http://www.itchythumbs.com/2011/09/02/madden-nfl-12-review/

The Good

The Stadium
Let’s start with the obvious! Wembley is a seriously impressive stadium, but when decked out for an NFL match it looks even better. I’m talking about inside the stadium itself rather than some of the surrounding area, which is still a work in progress. It’s truly a credit to the country.

Wembley Stadium, NFL Style

The Match
It had every sign of being a close-fought game and indeed it was. Although it wasn’t high-scoring it was enthralling throughout with lots of great play to admire and cheer (or boo). The fourth quarter really opened up (shame so many people left early!) to provide a memorable finish to the game.

Home Team Atmosphere
There was no doubt who the home team was, and the crowd generally were making noise at the right time, waving flags when prompted and being an intelligent football-watching lot. A lot of the 49ers said that it was a true home game for them (though probably with less booing than at the ‘Stick in the last few games).

The Pitch
About six hours before the match I was standing under an umbrella in a torrential downpour, watching my son slip and slide around his rugby training. I feared the worst for the Wembley turf after we’ve seen it become very choppy very quickly in previous outings. But as it turns out, Lindsey Soto was right and the field held together very well and was a big factor into making the game as entertaining as it was.

In Stadium Entertainment
Along the Club Level there were at least two bands and a troupe of cheerleaders. All entertaining the crowds and adding the entertaining nature of the day. Little touches like that make the difference between it being just another match to it being a real occasion.

Michelle Williams
She killed the US Anthem. We said before that it always sounds great and is always well received and it continued to be the case this year.

Joe Ledney Kicks a PAT

The Bad

Jeff Beck
He murdered the UK anthem. In the past it’s sounded so good when belted out by the crowd, but that just wasn’t possible yesterday. We tried, but who knows what he was doing at the end of the song.

There are plenty of great examples of him doing a fantastic job of the anthem (see Youtube for some examples) but it didn’t work this time.

Food Prices in Wembley
The prices are just too high. There’s no way you can justify more than £6 for a hot dog!

I did enjoy the brie roll that I had, but that wasn’t cheap either. As we’ve said before, and will continue to say, eat before you go into the stadium where there is a wider, better and more fairly priced selection.

Queues in Club Wembley
This was our fourth year in the Club Levels and I’ve never seen queues like this before. I can’t think what’s different to previous years, but getting a beer, food or going to the toilet always involved standing in a long line. I know that’s common at a big event, but it was a first for us at Wembley and of course something we didn’t enjoy.

Chiltern Railways
The mainline from Birmingham to London was closed on the Sunday. Usually Chiltern are very good in that all services on an ‘Event Day’ will stop at the Stadium even if not scheduled to. But not this time… nothing south of Bicester North. From there it was necessary to get onto buses to Aylesbury and then a different train to Marylebone and then another train out to Wembley.

This affected a lot of people (including me!) and wasn’t properly reported for online purchases and the links from the nfluk pages to Chiltern’s Events page don’t even work anymore.

Chiltern are working on the lines to improve travel time in London. As a commuter I’m all for that, but you have to back to the beginning of August (8th, Charity Shield) to find the last event on a Sunday and forward to Boxing Day for the next one. Was it really necessary to close the line on the one Sunday in 15 weeks when there was an event on?

If Chiltern close the mainline when Take That are playing Wembley, I’m sure they’d be a very public outcry. It seems we were just expected to make other plans and not grumble about it.

Some “Fans”
There were three or four rows in front of us full of people who barely made a noise or moved throughout the match. You have to wonder why people make the investment of a ticket, travel and time to essentially sit like they’re watching the television.

Don’t get me wrong though, we had a great time. The complaints we did have are by far outweighed by the experience of the day.

You can view a selection of the best pics I took at Flickr.

NFL @ Wembley, 2009

It was a fantastic, if very long, day. Me and my fellow NFLers met up at the carpark of a McDonalds just off junction 2 of the M5 and had a spot of breakfast at 7am. When we were content that our bellies were ready for the long day ahead we split into 2 groups of 5 and left for Wembley (in 2 cars, obviously). We arrived at around 10:30am so we had made good time. We actually stopped outside of Wembley at a train station who’s name escapes me and proceeded to take the train to Wembley from there – It was a good job too, as leaving Wembley was a lot harder than getting in!! Once we were there it was amazing. The sea of colour that waved before us down Wembley Way is an image that will stay with me forever. I wish I had took a photo, but I never seem to think of these things on the spot.

