Jim Fitzpatrick

I pulled the starting QB late in the game because he was clearly overmatched by the defense. #27 had about 14-15 carries, including a couple of very long runs. He had previously been the Lancers' backup RB, but he was traded in the off season (including the base) to the Thunderbolts for their backup QB, who will be the Lancers' starter when their games begin.

I time each quarter to 45 minutes (except championship game, which is 48 minutes per). This allows for the exchange of offensive and defensive units. Thus, an entire game lasts 3 hours, about the same time as a live game. The number of plays, of course, will vary.

In the opening game of the 2021 season, the world champion Thunderbolts defeated the visiting Hawks, 31 - 21. The Thunderbolts are coming off an undefeated, untied 2020 season (being only the second team to have a perfect record in 28 years), and remain unbeaten to this point. Thunderbolts' QB #7 stared slow, but came on to finish with 2 TD passes (both to TE #82), and RB #27 had 197 yds rushing in a dominating performance. Besides #82's 2 TDs, #27 (40 yds) and #23 (51 yds) both had rushing TDs. On defense, the T-bolts had 2 sacks and an interception (FS #20). The Hawks, except for 2 long runs (by #36 and #40) never could get their running attack going, and their passing game was inconsistent. Starting QB #12 had TD passes to WR #88 and FB #36, and back-up QB #17 had one to WR #86. The defense had no sacks, but did have an interception (FS #26) in the first quarter - which came to nought. Next up: Panthers at defending Old League champion Titans.

My "training camps" are almost complete. The regular season will begin around Memorial Day with: Hawks at Thunderbolts (last year's champions) Panthers at Titans Warriors at Gladiators Lancers at Wildcats These are all inter-league games - the only ones scheduled this year. I begin to have qualms about allowing the offensive linemen blocking angles of less than 90 degrees. Training camp has revealed it give the OL too much of an advantage. Last year, defense was dominant, and scores were mostly very low, compared with previous years. I love a good defensive game, so I was quite happy. I can't seem to get the hang of passing the current felt footballs available from Tudor. Fortunately, I still have several of the older style. I guess I'll have to take very good care of them.

Your regional lineups are very interesting. I recall that in the original NFL-AFL merger, one of the major considerations was keeping particular rivalries. Have you developed your own rivalries?

No '62 Packers? I remember their loss to Detroit on Thanksgiving Day. It was the only game they lost that season.

Interesting geographical arrangement. As I recall, the original merger of the NFL and AFL, and the subsequent divisions, also took into account special, existing rivalries. Do you have any such rivalries in your league?

Yes. I use "conference" here, but I refer to them as the "old league" and "new league", hearkening back to the time when there was the NFL and AFL, as separate leagues. OLD LEAGUE: Lancers Hawks Titans Gladiators NEW LEAGUE: Thunderbolts Panthers Warriors Wildcats

In my off season, I've had the draft, in which new players from imaginary colleges have been selected, older players have retired, and newer players have moved up. Currently finishing sticking on the new numbers, and getting the rosters fleshed out. Soon after this is done, "training camp" opens, in which teams practice, offense against defense, new bases are assigned - in some cases changed, paint is repaired or touched up. I bought a couple of bags of new bases and tested them, to determine the direction and severity of the motion curve, and marked then accordingly. To be fair, I'm arbitrarily assigning 4 new bases to last place teams, 3 to 3rd place, and 2 to the conference champions, to start out with. We'll see how that goes before assigning more. I've already held a mini-camp for O-lines of each team, to test the possibilities of my new rule which allows one O-lineman to angle his block (on a running play) at less than 90 degrees to the line of scrimmage (the O-line may pull any number of players at angles of greater than 90 degrees). The results were mixed, and I'm going to allow the first "set" (4 games) to play out and make a final decision then. Most promising was angling the LT on the weak side in on the DE on that side. It creates some interesting possibilities and combinations. My season will open sometime in May, with each team playing 10 games in the season - up from 9 games in all 28 previous seasons. The schedule is broken down into 3 sets of 4 games (first set), 3 games (second set), and 3 games (third set). The first set has the odd game out, which is an inter conference game as the first game of the season. The inter conference match ups are: Panthers at Titans (conference champions) Warriors at Gladiators Hawks at Thunderbolts (league champions) Lancers at Wildcats Each team has 29 players, not counting QBs and Kickers

Go Giants!! (I've been a Giants fan since '62)

Are the old, regular felt footballs no longer available? I can't get used to these rounder balls (saturn and 3rd and long)). It makes passing very difficult and kicking much poorer. Also, Are burgundy varsity numbers no longer available? I'm running low and will have to come up with a substitute soon, if they're not.

