Fanzine
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colefieldhouse22
- BSOS Beast
- Posts: 358
- Joined: 01 Jan 2006 17:55
- Location: Silver Spring, MD
- Contact:
Non-EC entry
Got in a shred with Vince last night. My body was a bit stiff from the weekend, but I enjoyed playing for fun and not having to worry about competing, running comp, or even just keeping up appearances. While I don't try and impress people when I play with them at a tourney, I am a little self-conscious that I should at least try to go for good runs, just to be polite. When I play by myself or with my club though, I don't mind just messing around, and I had fun doing that yesterday.
The only highlight of note was hitting reaper bsos. It was my first time hitting it flip, and while I should avoid doing double dexes with my right leg, I bsosed it just so I could say that I did. The other thing I was happy with during the session was that my flip spins felt stronger. Gyro osis bsos a few times was particularly fun.
Looking back over my journal, I realized that this summer may have been my busiest footbag summer to date. The fact that I was on the East Coast, live in the same town as 2 shredders who like driving, and am finally done with school meant it was a banner summer for footbag travel. It was also my best summer (year really) for routines.
USO
1st round: 1 drop
Finals: 1 drop
NYFA2
Dropless
Worlds
Qualifiers: 2 drops
Semis: 5 drops (this was one day after my accident, so that's my excuse)
Funtastiks
1st round: 4 or 5 drops
Finals: Dropless
East Coasts
1st round: 2 or 3 drops
Finals:Dropless
I may go to one or two more tournies this year, but for all intents and purposes the summer footbag season is done. I'm really pleased I got to go to so many tournies this year, and that I did so well. Dropless routines had been a dream of mine for a long time, and I finally achieved that this summer. I feel like I could retire from freestyle comp today and be proud of how I've competed in routines, Shred30, Sick3, and Circle. Not saying that I'm going to stop competing in those events; I'll likely continue competing well into the future just to help out tourney organizers and entertain the crowd. I do feel though that I could retire from freestyle comp and feel like I have nothing left to prove to myself. And that's pretty cool.
Wait... doesn't that also describe you?colefieldhouse22 wrote:That guy at the liquor store is a perfect example of what you end up like if you were born, raised, and remain in College Park for your whole life.
Got in a shred with Vince last night. My body was a bit stiff from the weekend, but I enjoyed playing for fun and not having to worry about competing, running comp, or even just keeping up appearances. While I don't try and impress people when I play with them at a tourney, I am a little self-conscious that I should at least try to go for good runs, just to be polite. When I play by myself or with my club though, I don't mind just messing around, and I had fun doing that yesterday.
The only highlight of note was hitting reaper bsos. It was my first time hitting it flip, and while I should avoid doing double dexes with my right leg, I bsosed it just so I could say that I did. The other thing I was happy with during the session was that my flip spins felt stronger. Gyro osis bsos a few times was particularly fun.
Looking back over my journal, I realized that this summer may have been my busiest footbag summer to date. The fact that I was on the East Coast, live in the same town as 2 shredders who like driving, and am finally done with school meant it was a banner summer for footbag travel. It was also my best summer (year really) for routines.
USO
1st round: 1 drop
Finals: 1 drop
NYFA2
Dropless
Worlds
Qualifiers: 2 drops
Semis: 5 drops (this was one day after my accident, so that's my excuse)
Funtastiks
1st round: 4 or 5 drops
Finals: Dropless
East Coasts
1st round: 2 or 3 drops
Finals:Dropless
I may go to one or two more tournies this year, but for all intents and purposes the summer footbag season is done. I'm really pleased I got to go to so many tournies this year, and that I did so well. Dropless routines had been a dream of mine for a long time, and I finally achieved that this summer. I feel like I could retire from freestyle comp today and be proud of how I've competed in routines, Shred30, Sick3, and Circle. Not saying that I'm going to stop competing in those events; I'll likely continue competing well into the future just to help out tourney organizers and entertain the crowd. I do feel though that I could retire from freestyle comp and feel like I have nothing left to prove to myself. And that's pretty cool.
Last edited by C-Fan on 16 Mar 2009 10:37, edited 1 time in total.
East Coasts: Sunday
Sunday morning we all get off to a slower start than I would have liked. We hit the road with the plan of getting breakfast close to the site, and then hit....church traffic! Remember that stretch of road with 15 churches in less than a mile? I should have predicted that that stretch would be death on a Sunday morning. I place a couple frantic phone calls to push the start of comp from 1 to 1:30, and as it turns out, that worked just perfectly. We grab a quick breakfast at Panera, and get to the site just after 12. Set-up goes faster than yesterday, since most competitors used the same music as the day before and we had put their songs on the playlist already.
I set up the judges, check that our sound guy has all the right music, and reprise my role as MC while trying to stay warm for when its my turn. Soon enough I'm on deck, and I hop on stage. I feel more confident than I did yesterday partially because I know the tournament is running smoothly and people are having fun, but mostly because I know my finals song and routine better than my first rounder. I used the Elvis song "A Little Less Conversation," which is a little bit faster-paced than other routines I've done in the past, but it also is a lot of fun and pumps me up. I flow with it and have fun up until the juggling section, which I'm a little nervous about. Not only was it a harder juggle than I normally do, it was also tightly choreographed to the music, so if I screwed it up it would really mess up the flow of the routine. Thankfully, I pulled it off, and the crowd dug it. The rest of my routine I ride my wave of excitement, hit my sections, and finish...without a drop! Whoo! I only allow myself a few seconds to mentally celebrate, because I'm aware I need to continue MCing. I run to the corner of the stage and step behind the curtains, and after waiting for a few seconds, I walk back out in MC mode clapping my hands saying: "How about that! Give it up one more time for Ken Somolinos!"