We headed straight for the Tailgate party for which we had tickets and actually managed to get in there quite early. This was at 11:00am, so we went straight to the beer trailer for a nice pint of Coors (the first of many!). From memory we actually stayed in there for a good 4 hours during which I had the honour of meeting with Commissioner Rodger Goodell. We had a brief chat about his visit and his plane journey, just the formalities, and I also had my photo taken with him but that didn’t develop!! Grrrr…. Apart from that we weren’t doing anything particularly exciting, we pottered about, visited the merchandise stands – My mate spent an hour trying to buy a Tampa Bay jersey, they kept giving him the wrong size so he had to rejoin the queue to swap it – we had a couple of burgers which were phenomenal and we took a look at the Hall of Fame items that were brought over. I was pretty much ready for bed after all the walking around and drinking of pints that we did.

I remember trying to find Andrew and Graham for a good 2 hours. We kept missing each other when we were close or mis-interpreted where we were to meet when we tried again. This time though I owe Graham a beer so I guarantee they WILL find me!

When we finally got into the game we oggled the cheerleaders when they came out (isn’t the zoom feature a fabulous thing on a camera?) and boo’d the pre-game singer who we didn’t like – I won’t mention his name in case I get hate mail! The highlight of the day though was the fact that me and 2 of my friends were sitting in front of 6 women who had come all the way from Pennsylvania to watch the Patriots play. They were hilarious, drunk, and passionate about football. The banter was fantastic, especially as I was wearing my Bryant Buccaneers jersey. At one point one of the women went down for drinks and came back up with a foam tray and 18 pints stacked in it. She had to climb the steep ascent towards the top of the stand with this tray, and she didn’t spill a drop. We gave her an applause for her efforts. As you can imagine, whenever the Patriots scored I got a ribbing (despite not being a Tampa Fan, but you have to will them on when they are the home team AND the underdogs!), but it was all in good humour.

I think we finally got home to Birmingham about 11:30pm, it was a very long day but highly enjoyable. It did take us about 20minutes to get to Wembley train station though. I’ve never seen so many people congregated in one place. Luckily we managed to cut out probably a 25 minute wait by going all the way to the left of the crowd and rushing down the side of them! Genius. All in all, a brilliant day and I’m very much looking forward to going again in just over a weeks time. If you see a dude in a Ravens jersey and a woolly hat sporting a neck beard, come say hi

Image Credits: Graham.

Wembley NFL Sunday… there’s really no other day quite like it, and it was just gone 10am when I set off from my house. The route to Wembley is a long one (the way I go), via Graham’s house then a lift to a suitable tube station.

Midday on matchday, it's pretty quiet

We arrived at Wembley in plenty of time and met up with Ant (Pats’ fan) and Dom (general good-time guy) before heading inside the tailgate party. This was the one disappointment of the day as the number of people in there simply meant there were queues for everything. Drinks, games, stalls, toilets, more drinks. We did manage to get a couple of beers in, but decided we’d head into the stadium before the game.

In 2008, we had seats in a box (long story). We also knew from previous visits that there would be drinks and food available inside the stadium. Also toilets! And so we enjoyed the next hour in Club with beer and hotdogs watching the football game (I want to say Arsenal V Chelsea, but can’t rememeber it that well)

Pre-game goings on. We've no idea what the large Tylenol are meant to represent.

The pre-show was the Steroephonics, though they only played a couple of songs. Still, a step up from the year before. The US anthem was great, as the US anthem always is. The British anthem was rubbish though. Joss Stone just ruined it, meaning that the sing-along was a bit of a subdued affair. There’s a lot not to like about Paul Potts from the year before, but at least he knew how to lead the anthem in a good way.

The honourary captain was Rebecca Adlington, dressed in black and gold and given the number 2 – the same number of gold medals she’d won at the Olypics. She got a great reception from the crowd.

The Game!

