APBA Football Club Podcast Network (Geoff Giordano)

For decades, 86-year-old Ange Coniglio has been perhaps the foremost authority on and advocate for the achievements and legacy of the American Football League. The lifelong Buffalo Bills fan created his AFL website (remembertheafl.com) as an exhaustive repository for all manner of knowledge regarding the league — from the all-time AFL roster and a photo gallery of his personal AFL Hall of Fame to an AFL reading list, a memorabilia gallery, team histories, stats and more. Other AFL researchers point to Ange as the “godfather” of AFL history for his efforts — which have ranged from sending color film of the AFL to Sports Illustrated when the magazine would only run black-and-white AFL images, to writing letters to AFL legends including Lamar Hunt and Ralph C. Wilson. W

With the passing of iconic Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson at age 87 today, honoring the legacy of the AFL is especially important.

In our interview, three days before his Aug. 21 birthday, Ange paints a colorful portrait of the men of that innovative league and their legendary exploits.

Remember the AFL: remembertheafl.com

Tales from the AFL (Todd Tobias): https://talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/

Remember the AFL Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/297706681489

AFL 1959-70 Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/442714232814494

AFL Anthology Facebook fan page: https://www.facebook.com/AFLAnthology

The finale of the 1976 Bucs' season. Original-issue APBA Football cards, 10-year project — fantastic results! Key stats from our 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers replay (original cards copyright 1977): 54:24 Thank you to S.T. Patrick and Jen Henson for the opportunity to include a summary of the Bicentennial Bucs' saga in Issue No. 11 (February 2023) of Sports Sim Magazine, available at this link: https://www.lulu.com/shop/mwn-publications/sports-sim-magazine-issue-11/paperback/product-ppre5n.html?q=sports+sim+magazine&page=1&pageSize=4

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/_6FdhXO-aOk

Former New York City radio personality turned highly successful game designer Mike Fitzgerald has dozens of credits to his name — including the smash Baseball Highlights 2045, as well as Football Highlights 2052, the Mystery Rummy series, and many, many more winners. His latest — and likely last — sports offering, Crunch Time, brings pro basketball to the tabletop in a compact and fun way. He's also working on a new "build a band" game. Our interview runs the gamut from how overcoming his stutter as a youth helped him begin his stellar radio career, how he began designing games at age 8 and playing APBA Baseball at age 11, and entering the professional game design world in the early 1990s. Here, he details his mechanics, playtesting, milestones and navigating the world of game publishing. Mike Fitzgerald's credits at Board Game Geek: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/77/mike-fitzgerald/linkeditems/boardgamedesigner Mike Fitzgerald guest post on Board Game Geek: https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/50319/solo-gaming-game-designer-guest-post-mike-fitzgera

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/FLTrCZ4iRo0

Lords of Baseball, a Euro-style game of baseball franchise ownership and management, took father-and-son team Bob and Max Jamelli 12 years to refine and fund via Kickstarter. Max, a high school teacher and former football coach, walks us through the development of LoB, his thoughts on the future of gaming, and his work as national director of tabletop gaming for the Video Game Clubs of America (vgcusa.org). The seed of the idea for Lords of Baseball came to Max’s father after a trip to the World Boardgaming Championships; inspired by the Cold War game Twilight Struggle, Bob Jamelli began sketching out ideas for LoB. Now, after 50 revisions, nearly 90 iterations of the rule book and more than 1,500 playthroughs, LoB is ready to hit the market. Offering a complete picture of baseball team ownership, from stocking talent to winning games — even building a stadium — Lords of Baseball is a Euro-style take on the game of pro baseball. Jamelli recalls how he came to know key collaborator Jeff Horger, who took on the role of streamlining LoB’s mechanics, vowing to “tear (the game) apart and build it back up.” Max also discusses his take on tabletop football games Legends of Football, Pizza Box football and 1st and Goal from his perspective as a coach. In the last part of the interview, Max discusses the mission and methods of the VGCUSA, how he came to be involved, and how the organization fosters social and emotional learning for students in more than 800 schools in the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Europe. Helping kids socially through gaming is “the best thing I’ll ever do in education,” he says. Lords of Baseball is still available by Kickstarter late pledge at the time of posting this video; L4 Studios will be selling the game at conventions — and a retail option is likely. How to play Lords of Baseball: 01:56 Seed of the idea from the WBC: 19:50 Mechanics used in Lords of Baseball: 32:05 Playing SOM and Baseball Stars on Nintendo with his dad: 45:40 Coaching football and playing football games (Legends of Football, Pizza Box): 46:37 Sports on the field vs. on tabletop: 52:38 Funding Lords of Baseball and potential expansions: 56:50 Future of board games and accessibility to audiences: 1:02:35 Video Game Clubs of America and its mission: 1:09:22 Joining VGCUSA and creating a school game club: 1:13:54 Lords of Baseball on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lordsofbaseball/lords-of-baseball?amp;mc_cid=5cccc19d8c&mc_eid=73f5a6be1a Max’s BoardGameGeek profile: https://boardgamegeek.com/user/sigtaulefty Video Game Clubs of America: https://www.vgcusa.org/ Max’s review of Legends of Football: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/369071/old-time-football-meets-fantasy-football

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/2D0Cb-9Mn8E

It has been 10 years since regional APBA tournaments began to appear nationwide. I started talking about creating a tournament at the  @ProFootballHOF  in summer 2012–and we are posted to hold our second there this August (26th-27th) during induction month and the NFL 2023 preseason. Here, I talk about a few things to address when starting your own tabletop sports gaming event, from venue selection and acquisition to rules, awards, communications and more. Read the APBA Blog’s 2015 series of interviews with tournament directors: https://www.apbablog.com/?s=Organizer+roundtable

ViDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/EUsbrWExQEc

(Published June 3, 2023)

Chris Doelle and Michael Wright, friends and football teammates since junior high school in Texas, turned their love of the game into Friday Night Legends, a team-based representation of high school football across the country and the decades. Launched on Kickstarter in November 2017, FNL is an outgrowth of the pair's Lone Star Gridiron website, dedicated exclusively to curating Texas high school football news, history and stats. With more than 800 high school teams going back to 1907 carded, FNL has built a strong following, evidenced by repeated requests for new teams (they make a great high school reunion gift). FNL's sister game, Saturday Legends, takes the concept to college football, with some tweaks in game play. Chris details the game's origin and the pair's rigorous research method.

DISCOUNT CODE for AFC viewers: Use the code AFC20 when purchasing Friday Night Legends or Saturday Legends to receive 20 percent off your order.

Friday Night Legends: https://fridaynightlegends.com
Friday Night Legends Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FridayNightLegends
Saturday Legends: https://saturdaylegends.com/
Saturday Legends Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SaturdayLegends
Lone Star Gridiron: https://lonestargridiron.com

We first reached out to Ray Dunlap in 2012 — a "gray area" period in APBA history when the company HQ had moved to Alpharetta, Ga., from Lancaster, Pa., and the annual convention was a fan-held event. As the fates would have it, Ray was living in Atlanta when the company moved. Ray, co-creator of the Suncoast Football League in Tampa in 1979, has been playing APBA since 1966 (great year), wrote for the APBA Journal and also served as Tampa Bay Bucs' statistician for five years. His innovations, including a player matchup system and all-original results boards, are legend.
Ray is also one of the key presenters at our inaugural APBA Footaball tournament at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August 2013. (Audio from June 4, 2021, interview, originally for YouTube).

Excerpt from our 2012 inteview with Ray:

By Geoff Giordano
©2012 APBA Football Club

NEW JERSEY, Oct. 18, 2012 — The decades-long interest APBA can hold for individual gamers is well known. But to keep a face-to-face league to keep going for more than 30 years requires a sound foundation forged by solid leadership.

In the case of Tampa Bay’s Suncoast Football League, founded in 1979 by Ray Dunlap, the example set by the onetime APBA Journal football editor endures.

Now living in Georgia, not far from APBA’s new headquarters, Dunlap has recently sought to start a new league <a href=http://www.tabletop-sports.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=371

Target= “_blank>(having posted an ad at Tabletop Sports two years ago).</a> Though he got no responses, his enthusiasm for APBA football remains undiminished.

“I have never found a hobby in my life that I loved more than participating in the Suncoast Football League,” founder and former commissioner Dunlap asserts. “I was in that league about 11 years; it was the best 11 years of any hobby I’ve ever done, and I’ve never even come close to replicating it.”

Steve Stein, creator of Compuduck Sports Software (Steve's APBA Card Computer) joins us for a far-reaching discussion what constitutes accurate and enjoyable sports simulations — and how the two concepts don't always mesh into a good game.   

Steve's APBA Card Computer: https://compuducksports.com/
Minden Cricket: https://www.mindencricket.com/

Commercial designer John Sparti began building custom dice rolling stadiums as an offshoot of his work designing labels for products like Turtle Wax and Simoniz. Since building his first stadium, a replica of Fenway, he has created 265 stadiums for eager gamers (as of June 4, 2023, the date this interview originally posted).

John credits his wife for suggesting he sell his creations on eBay. and his portfolio has expanded from there. He has since sold that first stadium, preferring it be in the hands of a grateful customer. One of the most difficult stadiums he has created is the Polo Grounds, which required significant research before he settled on re-creating one of the venue's many iterations. Check out John's stadiums and contact him with your ideal project through his website:

https://spartidesign.myportfolio.com/mini-dice-stadiums-1

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/Q3_QiD-URH0

Join us at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio, for the second APBA Football Club football-exclusive tournament. Rebooting our first event, held in the legendary APBA summer of 2013, we want to raise the bar on that inaugural event.  

Format (tentative thoughts): 1:10
Rules: 8:35
Why the HoF and why in August: 13:18
Cost (tentative): 15:15
Origins of the event: 17:40

APBA Football Club on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/apbafootballcluboriginal

AFC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apbafootballclub/

APBA Football Handbook on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APBAfootballhandbook  

** I misspoke about the 1981 Chargers at Dolphins being double OT — but it sure felt like two OTs if you remember watching it as it happened. In any case, quite uncanny that the 1971 and 1981 Dolphins figured in two of the most epic games in NFL history.

Eric Simon's family has had a long relationship with horse racing, which makes his obsession with the out-of-print APBA Saddle Racing game mosrt understandable. So diligently does he assess the statistical and timing accuracy of horses and jockeys that he put his calculations to the test by rating 800 horses at a time. He has created horses, free of charge, for the 2018 racing season and 2020 Breeders Cup. Here, Eric shares insider's knowledge of the sport of horse racing and how best to depict those realities on the tabletop track.

Resources and games discussed in this episode:

2020 Breeders Cup set: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vyob_zWYMAHNvIxOumqp1Q9C4h3uo6nE/view?fbclid=IwAR0W-pmbwGue2wtRlGGN85Qla1DzcidaxGLPah2J8X65WG14i5Y0IE8dQ7A

Equibase horse racing database: https://www.equibase.com/

Equination online horse racing game: https://www.equination.net/

Winning Post 8 (2018) horse racing game for PS4: https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Post-8-2018-PlayStation-4/dp/B077YPHQHK

Queens native turned Florida resident Joe Moffa is replaying the 1981 NFL season — and his beloved Giants are 0-8! Will he persevere and roll through? How does he stay motivated? What player usage rules is he using? Can anyone beat the Chargers? Get the inside scoop on this exciting replay and dedicated replayer. Chime in with your own '81 season replay experiences, no matter what game you used, in the comments.

