Ready

As I start to make time for playing sports games again, I feel that it’s time to go back to some games that I’ve ignored for some time, specifically APBA Golf and APBA Soccer.

I remember trying APBA Soccer out something like 8 years ago, and while I was able to get through a complete game, I found that I liked the quicker play of other soccer games like Soccer Blast and later Dice United.

Same thing happened with golf, to a lesser degree.  I was a bit intimidated by APBA Golf, especially after playing a similar game, ASG golf, which led me to History Maker Golf, another quicker game than the others.

Fast forward to now, with more than a few dozen soccer games and a couple of golf games rolled, and I finally feel ‘ready’ to tackle what I consider the ‘big boys’ of the respective games.

That’s not to take away from anything that I’ve played, the PLAAY games are still my favorites, for example, but I just feel ‘ready’ to take on something a bit more complex.

I also feel that I have a richer appreciation for soccer now than I did 8 years ago, having watched 4 more World Cup tournaments (men’s and women’s), Olympic soccer, and of course living and dying through Tottenham Hotspur in the EPL.

As for golf, I’m still as interested in it as I was before, which was not total indifference, but rather an appreciation for it as one of my Dad’s favorite pastimes long before he passed on.  I still don’t watch it on TV as much as I did when Mom and Dad were both more interested.

For golf, I’ll probably still play History Maker more than APBA or ASG, simply because of the larger number of players and courses I have for HMG compared to the others.  I don’t intend to start a full season of golf, either.

Soccer, on the other hand, has me thinking that I can start Yet Another Season Replay™, so with APBA Soccer I’m going to replay Tottenham’s 2015-16 campaign, a season I don’t own in any other soccer game that I play.  This was the year Harry Kane first scored with the top team, and saw Spurs finish third behind Leicester City and Arsenal in the final standings.

Tottenham 5 - Sunderland 1: Black Cats stay bottom as Kane bags in league debut for Spurs | Football | Sport | Express.co.uk

All the reaction to Leicester City's title win - Eurosport

We’ll see if I can change history in my replay.

Stay tuned!

Driver List

Here’s the list of 75 drivers who will be competing in the 75 Years of Racin’ Tribute Series, from PLAAY Games.

There’s also 4 blank cards, so I could include my driver from the old Starbucks Racing Series, or maybe a fictional driver, like Cole Trickle, or a driver from a different racing series, like Mario Andretti.

Didn’t he win a Daytona 500, like 3 days after I was born?  Hmph.

Anyways, stay tuned!

2012: Stock Car Racing America, Race #11

May 20th, 2012: the Giggles Fruit Candy 400 @ Heart of America Motor Speedway.

Race Results and Current Standings:

Vic Holder becomes the first repeat winner off the 2012 SCRAM season.

Despite a 36th place finish, Garry Pyne maintains a slim lead over Stu Yurich in the point standings.

Next: the Hub Lite 500 @ Golden Gate International Speedway.

Stay tuned!

Golf

I’m either of or past the age when I should have taken up golf.  I suppose I still can, Dad had plenty of sets of clubs sitting around here.

In lieu of that I of course play on my tabletop, and lately the bug has bitten me, though I have yet to actually set up and play a game.

It started with PLAAY Games’ Binge Week Golf event in late April, where I picked up the new History Maker Golf play mat and Course Collection 20, along with Course Collection 19 and 2010s Golf Stars set.  CC20 contains 72 cards which allow you to create your own golf courses.  I finally did that last night, and have yet to play a round on my custom course, tentatively named TPC Delta Tioga Links.

The bug bit harder when I started looking up golf game videos and came across Dave Gardner’s unboxing video for APBA Golf, which I’ve had sitting on my unplayed shelf for about 8(!) years.  I dug it out and looked at it, and may give it a play through after reviewing a couple more of Dave’s videos.

The reason it sat around unplayed?  History Maker Golf and ASG Golf.  Both of which I’ve played a few times over those 8 years.  I played HMG more because it was a much simpler game to play, as much as I liked ASG.

One of the videos Dave posted was of these ball markers for ASG/APBA Golf, which he ordered from Shapeways.

I immediately thought, ‘3D printed?  Surely they’re available to print at home!’

And I found them.

$4 for the file instead of $9 + shipping.

These mark where your ball lands on the course.

APBA Golf:

ASG Golf

I’d been using ‘sign here’ flags in the past.

I also found myself on ASG’s website, and ended up ordering TPC Harding Park and the Men’s 1970s golfers set.

Now I just need to find the time to play the often postponed John Price Invitational, as soon as I get a foursome of golfers from him.

Stay tuned!