The King of Paper Football Comes Out of Retirement

The Paper Football League

I have never lost a game of Paper Football.  Ever.  I began playing the game as a first grader and suited up for the paper gridiron literally thousands of times for more than a decade.  It was a favorite pastime during school lunch, rainy day recess, and yes – in class time as well.  Like many things that end with high school graduation, however, my days of paper football playing came to a close.  After 12 years and thousands of games, I stood as the undisputed, undefeated champion of Paper Football.

It has been 18 years since I’ve played or made a Paper Football.  I was officially in retirement.  The gold trophy in my mind was pushed to the far back corner collecting mental dust.  And then came the onset of The Traveling Twosome competitions.

Char and I have been competing and challenging one another to event after event and posting about it on this site.  It started with our Pool Competitions, led to Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resorts face-offs, and even included Big Toe Wrestling.  By Traveling Twosome reader request, we’re holding an arm wrestling challenge in less than two weeks from now.  Challenges and competitions have become part of the lifeblood for The Traveling Twosome.

Char and Louis Play Paper Football

Along the way – and I actually forget when – someone suggested we play paper football.  This would be too easy…  Char has never played.  I explained the rules to her and we even played a practice game while having lunch one day.

Today, Saturday, January 16th, 2010 – I officially came out of retirement and put my title on the line against a rookie to the sport.  We agreed to a game of two 3 minute halves.  And now… the color commentary…

The Big Game

The game started with both of us trading hits on the football but no scores for quite some time.  In fact, at half time, the score was only 6-3.  Believe it or not, Char scored first with a touchdown but missed the point after.  I answered with a field goal moments later.  The second half, however, would showcase both my amazing skill and focus when under pressure.  I finished the game on top with a score of 24-19.  Char was MUCH better than I anticipated.  The game was indeed quite close… but I was able to make quick work of her once I got back in my groove of this sport.  Realizing she was only one touchdown away from a massive upset victory, she wanted a rematch and we agreed to a “best of 3″ series.  Before we move on to Game 2, here are some video captures from the first game. All videos are MP4s playable in Quicktime, iTunes, VLC, or any browser with Quicktime support.

Char is struck in the forehead (4.5 MB)

Louis wins the game (7.5 MB)

Game 2

Game 2 was much more competitive but you wouldn’t have guessed that by the first half.  Char thought she had the ability to pull off an upset and I was getting back into the swing of things.  At the half, the score stood at 26-6, my lead.  In one half, I had scored more points than my entire previous game.  The second half got more intense and I only scored one more touchdown (missing the point after) the entire time.  Char’s comeback was pretty spectacular, I must admit.  Char caught up…  and at the buzzer, the game was tied at 32-32.  I still have never lost a game of Paper Football.  But Char became the first person to ever play me to a draw.

Game 3

I had won one and we tied one.  There would be no way for me to lose the best of 3 series at this point – but I didn’t want Char to even tie it up.  With that in mind, we began play again.  Game 3 was all offensive at first.  By the half, the score was 29-26 – I was in the lead.  The second half was intensely competitive – and with just seconds remaining, there was a flurry of touchdowns. Knowing the ending buzzer was about to go off, I stopped calculating the score and just jotted tick marks to the score sheet for each touchdown.  As time was nearly running out, Char scored once more and a quick glance at the tick marks showed her with the possible lead.  Literally at the buzzer, I scored a final touchdown.  We stopped to tabulate the score…  It was tied.  I still got a chance to kick the extra point.  If I missed, we would end with a tie; if I made it, I’d win game 3 and the best of 3 series.  It veered wide left.

At the end of three games, I had won 1 and we tied 2.  I retained my paper football championship but had a close call to say the least!  Char and I played one more game after the best of three – and would you believe it?  We tied again.

Here are some more videos from the competition…

Using the Straight Edge to See if it is Really a Touchdown (3.3 MB)

Char Recaps the Competition (5 MB)

Char will be back for a rematch – I have no doubt of that.  And when that day comes, we will showcase it on The Traveling Twosome.  I think I’m officially out of retirement…

Tags: challenge, Char Magnifico, competition, Louis Magnifico, paper football, school, Traveling Twosome

This entry was posted on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 1:50 pm and is filed under 5. Competitions, Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.