Made it back safely from Boise last night. Whenever a tournament ends, I feel a little down afterwards. You’ve trained hard for it, built it up in your mind for weeks or even months, you go, you compete, adrenaline flows, you have fun, hang with friends, and then…it’s over. It’s like a tournament hangover. With USO, I feel like I’m going through a double hangover. Not only is USO over, but my tournament season is over too. And that makes me a little sad. That said, it was a great season for me (quite possibly my best), and my knee wasn’t going to survive any more tournaments. It was a minor miracle that it held up as well as it did at Euros and at USO.
The short term plan is to take some time off of footbag, put out some videos of USO comps, do a write up, and just heal up. But I already know my long term plan: train my butt off next year for Worlds, and then make routine finals there. I didn’t go to Worlds this year, but based on how I competed at other tournaments, I think it’s a realistic goal.
At Worlds 2010 I tied for 10th in routines (missed finals), and 9th in Circle. The elite footbag ranking system considers Worlds the end of the season, so looking at the tournaments I went to after Oakland, my season results went like this:
Funtastiks 2010:
Routine: 2nd (dropless)
Circle: 3rd
Chicago New Year’s Jam
Routine: 1st
Circle: 2nd
Vegas Jam
Routine: No routines at this tourney.
Circle: 2nd
Green Cup:
Routines: 1st
Circle: 2nd
Euros 2011
Routines: 2nd
Circle: 3rd
US Open 2011
Routines: 2nd (dropless)
Circle: 2nd
Looking back over this list, I’m mostly just happy I went to so many tournaments this year. It’s nice to be done with school and in a job where I earn enough vacation and money to go to tournies. Of course, getting to this point meant sacrificing some of my prime footbag years while I was doing grad school, but it’s nice to get some payoff now. While elitefootbag stopped tracking points for tournaments a couple months ago, I take some small measure of pride in the fact that I did finish the 2011 footbag season with the most points in that system. I know this doesn’t mean I’m the best in the world or anything, but it does show that I achieved good results at some major tournaments, which I’m proud of. Zeb also says he’ll send me a footbag for finishing first in the standings.
Competition-wise I’m happiest about my dropless routines. In both cases I ended up losing to another dropless routine, but that’s beyond my control. As a routine competitor, my goal is always to go dropless, so I’m happy I managed that twice this year. I didn’t win any circle comps this year, but as a 31 year old vet competing against younger athletes, I was happy I medaled in all of them.
Beyond comp results though, it was a great tournament season for me just in terms of fun. I got to play and hang out with a great variety of footbaggers. CIC, to Finns, to the Stanford crew. I got to see old friends this year, and I made some good new ones too. I competed in routines, circle, shred 30, request, sick one, sick 3, net and ironman. I had the opportunity to play with and compete against Vasek, Penske, Clavens, and Moir…amazing talents who unfortunately don’t attend that many tournaments. I got to travel, I challenged myself mentally and physically, and I shared a lot of good times (and beer) with some of the best people I know. All in all, this was a great year. Thank you to everybody who helped make it such a memorable one.
Fanzine
-
boyle
- Post Master General
- Posts: 3147
- Joined: 19 Sep 2007 23:42
- Location: Canberra, Australia
- Contact:
Hi Ken, well done on the USO results! Awesome work. Looking forward to a writeup on that, as I always love your Worlds writeups, hopefully someone else will pick up the slack on that one... but it has been very quiet on that front.
Sounds like you have been playing really well, competing strong. I thought your first round in Berlin was awesome, and I think if you can continue at your current rate, you can make the finals...
Any word on where Worlds will be next year?
Sounds like you have been playing really well, competing strong. I thought your first round in Berlin was awesome, and I think if you can continue at your current rate, you can make the finals...
Any word on where Worlds will be next year?
US Open 2011
Prelude:
In late May I hurt my left knee playing footbag net. I took a few days off, but rushed the recovery because of Green Cup. I took a week off after Green Cup, but again came back too soon, because I had Euros. After Euros I took off a week again, and then 10 days before USO I retweaked it. Damn. Took off five days, but with USO so fast approaching, I started training again with a few days to go. Physically, I didn’t feel very good going into USO. I knew it would be a challenge to play hard enough on Day 1 to make finals, but not so hard that I’d injure myself. Mentally, I felt optimistic for USO. When I learned that Vasek was competing in routines at Euros, I knew I had no chance at gold, but I liked my chances at silver. USO promised the exact opposite: this time it looked like I’d have a shot at gold, but also that it’d be harder than Euros to finish on the podium. So while I knew it’d be harder to medal than at Euros, I was also excited that there was a realistic chance at winning it all.
The days before USO I was giddy with anticipation. I don’t remember being this hyped for a competition in a very long time. It was almost nostalgic experiencing that kind of excitement again. Some things that probably played a factor in it were:
• It was my last tournament of the season, which made me especially value it.
• I felt I had a shot at doing well.
• I hadn’t done a dropless routine in almost a year, so this would be my last chance at that for a while.
• My finals routine at Euros went well, but had 3 drops. Since I liked the song so much, I wanted to do it justice with a better execution.
Thursday I leave work early cause I can’t concentrate, thanks to USO. I go home, pack, charge my ipod and camera, and give myself a fauxhawk, since I anticipate it’s going to be hot out all weekend. I force myself to not play any footbag, and I try and go to bed early. My plan is to avoid alcohol, but when I can’t sleep I have a bit of Laphroig to help me drop off. I dream of competing.
Friday: Day 1
I wake up at 6 am, and my girlfriend takes me to the airport for my 8:30 am flight. I’m already visualizing the cues in my routine as we drive. I sleep on the flight, not because I’m tired, so much as that I’m trying to charge my body for footbag. I feel like a robot on a mission. No checked bags and southwest seating meant I got off the plane and met up with Zeb no problem. We go straight to the site, and I help set up some tables. It’s only 10:30 in the morning, and already the sun is beating down strong. Thankfully, Zeb had reserved the covered gondola for the first day, so we’d be able to compete in the shade, and on a flat surface. I go borrow a broom from a nearby snowcone shop, and proceed to clean off the playing surface under the gondola. I see Zeb texting on his phone, and tell him to post on facebook: “Ken Somolinos swept the USO,” and then later append a photo of me with the broom.
People slowly trickle in, and I make the rounds saying hello. In some cases, I have trouble remembering the last time I saw some people (e.g. Jorden). Other faces bring back memories of recent good times at tournaments this year, (Zac and Matt, and NYJ). Then there are some total surprises (Scott Behmer!) and some new faces (Dan Reed and Reiley from Seattle). People start playing pretty early, but since my knee is still recovering, I exercise restraint and wait until I have to warm up for comp.
Circle comp pools are announced, which come as a shock to me, and not in a good way.
Pool A: Landes (top seed), Justin Dale, Matt Kemmer or Zac Miley, somebody else. Top 1 advances.
Pool B: Jorden (top seed), Bevier, Matt Kemmer or Zac Miley, somebody else. Top 2 advance.
Pool C: Jim Penske (top seed), myself, and Ben Benulis. Top 1 advances.
WTF! Seriously? Don’t get me wrong; I understand I’m not as good a shredder as the top seeds Penske, Moir, or Landes. That said, based on competition results from this year (see my previous post), I had 3 silver medals and two bronze to my name in circle comps, while all my competitors combined had a total of…none. So why did I have the toughest path of anybody to make circle finals? Seriously, I liked my chances better if I were added to Pool A (try and beat both Landes and Dale) or Pool B (beat Bevier) than staying in Pool C. Not having a top seed is one thing, but it just seemed outrageously unfair that I’d have the hardest path to finals, when I had the most tangible and proven track record in circle comps out of all the competitors this year. This was even more galling to me, given that the tournament director at USO was the same guy who created the ranking system!
Before going to USO, I wrote this in my blog:
Next: qualifiers of circle and routine, and request contest. Hopefully some video too.
Prelude:
In late May I hurt my left knee playing footbag net. I took a few days off, but rushed the recovery because of Green Cup. I took a week off after Green Cup, but again came back too soon, because I had Euros. After Euros I took off a week again, and then 10 days before USO I retweaked it. Damn. Took off five days, but with USO so fast approaching, I started training again with a few days to go. Physically, I didn’t feel very good going into USO. I knew it would be a challenge to play hard enough on Day 1 to make finals, but not so hard that I’d injure myself. Mentally, I felt optimistic for USO. When I learned that Vasek was competing in routines at Euros, I knew I had no chance at gold, but I liked my chances at silver. USO promised the exact opposite: this time it looked like I’d have a shot at gold, but also that it’d be harder than Euros to finish on the podium. So while I knew it’d be harder to medal than at Euros, I was also excited that there was a realistic chance at winning it all.
The days before USO I was giddy with anticipation. I don’t remember being this hyped for a competition in a very long time. It was almost nostalgic experiencing that kind of excitement again. Some things that probably played a factor in it were:
• It was my last tournament of the season, which made me especially value it.
• I felt I had a shot at doing well.
• I hadn’t done a dropless routine in almost a year, so this would be my last chance at that for a while.
• My finals routine at Euros went well, but had 3 drops. Since I liked the song so much, I wanted to do it justice with a better execution.
Thursday I leave work early cause I can’t concentrate, thanks to USO. I go home, pack, charge my ipod and camera, and give myself a fauxhawk, since I anticipate it’s going to be hot out all weekend. I force myself to not play any footbag, and I try and go to bed early. My plan is to avoid alcohol, but when I can’t sleep I have a bit of Laphroig to help me drop off. I dream of competing.
