Tuesday marked my favorite day of the year. No, not because of the Poison concert at Verizon Wireless Music Center - although I did attend that celebration of fantastic '80s glam rock.
It was the release of the video game "NCAA Football '07," the only video game series I buy every year. And I know I'm not alone. At Wal-Mart, there were about 30 people waiting to buy the game as the clock struck midnight.
The extremely unhappy Wal-Mart staffer brought out the box containing the game cartridges, and everyone huddled around her. Unfortunately, the box revealed only five copies of the game on Playstation 2, and five copies for Playstation Portable, and no copies for Xbox or Xbox 360. This left a lot of people upset, including a sizable portion of the Ball State University football team.
But don't worry, I was able to get one of those five copies at midnight. I proceeded to play it for the next three hours. I've spent countless hours waxing poetic about why the NCAA Football series is so awesome, but a couple of things stand out on this year's game that make it even better.
First, the third-person camera. Although you can only use it in punt return formations or extra-point defense, it adds a whole new element. In my first game, I returned three punts for touchdowns in the first half, so it seems easier that way, at least for me.
Second, the game has attempted to eliminate the scrambling quarterback offense. Even if you are absolutely horrible at the game, you can be a team with a fast quarterback (The Ohio State University, for example), call a pass play out of the shotgun formation, scramble out of the pocket, then basically have a run/pass option. And people who use this offense are the worst kind of players ever. If there was a Facebook group for these offenders, it would be something like, "I Suck at Football Video Games and Have to Cheat to Win."
Playing that way, it's not even football. And maybe I take it to heart too much. I pride myself on my ability to run the option offense to perfection. And that means reading the play at the line of scrimmage to determine the handoff to the fullback and when to pitch it. Relying on some cheapskate way to put up the points, that's bush. Bush league.
Third, Ball State is actually pretty good in the game. Quarterback Joey Lynch has a very respectable rating of 85. He's the third highest-rated signal-caller in the Mid-American Conference, behind the University of Akron's Luke Getsy and Northern Illinois University's Phil Horvath.
Starting safety Erik Keys gets even more love. His overall rating is a 90. He is Ball State's highest rated player in the game and the ninth-rated strong safety in the nation.
However, there are a couple of mistakes, at least from a Ball State fan's perspective. Wide receiver Dante Love is the No. 7 receiver on the squad, which is surely a mistake. The Cardinals' starting outside linebackers from a year ago, Wendell Brown and Bryant Haines, each have two other outside linebackers on the team rated ahead of them.
While those are minor details to most, it's not minor to those who love college football and the game. If you talk to Love, Brown or Haines, I bet they are furious. So keep that in mind while you are making fun of me for over-analyzing the situation.
For those who love college football, you absolutely need to get this game. The Campus Legend option is much improved for this year's game, and recruiting is still the best feature. If you're looking for a challenge and you think you can stop my offense, feel free to hit me up. I'm more than willing to bring you back to reality.
Write to Phil at prfriend@bsu.edu
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