Paul Kian

Thank you for your vote! That's cool that there was an actual team named the Pioneers. I actually kind of ripped off the Pioneers name from the original proposed name for the Titans when they first left Houston. I think the Tennessee Pioneers would have been a cool name; Titans just seems too generic, but heck I was even fine with them staying the Tenn. Oilers so what do I know? I mean the Lakers and Jazz didn't change their mascots despite them making no sense. 😆 Can't wait to see your K-Bears team, take plenty of pics if you can! 😊

Thanks for your vote, Rick! It's funny that you mentioned the dog, I was debating on getting a mini Pluto figure for the mascot/coach, and a Marvin the Martian for Mars (I hope Ravenna Al doesn't mind, I think he has a similar team. 😁)

Oh definitely, I think it's kind of funny that Joe Gibbs is one of the last coaches to have had more rushing yards than passing yards in every Superbowl he coached in, and it took him until his last season to break out the shotgun formation. Come to think of it, poor Joe Theismann might have had a longer career if he had lined up in the gun on that misfortunate play....🤔

That's a good point, and you could say the same thing about ole John "50 Gut" Riggins, or really any of the Joe Gibbs-era Skins running backs as well. Ole Gipper loved to use the 2 WR 2 TE Ace sets. I'm amazed he lasted as long as he did, like Long Island was saying earlier. 😳

Hi fellow Coaches and Forumites, I tried to make this a poll, but it threw a bunch of errors at me so I guess it'll be easier to ask it as a regular post then. Might be some foreshadowing, I dunno....🤷🏻‍♂️ Anyhow, I currently have 8 teams of prepainted EF figures- I know, I'm cheating a bit, but I work a 9-5 so I'll take any help I can get. 😁 When I originally purchased them, I was planning on doing the traditional City/State/Country Team Name and then a Mascot for each team. I had the following eight names picked out: -->Canadian Shield - Ottawa, Ontario, CAN -->Portland Bluebacks (a type of trout popular in New England) - Portland, Maine, USA -->Saint Pierre et Miquelon Les Pecheurs (which means "Fishermen" or "Anglers" in French) - St. Pierre, SP&M, France -->Victoria Regimentals - Victoria, British Columbia, CAN -->Phoenix Pharaohs - Phoenix, AZ -->Knoxville Pioneers - Knoxville, TN -->Lexington Thoroughbreds - Lexington, KY -->Reno R.A.D.s (as in the unit of radioactivity, also short for "RadioActive Dudes") - Reno, NV However, while driving between job sites one fine Friday afternoon, I remembered an old video game I used to play as a kid called Mutant League Football- they also made a hockey video game and cartoon based off of the same idea. In this game, you played football as usual but with teams composed of aliens, skeletons, robots, trolls, etc. in outer space and on other planets. It got me to thinking, "hey, there are 8 extraterrestrial planets, cuz I don't care what some too-big-for-their-britches-scientists say, Pluto is still a planet, and I have 8 teams. I also haven't ordered my field covers yet...." So, I guess the short and sweet of this is, which do you guys think would be cooler- teams named after cities/states/countries and mascots, or teams named after the 8 Planets? Thanks for your input! I'll make sure to put up plenty of pictures of the figures and fields once they're finished being decaled. 😊

I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit jealous. I basically saw Mike Alstott and Terrell Davis and a bunch of gunslinger QBs. 😆 That's a good point about Green and Kelly, I guess a better way for me to phrase it is that Jim Brown was more like a prototype for the Modern halfback. The lines were a lot blurrier back then, but that's what made the running game great- either RB could pound it out. Now it's basically a choice between 205 and 250- the 205 lb guy is going to be labeled the Halfback, and the 250 lb guy is the Fullback. 🙄

Haha I think excellent is a bit of an overstatement, but I definitely tried to play anything I could as a kid. I definitely rode plenty of pine in my day. 😆 That statement is so true. My bandmate's girlfriend is from Long Island and moved down less than 5 years ago. The culture shock for her and her family is so real it's not even funny- our Italian food typically sucks, we have next to nothing for public transportation, and yes, we do put vinegar on our BBQ pulled pork and our version of "sweet tea" is basically a cup of sugar water. 😋 I'm sure it would be the same shock for us if we moved up there though, so I try not to judge too harshly. 😉

I can imagine- my former co-worker was from Florida, and he actually had a fullride scholarship to the University of Florida as a Catcher but blew his shoulder out his sophomore year. All he could talk about was Gators Baseball and Football, and he'd only bring up the Basketball team if they made it to March Madness. 😆 I was born in Vermont (hence the season of Hockey) but moved to Western North Carolina when I was in the 3rd grade or so. In NC, Football is king, Baseball is a close second, and Basketball gets a lot more popular towards the middle of the state than it was near me, which is why I played rec league ball. I probably would have tried out for our High School Basketball team if I didn't stop growing taller in Middle School- I don't think you'll find a lot of 5'11" centers in High School like you do in Middle School. 🤔 When I started High School, our Soccer team was only in its second season, and the Football Team's kicker was the Defensive End. He only did Kickoffs for the most part, and our team almost always went for two points on 4th Downs. After seeing them loose several close games the year before, during junior year me and a couple of the Soccer kids decided to try out on a whim and each of us made it. Unfortunately, I fractured my foot by dropping a guitar amp on it senior year, so I really only got to play that one year but I still enjoyed it. 😊

