Winner of the 2024 TKO Expert Singles, Ivan Klenovskiy joins us for episode 196 of FoosTalk Live in the Champion Spotlight. Studying to earn his PHD at Yale, Ivan takes his study of foosball to a higher level.
Become a Foosball Radio Patreon: Patreon.com/FoosballRadio
[00:00:00] Talk Talk Live is a presentation of Foosball Radio. It's Foos Talk live and lively banter. Are you gonna talk to us talking Foosball? Foosball was how it measured my value as a man? You took that away! Players and fans, promoters and pros, unedited and raw. Talk, talk, talk, living in the moment. We have a lot of important things to talk about. All while practicing social distancing. Cool! We'll talk, no big one. Let's get this thing out.
[00:00:30] All right, everything started. Foos Talk Live. Hi, this is Tom Robinson and I want to personally thank our Patreon pillars for their support of Foosball Radio and Foos Talk Live.
[00:00:41] Here's a Patreon shout out to Mike Vite, also Rob Cutler, Ernie Bischoff, James Sparky Castillo, Alicia Villages, Christina Fuchs, Karl Fleischer, Jay Teal, Brian Schmid, Cameron Kelly,
[00:00:57] Jimi Love, Dwayne Stewart, Judy Schober, Reed Rector, Mike Green, Adam Gilson and our friends from the 716 Buffalo Foosball Club.
[00:01:14] Thank you. Your support brings continued and expanding content from Foosball Radio as we cover the greatest sport on earth.
[00:01:24] Visit patreon.com/foosballradio to find out how to become a Foosball Radio Patreon.
[00:01:32] Foos Talk Live is brought to you by, original Leonhardt. The Leonhardt Tournament Model is the most popular Foosball table at the ITSF World Cup,
[00:01:42] designed and handcrafted in Germany, order online and have it delivered to your door.
[00:01:48] Visit www.original-leonheart-usa.com and use promo code FoosTalk to save 10% off your purchase price.
[00:02:00] And we are live. Once again, it's episode number 196 of Foosball Club.
[00:02:10] Hey there, I'm Tom Robinson. Thanks for joining us on Twitch TV tonight live and of course later on when you download this episode.
[00:02:16] When it comes to your favorite podcast site. And by the way, for the next hour, we're going to talk about Foosball and of course, it certainly pays when you've got somebody else who loves the subject of Foosball,
[00:02:29] from the great state of Alabama, that would be Randy Raposo. Hello Randy.
[00:02:34] What's up Tom? What's going on buddy? Nothing, finally getting back to normal from the kickoff.
[00:02:41] Are you feeling better because I know last week you're a little under the weather kind of?
[00:02:45] Yeah, yeah, you know, I don't know, I ate something today, but anyway I'm good man, I'm good. How are you?
[00:02:51] I'm glad you ate something today. I ate something. Oh yeah, I ate something.
[00:02:56] Okay. Hopefully it agreed with you. Negative? No? Okay. Well hey, if you need to bail, just let me know.
[00:03:04] No no, I drank some Pepto. I'll be all right. Nice. Okay. Well, so what's been happening for you this week?
[00:03:11] Have you been doing any local DYPs or have you been playing out at all?
[00:03:15] No, no, just it's been a little busy. I got a couple houses under contract,
[00:03:21] plus work's been a little busy during the day, so just been putting around at home,
[00:03:26] touching the table, you know, regular stuff. Got a text this week from Dewey Culpepper,
[00:03:34] Talk the Shannon Coley. I don't know if people have seen it, but they got a big one coming up
[00:03:39] next month in Mississippi. Shannon's putting on a five grander. It's going to be really,
[00:03:44] really good if you're in the southeast region of the country or anywhere else and you can make it.
[00:03:49] Come down to Mississippi March, I think it's 15, 16, 17th. It's going to be really, really good.
[00:03:55] And what's the venue? It's going to be at their local place. I believe it's called the
[00:04:02] Back Porch as a restaurant. I think they serve some crawfish there. Of course. I was supposed to
[00:04:08] go to a tournament there last month, but the weather unfortunately, I couldn't make it.
[00:04:12] They had a little tournament there, but they had like 26 teams in the open.
[00:04:16] Yeah, and like nine or 10 teams didn't go because of the weather, so it's a good spot.
[00:04:22] Yeah, Shannon's going to have a bunch of tables. Like I said, man, Shannon Coley doesn't do anything
[00:04:26] small. If you know Shannon, you know what's up, it's going to be a really, really good event.
[00:04:29] They're doing open double singles, pro doubles, expert double singles, amateur double singles.
[00:04:35] I think they're running a draw and it's going to be good.
[00:04:40] It's going to be good. It's going to be good. Yeah.
[00:04:41] Get Shannon and Dewey on because those guys are quite a team. We've had Shannon on before,
[00:04:47] and I don't believe Dewey's made it before, so I'll have to get them both on.
[00:04:50] I have to work on that. Yeah, maybe just before the big tournament.
[00:04:53] Wow. So I know we've, what is it, two weekends now since Kentucky, and I'm still thinking about it,
[00:05:00] man. It's just, there's just so much that happened that weekend and so many great matches that took
[00:05:05] place. And of course tonight, we're going to continue that conversation because
[00:05:08] now we're very lucky. Last week, we had the winners of expert doubles. This week, it's going to be
[00:05:14] winner of expert singles on the schedule. So well, from the great state of Connecticut,
[00:05:20] let's welcome Ivan Klunowski. Is that how we pronounce your last name Ivan?
[00:05:24] Yes, that's right. Ivan, the people also call me Vanya.
[00:05:30] But you asked me about the last one. Vanya.
[00:05:33] What? Now, is that a nickname?
[00:05:35] Sort of a cute version of my name in Russian because in Russian, they have,
[00:05:41] typically each name has a formal version, which would be Ivan, in my case,
[00:05:45] Ivan, Vanya would be for friends, so it's like, if you're talking to a professor or a person
[00:05:51] whom you really, really respect, then you use the formal name, while if you're using it,
[00:05:56] like, if you're with friends, if you're of a similar rank, then you can use the informal name.
[00:06:01] Well, I think I understand what you mean, because people call me dumbass all the time.
[00:06:06] Such a informal though.
[00:06:08] Oh, well, I guess it's a term in Vinderman, I don't know.
[00:06:12] Yeah, so Ivan, is your middle name Drogo?
[00:06:17] No, it's not my middle name is Alexander Vich.
[00:06:24] Alexander Vich, okay. And let everybody know, you are Russian
[00:06:31] from Russia, correct?
[00:06:31] I was born in Moscow, originally from Russia.
[00:06:36] All right, and how old are you?
[00:06:38] I'm 28.
[00:06:40] 28?
[00:06:41] 28, well, yeah, you look like you're 18.
[00:06:44] It's going to say, kind of say.
[00:06:45] Yeah, yeah, babyface.
[00:06:47] So you are a student at Yale getting your PhD in economics, correct?
[00:06:53] Yeah, that's right.
[00:06:55] That's awesome.
[00:06:57] That's so awesome.
[00:06:58] So when do you find time to play foosball?
[00:07:01] So I have a table at home, and so sometimes, especially before the tournaments,
[00:07:08] I try to play in the evening.
[00:07:09] The problem is that I don't have that many people to play in my area.
[00:07:14] Right.
[00:07:15] I have to go to New York City if I want to practice.
[00:07:18] Got it.
[00:07:20] And how far how far of a hike is that for you?
[00:07:22] It's about two hours on a train.
[00:07:26] Oh, wow.
[00:07:28] Now, if memory serves, I think you've from New York City.
[00:07:31] Have you been to any of our smash downs in Clifton Park, New York?
[00:07:35] Have you in the past?
[00:07:37] Yes, I went there twice, I think.
[00:07:40] Yes, I do remember that now.
[00:07:42] Yep, I recall that and a great player, by the way.
[00:07:45] Been watching some of your matches.
[00:07:48] And I have to say, pretty impressive fibro you got going there.
[00:07:51] I think that you might have even given some trouble to Randy at one time.
[00:07:55] Would that be true?
[00:07:56] Yes.
[00:07:57] Trouble, yes.
[00:07:57] Trouble.
[00:07:59] Trouble.
[00:08:01] So Tom, you want to ask him the question?
[00:08:05] Oh, the standard question?
[00:08:07] Well, of course.
[00:08:08] Yes.
[00:08:08] I mean, one of the things that happens here on "Foos Talk Live",
[00:08:11] especially the first time on the show is it's a tradition to ask you, first of all,
[00:08:16] when was the first time you saw "Foosball" table?
[00:08:19] How old were you and what kind of table was it in Moscow?
