So… I like to play instruments that I have never learned.  This post goes out to all of the band members who have let me play their instruments.

Me playing the trombone

The trombone… the longest instrument I played… also note the super cool eyebrow raise as well as the look of awe and wonderment on the members of the band as they see and hear the awesomeness coming out of my trombone.

Moving on to the flute

flute… less manly, but more fun.

Couldn't pass up the clarinet

Clarinet… Its a classy instrument, and I am a classy guy, so it fits.

The pig conducting my brass playing

That’ll do pig… that’ll do.

The tuba... the grand-daddy of instruments

The tuba was a good time, a little heavy, but great. 

My mellophone skills

Mellophone?  OH yeah!  Had fun.

Jammin' on the Trombone

I like the Basketball games to showcase my skillz.

This is a continuation of the ongoing story of Moose McFadden, an Alaskan-born running quarterback who is living out my dream of taking a character all the way from high-school through NCAA Football and into the Pro simulation of Madden NFL. Previous instalments in the series can be found at;

The man from Wasilla, fulfillment of a gaming dream.

Moose McFadden, Part deux

Sophomore Shenanigans, Moose’s southern sojourn continues.

and,

Moose completes his college career

“Very few people are able to live up to the hype coming out of high school but you have managed to do it. Your legendary college career is now over, it’s time to take your game to the next level.”

Would you like to export to Madden?

And that was it, the end of a college football career and an invitation to go pro. No final video, no statement of what you achieved (fortunately I’d already looked these up) or anything. In my last thought about NCAA Football 09, my only hope is that this aspect has been fixed up in the new Erin Andrew’s headlines presentation, Moose brought the legend to campus, the least EA can do is celebrate him as such.

Anyway, as I loaded up Madden I pondered, as I had been for the past week or so, what would happen to Moose in the pros, who was going to draft him? And what type of game will he be expected to play. Coming out of high school I’d had a choice of college, clearly articulated in terms of style and where on the depth chart Moose would be, now it’s all down to the draft, which depending on the sophistication of the game could well be little more than a dice-roll.

Once in Madden, I load the superstar mode, and import my campus legend, Moose is sitting there, all ready to go. Right off the start I am shown a calendar leading to the draft. In a couple of days I have an agent signing, then an individual workout and finally an IQ (read Wonderlic) test.

Moose decides to go with Pavel Petrenko as an agent, I’m told he is a former Russian Ice-Hockey player and works with players who have global media aspirations. Moose used to be able to see Russia from his house, so feels a bit of a connection with this man. Personally he is surprised to be able to hire an agent with access to the performance institute so early, winning those three Heismans counts for something after all.

The day after agent signing comes an individual workout, giving Moose the chance to build up one of his attribute. Currently Madden has determined that he has,

• Smart QB 78
• Cannon Arm QB 93
• Accurate QB 87
• Speed QB 96

Since the cost of improving skills increases with how high they are initially, Moose decides that he’ll get more bang for his buck working on his smart QB to start off with. The workout turns out to be with the Buffalo Bills, Moose excels but doesn’t get quite enough points to increase his rating. (all-madden was 7, needed 8). In the following week he gets another chance at a workout, and manages to add a point to his smarts.

Then comes an interview, the questions are fairly simple, does he place himself in the same category as Matt Ryan, does he care where he gets drafted, where would he like to play and what number would he like. Moose wants to stay positive but also show that he has confidence in his abilities, so he agrees he is as good as Ryan, says that of course he cares where he gets drafted, would like to keep his number seven (although he has to say because that’s how people know him, when the real reason is that it seems to have been lucky so far), and says that he’d like to go to Green Bay to be part of the history rather than go to a crap team or glamour team. A quick check at his superstar status afterwards and he has been declared “dependable”, which seems a good start. I also got an e-mail from mum saying I was a gentleman in the interview, but she probably would have said that anyway.

The IQ test is ten questions in 5 minutes. A lot of the questions seem to be “what’s the next number in the sequence”, indeed 9 out of the 10 questions are maths with one little English question thrown in. I forget I am roleplaying for a moment and Moose, the Wasilla High graduate scores perfect. Oh well, he did finish with a 4.0 GPA somehow as well!

The following week I get another workout, the IQ test in the meantime has worked wonders on Moose’s smart QB rating, he is now 83. Working this time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Moose again increases his Smart QB stat.

Next up comes the NFL combine.

• Moose runs a respectable 4.29 in the 40 yard dash
• In something that I have always found really difficult in Madden, Moose only gets 8 reps in the bench press.
• Respectably he crosses 10000 in the QB challenge

After these efforts the training screen comes up again, while it says nothing has improved, I notice that the Speed QB stat has now increased to 98.

And then, the moment we’ve all been waiting for, draft day…

In somewhat of a major anticlimax the game sims the draft and gives me a screen saying “Congratulations, you are a member of the Detroit Lions”. As a team that in real-life went 0-16 in the 2008 season that I was about to entire, I couldn’t help but notice the irony in that statement.

With a photo and headline like that it doesn't really matter what I write in the caption does it...

The Lions are good fit for Moose, in recent times they have devoted their many early draft picks on a great group of wide receivers, and with only Culpepper and Kitna in his road it should be possible for him to fight for playing time early. It is also one of the closer teams to his home in Alaska. Unfortunately my memories of talented receivers turns out to be false hope, as my enthusiasm in keeping my rosters updated meant Roy Williams had already departed for the Cowboys and McDonald was injured for the entire season. This leaves Calvin Johnson and not much else, although Colbert looked like he had some potential. On the plus side, Detroit seemed to have traded away starting QB Kitna in order to draft Moose, making the starting job pretty much a guarantee.

Prior to the first training camp I have a look at the performance institute, it’s exactly the same as the combine, and I don’t quite know how it helps anything.

Training camp proves to be very confusing, I’m asked to hand off to the halfback Kevin Smith. The practice seems never ending, I try a few passes from audibles but without a great deal of success. The camera is very different from NCAA, locked in really tight so it is hard to see the receivers. Depending on how plays go my influence and ego appear to be being affected, but no idea what else. Eventually with 10 influence I quit.

If nothing else this is giving me an idea of the influence system. Sacks and intercepts really hurt my influence while completions are moderate gains. The aim seems to be to be fairly cautious. As for why I am doing this? What influence is even used for? I have been told nothing. Something else I learn is that the influence max seems to be 10 per practice. I am told by my superstar info screen that I will start the next game with this influence level.

I check my stats before my first preseason game. Moose was drafted in round 3! with the 96th overall pick. He’ll earn 10.2 million in his first year of a 2 year contract with the Lions. This pick is somewhat strange, in real life, number 96 in the draft was the first conditional pick and was Chad Rinehart of the Redskins, a look at him in-game (and he is there) declares that he was indeed picked in the 3rd round, but they’ve relegated him to the 160th pick, which is well outside the 3rd round. All very strange, you’d think if they were happy to draft superstars in the same position that actual players in the game were drafted then Moose might have been picked a little higher, given that he’s a 3 time Heisman winner and holder of every NCAA passing and rushing record worth holding. Actually, comparing Madden’s idea of overall picks and reality is strange across the board, it seems to be right for the first round, while a fellow Lions rookie who was picked mid-way in the second round (picks 33-65) is somehow declared to be pick 88.

