Foosball Radio | On the Road | Mike Green at 2026 Worlds in NOLA

[00:00:01] The following is a presentation of Foosball Radio. Foosball Radio, On the Road. And yeah, we're live right here in New Orleans at the Hyatt Regency. It's the 2026 World Foosball Tour World Championships. We're back again and it's just as good as it was last year, if not better, I have to say.

[00:00:30] Anyway, this is our first on the road report for the weekend and we're hoping that you're listening on Twitch or YouTube. But nonetheless, we're going to be here for the duration of the weekend and bringing you updates along the way. You know, sometimes when you go to a tournament like this, you just never know who you're going to run into. Which, by the way, happens to be somebody we're very familiar with. By the way, from the great state of Florida, please welcome back to the microphone, Mike Kelley.

[00:01:00] What's up, Mike? Hey, what's happening, Tom? Well, you know, it's happening. This is so far so good. It's Saturday already. It seems like it should be, I don't know, Monday. Oh, I know. There's been so much going on here. First of all, I was at home not planning on being here. My wife said, you want to go to the world championships? And I go, wait a minute. Did you just ask me did I want to go to the world championships? She's like, yeah. And I go, OK, I already booked our tickets. We're leaving. Done deal.

[00:01:30] Done deal. I couldn't believe she actually wanted to come to a foosball term. That's great. Yeah. So you guys are here for what, till Tuesday? No, we're actually even late tomorrow. We got to be back by Monday. OK. OK. I told her, I said, the problem is, I said, have you ever watched Seinfeld? And she's like, yeah. And I go, you know, when the two worlds collide. That's a great one. Yeah. I'm not so sure that, you know, she's like, you sure? Yeah. She's like, yeah. But she's been to a couple. She went to Vegas. Nice. Nice. Well, man, it's so good to see you.

[00:01:57] It's been several months now since we had a chance to hang out and chat. And so how's life generally? What's been going on for you? Life is good. Still doing the Florida thing. Yeah. Well, I had a pretty big change. My mom starts losing her vision. So me and my wife had to move about an hour south to take care of her. But it's all good. It's where I'm from. All right. Well, it's what family does, right? So. But everything is great. Everything's going good. Life is good. And what are you playing this weekend?

[00:02:26] I'm playing on, I'm playing like I'm actually talking on this microphone right now. No, I did play one event. OK. I played an expert event. And, you know, I never worry about my shooting. It's my defense that always scares me. Right. So my three matches, nobody could hardly score a point on me, but I couldn't. I think I passed about 60 percent to the other four. So it was 60. Yeah. Kind of evened out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now it's man. I got to say to the other thing that we've noticed you, you look really healthy. Have you been doing something different? Yeah, actually. My why?

[00:02:55] Well, my wife started about three years ago going to the gym. OK. You know, and then I'm sitting there eating my, you know, I'm sitting there eating my sub watching a football game. Uh-huh. It kind of reminded me we still have a daughter in her 20s, you know, so I might want to hang out a little longer. So I've actually been about a year and a little over a year going to the gym like four days a week. And it shows, man. Yeah. Definitely. You're trim. Yeah. I had somebody come up and say to me, hey, Mike, you know, you OK?

[00:03:23] And I said, I'm the only guy that can still weigh 225 pounds and people think I look sickly. Yeah. No, man. I mean, you really do look great. Thank you. Yeah. And so does my wife. That's why I started working out more. There you go. No, it's you know what? We have just so many years to enjoy what we do as far as life is concerned. If we're not taking care of ourselves and getting the best out of life, man. And, you know, what's what's the purpose? Well, I agree. Well, you still, you know, you're younger. You think who cares? It's not going to last that long anyway. Right.

[00:03:53] Well, then it's like your money when you get older. It starts running out way before you do. You start counting like, OK, yeah, I got to calculate my head. Let's see. The last decade was my 60s. Right. Oh, dang. OK. Now the decade of the 70s. Now what? You're right. Where to from here? But wow, that's great. And so you still play in the local scene down in. No, not really. But I'll have to say being here this weekend kind of gives you the bug, you know? Yes.

[00:04:22] And I had some guys ask me to play that I would have definitely played with. But I didn't want to do it to them because. Oh, gotcha. Well, I knew how bad I haven't. Like I said, I haven't even played on the table since I think it's been at least over a year. Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, geez. So, you know, I'm like, sure, guys. I said, I'd love to play. But, you know, first of all, when you it's a lot of money, if you're not playing at all to just jump in all these events. Right. Yeah. I know. I hear you. But no, it's been amazing. I've seen so many people.

[00:04:51] I love the world because I run into people I haven't seen in 10, 15, 20 years. And we'll just kind of pick up right where we left off. So isn't that amazing, though? We're seeing this a lot. People coming back who have not played in a while. A great example would be Jan Maynard and Joy Moten. They've been gone for 14 years. Well, yeah. Well, you know, I actually heard Mary Moore say something one time to a guy. I think he may be a potential sponsor at that time. Okay.

[00:05:19] She said a lot of the people are now retiring. Yeah. And they have the time and they're starting to come back. And, like, that's pretty much what I did. You got time. Semi-retired. And, yeah, you get the opportunity to go do a lot more. Yeah. You know what? Foosball is that kind of thing. It never completely gets out of you. You're always thinking about what if, you know? Yeah. So with World Foosball Tour, the way things are standing right now, people are going, wait, wait, wait. That's $175,000 purse. Right.

[00:05:48] That's pretty cool. Yeah. I mean, that's the – yeah, it's really – Ryan, you know, has done an amazing job. Yes. Yeah. I mean, you know, everybody has their doubts because, to be honest with you, we've been hearing it since 1971, you know? Oh, yeah. Yeah. You know, it's the new Messiah. So – That's it. But Ryan, you know, put his money where his mouth was. And this setup is – it actually reminds me of the days of going back like in the late – It does. 70, early 80 kind of thing. Yeah. Just the whole vibe, the setup. Yep.

[00:06:17] The bleachers. And I love – if you've been back in the back where they're actually doing the commentary, they got their own little private room back in the back. Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty amazing. And just to watch how they keep it. And the whole new thing at the – because I'd never seen it. When you get to the table and you've got to put your number in. Yes, exactly. So there's no more like, hey, man, stall them until I get there kind of thing. Not happening. Yeah, you're on record to play. Yeah, I was talking to somebody yesterday. He got recalled.

