Fantasy Draft Recap: The Penal System 2004

So my first draft of the year finished Sunday night in a STUNNING 1.5 hours, with 15 rounds of good and retarded picks galore. Since I know jack shit about football [that's a lie] I figure I'm going to critique everybody's draft. Consider it another excuse for me to talk shit about other people's pathetic teams.

Starting with of course, myself.

Team Name: The Fucking Retards
Team Owner: Matt Jordan (Me, bitch)
Draft Order: 4th of 12
Draft Picks:
1. S. Alexander (RB-Sea), 2. D. Culpepper (QB-Min), 3. C. Martin (RB-NYJ), 4. A. Toomer (WR-NYG), 5. J. Smith (WR-Jac), 6. New England (DEF), 7. J. Wilkins (K-StL), 8. J. Galloway (WR-TB), 9. D. Branch (WR-NE), 10. E. Smith (RB-Ari), 11. W. Green (RB-Cle), 12. G. Hearst (RB-Den), 13. M. Pollard (TE-Ind), 14. C. Palmer (QB-Cin), 15. Green Bay (DEF)
Best pick: Pollard in the 13th
Worst pick: Curtis Martin in the 3rd (just edges Emmitt in the 10th)
My Comments: I'm pretty pleased with how my team ended up. Getting Marcus Pollard in the 13th was a steal (if Peyton keeps going to him and not Dallas Clark), but I probably made up for that with crap picks of Emmitt, William Green, and Hearst in 3 consecutive rounds. Deion Branch could have a break-out year. Drafting C-Mart in the 3rd round could really hurt me later in the year if everything falls apart in New York. You hear that Pennington? I'm counting on you to give that offense some balance this year! Oh, and go Seahawks?

Team Name: Titsburgh Feelers
Team Owner: Allen Mathis
Draft Order: 1 of 12
Draft Picks:
1. P. Holmes (RB-KC), 2. S. Davis (RB-Car), 3. S. Moss (WR-NYJ), 4. S. Smith (WR-Car), 5. S. McNair (QB-Ten), 6. K. Winslow (TE-Cle), 7. R. Smith (WR-Den), 8. D. Driver (WR-GB), 9. A. Lelie (WR-Den), 10. Denver (DEF), 11. J. Kasay (K-Car), 12. T. Bell (RB-Den), 13. J. Delhomme (QB-Car), 14. M. Clayton (WR-TB), 15. R. Grossman (QB-Chi)
Best Pick: Priest Holmes in the 1st. If he didn't pick Priest, he'd be an idiot.
Worst Pick: Kellen Winslow in the 6th.
My Comments: Allen's got a pretty good team, but I'm suprised he leaned so heavily on the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos for offense - two teams that very well could struggle. I don't think it will matter, as this team looks solid. Picking Kellen Winslow Jr. in the 6th isn't the best move in the world in my opinion - picking a TE in the 6th is a reach as TE usually don't give you too many fantasy points, and picking an unproven rookie TE is one hell of a gamble. I wouldn't have done it.

Team Name: Assclowns
Team Owner: Todd Rio
Draft Order: 2 of 12
Draft Picks:
1. L. Tomlinson (RB-SD), 2. T. Henry (RB-Buf), 3. M. Vick (QB-Atl), 4. L. Coles (WR-Was), 5. I. Bruce (WR-StL), 6. A. Boldin (WR-Ari), 7. D. Stallworth (WR-NO), 8. B. Williams (TE-NO), 9. B. Leftwich (QB-Jac), 10. S. Janikowski (K-Oak), 11. Dallas (DEF), 12. J. Jones (RB-Dal), 13. T. Calico (WR-Ten), 14. Pittsburgh (DEF), 15. L. Smith (PHI-TE)
Best Pick: Vick in the 3rd
Worst Pick: Donte Stallworth in the 7th
My Comments: Todd apparently drafted with his head in his ass. I like his first four picks, but from there, he started drafting injured and underperforming players. Though if his team ever gets healthy, they should be good. I don't know if it's worth suffering through 3-4 weeks of mediocrity to deal with winning later on. We'll see, but sadly I think this team might end up really, really good.

