A few years back I wrote an article on the “5 Keys to Starting and Finishing a Replay.” In this article, I discussed having the experience to conduct a full season replay, tips for selecting the right season to replay, task breakdown hints, discussed variety options, and the importance of backing up your project. These are all important points, however, having completed several full-season projects since this article, I realized I missed the two most important keys which are “passion for the game” and “frequency of play.”

The real secret to starting and finishing a replay is quite simple, you have to “love playing the game”. Your passion for the hobby is what allows you to conduct a replay and deal with life’s responsibilities. Is it difficult juggling a 40 to 60-hour work week, family responsibilities, etc? You bet it is but not impossible if you “love playing the game”. I’m living proof, I worked those 60-hour workweeks and dealt with life-threatening health issues but still banged out games at a blistering pace. I lived on 4 to 5 hours sleep, was up at 5 a.m. each morning during the work week to roll a half, never watched TV unless it was a football game, and finished rolling/reporting the game later that evening. Why did I repeat this “24-hour cycle” for well over the last decade? It’s quite simple, I not only love the mechanics of playing the game, but thoroughly enjoy all aspects of preparing for and conducting a replay.

So many times, I see were a well-intentioned replay was started only to peter out after a few months or slow down to only a game or two per week. The fact of the matter is, the longer a project takes the odds of reaching completion diminish tremendously. Conducting a modern-day replay consists of 256 regular season games and eleven post-season games. Trust me, this is a grind but doable if you play a minimum of five games per week. If the replayer averages 5-games per week the regular season will be completed in 51.2 weeks or 12.8 or 13 months. Not to sound like “Debbie-downer” but don’t forget to factor in the “prep” work, which generally takes me anywhere between three to five months.

So if you are thinking about undertaking a replay, please, honestly answer the following question: “Do I love playing APBA Football enough to dedicate the time required?” If the answer is “I don’t know or not really”, don’t waste your time even considering a replay. There are so many other ways to enjoy this game while playing solitaire. Play a replay of your favorite team or player, conduct a mini-tournament, or just grab two teams and hit the gridiron tabletop. The beauty is you can make it as simple or complicated as you want to. You don’t even have to record player statistics just play to see who wins the game. For the “Mark Zarbs” of the world, who answered “YES”, your focus needs to be on frequency of play. A dollar to a donut, if someone asked my APBA Football brother and best friend, Mark Zarb, what impact have I had on his game? I bet his answer would be he plays games at a more accelerated pace compared to his earlier full-season replays.