Edward the Penitent

[sigma7]

"I'm getting hundreds of e-mails -- hate mail -- but I'm responding to it all. People deserve a response. You can rest assured that nothing anyone can say can make me feel worse than I already feel about my mistake on the fumble play. You have no idea ... Affecting the outcome of a game is a devastating feeling. Officials strive for perfection -- I failed miserably. Although it does no good to say it, I am very, very sorry."

Sigh. It weighs upon me to type this, but Ed Hochuli, you are forgiven. It'd be a lot easier to maintain your crystal-clear certainty, to attempt to insulate yourself from criticism. But you did the right thing, here, and I believe what you say. I can't speak for Charger Nation as a whole, but being a part of a fanbase that eventually forgave Bill freakin' Buckner, I like to think anything's possible.

Now if only I'd realized the Houston game was postponed, I might've subbed in two players who actually played last week. The Prettybirds still would've lost, but we wouldn't have two lawn chairs standing out on the field.

In an attempt at digital catharsis, I loaded up Madden '08 (thanks, EA, for cutting the PC out this year; I feel a spite-torrent coming on) and created the Shortbus Football League -- the same default rosters, but with every stat decremented by 20 points. My first thought would be that it'd feel like high school football, but no, that's not it. When the most intelligent quarterback in the league suddenly has an awareness rating of 79 and most much, much lower, it's like a drunken Pro Bowl game. Punts go maybe twenty yards. Passes have a circular error probability about the size of a mad gazebo. Rex Grossman is still Rex Grossman, but even more so. I imagine the Gatorade cooler being filled with Thorazine.

Working on a GDBM. I still think we've jumped the shark, but hey, never let that stop me before.

Comments

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

I've been using NZA's Madden Editor (I believe there's an '07 version, here's a good repository). I did used to play one team of Herculean demigods against a team (say, the Raiders) with their stats flattened out so well it was a miracle they could walk upright, and that was almost too easy for catharsis. Now, playing Superstar mode where your player is the only real athlete in a league of tranquilized insomniacs -- that's pure joy.