I remember a long time ago I posted that when I got Madden 2008 when it first came out I didn't like it but recently starting playing it again and am pretty obsessed with it and I might just get 2010 when it comes out if it rates well, if not then I will get 09' on cheap since it should drop in price when 2010 comes out.

At any rate I am 3rd year of my franchise. I played the first two season on default Pro difficulty because I rarely adjust difficulty in games anyways but mostly because I obviously had a lot to learn not having played Madden since like 01's edition.

In season 1 I own my division but got killed in my first playoff game vs. Bengals. I never could really figure out why but nothing I tried during that game really worked.

By the way I am hardcore in most of my game playing in that I do not replay games just because something bad happened. I lost and O accepted it.

In the off season I made a lot of mistakes because I didn;t really have grasp of the drafting and whole player contract management thing.

Despite my mistakes I still managed to do what the real Patriots did not do and completed the perfect season 19-0 clobbering the Saints in the super bowl.

In the next off season I had improved my managment ability, not perfect but improved.

Going into season 3 I raised the difficulty to All Pro which I feel is probably the way the game should be played at least for my skill level because at least the games feel challenging where as in season 2 I was crushing the AI teams by like 40 or more points in many games. My only compliant is that randomly rolled stuff is the game like interceptions and fumbles happens even more frequently and at times just feels cheap like its there just to allow the other team, usually the AI team to keep the game close.

Anyway I am like 12 games into this season now and leading my division and I have lost a few games. there was a point I was in 3rd and I did lose my first game of seaso against the dolphins, then later my first game against the Jets.

At any rate having fun with it.

It is sad day as the Pittsburg Steelers managed to win last nights game. If you didn't watch it here is how it went basically like this. The Cards played very poorly in the first half and really could have gone into half time with eith the game tied or the lead. Instead they get a pass intercpeted on like the 1 yard line and the thing gets run back for a TD. That is insane. Had this not had occured who knows what would have happened. I mean there were three better scenarios for the Cards to have teken here, two I already said the third was to have tackled Harrison because time would have either been close to been expired or completely and they couldn't do even that.

Even worse is that the Cards got the lead with only a little more than two minutes left which after last year the first thing I could think was it was too much time and so it was. Big Ben, a QB who is barely able to throw a TD pass and went the whole game with out doing so finally does it with only like 30 something seconds left.

Oh and let us not forget the terrible amount of penalties the Cards racked up. All were tottoally legit except for one roughing thr passer that should not have been called.

And there you have it. The Steelers are now the first team to have 6 championships and two in this decade.

Congrats to them and their fans.

I of course chose the Cards on this blog to win, but more so because I didn't want the Steelers to win even though I knew they probably were going to. Hey they almost pulled it off to. That twice though that Steelers have managed to draw a team in a SB that really did not stack up too well to them. Some should be so lucky.

Has this changed my opinion on Roethlisberger? Oh Hell no that dude still deserves no mention with any of today's top tier QB's.

The superbowl is almost here but if our team is not in it you probably just want to get it over so the off-season and what can be done during it can start happening.

In my case there is a lot of mystery on what next year Patriots will be like. First off there is the question of how Tom Brady's knee injury will affect his play, or even when he will start playing. The good news for fans is that barring that Brady is still Brady he has in a recent interview stated he would like to play for a long time still which unlike Brett Favre I think would work out just fine.

In other news there is the question of what the Pats will do with Brushci and Harrison both are like 36 years old both were injured and put on IR this season. Me? I would let them go without looking back. No offense to them. I appreciate what they did for the team but it time to let go and get some fresh, younger players on this team if they hope to remain competitive. We need speed and strength.

The Pats definately need to improve thier D which has really fallen off since last year. Personally I hope they draft nothing but defensive players this year.

What to do with Cassel?

Well here is the thing, a week or so ago I would have definately franchise him and they may still end up doing that which is fine, but first they need to find out what he wants to stay on because Cassel is now on the record as saying he is fine with staying as backup to Brady so Pats could end up paying him considerably less that what franchising him may cost which is something like 14 million and actually it ends up being more than what Brady is getting. At any rate if the Pats can manage to keep Cassel on the cheap he would be asset because now he has an entire year under his belt of real experience and has proven he can actually play and play well.