[00:08:25] So the first time I saw "Foosball" table, I think it was in 2012.
[00:08:30] 2012?
[00:08:31] It was my first year of college in Russia in Moscow.
[00:08:35] So there it was a very old Roberto sport.
[00:08:41] It wasn't even a professional version of Roberto sport,
[00:08:43] but those people were playing on that table.
[00:08:46] And so that's the first time I saw "Foosball" table.
[00:08:49] But then it took me about a year to actually
[00:08:52] in enough cards to start playing.
[00:08:54] Maybe I touched the table in 2013, but it was a Roberto sport.
[00:08:59] Ha!
[00:08:59] Now, was this I know some of the Roberto sports I've seen
[00:09:04] have like a plexiglass top on the table.
[00:09:06] So you can't reach into the table.
[00:09:08] Is that one of those or was it what is a more more contemporary model?
[00:09:12] No, I think it was more it was more like a professional table,
[00:09:16] where the ball would go and you could pick it up.
[00:09:19] Gotcha.
[00:09:19] And you got your go.
[00:09:20] Gotcha.
[00:09:20] There's a little glass talk.
[00:09:21] Okay.
[00:09:22] So, go ahead Tom, I'm sorry.
[00:09:25] No, I was just gonna say that that's an interesting place to start of course
[00:09:30] because well, there's so many other tables out there.
[00:09:32] What was the first time you saw something other than a Roberto sport?
[00:09:36] So the, I think it was in maybe 2014 when I actually started playing.
[00:09:44] And so some people who are really into "Foosball" in our college,
[00:09:48] they crowd-funded.
[00:09:49] And so they asked the University to buy them a proper table.
[00:09:53] So they bought the garlando world champion.
[00:09:56] Oh nice.
[00:09:57] So having played in college in Moscow and then what year did you come to the states?
[00:10:07] I came to the states in 2019 I think.
[00:10:11] 2019 and then did you start playing "Foosball" right away?
[00:10:15] Did you find a scene?
[00:10:18] Oh, I've played quite a bit in Russia.
[00:10:20] So I think in Russia at some point I started competing.
[00:10:23] And so I played on garlando and I would go to tournaments.
[00:10:28] I did pretty well in the Russian tournaments.
[00:10:31] The scene was not as big as in the US obviously, but it was some competition.
[00:10:36] And I even went to the World Cup a couple of times.
[00:10:38] Did you?
[00:10:39] Oh wow, nice.
[00:10:40] Yeah.
[00:10:41] That was one of my questions was,
[00:10:43] okay for 2025 are you going to be playing for your home country or will you play for us?
[00:10:49] I mean that would be my dream of course,
[00:10:55] but I don't think that it's possible.
[00:10:57] Because I know that these days they play on different tables there.
[00:11:01] So they play on Leonhard.
[00:11:02] They have certain local events where you can play to qualify.
[00:11:05] I don't think like first of all I don't play on their tables.
[00:11:10] I don't play on Leonhard.
[00:11:12] And I think they're also really good players there
[00:11:14] that will probably win against me.
[00:11:17] So I don't know, but maybe one day one day.
[00:11:19] So the level of player there compared to the level of player here,
[00:11:25] like you know, like you're a high level expert player here.
[00:11:29] Obviously you just want expert singles at the kickoff.
[00:11:31] And you don't think that you think the players in Moscow
[00:11:36] you wouldn't be very successful against their high level players.
[00:11:39] Like how would you compare their high level players to our high level players?
[00:11:43] Well, it's a difficult question.
[00:11:46] So I think I will give you sort of a long answer that will also just I don't know.
[00:11:50] And describe what I did when I played there.
[00:11:53] So when I played there we played on garlanda.
[00:11:56] And garlanda is a slightly different table than tornado.
[00:11:59] I mean it requires sort of a lot more ball control.
[00:12:02] It's a lot more unequal in a way that if you've been playing the game for a while
[00:12:09] you just have a lot more ball control.
[00:12:10] You'll play better on that table.
[00:12:13] You'll be able to execute things better.
[00:12:15] It takes a while to get some kind of game, like to get a proper pass.
[00:12:20] Get a shot on garlanda.
[00:12:22] Just the ball control is so much harder.
[00:12:24] So in Russia it's sort of the game was slightly different in a way that,
[00:12:29] like I didn't have to think and read the game as much as here.
[00:12:32] Because here more or less everybody above a certain level has a proper game.
[00:12:36] They can pass against you and shoot.
[00:12:39] While there was a bit easier.
[00:12:40] When I was competing I think my best result was I took the third place in the russian cup in singles.
[00:12:48] Nice.
[00:12:48] I also won some local events in both doubles and I think maybe in singles.
[00:12:53] But I don't remember.
[00:12:54] So that was sort of the level.
[00:12:57] And there was only one there was one guy who was sort of consistently better than me.
[00:13:02] He was I would say my first coach Alexander Markin.
[00:13:06] He was the only professional foosball player in Russia.
[00:13:09] He was like the Tony's freedom of Russia.
[00:13:12] Because he started playing when he was a kid.
[00:13:14] He actually went on to the World Cup and he won the junior World Cup.
[00:13:19] It was playing and Ryan Moore was playing there.
[00:13:22] I don't know if Tony was playing there but so he beat all those guys in the junior World Cup.
[00:13:27] Beat Ryan Moore.
[00:13:28] I don't know if they played but he won the junior World Cup in the year
[00:13:34] when Ryan Moore was playing.
[00:13:36] I think people fail to understand like the World Cup has been around for over 20 years now.
[00:13:43] It's been around for a while.
[00:13:45] So you know, Ryan's Ryan's in his 30s maybe.
[00:13:50] I don't want.
[00:13:50] Like 30s.
[00:13:51] Yeah.
[00:13:51] Well, I think mid.
[00:13:53] I think Ryan's like 34, 3, 4, 5, so you figured 20 years ago Ryan's 15 ballpark.
[00:14:00] And I don't think he was there at that time.
[00:14:03] Look, I played a limited with Ryan in 2003
[00:14:06] at North Carolina State when he was like 12 or 13 or so.
[00:14:11] Yeah, he might have been 13 or 14 or something like that.
[00:14:15] I know he wasn't competing internationally in the early 2000s.
[00:14:18] It might have been maybe it was mid 2000s.
[00:14:25] I think Ryan won.
[00:14:28] What was Ryan B. Fred at one of the worlds when he was like 17 or 18?
[00:14:34] Anyway, anyway, I'm going off on a tangent.
[00:14:38] But to have somebody went to have somebody win at that level,
[00:14:41] even at the junior level at the World Cup, that's that's big, man.
[00:14:44] That's a big deal.
[00:14:44] So you know, in the garlando table, Billy, Billy won Billy's a world champ on garlando.
[00:14:50] Garlando is a different table.
[00:14:51] People don't understand I played on garlando.
[00:14:54] I like the table.
[00:14:55] It is a different table, different field, glass top.
[00:14:58] The men are they're molded to the rod.
[00:15:00] The rods are light.
[00:15:01] You can do a lot of crazy stuff on those tables there.
[00:15:03] I think they're just faster.
[00:15:07] I mean, tornado is a fast table.
[00:15:08] It really is.
[00:15:09] But garlando is you have to have exceptional ball control on garlando.
[00:15:13] You really, really do.
[00:15:14] It's a tough to play on for sure.
[00:15:17] Absolutely.
[00:15:18] Absolutely.
[00:15:19] So going from playing on garlando in Moscow to coming over here and getting on toornado.
[00:15:23] Like what was your you know,
[00:15:26] like your impression of tornado foosball when you got here and started playing.
[00:15:30] Well, first, first of all, when you get here, you know, you do you find a scene?
[00:15:35] What's the scene like?
[00:15:36] And you know, how does that whole just kind of walk us through American foosball for you
[00:15:40] when you got here, please?
[00:15:41] See, so I think the first time I arrived I met some people in New York City.
[00:15:47] They're, yeah, they have like a couple of places where they play.
[00:15:53] I think Victor Lam is one of their main players who is sort of the mentor for everyone.
[00:15:59] I've known Victor a long time.
[00:16:01] He's a great, great guy.
[00:16:02] I love Victor Lam, Victor Lam's awesome.
[00:16:04] And he's my mentor as well.
[00:16:06] So I'm right to the US.
[00:16:08] Sort of the first, the first thing I do just like leaving the plane because I'm so into
[00:16:12] foosball I search where I can play.
[00:16:14] Fat cats.
[00:16:16] Fat cats downtown New York.
[00:16:18] Oh, yeah.
[00:16:18] That was great.
[00:16:21] And now it's no longer a fat cat these days.