For the first time I am able to see Moose’s full skill stats and they are as follows,

• Speed - 98
• Strength - 68
• Agility - 97
• Acceleration - 93
• Awareness - 84
• Truck skill - 56
• Elusiveness - 82
• Carrier Vision - 72
• Stiff Arm - 59
• Spin - 84
• Juke - 84
• Ball Carrying - 58
• Catching - 40
• Jumping - 63
• Throw Power - 93
• Throw Accuracy - 87
• Kick Return - 98
• Stamina - 90
• Injury - 90

Interesting fact: Detroit plays on a “FieldTurf” field, similar to the one that Moose got injured on in the Georgia dome, it is a little unique though, being made from recycled Firestone tires.

Another interesting fact: Moose will wear the number 7 for Detroit despite it being retired for team legend Dutch Clark.

Dutch Clark, probably not too happy that Moose has been given his retired number.

It’s now time for Moose’s first full-blooded professional snaps. The first preseason game comes against the perennially tough Indianapolis Colts, at least it will be at Ford Field.

In the battle of experience vs exuberance, Peyton Manning takes the first possession and completes 5 passes on his way to a touchdown. In response, the Detroit coach shows his trust in young Moose by telling him to go for a deep pass on the very first play. In a poor sign, Moose’s first three snaps are an offensive line false start, a sack, and an incompletion, this new view is terrible. At 3^rd and way too many Moose runs away from his O-line and ignores the receivers, netting a medium rushing gain in the process, but it isn’t enough for a first down. In the next series, the coach calls 4 consecutive run plays, only going with Moose after a holding penalty leaves the Lions at 2nd and 14. Moose throws to Gaines the TE, but despite being wide-open he is unable to catch it. Finally, on 3rd and 14 he completes his first professional pass to new best friend, Colbert, who gets the first down. On the following 3rd down he attempts to net the remaining couple of yards with one of his famous bootlegs off a playaction, but is sacked hard by Dwight Freeney. Welcome to the NFL Moose. On the following drive, Moose finally gets into a rhythm, completing six passes and making a couple of decent runs, and with 1:12 remaining in the first half he barges over the line between the tackles for Detroit’s first points of the year. Moose is rested for the second quarter and the Lions lose 17 to 9.

Moose’s numbers for his first outing are 6 of 12 for 50 yards, but at least there were no interceptions. On the ground he managed 27 yards and a touchdown from 3 attempts.

After the game Moose gets an e-mail from his coach telling him not to worry about the loss and that he was happy with the amount of heart he showed out there.

The next preseason game is away against the Bengals. Moose settles into things a lot more in this game and starts to find potential superstar receiver Calvin Johnson a few times. Apart from a strange tendency to have passing plays end on the 1 yard line, things are going well, and Moose finishes off two drives with short rushing touchdowns to secure a 14-3 half-time lead that the B-team in the second half manages to convert into a 20-13 victory. This time Moose completed 11 of 17 for 143 yards and got 14 yards and 2 touchdowns from 4 carries. He even got to try holding the ball for a couple of field goal attempts in the second half, which was a lot more fun than it sounds.

Moose finally gets some passing touchdowns to his name in the 3rd preseason game against the Cleveland Browns when some overenthusiastic blitzes allow him to hit first Gaines and then Colbert wide open for long range trips to the end-zone. In this game he completes 11 of 14 for 174 yards and 2 touchdowns and gets 9 yards on 3 rushing attempts.

In the final preseason game against the NY Giants, Moose suffers a barrage of defensive linemen as his line completely fails to hold its own. He is sacked three times, fumbling once, and gives away two interceptions trying to air it out within the two minute warning. Despite this he is able to get the ball to Gaines off a short range playaction for the opening score and leave Detroit with a 7-3 lead from the first half. Ultimately Detroit wins it 30-3 with Moose completing 12 of 18 for 111 yards 2 interceptions and a touchdown. As a result of the sacks he only gets 1 yard rushing from 3 attempts.

In terms of observations going into the regular season, the gameplay is quite different from NCAA. The new camera really takes some getting used to and I’ve thrown into coverage a couple of times because I literally couldn’t see the defender on the screen. That said I seem to be adjusting to it.

The influence stuff seems silly at the moment, but it should start to become more interesting once Moose has a couple of roles to spend the points on. In the meantime it is annoying that you can’t link the trainings up like you can in NCAA and do them in one go rather than reloading all the time.

The box for Madden 09, you'll have to imagine the screenshots because Madden didn't let me take screenshots like NCAA did.

The Performance Institute seems useless, I’ve done it a couple of times for no benefit whatsoever, even when I clocked a 4.09 on the 40 yard dash, perhaps the fact I am already 98 ovr has something to do with that though.

It’s very nice to be able to finally call motion before the play to help read the defense.

Blitzes are far more brutal in Madden and the running back AI seems far superior – making yards up the middle and generally looking realistic. This is strange given that when playing the game normally, blitzes are more brutal in NCAA and running is far more difficult in Madden.

The wide receivers are a bit weird, I’m seeing a lot more drops (that might just be Detroit) and their AI around the edges of the field is worse (in NCAA they were really good at catching it and then falling out of bounds). That said they all respond better to where you throw the ball than they did in NCAA.

It’s also annoying that you can’t tweak the game length a little, 6 minute quarters would probably give a more realistic number of plays. This is particularly annoying since the number of plays was so close to perfect in NCAA and hence stat comparisons between Moose and other QBs were perfect. Finally, the most annoying thing is that despite all the effort on their presentation there is no photo taking option in Madden, and you can’t even save replays in Superstar mode!

Stay tuned for the next instalment as Moose and the Detroit Lions enter the regular season.

With NCAA Football 10 now released in the USA and my copy hopefully steaming in from Asia as we speak it seems the right time to actually finish off Moose’s career log. Unfortunately I have to admit that while I finished this game back in February I never got around to writing it up, still, better late than never.

For those just joining us, this is a continuation of a series that starts back here.

In his third/junior season Moose found himself having to deal with an almost completely rebuilt offense and defense around him. This led to some nervous moments early on, but things largely established themselves by the key Florida Gators and Alabama Crimson tide games mid-way through the season, and LSU retained an unbeaten record throughout.

One of the most interesting features I began to notice was that the game seemed to react to my previous performances. Opposing coaches were trying to “Moose-proof” themselves by increasingly sending linebackers on containment duty to try to hold him in the pocket, while the LSU coach became increasingly fond of calling QB run plays close to the end-zone. One can only assume that this is a scripted reaction to the growth of Moose’s overall rating, and a welcome one at that.

Back to the games, LSU was helped immensely by the emergence of a new running-back, Jackson, with a speed rating of 99. His presence allowed Moose to become more of a pocket passer and stop changing run plays into passing ones. In other words, there was finally enough balance in the squad to play properly!

At the pointy end of the season Moose’s third SEC championship game is against the Florida Gators. A quick scan of the Florida depth chart revealed two All-Americans in the secondary, and two defenders (interestingly not All-Americans) with overall skill scores of 99. I will admit to more than a little trepidation facing that defence on this particular stage as NCAA seems to really push up the difficulty for finals and bowl games.

The game starts off with caution from both offenses, neither wanting to give the ball away cheaply. On his second drive, Moose takes a lot more control of the game, reading the defence and audibling a lot, eventually Jackson was able to make a 1 yard run and finish off the 85 yard drive with a touchdown. Moose crashed over himself on the following drive as both teams traded touchdowns before and after the half-time break. The game ultimately ends with Moose and Jackson unleashing a festival of short yardage rushing plays to kill clock in the fourth quarter and lock in a 21-17 win.

