How the Madden Curse will work this season

Most NFL fans know of the famous "Madden Curse". Since most NFL fans don't read this, allow me to explain. The football video game series Madden (insert year here) always features a football player on the cover, each and every year. It's usually not the MVP or whatever, but someone who's made a difference for their team or broke a record or whatever. At first, it was an honor, something higher than the Super Bowl (maybe just to me). But now...

It's something else.

For as long as anyone can remember, those whose picture was placed on the cover have been "cursed" with so much bad luck the following season (and generally their career), most wonder why they haven't opted out of life itself.
Example: 2002, Daunte Culpepper, quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings at the time. Before, he was a beast. People cried when they heard the name Minnesota Vikings (I did, anyway). After the cover, he hops between like four teams and goes through numerous injuries that affected his game play for the worse. What happened to him? He started for the Lions last season 8 games in. He then got injured again and was out the rest of the season.
Another: 2004, Michael Vick, then-quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. The QB everyone dreamed of having on their team. He could run, he could throw, he was a beast in the pocket. Why this man did not have Super Bowl rings was beyond anyone and everyone. What happens to him? Dog fighting. Goes to jail and is shunned by the world.
Can't stop now: 2009, Brett Favre. Retired and was given the honor of being on the cover of Madden 2009. But was that enough for him? Hell no! He decides to un-retire and sign with the Jets, taking them 9-7, ultimately throwing the ENTIRE AFC East off its axis, causing the 11-5 New England Patriots to MISS the playoffs (yes, I am blaming their miss of the playoffs on Brett Favre and the Curse). What happened? Hell if we know. He's in football limbo. No one knows if he's coming back or not, and to the Minnesota Vikings of all teams.

But now, this year's cover is different. There are TWO players, Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu, the biggest beasts you will find anywhere.




















This begs the question: What will the curse do? Can it affect TWO players? Will it cancel out? What will happen? Well, after much thought, I have the answer.

EVERYONE else will be affected EXCEPT these two players. Tom Brady will blow out his other knee, Brett Favre will lose his arm COMPLETELY, and everyone else will just have a failure of a season. You heard it from me first.

You're not Michael, Favre.

Don't get me wrong. I think you're incredible. You're probably one of my favorite quarterbacks. But this is getting out of hand. You're not not amazing enough to come out of retirement a thousand times like Michael Jordan. You're an average aging quarterback who should throw in the towel. We saw what happened with the Jets last season when they finished off 9-7, and I don't imagine that you'll do any better with the Vikings. You're 39 and definitely not getting any younger. No offense.

Brett, you've had your time. Now throw in the towel and move on with your life. It's not that we don't think you can play. We KNOW you can play, but as far as playing decently...well, we don't. I don't think you can help Minnesota anymore than their current quarterbacks can. And this whole "revenge against Green Bay" isn't making you look any better, and it definitely will look bad when you lose to them, I'm sorry to say. I was excited when you came out of retirement last year and went to the Jets. But then I saw how you played and your injuries and whatever. You just can't do it like you used to!

And look on the bright side: You retire at age 39! Everyone else has to work until their 65 and with as much gray as...you have now, but that's besides the point! Retire, stay retired, go fishing in Mississippi, and just love life! Leave football to the younger guys. Hell, go be an analyst like Aikman. You definitely got what it takes to do that, at least. Don't push yourself so far that you'll be forced to leave football with a nasty injury. Play it safe!

I'm Just Saying....

First off, all my new posts will be on this blog. I no longer have only a sports blog and only a thoughts blog, considering my opinions on sports....are my thoughts. So yes, blog-merging has been completed.

Next, I decided to do this little thing I call "I'm Just Saying", where I point out the obvious to you. Then you can agree or be wrong with me. Either is acceptable.

• Ok, to all who are anti-certain-series-of-books: you not liking it won't make your friends instantly change their minds. "The vampires sparkle." "WHAT? You're right! This no longer makes sense!" Seriously, if you don't like it, don't read it. And calling it "bad" doesn't change the fact that it's successful. At all. I'm just saying.
• Hallmark should immediately air movies that are original. I walked to the kitchen and saw my mom watching a movie on the Hallmark channel. Here's a summary of the movie (as well as every single other Hallmark movie, because I've seen her watch these movies every day), and now you can decide what kind of Hallmark movie you want too!: a single (man/woman) finds out that they (are stuck with their now-deceased siblings children/are in debt and owe the bank thousands/are in debt and are stuck with their now-deceased siblings children) somewhere in (the country/the heart of New York City), and, by the end, find (Jesus/their true love). You've now seen every Hallmark movie! I'm just saying.
• (To the media) Insulting Michael Jackson for as long as I can remember and then changing your view about him after he dies just doesn't cut it. Pick a side. I'm just saying.

