Before the age of sports video games and kids screaming at each other on headsets, children of all ages used to scream at each other live, and in person while they played sports board games or their favorite sport on hand-held electronic devices. Personally, I kinda like the old way better because you and your friends could beat up the cheaters when your parents weren’t watching.
Rocky: The Board Game – It had all the excitement of Rocky Balboa boxing match without all weird moaning noises and fake punching.
Arnold Palmer’s Indoor Golf Course – It was a staple of my grandparents basement when I was a child and tried playing it with minimal succes on many occasions. All I can say is before you start swinging away with mini-Arnold on a stick, I highly recommend drinking a couple Arnold Palmers… with vodka.
Wayne Gretzky’s All-Star Hockey – The slider hockey player game era was one of the greatest in sports board game history and it made football seem like a game for Quakers.
Coleco Head-to-Head Baseball – This Coleco classic also came in basketball, boxing and hockey. It was easily one of the easiest ways to start a road trip fight in the back of a station wagon in the 80’s.
Electronic Vibrating Football – Spend 30 minutes setting up the players, turn on the electricity and watch them all fall down. It was a great way to kill five hours back in the 50’s.
Mickey Mantle’s Big League Baseball – Gardner games captured all of the magic of seeing Mickey Mantle play baseball in this magical spin the wheel board game that was almost as much fun as spending a night with The Mick in NYC.
The Harlem Globetrotter’s Board Game – Washington Generals not included. Okay fine, they were and just as sad in the board game version.
Wonderful Waterful Basketball – If you were a kid in the late 70’s or early 80’s looking to master the art of underwater basketball, then WWB was your jam. I have actually also played this game and it only took an average of 15 minutes to make a shot.
Roger Staubach’s Monday Night Football – Part electronic, part board game… or was it bored game?
Gotham Push Button Baseball – Before Batman arrived, the kids of Gotham in the 50’s were blown away by the world’s first push-button baseball game. The bat only worked half the time, so you got to spend the other half punching your brother in the arm.
Electronic Pocket Football by Tiger – This game took care of road trips during my formidable middle school years, back when I used to dream about a future where cars had built-in televisions.
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