The BEST is yet to come...

Reginald,

I’m not going to dwell on those who try to bring the rest of us down. It is my firm belief that this hobby is in better shape now than it was at the beginning of ‘06. We were down to only 5 tournaments: Miggle, Buzzfest, Bama, and Beltsville college and Pro.

The Texas Shootout and the Duel in the Desert had been on hiatus for a couple of years, the Minnesota tournament went on hiatus, and AJ’s College tournament had shut down. Even with the losses, the hobby rebounded to have a decent year. 2006 ushered in the beginnings of the Seawall brawl, the Miniature Football forum, and the Miniature Football Coaches Association. Thanks to the other five tournaments staying strong, we went into 2007 in good shape.

2007 saw the birth of Jimbo’s College tournament, The MFCA regional skills challenge, and the rebirth of Reggie’s Texas Shootout. Fellowship and fun was in full effect at ALL the tournaments in ’07, and because of that… we should all be “most” proud. The members of this community kicked butt, and made significant strides to pull together for a change. The MFCA membership is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. People in this hobby pulling together for a common goal… You just can’t beat it.

It is my hope that 2008 will be the best year our hobby has ever seen. I hope everyone gets the chance to go to a tournament this coming year. It really doesn’t matter which tournament you attend; they will ALL offer you the chance to come out, meet people, and have some fun. Every tournament is unique and the people who put them on for us are very special. Whether it’s a league, manufacturer, or coaches association… please understand that these people are not obligated to do this; we’re blessed that they choose to do this for us.

Maybe one of the other tournaments that went on hiatus will experience a rebirth like the Shootout did, or perhaps we’ll witness the birth of some brand new tournaments like the MFCA Convention and others. Either way 2008 will be hard pressed to match what the last 24 months have brought us. Looks like we all have our work cut out for us this upcoming year.

Peace and best wishes to ALL of us.

Don Smith
2008 Optimist

[BAXTER]

As long as we continue to view this "hobby" from this perspective, it will continue to flourish. There is too much good happening to continuously dwell on the negative.

Excellent!!!

-Adrian-

Fellas,

I have made so many friends in this hobby! I have had jokers try to punch me in the mouth and I have lost many games,but I always had fun and I never stabbed anyone in the back! Many of them deserved to be kicked in the Kazzass,but we won't go their. Tron just keeps "L.I.V.I.N."!!! Tournaments are great! League play is great! Man,Tron is tweaking,painting,decaling and customizing his own figures! That's right dog, you better ask somebody! I received encouragement to paint my own teams from guys like "Raven AL" and anyone who has ever posted a picture of their teams (private or commercially). Tudor/Miggle figures are the standard and no one can ever take that away from them, but once "Tom Johnson" showed me his BuzzBall Cardinals in the B-ville parking lot back in 2002-03, I've been sold on them every since. I also noticed some other guy named, Rutledge? I had heard so many things about these figures, I had to get some of my own. Reggie and Biglock showed me how to chop d'em joints up and i haven't revealed any of those guys yet? I hooked up with Damon Lucas in Jacksonville and he can customize his Motown Kazass off! You've seen his work. Their great players out there like D.C. Smith, Norbert, Big Keith, Beenut and so many others. There are collectors and historians like M. Pratt, Smitty, and others. We have guys from all walks of life united under one common banner, ELECTRIC FOOTBALL!!! Thanks Smitty!!! Unitil I met Smitty, I thought this game was done forever!! I'm so glad I still have so many friends to play with! Thank you! Thank You all very Much! 2008 is gonna be just Great!!!! rtfl$
P.S.
How could I forget the infamous Antony Burguess? My Man.I would like to give a B-more shout out to all d'em bamas down in the B-ville. Tron still loves yah baby!

Well Said My Friend!
Erick

[broncoman]

OLD SCHOOL, I thought about running it again, but why? THE only teams to show are the WEST COAST teams. for varius reasons teams from the EAST DON'T OR WANT show. I hear people always saying they want to unite this hobby, but they are only talking about the EAST AND MIDWEST. NEVER mention the WEST.THEY say "love to come to LAS VEGAS" BUT never come. OR CALL when they return home and say I WAS just in VEGAS.
IF we unite, do it as a whole not half.



BRONCOMAN

[FORU2HATE]

