EPFA '73 is underway ...

[RooMorgans]

Ed's Professional Football Association kicked off tonight, as the 1973 Steelers met the 1973 Patriots in a Week 1 battle. Denver and San Francisco await in the small season's other opener.

I picked the '73 rosters since I was born that summer, so that's my first football season. Each season will advance a year, and a couple expansion teams will be added.

I ran 22 plays tonight, and under the timing system I use, there are 5:00 left in the first quarter. Defenses dominated the first half of the quarter, but both teams are finding open spaces now.

Here's tonight's action:

FIRST QUARTER
NE 15:00
1) KOR - Herron 11 yards (Ham)
2) Ashton -8 yards catch from Plunkett (Greenwood)
3) Cunningham 0 yards catch from Plunkett (Greenwood)
4) Plunkett 2 yard run (Meyer)
5) Punt - 49 yards; Edwards 8 yard return (Rucker)

PITT 12:39
6) Bradshaw inc.
7) Harris 5 yard run (Mason)
8) Harris -6 yard run (Cash)
9) Punt - 47 yards; touchback.

NE 10:53
10) Cunningham -11 yard run (turned)
11) Tarver -5 yard run (Holmes)
12) Plunkett 5 yard run (Ham)
13) Punt - 38 yards; Edwards 0 yard return (Herron)

PITT 8:50
14) Bleier 1 yard run (Rowe)
15) Bradshaw inc.
16) Lewis 11 yard catch from Bradshaw (Chandler)
17) Pearson 8 yard run (Kiner)
18) Pearson 27 yard run TOUCHDOWN (PAT blocked by Rowe)
* The dice called for a penalty on the play, but it was against New England and declined.



NE 6:29
19) KOR Ashton 12 yards (turned)
20) Cunningham 12 yard run (OB)
21) Tarver -3 yard run (Holmes)
22) Herron 48 yard catch from Plunkett (OB)

So, with 5:00 left in the first quarter, New England is finally in Pittsburgh territory at the 31. But on the strength of the Pearson scamper, the STEELERS have a 6-0 lead over the PATRIOTS.

Hoping to get some more plays in tomorrow.

Roo

[RooMorgans]

Of note ... just starting small with 4 teams in the EPFA since I have a larger ECFA (14 teams) that will kick off soon. The leagues will be tied through drafts, etc.

Every team in the EPFA will play each other once (no point in doing home & away since not every team has its own board). The top 2 teams will meet in Super Bowl I. The league will expand to 6 teams for 1974 (after the college season is complete).

Here are the Week 1 matchups in the ECFA, all non-conference games:

Purdue vs. Nebraska
Florida vs. Texas
Michigan vs. Kentucky
Ohio State vs. Florida State
Illinois vs. Virginia
Syracuse vs. Oklahoma
BYU vs. Clemson

The ECFA will feature teams playing an 8-game schedule, 6 in their conference, and 2 against the other conference. The conference champions will meet in Commonwealth Bowl II for the national championship. Deserving teams with good records will meet in other bowls to be arranged as warranted.

Roo

[RooMorgans]

Had a chance to play out the first quarter:

NE 5:00 (possession continued)
23) Cunningham 2 yard run (OB)
24) Cunningham -7 yard run (Holmes)
25) Plunkett inc.
26) 53-yard FG - missed, wide left.

PITT 3:31
27) Pearson 2 yard run (Boyd)
28) Bradshaw inc.
29) Lewis 9 yard catch from Bradshaw (Anderson)
30) Bradshaw inc.
31) Pearson -4 yard run (Boyd)
32) Bradshaw inc.
33) Punt - 34 yards; Anderson 25 yard return (OB)

NE 0:34
34) Cunningham -1 yard run (Ham)

***END FIRST QUARTER***

PITTSBURGH 6, NEW ENGLAND 0

Time of Possession: NE 7:56; PITT 7:04.
Rushing: NE -6; PITT 33
Passing: NE 40; PITT 20
Total Yards: NE 34, PITT 53

Individual Stats - New England:
Rushing: Plunkett 2-7; Cunningham 5-(-5); Tarver 2-(-8).
Passing: Plunkett 3-of-4, 40 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT.
Receiving: Ashton 1-(-8); Cunningham 1-0; Herron 1-48.

