2023 Long Island EFL: PRO BOWL PREGAME AND THE IMPORTANCE OF ELECTRIC FOOTBALL HISTORY AND FELLOWSHIP

[Long island EFL]

THE BEST OF THE BEST OF THE LIEFL WILL BRAWL ON SUNDAY IN THE PRO*BOWL!

2022 Pro Bowl MVP and LIEFL Player of the Year New York Giants superstar Ahmad Bradshaw, showed his worth in the LIEFL All-Star game on this 100-yard touchdown return untouched, to give the NFC the win 21-14!

Written By Levi Vick, Joey Pizz, and Kevin Mack, with contributions by Billy O'C. The LIEFL Pro Bowl is a proud game that will be played Sunday January 7, 2024! The AFC will wear their dark jerseys and the NFC will wear white this Pro Bowl. The game represents the 22 best plastic players in the league, voted on by the LIEFL Coaches as we head into our final season as a league. This is a time to reflect on another great season.

We finished strong as a league this year, and the heart and soul of the league is LIEFL Founder Billy O'C, but he is locked into his B A T B O Y New York Yankees Documentary on Ray Negron, so he can't give any time, but we love the league as much as him. A few words about O'C. He is the guy, who from the time we were kids, was the leader in the neighborhood. He was the organizer, and the best at it. These days, to get grown men to still play this hobby at this level, like your league's, is unbelievable! We say your leagues because from what we have had time to read on the Tudor Forum, the LIEFL is just a tiny part of the electric football hobby. So many of the coaches on the Tudor Forum, globally, have been so innovative. They have contributed so much to this hobby and we are so thankful that fifty years later, here we all are relishing the great American tradition of Electric Football from our childhoods. From under the Christmas tree to the table, this hobby is still alive. Like the Beatles, our hobby will never die!

In the LIEFL, to stick together, to commit to a game with plastic soldiers, amazes us. Great rules, the coaches, the dues, the high-stakes $payout to the Super Bowl Winner ... Electric Football! Levi Vick said, "In my personal experience as a third year coach playing in the LIEFL, this is a world way beyond Tudor and Miggle. They provided the tools, we are the society of Dreamers who make electric football great! We can't ignore the historic value of all of the people who have made a difference in the hobby. There are so many great leagues out there, even solitaire leagues that I've read about in the Forums, and whatever works for that league or person is great because it makes their leagues great. I would love to read more on the Forums about more league who actually play a full season. I played in a whole different league prior to the LIEFL, and the speed, the time management under pressure, the movement on the board, the split second decisions without long delays, is as realistic as it gets in the LIEFL. When O'C leaves us we have to start over, but I plan on having my own league or a Solitaire League if I have to. This Forum encouraged me to get my previous league to join the Forum as well."

Rookie LIEFL Coach Bobby Biggs said, "I haven't talked much about the league, but I would say that the continuity and the pace of the game so far in my experience, is unmatched. In the LIEFL we don't get to pivot and turn players around to chase players, play with dice, stop the game three or four times, do countdowns to set up in this one-stop league, and there's nothing wrong with that. We just don't do it. I respect all league rules, but this 67-BIG MAN league is beast! In live games they don't get to even stop the game in real life games, or let your receivers touch a ball target for pass plays in the middle of the field for a completion. That's what makes this league fiercely competitive. I made lots of mistakes, but next year I am coming back for the kill. Coach Billy O'C said, he is going to add the Colts to my teams, and he will coach the Seahawks.  As a coach we have to be a skilled passer and coordinate the plays. As coaches, we are doing all the executing. When I saw guys like coach Viggs hit people with that Yellow Tudor Passer from 30, 40 yards out, I was hooked on having the skill set." LIEFL Super Bowl XVIII Champion Coach Johnny-Freeport added, "In this league, you are the coach, you are the quarterback throwing the passes with the Yellow Tudor Kicker/QB, and you are the man behind the magic as the players do their expected and placed jobs. Five to seven basic plays can win a Super Bowl. I have played many fancy coaches with great plays, but none have matched the tempo of a running coach who can neutralize a game. Stop my special teams, passing game, and running game!" Can defense win a game? We can all share opinions on that one.

