This Thing Is Wide Open
by Kevin Neeley, special correspondent, Nationals 7

It seems that for each of the past 6 Nationals, there has always been a clear cut favorite going into the tournament that most of the community felt would be the player to beat. Going into Nationals 2 Winky White was the clear cut, hands down favorite to take home the bronze statue, only to be upended by an upstart Texas gunslinger by the name of Candyman.

Nationals 3 was supposed to be Candyman's year to repeat. He and his partner in crime TrapJaw rolled into New Orleans dominating everyone along the Gulf Coast. But no one figured that the business like Wallstreet would be the one to dethrone the defending champ, paving the way for the southern heat packing Lou Tillery.

Tillery dominated the next season like no other baller has done in Madden history. When Nationals 4 arrived in Los Angeles, the legend of Tillery had grown into folk tales. And Tillery entered the tournament as the most feared, most watched and most heralded baller in tournament history. He demolition of everyone in the field led him back to a championship game, only to be dethroned by his fellow NOMB brother, Ice Ellis.

While Nationals V did have a favorite, it was the first time in the past 3 seasons that the favorite was not either a defending champion, or runner up from the previous Nationals. Ice Ellis was still solid while holding the crown, but it was obvious he was not as dominate as he was the previous season. And though he went 3-0 in his round robin, he was blown out in the first round of Survivor Sunday by Nationals veteran Mad Guru. Nationals 5 brought a new star to the scene. Young Gunz! Gunz entered the tournament as the man to beat, with The Realist getting a lot of props as well. But it was Gunz dominate play at the inaugural Mega Bowl and the tournaments leading up to Nationals that made him the player to beat in 2003. But Gunz was out dueled by The Realist before the largest crowd (217 in attendance) ever to see a National Championship game.

Last year, The Realist entered the tourney as the defending champion and perhaps the hottest baller in the nation. As the defending champ ran roughshod through the competition he looked poised to be the first player to ever repeat as National Champion. And when it seemed as though he would blow out Big Game James in the elite 8, the Nationals staff begin preparations to engrave his name on the Nationals 6 bronze statue. Not so fast, said Big Game James, who erased a 40 point deficit to come back and win the most exciting game in Nationals history, knocking The Realist from his perch, then going on to win the Nationals 6 title.

While Big Game may be the defending champion, he hasn't had the dominant season like a Realist or Tillery had leading up to the Grand Daddy Of The All. For the matter, no baller has been truly dominate up to this point. Earlier in the season Big Gene had been considered the top baller on the circuit, and he confirmed that with a win over Pretty Boy for the EA Challenge Championship, nabbing $50,000 in the process. Since then, there really hasn't been a consensus top baller. And with Nationals around the corner, this is probably the first time since the inception of the tournament that no one will be identified as the player to beat.

"With the field this wide open, it becomes anybody's tournament," states The Swammi, tournament director and founder. "Since the game has been crappy this season, the morale is a little down in the community. And with that, the competition may not be as thick as it used to be. That's why its anyone's title. There isn't a Candyman, Tillery or Realist in the field. And to be honest, I kind of like it like that. Makes for more drama," The Swammi concluded.

There's also two ways to look at it. There may not be a favorite, and some may think BG James can't repeat. But on the other hand, with the anticipated field shrinking, and with the morale of the community in the dumps, this could be James opportunity to become the first baller in Madden history to win back to back titles. Why not? Since the field is so "wide open" he has just as good a chance as anyone else.