Foosball Radio | Patreon Profile | Jay Teal

[00:00:01] The following is a presentation of Foosball Radio. Since establishing the Foosball Patreon page, you have shown your kind generosity, helping Foosball Radio to continue. Now, we present to you the Foosball Radio Patreon Profile. Time to find out more about you. Hey there, it's Tom Robinson from Foosball Radio and Foos Talk Live.

[00:00:27] Welcome back once again for another Foosball Radio Patreon Profile. This time, we get a chance to chat with Jay Teal of 3D Foos. He's, I believe, in Wisconsin this evening. Is that correct, Jay? Yep, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Green Bay. Oh, you're a Cheez-It. Is that it? That's correct. Okay, very cool. So we're going to be chatting today because, first of all, you're a Patreon.

[00:00:52] And I've got to say, personally, thank you so much for doing what you do to help out Foosball Radio and Foos Talk Live. Without your direct support, this would be a whole lot more difficult. And this kind of thing, we want to keep it alive as long as we can. So thank you so much for doing what you do. I appreciate you having me on. And I always try and support everyone in Foosball. So it's a great opportunity. Well, this, of course, is about your profile.

[00:01:21] So we're wondering, you know, where did it all start for you when it comes to Foosball? Clearly, you've been at it for a while. When did it start? And how old were you when you first saw Foosball Table? I started kind of late in my very, very early 20s. I actually went out to Colorado. I don't know if you're familiar with Warren Miller and ski movies. Oh, yeah. And that kind of a thing. I grew up as a, as long as I could remember, I grew up in a skiing family.

[00:01:51] And as long as I could remember, I could ski. And Warren Miller's ski movies, he always had like these little pitches about what's holding you back. Go out and quit your job and move out to the mountains and become a ski bum and that kind of thing. A ski bum. I love it. Yeah. And I was watching one of those one day with my dad. We're really close. And I was watching one of those with my dad. And I turned to him and I said, you know what? I'm going to do that. And he thought I was kind of joking. Okay.

[00:02:19] And two weeks later, I had my car packed up. And I had everything I owned and $300 in my pocket. And I headed out west to Keystone, Colorado. No kidding. And I became a ski bum. I worked at a coffee shop. Wow. And skied every afternoon. And that's where I started to play foosball at one of the local bars out in Keystone, Colorado. No kidding. So what kind of table did they have there?

[00:02:48] They had a tornado. It was, like I say, so that would have been about 20, 25 years ago. 25. Okay. So it was fairly recent. But, you know, being out there, being a ski bum, nobody had much money. So, you know, I'd go out with $5. PBRs were a dollar. Shout out Aaron Croft with his PBRs. And so I'd have two PBRs, get $2.25 and a dollar tip for the bartender, tip your bartenders. Nice.

[00:03:17] So I had to get a good at foosballer. So it would be an early night. Yeah. No kidding. Yeah, right. So you had to get those tables, get the quarters lined up on the end of the table and wait your turn. Yeah. It was a really busy bar. It was a local bar. The bar was called The Goat. The Goat. It was a rough kind of local bar, and that's where I learned how to play foosball. Wow. So when you first got there, had you ever played foosball? No. No. Really?

[00:03:46] Not really at all. What drew you to the table, for goodness sake? There, it was probably the most popular game. Everyone, you know, there wasn't a lot of darts. There was a little bit of pool. Okay. But it was, everyone was kind of around the foosball table. You know, working there, there was people from all over the world. I worked with people from all over the world, from South Africa, all over Europe, Brazil, Colombia.

[00:04:15] And it was kind of really great because it seemed like foosball was kind of brought everyone together. It was something that kind of everyone kind of understood a little bit and that kind of a thing. So that was the one game that kind of brought everyone together. Yeah. Wow. You know, a universal language, as they say. Exactly. Yeah. Very cool. Now, once that occurred, you started to play with people. Now, how long was it before you actually saw somebody who was really, truly skilled at

[00:04:44] the game? You know, I was a bar player for quite a few years. I came back to Wisconsin and continued playing in bars in Wisconsin and got, everyone's going to laugh because everyone knows one of these guys, a really good bar player, right? Like one of these guys that thinks they're really good and that kind of a thing. And I came across a flyer for a tournament called the Halloween Open. Okay. That was run by Bill Maloney and Corey Allen.

[00:05:14] That was in Green Bay. It was a $65,000 tournament. 65? $65,000. $65,000. Yep. It was in the early 90s, I want to say. Okay. When I went. I didn't know any, like, you know, I was just in bars. I didn't really have a partner. I went there. It was $65,000 payout. First place for rookie singles was $2,000. I remember this like yesterday. I went there. I had the $2,000 already spent.

[00:05:42] I thought I was going to go there and just, I haven't lost in a bar in like months. I was winning drinks all the time. I went there. I thought I was just going to just set the world on fire. Clean up. And I thought I was going to really show them something at that tournament. Mm-hmm. I, to this day, can remember Corey Allen. I'm friends with him. He plays in our league to this day. Okay.

[00:06:07] He gladly took my money and gave me a smile and told me what table I was up at. And you can imagine how quickly I lost. Oh, boy. I never seen the snake shot before. Yeah. I never, you know, back then you were serving through the hole and that kind of a thing. Oh, yeah. And I lost so fast it would have made your head spin. And I don't think I scored a point. I went there with a push kick. Oh, boy. That was my main shot. Push kick. Okay. Went there with a push kick. Yep, yep.

[00:06:37] And that kind of a thing. So, I spent the weekend very humbled and walking around and just amazed. Yeah. At the level of skill and everything. And that is where, walking around, this one player caught my eye on just his play and how smooth he was. Mm-hmm. And just his incredible play. And I walked up to him and I introduced myself and just basically kind of laid it out there.