Hmm this is pretty short...(TWSS)...wow wasn't planning to say that.

The NFL Draft

Yeah it's been a while since I've made a blog post. I meant to make a bunch for the championship games and the Super Bowl, but I've had too much to do.

But here I am again, and it's everyone's favorite time of year (second only to the Super Bowl): the NFL Draft. The Draft gives the worst teams a chance to snag some remarkable talent from the NCAA, and this year, we have some great talent, like Andre Smith, Michael Crabtree (hopefully), Mark Sanchez, and many many more. 

I'll spend a good deal of time talking about Detroit in this blog post because they are their pick is crucial. They're at a fork in the road, only it's not really a fork. It's like map and you're looking for the right road to take, only there are a couple thousand other roads right near it and train tracks on top of them too. There are a zillion different ways the Lions can do this Draft and only one or two that they really need to take. 

Many people say that Detroit should take a quarterback like Matt Stafford or Mark Sanchez with their first pick and use the rest to build up everything else. This would probably be suicide, considering the quarterbacks right now are only average compared to what they could get next NFL Draft, like Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, and maybe a few others. If anything, the Detroit Lions should definitely just stick with Daunte Culpepper, a kind of underrated QB ever since he blew out his knee one season and hasn't been able to play the same since.

That being said, here's what Detroit should do: take anything but a quarterback. ANYTHING. Take a punter if you have to (don't, but you get the idea). The QBs now are good, but patience is a virtue, and you'll be rewarded with the goddlike powers of McCoy or Tebow next season, who are exceptional quarterbacks and can take Detroit to their first Super Bowl victory if they're coached right. So what should Detroit take? I'm leaning towards offensive tackle to protect Daunte Culpepper (or, by sheer luck, God blesses Detroit and throws them Michael Vick). With training and patience, Culpepper can do what he did a few years back with the Vikings. 

Now I want to focus on a few other teams (not too many, but a few). If anyone needs a new quarterback, it's Cleveland, possibly Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, and Kansas City if they really hate Tyler Thigpen (but I think he's good for now). 

St. Louis Rams: I think their offense is pretty outstanding, as far as 2-14 teams go. Marc Bulger just probably had a bad season. It happens. Brett Favre had a 4-12 season not too long ago, and Tom Brady went 9-7 in his second season (the horror!) . That being said, it's defense defense defense. Find a good defensive player in the Draft and pray to whichever God you pray to for a good free agency (I hear Haynesworth is possibly available?).

Minnesota Vikings: a quarterback. No offense to Tarvaris Jackson or Gus Frererottererroteterotte, but seriously. If they can't land Michael Vick, get one of the quarterbacks mentioned earlier (assuming they're still available, which I kinda doubt, sadly). They have an explosive offense and an even better defense (their wild card game proved that). The Vikings should focus on just building those up by fixing holes they have in certain positions (WR, offensive line, etc.). 

Oakland Raiders: I'm about to give up on these guys. They just signed Nnamdi Asomugha to a $45 MILLION DEAL. I mean, he's good, but seriously he's not Jesus. That money should go towards getting a better everything else. At least they're improving. 5-11 isn't THAT bad, compared to last year, when they were....4-12. Crap nevermind. JaMarcus Russell is still very young, and Darren McFadden is even younger, so they've got a bit more time before they're considered a threat. With the right coaching, this team could very well be a playoff team. They just need to pick good players this Draft (I have no idea what they need really, so I can't say). 

Dallas Cowboys: Dallas DEFINITELY has the talent, hands down, no questions asked. What happened this year was...I don't even know. It was just a bad season with bad calls and moves (1st pick for another reciever, anyone?). But, they can really improve next season. They now know what they need to work on (which is everything). To top it off, Felix Jones is coming back from his injuries, so you know that they're already going to the Super Bowl now (Felix Jones is tiiiight). All Dallas needs to do is take advantage of the Draft with whatever picks they have left, and especially the free agency. Then Dallas fans no longer have to be ashamed at their team (last game of the regular season says it all).  

