Canberra, Australia via SCL - Daniel Boyle

Sporatical_Distractions · Post by **Sporatical_Distractions** » 04 Aug 2010 23:28

boyle wrote:People say "dude" so much in California.

Lol!

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 05 Aug 2010 09:53

So last night, it was pretty crazy.

Awesome though.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 08 Aug 2010 15:10

Worlds is done. I'm at a hostel in San Francisco. Probably going to go see The Ataris tonight. I was planning to go to a show at Gilman last night, probably the most famous punk venue in the world. Anyhow, I got lost going there, so didn't make it.

I was really disappointed with my performances in the competitions. I didn't hit any new moves, and I didn't really play that much. I think however, I have improved a fair bit since last year.

At some stage I'll do a much more detailed writeup, but right now I just want to go home. Fly out tomorrow evening.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 09 Aug 2010 05:46

You're still the reigning Australian champion, though, so quit yer wailin'!

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 09 Aug 2010 10:51

haha! One thing that really surprised me was that when talking to many good players (Clavens, Honza, etc) they said "oh, I saw that video of your routine" to say the least I was surprised.

Went to see The Ataris last night. It wasn't as good as when we went to see Propaghandi last year in Berlin, but it was cool. I got real drunk.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 10 Aug 2010 15:10

one more leg of this seemingly never ending journey.

I left San Francisco on Monday night around 7pm, had a flight to LA, no problems.

Then we started rolling out at LAX before the takeoff, then it seemed we had stopped for a while. Eventually a message came over the PA and it went something like chcchebfhehbffhbfhsashshshshshshshhhsh. Then another message came over saying, back to the gate. So we had to wait there for 2 hours.

Then the flight is like 14 hours or something else not good. So we were due to arrive in at 6am, but got in later, I had booked a bus for 8.10am. I had a good run through customs etc, to collect my bag took a while, then I made a frantic dash to the bus stop, but it was all too late.

So now I'm in the city in Sydney, I've got another bus booked now, it's going to get me back into Canberra at 2.30pm, Wednesday.

I will do some kind of writeup eventually, but right now I feel like dying.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 11 Aug 2010 14:33

Back home. Weather is nice, time to kick. Time to get ready to be a good footbag player next year.

Post by **Zac Miley** » 11 Aug 2010 16:33

Thanks for all of the writing you did while at worlds.

Hopefully I'll meet you at a tournament some time in the future.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 11 Aug 2010 19:48

See you at the next worlds!

I'll probably write up a bit more about worlds in this shift at work, as long as I don't fall asleep at the desk.

Thanks for reading also

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 11 Aug 2010 22:31

So I played this morning. I was mistaken when I said the weather was nice, we're not in California anymore. It was absolutely freezing. No highlights really, it was good just to get the legs moving. I had some good long strings actually.

So anyway, let's talk about the trip.

The plane flight over was pretty good, I think I already covered that, we'll continue. I got out of the plane, and somehow, after so long travelling, I was ready for action, I was really keen to shred.

So I've talked about this already to, I'll just dust over the main highlight, probably for the week, Clavens gave me props when I hit alpine blurry whirl. He said he had watched my routine on youtube and didn't expect me to be as good.

I was playing really well that day, I hit a whole bunch of tricks I don't hit so often, it didn't really last though.

The shred moved to the park in front of City Hall. I didn't really want to play so much anymore, I was in a few circles, but I wanted to rest up. I didn't want to be burnt out the rest of the week after the first day (not like last year).

So it was good to see some old faces and meet some new people. Caroline was at her third worlds, this was just my second, she was saying how everybody was like an old friend by this stage. I am more at the stage of "nice to meet you, again". But next year will be old buddies.

Tuukka had to check into his room, so I went and found Taylor so that he could check in.

Our rooms we had were mainly 2 x double beds, I'm not sure if other people had different set ups. I was in with Ryan, Kevin Regamey and Marco Hartig.

This was a pretty good share room, we all are reasonably laid back, and also we were barely ever there, so there were never any arguments or anything. Being in such a close space I would imagine could lead to some heated debates.

Ryan did say I slapped him in the face in my sleep one night. I said he needed to harden up and not scratch from events.

Went to the Thai place for dinner. These guys seemed a bit confused..."Saigon Thai". Anyway, got some food there, most of the players went there, but we split into groups so we would get served better.