[00:07:03] Like, hey, I just love your play and I kind of want to learn a little bit where are you from. And he said he was from Appleton. Okay. And that player was Teddy Kruger. Teddy Kruger. Oh. Yep. Okay. Well, that explains it. And once he found out I was from Green Bay, he was really excited. You know, Teddy is one of, to this day, is one of our most important players kind of in Wisconsin to get new players involved.

[00:07:31] And the luck and, you know, you think of those defining moments in your foosball career or even in your life about, you know, that was a defining moment. Yes. Of those people that I could have went up and talked to and that kind of a thing, for it to be him was really defining. And that kind of a thing because he really kind of took me underneath his wing. He had me come down to his dad's record store down in Appleton. Okay.

[00:07:57] Every single day then, Shane Kruger, his dad. Okay. We would go down to his record store every single day when I was working, after when I was done with work. And he worked with me every single day. Wow. And after about three, four months, he lovingly told me I'm not getting good enough fast enough. And so I moved in with him. That's a thing to hear. Oh, you moved in? Moved in with... Tough love, Tom. Wow. Okay.

[00:08:28] So I moved in with him. I moved in with him. Okay. And I lived with Teddy for almost a year. And how I kept my job, I'll never know because him and I played foosball from the moment I got home from work till probably 10, 11 o'clock at night. Yeah. And there would be many nights I would go to bed and in the middle of the night he would wake me up and say, oh, I came up with this really great pass or I come up with something. Okay.

[00:08:55] And I would wake up and we'd go down and we'd play foosball until I had to go to work. Jeez. Wow. You know, players like him and there was some other local players and promoters like that Bill Maloney, Corey Allen. And there was other really top players in the area that because I was underneath Teddy kind of also took, you know, allowed me, you know, help me along the way. And that kind of a thing.

[00:09:25] And they really helped my game and that kind of a thing. And played with me when they didn't, you know, obviously they could get much better partners than I am. Oh, sure. And that kind of thing. And I probably played then on tour and with those guys for probably three or four years. Three or four years. Okay. That's quite a while. And then, yep. And then I did what most players kind of do is, you know, I got married, started having kids. I have two daughters. Okay.

[00:09:55] And retired for a little bit. Quote, unquote. Retired for when my two girls were born. And then fast forward probably only about, I want to say about four years ago. So I was probably retired for about 10, 11 years. Huh. Didn't touch a table. Didn't touch a table. Didn't really play. I still talk to Teddy and some of the players, you know, just keeping tabs. Sure.

[00:10:24] You know, here and now everything is going. But honestly, didn't really touch a table, Tom. Huh. Missed it. But, you know, life gets in the way and that kind of a thing. But now once the kids start getting older and whatnot. But one day I got a phone call. One of the local players. I think you're probably familiar with this. You have those players that got you into foosball. And you'll forever be indebted to them. Yes. And one of those players, a local player, she played on tour. I don't know if you know. Amy Boehm.

[00:10:53] She's Amy Van Sickle now. Okay. Sounds familiar. Back in the day. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. A big Wisconsin player. She did a lot of promotion. I think her played, hosted some things local right when I first started. But she called me up out of the blue one day and said she needed a league partner. Oh. And I said, no, I haven't touched a table in forever. I'm terrible. I do not want to play. And she was like, hey, I need you. You're going to play. Oh, boy. I really don't.

[00:11:23] But she's one of those players that helped me along, you know, put up with me when I was really terrible and that kind of thing. There's one of those players that are those people that when they ask you something, you just say, you know what? Yep. I'm going to be there. Yeah. And I said, you know, I'm not, I haven't played. And she said, it doesn't matter. We're going to go and have fun. I want you to go. I want to play with you because I know we're going to have fun. That's cool. I said, as long as we're going to have fun, you know, no pressure. That's okay. Okay. We're going to do it. Okay.

[00:11:54] And so she got me into the league and that's how I kind of got back into it. The second week, she lived really close to me. The second week, we're carpooling on the way home. Okay. And she said, Jay, you're really terrible. You need to get a table and start practicing. Yeah. Sage advice. Yep. Yep. Oh man. So I called Teddy up and I said, Teddy, I need a table. And he called Don Chalifo.

[00:12:24] Okay. And Don Chalifo, I called Don Chalifo and Teddy called Don Chalifo and says, my good friend Jay needs a table. Hook Jay up. And four days later, I was driving down to Chicago and Don sold me a table. And that's how I kind of got back into it. Wow. And I've been playing now quite heavy back on, kind of got reeled back into it. Yep. Back heavy on tour now for about three years.

[00:12:49] And seeing some success along the way, I might add, just give us an idea what happened to you at the TKO this year. What happened to you there? Just how was your weekend? This year at TKO, I think I want to, don't quote me. Somebody is going to send me a text and say I'm lying. I think in expert doubles, I played with Eric Weishire. And I want to say we've won and finished right around, I know we're out of the money, so I

[00:13:18] didn't pay that close attention. I want to say right around ninth or. Nice. Okay. Thief or somewhere in there. Expert doubles. Yep. Yeah. Yep. Right in there. Excellent. Um, Mike Vid and I, and open, I want to say we finished right around in 30th, uh, right in there. Still respectable. I was supposed to play pro, but, uh, we ended up not being able, I was supposed to play pro with, uh, Amanda Krieger. Okay. Uh, Teddy's, uh, wife, but, uh, we ended up, uh, withdrawing out of that and that kind of a thing. Played some singles.