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XukKkX1MCgE[/youtube]
I introduce Flash and watch his routine. At this point all stress and pressure is off me since my only goal for the tourney was to do a good routine, and I did. Flash does a solid routine to a Talking Heads song; its a lot more difficult than my routine, but he dropped 2 or 3 times, which made it a close decision for the judges. What matters to me though is that we put on a good show for the audience, and that I was happy with my routine.
Right after routines we move straight into Open Circle finals. A few things stick out in my memory.
*Toolan had a run with twirl bsos, where both twirls were textbook. A lot of people tend to pull away the dex in twirl so it starts clean but finishes thin. Not Toolan though; super clean.
*Jon starts a run with a bunch of consecutive flapper kicks to a bunch of xbdy flapper kicks. That's so incredibly hard... I'm impressed that he tries that in competition.
*Flash=variety
*I had one run where I wanted to start with dragon set dlo, but I dropped the dragon. There was some debate about whether I should get a passback or not, because apparently my dragon was more of a heel stall. If it were a dragon I would get a passback, since a dragon is like a clipper, and therefore not my 1st trick. But a xby heel stall is a trick, and I hit it, so dropping a DLO off of that would be my 2nd trick. I end up getting a passback, but I decide to go for something hard, to make my turn shorter. I end up hitting: blw-fog-dark-blw-psw-pdx torque-pdx blender! I probably shouldn't have done any of the whirl tricks with my right knee, but I did. 7 unique fearless in competition felt good.
After Open circle the intermediates go, and then people start heading out to watch the net matches. I feel like I didn't get to play enough freestyle all weekend, so I stick around and have a little shred with Toolan and Flash. Soon enough I realize how tired I am, so I just start hitting single tricks and asking them to check for cleanliness. To my happy surprise, I hit toe flurry first try, and they both tell me it's clean! I also hit flip DATW both directions, which they also confirmed clean. Now that I don't have a camera, I need to take advantage of the times when I can get experienced eyes to check my tricks for "the." Flash and I mess around trying to hit in-vortex, to no avail. It's getting close to the time the gym closes, so I round up some people to help me break down and pack up the sound equipment. Once we get the gym emptied out, I head over to the net fields to watch the finals.
Doubles net finals is fun to watch. It was a little strange watching a net final with no Montrealers, but it was still entertaining. If I do end up going to the dark side, I think I'm going to try and be a very aggressive player who plays no defense. Not a recipe for success, but could be fun. Right after the game ends, it starts raining again, which ushers everybody back to Vince's for awards ceremony. Not too much of note happens there. I got first pick of the freestyle prize bags, which was a tough call for me. Waylon is my footbag sponsor, so I can get free bags from him, and I already own 2 good Waylon bags. So in theory I should have picked a Cross, Boychuk, Abshire, or net bag. But I really liked the Waylon bag, and decided to get it for my own greedy self. I guess that's a testament to how much I like his bags.
We get to the point of saying farewells, but its easier at East Coasts because you know you'll see everybody sooner than later. People trickle out, and then before I realize it, it's just me, Vince, Age and Pete alone in his house. The realization that its over makes me a little sad, but the fact that it all went so well washes the sadness away and replaces it with a sense of job-well-done. I have a beer and play some Wii bowling, then go home.
Sunday morning we all get off to a slower start than I would have liked. We hit the road with the plan of getting breakfast close to the site, and then hit....church traffic! Remember that stretch of road with 15 churches in less than a mile? I should have predicted that that stretch would be death on a Sunday morning. I place a couple frantic phone calls to push the start of comp from 1 to 1:30, and as it turns out, that worked just perfectly. We grab a quick breakfast at Panera, and get to the site just after 12. Set-up goes faster than yesterday, since most competitors used the same music as the day before and we had put their songs on the playlist already.
I set up the judges, check that our sound guy has all the right music, and reprise my role as MC while trying to stay warm for when its my turn. Soon enough I'm on deck, and I hop on stage. I feel more confident than I did yesterday partially because I know the tournament is running smoothly and people are having fun, but mostly because I know my finals song and routine better than my first rounder. I used the Elvis song "A Little Less Conversation," which is a little bit faster-paced than other routines I've done in the past, but it also is a lot of fun and pumps me up. I flow with it and have fun up until the juggling section, which I'm a little nervous about. Not only was it a harder juggle than I normally do, it was also tightly choreographed to the music, so if I screwed it up it would really mess up the flow of the routine. Thankfully, I pulled it off, and the crowd dug it. The rest of my routine I ride my wave of excitement, hit my sections, and finish...without a drop! Whoo! I only allow myself a few seconds to mentally celebrate, because I'm aware I need to continue MCing. I run to the corner of the stage and step behind the curtains, and after waiting for a few seconds, I walk back out in MC mode clapping my hands saying: "How about that! Give it up one more time for Ken Somolinos!"
