Denver Diaries

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 26 Jun 2004 13:01

Last night was definetely one of those legendary sessions that will go down in my memories. It was the 3rd of 3 going away parties for Daryl Genz (he's moving to Idaho). The footbag players there were Daryl, Sunny, Chris, Kyle, Michael, Adam, Brad, Dan (net player), Amy and myself. It was fantastic. We shredded on and off for hours into the night, while blaring some really fresh music. I know I got props a few times, so I must have hit some cool runs. All I can remember is Smear>Phoenix>butter>Pdx Whirl.

Anyway, the real party started when Rippin' (Rick Reese) and Jeremy (Benton) showed up around midnight. We were all tired, but at the sound of his voice we all strapped our lavers back on (by now, most of the other footbagists were guzzone). I had met Jeremy and Rippin' before, but never shredded with them. Rippin' was amazing. He hadn't shredded in months, and he was even a little drunk, according to himself, and he was still shredding some amazing guiltless runs, with huge variety, and every move like perfect (many of which he invented himself). Jeremy kicked very well, too. He hadn't kicked, he says, since last year's Worlds. He still hit amazing runs and got props almost every time. All the time, he kept saying, "Oh man, I'm having so much fun! I forgot how great this feels!"

So, on and off for a few more hours. We got done around 2 or 3.

I don't think I actually hit any new moves or anything (except Pixie ss Mirage on a whim), but the whole experience in general was worth it.

Also, I'm very excited, because I found out Chris (Holden), and Kyle (Z)--the two main footbag players in our area, after Daryl moves--just signed the lease on an apartment down near Washington Park. This is awesome, because Wash Park is closer to my area and way easier for me to get to than Daryl's house. Plus, Wash Park will be a great place to shred and promote the sport. I'm going to go down there and kick nearly every day after school (well, we'll see what they have to say about it, first).

Umm,
Peace.

And you can comment in this if you want. I don't care.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 27 Jun 2004 08:09

Sunday:

Well, I didn't shred yesterday, due to soreness and tiredness from the previous night's adventures.

But today, I woke up with 10 hours of sleep under my belt, and I'm feeling pretty good. As is the weather. That means some schooling should go down, as long as I don't get hooked on UO.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 11 Jul 2004 16:19

Today was my first attempt at actual shredding in like a week.

Note: Don't go more than a few days without shredding.

My ducks were the. The timing on everything was off. I could barely link 5 butterflies. I hit 1 stepping clipper. My whirls and drifters were sloppy and felt weird.

Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 14 Jul 2004 17:01

Well, my game is certainly feeling much better now. I'm getting my legs back under control, and they're doing what I want them to do with the bag again (well.. for the most part. If they did exactly what I wanted them to do, I'd be the best.). My clippers are controlled again, not bouncy and uneven, same with my infinities.
I hate having to play catch-up, though. It feels like it's just slowing me down, so much. :-\

My drifters are feeling much improved, though. I like that.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 27 Jul 2004 07:21

I kicked for a couple hours yesterday. I tried to break my osis record (19) a few times, but failed.
I practiced Kobus' bfly>osis>bfly>pdox mirage(repeat) drill for a while, eventually getting to 21 contacts on it.
Then I schooled Pimpin' Butterfly for a while. It looks pretty nice.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 29 Jul 2004 18:19

Today:
27 Osises
22 Pixies

Pimping=<3
Stepping=</3

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 04 Aug 2004 10:44

Yesterday I realized that I'd been wearing the same black shorts for about 3 weeks straight.

So I put them in the washer, and put on some different shorts.

Now they're clean and I'm wearing them again.

I also hit Symp Mirage and DLO midstring.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 20 Aug 2004 15:32

Today I footed Pixie DLO (Smog?) about a million times.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 06 Sep 2004 11:57

Nothing much today. Got a bit of a tan. I hit a 16 contact guiltless run of just butterfly, osis, and pdox mirage (and 1 whirl). It wasn't the drill, though, just shred.

I hit a bunch of phenomenal (for me) stuff last night, and I was stoked. Can't specifically remember any of it, though.
I know I hit one 20-ish contact titless run. Also a couple 15+ guitless runs, with several of my harder/inconsitant 3's and 4's (DLO, Pdox whirl, ripwalk,...)

