EA Sports issues statement on Twitter regarding the Cover Vote irregularities
I'm sure there are plenty of people tired of this appearing on the board, but here is what EA Sports had to say about Texas A&M exploiting a loophole.
https://twitter.com/EANCAAFootball/status/310059529549262848
https://twitter.com/EANCAAFootball/status/310059812476035075
"We are aware of the voting irregularities around the #NCAACoverVote. We are in touch with the schools involved in the final round voting and in the spirit of integrity and fair play, are in agreement that only votes from legitimate accounts will be counted in the vote."
So take that for whatever it's worth. Apparently the complaining and losing a 14K lead in one day did get their attention.
UPDATE:
https://twitter.com/EANCAAFootball/status/310101158918230016
"FYI - If you're still creating fake accounts and "causes" pages to vote from, you're wasting your time. #NCAACoverVote"
Not sure how they can decipher between all of it or whatever, but they just issued this on Twitter at 2 pm.
Ahh Poetic Justice :)
Can we get some Kendrick Lamar up in this blog?
Every second, every minute...MGoBlue, you know they winnin'
I can't stop laughing at all the ignorant A&M fans and how they keep saying Denard doesn't deserve it because he lost his starting job. Such fucking morons. Denard didn't lose it because he was injured for half the season.
Looks like M fans are now using the same tactic TAMU fans were using, as Denard has regained the lead in the stated voting and continues to pull away.
So if they just use the numbers as listed Denard wins.
If they weed out the fake accounts, Denard wins.
Denard wins.
Publicizing that this was the last day to vote. Not sure who all got it, I am a football season ticket holder. This may have helped bump the voting. I know I forwarded this to a bunch of other alums, as well as Husker fan friends here in Nebraska asking them to vote. If a lot of people did what I did, could definitely have had a "non-cheat" impact.
Denard was fairing well before last night, im confident
The easiest way would be to have them just not count any of the votes from fanpages if they are able to differentiate them from regular votes.
Sad they had to do this. There is no one outside of College Station who legitimately thinks Ryan Swope deserves this over Denard.
I am a very big college football fan, not just of Michigan, and I hadn't heard of Ryan Swope until the combine. I still couldn't pick him out of a line up (and off the top of my head I can't even tell you if he's white or black). That's not a racist comment, it just illustrates how little I know about him.
How did he get this far? All voting too? It just seems that there are a lot of other receivers in the country who would have been a better fit.
I'd be shocked if it were the actual schools involved with this (the people EA allegedly talked to), not rabid fanbases. Leave something to the internet and good freaking luck trying to keep your thumb on it.
Maybe they'll go back to eating the mushrooms off the cow shit in College Station.
they eat pretty well in CS. Freebirds...best burritos I've ever had.
Freebirds is awesome, but they are everywhere now in Texas. It makes me happy i dont have to go to College Station for those anymore.
Freebirds is weak compared to the authentic Mexican food you can get, at least in West Texas.
I was in Corpus Christi for many years and the true Mexican food down there is fantastic. But for college food, I did love the Freebirds burritos. They were really good.
This whole thing is so fucking stupid.
they're just trying to fit into the SEC, and they haven't quite gotten the hang of oversigning yet. However, thanks to Johnny Football, we know they're pretty good at scheduling "online" classes for the football team.
Give Johnny a break. He can't walk around campus anymore without being mauled. Online classes allow him to really focus on what's important--his studies.
Spring Break! Finally ready for some time with the crew and well needed trip to Cabo!
— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) March 8, 2013
Are you suggesting that he is unfocused on his studies because he took a trip on Spring Break? I'm pretty sure that's what most privileged university students do.
Didn't they get 35 recruits this year? I'm pretty sure they've got the hang of oversigning already. I'm fine with mocking TAMU, but they're clearly quick studies in the ways of the SEC.
Michigan is over the same amount as aTm (3). The difference is the SEC has no limit on class size as long as they are at 85 total. The Big Ten can only sign 25 per class.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/2…
We are back, Jack!!
Who wants to bet that EA won't be doing the voting system next year. Haha
I mean, he was that far ahead 24 hrs ago.
Plus, I can't imagine EA sports is excited about having Ryan Swope on the cover. No one knows who he is outside of Texas. I bet there are A&M fans who would see that cover and see "Look at dat. They put Manziel on the cover!"
What woud sell better: A cover with the most famous helmet in football, from a school that sells the most merchandise of any other University; or, TA&M... which sells the second most merchandise in its own state.
I think EA Sports may comb through this voting scandal very very carefully to assure the "most popular" wins.
The most recognizable dreads in all of sports.
You left off the most important part.
His SMILE is so powerful, a cartoon painting of it on the cover of a videogame will self-power both the Xbox and the TV, plus a nearby lamp, making it the only videogame that can be played in a power blackout.