Originally Posted by Tron1984

Fellas,

I have made so many friends in this hobby! I have had jokers try to punch me in the mouth and I have lost many games,but I always had fun and I never stabbed anyone in the back! Many of them deserved to be kicked in the Kazzass,but we won't go their. Tron just keeps "L.I.V.I.N."!!! Tournaments are great! League play is great! Man,Tron is tweaking,painting,decaling and customizing his own figures! That's right dog, you better ask somebody! I received encouragement to paint my own teams from guys like "Raven AL" and anyone who has ever posted a picture of their teams (private or commercially). Tudor/Miggle figures are the standard and no one can ever take that away from them, but once "Tom Johnson" showed me his BuzzBall Cardinals in the B-ville parking lot back in 2002-03, I've been sold on them every since. I also noticed some other guy named, Rutledge? I had heard so many things about these figures, I had to get some of my own. Reggie and Biglock showed me how to chop d'em joints up and i haven't revealed any of those guys yet? I hooked up with Damon Lucas in Jacksonville and he can customize his Motown Kazass off! You've seen his work. Their great players out there like D.C. Smith, Norbert, Big Keith, Beenut and so many others. There are collectors and historians like M. Pratt, Smitty, and others. We have guys from all walks of life united under one common banner, ELECTRIC FOOTBALL!!! Thanks Smitty!!! Unitil I met Smitty, I thought this game was done forever!! I'm so glad I still have so many friends to play with! Thank you! Thank You all very Much! 2008 is gonna be just Great!!!! rtfl$
P.S.
How could I forget the infamous Antony Burguess? My Man.I would like to give a B-more shout out to all d'em bamas down in the B-ville. Tron still loves yah baby!

Thanks for the kinds words brotha tron but I still have some %ss left lol see you next month

[Coach K-LO]

you make some great observations on the tourny circuit....

I would like to remind everyone for 2008 - there will be more coverage of our hobby-sport than ever before, so get those teams looking sharp and don't leave home with the "dirty socks" but put your best foot forward!


K-LO

Originally Posted by broncoman

OLD SCHOOL, I thought about running it again, but why? THE only teams to show are the WEST COAST teams. for varius reasons teams from the EAST DON'T OR WANT show. I hear people always saying they want to unite this hobby, but they are only talking about the EAST AND MIDWEST. NEVER mention the WEST.THEY say "love to come to LAS VEGAS" BUT never come. OR CALL when they return home and say I WAS just in VEGAS.
IF we unite, do it as a whole not half.



BRONCOMAN

Let me tell you a little story…

Jimbo called me one evening after the Miggle convention in Baltimore, where we both had an awesome time. He spoke to me about wanting to do a tournament together here in Virginia, mainly because our weather is a little better than in Chi-town. I promptly told him: “Not interested”. About seven weeks had passed and I was out helping my wife collect donations for the Police Unity Tour. For some reason Jimbo’s offer was still stuck in my head so I called him back and asked him if he still wanted to do that tournament thing of his. I told I’d be willing to help if he would let us donate the proceeds to the Unity Tour. When he agreed… we were off and running.

Since we hadn’t run a tournament before I thought it was in our best interest to get advice from people who had experience running these things. I spoke to The Landsmans, Pratt, Ruesink, and Reggie. Everybody was gracious (to me) with their time and advice during the initial planning stages. Mike and Delayne went above and beyond helping… because they directed me to get in contact with Ira Silverman. Ira was a Godsend. He not only walked me through the process, he provided me with documents that we used as blueprints on how to run our tournament.

Next we put together a great team of volunteers who wanted to see our tournament come to fruition. Bill Porche (Cal) tech-man and color commentary, Ed Vaughn (Del) Webmaster, Frank Johnson (Indy) seeding and brackets, David Campbell (Cal) graphics, Mike Patton (Ohio) donations, Pat Morris (Ohio) filming, Ray Fanera (MD) kid’s tourney, Biglock (FL) divider assembly and ref, K-lo (MD) ref, and Roo Morgans (MD) announcer.

Our support staff: my wife Lisa, her sister Mary, my cousin Dillon, and my son D.C.

The guys brought boards: Philly, Beltsville, Tidewater, Bill and Reggie.

ALL the generous people who donated items, time, or money for the Police Unity Tour.

Long story extremely short… One or two people didn’t make the SWB a reality; it took a village.

Mike, I really can’t tell you what to do. The decision to run a tournament or not, rests squarely on your shoulders. The only advice I can give you is… Do it if it brings you and those around you joy and fun. You can’t worry about pleasing everybody. You guys play a particular style out there in Vegas. From what I understand it’s the same as LA and similar to the Texas style. There’s your foundation for your tournament. Any promoting and catering should be focused on those coaches first and foremost. If you measure success by the number of coaches in the room, those two areas alone assure that your tournament will be successful. Other coaches who decide to come and party with you guys should just be the icing on the cake. Mike if you believe in what you’re doing, and the guys around you believe in you enough to support your efforts… why worry about anything else?

Putting on an organized event takes serious planning. If you don’t know certain things, find people that do and hit them up for the info. Ask your friends and your league-mates to help out, or let it be known that volunteers are welcomed and appreciated. You being the host… have to do a lot of work behind the scenes. (IE. Making calls, negotiations with hotels, signing contracts, local promotion and advertising, getting sponsorship, getting necessary equipment, dealing with vendors, dealing with the media, and the list goes on and on.)

You’ve got to figure out how much work you’re willing to put into your tournament to make it the vision that you have of it in your mind. Mike, I have more to share with you. Just call me and I’ll explain in detail… you have my number.

- Don

I removed that boiled stuff you all were about to get into. This thread has nothing to do with boiled bases. If you guys want to discuss it on another thread that up to you.

Peace,

Don