The Professional Football Researchers Association, launched in 1979 in Canton, Ohio, is renowned for the depth, breadth and quality of its knowledge base of American football throughout the decades and around the world. President George Bozeka provides an overview of the organization and its member benefits, and also previews the special events planned for the PFRA's annual convention July 27-30 in Pittsburgh.  

Join the PFRA ($35 annual): http://profootballresearchers.org/join.html

PFRA podcast: https://theofficialpfrapodcast.sportshistorynetwork.com

Video version: https://youtu.be/tuh-s6QSIts

John Storer runs one of those low-key sports gaming blogs that belies its wealth of valuable information. His broad range of gaming experience includes numerous Cincinnati Bengals relays with the "Big 3" of tabletop gridiron games (APBA, Strat-O-Matic and Statis Pro, although one might include Paydirt in a "Big 4" — and yes, John owns the Sports Illustrated game with the Steelers-Dolphins cover photo from the 1972 AFC championship game). Of course, John is also an avid baseball gamer (APBA master and Strato Super-Advanced), and he's even tackled APBA basketball and the Foreman-Lyle match with Title Bout (and he unveils a rare copy of Pro Boxing as issued by APBA in the 1990s).  

What his blogs don't tell you is that he is a commissioner of the  and has been a member of more than 30 leagues throughout his long gaming career.   

The Classic Sports Gamer on Wordpress: https://classicsportsgamer.wordpress.com/

The Classic Sports Gamer on Weebly: https://theclassicsportsgamer.weebly.com/

Independent Football League website (Action PC):  http://iflfb.weebly.com/index.html

Sports game designer John Gardiner gives us a U.K. player’s view of the wealth of options on the market — including some of his favorites from Lambourne Games. John’s credits include Replay World of Athletics, Replay World of International Swimming, Replay World of Ice Skating, Triathlon — and even beach volleyball.

His personal website “Replay Field of Dreams” is a repository of decades of sports game experience and perspective. His bottom line for a good sports game: Something that is fun but primarily that is believable.   

He also discussed the challenges of designing a good golf game. He even gives some clips on classic U.K. sports games to look out for, including the horse racing game Totopoly. He also shares some of the challenges of the one-man game design shop (shipping costs, etc.) As for his team? Tottenham Hotspur — since 1959.  

John Gardiner’s website: http://sportsreplays.net

Lambourne Games website: https://www.owzatgames.com/c

Anthony Giacobbe Jr. spent a good deal of time writing for the APBA Journal during a pivotal period for the company — the 1990s — and reviewing version 1's and version 2's of PC games. He also worked on the '90s revamp of the basketball game. He even created a Greek Olympics game, pieces and all, for a fourth-grade history class, and later crafted an early computer basketball game — in the era before hard drives on home PCs were common.   

Here, we run the gamut, from weighing the differences in face-to-face versus solo gaming, cards and drive versus PC, and what constitutes the "perfect" game. Anthony also remembers two friends — and the legendary “Turkey Mike” — whose influence on his gaming life endures.  

Interview conducted July 30, 2022

Video version: https://youtu.be/CjUreBizHl4

John Turney and Nick Webster made headlines this summer with the release of their sack-crediting statistics for the 1960 to 1981 NFL seasons. Their exhaustive research — including countless hours of viewing of priceless NFL game film — yielded many surprising results and long-overdue credit for iconic NFL stars like Deacon Jones, Jack Younglood, Alan Page, Al "Bubba" Baker and the Steel Curtain. John gives a behind-the-scenes look into the leg work that produced these eye-opening sack results, as well as his take on:

• The usage of 3-4, nickel and dime defenses throughout the eras
• The "what ifs" of the NFL vs. the AFL and legendary vs. contemporary players
• Current NFL issues

John's blog, Pro Football Journal: https://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com/

The Professional Football Researchers Association: https://profootballresearchers.org/

The Sports Reference announcement of inclusion of the unofficial 1960-1981 NFL sack statistics on Pro Football Reference:
https://www.sports-reference.com/blog/2021/07/pre-1982-sacks-added-to-pro-football-reference/

The official Pro Football Reference entry on the 1960-1981 sack research results:
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/sacks_single_season.htm?sr&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool#sacks_all_leaders

How John and Nick's research shed light on the sack performances of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers:
https://steelersnow.com/new-pre-1982-sack-research-puts-steel-curtains-accomplishments-into-new-perspective/
https://steelersdepot.com/2021/07/ever-wondered-how-many-sacks-the-steel-curtain-had-now-we-know/
https://steelerswire.usatoday.com/2021/07/13/steelers-nfl-sacks-2021-lc-greenwood-joe-greene/

The APBA Football Club's/APBA Football Handbook gallery of 1970s Topps football cards indicating team sack leaders:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=105036975104536&set=a.133353258939574

Al "Bubba" Baker's PFR page (his 1978 APBA Football rookie card gives him 5 points and a J-0 injury grade; Al ends up unofficially as the single-season NFL sack leader with 23):
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BakeAl00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-

Imagine my surprise learning that Sean Culnan — who ran the demos of Plaay's Second Season on Friday, July 28, at Plaay Dot Con 23 in Denver — is also a third-year coach in the National Card Football League. The NCFL dates back to 1981 in Ohio and has been using APBA Football since then. Sean made the NCFL Super Bowl last year and has also completed two full-season replays, 1980 and 1984, using Second Season. He shares a few thoughts regarding league play, tabletop coaching and more.

National Card Football League site:

https://jzajack.wixsite.com/ncfl

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/RxFXzr3oOuk

Jack Dolan didn't become a baseball fan until his mid-30s, but his APBA life began in the early '80s during his time stationed in Germany. On Sept. 10,  he will host the first Shoeless Joe APBA Baseball Tournament at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.

The event cost includes tickets to the minor league Greenville Drive game against the Asheville Tourists that night as well as a tour of the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum. The field is notable for its Fenway Park specs — complete with Green Monster. Jack, who has run APBA's official soccer tournament and attended the Chicagoland regional event, shares his thoughts behind this latest entry into the APBA regional competition portfolio and what attendees can expect — and why the 1927 Yankees are exempt.  

33:12: What folks should bring and how to approach the Aug. 1 draft.  

Shoeless Joe tournament page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/8488212887871585/

Shoeless Joe tournament rules: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LmXsoIhWC5az7B13ltMjpN84Lewiu35g/edit?fbclid=IwAR02IxeT6JY_EhJCPBbDDtvn_jCbvDAngOFtyoXEJHfxb1BbDFj5jiGmZbM

Video version: https://youtu.be/z-4bx5gQRjo

APBA Football veteran Bobby Porter has performed a rare hat trick, playing as a member of three APBA Football leagues: Florida's Suncoast Football League, founded in 1979; Ohio's National Card Football League, created in 1981; and the NCFL offshoot American Card Football League. Porter details his draft and face-to-face experiences, the SFL's unique results boards, optimal player usage in FTF league competition, and his custom football fields. He also helps design and maintain the league's websites. And, he goes on the record to nominate Jerry Zajack for the APBA Hall of Fame (and we heartily second that motion). Stay tuned to the APBA Football Club channel for exclusive updates as these leagues progress through their seasons.   

NCFL: https://jzajack.wixsite.com/ncfl
ACFL: https://acflapbaleague.wixsite.com/acfl
SFL: http://suncoastfootball.net/ (they seem to be using ActionPC  these days) 

Widely experienced tabletop sports savant Mark Miller, aka Jerry Cuan, shares his varied tastes and takes on a slew of cards-and-dice football, baseball, golf and bowling games. Known for his significant work expanding the experience of Al Wilson’s Fast Drive Football, Mark also has a history of helping Pete Ventura enhance Replay Baseball.

Mark’s creativity in terms of conceiving wild replay projects, as well as his tireless work creating score-allocation charts for FDF, have earned him great respect among the tabletop sports sim community.

Inspired by APBA’s out-of-print bowling game, he also created his own bowling game called In The Pocket, in tabletop and PC versions.

Mark offers insights into:  
• the mechanics of a variety of games
• how he approaches his tweaks
• enjoying the narrative a game offers
• the practice and value of normalization
• his evolution as a gamer
• why there is no “perfect” game
• showing good sportsmanship with other gamers  

Interview conducted September 2021.   

Download Mark’s charts for Fast Drive Football including:

• custom scoresheet
• yardage finders
• TD and non-TD scorer allocators  

https://www.fastdrivefootball.com/community-content
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LAMwhDsDlPQbqOLrEXI-05evYrkOZmw3

Download Mark's bowling game In The Pocket for free: https://www.ballstat.com/markmiller/InThePocketGame.zip

Craig Muder, director of communications for the Baseball of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, previews for us the big events coming up for 2023 (one of which will be the first-ever tabletop sports gaming event, courtesy of the APBA Football Club and our organizing committee).

Our conversation ranges from the unlikeliest baseball hero to the nine legends who could start today and win a World Series, plus some of the museum’s most important artifacts — and how in a newspaper, every night is election night for the sports crew. Plus, insider tips for the first-time visitor to Cooperstown and the value of Sabermetrics.   

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: baseballhall.org

Society for American Baseball Research: https://sabr.org

Bryan Aldrich, creator of 4th Street Software, shares his thoughts on navigating the ins and outs of creating realistic but playable games. His board and computer creations include iterations of football, baseball, basketball and hockey — and he's put some thought into creating a racing game.   

At the time we spoke (September 2021*), preorders for the v3 version of 4th Street's hockey game had just gone live. Bryan was also working on numerous projects, including the 1985 football season and 1983 baseball season.   

As of July 2022, the company's new computer basketball game is available. But, with five games in four sports, Bryan notes, continued maintenance of all platforms is a must. The wildly entertaining 2021 football season is next on deck, with '85 perhaps to follow, along with a "major" update to the computer program.  

4th Street Software: https://4th-street-software.com/

Bryan's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL9fujXNrhI2-KDe2HGVeyA

* Technical difficulties mean some audio has dropped out or is garbled here and there, but enough of it stands as a for-the-record document of our first interview. For the video version, visit our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/lMUr_6ziFAQ

Pre-eminent football historian Ken Crippen speaks with us about the most important players and eras in American football, as well as the mission of his Football Learning Academy.

The FLA offers online classes, videos and a blog that illuminates football history and the impact the game on society. "Giving back to retired players in need" is the FLA's mission, and football fans can help by signing up for classes and generally giving them good traffic.   

We even got in a little chat about Don Hutson's impact (and the APBA asterisk on his 1941 Packers Great Teams of the Past card) starting at 20:47.  

Football Learning Academy website: https://www.football-learning-academy.com/

Football Learning Academy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/footballlearningacademy/

Professional Football Researchers Association: https://profootballresearchers.org/

Ken's personal website: http://kencrippen.com/

Ken's scouting report on Don Hutson:  http://www.kencrippen.com/Scouting-Reports/Hutson_Don.pdf  

The 1941 Packers Great Team of the Past description and meaning of the APBA asterisk: https://www.facebook.com/apbafootballcluboriginal/photos/pcb.136367951957132/136367901957137/

High-level stats and a flair for the flavor of the game — that's the way designer Brian Haferkamp addresses big-league sports in his baseball, basketball and football games.  

Brian, a web developer who grew up in the video era and counts Out of the Park baseball among his inspirations, just released his latest game, Uptempo Basketball, this summer. Beginning with 1985-86 NBA season, he quickly added 1982-83 and 1989-90.   

However, despite recapturing those classic NBA seasons, Brian cautions that there was no "golden age" for many contemporary sports fans — and sports game designers — and that perspective likely will fuel the development of more experience-driven sports sims.  

