Foosball Radio | On the Road | Michael Stahl Jr.

[00:00:01] The following is a presentation of Foosball Radio. Foosball Radio, On the Road. Hey, it's Foosball Radio on the road. Welcome back once again as we are continuing our weekend, our saga of the 2024 ITSF World Series of Tornado. Man, what a phenomenal weekend.

[00:00:33] It's almost broken down completely now, but I'm still amped. That's all I can say. And I am so happy that we get to also celebrate a tradition now that's happened. It was established in Michigan State a couple of years ago. It is a tradition.

[00:00:50] That is. And so once again, welcome back to Foosball Radio on the road. Mr. Michael Stahl. Thank you, sir. It's good to be back, man. Dude. This is an incredible event, international event, the Tornado World Series. Yes.

[00:01:08] You know, if you're a player in the U.S. and you love the tornado table, this in my mind is the tournament. Right. This paid tribute to not just the table but the manufacturer obviously because they're right here, right here in Texas. And the owner showed up.

[00:01:27] Yeah. He sure did. So Trey Stites, he's the owner's son. Right. So Kelly is the owner of Tornado Valley Dynamo. Mm-hmm. Right? Mm-hmm. Trey has been working for Tornado for I think four years now. Four years. Okay.

[00:01:49] But had done it prior for a period and then stopped working and then came back. I believe. Okay. So, but essentially they came to this event to see what it's like and apparently they are happy?

[00:02:05] No, yeah. It was good. I actually had the chance to tour the Tornado facility on Thursday. Did you? Yeah. So describe that. What's that like? It was really cool. It's a really great spot and they've got a super nice office cubicle. Yeah.

[00:02:24] And then they've got a nice, really nice factory floor and they do good work. There's employees there that have been there since the beginning. Beginning of Tornado. Yeah. So 35, 40 years? Yeah. Yeah. Nice. They've got some really, really good people that work for them and that are loyal.

[00:02:44] And then they've got some new people from COVID. So there's a few that have been there for like you said a long time. Okay. There's a couple new people that work there. But the coolest thing was sitting down with Trey. Yeah.

[00:02:58] Getting to talk to Trey, getting his thought process on foosball and his involvement and his energy that he's putting into it's really cool. Infectious, huh? It's amazing. Yeah. It is. And he's a super nice guy. Huh.

[00:03:13] Really good business sense. Went to school I think for, I could be wrong but I think it's accounting. Okay. And he made his way to the family business. Yeah. You know? And he's kind of, he's not, he doesn't have a role with Tornado but he acts just like

[00:03:31] a CEO. Okay. So he does a ton. He can make certain decisions or actions on behalf of the company in favor of let's say the foosball tables. Or the people that play them, the tournaments, the involvement, the energy, the passion. And he's a big part of that.

[00:03:53] And it's really cool to see him getting involved in a higher level effort coming from the manufacturer. Right. Yeah. Well, I mean, that's the way it used to be. Yeah. Right? That's... Your table manufacturers are really kind of instrumental in making sure that events

[00:04:08] like this would go off. Arguably yes. Yeah. But you know, in the U.S., it's kind of worked not that way for a long time. Right. Just people who care about it for obvious reasons. Back in the 70s with TS. But it's a good sign. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[00:04:27] T-Rob, it's a good sign, man. Oh, it's an... Not just a good sign. Yeah. It's an omen for foosball. It is. It is. It's a bell that's ringing saying, hey, there's enough energy in this space that something special and different is happening with it.

[00:04:40] There is the consistency of the way it was run. Yeah. You, because you're a promoter, what do you think they did differently that maybe you would apply to your own tournament now? Oh, yeah. I mean, the format, number one... Okay. Okay.

[00:05:00] I think that we're used to what has worked for so long and we love it. It's comfortable. Yeah. I think that we've grown to love, but the space is changing. It is.

[00:05:15] There's a lot of things that are happening right now in the sport that beg for the change. Yep. And so you're seeing these efforts that are blossoming out of partnership and new things popping up like the Tornado World Series.

[00:05:32] Would it be fair to say at this point that there's going to be a serious challenge to double elimination style tournaments now? I think it'll always exist, especially locally. Okay. Okay. But I would like to see some change in that sector. Okay.

[00:05:50] I would like to see bigger tournaments go. So for me personally, I've been a pro player for... You mean Swiss style for a bigger tournament like that? Like state tournament? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yes. It's very possible.

[00:06:05] So for me though, I've been a tournament player for a long time. Yeah. Exactly. Over a decade and it's exhausting. It takes a lot out of you. Oh well, no doubt about that. It's very taxing especially if you're going deep in your events and you're doing well.

[00:06:23] And for me coming here and experiencing a break, a lunch break... That is genius as far as I'm concerned because you know... Right about that time is when I'm really starting to get peckish. Yeah. You know? Yeah.

[00:06:40] And I think that when you are given the nurturing, you can nurture yourself at a tournament. You can give yourself the time and the space and you can take that time and be a better competitor. And so arguably the play is better. Yeah. Arguably. It's pushed.

[00:07:00] And it ends earlier in the evening like on average 10 o'clock, 10.15 when the finals are done and everybody can go and do whatever they want. Yeah but what these double elimination tournaments has done to us is it's turned us into strong players that we can... Oh sure.

[00:07:20] Like me, I'm so regimented when it comes to these tournaments that I play at because I know when I need a snack. I know when I need some rest.

[00:07:28] I know when I need to hydrate or when I need to take that time or space to kind of get back into the mindset that I need to be in to compete and to promote too. Yeah. Like that's another hat you take off and then it's...

[00:07:44] You have to be able to flip the switch so to speak. Right. Right. This weekend, I didn't do a whole lot. I didn't feel... I didn't do... I talked to a ton of people about foosball clubs.

[00:07:56] I definitely worked that role but I just wanted to be a player. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just to take it in. Just to be in that moment instead of having to worry about everything else around you.

[00:08:09] As far as the spotlight's concerned, like I know I do live videos and I try to get content and I put myself out there a lot. It's tiresome though. It's tough to do that all the time. It's kind of like being your own media company.

[00:08:24] It is and I'm starting to realize that I think I'm building a brand and it's strong enough and the effort's valuable that I need to be more tactful and maybe have a tribe.

[00:08:35] The fact you mentioned brands because that is really now in this time that we live in 2024, if you're not branding yourself, no matter what it is you're doing man, whether it's a tournament or a tournament director or you're working as let's say somebody

[00:08:50] who gives guitar lessons, you've got to brand yourself to stand out. You're like a director of an organization. If you have a company, you have a brand, you have an identity and everything you do, everything you say, how you act is associated with that brand.

[00:09:09] And so in a way it makes me better. I really enjoy it. I love working with Fuse Clubs. Yes, I was going to say this last year you had some really, really interesting ideas. I thought personally I thought the Xbox thing, you were giving away an Xbox.

