Karl Benacci, Features Editor
For those who would rather
play than...play
Pro Bowler Marshall Faulk graces the cover of Madden 2,003
By Billy 0' Keefe
Knight Ridder Newspapers
MADDEN FOOTBALL 2003
Available: Now for
PlayStation2, XBox, GanleCube,
PC and PSX
From: EA Sports
"Madden 2003"'s gameplay is as
solid as ever, balancing relatively
simple controls with a meticulous
engine that rewards those skilled in
the art of playing football over
those skilled at playing video
games.
Never has a sports title rewarded
knowledge of the game like "Mad
den" does. "2003"'s best new fea
ture is the Mini-Camp mode, a col
lection of drills that challenge and
rank various facets of your game.
The incredible franchise mode re
turns, along with the ability to cre
ate players, plays and whole teams,
right down to the color of the hel
mets. The amount of replay value
is endless, and if you enjoy the
ans lament the demise of fabled Camaro, Firebir
by Brian Aberback
The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)
Everyone who was anyone at
Bergenfield High School in the late eight
ies and early nineties drove a Chevy
Camaro or Pontiac Firebird.
Sleek, fast, and powerful, they were the
perfect cars for cruising the main drag or
jetting to the shore, said Krista
Merschrod, who could be seen around
town back then in her bright red 1988
Firebird.
"It's a total adrenaline rush," said
Merschrod, who today owns a 1967 black
Camaro Super Sport. "When you're driv
ing it you just feel the power. Everything
else around you doesn't matter anymore."
For Merschrod and other enthusiasts,
it's the end of the line. The last of these
wild ponies, once among America's most
beloved vehicles, rolled off the assembly
line last week at a plant in Quebec.
It brings an end to two models that be
came part of the essence of Jersey, and
an end to the T-Tops with the removable
glass panels that sold so well to the "Sat
urday Night Fever" set.
The Camaro roared onto the market in
September 1966, and the Firebird fol
lowed five months later. They were
Chevrolet and Pontiac's respective an
swers to the wildly popular Ford Mus-
tang.
The cars' combined sales peaked in the
late seventies, a time when the Firebird
was especially cool and was featured in
the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies and
the "Rockford Files" television show.
Although aficionados here lament Gen
eral Motors' decision to halt production,
for them the era isn't ending. Not when
there are so many early model Camaros
and Firebirds to polish and shine and take
"Madden" style, you will keep lov
ing it this year.
NFL FEVER 2003
Available: Now 14 XBox
From: Microsoft
The big news concerning "NFL
Fever 2003" is the addition of fran
chise play, a feature that nicely
complements the excellent team
and playhook editors and online
play and gives the game an edge
over "Madden," for now.
"Fever" otherwise remains simi
lar to last year's game, for better or
worse. Ii kioks great, but not much
better than before, and the
gameplay still loosens the laws of
physics when it comes to making
insane plays on both sides of the
hall. That doesn't mean "Fever" isn't
challenging or fun; the looser game
may he just your thing if "Madden"
is too serious for your taste. Just
don't expect an accurate football
simulation if you pick this one up.
on a cruise down the parkway.
These are people like Dan Deutschman
of Metuchen, who loves taking his 1976
"carousel red" Firebird Trans Am to car
shows, darting into open spaces on
crowded highways along the way. And
Wayne resident David Fiorina, who said
it's the mix of nostalgia and pride that
makes riding in a'6B Firebird special. As
the speedometer races forward and his
stereo blasts The Doors and Led Zeppe
lin, the clock turns back to his favorite
years, 1965-1975, a time when muscle
cars ruled the road.
Merschrod so loves these cars, she even
opted for her Camaro over a limo to whisk
her away from her wedding two years
ago.
Like many classic car owners, she
doesn't use her Camaro for everyday
transportation. It sits safely in the garage,
taken out for rides on warm summer days
or breezy fall afternoons.
Fiorina also plans to use sparingly the
1968 Firebird he just purchased. He can't
imagine risking the chance of a scratch
or dent at a parking lot.
"Who would want to take a car like that
to Willowbrook (Mall)'?" he asked. With
excitement in his voice, Fiorina described
his new Firebird, a convertible that boasts
an eight-cylinder engine. His old Firebird
had a six-cylinder, and on the mean streets
of North Jersey, that didn't cut it.
"It was kind of cheesy with the six-cyl
inder," he said. "It's depressing when you
have a car like that and you can't keep up
with a Ford Probe."
Fiorina first saw his dream when he
was a teenager growing up in Riverdale.
It was parked across the street at a
neighbor's house. It was, of course, a red
1968 Firebird.
"When I saw it I just wanted it," Fiorina
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Friday, September 6, 2002
NFL BLITZ 20-03
Available: Now for PlayStation2,
XBox and Game Cube
From: Midway Sports
"NFL Blitz 20-03"'s gameplay
tweaks and new create-a-player
mode doesn't warrant a purchase
if you just picked up "Blitz 20-02"
six months ago. But if that's not the
case, then this is the best "Blitz" out
there, featuring the strongest com
bination yet of the NFL license and
no- rules, eight-on-eight arcade
football. The controls are a breeze
to pick up. the games blaze by, and
"Blitz" is perhaps the best-looking
football game out there, including
"Madden." It's still a blast to play
with friends, but the much-im
proved A.l. adds meat to the solo
experience as well. It's not the deep
est football game in town, but it
doesn't aspire to he, and it arguably
gives you the most fun for your
buck.