Team Name: Destructo Ray
Team Owner: Zack Brown
Draft Order: 3 of 12
Draft Picks:
1. A. Green (RB-GB), 2. H. Ward (WR-Pit), 3. M. Hasselbeck (QB-Sea), 4. C. Chambers (WR-Mia), 5. A. Johnson (WR-Hou), 6. Carolina (DEF), 7. M. Vanderjagt (K-Ind), 8. E. George (RB-Dal), 9. D. Clark (TE-Ind), 10. L. Johnson (RB-KC), 11. M. Alstott (RB-TB), 12. J. Reed (WR-Buf), 13. St. Louis (DEF), 14. R. Woods (SF-WR), 15. D. Bledsoe (QB-Buf)
Best Pick: Matt Hassebeck in the 3rd (just edges Vanderjagt in the 7th)
Worst Pick: Larry Johnson in the 10th
My Comments: I know picking LJ in the 10th is just for the off chance that Priest gets hurt, but it's a wasted pick that high. Zack and I have very similar draft styles, as I plucked a lot of players from him before he got the chance to pick him - but he did the same to me. I had Johnson and Vanderjagt ready to draft when he poached 'em. This team looks pretty well rounded, but the WR corps would make me a little nervous - with no solid QB in Miami, Chris Chambers could really suffer this year.

Team Name: The Mother Punchers
Team Owner: Drew Magee
Draft Order: 5 of 12
Draft Picks:
1. D. McNabb (QB-Phi), 2. C. Dillon (RB-NE), 3. C. Brown (RB-Ten), 4. T. Heap (TE-Bal), 5. C. Pennington (QB-NYJ), 6. L. Fitzgerald (WR-Ari), 7. P. Warrick (WR-Cin), 8. Q. Morgan (WR-Cle), 9. D. Akers (K-Phi), 10. Tennessee (DEF), 11. M. Robinson (WR-Min), 12. G. Jones (RB-Jac), 13. T. Taylor (WR-Bal), 14. D. Givens (WR-NE), 15. J. Morton (WR-KC)
Best Pick: Travis Taylor in the 13th round
Worst Pick: Donovan McNabb in the 1st round
My Comments: Drafting McNabb 5th overall is just incredible. He's maybe the fifth or sixth best at his POSITION, yet Drew drafts him that high. Drafting a TE in the 4th is pretty weak, and I would give him credit for pulling Pennington in the 5th, but the McNabb pick negates it. Also, quite a stretch picking Fitzgerald so high up - it's not like somebody else (in their right mind) was going to pick him before the 10th or so. Could be a long, long year in the cellar for Drew. Again.

Team Name: dung scrapers
Team Owner: Dan Cawl
Draft Order: 6 of 12
Draft Picks:
1. E. James (RB-Ind), 2. T. Holt (WR-StL), 3. Baltimore (DEF), 4. M. Bennett (RB-Min), 5. P. Burress (WR-Pit), 6. C. Rogers (WR-Det), 7. J. Shockey (TE-NYG), 8. T. Maddox (QB-Pit), 9. J. Elam (K-Den), 10. J. Rice (WR-Oak), 11. J. Plummer (QB-Den), 12. D. Foster (RB-Car), 13. Seattle (DEF), 14. O. Mare (K-Mia), 15. D. Clark (TE-Chi)
Best Pick: Plaxico Burress in the 5th
Worst Pick: Shockey in the 7th
My Comments: Dan drafted a pretty awful team. I honestly don't like his first four picks at all, and getting Plax at 5 at least helped him some. Shockey's all hype, and picking wash-ups like Maddox, Rice, and Plummer along with the backup Foster rounds out Dan's draft in a rough, rough way. I figure this team's gonna see a healthy rotation with the waiver wire and the FA pool.

