Monday, August 23, 2010

Madden Tournament Heartbreak

I finally entered a Madden tournament over the weekend. After talking football with most of the guys, I realized that they all were just as geeky as I am when it comes to the NFL, and most had more time on their hands to play and master this year's version and were more experienced in competitive tournaments such as this one. Because I insist on remaining loyal to my rightfully low rated Seahawks, I figured I didn't have much of a shot at making any noise, so I lowered my expectations and just decided to go have some fun out there a la Brett Favre. Somehow, I managed to dink and dunk my way to a shocking 17-0 shutout in the first round.

My second round matchup was against a guy who was supposedly so good that he went on ESPN's Madden Nation bus last year. So once again, I figured I had no shot and started the game pretty loose. Then I win again, 14-0, and Mr. ESPN2 storms out in anger making excuses. At this point, the room starts to notice, and maybe even fear me. I mean, who wants to play the guy who rolled through the first two rounds having not allowed a single score, all while using those garbage Seahawks?

Semifinals. I’m starting to believe I have a shot at winning thousands of dollars. On the third play from scrimmage, DeMarcus Ware sacks Matt Hasselbeck. Injury timeout. Carted off the field. Seattle’s backup Charlie Whitehurst (who!?) enters the game having never thrown a pass in the NFL, gets picked off twice, and the guy I lose to goes on to win the tournament.

You cannot make this stuff up. The worst part is that this is exactly the type of thing that WOULD happen to Seattle. Did I mention our new $48.5 million left tackle, fourth overall pick Russell Okung got injured on the first drive of last night’s preseason game?

Sigh.