1st Quarter

If there was any doubt which way the crowd would come down, it was ended with Deuce McAllister‘s first carry. The low rumble of a ‘Deuuuuuuuceee’ call let out from the crowd and the tone was set. This quarter was quiet as far as the scoring went, but the atmosphere just was just amazing. The crowd were firmly behind the Saints, and the addition of a black “Be A Saint” flag on every seat gave a carnival-like atmosphere and contributed to a couple of penalties on their first drive (including one caused by Rivers having a bit of a strop about something, much to the crowd’s amusement).

McAllister said afterwards that it “felt like a home game”. That’s praise indeed for the crowd.

2nd Quarter

The game took off this quarter, and started to become something really special. Among the highlights was admiring the play of LDT. He scored coming towards us in this quarter, but his vision and ability to be in space was so simple when viewed from above. There were some great plays by the Chargers and it was just brilliant to watch, no matter how much we were enjoying booing them at the time.

Speaking of booing, that penalty call on Lance Moore’s TD celebration was as roundly booed as I’ve heard at any sporting event.

3rd Quarter

An in-game shot

The game just wasn’t letting up, and we were all thoroughly enjoying it. Graham and I were truly in the grip of alcohol by this time. The hostess in out box was pretty much bringing us a fresh beer every five to ten minutes and we didn’t say no to a single one. Pass interference in the endzone, touchdown, field goal, onside kick… this match had the lot.

4th Quarter

OK, I suspect at this point we were becoming a nuisance to those around us. We’re chanting “You suck, Rivers!” as loud and often as we can get away with. We’re cheering every Saints move and booing the Chargers non-stop. We’re waving our arms excitedly making the incomplete signing whenever we can. And we’re still drinking.

The match drawing to a close

The end of the game was a tight one, though I’m not sure to this day why Drew Brees took the intentional safety. I’m sure running the clock then punting would have been better for field position and time remaining. But it did mean we got to see a Hail Mary from Rivers. The feeling as that ball was in the air was immense… it was the other end from us, but we could see it clearly and were praying it came down to a Saint or incomplete. It did, and that was that.

The game had run on a bit, so there was no sitting about drinking time in the stadium after the match and we had to leave. More beer was calling, and we answered! I had a hell of a hangover on Monday (the exact amount we’ve drunk remains unknown to this day, but it was a lot) but also the memories of a truly great game.

Relive the game yourself at nfl.com’s recap

This time last year there had been poor service and refunds after both week 1 and 2, and we’d commented on it here. While it did settle down, it was still a shame that the season opened that way.

This year though, I can honestly say the service has been much improved. The technology has changed, there are no downloads this year, and the user interface has been improved too, but the main thing is that it seems to work much more efficiently than it did before!

I have only a 2mb ADSL connection, but get a fairly high quality picture even from 6pm. Although I get the occasional freeze, or stall, and a few times a night the picture quality will downgrade but for the most part it’s a quality service from when I turn it on (about 2pm BST Sunday to when I turn it off (well gone midnight this week, damn you Texans.) and unplug my laptop from the television.

Graham has similar bandwidth and sees the occassional lock/freeze too but a better picture.

So if you’re looking to take advantage of the offers that inevitably start with the season, feel confident that it’s a good service and a great way to watch the matches.

If you get the chance to watch it, which is admittedly difficult in the UK, then it’s definitely worth a look regardless of your personal team allegiance.

What are the key lessons that we could take from this season of the show?

1 – Rex Ryan Is Really Funny
The series pretty much opened with Rex wondering if they could win the Super Bowl without star corner (then on holdout) Darelle Revis, then stating. “I dunno, he’s pretty ****ing good.” and making me laugh from there on out.
And even when T-Rex isn’t deliberately making jokes and poking fun at people, the way he talks and acts the rest of the time is equally amusing for his no-nonsense yet irreverent approach to anything and everything.
Although there was a feeling that at times he was playing to the cameras, it certainly wasn’t as obvious as it was with certain other members of the Jets’ management team (see #3, below)

I love his passion for the game, for hard-nosed “punch ‘em in the mouth, run it up their ass” style football. “Holy ****, what a hit!” being a frequent expression of joy. And let’s not forget that he’s a good coach. Pretty ****ing good, in fact.

