I definitely read "Floor is slippery, but I can swifter it..." and thought that was a strange that hitting that one trick makes a floor is ok to play on...C-Fan wrote: *Floor is slippery, but I can swiffer it...
Fanzine
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colefieldhouse22
- BSOS Beast
- Posts: 358
- Joined: 01 Jan 2006 17:55
- Location: Silver Spring, MD
The whole time while at east coasts I was trying to determine how good of a shred spot that room would be lol. The TV was my main concern.
colefieldhouse22 wrote:I definitely read "Floor is slippery, but I can swifter it..." and thought that was a strange that hitting that one trick makes a floor is ok to play on...C-Fan wrote: *Floor is slippery, but I can swiffer it...
John Goode
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4Xa058ESX4[/youtube]colefieldhouse22 wrote:I definitely read "Floor is slippery, but I can swifter it..." and thought that was a strange that hitting that one trick makes a floor is ok to play on...C-Fan wrote: *Floor is slippery, but I can swiffer it...
Last edited by C-Fan on 17 Oct 2014 10:06, edited 1 time in total.
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bingchenzo
- Hack Fiend
- Posts: 34
- Joined: 08 Jun 2006 20:16
- Location: chocolate city
- Contact:
Took tonight off from footbag both to give my body a rest, and so I could get some errands done. One of the things I knocked off of my checklist was...
...buying tickets to New Year's Jam!
That's right Chicago, I'm coming back. The fact that there are routines this year, and I can practice routines in my own house should be motivation for me. I think dropless would be a worthy goal. I've done four so far in my career, but I think I've got at least one more in me. Now I just need to find a good song.
Got in another home session yesterday. I'm already getting more used to the space, which I'm excited about. This time I ran into Ian on gchat before I even warmed up, so my entire session was comprised of hitting his challenges:
*gyro clipper-ddd rpt
*dsc-drifter
*gyro clip-rip-rip rpt to gyro clip- drifter- drifter rpt
*toe drift-spin clip-spin pdx mirage rpt
*gyro clipper-whirl rpt and drifterto spin clip rpt
*barfly- spin clip- ddd -spin clip bsos
*pdx drifter- dyno -spin clip drill
*8 contacts of gyro clipper -pdx drifter
*drifter- spin clip- pdx drifter- spin clip repeat
*spinning osis-spinning clipper drill
...buying tickets to New Year's Jam!
That's right Chicago, I'm coming back. The fact that there are routines this year, and I can practice routines in my own house should be motivation for me. I think dropless would be a worthy goal. I've done four so far in my career, but I think I've got at least one more in me. Now I just need to find a good song.Got in another home session yesterday. I'm already getting more used to the space, which I'm excited about. This time I ran into Ian on gchat before I even warmed up, so my entire session was comprised of hitting his challenges:
*gyro clipper-ddd rpt
*dsc-drifter
*gyro clip-rip-rip rpt to gyro clip- drifter- drifter rpt
*toe drift-spin clip-spin pdx mirage rpt
*gyro clipper-whirl rpt and drifterto spin clip rpt
*barfly- spin clip- ddd -spin clip bsos
*pdx drifter- dyno -spin clip drill
*8 contacts of gyro clipper -pdx drifter
*drifter- spin clip- pdx drifter- spin clip repeat
*spinning osis-spinning clipper drill
The weather in DC for the past week has been non-stop rain and highs in the low 40s. 
I don't leave the house unless I have to (ie, for work, and when my food ran out). It's that bad. Thankfully though, my shred spot is in my house. 
Had a special guest yesterday, since Brian McKenzie was going to a party one block from my house. I got a few challenges from Josh Munstermann which I hit before Brian showed up. Gyro pickup is a weird trick.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T07B8MYKhRE[/youtube]
I didn't film much while Brian was over, since I didn't want to hurt the flow of the session. Brian played really well. He hit one of the cleanest barroques I've ever seen, and he also hit atomic gyro blender. The spot could have been more pronounced, but it was still badass. I hit an atomic symp whirl in Brian's honor, since I know he was one of the first people to hit that trick. For me the only real highlight was seeing my consistency with double spinning getting better. I also hit whirling far pickup, which is probably a new trick for me, even though it's not that hard:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpBpOw6toJ4[/youtube][/url]
I don't leave the house unless I have to (ie, for work, and when my food ran out). It's that bad. Thankfully though, my shred spot is in my house. Had a special guest yesterday, since Brian McKenzie was going to a party one block from my house. I got a few challenges from Josh Munstermann which I hit before Brian showed up. Gyro pickup is a weird trick.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T07B8MYKhRE[/youtube]
I didn't film much while Brian was over, since I didn't want to hurt the flow of the session. Brian played really well. He hit one of the cleanest barroques I've ever seen, and he also hit atomic gyro blender. The spot could have been more pronounced, but it was still badass. I hit an atomic symp whirl in Brian's honor, since I know he was one of the first people to hit that trick. For me the only real highlight was seeing my consistency with double spinning getting better. I also hit whirling far pickup, which is probably a new trick for me, even though it's not that hard:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpBpOw6toJ4[/youtube][/url]
Last edited by C-Fan on 17 Oct 2014 10:08, edited 1 time in total.
