Now that sounds like a cool sessionThe snow, the Champions League Dancers, good music, pornstars... just a really fun vibe the whole time.
Fanzine
Worlds in Berlin recap
Damn. 
Just.....damn.
You know me. I love worlds. I have something good to say about even the worst run worlds. So maybe you`ve all become inured to my hyperbolic reviews of the last few worlds. But please, PLEASE believe me when I tell you this: Berlin 2008 was the best Worlds in the history of footbag.
Yeah yeah, I know, it`s a big claim. But if you were there, you know it`s true. You can feel the truth of that epic statement. Berlin 2008. You can almost feel the laces on your lavers tighten with excitement. Golden `93? Pete`s first 3 peat. 2002 SF? Suspenseful finals, Vasek claims his spot as the best in the world. Wellington 2006? Vasek`s loses the crown, pretty big milestone. But Berlin 2008 left them all in the dust. If you missed out, read on, then go kill yourself. In the immortal words of Senator T: `I pity the fool... {that didn`t go to Footbag Worlds 2008} !!!!!!`
In the weeks leading up to Worlds, I frantically tried to prepare for TBWOTY (the best week of the year). It wasn`t easy shredding, working, and brushing up on my Japanese, but I approached it with religious fervor. I called my Japanese friends a few times to knock the rust off my Japanese, but you didn`t even have to speak the language to hear the excitement in their voices; TAKUMI. I remember Takumi back when I lived in Japan, and he was busting phoenix-tomahawk as a 14-year old middle-school miracle. 4 years later, the 2 time defending Pan-Pacific champion was ready to take on the world. While the week in Berlin was filled with many surprises, Takumi probably turned the most heads.
I slept for most of the flight into Berlin, occasionally waking to talk to Nate Oates, who had bought tickets with me. Even though his wife Lupe Maria had just given birth to little Pepito, the 3 of them made the trip, and made excellent company. I did worry a little though, since speaking Spanish on the plane might mess up my Japanese-ability. At the airport we said goodbye, as they wanted to go to their hotel so Pepito could rest up.
I had made plans to meet Jeremy O`Wheel at the airport, since he flew in on the same day. When his Quantas jet touched down, I felt a shiver of excitement run up my spine. I had met Jeremy the year before when I visited Australia, and we really hit it off. He hit his first 5-5 combo (sailing flurry- sweetass sweetback ) right in front of me. He told me that he always loved reading my Worlds reports, so the fact that this year he was finally making it to his first worlds made me incredibly happy for him. When he stepped out the plane, we made eye contact, and he shook his fists in the air. `My first worlds babyy--wha- whooaaaa!` To my horror, shaking his arms in the air made him lose his balance, and as he tumbled down the stairs from the plane, an unmistakable *CRACK* emanated from his leg, slicing its way through all the ambient noise of the airport, diving through my ear, and going straight to my heart and grabbing it so it stopped. The doctors would later say Jeremy was `lucky` to `just` break his leg, because apparently he could have broken his neck.
While the week started off with this seemingly bad omen, it was almost entirely uphill from there. The week leading up to finals was filled with epic shreds, good parties and a few milestones. Anthony Suderman hit the first documented, clean QATW. The chosen Juan hit spinning big apple back to back. The top 6 finishers in freestyle represented 6 different countries (Finland, Czech, USA, Canada, Poland, California)!
But I`m getting ahead of myself here.
After going to the hospital with Jeremy, I hit the hotel. I literally sprinted from the taxi to the lobby, cause I couldn`t wait to see everybody. Every year I start Worlds the exact same way. You get to the host hotel, scanning peoples shoes to find shredders. You try and take in the entire place at once, wondering excitedly who will be the first old friend you see. When you meet up with a few old friends, they invariably want to introduce you to the up-and-coming protege they have been training, and you try and act all calm and non-chalant, even though you want to throw your lavers on immediately and shred with everybody.
As it turns out, the first familiar face I see at worlds is Nadine! 
Thankfully, there`s almost no awkwardness as we exchange hugs and catch up some. We both know the breakup was for the best, and I`m just happy that we can still be friends and shred together. We talk some footbag, how work is going etc, and I`m dying to tell her about what happened to Jeremy, but I decide to wait until we`re in a bigger crowd, til I drop the bomb. When I finally do, most people don`t believe me at first, because I`m so prone to joking. 
The years must be catching up to me, as I pass on the first players party, and instead go to bed after a quiet dinner catching up with Team Japan.
As usual, comp doesn`t start until Wednesday, so this year I promised myself I`d try and take it easy in the early stages, so I could make it through the week without injury.
Just.....damn. You know me. I love worlds. I have something good to say about even the worst run worlds. So maybe you`ve all become inured to my hyperbolic reviews of the last few worlds. But please, PLEASE believe me when I tell you this: Berlin 2008 was the best Worlds in the history of footbag.
Yeah yeah, I know, it`s a big claim. But if you were there, you know it`s true. You can feel the truth of that epic statement. Berlin 2008. You can almost feel the laces on your lavers tighten with excitement. Golden `93? Pete`s first 3 peat. 2002 SF? Suspenseful finals, Vasek claims his spot as the best in the world. Wellington 2006? Vasek`s loses the crown, pretty big milestone. But Berlin 2008 left them all in the dust. If you missed out, read on, then go kill yourself. In the immortal words of Senator T: `I pity the fool... {that didn`t go to Footbag Worlds 2008} !!!!!!`
In the weeks leading up to Worlds, I frantically tried to prepare for TBWOTY (the best week of the year). It wasn`t easy shredding, working, and brushing up on my Japanese, but I approached it with religious fervor. I called my Japanese friends a few times to knock the rust off my Japanese, but you didn`t even have to speak the language to hear the excitement in their voices; TAKUMI. I remember Takumi back when I lived in Japan, and he was busting phoenix-tomahawk as a 14-year old middle-school miracle. 4 years later, the 2 time defending Pan-Pacific champion was ready to take on the world. While the week in Berlin was filled with many surprises, Takumi probably turned the most heads.
I slept for most of the flight into Berlin, occasionally waking to talk to Nate Oates, who had bought tickets with me. Even though his wife Lupe Maria had just given birth to little Pepito, the 3 of them made the trip, and made excellent company. I did worry a little though, since speaking Spanish on the plane might mess up my Japanese-ability. At the airport we said goodbye, as they wanted to go to their hotel so Pepito could rest up.
I had made plans to meet Jeremy O`Wheel at the airport, since he flew in on the same day. When his Quantas jet touched down, I felt a shiver of excitement run up my spine. I had met Jeremy the year before when I visited Australia, and we really hit it off. He hit his first 5-5 combo (sailing flurry- sweetass sweetback
) right in front of me. He told me that he always loved reading my Worlds reports, so the fact that this year he was finally making it to his first worlds made me incredibly happy for him. When he stepped out the plane, we made eye contact, and he shook his fists in the air. `My first worlds babyy--wha- whooaaaa!` To my horror, shaking his arms in the air made him lose his balance, and as he tumbled down the stairs from the plane, an unmistakable *CRACK* emanated from his leg, slicing its way through all the ambient noise of the airport, diving through my ear, and going straight to my heart and grabbing it so it stopped. The doctors would later say Jeremy was `lucky` to `just` break his leg, because apparently he could have broken his neck. While the week started off with this seemingly bad omen, it was almost entirely uphill from there. The week leading up to finals was filled with epic shreds, good parties and a few milestones. Anthony Suderman hit the first documented, clean QATW. The chosen Juan hit spinning big apple back to back. The top 6 finishers in freestyle represented 6 different countries (Finland, Czech, USA, Canada, Poland, California)!
But I`m getting ahead of myself here.
After going to the hospital with Jeremy, I hit the hotel. I literally sprinted from the taxi to the lobby, cause I couldn`t wait to see everybody. Every year I start Worlds the exact same way. You get to the host hotel, scanning peoples shoes to find shredders. You try and take in the entire place at once, wondering excitedly who will be the first old friend you see. When you meet up with a few old friends, they invariably want to introduce you to the up-and-coming protege they have been training, and you try and act all calm and non-chalant, even though you want to throw your lavers on immediately and shred with everybody.
As it turns out, the first familiar face I see at worlds is Nadine!
Thankfully, there`s almost no awkwardness as we exchange hugs and catch up some. We both know the breakup was for the best, and I`m just happy that we can still be friends and shred together. We talk some footbag, how work is going etc, and I`m dying to tell her about what happened to Jeremy, but I decide to wait until we`re in a bigger crowd, til I drop the bomb. When I finally do, most people don`t believe me at first, because I`m so prone to joking. The years must be catching up to me, as I pass on the first players party, and instead go to bed after a quiet dinner catching up with Team Japan.
As usual, comp doesn`t start until Wednesday, so this year I promised myself I`d try and take it easy in the early stages, so I could make it through the week without injury.
Last edited by C-Fan on 26 Jan 2005 22:58, edited 2 times in total.
The first full day of Worlds kicks off the week on a real high note. FC Footstar somehow managed to set up the publicity shred right at the Berlin Wall Monument! Playing at the wall, the first thought I had was: `this is so cool! I feel like Ryan Mulroney in Eutopia!` Then, I was struck by the revelation that the only people in finals who were born after the Wall came down, were Vasek and Pete . That made me feel really old.
At this shred I saw my favorite combo of the whole tournament. In a circle with Lao-Chun, Anthony, and Brad Nelson, I saw Brad Nelson bust 69-nuke torque repeat, in the middle of his string. I had flashbacks to 2000 worlds where I saw Lon hit mobius-pdx torque repeat for the first time. The bothsidedness and grace of both of these combos really made me realize how much I love footbag. I`ve little doubt that Brad`s combo was one of the main reasons BAP invited him to join again this year. True to form though, he declined again, tying me for overall declinations (though we all know I would have been invited in 2007, if it weren`t for those pictures I put on the internet. Sorry Eli. )
Then, some weird karmic confluence of events produced one of the most bittersweet coincidences of my life. Right after the shred, I was talking to Lao-Chun about how cool it was to play at the wall, and how I tried hitting Ryan`s combos from Eutopia. As we boarded the denki-bus, we swiped our metrocards, but then something made me look at the driver again. The driver waited as the rest of the passengers got on, not taking notice of me staring him down... then my metrocard and my jaw dropped simultaneously. I hadn`t seen him since summer 03, and hadn`t seen any images of him since 05, but the sloping brim of the driver`s cap couldn`t disguise that sharp blade of a nose.