[00:13:47] I'm not much of a singles player, even though if you look back at some of my earlier results, um, I've had a lot of, uh, I've had some success in singles, uh, for that world's two years ago in amateur singles. Nice. And the second at Wisconsin state and that kind of a thing, but I'm, I don't consider myself a singles player. Got it. And that kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, no. Primarily do you play forward or do you like to play the pit? I primarily play forward. Okay. And yeah.

[00:14:14] And with thing, I like to play with partners that we can switch. Um, and that kind of a thing, uh, my, one of my main primary partners that I have been playing with now for the last almost two years now has been Brett Noyan. Mm-hmm. Who I think you're familiar with, the tournament director and runs, uh, Wisconsin state. Yes. I play a lot with, uh, Brett, uh, quite a bit. Um, and, uh, done really well. And Wisconsin state actually is coming up pretty soon, correct? Yep. Uh, in two weeks. Yeah.

[00:14:43] I want to say, uh, March 21st to the, what's that, that weekend. I think that Thursday, the 21st through the 24th. Mm-hmm. So we're taping this. So it's going to be about two, three weeks depending on when this airs. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I think, uh, I have a feeling you're going to be there. I'll be there. Yep. And, uh, so who are you, Terry, uh, teaming up with that weekend? That weekend I'll be playing everything with Brett. Mm-hmm. Uh, except for expert mix. Obviously I'll be playing with Amanda. Oh, nice. An expert mix.

[00:15:13] So. Awesome. Wow. I enjoy playing with, uh, her quite a bit. Her and I seem to, uh, always do well. Uh, whether it be, uh, a mixed event or even in, uh, other events, um, we seem to do well. I know her and I, I think, was it last year or the year before we took ninth in, uh, pro doubles and. Okay. And some other things. So. Yeah. No, it's, it's always good to have someone you can rely upon, someone you can get to know very, very well and have good chemistry with, uh, you know, and especially if you're

[00:15:41] going to a, a good state tournament like Wisconsin, uh, you know, it makes it, makes it that much easier to know. Okay. I know what the, what the weekend's going to be like and how, uh, and who you're going to play with and that kind of thing. I know when I went to Kentucky and, um, this year, um, I really didn't have that many plans to play. Uh, I was thinking maybe amateurs and maybe, uh, maybe experts, but that was pretty much it. But I ended up playing four events instead. Uh, but with people that had just kind of picked up when I was there. Um, so, but that was fun too, you know, getting to know, getting to know people that way.

[00:16:11] Uh, just, uh, no one that I was with, I was, uh, going to be playing with. It was just, you know, one of those things. You just walk in and go, well, I need a partner for such and such. And you end up playing with whoever you play with. And it's, and it's a lot of fun. Uh, I played with Gary King. Um, oh, trying to think of, uh, John, I know John's first name. I can't remember John's last name. I know he's, um, he's a Midwestern player. Um, oh, this is a surprise. Somebody, uh, teamed me up, uh, before I even got there with Dan Taminski.

[00:16:42] Are you familiar with Dan Taminski? Yeah. I had to play him in one of the events. I'm very, very good player. Yeah. Well, as it turns out, he's also a very famous person. Uh, he is the voice of the, uh, the song on Man in Constant Sorrow from the Oh Brother We're Out soundtrack. I did not know that. Yeah. He's the guy who sang the song, sang it. And I actually, uh, uh, played guitar on that song as well. And it became a huge, uh, hit when it came out with that, uh, that soundtrack.

[00:17:10] Uh, and he's got 11 albums to his credit. And I think it's multiple Grammys. But I mean, I was amazed. I mean, the guy was such a nice person. And, uh, it was just one of those surprise things. It was a friend of ours. He's originally from Vermont. So he knows some of the, uh, the New England guys. So, uh, Rob Marchantowski, uh, had said to me, this guy was going to play with a partner

[00:17:36] and the partner had, apparently Dan's partner had a stroke that weekend. Okay. So he was without a partner for Expert Doubles. And, and, uh, Rob said, do you, do you want to play with this guy? I said, sure. You know, I'm, I don't know who he is, but I'll play with him. And then I found out who he really was. And I went, wow, that's cool. Uh, but super nice person. You know, he very down to earth, you know, I'd think a guy like that has that, that kind of background.

[00:18:03] He'd think, well, you know, but, uh, anyway, it was. How'd you guys do? Uh, I watched him play. I think he might've won, uh, Ron's going to, I'm going to get a message from Rob. If I'm wrong, uh, Rod, if I'm wrong, I thought I saw him beat, uh, Ron Olsen and senior. I might be, maybe put them in the losers or something. So I was really impressed with this game, but how did you guys do? I mean, we actually, I think we won two and lost two. So it was kind of a, you know, 50, 50 thing.

[00:18:29] I don't think we, you know, we, we were certainly doing well, but he was also playing every event that weekend. It was everything he could possibly play. So by the time I think we were playing expert doubles, he was probably getting kind of tired. Um, Dan, I think might be my age. He might be in his sixties, but, uh, yeah, it was pretty impressive to watch him. He's got a great pull shot, a really nice five row. So I thought, Hey, this is great. You know, great to watch this guy play and, and, uh, just an honor to, to meet him, you know?

[00:18:58] So, so, but stuff like that happens sometimes. You never know who you're going to meet when you go to a foosball tournament. I, I, I always, we always kind of, uh, I like playing with, uh, one, one player in multiple events. Like I like playing with Brett. We have a really sense of comfortability. There's no ego involved. If we like pull the hook from each other or say, you know, um, you know, we need to switch or do something.

[00:19:23] Uh, but it was also kind of fun to, um, to play with somebody new and that kind of a thing. I played, um, the last couple of years, I played with quite a few players down from Florida, like, uh, Craig Simpson, Brian Philman down, down from Florida. I went and played, uh, Thunderdome last year. Oh, you did love, love Thunderdome. I can't, uh, speak highly enough about Tommy Brewer and those guys down in Florida and what they were doing and that kind of a thing. Yeah. Um, and now I did a Florida state.