[00:06:45] He didn't even realize it until six minutes in. Yeah. And he just hadn't looked at his phone or whatever. Right. And he's like, man, that thing is strict. I've got to watch my P's and Q's here. Yeah, I walked up to the table and the guy said, yeah, you're working on the rod. And I said, I've got to go to the bathroom. And the guy says, no, Ryan will tell you there's no – even if I'm just fixing a rod, you've still got to be here. And I said, listen, guy, when you get to be my agent, you've got to go to the bathroom. You go to the bathroom. You go to the bathroom. Yeah. There's always going to be an exception to that for sure.

[00:07:14] Well, I've got to say, you know, after all this time, we saw the first World Foosball Tour event almost two years ago now. And every single time we come to one of these, there's something different. There's something incremental. They keep adding things. Today I noticed there's a couple of screens near the registration area. And they're kind of tall, but apparently their computer is built into these screens. Right. And they're touch screens. So you can scroll through.

[00:07:42] You can look at the different events, the brackets. That's never been done that I know of. Yeah, I've never seen it. Yeah. Yeah, I was standing there. Actually, I was standing there with – I can't think of his name. It doesn't really matter. And I thought it was one of those screens like you see what's going on in the hotel where the restaurants weren't. And I looked up and realized it was matches. Yes. I'm like, oh, that's interesting. You can actually look at this big screen, scroll down, find out where you're at, what table you're on. It's beautiful. Yeah.

[00:08:10] You know, it's the kind of thing that – that kind of innovation, if he continues on that path and adding new things each time, man, I mean, it's already pretty damn good. Yeah. Oh, yeah. For sure. So we're – I'm always curious to see what he's got up his sleeve. Well, then also that thing he's doing with the – I don't know what he calls it, something up, moving up or something. Oh, no. Yeah. No, you're right. Level up. Level up. Level up. Yes. Yes. And it's funny because we were sitting there and there was a lot of people there,

[00:08:39] of course, amateurs or whatever. Yep. But there's a lot of pros there, masters. And Tom Yor was standing there and he came to me today and he says, man, I was over there listening to Ryan and Ryan was talking about his grip. So all day long, Tom's been tearing it up in their matches. He's freaking on fire with his new grip that he just found out from that one little thing. So a master like Tommy or Tom Yor can watch a level up and get something out of that. Well, you know those guys, when you're at that level, you're always listening to what those other guys say anyway. Right.

[00:09:09] Because you're trying to kind of figure out what they're doing. And at the same time, maybe that'll help my game or get an edge on them somehow. Right. So he's listening to them because it wasn't just him, obviously. It was him and Brandon Moreland. So they've got a couple of pretty good minds there for foosball. I guess. Yeah. I guess. And Tom's just like, he's like, wait a minute. That makes sense. Because my pull shot's been doing this or that. And he's changed his stroke. And I know he won at least his first couple of rounds in the singles. I don't know. Pretty sure he's up like three. I'm not sure.

[00:09:39] I know we had some big matches already so far this weekend. I know Callum Oaks and Hannity Buckingham. They won. And I've forgotten the event now. But it was last night at 1 o'clock in the morning. They took their event. I'm a little foggy on the action. It wasn't mixed because mixed is still to come. I'm not sure what it was. You know, that's another thing. There's so many different events going on. I know. I know.

[00:10:07] But it's really funny because of all the events going on, the way they're running them, it doesn't seem like you're waiting around to play matches at all. Yep. Yep, yep. No, it's moving along nicely. I know when I talked to Ryan on, let's see, it must have been Thursday when I first got here. He said, you know what? We're on target for today. We're not behind at all. Right. And they ended up, I think, maybe one or two matches that ended up going a little over. But that was it. I mean, no waiting. No, no nonsense.

[00:10:34] And a lot of it has to do with this technology that they've introduced. And it's amazing. Well, yeah. You got to give Ryan a lot of credit on the fact that, I mean, when this first started, he took over. I mean, Ryan was at the desk, you know, 12 hours a day. Yeah. And even still now, he's going up. I see him all day long. And he's by that desk. What's going on here? Are you doing this? How are we looking here? Yep. So, yeah, I mean, he's obviously, I mean, he's invested. That's Ryan. I mean, everything Ryan never touched, he turns to gold. Well, I mean, what do they say?

[00:11:04] If you've got to win it, you've got to be in it. Yeah. And he's in it. And if you're going to run a business, you've got to be hands-on. You can't. Oh, hell yeah. And that's what he's doing. I mean, like I said, he's had several businesses that did quite well with him. Oh, sure. There's no reason why he won't do the same here. I've got to say, you know, the success of the World Foosball Tour reflects the success of the sport overall. ESPN is here this weekend. Right. They're walking around. They're catching different candid moments.

[00:11:32] They're doing, of course, the coverage of the matches. And they have a room, another media room, apparently, in the back of the building here where they're doing some still shots with some of the champions. Yeah. Actually, Cindy Head comes up to me and goes, hey, Mike, where's the media room? And I go, I don't think I've had that pass to get in. So I wouldn't know. It is hidden away, we'll say. But no, they're not messing around. Right. They're doing some great stuff behind the scenes when it comes to media.

[00:12:01] The media is clearly, as time has gone on, you know, we've been doing, what, foosball radio for eight years now. But there are other groups now that are also kicking in, man. They're covering and they're on the spot. And, you know, the commentary, that's getting better and better every time we go to one of these. So, yeah, it's only up from here. So what are your plans?

[00:12:27] What does the rest of 2026 look like for you? I'm taking a cruise. A cruise? Yeah. In about a month. All right. So I really don't know. I just, I'm the guy that like, somebody will say, hey, you going to Denver? And I go, oh, there's a Denver tournament? And they go, yeah. And I go, yeah, I'll go. All right. All right. It's been pretty flexible lately. Right. I still work, but I manage this company, this small company. Yep.

[00:12:55] And all the guys on it, I've known for 25 or at least years, they basically tell me, leave me alone unless I need you. There you go. All right. I've met my boss twice in seven years. So. Wow. I basically send her her money. She doesn't care what happens. Nice. And my wife works for a Granger from home for like the last 19 years. Oh, nice. Yeah. So she's here and we can go out together. And if she has to work, she works. Well, I happen to know you like the cards. Yeah. And the casino is not far away. Yeah, I know.

[00:13:24] It keeps calling my name. I just haven't had a chance. I actually love that casino. I do really good down there. Yeah. At the casino here in New Orleans. So you've done a few tournaments here? Poker tournaments? Yeah. Not really, but I don't even, I don't like playing cash games when I go down there because I always pay for my trip. Right. Okay. And it just like, I'm that guy that like, okay, I made that much money. I'm gone. You know, I'm not going to sit around and try to, you know, become a millionaire playing poker. No, I hear you. I hear you. But still, I mean, you've been relatively successful. Yeah.