`Ryan?` I hesitantly ventured.
`Ja?`
Then he looked up, and his eyes narrowed, struggling to recall my face. Then his eyes opened completely, in slightly cartoonish fashion.
His voice and head dropped simultaneously in disbelief: `Somolinos?`
The moment lasted a few seconds at most, as impatient bus-riders began yelling for the driver to move already. I slid behind the driver`s seat and caught up some with Ryan, who still spoke surprisingly good English. Apparently, he didn`t even know that Worlds was in his hometown this year. When our stop arrived I scanferred my phone number to him, and invited him to the finals. He said he`d go if he got off work and wasn`t too tired. I raised my hand in farewell, but couldn`t find the words. As we got off the bus, Lao-Chun asked me what that was all about, but I needed a moment to collect myself. The whole thing was just too fantastic a coincidence, and so sad, I felt at that moment like I needed some time alone.
Ryan didn`t return any of my mexts or calls, nor did I see him again that week, but part of me like to think that he dropped by finals, just to get a look at the routines, and maybe smile approvingly over the legacy he helped create.
. That made me feel really old. At this shred I saw my favorite combo of the whole tournament. In a circle with Lao-Chun, Anthony, and Brad Nelson, I saw Brad Nelson bust 69-nuke torque repeat, in the middle of his string. I had flashbacks to 2000 worlds where I saw Lon hit mobius-pdx torque repeat for the first time. The bothsidedness and grace of both of these combos really made me realize how much I love footbag. I`ve little doubt that Brad`s combo was one of the main reasons BAP invited him to join again this year. True to form though, he declined again, tying me for overall declinations (though we all know I would have been invited in 2007, if it weren`t for those pictures I put on the internet. Sorry Eli.
) Then, some weird karmic confluence of events produced one of the most bittersweet coincidences of my life. Right after the shred, I was talking to Lao-Chun about how cool it was to play at the wall, and how I tried hitting Ryan`s combos from Eutopia. As we boarded the denki-bus, we swiped our metrocards, but then something made me look at the driver again. The driver waited as the rest of the passengers got on, not taking notice of me staring him down... then my metrocard and my jaw dropped simultaneously. I hadn`t seen him since summer 03, and hadn`t seen any images of him since 05, but the sloping brim of the driver`s cap couldn`t disguise that sharp blade of a nose.
`Ryan?` I hesitantly ventured.
`Ja?`
Then he looked up, and his eyes narrowed, struggling to recall my face. Then his eyes opened completely, in slightly cartoonish fashion.
His voice and head dropped simultaneously in disbelief: `Somolinos?`
The moment lasted a few seconds at most, as impatient bus-riders began yelling for the driver to move already. I slid behind the driver`s seat and caught up some with Ryan, who still spoke surprisingly good English. Apparently, he didn`t even know that Worlds was in his hometown this year. When our stop arrived I scanferred my phone number to him, and invited him to the finals. He said he`d go if he got off work and wasn`t too tired. I raised my hand in farewell, but couldn`t find the words. As we got off the bus, Lao-Chun asked me what that was all about, but I needed a moment to collect myself. The whole thing was just too fantastic a coincidence, and so sad, I felt at that moment like I needed some time alone.
Ryan didn`t return any of my mexts or calls, nor did I see him again that week, but part of me like to think that he dropped by finals, just to get a look at the routines, and maybe smile approvingly over the legacy he helped create.
Last edited by C-Fan on 26 Jan 2005 23:00, edited 1 time in total.
Wednesday morning I woke up with a troubling sense that something was wrong... it took me a good half hour to put my finger on it: it was the 2nd day of worlds, and I wasn`t sore or hung over! Shit, I needed to make up for lost time in a hurry!
When I got to the shred site though, it looked like people had got in their hardcore shredding for the day already.
Most people seemed to be taking it easy towards the end of the day, so, undeterred, I took matters into my own hands and organized an informal contest. The goal: hit the best `-age `combo possible. So, your combo could be as long or as short as you wanted, but every move in your combo had to end in -age. Just as I had hoped, this little contest injected some life into the shredders, and some got a second wind. The prize was just 50 euros, but people actually tried really hard. About 10 shredders entered, but at the end, it came down to these combos:
Sunil: rage-terrage-terrage-sabotage-mirage (bail)
Eli: montage-pdx barrage-toe barrage-carnage
Anthony: massage (clipper set warp: MASSacring mirAGE)- barrage-toe spinning mirage-mirage(bail)
Super Marjo: triage-enterrage-pixie gyro barrage.
It was close, but Stan and I (the judges) decided to give it to Juho. But because we thought his combo was so good, we decided 50 Euros was too small a prize, so we bought him a sandwich instead.
The whole thing seemed like a good preview/warm up for the next day`s event: Shizzy 3.
Big props to the organizers for continuing the tradition of running Shizzy 3 earlier in the week. In past years, Shizzy 3 was held on finals night. While this provided a nice show for the spectators, too often hein shredders wouldn`t enter, because they didn`t want to get tired before competing in finals/doubles etc. By having Shizzy 3 earlier in the week, the competitors have less stress on them, and also start the contest with fresher legs than they end up with after a week of shredding. It also avoids the whole problem of players warming up, cooling down, then having to warm up again for the main event.
Thursday most people were at the site by 3, even though Shizzy 3 wasn`t til 5. I hopped into a bunch of circles, and met loads of new shredders. It`s still an experience that I haven`t gotten used to; joining a circle of players I don`t know, having every one of them play harder than me, and then having them introduce themselves. But at the same time I recognize how cool that is, and what a good sign that is for the sport. I actually got so caught up in playing in circles, that I missed the first half of shizzy 3 comps!
I dashed to the site though just in time to see Oleg hit his combo on his last try: Gangsta Party-swifter-Donner Party! He ended up taking third with that combo. Lauri went on next, and unfortunately kept barely dropping the 2nd trick in his combo. Frustrated, he decided to use his last turn as a Vasek tribute, and hit frankenstein- double blender-superfly. It was weird hearing people laugh at that, because even though it`s easy for him to hit it and he did it as a joke/tribute, I still can`t hit that. I wondered if anybody else there was reminded of Ryan`s tribute to Matt Churney back in `02 worlds. Felix went last, and hit his Shiz on his second try. triple spinning osis-clockwork-cheese processor. So 8-6-8. He definitely deserved to win with that. He spent his last few tries on ridiculous moves/combos to entertain everybody, but I don`t think he was that close. I missed Johnny Murphy`s Shizzy 3, but he took 2nd by apparently hitting pdx Id- nemesis- montagestein (you know the move, I just can`t be bothered writing those weird czech accent marks or remembering the name).
I shredded in some newbie circles for a bit after that, then went home to shower before heading to the player`s party that night, which was held at a really big club. I was pretty stoked for it, because Kraftwerk were going to play live, so I didn`t drink much before getting there. That was a mistake. I knew Kraftwerk had been around since the 70s or so, but I didn`t realize how OLD they are. Then again, I complain that the Rolling Stones still tour (come on! Half your original members died for god`s sake!) and try and act young, so I should have been happy to see Kraftwerk keep their dignity and stand stick-still for several hours. But I wasn`t. If I want to hear music played exactly like it is on the album, I`ll listen to the freaking album. In my car. Whatever. This is all just my way of explaining to everybody who was there, why I had to get severely boozed up, throw beers at the band, and then get dragged from the venue yelling `Ich liebe Footbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag!`
=> -> I guess I`m just lucky that no cameras were allowed at the concert. 
PS: to all the footbaggers who greeted me for the rest of the week by yelling `ich liebe footbaaaaaaaaaaag!` at me: you`re not funny.
Shit, I needed to make up for lost time in a hurry! When I got to the shred site though, it looked like people had got in their hardcore shredding for the day already.
Most people seemed to be taking it easy towards the end of the day, so, undeterred, I took matters into my own hands and organized an informal contest. The goal: hit the best `-age `combo possible. So, your combo could be as long or as short as you wanted, but every move in your combo had to end in -age. Just as I had hoped, this little contest injected some life into the shredders, and some got a second wind. The prize was just 50 euros, but people actually tried really hard. About 10 shredders entered, but at the end, it came down to these combos: Sunil: rage-terrage-terrage-sabotage-mirage (bail)
Eli: montage-pdx barrage-toe barrage-carnage
Anthony: massage (clipper set warp: MASSacring mirAGE)- barrage-toe spinning mirage-mirage(bail)
Super Marjo: triage-enterrage-pixie gyro barrage.
It was close, but Stan and I (the judges) decided to give it to Juho. But because we thought his combo was so good, we decided 50 Euros was too small a prize, so we bought him a sandwich instead.
The whole thing seemed like a good preview/warm up for the next day`s event: Shizzy 3.
Big props to the organizers for continuing the tradition of running Shizzy 3 earlier in the week. In past years, Shizzy 3 was held on finals night. While this provided a nice show for the spectators, too often hein shredders wouldn`t enter, because they didn`t want to get tired before competing in finals/doubles etc. By having Shizzy 3 earlier in the week, the competitors have less stress on them, and also start the contest with fresher legs than they end up with after a week of shredding. It also avoids the whole problem of players warming up, cooling down, then having to warm up again for the main event.
Thursday most people were at the site by 3, even though Shizzy 3 wasn`t til 5. I hopped into a bunch of circles, and met loads of new shredders. It`s still an experience that I haven`t gotten used to; joining a circle of players I don`t know, having every one of them play harder than me, and then having them introduce themselves. But at the same time I recognize how cool that is, and what a good sign that is for the sport. I actually got so caught up in playing in circles, that I missed the first half of shizzy 3 comps!
