just as those men made gods before us we to are pioneers

cd · Post by cd » 15 Jan 2006 18:28

I agree with pretty much everything you said.

Its cool that there are cash prizes and sponsorships for events but I was mainly talking about the prospect of this sport becoming huge and the athletes being worth lots of money. I think that would be bogus for a lot of reasons.

I don't see footbag as "wear and tear" on the body. It's more beneficial for the body than damaging; it's my primary way to stay in shape. I think that playing footbag is reward enough (but once again, I think it's really cool that there's recognition and prizes for people who compete).

And footbag tournaments are really inexpensive for what they're worth. I even think most Americans who flew to worlds last year would say that it was worth every penny. It's always good to cut costs though, but our community is always figuring out ways to cut costs for everyone attending, not just the champs. However, I wish it was reasonable for our top players to do this full-time and still be able to support themselves somehow.

posshr · Post by **posshr** » 15 Jan 2006 19:04

eh slash
i dont kick with them ive never met em before im from the westside
and everyone else, try and focus on a different word than god

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » 15 Jan 2006 21:14

We just did, or at least chris did. "Legends."

posshr · Post by **posshr** » 15 Jan 2006 21:16

=_= how can i explain this in terms youll all get
.....
ok
once upon a time i was falling in love
now im only falling apart
theres nothing i can do
a total eclipse of the heart

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » 15 Jan 2006 21:30

Poetry can go a long way it seems.

I think a small read on Peter Irish's interview on footbag can give you a boost, if not a small explanation to the answer you want.

http://www.footbagbrasil.com.br/destaqu ... nglish.htm

The road in becoming a pioneer or god is long past if you ask me. We can only find Legends to the sport, and maybe aspiring players coming in showing impressive skill that they should be known as Legendary themselves (Vasek, Jordan Moir, etc.). Even if you don't know they're names, look them up and read whatever you find about these players advancing into the sport of footbag, making a name for themselves.

Outsider · Post by **Outsider** » 15 Jan 2006 21:44

shredzilla said:

In regard to Chrisdean's post, don't you think athletes that train themselves every day to be great at our sport and compete should be rewarded with prize competition money? It's been that way with nearly every athletic sport ever to be played.

Athletes don't get paid because they are good and train hard. They get paid because they entertain a paying audience, or else, their non-paying audience is so large and dependable that companies will pay for the opportunity to advertise their goods and services to that audience.

Footbaggers don't deserve money for being good at footbag. We'll only deserve lots of money when lots of people will pay to watch us and advertisers will pay us for the chance to promote their products to our audience during our competitions.

Right now, I don't believe that we really have a regular audience, an audience that will go out of their way to see the next competition (aside from ourselves, that is, and there ain't that many of us and we don't really have the vast amounts of disposable income that advertisers wish to part people from), as opposed to the audience of random people that just happens to be there by chance anyway when our competitions are held.

As for me, I don't need my name to be remembered years from now by people I'll never know. What's that worth to me? I don't care what people I'll never meet think about me fifty years from now. I mean, what difference does it make to Jesse Owens, Babe Ruth, or Johnny Unitas that I know their names and have some sense of what they used to do? I don't even care about Track And Field, Baseball, or Football. The best part about any of those guys is that Jesse Owens embarrassed Hitler at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and that didn't stop the Nazis from doing their horrible things. I think I'll just try to enjoy the game, enjoy the company of other kickers, and have a better time staying in shape than all those poor gerbils and hampsters jogging on treadmills in gyms. I mean, good for them for staying healthy, but I'd rather play an interesting game than just run in place. No names last forever anyway.

Ozymandias

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and dispair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands strech far away.

- Percy Shelley

If my name were Percy Shelley, I don't think I'd even want anyone to remember it.

cd · Post by cd » 16 Jan 2006 01:01

play footbag becuase its fun, it keeps you in shape, the events are awesome, the people are really cool and great to hang out with, and because it's an altogether rewarding experience. dont get caught up in the capitalist mindset of fame and fortune, because it will never happen. and if it does, i'll walk out on the sport.
yay. footbag is cool... although it would be infinitely cooler if more babes were into this whole thing.
in due time i guess.
whatever...

cd · Post by cd » 16 Jan 2006 01:03

oh, and in response to the topic name, you can still be a pioneer

hit flipwalk... only one person in the world has.

better yet, hit stuff that hasnt even been thought of yet.

Faco · Post by **Faco** » 16 Jan 2006 12:14

I am Footbag

BainbridgeShred · Post by **BainbridgeShred** » 16 Jan 2006 13:11

We would be if footbag was going anywhere.

but its not.

HAHAHAHAHA

Xain · Post by **Xain** » 16 Jan 2006 15:00

I'm going to go work on my pioneering right now...

I want to talk to other people who do pendulous.

