Aaron Croff is a busy guy, helping to make the Great Lakes Classic a success. Top that off with working with Foosball Clubs of America, building his company Foosgadgets, playing competitive foosball and working a full time job. Aaron generously found time to sit down for this episdoe of Foosball Radio On the Road in Lansing, Michigan.
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[00:00:01] The following is a presentation of Foosball Radio. Foosball Radio, On the Road.
[00:00:12] Hey there, it's Tom Robinson from Foosball Radio, Foos Talk Live, here live at Great Lakes Classic.
[00:00:20] It's just, I like the new label for Michigan State, but it's still Michigan State, but it's still, it's called the Great Lakes Classic.
[00:00:29] It's more of a regional, drawing a lot more people from the general region.
[00:00:34] So I really like the image.
[00:00:35] At any rate, it's been...
[00:00:37] Welcome back, Tom.
[00:00:37] Thank you, sir.
[00:00:38] I am more than fortunate to be able to hang out with, once again, a great group of friends.
[00:00:44] Yep.
[00:00:44] Not the least of which is Aaron Croff of Foos Gadgets.
[00:00:49] Yep.
[00:00:51] It's our fourth year here, and it's been such a great spot.
[00:00:57] Yeah, and the people have been so nice.
[00:01:00] Oh, yeah.
[00:01:00] Oh, yeah.
[00:01:01] I think we beat our numbers, too, this year.
[00:01:03] Did you?
[00:01:04] Yeah.
[00:01:04] I think Michael said that this morning we were up to 192.
[00:01:08] 192.
[00:01:09] Wow, that's like eight from the 200 he wanted to hit.
[00:01:12] He really wants that 200, I know.
[00:01:14] Yeah.
[00:01:14] Maybe you and I should, like, re-register.
[00:01:16] I think you're right, yeah, yeah.
[00:01:18] Get closer.
[00:01:18] There you go.
[00:01:19] I don't know if that counts or not.
[00:01:20] Well, it can't hurt.
[00:01:22] Welcome back.
[00:01:23] Thank you.
[00:01:23] How was the drive out here?
[00:01:24] You know, this time...
[00:01:26] I flew.
[00:01:28] Oh, yeah.
[00:01:28] All right.
[00:01:29] So, last time I learned a lesson, driving 11 hours and 30 minutes.
[00:01:35] Yeah, that's a lot of ways.
[00:01:35] It was...
[00:01:36] The trip back was difficult.
[00:01:39] In fact, I stopped maybe three or four times just to sleep.
[00:01:42] Oh, I remember last year when you left here, you had been up all night long.
[00:01:46] Yes.
[00:01:47] Because your roommate was sick.
[00:01:48] Yep.
[00:01:49] And I got locked out of my room.
[00:01:51] And for those of you who don't know, Tom and I spent the night in this ballroom.
[00:01:56] Yes.
[00:01:57] From about 2 or 3 a.m. all the way through.
[00:02:01] Yep.
[00:02:01] It's all about 7 when I was going to go.
[00:02:02] Now, it seems like we scared up a couple beers.
[00:02:05] Yep.
[00:02:05] Yep.
[00:02:05] Exactly.
[00:02:06] And we made the best of it.
[00:02:08] We did.
[00:02:08] We did make the most of it.
[00:02:10] It was actually one of my fondest memories of that tournament.
[00:02:12] Of that tournament, yeah.
[00:02:13] Yeah, it's so funny because so many times that I've gone out to tournaments, let's say in
[00:02:17] the last two years, it seems like there's some kind of something that happens, something
[00:02:22] weird that people talk about.
[00:02:25] The story of the weekend.
[00:02:27] Right, exactly.
[00:02:28] Now, of course, when I went to the Worlds, it was the flight, the flight down.
[00:02:33] Okay.
[00:02:34] Because the weather was so messed up.
[00:02:36] I mean, it was a mess.
[00:02:37] Right.
[00:02:38] September.
[00:02:38] I flew in from Albany to Charlotte to pick up a flight to Lexington.
[00:02:43] Okay.
[00:02:43] To get to the Worlds.
[00:02:45] And there was a storm.
[00:02:47] At the moment we're supposed to land, there's a storm right over Charlotte.
[00:02:51] And it was awesome.
[00:02:53] So you were delayed?
[00:02:55] Yeah, delayed.
[00:02:55] We had to fly around that and land in Knoxville, Tennessee.
[00:03:01] Sit in Knoxville, Tennessee for two and a half hours.
[00:03:04] Oh, gosh.
[00:03:04] And then finally they got to clear and they picked, you know, we all were like, okay, we're
[00:03:10] finally going to make it to the airport.
[00:03:11] Yeah.
[00:03:11] We get to Charlotte and they canceled every flight.
[00:03:16] Yep.
[00:03:16] Every flight.
[00:03:17] And the terminal was filled with like 5,000 people.
[00:03:23] What a zoo.
[00:03:24] So.
[00:03:24] I would pull my hair out.
[00:03:25] Yeah.
[00:03:26] Right.
[00:03:26] So I was planning on going to Florida States this past year.
[00:03:30] Yes.
[00:03:30] And I was looking to fly in Thursday.
[00:03:32] The storm was supposed to pass through Thursday night.
[00:03:34] So I thought, okay, maybe Friday morning.
[00:03:36] So all my flights were canceled.
[00:03:38] I could possibly get another flight flying out Friday morning.
[00:03:41] Yep.
[00:03:41] To Atlanta.
[00:03:42] But I really didn't want to get stuck in Atlanta like what happened to you.
[00:03:46] Yes.
[00:03:47] And it turns out that the storm moved along slower than anticipated.
[00:03:53] Right.
[00:03:53] And my buddy Dana Markham, who I was flying in to see him and he and I were going to drive
[00:03:58] down.
[00:03:58] He was like, Aaron, we can't get there from here.
[00:04:01] Right.
[00:04:01] It turns out that they were able to salvage that tournament and they had a decent turnout.
[00:04:05] Okay.
[00:04:05] It was good, but I was not able to make it.
[00:04:09] Wow.
[00:04:09] Wow.
[00:04:10] Yep.
[00:04:10] So it's gotten worse.
[00:04:12] There's no doubt about that.
[00:04:13] Yeah.
[00:04:13] The weather's not.
[00:04:14] Just flying in the summertime now has become more challenging than flying in the wintertime
[00:04:18] because of these storms that just pop out of nowhere.
[00:04:21] So you've got to live with it.
[00:04:23] How's your game this year?
[00:04:25] How's your game this weekend?
[00:04:26] So this weekend was fun, I have to say.
[00:04:29] I played amateur doubles with Chris Amaral from Massachusetts.
[00:04:33] Oh, that's a good one.
[00:04:34] Chris is a great guy.
[00:04:35] So talented.
[00:04:36] He's been winning a lot of amateur events.
[00:04:38] Yes, he has.
[00:04:39] So unfortunately we were out in two.
[00:04:41] We didn't expect that, but it's going to happen sometimes.