[00:09:28] I thought that was ingenious. Well thank you, I appreciate it man. I stole it. You stole it? Yeah of course. But my biggest thing is to build the hype and just try to get some heads to turn sometimes. Sure, I got you. You have to use your imagination.

[00:09:50] You're doing the tough work. You're doing the hard work. It's fun for me though. I enjoy it so much and people are like thank you for doing this and I'm just like dude, this is what... You're having a blast. It's not really work to me. Yeah, yeah.

[00:10:04] And someday I'm going to figure out a way to make it work for me. And that will work for me. No pun intended. Your perspective when it comes to establishing relationships with school districts and of

[00:10:22] course getting kids involved, what's changed the most since the beginning of that organization? So John O'Brien of course he established it. He did you know, Passway sadly. And then you've picked up the torch so what can you say right now is absolutely different?

[00:10:42] Yeah I think that things just stopped. That was number one is how can we pick up where everything is fizzled out and it's not everything because they had lots of programs in different states that were still active but there wasn't

[00:11:00] a lot of follow up and to be quite frankly frank with you, there's a lot of work to still be done. Sure. As far as follow up goes. No I get you. And supporting these clubs, sending them maintenance supplies for the tables.

[00:11:16] This is all a part of the plan that I see happening consistently in the next year. Everyone has jerseys at the club, there's registered players, there's registered club facilitators. You must be registered. I've got to have first names of the kids not last names. Interesting.

[00:11:41] I need to know how many kids. That's a big part. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've got a lot of organizing that's, there's so many things that I plan on doing that I haven't had time to do yet. I'll share with you an old adage. It's all about the audience.

[00:11:54] Who is your audience? Yeah. Who are you appealing to here? You seem to be... Donors. Donors. Yeah. Really funding is the number one thing that I... You dialed in. I'd like to think that I have a good idea but I'm not perfect. Of course.

[00:12:08] You know and I'm really refining... You're learning. ...the thought process and I'm attacking it. Like a good foosball player you're adjusting and learning along the way. Yeah, it's fun man. I really, I really, really love it. Yes.

[00:12:23] Again, foosball clubs USA gets mentioned a lot these days and it has a lot to do with the efforts you've been putting in people like... That's cool. You know what Michael's doing lately? Hey, check this out. That's cool man. Hey man, we just heard about foosball clubs USA.

[00:12:37] We're hearing this a lot. Yeah, that's awesome. There's a lot of energy in that space. Yes. Absolutely. Because it's so valuable for these kids. Yeah. It does so much and I've seen it.

[00:12:50] You know, I first started this thinking that I knew what it was or that I had an idea of the impact it could have on me but it's completely blown me away. Yeah. So... It's way better than I ever thought. So much more fulfilling. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:13:09] It really is. You know, I think you have to stop working 70 hours a week and do this full time at some point and I'm putting it out there. I don't know how it's going to happen but...

[00:13:21] I think you will find that especially as these changes are taking place simultaneously that yeah, I think you'll find that easier to do. I think someday it's going to happen. Yeah. And for me right now the biggest thing is how can I have impact now? Right.

[00:13:36] How can I set myself up for later? It's like the third game and it's one game apiece and I know that I'm playing Tony and I need to build some foundation for the fifth game. Yeah, yeah. You've got to think about what you're going to do. Yeah.

[00:13:52] And for me it's like... It's so tough not having... Like I've got a tribe but it's loose. Yeah. I need to really find my people and continue to build relationships and to leverage those.

[00:14:08] And with the right kind of impact on the market when it comes to your brand, those people will come to you. And it's all about the help. It's all about the tribe to get the job done like I'm a 1% and all these moving parts are everything else. Yeah.

[00:14:26] And if I can find... It's fun. Yeah, if I can find a way to energize people and to come off the right way because I mean well, I do. So I'm curious because as a marketing person in broadcasting for years and of course writing

[00:14:46] copy this kind of thing... Sure. What is... If I were to say to you, okay, Fuseball Club's USA is and you have one sentence to complete, how would you finish that sentence? Yeah, that's a good question. For me, it's therapy. Whoa. Now we're getting this single word therapy.

[00:15:15] That's exactly what it is. It's a therapeutic tool for these kids that are going through things they don't understand. They may not have their tribe. Dude, that was profound. They don't know how to handle the pieces that are falling or whatever in their life.

[00:15:35] For me, that's what Fuseball has been doing for me. It did it for me... You know exactly what you're saying? Yeah. Even this weekend, I've got a tough job at home. I'm a security manager of a big Walmart and I balance a P&L of $100 million store.

[00:15:54] And I interview associates that steal from the company and I try to get them to admit to what they do. So you're basically a cop for Walmart? I guess so, yeah. And to be honest with you, I'm passionate about pieces of what I do.

[00:16:13] And I try to spin it in my head a little bit so that I can feel better about certain things because there's tough days. But for me, Fuseball has always gotten me into that space. Let's say your security job is... It's taken me away from...

[00:16:30] And your security job is there because you do need security. Or like everybody else, you want to be able to buy... You own a house, right? Yes. So you want to be able to pay the mortgage, you want to take care of future things that

[00:16:43] may happen in your life. 100%. Yeah, so that's fine. But it's the off time that you're using to its maximum, it seems. Like when do you sleep? Very little. Right. It's going to say, right? Yeah. I've actually had bouts with poor mental health. Yeah. Because I work a lot.

[00:17:05] And I think that you just have to take care of yourself. Work-life balance? Like this weekend, I've been so overworked and especially socially that I didn't even want to click my phone on to go live and walk around the room. And I know people expect that of me.

[00:17:24] Dude, that's okay though. And they enjoy it. It's fun content. It's kind of like off the cuff. It could be dialed in more. There's a lot of my process that could be done.

[00:17:36] If I, and it's about the tribe, Tom, if I could have imagined this in a world where... You mean in a world where one man has no future in foosball? People around him create his ability to create his own, you know? Or like help him.

[00:18:03] For me, that's what it is though. And if I can have the... Like imagine if I had some buddies that walked around with a camera and helped me get content. And then I had a...

[00:18:14] I've had some isolated help from certain sources for videography work and for other things. But a consistent base as a system, people that are here to help and it's a guided effort with one vision. Right. And honestly like one person can't make impact. So you form your tribe.

[00:18:36] You form your tribe and you go at it that way. And of course you've always got some kind of support. It's been great. Like I've had a ton of volunteers help me with certain things. Right. But... And people, you know what? They're grateful for what you do.

[00:18:50] And they're grateful to help you out. It's been great, man. You know? There's a lot of people that thank me for my work. Sure. Like I told you before it's weird for me. I have a hard time. I'm just like, hey this is helping me.