That's fascinating, I really would have figured it'd be track & field or cross country over Lacrosse. I'm pretty interested in multi sport athletes, probably since I was one in High School (I was a Punter on the Football team, a Midfielder/Defenseman in Soccer, and played rec league Hockey and Basketball in elementary school- although you probably wouldn't believe it if you saw me now 😆). Yeah, I feel like a bit of an anomaly in that regard, as most people who play Electric Football are either older and played the game since childhood, or are younger people who picked it up from their parents or older siblings. I literally had never even heard of EF until I was like 24, and I didn't play my first game until Fall 2018. So if I ever ask any dumb questions, then hopefully that might explain why. 😆

I wasn't around to see them in person, and I know that makes me come off as the 29 year old talking out of his rear, but I agree with Rick. If you look at game footage, Jim Brown had some elements of finesse alongside his trucking abilities- I'd almost consider him a halfback more than a fullback despite his usual listed position. Earl Campbell was more of a downhill truckster, which is probably why he was so banged up at his retirement. I wouldn't kick either man off my roster by any means, and if you put Brown at HB and Campbell at FB in the same backfield....😳

Man, this just makes me nostalgic for the days of the classic Powerback. The guys like Earl Campbell, Jim Brown, Bo Jackson, John Riggins, Mike Alstott, and so many more. The NFL really hasn't had a RB like them since the mid 2000s. 😢 And don't even get me started on Fullbacks....😆

I haven't actually painted them yet, but going by the two paints I bought, the Irish Babies color has a kind of greenish tint to it. I might repaint the entire figure instead of trying to colormatch the jerseys.

Haha, it's possible Rick. Might need to call the paramedics if it gets any rougher, sounds like you're tearing yourself apart. 😆 Then again, I may have also just copied my own experiences of playing video games when I was in college, minus some of the "spicier vocab" for the kids' sake of course. 😁

I think another consideration for timing is whether you are playing a multi-stop league vs a league with one or two stops. In the FAT8 for example, you have the initial formation (I don't remember how long it is, but I think it's 35 seconds), then (I think) 10 seconds to adjust/pivot/motion, a quick on/off to simulate a snap, and then another adjustment period of 5 seconds, run the board again for routes or a RB cutback, and then a stoppage for after-catch/crossing the line of scrimmage adjustments. If that's your set up, timing is definitely of the essence. If you're just doing one or two stops, then you might consolidate a couple of those steps to save board stops and therefore have more time between stops. Your League seems to fall somewhere in between the two.

That's a good point about time, LIEFL. Thanks for bringing it up. I hadn't really thought about a set up time limit for my Solitaire league as it's really not much of a problem there, but it is definitely important when playing with others. The couple of times I've played (I freely admit that I'm pretty new, like around a year and a half to two years of experience new) we generally just went with whatever is a reasonable set up time, but if I get to play again I'll mention your points about timing being just as much a gaming element as a convenience one. Rick, thanks for giving me an idea for a new solitaire league- the schizophrenic solitaire league, where the coaches talk pure junk to themselves after every play. "You call that a pass, who bought this sucky Quarterback Figure anyway?" "You did, now pass me the controller you troglodyte." "WOAH NOW, that'll be a 15 yarder for unsportsmanlike conduct, buddy." "15 YARDS?! Don't make me break my foot off in my...." Er, I think you get the picture. 😆

I feel like the MOST important rule, is to have fun. If you're not enjoying the game, why bother, right? 😁 As far as the three most important procedural type rules: 1) Player Weight Limits: some leagues are the Wild West, and would let you play with a ten thousand pound figure if you could carry it. 😆 Other Leagues are pretty strict on their weight limits, and some leagues only allow Box-Stock. Whatever the situation, I think it's a very important rule to have established beforehand. No one wants to spend all weekend making the perfect figures, only to find out that they can't use them because they're overweight. 😢 2) Stationary Bases: I confess, I'm a sucker for magnet bases. To some, this is heresy. To others, watching your guys do loop-de-loops for zone coverage and/or cleaning up poster tack grease off the board is a worse heresy. Make sure you cover your ground rules and preferences on stationary bases before cracking plastic. It's one of those rules that I see slipped into the handbook where people probably won't notice until it's game time. 3) Good sportsmanship: Don't be a sore loser or an annoying winner. Some coaches like to talk a little smack here and there, and as long as you are both cool with each other then go at it. But there's a fine-line between ribbing and straight up insulting. Try not to cross it. If you get absolutely spanked on the field, then take your lumps, eat a tiny bit of crow, and congratulate as necessary. No one should ever feel the need to ragequit- this isn't Madden afterall. On the other side of the coin, whether you just won a 17-16 squeaker or a 63-7 blowout (sorry, Marino) don't be a jerk and hold it over the opponent's head like a life sentence. Celebrate, and then move forward. You could just as easily be on the other side of that road next time....😉