Now, in my off-season, I'm considering rule changes and clarifications. Also trades between teams. A trade may, or may not, involve the player(s) base. With the base, of course, the trade value is worth more. Also dealing with retirements, so some new numbers will have to be assigned. The new figures I've made still have to be allocated to the teams. This will give each team 30 potential players. Later, during "training camp", I'll change bases if necessary, and work on new plays. This year I've decided that the first game of the season will be inter conference, and the season will expand to 10 games per team (1 inter conference and 3 sets of 3 games each). One rule I'm considering is allowing the offensive team to have 1 angled blocker (OL man) per play. Previously, I've only allowed pulling OL men - angled greater than 90 degrees from the line of scrimmage; any number could be 'pulled' on any given play. The new rule will allow 1 angled (less than 90 degrees) and up to 2 pulling OL men per play. I'm skeptical, but I'll see how it goes during the inter conference games at the beginning of the season. One thing about numbers. 'Way back when, the only numbers available were black. Then, I discovered Datak dry-transfer lettering (numbers), and I then had a variety of colors. That company isn't around anymore, and re-discovering Tudor numbers (now in color!), I was very happy. But my only problem was getting then to stick properly. It really bugged me that they didn't sit flush on the player, and would come off fairly easily. I've tried wetting them, using glue (paste) sticks, but nothing worked well. Before the glue paste sticks, you could get liquid glue in a small bottle with a sponge applicator top. I discovered this is Korea in the early 70s. Can't find it here, though. So, I eventually tried "Elmer's Washable Clear Glue" in a 5 oz. bottle. I have some very small tools from when my wife worked in the electronics industry, and I've found that taking a small, curved dental pick-like instrument, touching it into the glue to get a small drop - or less - then applying it to the player, letting it dry for about a minute, then putting the number on, works great. I have to smooth and press down the number several times for the next 15-20 minutes to get a flat number on the surface, but I'm very satisfied with the results. And, when I change numbers, it peels off very well. Any dried residue will just rub - or can be picked - off, with little or no damage to any paint on the player. One other tip about applying numbers, in any way you choose to do it: clean the surface first with alcohol, and, if possible, sand it slightly to roughen it. The numbers seem to stick better that way, if you're not using glue.

Excellent! We've been playing about the same number of years, but there were some years I didn't play, because of other commitments (e.g. Army), and, until recently, I haven't kept too many stats. I guess I'm also a statistics nerd in some ways, and can get lost for hours on the Pro Football Reference site, or The Gridiron Uniform Database site. I'm also something of a throwback, preferring the way the game was played in the 50s, 60s, and 70s to the present state of affairs. One of the reasons I try to avoid inter-conference play is that when the championship game comes around, the idea of 2 teams that have had little experience of each other meeting to decide it all, is intriguing. I remember what the first Super Bowl was like, when Green Bay and Kansas City met - two teams that had never played each other before. So I keep inter conference meetings rare.

Very true. But there also seems to be another: battery life. I've noticed that as a season wears on, and the batteries are drained, the speed control needs to be adjusted to provide performance equivalent to when the batteries are fresh. Are there any battery curves per hour of usage available (probably not)? How often should the batteries (regular alkaline) be changed?

Thank you. And that's right! It satisfies me (mostly), and that's what's really important. The roughness of the glued joints are usually masked by paint, when I'm using the figure as a home team, with painted jersey. I currently have 8 teams, two offences (home and away), and two defences (home and away) for each. The Wildcat home uniforms I'm working on now, so by next season every team will be complete. As for the figures I'm modifying, I'm planning on incorporating 2 each per team. At this point, I'm not sure whether to make them the same player (i.e. the same number - 1 home, 1 away), or 2 separate players. Typically, each team has a game-day roster of 14-15 players (total 28-30 players, offence plus defence). This is about the limit I can handle for any game, given situation substitution (e.g. bringing in 5-6 defensive backs in long down situations, replacing DL men and/or LBs), so I'm reluctant to increase my rosters much more. But I am considering increasing my schedule by one game. Currently, each team plays each other team in its conference 3 times per season, or, if there's an inter-conference game (which only happens every 2 years) one team will have only 2 conference games. If I go to 10 games per season, I could have the 3 conference games per team, and 1 inter-conference game per team. Something to think about during the off season. The off season is when I do maintenance on the teams - touch up paint, evaluate and change bases (if necessary), decide on rule changes, make up schedules for the next season, and try out different plays and schemes for the teams. I'm interested in how others treat an off season - if they have one.

A linebacker (all the same figure), made from a RB:

I realize the painting and gluing leaves much to be desired, but I'm improving as I get more practice.

Some players I "re-made" by cutting and repositioning arms: The unpainted player is my intended DB, made from a tackle (GP figure); the maroon player is a re-made RB I made from a RB; the blue player is an intended DE I made from a RB.