[00:04:45] It happens.
[00:04:46] But played the DYP last night, had a blast, won three out of five matches, ended up in
[00:04:53] seventh place overall.
[00:04:55] But, you know, I was happy.
[00:04:57] Yeah.
[00:04:57] Had a great time.
[00:04:58] Did you play?
[00:04:59] So to me, the DYPs, the allure of the DYP is to play with or against people that I wouldn't
[00:05:06] normally play against.
[00:05:08] Right.
[00:05:09] Exactly.
[00:05:09] The format being a monster.
[00:05:11] So you're supposed to get seven rounds if you can fit them in.
[00:05:14] Seven rounds of different matches with different people.
[00:05:19] Yeah.
[00:05:19] So sometimes I'd be standing across the table from an opponent and see what his game
[00:05:24] is like.
[00:05:25] And then the next match, I'm playing with that person.
[00:05:27] So it was actually pretty cool.
[00:05:29] Met a lot of people that way.
[00:05:30] Yes.
[00:05:31] That's what I like about the DYPs.
[00:05:33] Right.
[00:05:33] And a lot of good folks.
[00:05:35] Older players, younger players.
[00:05:38] Yeah.
[00:05:38] Less experienced, more experienced.
[00:05:40] I mean, it was a really nice mix.
[00:05:42] And to say that you could win three out of the five, dude.
[00:05:46] That's good.
[00:05:47] I mean.
[00:05:47] That's winning.
[00:05:48] I'm fine with that.
[00:05:49] You know?
[00:05:49] But anyway.
[00:05:50] So the other event was Expert Doubles.
[00:05:54] Went in three matches in and that was it.
[00:05:57] So that's going to happen.
[00:05:59] You know, you got to like count the positives, focus on the positives.
[00:06:05] And that's tough sometimes.
[00:06:07] Yeah.
[00:06:07] You know, that's tough.
[00:06:08] So how about yourself?
[00:06:09] What are you playing this weekend?
[00:06:11] I played in most stuff.
[00:06:13] And I'm playing really well.
[00:06:17] I, you know, I think we've talked about this before.
[00:06:20] Like success isn't necessarily gauged in wins.
[00:06:26] Right.
[00:06:27] Like you want it to be, but it doesn't necessarily work that way.
[00:06:31] Yeah.
[00:06:31] It doesn't always work out that way.
[00:06:32] And I had a few, I had three events that I was very excited about and had some expectations about.
[00:06:41] Yep.
[00:06:41] And of course, that's the worst thing you can do, which was rookie doubles.
[00:06:46] I did get moved up by the way to rookie finally.
[00:06:48] Nice.
[00:06:48] And I had a real good partner picked out and we practiced together quite a bit before the tournament.
[00:06:54] And we went out in two.
[00:06:56] Wow.
[00:06:57] Wow.
[00:06:58] It's hard.
[00:06:59] Yep.
[00:06:59] The other one was amateur doubles.
[00:07:01] And we made a nice little run, won some games.
[00:07:03] I played with Dana Markham, a Florida guy.
[00:07:05] Yeah.
[00:07:06] He's from Michigan, but he lives in Florida now.
[00:07:10] Excellent pull shot.
[00:07:11] No doubt.
[00:07:12] And it's tough.
[00:07:18] Yeah.
[00:07:19] Dana is close to moving up to expert.
[00:07:21] I think he only needs like six points.
[00:07:23] Oh, no kidding.
[00:07:23] So the goal was really to get him pushed up.
[00:07:27] Right.
[00:07:27] And I think we ended up like 13th.
[00:07:30] There was a lot of competition.
[00:07:32] A lot of competition.
[00:07:32] A lot of competition.
[00:07:33] A lot of teams.
[00:07:34] Very tough.
[00:07:35] That's always impressive about Michigan specifically.
[00:07:38] The talent pool here, even just the basic players are really, really good.
[00:07:44] The other event was a pro-am.
[00:07:48] Yep.
[00:07:48] And I was excited to have Michael Stahl as my partner.
[00:07:52] Nice.
[00:07:52] He's my mentor, my foosball mentor.
[00:07:54] Yeah.
[00:07:55] And actually, I have several mentors.
[00:07:58] Yep.
[00:07:58] And I'm very fortunate to have that.
[00:08:02] But I played really well.
[00:08:06] The most exciting part is I got to play against people that I would not have got a chance to play for.
[00:08:11] I got to play against Dusty Bobanek.
[00:08:13] Yes.
[00:08:14] I got to play against Don Shalifo.
[00:08:16] Don.
[00:08:17] I got to play.
[00:08:18] The king.
[00:08:18] Yeah.
[00:08:19] I got to play against Bob Curtin and Gary Conley, who's getting inducted into the Hall of Famous here.
[00:08:24] You know, those guys I wouldn't get a chance to play against and play with.
[00:08:28] Right.
[00:08:28] And as a relative newcomer and lower ranked, I am focusing my attention on being a goalie.
[00:08:38] You and I have talked about this before.
[00:08:40] I don't care where I'm at on the team.
[00:08:42] I just want to be on the team.
[00:08:44] And I believe that my best way is if I can block, clear, and pass, then I'm doing my job.
[00:08:53] Oh, yeah.
[00:08:54] And I play really, really well.
[00:08:58] That's great.
[00:08:58] Right.
[00:08:59] It's a good feeling, too, because if you can see your progress from match to match, learning, growing, becoming a better player overall, before you know it, expert status.
[00:09:11] Yeah.
[00:09:12] We'll see.
[00:09:12] Before you know it.
[00:09:13] Thanks, Jake.
[00:09:14] Um, yeah.
[00:09:15] Yeah.
[00:09:16] Uh, I, um, so I, I know that we're supposed to play for ourselves.
[00:09:23] Yes.
[00:09:24] But really, I didn't want to let my partners down.
[00:09:27] And, um, I know that Michael was really proud of me.
[00:09:30] Yes.
[00:09:31] And, um, I learned a lot in those moments.
[00:09:34] And, for example, he wants me to be evenly keeled.
[00:09:39] He doesn't want me.
[00:09:40] Yeah.
[00:09:40] Because I get super excited and start pumping my fists and holler.
[00:09:42] He doesn't want me too high or too low.
[00:09:45] Okay.
[00:09:45] Okay.
[00:09:45] He says he wants me stoic.
[00:09:47] If you make a mistake, you smile and move on from it.
[00:09:50] Yep.
[00:09:50] If you do something good, you smile and move on from it.
[00:09:53] Yep.
[00:09:53] And, um, it's not really me because I am an emotional person.
[00:09:59] I'm an animated person.
[00:10:00] Oh, well.
[00:10:01] But, uh.
[00:10:01] And you play foosball.
[00:10:03] And I'm, I'm doing what my, what my mentors are telling me to do.
[00:10:08] There you go.
[00:10:09] And, uh, it's working.
[00:10:10] I'm having a great time.