[00:13:54] Yeah. Yeah. Good. Wow. I know somebody, a friend of mine I've known forever. So he was talking about poker. He goes, Mike, you ever did get into poker? And I showed him this picture where we had a split of 37,000. Whoa. A piece. And I go, that one wasn't bad. He's like. Yeah. Well, another like Billy, you know, Bill, what Billy did. Yes, of course. What he got like fourth in the world series of poker, the biggest event of all. Yeah. Into the final table. And yeah. And hung in there. He, he was not knocked out. It was, it was, I don't know, two or three days or something like that. And he was still in it.

[00:14:24] Yeah. Me and Tony Spreedham were sitting there one time. I had the greatest conversation a few years ago. Wasn't even about foosball. Okay. It was just about, we were talking about cards and different things and. Yep. And he was just, you know, and I said, oh, you'd be a great poker player. And he's like, what do you think? You don't even know anything about me. I go, I know all about all I need to know. And all the guys that play high level foosball, the way they think, it just seems to adapt right over to the poker game. Interesting. Yeah. Huh.

[00:14:54] And like, I was like Billy. I mean, Billy, everything Billy does is, you know, everything is just like clocked where he knows exactly what his schedule, you know, what he's doing. Right. It's the same way with poker. You see, it's so much more than just betting or if you got a good hand. Oh, hell yeah. I mean, they actually had a lady in England who won a poker tournament, never looked at her hole cards. Never looked at her hole cards. All she did was, it was, you know, they weren't playing professionals, but she was just watching how they bet and how the hands played out. And that's how she would bet her hand. Wow. Yeah.

[00:15:24] Isn't that extraordinary, man? So, yeah, I mean, there's more ways to win in poker for sure. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. But, but yeah, it does seem that there's certain proclivities that foosball players have. Another thing I observed yesterday, I was near the registration table and of course we know Arthur Mitchell. Right. Who's one of the guys. He was taking some time out of his day to show a young, young man how to play chess. Oh, yeah. Arthur is a good chess player. Yeah. I guess he was like at the top at one time.

[00:15:54] Well, not only that, Arthur is a great card player. Is he? Oh, yeah. Arthur plays this game called, it's like, it's, oh, it's either Omaha. There's a different variation. It's a really wild game. Yep. But anyway, yeah. Arthur, he sits down in these, not huge, but you don't have to play a huge stakes. 10, 20 Omaha could get into big money, you know? Okay. Okay. So, yeah, Arthur, he can definitely play. He's a poker player. Isn't that amazing? So, I'll say, Arthur, I'm going to this casino. What's the odds on their payouts?

[00:16:23] Like, you know, some people pay out this much, you know, or they should, I should say, take a cut, take a rake. Okay. And Arthur's like, oh, don't go here. They take 60, you know, they take 33.3%. You go over here, they only take 22.7%. I'm like. He knows all that stuff. Oh, yeah. And I'm like, okay. So, that's where I head. Wherever Arthur tells me, it's better. Have you ever gone to the tournament with him? Have you ever? No. Okay. It's funny, though. I could tell you a foosball story about one of the original World Series of Pokers when they were doing it. We went to Las Vegas.

[00:16:53] We went to the World Series, World Championship. But anyway, we went to Las Vegas in the 80s. And we walk in and we're watching this. We're like, what is this? And this guy says, oh, it's the World Series of Poker. Something you'd never heard of. No, no. And there was like, you know, at that time, there was probably 30 people in the whole thing, you know? Right. And there was a guy we were watching. And then later on, we were at a cash game playing. This guy's got chips. He's making castles out of his chips. Right? And I said, who is that guy? And that guy goes, oh, that's Stu Unger. He's like.

[00:17:22] Stu Unger. He's like one of the youngest champions. He's like the whiz kid, you know, like a Billy, you know? Yeah. So, we're all playing. And Tony Bacon is with us. And me and my friend Lou, we're all playing at this table. Tony Bacon. And so, I said, Tony, we're going to go to the Grand Canyon. He goes, oh, no, I'm going to play poker. I'm killing these guys. I said, come here for a minute. He goes, what? I go, you realize you're playing Stu Unger, one of the, you know. Yeah, I know. But, yeah, I'm watching him. He's not all that. Okay.

[00:17:53] So, back when we had hair, you know, they had hair dryers. He sold us his hair dryer for $5 because he had no money left after being in that game. Are you kidding me? Oh, yeah. No, it was great. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. But anyway, yeah. I mean, but Tony was, you know, he took chances. Oh, he was a chance thing. Oh, yeah. But, you know, that's why we tell people all the time back then, you know, people were, I mean, you made more money playing, you know, poker games at the tournaments.

[00:18:19] I mean, one year, Lafredo and Spear came in and they brought blackjack tables. Spear was dressed like a dealer and the whole nine yards had the whole suite set up. No kidding. That's great. That's good stuff. Yeah. No, I mean, you know, these games of chance, especially that one, is more of a game of skill than anything else. I mean, you think about because you're not playing against the house, you're playing against other players.

[00:18:43] And you see their tendencies, what they like to do, what they don't like to do, those kinds of things. And learn to, just like in foosball, what is your opponent across the table doing? All right. How is he reacting to what you do? Right. And this all makes sense, man. Yeah. And, you know, you can tell by when people, if you get to see their hand, you can see what they're betting on. Like when they get excited, they put certain bets and they don't realize their mind automatically gives them a pattern. Oh, I got this. I'm doing this.

[00:19:13] So once you figure out their little pattern, you start knowing, oh, he's betting on this. So his hands in this range or, you know, that type of thing. Yeah. Yeah. But I remember when Ryan was still like, he was a pro probably on tour, but, you know, obviously good. Oh, cool. Yeah. Yeah. And his Mary may or may not have used to had a room with a poker room. You know, that's what I've heard anyway. But so I was up there and I wound up basically I want about thirteen hundred in her game. And and basically I took all the money from Ryan.

[00:19:42] And then after I left, a buddy of mine was in the room. And Mary's he said, Mary said, you know, I think that Mike came here just to play Ryan because he really hands with anybody else. And the guy goes in the guy says, no crap. Yeah. Right. The guy's got all the money. But that's great. Anyway. Oh, my God. No, it's I again, this this weekend here at New Orleans. I mean, there's so much going on. You got all the restaurants. Oh, yeah. I mean, all the music venues.

