The New Orleans Riverwalk resembled the NFL ProBowl this past Saturday as the Madden Challenge Tournament came into town. Jerseys bearing names such as Vick, Williams, McAllister and Brooks could be seen everywhere.

More than 500 individuals, ranging from ages 6 to 60, paid $10 to compete against people from all over the country.

Why wake up at 7 a.m. on a Saturday to play a video game? With a grand prize of $50,000 and a free trip to Las Vegas, people registered months in advance.

Five Loyola freshmen competed for the tournament title.

When three of them got eliminated in the first round against opponents that obviously were much better prepared, the other two contestants said they went into the second round less confident of their chances.

People who literally took time off from work and traveled the country to play this game were present at the tournament. For them it was no longer a game, but an addiction.

One could immediately pinpoint the serious “gamers” at the tournament. No jerseys, no talking about strategies, no reaction whatsoever. These people were living and dying Madden 2004.

These competitors studied plays and defensive schemes as if they were playing an NFL coach. They seemed to have spent hours and hours coming up with game plans for the big game.

Even when things did not seem to go their way, no one would have been able to tell. You would have thought they had you exactly where they wanted you as you ran the ball up the middle on the 1 yard line – and most of the time they did.

The next two freshmen were eliminated in the second round but were happy they even made it that far out of the nine possible rounds.

“I seriously thought we had a good chance of making it to the finals,” said communications freshman North Landesman, one of the two freshmen that made it into the second round. “These other guys obviously have no lives.”

As the second freshman to make it to the second round, I knew the competition was going to get tougher. My opponent picked the Kansas City Chiefs, and I immediately thought the game was mine.

Boy was I wrong! He made the Chiefs’ defense look like a group of Pro Bowlers. Also, when he got the ball in the second half, I never got possession again.

With two minute quarters he was able to run the ball up the middle play after play with Priest Holmes and even using all three time outs couldn’t stop him from holding the ball the rest of the game.

Did I lose because my opponent was necessarily better than I was? I don’t think so. He had mastered playing two-minute quarters, not playing the game. He ran the same play on offense every down and showed no real technique or skill.

The game ended 7-0 and I was eliminated from the tournament. Next year I know not to pick the Eagles against a run oriented team but rather to use the Buccaneers, who can actually match up to that amazing offensive line.

The winner was Yaro “The Beat Down King” Hoffman, a 27-year-old New Orleans resident. By the way, his team was the St. Louis Rams.