THE TALK SHOW
Host: Glenn Guzzo
You can submit your question or insight on any
Strat-O-Matic game to SOMTalkShow@aol.com.
When you do, kindly include your name and town. Other gamers like to see that.
And the display format below works better that way.
POM-POM’S FLYING OVER COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Please
tell the powers that be Thank You and my order for College Football will submitted the first day it is available. I believe the
forum you offer gamers through the monthly Talk Show column on Strat-O-Sphere
helped the decision on this. I will continue to dream about the day when
SOM College Basketball appears.
Matt Norris,
With the release of the
upcoming College Football game is there any plans to come out with a College Basketball
game for the Computer only?
Robert,
I knew it wouldn’t be long for the drums to
start in favor of college basketball. (I’ll get the cymbals!). The answer is:
Not Yet. Let’s see whether computer college football can be successful in SOM’s third old college try on the gridiron.
FILLING THE HOCKEY VOID
We've
been playing SOM Hockey for 11 years and the lock-out in the NHL has put us in
an interrogation mode about next season. We have a system of play that allows
coaches to take the same team every year depending on their performance. For
example, one of us has been coaching
LPrez
from LNSOM in
It did not sound great to most of the gamers
who were quizzed about it. Some of those who dismissed the idea did so out of
disgust for current players. Others because career cards
don’t appeal as much. A whole bunch of these cards would be “career”
cards for guys who had just 1-2 NHL seasons. After thinking it through, most
gamers were happier with past seasons, a Hall of Fame set that would card many
great players for the first time and the 1980 Olympics teams. All of those will
be out soon.
FOOTBALL PAST
No six-team
football sets were done for the 1966, 1968, 1972, 1977, 1981, and 1990
seasons. Per the Strat-O-Matic custom, what are the chances that Strat will go
back and produce the six team football sets for these seasons?
Steve Aquino,
Not good, but not impossible. These are not
huge sellers when they come out in combination with computer disks. As a
belated stand-alone sale, it would be less attractive to the game company than
fresher releases.
Any talk
of ever making some 1950's teams? Before the “Fearsome Foursome” there was the
Colts great D-Line Gino, Big Daddy, "Fatboy",
and Don Joyce and the greatest QB's
of any era.
Louis,
All talk, though it seems that this will happen in due
time. The slow march backward of seasons that pre-dated SOM’s
original 1967 football set now include 1966, 1965, 1964 and this summer’s 1963.
If the trend continues, we’ll hit 1959 in four years. Those great Colts were
terrific in ’59, ’58 and ’57. In addition to Baltimore’s Johnny Unitas, the ‘50s gave us such superb quarterbacks as Bobby
Layne, Otto Graham, Norm Van Brocklin, Y. A. Tittle, Bob Waterfield and the
early careers of Bart Starr, Sonny Jurgensen and John
Brodie.
NEED SOME RELIEF, HAL
Why is it
that when you set up the pitching options that SuperHAL
ignores them? In the league I am in, I have Tom Glavine.
About a third of the way into the season, Glavine
already had 3 relief appearances, one of which was a game he relieved after he
had started the previous game. In the SuperHAL
option, I do not have the box checked by "Relieve even when
tired." Even more, why is he even relieving?
That is
why in a previous Talk Show letter I mentioned that the next version of SOM
Baseball, extensive work should be done on improving HAL. There has got
to be a way for the computer to recognize that a pitcher should not relieve,
especially if all that pitcher did was start.
The cards have ratings, I know, in the form, for Glavine
is 6/0/N, meaning he can start for 6 innings and 0 relief. The computer
should be able to read that same numbering system. Don't get me
wrong--Strat has one of the best baseball games anywhere. But I think
more time needs to be spent on improving the HAL system then putting in new
lines of play-by-play or something like that.
Michael Holland,
Difficult to say why the
computer is choosing Glavine for relief, because
there are many possibilities.
For one, make sure that your computer manager “Pitchers” section shows Glavine in the rotation with NEVER chosen for relief. If
you are using the Super Hal Bullpen option, that should help, too, since Glavine won’t appear on the list of eligible relievers. But
you’ve got to program Super Hal correctly. Check the Help file if you have
doubts. I am going to assume that your team has adequate number of active
pitchers rated for relief, including at least three guys with closer ratings.
