Thumb Wars
Laurie Button
Wednesday February 15, 2006
Coincidence? I think not.
With the Crush’s beloved quarterback John Dutton on the cover, there was no question that the video game was destined to become an instant crowd favorite in Colorado. Weeks before the game hit store shelves, the buzz among Crush fans began to intensify. Plans were made to go head-to-head against each other online and tournaments were set up to determine championships.
"I didn’t get to bed until 5 a.m. yesterday, because I was so hooked," said Lew Halboth, president of Club Crush, the Crush’s booster organization.
On the Club Crush message board, Rich McNeilly complained of aching fingers after seven hours of non-stop video action. "Anybody else’s fingers sore? I’ve been playing this thing since 2 o’clock with only one break," McNeilly admitted. "See everyone Sunday," he added, referring to tailgating before the Crush/Gladiator game. "I’ll be the one with his digits bandaged up."
Halboth piqued the curiosity of the Club Crush gamers by sharing one of the game’s secrets with them. "All teams from all 20 seasons are in the game, but you’ll have to figure out how to unlock all those past teams," he explained.
There’s nothing like the challenge of unearthing something that’s hidden from sight. "Four a.m.; I finally pulled myself away at 4 a.m.," said BroncCrushFan during one of his subsequent visits to the club’s message board. "I have about three-quarters of the milestones unlocked."
Not to be left out of the action, my husband, Joel, plugged in our PlayStation 2 last night and exposed his rookie status to the world. Strangely enough, while Joel normally reads instruction manuals only as a last resort, this time he submerged himself into every word of the EA Sports text. Joel even watched "Arena Football 101" not once, but twice and eagerly absorbed the tutorials.
While tucked away in the kitchen cooking, I could hear merciless hits as his quarterback was driven to the carpet behind the line of scrimmage, as well as Joel’s disappointed grunts as passes intended to be touchdowns found their way instead into the opponent’s hands.
In three short seasons we’ve become addicted to the Arena Football League, but I’m not afraid to admit that some of the intricacies of the on-the-field game still elude Joel and me. The terms "Mac linebackers," "Jack linebackers," "illegal twists" and being "outside the box" infractions have all confused us at one time or another. Although narrator rarely stops for a breath during his tutorial explanations, I’m having a great time with the EA Sports game because it’s helping me to finally grasp the more unique rules of the indoor game.
Unfortunately, however, I haven’t been able to get the controller out of Joel’s hands long enough to try playing the game myself. So far the only button I’m totally confident I can locate consistently is the one you press for a time out. To be honest, "Frogger" is about the only video adventure I’ve ever really mastered, but that won’t stop me now. The fact that I made Joel buy John Madden’s NFL PlayStation game last year and there’s yet to be a final score recorded shouldn’t impede my determination this time around. Unfortunately, BroncCrushFan has proclaimed he feels Arena Football 2006 is much more difficult than any of the Madden games on the market. Shucks. This self-proclaimed novice may be in for a bigger challenge than she had hoped.
In any case: Watch out, John Madden. There’s a new game in town and it just might infect every person daring to put his or her thumbs to the plastic. I’m up to the challenge. How about you?
Laurie Button worked fulltime as a writer for more than a decade, but she's been a football fan all of her life. Having left the newspaper life behind, Laurie now spends her days as a public works department office manager in Estes Park, Colorado. Her nights and weekends, however, revolve around the Colorado Crush and the team's booster organization, Club Crush. Laurie serves on the club's board of directors and is also responsible for writing and designing the organization's newsletter.