Individual Stats - Pittsburgh:
Rushing: 2-(-1); Bleier 1-1; Pearson 4-33 (1 TD).
Passing: Bradshaw 2-of-7, 20 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT.
Receiving: Lewis 2-20.

Defenses are dominant early, and Bradshaw's inaccuracy has killed a couple Pittsburgh possessions. To start the second quarter, New England will have the ball at its own 40, facing 2nd-and-11.

Roo

[Reginald Rutledge]

Ed,

I love the stats. They show that the defenses are ahead of the offense at this point! I forgot Preston Pearson was a Steeler back in the day too! Sam Cunningham was a beast but it seems like those Steelers are laying some wood to him!

Did you make Mini Mack Herron mini? I see he had a big reception for 48 yards. He was one heck of a player. He's often overlooked. Great to see one of my heroes, Jim Plunkett, doing his thing with the Pats. You know, he was really a great QB but injuries caused him to not do well in New England.

How are the injuries gonna work? How many plays did you get off in the 1st quarter? Can you explain your timing system because it seemed like you had quite a significant amount of plays in that opening quarter.

Let's keep the chatter going on this and devise some plan to put these solitaire results of yours, Ravenna Al's, and everyone else's writeups in some type of form.

I love this stuff! Keep doing it Ed!

Reg

[RooMorgans]

Thanks Reg, appreciate the note and hope you and others will continue to follow along. I was checking out RavennaAl's thread earlier, he's getting toward crunch time!

Injuries - the funny thing is I was so amped to get into the first game, and I hadn't developed my injury chart! ... It will be pros only, because ECFA teams only have 11 on each side of the ball total, where as EPFA teams have 14-15. Players will miss 2-12 snaps for their side of the ball, I just have to develop a chart to use as a player identifer. The QBs and OL don't have backups, so it will only be RBs, TEs, and WRs. On defense, the DL typically don't have backups, but usually there is an extra linebacker, and a couple extra DBs, so they will be susceptible. With only playing a 3-game, or maybe 6-game season, doing multiple-game injuries seems too much.

Timing: Plays in ECFA/EPFA play are timed as follows:

Normal play, where clock would continue to run: 35 seconds.
Normal play, where clock would stop: 18 seconds.

In the last 2 minutes of the half or game, teams can use the hurry-up offense. In this situation:

Hurry-up, where clock would continue to run: 18 seconds.
Hurry-up, where clock would stop: 8 seconds.

I expect I'm going to end up somewhere between 120-130 plays each game, which is about right.

Roo

[RooMorgans]

PITTSBURGH v. NEW ENGLAND

2nd quarter action - in progress

NE 15:00
35) Ashton 1 yard run (White)
36) Plunkett inc.
37) 43 yard punt, no return

PITT 13:49
38) Harris -3 yard run (Acks)
39) Shanklin 9 yard catch from Bradshaw (Anderson) + NE 15 PEN (Facemask)
40) Pearson -6 yard run (Boyd)
41) Bradshaw INTERCEPTED (Acks - 13 yard return)

NE 11:46
42) Ashton 4 yard catch from Plunkett (White)
43) Plunkett inc.
44) Ashton 6 yard catch from Plunkett (Edwards)
45) Ashton 17 yard catch from Plunkett TOUCHDOWN - PAT GOOD.
NEW ENGLAND 7, PITTSBURGH 6



PITT 10:00
46) Pearson 23 yard KOR (Boyd)
47) Pearson 13 catch from Bradshaw (Chandler)
48) Pearson -1 yard catch from Bradshaw (Boyd)
49) Barry Pearson -7 yard catch from Bradshaw (Bolton)
50) Lewis 12 yard catch from Bradshaw (Acks)
51) 32 yard punt, no return.

When we resume play tonight, New England will have the ball 1st-and-10 at its own 28, with 7:04 to play in the first half.