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XukKkX1MCgE[/youtube]
I introduce Flash and watch his routine. At this point all stress and pressure is off me since my only goal for the tourney was to do a good routine, and I did. Flash does a solid routine to a Talking Heads song; its a lot more difficult than my routine, but he dropped 2 or 3 times, which made it a close decision for the judges. What matters to me though is that we put on a good show for the audience, and that I was happy with my routine.
Right after routines we move straight into Open Circle finals. A few things stick out in my memory.
*Toolan had a run with twirl bsos, where both twirls were textbook. A lot of people tend to pull away the dex in twirl so it starts clean but finishes thin. Not Toolan though; super clean.
*Jon starts a run with a bunch of consecutive flapper kicks to a bunch of xbdy flapper kicks. That's so incredibly hard... I'm impressed that he tries that in competition.
*Flash=variety
*I had one run where I wanted to start with dragon set dlo, but I dropped the dragon. There was some debate about whether I should get a passback or not, because apparently my dragon was more of a heel stall. If it were a dragon I would get a passback, since a dragon is like a clipper, and therefore not my 1st trick. But a xby heel stall is a trick, and I hit it, so dropping a DLO off of that would be my 2nd trick. I end up getting a passback, but I decide to go for something hard, to make my turn shorter. I end up hitting: blw-fog-dark-blw-psw-pdx torque-pdx blender! I probably shouldn't have done any of the whirl tricks with my right knee, but I did. 7 unique fearless in competition felt good.
After Open circle the intermediates go, and then people start heading out to watch the net matches. I feel like I didn't get to play enough freestyle all weekend, so I stick around and have a little shred with Toolan and Flash. Soon enough I realize how tired I am, so I just start hitting single tricks and asking them to check for cleanliness. To my happy surprise, I hit toe flurry first try, and they both tell me it's clean! I also hit flip DATW both directions, which they also confirmed clean. Now that I don't have a camera, I need to take advantage of the times when I can get experienced eyes to check my tricks for "the." Flash and I mess around trying to hit in-vortex, to no avail. It's getting close to the time the gym closes, so I round up some people to help me break down and pack up the sound equipment. Once we get the gym emptied out, I head over to the net fields to watch the finals.
Doubles net finals is fun to watch. It was a little strange watching a net final with no Montrealers, but it was still entertaining. If I do end up going to the dark side, I think I'm going to try and be a very aggressive player who plays no defense. Not a recipe for success, but could be fun. Right after the game ends, it starts raining again, which ushers everybody back to Vince's for awards ceremony. Not too much of note happens there. I got first pick of the freestyle prize bags, which was a tough call for me. Waylon is my footbag sponsor, so I can get free bags from him, and I already own 2 good Waylon bags. So in theory I should have picked a Cross, Boychuk, Abshire, or net bag. But I really liked the Waylon bag, and decided to get it for my own greedy self. I guess that's a testament to how much I like his bags.
We get to the point of saying farewells, but its easier at East Coasts because you know you'll see everybody sooner than later. People trickle out, and then before I realize it, it's just me, Vince, Age and Pete alone in his house. The realization that its over makes me a little sad, but the fact that it all went so well washes the sadness away and replaces it with a sense of job-well-done. I have a beer and play some Wii bowling, then go home.
Last edited by C-Fan on 13 Aug 2014 13:01, edited 3 times in total.
Been taking it kinda easy on the footbag end since East Coasts. Given that I never really gave my knee much time to heal since I injured it at Worlds, the rest is probably a very good thing. I'm thinking that this winter I will take it really easy on the footbag front, and maybe only play on weekends or something like that. There's a fall crispness in the air now, pumpkin beers on the shelf, and every other tree is either turning yellow or considering it. There's still enough warmth and sunlight after work that I can play, but its clear that the days are limited. Age recently got a proper video camera, which I'm very excited about. Hopefully we can film the occasional session and put out a video or two. On a similar note, I finally sent my broken digital camera in to be repaired. I'm not sure if the warranty will cover it, or how much it will all cost, but at least I sent it in. I miss the days of showing my highlights in my blog, instead of just typing them out.
In other footbag news, I decided not to go to Texas champs. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun, but going would suck up a lot of money and time that I'm not sure I can afford right now. I think during this tourney off-season I should give some thought as to what I hope to get out of tournaments, and consequently what should be my criteria for going to them. The same goes for throwing tournaments.
This summer I toyed around a little bit with net. I competed in intermediate doubles net at Funtastiks, won a net bag at East Coasts, and had one practice session with Vince. I've also been carrying around my net bag lately and just kicking it around. It's too early to say what path I'll take with net, but if I had to guess I'd say I'm about 3 years away from taking it seriously. Based on the little amount I have played I would guess that I could become a decent player, but I also think I won't get to the point where I enjoy it nearly as much as I do freestyle. Like, net is fun, but so is basketball, ping pong, chess, and volleyball. While net might be a way to keep me in the footbag community when I get older, it might also be fun to explore other communities too. Freestyle has been the love of my life, so I'll probably stick with it as long as I can. Maybe towards the end of my career I'll also compete in net, since I'll have toned down my frestyle game to the point where I won't have to choose between the two. We'll see.
