Madden and Me

Today Madden 08 was released, and thanks to some gift cards, I purchased my copy at Best Buy this morning. Given that we have a Wii, I purchased the appropriate copy. (Since I don't have any pictures of me playing Madden, I thought I'd include a picture of me boxing on the Wii and spare my wife of the pictures of her bowling and boxing.)


I managed to spend a shameful amount of time playing the game today. However, as opposed to just feeling slothful, like I normally do after spending the large bulk of a day playing video games, I also have a sore arm and a sore finger.

When playing Madden for the Wii, one must make a forward throwing motion to pass the ball, besides the pulling of the controller back when snapping the ball. In addition, one must jerk the appropriate controller to the left or right or push them both forward in order to help evade tackles or to make better tackles. These facts account for the sore arm. The sore finger comes from playing too close to a wall. As I went to stiff arm a defensive player, I rammed my finger into the wall. (For those who care, I did have a successful stiff arm and went for another 15 yards before being tackled.)

Although today was spent playing alone, it made me remember and long for the days of playing video games with close friends, often on a daily basis. During my senior year at Bethel, rarely a day went by without playing at least an hour of Mario Kart with my roommate and neighbors. The year after Bethel, while living in Mishawaka, countless hours were spent as four of us each played a team in a dynasty in college football. Every summer spent in Berne included many evenings in front of Ed's TV, playing some sports game or other. Although the games were fun, the people were what made the times great. In some circumstances, very little constructive language was used while playing. In others, the game was secondary to the discussions occurring between those playing and those watching about life, love, and everything else in the world. In each case, friendships were made and/or strengthened. Before leaving for Texas, I met up with two guys from Berne for a weekend of Madden. It was a memorable weekend, not so much because we played so well (although we did play really well), but just the camaraderie of three guys.

Today brought back those memories and more, and made me look forward to the day when those people don't live so far away, and also to the day when I will look back with a similar fondness on the memories and friendships strengthened through time spent together in front of a televisions screen here in Waco, where the game becomes secondary to the conversations occurring between all those involved.