[00:19:04] You're digging it anyways. Yeah. Yeah. So... It's a fringe benefit that you get compliments. But yeah, no. I'm hoping that... I'm hoping I can dial it in and I'm hoping that we can put forward some continued effort that develops and changes and becomes better. Right. And... Yeah.

[00:19:26] You know? It's inevitable if it's... If it's... That's your desire. Yeah. That's your passion. That's where it goes. And I swear, like this weekend I feel like I didn't play that great. Okay. That's okay.

[00:19:37] And I feel like me doing these interviews and stuff, like it pumps me up. Well... And I think that was a missing element this weekend for me. Like I did okay. Yeah. I had a few points away from a classic doubles final. But...

[00:19:53] Man, well because you were a player this weekend I'd be remiss if I didn't say... Michael what was your... Well, your best performance. What match did you just turn it on for today? Or yesterday I should say. It's hard to say.

[00:20:10] I probably can't say one match but I will say that there were points where I didn't feel like I was on autopilot and I was reading the defense and I wasn't being a dumb dumb. Okay. You know, I was actually playing pretty smart.

[00:20:24] But I just think overall it was not my best play. Okay. And for me I think I can do a lot better. Just like when you were talking about choices that you made in the moment? Yes. Okay. Yes. Okay. And I'm like...

[00:20:39] I've had the pleasure of playing with Trevor Park in Open Doubles and that was pretty cool for me. It was special. It's great to see him by the way. He's such a good guy. He's a genius. Yeah.

[00:20:51] With foosball, talking foosball theory with Trevor Park is some of the best conversation you can have. Right. Yeah, yeah. He's incredible. The dude has helped me a lot. Just this weekend I learned a ton.

[00:21:07] So you took time out then in those breaks that we had obviously to talk to other players about how can I improve? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Wow. Well man, I consider you a pretty amazing player. Oh thanks man. You know, I do believe you'll be achieving master soon.

[00:21:28] I don't know. Yes. Yeah. But I don't know maybe like a couple hundred points on modern or house and... Yeah, yeah. ...tournaments. Maybe 50 points. I don't know. It's pretty close but IFP no for some reason. Huh, okay. I'm like more like... So pro.

[00:21:48] ...thousand points away or I don't know maybe a little bit more than that but for me the points don't matter in my mind. Right. I feel like it doesn't matter to me. Well here's the thing.

[00:21:59] Today's tournament was based on IFP points yes but with this kind of a system they basically have a point system that resets every year. So at the beginning of the year we start from zero. Which is really cool. Yeah. You know the ITSF is doing a phenomenal job.

[00:22:17] Fareed is such a creative, courageous individual that has this burning vision and it's really impressive. It's a vision. There's no...I love that because it is a vision. We talked to him earlier for about an hour and 24 minutes. It's another episode of Fuseball Radio on the Road.

[00:22:38] And wow. Yeah. He is an inspiration. I mean he's walking around basically emulating this positive energy to make this happen. He's come a long way. He's come a long way. You know and he's putting in the work, making the relationships happen. Yes. Networking.

[00:22:59] I went and looked at his playbook. We've got a playbook for Fuseball Clubs. It's basically a 30 page document. It's like a club at water. Okay. And it's great. But then I saw his version of it. And it's like looking at...it's crazy. It's insane how detailed it is.

[00:23:23] No kidding. And how simple. No kidding. Yeah. Yeah. It's simple it is. And it's a good production as well. And that to me, it was like okay this guy is coming in with a plan man. I mean... It's impressive. You know, it's corporate. It's almost has to be.

[00:23:47] It is. And that's kind of what I want to get there as well. He does such a great job. He's got a tribe. Yeah. He has people that are good at what they do. They love the vision he has. And they believe in what he's doing.

[00:24:04] And that's special. So I've got to...I also have to ask you the question. When you're in a pit because you played in the pit a few times this weekend. Yeah, a couple of times. What was that like knowing there was cameras all around you?

[00:24:20] So playing with T-Mac in classic doubles was pretty sweet. The dude is another just absolute genius when it comes to reading defense. And it was just really cool playing with two masters that are known for reading defense. Right. And I'll say it like I'm not. Okay. I'm not.

[00:24:44] And it's okay. And I'll tell you why. Because for a while I didn't...it's almost like you have to get better and to get to that level. You have to understand where you're at. Yep. And I'm okay with it. Yeah. I am. Okay. Okay.

[00:25:03] I'm still curious about your best performance this weekend. Who you play? What was the match? I don't know. Probably the one against Rhodes and Kirk and Dahl. We played a classic in the quarter-final. It went five games. We did really well. I think...

[00:25:20] I want to say we were up two games to nothing. Okay. And we were playing really hot like I can do sometimes. And then I just hit a wall. Yes. And there was this adrenaline dump and I just kind of went quiet for two games and

[00:25:34] then woke up and got the job done. Gotcha. Gotcha. Did I play great at times? But that's the thing is being consistent is really the name of the game. And that's the goal here. This is the separation point often we've mentioned this.

[00:25:51] I don't know how many times on Queensborough Radio and Fusalca Live is the difference between a pro and a pro master is, well, a lot more time at the table number one but also having much more of the chess match. Yeah, absolutely. 100%.

[00:26:06] And that's the missing element for me. I think that a lot of guys know that I'm talented. Yeah. I get lots of kudos and everything else but I can't help but feel like they all talk about how I don't think enough about what I do. Right.

[00:26:27] And it's something that it's going to change for me. Okay. Because it's the missing element and I put so much into just like anyone else. For a long time I've come to these tournaments and they've paid off to an extent. Yeah. Oh yeah.

[00:26:45] And it's like the potential is far greater than what's happening. And a big part of that is because of a core belief, Tom. Everyone has a core belief and sometimes your core belief is not consistent with what is happening or what is logical. So the evidence suggests-

[00:27:07] What you can actually put into action. Correct. For a long time my core belief was that I'm not good enough. I have to be greater. I have to be this promoter. I have to do all of this and it's- Can I tell you something? Yeah.

[00:27:22] You're describing something that a lot of creative, smarter people go through. Okay. They eventually discovered that their inner language is not true. Their inner language is telling them they don't deserve the success. Interesting. Yeah. It's true.

[00:27:43] There's a lot of people who suffer from that and it isn't until they recognize that their inner voice is telling them they don't deserve it, they can't move forward. And then they don't allow themselves like perfect example World Cup 2022. Yeah. That's exactly what happened.

[00:27:57] My inner dialogue was suggesting that I was not good enough or that I could not accomplish the goal considering the external criteria. And for me going forward the belief is really starting to change because the evidence, I'm starting to look at the facts and the evidence-

[00:28:16] It's coming back at you now. You're starting to see the feedback. Yeah. Exactly. Well, the evidence is suggesting that I am good enough and that I can accomplish these things or I do have the potential.

