Issue #3, April 2013
(Help us keep our newsletter Free,
visit our on-line Collectibles, Baseball & Athletic Gear Store)
**
Strat-o-matic Conventions - Early History -
The 1974 Convention
**
(compiled by Wolfman Shapiro with help from
Mike Kane & Gary Losey and a
republishing of the articles about the Convention from the 1974 Editions
of the
Strat-o-matic Review)
Notes from the Wolfman:
- Well in our first two issues we have reported so far the
conventions directly held by the Strat-o-matic Review and the
Strat-o-matic Game company. They were revolutionary and
since we didn't have the internet back in those early days, the
conventions were our only way to meet other games from all over
the world (mostly U.S. and Canada). But in 1974, both the
Review and Game Company felt the resources needed to do a great
convention were too much and regrettably decide to discontinue
these great events. Well at this time I was finishing my
freshman year at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana,
Illinois and like many of those who had attended the prior
conventions, we felt we had to do something. Could there be
something we (meaning myself with various strat buddies
primarily in Chicago, where I lived at the time) could do? How
hard would it be to organize a convention and where should we do
it?
|
This
card is a combination of work done
by Dennis
Conception in the CBA who put
my face on an old
Chicago Cub player (I am a big Cub Fan) and a
member of our newsletter placed the photo into
a
playing card. But I am a "SOM Fanatic!" |
(Here is
a re-printed from my earlier webpage of how the 1974 Convention
came to be:)
No one could understand why, after the
tremendous turnout and success with the 1973 convention in New York, that
another convention was not going to be happened in 1974. For
whatever reasons (probably financial we would guess), both the game company and
the SOM Review decided not to pursue a convention for this year.
Therefore, we felt someone has to do something, why not us?
In 1974, I had just finished my freshmen
year at the University of Illinois (or the U. of I.). Anyway, I had
met another strato player named Bob Anderson (Bob also went to the U. of
I. where I believe we met and then we participated Chicago during that
summer in a baseball
league we organized in this area, where I lived at this time with my
parents) and he and I decided to create a convention as we couldn't just
let this tradition die. So we began (before we finished our first
year in college and went on summer break), to make inquiries at the
University and see how could a person make use of the vast rooms and
facilities the University could offer. We discovered that if you were a
recognized club within the University, you could rent or request the use
of rooms within any buildings on the campus. So we formed ourselves a club
(don't ask me what it was called?) and we submitted our request and it was
granted. |
Now during the summer, there are a smaller number of
students who attend summer
school but basically the campus is not so busy. So we
thought that within the Student Union, was a nice ballroom and this was
the space we were able to rent for a very reasonable price at the "Illini Union"
as it is called), for the location of the convention. In addition,
the participants who came, could stay for a very low price at one of the
local dormitories. We liked this idea because this meant
that most of us would have a chance to be together during the entire
weekend of play and be sort of like a strato family. A great way to
also meet some new people from all over the country.
==> So
again, through help from Mike Kane and Gary Losey, I was able to
get the SOM Review articles that discussed the 3rd Annual Strat-o-matic Convention which is what
you will discover on this page
of the newsletters. As I mentioned in Issue #1, these reports
that are appearing in our newsletter are based upon the ones I
originally created on various web pages for my personal website as I was
considering to write a book about Strat-o-matic in 2006 which
didn't pan out. So here you have in your hands our report
of what happened when we decided to try our own version of a
convention. It was exciting and wonderful, well you will
see ...
Wolfman Shapiro
1974 SOM Convention
Champaign-Urbana, Illinois (July)
(organized by a
rag-tag group of SOM Baseball Fanatics living
in Chicago, working as a club through the University of Illinois)
Again, we will tell the tale of the 3rd annual SOM Convention
through the reports that were given in the Strat-o-matic Review that we
sent to them as we developed the convention. As we proceeded to organize our convention, we
really had no idea how many people would attend or even if we would receive any support from the game
company or the Review. We had concerns if we didn't get any backing
from either of these two organizations, that possibly no one would attend. However,
the Editors of the Review did allow us to make announcements about the
convention in their publication (shown on this page) and we promised to
them that we would send a
detailed report of what took place with photographs. So we thought we had
nothing to lose and Bob and I decided to go for it. Many times dear
readers, when you go for a new activity you have never done before you
will be amazed by the results.