Previously unavailable stats are another major influence on sports designers like Brian. Sabermetrics are at the core of his On Base Baseball game, released in April 2021; more granular data also figures in to his upcoming football game, aptly titled Advanced Stats Football.  

"Technology is not the enemy," he asserts, as VR and AR are poised to dramatically alter the way sports games are designed and used. Couple technology with the waning appeal of nostalgia among contemporary sports fans, and major changes are on the horizon, he added. Underpinning this new vision of sports game design is a highly "open source" mindset of collaboration and transparency between designer and player.  

Brian played football as a youth in Texas. As athletics took a less prominent role in his life during his 20s, he turned to sports sims — ultimately favoring the franchise and GM modes built in to video sims beginning in the '90s.   

Fueled by those experiences, Brian offers dramatically different games covering baseball, basketball and American football, providing short-, medium- and long-playing games.   

On Base Baseball (16:04) comes in three flavors: Basic, advanced and quick play. The advanced version is particularly notable in that it is a pitch-by-pitch sim based on Statcast data, taking players throughout an entire on-bat point by point, from pitch selection to other variables. While it might take three or even seven rolls to resolve the at-bat, a game might be finished in about an hour and 15 minutes. However, Brian notes he is creating primarily World Series and All-Star teams — roughly 75 player cards vs. the 900 required to card the entire league. He also has another baseball game, Dog Days Baseball, in the works.  

Advanced Stats Football (22:47) , still in development, is driven by contemporary stats like run or pass tendencies by play direction. Brian likens the experience to the "special boost" scoring runs of a game like Super Mario Carts on Nintendo 64.  

Uptempo Basketball (25:16), his most recent creation, will soon see the addition of some NCAA teams. First up: 1990 UNLV and Loyola Marymount and 1992 Duke.  

Buy Uptempo Basketball: https://uptempobasketballgame.com/

Try On Base Baseball with a free demo kit: https://onbasebaseball.com/b/PmGB

Advanced Stats Football downloadable demo and tutorial videos: https://brianhaferkamp.github.io/tabletopfootballgame/

Brian’s 2021 On Baseball livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRBLUGeHJDs&ab_channel=BrianHaferkamp

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/5JsD-Hwv-ZM

Ron Emch has built a Hall of Fame-level resume of APBA gaming. From recording dozens of golf tutorial videos to creating the Glass City baseball tournament in Toledo, Ron is building the kind of APBA legacy that puts him in the company of the pantheon of greats. Here, he guides you on how to optimize your experience with the game of APBA golf and details his favorite courses, players and rounds, Of course, we also talk about the spectrum of APBA games; Ron has participated in the official APBA soccer and hockey tournaments. And, he's a fan of sll manner of games — with a collection rivaling the number of videos he has created dedicated to documenting his corner of the APBA world.  

Ron's YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/RonEmch/videos

In a survey of 440 folks not keen on board games, Nick Bentley found seven recurring themes, which he posted in a string of Tweets on May 4. Mr. Bentley is the president of Underdog Games Studio ( @underdoggames5039 ). Those themes won’t surprise us aficionados of tabletop sports games and simulations. All credit for my learning of this survey goes to U.K. board game design expert Chris Backe, founder of  @entrogames https://boardgamedesign.beehiiv.com/ The envelope please: 1. Too long to play 2. Too complex to play 3. Board games are boring 4. Board games make people too competitive 5.Board games aren't social 6. Too costly 7. Negative stereotypes ("geeks," "nerds") Read Nick's entire Twitter thread here: https://bit.ly/3VV7DJD Nick's Google doc detailing every response to his survey: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Tz_RTQ6N6tIXGgmy7jUwfeidhiTawGJP_k0-Z7Q-uks/edit#gid=0 Summary of the seven key reasons by The Meeples Herald: https://meeplesherald.com/news/game-designer-nick-bentley-asks-why-oh-why-dont-you-like-board-games/?fbclid=IwAR2Jz4F5wRrgWxcvRSIuUMfwAdegKPCGqHUJ3dlkX3XdsG-Jp2IXzlr9f1A Nick Bentley's game site: https://www.nickbentley.games/

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/5zYkwxxCl-Q

(published May 10, 2023)

A gaming conversation with Paul Schulzetenberg, creator of the New Mexico gaming event MananaCon as well a comparison of 50 American football games on  @boardgamegeek . Read Paul's Top 50 football game list: https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/203491/gridiron-your-table-comparison-50-american-footbal Learn about Paul's MananaCon event in New Mexico: https://www.mananacon.com/

YouTube version:

https://youtu.be/dK3sQbjf1Fo

In 1983, at age 24, Richard Sarkisian decided to replay the history of baseball with a few friends. Almost 40 years later, his PANJ Table Baseball League has replayed every MLB season from 1903 to 2002. And on Sept. 9, he and his 22-team league will meet in King Of Prussia not only to conduct their draft for the next season project but to replay the concluding season's World Series. Not only does Sarkisian, an accounting professor, run the league — in which each team plays a 72-game schedule over five months — but he created the game the league plays. Sarkisian has crafted his version of a statistics-based game that refines the batter-pitcher duel, and he finds the process of creating cards year after year a rather "zen" exercise. PA/NJ Baseball League site: https://panjbaseballleague.blogspot.com/ PA/NJ Baseball League featured in The Berlin Sun: https://thesunpapers.com/2019/05/13/local-tabletop-baseball-league-a-throwback-in-a-digital-age/

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/gBmTWUo59Zc

Dan Prizzon and Alan Lipman are bringing back an #APBABaseball tournament to Toronto, where more than 30 years ago a tournament supported heavily by radio legend Bob McCown. Set for May 11, the tournament will be held in one of the community rooms at Alan's condo in the city center. Rules and other particulars remain TBD, so sign up to their event page on Facebook and stay tuned! 1st Annual Toronto APBA Baseball Classic page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/382191204256678 We can personally vouch for the beauty of Toronto and urge anyone who hasn't been to plan a longer visit.

Video version: https://youtu.be/fUMadZQDB0E

#APBAbaseball #toronto #apbafootballclub #tabletopsports

At long last: The long-awaited, much-anticipated quarterback Clash of 1983 — as it should have happened. One of the all-time “what if” projects featuring John Elway staying with the Baltimore Colts (and perhaps the Colts staying in Baltimore) and facing fellow first-round selection Dan Marino at the helm of a Steelers offense in flux. Amazingly, Elway and Marino only met three times in their careers: two regular-season games won by the Dolphins (a 30-26 shootout in 1985 and a 31-21 MIami win in 1998) and one postseason blowout, a 38-3 drubbing of the Dolphins by the Broncos en route to their Super Bowl 33 victory. Denver and Miami met in the 1999 regular season, but of course Elway retired upon winning his second ring. Had the ’83 draft played out as envisioned here, Marino would have traveled to Baltimore with the Black and Gold for a Nov. 13 contest won by the Steelers, 24-13. The 1980s weren’t entirely terrible for either the Steelers or Colts franchises — there were some playoff appearances amid the more dismal campaigns. In 1983, the Steelers finished 10-6 before bowing in the playoffs, while the Colts struggled at 7-9. MIami finished 12-4, Denver at 9-7 — and both were dispatched in the playoffs by the Seahawks. WIth Marino earning a four-point card in APBA Football’s original 1983 season set vs. only a two for Elway, there’s not much hope of the Colts far exceeding their ’83 record — especially with Elway’s 47.5% completion rate. That said, Elway did show a sign of the magic to come when he threw three fourth-quarter TDs in Week 15 against the Colts in Denver to lift the Broncos from a 19-0 deficit to a 21-19 win (in fact, the Colts and Broncos met in Baltimore in Week 2 as well, with Denver winning 17-10). It would be far more interesting to put Elway 1986 or 1987 with the Colts — although even then Elway’s completion rate stayed in the mid-50s; he didn’t crack 60% completions until his 1993 season. Speaking of the Broncos and Dolphins, they’ve only met 20 times in their history, with Miami leading the series 12-7-1; there’s another great what-if best-of-three series: • 1983 season, when both made the playoffs and could have faced each other. • 1984 season, when Denver lost to Pittsburgh in a bid to face Miami in the AFC Championship • 1997 season, when both made the playoffs Along the lines of this project, check out the 1984 NBA what-if by Rod's Tabletop Hoops ( @redfanrod ) The 1984 Blazers took Jordan, the Bulls took Barkley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejNiE7yvBhc REDZONE/HIGHLIGHTS 11:3422:0532:1437:5554:181:02:451:17:151:30:10 Denver-Miami head-to-head history: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/game_query.cgi?tm1=den&tm2=mia&yr=all First Elway-Marino meeting, 1985: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198509290den.htm Second Elway-Marino meeting, 1998: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199812210mia.htm Third Elway-Marino meeting, 1999: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199901090den.htm 1983 Steelers at Colts: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198311130clt.htm 1983 standings: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1983/ “The day the Royals drafted Elway and Marino”: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2017/jun/13/john-elway-dan-marino-1979-mlb-draft-kansas-city-royals “John Elway, Bob Irsay and the Colts fleeing of Baltimore”: https://fansided.com/2021/07/23/john-elway-1983-nfl-draft-baltimore-colts/ “How the legendary 1983 QB draft class changed the NFL forever”: https://www.si.com/nfl/2023/04/26/1880-nfl-draft-john-elway-dan-marino-jim-kelly-historic-class “What if John Elway played for the Colts?”: https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/what_if_john_elway_played_for_the_colts/s1_11773_18227675

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/qmRSCZGbXoc

Grant Fines, creator of 49 Sports Games, traces his game design history back to creating playing cards for Gayle Sayers and Franco Harris. Now, he offers a handful of thoughtfully designed stats-based games including his On the Turf and Quick Decks football — the former a play-by-play game that takes about an hour per game. Grant discusses his game design philosophy and methodology — right down to the reasons behind his choice of dice. The 2022 NFL season for On the Turf Football is available for preorder now:

https://www.49sportsgames.com/products/49-on-the-turf-football-standard-game

Flash Games creator Jason Graham goes into great depth about his game designs, the method and intent behind the probability-based system for his pro football game, and his must-read list of books that provide real insights into the game of football and the realities of comparing athletes across eras. Jason is very "open source" about his game design and goes out of his way not only to explain how to play his football, boxing, basketball and racing games but to give folks access to them free of charge for their evaluation.

Flash Sports on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0X1yiF6PDtQqTJKz1vsTYg
Flash Games on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FlashFootball/about

On Sept. 10, 2001, I was on what turned out to be a very brief first visit to Montreal. Many of us certainly remember watching the Giants and Broncos Monday Night Football game, in which Ed McCaffrey suffered a season-ending broken leg in the third quarter after catching six passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. At the time, APBA was still in a period of financial uncertainty, reflected in numerous articles in the APBA Journal. We look back to that time and the season sets from that difficult 2000-2002 period — including the "mystery" of the 2001 season set.

UPDATE: The official APBA Football 2001 season set is now available, hitting the APBA shop only five days after I posted this:
https://apba.stores.yahoo.net/20fose12.html

The complete game (with Dennis Miller in the booth): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu8EYmJRy70

ESPN story on McCaffrey: http://www.espn.com/nfl/news/2001/0910/1250367.html

Woody Studenmund began playing APBA in 1958, cofounded the North East League in 1960, and remains intensely active in the game. His collection of artifacts owned by company founder J. Richard Seitz is legendary, and his "APBA-tite" for the game undiminished. He also wrote for the APBA Journal beginning in the early 1970s.