What positions to draft for?

Well everyone says they need people in the backfield and I agree but also up front too as they had literally almost no ability to put pressure on any QB's this year. Personally I how they spend at least a little money on one quality playmaker rather than trying to hope for getting good production from a lesser player but I just don't know if that will happen as that is not usually this teams style. I would really hate to see them spending any money on offense other to sore up the line for better protection. Brady is good enough that he has already proven he can do just fine with people who are only average for recievers. so yeah they relly need to start tightening up the D because the offense is better than most as is.

How will the Pats do next year?

Pfft, your guess is as good as mine and I think there is just too much unknown right now. Most I think depends on how Brady rehabs, how he feels afterwards, and can he make any adjustments that might be needed because his body does feel different. The second factor I think is the defense. I can't really see the Pats winningor even making it to another SB with the the play as it is now. No way. I mean barring that Brady is healthy the offense can cover up for thier mistakes some but I think it would be dangerous to rely on that too much. Fact is if you can't get the other guys off the field then they can score too and we all saw that happen a SB ago. The Pats should however make the playoffs next year no matter what just based on what they had to overcome this year and how well they did. yeah they missed them this year but it was not by a whole lot and at least tow of the important games they lost could have easily gone the other way against the Colts and the second Jets game. By the end of the season most analysts said the Pats were the best team in the AFC East despite not actually being in first not to mention they had the harder schedule of the the other teams as Miami and Jets did not have to play the Colts or the Steelers.

Anyways, I can't wait to see what will happen.

By they way be prespared that if ther Steelers win there is a lot of talk being thrown out thier by Steler fanboys about how this team is the greatest team ever just becausr they would be the first team with 6 SB wins. Don't buy into it though because yes while they would be the first they will not be the last as it is something they can be done by anyone and even somethinf that can be surpassed.

Have people really become that stupid? Where is it written that you are suppossed to let your competition have a chance other than the ones provided by them within the rules.

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/9134384?MSNHPHMA

I am of course refferring to this article where a team beat another team 100-0.

It reminds a little of last years Patriots where whiners complained they were running up the score.

There is no such thing. It does not exist.

There are no rules about a team scoring more than the other guy.

There are no rules that say that one team should not score more than than the other guy.

There are no rules that say that a team that is in the lead needs to stop playing and let the other the team score.

People are dumb these days. That is what the internet had allowed me to learn by virtue of them being able to post their retarded opinions.

Well I got boith wins wrong last week though I am not sure why I wrote in here what I did since I picked the Steelers elsewhere. That was mistake in writing I think because I felt the Steelrs would win, but would have liked the Raven to.

Anyway, the Ravens and the Eagles let me down which by the way now means I have burned by the Cards 3 times now picking against them.

So that leaved the question on whether I should finally become a believer and pick them to win it all.

That is tough thing to do though honestly because although I think the Steelers offense is one of the weakest in the league their D is good even if they are masters of the cheap shot. Hopefully the refs do not let them get away with those,...at all.

So yeah, who to pick.

My GF thinks, and has been saying for weeks now it will be the Cards. I laughed then but yeah I am not now.

As much as it goes against my thinking I think I will go with the Cards for the upset.

The keys to thier game is they need to protect Warner. That is job 1, I f they can't this thing will be over quick.

If they can they still have problems because Polamalu is nut and that dude can be anywhere on the field in an instant.

If Warner can get past all that though and score that will certainly help. On the other sode of the Ball the Card defense does not need to be a monster they only need be good enough to contain Big Ben and how hard that is varies. He is hardly a great QB by any means but can be dangerous when in trouble, or not, as even that can go both ways. The Cards need to keep at it and not give up on any play until Ben goes down or the ball is thrown incomplete.

This is another of those picks where I feel that I am choosing who I would like to win vs. who i think will win. So yes quite honestly I think the Steelers WILL win but I would prefer that they did not so I am chosing Arizona instead.

Just two games remain to decide who goes to the superbowl this year and with the results of last weekends game we now know that we will have a new chnampion as I am happy to say the Giants lost against the Eagles. As we all know the Giants lucked thier weay into winning last year superbowl and it takes more than luck to win two.

