I wont win so I wont enter the tourney

crazylegs32 · Post by **crazylegs32** » 12 Nov 2005 20:09

The biggest thing holding footbag back as a "sport" is the fact that alot of the time the best players dont compete. I dont think it is completely the players fault, there is ovbiously a difference between doin a routine and shredding, but there is no reason to be reluctant to enter a contest that you may not win. Every car race is full of racers that know they cant win unless they have the best day of their lives+ alot of luck. But they still enter and put forth their best effort.
We will never get sponsorship for our sport unless we at least demonstrate a willingness to compete...

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 12 Nov 2005 20:12

But often competition isn't fun and it kills the fun of the event for some people.

I know that I have basically zero motivation to compete in life in general also.

You know.. some people aren't 'in it to win it', perhaps alot of people just play because it feels fucking good to play?

Xain · Post by **Xain** » 12 Nov 2005 20:32

it's only fun to compete if you have a chance of winning. Thats what I like about net

BalinorNZ · Post by **BalinorNZ** » 12 Nov 2005 22:49

Competing is fun if you look at it the right way.

If you don't get all caught up about winning and just take it as a chance to show everyone what you can do, have some fun and perform something you have created, then competing is great fun.

There are plenty of reasons not to compete, but if it's the fact you can't win, or the fact you don't think you will enjoy it because it's too compeditive, I think your looking at it the wrong way.

I know for one that lack of people entering the online competitions is holding them back from getting big. If we had 100 people competiting each month, then sponsorship would probably be an option, but nobody cares about an online comp with 10 people, even if names like Jorden Moir and Honza Webber appear in the player list.

Bander87 · Post by **Bander87** » 12 Nov 2005 22:58

Exactly Nic. I see it as performing, BUT as you get better, it gets more competitive. There are people however that are good and still have funny/fun rutines.

mentor · Post by **mentor** » 12 Nov 2005 23:00

but there is no reason to be reluctant to enter a contest that you may not win

I completely agree… I guess that is the whole point of competing in all sports. I makes you better at your sport and eventually you experience it is fun as well.

No matter which sport you do, I bet you will find there is an elite group, which dominates the competitions.

Guest_2 · Post by **Guest_2** » 12 Nov 2005 23:04

I'll be doing my best to send in some guiltless uniques

I just need a camera

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 13 Nov 2005 01:35

I'm gonna compete in the online comps even though I don't think I'll win them.

I compete at worlds knowing fully that my chances are extremely slim to win Routines.

I compete for the sake of the sport. Yeah, I may not win, but it's still cool to be able to say you took 24th at Worlds or whatever.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 13 Nov 2005 02:09

Yeah totally. If you don't compete then you don't play the sport of footbag. Sport is defined by competition. If we want footbag to be recognised as a sport and not as a hobby we need to have a focus on footbag as a sport and not as a past time. With that in mind - it's also why footbag competitions need to be transparent and professional.

DoctorJay · Post by **DoctorJay** » 13 Nov 2005 03:40

why should I compete at a tournament?

I love to compete it is a good thing to get measured by others and in relation to to others . I cannot understand why people do not compete at sports like benchpress or footbag.
You have no win or loss situation like in other sports ( i.e. tennis) . you always compete against your own goal. maybe you should think how to define your goal . I guess it would be wrong to set your goal for the final win , much better is in my opinion to show your best performance which is possible.

Moreover the expierence of entering a stage and performing on it is one of the most impressive things for me . I think it is a pity that people go to a tournament and do not compete .

It is a pity for yourself because you won't get this expierence and it is a pity for all others who wanted to see you . You are not able to suck as much on stage that people would not understand that . I do not rank the people do to their performance on stage because it is really possible that you will perform bad ( i.e. look at shred 30 there are lots of people who drop at the second contact or something - I won't remember ( and I guess most if not all others won't remember too) but you will keep the good individual performances in mind - so you have NOTHING to loose.

When I go to a tourney there are several players who are shredding in circles but don't compete . I asked them why and I get different answers:
I am not good enough to compete - such a bullshit . the situation is that there are like 10 other people who tell me the same and so there is a lack of participants in the comp . if all would compete than there would be no "good enough".

I am so happy that I got no idea about the standard of footbag when going to my first tournament .
I was late and thought I would get the tshirt for free when performing on stage - so I went up and performed as the last person in the intermediate comp. ( I was a lot worse than all the others I think ) but this was my highlight of the tournament .

summing up - do not hesitate and jump on stage - there will always be a first time and why wait that long for it .

Anz · Post by **Anz** » 13 Nov 2005 05:12

imo people shouldn't compete for the sport but for them selves.
The question is: "Do you just want to win?" if you do and you got no chances then don't compete.
If you want to compete because you want to take part in something you like and have fun, then you should compete in any case.

shredzilla · Post by **shredzilla** » 13 Nov 2005 07:13

Jeremy wrote:Yeah totally. If you don't compete then you don't play the sport of footbag.

It is in this way that I believe footbag is most like skateboarding. Tony Hawk and Chad Muska blah blah blah. But all the other millions of kids skateboarding are doing something. Just like all us footbaggers who don't compete are doing something as well. What are we all doing? Posing? Bringing disgrace to the 'sport' by not competing?

I think it's perfectly fine for someone to say they're not going to compete because they may not have a chance at winning. These tournaments are expensive to go to sometimes. Obviously no where near that of a lot of other sports, but still there's no real prize money either. And wow, if you WIN Worlds, you get a plaque, not a cool trophy with a little footbag dude on it. My dad got a plaque when he retired from his company. Woo freakin hoo.

