From the Vault #6 Blitz: The League (PS2) – [2022 Archive]

From the Vault is our series where we revisit and re-release older episodes from the podcast archive. This episode was originally recorded in 2022 and is now making its return from the vault.

In this episode, Tanner, Carter, and Jerad revisit Blitz: The League—breaking down its over-the-top take on football, the campaign mode, and how it stood apart from other sports games at the time. They also get into what made it memorable years later, and whether it still holds up.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Welcome back, everybody, the season four, episode three. Today we're gonna be talking about Blitz the League. This is our first ever sports game. This was sent to us by Brandon Brewster, my cousin. This is the first community winner to win twice in a row. So, Brandon, I this was definitely an improvement from that god-awful Jet Lee Rise honor. So thank you for stepping it up. Let's go ahead and jump into uh the football before we get into the Blitz. So you two are the fucking sports fanatics. I stated previously I'm not a sports guy, never have been. I was wanting to get into what got you all into football in the first place, like your love for it, where did it come about? Uh what's your guys' favorite teams? Like what positions did you all play in high school? Like let's do let's dive into it here. So, Carter, let's start with you. Like, what how did your love of football come about?

SPEAKER_03 0:51

Um, I just remember watching it as a kid with my dad. The first football game I ever watched was an Oakland Raiders game, and their quarterback was a guy named Jeff Hostettler, and he was a quarterback at WU and WU guy. Yeah, yeah. So I thought that was badass because I watched uh or I I thought you know it was WVU's team, right? Which I hadn't even watched a WVU game yet. This was like literally my first ever experience watching a football game. So I thought it was cool that he went to WVU, and then uh a few weeks later I remember uh we were watching a WVU game, and then that's when I started watching WVU play. But but yeah, so my whole experience becoming a Raiders fan and everything was literally the first game I ever watched was uh Jeff Hostetler, quarterback of the Raiders. They lost the game, but I was like, man, they're all where they're wearing pitch black. I was like a third team with badass. Uh they got a WU quarterback. I was like sold, 100% sold.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Yeah, I'm fascinated how people get their teams, you know, because usually it's from the dad, because I'm pretty sure, not to even spoil your story, Dare, but I'm pretty sure that's how you got your favorite team was from your dad. But for someone like me, my dad's not a sports guy, and the state I'm from doesn't have an NFL team, West Virginia. So I'm always fascinated how do people get these teams and how do they get so connected to them? Like, if you're not even from that state, why are you so loving that? And I love hearing how people get into it in the first place. So, Jerry, like, how did you get into your team? Which if anyone knows you, they know what team it is.

SPEAKER_04 2:10

My team is like WVU as far as college goes, because I'm you know here in the world. From West Virginia, yeah. And and Marshall, too. I'm not one of these guys that likes one. Like, I guess I like WVU a little bit better, but like I'm not one that like hates the other one because of that. But anyway, my pro team, yeah. My pro team is the Cowboys for sure. And the reason that we're into the Cowboys, I don't know if I've ever told you all this or not. My grandpa in like the maybe late 50s, early 60s, grandpa cook moved out to New Mexico to work in, I believe it was a potash mine or some type of mines out there. He told me like within his last few years of living, I'd go and just sit with him and talk with him. But like the Dallas Cowboys were the only thing on TV out there at certain times. So that's all he would watch is the Cowboys when he lived out west, and they ended up moving back to West Virginia in like the late 60s. But like because they were out there and you know, he just became a fan of them, and then all the cooks were like huge Cowboys fans. Yeah. So that's that's how I really got into being a Cowboys fan. But as far as the other stuff you asked, is playing football. Carter and I started in the eighth grade, and that's as early as you could start when we were.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Are you serious?

SPEAKER_04 3:26

Yeah, they had no youth league.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

And when I was at my school, you could start in third grade.

SPEAKER_04 3:31

I mean, my kids now they played at kinder they start in kindergarten. And even I thought Owen may have been in preschool his first year. I can't remember, maybe it was kindergarten in first grade. So we s me and Carter started in eighth grade, and I remember not knowing what the hell I was doing. I just knew that my dad liked football. And that's when that was his last year of him like still living, was my first year ever playing football. So I was like, I you know, I sucked at baseball as a little kid. I sucked at basketball. I said, I'm really gonna like learn how to be a football player. And you know, eventually I got okay, but that first year was rough. I was a little sissy out there on the football field. Well, what position what uh did you play? That first year they put me, we it was old school football. We had like an old school coach who just wanted to run the ball, like pound the ball. They put me at tight end, even though I was like a little guy. But like eventually, once we went to high school, they learned like, hey, let's you know, the offense got a little bit more complex, I guess, and they're like, let's put this kid at receiver because he can run a little bit and catch every now and then. So right.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Yeah, I've always known you as a receiver. I didn't even know about the tight end thing. There's one memory I have whenever you were probably a junior or a senior that is so funny. This is how dumb I was as a kid, like as naive with sports. I remember sitting in your room watching you play Madden, right? And you was playing as the Cowboys and all that, and I remember asking you, I was like, So, Jared, like after you get out of college, are you gonna try to play for the Cowboys?

SPEAKER_04 5:00

Like, yeah, I fucking wish, Tanner.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Dead serious and you looked at me and laughed, and you're like, Man, I don't think I'm that good, Tanner. I mean, I'm I'm not bad. I'm a I'm a decent like for where I'm at, but I'm not that good. I thought it was that easy. Like, once you get out of college, you just go to a team that you want.

SPEAKER_04 5:18

Yeah, I think that like most little kids think that. I can remember us playing like little eighth grade West Virginia football. And me not even being that good. I'm not like I'm not doing any fucking thing for the team, but me thinking like, yeah, I guess I'll probably play for WVU like after all this shit. Like, I mean, you just that's that's a that's a classic little kid's mindset. It's just like like even my kids now, they're thinking, like, I don't know if I want to play for the Chiefs or the Cowboys once I get to be an adult.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

But it's like that fantasy whenever you're a kid.

