Fanzine

Keep a diary of what you're hitting, what's frustrating you, and your goals.
Post Reply
User avatar
C-Fan
Rekordy Polski
Posts: 11366
Joined: 23 Jan 2003 23:51
Location: Denver
Contact:

Worlds Friday night

Post by C-Fan » 17 Sep 2017 18:57

boyle wrote:
15 Sep 2017 14:59
The trophy story is also hilarious - were you holding it in exactly the same position the other three were in the photo?
I thought so...but now that I look at the photo, it looks like they're resting it on their wrists but also gripping with their hands. My mistake may have been assuming everybody was balancing that well JUST on their wrist. Anyway, I'm just glad I didn't break the gold trophy.
boyle wrote:
15 Sep 2017 14:59
Also, I think your competitive career is not over just yet...there's still time for a medal.
Honestly, if my future self walked in the door right now and told me I never competed again due to family/life commitments, I'd believe him. If he said the opposite, that I continued to compete for 5 more years and won a couple more titles, I'd also believe him. I honestly don't know right now.

OK, let's get right to it. Here's the blow by blow of my finals routine. Hoo boy. Deep breaths!

The familiar opening organ chords hit, and I throw the first trick of the routine hoping I'll be on autopilot for the next two minutes. I hit the opening blurriest, but even as I land the double down I feel unstable on the landing. I miss the sealing paradox mirage, even though that's probably the safest bail trick in my entire game. I'm already off my game, as I know that if my body doesn't trust the floor surface enough to hit strong paradox mirage, then nothing is safe. The drop makes me miss my first choreo cue, but I recover fast enough to hit the toe sequence right after right on cue. Except I didn't, as the bag rolls off my toe. I'm eight seconds into my routine and I already have 2 drops, but more importantly I'm spooked about my footing. I recover to hit my next choreo cue, but follow it up by dropping my front sole stall. That trick requires good balance on the support leg, and between the squishy carpet and my 2 drops in the past 10 seconds, I don't have the confidence or the balance to stick it. I've now dropped it 3 times, and I haven't even gotten out of the intro section of my routine. I ditch the sunglasses at this stage, and I think that helps, but the damage has pretty much already been done. Part of me just wants to walk off stage and end the suffering, but I also realize what a bad look that'd be for both me and the tournament as a whole. I'm off my choreo for the next 10 seconds or so, but get back on track at the juggle section. I had a pretty ambitious juggle planned, with a few tricks done while the standing leg held a rooted toe stall. This of course requires good one-legged balance, and by this stage I should have realized I did not have this type of balance on this surface. Drop #4 happens as a result. Fuck. I'm less than a minute in, and I already have 4 drops. In practice I don't think I ever had more than 2 drops, but somehow I have double that less than halfway in, and my choreo is off. It feels unreal, like a nightmare, but I force myself to push on. The next 30 seconds, I somehow get back on track and hit my cues roughly where I planned them. The routine shows flickers of what it is supposed to be, and I even feel the audience coming back on my side a bit. Then I drop a toe stall out of a squeeze, as I didn't pause to ensure proper balance coming off a spin. I recover decently, but at this stage I already know my dreams of a good routine, much less a medal are dead in the water. I hit my cues pretty decently until the blind mirage section. Given all my struggles with balance tricks to this point in the routine, I probably shouldn't have even risked going for it. I do though, and mercifully at least I hit it. I use that momentum to push me through the rest of the routine, and thankfully I hit my final paradox torque to handcatch. Given how badly everything went, I wouldn't have been surprised to end on a drop. It would have been pretty fitting thematically. I'm relieved to close out the final section without any bad drops, but even as I force myself to bow to the audience and walk off stage with a forced smile on my face, I already know this is my worst disappointment in 20 years of competing.

The second I'm offstage and out of sightlines, I collapse to my knees and feel the crushing wave of disappointment wash over me. I almost don't know how to feel; it's like I'm beyond anger, beyond sadness... part of me honestly can't believe what happened actually happened. I hide behind the banner by the judges table to calm myself down and process things, and I watch the remaining few routines. Or at least my body and eyes are facing the stage...I'm not sure I'm really "watching" or processing anything at this stage. It's like I'm in shock. I do register that Vasek had an early drop, and that Taishi went dropless. I think I also register that Taishi's routine is pretty easy, but maybe that was a tactical calculation on his part. I already start to wonder if I should have watered down my routine given my struggles with the carpet, but at this stage it's too late.