We had a pretty big table, I couldn't tell you exactly who was there, but it was a lot of the guys from Chicago etc. Reid was there, Tina and Mario were there, Rob Creel was sitting next to me. I had Pad See Ew (Chicken), it was quite reasonable, and pretty cheap as well. I had a little bowl of some of the other meals, there were some very spicy options.

I had seen a bar advertising free wifi. A bit of a weird thing for a pub to advertise, especially when they brew their own beer, but it caught my eye. I went over there with Caroline, she got a meal, which was massive, I drunk some beer.

It was my first of many journeys to the Pacific Brewing Company. The beer was quite good also. First I had the grey whale, which is their own style of Pale Ale, afterwards I had a Blue Whale, that's more like a golden ale, quite similar to the Aussie beer James Squires.

The guy at the bar was really nice, there was no one in there, so he gave us free reign on the jukebox. I think both of us had some trouble with the jukebox, but we got to have 5 songs each. I can't remember exactly what we had, but I did select Purple Haze by Hendrix and God Save The Queen by Sex Pistols. That bartender was a top bloke. We asked if he'd be around the rest of the week, he said, "no, there'll be a grumpy old man, I just work the weekends".

Think I went to bed reasonably early that night, it's a long way to the US, so it was good to go to sleep. Circle Comp was on the next day.

Things didn't start til a bit later on, I don't remember doing anything highly exciting, I think I walked down to Jack London square, it was looking pretty bleak, nobody robbed me though, so I guess it was a success.

I had a strong feeling that I would get shot or killed in my entire stay in the US. Oakland is in the top 5 cities for violent crimes, so that wasn't such a surprise, but it's not a nice environment.

Before the contest I had a really good circle with Tuukka and Takumi. I was playing quite well, although well below the level of the other two guys, but I didn't feel uncomfortable in the circle.

My pool came around, it was with Toni, Reid and Manna.I obviously knew I wouldn't be progressing, but I just wanted to have one nice run to get me through. I didn't even get that at all. My final run started with matador>ducking clipper, but then I dropped a couple of contacts later. I was really disappointed with my round. The other guys were awesome, all in good form, with long long runs of hard tricks. I must have done about 12 contacts within my time of the circles. It was a disappointing thing in the competition, and a sign of things to come.

Think after the contest I went over the road to the pub again, got some nachos. They were phenomenally large. It was like a mountain there on my plate. I don't remember doing much, think I might have just stayed at that pub a while, drunk some beers. I may have invested in the deal at the Smart and Final- 12 Heinekken for $12. That was a pretty good deal. I thought I started later in the routine, but that was not correct.

So anyway, didn't wake up until about 11, that was also not a part of my plan, I wanted to be up a lot earlier for the day, to get ready for my routines.

So anyway, routines needs to have its own post, I'm still extremely outraged about how that turned out.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 12 Aug 2010 00:00

So, I said earlier, my routines were a total disaster. I will probably continue to say that until the next worlds, or maybe the one after.

Even my preparations were hopeless. The main bag I was using to get ready, somewhere in between getting on the BART at SFO and getting to the Marriott, it vanished. I don't know if I left it behind somewhere, or if it will turn up in my baggage, but that was a major annoyance.

It was an Alf bag, and it was just worn in to the level I like, I had another bag I was playing with a fair bit, a Hania bag. I decided on the day to use one of Caroline's, it actually used to be mine, it's the one I used to do my dropless routine, but we did a swap, so I could have a green and gold one (also Hania) to use the at the worlds.

So Ryan has decided to scratch from the event, he was in my same pool, he was the 5th player in the pool I was the 4th. Just before going into things I was talking to Taishi, asked him what pool he was in. I had studied the pools fairly heavily, but hadn't seen his name. Turns out there was a mistake and he was in the same pool as me.

So I had Bevier, Bujo, Ostrowski (Michal), and Taishi, then me. As Ryan had scratched, I was first up. A couple of the intermediate guys had some really good routines, that was good to see.

Ryan said I only wanted him to be in my pool to have someone to beat. That wasn't so much the case, it was more, I would have liked to have someone ahead of me, not to be the first player in the competition. I wasn't, so, not much I could do about that.

So they call my name, Daniel Boyle, you're up next. I really hate the way "Daniel Boyle" sounds with an American accent. It just rubs me the wrong way. So anyway, they called me up to let me know I would be in action soon.

Then, they say, Daniel, we haven't got your music. This was the point where my blood pressure begin to rise. You would think that if they didn't have my music, they would have told me such a thing at the pre registration, or why bother having something like that.

