I'm still sifting through the thousands (and I mean thousands!) of responses my Madden wishlist/2K Legends article generated. I will try to get your responses to that later this week/early next week as every five minutes I seem to get another brilliant feature from a loyal reader (EA should use these responses to fill any vacant positions). Until then, here's what else the readers of IGN Sports have on their minds…

Madden Cover Response

This was just in response to your factors about determining the cover athlete for the Madden Cover. For one, it usually has to have someone that had a relatively monster season the previous year. Also, no matter how marketable (and appealing) the rookies are this year, they haven't gone in that direction before and I don't see them changing that next year (that eliminates Bush, Hester, etc). I do agree with your "Melo Factor" but you have to realize EA is all about pleasing the "urban" populous and therefore they usually want to use a player that best relates to that market. Question: have you seen a white player on the cover yet? No? I'm not calling anyone racist here nor am I a racist myself, but I feel that EA thinks that having an "ethnic" player with some "street cred" will help sell more games. I remember reading this article somewhere before a year or 2 ago (maybe on you guys site) about that theory and I for one have to agree with it. I do agree that the feature factor does have a direct correlation to the potential new feature(s) but what new position-inspired features do we really "need"? If EA really is feeling heat from a possible return of 2k sports to the market, why not concentrate on improving they shoddy workmanship as of late instead of adding more crap to the mess. EA may be lazy as of late, but I refuse to believe they are stupid. I mean hey, they seem to be taking all of our money as of late. Thanks for letting me sound off about this...

Tim

To be honest, does anyone buy a sports game because of who is on the cover? It's always fun to theorize, but EA knows the math. They've done countless surveys, and the truth is they could throw Zach Crockett on the cover and it wouldn't matter. Madden is Madden and at this point, five million people are going to buy it no matter what. I think LT is the clear-cut favorite for next year's cover, but never count out guys like Peyton Manning (seems like he's every NFL commercial possible) or even someone like Carson Palmer who I know EA loves from his days on the cover of NCAA Football. I don't buy into the race factor. John Madden was on the cover of his own game for years, and it didn't hurt the game's status in the urban market one bit.

Rookie of the Year

I know you're a big Lo-Mo fan, but now that he's hurt, who is your choice for Rookie of the Year?

Joe-T

The 2006 NFL Draft might be remembered like the 2003 NBA Draft, only with Mario Williams playing the role of Darko. Think about how many immediate impact rookies there are this year: Reggie Bush, Vince Young, Maurice Jones-Drew, Devin Hester…the list just seems to go on and on. To be honest, I'm a huge Vince Young fan. Some guys are just natural leaders out there, and to see his game-winning run and celebration against Houston was one of the most memorable moments of the entire season. Just think, if the Titans start Young from Week 1, are they in the playoff hunt right now? I vote Vince first, Reggie second, Maurice Jones-Drew third, but it seems like every week, I change my mind. Should be a great end of the season as these three battle it out.

The Answer

As the man Golden State of Mind once wrote should be the next GM of the Warriors, what do you think of the prospects of the team trading for AI?

A die-hard Warriors fan like you, Paul

I'm still waiting for the team to call and offer me the job, but until they get around to picking up the phone, I'm all for the trade as long as it doesn't involve giving up Monta Ellis. If the Warriors can trade Baron and one of their contracts (Dunleavy, Foyle or Murphy), I say pull the trigger. If they need to throw in Ellis as well to get it done, I'm not so sure. I really believe Ellis is the future, and I'd hate to see him go. I think AI's best fit is out in Minnesota. Iverson and KG would compliment each other perfectly. I don't know if the T-Wolves have any players the Sixers covet or the contracts to make it work, but I'd love to see KG and AI make a charge toward the playoffs, even if that means another losing season out in Golden State. What can I say, I'm used to it.

Live Curse

T-Mac is out indefinitely with back problems. NBA Live curse?

Dave

I think it's the gamble EA took when signing him to a contract. With T-Mac's track record, you might as well sign Grant Hill to be on the cover. I don't think Dwyane Wade was complaining about any Live curse last year. In fact, Wade was the first cover guy I can remember who won a championship while being on the cover of a videogame. Am I right? I tried looking this up, closest I got was Favre on the cover of Quarterback Club then losing the Super Bowl to the Broncos. The year the Packers won the Super Bowl, Marino was on the cover. I sure do remember a lot of useless information.