Photo By Staff Sgt. Brooks Fletcher | Service members taunt Warren Sapp, far right, after a last minute touchdown by Sunderland.... read more read more
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By Pfc. Howard Ketter
20th Public Affairs Detachment
CAMP VIRGINIA, Kuwait - Service members participated in the Pro vs. G.I. Joe Madden football tournament held at the newly-renovated United Service Organizations' center at Camp Virginia, Kuwait, Aug. 11, 2008.
The event gave service members the chance to be the first to play Electronic Arts Sports Madden NFL 2009 prior to its release, Aug. 12, 2008, and a chance to play against retired NFL lineman, Warren Sapp.
"We are the bridge that links Soldiers with their families back home," said Jonathan Matthews, center director, USO Camp Virginia. "In this case, we are using that bridge to give Soldiers the opportunity to play one of their idols."
Pro vs. G.I. Joes, a non-profit organization, links service members with sports and pop culture icons to compete against one another through online video games during the Soldiers' deployments.
During the event, 16 service members competed against one another on Madden NFL 2008 in a round robin-style bracket.
The winner of the single-elimination tournament linked-up, through X-Box Live, and played Sapp, who was located at the Maddenpalooza fan festival, held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
"I like this event a lot; it gets my morale up after being here for 15 months," said Sgt. Michael Reynolds, Special Troop Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade.
"This event makes me happy ... enough to be here a couple more days," added Reynolds, a Bronx, N.Y., native, who will redeploy back to Fort Stewart, Ga.
Spc. George Sunderland, B Company, 237th Brigade Support Battalion, also showed his enthusiasm for the event and the collaborating organizations, USO and Pro vs. G.I. Joes.
"I love Madden and I love this event," said Sunderland, who has been playing Madden football games since 2003. "It's a good morale boost for the troops."
When asked about his game plan, if he was to play Sapp, Sunderland had confident words.
"I'm going to do what I do best, I'm going to take [Sapp] down," said Sunderland, a Niles, Ohio, native. Sunderland's favorite team is the Cleveland Browns, but he played with the New England Patriots for this tournament.
Reynolds and Sunderland, along with many others, stayed up through the later part of the night competing at a chance to play Sapp.
One game after another the bracket narrowed down and competition became scarce for Sunderland, who came out victorious in the USO-based tournament, setting the stage for the night's main event.
"I have no weakness," said a confident Sunderland, who used the Patriots combined with the Browns' playbook. "[Weaknesses] are for people who lose."
As the online game began, Sapp, Sunderland and audiences from both sides shared taunts through the television monitors and speakers.
"This is the first international Madden 2009 link-up to date," said Matthews, about the night's X-Box Live matchup.
In the end Sunderland came out victorious over the NFL great and was honored by Sapp for his service to the nation.
For his win Sunderland not only received a copy of Madden NFL 2009, but also a Sapp-autographed X-Box 360 and the entire 2009 EA Sports game line-up.
"It is great to get these two charities linked-up and working in conjunction to make this happen," said Sunderland.
"This is one way of getting the American public's attention," said Matthews. "By running this event, in conjunction with Pro vs. G.I. Joe, EA Sports, and Microsoft, it's helping put the USO into the public eye."
| Date Taken: | 08.11.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 08.20.2008 03:28 |
| Story ID: | 22676 |
| Location: | KW |
| Web Views: | 259 |
| Downloads: | 226 |
This work, Soldier, Sapp compete through X-Box, by SPC Howard Ketter, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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