Of great importance worth the dialogue is just how important preserving this electric football hobby is. This ideology starts with the Tudor Games Forum, HUB CENTRAL for electric football. Without Tudor and the Forum, this game could go mute. Now EF enthusiasts have a central source to visit on Tudor Forum to learn about the game, board purchases, leagues, new innovative uniforms, painting, decaling, and a professional array of merchandise that has reshaped the game.

For the LIEFL through the Tudor Forum we have connected with some of the great minds and next generation of metal board pioneers of the game. Really one of the turning points for information on the Tudor Forum came via The National Electric Football Game Museum, Founded by Chris LeMay. LeMay has been the source of historic information regarding the hobby and to us, he is considered one of the foremost resources preserving the hobby in the world, but he is often overlooked. More important, what we appreciate about his efforts is, his work within the EF community.  He has a great Facebook page for electric football which is very connected to the electric football global community. He is doing something about the hobby!  www.facebook.com/NEFGM LeMay's Facebook page is loaded with valuable information, great posts, pictures, and other historic information. He was the first that we know of who cared enough to dig in and acknowledge leagues around the world, and in the United States, including our beloved LIEFL to try to preserve history, even more than Tudor Games themselves. Electric football should be VERY exciting with what BEENUT is expected do for electric football as well. He'll have all the Tudor magical secrets and make decisions to build a magical electric football future. Give Bryan Nutt time, and he will collaborate with the core of EF Ballers who have the skillset to take the game into the future.

LIEFL Commissioner Billy O'Connell said, "When Chris LeMay invited me to be a Board member to the Museum, I was so honored. To be a part of the game's preservation is the ultimate reward playing in and preserving the hobby. There is such rich history about electric football. The whole story about Norm Sas, our Founding Father of EF, and the magnitude of where the game is today is fascinating. What the LIEFL loves is that Chris has linked a global culture of electric football enthusiasts and he has tunneled them directly into the Tudor Forum so that we can expand the hobby for all to love." LeMay is a distinguished member of the electric football community acting as a volunteer liaison to the hobby dedicating his love for the game. A little more below on the NEFGM ...

The National ELECTRIC FOOTBALL Game Museum is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization chartered in the State of Tennessee with the specific purpose of educating the public about the game of Electric Football. nefgm2019@gmail.com The National ELECTRIC FOOTBALL Game Museum consists people who care about the progression of the game, the art, the power of Fellowship of:

• collections of original mass-produced game sets to include the game boards with all accessories, teams and rule books from all commercial manufacturers of the game, examples of improvements in technology to the game boards and accessories to play the game developed by all commercial manufacturers, examples of improvements made by individuals to enhance the play of the game, examples of customizations to original game boards and accessories made by individuals, a library of all media materials that relate to the game, and a retail outlet store to sell the games, accessories and media materials that relate to the game.

There are currently 7 Charter Members of the Board of Directors hand picked for their particular interest in electric football and career skill sets and experiences. Charter Members since 2019

Executive Board Members: Chris LeMay – President / Treasurer: Founder, Creator and Current Curator. Electric Football player, collector, hobbyist and enthusiasts.  Experiences in Retail Management for over 20 years and 14 years in the Museum Exhibit Fabrication and Installation industry (now retired). Spring Hill, TN, AK (Anthony) Fox – Secretary: Electric football player and collector.  CEO of a nonprofit mental health organization in Nashville, TN. Morrison, TN

Board Members: Roger and Dustyn Fisher: Father and son team of electric football players, collectors and promoters of the game. Their GRIDIRON BUZZ NETWORK (GBN) is an online streaming and video service of electric football league and tournament action throughout the United States. Clarksville, TN and Gallatin, TN.  Brian Fox (2019 – 2022): Electric football player and collector, Bowling Green, KY. Lynn “Weirdwolf” Schmidt: Electric football player, collector, and hobby enthusiast. Founder, creator and former Board President of the Miniature Football Coaches Association (MFCA). Parkville, MO. Chris Bopst: Electric football player, hobbyists and enthusiast. Organizer of the “Electric Football Art Show” exhibited in Richmond, VA for two years (2013 & 2015).  College Park, MD. Villon Worthy: Electric football hobbyist.  Winston-Salem, NC.  Added December 2020:  William O’Connell: Electric Football player and hobbyist. Founder of the Long Island Electric Football League. Documentary Filmmaker, and Professor of Communication at Suffolk County Community College, Grant Campus in Brentwood, NY.  Added January 2021: Kenneth Allen: Electric Football player and hobbyist, MFCA board member and administrator of the MFCA Facebook Group Page. Glenn Mishoe: Electric Football collector and hobbyist.

