1947-49 Megapost

Here's the first megapost, because I would like to get right back into the action quickly, the summaries aren't too detailed. If you want specific details about MVPs and other things added, even longer summaries, feel free to let me know, and I'll make sure to make these changes in the 1950s megapost.

The 6 Teams that took part in the 1947 NAML Season were:

Washington Warriors (EML)

The Warriors were the team that the creator of Markball, Graham Urquhart, created when he first came to America. The Warriors were the sport's first powerhouse, winning almost every EML Championship.

Philadelphia Falcons (EML)

Founded in 1925, the Falcons were always been the #2 team in the EML, winning 4 championships. The Falcons, as the series progresses, go on to have a huge rivalry with the Warriors.

Toronto Nationals (EML)

The Nats were the first Canadian Markball team, though they were originally based in Brampton, ON. Prior to joining the NAML, they were notorious for off-field troubles.

Chicago Crusaders (CML)

The Crusaders were the second markball team to be created, after one of the men Graham Urquhart trained brought the sport to Chicago. The Crusaders were the 1946 CML champions, and were the league's best team prior to joining the NAML.

Michigan Bandits (CML)

The team everyone loves to hate, the Bandits were created when a group of people formed a second team in Detroit, then paid their players to join them. This led to a lot of hate from opposing fans, but they couldn't do much. 

St. Louis Gatekeepers (CML)

The 'Keepers were like the St. Louis Blues in the CML, always good, but never good enough to take home the championship.

The league in 1947 looked like this:

1947 Season

Most people had predicted the Warriors to finish first, but shockingly, the Falcons took home the regular season crown in 1947, finishing 4 points ahead of the Warriors. Toronto and Michigan rounded out the playoff teams, while Chicago and St. Louis both struggled to adjust to the new league.

In the semifinals, Philadelphia, despite a shaky start, got past the Bandits, while the Warriors won a close 2-goal game over Toronto.

In the first ever Urquhart Cup, Philly and Washington duelled in out at Washington's Presidents' Park. Goalkeeper Gerald Chance stopped an insane amount of Falcons shots as the Warriors hung on to win 42-35 in front of their home fans.

1948 Season

The Falcons continued their regular season dominance, winning 18 of 20 games. St. Louis had a great bounceback season as well, finishing 2nd. Washington and Michigan both took a step back, but both still made the playoffs. Chicago continued struggling, while the Nationals, without star forward Lester Gros, struggled mightily.

In the semifinals, the Bandits shockingly defeated the Falcons by 2 goals, while the Warriors didn't seem fazed by the St. Louis crowd, as they absolutely dominated to move on to their second Urquhart Cup Final.

In the Urquhart Cup in Chicago, the Bandits and Warriors faced off in an offensive shootout. Michigan would be up by 10 at halftime, but Washington stormed back to tie the game after 3. However, they couldn't continue their pressure, as the Bandits dominated the final quarter, restoring their 10-point lead to win their first Urquhart Cup.

1949 Season

In the offseason, the NAML announced the additions of two franchises, the New York Knights of the EML and Boston Wolfhounds, a completely new team. New York would begin play in 1949, while the Hounds would start in 1950.

Knights Logo/Jerseys:

For the third consecutive year, the Falcons took home the regular season title, finishing 3 points ahead of the rapidly improving Bandits. Washington came in third once again, and the 'Keepers, although they didn't play as well as in 1948, still clinched the final playoff spot. Chicago and Toronto rounded out the original NAML teams, and the Knights struggled heavily in their inaugural year, only winning 3 games.

League MVP: Patrick MacKenzie, PHI

Top Goalscorer: Len Garey, MCH

Best Goalkeeper: Andrew McCaig, MCH

The playoff saw both semifinals result in upsets, as the Falcons lost at home once again, this time to the 'Keepers by 8, and the Bandits couldn't but a goal in the fourth quarter, as they lost by 3 to Washington.

Before the Urquhart Cup, players from the eliminated teams represented their countries as Canada and the US faced off in a 2-game series. Both games were close, as Canada won the first match by 3, and the Americans took the second game by just 1 point. There was no trophy, but the Canadians technically won on aggregate.

The Urquhart Cup was never really close, as the Warriors controlled the game from start to finish, eventually winning by 12. One of the sport's most iconic photos was shot during the game, depicting Washington superstar Leo Edward helping budding St. Louis star Arnold Lejoscasa off the field after he couldn't continue due to illness.

Urquhart Cup MVP: Leo Edward, WAS

There's the first post, all comments are appreciated!

Introduction to Markball/This Blog

Hey guys, my name is Noah (known as NoE38 on the CCSLC) and welcome to my Markball blog!

Before I get started on the sport, the reason I am starting this blog is to continue my markball thread from the CCSLC boards, after the news of the Sports Fan Fiction forum being shut down. I would obviously love to continue this series, so here we are. 

Note: This series will also be continued on the brand-new Alternate History Sports Forum! you can check it out at http://ahsports.boardhost.com/index.php.

Now, onto the sport of Markball!