Team Name: Off Twice
Team Owner: Matt Glass
Draft Order: 7 of 12
Draft Picks:
1. C. Portis (RB-Was), 2. D. Davis (RB-Hou), 3. T. Gonzalez (TE-KC), 4. D. Jackson (WR-Sea), 5. J. Porter (WR-Oak), 6. J. Garcia (QB-Cle), 7. J. McCareins (WR-NYJ), 8. B. Lloyd (WR-SF), 9. Kansas City (DEF), 10. S. Jackson (RB-StL), 11. R. Gardner (WR-Was), 12. T. Glenn (WR-Dal), 13. K. Warner (QB-NYG), 14. F. Jones (TE-Ari), 15. R. Dayne (RB-NYG)
Best Pick: Clinton Portis in the 1st
Worst Pick: Tony Gonzalez in the 3rd
My Comments: I'm from the school that doesn't bother picking TEs, Ks, and DEFs until the later rounds (at least 6-7th), but that didn't stop Glass. I like the pick of Portis, but picks 2-10 are pretty underwhelming. But I credit Glass with the quote of the draft, after drafting Kansas City's horrendous defense, that they'll be good because they've "got a new scheme." I hope he proves me wrong, because their old "scheme" let up 350+ points last year. Getting Warner late might be a good move, but make no mistake about it: this is a potential last place team.

Team Name: the bloody tampons
Team Owner: Robert Eaton
Draft Order: 8 of 12
Draft Picks:
1. D. McAllister (RB-NO), 2. M. Harrison (WR-Ind), 3. B. Westbrook (RB-Phi), 4. T. Green (QB-KC), 5. C. Garner (RB-TB), 6. K. Johnson (WR-Bal), 7. Tampa Bay (DEF), 8. K. Johnson (WR-Dal), 9. M. Gramatica (K-TB), 10. W. McGahee (RB-Buf), 11. T. Minor (RB-Mia), 12. J. Harrington (QB-Det), 13. E. Kinney (TE-Ten), 14. K. McCardell (WR-TB), 15. Buffalo (DEF)
Best Pick: Marvin Harrison in the 2nd (Trent Green in the 4th is a close second)
Worst Pick: Willis McGahee in the 10th
My Comments: I'm not totally sold on Westbrook, and other than Marvin I'm not a huge fan of Robert's WRs - but this team could be decent. There's absolutely no depth, his backups and reserves are the absolute pitts (Travis Minor, the not-going-to-play-this-season Keenan McCardell). I see Bobby in the bottom half of the league unless he gets-a-movin' with this team.

Team Name: Idontknowhoney
Team Owner: James Light
Draft Order: 9 of 12
Draft Picks:
1. J. Lewis (RB-Bal), 2. K. Barlow (RB-SF), 3. C. Johnson (WR-Cin), 4. D. Mason (WR-Ten), 5. K. Robinson (WR-Sea), 6. A. Brooks (QB-NO), 7. A. Crumpler (TE-Atl), 8. Miami (DEF), 9. M. Stover (K-Bal), 10. T. Wheatley (RB-Oak), 11. D. Bennett (WR-Ten), 12. J. McCown (QB-Ari), 13. A. Vinatieri (K-NE), 14. Minnesota (DEF), 15. I. Mili (TE-Sea)
Best Pick: Aaron Brooks in the 6th
Worst Pick: Kevan Barlow in the 2nd
My Comments: If Jamal can stay out of jail, then he's a steal at #9 overall in the 1st round. As is Aaron Brooks if he can get and stay healthy this year. But this is James we're talking about, so let me go ahead and predict a 12th place finish for this rag-tag band of crappy football players.