I dashed to the site though just in time to see Oleg hit his combo on his last try: Gangsta Party-swifter-Donner Party! He ended up taking third with that combo. Lauri went on next, and unfortunately kept barely dropping the 2nd trick in his combo. Frustrated, he decided to use his last turn as a Vasek tribute, and hit frankenstein- double blender-superfly. It was weird hearing people laugh at that, because even though it`s easy for him to hit it and he did it as a joke/tribute, I still can`t hit that. I wondered if anybody else there was reminded of Ryan`s tribute to Matt Churney back in `02 worlds. Felix went last, and hit his Shiz on his second try. triple spinning osis-clockwork-cheese processor.
So 8-6-8. He definitely deserved to win with that. He spent his last few tries on ridiculous moves/combos to entertain everybody, but I don`t think he was that close. I missed Johnny Murphy`s Shizzy 3, but he took 2nd by apparently hitting pdx Id- nemesis- montagestein (you know the move, I just can`t be bothered writing those weird czech accent marks or remembering the name). I shredded in some newbie circles for a bit after that, then went home to shower before heading to the player`s party that night, which was held at a really big club. I was pretty stoked for it, because Kraftwerk were going to play live, so I didn`t drink much before getting there. That was a mistake. I knew Kraftwerk had been around since the 70s or so, but I didn`t realize how OLD they are. Then again, I complain that the Rolling Stones still tour (come on! Half your original members died for god`s sake!) and try and act young, so I should have been happy to see Kraftwerk keep their dignity and stand stick-still for several hours. But I wasn`t. If I want to hear music played exactly like it is on the album, I`ll listen to the freaking album. In my car. Whatever. This is all just my way of explaining to everybody who was there, why I had to get severely boozed up, throw beers at the band, and then get dragged from the venue yelling `Ich liebe Footbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag!`
=> -> I guess I`m just lucky that no cameras were allowed at the concert. PS: to all the footbaggers who greeted me for the rest of the week by yelling `ich liebe footbaaaaaaaaaaag!` at me: you`re not funny.
Last edited by C-Fan on 26 Jan 2005 23:02, edited 1 time in total.
Friday
Friday morning I woke up early, looked at the bruises on my arms and face, couldn`t remember how I got them, and went back to bed. It wasn`t until I started humming `computer love` to myself at breakfast, did I remember what I did the night before.
I went to the first floor of the hotel, ordered breakfast, and settled into my chair for a leisurely breakfast in front of the wall where the seeding for finals was being posted. It was really fun sitting back, drinking my beer and watching the faces of all the eager shredders checking out how the seeding worked out. A few people took photos of the sheets and mailed them to other shredders phones, but there was still a good turnout in front of the hardcopies, probably for the animated social scene they created. A couple shred circles even formed in front of the announcements, and the Japanese crew went nuts when they saw how high a seed Takumi had scored. I mean, I had told them where I think he`d place based on the routines I saw yesterday and seeding procedure, but I guess they didn`t believe me til they saw the results in print themselves.
I resolved to take the day off footbag, and get some sightseeing in. First, I went to the hospital to visit Jeremy again. I tried to play down how good Worlds was, but he saw right through me. I did all I could to cheer him up, but at some point our injury talk led him to the subject of touch footy... and well... I decided to leave my jacket in the room when I said I had to go to the bathroom, since it would make him less suspicious.
The weather was perfect, so I took a walk by the Spree river, and killed a few hours on Museum Island. To my surprise, there was an exhibition of Egon Schiele, my favorite artist, being held in the New Museum! Take that karma!
I went to the Bahnof zoo for a bit as well, and even there my thoughts turned to footbag. Sometimes it just strikes me how incredibly lucky I`ve been in life. I mean, just to be born human, with the ability to find enjoyment in such extraneous activities like kicking around a bean bag. Nevermind the incredible luck I had to discover footbag when I did. I busted out my new Anya bag and did a few runs in celebration. It was a bit rolly, and I didn`t hit anything special, but it just felt great even doing basic tripless. When i finished, I noticed that a small group of Turko-German children had gathered to watch me play. I bowed when they clapped, and I gave them the free footbag which came in my players pack. I looked up and saw the monkeys in their cages staring at me... were they also interested in footbag? Or jealous that footbag beat them for the children`s attention?
Footbag: 1
Monkeys: 0
I headed back to the hotel early to meet up with Team Japan. We all got a light dinner together, but there was this weird vibe throughout. It was like everybody was all stoked for Takumi making finals in Shred and Routines, but we didn`t want to embarass him or put pressure on him by talking about it too much, building it up. So I kept the mood light by telling them about my day at the zoo, as well as funny footbag stories from throughout the years, including the classics like `John Steve?` and the infamous `Mouku Massacre` incident the last night of Helsinki
. We all called it an early night, and went to our rooms in high spirits, but I`m sure I wasn`t the only one who had trouble falling asleep due to anticipation for the next day...
I went to the first floor of the hotel, ordered breakfast, and settled into my chair for a leisurely breakfast in front of the wall where the seeding for finals was being posted. It was really fun sitting back, drinking my beer and watching the faces of all the eager shredders checking out how the seeding worked out. A few people took photos of the sheets and mailed them to other shredders phones, but there was still a good turnout in front of the hardcopies, probably for the animated social scene they created. A couple shred circles even formed in front of the announcements, and the Japanese crew went nuts when they saw how high a seed Takumi had scored. I mean, I had told them where I think he`d place based on the routines I saw yesterday and seeding procedure, but I guess they didn`t believe me til they saw the results in print themselves.
I resolved to take the day off footbag, and get some sightseeing in. First, I went to the hospital to visit Jeremy again. I tried to play down how good Worlds was, but he saw right through me. I did all I could to cheer him up, but at some point our injury talk led him to the subject of touch footy... and well... I decided to leave my jacket in the room when I said I had to go to the bathroom, since it would make him less suspicious.
The weather was perfect, so I took a walk by the Spree river, and killed a few hours on Museum Island. To my surprise, there was an exhibition of Egon Schiele, my favorite artist, being held in the New Museum! Take that karma!
I went to the Bahnof zoo for a bit as well, and even there my thoughts turned to footbag. Sometimes it just strikes me how incredibly lucky I`ve been in life. I mean, just to be born human, with the ability to find enjoyment in such extraneous activities like kicking around a bean bag. Nevermind the incredible luck I had to discover footbag when I did. I busted out my new Anya bag and did a few runs in celebration. It was a bit rolly, and I didn`t hit anything special, but it just felt great even doing basic tripless. When i finished, I noticed that a small group of Turko-German children had gathered to watch me play. I bowed when they clapped, and I gave them the free footbag which came in my players pack. I looked up and saw the monkeys in their cages staring at me... were they also interested in footbag? Or jealous that footbag beat them for the children`s attention?
Footbag: 1
Monkeys: 0
I headed back to the hotel early to meet up with Team Japan. We all got a light dinner together, but there was this weird vibe throughout. It was like everybody was all stoked for Takumi making finals in Shred and Routines, but we didn`t want to embarass him or put pressure on him by talking about it too much, building it up. So I kept the mood light by telling them about my day at the zoo, as well as funny footbag stories from throughout the years, including the classics like `John Steve?` and the infamous `Mouku Massacre` incident the last night of Helsinki
. We all called it an early night, and went to our rooms in high spirits, but I`m sure I wasn`t the only one who had trouble falling asleep due to anticipation for the next day...
Last edited by C-Fan on 26 Jan 2005 23:03, edited 1 time in total.
Finals night
You could feel it building all week, with each phat combo hit, each new shredder turning heads. And there was your reward waiting on Saturday night: Finals. After Super Marjo`s semis routine on Thursday brought down the house, the pressure was squarely on Vasek`s shoulders. But nobody was ruling out Anthony, and there was a large camp of veterans who believed Pete had a chance to reclaim the crown and make history, considering he had spent the entire previous year training with Shaolin Monks in the foggy mountains of the Guangdong province. I was rooting for Takumi of course, because I planned on taking full (undeserved) credit for his victory should he win (I taught him everything he knows!).
The theatre for finals was one of the best finals venues I`d ever been to. German beer deserves its reputation, and at 45 Euros a pint, it was the cheapest beer at worlds since 03 Prague. I settled down to watch the Intermediate finals, seating myself next to Team Brazil and Mr. Clean. This wasn`t the best idea, since Dan `Klokowed` me with his elbow when he got excited during the last intermediate routine. 
The intermediate finals were a nice appetizer, and got everybody excited for Shred 45 which was coming after. I was particularly impressed with the video highlight replays which followed right after the routines, cause when Jasper Shults hit fusion to mobius to finish his routine, I thought it was thin, and video confirmed my suspicion. Definitely made judging more fair.
Shred 45 ran really smoothly, with a record 4 dropless competitors in the top 10. Major props to Mikko Lepisto for starting his Shred 45 with 9 unique fearless. When he bailed to ripwalk after the last diving blender, you could sense the crowd exhale- people were holding their breath wondering if he`d try and go fearless for the full 45. Yves started his Shred with Rubberman-Blubberman with blizzards-Rubberman 2 with reactors-RubberFan with Beds- Rubberman 3! Johnny Suderman not only went dropless, but finished his run with Marius- Santeria, which made the crowd go nuts. Honza went dropless for 2nd, and Vasek took 3rd in a close one. People later figured out that Vasek would have taken 2nd if he had turned a few of his repeated 6s into unique 5s. Takumi though seeded 3rd, took the whole thing with a beautiful dropless Shred. He got 2 standing ovations, the first right when he finished (and it was clear he`d take a podium spot), and the second after Vasek and Ahren finished their shreds, and it was clear Takumi would win. I knew he was good, but nobody expected him to win Shred 45 with the first score to break 350. In doing so, he became only the 2nd non-white footbagger to win Shred, and the first to do so since Sunil took the crown in Helsinki.
The tournament didn`t skip a beat, and flowed directly into Women`s Open. This year promised a good show, filled with wild cards. As usual, Worlds was the time when the footbag world asks the question: can the world outside Europe provide an answer to Verena? But this year the question was made more interesting due to Savannah coming out of retirement and taking no prisoners. At CSS9 she took a close second to `Queen` Shaniqua, but at that point she was only 4 months into her comeback. And if the videos being posted before the tournament were any indication, she had gotten way WAY better since. On top of that, nobody could sleep on Caro, especially since she picked up all that Furious shaznay back in April.