[00:19:53] Um, okay. I want to say two years ago. I want, uh, now that one, um, kind of did a last second. I had one of the Florida guys hooked me up with a player from Mississippi for amateur doubles. And that was, uh, Richard Herman. I don't know if you know who Richard is. He, he, he, that sounds familiar. Okay. Okay. Um, really solid player out of, uh, Mississippi. We, I literally walked in the tournament room, met him, shook hands and we played amateur doubles and, uh, we won it.

[00:20:23] Uh, and I think we only lost one game all the way through. Oh, so we lost one game to the Poloski. Oh yes. And those guys, those youngins are really good. They're fierce. Yeah. Uh, it's, uh, Luis and, uh, and Sherwin Poloski. Yeah. And those guys, uh, we watched them grow up here in the Northeast. They used to, when they were really young kids, he was to come to our, um, regional tournament called the smash downs with their dad and their mom.

[00:20:50] Um, and of course, Stan, Stan is a beast, you know, uh, what he does. But, uh, this Poloski kids, we knew they were going to be good just because they're so disciplined. In fact, it was Stan who was telling us that at home, they're not allowed to touch anything electronic until they're on the table practicing for at least an hour a day. It doesn't surprise me. I think, uh, I think they took third Craig Simpson and Alex. Ooh, I know Alex do Alex.

[00:21:16] And I forget his last name, uh, is who we put in, we beat them for the King seat and then they came back and we got them in the finals. But, uh, but point being is, uh, it was kind of great because I never met him before down and, uh, I talked to him quite a bit. Uh, shout out to Richard. He's, uh, um, uh, a really great guy. And that's one of the things that, yeah, you kind of get to meet new people, uh, like Danny, uh, Danny Adradi out of, isn't he, well, I think he's New York, but now I think he lives out in Colorado, but wasn't he.

[00:21:46] I believe so. I don't know him, but I think that, that, that is correct. He may be from, uh, you know, from the New York area. Uh, just don't, don't recall Danny, but, um, yeah, it's, uh, of course I've only been back in this game since what? 2011. So it's, uh, there's, there's a lot of New Yorkers that I haven't met yet who, who play the game. I'm sure that may be scattered across the, uh, the different States. Um, so one of the things I wanted to get a chance to chat with you about, of course, you know, you're very active in the foosball scene.

[00:22:15] What's your local like? What, uh, what, what you mentioned that you go there on a regular basis. Do you have a DYP once a week? What's going on? Yeah, we have, uh, and we call it the Fox Valley, which is kind of like Green Bay, Appleton, uh, probably, you know, right in the, you know, if you look at the Wisconsin map and, and this is Green Bay and, you know, right down in this area, um, we have a league that's every other Thursday, um, down in Appleton, which is about 30 minutes from me. Okay.

[00:22:43] And then every Saturday there's a, a DYP, uh, a monster draw and, uh, Teddy, Teddy runs at, there's a couple of players that help them like, uh, Garrett Hoffman and, uh, Matt Weber, who, uh, won pro singles this past year at world. So, uh, uh, a big touring, uh, him and Teddy play on tour quite a bit and stuff. Um, and then around Wisconsin, um, there's quite a few pockets, uh, down in Milwaukee,

[00:23:10] like the Greg Grushing, um, uh, Rob Balls, uh, uh, Jeff Kimberling, you know, down in Milwaukee. Right. Um, they run things on Wednesday nights. So, um, there's, there's that, um, Madison has a good, uh, player base. Oh, cool. So there's, you know, you, you can find games, uh, quite a few nights, uh, a week and, and, uh, some, uh, there's some chats, uh, uh, Sheboygan, uh, Sheboygan will run a league the opposite week of the Appleton league.

[00:23:40] Okay. And then they run, um, uh, D monsters as well. Sheboygan's about, um, about an hour from me, about 45 minutes there. So we all try to not, you know, have different nights or, uh, opposite weeks and that kind of a thing. So we all try to like not step on the same nights or each other's toes and then support each other and, and that kind of a thing as well. That's a, that, that can be an issue, right? Especially if you're only an hour or two apart, uh, you want to make sure that everybody at

[00:24:08] least, um, well, you kind of spread the wealth, so to speak. Um, I know we've, we've had some of the same issues. I know with the guys from New Hampshire and Massachusetts, they're got a pretty good scene going as well. And they've always come to play with us and we try to get to their, their scene as well. But it's been, it's been about scheduling, like who's going to do what, when? So that's, that's always an issue, but Hey, it's a good thing. It's a good problem to have because you want to make sure that everybody gets a little piece of the action, so to speak. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:24:37] And they've, the promoters do a great job of communicating and not making sure, um, that they step on each other's toes. I try and, you know, I try and help as much as I can. I try and stay out of the promoting those guys. I don't know how they have the patience. It's tough. I'll do other things like, uh, you know, we've had a couple of, um, players, you know, down on their luck or have some medical things, um, where I've been lucky where, you know, be

[00:25:05] able to do a lot of donating things with like 3d foos or with jerseys and, and, and do the organizing and that kind of a thing. Um, one of probably my biggest strengths is, uh, my wife, Carrie, she is so supportive with foosball. Yeah. Many, uh, Saturdays that I don't feel like going and playing. And she kind of drags me down there to be honest. Uh, she doesn't play. Really?

[00:25:31] She, she loves the foosball community and she loves the players. She loves, um, feeling that camaraderie between everyone. Yes. You know, she feels a little awkward when, you know, there's some disagreements and that kind of a thing. Okay. And she kind of grounds us all in a little bit and reminds me of, tells me to knock it off and not take it so serious. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good for her. Uh, you know, everyone, uh, and I'm sure, you know, everyone, you're okay, but, uh, I really love your wife.

