Two-Minute Warning

[Deleted]

Recently, I have been talking with Bill McDee about one of his posts in the Show Your Stuff section where he talked about his enjoyment playing dice baseball. This got me wondering if there could be a Channel 1 show in there somewhere. He mentioned that he similarly wondered about that, but more so with gridiron football than with baseball. I will spare you the details but our conversation went back and forth and evolved into a show I would like to test out here. Mr. McDee is my Creative Consultant for this show and I thank him for his help with this. The idea is this:

I wanted to incorporate video into a show since not many people on here seem to be doing that other than for the commercials. I also have a working copy of an old version of Madden PC football (2004 to be exact) but I have a roster mod from a forum site called Football Idiots that has decades worth of old NFL teams going back to the early 1960s.

So this show will involve different elements: NFL trivia questions, a number board to make random selections that will affect the setup of the game play and then the actual game itself where each contestant will have an historic NFL team representing them on the gridiron. I will record the Madden game play as a video that will be posted online for all to see in the show's thread.

Like the name suggests, each game play segment will start at or near the two-minute mark of the 4th quarter. On the real show, we will do this 4 times to mirror the 4 quarters of an actual football game. If the score is tied between our two contestants after 4 quarters, we will have sudden death overtime. Each contestant earns $1,000 for every point their teams score for them on the playing field. The contestant who has scored the most points after 4 rounds (or quarters) becomes the returning champion and plays for a bonus of up to $200,000! My idea was to distribute the possible NFL teams available to use evenly across the 4 rounds. Round 1 (the 1st Quarter) being teams from the 1960s and 1970s. Round 2 (the 2nd Quarter) being teams from the 1980s and 1990s. Round 3 (the 3rd Quarter) being teams from the 2004 season. Round 4 (the 4th Quarter) and OT if necessary being your choice of any of the available teams from any decade.

For this test though, we will do only the first round (quarter) just to give everyone an idea of how this goes. Once we are done with the test, I encourage anyone watching to post their thoughts and suggestions as to what they liked, did not like, etc. My plan is to do this show on Channel 1 early in 2023.

Bill has agreed to be one of the contestants for this test. I need him to check in please. I also need somebody out there to be his opponent for this test. Bill will be the HOME team and the first person to respond showing interest will be his opponent as the AWAY team.

[djshadowwolf420]

I'll play. I just need to know the rules

[billmcdee]

I am here and ready to go!

[Deleted]

Thank you gentlemen. I am off to a World Cup party today (GO ENGLAND!) so we will start either later today or sometime on Sunday.

[Deleted]

So for this test I am going to skip the intro formalities and get to the game itself. As I said earlier, the show will be separated into 4 rounds with each round representing a quarter in the game. So we start with the 1st Quarter where each of you will have an NFL team from either the 1960s or the 1970s representing you on the gridiron in the Madden simulation. Each round begins by selecting numbers from our Number Board:

As you can see there are 25 numbers. There are all kinds of options behind these numbers that will affect the setup for this quarter. I won't bother explaining them all ahead of time, you will get the idea as we go along. Here is how the scoreboard looks currently:

So as you can see, at the moment the ball is at midfield, there is no score in the game, there are two minutes on the clock and for now, each of you has 1st and 10 with one timeout remaining. Also, neither of you currently have a team assigned. All of these things may change based on the selections from the number board.

You have to earn selections from the number board by answering trivia questions. Since Bill is the designated HOME team, he will start us off in a moment.  If he answers the question correctly, he will choose a number from the board and the game setup will change accordingly based on what we find behind that number. Sometimes the selections affect your side of the scoreboard, sometimes they will affect your opponent's values. If Bill answers incorrectly, Shederick gets to choose a number instead and then it will be Shederick's turn for a question.

Back and forth we will go like this until one of you chooses the COIN FLIP selection. Whoever selects that chooses Heads or Tails and then we will flip a virtual coin to determine the winner for the coin flip. The person winning the coin flip gets first possession for that quarter. At that point, we fill in the teams if they still have not been selected and then we play out the game CPU vs. CPU to see who wins the quarter. Contestants earn $1,000 for every point their team scores in the quarter plus a $2,500 bonus for winning the quarter.

For this test we will play only the first quarter just to get a sense as to how this goes. On the show itself, we play 4 rounds (i.e. 4 quarters) and whoever has the higher score after 4 quarters (or following Overtime if the score is tied after 4 quarters) wins the game and plays the bonus round.

Do either of you have a question about this before I proceed?

[djshadowwolf420]

Nope

[billmcdee]

I think I'm ready to go.

[Deleted]

Okay then let's play! The first question is for you Bill:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the NFL starting with the 1976 season and were considered at the time to be one of the worst teams in NFL history, losing all 14 of their Regular Season games that year. It would not be too long however before they found some amount of success. When did the Bucs win their first playoff game?

(a) In the playoffs following the 1978 season

(b) In the playoffs following the 1979 season

(c) In the playoffs following the 1980 season

(d) In the playoffs following the 1981 season

[billmcdee]

If my memory serves me, it was B.

[Deleted]

B is correct! On Saturday, December 29, 1979, Tampa beat the Philadelphia Eagles for their first-ever playoff victory.

You have the first choice off the board Bill. There are 5 spots that have free picks associated with them so if you find one of those, we will hear chimes indicating that you get another choice for free. Which number would you like Mr. McDee?

[billmcdee]

I'll start with #3 please.