Sporatical_Distractions · Post by **Sporatical_Distractions** » 16 Jan 2006 19:57

found two things in the peter irish interview link that wasabi posted from the footbag brasil website.

In regards to pioneering: " The first reason is that now shred has evolved to a point where the path is all laid out for new players entering the game. Although there is still room for innovation, many of the concepts and tricks have been invented and are being done by many players. The standard for beginners is much higher. It's all out there. Anyone around the world now has access to the tools to learn the game. Another reason is that players are getting into the sport at a much younger age, and when you are young you have all the time in the world to play, and your body can take hours of abuse and not be affected.

I think the main reason for the growth of footbag worldwide is the fact that it is all available on the internet now, and we can thank Steve Goldberg for that. He was the first to put it out there, he has spent countless years of his time and thousands of dollars of his own money promoting this game, and he has done it for us out of love for the sport. He developed the International Footbag Players Association, which is the main resource for footbag worldwide. I think he is underappreciated and deserves more recognition than he gets. We can also thank those people who devote their resources to supporting the game and tournaments in the spirit of service; people like Daryl Genz and Freedom Footbags who supports each and every event and spreads countless footbags throughout the world. His bags are the best to learn with and he keeps them cheap and affordable. We can also thank those people working at the grassroots level holding events and footbag tournaments. However big or small the event is, these people make no money and in some cases even lose money in order to strengthen the community. Anyone who has ever run an event deserves respect, these people know who they are and are too numerous to mention."

In regards to becoming a professional: "There is still no money to be made and no big fame to be had, so if you are in it for that you have come to the wrong place. Knowing what I know now if I had to choose between the community aspect or lots of money and fame I would choose the community. Fame and money are lost very quickly but I have made relationships that will last the rest of my life. So I am glad to have been in the game when I was there. It would be nice to see players some day make money with this game, but hopefully either way they can discover some of the aspects that I have discovered here, and hopefully the community spirit remains."

shredzilla · Post by **shredzilla** » 17 Jan 2006 21:49

I totally agree. Community is huge. Maybe I'm totally wrong. Cuz it is kinda lame that cup stacking has groupies (I'm joking, they can't possibly have groupies can they??). I just think that in regards to what Jon Schneider(sp) said, how we don't have an audience; Every single time I've played outdoors, people have come up in wonder and said how awesome it is. The reason we don't have an audience is only because it's not well-known yet. I guarantee if everyone knew about Footbag and how it's played today, it'd be a legitimate, televised sport at least equal to say Skateboarding or Snowboarding.

I don't know if that would be a good or bad thing. But in regards to Chrisdean and how there aren't enough chicks around....haha which is an awesome point, I guarantee there'd be more chicks. And I just think it'd be neat if people knew about it as a legitimate thing. But, I've made a decision in my own mind not to care about that TOO much, and just focus on my own game. If it happens, it will happen naturally like everything in life. I'm so damn off topic in this thread...Yeah pioneering!! Wooohoo!!

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » 18 Jan 2006 15:27

Whoo! You're a pioneer to off-topic posting! You'll revolutionize message boards EVERYWHERE Chris!!

Really, the community in of itself is the most important thing out there. The Peter Irish interview states clearly on that aspect, and he's one of the most famous veterans to footbag right now. Chris Dean is also clear that fame and fortune can clearly become the downfall to any one individual, as they are just temporary ideals they people potentially strive for. The community is growing and learning, and yes there's no progress. At least there's a majority out there that know a significant difference of footbag to "hacky sack." And maybe one day the sport would be recognized and become more popular than it is today. I'm not so sure about the Olympics, but I'll have to go with Chris with this: more chicks would be great.

pips · Post by **pips** » 18 Jan 2006 18:29

What? What you got now (chicks) isn't good enough for you?

Bander87 · Post by **Bander87** » 18 Jan 2006 19:41

Off topic but... Its wicked sad cup stacking is more popular than footbag. Footbag is 10 times more fun to watch and entertaining. Footbag is probably older too. I know I heard about cup stacking before footbag anyways.

pips · Post by **pips** » 18 Jan 2006 20:47

I have that pack of cups that were popular probably like 10 years ago. I barely played with them...

Jdigges · Post by **Jdigges** » 19 Jan 2006 10:45

It takes time and care to create a well made 32-panel bag. I gurantee you that companies will not pay a person to take 3 hours of their time to make one bag. The company would have to charge upwards towards $100 to make it worth their while because of salary costs, shipping ect.

I play footbag because i have fun, the community is awesome, and it keeps me healthy. The best thing to me is going to a tournament and hanging out with the people i've met through footbag. I've met some of my best friends and some of the coolest people because of footbag. I really have no desire to become a god.

posshr · Post by **posshr** » 21 Jan 2006 20:20

((-_-))