The Madden Curse

I'm finally back on my blog after being away in India for a month and being swamped by deadlines on returning. In the meanwhile, India got thrashed in Malaysia and USA got wallopped by Europe in the Ryder Cup. And, oh, the biggest news of course was that Michael Schumacher finally decided to retire. The dark ages of F1 are finally over!

The new NBA season is still a month away, and I haven't taken to baseball with as much passion yet. So, for now, all my attention is directed towards happenings in the NFL. The Steelers, the defending champions, have got off to a sluggish start and yet they have the quiet confidence that things will turn around for them once Roethlisberger recovers completely from the physical and emotional injuries inflicted by his infamous bike accident during the summer and his recent appendectomy. On the other hand, the Seahawks, the Steelers' opponents in last year's Super Bowl, have got off to a 3-0 start to their season. But, they too are beset with injury problems at the moment. Last season's MVP Shawn Alexander will not be able to play for the Seahawks for another few weeks atleast due to a foot injury. The popular reason going around for his injury is quite comical! EA Sports releases a new version of the computer game Madden NFL every year (for the uninformed, John Madden is a football legend; in the Pro Hall of Fame for his coaching of the Oakland Raiders and winner of several Emmys for his commentary over the past three decades). Every year EA Sports chooses one of the stars from the previous season to feature on the cover of the game's CD. The urban legend going around is that the guy featured on the cover of Madden NFL is cursed. Over the past six seasons, the player featured on the cover has been injured. So, everyone believes it's Shawn Alexander's turn now :) Amazing!