One of my first posts here was who we should slap with the next Madden Curse. It's time to take a look and see what happened with those folks, none of which made the Madden cover.
(First, I'm not going to link the original article in this post. There are like four posts on the entire blog. Scroll down.)
(Second, I'm not going to research who was on the 2008 cover. I think it was Vince Young. I don't care enough about him to discuss that, at least for now.)
Al Davis: Still alive. Still ruining the Raiders. Only the alive part is unfortunate, but if it means the Raiders still stink, I'm fine with that.
Peyton Manning: Won a Super Bowl! I should have said as much before now. Definitely not touched by the Madden Curse.
Terrell Owens: Hard to say here. Definitely not Madden Curse-esque, but perhaps a slowly unfolding disaster, like getting him within sight of the Lombardi Trophy only to continually fall short. That sort of thing can cause long term psychological damage. Perhaps the Madden Curse is more powerful than we think.
The East Coast Bias: Stronger than ever, no thanks to the Rockies. Enjoyed a brief hiatus during an Indy/Chicago Super Bowl, but rebounded quickly.
Golf: Same as ever. Tiger is still dominating, but I would rather him pitch or return kickoffs for touchdowns than have to endure golf just because that's the sport at which he chose to excel.
Tom Cruise: Analysis here will be awful, as I don't follow this sort of sludge. But I don't remember the last movie he was in--did the Samurai movie come out before or after War of the Worlds? I didn't see either of them. Based on grocery store tabloid covers, Katie Holmes appears to be doing OK, but that's all relative to how badly everyone else seems to be doing (and perhaps Cruise as well, only hiding behind the moderate success (read: no significant drug/eating disorder YET) of his... baby's mama (I don't know the status of their relationship beyond that)). On a final note, he definitely used his clout to get her a role in that awful concept of a film "Mad Money." My only question is why Queen Latifah got involved--we know Diane Keaton is spending money in droves trying to look 55 instead of 95. Isn't "Mad Money" a direct-to-video release that should star Steve Guttenberg's and Ted Danson's daughters?
(Why did I spend so much webspace on that?)
Steve Smith: Not doing so well. The Panthers didn't look good and don't seem to be getting any better soon. I feel bad; I wanted him to break the curse, not suffer for no good reason.
Randy Moss: Career turnaround with the Patriots. This is funny only because it shows how Terrell Owens is not as good, which is awful on so many levels. Both of them cause drama, but T.O. works hard and Moss doesn't. While Moss was with the Raiders, the notion that "hard work pays off" was absolutely true. Maybe this is still true--Moss arguably worked hard in New England--but the reward for taking a two-year vacation in Oakland shouldn't be flirting with an undefeated season. I'm not making sense with a lot of this, but try to focus on the fact that T.O. works and Moss didn't/doesn't, and one of them is (arguably) in a much better situation, when perhaps they should be flipflopped.
Houston Texans: (sigh) Are they getting better? I like Kubiak, but I'd much rather him be back in Denver when we were winning and at least making the playoffs. Still, I hope his team turns things around, because I like the guy.
Priest Holmes: Done. Huge bummer. But I don't care too much for KC or it's RB and coach, so whatever. Lamar Hunt deserved better than those two.
Jamal Lewis: I have a lot more respect for the guy now that he's in Cleveland. I'm not really sure why. I'm even ashamed of the things I wrote in the original post. I'm not thrilled that he diminished 2000, but I can't really blame that on him (I can blame it on Cleveland). Anyway, he's definitely turned it around in a good way.
Well, that's the breakdown. Not very informative. But hey, you get what you pay for.
(First, I'm not going to link the original article in this post. There are like four posts on the entire blog. Scroll down.)
(Second, I'm not going to research who was on the 2008 cover. I think it was Vince Young. I don't care enough about him to discuss that, at least for now.)
Al Davis: Still alive. Still ruining the Raiders. Only the alive part is unfortunate, but if it means the Raiders still stink, I'm fine with that.
Peyton Manning: Won a Super Bowl! I should have said as much before now. Definitely not touched by the Madden Curse.
Terrell Owens: Hard to say here. Definitely not Madden Curse-esque, but perhaps a slowly unfolding disaster, like getting him within sight of the Lombardi Trophy only to continually fall short. That sort of thing can cause long term psychological damage. Perhaps the Madden Curse is more powerful than we think.
The East Coast Bias: Stronger than ever, no thanks to the Rockies. Enjoyed a brief hiatus during an Indy/Chicago Super Bowl, but rebounded quickly.
Golf: Same as ever. Tiger is still dominating, but I would rather him pitch or return kickoffs for touchdowns than have to endure golf just because that's the sport at which he chose to excel.
Tom Cruise: Analysis here will be awful, as I don't follow this sort of sludge. But I don't remember the last movie he was in--did the Samurai movie come out before or after War of the Worlds? I didn't see either of them. Based on grocery store tabloid covers, Katie Holmes appears to be doing OK, but that's all relative to how badly everyone else seems to be doing (and perhaps Cruise as well, only hiding behind the moderate success (read: no significant drug/eating disorder YET) of his... baby's mama (I don't know the status of their relationship beyond that)). On a final note, he definitely used his clout to get her a role in that awful concept of a film "Mad Money." My only question is why Queen Latifah got involved--we know Diane Keaton is spending money in droves trying to look 55 instead of 95. Isn't "Mad Money" a direct-to-video release that should star Steve Guttenberg's and Ted Danson's daughters?
(Why did I spend so much webspace on that?)
Steve Smith: Not doing so well. The Panthers didn't look good and don't seem to be getting any better soon. I feel bad; I wanted him to break the curse, not suffer for no good reason.
Randy Moss: Career turnaround with the Patriots. This is funny only because it shows how Terrell Owens is not as good, which is awful on so many levels. Both of them cause drama, but T.O. works hard and Moss doesn't. While Moss was with the Raiders, the notion that "hard work pays off" was absolutely true. Maybe this is still true--Moss arguably worked hard in New England--but the reward for taking a two-year vacation in Oakland shouldn't be flirting with an undefeated season. I'm not making sense with a lot of this, but try to focus on the fact that T.O. works and Moss didn't/doesn't, and one of them is (arguably) in a much better situation, when perhaps they should be flipflopped.
Houston Texans: (sigh) Are they getting better? I like Kubiak, but I'd much rather him be back in Denver when we were winning and at least making the playoffs. Still, I hope his team turns things around, because I like the guy.
Priest Holmes: Done. Huge bummer. But I don't care too much for KC or it's RB and coach, so whatever. Lamar Hunt deserved better than those two.
Jamal Lewis: I have a lot more respect for the guy now that he's in Cleveland. I'm not really sure why. I'm even ashamed of the things I wrote in the original post. I'm not thrilled that he diminished 2000, but I can't really blame that on him (I can blame it on Cleveland). Anyway, he's definitely turned it around in a good way.
Well, that's the breakdown. Not very informative. But hey, you get what you pay for.
