The release of NCAA 2009 has lots of people excited, and it’s no surprise that the guys around whom the game is built are among those lining up to buy the game. When you think about it for a second, it’s at once flattering and bizarre that your identity could be boiled down to a few numerical ratings and controlled by thousands of couch potatoes across the nation.

Marc Weiszer talked to some of the Georgia players about the game and Georgia’s #1 ranking in the game. Coach Garner says thank-you-very-much for the recruiting edge of being the #1-ranked team and notes, “Anything like that with today’s kids, they’re all about electronics and the games.” It can’t hurt that every prep tailback can choose to be #24 in a black jersey for the nation’s #1 team.

I love reading the comments from the players when they see how they translate to bits and bytes. You’ll have freshmen and reserves tweak their ratings to make sure they’re in the starting lineup. It’s a very serious and hilarious business. There’s always bound to be this poor guy:

Linebacker Rennie Curran isn’t thrilled about one aspect of the game. He says they left out No. 35, which just happens to be his number.
“I think they messed up with my number,” Curran said.
Ellerbe knows the feeling.
“I got shafted last year,” he said. “They gave me Akeem Hebron’s number.”

I feel Dannell Ellerbe’s pain about needing a new system. “I’m probably going to go buy the Playstation 3 just so I can play the game on Playstation 3,” he said. The game isn’t available for my ancient X-Box, so I’m going to have to upgrade the hardware myself.