It was 9:30 PM when my cell phone started buzzing. It didn't ring (I understand the silent function), but that slight buzz was enough to distract me for half a second. That nuisance was enough to turn Brady Quinn's sharp pass from a sure-fire third down conversion into a dropped ball by the tight end. Naturally, the blame and my consequent fury were directed fully at whoever had the audacity to call me at such a pivotal point in the game.
I paused EA Sports NCAA Football '07, angrily picked up the phone and grumbled a more-pissed-off-than-it-should-have-been "What?!" to the person on the other line. It was my girlfriend. My girlfriend that recently took a job in another city (one I won't be in for another month), which means most of our verbal interaction happens during these once-a-day phone calls. It's one of those things that most guys in relationships are used to — she calls and talks about boring stories about work, what she ate for lunch, why her friends are crazy, and a whole bunch of other stuff that logically wouldn't interest me in the least and then I pretend to like it.
Basically, the girl spends anywhere from 20-40 minutes blabbing about stuff that has no connection to the guys at all, but the men have to pretend to care in order to appear "interested." The real goal of the call is to establish that the female has lived another day and isn't hooking up with someone else — anything after that first 30 seconds is something guys just have to put up with it. This time was different, though, and I think she picked up on it between the hurried "yeah, yep" I replied to every statement with and the Notre Dame fight song being played in the background.
While she blabbed about some hispanic girl that showed up at her office begging for gas money in Spanish, I couldn't help replaying that third down over and over in my mind. A mixture of emotions came over me and the disinterest gave way first to a feeling of sympathy towards Brady Quinn because I ruined his drive. The second emotion was the most powerful one, and it was the one that left me stunned- anger.
I was legitimately upset that she called. How she was supposed to know not to call without any prior warning or acknowledgment is beyond me. She didn't have a clue that I was in the middle of an epic matchup with Ohio State on national — in fact, I don't even think she knew I had the game yet. She was even courteous enough not to call during the first five hours of game play that day. None of that matters, though. All I care about is that she ruined the play.
It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Who could temporarily place more importance on a video game than on a relationship that's been years in the making? I'm sure you are starting to question the point of the story. Maybe you are already anticipating some sort of profound meaning or resolution that video games are useless or that there are things in life more important than sports. Maybe you think I'm going to come out with an apology and make this a "how do girls put up with us" piece. After reflecting on the situation, though, I did come to a conclusion.
This game really freaking rules.
I'm not big on fantasy sports (I was scarred for life in my first year as a fantasy owner when the first overall pick of our draft was Jeremy Shockey in his rookie year), so EA Sports NCAA football '07 fills that void for me. We have a group of friends that come together every summer and create dynasties that will last for at least four or five seasons. The trash-talking is more entertaining in person (rather via e-mails in fantasy football) and the experience is much more memorable when you aren't the only person in the room impressed when someone has a player on the Heisman watch list.
The gameplay is fairly simple, running the ball is a lot easier, and I'm a big fan of the momentum meters (a new addition that gives your team momentum after big plays and hits), even if I'm not entirely sure how they work yet. Defense is hard, but that only serves to make the game more interesting. Some of the off-the-field stuff is perplexing, such as, why does the NCAA care if I don't suspend a lineman who got into a scuffle during practice? Maybe I like the fire, the passion. Maybe it's something our team needed. Screw you, big brother! If you can't tell, I'm taking that one a little personally. And I'm not a huge fan of in-season recruiting, but I like the expanded playbooks.
All in all, anything that means the college football season is a little closer is something I'm going to fully embrace. When it's something that is as great as this game, I'm going to do it in grander style. If there's one thing this world needs, it's more Notre Dame dominance of college football (for the record, I'm grand-fathered into the Irish right now, helping save me from our group's "no picking a top-10 team" rule). And I'll be damned if I'm going to let a few ill-timed phone calls keep me from the national title. Next call goes straight to voice mail, meaning Brady Quinn's next pass is heading straight for the end zone.
The Sports Gospel According to Mark is sponsored by BetOnSports.com. All readers get a 10% signup bonus at BetOnSports by entering "Sports Gospel Promo" as the promo code. Mark Chalifoux is also a weekly columnist for SportsFan Magazine. His columns appear every Tuesday on SC. You can e-mail Mark at [email protected].
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