[00:26:00] And I hear that probably and that kind of a thing, but, you know, at TKO, everyone, uh, when I go to TKO, everyone's like, Hey, it's so good to see you, Jay. Where is your wife? Yeah. Where's your wife? Isn't that nice? Well, you know, the other thing we want to talk about, of course, is three 3d foos. Um, first of all, when did that start? What was the concept behind 3d foos when we first started and, uh, how's it going?

[00:26:27] Uh, so, uh, 3d foos kind of started up a couple of years ago. I want to say about a year after I kind of started back up, uh, playing and actually a funny story. It started when in that league, uh, we played to like seven and, um, you know, some of the matches, you know, you know, you know how long a couple of those matches can get when, you know, you're playing to seven, the other team's playing to seven, you're on, on ball like 14 then. Right. And that kind of thing.

[00:26:55] And I got called for three time out. Really? We're calling a third time out. Oops. And I was really annoyed by it because, you know, you're trying to keep track and the game's going so long and that kind of a thing. So I went home and I was trying to think about like, Oh, a better way than it's really kind of gross. Licking your finger and I'm not a big germaphobe. Oh, I see what you're saying. Yeah. Licking your finger on the table. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So what I did was, uh, started doing and looking around and did, I ended up doing a 3d

[00:27:25] printing of a little foosball guy. Okay. Like a, like a one in a, I think it's one and a quarter inch or one and a half inch. I'd have to look at my program, a little one and a quarter inch guy. And so we started printing, I started printing them off and we put it right on the same side as the, the death. Okay. You know, the scoring death. Oh, sure. So now if you go down to Appleton and you see the tables, we have two foosball guys on the same, on each of the scoring desk.

[00:27:52] And then, so when you take a timeout, you hit the little head and he flips over backwards. Oh, interesting. Okay. So it's tracking your timeouts. Yeah. I dig that. Yeah. So that's how it started. So I started making those and people come up and come up with ideas, excuse me, of other, you know, kind of different things. And it kind of blossomed kind of out of that and that kind of a thing and started making different things. And, and I think you saw a TKO.

[00:28:19] We had the big, uh, I made the, the big gold chains. That's it. Oh yeah. I couldn't believe that when I saw it. That would, I mean, and a lot of people took pictures of that, you know, that's, that was pretty astounding. Uh, yeah, lots of fun things. Uh, a, a, a real popular item last year, you know, Tony, before Tony moved, um, I was watching flipping through TV. I'm not a tennis guy, but I happen to have like tennis happened to be on the TV and I was

[00:28:46] watching all the kids sign, have the players sign those huge oversized tennis balls. Oh yeah. So I had the idea of, so I started creating the huge oversized, uh, not huge. I think it's eight inches, uh, an oversized foosball. Oh, oh. And I sanded it. So it's fuzzy. It looks and feels like a, it feels like a foosball. It's got the fuzziness on it and it comes with a, with a stand.

[00:29:11] And, uh, so I was selling those and, and it was really, and I got a lot of great feedback because it was a really great icebreaker for kids or, or just anyone to go up to players and have them sign, like to go up to Tony, to go up to Blake Robinson, to go up to Ryan Moore and ask them, you know, to sign it and be able to have that icebreaker to kind of like go up and talk to those kinds of players or, or, you know, get Tony's signature before, you know, he, he moved and that kind of a thing.

[00:29:41] I had a couple of, uh, of those that we signed. I had signed a couple of years ago and then, uh, we were giving them away at Wisconsin state to the junior winners and that kind of a thing. So a lot of the things that I do for like the 3d foos, um, I like to think that, you know, Oh, it helps with my traveling and my cost and that kind of a thing. But by the end of the year, I put everything back. Um, like in a couple of weeks we have, um, the Sheboygan classic.

[00:30:08] I think it's now it's like a two day, like kind of a local tournament that gets quite a few players around from the Midwest. I want to say they end up with like anywhere from 60 to almost a hundred players there. So it's really kind of a homegrown tournament. That's great. Donate a bunch of things. Uh, there's a player that had some medical issues. So I donated a big trophy with a writing on it that says, you know, uh, there, we're going to do like a one ball event where people can, um, they can put whatever they want

[00:30:37] for an entry fee, a dollar, $5, 10, 20, whatever they want to put for the entry fee. Okay. And then it's just one ball. No, uh, no wrapping, no, no snake shot, just one ball. And we're going to play it along with the other events, single elimination, um, whatever you want to put in for your entry fee. And then the winner gets that big, uh, you know, the, the necklace kind of thing, what you saw at TKO, but then I can put wording on there and that kind of a thing. So I dig that all that money will go towards, uh, that, that player that's having some

[00:31:06] medical issues and that kind of stuff. Oh, that's a great way to, that's a great way to fundraise. Um, there's so many ideas, right? Uh, of course, uh, fundraising for not just folks who are, who are, uh, having health issues, but of course youngsters, you know, with the foosball, foosball clubs, USA, uh, and what Michael stalls up to, uh, some great opportunities there to, to help raise money for groups like that. That's awesome. Yeah. I seen what they did down in, uh, Missouri and what Michael's is, uh, what junior has

[00:31:35] been doing for, for foosball club USA. Yes. Just seeing like the revived, uh, what's going on. And I didn't know, um, uh, O'Brien, uh, very well. Yeah. John O'Brien. Yeah. I didn't really know. I met him once, but I just to be able to see that kind of revive. And, and I know there's always been a lot of people working probably more than, than we know behind the scenes. There are some, yeah. Just seeing what there had been, what they've been doing and what junior has been working towards this year has been really inspiring.