[00:10:11] So, when it comes to, um, your particular style of play, what do you model your play after?
[00:10:17] Who, who would you say is closer, closest to the people you, you, uh, emulate?
[00:10:22] I get, um, I try to emulate Mike Wierowski.
[00:10:25] Yes.
[00:10:26] His excellent ball handling.
[00:10:27] Yes.
[00:10:28] And, uh, he is another one of my mentors.
[00:10:30] And he shared, um, his, uh, ball handling drills that he goes through each day with me.
[00:10:36] Okay.
[00:10:36] And I've been working on them every day.
[00:10:37] And it's really helped my five bar.
[00:10:39] Nice.
[00:10:39] Nice.
[00:10:40] Um, you know, I'd be great to say, oh yeah, I play like Todd Lafredo or something.
[00:10:45] Well.
[00:10:46] No.
[00:10:46] Um, so I don't, my game is bits and pieces of the people who've helped me.
[00:10:52] Along the way.
[00:10:53] Right.
[00:10:53] Ron Olson has been so generous with his time with me.
[00:10:57] He's great.
[00:10:57] And he wants, I think he's tired of me stinking and he wants me to get better because, you
[00:11:02] know, I invite myself everywhere.
[00:11:04] Yeah.
[00:11:04] Right.
[00:11:05] And, uh, Ron's like, we got to fix you.
[00:11:07] That's awful.
[00:11:08] And of course he loves me.
[00:11:10] Yes.
[00:11:11] Uh, he wants to help.
[00:11:12] So I've tried to model my five after him.
[00:11:15] He wants me to be watching Trevor Park videos.
[00:11:19] There you go.
[00:11:19] So is my five row like Trevor Park?
[00:11:23] Sure.
[00:11:23] Let's go with that.
[00:11:24] Yeah.
[00:11:25] Trevor Park.
[00:11:26] That's me.
[00:11:26] Why not?
[00:11:29] I'm still trying to find my way.
[00:11:30] I know.
[00:11:31] And I can't really say there's like, oh, I think I play like so and so.
[00:11:34] Well, you know, foosball is different for everybody.
[00:11:37] And it's who you, who you look up to, who you respect.
[00:11:42] You know, like you say, take a little bit from everybody.
[00:11:44] Yeah.
[00:11:45] Everybody that you like.
[00:11:46] And what brings you joy?
[00:11:47] Yeah.
[00:11:48] Uh, exactly.
[00:11:49] I have not heard other people say this.
[00:11:50] I'm sure they're out there.
[00:11:51] But what makes me happiest in the game is taking the ball away from my opponent.
[00:11:57] Yep.
[00:11:57] And then the other thing would be delivering it to my partner.
[00:12:00] Yes.
[00:12:01] Those things, I get the same amount of joy as doing those things as crushing a long pull shot, for example.
[00:12:08] I'm like, those things make me happy.
[00:12:09] And it's all part of the fabric.
[00:12:12] You know, so, you know, you work on all those different parts of your fabric.
[00:12:16] And you come out with a much better, shall we say, overall garment.
[00:12:21] Yeah.
[00:12:22] Foosball garment.
[00:12:23] I'm molding my game into what I want it to be, which is a solid defensive player and a good passer.
[00:12:29] Yeah.
[00:12:29] And I think that if I can do that well, then I will be desired as a partner.
[00:12:35] There you go.
[00:12:35] Because that's what we want.
[00:12:36] We want to be wanted and say, oh, man, I hope I can get Aaron to play with me.
[00:12:41] Right.
[00:12:41] I'm going to ask him to play.
[00:12:42] There's no better feeling in the world to have somebody who you respect say, hey, will you partner with me?
[00:12:47] You want to have enough people contacting you so your texting is full of people going, dude, did you pick a partner for such and such an event yet?
[00:13:02] Yeah.
[00:13:02] That's what you want.
[00:13:04] And that's essentially.
[00:13:05] That is the reward.
[00:13:07] That's a good feeling.
[00:13:08] That's a real good feeling.
[00:13:09] Oh, I'm getting there.
[00:13:10] I'm getting there.
[00:13:11] Yeah.
[00:13:11] Yeah.
[00:13:11] Yeah.
[00:13:11] Yeah.
[00:13:12] A guy who saw me play in Vegas a couple years ago last minute reached out to me from Pittsburgh, Dwayne Stewart.
[00:13:18] Yes.
[00:13:19] And he asked me if I would play open doubles with me.
[00:13:22] He's a patron.
[00:13:23] Yeah.
[00:13:23] Yeah.
[00:13:24] Dwayne Stewart's a big patron.
[00:13:26] Super sharp dude.
[00:13:27] Yeah.
[00:13:27] Real nice guy.
[00:13:28] Yeah.
[00:13:28] He knows his stuff.
[00:13:30] He's bright.
[00:13:35] He knows his name is quite a bit.
[00:13:36] I mean, I played him two years ago at Worlds.
[00:13:39] Been beginners.
[00:13:42] Yeah.
[00:13:42] And he and his partner, Reed Rector, dashed our hopes.
[00:13:47] Put us in the loser's bracket.
[00:13:49] Reed's tough.
[00:13:50] He's very tough.
[00:13:51] He's tough.
[00:13:51] I played against him in Wisconsin.
[00:13:53] And a very talented young man.
[00:13:55] And Dwayne played a really solid game, man.
[00:13:58] You know, even, you know, it's funny because.
[00:13:59] Did they win that?
[00:14:00] They ended up winning it.
[00:14:01] Yeah.
[00:14:02] They won the whole thing.
[00:14:04] Wow.
[00:14:05] That's great.
[00:14:05] And so I wasn't surprised.
[00:14:06] They were really good.
[00:14:09] Dwayne had a really solid game.
[00:14:11] Really consistent.
[00:14:12] Nothing fancy.
[00:14:13] But he had a series.
[00:14:15] A good passing series.
[00:14:17] And his shot was rock solid.
[00:14:19] Seems like an unselfish player, too.
[00:14:22] Yeah.
[00:14:22] Oh, yeah.
[00:14:22] I've been watching some of his stuff.
[00:14:24] And he'll switch back and forth.
[00:14:26] Or you can hear him talking with his partners.
[00:14:28] And, you know.
[00:14:29] It's exciting to.
[00:14:31] Nice young man.
[00:14:32] He's not young, man.
[00:14:33] He's not young, but he's a nice guy.
[00:14:35] He's like our age.
[00:14:36] Really?
[00:14:37] He looks younger than us.
[00:14:39] I hate young people.
[00:14:41] Come on now, Aaron.
[00:14:42] People with sight.
[00:14:43] I'm losing my sight.
[00:14:44] I hate people with sight now.
[00:14:45] You were young once.
[00:14:48] It wasn't that long ago.
[00:14:49] Oh, it was a while back.
[00:14:51] Okay.
[00:14:51] So, here's one of the things I definitely wanted to ask you about.
[00:14:54] Let's get caught up with Foose Gadgets and your company.
[00:14:57] What's been going on?
