Madden!!

At the end of August, every year, is a holiday of sorts for gamers and football fans. The new edition of Madden comes out, and people celebrate by playing the new version non-stop.

I actually started playing Madden in 1994 on the Sega Genesis. My little brother and I would play. He would constantly run backwards when he got the ball so that I could win. I genuinely don't think we ever finished a single game. We'd get frustrated and/or bored with the game and just turn the Sega off. It wasn't until about 5 years later that I actually started to play the game and really enjoy it. I'd always pick the Dolphins and lead them to the Super Bowl because I couldn't play on a higher difficulty than "Easy" without getting my butt kicked. I'd run the score up to 70 or 80 to 0 and just stomp on teams. It sure was fun.

My fondest Madden memories come from the year I worked at UPS. My best friend Marc and I would come home from working in the early early mornings and run simulations of Madden. We simulated a 30-year dynasty without playing a single game. We wrote all of our team's stats down in books/binders. We used complete randomness to choose teams, so I had the Dallas Cowboys. I ended up leading them to 5 different Super Bowl titles. Marc started with the Broncos (I think), but they actually ended up as the Boston Flags... don't ask.

I still have the binder with 30 years worth of stats from the AMFL (Alex-Marc Football League). It always makes me laugh.

So, in honor of Madden 25 coming out today, I'm starting a new dynasty! But, I'm too cheap to buy the new Madden, so I'll be playing on Madden '11.

I did a Fantasy Draft with the Miami Dolphins and I ended up with an amazing offense. Here are the highlights of the roster:

Quarterback - Aaron Rodgers
Wide Receivers - Calvin Johnson, Percy Harvin
Running Back - Ray Rice

That's pretty much the cream of the crop on the roster as far as skill positions go. I drafted a great offense at the expense of a great defense. It is what it is.

In light of the long intro, the recap for Week 1 will be shorter than what I'll do from here on out.

Week 1
Dolphins @ Bills

It was a back and forth game, Aaron Rodgers actually threw 2 interceptions along with one TD to Calvin Johnson. Shayne Graham added 2 FGs, including a 51 yarder.

The Bills missed a late field goal attempt (WIDE RIGHT!) that would've tied the game and the Dolphins were able to come away with a 13-10 win to start the season.

Week 2 will see the Dolphins travel to Minnesota to face Ben Roethlisberger, Knowshon Moreno and the rest of the Vikings!