The Heisman Trophy, as won by Moose three? years in a row.

After the Championship it is announced that Moose has won the Heisman for an unprecedented (and perhaps slightly unrealistic) 3rd consecutive season. It is also announced that once again LSU will finish its season in Arizona, this time playing Notre Dame for the BCS National Championship. The fact that two years ago this was the site of Moose and LSU’s last defeat is a thought not lost on Moose. Neither is the fact that, as Brady and Belichick will confirm, Arizona hasn’t exactly been the best place to go into a championship game undefeated.

A pre-game glance at the depth chart reveals that Notre Dame have an amazing linebacker core and defensive-line but a potentially vulnerable secondary. They also apparently have a decent kicker who gets them off the mark with a field goal in the opening drive of the game.

For LSU’s first offensive play the coach decides it’s worth testing out that secondary. Moose obliges with an 89 yard touchdown over the middle, the longest in LSU history. In the next few drives LSU unsuccessfully tries to establish the run, and only goes into the second half with a 10-3 lead. Moose comes out strong in the second half and returns the focus to the deep ball, quickly creating a 14 point lead, it looks like successive National Championships are in the bag. But through the fourth quarter Notre Dame storms home. First they score a touchdown, then they recover the ensuing an onside kick and score again. This leaves Moose with 15 seconds to try and get a winner.

Starting from his 20 yard line, Moose gets 40 yards on the first play, but is unable to make anything happen on the second, and the game goes into overtime. After winning the toss, Moose gets the first shot at scoring. After a couple of quick plays to settle in, Moose sees and takes a shot at the corner of the endzone off a playaction. Unfortunately this was the moment when the Notre Dame safety remembered what his position entailed, and he intercepts the pass, ending LSU’s first shot at points. After a short string of runs Notre Dame scores on their drive, winning the National Championship.

Moose had been near perfect to that point, throwing for 180 yards and two touchdowns, running for 100 yards and another, but in one throw ended a 23 game winning streak and a chance to be the first to defend a Bowl Championship title. NCAA predictably and sensibly declares the game to be an instant classic, and Moose enhances his reputation as somebody who chokes at critical moments.

As the season ticks over to its conclusion, NCAA informs me that it only took Moose 3 years to establish himself as a legend on campus (that’s a long time actually, most people just need 15 seconds of well placed nudity), and offers him the chance to move on to the NFL (aka export him to Madden). It was a very tough decision, particularly seeing as how the whole point of this exercise is to fulfil the dream of combining the games. However, in a move that may have been influenced by the fact that this all happened around the time Tebow was in real-life confirming his availability for another season of college football, Moose decided to stick it out for one more year and become possibly the first boy from Wasilla to complete four years at college.

The movement of players through the system sees LSU lose the heart of it’s running game, two running-backs and half the offensive line (again! Is this really what college football is like?). The result is that it looks like this will be a season built on the pass, and QB running. This suits Moose as he is chasing a number of pretty significant records:

• The all-time NCAA career Passing TD record which currently stands at 121 (needs 28 more), and
• Ricky Williams’ (Miami U 96-99) all-time NCAA Rushing TD record of 73 (needs 9 more).

Ricky Williams is chased by an overenthusiastic ballboy as he sets the NCAA all-time rushing touchdown record that Moose is chasing.

In a season all about NFL preparation and chasing down those records, Moose started very strongly, carrying the team on his senior shoulders. By the end of game three, a 38 – 20 win against Auburn it was becoming clear that the LSU Tigers running game was little more than a distraction for the Wasilla Moose offense. From three games the new HB Smith had a total of 79 yards from 46 carries, compared with Moose who was well ahead with 461 yards and 9 touchdowns. Through the air Moose had stacked up 707 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Fresh off a win in Michigan where Moose had broken Ricky Williams’ touchdown record, Moose and the LSU Tigers faced the Vanderbilt Commodores. It was a mild October afternoon, the sun was shining, the stands were packed, Vanderbilt had a weak secondary, and a cheerleader winked at Moose as he took the field (ok, I made most of that up, but it’s what should have happened). Things felt good. To celebrate Moose decided to go for a record, the 9 year old LSU single game passing yards record of 528 set by Rohan Davey. Moose cut loose, audibling for pass play after pass play, only allowing a run where absolutely necessary. Despite a number of bad drops by receivers (who may have been complaining from sore hands given the number of balls thrown their way), Moose amassed 446 yards, 6 touchdowns and a massive lead by the end of the third quarter. Unfortunately the coach didn’t seem to agree with Moose’s record attempt and relegated him to the bench for the rest of the game. Annoyed, Moose sulked at the lack of a feature to petition the coach to let him back in the game.

Moose tried again to beat the record a week later, and was again denied, but at least managed to rope in the all time NCAA passing touchdown record while he was at it.

These two games were very important to this season. For the first time everything was becoming a bit tedious. I’d beaten all these teams before, and the only important games were to come at the end of the season due to a combination of the draw and the fact that NCAA seems to really ramp up the difficulty in Bowl games. But both of these games were very different. For once Moose was very much staying in the pocket, only running twice in each game. This would hopefully stand him well for his impending NFL career.

Which leads us to perhaps the greatest game Moose plays in his entire career.

The game in question is played away from home at Ole Miss in a raging snowstorm, I’d be curious to have some confirmation if it really snows there.

For the first time in Moose’s career his defence completely abandons him. LSU shoots out to an early 14 point lead as the big Alaskan reminds everyone that snow is his natural habitat. Ole Miss comes back, but at half-time LSU still leads 35-28. In the second half things get a little crazier as both teams trade long range touchdown after long range touchdown. Finally, Moose gets the ball on his 20 yard line, the score is 63-all and there is a minute to go. With a calm that he hopes his potential NFL employers will be watching, Moose marches his team down the field. Concentrating on winning the game rather than running the score he sets LSU up with a final run that leaves the ball nice and central on the 2 yard line with only 15 seconds left. Moose wants to let the clock tick down to 1 second before using LSU’s final time-out, but from the sideline the coach loses his nerve and calls it with 5 to go. LSU kicks the goal and has a 3 point lead with 3 seconds left on the clock. On the following play, disaster ensues as Ole Miss makes a 98 yard return for a touchdown and one of the more spectacular finishes in NCAA history. Unfortunately you need to beat running over a trombone player in the endzone to be the most spectacular, but this was up there. With a final score of 70-66, Ole Miss defeats the #1 ranked LSU Tigers.

During the game Moose completed 21 of 27 passes to 8 different receivers for 418 yards, 5 Tds and 1 int. He also managed 11 rushes, 198 yards, 3 touchdowns. The loss is bad enough to drop the Tigers from 1st in the NCAA rankings to 10th. Suddenly Moose is looking at retiring after an appearance in the Sugar Bowl rather than the BCS National Championship.

Once again the SEC Championship Game comes against the Florida Gators. Moose goes into the game with a 5-0 record against them and converts it to 6-0 after a well managed 28-24 win. One of the real turning points came on a long (15 yard) third down conversion on LSUs last scoring drive, with all defenders covered, Moose broke out to the left hand side, nabbing the first and running out of bounds in front of the LSU bench and supporters, as he crossed the line he held his hands aloft, pumped up the LSU faithful (this actually happened as an animation, I don’t know if it was a glitch or not, but it was a lovely touch), LSU never relinquished control of the game from that point.