[00:14:59] We are doing good.
[00:15:01] I have people almost on a weekly basis come up with us with ideas.
[00:15:08] And I try to give it to them straight.
[00:15:13] Yeah.
[00:15:13] Like, there's a lot of ideas out there.
[00:15:16] And a lot of them are good.
[00:15:18] But we have a small pool of players.
[00:15:21] And then, it's got to.
[00:15:24] People have got to be willing to put their money towards it.
[00:15:27] Right.
[00:15:27] There's so many people say, oh, this is a great idea.
[00:15:31] But the time involved and putting it together.
[00:15:34] The engineering to build it.
[00:15:36] Yeah.
[00:15:37] And then to market it.
[00:15:38] And then put it out there and hope and wait.
[00:15:40] And it's tough.
[00:15:41] It's a tough go.
[00:15:42] How many products have you been working on?
[00:15:47] I mean, how many products do you have?
[00:15:49] Jeez, you're kind of putting me on the spot here, Tom.
[00:15:51] I think there's about eight or ten.
[00:15:53] Wow.
[00:15:53] Yeah.
[00:15:54] You know, we have some, like, coin-op covers to style up your table.
[00:16:02] Right.
[00:16:02] You know, our best-selling item is our pin block multi-tool.
[00:16:08] Right.
[00:16:08] Which we sell on Amazon.
[00:16:09] And that's kind of keeping us afloat.
[00:16:11] Nice.
[00:16:12] And then our speed bridge is what I really think is going to take off.
[00:16:16] And it's something that people can use and enjoy.
[00:16:19] Yeah.
[00:16:19] And take it with them.
[00:16:21] And that's here at the Great Lakes Classic this weekend.
[00:16:23] And there's a table set up with that.
[00:16:25] Yeah.
[00:16:25] Which is always fun.
[00:16:26] Yeah.
[00:16:26] People have been having a great time with it.
[00:16:29] And I've got to say, I'm very fortunate to be busy with my day job.
[00:16:35] Yeah.
[00:16:37] So there's four of us in Foos Gadgets.
[00:16:41] Myself and Brian Harvey is our developer.
[00:16:44] Okay.
[00:16:44] Non-foozball player.
[00:16:45] Okay.
[00:16:47] And then Michael Stahl and Gary Cherhart is our code writer for our app.
[00:16:52] Wow.
[00:16:52] Yep.
[00:16:53] And none of us have ever received any money.
[00:16:57] Okay.
[00:16:57] It's just not there.
[00:16:59] So when you're working with volunteers, after you come home from work, after you wash the
[00:17:04] dishes and get the kids to bed.
[00:17:08] Yep.
[00:17:08] And after all that, people don't necessarily want to consider the computer and work and
[00:17:15] develop.
[00:17:15] And it's tough, man.
[00:17:17] I get it.
[00:17:17] And you also can't make anybody do anything.
[00:17:22] Yeah.
[00:17:22] Yeah.
[00:17:22] You know, so-and-so.
[00:17:24] I need this.
[00:17:25] Do you think you can get this done by the weekend?
[00:17:27] Yeah.
[00:17:27] Yeah.
[00:17:27] I'll probably be able to get to it.
[00:17:29] And it's just like...
[00:17:30] People have a life.
[00:17:31] People have a life.
[00:17:32] And it's okay.
[00:17:33] Yeah.
[00:17:33] Yeah.
[00:17:34] It would be great to have a full-time staff.
[00:17:35] I could say, hey, I need this.
[00:17:37] Get on it.
[00:17:37] Let's get it done.
[00:17:39] And I will be able to take on a lot more.
[00:17:41] Right.
[00:17:41] And, you know, I got to remain optimistic and say someday, but we're in our fourth year.
[00:17:49] Wow.
[00:17:49] And it's been good.
[00:17:52] But, you know, Foos Gadgets is about fun, innovation, making a difference, making change.
[00:17:59] There has to be finances involved.
[00:18:02] And that's the ugly part about it.
[00:18:04] I'm not a very good salesman.
[00:18:05] I don't like selling to my friends.
[00:18:06] You know, it's just not natural for me.
[00:18:09] I think that makes sense, though, because you're basically the idea guy.
[00:18:13] You know?
[00:18:14] Yep.
[00:18:14] You're there to inspire and put together things that people can use that make life easier
[00:18:21] or much more fun.
[00:18:22] And then...
[00:18:23] Be available to people if they have questions or if they have ideas.
[00:18:26] I had three people approach me with ideas this weekend.
[00:18:30] No kidding.
[00:18:30] Neat stuff.
[00:18:31] And people that already have it made.
[00:18:33] Really?
[00:18:33] And they want to show it to me.
[00:18:34] And they don't want to know what I think.
[00:18:37] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:18:37] And how much do they sell it for?
[00:18:38] And what am I interested in collaborating?
[00:18:40] Here's what you should do is form like an innovator's page for foosball players.
[00:18:45] Innovations.
[00:18:46] You know?
[00:18:46] So where people, let's say a Facebook page.
[00:18:48] Yeah.
[00:18:48] Or just a meeting place where people can go and say,
[00:18:51] Hey, dude, I just thought about this thing the other night.
[00:18:53] Here's something I wanted to share with you.
[00:18:55] And have that like a chat group.
[00:18:57] You know?
[00:18:58] Okay.
[00:18:58] That idea sounds great.
[00:19:00] But when you come up with your invention, are you going to put it out there and say,
[00:19:04] Hey, anybody copy it and can do what they want with it?
[00:19:08] I guess you have to trust the people you're chatting with.
[00:19:09] If you put all the time and you get the product together, it's a lot.
[00:19:14] So, yes, I love it.
[00:19:16] There could be a, Hey, you know what you should do page.
[00:19:19] Right.
[00:19:19] I'm down with that.
[00:19:21] And there are innovators who are willing to share their information.
[00:19:27] Sure.
[00:19:27] Even, you know, share the electronic files so that you can make it yourself.
[00:19:33] There are those guys.
[00:19:35] Some, you know, want to see where it can go.
[00:19:39] The gentleman who I spoke to this weekend, very smart man, a code writer guy.
[00:19:45] Yep.
[00:19:45] He has like a lane passing tool that you can adjust it by the millimeter and exact increments.
[00:19:53] And there's like little, um, uh, like slides that slide into different spaces that you can add on.
[00:20:00] Really?
[00:20:01] And it's down to the millimeter.
[00:20:03] Wow.
[00:20:04] It's neat and super nerdy.
[00:20:06] I'm all about nerdy.
[00:20:08] Now this is to measure your passing.
[00:20:10] So not measure to, uh, give yourself the right amount of space for your lanes.
[00:20:16] Oh God.
[00:20:17] So if you want your wall path to be like, well, we know that the ball is an inch and a quarter in diameter.
[00:20:22] Yep.
[00:20:22] So, you know, you want it to be say an inch and three eights or five eights or whatever it is, you know, right off from that.