[00:20:11] We're out in it's called, by the way, a little inside information for you. If you if you dig music, the place to be is Frenchman Street. Not Bourbon Street, but Frenchman Street, because that's the locals go there. And one of the guys. Well, Tony Toco. You know, Tony. Yeah. He owns a chef flyer. The restaurant. And he said, yeah, man, Frenchman Street is where the locals do it. So that's where you're going to find the good stuff. And sure enough. Night. Night.

[00:20:39] I got here Thursday instead of hanging around the hotel. We went out and it hit Frenchman Street. And man, that absolutely amazing. Yeah. That's why I like because I used to come here about once a year for a week or so. Hang out with John Zoller because I've known John so long. Yeah. And everywhere we would go would be a place nobody has ever heard of. Yes. And where we went, we went to a place and he says, all the only serve hamburgers make potatoes or something. I go, what about fries? He goes, what did I just say?

[00:21:08] It's kind of the Cajun version thereof. But then anyway, we ended up eating there two days in a row. So it wasn't that bad. It was excellent. We'll take it every time. Now, the cuisine here, I mean, the food is just really, you don't have to go far. Right. You know, it's a quick walk or even a short Uber ride to some amazing places. So if you haven't been to the New Orleans area and if you're coming here anytime soon, I highly recommend it because you're not here today and you're listening to this podcast.

[00:21:38] You need to get to the world for 2027. That is if it's still in New Orleans. We're not sure. Yeah, I agree. I mean, honestly, that's the reason I'm here because my wife comes here for work a lot. Yep. So, but I mean, if it would have been somewhere else, I wouldn't have probably came. Maybe Vegas or New Orleans, that's about the only way I'd have showed up. And it just happened to be in New Orleans because I love charbroiled oysters. Oh, I keep hearing about that. I keep somebody said it puts somebody.

[00:22:06] One of my friends said, you got to go to this one place. And he said that the grilled oysters are the best. And he goes, yeah. And it puts a little lead in your pencil. Yeah. Like, OK. Well, I had a first last night. The guy says, how about you try our charbroiled oysters with with crab meat? Our lobster meat on top. Oh, dang. And I said, I don't even I'm sure I'm going to have to take out a loan from the bank to get this. But I wanted me and my wife and John's older. We were there. We and it was unbelievable.

[00:22:36] No kidding. I mean, there's enough butter in that stuff. Oh, well. But who cares? Right. It's God's nectar. Right. Come on. Come on. But yeah, everything about this term, it's fun. Yeah. And like I said, I've only played one event. I still had fun. I mean, I'm just watching these guys. I'm, you know, those setups, the TVs are everywhere. You don't have any problem watching matches. I mean, everything. Me and my wife are sitting in the bleachers watching all these matches. And it's great. This is built for spectators. Oh, absolutely.

[00:23:06] So you're a you're a fan. I mean, obviously, if you're listening to this podcast again, you're more than likely a foosball player like that. So but this is also going to be making things in the future more accessible for those who are simply fans of the game. Right. Oh, yeah. We're not avid necessarily. So that's the idea. Right. We've got to bring more people into the sport. Man, I got to say, this is this is like old home. Yeah, I kind of. I was like when you asked me, I'm like, oh, crap. I'm just wandering around. I don't even know if I can. But I always find something to say.

[00:23:35] Oh, my goodness. Yes. I mean, you are such a treasure trove of stories, you know, especially about the heritage of the game. We I spoke briefly yesterday with John Zoller, not on air, but but met him for the first time, really. And he showed me this this this kind of a stash of papers of things that go way back into the early 80s. Oh, yeah. That John is that guy. Yeah. I mean, he's an historian. John's so funny. He says to me. He goes, you got to tell the story.

[00:24:05] And I go, what are you? And he says every time. So I go, what story, John? He says, hi, you and Horton and star and Jim Dumas. You guys came up with a game plan. You didn't just show it with a partner. He's because we actually did. We had one of those. You know, you remember the 1985 video cameras were about 800 feet long. Oh, yeah. So we'd actually tape ourself and watch matches. And that's amazing. We thought we had our we thought we had it all together. And we're watching ourselves on the first couple rounds going, oh, wow.

[00:24:35] We really stink at this game. You know, we're doing the same mistakes over. So anyway, and we just had some things we did. We knew we were going to play certain people. Anyway, John's like, I said, John, nobody cares. Right. Nobody cares. You know, people like to hear funny old stories. You know, a buddy of mine walks by and I'm at a table with Dave Gummison at the who's who's of who's. Oh, yeah. And my buddy Phil Grable walks by and he says, Mike, one thing's for sure. They all love your stories. I'm like, well, I don't know what they do, but they're going to hear them. Yeah, right.

[00:25:03] Well, hey, I think we talked about this a lot on the air about the fact that somebody needs to do the movie. They need to write the book, you know, there's other books out there, obviously, but books about the actual scene, what was happening behind the scenes, especially for the top players like Johnny and and, you know, the Don, the Don Swans. Oh, yeah. Those characters. Well, it's amazing. Like, I mean, of course, I mean, it's all about the new day, the new player. I get it. Yep. Yep.

[00:25:31] But I mean, you got Dave Gummison sitting in there and he's still one of the top players. And this is his 50th year of playing for this game. Yeah. We're going to have to corner him this weekend and chat. You know, he's been very good about that. He's taking time to sit down. So, yeah, there's and I ran into Scotty Whiteman. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We were hanging. Me and him and Todd were kind of hanging out with it. Yeah. It was funny. He's a funny guy. Yeah, he really is. I mean, it's and it's a brief period of time. I had a chance to chat with him. I got the intensity. Oh, yeah.

[00:26:01] Very intense guy. I'll tell you, funny. When we were up in the room with him, I was up there yesterday. I think it was Todd was in there and he was in there and Lotus. We were just talking. And before Todd got there, he goes, oh, Todd's honoring. He's nasty. He's being nasty. I go, why? I said, of course, it's the world championships. He goes, you know, and I go, yeah, Todd says there's only one term that counts. That's the world's arrest for just warm ups. But right. And I said, he gets all he don't eat and he gets mean and burn. And here he comes in the room. He goes, I've been waiting on this guy for three.

[00:26:31] And he's just why he was like, see, green. I told you he's honoring. I'm like, yeah, look out for him this weekend. He keeps that attitude up. Yeah, right. Yeah. Go figure. Well, I mean, I mean, think about this. We're of a quote unquote advanced age. Yeah. And yet we can still talk about our friends being at the top of the top of the heap, man. I mean, you know, what's he? Let's see. Todd's 64. Oh, at least. Yeah. No, he's got to be like 67. Any.