SPEAKER_04 5:50

Yeah, you just think it's that easy, like just because you want to, you can do it.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Yeah, because I'm so jealous of of you, Carter and Jeff. Like, I want to be in the sports. I want to be in your all's fantasy football uh stuff because I see you all having so much fun with it. And even my other group of friends here in Tennessee, like my cousins Corey and Brandon, and the one who chose this game, they're all huge in the sports, and I'm just kind of that like guy who's sitting there, don't know what they're talking about, could care less about what they're talking about, but I want to care. So I remember playing, I think it was Madden 19, and I was doing the career mode. I'm like, I'm I was doing the draft, and I was like, whatever team I get drafted to, this is my team. Because I've never had a team, I've never cared. So I'm like, if whatever I'm in, that is my fucking team. From that, I'm gonna be that dedicated. And it ended up getting the Saints. So I I'm pretty sure it's one of Jeff's favorite teams, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 6:38

Yeah, Jeff likes the Saints. I mean, he said he named his kid after their quarterback, so he should have.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Oh, okay. I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_04 6:45

Wow. Taysom is named after Taysom Hill, which is, I guess, technically a quarterback, but basically this like just hellacious utility player that plays every position.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Oh, damn. Okay. So immediately whenever I got on the Saints, I went out and bought a t-shirt of the Saints, and I have one in my closet of just the Saints t-shirt. I still don't watch football hardly ever. Mainly just Super Bowl stuff, but yeah, that's my team. It's the Saints.

SPEAKER_04 7:08

Well, it takes a while, and like what Carter was saying, like him sitting down and and like watching a game with his dad. I like totally rejected that shit. Like, you know, people would ask me in school, like, who's your favorite team? And I'd say the Dallas Cowboys. I think even my second grade picture is me in like a Dallas Cowboys shirt, like school picture. Yeah. But like, I didn't pay attention to that shit. I can remember the year I got into football and I was like, holy shit. Like, I started watching the NFL and I was like, this shit is fucking awesome. Like I was watching and rooting for teams. It was when I turned like 13. I don't know if it takes that age. I'm sure there's younger kids that kind of get into it, but it's like I understand the game and like I'm watching it like from an entertainment point of view. Like, like this is fucking awesome. Like the NFL. Like I was 13 years old and I watched the Dallas Cowboys. They were like subpar that year. I remember the I think the Patriots won the Super Bowl that year. It was 2003. Most likely. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You can just say that and probably be kind of right in my and Carter's age range. I think they played the Panthers, maybe made it from the NFC. Or the Packers, maybe. I th I want to say it was 2003, like the regular season, so it'd have been the 2004 Super Bowl. I remember the next year was the Patriots versus the Eagles, but this year, I want to say for some reason was the Panthers versus the Patriots. I can't remember. The Patriots won either way. That's the first season. Like I watched every Dallas Cowboy game that I could. That's that's also the year, I mean, not to bring like down to the podcast, but like my dad passed away that same year. And ever since then, I've watched the Cowboys 100% consistently, kind of just like, you know, in memory of him to keep that going.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I I want you all to talk a little bit about your fantasy football thing because that is so hilarious. If anyone wants to fucking die laughing, go to Jared's Facebook. Well, God, I don't know if you want people going to your Facebook, but there are hilarious live streams of how serious Jared will get into this. So he does these like presentations, he wears a suit, he gets that was just this past year's draft.

SPEAKER_04 9:22

I wore like a little suit that I have, which is kind of outdated. Like some people were ragging on me. They were like, damn, are you Pastor Cook? Like, because like the suits like from the early 2000s. But like that's the only suit I got. But anyway, like, yeah, I did the whole draft in person, and me, Carter, there's tons of people. Our producer Jeff's in the league. It's a damn good league. I begged Tanner to get into it for years.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

Next year, or what when is it? Wait, like when are they doing that again?

SPEAKER_04 9:50

Every year that football starts. If we have an open spot, I'll try to get you in, Tanner. You just draft your players. I'll even pay for your fucking seat in the league, and any money you win is yours.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

All right. I'm in. It's on record now. People can hear it. I'm in.

SPEAKER_04 10:05

We got to get an open seat first because we got 12 guys that are committed and they don't want to agree to a 14-man league.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Okay, that's fair enough. I mean, if he can come back there for whatever reason, I'm in.

SPEAKER_04 10:15

Okay, well, Josh Co is in front of you, but yeah, you're next.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Well, what what is the thing? If whoever's in last place in your league, what is the uh thing they gotta do? Because it there's a there's a stipulation if you're the loser, correct?

SPEAKER_04 10:29

Right. The winner's been fucking Jeff Elkins, the producer, every every fucking year that we've had this league. And you all think that we just suck, but we're really fucking trying. And like Jeff lucks his fucking shit ass way into a win four years in a row since we started this league. But anyway, at the beginning of our season, we always vote on like a little loser challenge, and this year was to run a 5k in the winner's choice of outfit. And unfortunately, the loser might be on this podcast right now. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 11:03

Oh man. And he's not the one who started 0-10 on this podcast either. That's the truth.

SPEAKER_04 11:10

I started fucking 0 and 10. Every pick I made this year blew up in my face. But like I just kept at it. I was like, we're gonna finish strong. I think I finished like six and two as opposed to 0 and 9 or 0 and 10 at the beginning of the year. But poor Carter got in the loser bracket, maybe as like the the one, like what what seed were you going in there? Like kind of high. Yeah, that's what I thought. You you were like, what, eighth out of twelve or ninth out of nine, ten, eleven?

SPEAKER_03 11:41

I think I was ninth out of twelve, and there's the last four plays in it.

SPEAKER_04 11:44

So all you gotta do is once you get in the loser bracket, there's four guys in there. All you gotta do is win one of the two games you're gonna play in, and you won't be the overall loser. Win one of two at the end. And luckily I won that first week, and I was like, phew, thank God that I don't have to run this fucking 5k right in the middle of Oceanas Town where we live in Jeff Elkins' choice of outfit, because you already knew Jeff was winning. You could look at his team and think, how the fuck did he know to take it?

