Star Trek and Angels and Hammers, Oh My!

Daily Ramble 35: Star Trek and Angels and Hammers, Oh My!

Looking at the variety of things I want to ramble about today kinda runs the gamut of my interests…I reinstalled Star Trek Online in preparation for rolling with the MMO Book Club in the game, I have a bittersweet moment as I learn that Mike Scioscia is leaving the Angels, and I notice that a bunch of the comics I’ve read this week feature Hulk and Mjolnir.

Getting Ready for Star Trek Online

Way back in the day, when STO first came out, actually before it came out, I knew I was gonna play the game. I was so excited about a Star Trek MMO that I went out a bought a lifetime subscription – those used to be a thing. After a bunch of hunting through my digital lockbox, I finally figured out my account name and password so that I can use those lifetime perks as I jump back into the game.

I originally was hoping the game would have been more like Star Fleet Command which was one of my first ventures into online game play. I actually ran a fleet of friends in that game as we battled in space against Klingons, Hydrans, Lyrans, Kzinti, Romulans, and Federation. I loved that game and it’s probably one of the reasons I still game to this day. Sadly, the space combat in STO, while close to Star Fleet Command, left a lot to be desired. It seemed that transitioning from a game that could house a dozen players online at the same time to a MMO that would hold 100s or 1000s caused the game to lose it’s feel.

In any case, I am headed back to that game now and am looking forward to seeing how things stand after all these years.

Mike Scioscia Leaves the Angels

Sadly, Mike Scioscia, the manager who brought the World Series to Anaheim, is leaving the team. I can’t really say I blame him after the way things have going these past few years. With the recent string of losing seasons he’s a long way from the glory days of 2 Manager of the Year awards and that World Series was way back in 2002. And I don’t fault him with the recent down turn…I blame injuries. This year in particular the team had way more than its fair share of injuries to key players – even Mike trout was injured for a while. In actuality, there was only a single starting pitcher who began the season on their roster that made it all the way through to the end of the season and most spent months on the DL. Hell, many are still on the DL at the end of the season. Garrett Richards, thier ace was gone, Shohei Ohtani is gonna have Tommy John surgery, they never got a real closer and the people they lined up to pitch the ninth headed to the DL with everyone else. It was truly a lost season for the team.

So Mike is leaving. I’m not sure who’s gonna replace him yet but hopefully Scioscia will stick around in the front office in some form or another to help out. As it stands, There are a couple of managers in the playoffs this year that came up under Mike so maybe someone he’s mentored would do well to take over.

In any case, I’m sad to see him go. He meant a lot to the team and turned the Angels into World Champions – even if it was only for one year. I just hope whoever takes over brings in some good trainers and conditioning coaches so that we can cut back on all the injuries.

Hulk and Mjolnir Everywhere

As I was reading through the comics released by Marvel Unlimited last week I saw that there was an over abundance of Hulks and Thor’s Hammer. They seemed to be showing up in all the comics I read…not that it was a bad thing, but just something I noticed. Here’s what I saw just from my quick review…

Hulk:

• Weapon H #1 – not necissarily Hulk, but a Hulk with Wolverine Claws and a healing factor
• Thanos #17
• Avengers #685 – there were actually 2 Hulks, the normal Bruce Banner Hulk and the Red Hulk
• The Incredible Hulk #714 – of course
• Avengers: Back to Basics #2

Mjolnir:

• The Mighty Thor #705
• Avengers: Back to Basics #2
• Doctor Strange: Damnation #3
• Thanos #17
• Avengers #685

And I haven’t even finished reading all the issues from last week. It just seemed like some big wig at Marvel musta said we need more Hulk and we need more hammers. Strange.

Daily Ramble 35: Star Trek and Angels and Hammers, Oh My!