Woody is a professor at Occidental College in Southern California, where he teaches applied econometrics and managerial economics.

APBA Hall of Fame roster: http://apbagames.com/hall-of-fame

The Ohio-based, nationwide National Card Football League — and its sister venture the American Card Football League — share details of their methods for drafting, playing,  stat-keeping and more in the inaugural episode of GamePlan with the APBA Football Club.   

The NCFL, founded as a face-to-face league in Columbus, Ohio, in 1981, is now believed to be the longest-running APBA  Football-only league. We caught up with Jerry Zajack, Bobby Porter, Brad Morgan and newest member Greg Barath (APBA Hall of Fame 2016) after some exciting outcomes in the ACFL's Week 3 action.   

The ACFL and NCFL both employ an innovative, easy-to-use Skype method of play created by the NCFL 10 years ago (well before the beginning of pandemic shutdowns in March 2020). Zajack and Steve "bigfut" Meyersburg demonstrated the NCFL method during the 2013 APBA Football Club convention in Canton, and the method went global in November 2014 with a tournament that stretched as far as Australia (with APBA Football innovator Phil Molloy).   

Check in regularly to both league websites for current standings and statistics, as well as historical draft results.  

ACFL website: https://acflapbaleague.wixsite.com/acfl

NCFL website: https://jzajack.wixsite.com/ncfl

Bobby Porter "APBA Life" interview:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eJu6KByyZ4&list=PL8HmNawuaNcWFUxLKCjW65uZab6j4fw6Q&index=2

Greg Barath "Legends of the Game" interview:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20j9TpxS62Q&list=PL8HmNawuaNcWxD5rfMLh2gh8Ziedq8vcB

Longtime tabletop sports gamer and collector Giorgio Salvadego gives us a rundown on the state of gaming in Italy from his home region of Veneto (think Venice). He has played in numerous leagues, including the Happy Gilmore Golf Association with APBA luminaries Steve Kanehl, Royce Sleighter, George Gerney and John Wright, as well as the APBA International Bowling League. He's even traveled to the U.S. and Canada to play, first visiting Long Island, New York, in 1987 to play in his Strat-O-Matic hockey league; he also attended SOM's 40th anniversary event in Akron Ohio. He visited Vancouver in 1998 to play his bowling finals face to face with Wright. When he's not gaming, Giorgio contributes to the hobby in other ways: He has written a chapter on tabletop sports for a Roberto Chiavini book, as well as designed a Swiss course for Plaay's Red, White & Blue Racin'. With a collection of 300 to 350 games, one of Giorgio's passions is soccer games; he has 15, including Dice United 2, which he playtested for Gary Brown. National Pro Hockey by Canada’s Sports Action Game Company is another favorite of his. Here, Giorgio tells us about how he became interested in games, played in leagues internationally, and how he stays in touch with a group of about 20 gamers using WhatsApp. We even touch on his favorite cricket games and the football game Raymond Burr used to think through solving crimes in the "Ironside" series that ran from 1967 to 1975. Oh, and being Italians, of course we can't help but talk food! Interview conducted May 25, 2023 Happy Gilmore Golf Association Page: https://cs4001.tripod.com/hgga.htm Giorgio's main Tabletop Sports site: https://cs4001.tripod.com/index.htm

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/2xkkSa3MDyE

Veteran game designer Brien Martin rhapsodizes about his wealth of playing experience across all tabletop sports. Fans of recently released Fast Drive Football have no doubt noted Brien's World Football League replay with his homebrewed cards. He's also thinking creating a fictitious "living league" for the game.   

Of his many credits, one of Brien's crowning achievements is partnering with Steve LeShay, creator of SherCo Grand Slam Baseball, to revive that classic in 2016 (the game celebrated its 50th anniversary two years later). Brien redesigned the rule books and stadiums and created decades worth of new seasons.  

Brien's experience runs the gamut across all the best-known games — and some of the more obscure ones. He also contrasts war and sports games, particular their disparate rule books.  

SherCo Grand Slam Baseball: https://shercobaseball2016.wixsite.com/home

HotStove games at ASG: https://asggames.com/product-category/hot-stove-shop/

Bill Lilley’s recent write-ups of his 1972 Dolphins replay (reissue season calculated for master boards) deftly recapture the magic of those colorful ’70s APBA football brochures. Small wonder — turns out he’s a newsman like myself. Now living in Thailand, he hails from near Canton, Ohio (and just missed out on our inaugural 2013 conference at the Pro Football Hall of Fame).  In our deep-dive interview, we talk about the Seitz, Light and Herson eras, the beauty of the game engine driving the numbers on the cards, his experiences almost winning the official APBA baseball tourney and, of course, his start in the game decades ago.   

Gilles Thibault and Hall of Famer Greg Wells had been on quite a replay tear when we reconnected. While the rest of the world turned to Zoom for work, more gamers turned to Zoom — as did Thibault and Wells, who pulled off a string of impressive replays. Gilles details the results of their 1972, 1976, 1980 and GTOP (Greatest Teams of the Past). Yep, another video filled with vintage APBA cards (although Gilles and Greg used the current 1976 season set and GTOPs for their projects).  Gilles and Greg had been playing Sunday morning football games at the annual APBA conventions for several years while the baseball finals were going on — the seeds of the greater football presence at today's tourneys.   

Our interview with Gilles at 2012 Lancaster tournament: https://youtu.be/RePTpliWy30

APBA GTOPs currently available: https://apba.stores.yahoo.net/alandgrte.html

APBA 2021 Convention reservations: https://apba.stores.yahoo.net/20apco.html

South of the Border (if you're taking 95 to APBA-retta): https://www.sobpedro.com/

On the occasion of the seventh Strat-O-Matic football tournament held at CincyCon this year, we talked with tournament director Meredith Adkins about the competition rules, as well how he runs his face-to-face league, the GMVFL. He also discusses two other SOM football tournaments: the Bushwhacker tournament in May and the MDOR in September; both have been running for more than 20 years, he noted. Adkins shares insights into everything from home-brewed rules to how to keep a league running, as well as the custom roll-up mats they had created to expand on the basic SOM game board. The 2023 CincyCon tourmament fielded 10 teams: 1983 WAS 1984 SF 1984 MIA 1985 CHI 1998 DEN 2004 NE 2004 IND 2010 PIT 2019 BAL 2020 KC In a wild 20-19 finish, the 2004 Patriots snuck past the 1985 Bears. Meredith limits participating teams to those from 1983 to the present to aid in recruiting efforts. APBA Baseball and APBA Football figured into his early gaming career, when he saw a testimonial for the baseball game from a wargaming source. 10:08: The Lyman Bostock tournament. GMVFL page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1003156216549923 CincyCon announcement and rules on SOM's website: https://www.strat-o-matic.com/announcements/som-football-and-baseball-tournaments-cincycon/ Reach Meredith by email at baoman2004@cs.com. Strat-O-Matic football leagues listed on SOM registry: https://bit.ly/41vEBlP

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/CTmZ2K3dH0E

Mark "Xcommish2" DerGarabedian has been a fixture in the APBA modding community for years. He started playing APBA baseball at a friend’s house in Fresno, California, and has stayed hooked since. He's even rolled a few games with his 18-year-old son.   

Whether playing football, baseball or golf, he's always juggling multiple projects of various lengths — and employing a wealth of home-brewed tweaks for playability and realism. At the time of this interview — July 24, 2022 — his projects included:  

• 1981 Forty Niners
• 1982 MLB tournament (in which low seeds were bouncing high seeds with some frequency)
• A Ben Hogan ATG tour
• The 1994 US Open playoff (Els, Roberts, Mongtomery)  

Since then, he's as conceived about a dozen other potential refinements to APBA Football, from a prevent defense chart to key and blitz charts for solo play. He's also a communications chief at Costco, hence the question within the first minute or two.  

Check out some of his work at the Between the Lines forum under his Xcommish2 handle, as well as on various APBA-related Facebook groups.

Video version: https://youtu.be/KjYvVV7gL5I

Native New Yorker turned South Floridian Frank Fumai is turning his retirement passion of attending as many APBA tournaments as possible into a new outlet: APBA At Sea, one of the newest regional APBA Baseball tournaments. Fumai, a veteran of APBA tournaments from Chicagoland to Chattanooga and Las Vegas (he's also planning to attend the Kansas City event), initially sought to create a tournament tied to spring training in Florida. When that proved a bit costly, he turned to another passion of his — and the APBA baseball cruise was born. The four-day cruise will feature a one-day tournament. The theme is any third place team between 1980 and 1999, and competitors can choose one player who played on the team 20 years prior (for instance, the 1995 White Sox can include a player from the 1975 team). Team selection will likely begin just before Labor Day, and Fumai will pick last. Veterans and rookies are welcome, and single attendees are eligible to be paired with others to share a room and keep their costs down. The itinerary starts in Fort Lauderdale; Key West is the destination on Day 2, and Day 3 will feature the competition from roughly 8 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. On Day 4, cruisers will spend time in Nassau, Bahamas, before heading home. veterans and newbies welcome — and Frank can supply a team for anyone who needs one. Costs are all inclusive; there is no separate fee to play in the tournament. And there are plenty of things for nonplaying family and friends to do on competition day. The chosen ship is the Celebrity Silhouette :https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-ships/celebrity-silhouette For more information and to reserve your spot, call cruise coordinator Aidy Alonzo at 954-377-6424. Deposits are refundable if your travel plans change.

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/UooZdyxoJ_E

Board game designer and educator/coach Joe Slack has worked with more than 4,000 game designers to take the ideas in their heads and turn them into reality. Whether helping games by others off the ground or launching his own titles under the Crazy Like A Box brand, Joe is keen to help game designers hone their vision and game play through a variety of course offerings. His book “The Board Game Designer’s Guide” is a No. 1 best-seller, and he’s got plenty of new work on the immediate horizon:  

• In September, he is relaunching his Creation Publication Program to mentor game designers through all phases from concept to market.  

• He has a Kickstarter coming in October called 14 Frantic Minutes, which in his words “is a tension-filled puzzle-y co-operative game. You all win … or lose … together. Escape this evil genius and his high-tech lab by working together, using your wits and circuit pieces, making your way through a series of rooms, each more challenging than the last."  

• He’ll cohost Protospiel North, an in-person game design weekend, in November.   

• His Board Game Design Virtual Summit returns for a third year, engaging game designers, publishers, rule book creators and others in the gaming industry in in-depth discussions of their craft.  

Joe shares some of his key tips for getting a game off the ground, as well as some of his favorite game mechanics like action selection — and even lists his five “desert island games.”  

Joe’s board game design course: https://boardgamedesigncourse.com
Joe’s board game design brand: https://www.crazylikeabox.com
Sign up for Joe’s Creation to Publication program: https://jslack.lpages.co/creation-to-publication-program-waitlist/

Video version: https://youtu.be/4gglNZgWy38

Mike VanDerGoore is the successor to the founders of one of the longest-running #tabletopfootball tournaments: The MDOR Strat-O-Matic Football league based in Bloomington, Illinois.

Mike shares the MDOR's founding, history, methods and future. Renowned SOM Footballer Mike Kane has dutifully kept the tournament's records for 25 years.

