Friday, September 26, 2014

Superman?

As some of you may or may not know, I'm a bit of a gamer. I enjoy playing sports games like Madden and NHL. I got an invite to the 1st ever Madden Ultimate Team (MUT) online league. Which doesn't sound amazing unless your a Madden gamer. This is no ordinary league. It has some of the best Madden players in the world in this league. How did I get in? I just applied. And maybe because I'm a nice guy and sent ask good questions on the stream and am encouraging they let me in. Whatever the reason, I'm in. Yes, I'm WAY over my head but I love it. How many games will I win? I'm not sure but I'm enjoying it as long as it lasts. 

So let me share with you about my 1st game (I'm super pumped I got to be my Packers):

Newton = Superman? 
In the 1st game of the year, Green Bay came into Seattle not knowing what to expect. Is the Seahawks good or not? Am I going to lose 35-0, like others are, or am I going to hold my own? Walking into the game I'm aware that my MUT team is only a 80 ovr while his is 87 ovr.  I'm worried...

But once the game begins I realize, I can hold my own and if I play right, I can win. The confidence is rising but I still need to execute. It's a hard fought battle but Seattle starts a great drive down the field. It ended with a beautiful pass by Peyton Manning to D.Thomas to open the scoring. With little time left my Packers get the ball and go to work. Getting all the way down to field goal range and cut the lead by 4. It's 7-3 at half time

The 2nd half open with Seattle starting a drive in their own end. But on a 2nd and 10 play Bobby Wagner picks off a Peyton Manning throw right down the middle. Wagner sees day light but can't make it to the end zone. Seattle's Def had 3 great stops. Why kick the field goal on 4th and 2? I know right? They left D.Jackson uncovered and I call a quick audible. Unfortunately it gives Seattle enough time to get Ha Ha Clinton-Dix over there to pick off the quick out. Ha Ha is GONE! 98 yard pick 6! Seattle's up 14-3

But there is no quit in Packerland. Green Bay gets the ball back in the 3rd quarter with lots of time on the clock but I got to get 2 scores to win this thing. I start marching down the field but have a difficult time getting 1st downs quickly and waste a lot of the clock. I get down to the goaline and this time I'm not calling any audible but hand it off to Alfred Morris for the TD. His celebration is pretending to hit a baseball and watch it fly out of the park. 


It's now 14-9 Seattle and coach tells me to go for 2. I do it and then something amazing happens. Newton huts the ball then jumps into the air and flies over the Oline & Dline and lands in the end zone. For the 2 point conversion. Seattle 14 Green Bay 11. Is this guy really Superman? I thought Clark Kent was the real Superman? Apparently not. 
With little time left, Green Bay believes they can get one last stop. And Peyton is having trouble moving the ball but wastes enough time to run the clock below 30 seconds. But there is still hope for the Green & Yellow. Seattle punts the ball down and we call for the fair catch. 1st down on the Packer 20 with 20 seconds left. And NO timeouts remaining. 2 plays do nothing...it's 3rd down with 17 seconds left. Time for a prayer...

Newton snaps the ball and sees Desean Jackson beat his man down the sidelines. He chucks it up. The 12th man goes quiet as the whole play goes into slow motion. D.Jax is open, he's gone, what a comeback!!! Desean takes his eyes off the ball and into the Promise Land. He's thinking all the fans back home who will think he's a great hero, maybe even a legend. He sees his mom in the stands and gives her a little wave. But then he realizes, "I got to catch this ball and run like the wind to win this." As he looks up the ball is right there. The ball hits his hands and he drops it. ARE YOU KIDDIN' ME!!!!!!!! One play, for all the marbles, and you drop the pass??? 

He turns from hero into zero. That's right, zero yards, zero touchdowns because he had zero catches.  Seattle wins 14-11.