Since I've been playing solitaire for many decades, I've evolved a number of game rules that have served me well over the years. Naturally, they are peculiar to my own play, and may, or may not, be adaptable for any other solitaire league. I'll go over many of them individually, starting with this post. The 2 play rule (applying to 2 consecutive running plays): Playing by myself, it's obvious that I know what the "next" offensive play is going to be. That would seem to be an enormous advantage to the defense. So I developed the "2 play rule" for running plays. This rule only applies only when an offensive team runs 2 consecutive running plays, and is intended to prevent the defense from having that "unfair" advantage. The rule is simple. "After a team calls a running play, on the following play - if a another running play - the defense must set up in exactly the same formation as they were on the prior play" The idea here is to prevent the defense from concentrating players in an area to stop a particular type of running play. In other words, the defense must maintain a defense intended to stop every running play that might possibly be called. Note that this only applies to consecutive running plays, and not just consecutive plays. If a pass play is called after a running play, then the consecutive string of running plays is broken, until the next running play is called (which starts a new string of running plays). While this may seem disadvantageous to the defense, I've found, over the years, that it really is not. Defensive formations - using the individual "turning" characteristic of the rookie bases I use - have evolved to even out the chances. Whether or not a running play is successful depends more on the angles and power of the individual bases interacting at any point of the field. And, as we all know, each field will have its own peculiar vibrational pattern, which acts on bases differently at different points. Passing play rules will be discussed at a future date. Last year I purchased, and began using, the Tudor 36X18 generic field. Previously, and since the late 1960s, I had been using a similar size field, the old Model 600. This was not battery powered, and ran off AC. In fact, my first taste of 120V AC came as a result of trying to fix a broken switch without unplugging it. This taught me, in no uncertain terms, to always unplug a device before trying to repair it. Believe it or not, this board lasted from about 1967 (?) until the present day, and still works! That's 50+ years! What other electrical device has lasted that long? It's amazing! The new board is quite different, most notably in the weight, being light as a feather compared to the old one, and running off batteries. It has its own unique peculiarities, of course, and has taken some getting used to, but I'm looking forward to an even better second season with it than the first. Oddly, one of the differences that really has taken some getting accustomed to, has been the darker green of the new field. You wouldn't think that would be even noticeable, but it has been

I'll put some up in the next few days. Right now, I'm in my off season. This is when I have my imaginary draft (rookie numbers to supplement, and ultimately replace, existing numbers), rule changes (mainly clarification of existing rules, which I've started to commit to writing), and training camps (changing bases to obtain desired characteristic motion and direction, and repair (primarily replacing numbers and touch-up painting). In my last Super Bowl, the Lancers defeated the Warriors 27-21, in OT. This was only the third OT game in my 27 years of Super Bowls, and also the shortest. The Lancers won on the first play of OT when Lancer RB 41 ripped off an 80 yard TD run (my OT is the old style "sudden death"). My normal periods last 45 minutes in regular time - the closest simulation to actual elapsed time in NFL games I can come up with. In playoffs and Super Bowls, they run 48 minutes. I would like to better document (at least Super Bowl) games this year - writing down individual game scores and significant plays.

Yeah, I've done the cutting and putting them together. I was using Datak dry transfer numbers years ago, when only black was offered by Tudor. All of those had to be done individually, since those were only 0-9. Those stuck very well, and probably spoiled me as to stickability. Thanks for the reply.

My question (which maybe should be addressed to the mfg) is in regard to the "varsity stick on numbers". I have all the available colors, but I notice the black numbers are in a different font, and run from 1-96, whereas the other colors run 1-89. Why is this? Also, I'd love to see all the varsity numbers featured in at least 2 fonts, and run up through 96, like the black. I'd also like to request a better sticking medium. Lately, I've been trying many different ways to get them to stick better, including saliva, glue sticks (modern paste stick is not nearly as good as the liquid glue stick, which doesn't seem to be available anymore), repainting the figures to increase the "roughness" of the surface, etc. Any other suggestions? As an alternative to paint, try Sharpie fine point pens.

I've been playing EF since 1965, and have had an organized 8 team league for 27 years (on and off, occasionally interrupted by military service and relocation). I have my own unique rules (as, I'm sure, everyone has). The League is divided into 2 conferences, the "Old" and the "New", reflecting on the time I've added the new teams. I don't imitate the NFL, or any other pro league - mine is completely within my own imagination. Over the years, I've expanded the number of players per team, and recently added the "Pro Action Pack" figures as supplements to each team. Each player has his own identity, manifested by his jersey number, and after a certain number of seasons, the player will have to "retire" and have the number replaced. Bases are often changed in the off-season, to improve, or just change, certain motion characteristics (I use the "rookie" bases). Old League New League Lancers Thunderbolts Hawks Panthers Titans Warriors Gladiators Wildcats Note - the 'Panthers' name pre-dates the Carolina Panthers by several years. The only recycled name is 'Titans', from the old NY Titans of the AFL. Each season consists of 9 games for each team, which has, in the past, created timing difficulties trying to get a season in by the end of January. But I'm retired now, and that concern has fallen by the wayside. It's an almost ideal hobby which does require any particular skill, except a vivid imagination.