[00:28:25] And so if something's in front of you and you want it and it's within reach, just grab it. Go for it. Right? Yeah. Do the steps that it takes to get to that thing. Yeah, exactly. And there's obstacles but I'd rather it be that way anyway. Yeah.

[00:28:44] Well, you don't gain anything if you don't make mistakes and learn along the way, right? It's like why bother? It's true. But I've really enjoyed the process and I love playing this game. And sometimes I don't have fun because I try too hard.

[00:29:01] Well, aren't we all guilty of that though, right? Yes. So, but there was just a share with you. Three. I had a chance to hang out with Zeke Moore or Zeke Eil, Iceman Moore this weekend. Just a phenomenal human being. Right? And what an amazing...

[00:29:16] Don, Don Wilson is waving goodbye. See ya. Later Don. See ya buddy. Anyway we were talking about how he was a coach, you know, the team USA and his perspective and he showed me some videos of him playing some professional pool which were unreal. Yeah, he's incredible.

[00:29:38] He's pretty talented. So one of the things I asked him about just in passing conversation, listen man, you're a coach. What is the simplest advice you can give to somebody who's really good but wants to get better? And he said, calm down. Yeah, so... Like really?

[00:30:01] He goes, no. When you're in a situation, I'm sure you were in that this weekend where you're up a few points on the table and you're feeling good, you're ripping it, you're everything's working. 100%.

[00:30:13] Your energy level, you get real excited because like I can see the finish line but that extra energy you add in... Is a distraction Tom. Yes. Exactly. Yep. So Iceman shared with me a video that was, it was like a dialogue or commentary on a pool match. Gotcha.

[00:30:35] And essentially what I took from it was that if you get excited it's good but if you get too excited it's a distraction. Yeah. Truly. You know, that can manifest in different ways. You can think, hey I'm not good enough for the moment or hey this is...

[00:30:56] I don't know like you either attack the moment or you become defined by it. How do you do that thing? Do you think about like physically or mentally bringing that energy level down to a more like... Yeah. So... Is that what you do?

[00:31:17] I mean how do you tune it down a little bit? For me I don't have structure enough at the highest level and so that's why I get so excited is because I know I'm fast and I try to chase everything down because it gives me the best

[00:31:35] chance in my mind when in reality I just need to focus on the core values that my mentors are teaching me. These individuals are really sharing a lot of introspective things that I feel will end up giving me the tools and at least encouraging me along the way.

[00:31:57] So the discipline to be able to suppress that over excited moment so you're not wasting a shot or... Well just act like you've been there. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And that's something that you know I don't think I did enough this weekend but again

[00:32:12] looking back on everything you learn a lot throughout the process and some things that you... Oh yeah. Some things that you learn are relearned. Yeah, you forgot you knew them to start with. And so I think that when you're an individual and your whole life is foosball you're

[00:32:33] going to have those things at the forefront of your mind whereas if you have to go home and work your 70 hour job and then you've got your passion project on the side and I'm not making excuses for myself but it's true.

[00:32:46] But I can be more segmented and I can put more concentrated compartmentalized effort forward and have more structure and then I can overcome doing more. It just might take me a little longer than some folks. Right. I mean there's always been that adage about work smarter not harder.

[00:33:08] Yeah exactly. So that's always something we're struggling with. Yeah. You have to learn certain things that you're doing to get it right the first time although you may have to make adjustments along the way. 100%.

[00:33:22] Until you do something multiple times like you talk about on the table then it's no easy task. Yeah for sure. But to kind of segue into what a great weekend, what great people and competitors have shown

[00:33:40] up and the European presence here was with it being more last minute and kind of coupled next to another big big international event. It did really well I would say. And you really had the best here. There were some missing players for sure.

[00:33:59] Oh yeah but there was a fine sheen of professional play here. Yeah for sure. You didn't have slouches. In fact I can attest to the amateur division I played in. Yeah. Oh my. Amateur is always tough. It was very, we didn't win a single game.

[00:34:15] A lot of times you're playing guys that have really like low pro level. Stick lane, stick wall, you know dead bar push snake. I mean there were a few people I was able to kind of get in their way a bit when it comes

[00:34:29] to defending but after a while they figured me out. Yes. You know like a good foosball player does. And I had to think about okay what am I going to do to change that? Yeah.

[00:34:41] You know if you're playing pros do you expect that to be the case but amateurs? Not so much. Yeah, yeah it's tough man. You know semi pro in my opinion is the toughest event to win and it's funny I had, Tony told me that at Worlds one year.

[00:35:00] He said dude semi pro is like one of the hardest events to win here. Yeah. Because you've got 30 year pros that should be pros that aren't you know they've been sandbagging. They've been playing. And it's a short race there's like very minimal time for adjustment.

[00:35:16] If Favors a player who might be more like you can attack the hole you don't have to have as much structure like it favors guy like me like historically like I can do everything but do I have that fifth game in me? Yeah.

[00:35:33] And that's what you know that's what I want to get there to that point. And with what you've been doing of course to grow I think there's no question. Yeah, it's inevitable. It's cool.

[00:35:45] I did have to ask you the question though because again this is something that's been coming up a lot lately. The structure of the point system and the rankings in and of itself you've got beginner, rookie, amateur, expert, pro and pro master so why so many levels?

[00:36:06] If there's a question from the beginning there's a problem. Yeah. If you have to question it there's an issue. For me and honestly this event here you had amateur pro men singles, men's doubles, women's juniors over 63 singles and doubles. That in my mind is what we need.

[00:36:36] So hone it down. And I've ran a state championship like for this would be my fourth year. The concept to me when you watch the Crucible that is this kind of a tournament. You've got people playing five rounds typically in their event and depending upon where you

[00:36:53] rank how many of those rounds you win you get placed into the elimination bracket. Yep. There's an A division and a B division in open which is interesting. If you don't qualify for the event you still get to play more foosball. Right.

[00:37:12] And the cream rises to the top just like it does in any other tournament. It sure does and if you're a guy that you're getting better and you didn't qualify let's say and then you can place third in the B division right?

[00:37:26] The next time you show up I qualified this time but I took 33rd. Right. It's still cool because there's still progression in that. There's still legitimacy. And you still have an opportunity to make a difference. Exactly.

[00:37:39] I think the current system is certainly flawed but I see why it's been done. Not necessarily flawed it's more about this you know we all have to start some place and you have to have some kind of a system that people get into and double elimination has

[00:37:55] done that. Yeah it's true. It has it's done that successfully. But it is flawed because the conditions aren't right. Right. And it's flawed for the player and it favors the promoter. Well yeah. That's true. That's true. That's what it does I mean but it's not a bad thing.