Friday: Day 1
I wake up at 6 am, and my girlfriend takes me to the airport for my 8:30 am flight. I’m already visualizing the cues in my routine as we drive. I sleep on the flight, not because I’m tired, so much as that I’m trying to charge my body for footbag. I feel like a robot on a mission. No checked bags and southwest seating meant I got off the plane and met up with Zeb no problem. We go straight to the site, and I help set up some tables. It’s only 10:30 in the morning, and already the sun is beating down strong. Thankfully, Zeb had reserved the covered gondola for the first day, so we’d be able to compete in the shade, and on a flat surface. I go borrow a broom from a nearby snowcone shop, and proceed to clean off the playing surface under the gondola. I see Zeb texting on his phone, and tell him to post on facebook: “Ken Somolinos swept the USO,” and then later append a photo of me with the broom.
People slowly trickle in, and I make the rounds saying hello. In some cases, I have trouble remembering the last time I saw some people (e.g. Jorden). Other faces bring back memories of recent good times at tournaments this year, (Zac and Matt, and NYJ). Then there are some total surprises (Scott Behmer!) and some new faces (Dan Reed and Reiley from Seattle). People start playing pretty early, but since my knee is still recovering, I exercise restraint and wait until I have to warm up for comp.
Circle comp pools are announced, which come as a shock to me, and not in a good way.
Pool A: Landes (top seed), Justin Dale, Matt Kemmer or Zac Miley, somebody else. Top 1 advances.
Pool B: Jorden (top seed), Bevier, Matt Kemmer or Zac Miley, somebody else. Top 2 advance.
Pool C: Jim Penske (top seed), myself, and Ben Benulis. Top 1 advances.
WTF! Seriously? Don’t get me wrong; I understand I’m not as good a shredder as the top seeds Penske, Moir, or Landes. That said, based on competition results from this year (see my previous post), I had 3 silver medals and two bronze to my name in circle comps, while all my competitors combined had a total of…none. So why did I have the toughest path of anybody to make circle finals? Seriously, I liked my chances better if I were added to Pool A (try and beat both Landes and Dale) or Pool B (beat Bevier) than staying in Pool C. Not having a top seed is one thing, but it just seemed outrageously unfair that I’d have the hardest path to finals, when I had the most tangible and proven track record in circle comps out of all the competitors this year. This was even more galling to me, given that the tournament director at USO was the same guy who created the ranking system!
Before going to USO, I wrote this in my blog:
When I wrote that though, I expected to have an easier path than essentially having to go heads up against Penske. This really burned me. I was tempted to scratch from circles altogether, both as a form of protest, and also because it seemed pointless to risk aggravating my knee when I had no chance of advancing. I sat fuming by the gazebo as the first two pools went, and when I realized I wasn’t calming down any, I decided to compete, mostly as a way of getting out my frustration. When they called us to the competition area, I dropped off my water bottle and bags by Dan Reed. I introduced myself, and as a parting joke I say to Dan: “hey, let’s talk more later after I beat Penske in Circle comp.” People nearby chuckle, and I head to the circle.C-Fan wrote:I have a feeling that making Circle finals is going to be a challenge. Penske, Moir, Landes, Bevier, Dale, Chris Dean? I need to beat three of those guys to make it, which would be hard even if I were at full strength. But then, "that's why they play the games" as they say.
Next: qualifiers of circle and routine, and request contest. Hopefully some video too.
-
Zeb Jackson
- Post Master General
- Posts: 2783
- Joined: 19 Dec 2005 12:57
- Location: Boise,Idaho, USA
- Contact:
snap it looks like someone is replacing honza.
jk buddy,
I already explained to you while the pools were the way that they were, also I wasn't the only person who made the pools for circle, there were 3 of us talking about it before it happened, try not to let it bug you, you came out ahead, there's no reason to be frustrated
I look forward to the other parts
jk buddy,
I already explained to you while the pools were the way that they were, also I wasn't the only person who made the pools for circle, there were 3 of us talking about it before it happened, try not to let it bug you, you came out ahead, there's no reason to be frustrated
I look forward to the other parts
-Zeb Jackson
http://www.elitefootbag.com
http://www.elitefootbag.com
Here’s a vid of my first round circle with Jim:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XdxKO9Ta5k[/youtube]
My first few turns I did a good job of channeling my anger and frustration and came out really strong. I’m not sure if Jim was having an off day, but I wasn't going to change my strategy regardless. I just tried to play hard and go long on each turn, and work out some frustration. When our last turn was over I felt good. I felt like I had won, but I didn’t want to make any assumptions. Win or lose though, I felt like I gave it my best shot, so I was happy knowing I had no regrets.
Shredding hard in circle calmed me down some. When the order of routine seeds was announced, I wasn’t even that flustered. I was seeded 4th, despite the fact that I had won routines at NYJ and Green Cup, and taken second at Funtastiks (dropless) and Euros. Pretty sure the only other competitor who had medaled in routines since Worlds 2010 was Bevier, who took bronze at Funtastiks, yet was still seeded ahead of me. The reason I wasn’t as upset with my seed in routines as I was with circles, was that cuts were more generous. In circle I had to beat Penske to make Finals, whereas in routines I just had to finish in the overall top 5. While my track record in routines didn’t help me with seeding, it did help me with confidence. When I was called up to compete I knew I could do a solid routine.
My routine starts off fine, but I have a drop during the juggle section. This really hurts me, since the bag went far away, and I needed it for the next 10 seconds of choreo. That hurt, but that’s why juggling is so risky in routines. The rest of the routine goes pretty well until the final trick. Traditionally with that routine, I end on mullet. For some reason though, I decided to throw food processor instead. Bad decision, as I drop it. Still, a two drop routine in qualifiers is good enough to advance me to finals, which was my main goal for the day.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PbSpgAm2iM[/youtube]
My favorite routine from day one was Jorden’s. I’m not even exaggerating when I say it was probably the best choreographed routine I’ve seen. It was super playful, clever, and accessible to a non-footbag audience. He had 3 drops, and pretty much everybody was excited for the next day, for the chance to see it dropless. Scott’s routine was also super strong. I’m consistently amazed at how good he is at juggling, and how hard his routine juggle sections are. Landes unfortunately didn’t make the cut. He more or less had the same plan that I did: do a whatever routine in qualifiers, and then unleash the real routine in finals. Unfortunately, Landes improvised his qualifier, and got unlucky with drops.
After routines, we went straight into request contest. I appreciated that we started off at intermediate difficulty and didn’t waste too much time with legover rounds. I got out early, on toe schmoe-tapdown. Not my best showing, but it could have been more embarrassing. Given that my plan was just to make finals in both events and save my energy for day 2, it was actually probably a good thing I got out early. I bust out my camera towards the end and film Penske and Moir when it’s just down to them. I only get a couple combos though before it’s over. I'll post them later.
Once comp is done, I go watch Kemmer and Miley shred for a bit. Those guys are so good. Zac is amazingly light on his feet, and Matt has such mastery over so many concepts. I help break down the site, and catch a ride with the Jacksons to go get dinner. We eat at the Boise Fry Company, which is a burger dive famous for its fries. I figure since I’m in Idaho, I should try a place with good spuds, and it doesn’t let me down. The most fun part is the variety of sauces they have for the fries. Blueberry was weird but surprisingly good, while their spicy fry sauce is my favorite. I have a good time talking basketball with Penske and Bevier, and we tentatively set up a pickup game for Sunday morning.
After food we go to Zac’s place, where we watch the Fourkast Forward DVD. It’s cool seeing an actual footbag DVD. I remember back around 2003/2004 if was standard for people to put out long videos, but the internet really kinda killed that. The video was very nicely put together, and seeing the Worlds 2010 footage brought back some nice memories.
After the video was over I played some chess with Zac, then eventually headed back to the hotel. I didn’t drink at all Friday night, since I wanted to give my body every chance to heal up my knee. I played hard enough to make finals the next day, but I knew the real challenge would be making it through two days in a row, especially since there’d be no shade the next day.
Next: Saturday
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XdxKO9Ta5k[/youtube]
My first few turns I did a good job of channeling my anger and frustration and came out really strong. I’m not sure if Jim was having an off day, but I wasn't going to change my strategy regardless. I just tried to play hard and go long on each turn, and work out some frustration. When our last turn was over I felt good. I felt like I had won, but I didn’t want to make any assumptions. Win or lose though, I felt like I gave it my best shot, so I was happy knowing I had no regrets.
Shredding hard in circle calmed me down some. When the order of routine seeds was announced, I wasn’t even that flustered. I was seeded 4th, despite the fact that I had won routines at NYJ and Green Cup, and taken second at Funtastiks (dropless) and Euros. Pretty sure the only other competitor who had medaled in routines since Worlds 2010 was Bevier, who took bronze at Funtastiks, yet was still seeded ahead of me. The reason I wasn’t as upset with my seed in routines as I was with circles, was that cuts were more generous. In circle I had to beat Penske to make Finals, whereas in routines I just had to finish in the overall top 5. While my track record in routines didn’t help me with seeding, it did help me with confidence. When I was called up to compete I knew I could do a solid routine.
My routine starts off fine, but I have a drop during the juggle section. This really hurts me, since the bag went far away, and I needed it for the next 10 seconds of choreo. That hurt, but that’s why juggling is so risky in routines. The rest of the routine goes pretty well until the final trick. Traditionally with that routine, I end on mullet. For some reason though, I decided to throw food processor instead. Bad decision, as I drop it. Still, a two drop routine in qualifiers is good enough to advance me to finals, which was my main goal for the day.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PbSpgAm2iM[/youtube]
My favorite routine from day one was Jorden’s. I’m not even exaggerating when I say it was probably the best choreographed routine I’ve seen. It was super playful, clever, and accessible to a non-footbag audience. He had 3 drops, and pretty much everybody was excited for the next day, for the chance to see it dropless. Scott’s routine was also super strong. I’m consistently amazed at how good he is at juggling, and how hard his routine juggle sections are. Landes unfortunately didn’t make the cut. He more or less had the same plan that I did: do a whatever routine in qualifiers, and then unleash the real routine in finals. Unfortunately, Landes improvised his qualifier, and got unlucky with drops.