MDOR is named for late tournament founders/directors Ron Dickinson and Ron Brammer — otherwise known as Mad Dog and Oregon Ron. The annual MDOR event traces its lineage back to the Lyman Bostock tournament that ran from the 1970s to circa 2000. Watch action from the 2018 MDOR tournament: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBvZeICbRFI6Og66l4DNmppvsTTHtOYJ- Mike Kane talks SOM Football with Darin Hayes Pigskin Dispatch: https://pigskindispatch.com/home/Football-Fun-Facts/Football-Hobbies-and-Games/Strat-o-matic-Football

YouTube version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccf18yu0v4U

Tim Plum and Peter Donis met on a school bus in seventh grade in 1978 and have been friends and collaborators ever since. Peter introduced Tim to Dungeons and Dragons, and a lifelong friendship and game design partnership was born. Tim, a member of a Statis Pro football league for 28 years, eventually introduced his idea for a football game to Peter. (Tim also played hundreds of Statis Pro baseball games, including ’83 and ’87 Dodger replays).   

From their original Hockey Bones and Football Bones franchises has evolved the current portfolio of PT Games offerings, including a basketball game covering NBA, WNBA and NCAA hoops and the latest version of Hockey Bones.

But football is Tim’s baby, available in head-to-head or solo iterations. And coming perhaps in time for Christmas is a potential game-changer — a PC version created as a full-blown career sim.   

In their first-ever interview, Tim and Peter share a wealth of insights into their design and data-crunching strategies, and how they address age-old questions of increasing playability while also bringing a “world-building” aspect of the game.  

Video version: https://youtu.be/FtDKWDWq8rQ

PT Games website:  http://sports.ptgamesinc.com

PT Games store at DriveThru Cards: https://www.drivethrucards.com/browse/pub/493/PT-Games-Inc?src=browse493

Tim's PT Games update from May 20, 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRxaWQPNnu4&ab_channel=Sports.PTGames

In the past week, Al Wilson's Fast Drive Football tabletop board game has electrified the gridiron gaming community. Playing in about 15 to 20 minutes per game, FDF is more word-based than numbers driven — with team cards using descriptive words like "prolific" (1969 Vikings offense), "inept," "meek" and "undisciplined" (1976 Buccaneers).   

Derived from Plaay's mechanics, FDF simulates games drive by drive, true to its name. It's easily one of the most exciting additions to tabletop football gaming. Community luminaries like Dave Gardner, Jason Graham and Steve Tower have already posted numerous videos documenting game play. Al's FDF Facebook group is at 151 members as of posting this video. Folks are already creating custom charts to allocate touchdowns to specific players; they're clamoring for season sets; they're rolling games with their wives.   

Al provides the game free; simply download the game "boards" and season sets and follow his instructions for having them printed at the service provider of your choice. Currently available seasons are 1960, 1966, 1969, 1972, 1976, 1981, 1990, 1995, 2001, 2010 and 2020; 1985 and 1998 are to be added soon, per Al's survey of players' preferences.  

FDF website: https://www.fastdrivefootball.com/home

FDF Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/208613611270656/

Direct link to FDF game charts: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IzefKYX6tsmQcjnLx3VRwFBMkg8S8tMi/view

Some important things to know about the tabletop football game APBA Football — for newcomers and returnees alike. 00:39 No. 1 01:39 No. 2 04:11 No. 3 05:49 No. 4 07:42 No. 5 09:17 No. 6 APBA Football Stadium Shop: https://apba.stores.yahoo.net/apbafootball.html

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/JcMp4nU3J8E

Catching up with APBA Hall of Famers Ray Dunlap (Class of 2016), Roy Langhans (2001) and Jim Sce (2008) between the fast-paced competition at the first-ever tabletop sports gaming tournament at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Ray gives an update on his 2022 Yankees and Aaron Judge, Roy on his 1905 Giants and Christy Mathewson. Dunlap began playing APBA in 1964, wrote for the APBA Journal for many years, co-created the Suncoast Football League in Tampa in 1979 and served as the Tampa Bay Bucs' official statistician for most of the 1980s. Ray's APBA Football matchup system is a milestone for more fully utilizing all the player cards. Langhans began playing APBA in 1957 and among his myriad achievements played in the baseball and football tournaments at the first-ever APBA convention in Philadelphia in 1973. His Game of the Day thread on the Delphi forum Between the Lines is still going strong after he kicked it off on Aug. 23, 2000. (Roy's GOTD thread: https://forums.delphiforums.com/apbabtl/messages/?msg=3870.1) Sce was a key part of APBA"s coach's program, in which APBA ambassadors spread the word about APBA games to potential players.

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/iO4QZEels3o

The legions of electric football fans have a real treat in store Jan. 9 through March 3 at “Art of the Buzz: The Art of Electric Football” exhibit at Columbia State Pryor Art Gallery in Tennessee. Curated by Chris LeMay founder of the National Electric Football Game Museum in Spring Hill, the event will be held every weekday and by special weekend appointment by contacting LeMay through his website, nefgm.org. From an original 1949 board to various boards and figures, the exhibit also features a competition and presentations by well-known electric footballers like Ron Mango. Tudor Games has also donated a deluxe edition of the game for a tournament winner.   

LeMay began his love of electric football with a 1967 Jets-Chiefs AFL set and rekindled his interest in 1997 when he received a newer game as a gift. Now with more than 200 boards in his collection, LeMay also paints and sells custom figures.  Here, he walks us through everything from electric football strategy (solitaire and head to head) to the best players and biggest names in the world of “tweaking” the figures and bases — and even how board games like APBA Football find their way into usage on their buzzing counterparts.  

Art of the Buzz exhibit website: https://www.visitcolumbiatn.com/event/art-of-the-buzz%3a-the-art-of-electric-football/2555/#overview   

Exhibit details: https://www.columbiastate.edu/news/details/2022/12/art_of_the_buzz_pryor_art_gallery_exhibit.html

Columbia State Pryor Art Gallery page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColumbiaStatePAG/?ref=page_internal

National Electric Football Game Museum website: nefgm.org  

NEFGM page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NEFGM

Video version: https://youtu.be/StkmRZUq7iQ

Ron Pisarz Jr., like so many of us, fell in love with the classic Sports Illustrated football game Paydirt. It wasn’t until about two decades later that, while honing his chops as a software engineer, he revisited that “gateway game” as an exercise in converting it to digital form — and Data-Driven Football was born.   

He began circa 2006-07 by calculating the 2005 and 2006 NFL seasons using play-by-play data. Given the abundance of NFL data these days, he took his analyses “to the nth degree,” writing software to parse that data to hone the simulation’s realism and balancing his three primary concerns: playing time, realism and fun.  

So diligent is Ron that he spends about an hour watching condensed versions of each NFL game every week; he later spends about four hours per team refining that data into the final play sheets. So loyal and attentive are his fans that they will text him during games to ask how a particular play is likely to be reflected in those team charts.  

In this interview from Sept. 27, 2021, Ron shares his thoughts on:  

• Achieving statistical accuracy
• How his eight-man league functions to ensure competitiveness
• The preference for the board vs. PC  
• Preserving the magic of tabletop sports sims  

Buy at the Data-Driven Football website: http://datadrivenfootball.com/index.htm

Video version: https://youtu.be/Ipt3rs2m9Z0

We tabletop football gamers use Pro Football Reference with startling frequency, either to prepare for replay projects or get ideas for them. Alex Bonilla is one of the football minds behind PFR.

He joined the Sports Reference family of data brands in March 2018. Since then he's parsed more data than many, and he's got some great tips on how to use the site.  

Discount code: Use APBA20 to receive 20% off an annual subscription to Stathead advanced sports research tools.
Register here: https://bit.ly/3TMvklY  

Pro Football Reference: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/  
Stathead Football: stathead.com/football

Video version: https://youtu.be/BoURIrIW-OI

Interview conducted Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022.

Remember the guy who caused the fumble that Minnesota Viking Jim Marshall ran the wrong way against the 49ers in 1964? Michael Jackson sure does. That player would be Bill Butler, one of the many veteran NFL players Jackson has interviewed for his NFL history podcast and blog The Game Before the Money. His book of those interviews is The Game Before the Money: Voices of the Men Who Built the NFL, available at Amazon, Barnes and Nobel and the University of Nebraska Press. His other works include a study of the 1979 Oilers, “Red, White, and Columbia Blue: Chasing the Dream with the 1979 Houston Oilers.”   

Jackson also co-hosts a Saturday morning radio show with Upton Bell from 10 to 11 on the SportsMap Radio Network, carried by about 70 stations nationwide.  

Furthermore, he is a veteran Strat-O-Matic player — and we all know how the cards and dice inspire us to delve more deeply into NFL history. His books, podcast and radio show are the perfect way to learn more about specific eras of the NFL to help inform your replay projects.  

He also recently received a development grant to conduct an oral history project with HBCU players like Hall of Fame Chief and Oiler Elvin Bethea.  

The Game Before the Money website: https://www.thegamebeforethemoney.com/

TGBTM radio show: https://www.sportsmapradio.com/shows/the-game-before-the-money/

Jackson’s author page on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jackson-Michael/e/B08PW2W3BJ?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1656169229&sr=1-1

Bill Butler’s story at TGBTM:  https://www.thegamebeforethemoney.com/bill-butler-nfl-packers-cowboys-steelers-vikings/

Carl Eller remembers Jim Marshall’s wrong-way fumble recovery:  https://www.thegamebeforethemoney.com/cejm/

Australia's Phil Molloy a structural engineer, is an elite member of the APBA Football community who has shared numerous innovations to refine the game for at least the past 10 years. I first interviewed him in April 2013 for our APBA ICONS series and in late 2014 pitched my 2007 Patriots against his 1993 Niners in the global Skype tournament assembled by the National Card Football League. Phil talks at length here about his inventions for APBA Football, including:

• Read option
• Timing method with two minutes to go in the half/game
• Revamped penalty chart
• Dice-range calculator

APBA Hall of Famer (2016) Greg Barath has been hosting Phil's innovations on his website, oguard62.net, and Phil also posts on the Between The Lines APBA forum on Delphi (look for Phil's handle 6649er)

Links to some of Phil Molloy's innovation files: https://oguard62.net/page/2/?s=phil+molloy&submit=Search

An excerpt from our 2013 interview with Phil:
By Geoff Giordano
© 2013 APBA Football Club

When APBA takes hold, not even an ocean’s distance can keep the faithful from satisfying the addiction. Such is the case with structural engineer Phil Molloy, a native of Australia whose Hail Mary and QB sneak innovations are among the valuable refinements he’s contributed.

“I love the NFL and I love games, so it's easy to be obsessed,” says Molloy, an avid Forty-Niners fan who plays solitaire and face-to-face and goes by the handle “6649er” on some message boards. “I have a good friend — he was my best man when I got married — who plays it with me.”

Having tried cricket board games in his youth, his love of numbers fuels his APBA modifications. “I've used that solid basis in math and stats to develop my innovations,” he says.

The native of Adelaide began following the NFL after he watched his first Super Bowl in 1982. ...

Russell R. Wren is the latest representative of a significant group that is the future of tabletop sports gaming: retirees who return to the games that fueled their youth.  

Wren, who grew up not far from APBA’s original headquarters in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, retired as athletic director of the Great Valley School District (the Patriots) before the pandemic. The many players he has coached include NFL pros Nasir Adderley and Matt Schaub.

He has returned to APBA Football and baseball, and even has hit 24-year-old son interested in playing.