2 – Santonio Holmes Looks Like A Monster Pick-Up
We all know what he can do on the field; the contributions he can make as a play-maker but what impressed me was the attitude and maturity he was showing during the drills, practices and team meetings.

Tempers Flare In Training

It’s easy to see why other teams didn’t want to take a chance on him, especially given his 4 week ban which’ll keep him out until the 11th October (missing 3 of the toughest games on the Jets’ schedule in the process) but watch out in the run-in – he could make a real difference.

Rex Ryan called him the “best player on the field” after one practice, and it’s hard to disagree based on what we’ve seen so far. It’s a real shame we didn’t get to see him on Revis Island.

3 – Mike Tannenbaum Seems Like A Bit Of An Ass

Let me position this by stating that he has a hell of a job, and being like he is is surely part and parcel of being a successful GM. But if anyone was playing to the cameras, it was the Jets’ General Manager. And in doing so, he didn’t come across so well.

Mike Tannenbaum Releases Jason Davis

At times he was sincere, and as the man who managed a lot of the waiving of players he was occasionally compassionate and genuine. But more often he was brusque and seemed little interested in what he was doing, just going through the motions (to be fair, he had to waive a lot of players – he probably was going through the motions). His talks with Satele and Davis in the last episode felt the most natural, so perhaps he settled down once the cameras had been in place for a while.

What’s not in doubt is his passion to the team and his commitment to build a winning team.

4 – Mike Westhoff is almost as funny as Rex Ryan

Not quite in the same way, his humour is much more of a “I don’t give a **** what you think.” and some of of was a little mean spirited, but here’s a guy who is striving to get the best of the fringe players and turn them into valuable special teams contributors.

Mike Westhoff Tells It As It Is

Some of his parables and stories were a little long winded, but nearly always had a payoff and his putdowns and comebacks were awesome. Two examples (of the top of my head, so might not be verbatim)

– “Maybe if you’d have played that way last year Auburn would’ve won some damn games.”

– “Just let him go, he can open that pizza place in the Bronx he’s been dreaming of.”

– “Do that on Sunday and I’ll release you on the field. I will.”

He’s a guy who takes no crap from any of his players, and wasn’t worried about getting in their faces. Tough-love for sure, but proud of them when they do well.

5 – The Jets’ Training Facility Looks Amazing
I was aware they were in a fairly new complex, and I’m sure it’s been shined and polished by an army before the HBO cameras were allowed in but this place looked fantastic and is a credit to the organisation.

6 – It’s Tough Being On The Cusp
A lot of the five episodes was given to the players who were fighting for their places; those who needed to master special teams and seize every possible moment and make the most of every possible rep. Whether it’s Brashton Satele, the linebacker looking to get over an injury and make an impression, or Danny Woodhead – the undersized back/receiver who’s been with the Jets for two previous seasons but is trying to make the 53 for the first time, Chauncey Washington, Larry Taylor and others. The toughest spot of all was surely Jason Davis (FB) who was caught between the legend and the rookie in Tony Richardson and John “The Terminator” Connor.

Without fail, those released where stoic and thankful for the chance. On camera at least, they make have started crying once they got the carpark.

7 – Mark Sanchez Has Plenty Of Growing Up To Do

DeAngelo Hall Picks Off Sanchez (I couldn't resist)

Mark Brunell can talk (very much to the cameras, it seemed) about how Sanchez is coming on leaps and bounds, but it often seemed that he was either sullen and withdrawn or joking about like a big kid. Admittedly we don’t see everything, but there was little sign of the supposed growing maturity in terms of being a team-leader and he quite clearly wasn’t interested in anything Joe Namath had to say to him.

He can still play ball, and the team has plenty of experience to call on, but it looked to me that if the Jets are going to need to lean on Sanchez in tough times, he might not be there to lead them.

8 – Play Like A Jet – It’s Not Just A Slogan
It’s not a slogan. It’s an ethos. It’s everything that Rex, Woody, the Mikes and all the other coaches believe in. They live it, and they expect the players to do so as well.

I wasn’t going to get this year’s incremental release, but got caught up in release-mania. So it’s here on the desk with me. I’ve given it a go for a few hours now and here are my thoughts.