[00:16:23] It's called sour mouse.
[00:16:25] But it's actually sour mouse the same thing.
[00:16:27] So they went from a cat to a mouse.
[00:16:28] Okay.
[00:16:28] We paid a visit to fat cats right after the the airing of foosballers, the movie,
[00:16:37] they're in New York City and went to a great DYP there after the movie was shown.
[00:16:42] The well was for the what was called.
[00:16:49] Oh, I'm trying to think of the name of the soccer club that's there,
[00:16:52] but they always air soccer movies every year.
[00:16:54] And they included foosballers that year in their in their film festival.
[00:16:59] So we all went down to watch this foosballers,
[00:17:03] about 450 people in the audience watching then all wanted out to fat cats afterwards
[00:17:08] and just took the place over.
[00:17:10] But yeah, it was a good spot.
[00:17:13] Yeah, they had, I remember I played there before.
[00:17:17] Obviously, not not when it's when it was called fat cats, but it was jazz club, right?
[00:17:21] They had jazz music playing.
[00:17:22] Oh, yeah.
[00:17:23] Dink Kong tables.
[00:17:24] And I remember back then Victor was there.
[00:17:27] Ellen Moon Ellen Moon used to play there.
[00:17:30] Mike Burns, who's a Georgia guy, was going to school in New York City.
[00:17:34] He was playing there.
[00:17:35] I mean, New York City had some really, really good players still do.
[00:17:42] They still do, but they had a really good scene.
[00:17:45] They actually had a bunch of players that would come out and play that never toured.
[00:17:49] So you would play people that that love foosball come out and play their local every week,
[00:17:52] but never went to a tour stop.
[00:17:54] So just so you find Victor.
[00:17:57] Yeah.
[00:17:58] So you find Victor, you find the location.
[00:18:00] Was that the first time you'd ever played tornado foosball?
[00:18:03] No, I touched tornado at the World Cup.
[00:18:07] At the World Cup.
[00:18:08] Okay.
[00:18:09] I played it a couple of times that I somehow was quite good on tornado,
[00:18:13] better than other Russian players.
[00:18:14] So I immediately loved it a lot more than go under because
[00:18:18] I just give you so much more ball control and like a table.
[00:18:21] You can do a lot more things, tornado.
[00:18:24] Oh, so the game is faster.
[00:18:26] So yeah, yeah, well, going from garlando to tornado,
[00:18:29] the ball control absolutely.
[00:18:31] If you can control the ball on garlando, then tornado is easy.
[00:18:33] Mm-hmm.
[00:18:34] So yeah, yeah.
[00:18:36] So you start playing N-Y sorry, Tom.
[00:18:39] That's okay. I was just going to say that on, we're on Twitch TV tonight,
[00:18:43] we have a lot of viewers.
[00:18:44] One of which is Carlos has been following your career,
[00:18:49] according to what he has to say.
[00:18:50] And it says you have talent.
[00:18:52] And we'd like to ask you a question.
[00:18:54] Would you take a question from Carlos?
[00:18:56] Yeah, sure.
[00:18:59] So Carlos.
[00:19:00] Did you want to join the show?
[00:19:01] Yeah.
[00:19:01] Well, he's going to have to type it in.
[00:19:03] So it says you warm up your hat.
[00:19:08] You warm up your hands before a game is.
[00:19:11] That's a question.
[00:19:13] But he wants to know if you warm up your hands before a game.
[00:19:16] Well, in Russia, that was an important thing because it was called.
[00:19:21] And so yeah, it had to warm up my hands.
[00:19:23] In the U.S. that's what it was.
[00:19:24] Yeah.
[00:19:26] So okay.
[00:19:30] Yeah, well, thank you for the question.
[00:19:31] Yeah.
[00:19:31] How do you warm up your hands?
[00:19:33] That's what he wants to know.
[00:19:33] How do you warm up your hands?
[00:19:35] I warm up my hands and my wife's shirt.
[00:19:38] Sorry, sorry.
[00:19:39] God, I've.
[00:19:39] Sorry.
[00:19:42] Sorry, Carlo.
[00:19:43] Sorry.
[00:19:43] Thank you, Carlo.
[00:19:45] I have a tennis ball and so you can just squeeze it.
[00:19:51] See, that's how I warm up my hands and my wife's shirt the same way.
[00:19:55] Just like that.
[00:19:55] Yeah.
[00:19:56] Somehow, somehow I knew we were going to go there.
[00:20:01] Just, just knew.
[00:20:02] Sorry.
[00:20:02] You, you saw what he did, Tom.
[00:20:04] Come on.
[00:20:07] Anyway, so yeah.
[00:20:09] It's now.
[00:20:10] Do you know Carlo, by the way?
[00:20:12] Yeah, he is my name.
[00:20:15] Well, not my neighbor, but we're in the same program.
[00:20:17] Gotcha.
[00:20:18] He's also a PhD student in economics.
[00:20:21] Love it.
[00:20:21] Wait, does he play football with you?
[00:20:23] Uh, no, he doesn't play, but I think he knows how to play football.
[00:20:29] He's from Italy and they, there they play a lot of football.
[00:20:32] But it's very, very different from the way we play it.
[00:20:34] Oh, yeah.
[00:20:34] Italian style, oh yeah.
[00:20:36] Oh, yeah, never stopped.
[00:20:37] Italian style, maybe.
[00:20:38] It's fast stuff.
[00:20:38] I like it.
[00:20:39] So what was your first, what was your first like,
[00:20:42] tour stop in the States?
[00:20:44] I think it was either Florida State or, uh, many worlds.
[00:20:51] I think it was Florida State.
[00:20:53] What year?
[00:20:54] 1920.
[00:20:56] Wait, not 20, it was COVID.
[00:20:58] 2019.
[00:20:59] 20.
[00:21:00] Just before COVID, yeah.
[00:21:02] Yeah.
[00:21:03] How'd you do?
[00:21:03] You remember?
[00:21:05] I, I did surprisingly well in singles.
[00:21:08] I thought like, you think they put me in amateurs?
[00:21:12] I was sort of winning and losing, but I remember that I gave Sullivan
[00:21:18] Ru a tough match like I almost.
[00:21:20] Cool.
[00:21:20] Cool.
[00:21:21] Yeah, she was even 2019.
[00:21:24] She was definitely on the, on the rise and she was always been a beast
[00:21:27] and she was very young.
[00:21:28] So yeah, that's sad.
[00:21:30] Yeah, she was our, she was already, I think.
[00:21:33] She.
[00:21:33] It might have been the year she won her first singles.
[00:21:37] Women's singles, but she was already winning expert,
[00:21:39] expert singles at that point.
[00:21:41] So she's a, yeah, I remember her first worlds.
[00:21:44] It was, I think it was 04, she was a baby.
[00:21:47] Yeah, she was swaddled.
[00:21:49] But yeah, but so okay. So you went to Florida State, you did okay. And then after that, you just, I mean, obviously, look, you're a fan of foosball like us. You love foosball. You have a problem. You're addicted. You can't stop. So you, you, you, you, how many tournaments do you hit a year roughly? I mean, not counting COVID, but I mean, like now, you just hit the kickoff, right? You're going to, how many tournaments do you plan to play this year?
[00:22:16] Yeah. Three or four. The thing is that my, my issue is that I, okay, like I came to New York City, but then my university is not in New York City. So it's in Connecticut.
[00:22:28] It's in Connecticut. Yeah. I took the train to New Haven, and then I realized that there's just no one to play foosball.
[00:22:35] So it was kind of sad. And so essentially, yes, for me, I can either go and practice in the New York City area,
[00:22:45] or I can just put the tournaments. So in a way, tournaments is my only way to practice.
[00:22:51] So. So having a table at the house, what's like, what's your practice regimen? Like, like do you practice every day?
[00:22:59] You touch your table every day. Do you have like, focus practice that you do? Or is it just fooling around? Like what's, what's that look like for you?
[00:23:08] It changed over time a lot.
[00:23:11] I think sort of idea, just when I started playing on tornado, I was just getting used to the table.
[00:23:18] I was just trying to do ball control and trying to do the same thing that I was doing on garlanda.
[00:23:25] It's sort of understanding how to make an adjustment.
[00:23:30] These days, I've changed the practice a bit. And so I'm sort of still learning about the shots and like about the passes, the execution.
[00:23:40] I always had some problems with my snake shot. Like, when I would shoot, I would somehow move my body, like my boat.
[00:23:48] I know if you want to shoot a good good, good snake shot, you have to isolate your arm.
[00:23:53] Like I had the problem that I would rotate with the shot. And so I was just fix it in some ways just by figuring out, stand properly.
