The Other David

[Dave Da]

I am starting a new blog because the last one failed miserably and I don’t feel I was 100% honest in my posts. This blog will be different. I will post what I do each session good or bad and look for advice from the community. Please be encouraging I am not the best player but I really enjoy this sport.

My name is David Davis. I go by Dave hence my username here. I live in Westland Michigan and I belong to the Michigan Footbag Organization. I am a student at Lawrence Technological University. I recently went to Funtastiks in Harrisburg PA, it was an amazing time and I got to meet my inspirations in the sport, David Clavens, Vasek Klouda, Peter Irish and Gordon Scott Bevier. I went with some of the Michigan footbag players, like Zach Jahner (who got second in Shred 30!), Kyle Moery and Brandon Vasos. I am the worst of the players who went but I had a great time and I feel more involved in the sport than ever. This first post in my new blog will be completely about my weekend and Funtastiks Summer Classic.

Day One Friday August 31, 2006

We left on Friday at approximately 6 o’clock because Brandon got lost like 9 times trying to get to my house. Anyways we arrived at the host hotel around 2 in the morning. We pretty much went straight to bed.

Day Two Saturday September 1, 2007

This was a sweet day. There were no freestyle events; it was just a bunch of net. Net is pretty fun to watch but I came to realize that it’s very hard to play. We first got to the event site to see people just shredding in circles, playing 4 square and a bunch of net games going on. We started playing in a circle with Mike Toolan and he is a pretty fucking awesome guy he’s super funny. After some shred the Funtastiks lady took subway orders. While I was eating my subway Dave Clavens showed up. It was pretty cool to finally meet him because I talk to him on AIM on a regular basis. He recognized me and introduced himself. He is such an awesome guy and gives great advice. Later on in the day I got to play with Dave where he gave me the best advice I have ever heard in footbag. He told me I have to build a house. From the ground first you can’t put up the walls until you build the floor. That’s when I decided to school the basics so much until they are second nature, rather than trying to learn new stuff with a weak foundation.

Later that night…

We ate some food and went to this like reception room where we played like all night long with everyone there. I didn’t really hit anything new I just did what I feel comfortable with so I didn’t look like a goon. I realized how close the footbag community is and how they may not see each other everyday but you will develop some amazing friendships with people you hardly get to see.




Day Three Sunday September 2, 2007

This was the best day so far. We arrived on site and I met Erik Savage, he’s a cool kid. I was going to trade with him a while back but he said he was stitching bags for Funtastiks. Obviously this was true since he had about a 20 bags for sale at the main table. Today was the freestyle preliminary events. Vasek dropped like 4 times which was a surprise but he made up for it the next day. Basically it was cool to watch everyone shred and do their routines but what happened later was by far the most amazing footbag experience I’ve ever had.

Later that night…

We were in the shred room at the hotel. Zach, Erik, Toolan and I were sitting at this table watching everyone play. Dave shows up at the table and we start bull shitting. Then he asks if Erik and I would like to see how he stitches bags. It was super stoked, as I always am to see other people stitch. The bag he showed me how he stitches on I currently own. What makes this bag 10 times cool is that Vasek picked up the colors. Vasek is so weird but really funny at the same time. Although it is Rapture Rose and Green Mist I still love it. It’s my favorite bag and I play with it everyyyydayyyy. After I was in Dave’s room I went back down stairs. In the shred room Dave and Vasek started playing in the same circle. I’ve never seen so much talent in one footbag circle in my life. It was so sweet. Vasek did like 40 symp whirling swirls in a row. He also was trying backside nemesis swirl which was the most epic footbag trick my eyes have ever witnessed. Even though Vasek didn’t hit it, it was till amazing. He bails to TATW what the hell dude. He has those so automatic that it shouldn’t be possible to do it that many times in a row. As for Dave’s shred he’s is probably the smoothest footbag player I’ve ever watched. He has perfect form in everything he does. He is by far my favorite person I’ve met in footbag, and I really enjoy talking to him.

Day Four September 3, 2007

This was the day for finals. Shred 30 was pretty sweet to watch. Gordon Scott Bevier dominated. Zach got 2nd in shred 30 he beat Brandon’s idol John Schneider. Vasek’s routine today was so sweet. It was to some like Super Mario remix. It was pretty much amazing. Bevier’s routine was sick too. We left before the reward ceremony because he had an 8 hour drive back to Michigan. Funtastiks was the first legit footbag event I’ve ever attended and I don’t plan on it being my last. I really enjoyed meeting all these people Ive talk to on Modified, I made some pretty cool friends out of the whole experience as well. Funtastiks inspired me to play more and more so at NYJ this year Dave Mike and everyone else I played with in Harrisburg can say damn Dave you got soo much better.

[dblthnk84]

That was a fun event. What was it about hot water again...
________
XL600V

[Dave Da]

scalding balls

This is what Brandon is mentioning. Kyle told us that way back in medival times men used to dip their balls in scalding hot water to kill the sperm before they had sex.
pretty funny shit.

Todays Shred

Today I didn't really school anything I just played.