Finals kicked off without many surprises. Tyesha started off in the lowest spot, and since it was her first finals, she was understandably pretty nervous, which is why she went easy. The crowd gave her lots of love though. Yuko Abe had a strong showing, with easily the most both-sided performance of any shredita, but she couldn`t keep her drops down, and took 5th. Look for her to come back hungry next year. Then things got real interesting. Ashley went Shred 2:00 on everybody`s ass, and hit 3 different 6es in her routine, ending on a food processor. Savannah went up next, and started her routine with a food processor, which got the crowd ooohing, including a couple people yelling `windsor!` The rest of her routine wasn`t that hard, but she kept the drops in check. Until the results were posted, it really seemed like it would be a toss-up as to who got 3rd.
I hardly think it necessary to talk about Caro and Verena`s routines, since its gotten so much discussion already. You`ve seen the videos. The judges saw the videos on replay the night of. The closest parallel I can see to this was Vasek and Ryan in SF 02. Was Caro`s blurrier thin? Yes. But she hit it out of shooting butterfly, and went into pdx torque to end her routine. Watch the video again with full volume, and listen to the crowd`s reaction. Do you think they cared the blurrier was thin? Personally, I think execution in routines has become over-rated lately. One of the main purposes of a routine is to impress the audience and showcase the sport, and I think Caro`s routine did that slightly better than Verena`s. But hey, it was a tough decision to make, and if anything, it should inspire all the Shreditas to try even harder next year. Ultimately, this was one of the most exciting and high level Women`s Finals of all time. Congratulations Verena on being the first woman since Carol W to 3peat.
The theatre for finals was one of the best finals venues I`d ever been to. German beer deserves its reputation, and at 45 Euros a pint, it was the cheapest beer at worlds since 03 Prague. I settled down to watch the Intermediate finals, seating myself next to Team Brazil and Mr. Clean. This wasn`t the best idea, since Dan `Klokowed` me with his elbow when he got excited during the last intermediate routine.
The intermediate finals were a nice appetizer, and got everybody excited for Shred 45 which was coming after. I was particularly impressed with the video highlight replays which followed right after the routines, cause when Jasper Shults hit fusion to mobius to finish his routine, I thought it was thin, and video confirmed my suspicion. Definitely made judging more fair. Shred 45 ran really smoothly, with a record 4 dropless competitors in the top 10. Major props to Mikko Lepisto for starting his Shred 45 with 9 unique fearless. When he bailed to ripwalk after the last diving blender, you could sense the crowd exhale- people were holding their breath wondering if he`d try and go fearless for the full 45. Yves started his Shred with Rubberman-Blubberman with blizzards-Rubberman 2 with reactors-RubberFan with Beds- Rubberman 3!
Johnny Suderman not only went dropless, but finished his run with Marius- Santeria, which made the crowd go nuts. Honza went dropless for 2nd, and Vasek took 3rd in a close one. People later figured out that Vasek would have taken 2nd if he had turned a few of his repeated 6s into unique 5s. Takumi though seeded 3rd, took the whole thing with a beautiful dropless Shred. He got 2 standing ovations, the first right when he finished (and it was clear he`d take a podium spot), and the second after Vasek and Ahren finished their shreds, and it was clear Takumi would win. I knew he was good, but nobody expected him to win Shred 45 with the first score to break 350. In doing so, he became only the 2nd non-white footbagger to win Shred, and the first to do so since Sunil took the crown in Helsinki. The tournament didn`t skip a beat, and flowed directly into Women`s Open. This year promised a good show, filled with wild cards. As usual, Worlds was the time when the footbag world asks the question: can the world outside Europe provide an answer to Verena? But this year the question was made more interesting due to Savannah coming out of retirement and taking no prisoners. At CSS9 she took a close second to `Queen` Shaniqua, but at that point she was only 4 months into her comeback. And if the videos being posted before the tournament were any indication, she had gotten way WAY better since. On top of that, nobody could sleep on Caro, especially since she picked up all that Furious shaznay back in April.
Finals kicked off without many surprises. Tyesha started off in the lowest spot, and since it was her first finals, she was understandably pretty nervous, which is why she went easy. The crowd gave her lots of love though. Yuko Abe had a strong showing, with easily the most both-sided performance of any shredita, but she couldn`t keep her drops down, and took 5th. Look for her to come back hungry next year. Then things got real interesting. Ashley went Shred 2:00 on everybody`s ass, and hit 3 different 6es in her routine, ending on a food processor. Savannah went up next, and started her routine with a food processor, which got the crowd ooohing, including a couple people yelling `windsor!` The rest of her routine wasn`t that hard, but she kept the drops in check. Until the results were posted, it really seemed like it would be a toss-up as to who got 3rd.
I hardly think it necessary to talk about Caro and Verena`s routines, since its gotten so much discussion already. You`ve seen the videos. The judges saw the videos on replay the night of. The closest parallel I can see to this was Vasek and Ryan in SF 02. Was Caro`s blurrier thin? Yes. But she hit it out of shooting butterfly, and went into pdx torque to end her routine. Watch the video again with full volume, and listen to the crowd`s reaction. Do you think they cared the blurrier was thin? Personally, I think execution in routines has become over-rated lately. One of the main purposes of a routine is to impress the audience and showcase the sport, and I think Caro`s routine did that slightly better than Verena`s. But hey, it was a tough decision to make, and if anything, it should inspire all the Shreditas to try even harder next year. Ultimately, this was one of the most exciting and high level Women`s Finals of all time. Congratulations Verena on being the first woman since Carol W to 3peat.
Last edited by C-Fan on 26 Jan 2005 23:06, edited 1 time in total.
Finals and Saturday Night Shred
Doubles went particularly well this year, I think due in large part to the changes in judging. Just like the first round, 2 of the judges were former doubles world champs. Thanks Tuan and Rippin`. In finals (top 3 pairs) however, they were joined by the pairs that took 4th and 5th in doubles. This ensured that all the judges in finals were well qualified, in that they all understood doubles freestyle at a high level. In years past, doubles freestyle was often judged by people who had never DONE, much less judged doubles freestyle. This year`s judging format made accurate results much more certain. Predictably though, finals became a battle for second, since everybody knew The Connection would take it home again. Well done boys!
One thing that made finals night run so smoothly were the shows and videos put on in between events, which kept the crowd entertained during downtime. I`ll probably catch some flack for saying this....but I thought some of the `downtime` shows were a little bit too good. I know, that sounds like a weird criticism, but I honestly felt that some of the shows were more impressive and got better reactions than some of the main events. Like, Pete`s 5 ball juggling alone would have been great, but when he started to juggle 3 balls in his hands at the same time... it almost seemed like the first routines in freestyle finals were a bit of a letdown after that.
Still, I think my favorite show was Kevin Ritchie`s Footbag Dance demo. I remember back when `footbag dance` was a joke term from footbag.com, and to see what Kevin has done... truly fusing high level footbag with high level dance.... I also thought this kinda upstaged some of the finalists. The trend to pack Open Routines with AMAP really stifled a lot of the artistic potential of routines. So when Kevin did his 1 drop `A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action` routine perfectly to the beat, with perfect pauses and good choreography, I really hope it inspired next year`s freestylers to put the `style` back in freestyle routines. Come on, chundering whirl- gyro clip- repeat? Exactly on the beat? How is that not better than half the routines that made it to finals? I think the sport need to take a step back and take a long, hard look at where it`s going, and where it needs to be going.
That said, the top few spots in finals did include some nice choreography, but I still feel there was too much pressure to pack in the adds. I thought it was pretty exciting how, going into finals, it really was up-for-grabs in terms of who could win it. I think ever since NZ Worlds, people have realized they don`t need to be better than Vasek at footbag to win worlds... they just have to be better than Vasek at choreography for 2 minutes without falling too behind in difficulty. A daunting task for sure, but do-able. The air crackled with excitement during the last few routines, because everybody in the building knew that the field was open. The fact that the last 6 players to perform in finals were from different countries was also cool, since as each competitor took the stage and subsequently finished, you could feel different parts of the theater erupt with applause. Finland was probably the loudest country in their support, with California a close second, but then, when Juho finished I think most people knew he had a good shot at taking it. Props to Vasek for making his best-choreographed routine to date, but what can I say, drops kill.
http://www.footbag.org/media/194/vaskafinal.mp7
http://www.footbag.org/media/192/juhofinal.mp7
Congratulations Juho on your first championship!
With all the build-up of excitement throughout the week, I have to say I was relieved that finals lived up to my expectations. Though the entire audience was entertained throughout, celebration of the results lasted maybe 5 minutes before circles busted out. Who could blame us though? After watching 2 hours of the best freestyle on the planet, what would you want to do next?
And everybody else in the theatre did too. This year`s traditional Saturday night shred was completely off the hook. Literally dozens of circles formed, with all different levels of shredders playing together. Circles ranged from BAP, to pro, to better-than-BAP, to ridiculously good. I think there was one or two beginner circles too, where players only hit their 5s on one side.
One of the most memorable runs of the night belonged to Tricky Ricky in one of the `showtime` circles. It was an epic 40+ line which started with flipside spinning pdx mofly. Then he proceeded to hit 8 or 9 5s BSOS in this combo, but spacing them out so it was hard to remember what he had hit and what he hadn`t. Towards the end of the combo, you could feel everybody kinda holding their breath, because since he had hit all these big moves BSOS and his first trick was flipside, people were just waiting for him to finish with his strong spinning pdx mofly. Then, on like the 46th move, he spins, he jumps... spinning pdx bunny parade! The reaction was great, it was like a collective laugh/gasp of amazement. It wasn`t just the creativity of it, or the difficulty (how many people can even hit straight up pdx bunny parade?), but also the fact that he could hit it at the end of such a long and difficult combo.
I hopped around from circle to circle, and just tried to take in the experience as much as possible. I had the pleasure of playing in a circle with Ahren for a bit, before ceding my place to some Belgian shredita who had never played with him. I gotta say I was real inspired by Ahren. The last time I saw a 29 year old regulating a circle of BAP teenagers was back in Prague when Sunil was hitting HPD to Fury on the track. Ahren has just always had a knack for mixing the right amount of difficulty with style to always surprise you, hard tricks and easy tricks linked stylishly. Zulu alpine pornstar- blender, gyro whirl- blurry drifter. Damn.