SPEAKER_01 12:15

Real quick, what makes him win five fucking times in a row? How is he that good? Is he just have a genius knowledge of football? Like, how is that possible?

SPEAKER_04 12:24

Hopefully, if if I change my ways and pass away and get up to heaven and talk to God about it, maybe I'll learn because I don't fucking know.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

That's incredible. Like, honestly, like I don't know nothing about football, so I don't really know it is incredible because you think four wins in a row.

SPEAKER_04 12:39

I mean, even the fucking Patriots and shit, like have never done that, but four wins in a row of a group of people that's trying.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

I mean they're all out for him. They everyone's banding together. It's insane.

SPEAKER_04 12:52

That was the theme of this year after he won three times in a row. We're like, it it's like the Avengers against fucking Thanos here. We gotta stick together, don't make any bullshit trades with his ass. Like just just fucking let's beat Jeff. And we still couldn't do it.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

That I think that's what held me back from joining him was I don't want to fucking run in a damn whatever outfit, um, a fucking toad outfit and a diaper. I don't want to do that. But anyway, speaking of the of the costume, because I don't know if for people who don't know, Carter was in the Navy, it was seeming like he was gonna have to run in his like sailor suit from back then. But I think uh didn't he say that he was gonna pick Sailor Moon?

SPEAKER_04 13:31

He goes back and forth. Who who the hell knows about Jeff?

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Yeah, but yeah, I mean, God, we we've been talking about this forever, but I mean, hopefully football fans have an interest in this. But Blitz League. Now, did you guys play this whenever it came out uh in 2005, or was this your first time playing this game?

SPEAKER_03 13:47

This is my first time playing this game. Um, or no, I might have played it at Jared's before back in the day because it seemed vaguely familiar. Yeah, but I definitely did not own it growing up.

SPEAKER_04 13:56

Apparently, like throughout this whole you know week or two of playing, I learned that I did have this game after ordering it on eBay. So yeah, yeah, yeah. So like I've had this game the whole time and didn't know it. I honestly like I I didn't remember playing it, but I definitely remember it playing once we started. I thought for some reason I only had the like updated version on PS3 and Xbox 360. Yep. I don't re I didn't really remember this until we started, and I was like, oh shit, this is the one that I was so into.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

Because it did have a sequel, and that was the last one they ever did. It's Blitz League 2. And it was on the 360 and PS3 and all that. So yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:38

There's like just plain old fucking Blitz, and then there's like Blitz 2000, if I'm not mistaken. I might be way off.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

Well, yeah, because I I I was doing a little bit of research and I actually have the Wikipedia article pulled up right now, and the top thing it says it says since midway games no longer had an NFL license, Blitz the League focuses on a fictional league consisting of 18 teams.

SPEAKER_04 14:57

So right, right. And I think that helped the game. Like I was gonna mention that in my little spill on it, but like, so I had the old school blitz, just blitz, that's all it was called, I think. And it it was it was probably around 96, 97, 98. I didn't look anything up, so I'm just giving that range. But it it had the NFL licensing, and back then, Carter can tell you there were tons of games that had the rights to the NFL and like would spit out you know, NFL teams with NFL rosters. Remember, but like, you know, eventually Madden got, I guess, maybe a little greedy or scared and bought bought out the rights after Carter and mine's favorite game ever. 2K5. 2K5, baby, with Terrell Owens on the fucking cover catching that one-handed pass.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

Well, 2K5 came out and it was brand new for 20 bucks, so it's sitting right beside Madden using just a random Madden for 50 or ESPN 2K5 for 20.

SPEAKER_04 15:56

You can get you can get Dollar Store uh Dollar Tree even fucking uh quality Madden, or you can get fucking the superior product for 20.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

I know this is about blitz, but quickly, like what makes that game so damn good? Like what what made it that amazing?

SPEAKER_04 16:15

2K5 is still a good game today. Just just everything, man. 2K had Madden beat. The only thing Madden 05 has over 2K5 is the hit stick. Madden 05 brought in the hit stick that year that like kind of helped it out. But as far as the mechanics, the graphics, the players' movements and animations go, 2K5. Even if if you would take Madden, let's say 2008 and compare it to 2K5, I'd still be like, okay, this 2K5 game gets a better rating or or more better quality. Yeah, like it's crazy and how good of a game that is compared to Madden and like, you know, Madden had Madden had the money, I guess, so they're like, fuck this, we're gonna get our asses beat. Let's let's buy out the NFL right now so this 2K can't survive.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

People nowadays hate Madden. They're like they they think that it's like a shell of its former self and it's greedy lootbox shit. It is, and that's EA for you.

SPEAKER_04 17:16

But going back to that, like I had that original Madden and it was it, you know, '97. But all I can remember, like throughout this whole thing, thinking about the old school Madden, is I can just I'd always pick the Cowboys, of course. And like I said, it's probably 1996, 97. All I can hear in my memory is the announcer. Like when I'd go back, I'd always run the same play called the Bomb, and it would be like, from Aikman to Irvin, because all I would do was throw from Troy Aikman to Michael Irvin every time. But so this game, like if you started playing this game and you had played the old school blitz, it's kind of familiar. Like it's eight-on eight football, quick pace, 30-yard first down instead of 10-yard first down, and just huge hits and like hitting people after the play and just crazy you know stuff going on.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

So that's so those old school ones, like the one on the N64, it was just as because we'll get into this in the review portion, it was just as violent as this game is.

SPEAKER_04 18:15

I guess this game with the the upgraded graphics and just capabilities of the PS2 versus the PS1, like you're fucking punching people in the face and like breaking, like showing the X-rays of like their bones cracking and shit. That that didn't happen on the PS1. You'd just be able, like, let's say, like, after you tackle somebody, you could take your guy and fucking like hit them again after on PS1. This game takes that shit into accountability, and like you're playing, let's say, a season mode, you might get them out for the year. The PS1 game did not have that going on, like full season modes. It's basically a good arcade game, which it has an awesome arcade machine as well that I I would love to have in my house. Like, could you imagine that, Carter? Like me, you, Jeff, and I don't know, even Tanner or my Uncle John come up and drink some beers and play fucking Madden 97 or Madden fuck Blitz 97 on an arcade machine, four-player arcade machine. That'd be some shit.