[00:20:28] You can dial it right in.
[00:20:30] Wow.
[00:20:30] Yeah.
[00:20:30] Jim, Jim, um, Mests.
[00:20:32] Okay.
[00:20:33] I'm not sure how to pronounce his last name right, but very bright, uh, gentleman.
[00:20:37] Wow.
[00:20:37] And he's got a great idea.
[00:20:38] I said, here's the truth.
[00:20:41] Those types of like lane passing tools.
[00:20:44] And I see a lot of them.
[00:20:46] And there's some really neat ones out there.
[00:20:48] Brad Lorraine's got it right.
[00:20:50] I, so what I said to this gentleman was, okay, if I'm looking at your product and I see it online, let's just say that, uh, 65 bucks.
[00:20:59] Right.
[00:20:59] That's probably high.
[00:21:00] Okay.
[00:21:00] But let's just say 65 bucks.
[00:21:02] So I'm online looking at foosball accessories.
[00:21:05] Am I going to buy the nine, 10 or $12 rod locks?
[00:21:09] And where I can set up to whatever width I want, anywhere I want easily.
[00:21:14] Or am I going to spend more for the, um, fancy schmancy super nerdy tool, which is very cool.
[00:21:22] I really liked it.
[00:21:23] Lane passing measurement tool.
[00:21:25] It's sweet.
[00:21:26] It's got like a, like a little screw spiral thing so you can dial it right in.
[00:21:29] That's really neat.
[00:21:30] Wow.
[00:21:30] But, uh, you know, if there's already a product out there, like I end up to, okay, you old people out there will know the gong show.
[00:21:39] I gong a lot of ideas.
[00:21:42] What a reference.
[00:21:43] Yeah.
[00:21:43] Sorry.
[00:21:44] Yeah.
[00:21:44] I gong a lot of ideas.
[00:21:46] I'll say, shoot it down.
[00:21:47] I try to be nice about it.
[00:21:49] But like, if there's already something that does it for less, then it's not, it's not going to sell.
[00:21:53] Right.
[00:21:53] It's not going to make sense.
[00:21:54] I get you.
[00:21:55] So the business of foosball is tricky and I'm happy to be a part of it.
[00:22:00] I'm happy to be someone that others can lean on and ask, uh, advice on and guide, um, and give some experience, uh, information to.
[00:22:13] But it's tough sledding, you know?
[00:22:15] I mean, uh.
[00:22:16] It's like any, any fledgling business.
[00:22:19] You know, you, you can see a need and you want to fulfill that need.
[00:22:24] Right.
[00:22:25] And you want to do it in an innovative way.
[00:22:27] Yeah.
[00:22:27] Um, and sometimes it might even be a need that nobody even knows they need.
[00:22:31] Right.
[00:22:32] Right.
[00:22:33] So, for example, our shot speed thing.
[00:22:36] Yeah.
[00:22:36] I call it the game management system.
[00:22:41] We needed, like, just to flex your muscles and see how fast, fast your shot is.
[00:22:45] There's no need there.
[00:22:47] Right.
[00:22:47] It doesn't really, it doesn't fulfill a need.
[00:22:50] Right.
[00:22:50] So we added the training app with it.
[00:22:53] Okay.
[00:22:53] And now, we've got a need.
[00:22:56] We, there's a, there's, there's value there.
[00:22:59] Yep.
[00:22:59] And so you've got to find a way to get you in your, get in your niche, find your corner and
[00:23:06] find the need.
[00:23:07] You can create a need.
[00:23:08] Okay.
[00:23:09] And show the need.
[00:23:10] But just having something cool or, you know, the hammer 2.0.
[00:23:17] Yep.
[00:23:17] People won't buy it.
[00:23:18] I know.
[00:23:19] It's, it, and it has to be unique enough and, and accessible enough.
[00:23:23] Yep.
[00:23:23] So, yep.
[00:23:24] So, it's easy to figure out, you know, how it works and, you know.
[00:23:28] Yep.
[00:23:28] I looked at this guy's, his tool was very cool.
[00:23:31] I shook it and I hit a couple balls into it and it made a weird rattle and I made a
[00:23:36] suggestion of maybe putting some felt in there or a buffer in there.
[00:23:39] Yep.
[00:23:39] He had a great answer for it, which is the movement of his device actually stopped the
[00:23:44] ball, slowed the ball down.
[00:23:45] Cool.
[00:23:46] He had great answers for all kinds of things, but I gave him some things to think about.
[00:23:50] Okay.
[00:23:50] And, um, I don't know, collaborate with him maybe.
[00:23:54] Yeah.
[00:23:54] Okay.
[00:23:55] For us, for Foos Gadgets, we have a line of $20 and under items.
[00:24:02] Nice.
[00:24:02] Okay.
[00:24:03] And they're, they're fine, but they're not keep a business, don't win items.
[00:24:09] Right.
[00:24:09] And to make, to make more $15, $20 items sounds great to have a webpage filled up with
[00:24:18] those types of things.
[00:24:19] Yep.
[00:24:20] But they really don't make a business go.
[00:24:21] Yeah.
[00:24:22] And isn't that interesting?
[00:24:23] I need to make the business go.
[00:24:26] Well, I mean, it's, it's a, like fits and starts.
[00:24:29] There are certain things, especially as you develop as a company.
[00:24:33] Yeah.
[00:24:33] Um, it came from nothing.
[00:24:34] It came from your own mind.
[00:24:36] Yeah.
[00:24:36] And so it takes time to get that formulated and things have to come.
[00:24:39] And they're together.
[00:24:40] And sometimes they do.
[00:24:41] Sometimes they don't.
[00:24:41] It does take time.
[00:24:42] So.
[00:24:43] My guess is when the wheel wasn't vented, it didn't take off right away.
[00:24:46] Yeah.
[00:24:47] Like, what is this?
[00:24:48] We don't need this.
[00:24:50] Yeah.
[00:24:50] Do you think I need a wheel?
[00:24:51] A stone?
[00:24:52] We got stones.
[00:24:53] Why would we need a wheel?
[00:24:54] What's up with that?
[00:24:55] All right.
[00:24:56] So I got you.
[00:24:56] Yeah.
[00:24:57] Okay.
[00:24:57] Maybe the invention of the wheel was not a very good example.
[00:25:01] But.
[00:25:02] Well.
[00:25:03] At any rate, you know, within what you do, being an innovator in foosball, that's the scary
[00:25:10] part.
[00:25:11] That's the fun part.
[00:25:12] It's the fun part.
[00:25:13] Yes.
[00:25:13] Of course.
[00:25:14] Being the innovator, but saying.
[00:25:15] And it is scary.
[00:25:16] Here's this thing we came up with, and it's so cool.
[00:25:18] We want to share it with you.
[00:25:19] We hope everybody likes it.
[00:25:21] Yeah.
[00:25:21] Exactly.
[00:25:21] It's scary.
[00:25:22] You're right.
[00:25:22] And you know what?
[00:25:24] I think.
