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Monday, May 14, 2012

TWO STRAT-O-MATIC FANATICS WILL ATTEMPT TO BREAK WORLD RECORD BY PLAYING 54 CONSECUTIVE HOURS

Just make sure you tear up the pathetic Bobby Richardson card beforehand…so frustration doesn’t set in!

Brett Carow and Sam Hennemann, two Strat-O-Matic Fanatics from Minnesota, will attempt to make history next month when they set out to break the Guinness World Record (GWR) for longest marathon playing a board game (53 hours and 59 minutes). The event, hosted by Strat-O-Matic, will begin on Thursday, June 7 at 9 a.m. ET at Foley’s Pub & Restaurant (18 W. 33rd Street, NYC). Assuming the duo is able to overcome fatigue and any other obstacles that may stand in their way, the record would officially be broken on Saturday, June 9 at 3:00 p.m. ET.

“This event continues the celebration of Strat-O-Matic’s 50th Anniversary, which began last year with a convention in New York City, the selection of our ‘Ultimate Strat-O-Matic Fanatic’ and the production of a documentary movie about the Company and the passion of our game players,” said Hal Richman, the Founder and President of Strat-O-Matic. “We wish Brett and Sam the best of luck as they demonstrate how Strat-O-Matic’s playability and realism make it the only baseball simulation game you can play all day and night.”

Repoz Posted: May 14, 2012 at 12:39 PM | 34 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: fantasy

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1. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: May 14, 2012 at 01:00 PM (#4131089)

Assuming the duo is able to overcome fatigue and any other obstacles that may stand in their way,

their virginity will remain intact for another year.

2. just plain joe Posted: May 14, 2012 at 01:41 PM (#4131129)

their virginity will remain intact for another year.

At least it appears as if they got out of the basement for awhile.

3. Clemenza Posted: May 14, 2012 at 01:42 PM (#4131131)

#1 = Superb

4. Best Regards, L.M. Posted: May 14, 2012 at 02:58 PM (#4131170)

I'm assuming they're playing the Red Sox vs. the Yankees.

5. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: May 14, 2012 at 03:39 PM (#4131201)

What, do they piss in a bucket?

6. phredbird

Posted: May 14, 2012 at 03:44 PM (#4131209)

what have you done with yourselves? you -- you must be almost thirty. have you ever kissed a girl?

7. Shooty is in the Trust Tree

Posted: May 14, 2012 at 03:45 PM (#4131210)

Bah. I'm pretty sure I did this 3 or 4 times in the summer of '88. I am not impressed!

8. phredbird

Posted: May 14, 2012 at 03:48 PM (#4131212)

i didn't think so ... there's a whole world out there. when i was your age i didn't play strat-o-matic. i lived! so ... move out of your parents' basement ... and get your own apartments and grow the hell up!

9. Gamingboy Posted: May 14, 2012 at 03:52 PM (#4131217)

I'm assuming they're playing the Red Sox vs. the Yankees.

Well played.

10. SoCalDemon Posted: May 14, 2012 at 04:07 PM (#4131226)

#4: Since it doesnt say in the article, for most endurance records, Guinness allows breaks of, I think, 5 minutes per hour.

11. Random Transaction Generator Posted: May 14, 2012 at 04:17 PM (#4131233)

If they use the Mike Hargrove card, they can take a 10 minute break every time he comes to bat.

12. hokieneer Posted: May 14, 2012 at 04:35 PM (#4131246)

My personal record is probably <2 hours. Anymore than that and the dice and cards were in jeopardy from a breakdown. Playing Strat-O-Matic taught me I don't have the patience to work in a MLB front office.

13. Guapo Posted: May 14, 2012 at 04:36 PM (#4131248)

J. Henry Waugh: "OK, this is just weird"

14. Los Angeles El Hombre of Anaheim

Posted: May 14, 2012 at 04:41 PM (#4131253)

I remember going over 12 hours more than a few times during summers in the early 90s. No classes during the summer, a nothing job, my own place for the first time, hadn't acquired game consoles yet. 54 straight hours is a lot, but only because 54 straight hours of anything is a lot.