SPEAKER_03 19:13

That'd be kick ass, man.

SPEAKER_04 19:14

Fuck cart DUI.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

Well, yeah, I mean, with that, man, I mean, let's get into it. Let's talk about what makes Blitz so different from like modern day football. Let's like get into it here. All right, my literally the sentence in my head whenever I was thinking about Blitz, it's like football, but if there was no penalties and no referees, it's just like all bets are off, you can do whatever the fuck you want to do. And I and and like you said, this game is way faster paced than uh any other football game. I could definitely feel that. I'm pretty sure the quarters were what, two minutes long?

SPEAKER_04 19:51

Yeah, it shifted to scored quick.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

But the thing is, like I said, I don't like sports. Football games are by far my favorite sports games. I hate basketball games. Baseball games are cool. I like baseball games, but I I do not like basketball games. But football games I like because I feel like even someone like me, like obviously I'm gonna be worse than you at a Madden game, but I feel like I have a a chance of beating you in a Madden game.

SPEAKER_04 20:12

Right. This is more arcade-based than simulation based. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Like we were talking about this game, it's just completely like how would you all say it? It's just like crude. It doesn't have any of the rules that NFL has. So it's just like you can literally take someone's helmet off and beat them in the head with it as like an attack or whatever you call it, a block.

SPEAKER_03 20:31

You can juice your players on the field when they break their leg.

unknown 20:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:35

Yeah, yeah. Fuck you. You tore your meniscus. Fuck. Let's shoot that shit up and get back out there in two plays, bitch.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

Exactly. Like you could, yeah, you can even steroid your players and like force them to play after they broke their leg and shit.

SPEAKER_04 20:47

Yeah, I feel I honestly like like this game, like you mentioned, hasn't been made in years and years, and I feel like kind of maybe now it couldn't.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

I don't think so either.

SPEAKER_04 20:57

Not to this level, because I know you all played the campaign mode too, and we should get into like the details of like our team name and shit, because that's funny to me. Oh, yeah. But like you're you're sending like you know, prostitutes to the other teams like hotel so that you can get an advantage and drop their stamina down by 10 each. Like, that's the coolness of this game. It's like, you know, it's not a Madden, and it didn't want to be a Madden. Like it's its own thing, and it's a good thing, man.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

I it leaned heavily because, like they said, they lost the NFL license, so they're like, fuck, we gotta do something to make ourselves stand out.

SPEAKER_04 21:32

And that was my next point is I think that made the game. This game right here, I thank Brandon Brewster for picking it. Like, I think that made the game, like it not having the NFL licensing and them having to be like a little bit more creative on like the teams and players. Like you had I think the main like character of this game was like he was really voiced by Lawrence Taylor, which is a great linebacker. Was he the Giants, Carter, back in the day? LT, yeah, I'm pretty sure. Sure. Yeah. Okay. He was on the I'm I'm 99% sure. I just had to ask to be sure. But like he was a Giants, like linebacker that was crazy good back in the day. He voices like the main guy of this game who plays for the New York Nightmares, I want to say. But like all that shit played into this game being so much better than like, you know, or at least playing in in Blitz's favor of being better than Madden. Like uh having all these like T.O. Moss, that first receiver that you play that's that's the greatest. Well, what they did was they just made like a little they're like, fuck, we don't have NFL licensing or rights to names. Let's name this guy, let's give him the first name of like a great receiver and the last name of another one, but let's just alter it an inch. So I don't know if you know Tanner where you're not a football guy, but back in this day, the two best receivers in the league was Randy Moss, spelled M-O-S-S.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

I've heard of him, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:58

And then T-O, which is Terrell Owens. So what they did was that first receiver was just a play on, they called him T O, which is T I, they spelled it T I O, but the main guy, Terrell Owens, went by the initials T-O, and then Moss was like a Spanish M-A-A-S or something weird. It was basically just like let's let's fucking put Terrell Owens and Randy Moss together and make him great on this game. Like all those players, I don't know how they got away with that. They would like a parody version of the real players.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

Yes, that's what this was was a parody of the NFL. This game feels like Rockstar made it, like a rockstar football game.

SPEAKER_04 23:36

That that made the game, in my opinion. Like, even secretly, like they never made this guy, they made a they probably would have gotten in trouble for that quarterback on the it was a Division III team. They called him Mexico. He was number seven and he was a scrambling quarterback. That's a play on Michael Vick. I'll say this real fast. I don't know how accurate I'm being, but he uh, I don't know, some type of sexual or uh STD type caught using a fake name of the last name Mexico, and like that's why that guy's you know name is Mexico in in the game. He wasn't a main character, but he was a quarterback that would eat your ass up, and that's because like they were basing him on Michael Vick in the NFL.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Right, okay, so that shit flew right over my head. I didn't know any of that this stuff was like relating to real players. I thought it was all made up. So I'm happy that you told me that. So now I know that that adds a lot. Like, so if football fans are playing this, they're gonna pick up on that shit and get something like humor out of it.

SPEAKER_04 24:36

If football fans of the early to late 2000s decade, yeah. Like nowadays, I mean, there's no Patrick Mahomes bullshit out there. It's all like you gotta be mine and Carter's age or older to appreciate this game.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

And no football history a bit.

SPEAKER_04 24:52

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

Like you said, I mean, we all did the career mode here. Uh let's get into what our teams were and stuff. Let's start with you, Carter. What was your team and tell us a little bit about your team?

SPEAKER_04 25:02

Yeah, tell us the coach, the type of coach you picked, and the like rookie or veteran you picked. Or maybe you should give us the history on like why you had to pick that. Do you know? Like, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 25:13

Um, yeah, well, I I I made my team name just uh I was looking through all the different logos where I made my team name because I didn't even know what to pick. So I picked the Washington Redskins. No, I'm just kidding. I was kind of go with that. But uh I sent you all that picture. I thought that was pretty funny, but uh because they're no longer a team. I ended up being the Milwaukee Generals because the M had a bunch of like four stars on it. So I'm like, hey, four star general, that works. So I made my team the Milwaukee Generals. I picked the rookie quarterback, and then I guess I had a defensive end, was like the old veteran.