In other footbag news, I decided not to go to Texas champs. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun, but going would suck up a lot of money and time that I'm not sure I can afford right now. I think during this tourney off-season I should give some thought as to what I hope to get out of tournaments, and consequently what should be my criteria for going to them. The same goes for throwing tournaments.
This summer I toyed around a little bit with net. I competed in intermediate doubles net at Funtastiks, won a net bag at East Coasts, and had one practice session with Vince. I've also been carrying around my net bag lately and just kicking it around. It's too early to say what path I'll take with net, but if I had to guess I'd say I'm about 3 years away from taking it seriously. Based on the little amount I have played I would guess that I could become a decent player, but I also think I won't get to the point where I enjoy it nearly as much as I do freestyle. Like, net is fun, but so is basketball, ping pong, chess, and volleyball. While net might be a way to keep me in the footbag community when I get older, it might also be fun to explore other communities too. Freestyle has been the love of my life, so I'll probably stick with it as long as I can. Maybe towards the end of my career I'll also compete in net, since I'll have toned down my frestyle game to the point where I won't have to choose between the two. We'll see.
Got out of work 15 minutes early, so I decided to take advantage of the extra sunlight and get in a session. It was a little cool out today, but once I warmed up I was fine. I played for about an hour and had a great time.
Highlights:
*barroque-pdx drifter. Torque-pdx drifter bsos in the seal.
*barroque-psw. I shouldn't have hit the psw, cause that's the bad knee, but i couldn't resist a new link.
*Toe flurry again, twice. Still don't fully understand it, but I understand it enough to hit it occasionally
*Some new 2 bag juggling stuff.
*spinning dyno both sides, suuuuuper close to bsos. Flip is definitely a new trick, and strong may be.
Overall though the biggest highlight was just playing. This weekend hopefully I'll get in a session with the DC crew, and maybe get some good stuff on film.
Highlights:
*barroque-pdx drifter. Torque-pdx drifter bsos in the seal.
*barroque-psw. I shouldn't have hit the psw, cause that's the bad knee, but i couldn't resist a new link.
*Toe flurry again, twice. Still don't fully understand it, but I understand it enough to hit it occasionally
*Some new 2 bag juggling stuff.
*spinning dyno both sides, suuuuuper close to bsos. Flip is definitely a new trick, and strong may be.
Overall though the biggest highlight was just playing. This weekend hopefully I'll get in a session with the DC crew, and maybe get some good stuff on film.
I was talking to Age the other day, and she said that she had recently made a list of all the tournies she's been to and how she'd placed. By her count, she's been to 30 tournies in the last 4 years, which is impressive. This got me thinking: how many tournies have I been to? Rough chronological order here, but if you notice I'm missing any or got any dates wrong, lemme know by PM and I'll fix it.
1997
1. NYFA Footbag Explosion. I didn't compete, but it was my first exposure to footbag
1998
2. Montreal Summer Footbag...something. Competed intermediate and won. I was totally sandbagging, but it was my first time competing ever.
1999
3. Worlds 99. Competed in intermediate again, which was also egregious sandbagging. Took 6th in finals? 8th? Can't recall.
2000
4. Philly Open 2. My first time competing in Open, and I won. I think I also won sick link, which was a predecessor to the Sick3 event. My combo was ripped warrior to fog I believe. Did well in doubles net with Yacine, and won a wallet which I used for the next 8 years.
5. Some random tourney in Montreal that Yacine threw. I won routines and Shred... was it still shred45, or was it Shred30? My score was around 129.
6. Worlds 2000. Made it to semifinals and did a routine to a Primus song. Won a match in intermediate singles net against Joel Dion, the guy who founded Hackrifice. Dropped out of the sport for 6 months
2001
7. Funtastiks. I don't think I competed in anything. Had fun, but didn't get to go to another funtastiks until 7 years later
8. Another Yacine tourney in Montreal. Won routines.
9. Western Regionals. How random is this? All I remember is that I hit food processor in my routine, and it was a big deal to hit a 6 in a routine back then. I was AWOL for most of this tournament, as Tu, Brian MacKenzie and I all decided to spend the day having fun in SF instead of playing at the tourney. Burritos, Mexican Wrestling, and Haight Ashbury.
2002
10. Penn State Trio Official Footbag Forum 2. Beat Bevier and Yacine in routines to win the tourney. I used "never there" by Cake, a fact that I forgot until Outsider reminded me of it at East Coasts 6 years later.
11. East Coasts. Took 3rd in routines to a J5 song. In Sick Trick I was trying for Your Mom, but couldn't get it. I remember hitting 5 unique fearless (blw-blw-psw-pdx torque-pdx blender) and it being a big deal for me.
12. SF Jam. No competition at all, but it was a footbag event I crossed the country to attend, so I count it.
2003
13. Japanese Footbag Champs. Pepsi sponsored the tourney, which was a sweet gravy train. We flew in Sunil to do demos, I got paid $1000 just to judge, Sunil and I were put up in a 4 star hotel, the works.
14. Tokyo Shredder Gathering 1. I did a Sick3 demo which went really well. I'll post the youtube link to it later.
15. Worlds 2003. This whole week is a fun haze in my memory. I remember hitting 4 unique triple dexes for Rippin, which blew him away. I also recall hitting ducking superfly for my first time. I did well in semis, and just missed making finals in routines. Probably my highest finish in routines at Worlds.