15. Misirlou is bad, he's nationwide Posted: May 14, 2012 at 04:51 PM (#4131264)

"I can play for 54 hours"

"Nobody can play for 54 hours."

"You ever play for 54 hours?"

"Nobody ever played for 54 hours."

"Mah boy says he can play 54 hours, then he can play 54 hours."

"Well, I believe I've have to take part of that wager."

"Alright, the syndicate will cover any money you got. Koko, get paper."

16. bobm Posted: May 14, 2012 at 04:53 PM (#4131270)

The Strat-O-Matic GWR event will be open to the public and media at all times, except for the hours of 4:00 a.m.-8:00 a.m., when Foley’s is closed. Carow and Hennemann will be playing seven game series’ of Strat-O-Matic Baseball, with the teams being used, both current and past, constantly rotating. Fans will have the opportunity to vote on the first matchup used during the GWR attempt in a poll on strat-o-matic.com, which will be available three weeks before the event.

If it were just Red Sox - Yankees, Foley's would close at 2 am half of the time.

17. AndrewJ Posted: May 14, 2012 at 04:54 PM (#4131271)

Never saw them fornicate.

18. RMc and His Roster of Rubbish Posted: May 14, 2012 at 05:22 PM (#4131295)

One way to actually make this interesting is to hold an NCAA-style tournament, with the teams seeded by 2011 record (with St. Louis and Texas 1 and 2, getting first-round byes). Assuming two hours per game, 29 games to eliminate all teams but one, that's 58 hours.

19. vortex of dissipation Posted: May 14, 2012 at 07:52 PM (#4131397)

Just make sure you tear up the pathetic Bobby Richardson card beforehand…so frustration doesn’t set in!

I play a SOM solitaire draft league with players from all different leagues and eras. One season the 1959 Bobby Richardson was drafted by a team playing in Coors Field, 2000. He hit .363, to lead the league...

20. Every day JLAC may or mayn't be hustlin Posted: May 14, 2012 at 07:55 PM (#4131399)

A game of Strat takes about 20 minutes, so that's 162 games.

21. Gold Star - just Gold Star Posted: May 14, 2012 at 08:30 PM (#4131424)

My game was Pursue the Pennant, with the red, white and blue 10-sided dice. I still use copies of its scoresheets to keep score of real games.

22. Los Angeles El Hombre of Anaheim

Posted: May 14, 2012 at 08:36 PM (#4131428)

My friend used to put his cards in the microwave to try to get his hitters to heat up.

23. frannyzoo Posted: May 14, 2012 at 08:46 PM (#4131441)

A game of Strat takes about 20 minutes, so that's 162 games.

I must have been doing it wrong, because it would sometimes truly take a half-hour to play one truly epic bottom of the ninth, including pitching changes, pinch-hitters, trips to get a "rally" beer, screaming, groaning, long, involved "discussions" on steal attempt rolls, and out-and-out screaming matches on whether the runners were held/rolls/etc..

24. Everybody Loves Tyrus Raymond Posted: May 14, 2012 at 10:37 PM (#4131582)

If you were doing it wrong, I don't want to do it right.

25. cardsfanboy

Posted: May 14, 2012 at 10:42 PM (#4131584)

Bah. I'm pretty sure I did this 3 or 4 times in the summer of '88. I am not impressed!

Yep, it's not even three days? I guess the hard part is staying up continously, but I'm fairly positive we had some D&D games that covered 60 hours of play over 3 days, and we weren't trying for any type of record.

26. Steve Balboni's Personal Trainer Posted: May 14, 2012 at 11:09 PM (#4131592)

Not that I've played any board game for 54 straight hours, but is it just me, or is playing Strat-O-Matic for 2 days and six hours (basically , like starting at 4 pm on a Friday, and finishing at 10 pm on a Sunday) not that crazy a thing to do to break a Guinness World Record?

In college, we had weekends where we started drinking at 4 pm on a Friday, watched college football from 11 am on Saturday to 1 am on Sunday morning, slept for eight hours, then got ready to watch pro football from 1 pm until about 11 pm. Is there a World Record available along these lines?

27. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: May 14, 2012 at 11:25 PM (#4131601)

Not that I've played any board game for 54 straight hours, but is it just me, or is playing Strat-O-Matic for 2 days and six hours (basically , like starting at 4 pm on a Friday, and finishing at 10 pm on a Sunday) not that crazy a thing to do to break a Guinness World Record?

Once they're done you can play for 55 hours and break their record. Or better yet, start simultaneously with them in another location, and once they stop playing, announce that you just beat their record by a minute.

28. Steve Balboni's Personal Trainer Posted: May 14, 2012 at 11:54 PM (#4131610)

Once they're done you can play for 55 hours and break their record. Or better yet, start simultaneously with them in another location, and once they stop playing, announce that you just beat their record by a minute.

This weekend, I was going to attend my younger daughter's 7th birthday party, mow our lawn, and help my elderly neighbor clean out his attic, but you don't get to break a Guinness Word Record everyday! My wife will be totally cool with this, once I explain how important this is. Yeah, It's On Like Donkey Kong!*

*It is actually not "On Like Donkey Kong" this weekend. I'm not sure if the guys that are setting out to earn this record are married; if they are, they likely won't be after about 54 hours of Strat-O-Matic.

**Additional note: Record for most consecutive hours of Strat-O-Matic played by two females: .5

29. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: May 15, 2012 at 01:28 AM (#4131617)

My wife will be totally cool with this, once I explain how important this is.

Perhaps you'd like to rethink your initial statement about how "crazy" a thing this is to do :)

Anyway, I work about 10 blocks from where this is taking place. Even though I never played SOM, a part of me wants to walk by after work and check it out.

30. AndrewJ Posted: May 15, 2012 at 06:33 AM (#4131634)

My game was Pursue the Pennant, with the red, white and blue 10-sided dice.

I've said this on another thread, but my baseball board games were (in chronological order) Ethan Allen's All-Star Baseball, the Sports Illustrated game from Avalon Hill and Pursue the Pennant. I think you had to send away for APBA and Strat-O-Matic through ads in Baseball Digest -- at least I never found them in the toy stores -- so they never appealed to me.

31. Repoz

Posted: May 15, 2012 at 06:45 AM (#4131636)

One season the 1959 Bobby Richardson was drafted by a team playing in Coors Field, 2000. He hit .363, to lead the league...

My friend used to put his cards in the microwave to try to get his hitters to heat up.

In one of our early leagues we had a Select-O-DL gizmo where you had to leave a burn mark or snip a piece of the card off every time a player went on the DL.

My devoidish Bobby Richardson card looked like some sagittal crestfallen Samsonite gorillas had picked up the game.

32. Repoz

Posted: June 01, 2012 at 03:40 PM (#4145383)

Bumped for Maxwell...

33. BDC

Posted: June 01, 2012 at 03:52 PM (#4145393)

in college, we had weekends where we started drinking at 4 pm on a Friday, watched college football from 11 am on Saturday to 1 am on Sunday morning, slept for eight hours, then got ready to watch pro football from 1 pm until about 11 pm. Is there a World Record available along these lines?

Allowing for different sports in different seasons, I'm currently at 36 years of that.

34. Jose Can Still Seabiscuit Posted: June 01, 2012 at 05:22 PM (#4145490)

One way to actually make this interesting is to hold an NCAA-style tournament, with the teams seeded by 2011 record (with St. Louis and Texas 1 and 2, getting first-round byes). Assuming two hours per game, 29 games to eliminate all teams but one, that's 58 hours.

In college a friend and I played a "1980s LCS Losers" tournament on MicroLeague Baseball. Best of seven series for each with my 1987 Tigers eventually edging my buddy's 1981 Expos behind Doyle Alexander's pitching and some timely hitting from Jim Walewander.

Through the tournament we had a no hitter (a not-stroked J.R. Richard), a 22 inning game (80 Astros again, Terry Puhl with the walkoff) and a 3-0 series lead lost (81 A's to the 81 Expos).

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Monday, May 14, 2012

TWO STRAT-O-MATIC FANATICS WILL ATTEMPT TO BREAK WORLD RECORD BY PLAYING 54 CONSECUTIVE HOURS

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