Got in a solo session in my house on Sunday morning. Over the course of the session I ended up getting three injuries, all which I still feel today. Hopefully taking a day or two off will help them heal up.
The injury I'm most worried about, is that I tweaked a muscle in my neck again. I used to get this about once a year, but over the last couple years I feel like I've gotten this more often, and more severely than in the past. Similar to last time, the pain came out of nowhere. I didn't do any specific motion to trigger it; it just happened.
I also reaggravated my right hamstring during the session. I initially hurt it playing net back at East Coasts, and it looks like it hasn't fully healed up. I think I wore it out by doing whirrs and double blenders during the session.
Given that I tweaked my neck during warmups, I didn't hit much of note during the session. The one bright spot was finding that my double blenders magically got tighter and cleaner out of nowhere. Given that I don't do ripsteins or whirrs really, I enjoyed watching myself do this kind of trick. I slowmoed it at home and was very happy with the cleanliness.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpWzJ5KiNC0&NR=1[/youtube]
This Thursday I do another talent show for work. The real big one is on December 9th, so I figure on Thursday I'll do my OK, Go! routine. That way, I'll have almost two months to prepare and practice my NYJ routine, which I'll test out by doing at the Department talent show. Now I just gotta rest up and hope I'm in good physical condition for Thursday's show.
The injury I'm most worried about, is that I tweaked a muscle in my neck again. I used to get this about once a year, but over the last couple years I feel like I've gotten this more often, and more severely than in the past. Similar to last time, the pain came out of nowhere. I didn't do any specific motion to trigger it; it just happened.
I also reaggravated my right hamstring during the session. I initially hurt it playing net back at East Coasts, and it looks like it hasn't fully healed up. I think I wore it out by doing whirrs and double blenders during the session.
My third injury came from hitting my hand against the lamp when going for a sloppy vortex. Feels like a bone bruise to me. Very frustrating and annoying.C-Fan wrote: The space itself isn't 100% ideal, but it's pluses outweigh its minuses.
Cons:
*There's an overhead lamp. So far it hasn't affected my spins, but I'm very aware of it. I've avoided fliers so far too.
Given that I tweaked my neck during warmups, I didn't hit much of note during the session. The one bright spot was finding that my double blenders magically got tighter and cleaner out of nowhere. Given that I don't do ripsteins or whirrs really, I enjoyed watching myself do this kind of trick. I slowmoed it at home and was very happy with the cleanliness.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpWzJ5KiNC0&NR=1[/youtube]
This Thursday I do another talent show for work. The real big one is on December 9th, so I figure on Thursday I'll do my OK, Go! routine. That way, I'll have almost two months to prepare and practice my NYJ routine, which I'll test out by doing at the Department talent show. Now I just gotta rest up and hope I'm in good physical condition for Thursday's show.
Last edited by C-Fan on 26 May 2015 08:57, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks Asmus! I really loved this year's Worlds shirts. It's like my only footbag shirt that I feel is stylish and nice enough that I can wear out at a club or on nice social occasions.Asmus wrote:The worlds shirt looks good on you.
As for your challenge, I can't even tell you how many reasons why that combo is not going to happen.
Got in a little bit of footbag over the last couple days, but unfortunately no footage. On Wednesday night Age came to visit. The weather was unexpectedly nice, so we got in a 30 minute shred outdoors as the sun went down. Nothing notable was hit, but it was nice to freestyle with Age.
Yesterday I performed in a talent show at work. Unfortunately, I was swamped with deadlines, so I had trouble relaxing and enjoying the chance to play footbag at work. The show was held in a really nice auditorium, and the stage I performed on was sweet. I was the first act up, and I did a solid job. I gave my standard 2 minute speech explaining the basics of footbag, and then I did my OK, Go! routine. I had one drop total, which came within the first 15 seconds of the routine. That actually worked out well, because at that point in the routine the audience really didn't know what to expect. I hit most of my cues, my juggle went well, and I finished strong. The audience gave me some solid applause, and some people actually stood, which was flattering. I bowed, and as I walked off stage, the MC corralled me back up. Apparently, the show was modeled on "America's Got Talent," so there was a panel of 4 judges who I had to listen to as they critiqued my performance. The first three judges were effusive in their praise and gave me thumbs up. The last judge gave me a sideways thumb, which he turned into a thumbs up. I had to run back to work so I didn't see the other acts, but based on the photos and descriptions posted of the event, I think it's a safe bet I didn't miss anything spectacular.
