Ah, the joys of fan interaction…
In today’s fun-filled media landscape, you can’t go wrong
with a top 10 list or a top 50 list or a top 100 list. Or maybe a bracket
tournament, perhaps spread out over a few weeks to keep the readers coming back
for more. And it clearly doesn’t matter who the so-called “experts” are
creating these lists. Then again, who needs experts? Let the fans decide!
EA Sports didn’t get the ball rolling, but it did up the
ante last year by letting fans vote for who should be on the cover of Madden
’12. And logic immediately went out the window when the fans voted for
Cleveland Browns RB Peyton Hillis, who promptly proved the Madden Curse was not
a myth.
This year’s voting for the Madden ’13 cover is down to fourfinalists, and it is a surprisingly representative quartet: Cam Newton, Patrick
Willis, Aaron Rodgers and Calvin Johnson.
What’s interesting is that Willis, easily the biggest
longshot on this list given that he’s a soft-spoken defensive player, knocked
off New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz in last week’s voting to advance to
the quarterfinals. Is that a ringing endorsement of the 49ers’ Pro Bowl
linebacker, or just a matter of more 49ers fans taking part in the vote?
Neither.
Clearly, this was a case of smart Giants fans protecting
their young star from the curse.
The fact that Willis has made it this far might even be the
result of fantasy football players wanting to keep any and all offensive stars
away from the Madden cover. Willis takes on Newton this week in the semifinals
– does anyone really want to see the Panthers’ iconic and entertaining QB
suffer? Adding a potential Madden Curse to a potential sophomore slump could be
devastating.
Rodgers faces Megatron in the other semifinal matchup – a
classic battle between the reigning NFL MVP, Rodgers, whose rabid Packers fan
base should be enough to put him over the top, and Johnson, who probably makes
the nmost sense to be on the Madden cover.
After all, we’re talking about a guy nicknamed for a cartoon
robot. Who better to be the face of a video game? It’s a match made in CG
heaven!
Still, he will have a hard time holding off Packers Nation.
And the fantasy vote will not be enough to help Willis defeat the popular Newton. I’m
predicting it will be Newton vs. Rodgers in the finals, with A-Rod taking home
the belt (get it?) and donning the Madden ’13 cover.
Then again, what good are predictions in any kind of fan
vote? When NFL.com launched its bracket tournament last month to determine the
best team of all time, could anyone have dreamed of a final pitting the 1976
Oakland Raiders against the 2000 Baltimore Ravens? Not even close, but that’s
what we got.
Ridiculous? In retrospect, that Raiders team – which
narrowly defeated the Ravens in the voting – was pretty damn good. It featured
a plethora of Hall of Famers and guys who are still being strongly considered
for Canton. But logic wasn’t part of the equation. Raider Nation came out in
force and made it happen.
The biggest learning experience here is that the Ravens fan
base is far more passionate than we ever imagined. Not only did they get the
2000 Ravens to the finals, but they helped current Ravens RB Ray Rice put up a
good showing in the EA Sports vote. Rice actually knocked off the ever-popular
Drew Brees in Round 2 of the Madden ’13 vote, and he gave Rodgers all he could
handle one round later.
Who knew?
Too bad the Ravens aren’t represented in this new fan voting
platform. The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s site is running a bracket tourney in
which fans will vote for the best old-time jerseys. Today’s matchup pits the1936 Giants jersey against the 1971 49ers jersey. The Giants jersey is hideous.
But guess what? As a Giants fan, I happily cast my vote for it.
Ignorant fan…
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