[dogwood30]

Wow ED that is some detailed game scoring. Good luck with your new season. Your scorkeeping is as precise as your painting. This is Mike V. known here as Dogwood 30. I am currently in my 48th Super Bowl Tournament and with your help I now have 48 teams in my league. I still have a few more teams to get done but should have them all by the end of this season.
Mike V.

[RooMorgans]

Hi Mike! Thanks for checking in. I was checking out your Super Bowl 48 thread earlier. I need to get cracking more on the painting side so I don't hold you up, I appreciate all the teams you've let me put together.

The stat keeping is one of my favorite things about this venture. I was a sportswriter for 8 years way back when (and that's how I got in this hobby), so I keep stats during the games as I used to do during high school and UVA games back then. It was neat for me to go through and see that Boyd had 9 tackles for the Patriots - he was definitely one of the best bases on the field. Both Patriots safeties are really good.

It was also almost alarming to see how stingy the rushing defenses were. Fun to run off 140 plays and have the game come down to the 140th snap and be decided by a point.

Roo

[dogwood30]

Hey Roo,
One of the things I enjoy most about this association is the different ways the solitaire leagues are played. I actually use the electronic scoreboard that was made I guess for miggle. Its easy to operate and the clock is accurate. Games usually take between 90 minutes and 2 hours to play. I also have designed result charts that use a 30 sided dice so you can imagine the outcome possibilities. The players on the field still decide the game. The charts spped up the passing and kicking aspect of the game. The running plays are still great. Sometimes I think these little guys have minds of their own when you all of a sudden see a back cut back and turn the corner then run straight. If I actually sat down and wrote out a rule book for my league it would take hours. That's the beauty of solitaire play, the rulebook is always in my head. My system has worked so well over the years with constant modifications when necessary and it shows by the number of different champions I've had. My expansion teams are mostly modifications or duplicates of college uniforms with the exception of the Blues and the Rebels which I designed and you brought to life. I am hoping that you can do my last 2 teams which are the duplicate home and away uniforms of the Boston breakers of the old USFL and the Jacksonville Sharks of the old WFL. I also have 48 mini helmets to go with all my teams including those old defunct teams. Well Roo that's it for now. LA Rams vs Atlanta Falcons tomorrow. Gotta get some rest.
Mike V. a.k.a.....VK

[RooMorgans]

Originally Posted by dogwood30

Hey Roo,
One of the things I enjoy most about this association is the different ways the solitaire leagues are played. I actually use the electronic scoreboard that was made I guess for miggle. Its easy to operate and the clock is accurate. Games usually take between 90 minutes and 2 hours to play. I also have designed result charts that use a 30 sided dice so you can imagine the outcome possibilities. The players on the field still decide the game. The charts spped up the passing and kicking aspect of the game. The running plays are still great. Sometimes I think these little guys have minds of their own when you all of a sudden see a back cut back and turn the corner then run straight. If I actually sat down and wrote out a rule book for my league it would take hours. That's the beauty of solitaire play, the rulebook is always in my head. My system has worked so well over the years with constant modifications when necessary and it shows by the number of different champions I've had. My expansion teams are mostly modifications or duplicates of college uniforms with the exception of the Blues and the Rebels which I designed and you brought to life. I am hoping that you can do my last 2 teams which are the duplicate home and away uniforms of the Boston breakers of the old USFL and the Jacksonville Sharks of the old WFL. I also have 48 mini helmets to go with all my teams including those old defunct teams. Well Roo that's it for now. LA Rams vs Atlanta Falcons tomorrow. Gotta get some rest.
Mike V. a.k.a.....VK

I had one of those scoreboards at one point - I'm sure I still do. Haven't used it in ages.

I actually wrote up a rule book way back when. I'll have to find it and post it.

48 teams. That's awesome. I'm starting with 14 in college and 4 in pro. Plan for Season 2 is 20 in college and 6 in pro. Drawing a lot of inspiration from all the pics you've posted with the great old-style uniforms your teams have.

Ed