Markball (a fictional sport inspired by Australian Rules Football) is a full contact sport played on a rectangular field with round ends by teams of 15 people. The goal like it is in most sports, to score more points than the other team. To score, a player must kick or hit an oval ball (which is around the size of a Size 1 soccer ball) into a closed net which is 9 meters tall by 5 meters wide. Goals are worth 4 points. There are two posts flanking the goal where if the ball goes between one of them and a goal post, the player has scored a point, which is worth one point.

The Field

The field is usually 153 m long and 100m wide (502 x 328 ft), so quite larger than a football field.

Here are the different markings on the field and what they mean.

Penalty Arc: An arc that stretches 30 meters away from the net. Any fouls committed by a defensive player in the arc will result in a penalty kick for the offense.

Goal Square: Where kickoffs after single points take place by the team that got scored on.

Outer Circle: Main area where jump-ball takes place, only the two players competing for the ball are allowed to be in the area at the time of the jump-ball.

The Ball

The ball is oval-shaped, and much smaller than a football or rugby ball, with a long diameter of 14.8 cm (5.8 inches) and a short diameter of 11.9 cm (4.7 inches)

The Net



The net consists of one main "net" and two outside posts. The main net has a width of 5 m (16 ft) and a height of 9 m (29.6 ft). This makes scoring fairly easy. the two outer posts are 3.2 m away from the main net (10.5 ft). Because of the huge net, it isn't uncommon for goalies to rush way out to attacking players to block their shots. In the net is a silhouette of a 6 ft player if he was standing directly on the goal line.

Gameplay

Play begins when one player from each team take part in a jump-ball. Players then can run up to 10 meters with the ball, then either pass the ball or bounce it every 3 steps. If the ball goes out of bounds on the sides, play resumes with a kick-in, if it goes out of bounds on the ends, then similar to soccer, either a goal or corner kick is taken. If a player is fouled outside the arc, then a free kick is awarded. A player cannot score from a free kick. If a player is fouled inside the arc, then a penalty kick is awarded and a player can try and score. Players can pass by either punting the ball to a teammate or by hitting it with an open hand. There are goalkeepers in Markball, as opposed to none in Aussie Rules.

Positions

There are 4 main positions in Markball, and 10 sub-positions:

Forwards (Red):

• Full Forward (FF): A team's main scorer. Usually very fast and have lethal shots.
• Wing Forwards (WF): Two players that attack from the two sides of the field. Usually have accurate kicks and crosses.
• Flanks (F): A team's "garbagemen" who usually kick long shots and clean up mistakes made by the other forwards.

Followers/Midfielders (Purple):

• Rover (R): The workhorse on the team, who patrols both ends of the field to contribute in any way. Almost always have insane stamina.
• Wings (W): Two players to play mainly along the edge of the field, helping to stop rushes and create chances.
• Center (C): The player that does the jump-ball. Besides that, they are mainly a central midfielder.

Defenders (Light Blue):

• Wingbacks (WB): A team's first line of defense, Usually are fast so they can quickly start counter-attacks.
• Centerback (CB): Usually a team's best defender and leader at the back, they are usually matched up against full-forwards.
• Fullbacks (FB): The last line of defense before the goalie, usually are big, strong players.

Goalkeeper (Yellow):

• Goalkeeper (GK): The player who attempts to save all the shots, always incredibly athletic, usually tall.

Other Rules

• Goalies are not allowed to catch a shot, the ball must have hit the goalie and the field before they can pick it up.
• Offside is called if an attacking player enters the arc before the ball when the attacking team has possession.
• If a member of the defending team kicks or hits the ball out of play in the arc, a corner kick is awarded.
• If the ball goes out of bounds, play commences with a player kicking the ball in.
• Players can only pass by punting the ball, or hitting the ball with their palm.

Now that we've got the basics of markball down, here's how the league, the NAML, was formed!

Graham Urquhart was a Scottish-born, Australian raised businessman who had a love for sport. He played newly-created Aussie Rules football, rugby, and cricket in his spare time. 

Graham also loved creating ideas for new sports, but nobody seemed to be interested. But then, one day, he came up with an ambitious idea. His idea was that he could create a sport similar to Aussie rules, then go to North America and introduce the sport to them, and create a new pastime. Unfortunately for him, nobody took him seriously so he found himself all alone. He took a big gamble and continued anyway. 

After a long, miserable boat ride to London, then another to New York City, he finally found himself where he planned. Wanting to show his new sport off in a smaller city, Graham traveled to Washington D.C, where he offered sessions for the men there to learn this sport. It turned out to be a great success, and in 1879, the world's first ever markball team was created. The game would spread throughout the years, and eventually, in the 1920's, there were regional leagues across both the USA and Canada. 1946, on the 20th anniversary of Graham's death, his son Patrick announced that the following year, the top 6 teams from the Central and East Coast Leagues would form the first major markball league, the North American Markball League, or NAML. The League's logo was unveiled the following month. The logo consists of the league's acronym inside a shield, with four lines at the top symbolising the four posts of the net.

There's all the basics of the sport and the league, now I'll ask y'all what you want me to do from here. Since I've simulated every season from 1947 to 1971, I can post each season/playoffs/offseason individually, or would you rather that I just give quick summaries of each season by decade? (Ex. A short paragraph of for each season, complied into a decade megapost)

Leave your thoughts on this in the comments below, and I'll start with whichever on you guys want tomorrow!

That's all for now, hope you enjoyed the post!

-Noah B