[00:38:12] No. It's not like it's wrong doing it you still are providing a service and people get to experience something you know. And they have a good time. There's beauty there. I mean I lived that for a long time. Oh of course. On the tour. Of course.

[00:38:26] It's what we've known all along and it wasn't until recently we started to realize hey there's kind of another way of looking at this. Yes it's like I'll pay $200 less for entry fees. Yeah. And the potential to make money is still there. Yep. I can still cash out.

[00:38:44] Yep. But I get a lunch break every day and I pretty much get a dinner break every day as well. Yep. And it's certainly more beneficial to me as a human. And you know you'll be done by 10 30. You know so. Exactly.

[00:38:59] I mean I get down here I get warmed up at 9 am I play at 10. Yep. Maybe I'm running late. I grab a coffee in the morning. I take a little bit of what it takes.

[00:39:09] Yeah I do 50 stick passes while my you know while my opponent's waiting for me to you know get the game started. Yeah. No but it's a beautiful thing what happened here this weekend and I would like to replicate this with my own tournament. Man I.

[00:39:29] But I understand the pitfalls. Yeah. And I'm still deciding so Michigan State is still on for this October. Yeah we're still wondering about I guess your venue that kind of thing. Yeah yep so the Hilton Garden in same venue as the last two years. Okay.

[00:39:44] We're coming back for the third year at that location it's the fourth annual. Cool. It's the Great Lakes Classic. Oh like I like that name. It's no longer the Michigan State Championships however Tom. Branding. There are Michigan State Championship titles to be won. Nice.

[00:40:01] The Great Lakes Classic and it in it it's a it's a cup event too. Interesting. It's a team event. Great Lakes being all three and how many of the states around those lakes are you talking about. And countries. Countries.

[00:40:16] Think about it Canada right so you've got it's more inclusive. Yeah it's it's bigger picture. Nice. I'd like to what I'd like to do and I've submitted a plan to the board at foosball clubs. Yep. I'm just one board member.

[00:40:31] I've got to submit my plan and it's a financial statement that shows the expenditures everything that is going to go down to run this event. Right. And what I do under foosball clubs USA. Geez.

[00:40:44] And the idea is to run this event and any any profits go directly towards the program. Nice. And you know whatever money that we've saved up from running the tournament year after year. Yeah. We're just gonna we're gonna donate to foosball clubs USA. That's that's phenomenal man.

[00:41:02] And so this is just one whole lump sum of money you're gonna just give to. Well it's not just my money. It's just some of the money that we've managed to pull together throughout the years of running the tournament. Right. I've never personally taken anything from the tournament.

[00:41:19] Right. I've never like had a good out you know turn out and say oh yeah here's you know I'm gonna pay myself right never done that. You know of course we've paid for hotels and certain expenses but. Oh sure. Sure.

[00:41:31] All associated with running the event never any kind of personal gain and so this this time with the money that we've built yeah we're gonna give it to hopefully the nonprofit. There you go.

[00:41:42] And then we can have tax write offs I can go to the champion dodge dealership and say hey Joe. Hey there you go. How you doing Joe. Yeah I'm here. You want to sell cars. Yeah. What we're gonna do. So and maybe maybe we can get some sponsorship.

[00:41:58] Get a little bit of extra money. There's a hundred and fifty kids playing hundred and sixty eight kids playing that's in Michigan every day at lunch. Wow. At a school with four hundred eighty seven. They're gonna be a part of the Great Lakes.

[00:42:13] If we could get like forty or fifty kids wouldn't that be something it would be the biggest junior turnout at a tournament in the US. And it would be pretty sweet dude. I've actually been talking to some sources about maybe chartering a bus.

[00:42:27] OK for the kids and running a Swiss style state championship event horse but do it really early do it like 8am 839 location before the tournament starts yeah so that you can have it separated

[00:42:40] and and then easily so there's some things that I'm thinking about doing but so who would you get to actually run that that part of the tournament. Do you have somebody in mind. Yeah you know we. You do have some in mind.

[00:42:55] I do we've got a really good team at the state championship that we run and it's pretty much year over year and we would allocate some labor hours to that. OK. You know just do it.

[00:43:10] But yeah I just think it's it's an idea now and who knows and maybe they can compete for a sponsor or a scholarship. Sure. We could put a thousand dollars to do a scholarship fund. Dude that's that's huge.

[00:43:21] We could say hey you know like this is going to go towards your college. Yep education and it starts a bank account for them too. And that gets parents attention too. It does and it's the first step for us because that's what I see happening with this organization.

[00:43:34] Yeah that's exciting man some some really terrific things happening for you in the near future here. OK next tournament for you what's it going to be. Chicago Chicago got to go on that's next weekend as the win the windy city.

[00:43:49] Yes it's June 6th through the 9th I believe. Yeah. Playing with Don Chalifaux and Pro Doubles and I'm playing with Frank Kronkowski in open doubles the Hall of Fame inductee this year. Nice.

[00:44:02] You know I'm super honored to be you know he's kind of one of my mentors both of those guys are. Don especially has been a big mentor for me. So Don we know is in his 70s. Yeah. And he's still playing foosball. He's badass. No doubt man.

[00:44:18] He's a great player too. He's got heart. There is well it's good news for people like myself you know I'm I'm not quite there in my 70s I'm 65 but that there's hope that I could still be doing this one. Absolutely in my 70s. Yeah I think so.

[00:44:33] You know and it's just one of those things it keeps you young. Yeah it does. It's that's exactly it. Yeah we might have discussed this before about the the overall effect a Friday D.Y.P. can have in me physically how I feel afterwards.

[00:44:49] Yeah yeah it's like an elation. Yeah and it's a drug in a sense you know it's like I've got I've got to be there I gotta do this. It's that therapy man. Yeah I'm telling you what it all kind of goes back into the idea that this is

[00:45:04] good for us. Yep and it's good for these kids it's good for the people that are part of it. It's it's a win-win right there. It is. We're planning on the future obviously with this this whole phenomenon through the ITSF.

[00:45:20] Sure they're doing their own thing with kids on their side of the pond you think there's going to be a meeting of the minds there as to what they're doing right there and what we can do here with the Fuseball Clubs USA.

[00:45:30] Oh most certainly I spent some time talking to Fareed this weekend and okay you know he you know gave me gave me a lot of information about just partnerships and how we can leverage collaboration. Yeah just leverage each other and you know he's doing a phenomenal job at

[00:45:52] getting tables and schools in Europe and I've been hearing about it and it's it's very impressive. They're printing 20,000 flyers every week. 20,000 every week. Okay well there's a bit of an expense that's that's what I heard yeah and he's he's been doing it. Dang it's crazy.

