Steelman wrote:

Depending on how long your season is, a week-by-week format is definitely a huge time commitment though, I'd make sure you really want to do that before committing to it. The NFL/American football style is easier because the season schedule is super short.

If you wanted to feature some regular season games, you could highlight a game of the week, or the late-season playoff race, or something like that. I think most people care more about the playoffs though as far as game scores.

I'll agree with what Steel says about the week to week time commitment. Really slows down progress as you move forward, but adds depth. If you are simple enough with the recaps then its not too bad, but I would say you really gonna want to do it if you go that route.

I would say game of the week is certainly a good direction, and really if you go just a full recap you have the realism of having the scores which you can mention in the recap. 

 

Apart from the weekly scores, I'd like to see some anecdotes on how the game grows as time goes on.

C'mon Panthers, hopefully they can break out in 1947. 

Go Bears!

Nice job on the write up.

Hey everyone, I haven't forgotten/lost interest in this at all, I've just been focusing on school. Thankfully I have a lighter schedule now, so I have more time to work on this. Here's the 1946 playoff post.

Before I start, here are some notes and rules to help contextualize what happens in the game summaries.
   -   In the early days of the league, points were kicked much more commonly than goals, so that’s why you’ll see much more mentions of them compared to goals.
   -   In the AFL (Aussie Rules, the sport runty is modelled after), after a team scores a behind (the equivalent of a point in runty), they kickoff the ball from their goal, moving it toward midfield. The same thing happens after a point in runty.
   -   As well in the AFL, when the ball hits a post, no matter what, a point is automatically awarded. In Runty, the rule is different. If a ball hits a post/crossbar but stays in the field of play, it’s still a live ball. If it goes out of play after hitting a post (including hitting the crossbar and going down into the net), it’s automatically a point.

As well, any feedback on the format of this post (Things you think could be added/removed) is appreciated!

As the NERC was in its early stages, League President Elmer Wilkins admitted that they would test out several different playoff formats in the first few years before settling on a permanent format. For the 1946 season, they would be testing out a round-robin for the top 3 regular-season teams, with the higher-seeded team hosting their games. This meant that the 1st-placed New York Knights would play both of their games at home, and the 3rd-placed Hempstead Clippers would play both of their games on the road.

(1) New York Knights vs (2) Bronx Bears
New York Runty Park, the largest stadium in the NERC, was packed in for the first professional runty playoff game, between the top 2 teams in the 1946 NERC Season, the New York Knights and Bronx Bears. New York won both games between the two during the season, 24-17 and 18-10.

The game started out at a pretty good pace, with the Bears getting multiple good looks early on. Unfortunately for them, they only managed 3 points out of it. To add insult to injury, the very first shot on net by the Knights ended up being a goal, giving them a 4-3 lead 8:19 into the opening 24 minutes. 2 minutes later, New York kicked a point. After that, what had been a relatively-high paced, entertaining game became a defensive stalemate. Neither team could get anything close to a good chance, and the remaining 14 minutes saw little action. New York’s 5-3 lead held up through 1 quarter. Early in the second, Bronx CF Clyde Stoddard punched home a corner kick, giving the Bears their first lead of the game. They added another point, then there was another long period of slow play. Finally, with 2:26 to play in the half, the Knights took the lead back, as LF Hugh Belrose had an easy kick from right in front. At the half, New York led a close game 9-8.

The third quarter saw more missed chances from both sides. Over the first 11 minutes, New York kicked two points, while the Bears kicked 3, making it an 11-11 game. One of the points included a penalty missed high by New York’s Joe Hunnith. Just past the halfway mark of the quarter, with the scores still deadlocked, the Knights’ Ray Morris took the ball out of a scramble, did a few stutter steps, and scored to give the Knights their fourth lead of the day. The remaining 11 minutes of the quarter were largely uneventful, though Bears forward Denny MacTominay hit the crossbar with a shot. The Knights led 15-11 heading into the final quarter. In the fourth, another spell of slow play occured, and the first score didn’t occur until past the halfway point, when the Bears kicked a point. That point gave the Bears’ offense a boost, and just under two minutes later, Ricardo Rizzo kicked a goal off a penalty kick, making it 16-15 for the Bears. Unfortunately for the Bears, that would be their last score of the game. 45 seconds after the ensuing jump-ball, the Knights came back and RB Oliver Chern kicked his second goal of the game. The Bears tried to get a goal back, but couldn’t get anything to work. Eventually, with 2:32 to play, New York got another goal from their defense, extending their lead to 23-16, which wound up being the final score. 

The Knights now just had to win their second game, against the Hempstead Clippers, to be crowned champions. On the other hand, the Bears needed to win their next game against Hempstead, and hope that the Clippers defeated the Knights to have a chance at the title.

(2) Bronx Bears vs (3) Hempstead Clippers
Riverside Field was filled with Bears fans, hoping their team could come back strong against the 3rd seed Hempstead Clippers. Both regular season games between the two teams were close, but the Bronx won both times, 22-20 and 32-29. 

