APBA Football Club Podcast Network

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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)

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

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

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

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/

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.

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/

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

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

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/

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-

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/

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

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 mentions the pair in the title of one of their YouTube videos. 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. ...

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. ...

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

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

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

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

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/

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

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

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 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

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"

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/

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

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 (having posted an ad at Tabletop Sports two years ago). 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.”

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.

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

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/

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)