Rieferman wrote:that's all super obvious, so you're welcome for not enlightening at all
What? I thought everyone on modified was an expert on everything. Anyway, I've had my fill of enlightenment lately.
But seriously thanks for the tips, my spinning set has been kind of coming along, once I can play regularly again I don't think it will take long to land something.
So another New Year's Jam has come and gone. I wasn't sure if I'd do another write-up, because to be quite honest I'm pretty burnt out at the moment. Anyone who has been involved with a footbag event to a significant degree knows there's a behind-the-scenes story, and that's mostly what's on my mind at the moment, but I don't want to get into all that. In the past I've done like a chronological order of what happened but since I was occupied with not very entertaining things I think I'll do a much briefer write-up than usual.
Anyway, as usual, I'll highlight your names in bold so you don't have to read the whole thing. Sorry in advance if I miss anyone, unless you're an asshole, then I'm not sorry.
Footbag wise, I played less than six times in the six weeks before NYJ, but I did get a couple sessions in the week before & felt like I could play decently at the event. Boy was I wrong. I choked in circle, and I was eliminated first in both the request comps. I played at what I would consider an acceptable level for about half an hour out of the entire event.
I spent a lot of time hanging out with
Ken Somolinos, we played footbag a little bit but it was casual stuff mostly, like the night before the event with the Toledo crew,
Donovon, Nik, and Steve.
Toledo rolled nine deep into NYJ! I'll be very interested to see how the scene progresses.
Meeting
Milan Benda was really cool, even though the language barrier prevented much conversation, he just exuded good vibes. Thanks to Milan &
Brian Bear for helping with the housing situation that came up with Ken &
Christoph Larndorfer.
Christoph was cool, I regret not hanging out with him more during the event, but the team four square game was a blast.
I got to spend more time with
Zac Miley &
Matt Kemmer than any previous event, which was fun. Its always good to get to know people beyond the shared interest of footbag. But speaking of that sport, we played some footbag on the first day, Matt's shuffle is really really solid and Zac is very smooth and fun to watch, I'm surprised that he says he hasn't been playing because he looked sharp to me.
I did get to play briefly in a circle with
Reid Strellner and
Ianek Regimbald - which was a lot of fun. Ianek is one of those players that you start to wonder if you should stop giving him props, because every string has something that you probably haven't seen before.
I was really happy that
Fred Noinaj was able to come out both days & that we got to kick again. Hope your knee gets better soon, buddy.
Also happy to see that
Tom Kotsakos was able to actually play some footbag this year.
And I kicked with
James Risden a bunch! Even though we were sore & the floor sucked, its always fun.
Oh yeah, and
Eric Siegel came out. Played with him too, also fun. Damn I need adjectives for 'fun' 'cool' and so forth.
Glad that
Tommy Arianoutsos came out both days. This summer I promise you if you keep playing you're game is gonna explode.
And
Grant Mooney! I enjoyed hanging out with you, glad you were able to participate despite whatever happened to your knee on the second day.
Big thanks to
Emily Kulczyk for helping out so much. I admire your poise. A lot of things that people enjoyed wouldn't have happened without you.
Thanks also to
Eric Reile for graciously hosting so many players.
As usual hanging out with
Zach Jahner was good times. I hope your comeback is fun & successful, but more importantly keep doing well in school so that you can move here.
Apples to Apples with Ken,
Marianne, Reile,
Zeke Emily, Tom, Zach & Kamil was so much fun. As was the
Pinata. Look for more pinata photos & video on facebook soon.
Met a lot of new people -
Cory Allen, Matt Maurer, Joey Michels, Brian Washburn - hopefully we can do it again soon at another event. Glad that Brian has somebody to kick with now & that he could make the trip out.
I'm glad I got to see so many of my friends, and make some new ones. There were some people who couldn't make it out who were missed. Maybe next time. Sorry if I've overlooked anything or anyone else.
I do want to briefly make some more serious comments. Footbag has been a very good thing in my life. I'm not into airing all my business on modified, but those of you who know me well know what it means to me, and what it has meant to me for the past few years. And it has only been there for me thanks to the contributions of others, especially Zeke. A lot of other people too. I've been looking for ways to give back, but many of the things I've tried aren't a good fit for me.
I'm not saying I won't be involved in NYJ again, in fact I'm already looking for ways to do a better job next year. I have a much better understanding of what I'm in for. For instance - I shouldn't plan on playing, I should take on more responsibility rather than assuming I can delegate, I should understand that at this point the attendees have certain expectations of the event that they are bringing with them & I should try to meet those expectations rather than adjust them, I should spend more time confirming attendance & working with the attendees before the event, and I should accept that things will happen beyond my control that could adversely affect the event. Its just so happens that none of those things come very naturally to me so I get stressed out pretty quick.
Basically what I'm saying is I am looking for a way to contribute to footbag that better suits me.
Kicked with gMoney twice 
missed the pinata