[00:26:59] Well, I was just talking because he was. I'm 63. And I think he's. Well, 1977, when he won the championship. He was 17. 17 years old. So you do the math. I can't figure. Yeah. So it's like 64, 64 years old. But OK, I thought he was older than that. Yeah. But still. Well, he also told you he's been telling Tony all year he's going to be in the singles. I guess he finally did. So. Right. He's funny. You know, he has a great idea, I think. And who cares? I don't know. Maybe other people like it.

[00:27:28] But he says he's trying to talk Ryan and having an event where it's basically like a classic. But you actually drop the ball. It's like classic. Like we used to play. Not like European classic. Where you foos the ball. Right. Well, no, just, you know, you don't start the ball in the back. OK. But his idea is like no two to the five. No two to the five. Just. Oh. Everything else. You can shoot a snake. OK. All right. And I kind of agree with him. I think if you did that, there'd be a lot more people in the pits because. Yeah. I mean, the two to the five, they're machines. Right.

[00:27:58] Yeah. I mean, it is what it is. That's how you win the game. So you don't. That's how you transition. Right. You can't say anything about anybody when they're they've learned a secret of. And like I tell you all the time, Tony Bacon was doing two to five and five to the three in 1980, you know, whatever. But but it's a different. And like now it's just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Oh, I know. But and as awesome as it is, it's so boring to me. I mean, it just really is. Yeah. And I would just love to see it. Not an it don't have to be the main event, just an event.

[00:28:28] OK. Where they take the two to five away. And that's what me and Todd were talking about. That's a great idea. That's a really good. I think the other thing that's really interesting is the classic anything. So classic doubles, classic singles. There's no rollover. Right. All gone. Right. And so somebody like Tommy, you're top of the field. He's just, you know, he's right. It's it's a struggle. And he has to. Yeah. I mean, because let's just, you know, you know me, I kind of tell it like I see it. But there's a lot of these guys are top forwards and their goalie game is questionable. Yeah.

[00:28:59] You know, I say what I play goalie a lot. It's just like my front game was very questionable. Right. Right. You and me are birds of a feather. No, I'd much rather play the kid anyway. But but no, it's the classic aspect of this. That to me, that's where it's at. You know, that's that's the core of this game. That's how it started out. Right. You know, I mean, the snake, the roller, whatever you want to call it. That was considered a spin for God's sake. Yeah. You know, well, it has to be an American classic, not a European.

[00:29:27] European is the ones that got they start the ball in the back. Yes. Yep. So, you know, a classic to me is just no snake shot. Right. But right. Right. That makes sense. All right. I'm gonna put you on the spot. Who's your top three? Oh, hold on a second. Yeah. You got your cheat sheet. Let's see here. Top three. Now, we can talk about the seeds. Because we have the men's doubles in order and we have women's doubles. Right.

[00:29:56] So what do you want to start with the women? That works for me. Okay. So the bottom of the seed, we have women's doubles, Vera Obranovich and Gina Murray. Now, I believe they're suited, I think, 12th. Okay. Something like that. Then we have Sophie Gabriel and Cindy Head come next. Dusty Bambanek and Mary Moore. Then it's Jan Maynard and Joy Mountain. And it's been 14 years for these guys. So they're up there on the list. Lotus Chasborough and Amy Powers.

[00:30:26] Shelley Langley and Stacey Fowler. That's a hell of a powerhouse right there. Jessica Sanflaben and Ibetamore. There's another good team. Liz Moore and, of course, Keisha Rue. Right. They are a known commodity. And they're right up there in that top five. Linda Lee and Hannah Buffkin. Wow. And Sullivan, of course, Isabel. Right. My money is on, I'm going to say, Linda and Hannah. So what do you think? Well, that's one. All right.

[00:30:56] Yeah, I'll agree with you. That would have been my pick for the number one to win it all. I think, obviously, Sullivan and Isabel would be my second choice. But I don't know, man. I'm going with the dark horse. I'm going with Jan and Joy. For second? I think in that top three. I think they're going to finish in the top there because they're back. They're fierce. They were notorious back in the day. Yeah, I'm going to tell you, that's my number two pick.

[00:31:26] Is it? Third place goes to Isabel and Sully. Nice. Now, that and six bucks would get you half a subway. It's just my opinion. Yeah, there you go, man. I think that's a really tough field right there. And it's hard to predict, especially with a flight format. If you lose your first match, boom, you're into the B flight. Right. But then it's usually an easier road to get back to the end of that. So here we go with the men's doubles.

[00:31:52] Well, the reason I'll say, let me just say the thing about Jan and Joy is I think because you can just watch so much of the matches between Sully and Linda Lee and Hannah. Not that they're not incredible. Oh, yeah. But really, if Joy and her are playing their best game and nobody's really seen them in a while, it makes it a little tougher. Like, what are they coming at them with? And they obviously just won a tournament, right? Or didn't? That was... Ohio, maybe? Yes. In Ohio.

[00:32:21] Yeah, they came back for that. And that's saying something, dude. Because people don't remember this, but when Tommy Ackeson and Robert Mayers won the Worlds, they were actually playing Larry Chesbrough, who hadn't played in like 10 years, in Jeep. And they wound up losing like meatball fifth game. That's extraordinary. Larry did. But yeah, he was just shutting that snake down. And just doing this weird defense, because nobody'd ever seen the weird defense, you know? Right. That's why I kind of liked them as being the top three for sure. No, absolutely.

[00:32:51] Now, when it comes to the men's, at the bottom of the seed, we've got Scott O'Hare and Tom Yor. That's a pretty damn good team. Right where they belong. No, I'm sorry. I'm kidding. They're my guys. Tom, I heard you that. Trevor Park and Jake the Snake Barnett. Then we have defending champs, Mario and Kane. So Mario Arriganello and Kane Gabriel won it last year. I mean, they came out of nowhere last year.

[00:33:18] So I know they're pumped and they're ready to go. They were on their show recently and they were talking about, you know, they're not going to take it too. They're not going to get too worked up. Right. They're definitely going to take it seriously. Then, of course, we've got Scott Weidman and Todd Lafreno. They're up there. That's that's pretty cool. Kevin Walker and Steve Biney. I was going to ask you about that one. What do you think? Well, I know, like everybody knows that Kevin Walker has as fast as pull shot in the world. Right. I mean, at least it's pretty cool.

[00:33:47] You'd be right up there to be maybe one person or two at the max. Maybe. Yep. But, you know, I mean, I look at a team like that. That's the team that nobody wants to play. Right. Right. Because, you know, you're looking if I win this, I'm here and we're going those guys, you know, you're not going to take them lightly. And if they get on fire, I mean, Steve's a great goalie. Oh, my goodness. Yes. And Kevin, if he's got that, he's got that kind of power in the goal. All right. Kevin can relax and do his thing. Oh, yeah. You know, he doesn't have to worry. Kevin's very methodical.