[00:46:10] Yeah well and if it's getting results then it's getting results. It sounds like a big number but I'm pretty sure that's I'm like wait a minute but yeah I'm pretty sure that's the number he gave me.

[00:46:19] Well again you know I'm sure that the public at large in especially all of Europe they're much more susceptible to something like this because of their favorite sport. Yeah soccer. Soccer or football. Yeah the culture is different too I think yeah I think that there's

[00:46:36] definitely a space for it and in the US there is a space for it too but yeah it's different. Yeah it's got to be coupled with things here because it's a lot of a lot of traditional players from America didn't really do much of anything about it

[00:46:55] when tables were taken out of public locations like laundromats and stuff. Yeah they took them out they disappeared and there was never like a nobody stood up and said hey. It's a space that requires the maintenance it's the pain of everything else.

[00:47:12] But that we need to get back to that point where people say you know I got the space in my office you know it's like just off the lunch room we could set up a table there and you know we'll have bad ass competitions between employees and somebody's

[00:47:28] going to win today somebody's going to lose and we're going to make fun of the loser and that kind of stuff. Yeah no absolutely I think that we're in a really good space right now Tom in the culture and the development of foosball in the US.

[00:47:44] Visibility a higher level of quality when it comes to production which is what these guys have. We're sitting here right now talking we're watching these guys tear down. It's hours of work. It's a lot of work. Hours. It's so much work.

[00:48:01] We're going to stream the event this weekend inside foosball TV. Yep. Wow. Incredible. Just I mean what now when you go back and watch the video because I know you will you know I'm going to be curious to know what what you thought you didn't like seeing on

[00:48:17] camera when it comes to your game you know. I think that just reading defenses is the number one thing for me. I'm going to the school of park in McMillan. Are you? Yeah. All right.

[00:48:34] And I've been talking to these guys for a long time and I've always kind of gravitated towards certain masters and I don't know like for instance Tracy McMillan we vibed like crazy. Yeah I didn't realize I liked the guy so much. He's such a good dude.

[00:48:51] He's such a good person. Yeah and he's straight to the point no nonsense. Right. And I really appreciate people like that. Oh no doubt. No doubt. We were playing over here and we were up two games and nothing like I was referring to earlier. Sure.

[00:49:07] And he's like Mike what the hell. He's like I need you to step into your game right now. Oh. And I was like whoa. Okay. And then slowly I creep back in there he's like buddy you've been quiet what's going on. Right. Right. Right.

[00:49:25] It's like when you where's the fire today. When you went at the highest level it demands that type of mentality where you're like hey this is serious. Yep. Yep. And I need you to I need to snap out of it.

[00:49:37] We've been we've been we've been talking about attacking the moment Mike. Yeah it's time to do it now. Yeah yeah yeah so so nice when you've got somebody in your corner like that saying

[00:49:46] he's incredible man come on man let's do this you've got you got you know you got this. Yeah. Where are you. It was cool. Tracy with you know the mentality. Yeah how you should approach it. Yeah. And then Trevor with the insights on how to strategize it.

[00:50:04] Mm-hmm this weekend and that that was really cool and Jessica Samplebin I played with her too and mixed in nice she really just showed me like hey this is how you have a good time.

[00:50:14] Yeah yeah yeah let's have fun like this is foosball it's not just so serious like there's so I noticed that there's lessons to be learned from each partner that we end up getting to it seems it seemed like even with the with you guys the top pros

[00:50:30] and pro masters you just seem like you're having so much fun this weekend. It's beautiful man. Yeah a lot of fun. We you know there is a lot of a lot of how do I say this trash talking on the side. Yeah there's some chatter.

[00:50:45] There's some controversy and maybe that's something we need to get on camera. Yeah it's an ugly fun beautiful thing that you can't help but enjoy. What did you just call your mother. What would you call my mother. Forget about it. Don't be saying that about my mother.

[00:51:06] You talking to me like that. No no no you don't understand you don't talk about my mother. You're talking to my friend all wrong here. I'm going to hit you at the side of the head with this soldering iron. That's that's SNL dude. Yes it is.

[00:51:23] You know that. I don't. You don't. That's more recent SNL I think because I don't know that's what is his name. He's on Joe Dirt. He's like the guy that drives the sweet car. Wait I think I know you're talking about.

[00:51:34] You're talking to my friend all wrong here. It's amazing how yes looks great. Just had a note from off stage here for a we're doing an interview tomorrow morning with the crew from Germany.

[00:51:52] They're going to sit down and talk to us but thank you which by the way they've done an incredible job. Such creativity passion vision and honestly just sacrifice. Maybe the biggest one like these guys aren't just promoting foosball. Their players their good players too.

[00:52:11] Yep I play with one of our German directors over here. Their master level players too. And if you're that high level of a player and you look at a tournament and you say hey I'm

[00:52:24] going to decide to do this instead of play which is what I really want to do that is the ultimate sacrifice. Kudos. So it's just it's one of those things. That's something we're going to really talk about at length tomorrow when we get into

[00:52:38] the conversation about their process because it's clearly laid out. It's high level. Yes it's so practiced. Yeah it is. It's like they've done this a few times you know. Yeah it's efforts like this that are going to help transcend the sport into true legitimacy

[00:52:59] with all of the benefits. Yeah any real sport. Right exactly. You know yeah it's it we're we're lucky to be alive right now to see it. Dude it's it's pretty sweet so cool. It's cool.

[00:53:16] And the steps that it takes and the time and the work and the effort there's now there's there's a team there's people who want to do this make sure happen. Absolutely. You know guys like you help add the element of sharing what those behind the scene people

[00:53:31] do like I there might be someone that watches this that maybe they think I'm a jerk or maybe and then they see this and they're like whoa actually like Mike's pretty cool.

[00:53:41] Not that I care about too much of I do a little bit but right too much about what people think but no it's a way for me to share kind of my perspective. Oh absolutely. And maybe they're like they watch it and they're like dude that makes sense.

[00:53:53] We want to tell your story you know we always want to tell your story. It's cool. That's our goal. It's been our motto since the beginning. Yeah. Ball radio telling telling foosball one one player one telling the story of foosball one player at a time.

[00:54:05] It's really it's really quite profound to be able to be here man and to do what you guys do. Yeah I mean I know you're it's a one man band well I mean most of the time we have

[00:54:18] you know we do a lot of rotation of people that are sure of a fantastic talent. Not the least of which Jim Stevens and Mark Taurus and Adam Gilson yeah to me

[00:54:27] I mean great great bunch of guys and they can come back anytime they'd like you know yeah the doors always open. It takes you for this to be here though. Yeah yeah but and and we've got Randy Raposo these days he's really cool dude.

[00:54:41] Oh my god I like Randy. He's the he's the knife edge so it's funny you were you used the word knife. I was I was playing a match against him. He played me and my dad at Worlds. Okay he beat us. He's a great player.