[00:25:26] I've forgotten who it was.
[00:25:27] Oh.
[00:25:27] It was Thomas Edison.
[00:25:31] Heard of that name before?
[00:25:32] Yep.
[00:25:32] Who invented a lot of stuff in his life.
[00:25:36] Not the least of which would be the electric light bulb.
[00:25:40] And when he was developing the light bulb, they went through like, I've forgotten what
[00:25:44] it was, like four or five hundred different pieces of wire or substance.
[00:25:49] For the filament there.
[00:25:50] For the filament in the light bulb.
[00:25:51] Before they found something that worked.
[00:25:53] Wow.
[00:25:53] I mean, that's a lot of failure.
[00:25:54] I think there was somebody else who was doing it too, right?
[00:25:56] Wasn't there somebody else who was working on it?
[00:25:59] Yep.
[00:25:59] I mean, you know.
[00:26:00] Westinghouse or something like that?
[00:26:01] I can't recall exactly what.
[00:26:07] Right.
[00:26:07] Right.
[00:26:08] No, there was other scientists.
[00:26:09] But there were some other people that were working on things too.
[00:26:11] Other inventors.
[00:26:12] Yeah.
[00:26:12] But it's like, how do you do that?
[00:26:14] You fail, what?
[00:26:15] 350 times until you find the 350 first.
[00:26:18] Oh, yeah.
[00:26:18] That works.
[00:26:19] Yeah.
[00:26:20] So.
[00:26:20] Fail, fail.
[00:26:21] Fail, small game.
[00:26:22] Fail, fail.
[00:26:22] Yep.
[00:26:22] Small game.
[00:26:23] Yep.
[00:26:23] And we've gone through that.
[00:26:25] That's the process.
[00:26:26] It's hard.
[00:26:26] Yeah, yeah.
[00:26:27] And it's expensive and it stinks.
[00:26:30] Yeah, well.
[00:26:31] You know, it's.
[00:26:31] But I will say this.
[00:26:32] Having a team of foosball players.
[00:26:35] Yep.
[00:26:35] To say, no, that's never going to work.
[00:26:37] Right, right, right.
[00:26:37] People are not going to do that.
[00:26:39] It is so helpful.
[00:26:41] And again, Gary Cherhart, our code writer, has encouraged us to keep things simple.
[00:26:46] Yeah.
[00:26:47] Don't overdevelop stuff.
[00:26:48] Good advice.
[00:26:49] And that's what I told the fancy schmancy.
[00:26:53] I should get the name.
[00:26:54] I should get his last name right.
[00:26:55] He's a very nice gentleman.
[00:26:56] I spent quite a good time with him.
[00:26:57] I just can't pronounce his last name.
[00:26:58] And I never did actually get the name of what he called it.
[00:27:02] But it was like a filing system, like a, like a, like an I-beam system that fit all
[00:27:09] together that you could stack.
[00:27:10] Okay.
[00:27:11] And pretty nerdy.
[00:27:13] Okay.
[00:27:13] It's pretty nerdy.
[00:27:15] I will, I'll ask him what he calls it.
[00:27:18] Okay.
[00:27:19] Get back to us.
[00:27:21] Yeah, yeah.
[00:27:21] Yeah, for sure.
[00:27:22] Yeah.
[00:27:24] Please welcome by giving us our time.
[00:27:26] And he's looking at his watch, pretending to, yeah, rumor has it that Adam Gilson and
[00:27:34] Clay Toomey would be joining us for Foos Talk Live.
[00:27:37] Wow.
[00:27:38] Wouldn't that be nice?
[00:27:38] Yeah, yeah.
[00:27:39] We're looking forward to that.
[00:27:40] They've been here all weekend.
[00:27:40] I have heard so many good things about the stream.
[00:27:43] Yeah.
[00:27:43] And one of the things that was, that we wanted to do this year was have a top-notch stream.
[00:27:50] Yep.
[00:27:50] We had good stream before.
[00:27:52] Yep.
[00:27:53] But it's hard, just like it's hard to run a tournament and play in a tournament, it's
[00:27:58] hard to run a stream and play in a tournament.
[00:28:01] Exactly.
[00:28:02] It's very hard.
[00:28:02] Like, you got to choose.
[00:28:04] I think you got to choose.
[00:28:05] Oh, God, yeah.
[00:28:06] And these guys, holy cow.
[00:28:08] So we worked hard to get them in here.
[00:28:12] Nice.
[00:28:13] And Mike put together some great ideas.
[00:28:15] He's a great idea guy.
[00:28:16] Oh, yeah.
[00:28:18] So we're delighted to have him here.
[00:28:20] And what he ended up doing was he sold 30-second commercials to different vendors so that we
[00:28:30] could afford to get them here.
[00:28:31] Wow.
[00:28:32] Yep.
[00:28:32] And...
[00:28:33] That's great.
[00:28:34] And bam, worked out.
[00:28:35] Happened.
[00:28:35] Yeah.
[00:28:36] It happened.
[00:28:36] There's a more innovation and trying new stuff.
[00:28:40] Dude, Michael's mind is foosball, foosball.
[00:28:44] I don't know how...
[00:28:44] Yeah, yeah.
[00:28:45] You know, he's got a full-time job.
[00:28:46] Oh, I know.
[00:28:47] He's got all kinds of things going on.
[00:28:49] A lot of pressure.
[00:28:50] And he is dialed in.
[00:28:53] Yeah, yeah.
[00:28:54] It's good to see that.
[00:28:56] You've got to have...
[00:28:56] It's very refreshing.
[00:28:58] He's got the energy.
[00:28:58] And inspiring.
[00:28:59] Yeah.
[00:29:00] Yep.
[00:29:00] Inspiring.
[00:29:00] He inspired me to do more.
[00:29:03] Yep.
[00:29:03] Exactly.
[00:29:04] You know, I got my own foosball clubs now in my own community.
[00:29:06] Do you now?
[00:29:07] Yep.
[00:29:07] Do you now?
[00:29:08] Pray tell.
[00:29:09] What schools?
[00:29:11] It's Heartland Middle School in Heartland Township, Michigan.
[00:29:14] Okay.
[00:29:15] It was two miles from my home.
[00:29:17] And the key is to find someone in administration who believes in your game, what you have.
[00:29:24] Gotcha.
[00:29:24] And when I told them that I have ideas to get young people away from screen time...
[00:29:31] Yep.
[00:29:31] ...to give them a social sport where they're face-to-face but not staring at each other...
[00:29:38] Yep.
[00:29:38] ...where they can learn about teamwork and they can learn about winning and losing and all those important things.
[00:29:43] Yep.
[00:29:43] There's a laundry list of things that foosball teaches us.
[00:29:47] That's for sure.
[00:29:47] The principal's like, yeah, we're in.
[00:29:50] We want that.
[00:29:51] We need you here.
[00:29:52] Done.
[00:29:52] And I'm fortunate to be self-employed.
[00:29:54] So I work Saturdays now and on Mondays I go to the school and the kids think I'm a superhero.