[00:24:02] But now, I think I just have a series of drills that I do for the five bar for the shot for the two bar and so I just do that.
[00:24:12] And maybe before the tournament, I try to practice like one hour per day, sometimes more.
[00:24:20] But when there's no tournament, I don't practice that much.
[00:24:24] When there's no tournament, you're really, you're just, you're not really playing.
[00:24:28] Like you don't really, you don't touch your table.
[00:24:29] You just basically focus on school and your daily life.
[00:24:33] That's exactly. Yeah.
[00:24:36] So the school takes a lot of time and takes a lot of focus.
[00:24:39] Because, in a way, yeah, I'm doing research, like I have to sort of constantly think about it.
[00:24:49] And so yeah, unless I go to New York City, sometimes I go to New York City and do a football weekend.
[00:24:55] Where saying, "Oh, there on Friday, stay at my friend's place there."
[00:24:59] And so we play on Friday, on out of day, and maybe a bit on Sunday.
[00:25:04] So that's the other way for me to practice.
[00:25:06] You get, you get an itch, right? You get an itch and you go down to the city
[00:25:11] and you, you scratch the itch and then you come back and you get back to normal
[00:25:14] and focus on school and do what you got to do.
[00:25:16] So, so leading up to the kickoff, you know, obviously you were putting in some practice.
[00:25:23] Like, what were your goals going into this?
[00:25:25] Obviously, you know, we go to these tournaments with certain expectations.
[00:25:29] Some of us, you know, our mindset is a certain way, you know, going into this tournament,
[00:25:35] were you going in expecting to do well in expert singles?
[00:25:38] Were you going in expecting to, you know, make a dent in pro singles?
[00:25:43] Or were you going in with the mindset of, "I just want to go play well and see what happens?"
[00:25:48] I was going on with the mindset of, "I just want to play well and I want to play smart."
[00:25:54] No, "I just want to try to, like, sort of give everything that I have at the tournament."
[00:26:00] And sort of just play either way, I want to play and, yeah, play smart
[00:26:05] and just listen to what my mentor Victor is trying to teach me.
[00:26:10] Because I think, sort of, before needing Victor and before playing with him,
[00:26:16] I was playing a lot, just, I was relying on my technique a lot,
[00:26:19] where, like, I would know that I could actually keep things that the other person could not do.
[00:26:24] I wasn't reading as much, okay, but now I'm trying to read a lot more.
[00:26:29] So, just, sort of, remember the sequences that people are showing me,
[00:26:34] read the patterns and just focus on what I'm doing, why I'm doing,
[00:26:38] sort of, why I did this, and, like, why the person blocked me,
[00:26:43] recreating the situations, the way Tony talk, always talks about it.
[00:26:47] So, I'm just learning about this aspect of the game a bit more.
[00:26:50] So, my goal was to just, sort of, focus on that, stay disciplined.
[00:26:56] I actually didn't have any expectations about singles,
[00:26:59] because I know that, to win singles, you need to play a lot of singles.
[00:27:02] Otherwise, it's hard to control the slot.
[00:27:05] I was being focused on doubles.
[00:27:06] Okay, you were focused on doubles, but you did good in singles.
[00:27:11] So, let's talk about expert singles for a second.
[00:27:15] So, expert singles was not championship style,
[00:27:19] so there was a winner's bracket and a loser's bracket, right?
[00:27:22] So, you played well and you ended up playing for King's Seat, correct?
[00:27:27] And then you ended up losing the King's Seat match.
[00:27:32] Yes, I got completely destroyed.
[00:27:35] It was, like, five, one, five, two, I thought that...
[00:27:38] Ouch.
[00:27:38] No way I'm gonna beat this guy.
[00:27:41] Okay, completely destroyed, but this is the thing.
[00:27:44] You got completely destroyed, right?
[00:27:46] And then came back.
[00:27:48] Who'd you play in the losers?
[00:27:49] Who'd you play for one of the losers, do you remember?
[00:27:51] I played against Donald Wilson.
[00:27:54] Donald Wilson, okay.
[00:27:56] Now, Donald Wilson, you know, he's a friend of the show.
[00:28:00] I love Mr. Donald, and Donald's a...
[00:28:02] He's a good player.
[00:28:03] He's been around for a long time.
[00:28:04] You know, he's an old pro.
[00:28:06] He's got a lot of tricks.
[00:28:07] He's got a lot of experience.
[00:28:10] You know, the fact that you beat Donald says a lot.
[00:28:12] How did that match go?
[00:28:15] Did you beat up on him really good?
[00:28:17] Did he try to mess with your head?
[00:28:19] Like, how was that match?
[00:28:20] I didn't know what to expect against him
[00:28:25] because I've never played him in singles before.
[00:28:27] So I think he surprised me quite a bit because...
[00:28:32] I don't know.
[00:28:33] I like he was doing things on the table
[00:28:36] that I just don't expect from a personal to that level.
[00:28:39] Like, he would shoot snake shot from the toolbar.
[00:28:42] Like, he would do a lot of quick things, like quick shots.
[00:28:45] But this type of game, I'm fine with that.
[00:28:47] I can...
[00:28:48] As I played on garlanda, I'm used to people playing quickly.
[00:28:51] And sometimes this doesn't bother me that much.
[00:28:54] So sort of he beat me in the first game.
[00:28:57] I was still very sort of confident.
[00:29:00] And I could win that because it was close.
[00:29:04] So we're not blocking each other.
[00:29:05] It was one, one, two, two, three, three, four, four.
[00:29:08] And so, okay, he won me in the first game.
[00:29:10] In the second game, I think I started with a bot.
[00:29:12] So I thought if the game continues like that, I'm gonna win.
[00:29:15] Actually, it was not the case.
[00:29:18] He made some adjustments.
[00:29:20] I think he sort of was...
[00:29:21] For three, then I blocked him.
[00:29:25] It was four, four.
[00:29:26] Then on four, four, I scored a very good long whole shot
[00:29:31] out of the back and he was expecting that.
[00:29:33] Two row.
[00:29:33] I actually think...
[00:29:35] Yeah, he gave me an advantage in the next game
[00:29:37] because I think he just was a bit shot that I can do that.
[00:29:41] And so my two bar was...
[00:29:44] And my two bar was doing pretty well in this tournament.
[00:29:48] And I think previous matches that I won in the winner's bracket,
[00:29:51] I was scoring like two or three per game on the back.
[00:29:55] I was just watching Sammy D'ignon play and like...
[00:29:58] I don't know why he inspired me.
[00:30:01] I started shooting the ball a bit more like him.
[00:30:04] And my pull shot improved a lot.
[00:30:06] My two bar gave me a lot of easy wins.
[00:30:09] Sam, we talk about Sam a lot in the show
[00:30:15] because Sam is local to Tom.
[00:30:18] He's my kid, he's my kid.
[00:30:20] Yeah, come on.
[00:30:20] And I've watched Sam kind of grow.
[00:30:23] I know his dad for a long time.
[00:30:25] And Sam's a big boy now.
[00:30:27] And he's hitting the ball like a man.
[00:30:29] So his two rod has gotten really nasty.
[00:30:32] But a guy like Donald will surprise you.
[00:30:36] And like you said, he did things that you wouldn't expect.
[00:30:38] And that tends to frustrate a lot of people.
[00:30:40] But the fact that you're like,
[00:30:42] "Oh, I'm used to it. It's not a big deal."
[00:30:44] And you just played.
[00:30:45] So you pull out the loser's bracket match,
[00:30:47] going back into the final,
[00:30:49] having just been rolled by this guy,
[00:30:52] thinking you have no chance.
[00:30:53] What's your mindset going into that final?
[00:30:55] Like what's your game plan?
[00:30:56] Well, I think once again,
[00:31:00] my strategy first was just to fight as hard as I can.
[00:31:03] So I knew, "Okay, this guy's probably smarter than me.
[00:31:06] He blocks me well."
[00:31:07] I don't know about smarter buddy.
[00:31:10] I don't know about smarter.
[00:31:10] But anyway, I don't know about smarter than you.
[00:31:12] So he didn't go to Yale.
[00:31:15] I could tell you that much.
[00:31:17] He didn't go to Yale.
[00:31:18] So anyway,
[00:31:18] The other thing I did is I went to my room after my loss.
[00:31:24] And so I watched the game.
[00:31:25] And also I just talked with my mentor
[00:31:27] and we analyzed the game a bit.
[00:31:29] And so we discussed what should I work on in the next match.
[00:31:33] And so gave me some advice on what should I do
[00:31:36] if I want to sort of block the first more.