I hit...
mirage>pick up>mirage>left clip>osis
17 consectutive clippers.
Clipper op Clipper like 10 times (I have a really hard time doing that)
Mirage 5 consectutive times
Flip mirage 3 times in a row
back to back osis 4 times

I did other stuff but I dont feel like explaining
I was basically trying not ot be so one sided, its working out fairly well since all week long I've been schooling flip stuff.

peace

[The Rhino]

word is bond other david

[Dave Da]

Yesterdays shred

I didn’t really play a lot yesterday but I had a successful session.

New Stuff
Clipper set far Leg over
Clipper set far Pickup
Pixie sets!!
Pixie near Clipper
MY FIRST 4ADD Dim Walk

Drills
Alternating inside kicks 30 contacts (I just stopped. I could have done more) DC told me to do this before I play.
Strong clipper 15 consecutive
Flip clipper 3 consecutive (did about 50 flip clips to toes)
Strong mirage 6 consecutive
Flip mirage 2 consecutive
Mirage>pick up rpt 4 contacts
Osis>Osis rpt 4 contacts

Schooling
Legovers my usual flip side is my strong side for legovers.
Illusions are the same way

Need to learn…
Pdx Mirage flip and regular
Flip butterflies
Does anyone have any advice or drills that will help set up these trick to make them easier?

[Dave Da]

Thanks for the pdx mirage advice everyone!!!! (sarcasm)

I figured it out anyways. This is basically what i do for a pdx mirage.

1.From toe I set the bag straight in front of me.
2.I turn my body towards the bag to catch the clip
3.from clip I set the bag straight up and turn my hips towards the bag
4.lift my dex leg over the bag and catch it.

I hit like 4 of them other day.

My last shred was on tuesday.

not much to make note I just drilled stuff to work on my consistancy.

[Dave Da]

This is my first post on Modified in several months. I stopped playing towards the end of first semester last year because it got too cold to play outside and I had no indoor spots. Footbag was pretty much nonexistent for a long time. I decided that I will never be Vasek Klouda, Peter Irish, or Dave Clavens. I'm 20 years old. I’m a full time student and a full time employee. I do not want to say I don’t have the time for footbag, because I feel everyone has time for the things they love. I missed footbag and I miss the people in the community, it sucked being gone for so long. I doubt anyone really cares, because people come and go from this sport so frequently that a lot of times it goes unnoticed. I’m sure a lot of you don’t know who I am and don’t really care that I’m back to the sport, but it really isn’t about that.

I’m not sure where the inspiration to start playing again came from. I think it started when my nephew found a bag of my footbags in a drawer and asked about it. So I told him what they were and explained to him what the sport was called and what it’s all about. I proceeded to show him David Claven’s Day One video. It blew his mind, and at the same time inspired me to start kicking again. At first I started stitching again and then slowing started to carry a bag with me to school and work. Then the other day there was a circle of hackers at my school, they had some knitted garbage hack so I joined the circle and we started using my Rapture Rose Green Mist DC bag, (the one Vasek picked the colors for and Dave showed me how he stitches on.) Luckily, I was wearing shorts and some decent shoes, I started doing some toe stalls and clippers then, ATWs and Mirages, and it was going very well for kicking for the first time. I was really surprised. I mean I wasn’t busting new stuff or anything, but it amazed me how I didn’t really loose touch of what I had before I stopped playing. The people in the circle were fairly impressed, considering I’m kind of on the fatter side (probably because I stopped kicking haha) and I could do some of that stuff. So from there I kept kicking, at home and I’ve been reading some stuff on modified, and finally decided to make a post. I don’t really want to make a post, if I wasn’t going to try to get back into the sport. Well I’m back and I hope to enjoy it much this time as I have in the passed.

Peace
DD

[The Rhino]

Hey man, since you are back, wanna get together and bust some serious shred? let me know. Peace.

[Dave Da]

I would like to. It just depends on my schedule ya know. Between work and school i dont have much time during the week.

[The Rhino]

what about the weekends??????????

I'm usually free during saturdays.

[shredzilla]

Then the other day there was a circle of hackers at my school, they had some knitted garbage hack so I joined the circle and we started using my Rapture Rose Green Mist DC bag, (the one Vasek picked the colors for and Dave showed me how he stitches on.)

And you quit playing AFTER that happened to you?? Wow. I always feel like if you meet someone huge in the sport, like say Tony Hawk or Rodney Mullins you'd just have to keep playing that til you die haha.

I can't play right now because of injury and more recently, illness. And I'm not even sure when I will be able to again. I think I put a mild strain on my ACL. If I was young, 20 years old, I'd play every single day of my life. But as it goes, I have to play when I can, when I'm healthy. Lately that's been about once a month

Anyway, I don't even know why I'm sharing this with you, but I just wish I was in your shoes and had the ability to play whenever I want. That would rule.

[Dave Da]

I still exist.

[MetZelRio]

I have been wondering dude! Let's hook up, we are shredding in GR on Saturday, can you come?

EDIT: I am now MetZelRio, Formerly the Rhino, formerly H********g. lets hook up man. I wonder every now and then if you ever hit those drills Clavens had you working on.