The Joy of Losing

[jdrhammer]

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

Six teams in the same conference? Wow. That must be a blast to be one of those teams and face a true battle almost every week. It seems like in every conference you have at least two guys so there is no cakewalk to the title. I've tried going down to AA recently from Heisman (I sit somewhere in the middle) but I started to get that apathy feeling again. Heisman has its flaws but it provides the best challenge for me. I'm nowhere near as good as some of these guys here but even bad teams would give me a fight on Heisman and I enjoyed it. I'm going to give AA one more game with some tweaks. But deep down I know I'm going to have to go back to Heisman and enjoy the challenge (and frustrations that come with it).

You should be in the 12 man OD we have of SEC teams. I'm Ole Miss and started off 3-0 against the cpu in a couple that were decided in the 4th Qtr. I then lost 4 straight to CPU teams started off by an OT loss to Vandy and Florida came from behind in the 4th to win in the swamp. I was literally in a huge funk when I got beat by South Carolina and Alabama. I came totally unraveled but finished strong winning my last 5 plus the Outback Bowl against Minnesota.

We had a few people retire and had some shuffling to do through the first half of the season, along with Tebow getting knocked out for the year in week 1. During the offseason we've shored everyone up and we're in week 3 of 2009. We're right on the edge of beginning SEC play again. It has been a blast and will only get better.

[Young J 334]

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

While many people hate losing and their ultimate goal is to win the National Championship (I'd like that to), my only real goal is to have fun. I don't have fun if I'm not losing. I want to play a lot of close games. I want to be on the edge of my seat trying to upset someone or fighting off an underdog. Blowing out teams isn’t fun. It’s boring and leads to gaming apathy. This is true for any sports video game. The best part when playing a NCAA football dynasty occurs when you start with a program that isn't that great. You fight to win games and almost every game can be won or lost. It is exhilarating when you upset one of the big boys and frustrating when you blow a game to a lesser team. Close and challenging games bring out the desire to play more. But then your skills improve. And then your recruiting classes come in making you one of the best teams in the country. Suddenly, all of those fun and close games are gone. You are sleepwalking through your play calling, wondering when to get your backups in, even rooting for the computer to provide a challenge. Is going undefeated and winning a National Championship really that important? Not to me it isn’t. I’ve been debating as to what difficulty level is best and what sliders give me the best representation of the sport and suit my skills. But I can’t lose sight of what matters the most and that’s the joy of losing. So when winning gets too easy and you are sitting on your couch falling asleep at the controls, try something different. Take on that diamond in the rough program and welcome the losing. Increase the difficulty level and enjoy the beatings. You can’t truly enjoy winning when there was never a real threat of losing.

I agree. I have house rules and play on Heisman with sliders stacked against me. I play as Hawaii and I have had close games but I have only lost to the computer 3-4 times out of 80+ cpu games. I havent lost at all with Hawaii in 4 years. I just got invited to the Pac 10 and they're stacked this year so maybe that'll change soon

All I want is a great challenge. However it doesn't seem like you can get that without the CPU "cheating".

NCAA 2009 does not give you a challenge unless you handcuff yourself.

I'm running the triple option with UCLA with HBs at 91 speed or below or else I'll blow the game wide open.

Winning all the time makes the game not even fun.

[fistofrage]

Quote: Originally Posted by stewaat

All I want is a great challenge. However it doesn't seem like you can get that without the CPU "cheating". NCAA 2009 does not give you a challenge unless you handcuff yourself. I'm running the triple option with UCLA with HBs at 91 speed or below or else I'll blow the game wide open. Winning all the time makes the game not even fun.

If you are running the triple option lower your RBA and you should be able to use whatever you want.

[crob8822]

I agree, I like to take a losing program and turn it around, it may take a couple of season to win a certain amount of games, I often recruit Junior College players
because they come in with a higher overall mark. I cannot grow bored with NCAA 09
Great thread dude, Happy sportgaming to everyone.

[NEBULUZZ]

Exactly.......

I was down 21-0, 2nd quarter in my online dynasty game with #11Texas A&M vs. #5 Texas. Could have taken a restart warning and started again, but that's not me!

Ended up winning 49-31 in a one of the most exciting, high pressure games I've ever played.

[stoncold32]

Depends on how I lose. If I lose on a drive where the CPU passes 10/10 down the field, then breaks 5 tackles on the way to the end zone, no, I hate losing like that. But if I just get flat out beat, that's cool. I dont enjoy it b/c I just wasted an hour and now ahve nothing to show for it. But it motivates me to kick the crap out of whoever I play next.

[rudyjuly2]

Quote: Originally Posted by NEBULUZZ

Exactly....... I was down 21-0, 2nd quarter in my online dynasty game with #11Texas A&M vs. #5 Texas. Could have taken a restart warning and started again, but that's not me! Ended up winning 49-31 in a one of the most exciting, high pressure games I've ever played.

I hear you. I'm in my 4th year with Colorado and opened my season against Colorado St. (rivalry game). I was rated 91 overall and they were a 72. I was even toying with the idea of dropping this rivalry game since I didn't want to be bored beating up on them. I threw 6 INTs and was down 28 points in the 3rd freaking quarter. I never thought about not saving the outcome and I actually came back and beat them in OT. It was fantastic.

Of course, Texas also kicked my butt 41-21 ruining my small hope of a national championship. That wasn't as fun but you have to take the good with the bad. Texas A & M beat me by two so I need to beat Nebraska in my final game (I'm 9-2) to win my division and get to the Big 12 Championship which I've never won yet either.