Hey...nice to see another fellow "old guy" that gets into sim sports gaming!
Though the time consuming "workarounds" only get these titles to 90-95 percent, I'm still a sucka for the visuals and some "button mashing"...
Grew up on Strat O Matic titles and fully understand how satisfying text based sims can be as well...
Take a look at that "Manifesto" link I posted...
A copy of 05 is prob pretty cheap, and it's worth it (IMHO) to see how effective the right workarounds with the right level of user friendly options can be...
Happy gaming!