Once routines conclude, I wander about in a daze asking people if there's any liquor stores nearby. The consensus appears to be that convenience stores sell cheap beer, but no liquor. I end up having to lightrail into downtown Portland to find a place that sells whiskey, and I get myself a small bottle for the rest of the night. On the lightrail ride back to the convention center I post on Facebook: "That didn't go as planned... :lol:" I'm already trying to cheer myself up, because I know that being depressed about it won't change the outcome. By the time I get back to the site, it turns out Circle comp has already ended. Like the dingleberry on the cake... I can't believe it's so hard to get booze in Portland, and that it took long enough that I missed Circle finals.

When I step back into the center, I get roped into doing some of the live stream commentary with Red and Kemmer. This ends up being probably the best thing that could happen to me, as being on camera forces me to put on a happy face which helps keep me from slipping into self-pity. After a few minutes on camera, I get a text from Haley who says she's watching me! Apparently she watched my routine on the live stream, and left the stream going on the TV in the background afterwards. So when she heard my voice, she tuned in again. It makes me feel better knowing she's seeing me post-routine with a smile on my face, as it'd put her mind at ease that I wasn't suicidal or anything.

Awards and results haven't been announced yet, so I kill time waiting by playing some pickup doubles net. It's a good distraction, and I even manage a few decent spikes which helps me take out some aggression. More than anything though, it feels good to play footbag well, even if it's the wrong kind of footbag, and even if objectively I still suck at it. Once they begin the awards ceremony, I break away to go applaud my friends. While I feel destroyed inside by an awful Finals showing, I think it's important from a sportsmanship standpoint to be supportive of my friends and the tournament. As they announce the results in reverse order, I feel no suspense about where I'll end up, because it honestly doesn't matter at this stage. Whether I got 5th or 8th doesn't change the fact that I had an awful Finals. I'm mildly surprised to find out I finished in 5th, but it carries no additional joy with it. I put on my gamest face and wave to the crowd. But I feel dead inside:
Image

Even through my personal disappointment, I am happy to see Taishi on the podium. I still remember the first time I met him at Yoyogi park, one of the first of a wave of new players to get involved thanks to the Pepsi Twist campaign we ran. To see one of my Team Japan guys work so hard, stick with it, and become only the second asian person on the routines podium in history was a great feeling. Then they announced Vasek in second, and Pawel in first! Again, despite whatever else I was feeling about myself at the time, it was neat to be there to see the history of a non-BAP player win Worlds for the first time.

After awards, I hitch a ride to the party. I'm hoping for some dancing, or humor, or non-footbag conversation to distract me. Unfortunately none of those things are in great supply, so I end up floating from conversation to conversation like a ghost. A drinking ghost. It's like I'm at the party, but not really there. Weird how instinct takes over when a camera is pointed at you. Look at me smiling at the camera...cause I'm totally so happy at this moment in my life:
Image

When Evan finally mercifully drives me home, it's a huge relief. Even with the booze, I can't erase the memory of my finals routine as I drift off to sleep. I had no idea that this would be the case so many more times in the coming weeks.

Only half a day more to blog, then maybe I'll do some closing thoughts on how I'm trying to process it all.

User avatar
acxel22
Post Master General
Posts: 3065
Joined: 16 Sep 2004 18:52
Location: Montreal, Qc

Re: Fanzine: Worlds 2017

Post by acxel22 » 18 Sep 2017 08:39

I really enjoy reading this, there is so much happening in my head when doing a routine, when I feel unstable, when I set incorrectly and need to bail, when the legs don't feel right. Very interesting to see someone else talk about it, I'm looking forward to see you do more routines, you go so hard and usually do so good it's very entertaining, even this year's finals with the bad luck still gave a very good show.

I know sometimes it's tough to think about it as a positive thing, but I want to tell you that I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to see you nail this in another tournament or even a new one and better.