So yeah.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 08 Sep 2004 14:24

New infinity record--51!

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 25 Sep 2004 12:54

Today was/is a pretty good day.

I hit diving clip>ducking clip rpt. and almost had stepping clip>butterfly rpt.

I hit legbeater and atomic ss b-fly strongside.

On a completely unrelated note, I want these

Seath · Post by **Seath** » 26 Sep 2004 18:01

Stephen Barnes wrote:
On a completely unrelated note, I want these

Those look like they'd be real styly once they were modded

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 03 Mar 2005 21:25

Okay, trying to recap all of the CSS6 happenings, last weekend. It was amazing, fo’sho’. I’ll start at the top.

The footbagness pretty much started when I woke up Friday morning, and right as I turned my alarm clock off, “In/Flux” by DJ Shadow came up on my computer, which is an amazing song and a great way to start off the morning.
So yeah, then nothing happened until last block in my government class when Emily Kulczyk tried to call me, but I couldn’t answer, and she left a sweet message (she totally sounds like she’s my age-ish. I had my hopes up for a second). Then I went home and took a nap and ate and stuff… cooked a huge batch of spaghetti for the weekend. I was getting ready to head up to the hotel when Loren Baum rang me and asked if my parents could pick him up from DIA at like 11 pm, and I said no, since they couldn’t. (He got in fine, though.)
I got to the hotel around 6:50 (Go 15L! It’s so fast!) with a loaded full bag of Craisins, and wandered around the second floor looking for people… and then I found them. There was a circle happening of Chris, Kenny, Luis, and I think a guy I didn’t know. Lon was there, being a goof. I played a round of hotel golf with Lon and a couple other guys. He won, but I was pretty close.
Then I got my shred on. Played pretty shitty and stuff. You know, the usual. Later on, people started showing up, like Emily, Mike, the Eugene crew… blah blah blah. Speaking of the Eugene crew, they’re really nice. I don’t think Nate and James ever stopped complimenting me on my style all weekend, which was very sweet of them. … kicked with James and Luis and Co. for a while… didn’t hit much. I remember I had some nice pdx drifters, and like a torque>spinning clip midstring…. Stuff like that.
Soon after everyone showed up, half the crew left to room 906 to chat with the coach (The 9th floor was the smoking floor.).
Kicked with Mike, Brad (amazing) and that old guy whose name I can’t remember right now for some reason, for a while. I think Aaron stepped in later. I cut out after a while because my shins weren’t happy, and it was right as Nate was stepping in! Nuts!
I hung out in 906 with Kyle, Red, and Cameron (the 9(?)-year-old Daryl-and-Sunny-son. Heh, that kid was a blast to babysit last summer. Good times.) for a while. They had shots… by they I mean Red and Kyle. I just had water, because all those Craisins I ate weren’t settling well.
Red decided to take Jim’s orange, and scribbled “RED OWES JIM 1 ORANGE” really huge and messy on a napkin in its place. Kyle peeled the orange, and made it so they read, “I <3 Jim” (with an actual heart) and a smiley face, with eyes composed of peels, painkillers as the eyebrows, and a single wedge (left for Jim) as the smile. It was brilliant. I have pictures of it on my phone if I ever get around to emailing it to myself and uploading it. That was a good orange.
Went back downstairs and talked to people for a while, watched Lon shred, talked to Chris who was totally wasted, and Emily who also looks like she’s my age (it must be the braces). Then I took the bus home around 11. It was really packed for being so late, and I was really scared the whole time that my Goonits would get jacked out my backpack, but they didn’t and I made it home safely. Oh yeah, Jim Penske hit Mullet in baggy jeans, basketball shoes, and a sprained ankle. Cool. And Brad Nelson rocks.

Saturday

Was lazy, got to the venue around noon. I shredded for a while. Got my player’s pack. I hit pixie paradon on command, that was cool. Loren Baum totally rules. He’s such an awesome guy. Evan Gatesman is INSANE. He’s so inspirational—I want to be like him. I kicked in a circle that changed over the course of a while, but it was mostly the same people… me, Loren, Red, Evan, James, Nate…. I didn’t shred all that well in that circle, but they were really cool guys so I stayed anyway.
My parents got there with a couple friends around 1:30 with my Ilja bag from Estonia that had arrived THAT DAY. I took it out of the package, and said, “Hey Red, I’m going to hit Fog for you.” I’d never hit Fog before. So I tried and missed, then tried again and hit it, suuuper clean and huuuge. It was awesome. Nate said he got it on video.
But seriously, with a brand new bag fresh out of the package.

