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Upon close inspection \u2013 one of the best sports video games EVER graces that very shelf.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s right, I\u2019m talking about EA Sports MVP NCAA Baseball 2006.<\/a><\/p>\n Because of licensing issues with the MLB name and trademark (hahahahah, business!), EA Sports needed to continue to turn a profit, and thus ported the game mechanics and engine to a collegiate IP, albeit before the days of Name, Image, and Likeness. This led to the ability to create your own roster and of course, player. <\/p>\n For your author, that clearly meant creating himself (still a junior at UofL) and inserting himself onto the roster of the Cardinals, with stats that may or may not have been maxed out. Given that the game came out the year prior to Louisville\u2019s incredible first College World Series run<\/a>, I can\u2019t help but think that the create-a-player Hammel starting a stretch of FOUR consecutive College World Series Most Outstanding Player Awards sent that energy in real life to 3rd and Central. <\/p>\n You can\u2019t prove me wrong.<\/p>\n The game also had what I would argue is one of the best video game soundtracks ever. <\/p>\n As a geriatric millennial, elder emo, former scene\/metal kid, this soundtrack sent me to orbit the first time the game\u2019s title screen popped up and Hawthorne Heights started playing. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n