After routines, we went straight into request contest. I appreciated that we started off at intermediate difficulty and didn’t waste too much time with legover rounds. I got out early, on toe schmoe-tapdown. Not my best showing, but it could have been more embarrassing. Given that my plan was just to make finals in both events and save my energy for day 2, it was actually probably a good thing I got out early. I bust out my camera towards the end and film Penske and Moir when it’s just down to them. I only get a couple combos though before it’s over. I'll post them later.
Once comp is done, I go watch Kemmer and Miley shred for a bit. Those guys are so good. Zac is amazingly light on his feet, and Matt has such mastery over so many concepts. I help break down the site, and catch a ride with the Jacksons to go get dinner. We eat at the Boise Fry Company, which is a burger dive famous for its fries. I figure since I’m in Idaho, I should try a place with good spuds, and it doesn’t let me down. The most fun part is the variety of sauces they have for the fries. Blueberry was weird but surprisingly good, while their spicy fry sauce is my favorite. I have a good time talking basketball with Penske and Bevier, and we tentatively set up a pickup game for Sunday morning.
After food we go to Zac’s place, where we watch the Fourkast Forward DVD. It’s cool seeing an actual footbag DVD. I remember back around 2003/2004 if was standard for people to put out long videos, but the internet really kinda killed that. The video was very nicely put together, and seeing the Worlds 2010 footage brought back some nice memories.
After the video was over I played some chess with Zac, then eventually headed back to the hotel. I didn’t drink at all Friday night, since I wanted to give my body every chance to heal up my knee. I played hard enough to make finals the next day, but I knew the real challenge would be making it through two days in a row, especially since there’d be no shade the next day.
Next: Saturday
Last edited by C-Fan on 14 Aug 2012 13:55, edited 1 time in total.
No freestyle for me since USO. The plan is to hold off at least one more week. I originally hoped to take off at least 3 weeks from freestyle, but that may change due to work-related plans. This Thursday I’m driving down to Vegas, where I’ll be doing a 30 day work detail. Given that Evan Gatesman lives there, and he’s probably the best American freestyler at the moment, I don’t want to miss the opportunity of playing regularly with him. The challenge for me will be to play without overdoing it. Ideally I’ll work out a style where it’s mostly downtime and spins, and has no motions that’d make my left knee worse. We’ll see what happens.
USO ended over a week ago, so I’m going to try and finish my writeup.
Saturday:
I wake up feeling good. My legs don’t feel tired, since I didn’t push too hard the day before, and my knee feels… about the same as it has for the last week. But at least it’s no worse, and that’s all I can ask for. I go downstairs for the hotel breakfast with my roommates, and am stoked to see there’s a waffle iron. Nice. I make a point to eat more than I think I need to, since I know competition won’t start until the afternoon. Might as well take advantage of the free calories.
We eventually take a cab to the event site, and we have a good time clowning on the music. Saturday is the primary day of the fair, and there are way more people out. At one point I even see Miss Idaho walk by, with the tiara and sash and everything. I should have taken a photo with her, but pre-competition it’s tough to focus on anything other than comp. Saturday we didn’t have the gazebo, and we had to share the final comp site with a bunch of other groups doing demonstrations at various times. It was clear to me I wouldn’t play any footbag until right before comps started, and sure enough I did a good job sticking to the plan.
I killed the time before comp by watching people play, checking out the various booths, and even playing a little Frisbee. I filmed Landes working on some fearless, and I plan on making a video of that later. Watching Landes link fearless is amazing…he does stuff I don’t even do when I’m air-shredding. I felt bad for the public that he wasn’t in circle finals, since I know he’d put on a good show.
Speaking of Landes putting on a show, at one point Landes and Penske put on a footbag demo for the public. During one section, Jim demonstrated a 6 point trick (mullet?), and Landes demonstrated a five. I expected the five to be something easy like ps whirl or blurry whirl, but instead he announces he’s going to do Frankenstein. And sure enough, he nails it first try. Impressive. At the end of the demo, Landes and Penske do a rippin run. Jim drops first, and right after he does, Scott Behmer yells out: “Nick Landes…the new US champion!”
Routines didn’t start until 3 ish, but I didn’t want to make the same mistake as the day before, where I had a big lunch which sat in my stomach through comp. I snacked on my granola bars and almonds throughout the day, and that worked well. I warmed up slowly by playing some foursquare, and then played some with Justin and Nick. In warm-ups Nick was hitting some crazy stuff with dragons, like vortex ending in dragon (volkswagon) and janiwalker set from dragon. Crazy. In the spirit of things, I hit bubba eggbeater from dragon, which was new for me.
The first event of the day for me was Circle Finals. The day before, I upset Penske in Circle qualifiers, and Justin came up to me and said: “that’s why I’m glad I wasn’t in a pool with you.” So when circle finals started, I told Justin: “well, I guess we had to meet sometime. I’m not looking forward to this either.” Finals is Bevier, Dale, Moir and myself. Justin proposed a bigger bag, while I had smaller heavy bags. Flash was fine with either, and I was fine with the big bag in variety round, but I didn’t think I could shuffle with it in density. I proposed using Justin’s big bag for the first round, then switching to the smaller for finals. Jorden didn’t like the bigger bag though, so we ended up using one of my smaller ones.
My goal going in was to medal. I felt like it was tough enough just to make finals, that I didn’t want to waste that effort by settling for fourth. First turn Justin came out guns blazing, which was intimidating, but I reminded myself that a lot can happen in 6 turns. It was clear that Jorden wasn’t taking prisoners, so my goal initially was to watch Bevier and Dale each turn, pick the better of their runs, and try and beat that. Made it simpler in my head. Shredwise for me, not much stood out other than BLW-WHAT!?!, and a midstring paranoia that I didn’t expect. Otherwise I thought I played overall pretty standard. Jorden went off. It was pretty cool to witness, even if it meant I was getting scorched because of it. When the final turn of circle was over, it was clear to everybody that Jorden had won, and I was pretty sure I finished second or third. I congratulate Jorden by saying: “nice man. I’m preeeeeetty sure you finished no worse than third.”
Video of circle finals is here.
Routines started pretty soon after circle, which was nice, since I didn’t want to warm up again. I can’t recall if they announced circle results before routines, but in any case I felt good going into routines knowing I competed well in circle. Beyond relieving me of some pressure to perform well, it was also good for me to know I could play on that surface (it was shaped a bit like a turtle shell, where the top was flat, but it tapered off in all directions) without much problems. I had second seed in routines, which meant I didn’t get to see anybody’s full routine except for Flash, since he went after me. I warmed up some with Penske, and at one point these two cute girls walk by, and give us props. As they start walking away, I tell them that Jim is a local, and a great resource of info for the sport. Just as I’d hoped, they start talking to him, which I hope distracts him before going up. Apparently this strategy failed, as Jim ended up going dropless:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=5jI3HAQDuIM[/youtube]
I’m up right after him. I think I overheard that he went dropless, but ultimately I felt no more pressure, since my goal was dropless no matter what. My music starts, and it’s too low. What I should have done, is made them stop, raise the volume, and then start over. Instead, I miss my first musical cue waiting for the volume to go up, and then I rush the first few seconds of the routine. I won’t make this mistake again in the future, and was surprised I did that this time. Once I catch up to my choreo though, I settle down mentally and just follow the plan. In a couple places I changed things on the fly, and I missed one cue particularly badly (I started a juggle at the wrong point of the song, which messed up the routine flow for a bit.). For the most part though, I hit my cues and felt in control. The last cue comes up, and I nail the PSW on the beat. I handcatch, and suppress the urge to flip out. I bow to the audience, walk off, and then flip out.
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=kUr6ogDZvHk[/youtube]
When I plan and practice a routine, I always imagine in my head how good it will feel if I get it dropless in competition. Given that this was only my 6th dropless routine, it still comes as a bit of a shock when I actually do manage to pull it off. I savor the feeling for a few minutes, then watch Flash’s routine. After he dropped a couple times, it becomes clear that the USO champ is going to be either me or Penske. Since I didn’t see Jim’s routine, I have no idea how good my chances are. Several people tell me they think I got it, but they all say it’s close. As the MC announces the results, the buildup to second place is intense. “…and in second place…” *breathe* “..from…” *oh boy* “…Denver Colorado!” I feel a touch of disappointment, but I walk out smiling and waving to the crowd. I later watch the video of both of our routines, and sure enough, they were pretty close. We were both dropless, but neither of our routines were perfect. Jim had some long pauses in his routine, and I had some tricks which were clearly bails. Apparently the final tallies could not have been closer, and I lost by one point total.
While I was a little sad to have come so incredibly close only to finish second, I’m not angry. Could I have done my routine better? Yes, definitely. But I did go dropless, and it was one of my best routines, so I can’t beat myself up over my performance. I can’t be mad at Jim; he performed hard and did a great routine. And I can’t be mad at the judges. It WAS close. And judging close performances live is extremely difficult. Ultimately, it sounds like it could have gone either way. I was just a bit unlucky that it didn’t go my way. Unfortunately, history doesn’t remember who comes in second or if it was close. I’m not going to be the answer to a trivia question in the future, and I wasn’t US or Euro champion this year. It would have been amazing to have won either, since I’ve never won a major before. That said, taking second in both isn’t too shabby, and is a personal best.
I later on learned that 1st place in routines won $500, second place got $100, and third place got none, which is a crazy prize money structure. Somebody asked me if it was tough finishing so far behind in the money on such a close decision, and it was interesting for me to realize (and answer) that the money didn’t matter to me nearly as much as the glory. I think that’s both cool and strange that I have a hobby I like enough to value glory over money.
Once routine results were announced, the remaining events started. At this point, I was totally drained. Circle finals and routine finals required a ton of concentration, and playing in the sun didn’t help me physically. But at this point in the weekend, it was already dawning on me that my tournament season was for all intents and purposes over. I didn’t want it to be over. So I summoned the last bit of my adrenaline and competitive spirit, and decided to compete in all events, even if I sucked.
Next: last events, and last day.