Team Name: Tyrannclitoris Rex
Team Owner: Andrew Marder
Draft Order: 10 of 12
Draft Picks:
1. M. Faulk (RB-StL), 2. T. Owens (WR-Phi), 3. B. Favre (QB-GB), 4. E. Moulds (WR-Buf), 5. D. Staley (RB-Pit), 6. P. Price (WR-Atl), 7. Philadelphia (DEF), 8. B. Franks (TE-GB), 9. P. Edinger (K-Chi), 10. W. Dunn (RB-Atl), 11. B. Johnson (QB-TB), 12. J. Witten (TE-Dal), 13. J. Brown (K-Sea), 14. R. Williams (WR-Jac), 15. Atlanta (DEF)
Best Pick: Brad Johnson in the 11th

Worst Pick: Atlanta's Defense in the 15th (...or at all. They were awful last year.)
My Comments: Andrew's draft turned out pretty decently for having the #10 pick. I'm concerned about Faulk and Favre's abilities to perform at their advanced ages, but Owens, Moulds, and Price make up possibly the most talented WR tandem in the league. If Brad Johnson plays to form, getting him in the 11th round is a steal. If not, then picks 10-15 were pretty much crap. Expect to see at least 3 in the FA pool by the end of September. And no 1000 yard rushers? Rough.

Team Name: Scrotum Stranglers
Team Owner: Todd Feldman
Draft Order: 11 of 12
Draft Picks:
1. R. Moss (WR-Min), 2. R. Johnson (RB-Cin), 3. J. Horn (WR-NO), 4. T. Jones (RB-Chi), 5. K. Jones (RB-Det), 6. T. Brady (QB-NE), 7. R. Williams (WR-Det), 8. T. Barber (RB-NYG), 9. D. Graham (TE-NE), 10. D. Carr (QB-Hou), 11. R. Ferguson (WR-GB), 12. A. Gates (TE-SD), 13. L. Evans (WR-Buf), 14. J. Feely (K-Atl), 15. Indianapolis (DEF)
Best Pick: Tom Brady in the 6th
Worst Pick: Thomas Jones in the 4th
My Comments: Feldman's got good WRs, but his RBs are pretty weak. Rudi's good, but Thomas, Kevin, and Tiki aren't exactly first rate backs. This team doesn't really scare me at all on paper (sure, Moss and Horn will score, but who else?) so this could be a long year for Feldman. But he's a very active player, so no matter what, I expect to see a lot of shake-ups in the roster and a lot of player movement.

Team Name: the assless chumps
Team Owner: Matt Cooper
Draft Order: 12 of 12
Draft Picks:
1. F. Taylor (RB-Jac), 2. P. Manning (QB-Ind), 3. Q. Griffin (RB-Den), 4. J. Walker (WR-GB), 5. R. Wayne (WR-Ind), 6. T. Duckett (RB-Atl), 7. R. McMichael (TE-Mia), 8. M. Bulger (QB-StL), 9. M. Booker (WR-Mia), 10. L. Suggs (RB-Cle), 11. I. Hilliard (WR-NYG), 12. R. Longwell (K-GB), 13. E. Kennison (WR-KC), 14. M. Muhammad (WR-Car), 15. A. Davis (WR-Cle)
Best Pick: Peyton Manning in the 2nd
Worst Pick: Quentin Griffin in the 3rd
My Comments: I'm not totally impressed by Quentin yet, though now that he's out of Portis' shadow, he really could show me up. Matt's team isn't as good as he'd hoped it would be, I'm sure, but it's not a bad team. A little shallow of depth in places, but a solid foundation to work with. As much as he hates to admit it, having Payton Manning around on your team is not a bad thing. Hell, I'd take him. [And no Defense? Huh?]

Ranking the Drafts by Position

Okay, I'm going to break down the 3 most important positions and tell you who I think had the best drafts. First up:

QUARTERBACKS:
1. Matt Cooper (Manning, Bulger), 2. Allen Mathis (McNair, Delhomme, Grossman), 3. Drew Magee (McNabb, Pennington), 4. Todd Rio (Vick, Leftwich), 5. Zack Brown (Hasselback, Bledsoe), 6. Matt Jordan (Culpepper, Palmer), 7. Andrew Marder (Favre, Johnson), 8. Robert Eaton (Green, Harrington), 9. Matt Glass (Garcia, Warner), 10. James Light (Brooks, McCown) 11. Todd Feldman (Brady, Carr), 12. Dan Cawl (Maddox, Plummer)