2009 NFL Draft Order (list and stats taken from nfl.com):

1 Detroit Lions 0-16 .000 .559 143-113
2 St. Louis Rams 2-14 .125 .533 136-119-1
3 Kansas City Chiefs 2-14 .125 .537 137-118-1
4 Seattle Seahawks 4-12 .250 .498 127-128-1
5 Cleveland Browns 4-12 .250 .572 145-108-3
6 Cincinnati Bengals 4-11 (1 tie) .281 .553 141-114-1
7 Oakland Raiders 5-11 .313 .520 133-123
8 Jacksonville Jaguars 5-11 .313 .537 137-118-1
9 Green Bay Packers 6-10 .375 .504 129-127
10 San Francisco 49ers 7-9 .438 .447 114-141-1
11 Buffalo Bills 7-9 .438 .453 116-140
12 Denver Broncos 8-8 .500 .457 117-139
13 Washington Redskins 8-8 .500 .479 121-132-3
14 New Orleans Saints 8-8 .500 .496 127-129
15 Houston Texans 8-8 .500 .518 132-123-1
16 San Diego Chargers 8-8 .500 .516 132-124
17 New York Jets 9-7 .563 .471 120-135-1
18 Chicago Bears 9-7 .563 .475 121-134-1
19 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-7 .563 .480 123-133
20 Detroit Lions (from Dallas) 9-7 .563 .498 126-127-3
21 Philadelphia Eagles 9-6 (1 tie) .594 .514 131-124-1
22 Minnesota Vikings 10-6 .625 .504 129-127
23 New England Patriots 11-5 .688 .480 123-133
24 Atlanta Falcons 11-5 .688 .459 117-138-1
25 Miami Dolphins 11-5 .688 .461 118-138
26 Baltimore Ravens 11-5 .688 .521 132-121-3
27 Indianapolis Colts 12-4 .750 .498 127-128-1
28 Philadelphia Eagles (from Carolina) 12-4 .750 .488 125-131
29 New York Giants 12-4 .750 .502 127-126-3
30 Tennessee Titans 13-3 .813 .459 117-138-1
31 Arizona Cardinals 9-7 .563 .486 124-131-1
32 Pittsburgh Steelers 12-4 .750 .525 133-120-3

I also want to applaud New England. This team was probably the most injury-plagued team out there, and they managed to finish off 11-5 with a quarterback who never started since high school. High school. My kudos to Matt Cassel and his ability to be incredible, but most of the credit goes to Bill Belichick. If anyone doubted him earlier, they can't saying anything now.

(Side note: If Detroit picks another wide reciever for their first pick, I will fly up to Detroit and kick every single manager there.)

(Other side note: Will also start writing about basketball soon.)

That's all for now. 

Pennington didn't get the memo, and I fail at making picks.

Apparently Chad Pennington missed that meeting where the Dolphins' coaches and coordinators told everyone not to throw the ball to the other team, because that's exactly what he did. Pennington, the new Dolphins quarterback (straight outta New York), who only had like 7 or 8 interceptions this season, threw a whoppin' four today against the mighty Baltimore Ravens' defense. I was wrong when I said that the Dolphins would win, but I at least I got the "Baltimore doesn't have a decent offense" right, in a way. The Baltimore offense is efficient, but it fails in comparison to Miami's. 

It's a different story for the defense. Led by Lewis and Reed, the Ravens' defense was all over the Fins' mediocre offense, which scored only 9 points against the Ravens' 27. I know I'm being a bit harsh on the Ravens' offense and the Dolphins' defense, but it's what I think.  

Advice for the future for Baltimore: Just keep training Flacco and get good recievers out there.

Advice for the future for Miami: Hell, nothing really. Just toughen the guys up more, and work on that defense.