Vasek went insane, and even though there were several notable circles all night, I think most people stopped to watch when Vasek and Juho were in the same circle. It was like a mix between the Vasek-Ahren circle from 03, and 99 worlds when Ryan and Scott D played in the same circle after finals. Like, it was a friendly competition, but you could also see Vasek wanting to remind the world why he is the best. I expect to see that whole showdown on video soon enough, but I just remember watching it and expecting their shoes to spontaneously combust... just plain craziness. They ended their shred with a soul hug, and split off into different circles.
As the night wore on, my legs gave out, and the ratio of circles to spectators increased in the spectators favor. I had fun going from circle to circle, sitting with different groups of old friends and watching the shred. I still think the most convincing and exciting 3D shred videos are the ones you see in person.
Slowly, the younger crowd started heading out to party even further into the morning at clubs. I joined a group of older shredders and went to Paul C`s place to drink a bit more and talk about how good worlds was. Both groups of shredders walked to the bus-stop together before parting separate ways. I eavesdropped a bit on the conversation the younger shredders were having, and it made me smile real wide. The mix of footbag shop-talk and enthusiasm about partying with friends was well known to me; it had made me come to worlds year after year. But the difficulty of their shred-talk was way harder than anything I had ever talked about hitting, back when I was their age. I looked over their young excited faces and smiled contentedly. The next generation are not just good, they`re good people. I went to Paul`s house feeling physically spent but also very much at peace, knowing the future of footbag is in good hands.
One thing that made finals night run so smoothly were the shows and videos put on in between events, which kept the crowd entertained during downtime. I`ll probably catch some flack for saying this....but I thought some of the `downtime` shows were a little bit too good. I know, that sounds like a weird criticism, but I honestly felt that some of the shows were more impressive and got better reactions than some of the main events. Like, Pete`s 5 ball juggling alone would have been great, but when he started to juggle 3 balls in his hands at the same time... it almost seemed like the first routines in freestyle finals were a bit of a letdown after that.
Still, I think my favorite show was Kevin Ritchie`s Footbag Dance demo. I remember back when `footbag dance` was a joke term from footbag.com, and to see what Kevin has done... truly fusing high level footbag with high level dance.... I also thought this kinda upstaged some of the finalists. The trend to pack Open Routines with AMAP really stifled a lot of the artistic potential of routines. So when Kevin did his 1 drop `A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action` routine perfectly to the beat, with perfect pauses and good choreography, I really hope it inspired next year`s freestylers to put the `style` back in freestyle routines. Come on, chundering whirl- gyro clip- repeat? Exactly on the beat? How is that not better than half the routines that made it to finals? I think the sport need to take a step back and take a long, hard look at where it`s going, and where it needs to be going.
That said, the top few spots in finals did include some nice choreography, but I still feel there was too much pressure to pack in the adds. I thought it was pretty exciting how, going into finals, it really was up-for-grabs in terms of who could win it. I think ever since NZ Worlds, people have realized they don`t need to be better than Vasek at footbag to win worlds... they just have to be better than Vasek at choreography for 2 minutes without falling too behind in difficulty. A daunting task for sure, but do-able. The air crackled with excitement during the last few routines, because everybody in the building knew that the field was open. The fact that the last 6 players to perform in finals were from different countries was also cool, since as each competitor took the stage and subsequently finished, you could feel different parts of the theater erupt with applause. Finland was probably the loudest country in their support, with California a close second, but then, when Juho finished I think most people knew he had a good shot at taking it. Props to Vasek for making his best-choreographed routine to date, but what can I say, drops kill.
http://www.footbag.org/media/194/vaskafinal.mp7
http://www.footbag.org/media/192/juhofinal.mp7
Congratulations Juho on your first championship!
With all the build-up of excitement throughout the week, I have to say I was relieved that finals lived up to my expectations. Though the entire audience was entertained throughout, celebration of the results lasted maybe 5 minutes before circles busted out. Who could blame us though? After watching 2 hours of the best freestyle on the planet, what would you want to do next?
And everybody else in the theatre did too. This year`s traditional Saturday night shred was completely off the hook. Literally dozens of circles formed, with all different levels of shredders playing together. Circles ranged from BAP, to pro, to better-than-BAP, to ridiculously good. I think there was one or two beginner circles too, where players only hit their 5s on one side.
One of the most memorable runs of the night belonged to Tricky Ricky in one of the `showtime` circles. It was an epic 40+ line which started with flipside spinning pdx mofly. Then he proceeded to hit 8 or 9 5s BSOS in this combo, but spacing them out so it was hard to remember what he had hit and what he hadn`t. Towards the end of the combo, you could feel everybody kinda holding their breath, because since he had hit all these big moves BSOS and his first trick was flipside, people were just waiting for him to finish with his strong spinning pdx mofly. Then, on like the 46th move, he spins, he jumps... spinning pdx bunny parade!
The reaction was great, it was like a collective laugh/gasp of amazement. It wasn`t just the creativity of it, or the difficulty (how many people can even hit straight up pdx bunny parade?), but also the fact that he could hit it at the end of such a long and difficult combo. I hopped around from circle to circle, and just tried to take in the experience as much as possible. I had the pleasure of playing in a circle with Ahren for a bit, before ceding my place to some Belgian shredita who had never played with him. I gotta say I was real inspired by Ahren. The last time I saw a 29 year old regulating a circle of BAP teenagers was back in Prague when Sunil was hitting HPD to Fury on the track. Ahren has just always had a knack for mixing the right amount of difficulty with style to always surprise you, hard tricks and easy tricks linked stylishly. Zulu alpine pornstar- blender, gyro whirl- blurry drifter. Damn.
Vasek went insane, and even though there were several notable circles all night, I think most people stopped to watch when Vasek and Juho were in the same circle. It was like a mix between the Vasek-Ahren circle from 03, and 99 worlds when Ryan and Scott D played in the same circle after finals. Like, it was a friendly competition, but you could also see Vasek wanting to remind the world why he is the best. I expect to see that whole showdown on video soon enough, but I just remember watching it and expecting their shoes to spontaneously combust... just plain craziness. They ended their shred with a soul hug, and split off into different circles.
As the night wore on, my legs gave out, and the ratio of circles to spectators increased in the spectators favor. I had fun going from circle to circle, sitting with different groups of old friends and watching the shred. I still think the most convincing and exciting 3D shred videos are the ones you see in person.
Slowly, the younger crowd started heading out to party even further into the morning at clubs. I joined a group of older shredders and went to Paul C`s place to drink a bit more and talk about how good worlds was. Both groups of shredders walked to the bus-stop together before parting separate ways. I eavesdropped a bit on the conversation the younger shredders were having, and it made me smile real wide. The mix of footbag shop-talk and enthusiasm about partying with friends was well known to me; it had made me come to worlds year after year. But the difficulty of their shred-talk was way harder than anything I had ever talked about hitting, back when I was their age. I looked over their young excited faces and smiled contentedly. The next generation are not just good, they`re good people. I went to Paul`s house feeling physically spent but also very much at peace, knowing the future of footbag is in good hands.
-
max
- Australofrenchbrityorkus
- Posts: 3751
- Joined: 24 Apr 2002 00:12
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- Contact:
What a great read Ken!
My first thoughts were along the lines of "What the fuck is he on about??". Then I just laughed through the whole thing
Truly very entertaining!
Stop teaching! Start writing!
I loved the stupid move names ("chundering whirl", "clockwork", "massage") and the mp7 links!
Fantastic reading!
My first thoughts were along the lines of "What the fuck is he on about??". Then I just laughed through the whole thing
Truly very entertaining!
Stop teaching! Start writing!
I loved the stupid move names ("chundering whirl", "clockwork", "massage") and the mp7 links!
Fantastic reading!
Maxime Boucoiran
French ConneXion
BFC
French ConneXion
BFC
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brian relly
- fan-tas-tic
- Posts: 2711
- Joined: 31 Aug 2003 10:03
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mosher
- brutal footbag cronie
- Posts: 6177
- Joined: 22 Jan 2004 23:30
- Location: Toronto, Ontario
- Contact:
Great write up Ken! It sounds like you had a great time.Thanks for putting up those mp7's, I didn't have the right codecrones to play it at first but Googleplayer handled that. It was great to get to see those routines again, my new projector lets the shredders slash on my desk, it's the shiz.
One note though, I thought that Tricky Ricky ended his big yarn with spinning paradox bunny beater, either way, it was INTENSE!
Thanks for letting us see Worlds 2008 through your eyes Ken!
Tom Mosher
hate is a waste of passion!
hate is a waste of passion!
Thanks!
Thanks everybody for the kind words, both here and in PMs. It took me a real long time to write that whole thing, but it was a lot of fun. I just felt like doing something new and original with my blog, and this seemed to fit the bill. So it made my day that a lot of you got a kick out of it.
While I`m here, might as well do a quick update. Last week I caught a vicious cold, so I was real out of it. I had mostly healed up by the weekend, but my cold gave me a mysterious muscle ache in my hip-flexor. I decided to play it safe and not do basketball/footbag/ dancing/snowboarding this weekend, so I ended up putting in a quiet one at the arcade, and hanging out with friends. But all these new Risden videos make me really want to get to a gym again and try and learn symposium quantum. I really should try and school flip quantum first, but fuck it, I want the cool set. I`ll post my progress with Wonton after my next session.
In other news, its been snowing like crazy over here, so I think I will sacrifice a couple footbag weekends in favor of snowboarding. After reading Andrew`s blog, I can even hope that snowboarding will be good for my body footbagwise.
I dunno... I want to play footbag more than I want to snowboard, but I kind of figure that I can footbag in the spring, or in any country I am in in the future, whereas I should take advantage of where I am now and snowboard while I can.TSG3 is coming...
Hey Blog! What`s up? Been a while, eh? How`s that thing that you`ve been worki...
Oh come on.
Stop that.
That!
Oh don`t play that game. I`ve been busy, OK?