USO ended over a week ago, so I’m going to try and finish my writeup.
Saturday:
I wake up feeling good. My legs don’t feel tired, since I didn’t push too hard the day before, and my knee feels… about the same as it has for the last week. But at least it’s no worse, and that’s all I can ask for. I go downstairs for the hotel breakfast with my roommates, and am stoked to see there’s a waffle iron. Nice. I make a point to eat more than I think I need to, since I know competition won’t start until the afternoon. Might as well take advantage of the free calories.
We eventually take a cab to the event site, and we have a good time clowning on the music. Saturday is the primary day of the fair, and there are way more people out. At one point I even see Miss Idaho walk by, with the tiara and sash and everything. I should have taken a photo with her, but pre-competition it’s tough to focus on anything other than comp. Saturday we didn’t have the gazebo, and we had to share the final comp site with a bunch of other groups doing demonstrations at various times. It was clear to me I wouldn’t play any footbag until right before comps started, and sure enough I did a good job sticking to the plan.
I killed the time before comp by watching people play, checking out the various booths, and even playing a little Frisbee. I filmed Landes working on some fearless, and I plan on making a video of that later. Watching Landes link fearless is amazing…he does stuff I don’t even do when I’m air-shredding. I felt bad for the public that he wasn’t in circle finals, since I know he’d put on a good show.
Speaking of Landes putting on a show, at one point Landes and Penske put on a footbag demo for the public. During one section, Jim demonstrated a 6 point trick (mullet?), and Landes demonstrated a five. I expected the five to be something easy like ps whirl or blurry whirl, but instead he announces he’s going to do Frankenstein. And sure enough, he nails it first try. Impressive. At the end of the demo, Landes and Penske do a rippin run. Jim drops first, and right after he does, Scott Behmer yells out: “Nick Landes…the new US champion!”
Routines didn’t start until 3 ish, but I didn’t want to make the same mistake as the day before, where I had a big lunch which sat in my stomach through comp. I snacked on my granola bars and almonds throughout the day, and that worked well. I warmed up slowly by playing some foursquare, and then played some with Justin and Nick. In warm-ups Nick was hitting some crazy stuff with dragons, like vortex ending in dragon (volkswagon) and janiwalker set from dragon. Crazy. In the spirit of things, I hit bubba eggbeater from dragon, which was new for me.
The first event of the day for me was Circle Finals. The day before, I upset Penske in Circle qualifiers, and Justin came up to me and said: “that’s why I’m glad I wasn’t in a pool with you.” So when circle finals started, I told Justin: “well, I guess we had to meet sometime. I’m not looking forward to this either.” Finals is Bevier, Dale, Moir and myself. Justin proposed a bigger bag, while I had smaller heavy bags. Flash was fine with either, and I was fine with the big bag in variety round, but I didn’t think I could shuffle with it in density. I proposed using Justin’s big bag for the first round, then switching to the smaller for finals. Jorden didn’t like the bigger bag though, so we ended up using one of my smaller ones.
My goal going in was to medal. I felt like it was tough enough just to make finals, that I didn’t want to waste that effort by settling for fourth. First turn Justin came out guns blazing, which was intimidating, but I reminded myself that a lot can happen in 6 turns. It was clear that Jorden wasn’t taking prisoners, so my goal initially was to watch Bevier and Dale each turn, pick the better of their runs, and try and beat that. Made it simpler in my head. Shredwise for me, not much stood out other than BLW-WHAT!?!, and a midstring paranoia that I didn’t expect. Otherwise I thought I played overall pretty standard. Jorden went off. It was pretty cool to witness, even if it meant I was getting scorched because of it. When the final turn of circle was over, it was clear to everybody that Jorden had won, and I was pretty sure I finished second or third. I congratulate Jorden by saying: “nice man. I’m preeeeeetty sure you finished no worse than third.”
Video of circle finals is here.
Routines started pretty soon after circle, which was nice, since I didn’t want to warm up again. I can’t recall if they announced circle results before routines, but in any case I felt good going into routines knowing I competed well in circle. Beyond relieving me of some pressure to perform well, it was also good for me to know I could play on that surface (it was shaped a bit like a turtle shell, where the top was flat, but it tapered off in all directions) without much problems. I had second seed in routines, which meant I didn’t get to see anybody’s full routine except for Flash, since he went after me. I warmed up some with Penske, and at one point these two cute girls walk by, and give us props. As they start walking away, I tell them that Jim is a local, and a great resource of info for the sport. Just as I’d hoped, they start talking to him, which I hope distracts him before going up. Apparently this strategy failed, as Jim ended up going dropless:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=5jI3HAQDuIM[/youtube]
I’m up right after him. I think I overheard that he went dropless, but ultimately I felt no more pressure, since my goal was dropless no matter what. My music starts, and it’s too low. What I should have done, is made them stop, raise the volume, and then start over. Instead, I miss my first musical cue waiting for the volume to go up, and then I rush the first few seconds of the routine. I won’t make this mistake again in the future, and was surprised I did that this time. Once I catch up to my choreo though, I settle down mentally and just follow the plan. In a couple places I changed things on the fly, and I missed one cue particularly badly (I started a juggle at the wrong point of the song, which messed up the routine flow for a bit.). For the most part though, I hit my cues and felt in control. The last cue comes up, and I nail the PSW on the beat. I handcatch, and suppress the urge to flip out. I bow to the audience, walk off, and then flip out.
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=kUr6ogDZvHk[/youtube]
When I plan and practice a routine, I always imagine in my head how good it will feel if I get it dropless in competition. Given that this was only my 6th dropless routine, it still comes as a bit of a shock when I actually do manage to pull it off. I savor the feeling for a few minutes, then watch Flash’s routine. After he dropped a couple times, it becomes clear that the USO champ is going to be either me or Penske. Since I didn’t see Jim’s routine, I have no idea how good my chances are. Several people tell me they think I got it, but they all say it’s close. As the MC announces the results, the buildup to second place is intense. “…and in second place…” *breathe* “..from…” *oh boy* “…Denver Colorado!” I feel a touch of disappointment, but I walk out smiling and waving to the crowd. I later watch the video of both of our routines, and sure enough, they were pretty close. We were both dropless, but neither of our routines were perfect. Jim had some long pauses in his routine, and I had some tricks which were clearly bails. Apparently the final tallies could not have been closer, and I lost by one point total.
While I was a little sad to have come so incredibly close only to finish second, I’m not angry. Could I have done my routine better? Yes, definitely. But I did go dropless, and it was one of my best routines, so I can’t beat myself up over my performance. I can’t be mad at Jim; he performed hard and did a great routine. And I can’t be mad at the judges. It WAS close. And judging close performances live is extremely difficult. Ultimately, it sounds like it could have gone either way. I was just a bit unlucky that it didn’t go my way. Unfortunately, history doesn’t remember who comes in second or if it was close. I’m not going to be the answer to a trivia question in the future, and I wasn’t US or Euro champion this year. It would have been amazing to have won either, since I’ve never won a major before. That said, taking second in both isn’t too shabby, and is a personal best.
I later on learned that 1st place in routines won $500, second place got $100, and third place got none, which is a crazy prize money structure. Somebody asked me if it was tough finishing so far behind in the money on such a close decision, and it was interesting for me to realize (and answer) that the money didn’t matter to me nearly as much as the glory. I think that’s both cool and strange that I have a hobby I like enough to value glory over money.
Once routine results were announced, the remaining events started. At this point, I was totally drained. Circle finals and routine finals required a ton of concentration, and playing in the sun didn’t help me physically. But at this point in the weekend, it was already dawning on me that my tournament season was for all intents and purposes over. I didn’t want it to be over. So I summoned the last bit of my adrenaline and competitive spirit, and decided to compete in all events, even if I sucked.
Next: last events, and last day.
Last edited by C-Fan on 14 Aug 2012 13:56, edited 1 time in total.
I’ve gone ten days now without freestyle. In bad news, my left knee doesn’t feel any better. I can walk with no problems, but I feel it when I do stairs. I’m going to get it checked out when I get back from my work rotation. 
Speaking of my work rotation, I hit the road tomorrow. It’s a 12 hour drive to Vegas, and I’m gonna split that into two days. I’ll be in Vegas for 30 days, and I’ll have access to a gym. I’m hoping to get in a bunch of sessions with Gatesman, even if I need to change my game to accommodate my knee. I’m very excited about that. It’d be cool to get some exclusive footage and put out a quality video.
I should wrap up my USO writeup.
Saturday afternoon
Once routines are over and results have been announced, I make the decision to compete in all the remaining events. With the main events done, all pressure is off, and it’s like I’m playing a bonus game. I’ve already forgotten the order of events, so in no particular order:
Sick One: I didn’t have anything prepared for this, and I figured Jorden would crush us all. I therefore decided to go for a trick that I’d only hit twice before in my life: double peeking dyno. As I was warming up for this event, I was pleasantly surprised to find the trick easier than I remembered. I managed to hit it solid twice before I went up to compete. Still, trying to hit a trick in competition with five tries is tough, especially when you’d only hit it 4 times ever before that. I go up, and on my second try I manage to hit one! The seal is a sloppy handcatch, but I’ll take it. I don’t watch many other people’s entries, since I want to figure out my sick3 and get that warmed up. Luckily, I got somebody to film most turns. I’ll make a video at some point.
Sick 3: I was pretty tired at this point and not feeling all that inspired. I decided to do my safety sick3 from Green Cup, and then improvise after that. I hit my safety first try: bedwetter-darkwalk-blurry torque. I spend my next four tries going for shooting down-fog-toebius. I had one good look at it, but ultimately don’t seal any.
Rippin Run: I had a surprisingly good time and good showing in Rippin’ Run. My first opponent was Cody Carter, and I played pretty genuine throughout, including a long tripless string. When I beat him, I got a surprisingly loud ovation from the crowd, but didn’t give it much thought. As I approached the sideline to sit down, Matt Kemmer and Zac Miley commented:
Matt+Zac: Hey Ken, you have a cheering section.