RUNNING BACKS:
1. Allen Mathis (Holmes, S. Davis, Bell), 2. Todd Rio (Tomlinson, Henry, J. Jones), 3. Matt Glass (Portis, D. Davis, Jackson, Dayne), 4. Matt Jordan (Alexander, Martin, E. Smith, Green, Hearst), 5. Dan Cawl (E. James, Bennett, Foster), 6. Zack Brown (Green, George, L. Johnson, Alstott), 7. Andrew Marder (Faulk, Staley, Dunn), 8. Robert Eaton (McAllister, Westbrook, Garner, McGahee, Minor), 9. Matt Cooper (Taylor, Griffin, Duckett), 10. Todd Feldman (R. Johnson, T. Jones, K. Jones, Barber), 11. Drew Magee (Dillon, Brown, G. Jones), 12. James Light (J. Lewis, Barlow, Wheatley)

WIDE RECIEVERS:
1. Andrew Marder (Owens, Moulds, Price, Reggie Williams), 2. Zack Brown (Ward, Chambers, A. Johnson, Reed, Woods), 3. Todd Feldman (R. Moss, Horn, Ferguson, Roy Williams, Evans), 4. Allen Mathis (S. Moss, S. Smith, R. Smith, Driver, Lelie, Clayton), 5. Todd Rio (Coles, Bruce, Boldin, Stallworth, Calico), 6. Matt Cooper (Walker, Wayne, Booker, Hilliard, Kennison, Muhammad, A. Davis), 7. Robert Eaton (Harrison, Kevin Johnson, Keyshawn Johnson, McCardell), 8. Dan Cawl (Holt, Burress, Rogers, Rice), 9. Matt Jordan (Toomer, J. Smith, Galloway, Branch), 10. Matt Glass (D. Jackson, Porter, McCareins, Lloyd, Gardner, Glenn), 11. James Light (Chad Johnson, Mason, Robinson, Bennett), 12. Drew Magee (Fitzgerald, Warrick, Morgan, Robinson, Taylor, Givens, Morton)

Now, let me know how ass wrong or ass right I am. I know people aren't going to agree with what I said, but tough.

New Blog (was: 2005 NCAA Football Prediction Thread)

The 2005 CFB prediciton thread got snipped, cut, and edited out. But I would like to use this as the launching point for my brand new all-sports blog:

OMFJ's Sports Blog

Which sadly to say, will probably overtake this one in sheer number of posts, because let's face it - I loves me some sports. Fantasy talk, sports predictions, etc. will be the bill of fare over there.

[EDIT: 12/27/2004 - The Sports Blog is closed. All posts over there have been merged over here.]

In The Club, In The Olympics

First off, I have to comment on something. Most club songs, when heard outside of the club, are just terrible. "Lean Back" by Terror Squad comes to mind immediately - but when the bass is loud enough to shake your entire body, and you're half drunk, it's amazing how bad songs somehow become not just tolerable, but enjoyable.

So the U.S. men's basketball team, dubbed the "I Wanna Scream" Team, got the bronze. Now, I'm glad we came away with something, but the bronze? What is that shit? Didn't we invent the goddamned game? It's horseshit, and I hope that the USA Basketball Federation needs to get their shit together and get some good players to show up in Bejing in 2008. None of this 3rd place crap.

But as for the rest of the U.S. Olympic team, I've got to commend them on their dominating performance. Phelps and the other U.S. swimmers were incredible in the pool, and Gatlin and Wariner's performances on the track [100m and 400m respectively] were just awe inspiring to watch. Way to go, America. Way to go. Now, if we can only break that 100 medal mark...

Intro to OMFJ's Sports Blog

[EDIT: 12/27/2004: This originally appeared at my other blog, entitled "OMFJ's Sports Blog". I've since closed up shop over there, but a lot of the sports-related posts on this blog from August-December 2004 appeared over there first before being moved over. I just didn't have the desire to keep up with multiple blogs at once.]

