Count me in as a strictly offline gamer, too. I tried last summer to become more of an online gamer after purchasing APF 08. T'was not to be.
1. I absolutely cannot stand cheesers. Something about my blood pressure.
2. I hate losing by wide margins, whether by being "cheeseified" or just straight up being pounded by a solid skill player. The close games weren't so bad, but there just weren't many close games, which leads me to number 3.
3. I'm not as good a football gamer as I thought(playing against CPU is totally different than playing against human opponent). This just in!
4. Losing online for me can prove to be expensive, as I broke 2 controllers out of sheer frustration. Sad, but true. Hey, we're all family here, right?
5. I also enjoy having a goal to succesfully manage my Franchise team to a playoff run or even the Championship, taking the time to make the right moves, edit players, etc... along the way. That is the core enjoyment of sports gaming for me(thus, the disappointment in recent Madden Franchise efforts, but...I digress).
6. Gaming is supposed to be fun, and, as you can see above, I'm better off setting the CPU at a level where it's competive a bit, but I'll win the vast majority of the time. THAT'S relaxing for me. That's the way I can best sit back and notice all the animations and other little things that make a game great or not.
So....Carlos, I'm with you!! Here's to the next time I don't see you online!!