by MaddenWife

Every year I yell, "It's August, you've been playing that same stupid game for a year now, haven't you beat it yet?" You may laugh but even I know they haven't updated the online rosters for the last 6 to 8 months, yet he still has about 20-25 guys on his stupid friends list and visits his site www.maddenwars.com and mymaddenpad.com like its some kind of cult. Whenever I ask to use the computer, I have to wait until he finishes reading the latest Madden article on IGN or some other gaming site. It has gotten to the point where I have gone out to IGN and printed out articles for him to read just so I get a chance to use the computer. The homepage is set to the Madden Wars site, we have Madden cups, Madden T-shirts, Madden posters, he even has a room full of his Madden trophies from an off-line league, and has even marked up his 6 year old son with a Madden logo on his left arm; it took me hours scrubbing that thing off.

My husband and his 4 best friends every year plot to see what store they are going to go to at Midnight to get the game early. They have it reserved at some other store but if they are not going to release the game early they pick it up from another place that is. They have sat out in the rain for 6 straight hours trying to pick up Madden early, come home and played till the next evening and had colds the next day. It wasn't like they were going to work anyways, because they took 2 days off; which is just ridiculous in and of itself. "The game is going to be here when you get off of work you know", I always say, but who am I kidding; he's taking it to work to play on his lunch break anyways.

A couple of years ago the Madden release date was on my birthday and he was throwing a big time party; he called a DJ, made all these arrangements for people to arrive, plan to do it big time. I was so excited. Too bad the party wasn't for me; it was for the local game store where 300+ crazy Madden fans came to pick up their game at Midnight. All I got was a watch, a kiss, and a 3:00 dinner. Madden got a DJ, 300+ guests, contests, Madden T-shirts, and had my husband out until 3:00 in the morning. I often refer to Madden as his other woman or his mistress.  This past August he insisted on going to the MaddenPalooza that was out in California and miss my birthday again.  He made up for it but it would have saved him a lot of grief if he would have stayed home.  He's addicted.

Well it's September now and you would have thought that the game came out a week ago with the amount of games he's been playing. He plays at least 4 games a day. I wake up to go to work and he wakes up a whole hour earlier than he has to just to get a game in before he goes to work. And don't let him lose that game, he will probably be late for work, because as he tells me "Who wants to go to work on a loss." It's pathetic sometimes, but what you gonna do. I support him because that's what he likes to do. Sometimes I must admit that I have threaten to run over his copy if he doesn't do something I ask but he would probably not even blink, go to gamestop and buy another copy ... Just ridiculous.

I always wonder if other women are going through the same thing with their husbands or boyfriends. I look at their angry red eyes at the grocery store when I walk by, can tell by the way their mouth quivers when they speak to me at the library. The way their voice bellows when they scream out "I hate Madden!". I sympathize with them and tell them I hate it too ...... but it was the only clean T-shirt I had.

- MaddenWife

Guys, if you have a girlfriend or wife that puts up with you and your Madden addiction, show them some love. If they have a story they would like to share, please have them sign up here and send it to me ... I think I need to start a group or something.