More Than Just Electric Football….
It was 43 years ago today the Colts and Cowboys played in Super Bowl V, a game that is now enshrined in football lore as the “Blunder Bowl.” While it may have been “Blunder-ful,” it was the first Super Bowl that was actually exciting for the neutral viewer to watch. The game was back and forth with interceptions, fumbles, and penalties (or penalties not called, in the case of John Mackey’s 75-yard touchdown catch). And with the game heading into the final minutes, it had something that no other Super Bowl ever had that late in a game – a tie score. The Colts’ Jim O’Brien broke the 13-13 tie with a last second field goal, giving the Colts their first Super Bowl title.
In honor of Super Bowl V, we’re showing off pages 370-371 of The Unforgettable Buzz, which features a sideline photo of the actual game that was taken by legendary Tudor designer Lee Payne. The reason Lee Payne was on the sideline to was continue his quest to find ways to put realism into Electric Football. He knew that there was more to Tudor’s miniature football concept than paint jobs and logos.
It’s a lesson from Lee Payne that we like to think we took to heart in putting together The Unforgettable Buzz. Yes, our book is about Electric Football, but the game didn’t exist in a vacuum. It was continually influenced by the world of football, both college and pro. And of course when we sit down to play Electric Football, we always take the outside “real” world and see it on our game.
Our Special TudorCON 14 Edition of The Unforgettable Buzz.
So throughout the The Unforgettable Buzz you will find images of real football games, like the one above that Lee Payne took of Super Bowl V. You will also find information about the pro and college football seasons for each year that we cover. Those outside events played an integral role in the evolution of Electric Football, and also our love of the game.
Lee Payne knew that there was no way to get the details of Electric Football “right” without accounting for what was going on beyond the vibrating gridiron. We quickly learned that to get the story of Electric Football right, we had to follow the same exact formula.
See you next week at the TudorCON 14 Electric Football Convention in Philly!
Earl & Roddy
Well, I’ve got all my original boards & most teams from the 1960’s that I owned as a kid. It’s Christmas all over again for me. Bought “The Unforgettable Buzz” & enjoyed the history & the info on “Big Men”, Hog Legs” etc. I never knew that & wasted money on Ebay before I read the book. My main interest in the book was the Coleco Football game 1965? which was my brothers & then Tudor Football games 1967 up to 1970 (my 4 favorite Christmases) when my parents thought I was nuts asking for the same thing in their eyes but we know better with the field sizes, Goal post changes etc.! I had those games & 16 teams up until the late 1990’s when a friends son came over & found them & asked to play with them. I had been drinking & said, “SURE, take it & I have 3 more you can have. (I hated myself the next day)
Donovan, thanks so much for the great comment. So glad you enjoyed the book. Yes, us kids knew how important the details were (goal post, field size, etc.). Even to having to get the AFL game – “but Mom, it’s THE AFL!” All those little things were what made Electric Football so special. If your brother had a non-Tudor game in 1965 it must have been a Gotham game.
Again, thanks so much the message!!