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My middle child, Ben, turned 10 years old on Sunday. That means that every year for exactly half of his life, as the scorching heat of July gives way to the face-melting heat of August, we've immersed ourselves in our own version of New Orleans Saints training camp.

Drew Brees prepares to strike, in a screen grab from the Xbox version of 'Madden NFL 11.'
There are no wind sprints here, no five-on-five drills. Only occasionally is there rookie hazing. In our version of training camp, we stretch our thumbs and dive into the latest available version of the "Madden NFL" video game and, in an optimistic show of genetic Who Dattitude, we take the New Orleans Saints to the Super Bowl.
And then we win it all.
Some years it takes longer than others, since the rosters in "Madden NFL" are reflective of the talent on the real-life NFL teams. But all the while, Ben and I pass the controller back and forth. We curse the Falcons. We analyze roster changes. We debate which Saints player should be on the game's cover instead of the golden boy du jour. We curse the Falcons some more.
We are still father and son, but we also are teammates.
It's a display of shared geekiness -- of both the football and video game variety -- but it also is a display of unabashed optimism for the coming football season. After all, no Saints team ever had gone to the Super Bowl. Not under Jim Mora. Not under Bum Phillips. Not even close under Mike Ditka.
This year, that all changes. Not only do the Saints enter the 2010 season as the reigning NFL Champions (That still sounds funny. Wonderfully, intoxicatingly funny.), but for the first time ever, thanks to a vote of "Madden NFL" fans, a New Orleans Saints player -- quarterback Drew Brees -- graces the game's cover.

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