Ken (facetiously): Are they cute?
Matt+Zac: Actually…yeah!
I look in the direction they are, and sure enough, the cheers for my rippin run and sick 3 were coming from a group of teenage girls. I start laughing real hard at the conversation I just had with Matt and Zac. This pretty much made my weekend.
My next opponent is Zac Jackson, and I play hard again. I think I even started my run before the countdown was finished. I know the way to do well at Rippin Run is to play it safe, but I never liked this philosophy. My last opponent ends up being Justin Dale. Oh boy. Of all the people at the tournament I wouldn’t want to face in Rippin Run, he’d probably be my top choice, followed by Jorden. I shake hands with Justin, Landes counts us down, and we start. My first trick is bedwetter, and then I get to shuffling. We go about 20 contacts, and the crowd starts applauding. Then we get to 30. Then 40. I’m pretty sure we were over 50 contacts and fighting hard, when I hear Nick yell enthusiastically in the mic something like: “oh yeah! Let’s hear it!” or something like that. Based on the tone of his voice and the roar of the crowd, I somehow interpreted this as Justin having dropped. Exhausted from my run, but vindicated by my victory, I handcatch my bag. I look up to congratulate Justin on a good battle…only to see that he’s still going.
He never dropped. D’oh! Later on a little kid came up to me and asked if I stopped my rippin run because I thought I had won, and I admitted I did. Pretty sad way to go out, but hopefully I’ll remember this next time I compete, and won’t make the same mistake.
Once all events are done, I go play some foursquare to cool down. Players party and awards are at a pizza place, and I catch a ride with the Jacksons. I buy us a pitcher of beer, and happily stuff my face with pizza. It’s my first real meal of the day since breakfast, and after spending the whole day competing in every event, in the sun, my body needs it. My body didn’t need all the beer, but I deserved a reward. Medals and prize money are distributed, and we get some group photos. I’m wearing my Pistons Grant Hill jersey, so my two silver medals form a “22” right over my jersey’s “33.” After pizza we go to Sunny and Daryl’s place, where we get a $5 poker game going. I get knocked out pretty quickly, beat Daryl in a game of chess, and then go out dancing with Sunny and some others. Boise has a surprisingly active dance scene for such a small city. I get my dance on, which is a lot of fun, and at the end of the night Zac drops me off at the hotel.
Sunday
The plan was to get in a basketball game Sunday morning, but that fell through due to various hangovers. I enjoy a good breakfast of waffles, and laugh when I bump into the Seattle crew, who are wearing their medals to breakfast. Nice. We talk about the previous day’s events, and I’m happy to see everybody has been having as good a time as me. As we check out of the hotel, I see an old grandparenty couple trying to give Matt Kemmer a $5 bill. Apparently, he carried their luggage up to their apartment, so they wanted to tip him like a busboy. Nice.
We pitstop at a grocery store to pick up beer and food for the picnic. The weather Saturday was thankfully cooler than forecasted, but Sunday it was back to the high 90s that were predicted. I spend most of the day in the shade drinking beer. I play a little foursquare on a weirdly shaped court. It was like fourtrapezoid. We don’t have tubes to float the river, but Tristan, Red and I go to the river for a dip anyway. The current was surprisingly strong, and it was freezing cold. I dipped my whole body only twice, but mostly just stood in the river and enjoyed how the cold felt on my aching feet and knees. When we get back to the site, I warm up with some light freestyle and more beer. I try to play, but at this point there’s no convincing my body there’s any gas left in the tank. I sit on the sidelines and watch shred as I have nice conversation with Chris Dean.
It turns out Steve is driving to the airport, and the timing is perfect with my flight. I pound a veggie burger, say my farewells, and hop in the car. It’s a short ride, but it makes me regret not having spent more time with Steve on the trip. Such a good guy. I say some more goodbyes at security, hop on my flight, and pass out.
Shout outs:
• Zeb- for picking me up at the airport, answering my questions before I came out, and organizing the whole damn show. I had a really good time.
• Zac J- great getting to know you better. Way to help run everything, and also compete at the same time. We should TF2 sometime.
• Zac Miley and Kemmer: the best footbag roommates. Wish we would have played more, but I had fun watching you guys.
• Justin Dale and Scott Bevier: it’s a pleasure playing with and competing against people my age. It gives me hope we’ll stick around for a while.
• Sunny: dancing was great. Thanks for making this happen.
• Scott Behmer- cracked me up all weekend.
• Landes- excellent MC job all weekend, and thank you for laying down some fearless for me.
•Penske- great shredding with you. Next time we'll play some ball. I promise.
• Larry Workman- for reminding me how exciting your first big tournament can be.
•Kevin Crowley-gotta get that. Gotta get get. Gotta get that...
• My teenage fan club- for being my fans, and for actually being cute.
• Everybody I hung out with and shredded with. That’s why I go to tournaments.
Hopefully see you at next year's USO!
Speaking of my work rotation, I hit the road tomorrow. It’s a 12 hour drive to Vegas, and I’m gonna split that into two days. I’ll be in Vegas for 30 days, and I’ll have access to a gym. I’m hoping to get in a bunch of sessions with Gatesman, even if I need to change my game to accommodate my knee. I’m very excited about that. It’d be cool to get some exclusive footage and put out a quality video.I should wrap up my USO writeup.
Saturday afternoon
Once routines are over and results have been announced, I make the decision to compete in all the remaining events. With the main events done, all pressure is off, and it’s like I’m playing a bonus game. I’ve already forgotten the order of events, so in no particular order:
Sick One: I didn’t have anything prepared for this, and I figured Jorden would crush us all. I therefore decided to go for a trick that I’d only hit twice before in my life: double peeking dyno. As I was warming up for this event, I was pleasantly surprised to find the trick easier than I remembered. I managed to hit it solid twice before I went up to compete. Still, trying to hit a trick in competition with five tries is tough, especially when you’d only hit it 4 times ever before that. I go up, and on my second try I manage to hit one! The seal is a sloppy handcatch, but I’ll take it. I don’t watch many other people’s entries, since I want to figure out my sick3 and get that warmed up. Luckily, I got somebody to film most turns. I’ll make a video at some point.
Sick 3: I was pretty tired at this point and not feeling all that inspired. I decided to do my safety sick3 from Green Cup, and then improvise after that. I hit my safety first try: bedwetter-darkwalk-blurry torque. I spend my next four tries going for shooting down-fog-toebius. I had one good look at it, but ultimately don’t seal any.
Rippin Run: I had a surprisingly good time and good showing in Rippin’ Run. My first opponent was Cody Carter, and I played pretty genuine throughout, including a long tripless string. When I beat him, I got a surprisingly loud ovation from the crowd, but didn’t give it much thought. As I approached the sideline to sit down, Matt Kemmer and Zac Miley commented:
Matt+Zac: Hey Ken, you have a cheering section.
Ken (facetiously): Are they cute?
Matt+Zac: Actually…yeah!
I look in the direction they are, and sure enough, the cheers for my rippin run and sick 3 were coming from a group of teenage girls. I start laughing real hard at the conversation I just had with Matt and Zac. This pretty much made my weekend.
My next opponent is Zac Jackson, and I play hard again. I think I even started my run before the countdown was finished. I know the way to do well at Rippin Run is to play it safe, but I never liked this philosophy. My last opponent ends up being Justin Dale. Oh boy. Of all the people at the tournament I wouldn’t want to face in Rippin Run, he’d probably be my top choice, followed by Jorden. I shake hands with Justin, Landes counts us down, and we start. My first trick is bedwetter, and then I get to shuffling. We go about 20 contacts, and the crowd starts applauding. Then we get to 30. Then 40. I’m pretty sure we were over 50 contacts and fighting hard, when I hear Nick yell enthusiastically in the mic something like: “oh yeah! Let’s hear it!” or something like that. Based on the tone of his voice and the roar of the crowd, I somehow interpreted this as Justin having dropped. Exhausted from my run, but vindicated by my victory, I handcatch my bag. I look up to congratulate Justin on a good battle…only to see that he’s still going.
He never dropped. D’oh! Later on a little kid came up to me and asked if I stopped my rippin run because I thought I had won, and I admitted I did. Pretty sad way to go out, but hopefully I’ll remember this next time I compete, and won’t make the same mistake. Once all events are done, I go play some foursquare to cool down. Players party and awards are at a pizza place, and I catch a ride with the Jacksons. I buy us a pitcher of beer, and happily stuff my face with pizza. It’s my first real meal of the day since breakfast, and after spending the whole day competing in every event, in the sun, my body needs it. My body didn’t need all the beer, but I deserved a reward. Medals and prize money are distributed, and we get some group photos. I’m wearing my Pistons Grant Hill jersey, so my two silver medals form a “22” right over my jersey’s “33.” After pizza we go to Sunny and Daryl’s place, where we get a $5 poker game going. I get knocked out pretty quickly, beat Daryl in a game of chess, and then go out dancing with Sunny and some others. Boise has a surprisingly active dance scene for such a small city. I get my dance on, which is a lot of fun, and at the end of the night Zac drops me off at the hotel.
Sunday
The plan was to get in a basketball game Sunday morning, but that fell through due to various hangovers. I enjoy a good breakfast of waffles, and laugh when I bump into the Seattle crew, who are wearing their medals to breakfast. Nice. We talk about the previous day’s events, and I’m happy to see everybody has been having as good a time as me. As we check out of the hotel, I see an old grandparenty couple trying to give Matt Kemmer a $5 bill. Apparently, he carried their luggage up to their apartment, so they wanted to tip him like a busboy.
