I don’t watch football (the American variety, but I don’t watch soccer either). It isn’t that I don’t like the game or those blessed with the athletic skillz it takes to play it. Football just doesn’t interest me, not since the Colts skulked out of Baltimore in the dead of night back in 1984, leaving a bemused and wounded city with an empty stadium and no NFL team to root for.
Even before, I never really got into football or player stats. The game is fun to play and can be interesting to watch, but it was never high on any one my “favorite things” lists.
I guess that if I had to root for a team it would be the Ravens. I am a son of B’more after all. Still, if you had checked my iPad prior to this week you would not have found any football related apps. Iin my search to find interesting freebies, however, I ran across a pretty cool app that, if I were a football fan, would be one of my favorites.
CBS Sports Pro Football is a football fan’s dream. It supplies current game stats, highlights, recaps, and preview videos, and a scrolling ticker displaying up-to-the-minute sports news. What’s not to like?
All of that is displayed in an breeze-to-navigate app that’s easy on the eyes. There’s enough stuff in the CBS Sports Pro Football app to make me seriously rethink my position on football. I mean, the Ravens are doing great this year with a reasonable road game and a great home game record, with Terrell Suggs moving like a freight train and sacking anything with a ball beyond the scrimmage.
Ah-hmm!
Anyway, if you’re a football fan, or just want to act like one, get CBS Pro Football, a great iPad freebie.
Of course, not everyone is a football fan, and we tend to find other things to occupy our idle time. Back when I got my first Mac I immersed myself in the world of Myst. What a great game that was! There have been many Myst-like games around, but few captured the sense of mystery and discovery that Myst offered.
If you don’t want to shell out five bucks to relive your Myst adventure on your iPhone, you may be happy with Stroke of Midnight, a free NAMCO game that’s turning out to be a great time waster for me.
I’m not normally a fan of “find the hidden object” games, but this one is different. You look for clues that reveal a story of doomed star-crossed lovers. It’s as easy as reading, but far more interactive, as you poke your way through the story, uncovering the mystery of Vlad and Eve.
Stroke of Midnight is like a book you don’t want to put down. You want to see what the next clue reveals, and that’s a good thing.
The graphics and sound are first rate and seem suitable for younger audiences, but not the preschool set. It’s ad supported, but the ads aren’t obtrusive. So check it out.
There was a time when the world wanted their MTV. Music videos were as hot as grandma’s pancakes and just as tasty. Over the years, however, MTV, and its spin-off VH1, morphed from being brash, fresh, and cutting edge to a staid and business suited commodity little different than any other TV station.
It’s partially the fault of the products these stations once offered, most music videos producers offer the same booty shaking, bling-festooned eye candy that may have been considered cool at one time (like maybe when Robert Palmer was addicted to love), but now are no more than slightly titillating pablum aimed at younger audiences.
There is hope. YouTube has pretty much become the MTV of today’s crowd. It’s all about video there, and while you can find much booty shaking and bling flinging, you can also find some really innovative, eye-catch, and (dare I say it?) cool videos.
Oddly enough, iTunes can also offer the occasional bit of free coolness as well. It’s where I found Dave Mathews’ “Eh Hee” video, a freebie a while back that has become one of my absolute favorites.
“Eh Hee” Dave Mathews
This week’s freebie video contains no special effects, no barely clad gyrating butts, no bling whatsoever. In fact, it is so devoid of what might be considered cool in videos these days that it’s as fresh as milk on a dairy farm.
“I Just Wanna Run” Downtown Fiction
“I Just Wanna Run” by Downtown Fiction reminds me of the old Monkees videos. Just a bunch of guys having a good time playing music. For those of you too young to remember The Monkees, I think you’ll like the video because the guys in it are talented. Yes, it’s Pop music, but there nothing wrong with that.
It’s free to download this week so check it out and see what I mean.
OK, that’s a wrap for this week. More free stuff below with direct links.
