$&#*@*@ Madden

After three consecutive fumbles on returns, the MORONS on my offensive line decided they didn’t need to hurry-up, they just AMBLED up to the line, just in the nick of time to get a delay of game penalty.

I think the connector on the controller actually broke when it hit my forehead. It definitely came out of the PS2 awfully fast when I yanked it.

I just rubbed my head, I’m actually bleeding a little! How pathetic is it that my first football injury EVER, at age thirty-three, was inflicted by a busted connector on a dual shock controller? (technically, I don’t think it was busted until it actually hit me – however, I think that makes it even MORE sad)

At this pace, Madden 2004 may turn out to be the most expensive goddamn game I ever bought.

Hey Andrew, sorry to hear you got hurt. Maybe the rest of us can get together and send you a get well soon card. I don’t have much sympathy for anyone who purposely buys a game with John Madden on the cover, though. You were just asking for it at that point :P

Ah well. I’m at least glad to see that I’m not the only one.

that’s the red badge of courage, soldier! :P

I used to scream and throw the controller quite a bit playing Super Tecmo Bowl on the NES. Grew out of it, I guess…

This sounds like me during some diablo 2 games. Yelling, screaming, kicking and swearing like a sailor.

…or you’re brimming with repressed anger? :)

I haven’t gotten this pissed at a game in years (if ever, actually). I guess that’s an indicator of how effective it is – people yell at it just like they do when they’re watching real games (at least we Lions fans do. Or we used to, rather; these days we mostly just rock back on forth slowly on the sofa and moan during games. And think about hockey. Definitely not baseball).

Anyway. I actually pieced my busted connector bits back together (well, except for one missing chunk), works just fine. Used it to give the Cheeseheads the trouncing they most thoroughly deserved.

Don’t know if you know this or not, but you can hold down the X button when you come out of the huddle to force your team to hurry and line up. I’m more worried about the consecutive fumbles on returns, that just shouldn’t happen. What difficulty are you playing on?

I BEG your pardon?

I’ve calmed down a lot over the years, too, but there’s just something really perfect about getting pissed off at a console game and slamming a gamepad into one’s foreheard when you’re sitting back on the couch. You just have to quickly raise your hands up, never moving them from where they are usually positioned on the sides of the pad, to pound the thing into your forehead. This saves sitting up, whirling the pad around by the cord to drive it into the floor, moving to punch something more satisfying than the couch cushions, like a wall, and so forth. I learned these and many other fun facts about my frustration threshhold while going through some of the timed missions in GTA: Vice City last winter. ;-)