[00:31:39] Because I think the issue in the first match
[00:31:41] is that I couldn't block a single shot.
[00:31:44] Like he was passing 100% on me.
[00:31:46] And he was scoring 100%.
[00:31:48] And like I yeah, I've never played against him before.
[00:31:52] So I think I just didn't choose the right defense against his shot.
[00:31:56] So then I talked, they made some adjustments.
[00:31:59] And so I thought, okay, let's see what's going to happen
[00:32:02] in terms of percentages after I make those adjustments.
[00:32:05] And then I was sort of decided what I'm going to do in the back
[00:32:11] and then I was just focused on the offense.
[00:32:13] Well, maybe it's going to be that I will not be able to block him at all.
[00:32:18] So I just need to pass and score and then see, we'll see what happens.
[00:32:21] So that was my plan.
[00:32:23] That's pretty simple.
[00:32:27] Yeah.
[00:32:28] And obviously you executed your plan.
[00:32:30] So so we've a double dip in the finals.
[00:32:33] Yeah.
[00:32:34] Yeah.
[00:32:35] Was it was it three games first set three game second set or was it
[00:32:38] did the Matt did the finals match go kind of how the winners bracket did,
[00:32:43] except for you.
[00:32:43] Did you did you beat him up pretty good or was it was it a match?
[00:32:46] Was it a match?
[00:32:48] I think every game was close, but I think every game I won five four.
[00:32:53] So it was four games in a row with a score five four.
[00:32:56] So it was four straight.
[00:32:57] Yeah, that's good.
[00:32:59] So when so he won the winners bracket, and then you came out,
[00:33:02] how long was it between the King seat match and the final?
[00:33:05] Do you remember?
[00:33:05] I think it was maybe three or four hours.
[00:33:11] So I had quite a bit of time to prepare.
[00:33:13] Right.
[00:33:13] Yeah, that's not that's not bad though,
[00:33:15] because I've seen it I've seen it be where that, you know,
[00:33:17] the King seat matches is one day and then the finals is the next day.
[00:33:21] So, you know, you you were able to stay warm.
[00:33:23] Obviously playing and, and he it's not like he got to sit around and get cold.
[00:33:29] You know, we all played a lot of foosball.
[00:33:30] So, but that's, you know, that's a good win man.
[00:33:33] I'm telling how many players were in there if it was like 70 something,
[00:33:35] players and expert singles.
[00:33:36] Right.
[00:33:36] It was about 70 73 players.
[00:33:40] Depied 73.
[00:33:41] Yeah.
[00:33:41] Yeah, is this is this the deepest field you've ever won a tournament in?
[00:33:45] I think so.
[00:33:47] Oh, that's awesome.
[00:33:49] Yeah, congratulations.
[00:33:50] Sometimes it's just a small adjustment.
[00:33:52] I make it look, I'll tell you a story.
[00:33:54] I played Jake Barnett in singles, Louisiana State a couple of years ago.
[00:33:58] Yeah, expert singles, and he beat me match ball.
[00:34:03] I scored one goal for my three rod.
[00:34:05] Jake blocked the crap out of me.
[00:34:07] And I after the match, I said if I score two goals for my three rod,
[00:34:11] I'll beat him two goals.
[00:34:12] And then I played him for winner the losers.
[00:34:16] And I scored two goals for my three rod and I beat him.
[00:34:18] So sometimes it's just that one thing that makes a difference.
[00:34:23] So, you know, and the fact that you have somebody that you can go back and talk to,
[00:34:27] I mean, that makes a huge, huge difference.
[00:34:30] You know, a lot of us we have, we have mentors and we have people we can talk to.
[00:34:34] And it does make a difference.
[00:34:35] Another thing that makes a huge difference is inside foods.
[00:34:38] Having the ability to go watch the matches.
[00:34:40] Yes.
[00:34:40] Man, it's like, because when you're playing, you're seeing things a certain way.
[00:34:46] Right.
[00:34:46] And then when you're watching and you're actually seeing it from the end of the table,
[00:34:50] it's like, oh man, I, you know, that's not what I thought it was.
[00:34:54] So you're able to make those adjustments now, like day of, where before you'd have to go home.
[00:35:00] Order the DVD set, wait four weeks, let it come in, watch the match.
[00:35:06] So, it does make a really, really big difference.
[00:35:11] So, congratulations on your expert singles when that's a big win.
[00:35:15] Big time.
[00:35:16] Outside of expert singles, how was the rest of the weekend for you?
[00:35:19] So, the other event that I was really excited to play with was Pro Doubles with Bruce Welton.
[00:35:25] Yes.
[00:35:26] Yeah.
[00:35:26] Yeah, we, I think we, we want to, in the winners bracket of Pro Doubles,
[00:35:34] and then we're lost to Bruce makers.
[00:35:39] No, Josie.
[00:35:40] No, Josie.
[00:35:41] Yeah.
[00:35:41] And Ben, Ben, Winnell.
[00:35:43] And Ben, Winnell.
[00:35:45] And it was a close match, and we should have won that match because it was, it was a fight.
[00:35:51] So I think it was five games who were up for one in the fifth game.
[00:35:56] Like, we ended up losing.
[00:35:58] I mean, what happened?
[00:35:58] We should have mistakes.
[00:35:59] So, I feel like, wow, that hurts.
[00:36:02] That hurts.
[00:36:03] Those guys, those guys ended up finishing like fifth or fourth or something.
[00:36:07] Look, Bruce, do you know who Bruce is Ivan?
[00:36:10] Do you know who he is?
[00:36:11] Bruce, Bruce has been around for a long time.
[00:36:15] Bruce is a really, really smart guy.
[00:36:17] I don't want to stay, speak out of term, but I think he's some kind of physicist or something.
[00:36:22] Not 100% sure, but Bruce is a super smart guy.
[00:36:26] He's a Bonzini pro.
[00:36:28] Big time.
[00:36:28] And tornado, he's like a 4000 point tornado pro.
[00:36:31] Great, great goalie, super smart guy.
[00:36:34] We call him the front pin stallion.
[00:36:37] He shoots that front pin.
[00:36:38] Anyway, to loot, to loot, look to be up for one and lose.
[00:36:45] Doesn't surprise me because I've seen him just block and block and block and block.
[00:36:50] So, you know, going back to that match, you know, what would you have changed?
[00:36:56] All the time out, let Bruce shoot one.
[00:36:58] What, like, what happened?
[00:36:59] Being up for one, you think that's, you put that away.
[00:37:02] That's easy.
[00:37:03] So, what happened?
[00:37:04] I think we didn't have timeouts in the end of the game because I use them, sort of,
[00:37:10] key points to game to lead, but I think we had only one time out left when it was, like,
[00:37:16] 3-1 or something.
[00:37:17] Okay.
[00:37:18] I think the reason why we lost was that I just sort of lost focus a bit and got tired.
[00:37:25] I think I haven't played a lot of 3 out of 5 matches.
[00:37:29] Because in experts, usually it's about a 3.
[00:37:35] Yeah.
[00:37:37] It's a totally different animal.
[00:37:38] You have to stay focused.
[00:37:39] And so, in the end, I wasn't reading as well.
[00:37:42] Like, I could have lost confidence in my past.
[00:37:45] I can read on the shot.
[00:37:47] So, yeah, I just felt very tired.
[00:37:50] And so, then, like, I recovered my 5-bar towards the end of the match.
[00:37:55] I just switched from a brush to a tic-tac series.
[00:37:58] And so, I was, I think, pretty well.
[00:38:00] But I couldn't read the defense that well.
[00:38:02] And so, what I should have done, I should have started shooting trick shots or something.
[00:38:06] Yeah, just pin it and go.
[00:38:08] So, look, sometimes people don't understand.
[00:38:10] Sometimes you just got to set it up and go.
[00:38:12] Because it's just, you know, when you get blocked 3-4 in a row and you're out of timeouts,
[00:38:16] you know, and you've been taking your time and trying to read the D,
[00:38:20] sometimes you just got to set up the ball and go.
[00:38:22] Yep.
[00:38:22] And, you know, especially against a guy like that who's seasoned and been around.
[00:38:27] But pro doubles being 3 out of 5, I thought was great.
[00:38:33] What did you think about one pro doubles being now 3 out of 5?
[00:38:36] And going forward, IFP deciding that singles, pro singles, and doubles is going to be 3 out of 5.
[00:38:42] And then, what did you think about the championship format?
[00:38:46] I actually like the lot.
[00:38:48] I think it's more like the way I play tournaments in Europe.
[00:38:54] I think you have more time to make adjustments and it's just, I think it's a bit less tiring.
[00:38:59] I didn't have to wait as long for my matches.