Therefore we scheduled the convention from Friday, July 26th through Sunday, July 28th,
1974 with the final
guests leaving on Monday, July 29th. We were hoping that we might
have a representative from the Game Company join us, but it unfortunately
didn't happen. As you will read below, the Game Co.
decided not to offer the convention for this particular year due to the rise in Gas
prices at this time (Editor's Note - if they only knew the gas prices
today - oi vai).
So please find below the various pre-announcements about how
the convention for 1974 developed including our first announcement
that a group of us were going to make an effort to organize one at the
University of Illinois, which appeared in the Review in May of 1974. You will
notice the name of Harold Roughton listed who helped us greatly. He did not
attend the
University but lived in the Urbana area and we met him when we were going
to school there and looked for local SOM players. He agreed to
help us take the people's
registration (we only charged $1, can you believe this??) and helped us to purchase the trophies we planned
to give to the first and second place
finishers. Ok, if you are ready lets see how we did in our first new
adventure :-)
Wolfman
EARLY ANNOUNCEMENTS
ABOUT THE 1974 SOM CONVENTION
IN THE SOM REVIEW....
MARCH ISSUE, 1974 CONVENTION IN LIMBO
With the energy crisis worsening in some areas and gasoline prices
sky-rocketing, plans for a summer Strat-O-Matic Convention have been put
in limbo, with the chances of such a convention growing more and more
remote.
The Strat-O-Matic Game Co. has already indicated to the
Review that it will be unable to host another convention in Brooklyn, or
the New York area, this summer. The company has given the Review the
"green light" to go ahead with a summer convention in Kalamazoo, MI,
however.
Such a convention is unlikely at this time, however,
with the energy crisis putting question marks over all forms of travel,
especially auto, and gasoline rationing always a possibility.
Because of the uncertainly created, the Review editors feel it would
be unfair to raise false hopes for such a convention, only to have to
postpone and very likely cancel it on short notice.
So, as of
this month, there will not be a Strat-O-Matic Convention in 1974.
Events could change, however, and if they do a late summer convention is a
possibility (originally the Review planned a convention for June, 1974).
We will definitely keep the readers abreast of any developments.
Of course, since there won't be a national convention, the idea of
regional conventions could be put into practice. But this would take
some excellent leadership and organiz-ational ability on the ground level.
Many people have expressed interest in such conventions, and even
wanted to put one on. If you do, be sure to let the Review kow
and we will do all we can to promote such an undertaking and inform the
fans of S-O-M the country over. (Wolfman's Note: This
appeal at the end got my attention, and I thought why not go for it --
what did we have to lose -- so we explored possibilities at the university
I was attending at the time ...)
MAY ISSUE, 1974
WOLFMAN'S PLANS CONVENTION
Just as the May Issue of the Strat-O-Matic Review was
about to hit the presses,
news arrived from Rick (Wolfman) Shapiro that he plans to host a
Strat-O-Matic
Convention this summer (tentatively slated for Friday-Saturday, July
26-27, at the
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL).
Although its doubtful that anyone from the Review staff will be able to
attend (because of the transition in staff makeup), we wish it all the
luck in the world and hope it will see a big turnout.
Tournaments are planned in all three of the Strat-O-Matic games, in both
elementary and advanced versions, with trophies going to both the winners
and runnersup in each tournament. A $1.00 entry fee will be charged (to be
paid in advance) and the money will be used to purchase the trophies.
More details of the convention will be revealed in the June issue of the
Review.
Shapiro, however, would like to get an idea as to the tournout he might
expect
and is asking people to send a stamped, self-addressed envelope, $1.00 and
four
tournament choices (in order) to: Harold Roughton, xxx, Urbana, IL, xxx.
JUNE ISSUE, 1974
WOLFMAN'S CONVENTION SET
Rick (Wolfman) Shapiro has answered the call for a Strat-O-Matic
national convention this summer. He's planning for such a convention
on Friday-Saturday, July 26-27, at the University of Illinois,
Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Tentative times for the twin gatherings
are 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Rick, no stranger to the world of Strat-O-Matic, feels that a convention
undertaking should go smoothly. He's attended the two previous
conventions and has adopted many of the rules for tournament play
from them, plus he also held a "mini" convention at Urbana back in
February; so he's had experience at running a convention as well as
playing in one.