National Electric Football Game Museum Board Member, William O'Connell said, "I tied back some of my greatest memories of my childhood to electric football. I don't even know how my mother afforded the game with six children, but as an international athlete herself, she must have recognized its innovation, and as a way to keep us busy, she taught us how to play. We were hooked! Then the neighborhood had different versions of the game before my mom even bought our game, but even before that I was introduced to electric football by my friend Gus Calvo, who had the Cleveland Browns against someone, I don't remember, but I was fascinated. Joey Pizz had the Coleco Game electric football version, Ed Viggs had the best version of the 600-Board, and with discovery, we all collaborated to form the LIEFL. Then Joe Bino got involved with his own Illinois Avenue League using the 600 series game board. We would play our champions against his, until finally we collaborated as well in the LIEFL forming. We didn't have much growing up with all these kids in the house, but our parents did something right, they bought this game. At times, it seemed that playing electric football and sports, was the only place to go to find happiness in our own world."

If you feel compelled to be a greater part of preserving electric football history and E L E C T R I C  F O O T B A L L  N A T I O N, please consider donating from your heart, a $dollar or two to contribute to building a REAL museum. We NEED and appreciate any help, ideas, and contributions to make this happen. We  are determined to see this plan through. This is our community, your community, and Tudor's community to expand the hobby and preserve its great tradition and history. The museum is a non-for profit who can be reached in writing at:  https://nefgm.org/donate/ 

We will also be starting a GoFundMe page soon with proceeds going toward the museum. To kick this off, the LIEFL donated $100!

The LIEFL Tournament of Champions and Super Bowl XVIII this year was incredible. We think it was the most competitive tournament in our history as a league, but it also opened our eyes to how hard it is for a team to make the Super Bowl in a 32-team 67-BIG MEN league. We are using the Tudor TTC and Rookie bases, and have been for 50 years. We do so much vetting out of literally thousands of new and leftover player bases until we find the right chemistry, and that is the biggest challenge because unless we press through each base, we never know which base will be the next star. We take our best-of-best existing star player bases and put them up against new bases so that we set a standard. That is one of the reasons why we aren't seeing many repeat Champions, because the league continues to evolve. Hundreds and hundreds of bases are useless and unproductive, and out 100 player bases, if we are lucky, maybe 10 have potential. Then we have players like Falcons Austin Hooper who had a brand new player base that performed with the best of them. It's a process. We too have master tweakers who have nothing to do with Tudor and or the former Miggle games, they just don't want to be mentioned. It's what works for this league that matters. This March 2024, will be our last ever Draft. In this league, like most leagues and tournaments under the microscope, all of our coaching flaws get put out there, and in the big games even the best coaches learn that there is always somebody better, unless you're Johnny-Freeport of the LIEFL. He really thinks he is all that. For this season, okay, he backed all his talk up, but there are millions of coaches out there in the world who play electric football. He was simply put, magical, with his Falcons! They played better against every great team and they had a great tournament. He took the best coach in the league to the final seconds and came out the winner. We can't knock that.

Today, NFC Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl XVIII MVP Gerald Riggs (PRO BOWL 2022 Photo of #42 Riggs left), will be the NFC starting running back! This guy has been running up the yardage since he's been playing in the LIEFL. Atlanta is a team that really was the Cinderella Wild Card team who caught the wave and drowned all the BIG teams who were the "Who's Who" of the LIEFL. In this game Riggs will run behind a wall of beasts which are right up his alley. Having guys like Larry Allen-Dallas, Bill Fralic-Atlanta, and Dave Butz-Washington in front of Riggs, means lots of yards. Riggs and Marshawn Lynch in the backfield ... The two combined have 3416 all-purpose yards with 25 touchdowns this season! Forget about it! The NFC All-Stars won last year on the play of the LIEFL PLayer of the Year Ahmad Bradshaw of the Giants. Bradshaw had another great year for the Giants, and he'll be in this Pro Bowl as well! NFC FIRST TEAM ALL-PRO ALL*STARS FIRST TEAM STARTERS: L-DAL-Larry Allen, L-WAS-Dave Butz, L-ATL-Bill Fralic, T-MIN-Carl Eller-9, T-DET-Lomas Brown-10, LB-WAS-LaVar Arrington-4, LB-TB John Lynch-6, RB-SEA-Marshawn Lynch 55-1675-14/3X100TD, RB-ATL-Gerald Riggs 68-1741-11/3X100TD, WR-TB-Jimmie Giles 25-1340-6/4X100TD, WR-CHI-Willie Gault 23-1350-7/4X100TD,  SPECIAL-NYG-Ahmad Bradshaw 21-1345- 5/5x100TDS, WAS-Tony Green 51-1589-11/8x100TD. The NFC Reserves are: DAL-Emmitt Smith, Terrell Owens, CHI-Walter Payton, Steve McMichael, Don Hampton, DET-Dexter Bussey, PHI-Harold Carmichael, ATL-Terrance Pennington, Julio Jones, Mike Kenn, NYG-Lawrence Taylor, GB-Cullen Jenkins, Sterling Sharpe, Terdell Middleton, CAR-Kevin Greene, DeShaun Foster, Kawaan Short, LAR-Jackie Slater, Isaac Bruce, NO-Reggie Bush, and WAS-Charles Mann, Dexter Manley.