This may be your future self writing this message by the way
Mathieu Gauthier

Muffinman
the gimp
Posts: 10373
Joined: 21 Apr 2002 15:34
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Fanzine: Worlds 2017

Post by Muffinman » 18 Sep 2017 12:15

Still catching up on your Worlds write-up. Just finished Wednesday. But the terrible Chinese tourist joke reminded me of my time at East Coasts a couple years ago where I was wandering around New York City (actually trying to find you and some other people!) and Anton randomly recognized me from behind, at night, in some strange neighbourhood. So crazy to have run into a footbagger in such a big city.

Muffinman
the gimp
Posts: 10373
Joined: 21 Apr 2002 15:34
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Fanzine: Worlds 2017

Post by Muffinman » 18 Sep 2017 13:50

Finally finished.
I agree with Dan -- I as really impressed with how you came back after the disappointing first half of the routine. I probably would've walked off too. But I also agree that this doesn't have to be the end of competition for you. And regardless of if it is or not, there's a lot more in footbag to keep you going for years and years. Even just the amazing people. I hope the write-up helped like you wanted it to! I hope to see you at an event in the near future :) <3

User avatar
max
Australofrenchbrityorkus
Posts: 3751
Joined: 24 Apr 2002 00:12
Location: Bondi Beach, Australia
Contact:

Re: Fanzine: Worlds 2017

Post by max » 19 Sep 2017 14:18

I read all of that and just want to send you a big internet hug.
It sucks so hard to prepare for something that is SO important to you only to fail when the spotlight is on you (I'm a very competitive golfer and have been there..) While i'm sure this may sound pretty hollow: I can only hope that you learned some important lessons from this final's routine and that you give yourself the chance to give it another stab, because I don't know anyone more deserving of a routines medal.

FWIW I really liked your routine.
Maxime Boucoiran
French ConneXion
BFC

User avatar
C-Fan
Rekordy Polski
Posts: 11366
Joined: 23 Jan 2003 23:51
Location: Denver
Contact:

Worlds 2017...unprocessed still?

Post by C-Fan » 27 Sep 2017 14:29

Thanks for the nice comments guys. I apologize for the lack of posts here recently. I was in Montana last week on a work trip where I worked crazy hours, and when I have been home in Denver it feels like all my time has been eaten up by house issues and the family all being sick with colds/ear infections non-stop. I've literally only played footbag once since Worlds ended, and I don't see that changing any time soon.
acxel22 wrote:
18 Sep 2017 08:39
This may be your future self writing this message by the way
That legit made me laugh out loud. I hope it's true, but even if its not, at least it made me laugh. Thanks for that.
max wrote:
19 Sep 2017 14:18
FWIW I really liked your routine.
Thanks Max. I know it sounds weird, but I really did too. Like, it felt better choreographed and more original/interesting than any routines I had done in the past. In a way, that makes it doubly disappointing it went badly at Worlds. Hell, even if I had done it dropless in the first or second rounds, that would have been some level of comfort. It almost feels like I let the routine itself down by never doing it justice in competition.
Muffinman wrote:
18 Sep 2017 13:50
I hope the write-up helped like you wanted it to!
Reading this made me realize...that it totally hasn't. I thought just chronicling the events of the week would help me process it all, but I realize it hasn't. I should probably take a stab at some deeper analysis, or even just trying to build some narratives just to see how they fit, to see if that helps me get where I want. Cause right now, the extent of my takeaways is basically this:

Image

OK that's an exaggeration made for comedic purposes, but still. I haven't come to terms with both Worlds and where I'm at with footbag at this stage, and that's not very satisfying. I need to work to make progress on that.

Since I haven't been playing lately, I don't have any new footage. But I did recently realize I shot some footage for the Worlds team to use in a promo video, which never got made. So I'll try and put together some of that to make a video for my next post. In the meantime, here's one of my favorite clips from that pile:


boyle
Post Master General
Posts: 3146
Joined: 19 Sep 2007 23:42
Location: Canberra, Australia
Contact:

Re: Fanzine: Worlds 2017

Post by boyle » 27 Sep 2017 16:03

Good shot! Your court was much bigger than the one from my video.