SPEAKER_04 25:43

Okay, you went you went a lot different than me. What kind of coach did you pick? Do you remember?

SPEAKER_03 25:49

The coach that I picked was one who apparently coached that guy. Apparently there's a famous one called like, is it Spain or something like that? There's some quarterback they talk about a lot.

SPEAKER_04 25:58

Shane Spain.

SPEAKER_03 25:59

Yeah, that's it. Yeah, it was his coach that made him great. So I picked that coach who was a passing mentality because I had the rookie quarterback. And then on defense, I think I picked the uh the guy who's more like moderate, I guess, in the middle.

unknown 26:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:13

So that one wasn't too exciting, but I picked him just because I was like, eh, I don't really know how to play yet. So let me just pick like the mead middle ground here, so I can try to figure it out. Which defense didn't really matter in this game. Like it's just kind of too fast anyway.

SPEAKER_01 26:23

Well, I went because I'm the not the football guy, I kind of went with a parody. I went with the Louisiana mud dogs from Waterboy. I don't remember uh those things, Jared. The only one I remember is what coach I picked, and I picked the one that lowers the injury rate. So that was your trainer.

SPEAKER_03 26:39

I picked him too.

SPEAKER_01 26:40

Okay, okay, yeah, yeah. That's the guy I went with. And yeah, and I love the amount of customization in this game. Like right off the bat, whenever you're making your team, you can obviously make the name, the logo. Yeah, I love it. So many uniform variations you can do. And I I made it look just like the fucking Adam Taylor movie Waterboy. Like we were the mud dogs out there.

SPEAKER_04 26:59

Yeah, man. That that made this game, man. I enjoyed. Thank you, Brandon Brewster, because like I said, I had forgot I even had this damn game up in my attic. I had actually ordered a copy off of eBay, which is how Carter played it, because I had forgot that I had this game. What I was talking about is the head coach, when I was over here, it was the right after we recorded Tom Gallion, my stepdad, was here. If anybody knows him, he's your classic, like, uh, you know, he's sit in his 60s, old, just uh kind of white guy there. Yeah. And like I let him, I was like, Tom Gallion, you helped me pick my logo and shit. And he was going through him, he's like, Hell, I don't know. Uh that that dragon one looked good. So I was like, okay, we'll be the Dallas Dragons. So my team color was kind of blue, like dark blue and light blue and white. Yeah. And then the coach I went with was the old school coach because I let Tom pick him. There was like the new school head coach that like all your players love, and like, you know, but then there was the one that had won championships and was like fucking hard on like a drill sergeant type.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

Yes. He was like, that's who he picked.

SPEAKER_04 28:08

You know it. He was like, yeah, he's gonna get him in the weight room. Let's get him going. So uh I picked him and I I wanted to name my kids after positions that they like to play. So Dawson has been the quarterback for his team the past two years. So I was like, okay, I'll go with the running back then. And like, especially, I don't know, I I didn't even mention this, but I put out in our community, like, you know, hey, list me your name, the position you want to be, and your number, and I'll put you on my team, which I ended up doing. And it became very quick that, hey, I'm not gonna run the ball a lot because everybody in our community wants to be a receiver or part of the passing game.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

Shout out to Terry Bragg wanting to be center.

SPEAKER_04 28:52

Terry Bragg was my fucking center, and he was awesome. I had Josh Kelly and Todd Bailey at like where it's eight on eight football, I guess, left left and right tackle. Basically, there are no guards. Tackle slash guard, yeah. Yeah, tackle slash guard. I had Dave Mathis out wide, who was fucking amazing until he tore his uh Achilles, which really set us back. That really going into Division 2 without Dave Mathis at wideout, I still fucking had Anthony Vance. Like without Dave Mathis, Dave, it just both of them together. I swear to God, like the game, the AI is not that great, but they fucking covered Anthony's ass like crazy once Dave was out. There was a good balance.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

I'm so happy. Sorry to cut you off, Jack, but I'm so happy you brought that up because that alone, because I'm I think you brought this up in the Ages episode of the fact that you can name your players and you get attached to them because they're real people that you know. So whenever they get injured, you're it's like a funny thing because you can send that to that person or whatever. But yeah, Corey did the same thing you did because he posted in our community he wanted to do what you did, and there were some players we would watch, and like there's these hilarious victory animations that they do, like uh whenever you score a touchdown. There was one with Carter, his character, that he just goes up to the field goal and just like pisses on it like a dog, all that shit, and like it would just be funny just because it's named after that person, and that minor little thing adds so much fun to it.

SPEAKER_04 30:22

It always does, dude. And I was so glad that our community like commented on that shit and got into it. That's what made me really get into this game. I had I I've mentioned everybody on offense. My son Dawson was the quarterback, and Owen, my younger son, was the tight end. I also had Matt Lambert at fullback, and he tore his MCL, I think, or maybe Meniscus in a game, but it was fucking hilarious. But anyway, I had Carter at safety, Austin Seffi at linebacker, Jeff Elkins at defensive tackle. I had Corey Hopeck at cornerback and DJ Shorter at the other corner, and it was just fucking awesome. You were my kicker, Tanner. And like, even though that's the most boring position, I and I kind of you know put you there as like a joke.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

I I commented waterboy anyway.