Counting APBA Hall of Famers Ted Knorr and Skeet Carr among his longtime friends, he recalls being in a football league with then during his gaming life. Beginning college near 1001 Millersville Road, he went on to hold a range of coaching jobs, including as football coach at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

Video version: https://youtu.be/VF20xYLsyfw

Meet your Chicagoland APBA tournament director Rob Spatz. Taking over the reins of the pack-leading competition from Doug Schuyler not long after it was created during that legendary APBA Summer of 2013, Rob has refined the tournament rules and location as he plays host to folks from 11 states. That's a far from from the original five participants of the inaugural Chicagoland event on July 27, 2013 — and Rob has room to grow the tournament.

Rob graciously shared his tips and tricks for running and sustaining a tournament.  

Learn about the theme of the 2023 Chicagoland tournament, to be held July 22, on the event's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1049389555762918 

Video version: https://youtu.be/w-CMzOoSCag

Our original report about the APBA Summer of 2013:  

The summer of APBA: Grass-roots tourneys spread love of the game  

By Geoff Giordano
© 2013 APBA Football Club  
JULY 29, 2013 — From Chicago to Central Florida, APBA fans have been quite busy this year bringing homegrown competitions to their communities.   

In the wake of the official APBA tournament June 21-23 in Alpharetta, Ga., the summer of 2013 has seen a proliferation of events engage more “sultans of the 66” around the country.   

First of these was the Florida APBA Day on July 19 in Groveland, between Tampa and Orlando. The event drew six participants, said co-organizer Mike Sparks, one of whom had never played the game before.A larger event the next day in the Philadelphia suburb of Willow Grove, Pa., simultaneously paid tribute to iconic APBA historian and APBA Journal columnist Robert Henry while further encouraging the interest of the young players of the Bridesburg APBA League. According to Steve Skoff, who’d just defended his APBA title outside Atlanta, Randy Coryer took the title at the Robert Henry Memorial Tournament by using the 1910 Philadelphia A’s, while Steven Suarez of the Bridesburg Boys and Girls Club won the trophy for the best record among the club’s 14 young players.   

Last but not least, the inaugural Chicagoland APBA World Series Tournament produced its first winner, noted spokesperson Doug Schuyler. Curt Bartel of Oconomowoc, Wis., whose 1977 Kansas City Royals bested the 1983 Chi Sox 2-1 in the finals of the one-day tournament July 27 at the Woodstock Public Library in Woodstock, Ill. The event drew five participants and, like the Bridesburg event, generated enthusiasm for future gatherings.   

Hall of Famer Jim Sce, who was instrumental in expanding the game’s appeal through his demonstrations under the APBA Coaches program, indicated he approached a youth club in Burbank, Calif., a year ago to pique their interest in APBA. In a recent interview with us, he noted his interest in fostering more regional contests.   

Next up is the APBA Football Club’s inaugural two-day event Aug. 24-25 at the newly renovated Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. All told, that makes four first-time APBA events in the span of five weeks.   

Meantime, APBA wasted no time setting up next year's official tourney June 20-22, 2014, at the Hilton Gardens Inn Atlanta North/Alpharetta. Cost: $110 per person. The event is slated to feature the first home-run derby. Visit the tournament website and download the rules.

American football Italian style comes to Toledo, Ohio, on Fourth of July weekend when the 42nd Italian Bowl kicks off — the first time the Italian football championship will be held outside Europe.   

American football kicked off in 1980 when the Italian Federation of American Football was charged with promoting the game in Italy. Since then, about 100 flag and tackle teams comprising male and female athletes play American football throughout the country.  

Key to bringing the game to Toledo’s Glass Bowl is Michigan-born developer and former Italian Football League quarterback and DB Nick Eyde, who played six years in the IFL for the Rome Ducks, Reggio Emilia Hogs and Bolzano Giants in the 2000s. In 2006, his “Ave Maria” pass with 35 seconds left against the Bergamo Lions lifted Bolzano to a 20-14 upset — a scene that inspired a key part of John Grisham’s novel “Playing for Pizza.”  

The 42nd Italian Bowl will be accompanied by an Italian-themed restaurant week, a punt-pass-kick competition among regional mayors and a July 4th fireworks show. Calvin “Megatron” Johnson will lead Italian players through a tour of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Up-and-coming opera singer Mariam Battistelli will perform the Italian and U.S. national anthems.  

Register for tickets and stay up to date at italianbowlusa.com  

Italian Federation of American Football: https://www.fidaf.org

Italian football leagues fielding NFL-caliber players: https://orderisda.org/culture/sports/american-football-leagues-in-italy-producing-nfl-caliber-players

Feature on 2023 draft prospect Habakkuk Baldonado:
https://americadomani.com/sports/college-football-star-habakkuk-baldonado-who-was-born-and-raised-in-italy-is-ready-for-the-nfl

Italian TV interview featuring Nick Eyde:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9eczeJVTDQ

Breakaway Football is one of the more unique entrants into the world of #tabletopfootball games: stats-based yet card-driven, data-rich yet colorful and accessible. 

Not only that, but this game thusfar is based on replicating the key attributes of some of the most iconic teams in history, from 1958 to the present – hence, beginning with normalizing stats across eras. Given alternate names and logos in deference to potential licensing issues, these teams are given unique qualities, like random Bum Rap bad-luck outcomes for the representation of the 1980 Oilers. Your Saints become the Sinners, Packers the Stackers, Steelers the Blacksmiths, Buccaneers the Privateeers, etc.

And, the just-released Team Creator lets Breakaway Football fans create teams of their own.

Arthur Franz IV walks us through some of the most important game functions and the thought process that led to them (hint: he watched a LOT of game film to determine how, for instance, the 1978 Cowboys [“the Horsemen”] used and profited from the then-rare shotgun formation). Notably, Arthur has coached football at several levels, starting right out of high school, which adds to his perspective on translating the action on the field to the tabletop.

Arthur and the rest of the Breakaway Football design team will join us for the first time ever at our third cards-and-dice football event at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton on Aug. 24-25.

Buy Breakaway Football:

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/breakaway-football

Breakaway Football group on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/244866002738026

Uplink Underground Games:

https://uplinkunderground.com

#football #nfl #footballgame #footballgames #footballhistory #nflhistory #tabletopsports

Minnesota grade school teacher Beau Lofgren is a relative newcomer to APBA at age 40 (he turns 41 on Sunday, Aug. 8). He's recovering after helping save a child from drowning on a recent field trip and was kind enough to share some thoughts on his progress in this Aug. 5 interview.  His wife’s uncle got Beau on the APBA track with the 1987 master baseball game. Lofgren, a teacher of third- and sixth-graders, uses board games to teach his students as well as his own children. He and his older brother, Ben, (a math teacher) play APBA as frequently as they can — with Ben eyeing good tournament teams while Beau hews more to playing out the "what if" scenarios. Beau is an Oakland A's fan nearing the end of his '76 Twins master game replay.  We also give a shout-out to the Aug. 5-7 APBA "high rollers" at Chris White's Las Vegas tournament.  

Beau’s blog, “Minnesota APBA”: https://minnesotaapba.wordpress.com/

Beau's explanation of his gaming history: https://bit.ly/3xnoVRO

Beau's fan profile on The APBA Blog: http://www.apbablog.com/interview/apba-fan-profile-beau-lofgren?fbclid=IwAR1ko5IbbEcdGN8VwoyNxehzAOVYH0kUbzY73e2P_2KWZNn230zaCeXYy_g

Beau's reading list for this episode:  
• Lyman Bostock: The Inspiring Life and Tragic Death of a Ballplayer  
• Billy Ball
• The 1922 St. Louis Browns  
• Dick Bremer: Game Used; My Life in Stitches with the Minnesota Twins

The 1976 Buccaneers might have had one of the more memorably bad seasons in professional sports, but we tabletop sports simulation gamers are positively in love with that team. You can count on one thing when a new tabletop cards-and-dice gridiron game emerges: Folks will want cards for the 1976 season and the 1976 Buccaneers.   

But while those games give a glimpse into what that season might have been like to experience first-hand, Super Bowl champion Pat Toomay has the final word on what that campaign felt like in the flesh. Pat, who joined the Dallas Cowboys in 1970 —the year of the AFL-NFL merger — and won a ring with them in the 1971 season against dynasty-to-be Dolphins, talks about the difficulties of playing for that ’76 Tampa Bay team in its inaugural year. But of course we delved into all phases of Pat’s career, from the Cowboys to the 1975 Bills and, of course, “Dah Raidahs” from 1977 to 1979.

Pat shares plenty here about the differences playing for Landry and Madden and alongside all the colorful Raider characters — Snake, Stork, Foo, Tooz and more. You likely also know of Pat as an author of two pivotal books about professional American football: The Crunch, detailing the Landry-era Cowboys, and “On Any Given Sunday,” the inspiration for Oliver Stone’s film “Any Given Sunday” (in which Pat has a cameo as an assistant coach for Y.A. Tittle).   

Whether your game is APBA Football, Strat-O-Matic, Statis Pro, Paydirt!, Fast Drive Football, Game Winning Drive, Inside Blitz or any of many others, here’s some real scoop about the real players behind the numbers  

Pat’s interview commences at 10:27

Pat’s Salon article “Fathers, Sons and Football”: https://www.salon.com/1999/10/08/football

“A debilitating case of Bucs fever” by Pat Toomay: https://www.espn.com/page2/s/toomay/011227.html

The 1976 Buccaneers’ page on Pro Football Reference:  https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/tam/1976.htm

APBA Football store: https://apba.stores.yahoo.net/cosecase1.html

Fast Drive Football: https://fastdrivefootball.com/

From June 2 to 6, 1980, #Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw appeared on Ralph Emery's country music radio show. I found the five LP collection of all five shows several years back and have since collected many other five-record sets of Emery's show from that era. Bradshaw being my No. 1 all-time sports hero, this is one of my most prized possessions. Terry appeared primarily to promote his then-current single "Until You" but talked about his #NFL future and #football starts of the day. He was particularly candid about the challenge of overcoming the #Rams in Super Bowl 14. I culled the football-related highlights from the five shows, which do not appear in chronological order. Bradshaw also talked about his peanut butter venture, his friendship with and gift from the Pirates' Willie Stargell, and cautioned against youths starting tackle football at too early an age. 0:31: Terry Bradshaw peanut butter campaign 1:42: Sponsor spot: Jimmy Dean 2:13: Intro to Bradshaw's career and his relationship with Texas 3:51: Sponsor spot: Ford 5:57: Why No. 12 is his jersey, and NFL jersey number rules 7:40: Bradshaw on his NFL future 8:06: Pursuing his music career 9:26: Super Bowl 14 thoughts and ex-Steeler coaches with Rams 11:22: Recalling the Steelers' 1979 season 11:56: Thoughts on Joe Greene 12:27: Jack Lambert story 13:18: Fun with Dallas 14:21: Return to camp vs. next recording 15:16: Life in football and concern over kids playing football too early 18:44: Super Bowl rings 20:18: Gift form Willie Stargell 21:03: His favorite players of the era 22:49: NFL salaries 24:27: Music career detractors 26:39: Music and the Steelers 27:41: Roger Staubach's retirement and friendship 28:42: Traveling as an NFL team 30:32: Injuries and resilience 33:33: Fan clubs 34:30 1980 performance tour Ralph Emery's page at the  @countrymusichof : https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/hall-of-fame/ralph-emery Terry Bradshaw performs "Until You" for Nashville on the Road, 1980: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKoCP2NZNyU Terry Bradshaw at the Reagan Library in 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNDtOUG-4XA NFL display during Bradshaw's appearance at the Reagan Library: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dSOdy5-3zY

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/3p97MSM8b4A

Edwin Zack is revered in the APBA community for his exhaustive APBA Baseball handbook. After a five-year illness, Zack passed on Aug. 8, 2023. His longtime friend Dan Armstrong notified his closest friends in the APBA community, and the news — and tributes and remembrances — spread quickly. 