Nice.We pitstop at a grocery store to pick up beer and food for the picnic. The weather Saturday was thankfully cooler than forecasted, but Sunday it was back to the high 90s that were predicted. I spend most of the day in the shade drinking beer. I play a little foursquare on a weirdly shaped court. It was like fourtrapezoid. We don’t have tubes to float the river, but Tristan, Red and I go to the river for a dip anyway. The current was surprisingly strong, and it was freezing cold. I dipped my whole body only twice, but mostly just stood in the river and enjoyed how the cold felt on my aching feet and knees. When we get back to the site, I warm up with some light freestyle and more beer. I try to play, but at this point there’s no convincing my body there’s any gas left in the tank. I sit on the sidelines and watch shred as I have nice conversation with Chris Dean.
It turns out Steve is driving to the airport, and the timing is perfect with my flight. I pound a veggie burger, say my farewells, and hop in the car. It’s a short ride, but it makes me regret not having spent more time with Steve on the trip. Such a good guy. I say some more goodbyes at security, hop on my flight, and pass out.
Shout outs:
• Zeb- for picking me up at the airport, answering my questions before I came out, and organizing the whole damn show. I had a really good time.
• Zac J- great getting to know you better. Way to help run everything, and also compete at the same time. We should TF2 sometime.
• Zac Miley and Kemmer: the best footbag roommates. Wish we would have played more, but I had fun watching you guys.
• Justin Dale and Scott Bevier: it’s a pleasure playing with and competing against people my age. It gives me hope we’ll stick around for a while.
• Sunny: dancing was great. Thanks for making this happen.
• Scott Behmer- cracked me up all weekend.
• Landes- excellent MC job all weekend, and thank you for laying down some fearless for me.
•Penske- great shredding with you. Next time we'll play some ball. I promise.
• Larry Workman- for reminding me how exciting your first big tournament can be.
•Kevin Crowley-gotta get that. Gotta get get. Gotta get that...
• My teenage fan club- for being my fans, and for actually being cute.
• Everybody I hung out with and shredded with. That’s why I go to tournaments.
Hopefully see you at next year's USO!
Two days into my 30 day work detail in Vegas. I drove down from Denver on Thursday and Friday last week, which wasn't bad at all. I could have done the drive in a day. Once I got here, I hiked a bit in Zion national park, which was stunningly beautiful. Saw some lizards and tree frogs.
My first weekend in Vegas was great. I checked out the strip with my girlfriend and did some touristy stuff like riding the rollercoaster at New York New York. The highlight for me though was when I passed this really tall dude in the mall. His face looked familiar, and he was 6 foot 8, so I did a double take. Then I did a triple take, and he smirked like I made his identity. I turned to my girlfriend and was like: "we totally just passed Rudy Gay!. When I got home I checked his twitter account, and sure enough, he's in Vegas. A few years back at CSS7 I saw Eduardo Najera at a Cheesecake Factory, but Rudy Gay now takes his place as the best NBA player I've seen in person, outside of an NBA arena.
The big highlight of the weekend though, was I got to play footbag. I hadn't played footbag since USO, a full two weeks earlier. I meet up with Evan Gatesman and Ben Skaggs on the UNLV campus, and we hit a gym. Had to pay a lot to get a one month membership, but it should be worth it if I go 5 times or more. I'm hoping this will motivate me to get in regular sessions with them.
I ended up playing pretty badly, but I had a great time nonetheless. It's just a pleasure to watch Evan play. Like, I'd pay money to watch him play. I wouldn't say that about many players at all. As for me, I didn't set myself up for a great session. I switched back to my old mismatched g-units, which lack tread. I did that as a way of prolonging the life of the g-units I used for most of last season's tourneys, but given that we're playing inside a gym, I lack confidence in my footing now. Hopefully I'll adjust. So yeah, I played crappy, but still hit some fun stuff, like double spinning eclipse and another trick that had eluded me for a long time.
I'll try and make a Gatesman special, cause he's ridiculous and I already have lots of footage. For now though, here's a taste:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I7vhpNI ... re=related[/youtube]
My first weekend in Vegas was great. I checked out the strip with my girlfriend and did some touristy stuff like riding the rollercoaster at New York New York. The highlight for me though was when I passed this really tall dude in the mall. His face looked familiar, and he was 6 foot 8, so I did a double take. Then I did a triple take, and he smirked like I made his identity. I turned to my girlfriend and was like: "we totally just passed Rudy Gay!. When I got home I checked his twitter account, and sure enough, he's in Vegas. A few years back at CSS7 I saw Eduardo Najera at a Cheesecake Factory, but Rudy Gay now takes his place as the best NBA player I've seen in person, outside of an NBA arena.
The big highlight of the weekend though, was I got to play footbag. I hadn't played footbag since USO, a full two weeks earlier. I meet up with Evan Gatesman and Ben Skaggs on the UNLV campus, and we hit a gym. Had to pay a lot to get a one month membership, but it should be worth it if I go 5 times or more. I'm hoping this will motivate me to get in regular sessions with them.
I ended up playing pretty badly, but I had a great time nonetheless. It's just a pleasure to watch Evan play. Like, I'd pay money to watch him play. I wouldn't say that about many players at all. As for me, I didn't set myself up for a great session. I switched back to my old mismatched g-units, which lack tread. I did that as a way of prolonging the life of the g-units I used for most of last season's tourneys, but given that we're playing inside a gym, I lack confidence in my footing now. Hopefully I'll adjust. So yeah, I played crappy, but still hit some fun stuff, like double spinning eclipse and another trick that had eluded me for a long time.
I'll try and make a Gatesman special, cause he's ridiculous and I already have lots of footage. For now though, here's a taste:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I7vhpNI ... re=related[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 14 Aug 2012 13:57, edited 1 time in total.
My time in Vegas has been awesome so far. Nothing like a change of
scenery to revitalize you. I’m on a 30 day work detail at a regional
and area office, and it’s been really cool seeing the work they do
here. Normally I work at national headquarters, which is the level
where we write policy and make decisions. Being out in the field, I
get to see more of the day-to-day operations, and its been a lot of
fun observing and participating in some of that work. Last Friday I
got to go on a dive expedition in Lake Mojave (45 from Hoover Dam),
where I got to snorkel and check out artificial fish habitats that we
maintain. Amazing.
My girlfriend came down with me for my first week here, so we did a
lot of touristy things. Mostly eating at places with good Yelp
reviews. Man, I’ve been eating like a king since I’ve been here. We
also went to a show, played at the pinball Hall of Fame, checked out
some clubs on Fremont street, and walked the strip a lot. Somewhere
in the midst of all this, I’ve also found the time to get in a few
shreds with Evan and Ben Skaggs.
All this has left me with very little time or opportunity to post much
in my blog, or modified in general. Again, not necessarily a bad
change really. Footbagwise the good news is my legs have been doing
well. My knees feel a little better, but after a long session they
still feel off. I think laying off certain concepts has helped the
left knee. There are times where I’m in the middle of a combo and
have to limit myself, which is annoying, but I’ll gladly take that
over not playing at all.
My big mistake on this trip, was bringing my mismatched G-Unit pair.
Since I drove here, it wouldn’t have cost me anything to have brought
my grey pair as well as a backup, but I didn’t. The mismatched pair
have two major problems. First, they have almost no tread left on the
soles. This means I can’t play on slippery indoor surfaces. They’ve
been fine in outdoor sessions, so that’s not a huge deal. The bigger
problem, is the right blue g-unit. The fabric is ripping badly on
both the toe, and the sweet spot of my instep. Beyond throwing off my
stalls occasionally, I feel the shoe isn’t snug on my foot anymore,
which hurts my control. At times I feel like I’m wearing a flip flop
on that shoe. So I haven’t been playing all that great on this trip.
Given what a rare and amazing opportunity I have this month, to get to
play regularly with Evan (who I think is probably the best US
freestyler at the moment), its really pretty bad that I didn’t bring
reliable equipment with me. Blergh.
This weekend I hung out with Evan for 24 hours straight. Sunday night
we met up for dinner before heading out to busk. We started off at
Fremont, then moved to the strip. Fremont had good pedestrian traffic
and lighting, but it was so loud out there we couldn’t engage the
crowds we drew. We relocated to the strip where it was quieter and
still had good traffic. Unfortunately, the lighting was unreliable.
We didn’t make much money, but we learned a lot from the experience,
and I think we’re going to try again at some point. There are a lot
of variables that go into successful busking, and I think we have a
better understanding of what things we need to do better. After
busking, we went out drinking, and Evan drank me under the table.
Monday we had a lazy hangover start. We shot some hoops in the
driveway, which was a lot of fun. I hadn’t touched a basketball since
before Euros, and I’d missed it. Then we played some Bomberman before
we finally made it out to shred. Neither of us were in great shape,
thanks to the previous night’s busking and drinking, but it ended up
being a fun session. Evan hit a four dex trick I’ve never seen
before, and a few minutes later he hit it flipside. This really
impressed me. One of my proudest achievements over the last few
years, was getting most of my basic fours to the point where they
really felt about equal. That is to say, I could think of a basic
string of fours and be able to do it on either side with roughly equal
ease. I’m definitely not at that point with my fives or sixes yet,
and with my biggest tricks and combos I’m not even close. I think
I’ve only ever hit like 2 beasts on both sides. But Evan’s flipside
is crazy. Like, I can request a 6 add blender trick to a stepping
triple dex, and he’ll do it both sides. Or he can hit a difficult
quad dex for the first time, and then get it flip a few minutes later.
That’s really pretty notable.
Evan didn’t play his best on Monday, but I still got a lot of usable
footage. Since we played outdoors, it also looks better than the
other footage I had from before. If I can get one or two more good
outdoor sessions on tape, I can totally make a killer Gatesman
special. I also didn’t play my best, which led me to an interesting
observation. It’s weird how we perceive the quality of our sessions.
