THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 27, 1996 TAG: 9601260083
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE ADDIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
KEITH HAYES is pretty wired about Super Bowl XXX. Being wired, in fact, is how he came to be holding a pair of tickets to the game.
A month ago, Hayes tapped into a nationwide network of electronic football-game fanatics and, through a series of nose-to-nose challenges over the long-distance phone lines, he emerged as national champion of the John Madden Football '96 competition.
Hayes, a Virginia Beach truck driver, was a long shot. He entered at the last minute, playing on a rented Sega Genesis game cartridge from a video store. The deadline was so close that there was no time to mail the entry fee. A friend let him charge the $20 to his credit card.
That little gesture is paying off for the friend, Kelford Collins, who will join Hayes for a VIP weekend of Super Bowl get-downs. Hayes' video-game skill earned them free air fare, luxury digs, game tickets, and an exclusive Friday night celebrity bash hosted by none other than John Madden, the garrulous beef-mountain of an ex-coach and game-day analyst.
``I just can't wait to meet him,'' Hayes said. ``He's a legendary guy. I've been playing his games for years and now I get to meet the man who created it all.''
Hayes will also get to compete in the Madden Bowl '96 Celebrity Game Challenge, in which NFL players and other famous species will fight for game-cartridge bragging rights. Hayes expects to win that, too.
``It ought to be a cakewalk,'' he said. ``I've already beaten all the real competition.'' He said this as he nodded toward his television set and the cartridges and wires that hook him into the network of couch-cushion coaches. Among that group, his victory was greeted with the same mix of congratulations and whining that follows the outcome of the real game.
The sniping, Hayes said, stems from his having won on a rented cartridge. That's something like winning the Indy 500 with Ford Taurus you picked up at the local Avis counter.
Those who thought it was a fluke don't know Hayes. The electronic games, which are pegged as closely as possible to the attributes of real teams and players, take considerable skill. Players can choose from a wide array of lineups, plays, and offensive and defensive sets.
Hayes took advantage of that. ``I play chess, too,'' he said. ``Love chess. So I'm a strategist. And chess taught me patience. With patience, you can do a whole lot of things.''
Choosing to ``coach'' the Pittsburgh Steelers - this was weeks before the real team qualified for the Super Bowl - Hayes tinkered with their offense by benching Neil O'Donnell and letting Cordell ``Slash'' Stewart run the offense.
``He's the best running quarterback in the game,'' Hayes said. ``So I went pretty much with a power running game. I'd pick up my 3 to 4 yards at a time - patient, like I told you - rather than risk an interception by going for 30 or 40 yards on a pass play.
``And it worked. Actually, through the whole thing I only had one close game, where I stopped a guy on the 3-yard line as time ran out. The rest, I won by one or two touchdowns.''
In the early rounds Hayes had to hook into the network at specified times, square off with different opponents and win as many games as possible in each of a series of three-hour sessions. His success qualified him for the final pool of 64 players.
From there, it works much like the NCAA basketball tournament: keep winning your way into the Sweet 16, the Elite Eight, the Final Four. Lose once and you'd might as well switch your TV over to reruns of ``Cheers.''
Hayes won them all, taking the championship Dec. 29. ``Man,'' he said, ``I didn't know how to act. They gave me $500 in spending money, the tickets, the trip and all that. God, I loved it. I'd never even seen Super Bowl tickets before.''
Hayes, who is 32 years old, played halfback and cornerback at Norfolk Catholic, then did seven years in the Army.
``I'd love to be still playing football,'' he said. ``I'd love to have gone to college and played. But my life took me a different direction.''
He met his wife, Deborah, while in the service. They're raising three young sons. His wife is a manager at a pizza parlor.
The Big Win has had another payoff for Hayes: Deborah no longer rides him about all the time he spends playing video games.
``Oh, yeah, I used to get that all the time, she didn't appreciate my face being stuck in front of the TV.
``I don't hear too much of that now.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Steve Earley\The Virginian-Pilot
As part of his VIP weekend, Keith Hayes will get to compete in the
Madden Bowl '96 Celebrity Challenge. He expects to win that, too.
by CNB