Instead of littering my other blog with my sports prediction posts and talk of my fantasy leagues, I'm gonna throw them all here. So feel free to drop in from time to time, check my progress, and tell me how big of a tool I am. But while you're at it, here's a few free Fantasy leagues to join on Yahoo!

Yahoo! College Football Pick'Em
What it is: You try to predict the winner of college football games. The catch is that you have to award each game a "confidence" rating, and if you get the prediction correct, you get a number of points equal to the rating you gave the game. Each rating can only be used once (so if you have 10 games, only one team can be your "10" rating, and only one your "9", etc.) It's a lot of fun, it's free, and the trash talk is healthy.
Where to sign up: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/college
League ID#: 6654
League password: andscrewuf

Yahoo! Pro Football Pick'Em
What it is: You try to predict the winner of NFL games, based on the published point spread for the week. You predict whether a team will beat or cover a spread for a particular week, with each correct prediction earning you points.
Where to sign up: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/pickem
League ID#: 6505
League password: primetime

Yahoo! Survival Football
What it is: At the start of the season, you have a full pool of NFL teams. Each week, you can select one team from that pool that you think will win their game that particular week. If you're correct, you move on to the next week and the team you used is removed from the pool of teams to choose from. You win the league when you're the last team standing, or the season ends (not likely). It's a lot harder than it sounds.
Where to sign up: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/survival
League ID#: 18847
League password: gobucs

A Video Game Idea

So I was sitting around, playing the incredible Ultimate Card Games cart on my GBA, and I was "inspired" by its simplistic brilliance [don't believe me? check the reviews in that link] - it packs in tons of card games, which you could find as freeware anywhere on the web, and puts them all in one handy portable cart for you. The replay value is off the charts - it's card games, how do you get tired of them? That got me thinking...

A game for all the systems, but with the emphasis on the online enabled consoles (PS2 and Xbox). Manufactured by Hasbro, of all people. What's it called?

Family Game Night [Rated E, of course]

My idea is to pack lots and lots of card, board, and other traditional games all together in one tight package. Parents would buy it for their kids in droves, and it'd be a fun way to kill time online. Replay value would be immeasurable. But what games would I pack in? Here's a sample list:

Card Games:
Hearts, Spades, Bridge, Euchre, Cribbage, Canasta, Gin Rummy, Go Fish, Crazy Eights, Blackjack, Pinochle, Gin, Five Card Stud Poker, Omaha High-Low Poker, Texas Hold'Em Poker, Solitaire (Klondike, Golf, Freecell, Canfield, Accordian, Pyramid, Spider, and a bunch others)

Traditional Games:
Chess, Checkers, Chinese Checkers, Backgammon, Dominoes (Mexican Train and whatever you call the one where you score based on the end of the trains being multiples of 5), Dots, Go, MahJongg

Board Games:
Life, Monopoly, Othello, Connect Four, Battleship, Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, Operation, Axis and Allies, Boggle, Clue, Risk, Settlers of Catan, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Trivial Pursuit, Payday, Scrabble, Simon, Sorry!, Parchesi, Stratego, Scattergories, Yahtzee

Others:
Wheel of Fortune, Hangman

Now tell me you wouldn't pay $50 to have all those on your PS2 or Xbox, and be able to play opponents all across the world via the Internet any time of day. Or you could gather the family around and play on the couch together. With that many games, you'd always have something to play.

Flaws of this plan are obvious though. Hasbro and other game manufacturers would never, ever let this happen. They're getting $20-30 each for each board game purchased, so they'd lose money out the ass by packaging so many together. In the past, board game makers have released video game versions, but they're usually mediocre, and are devoid of special features. Two notable recent examples are Monopoly Party and Trivial Pursuit Unhinged. At least TPU allowed for Xbox Live play, though their method of doing so is retarded [anybody can join at any point in the game. Dumb.]

Now, I know somebody is saying "Why would I pay for this when most of these games can be played for free at Yahoo! Games?" Well, extra features sure would have to make up for them.