NFL GAMEDAY 2003
NCAA GAMEBREAKER 2003
Available: Now for Play Station 2
(also available for PSX)
From: 989 Sports
"NFL Gameday 2003" and
"NC AA Oamebreaker.2oo3" have
come a long way in terms of fea
ture set, gameplay and aesthetics.
The wonky A.I. and extreme im
balance between the offense and
defense - in a nutshell, you'll score
a LOT - keep the games off of
"Madden — s turf when it comes to
realism, and the dynasty and other
modes aren't as deep. But casual
garners who don't want to spend
hours sorting through all those bells
and whistles may find refuge with
the more relaxed style, and
"Gameday"'s online capabilities
outstrip the competition. 989 is still
in business tOr a reason, and if these
games did it for you in the past, they
certainly have improved enough to
satisfy you now.
said. "I was 14 or 15. I just said, 'Wow,
someday I want to have one.' "
Iwo years ago, he got his dream car.
"I drove it all last summer. I went down
to Belmar jin it] every weekend," said
Fiorillo, 32.
"I feel pride when driving something
that's American-made," he said. These
days, he said, you never know where parts
on American cars were manufactured. But
with a '6B Firebird, there's no question.
Deutschman loves speed and handling
A beautiful 1967 Camaro poses with fall's foliage
of his 1976 Firebird Trans Am. "When
you step on the gas, it doesn't ask you
when, where, or why. It just goes," he
explains
He's put more than $15,000 of work
into his dream car, though he admits he
"stopped counting for health reasons."
Deutschman said he had mixed emo
tions when GM announced it would stop
producing Firebirds and Camaros.
"It was a shame to hear it, but on the
Through the looking glass
by Mike Pmgree, KRT Campus
An Australian man gained the sympathy of his nation when he
told of being beset by thugs who stole his wheelchair and hung him
upside down on a fencepost in Sydney where he dangled helplessly for
two hours. This sparked a flood of gifts, money and a new wheelchair.
He was charged with fraud for making the whole thing up -
including that he is a paraplegic, which became apparent when he
bounded up the steps of the courthouse.
WE DON'T WANT YOUR KIND IN HERE
Guards spotted a 43-year-old female lawyer having sex in a
visiting room of the Seattle jail with a 26-year-old man she was repre
senting on murder charges. She was meeting with the suspect to
discuss his upcoming trial when one thing apparently led to another.
She has been removed from the case and, adding insult to
injury, barred from the jail.
Two men stole a mail truck in Stavanger, Germany, and one of
them took a Polaroid picture of the other behind the wheel flashing a V
for Victory sign. Police recovered the vehicle and found the photograph
on the seat. They recognized him because he is an ex-convict.
p -I
"I can't take full credit for these ultra-mod
hairstyles ... the salon is furnished with
old electric chairs."
other hand, (GM) priced them so far out
of the range of the market they were aim
ing for," he said.
The prices of most newer-model
Camaros and Firebirds start at around
$25,000. And then there's the hefty insur
ance premium that comes with owning a
sports car in the state with the highest auto
insurance rates in the nation.
Twenty years ago, 182,848 Camaros
were sold nationwide, according to statis
tics provided by Autodata, a Woodcliff
Lake company that tracks automotive in
formation. Through July, only 20,063
Camaros had been sold this year. Firebird
experienced a similar free fall: 105,686
sold in 1982, 21,501 in 1992; 14,567
through July.
"The decision (to discontinue produc
tion) was pretty sad," said Larry Webster,
technical editor of Car and Driver maga
zine. But "everybody's known it was com
ing for a while."
IT WILL MAKE A NICE MUG SHOT
YOU
MARTIN
KING. JR.,
A DREAM
:HILDREN
ANDS AND
The Behrend Beacon
by Sprengelmeyer & Davis
eart Makes
WOW! .
THAT WAS
INivry
DREAM,
Webster noted that GM hasn't re-de
signed the Camaro in nearly a decade,
choosing to put its resources into trucks
and sport-utility vehicles. Today's SUVs,
like yesterday's muscle cars, embody
youth and sportiness, he said. They're
also more practical.
"People think, 'I can be cool in this
and fit all my junk in it,' " he said.
Some car dealers say it may be pre
mature to mourn the death of the dy
namic duo of pony cars. After all, Ford
recently reintroduced its Thunderbird
line, and Pontiac plans to bring back its
classic GTO in 2004.
"I think they'll be back with a new car
in the future," said Ron Barna, general
manager of Chevrolet Hummer in
Paramus, where four Camaros remain on
the sales floor.
Die-hard Camaro and Firebird lovers
say they realize their cars may rise in
value now that no new models are com
ing out. But don't expect a "for sale" sign
to appear in their windshields anytime
soon.
"This one's a keeper," Fiorina said of
his new Firebird.
Merschrod, who now lives in New
Milford, also has no plans to sell her
Camaro. And, in 17 years, she hopes the
next generation will share in the special
excitement that comes from sliding into
a pony car, hitting the gas, and taking
control of the road ahead.
"I'll let her take it for a spin one day
with her mommy," Merschrod says of
her 7-week-old daughter, Amber Rose.
"People will know those Merschrod girls
know how to drive."
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