So then competition started. I heard Luis registered at the last minute, so I was a little worried, but then I went and thought I did pretty good. Then I ate a bowl of spaghetti I packed for myself.
So then later on I started kicking with Brad Nelson, and the circle ended up being me, him, Steve G., Tim Werner, and that guy from Utah whose name I can’t remember and I’m so sorry for that. I even slept next to him! Anyway, yeah, circle. Very good circle. Steve had AMAZING guiltless flow. AMAZING. Brad Nelson is really good. He had whirRing swirl ON his foot, but he didn’t seal it. I hit smoke and blurry drifter in the same run. Barfly>barfly for the first time, first try of the day. Other stuff.
We quit messing around after a while and headed out to get some food. It was me, Steve, Bean, Styley, Kulczyk, Mike Hansen, and Brad Nelson (I think that was the whole thing.). We stopped in their room for a few, and then walked over to Two-Fisted Marios, a pizza joint by Market St. Station. I split a pepperoni & pineapple pizza with Bean and Styley, which was ABSOLUTELY FUCKING AMAZING. Steve got a whole cheese pizza to himself and couldn’t finish it, and I don’t know what everyone else had. Later on Mike gave the rest of Steve’s pizza to a homeless guy.
After that we all went up to Steve’s really nice room in the Westin and watched TV and talked and stuff.
Then we headed down to Old Chicago for the Player’s Party. We got there before everyone, but then people showed up and it was pretty fun. I tried to shred for a while with Evan, James (Randall), and Kenny, but my legs were pretty fucked up and the light was pretty dim. Brad K. bought me an orange juice because he’s a super nice guy. Then there was the awards ceremony. Steve and Mike were nudging me the whole time telling me my name was about to be called. And then it was! I won intermediate shred 30. I got a really fuckin’ sweet plaque, and then Luis and I got first pick in the prize barrel, and we both got the two mini abshires there were. I also got a light-up crocheted bag, but I don’t know if that was for placing, or something everyone got for registering or something. I chilled at a table with… names… Evan G., Steve G., Emily, and Kevin Crowley I think… or some guy that looks like him. We just talked. Emily showed me pictures of when she rolled her ankle. It was really nasty.
Around 10:30 or 11 we head over to the hotel with Loren and everyone and the crew. We head up to 906 and partay with everyone. I beat Jim Penske’s ASS in Pass the Pigs… and I just realized I left my pigs in their room. Fuck. I remember at one point I glanced over and saw Aaron Orton slam down five gulps of rum straight from the bottle in one swig. Man he was wasted.
I went downstairs for the big hack circle, and it was a lot of fun. Played with Lon, Nate, and James R. in some off-the-wall hack. I got really tired eventually and fell asleep on the floor. My leg kept jerking and waking me up because I was dreaming about sets or something.
We left around some ridiculous late time. Around 3 I think. I went up to Jim’s room to grab my stuff before I left, and there was that WHOOSH! of vomit as you came in, and Aaron was passed out on Jim’s bed, caked in his own vomit. Red and Chris told me later that they saw it happen. Apparently he had puked in the middle of the bed and passed out, but it wasn’t really on him. Then they saw him kind of wake up just a bit, and then pass back out, right in it, and rolled around a little bit. They pulled a “let’s get the kid [Cameron] and get the fuck outta here!”
Got my stuff, then it was me, Red, and Chris in the backseat of that Utah-ian couples’ car (fuck, I can’t remember their names). Oh, and Cameron was on her lap, too, I believe. Haha, crazy people. We all went to the Denver Diner and had good food. Thanks Chris for spotting me, since I spent all my money on that delish pizza.
We went back to Chris’s place and hung out, watched Family Guy. Daryl and Sunny showed up and we all talked for a while and then went to sleep.