2004
16. Jap. Footbag Champs 2.
17. TSG2. I did my first dropless Shred30 ever, which was also the first time I ever broke 200 in Shred30. I'll post the YT link later. This was also a milestone, because it was the first time I got to compete in Japan. I saw that as a promising sign that the scene was getting better.
18. Worlds 2004. I did dismally. I did a routine to "Under Pressure" by Bowie and Queen, and ironically choked under pressure. Oy.
2005
19. JFC3. This was also a milestone tournament, because I did a lot of work ahead of the tourney holding judging workshops to train judges. The actual tournament itself I didn't judge, and instead was like a supervisor judge. I let the Japanese players do all the work, and I was just there to cast tie-breakers or let them know if they were doing anything wrong. They did great.
20. TSG3. Can't recall too much from this one, but I know I blogged about it.
21. Worlds 2005. Probably my best Worlds to date. In the first round I did a kickass 1 drop routine to a BEP song and should have won my pool. Instead, the judges gave it to Jorden, who then went to a semis pool that had Jere Linnanen, and nobody else from BAP. My semis pool included Felix, Pete Irish, Tuukka, Mikko, and Jon Schneider. Argh! Shred30 was 3 different rounds. I went dropless in semis, and I think only had 1 drop in finals and qualifiers. I averaged about 196 across the 3 rounds, and took 4th place in finals. Again, YT link coming later. In sick 3 my combo was frantic butter-fog-toebius. Hit it in qualifiers, and then I took the wrong tram and pretty much missed finals. Raw deal. Overall though, this was probably my strongest Worlds. Lots of fun.
22. Rochester NYJ. I won shred with a score over 200, but the counters added it wrong and gave 1st to Flash. Won sick 3 as well, I think it was alpine leg-fog-pixie diving eclipse. I'll try and upload it to YT.
2006
23. CSS7. I remember playing very strong all tourney. Comp went badly, but it wasn't my fault, so no biggie. Had a late night session with Clavens which was probably my most intense session ever at a tourney. Epic times. I also saw an NBA player at a restaurant which was cool.
24. Santa Cruz Invitational. This tournament was a blast. I met Kyle and the ZJacksons, and this may also be the first time I met Landes. The highlight of the tourney was playing 5-on-5 basketball with Penske, Lon, Mirken, and other footbaggers. I took 3rd in Sick Trick for symp whirling eclipse, 3rd in shred with a score over 200, and 3rd in something else?
25. Cornell Footbag Jam. Hit backside frantic eclipse in Sick 1. I think I got 3rd in Circle behind Moir and Clavens.
2007
26. CFJ2. I didn't compete, because school kicked my ass too hard before and after. I helped run things and judged every event, and the next day I took an econ midterm. Rough.
27. Worlds 2007. This was the first year that I was really serious about practicing a routine, and it didn't pay off. I learned that I needed to be even more serious about practice. Despite the fact that I didn't practice Shred30 at ALL, I still managed to take 8th place with a score in the 190s. Go figure.
2008
28. Shred for Savvy. This was going to be the tourney that I finally went dropless. I practiced sooooo freaking much for it. But as fate would have it, I had 1 drop. I was still excited though, since it was easily my best routine to date, by far. This was also one of my stronger circle comps ever. I also had excellent cake at this tournament.
29. USO. 1 drop routines in both rounds. Yargh! But my finals routine was almost 2 minutes straight without a drop, so I felt like it was an improvement over the one I did at Shred for Savvy. Oh, I also hit Your Mom in competition. But while it was a reach for me back 02, it was a safety in 08.
30. NYFA Jam 2: One of my best tourney showings ever. I beat Jorden in Rippin Run, won sick 3 with whirling ss butter-fog-toebius, and most importantly, I went dropless in routines for my first time ever. I'll link the vid tonight. This was one of the best moments in my entire footbag career.
31. Worlds 2008. I should really blog this at some point. I did well in qualifiers and surprisingly well in semis, but overall this was a bad tournament for me competition-wise. My proudest achievement was not dying. Footbagwise, this wasn't a good event. But in terms of the course of my life, this was a good experience.
32. Funtastiks. 7 years after my last one. Crazy. Hit my 2nd dropless routine at the tourney, which was good for 3rd place. I also took 4th in doubles intermediate net, which I was proud of.
33. East Coasts. Hit my 3rd dropless routine and eked out a win with it. If I go dropless, I don't really care what place I get, because I feel like I won the game of going dropless.
By my count that's about 33 tournies, which averages to 3 a year. That includes 6 Worlds and 6 Japanese tournies. I'm proud that I've thrown or helped throw tournies in a bunch of places where I've lived. Looking at this list, it's kind of amazing that I've only been to the midwest once in the last 11 years. Seems like a good excuse to go to NYJ, but if I had to bet money as to whether or not I will go this year, I'd say it's pretty unlikely. I wonder what will be the next tourney I attend?
1997
1. NYFA Footbag Explosion. I didn't compete, but it was my first exposure to footbag
1998
2. Montreal Summer Footbag...something. Competed intermediate and won. I was totally sandbagging, but it was my first time competing ever.
1999
3. Worlds 99. Competed in intermediate again, which was also egregious sandbagging. Took 6th in finals? 8th? Can't recall.