[00:34:16] And, of course, we've seen him play for decades in upstate New York. But his routine is the same. He comes down. He comes down. He passes the ball. He always not always the same pattern, but he usually he'll he'll find a lane and he'll catch the ball every single time. Never drops. Right. And he's he sets the ball up. And he waits. Right. Yeah. I was actually sitting at a table with him and Dave Gummison and Brandon Moreland.

[00:34:47] Yep. And we're just chatting. And that was nothing was even talking about that. And they both are like, oh, yeah. Well, you know, like Kevin has like the hardest, fastest pull shot there is, you know, I mean, pretty much. So it's extraordinary. And the idea that, too, that he is he is looking, you know, continually. He's always reading the defense the way a master would. Right. But it's when he pulls the trigger. Right. Like there's there's no. Well, but then I had to hit him with I think there's a kid named Sam.

[00:35:15] He does hit the ball pretty fast and pretty hard. Yeah. So does Dylan Marshall. Oh, my God. Yeah. I mean, there's there's some real there that I would say to me, that's like the top three fastest. You're right. Pull shot. You're right. I think you're absolutely correct about that. I mean, Ryan Moore has also got a great pull shot. Yeah. Well, you always forget about Ryan because he's so behind the scenes now, you know, and he loves playing goal. He loves right. Right. He's just he's crazy. Anyway. Anyway. Yeah. So moving on, we have Sam Dijon and Cody Byrie.

[00:35:43] Now that those guys, they're a known commodity. They've been playing quite a bit in the open. And Sam, by the way, I believe is ranked 14th now. So that's that's pretty darn good for just becoming master. I think the only thing that stops them from winning a tournament film. Yeah. You know, it's a funny thing. I mean, not that he hasn't won a tournament, but well, on the one, you know, the biggest tournaments, it's like when you win that tournament, it kind of clicks in your head like, oh, that's what I had to do.

[00:36:11] And he once he gets that, I mean, he's already winning. I know. Oh, sure. But when he gets that really big win that he thinks is a really big win, then I think that's when everybody's going to get wiped out. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We're having this conversation today. In fact, Nino, his dad, he was saying, you know, this is a make or break weekend. You know, if he does well, this is going to open the door. Right. All right. So who knows? Maybe 2027 could be the year of Dijon. Yeah. It happens all the time. Yeah. Right.

[00:36:41] I mean, you start getting like guys like Tommy start kind of getting me the older guys. Yeah. You know, that's funny. I don't know how old Sam is. I know he's young. He's 18. And then, of course, you got Balcos, obviously. Oh, yeah. I mean, he's what? How old is he? Like 20, 19? I don't even know. He is 20 up in the year. Yeah. Okay. He just turned 20. But yeah. So that brings us to our next pairing, which would be Gummis and McMillan. I would like that. Oh, my goodness.

[00:37:07] Those guys, to me, again, you know, you think about all the great combinations of players right up there with Whizball and Furry. Oh, yeah. Well, the team. That's the thing. Yeah. When doubles, you know, that's the thing people forget about. You don't have to be the two best. Actually, me and Kane were talking about this. Okay. Me and Chris Starcheski, my old partner, we were not the best players there. But as a team, we were the better team in a lot of tournaments. Right. And not that. I mean, Mario was amazing. I don't know if you've even seen him play this weekend.

[00:37:36] But that dude is tuned in and he is on fire. Yeah. He absolutely is just. He's determined. Yeah. He's not sitting around going, I'm the champ, you know. But, you know, and that's what me and Kane were talking about. Them guys have known each other for so long. And they're both great players, but they're a great team. That's the biggest difference. The chemistry. Yeah. Absolutely. That's the key. They both know when they say, hey, you're losing it. You need to calm down. They know all the things about each other that matter during matches when you need to slow

[00:38:05] down, speed up, you know, call time out or whatever that type of thing. That's important. Yeah. So communication, obviously. And I remember you saying about your days with Johnny Horton, if you wanted him to play better, you had to piss him off. Oh, I just. Yeah. I told him the whole match. He didn't have a five bar or three rod. And if he ever got one of those, either two of those, we would win matches easily. And he'd say, who are you talking to? All you do is keep score. Well, right now I'm struggling. You're not scoring. So I'm not keeping score on my Johnny. Yeah. Right.

[00:38:35] Oh, God. You know what? Whatever it takes. Oh, yeah. I told you that story about the guy says, man, you and Johnny had the most heated timeouts. What are you guys talking about? I said, I'm telling him how bad he sucks and I'll never play with him again. And the guy goes, whatever works, man. Yeah. And it seemed to work. That's for sure. Okay. Coming up next, we have Brandon Moreland and Brandon Munoz. The Brandons. Man, again, dominant players. Just a great combination. Again, it comes down to chemistry.

[00:39:05] Because they're both great forwards. But I think Brandon Moreland is the better goalie. Yeah. But, you know, the thing about Munoz, he can get back there and score points like crazy. Oh, yeah. But for me, I'm going to be honest. We've had this conversation with a few guys as we can. I'm wondering about the matchup there. Yep. I mean, quite honestly, those two guys are the best of the best. There's no doubt about it. Yep. But for me personally, I, you know, is their chemistry going to be good? And I know, I mean, you can, when you're good, you can win anyway.

[00:39:35] But when you're playing guys that are locked in, like, I mean, you know, we're getting ready to get to Tommy Yore and, you know, Atha. I mean. Yep. Those guys definitely immediately seem to have a good chemistry together. Very good. I mean, when you're playing with Atha with his 100 years of experience and top titles and he's still a young guy. Around a couple days. You know, I mean, Tommy can play and not think anything about what's going on behind him. And then the same, Rob can play and not worry about, you know. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:40:02] But, yeah, that team, I think that team is a powerhouse or it's a seventh place team. You know what I mean? We'll see. Yeah. We'll see. You know, it's how it breaks down. So, Rob Morris and Kevin Romero, they come next. Now, that's kind of a wild card there. Right. Yeah. I don't recall seeing them play together. I think they, I think I remember playing. They played one tournament. I don't remember where it was at. Maybe it wasn't even a big tournament. Okay. Anyway. Yeah. I mean, you never know.