Now I need to create a new routine for the actual show, which is December 9th. The plan is to use this as an excuse to get ready for routines at NYJ, so I'll treat the Dec 9th show as a practice for NYJ.
Since I don't have any new video to post, here's an old favorite of mine:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz9CPnHTXug[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 17 Oct 2014 10:10, edited 1 time in total.
FUCK YES KEN!! Digital love i believe.. Daft punk.. That song is freaking amazing.. now im gonna watch the rest of you video, i only got 10 15 seconds through it ^.^
Edit: Aerodynamic, Whatever, both of those songs are good.. and your trippin video is awesome too..
Edit: Aerodynamic, Whatever, both of those songs are good.. and your trippin video is awesome too..
Cory Allen
My Footblog
My Footblog
I've been spending a lot less time on modified lately, which is one of the reasons I haven't posted in my blog in three weeks. Given the slow pace modified has been moving at lately, I don't feel like I've missed much. For example: my blog hasn't had any posts for three weeks yet it's still on the first page? Wow.
Random stuff:
1. I found a routine song for NYJ, and I'm pretty excited about it. I've been listening to it everyday, roughly figuring out choreo in my head. Now I need to start actually practicing it. My first chance to do it in front of an audience will be a month from now at a DOI talent show. If it clicks for me, I think I'll use it at Worlds.
2. Achieved a small milestone: I've posted over 1000 videos to my YouTube channel. I'd say that over 95% of the vids I've posted have been 30 second, unedited clips of me playing footbag. That's kind of insane.
3. I recently got to spend a week in Arizona, thanks to a work trip. I took full advantage of the weather and played a ton outside. Due to my work schedule and heat considerations, I often played when the sun was setting, which didn't make for great lighting when filming.
It did make for some scenic sunsets though, which were fun to play in:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8zwj1yNmKk[/youtube]
I also couldn't resist hitting phoenix bsos in Phoenix. Didn't hit much new stuff on the trip, but I feel like my double spinning is getting more reliable, which is exciting. I also enjoyed getting to play with Josh Munsterman again. Kid's got a lot of talent.
Oh, I also hit GSDLO on the trip, which isn't new, but is always a rush to hit:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XEMjALVld4[/youtube]
I've played twice since getting back to DC. First session was a great shred with Brian. Inspired by Anz, I hit my first triages in over four years. Most were thin, but I think I could get some clean ones if I work at them. Other than that, I just had fun working double spins. Brian challenged me to
double spinning osis-pdx blender, and I also came close to some other double spinning links which may be the key to me finally hitting a beast combo.
Got in another session last night, which was terrible. I played so badly, that towards the end I just messed around hitting tricks with random objects. Shredwise, this was my only highlight:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfy3XNt8lV0 [/youtube] smoke to ds osis
In sad news, Ryan Thomas is moving from DC to NC. Hopefully get in a farewell shred this weekend.
Random stuff:
1. I found a routine song for NYJ, and I'm pretty excited about it. I've been listening to it everyday, roughly figuring out choreo in my head. Now I need to start actually practicing it. My first chance to do it in front of an audience will be a month from now at a DOI talent show. If it clicks for me, I think I'll use it at Worlds.
2. Achieved a small milestone: I've posted over 1000 videos to my YouTube channel. I'd say that over 95% of the vids I've posted have been 30 second, unedited clips of me playing footbag. That's kind of insane.
3. I recently got to spend a week in Arizona, thanks to a work trip. I took full advantage of the weather and played a ton outside. Due to my work schedule and heat considerations, I often played when the sun was setting, which didn't make for great lighting when filming.
It did make for some scenic sunsets though, which were fun to play in:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8zwj1yNmKk[/youtube]
I also couldn't resist hitting phoenix bsos in Phoenix. Didn't hit much new stuff on the trip, but I feel like my double spinning is getting more reliable, which is exciting. I also enjoyed getting to play with Josh Munsterman again. Kid's got a lot of talent.
