SB Nation User Blog: oo_nrb

Some July Wallpaper Coming Soon!

oo_nrb — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:15:15 -0000

I wanted to give everyone a brief update. About two weeks ago I fell victim to a bad computer virus (Win32Trojan.TDSS, if you're interested - Google it if you want, it's real nasty), and earlier this week I had to throw in the towel and reformat my computer. So I lost a lot of stuff, most notably my copy of Photoshop. I'm still waiting for my friend that can get me a good Photoshop hookup to come through, which should be on Friday.

tl;dr: Hopefully I can get a July wallpaper done by the end of the holiday weekend for everyone. Thanks for being patient with me! Especially cause this time it wasn't just me being busy and/or lazy :P .

For posterity's sake (since this has already been discussed in the game wrap), here are our Rockies...

oo_nrb — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:44:54 -0000

For posterity's sake (since this has already been discussed in the game wrap), here are our Rockies gracing the top story on ESPN.com's MLB section.

Note that even though the Rockies have won 17 of 18 ballgames and are 0.5 games out of the wild card, the team is still considered to be out of the playoff race. Thank you Eastern SPorts Network for that insightful analysis - if you don't mind, we're going to go back to playing baseball now, mmk?

Rockies Wallpapers - June Schedule and a Special Surprise!

oo_nrb — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:46:24 -0000

Here's my laundry list of reasons why this has taken me so long:

1) My girlfriend just left for ROTC field training, so I was helping to get her ready

2) Double shifts at work

3) Summer class w/ 2 papers in 1 week

4) Photoshop makes my computer choke

Go ahead and choose which one (or a combination) of the four you want to be the reason why this is 11 days late. Once you've decided on one, enjoy the wallpaper! I put in twice as much work into this one as I usually do, and I think the calendar turned out pretty good for it. However, my creative juices ran dry for the background, so it's rather barren. Use your imagination :) . Also, the special wallpaper isn't quite done yet (you can choose a different excuse for this one if you want for some bonus points), but will be by the end of the day.

Kosmo, I'm working on your logo request. The trouble is that I need to get it vectored first, because the version I have isn't any bigger than the version here on the site. But since I'm done with papers (at least until Tuesday), I'll have some time to get it done for you :) .

Anyway, onto the wallpapers! As always, let me know if you want one in a specific resolution and I'll get it out to you. C+C is greatly appreciated! And yes, RMN, I did take some inspiration from your "learn scorebooking" post a while back :)

Enjoy, and Go Rockies!

WIDESCREEN: 1920 x 1200 | 1680 x 1050 | 1440 x 900

FULLSCREEN: 1600 x 1200 | 1440 x 1050 | 1280 x 960 | 1024 x 768 | 800 x 600

SPECIAL BONUS WALLPAPER!

To show my thanks for sticking with me through thick and thin. I know that, as Rockies fans, we're all pretty used to adversity, but you all put up with me even when I didn't update for 3 months one time - even the Rockies can win at least once in that timespan! ;)

So anyways, here's one that I think(hope) everyone here will appreciate. I saw the font on a free font website and this image instantly popped into my head. 2 days later, here we are! Again, let me know if anyone wants a special resolution (and jrockies, I've got a special resolution in there for you too :) ).

Enjoy, and Go Rockies!

WIDESCREEN: 1920 x 1200 | 1680 x 1050 | 1440 x 900

FULLSCREEN: 1600 x 1200 | 1440 x 1050 | 1280 x 960 | 1024 x 768 | 800 x 600

SPECIAL RESOLUTION: 1280 x 1024 (jrockies) (note, this is a .BMP and will take much longer to load)

Bob Melvin Fired

oo_nrb — Fri, 08 May 2009 03:15:08 -0000

Bob Melvin Fired

As AZ Snakepit said, "Bob Melvin has gone from National League Manager of the Year to 'Do you want fries with that?' in barely eighteen months."

Arizona throwing up a "Now Hiring" sign and Manny being suspended for 50 games. Hey Rockies, do you hear that? That's the sound of opportunity knocking.

May Schedule Wallpaper - Shiny Rounded Squares, Anyone?

oo_nrb — Sun, 03 May 2009 08:06:28 -0000

So to those of you who voted in my poll, thank you for your input. I decided to go with d) none of the above, which surprisingly no one voted for. But it just felt right, you know?

The calendar has been overhauled, and I think it's the best calendar-type-thing to date - very simple and easy to read (and SO much easier to update than those damned boxes in the April calendar). The major problem this month was trying to figure out what to do with the calendar boxes once I had made them. No background worked, and every picture seemed awkward. I was running out of time, so I opted for the good old standby of Coors Field. However, then I ran into the problem of how busy the background image was - no one was going to be able to find their icons in that mess. So I added a black frame to the image, and I think it really helped the overall wallpaper. You'll notice some extra black space at the bottom - I did that to accomodate for the Windows Taskbar, so that the frame is balanced :) . Mac users shouldn't have much trouble with their dock. However, if you're one of the weirdos that puts their taskbar at the top of the screen...I've got bad news for you...

