Thank you, Brad Slatton

Thank you, Brad Slatton. How long has it been, now? About ten years since you introduced me to the college football video game? I was perfectly content in my own little world of watching TV and surfing the internet. But, you had to broaden my entertainment horizons. You had to show me what was all the rage. You had to stick that plastic controller in my hand, slip a DVD into your game console and expose my eyes and mind to a world I never knew existed. You watched and grinned as I was immediately sucked into that world. You knew I would never escape it. There was no way I would ever find my way out of that maze's magical mixture of fantasy, reality and football. You knew I was hooked. Now, I sit here a decade later, wasting another hour of my rapidly evaporating puddle of life, recruiting two-star athletes to join my pitiful Arkansas State program. Oh, it'll take awhile but I'll turn the Red Wolves into national champions. The same way I built Hawaii and Army and Arizona State (love those black uniforms). And when I do and the game asks me if I want to save the National Championship trophy, I'll click "yes." I always save the first one. And, I'll feel a smidgen of accomplishment even though I know it's a game. It's not real. It isn't bettering me or the world around me. That's when the guilt sets in and I turn the game off, set the controller to the side and vow to grow the hell up and stop wasting time. A few weeks later, sometimes even a couple months will pass but, at some point, a storm will knock out my satellite dish or I'll forget to pay my internet bill. And, I'll hear my controller whispering to me. "All I need is electricity and your attention," it says. It summons me back and I obey it's call. I always come back to that dark world. I have Brad Slatton to thank for showing me that dark side. And, if I ever have the opportunity to see him again in a one-on-one, man-on-man confrontation, I'm going to do to him what I should've done ten years ago. I'm going to put a controller in his hand, sit him down on the couch and then we're going to play two games. I'm going to take my team and beat him. Then, I'll take his team and beat him. In the real world, playing games, especially at our ages, are a waste of time. But, in that dark world, games are only a waste of time if you lose. And, thanks to Brad Slatton and EA Sports, all I need is an hour and electricity, and I'm a winner.