BOOMER
FLASHBACK – SPORTS BOARD GAMES
(pt.
1 of 5) TUDOR ELECTRIC FOOTBALL
I’m not old enough to land deep within the “boomer”
parameters, but close enough to catch the tail end of some of the childhood
remembrances. Like many pre-teen boys, I was a sports fanatic. Football,
basketball, and baseball. When it was too dark or cold or rainy to go outside
to play the sport of the season, I would turn to sports board games. There were
a few that were popular at the time and, at my pleading, my parents were good
enough to buy them for me. Video games like Madden Football didn’t exist in
those days. Television was for watching TV, the phone was for phone calls, and
there were no household computers around. Imagination required. All of these
games are designed for two people to play as opponents, but on the occasions
when a friend either wasn’t available or was unwelcomed by my parents (odd
hours, school night, etc…), I’d play the games by myself.
I’ve included YouTube links and photos because it’s
difficult to describe these games with words. I tried my best to do so anyway.
TUDOR ELECTRIC FOOTBALL
This game is probably the most
recognizable and I was surprised to find that it’s still available today. In
fact, I’d guess that much of the current generation of sports fans has at least
heard of this game and would recognize the “player” pieces.
The game required an electric outlet
that would generate a light vibration on a metallic playing field at the
command of a hand held switch. Small (very small) plastic football players were
mounted on a
small stand that would react to the vibrations with forward
motion, although not always in a straight path. The stands had little sensors
on the bottom that supposedly could be adjusted to make the players go straight
or turn a certain way, but after a few attempts with poor results, I didn’t
invest much time into figuring out how to make that work. The football players
came pre-painted to represent teams in the NFL, and the purchase of the game
came with two teams - you could send away for more teams. I had the Packers and
the Cardinals. My uncle, who is only five years older than me, eventually gave
me his two teams - the Colts and the Bears - when he outgrew the game. Some
versions of the game came with generic player pieces that were a bit larger and
weren’t painted, but that version was scoffed at by those of us who had the
real deal. The football was a little wad of something that felt like cotton and
could be tucked in the “running back’s” arm. He never fumbled. The players
didn’t move fast and hard enough to simulate a jarring tackle - the play ended
when a defender’s stand touched the ball carrier’s stand. And I couldn’t get
the football to work well at all with the odd player that was designed only for
passing and kicking. So for me, this game was pretty much limited to the ground
attack. The players came posed in different positions to look like linemen (in
a blocking position), running backs etc...
So one kid lined up his offense by setting a running back with the ball
tucked in his arm behind lineman and other blockers, while the other kid set up
his defense. Then the switch would be turned on and the play would go until the
runner either ran out of bounds, started going the wrong way, or was touched by
a defender.
The game was cool in that you could
visualize a football game happening on an actual field. But the downsides were
many. Two sets of kids hands trying set up those little pieces for a play got
crowded, and the actual play would take about half as long as the set up time,
maybe less. More often than not the play would be a scrum resulting in only a
few yards one way or the other, and if the running back did happen to break
free he would often start going the wrong direction or toward the sidelines
while the defenders would sometimes lock arms with each other and perform a
circular kind of square-dance. I don’t remember ever finishing a full game with
another kid before we got bored and decided to do something else. The most fun
I had with this game was by myself, setting up kickoff returns. I had this one
player on the Cardinals team – Willis Crenshaw (you could stick numbers on the
players to represent the NFL team’s current roster) - who I swear had eyes for
the end zone. Other players like Johnny Roland couldn’t run a straight line
from end zone to end zone without eventually swerving out of bounds. Ah, but
Willis, ..Willis was alive. I’d set Willis two yards deep in the end zone
behind blockers set up in kickoff return formation, line up the defenders
straight across the opposing 40 yard line and turn on the switch. Willis would
not only run towards the end zone, but would zig and zag his way through
defenders. And just when it would look like he was gonna run out of bounds like
any ol’ other player would do, he’d cut it up-field and tightrope the
sidelines! I was so enthralled with Willis’ talents that I’d set up kickoff
after kickoff.
Eventually the electric switch shorted
out and wouldn’t work, but I discovered the same effect could be achieved by
lightly tapping my fingers on the metallic playing field.
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