SPEAKER_04 31:09

Yeah, you're like, I don't fucking care. So I put you as number zero kicker, like you had a zero, like, which isn't even allowed. But you would go and fucking hit some people in the mouth on like kickoffs. I was proud of you for that.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

Like a little bit about the gameplay was talking about it's super, super fast-paced. Like there the main mechanic in this game is the slowdown mechanic. So whenever you hold the left trigger, yep. Whenever you hold the left trigger, it basically like slows it down to where you can uh bob and weave better and do that kind of shit whenever you're running the ball or whenever you're catching it too, so you can like position yourself. That to me was a mixed bag in some ways because it made the game a lot of fun and it gave it that like extra element of strategy. But sometimes I felt like it could be abused a lot, like particularly whenever you're at the end zone and just hold that in and run the ball directly into it with no challenge. I kept doing that over and over and over. So if I made it to the end zone, it was an immediate score. But like you like we're saying, this is more of an arcadey football game, so it doesn't really matter as much. It isn't like you're it's like a legit football game because sometimes the the computers can use that too, and I felt like it was cheesing me sometimes, but you can't take it too serious in this game, yeah. Yeah, it's not like a Madden.

SPEAKER_04 32:16

No, I think the clash really helped it, man, because that's like your special mode or whatever, and and you would build it up as you like either gained yards or took yards away from the other team, right? And that really set this game apart. That's the main difference, other than not having NFL licensing from the old blitz to this blitz right here is the clash mode. And it really, like you said, it's a little bit arcadey, like it creates a difference. But I didn't really use it that much other than on defense through well, let's go back. Like what you do the way we played it was campaign mode, and that's what we were talking about as far as your team and coaches and that stuff goes. Well, you have to go through three divisions, and it doesn't really explain like much about these divisions, other than like you start in division three, work your way up to division two if you win a division three championship and then division one. That's what we were trying to do. I only made it to division two because I didn't get far enough in, but like I didn't have to use any clash in division three other than like like I said, big hits and that kind of shit. I really had to start to manage my clash or like special mode in division two to even win games. Division two was tough. The division, yeah, division two. The difficulty went from what I would call rookie on Madden to probably all pro.

SPEAKER_02 33:40

They said pro, that's for sure. They they spec it up for sure.

SPEAKER_04 33:44

Yeah, well, like that first game I barely won in Division II, and I was killing people in Division III. The second game, I got a I felt like, okay, I got a really I got a good hold on these people. Like, you know, I killed them by like 30 points. And then the third game, it went to overtime, and I barely fucking won in division two.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

That was that I wrote that down as a con at first because I was going 7-0, and I'm not a football guy. I'm like, okay, this is easy. This is really easy. Yeah, division three, yeah, it was meant to be. But once you hit division two, I like erased it. I'm like, okay, this is when it starts to get real.

SPEAKER_04 34:19

Go into like the details that you all remember as far as like the campaign mode goes. I thought they did really good. Like we mentioned how cool it was to create your own team and kind of choose this player and this player to be your like, you know, guy and then go through the story mode. But like the other shit they did was really cool too. Like, hey, you're making money. Like, this game's meant to be a little nasty. You're allowed to illegally bet on your team to like win. Something this is a con of mine, and I'll mention it at the review. I hated as a sports better myself, like I love to fucking bet on sports. I fucking hated that you couldn't bet against your team on the spread. After you do so good, you know, your your spread will go up to like minus 21, which means like you have to win by 21 to win the money. It should have gave you the choice. Like, I tried after my first game when it showed me like, hey, dragons have to win by 21 for you to win. I tried to go like under and it's like stopping me at zero.

SPEAKER_01 35:24

It makes it look like you can bet for the opposite team too, don't it?

SPEAKER_04 35:27

It should, yes, because it's got the money underneath you, but you can't access that. It should have allowed you to go for you sports betters like plus 21. I would have fucking taken that every day of the week if I'm some illegal sports owner, like owning this team. But the other things that allowed you, you all mentioned a little bit, you could like steroid your players if they got injured on the field. You could also give them like shit, like medications off the field after the game and like bring them back earlier than they normally would. Yeah, to bring them back earlier. You could also train your players to upgrade certain shit, and you could pay extra money towards that shit, like upgrading that, which is awesome.

SPEAKER_03 36:06

Yeah, I gave uh I gave one of my receivers something that gave their speed was like plus fifteen, which is ridiculous, but their injury went up by like plus twenty. Some type of jet pill or something like that.

SPEAKER_04 36:18

Yeah, see, that's that's the beauty of this game. Um, what I did was I kept betting money, I kept betting money, and I built up a good pot, and then I bought the best fucking cleats you could buy to give everybody like a plus ten boost on speed or something like that. Like that really helped my team. Like, I saved my money all the division three. I didn't spend on anything, but then once we hit that, I bought everybody the best cleats.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

And those were fucking pricey. Those are like almost a million dollars for the best shit. Like it was really pricey.

SPEAKER_04 36:50

It was 800 some thousand. But yeah, yeah, that's that's what made the game right there.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

For sure. And I mean, we've only been talking about the career mode. I mean, that is kind of the bread and butter of this game, but I did a little snooping around the main menu, and there are some unlockables you can do if you meet certain criteria. I didn't write down like the criteria you have to meet, but I didn't even play any of these. And this goes to show how much content is in a football game. When nowadays people are begging for more content in football games. This is the kind of shit I love whenever they don't take itself too serious. So there are unlockable uh game modes that you can get in this game, and some of them sound so fun, and I would love to do whenever I come in with you guys, like play this in person. There's one of them called David and Goliath, where one team is like huge giants. They're big and tough, but they're super slow. But the other ones are these small little speedy guys, and it's literally you playing against each other. I I know Jared would want to be the speedy guys right off the bat. That would be cool.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

Yeah, I would love that.

SPEAKER_01 37:46

There's one called Bone Breakers where players break a bone and every play, every hit, you break a bone. I don't even know how you fucking play the game on that, but there's so many of these things. There's one even called Wind Breakers where players rip ass the entire game. All you hear is farting sound effects. Just over and over and over. I love that kind of shit. Like these little things you can unlock. Yeah. Um, and also in the menu, there was an online mode, which obviously it's down now, but I would have loved to play this online back in the day.

SPEAKER_04 38:13

I heard the online mode to this was amazing. And like this was the beginning of online gaming, really, that P that late PS2 era. And I never got to experience this online, but I have read that this online was like top tier as far as football goes. I'd like to have seen it.