[Deleted]

We flip over number 3 and find

(ding)

a Field Goal card! As you can see, the score can be affected here as well as on the playing field and right off the bat, Bill leads it 3-0!

Incidentally, the values behind the 25 numbers are randomly sorted in an Excel spreadsheet from a possible 50 values, so during the show itself, every quarter will feature a number board with a completely different set of values and in some cases, may not contain any point-scoring values at all. The only constant will be that at least one of the numbers will always be a coin flip value.

Shederick, this question is for you:

The 1962 American Football League Championship Game was won in double overtime by the Dallas Texans who relocated the very next season to become which team?

(a) Buffalo Bills

(b) Cincinnati Bengals

(c) Kansas City Chiefs

(d) Houston Oilers

[djshadowwolf420]

C

[Deleted]

Correct, the Texans began play as the Kansas City Chiefs beginning in the 1963 season. Number 3 is taken Shederick, which number would you like off the board?

[djshadowwolf420]

17

[Deleted]

Flipping over number 17 on the Number Board reveals

(ding)

A converted touchdown card! So how about that, we haven't even hit the field yet and already we have a back-and-forth game going here - Shederick now leading the game by 4 points!

I promise you there are more than just point-scoring cards on that board! Bill, here's your next question:

Bob Griese still holds the record for the fewest completions by a winning QB in a Super Bowl. He did it on January 13, 1974 in Super Bowl VIII when his Dolphins beat the Vikings 24-7. How many completions did he have that day?

(a) 6

(b) 8

(c) 10

(d) 12

[billmcdee]

I believe it was only 6 as Larry Csonka was most of the offense that day.

[Deleted]

Right you are Bill. Miami scored 3 touchdowns in that game, all from rushes and 2 by Csonka the other by Jim Kiick. Griese attempted only 7 passes, completing 6 for 73 yards. It was such a different game back then, wasn't it?

Choose a number please Mr. McDee.

[billmcdee]

19

[Deleted]

We flip over that number and find

our first team selection!

He was injured for much of the real 1968 season, but for the moment at least, you will have none other than the great Johnny Unitas and the rest of the 1968 Baltimore Colts leading your offense Bill! I say for the moment because if you select another team card before we get to the coin flip, you will have the option of keeping these Colts or switching them to whichever team card you uncovered with that selection. 

Shederick, here is your next question:

With more than 150 sacks in his career, this defensive Hall of Famer played in both the 1960s and 1970s. Who is it?

(a) Alan Page

(b) Coy Bacon

(c) Deacon Jones

(d) Jim Marshall

[djshadowwolf420]

C

[Deleted]

Leading the league in the sack category 5 times and having 173.5 sacks during his career, it was indeed Deacon Jones we were looking for. Select a number please, Shederick.

[djshadowwolf420]

21!

[Deleted]

You want number 21? You get number 21!

(ding)

And look at that, it's yet another scoring card, this time a safety which nets you another 2 points!

12 points on the board and we haven't even taken the field yet! This is going to be a high-scoring game me thinks! The next question is for Mr. McDee.

Prior to the start of the 1960 season, who was elected as the 3rd Commissioner of the National Football League?

(a) Paul Tagliabue

(b) Pete Rozelle

(c) Bert Bell

(d) Elmer Layden

[billmcdee]

B. Pete Rozelle

If correct I'll take #1.

[Deleted]

It was indeed Pete Rozelle, in fact the order of the NFL Commissioners was reversed to how I had them.  Layden was the first and then Bell and then Rozelle and then Tagliabue.

The top-left corner number 1 square is yours Bill, let's see what we have there.

(ding)

It's the first penalty card we have found. Some cards help your position and some don't. In this case, it's a 10-yard penalty against you.

In a normal game, the ball itself would be moved, but on our show since each of you has a set of game elements where only one set will be used based on who gets first possession on the coin flip, the penalty is applied to your "TO GO" value only.  If you had uncovered the OFFSIDE penalty for example (and there is one on the board somewhere), your "TO GO" value would have reduced from 10 to 5 simulating the 5-yard penalty being applied to the opposition.  In this case though, the penalty goes against you Bill, so if you get first possession on the field, you will now need at least 20 yards to get a first down.

There are spaces on the board that will affect the placement of the ball as well, moving it in either direction depending on the card chosen.  This is why each of you has a set of dice in front of you -- you may be rolling them occasionally depending on what cards we uncover.

Shederick here is your next question:

Up until 1970, who was the only quarterback who passed for more than 4,000 yards in a season?

(a) Joe Namath

(b) Sonny Jurgensen

(c) Johnny Unitas

(d) George Blanda

[djshadowwolf420]

C

[Deleted]

No, it was actually Joe Namath.  He passed for 4,007 yards in the 1967 season and nobody else had done that to that point.

So Bill, this means you get a free choice off the number board before your next question.  Which would you like this time, sir?

[billmcdee]

25 in honor of Christmas and the number of one of the best Super Bowl games ever played.

[Deleted]

Yes, I still remember the look on poor Marv Levy's face after Norwood's kick missed wide right. Let's see what number 25 has to show us.

(ding)

It's a green yards card which means the position of the ball is about to change! Bill, pick up your dice please and give them a roll.  We will multiply the two numbers that come up on the dice and move the ball that many yards into Shederick's territory, meaning it will be a shorter field for you if you get first possession and a longer one for him if he does.

(I will use Random.org to roll the dice, so just say rolls dice or the like to roll them)