The first week of January is the annual Lion's Den Electric Football Extravaganza. This years event was played on the 5th and 6th of the month, and marked the VIIth Electra Bowl. Tudor games, of Brooklyn, N.Y. created the sheet metal playing fields and miniature plastic football players, but the form of the game the Lion's Den enjoys is the creative work of Dan Reardon.

If you have never seen electric football I will describe it briefly. The playing field is a sheet metal frame painted with the football gridiron and fitted with a vibrating electric motor with the characteristic hum of a barber's shears. The electric cord has an on/off switch which controls the start and stop of active play.

The field is also equipped with a knob to increase or decrease the degree of vibration. The football team is comprised of 11 players in poses that indicate position on the team. These figures are placed onto a plastic green base the underside of which is bristled with thin strands that give the figure direction and movement when placed on the playing field. Two such teams, when placed in oppossing football formations, will bounce and vibrate in a manner very similar to real football play.

Dan Reardon has taken this game to a level of competition that has caught the interest of the Lion's Den wargame club, alumni members, and several interested friends who only game with us for this one annual occassion. What he has created are rules to add to this game. The rules have provisions for key skilled players whose actions are dictated by rolling percentile die.

The quarter back, kicker, and punter have skill numbers generated on a series of D10 rolls. These percentages are used at key times during active play to decide if declared actions are successful. Power is turned off. Percentile die are rolled and compared to the skill. Passes are completed or missed, as are field goals, points after, and punts. The end of every down is punctuated by percentile check versus the penalty chart. Every aspect that can be accounted for can be simulated in miniature with die rolls, plastic football figures, and the electric hum of vibrating metal.

Since 1987, the Electric Football Extravaganza has grown and produced some interesting anecdotes. What began on two of the electric gameboards has balooned to a five board ten team league. Coaches are encouraged to keep the same football team yearly, and most develop some affinity to the real football team. It is hilarious to see a coach verbally encourage his team in action. It is unavoidable enthusiasm surfacing for the teams efforts- good or bad. The deaf ears of the little plastic players have heard every sort of praise and abuse imaginable.

Often times table talk settles into the pattern of the play by play game announcer"he breaks through the line. It's an open field...he's at the 30....the 25...the 20...he could go allll the way!"

At other times the jibes are strictly an attempt to unnerve the opponents coach by bragging about the power of your teams imagined skills. Certain phrases have come to be yearly favorites. Team coaches speak with a sense of trepidation when they mention the Viking "Ice Pick" or "Wedge" -- similar formations of brutally unstoppable plastic mayhem!

"Smash Mouth Football", The Chop", "The Big Show", and any host of sayings from real football are the ammunition of many verbal barrages.

The 1993 Electra Bowl VII is being played in Cordry Stadium (basement) Belton, MO. Past champions:

1987 I	Minnesota Vikings (27) Kenneth Van Pelt	Kansas City Chiefs (24) Dan Reardon
1988 II	Dallas Cowboys (28) Julio Heng	Seatle Seahawks (7) Paul Licktieg (stand-in)
1989 III	Kansas City Chiefs (21) Dan Reardon	New York Giants (7) Paul Licktieg
1990 IV	Kansas City Chiefs (34) Dan Reardon	Minnesota Vikings (27) Kenneth Van Pelt
1991 V	Los Angeles Raiders (35) John Van Pelt	Green Bay Packers (31) Julio Heng
1992 VI	Minnesota Vikings (28) Kenneth Van Pelt	Miami Dolphins (21) John Thayer
1993 VII	Minnesota Vikings (28) Kenneth Van Pelt	Denver Broncos (14) Terry Carr

In closing I would like to extend a hearty congratulations to all of the participating coaches and teams. I wish them good luck in the coming year and the electric football seasons to come.