at hello. And while I think Foxx has been better (Ray and Collateral), he was also quite good. Jackson was great, as he usually is with Tarantino. He should have a Raptors bag in every film. Just saying.

If/when this game happens, I call dibs on a Markham (Insert Team Nickname Here -- probably Waxers) diary. I'm from there, so it rightfully belongs to me.

Honestly, I have no idea if they're making Realism: Invictus for Civ5. They just released the latest version of RI last year, and they're hardcore perfectionists, so I wouldn't expect anything anytime soon.

RI is, in my opinion, not only the best Civ4 mod out there, but one of the best mods for any game I've played. Although the new features may seem overwhelming at first, there's not all that much of the core mechanics that've changed. There's just more stuff. Tech trading is gone. Now Civs with open borders get bonuses when researching techs the other civ already has. Much more realistic. I highly doubt Romans ever approached the Egyptians and said "you there, teach me how to build roads and I'll give you a bunch of gold." But tech 'bleed'? Much better. Each Civ now has a whole host of unique units. The Vikings (who I most recently played) have Nordic versions of most of the pre-classical units (which they share with the Germans), then move on to the stereotypical Berserkers, then through the gunpowder reforms of Gustav I, finally moving on to Saab-designed airplanes. The Aztecs have full-on Jaguar and Eagle Warriors, then actually start to use some Mexican units and Zapata rebels as their Geurilla units (IIRC). Each Civ is now actually different in more ways than just colour, and ruler and city names. Fighting the Arabs in a desert is a bad idea. The Vikings get amphibious bonuses. Plus, there's a full world map that has dozens of Civ5-style city-states (non-playable civs) to interact with. Even the Portuguese. And Belgians, I believe. Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the World Map, as my computer is not beefy enough to handle it, and always crashes. Maybe one day... sigh. Short version: Realism Invictus is the shit. Try it. Love it.

Nope. I dislike the Belgians, personally. Long story. Not any Belgians in particular, just the concept in general. I have yet to see them in a game of Civ, however, so that would hardly have been a relevant reference. The Portuguese, however, is always a relevant Civ reference.

Coincidentally, I've been playing the piss out of Civ 4: Realism Invictus recently, so it's still very fresh in my mind. To be honest, I really disliked RaFoC for some reason. But RI is seriously the shit. Play a huge map legendary game, with nearly 2300 turns, and it's just epic. From what I've heard, Civ5 was kind of like trying to reinvent the wheel. They had a classic computer strategy game, but they chose to dick around with it to gain new players, losing more older gamers in the process. I don't know a single person that prefers it over C4. Just get the expansions, a megamod or two, and you'll be hooked all over again -- assuming you were hooked in the first place, that is -- playing until the wee hours of the morning without realizing it. You also get to beat up on the Portuguese. Which is always a plus.

Considering our stellar history with developing young, promising centrebacksanybody, having multiple players with bright futures might be a good thing. Surely TFC can't mess up the development of both of them, right? If 2013 is anything like 2012 injury-wise, having eight or nine would be even better.

This is awesome. I've been hoping for something like this for a long, long time. Actually having MLS development players continue their development in a reasonably competitive environment is a fantastic thing. It's a lot better than some getting the ten runs out as is currently the case for MLS Reserves. Once a player is too old for an Academy position, there's very few professional options available besides riding the bench in MLS. Hopefully, this will lead to further integration between MLS and USL. It might mean that fewer players will go the NCAA route, making the development of players in house rather than drafting them even more important in the long run. EDIT: I don't really understand what 'nearby' means as far as MLS teams loaning players to a USL affiliate. Personally, I think having full-fledged MLS Reserve teams in the USL is a better idea. I am curious to know what happens now to the MLS U23 squads playing in the PDL. Do they continue? Fold? Basically move up a level? Also, how does this affect the NASL? Will the other USL Pro teams like the arrangement, or will they manoeuver to join the NASL? If the MLS Reserves merge fully, could this even affect the status of NASL as Tier 2 soccer in North America. I know that's a lot of questions -- all of them rhetorical, I assure you -- but there's lots of potential for this move to change the face of North American soccer. I'm excited.

So, since you guys know much more about MLS than I do (I am a TFC fan, after all....), I was wondering which teams you think have improved/downgraded the most so far this off-season? SKC's clearly right up at the top now, but what about the other teams?

This. One thousand times this. Also: Cable. I know that a lot of people hate on him because he's way overpowered. I like him because of the full-blown Messiah complex he has. Plus, him and Deadpool were great together. Also Deadpool. Because Deadpool. And Moon Knight. So in response to the thread's title: no, I cannot.

Brad Pitt (ca. 1995's Seven and 12 Monkeys).

I'd also give WWE the Light Heavyweight (or perhaps the old school Junior Heavyweight) and Hardcore titles, at least as options for the players. And if you've got the FTW title, you might as well add the Million Dollar Championship. But that would be too much. I'd suggest dropping the FTW title.

I thought the WWE US Championship was the WCW US Championship. No need to double it up.

That, right there, was what the Olympic games is all about. Celebrating the history of the host nation, showcasing it's modern culture. But at the end of the day, its about the athletes. Having the torch lit by as-yet-unknown young athletes -- sponsored by current Olympians -- was truly tremendous. Congratulations, Great Britain. That opening ceremonies was something special.

I thought he was using his penis as a flag extension.

Cheering for: Netherlands and Germany (I like their style), Italy and Czech Republic (I like their people), France (my wife is French), England (my family has, historically, been very loyal to the crown, and a Euro2012 victory would be a great story to go with the Olympics and Diamond Jubilee). Cheering against: Sweden and Russia (I'm part Finnish), Republic of Ireland (also part Northern Irish), Spain (overrated, beat my Netherlands in WC2010), Poland and Ukraine (although I'm also part Ukranian -- gotta love being a North American mutt -- both countries seem to still have huge issues with racism and violence, so it makes it hard to cheer for them). I know that's a lot of likes and dislikes, but for a Canadian with no obvious team to cheer for, its a lot easier -- and more fun! -- to be partially emotionally invested in many teams/games, than to be 100% behind a single team. After a quick check of the schedule, the only games I don't really care to watch is DEN-POR. Although, to be honest, most Group A matches are going to be pretty boring, style-wise. Predictions: Group A - CZE, RUS, POL, GRE Group B - GER, NED, DEN, POR Group C - ESP, CRO, ITA, IRL Group D - FRA, ENG, SWE, UKR

Story My thoughts go out to all the families, friends and fans personally touched by this tragedy.

Meh, American's haven't been missing out on much. Its the most overrated (or should it be overratted?) show on Canadian TV. Its intelligent, sure, but its not funny. I give it two months.

Man, that movie was great. I especially liked the part at the end where she asked them to double team her, and they did, and then she was left an exhausted, quivering mass of broken flesh. That double powerbomb looked vicious.