Who Was The First Person Ever ????/

[mantaraydre]

To figure out that you had to remove the flash on the bases for them to run well. That's the person who should be considered for the MINIATURE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME. Years ago when we watched the figures run in circles, who in the world knew what to do. Who actullay looked under the base at the prongs and said "ding" You must remove the flash (DING DING DING) WHO WAS THAT GUY.?

MANTARAY- DRE

Dre,

I think it was me? I just got back into the game in 95/96. When I ordered new bases from Miggle... well they weren't that good. I looked at the prongs under a jewelers loop that i have and saw the problem. And I really wasn't sure what to do to get rid of it. I will not even go into what I tried to do to remove it. I will say I was looking for a chemical process. Not that long after I was speaking to David Nickles. He was playing in the Oxford Electric Football club down in Alabama. He was telling me that they were putting a match to there bases to create speed. What would happen is that they would heat them up so that a little ball would form on the end of the prong. Which combined with the weight that they used, would make the bases fly. So the light went off... fire good!

Now for the disclaimer. If you were doing this before or me that's fine. But I think I was the first person to share this with the community.

I also think that Mark Klingbiel was on to this as well early on.

Wally

[jeff]

I know Aaron Johnson showed me how to flash the bases in the late 90's.

[NATIONAL]

I would say it was around the mid 70's when I used the fire method. Me and my cousin would use heat to move the arms and stuff like that. Mostly, the stiff arm figure. We would curve it across his chest. My moms has always had an electric stove/range, so one time I was getting fancy. I wanted to change the position of the whole fig. So while I'm moving him over the heat I didn't realize the base was still on the figure. By the time I did, I not only removed the flash, but most of the base as well! That performance got me a smack upside the head!!! For weeks whenever she would turn on that burner, you got a smell of burning plastic!!!!! I wasn't Natl then.

NATIONAL

Man, that's pretty pyro of you guys. If I even went near an open flame like that, messing around as a kid, and it was found out, or rat-ed out by one of my older brothers.... that was a beating with the strap from my Dad.

For those who have been around for a while might remember this:

Off Tackle

Volume I March 1998 Issue 2

Kick-Off

Welcome to the second edition of "Off Tackle". The first edition went out to 40 fellow EFLers! In this issue we are going to cover the Wing T and how you can use it in electric football as well as the "Triangle D".

I mentioned in the last issue that I wanted to cover the Miggle Super Bowl in Cleveland. Unfortunately I was not able to attend. From what I did hear all that did make it there had a great time. There was also some controversy in the final game as many felt that the final touch down pass was incomplete. Once again EFL mirrors the NFL and maybe next year we can put in instant replay.

Rumors abound that the Super Bowl will be moved to New York City. My contacts tell its more likely to be Philadelphia! This is because of the strong base of players around that city. We have Myron Evans to thank for this. (Good job Myron).

One note here many coaches wrote in to ask about line spacing. The rules that we use are that it is mandatory to have at least 1/2 a base distance between all members of the offensive line (no elbows touching or no locking up permitted). This allows for better blocking angles as well as more realistic play. We also only allow the center in the neutral zone and all other offensive players 1 scale yard behind the center. In contrast the defensive line must be greater than 1 scale yard off the line of scrimmage. All of this is done to create realistic play!

The Bama Blast II

Yes the Oxford Electric Football Club is putting on for the second year in a row the "Bama Blast". This year the event will take place on the weekend of June 5, 6 and 7. Mark this in your calendar now and plan to be there! This is the only tournament in the country that has both a weighted and non weighted divisions. So no matter what your playing style is there is a division for you.

In talking with the Alabama gang, this year they are anticipating at least 30 coaches from around the country. If you think your a hot shot be there and prove it! If you want more info please contact Steve Graham @ 205.892.9160, David Nickles @ 205.835.9988 or Gary Pate @ 205.831.7206. A special room rate for all EFLers is $55.00 a night at the Holiday Inn in Birmingham, AL (205.956.8211 ask for BAMA BLAST rates).

Wing T

The Wing T provides many advantages to the EFLer. We all know that today if you do not have balanced attack your in great trouble. What it does is to provide a constant threat of either the run or the pass as well as misdirection. This keeps the defense guessing as to what to expect next. Also, most of the plays can be easily adapted to our game.

The Wing T is characterized by the Wing Back (positioned off the TE hip). The WB is present in every formation. He provides a threat on every play to run, block, provide misdirection or be sent down field into a pass pattern.

The Half Back is typically placed in the dive position (5 yards behind the OT). This way he can be released into a pass pattern rather easily, block that blitzing LB coming in off the flank or take a hand off and run.

The Full Back is usually placed in the middle of the formation (5 yards behind the C). From here he dive in the middle, take a pitch and go off tackle, be a safety valve in a passing play or provide blocking for the WB or HB.

The Wing T is a offense that combines the principles of the Single Wing and the Army Trap. It will continue to baffle those who try to defense with it's misdirection attack. The formation provides the ability to get multiple players into pass patterns or Three backs to support a running game. In other words a balanced attack.