A $1.00 entry fee will be charged tourney participants, with the money
being used to buy trophies for the winners. Rick's busily
mapping out plans now and would like, as soon as possible, for the
entry fee to be sent and mailed to: Harold Roughton, xxxx, Urbana, IL xxxx
(send a stamped, self-addressed envelope along also for a reply).
The first week of July, a card will be sent confirming that your entry fee
has been received, what tournaments you will be playing in and the time of
your first tourney game.
Be sure, when sending in your entry fee, to mention the tournaments you
wish to participate in. Tournaments will be held in advanced and
elementary versions of baseball, football and basketball. Rick would
like to know your first four choices, in order. Your first choice is
guaranteed. A minimum of 32 people are needed in a tourney.
Selection will be on a first-come-first-serve basis.
The tournaments will be run similar to last year's convention. In
baseball, each participant must bring two teams to the convention -- a
first choice and second. For the advanced tourney, any team from
1971-1973 may be used. In the elementary tourney, any teams from
1964-1973 may be used. In football and basketball, teams will be
picked at the convention. To determine the best manager (coach,
etc.) teams will be traded during a round of play so that the managers
have to handle both teams. Rick also adds, fearing a shortage of
games, that as many people as possible bring their own games to the
convention.
Accommodations shouldn't be much of a problem at Urbana. The 25th to
the 28th of July, rooms have been reserved at the Florida Avenue Residence
Halls. This includes girls, husbands and wives. Cost will be
$4.50 and $5.25 (double and triple occupancy) per room per night.
Meals will also be served in the (dorm) cafeteria.
There are many means of transportation to the
University: by bus (Greyhound) or train, although the stations are a few
miles from the dorm; plus Ozark airlines comes into Urbana.
Since the (tourney) games will be played at the Illini
Union, Shapiro also points out that other activities such as
bowling, billiards, pinball, etc. are available.
JULY ISSUE, 1974
Wolfman's
Host at Urbana, Illinois
CONVENTION 'GO' FOR JULY 26-27 The
countdown is well under way for the third annual Strat-O-Matic convention,
which this year will be held in Champaign, Urbana, IL, on Friday and
Saturday, July 26-27. Rick (Wolfman) Shapiro, as everyone knows, is
the man behind the organization of this year's gathering of S-O-M
gamesters. Shapiro plans a number of tournaments --
for sure baseball and football -- plus has other activities lined up as
well. Keith Walker (see this month's guest columnist) will be
on hand to discuss his ideas for the formation of a Strat-O-Matic Union,
plus there will be a bowling tournament at the Illini Union during one of
the nights. Brad Furst, remembered for being the first
person toreach Kalamazoo (by hitchhiking) for the first S-O-M Convention,
will be in attendance, officiating and, perhaps playing in the
tournaments. Jeff Fleischman, from Downey, CA, and commissioner of the
well-known GUSSOMO play-by-mail league; Larry Steinberg, GUSSOMO's
vice-president; Bill Hansing of the S-O-M Associates, and Mike Cummins
with his wife and nine other people, have all indicated they would
make the Urbana scene come July 26-27. "A convention
is the answer to a S-O-M player's dreams. The excitement of
competing against others for the title of the best player in your
particular game, a chance to exchange experiences and new ways to play the
game, or just to get away and do something different, is what our
convention offers for you," says Shapiro. Remember
also, inexpensive dormitory living will be available for both men and
women at Urbana; if you drive, either I-57 or I-74 expressways take
you into the university; the convention starts Friday, the 26th, at 10
a.m., and lastly, don't forget to bring two bring two baseball teams you
would like to use if you are entered in that tournament.
Devoted exclusively to
the
Strat-O-Matic
game
fans, with
the consent of the
Strat-O-Matic Game Co. |
STRAT-O-MATIC
REVIEW
Vol..
IV-7 September 1974 40¢
|
 |
Turnout Small. But Fun On
Large Scale
Champaign-Urbana Convention A Success
BY RICK SHAPIRO
CHAMPAIGN. IL. -- Bart Ewing, after a
20-hour bus ride from Mississippi, was the first to arrive for the third
national Strat-O-Matic Convention. As it turned out. Bart was also the
last to leave, arriving Wednesday afternoon and not departing until
Monday, July 29th. He didn't leave empty handed, though, as after staying
up until 4:30 a.m. Sunday, he was crowned the first national Strat-O-Matic
Basketball champion.