2000
4. Philly Open 2. My first time competing in Open, and I won. I think I also won sick link, which was a predecessor to the Sick3 event. My combo was ripped warrior to fog I believe. Did well in doubles net with Yacine, and won a wallet which I used for the next 8 years.
5. Some random tourney in Montreal that Yacine threw. I won routines and Shred... was it still shred45, or was it Shred30? My score was around 129.
6. Worlds 2000. Made it to semifinals and did a routine to a Primus song. Won a match in intermediate singles net against Joel Dion, the guy who founded Hackrifice. Dropped out of the sport for 6 months
2001
7. Funtastiks. I don't think I competed in anything. Had fun, but didn't get to go to another funtastiks until 7 years later
8. Another Yacine tourney in Montreal. Won routines.
9. Western Regionals. How random is this? All I remember is that I hit food processor in my routine, and it was a big deal to hit a 6 in a routine back then. I was AWOL for most of this tournament, as Tu, Brian MacKenzie and I all decided to spend the day having fun in SF instead of playing at the tourney. Burritos, Mexican Wrestling, and Haight Ashbury.
2002
10. Penn State Trio Official Footbag Forum 2. Beat Bevier and Yacine in routines to win the tourney. I used "never there" by Cake, a fact that I forgot until Outsider reminded me of it at East Coasts 6 years later.
11. East Coasts. Took 3rd in routines to a J5 song. In Sick Trick I was trying for Your Mom, but couldn't get it. I remember hitting 5 unique fearless (blw-blw-psw-pdx torque-pdx blender) and it being a big deal for me.
12. SF Jam. No competition at all, but it was a footbag event I crossed the country to attend, so I count it.
2003
13. Japanese Footbag Champs. Pepsi sponsored the tourney, which was a sweet gravy train. We flew in Sunil to do demos, I got paid $1000 just to judge, Sunil and I were put up in a 4 star hotel, the works.
14. Tokyo Shredder Gathering 1. I did a Sick3 demo which went really well. I'll post the youtube link to it later.
15. Worlds 2003. This whole week is a fun haze in my memory. I remember hitting 4 unique triple dexes for Rippin, which blew him away. I also recall hitting ducking superfly for my first time. I did well in semis, and just missed making finals in routines. Probably my highest finish in routines at Worlds.
2004
16. Jap. Footbag Champs 2.
17. TSG2. I did my first dropless Shred30 ever, which was also the first time I ever broke 200 in Shred30. I'll post the YT link later. This was also a milestone, because it was the first time I got to compete in Japan. I saw that as a promising sign that the scene was getting better.
18. Worlds 2004. I did dismally. I did a routine to "Under Pressure" by Bowie and Queen, and ironically choked under pressure. Oy.
2005
19. JFC3. This was also a milestone tournament, because I did a lot of work ahead of the tourney holding judging workshops to train judges. The actual tournament itself I didn't judge, and instead was like a supervisor judge. I let the Japanese players do all the work, and I was just there to cast tie-breakers or let them know if they were doing anything wrong. They did great.
20. TSG3. Can't recall too much from this one, but I know I blogged about it.
21. Worlds 2005. Probably my best Worlds to date. In the first round I did a kickass 1 drop routine to a BEP song and should have won my pool. Instead, the judges gave it to Jorden, who then went to a semis pool that had Jere Linnanen, and nobody else from BAP. My semis pool included Felix, Pete Irish, Tuukka, Mikko, and Jon Schneider. Argh! Shred30 was 3 different rounds. I went dropless in semis, and I think only had 1 drop in finals and qualifiers. I averaged about 196 across the 3 rounds, and took 4th place in finals. Again, YT link coming later. In sick 3 my combo was frantic butter-fog-toebius. Hit it in qualifiers, and then I took the wrong tram and pretty much missed finals. Raw deal. Overall though, this was probably my strongest Worlds. Lots of fun.
22. Rochester NYJ. I won shred with a score over 200, but the counters added it wrong and gave 1st to Flash. Won sick 3 as well, I think it was alpine leg-fog-pixie diving eclipse. I'll try and upload it to YT.
2006
23. CSS7. I remember playing very strong all tourney. Comp went badly, but it wasn't my fault, so no biggie. Had a late night session with Clavens which was probably my most intense session ever at a tourney. Epic times. I also saw an NBA player at a restaurant which was cool.
24. Santa Cruz Invitational. This tournament was a blast. I met Kyle and the ZJacksons, and this may also be the first time I met Landes. The highlight of the tourney was playing 5-on-5 basketball with Penske, Lon, Mirken, and other footbaggers. I took 3rd in Sick Trick for symp whirling eclipse, 3rd in shred with a score over 200, and 3rd in something else?
25. Cornell Footbag Jam. Hit backside frantic eclipse in Sick 1. I think I got 3rd in Circle behind Moir and Clavens.
2007
26. CFJ2. I didn't compete, because school kicked my ass too hard before and after. I helped run things and judged every event, and the next day I took an econ midterm. Rough.
27. Worlds 2007. This was the first year that I was really serious about practicing a routine, and it didn't pay off. I learned that I needed to be even more serious about practice. Despite the fact that I didn't practice Shred30 at ALL, I still managed to take 8th place with a score in the 190s. Go figure.
