Posting from worlds. Dunno if I`ll do a big write up later or not, so here`s the rough cut short stuff.
#Terra verde was a great idea. People who stayed at the hotel were suckers.
Battery is dying now, so i need to post.
Fanzine
I hadn't realized how funny that last post was until now. Alright, I'm finally back from worlds now. Like many other footbaggers (that I've heard from), my trip back wasn't fun or easy, but the important thing is I made it back. I can't tell you how hard it is to be back at school after a week of worlds. Week of footbag+hanging out with friends+being in Florida > being in cold and rainy Ithaca+ picking classes+ getting ready for school.
This was my 6th World Champs, and I'd say it was probably the 3rd best of all of them (2005 and 2003 were better). I really feel that if anybody deserves credit for making this years worlds good, it was the players. It was the players who made routines this year unbelievably good, it was the players who organized Terra Verde (housing and parties would have sucked ass otherwise), and it was the players who made it fun to hang out. I really felt the organization in general was pretty bad. I can and may go into greater detail later, but some of the most egregious things that stood out organization-wise were;
*in women's routines you had Daryl judging Sunny, and Wiktor judging Gosia, even though there were plenty of qualified alternate judges available. Even if it is possible for a husband to objectively judge his wife (which I don't actually think is possible), it just looks bad for the sport to have the judging set up this way. This could have been remedied very easily, and wasn't.
*The player's party was a disaster. It was held at a place called "Pleasure Island" which is 21 and over. Before the party, I asked around to make sure that players below 21 would be admitted. I was assured they would. Even the maps that were printed out had written on them: "All ages welcome" in large letters. This was not the case. People got there, some were turned away, others weren't, nobody knew where everybody was... it was a total disaster. This was just bad planning.
*If the freestyle coordinator wants to push the schedule ahead, he needs to keep all the competitors abreast of any changes. Shred30 Finals were scheduled for 7:15 pm, so a few competitors began warming up at 6:45 pm, only to be told that they would be on stage in the next 2 minutes. If the schedule was being pushed ahead 30 minutes, the competitors have the right to be told, and that is the obligation of the tournament director. Ultimately, after threatening to cut us from competition, we were given 10 stressful minutes to warm up. This is completely unprofessional, and also leads to a worse show for the audience, and worse results for the competitors. This was just bad event-running.
*Awards ceremony needs to go faster. Did we really need a 20 minute speech just to be informed that Dave Clavens made BAP? And whats the point of announcing the finals results, only to have a medal ceremony again afterwards? And once routine results were announced, Steve almost skipped Shred30 results. It took over 90 minutes from the time that routines finished til awards were distributed. Lame.
In general though, Worlds was very good. There was lots of shredding everywhere, and at almost any given time too. The level was unbelievable. Routines this year were also a high point. This was easily the best finals I've ever seen; every routine was good, and some were outright fantastic. We finally put out a product that is a show worth paying to see. I hope (and anticipate) that the level will continue to be this high in the future.
Terra Verde really requires a special mention. The houses were large, beautiful, and near each other. Every night there were parties. People cooked good meals, people swam in the middle of the night. Terra Verde really was like a small footbag village we could all live in for a week. And it was cheaper than the host hotel too!
Terra Verde really made worlds, so props to PPD and Jon for coming up with the idea, and making it happen. We should try and do something similar at future Worlds as well.On a personal level, this worlds was a mixed bag for me. I spent all summer preparing for routines, and they didn't end up going very well. I had 3 drops in quals and in semis, and I just didn't feel as strong as I did during practices in the summer. Still, I like to think that they turned out better than if I hadn't practiced at all. Definitely a disappointment though. I'd like to give routines another shot in the future though. I feel its too early to give up, and that I can do better. Shred30 sort of redeemed me, but given how little effort I put into preparing for it, it wasn't a very satisfying victory. I'll go into more detail later, I don't want to give away any surprises.
On a positive note, I didn't get injured during the week, nor did I lose anything. I felt I played really well a couple days, and played decently the rest. I never really had a "bad" session, and my legs held up remarkably well all week. There were a lot of people I wish I could have played with, but that's usually going to be the case, especially if you are competing. I purposely avoided playing too much on days when I had to compete.
The parties, food, and general living situation at Terra Verde all were great. I was really stoked to meet so many North American shredders that I had known about for so long. Its a tough thing to balance meeting new people with hanging out with old friends, especially when you've been in the scene as long as I have. I also was a bit constrained on the social side of things, because I was kind of Team Japan's chaperone, so I spent most of my time with them just to make sure they were getting by OK.
School has just started, so I'll be pretty busy. That said, I'll try and blog a little bit about Worlds later.
Oh, and I'm starting to toy with the idea of going to Funtastiks. We'll see if time and work allow.
I can't wait for your write-up, Ken. I know that you said ahead of time that it may not be as great as past write-ups because of school starting right away, but it should be really fun anyway, if you can ever get around to it.