[00:39:02] I understand that in the US, the tradition is to play the winner's bracket and the loser's bracket.
[00:39:07] But so for me, like, I don't have, I'm not sort of used to this tradition.
[00:39:11] So I'm fine with both formats.
[00:39:13] I think I just like that I didn't have to wait for the matches.
[00:39:16] And I also liked playing 3 out of 5.
[00:39:18] I think it's sort of more.
[00:39:19] I think there's less randomness happening.
[00:39:21] More time for strategy, too, for sure, to adjust.
[00:39:26] Yeah.
[00:39:28] But yeah, but Bruce, yeah, he's a very smart player.
[00:39:30] I think I remember on like 4-2 or something, I took a timeout and so I talked with my goalie.
[00:39:37] And my goalie gave me, my goalie reads the defense and so he gave me some advice on sort of what shot to do.
[00:39:44] Bruce, I think he specifically changed the defense on that possession.
[00:39:50] And so that plan, it was not good for the defense that he used.
[00:39:54] Even though before that timeout, he was using sort of very specific defenses in,
[00:39:59] it's same every possession.
[00:40:00] So somehow he figured out that probably I'm gonna do something different and so he changed his defense.
[00:40:05] Huh, that's experience for you.
[00:40:07] Yeah, Bruce has always spoke very highly of you.
[00:40:11] He enjoys playing with you.
[00:40:12] And Bruce is the guy that, you know, again, I've known Bruce for almost 20 years.
[00:40:18] I love Bruce Walton.
[00:40:19] He's one of my best friends, great guy and he and I have had success playing together.
[00:40:24] But he's just easy, man.
[00:40:27] He's easy to play with.
[00:40:28] He gets your blocks.
[00:40:29] He'll get you some goals.
[00:40:30] He clears the ball well and and he's just got a ton of experience.
[00:40:35] So playing with a guy like that kind of makes it easy for you,
[00:40:39] where you can just focus on what you need to do and you don't have to worry about what he's doing.
[00:40:44] You know, so having having a partner like that in a in a pro doubles three out of five match
[00:40:51] or three out of five event, you know, like I like I said, I've had success
[00:40:57] and we got fifth at the Masters and then we got third and open doubles in Mississippi
[00:41:02] and we beat some really, really good teams and Bruce just played great.
[00:41:05] He's just, he's consistent and I think that's what you want in a goalie.
[00:41:09] So, you know, like I said, he always spoke very, very highly of you.
[00:41:13] He enjoys playing with you.
[00:41:14] So but I, you know, I'd snatch him up if if if anybody's listening.
[00:41:21] He's a keeper.
[00:41:22] You need a goalie.
[00:41:23] That's the guy right there, Bruce Walton.
[00:41:25] So that's the man.
[00:41:27] Yeah, I'm curious, you know, when it comes to playing well as a singles player,
[00:41:31] do you have to be a really good singles player to be successful in doubles?
[00:41:36] Is that is that your opinion?
[00:41:38] Ivan?
[00:41:38] No, I don't think so.
[00:41:41] I think in singles, if you can just play at a very high pace and a lot of variety.
[00:41:48] So this helps you win matches.
[00:41:51] I think in doubles thinking and sort of strategy, well, yeah, it's a lot more important.
[00:41:58] I actually like doubles more.
[00:42:00] Like to play slow, I think, like to take a lot of time.
[00:42:04] I like to read and I don't think I'm as good at making sort of quick decisions on the flight.
[00:42:10] Sort of when I have enough time, when I wear out the defense,
[00:42:15] then I can then I play my best.
[00:42:17] At least that's what my goal is typically tell me.
[00:42:19] If I try to play like say Evan McGregor, I cannot do that.
[00:42:23] Okay.
[00:42:24] If I take my time if I play slow methodically, then I can actually win.
[00:42:27] Do you consider Evan McGregor a nemesis?
[00:42:32] I mean, is that because we all have somebody, you know, especially those who are playing
[00:42:36] at your level, have somebody they just want to beat and they're going to do everything
[00:42:42] can to do that.
[00:42:43] Would Evan McGregor fit that profile for you?
[00:42:49] No, I don't think so.
[00:42:50] I don't have an emotional attachment to winning against him.
[00:42:55] I think maybe, yeah, I don't know.
[00:42:57] It seems like some people have certain characters that just, you know,
[00:43:03] when they see them come up against them across the table, they just I got it.
[00:43:07] I got to beat this person maybe from past experience or something,
[00:43:11] but they have like this idea that this person is my nemesis.
[00:43:17] I've heard that a few times.
[00:43:18] Probably my coach from Russia is my nemesis.
[00:43:20] Nobody in the U.S. knows him, but I've never won against him.
[00:43:29] Really?
[00:43:29] I only won against him once when I came back to Russia and we played a match on tornado.
[00:43:34] Oh, so, but before that, in a tournament,
[00:43:38] I couldn't when they get see me he would just
[00:43:40] Like I had zero chance even though even if I tried it was just so much better
[00:43:46] Is there any reason why he doesn't come over here to compete?
[00:43:49] No reason he actually wanted to go I think he had some issues with getting a visa, but I think he might come
[00:43:59] The other thing is that he needs well to come here and actually do well in a tournament
[00:44:04] I think he needs to get a tornado table. Okay. I think that these days. He's mostly playing on Leonhardt
[00:44:09] Which is a good table. I mean, that's especially if you're gonna play World Cup. That's that's a that's a great table to be on. I
[00:44:17] Like it. Yeah, it's awesome
[00:44:20] It's honestly my favorite table. I like it more than tornado. Do you really?
[00:44:24] Yeah, I do. I love you you can do anything on Leonhardt. I love those tables. Look at your face, bro
[00:44:30] You look surprised look. I've I you have to understand Ivan. I will play on anything
[00:44:36] I'll play on anything. I love foosball, man. I'll play on any table
[00:44:40] I don't care if you got a walmart table if you want to play I want to play. I always want to play foosball. I
[00:44:45] touched the Leonhardt for the first time
[00:44:47] it was
[00:44:50] 2019 and I fell in love. I instantly fell in love everything
[00:44:55] I could do I could do anything on that table. I love that table
[00:45:00] It's a day if they ever if they ever have a Leonhardt tour in this country. I will support it a hundred percent
[00:45:05] I wouldn't be surprised actually
[00:45:07] Wouldn't say I'm saving my shot. I'm saving my shackles to get one. Yeah, incidentally
[00:45:13] I mean we look at European players as a whole. I mean, obviously there are several countries making up the
[00:45:21] The entire base of Europe, but it seems that most people who play in Europe have
[00:45:27] Multiple table skills far beyond what we have here in this country because we're so enamored by the tornado table
[00:45:33] We really do need to kind of say, you know what if we're going to do some at least regional tournaments
[00:45:39] We should do
[00:45:41] Specifically a couple of different tables at those tournaments just because you know just because it's
[00:45:46] It's fun, but at the same time. It helps us, you know
[00:45:50] really kind of look better to the rest of the world if you forgive the expression
[00:45:54] No, and I think that's part of the reason why a lot of the Canadian guys are so well developed because yes
[00:46:00] You know they they have that training center and they have multi table
[00:46:04] They all play multi table and it just teaches you you get very well rounded
[00:46:09] You don't just like tornadoes just hard and fast where you play these other tables like garlando
[00:46:15] And you learn finesse and you learn you know
[00:46:17] How to grab loose balls and do things that you you know all that transitions
[00:46:22] I mean when you learn like even Bonzini. I've heard people say hate Bonzini
[00:46:25] Oh, I love Bonzini if you again like you go play on Bonzini for a day and you come back to tornado
[00:46:31] You find yourself grabbing balls that you couldn't grab before and doing things you couldn't do and all transitions all of it
[00:46:36] It's all foosball, you know, it's it's we can't put foosball in a box, right?
[00:46:41] I play tornado like I heard my your original will say this years and years and years ago
[00:46:45] He said I don't play tornado I play foosball and and
[00:46:48] For me, that was I mean that just blew my mind because it's true like I play foosball me. I'll play on anything
[00:46:54] I love it. So, you know, but
[00:46:57] Again, I'm not going off on a tangent. You know, but for you Ivan look you're in you're in Connecticut, right?