User avatar
Sporatical_Distractions
registered sacks offender
Posts: 4510
Joined: 12 Oct 2004 19:14
Location: Guy's American Kitchen & Bar

Re: Fanzine: Worlds 2017

Post by Sporatical_Distractions » 27 Sep 2017 23:55

You were a total zombie that party night. Sorry things went bad. You are an awesome man and I love hanging with you the few times we see eachother every 5 years or so. I look up to you. I also like the sarcastic happy pic of us tho since you were feeling down and out ❤️ Were you back in billings montana? That place sucks. Gotta come out to western Montana where there's mountains, trees, and lush valleys sometime. Also, finding booze in Portland is super easy. I would've helped you out

Edit: no idea why that heart ended up so huge. Maybe it's my heart for you and your life as a new dad and newly wed
Welcome to Flavortown

Kevin Crowley

User avatar
C-Fan
Rekordy Polski
Posts: 11366
Joined: 23 Jan 2003 23:51
Location: Denver
Contact:

Still no footbag to report...

Post by C-Fan » 02 Oct 2017 14:14

boyle wrote:
27 Sep 2017 16:03
Good shot! Your court was much bigger than the one from my video.
Thanks Dan. I was surprised to find I could hit shots from that range more often than I expected, but when I started trying to do the Steph Curry look away (i.e. look away from the ball after you shoot but before it goes through the net) my success rate plummeted. Weird how "following through" and looking at the ball even after it's left your hands can affect these things. You'd think it wouldn't.
Sporatical_Distractions wrote:
27 Sep 2017 23:55
You were a total zombie that party night.
Yeah...there's photographic evidence showing I was there, and I know I must have made conversation with people while I was there too. But honestly? I'd just as easily believe you if you told me I spent those 4 hours of my life living/listening to this video in a loop:



Hell, I might even find that more believable. :lol:

I really need to write down some thoughts to help me process. I'm kicking around some thoughts, so hopefully I get to that soon.

Not a lot to report on the footbag front otherwise. Other than that one session where I got atomic vertigo I haven't played since Worlds. It'd be easy to ascribe this lack of playing to a post-Worlds hangover resulting from my bad Finals, but that's only part of the picture. For most of the past month I've been sick as has the rest of the family, so either I've been too sick to play or I've been busy taking care of the other sick family members. I also had that one work trip in Kalispell, plus the weather has been all over the place in Denver lately. Mostly cold and rainy though, so even if I had time to play I'd have to play indoors.

But yeah, part of the reason I put such pressure on myself for this year's Worlds is I knew my life would be different once Griffin arrived, and I likely wouldn't be able to give the same time and effort to footbag once I became a parent. I think that assumption was correct and will be for at least the next couple years. I'm not going to overreact and assume that my life as a footbagger is over or anything. I've made several transitions in my life before where I was entering a new chapter and wasn't sure how it'd impact my playing footbag; most notably when I moved to Japan and there was no scene there at the time. Same with grad school. That said, while I do expect a time will come where I can carve out more time for footbag, I also wouldn't be surprised if I'm on the wrong side of 40 by then. I'm sure I'd still be able to set goals and challenges that would keep the sport fun for me, but it'd be surprising if I'm still able to challenge for Finals spots at Worlds at that age. But doing something like working on flip spins and changing my style could be fun. I played around with that a few years back and recall it being a fun challenge:

User avatar
Sporatical_Distractions
registered sacks offender
Posts: 4510
Joined: 12 Oct 2004 19:14
Location: Guy's American Kitchen & Bar

Re: Still no footbag to report...

Post by Sporatical_Distractions » 03 Oct 2017 12:58

C-Fan wrote:
02 Oct 2017 14:14
I'd just as easily believe you if you told me I spent those 4 hours of my life living/listening to this video in a loop:


I used to listen to their song 'junk bones' a lot.
Welcome to Flavortown

Kevin Crowley

User avatar
C-Fan
Rekordy Polski
Posts: 11366
Joined: 23 Jan 2003 23:51
Location: Denver
Contact:

Would you rather?

Post by C-Fan » 06 Oct 2017 19:26

Nice, I hadn't heard that one before. Bit of a Regina Spektor vibe on it. Been discovering more new music lately which has been nice. I feel like I'm one of the few players who actually likes routines because it offers the chance (usually unrealized) of meshing footbag with music. Looking back over my routines from the past 20 years it strikes me how little I used choreo, compared to all the opportunities for it. And that's saying something, since I'd consider myself one of the better competitors in terms of choreography. I know we laugh at the routines from the 80s where it's like 3 guys pirouetting in sync, but at least they were trying to cue things up to the music. My routine for Worlds this year was on the right track, but I'd argue even that was too shreddy. There's definitely a lot of unrealized potential for choreo in routines. Hopefully somebody exploits that in the future.

