1980 Remix- Introduction
1980 Remix is an attempt, perhaps foolhardily, to relive, from a sports perspective, the major events of 1980. Each month will have at least one post, sometimes more than one, describing the events of the time- hit movies and TV shows and pop songs, events from politics and the world, along with the actual results of the event being recreated. Then, using primarily the Plaay.com family of games, I will replay the event- Super Bowl, the Masters, whatever happened that month- and describe to you, in a hopefully entertaining fashion, my results from the replayed game or series.
If you are new to this world, Plaay makes statistically based simulation games for the four major US sports, along with golf and tennis, and I will try, as closely as possible, to keep my replay within realistic bounds. That means, in this context, that players who appeared in the actual event will be eligible to appear in the replay, and players who were on the team but not eligible will not. For example, if there is a Royal or Phillie who appeared in games in 1980, but did not make a playoff or World Series appearance, they will not appear in the replay. However, if they did pinch run, say, and as far as can be determined they were eligible to play, I will feel free to pinch hit with them, or do whatever the game situation demands.
On the other hand, players who were injured during games, or otherwise limited by circumstance in the actual contests will be, in the replay, fully active and healthy. For example, Kareem Abdul Jabbar missed Game 6 of the NBA Finals with a severe ankle injury. This will not limit him in the replay version- if the game engine allows him to stay healthy, he will stay healthy. If a driver blew out an engine on the 20th lap of the actual Daytona 500, they will still be able to compete and win in the replay- unless, of course, the dice happen to conspire to eliminate them again.
To the maximum extent possible, statistical realism will be maintained. There are some unavoidable (or, unavoidable without an amount of work that I am simply not willing to do) problems with doing this. Any game that relies on averages falls victim to the fact that a .300 hitter doesn't wake up hitting .300 every day. Sometimes mental factors, or a lingering injury, or a head cold, impact their abilities on a given day, and a card based on a season long average does not account for this. (Although Plaay's games do have systems to try and account for momentary hot streaks or slumps in performance.) (Since Plaay does not have a boxing game, Jim Trunzo's Title Bout II will simulate the big bouts of 1980, and the boxers' cards are also, necessarily, career averages. The Ray Leonard card is an average of all his fights at that weight, and, like all of us, he was not the same man in his 30s as he was in his 20s.) Golfers and auto racers also practice in arenas that are absolutely critical to the outcome of the contest, and I am not sure I could easily determine the changes that Augusta National has made between 1980 and today, so the simulated 1980 Masters will take place on, essentially, Augusta as it is now.
So that covers the what and the how. The why is less clear. I'm doing this because I want to, and because Plaay's Keith Avallone inspired it with his "1980 Sports Time Machine" package. I'm submitting it to a newsletter because I want to force myself to actually finish this project, and if I have 5 (or 10 or 15 or 50) people waiting to read it, that will help motivate me to stick with it.
So welcome aboard, and I hope you enjoy the ride.