[00:47:05] I'm originally from Massachusetts. I know the Northeast very well. I know the Northeast base very well
[00:47:10] I do know that in Connecticut there is not a lot of foosball
[00:47:14] Okay, I do I do know there's a couple guys
[00:47:17] One guy in particular is names Eric Shagno. I hope I pronounced that Steve Bell. Steve Bell is also there
[00:47:25] He both another guy. I don't know how far they are from you
[00:47:29] But we have our guys to in southeastern mass
[00:47:32] But you're talking like an hour and a half away
[00:47:34] And I'm sure you don't have a vehicle
[00:47:36] But if you wanted to play foosball, I could make it happen man
[00:47:40] I get somebody to come snatch you up take you up to New Bedford or Fall River for the weekend
[00:47:44] You'd have to bring like a bulletproof vest
[00:47:46] They would they would they would feed you oh, yeah, and and and you could play some foosball and then they come bring you back
[00:47:55] but
[00:47:56] You know, I understand like I said you're busy you're busy trying to get your PhD man
[00:48:01] Which is pretty awesome when when you're gonna be done with school
[00:48:03] Oh, this this depends on what like I end up doing
[00:48:10] I'm right now in my fifth year. So the way it works is that initially in the first couple of years
[00:48:16] You take classes and you're working on your dissertation. So you just write papers you
[00:48:21] You try to publish them
[00:48:24] Then you prepare for the job market and then it depends if you're going to industry
[00:48:28] If you want to go and work at a company like at a bank or an hedge fund
[00:48:35] That company or you go into academia and you try to become a professor
[00:48:40] so that usually is
[00:48:43] It's harder. I think or competitive because there are not that many professorship positions
[00:48:50] So your research has to be a blur has to be really polished
[00:48:54] So either I will graduate next year and just get a job at a company
[00:48:59] Or I might stay for one more year and try to pursue the dream of becoming a professor
[00:49:05] Oh, wow cool American University. Nice. Awesome. Very cool. Awesome. Okay. So here's the thing your subject is
[00:49:12] Economics, we're talking about foosball
[00:49:15] Coming from from someone like yourself who is very educated when it comes to economics. What is the hell is wrong with foosball economics?
[00:49:23] What are we doing wrong I
[00:49:26] Don't think we have I don't think we have enough time for this time. I don't think we have enough time for this
[00:49:30] I gotta ask now so each just
[00:49:34] Just off the top of your head what what do we need to do economically speaking to make foosball better?
[00:49:39] Well, I think I mean it's a basic question of demand and supply. Yes
[00:49:44] Now one nice thing that sort of helps who's ball is that they're all those digital platforms that allow
[00:49:51] crowdfunding so in a way if there's some wealthy people who are really in love with foosball
[00:49:56] they can just donate money and oh sure help out the players oh
[00:50:00] Before that was it was difficult to do I think now it's much easier
[00:50:06] But in general if you want to make more money we need more demand from the audience
[00:50:10] So we need people to watch foosball, right? I think right now we don't have this and so your
[00:50:19] A cast I think helps a lot because people can actually listen about foosball
[00:50:23] I don't know if there are a lot of sort of people outside of foosball listening to this
[00:50:27] But it's I think it's quite interesting and okay, I think this is very helpful
[00:50:31] But like ideally we need to figure out a way to make people who are not foosball pros
[00:50:37] Watch foosball, maybe right get some sort of WWE element in the foosball. Oh, yeah
[00:50:44] We need baby faces and heels, that's what we need good guys and bad guys. That's what we need, right?
[00:50:50] And then maybe you pick somebody you know dropping elbow on them and whatever but I I agree, right?
[00:50:56] It's it's not so much what happens on the table. It's the stuff away from the table
[00:51:02] That's gonna like people love reality TV for whatever reason, right?
[00:51:06] Like you know what I mean. I feel like it's like it's a great shot. You know, it's gonna be funny
[00:51:13] Whatever reason right like if if we had a foosball tournament on the Jersey Shore
[00:51:17] Right on the Jersey Shore people would watch this crap. It's ridiculous, but I'm just
[00:51:22] Yeah, that's what I mean like
[00:51:25] People lose their minds over this dumb stuff and we like like I said man
[00:51:29] There are people watching cornhole, right?
[00:51:33] I was at Mississippi State a couple years ago in the restaurant at the tournament eating and they had
[00:51:39] They had professional tag on ESPN professional tag
[00:51:43] And and we can't we can't get a sponsor Wow
[00:51:48] But the foosball, I think the main issue with boosball is that it's very fast
[00:51:53] So it's hard for a person who has never watched it before. Oh true. Oh true. I'm saying cornhole is slow
[00:51:59] It's a bag going in a hole. Yeah
[00:52:02] We had a just case in point
[00:52:06] Case in point this past Friday night at our local dyp in Clifton Park
[00:52:10] We had 12 players pretty good turnout. We had we had streaming and and we had some people passing by who had just been at it
[00:52:17] The local concert, you know next door just coming through just to check it out and they stood there
[00:52:22] They watched the screen and they were they were watching what was happening on the table and the look on their faces was
[00:52:27] Wow
[00:52:30] Wow, I used to kind of play this when I was in grade school in high school
[00:52:34] You guys are nuts, and they just kind of turned around and walked away
[00:52:37] Wait, yeah
[00:52:39] Yeah, so it's kind of you know even in person. It's difficult because they just
[00:52:45] They're so intimidated I've heard and in in tennis
[00:52:49] They had this issue where the game was just there too fast and so they made the ball slower
[00:52:53] Same with ping-pong is that also to make it easier to watch they made the ball slower
[00:52:59] Mm-hmm. It's easier for a person and say on YouTube who has never played ping-pong to just randomly click on the video and just watch the ball
[00:53:07] It's it's it's really I mean you think it's it would be that difficult to watch, but it is it's it's challenging
[00:53:15] But yeah, no, it's we we've got a I mean we've got a way I think
[00:53:21] Of doing this it just we haven't come together to make it happen
[00:53:28] Yeah, I think we need the the right people in the right places at the right time
[00:53:33] And and then I think we need to get a little lucky. I really do I mean, you know
[00:53:37] It's just it's it's all it's all got to fall into place so but you know, I had this conversation with my wife the other day
[00:53:43] I said I just have this feeling that something's gonna happen with foosball here soon
[00:53:48] Yes, like I feel like foosball is gonna like something's gonna happen
[00:53:52] something's gonna click and
[00:53:54] foosball is gonna get in front of the right set of eyes and somebody's gonna go hey we can make this profitable and
[00:54:00] I don't know. I just have a yeah, I just have a feeling I just have a feeling so I don't I don't know
[00:54:07] Maybe I'm I don't know maybe I'm just I'm over tired or I think it's too much cough Sarah. I don't know man something
[00:54:13] Something I hate anyway, I've somebody what's what's the rest of the year looking like for you?
[00:54:19] What are the plans for it for tournaments this year?
[00:54:22] I might go Texas state nice
[00:54:26] Good choice. I don't really know when it's gonna happen
[00:54:29] Yeah
[00:54:32] They just posted that weird they just posted that weird thing. Yeah, I don't know what try to figure that out. Yeah, Yah
[00:54:38] Gold series and it's it's it's it's a really interesting sounding
[00:54:43] Tournament happening. What is it may may 24 through 27 it's it's it's
[00:54:50] That weekend. Yeah, it's that weekend. It's Texas state weekend and I was gonna go to Texas state this year
[00:54:55] I have I have great partners for Texas state. I have great. So anyway, you were gonna go to Texas State or not
[00:55:01] my partners
[00:55:04] Supposed to play with Hannah and pro doubles and Sullivan and open doubles
[00:55:08] No, but but now it's like what is Texas State? What is it? Is that what it's supposed to be? I don't think so look
[00:55:16] I'm telling the listeners now. I'm gonna try to get some information this week
[00:55:19] I'm gonna find calls and hopefully I'm gonna have some information for everybody for next week
[00:55:24] I know there's some some gossip on Facebook. I'm not on Facebook
[00:55:27] But I'm gonna I'm gonna call and see if I can get some information straight from the horses mouth. So
[00:55:32] Anyway, all right, Texas state. What else you got lined up bud?
[00:55:35] Well, I might go to worlds
[00:55:38] Thing is that this summer? I'll be staying in New York City
[00:55:42] So I'll do a summer internship there
[00:55:46] Okay, cool. So yeah, I might play a bit more and so I'll be more prepared for the world
[00:55:51] So maybe I'll go to worlds as well. I'm planning on being there Randy. How about you?
[00:55:55] I'll be there. Oh, yeah, I already got my I got partners for worlds - so I I got my year lined up pretty good, man
[00:56:02] so I
[00:56:03] Know it's tough being in the Northeast having to travel and do all that stuff, but there's a tournament coming up
[00:56:10] What's the weekend?