Amazingly, despite having had his best season on record, where he collected TDs at a rate faster than his frat-house could collect STDs, Moose missed out on the Heisman trophy. Albert Richardson of Notre Dame won it by a huge margin (2302 to Moose’s 895). Richardson had completed 278 of 387 passes for 3614 yards and 45 total touchdowns (he also had 49 carries and 1 touchdown). In comparison, Moose had completed 266 of 342 for 3927 yards and 43 TDs (although he had 9 ints to Richardson’s 6). This was close as a pure passing record, but Moose also had run for 1151 yards on 114 carries and 27 TDs, which he felt should count for something. As consolation he did at least get the Maxwell and O’Brien trophies.

All in all it was a harsh season for LSU, that amazing loss to Ole Miss relegating them to a Sugar Bowl appearance rather than the National Championship to which they had become accustomed.

The Sugar Bowl game against Oklahoma started strangely. A sandwich of consecutive touchdowns to the Sooners (Oklahoma) wrapped around a touchdown return by LSU meant that the score was already 13-7 by the time Moose touched the ball for the first time. A couple of touchdowns and an interception from Moose turned the game the other way and at half-time the score was 21-20 in favour of LSU.

Moose managed to get himself injured on the first drive of the second half, but was able to watch happily as his protégé Rhodes finished the drive for him with a 3 yard touchdown run. Moose took over on the following drive and reminded Rhodes that he still had a long way to go, running over Oklahoma’s All-American safety during a 38 yard touchdown run. From there however Moose played nice and conservatively, he’d learnt his lesson in the Ole Miss game and didn’t want to leave so much as a second for a miracle to occur. He ended his college career kneeling the ball down on the Oklahoma 5 yard line to seal his second Bowl victory with a 38-26 point win.

At the end of his college career, Moose finished with a legend score of 3455 (for those keeping count), an overall rating of 99 and the following statistics,

	2008	2009	2010	2011	Career	Records
QB Rating	186.4	194.7	195.7	210.4	197.6	2011 was an NCAA record
Completions	209	234	244	285	972
Attempts	293	293	301	364	1251
Completion %	71.3	79.9	81.1	78.3	77
Passing Yards	3202	3075	3137	4155	13569	2011 was an LSU season record, Career was an LSU record as well.
Average yards per game	228.7	219.6	224.1	296.8	242.3
Passing Tds	31	31	32	46	140	Each year was an LSU season record, career was an NCAA record.
Interceptions	17	12	12	10	51
Sacks	19	16	12	14	61
Rushes	124	109	93	120	446
Yards Rushing	1487	1614	1360	1242	5703
Yards per game	106.2	115.3	97.1	88.7	101.8
Rushing Tds	22	24	18	27	91	Broke LSU season record three times, career was an NCAA record.
Fumbles	6	3	4	5	18

Keep an eye out for the next instalment (hopefully coming very soon) when I import young Moose into Madden.

As a freshman at LSU Moose McFadden had a strong season but fell short of glory with some critical mistakes in the final games of the season. Coming into his sophomore (second) season he had improved slightly, statistically his overall rating moved from 87 to 90 with the main changes in strength, awareness and passing accuracy. He’d also picked up the intimidating title of All-American.

The off-season simulation in NCAA 09 is quick and easy if a little anticlimactic, it goes off, does a little thinking then announces that it is August and time to hit the training fields again. There are no screens or headlines to tell you what happened in the off-season, so you’d better have recorded your stats and remember all your favourite team-mates because otherwise you won’t know what’s changed.

Preseason polls rank LSU as the 11^th best team in the country with an A+ rated offense. Following the loss to the Crimson Tide last year however Tiger Stadium is apparently now only the 6^th hardest place to play in the NCAA, the unfortunately titled Gaylord-Oklahoma Memorial stadium now the toughest as the Sooners had pulled out to a 25 game winning streak there.

Now only the sixth toughest stadium in college football.

On the offence Moose would be supported by a fellow All-American, Halfback Ryan Caldwell who decided to return for his senior year. Two of Moose’s favourite receivers, Gary and Lake had moved on the NFL but were helpfully replaced by a pair of competent seniors. Possibly the biggest unknown coming into the season was freshman kicker Randy Ford, (and what an image that name conjures in the mind). According to his stats coming in, he is as accurate as any other NCAA kicker but power-wise is more of a crappy Fiesta than a mighty Mustang. Other than that little problem, this was a team on the up, still filled with experience heads from the previous campaign.

The season opener was played in an absolute downpour in Baton Rouge. The precipitation combined with a stingy Virginia Tech secondary to ensure that this was not a good day for passing. 2 sacks and 158 total passing yards made it one of McFadden’s worst games through the air. In the face of this the coach turned to his beloved running game, and Caldwell duly delivered with 64 hard earned yards on 16 carries. Inspired by the gaps that were opening up Moose went for a gallop himself early in the second half, and 2 broken tackles and 79 yards later LSU had a 7-3 lead. He crossed the line carrying the ball 3 more times that afternoon as LSU traded touchdowns with VT, finishing with 178 rushing yards on a mere 6 carries. The last of these came with 36 seconds on the clock, VT couldn’t respond and LSU had it’s first win of the season. ESPN hastily declared the Running of the Moose an “instant classic”.

Sometimes you've just got to do it yourself, Moose follows up one of his passes and blocks for the wide receiver.

Moose’s year rolled on smoothly after the tough start. A strong performance at Mississippi State resulted in a 44-7 win.

South Carolina was tougher, but the Tigers eventually wolfed them down like an overcooked steak 27-21.

After that came an opportunity to really open up against another make-believe FCS team, this time to the tune of 66-7. Fellow sophomore, wide-receiver Reggie Alford was fast becoming Moose’s favourite target, and was zeroing in on the LSU single season and career receiving TD records.

Looming after the FCS blow-out was the Florida Gators and their tough defence. Fortunately for Moose the LSU defence proved to be even tougher (much as they had the year before), enabling him to play rather cautiously and seal a 26-7 victory.

Moose(s) parts the Crimson Tide for an easy touchdown pass to Alford

From there things went by quickly, Kentucky 45-10, Southern Mississippi 35-14 and Houston 49-7. The rematch against the Alabama Crimson Tide focussed Moose’s attention for a while, but after a fairly nervous and cautious first half he opened the shoulders in the second to seal a sturdy 35-0 win. Two more whoopings dished out against Ole Miss (52-10) and Arkansas (34-3) secured the clean sweep and a #2 BCS ranking that meant a potential ticket to the National Championship.

Before he can start to think about that though, Moose had to return to the Georgia Dome for the SEC Championship, this time against the Tennessee Volunteers. Tennessee had an amazing defence, probably the best in the NCAA that year. Moose was most concerned going into the game of their All-American, defensive player of the year strong safety, but in the end suffered more at the hands of the defensive line and linebackers. Of course it didn’t help that the LSU O-Line seemed intimidated by the noisy dome and kept giving up false-start penalties. LSU was held scoreless in the first half, although a floaty pass that Moose foolishly threw while being tackled did find the endzone in the possession of a Tennessee outside linebacker. On the following drive, Moose nearly repaired the damage with a short range rushing touchdown but fumbled the ball on the goal-line and was fortunate that Alford was able to run down the defender that nicked off with it. At the half it was 7-0 to Tennessee and Moose’s play was fouling up the joint like a shipment of crabs on a hot day. He was further building his reputation as someone who couldn’t perform in big games.

