Dogfish Head hosts electric football championships

Before Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes take the field in Arizona to decide the human football championship, their 1-inch plastic equivalents battled it out for a championship of a different kind.

Dogfish Head in Milton played host to the Electric Football World Championships Feb. 3-5, as players from around the country came to see whose electric football team was the best. The tournament was a joint venture between Dogfish and Tudor Games, the company that invented electric football.

Electric football holds a special place in Dogfish lore, as founder Sam Calagione used a jerry-rigged set to create the device that would birth the brewery’s signature continuous hopping, which begat the popular 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPAs, named for the amount of time hops are continuously added to the boil. 

“The epitome of off-centeredness, this partnership is very close to my heart,” Calagione said.

Electric football, on the other hand, has existed since 1948, when Tudor Games President Norman Sas invented it. The game saw its greatest popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, but it has continued to have a cult following. The game is played on a metal tabletop that can vary in size; the one used for the championships at Dogfish was a Tudor Ultimate that measured 48 inches long by 24 inches wide with custom 60 Minute and 90 Minute end zone designs. The humans who control the 1-inch players are known as the coaches. Each coach has a special figure that can throw passes and kick field goals. The primary players have a small base with small metal prongs underneath, known as cleats, which can be changed to adjust the players for strength or speed.

Like real football, electric football teams have 11 players each. Under the tabletop field is an electric motor that is controlled by a remote control. When the control is switched on, the field vibrates, allowing the players to move. Electric football has its own dedicated rules and regulations, and for the world championships, the teams played four quarters comprising eight plays per quarter. Coaches set up plays and run them, making adjustments between plays. The action is overseen by “The Commish” Kit Kinchen and, on a weekend with no human football, broadcast live over YouTube with commentary by Aaron Johnson. 

Tudor Games President Doug Strohm said, “Just like brewing, the art of electric football requires time, practice and technique to perfect. Many people think electric football is random and uncontrollable, but we know better.”

The championship match came down to electric football vets Jim “The Hulk” Davis of Detroit, Mich., and Jimbo Dunagan of Chicago. Davis came out on top, taking the title with a 9-0 victory. 

The Hulk is one of electric football’s legendary figures. A member of the Miniature Football Hall of Fame – yes, such a thing exists – Davis has won, by his own estimation, about 100 tournaments over his lengthy career. Davis is known for the Incredible Hulk shirt he wears during tournaments, although the nickname itself comes from his ability to adjust the strength of his players.

“I started when I was 8 years old,” Davis said. “When I got to high school, we had a little league. I went off to college and the service, and once I got back in 1990, I started playing in a league, and that turned into Tudor conventions and tournaments. I haven’t missed one yet.”

Davis said playing Dunagan is always hard because he has come to view his younger colleague as a little brother.

“He’s an awesome coach. But he’s a better friend. I love him to death. It’s love amongst the whole community,” Davis said.

Dunagan said he got his first game in the ninth grade for Christmas, but he didn’t get to play it that much.

“My brother lost the strip of footballs in my parents’ thick shag carpet. We spent the rest of Christmas Day looking for it, couldn’t find it and packed it away,” he said.

He first got hooked on the game later in high school, when his youth pastor introduced him to it. After spending time in the service, Dunagan picked up the game again and started playing around Chicago. He said the internet helped electric football go from a localized cult game to something more national, as coaches can connect with fellow coaches around the country to form leagues, find tournaments and spend time with one another.

“When we get together, it’s like a family reunion,” Dunagan said. 

For both championship competitors, the tournament was a lot of fun, as they not only got to play the game, but teach curious youngsters about the moves. At the end, Davis was given a championship trophy and rain of confetti, along with a Dogfish-branded Bumpboxx. For his second-place finish, Dunagan received a custom Dogfish crowler. 

“I had fun at this tournament. Doug and Dogfish Head were a heck of a host. We will be back the next two years for sure, and hopefully we’ll make it even bigger,” Davis said. “You never know how that vibrating board is going to react.”