Oh, I also hit GSDLO on the trip, which isn't new, but is always a rush to hit:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XEMjALVld4[/youtube]
I've played twice since getting back to DC. First session was a great shred with Brian. Inspired by Anz, I hit my first triages in over four years. Most were thin, but I think I could get some clean ones if I work at them. Other than that, I just had fun working double spins. Brian challenged me to
double spinning osis-pdx blender, and I also came close to some other double spinning links which may be the key to me finally hitting a beast combo.
Got in another session last night, which was terrible. I played so badly, that towards the end I just messed around hitting tricks with random objects. Shredwise, this was my only highlight:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfy3XNt8lV0 [/youtube] smoke to ds osis
In sad news, Ryan Thomas is moving from DC to NC. Hopefully get in a farewell shred this weekend.
Last edited by C-Fan on 17 Oct 2014 10:11, edited 1 time in total.
My informal break from modified (and my blog) continues. I still lurk, but I spend a lot less time here.
Some quick updates:
*I've been in a bit of a footbag slump lately. I think it's due to a combination of minor injuries, equipment setbacks (my black g-units finally died), and too much solo-sessioning. My last two shreds I've gotten my mental game back a bit, so I should try and build off of that. I'll also try and get Brian to come over for a shred.
*I have a talent show in nine days, and my routine still needs a ton of work. The plan is to practice it enough in the coming week that I can hopefully do a dumbed down, dropless version for the talent show. I'd then have about 3 weeks to build off of that version of the routine, and bring it up to a level of difficulty where I could use it at New Year's Jam and have a chance to do well.
*I just learned today that there will be Shred30 at NYJ. I should probably start practicing shuffle again. That said, at this stage of my career I really have no interest in doing well in Shred30 anymore. I just find routines to be a lot more interesting and challenging. I'd like to get at least one more dropless routine in competition before I retire.
*I'm going to be in Spain in mid-December for a few days. Hopefully I can get in a shred, or at the very least hang out a bit with the Spanish crew while I'm over there.
*My double spins have almost disappeared in the last few weeks. I'm not sure what happened, but I want to bring them back. I think I'm rushing the first spin now, but I'm not 100% sure what the problem is. I hope I can get them back soon, because they are so much fun.
*I've recently started listening to Pandora radio when I play. You just type in the name of a song/band/genre that you like, and then it plays a bunch of songs which are similar to it. It's a great way to discover new music, and it's also a good way to avoid having your playlists get stale.
Here's a fun run from today:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXidccLDcu4[/youtube]
Some quick updates:
*I've been in a bit of a footbag slump lately. I think it's due to a combination of minor injuries, equipment setbacks (my black g-units finally died), and too much solo-sessioning. My last two shreds I've gotten my mental game back a bit, so I should try and build off of that. I'll also try and get Brian to come over for a shred.
*I have a talent show in nine days, and my routine still needs a ton of work. The plan is to practice it enough in the coming week that I can hopefully do a dumbed down, dropless version for the talent show. I'd then have about 3 weeks to build off of that version of the routine, and bring it up to a level of difficulty where I could use it at New Year's Jam and have a chance to do well.
*I just learned today that there will be Shred30 at NYJ. I should probably start practicing shuffle again. That said, at this stage of my career I really have no interest in doing well in Shred30 anymore. I just find routines to be a lot more interesting and challenging. I'd like to get at least one more dropless routine in competition before I retire.
*I'm going to be in Spain in mid-December for a few days. Hopefully I can get in a shred, or at the very least hang out a bit with the Spanish crew while I'm over there.
*My double spins have almost disappeared in the last few weeks. I'm not sure what happened, but I want to bring them back. I think I'm rushing the first spin now, but I'm not 100% sure what the problem is. I hope I can get them back soon, because they are so much fun.
*I've recently started listening to Pandora radio when I play. You just type in the name of a song/band/genre that you like, and then it plays a bunch of songs which are similar to it. It's a great way to discover new music, and it's also a good way to avoid having your playlists get stale.
Here's a fun run from today:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXidccLDcu4[/youtube]
Last edited by C-Fan on 17 Oct 2014 10:12, edited 1 time in total.
Ken, the PDLO to barrage to paradon Bsos was insane looking.. i talked outloud when i saw it.. like "OHH damn that was insane.. oh look both sides!"
haha..
Yeah the smaller stuff for talent show dropless and building off of that seems like a great idea. and you better get one more dropless in competition before retiring.. =)
I go to the categories section on Pandora and to to electronic and then ambient and fall alseep to that quite often.. lol...
good luck on the talent show and i hope you find the people in spain..!
haha..
Yeah the smaller stuff for talent show dropless and building off of that seems like a great idea. and you better get one more dropless in competition before retiring.. =)
I go to the categories section on Pandora and to to electronic and then ambient and fall alseep to that quite often.. lol...
good luck on the talent show and i hope you find the people in spain..!