LSU in the 2009 SEC Championship Game

On the first offensive play of the second half, Caldwell (who had been well contained in the first half) broke off a 77 yard touchdown. On the following kick-off the defence made it 14-7 with a fumble return. This was the first time that the rest of the team had done the scoring, and it couldn’t have come at a much better time. Moose was able to just manage the game from there on out. With a couple of minutes to go Moose charged through the Tennessee defence on a 1-yard quarterback sneak and finished off a 24-7 win. In his most anaemic full game to date Moose finished off completing just 15 of 21 passes for 140 yards and not a single passing touchdown. He fared a little better on the ground with 86 yards and a touchdown from 9 attempts, although this was tempered by a pair of rather costly fumbles.

It might have been ugly, but like a Wasilla barmaid, it was enough, and LSU got their pass through to the BCS National Championship. This year it would be held at the fabled Rose Bowl in Pasadena against the Texas Longhorns.

Moose’s opening drive of the National Championship ended prematurely when what looked like a wide open pass led to an interception, this was obviously going to be a day where any pass in the postcode of a defender was going to be a problem. The trick seemed to be to know when to throw em and when to hold ‘em (like they do in Texas state). The Texas defence was ok on paper, although by no means as good as Tennessee’s; frankly it was being a little ridiculous. In the dying seconds of the first quarter Moose opened the scoring by crashing over on a 2 yard run. The defence then stopped Texas before they could move the chains, and Moose scored another touchdown on the following drive, this time helped out by an excellent diving catch in the endzone by one of the tight-ends.

Texas responded with back-to-back touchdowns of their own, but Moose got the offence into Randy Ford’s modest range and he put the ball between the posts for a 17-14 LSU lead going into the half.

On the opening drive of the second half, Moose again marched LSU down the field. From close range, he faked the same play that he’d used to rush for the first touchdown, but this time looped a pass out to the fullback who walked over in the corner for a 24-14 two-score lead.

From there the main priority was killing the clock. This proved difficult against the Texas run defence who contained Caldwell to just 36 yards off 17 attempts. Things weren’t helped by the LSU offensive line again being overwhelmed by the occasion and false starting a lot, losing ground in penalties and making it hard to stop Texas jumping the start. Thankfully the defence really did their job, and only conceded one more touchdown as time expired, giving LSU a 24-17 win, and Moose his first National Championship.

Despite beating the Texas Longhorns, Moose has a new best friend.

Against that filthily good secondary Moose hadn’t tried his arm, finishing with 13 completions from 15 attempts, 139 passing yards and an interception. Most of these had been fairly short range passes to either the tight end (who finished with 5 receptions for 75 yards) or backs flaring out of the backfield. Alford who’d set pretty much every record as an LSU receiver that season only got 3 receptions, all short ones over the middle. The 13 times Moose held on to the ball and ran with it he managed to accumulate 140 yards and a touchdown, the only time so far he had run for more yards than he threw

Once again Moose won the O’Brien, Maxwell and the Heisman – only the second person in history to win it twice. He is also once again a first team All-American (along with Alford) and has now been identified by NCAA as an “impact player”.

Moose finished his 2^nd season with,

234 Completions

293 Attempts (amazing that it was exactly the same number as the year before)

3075 Passing Yards (record is 3347)

31 Passing TD’s (again exactly the same as the year before)

12 Interceptions (still a fair few, but better than last year, a sign of the new caution, 79.9% completion rate also a pretty good sign of this)

16 sacks

109 Rushing Attempts

1614 Rushing Yards (record is 1686 set in 1977)

24 Rushing Tds (broke the record again, this is a bit strange, despite feeling Moose had stayed in the pocket a lot more this year, ultimately he had only a few less runs but a lot more yards and a couple more Tds, he did however have considerably less yards after 1^st hit 41-90, an indication of how much more sliding he was doing) Moose has already equalled the LSU career rushing TD record (95-98 HB) and is very close on the passing Tds (86-89) as well).

3 Fumbles

Alford finished with 81 rec, 1274 yrds, 14 Tds (a record, he also got the career record, now having 24), next closest was his fellow wide-receiver Grant who had 36 catches for 453 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Watch out for the next installment when Moose plays his junior year, will he move to the NFL after his 3 year minimum?

Welcome back to the story of Moose McFadden, to catch up please refer to the previous post

When we last left Moose he was nervously awaiting his first game as an LSU Tiger. Although he was already promised that he would get to start, it nonetheless felt important to get off to a good start and make sure that the coach didn’t start thinking about what the second string might be able to offer.

As it turns out the season opener is a perfect opportunity for this as LSU faces off against FCS Southeast a truly terrible make-believe team (this is somewhat harsh incidentally, the schedule is otherwise completely accurate and this FCS game has been put in place of Appalachian State who appear to be a fairly good team).

Moose is asked to hand the ball off to LSU’s capable half-back for a short game on his first college play, a nice opportunity to get some focus and a feel for what that enormous 90000+ crowd sounds like. After that little nerve-settler the coach allows him to stretch his arm on his second play. A firm and flat 20 yard throw into space later and Moose was watching wide receiver Gary, his new favourite target, sprinting down the sideline for LSU’s first touchdown of the season.

Moose and the LSU team stood ten feet tall on that day (not including antlers, real or imagined). Moose himself finished off the second drive with a 44 yard touchdown run. At the end of the day, the scoreboard above Death Valley read an astonishing 66-0 and with 5 passing touchdowns, “Le Rouge Moose” had a new LSU record. Needless to say, he was pretty happy with his debut.

Le Rouge Moose is loose!

The next couple of weeks flew by fairly quickly as Moose got to grips with the playbook and the considerable talent LSU had on offence. Both Troy (39-25) and the North Texas Mean Green (24-16) were breezed past with relatively few incidents.

The fourth game of the season came against the formidable Auburn Tigers. As well as being the first real challenge of the season it was also Moose’s first away game, and the wobbly lines that NCAA uses to show home field advantage were in full force. Under the pressure Moose threw a couple of loose passes for interceptions but fortunately the LSU defence held firm under the pressure and secured a 35-10 win.

Back at home the following week Mississippi State proved harder to spell than to defeat and LSU continued their early season form with a 45-21 win. They followed this up with a huge defensive effort in the swamp to beat the Florida Gators 31-3 and again at home to beat South Carolina 28-14. Finally on October 25, LSU defeated the University of Georgia to claim an 8-0 record and take over their mantle as the number one ranked football program in the nation.

Moose finds an innovative way to avoid a Uni of Georgia defender.

Along with the prestige and exposure of the number one ranking came a massive target on their backs and it was with considerable relief that LSU was able to defeat rival Tulane 56-0 the following week. With the end of the season fast approaching, it was beginning to look like Moose might be able to lead a repeat of LSU’s national championship the previous season.

Then came the Crimson Tide. In front of a packed house at Death Valley Moose pulled out his Santa Claus impression giving away no less than 5 interceptions. Despite the best efforts from their defence, LSU stumbled to their first loss of the season, 20-17. To rub salt (or possibly cayenne pepper) into the wound NCAA declares the game to be an ESPN “Instant Classic” and helpfully stores the stats, pictures and videos from the game in a nice little archive for Moose to cry over in perpetuity.

LSU then got a week off to recover, although it wasn’t much of a positive experience as the next headlines to appear showed that they had dropped from #1 in the nation to #12.