All told, counting four wives,
(there were) 40 (who) people
attended the two-day (and part of Sunday morning) convention. The turnout
was smaller than hoped for, but all who made the scene immensely enjoyed
themselves, made a lot of new friends and (this) gave (us) more
encouragement toward hosting another such convention (the following) summer -- which
we planned to do.
After Ewing's arrival, Al Hartley and Kevin Eisenberg (after a 2200 mile
drive from California), Brad Furst (flying in from New Mexico) and Robert
Henry (with his huge card collection) with Brian Simmons arrived by car
after motoring from Detroit, Ml. J.G. Preston and Jeff Guterman, from New
York, also arrived on Thursday.
Friday morning I was the first to arrive
at the Illini Union on the Urbana-Champaign campus (the location of our
convention). The room the tournaments were held in was the nicest a
national convention had been held in (so far). Four glass chandeliers
jutted out from the ceiling. At the north wall in front of the curtains
covering the windows, were four display cases (for Henry's collection), a
speaker's stand with a microphone. and three tables to collect scoresheets
and distribute the rules and (blank) scoresheets.
Lining the east and west walls were a
single row of chairs. By the south wall there were three rows of 15 chairs
and in the middle of the room were 12 tables. The first people to come in
(on the first day) were Mr. and Mrs. Steve Walters (Potosi,
MO) and Mr. and Mrs. Chub Gross (Texas). As the day went on Friday, about
35 more people arrived.
All told, S-O-M enthusiasts arrived from such states as California, New
York, Pennsylvania, Ohio. Indiana, Texas, Michigan, Minnesota, etc..., as
well as the host state of Illinois.
Robert Henry's card collection was a big
hit. He exhibited Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente cards from
1960-1973, plus also displayed same of the older teams, from 1960-63.
Four tournaments were held: advance
baseball (26 entries), advance football (15), basketball (10) and
elementary baseball (18). Both advance baseball and football tournaments
were double-elimination--which caused the final rounds of play to stretch
into the wee hours of Sunday morning.
ELEMENTARY BASEBALL
This single-elimination tourney
moved rapidly to a completion. I was even forced to play (because of en
uneven number of participants). I tried Roy Deiell's method of selecting a
lineup used at last year's convention in Brooklyn, NY-- shuffling the
cards -- but was soon eliminated. Dena Cummins, wife of Mike Cummins made
a strong bid to become the first woman to win a national tourney. She
defeated Mike Gilbert, (remember him, with his Old-timer's series?) and
Randy Popp in the first two rounds. Then Steve Uher, Urbana, IL, finally
forced her to the side lines in the quarter-finals.
Steve met the winner of the Stan Austin
(Calumet City. IL)- Bob Anderson (Chicago, IL) matchup, with Anderson,
behind Jim Bibby's 3-0 shutout of the '71 Cubs from the '73 Texas Rangers,
(being) the springboard (for his) success. Remember (in our tournaments) the teams are traded for the second game and
the overall winner is the one scoring the most runs (followed by the most
hits, or men left on base). Stan behind Sonny Slebert's 1-0 triumph, won
the second game but lost the series, 3-1.
Uher was using the 1968 Reds for the
finals and he quickly jumped on Bibby for eight runs in the first four
innings Anderson fought back however, and made it close at the finish,
8-7. Then in the second game, Jim Maloney tossed a three-hit shutout and
even smacked s home run in a 4-0 win for Anderson. Bob Anderson had become
the new elementary baseball champion!
ADVANCED FOOTBALL
The 1972 teams were used and, of course,
the teams were switched at halftime to make it a true test of football
skill for the coaches rather than what team they were guiding. J.G.
Preston tasted early defeat in the double-elimination tourney, with Jeff
Guterman administering the coup do grace in round five.
Another highlight was Handy Polish scoring
the most points (44-10) in defeating Steve Walters in another early-round
battle. Popp, from Hutchinson, MN, soon lost to Harold Roughton, Urbana,
as Roughton, Brad Furst, Al Hartley (Beverly Hilly, CA.) and Jeff Guterman
all made their way into the semifinals. Furst, incidentally, had lost 31-3
to Steve Uher in the first round and battled back to reach the semis.