Even with all the settings showing Glavine off limits
for relief, the CM will choose a starter to relieve in emergency situations
(when all other relievers are fatigued).
Probably the best way to determine why the game is bringing
in a starter as a reliever would be for you to save the game at the moment that
you see the problem occur. Backup the league, and e-mail the league
backup along with the saved game to Strat-O-Matic. Be sure to include a
detailed description of what you feel the problem is. This will help
Strat-O-Matic determine what is going on. It will also allow them to
provide instructions to you on avoiding this situation, or it might allow them
to fix the software if abug is causing the problem.
THOSE EARLY 1970’s AND THE eBAY BLUES
I was one
of the people who were extremely disappointed when SOM announced that they were
going to recreate the 1957 season instead of re-releasing the 1971 season.
Most polls that I have seen and participated in have 1971 as the clear
favorite. I am one who wonders if the company really cares about polls or
not. I wish that SOM would give a reason as to why they choose to not
release 1971. With the exception of the Milwaukee Braves championship, I
do not see why 1957 would in any way be preferable to 1971. Most of
today's players started playing during the seventies and these sets bring back
memories. I started playing SOM in 1973, but started following the game
in 1971. I cannot afford the price of getting the original cards off of
eBay.
Frank Green
I think a lot of us can sympathize with you,
Frank. Especially after seeing recent eBay experience where a seller broke up
his 1971 and 1972 sets with extra players and fetched astonishing prices for
single teams. But I don’t think you’re going to make any of us who look forward
to 1957 feel guilty about it. Tough as it might be for you to figure, some
prefer 1957. Why? Because they already have a Strat-O-Matic set from 1971.
Because they are Braves fans and this was the Braves’ first World Series
victory. Because they are
RED, WHITE AND BLUE
Question,
will Strat consider reprinting baseball seasons of 1956, 1961, and 1962 in the
same printing format as; lets say other past seasons, like ‘63, ‘64, ‘65, etc.?
In those seasons as in others, they are printed in three colors (Advanced)
and in blue, with a light blue screen in basic. This would conform with most other past seasons and are for more attractive
then the black type which they were originally.
Phil S,
No such plans announced yet, Phil. If it
gets done, it won’t be to make them all look as pretty as the others. It will
be to update those early seasons into Super-Advanced form. So far, SOM has done
so with only two other Advanced seasons: 1975 and
1978.
PASSING ON THE TRADITION
I have
been a Strat fanatic for the past 25 years and recently I was privileged to
pass along my love for Strat-O-Matic Baseball to my 10-year-old son. Let
me tell you there is nothing more gratifying than sitting down and reliving the
moment when I first learned how to play. My son was so excited, he had watched
me for a couple of years play and on occasion, when he was interested enough, I
would let him throw the dice. It was so funny to watch him as he threw. It was
like he was holding onto diamonds, the look on his face was like, “I hold the power.” He was so careful when he threw,
too. Then when the dice would finally land he would quickly look at me, waiting
for the outcome of his throw.
We
had played together using my set and game for a about a year, then Christmas
2004 he got his very own game! This was the climax of his Christmas, and
this was the same Christmas in which we got PlayStation2 from Santa! His
reaction brought a tear to my eye, and his grandma's as well, because
she had been there all the years I played and knew how important it
was to me. We had a blast when we got home from grandma's house, all day
the only thing he could think of was going home and getting started. The whole
experience of setting up the game, carefully getting the teams together and
finally the selection of the team he was going to manager for the season. There
really was no selection – his favorite team is the Atlanta Braves. He played
about 10 exhibition games, then his season started.
I watched him as he got his favorite place to
play ready to go, just like I showed him, because those of you who have played
for along time, it's all about where you play! He loves to play solitaire,
but on occasion we will square off, and dad will have to take him to school, of
course! I hadn't played much prior to my son getting his game, but now
I find myself so excited to get home from work and tossing those little
square gems for a few hours, with my son! I have a 4-year-old son as well.
I will update you in about six years on who's
schooling who then!
Scott A. Stearns,
Playing catch, opening up packs of baseball cards together
and rolling the Strat-O-Matic dice. Each a time-honored way to pass the torch. Your letter is a
perfect conclusion to this month’s Talk Show. Thanks, Scott.