Anyway, changing gears completely. I've been kicking around a few narratives to help me process not just Worlds, but also the general transition from hardcore footbagger to... parent who still loves footbag but maybe can't give it the time and emotional energy he used to? I haven't fully bought into any of these yet, but maybe writing them down will lead me to the narrative that will let me make peace with the first 20 years of my footbag career.

#1. Would you rather?
This is a game that's been around for ages, but seems to have gotten way more popular in the past couple years. The way it works in a nutshell is you present two outcomes (usually both bad) to yourself or a friend and ask them to choose which they'd hypothetically prefer. The Worlds 2017 equivalent for me is something like, would you rather:

A. Train super hard for Worlds, make it to Finals, have a real shot at winning it all and closing out your career on a perfect note...but instead drop 5 times. You still made Finals, and even finished 5th, but you had your dream brush past your fingertips and weren't able to grasp it.

Orrrrrr....

B. Don't go to Worlds and finish your career thinking you might have been able to win in 2014, 2016, and 2017... IF you had gone. But of course you'll never know for sure because you didn't.

I could see a lot of people going with Choice B. You get to live the rest of your life imagining abstract hypothetical wins, instead of dealing with a concrete actual loss. But to me, it'd almost feel worse knowing I had a chance to win but didn't even try. While my Finals debacle hurt, and still hurts, at least I know with certainty that I tried and that I had a real shot at a title. If I hadn't gone to Worlds, I wouldn't have had that shot and I also wouldn't be able to tell myself that I took a shot while I still had the opportunity. Choice A is pretty heartbreaking...but I'd take it over Choice B. I say that now 2 months after Worlds, but I'm also pretty sure I would have said the same before Worlds too. I'd rather take a shot and miss than spend the rest of my life wondering what if. Yeah, my Finals was disappointing and heartbreaking and not the way I wanted to end my footbag career. But at least I gave myself a shot at it, and I tried.

Oof. Surprised how hard this is to write. But I think it's good for me. More later.

boyle
Post Master General
Posts: 3146
Joined: 19 Sep 2007 23:42
Location: Canberra, Australia
Contact:

Re: Fanzine: Worlds 2017

Post by boyle » 07 Oct 2017 00:48

A is the choice for me. Particularly at this stage in life where there are less opportunities to get there, this was the time to go. You can see that you trained really hard for it. I think that part - you had a chance to win or give a good performance, but you didn't even both to go, when the opportunity was there.

You are definitely right on routines, and that's why people claim that we should focus on the artistic a bit more than the technical. Even though the system is already there to give each one equal weighting, people aren't planning their routines with equal rating to that. I would love to see someone that has a dance/gymnastics background, that was also good at footbag to do a routine someday, I think that would be impressive.

User avatar
C-Fan
Rekordy Polski
Posts: 11366
Joined: 23 Jan 2003 23:51
Location: Denver
Contact:

5 or 10 years ago, I would have killed to make Finals...

Post by C-Fan » 08 Oct 2017 21:46

Choice A is definitely the way to go.

Narrative #2: What if I quit 10 years ago? Or 5 years ago?

My Finals routine this year was pretty crushing, but I'm not even sure it was my worst outcome at a Worlds. And that helps give me some perspective.

In 2007 in semis I lost control of the bag mid-routine and it went flying under the bleachers where the audience was seated. I lost a good 20 seconds of time before realizing I couldn't retrieve it, and somebody gave me a different bag to close the routine out. Felt like something straight out of a nightmare, and I remember afterwards contemplating quitting competing in footbag. Had I done so I would have ended my 10 year competitive career with zero dropless routines, zero wins at major tournaments, no US championships, and no routine Finals appearances at Worlds. Instead, I decided I couldn't quit without really giving my best shot at training. I couldn't say truthfully that I had tried my hardest to that point, and I knew that. I knew I couldn't quit without giving it my best shot, and so I spent the next year really training. The next few years that training showed some dividends, as I got my first dropless routines in competition and won a few tournaments with performances I could be proud of.