In the semifinals, Roughton (starting with
Minnesota) outscored Bred (starting with Los Angeles), 38-23, and Hartley
(Atlanta) edged Guterman (Pittsburgh), 27-21. For the finals, Roughton
pitied the Los Angeles Rams and Al the Dallas Cowboys. Surprisingly,
Roughton shut out the stronger Cowboys, in the first half, 10-0. In the
second half, Harold took over the Cowboys. and knocked out 20 more points
on the way to a 30-3 win and recognition as the new national advanced
football champ.
ADVANCED BASEBALL
Some of the well-known names of the Strato
world -- J.G. Preston, Larry Steinberg, Furst, Bryan Simmons, Jim Chinos,
Robert Henry, Mike Cummins and myself, the "Wolfman" -- were entered, but
not one made it into the quarter-finals. Reaching the quarters were Steve
Walters, Potosi, MO (5-0), Fred Floreth, Litchfield, IL (5-1), Bart Ewing
(4-1) and Bob Calvin. Amherst, OH (5-1). Steve need the 1973 Orioles vs.
Fred's 1972 Phillies. Baltimore led 2-0 in the top of the ninth when Paul
Blair committed a two-base error and Oscar Gamble socked a three-run homer
for an eventual 4-2 win for Fred. Fred won the round
via a 7-5 run margin, but both advanced- A possible meeting between the
two could occur in the finals -- if both
continued to win.
Next, Bob Galvin, using the '71 Red Sox
blasted Bart's '72 Reds 6-3, and, after the switch, Bob destroyed the Red
Sox, 12-2 as Bart futilely used seven pitchers. In the second part of the
semifinals, Bob faced Fred. In game one, Steve Carlton threw a one-hit
shutout at Bob's '71 Bosox. It was the beginning of the end for Bob as Ray
Culp, (take a glance at his card!) surprised with a three-hit shutout as
Fred won by 2-0 and 5-0 scores.
The rematch between Steve Walters and Fred
Floreth pitted the same teams as before. The first game, matching Carlton
and Jim Palmer ended in a 1-1 tie, with both teams leaving seven (men) on
base. The second game and most exciting of the tournament had both teams
scoreless going into the top of the ninth inning. Then Fred loaded the
bases with two outs and Don Baylor at bat. It was a long drive -- going!,
going!, GONE! A grand-slam homer gave Fred Floreth the advanced baseball
championship.
ADVANCED BASKETBALL
Only eight people vied for honors in the
first hardwood tournament at the national level. Early results had Furst
ousting J.G. Preston, Mike Cummins trimming Bryan Simmons, Bart Ewing
defeating Larry Steinberg and Harold Roughton stopping Jim Chanos. Next,
Bart, starting with Los Angeles and switching to Chicago in the second
half, eliminated Roughton, 110-104, to ensure Roughton couldn't win two
tournaments. In the other semifinal, Brad's Warriors tied Mike's Lakers at
halftime, 39-all, before Brad rolled up a 65-44 second half advantage to
win, 104-83.
So the finals matched Bart Ewing and Brad
Furst. Brad started with Boston and Bart Baltimore, with Brad seizing a
62-57 halftime lead in a slow, deliberate game that was to eventually take
five hours to complete. Ewing had a big third quarter, however scoring a whopping 44 points -- a one quarter high for the tourney
-- and moved in front, 101-93, going into the fourth period. Brad couldn't
close the gap and Bart finally won 128-123. Leading scorers were Phil
Chenier 27; Dave Cowens, 23; Don Nelson, 23; Don Chaney, 20; John Havlicek,
22; Mike Riordan, 20, and Archie Clark, 24. Bart Ewing is now the reigning
basketball champ, and he's only 15 years old.
The five-hour marathon in the finals of
basketball contrasted noticeably with the advanced football final, which,
was all over in 45 minutes. The new basketball rules (with the greatly
reduced playing time elements and elimination of moat or the pawn moving)
will certainly be a welcome edition. Right Brad and Bart, both of whom
were rollin' dice as the clock struck: 4 a.m. Sunday?
NEXT MONTH: Pictures of the convention
held at Champaign-Urbane, IL, will be presented in the October issue of
the Strat-O-Matic Review. Also, report of the meeting that took place at
the convention regarding a Strat-O-Matic "Union".
(Note from the Wolfman: The photos that
appeared in the October issue of the Review are shown in the next
section.)
| (Right) Three-year convention vets (from
left): J.G. Preston, Brad Furst, Bryan Simmons, Wolfman Shapiro, Robert
Henry,
Larry Steinberg.