Sunday

Woke up.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE AND TIIIIIIRED AS FUCK.
I ate Cheerios and took a shower and waited around for everyone to hurry up. We made a detour at Daz Bog, and didn’t get to the church until some really late, like 3 or something.

Suffice to say, I played terribly, so I stopped. I bought one of Brad’s Grateful Shred t-shirts, and it’s amazing. I went back to Jim’s room and grabbed my hoody, then went and got some food at Sam’s, which was like one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Watched Lon shred for a while… he’s really good at footbag. Then my dad called and yelled something about not calling him in the morning, and I said, “Oh, sorry.” But I had to go home.
Got grounded right then. Took all the new bags, cell phone, internet connection. Yep. That’s why you’re all just hearing from me now.

The Ilja bag is amazing. I think that’s all I have to say for now.

habitat · Post by **habitat** » 03 Mar 2005 22:42

great recap man

You definately represent in a circle and have mad style. I wish we could have gotten to know each other better, cause I was diggin your shred.

But we suck at trials

although i did hit a hand>double down off the one stair, that damn ps whirl just wouldn't go

Moxie · Post by **Moxie** » 04 Mar 2005 00:41

Thanks for saying I look like I'm like 14. Yeah, the braces...

Haha, I think I've shown that picture to everyone (footbag related) who I've met over the last two months now.

Great write-up, it was fun thinking about everything again.

Nice meeting you in person,
________________
Emily Kulczyk

"Don't confuse ignorance with a point of view."

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 05 Mar 2005 07:17

Heh, I meant more like my age bracket. 16 or so.

I talked to Lon, and he said he has my Pigs and that he's going to mail them back to me. What a nice guy.

Played for a while yesterday, didn't hit anything spectacular. I hit drifter>pdx drifter both sides, but I never got the whole combo together. Nuts. My ducking is feeling on, too. I hit 6 or 7 ducking clippers last night. To jump back a little, my drifters are feeling soo much better, and on both sides. I hit pdx drifter bs all the time now, but I'm still trying for BSOS. A couple weeks ago I could barely hit it strongside.
On the other hand, my stepping is feeling off. I could just be the playing with a not quite broken in bag, but I'm missing my stepping sets like all the time now, and they just feel weird. Weird.

That invincible feeling you get after a tournament is steadily wearing off, now

But we suck at trials

Yeah, really. I hit like infinity and symp mirage off of it. But I footed symp whirl so many times!

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 05 Mar 2005 07:32

Oh yeah,

Took it with my phone, so it's all shitty and out of focus, but you get the idea.

Josh B · Post by **Josh B** » 05 Mar 2005 11:05

styven! bloggin it up! i wish i coulda made it to CSS, it sounded like a blast.

love josh

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 31 Mar 2005 14:10

So I went to the doctor's today for my knee. In case you're unaware, it's been giving me shit for a couple weeks now. Last Sunday was the last time I played, and since then I've been doing nothing on it but walking. I've been resting it and taking ibuprofen occasionally.
They said it's probably nothing serious, likely a sprained tendon (or ligament, I always get those two words mixed up). I'm now on 1,800mg of ibuprofen a day for a week, and if it's not feeling better then I'm coming back and getting an X-ray.

Whenever it gets better, I really need to start thinking about actually treating this sport like a sport. All the training I do is play footbag. I need to exercise regularly to strengthen my whole body--even in my upperbody. I also believe that making my legs stronger in general (quads/hamstring, calves, etc.), my shin splints will go away.
I need to find some low-impact way of cross-training, too. I think I may start cycling.

Man, I really just want to see a trainer about this, so he can tell me exactly what I need to do. If I don't start building my strength and endurance, I expect to last maybe another couple years and then have to quit. And then my knees will maybe be good for walking or something.

Over and out.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 01 Apr 2005 09:12

Well my knees feeling a LOT better already, after two doses of ibuprofen (1 last night and 1 this morning). It looks like I'm probably going to get a membership at the YMCA downtown to start training, once I'm fully healed.

Does anyone else go through withdrawals when they don't play footbag? After about a week I start getting irritable and depressed. I never know what to do with myself. Usually when I'm bored I just go kick, but now when I'm bored, I'm just bored. And I sit there. Doing nothing. Because I don't know what else there is to do besides shred.