[00:56:13] Actually next Saturday. There's a tournament in Fall River. It'll be about an hour and a half from you wicked win
[00:56:19] In fall. Yeah, the wicked winner. It's a one day. It's a dyp and a doubles in Fall River Mass
[00:56:24] You might want to look into it
[00:56:26] Don Carlos
[00:56:28] Yeah, my got my guys up there are throwing that thing. It should be pretty good
[00:56:31] Plus we get a span coming up by the way March 30th. That's that's happening and you got that. Yeah, so
[00:56:38] So basically world is all contingent on you getting an internship, correct?
[00:56:43] Well, I have the internship. Oh, you already got I'm sorry. I'm sorry, bro. I'm not trying to hurt you feel you already
[00:56:50] I can't forget how smart you are
[00:56:52] Randy
[00:56:57] dream I have is to go back to Europe and play a tournament there because these days they have quite a bit of
[00:57:02] Tornado tournaments like in the UK. Yes, every three of them. I see that a lot
[00:57:08] I have a lot of friends from Russia who moved there
[00:57:10] So it would be just sort of just for the tournament, but to see the people I love and like
[00:57:15] Connect with them. What are you going back to Russia? By the way anytime soon?
[00:57:21] So I might go I might go for Christmas. I don't know. It's hard to say
[00:57:28] Gotcha. Gotcha and the situation is very tricky there. Yeah
[00:57:34] It doesn't recommend me going, but I I don't see I don't see a problem there in a way that
[00:57:41] They don't think that the situation these days is as bad as say it was two two years ago mmm-hmm
[00:57:49] So the main sort of reason for them being worried would be that I could go there and could get conscripted. Oh
[00:57:56] military service
[00:58:00] I'll have to go and serve in the military. Yeah, yeah, okay
[00:58:05] So I'll have to go and serve in the military when there's an active sort of campaign going on. Yeah
[00:58:10] Dangerous. Yeah. Yeah, it sounds
[00:58:14] I mean so basically cousin in in Russia once you turn 18 you have to serve in the military, right?
[00:58:19] You have to serve or
[00:58:22] It's like there are some ways to avoid the service say if you're always in the university
[00:58:28] You don't have to serve okay
[00:58:30] And I think it will be tricky sort of for me to claim that I'm in an American University
[00:58:35] I don't know how that works and the other thing if you say turn 30
[00:58:39] You don't have to serve anymore. Okay. Also if you if you have two or three kids
[00:58:44] And I think you also don't have to serve there's certain ways to avoid the service if you don't want that
[00:58:49] So maybe you should maybe you should wait a little bit wait till you turn 30 hang out in place
[00:58:55] Man, yeah, no obviously it used to be like that in Portugal my family is from Portugal
[00:59:00] Once you turned 18, you have to join the military and you had to serve for at least two years if there was no war going on
[00:59:06] So, you know, it's it's different, you know, we live we live very sheltered here
[00:59:11] There are so many things going on that we don't know about globally. So yeah, you know
[00:59:15] We only we only consume the news were fed. So, you know, I didn't I didn't know
[00:59:20] I didn't realize all that man, but um
[00:59:24] It's crazy. So you're family there. Okay, they're safe
[00:59:26] They're quite old, right? I think they're doing well good good good good. That's good tonight. May that may that always be the case
[00:59:33] Absolutely
[00:59:36] Yeah, man. Well, listen again. Thank you so much for coming on congratulations again on your ex expert singles win
[00:59:43] That's a big big win huge, you know
[00:59:45] You know good luck with with school this year if you need anything
[00:59:50] Just let me know man again. I still have a lot of a lot of connection in the Northeast
[00:59:54] I can I can put you on I can hook you up whatever you need and again as far as foosball goes
[00:59:59] Same thing man. If you ever just want to talk foosball. You got my number bro hit me up and
[01:00:03] I look forward to seeing you out on tour. Yeah, and and please come down to the smashdown March 30th
[01:00:10] I think we'd we'll have some fun, but man, I've been thanks. Thanks so much for joining us in foos talk live
[01:00:15] I'm looking forward to the next opportunity and yeah, kill them on the table man. Go get them
[01:00:20] Absolutely. Yeah, well foos talk limes it wasn't on there. Oh, you're right. Sorry. No. No, go ahead. Go on on there
[01:00:28] Yeah, you're very welcome. It's fun. Like I actually expected more questions, but I guess
[01:00:34] We'll save them for it next time. Oh, there's there's all yeah next time. Yeah next time you win something. We'll have you on again
[01:00:41] cool
[01:00:45] Alright, buddy. I have a great night and thanks for tuning in to foos talk live and we'll be back again next week with another edition
[01:00:52] Next week will be episode number
[01:00:54] 197 but for tonight. We do have foos talk lives tournament beat coming up next
[01:01:00] foosball tournaments are everywhere foos talk live proudly presents a weekly update of events near you with the foos talk live
[01:01:10] tournament beat
[01:01:12] Here's what's up. Don't miss the 2024 South Dakota state foosball championships
[01:01:17] February 23rd through the 25th at Royal River Casino and Hotel
[01:01:22] Fondro, South Dakota the 508 foosball club presents the first annual wicked winter foosball tournament
[01:01:30] February 24th at Don Carlos in Fall River, Massachusetts
[01:01:34] Get ready for the 716 Buffalo foosball open
[01:01:38] February 24th River Works Buffalo, New York. Don't miss the 2024 Arnold Sports Festival
[01:01:45] $5,000 foosball championships March 1st through the 3rd Columbus Convention Center Columbus, Ohio
[01:01:52] It's the four thousand dollar Bonsini East Coast foosball championships March 1st through the 3rd at P thoroughies nightclub
[01:02:00] Virginia Beach Virginia
[01:02:03] Plan your vacation with the 2024 Costa Rica summer Beach tournament March 7th through the 10th
[01:02:10] Amapola casino and beach hotel in Jocko Costa Rica
[01:02:14] It's the 2024 Wisconsin state championship set for March 21st through the 24th at the Clurian Hotel in Appleton, Wisconsin
[01:02:23] It's the Utah foosball bash March 22nd through 24th at Murray Eagles Salt Lake City Utah
[01:02:31] 5 when a foosball presents the Mad March Smashdown
[01:02:35] March 30th at trickshots billiards and wicked eatery Clifton Park, New York - gun productions presents the 2024
[01:02:43] Oklahoma State Championship April 4th through the 7th at Magoo's in Tulsa, Oklahoma
[01:02:49] The 2024 Canadian foosball tour continues with a Canadian Hall of Fame open April 5th through the 7th
[01:02:57] Tailgater Sports Entertainment and Food Ottawa, Canada
[01:03:01] International foosball promotions presents the 2024 Hall of Fame Classic
[01:03:06] April 17th through the 21st at the Westgate Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
[01:03:13] PDX foosball presents
[01:03:16] Moneyball 2024 that's May 9th through the 12th at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Portman, Oregon
[01:03:22] The ITSF proudly presents the World Series of Tornado
[01:03:26] 2024 May 24th through the 27th at the West End Dallas Fort Worth Airport
[01:03:32] Dallas, Texas the 2024 Illinois State Championships June 7th through the 9th
[01:03:38] Poplar Creek Bowl, Hoffman Estates, Illinois
[01:03:41] International foosball promotions presents the 2024 National Champion chips in North American Cup
[01:03:49] Scheduled for June 26th through the 30th or details coming soon
[01:03:54] The 2024 Tornado Championships officially on August 28th through September 2nd at the Clarion Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky
[01:04:03] The 2024 Florida State Championship and masters open coming up September 26th through the 29th at Holiday Inn in Clearwater, Florida
[01:04:12] Mark your calendar for the 2024 Michigan State Championships
[01:04:16] October 11th through the 13th in Lansing, Michigan
[01:04:20] For details coming soon two gun productions present the 2024 Halloween Open
[01:04:26] October 31st through November 3rd at Magoo's in Tulsa, Oklahoma
[01:04:31] It's the 2024 North Carolina State Championships November 28th through December 1st at the Crown Pause in Asheville, North Carolina
[01:04:41] Each week, we do our best to give you the most up-to-date listing of foosball tournaments near you
[01:04:47] If you have an event you'd like to add, send us all the details at info@ foosballradio.com
[01:04:53] Tune in every week for the Foos Talk Live Tournament Beat
[01:04:57] Foos Talk Live is a product of Foosball Radio
[01:05:02] With gratitude we recognize our foosball radio Patrions, our foos talk live sponsor
[01:05:08] original-lienhark-usa.com
[01:05:12] and thanks to InsideFoos.com for use of their audio during the show
[01:05:16] Tune in again next week for another episode of Foos Talk Live
[01:05:20] In the meantime, we'll see ya Kristen!
[01:05:23] [Music]
[01:05:25] [BLANK_AUDIO]