You're welcome, always glad to pass along the system that got me interested in this great game. 😁

That's definitely the best part for me too. I'm not typically a "control freak" in my regular life, but this game is very customizable and seems like a great way to live out some level of control without angering the wife/girlfriend/boss/kids. 😁 If you're interested in further detail, here's a link to the YouTube playlist of the FAT8 system. It has some sections that elaborate on the weighting system along with his injury system, Morale system, etc. I've also attached the complete document, effective as of 2018. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL62EpYEO7k_fpkgAXwBMISdMSY5hB5SX4 Updated FAT8 Football Rules Standard 032318.pdf

Thanks, I'll be on the lookout for the smaller sized little fellers. I had considered trying to cut some custom chains using those cheap bracelet chains you can get at Michaels, but it's probably more trouble than it's worth. The laser seems like a better solution, at least for me. 😁 Yeah same here, I'm not a very political guy by any means, and either way there's no use crying about something that really doesn't matter that much in the end so I'll keep out of it. Honestly, with the way Dan Snyder has ran this team over the years, he will probably have sold them off in 10 years anyway (and then they'll be called something super awful, like the Kentucky Horsemen or Portland Sailors- which are totally not rejected team names that I've come up with for my EF League or anything). 😆

Wow, you have a whole training camp of a roster! I like the injury replacement concept though; I always thought the NFL should just extend the rosters to like 60+ players and have a bigger practice squad, even of they kept the current 46 man game day roster. If they were really concerned about concussions, they should be all over that, but I digress. 🤔 I was actually just reading NO Dave's post about that yesterday, I'm definitely going to try that out. I know my board is smaller, but I still think it will need 2 motors. 😁 I originally bought the TTCs because I wanted to run routes, but using a multi stop set up I realized that angling the players between stops would accomplish 99% of the same thing. So I might break down and snag some double clip Rookie bases or Invisibases. Jamie's YouTube channel is pretty good, and his FAT8 system is well documented; some of his solitaire stuff plays a bit too much like Dungeons and Dragons for my taste, but overall it's a great starting point for newbies like me. 😁

Cool, I was thinking it was probably a smaller version, but the other option that kept coming up were the huge $350 ones on a tripod that we use at work to grade yard slopes for drainage. I didn't think that was right. 😁 Yeah, I wish they had done this a lot better and less kneejerk and sudden. I'm not going to get super political/social/etc. about this, as I know this is not the right platform for that, and I hope I'm not coming off as angry or offended, but I will say the following: As a member of the Abenaki-Algonquin tribe in Vermont and Quebec, who (1) grew up just outside of a reservation, (2) grew up a Redskins fan (my dad's favorite QB was Canada's son Mark Rypien) and (3.) also went to college near the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians reservation in NC, I have plenty of Redskins fans in my family, and I also saw plenty of Washington Redskins shirts, hats, etc. on "the Rez", and not just on the non-Natives. Take from that what you will. 🤔

Just to be clear, is this more or less what you guys are talking about? https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-Air-Grip-Compact-Laser-Level-ELL1002/205509613

I know how you feel Rick; I think modern Washington is finally getting its karma for all those times where Riggins was clearly wrapped up on the 21, but then the ball was magically spotted across the line at the 19. 😂

That's perfect, and don't forget that if it's the 80s Redskins, 90s Cowboys, or 2000s Patriots that you move it a couple yards forward....And I say that as an 80s Skins fan. 😁

Oh yeah, that's a good point. I'm currently limited to 25 players/team with a depth of only 2-3 players per position (playing 7 man, of course) so I'm a lot more inclined to avoid any super long term injuries, but if I had 4 decades of players they'd be pretty strapped for playing time. That said, I'm not super attached to starters by any means and would definitely like to get all 25 guys on field at some point in the game. 😊 Your boards must be pretty good and not full of hotspots/deadzones. I've seen some horrors out there on YouTube. 😆 I'm hopeful my new board doesn't cause a lot of falling over either, especially since I'm going to do some weight adjustments on the bases to make them more centered- all I have currently are the non-proline TTCs, which I've just learned are prone to toppling if you don't tweak/weight them just right. I'll have to look into a better injury system than just one-drive "Cool-Offs", so I think yours is going to be what I derive it from, albeit with smaller numbers. 😊