I tell them I have it on my laptop right here, I can get it for you, but I'm not pleased about it. I'm seething actually. So I go to get my computer out and they say, oh actually, we've got your song. It was just on this other drive, we didn't bother to transfer it over.

So then I have to wait for them to transfer it, and all this time I'm standing to the side of the competition area, thinking about my routine, not particularly pleased.

So apart from sending in your song early, you also filled in a player profile, saying where you're from and what you'd like them to say. They must have got this one lost as well, or maybe I didn't save it properly, I don't know, but all I got was "Daniel Boyle"....

At least last year I got "Daniel Boyle, also from Austria". Not factually correct, but it's something. In whatever I wrote it would have said I was from Canberra, Australia and was supported by the ACT Government. It was a big achievement for me to get this grant, it would have been nice to have it recognised. It's also much better for the grant acquittal, which I should probably be writing now instead of this, to say, thanks for the cash, this is how it worked.

So somehow, I can get a grant, but you know, 5 times world champion Tina Aeberli pays for her own ticket. Phil Morrison has been in the finals 3 years in a row, pays for his own ticket. These guys could get grants though for sure, they're just not looking hard enough.

It seems there was quite a bit more sponsorship deals for the players this year actually. A lot of the Polish guys got to come over thanks to some mysterious Polish businessmen, but that can only be a good thing for the sport.

So anyway, I'm in action. "Daniel Boyle" here we go. So I'm using the song "Know Your Enemy" by Rage Against The Machine. My tricks in the beginning are easy ones, so I go through them with not too much trouble.

I have watched the video quite a few times since, so I can tell you what happens fairly clearly. On the first time where the music goes "dun dun dun dun da da da" I go ducking clipper>same butter>far legover.

So instead of hearing this, there's just an awkward silence. The sound system has been set up for mono, and I have a stereo track. There was definitely nothing about this in the musical guidelines.

As someone said to me today "mono? That's prehistoric stuff".

So I think at this stage I had maybe had one drop, or maybe none. I went to a pincher, had a waved to the crowd, made a slight turn and waved to the judges. I got a bit of a clap there. From there I went down to toe, then to the other toe and I dropped. Then everyone applauds. I hate the mentality of clapping at the drop. This is not a good thing to clap. It means the best routines, they're getting no clapping in between. It's hard, because you want to encourage someone, but I think clapping at the drop, it's not a good way.

So then I had a DATW at the same time as it goes "GO GO GO". I dropped that too, I was starting to become annoyed with myself. I didn't let that stop the structure though, I went straight back into the plan. I dropped something easy again, maybe a toe or a clipper, and I was really frustrated. I had quite a lot of drops by this stage, and I was angry with myself, why did I come all this way, etc.

So then in the plan, I hit phoenix at the same time as he says "Know Your Enemy". For a start I dropped the trick, then there's another dun dun dun dun dun da da da immediately after. So the music has cut out, because it's switched to the other non existent speaker. Everyone claps, thank god it's over, they think.

It's not the end though, so I continue with my plan. ducking clipper>spinning clipper (another drop). I guess I was thinking further down the line. I'm so angry now I really just want to punch something. I've had enough, I storm off.

This point really sums up my day, I go to kick the bag away, I mistime the kick, and it dribbles away not far from me.

I was so angry. My first thought was to go directly back to the airport, get on a plane and go home. Second thought was to the pub across the road. I stayed around to watch some more routines. Michal had a dropless routine and actually topped the pool, above Bevier, who made the finals, and Marcin, who once again, wasn't quite there, though this year I definitely think he should have been.

I think I actually watched all the routines. I got some on film, I might get some of them up in the next couple of weeks, we'll see.

One thing I knew was that I definitely wasn't going to play anymore that day.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 12 Aug 2010 02:01

So after the routines were done, we went over to the brewing company (change is as good as a holiday...)

At first it was me, Phil, Caroline and Reid, got some good food for lunch. Not long after we were joined by Evan Gatesman and Jeff O. Soon after that a whole table of players came, including Team Japan, who were celebrating the birthday of Takumi.

People still say "Takumi, that's that 16 year old kid from Japan isn't it?" and the answer is mostly "yes".

He was celebrating his 21st birthday. Not a bad place to do it either!

So we stayed for dinner and more beer. I took a liking to the "Yellowjacket", it was another pale ale, but had a bit of a different taste to their normal grey whale beer.