I interviewed Ed Zack and his collaborator Dan Armstrong in 2012 — the 20th anniversary of the first edition of the Zack handbook. While I published my interview with Ed on our original Facebook page, my interview with Dan is unpublished as yet. Here, I read my complete article detailing my interview with Ed and the first part of the transcript of my conversation with Dan. I also read Ed’s introduction letter from an original first-edition of his baseball handbook, published in 1992. 

Not long after initiating an APBA Baseball tournament inside the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown for April 1, 2023, I asked Ed if he would be willing and able to speak to the attendees in a surprise hourlong Zoom session to cap the milestone occasion. His words, excerpted from the longer conversation I recorded, open and close this podcast. 

No matter what game you play, Ed’s work stands as a testament to the power of the tabletop sports game hobby to capture the imagination and fuel a limitless appreciation for the craft of creating these games. 

Read Edwin Zack’s “The Ultimate Handbook for APBA Baseball Cards” at www.zackapbahandbook.org.

Geek out on tabletop sports games with me and S.T. Patrick — founder of Sports Sim Magazine, one of the designers of the deeply researched wrestling sim The Squared Circle and creator of STP Radio*. Our conversation runs the gamut from topics including:

• Whether this is the golden age of sports gaming, and the wealth of sports sim games available today

• The lineup of the March 2022 issue of SSM

• The 35-year journey to the current version of The Squared Circle — and what’s next for the game

• Upcoming radio shows he and his wife will host on STP Radio, as well as the national talent they’ve brought onboard

• The level of accuracy and realism one expects from tabletop sports sims

• Great NFL “what if” candidates: the ‘70s Falcons and the 1983 Packers

• HIs “LTI” (legacy team index) metric for refining college football and basketball competition, making key players count more than statistics in the clutch.

• “Normalizing” teams across seasons and eras

• Regulating player usage and injuries

For those interested in writing for SSM, reach out to S.T. any time at sportssimmagazine@gmail.com.

SSM and TSC are both available on demand at lulu.com. Follow S.T.’s products at these links:

Sports Sim Magazine & The Squared Circle:

https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/MWNPublications

Delphi Board for The Squared Circle:

https://forums.delphiforums.com/Squaredcircle/messages/?start=Start+Reading+%3E%3E

STP Radio (Apps coming soon, but, until then...):

www.wstpradio.com

garrison.: The Journal of History & Deep Politics:

https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/MidnightWriterNews

* For those of you who, like S.T. and I, are fans of so-called yacht rock, here’s a link to my No. 1 all-time favorite song, “Moonlight Feels Right” by Starbuck: https://moonlightfeelsright.com/

Phillip Schwarzmsnn is a Euro-game expert whose time in Finland working for Nokia gave him a deeply immersive experience in the mechanics of those games. But he’s also a former Strat and Statis player who keeps one foot firmly in the world of sports sims (he began playing Out of the Park version 3 in the early 2000s). He’s aiming to bridge the gap between classic sports sims and contemporary games — whose themes run the gamut from the Alhambra to Taverns of Tiefenthal to Wingspan. His concept, Sandlot Stars, immerses players in a colorful, card-driven baseball-themed game for three rounds — the seventh, eighth and ninth innings — with elements of ballpark effects and Yahtzee-style dice probabilities in the mix.   

We talk through Phillip’s 10 ways to bring sports simulations into the modern world. He also offers insights into a handful of great new sports games including Baseball Highlights 2045, Bat Flip, Bottom of the 9th, Dice Realms and Envelopes of Cash, a game about college football recruiting.   

Phillip also runs the San Francisco Board Game Designers group with cofounder Jim McCollum, and they’re  working on a football game.  

Stay tuned to the end for his explanation of Finland’s answer to baseball, pesäpallo.

Sandlot Stars is tentatively on scheduled for a print-and-play release by summer’s end.

Check out Phillip’s Facebook group for the game at sandlotstarsgame.com.

1. Audience Targeting (7:48)
2. Theme and realism (13:07)
3. Game play (16:40)
4. Drafting (20:00)
5. Solo Play (30:59)
6. Dice manipulation and the push-your-luck mechanic (38:15)
7. Multiplayer (46:57)
8. Visuals (50:02)
9. Odds/gambling (53:40)
10. What makes baseball great (1:01:30)

APBA Hall of Famer Greg Barath is perhaps the most prolific APBA Football replayer the game has known. Continually refining his method, Greg has been publishing his methods, results and tutorials for more than 15 years on his blog, YouTube and Delphi's Between The Lines forum.   Having joined the ranks of the most illustrious names in APBA in 2016's HoF induction ceremony, Barath is tackling a new challenge: Coaching the New England Patriots for the 2021 season of Ohio's venerable National Card Football League. At the time of this interview, the league had just completed its draft, leading Greg to begin contemplating his face-to-face strategy. Meantime, his solitaire play methodology grows in legend; Greg has helped countless players share his passion for the game. But as he's quick to point out, the game is meant to be enjoyed at every player's desired level of complexity: Played basic out of the box or customized to any degree, APBA Football retains its unique place in the universe of board games replicating pro, college (and in some cases, even high school) football.  And although relocated to the Pacific Northwest, Greg already had his tickets and hotel reservations for the 2021 annual APBA Convention in Alpharetta.   


Greg's blog: https://oguard62.net/
Greg's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChvJFEv1EmV1tBfRKcBm4Pg
APBA Hall of Fame roster: http://apbagames.com/hall-of-fame
National Card Football League: https://jzajack.wixsite.com/ncfl

Chuck Foreman. Carl Eller, Stu Voigt. These and many other legendary Minnesota Vikings have been connecting with fans through social media thanks to Ben Theis, founder of  @SkolMarketing  and Minnesota Sports Legends. Stemming from a work encounter with Foreman, Theis hit upon the idea of working with iconic athletes of his beloved Minnesota Vikings, as well as other state sports legends, to bring them closer to fans through digital media. As Foreman recommended Ben’s services to former teammates, MSL has grown to represent more than two dozen golden-era athletes, who share their experiences through everything from signed merchandise, personalized videos and in-person events. Minnesota Sports Legends: https://www.mnsportslegends.com/#/ (Click each photo to access each athlete’s personal page). Minnesota Vikings on Facebook: Chuck Foreman: https://www.facebook.com/chuck44foreman Ed White: https://www.facebook.com/EdWhite62 Sammy White: https://www.facebook.com/sammywhite85 Stu Voigt: https://www.facebook.com/stuvoigt83 Tommy Kramer: https://www.facebook.com/twominutetommy Carl Eller: https://www.facebook.com/CarlEller81 Paul Krause: https://www.facebook.com/PaulKrauseHOF

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/tWxrajoYeso

Spent the weekend of July 28-30 Rocky Mountain way at Plaay Dot Con 23. First time, unforgettable time — and definitely not the last time. A few thoughts about the great folks and moments from my day--and-a-half there. Guitar in intro is my #Gibson #J200.

Check out further recaps from Tabletop SportsCast and Plaay's blog: 10 headlines from Plaay Dot Con 23: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/james-cast35/episodes/Episode-126-Top-10-Headlines-of-Plaay-Dot-Con-e27jon3/a-aa6huac 11 observations from Plaay Dot Con 23: https://plaay.com/blog/eleven-quick-observations-from-plaay-dot-con-23

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/IZ8tNkIVwY4

#plaaydotcon23 #plaaygames #tabletopsports #fantasyfootball

Teacher Dale Shreiner discusses the origins of his Lancaster, Pa., APBA tournament. Of course, Lancaster is the original home of APBA Games, launched in 1951 by J. Richard Seitz. Shreiner, 40, is a relative newcomer to APBA, who began playing APBA baseball in earnest in 2016 after being introduced to the game by a former workplace manager. Starting his tournament a year later, Shreiner has learned a few things about running a fledgling tournament. This year's event will be the fourth in five years; the 2020 event was canceled during the pandemic.  

As of July 8, Dale still has four slots open for the tournament. If interested, contact him per his tournament data sheet:  

"To register for the tournament with your team, email tournament commissioner Dale Shreiner at dashreiner@gmail.com. I will register teams with players in order that I receive emails. I will reply with an email confirming your team or asking you to select another. Given the limited space, if you are not one of the first 24 to register, you will be put on a waiting list that I will contact in order if there is an opening.  

"Registration fee is $15 and includes a coffee bar. Registration fee can be mailed (check), sent via PayPal, or submitted the day of the tournament in the form of cash.   

"Tentative Schedule for the Day Welcome:  8:00-8:30Begin Divisional Play: 8:30 - 11:30Lunch: 11:30 - 1:00Finish Divisional Play: 1:00 - 4:00Playoffs: 4:00 - 6:00"

APBA Hall of Famer, former APBA Journal writer and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers statistician Ray Dunlap presents his  league-building tips on Aug. 24, 2013, at the APBA Football Club's inaugural tournament at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.   

Dunlap, co-founder of the Suncoast Football League in Tampa Bay, Florida, in 1979, lays out a wealth of knowledge — from the ideal number of teams in the league to how to keep members active.

Video version: https://youtu.be/MwYLCE6H0pE

If you've always wanted to attend an APBA convention or tourney (or any board game event) but weren't sure about committing, this interview could change your mind.   Two weeks before the annual APBA convention in Alpharetta, Georgia, three APBA Hall of Famers weighed in on the bonds built through board gaming.

One — Pete Simonelli, APBA Hall of Fame 2005 — goes back to the first-ever APBA convention in Philadelphia from June 15-17, 1973. He and Hall of Famer John Cochrane (2009) crossed paths at the third APBA convention in 1976. Hall of Famer Dr. Rebecca Peterson joined the fold years later but quickly rose through the ranks as a vital member of the APBA community in many ways — from "pinch player" to a regular competitor at the annual tourney.

Our conversation ranged from thoughts on starting regional tournaments to how to approach the annual convention as a first-timer — and much more. In this wide-ranging interview, you will learn about:  

• Robert Henry, Q&A columnist of the APBA Journal whose namesake regional APBA tournament outside Philadelphia has inspired a new generations of young players for 10 years and counting.
• The early days and promising future of Ed Zack's APBA baseball handbook.
• Tips for creating and sustaining a regional tournament.
• The evolution of APBA's conventions from 1973 to the present.  
• The evolution of APBA baseball cards from the 1950 season to present.  

Interview recorded June 11, 2022. Watch the YouTube version here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0odHYZ1AFo&ab_channel=APBAFootballClub

Zack APBA Baseball Handbook online: https://www.zackapbahandbook.org/

APBA Hall of Fame: http://apbagames.com/hall-of-fame

APBA Journal archive on USB (includes all issues from 1967 to 2002 and the special 70th anniversary issue from 2021):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/313444778731?hash=item48fac3c2eb%3Ag%3Ar4sAAOSwR5lgQ8vA

After a hiatus of several years, the original APBA Football Club is back in action. Launched on Facebook in January 2011 by Geoff Giordano, the AFC serves not only the APBA Football community but the APBA community at large with a combination of playing tips, game history, interviews with leading voices of Hall of Famers and longtime players and other unique content geared to promoting the game and its current and new fans. Here, we offer our take on the game of APBA Football in our absence of roughly five years.