The AFC All-Stars feature their own warriors to face this tough NFC team. Leading the way will be Indianapolis Colts star #29 Joseph Addai, who fell just short of making Super Bowl XVIII, losing in the AFC Championship Game to the Los Angeles Chargers, but maybe next year will be Addai's year? Indy has to keep banging on the door until they knock it down! This guy tore up the AFC with 1,767 all-purpose yards with 12 touchdowns. He killed it in an intense competitive league! The record for a seven-game EFL season was set in 2019 by Gerald Riggs. Riggs had 78 touches for 2339 all-purpose yards, with 21 touchdowns. How did the Falcons not make the show? 

The tough guys in front of Addai are Earl Faison-Los Angeles, Karl Mecklenburg-Denver, and Larry Little-Miami, and running side-by-side with Addai is Kansas City's Priest Holmes who was the LIEFL leader in rushing with 39 Carries for 682 yards, with 11 touchdowns! The game board used will be the ROSE BOWL classic electric football game board. We will see how that goes. The LIEFL has a good 10 game boards, but our favorite is the MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL game board, which we no longer possess. We plan on donating as many of these as we can to the Museum. Bring back the vintage Boards Tudor! We don't mind paying for excellent quality. The game is scheduled for Sunday, again at Johnny-Freeport's who will host the Pro Bowl Game between AFC Coach Joe Bino, and NFC Coach Joey Pizz! AFC FIRST TEAM ALL-PRO PRO BOWL FIRST TEAM STARTERS ARE: L- MIA-Larry Little, L-DEN-Karl Mecklenburg, L-LAC-Earl Faison, T-CIN-Trey Hopkins-9, T-BAL-Tony Siragusa-8, LB-IND-Robert Mathis-6, LB-BUF-Preston Brown-4, RB-IND-Joseph Addai 64-1767-12/100TD, 99, RB- KC-Priest Holmes 39-682-11/59, WR-BUF-Jay Brown 21-1409-6/6X100TD, WR-PITT-Lynn Swann 27-1524-8/5X100TDS, SPECIAL-LVR-Dave Casper 27-1471-6/3X100TD. AFC RESERVES ARE: MIA-Jason Taylor, Mercury Morris, Mark Duper, BUF-Marcell Dareus, OJ Simpson, JAC-Tony Boselli, Fred Taylor, DEN-Terrell Davis, Von Miller, Ed McCaffrey, LAC-LaDainian Tomlinson, Louie Kelcher, KC-Herb Taylor, Tyreek Hill, NE-Randy Moss, BAL-Derrick Mason, NYJ-Le'Veon Bell, HOU-Ron Dayne, Ryan Griffin and IND-Elmer Collett.

NEVER LOSE THE CHILD INSIDE OF YOU!

Edited January 5 by Long island EFL
INFO ADDED

[nefgm.org]

Simply Awesome!! And thanks for the inclusion of the NEFGM in this article. It has been great to follow this league and learn more about its members who are so passionate about this great game and hobby.  Having Billy O'C as a member of the Board of Directors has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Even though we have never met face to face we have had many conversations, mostly through email, that have given me great encouragement and a faith in the people of the ELECTRIC FOOTBALL Community that this effort of mine to preserve the game and its history has not been in vain. Thank you so much for your support.