The first quarter did not start off well for the home side, as the Clippers scored two quick points. As well, the Bears didn’t get a shot until the 14-minute mark, and that was missed well wide. With just over 6 minutes to play, Clippers star RF Eddy Tracy kicked his second score of the game, as well as the game’s first goal. Soon after, Hempstead kicked another point, making it 7-0, which held after 1 quarter. The home supporters were not happy and they let the Bears know it, booing the players as they huddled between quarters. Fortunately for the fans, that seemed to motivate the Bears players, as they controlled the ball for the opening half of the quarter, getting a point and a goal from Dave Quick to get within 2 points. The rest of the quarter was pretty slow, with the only other score being a point by Hempstead. After 48 minutes of play, the Clippers led a defensive game 8-5.

Hempstead had mostly controlled the ball to end out the second half, and that continued throughout the third quarter. In the first 6 minutes, the Clippers kicked two points and got a goal from LB Simon O’Regan. The next 13 minutes would see the Bears furiously try to get anything going offensively, but nothing worked. They eventually had a great look from Denny MacTominay, but rover Sam Albrek made a great save to prevent any score. Late in the quarter, a shot from Tracy hit the crossbar and bounced up, giving Hempstead a 15-5 lead heading into the fourth. The Bears would have to score 3 unanswered goals to take the lead, a tough but possible task. Unfortunately for them, their work became even harder as ruck Gerry Edward scored for the Clippers just 31 seconds in. However, the Bears weren’t giving up yet, and their offense started playing the best they’d played all game. MacTominay scored just past the midway point, and just over a minute later, RU James Justice kicked a goal from a tough angle. All of a sudden, the Bears were within 6 points. MacTominay had another great chance to score, but he hit the crossbar once again, and the ball bounced back in play and was great. That seemed to kill the momentum for the Bronx, as the only other score in the game would be a Hempstead point. 

As the final buzzer went, Riverside Field was in disbelief. The Bears had been eliminated from championship contention, and the Clippers had set up a decisive, winner-take-all game against the Knights, to determine the inaugural NERC champions.

(1) New York Knights vs (3) Hempstead Clippers
After the Clippers’ unexpected win against the Bears, the final round-robin game became an unofficial championship game, as whichever team that emerged victorious would be crowned the inaugural NERC champions. The season series between the two teams was split, though both games were blowouts. New York won the first meeting 33-13, and Hempstead won the second one 49-13.

For such a high-stage game, the pace was very slow to start off. The first shot didn’t occur until 6:36, when a shot from Joe Hunnith was saved by Sam Albrek. The teams traded chances, but still couldn’t get anything on target. Eventually, with under 10 minutes to play in the quarter, New York’s Ed Rose broke through, with a perfectly placed shot from 20 yards out. Fans were hoping this would kickstart the offense, but the only other score of the quarter would be a late point from Hunnith. After 1 quarter of play, the Knights led 5-0. To start the second, Hempstead controlled the ball, and managed to get a goal from Albrek by the 3-minute mark. Unfortunately for the entertainment factor, the pace would die down after that, and the game went 10 minutes without a shot. The shot was taken by Hunnith but saved by Albrek. Eventually, after 20:02 without a change in score, the Clippers had a shot deflect just wide for a point. Hempstead’s Bobby Doherty intercepted the ensuing kickoff, and drew a penalty shot, which he placed perfectly, giving the Clippers the lead. The Knights had a great chance to tie late, but only managed a point. At the half, the visitors shockingly led 9-6.

The home supporters were hoping the Knights would be able to start the second half strong, but the Clippers won the opening jump-ball, and controlled possession for the majority of the first part of the quarter. After a few Hempstead blocked shots, Eddy Tracy got his name on the scoresheet, lobbing Knights RU Donald Walter. 6 minutes later, Allen Formock joined in on the action, and Hempstead’s lead increased to 11. The Knights finally got the ball of the jump-ball, and Hunnith had yet another chance, but it hit the crossbar before going into the net, good for only a point. After that, inaccurate kicking would take over, and both teams had at least 2 shots miss completely wide. In the late stages, the Knights got some more shots on target, but they were taken care of by Albrek and RU Arthur Wink. As the third quarter ended, the Clippers found themselves up 17-7 and 24 minutes away from winning the NERC’s inaugural championship. To start the fourth quarter, the Knights got more chances, but all they could manage was a point from Oliver Chern. By the 11-minute mark, New York were playing as if they had already lost. At the midway point, the Clippers put the nails in the coffin. They kicked a point, then intercepted the kickoff and Albrek punched home his second goal of the game. The remaining 11 minutes would consist of the ball being turned over multiple times in the midfield. 

Eventually, the final buzzer went, and for the second consecutive week, the Hempstead Clippers had stunned the opposition’s home fans, and become the first professional runty team to win a league championship. In the post-game festivities, League president Elmer Wilkins presented the Clippers with both the NERC Championship Trophy and a championship flag to be unveiled at their first home game of the 1947 season.



1946 Championship Flag:

That concludes the 1946 playoff post? What are your thoughts? Who do you think will make the playoffs and win it all in 1947? Let me know!