Flash forward 5 years to Worlds 2012 in Warsaw. I trained hard for the tournament but I never adjusted to the jet lag on this trip and never felt like I found my groove in any of the events. I remember distinctly rubbing my eyes with tiredness during competition, and trying to shock my system with caffeine to no avail. My semis routine went poorly, and I remember doing the zombie walk off stage and just keeping on walking out of the freestyle area to find someplace to be alone. I found an upper deck of bleachers on the second floor of the net competition gym and just lying down with my disappointment. While I was glad I hadn't quit competing after Worlds 07 and I was proud of my improved competition results in the 5 years since...I also hadn't won a USO or made a routine Finals at Worlds. I was 32, and it just seemed like every year I was older and competing against increasingly younger players. I remember asking myself again: was it time to end my competitive career? 15 years is more than a lot of people play much less compete, and unlike back in 2007 I could now honestly tell myself that I had given it my best shot.

If Worlds 2013 were in Europe again or if USO 2013 weren't in Seattle, maybe that would have marked the end of my competitive career. Instead, I kept competing and over the next 5 years picked up one US championship in routines and one in circles, a few more dropless routines, and 3 appearances in routine Finals at Worlds. Beyond the results themselves, I wouldn't have experienced the emotions, the highs and lows of it all if I had quit either in 07 or in 12. For that alone I'm glad I pushed my competitive career to 20 years instead of "retiring" earlier. Was my 2017 Finals routine disappointing? Yes. But if I could go back to 2012 Worlds and talk to myself in those bleachers in Warsaw after my 2012 routine, the conversation would likely have gone like this:

2017 Ken: Ugh, its so crushing when you do badly in competition, especially at Worlds.
2012 Ken: Amen brother. Why do we even put this much emotional energy into kicking around a stupid bean bag?
2017 Ken: I know right. I dropped 5 fucking times in my routine. Five! I don't think I ever got more than two in my practices. Aaagh!
2012 Ken: Ach, that sounds awful. I guess routine Finals just never was in the cards for us.
2017 Ken: Actually no, this was IN routine finals. Which in a way makes it worse.
2012 Ken: What! You made Finals at last! That's awesome!
2017 Ken: Um, this was actually my third time in Finals.
2012 Ken: So...you're complaining about finishing worse than in past Finals?
2017 Ken: Well no. I tied my previous best as I ended up in 5th, but I could have done so much better.
2012 Ken: I get that. Performing worse than you should have always sucks, even if the results don't reflect that. Still, I would kill to make Finals even if I finished in 8th with a bad routine. 5th place, at age 37 really isn't that bad.
2017 Ken: Yeah, I just feel like I let down my wife, my dog, and my son.
2012 Ken: Your what, your what, and your what?!?!

All jokes aside, thinking about 07 Worlds and 12 Worlds helps me put into perspective this year's result. Could I have done better? Certainly. But I also could have done worse. If I dropped 5 times in semis, I might not have even made it to Finals. I also could have stopped competing 10 years ago, or 5 years ago, and never made it to a single Worlds Finals. I'm sure the 2007 Ken or the 2012 Ken would have killed to make it to Finals, much less finishing in 5th place. That's gotta count for something.

On that note, here's my 2014 East Coasts Finals routine. I trained really hard going into the tournament, and I was up right before Gatesman (who earned top seed with a dropless routine the day before). This routine wasn't at a USO or Worlds, but its still one of my favorite routines I've done. Again, had I quit competing after 2012 I wouldn't have experienced the emotions of hitting this to win a tournament. For that alone, I'm glad I didn't quit.

boyle
Post Master General
Posts: 3146
Joined: 19 Sep 2007 23:42
Location: Canberra, Australia
Contact:

Re: Fanzine: Worlds 2017

Post by boyle » 09 Oct 2017 01:18

What's 2022 Ken going to say with a gold medal hanging around his neck?

I would imagine that in the next few years, you will still be among the top let's say 20 players (even with fairly minimal training), and let's say half of them can't make to Worlds, another half of that group have a bad day on the stage and there you are, you're in finals.

Another thing to consider is taking a European adventure while the youngster is still under 2. After they turn 2 you pay close to price and holidays start getting a lot more expensive.