[00:30:01] No kidding.
[00:30:02] No kidding.
[00:30:03] They're fifth and sixth graders.
[00:30:05] Professional foosball players.
[00:30:06] Yeah.
[00:30:07] I know.
[00:30:07] I'm a rookie.
[00:30:08] I know I'm not a professional foosball player.
[00:30:10] Well, technically.
[00:30:10] But they are like...
[00:30:11] I actually had a kid ask me if I'd sign his sneakers.
[00:30:14] I said, your mom will kill me.
[00:30:17] Yeah.
[00:30:17] She doesn't know who I am.
[00:30:19] I'm not a professional athlete.
[00:30:22] I love it though.
[00:30:23] That's great.
[00:30:23] But the reward...
[00:30:24] Yeah.
[00:30:25] The reward is the highlight of my week every week.
[00:30:27] Got it.
[00:30:28] Seeing the joy on these kids' faces.
[00:30:30] Yes.
[00:30:30] Watching them progress.
[00:30:31] Watching them learn.
[00:30:32] Yep.
[00:30:32] And like Michael Stahl inspired that.
[00:30:36] That's amazing.
[00:30:37] And it's working.
[00:30:38] And we're building it.
[00:30:39] And I had them come to the tournament today.
[00:30:40] Did you really?
[00:30:41] I was going to say.
[00:30:42] And how'd they do?
[00:30:44] You know, Seda Kruger.
[00:30:47] Yep.
[00:30:47] Played with them for a few minutes.
[00:30:48] We talked early today.
[00:30:51] Sam Dijon.
[00:30:52] Yes.
[00:30:52] Came and spent some time with them and showed them.
[00:30:54] Owen Kamiska.
[00:30:55] Other young foosers that are up and coming.
[00:30:57] Awesome.
[00:30:58] And they had such a great time.
[00:31:01] Awesome.
[00:31:02] I think I had more fun than all of them.
[00:31:03] How many?
[00:31:04] There were three.
[00:31:05] Three.
[00:31:06] Gotcha.
[00:31:06] I had six.
[00:31:08] Come in and, you know, kids are busy on Saturday.
[00:31:11] Sure, sure, sure.
[00:31:12] Yeah.
[00:31:12] It's all right.
[00:31:13] Dude, congratulations on that.
[00:31:15] Thank you.
[00:31:15] And keep up the good work.
[00:31:16] That's awesome.
[00:31:18] That's truly giving back right there.
[00:31:20] Truly giving back.
[00:31:21] Makes my heart full, man.
[00:31:22] Yeah, right?
[00:31:23] Yeah.
[00:31:23] A lot of people that know me know that my day job is not fulfilling to me.
[00:31:30] Like, you know, it's a good job.
[00:31:31] Sure.
[00:31:31] I'm doing well.
[00:31:32] I'm not complaining about my work.
[00:31:34] But it doesn't make my heart full.
[00:31:37] Right.
[00:31:37] And this does.
[00:31:39] Being an innovator.
[00:31:40] Helping my community.
[00:31:43] You know, Michael will talk about suicide rates when he talks about Foosball Clubs USA.
[00:31:48] Yes.
[00:31:48] And I know you're going to get a lot of Foosball Clubs USA talk, so I'm trying to stay away from that.
[00:31:52] No, no, that's fine.
[00:31:53] But I would be remiss if I didn't talk about it a little bit.
[00:31:55] Of course.
[00:31:56] And I'm a part of making kids healthier and happier.
[00:32:01] There you go.
[00:32:01] Like, what the?
[00:32:02] Who can get better than that?
[00:32:03] What is wrong with that?
[00:32:04] No.
[00:32:05] Right.
[00:32:05] And my wife is happy.
[00:32:07] She likes it, too.
[00:32:08] Very nice to meet her today.
[00:32:10] Got a chance to chat with her briefly.
[00:32:11] Yeah.
[00:32:11] It was awesome.
[00:32:12] Yeah.
[00:32:12] Very cool.
[00:32:13] Mindy's cool.
[00:32:14] Yeah, yeah.
[00:32:14] You know, it's good to have a support system at home, support system in Foosball, and a support
[00:32:22] system, just generally speaking, when it comes to what you do at Foos Gadgets, man.
[00:32:26] It sounds like you've got things happening.
[00:32:29] Yeah.
[00:32:29] Okay, so let's talk about 2025.
[00:32:31] Yes.
[00:32:32] We've got the World Foosball Tour.
[00:32:36] Yes.
[00:32:37] With Ryan Morris now at the helm, what used to be the IFP.
[00:32:41] Okay, yeah.
[00:32:41] He's talked about innovation.
[00:32:43] He's talked about doing things right.
[00:32:45] Yep.
[00:32:46] Do you see yourself, I don't know, collaborating with Ryan at all?
[00:32:52] Of course, I would love to do that.
[00:32:54] But we actually do collaborate on their website for some of their products.
[00:32:59] Okay.
[00:33:00] I work with Evetta on that.
[00:33:02] Yep.
[00:33:02] She's wonderful.
[00:33:03] And so we do collaborate on some things.
[00:33:07] But, yes, I would love to work with Ryan and anything that he's got coming up.
[00:33:13] Yeah.
[00:33:13] Any way I could help as far as, you know, some electronics or some innovation.
[00:33:19] You may recall a couple years ago we did real-time scoring here.
[00:33:22] Yes.
[00:33:23] And we had the brackets in real-time cast up on the white screen here.
[00:33:29] Yeah.
[00:33:31] We can make that happen.
[00:33:32] We can still do it.
[00:33:33] Okay.
[00:33:35] Michael asked me if I wanted to do it this year.
[00:33:37] And the truth is, I was like, it was a lot of work, first of all.
[00:33:41] It was expensive.
[00:33:42] Right.
[00:33:43] And it was like, okay, we did it.
[00:33:45] I don't want to say it was like landing on the moon once we were there.
[00:33:47] We were like, okay, yeah, we did that.
[00:33:48] Check it off the list.
[00:33:49] Sure.
[00:33:49] But we proved we could do it.
[00:33:51] It was fine.
[00:33:52] It was cool.
[00:33:53] Okay.
[00:33:55] But I really see that that could be a part of the future of foosball real-time scoring.
[00:34:03] Yes.
[00:34:04] I like that.
[00:34:04] There could be all kinds of ways that that could be generated.
[00:34:07] Tie it into an app.
[00:34:07] Tie it into an app.
[00:34:08] So you could watch it, you know, live on your phone.
[00:34:10] Of course, we have streaming too.
[00:34:12] Sure.
[00:34:13] You know, there's possibilities for gambling and some other things like that for it.
[00:34:17] Of course.
[00:34:17] And people could see how their matches are coming along in real time from their hotel room.
[00:34:22] That to me would just be worth the price of admission right there.
[00:34:25] That's awesome.
[00:34:26] That'd be so cool.
