Au revoir, NCAA Football 2006

Last night I played my final game of NCAA Football 2006, ending a four-year love affair with what is now a very outdated video game.

I went out on top. My #1 Ohio Bobcats destroyed the #3 Kansas Jayhawks, 55-10, in the 2037 Orange Bowl, claiming the National Championship. (As you can see, the BCS doesn’t even work in a video game. Once during my dynasty, the second and third ranked teams played for the championship, relegating #1 to another bowl.)

I guided the Bobcats to 14-0. The omniscient observer in my coaching screen said it best: “That’s one for the ages! How does it feel to go back to Athens as National Champs?” They were an awesome team; maybe not my best, but incredible still. I had a number of First Team All-Americans, and all but four players on the First Team All-MAC team were Ohio Bobcats. (Get this: one of my back-up wide receivers was on the All-American Freshman team despite not catching a pass all year!) Their greatness and superiority was mostly due to my quarterback, Jared Vaughn. The guy was so good it’s insane. I’ll let his stats for the last game, season, and his career speak for themselves:

2037 Orange Bowl: Passing: 16-23, 340 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT. Rushing: 12 attempts, 118 yards rushing, one TD. Blocking: 1 pancake.

2036 season: Passing: 195-315, 4139 yards, 60 TD, 15 INT, 225.6 QB rating. Rushing: 129 attempts, 1352 yards, 14 TD. Blocking: 2 pancakes. (He led the team in passing and rushing yards.)

Career: Passing: 527-866, 11,032 yards, 152 TD, 39 INT, 216.8 QB rating. Rushing: 284 attempts, 2810 yards, 35 TD. Blocking: 2 pancakes.

He had one or two receptions for minimal yardage his freshman year, I think. Regardless, the guy was hands down not only the best quarterback I’ve ever had in my NCAA series career, but the greatest college QB of all time despite not owning any league records. Even with Touchdown Jesus at his side, Tim Tebow couldn’t possibly amass those kinds of stats. On top of it all, Vaughn won the Heisman Trophy twice, something Tebow might be able to accomplish.

Speaking of records, as a dynasty coach I collected a few. Here are my stats as a sidelines helmsman.

Years coached: 32
Record: 407-25 (NCAA record for wins)
Record vs Top 25: 106-18
Record vs rivals: 40-0
Current winning streak: 32 games
Longest winning streak: 66 games (NCAA record)
Bowl appearances: 32 (one more than JoePa had in 2005)
Bowl Record: 28-4 (NCAA record for bowl wins)
Conference Titles: 28
National Championships: 16

Years at Ohio: 9
Record at Ohio: 121-5

Yeah. I dominated.

So what now? Obviously I’ve retired 2006 (I’m saving the dynasty file in case I get nostalgic and want to continue my coaching career at another school; I quit the Ohio position after the championship game), so the logical thing to do is begin playing 2008 in earnest since I’ve held it in reserve. I mean, why buy a game and never play it? Last night, though, I happened to see a commercial for NCAA Football 2010, which comes out tomorrow. This complicates matters. Do I stay two years behind the curve, or buy 2010? (I’m sure Sony would love this kind of thinking: “Why should I buy a new game for an old system? Why not buy a new game and a new system, too?” To save $400, that’s why.)

Chances are I’ll break down and buy 2010 sometime before the real football season begins. I’ll play 2008, but not seriously: I won’t start a dynasty. However, there’s an underlying issue to all this: I’m 26 and still playing video games. Is it something I should be ashamed of? I don’t think so. A few of my friends have abandoned their gaming systems, either selling their PS2s or Xbox’s to used gaming stores or letting them collect dust in a closet. (Imagine that: Word automatically changed my spelling of “XBox” to “Xbox.” Microsoft really covered their bases.) They tell me they’re not interested anymore; video games are for kids. But other friends still play. Video games have almost always been a part of our lives. Born in the early-‘80s, we’ve grown up and matured alongside the market. We are the “proto culture” sung about by Del Tha Funky Homosapien. Nintendo, Sega, Super Nintendo (my favorite), Sega Genesis, Atari Jaguar, 3DO, PlayStation, N64, Dreamcast… The list goes on and on, and I didn’t even include any of the handheld systems (I only had a GameBoy when I was a kid). Even though we only play once or twice a week, like me, video games will likely remain a part of our lives far into the future.

Now then: which team should I be and who should I play?

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