Also, I can imagine a retirement being like various bands "breaking up" and then a few years later they are back on the scene for more shows.

User avatar
full nelson
8-Bit Ninja
Posts: 884
Joined: 16 Jul 2003 13:58
Location: West Virginia
Contact:

Re: Fanzine: Worlds 2017

Post by full nelson » 10 Oct 2017 12:51

Choice A is better. Everything about Choice B is moot. Jerry Seinfeld's new stand up has a bit where he says people look at stand up comedians and say, "I'm funny. I could do that. I just chose not to." The only person who believes it is your ego. So yeah, Choice A. Prove it yourself and everyone else. I could say, "I could have made BAP in 2003 if I'd gone to World's." I would be the only person who believes that, and it's wholly unsatisfying. Cheers to you for giving it a go! I'm sorry it didn't work out this time.

Also, Parents with passions are cool! I have a 2 year old daughter and an upcoming son. I'm passionate about personal finance, cycling, weight lifting, and home repair. I'm only good at personal finance, but the others are great fun.
Brad

Muffinman
the gimp
Posts: 10373
Joined: 21 Apr 2002 15:34
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Fanzine: Worlds 2017

Post by Muffinman » 11 Oct 2017 06:09

Brad Nelson!


Agreed on option A.

User avatar
C-Fan
Rekordy Polski
Posts: 11366
Joined: 23 Jan 2003 23:51
Location: Denver
Contact:

I kick, therefore I am...a footbagger?

Post by C-Fan » 08 Nov 2017 15:33

Haven't posted in a month since I haven't played since then. Worlds ended almost 3 months ago and I've only played twice in that time. I don't want to over react to that but at the same time it did make me conceive of a thought experiment:

-We'd all agree that somebody who plays footbag everyday is a footbagger.
-Similarly, somebody who plays footbag a few times a week is also definitely a footbagger.
-Somebody who plays only on weekends, or even once every couple weeks, would also be considered a footbagger by most.

But what happens if we spread out the the time between sessions, decrease the frequency of playing? If somebody played only once every 2 months, would they still be considered a footbagger? What about somebody who plays once a year? Is that person still a footbagger, or are they somebody who used to footbag who now picks it up from time to time? What about somebody who hasn't played in 3 years? Are they still a footbagger? How infrequently do you have to engage in a hobby for it to go from being something that defines you, to something you dabble in, to something you used to do? If my current dry spell of playing (a month) continues indefinitely, at what point can we say that I stopped being a footbagger? Was it the day after my last session? Or some time after that?

The concept of us slowly changing from one thing into another without being conscious of the change, reminds me a bit philosophically of one of my favorite Onion articles:
https://local.theonion.com/day-job-offi ... 1819567250

Its a funny article but on some level it raises a fascinating question: when did he transform from a cartoonist with a day job as a waiter, to a waiter who used to draw cartoons?

Part of what got me thinking about this was Brad's post:
full nelson wrote:
10 Oct 2017 12:51
Parents with passions are cool! I'm passionate about personal finance, cycling, weight lifting, and home repair..
Before Griffin was born, I definitely still saw myself as a footbagger. When he was born, I saw myself as a footbagger with a kid. I wonder now though if things have flipped; am I now a parent who used to footbag? If I'm not there already, am I on that path?

Don't misunderstand me; being a parent is something I welcome. It is something I chose and I don't regret it. And footbagging and parenting aren't necessarily mutually exclusive existences or identities. But I do have the strong sense that I am in a transitional stage now where I'm shifting from footbagger to parent, and I'm still mentally processing it.

Here's a vid from my last session to close out. Pretty much was just going for James Risden-y combos, which was a lot of fun. The symp stepping egg was new to me, and a lot of fun. I accidentally messed up my filming settings on the last clip...I need to fix that before my next session. Of course, given my recent track record I wouldn't be surprised if that's not for a while...


boyle
Post Master General
Posts: 3146
Joined: 19 Sep 2007 23:42
Location: Canberra, Australia
Contact:

Re: Fanzine

Post by boyle » 09 Nov 2017 03:53

You've just made finals at Worlds. I think that gives you a free pass for one year of "being a footbagger", until the next tournament. Also, I think if you post or even just look at Modified, you definitely have some more interest in footbag than the general public. (or even the general footbag public for that matter).

