No Madden Cover for Peppers

The first round of balloting in EA Sports' Madden Cover is in, and Chicagoans, you done good. With 57 percent of the vote, Minnesota's Adrian Peterson knocked Julius Peppers out of the running for the coveted and calamitous spot on the cover of the popular video game. Peterson will now move on to face Philip Rivers in voting.

High-fives all around. With Chicago's national fanbase, larger population and overall awesomeness, there is no way Peppers should have lost to AP. He had an All-Pro season in 2010, while Peterson struggled late in the season. Peppers went to the post-season, Peterson did not. Peppers was an invaluable member of a winning team. Peterson's couldn't beat the Bears even once.

All logic would dictate that Peppers would win.

But that logic would fail to take into account the curse of the Madden cover, and how good Chicagoans are at elections. As we've discussed, players who have made the cover of Madden have a rough history. Bears fans who have lived through the ups and downs of Chicago sports fanhood were smart enough not to tempt fate. You may call it throwing an election. We call it smart fanhood.

So congratulations, AP. We don't want any injury to befall you, but if someone had to stay alive, we're glad it's you and not Pep.