Wing T Formation 100



Graphic to be added



What do you need?

+ The end positions (SE & TE) need to be filled by players with bases that can block consistently as well as release into pass patterns.

+ The FB should have a base that is strong and run consistently straight. Speed for this base is not paramount.

+ The halfback slot needs a base that is fairly fast and curves consistently to the left.

+ The wingback needs a base that is again fairly fast and curves consistently to the right.

+ An offensive line that works well together. The linemen need bases that can curve consistently. This is necessary be cause of the pulling and trapping that they are expected to execute.

Take time now and examine the plays below. You will see that in some of the plays you will need to flip flop the HB and the WB. Remember if your bases do not work consistently, find ones that do!

Take a look at the plays below they can all be run in the EFL. Give it a try!



Buck Sweep (links to be added later)


Trap


Belly


Counter


Power


Dive


Waggle


Sally




Jimmy J's Triangle D

One Monday night on the pre game ESPN game show Ron Jaworski talked about the Miami D. As he broke down the philosophy of this defense it made perfect sense that it could be easily adopted to EFL.


This defense is referred to as the "Triangle D". It is basically a one gap scheme in which the defensive line funnels the ball carrier to the linebackers. The defensive linemen engage the offensive linemen by committing to either a inside or outside shoulder. The linebacker controls the gap that is uncommitted. This set lends itself well the electric flavor of football . Please take a look at the diagram and see what you think!



Graphic to be added





The defensive ends take the outside shoulder of the tackle or the tight end. This provides outside contain and should shut down any play from bouncing outside. One tackle assumes the under tackle position as he sets himself in the gap between the guard and center. His responsibility is to engage both the center and the guard and control the gap. The other tackle plays the gap between the guard and the tackle. His job is to engage and control the gap. This now allows the linebackers to support the uncommitted gaps.

Now if you play a realistic style of EFL just think how this works as well as how realistic the game action would be!

Base Technology

Well you just bought several bags of bases from Miggle. What do you do? The first thing that we do is to cut them of their tree (do nut pull them off) and run them on a board. At this point we can pick out the performers and non performers rather quickly. It's those np's that really don't look so good are the ones we are going to work on. Now lets take those under achievers and put them in a boiling pot of water. Yes that's right! A boiling pot of water. This will do two things, one it will put back some of the moisture that was taken out in the extrusion process. Thus making the plastic a little more resilient. Second, the "memory" of the plastic will be erased this will allow us to reprogram those prongs. Boil the bases (rolling boil) for about ten minutes. Do not put too many bases in the pot, allow the bases to move around freely. From here fish out one base at a time and place them on a flat surface. Make sure that all the prongs contact the flat surface evenly!!!! Take a small nut and center it on the base. Now let the base cool and dry.

Now after they are dry lets take the bases back to the board and test them. If some are still not working that well examine the prongs. Chances are that there is some flash on the prongs. Get a lighter and the offending base "flick" the lighter on and off as you hold it under the base (directed at the prongs with flash on them) and test. This may take several tries. Be patient and do not hold that lighter on there to long! Test each time after using the lighter. Believe me plastic and fire are not friends. All we want if to melt off the flash a little at a time.

This method has worked very successfully for me. The key is patience!

In the next issue we will discuss "programming" the bases as well as some speed secrets!

Roster Central

This new section is dedicated to all of you who love to play with classic rosters. I personally cannot keep up with all the free agent moves. So what I chose to do is to research each team and come up with a all time line up. I hope you enjoy!

Washington Redskins (all time team 70's - 80's)

9 S.Jurgenson QB 72 D. Manley DE

43 L. Brown HB 65 D. Butz DT

44 J. Riggens FB 72 D. Talbert DT

42 C. Taylor WR 71 C. Mann DE

81 A. Monk WR 57 K. Harvey LB

87 J. Smith TE 52 N. Olkewicz LB

79 J. Lachey T 55 C. Hanburger LB

68 R. Grimm G 28 D. Green CB

56 L. Hauss C 37 P. Fischer CB

73 M. May G 23 B. Owens S

66 J. Jacoby T 27 K. Houston S

Dallas Cowboys (all time team 70's - 80's)

12 R. Staubach QB 79 H. Martin DE

33 T. Dorsett HB 54 R. White DT

32 W. Garrison FB 74 B. Lilly DT

88 D. Pearson WR 72 E. Jones DE

22 B. Hayes WR 54 C. Howley LB

89 B. Dupree TE 55 L. Jordan LB

67 P. Donovan T 52 D. Edwards LB

68 H. Scott G 20 M. Renfro CB

64 T. Rafferty C 24 E. Walls CB

76 J. Niland G 43 C. Harris S

70 R. Wright T 41 C. Waters S

From the Editors Desk

For those of you who are not lucky enough to have the older white QB's do not worry. Miggle has a new QB out made out of a more resilient material. This new material provides excellent action in both passing and kicking modes. Please do yourself a favor and check it out.