About

Welcome to the start of what will hopefully become a lengthy and well received site.  What I am setting out to do is to simulate as many major sporting events as possible from the past 100+ years. Why would I want to do something like that?  Let me tell you, and explain how I am going to be doing this.


From an early age, I discovered that while I loved sports, playing them at a competitive level was soon going to be out of the question.  My lack of hand/eye coordination, coupled with a general absence of speed on my part, ended my playing days at the ripe old age of 13.  Right around that time, I read an article about a new website that was starting up that would allow you to simulate a game between any Major League Baseball team ever assembled.  With my interests piqued, I visited WhatIfSports.com for the first time, and quickly fell in love with it.

Almost 22 years later, I still visit WhatIfSports on an almost daily basis, as they have expanded their baseball simulations to include football, basketball and hockey.  Meanwhile, my interests with sports simulations continued to grow.  Aside from playing every year's version of Madden, MLB: The Show and NCAA Football (RIP), I wanted something more in depth, something that would allow me to run an entire team from top to bottom and play the games as well.

I found that game with Out Of The Park Baseball, or OOTP for short, which I purchased for the first time back on version four.  Out Of The Park Developments, who makes the game, is now up to version 24, and every year it just keeps getting better.  For the first time, not only was I able to run an entire franchise, but I could simulate any historical baseball season and reshape baseball history as I saw fit.  For me, this was the next logical step in sports games.

Since I first downloaded OOTP Baseball, I've found other games that have increased my enjoyment of text based simulations for other sports.  Along the way, I've run many historical simulations for baseball, football, basketball and hockey, but what I've gotten out of it has almost always been my own. Aside from this thread on the OOTP Developments forum, I've kept my enjoyment of sports simulations mainly to myself.

 With more and more quality sports simulations coming out, and recent world events cancelling all sporting events for the foreseeable future, I've decided that the time is right to make a site dedicated to what will become one of the largest simulation efforts that I have ever done: The Great Sports Replay.  What I plan on doing is turning the clock back to 1901, when the American League and National League first combined to form Major League Baseball.  I've used Out of the Park Baseball to simulate the years 1871-1900, which were the years prior to the formation of the American League.  From the 1901 season on, I'm going to simulate that season, and every season, up to and including the present day.

It's not just going to be baseball that has an eraser run across its history, though.  I'm also going to be simulating the histories of football (both college and professional), hockey, basketball (both college and professional), horse racing, auto racing, tennis, golf and even the World Cup.  As the years advance, more and more sports will get involved, until I have every sport simulating in every year.

Players are going to be different, records are going to be changed, championships that may have been lost on a single play or moment are going to have a chance to be won again.  Everything is going to be different in the sports world as we move through the years.  There are going to be players that you've never heard of become Hall of Fame athletes.  Moments that have been remembered forever will either change, or not happen at all.  In the end, this is going to be a different reality, and it's going to be fun as it gets shaped.

Now, how will I be simulating all of these sports?  I'm going to be using a variety of different sports simulations to act out these events, and I would suggest that all of you check these out as well.

This is the most complete sports simulation out on the market that I'm going to be using.  You can go through every level of the minors and simulate every baseball season ever.

Pro Strategy Football 23 is a simulation that runs all the way back to the 1932 NFL season, which is where I will be starting.  It has accurate divisions and teams, as well as the ability to run college drafts and operate the AFL during the 1960s.  

For many of the early college bowl games I will be using Second and Ten Football, and while I am considering utilizing it for all my college football simulations, I may turn to WhatIfSports for the more recent college games.

Basketball: Basketball GM
A perfect basketball simulation has been more difficult to find.  Fortunately, Basketball GM, a free website that allow the complete simulation of the NBA from 1947 through today.  With add-ons, you can add real players and team names/logos.  The game is programmed with accurate rule changes, and is completely customizable.  The only thing that it's missing is the ABA, but that's nothing too serious.

For college basketball, the plan is much more simple.  I will be utilizing Action PC Basketball to simulate as many NCAA Tournaments as possible.  If I'm not able to use Action PC, I'll use WhatIfSports to complete the tournament.

Another product from Out of the Park Developments, Franchise Hockey Manager 5 allows users to manage your favorite hockey team from anywhere in the world while sitting at your desk or on your couch.  If you would like a run a KHL team, you can do that.  Feel like starting with an ECHL franchise and then making your way to the NHL?  You're more than welcome to do that as well.

FHM 9 also allows for very good historical replays starting with the 1917-18 season, which is where I will be starting in this simulation.

Horse Racing: Top of the Stretch
A solid horse racing simulation.  All you need to run through the Triple Crown races is the racing charts for the event, and you're all set.  I will be simulating the Triple Crown races from 1901 until the present.

World Cup Soccer: Classic Soccer
To simulate the history of the FIFA World Cup, I will be using Classic Soccer, a text based game created by the makers of Time Travel Tennis.  They have each World Cup available for purchase, and they are working on adding MLS season as well.  If they can get those seasons available, I will run simulations of MLS as well.

This is another quick play simulation by Roberto Chiavini, and it starts auto racing back in 1949, and runs through the present.  This is the only historical racing simulation that I've found, and I have enjoyed playing it, which is why I have decided to add it to the fold of games that I will be using.

For the Indy 500, I'm going to use TMG Indianapolis Auto Racing.  It will allow me to simulate each race from 1911-1994.  Following the 1994 Indy 500, I'll use Roberto Chiavini's text based Indy 500 simulation. 

A very good tennis simulation, Time Travel Tennis is made by ASG Games, and has over 280 men, and 120 women rated and available for use in historical tennis simulations.  The competitors go all the way back to the finals of Wimbledon in 1901, which is where I will be starting the simulation.  As the competitors of other tournaments, both male and female, become available, I will be starting simulations of those events as well.

One more simulation from Roberto Chiavini, Heroes of the Majors is a text based golfing simulator starting in 1934, which was the year of the first Masters.  I've taken Roberto's lists of golfers and added an Excel formula to help speed the simulation up, and it's given me good results so far.

Roberto Chiavini comes through again with another text based simulation.  He has all Summer and Winter Olympics available for purchase, and I will be starting in 1904 (my favorite Olympics ever).

So, that's what's on tap for this site.  It's going to be a long project, but I know that it's going to be worth it.  I will have the links to all of the simulations that I mentioned along the side of this site, so feel free to click and take a look at what's out there.  I think that some of you are going to like what you see.

Thank you for reading, and enjoy the ride.

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