It's probably good just to have a rest for a while, but hope to see you back at it!

Muffinman
the gimp
Posts: 10373
Joined: 21 Apr 2002 15:34
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Fanzine

Post by Muffinman » 09 Nov 2017 05:52

Nice.
For myself, I'd change "footbagger" to "active footbagger". I personally consider anyone who plays at all a footbagger. Someone who doesn't play at all anymore I would call a "former footbagger", but as long as the person still plays at all I'd consider them a footbagger. Like Johnny Suderman who plays a handful for times a year.

User avatar
C-Fan
Rekordy Polski
Posts: 11366
Joined: 23 Jan 2003 23:51
Location: Denver
Contact:

Winter update

Post by C-Fan » 22 Dec 2017 12:05

Quick update > no update, right?

*blows dust off of blog*

:arrow: Joulukalenteri is always a fun event I look forward to. This year I wasn't able to participate as much as I have in the past, but I'm still glad it happened. I've only watched like 3 videos so far, but maybe I can catch up some next week. Definitely a bit bummed I wasn't able to contribute a video this year. I can't remember the last time I didn't submit a video to the calendar. I even had some good ideas for videos, just no time/health to play, much less film and edit something credible.
:arrow: LOTD has been fun for me. As always, I wish more people would participate and post videos. I've managed to film a few, so I'm happy I've been able to participate a little.
:arrow: Drill of the Day was my small contribution to Joulu this year. I conceived of it pretty late in the game, had some technical difficulties and unexpected schedule issues, but still managed to make 19 drills. So far nobody has posted any videos of them trying them, which has been a bit disappointing. I hope its not because of the difficulty; I really tried to make them all accessible to intermediates/low level open players. Given how few people post videos for LOTD though, I probably shouldn't take the low participation in DOTD personally.
:arrow: I've had an annoying post nasal drip for about a month and a half, so I finally went to the doctor to get it checked out. Seems like I have some weird sinus inflammation, so I'm taking some meds for that. Hopefully that turns things around and I start feeling more like myself. I haven't had much time to play since Worlds, so its been frustrating to be sick AND out of shape the few times I do get to play.
:arrow: I'll be visiting Haley's family in Georgia next week. I was hoping it'd be nice enough weather that I could bring my shred gear and play, but it's looking like it'll be in the 40s. Knowing Denver weather I may luck into some outdoor shreds in the next few months, but no guarantees.
:arrow: I figured out what was wrong with my GoPro. Somehow I had the settings wrong, so it was narrow FOV. The setting I normally shoot in is medium FOV. When you have it on wide FOV, its immediately noticeable because it looks like a fisheye lens. The difference between narrow and medium though, is really subtle, but makes a big difference in terms of how quickly your extremities get out of frame. A bunch of my DOTDs were shot in narrow, which is why they are badly framed. I'm glad I noticed and fixed this finally.
:arrow: I got in a session earlier this week during one of Griffin's naps. I purposely avoided trying any LOTDs or filming any DOTDs, and just spent the session messing around with tricks I find fun. My stamina still sucked because of this nasal crud and my lack of regular playing, but I still had a fun session. The fact that I was still able to hit some hard tricks felt reassuring to me, like a reminder that I am still myself.
:arrow: USO happened last weekend, and I didn't go. The flight is super cheap, and less than 90 minutes. Rooms at the Rio were cheap, and I knew a ton of my friends would be there. In the weeks leading up to it, I mentally toyed with a bunch of scenarios where I'd go. What if I flew out Saturday morning and came back Sunday night, to minimize my time away? What if I took Griffin with me? What if I went but didn't compete, and just recorded podcasts and did judging and commentary? What if I went and competed in net? Even being sick and not having done my routine since Worlds, I wonder how I'd place if I did compete in freestyl? I don't know that I ever fully entertained any of these scenarios seriously though. The past month has just been a haze of the whole family being sick, doctor's appointments, and generally life throwing challenges at us. USO just never felt like it was in the cards.

Here's all the LOTD links I've hit so far this year. I'd like to try a few more, but I may not be able to play and edit before the deadline.




Happy Holidays modified.

Post Reply