Graphics and Presentation

Say what you like about EA, but they know how to present a game to you. From the spin-tingling introductory video, to the menus and options and of course the in-game graphics, this game looks great. There are still some small inconsistencies at times with how players move or react, and the occasional clipping error, but nothing too noticeable or worth worrying about.

There are more than ever incidental off-field and play-is-stopped clips that are entertaining initially, and skipped easily enough eventually. It’s certainly the best looking Madden yet (which should always be the case for the latest release!)

Gameplay

Gameflow is this year’s big addition. Though really it’s not that big. You can allow the OC or DC to call the next play immediately after the next one. There’s no doubt that this speeds things up, and there is a certain satisfaction to playing with ‘someone’ else calling the plays though I wasn’t always happy with the plays called. This can be tweaked, and I will spend some time in there to get it more to my liking. This feature can also be turned off, and before any play you can open the playbook and find the plays that you want to.

Some elements have been tweaked to be more realistic (it seems to me anyway). Kick returning, for instance. 30 yard line used to be par for me but now it’s much more close to the 20 yard line now. There is no sprint button anymore, so running is easier now that’s been taken away. The 0-line still seem to fold very quickly, but that might be the ‘Skins.

Pre-snap controls have also been changed, and take some getting used to. Things are an extra press away, but the system doesn’t take too much getting used to. After just an hour I was able to send Cooley on a slant route without thinking about it. Defensive adjustments are still hard-work, but I’ve always found that to be the case.

Sound and Music

The in-stadium stuff is better than ever. Added to the ambient noise and stadium announcements are team specific chants and choruses that really add depth and feeling. Your co-ordinators also speak to you in radio style and if you’ve got a headset plugged in then they communicate through that, which is a really nice touch.

Being met by Song 2 by Blur was a bit jarring though. Although I know the song is well loved in sports-circles for its powerful sound and sing-along “woo-hoo!”, it’s thirteen years old! The rest of the EA Trax are there and it’s heavily guitar-based which means for me it’s one of the best Trax there has been. Welcome To The Jungle was a very pleasant surprise though.

Commentary is… well, it is what it is. It’s not awful, and a lot of time it’s pretty accurate. But naturally there is a lot of repetition. Certainly from Cris Collinsworth. There’s still the issue with Madden Moments where the commentators say things like “… gets his first touch!” when you start a Moment deep in the 4th. That grates more than it probably should.

Game Modes

Online has been tweaked and expanded, but I don’t play online. Nothing else seems to have changed much, if at all. Franchise mode in particular seems identical. That’s a little disappointing. Madden Moments are here again, and although I’ve not gone through them all yet I think they’re
all from last season.

In Closing

Although there is no ‘big’ change this year, I’m enjoying Madden 11 more than I enjoyed 10. All the little touches sneak up on you and suddenly it’s all a lot of fun. I’ve had some great close, natural-feeling games so far. All the tweaks seem to work.

I’d like to see Wembley Stadium included in next year’s game though (assuming we get a game!)

I have the XBox 360 version, but it’s available on other platforms too.

M&T Stadium, Baltimore

Well, the draft is over and the mini-camps are getting underway. Figured I’d wait until this point to give my opinion on the last few months, well, as a Raven anyway.

The Anquan Boldin Trade:
This really did take me by surprise. I could see us trading for a solid wide receiver, but to be honest I never really expected it to be Boldin. A pleasant surprise by all means though. Boldin really is a quality player. He may have had a few injuries lately but his effort and his production is nothing to be dismissed. I really can’t wait to see him in the Purple of Baltimore. He came at a pretty reasonable price too. A 3^rd and 4^th round draft pick? Bargain, especially since we recouped those by trading down in the draft.

Off-Season pick ups:
We’ve picked up a couple of notable players this year so far. Let’s start with wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth, a player with his share of controversy to say the least. Now, I won’t pretend that I know all the details of his past, but according to the law he has now served his time, he is showing genuine remorse and he wants to make up for what he did. That’s all I need to know. He’s come in looking as quick as he was, he’s been making some good plays with Flacco in training and he is still looking sharp. I’m looking forward to see if he can reproduce this on the field, he definitely gives us a solid option for a pretty minimal cost.

