Matt Hawes ’10
Staff Writer
As the football season arrives, a group of Staples students celebrate the new time of year with the creation of their new Madden football league.
The league, created by Commissioner Eric Sawyer ‘11, is only in the beginning stages, but group members are intrigued by the support the group has been getting. A Facebook group has been made to attract gamers, and currently there are around six to eight kids in the league, but they are expecting more. The group members have said that a specific draft date has not been set, however they are hoping to do it sometime in the near future.
The games will be played on a specific night, although it has not been decided yet. The league is restricted to thirty-two members and depending on the amount of players, the top six to eight teams are going to make the playoffs.
Madden 2010, which came out August 14, has had the support of its reliable fans and has created new game lovers, too. The game has impressed many students at Staples, especially with its new quarterback attribute improvements. The game designers have created new categories for the Quarterbacks qualities. They have divided accuracy trait into short, medium, and long accuracy as well as adding throw on the run, and play action as abilities. This new advancement will allow the quarterbacks to make throws that fans are accustomed to seeing in real NFL games on Sunday.
Gabe Seidman, a frequent gamer himself, agrees with the majority of the Staples Madden fans. “The players and the game atmosphere is obviously more realistic, and it also has better game modes that really improve the game from last year,” said Seidman.
Playing Madden in the league is different than playing regular Madden online because the users get to pick their own players in a fantasy draft rather than being stuck with the same old team and players. The selection of players in a fantasy draft gives the player a sense of pride and accomplishment with every pick they make. A Madden league brings a whole other aspect of the game into play.
That is why, Staples student, David Speer ‘10 is not surprised that this league may prove to be a big time success. Speer, who is considering joining the league, understands why students would be eager to join.
“The game is great and a league would allow students to not only play the role of general manger by drafting their players, but it allows students to have competitive games among friends,” said Speer.
The main concern, the group admits, is whether everyone involved can follow through and play a full scheduled 16 game season. With conflicting schedules, and extracurricular activities, playing the games on the same night may be a difficult challenge. However, the members are confident they can finish out the season, as well as the playoffs.
The Madden game phenomenon continues to expand and flourish, yet only time will tell if Sawyer’s league achieves the same success.