It was super, super nice to meet you. I wish we could have played together more, and hung out more too, but I'm glad that I finally met you! I hope I can see you again before Worlds next year!
It was super, super nice to meet you. I wish we could have played together more, and hung out more too, but I'm glad that I finally met you! I hope I can see you again before Worlds next year!
Being back at school is craziness. I don't think I'll feel mentally grounded until I get in a shred session with Luis. That usually helps me deal with stress and a new situation. Being back makes me miss Pascal. The club, and my Cornell experience in general won't be the same without him. We have clubfair on Sunday. Hopefully we can attract new members just by playing 4 square.
I've been having fun reading other people's Worlds blogs. I can't believe how fast Chan banged his out. I may get to mine later next week, or I may not get a chance to do one at all. We'll see. For now though, here's a footbag joke that Luis overheard at Worlds:
Q: How many footbaggers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: Five. One to screw it in, three to say "nice," and one to get it on film.
I've been having fun reading other people's Worlds blogs. I can't believe how fast Chan banged his out. I may get to mine later next week, or I may not get a chance to do one at all. We'll see. For now though, here's a footbag joke that Luis overheard at Worlds:
Q: How many footbaggers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: Five. One to screw it in, three to say "nice," and one to get it on film.
-
Zeb Jackson
- Post Master General
- Posts: 2783
- Joined: 19 Dec 2005 12:57
- Location: Boise,Idaho, USA
quoted from one dylan fry i believe 
it made honza laugh for like 10 minutes not stop
great chillin with you again ken!
it made honza laugh for like 10 minutes not stop
great chillin with you again ken!
-Zeb Jackson
http://www.elitefootbag.com
http://www.elitefootbag.com
I've had 2 post-Worlds sessions since getting back to school. The first session I felt pretty rusty, but it felt really good just to be playing footbag again. It also felt good to be playing for the sake of playing, and not just constantly practicing segments of my routines. I did that for like 2 months, and I'm ready to get back to just playing for fun again. Didn't hit much of note.
The second session was just me and Luis. We played outdoors, but nobody was around to watch because of an ominous thundercloud that was looming just off the main arts quad. It never managed to make it to us or rain, so that was cool. We started off the session by playing with a Teddy Monhollon bag that Luis bought at Worlds. It's really big and floppy, but was also a lot of fun to play with. I think it has good potential as a "display bag" for when we play in front of crowds, simply because it's like ten times easier for people to see what we are actually doing. Towards the end of the session we switched back to one of Luis' bags, and played a bit more seriously.
Highlights:
*Pdx torque x2. Hadn't tried this in a long time.
*tomahawk x3. Pretty sure its a new personal record.
Luis has a cool new speaker system for his iPod, so now we have tunes while we play. I really like Ratatat.
Clubfair is tomorrow. I feel like it will be a make-or-break recruiting event that will determine whether or not the club will survive. I hope it goes well.
The second session was just me and Luis. We played outdoors, but nobody was around to watch because of an ominous thundercloud that was looming just off the main arts quad. It never managed to make it to us or rain, so that was cool. We started off the session by playing with a Teddy Monhollon bag that Luis bought at Worlds. It's really big and floppy, but was also a lot of fun to play with. I think it has good potential as a "display bag" for when we play in front of crowds, simply because it's like ten times easier for people to see what we are actually doing. Towards the end of the session we switched back to one of Luis' bags, and played a bit more seriously.
Highlights:
*Pdx torque x2. Hadn't tried this in a long time.
*tomahawk x3. Pretty sure its a new personal record.
Luis has a cool new speaker system for his iPod, so now we have tunes while we play. I really like Ratatat.
Clubfair is tomorrow. I feel like it will be a make-or-break recruiting event that will determine whether or not the club will survive. I hope it goes well.
There was a free concert on campus yesterday, so Luis and I went to play hack there in the hopes of enlisting new members. The main band was The National (s?), and the opening band was the White Rabbits. I didn't care much for the rabbits, but the other band was pretty good.
We hacked for over an hour, using the Teddy Monhollon bag. I never switched to real shorts, in an effort to limit my difficulty (in order to make us look more accessible). After an hour or so it became clear to us that we weren't getting new members, but we decided to continue just hacking. We never shredded. This worked out well, because right as the concert was ending, somebody approached us! Better yet, he was able to do flying clippers and a few basic stalls. He mentioned that he had a friend who went to tournies and whatnot, so I asked him what his friends name was. My jaw dropped when he said: "Alex Strassman."
How cool is that?!? I even literally hugged the guy. After the concert, another guy came up and expressed interest in the club. So the concert was worthwhile after all, because we got 2 new email addresses. I'm going to the clubfair in 10 minutes to set up. I hope it goes well, but even in the worst case scenario, we will get to play 4square. Should be fun.
Oh, and school is shaping up too. Meeting lots of new people is always exciting, but also draining. I think the key word for this semester should be balance.