(Below) Steve Walters, right, cheered on
by his wife, plays Randy Popp in elementary baseball.
(Also Below): Robert Henry (right) plays
Robert Anderson in elementary baseball. Jim Chanos is in the
center of picture. Box contains teams from Henry's mammoth S-0-M team
collection.
|
 |
|
 |
LOOK AT 1974
SOM CONVENTION
(Below) Rick (Wolfman) Shapiro shown with three champions produced at
summer convention at Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.
Top right is Anderson (Chicago, IL), elementary baseball winner. Bottom
left is Bart Ewing (Kansas City, MO), advanced
basketball king. And bottom right is Harold Roughton (Urbana, IL), winner
of the advanced football tournament.
 |
(Notes from the Wolfman: So we were able to successfully
host our own convention and the people who attended told us they really
enjoyed themselves. Therefore we thought, why not go for another
one in 1975 and since we had the club setup and knew the ropes, the 1975 convention
was a given. We still had hopes that one day,
perhaps the Game Company
or the Review would come back and offer their own convention and we were
just keeping the door open. We
hoped by offering these events, that they would see the strong interest
by SOM game players all over the country to participate in national
tournaments. However, as you will continue to read through the
next few years, this unfortunately didn't happen again but even after we
finished our time, others were called to take up the mantle (Editor's
Note - see our interviews linked to the STAR tournaments in this issue).
If someone would have told me in 1974 we would still be organizing
conventions through
1980, I wouldn't have believed them. However, being the devoted gamers we
were (we had a really good group of people from Chicago helping us to
continue), we were determined to keep the tradition going , no matter what.
At the 1974 we did have another female
contestant, Elizabeth Walters, who sent to us a report about her own
experiences at the convention, we have included this report in the next
section.)
1974 SOM Convention
Champaign-Urbana, IL (July)
(Special Report
from Elizabeth Walters)
Elizabeth Walters, is the wife of Steve Walters.
Normally when a wife accompanies her husband to one of our
conventions, she comes to be with her spouse and offers moral support.
But Mrs. Walters, goes a step further and actually plays the game.
She was our first woman competitor in a tournament, in the history of the
Champaign-Urbana conventions. And in February of 1975, the SOM
Review printed a letter from Mrs. Walters, about her experience at our
1974 event. I thought it might be of interest for the members of
our newsletter to read her report. Once again we reprint a portion of
the SOM Review.
Devoted exclusively to
the
Strat-O-Matic
game
fans, with
the consent of the
Strat-O-Matic Game Co. |
STRAT-O-MATIC
REVIEW
Vol.
IV-12 February 1975 45¢
|
|
Convention '74
Woman's Point Of View
BY ELIZABETH WALTERS
Potosi, MO
My husband, Steven, and I
both enjoyed attending the Strat-O-Matic Convention in Champaign-Urbana
this past summer. My husband enjoyed it so because for the first time
since he had been playing S-O-M games [since 1966], he had the
opportunity to play face-to-face with some "real gamers"; people he had
read about and associated with the game and Review For a number of
years.
The reason I enjoyed the convention was because it also gave me the
chance to meet so many of the "gamers" who, until then, it was hard to
believe were so enthusiastic about the game.
It was very exciting to see the one-on-one play and the games being won
or lost by a throw of the die. Rick Shapiro was our host for the event
and I thought he did a wonderful job in organizing and planning the
convention.
The trip to Champaign-Urbana was not just a trip to a convention, but
was a mini-vacation for Steven and I. And I must say it was enjoyed as
much as any vacation we have taken in recent years. I cannot say enough
about the beauty of the campus at C-U; I really had not been to many
league campuses and C-U was very impressive. I cannot think of where
else we might have gone for a vacation that would have us meeting so
many new and interesting people from all ages, all walks of life, and
all areas of the United States.
What was unusual to me about most of the "gamers" we met was the youth
of the S-O-M players. It was as though we were meeting many of the
geniuses of the future.
Truly the convention was a place you could go to meet anyone, any age,
any walk of life and be on equal footing with--at least until the first
throw of the dice.
I hope next year if the convention is again held at C-U, it will draw
more people from the midwest than it did last year. Also, just a note to
say not only my husband, but also my brother, Tom Orf, is a very
enthusiastic S-O-M gamer.
