Vick Pleading

The hole just keeps getting deeper for Michael Vick, the Atlanta Falcons and the NFL. Seeing how the two other defendants have worked out plea agreements for their testimony against him, it’s only smart that Vick should do the same, as his lawyers are negotiating. So what does it all mean?

Well, Vick’s lawyers are looking for a prison sentence of less than a year, according to ESPN’s sources. When he would serve it –during or after the season, a la Jamal Lewis- is still undecided. Also, there’s the very strong possibility that he won’t be welcomed back to the NFL this season or next. Further, more charges may be laid on Vick including racketeering.

Atlanta, the city and the team, have endured a lot from Vick. I don’t see that there’s a way that he’s going to stay within the Falcons organization. He’s been too much of a nightmare for the team to not cut ties with.

As for the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell, he has a difficult task in deciding how long Vick should be suspended for. It’s no longer a question of if, considering how he’s dealt with the criminal minds of players like Tank Johnson and Pacman Jones. A year may be appropriate, but might be seen as too lenient. Two years seems about right to me, but there will be a lot of people who will clamour for more time.

John Clayton of ESPN.com had some interesting points concerning Vick’s future in the NFL, if he should be allowed back that is. Clayton wrote that any team that didn’t have a strong owner that would be able to endure the hell-storm that follow a Vick signing, would surely not even consider it. Also, the majority of teams in the NFL have their starters or potential starters already set for the next while making a Vick signing useless. The few teams that could possibly have a need for Vick, on the field, would be Baltimore, Dallas, Minnesota, Miami and Kansas City. You could also argue that Green Bay might need a QB in two years time; hell would have to freeze over before Vick would land there.

While Baltimore has an aging Steve McNair, they also have Kyle Boller and rookie Troy Smith at QB. They might feel comfortable enough with that combo down the road. The Cowboys figure to sign Tony Romo to an extension, but if any owner –besides Al Davis who now has JaMarcus Russell- could handle a Vick signing, it’s Jerry Jones. Minnesota and Kansas City both have young, project QBs who may falter and cause a need, while Miami has been a train-wreck since Marino left.

If and when Michael Vick returns to the NFL, he’s not going to be welcomed. When he gets to prison, he will be welcomed in a fitting fashion, one can only hope.

More Madden!

It's hard to write about a wide variety of things when you have one thing on your mind constantly. I do plan on to do another post today but really, it’ll be a struggle because of the hold John has on me. After actually bucking down and playing a few games with my reformed Dallas Cowboys (who look hardly anything like the current version), I've come to notice just how much different this version is from the previous installations.

For one, there's one thing that's noticeable from the first kick off; it's a lot harder to make those easy stop on the computer before the 20 yard line. Also, when you're set to receive, the blocking is a lot better. Of course this is countered by the computer's coverage being tougher.

There's a lot more fumbles this year and turnovers in general. While the fumbles I can tell for certain have increased, the interceptions are a tough call considering the QBs I — well a suitable word is — raped. But this was Elisha Manning, Trent Green and Rex Grossman I faced.

The menus are still on the slow side, but I've realized that computers are a lot easy to trade with since I first encountered them. But for some reason, the Raiders thought it was fair to give up their first and second rounders for my first and third picks.

It's a lot harder to pick up and play this year; especially on defense. A lot of the pre-snap of adjustments are the same as Madden 07, but some added features take some getting used to. Defense on the whole is a lot harder as well, but that's most likely due to this year's version being "weapon"-based, and the majority of weapons are on offense.

A new feature i especially like is the development drills, which are no longer just in the off-season. You now have the option to train your players and improve up to three of them prior to every game.

Finally, on a sad note, Pacman Jones isn't in the game. I sort of, in a twisted way, wanted to pick him up as a free agent (he does have talent) and team him up with as many criminals as possible. For instance Tank Johnson is now starting at DT for my 'Boys and I would consider trading for Michael Vick if he wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg. His delinquent brother Marcus is also available as a free agent. Oh the trouble they could get into.

I was right on the whole though, the game is getting better and better as I play and get used to it. It is, without a doubt, ruining my life.

Madden 08!

If there was one thing that I ever forgot to mention about the release of Madden any year, It was the fact that it has the potential to ruin lives. As addictive as games like the Sims or World of Warcraft or some of the other online multiplayer games are, this is just as bad. The thrill of running an NFL franchise can be intensive and rather consuming; hours of your time are needed to finely sculpt a team to be proud of.

This year I’ve found that this year the game is a bit harder to pick up and play, although it may be because I’m switching platforms. Some of the changes to game play, especially on defense, are a lot harder to adapt to.

Another negative to the game I’ve found is that some menus, especially when trading in franchise mode, load a bit on the slow side on my Xbox360. My theory is that it has to do with the massive headshots that take up nearly half the screen.

While I haven’t really utilized the weapons system to its fullest yet I’m sure, it is apparent that those players do have advantages in the game.

While I’d still give Madden 08 a solid rating after limited time playing, I’d still think that whatever grade I’d give it would rise over time, especially after I get my ‘Boys assembled and rolling, that’s when the fun begins.

Today is the day, today is the day

It's finally here. After months of anticipation and painful waiting, this year's version of Madden is released today. Madden 08 is particularly special to me since this is the first next-gen version of the game I'll be playing. Some adaption will be needed I'm sure but after taking God's team (the Dallas Cowboys) and re-working a few crucial things, not even the supped-up Patriots will be able to stop me.

New this year is the "Weapons" feature which adds some depth to the strategy of the game as well as makes the good players even better and more valuable. Also, for the first time ever in the Madden series, a player has achieved a rating of 100. Devin Hester's speed is certainly worthy of the honour, but I think that something like this should have gone to a more established player. Like how about giving Peyton Manning 100 in awareness? He certainly is worthy.

What I can only hope is that a few issues are addressed. Firstly, how about some sort of AI that would cause teams to switch ineffective starters mid-season if they're struggling? It would certainly add some more realism into the game to see an inept Kurt Warner pulled in favour of a promising rookie like Matt Leinart.

Also, while most statistics will develop and regress over time, attributes like speed, strength and throwing power will never increase. They should be able to over time since their real-life counterparts can by simply hitting the gym.

While I could go on for a long period of time, I'm sure that, even if you are a Madden player, you might have left the site by now so I'll give one last quarrel before heading out to pick up my copy of the game: Why do no players get injured in mid-week? Players pick up cuts, bruises and sprains all too often in practice. Excluding a factor like that devalues the game's realism. At the very least, could it not be a toggle-able option for franchise mode?

Expect a review tomorrow if I can pry myself away for enough time to write one.

Soccer has returned!

And it’s not even the shoddy North American type. That’s right; the Premiership of England launched over the weekend much to my delight. Finally, there are more options than the MLS and U-18 stuff that have been going on since Man U captured the title last spring.

Week one had one shocker I managed to witness in spite of the fact all the games are broadcast at times that aren’t really conducive for those who stay up late (work related, trust me) on weekends.

The shocker I speak of is that Reading was able to keep the defending champs at bay and hold them to a nil-nil draw; at Old Trafford no less. Even more shocking was that Wayne Rooney, everyone’s favourite English soccer hooligan, will no doubt miss some time after falling and suffering a hairline fracture in his foot. It’s looking like this season won’t be too much of a cake walk for the Red army. At least with Carlos Tevez finally coming in, the blow of losing Rooney for nearly two months won’t be as painful.

Also, I could never fail to mention the fact that my boys of Blackburn defeated Middleborough 2-1 in a come-from-behind victory to be included in the massive tie at the top of the fixtures.