What, like you didn`t enjoy having a little time off yourself?
Page 2? Grow up! Like it matters what page of the Footblogs forum you`re on. Stop being so fussy, I`m back already, OK? Geez, next time I`ll get Abshire to write in you while I`m gone, if it means that much to you.
Fucking baby.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway. I`ve been neglecting the old blog a bit lately for a good reason: I`m taking a short break from footbag. I figured it would be good to let my body just generally rest up, and since winter is the offseason, now seemed like the best time to give it a go. I haven`t kicked a bag in 3 weeks, and I won`t play for another 2 weeks, which means a total break of about 5 weeks. But really, my last session in Tokyo I didn`t play that hard, since it was outdoors while it was snowing, so it`s really a bit longer of a break all told.
But yeah, just because I`m not playing, doesn`t mean I`m out of footbag. Far from it. I`ve spent the last couple weeks helping Kim organize the next major Japanese footbag tournament: Tokyo Shredder Gathering 3.
As has been the case with every other Japanese footbag tournament I`ve helped with, my main tasks are finding sponsors, training/running the judging, and giving general input as to how the tournament goes (like suggesting what events to run, getting restaurant sponsors, scheduling, etc). I`m pretty aware that this will likely be the last major Japanese tournament I`ll attend while living in Japan, so I`m a bit torn. On one hand I want to do as much as possible to make it as good an event as possible, but on the other hand I want to give the Japanese organizers a chance to run the tournament without my help, as practice for when I`m gone. I already feel though like the Japanese tournament organizers/judges are in good shape though, so this time around I`m mostly just focussing on getting as many good sponsors as possible, and coordinating a special guest.
I`m pretty stoked that there have been a bunch of small tournaments in Japan this year. I think it`s important for there to be a bunch of small tournies and jams throughout the year, than just 1 or 2 big tournaments. Still, the big tournaments are where bragging rights are attained, and they draw the biggest crowds which make them a lot of fun. Every year, the 2 biggest footbag tournaments in Japan are Japanese Footbag Championships, and the Tokyo Shredder Gathering. The fact that this will be the 3rd Tokyo Shredder Gathering makes me extremely happy. This will be the third time this tournament happens! When I came to Japan a couple years ago, there hadn`t been a single footbag tournament in Asia, but in the last few years Japan has had a bunch of events. It`s so exciting to be here and see the scene budding from the very start.
JFC is probably the more prestigious event, since the winner of that even can claim to be the Japanese champion. But JFC is routines, whereas TSG is Shred30. So winning TSG carries its own bragging rights, since it`s a reflection of who can shred under pressure. I`m particularly excited about TSG3 this year, because while JFC2 was fun, I didn`t feel like it was entirely representative of Japan. Because JFC2 was held in Osaka on a 2 day weekend, lots of Tokyo players weren`t able to make it, which was a bit disappointing. This year`s TSG3 however, is scheduled for the Saturday of a Fri-Sat-Sun 3 day weekend. That alone should guarantee that more Osaka players will be able to make it to the event. Therefore, I think TSG3 will be a better representation of the Japanese scene than JFC2 was, and consequently the level of play will be higher, and competition will be stiffer.
I`m still waiting to hear from some sponsors, but so far the responses have been really heart-warming. Sometimes I think about how I could have taken up a different sport during high school, and never got involved in footbag. I wonder what it would be like if I had become a skater or something. But when I`m done wondering, I always feel real fortunate that I discovered footbag, because there`s something so positive and kind about the people this sport attracts.
When people kick down DVDs and 32 panel hand-stitched bags for Japanese tournies, they aren`t guaranteed much in return. At best, the prizes are good advertising for their products, and the shredders will hopefully buy more stuff from them. But I don`t really think the sponsors care too much about that. Instead, I think most sponsors are aware of how important tournaments are to this young sport, especially in a country where the scene is just starting to blossom. I think they realize that when some 15 year old kid in Japan wins an Abshire bag in a tournament, the sport is headed in the right direction, and in 20 years time that will have a bigger effect than the $20 they would have made selling it. I`ll get to thanking the sponsors again when the tournament actually does go down, but for now, I just wanted to give general props, because I recognize how thankless it can be donating prizes to tournies you won`t attend. And I recognize how incredibly important it is too. Thank you.
Been a while, eh? How`s that thing that you`ve been worki...Oh come on.
Stop that.
That!
Oh don`t play that game. I`ve been busy, OK?
What, like you didn`t enjoy having a little time off yourself?
Page 2? Grow up! Like it matters what page of the Footblogs forum you`re on. Stop being so fussy, I`m back already, OK? Geez, next time I`ll get Abshire to write in you while I`m gone, if it means that much to you.
Fucking baby.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway. I`ve been neglecting the old blog a bit lately for a good reason: I`m taking a short break from footbag. I figured it would be good to let my body just generally rest up, and since winter is the offseason, now seemed like the best time to give it a go. I haven`t kicked a bag in 3 weeks, and I won`t play for another 2 weeks, which means a total break of about 5 weeks. But really, my last session in Tokyo I didn`t play that hard, since it was outdoors while it was snowing, so it`s really a bit longer of a break all told.
But yeah, just because I`m not playing, doesn`t mean I`m out of footbag. Far from it. I`ve spent the last couple weeks helping Kim organize the next major Japanese footbag tournament: Tokyo Shredder Gathering 3.
As has been the case with every other Japanese footbag tournament I`ve helped with, my main tasks are finding sponsors, training/running the judging, and giving general input as to how the tournament goes (like suggesting what events to run, getting restaurant sponsors, scheduling, etc). I`m pretty aware that this will likely be the last major Japanese tournament I`ll attend while living in Japan, so I`m a bit torn. On one hand I want to do as much as possible to make it as good an event as possible, but on the other hand I want to give the Japanese organizers a chance to run the tournament without my help, as practice for when I`m gone. I already feel though like the Japanese tournament organizers/judges are in good shape though, so this time around I`m mostly just focussing on getting as many good sponsors as possible, and coordinating a special guest.
I`m pretty stoked that there have been a bunch of small tournaments in Japan this year. I think it`s important for there to be a bunch of small tournies and jams throughout the year, than just 1 or 2 big tournaments. Still, the big tournaments are where bragging rights are attained, and they draw the biggest crowds which make them a lot of fun. Every year, the 2 biggest footbag tournaments in Japan are Japanese Footbag Championships, and the Tokyo Shredder Gathering. The fact that this will be the 3rd Tokyo Shredder Gathering makes me extremely happy. This will be the third time this tournament happens! When I came to Japan a couple years ago, there hadn`t been a single footbag tournament in Asia, but in the last few years Japan has had a bunch of events. It`s so exciting to be here and see the scene budding from the very start.
JFC is probably the more prestigious event, since the winner of that even can claim to be the Japanese champion. But JFC is routines, whereas TSG is Shred30. So winning TSG carries its own bragging rights, since it`s a reflection of who can shred under pressure. I`m particularly excited about TSG3 this year, because while JFC2 was fun, I didn`t feel like it was entirely representative of Japan. Because JFC2 was held in Osaka on a 2 day weekend, lots of Tokyo players weren`t able to make it, which was a bit disappointing. This year`s TSG3 however, is scheduled for the Saturday of a Fri-Sat-Sun 3 day weekend. That alone should guarantee that more Osaka players will be able to make it to the event. Therefore, I think TSG3 will be a better representation of the Japanese scene than JFC2 was, and consequently the level of play will be higher, and competition will be stiffer.
I`m still waiting to hear from some sponsors, but so far the responses have been really heart-warming. Sometimes I think about how I could have taken up a different sport during high school, and never got involved in footbag. I wonder what it would be like if I had become a skater or something. But when I`m done wondering, I always feel real fortunate that I discovered footbag, because there`s something so positive and kind about the people this sport attracts.
When people kick down DVDs and 32 panel hand-stitched bags for Japanese tournies, they aren`t guaranteed much in return. At best, the prizes are good advertising for their products, and the shredders will hopefully buy more stuff from them. But I don`t really think the sponsors care too much about that. Instead, I think most sponsors are aware of how important tournaments are to this young sport, especially in a country where the scene is just starting to blossom. I think they realize that when some 15 year old kid in Japan wins an Abshire bag in a tournament, the sport is headed in the right direction, and in 20 years time that will have a bigger effect than the $20 they would have made selling it. I`ll get to thanking the sponsors again when the tournament actually does go down, but for now, I just wanted to give general props, because I recognize how thankless it can be donating prizes to tournies you won`t attend. And I recognize how incredibly important it is too. Thank you.
-
BainbridgeShred
- Post Master General
- Posts: 2352
- Joined: 10 Nov 2004 23:22
Thanksgiving
I started writing this post in Mosher`s `compliments/props` thread, but it got real long and seemed pretty self-centered... then I thought: `hey! Long and self-centered... this would be perfect for my blog!` So I moved it.
Here it is, my footbag props post. I know you want to hear more about me. I know this, even if you don`t. Just trust me.
My sister, Cristina. Might as well start from the beginning. It`s possible I never would have discovered footbag if not for my sister, since she was the one who bought my first footbag. Waaaaaay back in the first couple posts of this blog I talked about my first time kicking a bag, which was when my Dad locked us out of a rental car in the middle of nowhere, and we had to kill time. My sister bought a hackeysack, we kicked it around, I got hooked... yadda yadda... here I am. Also props to my sister for always being supportive of my hobby.
Chris Dhanraj. Once I got hooked on just kicking around a hack, I slowly started learning toe stalls and flying clippers. One other kid in my high school, Chris, also took up footbag around the same time. For a while I was clearly the better of the two, but then after summer vacation I came back, and he had learned to do cross body rakes and atws. I was like: We had a bit of a friendly rivalry, which really motivated me to push myself and get better. Possibly even more important than that, Chris was also the person to direct me towards my first footbag tournament. One day he had a dentist appointment in lower manhattan, and while killing time afterwards, stumbled across some honest-to-god freestylers playing in Washington Square Park. They were apparently training for a tournament that weekend, in Central Park, and they enlightened Chris regarding footbag.org I didn`t really believe Chris when he described some of the things these shredders were hitting, but the idea of a tournament was intriguing. I looked it up on the internet, and that led me to the New York Footbag Explosion (tournament) that weekend.
