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The 1977 Convention continued to grow and we saw even more people come to participate with us. Many former champions joined us at this convention although none of them were able to repeat. Steve Dempsey took a shot at an unprecedented third time to be the Elementary Baseball B Champion but was unable to do so. On a personal note, at this time in my life, I had just graduated the University and to be honest, after doing four conventions, I was really hoping someone else would set up and guide the next ones. We weren't sure (since we wouldn't be attending the U. of I. anymore) if we could still use the facilities at the university for future conferences but I will wait to discuss this on the page for the '78 Convention. Again, we had some discussions with good friends who lived outside of Illinois about doing several regional tournaments in the same year. I really thought this would happen based on the enthusiasm we received from some of the people we spoke to who joined us in Champaign-Urbana this year.
Of course we were very grateful to the
editors of the Review for continuing to let their readers know about our
events and we sure would have liked to have had someone from the Game
Company come to join us -- but we understood that they were pretty busy
and of course they were continuing to expand into new games around this
time as well. But as the organizers, we were happy because the
people coming to the conventions were enjoying themselves but
unfortunately the time for us to be with our S-O-M family was always too
short. Again, please find below some of the articles in the S-O-M
Review which discussed our convention and events around it -- enjoy!!! EARLY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Sixth National S-O-M Convention Planned Early spring howlings from Rick (Wolfman) Shapiro indicate that the Sixth Annual S-O-M National Convention will be a summer happening come August 5-7. Again the site will be Champaign-Urbane, IL, at the college campus. Five tournaments will again be staged, according to Wolfman: Elementary Baseball A (1905-1957) and B (1960-76), Advanced Football, Advanced Baseball and Super Advanced Football. Play will commence Friday, with the finals slate for Sunday. A bowling and hockey tournament are also planned. Entry fee for the three-day S-O-M fun bash will be a nominal $3.00. Shapiro, who has shouldered most of the responsibility for the organization and running off of past tournaments, is asking for help this time around. He would like two people (with organizational talents and plenty of patience) to contact him immediately at: xxxxxxx, U.R.H. Urbane, IL xxxxx. Furthermore all mail correspondence relating to the convention will be handled by Dale Barnes (xxxxxx, Park Forest, IL xxxxx). Any correspondence needing an answer should include a SASE.
Illinois U. Campus Again Site They'll be rollin' dice in numbers ranging from 100 to 150 people come the end of July this summer. The mass rattling of the cubes will signal the start of another national Strat-O-Matic Convention at Champaign-Urbana on the university of Illinois campus. Rick Shapiro and Dales Barnes have already mapped out most of the plans for the summer gathering, which will begin on July 29 and conclude on Sunday, July 31. In the meantime, of course, there will be tournaments (plus trophies provided by Hiram A. Raldiris of New York) galore. Two elementary baseball and one advanced football tournament will
kickoff the schedule on the 29th, with advanced baseball and super
advanced football beginning the next day. Flyers (included with Early arrivals can hit Conventiontown on Tuesday, July 26. Tourney officials will be there beginning on Wednesday. So, if you already haven't set those dates aside, plan on doing so and joining in the summer S-O-M fun frolic.