New Raven Boldin

Secondly, we picked up defensive tackle Cory Redding from the Seahawks. A good move after we lost Dwan Edwards to the Bills. He can produce, he’s shown he can. Last season wasn’t his best and I believe he only started 3-4 games for Seattle, but in 7 years he has picked up 18 sacks. He’s a big guy, 6’4” and over 290lbs, but he is versatile and quick on his feet. I expect him to take some downs off Pryce to keep him fresh and mix it up a bit. Redding signed a 2 year contract so let’s see what he can do as Raven.

Ed Reed:
Will he retire, won’t he retire? Well I certainly hope he doesn’t! Ed is an amazing talent who has been hit with injury as of late. So bad there is talk of him calling it a day. Latest reports say he has undergone surgery to try and rectify this problem, hopefully a sign that he isn’t quite giving up just yet. If this is true, and it all goes to plan then I can’t wait to see what he does next year. Ed Reed is a game changer, and you just know the opposition offence hate it when he is playing, and playing well.

I

Re-Signs:
Biggest re-sign of the off-season is definitely Derek Mason. The man is still in amazing shape, more so than probably half the NFL players, and he is 36. He still has his pace, he still has good hands, and he still has that smile on his face when he plays. A 2 year contract hopefully means he will be retiring as a Raven.

Draft:
I’d say the trading down from the first round surprised me, but it didn’t. What DID surprise me is what we got for it and for who the traders got with our pick. Still, it worked out really well; we got 3^rd and 4^th round picks back which means effectively we got Boldin for peanuts. Anyway, here is a breakdown of the picks for the Ravens from the 2010 draft.

Sergio Kindle (OLB) – Pick 43 – A potential 1^st round pick taken in the 2^nd round. Great pick in my eyes. Kindle can slot nicely into the Ravens formation and go straight to work. There was a bit of talk about his knee but it looks like no work is needed. This is probably why he didn’t go in the 1^st round.

Terrence Cody (DT) – Pick 57 – ‘Mount’ Cody as he is known to his friends. This guy is huge and I’m very excited to see him in the Purple of Baltimore. A lot of talk about his weight, but I have no problems putting faith in the Ravens staff to keep him fit and healthy. This bloke can destroy offences.

Ed Dickson (TE) – Pick 70 – The first of 2 Tight Ends taken in succession by Ozzie. Ed is a more traditional ‘block’ tight end. He’s athletic, big frame and can make a catch or two if needed. Would work well and gives Flacco a target who might work himself into some space.

Dennis Pitta (TE) – Pick 114 – The second of 2 Tight Ends. Pitta is more of a receiving tight end. He’s quick, he’s got amazing hands and he can run routes well, probably more of a wide receiver, definitely an exciting player to watch. Flacco will be rubbing his hands together with all these targets for him to hit.

David Reed (WR) – Pick 156 – Didn’t see us picking a wide receiver in this draft but I can see why Ozzie has picked him. He’s a young talent with good potential, and he’ll be practicing with Anquan Boldin and Derek Mason, who better could be learning from? I can see him probably getting a couple of downs, possibly in the slot.

Arthur Jones (DT) – Pick 157 – Jones is a big defensive tackle, i’m actually shocked that he made it all the way down to the 5th round. 6’3″ and 300lbs, but he’s quick and he hits hard. I don’t think he’ll be in the team straight away, but he might play a bit part of a few downs to give the other guys a rest.

Ramon Harewood (OL) – Pick 194 – This guy is interesting. He is basically a raw product, but at 6’6″ and 340lbs i’m sure we can do something with him. The guy is massive, a giant, he’s got decent speed for his height and weight (think he ran just over 5.0 in the 40yd dash), so let’s get him settled and get him working at the camp. He’s got drive to succeed so let’s help him reach his potential and scare some opposition.

The one thing I would have liked us to do is pick up a good corner, and I think most Ravens would agree. That didn’t happen but Ozzie did make some great moves in the draft. He hasn’t gone wrong yet and I trust that he will be looking at this position over the course of the remaining off-season. In Ozzie we trust.