[00:32:05] He's, uh, he's got a fire lit. He's, he's, he's, he's stoking that fire. He keeps dumping gasoline on the fire. So every week you see something new from him and it's just so, so encouraging, but you know, he's out there making sure kids are aware, Hey, this thing is fun. It's a, it's a great way to, to, to build a character, you know, learn to be on a team and also, uh, compete, you know, and it's, it's, uh, it's addicting. So yeah, Michael's the, the pied piper of foosball right now. And that's awesome.

[00:32:35] Yeah. It's, it's, it's been great to see. And I get, I get little tastes of it. Um, like, um, people will reach out for products. Um, Jordan, um, messing up his heart on a hard fork out of, uh, Idaho. He reached out, you know, he's doing a high school program and stuff. So I was able to send some product out his way, um, you know, and, uh, when people reach out and say they're doing something for schools or programs or something like that, I'm always

[00:33:04] willing to help Aaron Croft with foos gadgets. I know he's always willing to help with his stuff and he usually gives me a call and, and if I can help with things, I, I, uh, always try and help too. Yeah. And that kind of a thing as well. Uh, Aaron and I've become really good friends. Uh, we do jerseys together and he's an amazing guy. He's such a, such a great person. Uh, and, and, uh, you know, he's, he's a great, uh, shall we say right hand for Michael Stahl when it comes to Michigan state and their tournament.

[00:33:32] Uh, you know, Aaron's right there to take care of everything that Michael can't get to. And I mean, this last year going to the tournament was, was phenomenal. And Aaron was so on top of things. And, uh, I love his ideas, you know, the speed bridge and things like this. They're just some, some great innovation going on. Um, we've actually been having some chats of late behind the scenes about, Hey, you know, there's, there's several people or, or not more people than we can count that are actually innovators that are doing new things, uh, when it comes to just, you know,

[00:34:02] a technology for the table or coming up with new ideas for, uh, for tournaments and things like this. And so we're thinking about doing a series of, uh, of, of episodes of Foos Talk Live, uh, uh, called, you know, the, uh, the innovators and, uh, who knows, you know, maybe you could be one of the innovators on, uh, on an episode. There's a lot of those guys out there. So I, like I said, um, I, I love that. And I agree with you. I've been seeing more different kinds of tournaments and, and trying thing.

[00:34:32] I know, uh, the TKO, they did that, the championship thing and I, you know, I thought it was, uh, I thought it was great. I know I've seen a lot of controversy online, but I just love that they're trying things and that kind of a thing. Whenever there's that kind of change and you have to take, you have to take chances, right? Uh, you know, hats off to Mary for taking the chance because if you don't, you'll never know, you'll never know how it's going to be received. And it really was, you know, it was kind of divided a bit, but I would say majority of

[00:35:02] people I talked to really kind of thought it was great. You know, they, they were there. Yeah. I think, uh, enjoyed it and that kind of a thing. Um, you know, I'll scream it from the mountain tops. Um, I'm just waiting for the next Thunderdome. Yeah. Yeah. Everyone I've talked to, um, you know, Tommy and, and, uh, what they're doing down in Florida and, and that kind of a thing to have that Swiss system where everything was just planned. Yeah. You know what? You're going to start play here. You're going to get done here.

[00:35:30] You're going to have a dinner break here and that kind of a thing. And then later on tonight, when we're done, you can go wherever you want. You don't have to, you know, we were done like at 11 o'clock and we were teasing Tom like, Oh man, Tom, we've been playing so much. And he's like, Hey, you're done now. It's 11 o'clock. And what did we do? We all piled into Brian's van and we went to Rudy's and we ended up playing until two in the morning. Oh, no kidding. Tommy and stuff. And he's giving us a hard time about, Oh, you're teasing me about playing for all this time. And what did we do? Go out and play some more. Playing some more.

[00:36:00] Of course. Of course. No, that's great. I would love to see that to be the future though. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Me too. It was just so nice not to, um, you know, be kind of stuck there and, you know, being a, you know, and that's something that we're seeing more though, of like a Michigan, like Michigan state, uh, Michael having that fantastic hotel. Yes. And Wisconsin state has a fantastic hotel bar, you know, and you're seeing that like

[00:36:25] Texas down Steve Murray and like, they're not having these turn, you know, they're having these become more family friendly, having resorts, um, Bardo's, Chrissy Whipple, uh, Brad Lorraine. They're having these be something that you can bring the family to. Sure. Oh, much more. I remember when I first started, man, you're in these kind of rough bars or, you know, kind of rough areas where you did kind of, I don't want to sit there and wait nine hours to play all the time. Right. So, you know, you're seeing those kinds of changes now.

[00:36:55] We're almost kind of taking that for granted, but now, you know what, if we can start switching to the Swiss and some other, these kinds of other ideas, I just see, you know, more and more positive things coming. Oh yeah. Case in point, uh, for Memorial Day weekend this year, it's the ITSF world series of tornado, which I don't know if you've read the flyer at all, but it's, it's, it's very, you know, Swiss based. Uh, there's a lot of really interesting ideas they're, they're going to be using that

[00:37:25] weekend. Um, I don't know that it's necessarily going to substitute Texas States, but, um, you know, it's, uh, it's a great experiment. And, and I think ITSF has, you know, they have all the intention of, of helping bring the level of foosball play up, you know, no matter where, whether it's here or Europe or whatever the case, but I mean, I'm excited. I think, you know, it's, it's going to be worth looking into to see how things go and I hope it's well attended. It looks like it's going to, I think everyone, uh, pretty excited for it.

