Welcome to Starting 5 – a new weekly column by Operation Sports!
Each week, Senior Game Editor Clay Shaver and Columnist Shawn Drotar will tackle the world of sports and sports gaming in a rapid-fire discussion.

Is there a question on your mind? Find out below how to submit your question for next week’s column!

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Starting 5 – Five hot-button topics in the world of Sports and Sports Gaming

1) Length of the NFL Preseason - too long, too short, or just right?

Shawn: I’d have to say it’s a bit too long. NFL training camps used to be hard-hitting affairs designed to get players in shape quickly, and the four-game preseason schedule is an extension of that thought process. Nowadays, players are in condition the moment they walk into camp, and most practices are spent in shorts - oftentimes without pads, as the teams use the time to refine their playbooks. For those reasons, I think the four-game preseason slate is outdated. Most coaches don’t need that much time for player evaluation, as most of that happens in camp, anyway. I think the only reason it’s as long as it is now is to grab a little more cash from season ticket holders. Most (if not all) NFL teams require the purchase of full-price exhibition tickets along with their season ticket packages. The games are more or less meaningless to the fans except as an appetizer. I think two preseason games would still serve for useful player evaluation and as a way to build fan interest for the upcoming season.

Clay: I could not agree more. Owners and the NFL are putting the financial bottom line in front of the high risk of injury. Most teams know, for the most part, what their opening day roster is going to look like on the first day of camp. It’s not like the old days where there were truly position battles that were won and lost in camp. Pre-season games, to me, are actually rather anti-climactic. Just this morning I was feeling pretty hyped that there was Monday Night Football tonight; a feeling that quickly faded when the next blurb across the radio was that Brett Favre was only expected to take 15 snaps. If I wanted to watch third-tier players run up and down the field making sloppy plays, I would have tried to save the XFL.

Shawn: Ouch.

2) With the MLB trade deadline here and gone…which team has a better chance at the World Series – Yankees or Red Sox?

Clay: On paper I really want to say that it is the BoSox. But there are two things to remember (1) Never get in a land war in Asia (sorry, watched “The Princess Bride” with my daughter this weekend) and (2) do not bet against the Yankees in the postseason - especially when Boston is the other option. Boston has fallen so deep into the “stepchild” role that I don’t think they can possibly crawl out. Though older and slower, the Yanks simply have too many weapons and too much postseason experience.

The one thing I did find extremely intriguing is that the Yankees have obviously given up on their third baseman of the future, Drew Henson. Going back to question #1, we could be in for an interesting preseason next year if David Carr is defending his starting spot from Henson in the Houston Texans’ Training Camp…

Shawn: I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think that the Boston Red Sox are – today - a more potent team than the New York Yankees. Boston GM Theo Epstein deserves a lot of credit for his aggressive style. He’s telling the team and Beantown fans that they are willing to do what it takes to win. That said, I can’t say outright that Boston is the favorite to take the AL pennant. The Yankees’ core has been together for a while now, and knows how to win. That’s an important factor. However, if the Red Sox come together as a team quickly enough – they’ll have a great chance at breaking “the Curse”.

Clay: I so want to like Theo Epstein because I know in 1989 he was keeping stats in a 3 ring binder while playing “Baseball Stars” too. Theo is like the typical hardcore sports gamer that scored the ultimate “Next Gen Title” - the Boston Red Sox!

3) For sports gaming - PS2 or Xbox?

Shawn: In my mind, there’s no question that the Xbox is a superior platform for sports gaming. The hard drive is perfect for saving rosters and seasons, the load times are faster, and the graphics and sound are noticeably better. (I love the PS2, but prove me wrong… and good luck!)
Xbox Live is spectacular (although again, I have to harp on EA and Microsoft – stop the posturing and get the damn games online, already!), and the Xbox has a few exclusive sports titles that give it an edge. NBA Inside Drive is the best basketball game on the planet. NHL Rivals, Links and Top Spin look excellent at this point, and we haven’t touched upon XSN yet. Even with EA’s new online service for the PS2, if I had to pick a console to play EA Sports’ games on – it’d still be the big black box.

Clay: Yeah, what he said. I love my PS2 also, but once you go ‘Box…fill in the blank. You’re right, the load times, the hard drive, the graphics, it’s a no-brainer to me. The one thing that I will give points to PS2 on is that I do think they still have the best controller for sports gaming. The S-Controller is solid, but the Playstation’s Dual Analog is top shelf for sports titles.

Shawn: I have to agree with you on the PS2’s Dual Shock controller. It’s still the best control pad ever built.