JULY ISSUE, 1977 Strat-O-Matic games will again hit the halls of higher learning soon. Although it may appear to the uninformed to be a convention of Las Vegas-bound gamers, perhaps tuning up for some high-stakes rolling in the city of "Neon Lights," in reality it will be the fourth annual S-O-M Convention, as staged by the S-0-M Game Club at the Champaign-Urbana campus at the University of Illinois. Plenty of familiar faces and names in the S-O-M world will be descending on Urbana for the July 29-31 convention. Robert Henry of Detroit will be on the scene with his huge baseball card collection; past tournament champions such as Mike Ericksen, Steve Dempsey and Dale Barnes will be defending honors won in recent years; and gamers from far-flung places throughout the U.S., perhaps Canada, will be there -- simply because they enjoyed themselves so much at other conventions. "One of the things which indicates we are doing a good job (running the conventions) is that those people who have attended earlier conventions, come back," points out Rick (Wolfman) Shapiro, who organized and helped run off the previous successful national S-O-M gatherings that were held at Urbana. "This is the ultimate thing one can do in Strato and we are concerned that everyone enjoy themselves. It is a time to meet people from all over the country, see old friends, or make new ones," adds Shapiro. Over 100 people are expected. In addition to the past champs, convention organizers are looking for the Sherman brothers, Ed and Seth, to motor in from New York state and perhaps bring along Tom Nelson, another former football champion; Stan Awtrey to make the long haul from Atlanta, GA; and a flock of mid-western gamers to all participate in the fun and frolicking. CONVENTION SCHEDULE Shapiro sends out an S.O.S. that help is needed for running the Friday portion of the tournament. Dale Barnes of Park Forest, IL, is taking over most of the duties performed by Shapiro in the past (the Wolfman wants his S-O-M dice to 'howl' more than in the past when he was t00 busy running the convention and had little time to participate in the tournaments). So, if interested in lending a hand, contact Barnes at xxxxxx, Park Forest, IL xxxxx. If no volunteers? Shapiro says he will come out of his brief retirement, Bob Andersen will actually be running the tournaments on Saturday, with Hiram Raldiris of New York supplying the trophies that will go to the winners in the five categories. Conventioneers, for a $3.00 entry fee, will be allowed to participate in two of the following: advanced baseball or super advanced football (pick one), or elementary baseball 1905-57, elementary baseball 1960-76 and advanced football [pick one]. This format will prevent the tourneys from running too long and participants--the successful ones--being forced to drop out of some because of overlapping. More activity will be available in the form of a bowling tournament, an electric hockey tournament, perhaps some basketball, as well as the opportunity to buy and sell S-O-M cards and teams, and to just sit and chat with and meet other gaming enthusiasts. FLYER DESCRIBES DETAILS Many of you have probably already received a flyer in the mail that describes the upcoming convention, shows memorable moments from past years, and has a coupon for you to fill in if planning on attending this year's convention. The coupon (or entry blank) should be sent to Barnes (coupon includes your name, address, zip and two tournaments you choose to participate in). Include a stamped, self-addressed envelope so Barnes can send back a receipt card and the times your tournaments start. Remember: July 29-31, at Champaign-Urbana, U. of Illinois. S-O-M fun
time. BE THERE!
Vol.. VII-7
October 1977 50¢
Well over 100 gamers, including many past
champions, descended on Champaign-Urbana, IL, the latter part of July for
the fourth straight summer-time convention put on by Rick (Wolfman)
Shapiro. Close to 200 people took part in the festivities in some
capacity, either as tournament hopefuls, parents, girl friends, wives, or
just the curious. PARADE OF CHAMPIONS Here are the tournaments and ultimate
winners:
ELEMENTARY
BASEBALL - A (1905-57) - Johnnie Branigan ('40 Reds)
defeated
Dale Barnes ('24 Senators) in the final round, 7-5 in runs (teams are
switched in
the two game round). Both finalists incidentally, were from Park Forest,
IL.
Rick (Wolfman) Shapiro, after four straight national convention
successes, is stepping down. At the conclusion of this summer's convention
in
Champaign-Urbana, IL, he announced that it was the last one he would be
running. MORE HELP NEEDED Shapiro says the plan above is not the "final word", however, if there is
anyone else who is interested in organizing such a convention, send him
a SASE, and he'll pass along his (Shapiro's) experiences for you. BASEBALL RULES DESCRIBED For those thinking of holding such a tournament, but unaware of the rules
of play,
here is a sample from the baseball rules used at the Champaign-Urbana
Convention.
Note, in particular, that the teams are switched in a two-game series and
that the
winning team (manager) is the one (the person) with the most accumulative
runs.
Hence, you could lose the opener, 3-1, using Houston against Cincinnati
with the
'76 cards, but then pound out a 10-2 win the Reds in the second game and
thus
win the series by a 11-5 run margin.
6. A player may not play any position other than what is stated on his
card.
To correspond with the "Wolfman" feel free to send him an email at:
To view the leagues that the "Wolfman" is competing
in, feel free to visit:
To read the article entitled "The Wolfman's Return to SOM", which
deals
Or to read his article about Wolfman's first experience at the
Star Tournaments http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/startournament_chi1.html
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