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Those of you who follow my work here at FanHouse know that I am the furthest thing from any sort of gossipmonger there is. Obviously. And I usually refrain from writing too much about Erin Andrews; she's awesome, of course, but she gets a lot of coverage.

However, my colleague and podcast partner Ryan Wilson pointed out to me that during Andrews' recent interview with FanHouse, she was flashing some serious bling. Bling that just happened to be placed on her left ring finger (close-up after the jump) while she was telling Ariel Helwani that she wasn't interested in him.

Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA was voted one of the toughest college arenas to play, according to a poll on EA Sports. And a spokesman for the company indicated that yes, the poll was serious. EA Sports conducted the poll to use in its upcoming NCAA basketball game.

UCLA made the cut of 15 in the poll made up of college basketball fans who have obviously never been to a game at Pauley Pavilion. Because those of us who have been to there would know that is just not the case. In fact, UCLA might have the most forgiving home courts for a big-time college basketball program. Ever.

Yeah, we're two days late. We FanHousers don't get advance copies of games, tickets, or anything for that matter. We're scrubs, just like you. But that's what makes it all so fun! We spent these two days "past deadline" playing NCAA '09.

The Game

In case you live under a rock, EA Sports' NCAA Football is a wildly successful software franchise updated mid-July of each year. With each new release comes new team and player ratings and, ostensibly, new features.

What's New and What's Not

Good news: if you played last year's next-gen (Xbox 360 vs. Xbox) version of NCAA Football you will be able to jump right in and play without any problem. The controls are virtually identical (thank you, EA), the playbooks are very similar and overall gameplay is in the same ballpark. The menu interface is also very much like '08, but snappier.

Be sure to join FanHouse writers here at 5 PM Eastern in discussing the release of EA Sports' NCAA 2009. Will it be the fix we've all been waiting for or are rumored roster bugs and other snafus just too much? We'll try and find out. In the meantime fire away with comments in the CoverItLive chat below.

Like most other fans of video games and sports, I was irritated when the deal between EA Sports and the various professional sports leagues was announced. The deal with the NFL was signed and promoted just after the competing NFL 2K5 came out with a handful of really great new features, and it seemed like common sense this must be EA trying to squeeze their competition out of the market. As it turns out, though, EA claims that it was the NFL's idea.

Whoever came up with it, EA is the one who is going to be defending it. Ars Technica is reporting that two gamers are suing EA Sports for antitrust violations, which is a bold move. Their argument is, basically, that nobody really wants to buy a football game that doesn't have real teams or players in it.

Now that the season is over, and there is lots of free time in between the NHL Entry Draft, the free agent frenzy, and the awards show, it's time to get our hockey on with a good ol' game from EA's NHL franchise. I'll certainly enjoy setting up a Wings/Penguins final and having Sidney pot 34 goals in a 4-game sweep.

Ah, fantasies ...

Anyhoo ... With the advent of a new season comes a new release, and this year's version promises to offer even more realism, flash, and dash.

Even though the game isn't out for another three months, that won't stop people from drooling over the possibilities. To whet your appetite, here is the official trailer for NHL 09.

If you prefer to play Madden on a PC rather than a console, get used to updating those rosters by hand.

EA Sports announced on Tuesday -- and it appears this was not an April Fools joke -- that they would not publish a PC version of Madden 09 and plan to produce only console versions from here on out. EA developer Peter Moore wrote on his blog that it was simply a business move and that EA would look for other ideas for PC football games in the future.

Translation: NFL Head Coach will probably shift to PC. You can just sense our pal MJD's excitement at that, can't you?

On a business level, I understand the decision, but the end result is that the most in-depth version of Madden on the market is disappearing, and because EA has exclusive rights to the NFL and NFLPA licenses, nobody will be producing a new NFL game for PC this year -- an unfortunate hole in the gaming market? Or is this a sign that all sports games are becoming console-only? Are PC gamers too busy fragging each other in Unreal Tournament or leveling up in World of Warcraft?

What do you say, PC gamers? Will you miss Madden for PC? Or are you still playing with hacked Tecmo Super Bowl ROMs on NES emulators?

(H/T: Ars Technica)

A couple of weeks ago, when Electronic Arts first expressed an interest in buying out video game competitor Take Two Interactive, we asked whether EA was chasing a sports game monopoly.

Well, EA launched a hostile takeover bid of Take Two today, and EA chief executive John Riccitiello made very clear that there's only one big prize here -- Rockstar Games, makers of Grand Theft Auto franchise.

"The big headline here is that our primary interest is in Rockstar and the intellectual properties around Rockstar."

(Riccitiello) said the bid was not an attempt to remove a competitor in the field of sport titles.

"Sports games are secondary consideration here," he said.

That may be the case, but it doesn't change the fact that by acquiring Take Two, EA would also acquire 2K Sports, which owns several sports franchises such as Major League Baseball 2K and College Hoops 2K and . It would be hard to imagine EA keeping 2K Sports and EA Sports separate if this takeover is successful.

Perhaps the only question is whether pro sports leagues would keep their video game licensing deals with the combined company. Unlike the NFL, other leagues might prefer to have more than one company producing their sports games.

When EA Sports paid out for an exclusive license with the NFL and NFLPA in 2004 -- a license that was extended two weeks ago -- many gamers asked whether Electronic Arts' monopoly over NFL video games might hurt the quality of the Madden series in the long term. So far, though, it hasn't hurt sales.

However, it appears one exclusive sports license just isn't enough for EA. The Redwood City, CA, company has launched a hostile takeover attempt of Take Two Interactive, the game publisher that distributes Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series. Take Two owns 2K Sports, which releases a number of high-profile video games based on NBA, NHL, MLB and NCAA licenses -- several of which consistently get better reviews than their EA Sports rivals. Should EA manage to acquire Take Two, EA Sports could find itself with exclusive licenses for the NBA, NHL, MLB and NCAA.

If you play sports video games, this should bother you. Competition is usually the only thing that drives developers to create better games. If that competition disappears, your favorite games might never get any better.

Gamers will pay $60 for a mere roster update only so many times. If this deal goes down, let's hope it doesn't ruin the potential creativity in the sports game market.

(H/T: Ars Technica)

Titans quarterback Vince Young is off to a good start this season despite appearing on the cover of Madden 08.

Maybe that means the Madden Curse has been debunked, and maybe that's why NFL players like Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney are actually campaigning to be on the cover of NFL Tour, a football video game that's going to be released in January:

There are also commercials featuring Jason Taylor and Shawne Merriman. You can see them all at the EA YouTube channel. I maintain that EA Sports has a better understanding of how to use YouTube for inexpensive and effective promotion than just about any other company in America.