Footbag is still in the fledgling stages of becoming a professional sport. If you want to play it professionally, go for it. If you wanna be like Mosher and just enjoy it because it's the coolest fucking thing in the world, do that. But you should make a new forum for professional players only then, so we that enjoy playing footbag without competing won't ruin footbag and give the 'sport' such a bad name.

I still think personally that it's gonna take people who are casual and professionals to make footbag widely recognized. The casual guys like YellowWatchbagger whose 15 and just started a month ago and shreds in circles every day during lunch is showing people at the very least what footbag is moreso than hackeysack. He is going to compete in the online novice comps. WILL ANYONE besides the 100 or so people that check modified every day see him compete? No. He won't bring attention to the sport by competing online in modified.

"Hey Tony, you really THE'd that 900." -Chad Muska "Cool, cuz I invented it." -Tony Hawk

footjoe · Post by **footjoe** » 13 Nov 2005 07:59

The more people competing the more attention it will bring that its a real sport and not just leasure activity

shredzilla · Post by **shredzilla** » 13 Nov 2005 09:16

That's true. But it's a lot of things. Not JUST that. If it was, footbag would've become big 20 years ago.

It's going to take a revolution of all footbaggers, professional and non, to go out there and show the world what footbag is. You can't tell me that seeing a sick circle shred video, where people are guiltless or an insane solo shred by somebody like Derek Vandal or Clavens or Jorden or Vasek, or Jeremy or Ken doesn't directly compare to skateboarding videos. Are all the people making skateboarding videos professionals? No. Are all the people making footbag videos professionals? No. Anyway, not everyone can be Tony Hawk or Tiger Woods, or Payton Manning, or Vasek Klouda. But we can all enjoy footbag.

Again, circle and solo shredding is both practicing to be a professional, and/or having fun. Haha do you think professional athletes play sports not to have fun? They do it cuz they LOVE the sport. Just like everyone here on modified. But arguing over semantics at this stage of the game is pointless. We need to go out there and show everybody how fucking cool we are and we don't give a shit if they don't get it. Then they WILL get it. Got it? Haha that was lame sorry. But you get the point.

Go outside and shred. Shred in a very public place. Shred at schools. Show as many people especially kids as you can the sport. Call/Email sponsors. Send your footbag video to local skate/surf/snow shops and maybe they'll play it or check it out. Try to do a demo of footbag in your area. At a school, or a skate shop, or a public park with lots of people. If you HAVE done these things, show the 'non-professionals' how to do them. If you're really interested in making footbag big, don't be counter-productive. Rally people to your cause, don't alienate them. ENJOY FOOTBAG

Oh by the way, I'm going to go shred in front of the MCI Center today where the Dahli Lama will be speaking. There will probably be about 25,000 people there. Hopefully I can get some people to stop and check it out. Who knows.

Tsiangkun · Post by **Tsiangkun** » 13 Nov 2005 09:47

Competitions quit being fun, when I realised they were rigged.

Back in the day, when I used to show up for events, the rules were not the same for everyone. Okay, on paper they were, but in practice the rules were different.

hackeysnacker · Post by **hackeysnacker** » 13 Nov 2005 13:04

The entry fees are probably holding a lot of people back from competing in tournaments, how many footbaggers can really afford it?

skoxn · Post by **skoxn** » 13 Nov 2005 16:19

when i compete in a footbag tourney it´s more a competiton against myself.
i know for sure, i have very less chance to win european champs or so, but it´s interesting for me to find out, if i can beat myself. i (mostly) prepare a small routine and try to hit the shit i want to. when i was succesful with my routine and my skill, but will not do the cut to the next round, i don´t care. i am just happy to hit, what i wanted to and to beat the shivering knees, i have on stage.

Paul Agostinelli · Post by **Paul Agostinelli** » 13 Nov 2005 16:25

mosher wrote:But often competition isn't fun and it kills the fun of the event for some people.

I know that I have basically zero motivation to compete in life in general also.

You know.. some people aren't 'in it to win it', perhaps alot of people just play because it feels fucking good to play?

i would agree with you tom, and im not trying to start a flame war, but at kickass this was totally not your view when i said i wasnt going to compete.
i compete at comps because i enjoy it and want to support the event, and if there is intermediate, i know i have a chance of winning, but when we only had open and i decided not to compete because i was sick and knew i didn have a chance at placing, you told me to anyway. i dunno, just thought id share.

no beef, no flame, just posting my thoughts.

~NEL~

james_dean · Post by **james_dean** » 13 Nov 2005 22:21

Jeremy wrote:Yeah totally. If you don't compete then you don't play the sport of footbag. Sport is defined by competition.

Completely disagree. I understand where you're coming from, and yes, it is better for footbag the more people that compete. I know that's how the Olympic Comittee define sport, but that's because they're coming from the angle of competition.

Some people just don't dig competitions... it doesn't really seem like the point of footbag, to me. but I'm going to compete anyway, because it's good for the sport, because it's supporting my scene, because it may just turn out to be a really good thing. I don't think people should not compete because they're scared or embarressed or haven't tried it before. But if someone competes and decides that they really don't like it and it's not why they play footbag etc... I think that's OK.

David Morawski · Post by **David Morawski** » 13 Nov 2005 22:33

Jeremy wrote:If you don't compete then you don't play the sport of footbag. Sport is defined by competition.

I know this contradicts some definitions of "competition," but what about competing with yourself? I try to outdo myself every session.