First Debate Between O’Malley and Duncan To Be Madden Football Game

By: Ed Mund
Crab Staff Writer

BALTIMORE – In a move that some are referring to as bold politics, campaign staff members from both the O’Malley and Duncan campaigns confirmed that the first gubernatorial debate between the two men will, in fact, not be a traditional debate, but a heads up match playing Madden 2006 for Playstation2.

“We felt that this was a great opportunity to show Marylanders that the mayor is not only a great leader from a managerial standpoint, but also a great leader in the field of play,” said a spokesperson from the Baltimore mayor’s gubernatorial campaign. “The mayor is confident that his analytical skills and swift hand to eye coordination will resonate well with voters.”

The Duncan gubernatorial campaign is using this first debate format to convey a message of speed and strength.

“Like football, leading a state requires strength and speed,” said a Duncan campaign spokesperson. “This game will prove to this great state and its citizens that County Executive Duncan has the strength to lead and the speed to react, both of which are required attributes of a great governor.”

This agreement was reached following weeks of bickering between campaigns on how they were going to kick off the primary season for the Democratic gubernatorial nod.

While the rules of the game have not been formally released, sources close both campaigns have informed the Crab that the game settings are still in negotiation. One source claims that one possible bottleneck is the game speed setting and the penalty sensitivity setting. This source also says that the two camps are close to an agreement on whether to play ten minute quarters or fifteen minute quarters.

One thing the Crab can confirm is that the Mayor O’Malley will be playing as the Baltimore Ravens while County Executive Duncan will be playing as the Washington Redskins. The Crab has also learned that an earlier disagreement about whether the game was to be played on Xbox or Playstation2 almost derailed the negotiations before the camps agreed on Playstation2.

Video game popularity being so high has experts already analyzing the pre-game probabilities.

“One thing we need to keep in mind here is that Madden teams’ strengths and weaknesses are always based on the previous year’s team stats,” said one Madden expert. “Just because the Redskins have a better record this year doesn’t mean that they have a better Madden team. I think that the County Executive better keep that in mind.”

Since no date or venue has been formally set by either campaign, no major trash talking has erupted, but both spokespeople did have similar messages for each other in the tune of “Let’s get it on punk!”

James Olsen also contributed to this article.