I’ve had sessions where I didn’t hit anything notable, but I felt
like I played well and enjoyed myself. Like, I didn’t get frustrated
at all and footbag was just fun. And then I sometimes have sessions
like I did on Labor Day, where I was frustrated for over half the
session and felt I was playing like crap, but I still managed some
solid highlights. If I were to tell myself that I’d have a session
where I hit a mullet-free beast, a new quad dex multiple times, a
sealed seven, and a trick I’d never gotten on video before, I’d expect
myself to be like: “sweet, that must have been a great session!” And
yet, I hit all these things, and it still felt like an overall bad
session. I’m not entirely sure why. I suspect though that the
satisfaction I got from the above achievements did not outweigh the
frustration I felt over my failing shoes, and my consequent inability
to consistently hit stuff I normally do. The bright side of this, is
that big highlights make for more interesting videos. The down side,
is that I play footbag to have fun, and the session was more
frustrating than fun, despite the highlights. I just think it’s
interesting that you can have a session where you have good
highlights, but still perceive it to be a bad session. In any case,
it was fun to watch Evan play, and I got some good footage, so it was
worth it.
I may try and make a small video with some of the footage I don’t deem
worthy for the final gatesman special. It’d be raw footage with no
edit, but better than nothing, since it seems wasteful to just throw
out footage.
Oh, and Vegas Jam 2011.2 is the weekend of the 17th and 18th. It’ll
be a small family affair, but should be fun. So far we have Gateman,
Skaggs, Overbo, Bear, Dworetzky, Eric Chang and myself confirmed.
Some good prizes too. Come, it’ll be fun.
scenery to revitalize you. I’m on a 30 day work detail at a regional
and area office, and it’s been really cool seeing the work they do
here. Normally I work at national headquarters, which is the level
where we write policy and make decisions. Being out in the field, I
get to see more of the day-to-day operations, and its been a lot of
fun observing and participating in some of that work. Last Friday I
got to go on a dive expedition in Lake Mojave (45 from Hoover Dam),
where I got to snorkel and check out artificial fish habitats that we
maintain. Amazing.
My girlfriend came down with me for my first week here, so we did a
lot of touristy things. Mostly eating at places with good Yelp
reviews. Man, I’ve been eating like a king since I’ve been here. We
also went to a show, played at the pinball Hall of Fame, checked out
some clubs on Fremont street, and walked the strip a lot. Somewhere
in the midst of all this, I’ve also found the time to get in a few
shreds with Evan and Ben Skaggs.
All this has left me with very little time or opportunity to post much
in my blog, or modified in general. Again, not necessarily a bad
change really. Footbagwise the good news is my legs have been doing
well. My knees feel a little better, but after a long session they
still feel off. I think laying off certain concepts has helped the
left knee. There are times where I’m in the middle of a combo and
have to limit myself, which is annoying, but I’ll gladly take that
over not playing at all.
My big mistake on this trip, was bringing my mismatched G-Unit pair.
Since I drove here, it wouldn’t have cost me anything to have brought
my grey pair as well as a backup, but I didn’t. The mismatched pair
have two major problems. First, they have almost no tread left on the
soles. This means I can’t play on slippery indoor surfaces. They’ve
been fine in outdoor sessions, so that’s not a huge deal. The bigger
problem, is the right blue g-unit. The fabric is ripping badly on
both the toe, and the sweet spot of my instep. Beyond throwing off my
stalls occasionally, I feel the shoe isn’t snug on my foot anymore,
which hurts my control. At times I feel like I’m wearing a flip flop
on that shoe. So I haven’t been playing all that great on this trip.
Given what a rare and amazing opportunity I have this month, to get to
play regularly with Evan (who I think is probably the best US
freestyler at the moment), its really pretty bad that I didn’t bring
reliable equipment with me. Blergh.
This weekend I hung out with Evan for 24 hours straight. Sunday night
we met up for dinner before heading out to busk. We started off at
Fremont, then moved to the strip. Fremont had good pedestrian traffic
and lighting, but it was so loud out there we couldn’t engage the
crowds we drew. We relocated to the strip where it was quieter and
still had good traffic. Unfortunately, the lighting was unreliable.
We didn’t make much money, but we learned a lot from the experience,
and I think we’re going to try again at some point. There are a lot
of variables that go into successful busking, and I think we have a
better understanding of what things we need to do better. After
busking, we went out drinking, and Evan drank me under the table.
Monday we had a lazy hangover start. We shot some hoops in the
driveway, which was a lot of fun. I hadn’t touched a basketball since
before Euros, and I’d missed it. Then we played some Bomberman before
we finally made it out to shred. Neither of us were in great shape,
thanks to the previous night’s busking and drinking, but it ended up
being a fun session. Evan hit a four dex trick I’ve never seen
before, and a few minutes later he hit it flipside. This really
impressed me. One of my proudest achievements over the last few
years, was getting most of my basic fours to the point where they
really felt about equal. That is to say, I could think of a basic
string of fours and be able to do it on either side with roughly equal
ease. I’m definitely not at that point with my fives or sixes yet,
and with my biggest tricks and combos I’m not even close. I think
I’ve only ever hit like 2 beasts on both sides. But Evan’s flipside
is crazy. Like, I can request a 6 add blender trick to a stepping
triple dex, and he’ll do it both sides. Or he can hit a difficult
quad dex for the first time, and then get it flip a few minutes later.
That’s really pretty notable.
Evan didn’t play his best on Monday, but I still got a lot of usable
footage. Since we played outdoors, it also looks better than the
other footage I had from before. If I can get one or two more good
outdoor sessions on tape, I can totally make a killer Gatesman
special. I also didn’t play my best, which led me to an interesting
observation. It’s weird how we perceive the quality of our sessions.
I’ve had sessions where I didn’t hit anything notable, but I felt
like I played well and enjoyed myself. Like, I didn’t get frustrated
at all and footbag was just fun. And then I sometimes have sessions
like I did on Labor Day, where I was frustrated for over half the
session and felt I was playing like crap, but I still managed some
solid highlights. If I were to tell myself that I’d have a session
where I hit a mullet-free beast, a new quad dex multiple times, a
sealed seven, and a trick I’d never gotten on video before, I’d expect
myself to be like: “sweet, that must have been a great session!” And
yet, I hit all these things, and it still felt like an overall bad
session. I’m not entirely sure why. I suspect though that the
satisfaction I got from the above achievements did not outweigh the
frustration I felt over my failing shoes, and my consequent inability
to consistently hit stuff I normally do. The bright side of this, is
that big highlights make for more interesting videos. The down side,
is that I play footbag to have fun, and the session was more
frustrating than fun, despite the highlights. I just think it’s
interesting that you can have a session where you have good
highlights, but still perceive it to be a bad session. In any case,
it was fun to watch Evan play, and I got some good footage, so it was
worth it.
I may try and make a small video with some of the footage I don’t deem
worthy for the final gatesman special. It’d be raw footage with no
edit, but better than nothing, since it seems wasteful to just throw
out footage.
Oh, and Vegas Jam 2011.2 is the weekend of the 17th and 18th. It’ll
be a small family affair, but should be fun. So far we have Gateman,
Skaggs, Overbo, Bear, Dworetzky, Eric Chang and myself confirmed.
Some good prizes too. Come, it’ll be fun.
Feel bad I've neglected my blog lately. What can I say? Life has been busy. I'm in Arizona, in the middle of a weeklong trip. I was in Tucson over the weekend and got to see my folks. My mom repaired my busted right g-unit, and while her fix probably wont last more than a couple sessions, at least for this week I'm back to playing with confidence.
Playing with a busted g-unit for the last month was super frustrating, but may have had a silver lining. Since I couldn't do anything reliably with my right foot, it kind of forced me to take it easy, which was good for my knees.
Here's a video from today's session in Phoenix. My goal for the day was to hit at least one unusual trick in each string, which was a fun personal challenge.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwSewQnFD7E[/youtube]
Playing with a busted g-unit for the last month was super frustrating, but may have had a silver lining. Since I couldn't do anything reliably with my right foot, it kind of forced me to take it easy, which was good for my knees.
Here's a video from today's session in Phoenix. My goal for the day was to hit at least one unusual trick in each string, which was a fun personal challenge.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwSewQnFD7E[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 14 Aug 2012 13:58, edited 1 time in total.
I really liked that video. Those ducking pinchers looked really sweet. I really like the flapper - infinity too, dont see that very often.
I noticed that your youtube account is approaching 2,000 videos. That is a pretty big feat. I just want to say thanks for showing your dedication and commitment to the game by playing so often and taking time to film and edit and upload. I's not easy.
You should do something special for your 2,000th video.
I noticed that your youtube account is approaching 2,000 videos. That is a pretty big feat. I just want to say thanks for showing your dedication and commitment to the game by playing so often and taking time to film and edit and upload. I's not easy.
You should do something special for your 2,000th video.
zach jahner
Gatesman and I have already filmed like 4 scenes of our porno. The last costume should arrive in the mail by the time I'm back in Vegas, so we may be done with all scenes by the weekend.Zjeezy wrote:You should do something special for your 2,000th video.
Seriously though, thanks for the post. Making videos can be a lot of work, but it's fun to look back on old videos and see how you've progressed (or regressed). Plus, I love that Jay-Z track.
-
Frank_Sinatra
- Avenging Disco Godfather
- Posts: 1660
- Joined: 09 Jan 2007 12:43
- Location: Chicago, IL
I’ve been traveling so much lately, it’s been disorienting. Like, when I wake up in the morning it takes me a second to get my bearings. So many hotel rooms, so many cities. In less than two weeks I’ll be home…though my lease is up in mid-October, so I’m not even sure how much longer that’ll be home. Life’s been exhausting lately, but it’s also kept things interesting.