2008
28. Shred for Savvy. This was going to be the tourney that I finally went dropless. I practiced sooooo freaking much for it. But as fate would have it, I had 1 drop. I was still excited though, since it was easily my best routine to date, by far. This was also one of my stronger circle comps ever. I also had excellent cake at this tournament.
29. USO. 1 drop routines in both rounds. Yargh! But my finals routine was almost 2 minutes straight without a drop, so I felt like it was an improvement over the one I did at Shred for Savvy. Oh, I also hit Your Mom in competition. But while it was a reach for me back 02, it was a safety in 08.
30. NYFA Jam 2: One of my best tourney showings ever. I beat Jorden in Rippin Run, won sick 3 with whirling ss butter-fog-toebius, and most importantly, I went dropless in routines for my first time ever. I'll link the vid tonight. This was one of the best moments in my entire footbag career.
31. Worlds 2008. I should really blog this at some point. I did well in qualifiers and surprisingly well in semis, but overall this was a bad tournament for me competition-wise. My proudest achievement was not dying. Footbagwise, this wasn't a good event. But in terms of the course of my life, this was a good experience.
32. Funtastiks. 7 years after my last one. Crazy. Hit my 2nd dropless routine at the tourney, which was good for 3rd place. I also took 4th in doubles intermediate net, which I was proud of.
33. East Coasts. Hit my 3rd dropless routine and eked out a win with it. If I go dropless, I don't really care what place I get, because I feel like I won the game of going dropless.
By my count that's about 33 tournies, which averages to 3 a year. That includes 6 Worlds and 6 Japanese tournies. I'm proud that I've thrown or helped throw tournies in a bunch of places where I've lived. Looking at this list, it's kind of amazing that I've only been to the midwest once in the last 11 years. Seems like a good excuse to go to NYJ, but if I had to bet money as to whether or not I will go this year, I'd say it's pretty unlikely. I wonder what will be the next tourney I attend?
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=KMD_tGGkwK8[/youtube]3 months ago Ken wrote: *A few strings later, I bobbled my camera and dropped it. Even though it fell less than 3 feet and landed on carpeted floor, I broke it.
So yeah, no more YouTube videos from me, as I no longer have a camera. Hope you enjoyed the era of videos. I know I'll miss it.
Last edited by C-Fan on 05 Oct 2015 13:15, edited 2 times in total.
The last week or so has brought with it many positive footbag developments in my life. It's nice having a lot of good news to report. I'm not even sure where to start...
3 months ago I dropped and broke my camera. Because I was in the middle of moving apartments, changing jobs, considering going to worlds, and breaking up with my girlfriend, fixing the camera wasn't a top priority. Furthermore, the camera was a gift, so I wasn't even sure if it had a warranty. About a month ago I finally got to looking into things, got the original receipt from my parents, learned I did have a warranty, and shipped the camera off to Olympus. I expected them to send me a bill telling me how much a repair would cost, but instead I just came home one day to find my repaired camera waiting for me! All told it only cost me like $4 to get it fixed. Expect me to start posting video highlights in here regularly, now that I have the technology back.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmaOQse89pI&fmt=18[/youtube]
On a similar positive note, Adrienne recently bought a proper video camera. While I love my little digital camera, the video quality isn't nearly as good as a real videocamera, I don't really know how to edit clips, and the camera doesn't capture fast motions (like double dexes) very well. Now that Age has a real camera though, hopefully we can shoot some real videos in better quality. On that note, I met up with Age and Matt Evans on Saturday to play and film footbag around Maryland. We staked out a few murals around town and got some good footage. I hit a few new downtime fearless links that I'm very proud of, and was even able to check moves for cleanliness frame by frame at Age's place. I learned that my barroques are thin but not "the" (but still too thin for me to count them), and that my toe flurries are clean more often than not (the second dex is usually shoe-y, but the 1st and third dexes are good). That was also a nice surprise on Saturday: I was hitting toe flurry a good 80% of my tries.
Another piece of good footbag luck is the weather. The first week of October it started to get chilly, and I was getting mentally resigned to the fact that the footbag season was ending. Over the last few days though, the weather has shifted back in the direction of summer. It's been in the 80s for the last 4-5 days, and the forecast says it should hold for at least another week. That means that I should be able to get in more playing during the week, and maybe get in more filming with Age on weekends. It'd be sweet to accumulate enough outdoor footage in the next couple weeks that we could make a couple videos once winter hits.
My final piece of good footbag news requires a bit more backstory from Worlds, so I'll blog it in my next entry. I actually wrote up a good chunk of my Worlds experience, but it sounded so negative when I read it that I decided not to post it. Maybe I'll give it another crack, and just write up my positive highlights.
No footbag tonight, but I plan on playing tomorrow.