Editor's note: Steven Walters graduated from Potosi High
School in 1965, attended Mineral Area Junior College for one and
one-half years and graduated from Sanford-Brown Business College [St.
Louis, MO) in 1973 with a degree in Data Processing. It was at
Sanford-Brown that the Walters' first met. From 1967-71 he was in the
service, spending most of his tour of duty in Hawaii as part of the
Army's Pacific Area Defense Communication Agency, which handled all
communications between the mainland and such places as Vietnam, Korea,
Japan,
Guam and the Philippines, and for which he had to have a top secret
clearance
classification. He's currently employed as a drilling contractor for St.
Joe Lead Company, located near Potosi. Steven is currently playing in
the World Baseball Association and a 1966 draft play-by-mail league,
plus in March or April he will add membership in the Young Executive and
Fly By Night Baseball Leagues to his gaming habit.
(Final Note from the Wolfman:
So we hope you enjoyed the reporting of the 1974 Convention. Even though
we only had 40 people present, we showed that a convention or
tournaments could be held by Strat-o-matic Gamers and we were then
looking forward to how the 1975 Convention would go. At this time, we
had no idea how long we would be doing the conventions, but as long as
people attended and everyone enjoyed their visit, we would keep going.
In Issue #4, May 2013, we will include the 4th National Convention of
1975, stay tuned!!)
Contained inside this exciting issue of Ultimate Strat
Baseball Newsletter:
(to view the various interviews, articles, columns and special sections click on
the links {underlined} and this will take you to the appropriate
webpage)
♦
RETURN TO NEWSLETTER MAIN PAGE
♦
INTERVIEW with JEFF POLMAN,
Writer, SOM Website Columnist, Replay Expert.
♦
INTERVIEW with JIM CALLIS and KEN
DAVIDOFF,
Jim is Executive Editor of
Baseball America and Ken is a baseball columnist for the NY Post
♦
INTERVIEW with PETE
NELSON, (STAR),
Board Member of the Star
Tournaments Association, discusses what the Star Tournaments are
all about.
♦
INTERVIEW with WILLY
DOMINQUEZ,
January 2013 STAR Worlds
Champion
♦
INTERVIEW with TERRY
BARTELME,
SOM Gamer, Discusses his
experiences with
the Negro and Japanese Players working with
private developers.
♦
INTERVIEW with BILLY SAMPLE,
Ex-MLB Player (TEX,NYY,ATL),
Sportscaster
♦
COMMISSIONER's CORNER with MARC WASSERMAN --
commissioner of the Cyber Baseball Association (CBA) continues
his column about what it is like to be a League Commissioner. In
this article he discusses the early development of a League's
Constitution, League Themes and Economics.
♦
SOM BASEBALL CARDS QUIZ
- our test of your knowledge of the SOM Baseball Cards,
questions and answers provided by Marc Wasserman. In this issue
we give the answers to
Quiz #2,
explain our new format for this column, introduce some early SOM
Baseball cards from the 1960 and 1961 seasons thanks to Tom
Nahigian who is also interviewed in this issue in his own
section.
♦
INTERVIEW with
TOM NAHIGIAN
--
SOM Gamer, Baseball
Card Collector
♦
RECOMMEND
ON-LINE SOM RESOURCES
-- On-line Strat-o-matic and Baseball related websites that offer amazing information, special tools and products to improve
your game play
that we strongly recommend. In most cases, we have had personal contact with
these sources who agree with the principle to work together and help promote each other.
♦
BOOKS TO
DIE FOR and Become a BASEBALL GURU
-- This page
is a new page we are adding for the newsletter that is
specifically about special books we are finding that either will
expand your insights about the game of Baseball, help you in the
creation of your current league teams or with your replays and
learn more about the Strat-o-matic Base Game and Game Company's
history. At the time of the release of this newsletter we
have a special arrangement with Acta Sports to offer our members
a 10% discount. We hope to add more books in the future.
Check out the
new e-book
by the Wolfman
his first SOM Baseball e-book sharing his
secrets for creating a successful team
(for your draft league or tournament,
click on the cover to read more and
be one of the first to get a copy!)
To Sign Up and Become a Member of this Newsletter
http://www.UltimateStratBaseball.com
(this provides direct emails when our bulletins
and next
issues come out)
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