I was in Arizona for most of the last week for work. I took advantage of that and visited my folks. I see them in AZ about once a year, so every time I shred there I am reminded of what I was working on the last time I was out there. Last time I was there, I was working on getting my furious better, specifically stepping out of jani and sunilwalker. I was also trying to get gangsta party clean on tape. This time around, I was just looking to get my stamina and confidence back, since my mom repaired my busted G-Unit. I played twice in Tucson, and twice in Phoenix, so I’ve been playing a lot since I got them fixed. My last session in Phoenix I met Mike Green (worldbound), and we played at my hotel. That was a fun experience. He’s only been playing 4.5 months, and had never played with anybody else before. So even though I was struggling that session (crazy hotel carpet was trippy), I got props on almost everything. I had a flashback to 1998 when I met Sunil and Pete Irish at a Christmas jam in DC. The floor was slippery, and Pete’s shoes had no grip. He kept slipping and missing combos I’m sure he normally nails, but I was blown away. I remember him getting frustrated and not wanting to accept my high fives, but as a newb it was all impressive to me anyway. It was funny to be in the same situation 13 years later, this time in the veteran role. I told Mike about this and accepted his props, since I remember being on the other side. I told Mike I was excited for him, since he’s going to his first jam this weekend (Vegas Jizzam!)
The drive from Phx to Vegas was about 5 hours. So what did I do right after a 5 hour road trip? Go shred of course! I pretty much threw my luggage into my room, and then headed to Evan’s house to meet up with him and Bear to shred. I love the first shred of a tourney. There’s just a different excitement in the air. I was doubly excited for this shred too, since it was the first time playing with Evan when I had two working shoes. Definitely less embarrassing. We only got to play for an hour before the sun quit on us. Then we played some more anyway, even though it was really hard to see the bag. Despite this, Evan still had a string go for 40 contacts, which was crazy. Brian also had some long runs… I would bet they will meet in Rippin Run finals, but we’ll see how things shake out.
Here’s a vid of one turn where we all hit something kinda cool. We each had better individual runs throughout the session, but I wanted to post a turn with everybody in a row:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8Iv-WOrjbw[/youtube]
The plan for tonight is to go busking. I’m hoping that with three of us it will be less exhausting. I’m gonna try and film a lot this weekend. My goal is to make a Jizzam vid with everybody who attends, and also to get some more good clips for my Gatesman special. I want that one to be epic. Maybe for the Joulukalentari.
I was in Arizona for most of the last week for work. I took advantage of that and visited my folks. I see them in AZ about once a year, so every time I shred there I am reminded of what I was working on the last time I was out there. Last time I was there, I was working on getting my furious better, specifically stepping out of jani and sunilwalker. I was also trying to get gangsta party clean on tape. This time around, I was just looking to get my stamina and confidence back, since my mom repaired my busted G-Unit. I played twice in Tucson, and twice in Phoenix, so I’ve been playing a lot since I got them fixed. My last session in Phoenix I met Mike Green (worldbound), and we played at my hotel. That was a fun experience. He’s only been playing 4.5 months, and had never played with anybody else before. So even though I was struggling that session (crazy hotel carpet was trippy), I got props on almost everything. I had a flashback to 1998 when I met Sunil and Pete Irish at a Christmas jam in DC. The floor was slippery, and Pete’s shoes had no grip. He kept slipping and missing combos I’m sure he normally nails, but I was blown away. I remember him getting frustrated and not wanting to accept my high fives, but as a newb it was all impressive to me anyway. It was funny to be in the same situation 13 years later, this time in the veteran role. I told Mike about this and accepted his props, since I remember being on the other side. I told Mike I was excited for him, since he’s going to his first jam this weekend (Vegas Jizzam!)
The drive from Phx to Vegas was about 5 hours. So what did I do right after a 5 hour road trip? Go shred of course! I pretty much threw my luggage into my room, and then headed to Evan’s house to meet up with him and Bear to shred. I love the first shred of a tourney. There’s just a different excitement in the air. I was doubly excited for this shred too, since it was the first time playing with Evan when I had two working shoes. Definitely less embarrassing. We only got to play for an hour before the sun quit on us. Then we played some more anyway, even though it was really hard to see the bag. Despite this, Evan still had a string go for 40 contacts, which was crazy. Brian also had some long runs… I would bet they will meet in Rippin Run finals, but we’ll see how things shake out.
Here’s a vid of one turn where we all hit something kinda cool. We each had better individual runs throughout the session, but I wanted to post a turn with everybody in a row:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8Iv-WOrjbw[/youtube]
The plan for tonight is to go busking. I’m hoping that with three of us it will be less exhausting. I’m gonna try and film a lot this weekend. My goal is to make a Jizzam vid with everybody who attends, and also to get some more good clips for my Gatesman special. I want that one to be epic. Maybe for the Joulukalentari.
Always a treat to see you post on the forum Bob. I wish you'd do so more often.
On a related note, I've been reading old entries in people's blogs, since there are so few new entries on the forums these days. It made me nostalgic for the days when a single post in somebody's blog would generate 6-8 posts from different users in response. I re-read a big swath of David's blog today, and it made me feel...I don't know. Sad? Nostalgic? He made a heartfelt post in January 2006 where he pretty much said footbag was his life, and he couldn't imagine himself ever not playing. Now though, he's pretty much left footbag. His website is completely dedicated to magic, with no mention of footbag. In some ways it makes me sad, since he was such a great player, and a friend too. Having him drop out of the sport lowers the level of the sport, makes competitions less challenging and satisfying, and also means I see a cool person that much less often. On the flip of that, I'm happy for him, since he's obviously found something he likes more than footbag. It gives me hope that, should I ever tire of footbag, I could find something to take it's place.
Reading Dave's blog, and playing with Evan Gatesman this last month, has given me some perspective on my own relationship with footbag. Seeing how incredibly good some players get, it's easy for me to lament my age, or lack of speed, or inability to hit certain concepts. At this stage in my career, I'm not going to get any younger or faster, and likely will never get as good as some of the top players in the game. That said, I was blessed with one valuable footbag asset, which I'm increasingly thankful for.
I have a rare love of the game. I truly love footbag. I've played for 14 years, and I still enjoy playing. I'm never bored with the game; I always want to play. I'm not consistent and I get frustrated a lot, but I also get a lot of satisfaction from playing. I've posted religiously in my blog for 7 years, I've uploaded almost 2000 videos to YouTube, and I've done lengthy write-ups of most tournies I've been to. I've run and co-run tournaments. I still take the time to teach newbies. I've got like 4 footbag video projects on deck, and one footbag related music project. I've made fundraisers for footbaggers. I have trouble staying away from playing, even when I should. My point is, all of this seems completely natural to me, and hasn't required much motivation on my part. It's been that way for 14 years, and I've kind of taken that for granted. Really though, I should feel extremely grateful. I'm not sure why I love footbag so much, or why it's lasted so long, but now I realize that this love of the game has likely been my greatest asset, the thing I was luckiest to get. I may not have it forever, but then, people with quick legs don't have them forever either.
This may not have been my most coherent post ever, but it hit me as a big revelation, so I wanted to try and record it here.
On a related note, I've been reading old entries in people's blogs, since there are so few new entries on the forums these days. It made me nostalgic for the days when a single post in somebody's blog would generate 6-8 posts from different users in response. I re-read a big swath of David's blog today, and it made me feel...I don't know. Sad? Nostalgic? He made a heartfelt post in January 2006 where he pretty much said footbag was his life, and he couldn't imagine himself ever not playing. Now though, he's pretty much left footbag. His website is completely dedicated to magic, with no mention of footbag. In some ways it makes me sad, since he was such a great player, and a friend too. Having him drop out of the sport lowers the level of the sport, makes competitions less challenging and satisfying, and also means I see a cool person that much less often. On the flip of that, I'm happy for him, since he's obviously found something he likes more than footbag. It gives me hope that, should I ever tire of footbag, I could find something to take it's place.
Reading Dave's blog, and playing with Evan Gatesman this last month, has given me some perspective on my own relationship with footbag. Seeing how incredibly good some players get, it's easy for me to lament my age, or lack of speed, or inability to hit certain concepts. At this stage in my career, I'm not going to get any younger or faster, and likely will never get as good as some of the top players in the game. That said, I was blessed with one valuable footbag asset, which I'm increasingly thankful for.
I have a rare love of the game. I truly love footbag. I've played for 14 years, and I still enjoy playing. I'm never bored with the game; I always want to play. I'm not consistent and I get frustrated a lot, but I also get a lot of satisfaction from playing. I've posted religiously in my blog for 7 years, I've uploaded almost 2000 videos to YouTube, and I've done lengthy write-ups of most tournies I've been to. I've run and co-run tournaments. I still take the time to teach newbies. I've got like 4 footbag video projects on deck, and one footbag related music project. I've made fundraisers for footbaggers. I have trouble staying away from playing, even when I should. My point is, all of this seems completely natural to me, and hasn't required much motivation on my part. It's been that way for 14 years, and I've kind of taken that for granted. Really though, I should feel extremely grateful. I'm not sure why I love footbag so much, or why it's lasted so long, but now I realize that this love of the game has likely been my greatest asset, the thing I was luckiest to get. I may not have it forever, but then, people with quick legs don't have them forever either.
This may not have been my most coherent post ever, but it hit me as a big revelation, so I wanted to try and record it here.
-
Sporatical_Distractions
- registered sacks offender
- Posts: 4510
- Joined: 12 Oct 2004 19:14
- Location: Guy's American Kitchen & Bar
Really great post Ken.
I agree with you, i'm so sad David quit... The NA scene isn't the same without David for me.
For the motivation aspect, i think i understand you so well... For few months, i had a really hard time practicingt, it was pretty much a homework. I don't know why, but this summer i just learned how to practice. I changed my relation to footbag and now it's just so easy to play, even when i suck, it just doesn't matter.
Here is a wish i do : I hope we will have a session together in an other 14 years!
Great post again Ken. I hope to see you as soon as possible man!
Mat
I agree with you, i'm so sad David quit... The NA scene isn't the same without David for me.
For the motivation aspect, i think i understand you so well... For few months, i had a really hard time practicingt, it was pretty much a homework. I don't know why, but this summer i just learned how to practice. I changed my relation to footbag and now it's just so easy to play, even when i suck, it just doesn't matter.
Here is a wish i do : I hope we will have a session together in an other 14 years
!Great post again Ken. I hope to see you as soon as possible man!
Mat