TL;DR: the frame on this wallpaper is normal - it gives you space for your icons. Make sure your background setting is set to "Stretch".

As always, they'll take a while to download, so please be patient. And please give some feedback! Do you like how the new calendar looks? What should I make better/get rid of for June?

And, of course, Go Rockies!

STANDARD RESOLUTIONS

PREVIEWS ARE LOW QUALITY, CLICK RESOLUTION FOR HIGH QUALITY DOWNLOAD

1600 x 1200 | 1400 x 1050 | 1280 x 960 | 1024 x 768 | 800 x 600

WIDESCREEN RESOLUTIONS

PREVIEWS ARE LOW QUALITY, CLICK RESOLUTION FOR HIGH QUALITY DOWNLOAD

1920 x 1200 | 1680 x 1050 | 1440 x 900

Hardball Times, "Searching for the game's best pitch"

oo_nrb — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:34:57 -0000

Hardball Times, "Searching for the game's best pitch"

I'm not sure if this was linked anywhere, but I found it over at Beyond the Box Score.. According to The Hardball Times, Jeff Francis had the best changeup in the majors in 2007.

Also of note, Marquis is/was #12 on the list of sliders.

April Schedule Wallpaper - Get Ready to be Guinea Pigs!

oo_nrb — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:47:57 -0000

So I've had this bad boy about 98% finished since April 6th, but being the over-thinking perfectionist that I am I decided to keep it back for a while to make some final adjustments (long-time wallpaper users will remember that it was that same over-thinking perfectionism that kept me from releasing a September wallpaper last year). Well, those final adjustments just kept getting put off in favor of such things as 10 page papers, double shifts at work, and having to redesign my apartment complex's website (which actually looks quite nice, if I say so myself). So finally, I just got fed up with myself and decided that I was going to post it; so after a bit of use of the Smudge tool to get that 98% to 100%, here it is!

Now when I say "guinea pigs", I mean it. What do you think of my calendar? It's very different, yes, but with good reason. Here are some features:

All the games are now grouped into series, with all the info you need for each game.
Each game box is either grey or white to designate away or home respectively (like our uniforms).
The script used for each team is the script that the team will be seeing during that series (so "Dodgers" when the team plays in LA, and "Los Angeles" when the Dodgers come to Coors).
Pictures of the stadiums included to further denote home/away (since the colors on the boxes can run together a bit).

The new calendar is the major part of this new wallpaper, and is what I'll be focusing on mostly. I realize that Tulo has a bit of a weird outline going on, and that the team logo coupled with Squeaky's sign is a bit forced. However, I'd really like to iron out the kinks in the new calendar before next month, and then once I have that down, expand from there.

So that's where you come into play...comments! What do you think of the calendar? Is it useable? Pretty? Useable and pretty? Tell me what to fix for May!

I am rather proud of the way the new Purple Row logo turned out, however, so don't bash that one :P .

As always, if you would like a funky resolution just leave a comment and I'll get one made for you. The links will take a while to download (though not as long as last season, since these are now .PNG files rather than .BMP, meaning the files are about half as big with very negligible loss in quality); if you have any issues downloading let me know.

Thanks for being patient with me, everyone - the last month of school is always a hectic one for me (and especially since it's the first month of baseball, my mind always gets pulled in two different directions). And, of course, Go Rockies! Maybe they just needed some new computer wallpaper to help snap out of this recent funk.

STANDARD RESOLUTIONS:

800 x 600 | 1024 x 768 | 1280x960 | 1400 x 1050 | 1600 x 1200

WIDESCREEN RESOLUTIONS

1440 x 900 | 1680 x 1050 | 1920 x 1200

Dressed for Success? - Rockies 08 Uniform Breakdown

oo_nrb — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 04:43:47 -0000

Here it is, my annual breakdown of the various different uniforms that the Rockies wore all season long. First up, here's an example of what each uniform is:

When I say "Home", here is what I mean; the classic white with purple pinstripes jersey and pants.

When I say "Road", it's the grey version of the Home set, with purple numbers:

Here is the "White Vest", a white, pinstriped uniform that has no sleeves and a big "CR" on the front:

Here's a look at the Black Vest, by far the team's most popular choice in 2008:

And finally, the team's Purple choice, which is basically the coolest jersey on the planet and yet was somehow not worn at all in 2008. I think the team must've been trying to preserve the awesomeness.

And so, without further adieu, here is the breakdown of what the team wore when, how we fared that day, and who the starting pitcher was. Last year, it was suggested that I keep track of the starters, since it's more than often their choice as to what the uniform of the day is. So below all of the results, I've listed how many times each pitcher wore each jersey. Also, the final tally, with win totals, is down below. Jerseys are color-coded for your convenience (and to make it look pretty).

