Since this thread is about the presentation aspect, just for clarification purposes:
Analysts discussing current events in your Connected Careers as well as the biggest stories from each week relating to games around the league, your team, injuries, the college Draft propsects, and more is less realistic being interrupted by a cell phone with a request to play David Arquette or Carmen Electra's all-star team? People like to dig on Madden for using gimmicky features in the past, but consistently fail to admit that their glory game had some of the biggest gimmick features in a football video game. Between my personal experience playing Madden NFL 13 and discussions with the development team over the course of this cycle, I know that every single thing added to Connected Careers was done under the umbrella of realism and further connecting (no pun intended) a gamer to their virtual NFL.
I fully understand and empathize with the desire for a well thought out halftime, pre-game and post-game show. It's among many other additions that could help Madden get to the next level of immersion. However, even the mighty NFL 2K5 failed to present a living, breathing atmosphere like Madden has delivered this year. It also had a terrible Franchise Mode, but that's a debate for another day.