[00:54:56] Yeah and he pulls a huge knife out like right before and he's like yeah this is my sweet knife I'm like dude that's sweet like it was so random. He's just a cool guy like he just he's got this like randomness to him and he's

[00:55:08] just he's really smart. Right oh yeah no brilliant guy. Yeah he's funny too. And oh the hilarious well you know what I'm saying is from that part of the country. The East Coast guys man they they get it.

[00:55:21] Yeah absolutely you know listen I'm telling you forget about it forget about you have no idea no idea. It's it's it's pretty cool though. It's good to have Randy because of the fact that he's he came up in a kind you

[00:55:36] know pretty tough neighborhood in the Boston region and but played foosball and really kind of saved his own life like so many do you know so I'm pretty amazing get away from really bad circumstances by doing this.

[00:55:49] Yeah and you know he's a really pretty fine human being because he's super cool yeah I agree. There's so many stories like that of people just being in really rough situations now you know maybe not homeless but you know in a situation where

[00:56:04] they don't just don't have hope for the future and then suddenly they find this they have this connection this community this yeah and it's suddenly network. Oh where where has this been all my life.

[00:56:15] Yeah right yeah man I feel like you know you get into this you feel like oh wasn't I always doing this. Yeah right sometimes. Yeah it's all I know. I don't know anything else. I have been doing it for so long. I started playing when I was 11.

[00:56:31] Wow wow that's 28 now. That's pretty impressive and of course you down a great player as well. Yeah yeah and there's a lot of things that my dad does that has bled into my game as some of the things that I'm trying to fix even.

[00:56:45] You know one of these days great player you're gonna wake up and you're gonna say Jesus I'm my father. Oh damn what happened. Dude my dad's fast even for being he's 60 now. Wow. So even your dad is 60.

[00:57:02] Yeah that means he's five yeah he's five years younger than I am. Yeah wow. Dude he'll still three straight me for a can of soup though like the dude's got skill and his pull kick. You've got an arrangement. Yeah he's nasty.

[00:57:18] He's still a good player like we're gonna play Michigan State this year. Nice nice. Not sure what I'm doing for Worlds yet in open but I'm gonna play pro with a good friend of mine Mike. Okay. Weirowski and I don't know I'd like to find.

[00:57:34] Wouldn't it cool you're playing with your dad and you end up playing against let's say Tony and Bud. Tony's great. That'd be pretty wicked. Wouldn't that be fun? Yeah. Father son father son. I've played against Tony and Bud before too. A couple times now. Okay.

[00:57:48] And I never played with him with my dad but that would be really special. I mean why not? Be sweet we'd have like a father son off. I was gonna say you could do it for father's day. Yeah you know at this tournament we had a kid off.

[00:58:01] A kid off. At this hotel in 2018 Texas State I was like 20-ish 22. Okay. And we had a kid off. Like me, Dylan, Paul like all the younger kids. Yep. We weren't quite all kids but you catch my drift. The younger generation.

[00:58:23] Yeah we played each other like on a Sunday night after the tournament was over. Right. It was super fun. I don't think I won at all. But it's the pick up games that are the best. It was yeah. They're so much fun. Yeah.

[00:58:35] I mean what was it last night around just ran across Mike Yor. Mike's always one of his buds. Liengren and he's a good guy. Oh my god yeah it was hilarious and it was me and Iceman.

[00:58:51] Iceman and Ezekiel Moore and we played him I think it was best of five when we beat him. We had a blast. You hear that Mike? Yeah we took you out. He was trash talking the entire time. He is a big talker. Oh dude.

[00:59:05] Okay I'm gonna I am now gonna do a stick lane. Okay get ready and bout to do a stick lane. I will do a stick lane. Yeah. And he's just taunting you know Iceman is playing. You're talking about Tommy Yor's uncle right? Oh yeah yeah. I'm just kidding.

[00:59:17] There's a funny joke about that. But he did that the entire time the entire match. Yeah. And then when he got scored on then it was like no wait wait wait hold on a second. No no no no that's. That was a legal advancement. That is incorrect.

[00:59:30] You know my brother is the head ref. I can do something about Jews. Yeah forget about it. But no it's it was that's what happens at the after you know the days competition is done. People are unwinding they're doing crazy stuff on the table. Yeah.

[00:59:48] It's all trick shots and just like you know. I enjoy it. It's it's been a really good really good time. I we're really lucky to be a part of this kind of community. You're damn straight. To be able to enjoy these things.

[01:00:02] Well I gotta say man you're you're doing everything and above what anybody would expect for someone who's as passionate as you are you going above and beyond what anybody would expect for the effort that you're putting in. Thanks man.

[01:00:14] Boosball clubs USA and man I want to wish you the all the best with that. I and you better keep me informed as to what's what's happening. I will man. You're part of the tribe Tom. Cool. You are. I've always felt that way. Yeah dude.

[01:00:26] There's a kinship by the way. I'm part of your tribe too. This is only the third was it. Yeah the third time that we've like done this after hours and we're sitting around while people are packing up their stuff. Yeah it's it's actually really cool.

[01:00:39] Yeah yeah it's kind of like late night. Yeah. On Boosball radio. After hours after hours. After dark. It's yeah it's been a tradition. Like inside foos after dark. So Great Lakes I should call it now right. I don't call it Michigan State anymore. Great.

[01:00:56] Yeah the Great Lakes Classic. Okay Great Lakes Classic we will do this again. Yeah for sure man. The Great Lakes Classic. Absolutely I'd love to have you there. Okay. You know as always you you could we'll give you the same deal as always. Cool.

[01:01:10] And the carpet will be the stage is set. Nice. And you know every year we're just trying to be more intentional about what we do. Yeah coverage and so. So are you doing any streaming for the Great Lakes?

[01:01:27] Certainly you know if it's going to go to foosball clubs every decision about everything has to be made and voted on by the board. Okay okay. So I'll have more information on who's doing what and how it's going to be done.

[01:01:44] It seems you have more options these days than you used to have when it comes to that kind of thing. Certainly yeah yeah. I was having conversation with Jason Wicks today in his interview and he mentioned to

[01:01:55] me that he is actually now going to be lending streaming equipment to clubs all over the country. It's pretty sick right. He's a sicko though. Yeah yeah. Jason is amazing man. He should get promoter of the year this year. I think so too. He should.

[01:02:12] I would definitely definitely vote. I'm voting for Jason Wicks. There you go. We got it on record. It's been recorded. Okay. And I think Eddie got it before and then before that it was I know Bret Nunean and

[01:02:27] then I know that Raymond Cordova I don't think he's got it though. Oh no. I thought he did. If he did it's deserved if he hasn't. You should get it. Why the heck hasn't he got it yet? Right right right. Now that's a thing we would also...

