What the Economy can Teach us About Madden

this was written by our friends at MaddenBible - the author is Zfarls
note - published April 2009 - but still great read

My one gripe about living just 10 minutes away from work is that I don’t get to listen to quite enough radio. I have an I-Pod, Sirius and regular AM/FM. In the Boston area there are about 4 good morning shows which battle for my attention.

1.Dennis and Callahan- headlines segment is great

2.Hillman morning show- Usually in their sports area of the show

3.Mike and Mike (usually on commercial)

4. Toucher and Rich-Wish they stayed on during the afternoon. Morning is prime in this town.

On the way home I swap to satellite for the Jason Ellis show. It is my guilty pleasure and although its pretty crude, it is very funny (Red Dragons). This leaves me with hardly enough time to podcast my other favorite show which is the Dave Ramsey Show.

Well, in just one short 10 minute ride on 4 different stations, I heard the phrase “in times like these, or in this economy” 6 times on 3 different shows. If you watch the news its all they discuss and you would think the world is coming to an end.

Clearly there are lessons to be learned from this “crisis” and they extend to Madden. Lets check it out.

1. Make small adjustments rather than huge changes.

In the market, you don’t need to change your whole gameplan after having a bad year, Although if you watch all the new places out there trying to sell gold in this market you would think so. This is similar to setting up your offense in madden.

Often times players will have a bad game on offense and rather than hop in the lab to make some tweaks, they want to overhaul there entire offense. You might still be a level 12 but you have some confidence issues. If you just had a poor game than don’t look to switch playbooks and start passing the ball on every down. Stay focused and remember the patience and discipline that got you there. This goes for early in the game when many new players abandon the run. “I only got 3 yards on that dive” so I wont run it again for the rest of the game. This will allow the defense to focus on the pass and mix in lots of pressure on defense. Only passing creates many problems because it allows you to have to look for max coverages as well as some insane blitzing schemes.

2. Look for Opportunities

Many companies will watch all the news out there and become very scared. When they receed into their underground bunkers, companies who are looking to take calculated risks can strike.

“Fortune favors the bold”

Notice that that quote doesn’t say anything about the stupid. Punt the pall on 4th and 20 on your own goaline. But if you are moving it pretty well and approach midfield lets take a chance.

I feel the number one reason that players hate playing people that go for it on 4th down is because they make it quite often. I pray that people will go for it on 4th against me so I can get the ball back in better field position. Don’t be timid and sit back in coverage on 4th and 5 whining about your opponent going for it. Step up and bring some heat and force him out of his comfort zone.


The rest of the article can be read at:

http://www.maddenbible.com/2009/04/what-can-the-economy-teach-us-about-madden/