[00:37:55] It might not, uh, work perfect for me being a low expert. Uh, I get grouped together with those pro masters a little bit, but you know, it doesn't, you know what, you always hear the adage of, you know what, if you try to make everyone happy, you don't make anyone happy. Yeah, that's true. But I, you know what, I think it's going to be awesome. I think it is going to be well attended and I'm excited for it. Uh, uh, and that kind of thing. I don't know if I'm going to go and play with it yet. Okay. I play at it yet, but whether I play in it or I don't play in it, I'm excited for it.

[00:38:24] And I love that they're doing it and that kind of thing. I don't want to, uh, I'm not one of those negative, uh, Nellies or, uh, Donner, Dan's or that kind of a, I just love that they're doing something different and that kind of a thing. So, well, you know, if, if we don't innovate, if we don't try new things and if we don't experiment, you know, you'll never know. And of course, you know, if we miss that opportunity and of course, I think there's this, this, this natural energy that's occurring now since COVID finished and everybody's back

[00:38:52] on the table again, it just seems like suddenly there's this, this renewed energy to be better as a, as a, as a sport and everybody wants to, to make it happen. So there's, there's great vibes, you know, um, TKO was fantastic. Everybody seemed to be so into it and they had a record turnout. So there's every reason to expect that. Yes. Yeah. Things are going to get continued to, to climb. And I think they're, uh, this, uh, ITSF is just kind of like, Hey man, let's see what happens. Let's, let's, uh, let's give it a try.

[00:39:23] Yeah. I'm excited to see that. I don't know if I'm going to make that one. I've been in talks with a couple of locals trying to get hit money ball this year. That's a tournament I've always wanted to go to. In fact, uh, I talked to Michael Stahl Jr. About that. Cause I, uh, he said nothing but fantastic things about money ball. Yes. Oh yeah. Um, this year I'm trying to step back a little bit with the amount of tournaments. I've been hitting seven, eight tour stops. Really? Uh, a year. And that's a lot. I mean, I'm, I'm not Kenneth Dale. Yeah. That guy.

[00:39:50] And some of those pro pastors that make all that money on tour. I'm just a low expert. So, uh, I'm not, I'm not cashing all those checks. Like some of those. No, no, I know. So it's, uh, still, I mean, in order to, to move up the ranks, you notice, you know, with Kenny Dale, uh, being a person who works, uh, on the team that, you know, uh, brings in the table, sets them up and then tears them down. And I mean, that's a clever idea because a lot of what he's doing gets paid for because he, he works, you know, for the tournament.

[00:40:19] So he gets to play and he plays a lot more often and you can see how quickly he's rising in the ranks. Um, so yeah, this is. And he deserves it. Yeah. That's a, that's a lot of dedication. You know, I, you know, I get to work from home for the most part and I have a foos room, a dedicated foos ball room and that kind of a thing. So I don't practice as much as I, as I probably should in that kind of a thing. So that, that takes dedication.

[00:40:46] Those players that, uh, shoot up the ranks, like a Jacob Belkos and, uh, and that, um, more power to them that, you know, uh, a lot of people like to talk about them having a lot of the free time, but you know what, when we have the free time, it still takes a lot of energy to get on that table. Yeah. It's time and energy. And of course, you know, truly dedication. I mean, there, there is the, I think that's probably the big difference between, let's say, uh, I don't know, even a, even a Kenny Dale on a Tony sprayed him and, you know, Tony's so dedicated.

[00:41:15] He wants to win more than anybody else. You know, it just seems like that's, that's the big difference right there. And he devotes his life to it. You know, he's, he eats it, he sleeps it, that's, he breathes it. That's it. Um, so, you know, you get to that level, of course, and Tony's been at it for many, many years now and just doesn't seem to lose. Um, so there's that drive and you got to stay hungry. And, uh, yeah, there's going to be moments when you falter a little bit and somebody comes along, gives you a hard time. But I think Tony relishes that.

[00:41:44] I think he, he finds that really compelling because he gets his gas going again, you know, and then he's, he starts to fire up again and, and comes back. But, um, hopefully we'll see Tony back in the country sometime soon. I would think so. You know, he, he was originally from Wisconsin and that kind of a thing. Yeah. And, uh, and so we still claim them and, and that kind of a thing. But, uh, yeah, hopefully he's, he comes back and at least comes and plays once in a while.

[00:42:13] And I know we're going to miss them a lot at Wisconsin state. Um, because even when he, you know, he moved to Florida, he always tried to come home for Wisconsin state. That's great. It was great. I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I always felt like it was important for him and for Bud and that kind of a thing. Maybe they feel differently, but at least we felt like he felt like it was important. Oh, I think so. I think generally. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, you know, even like, uh, you know, I was talking like last year at worlds, we, Wisconsin did really well at worlds.

[00:42:42] There was a lot of, uh, players, uh, that finished high in a lot of the events at worlds. And, and Tony was right there cheering the Wisconsin players on local players, uh, Chris Adamski and Dom in the rookie doubles finals. If you watch that at inside foods, it's a, it's a great match because it was so well attended. Uh, I think, uh, the announcers were talking, they thought it was like a, like an open, uh,

[00:43:09] finals because there's so many players there and there are, everyone was cheering for the Wisconsin guys against the Missouri guys. And, but, uh, Tony was in, Tony was in the crowd, you know, cheering. And when Matt Weber was in the finals of pro singles, Tony was in the, Tony was watching and gave, uh, you know, Matt some advice or, or, you know, just kind of cheered on Matt and, and, and Matt has told me like, ah, that, that gave him a little extra motivation.