Steve Goldberg. If it weren`t for footbag.org, I don`t know how likely it would have been for me to find the footbag tournament that weekend in NY. I remember going to footbag.org for the first time, and there was a little animated gif of Kenny Shults doing barrage-double over down double pickup-paradon, looped over and over again. I thought it was surely some kind of joke. But I found the tourney info on the site, and that changed my life. After the tournament, .org taught me a lot about the sport, through the movelists, the email listservs, and all the videos on the site. Internet connections were way slower then, so I would go to bed with the download started, then watch the video the next morning before breakfast. I remember GF`s mobius to paradox blender real clearly, as well as Tuan starting rubberman. But more on that later.
Josh Penney The man behind the Explosion. No fart jokes please. Probably the single most important person to my freestyle development, Josh goes down in history as the organizer of the first, and to date only, freestyle tournament in NYC.
The first time I saw him, I was struck by his appearance. Standing 5 foot 2 or so, he was wearing matching seersucker shorts and button up t-shirt. Oh yeah, and Jester`s hat. I shit you not. I went to his tourney thinking I was an elite player, since I could link flying clippers like 20 in a row, and could do some basic stalls. I expected to enter and win intermediate. That weekend though I was blown away by all the craziness I saw. It changed my perception of what was possible. Josh let me know when and where NYFA regularly played, and from then on I was a regular at weekend sessions. Josh was an unwilling teacher for a long time, but just playing with somebody who was guiltless and could do a bunch of 4s taught me an incredible amount. I could write a whole chapter about Josh, but for the purpose of this post, I think it will suffice to thank him and give him props for helping me become guiltless, and entering the world of serious freestyle.
Ryan Mulroney When I came into the game, around 97, Ryan was beginning his dominance. By the time I figured out tiltlessness, and could appreciate what was going on on shred videos, Ryan was God. Basic concepts people take for granted today, like shuffle, fearlessness, and long strings- all pioneered by him. Most importantly, Ryan gave the game attitude, and made it seem like something cool, something you shouldn`t be ashamed to aspire to be good at. In 99 I wrote him a fan e-mail, giving him props for inspiring me. He wrote back, which somewhat surprised me at the time, and mentioned how he had once written a fan letter to Rippin`, very much in the same vein. I thought that was supercool. Unfortunately, the tradition has sort of died out, since I haven`t received any fan letters.
Ken Somolinos
024-0012 Iwate-ken
Kitakami shi, 1-1-14
Tokiwadai Kyoinjuutaku Apt 104
Japan
Bob Riefer When I got into footbag, the West Coast was easily the dominant footbag scene. Ryan Mulroney, Ahren Gehrman, Peter Irish, Tuan Vu and lots of other BAP players lived in California, and it seemed like everybody else who was REALLY good lived in Colorado. The dream was to move to the West Coast where the shred was. Josh`s tournament was a step in the right direction, but for several years the tournament scene on the East Coast pretty much only consisted of Funtastiks.
Bob was largely responsible for helping the East Coast flourish and develop into a legit footbag area, by hosting big, professional footbag events. The 2nd Philly Open was the first tournament where I won an Open event, and to this day I still use the wallet that I won as one of the prizes. That weekend I won routines (I had a 1 drop routine the first day, something I still haven`t topped! ), as well as the phat combo contest. That was one of the very first phat combo contests ever, and was run by Dan Kramer, who also deserves props as the originator and inventor of that event. I walked away from the tournament with $225, 2 t-shirts, a Vans wallet, and the pride of having won my first Open tournament. Even then I was aware of how much hard work and money Bob put into running the tournament, and after winning, I offered to give him back a good chunk of the prize money to help him cover costs. He refused, even though he went in the hole on the tournament, just on the principle that the competitors should keep the money they won. This was probably the first time that I became aware that in order for our small sport to really flourish and spread, it is our responsibilty to make sacrifices and run tournaments. Give away free footbags. Hold tournaments. Do it even if you lose money. Do it even if nobody thanks you. Do it for the sake of the sport. Big biiiig props to Bob Riefer.
Yacine Merzouk I won my wallet at Philly Open 2 by taking 2nd place in Intermediate Doubles Net with my partner... Yacine Merzouk. He`s the only reason we won, because he was able to keep my mental game together. To this day I am inspired by how Yacine has been able to achieve so much by keeping his head on straight, not getting frustrated, and really analyzing what he`s doing so he can get the best results. He deserves props for that.
But I started this section meaning to give him props for something else. From some time in 99 to around 2001, Yacine hosted a series of freestyle tournies in Montreal, in conjunction with the International Montreal Footbag Challenge. Montreal had been considered an almost exclusively net town for a long time, but Yacine helped change that, with Sebastien Duschesne. They hosted a series of footbag tournaments, and each time the prize pot was big enough, that if I won the tournament, it would pay for my plane ticket from Montreal to NYC. I went up 3 times I think, and won each time. If it weren`t for Yax`s organizational efforts, I wouldn`t have been able to make it, and I wouldn`t have been able to really solidify my friendship with him. I remember him meeting me at the bus stop, going to get shish taouk sandwiches, then him letting me crash at his place. This was one of my first tastes of how incredibly generous and hospitable footbaggers can be.
Aight, need to go teach now, but I`ll add more to this later.
Here it is, my footbag props post. I know you want to hear more about me. I know this, even if you don`t. Just trust me.
My sister, Cristina. Might as well start from the beginning. It`s possible I never would have discovered footbag if not for my sister, since she was the one who bought my first footbag. Waaaaaay back in the first couple posts of this blog I talked about my first time kicking a bag, which was when my Dad locked us out of a rental car in the middle of nowhere, and we had to kill time. My sister bought a hackeysack, we kicked it around, I got hooked... yadda yadda... here I am. Also props to my sister for always being supportive of my hobby.
Chris Dhanraj. Once I got hooked on just kicking around a hack, I slowly started learning toe stalls and flying clippers. One other kid in my high school, Chris, also took up footbag around the same time. For a while I was clearly the better of the two, but then after summer vacation I came back, and he had learned to do cross body rakes and atws. I was like:
We had a bit of a friendly rivalry, which really motivated me to push myself and get better. Possibly even more important than that, Chris was also the person to direct me towards my first footbag tournament. One day he had a dentist appointment in lower manhattan, and while killing time afterwards, stumbled across some honest-to-god freestylers playing in Washington Square Park. They were apparently training for a tournament that weekend, in Central Park, and they enlightened Chris regarding footbag.org I didn`t really believe Chris when he described some of the things these shredders were hitting, but the idea of a tournament was intriguing. I looked it up on the internet, and that led me to the New York Footbag Explosion (tournament) that weekend.Steve Goldberg. If it weren`t for footbag.org, I don`t know how likely it would have been for me to find the footbag tournament that weekend in NY. I remember going to footbag.org for the first time, and there was a little animated gif of Kenny Shults doing barrage-double over down double pickup-paradon, looped over and over again. I thought it was surely some kind of joke. But I found the tourney info on the site, and that changed my life. After the tournament, .org taught me a lot about the sport, through the movelists, the email listservs, and all the videos on the site. Internet connections were way slower then, so I would go to bed with the download started, then watch the video the next morning before breakfast. I remember GF`s mobius to paradox blender real clearly, as well as Tuan starting rubberman. But more on that later.
Josh Penney The man behind the Explosion. No fart jokes please. Probably the single most important person to my freestyle development, Josh goes down in history as the organizer of the first, and to date only, freestyle tournament in NYC.
The first time I saw him, I was struck by his appearance. Standing 5 foot 2 or so, he was wearing matching seersucker shorts and button up t-shirt. Oh yeah, and Jester`s hat. I shit you not. I went to his tourney thinking I was an elite player, since I could link flying clippers like 20 in a row, and could do some basic stalls. I expected to enter and win intermediate. That weekend though I was blown away by all the craziness I saw. It changed my perception of what was possible. Josh let me know when and where NYFA regularly played, and from then on I was a regular at weekend sessions. Josh was an unwilling teacher for a long time, but just playing with somebody who was guiltless and could do a bunch of 4s taught me an incredible amount. I could write a whole chapter about Josh, but for the purpose of this post, I think it will suffice to thank him and give him props for helping me become guiltless, and entering the world of serious freestyle.
Ryan Mulroney When I came into the game, around 97, Ryan was beginning his dominance. By the time I figured out tiltlessness, and could appreciate what was going on on shred videos, Ryan was God. Basic concepts people take for granted today, like shuffle, fearlessness, and long strings- all pioneered by him. Most importantly, Ryan gave the game attitude, and made it seem like something cool, something you shouldn`t be ashamed to aspire to be good at. In 99 I wrote him a fan e-mail, giving him props for inspiring me. He wrote back, which somewhat surprised me at the time, and mentioned how he had once written a fan letter to Rippin`, very much in the same vein. I thought that was supercool. Unfortunately, the tradition has sort of died out, since I haven`t received any fan letters.
Ken Somolinos
024-0012 Iwate-ken
Kitakami shi, 1-1-14
Tokiwadai Kyoinjuutaku Apt 104
Japan
Bob Riefer When I got into footbag, the West Coast was easily the dominant footbag scene. Ryan Mulroney, Ahren Gehrman, Peter Irish, Tuan Vu and lots of other BAP players lived in California, and it seemed like everybody else who was REALLY good lived in Colorado. The dream was to move to the West Coast where the shred was. Josh`s tournament was a step in the right direction, but for several years the tournament scene on the East Coast pretty much only consisted of Funtastiks.
Bob was largely responsible for helping the East Coast flourish and develop into a legit footbag area, by hosting big, professional footbag events. The 2nd Philly Open was the first tournament where I won an Open event, and to this day I still use the wallet that I won as one of the prizes. That weekend I won routines (I had a 1 drop routine the first day, something I still haven`t topped!