Some interesting tidbits:

Check out that stretch from June 17 - 29, when the team wore only the Black Vest for 8 out of 10 games.
Or the stretch from July 25 - Aug 1, when the Black Vest was worn not just for 8 games straight, but 8 days straight.
Generally the team will wear the same jersey as long as they are winning, and switch it up if they are losing. This is particularly evident from April 30th - May 6, when the team couldn't find a winning uniform combination and ended up wearing all 4 combos over 4 games before winning one in the White Vests (in which they lost the next day).
I expressed surprise at this last year, and I will again this year: the White Vest is only worn at home, making it a true "Home Alternate". This means that in order to see the Rockies play in any variation of White, you have to come to Coors (for those curious, I looked it up last year and there actually is no rule stating that the visiting team must wear white - it's just a traditional holdover).
The team has not worn the Purple jerseys in regular-season action going back 198 games. This saddens me.
On a related note, Hirsh was the pitcher that was fondest of the Purple back in 2007, wearing it for 11 out of 19 games. In his one game back in 2008, he elected to wear the Black Vest (more than likely because the team had won the previous day in it). Curses, Hirsh! You were supposed to bring Purple tidings with you back from the DL.
The Road jerseys were not worn over a 44 game stretch (the longest such stretch in 2008) from August 4th to September 24th.
The second-longest stretch was a 32 game run from July 7th to August 12th during which the team didn't wear their Home jerseys, despite playing 15 games at home.
AL teams we played in June last year (CHW, CLE, KC, DET) only saw our Road or Black Vests (probably due to the fact that only 3 of those 9 games were played at Coors).
Ironically enough, the other two types were both worn when Minnesota came to town back in May.
The Mets never saw either of our "standard" jerseys, only our sleeveless options.

So what can we learn about all of this? Absolutely nothing, of course. But what would baseball be if not for some useless statistics that some people spend hours laboring over? Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go figure out the WPA of my fantasy second year first baseman in Baseball Mogul 2009...

Pre-Season Wallpaper feat. Our Newcomers

oo_nrb — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:47:01 -0000

Intro paragraph?

I return bearing gifts! Originally I was going to do two wallpapers, a Pre-Season and a Spring Training, but I ran out of time on the latter (you can thank my midterms for that), so here's the former. The Rox made 5 big acquisitions this off-season, and it's going to take them a while to get accustomed to playing at altitude. So I thought I'd extend a Purple Row greeting to our newcomers and welcome them to the altitude.

And good news everyone! I discovered the ".PNG" option on Photoshop, so now the files are much smaller and will load much more quickly, with a very negligible loss in quality. If speed was a deterrent for you in the past, then now's the time to start downloading!

NOTE: The widescreen preview does not show up unless your Purple Row viewing mode is set to "Wide". This is an option on the left side of the screen, under the Purple Row logo.

STANDARD SIZES: 1600 x 1200 | 1400 x 1050 | 1200 x 900 | 1024 x 768 | 800 x 600

WIDESCREEN SIZES: 1920 x 1200 | 1680 x 1050 | 1440 x 900

If you have a resolution that isn't listed here, leave a comment and I'll make one for you. Comments and criticism is always appreciated, and I'll incorporate any suggestions into my April schedule wallpaper. Oh, I'll be doing something different with those this year. Gone is the calendar "borrowed" from the official Rockies website; I'll be making my own calendar this time around, and I can't wait to show you all :D . See you in April, and Go Rockies!

Wallpaper for the Offseason - How Long Until Spring?

oo_nrb — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:12:29 -0000

First of all, my apologies for not uploading a September wallpaper. I made one - even tweaked how I did the calendar - but I didn't feel like I should upload it. It was entirely too artsy, and the predominate color in it was blue, which seemed too appropriate given the direction the team was headed in. The image that I used may yet make a return - we'll see :) .

Onto newer things! I've thrown together a quick wallpaper that just asks the question that's on all of our minds - How long until Spring? I mean, at least the Broncos are being entertaining this year, so the winter is not entirely worthless, but seriously - how much longer do we have to wait?

I hope you enjoy the wallpaper that resulted :) It's not meant to be a magnum opus or anything - only took me about 4 hours tonight, much below my usual time spent. All of the usual flavors are present, and astute viewers will notice that I changed hosts - now everything loads MUCH faster :D . C+C appreciated, but again, keep in mind that I literally threw it together tonight. Enjoy! And as always, if you want a size that's not here, let me know. Go Rockies!

Standard Sizes:

1600 x 1200 , 1400 x 1050 , 1280 x 960 , 1024 x 768 , 800 x 600

Widescreen Sizes:

* You will need to switch your Purple Row viewing mode to "Wide" in order to see the entire Widescreen preview

1920 x 1200 , 1680 x 1050 , 1440 x 900