Nationals IV: The "Reality" of high-level competition
By Air Attack, special to Corradocardoso.info

Air Attack Curry

Being a longtime visitor to the PFL/MWS Forum, it was with enhanced anticipation that I looked forward to attending my first National Madden Games Tournament. I was actually an "indirect consultant" to The Swammi when he was in the early stages of organizing the very first National Madden Games Tournament, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia in September of 1999. I had all intentions of attending this tournament, but my boss at the time would not grant me the time off, given the fact that I was taking a week off roughly a month later.

I missed Nationals II, which was held in the D.C. Metro area in July of 2000, primarily due to financial constraints (I was broke!). And because of minimal play on Madden NFL 2001/PS2, I just didnÕt really feel prepared enough to be competitive at Nationals III in New Orleans last Summer. Ahhh É but at last: Nationals IV. To be held in Los Angeles, which is where I resided from June of 1994 until the end of September of 2000, before returning to my hometown of Gary, Indiana (about 45 minutes SouthEast of Downtown Chicago).

I was the cofounder of the first major Madden NFL Playstation league in Los Angeles, The MFLA, along with good friend DeMarrio "DMan" Gray, so it was extra exciting to think of reuniting with old Madden NFL buddies and competitive rivals. I used to do regular battle with Kevin "K-Ham" Ham, Fred "KingMur" Castillo, Patrick "Player-Coach" Sims, Min "SlayerMin" Robertson, Tim "Bigg Badd Bevv" Beverly, Jason "Éin L.A." Lewis, as well as a couple of battles with The UMFÕs Morris "Mo-Nutt" Chestnut, Ray "The Chairman" Jackson, and The MPLÕs young "KingRyder."

The first ÔexcitingÕ experience of Nationals IV was meeting in person the Ballers from across the country that I had either heard about and/or interacted with through Email, and on The PFL/MWS Forum. On Friday afternoon, at the Madden World Syndicate [MWS] meeting, I had the opportunity to meet Lou Tillery, Trapjaw, DC, Mad Guru, Afroman, Red Rza, Bulldog, The Swammi, and many of the other notable names in the Madden Community for the very first time. I was kind of on a ÔhighÕ from sharing ideas and opinions with these intelligent, insightful Ballers in person, after so many months and years of reading their various posts on the Forum. My ace, DMan, and I, along with former MFLA members Bevv and Jason, had a Madden Ôjam sessionÕ over DManÕs fatherÕs place, along with his cousin, Kedren "Top Dog" Parsons, who played in the L.V.B.C., and had defeated the West Coast Champion, "DaAfrican" in a Round Robin game in the BABC III Tournament. All of us were first-time Nationals participants. Top Dog was the Top Dog that night, as he did not lose a game. He and I had a game that went into overtime, but his Bucs defeated my Rams 27-21. Despite the loss, I thought my confidence was at least Ôabove-averageÕ for Nationals IV competition.

Then came Saturday morning. Nervousness set in quick. I worked on a gameplan and strategy for like 2-3 months, but within just the last week, week-and-a-half leading up to Nationals, I made some ÔadjustmentsÕ in my offensive strategy to attempt to counteract all of these quick-pressure blitzes that I had heard so much about. After seeing my good friend Ralph Peterson from Chicago get destroyed by defending National Champion Lou Tillery, my nervousness went up two notches. I saw that Ralph had no answer for the blitzes that LT was puttinÕ on him, and I knew that my offensive game was not that much better than RalphÕs, who I had sparred with frequently in Chicago.

My first game was against a Baller named "Spawn," who was from The MPL in Los Angeles. Our game went back and forth, but HB Marshall Faulk let me down by fumbling the ball in SpawnÕs redzone with approximately three minutes remaining in the game, with the scored tied 21-21. After some bad breaks in the last two minutes, I ended up losing 35-21, and my confidence dropped considerably. I knew that my next opponent, "DisDru" from The BFL, was considered the best Baller in my Round Robin. In the next game, Dru definitely lived up to that billing. I was so bent out of shape after my first loss, that I decided to change both teams and playbooks right before the game. BIG MISTAKE. Dru put it to me like I had never had it put to me since I very first started playing Madden NFL back on Christmas of 1997 with DMan. The final score was 83-7, and truthfully, if I would not have Ôslowed downÕ the game in the last quarter, it might have been even worse.

Dru was attempting to secure a #1 seed, and he had no mercy on a first-time Nationals participant like myself. My next game was almost just as bad. I got beat 73-0 in what was the 2nd worse loss of my entire Madden career. My two worse losses ever right in a row. IÕve never been sacked and hurried so many times in any game that IÕve ever played in Madden. Dru sacked me more times in the first half alone than I had been sacked in an entire contests. So, in terms of individual performance, I left the ÔarenaÕ (the ballroom where all of the games were played) depressed.

The overall experience was a good one. I got to see Madden NFL competition at itÕs highest level. Some of the contests were classic barnburners. I felt sorry for new friend "Curly Top," from the Baltimore crew (just about all of the Ballers had a ÔcrewÕ cheering them on), who lost a heartbreaker to topnotch Baller Wil Turner from the New Orleans Madden Ballers League. Curly Top was one of the most charismatic and humorous Ballers that IÕve ever been around. Just a very funny, funny dude.

The three Ballers I was most proud of were Rod "Reality" Wynn, Pasadena Soldier, and Ato "Ah2daking" McCullough. "Reality" was the only first-time Nationals participant to make it to the Final Four. He had played in The MPL during the Madden NFL 2002 Season, and represented the West Coast very well. Said Reality, "Being that I was a first timer to Nationals worked to my advantage. It allowed me to make waves without flipping over anyone's boat ... but by the time the waves got big enough to wake the ballers up, it was too late.... I was in the Final 4. I know next year everyone will know who I am, and it wonÕt be the same."

Soldier took a lot of heat on The PFL/MWS Forum for some disappointing showings in tournaments held earlier in the season, but he showed why he is a clutch Baller under pressure. Two close, pressure-packed victories landed him in the Elite Eight, where he ended up losing to close friend and sparring partner, Reality.

Ah2 was from my very small "Chicago Crew," all of us Free Agents (Coach Leonard, Ralph, Ah2, and myself), and he was the only Baller among us to make it to "Survivor Sunday." Being the competitor that he is, he was still highly disappointed on not advancing further.

DManÕs cousin, Top Dog, along with close friend and former MFLA Champion, Jason Lewis, also advanced to "Survivor Sunday."

Next year, Nationals V will be held in Miami, and the tournament should be even bigger and better. My advice to would-be first-time participants?

• Have your gameplan together WEEKS before the tournament. Make very few, if any, "last minute" changes. Trust me on this one.
• If youÕre married, or in a serious relationship, think twice about allowing your companion to watch your games. There is a high potential that you will be humiliated. Your "Madden manhood" will be challenged. It might get ugly. Trust me on this one.
• If youÕre a Free Agent, try to join a league in your area, or at minimum, participate in as many major MWS-sanctioned Madden NFL tournaments as you can financially afford. It will help prepare you for sure. Trust me on this one.
• If you lose badly next year, take consolation in this fact: Air Attack got beat 83-7 and 73-0, and lived to talk about it and laugh about it; "Going 0-3 in your Round Robin canÕt be that bad, can it?" Sure É itÕs not that bad. I donÕt know if you can trust me on that one.

Email Air Attack about this article.

Voice my thoughts at the Madden Forum