), as well as the phat combo contest. That was one of the very first phat combo contests ever, and was run by Dan Kramer, who also deserves props as the originator and inventor of that event. I walked away from the tournament with $225, 2 t-shirts, a Vans wallet, and the pride of having won my first Open tournament. Even then I was aware of how much hard work and money Bob put into running the tournament, and after winning, I offered to give him back a good chunk of the prize money to help him cover costs. He refused, even though he went in the hole on the tournament, just on the principle that the competitors should keep the money they won. This was probably the first time that I became aware that in order for our small sport to really flourish and spread, it is our responsibilty to make sacrifices and run tournaments. Give away free footbags. Hold tournaments. Do it even if you lose money. Do it even if nobody thanks you. Do it for the sake of the sport. Big biiiig props to Bob Riefer.Yacine Merzouk I won my wallet at Philly Open 2 by taking 2nd place in Intermediate Doubles Net with my partner... Yacine Merzouk. He`s the only reason we won, because he was able to keep my mental game together. To this day I am inspired by how Yacine has been able to achieve so much by keeping his head on straight, not getting frustrated, and really analyzing what he`s doing so he can get the best results. He deserves props for that.
But I started this section meaning to give him props for something else. From some time in 99 to around 2001, Yacine hosted a series of freestyle tournies in Montreal, in conjunction with the International Montreal Footbag Challenge. Montreal had been considered an almost exclusively net town for a long time, but Yacine helped change that, with Sebastien Duschesne. They hosted a series of footbag tournaments, and each time the prize pot was big enough, that if I won the tournament, it would pay for my plane ticket from Montreal to NYC. I went up 3 times I think, and won each time. If it weren`t for Yax`s organizational efforts, I wouldn`t have been able to make it, and I wouldn`t have been able to really solidify my friendship with him. I remember him meeting me at the bus stop, going to get shish taouk sandwiches, then him letting me crash at his place. This was one of my first tastes of how incredibly generous and hospitable footbaggers can be.
Aight, need to go teach now, but I`ll add more to this later.
More props
Back from classes... where was I? I`m likely omitting tons of people I want to give props to, but best to get down a few while I have time.
Edit: If you really want to show appreciation and give props, check out this link: http://www.footbag.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1734 I`m looking into it myself.
Mickey Mayer He no longer plays footbag, but I`m glad he was in the scene long enough to become my friend. His true passion is video-making, so we tag-teamed to make a couple vids back in 2000-01. We shot and edited `Shred Alert` back when I lived in Montreal for a summer, and that was a lot of fun. We also made a vid about 2000 worlds called `Feets of Fury,` which I thought was much better, but didn`t see much of a release.... long story. I thought both were well edited and had good music, especially by the standards of back in the day, unfortunately Mickey never figured out how to export the videos files properly, so both videos had a real grainy, washed out appearance. Think `Ryan Thomass Worlds 04,` but worse. This last worlds at Montreal I got to hang out with Mickey again which was a blast. The main reason I want to give him props is for keeping me stoked on footbag during a period when footbag wasn`t that much fun for me, and also for making footbag videos with me. That`s something I always wanted to do, but lacked the equipment and expertise.
Eisuke `Kim Ghidora` Kimuro When I moved to Japan 2.5 years ago, there wasn`t much of a footbag scene here. Just a few scattered players in Tokyo and Osaka, but there had been no tournaments, nobody was close to guiltless, and people weren`t even playing in circles together. When I flew out here, I figured I`d work and live here for a year, then move back to the states. I was half resigned to giving up footbag, because it seemed like I lacked a place to play, as well as people to play with. My first few months in Japan I think I played like a grand total of 3 times, always by myself, and never for more than 40 minutes tops. Things looked grim in terms of me sticking with footbag in Japan. I kinda just figured I`d pick it up again when I moved somewhere else. Weird thoughts, I know.
Then, i got an e-mail from my old friend Tu, who was coming to visit Osaka! That seemed like a perfect excuse to check out Osaka and meet a few Japanese players who were stoked to come out and meet Tu. That weekend I hit Osaka, met Masaaki Shigeoka, Henmo, and Kim all for the first time. It was my first time seriously shredding since I had left NY, and it was like a rebirth for me. I remembered how much I love footbag. Aaaaaaaaaaand.... I made some new friends, who were cool, and said I could crash at their places in Tokyo. I started going to Tokyo regularly from that point onward, and I solidified my friendships with the Tokyo crew while teaching them some footbag basics, like playing in circles, no self-serves, giving props, etc. Most importantly, we always went out drinking and to dinner afterwards, and usually did something else fun, like hit an arcade or go bowling or dancing. Seeing everybody`s enthusiasm over footbag reminded me of how into it I used to be, and I fed off the newbie energy which brought my game back to speed. While I like to think I have done a lot for Japanese footbag, it is nothing compared to what Japanese footbag has done for me. I got back into the thing I love most, and I got a bunch of kickass friends in the bargain. Thank you Kim, thank you Masa, thank you Japanese footbag. 本当にありがとうございます、日本のフットバッグ
I`ll likely continue this later, as Floyd Morgan is due some props as well.
Edit: If you really want to show appreciation and give props, check out this link: http://www.footbag.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1734 I`m looking into it myself.
Mickey Mayer He no longer plays footbag, but I`m glad he was in the scene long enough to become my friend. His true passion is video-making, so we tag-teamed to make a couple vids back in 2000-01. We shot and edited `Shred Alert` back when I lived in Montreal for a summer, and that was a lot of fun. We also made a vid about 2000 worlds called `Feets of Fury,` which I thought was much better, but didn`t see much of a release.... long story. I thought both were well edited and had good music, especially by the standards of back in the day, unfortunately Mickey never figured out how to export the videos files properly, so both videos had a real grainy, washed out appearance. Think `Ryan Thomass Worlds 04,` but worse.
This last worlds at Montreal I got to hang out with Mickey again which was a blast. The main reason I want to give him props is for keeping me stoked on footbag during a period when footbag wasn`t that much fun for me, and also for making footbag videos with me. That`s something I always wanted to do, but lacked the equipment and expertise.Eisuke `Kim Ghidora` Kimuro When I moved to Japan 2.5 years ago, there wasn`t much of a footbag scene here. Just a few scattered players in Tokyo and Osaka, but there had been no tournaments, nobody was close to guiltless, and people weren`t even playing in circles together. When I flew out here, I figured I`d work and live here for a year, then move back to the states. I was half resigned to giving up footbag, because it seemed like I lacked a place to play, as well as people to play with. My first few months in Japan I think I played like a grand total of 3 times, always by myself, and never for more than 40 minutes tops. Things looked grim in terms of me sticking with footbag in Japan. I kinda just figured I`d pick it up again when I moved somewhere else. Weird thoughts, I know.
Then, i got an e-mail from my old friend Tu, who was coming to visit Osaka! That seemed like a perfect excuse to check out Osaka and meet a few Japanese players who were stoked to come out and meet Tu. That weekend I hit Osaka, met Masaaki Shigeoka, Henmo, and Kim all for the first time. It was my first time seriously shredding since I had left NY, and it was like a rebirth for me. I remembered how much I love footbag. Aaaaaaaaaaand.... I made some new friends, who were cool, and said I could crash at their places in Tokyo. I started going to Tokyo regularly from that point onward, and I solidified my friendships with the Tokyo crew while teaching them some footbag basics, like playing in circles, no self-serves, giving props, etc. Most importantly, we always went out drinking and to dinner afterwards, and usually did something else fun, like hit an arcade or go bowling or dancing. Seeing everybody`s enthusiasm over footbag reminded me of how into it I used to be, and I fed off the newbie energy which brought my game back to speed. While I like to think I have done a lot for Japanese footbag, it is nothing compared to what Japanese footbag has done for me. I got back into the thing I love most, and I got a bunch of kickass friends in the bargain. Thank you Kim, thank you Masa, thank you Japanese footbag. 本当にありがとうございます、日本のフットバッグ
I`ll likely continue this later, as Floyd Morgan is due some props as well.
So here we are...
Wow, 10th page of my blog. I figured out that after 20 posts, it automatically creates a new page. So for me 10 pages of this blog is incredible, since my blog is 90% composed of posts written by me, and they tend to be really really long. So ten pages is a buttload of content!
I have a lot of fun writing my blog. Looking back on it, it`s kinda cool how almost every page has its own theme. Like, the first page is mostly my early footbag history: how I got into the game, my first worlds, etc. The 2nd page is my live updates from Worlds. The 3rd, 4th and 5th pages are my better-written, after the fact account of worlds. The 6th page is mostly about the Japanese scene, including a recap of JFC2. 7th page was mostly Japanese footbag. The 8th page was all about my trip to New Zealand. The 9th page was mostly my 2008 Worlds account.
Hopefully this 10th page will chronicle my glorious return to playing, after a 5 week break. That starts next week. Man I can`t wait...but I know I should. I really want to give my body a proper rest from the sport this year, and the plan was to take off 2 months, but 5 weeks is pretty good. In related news, I`ve officially retired from snowboarding. I only flirted with it lightly, and I really had fun doing it, but I found it was hell on my knees, and I didn`t want to risk fucking up my footbag game. So now the only cross-training I`m doing during this break is playing basketball.
I figured out that after 20 posts, it automatically creates a new page. So for me 10 pages of this blog is incredible, since my blog is 90% composed of posts written by me, and they tend to be really really long. So ten pages is a buttload of content! I have a lot of fun writing my blog. Looking back on it, it`s kinda cool how almost every page has its own theme. Like, the first page is mostly my early footbag history: how I got into the game, my first worlds, etc. The 2nd page is my live updates from Worlds. The 3rd, 4th and 5th pages are my better-written, after the fact account of worlds. The 6th page is mostly about the Japanese scene, including a recap of JFC2. 7th page was mostly Japanese footbag. The 8th page was all about my trip to New Zealand. The 9th page was mostly my 2008 Worlds account.
Hopefully this 10th page will chronicle my glorious return to playing, after a 5 week break. That starts next week. Man I can`t wait...but I know I should. I really want to give my body a proper rest from the sport this year, and the plan was to take off 2 months, but 5 weeks is pretty good. In related news, I`ve officially retired from snowboarding. I only flirted with it lightly, and I really had fun doing it, but I found it was hell on my knees, and I didn`t want to risk fucking up my footbag game. So now the only cross-training I`m doing during this break is playing basketball.