Btw I almost hit Phoenix today! I was so close but I didn't get it because I was so surprized I didn't go for the butterfly =(
Fanzine
-
Kyle Hewitt
- something more funny
- Posts: 1273
- Joined: 31 Jul 2005 11:06
6/14/06
Non-Santa Cruz entry.
Got in my first post-tourney shred today, after letting my legs rest up for a couple days. Not to ruin the suspense, but I did pretty well at the SCI tourney, which means I have a new Mirken bag! I planned on warming up with it today, then switching to Ilja for the rest of the session. As it turns out, it played pretty well even on the first day, so I stuck it out and played the whole time with it. It was (expectedly) rolly, but I kinda liked how that made me play. I had to play more precisely; it made me feel a bit like Ales in those vids where he plays using easy tricks.
Highlights, all with the new bag (some are only highlights because it was with the new bag, without it being broken in).
*food, both sides
*symp whirling infinity, both sides
*almost matador bsos
*DSOx2, both directions
*fog-DSO both sides.
*something like 5 barflies
*vortex
*janiwalker
Oh yeah, and the first adds I put on the bag were butterfly-16 more BOP contacts. I have high hopes for this bag, considering how well it already plays. My only fear is that it may increase in size as it breaks in, but I had the same fear with my Ilja, and that never happened. We'll see. In any case, I know it will have a good period, and has the potential to be a worthy successor to my Ilja.
One funny moment happened halfway through my session. I play on the second floor of a gym, near a bunch of exercise rooms. The door to the spinning class (bike exercise) opened and the teacher came out. She told me that she always watches me playing, but her students can't see me, so would I be a dear and come in and do a demo? I figured "what the hell?" got my bags and went in. To my surprise, the room was pitch dark. This had 2 drawbacks: footbag is hard for the untrained eye to see, much less in bad light. Aaaand: it isn't easy shredding it up when you can't see your feet. Despite this, I managed a very solid 90 second demo, complete with 2 bag juggling, a DATW, only 1 drop, and a 20+ guiltless string to cap it off. The crowd was impressed, but then, a pendulum and BOPs would have had the same effect. In any case, it's always good to practice playing in front of a crowd, as well as in bad conditions, and it went real well.
Tomorrow: Day 2 of SCI
Non-Santa Cruz entry.
Got in my first post-tourney shred today, after letting my legs rest up for a couple days. Not to ruin the suspense, but I did pretty well at the SCI tourney, which means I have a new Mirken bag! I planned on warming up with it today, then switching to Ilja for the rest of the session. As it turns out, it played pretty well even on the first day, so I stuck it out and played the whole time with it. It was (expectedly) rolly, but I kinda liked how that made me play. I had to play more precisely; it made me feel a bit like Ales in those vids where he plays using easy tricks.
Highlights, all with the new bag (some are only highlights because it was with the new bag, without it being broken in).
*food, both sides
*symp whirling infinity, both sides
*almost matador bsos
*DSOx2, both directions
*fog-DSO both sides.
*something like 5 barflies
*vortex
*janiwalker
Oh yeah, and the first adds I put on the bag were butterfly-16 more BOP contacts. I have high hopes for this bag, considering how well it already plays. My only fear is that it may increase in size as it breaks in, but I had the same fear with my Ilja, and that never happened. We'll see. In any case, I know it will have a good period, and has the potential to be a worthy successor to my Ilja.
One funny moment happened halfway through my session. I play on the second floor of a gym, near a bunch of exercise rooms. The door to the spinning class (bike exercise) opened and the teacher came out. She told me that she always watches me playing, but her students can't see me, so would I be a dear and come in and do a demo? I figured "what the hell?" got my bags and went in. To my surprise, the room was pitch dark. This had 2 drawbacks: footbag is hard for the untrained eye to see, much less in bad light. Aaaand: it isn't easy shredding it up when you can't see your feet. Despite this, I managed a very solid 90 second demo, complete with 2 bag juggling, a DATW, only 1 drop, and a 20+ guiltless string to cap it off. The crowd was impressed, but then, a pendulum and BOPs would have had the same effect. In any case, it's always good to practice playing in front of a crowd, as well as in bad conditions, and it went real well.
Tomorrow: Day 2 of SCI
Hey Ken, I was just curious about your sick 3 at the Santa Cruz thing. I presume you were going for alpine leg>fog>tobius - which is very similar to your worlds 05 sick 3 of frantic butter>fog>tobius. I was just wondering why the change - is it because you find alpine leg harder/easier, you think the added variety of the alpine leg combo makes it a better sick 3 - or you just don't like doing the same thing in competitions (a change is as good as a holiday ). At least those were the reasons I could think of. Props on your resluts! - good shred 30 score 
). At least those were the reasons I could think of. Props on your resluts! - good shred 30 score -
Kyle Hewitt
- something more funny
- Posts: 1273
- Joined: 31 Jul 2005 11:06
At any given competition, my performance and selection of tricks has a lot to do with what I've prepared for. For example, at Worlds 05, I figured I had an outside chance at Finals in Routines, no chance in Shred30, and a shot at podium in Sick3. Because of that, I spent 80% of my time skooling routines and Sick3, and very little on Shred30. Due to various forms of good and bad luck (other people choking in Shred finals, me taking the wrong tram and missing Sick3 finals, inconsistent routine judging), I ended up doing better in Shred30 than anything else.Jeremy wrote: I was just curious about your sick 3 at the Santa Cruz thing. I presume you were going for alpine leg>fog>tobius - I was just wondering why the change - )
At Santa Cruz, my ONLY competition objective (not counting basketball) was to break 200 in Shred30, and so I spent all of my time preparing my Shred. My sick3 wasn't planned out at all, and I only really competed because the registration payment covered all 3 events, plus I figured it'd be nice to add to the show for the audience. Another factor that affects my performance, is how any given trick "feels" that day. If paradon swirls had felt automatic on Saturday, I very well may have tried alpine leg-fog-paraswirl instead. Similarly, I didn't even bother attempting juantomic butterfly in comp, because it hadn't been clicking all weekend.
More about competition soon, like next post.
Santa Cruz Invitational Day 2: Purple Lakers Van Exel Jersey
I woke up feeling surprisingly good and refreshed, which was a big-time relief. I hadn't got much sleep the night before, which combined with the stress of travelling, 3 shreds, and the excitement of social contact could all have conceivably left me in bad condition for competition. Luckily though, adrenaline and a nice bed (thanks "big spoon") meant my legs felt decent.
I walked out in the main room and saw bodies strewn about the floor like a warfield. Slowly, people began stirring, and soon enough a group of us made an excursion to a local gourmet deli to get breakfast supplies. In the drink aisle I see a lot of Arizona Iced Tea and comment to another footbagger: "$1.25?!? Back home this stuff is free!" I end up buying an overpriced but delicious veggie wrap with peppers in it, and a fancy Mother Jones drink. I figure it's best not to scrimp on food, especially if it's the meal before competing. The check-out lady asks us if we're from town, and I explain we're here for a footbag tourney. She doesn't understand footbag, so I get Penske to come in and do a demo in his street clothes. Who knew that swirl is as hard as toe stall? The lady is impressed, then we're out of there.
The comp site is right by Jeremy's place, which is convenient. I get my first look at the outdoor basketball courts, and am a bit disappointed. The backboards are tiny, which means I probably won't be able to risk pulling off "back to poppa" in streetball. It also appears that no good ball is present, but this will be resolved the next day. Once inside the venue, a bunch of people start playing. I make a point to keep in tune with how the schedule is running, to make sure I don't start warming up too early. I also brought a granola bar as a last second power up.
The venue fills up with a lot more spectators than I expected, including something like 14 members of Dustin Rhodes' family. I talk to his Dad a bit, whom I had met in Helsinki. I think it's cool his family is so supportive. Competition time rolls around, so I finally bust out my gear and put on my Van Exel jersey. It's probably my favorite jersey, and as I put it on, I feel the adrenaline flow through me, like I had just climbed into one of the Voltron tigers. Bring it!
I warm up for Shred30 in my usual manner: I practice segments of my shred, but never the whole thing. I also throw some moves that aren't in my shred, just to get my whole range of motion going. I feel a bit nervous about the Shred, because for the first time in ages, I am not 100% sure about the order of my shred. There's one section which I had practiced as blizz-smear-dod-pdlo-dim-blur, but in the last week I was losing confidence in the dod link. So instead, I was doing bed-smear-paradon-pdx whirl-pdlo-dim blur. But with that new combo, it kinda changed/messes up the last few contacts. Going into comp, I wasn't sure which combo I'd go with, which is dangerous, but I hoped I would just "feel" which was the right path.
A beginning shredder Andrew (hourglass) asked me before comp how I thought I would do. Nasty Nate was nearby, and I used him as an example. I said: "if I was a bookie, I wouldn't lay odds in favor of either of us. I tend to have more high-scoring moves in my shred, but my consistency isn't great, whereas Nate has mad consistency, but usually gets fewer contacts. It all depends on luck." Before Shred started, most of us thought it a foregone conclusion that Jim and Lon would take the top 2 spots, leaving the rest of us battling for third. Because of this, I got Jeremy, Nate, (Nick?) and myself to join hands in a "get-psyched" sports cheer, which went: "Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiird- PLACE!"
In general, I try not to watch the competitors before me in a Shred, cause you never know how that will affect your confidence. Still, I peeked at Dustin Rhodes, and thought he did real well. Props on going Open. I also peeked a bit at Nasty Nates, and was really surprised to see him NOT shuffling. His tripless shuffle looked so good all tourney, I really expected to see it in Shred, but he looked like he was more just flowing. Again, looking at other competitors is bad, so I re-focussed and did some BOPs on the sidelines to stay warm. Ugh, impatience and nerves: I can't help but watch the beginning of Nick's Shred30. Holy crap, kid's got skills!
The first 17 seconds are intimidatingly great, but some drops catch him towards the end. Then *bam.* I'm up.
I really love the feeling when you are on stage at the moment of competition. You kind of understand what Nietzche is talking about, with the abyss staring back at you. That tingle of nerves, knowing that this...is... it! Like when you stand on the high dive at the pool, and you genuinely don't know if you can trick your body into jumping or not. You feel so alive. I tell myself I've done a ton of shreds in the past. One last reminder to breathe through the moves, and then i click into automatic. My first trick is flip dimwalk, which always makes me a little nervous, but it comes out, and then the next 10 or so tricks come out. Huh, I guess I went with bed-smear-paradon. Shit, a drop. Focus. A few more tricks, then ducking pdx mirage turns into ducking pdx handcatch. Nuts, had I just toe-stalled, that would have been a 2 add contact instead of 0. In any case, I didn't lose that much time. Juust before the countdown starts, I *FIVE*repeat a blur. Shit, *FOUR* come on Ken, no repeats! *THREE*OK, pixie ss osis I *TWO*definitely didn't do. Pdx blender and that moment of doubt *ONE!* Did I hit it? Yes!
*KEN SOMOLINOS!* I pump my fists and am genuinely stoked. I figure the 2 drops will really hurt me, but I managed to pack a lot of uniques in there, as well as more fives than usual. I'm guessing a score somewhere in the 190s, which is definitely respectable. The shred didn't go perfectly, but I was in good mental control, and I felt like I competed well. I definitely got the taste of my disastrous CSS7 shred30 out of my mouth. I take a moment to absorb the applause and savor the experience, then I bound to the stage and watch Lon and Jim go. Feels so good to be a spectator again, no pressure. Both Lon and Jim go off, and when they finish, I genuinely don't know who won. Based on other people's opinions, I think there is a good chance I took 3rd, which is nice, but ultimately not as important to me as the fact that I had a good Shred.
I think we went immediately into Sick3 right after that. I'm glad Shred came first, I think that was a good order of events (also, Shred was the marquis event). Nick Landis impresses me again with his stuff. Nate hits one combo I really like: inspin clipx2 to ps whirl. I think a superfly would have been even sweeter, but it still looked good. I'm excited that everybody seems to be hitting their combos. I'm up, and for a second I contemplate doing a Sick3 using my symposium frantic set. I think better of it, and decide to go for my safety combo. Unfortunately, I use up all seven (7!) attempts trying for it. I think i footed the toebius on attempt number 5 or so, but no seal. The best I manage is alpine leg-fog-toe gyro mirage. That's actually not too bad a combo. The first two links are cool, and toe gyro mirage is easily as hard as say, pdx blender or ps whirl. I walk off though feeling like I let down the crowd a bit, but nothing can really faze me, since my main goal was to do well in Shred30, and I feel I did.
Jim goes up for Sick3, and off the bat hits a few good combos, including a beast. By this point, I figure he's already won the event, so I don't feel it would be rude to make a request while he competes (like, its obvious I'm not trying to psyche out a fellow competitor). "Hey Jim! What about..." I don't want to ruin the surprise for the crowd, so I do the motions for Scorp-swift-flurry with my hands. The crowd laughs pretty hard, cause it looks like I'm doing some stupid hand dance (think Para-para), so I continue to rock out a bit with it. Luckily though, Jim understood me, and proceeds to bust it first try. F* yeah, what a champ.
Sick 1 starts, and again I'm amazed that everybody hits something. Nate hits a trick I think is real cool: spin duck flying clipper! Sweet. Nick hits a textbook flipwalk, which I automatically assume will make podium. I go up without a plan, and still manage to hit a few tricks. Symp whirling eclipse thankfully happens first try, so I don't burn too much energy. Frantic eclipse feels clean, but took a couple tries. I wait a couple seconds trying to figure out what to do. I contemplate Id, then I notice the stage, which is probably 2-3 feet high. I dash over there, shove Lon off of it to make some room, and proceed to hit my only "street" trick of the tourney (in footbag). Focus... *bam*, DLO off the stage! Pretty happy with that. I spend my last two turns trying for pixie spinning eclipse, but no luck. 3 tricks in 7 tries isn't bad though, even if they were all relatively easy. I sit and watch Lon nail spinning mobius on his first try. I can't believe people hit stuff like that in competition. Then Jim goes up and hits a clean gauntlet on his first try, then a clean alpine whirligig on his second. Gah. I was particularly impressed, because the night before his stepping ducking tricks all had real thin ducks, but in comp they all came out mad solid.
When Jeremy announced that Open comp was over, a huge wave of relief washed over me. I could officially mess around and have fun now, knowing that comp was over, and more importantly, went well. I felt real happy for the tourney organizers too, cause it all ran on schedule, the crowd was into it, and all the competitors had a good attitude and managed to hit. A rare trifecta indeed.
I'm going to break up this entry into two, cause it's a lot to read. I'll try and finish up Day 2 later on tonight.
I woke up feeling surprisingly good and refreshed, which was a big-time relief. I hadn't got much sleep the night before, which combined with the stress of travelling, 3 shreds, and the excitement of social contact could all have conceivably left me in bad condition for competition. Luckily though, adrenaline and a nice bed (thanks "big spoon") meant my legs felt decent.
I walked out in the main room and saw bodies strewn about the floor like a warfield. Slowly, people began stirring, and soon enough a group of us made an excursion to a local gourmet deli to get breakfast supplies. In the drink aisle I see a lot of Arizona Iced Tea and comment to another footbagger: "$1.25?!? Back home this stuff is free!" I end up buying an overpriced but delicious veggie wrap with peppers in it, and a fancy Mother Jones drink. I figure it's best not to scrimp on food, especially if it's the meal before competing. The check-out lady asks us if we're from town, and I explain we're here for a footbag tourney. She doesn't understand footbag, so I get Penske to come in and do a demo in his street clothes. Who knew that swirl is as hard as toe stall? The lady is impressed, then we're out of there.
The comp site is right by Jeremy's place, which is convenient. I get my first look at the outdoor basketball courts, and am a bit disappointed. The backboards are tiny, which means I probably won't be able to risk pulling off "back to poppa" in streetball. It also appears that no good ball is present, but this will be resolved the next day. Once inside the venue, a bunch of people start playing. I make a point to keep in tune with how the schedule is running, to make sure I don't start warming up too early. I also brought a granola bar as a last second power up.
The venue fills up with a lot more spectators than I expected, including something like 14 members of Dustin Rhodes' family. I talk to his Dad a bit, whom I had met in Helsinki. I think it's cool his family is so supportive. Competition time rolls around, so I finally bust out my gear and put on my Van Exel jersey. It's probably my favorite jersey, and as I put it on, I feel the adrenaline flow through me, like I had just climbed into one of the Voltron tigers. Bring it!
I warm up for Shred30 in my usual manner: I practice segments of my shred, but never the whole thing. I also throw some moves that aren't in my shred, just to get my whole range of motion going. I feel a bit nervous about the Shred, because for the first time in ages, I am not 100% sure about the order of my shred. There's one section which I had practiced as blizz-smear-dod-pdlo-dim-blur, but in the last week I was losing confidence in the dod link. So instead, I was doing bed-smear-paradon-pdx whirl-pdlo-dim blur. But with that new combo, it kinda changed/messes up the last few contacts. Going into comp, I wasn't sure which combo I'd go with, which is dangerous, but I hoped I would just "feel" which was the right path.
A beginning shredder Andrew (hourglass) asked me before comp how I thought I would do. Nasty Nate was nearby, and I used him as an example. I said: "if I was a bookie, I wouldn't lay odds in favor of either of us. I tend to have more high-scoring moves in my shred, but my consistency isn't great, whereas Nate has mad consistency, but usually gets fewer contacts. It all depends on luck." Before Shred started, most of us thought it a foregone conclusion that Jim and Lon would take the top 2 spots, leaving the rest of us battling for third. Because of this, I got Jeremy, Nate, (Nick?) and myself to join hands in a "get-psyched" sports cheer, which went: "Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiird- PLACE!"
In general, I try not to watch the competitors before me in a Shred, cause you never know how that will affect your confidence. Still, I peeked at Dustin Rhodes, and thought he did real well. Props on going Open. I also peeked a bit at Nasty Nates, and was really surprised to see him NOT shuffling. His tripless shuffle looked so good all tourney, I really expected to see it in Shred, but he looked like he was more just flowing. Again, looking at other competitors is bad, so I re-focussed and did some BOPs on the sidelines to stay warm. Ugh, impatience and nerves: I can't help but watch the beginning of Nick's Shred30. Holy crap, kid's got skills!
The first 17 seconds are intimidatingly great, but some drops catch him towards the end. Then *bam.* I'm up. I really love the feeling when you are on stage at the moment of competition. You kind of understand what Nietzche is talking about, with the abyss staring back at you. That tingle of nerves, knowing that this...is... it! Like when you stand on the high dive at the pool, and you genuinely don't know if you can trick your body into jumping or not. You feel so alive. I tell myself I've done a ton of shreds in the past. One last reminder to breathe through the moves, and then i click into automatic. My first trick is flip dimwalk, which always makes me a little nervous, but it comes out, and then the next 10 or so tricks come out. Huh, I guess I went with bed-smear-paradon. Shit, a drop. Focus. A few more tricks, then ducking pdx mirage turns into ducking pdx handcatch. Nuts, had I just toe-stalled, that would have been a 2 add contact instead of 0. In any case, I didn't lose that much time. Juust before the countdown starts, I *FIVE*repeat a blur. Shit, *FOUR* come on Ken, no repeats! *THREE*OK, pixie ss osis I *TWO*definitely didn't do. Pdx blender and that moment of doubt *ONE!* Did I hit it? Yes!
*KEN SOMOLINOS!* I pump my fists and am genuinely stoked. I figure the 2 drops will really hurt me, but I managed to pack a lot of uniques in there, as well as more fives than usual. I'm guessing a score somewhere in the 190s, which is definitely respectable. The shred didn't go perfectly, but I was in good mental control, and I felt like I competed well. I definitely got the taste of my disastrous CSS7 shred30 out of my mouth. I take a moment to absorb the applause and savor the experience, then I bound to the stage and watch Lon and Jim go. Feels so good to be a spectator again, no pressure. Both Lon and Jim go off, and when they finish, I genuinely don't know who won. Based on other people's opinions, I think there is a good chance I took 3rd, which is nice, but ultimately not as important to me as the fact that I had a good Shred.
I think we went immediately into Sick3 right after that. I'm glad Shred came first, I think that was a good order of events (also, Shred was the marquis event). Nick Landis impresses me again with his stuff. Nate hits one combo I really like: inspin clipx2 to ps whirl. I think a superfly would have been even sweeter, but it still looked good. I'm excited that everybody seems to be hitting their combos. I'm up, and for a second I contemplate doing a Sick3 using my symposium frantic set. I think better of it, and decide to go for my safety combo. Unfortunately, I use up all seven (7!) attempts trying for it. I think i footed the toebius on attempt number 5 or so, but no seal. The best I manage is alpine leg-fog-toe gyro mirage. That's actually not too bad a combo. The first two links are cool, and toe gyro mirage is easily as hard as say, pdx blender or ps whirl. I walk off though feeling like I let down the crowd a bit, but nothing can really faze me, since my main goal was to do well in Shred30, and I feel I did.
Jim goes up for Sick3, and off the bat hits a few good combos, including a beast. By this point, I figure he's already won the event, so I don't feel it would be rude to make a request while he competes (like, its obvious I'm not trying to psyche out a fellow competitor). "Hey Jim! What about..." I don't want to ruin the surprise for the crowd, so I do the motions for Scorp-swift-flurry with my hands. The crowd laughs pretty hard, cause it looks like I'm doing some stupid hand dance (think Para-para), so I continue to rock out a bit with it.
Luckily though, Jim understood me, and proceeds to bust it first try. F* yeah, what a champ. Sick 1 starts, and again I'm amazed that everybody hits something. Nate hits a trick I think is real cool: spin duck flying clipper! Sweet. Nick hits a textbook flipwalk, which I automatically assume will make podium. I go up without a plan, and still manage to hit a few tricks. Symp whirling eclipse thankfully happens first try, so I don't burn too much energy. Frantic eclipse feels clean, but took a couple tries. I wait a couple seconds trying to figure out what to do. I contemplate Id, then I notice the stage, which is probably 2-3 feet high. I dash over there, shove Lon off of it to make some room, and proceed to hit my only "street" trick of the tourney (in footbag). Focus... *bam*, DLO off the stage! Pretty happy with that. I spend my last two turns trying for pixie spinning eclipse, but no luck. 3 tricks in 7 tries isn't bad though, even if they were all relatively easy. I sit and watch Lon nail spinning mobius on his first try. I can't believe people hit stuff like that in competition. Then Jim goes up and hits a clean gauntlet on his first try, then a clean alpine whirligig on his second. Gah. I was particularly impressed, because the night before his stepping ducking tricks all had real thin ducks, but in comp they all came out mad solid.
When Jeremy announced that Open comp was over, a huge wave of relief washed over me. I could officially mess around and have fun now, knowing that comp was over, and more importantly, went well. I felt real happy for the tourney organizers too, cause it all ran on schedule, the crowd was into it, and all the competitors had a good attitude and managed to hit. A rare trifecta indeed.
I'm going to break up this entry into two, cause it's a lot to read. I'll try and finish up Day 2 later on tonight.
SCI Day 2 Continued
Right after Open Competition wrapped up, I caught a glimpse of none other than...Red Husted! Whoa, total surprise there. He'd apparently even gone so far as to send PMs to people saying "wish I could go." I didn't get mine til I got home, but the effect was the same. I went over and said hey, thanking him for his recent help in finding me a place in Portland for the summer (sadly though, I had to turn down that internship).
About this time sandwiches arrived, which was a welcome break. I didn't feel particularly stressed before competition, but when the adrenaline left me, I realized how hyped up I had been. Sandwiches were goood too. Mine had lots of avocado, sprouts, a slice of cheese, and tomato in it. The sprouts really made it. I ate surprisingly well at this jam.
A bunch of people started playing footbag again, but I took it easy on the sidelines just watching. Nasty joined me and we had good conversation about lots of topics (beer, music). While we were chatting, Jeremy Mirken's mom (whom neither of us had yet met) came up to us, looked at me and said: "You were really great up there! I really liked watching you play." I thanked her for her kind words, then she turned, looked at Nasty Nate, then looked back at me and said: "Good work. See you later!" without having said a word to Nasty! Nasty and I exchanged looks, then burst out laughing. Without missing a beat I said: "that's going in the blog!"
I went outside to watch some net, and ended up having a real good, long conversation with Mike Hansen. We commiserated about footbag injuries, talked about social isolation, and I learned a little about math. I like talking with Mike. I definitely came to Santa Cruz for shred, but just as much as footbag, I needed the social contact too. Lon and Jim came out and I had fun watching them toss a football, then I headed back in, cause I had volunteered to help with the novice competitions.
Intermediate and novice competition went real well. Props to Sunny Genz, who keeps getting better and better each time I see her. Dustin Rhodes hit a matador for sick trick, which was pretty rad. I was also really excited to see so many total newbies at the tourney. A lot of other tournaments you go to, you know everybody, and everybody already has shred shoes. But the SC crew did a good job of attracting hacky sackers too, who showed lots of interest and potential. We musn't forget that almost all of uss started off as hackers at one point.
Another promising sign from competition, was seeing some new non-white shredders entering the scene. Kenny P and Erik ChanG (who I just called "G" for the rest of the tourney) show lots of potential, and did well in comp too. Footbag really needs more diversity. Last year's worlds would have been completely white if I hadn't brought Team Japan (Tuan showed, but hardly played). I had kinda hoped that Sunil would be like the Kareem Campbell of footbag, but to this day, footbag is still essentially a sport for white male teenagers. Then again, change is often slow, but as long as it's happening, that's what's important.
After comp we all went to Jeremy's place, dumped our stuff, then hit the Mexican restaurant for dinner. There was a huuuuuge group of us, which meant it took forever for the food to come. I sat at a booth with Chad, Dave Morawski, and G, which proved to be a lot of fun. I drew the cover to "The Lion's Den II" using crayons (it's a Lion mauling a sloth), and Chad made fun of me/berated me for constantly writing on modified how MacKenzie invented Gangsta Party, and not Chad. While waiting for the food, I went to talk to Mike and his Mom, whom I had earlier mistakenly called "Mama Hansen." After she corrected me, I just called her "Mama Wagner." When I returned to my booth, Chad asked me if I had been talking to "the Hansens." "Actually no, I was just talking to 'Hansen and Wagner.' Wow, they really sound like a crack law firm or something. 'I just spoke with Hansen and Wagner; we're suing you for all you got!'":lol:
After several jokes about how late the food was, it finally arrived and was pretty good. I really couldn't believe how well I was eating at this tourney. Dinner completed, a bunch of us hit the boardwalk, which was mostly closed. We hit the arcade, which was pretty disappointing, but we did what we could. The highlight was playing the side-scrolling X-Men game with like, 4 or 5 footbaggers. Like all the other machines there, the controls were kinda iffy, and at one point Red and I magically got 5 extra lives apiece. I think Emily won some sort of prize too.
We got out of there cause it was mad loud, and decided against mini-golf because groups had to be kept to less than 4 people. We walked on the beach some, then decided to get Calamari, but that place was closed too. I carried Cameron on my back, and had a lot of fun running up behind people and having Cameron boot their asses. Good times. Back at Jeremy's place I played some chess and Scrabble. My only goal in a Scrabble game is to try and "bingo," which means using all 7 letters on your rack in one turn. You get a 50 point bonus, but mostly it just feels satisfying. I played a 4 way game with Mirken, Fletch, and Grayson Chadwick the Third. 4 way games have no strategy, but are still fun. Fletch got the first bingo of the game with "NAILERS," and a few turns later I bingoed with "SWEETIE" for 82 points. Good times.
On the bed people were calculating Shred30s, and since most of the competitors had planned out their Shreds, we helped out by listing the first 10-15 moves (until we dropped) to expedite the scoring process. I didn't watch any of the video, except for Sick3, where they called me over so I could watch my "hand dance" before Jim hit scorp-swift-flurry. I hope that makes video. I socialized a bit more, then hit the sack. I slept well, knowing that comp was over and had gone well, and that my legs would probably be fresh the next day cause I didn't really shred after competing.
Right after Open Competition wrapped up, I caught a glimpse of none other than...Red Husted!
Whoa, total surprise there. He'd apparently even gone so far as to send PMs to people saying "wish I could go." I didn't get mine til I got home, but the effect was the same. I went over and said hey, thanking him for his recent help in finding me a place in Portland for the summer (sadly though, I had to turn down that internship). About this time sandwiches arrived, which was a welcome break. I didn't feel particularly stressed before competition, but when the adrenaline left me, I realized how hyped up I had been. Sandwiches were goood too. Mine had lots of avocado, sprouts, a slice of cheese, and tomato in it. The sprouts really made it. I ate surprisingly well at this jam.
A bunch of people started playing footbag again, but I took it easy on the sidelines just watching. Nasty joined me and we had good conversation about lots of topics (beer, music). While we were chatting, Jeremy Mirken's mom (whom neither of us had yet met) came up to us, looked at me and said: "You were really great up there! I really liked watching you play." I thanked her for her kind words, then she turned, looked at Nasty Nate, then looked back at me and said: "Good work. See you later!" without having said a word to Nasty! Nasty and I exchanged
looks, then burst out laughing. Without missing a beat I said: "that's going in the blog!" I went outside to watch some net, and ended up having a real good, long conversation with Mike Hansen. We commiserated about footbag injuries, talked about social isolation, and I learned a little about math. I like talking with Mike. I definitely came to Santa Cruz for shred, but just as much as footbag, I needed the social contact too. Lon and Jim came out and I had fun watching them toss a football, then I headed back in, cause I had volunteered to help with the novice competitions.
Intermediate and novice competition went real well. Props to Sunny Genz, who keeps getting better and better each time I see her. Dustin Rhodes hit a matador for sick trick, which was pretty rad. I was also really excited to see so many total newbies at the tourney. A lot of other tournaments you go to, you know everybody, and everybody already has shred shoes. But the SC crew did a good job of attracting hacky sackers too, who showed lots of interest and potential. We musn't forget that almost all of uss started off as hackers at one point.
Another promising sign from competition, was seeing some new non-white shredders entering the scene. Kenny P and Erik ChanG (who I just called "G" for the rest of the tourney) show lots of potential, and did well in comp too. Footbag really needs more diversity. Last year's worlds would have been completely white if I hadn't brought Team Japan (Tuan showed, but hardly played). I had kinda hoped that Sunil would be like the Kareem Campbell of footbag, but to this day, footbag is still essentially a sport for white male teenagers. Then again, change is often slow, but as long as it's happening, that's what's important.
After comp we all went to Jeremy's place, dumped our stuff, then hit the Mexican restaurant for dinner. There was a huuuuuge group of us, which meant it took forever for the food to come. I sat at a booth with Chad, Dave Morawski, and G, which proved to be a lot of fun. I drew the cover to "The Lion's Den II" using crayons (it's a Lion mauling a sloth), and Chad made fun of me/berated me for constantly writing on modified how MacKenzie invented Gangsta Party, and not Chad.
While waiting for the food, I went to talk to Mike and his Mom, whom I had earlier mistakenly called "Mama Hansen." After she corrected me, I just called her "Mama Wagner." When I returned to my booth, Chad asked me if I had been talking to "the Hansens." "Actually no, I was just talking to 'Hansen and Wagner.' Wow, they really sound like a crack law firm or something. 'I just spoke with Hansen and Wagner; we're suing you for all you got!'":lol: After several jokes about how late the food was, it finally arrived and was pretty good. I really couldn't believe how well I was eating at this tourney. Dinner completed, a bunch of us hit the boardwalk, which was mostly closed. We hit the arcade, which was pretty disappointing, but we did what we could. The highlight was playing the side-scrolling X-Men game with like, 4 or 5 footbaggers. Like all the other machines there, the controls were kinda iffy, and at one point Red and I magically got 5 extra lives apiece. I think Emily won some sort of prize too.
We got out of there cause it was mad loud, and decided against mini-golf because groups had to be kept to less than 4 people. We walked on the beach some, then decided to get Calamari, but that place was closed too. I carried Cameron on my back, and had a lot of fun running up behind people and having Cameron boot their asses. Good times. Back at Jeremy's place I played some chess and Scrabble. My only goal in a Scrabble game is to try and "bingo," which means using all 7 letters on your rack in one turn. You get a 50 point bonus, but mostly it just feels satisfying. I played a 4 way game with Mirken, Fletch, and Grayson Chadwick the Third. 4 way games have no strategy, but are still fun. Fletch got the first bingo of the game with "NAILERS," and a few turns later I bingoed with "SWEETIE" for 82 points. Good times.
On the bed people were calculating Shred30s, and since most of the competitors had planned out their Shreds, we helped out by listing the first 10-15 moves (until we dropped) to expedite the scoring process. I didn't watch any of the video, except for Sick3, where they called me over so I could watch my "hand dance" before Jim hit scorp-swift-flurry. I hope that makes video. I socialized a bit more, then hit the sack. I slept well, knowing that comp was over and had gone well, and that my legs would probably be fresh the next day cause I didn't really shred after competing.
Santa Cruz Invitational Day 3: Black Pippen Bulls Jersey
I wake up with a start, a blaring alarm shaking the sleep out of my head. I dive for the bedside alarm and shut it up, and see Jeremy bounding in the room with panic in his eyes and a toothbrush in his mouth. It's nice to get the most stressful part of the day out of the way so quickly.
I walk out in the main room, where most people are still sleeping, and as my first act of the day (before going to the bathroom, eating, etc) I challenge Grayson Chadwick III to a Scrabble game. What a luxury. I'm also real thankful that my body has held up so well. So far, my worst injury is my hoarse throat; I'm not used to all this social contact, and talking to people in the arcade last night didn't help. The main thing though, is that my legs feel pretty fresh, probably due to only playing in the morning the day before.
I eat some leftover breakfast burrito and some fruit smoothie that Jeremy makes for a bunch of people. Really great host, big ups Jeremy. My game with Gray is pretty tedious, but we tough it out to the end. We head out to the site pretty early, and decide to kill time before people arrive by messing around on the b-ball courts. We don't have a real good ball at first, so we use this green ball which is woman-sized (I can nearly palm it) which has no grip. It's not the best ball, but I think we all try overcompensating for it, which makes us play particularly badly. "Us" is an impromptu 2-on-2 game: Andrew (6'6") and Gray vs. me and Penske. Jim and I are pretty quick, but we get brutalized in the post by Andrew. It was also a bit frustrating cause we kept making good cuts or moves to the rim, then missing easy layups. I think it was lack of faith and familiarity with the equipment. We call it a game after a bit, and most people go back in to shred/hang out.
It's so nice outside that I decide to stay out some more, when Red Husted challenges me to a 1-on-1 game, first to 5 wins. Red claims he sucks at basketball, but he's a big guy and knew to use his size advantage. He backed me into the post consistently, but I held my ground pretty well. I got a couple steals, and a couple times he gave up his dribble which let me contest the shot more easily. On offense, my crossover dribbles served me real well; I either got the step on Red which let me get a layup, or I faked penetration and created enough space for a jumpshot. 5-2 win for the short guy!
Red tagged out and Penske tagged in. I should make a videogame about this: Ken vs the BAP, 1-on-1 Streetball! Jim provided a really different challenge. Sizewise he was a much better match, but his combination of speed and an outside shot made defending him harder, though less physically grueling. I decided I'd sag off his outside shot and defend penetration more than anything (unless he got hot), because the ball wasn't great. For the most part this worked. I got lucky, cause the first time he tried to back me down in the paint, I got a steal, which he later told me discouraged him from consistently using this strategy. Again, I mostly relied on my crossovers, and pulled out another fun victory, 5-4 this time. Don't let the score deceive you though, cause it wasn't that close: I finished the game by dunking over Jim, teabagging him in the process and yelling: SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURGE!!!!
OK, that didn't happen, but still, a satisfying win.
Later on in the day I'd see Jim hit 6 unique triple dexes in a row, but deep down we both knew it didn't change the fact: I OWN YOU PENSKEEEEEEEEE! 
I think I played some footbag outside after this. I remember getting in a big circle with Nick Landes (who was still on my shred checklist), Nate (it felt like days since we last played), Jeremy Mirken, Dustin Rhodes, and then later on some others joined in. Nick is really good; I like his zooming stuff the most, but on top of that he just has good variety and form. At some point we had an impromptu tripless competition (they didn't have to be all unique) and Nate really ripped it up. I think I got a string of 18 tripless, but there was one super the ducking butterfly towards the end. Still, lots of fun.
My chronology may be a bit messed up, but bear with me and afford me some creative license.
Awards ceremony had the feel of storytime in elementary school. Jeremy sat casually on the edge of the stage, and everybody gathered around in front like at a school assembly. Jeremy almost announced results in the descending order (1st, 2nd, etc) but the crowd was real opposed to this, cause it lacked drama. So instead, he did it in reverse order. Before the awards ceremony, 2 staff members had separately told me I'd be happy with the results. I told them to say no more, but took it as a good sign. Still, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Did I somehow manage to creep over 200 in shred? If so, did I break 203? Or maybe I scored in the 190s, but placed in another event?
Jeremy announced Dustin Rhodes in 7th, which was prop-worthy, cause it was his first time going Open in Shred. Jeremy was 6th, and I was happy cause he set a new personal record in Shred. I don't think they announced 4th and 5th, which built the tension up for when they announced third place. I had a feeling that I would take 3rd, but made a point not to get excited until I heard my name. "In third place..." OK. "...setting a new personal record for himself..." that could be me, but not for sure... "Ken Somolinos!" Oh sweet! The thing that really excited me was that he said I had set a new personal record! I got up on stage and asked what my score was. 213.8?!? F* yeah! I totally didn't expect to score that high, especially cause I had 2 drops. I waited on stage for Lon and Jim to be announced, so they could choose their prizes first. The day before, I wasn't sure who had won between them, so I was a bit surprised to learn that Jim scored 232, and Lon beat me by less than 4 points! That would have been an upset...
I was impressed with the selection of prizes. LOTS of hand-stitched footbags, some real cool PlanetFootbag shorts, and some other goodies. Because I took 3rd, I won a footbag. There was still a good selection, cause only Lon and Jim had chosen before me. It's interesting, as recently as 7 months ago, I would likely have chosen a mini-Abshire or an O'Wheel bag, cause I thought mini-bags suited my style best. But after my Ilja has been so good to me, my preferences have swung back to slightly larger bags. I took one of the two Mirken bags available.
I sat down, beaming with happiness that I had set a new personal best in Shred. 213.8! Coool. I switched back into spectator mode, cause I was curious how Sick3 and Sick1 went. Sick3 I figured Jim would take, but Sick1 seemed much harder to figure out.
"In third place in Sick3...Ken Somolinos!" This one completely shocked me, cause I didn't hit the combo I wanted, so I didn't think I'd make podium. I looked real puzzled as I got on stage, and even asked: "you guys sure? My combo wasn't that great." Sunny yelled out: "what was your combo?" Me: "can I borrow a bag from somebody?" Lon tosses me the bag he just won, a sweet (but not broken in) Jake Rea bag. I gather my energy, drop the bag on my toe, then hit: alpine leg-fog-tobi....drop. But a close look. How rad would it have been to hit the combo during the awards ceremony? Still, it felt fun. Since I got third, I got to choose another bag. Amazingly, the other Mirken was still there, so I snatched that up. Nick took 2nd place for Sick3, and Jim took first. They announced Jim's winning combo (scorp-swift-flurry) and Lon yells out: "that combo was suggested by the third place winner. Maybe he shouldn't have suggested it!"
Sick One results are announced like this: "In third place, taking third in all 3 events..." "Ken Somolinos!" This was easily the most shocking to me, cause I felt all the tricks I hit were "cute," but not in the same league as flipwalk, spinning mobius, or gauntlet. Still, I was flattered and happy about it, so I got up on stage. I was wearing my Pippen jersey (#33) and Sunny yells: "next time you should wear a #11 jersey, so you sweep the 1st place positions!" I think for a split second, and in true NBA nerd fashion yell back: "yeah, maybe I'll pick up a Yao jersey for next time." Nyyeeeeeerd! Again, 3rd place means I get ANOTHER footbag. I pick up a nice looking Abshire mini, and haul my loot offstage in a nice footbag totebag that I won.
The day before, I was feeling a bit insecure about my Ilja developing holes, but now I had 3 nice 32s lined up as backups. Sweetness. Big thank you to all the sponsors who donated prizes; they were definitely appreciated. Gray won 1st place in Sick1 (and Sick3?) and I was a bit jealous cause he got the cool planetfootbag shorts. I proposed a trade with him: my abshire mini for his shorts. That's actually an unfair trade in his favor, but he decided to keep the shorts. I definitely understood that, cause footbag shorts are pretty cool. Luckily though, things worked out for me on that front later on too.
After awards, we ordered Pizza. It was $5 a person, but we all ended up getting a huge amount of food, and it was good. Food really worked out well at this tourney. I think around this point, some SFers showed up. Ahren and Carol Wedermeyer! Coooool. I always make a point to play with Carol, cause I always feel so comfortable in her circle. I hop in a circle with her and Red, stoked to cross two more names off my mental checklist. Carol hits that outside set drifting rake trick a bunch of times, which looks awesome. Sunny comes in the circle and throws down pretty hard. I hit my only matador of the tournament, and it randomly comes in midstring. Even I was surprised. Red played OK, but later on he played much better in a circle with me, Lon, Jim, and Ahren. I wanted to play more with Ahren, but I also wanted to eat the pizza that arrived, so I bowed out a little early.
EDIT: I gotta run to the store for a minute, so I'll finish this up later today. Coming up: Rippin Run and 4 on 4 bball!
I wake up with a start, a blaring alarm shaking the sleep out of my head. I dive for the bedside alarm and shut it up, and see Jeremy bounding in the room with panic in his eyes and a toothbrush in his mouth. It's nice to get the most stressful part of the day out of the way so quickly.
I walk out in the main room, where most people are still sleeping, and as my first act of the day (before going to the bathroom, eating, etc) I challenge Grayson Chadwick III to a Scrabble game. What a luxury. I'm also real thankful that my body has held up so well. So far, my worst injury is my hoarse throat; I'm not used to all this social contact, and talking to people in the arcade last night didn't help. The main thing though, is that my legs feel pretty fresh, probably due to only playing in the morning the day before.
I eat some leftover breakfast burrito and some fruit smoothie that Jeremy makes for a bunch of people. Really great host, big ups Jeremy. My game with Gray is pretty tedious, but we tough it out to the end. We head out to the site pretty early, and decide to kill time before people arrive by messing around on the b-ball courts. We don't have a real good ball at first, so we use this green ball which is woman-sized (I can nearly palm it) which has no grip. It's not the best ball, but I think we all try overcompensating for it, which makes us play particularly badly. "Us" is an impromptu 2-on-2 game: Andrew (6'6") and Gray vs. me and Penske. Jim and I are pretty quick, but we get brutalized in the post by Andrew. It was also a bit frustrating cause we kept making good cuts or moves to the rim, then missing easy layups. I think it was lack of faith and familiarity with the equipment. We call it a game after a bit, and most people go back in to shred/hang out.
It's so nice outside that I decide to stay out some more, when Red Husted challenges me to a 1-on-1 game, first to 5 wins. Red claims he sucks at basketball, but he's a big guy and knew to use his size advantage. He backed me into the post consistently, but I held my ground pretty well. I got a couple steals, and a couple times he gave up his dribble which let me contest the shot more easily. On offense, my crossover dribbles served me real well; I either got the step on Red which let me get a layup, or I faked penetration and created enough space for a jumpshot. 5-2 win for the short guy!
Red tagged out and Penske tagged in. I should make a videogame about this: Ken vs the BAP, 1-on-1 Streetball! Jim provided a really different challenge. Sizewise he was a much better match, but his combination of speed and an outside shot made defending him harder, though less physically grueling. I decided I'd sag off his outside shot and defend penetration more than anything (unless he got hot), because the ball wasn't great. For the most part this worked. I got lucky, cause the first time he tried to back me down in the paint, I got a steal, which he later told me discouraged him from consistently using this strategy. Again, I mostly relied on my crossovers, and pulled out another fun victory, 5-4 this time. Don't let the score deceive you though, cause it wasn't that close: I finished the game by dunking over Jim, teabagging him in the process and yelling: SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURGE!!!!
OK, that didn't happen, but still, a satisfying win.
Later on in the day I'd see Jim hit 6 unique triple dexes in a row, but deep down we both knew it didn't change the fact: I OWN YOU PENSKEEEEEEEEE! I think I played some footbag outside after this. I remember getting in a big circle with Nick Landes (who was still on my shred checklist), Nate (it felt like days since we last played), Jeremy Mirken, Dustin Rhodes, and then later on some others joined in. Nick is really good; I like his zooming stuff the most, but on top of that he just has good variety and form. At some point we had an impromptu tripless competition (they didn't have to be all unique) and Nate really ripped it up. I think I got a string of 18 tripless, but there was one super the ducking butterfly towards the end. Still, lots of fun.
My chronology may be a bit messed up, but bear with me and afford me some creative license.
Awards ceremony had the feel of storytime in elementary school. Jeremy sat casually on the edge of the stage, and everybody gathered around in front like at a school assembly. Jeremy almost announced results in the descending order (1st, 2nd, etc) but the crowd was real opposed to this, cause it lacked drama. So instead, he did it in reverse order. Before the awards ceremony, 2 staff members had separately told me I'd be happy with the results. I told them to say no more, but took it as a good sign. Still, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Did I somehow manage to creep over 200 in shred? If so, did I break 203? Or maybe I scored in the 190s, but placed in another event?
Jeremy announced Dustin Rhodes in 7th, which was prop-worthy, cause it was his first time going Open in Shred. Jeremy was 6th, and I was happy cause he set a new personal record in Shred. I don't think they announced 4th and 5th, which built the tension up for when they announced third place. I had a feeling that I would take 3rd, but made a point not to get excited until I heard my name. "In third place..." OK. "...setting a new personal record for himself..." that could be me, but not for sure... "Ken Somolinos!" Oh sweet! The thing that really excited me was that he said I had set a new personal record! I got up on stage and asked what my score was. 213.8?!?
F* yeah! I totally didn't expect to score that high, especially cause I had 2 drops. I waited on stage for Lon and Jim to be announced, so they could choose their prizes first. The day before, I wasn't sure who had won between them, so I was a bit surprised to learn that Jim scored 232, and Lon beat me by less than 4 points! That would have been an upset...I was impressed with the selection of prizes. LOTS of hand-stitched footbags, some real cool PlanetFootbag shorts, and some other goodies. Because I took 3rd, I won a footbag. There was still a good selection, cause only Lon and Jim had chosen before me. It's interesting, as recently as 7 months ago, I would likely have chosen a mini-Abshire or an O'Wheel bag, cause I thought mini-bags suited my style best. But after my Ilja has been so good to me, my preferences have swung back to slightly larger bags. I took one of the two Mirken bags available.
I sat down, beaming with happiness that I had set a new personal best in Shred. 213.8! Coool. I switched back into spectator mode, cause I was curious how Sick3 and Sick1 went. Sick3 I figured Jim would take, but Sick1 seemed much harder to figure out.
"In third place in Sick3...Ken Somolinos!"
This one completely shocked me, cause I didn't hit the combo I wanted, so I didn't think I'd make podium. I looked real puzzled as I got on stage, and even asked: "you guys sure? My combo wasn't that great." Sunny yelled out: "what was your combo?" Me: "can I borrow a bag from somebody?" Lon tosses me the bag he just won, a sweet (but not broken in) Jake Rea bag. I gather my energy, drop the bag on my toe, then hit: alpine leg-fog-tobi....drop. But a close look. How rad would it have been to hit the combo during the awards ceremony? Still, it felt fun. Since I got third, I got to choose another bag. Amazingly, the other Mirken was still there, so I snatched that up. Nick took 2nd place for Sick3, and Jim took first. They announced Jim's winning combo (scorp-swift-flurry) and Lon yells out: "that combo was suggested by the third place winner. Maybe he shouldn't have suggested it!" Sick One results are announced like this: "In third place, taking third in all 3 events..."
"Ken Somolinos!" This was easily the most shocking to me, cause I felt all the tricks I hit were "cute," but not in the same league as flipwalk, spinning mobius, or gauntlet. Still, I was flattered and happy about it, so I got up on stage. I was wearing my Pippen jersey (#33) and Sunny yells: "next time you should wear a #11 jersey, so you sweep the 1st place positions!" I think for a split second, and in true NBA nerd fashion yell back: "yeah, maybe I'll pick up a Yao jersey for next time." Nyyeeeeeerd! Again, 3rd place means I get ANOTHER footbag. I pick up a nice looking Abshire mini, and haul my loot offstage in a nice footbag totebag that I won. The day before, I was feeling a bit insecure about my Ilja developing holes, but now I had 3 nice 32s lined up as backups. Sweetness. Big thank you to all the sponsors who donated prizes; they were definitely appreciated. Gray won 1st place in Sick1 (and Sick3?) and I was a bit jealous cause he got the cool planetfootbag shorts. I proposed a trade with him: my abshire mini for his shorts. That's actually an unfair trade in his favor, but he decided to keep the shorts. I definitely understood that, cause footbag shorts are pretty cool. Luckily though, things worked out for me on that front later on too.
After awards, we ordered Pizza. It was $5 a person, but we all ended up getting a huge amount of food, and it was good. Food really worked out well at this tourney. I think around this point, some SFers showed up. Ahren and Carol Wedermeyer! Coooool. I always make a point to play with Carol, cause I always feel so comfortable in her circle. I hop in a circle with her and Red, stoked to cross two more names off my mental checklist. Carol hits that outside set drifting rake trick a bunch of times, which looks awesome. Sunny comes in the circle and throws down pretty hard. I hit my only matador of the tournament, and it randomly comes in midstring. Even I was surprised. Red played OK, but later on he played much better in a circle with me, Lon, Jim, and Ahren. I wanted to play more with Ahren, but I also wanted to eat the pizza that arrived, so I bowed out a little early.
EDIT: I gotta run to the store for a minute, so I'll finish this up later today. Coming up: Rippin Run and 4 on 4 bball!
Can't wait. This is so fun to read, thanks Ken.C-Fan wrote:EDIT: I gotta run to the store for a minute, so I'll finish this up later today. Coming up: Rippin Run and 4 on 4 bball!
"I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."
Emily Kulczyk
Emily Kulczyk
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Kyle Hewitt
- something more funny
- Posts: 1273
- Joined: 31 Jul 2005 11:06
SCI Day 3 Continued
Yeah, my chronology is definitely a bit messed up: Rippin Run must have happened before the Pizza arrived, because Nasty Nate missed RR on account of his going to pick up the Pizzas. Anyway, props to Nick Landis for organizing the Rippin' Run. For me, the event was really stress-free. My only competition goal for the weekend was doing well in Shred30, and now that I knew that I had done well, everything else was like a bonus for me. On top of that, I don't consider myself that great a RR contestant, cause I don't average superlong runs. Because I figured I would lose, and I didn't care if I did, I was able to play real loose, and did better than I expected.
In the first round, I was matched against Sunny, which didn't last too long. If I were playing strategically, I would have ended my run right after Sunny dropped, in order to conserve my energy for future rounds. Instead, I just kept going til I naturally dropped, cause I figured I would definitely lose in the next round. I watched the next couple rounds, but didn't pay too much attention because: 1. I was drinking water. 2. I was wondering where the hell Nasty Nate was. and 3. I figured I'd get to see most of it on video later anyway. Soon enough, I was up again. This time's opponent? Daryl Genz! Geez, who next, Cameron? Instead of shaking hands before competing, I gave him an intimidating staredown, which if anything must have pumped him up, because I thought we had a really good Rippin' Run. Unfortunately it wasn't on Fletch's vid, so I dunno how many contacts we each got, but after it ended, the crowd gave us a big hand, cause we definitely entertained them. It was a nice surprise to win (and advance to finals), but I was really just happy that I put in one good run in the comp.
Chad vs. Penske looked interesting, so I watched, and was surprised to see Jim trying tripless. When Jim dropped, you felt the shock in the air, cause everybody expected a longer RR between him and Chad. Almost immediately the finals began. I asked Chad if he wanted to wait a couple minutes to recover, but he said he was fine, so off we went. My main goal in finals was not to sandbag, and to get a decent # of contacts before bowing out. I ended up dropping pretty quick, but I did sneak in bl. whirl bsos and a smog. The crowd's reaction to Chad's drop overlapped with (and was amplified by) mine. I was told Chad dropped a split-second before me, but really we essentially dropped at the same time. I was pleasantly surprised to get $10 and a Duncan footbag for my troubles. 4 footbags in one day!
After lunch Dat showed up with a legit basketball. I felt the motivation for 4 on 4 basketball come surging back, and after asking around, we soon had a group of 8 shredders (actually, 7 shredders and 1 net player) ready to go. We divided teams by using captains, cause our initial attempt to shoot for teams yielded one team that was twice as tall as the other. One team consisted of Jeremy Mirken, Jim Penske, Angel (net player), and Grayson Chadwick III, and my team consisted of Andrew, Lon Smith, Matt Marks, and myself. With the exception of Andrew's height, we were decently matched up I thought.
I didn't keep track of the score...I'm pretty sure most of the other players didn't either. That's not saying that people didn't play competitively; far from it. I thought it was pretty interesting to see how people's shred attititudes translated to ballin. Jim was real competitive and aggressive (like his style), while Lon was a lot less serious and more... playful. The whole game was kinda surreal for me. I kept having these mental reality checks: "whoa, I just crossed over Jim Penske! Shit, Mirken just stole the ball! Whoa, I just assisted Lon Smith!" It was really pretty trippy, but at the same time lots of fun. I didn't bust out any really crazy streetball moves, but I was happy with how I played. I used my speed and crossovers to get a few layups, but mostly tried to pass. I got one behind-the-back assist, and that satisfied my flashiness quota. When we finally finished playing, I felt like I had awoken from some strange dream. I definitely want to do something like that again in the future.
At some point, some of the Cali shredders started saying goodbyes, which made me sad, cause I felt the end of the tournament creeping in a bit. I suck at goodbyes, so I said a bunch of "see you next tourny"s. We cleaned the venue pretty well, then hit Jeremy's place to clean ourselves up. I couldn't believe I got to shower every day, AND sleep in a bed every night, AND eat well each day.
On the subject of eating well, Lon suggested Thai food, so a big group of us headed out to a good, cheap place. Kyle and Zeb had never eaten Thai food before, which further highlighted to me how cool footbag is. Speaking personally, footbag has taken me so many places, exposed me to so many cool things, and introduced me to so many incredible people, all experiences I wouldn't have had without footbag. Aanyway, the food was pretty great. I got the spicy lamb, which literally made me cry and gush sweat like I was in a sauna 
Pretty awesome.
I'm so close to finishing this blog, but my fingers are bleeding from typing too much, and y'all are sleeping. Stop drooling on your keyboard! Stop it! I mean it now, don't make me...
Yeah, my chronology is definitely a bit messed up: Rippin Run must have happened before the Pizza arrived, because Nasty Nate missed RR on account of his going to pick up the Pizzas. Anyway, props to Nick Landis for organizing the Rippin' Run. For me, the event was really stress-free. My only competition goal for the weekend was doing well in Shred30, and now that I knew that I had done well, everything else was like a bonus for me. On top of that, I don't consider myself that great a RR contestant, cause I don't average superlong runs. Because I figured I would lose, and I didn't care if I did, I was able to play real loose, and did better than I expected.
In the first round, I was matched against Sunny, which didn't last too long. If I were playing strategically, I would have ended my run right after Sunny dropped, in order to conserve my energy for future rounds. Instead, I just kept going til I naturally dropped, cause I figured I would definitely lose in the next round. I watched the next couple rounds, but didn't pay too much attention because: 1. I was drinking water. 2. I was wondering where the hell Nasty Nate was. and 3. I figured I'd get to see most of it on video later anyway. Soon enough, I was up again. This time's opponent? Daryl Genz! Geez, who next, Cameron? Instead of shaking hands before competing, I gave him an intimidating staredown, which if anything must have pumped him up, because I thought we had a really good Rippin' Run. Unfortunately it wasn't on Fletch's vid, so I dunno how many contacts we each got, but after it ended, the crowd gave us a big hand, cause we definitely entertained them. It was a nice surprise to win (and advance to finals), but I was really just happy that I put in one good run in the comp.
Chad vs. Penske looked interesting, so I watched, and was surprised to see Jim trying tripless. When Jim dropped, you felt the shock in the air, cause everybody expected a longer RR between him and Chad. Almost immediately the finals began. I asked Chad if he wanted to wait a couple minutes to recover, but he said he was fine, so off we went. My main goal in finals was not to sandbag, and to get a decent # of contacts before bowing out. I ended up dropping pretty quick, but I did sneak in bl. whirl bsos and a smog. The crowd's reaction to Chad's drop overlapped with (and was amplified by) mine. I was told Chad dropped a split-second before me, but really we essentially dropped at the same time. I was pleasantly surprised to get $10 and a Duncan footbag for my troubles. 4 footbags in one day!
After lunch Dat showed up with a legit basketball. I felt the motivation for 4 on 4 basketball come surging back, and after asking around, we soon had a group of 8 shredders (actually, 7 shredders and 1 net player) ready to go. We divided teams by using captains, cause our initial attempt to shoot for teams yielded one team that was twice as tall as the other. One team consisted of Jeremy Mirken, Jim Penske, Angel (net player), and Grayson Chadwick III, and my team consisted of Andrew, Lon Smith, Matt Marks, and myself. With the exception of Andrew's height, we were decently matched up I thought.
I didn't keep track of the score...I'm pretty sure most of the other players didn't either. That's not saying that people didn't play competitively; far from it. I thought it was pretty interesting to see how people's shred attititudes translated to ballin. Jim was real competitive and aggressive (like his style), while Lon was a lot less serious and more... playful. The whole game was kinda surreal for me. I kept having these mental reality checks: "whoa, I just crossed over Jim Penske! Shit, Mirken just stole the ball! Whoa, I just assisted Lon Smith!" It was really pretty trippy, but at the same time lots of fun. I didn't bust out any really crazy streetball moves, but I was happy with how I played. I used my speed and crossovers to get a few layups, but mostly tried to pass. I got one behind-the-back assist, and that satisfied my flashiness quota. When we finally finished playing, I felt like I had awoken from some strange dream. I definitely want to do something like that again in the future.
At some point, some of the Cali shredders started saying goodbyes, which made me sad, cause I felt the end of the tournament creeping in a bit. I suck at goodbyes, so I said a bunch of "see you next tourny"s. We cleaned the venue pretty well, then hit Jeremy's place to clean ourselves up. I couldn't believe I got to shower every day, AND sleep in a bed every night, AND eat well each day.
On the subject of eating well, Lon suggested Thai food, so a big group of us headed out to a good, cheap place. Kyle and Zeb had never eaten Thai food before, which further highlighted to me how cool footbag is. Speaking personally, footbag has taken me so many places, exposed me to so many cool things, and introduced me to so many incredible people, all experiences I wouldn't have had without footbag. Aanyway, the food was pretty great. I got the spicy lamb, which literally made me cry and gush sweat like I was in a sauna
Pretty awesome.I'm so close to finishing this blog, but my fingers are bleeding from typing too much, and y'all are sleeping. Stop drooling on your keyboard! Stop it! I mean it now, don't make me...
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zeroman13
- Post Master General
- Posts: 2385
- Joined: 17 Jan 2006 07:17
- Location: Somewhere in the desert!!!!!
- Contact:
I'm not drooling yet........*drool* *drip* *drool*
Oooops, I'm back!!! Ken, I like your blog entrys, all of them. You tell everything like a story, it's kool!
Oooops, I'm back!!! Ken, I like your blog entrys, all of them. You tell everything like a story, it's kool!
Josh M.Wasabi wrote:Footbag is not materialistic; it's about challenging yourself and having fun at the same time.
My Website
Pm me for details about Munster Bags!
SCI Wrap-up: Mufti
After dinner, I again switched cars. I did this a few times over the weekend, playing musical chairs with my rides, in order to maximize my social contact. I'm like a sneaky virus or something. Right, so I end up in Mirken's car with Ted, Hansen, and GChad3. We drop Gray off at the bus station, and I give him a big goodbye bearhug. Hopefully he understood the message I wanted to communicate: "learn your 2 letter words so I don't crush you as badly in Scrabble next time, bitch." Seriously though, it made me sad to see people leaving, as it made me realize my time was coming up soon too.
We hit a safeway to load up on snacks, and I get mint oreos on Mike's suggestion. I'd never had them before, but I thought them quite good. Back at Jeremy's I ask Dat when he wants/needs to go home, and inwardly I do a celebration dance when he indicates that he's in no hurry, and we can hang out some. Things feel pretty laid back. I eat some oreos while playing Scrabble with Mirken (I got all 4 Ss!) and chatting with others.
I mention to Penske how I was jealous that I didn't get shorts, and he tells me he'll just give me his pair. He prefers playing in long shorts anyway, and says he probably wouldn't use his much. I insist on giving him my mini-abshire in return. The way I see it, I already have too many shred bags, and I want to move away from using mini-bags. On top of that, I have a brand-new PPD bag at home, so if I were to start using minis again, I should use that one. Jim is hesitant to accept the trade, cause he recognizes its lopsided in his favor, but I insist. He had been looking for a new 32 anyway, so I think it worked out really well for everybody. I also see it as me thanking him for hitting my sick3 in comp. We seal the deal with a soul hug.
Right towards the end of the evening, we all sneak into Mirken's bedroom and wake up Emily with a group rendition of "Happy Birthday to You." She wakes up kinda startled at first, realizes what's happening, and then groggily thanks us. I think she feels the love. Still, I felt a bit bad we woke her. Shortly thereafter, I say some more goodbyes, then wait outside as Kyle and Zeb get their gear, and Dat drives us off.
I'm glad I stayed at Dat's place that last night. I had met Dat a while ago, but never got to know him real well. We talked a lot on the long drive home, and hanging out the next day too. Dat's a really good guy, I'm glad we got to know each other better. I kind of felt bad for Kyle and Zeb in the backseat though, cause Dat and I must have come off as really ancient farts. Hopefully though, they realized that footbag must be pretty cool if people are willing to stay in the scene for 9 years.
That night I get my own big double bed to myself. Dat lets me use the internet too, and I can't resist but take a peek at modified. Nothing about the jam is posted yet, but I notice that I got auto-logged in as Dat. I fight off the temptation to go into the Phanzine and write: "you know, I never write much in here, but..." and then write like a 7 page entry about random shit. Considering all of Dat's hospitality, I decide that I should be more grateful, and just get some sleep.
The next morning I wake up feeling good, until I check my flight coupons, and see that (according to my journal) my flight left yesterday!!!
Then I doublechecked the dates, and realized that in my journal I had written two entries on the same day (morning and night), but the day had seemed so long, I labelled the second entry as the next day, which screwed up the dates of all subsequent entries. I mention this here not only to illustrate that I am a dumbass, but to highlight how long each day of a footbag jam feels.
In even better schedule news, I notice that my flight leaves an hour later than I thought it did. Score. I eat a banana and cereal for breakfast, then we all watch a video of basediving (people wearing parachutes who jump off cliffs). It looks fun, but Dat tells me that lots of people die doing it. Based on the close friendships I've developed in footbag, I can't even imagine what it would be like to have footbag friends regulatly disappearing from tournies because they died shredding. It's a weird and sobering thought.
Although I had mentally prepared for the day to be only a travel day, we end up packing in a good chunk of fun before I have to leave. Dat, Kyle, Zeb and I hit a nice park near the house and toss frisbee. It's real relaxing and soothing, and I'm stoked that I got to toss around a little during the trip. Dat's sister April joins us in a bit, and after a bit more frisbee, we go play some foursquare on an impromptu court. Not all the squares were the same size, and the lines weren't perfectly straight, but that added to the strategy imo. The king square was the biggest, which I think also made things more challenging and fair. We didn't vote in many rules at all, which in some ways makes the game better. I felt like I played really tricky, but Dat pulled out two wins in a row. I was impressed how well April played. I think 4square can be a very good introduction to footbag for people, a fun way to get them into the scene.
Unfortunately, the hands on my watch wouldn't stop moving, and I soon found myself outside of Dat's car saying my last farewells of the tourney. As usual in these situations, I try and use the stress/urgency of getting on my flight as a way to block out my sadness at saying goodbye, and it worked OK until I got on the plane, and it all sunk in.
Still, I was pretty good about keeping a positive mindset this time around. I couldn't believe that I nearly missed this tourney, cause it really turned out to be one of the most fun ones I've been to. And given that all things have to come to an end, at least I could look at this weekend and not have any regrets. I played well in circles, played a bingo in Scrabble, I set a new personal Shred30 record, I played basketball with other footbaggers, I caught up with friends, I made new friendships, and there was never a dull moment.
I think it's pretty safe to say that footbag is the best part of my life. Thank you footbag.
Next entry: more in depth thank-yous, "critique" of the jam.
After dinner, I again switched cars. I did this a few times over the weekend, playing musical chairs with my rides, in order to maximize my social contact. I'm like a sneaky virus or something. Right, so I end up in Mirken's car with Ted, Hansen, and GChad3. We drop Gray off at the bus station, and I give him a big goodbye bearhug. Hopefully he understood the message I wanted to communicate: "learn your 2 letter words so I don't crush you as badly in Scrabble next time, bitch." Seriously though, it made me sad to see people leaving, as it made me realize my time was coming up soon too.
We hit a safeway to load up on snacks, and I get mint oreos on Mike's suggestion. I'd never had them before, but I thought them quite good. Back at Jeremy's I ask Dat when he wants/needs to go home, and inwardly I do a celebration dance when he indicates that he's in no hurry, and we can hang out some. Things feel pretty laid back. I eat some oreos while playing Scrabble with Mirken (I got all 4 Ss!) and chatting with others.
I mention to Penske how I was jealous that I didn't get shorts, and he tells me he'll just give me his pair. He prefers playing in long shorts anyway, and says he probably wouldn't use his much. I insist on giving him my mini-abshire in return. The way I see it, I already have too many shred bags, and I want to move away from using mini-bags. On top of that, I have a brand-new PPD bag at home, so if I were to start using minis again, I should use that one. Jim is hesitant to accept the trade, cause he recognizes its lopsided in his favor, but I insist. He had been looking for a new 32 anyway, so I think it worked out really well for everybody. I also see it as me thanking him for hitting my sick3 in comp. We seal the deal with a soul hug.
Right towards the end of the evening, we all sneak into Mirken's bedroom and wake up Emily with a group rendition of "Happy Birthday to You." She wakes up kinda startled at first, realizes what's happening, and then groggily thanks us. I think she feels the love. Still, I felt a bit bad we woke her. Shortly thereafter, I say some more goodbyes, then wait outside as Kyle and Zeb get their gear, and Dat drives us off.
I'm glad I stayed at Dat's place that last night. I had met Dat a while ago, but never got to know him real well. We talked a lot on the long drive home, and hanging out the next day too. Dat's a really good guy, I'm glad we got to know each other better. I kind of felt bad for Kyle and Zeb in the backseat though, cause Dat and I must have come off as really ancient farts. Hopefully though, they realized that footbag must be pretty cool if people are willing to stay in the scene for 9 years.
That night I get my own big double bed to myself. Dat lets me use the internet too, and I can't resist but take a peek at modified. Nothing about the jam is posted yet, but I notice that I got auto-logged in as Dat. I fight off the temptation to go into the Phanzine and write: "you know, I never write much in here, but..." and then write like a 7 page entry about random shit. Considering all of Dat's hospitality, I decide that I should be more grateful, and just get some sleep.
The next morning I wake up feeling good, until I check my flight coupons, and see that (according to my journal) my flight left yesterday!!!
Then I doublechecked the dates, and realized that in my journal I had written two entries on the same day (morning and night), but the day had seemed so long, I labelled the second entry as the next day, which screwed up the dates of all subsequent entries. I mention this here not only to illustrate that I am a dumbass, but to highlight how long each day of a footbag jam feels.
In even better schedule news, I notice that my flight leaves an hour later than I thought it did. Score. I eat a banana and cereal for breakfast, then we all watch a video of basediving (people wearing parachutes who jump off cliffs). It looks fun, but Dat tells me that lots of people die doing it. Based on the close friendships I've developed in footbag, I can't even imagine what it would be like to have footbag friends regulatly disappearing from tournies because they died shredding. It's a weird and sobering thought.
Although I had mentally prepared for the day to be only a travel day, we end up packing in a good chunk of fun before I have to leave. Dat, Kyle, Zeb and I hit a nice park near the house and toss frisbee. It's real relaxing and soothing, and I'm stoked that I got to toss around a little during the trip. Dat's sister April joins us in a bit, and after a bit more frisbee, we go play some foursquare on an impromptu court. Not all the squares were the same size, and the lines weren't perfectly straight, but that added to the strategy imo. The king square was the biggest, which I think also made things more challenging and fair. We didn't vote in many rules at all, which in some ways makes the game better. I felt like I played really tricky, but Dat pulled out two wins in a row. I was impressed how well April played. I think 4square can be a very good introduction to footbag for people, a fun way to get them into the scene.
Unfortunately, the hands on my watch wouldn't stop moving, and I soon found myself outside of Dat's car saying my last farewells of the tourney. As usual in these situations, I try and use the stress/urgency of getting on my flight as a way to block out my sadness at saying goodbye, and it worked OK until I got on the plane, and it all sunk in.
Still, I was pretty good about keeping a positive mindset this time around. I couldn't believe that I nearly missed this tourney, cause it really turned out to be one of the most fun ones I've been to. And given that all things have to come to an end, at least I could look at this weekend and not have any regrets. I played well in circles, played a bingo in Scrabble, I set a new personal Shred30 record, I played basketball with other footbaggers, I caught up with friends, I made new friendships, and there was never a dull moment. I think it's pretty safe to say that footbag is the best part of my life. Thank you footbag.
Next entry: more in depth thank-yous, "critique" of the jam.
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Zeb Jackson
- Post Master General
- Posts: 2783
- Joined: 19 Dec 2005 12:57
- Location: Boise,Idaho, USA
nah man, hearing all that stuff just opened my eyes to how awesome footbag is, if anything i see you guys more of friends as i do a sense of old timer-nessC-Fan wrote:I'm glad I stayed at Dat's place that last night. I had met Dat a while ago, but never got to know him real well. We talked a lot on the long drive home, and hanging out the next day too. Dat's a really good guy, I'm glad we got to know each other better. I kind of felt bad for Kyle and Zeb in the backseat though, cause Dat and I must have come off as really ancient farts. Hopefully though, they realized that footbag must be pretty cool if people are willing to stay in the scene for 9 years.
, but thats cool, im glad i met some great shredders and made new friends while i was there.-Zeb Jackson
http://www.elitefootbag.com
http://www.elitefootbag.com
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Kyle Hewitt
- something more funny
- Posts: 1273
- Joined: 31 Jul 2005 11:06
As anyone who bothered to read all my SC posts can probably figure out, I had a really kickass time in Santa Cruz. Thanks are in order. Actually, these thanks are probably out of order, so attach no significance to what comes first.
Jim Penske. Your brief PM saying you hoped to see me in SC made me re-think my decision to stay home. Specifically, it made me think of what a wasted opportunity it'd be if I didn't go. The people at Worlds would kill to play with you (and Lon), and I was thinking about not making it out? Also wanted to say thanks for balling, that was good fun. Thank you for hitting my Sick3 on demand, and thanks for making the PlanetFootbag shorts trade. I played in the shorts today for the first time, and I love them.
Fletch R. Funk. The music at the jam was notably excellent. Probably the best music I've heard at a tourney; there were moments I was on the sideline, and got so pumped up by the music that I thought about jumping back into a circle. It may seem minor, but it helped make a good site even better. Thank you for lending me your Lakers bag as a backup for Shred30.
Dat Phan. We didn't really know each other that well before this tournament, yet you still offered me rides to the airport and a place to stay on my final night. As I mentioned in the blog, getting to know you better was a highlight of the tourney. Thanks for your hospitality and driving, and SUPER big thanks for bringing a basketball on Sunday. That really improved my weekend.
Moxie. It must be agonizing to organize a tourney in your own town, and not be able to footbag. Having organized tournaments of my own, I can say that the best measure of a successful tournament isn't how you feel, it's how the participants felt. I think I can confidently say that almost everybody had an excellent time. Thank you for your efforts. Also, thank you for agreeing to repair the busted seam in my Lesh bag. I'm very excited at the prospect of its resurrection.
Jeremy Merkin. Where to even start. You were sending me PM invitations to the event months before it even started. As the dates approached and it seemed I wouldn't go, you kept at me with more PMs, and really made me feel wanted at the event. Looking back, it really should have been obvious to me that SC would be a good time, and worth the price of going. But I guess I needed somebody to confront me with the facts to really make me realize I should go. Your personal interest in making me feel welcome was the key factor that convinced me to go, and for that I am truly grateful. Thanks are also due for your incredible hospitality (making smoothies, letting me share your bed, use your shower, etc). You sir, are truly a champ in the footbag world.
Da Sponsors. Footbag tournies for me are really all about the glory. But sweet prizes help make tournies memorable too; they serve as cool reminders. From now on, whenever i shred in my planetfootbag shorts, I'll think: "oh yeah, I won these at that tourney where I set a new personal Shred record." But even more than my own happiness, I want to thank the sponsors for giving the same gift to all the tourney first-timers at the event. Now they have something to tangibly link them to their first footbag event, and that's really priceless
Jim Penske. Your brief PM saying you hoped to see me in SC made me re-think my decision to stay home. Specifically, it made me think of what a wasted opportunity it'd be if I didn't go. The people at Worlds would kill to play with you (and Lon), and I was thinking about not making it out? Also wanted to say thanks for balling, that was good fun. Thank you for hitting my Sick3 on demand, and thanks for making the PlanetFootbag shorts trade. I played in the shorts today for the first time, and I love them.
Fletch R. Funk. The music at the jam was notably excellent. Probably the best music I've heard at a tourney; there were moments I was on the sideline, and got so pumped up by the music that I thought about jumping back into a circle. It may seem minor, but it helped make a good site even better. Thank you for lending me your Lakers bag as a backup for Shred30.
Dat Phan. We didn't really know each other that well before this tournament, yet you still offered me rides to the airport and a place to stay on my final night. As I mentioned in the blog, getting to know you better was a highlight of the tourney. Thanks for your hospitality and driving, and SUPER big thanks for bringing a basketball on Sunday. That really improved my weekend.
Moxie. It must be agonizing to organize a tourney in your own town, and not be able to footbag. Having organized tournaments of my own, I can say that the best measure of a successful tournament isn't how you feel, it's how the participants felt. I think I can confidently say that almost everybody had an excellent time. Thank you for your efforts. Also, thank you for agreeing to repair the busted seam in my Lesh bag. I'm very excited at the prospect of its resurrection.
Jeremy Merkin. Where to even start. You were sending me PM invitations to the event months before it even started. As the dates approached and it seemed I wouldn't go, you kept at me with more PMs, and really made me feel wanted at the event. Looking back, it really should have been obvious to me that SC would be a good time, and worth the price of going. But I guess I needed somebody to confront me with the facts to really make me realize I should go. Your personal interest in making me feel welcome was the key factor that convinced me to go, and for that I am truly grateful. Thanks are also due for your incredible hospitality (making smoothies, letting me share your bed, use your shower, etc). You sir, are truly a champ in the footbag world.
Da Sponsors. Footbag tournies for me are really all about the glory. But sweet prizes help make tournies memorable too; they serve as cool reminders. From now on, whenever i shred in my planetfootbag shorts, I'll think: "oh yeah, I won these at that tourney where I set a new personal Shred record." But even more than my own happiness, I want to thank the sponsors for giving the same gift to all the tourney first-timers at the event. Now they have something to tangibly link them to their first footbag event, and that's really priceless
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Kyle Hewitt
- something more funny
- Posts: 1273
- Joined: 31 Jul 2005 11:06
6/20/06
I don't know what's more incredible to me, the fact that the Fanzine is approaching 800 posts, or that it's been viewed nearly 27,000 times.
The big news on my front, is that I've developed a mysterious injury in my left heel, which has kept me from any serious freestyle since Santa Cruz. It's bad enough that I'm limping in order to keep weight off of it. The weirdest thing is, it didn't start to hurt until a couple days AFTER Santa Cruz. Like, I laid off playing for a couple days, leg felt fine, then one morning I woke up and I couldn't put pressure on it without intense pain. It subsided a bit, I had a light shred, then it went back to being bad again. I've been swimming and reading a lot to keep my mind off it, but it has me a little nervous. In a way I'm glad I'm not going to Worlds, cause this would really freak me out otherwise. Still, I hope it heals up, cause if I go to Japan this summer, I definitely want to be able to shred.
That's the other bit of big news. I'm 85% sure I will go to Japan for a month and a half this summer. All I'm waiting on is responses from grad schools, cause I'll need to sign papers and make downpayments etc. before leaving. I hope plane prices don't shoot up too much by then, but I don't want to risk buying tickets now, and not getting my grad school registration settled in time.
Why Japan? Well, I miss it a lot. And if I get there in time, I can help Takumi train for Worlds. I also have free rent in the heart of Shibuya. But more than any of these factors, the main reason is: Bainbridge Shred told me to go back to Japan, and I figured I should listen to him at least once a year or so.
Footbagwise, I had a light session a few days ago, which was fun, but uneventful. Again, I used the new Mirken bag, and I played in my PlanetFootbag shorts for the first time. I really like the shorts, they don't get in the way at all. I also liked using the rolly bag, cause it forced me to be very precise. The only semi-notable highlights were barfly-torque repeat to start a string, and a string of like 9 dexless, ending on spinning osis (something like gyro clip-dive clip-spin clip-duck clip-spin clip-duck clip-spin clip-duck clip-duck clip-spin osis).
Hopefully CSS7 or some SCI footage will come out soon, so I can reminisce and enjoy footbag vicariously while my body heals up.
I don't know what's more incredible to me, the fact that the Fanzine is approaching 800 posts, or that it's been viewed nearly 27,000 times.
The big news on my front, is that I've developed a mysterious injury in my left heel, which has kept me from any serious freestyle since Santa Cruz. It's bad enough that I'm limping in order to keep weight off of it. The weirdest thing is, it didn't start to hurt until a couple days AFTER Santa Cruz. Like, I laid off playing for a couple days, leg felt fine, then one morning I woke up and I couldn't put pressure on it without intense pain. It subsided a bit, I had a light shred, then it went back to being bad again. I've been swimming and reading a lot to keep my mind off it, but it has me a little nervous. In a way I'm glad I'm not going to Worlds, cause this would really freak me out otherwise. Still, I hope it heals up, cause if I go to Japan this summer, I definitely want to be able to shred.
That's the other bit of big news. I'm 85% sure I will go to Japan for a month and a half this summer. All I'm waiting on is responses from grad schools, cause I'll need to sign papers and make downpayments etc. before leaving. I hope plane prices don't shoot up too much by then, but I don't want to risk buying tickets now, and not getting my grad school registration settled in time.
Why Japan? Well, I miss it a lot. And if I get there in time, I can help Takumi train for Worlds. I also have free rent in the heart of Shibuya. But more than any of these factors, the main reason is: Bainbridge Shred told me to go back to Japan, and I figured I should listen to him at least once a year or so.
Footbagwise, I had a light session a few days ago, which was fun, but uneventful. Again, I used the new Mirken bag, and I played in my PlanetFootbag shorts for the first time. I really like the shorts, they don't get in the way at all. I also liked using the rolly bag, cause it forced me to be very precise. The only semi-notable highlights were barfly-torque repeat to start a string, and a string of like 9 dexless, ending on spinning osis (something like gyro clip-dive clip-spin clip-duck clip-spin clip-duck clip-spin clip-duck clip-duck clip-spin osis).
Hopefully CSS7 or some SCI footage will come out soon, so I can reminisce and enjoy footbag vicariously while my body heals up.