We hacked for over an hour, using the Teddy Monhollon bag. I never switched to real shorts, in an effort to limit my difficulty (in order to make us look more accessible). After an hour or so it became clear to us that we weren't getting new members, but we decided to continue just hacking. We never shredded. This worked out well, because right as the concert was ending, somebody approached us! Better yet, he was able to do flying clippers and a few basic stalls. He mentioned that he had a friend who went to tournies and whatnot, so I asked him what his friends name was. My jaw dropped when he said: "Alex Strassman."
How cool is that?!? I even literally hugged the guy. After the concert, another guy came up and expressed interest in the club. So the concert was worthwhile after all, because we got 2 new email addresses. I'm going to the clubfair in 10 minutes to set up. I hope it goes well, but even in the worst case scenario, we will get to play 4square. Should be fun.
Oh, and school is shaping up too. Meeting lots of new people is always exciting, but also draining. I think the key word for this semester should be balance.
Club fair was a smashing success. Having our own table this year, and actually setting up (thanks Luis) were huge. Our table had a big poster with the club name (Bear Feet), 7 colored sheets that spelled footbag, t-shirts from Worlds (shows legitimacy and that there are tournies), footbags, and sign up sheets. We ended up getting an amazing number of emails over the course of 3 hours. We also set up a 4square court and sucked a bunch of people into playing it. Overall we got excellent exposure. We were also hired to play footbag at the museum this thursday. We're only getting $50, but its for 2 hours of just hacking. No routines, nothing. Just playing hack as "performance." I'm thinking the money can help us buy footbags for future events. In other good news, the 2 people we recruited at the concert last night showed up today to club fair to play with us. I have high hopes for this semester for the club. I hope things work out.C-Fan wrote: I'm going to the clubfair in 10 minutes to set up. I hope it goes well, but even in the worst case scenario, we will get to play 4square. Should be fun.
.
School has been pretty stressful so far, and it hasn't even really begun. I just wish I could be back at Worlds playing footbag and hanging out with good friends again. I'd like to blog about it and reminisce, but school doesn't allow me the time. 
Hopefully things will settle down in a week or so, and I can reward myself with a trip to Funtastiks. Too much stuff to worry about until then... 
Hopefully things will settle down in a week or so, and I can reward myself with a trip to Funtastiks. Too much stuff to worry about until then... Got in a session today with Luis, mostly just to blow off some stress. I can't believe that the semester is only 4 days old, and already I'm flipping out. Hopefully grad school will pay off with a rewarding job in the future.
I felt like I had gas in my chest while I played today, so it wasn't a spectacular session or anything. In fact, I never really felt like I broke through that warm-up phase. That said, I had fun playing, and I hit a few nice things here and there.
Highlights:
*pixie spin clipper real nice.
*Johnny Q. Had pixie gyro mirage off my foot in the sealing run.
*pixie gyro mirage, almost to smoke
*ducking pdx eggbeater! Pretty sure that's a new trick for me. I hit it first try, and then again a few tries later. Felt real deep and solid. Cool trick.
*A run with sidewalk-matador bsos, and tomahawk bsos too.
*ps whirl-psdlo. BSOSed the psw in the seal, and added a pdx torque and a tomahawk for good measure.
Today I also learned that I don't get labor day off from classes, and that Funtastik comps will be Sunday afternoon and Monday. That pretty much makes it pointless for me to go to Funtastiks. That sucks.
I felt like I had gas in my chest while I played today, so it wasn't a spectacular session or anything. In fact, I never really felt like I broke through that warm-up phase. That said, I had fun playing, and I hit a few nice things here and there.
Highlights:
*pixie spin clipper real nice.
*Johnny Q. Had pixie gyro mirage off my foot in the sealing run.
*pixie gyro mirage, almost to smoke
*ducking pdx eggbeater! Pretty sure that's a new trick for me. I hit it first try, and then again a few tries later. Felt real deep and solid. Cool trick.
*A run with sidewalk-matador bsos, and tomahawk bsos too.
*ps whirl-psdlo. BSOSed the psw in the seal, and added a pdx torque and a tomahawk for good measure.
Today I also learned that I don't get labor day off from classes, and that Funtastik comps will be Sunday afternoon and Monday. That pretty much makes it pointless for me to go to Funtastiks. That sucks.
I'm definitely a little bummed that I can't make funtastiks. About a week ago I found my next routine song. I feel bad abandoning the Pixies routine I used at Worlds, because it deserved a dropless run through at some point. Who knows, I may resurrect it in the future. I did a 1 drop of it at ECC, so its not like I never did it justice, but still. If I were able to make Funtastiks and they let me compete in Intermediate, my plan would have been to do Kyle Hewitt's routine action for action. X+Y from Team Japan used the same song, and since I checked in Team Japan I still have all their songs on my flashdrive. How funny would it have been if my first dropless routine in comp would have happened 10 years after I began, in the intermediate category, and it was somebody else's routine.