After 13 days of stewing like a Louisiana Gumbo over their last loss, the Bayou Bengals took out their frustrations on Ole Miss with a 35-12 thrashing and continued the trend a week later retaining the Golden Boot against the Arkansas Razorbacks 45-0. At the end of the scheduled games Moose had equalled the LSU single season rushing touchdown record and had surpassed the equivalent passing record. With an SEC Championship game looming against the University of Georgia, and probably a bowl game after that, both of those records looked set to be shattered.

The SEC Championship

The SEC Championship game was held in the Georgia Dome, the first time Moose had ever played indoors. LSU starts well, driving down the field on the opening drive. After 8 plays and 80 yards Moose broke the rushing touchdown record by crashing over on a QB sneak, 7-0. Georgia responded on the next drive and at 7-7 Moose once again took the field. On the second play of the drive Moose sees an opportunity open up in the middle of the field to run for the first down and goes for it. Showing up the fact that he is an enthusiastic freshman Moose doesn’t slide and instead ducks and weaves, fighting for every extra yard he can. Georgia’s strong safety jumps at the opportunity and pounds Moose into the artificial turf, causing a back strain that rules him out for the rest of the game. Without Moose at the helm LSU goes down with a whimper, 34-7. The loss is devastating for Moose as for the second time this season he really let his team down, but at least he knows his starting position is safe, the #2 is awful!

Moose is knocked out of the SEC Championship game. Come to think of it, that's the guy he hurdled in the last game.

Despite his errors Moose is awarded the Heisman Trophy in a shock decision. While obviously excited to have achieved so much so soon his real focus is on the Bowl series and a chance to secure LSU some silverware for the season.

The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl

This chance, as it turns out, comes in the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix Arizona against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Keen to show that his injury in the Championship hasn’t turned him into a quivering invertebrate, Moose bootlegs the second play of the game off to the left and smoked the defence like a sausage as he shot down the sideline for a 73 yard rushing touchdown.

Later in the half, after a couple of drives are cut short with strong defence and an interception, Moose finds himself at the 2 yard line with instructions to bootleg to the right hand side of the field. With the arrogance that once might expect of a freshman with a Heisman, Moose audibles for the play to go to the much narrower left side so that he can celebrate with the mascot. The play comes good and Moose high-fives the man in the tiger suit as he cruises through the endzone. It’s a big call and everyone knows it, Moose and LSU have the swagger of a champion and look certain to win.

Like a holiday on a credit card though, things get ugly after the break. On the opening drive of the second half, Penn State closes the gap. When Moose comes back out to respond, a relatively innocuous short pass goes foul and tips off the hands of an LSU wide receiver and into the hands of Penn State’s All-American ROLB who returns it for the go-ahead score 17-14. Moose is reminded as he returns to the sideline that Penn State has the nickname “Linebacker U” for its ability to consistently produce pro-quality players at that position.

The LSU defence holds Penn State scoreless the rest of the game and gives Moose three drives in which to correct the score. He is intercepted to end the first, watches Gary drop a wide open pass in the endzone on the second and is sacked with seconds left on the clock in the third. With their tails between their legs the Tigers head back to Baton Rouge after a strong season but one which saw them relinquish the major titles of their previous year.

LSU mascot Mike the Tiger visits Moose at home in Wasillia

Final tally,

Moose adds to his trophy cabinet with the O’Brien and the Maxwell trophy, a very strong effort for a freshman. But will need to learn from his silly mistakes if LSU are to have a stronger season next time.

Moose’s first season stats,

209 Completions from 293 Attempts

3202 Passing Yards (record is 3347)

31 Passing TD’s (LSU Record)

17 Interceptions

19 sacks

1487 Rushing Yards from 124 Attempts

22 Rushing Tds(LSU Record)

6 Fumbles

Brings college pigskin action back with a new break away animation mechanic that will allow increased maneuverability on the field / ESRB E for Everyone

NCAA Football 09 is available at Amazon for $47.99. To Order click here
Amazon Product Pages contain a lot of other details on this product as Customer Reviews, Sales Ranking, Special Offers, Alternate products that customers are going for and much more.Want to read these details? click here

Want to get some other Format / Binding / Version? You can search for them from here

Other Products of Interest

• Madden NFL 09
• Xbox 360 Wireless Controller
• Xbox 360 Live 12 Month Gold Card plus 1 Month Bonus
• NBA Live 09
• Xbox 360 Pro Holiday Bundle 2008 Includes 60GB Hard Drive

Ever since I heard it was possible, I have been fascinated by the idea of using the Campus Legend and Superstar features of NCAA Football and Madden NFL to take a player through his entire career, from College to (hopefully) the NFL Hall of Fame. Until now I have been foiled in this attempt by the difficulty of getting a copy of NCAA football in Australia as it was only released on DVD based consoles like the 360 and PS2 and never in Region 4. Now however, with the zone-free blu-ray of the PS3 and a little bit of importing it is possible to finally tell the story of Moose McFadden of Wasilla, Alaska.

Wasilla Alaska, soon to be famous as the home of Moose McFadden.

Just before I start this I should make a couple of points. While I have been an NFL fan since I was little, College football is something I am not particularly familiar with. I’ve read enough coverage of it to “get it”, I know how more or less what the Bowl system is, what the Heisman is, and which colleges are perennially up there, but when it comes to individual players and systems I am completely useless. That doesn’t matter quite so much in this particular game anyway as it will be played with randomised player names. I don’t think it is possible to use my downloaded accurate rosters for Campus Legend mode. Since Moose will play 2008-2011 in NCAA and then get drafted into the 2008 NFL season it made no sense to bust a gut getting real player names anyway. So with all of that said, lets get “in the game”.

We join our strapping red-headed protagonist after the character creation screen of the NCAA Campus Legend feature. In his senior year at noted drop-out factory Wasilla High School (Go Warriors!) Quarterback Moose McFadden is attempting to drag his team kicking and screaming to the Alaskan School Activities Association state championships. For anyone familiar with American football out there, Moose has a touch of Vince Young about him, all wrapped in a big 240 lb lumberjacky exterior, for everyone else he’s like Joey Johns crossed with a freight train.

Finally, a stereotype you can believe in...

His team is terrible, but Moose looms like a bowling ball at a pin convention and gleefully flattens anyone who gets in his way. To mix things up, he occasionally throws the ball too, 60 yard bombs to wide-open receivers. But that’s mainly because he knows that the scouts are in town and he needs to show off a bit if he’s going to get Wasilla High a college scholarship this year. Every game ends with a list of top schools that have made the long trip north to watch him play.

Moose (number 7) runs the ball against a Juneau High School. Incidentally, Wasilla High's colour is apparently red, this is the last time they hire a red-green colourblind equipment manager.

So many scouts turn up to watch Moose in fact that for some bizarre reason the final game is moved from the traditional Anchorage Football Stadium to the stadium at the University of Washington (home of the Huskies). Following yet another blow-out, this time over some useless Anchorage high school, Moose is declared the Alaskan Football Player of the Year and settles into a long wait to see whose cheerleaders he’ll get to impregnate (Wasilla High only teaches abstinence, and Moose was abstaining from school that day). He receives a number of offers from renowned football schools like Texas, Oklahoma and Michigan but ultimately settles on Louisiana State University (LSU). The reigning National and South Eastern Conference (SEC) champions, the LSU Tigers have just graduated their old starting quarterback and are keen to offer Moose a chance to take the reins in his first season. The LSU system should suit Moose well heading into his NFL career. Only a couple of years earlier then LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who like Moose was a big lad with a cannon for an arm and quick feet excelled enough to earn himself a $68 million contract as the number one overall draft pick. There’s also the added bonus of their home stadium, known as Death Valley, which according to NCAA Football 09 is the toughest place to play football. Apparently it once registered an explosion of noise that was registered on the Geology Department’s seismograph. Moose can’t really see what all the fuss is, the bayou is a world away from the toughness required for away games in Barrow, Alaska.

