A Madden-ing day indeed

Are you telling me this screen grab of soon-to-be injured coverboy Shaun Alexander from the new "Madden NFL '07" doesn't look kinda creepy? What's going on with the latest, greatest game on earth, which hits the stores TODAY, FINALLY, TODAY amidst more hoopla than Terrell Owens taking a shower with some "Desperate Housewives" skank?

From what the kids tell us, here's the new, improved stuff on the '07 game:
-- Players can step up as the lead blocker to create a hole and then take control of the tailback and smash through, overpower, or slash away from would-be tacklers as they fight for every yard.
-- New rushing controls give a game-breaking ground attack featuring all-new jukes, cutbacks and the distinct running styles of the league’s favorite backs.
-- New modes include NFL Superstar: Hall of Fame mode, Run Like the Players Run with the Highlight stick, plus things added to the Franchise mode, Team-Specific Defensive Playbooks and Online Play.

And to think, I was once just happy to have a Farrah Fawcett poster on the wall above my bed.

Meanwhile, EA Sports, which boasts in its latest press release of posting revenue of $2.95 billion in fiscal 2006 and owning 27 titles that sold more than one million copies, has already mapped the fifth annual Madden Challenge, under the assumption that it will crown the "best player of Madden NFL 07."

There are 31 regional competitions -- including five out of the U.S. --if your'e yearning to win them all. Each regional winner gets $1,000, and the grand champion wins a prize package that includes $100,000. Last year, 73,000 idiots attended and 16,000 competed, with someone named Jarvis Thomas of Maryland winning in Honolulu.
Here's the upcoming schedule: