Haters and Hecklers

[Iron Clad Ben]

I've tried searching and found discussions on this in various threads but no topics specifically related to it.

I was heckled today. I was just doing a few clippers in the parking lot of this taco place, just screwing around cuz I had a few minutes to kill. I've gotten comments from passers by before but this was the first totally negative one that I can remember.

"Dude, no one hackysacks anymore!!"

Tone of voice was very negative (not like "hey that's cool no one does that anymore, awesome"). My first thought was "I do!". It didn't fluster me at all. I was in the middle of the triforce drill goddammit, so I just kept going. By the time I had dropped the guy had passed out of view.

But it just got me thinking. I realized I really don't give a rat's ass whether footbag is "cool" or not, or moreover who think it's cool. I just play cuz I love the game. When I was a teenager that comment would have probably gotten me pretty pissed (if I were skateboarding or something). But now I just think, whatever, some loser who has nothing better to do than to say talk shit to people and spread negativity.

So has anyone else been heckled or hated on by people walking by when you were shredding? If so, what was your reaction? How did it make you feel? Did you say or do anything in retaliation?

[brinard]

yeah, the other week some twentysomething year old slut from the skatepark said "oh wow, i havent seen anyone hackysack for ages!! we used to do that in highschool. other people just ask me for cigarettes.

so i guess it wasnt really negative, but sure wasnt positive. i hated just hearing her talk, it was like she was southern fried retard.

other times people have called me a fag and said hacky sucks and shit.

i never listen. thats why i still play. i dont really care who says what, if one of these onlookers wants in, thats great, and if not and they heckle me, then fuck them.

[Zac Miley]

A small scene from school a week or so ago:

Charlie: Man, footbag is freaking stupid and boring to watch.
Me: Charlie, you play golf.
Charlie: Golf is awesome!
Me: Charlie. Golf is not awesome.
Rest of class: Charlie you're fucking retarded.

I kinda of paraphrased it.

[vettehunter123]

I was in the middle of the triforce drill goddammit, so I just kept going.

Haha yes!

I get some pretty odd stares at my gym but never a negative verbal acknowledgement. Sometimes people accuse me of dancing like a fool but oh well, what do they know. It may not be the "coolest" thing to some people but its a ton of fun.

My triforce is improving btw

[PegLegHolly]

there will always be people in life that will say negative things about something they dont understand. the better person uses that as an opportunity rather than letting it ruin a good shred.

[professor]

This high school basketball team was passing by me at college the other day and they were making comments and laughing. Then one guy said something to the effect of, "I can do that". So I stop in mid shred and offer him the bag.

He refuses as I expected, so I bust a huge combo and the rest of the team is like, "Oooooh snap!". Then as they're walking away he makes a snarky comment about stalling it on my nose or something, so I stall it on my forehead and the whole team yells at him that I did it and that shut him up.

I actually like when people are negative about footbag, it just gives me a chance to shame them.

[mc]

the ideal thing to do when being heckled while playing footbag is to bust out, make it really obvious that you're skilled and athletic and styley. It's kind of like saying, "in your face... there's NO WAY you think that was lame".

of course this doesn't work out 100 % of the time, and when it doesn't... well there's always gonna be haters. we know footbag is incredible and that we're priveleged to be part of it and the community while it's still small and so tight. someone's always got something to say, nothing we can do about it.

get control and style, and most people will think footbag and footbaggers are cool when they see ypi. and, before you have control and style... well, footbag doesn't really look that great when it's played in the beginning stages, so... tough through it, you'll be dropping jaws soon enough.

since I've been out of high school, I've gotten WAY more positive comments than negative ones.

[cd]

That's true. It takes a good long time for footbag to stop looking and feeling awkward. But most people are still never going to get it or appreciate it as anything more than a odd-looking sideshow, no matter how athletic you can make it look.

Lots of people are capable of appreciating it even if they don't play, and they tend to be a cooler type of person. So i guess it balances out.

If/When footbag gets more attention, be prepared to come across the same mix of haters/fans/apathetic people. If people can't handle a Riverdance joke or take a "gay" short-shorts comment in stride, then it will make it much harder for the sport to gain respect.

It's interesting that everyone who has commented in this thread lives in America. European players probably experience this problem to a lesser extent.

[Zeb Jackson]

as mulroney said about footbag acceptance in europe....

I dont know if its @%$#^& because europeans like small shorts, or if its because they have a #$%^&%$ football culture or whatever.

[habitat]

One time I got dissed by a homosexual kid at school for wearing short shorts.

Another time, someone yelled out of the their car "Hackysack sucks, yer a fag!" at school.

The worst was that through the first half of my senior year, people would throw shit at me while I played at lunch in the open cafeteria area. Pennies, tater tots, fries, milk pouches, etc. The best part was I couldn't tell who threw it most of the time because I was shredding and when I looked up, everyone would be turned around and acting casual. I finally figured out the main culprits and asked them nicely to stop. They didn't. One day I was so close to just walking up to the table and just throwing haymakers left and right, but I kept my cool and just took my shredding some place else. I thought it was lame.

[King Monkey]

I got laugh ( at how stupid it is) that you got laughed at by a gay kid for wearing shorts, thats fucked up!
We as a footbag group used to get shit put on us at uni and in the city a few years back, but now its not as evident. Either we are getting better and people are shutting their stupid mouths, or they are laughing behind our backs in which case it does nothing to affect us.

That being said, im still very concious of shredding when people are around, not that i can do anything about it. Just play better i guess.
I think once you get past the more n00bish early stages and can start hitting some longer strings without looking too crazy and un-coordinated (although i think i still do lol), it gets alot better.

[habitat]

I disagree with the whole "if you have good form you won't get fucked with as much" Some people are just assholes, especially in school.

[jrstubs]

I'm still a total n00b. The only thing I get made fun of when I play in gym at school is my super rad short shorts

[DanJohnHarris]

One time, we had a drunk night shred in the rain in Portland, ME, on the side of an intersection. It was the flattest (no, not flatus) place we could see. It just so happened that red lighters had the perfect opportunity to watch us play.

Basically, we couldn't even hit a single trick. I've kicked drunk before, and I can usually do it, but that night was a complete bust. I didn't have my lavers or shorts, and the bag we were using was slowly but surely leaking everything in front of our eyes.

"Fags!" Said the passenger of one car as the light turned green. We just laughed it off and kept trying to play.

I named that session the 'pitiful session'. It was basically just trying to get a footbag fix in one of the most desperate situations.

I would say the ratio of good responses to bad responses for me and everyone else I've played with is something like 10-1.

[sanuke okumatzu]

I'm constantly harassed for footbagging at my school, a lot of the time about my shoes . As what happened to James, I get shit thrown at me all the time. There has been many a time when I've been footbagging places and be called a fag, or that "Hacky-Sack" is a a dumass thing to do. I'll usually just ignore these comments and continue what I'm doing. If some jackass feels the need to insult me because he's too small to be a civil person about it and must make himself seem great - let him.

I footbag because I want to, and if people have a problem with it, I upright tell them, live with it or go fuck off. See, the problem is, people don't know what footbagging is. They'll see it and say " oh, hacky-sack ". That's why, in my opinion, you'll never see footbag as a fully fledged, fully endorsed sport. People can't view it for what it is, they see it as hacky sack, no matter who you are, or how great you shred.

[shredzilla]

Haha oh man. I RARELY get heckled in a negative way. 95% of passerbys go, "Wow, look at that guy, he's ridiculous!!" About 4% just walk by without batting an eye. To me, this is the most surprising reaction, but I realize I can't impress EVERYBODY.

But the other day I was shreddin on the boardwalk and this dude road by on a beach cruiser and was like "Hackysack is so cool, when I was like 2!" And I totally got indignant and yelled like "Ur so f-n cool bro!" or somethin like that, and went back to shreddin. That basically never happens, so it was pretty shocking.

Haha one thing I realized though is the importance of a hand catch. Sometimes there will be a crowd and they'll be like 'Go go go!' And even though I'm not playing for them, it's fun to bust a really long tiltless run and really shock them. But then when I finally drop after like 35 contacts or somethin they're like, "Awww. Booooo!!" Haha, are you serious? So, I've learned a controlled 25 contact to hand catch is much more effective and usually gets applause.

The thing I hate the most though is when I get that patronizing 'Run Forest run!' type comment, usually comes from a chick or some drunk jock guy. Like I'm some idiot savant that needs encouragement from them, cuz of course they're really important in their lives. This doesn't happen too much either.

But if someone and their friends comes up and has that attitude, I play into their hands. They'll be like "Do it some more!" and kinda chuckle. And I'll say, "Okay, but first you gotta say 'Dance monkey, dance!" Which in turn usually makes them feel like a complete ass for belittling what I'm doing in any way. I like seeing the expression in their face change AS I tell them to say that.


Oh, and I completely agree with Chrisdean. Americans by in large are arrogant assholes, and I'm sure this happens way less in Europe, where the sport probably gets much more respect by the average person. In fact, I ALWAYS get foreigners who will come up to me and tell me how impressed they are, and ask me the name of the sport.

[C-Fan]

Normally when people heckle, its because they want your attention, and are afraid of being shot down or looking lame if they compliment you. So even when I get negative attention, I try and engage the people in friendly conversation, and that usually wins them over.

On a lighter note, the last 2 times I played footbag at school, the mens LAX and then the women's LAX team came to talk to us and compliment us on footbag. Maybe they appreciate it more because they also use a small ball.

[Slowsis]

I've never been heckled. Infact, the people that would have been considered "bullies" in high school gave me a ton of respect for my skill. I notice its only people from the mid-west and southern states that are getting called a "fag" and "gay". Why is that? Are people really that fucked up?

[mosher]

I think alot of what you receive has to do with who you are and how you carry yourself. Beyond that it depends on how you deal with situations when they arrise. Having the ability to deflect any situation to a positive or conversational tone is very valuable.

Recently we were shredding and this pack of jocks passed by us, their muscles bulging and knuckles dragging. I thought for sure they were going to say something stupid and I was all ready to lash back. But then amazingly one went out of his way to let us know how cool they all thought what we were doing was. I thanked him and told him in a sentance what the sport was and he was satisfied and off on his way.

I guess there's no easy way to describe how you should roll with the punches, people skills are important I suppose.

Also, if people are walking past and you for whatever reason feel the need to impress them then trick selection is very important. It is not the time to go for your fancy new symp whizzbangsauce that makes you look like a panicing chicken. Do smooth cool tricks like infinity and shit that you can hit and keep hitting for the duration of their viewing you. Then you look like a total hack god and they will go tell their buddies about you in legendary stories instead of ripping off a stupid remark at you.

[sanuke okumatzu]

It is not the time to go for your fancy new symp whizzbangsauce that makes you look like a panicing chicken. Do smooth cool tricks like infinity and shit that you can hit and keep hitting for the duration of their viewing you.

^^^ Pendulum, it's a good crowd pleaser, everyone should learn it