[RavennaAl]

Shabby, don't get mad. At some point, we, as a collective group, need to get these things sorted out. I keep seeing people say that these discussions are dividing the hobby. That's not possible, because the hobby already is divided.

For too many years, we all had been playing miniature football all by ourselves, unaware that others around the country still existed. Sure, there were a few leagues here and there, and the members of that league made their rules and stuck by them. The problem is that each league set up their own way of playing without reguard to any other league, because they didn't know about them. As the years had gone by, we all grew old and steadfast in our ways. It's just the way life is.

Then a wonderful thing happened. Miggle set up a chat site somewhere in '95 or '96. Slowly, we all found the site and realised that there were still others around the country that played the game. And that's when the problems started. Because we were all isolated for so many years, everyone had their own rules and standards for equipment. When guys wanted to play together, they found that they couldn't, because they were so different from each other.

Do we play one stop or multi-stop? Any touch tackle or front of base? Do we use TTQ, sticks or passing dice? Do we play 3.2, 3.4, 3.7, 4.0, 4.2 or unlimited? Do we include fumbles or penalties, and how do we do that? Do we use 500 boards, 620's, 2X4 or full scale? Do we allow boiled bases or not? Should we play by timed quarters or a set number of plays per quarter? Are we only going to allow Tudor/Miggle figures, or do we allow Buzzball, FF.net and customs. Can a person add weight under a base or not? How many coats of paint or clearcoat can a person put on their players? How fast do we have the boards set at? Should the boards be made of metal or fiberboard? What bases do we allow? How about frankenstein bases, in or out? Can a person add a spring to the kicker to make him more reliable? Do we allow the TDQ or TDK?

There are more that I can't recall, but these are all things that we have constantly bickered about it the past, and continue to do so today. Why? Because there are NO STANDARDS. Period! There are no official rules, no weight or figure standards, no board regulations. Nothing. Zip. Nada Zilch.

How do any of us expect to move this hobby forward, when there is so much division in it? How do we expect to get new blood coming into it when we can't agree what weight, boards or rules to introduce them to?

I want each and everyone reading this to ask themselves one question. "Have I really grown so old and steadfast in my ways that I am unwilling or unable to compromise?"

I'm as guilty as the next guy. For too many years, I kept playing the way that I always had. But I realized one day that maybe if I just tried something different, it wouldn't be so bad. I tried actually having kickoffs and running them back instead of just using dice and a chart for both. I tried using the TTQB and passing sticks instead of just using dice. I tried playing on a 2X4 instead of my trusty 620's. I incorporated fumbles and penalties into my game. I used some TTC's instead of always playing with rookie bases. I made some rule changes over the last few years and you know what? I found that I had been missing out on a lot for over 30 years, because I didn't want to change.

My biggest reason for wanting to be in the MFCA wasn't so that I could be some regulatory beast making rules and trying to make everyone play a certain way. My reason was because I want to get this hobby back into the mainstream. I want to get kids and young men interested in playing. I want to someday see this hobby be almost as popular as it was when we were all kids. I want to be able to promote it so that it doesn't die out when we all start dying out.

But we can't promote it unless we are all on the same page. We need some sort of universal rule set and equipment standards so that a new person starting off will be able to compete with anyone else.

Imagine if you will a new person comes into a league where they all play on 500 boards at a 3.2 limit, where none of the guys knew anything about tweaking bases so they are basically all stock, using the TTQB, any touch tackling, not allowed to stack, no fumbles or penalties and only one stop. The guy finds that he does pretty good playing that way, and develops fantastic skills with his TTQB. He can pass from endzone to endzone and hit his guy 99% of the time. Now this guy moves to another state. He finds a league there and tries to play a game. The only problem is that those guys all play on full scale boards with unlimited weight, multiple stops, fully tweaked to the max bases, stacking is allowed , FOB tackling, fumbles and penalties and they only use passing sticks, the TTQB isn't allowed. The guys team is clearly overmatched and his saving grace, his skill with the TTQB is nullified because they don't allow it. The guy is crushed. He says screw this, and never comes back.

Now, the same thing happens, only when he joins the first league, they show him the M-Rules way of playing. It's different from their way of playing, but over a period of time they gradually teach him about the way that their league plays. Now he moves to the other city. He finds that league and tells them that he knows the M-Rules way of playing and his former leagues way of playing. Everyone there knows the M-Rules, so they all play games together. Now, they slowly bring him up to the way that their league plays. It takes him awhile, but he learns. In the meantime, he can enjoy playing with others on a mutual level.

So, when I ask what is the smallest board that you think a league or tourney should be using, I'm just trying to get an idea of where to start a new person at so that they aren't going to be too far off from where others will play. If you say the Rose Bowl board is fine, then that's ok. If you think everyone should be using 2X4's then that's ok as well. These are your opinions, and hopefully, collectively, we can come to a compromise and say "we recommend using a board no smaller than the 'X' board as it is the best compromise between portability and playability as best described by the miniature football community." Or something like that.

Once again I'll say it. We're not trying to force anyone to play a certain way or with any weight limits. We're trying to find a mutual compromise that we can call the 'M-Rules', where new people can play with others on an equal level. Where a person used to playing one style and someone else used to playing a different style can get together and play the 'M-Rules' way. It's a rule set that no matter where you live, if someone comes up to you and says "How do you play?", everyone can say "There are many different rule sets and weight catagories, but we have one called the 'M-Rules' that is generally accepted as being a universal rule set that everyone can play with."
I'm hoping that clears the air.