(Note to readers: I know the Giants as a team have won more than two I meant this current version of the team)

I have now piked against Arizon twice and twice I have burned. Who is this team,...lol? No seriously they played great last weekend even on defense pummeilng the Panthers. The Steeler by the way did the same thing to the Chargers who to me looked like they should not be in the playoffs and Baltimore did not disappoint either.

So here we go......

First we have the Eagles @ Cardinals

This one is rough because I just cannot put my finger on who exactly Arizona is. I like the Eagles though to win it. But I would not be surpised if it went the other way either at this point any more.

Last we have....

Ravens @ Steelers

OMFG this one is hard too as much as I would love the Steelers to lose I think they will win this. I am however going to do something I do not often do and pick the one I want to win vs. the one I think will win. I think the Steelers will win but I am picking the Ravens.

Defense I think these two teams are pretty equal and while I think Flaco is the better QB he is less experienced while Big Ben has been here before.

Ehat I hoe is that the Ravens will be so enraged about that TD that should not have been in thier last meeting that they take that anger and crush the Steelers.

But I could say this one going wither way too.

Yeah I know I am a little late on this. Sorry I was banned again because of GS's lame-o moderation practices but in case you haven't heard 1up has been bought by UGO who then proceeded to rip the heart out of what made the site great. In the wake of the purchase EGM was shut down, which everyone knew was going to happen anyways, they laid-off/fired around 40 or so employees many of which were from EGM and the AV departments which in turn mean that all Podcasts and the 1up show are currently dead. It should be noted that of the list of people let go there were some big names in there.

Sad. Really that is how I feel about it all.

Let's be honest I know this is business and all but I have little doubt that the podcasts and the people who were worked there were the biggest draw to the site, not the name.

I mean when i started going there it was because I was searching for an EGM page if there was one but after you spend time on these sites its the people and thier personalities that keep you coming back, not the name of the site. Just ask the Giant Bomb guys about that.

I how the 1up guys can do the same thing by the way because the games industry has become too corporate anyways and I have been saying it is ruining it for a long time now and now you see how as this is just another example.

By the way some of the guys have already gotten together and mader a podcast called Rebel FM and it can be downloaded here...

http://www.eat-sleep-game.com/news/

I will be listening and I wish them luck.

Saturday, January 10th
Baltimore @ Tennessee
Arizona @ Carolina

Sunday, January 11th
Philadelphia @ NY Giants
San Diego @ Pittsburgh

So there is how it all panned out after last weeks wildcard games. I am going to do this in two ways. First who I think will win, second who I would like to win.

The Ravens Titans game could go either way but I think the Ravens will win.

I am still not convinced Arizona is really all that good and can compete with anyone else that is left. Carolina wins.

Philly is rolling in the playoff while the Giants came in losing this may work to thier adavantage. However I think the Giants are the more consistant team. I could see this going either but I think the Giants should win.

The Steelers have the best D in football and they have to be the luckiest team in there too as well considering the game they should have lost and ended up winning not to mention that absolutely insane oveturned call aagainst the Ravens defying all NFL rules. The Chargers have a great offense but up until the Colts hame have had a pretty weak D. I fhte Charger D shows up for this game I think that tips the scale in thier favor because they only need a avergae to slighly above average D to stop Big Ben who is a medicore QB. Also thier offensive line needs to protect Rivers. If they can do that, they win, if not it goes to the Steelers. But because I just can't say how the Chargers will play, Steelers win.

My likes to win are only slightly different. I would like Philly to beat the Giants and I would like the Chargers to beat the Steelers. However for the second one I guess I wouldn't mind if the Steelers did win because then the Ravens could extract thier revenge on the them next week.

Anyways, that my calls.

So the teams are set and here we go. First up is the Saturday games.

Game 1 has the Ravens at the Dolphins. I see the Ravern winning this. Thy are just the better team, period . I do though think Pennington is better QB than Flaco but the Raven D will roll the Phins.