Now, I don't think that the games need to have super-blown out super-realistic 3D graphics for games to be fun. Hell, keep them simple and small, so you can pack in a lot of them. This thing could sell shit-tons of copies.

Enh, enough rambling. Though I recommend Ultimate Card Games and Ultimate Brain Games for the GBA in the meantime. I'd still love to be able to play a game of Life with somebody across the country at 3AM if I felt like it though.

Catching Up

Okay, I just noticed I hadn't posted here in over a month. So let me rectify that.

First off, as to what in the hell I'm doing these days, I'm back working nights in the Emergency Room at a local hospital so that ties up most of my time. I'm shooting for grad school, hopefully starting this coming January. I've whittled my list down to 6 or 7 schools right now, but there's no point listing them till I actually start applying. I will say that my list pretty much only contains schools in the South. Sorry Brutal White North, I gave you a shot, and you sucked.

I've seen a lot of movies, so here are some very, very quick recaps:
Napoleon Dynamite: hilarious, simply put.
Darkness Falls: hilariously stupid and bad.
The Village: it's Brotherhood of the Wolf, in English, with a shitty twist.
House of Sand and Fog: the saddest movie I've ever seen.
Barbershop: I thought people said this movie was funny...
The Manchurian Candidate [2004]: good, but not nearly as good as the original.
The Bourne Supremacy: decent, but with the longest, most boringly drawn out car chase ever.
Bubba Ho-Tep: what? Jesus, this movie was dumb. Say it ain't so, Bruce! [of note: I bought Bubba Ho-Tep used before I'd seen it. If you want it, it's yours for $5.]

Video games: I've gotten a lot of really great games for my Xbox lately, and when I'm not working or sleeping, I've probably got one of those green controllers in my hand in front of my TV. I've recently gotten Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Full Spectrum Warrior, Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow, ESPN NFL 2K5, Spider-Man 2, and Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy.

But I honestly haven't played more than 15 minutes combined in all those games. Why?

Football. Specifically EA Sports' NCAA College Football 2005 and the behemoth, Madden 2005.

Now, I personally prefer college football to pro football, so the vast majority of my time has been spent on NCAA over Madden, but let me comment on each. Madden 2005 is insanely well polished - it's the second best playing football game I've ever played [behind NCAA]. The AI is rediculously good on the harder levels, with defense that blows your mind. The game is a challenge, a welcomed challenge, and the realism that EA brings to the table just blows me away.

Now I think I need to interrupt here and say I've been a Sega Sports disciple since the days of my trusty Sega Genesis. Back in 1994 I got a copy of the phenomenal Sega Sports' College Football's National Championship for Christmas. Even though it only had 32 teams, it had my Florida State Seminoles, fresh off their National Championship in 1993, and they were the shit. I loved hearing the fight songs, seeing the logos, and just playing the college game. The only other college football game at the time, EA Sports' Bill Walsh College Football, sucked in my opinion. I hated the graphics and the playcalling. After the Genesis/SNES years, college football videogames pretty much took a nosedive, not really interesting me on PlayStation1 and N64 platforms. I got a Dreamcast in 1999, and with Sega's rekindling of their Sega Sports brand with the Dreamcast's launch [see the stellar NFL2K and NBA2K for proof] I couldn't wait for a NCAA football game.

And in late 2001, I got it. Sega Sports' NCAA College Football 2K2: Road to the Rose Bowl came out, and I picked up my pre-ordered copy the day it came out. I was blown away to see Bobby Dodd Stadium in its rendered-3D glory, and to hear the Ramblin' Wreck as my boys drove down the field and crushed every team in their path. I loved the game, but it was a bit lacking. After a mediocre release in 2003 [I played the GameCube release], I was jaded on the Sega Sports offering. Apparently a lot of other customers were too, and Sega decided not to make a college football game for the 2003 and 2004 seasons [ie, no NCAA 2K4 or 2K5]. So with no Sega offering, I turned to EA's offering this year. I wasn't a huge fan of EA's football games [I prefered NFL 2K3 to Madden 2003] so I was a bit wary, but I have to say, NCAA 2005 blew my out of the water.