[00:40:31] I mean, who's playing front? Well, that's a good question. I mean, because Rob obviously plays a good front. I mean, he's without a doubt the better goalie. I mean. Yeah. But. Yeah. Well, I mean, let's see. It was Billy Pappas and Kevin Romero last. What was it? The TKO? When they made it to the finals against Balcos and Rue. Okay. I think it was TKO. TKO or was it the classic? I forgot now. But anyway, that matchup. I mean, Billy Pappas and Kevin Romero.

[00:41:02] Amazing. Yeah. Amazing. And yeah. Well, you kind of see it, though. They both kind of have that quiet, just doing their thing kind of thing, you know, and nobody's showing out. Yeah. But, you know, Kevin, I mean, Kevin's another guy who should be in that pool shot thing. When Kevin's ripping a pool and he's on, he's on. It's hard a guy to stop. Oh, no question about it. Again, a really seasoned player. So they can switch. I think Romero and Morris, they can play strategically and switch if they have to.

[00:41:32] Terry Rue and Paul Smith. Now, that's a pair up that we saw here last year. Right. 2025 Worlds. They made it to the finals. Right. Against Kane and Mario. So that's. I don't know, man. What do you think the odds are? I mean, you're an odds guy. What do you think? I would have to. I would definitely. If I was going to bet a top three that I would definitely bet they could be in the top three. OK. I gotcha. I mean, only because. I mean, you got the same thing.

[00:42:01] I mean, people, when you take Paul Smith and throw him in the goalie, you're talking about a guy that can shoot like crazy out of the bag and has a great defense. I mean, so you're not losing nothing bringing Terry Rue up front either, you know, with his pull shot. Absolutely. There's another guy that's got to be in the top three of the 15 pull shots for right now. Oh, I would think you're. I think you're. And I mean, Terry, especially from the two rod, it's got an incredible pull shot. But no, you're right up front. He is. He's he is smooth as glass.

[00:42:30] I've seen him give clinics, by the way. Oh, yeah. Pull shot. Well, the thing about him and that he can jump up and play defense and get a block or whatever you need to do. And he doesn't necessarily if they're like already use a timeout, he doesn't have to take a timeout. He can shoot instead of just having, you know, a lot of guys play with goalies that the whole deal is get the ball, call a timeout and let me up there. But when you get those teams, it's not so necessary. And I think the other thing, too, you have to kind of factor in for especially for Terry is his his energy. Oh, yeah.

[00:42:59] Terry is when he gets fired up. You can tell. Right. He's like on his toes. And he's, you know, and he's he's really adept. Right. You just never know where he's going to go. OK. Last two. Tommy, you're in Rob Affa. Yeah. They've done some winning. They've done some winning. Just saying. Yeah. They've had a few a few moments. And then, of course, this one is, again, Jacob Balkos and Eric Heltner. Right. I don't man. What?

[00:43:28] I mean, Balkos is on fire. Eric is one of the greatest goalies of all time. Right. I mean, what are your thoughts? Well, I mean, to me, that's I mean, that's just kind of like a coin flip of. Yeah. I mean, honestly, especially that. I mean, that those two Balkos and Eric and Tommy and Affa, because the thing about it is, as you saw when they won in that tournament, was it Ohio? They were. They just played together somewhere in one. I don't remember. Was it Ohio? I think.

[00:43:59] Yeah. Yeah. It was Ohio. I think. Yeah. I mean, when Tommy at the end, I'm not saying, you know, I mean, when I say Tommy, maybe it's like he missed a shot. You know what I mean? Maybe. But but when he started missing a little bit or missing his passes, Affa just picked up his defense and, you know, hit some out of the back. I mean, right. That's my pick for the win, the whole thing. All right. So so we're going to go with Tommy York. Yeah.

[00:44:20] I'm in agreement there, although I do believe that that these last two pairings, Tommy, you're and Rob Affa versus Jacob Balkos and Eric Heltner is a really, really strong possibility there. Oh, absolutely. And and again, I'm just going to go on a limb here. But I think I do believe that. I don't know, man. Kevin Walker and Steve Biney. I don't know. I'm I got a funny feeling about right. They could be in that top three. Right.

[00:44:49] So I'm going to go on a limb there. OK, so it's going to be Tommy, your and Rob Affa to win it all. I think Jacob and Eric are going to be in the finals. But I don't know, man, I'm thinking about Walker and Biney. I think they're going to be up there in that possibility. But just have to wait and see how that goes. We'll have to play this back later and see. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think you kind of have to put me personally. I think, yeah. Jacob a second with Eric. And then I would definitely to me, actually, it's a coin flip between second.

[00:45:18] I mean, it's also according to how the brackets play out. Yes. But I mean, Terry and Paul Smith can can, you know, I mean, they could beat anybody. Oh, my God. Yeah. I mean, they had their. But I definitely agree with the Kevin Walker. I'm going to put them in the top four. I think that they could definitely because when Kevin Walker is playing and Biney, Biney is just going to be Biney. What are you going to do? The guy's been another guy's a 50 year player who could still hammer the ball out of the bag. He's got a good defense. He's a big dude. Yeah. What are you going to do to the guy to make him nervous? I know. Nothing.

[00:45:48] The guy was a retired police officer. Yes, exactly. I mean, nerves are steel and a great promoter. Right. Oh, yeah. So I know. And a lot of people don't know this. The funniest human being on the face of the earth. Yeah. That guy will kill you, man. No kidding. Oh, maybe he should have been a stand up comedian. What's wrong with his other career? Well, hopefully we're going to get him sitting down sometime this weekend. I hope you had a chance to talk to Steve and catch up with him. But, man, I got to say, this is this is exciting. I can't wait.

[00:46:17] This is all happening tomorrow. Yeah. And so, by the way, have you noticed there is now two opportunities to play fantasy foosball? There's one with Brandon Moreland. He has his thing. And then there's an app called the Foos app, which has been constructed by Jim Provost and Sean Lindsay. Jim Provost of the USTSO. And Sean Lindsay, who's a player but also a programmer. Oh, okay.

[00:46:45] And this has a built-in application in the Foos app where you can play fantasy foosball. And it's for fun. It's not there's no money involved. But if you haven't seen it yet, I think there might still be time to get into that fantasy foosball. Oh, good. The basic principle is you choose six players and they all have value or a certain number of points. And you can't go above a certain level of points.

[00:47:10] You have to choose six people you think are going to finish, you know, in the top or whatever. And when they do, you earn points towards that goal. I played the Nationals. I played fantasy foosball for that. And I came in second place. Oh, nice. I mean, you know, it's just you're just taking a wild guess. But highly recommend it if it's something you haven't done. It's a lot of fun. But Brandon Moreland has one, I believe. You can actually put a little cash in it.

