Real Sports in a Virtual World

The Oculus Rift headset has been making a bit of a splash lately. The virtual reality headset has essentially been in development since the 1980's. But recent technological advancements have made it a polished product just about ready for consumer shelves. It played a fairly big role in this years South by Southwest festival and has wowed video game developers at conferences around the country. Oh and it's creator, Oculus VR, was recently acquired by Facebook for $2.4 Billion. So they're having a good 2014 so far.

So this got me thinking. With Facebook being the giant that it is, a lot of money could be poured into this technology over the next few years. Would it be a stretch to see the Oculus Rift headset in a sports context?

The Madden Curse: Bringin' it back!

Last week, the average bro wrote about conspiracies in the NFL Draft. None of them came true. Today, guest blogger, Andrew Rago, brings us back to conspiracies. There's no doubting this one!

As any Maddenite knows, the privilege of gracing the cover of EA Sports Madden video game comes with a price. 

Eddie George was the first official  Madden cover-athlete in 2001(Garrison Hearst and Dorsey Levens made the cover on alternate versions before Eddie George). He went on to have arguably his best season, rushing for 1,509 yards and 14 touchdowns, but a bobbled pass in the playoff game against Baltimore was returned for a touchdown, and sealed Tennessee’s fate. Eddie George’s career was never the same, always hobbled by injuries. Eddie’s yards-per-carry for his next four seasons were a measly 3.0, 3.4 and 3.3 in his final two seasons as a pro. Many claim this to be the birth of the madden curse, but was it?

On the official Madden 2000 cover, John Madden is prominently featured, but there is a visible player in the background.