Meet TJ Madigan – He’s New Around Here, So Please Be Gentle Canada

There’s a new kid in town on Xbox.ca, and he’s kind of a Noob.  I mean it in the nicest way, but we actually came across someone that – oh the horror – has never, ever played Xbox.  Not even first gen, big black box Xbox!  Meet TJ Madigan - resident sports writer for TSN.ca, avid wrestling zeitgeist, and all around good guy.  He’s a bit of an experiment for us – when we heard he’d never played Xbox, we immediately insisted he document his dive into our world.  TJ will be unboxing his shiny new Xbox 360 and jumping into the glorious Xbox universe over the next six weeks. Here’s a sneak peek at our latest addition.

Jade: Honestly, you really, truly have not played Xbox before?  Sorry I have to ask yet again, but I’m fascinated.  I don’t run into many people like you in my line of business.   

TJ: Pinky swear!  I mean, everyone has semi-played a random video game at 3 a.m. at a house party or whatever.  So I'm sure I've held an Xbox controller while someone showed me how to drop kick some punk in Grand Theft Auto.  But I've never actually sat down and played the console.  I just finished writing my first blog about this whole experience, actually.   
 

Jade: So what do you do to keep busy (since it is largely inconceivable to many of our community that there is life outside of Xbox Live)?  

TJ: I'm a sports writer so that takes up a decent chunk of my life.  I try to stay active; travel a lot; big into TV and movies.  I'm one episode behind on Heroes right now, so if anyone spoils it for me, there'll be blood spilt... 

Jade: What game will you play first once you get your Xbox connected?  

TJ: Y'know, I grew up watching wrestling.  And my first big writing gig was covering WWE stuff for the Sun newspaper.  So laugh all you want, but I think I'm going to try Legends of Wrestlemania.  I saw the demo trailer during (the actual) Wrestlemania last weekend and the graphics blew me away. 

 
Jade: I know I would play at Brett Hart, staying true to my Canadian roots. Who are you going to play as? 

TJ: I know who I'm going to play against!  The Ultimate freaking Warrior!  You remember him from the '80s, right?  Haha, back when I started covering sports, The Warrior got pissy about a story I wrote in the paper.  He wrote up some crazy rants about me and posted them on his website.  I didn't respond, but when I finally come face-to-face with him in an Xbox ring?  I'll be the Ike to his Tina. 
  

Jade: You mentioned you were a big fan of older systems back in the day.  What is your favorite genre of video game? 

TJ: I mean, let's be clear here:  If the system had more than two buttons and a joypad, it was already over my head!  But way back in the day, I liked my old school platform games.     

Jade: Do you think your extensive knowledge of sports events will give you any kind of advantage when playing games like NHL 2009 or Madden?  

TJ: Nah. If anything, it'll be a distraction.  I'll be trying to figure out which button-combo makes Sidney Crosby whine!   

Jade: The big question - have you picked a Gamertag yet? 

TJ: I haven't.  We're gonna do this thing in real-time -- to keep this puppy on the level.  So when I post a column saying I just opened an Xbox in my living room, it'll genuinely be the first time there's an Xbox in my living room.   The gamer tag will follow.  

Jade: No pressure, but Gamertags are kinda a big deal.  How will you come up your tag? 

TJ: Anyone have ideas?  I'm new here...  

Jade: Okay community help TJ out, give him some tips on how to come up with a legendary tag.  TJ, any last words, challenges, throwdowns for our Canadian community? 

Y'know, I'm not gonna pull an Omarosa!  (For people who aren't lame enough to watch The Apprentice, that means talking ridiculous amounts of trash; then getting your ass absolutely handed to you in the most humiliating way possible!  Multiple times over!).   

I know you people are going to lay the smackdown on me.  Hardcore.  But the idea of this blog series is to show other newbies that it's easy to hop on board the Xbox train.  I've wanted to do this for a long time but it's kinda intimidating to start from scratch in a community like Xbox Live.   

But I'm taking the leap and finally losing my Xbox virginity.  In public.   

So my last words?  Please be gentle...