|
by
Joe - jgand@pcfootball.net
8/20/03
Gandolfo Family held hostage: Day
259.
Well at least that’s what the
headlines should read. That’s how long it has been
since Larry Aguillar had that little talk with me at Qual-Pro
Corporation telling me that I no longer had a job. That is how
long it has been since I have been looking for someone, anyone
out there to offer me a job. That is how long this 36-year-old,
white male has been looking for a job so that he wouldn’t have
to move out of his house.
Oh well, at least there is one
silver lining amongst the dark clouds of foreclosure: I picked
up Madden 2004 the other day. I finally figured out a way to
justify the purchase to wifey. I scour the ads every Sunday
looking for deals, not only at Staples and Office Depot since we
have a home business, but in Best Buy and CompUSA. This Sunday I
noticed that Best Buy was selling Madden 2004 for $29.99! That’s
$20.00 less then CompUSA and EBGames! So after getting a phone
call yesterday from an accounting firm that I thought I was
going to be working for where they told me that they had made an
offer to a woman with 12 years of experience (compared to my 3
years), I needed something to cheer me up.
That’s how I was able to
justify the purchase: I needed a little pick me up, and I couldn’t
beat the price! Hey, spending $30 on the newest and baddest game
on the block is better than spending $50 any day of the week.
So on my way to the grocery store
I stopped by Best Buy and wrote a check to purchase the newest
edition in the Madden franchise. I had originally planned on
buying Madden 2004 to celebrate my getting a new job, but at the
rate my luck has been going lately Madden 2005 will be out
before somebody hires me. I haven’t even installed the game on
my system yet, as I would like to complete the current
Instigator season before I start building the team in Madden
2004. Don’t worry friends, I will also be building several
other teams in the game as well. That includes the XFL and the
All-NCAA teams that I have been working on for Madden 2003. I am
hoping that the process will be easier in Madden 2004.
Once I do get the game on my
system means that I will have to go to CompUSA and put down $20
on a new controller for the game. I’m looking at an analog
controller put out by Saitek that has a shift key that allows
you to program more functions on your gamepad than you normally
would. So instead of 10 functions I could program 20 if I wanted
to. Sweet.
The one thing that isn’t sweet
about Madden is this so-called "Madden Curse" that has
everybody talking. I assume that everyone out there knows about
the "SI Cover Jinx" correct? Well now there appears to
be a Madden Curse that afflicts players who appear on the box
itself. Let’s take a look at the evidence:
Madden 2000 was the last edition
of the series that featured John Madden on the cover. Starting
with the 2001 version, the game would feature actual NFL players
on the box cover. Since the first player appeared on the box
however, those same players have not had much luck staying
healthy. The teams they play for, as a reflection, have not done
very well on the field either. Let’s take a look at the player’s
and the teams they play for:
- Madden 2001 coverboy: Eddie
George. Team: Tennessee Titans. Eddie managed to make it
through the 2000 season unscathed. He ran for 1,509 yards
and 14 TD’s and the Titans went 13-3. But in the 2001
season Eddie was just coming off of toe surgery. He ran for
939 yards and 5 TD’s and the Titans fell to 7-9
- Madden 2002 coverboy: Daunte
Culpepper. Team: Minnesota Vikings. Daunte had an excellent
year in 2000 where he led the Vikings to the NFC
Championship game. He threw for 3,937 yards and 33 TD’s
with only 16 INT’s. However, after he appeared on the
Madden boxcover he injured his knee in November of 2001. At
that point he had thrown for 2,612 yards, 14 TD’s and 13
INT’s. The Vikings missed the playoffs.
- Madden 2003 coverboy: Marshall
Faulk. Team: St. Louis Rams. 2001 was a typically good year
for Marshall. He rushed for 1,382 yards and 12 TD’s while
leading the Rams to Super Bowl XXXV. After he appeared on
the box for Madden 2003, Marshall had several nagging
injuries that cut into his productivity. He ran for 953
yards, 8TD’s and the Rams missed the playoffs in 2002.
Then we come to the coverboy for
Madden 2004: Michael Vick. Everybody knows Michael’s story. He
led the Falcons past the Packers in the NFC Wild Card game in
2002, and is one of the most exciting players the NFL has seen
in years. Unfortunately Michael may not be the same player he
was before appearing on the Madden box, because he broke his leg
in a pre-season game and will miss the first four games of the
regular season.
OK, now I consider myself to be
superstitious about certain things. I don’t walk under ladders
– ever, I throw spilled salt over my shoulder, and I will not
say the name of the Scottish tragedy inside the walls of any
theatre – ever!
Now we have the possibility of a
"Madden Curse" afflicting players who appear on the
cover of the game. I know that the Internet has been rife with
rumors about this possibility, and at this point it looks as if
that yes, there really is some sort of curse. But here's
something that I don't know if anybody has taken the time to
think about: has anybody even thought of a
way to lift this so-called curse?
I have, and I believe the solution is
a very simple one – put John Madden back on the cover of the box for the
love of God before somebody gets killed! That way we can go back
to our normal lives without having to think about any curse or
hex visiting our favorite players.
The SI Cover jinx is bad enough
for us to deal with, never mind the fact that now we have to sit
on the edge of our seats to wait for the next victim to be
claimed by Madden.
When you think about it, it’s a good thing that this
same curse doesn’t visit the coverboys of NCAA Football.
I mean with those athletes nothing bad has really happened to
them, right? The 2003 coverboy, Joey Harrington, was drafted by the
Detroit Lions, and the 2004 coverboy, Heisman Trophy winner
Carson Palmer, was drafted first by the Cincinnati Bengals…
Oh God, wait, maybe there is a NCAA
curse after all!
You know what? There is a simple
solution to lifting that curse as well. Just put the picture of
a well-known college coach on the cover of the game every year.
Someone like a Mike Price or a Rick Neuheisel…
You know what? Forget I said
anything! Never mind!
Until next time…
|
