Madden is one of the greatest yearly gaming experiences if you have a group of friends who are all into it. The amount of smack talk that can be dealt out, the intensity of each game, it's just great. If you're not into it, fine, plenty of games out there for everybody, but don't crap all over it for everybody who actually does enjoy it.
By the way, I have a huge backlog of games from both PS3 and 360 including Demon's Souls, Mass Effect, Bioshock, InFamous, L4D2, Uncharted 1 & 2, Ratchet & Clank, Borderlands, etc... etc... Basically, a wide array of games. So it annoys me when people characterize people who play Madden as just "sports gamers" or "Madden gamers." I also enjoy yearly installments of MLB The Show, but that doesn't make me any "less" of a hardcore gamer.
There comes a point when you actually enjoy something, you can find a good deal and make it worthwhile to get the game early. I traded Madden 10 for $40 credit to Gamestop earlier this year to get Madden 11. If you'll buy Madden '08 when Madden '11 just came out, then you are just flat out missing the point.