Cory Allen
My Footblog
My Footblog
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CIC flurry
- Amazingly Sexy Man-Beast
- Posts: 3426
- Joined: 28 May 2003 16:06
- Location: Chicago
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Sporatical_Distractions
- registered sacks offender
- Posts: 4529
- Joined: 12 Oct 2004 19:14
- Location: Guy's American Kitchen & Bar
NYJ 2009
This year's NYJ was a lot of fun. It was also one of the weirdest, most surreal tournies I've attended. Footbagwise, I can't remember playing much better at an event. I've been to tournies where I compete well but play badly in casual shred, as well as vice versa. At NYJ though, I feel like I played near the top of my game in every event, and in every shred. I didn't go dropless in routines, but other than that I was very happy with how I played this year.
Prelude:
Three weeks before comp, my black G-Units finally died on me. I switched over to my blue and white yankee units...which then died on me four days before the event!
I shouldn't have been that surprised, since both pairs had almost the same number of miles on them, but I was. I modded a new pair of G-Units (grey) and got in one solid session with them, but even up to the last minute I wasn't sure which pair to bring to the tourney. The old ones might not make it through the weekend, but at least they were broken in. I ended up opting to take the new pair, which in retrospect was the right decision. They were a little stiff, but the fact that the soles were new and grippy really helped out a lot on the slippery playing surface we had at the competition site. Anyway, it was a bit unsettling to have my equipment break down right before a comp, but things ended up working out.
Day 1
I flew out on the 26th, and right away I had a bad feeling the weather was going to wreak havoc on NYJ. I knew it was snowing in Chicago, but most of the East Coast also had some combo of fog, freezing rain, and snow. I was lucky since I was only delayed 45 minutes, but as I would find out later, many other footbaggers were not as fortunate. I arrived in Chicago really early, and decided to eat and kill time in the city before heading over to the hotel (since there's nothing in that area). I found a seedy sports bar and had a couple local beers (312 Goose Island) as I watched some basketball. I finally head over to the hotel, where I get a call from Matt Bailey. It's bad news; his flight is canceled, and he has decided he won't be coming to NYJ at all. I'm disappointed because I was looking forward to hanging out with him, but beyond that, it also presents me with a logistical problem. I was supposed to split a room with Matt, Marco, Kemmer, and Zac Miley, but only Matt Bailey and Marco's names were on the reservation. As far as I could remember, Marco wasn't due in until late that night, so I needed to figure out what to do with my luggage (and my time) until he arrived. I call Nathan, and he gives me the number of the hackers from Toledo who are the only other footbaggers at the hotel. Even though I've never met any of them, I call them up and invite myself to their room. Nobody brought cards or scrabble or anything, so after a few minutes I decide I'll teach them foursquare. We find an empty spot near the conference rooms, and then we end up playing foursquare for a good two hours or so. Nathan and Tom Kotsakos swing by, and I play a little freestyle in long pants. Afterwards I continue trying to reach Matt or Marco, but no luck there. At the end of the night I end up crashing in Brian Bear and Milan's room, which ends up being my arrangement for the next two nights as well.
Day 2 (Routines)
Woke up feeling pretty good, considering the previous night's stress of not knowing where I was going to sleep for the tourney. Competition isn't scheduled until 1 pm, so I go down to the site and check out the various sports that are going on. I'm disappointed to see the climbing walls are a lot lamer than the past year, but I'm excited to see the Harlem Globetrotters are back. I missed them last year, and there was no way I'd let that happen twice. 1 pm comes...and then goes. I don't think competition started until around 2:30. I put off warming up as long as I could, so I was actually pretty fresh by the time I had to compete. This year there was no carpet at the site, so the floor was really slippery. I played in brand-new G-Units, and even I was slipping. I have no idea how the players in Quantums or old Lavers could play. At one point I ended up tweaking my neck really badly when I slipped on the floor. I hit ewalk-fog-darkwalk-blw-blw-blurriest-blurrieslip, and I felt it in my neck like an axe. Sucks. Took two ibuprofen, which combined with the adrenaline enabled me to play through the pain. On both days the playing surface was bad and my neck hurt, but when it came time to compete I was able to completely ignore all distractions and play my best, which I was very happy about.
Right before my routine I got to play with James Risden for my first time ever. Can't believe we've both been in the sport so long and only now did we finally get to play together. We only got to play for a few minutes, and I was so pumped to play with James, that I was on fire. Had one run with midstring DSC and triage in it. Afterwards, I was tempted to not play with James again during the tourney, so he'd have the impression that I always play that well.