[00:43:34] And, um, you know, I, uh, I played the draw, uh, with, uh, Joe Trulio. I'm killing his last name out of Missouri. Okay. The Friday night draw. And we ended up winning the draw. Oh, nice. Okay. And, uh, and, uh, we had a bunch of, you know, of, uh, of our players, uh, cheering on and that kind of thing. I think that's one of the special things about our player bases in Wisconsin. Yes. You know what? We could be, uh, at each other's, uh, throats on, uh, on a Saturday trying to win each

[00:44:03] other $10, but on tour it's, it's like, uh, it's like we are all, uh, brothers and sisters where we can pick on each other, but we don't let anyone else pick on. I think, you know, there has to be some, some kind of an event sometime soon in the near future that, that features all the different States going at each other. Yeah. Right. You know, nationals and that kind of stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Stuff. But yeah, I love that at, um, like at that nationals or even like when we go to worlds and

[00:44:29] stuff, oh, uh, and I think that's one of the things I noticed the biggest about, uh, and I'm sure some of the other States, uh, has that too, but one of the things I feel so good about Wisconsin is, uh, we really rally around each other. Yeah. That's great. What a great feeling. Again, there's the foosball family, you know, it's, it's an extended family, but it's a, it's a tight family too. But, uh, we've got to say, Jay, this is an absolute pleasure, you know, getting a chance to hang out and talk, uh, you know, again, this, uh, this idea, this concept of

[00:44:58] the foosball radio, Patreon profile. Um, so for me personally, I'd like to, first of all, thank you again, but I also would like to ask you the question. Um, why did you support, uh, foosball radio with, through the Patreon page? What, uh, what motivated you to do that? For, for me, um, because foosball has given me and my family so much, you know, when I talk about coming back to foosball or how I got started and I was so lucky with, with Teddy

[00:45:26] and, and even now, like when I was talking about my wife, Carrie kind of dragging me sometimes on Saturdays and how it's important for my family and important for my wife, the foosball community. And, uh, I'm never going to be a promoter. I don't have the, the talents that it takes to require to be able to. Yeah. So I try and support in other ways to provide like, you know, with my 3d foos to be able to give back. There's times where, you know, people are wearing the jerseys.

[00:45:55] I will like at Wisconsin state last year, anyone wearing one of my jerseys. And if they want a final, I gave them, I gave them extra cash. I gave, I gave cash payos. I, you know, people wearing jerseys that once in a while at our local DYPs, I'll pay their injury fees. Nice. Um, obviously the benefits, uh, I've been blessed in, uh, with my family and, and that kind of a thing. So we find, we try and find our ways that we can kind of give back in one of the, you

[00:46:23] know, in those kinds of things, um, with, with the Patreon, um, with other, with other people in foosball that do, um, things like Jesse Barnhill, if anyone does, or has seen those, uh, 3d pictures that he does. Yep. I've, I've, I've had a couple of them done by him. They're awesome. Oh, they are giving out his, uh, his info to other people. Um, Scott Lyle, uh, and, uh, Candy, you know, they help run the tour a little bit. He does 3d printing as well. Okay. Um, nice.

[00:46:53] So I try and support anyone that, you know, has like a side hustle or anything like that. But, um, you know, we're, we're a community and I love, uh, what you do and, and, and, and, uh, the, the foosball radio does, um, trying to make our community a big community, a little bit smaller and make everyone feel a little bit a part of it. So it's, it's given me so much. So when I can give, uh, something back, I definitely try to. Wow. Thank you so much.

[00:47:20] It's, um, it, it, it, first of all, me personally, because I never thought foosball radio would even last this long. Um, it's, it's encouragement. You're encouraging me and, and Randy and everybody else who's involved, you know, to say, oh, someone's actually listening and somebody actually cares enough to, to support us through the Patreon page. So thank you so much, Jay. You bet. Thank you. Yeah. For you, for what you do. I know it's kind of sometimes thankless or can be, uh, well, it's a little tough, but

[00:47:49] kind of, kind of, uh, what I've always done and, uh, applying this to something that, uh, that I really love like foosball is it's, I don't know, it's a no brainer for me. So anyway, we're going to get you up to Wisconsin state. Yes. One of these times. I know you, I know you make it to the Michigan state, but that's an awesome one. I went to one. It's a little tough part of the year for me, but that one's so well run and, and Mike and Aaron and, and those guys do such an awesome job over there. So I don't want to take you away from that one, but come up to the Wisconsin state one, one of these years. I do definitely want to come and visit you guys.

[00:48:19] I mean, you guys were, have always been very gracious. And so, yeah. Um, one of the things, one of my, if I were, I guess you could say my, uh, my dream job would be to take this on the road, uh, to as many tournaments in a year as possible, you know, and just, just talk to people along the way and just do as many, as many live interviews and as many, uh, things that we can do along the way just to meet people on the road. You know, that would be, that would be the way to go. But of course the company I work for would probably have a slight price.

[00:48:47] Problem with that, but that's okay. It was great having you at TKO. Everyone was excited to have you there and see the interviews and stuff. So yeah, no, it was, it was, I wish we could have done more, you know, it was a, it was a crazy hectic weekend and everybody's focusing on playing. So it's hard to get people to even for 10 minutes just to sit down and talk, but Hey, you know, just got to keep trying. That's all. But Jay, again, thank you so much for, for joining us on this foosball radio, Patreon profile, uh, and, and, uh, keep tuned in to, to the Patreon

[00:49:16] profiles because we're going to keep adding to this list. Uh, we have quite a few other people to talk to, but Jay, uh, a great pleasure. Thank you so much. Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for everything. I appreciate it. Your story could be next on a foosball radio, Patreon profile. Thanks again for being a foosball radio, Patreon pillar. This has been a presentation of foosball radio. guys podcast. assessments. As well. That's good. It's you guys Danielle Danielle. brought in an comedy. Of