4) Tiger, Phil, Ernie and Sergio have “The Battle at The Bridges”…must see competition or made-for-TV garbage?

Clay: It’s like a bad, bad version of reality TV. They try to set-up all these interesting scenarios and they just always seem to disappoint. Tiger hates Sergio. Phil called out Tiger’s equipment. Ernie is scared of Tiger. Well, I guess I strongly emphasize the word TRY to make interesting scenarios. I love the idea of Monday night golf competition. I think it looks quite cool when the lights come on. I like the idea of just one foursome on the course to watch. But, it’s just so planned. It’s all seems so scripted sometimes. I’ve got to go with garbage.

Shawn: How about somewhere in between? It’s certainly better than watching summer reruns or “reality TV”…

These events are obviously made-for-TV events, and more accurately, “made for Tiger Woods to win on prime-time TV” events. Notice that on all these prime-time golf contests: One, it’s advertised as “TIGER WOODS plays golf with three other guys that most Americans have barely heard of”.

Two, Tiger’s always paired with the superior partner. Tiger and Annika Sorenstam versus David Duval and Karrie Webb. Yea, that’s fair… Tiger and Ernie Els versus Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia. Hmm, the two best golfers on the planet versus good players who don’t happen to be nearly as good as Woods and Els. Put Tiger and Els on separate teams, and you might have a pretty good show – but it doesn’t happen.

The whole thing is a setup – it’s designed for Tiger to win, so the crowd gets what it wants – with a façade of real competition.

Clay: What they need is to add twists that would make it more appealing to the typical Monday Night Football crowd. First rule, John Daly would play in every event. Rule #2, all events sponsored by Budweiser. Follow those simple rules and we’re lookin’ at TV gold!

Shawn: Vince McMahon would be proud.

5) The biggest time of year for Sports Gamers is upon us (Football now…Basketball and Hockey soon) – does your perfect game have a deep single-player franchise mode or a solid head-to-head engine?

Shawn: Of course, my perfect game has both, but if I had to pick one – right now - it would have to be a deep single-player franchise mode. Of course, if you had asked me ten or so years ago, when I was still in a college dorm – I’d likely give you an entirely different answer.
It just depends on where you’re at in life. Hopefully, the game companies realize that, and never sacrifice one for the other.

Clay: To think, I actually was very, very close to attending the same college that you did. Oh, the humanity and NES controllers that would have suffered.

I agree that you really need both, but as a 30-something father, I really don’t get the buddies over as much as I’d like to, so the DEEP franchise mode is a must. I’m also a stat geek from way back, and I derive great pleasure in a game with deep and accurate, stat-tracking. That being said, as a father of small children whose little hands seem to be magnetically attracted to Daddy’s Xbox, I think my favorite feature is quickly becoming the “in-game save”.

Obviously, the birth and fine-tuning of XBL and EAOnline are huge steps for us Grandpa Gamers. It’s not the same as the nights in the dorm, but it’s about as close as I can get.

Shawn: NES controllers? Bah! I think my buddies and I nearly melted our Sega Genesis by playing “NHL ‘94” until our eyes bled… think “Swingers” with a lot more profanity and shoving…

6th Man – A little help off the bench

6) MLB and NFL both had their Hall of Fame induction ceremonies recently – who has been overlooked for far too long?

Shawn: Clay, you’d better not say Pete Rose…

Clay: Pete R……uh…..you’d better go first.

Shawn: In baseball, Ron Santo springs to mind first. I simply cannot understand why he’s not in the Hall. Ryne Sandberg’s also overlooked because he hung around a few years too long. I think Jim Kaat and Jack Morris belong as well.

Clay: You stole mine. I have to go with Jack Morris. People always talk about the magical numbers like 300 wins for a pitcher as the measuring stick for the HOF. I don’t think they necessarily translate to the modern game. Jack Morris was THE dominant #1 starter during his era. In the 1980’s and early 90’s, if you were the manager of any Major League team and you needed a starter for one game, 99 times of 100 you would take Jack Morris.

That being said, I do think he’ll eventually make the Hall. I just think he was clearly first ballot material.

Shawn: In football, I don’t think the oversights are as dramatic. At the risk of being labeled a “homer”, I do think that former Broncos Floyd Little and Randy Gradishar are worthy of enshrinement, but on the whole, I don’t think there’s anyone at all in the NFL that sticks out like a Santo – someone who should absolutely, unequivocally be inducted into the Hall of Fame as soon as possible.

24 Second Clock – Get one more off in 24 words or less

Shawn: Are you ready for some football? I’m not – the best part of baseball season is just beginning! Wake me when the real games start.