[00:34:27] So our real-time scoring, they had to be connected to Bluetooth, so they needed their own Wi-Fi.
[00:34:33] Right.
[00:34:33] So we had tablets attached to each table.
[00:34:36] Okay.
[00:34:37] And it was cool.
[00:34:39] It was nerdy.
[00:34:40] Yeah, yeah.
[00:34:41] It was a lot of work.
[00:34:42] Right.
[00:34:43] I mean, until something like that gets perfected and refined.
[00:34:47] Yep.
[00:34:48] And, of course, trial and error.
[00:34:51] Keep doing that.
[00:34:51] Trial and error, man.
[00:34:52] We'll keep making it better.
[00:34:53] We'll keep chipping away at it.
[00:34:54] Exactly.
[00:34:54] Exactly.
[00:34:55] You know what else we got going in 2025?
[00:34:57] It's a Spain program.
[00:34:59] Oh, right.
[00:35:00] Yes.
[00:35:01] I'm really excited about that.
[00:35:03] World Cup.
[00:35:04] Are you going to try and make it to Spain?
[00:35:09] Okay.
[00:35:09] Try to make it Spain.
[00:35:11] Yes.
[00:35:11] Yes.
[00:35:11] Okay.
[00:35:12] But I probably won't be able to go.
[00:35:14] I got you.
[00:35:15] Yeah.
[00:35:15] I got you.
[00:35:16] I would love to.
[00:35:17] I didn't qualify.
[00:35:19] Actually, I would really like to get behind some young player that's going and help them
[00:35:23] get there.
[00:35:24] Wouldn't that be nice?
[00:35:25] Yeah.
[00:35:25] Man, well, that's what it's all about, right?
[00:35:27] So you want them to see the pinnacle of what this is all about.
[00:35:30] Once they go to Europe and they see what happens there, which is thousands of kids and
[00:35:35] thousands of people in the stands, I mean, that's a whole other level of, oh my God,
[00:35:41] I mean, something really cool.
[00:35:42] Big.
[00:35:42] Yeah.
[00:35:43] Something really cool.
[00:35:44] You got it going on there.
[00:35:45] Yeah.
[00:35:45] So I'm excited about that.
[00:35:46] I'm excited about some of our young players that are getting involved with it.
[00:35:50] Cool.
[00:35:51] Yep.
[00:35:52] I was talking to Amanda Kruger and I know that her and Ted are, Seda did qualify.
[00:36:00] Yes.
[00:36:00] And it's a tough go, you know.
[00:36:04] I actually talked to Amanda.
[00:36:06] Ted hasn't been feeling well.
[00:36:08] Right.
[00:36:08] I've heard about that.
[00:36:08] But, you know, Ted's like, oh, this is going to happen every year or so, you know, she'll
[00:36:11] get plenty of opportunities.
[00:36:13] Sure.
[00:36:13] And my point was, what if Seda decides to play volleyball?
[00:36:17] She's a singer in a band.
[00:36:19] What if she gets excited about that and has to dive into that?
[00:36:22] Right.
[00:36:22] Like, you know, a lot of things can happen and nothing is promised.
[00:36:26] I say get her in there and get her going.
[00:36:28] Yep.
[00:36:28] Absolutely.
[00:36:29] This would be a great experience for her.
[00:36:31] Oh, God.
[00:36:31] Great experience.
[00:36:31] She's awesome.
[00:36:32] She's such a, she was, she, when we had our conversation earlier today, I was so impressed
[00:36:37] in the sense that she's poised and comfortable talking to an old guy like me, but very intelligent
[00:36:45] answers.
[00:36:46] Yes.
[00:36:46] We probably could have talked for an hour better and there would be no gaps in the.
[00:36:51] Yeah.
[00:36:51] Very mature.
[00:36:53] And she has always nice things to say about people.
[00:36:56] And she's a really good kid.
[00:36:59] Super great.
[00:36:59] And Mae and Ted are doing great with her.
[00:37:02] Yeah.
[00:37:02] Yeah.
[00:37:03] It's great to see.
[00:37:04] Foosball family, right?
[00:37:05] That's what this is.
[00:37:06] Yeah.
[00:37:06] We always come back to foosball family.
[00:37:08] Yep.
[00:37:08] And we can depend upon that.
[00:37:10] Well, I've got to say, Aaron, man, it's, it's always great to catch up with you.
[00:37:13] Yeah.
[00:37:13] And we're hoping we might see you in the Northeast sometime.
[00:37:16] Oh, man.
[00:37:17] I'd love to get back out there.
[00:37:18] Yeah.
[00:37:19] You know my bike broke the last time I went out there.
[00:37:20] I heard.
[00:37:21] You heard.
[00:37:21] Yeah.
[00:37:22] I know.
[00:37:22] Well, you know, it was for a worthy cause.
[00:37:26] Well, thanks for having me on.
[00:37:27] Oh, absolutely.
[00:37:28] It's been great.
[00:37:28] And I always look forward to talking to you and spending some time with your brother.
[00:37:32] We are a foosball family.
[00:37:34] We're brothers.
[00:37:35] So, and after last year's experience, I don't think we'll ever forget.
[00:37:40] When we slept on the floor of this ballroom.
[00:37:41] Exactly.
[00:37:42] I'm not doing that again.
[00:37:44] I'm definitely not doing that again.
[00:37:45] It's, uh, there's always another story to come.
[00:37:49] Yes, sir.
[00:37:50] And we hope they're always positive.
[00:37:51] We'll see what comes with this one.
[00:37:52] Maybe the story's yet to happen.
[00:37:54] There you go.
[00:37:55] It's going to be the team event.
[00:37:56] Oh, that's it.
[00:37:57] Oh, that's right.
[00:37:57] I forgot about the team event.
[00:37:58] That's coming up.
[00:37:59] Yeah.
[00:37:59] That's tomorrow morning.
[00:38:00] And the Hall of Fame is happening tonight, too.
[00:38:02] That's tonight.
[00:38:03] Yep.
[00:38:03] We've got Gary Conley and Larry Smith.
[00:38:05] Larry Smith, a goalie.
[00:38:07] And Gary Conley, still, uh, Illinois now.
[00:38:10] Okay.
[00:38:10] And, um, perfect ambassadors for this award.
[00:38:14] Nice.
[00:38:15] Nice guys.
[00:38:15] Yeah.
[00:38:15] Lots to come tonight.
[00:38:17] Lots to come tomorrow.
[00:38:18] So, uh, we continue here.
[00:38:19] Uh, the Great Lakes Classic.
[00:38:22] Once again, Aaron.
[00:38:23] Thanks for having me on time.
[00:38:23] Aaron Croft with Foos Gadgets.
[00:38:25] We're going to be talking to you again very soon.
[00:38:27] And, uh, in the meantime, uh, we've got more coming here all weekend long on Foosball Radio
[00:38:33] on the road.
[00:38:34] And thanks for tuning in.
[00:38:37] Foosball Radio on the road.
[00:38:42] This has been a presentation of Foosball Radio.