SPEAKER_03 38:36

Carter, how about you kick us off, man? So yeah, this game was actually pretty fun to play. I'm glad Brandon picked it. Honestly, it was really great to not just play a sports game, but play a football game that I feel anybody can pick up and play. You don't even need to like football to like this game. But uh yeah, and I think it was cool that it shows like uh stuff you're not gonna see anymore. We're mad. I guess we're mad and kind of cornered the market, but I mean, even if somebody wanted to make like a uh a game similar to this, like if Midway wanted to make a new one, that'd be awesome. It shows kind of like the underbelly where you can uh bet on your games, juice your players, do all that kind of stuff that's kind of frowned upon. But it was it's pretty badass to go back and see it. I think they didn't give a shit to make a game like that.

SPEAKER_02 39:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:13

So uh I had a blast playing it. It was fun. I love making my team, I love just going through the season and seeing the progression, like my quarterback uh trying to sleep with this cheerleader throughout the game. That's kind of his storyline. Getting him in trouble. So we all had pretty cool storylines that was fun to watch. And even in the first game I played, he they were like, let's go, and everybody was like getting pumped up, and then he runs out on the field, and all the like senior guys just kind of sit back and he's just up there dancing and he's by himself, and they're all making fun of him. So that was pretty cool. But uh overall, man, I've got this game rated as like a 7.2 because that's how much fun I had with it. And even nowadays, like it's hard to find a football game like this anymore. So even now it's worth going back and playing, I feel because it was just a fun time.

SPEAKER_01 39:55

Yeah, I I'll go after you. I've been craving a football game because, like I said, I I love football games, but I just don't have any interest in these current Madden games, and this definitely scratched that itch for me. Uh, I had a blast with this game. It it's like the perfect mix of arcadey and real because usually with arcadey football games, if you look at their graphical style, they always go for kind of a cartoony look, and whether it be like backyard football or whatever, but this game still looks like football, it looks real, but it's it has that arcadey feel to it, and it has a great sense of humor. Um, there's so much uh customization you can do. I mean, hell, you can even customize the cheerleaders in this game. It's that in-depth. I love that shit. I wish that that would be in more modern-day football games. However, though I did have some cons. I I wish I would have gotten to that in the review, but I'll get into that now. For one, and I know this is just a PS2 thing, but the load times in this game were atrocious. I would be waiting three, four minutes just to get into the online mode. That could just be my PS2, but God, it took forever to just That's a PS2 thing for sure. Yeah, because there's infamous amongst some of those PS2 games. Um, there's one thing I wish this game had that is big in football, and that's drafting. I would have loved to got like go into even more depth with that because I mean that's one thing in modern football games that people love is that drafting aspect. And then one other little minor thing I had a complaint with was the kicking in this game. I it was so samey because it was just like a series of button presses where you hit X circle triangle. You can't position where like aim where you want to kick the ball, and it's basically just a power level. And if you get 100% every time, which you are going to because it's so easy, it goes right down the middle, right in the same spot every single time. There's like the like a little bit of randomness would have been good there. But to our listeners who aren't sports fans, seriously give this game a try. It is great. I'm gonna give it a 7.5. Yeah, I had a blast with this, and thank you, Brandon. You are redeemed for Jet Lee.

SPEAKER_04 41:45

Fucking jet lee. Before I go into my little thing, I'll tell you all about my PS2. It's still a little fucker, man. Um, I think I mentioned like two or three episodes ago, me, uh, I I made like a pawn shop stop and bought some games. Well, last night I finally brought those games in and I bought Ridge Racer, Wii Sports Resort, and Hot Shots Tennis on the PS2. Uh well, uh of course the Wii Sports Resort's Wii. But anyway, I put in Hotshots Tennis and it's like, can't read this disc, can't read this disc. And I was like, well, fuck. Either A, my PS2's being a little shit, or B, you know, I bought a bad disc, which I didn't care. I paid $2 a piece for the games. Right. This this morning I turned it on, I'm like, let's fucking try this. And of course it loads right up. Like, I don't know what the fuck's going on with my PS2, but it's being a little bitch. But anyway, let me go into this score. Blitz, I fucking I loved it, Brandon. Like these guys are underrating it to me, but I'm not gonna give it too high of a score. But anyway, uh there's some good and bad. Some some things do knock it down, but I fucking love that we got a sports game in here and we got Tanner's ass to play through at least one little Division III season with this team that he made. Fucking warms my heart for that shit. But anyway, uh the good, the football, highly satisfying gameplay. It's easy to get into. That could be kind of a con because it's kind of like singular button pressing for some shit that like, you know, if you're more into like the complex type.

SPEAKER_01 43:22

That's what that's what I meant. Some games kind of felt a little samey at times. Like you start. I'm going back into this doing the same old stuff, but uh yeah, I get what you're saying.

SPEAKER_04 43:29

Right, right. And and that can go good or bad, but it is like easily played by sports fans and non-sports fans alike. I love the custom team campaign mode, go fucking dragon or Dallas Dragons. Hell yeah. With all the little intricacies, like it's a it's a good game. Every every little detail you're setting up. I love naming my players after the community. That was fucking amazing. That made the game to me. Losing the NFL licensing, like I've mentioned before. I think that's a plus for this game. They really set themselves apart because as Carter and me mentioned, we love 2K5. Well, 2K tried to go without NFL licensing and fell on their face later on in the years, or at least from like reviews and shit I've heard. I never had the 2K Pro or whatever they name their last game. I never had it, but I heard it was bad. But this game kind of became good because they didn't have NFL licensing. Anyway, I think that helped Blitz. I don't know. As far as the bad goes, the AI at some points wasn't very smart. Um for example, I like one time I saw I was up by four, and I think they may have gone for two instead of going for one, which would have put them within a field goal. Just small shit like that. The AI wasn't very good. The other thing I've already mentioned, I hated the way like uh sports betting went. That was a big part of your game, was to to increase your currency, which could like result in better facilities for your players and shit like that. And and the fact that you couldn't bet the uh like I don't know, the under or whatever, like on your team, like not the under, but like you couldn't go plus points on the other team, like which would have really helped. Like once you became a favorite, you had to fucking believe in your team. That's all that's the only way you could bet.