3 months ago I dropped and broke my camera. Because I was in the middle of moving apartments, changing jobs, considering going to worlds, and breaking up with my girlfriend, fixing the camera wasn't a top priority. Furthermore, the camera was a gift, so I wasn't even sure if it had a warranty. About a month ago I finally got to looking into things, got the original receipt from my parents, learned I did have a warranty, and shipped the camera off to Olympus. I expected them to send me a bill telling me how much a repair would cost, but instead I just came home one day to find my repaired camera waiting for me! All told it only cost me like $4 to get it fixed. Expect me to start posting video highlights in here regularly, now that I have the technology back.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmaOQse89pI&fmt=18[/youtube]
On a similar positive note, Adrienne recently bought a proper video camera. While I love my little digital camera, the video quality isn't nearly as good as a real videocamera, I don't really know how to edit clips, and the camera doesn't capture fast motions (like double dexes) very well. Now that Age has a real camera though, hopefully we can shoot some real videos in better quality. On that note, I met up with Age and Matt Evans on Saturday to play and film footbag around Maryland. We staked out a few murals around town and got some good footage. I hit a few new downtime fearless links that I'm very proud of, and was even able to check moves for cleanliness frame by frame at Age's place. I learned that my barroques are thin but not "the" (but still too thin for me to count them), and that my toe flurries are clean more often than not (the second dex is usually shoe-y, but the 1st and third dexes are good). That was also a nice surprise on Saturday: I was hitting toe flurry a good 80% of my tries.
Another piece of good footbag luck is the weather. The first week of October it started to get chilly, and I was getting mentally resigned to the fact that the footbag season was ending. Over the last few days though, the weather has shifted back in the direction of summer. It's been in the 80s for the last 4-5 days, and the forecast says it should hold for at least another week. That means that I should be able to get in more playing during the week, and maybe get in more filming with Age on weekends. It'd be sweet to accumulate enough outdoor footage in the next couple weeks that we could make a couple videos once winter hits.
My final piece of good footbag news requires a bit more backstory from Worlds, so I'll blog it in my next entry. I actually wrote up a good chunk of my Worlds experience, but it sounded so negative when I read it that I decided not to post it. Maybe I'll give it another crack, and just write up my positive highlights.
No footbag tonight, but I plan on playing tomorrow.
Last edited by C-Fan on 16 Aug 2012 06:50, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks Nils! Just for that, here are 2 drills for you:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ0RSCtXkk4&fmt=18[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ahdFTWlTT0&fmt=18[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ0RSCtXkk4&fmt=18[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ahdFTWlTT0&fmt=18[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 16 Aug 2012 06:51, edited 1 time in total.
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hacksterbator
- Washed-Up Child Star
- Posts: 4141
- Joined: 12 Jul 2003 18:33
- Location: Winterpeg, Manisnowba
- Contact:
Nils: My dynos are OK, but my strong dyno uses my injured knee, so I should try to avoid using it too much. That still leaves my weak dyno, which I've been meaning to improve anyway. So hopefully I'll start working flip blenders and dynos. They would both fit well into my current informal plan of developing a solid, low-impact downtime game that focuses less on difficulty and more on consistency. I feel like my downtime game has always been pretty good, but because I preferred shuffle, I never got to showcase my downtime stuff. Now that I'm moving away from the shuffle, I'm excited to see what I can do with downtime.
Got in a session after work yesterday. I get off at 5:30, and can be at my spot in shred gear by 6. Unfortunately, the sun is going down earlier and earlier, so I'm feeling a bit rushed in my post-work sessions. Yesterday it took me a while to warm up too, which made things worse. Overall though it was an OK session. I've been playing on the campus of George Washington University, in an area with decent foot traffic. This has 2 positive effects: it makes me go for longer strings, and it also encourages me to keep my mental game together.
Most of my runs these days aren't that interesting (at least to me), since I've taken out most of the difficult links and tricks and instead am trying for longer, more balanced strings. This style is most apparent in my recent SB 1 shots. I did do one shuffly run yesterday, almost just to prove to myself that I can still do all the old sets. The run turned out to be one of my best from the session, so I'll showcase it here, but keep in mind that this isn't representative of how I've been playing lately.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTgN9salH5M&fmt=18[/youtube]
Weather report forecasts a 20 degree drop starting tomorrow. So while the last week of 80 degree weather was fun, it looks like we're headed solidly in the direction of autumn now.
Got in a session after work yesterday. I get off at 5:30, and can be at my spot in shred gear by 6. Unfortunately, the sun is going down earlier and earlier, so I'm feeling a bit rushed in my post-work sessions. Yesterday it took me a while to warm up too, which made things worse. Overall though it was an OK session. I've been playing on the campus of George Washington University, in an area with decent foot traffic. This has 2 positive effects: it makes me go for longer strings, and it also encourages me to keep my mental game together.
Most of my runs these days aren't that interesting (at least to me), since I've taken out most of the difficult links and tricks and instead am trying for longer, more balanced strings. This style is most apparent in my recent SB 1 shots. I did do one shuffly run yesterday, almost just to prove to myself that I can still do all the old sets. The run turned out to be one of my best from the session, so I'll showcase it here, but keep in mind that this isn't representative of how I've been playing lately.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTgN9salH5M&fmt=18[/youtube]
Weather report forecasts a 20 degree drop starting tomorrow. So while the last week of 80 degree weather was fun, it looks like we're headed solidly in the direction of autumn now.
Last edited by C-Fan on 16 Aug 2012 06:52, edited 1 time in total.
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colefieldhouse22
- BSOS Beast
- Posts: 358
- Joined: 01 Jan 2006 17:55
- Location: Silver Spring, MD
- Contact:
Watch for the sassy head bob...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3IIIzqhLek&fmt=18[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3IIIzqhLek&fmt=18[/youtube]
Adrienne Craver