Moose's new best friends, he might need to keep an eye on that one at the back though.

Now in Baton Rouge there’s little time for young Moose to get settled. Every day starts with practice – to save time Moose can sim through this since he already has the starter’s spot, but for the first week or so we play it anyway to get used to the playbook and which players on his offence are good value. In the evenings there is a choice between going to the library (a fairly foreign experience for a boy from Wasilla High), going to the gym, reading his playbook and going to the trainer. Apparently cheerleaders aren’t an option for “evening activities” in NCAA, maybe it’ll get unlocked after he wins the Heisman. In the meantime, new to the program, he decides to stay indoors with the playbook for the first couple of weeks (besides, it’s hot out there in Baton Rouge) and his grades suffer. Apparently he needs to keep a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA) to keep playing football, so after a while the coach convinces him that he needs to mix in the occasional trip to the library. Each option provides a random increase on attributes for the next game, generally at the expense of GPA (with the exception of going to the library which raises the GPA and sometimes some game awareness as well, not sure how this happens, is he throwing the books or reading them?).

Finally, after what felt like 20 minutes of distractions and practice, Moose is ready for his first game of Division I NCAA football.

The story of Moose McFadden will continue in the next post. In the mean time, it is apparently an LSU tradition to “frenchify” the names of prominent players and coaches of the football team. For example, coach Nick Saban became Nick C’est Bon, any ideas on what they would do with Moose McFadden?

Source/Fuente: GameU Best Buy G3

Over the next six weeks, the GAME U BEST BUY G3: Games, Gear and Gadgets Tour will hit 20 major colleges and universities across the country. Featuring the latest videogames, game technology and digital music, students will have the rare opportunity to play “Gears of War 2” before its much anticipated November 7th release.

Videogame fans can compete in the “Gears of War 2” Wingman Challenge, sponsored by Xbox 360 and GamePro Magazine. Wingman is one of the many multiplayer modes new to “Gears of War 2,” and involves up to five two-player teams competing in point-based battles. The top players from each college will later compete online for the grand prize: a trip to Epic Games to meet the creators of the “Gears of War” franchise and a Best Buy prize package.

Attendees can also play the latest blockbuster titles on Xbox 360, including “Madden NFL 09™,” “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09,” “NHL 09,” “NCAA Football 09,” “Far Cry 2,” “Saints Row 2,” “Facebreakers,” “Rock Band 2,” and last year’s #1 selling game, “Halo 3.”

The BEST BUY G3 Tour launches on Monday, September 29 and will visit campuses nationwide such as the University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, Oklahoma State University, Arizona State, UC Berkeley and more. The event is FREE to the public and the full tour schedule is listed at www.gameulive.com.

For the latest on “Gears of War 2” on the road to its worldwide launch on November 7th, visit www.gearsofwar.com.

Players are Bound for the Super Bowl, a BCS Bowl Game or the Sprint Cup Series With the Latest EA SPORTS Mobile Games

Press Release | Cominucado de Prensa

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sept. 25, 2008–The EA Mobile(TM) division of Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced the availability of three EA SPORTS(TM) titles for mobile phones – Madden NFL 09, NCAA Football 09 and EA SPORTS(TM) NASCAR 09. This fall’s lineup includes new versions of popular EA SPORTS games that are sure to amp up sports fans’ competitive spirit.

“EA’s sports titles are some of our most popular games across all platforms, including mobile,” said Adam Sussman, VP Publishing for EA Mobile. “Players will notice the great detail we’ve put into the games to make them as authentic as possible, including the use of motion capture technology for realistic movements and up-to-the-minute commentary by well-known sportscasters.”

Madden NFL 09

EA Mobile announces the newest game in the popular Madden NFL franchise, Madden NFL 09 with former New York Giant Michael Strahan as the mobile cover athlete. With full rosters for all 32 NFL teams, players line up their favorite NFL athletes and use the Front Office to trade and substitute as the game progresses. Madden NFL players choose from a pool of over 100 plays in the Madden playbook to outsmart the competition and win the game. New to Madden NFL 09 is the innovative Instant Impact Play function that gives players unprecedented pause n’ play control. Now players can take advantage of more big play opportunities using one button touch command. Also, a Field Vision Passing function puts players in the pocket to read the defense and fire a game winner. Two different modes – Play Now or Season – and the option to kick off a seven or sixteen game season, or just a single game, provides tailored gameplay for every mood and desire. All the action is called by legendary sportscasters John Madden and Al Michaels. Whether it’s bull rushing to sack the quarterback, or spinning, hurdling and stiff arming to make the touchdown, gamers experience the real thrill of NFL football competition with Madden NFL 09.

NCAA Football 09

Players experience NCAA football with EA Mobile’s college football game on mobile phones. Play as one of the 32 top NCAA teams in either a seven or 12 game season to win a bid to one of the five BCS Bowls. NCAA Football 09 matches the biggest college rivalries, including Michigan vs. Ohio State, UCLA vs. USC, Alabama vs. Auburn, and more. With real NCAA rules, team-specific offensive and defensive playbooks, fight songs from all 32 teams and colorful commentary from sportscasters Brad Nessler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso, NCAA Football 09 provides a genuine gaming experience for BCS football fans across the country.

EA SPORTS NASCAR 09

EA SPORTS NASCAR 09 lets gamers experience the race track as one of 19 top NASCAR drivers, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon. Racing against real NASCAR opponents on up to 12 authentic tracks across the country, players draft, block and accelerate their way to the checkered flag. Players can choose to race in their favorite NASCAR event or compete in the entire 26-event NASCAR season. And as the competition gets more intense, players show off pit strategy with repairs, tire changes and fuel ups. A high RPM earns players valuable points to qualify for the Chase and win the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Exciting 3D graphics, realistic effects and dynamic perspectives put mobile gamers in the driver’s seat with EA SPORTS NASCAR 09.

Madden NFL 09, NCAA Football 09 and EA SPORTS NASCAR 09 are currently available for purchase in North America. For more information on carrier availability and pricing, please visit www.eamobile.com.

Put aside the professional image you have of yourself for the time being.

Inside all of us beats the heart of a fan.  A fan unwilling to compromise their total, unquestioning loyalty to one school, one mascot.  For those of us fortunate to have attended the finest public university in the country, we don the green and white.

Yes, I am that guy.  I paint my face green and white for Michigan State football games.  Then I tack on a few temporary tattoos for good measure.  Should you even insinuate that Jeff Smoker did not get that last second pass off in time on the winning drive vs. U of M, I will dedicate the rest of the night destroying your credibility brick by brick (you, sir, are an unpatriotic Communist sympathizer!).

Spartans!  Read on for Coach D’s latest and greatest predictions for the coming season, kicking off August 30th at California:

Mark Dantonio Eats Bears for Breakfast! … with a side of porridge and orange juice.

Sparty On!

Well, to start off, I really don’t know where I’m gonna go with this blog. I figured I’d start one around the start of this school year, keep me on track, keep my thoughts down, talk about anything and everything.

Other than that, I’m just sitting here, pretty bored. Just scrolled through basically all of my 5300+ tracks in iTunes and couldn’t figure out what to pick, I think quite frankly I need more music. Finally decided on some Blu & Exile, a breath of fresh air for the hip-hop game last year with their album Below the Heavens.