SPEAKER_01 45:24

Because I mean you gotta make a fuck ton of money if you want to buy those upgrades, and that is the only way, besides obviously winning games, but you're not gonna get a high amount if you don't bid. So having that option to like go either way to bid would have helped a lot.

SPEAKER_04 45:36

Yeah, would have helped a lot. If you because like I said, if you would destroy teams, you'd have to bet minus 21, which to you non-sports gamblers is like your team has to win by 21 or more to get the money. Uh another positive before I give my score is I fuck I don't know, we didn't talk about this. I loved in the loading screens, which Tanner mentioned were long, they would give little tidbits about league history that was a made-up history of the league.

SPEAKER_03 46:04

Oh, yeah, I was gonna mention that earlier. Yeah, that was fucking awesome, wasn't it, Carter? Yeah, they had one. I I think I sent a screenshot of it. It was about a famous quarterback called West Coates, and he would throw these short passes and move down the field and started the West Coats offense.

SPEAKER_04 46:23

It was like that. It'd be like in in the year night, like, I don't know, for example, and this is not a real one, but like 1956, this team beat this team because they discovered the forward pass or some bullshit like that. That's not one, but like it was awesome because it would span from either like 19, you know, 40s, 50s to like the early 2000s of like league history and like his or league-changing things that were fucking made up, but like really cool to read and interesting, like if you really wanted to get into the details of the spiced up those load times.

SPEAKER_03 47:00

If you were if you're into like football and things, like I said, like I played off that because it's the West Coast offense, so I thought that was hilarious.

SPEAKER_04 47:06

Yeah, they were really good. The writers and like the people behind the scenes on this game were good. So I said all that bullshit to say this. I'm gonna give this game a 7.6. Like I said, there were a couple bad things, but like overall, this is a good game. It probably deserves higher than that. It's it's not age the best, like a couple different like small details as far as like button mashing and that kind of bullshit would change this game, but it was still a blast, man.

SPEAKER_01 47:33

It's unfair for uh sports games because I mean that is the one I mean, what is the one game genre that are that is literally worth fifty like fifty cents in a pawn shop or something? It's always sports because sports every year they improve. Yeah, and this game has enough to where I recommend people to go back and play it versus I wouldn't tell someone to go play Madden 03 or some random ass old Madden game, you know. This game had its own personality, and I still think it it's worth playing today for sure.

SPEAKER_04 48:00

Meanwhile, me and Carter's telling people go back and try 2K5.

SPEAKER_01 48:04

Well, I believe you because that's not even Madden. Like hopefully in the future you pick that so I can see how good it is. You can hang out in your own crib. So yeah, I even know about that. That is cool as hell. I love that. But yeah, so what does that bring us out to, Jared? I was 7.5. 7.4. 7.4. Okay, that's a solid game. I love it. One below Animal Crossing. Barely. Yep. Alrighty, guys. So yeah, that's our first sports game, and more to come in the future. Jared even wants to do an entire season dedicated to sports. I want to do a sports wheel, man.

SPEAKER_04 48:36

I think it would be a blast and like rejuvenating to the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 48:40

Yeah, I agree. And we would have to get a little creative with some of the sports too. Like in different like elements, like some more realistic, some not. Just all over the place.

SPEAKER_05 48:51

I like it.

SPEAKER_04 48:52

Tanner saying, is fighting a sport? Aka let me bring in Smash Bros.

SPEAKER_01 48:57

Kind of. Or racing.

SPEAKER_04 49:00

Okay, let's do this fucking wheel, Tanner. I'm excited, man. Alrighty, guys. Yep. Hey, I'm calling this one. This is like uh Kobe rest in peace, shooting a three, like calling Kobe. Glover, right here.

SPEAKER_01 49:12

Glover? Okay, all right. That's your pick. Let's we'll see. So what we got left is uh my only pick left is Sly Cooper, one on the PS2. Uh Jeff Elkins pick, Perfect Dark on the N64, Glover, that's Jared's pick. River King, a wonderful journey on the I'll take that too. Either of my picks. Mario 3 from Caleb Cook. Loaded from Carter. And Spyro, uh, a new beginning on PS2 from Carter.

SPEAKER_04 49:39

Or Dankube Xbox.

SPEAKER_01 49:40

Yeah, exactly. Alright, boys, here we go. River King, baby.

SPEAKER_00 49:51

Oh yeah. Hey, Carter, you've been you've been talking about wanting to go fishing. Here we fucking go, Carter.

SPEAKER_01 50:00

Oh my god, Carter's mad. Carter's.

SPEAKER_04 50:06

Got my PS3 ready to go. Yeah, okay. That's what I was about to say. You can play this game one of two ways. You can either order the actual PS2 disc, or if you still are one of the lucky ones to have a PS3 with an online account, you can buy it from the PSN store right now. Play with us. It's not on PS4. That was a misconception early on when we were talking about how to get this game. This was never a PS2 to PS4 game that they did. This has always been just one of those that's on the PS3 that you can order a PS2 classic. So there's no trophies or any bullshit like that, but you can get it through the PS3, which as soon as Tanner says, okay, we're done, I'm about to run in my fucking living room and start this shit.

SPEAKER_01 50:53

I need to buy it. I got I'm gonna go buy it and download it. But yeah, I mean, this is literally the Jared Cook Matt Carter fucking double whammy here. We got a football set and a fishing. So there you go. And this is one none of us have ever played, correct? You've never even played it, Jared.

SPEAKER_04 51:08

I have played two minutes of it. Enough to open the game up. See, it's a classic Matsumi game. Click like you get, I know you get four choices of characters. You can either be the dad, the mom, the son, or the daughter of like a family. Okay. And then I have fucking no clue what's after that. So it is a it's uncharted territory here. Yeah, baby!

unknown 51:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:37

Carter is pumped to go back to Natsumi. What's their motto? Serious fun. That's what this game's gonna be. Some serious fun.

SPEAKER_04 51:44

Some serious motherfucking fun. Let's go.