I'm glad I didn't pick a team for the Eagles-Vikings game, even though the Eagles played very well. It was one of McNabb's good days, but I couldn't have been able to decide beforehand if that game was going in his favor or not. Unfortunately, Jackson and the Vikings played like I thought they would play: weird. One minute, Jackson can scramble in the pocket on a 3rd and 10 and make a first, and the next, he goes three and out. You can never figure it out with this team. Peterson played pretty decently, but not as well as Westbrook on the Eagles side. That dude was crazy...but in the end, it was the Eagles defense that should be getting the applause.  I couldn't begin to list the names of the players that made a difference for the Eagles. They played brilliantly, stopping Peterson/Jackson/Berrian dead in their tracks, for the most part. But that's not to say Jared Allen and Cedric Griffin didn't do anything on the Vikings side. Those two, along with just about the whole Vikings defense, played exceptionally well, getting to McNabb and stopping the completions, for the most part. Sadly, it wasn't enough, and the Eagles sent the Vikings home after a pretty good season. 

Advice for the future for the Vikings: get a better quarterback. The offense and defense are pretty good, but Jackson could be better or replaced. 

Advice for the future for the Eagles: Make sure your quarterback doesn't have anymore bad days. I don't want to see McNabb become the next Brett Favre in the Jets.

I'm 0-3 for picks (not 0-4 because I never picked for the Eagles-Vikings game). Picks are probably not my forte, or I just had a bad day or two. I'll make new ones later for the upcoming playoff games.

Chargers OT win, Falcons' loss, and my picks.

I must admit, both of the winners of the first round of wild-card games were not the teams I picked to win. I was certain that the MVP and his Colts would take down the neutral-season-LT-less Chargers and that the young whipper-snapper that is Ryan would send Warner home.

Apparently, they had other plans. I'll start with the Colts-Chargers game. I gotta say, this game was pretty boring in the beginning. Few points scored in the beginning, and it remained that way for a long time (kinda like SB 42, but less exciting). The Chargers proved that they didn't need LT to have a running game, with the aid of Sproles of course. The game really got good at the last minute of game regulation in the 4th quarter, where Rivers tried to move up his team to at least a field goal (which he accomplished, making the game 17-17). But the OT was where it was good. Flags left and right, sighs of relief along with fans/players/coaches/camera-crew/anyone watching holding their breaths to see what would happen. In the end, it was that running back Sproles that changed it by running right past Bob Freaking Sanders and the Colts defense to the end zone to win it. But all-in-all, this Colts-Chargers game was boring, to say the least. I had to leave like 12 times during the game and actually went to talk to my sister (it was that boring). But I guess that's what you get with that kind of match-up, and by "that kind of match-up", I mean an 8-8 team who shouldn't even be anywhere close to the wild-card spot, let alone playing in it, and a team that shouldn't have started out with a losing record. Maybe next year, Peyton.

As for the Falcons-Cardinals game, I was set for the Cardinals to fly into a window head-on. However, my dream didn't come true. Though that's not to say this wasn't a good game. Matt Ryan proved that he has what it takes to be one of the NFL's top quarterbacks, being a rookie and taking his team 11-5 to the wild-card spot. This game was actually fun to watch, as opposed to the Chargers game (it might have been because of John Madden's voice, but I doubt it). Left and right touchdowns, interceptions, and the occasional sacks or two. Now that's a football game. The safety was a little bogus, considering Ryan through the ball after like 3 seconds of being held by Cardinals' defense, but oh well. In the end, the Cards' defense held Ryan and his offense from getting a touchdown to win the game. Although I was upset that the rookie wasn't going to the playoffs, my hat goes off to Warner and their coach for getting them to the playoffs after 60-some-odd years.

As for the other two teams left to grab a spot in the finals, I won't do a Eagles-Vikings pick. Those two teams have proven throughout the season that they can self-destruct at any moment and potentially screw the whole game up. Donovan McNabb has proved it by sucking on and off at the most inopportune of times, Adrian Peterson has by dropping every other ball, and Tarvaris Jackson has by just playing like a freshman high school quarterback. I can't pick between the two.

All I can say about the Phins-Ravens game is that the Dolphins will win. Although I don't like them very much, the have an amazing offense under Pennington and an amazing defense under all of them. Their new coach has also proven to be playoff, if not Super Bowl, material. The Ravens are good, but Flacco hasn't proven to me that he can be consistent in butt-whooping, and the rest goes for their offense. They're good, but they're not Dolphins good. Good defense though. REAL good defense.

My picks: Dolphins over Ravens, no one for the Vikings-Eagles game.

Thanks for reading.

My first blog

This is really something for me, but if you like what I write, feel free to keep reading my stuff. I think I'm going to make this into a sports thing or just blog about current things. Nothing fancy, just to write down what I think and feel about things going on. Thanks for reading!