Blu & Exile "Below the Heavens" (2007)

Weird to think it came out last year…I could’ve sworn it came out this year but maybe time has just passed like crazy, regardless it’s a great album, ridiculously good for a debut, never gets old, Blu sure has the lyrical content coming and Exile’s beats are relaxing and nice. Top three favorite songs would probably be “So(ul) Amazin’ (Steel Blazin’)“, “The World Is (Below the Heavens…)“, and “Dancing in the Rain“.

Other than that I’ve been wasting my time today and the past week with the following:

NCAA Football '09 (PS2)

Roller Coaster Tycoon (PC)...yes, the original <3

NCAA I have just always, for some reason, been addicted to the dynasty mode and building teams up. Never gets old. As for RCT, the nostalgia totally kicked in when I started playing again and wow is it still addicting, killed three and a half hours today on it and didn’t even realize it.

Starting tomorrow…school starts in eleven days I believe, the third of September, oh joy. And my schedule:

1. History of Rock and Roll
2. English 12
3. Physics
4. Probability and Statistics
5. Senior Seminar Experience
6. Spanish 2
7. Team Sports
8. Chemistry

I don’t feel it’s too bad. Physics I don’t really know what to expect, heard it’s a lot of math so that’s nice to know, math isn’t too bad for me. Prob/stat, lets just hope that’s easier than pre-cal, or different at least. Spanish 2, probably will be annoying but I’m gonna have to suffer. Chemistry, looking to redeem myself.

Overall, I’m not too worried about this year, I think as long as I actually go to class all the time, I’ll be fine, and just keep on task with my homework, keep organized with my life in general, things should be good. If I happen to finish my senior seminar early I can free up a period right there, and history of rock and roll is only a semester long and that period will be blank after first semester, so that can free up too. If I work my ass off maybe I’ll reward myself with some excused periods, we’ll see.

K I had a horrible weekend at hastings park (blame it on the friends, I realize more and more that pony betting is a solitary thing) but been practicing a lot with Del Mar and I’m ready to start my bets beginning this friday.

Will add up my Hollywood Total from the season and give a recap of the disaster at Hastings tomorrow. In the meantime enjoy this vid from our new sponsor

So sexy

Darren Mcfadden is the newest cover boy

Although my love for college football is bordering on obsession I went into the store weary of the newest installment of the ever popular NCAA series. With last years release being nothing more than a port from the old gen models, and no competition to spur EA into immediate improvements I must admit I thought this game would follow last years trend. However this years version exceeds almost every expectation I had.

The game play is a lot more responsive in this years version with a heavy lean in focus on the running game. Moving the joystick left to right not only moves your player in that direction but if done quickly enough causes player to cut quickly to either avoid direct bone jarring hits or even being touched all together. This quick cut like motion is also helpful to set up defenders to one side while quickly turning back to the hole you originally intended on.

The control system allows for a much improves offensive attack

As some of you may know strange bugs have bothered this title for a long time and most of these have been rectified in the newer version. Teleporting DT’s still do occur but at a very minimal rate, and players moving 7 feet in an instant to intercept your passes has also been toned down making Heisman mode less of an  epileptic seizure waiting to happen. Also, unlike last years version face masking penalties have been reintroduced into the game so when your players neck is being yanked like a rag doll expect to move up 15 yards.

Now for the biggest advance in this series from last year to this: Recruiting. Beyond the horrid graphics, the odd player movements, and the lack of college football passion that was lacking in 2008; the recruiting was the worst part of the game often taking 10-15 minutes in between each actual game you played. This could equate to 2 hours and 30 minutes just to play 2 games. EA’s upgrade? Quick calling recruits which enables you to choose how long you want to talk to each recruit and the computer will automatically try to find the interests of the recruit and pump up what he likes the most. This feature alone saves you 10 minutes of headache so you can get to what you actually  want to do in the first place; play football.

On the graphical front, it is a night and day turnaround for the staff at EA. Grass no longer looks like green carpet, and for the first time ever in a NCAA game, there are 3d fans! It may not seem like much but it adds a different level to the atmosphere of the stadium and gives the game a real authentic college experience.

Difference between field in 2008 (top) and Ncaa 2009 (bottom)

The stadiums continue to improve as each new release comes out and this year is no different making it hard to decipher whether what your staring at during pregame is actually  a video game or not. Another unique and unexpected touch was the addition of alternate uniforms for most teams. This ranges from old school uniforms for certain teams to uniforms worn in special situations like the Seminoles’ unconquered black uni’s or the lucky green of the Irish.

Notre Dames Green Uniforms

Last and  the only aspect of the game that fell short of my expectations was the sound. It seems every year Corso and Herbstreit use the same tired lines seen in previous versions. EA would do well to figure out how to get both guys back into the sound studio with a new script because it really wears thin on your nerves after awhile when you have heard that your player runs a non win aided 40 since 2007. It also seems to lack what 2007 grasped so well; in that crowd noise mixed with the vibrating controller seems to be missing. Those aspects that 2007 had captured the feel of 80,000 college fans screaming their guts out during a crucial situation, and without it the game dulls down during moments when you should be at the edge of your seat. The lone bright spot for the sound aspect is that EA is releasing sound packs that can be downloaded to your xbox 360 or ps3 that have the unique game day sounds for each team including game day rituals or songs played by each team. Despite this pleasent addition the overall sound of the game fails for me big time.

Game play: 9

Other than the rare teleports that keep plaguing the series the game play is much improved in every aspect.

Graphics: 9

As displayed by the pictures above the players look more like college players than your bulked up pros of 2008, and the uniforms and fields have made a huge jump in improvement.

Sound: 6

The only failure of the game but it was enough of a nuisance to bring the games rating down a little. I would rather listen to Meat Loaf than have Herbstreit tell me my player may be the “fastest player in college football” one more time.

Overall: 8

Overall this game is a must get for the college football enthusiast and we can all put that 2008 nightmare behind us. But it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have your ipod handy to take care of the announcing situation.

When he’s not grilling pork shoulders with his Vineyard Vines on and his arms akimbo, Berns can actually be found doing some pretty sweet shit.

Cool pitbull tee. Happy Birthday little buddy.

Chawl.

]]> http://jmobley123.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/this-guy/ Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:49:29 +0000 jonathanmobley http://jmobley123.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/this-guy/

-took flat out revenge on me today in ncaa football 09 from the flat out bludgeoning i gave him sunday

-wouldn’t take no for an answer about this summer, when i had summer school already set, an apartment that would sit empty, and just flat not knowing what i would get myself into. all of which have lead to a great summer so far. would not trade it for a thing. hanging out with team spider monkey is bar none the most fun a person can have.

-when told we would have to work for free, fought to get us as much money as possible, which still isn’t much but it’s a heck of a lot better than nothing at all

-one of the few guys i know that will let his staff (or at least me. i cant speak for the rest of em) have TOTAL creative freedom. now sometimes he asks just to check it out, but i think thats because he wants to be the first to see what you’ve got (at least thats what i tell myself).

-takes chances with me daily and trusts i’ll get things done. on time.

-hired me of all people to be student ministry intern/student ministry media dude/nic burleson’s personal stylist. all 3 super different, time consuming, and rewarding. seeing nic burleson look his best is always rewarding. i call it the joel osteen approach.

-has done incredible things with a youth ministry i never dreamed possible here.

but what can i say? i hired him.

cheers