Do any of you guys remember ...

[Reginald Rutledge]

the day when custom figures were taboo? I remember a day, at least, when FF.COM figures were taboo around the country and any mention of them would get you ostracized from leagues and "bashing clubs".

I remember a day when FF.COM figures were not allowed in any of the tournaments around the country other than the Texas Shootout. I remember hearing in some circles that FF.COM figures look like they had army pants and look like Frankenstein. I remember one tournament host telling me "Reg we need you here to help promote our tournament but leave your FF.COM players at home. We don't do FF.COM" The ultimate insult!

I remember a time that if you brought a custom pose out, he had to be inspected, analyzed, and talked about rather than being given the chance to play. There is so much I remembered about the times. And it still goes on in some circles today. I remember a time (not too long ago) that the mere mention of anything positive to say about FF.COM would get you laughed out of a league. Many people/companies never experienced the type of insults that FF.COM endured. Most (companies/manufacturers) have been welcomed with open arms since, often applauded and lauded as genius. Some have their own personal cheerleader sections who do their promotions for them. Fortunately for me, I love to do my own cheerleading/hype because no one knows their product better.

But as I sit here typing this note, I think those negative vibes where the important vibes that kept me pushing forward. It was those "bashing sessions" that energized me to create more than a thousand different custom poses, to continue to try to improve my product. Once a MF'er asked me, "Why will you not defend yourself on the bashing site". My words to him were "I am simply too busy inventing things that will be positive for the game". Any negative chatter would only give them what they wanted; a topic of conversation. Eventually all the conversations on me would have to be replaced with "What can they do about the evolution of the game?"

It was those words of "discouragement" that made me want to show MF'ers things in the game that they were only dreaming about. It was all those words that I knew where discussed that made me want to show that our custom figures were just as good as anything else.

So I thank all those peoples/chatgroups for giving me the inspiration to improve the product and take the game to another level. It was those people who inadvertently help give other people the fortunes of being in the miniature football evolution. It was those people who often times spun companies off of what we did. It was those people who woke up one day wondering why everyone had left them behind. It was those people who could not handle the fact that FF.COM would have 9 lives and continue to show a perspective to the game that no one else could match. It was those people who should take some credit for helping improve the game because without their negative thoughts, I probably would never have tried to push the envelope!

It would have been easy for me to just "take my toys" and go home. But that would have been too easy and not representative of who I was! I am happy I stayed in the game for I know I have helped somebody. Even if it was just one person, it would have been worth the struggle. So the next time you do a custom pose, make sure you not only thank the manufacturers of that product whether its FF.COM or some other company but know that the ability to freely create that player came at some price, albeit small in the total scheme of things. Nevertheless, a price had to be paid. Don't take that for granted. Create that custom pose with all the passion you can have.

Reginald Rutledge
Footballfigures.com