Sim Football

Sim football is a hobby that I have had more than one gridiron historian mention as a pastime that they enjoy to use their football knowledge in. To learn more about this I had a virtual "Dream Team" of Sim team owners/League Commissioners: Randy Sivigny, Brandon Rose, and Greg James. Listen in for the fun discussion we had as they shared their hobby with me in a visit to the Pigpen.

Simulation football is an experience where the participant is the player, the coach, and the owner of a team of virtual players inspired by a set of algorithms and software that simulate football games using the actual statistics, records, and data produced by the real-life players. I can tell you this that everyone I have spken to that particpates in this hobby is extremely pasionate about it. They each say the best part of it is the people that they share the activity with and play against. There seems to be a genuine comaradre between the opposing team owners as they love the activity and the folks that share their passion.

The manufacturer of Action PC Football is DKSports and the DK stands for the statistics software guru behind the game Dave Koch. On Dave's website he states that:

Action! PC Football is the most researched and detailed football game on the market. Play the game with the default settings or easily modify coaching profiles, leagues, teams, players, rules, and much more. Action! PC Football can be played head-to-head, against the computer, or over the internet!  No matter which way you play, you'll enjoy the real football feel of Action! PC Football.

Greg recommended a book to me which I bought an read to get a better understanding of the hobby. It is called Past Time: Simulation Football Leagues, Living in the Past, and Learning to Love Football Again by Ted Kluck. I too recommend this purchase for those that wish to get a better understanding of simulaed football.

The fellas told me that the best way to get started with the game of Simulation Football is to visit the DKSports.com/football website and purchase a download of the game and then go on the forum at the site to find a league to join.

There are a variety of different types of leagues out there, so it is recommended that you check with the commish of the ones you may be interested to make sure it is a good fit for the experience you want to enjoy.

Brandon for instance told us of his Odyssey League where they started out in the season of 1960 and had a draft of the available players from that era from both the NFL and the AFL until each owner filled out their teams. When that season ends they go to the next actual pro season, in this case 1961. The players that became available are the 1961 AFL and NFL rookies. Each team owner again is placed in the draft, they keep who they want from the previous seasons roster and then cut, trade and draft just like the real pro owners and general managers do. Mr. Rose also runs other leagues for instance the Continental Football League.

Greg shared a story of a league he was in where he adopted an entire team in a league he was in, the 1968 Miami Dolphins and then played against other owners that had full AFL or NFL teams of that season. Randy shares that he runs and has played in different styles of leagues throughout his experience in Sim Football. It flexible and the leagues can fit and mold whatever the Commissioner and the owners want. Just like in real life, the strategy of how you put your team together is important and more than one style has had success. You can build your squad from the guys in the trenches out or start with the top skill players, the choice is entirely up to the owner/coach. It is sort of fantasy football on steroids!

Once the teams are established the commish will issue a schedule. Brandon says he likes to place a time line of the scheduled games to have a week consist of Wednesday to Tuesday each week so that the weekend is in the middle of the playing week. The two owners that are scheduled to play head to head then make their own arrangements of a day and time to go at it. Games take anywhere from 1-2 hours of actual time dependent on the style of the players and how quickly they submit their play calls.

The game is exactly what it is called, a simulated version of a game. One team kicks off and he must field a team  of his best special teams players and formation to match up against the return team. There is then a new series where the fella on offense sends out his players, sets a formation and calls a play to run. The defensive coach must try and guess what will be run to counter it. The chess match that real life football strategists face every game! The offense has four downs to go ten yards, and if they do they get a new series and their objective if to score a TD. Simulated Football!

An example of Dave Koch's Action! Football game cards

The picture in the banner above is from the DK Sports website on the Action! PC Football game courtesy of Dave Koch and shows some vertical and hoorizontal views of game play.