As a member of the vaunted 4thstring.com football league I can speak to the difference between dickish play and not. We have been playing online leagues since Madden 10. We are currently at the end of our sixth season. We have actually suspended virtual athletes and kicked human owners for play that racks up what we call Douchemarks. Like a yellow card you get two and you are done.
Madden is not known for good sports. Play any random online in a ranked game and you will find a Mike Vick rolling out and running every play. In Madden 12 my new favorite is the Vick QB sneak where he racks up hundreds of yard on a play meant to get you one to two yards an attempt. In a sim league is usually where you will find good sportsmanship.
An example of dickish play is going for it on fourth when the game has just started. Dickishness is using the same play over and over, not because your opponent won't defend against it but the play is broken and nothing matters. A good sign of sportsmanship is kneeling down on the ball when you have a 21 point lead and there is a minute on the clock.
I do still play online but will quit when it is only cheesy ass dudes playing. For me the real action is in my online franchise. We have virtual players with real twitter accounts. Teams that move around. Game recaps and fake news stories. We also have rules so some people don't ruin every one else’s fun.
Good sportsmanship makes for fun games. Unsportsmanlike play makes for broken controllers and league wide email arguments. Let me leave you with my new team logo. You got to love some Ray Lewis.
If you ever want to see how people play with good sportsmanship follow @4thsl on twitter and watch for streams. We will be starting our Madden 12 season within the next week and my Terror have a great channel at livestream.com/huhnerficker
There is nothing there right now but will fire back up soon.