Most people ate their dinner, then headed out to do something more. I was planning to do some uni work, or maybe vent my frustrations through various platforms of social networking. I was joined at my table by Ben from Austin, Texas. Better known as Iron Clad Ben. We had a good night there actually, we talked a whole bunch of crap about rock music, kept some people in the loop about what was happening in the Worlds camp.

I might add in some pictures when I get home, I've been doing this from work, so I can't really do much with pictures etc.

I've also noticed a real lack of pictures with me in it from what I've seen on facebook and that kind of thing from worlds. Maybe it was just a dream and I didn't really go.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 12 Aug 2010 02:19

I think I've seen lots of cameos of you in videos, but it's hard to tell with the shitty quality and the fact that I mostly know how you looked like in 2009.

Sorry to hear the routine went that bad. Honestly this scenario is the main reason I haven't competed yet, I'm too much of a pussy to handle such an outcome. My reaction would be

rather than your

and that would probably ruin not my day, but my week.

Also, about what David, "You're better than I thought you'd be". Is that a compliment? an insult? You never know with these people. They seem to walk that uncomfortable line very often and very casually, maybe because they're used to condescending over most players. I hate that. I hate being embarrassed about my level. It's not like I choose to be a pathetic player compared to them, I work pretty goddamn hard.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 12 Aug 2010 12:52

I think he was just surprised actually. The only video he had seen of me was the routine, which does have a lot of easier tricks in it. It's still a bit of a backhanded compliment though.

I think the whole routine thing did put a fairly negative spin on my week, especially because I only went to the US for the tournament. It didn't matter last year, because Worlds was just a part of an amazing trip.

definitely sums up my feelings circa Tuesday afternoon.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 12 Aug 2010 19:15

Had a good session today, worked specifically on my flip osis, which is probably my absolute worst trick.

My left leg consistently lets me down. Whirl, osis and pixie set on that side are all really bad. For some reason though, that's my strong side for atomic/nuclear, and I can duck my stepping sets as well.

Anyhow, I concentrated first on doing the actual trick, then doing it from clipper, from toe, etc, then doing different sets into that side osis.

After trying a range of sets into it, then I tried different tricks out of osis. This wasn't quite as successful, but it's good to be doing. One I really liked was osis>reaper.

Next time it's going to be a similar session on whirl.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 13 Aug 2010 00:38

Let's go back to Oakland...

let's go Raiders....

"they're a very well supported team...on hats".

So I guess I'm up to Wednesday. I think this was the day for semis of circle and routines. I'm not sure about the shceduling on this one. I think a few people didn't like it, some of those semi pools were really intense, especially the circles. To have to warm up, cool down, then warm up again, it's not that suitable for everyone, there were a few hours in between. Didn't really bother me though, because I wasn't in it.

So I filmed and watched. Nick Landes was the star of the show, he was in the final pool, pulls out his finest routine ever...his first dropless actually...so he beats Vasek and Damian, they tie for 2nd in the semi final, that was sure a surprise.

So earlier, Lon had done a 3 minute routine. 2 minutes just wasn't enough for him. Marcin did a brilliant routine, dropless in the pool with Bevier and Honza. Both of them had a couple of drops, I honestly (and everyone else I talked to, thought it was a better routine than Bevier).

It's interesting though, because they both ended up in the same pool in the first round, then in the semis, which I think could be an error, or that's just the way it worked out. Interestingly enough, I'm pretty sure Michal Ostrowski won our pool, he had a great routine (also dropless) in the first round, but couldn't back it up next time around.

So anyway, there were heaps of brilliant routines, some really good ones that weren't even in consideration for the finals.

Milan had a bit of a hissy fit about the juding scores for his routine, so he scratched from the circle contest. I was in the lift with him shortly afterwards, I said "nice routine". He said "urgh, judges don't think so. Footbag is so stupid, I hate it". As you all know, he went on to win the competition, then he probably liked footbag again.

Ken and Phil both had strong routines, but they had a few drops in there as well, it was so tough, pretty much as soon as you dropped you were so much less of a chance.

So the circle semis, they were just insane. The level, it was just crazy really. Four pools, with just one going through. Nearly every pool was full of BAP players. It was just pretty outrageous really. I think in most of the pools it was the number one seed that went through, but I think in a lot of them it was close.

The final pool was not close at all though, Clavens got given 10/10 from every judge, which I would say is the first time that's happened, he was immense in that round.

For dinner, I'm guessing I went to the pub across the road again. There really wasn't a lot close by and that place had everything I need, beer, free wi fi and good meals. The convenience made it difficult to actually go exploring. I was also quite scared about exploring at night.

