What makes the South So Dirty....
By Scott "Afroman" Henderson, special to Corradocardoso.info

...when It Comes To Madden Football? As we look at the Madden Community the single most intriguing question is how can anyone deny the dominance that has been displayed by the Southern region?...I mean is it the water?...Is it luck...Can these guys really be that good?...Are they masters of the expletive glitch?...What is it that makes Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, New Orleans and Florida such a hot bed for top notch Madden ballers?...I will hopefully explore and she some light on this issue.

The South has dominated the National Madden scene and we need to look no further than The Swammi's nationally renowned and revered Top 10 Madden Ballers where you will find 9 of the Top 10 positions occupied by what I will refer to as "Dirty South Madden Ballers"...To date not one baller from the East or West coast has played in the Madden National Championship game. 

Where are the East and West coast ballers at crunch time?  We have to go back to Madden Nationals of 2000 to find the likes of  Pasadena Soldier, Mad Guru and Jay Kearney who all occupied a top 5 ranking in Swamm's 2k Top 5.  In 2001 the East and West Coast Madden were noticeably absent in the later rounds of the tournament and if it were not for the BAMA's Mark The Upsetter placing 7th in the Nation, 2001 would have  been a clean sweep by the South.

Breaking this topic down a bit more we need to look at the quality leagues that exist in the south such as TheBFL, HMFL, NOMB,  and ThePFL.  Each of the aforementioned leagues boast at least one baller in the national Top 10 Madden Ballers.  I have had the opportunity to interview and speak with several Dirty South Ballers and the common feedback I hear is the quality of league play is unparalleled and the level of fierce competition that goes on not only within  the leagues and at local tournaments such as the monthly King Of The Couch event and the NOMB's Super Bowl Week  tourney are a huge reason these ballers maintain a constant competitive edge.

Factor in the mentioned organized events with the a friendly lab session with the NOMB's Lou "National Champ" Tillery and 504 Wil, or the HMFL's Candyman, Che and Trapjaw or TheBFL's X, DC and Winkdawg or thePFL's Dale Barton, Ryan Collins and James Brooks and what you have is a super energized highly competitive lab session that can take the average ballers game to an unprecedented level of preparation and competition. 

Keeping the level of preparation and available competition in mind, the Dirty South dominance is no coincidence because the bottom line is these guys put in mad work on the game. They are talented and all of them have a unique, creative and some would argue an often questionable way of breaking the game down.

Recently I've  had the opportunity to rap with several top Dirty South ballers and analyze comments on the national madden forum and one thing you can easily gather is that these guys are  CONFIDENT (cough, cough..Cocky).  I mean these guys are not braggadocios (i.e. Pasadena Soldier) by any means but in their own subtle way it is clear that the Candyman's and Trapjaw's and a few others are eating Gray Poupon riding in a Limo eating and drinking the best while the rest of us are squirting Kraft on a hot dog and trying to buy a bus pass...To their credit Candyman, Trapjaw and Lou Tillery have single handily locked down the Madden Community with league Championships and winning all major tournaments on southern soil...There is no doubt that these guys are the best....

As I write Lou "National Champ" Tillery and 504 Wil  take their show on the road they will invade the City of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia, PA) and the GameTime Philly Tournament where they will see the absolute best Madden Ballers that the East Coast has to offer.  So by the time many of you read this we may have yet another example why there is no such thing as Southern Hospitality when the Dirty South Ballers visit your area.

The bottom line is the Dirty South Ballers know they are the best, they have proof to back it up and there is no denying what ballers like Candyman (2000 National Champ, 2002 KOTC Champ), Lou Tillery (2001 National Champ, 2002 NOMB  and KOTC Championships), TrapJaw (2002 KOTC Champion) and TheBFL's WinkDawg (Two-time National Runner-up 1999-2000) have done in leading the Dirty South Madden ballers to dominance in the Madden World.

Finally, this article would not be complete and I would not be keeping it real if I did not mention the issue that there are a number of ballers on all coasts within the Madden community that feel the South's dominance is often based on exploiting flaws in the game and at time exhibiting questionable tactics.  Some feel that their dominance is based on their ability to master those "I'll sack you in a nanosecond" type blitzes.  Many Madden purists believe its the exploitation of the game that gives the Dirty South Madden Baller a leg up on the competition.  Lets face it...that's out there BUT no one can deny the skill and creativity involved in producing the schemes that take their game plans to the plateau of Madden football. 

As I mentioned before they are damn good, they know it and if you were to ask any baller from the Dirty South camp it is guaranteed that they will all assure you that Nationals V will culminate with The Swammi handing the trophy and the loot to a Dirty South Madden Baller...Ya Hurd Me East and West Coast!!!???

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