Optimism:

Overall I have to say I am very pleased with the way things have gone so far. We have definitely improved in positions we needed to improve in and we have some quality young talent on the roster. We had a good campaign last season that ended too early and with the additions we have made I can’t help but think that we’ll be challenging not only for the Divisional win, but for a Superbowl ring once more.

Image Credits:
M&T Stadium: kevygee
Boldin: xoque
Ed Reed: Keith Allison
Cheerleader: Keith Allison, again.

I’ve not watched this film recently… but I will again soon. However this topic remains a firm favourite for our readers and brings many visitors with a variety of peculiar search terms. So it gets elevated for now.

Update, August 2010

Check out the Miami Sharks “official” homepage at miamisharks.info

Original article follows. Originally published August 28th 2009.
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It’s become part of my pre-season ritual that I watch this movie at least once. And so I did this week. Strictly speaking it’s not NFL related, as Oliver Stone couldn’t get licensing. So it’s the story of the fictional Miami Sharks playing in the AFFA in pursuit of The Pantheon Cup.

The cast is as impressive as any film out there, with Al Pacino playing… well, playing Al Pacino as usual; Cameron Diaz as the Sharks’ owner; Dennis Quaid as the ageing quarterback and Jamie Foxx as the 3rd string quarterback who gets his chance through injuries; LL Cool J as an unashamed mercenary running back; James Woods is delicious as the crooked team doctor; John C McGinley as a reporter; Aaron Eckhart as the young OC and more and more. It also features Laurence Taylor as a legendary linebacker who changed the game (imagine…) and Jim Brown as a hard-nosed defensive coach. It even features Terrell Owens making a couple of plays.

Coach D'Amato (Pacino) gives advice to 3rd string QB Willie Beamon (Foxx) whilst injured starter Rooney (Quaid) looks on

The plot is nothing that special, as you’d expect. A team with a lot of history is struggling into the post-season after a great start. We join them in the run-in and with the squad suffering with organisation, injuries and the overall pressure.

Whilst ostensibly a film about the team, with arcs covering some players and their individual struggles it breaks down to focus on the relationships of Coach Tony D’Amato: His relationship with his trusted but ageing QB, the new up-and-comer, the medical staff, the owner, his ex-wife, his regular hooker and with the press. As you’d expect given the talent credited, they do a great job conveying all the emotions and passion you imagine these type of people have in real life.

There are a couple of the cast that to me really stand out. Cameron Diaz has never been better than she is here and I love every scene she’s in. From her scheming and plotting, to her incredulous “A… beer?” to her amusing scenes in the locker room with a bunch of naked jocks.
Foxx also does a great job with the pretty short arc his character goes through. He’s believable as the incoming “new kid” and again as the brash young atheletic QB. Pacino is nearly always great: His “inches” talk is one of cinema’s great monologues and is pitch-perfect. His lunch meeting with Foxx is another great scene between them, and Foxx holds his own.

Team Owner Christina Pagniacci (Diaz) discusses injured players with Dr. Harvey Mandrake (Woods)

Quaid too, carries the weary star quarterback just wonderfully. He’s loves to play but pretty much knows he’s done – his body is shot, the young guys are coming up on him and he’s suffering an aching all the time. There are some missed notes, but overall it’s a great effort from everyone involved. I even enjoyed LL Cool J – his “I like getting paid.” was perfect.

One thing of particular note is the in-game camera-work, which is excellent. Stone overdoes it with the use of blurring and slow-motion sometimes, but you get a great feeling in the middle of the match. The exception is the “monsoon bowl” where you can’t see anything, but does still feature some great shots.

Yeah, it’s a bit cheesy in places. Everything comes together and everyone learns a valuable lesson a little bit too ‘Hollywood’. Some of the imagery is also a bit – alright, a lot – heavy handed, but it’s a great journey overall.

It’s an old film and available at a good price at amazon. I also found that it’s out on Blu-Ray now too.

This year it’s all about fighting for every yard, and the new Pro-Tak system which allows for gang-tackles. I got this on release day and have been playing it, here’s my thoughts.