[01:02:41] I just remember Matt being in there too and then there's... Yeah Matt McCrory. Yeah. And there's been a few others that have gotten it. And it's just it's a pretty sweet award. That's one of the things that we'd like to get more involved with because we've

[01:02:56] we did some experimentation over this last year too with Fooz Talk Live doing a specific promoter's spotlight. Yeah. During a show. It's important. And man I was so glad we did that because we're finding out so much new stuff from clubs across the country. Yeah. 100%.

[01:03:15] And that's where it's grown right? That's where we find out okay well G Matt McCrory is doing this in his club and it's really working well. Oh G you know we'll adopt that in our club in Michigan or whatever the case. Yes. You know. Yep.

[01:03:30] For these people that want to be better and do more. Yeah yeah yeah. This game is it's infectious, it's contagious, it's also addicting so if you do it more often and you have better level quality tournaments. Yeah. Man it just it's going to explode. The products getting better.

[01:03:50] Yeah. You know and there's a lot of things that I want to do with my tournament and that I see here and this is it's pretty cool. I think if anybody wanted to really get a lesson as to how a really well run foosball

[01:04:08] tournament should be run in 2024. Yeah. If they came here and they had no idea what to expect this would be yeah they would need to see to say oh. This felt like a world championship. It really did. It really did.

[01:04:24] So you know and to be honest the world championship events in Dallas always felt that way too. Yeah yeah yeah. But with the trusses and the TVs and the way the system is laid out it's all the all these the bells and whistles man it's all there.

[01:04:40] It's higher level and it begs for new blood to get involved and maybe try some things. Yep and that's that seems to be the case now too so we're looking forward to man this this 2025 I think it's going to be mighty good. I think so too.

[01:04:59] I think that it'll be wonderful. Sensational. Stereo man. No it's we're looking forward to yeah the future all of a sudden. Dude it's approaching fast. Right look out. Well. Buckle up. Thanks for having me on the show again dude. Sure.

[01:05:22] It's always been really fun to get on here and talk about what all is going on and it kind of gives me the opportunity to share a little bit more. We always have to stay in touch and catch up because they're doing so many things man

[01:05:37] it's hard to keep track of you. Yeah and for me like having the time to do it because I feel like more and more I've just been kind of getting a little bit burned out. Yeah I get it. I get it. So like I have to like.

[01:05:51] Avoid that. I have to be careful because I want to do this for a long time. Right. But right now it's it's mainly my job. Someday I will do this stuff full time full time.

[01:06:03] Yeah right and you know what it's I know exactly how you feel because I mean certainly I really really enjoy working where I work voice coaches is a wonderful company have been there will be what nine years this year and they've treated me like gold

[01:06:18] and it's a wonderful place as they should you know I do see myself eventually kind of retiring from that. And turning my attention to this kind of passion just just media and doing whatever whatever is necessary to promote the sport in another way. No that's awesome.

[01:06:36] And we need guys like you getting involved in making their own personal sacrifice to to give value to what we're what we all love. Yeah it's up and it's great now because there's more media than ever before. Yeah the sport. Yeah. So cool. It's so cool.

[01:06:56] And how do you get people to look your way. Right. You have media. Yeah. Like it's the biggest thing like for me like videography work is so important. Yep exactly right. How do you see how do you show someone what's in your heart and in your mind

[01:07:12] without them ever experiencing what you've experienced. Right. And this is a great way to connect people that way. Yeah it's so cool. Here's an here's a crazy wacky idea I just had which I think somebody's already thought of.

[01:07:24] Can you imagine some day you get home from work and you really feel like checking out some great foosball. So you put on your VR helmet and go to a foosball tournament stand there at table side and watch in virtual reality. Dude that's kind of wicked right.

[01:07:42] I could see Ron Olsen buying a set. Right. Instantly I know Ron yes he would have to have that if it existed but you could tie it into the cameras right here. So funny. Right. So you're there.

[01:07:56] You could have like a tripod in certain parts of the room that they could tap into like one two three four five and six. And you know you kind of sit there and watch the match in virtual reality

[01:08:04] and kind of switch the angles and do all that for yourself. That'd be interesting. Wouldn't that be cool. That'd be pretty wicked. Let's get on that. Let's do it dude. Look at that sucker. Come on. Now it's there I can see this progressing to that level.

[01:08:19] Yeah I think so too it's just funding and interest. Yep exactly an innovation. Innovation and interest yeah. So you had it back tomorrow. Yeah flying back to Michigan tomorrow. Getting back to work. I've got a kids club event on the 5th of June. At the Rockford Club. Nice.

[01:08:39] We're going to do doubles singles. We're giving away trophies. Cool. We're giving away items. Derek Dillon my club facilitator at that location. Okay. He's been doing a great job and we just want to help support him. Yeah very cool.

[01:08:53] We want to give the same support to all the clubs too not just you know the few that are reaching out. We want to be the ones that reach out. We want to check in on people and see hey do you need some help or is there and

[01:09:04] there's been a few times where someone's reached out and I've been so busy that I haven't been able to fulfill their need. Right. And that's going to change. Okay.

[01:09:15] Because I'm going to if I I've got a one year plan if I don't leave my job I'm I'm going to find a way to supplement my income. Yeah. Even if it's like I work doing something else and make less money or creative about it. Right.

[01:09:34] I got to do something Tom. Find something that's find something maybe that you really want to do that's associated in a closely with yeah with somehow we Yeah. Company or something that's associated with foosball. It could be coupled or yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:09:48] I got to make lifestyle I got to make changes to my life to have the lifestyle that I want and there's there is that right to have the impact that I that I see in my head

[01:10:00] and to be able to execute you make the choices you make the decisions and you know there's going to be some misfits once in a while. Yeah like any good foosball match. Yep.

[01:10:09] As long as you're out there trying those things that's the main thing that you keep it up keep going. A lot of folks have told me that I need to not try to make foosball my whole life.

[01:10:20] Well and I and I said hey kind of already is hold my beer. Yeah but I don't even drink I don't drink my beer. Hold my metaphorical beer. Yeah. I'll have a cold one every once in a while. Well Michael I know it's it's great seeing you man.

[01:10:38] I always whenever I see you in a tournament if I'm you know if I'm standing across the room I notice you and go oh man I can't wait to talk to that guy. Thank you man. It's really cool. Like hey oh I got to catch up.

[01:10:50] It's like first thing I think about yeah I super appreciate that a lot and the work that you're doing is so credible and important. Hey it's it's if I didn't love it. Yeah do it. Yeah I hear you man.

[01:11:03] So we just got to keep keep trucking along man. Yeah. Keep refining the product. We'll try and do that best we can. And that ladies and gentlemen concludes another late night here in Dallas Texas. Peace. Out. Foosball Radio on the road.