I live in San Antonio, about two and a half hours from College Station. Granted, I'm in the military, but I did an informal poll at work. A little less than half of the people knew who Denard was, about a quarter of them knew who Swope was. Everyone who knew who Swope was knew who Denard was. Even a couple A&M grads couldn't tell me who Swope was.
Both sides are full blown cheating right now. The major difference is that A&M are using dummy profiles complete with photos, and most of the UofM cheaters are spamming fan pages which are easy to tell at a glance.
I looked through the Swope votes, and noticed repeats of facebook profiles at intervals of 50 or so, a suspiciously high proportion of Guatemalan voters, and a certain frequency of reused photos with differing account names.
I hope to god EA can tell what's what somehow, otherwise this will look very very bad for us in the end.
If both sides are gonna look bad, I'd rather look bad and have the most votes in the end....
Come on, guys. Ryan Swope is clearly an all-time superstar. He deserves the cover for his popularity, which has been sweeping the nation for years!
and he'll surely win the all-time rushing record for...er...whatever position it is that he plays.
In College Station, they say he's Swoping the nation. Surprised you didn't know that. In all seriousness though, this guy might as well be Mike Jones...
Who?
MIKE JONES!
Maybe I'm childish about this vote but I've pretty much AT LEAST every other year purchased EA NCAA football because I love to build a Michigan dynasty up and then when i'm done I like to take the little teams up from the depths of recruiting failure to become major contenders.
Now I know the cover vote won't change my actual gameplay but I'll be damned If I have to load that game up and wait 2 minutes with a loading screen of some random receiver who didn't even lead his team in receiving yards or receptions and notoriously got his fame through a fast 40 time.
FUCK YOU EA.
/rant
Despite being a loyal Michigan fan, I think all votes should be counted. Whichever fan base has the ingenuity, innovation, and motivation to find whatever loopholes there are in the voting system should be rewarded with those votes counting.
Another way of putting it... whichever fan base can outsmart the other in terms of drumming up fake votes should win... this kind of creative thinking should be rewarded, not punished. After all, we're talking about a contest for the cover of a video game that changes frequently, not a new federal budget.
16,000 votes in 2 hours???!!! That's not cheating, that's just ESS EEE SEE SPEED!!!
I'm not sure what I'm going to do when this contest is finished.
Does anyone know of any time-consuming activities coming up later this month?
There's this thing called march madness coming up...
...why so many of u care about the cover of this video game? Maybe I am starting to get too old, but I just don't get it...and no, this is not a flamebait post...I am actually interested to know why people care so much. Especially when Michigan B-Ball is in full swing, spring ball is about to start and 2014 recruiting is heating up. It isn't like I am not going to buy the game if D-Rob isn't on the cover.
And yes... I like to play X-Box, yes...NCAA football is my favorite game, yes...I think it woukd be cool to see D-Rob on the cover b/c he was an amazing player, and yes, I understand the reasons from a marketing perspective why it is important to the Michigan brand to gain future generations of fans and recruits. Ok maybe I just answered my own question and am over thinking this whole thing, but it just seems like there are way too many posts on this topic.... Hopefully this will not elicit a this isn't going to end well post.
EDIT: Instead of anonymously downvoting...please articulate a response. Thanks.
You got an upvote from me because I've been wondering the same thing.
And you forgot to point out how we are pawns in EA's master marketing scheme.
Appreciated!
Reasons I care is that even though its a video game the cover is another avenue of promoting the University of Michigan and Michigan football. I am not saying its going to bring in recruits or have any effects like that because again its a video game however any promotion of the university especially across the country is great. I think its great publicity and as someone who purchases this game on an annual basis I feel I will enjoy it more if Denard is on the cover. It's also a competition and any competition that Michigan is in I want us to win and will support them in the competition especially when there are all of the haters out of there who are voting against Michigan. Those are just a couple reasons I want Denard on the cover.
BTW, I didn't upvote nor downvote you.
...well reasoned, articulate answer. While I don't think that the University of Michigan as a whole needs any additional recognition/promotion by way of a video game...all things maize and blue are better....and while I don't care about the cover of my games....it would give me some satisfaction to know Ohio fans and little brothers across the country have a nice pic of D-Rob in their homes.
And I did up-vote your response.
Yeah, I don't play video games at all, but I'd like to see Denard on the cover just because it beats not-Denard on the cover. I haven't been following it carefully, but it's certainly cool to have a Michigan guy getting lots of press for the next year.
Plus, it would be very cool for Denard, and he seems like a pretty good guy who has done a lot for our school, so that by itself is enough for me.
Yeah, I don't play video games at all, but I'd like to see Denard on the cover just because it beats not-Denard on the cover. I haven't been following it carefully, but it's certainly cool to have a Michigan guy getting lots of press for the next year.
Plus, it would be very cool for Denard, and he seems like a pretty good guy who has done a lot for our school, so that by itself is enough for me.