My routine started off pretty well. I made it about halfway through without dropping, then got a very silly one on a juggle. Got my second drop during the last 10 seconds of the routine on a PSW, which was the drop that I was unhappy about. For the most part though I hit my cues and felt like I put on a good show. I didn't overdo paradox mirage, and I liked my variety.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lCIz8Vi5s0[/youtube]
After my routine I was very surprised to see...my roommate Eric from DC?!?
What the? So apparently my roommate thought it would be cool to watch me compete, and also funny to surprise me. He certainly surprised me. I was also glad he showed up, because it motivated me to do a bunch of fun non-footbag stuff I might not have otherwise.
That night in the shred room I got to play a lot with Reid Strellner and Risden. I also had fun playing casual foursquare. Competition-wise, Ianek ran a variation on request contest where you had to choose to hit one of two tricks, but whichever one you chose, you had to hit it both sides. I had a lot of fun with this contest, but got out on terrage. My other option was twirl, which I'm even worse at flip. I think Milan won this contest.
Day 3 (Circle)
This time around I decided I'd eat a proper brunch in order to give myself energy for the day, so I splurged on an expensive breakfast buffet at the hotel. Definitely was a good decision, since my body is not used to playing so much footbag in consecutive days, and I needed the energy to get through. I started the day off with some ping pong against my roommate, which was a blast. I used to play ping pong all the time in Japan, and I'd really missed it. I didn't fully wake up though until I did an obstacle course against him, which only lasted 10 seconds but got my blood pumping. I also finally got to see the Harlem Globetrotters do a show, though it was really short.
I contemplated not doing Circle at all, and instead going out to do more sightseeing, but my body felt pretty spry and I already felt like I was doing a good job on the tourism tip, so I figured I may as well compete. In the first round I was grouped with Milan, Zac Miley, and Christoph Larndorfer, with the top two advancing. I didn't think I'd be able to upset Milan, so my goal was just to beat the other two guys so I could make it to finals. The first phase was variety, and I threw some good stuff like WHAT!?!, fliers and whizzes. I don't remember the density round as well, but when results were announced I was pleasantly surprised to find out I won my pool. Because of this, I had top seed in finals, which is always useful, as you can decide how conservative you need to play based on how others played that turn. While I was happy I upset Milan in the first round, I didn't think I'd pull it off again in Finals. In the first round we used my favorite bag, but in finals we used a floppy footfighter. In actuality, it probably helped me out a bit, since I went for longer, more conservative runs (I did shy away from shuffling much because of it).
One moment that stood out for me was while Milan and I were staying warm between rounds. I hit an HPD, and Milan followed up with High Plains Swifter! First time I'd seen it in person; such a sick trick. Most memorable trick I saw all week.
I knew there was going to be shred that night, so after Circle comp I changed and waited for awards ceremony. Though I had been unofficially told that I had upset Milan in Circle finals, it was still a nice surprise to hear it announced. Considering I'll be turning 30 in a few months (and that I've been playing for 12.5 years), it was nice for my ego to know I can still hold my own with the young kids at an event. I won two t-shirts, a Julien Cote bag, a DVD and some money, and I ended up giving away everything other than the money. I celebrated by going up the Sears tower and checking out the view of Chicago from there. They recently installed four glass boxes which hang out from the top floor, so you can stand 103 floors above the street. Trippy and a lot of fun. I got dinner with some friends from DC, and had one of the best martinis of my life, then went back to the shred room to compete in request contest.
Last year I was eliminated in request contest because I couldn't consistently zoom, and my fairy set was horribly unreliable. This year I felt some vindication, since I survived a round where I had to do fairy ss pickup-ducking mirage. After that round, I didn't even care what came. I was just happy I hit a fairy set under pressure in competition. I ended up taking second; I got out on toe barrage-pixie ducking legover. I spent the rest of the night drinking and playing foursquare.
Day 4 (Denouement)
Started the day off by getting breakfast with Christophe, where I had some of the best waffles of my life. Met up with my DC friends and we checked out the Museum of Contemporary Art. After that I metroed to Reile's place, where I spent the next 12 hours playing Scrabble, Rock Band, Apples to Apples, and stuffing my face with delicious Italian food. My best play in Apples to Apples was "classic-festering wounds." I also had the privilege of participating in the Pinata fun, which was very epic.
So overall NYJ was a lot of fun, though really surreal. Between my roommate unexpectedly showing up, standing 103 floors over Chicago, Marco and Matt not showing up and my room being cancelled, unexpectedly winning circle, seeing the Globetrotters, and the whole Pinata incident, it was definitely the weirdest tourney experience I've had.
Big thank you to CIC for throwing the jam, Ianek for running competitions, Steve for the shred room, and the sponsors for kicking in prizes. I had a great time.
This year's NYJ was a lot of fun. It was also one of the weirdest, most surreal tournies I've attended. Footbagwise, I can't remember playing much better at an event. I've been to tournies where I compete well but play badly in casual shred, as well as vice versa. At NYJ though, I feel like I played near the top of my game in every event, and in every shred. I didn't go dropless in routines, but other than that I was very happy with how I played this year.
Prelude:
Three weeks before comp, my black G-Units finally died on me. I switched over to my blue and white yankee units...which then died on me four days before the event!
I shouldn't have been that surprised, since both pairs had almost the same number of miles on them, but I was. I modded a new pair of G-Units (grey) and got in one solid session with them, but even up to the last minute I wasn't sure which pair to bring to the tourney. The old ones might not make it through the weekend, but at least they were broken in. I ended up opting to take the new pair, which in retrospect was the right decision. They were a little stiff, but the fact that the soles were new and grippy really helped out a lot on the slippery playing surface we had at the competition site. Anyway, it was a bit unsettling to have my equipment break down right before a comp, but things ended up working out.Day 1
I flew out on the 26th, and right away I had a bad feeling the weather was going to wreak havoc on NYJ. I knew it was snowing in Chicago, but most of the East Coast also had some combo of fog, freezing rain, and snow. I was lucky since I was only delayed 45 minutes, but as I would find out later, many other footbaggers were not as fortunate. I arrived in Chicago really early, and decided to eat and kill time in the city before heading over to the hotel (since there's nothing in that area). I found a seedy sports bar and had a couple local beers (312 Goose Island) as I watched some basketball. I finally head over to the hotel, where I get a call from Matt Bailey. It's bad news; his flight is canceled, and he has decided he won't be coming to NYJ at all. I'm disappointed because I was looking forward to hanging out with him, but beyond that, it also presents me with a logistical problem. I was supposed to split a room with Matt, Marco, Kemmer, and Zac Miley, but only Matt Bailey and Marco's names were on the reservation. As far as I could remember, Marco wasn't due in until late that night, so I needed to figure out what to do with my luggage (and my time) until he arrived. I call Nathan, and he gives me the number of the hackers from Toledo who are the only other footbaggers at the hotel. Even though I've never met any of them, I call them up and invite myself to their room. Nobody brought cards or scrabble or anything, so after a few minutes I decide I'll teach them foursquare. We find an empty spot near the conference rooms, and then we end up playing foursquare for a good two hours or so. Nathan and Tom Kotsakos swing by, and I play a little freestyle in long pants. Afterwards I continue trying to reach Matt or Marco, but no luck there. At the end of the night I end up crashing in Brian Bear and Milan's room, which ends up being my arrangement for the next two nights as well.
Day 2 (Routines)
Woke up feeling pretty good, considering the previous night's stress of not knowing where I was going to sleep for the tourney. Competition isn't scheduled until 1 pm, so I go down to the site and check out the various sports that are going on. I'm disappointed to see the climbing walls are a lot lamer than the past year, but I'm excited to see the Harlem Globetrotters are back. I missed them last year, and there was no way I'd let that happen twice. 1 pm comes...and then goes. I don't think competition started until around 2:30. I put off warming up as long as I could, so I was actually pretty fresh by the time I had to compete. This year there was no carpet at the site, so the floor was really slippery. I played in brand-new G-Units, and even I was slipping. I have no idea how the players in Quantums or old Lavers could play. At one point I ended up tweaking my neck really badly when I slipped on the floor. I hit ewalk-fog-darkwalk-blw-blw-blurriest-blurrieslip, and I felt it in my neck like an axe. Sucks. Took two ibuprofen, which combined with the adrenaline enabled me to play through the pain. On both days the playing surface was bad and my neck hurt, but when it came time to compete I was able to completely ignore all distractions and play my best, which I was very happy about.
Right before my routine I got to play with James Risden for my first time ever. Can't believe we've both been in the sport so long and only now did we finally get to play together. We only got to play for a few minutes, and I was so pumped to play with James, that I was on fire. Had one run with midstring DSC and triage in it. Afterwards, I was tempted to not play with James again during the tourney, so he'd have the impression that I always play that well.
My routine started off pretty well. I made it about halfway through without dropping, then got a very silly one on a juggle. Got my second drop during the last 10 seconds of the routine on a PSW, which was the drop that I was unhappy about. For the most part though I hit my cues and felt like I put on a good show. I didn't overdo paradox mirage, and I liked my variety.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lCIz8Vi5s0[/youtube]
After my routine I was very surprised to see...my roommate Eric from DC?!?