First off, the whole "Homefield Advantage" concept is mindblowing. When you're playing an away game in a place known for crazy fans [Tennessee, Florida, Clemson, etc] and the home fans are in a frenzy, your players react based on their "confidence" ratings. Freshman make more mistakes than seasoned veteran leaders. First, the "crowd pulse meter" rises as you approach the line of scrimmage. Then the screen starts to shake, and your controller starts to violently vibrate. Your recievers can't hear the audibles you call, your running backs look at each other, confused. Your scared O-Line jumps off sides. Your inexperienced center might accidentally snap the ball when you're not ready for it yet. Your recievers run the wrong routes. Players actually act like they would in the big games - and I love it.

The presentation in NCAA 2005 is great. Voice commentary is done by the best team in the world, ESPN's Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, and CBS's Brad Nessler. It's the best voice-over work I've heard in a video game [I started with Joe Montana's SportsTalk Football back in 1993 on my Genesis - a game I played the shit out of]. The Create-A-School mode is good but simple. The Create-A-Sign mode is phenomenal [my sign "Your Mother Is A Dirty Bitch!" that shows up after 60-yard runs is priceless, as is EA's built-in "I let the dogs out!"] and the unlockables are great. The Pontiac Classic Game mode lets you replay famous moments from famous college football games and challenge you to either recreate or rewrite history - examples include "The Play" from Cal/Stanford in 1982, the "Hail Mary" from Miami/Boston College in 1984, "Wide Right I" from FSU/Miami in 1991, all the way up to Miami's overtime loss to Ohio State in the 2003 Rose Bowl. Each win nets you a pennant and unlocks historic teams.

As with all NCAA games, the players aren't named in the game to comply with NCAA regulations. [Instead of having "Reggie Ball" listed as the QB for Georgia Tech, he's labeled as "QB #1"]. The ability to download rosters off the internet and put them on my Xbox is honestly the coolest thing I've ever done with a videogame console. Now instead of throwing passes to "WR #5" or handing it off to "RB #45", I can toss it to "Nate Curry" and flip it to "P.J. Daniels". The coolest part of this? Nessler, Corso, and Herbstreit actually call the players BY THEIR REAL NAME. Instead of just continuing to call "WR #5 streaks down the field", you can hear them say "Curry streaks down the field" - so they recorded all the names, but couldn't use them until a player renames their roster. Awesome, EA. Simply awesome. You've got a fan for life.

So go play NCAA 2005. Especially for Xbox if you can. Downloadable rosters, historic teams [1993 FSU! Charlie Ward!], mascot teams [simply hilarious, by the way], rivalry and grudge match games [complete with trophies like Paul Bunyan's Axe, The Little Brown Jug, etc], extremely realistic stadium renderings, every I-A and I-AA team, their stadium, their logos, and their fight songs, and enough detailed statistics to keep a stat junkie like myself giddy. The only aspect I haven't tried is online play, as I don't have an Xbox Live subscription. But I bet it's incredible.

How incredibly realistic is NCAA 2005? In my first season, I led my Yellow Jackets to a perfect 13-0 record, finishing 8-0 in the ACC. But FSU finished 13-0 [8-0] and Tennessee finished 12-0 [8-0], and the BCS put those two teams ahead of me to play for the championship in the Orange Bowl, because they had better computer rankings and strength of schedule [GT plays I-AA Samford and also UConn] I got stuck taking my "At-Large" #3 Yellow Jackets to the Sugar Bowl where we pounded Big East Champ Boston College. And despite having P.J. Daniels rush for 3800+ yards, he lost the Heisman to the QB from Tennessee, who lead his team to last minute victories in 4 of the last 5 games. [Though I cried bullshit on this last bit - 3800 fucking yards! That's mindblowing! Automatic Heisman, I say! Goddamned voters need to get their heads out of their asses!]

Sheesh, enough typing. Back to NCAA 2005. GT's 9-0 in season #2, and still only ranked 6th. Where's the love?