In this inaugural episode, we talk about the APBA Football audience figures we're seeing in the gaming world, suggestions to help promote the game outside the Delphi forums (our original goal) and some history of the game (gleaned from our personal work in cataloguing original games and boards as well as interviewing the folks who were there with company founder J. Richard Seitz).

In our original run from 2011-2016, the APBA Football Club:

• Interviewed numerous APBA Hall of Famers and notables like Ed Zack, John Cochrane, Pete Simonelli, Veryl Lincoln, Skeet Carr, Roy Langhans, Len Gaydos and Jack "The Cardfather" Kohn
• Interviewed key APBA Football thinkers like Mark Zarb, Dave Urban, Denny Hodge and Art Carter
• Covered the fan-held APBA annual tournament in founding city Lancaster, conducting interviews and live Tweeting competition results (we believe for the first time in APBA history)
• Built one of the most comprehensive APBA Football collections, including many sets from Hall of Famer Robert Henry's collection, as well as many vintage bowling, saddle racing, golf and basketball games
• Began drafting an APBA Football Handbook to complement Ed Zack's APBA baseball handbook
• Created APBA features and series including "APBA Icons, "On the Road," "APBA Firsts," "APBA Combine" and "Show Us Your Setup"
• Created the first contemporary football-only APBA Football competition at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton in August 2013, featuring a combination of how-to-play demonstrations with a mini single-elimination tournament won by Greg Wells, as well as John Cochrane's demo of the APBA Soccer game and the National Card Football League's demo of its play-by-Skype method (well before the pandemic)
• Nominated Greg Barath and Ray Dunlap to the APBA Hall of Fame in 2014
• FInished second to Mike McCune in the global NCFL Skype tournament (1989 Forty-Niners 30, 2007 Patriots 24)

Board game boxing fans are no stranger to the work of the brothers Jim and Tom Trunzo, who 42 years ago launched their TItle Bout championship boxing through Avalon Hill. Jim Trunzo discusses some of the game's many ups and downs through the decades — including the current economics and realities of board game conception, manufacturing, distribution and marketing. Through it all, his passion for keeping the game alive endures undiminished, as his Title Bout II attests. Here, Jim pulls no punches in discussing the best — and not so great — fighters to ever lace up gloves, but does pull back the curtain on his methodology and attention to detail in creating a playable game with fast-action cards and boxers dialed in just right to perform as they did in real life.

Title Bout II: https://www.straightjabmedia.com

Title Bout history: http://www.titleboutboxing.com/cgi-bin/page?game_history

APBA Hall of Famer Joe "MakoJo" Sweeney (Class of 2005) is one of the earliest inductees into the gameco's tight-knit club of honorees His editors, viewers and utilities for #APBABaseball and #APBAFootball are legend. Joe finished 4-6 in our 10-game Ed Zack Memorial tournament on April 6-7, 2024, at the  @baseballhall . We conducted this interview right at the entrance to the exhibits because the playoffs were going on in the learning center and we had to choose the lesser of two evils in terms of background sound. I might attempt to filter the background noise on this later, but for now let this suffice. MakoJo site (archived): https://web.archive.org/web/20210126045052/http://www.makojo.com/ APBA Hall of Fame: http://apbagames.com/hall-of-fame Sample Between the Lines forum string praising MakoJo: https://forums.delphiforums.com/apbabtl/messages?msg=64542.1 Joe Sweeney's BtL profile: https://profiles.delphiforums.com/makojo1

Video version: https://youtu.be/S31A5WsQciE

Howie Mooney is a man of many talents and a "fired up" APBA Fan. His Instagram bio puts it succinctly: "A dad. A guy. A goalie. One of 2 hosts of The Sports Lunatics sports history podcasts. Also a contributing writer to the firedupnetwork.ca website." One winter day in school in the early 1970s, his teacher brought in an APBA baseball game, and Mooney was hooked. We discuss everything from his work as a sports journalist and the evolution of sports to his replay projects (including his 1978 bowling tournament), his custom envelopes and the joy of reading the APBA cards.

How will the 2022 APBA Football set be carded? Listen in as three APBA Hall of Famers and one master modifier weigh in with more than 150 years of APBA Football experience in this first-ever APBA Football Super Bowl Pregame show. The road to Super Bowl 57 featured many fine performances — how will they be rendered in APBA Football's next season set? VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/JbVbVtQcRLQ (Published Feb. 12, 2023) #superbowl #superbowl57 #chiefs #eagles #mahomes #jalenhurts #apbafootball #apbagames #apbafootballclub #apbafootballhandbook

With his custom APBA Football sets and longtime card performance collaboration with APBA Hall of Famer Greg Barath, Mark Zarb has cemented his reputation as one of the zen masters of the game. Buckle in for this in-depth look at all phases of the game, from QB sack numbers and scramble refinements to calculating those 9-7 teams, acceptable variances among offensive and defensive squads, era-to-era play, and much more.

Nine years ago, we interviewed Mark and Greg as part of our early efforts to bring the deep thinkers of APBA Football out of the Delphi forums and into broader view on contemporary social media. We published a two-part series on our original Facebook page that we will republish at some point — and there's a third part that we hadn't edited for publication yet to see the light of day. Here's the beginning of Part 1 of that series:

By Geoff Giordano
© 2012 APBA Football Club

Part One

NEW JERSEY, Aug. 25, 2012 — The basic APBA football game engine is about 55 years old. Yet it still inspires — like all APBA games do — the passions of sports fans who not only want to recreate the exploits of their current heroes, but hanker for a taste of the eras before their time.

While it’s generally common knowledge even to the most casual APBA aficionado that the football game ranks a distant second in popularity to the company’s vaunted baseball offerings, there remains an impassioned contingent of gridiron gurus who put the game through its paces with awe-inspiring regularity.

Two of those pivotal figures are custom card maker Mark Zarb and expert replayer Greg Barath. The self-described Frick and Frack of the APBA football community have fueled interest in the game for years with their intensely detailed and disciplined approaches to creating and using the magical curve-cornered cards. For instance, the well-known Hamilton Football League <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMIRgso46kg&feature=relmfutarget= —_blank”>mentions the pair in the title of one of their YouTube videos.</a>

Their names inspire consistent praise among the regulars of the Delphi Forums. More importantly, this tale of two men who share not only a devotion to the same hobby but also an abiding love for an often embattled NFL team as well as a common passion for nth-degree detail, is yet another testament to the enduring quality of friendships APBA has fostered for decades. ...

The history of the NFL was shaped in no small part by the legendary players and plays of the 1970s. Pro football historian Joe Zagorski, author of "The NFL in the 1970s: Pro Football's Most Important Decade, " reminisces with us about some of the highlights of that pivotal decade and his published and upcoming books about icons like Willie Lanier, Larry Little and others. For tabletop sports simmers, this book could prove to be an indispensable part of one's collection — an essential resource for pre-play preparation.   Joe's Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IIFTQDK/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0 NFL in the 1970s on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NFLinthe1970s

Straddling the line between pure arcade fun and statistics-based simulation, PSF’s latest iteration, released Sept. 8, features a wealth of new features and aesthetics. Designer Kerry Batts takes us behind his thought process, the many community contributions to PSF 2023, and some of the key new features he’s cooking up for ’24.  

Like many great endeavors, Pro Strategy Football by Batts, a computer programmer, began as a quest to produce something to meet a personal desire — namely a game that he and his brother, Kenneth, could play long distance. Having played wargames with his brother, Kerry visited him one fateful day in 1975 — the day the Cowboys downed the Vikings in Minnesota with the legendary Hail Mary pass that moved Dallas a step closer to Super Bowl X. Kerry, a veteran of Paydirt and Strat-O-Matic, has been a Cowboy fan since that day and created a game in the early ‘90s that he eventually shopped to a company that suggested a collaboration with none other than Tom Landry. PSF 2023 is the latest version derived from those early days and boasts a highly active community of contributors and modders; there are plenty of tutorials and game play videos on YouTube.  

Buy PSF on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1935910/Pro_Strategy_Football_2023

PSF group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prostrategyfootball

Video version: https://youtu.be/mNnTJilJiHE

Longtime gamer Ronnie Wyatt, inspired by first by PC boxing games Lance Haffner TKO and Title Bout II, and later by Roberto Chiavini’s complete Olympics boxing set and his more recent Noble Arts boxing game, has created a new contender in the boxing game realm.   

As Wyatt played Chiavini’s game, he wanted to add more “meat to the bone." He remembered that Anthony Crooks, creator of Glory Days Boxing and fellow member of the Title Bout computer championship game forum, created a series of pre-match charts for injuries and outside-the-ring events. Ronnie thought of adding such mechanics to Chiavini’s game and crafted a set of home brew charts. “The more homebrews I had … I realized i wasn’t playing the (same) game any more.”  

Interviewed July 29, 2022, Wyatt discussed the finer points of his new project, called Fictional Boxing Universe before he rebranded it in September to Pro Boxing Universe Dice Game. PBU tackles multiple historic eras of the sweet science. On Nov. 20, he launched the PBU website, where users can access game files and try their hand at anything from bareknuckle or Marquess of Queensbury rules to the present day.  

Pro Boxing Universe website:
https://pbudicegame.webador.com

PBU’s Facebook group:
https://bit.ly/3LMRgtH

Sports Info Solutions is one of the foremost players in the game of big data and how it informs not only the game on the field of play but on the tabletop. Mark Simon, content lead for SIS, is a former newspaperman, ESPN staffer and one-time Strat-O-Matic player who run the SIS baseball podcast. Mark shares with us some of the intricate workings of acquiring big-league sports data and the critical job of the SIS video scouts – not a few of whom have gone on to careers with major league teams like the Rays, Orioles and Twins. It is the keen eyes of the SIS video scouts that glean reams of advanced playing data from broadcast after broadcast. PT Games recently signed an agreement to use SIS data to inform its PC-based football game — and Mark shares his work with SOM on a recent MLB article simulation project, as well as his gaming history with Strat, MicroLeague and Diamond Mind. Mark is also a huge fan of Keith Hernandez and strongly supports Keith's entry into the  @baseballhall . Sports Info Solutions: https://www.sportsinfosolutions.com/ SIS/Strat Simulation "Reimagining The 2022 Yankees & Giants as Average Defensive Teams": https://www.sportsinfosolutions.com/2023/02/08/reimagining-the-2022-yankees-giants-as-average-defensive-teams/ SIS baseball podcast: https://pod.link/1461705002 SIS football podcast Off the Charts: https://pod.link/1039074748 #tabletopsports #fantasybaseball #keithhernandez

Video version: https://youtu.be/NRKZAX7rFJE

Game designer Mark Bates (Infinite Pi Games) discusses how he transformed the game World Cup! from creator Shaun Derrick’s original version into an all-card version. World Cup! lets users run an “association” of four teams by playing various soccer actions from a deck that lets managers attack, score and defend. Play the entire World Cup in two to three hours. Watch the World Cup! playthrough video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKu49tAh3LQ Buy World Cup! from Infinite Pi Games: https://www.infinitepigames.com/Sovereign Chess:https://mark-bates.squarespace.com/ *** Use discount code APBA for $20 off the World Cup! Champion Package, which includes all three expansions: Laws of the Game, EURO 2020 and QATAR 2022: https://www.infinitepigames.com/store/p/world-cup-world-cup-champion-pre-order The original version of World Cup by Shaun Derrick/Games for the World: https://boardgames.com/boardgame/the-world-cup-game

VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/bxvEJmAgmGw