At the beginning of the tournament, Chris Ott was saying "hey, you probably shouldn't go to far from the event site, there are some dangerous characters around". Actually, he probably described them as "dudes" rather than characters.

So this Wednesday night of the tournament, that was a real rager. I might have to have a new post for that one.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 13 Aug 2010 05:55

Just wanted to say it was great seeing you at Worlds again this year. You've come a long way from the player you were when I went to Australia in 05.

I was surprised that in your writeups of the pub, you haven't talked about how hot it was to watch me eating two fish tacos at the same time...

In all seriousness though, I greatly enjoyed reading the blow-by-blow of your routine experience. While I'm sorry your routine went so badly, I love reading about what goes through somebody's head as they're in the midst of competition. And for some reason it's always funnier to read about a very bad experience than a very good one. I know I've written my fair share.

Props again on getting the government grant by the way. I feel like it makes all of us seem more legit in the eyes of the public. Like, when people ask what countries show up at Worlds, it's cool that I can say things like: "yeah, some of the Aussie players come over on government grants." Makes footbag seem like more of a legit sport.

Reading your write ups motivates me to get off my butt and get some thoughts on paper before it all fades away.

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 13 Aug 2010 06:43

boyle wrote:Milan had a bit of a hissy fit about the juding scores for his routine, so he scratched from the circle contest.

That is one thing that really pisses me off, and there's a few players out there who have, historically, blamed the judges for "scoring them wrong" and not putting them on the podium. In a subjective event, like routines and circle, it is YOUR JOB to show the judges what you can do and why you should be advancing to the next round. Even if your routine is technically more difficult with a larger variety of tricks, if you don't get that across to the judges, it is your fault. It really bothers me that people at the top of the sport don't act more professional in that manner.
I recall in orlando at 2007, Jorden didn't make it to finals. And while he was obviously upset that he didn't get through, he didn't have a whinge about "bad judging". No, he manned up and said "i guess i didn't give the judges what they were looking for", or something to that effect, and said it was a good opportunity to learn from his mistake.
Harden up you cry baby.

sorry for the rant. As always, enjoy reading your work. Marcin had a great routine, but i really enjoyed Bevier's. Hard call for sure. Looking forward to the rest of your write up.

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 13 Aug 2010 06:43

boyle wrote:Milan had a bit of a hissy fit about the juding scores for his routine, so he scratched from the circle contest.

That is one thing that really pisses me off, and there's a few players out there who have, historically, blamed the judges for "scoring them wrong" and not putting them on the podium. In a subjective event, like routines and circle, it is YOUR JOB to show the judges what you can do and why you should be advancing to the next round. Even if your routine is technically more difficult with a larger variety of tricks, if you don't get that across to the judges, it is your fault. It really bothers me that people at the top of the sport don't act more professional in that manner.
I recall in orlando at 2007, Jorden didn't make it to finals. And while he was obviously upset that he didn't get through, he didn't have a whinge about "bad judging". No, he manned up and said "i guess i didn't give the judges what they were looking for", or something to that effect, and said it was a good opportunity to learn from his mistake.
Harden up you cry baby.

sorry for the rant. As always, enjoy reading your work. Marcin had a great routine, but i really enjoyed Bevier's. Hard call for sure. Looking forward to the rest of your write up.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 13 Aug 2010 14:42

damn, I just wrote a whole lot of words. It wasn't of much worth, but I even put in some pictures that I found on google images, then I managed to lose it all.

Oops.

@AG...interesting how different people react to situations like that. I think it's really just a personality thing. 07...Jorden was in with Dan Ednie who had a great routine that year, and I think Vasek was in the same semis pool. The would have been tough.

@Ken...thanks for the kind words. Can't believe it was back in 05 that you came...5 years on. I was only really starting to get serious about freestyle that year. (I got my first pair of lavers at the start of that year, though I had actually been playing a few years already)

So we're in this pub, the same one that I went to 44000000000 times in the course of worlds, Ken's placed his order. We'd already eaten, but me and Reid must operate on the same eating wavelength, we ordered some more food. This was the key for my nationals victory this year, the night before I had two dinners. The girl serving it up was so disgusted that I would just eat another meal. It was such a good deal though (meal/beer- $10)

So anyway, we ask Ken what he's having, he says "fish tacos". Caroline tells him there's a bit of a different meaning to fish taco in Australia. He's like, "well, I'm eating two, you know the movie I Am Legend, that's me!"