Game 2 is Falcons at the Cardinals and I think the only thing the Cards have going for them here is that this game is at home. I am a little unsure about this one because my knowledge of both teams is rather limited but I do think that the Cards are soft and have no real running game. So here is the deal depending on how the Falcons D is they could win this since everyone knows that the Cards will be primarily passing the ball. But since I do not know how thier D is I think Arizona might pull this one off. I will pick Atlanta though just because personally I think Cardinals only looked good because everyone else in thier division sucked this year.

On sunday we start the day with the Colts at the Chargers. Both teams started out crappy but once they got on a roll they just kept opn rolling right into the playoffs. This is hard one. I would really like the Colts to lose because I do not want them to win another superbowl for now. I am not totally sure of the Colts injury situation either. I do know one thing and that is if thier running game is still struggling I think that certainly does not help thier chances. I am picking the Chargers to win this one.

Finally we have the Eagles at the Vikings. I think as long as the Eagles play well in this they will win. I am not all that impressed from what I seen from the Vikings. Thier QB is not all that good but Peterson certainly is. I do not think it will enough, if the Eagles can play well. I also think that if the Vikings can contain Westbrook that certainly weakens them greatly since the Eagles, while not one-dimensional are hardly versitile either with Westbrook playing double duty as thier top RB and WR it makes playing against the team a lot easier because you know who the ball is going to most the time.

By the way I just noticed that most of my picks are wildcard teams beating the lower seeded of the divsion leaders.

Anyway, those are my picks for weekend.

So Pats won thier final game against the Bills 13 - and finish thier season with a very good 11-5 record. Unfortunately as I stated before they had to rely on another team to win for them and that was the Jets led By Brett Farvre. Really the Pats have no one to blame but themselves I guess for putting them in that situation but the reality is that I watched the Jets game, it was totally winnable and they lost because of Brett Farvre. The guy terrible and no one can convince me otherwise as it was primarily his plays that lost the game. His interceptions most of which were thrown like he was throwing it to the defender rather than the reciver.

Honestly I hope he retires and we never see the guy again.

Ah well, I am still very proud of what the Pats accomplished this year considering what they had to overcome. As for how they feel I won't know till tommorow but I suspect that they will be dissappointed for not making it but at thetime proude of what they had done as well. They certainly won't wine about it because that Pats, for those that do not know, almost never complain about anything. They accept it and move on more determined to better next time.

This may also be Matt Cassel's last game as Patriot as this was the last year on his contract. I for one would love him to stay but it seems highly unlikely assuming Tom Brady is ok of which no one on the outside knows if he is. There are reports floating around that he is way behind schedule on rehab, that his ligaments are loose and there is scar tissue that would need to be surgically removed thoiugh as of yet they are not confimed to be true and have been denied by Bob Kraft, the Pats owner, himself. The Pats have the option to franchise him to get the best price possible for him. Honestly, I think they should because they should try to get something for being the ones who trained him for the last 4 years, at least if thier plan is to let him go. One thing I do think is that the Pats had a lot more rookies play this year than before and I think that could work towards thier advantage next year since now many have experienced multiple games. I still feel they need to start dumping thier older players though. Don't get me wrong I love guy like Bruschi and Harrison and what they did for the team but they will be like 36 next year and that is really old for thier position. Also I question whether Vrabel should be letp beyond his current contract. His production was way down this year and unless it bounces back I can't see why the Pats should keep him.

So from here I guess I will talk about the playoff and then the superbowl. And to begin I think I will make some picks o actually I will make two picks. The first will be who I would like to win it all, the second actually probably will win it. Yes there is difference because there are some teams that I hoe do not win it but chances are that they will.

Ok straight out the box I will say I would be very happy if the Steelers or Giants get knocked off. Other teams I dislike for various reasons are Miami and San Diego.

Another team I wouldn't like to win, but hold no ill will towards is the Eagles simpley because I do not wish Asante Samuel any success seeing as how he left NE for money.

So who would I like to win. Well I like what I see from Carolina and maybe any team other than the ones mentioned would be ok too but yeah I think I am going to pick the Panthers. The Ravens would be nice too I guess.

Unfortunately I think the most probable teams are the Giants and the Steelers but again I hope not. That may actually BE the superbowl by the way. Yuck.

Finally congratulations to the Lions for going 0-16 and sucking about as hard as one team could.