Overview
After opening the stunning box, with Larry Fitzgerald and Mactalksnfl favourite Troy Polamalu and loading the game, the first thing you’ll notice is that the presentation has been buffed and shined to an almost silly standard. Each stadium has facts and figures about it, delivered by Tom Hammond whilst some incidental activity takes place. I’ve seen fans at a tailgate, leap-frogging bollards, admiring statues and buying hats. That sort of thing. The stadia are rendered beautifully (I just played at Texas stadium and it looks amazing) but we’d expect that. Beyond the background, the players look great and are animated excellently. I’ve seen a few clipping errors and the running does lot a bit odd, but it’s really well done overall with all sorts of little touches that really add depth: from players calling for flags, to the Chain Gang being called on, to refs conferencing, on and on… that sort of thing.

Gameplay
The core of the game has not changed, as you’d expect, but the pace has been slowed. And I’m a big fan of this… now I’m used to it. I spent my first couple of games passing too soon and running for the smallest hole. Now I sit back and watch, you can see the pocket forming, the corners bumping their assignments as the play develops. I’m still having issues with leading them too far though, but am working on that. As a game though, passing works great.

The slower pace also helps the running game. You can see the gaps and follow your blockers much easier. Pro-Tak is a big part of this too, and you can battle your way through a crowded line as the players do in real life. More than in previous versions, you’ll need to pay attention to who’s running at you. Brandon Jacobs, for instance, ploughed through me for the entire first quarter until I adjusted and started hitting him low. It sounds obvious, and it is, but as EA would say “it’s in the game”. I’ve found running the ball easier than on previous versions.

Defense too. When attacking the QB, you get time to battle your man and watch the pocket shifting as the linemen battle it out. Playing in the backfield is still hard, but the pace makes things easier. I still get turned by a receiver (a lot), but in most cases I’ve noticed it before he’s got the ball and am able to make a good hit for a minimal game. Yes, the screen-shaking hit is still there.

Other Changes
Some things from previous versions are gone. The icons under the players? Gone. The intrusive play-calling system, that’s gone too and a much more user-friendly system is there that also makes it easier to bluff between the plays on screen. Oh yeah, want to run the Wildcat? Go ahead, it’s there.
Other subtle improvements are for the best too, like the fact the camera changes to ‘broadcast’ mode as a play ends. It’s the visual equivilent of the whistle – play until the camera changes. There’s a sort of button-mashing minigame for fumbles in the pile which is nice too, though will catch you out the first time it happens.

Franchise
Franchise mode has a reworked menu system, but the best addition here for me is The Final Point. A clip show presented by Fran Charles and Alex Flanagan that gives pretty simple overviews and previews of games, but which – more usefully – shows the standings and playoff picture and other league information. Each stage can be skipped directly too, and you can come out of it at any point. There is also an edition of this ‘show’ at hafltime, which is frankly a bit of a nuisance and something I wish it was easier to skip. The only useful part of it is the scores from other games going on, but the screen is up so quick you’ll only be able to take in one or two of them.

This year sees the introduction of online co-op, which is fun but harder than it sounds, and online Franchise. This is the game mode that everyone’s been waiting on, and could be great. My league is forming at the moment and I’ll give full thoughts on it at a later date. Incidentally, a printing error in the UK booklet means the code to unlock Online Franchise is not provided, but if you ring EA on 0870 243 2435 (UK only) and provide your GamerTag, they’ll enable your account on the franchise servers.

Sound
EA Trax is still here, and I’m hating it less and less each year as the fashion moves more and more towards guitar-based stuff. The first time I loaded it up, Madden 10 greeted me with Them Bones by Alice In Chains who are one of my favourite bands of all time. There are other good tracks too, and I look forward to the music now rather than wanting to turn it off.

The on-field sound is great, from the banter between the players to the hits, the rousing crowd. The tannoy guy is still there too and the whole audio experience is incredibly natural.

In Closure…
I’ve only played in Franchise, so haven’t taken a look at Superstar mode yet. Or the Madden Moments either. The standard mini-games are still present as well. There’s plenty to get into here. Overall it’s better than 09, and probably 08 too and I’m enjoying it a lot. Games have a great ‘flow’ to them, resulting in drives and results that feel natural. I thoroughly recommended it.

I have the Xbox 360 version, but it’s out on all the PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP and there is even an iPhone version coming that I’ll check out when it’s out.