[00:47:39] Well, I cannot confirm or deny this. Eric Hilder, maybe he already had some kind of setup. And basically you get $135, $135 something. And each player's amount is like Tony, of course, would be like, say, $85. Right, right, right. You can, I think, pick two players. You can pick, I think, as many of the players you want, as long as you don't go over your amount. Right. But, of course, you're only going to be picking in the top. But it's actually doubles and singles. Okay.

[00:48:08] So that way it's a combined. So if they win, say they win open in singles, they'll bomb out in doubles. Okay. If somebody else places high in both, you can still beat the guy. Interesting. You can win even though. But, I mean, I told Eric, and of course he doesn't agree because, you know, nobody does anything unless they're getting something out of the world. Right, right, right. So, you know, it's kind of hard to do anything and get people real involved unless you give some sort of odds. Of course.

[00:48:32] Because, I mean, you've got to have a guy, let's say, a Kevin Walker and Bynie and say, okay, I'm going to put, give you two to one and say they don't make it to the top four or five or three or whatever, you know. Right, right. Right. But, hey, it's his game, it's his rules, right? That's it. That's cool. But, yeah, it looked really interesting and I'm a sucker for gambling, so I'm probably going to, may or may not have gotten in it. May or may not. Well, you know, it's complete, you know, it's legit. Yeah.

[00:48:59] By the way, the name Spraderman did not come up in this list. Right. Well, he's playing with a guy, I mean, they play good together. Oh, God, yeah. And it's funny because, you know, like I said, I sit around these guys that can still play the game and listen and talk or whatever. Yep. You know, and a lot of those guys are saying that, but, you know, and they all say exactly the same thing. But don't think this guy can't play. Right. You know, Rudy. Oh, he can play. Yeah.

[00:49:25] I mean, he may not be as well known and he may not be as polished as some of these, you know. I mean, who is? I mean, see these guys. Oh, but still. But it's Tony Spraderman you're talking about. Yeah. And usually it's dead money when you're betting against Tony. We need to factor that in. Yeah. We need to talk about that, of course. So, basically, the bottom line is, I mean, if Rudy, and I've always said this is my way of looking at it, he's a goalie. If he plays better than the opposing goalie, they should win. Okay. All right.

[00:49:52] If he makes less mistakes, doesn't let slop fall in, doesn't get the ball up. I mean, if he outplays the other guy, then he's done his job and it's up to Tony to win. Right. And if he does that, then more than likely Tony's going to win. Good to go. Yeah. Wow. Well, yeah. So, again, there's another factor. We have to kind of, you know, consider that and see what's going on. Now, if somebody gave me a few odds, I would bet them against the field. Yeah. I would take that team to go. All right. Why wouldn't you? I know. Why wouldn't you?

[00:50:21] Well, I mean, it's, again, it's going to be an exciting couple of days here. We have more to come. I'm playing the Pro-Am, by the way, tonight. All right. This will be fun. Just happenstance, I'm playing with a guy from Syracuse by the name of Kevin Westcott. Oh, nice. And so we're going to have some fun. Every time I see him, he kind of looks down at me from the skies and says, like, do I know you? He's a tall dude. He's a tall dude. He's a really good pro. And we'll see what happens.

[00:50:48] But nonetheless, you know, it's about having fun. And I know the weekend, it goes by so quickly once it's underway. So you're not playing the Open? Nothing else? No. Like I said, I had some really good friends and good players say, Mike, and I'm like, listen, guys, I don't want to be a bye for somebody. I'm the guy that I honestly believe that they should take the top 10 players and they should be immediately up here. Okay.

[00:51:16] And everybody else has to play the A, B to see what's left. You know, if they're taking 64 places and 54 or whatever, those teams have to qualify to be in that event. Gotcha. That's what was so good in the 90s with master singles. And you had to be at least a pro to play master singles or a master. And man, it still was just people would actually fight all year long to try to just my buddy did it. He turned expert novice back then, the pro.

[00:51:46] So just in time, the last tournament he got, he was the most excited guy in the world. And he got wiped out two straight days. Wow. Have a nice day. But he made it. He got to play it. So kind of gave me, you know. Okay. Well, you know what? It comes down to will and determination. Yeah. You know, you got to stick with it. You know, you can't just take defeat and walk away. You have to learn from it and move on. And my last thing, because I'll hear the people scream from all over the nation when I say, I don't think anybody should be seated. Wow. Wow.

[00:52:15] You know, they're saying, oh, but you're going to, you know, what if Tony loses first round? I go, what would be more exciting than seeing Tony win 20 matches in the loser bracket and come out and win the whole thing? Ooh. You know? Wow. It's not like, you know, they act like, oh, they lost their first match because they teamed up. But we did it. We played those tournaments back. Yes. And it's exciting when you see these guys. You're watching. You're not even watching the winner side anymore. Yep. You're watching that loser's bracket, seeing these guys do this all the way through. And they're still. Yeah. And those guys, the top has always come to the top.

[00:52:43] They make it to that final and they double dip. Yeah. Right. That's the way it was. Those are the days. I don't know if I would do that at a world. I'd love to see them do it like at a state tournament or something like that. I mean, because you would see how much fun it is. It's really a lot of fun to watch that happen. No doubt. And, of course, the only other thing you have to worry about, of course, is scheduling and how much time it takes oftentimes to get through those. Right. But nonetheless, if it's worked out well, it's worked in the past. It could work again.

[00:53:11] So, well, I say, Mike, I think we got ourselves a pretty good preview of what's happening this weekend. I really appreciate it, man. It's too long since we talked. The door is always open, as you know. So you got a Sunday. Randy Raposo told me he had his pistol on me just in case I ever show back up. No. Now, don't listen to Randy because he's a sweetheart, but he has that edge. Yeah, he has that edge. But, no, you are. You're always welcome. OK. Thank you. I appreciate you being here.

[00:53:41] But Mike Green from the great state of Florida, Hall of Fame player, being here for the weekend. And, of course, once again, we are at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans for the World Foosball Tour 2026 World Championships. And I got to say, man, this is bound to be an exciting weekend. And so stick around. We have a lot more coming your way. Please stay tuned on Twitch TV and, of course, YouTube.

[00:54:04] And don't forget Foos Talk Live coming your way on Sunday evening, approximately 9 o'clock Eastern. But because we're at a tournament, there's no way to predict exactly when that might happen. But, nonetheless, thanks for tuning in for Foosball Radio on the Road. This has been a presentation of Foosball Radio, all rights reserved. Our sincere thanks to all our Patreon supporters. Foosball Radio on the Road.