This past weekend I was lucky enough to play host to my dear friend, Mark Zarb.  Our friendship was forged several years ago through our shared love of APBA Football and the New York Jets.  Over the last two-days, we enjoyed countless hours talking APBA Football.  Our discussions ranged from the intricacies of card making, Phil Molloy’s allocation system and Read-Option innovation, criteria associated with determining team ratings, extensive review of statistics from my 2011 NFL replay and an evaluation of several quarterback cards from the 2011 set.  Mark was extremely impressed with look of the new cards and that every player was carded.  However, we both wish APBA would quit carding kickers/punters with a fumble number who never had an actual fumble but besides that he came to the same conclusion that I did several months back, that whoever is carding the modern football seasons is doing a really good job. 

One card that we spent a lot of time reviewing was Aaron Rodgers.  The top line of the stat sheet is the result of my replay and the bottom line is actuals.   

I was very pleased how Aaron Rodgers performed for me but Mark was concerned about the touchdown disparity.  So for the next 2-hours I had the pleasure of being “Behind the Curtain” and watched him card Aaron Rodgers.  I joked with him that people would pay good money to be sitting in my chair but I came away with even a greater appreciation for the pain staking effort that goes into carding a set.  I won’t post his results but they were slightly different than Rodger’s official card.

Afterwards, Mark wanted to watch me “roll a game” of my current replay.  So I took him to Memorial Stadium and he watched the Baltimore Colts take on the Los Angeles Rams. Besides the bantering back and forth and the countless laughs, he thoroughly enjoyed watching firsthand the impact his innovations had on the game.  For instance, Roman Gabriel tossed 5 interceptions in the game with two of them coming off of the Colts +13 interception rating.  On another occasion, I rolled a “Full Fumble” number (33) on a Ram’s player, however, after consulting the “Forced Fumble” table it was determined that another dice roll was required and if the result was 24-66 the fumble would stand.  I rolled a 22 nullifying the fumble and jokingly said the Colts just got “Zarbed”.  Trust me when I say, Roman Gabriel is still muttering it under his breath.  On countless occasions, he witnessed the power of the “Yards per Catch” innovation, especially with Jack Snow.

The following day, he watched me roll a game between the Boston Patriots and the Miami Dolphins.  In real life, the Patriots routed the Dolphins 41-10 and the replay didn’t disappoint with the Dolphins getting crushed 48–14.  I kept telling him how Babe Parilli has enjoyed “hot dice” during this replay and Mark guaranteed me that the Babe would toss 3 interceptions against the Dolphins.  Parilli opened the game going 7 for 7 with dice rolls of 11, 22, 66, 44 (laughs) and he finished with only 1 interception.  Needless to say, Babe Parilli is still mocking Mark Zarb.

In the below photo, Mark Zarb is on the left and I am on the right.