What the? So apparently my roommate thought it would be cool to watch me compete, and also funny to surprise me. He certainly surprised me. I was also glad he showed up, because it motivated me to do a bunch of fun non-footbag stuff I might not have otherwise. That night in the shred room I got to play a lot with Reid Strellner and Risden. I also had fun playing casual foursquare. Competition-wise, Ianek ran a variation on request contest where you had to choose to hit one of two tricks, but whichever one you chose, you had to hit it both sides. I had a lot of fun with this contest, but got out on terrage. My other option was twirl, which I'm even worse at flip. I think Milan won this contest.
Day 3 (Circle)
This time around I decided I'd eat a proper brunch in order to give myself energy for the day, so I splurged on an expensive breakfast buffet at the hotel. Definitely was a good decision, since my body is not used to playing so much footbag in consecutive days, and I needed the energy to get through. I started the day off with some ping pong against my roommate, which was a blast. I used to play ping pong all the time in Japan, and I'd really missed it. I didn't fully wake up though until I did an obstacle course against him, which only lasted 10 seconds but got my blood pumping. I also finally got to see the Harlem Globetrotters do a show, though it was really short.
I contemplated not doing Circle at all, and instead going out to do more sightseeing, but my body felt pretty spry and I already felt like I was doing a good job on the tourism tip, so I figured I may as well compete. In the first round I was grouped with Milan, Zac Miley, and Christoph Larndorfer, with the top two advancing. I didn't think I'd be able to upset Milan, so my goal was just to beat the other two guys so I could make it to finals. The first phase was variety, and I threw some good stuff like WHAT!?!, fliers and whizzes. I don't remember the density round as well, but when results were announced I was pleasantly surprised to find out I won my pool. Because of this, I had top seed in finals, which is always useful, as you can decide how conservative you need to play based on how others played that turn. While I was happy I upset Milan in the first round, I didn't think I'd pull it off again in Finals. In the first round we used my favorite bag, but in finals we used a floppy footfighter. In actuality, it probably helped me out a bit, since I went for longer, more conservative runs (I did shy away from shuffling much because of it).
One moment that stood out for me was while Milan and I were staying warm between rounds. I hit an HPD, and Milan followed up with High Plains Swifter! First time I'd seen it in person; such a sick trick. Most memorable trick I saw all week.
I knew there was going to be shred that night, so after Circle comp I changed and waited for awards ceremony. Though I had been unofficially told that I had upset Milan in Circle finals, it was still a nice surprise to hear it announced. Considering I'll be turning 30 in a few months (and that I've been playing for 12.5 years), it was nice for my ego to know I can still hold my own with the young kids at an event. I won two t-shirts, a Julien Cote bag, a DVD and some money, and I ended up giving away everything other than the money. I celebrated by going up the Sears tower and checking out the view of Chicago from there. They recently installed four glass boxes which hang out from the top floor, so you can stand 103 floors above the street. Trippy and a lot of fun. I got dinner with some friends from DC, and had one of the best martinis of my life, then went back to the shred room to compete in request contest.
Last year I was eliminated in request contest because I couldn't consistently zoom, and my fairy set was horribly unreliable. This year I felt some vindication, since I survived a round where I had to do fairy ss pickup-ducking mirage. After that round, I didn't even care what came. I was just happy I hit a fairy set under pressure in competition. I ended up taking second; I got out on toe barrage-pixie ducking legover. I spent the rest of the night drinking and playing foursquare.
Day 4 (Denouement)
Started the day off by getting breakfast with Christophe, where I had some of the best waffles of my life. Met up with my DC friends and we checked out the Museum of Contemporary Art. After that I metroed to Reile's place, where I spent the next 12 hours playing Scrabble, Rock Band, Apples to Apples, and stuffing my face with delicious Italian food. My best play in Apples to Apples was "classic-festering wounds." I also had the privilege of participating in the Pinata fun, which was very epic.
So overall NYJ was a lot of fun, though really surreal. Between my roommate unexpectedly showing up, standing 103 floors over Chicago, Marco and Matt not showing up and my room being cancelled, unexpectedly winning circle, seeing the Globetrotters, and the whole Pinata incident, it was definitely the weirdest tourney experience I've had.
Big thank you to CIC for throwing the jam, Ianek for running competitions, Steve for the shred room, and the sponsors for kicking in prizes. I had a great time.
Last edited by C-Fan on 17 Oct 2014 10:13, edited 1 time in total.
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CIC flurry
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Frank_Sinatra
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